Wendy's Co (WEN) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. Welcome to the Wendy's Company Earnings Results Conference Call.

早安.歡迎參加溫迪公司獲利電話會議。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Kelsey Freed, Director of Investor Relations, you may begin your conference.

凱爾西·弗里德，投資者關係總監，您可以開始會議了。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Today's conference call and webcast includes a PowerPoint presentation, which is available on our Investor Relations website, irwendys.com. Before we begin, please take note of the safe harbor statement that appears at the end of our earnings release. This disclosure reminds investors that certain information we may discuss today is forward-looking. Various factors could affect our results and cause those results to differ materially from the projections set forth in our forward-looking statements. Also, some of today's comments will reference non-GAAP financial measures.

謝謝大家，大家早安。今天的電話會議和網路廣播包括 PowerPoint 簡報，您可以在我們的投資者關係網站 irwendys.com 上取得該簡報。在我們開始之前，請注意我們收益發布末尾出現的安全港聲明。本揭露提醒投資者，我們今天可能討論的某些資訊具有前瞻性。各種因素可能會影響我們的結果，並導致這些結果與我們前瞻性陳述中提出的預測有重大差異。此外，今天的一些評論將參考非公認會計準則財務指標。

Investors should refer to our reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure at the end of this presentation or in our earnings release. On our conference call today, our President and Chief Executive Officer, Todd Penegor, will give a business update and our Chief Financial Officer, Gunther Plosch, will review our 2023 third quarter results and provide an update on our outlook for the year. From there, we will open up the line for questions.

投資者應在本簡報末尾或我們的收益發布中參考我們對非公認會計原則財務指標與最直接可比較的公認會計原則指標的調節表。在今天的電話會議上，我們的總裁兼執行長 Todd Penegor 將介紹業務最新情況，我們的財務長 Gunther Plosch 將回顧我們 2023 年第三季的業績，並提供我們今年展望的最新資訊。從那裡，我們將開放提問熱線。

With that, I will hand things over to Todd.

這樣，我就把事情交給托德了。

Thanks, Kelsey, and good morning, everyone. We continue to make meaningful progress across our strategic growth pillars during the third quarter, which drove continued sales and profit growth. Our global same-restaurant sales grew 2.8% on a 1-year basis and our 2-year result of 9.7% represents an acceleration of almost 100 basis points versus the second quarter.

謝謝，凱爾西，大家早安。第三季度，我們繼續在策略成長支柱方面取得有意義的進展，這推動了銷售額和利潤的持續成長。我們的全球同店銷售額一年成長 2.8%，兩年成長 9.7%，與第二季相比成長了近 100 個基點。

Our international business delivered same-restaurant sales growth of 7.8% and achieved an incredible 10th consecutive quarter of double-digit same-restaurant sales growth on a 2-year basis, reaching 18.6%. We continue to see strong results across our key international growth markets with many achieving double-digit 1-year same-restaurant sales growth during the quarter. The ongoing success of our International segment is driven by strong execution and momentum across our global growth pillars.

我們的國際業務實現了 7.8% 的同店銷售成長，並連續 10 個季度實現了兩年來兩位數的同店銷售成長，達到 18.6%。我們繼續看到主要國際成長市場的強勁業績，許多市場在本季實現了兩位數的一年同餐廳銷售成長。我們國際業務的持續成功得益於我們全球成長支柱的強大執行力和勢頭。

Our U.S. business achieved same-restaurant sales growth of 2.2% and a 2-year result of 8.5%, which represents an acceleration versus the second quarter. During the quarter, we benefited from our strategic pricing actions, partially offset by an expected decline in year-over-year customer accounts and a slight decline in mix. However, beginning in mid-August, we drove year-over-year customer count growth through quarter end.

我們的美國業務同店銷售額成長 2.2%，兩年業績成長 8.5%，較第二季加速。在本季度，我們受益於我們的策略定價行動，但部分被客戶帳戶同比預期下降和組合略有下降所抵消。然而，從 8 月中旬開始，我們推動了季度末客戶數量的同比增長。

Our digital business accelerated in the third quarter with global digital sales mix reaching 13% and total digital sales growing 30% year-over-year as our loyalty program continued to gain momentum. These successes supported yet another quarter of profit expansion, resulting in an 80 basis point year-over-year increase in U.S. company-operated restaurant margin to 15.6%, as sales growth drove P&L leverage and commodity inflation eased further. We also continue to make progress against our development goal, opening 72 new restaurants across the globe totaling 152 openings year-to-date through the third quarter.

隨著我們的忠誠度計畫繼續獲得動力，我們的數位業務在第三季加速發展，全球數位銷售組合達到 13%，數位銷售總額較去年同期成長 30%。這些成功支撐了另一個季度的利潤擴張，導緻美國公司經營的餐廳利潤率同比增長 80 個基點，達到 15.6%，因為銷售增長推動了損益槓桿率和大宗商品通膨進一步放緩。我們也持續在實現發展目標方面取得進展，在全球新開 72 家餐廳，截至今年第三季度，新餐廳總數達到 152 家。

We continue to expect to reach our 2023 development target as we now have 100% of our current year pipeline open or under construction. The success we've driven over the years supports our best-in-class franchisee satisfaction and alignment. Looking forward, we remain relentlessly focused on delivering meaningful global growth supported by compelling restaurant economic model improvement and acceleration across our strategic pillars.

我們繼續期望實現 2023 年的發展目標，因為我們今年的管道已 100% 開放或正在建造。我們多年來的成功支持了我們一流的加盟商滿意度和一致性。展望未來，我們將繼續不懈地致力於實現有意義的全球成長，並透過引人注目的餐廳經濟模式改進和跨戰略支柱的加速來實現這一目標。

Our focused approach to driving same-restaurant sales momentum, delivered an acceleration in 2-year same-restaurant sales growth and supported our strong performance in the context of the QSR Burger category, within which we maintained our dollar and traffic share. Category traffic was challenged throughout the quarter, and this impacted our early results. But following the mid-August launch of several successful innovations and promotions, we deviated from the category trend and achieved positive customer counts in the latter half of the quarter. This led to an acceleration in 1- and 2-year same-restaurant sales growth each month of Q3.

我們專注於推動同店銷售勢頭，加速了兩年同店銷售成長，並支持了我們在 QSR 漢堡類別中的強勁表現，在該類別中我們保持了美元和客流量份額。類別流量在整個季度都面臨挑戰，這影響了我們的早期業績。但在8月中旬推出多項成功的創新和促銷活動後，我們偏離了品類趨勢，並在本季後半段實現了積極的客戶數量。這導致第三季每個月同店銷售額的 1 年和 2 年成長加速。

Now let's turn to some of our specific sales drivers. We continue to make meaningful progress in our pursuit of operational excellence and posted another quarter of year-over-year improvements in customer satisfaction and speed of service. I am very proud that our efforts in this area have been recognized in the latest QSR magazine Drive-Thru report, where Wendy's ranked in the Top 5 Brands across service time, order accuracy and satisfaction.

現在讓我們來看看一些具體的銷售驅動因素。我們在追求卓越營運方面繼續取得有意義的進展，並在客戶滿意度和服務速度方面同比又取得了一個季度的進步。我感到非常自豪的是，我們在這一領域的努力得到了最新 QSR 雜誌 Drive-Thru 報告的認可，其中 Wendy's 在服務時間、訂單準確性和滿意度方面名列前 5 名品牌。

We once again leaned into our ownable platforms, new products and partnerships during the third quarter. The launch of our loaded Nacho Cheese Burger and Fries, continued innovation on the Frosty line with strawberry and pumpkin spice flavors, our BOGO for $1 promotion and our ongoing partnership with college football all supported our progress. Looking ahead to the rest of the year, you can expect more craveable innovation alongside value that supports the restaurant economic model as we run our high-low strategy.

第三季我們再次關注我們擁有的平台、新產品和合作夥伴關係。我們推出的納喬起司漢堡和薯條、草莓和南瓜香料口味的 Frosty 系列的持續創新、我們的 BOGO 1 美元促銷以及我們與大學橄欖球隊的持續合作夥伴關係都支持了我們的進步。展望今年剩餘時間，隨著我們執行高低策略，您可以期待更多令人渴望的創新以及支持餐廳經濟模式的價值。

At the breakfast daypart, we continue to execute against our playbook of driving sales through innovation and promotions. We once again expanded our menu with the launch of our new Frosty Cream Cold Brew and English Muffin sandwiches. We also launched a new value offering, our 2 for $3 Biggie Bundles, which drove a meaningful sequential sales increase following its introduction and contributed to an acceleration in breakfast sales in the back half of the quarter. We know that value remains very important to the breakfast consumer and we plan to more consistently offer compelling value promotions to drive trial and repeat at this highly profitable daypart through year-end and beyond.

在早餐時段，我們繼續執行透過創新和促銷來推動銷售的策略。我們再次擴大了菜單，推出了新的霜奶油冷萃咖啡和英式鬆餅三明治。我們還推出了新的超值產品，即 2 美元 3 美元的 Biggie Bundles，推出後帶動了銷售額的連續增長，並促進了本季後半段早餐銷售的加速。我們知道，價值對早餐消費者來說仍然非常重要，我們計劃更一致地提供引人注目的價值促銷活動，以推動在年底及以後在這個高利潤的時段進行嘗試和重複。

Finally, our late-night efforts accelerated versus the second quarter and drove a mid-teens year-over-year sales increase for the daypart. Our sales performance at late night has far surpassed our pre-pandemic average, and we expect to continue benefiting from outsized growth as this daypart through the end of 2023. We continue to expect mid-single-digit global same-restaurant sales growth for full year 2023 and now expect our fourth quarter same-restaurant sales will land in the low single-digit range. We are confident in our ability to break through with consumers and are committed to driving profitable sales growth.

最後，我們在深夜的努力比第二季度有所加快，並推動了白天銷售的同比增長。我們深夜的銷售業績遠遠超過了大流行前的平均水平，我們預計到 2023 年底，我們將繼續受益於這一時段的大幅增長。我們繼續預計全球同餐廳銷售額將實現中個位數增長。到2023 年，現在預計我們第四季的同餐廳銷售額將降至較低的個位數範圍。我們對自己在消費者中取得突破的能力充滿信心，並致力於推動獲利性銷售成長。

Our digital business accelerated in the third quarter, with global sales mix reaching 13% and total sales growing 30% year-over-year. Internationally, we continue to see strong adoption of digital channels, leading to a sales mix of over 18%. We continue to significantly grow our Canadian digital business, and we now hold the #2 position in digital traffic share across the QSR Burger segment in that market. We also achieved another quarter of outstanding digital mix in the U.K., now reaching over 90%.

我們的數位業務在第三季加速成長，全球銷售額佔比達到 13%，總銷售額年增 30%。在國際上，我們繼續看到數位管道的大力採用，導致銷售組合超過 18%。我們繼續大幅發展我們的加拿大數位業務，目前我們在該市場 QSR Burger 細分市場的數位流量份額中排名第二。我們也在英國實現了另一個季度的出色數字組合，目前已達到 90% 以上。

Our U.S. digital sales mix grew to over 12%, with growth versus the prior quarter, driven by a meaningful uptick in our loyalty program. Total U.S. loyalty members reached over 35 million and monthly active users grew almost 40% quarter-over-quarter to over 5 million as we exited the third quarter. This growth was driven by offers that are truly resonating with our customers. like our $0.01 JBC promotion celebrating National Cheeseburger Day and allowing for in-store offer redemptions, which has expanded our loyalty reach. We will continue to lean into impactful offers to drive further loyalty program growth moving forward.

在我們的忠誠度計畫大幅提升的推動下，我們的美國數位銷售組合成長至 12% 以上，與上一季相比有所成長。第三季結束時，美國忠誠會員總數超過 3,500 萬，每月活躍用戶較上季成長近 40%，達到 500 萬以上。這種成長是由真正引起客戶共鳴的優惠所推動的。例如，我們的 0.01 美元 JBC 促銷活動慶祝國家起司漢堡日，並允許店內優惠兌換，這擴大了我們的忠誠度。我們將繼續依靠有影響力的優惠來推動忠誠度計劃的進一步發展。

On a year-over-year basis, our almost 30% U.S. digital sales growth was driven by strength across all digital channels, including delivery. Our strong partnerships with third-party delivery providers continue to benefit us as we activated compelling ads and exclusive offers that tied into our college football messaging and new product launches. I am proud of the ongoing digital growth we have achieved over the last few years.

與去年同期相比，我們的美國數位銷售成長了近 30%，這是由包括交付在內的所有數位管道的實力所推動的。我們與第三方交付提供者的牢固合作關係繼續使我們受益，因為我們啟動了與我們的大學橄欖球資訊和新產品發布相關的引人注目的廣告和獨家優惠。我對過去幾年我們所取得的持續數位化成長感到自豪。

Our successes to date support an increase in our global digital sales expectation to approximately $1.8 billion this year, which represents over 20% growth year-over-year. Looking ahead, there is still significant digital growth to be captured. The large uptick in monthly active users last quarter and the increase in our digital sales expectation is just the taste of what's in front of us. I am confident that continued execution of our plans alongside our key partners will drive our digital business in the years to come.

迄今為止，我們所取得的成功支持我們將今年的全球數位銷售預期提高至約 18 億美元，年增超過 20%。展望未來，仍需捕捉顯著的數位成長。上個季度月度活躍用戶的大幅上升以及我們數位銷售預期的增加只是我們眼前的一幕。我相信，與我們的主要合作夥伴一起繼續執行我們的計劃將在未來幾年推動我們的數位業務。

Our development pace accelerated in the third quarter as we opened 72 new restaurants and we are tracking towards our 2023 global net unit growth target of approximately 2% with 100% of our current year pipeline open or under construction. Looking towards the future, we made meaningful progress towards further solidifying our long-term development pipeline by securing incremental commitments with new and existing franchisees across every region in which we operate with international markets leading the way.

第三季我們的發展步伐加快，開設了 72 家新餐廳，我們正在朝著 2023 年約 2% 的全球淨單位成長目標邁進，今年的管道數量 100% 已開業或正在建造。展望未來，我們在國際市場領先的每個地區與新的和現有的特許經營商達成增量承諾，在進一步鞏固我們的長期發展管道方面取得了有意義的進展。

In the U.K., we recently added a new franchisee to the market and our 3 existing traditional franchisees have increased their development agreements, highlighting their confidence in the long-term trajectory of the brand.

在英國，我們最近在市場上增加了一家新的特許經營商，並且我們現有的 3 家傳統特許經營商增加了他們的發展協議，突顯了他們對品牌長期發展軌蹟的信心。

Additionally, our existing franchisee in Japan has significantly accelerated their agreement as operations normalize following the pandemic and sales continue to improve.

此外，隨著疫情後營運正常化且銷售持續改善，我們在日本的現有特許經營商顯著加快了達成協議的速度。

We also added an incremental development agreement in Mexico, a key growth market that continues to gain sales momentum and new franchisee interest.

我們還在墨西哥增加了一項增量開發協議，墨西哥是一個關鍵的成長市場，繼續獲得銷售動力和新的特許經營興趣。

Across the U.S. and Canada, we experienced a significant uptick in agreements across our suite of development programs with new sign-ups for the Pacesetter and Groundbreaker incentives, and growing commitments to our Build-to-Suit fund, which is now 70% committed.

在美國和加拿大，我們的一系列開發計劃協議大幅增加，新簽約的標兵和開創者激勵措施以及對我們的定制基金的承諾不斷增加，目前已承諾 70%。

Our efforts drove a substantial increase in the share of our long-term development pipeline under an agreement to approximately 70%. This is higher than historical norms and builds an additional layer of certainty into our development outlook. All of this progress is in addition to our previously announced master franchise agreement with Flint Group to develop 200 Wendy's restaurants in Australia, which bolsters our development plans past 2025.

我們的努力使我們在協議下的長期開發項目中所佔的份額大幅增加至約 70%。這高於歷史常態，為我們的發展前景增添了一層確定性。所有這些進展都是對我們先前宣布的與 Flint Group 簽署的在澳洲開發 200 家 Wendy's 餐廳的主特許經營協議的補充，這支持了我們 2025 年之後的發展計劃。

Finally, we remain very active on the franchise recruiting front, and our team is continually adding franchise candidates to the pipeline and new franchisees to the system. We look forward to sharing more news in the coming months as we continue to progress towards our long-term global net unit growth targets of 2% to 3% in 2024 and 3% to 4% in 2025.

最後，我們在特許經營招募方面仍然非常活躍，我們的團隊不斷將特許經營候選人添加到管道中，並將新的特許經營商添加到系統中。隨著我們繼續朝著 2024 年 2% 至 3% 和 2025 年 3% 至 4% 的長期全球淨單位成長目標邁進，我們期待在未來幾個月分享更多消息。

Our playbook of driving meaningful global growth behind our 3 long-term strategic pillars remains the same. Our ongoing success would not be possible without the partnership we have with our franchisees. We recently received the results of the 2023 Franchise Business Review survey, reflecting another year of Wendy's far exceeding industry benchmarks. I am especially pleased with our rating on overall satisfaction, which paces more than 10 percentage points ahead of the industry in both the U.S. and internationally.

我們在三大長期策略支柱背後推動有意義的全球成長的策略保持不變。如果沒有我們與特許經營商的合作關係，我們就不可能取得持續的成功。我們最近收到了 2023 年特許經營業務評論調查結果，反映出溫迪又遠遠超出行業基準的一年。我對我們的整體滿意度評級感到特別滿意，該評級比美國和國際上的行業領先 10 個百分點以上。

We also continue to outpace the industry on financial opportunity and leadership scores further highlighting our system alignment. We recently held our annual franchise convention, and I could not be more pleased with the excitement we built across the system. We look forward to sharing more details on our plans to drive compelling restaurant economic model improvement on the back of acceleration across our growth pillars and providing our outlook when we release our fourth quarter earnings on February 15.

我們在財務機會和領導力得分方面也繼續領先業界，進一步凸顯了我們的系統一致性。我們最近舉行了年度特許經營大會，我對我們在整個系統中建立的興奮感到非常高興。我們期待在我們的成長支柱加速的背景下分享更多有關我們推動引人注目的餐廳經濟模式改進的計劃的細節，並在 2 月 15 日發布第四季度收益時提供我們的展望。

Through the partnerships with our franchisees and the dedication of our restaurant crews and support center teams, we will continue our march towards achieving our vision of becoming the world's most striving and beloved restaurant brand.

透過與我們的特許經營商的合作夥伴關係以及我們餐廳工作人員和支持中心團隊的奉獻精神，我們將繼續努力實現成為世界上最努力和最受歡迎的餐廳品牌的願景。

I will now hand it over to GP to share our third quarter financial performance.

我現在將交給GP來分享我們第三季的財務表現。

Thanks, Todd. Our third quarter results continued to highlight the consistency of our financial formula as progress against our strategic growth initiatives once again drove sales and profit growth. Our global systemwide sales grew 4.8%, achieving 13.7% growth on a 2-year basis, supported by global same-restaurant sales growth across both our U.S. and international segments and continued global net unit growth.

謝謝，托德。我們的第三季業績繼續凸顯了我們財務公式的一致性，因為我們的策略成長計畫的進展再次推動了銷售和利潤的成長。在我們美國和國際部門的全球同店銷售成長以及全球淨單位持續成長的支持下，我們的全球系統銷售額成長了 4.8%，在兩年基礎上實現了 13.7% 的成長。

Our U.S. company restaurant margin reached 15.6%, increasing 80 basis points year-over-year. This expansion was primarily due to the benefit of a higher average check driven by cumulative pricing of 6% partially offset by customer count declines and labor and commodity inflation of approximately 4% and 2%, respectively.

我們的美國公司餐廳利潤率達到 15.6%，年增 80 個基點。這種擴張主要是由於 6% 的累積定價推動了平均支票的增加，但部分被客戶數量下降以及勞動力和商品通膨分別約為 4% 和 2% 所抵消。

G&A decreased approximately 5%, primarily driven by lower professional fees resulting primarily from the completion of the company's ERP implementation.

G&A 下降約 5%，主要是由於公司 ERP 實施完成而導致專業費用下降。

Adjusted EBITDA increased 3.5% to approximately $139 million, resulting primarily from higher franchise royalty revenue, lower G&A expense, a decrease in the company's incremental investment in breakfast advertising and an increase in U.S. company-operated restaurant margin. These were partially offset by lower other operating income due to lapping a significant gain from insurance recoveries in the prior year, which represents a year-over-year EBITDA headwind of approximately 6% during the third quarter.

調整後的 EBITDA 成長 3.5%，達到約 1.39 億美元，主要是由於特許經營權收入增加、一般管理費用減少、公司早餐廣告增量投資減少以及美國公司經營的餐廳利潤率增加。這些收入被上一年保險追償帶來的顯著收益所導致的其他營業收入下降所部分抵消，這意味著第三季 EBITDA 年比下降約 6%。

The over 12% increase in adjusted earnings per share was driven by an increase in adjusted EBITDA and higher interest income. These increases were partially offset by higher amortization of cloud computing arrangement costs.

調整後每股收益成長超過 12%，是由調整後 EBITDA 成長和利息收入增加所推動的。這些成長被雲端運算部署成本攤銷的增加部分抵消。

Year-to-date free cash flow increased over 35% to approximately $226 million, resulting primarily from higher net income, adjusted for noncash expenses and a decrease in payments for incentive compensation. These were partially offset by higher capital expenditures.

年初至今的自由現金流增加了 35% 以上，達到約 2.26 億美元，這主要是由於經非現金支出調整後的淨利潤增加以及激勵性薪酬支付的減少。這些被較高的資本支出部分抵銷。

Our strong results through the third quarter and the plans we have in place to end the year support our confidence in our 2023 and long-term financial outlook, which we are largely reaffirming today. We are tightening our full year global systemwide sales growth range to 6% to 7% and driven by our expectations for low single-digit global same-restaurant sales growth in the fourth quarter. We continue to expect mid-single-digit global same-restaurant sales growth for full year 2023, and global net unit growth of approximately 2%.

我們第三季的強勁業績以及年底制定的計劃支持了我們對 2023 年和長期財務前景的信心，今天我們在很大程度上重申了這一點。由於我們對第四季度全球同餐廳銷售成長較低的個位數成長的預期，我們將全年全球系統範圍銷售成長範圍收緊至 6% 至 7%。我們繼續預期 2023 年全年全球同店銷售額將實現中個位數成長，全球淨單位成長率約為 2%。

Our 2023 adjusted EBITDA outlook of $530 million to $540 million remains unchanged. Our tightened global systemwide sales outlook is offset by a lower G&A expectation of approximately $250 million, primarily driven by a lower expected incentive compensation accrual. We continue to expect U.S. company-operated restaurant margin of 15% to 16%. We are also reaffirming our 2023 outlook for adjusted EPS of $0.95 to $1.00.

我們對 2023 年調整後 EBITDA 的預期為 5.3 億美元至 5.4 億美元，維持不變。我們收緊的全球系統銷售前景被約 2.5 億美元的一般管理費用預期降低所抵消，這主要是由於預期激勵薪酬應計額較低所致。我們繼續預期美國公司經營餐廳的利潤率為 15% 至 16%。我們也重申 2023 年調整後每股收益 0.95 美元至 1.00 美元的預期。

Our capital expenditure outlook for the year is tightening to $80 million to $85 million, as we have better visibility as we close in on year-end. Finally, we continue to expect 2023 free cash flow of $265 million to $275 million as our tightened capital expenditure outlook is offset by higher interest income.

我們今年的資本支出前景收緊至 8,000 萬至 8,500 萬美元，因為隨著年底的臨近，我們的能見度有所提高。最後，我們繼續預期 2023 年自由現金流為 2.65 億至 2.75 億美元，因為我們收緊的資本支出前景被更高的利息收入所抵銷。

Turning to our long-term outlook, we continue to expect mid-single-digit annual systemwide sales growth and high single-digit to low double-digit annual free cash flow growth in 2024 and 2025.

談到我們的長期前景，我們繼續預期 2024 年和 2025 年全系統銷售額將實現中個位數成長，年度自由現金流將實現高個位數至低兩位數成長。

To close, I'd like to highlight our capital allocation policy, which remains unchanged. Our cash balance remained elevated at more than $600 million at the end of the third quarter, giving us flexibility to invest in the business to deliver meaningful global growth and return cash to shareholders.

最後，我想強調我們的資本配置政策，該政策保持不變。截至第三季末，我們的現金餘額仍保持在 6 億美元以上的高位，這使我們能夠靈活地投資於業務，以實現有意義的全球成長並向股東返還現金。

Our first priority continues to be investing in our business for growth, which we will continue to do while holding true to our asset-light model. Secondly, we announced today the declaration of our fourth quarter dividend of $0.25 per share, delivering a full year dividend of $1 per share in 2023. This represents an over 100% dividend payout ratio and aligns with our commitment to sustain an attractive dividend.

我們的首要任務仍然是投資業務以實現成長，我們將繼續這樣做，同時堅持我們的輕資產模式。其次，我們今天宣布第四季股息為每股 0.25 美元，2023 年全年股息為每股 1 美元。這代表著超過 100% 的股息支付率，符合我們維持有吸引力股息的承諾。

Lastly, our capital allocation policy gives us the flexibility to utilize excess cash, to repurchase shares and reduce debt. Year-to-date, through October 26, we have repurchased approximately 8 million shares and have approximately $332 million remaining on our $500 million share repurchase authorization expiring in February of 2027.

最後，我們的資本配置政策使我們能夠靈活地利用多餘現金、回購股票和減少債務。年初至今，截至 10 月 26 日，我們已回購約 800 萬股股票，5 億美元的股票回購授權將於 2027 年 2 月到期，剩餘資金約 3.32 億美元。

We expect to continue to lean in on share repurchases this year in light of our current share price and cash balance. Additionally, we repurchased approximately $70 million of debt for approximately $65 million, including both debentures and securitized debt year-to-date through October 26.

鑑於我們目前的股價和現金餘額，我們預計今年將繼續傾向股票回購。此外，截至 10 月 26 日，我們以約 6,500 萬美元的價格回購了約 7,000 萬美元的債務，包括債券和證券化債務。

Our Board of Directors recently increased our debt repurchase authorization by $10 million, leaving approximately $20 million remaining on the authorization expiring in February of 2024. We are fully committed to continue delivering our simple, yet powerful formula. We are a predictable, efficient growth company that is investing in our growth pillars and driving strong systemwide sales growth on the backdrop of positive same-restaurant sales and expanding our global footprint. This is translating into significant free cash flows, which supports meaningful return of cash to shareholders through an attractive dividend and share repurchases.

我們的董事會最近將債務回購授權增加了 1000 萬美元，授權剩餘約 2000 萬美元將於 2024 年 2 月到期。我們完全致力於繼續提供我們簡單而強大的方案。我們是一家可預測、高效的成長型公司，在同餐廳銷售積極和擴大我們的全球足跡的背景下，我們正在投資於我們的成長支柱並推動整個系統的銷售強勁成長。這轉化為大量的自由現金流，支持透過有吸引力的股息和股票回購為股東帶來有意義的現金回報。

With that, I will hand things over to Kelsey to share our upcoming IR calendar.

接下來，我將把事情交給凱爾西來分享我們即將推出的 IR 日曆。

Thanks, GP. To start things off, we have an NDR in New York with Barclays on November 15, after which we'll attend the Stephens conference in Nashville on November 16. On November 27, we have an investor call with KeyBank and finally, we have a virtual NDR with TD Cowen on December 11.

謝謝，全科醫生。首先，我們將於11 月15 日在紐約與巴克萊銀行舉行NDR，之後我們將參加11 月16 日在納許維爾舉行的史蒂芬斯會議。11 月27 日，我們與KeyBank 舉行了投資者電話會議，最後，我們12 月 11 日與 TD Cowen 進行虛擬 NDR。

If you're interested in joining us at any of these events, please contact the respective sell-side analyst or equity sales contact at the host firm.

如果您有興趣參加我們的任何活動，請聯絡主辦公司相應的賣方分析師或股權銷售聯絡人。

Lastly, we plan to report our fourth quarter and full year earnings and host a conference call that same day on February 15.

最後，我們計劃報告第四季和全年收益，並於 2 月 15 日同一天召開電話會議。

As we transition into our Q&A section, I wanted to remind everyone that due to the high number of covering analysts, we'll be limiting everyone to 1 question only.

當我們進入問答部分時，我想提醒大家，由於涵蓋分析師的人數較多，我們將限制每個人只能提出 1 個問題。

With that, we're ready to take your questions.

這樣，我們就準備好回答您的問題了。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our question today comes from David Palmer of Evercore ISI.

我們今天的問題來自 Evercore ISI 的 David Palmer。

I wanted to ask you about unit growth and particularly the return on investment for franchisees. I know you've been working on new formats and you touched on this last conference call, but I think it's worth going over because I think people are concerned about the higher building costs, the higher land costs and the margin compression that's naturally happened because of labor. So could you just kind of go through what you see as the return on investment for new units these days? And where you see that pipeline developing?

我想問您有關單位成長的問題，特別是特許經營者的投資報酬率。我知道您一直在研究新的格式，並且您談到了最後一次電話會議，但我認為值得回顧一下，因為我認為人們擔心更高的建築成本、更高的土地成本以及自然發生的利潤壓縮，因為的勞動。那麼，您能否簡單介紹一下您認為目前新單位的投資報酬率是多少？您認為該管道在哪裡發展？

Good morning, David. Yes, it's great question. We made great progress on new build designs. As you know, with Next Gen, our building costs, we took about 10% cost out. And we are also operating it more efficiently. As you go through this, if you were to have no incentive the levered payback of a Next Gen design is about 6 years. So it's the 1 bookend. If you sign up our Build-to-Suit program, which is the most attractive program for franchisees, you get a levered return of about 3.5 years. .

早安，大衛。是的，這是一個很好的問題。我們在新建築設計方面取得了巨大進展。如您所知，對於下一代，我們的建築成本減少了大約 10%。我們也正在更有效地運作它。當你經歷這個過程時，如果你沒有動力，下一代設計的槓桿投資回收期大約是 6 年。這是第 1 個書擋。如果您簽署我們的客製化計畫（這是對加盟商最具吸引力的計畫），您將獲得約 3.5 年的槓桿回報。 。

And then obviously, we have other incentive programs like the Pacesetter that gets you to a return of about 4 years. And if you choose to do a Groundbreaker, it's about 5.5 years of levered return. So that's kind of what we have. It assumes the elevated -- from a leverage point of view, it assumes the elevated interest rates that we are seeing in the marketplace.

顯然，我們還有其他激勵計劃，例如 Pacesetter，可以讓您獲得大約 4 年的回報。如果你選擇進行Groundbreaker，大約需要5.5年的槓桿回報。這就是我們所擁有的。它假設利率升高——從槓桿的角度來看，它假設我們在市場上看到的利率升高。

And I think, David, the confidence in the future is really in the proof that we talked about on the call, right? We've got 2% net unit growth approximately that will hit this year with all of those open or under construction. We've now got 70% of our restaurants under development agreement through 2025. So we are building confidence and we know we need to continue to work to take a little bit of cost out of the building and continue to drive our margins up. And we've been seeing nice healthy margins on company new restaurant openings, which been opening north of $2 million with margins above the average margins that you see for the company. So those are encouraging signs too.

我認為，大衛，對未來的信心確實體現在我們在電話會議上討論的證據中，對嗎？我們的淨單位成長率約為 2%，今年所有已開放或興建中的單位將達到此水準。現在，到 2025 年，我們 70% 的餐廳都簽訂了開發協議。因此，我們正在建立信心，我們知道我們需要繼續努力，以降低建築成本，並繼續提高我們的利潤率。我們看到公司新開餐廳的利潤率非常可觀，新開的餐廳利潤超過 200 萬美元，利潤率高於公司的平均利潤率。所以這些也是令人鼓舞的跡象。

Our next question comes from Tyler Prause from Stephens.

我們的下一個問題來自史蒂芬斯的泰勒·普拉斯。

Can you talk a little more about the consumer and what you're seeing as far as trade down or check management. Additionally, what are you seeing in the competitive environment as far as discounting among peers?

您能多談談消費者以及您在降價或檢查管理方面所看到的情況嗎？此外，在競爭環境中，您對同行之間的折扣有何看法？

Yes. If you look at the consumer, it's really the tale of 2 sides, right? The over 75,000 consumer continues to be healthy. We continue to see traffic growth in that segment. We're holding our share in that segment, under 75,000 consumers a little more stressed, especially as you go down the income core, it gets even more stressed.

是的。如果你看看消費者，這確實是兩個面向的故事，對吧？超過 75,000 名消費者仍然保持健康。我們繼續看到該細分市場的流量成長。我們在該細分市場中保持著自己的份額，75,000 名消費者的壓力稍大一些，特別是當你降低收入核心時，壓力會更大。

But again, we've lost a little bit of traffic there, but still holding our share with that consumer. From a trade-down perspective, we are seeing some trade down from mid-scale casual and sit down into QSR. But we're also seeing some trade out of the category from the lower income consumer out of QSR and into food at home. So it was kind of wash each other out along the way. We do feel like we've got a calendar that's very balanced with high and low to support both income cohorts. And our job is to continue to make sure that we create great experiences as we have those folks trade into our brand and have compelling offers to make sure as folks get a little healthier from an economic standpoint, they continue to come back into the Wendy's brand with our great promotions moving forward.

但同樣，我們失去了一點流量，但仍保住了該消費者的份額。從降級的角度來看，我們看到一些中檔休閒品降級到快餐。但我們也看到一些低收入消費者從快餐轉向家庭食品。所以一路上就有點互相淘汰了。我們確實覺得我們有一個非常平衡的高低收入日曆來支持兩個收入群體。我們的工作是繼續確保我們創造良好的體驗，因為我們讓這些人購買我們的品牌，並提供令人信服的優惠，以確保當人們從經濟角度變得更健康時，他們會繼續回到溫蒂品牌隨著我們的大型促銷活動而不斷推進。

Our next question comes from Jeffrey Bernstein of Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的傑弗裡·伯恩斯坦。

Just wondering if you could talk a little bit about -- I think you mentioned the comps start to improve in mid-August. That traffic was positive. I'm just wondering if you could talk a little bit about what you think was the driver of the uptick I know of the big burger players, it seems like optically, you're perhaps lagging your 2 biggest burger players. I know you mentioned holding your dollar and percent market share.

只是想知道你是否可以談談——我想你提到了比賽在八月中旬開始改善。流量是正面的。我只是想知道你是否可以談談你認為是什麼推動了我所知道的大型漢堡公司的成長，從視覺上看，你可能落後於兩個最大的漢堡公司。我知道你提到持有你的美元和市場份額。

So I'm just wondering if you can connect the dots for a little bit more detail in terms of the competitive marketplace and your positioning relative to those largest peers. And again, the improvement that you saw in mid-August, what you think the drivers of that were?

因此，我只是想知道您是否可以將這些點聯繫起來，以了解競爭市場以及您相對於那些最大同行的定位的更多細節。再說一遍，您在 8 月中旬看到的改善，您認為其驅動因素是什麼？

Thanks for the question, Jeffrey. As you think about the start to the quarter, we were up against some really strong comps from a year ago with the success of Strawberry Frosty. We thought we had a strong promotion with the BOGO for $1. It didn't bring in as many add-ons early in the quarter as we had anticipated. But we also didn't have any immediate support or promotional support on the breakfast business to start the quarter. We are rolling off of the $3 Croissant deal and really did set ourselves up with a lot of support or news to compete in the first half of the quarter. But as the quarter evolved, we made some several challenges.

謝謝你的提問，傑弗裡。當你想到本季的開始時，我們面臨著一年前草莓霜的成功帶來的一些非常強大的競爭。我們以為我們有一個 1 美元的 BOGO 強力促銷活動。它在本季度初並沒有像我們預期的那樣引入那麼多附加組件。但在本季開始時，我們也沒有對早餐業務提供任何直接支援或促銷支援。我們正在取消 3 美元的羊角麵包交易，並且確實為我們自己提供了很多支持或新聞，以便在本季度上半段競爭。但隨著本季的發展，我們提出了一些挑戰。

We launched on the premium side in the middle of the quarter with the loaded Nacho Cheeseburger and Queso fries. We brought news to breakfast with the English Muffin. We started our NCAA cup promotion. And we launched a very compelling 2 for $3 breakfast Biggie Bag bundles. We started to see our business immediately shift and bring more customers in as we put those news and promotions out. And then soon after that, the Pumpkin Spice Frosty launched, which created some additional support. And with all of that, we saw our 1 and 2-year same-restaurant sales accelerate each month within the quarter.

我們在本季中期推出了高端產品，包括納喬起司漢堡和玉米薯條。我們用英式鬆餅早餐帶來了新聞。我們開始了 NCAA 杯促銷活動。我們還推出了非常引人注目的 3 美元 2 份早餐 Biggie Bag 套裝。當我們發布這些新聞和促銷活動時，我們開始看到我們的業務立即轉變並吸引了更多客戶。不久之後，南瓜香料霜推出，這創造了一些額外的支撐。儘管如此，我們看到我們的 1 年和 2 年同餐廳銷售額在本季每個月都在加速成長。

And importantly, we started to deviate from category trends with us starting to grow customer counts as we exited the quarter versus the category -- QSR Burger category being a little more challenged.

重要的是，我們開始偏離類別趨勢，隨著我們退出本季度，我們的客戶數量開始增加，而 QSR 漢堡類別面臨的挑戰更大。

And our next question comes from Danilo Gargiulo from Bernstein.

我們的下一個問題來自伯恩斯坦的達尼洛·加吉烏洛（Danilo Gargiulo）。

In your opening remarks, you mentioned offering more consistent value promotion. So can you elaborate on that point? And what are you planning to maintain strong restaurant level margins for the next few quarters as a result of your strategy?

在您的開場白中，您提到提供更一致的價值促銷。能詳細說明一下這一點嗎？您計劃如何透過您的策略在未來幾季保持強勁的餐廳利潤率？

Yes, I mean value is important for our consumers. As Todd answered the previous question, right, the income cohort that is earning less than $75,000 a year. They are having less frequency in opting out of the category. So as a result of it, value bundles are important. I would say we've done a good -- a great job to move away from 4 for $4 and really upgrade the consumer to $4, $5 and $6 Biggie Bags. We have done a similar thing now with -- instead of doing like [a dollar] -- croissant promotion, we are moving to 2 for $3, which, again, is creating overall better economics.

是的，我的意思是價值對我們的消費者來說很重要。正如托德回答上一個問題一樣，對，就是年收入低於 75,000 美元的收入群體。他們選擇退出該類別的頻率較低。因此，價值捆綁很重要。我想說，我們做得很好，從 4 美元的 Biggie Bag 轉變為真正將消費者升級到 4 美元、5 美元和 6 美元的 Biggie Bag。我們現在做了類似的事情——而不是像[一美元]那樣——牛角麵包促銷，我們正在轉向 3 美元 2 個，這再次創造了整體更好的經濟效益。

When you see it in our company restaurant P&L, our margin in the quarter was up 80 basis points despite still 2% commodity inflation and 4% labor inflation. If we take the whole year, the whole year, our company restaurant margin sits at 15.9%. It's actually above COVID levels and we expanded profitability by about 190 basis points. So it's a good balancing act that is driving a good consumer engagement without actually giving up on restaurant economic model and other way around, we're actually expanding profitability.

當你在我們公司餐廳的損益表中看到這一點時，我們本季的利潤率成長了 80 個基點，儘管商品通膨率仍為 2%，勞動力通膨率為 4%。如果我們全年來看，我們公司餐廳的利潤率為 15.9%。它實際上高於新冠疫情的水平，我們的獲利能力提高了約 190 個基點。因此，這是一個很好的平衡行為，可以推動良好的消費者參與度，而不會真正放棄餐廳經濟模式，而其他方式，我們實際上正在擴大獲利能力。

GP said it well, it's a nice balanced calendar. We've talked about that historically, and we continue to make sure that we're there for the consumer but also make sure that we're working a strong restaurant economic model. And you see that in the construct of our everyday Biggie Bag Bundles at breakfast, good margin construct on that. You see that on the evolution of our Biggie Bag rest of day as we've evolved from 4 for $4 to $5 and $6. And you'll see a nice balance between digital offers new news like Peppermint Frosty coming back into the fourth quarter, and we'll continue to make sure we bring some exciting innovations as we close out the year on the premium side.

GP說得很好，這是一個很好的平衡日曆。我們已經討論過這一點，我們將繼續確保我們為消費者服務，同時也確保我們正在建立一個強大的餐廳經濟模式。您會發現，在我們每天早餐時購買的 Biggie Bag Bundle 的結構中，有良好的利潤結構。您將看到我們的 Biggie Bag 休息日的演變，我們已經從 4 美元 4 美元演變為 5 美元和 6 美元。您將看到數位產品之間的良好平衡，例如薄荷糖霜將在第四季度回歸，我們將繼續確保在高端領域結束這一年時帶來一些令人興奮的創新。

Our next question comes from Andrew Charles from TD Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 TD Cowen 的 Andrew Charles。

Todd, 2-part question on breakfast. First, just curious if you look back over the last or so post COVID, how would you describe the progress of driving breakfast trial and to have it? And separately, you talked about the success of the 2 for $3 breakfast promo in the quarter. How do you plan to improve breakfast profitability as value activity for the category is likely to persist and likely put pressure on continued promotions during the daypart?

托德，關於早餐的兩部分問題。首先，我想知道，如果您回顧一下新冠疫情後的過去一段時間，您會如何描述駕駛早餐試驗的進展以及享用早餐的進展？另外，您也談到了本季 3 美元 2 份早餐促銷活動的成功。由於該類別的價值活動可能會持續下去，並可能對白天的持續促銷造成壓力，您計劃如何提高早餐的盈利能力？

Yes, we're still on a journey, trying to ingrain the breakfast daypart and the habit, it takes some time. We've been doing a nice try -- nice job. We've got good awareness. We have been driving trial, we continue to have an opportunity to bring our rest of day customer in and get them into our breakfast daypart. But we're still, what I would characterize in the early innings of breakfast. And you see that where we need to continue to make sure that we've got news. We did that in this quarter with Frosty Cream Cold Brew with English Muffin.

是的，我們仍在路上，試圖將早餐和習慣根深蒂固，這需要一些時間。我們一直在做一次很好的嘗試——幹得好。我們有很好的意識。我們一直在進行試驗，我們繼續有機會吸引我們其餘時間的客戶並讓他們進入我們的早餐時段。但我們仍然是我在早餐的前幾局所描述的。你看，我們需要繼續確保我們掌握新聞。我們在本季推出了帶有英式鬆餅的霜凍奶油冷萃咖啡。

We do know we need to have compelling value, 2 for $3 is compelling value. But it's constructed very nicely to make sure that it works for the restaurant economic model as well for the consumer. And we just need to be consistent, be consistent on with compelling value. Biggie Bundles gives us that platform to do that. And we continue to be consistent out there with messaging, letting the consumer know that Wendy's is open for breakfast. So it is a journey. It's been progressing well. We've continued to establish that daypart for us. And we know we've got a lot of opportunity for growth still ahead of us.

我們確實知道我們需要具有令人信服的價值，2 美元 3 美元就是令人信服的價值。但它的構造非常好，以確保它適用於餐廳經濟模型以及消費者。我們只需要保持一致，在令人信服的價值上保持一致。 Biggie Bundles 為我們提供了實現這一目標的平台。我們繼續保持一致的訊息傳遞，讓消費者知道 Wendy's 供應早餐。所以這是一個旅程。進展順利。我們繼續為我們建立這一時段。我們知道我們仍然有很多成長機會。

And Andrew, as you know, right, the breakfast business is above average profitability even when we promote, we still basically maintain above-average profitability. That's the reason why we keep leaning in, keep innovating, keep price promoting to continue to drive the break-in habit and building our business because long term, it's a sustained tailwind to our margin progression.

安德魯，正如你所知，對，早餐業務的盈利能力高於平均水平，即使我們進行推廣，我們仍然基本保持高於平均水平的盈利能力。這就是為什麼我們不斷前行，不斷創新，不斷促銷價格，以繼續推動磨合習慣和發展我們的業務，因為從長遠來看，這是我們利潤增長的持續推動力。

And our next question comes from Gregory Francfort from Guggenheim.

我們的下一個問題來自古根漢的格雷戈里·弗蘭克福特。

GP, I just had a question on balance sheet and cash usages. And it sounded like on the prepared remarks, you were talking about maybe no change to the capital structure, but I think you've been buying back a little bit of debt here. And I'm wondering as you look forward the next 2 or 3 years, what's your thoughts on leverage and what your thoughts are on potentially the pushes and pulls between share repurchase and debt repurchase?

全科醫生，我只是有一個關於資產負債表和現金使用的問題。聽起來就像在準備好的演講中，您談論的可能是資本結構沒有變化，但我認為您一直在這裡回購了一些債務。我想知道，當您展望未來兩三年時，您對槓桿有何看法，以及您對股票回購和債務回購之間潛在的推動和拉動有何看法？

Greg. Yes, we're sitting in a great position, right? Our cash balance is a little bit more than $600 million. As you know, we have securitized debt structure that's very well laddered. So when is our next debt action is clearly end of 2025 when we have to buy back our -- payback our debentures is about $50 million outstanding. And then the first WBS debt that's going to be refinanced in 2026. So we have time to wait what the financial markets are going to do. We are sitting currently at about a 5.2x -- sorry, in the 4.7x leverage ratio.

格雷格.是的，我們處於一個很好的位置，對嗎？我們的現金餘額略高於 6 億美元。如您所知，我們擁有階梯式的證券化債務結構。因此，我們的下一次債務行動顯然是在 2025 年底，屆時我們必須回購約 5,000 萬美元的未償還債券。然後，第一筆 WBS 債務將於 2026 年進行再融資。因此，我們有時間等待金融市場的走勢。我們目前的槓桿率約為 5.2 倍——抱歉，是 4.7 倍。

So it's well below the 5x to 6x, I started on 7 years ago. I would expect with that trajectory that leverage people naturally delever. And you will also see us definitely continuing to look at our debt and maybe buy back more. You've seen the sign, the Board has increased our debt authorization. So if you get all of that done, we will have bought back $85 million of debt on top of the mandatory authorization. So the balancing act, we are obviously trying to protect a very, very attractive dividend so that you can continue to see from us. And you can also expect obviously, share repurchases is continuing to be part of our choices.

所以它遠低於我 7 年前開始的 5 倍到 6 倍。我希望透過這種軌跡，人們會自然地去槓桿化。你也會看到我們肯定會繼續審視我們的債務，也許還會回購更多債務。你已經看到這個標誌了，董事會增加了我們的債務授權。因此，如果完成所有這些工作，除了強制授權之外，我們還將回購 8,500 萬美元的債務。因此，為了平衡，我們顯然正在努力保護非常非常有吸引力的股息，以便您可以繼續從我們這裡看到。顯然，您也可以預期，股票回購將繼續成為我們選擇的一部分。

As you know, we have leaned in on a year-to-date basis. We have bought back $168 million on a prorated basis, really, that would be $125 million on the year. So we are leaning in. So clearly, if we leave the authorization unchanged for the next 3 years, share repurchases will step down a little bit.

如您所知，我們從今年至今已經取得了進展。我們已經按比例回購了 1.68 億美元，實際上，今年就是 1.25 億美元。所以我們正在採取行動。很明顯，如果我們在未來三年內保持授權不變，股票回購將會減少。

The great news is we've got a lot of flexibility to GP's point on the balance sheet with a lot of cash today and a lot of free cash flow generation that we've got built into the outlook, and we know we can continue to drive that, which gives us the opportunity to invest in growth first and foremost and return a lot of cash to the shareholders in various forms over time.

好消息是，我們在資產負債表上對普通合夥人的觀點有很大的靈活性，今天有大量現金，並且我們已將大量自由現金流生成納入了前景中，而且我們知道我們可以繼續推動這一個目標，這使我們有機會首先投資於成長，並隨著時間的推移以各種形式向股東返還大量現金。

And our next question comes from Dennis Geiger from UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的丹尼斯蓋革。

I wanted to ask a little bit more about late night and maybe even the snacking daypart opportunities is it seems like you're making good gains in late night this year. Is this still a notable opportunity into '24? And then I assume staffing and operations are some of the key drivers to help unlock that opportunity. But how much maybe the digital and loyalty because you guys look to maybe continue to push on those dayparts?

我想多問一些關於深夜的問題，甚至可能是白天吃零食的機會，看起來你今年在深夜取得了不錯的進展。這對 24 世紀來說仍然是一個值得注意的機會嗎？然後我認為人員配置和營運是幫助釋放這一機會的一些關鍵驅動因素。但是，數位化和忠誠度可能有多少，因為你們希望繼續推動這些時段的發展？

Yes. late night continues to be a fast-growing segment of the QSR business, and we're outperforming the category at late night, and we continue to have a lot of opportunity to continue momentum. We've led the way on late night with company. We've extended ours operation now across the system. We've made a lot of progress, and there's still a lot of opportunity across various regions of the country where we know we can do even more at late night. It's a great business, a lot of incremental volume without adding any labor. We do see a big delivery business at late night with that nice average check.

是的。深夜仍然是 QSR 業務中快速成長的部分，我們的表現優於深夜類別，我們仍然有很多機會繼續保持這一勢頭。深夜，我們在陪伴下帶路。我們現在已經將我們的營運擴展到了整個系統。我們已經取得了很大進展，全國各地仍然有很多機會，我們知道我們可以在深夜做得更多。這是一項偉大的業務，無需增加任何勞動力即可增加大量產量。我們確實看到深夜的送貨業務量很大，支票的平均水平也不錯。

We have seen staffing improve across all dayparts and turnover improve, which has certainly helped us staff the restaurant all the way from breakfast through the late-night daypart. But we do think that there's still a lot of leg room and opportunity to grow that business. And we know we can create and deliver some of the best food in the business when we're fully customized to make to order at that late-night daypart.

我們看到所有時段的人員配置都在改善，營業額也有所改善，這無疑幫助我們為餐廳提供從早餐到深夜時段的人員配置。但我們確實認為該業務仍有很大的發展空間和機會。我們知道，當我們完全客製化並在深夜時段按訂單生產時，我們可以創造並提供業內最好的食物。

And our next question comes from Jon Tower of Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Jon Tower。

Just curious, maybe you guys can expand upon your expectations for balancing pricing next year with new product news. I know obviously, can't dictate where franchisees are going with price and there will continue to be some inflationary pressures in the business and obviously, there's some stresses happening at the lower income levels of the consumer, maybe even spreads beyond that. So just curious how you're thinking about pricing actions next year? And maybe a follow-up to that.

只是好奇，也許你們可以透過新產品新聞來擴展明年平衡定價的期望。我顯然知道，不能決定特許經營商的價格走向，而且業務中將繼續存在一些通貨膨脹壓力，顯然，消費者的較低收入水平會產生一些壓力，甚至可能超出這一範圍。那麼只是好奇您如何考慮明年的定價行動？也許是後續行動。

Jon. Yes, it's all ties to our long-term guidance, right, we have said that we're expecting mid-single-digit overall sales growth with low single-digit same-restaurant sales growth. And the same-restaurant sales growth is really driven by flattish traffic, slightly positive mix and the rest is old price, right? So it's very low pricing versus what we have done in the past, just as a recap this year, we're expecting effective price increase in the company restaurant of about 7%. 5% of that was carryover, 2% was new. Just to foresee a little bit, we did our last price increase in May of this year, we are going to do a small price increase either at the end of this year to set us up for next year. So we're definitely expecting a moderating pricing environment. And therefore, that's the positive that we are taking.

喬恩.是的，這都與我們的長期指導有關，對吧，我們已經說過，我們預計整體銷售額將實現中個位數成長，而同餐廳銷售成長將達到低個位數。同店銷售的成長實際上是由客流量持平、略微積極的組合推動的，其餘的是舊價格，對嗎？因此，與我們過去所做的相比，這是非常低的定價，正如今年的回顧一樣，我們預計公司餐廳的有效價格將上漲約 7%。其中 5% 是結轉的，2% 是新的。可以預見一下，我們上次漲價是在今年 5 月，我們將在今年年底小幅漲價，為明年做好準備。因此，我們肯定會期待一個溫和的定價環境。因此，這就是我們所採取的積極措施。

I think from a calendar perspective, I think you'll see a continued balance across our calendar. How do we continue to focus on the core, to have the best hamburgers, chicken sandwiches in the business. What new news do we bring to keep Made to Crave fresh and ownable to the Wendy's brand and how do we continue to lean into some of our ownable platforms like Biggie Bags and Biggie Bundles at lunch, dinner and then now into breakfast. I think we'll find that right balance that works for the consumer and continues to work for the restaurant economic model for our franchise community.

我認為從日曆的角度來看，我認為您會看到我們日曆上的持續平衡。我們如何繼續專注於核心，擁有業界最好的漢堡、雞肉三明治。我們帶來了哪些新消息來保持 Made to Crave 的新鮮感並為 Wendy's 品牌所擁有，以及我們如何在午餐、晚餐以及現在的早餐中繼續利用我們的一些可擁有平台，例如 Biggie Bags 和 Biggie Bundles。我認為我們會找到適合消費者的正確平衡，並繼續為我們的特許經營社區的餐廳經濟模式服務。

And our next question comes from Rahul Krot from JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的拉胡爾·克羅特。

I have a question about the company stores performance versus the franchise stores in the U.S. Can you just break out the dynamics here? Where is the drag coming from? Is it Florida stores? And can you also remind us if there are any remodels for the company stores planned for the rest of the year? And I have a follow-up.

我有一個關於公司商店與美國特許經營店業績對比的問題。您能簡單介紹一下這裡的動態嗎？阻力從哪裡來？是佛羅裡達州的商店嗎？您能否提醒我們今年剩餘時間公司門市是否有改造計畫？我有一個後續行動。

I think it's more a function of the footprint, quite honestly. When you think of where the company is located, we got restaurants up in the Northeast with the Boston market. We're in the Chicago market. We're in the Denver market. We're here in Columbus and then down in Florida. We started with much higher AUVs than the franchisees in many of those markets. And we've had a lot of growth, if you go back and look at it over a 4-year perspective in the company market. So if you look at where we are performing relative to the franchise community in those markets, we're largely performing in line with them.

老實說，我認為這更多的是足蹟的函數。當你想到公司所在地時，我們在東北部和波士頓市場都有餐廳。我們在芝加哥市場。我們在丹佛市場。我們在哥倫布，然後在佛羅裡達。我們一開始的 AUV 遠高於許多市場中的特許經營商。如果你回顧一下公司市場四年的前景，我們已經取得了很大的成長。因此，如果你看看我們相對於這些市場的特許經營社區的表現，我們的表現基本上與他們一致。

Anything else to add, GP on that?

GP還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yes. I think a lot of you also have to do with the comps, right, on a 1-year basis, there is a gap of about 2 points. If we just go back only on a 2-year basis, you will find that the company has grown 7.6% and the U.S. system has grown 8.5%. So the gap is narrowing very, very quickly. So it's a function of comps. Again, we are benefiting from much higher AUVs in the company restaurants. We like that because, obviously, our cash profit per restaurant is pretty high.

是的。我想你們很多人也和比較有關，對吧，在1年的基礎上，有大約2分的差距。如果我們只回顧兩年，你會發現公司成長了7.6%，美國系統成長了8.5%。所以差距正在非常非常快地縮小。所以它是比較的函數。我們再次受益於公司餐廳更高的 AUV。我們喜歡這一點，因為顯然，我們每家餐廳的現金利潤都相當高。

And our final question today comes from Sara Senatore from Bank of America.

今天我們的最後一個問題來自美國銀行的 Sara Senatore。

Just quick question on loyalty. You mentioned that active users grew 5 million. And I guess I have 2 questions. You mentioned that there's [compelling] offers. How profitable are these offers are, I guess you are thinking about them more as like acquisition cost, transactions still sort of margin neutral or accretive? And then maybe following on to that, what kind of lift do you see when you convert members to be active users? If you have any measures on frequency or [spend] over time, just to get a sense of sort of the trade-off of customer acquisition versus the lifetime value.

只是關於忠誠度的快速問題。您提到活躍用戶增加了 500 萬。我想我有兩個問題。您提到有[令人信服的]優惠。這些報價的利潤有多大，我想您更多地將它們視為收購成本，交易仍然是利潤中性或增值的？接下來，當您將會員轉變為活躍用戶時，您會看到什麼樣的提升？如果您對頻率或[花費]隨著時間的推移有任何衡量標準，只是為了了解客戶獲取與生命週期價值之間的權衡。

Yes. Thanks for the question, Sara. I'll start and GP can add on wherever he thinks he needs to add on. The great news is we did make a nice 5% increase in our total loyalty members hitting 35 million. So we're proud of that. But more importantly, that 40% increase in the monthly active users, we've got folks to get into the app with some compelling values, the $0.01 JBC on National Cheeseburger Day clearly drove folks in. And we want to get folks into the app because what we do see is more frequency and higher checks over time for those consumers.

是的。謝謝你的提問，薩拉。我先開始，GP 可以在他認為需要添加的任何地方添加。好消息是，我們的忠誠會員總數確實增加了 5%，達到 3500 萬。所以我們為此感到自豪。但更重要的是，每月活躍用戶增加了40%，我們讓人們以一些引人注目的價值進入該應用程序，全國芝士漢堡日0.01 美元的JBC 顯然吸引了人們。我們希望讓人們進入該應用程序程序因為我們確實看到，隨著時間的推移，這些消費者的檢查頻率和檢查次數都會增加。

So we're seeing all of that data happen. Early on, you've got maybe on par check, maybe slightly lower check with the offers that you see, but that's more than made up by the lifetime value with the frequency that you get over time. And we can then really leverage all the data to really connect and have more personalized rather than blanket offers out to the consumer environment. And we're in the early, early innings of really ramping up our one-to-one marketing ability. The platforms and the base is built, but we're looking forward to that being a nice generator to help our margins over time.

所以我們看到所有這些數據都發生了。在早期，您可能會得到與您看到的報價相當的檢查，也許稍低的檢查，但這遠遠超出了您隨時間推移獲得的終身價值和頻率。然後，我們可以真正利用所有數據來真正連接並向消費者環境提供更個人化的產品，而不是一攬子產品。我們正處於真正提升一對一行銷能力的早期階段。平台和基礎已經建成，但我們期待它成為一個很好的發電機，隨著時間的推移幫助我們提高利潤。

Anything else GP?

還有什麼GP嗎？

No, I think you said it all.

不，我想你都說了。

All right. Thank you, Sara. That was our last question of the call. Thanks, Todd and GP, and thank you, everyone, for participating this morning. We look forward to speaking with you again on our fourth quarter call in February. Have a great day. You may now disconnect.

好的。謝謝你，薩拉。這是我們電話會議的最後一個問題。謝謝托德和全科醫生，也謝謝大家今天早上的參與。我們期待在二月份的第四季電話會議上再次與您交談。祝你有美好的一天。您現在可以斷開連線。