惠而浦 (WHR) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to Whirlpool Corporation's Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. Today's call is being recorded. Joining me today are Marc Bitzer, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Jim Peters, our Chief Financial Officer. Our remarks today track with a presentation available on the Investors section of our website at whirlpoolcorp.com.

早安，歡迎參加惠而浦公司 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。今天的通話正在錄音。今天加入我的還有我們的董事長兼執行長 Marc Bitzer；以及我們的財務長吉姆彼得斯 (Jim Peters)。我們今天的言論與我們網站 Whirlpoolcorp.com 投資者部分的簡報一致。

Before we begin, I want to remind you that as we conduct this call, we'll be making forward-looking statements to assist you in better understanding Whirlpool Corporation's future expectations. Our actual results could differ materially from these statements due to many factors discussed in our latest 10-K, 10-Q and other periodic reports.

在開始之前，我想提醒您，在我們進行本次電話會議時，我們將做出前瞻性聲明，以幫助您更好地了解惠而浦公司的未來期望。由於我們最新的 10-K、10-Q 和其他定期報告中討論的許多因素，我們的實際結果可能與這些陳述有重大差異。

We also want to remind you that today's presentation includes non-GAAP measures outlined in further detail at the beginning of our earnings presentation. We believe these measures are important indicators of our operations as they exclude items that may not be indicative of results from our ongoing business operations. We also think the adjusted measures will provide you with a better baseline for analyzing trends in our ongoing business operations.

我們也想提醒您，今天的簡報包括我們在收益簡報開頭進一步詳細概述的非公認會計準則衡量標準。我們相信這些指標是我們營運的重要指標，因為它們排除了可能無法表明我們持續業務營運結果的項目。我們也認為調整後的措施將為您提供更好的基準來分析我們正在進行的業務營運的趨勢。

Listeners are directed to the supplemental information package posted on the Investor Relations section of our website for the reconciliation of non-GAAP items to the most directly comparable GAAP measures. (Operator Instructions)

聽眾可閱讀我們網站投資者關係部分發布的補充資訊包，以將非公認會計準則項目與最直接可比較的公認會計準則衡量指標進行核對。 （操作員說明）

With that, I'll turn the call over to Marc.

這樣，我會將電話轉給馬克。

Thanks, Korey, and good morning, everyone. Today marks our first earnings call in the new year, and I do appreciate that everyone's attention will be on our perspective for 2024. However, I want to take the opportunity to reflect and look back at last year.

謝謝，科里，大家早安。今天是我們新年的第一次財報電話會議，我很高興大家的注意力都集中在我們對 2024 年的展望上。不過，我想藉此機會反思和回顧去年。

During this past year, there have been a number of achievements we're proud of. One, we gained more than 1 point of market share in North America. This is a clear testimony of success of our great products and brands in the marketplace. Two, we were able to reduce our net cost base by $800 million, which is what we had in mind when we started the year. And three, the signing of our EMEA transaction with Arçelik marked a major milestone in our portfolio transformation and is expected to provide significant opportunities to unlock value.

在過去的一年裡，我們取得了許多令我們感到自豪的成就。第一，我們在北美的市佔率獲得了超過 1 個百分點。這是我們優秀產品和品牌在市場上成功的明確證明。第二，我們能夠將淨成本基礎減少 8 億美元，這是我們年初時的想法。第三，我們與 Ar§elik 簽署 EMEA 交易標誌著我們投資組合轉型的一個重要里程碑，預計將提供釋放價值的重要機會。

At the same time, there are a number of areas where we fell short of our own expectations. The promotional environment, which reversed back earlier than anticipated to pre-COVID intensity put pressure on our EBIT margins. And while our full year EBIT margin of 6.1% is solid, it is still more than 1 point short of where we wanted to be. And we were not able to reduce our inventories fast enough, which negatively impacted our full cash flow.

同時，我們在很多方面還沒有達到自己的期望。促銷環境比預期更早逆轉到新冠疫情前的強度，這給我們的息稅前利潤率帶來了壓力。儘管我們的全年息稅前利潤率為 6.1%，但仍比我們想要的目標低 1 個百分點以上。我們無法足夠快地減少庫存，這對我們的全部現金流產生了負面影響。

Obviously, these results were impacted by a still unfavorable housing cycle in 2023. The rapid and steep increase of U.S. mortgage rates led essentially to a freeze of existing home sales. Ultimately, this resulted in the lowest existing home sales in almost 3 decades.

顯然，這些結果受到了 2023 年仍然不利的房地產週期的影響。美國抵押貸款利率的快速大幅上漲基本上導致了現有房屋銷售的凍結。最終，這導致現有房屋銷售量達到近三十年來的最低水準。

And given the strong historical correlation between existing home sales and appliance sales, the discretionary appliance sales which are margin attractive slowed down significantly. This was mitigated by strong replacement demand which tends to be less margin attractive. These strong replacement sales confirmed our view of more intensive use patterns of appliances leading to shorter replacement cycles, a favorable trend which we expect to continue in foreseeable future.

鑑於現有房屋銷售與家電銷售之間存在很強的歷史相關性，具有吸引力的可自由支配家電銷售大幅放緩。強勁的替換需求緩解了這個問題，而替換需求往往對利潤率吸引力較小。這些強勁的替換銷售證實了我們的觀點，即更密集的電器使用模式會導致更短的替換週期，我們預計這一有利趨勢將在可預見的未來持續下去。

Now the key question is what does this all mean for 2024? Let me start on the housing macro cycle. We remain bullish on the mid- and long-term housing cycle. The market has been undersupplied for over a decade by 3 million to 4 million units.

現在的關鍵問題是這一切對 2024 年意味著什麼？讓我從房地產宏觀週期開始。我們仍然看好中長期房地產週期。十多年來，市場供應不到 300 萬至 400 萬台。

The long overdue rebalancing of demand and supply will occur at one point, but not in the very short term. While we already see a gradual and steady recovery of new home orders and starts, we all know that these trends typically need 6 to 9 months to turn into appliance sales. The existing home sales market, on the other hand, will need a catalyst to unfreeze. That catalyst can only be a return to lower mortgage rates which we expect to moderate as the year progresses.

早該實現的供需再平衡將會在某個時刻發生，但不會在很短的時間內發生。雖然我們已經看到新屋訂單和開工量逐步穩定復甦，但我們都知道這些趨勢通常需要 6 至 9 個月才能轉換為家電銷售。另一方面，現有房屋銷售市場需要催化劑來解凍。這種催化劑只能是抵押貸款利率回歸較低水平，我們預計隨著今年的進展，抵押貸款利率將會放緩。

So how will we position ourselves in 2024? Essentially, it will be all around cost discipline and margin expansion. On the cost side, we have put actions in place to deliver $300 million to $400 million in cost savings. While this number may appear lower than in 2023, we're not factoring any raw material savings. So with $300 million to $400 million are all structural cost takeout actions.

那麼2024年我們將如何定位自己呢？本質上，這一切都圍繞著成本控制和利潤擴張。在成本方面，我們已採取行動，節省了 3 億至 4 億美元的成本。雖然這個數字可能會低於 2023 年，但我們沒有考慮任何原料節省。因此，3億至4億美元都是結構性成本削減行動。

The margin expansion will essentially be driven by the benefits of a refocused portfolio after the completion of EMEA transaction as well as a very disciplined approach focused only on value-creating promotions and product mix. You will see later in our presentation a full year negative impact of pricing, but this is entirely related to carryover pricing effects.

利潤率的擴張主要是由歐洲、中東和非洲交易完成後重新調整投資組合的好處以及僅專注於創造價值的促銷和產品組合的非常嚴格的方法所推動。您將在稍後的演示中看到定價的全年負面影響，但這完全與結轉定價效應有關。

Lastly, as it relates to our portfolio transformation, we continue to expect to close our EMEA transaction by April. And in anticipation of this transaction closure, we are changing our reporting segments. We will not only highlight our major domestic appliance business in North America, Latin America and Asia, but also provide visibility to our KitchenAid small domestic appliance global business.

最後，由於這與我們的投資組合轉型有關，我們仍然預計在 4 月之前完成 EMEA 交易。考慮到此交易的完成，我們正在更改我們的報告分部。我們不僅將重點展示我們在北美、拉丁美洲和亞洲的主要家用電器業務，還將為我們的 KitchenAid 小家電全球業務提供知名度。

With strong margins, the KitchenAid small domestic appliance business is a critical component of our brand and product portfolio, improving life at home for our consumers. I am confident that our refocused portfolio cost actions and improving free cash flow generation positions us for continued shareholder value creation in 2024.

KitchenAid 小型家用電器業務利潤豐厚，是我們品牌和產品組合的重要組成部分，可改善消費者的家居生活。我相信，我們重新調整投資組合成本行動和改善自由現金流產生將使我們能夠在 2024 年繼續創造股東價值。

Now turning to Slide 6. I will provide an overview of our fourth quarter results. We delivered over 3% of revenue growth, including over 1 point of year-over-year share gains in North America, coupled with $350 million of reduced costs. Working capital conversion and free cash flow of $366 million was impacted by shipments occurring later in the quarter than expected. We exited 2023 with elevated trade customer inventories, which we expect to normalize mostly in the first quarter of 2024. Ultimately, we delivered ongoing earnings per share of $3.85, supported by tax benefits related to the Europe transaction.

現在轉向投影片 6。我將概述我們第四季的業績。我們實現了超過 3% 的營收成長，其中北美市場份額年增超過 1 個百分點，同時成本降低了 3.5 億美元。本季出貨晚於預期，影響了 3.66 億美元的營運資金轉換和自由現金流。我們在2023 年結束時貿易客戶庫存增加，我們預計這種情況將在2024 年第一季基本正常化。最終，在與歐洲交易相關的稅收優惠的支持下，我們實現了每股3.85 美元的持續收益。

And now I will turn it over to Jim to review our Q4 regional results and perspective on 2024, including our plans for the proceeds of a recently announced EMEA transaction.

現在，我將把它交給吉姆，回顧我們第四季度的區域業績和對 2024 年的展望，包括我們最近宣布的歐洲、中東和非洲交易的收益計劃。

Thanks, Marc. Good morning, everyone. Turning to Slide 7, I'll review fourth quarter results for our North America business. We delivered 1% of revenue growth and 260 basis points of margin expansion. Sales growth was driven by over 1 point of year-over-year share gains resulting from new product introductions and improved supply chain execution. While this was partially offset by a normalized promotional environment, additionally, resilient replacement demand lifted the U.S. industry 2%.

謝謝，馬克。大家，早安。轉向投影片 7，我將回顧我們北美業務的第四季業績。我們實現了 1% 的營收成長和 260 個基點的利潤率擴張。新產品的推出和供應鏈執行的改善帶來了超過 1 個百分點的同比份額成長，推動了銷售成長。雖然這被正常化的促銷環境部分抵消，但強勁的替換需求使美國工業成長了 2%。

Fourth quarter margin expansion was driven by significantly reduced cost, partially offset by negative price mix from a normalized promotional environment and lower consumer discretionary demand due to higher mortgage rates in 2023, slowing down existing home sales. Overall, the region delivered 8.4% margins for the quarter.

第四季利潤率擴張的推動因素是成本大幅下降，但部分被正常化促銷環境帶來的負面價格組合以及2023 年抵押貸款利率上升導致的消費者非必需品需求下降所抵消，從而減緩了現有房屋銷售。總體而言，該地區本季的利潤率為 8.4%。

Turning to Slide 8. I'll review our results for our Europe, Middle East and Africa business. Revenue was down 3% year-over-year as the region continues to see demand weakness from negative consumer sentiment. Strong cost takeout actions and held-for-sale accounting benefits drove nearly 400 basis points of margin expansion year-over-year to approximately 3%. We continue to expect the Europe transaction to close by April 2024, and later in the call, I will provide additional insights into the expected impact to our 2024 guidance and free cash flows.

轉向幻燈片 8。我將回顧我們的歐洲、中東和非洲業務的結果。由於負面的消費者情緒導致該地區需求持續疲軟，營收年減 3%。強勁的成本削減行動和持有待售的會計效益推動利潤率年增近 400 個基點，達到約 3%。我們仍然預計歐洲交易將於 2024 年 4 月完成，稍後在電話會議中，我將提供有關對我們 2024 年指導和自由現金流的預期影響的更多見解。

Turning to Slide 9, I'll review the results for our Latin America business. With strong industry demand throughout the region and share gains in Brazil, net sales, excluding currency, increased to approximately 13%. The Overall, the region delivered solid EBIT margins of 6%, flat to last year as cost actions were offset by negative price mix and losses in Argentina from currency devaluation and costs related to ramping up our new laundry factory.

轉向幻燈片 9，我將回顧我們拉丁美洲業務的結果。由於整個地區的行業需求強勁以及巴西的份額增長，淨銷售額（不計貨幣）增長至約 13%。總體而言，該地區的息稅前利潤率為 6%，與去年持平，原因是成本行動被負價格組合和阿根廷貨幣貶值造成的損失以及與擴大新洗衣廠相關的成本所抵消。

Turning to Slide 10, I'll review the results for our Asia business. The region saw growth of 9% and driven by share gains and improving industry. EBIT margins of 1.3% with cost takeout actions more than offset by negative price mix. As you may have seen, we recently announced our intention to sell up to 24% of Whirlpool India's outstanding shares while retaining a majority interest.

轉向幻燈片 10，我將回顧我們亞洲業務的結果。在份額增長和行業改善的推動下，該地區增長了 9%。息稅前利潤率為 1.3%，成本削減行動被負價格組合所抵銷。正如您可能已經看到的，我們最近宣布打算出售惠而浦印度公司最多 24% 的流通股，同時保留多數股權。

We truly believe in the long-term trajectory of India. It is one of the strongest growth opportunities for Whirlpool. Whirlpool of India's long-term outlook for growth and margins are both in the high single digits, making India very attractive to operate in. At the same time, this financial profile has created a very strong local public market valuation.

我們真正相信印度的長期發展軌跡。這是惠而浦最強勁的成長機會之一。印度惠而浦的長期成長前景和利潤率均處於高個位數，這使得印度的營運極具吸引力。同時，這種財務狀況創造了非常強勁的當地公開市場估值。

Turning to Slide 12. I will review our 2024 guidance, which includes the Europe major domestic appliance business only for the first quarter of the year. We have provided a reset baseline for 2023 results, excluding our Europe major domestic appliance business from Q2 through Q4 of 2023. The reset baseline excludes approximately $2.6 billion net sales and approximately $33 million of EBIT, creating a like-for-like comparison for 2024.

轉向幻燈片 12。我將回顧我們的 2024 年指導，其中僅包括今年第一季的歐洲主要家用電器業務。我們提供了2023 年業績的重置基準，不包括2023 年第二季至第四季我們的歐洲主要家用電器業務。重置基準不包括約26 億美元的淨銷售額和約3,300 萬美元的息稅前利潤，從而創建了2024 年的同類比較。

On a like-for-like basis, 2023 net sales were approximately $16.9 billion with ongoing EBIT margin of 6.8%. We expect flat 2024 net sales, including $700 million of sales from the EMEA major domestic appliance business in Q1 and flat the EBIT margin year-over-year on a like-for-like basis.

以同類基礎計算，2023 年淨銷售額約 169 億美元，持續息稅前利潤率為 6.8%。我們預計 2024 年淨銷售額將持平，其中包括第一季歐洲、中東和非洲地區主要家用電器業務的 7 億美元銷售額，且息稅前利潤率同比持平。

We expect 2024 free cash flow of $550 million to $650 million, a 50% to 75% increase driven by improved earnings and working capital reduction. We expect full year ongoing earnings per share of $13 to $15, including an adjusted effective tax rate of 0%, an increase compared to 2023 and which impacts 2024 earnings per share by approximately $1.

我們預計 2024 年自由現金流將達到 5.5 億至 6.5 億美元，在獲利改善和營運資本減少的推動下成長 50% 至 75%。我們預計全年持續每股收益為 13 至 15 美元，其中調整後的有效稅率為 0%，與 2023 年相比有所增加，這將影響 2024 年每股收益約 1 美元。

Turning to Slide 13, we show the drivers of our full year 6.8% ongoing EBIT margin guidance. We expect a negative impact of 150 to 175 basis points from price mix. This reflects the first half of 2024 carryover effect as the promotional environment normalized in the second half of 2023. We also expect continuing softer mix and discretionary demand in the first half of 2024 from historically low existing home sales, partially offset by new product introductions.

轉向投影片 13，我們展示了全年 6.8% 的持續息稅前利潤指引的驅動因素。我們預計價格組合將產生 150 至 175 個基點的負面影響。這反映了2024 年上半年的結轉效應，因為促銷環境在2023 年下半年正常化。我們也預計，2024 年上半年現有房屋銷售處於歷史低位，組合和可自由支配需求將持續疲軟，部分被新產品推出抵銷。

As we drive further reductions to our cost structure, we expect approximately 175 basis points of net cost margin benefit from $300 million to $400 million of cost takeout actions. We expect minimal to no impact to EBIT margins from raw materials this year based on recent commodity trends and executed supply agreements.

隨著我們進一步降低成本結構，我們預計 3 億至 4 億美元的成本削減行動將使淨成本利潤率提高約 175 個基點。根據最近的商品趨勢和已執行的供應協議，我們預計今年原物料對息稅前利潤率的影響很小甚至沒有。

We plan to continue a strong cadence of new product introductions with investments in marketing and technology impacting margins by approximately 25 basis points. Finally, we expect our portfolio transformation to provide approximately 75 basis points of margin improvement as we contribute the margin-dilutive European major domestic appliance business to the newly formed company.

我們計劃繼續以強勁的節奏推出新產品，並在行銷和技術方面進行投資，使利潤率提高約 25 個基點。最後，隨著我們將利潤攤薄的歐洲主要家用電器業務貢獻給新成立的公司，我們預計我們的投資組合轉型將帶來約 75 個基點的利潤率改善。

On Slide 14, I will provide context on our significant cost takeout opportunity. We experienced unprecedented cost inflation of approximately $2.5 billion in 2021 and 2022. In 2023, we were able to drive $800 million of cost takeout which is a significant step in resetting our cost structure. We expect to further reduce our costs by $300 million to $400 million this year.

在投影片 14 上，我將提供有關我們重大成本削減機會的背景資訊。 2021 年和 2022 年，我們經歷了約 25 億美元的前所未有的成本膨脹。2023 年，我們能夠削減 8 億美元的成本，這是重置我們成本結構的重要一步。我們預計今年將進一步降低成本 3 億至 4 億美元。

2024 will benefit from $100 million of cost actions taken last year. We expect $100 million to $200 million of additional cost takeout with our manufacturing and supply chain operations, benefiting from ongoing productivity initiatives and reduce complexity as we enter 2024. And we also expect $100 million of second half benefit as our ongoing portfolio transformation allows us to simplify our organizational operating model.

2024 年將受益於去年採取的 1 億美元成本行動。隨著我們進入2024 年，我們預計我們的製造和供應鏈營運將獲得1 億至2 億美元的額外成本支出，受益於持續的生產力計劃和降低複雜性。我們還預計下半年將獲得1 億美元的收益，因為我們正在進行的產品組合轉型使我們能夠簡化我們的組織運作模式。

Turning to Slide 15. I will introduce our new segment reporting structure effective January 1, 2024. We have updated our reporting structure with the anticipated closure of the Europe transaction. Our regional operating segments historically included the results of our KitchenAid small domestic appliance business in the geographical regions they operated in. We will now only report the major domestic appliance businesses within their respective regions.

轉向投影片 15。我將介紹自 2024 年 1 月 1 日起生效的新分部報告結構。我們已根據歐洲交易的預期結束更新了報告結構。我們的區域經營分部歷來包括KitchenAid小家電業務在其經營所在地理區域的業績。現在我們將僅報告其各自區域內的主要家用電器業務。

We will now report our global KitchenAid small domestic appliance business, also known as SDA as a separate segment. This business has an iconic brand and premium products with a reputation for performance and quality, perfectly fitting our vision of being the best kitchen and laundry company. We will continue to have strong brand synergies between the small domestic appliance and major domestic appliance product portfolio.

現在，我們將報告我們的全球 KitchenAid 小型家用電器業務，也稱為 SDA，作為一個單獨的部門。該企業擁有標誌性品牌和優質產品，在性能和品質方面享有盛譽，完全符合我們成為最好的廚房和洗衣公司的願景。我們將繼續在小家電和大家電產品組合之間保持強大的品牌協同效應。

The regional MDA businesses will have margin profiles, 30 to 40 basis points lower than the previously reported figures due to SDA reporting as its own segment. On our Investor Relations website and yesterday's 8-K, we have provided recast quarterly results for 2021 through the third quarter of 2023 and reflecting our $1 billion SDA business with its strong 15%-plus margins.

由於 SDA 作為自己的部門進行報告，區域 MDA 業務的利潤率將比先前報告的數字低 30 至 40 個基點。在我們的投資者關係網站和昨天的8-K 上，我們提供了2021 年至2023 年第三季度的重新調整的季度業績，反映了我們10 億美元的SDA 業務及其15% 以上的強勁利潤率。

Turning to Slide 16, I will review our new segment guidance. Starting with industry demand, we expect a dynamic global industry to be flat to up 2%. We expect to see similar demand trends in the U.S. that we saw in the second half of 2023, with resilient replacement demand creating a solid footing for industry volumes and consumer discretionary demand continuing to be impacted by elevated mortgage rates driving down existing home sales. Overall, we expect MDA North America to be flat to slightly positive as well as we expect the MDA Latin America industry to also be flat to slightly positive.

轉向投影片 16，我將回顧我們的新細分指導。從產業需求開始，我們預計充滿活力的全球產業將持平至成長 2%。我們預計美國將出現與 2023 年下半年類似的需求趨勢，彈性的替換需求為行業銷售奠定了堅實的基礎，而非必需消費品需求將繼續受到抵押貸款利率上升導致現有房屋銷售下降的影響。整體而言，我們預期 MDA 北美市場將持平至小幅正值，我們預期 MDA 拉丁美洲產業也將持平至小幅正值。

India has one of the fastest growth rates globally, and we expect MDA Asia industry volumes to accelerate by 4% to 6%. While we expect the SDA global industry to be up 2% to 4%, we want to preface this guidance with the fact that KitchenAid is largely present in the premium segment and also not in all SDA categories.

印度是全球成長率最快的國家之一，我們預計 MDA 亞洲產業數量將加速 4% 至 6%。雖然我們預計 SDA 全球產業將成長 2% 至 4%，但我們希望在本指引前指出這樣一個事實：KitchenAid 主要出現在高端市場，而不是出現在所有 SDA 類別中。

Finally, we expect demand contraction of negative 8% to 6% in the first quarter for MDA Europe from continued negative consumer sentiment. For MDA North America, we expect to deliver full year margins of approximately 9%, with promotional carryover negatively impacting first half margins and elevated channel inventories impacting first quarter demand. We expect approximately 50 to 75 basis points of sequential margin expansion every quarter and to exit 2024 with EBIT margins of approximately 10%.

最後，我們預計，由於持續的負面消費者情緒，MDA Europe 第一季的需求將萎縮 8% 至 6%。對於 MDA North America，我們預計全年利潤率約為 9%，促銷結轉對上半年利潤率產生負面影響，通路庫存增加影響第一季需求。我們預計每季的利潤率將連續成長約 50 至 75 個基點，到 2024 年，息稅前利潤率將達到約 10%。

For MDA Latin America, we expect EBIT expansion and strong margins of 6.5%, with cost takeout actions and improved consumer sentiment. For MDA Asia, we expect margin expansion to approximately 3% EBIT margins. For SDA Global, we expect very attractive EBIT margins of approximately 15.5%. Lastly, we expect MDA Europe to deliver approximately 1.5% margins in the first quarter and overall expect an ongoing total EBIT margin of 6.8%.

對於 MDA 拉丁美洲，隨著成本削減行動和消費者信心改善，我們預計息稅前利潤將擴大，利潤率將達到 6.5%。對於 MDA Asia，我們預計息稅前利潤率將擴大至約 3%。對於 SDA Global，我們預計息稅前利潤率非常有吸引力，約為 15.5%。最後，我們預期 MDA Europe 第一季的利潤率約為 1.5%，整體預期息稅前利潤率為 6.8%。

Turning to Slide 17. Let me provide you with additional detail on our U.S. industry expectations. Replacement demand drove industry growth in 2023, and we expect this trend to continue into 2024. The last 4 years of elevated usage is shrinking the historical average life of appliances, coupled with an installed base from 2015 through 2017 that grew 4% to 5% and is nearing replacement. This is driving replacement demand to approximately 60% of industry volumes.

轉向幻燈片 17。讓我向您提供有關我們美國行業預期的更多詳細資訊。更換需求推動了2023 年行業成長，我們預計這一趨勢將持續到2024 年。過去4 年的使用量增加正在縮短電器的歷史平均壽命，加上2015 年至2017 年的安裝基數增長了4% 至5%並且即將被取代。這將替換需求推至行業總量的約 60%。

We expect to continue to drive value-creating share gain in 2024. With housing starts trending higher in the second half of 2023, Whirlpool is disproportionately positioned to benefit from new construction demand. Forecast for 2024 are calling for low to mid-single-digit growth in housing starts, most likely benefiting Whirlpool in the second half of 2024 or 2025. For every 5% increase in new construction, we could see approximately $100 million impact with our leading builder share. Finally, discretionary demand, which accounts for approximately 25% of total industry volumes is driven by existing home sales which are coming off their worst year since 1995 and are expected to improve in the back half of 2024 as interest rates moderate.

我們預計 2024 年將繼續推動創造價值的份額成長。隨著 2023 年下半年新屋開工量呈上升趨勢，惠而浦將不成比例地從新建築需求中受益。對2024 年的預測是，新屋開工量將出現低至中個位數的增長，這最有可能使惠而浦在2024 年下半年或2025 年受益。新建築每增加5%，我們可以看到大約1億美元的影響，我們的領先建設者份額。最後，約佔行業總銷量 25% 的可自由支配需求是由現房銷售推動的，現房銷售正擺脫 1995 年以來最糟糕的一年，隨著利率放緩，預計 2024 年下半年將有所改善。

Turning to Slide 18. I will share further perspective on 2024. We expect soft discretionary demand and higher retail inventory levels to weigh on total industry expectations in the first half of 2024, with a more pronounced impact on Q1. We expect 2024 promotional activity to be at similar levels as the second half of 2023, creating a margin headwind to the first half of the year.

轉向投影片 18。我將進一步分享對 2024 年的看法。我們預計，可自由支配需求疲軟和零售庫存水準上升將影響 2024 年上半年的行業總體預期，對第一季的影響更為明顯。我們預計 2024 年的促銷活動將與 2023 年下半年的水平相似，從而為上半年帶來利潤率阻力。

We expect cost actions from 2023 to benefit the first half of 2024, while additional cost actions ramp up. Additionally, the demand and earnings seasonality of our SDA global business varies from our major domestic appliance business. It delivers approximately 75% of its demand and profitability in the second half of every year with consumers favoring small domestic appliances as gifts and increased baking activities in the fall and holiday season. Overall, we expect to deliver approximately 35% to 40% of our earnings in the first half of the year.

我們預計 2023 年起的成本行動將使 2024 年上半年受益，同時額外的成本行動也會增加。此外，我們的SDA全球業務的需求和獲利季節性與我們主要的國內家電業務不同。由於消費者青睞小家電作為禮物，並且在秋季和節日期間的烘焙活動有所增加，該公司每年下半年都能滿足約 75% 的需求和盈利能力。總體而言，我們預計上半年將實現約 35% 至 40% 的利潤。

Turning to Slide 19. I will provide the drivers of our free cash flow guidance. We expect improved cash earnings of approximately $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion. We expect approximately $600 million of capital expenditures as we continue to invest in our products and fund organic growth, including our plans to launch over 100 new products in 2024. We plan to improve our working capital conversion by approximately $100 million, largely through inventory reductions.

轉向幻燈片 19。我將提供自由現金流指導的驅動因素。我們預計現金收益將增加約 11 億至 12 億美元。隨著我們繼續投資於我們的產品並為有機成長提供資金，包括我們計劃在2024 年推出100 多種新產品，我們預計資本支出約為6 億美元。我們計劃主要透過減少庫存來提高營運資本轉化率約1 億美元。

We expect approximately $50 million of restructuring cash outlays related to previously executed actions and complexity reduction with our simplified organizational model after the Europe transaction. Overall, we expect to deliver free cash flow of $550 million to $650 million or approximately 3.5% of net sales, including approximately $200 million to $300 million of cash consumption for MDA Europe business operations prior to the closure and onetime charges.

我們預計，在歐洲交易後，與先前執行的行動以及透過我們簡化的組織模型降低複雜性相關的重組現金支出約為 5000 萬美元。總體而言，我們預計將提供5.5 億至6.5 億美元的自由現金流，約佔淨銷售額的3.5%，其中包括關閉前MDA Europe 業務運營的約2 億至3 億美元的現金消耗和一次性費用。

Turning to Slide 20, I will review how we are well positioned to deliver our 2024 capital allocation priorities. We have a solid balance sheet with $1.6 billion of cash on hand coupled with $550 million to $650 million of 2024 expected free cash flows plus anticipated $400 million to $500 million of proceeds from asset sales as we previously announced our intention to sell a portion of our interest in Whirlpool of India and recently signed an agreement to divest of our Brastemp branded water filtration business in Brazil. As you can see, we are well positioned to deliver our clear capital allocation priorities for 2024.

轉向投影片 20，我將回顧我們如何做好準備以實現 2024 年資本配置優先事項。我們擁有穩健的資產負債表，手上有16 億美元的現金，加上2024 年預期自由現金流量為5.5 億至6.5 億美元，加上我們先前宣布打算出售部分資產，預計將獲得4 億至5 億美元的資產出售收益。對印度惠而浦的興趣，並最近簽署了一項協議，剝離我們在巴西的 Brastemp 品牌水過濾業務。正如您所看到的，我們完全有能力實現 2024 年明確的資本配置優先事項。

Last year marked the 68th consecutive year of steady or increasing dividends from Whirlpool. Subject to Board approval, we expect a dividend of approximately $400 million. We are committed to maintaining our strong investment-grade credit rating and reducing our debt by at least an additional $500 million. We expect limited share buybacks to offset share dilution. Finally, we are committed to funding innovation and growth with capital expenditures plus research and development of approximately 6% of net sales.

去年是惠而浦連續第 68 年維持穩定或增加股息。經董事會批准，我們預計股息約為 4 億美元。我們致力於維持強大的投資等級信用評級，並減少至少 5 億美元的債務。我們預計有限的股票回購將抵消股票稀釋。最後，我們致力於透過佔淨銷售額約 6% 的資本支出加上研發來資助創新和成長。

Turning to Slide 21. You can see our commitment to deleveraging our balance sheet. As a reminder, in 2022, with the acquisition of the value-creating InSinkErator business, we increased our debt by $2.5 billion in term loans. Compared to 2022, we expect at least $1 billion of debt reduction by the end of this year.

轉向投影片 21。您可以看到我們對資產負債表去槓桿化的承諾。提醒一下，2022 年，隨著對創造價值的 InSinkErator 業務的收購，我們的定期貸款債務增加了 25 億美元。與 2022 年相比，我們預計到今年年底債務至少減少 10 億美元。

With the combination of strong free cash flows expected in 2025 in the first full year following the close of the Europe transaction and our product innovations delivering earnings expansion and beginning to realize the free cash flow benefits of our adjusted effective tax rate, we are confident in our ability to further reduce our net debt leverage to approximately 2x by 2026.

歐洲交易結束後的第一個全年預計2025 年將出現強勁的自由現金流，加上我們的產品創新帶來盈利擴張，並開始實現調整後的有效稅率帶來的自由現金流效益，我們有信心到 2026 年，我們有能力將淨債務槓桿率進一步降低至約 2 倍。

Now I will turn the call back over to Marc.

現在我將把電話轉回給馬克。

Thanks, Jim. Turning to Slide 23. Let me provide an update on our Europe transaction. As I mentioned in our third quarter earnings call, we passed major regulatory milestones with the approvals from the European Commission, Germany, Austria and China. The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority is in the process of conducting a Phase 2 review of the transaction. We are continuing a constructive dialogue with the CMA about the newly formed company that will benefit consumers. And we continue to expect the transaction will close by April.

謝謝，吉姆。轉向投影片 23。讓我提供我們歐洲交易的最新情況。正如我在第三季財報電話會議中提到的，我們通過了歐盟委員會、德國、奧地利和中國的批准，實現了重要的監管里程碑。英國競爭與市場管理局正在對該交易進行第二階段審查。我們正在繼續與 CMA 就新成立的公司進行建設性對話，這將使消費者受益。我們仍然預計交易將在四月完成。

Turning to Slide 24. Let me recap what you heard today. We will further improve our cost structure and are confident in our ability to deliver $300 million to $400 million of cost takeout. Our portfolio transformation to a higher-growth, higher-margin business continues to progress.

轉向投影片 24。讓我回顧一下您今天聽到的內容。我們將進一步改善成本結構，並對實現 3 億至 4 億美元成本削減的能力充滿信心。我們的投資組合持續向高成長、高利潤業務的轉型取得進展。

The Europe transaction will meaningfully accelerate our structural free cash flows by approximately $200 million to $300 million in 2025. We have clear capital allocation priorities, including strong dividends and reducing debt leverage, supported by a flexible balance sheet with $1.6 billion of cash on hand, along with strong 2024 cash generation. We're confident in the trajectory of our business and our portfolio transformation to deliver sustained shareholder returns.

到2025 年，歐洲交易將有意義地加速我們的結構性自由現金流約2 億至3 億美元。我們有明確的資本配置優先事項，包括強勁的股息和降低債務槓桿，並獲得靈活的資產負債表和手頭16 億美元現金的支持，以及 2024 年強勁的現金產生能力。我們對我們的業務軌跡和投資組合轉型充滿信心，以實現持續的股東回報。

Finally, I will close on Slide 25 with an invitation to join us at our 2024 Investor Day on February 27th at the New York Stock Exchange. We look forward to hosting our first Investor Day since 2019, and we plan to review how our portfolio transformation is creating a very different Whirlpool, positioning us towards higher growth and higher-margin business. We're excited to review our growth and margin expansion opportunities for our MDA North America business. We will highlight the rich history of our Premium KitchenAid SDA business in addition to introducing the remainder of our 2026 value-creation goals. We hope to see you there.

最後，我將在投影片 25 中邀請您參加 2 月 27 日在紐約證券交易所舉行的 2024 年投資者日活動。我們期待舉辦自 2019 年以來的首個投資者日，我們計劃回顧我們的投資組合轉型如何創造一個截然不同的惠而浦，使我們能夠實現更高成長和更高利潤率的業務。我們很高興回顧 MDA 北美業務的成長和利潤擴張機會。除了介紹我們 2026 年價值創造目標的其餘部分外，我們還將重點介紹我們的 Premium KitchenAid SDA 業務的豐富歷史。我們希望看到你在那裡。

Now we will end our formal remarks and open it up for questions.

現在我們正式發言結束，開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Sam Darkatsh from Raymond James.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自 Raymond James 的 Sam Darkatsh。

Two questions. The first around the raw material assumption and the second question will be around North America major appliance margins. So first, around raw materials, the -- you're saying it's going to be neutral on a year-on-year basis. Obviously, we can see that cold-rolled steel is up meaningfully of late and on a year-on-year basis. So how much of your steel spend is on contract this year?

兩個問題。第一個問題圍繞著原料假設，第二個問題將圍繞北美大型家電的利潤率。首先，圍繞原料，你說同比將保持中性。顯然，我們可以看到冷軋鋼近期較去年同期大幅上漲。那麼今年你們的鋼鐵支出有多少是合約支出呢？

And is there an assumption that steel prices fall from here baked into your guidance? Or what sort of offsets are there to steel? Just help reconcile what we're seeing in the markets versus what you're seeing on your RMI.

您的指引是否包含鋼材價格從此下跌的假設？或者說鋼鐵有哪些類型的抵消？只需協助協調我們在市場上看到的情況與您在 RMI 上看到的情況。

Sam, it's Marc. Let me first maybe take the raw material question, then we can come to the NA margin question.

山姆，我是馬克。讓我先討論原料問題，然後我們可以討論NA邊際問題。

First of all, I know you're well aware but more for the broad audience. Our #1 raw material steel; #2 is resins in all forms and then it can split up in smaller elements. As you know, in '23, we got a tailwind from raw materials. And right now, we're guiding pretty much for almost no effect of this one.

首先，我知道您很清楚，但更多的是針對廣大受眾。我們的 #1 原料鋼； #2 是各種形式的樹脂，然後它可以分裂成更小的元素。如您所知，23 年我們從原料中獲得了順風車。目前，我們的指導幾乎不受此影響。

Raw material, again, as I mentioned, steel is the #1 driver. And there is no -- you don't have formal hedging contracts with steel, you basically have a contract with individual steel suppliers, which are regional. And they typically are on an annual basis, certainly for U.S., less so in Latin America but also in Europe, you have pretty much annual contracts.

正如我所提到的，原材料是第一大驅動因素。而且沒有——你沒有與鋼鐵簽訂正式的對沖合同，你基本上與個別鋼鐵供應商簽訂了合同，這些供應商是區域性的。它們通常是按年簽訂的，尤其是在美國，在拉丁美洲則較少，但在歐洲也是如此，你有相當多的年度合約。

These annual contracts, and that's why we have a very high degree of confidence in raw material assumption, they are largely locked in now. So typically, these negotiations happen November, December, in that time line. And they're not done of a kind of on-the-spot CRU spot price, they're kind of done more on rolling averages and certain assumptions about flow and color.

這些年度合同，這就是為什麼我們對原材料假設非常有信心，它們現在基本上已鎖定。因此，通常情況下，這些談判會在 11 月、12 月的時間線上進行。而且它們並不是基於一種現場 CRU 現貨價格，而是更多地基於滾動平均值以及有關流量和顏色的某些假設。

So with all of these contracts, the majority of these contracts fully in place, again, with the exception of Latin America, the variation, which we expect from a steel price is very, very little. So that's why on the #1 component, we have a very high degree of certainty.

因此，對於所有這些合同，大多數合約都已完全到位，同樣，除了拉丁美洲之外，我們預計鋼材價格的變化非常非常小。這就是為什麼在第一個組件上，我們有非常高的確定性。

The #2 component, resins, they're more on a quarterly base. And obviously, there is an element about oil price assumptions in there, which you have a little bit more variation. But again, it's relative to steel, it's much smaller. So again, on these 2 components, Sam, we feel we're contractually protected or right now, we have, certainly in plastics, I think we have a reasonable assumption for full year.

第二個成分是樹脂，它們更多是按季度計算的。顯然，其中有一個關於油價假設的因素，其中有更多的變化。但同樣，它相對於鋼鐵來說，要小得多。所以，山姆，在這兩個組成部分上，我們覺得我們受到合約保護，或者現在，我們當然在塑膠方面受到保護，我認為我們對全年有一個合理的假設。

Got it. And then the North American margin question. So what was the fourth quarter '23 North America margin, excluding small appliances? And what is your assumed '24 exit rate for North American major appliances versus the 9% annual guide?

知道了。然後是北美利潤率問題。那麼 23 年第四季北美利潤率（不含小家電）是多少？與 9% 的年度指引相比，您假設的北美主要家電的 24 年退出率是多少？

And so Sam, North America margin in Q4 where we posted the 8.4%, roughly -- and we referred to a full year base, KitchenAid typically has an impact of about 40 basis points on our margin business in North America. Now that's a little bit -- there's a little bit of seasonality in KitchenAid with a heavy skew towards Q3 and Q4.

Sam，第四季的北美利潤率約為 8.4%，我們提到的是全年基數，KitchenAid 通常會對我們北美的利潤率業務產生約 40 個基點的影響。 KitchenAid 有一點季節性，嚴重偏向第三季和第四季。

So you take that out of the equation, you're pretty much exiting in '23, where we're exiting around 8% roughly, North American margin, which, as we talked, that's about a good point below where we wanted to be in all transparency. We guide the full year excluding KitchenAid on 9%. And I think also in our prepared remarks, we were referring to -- we expect to exit '24 with around 10% North America margin.

所以你把這個排除在外，你幾乎會在 23 年退出，我們的北美利潤率大約為 8% 左右，正如我們所說，這比我們想要的水平低了一個好點一切透明。我們預計全年（不包括 KitchenAid）為 9%。我認為，在我們準備好的發言中，我們也提到——我們預計 24 年退出時北美利潤率約為 10%。

Your next question comes from the line of Mike Rehaut from JPMorgan.

您的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Mike Rehaut。

First, I would love to get a sense just of the -- how you're thinking about the promotional backdrop and cadence in North America MDA as '24 progresses. I know that you kind of highlighted that on a consolidated basis, and you expect price/mix to be negative in the first half and flat in the back half. But I was hoping to trying to get a sense of the interplay between how you expect '24 to play out in terms of managing share gains, which you kind of highlighted another point of share in the fourth quarter and how do you expect to manage the promotional backdrop as it progresses.

首先，我很想了解一下，隨著「24 世紀」的進展，您如何看待北美 MDA 的促銷背景和節奏。我知道您在綜合基礎上強調了這一點，並且您預計上半年價格/組合為負，下半年持平。但我希望嘗試了解您對 24 世紀在管理份額收益方面的預期如何發揮作用（您在第四季度強調了另一點份額）與您期望如何管理份額收益之間的相互作用。促銷背景隨著它的進展。

And I guess part of the question here is to the extent that promotions continue to, let's say, increase in the near term, how you'd manage that versus your desire to continue to regain share.

我想這裡的部分問題是，在短期內促銷活動繼續增加的情況下，你將如何管理它，而不是繼續重新奪回份額。

Mike, it's Marc. So let me try to address it. And let me first take a little bit the Q4 in the rear mirror on North America, because I think that highlights a lot of challenges and opportunities which we have. And then as much as we can talk, I can give you a broader direction on '24.

麥克，是馬克。那麼讓我嘗試解決這個問題。首先讓我從後視鏡中了解北美的 Q4，因為我認為這凸顯了我們面臨的許多挑戰和機會。然後，盡我們所能，我可以為您提供關於“24”的更廣泛的方向。

So if you look back at Q4 '23, in particular North America, ultimately, it comes down to the amount of -- the absolute amount of marketing and promotion dollars we've put in the market are not unusual compared to pre-COVID. The big difference was that the lift on discretionary demand was very limited. So ultimately, in hindsight, the ROI on some of the promotions did not work out the way we expected.

因此，如果你回顧 23 年第 4 季度，特別是北美地區，最終會發現，與新冠疫情爆發前相比，我們在市場上投入的營銷和促銷資金的絕對金額並不罕見。最大的差別在於，可自由支配需求的提升非常有限。因此，事後看來，最終一些促銷活動的投資報酬率並沒有達到我們的預期。

So as you know, we repeatedly talked about, we focused on value creation promotions. And in hindsight, some of these promotions did not meet that benchmark. It's just because the discretionary demand of a pool of discretionary demand in the market was limited, so the whole equation got unbalanced and then led to some margin erosion in Q4.

如您所知，我們反覆談到，我們專注於價值創造促銷。事後看來，其中一些促銷活動並未達到該基準。只是因為市場上可自由支配的需求池的可自由支配需求是有限的，所以整個等式變得不平衡，然後導致第四季度的利潤率受到一定程度的侵蝕。

As I also said, as we look into '24, and as you know, we don't give any forward-looking comments on pricing, et cetera. But I said our focus is on margin expansion. I mentioned the exit margins are below where we want it to be. Right now, our focus is on margin expansion, obviously deploying all levers which are at our disposal. That's cost takeout, that's pricing, how we manage the mix, how we manage a new product introduction.

正如我還說過的，當我們展望 24 年時，如您所知，我們不會對定價等給出任何前瞻性評論。但我說我們的重點是利潤率擴張。我提到退出利潤率低於我們想要的水平。目前，我們的重點是利潤率擴張，顯然部署了我們可以使用的所有槓桿。這就是成本支出、定價、我們如何管理產品組合、我們如何管理新產品的推出。

But the focus is on margin expansion, and that is in the context of we feel good about our share gains. And right now, the level of share where we come from gives us a solid base, and we will, at least for foreseeable future, will -- are focused on margin expansion.

但重點是利潤率擴張，這是在我們對股票收益感到滿意的背景下。目前，我們的市佔率水準為我們奠定了堅實的基礎，至少在可預見的未來，我們將專注於利潤率擴張。

Great. I appreciate that. I guess -- and I apologize if this is something that I missed in maybe the supplemental or some of the other comments, but just love to get a little more detail on FDA for 2024 in terms of the overall size. I know you talked about the margin or the profit cadence, a quarter of profits in the first half, 3 quarters in the back half. But just how you're thinking about that segment and where the margins were in '23, just to get a comparable there.

偉大的。我很感激。我想——如果我在補充或其他一些評論中遺漏了這一點，我很抱歉，但我只是想了解 FDA 2024 年總體規模的更多細節。我知道你談到了利潤率或利潤節奏，上半年利潤四分之一，下半年利潤三季。但你如何看待這個細分市場以及 23 年的利潤率，只是為了在那裡進行比較。

Yes, Mike, I can take this. And first of all, apart from a supplement, that -- we will spend a lot of time -- a lot more time on February 27 at our Investor Day to show you a little bit of history of KitchenAid, the margin run rate, the seasonality. So there will be a lot more color to your question.

是的，麥克，我可以接受這個。首先，除了補充之外，我們將在 2 月 27 日的投資者日花費大量時間向您展示 KitchenAid 的一些歷史、保證金運行率、季節性。所以你的問題會有更多的色彩。

So on a high level, right now, it's -- the seasonality is similar to what you described. So there is more skew towards the back half around the holidays. But even in the first half, there are some important holidays, which always matter for KitchenAid like -- and we manage accordingly.

因此，從高水準來看，現在的季節性與您所描述的類似。因此，假期前後下半年的情況會更加傾斜。但即使在上半年，也有一些重要的假期，這對 KitchenAid 來說總是很重要——我們會相應地進行管理。

The broader margins, and again, we will show that in the supplement, which you will see soon are the 15.5%, which we guide to '24 is slightly higher than the '23 one. But even if I look at a multiyear KitchenAid SDA margin, it typically hovers around 15% EBIT. So it's a very solid and margin accretive business for us, which, of course, we want to grow significantly more going forward.

更廣泛的利潤，我們將在補充中顯示，您很快就會看到 15.5%，我們指導 '24 略高於 '23。但即使我看一下 KitchenAid SDA 的多年利潤率，它的息稅前利潤通常徘徊在 15% 左右。因此，這對我們來說是一項非常穩固且能增加利潤的業務，當然，我們希望未來能大幅成長。

Yes, Michael. I think the other thing to highlight, you'll see in all the supplemental materials we provided is really, if you look at the historical run rate of the business, it has been around $1 billion plus and 15.5%. And so some of the information that we did provide obviously showed a time period when that benefit -- or that business benefited from some of the trends that were going on during COVID. But I'd say today, what Marc highlighted in there in the size and all that is really more representative of the trend that business has been on and why we're excited about the growth and the margins we have within there.

是的，邁克爾。我認為另一件需要強調的事情是，您會在我們提供的所有補充資料中看到，如果您查看該業務的歷史運行率，您會發現它大約為10 億美元以上，增長率為15.5% 。因此，我們確實提供的一些資訊顯然顯示了這種受益的時期，或者說該企業從新冠疫情期間發生的一些趨勢中受益的時期。但我今天要說的是，馬克在其中強調的規模和所有這些確實更能代表業務的趨勢，以及為什麼我們對其中的成長和利潤感到興奮。

Your next question comes from the line of Susan Maklari from Goldman Sachs.

您的下一個問題來自高盛的 Susan Maklari。

My first question is you mentioned the $300 million to $400 million of cost actions that you expect to take this year. As you think about the ability to continue to reduce the cost structure, how are you balancing that relative to the growth initiatives that you have and the targets to get the business closer to those long-term goals?

我的第一個問題是，您提到今年預計將採取 3 億至 4 億美元的成本行動。當您考慮繼續降低成本結構的能力時，您如何平衡其與您擁有的成長計劃和使業務更接近這些長期目標的目標？

Yes, Susan. So this is Jim. And I think the thing you've got to look at there as we talk about the cost takeout is you saw this year to begin with, we significantly invested in technology and engineering and in our products, and you saw that in our overall walk. And so if you really look at how that $300 million to $400 million breaks down, the first $100 million of that is just cost savings we already implemented this year that are in areas that don't affect our ability to grow and drive innovation.

是的，蘇珊。這就是吉姆。我認為，當我們談論成本削減時，你必須關注的是，今年一開始，我們在技術、工程和產品方面進行了大量投資，你在我們的整體發展中也看到了這一點。因此，如果你真正看看這 3 億到 4 億美元是如何分解的，其中的前 1 億美元只是我們今年已經實施的成本節約，這些成本節約是在不影響我們發展和推動創新能力的領域。

Then we talk about maybe the next $100 million to $200 million within there, and that's really driving efficiency both within our supply chain, our factories and that comes from ongoing initiatives that we have that are just to become much more efficient in terms of how we manufacture or much more efficient in how we get product to our consumers in the end. And so again, those are not areas, those don't affect the investments that we make.

然後我們討論可能接下來的1 億到2 億美元，這確實提高了我們的供應鏈、工廠的效率，而這來自我們正在進行的舉措，這些舉措只是為了在我們的生產方式方面變得更加高效。製造或最終將產品交付給消費者的方式更有效率。再說一次，這些不是領域，它們不會影響我們所做的投資。

And then if you think about the third bucket there that we've talked about is really SG&A reductions from a simplified organizational model. That also is just us looking at how we operate as a company and how we operated in the past with a much larger business, including EMEA, how do we simplify it, how do we make it more effective?

然後，如果你考慮我們討論過的第三個方面，那就是簡化的組織模型中的 SG&A 削減。這也只是我們在審視我們作為一家公司如何運營，以及我們過去如何在包括歐洲、中東和非洲在內的更大的業務中運營，我們如何簡化它，我們如何使其更有效？

Our investments within our products, whether it be engineering or capital will actually be relatively consistent to even up this year. So the areas where we're cutting costs are not the areas that affect our ability to deliver growth and innovation. We're actually investing -- what we are is we're reducing cost in other areas so we can invest more in those areas.

我們對產品的投資，無論是工程還是資本，實際上今年都會相對穩定。因此，我們削減成本的領域並不影響我們實現成長和創新的能力。我們實際上是在投資——我們正在降低其他領域的成本，這樣我們就可以在這些領域進行更多投資。

So Susan, just to echo what Jim is saying and to be really crystal clear, we will -- we have and we will continue to invest steadily in new products and brand investments. Last year, despite all the pressure, we invested 75 basis points more into new product marketing and technology. We will continue to do so in '24. And as you've seen also from capital plans, we are prepared to invest in new products. That's ultimately the lifeblood of our company and creates future growth.

所以蘇珊，只是為了回應吉姆所說的話，並且非常清楚，我們將——我們已經並將繼續穩步投資於新產品和品牌投資。去年，儘管面臨種種壓力，我們在新產品行銷和技術方面的投資仍增加了 75 個基點。我們將在 24 年繼續這樣做。正如您從資本計劃中看到的那樣，我們準備投資新產品。這最終是我們公司的命脈並創造未來的成長。

At the same time, we're also very mindful that we get a great fund for that. And these funds, to Jim's point, they come from carryover actions, they come from manufacturing efficiency. And frankly, after the Europe transaction is closed, we have a simpler business, and we will take advantage of relooking at our SG&A base in terms of how can we take advantage of now what is globally a much simpler and easier business where we don't need to have all the complexity in its current structure.

同時，我們也非常注意我們為此獲得了一筆龐大的資金。在吉姆看來，這些資金來自結轉行動，來自於製造效率。坦白說，在歐洲交易結束後，我們的業務變得更加簡單，我們將利用重新審視我們的銷售、管理和行政費用基礎來考慮如何利用現在全球範圍內更加簡單和容易的業務，而我們現在不這樣做。不需要在其當前結構中具有所有複雜性。

Okay. That's very helpful color. And then my second question is thinking about the cash flows. You mentioned that you came into the year with inventories a bit higher than what you had anticipated. Any thoughts on the timing of working that back down and what that might mean for the cadence of the cash generation this year?

好的。這是非常有用的顏色。我的第二個問題是考慮現金流。您提到今年您的庫存略高於您的預期。對於何時停止工作以及這對今年現金生成的節奏可能意味著什麼有什麼想法嗎？

Yes. Susan, so this is Jim. And listen, here's what I would say, is we talked about within our numbers, the overall cash flow guidance for the year that will reduce working capital by about $100 million at a minimum. I think what you'll see is you'll see some of that come more probably within the second and third quarter as we just look at where things are because we did already talk about that retailer inventory levels at the beginning of the year were higher than we anticipated.

是的。蘇珊，這是吉姆。聽著，我要說的是，我們在數據中討論了今年的整體現金流指導，這將減少至少 1 億美元的營運資金。我認為你會看到其中一些更有可能在第二和第三季度出現，因為我們只是看看情況，因為我們已經討論過年初的零售商庫存水平較高比我們預期的。

And so obviously, we believe that will put some pressure on shipments in the first half of the year and our goal is to make sure we keep our inventories in line with the shipments, but then begin to reduce those inventories as we have the opportunity, but also then as we expect to see sales ramp up a little bit later in the year. So I would say not necessarily in the first quarter, but more in the middle half of the year is when you should expect to see us reducing inventories.

顯然，我們認為這將對今年上半年的出貨量造成一些壓力，我們的目標是確保我們的庫存與出貨量保持一致，但隨後一旦有機會就開始減少庫存，但我們預計今年晚些時候銷量會上升。所以我想說不一定是在第一季度，但更多的是在今年中期，你應該期望看到我們減少庫存。

Your next question comes from the line of David MacGregor from Longbow Research.

您的下一個問題來自 Longbow Research 的 David MacGregor。

Can you talk a little bit about the market share gains and at what price points? And was this really just a recovery of some of the share that you lost during the pandemic? Or do you think it might have been incremental with a different consumer or the different price point? And how does all this kind of mesh with what the consumer is doing right now in terms of mixing up or mixing down?

您能談談市場佔有率的成長以及在什麼價位上的成長嗎？這真的只是恢復了您在大流行期間失去的一些份額嗎？或者您認為它可能會隨著不同的消費者或不同的價格點而增加嗎？所有這些如何與消費者現在在混合或混合方面所做的事情相結合？

So David, I mean, first of all, the 1 point or 1.1 point to be precise, full year gains in North America were -- and the good thing is they're spread across multiple product categories. So there's basically not a single product category where we would point to share weakness. We grew across the board. Obviously, a number of new product introductions helped and supported that share growth.

所以大衛，我的意思是，首先，北美地區全年的成長準確地說是 1 個百分點或 1.1 個百分點，而好處是它們分佈在多個產品類別中。因此，基本上沒有一個產品類別是我們可以指出的共同弱點。我們全面成長。顯然，許多新產品的推出幫助並支持了份額的成長。

The other element, which partially helped, but is not yet fully visible, we had significant share growth in the national builder business. But obviously, because the broader market is still soft, that it's not yet fully showing, but that's a big source of share gains. So it's pretty much across the board. I wouldn't point to specific price point.

另一個因素在一定程度上有所幫助，但尚未完全顯現，我們在全國建築商業務中的份額顯著增長。但顯然，由於大盤仍然疲軟，這一點尚未完全顯現出來，但這是股價上漲的一大來源。所以這幾乎是全面的。我不會指出具體的價格點。

Now against the context of a broader market, and this is coming back to what I think we mentioned also in the last earnings call. The nature of a market, which is now so heavily impacted by the replacement markets, and again, with 60% of our sales right now of the total market, which is much more than past, replacement market inherently comes with a slightly lower margin profile than discretionary demand. it's just what it is because consumers either look for specific dimensions or are in a rush, they only have 1 or 2 days to make decisions, so that typically comes at a lower margin profile.

現在，在更廣泛的市場背景下，這又回到了我們在上次財報電話會議中提到的內容。市場的性質現在受到替換市場的嚴重影響，而且我們現在的銷售額佔整個市場的 60%，這比過去高得多，替換市場本質上利潤率略低而非可自由支配的需求。這就是事實，因為消費者要么尋找特定的尺寸，要么很匆忙，他們只有 1 或 2 天的時間做出決定，因此通常利潤率較低。

So I wouldn't point to specific price points where we gain market share but the broader market being so heavily replacement-driven, that doesn't necessarily help you from a price mix compared to previous periods.

因此，我不會指出我們獲得市場份額的具體價格點，但更廣泛的市場是如此嚴重的替代驅動，與之前的時期相比，這不一定能幫助您調整價格組合。

Got it. And then just as a follow-up, I want to go back to the $300 million to $400 million cost reductions. I guess my question is really a clarification. This is a net number, right? It's net of any inflation in your non-raw material variable costs and fixed costs? In other words, your gross number...

知道了。作為後續行動，我想回到 3 億至 4 億美元的成本削減。我想我的問題確實是一個澄清。這是一個淨值吧？扣除非原料變動成本和固定成本的通貨膨脹後？換句話說，你的總數量...

Yes. This is a net number, like we always put on the net cost line. And so again, yes, it takes more in gross actions to get to this number as we have to offset inflation in certain areas and especially in some of our higher-growth emerging markets outside the U.S., but this is a net $300 million to $400 million.

是的。這是一個淨值，就像我們總是在淨成本線上列出的那樣。是的，需要採取更多的整體行動才能達到這個數字，因為我們必須抵消某些領域的通貨膨脹，尤其是美國以外的一些成長較高的新興市場，但這只是 3 億至 400 美元的淨額百萬。

Your next question comes from the line of Mike Dahl from RBC Capital Markets.

您的下一個問題來自加拿大皇家銀行資本市場部的 Mike Dahl。

So a follow-up on the inventory comments. When you look at where retail inventory ended up, I guess, 2-part question. Is there any specific category that saw outsized inventory growth that you need to now work down? And then do you think Whirlpool was effectively in line with the industry as far as the inventory build? Is that kind of a Whirlpool-specific comment than an industry comment? How do you think you shake out versus the market in terms of where inventory position ended the year?

所以跟進庫存評論。當你查看零售庫存的最終去向時，我想這是由兩個部分組成的問題。是否有任何特定類別的庫存成長過快，您現在需要降低壓力？那麼，您認為惠而浦在庫存建設方面實際上與行業保持一致嗎？這是惠而浦特有的評論，而不是業界評論嗎？您認為在年末庫存狀況方面，您如何擺脫市場的影響？

Yes. So Michael, I'll start here, and I'll let Marc kind of add a little bit of color to it. But I would say, to begin with, across categories, I can't say that I could call out and differentiate any one category where it's significantly different. Again, as we kind of got through the year-end, saw where sell-through was from a holiday perspective, and then you look across the broader environment, I'd say it's in -- we see it in many of the categories. So I don't think that there's a big differentiation for us there.

是的。邁克爾，我將從這裡開始，然後讓馬克為它添加一點色彩。但我想說，首先，在各個類別中，我不能說我可以指出並區分任何一個明顯不同的類別。再次，當我們度過年底時，從假期的角度看到銷售情況，然後你看看更廣泛的環境，我想說它在 - 我們在許多類別中都看到了它。所以我認為我們在那裡沒有很大的差異化。

And then as you said, is it a Whirlpool-only issue? I think now as you look across the entire industry and you look across the retailers right now, this is not a Whirlpool-only issue. And again, as you've seen, many of our competitors have already started talking about things, you're hearing a similar story out there that everyone is seeing a retail environment that seems to have higher levels of inventory than expected. So just based on at least information out in the public, I don't believe that it's a problem that disproportionately affects us.

然後正如您所說，這是惠而浦獨有的問題嗎？我認為，當你縱觀整個行業和零售商時，你會發現這不僅僅是惠而浦的問題。再次，正如您所看到的，我們的許多競爭對手已經開始談論事情，您聽到了類似的故事，每個人都看到零售環境的庫存水平似乎高於預期。因此，至少根據公開的訊息，我不認為這是一個對我們影響過大的問題。

Mike, maybe just give you a little bit more color and coming back to what I mentioned before. Essentially, when you look back at Q4 North America, the industry sell-through was softer than most people expected, okay? And it comes back to, yes, the amount of discretionary demand out there was not as high as people expected. That led to both the return on investment and market promotions was just not attractive. And two, it also led to higher inventories of the retailers relative to what we had in mind in the industry sales through.

麥克，也許只是給你更多的色彩，然後回到我之前提到的。從本質上講，當您回顧北美第四季度時，行業銷售量比大多數人預期的要軟，好嗎？話又說回來，是的，可自由支配的需求量並不像人們預期的那麼高。這導致無論是投資回報還是市場促銷都不具吸引力。第二，相對於我們所設想的行業銷售情況，這也導致零售商的庫存增加。

And yes, as Jim mentioned earlier, I think that will impact somewhat the shipments, the industry shipments in Q1 and maybe to a lesser extent Q2, from everything. And of course, we don't have precise sellout data from competitors, but from everything which we see from a broader industry, it certainly was not a Whirlpool-specific issue. This was across the board. And right now, it just means a little bit of inventory overhang as we enter the industry in Q1, but again, that we will we work through.

是的，正如吉姆之前提到的，我認為這將在一定程度上影響第一季的出貨量、行業出貨量，或許在較小程度上影響第二季度的各個方面。當然，我們沒有來自競爭對手的精確銷售數據，但從我們從更廣泛的行業中看到的一切來看，這肯定不是惠而浦特有的問題。這是全面的。目前，這僅意味著我們在第一季進入該行業時會出現一點庫存積壓，但我們將再次解決這個問題。

Yes. That makes sense. Helpful. My second question, either Marc or Jim, is around the free cash flow guide. And specifically, if I look at cash earnings and operating items, the expectation is $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion in fiscal '24. You did -- you're expecting EBIT to be about flat at $1.15 billion. On that number, you did $910 million of cash earnings in 2023. It seems like your interest expense is unchanged year-on-year. Your cash tax is unchanged year-on-year. And so if your EBIT is unchanged year-on-year, what is the actual bridge in terms of which items are getting you to a higher cash earnings number in '24 higher cash earnings conversion relative to EBIT?

是的。這就說得通了。有幫助。我的第二個問題，無論是馬克還是吉姆，都是圍繞著自由現金流指南的。具體來說，如果我看看現金收入和營運項目，24 財年的預期為 11 億至 12 億美元。你確實做到了——你預計息稅前利潤將持平於 11.5 億美元。依照這個數字，你在 2023 年的現金收入為 9.1 億美元。看來你的利息支出較去年同期沒有變動。您的現金稅與去年同期相比沒有變化。因此，如果您的息稅前利潤比去年同期沒有變化，那麼在 24 年相對於息稅前利潤更高的現金收益轉換中，哪些項目可以讓您獲得更高的現金收益數字，實際的橋樑是什麼？

Yes. So Michael, this is Jim. And really, there's 2 components that go into that line. It's your actual earnings, which, as you pointed out, are relatively flat, and that does make sense. And then the other one that's always hard from the outside to really kind of look at is that we have a lot of other operating accounts that are on our balance sheet, such as accruals for promotional spend, such as accruals for employee compensation in other areas.

是的。邁克爾，這是吉姆。事實上，該系列有 2 個組件。這是你的實際收入，正如你所指出的，它相對持平，這確實有道理。然後，另一個從外部很難真正了解的問題是，我們的資產負債表上還有很多其他營運帳戶，例如促銷支出的應計費用，例如其他領域的員工薪酬的應計費用。

And actually, when we look at the end of this year versus the end of 2023 versus the end of 2022, what we saw is that because 2022 was a really strong year, you had a lot higher payouts on some of those areas within the beginning of 2023 that negatively affects cash. And when you come through a negative year that you don't have as high a payout in some of those areas, it gives you a positive in the next year from an operating cash flow perspective.

實際上，當我們比較今年年底、2023 年底和 2022 年底時，我們看到的是，因為 2022 年是非常強勁的一年，所以一開始在某些領域的支出要高得多2023 年將對現金產生負面影響。當你經歷了負面的一年，而你在某些領域沒有那麼高的支出時，從營運現金流的角度來看，它會為你帶來明年的正面結果。

So it's a good question in that it doesn't really become apparent, but that's the biggest driver within that bucket that you will see. Then also throughout the year, there are just some noncash items that affect that differently here and there. But that's the biggest driver, the changes in those other types of accruals that don't necessarily sit in working capital.

所以這是一個很好的問題，因為它並沒有真正變得明顯，但這是你將看到的那個桶子中最大的驅動因素。然後，在全年中，只有一些非現金項目會在這裡和那裡產生不同的影響。但這是最大的驅動力，不一定屬於營運資本的其他類型應計費用的變化。

Our next question comes from the line of Jason Haas from Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Jason Haas。

I'm curious if you could talk about what impacts, if any, you've seen from the disruptions in the Red Sea and just global container costs starting to increase here.

我很好奇您能否談談您從紅海的混亂中看到的影響（如果有的話）以及全球貨櫃成本開始增加。

Jason, it's Marc. So obviously, in particular with our heavy footprint on the Americas, the impact for Americas is less Yes, there is some -- it impacts a little bit some of the East Coast shipments, not so much in cost, more in time. So there's 1 or 2 weeks later time. It could and will start impacting the European business. Right now, we're still in pretty good shape for Europe. But obviously, that brings uncertainty more in European supply chain, to much, much less extent of the North America supply chain.

傑森，是馬克。很明顯，特別是我們在美洲的影響力很大，對美洲的影響較小。是的，有一些——它對東海岸的一些發貨產生了一點影響，成本上的影響不大，時間上的影響更大。所以還有一兩週後的時間。它可能而且將會開始影響歐洲業務。目前，我們在歐洲的狀態仍然很好。但顯然，這為歐洲供應鏈帶來了更多的不確定性，而為北美供應鏈帶來的不確定性要小得多。

The container costs have been so far pretty stable for us. Again, also put a bit of context, they came from excessively high rates in the COVID and post-COVID environment and now to more normalized rates. And the broader impact of the mix is limited. Keep also in mind, compared to any of our competitors, we are much more North America and Americas production based. So relatively speaking, the container cost impact is a whole lot less than most of our competitors.

到目前為止，貨櫃成本對我們來說相當穩定。再次強調背景，它們來自新冠疫情和新冠疫情后環境中過高的比率，現在又變成了更正常化的比率。而且這種組合的更廣泛影響是有限的。另請記住，與我們的任何競爭對手相比，我們更多地以北美和美洲的生產為基礎。因此相對而言，貨櫃成本的影響比我們大多數競爭對手小得多。

Got it. And then as a follow-up question, I'm curious if you could remind us what your sourcing exposure is to China. And if you had any thoughts on if we were to see higher tariffs placed on China, what would be the impact to your business and the industry overall?

知道了。作為一個後續問題，我很好奇您能否提醒我們您在中國的採購情況。如果您對如果對中國徵收更高的關稅有什麼想法，會對您的業務和整個行業產生什麼影響？

Yes. So Jason, I mean, first of all, split into 2 pieces, there's finished products and there's components. On finished products, our exposure is relatively small. We import microwave food combination and some refrigerators into the Americas and into Europe and some dishwashers also into Europe.

是的。所以傑森，我的意思是，首先，分成兩部分，成品和組件。在成品方面，我們的曝光度相對較小。我們將微波爐食品組合和一些冰箱進口到美洲和歐洲，並將一些洗碗機進口到歐洲。

So on finished products, it's actually, frankly, in particular, Americas, not a very big number. Components in particular, in electronics, you have exposure like everybody else to China or broader Asia, I would say, because not just China, it's also Vietnam, Thailand, et cetera.

因此，就成品而言，坦白說，特別是在美洲，這個數字實際上並不是一個很大的數字。特別是在電子產品領域，你和其他人一樣都接觸過中國或整個亞洲，我想說，因為不只中國，還有越南、泰國等。

Again, back to my earlier comments, in the competitive landscape, we're by a long shot, the least exposed to China. And it's just because of our historic strong footprint in Americas, our focus on producing in Americas and sourcing from Americas, except for electronics where you just have a limited supply base in the Americas.

再次回到我之前的評論，在競爭格局中，我們遠遠落後於中國。這只是因為我們在美洲歷史上擁有強大的足跡，我們專注於在美洲生產並從美洲採購，但電子產品除外，在美洲只有有限的供應基地。

Your final question comes from the line of Eric Bosshard from Cleveland Research.

你的最後一個問題來自克利夫蘭研究中心的埃里克·博斯哈德（Eric Bosshard）。

Two questions. I'll give the both to you. The first is the other half of the free cash flow question, I understand the bridge within the cash earnings. Can you just give us a little bit of context of the $200 million to $300 million Europe cash usage that is alluded to in that slide? I just don't exactly know where that fits within the moving pieces.

兩個問題。我會把兩者都給你。第一個是自由現金流問題的另一半，我理解的是現金收益內的橋樑。您能為我們介紹一下投影片中提到的 2 億至 3 億美元歐洲現金使用情況嗎？我只是不知道它在移動部件中的位置。

And then the second question relates, Marc, you talked a lot about the focus on margin progress, the flat margin in 6.8%. Related to that, I guess the core of it is that you still have this 11% to 12% long-term margin guide, and just wanted to see if that is the number that you're still aspiring to and aiming to.

第二個問題涉及到，馬克，您談到了很多關於利潤率進展的關注，即 6.8% 的持平利潤率。與此相關的是，我想核心是你仍然有 11% 到 12% 的長期利潤指導，只是想看看這是否是你仍然渴望和瞄準的數字。

Yes. So Eric, this is Jim, and I'll start with your first question there on EMEA. And typically, if you'd looked within a full year EMEA over some of the past years has consumed around $200 million of cash and whether it's due to restructuring, it's due to some legacy liabilities and matters through the operations of the business. Now as we look to close the transaction in the quarter of the year, typically, that negative cash flow actually did occur much earlier in the year and then they would gain cash throughout the year. So to begin with, they start the year with a negative cash flow as they begin to build some working capital.

是的。 Eric，我是 Jim，我將從您關於 EMEA 的第一個問題開始。一般來說，如果你看看過去幾年歐洲、中東和非洲地區全年消耗了約 2 億美元的現金，無論是由於重組，還是由於企業運營過程中的一些遺留負債和問題。現在，當我們希望在一年中的季度完成交易時，通常情況下，負現金流實際上確實發生在今年早些時候，然後他們將在全年獲得現金。因此，一開始，他們在開始建立一些營運資金時，現金流為負。

The second piece of that, though, that comes along with it is that also within there, we have some various working capital financing type of programs that are related to accounts receivable and other things that we will unwind as we do this transaction. And then as we contribute this -- this business to the new company, there will be other things that might exist within there. But there are just some things we need to unwind as we go through the process.

不過，隨之而來的第二個問題是，我們也有一些與應收帳款和我們在進行這筆交易時將解除的其他事項相關的各種營運資金融資類型的計劃。然後，當我們將這項業務貢獻給新公司時，那裡可能會存在其他東西。但在整個過程中，我們需要放鬆一些事情。

So right now, we look at it is possibly having an impact at least on our cash flow for the year of a negative $200 million to $300 million. But once we get closer to the close, we'll update that number.

所以現在，我們認為它可能至少對我們今年的現金流產生負 2 億至 3 億美元的影響。但一旦接近結束，我們將更新該數字。

And Eric, just maybe adding a comment on to Jim's point. To put it simply, the $550 million to $650 million cash flow, excluding Europe on a normalized basis will translate into $800-million-plus, that's essentially what it means, because we have to unwind these working capital financing activities and some other elements. So that's what it really means.

艾瑞克（Eric）也許只是對吉姆（Jim）的觀點添加評論。簡而言之，5.5億至6.5億美元的現金流（在正常化的基礎上不包括歐洲）將轉化為8億美元以上，這本質上就是這個意思，因為我們必須取消這些營運資本融資活動和其他一些要素。這就是它的真正意義。

Now to your second point about the margin progress. And again, I want to also highlight our upcoming Investor Day, where we give an update with the segment about our mid- and long-term value creation goals. But in short -- and Eric, that's consistent to what we said before, we absolutely don't see any reason why the margins which we have pre-COVID are not in sight. So i.e., and particularly for North America, we -- for years, we have been operating at 12% or 12-plus percent operating margin in North America, and that's certainly what we see absolutely possible.

現在談談關於保證金進度的第二點。再次，我還想強調即將到來的投資者日，我們將在會上更新有關我們的中長期價值創造目標的部分。但簡而言之，艾瑞克，這與我們之前所說的一致，我們絕對看不出有任何理由看不到我們在新冠疫情之前的利潤率。因此，特別是對於北美地區，我們多年來一直在北美地區以 12% 或 12% 以上的營業利潤率運營，這當然是我們認為絕對有可能實現的。

Right now, we're working through -- I mean, as you all can see, it's a very negative macro cycle. I mean our industry is heavily impacted by existing home sales and existing home sales in the course of 20 months went from 6-plus million units to 3.7 million. So that's impacting us. But we know how to work through the cycles, and that's why we're very confident that we, over time, can reestablish these margins as we were experiencing them before. But again, much more perspective on this one at our Investor Day.

現在，我們正在努力解決——我的意思是，正如你們所看到的，這是一個非常負面的宏觀週期。我的意思是，我們的行業受到現有房屋銷售的嚴重影響，現有房屋銷售在 20 個月內從 6 多萬套增加到 370 萬套。所以這正在影響我們。但我們知道如何度過這些週期，這就是為什麼我們非常有信心，隨著時間的推移，我們可以重新建立這些利潤，就像我們以前經歷過的那樣。但在我們的投資者日，我們再次對這個問題有更多的看法。

I guess with that, we've come pretty much to the end of our session. First of all, I want to thank you all for joining us today. And I think -- I mean really, hopefully, what you heard is we feel good about where we are from our market share perspective. We also feel good about our ability to take out costs as we demonstrate in '23 as we are comping for '24 and we frankly feel good about how we, step-by-step, restrengthen our balance sheet and where we are from a broader funding and balance sheet perspective.

我想至此，我們的會議就差不多結束了。首先，我要感謝大家今天加入我們。我認為——我的意思是，希望你聽到的是，從市場份額的角度來看，我們對自己的現狀感到滿意。我們也對我們消除成本的能力感到滿意，正如我們在23 年所展示的那樣，因為我們正在與24 年進行比較，坦率地說，我們對我們如何逐步加強我們的資產負債表以及我們從更廣泛的角度來看感到滿意資金和資產負債表的角度。

I think all these elements set us up very well for working through a macro cycle, which we -- we all see it. That's certainly going to impact the industry negatively in Q1 and probably also some extent Q2. But again, we come from a very strong platform. We know how to work through the cycles, and we have, I think, the right actions in place to -- particularly also as you look at the back half of '24, have a very attractive business.

我認為所有這些因素都使我們能夠很好地完成宏觀週期，我們都看到了這一點。這肯定會對第一季和第二季的行業產生負面影響。但同樣，我們來自一個非常強大的平台。我們知道如何度過這些週期，而且我認為我們已經採取了正確的行動，特別是當你看到 24 世紀後半段時，我們的業務非常有吸引力。

So with that in mind, again, I want to remind everybody, February 27. That's where you will see a lot more perspective, particularly about our North America business, in particular about our KitchenAid SDA business, which we historically didn't put a lot of light on or didn't show you a lot. And we will also talk quite a bit about balance sheet and cash flow development. So again, February 27, and we're looking forward to seeing you all. Thank you.

因此，考慮到這一點，我想再次提醒大家，2 月27 日。那時您會看到更多的觀點，特別是關於我們的北美業務，特別是我們的KitchenAid SDA 業務，我們歷來沒有將其納入考慮範圍。亮了很多燈或沒有給你很多東西。我們還將詳細討論資產負債表和現金流發展。 2 月 27 日，我們期待與大家見面。謝謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

女士們先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。