Xcel Brands Inc (XELB) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. I'd like to welcome everyone to the XELB's Q2 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions).

謝謝你的支持。我歡迎大家參加 XELB 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）。

Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to Paul Kuntz. Please go ahead.

謝謝。我現在想把電話轉給保羅·昆茨。請繼續。

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Welcome to the Xcel Brands second quarter of 2024 earnings call. We greatly appreciate your participation and interest. With us on the call today are Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Robert D'Loren; Chief Financial Officer, Jim Haran; and EVP of Business Development and Treasury, Seth Burroughs.

大家下午好，感謝您加入我們。歡迎參加 Xcel Brands 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。我們非常感謝您的參與和興趣。今天與我們一起參加電話會議的是董事長兼執行長 Robert D'Loren；財務長吉姆‧哈蘭；業務開發和財務執行副總裁 Seth Burroughs。

By now, everyone should have had access to the earnings release for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, which went out last evening, and in addition, the company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission its quarterly report on Form 10-Q today. The release and the quarterly report will be available on the company's website at www.xcelbrands.com. This call is being webcast, and a replay will be available on the company's Investor Relations website.

到目前為止，每個人都應該已經能夠查看昨晚發布的截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的季度收益報告，此外，該公司今天還向美國證券交易委員會提交了 10-Q 表格季度報告。新聞稿和季度報告將在公司網站 www.xcelbrands.com 上發布。這次電話會議正在網路直播，重播將在公司的投資者關係網站上提供。

Before we begin, please keep in mind that this call will contain forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from certain expectations discussed here today.

在我們開始之前，請記住，本次電話會議將包含前瞻性陳述。所有前瞻性陳述均受到風險和不確定性的影響，這些風險和不確定性可能導致實際結果與今天討論的某些預期有重大差異。

These risk factors are explained in detail on the company's most recent annual report filed with the SEC. Xcel does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. The dynamic nature of the current macroeconomic environment means that what is said on this call could change materially at any time.

這些風險因素在該公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的最新年度報告中進行了詳細解釋。Xcel 不承擔任何公開更新或修改任何前瞻性聲明的義務，無論是由於新資訊、未來事件或其他原因。當前宏觀經濟環境的動態性意味著本次電話會議的內容可能隨時發生重大變化。

Finally, please note that on today's call, management will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures, including non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP diluted EPS, and adjusted EBITDA. Our management uses these non-GAAP measures as measures of operating performance to assist in comparing performance from period-to-period on a consistent basis and to identify business trends related to the company's results of operations.

最後，請注意，在今天的電話會議上，管理層將參考某些非 GAAP 財務指標，包括非 GAAP 淨利潤、非 GAAP 稀釋後每股收益和調整後 EBITDA。我們的管理階層使用這些非公認會計準則衡量標準作為經營績效衡量標準，以協助在一致的基礎上比較不同期間的業績，並確定與公司經營績效相關的業務趨勢。

Our management believes these financial performance measurements are also useful because these measures adjust for certain costs and other events that management believes are not representative of our core business operating results, unless they provide supplemental information to assist investors in evaluating the company's financial results.

我們的管理層認為這些財務業績衡量標準也很有用，因為這些衡量標準針對管理層認為不能代表我們核心業務經營業績的某些成本和其他事件進行了調整，除非它們提供補充資訊來幫助投資者評估公司的財務表現。

These non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation or as alternatives to net income, earnings per share, other measures of financial performance calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. You may refer to the attachment to the company's earnings release or to Part 1, Item 2 of the Form 10-Q for a reconciliation of non-GAAP measures.

這些非公認會計準則指標不應被孤立地考慮，也不應被視為淨利潤、每股收益以及根據公認會計準則計算和提出的其他財務績效指標的替代品。您可以參考公司收益發布的附件或表格 10-Q 第 1 部分第 2 項，以了解非 GAAP 指標的調節情況。

And now I am pleased to introduce Robert D'Loren, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Bob, please go ahead.

現在我很高興地介紹董事長兼執行長 Robert D'Loren。鮑勃，請繼續。

Thank you, Paul. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I'd like to start today's call with a brief update on our performance for the second quarter and our outlook for the remainder of the year. After that, our CFO, Jim Haran, will discuss our financial results in more detail.

謝謝你，保羅。大家早安，感謝您今天加入我們。在今天的電話會議開始時，我想簡要介紹我們第二季度的業績以及今年剩餘時間的展望。之後，我們的財務長 Jim Haran 將更詳細地討論我們的財務表現。

Before I cover the second quarter highlights, I would like to cover the sale and divestiture of the Lori Goldstein brand. For a variety of reasons, it was determined that it would be in the best interest of the company to sell the brand back to its namesake and allow us to focus on our growing brands and potential new opportunities. In doing so, we recognized a net gain of $3.8 million and reduced liabilities by $6 million.

在介紹第二季亮點之前，我想先介紹 Lori Goldstein 品牌的出售和剝離。出於多種原因，我們確定將品牌賣回同名品牌符合公司的最佳利益，並使我們能夠專注於不斷發展的品牌和潛在的新機會。在此過程中，我們確認了 380 萬美元的淨收益，並減少了 600 萬美元的負債。

Turning to the second quarter, we made continued progress on executing our project fundamentals plan to transition fully to a core working capital licensing business, growing our top-line licensing revenues while also improving our bottom-line results for the quarter and going forward. Our net licensing revenues grew 16% year over year and 29% for the first quarter. while looking at our bottom line, our non-GAAP earnings for the quarter improved by approximately 85% from last year and our adjusted EBITDA approach breakeven during the second quarter.

談到第二季度，我們在執行專案基本計劃方面取得了持續進展，以全面過渡到核心營運資金許可業務，增加了我們的頂線許可收入，同時也改善了本季度和未來的底線業績。我們的淨許可收入年增 16%，第一季成長 29%。從我們的利潤來看，我們本季的非 GAAP 收益比去年提高了約 85%，調整後的 EBITDA 在第二季度接近盈虧平衡。

As we continue to gain traction and accelerate growth in future quarters, we expect our licensing revenues to continue to grow and our bottom-line operating results to continue to improve. Based on all of our progress with project fundamentals, our strategic plan to get back to what made us successful in our core business over the years and the organic growth in our brands we expect to grow strongly going forward.

隨著我們在未來幾季繼續獲得牽引力並加速成長，我們預計我們的授權收入將繼續成長，我們的淨利潤將繼續改善。基於我們在專案基礎上取得的所有進展、我們的策略計劃，以恢復多年來我們在核心業務上取得成功的因素，以及我們品牌的有機成長，我們預計未來將強勁成長。

The C. Wonder brand is performing well on HSN with second-quarter sales exceeding HSN's plan by 6%. The second half of 2024 is planned up from the first half with expectations of achieving in excess of a 60% year-over-year growth rate. We expect to see retail sales volumes continue to grow strongly beyond 2024 on HSN and at other retailers.

C. Wonder品牌在HSN上表現良好，第二季銷售額超出HSN計畫6%。2024年下半年的規劃較上半年有所提高，預計將年增60%以上。我們預計 HSN 和其他零售商的零售額將在 2024 年後繼續強勁成長。

We are on track to launch additional new categories of footwear and handbags in spring of 2025. Our new brand, Tower Hill by Christie Brinkley, launched on HSN during the second quarter, exceeding plan by 40%. Additional airtime has been scheduled for the remainder of the year with significant growth plan for 2025. Separately, the brand will introduce additional categories of products outside of HSN starting in spring of 2025. In addition, we have received strong interest from potential licensing partners to the brand across multiple categories, including footwear, bags, beauty, and skincare.

我們預計在 2025 年春季推出更多新類別的鞋類和手袋。我們的新品牌 Tower Hill by Christie Brinkley 於第二季在 HSN 上推出，超出計畫 40%。計劃在今年剩餘時間內增加播出時間，並計劃在 2025 年大幅成長。另外，該品牌將從 2025 年春季開始推出 HSN 以外的其他產品類別。此外，我們還收到了潛在授權合作夥伴對該品牌跨多個類別的強烈興趣，包括鞋類、箱包、美容和護膚品。

One last note on HSN, we expect to announce the launch of another celebrity designer brand on HSN before the end of this year and another food and kitchen products brand in Q1 of 2025. Looking at our Judith Ripka business, second-quarter royalties increased from first quarter by 45%. This is the result of greater product assortments. We look forward to seeing strong sales momentum carry forward throughout 2024 and 2025.

關於 HSN 的最後一點是，我們預計將在今年年底前宣佈在 HSN 上推出另一個名人設計師品牌，並於 2025 年第一季宣布推出另一個食品和廚房產品品牌。看看我們的 Judith Ripka 業務，第二季的版稅較第一季成長了 45%。這是產品種類增加的結果。我們期待看到 2024 年和 2025 年保持強勁的銷售動能。

As previously discussed, G-III launched Halston apparel this fall. In addition, they expect to begin shipping footwear and bags later this year for spring 2025. We expect revenues from this license to begin to pick up later this year and grow strongly in 2025 and beyond. As previously mentioned, Orme soft launched its video and social commerce marketplace during the second quarter. For Xcel, Orme represents a natural extension of our expertise in video commerce over television.

如前所述，G-III 今年秋季推出了 Halston 服裝。此外，他們預計將於今年稍晚開始在 2025 年春季發貨鞋類和包款。我們預計該許可證的收入將在今年稍後開始回升，並在 2025 年及以後強勁增長。如前所述，Orme Soft 在第二季推出了視訊和社群商務市場。對於 Xcel 來說，Orme 代表了我們在電視視訊商務方面的專業知識的自然延伸。

The Orme team is doing a great job building awareness for the app and onboarding premier brand. They are pleased with the results to date. We believe this marketplace has the potential to transform video and social commerce in the US, and it will achieve its goal to democratize the influencer and creator economy. We are very excited by the potential of Orme.

Orme 團隊在提高應用程式知名度和建立一流品牌方面做得非常出色。他們對迄今為止的結果感到滿意。我們相信這個市場有潛力改變美國的影片和社交商務，並將實現影響者和創作者經濟民主化的目標。我們對 Orme 的潛力感到非常興奮。

And now I'd like to turn the call over to Jim to discuss our financial results. Jim?

現在我想把電話轉給吉姆，討論我們的財務表現。吉姆？

Thanks, Bob. And good morning, everyone. I will now briefly discuss our financial results for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2024. Total revenue for the second quarter of 2024 was $3 million, representing a decrease of approximately $3.8 million from the second quarter of 2023. This decline was driven by the decrease in net product sales to effectively zero due to an exit from both wholesale operating businesses as part of our project fundamentals plan that began in 2023.

謝謝，鮑伯。大家早安。我現在將簡要討論我們截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的季度和六個月的財務表現。2024年第二季總營收為300萬美元，較2023年第二季減少約380萬美元。這一下降的原因是，作為我們於 2023 年開始的專案基本計劃的一部分，我們退出了兩個批發經營業務，導致產品淨銷售額實際上下降為零。

The only product sales during the current quarter were approximately $100,000 related to the final sale of some residual June inventory, which have now been fully liquidated. Possibly offsetting the year-over-year decrease in net product sales was an increase of approximately $0.4 million or approximately 16% in net licensing revenue mainly attributable to the combination of a Halston national license with G-III apparel, significantly increased revenues generated by the C. Wonder business on HSN, and the launch of Tower Hill by Christie Brinkley in May 2024.

本季唯一的產品銷售額約為 10 萬美元，與部分剩餘 6 月庫存的最終銷售有關，這些庫存現已完全清算。淨許可收入增加了約 40 萬美元，約 16%，這可能抵消了淨產品銷售額的同比下降，這主要歸因於 Halston 國家許可與 G-III 服裝的結合，顯著增加了HSN 上的C. Wonder 業務，以及Christie Brinkley 於2024 年5 月推出的Tower Hill。

On a year-to-date basis, revenue for the current six months decreased by approximately $7.7 million to $5.1 million, again, driven by net product sales to effectively zero following the discontinuance of our wholesale operations. The decrease in net product sales was partially offset by an increase of $0.4 million or 8% in net licensing revenue due to the combination of new licensing agreements and brand launches previously mentioned.

年初至今，目前六個月的收入減少了約 770 萬美元，至 510 萬美元，這再次受到批發業務終止後淨產品銷售額實際上為零的推動。由於新的授權協議和前面提到的品牌發布，淨授權收入增加了 40 萬美元（即 8%），部分抵消了產品淨銷售額的下降。

Our direct operating costs and expenses was $3.1 million for the current quarter, down by $2.1 million or 40% from $5.2 million in the prior-year quarter. On a year-to-date basis, direct operating costs and expenses decreased from $12.1 million for the prior-year quarter to $7.1 million for the current quarter, representing a decline of approximately $5 million or 42%. These decreases for both the quarterly and year-to-date comparative periods were attributable to the discontinuance of the wholesale business in the prior year, which included reductions in staffing levels as well as related reductions in other overhead costs.

本季我們的直接營運成本和費用為 310 萬美元，比去年同期的 520 萬美元減少了 210 萬美元，即 40%。年初至今，直接營運成本和費用從去年同期的 1,210 萬美元下降至本季的 710 萬美元，下降約 500 萬美元，即 42%。季度和年初至今的比較期間的下降是由於上一年批發業務的終止，其中包括人員配置水平的減少以及其他間接費用的相關減少。

With the project fundamental initiatives substantially completed, going forward, we expect our average direct operating costs to be approximately $2.5 million per quarter. Aside from direct operating cost expenses, our operating results in 2024 notably included a $3.8 million gain on the divestiture of the Lori Goldstein brand as well as asset impairment charges of $1.2 billion and $3.5 million for the current quarter and currently six months, respectively.

隨著專案基本計劃的基本完成，展望未來，我們預計每季的平均直接營運成本約為 250 萬美元。除了直接營運成本支出外，我們 2024 年的營運表現還包括剝離 Lori Goldstein 品牌帶來的 380 萬美元收益，以及本季和目前六個月的資產減損費用分別為 12 億美元和 350 萬美元。

We sold the Lori Goldstein brand on June 30, 2024, in exchange for approximately $6.1 million of non-cash proceeds, including relief from certain earnout payments and release of contingent obligations of the contractual agreements with the buyer and recognized a net gain on the sale of $3.8 million and lowered our balance sheet liabilities by $6 million.

我們於 2024 年 6 月 30 日出售了 Lori Goldstein 品牌，換取約 610 萬美元的非現金收益，包括免除某些盈利付款以及免除與買方簽訂的合約協議的或有義務，並確認了出售淨收益380萬美元，資產負債表負債減少600 萬美元。

The aforementioned impairment charges recognized in the first and second quarters of this year were all related to the exit from and sublease of our prior office space. Overall, we had net income for the second quarter of 2024 of approximately $0.2 million or $0.01 per share compared with a net loss of $3.5 million or minus $0.18 per share in the prior-year quarter.

上述今年第一季和第二季確認的減損費用均與退出和轉租我們之前的辦公空間有關。整體而言，我們 2024 年第二季的淨利約為 20 萬美元，即每股 0.01 美元，而去年同期的淨虧損為 350 萬美元，即每股負 0.18 美元。

On a non-GAAP basis, we had a net loss for the current quarter of $0.3 million or minus $0.01 per share, which represents an 85% improvement from the non-GAAP net loss of $2.1 million or minus $0.10 per share in the second quarter of 2023.

以非 GAAP 計算，我們本季的淨虧損為 30 萬美元（即每股負 0.01 美元），比第二季非 GAAP 淨虧損 210 萬美元（即每股負 0.10 美元）改善了 85% 2023 年。

Finally, adjusted EBITDA was negative $40,000 or approaching breakeven for the current quarter, representing a year-over-year improvement of approximately $1.3 million or over 95% from the negative $1.3 million of adjusted EBITDA in the prior-year quarter. With a new cost structure in place and projected revenue growth, management anticipates achieving positive quarterly EBITDA in the back half of the year.

最後，本季調整後 EBITDA 為負 4 萬美元，或接近盈虧平衡，較去年同期調整後 EBITDA 為負 130 萬美元，年成長約 130 萬美元，增幅超過 95%。隨著新的成本結構的到位和預計的收入成長，管理層預計在今年下半年實現正的季度 EBITDA。

Now that we have rightsized our cost structure, our non-GAAP measurements continue to improve in future periods as licensing revenues are projected to grow. On a year-to-date basis, we had a net loss excluding non-controlling interest for the current six months of approximately $6.1 million or minus $0.28 per share compared with a net loss of $9.1 million or minus $0.46 per share in the prior year's six months.

現在我們已經調整了成本結構，隨著授權收入預計將成長，我們的非公認會計準則衡量標準將在未來持續改善。年初至今，我們目前六個月的淨虧損（不包括非控制權益）約為 610 萬美元或每股負 0.28 美元，而上一年的淨虧損為 910 萬美元或每股負 0.46 美元六個月。

On a non-GAAP basis, we had a net loss for the current six months of $2.1 million or minus $0.10 per share, which represents an approximately 60% improvement for the non-GAAP net loss of $5.6 million or minus $0.28 per share in the prior year's six months. Adjusted EBITDA on a year-to-date basis was negative $1.6 million, represented a year-over-year improvement of approximately 50% from the negative $3.3 million of adjusted EBITDA in the prior-year comparable period.

以非 GAAP 計算，我們目前六個月的淨虧損為 210 萬美元或每股負 0.10 美元，比去年同期的非 GAAP 淨虧損 560 萬美元或每股負 0.28 美元減少了約 60%。年的六個月。年初至今調整後 EBITDA 為負 160 萬美元，較去年同期調整後 EBITDA 負 330 萬美元年增約 50%。

Once again, I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP diluted EPS and adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP [comparable terms]. Our earnings press release and Form 10-Q present a reconciliation of these items with the most directly comparable GAAP measures.

我想藉此機會再次提醒大家，非 GAAP 淨利潤、非 GAAP 稀釋每股收益和調整後 EBITDA 均為非 GAAP 【可比條款】。我們的收益新聞稿和 10-Q 表格將這些項目與最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標進行了調整。

Now turning to our balance sheet and liquidity, as of June 30, 2024, the company had total cash and cash equivalents of approximately $1.7 million, of which $0.7 million was restricted. Our net working capital, excluding the current portion of lease obligations and deferred revenue, was approximately $1.1 million, which we believe is adequate and appropriate under our current licensing plus working capital-light business model. Since executing our project fundamental plan, our cash usage has decreased significantly and is projected to continue to improve with the launch of Halston by G-III this fall and continued growth in our other brands.

現在轉向我們的資產負債表和流動性，截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日，該公司的現金和現金等價物總額約為 170 萬美元，其中 70 萬美元受到限制。我們的淨營運資本（不包括目前部分的租賃義務和遞延收入）約為 110 萬美元，我們認為這在我們目前的許可加輕營運資本業務模式下是充足且適當的。自從執行我們的專案基本計劃以來，我們的現金使用量已大幅減少，並且預計隨著 G-III 今年秋季推出 Halston 以及我們其他品牌的持續增長，現金使用量將繼續改善。

And with that, I'd like to turn the call back over to Bob. Bob?

說到這裡，我想把電話轉回給鮑伯。鮑伯？

Thank you, Jim. This concludes our prepared remarks. Operator?

謝謝你，吉姆。我們準備好的演講到此結束。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Michael Kupinski, NOBLE Capital.

（操作員指令）Michael Kupinski，NOBLE Capital。

Thank you so much. Good morning. Congratulations on you achieving expectations and delivering on your transformation. A couple of things up here. It's a good job. A couple of things, can you give me a sense of how well the Christie Brinkley brand, Tower Hill is performing heading into Q3? And in Q3, are you anticipating that there will be some licensing revenue from Halston? And I just have a couple of other additional questions.

太感謝了。早安.恭喜您實現期望並實現轉型。這裡有幾件事。這是一份好工作。有幾件事，您能否讓我了解一下 Christie Brinkley 品牌 Tower Hill 在第三季的表現如何？在第三季度，您預計 Halston 會帶來一些授權收入嗎？我還有其他幾個問題。

Sure. Tower Hill exceeded plan on the launch, Michael, by 40%. And we had contractual minimums there. The actual forecast for the year is twice the minimum. And we anticipate going into '25, we'll double the business from where we are this year, and we are having great traction with Christie outside of HSN as well. There were a lot of significant retailers very interested in what we're doing with Christie and Christie's potential, not only in apparel but in home and other categories. But we're excited about the prospects with Christie.

當然。Michael，Tower Hill 的發射進度超出了 40%。我們在那裡有最低合約要求。今年的實際預測是最小值的兩倍。我們預計進入 25 年，我們的業務將比今年增加一倍，而且我們在 HSN 之外也對科視有著巨大的吸引力。許多重要的零售商對我們利用科視Christie 所做的事情以及科視Christie 的潛力非常感興趣，不僅在服裝方面，而且在家居和其他類別方面。但我們對科視的前景感到興奮。

And then in terms of licensing revenue from Halston, are you anticipating licensing revenue in the third quarter from Halston for G-III?

然後就 Halston 的授權收入而言，您是否預計在第三季 Halston 的 G-III 授權收入？

Well, just as a reminder, there are minimum guaranteed royalties under that license. So we expect -- and depending upon -- whether or not they ship shoes and bags this year, they should, to get in for spring. There's a potential of just coming up over those minimums and that we expect as G-III moves forward, increasing royalties from all activities with G-III, including all the third-party licenses that are currently in place for the brand.

好吧，提醒一下，該許可證有最低保證特許權使用費。因此，我們預計 - 並且取決於 - 無論他們今年是否發貨鞋子和包袋，他們都應該在春季上市。有可能會超過這些最低限度，我們預計隨著 G-III 的向前發展，G-III 的所有活動的特許權使用費都會增加，包括該品牌目前擁有的所有第三方許可。

And Bob, you can give us a sense of what products are being rolled out on the Halston brand and the timeline that you're anticipating at this point?

鮑勃，您能給我們介紹一下 Halston 品牌正在推出哪些產品以及您目前預計的時間表嗎？

So it's apparel across multiple categories and classifications, which is typical of what G-III does. That's what we would expect would happen. And then they went to market with handbags and shoes during August, and we don't know the results of how that market went for that. We'll get that later in the quarter. But those are the core drivers of licensing, and then there are multiple categories with third-party licensees including the Halston premium line that is distributed in best-positioned retailers that we think will be able to draft off of G-III's success.

因此，它是跨多個類別和類別的服裝，這是 G-III 所做的典型工作。這就是我們所期望發生的事情。然後他們在八月帶著手袋和鞋子進入市場，我們不知道市場的結果如何。我們將在本季晚些時候得到這個結果。但這些是授權的核心驅動力，還有多個類別的第三方授權商，包括Halston 優質產品線，該產品線在位置最好的零售商中分銷，我們認為這些零售商將能夠借鑒G-III的成功。

And at this point, since we're halfway in the quarter, can you give us a sense of whether or not you believe that you will see year-over-year increases in licensing revenue in the third quarter?

此時，由於我們已經進入本季的一半，您能否告訴我們您是否相信您會在第三季看到授權收入年增？

Yes. We're on a steady ramp up with all the brands. And we entered into all of the licenses with these significant players like G-III and Jewelry TV and premier firms with One Jeanswear group, and launched the new brands on HSN. And we're just getting started with these businesses and they're all off to a great start.

是的。我們與所有品牌的合作都在穩步推進。我們與 G-III 和 Jewelry TV 等重要參與者以及 One Jeanswear 集團等頂級公司簽訂了所有授權協議，並在 HSN 上推出了新品牌。我們剛開始開展這些業務，它們都有一個好的開始。

And then on the designer that you plan to announce in the fourth quarter, can you kind of give us a sense of will that be on HSN, or would it be other retail partners and things like that, if you can give us a sense of that? And then, I assume that there will be some costs associated with launching that brand. If you could kind of give us a sense of what you're anticipating at this point?

然後，關於您計劃在第四季度宣布的設計師，您能否給我們一種在 HSN 上的感覺，或者是其他零售合作夥伴以及類似的事情，如果您能讓我們感覺到那？然後，我假設推出該品牌會產生一些相關成本。您能否告訴我們您目前的預期是什麼？

So that brand will launch just on HSN initially. And there wasn't very much start-up cost on that one because of the way we structured the deal. But that said, we've already -- product has been ordered, all the product development is done, it's launching, and whatever cost we had have already been expensed. We do believe that the brand that we plan to launch for kitchen and food products in Q1 has tremendous potential, both on HSN and outside of HSN. That celebrity chef that we are doing this with has close to 5 million TikTok followers. She has a tremendous following.

因此該品牌最初將僅在 HSN 上推出。由於我們建構交易的方式，這項計畫的啟動成本並不高。但話雖如此，我們已經——產品已經訂購，所有產品開發都已完成，它正在發布，我們已經支出了所有成本。我們確實相信，我們計劃在第一季推出的廚房和食品品牌在 HSN 內外都具有巨大潛力。與我們合作的那位名廚在 TikTok 上擁有近 500 萬粉絲。她擁有大量的追隨者。

Gosh, that sounds very exciting. Can you give us a sense of what the Isaac Mizrahi brand is doing at this point? And how -- what your expectations are for that brand going forward?

天哪，這聽起來非常令人興奮。您能為我們介紹一下 Isaac Mizrahi 品牌目前正在做些什麼嗎？您對該品牌未來的期望是什麼？

So Isaac is on plan for what was forecasted for the year. That said, it's down from last year. And part of that relates to a reduction to zero in Isaac's remote shows, QVC coming out of COVID, changed its position on remote shows, and has mandated that all talent returned to studio. So we are working on bringing in other backup guests for Isaac to make up for that actual and studio of time that we've lost because of the elimination of remote shows.

所以艾薩克正在按照今年的預測進行規劃。也就是說，它比去年有所下降。其中一部分與 Isaac 的遠距表演減少到零有關，QVC 從新冠疫情中恢復過來，改變了其對遠距表演的立場，並要求所有人才返回演播室。因此，我們正在努力為艾薩克引進其他後備嘉賓，以彌補我們因取消遠程演出而損失的實際時間和工作室時間。

Got it. That's all I have. Thank you and congratulations on your turnaround here.

知道了。這就是我所擁有的一切。謝謝你並祝賀你在這裡的轉變。

Thank you, Michael.

謝謝你，麥可。

Anthony Lebiedzinski, Sidoti.

安東尼·萊別津斯基，西多蒂。

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking the questions. Nice to see the improved performance. So now that you divested Lori Goldstein, how should we think about just overall the brand portfolio? Are you happy with where those brands are? I think you talked about all of them, except for Longaberger. But I guess, in terms of just looking out, which brands are you most excited about, Bob, as far as growth opportunities going forward?

嘿，早安。感謝您提出問題。很高興看到性能的提高。既然您剝離了 Lori Goldstein，我們應該如何考慮整體品牌組合？您對這些品牌的現況滿意嗎？我想你談到了所有人，除了隆加伯格。但我想，就未來的成長機會而言，鮑勃，您對哪些品牌最感興趣？

So I think C. Wonder has tremendous growth potential as Christie Brinkley. And we are focused there, we think, Isaac is a good opportunity, assuming that we can get the right backup guests to help with some of the time we've lost to the remote shows. Longaberger is doing well. It is now an e-commerce-only business. We had onboarded it on to Orme, and we are now reengaging with all of the former Longaberger sellers.

所以我認為 C. Wonder 作為 Christie Brinkley 有著巨大的成長潛力。我們專注於那裡，我們認為，艾薩克是一個很好的機會，假設我們可以找到合適的後備嘉賓來幫助我們彌補因遠距演出而損失的一些時間。隆加伯格表現不錯。現在它是一家純電子商務企業。我們已將其納入 Orme，現在我們正在與所有前 Longaberger 賣家重新接觸。

So we're excited about the potential of Longaberger. We also think there are licensing opportunities for us with Longaberger. And we are continuing to look for new brands and new opportunities across our portfolio that we think can grow core business and add the kinds of brands that we're seeking today for the portfolio that will do well in traditional distribution, linear TV distribution, as well as distribution through streaming platforms, including, of course, Orme.

因此，我們對 Longaberger 的潛力感到興奮。我們也認為 Longaberger 為我們提供了許可機會。我們正在繼續在我們的產品組合中尋找新品牌和新機會，我們認為這些新品牌和新機會可以發展核心業務，並添加我們今天正在尋找的品牌類型，以在傳統發行、線性電視發行等領域表現出色。

Got you. Okay. And then actually, as far as Orme, can you guys maybe just touch base as far as what's been the number of downloads for the app? And are you actually seeing sales coming through that? Maybe if you could just give us some more details about what you've seen so far with Orme.

明白你了。好的。事實上，就 Orme 而言，你們能不能簡單了解一下該應用程式的下載量是多少？您真的看到了銷售額的成長嗎？也許您可以向我們提供一些有關您迄今為止在 Orme 上所看到的更多細節。

Sure. As you know, we are 30% owner of Orme. I can give you what the Orme team has reported to us. First, the thing that I think we all need to know about Orme and what it's doing is, there has been very dramatic activity in this new market with the recent announcement of the alliance between TikTok and Amazon. The implications of social commerce have become very, very far reaching with this alliance.

當然。如您所知，我們擁有 Orme 30% 的股份。我可以向您提供 Orme 團隊向我們報告的內容。首先，我認為我們都需要了解 Orme 及其正在做什麼，隨著 TikTok 和亞馬遜結盟的消息，這個新市場發生了非常引人注目的活動。透過這個聯盟，社交商務的影響力已經變得非常非常深遠。

There are only three marketplaces for short-form video and social commerce, and those are TikTok, Flip, and Orme today. And the difference in Orme and perhaps TikTok and Flip is Orme is focused on better brands with higher average order values than both of those platforms. So that's the segment of the market that we're focused on.

目前，短影片和社群商務市場只有三個，分別是 TikTok、Flip 和 Orme。Orme 以及 TikTok 和 Flip 的不同之處在於，Orme 專注於平均訂單價值高於這兩個平台的更好品牌。這就是我們關注的市場部分。

Orme began implementing its app distribution strategies on July 23. In less than three weeks, the team generated 20,000 downloads, and we've been very selective on the platform about the kinds of brands that are going to be present on the Orme platform. So very, very high standards on selection value. There are 13 major brands on the site to date, and they are continuing to ramp up the platform, both from a user perspective and an onboarding brands.

Orme 於 7 月 23 日開始實施其應用程式分發策略。在不到三週的時間裡，團隊產生了 20,000 次下載，我們在平台上對將出現在 Orme 平台上的品牌類型進行了非常嚴格的篩選。所以對於選擇價值的標準非常非常高。迄今為止，該網站上已有 13 個主要品牌，無論從用戶角度還是入駐品牌角度，他們都在繼續提升該平台的實力。

Got you. Okay. Thanks for that color. That's definitely very helpful. And then just thinking about the profitability going forward here, so obviously, you're happy with the brands' trajectory, both C. Wonder and Christie Brinkley. And Halston should be coming up in the fall as well. And you've rightsized the cost structure there. So do you think you could be consistently earnings positive, here going forward, every quarter? Or is that just earnings or just EBITDA? If you could just kind of maybe help us out with that.

明白你了。好的。謝謝那個顏色。這絕對非常有幫助。然後只要考慮這裡未來的獲利能力，顯然，您對 C. Wonder 和 Christie Brinkley 兩個品牌的發展軌跡感到滿意。霍爾斯頓也應該在秋天出現。並且您已經調整了那裡的成本結構。那麼，您認為今後每季都能持續實現正收益嗎？或者這只是盈利或只是 EBITDA？如果你能幫我們解決這個問題就好了。

I think for the rest of the year, worst case will be breakeven, best case will be EBITDA positive heading into '25 with all brands, including Halston, ramping up. That's how we see the balance of the year. We just don't have enough visibility into exactly what the Halston brand will do for the balance of the year.

我認為在今年剩下的時間裡，最壞的情況將是盈虧平衡，最好的情況將是 EBITDA 為正，進入 25 年，包括 Halston 在內的所有品牌都會增加。這就是我們如何看待今年的餘額。我們只是沒有足夠的了解 Halston 品牌在今年剩餘的時間裡會做什麼。

Got you. Okay. So in terms of -- just to follow up as far as Halston. So is the timing of that -- I know it's out of your hands, but as far as -- what's the latest that you think you'll start to see, I guess, revenue coming from the Halston brand?

明白你了。好的。因此，就霍爾斯頓而言，只是跟進。那麼，時機也是如此——我知道這不在你的掌控之中，但就——你認為你會開始看到來自 Halston 品牌的收入的最新消息是什麼？

Well, there is revenue coming from it now. There were contractual minimums. We expect the ramp to really begin next year. It's a little delayed in terms of what we had initially anticipated. But we think that it's on the right track. And we'll move forward nicely going into next year.

嗯，現在有收入了。有合約最低限額。我們預計斜坡將於明年真正開始。與我們最初的預期相比，有點延遲。但我們認為它走在正確的軌道上。我們將順利進入明年。

Got you. But you have some other well-performing brands that seem like they're offsetting some of that delay. Is that fair to say?

明白你了。但其他一些表現良好的品牌似乎正在抵消一些延遲。這麼說公平嗎？

Yes, exactly. Everything is up and moving nicely, particularly all the things we're doing on HSN.

是的，完全正確。一切都進展順利，尤其是我們在 HSN 上所做的所有事情。

Got you. All right, well, thank you very much and best of luck.

明白你了。好吧，非常感謝你，祝你好運。

Thank you, Anthony.

謝謝你，安東尼。

Aaron Warwick, Breakout Investors.

亞倫·沃里克，突破投資者。

Thanks for taking the call. Congratulations on getting the business on the right track. I just had a question on the compensation agreements for yourself, Bob, and Seth, that were recently modified, where you're getting 40% of your base compensation in stock instead of cash. I just wanted to know some of the reasoning behind that. Is it more to do with preserving cash or thinking that your share price is quite undervalued given the prospects going forward? If you could comment on that.

感謝您接聽電話。恭喜您的業務步入正軌。我剛剛對您自己、鮑勃和塞斯的薪酬協議有一個疑問，該協議最近經過修改，您將獲得 40% 的基本薪酬，而不是現金。我只是想知道背後的一些原因。是更多地與保留現金有關，還是認為考慮到未來的前景，您的股價被相當低估？如果你能對此發表評論的話。

First and foremost, we think the share price is undervalued, both from the perspective of relative value of our brands. We think that the value of the brands far exceeds the current market cap of the company. Also, if -- assuming that we stay on track with the growth in our royalty revenues -- and we are trading well below what we believe our potential earnings are going forward into next year.

首先，我們認為從我們品牌的相對價值的角度來看，股價被低估了。我們認為品牌的價值遠超過公司目前的市值。此外，如果——假設我們繼續保持特許權使用費收入的成長——而我們的交易價格遠低於我們認為明年的潛在收益。

And then lastly, it is, I think prudent. Seth and I are in a position where we can do something like this. And to the extent that we can preserve cash. We think that's a smart thing to do just given the state of world affairs.

最後，我認為這是謹慎的。賽斯和我處於可以做這樣的事情的位置。在我們可以保留現金的範圍內。我們認為，考慮到世界事務的現狀，這是明智之舉。

Great. Okay, thank you. One final thing, I guess, is Orme. What's the current expectations? You've mentioned the soft launch and there -- something about July 23, where we really started to roll it out a little bit more. What's kind of the plan for -- timeline for the full commercialization and when they're really going to try to promote it to the masses?

偉大的。好的，謝謝。我想最後一件事是奧姆。目前的期望是什麼？您提到了軟啟動，以及 7 月 23 日的事情，我們真的開始進一步推出它。全面商業化的計畫是什麼？

So Orme is going to do its own capital raise. The technology is fully funded and built and launched, and they are proving all of their business metrics and will do their own raise. And I would expect that when they are funded, they will then really drive the business to its full expectations -- the potential.

因此，Orme 將自行籌集資金。該技術已獲得全額資助、建構和啟動，他們正在證明其所有業務指標，並將自行籌集資金。我預計，當他們獲得資金時，他們將真正推動業務達到其全部預期——潛力。

Any sort of estimate on when they would plan to do that raise?

他們計劃何時進行加薪有什麼估計嗎？

Their plan is to try to do it before year end.

他們的計劃是嘗試在年底前完成。

Okay. Thank you. Appreciate your time, guys.

好的。謝謝。珍惜你們的時間，夥計們。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Howard Brous, Wellington Shields.

霍華德·布羅斯，威靈頓·希爾茲。

Thank you. Bob, congratulations on the turn. Anticipated, thank you. I thank everyone else who's responsible for it. I have a couple of questions. I want to pin you down if it's at all possible. You've got a couple of research reports that have recommended the company. I'd like you to comment on how comfortable you are on the numbers for next year. I'm not asking you to tell me that within a $0.01 or $0.02, but are you comfortable with those numbers? That's the first question.

謝謝。鮑勃，恭喜你輪到了。期待中，謝謝。我感謝所有對此負責的人。我有幾個問題。如果可能的話，我想鎖定你。您有幾份推薦該公司的研究報告。我希望您評論一下您對明年的數字有多滿意。我並不是要求您在 0.01 美元或 0.02 美元的範圍內告訴我這個數字，但您對這些數字感到滿意嗎？這是第一個問題。

So Howard, assuming everything continues to grow the way it has been growing across all of our businesses and G-III really begins the ramp that we believe is reasonable just given where they are, we're comfortable with those numbers. And certainly, I don't think today's stock price accurately reflects the potential of the company going into next year.

因此，霍華德，假設一切都繼續以我們所有業務的成長方式成長，並且 G-III 真正開始成長，我們認為考慮到它們的現狀是合理的，我們對這些數字感到滿意。當然，我認為今天的股價並不能準確反映該公司明年的潛力。

Thanks. Bluntly, I haven't found many companies that are selling at 3x free cash flow or 2x EBITDA, and that's basically what you're trading at. So I am saying that you got to be pretty comfortable with those numbers. What are the major brands are you going to launch on Orme?

謝謝。坦白說，我沒有發現很多公司的銷售價格是 3 倍自由現金流或 2 倍 EBITDA，而這基本上就是你的交易價格。所以我想說的是，你必須對這些數字感到滿意。您打算在 Orme 上推出哪些主要品牌？

So Orme had a robust pipeline. There's a strong business development team there. Of course, as you know, I have a tremendous amount of relationships in the branded space, both with retail brands and with wholesale brands. And I'm helping the company to make some of those contacts. And I would expect they're going to stay on the same type of ramp up. 13 new mid-sized companies are on the platform now within 60 days. I think they're going to continue at that pace.

因此，Orme 擁有強大的管道。那裡有一支強大的業務開發團隊。當然，如您所知，我在品牌領域與零售品牌和批發品牌都有大量的關係。我正在幫助該公司建立一些聯繫。我預計他們將保持相同類型的成長。 60 天內，已有 13 家新的中型公司加入該平台。我認為他們會繼續以這樣的速度發展。

Initially, Orme is not seeking to be like Flip or TikTok where there are lots of small vendors. This is really targeting more the aspirational luxury marketplace than some of the brands that you see on some of the other platforms. So I think you'll see continued onboarding of better brands and continued growth in the number of downloads and users on Orme.

最初，Orme 並不想像 Flip 或 TikTok 那樣，有許多小型供應商。與您在其他平台上看到的一些品牌相比，這實際上更多地瞄準了有抱負的奢侈品市場。因此，我認為您會看到更好的品牌不斷加入，Orme 的下載量和用戶數量持續成長。

Could you comment on the names today, or is that something you can't currently?

您今天可以對這些名字發表評論嗎？

The largest brand to date that's been onboarded is Anne Klein, and that was a great endorsement of Orme for the platform. And then, there are others on the platform, not quite as large but are positioned nicely in the marketplace like DL1961 and some similar brands. They've made great progress in onboarding some beauty brands and some home brands and an activewear brand. So I'm very pleased with what the Orme team is doing, and we'll continue to help them in every way we can.

迄今為止加入的最大品牌是 Anne Klein，這是 Orme 對平台的大力認可。然後，該平台上還有其他品牌，雖然規模不大，但在市場上定位良好，例如 DL1961 和一些類似品牌。他們在一些美容品牌、一些家居品牌和一個運動服品牌上取得了巨大進展。因此，我對 Orme 團隊所做的事情感到非常滿意，我們將繼續盡我們所能幫助他們。

You have purchased, several months ago, 132,000 shares at $0.98, 146,000 in change at $0.65. And over the next year, you're taking about $0.5 million -- excuse me, more than that. You're purchasing some of the stock at $0.70, about another 500,000 shares. And that's a lot of stock. Can you comment?

幾個月前，您以 0.98 美元的價格購買了 132,000 股，並以 0.65 美元的價格兌換了 146,000 股。在接下來的一年裡，你將獲得大約 50 萬美元——對不起，不只這個數字。您將以 0.70 美元的價格購買部分股票，大約另外 500,000 股。還有很多庫存。你能發表評論嗎？

Other than I'm making these investments because I believe in what we're doing, what more can I say Howard? It's 800 million to nearly 1 million shares of stock in total.

除了我進行這些投資是因為我相信我們正在做的事情之外，我還能說什麼呢，霍華德？總共有8億股到近100萬股股票。

That's all I have. Thank you.

這就是我所擁有的一切。謝謝。

Thank you, Howard.

謝謝你，霍華德。

Michael Kupinski, NOBLE Capital.

邁克爾·庫平斯基 (Michael Kupinski)，NOBLE Capital。

Thank you. Just one quick follow up, Bob. On the Christie Brinkley brand, you indicated that you're looking at other distribution channels outside of HSN. And I was wondering if you can talk a little bit about the products that you're thinking about in terms of those -- the products that you might offer outside of HSN. And then the distribution, are we looking at major big-box retail stores, or are you talking more digital distribution platforms? I was just wondering if you can add a little bit more color there.

謝謝。只是一個快速跟進，鮑勃。關於 Christie Brinkley 品牌，您表示您正在尋找 HSN 以外的其他通路。我想知道您是否可以談談您正在考慮的產品——您可能在 HSN 之外提供的產品。然後是分銷，我們是在關注主要的大型零售店，還是在談論更多的數位分銷平台？我只是想知道你是否可以在那裡添加一點顏色。

So categories would be apparel; accessories, of course, fashion accessories; home; pet; and beauty. We have all of those categories under the brand, and the focus has been on major big-box retailers.

所以類別是服裝；配件，當然是時尚配件；家;寵物;和美麗。我們在該品牌下擁有所有這些類別，重點是主要的大型零售商。

And when would you expect to announce something like that? I mean, because that would be a fairly big announcement, I would think.

您預計什麼時候宣布類似的事情？我的意思是，因為我認為這將是一個相當大的公告。

I would say that just given timelines on product development, we'd like to do something for spring of '25. We're working at light speed to try to get to market with a retailer by that date. But if for whatever reason we can't make it, then it would push to fall.

我想說的是，根據產品開發的時間表，我們希望在 25 年春季做一些事情。我們正以極快的速度努力爭取在那一天之前與零售商一起進入市場。但如果出於某種原因我們無法做到這一點，那麼它就會推倒。

Got you. Okay, good luck with that. It sounds great. That's all I have. Thank you.

明白你了。好的，祝你好運。聽起來很棒。這就是我所擁有的一切。謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. Seeing as there are no more questions in the queue, that concludes our question-and-answer session. I will now turn the call back over to the Xcel Brands team for closing remarks.

謝謝。鑑於隊列中沒有更多問題，我們的問答環節就結束了。我現在將把電話轉回 Xcel Brands 團隊進行總結演講。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for your time this morning. We greatly appreciate your continued interest and support in Xcel Brands. As always, stay fit, eat well, and be healthy.

謝謝你們，女士們、先生們。感謝您今天早上抽出時間。我們非常感謝您對 Xcel Brands 的持續關注與支持。一如既往，保持健康，吃得好，保持健康。

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝大家的加入。您現在可以斷開連線。