全錄公司 (XRX) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the Xerox Holdings Corporation's Fourth Quarter and 2022 Earnings Release Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) At this time, I would like to turn the meeting over to Mr. David Beckel, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

歡迎來到施樂控股公司第四季度和 2022 年收益發布電話會議。 （操作員說明）此時，我想將會議轉交給投資者關係副總裁大衛·貝克爾先生。請繼續，先生。

Good morning, everyone. I'm David Beckel, Vice President and Head of Investor Relations at Xerox Holdings Corporation. Welcome to the Xerox Holdings Corporation Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Release Conference Call hosted by Steve Bandrowczak, Chief Executive Officer. He is joined by Xavier Heiss, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. At the request of Xerox Holdings Corporation, today's conference call is being recorded. Other recording and/or rebroadcasting of this call are prohibited without the express permission of Xerox.

大家，早安。我是 Xerox Holdings Corporation 的副總裁兼投資者關係主管 David Beckel。歡迎參加由首席執行官 Steve Bandrowczak 主持的 Xerox Holdings Corporation 2022 年第四季度收益發布電話會議。執行副總裁兼首席財務官 Xavier Heiss 加入了他的行列。應施樂控股公司的要求，對今天的電話會議進行錄音。未經 Xerox 明確許可，禁止以其他方式錄製和/或轉播此通話。

During this call, Xerox executives will refer to slides that are available on the web at www.xerox.com/investor, and will make comments that contain forward-looking statements, which, by their nature, address matters that are in the future and are uncertain. Actual future financial results may be materially different than those expressed herein. At this time, I'd like to turn the meeting over to Mr. Bandrowczak.

在此次電話會議中，Xerox 高管將參考 www.xerox.com/investor 網站上提供的幻燈片，並將發表包含前瞻性陳述的評論，這些陳述就其性質而言，將解決未來和未來的問題不確定。未來的實際財務結果可能與此處表述的結果存在重大差異。現在，我想將會議轉交給 Bandrowczak 先生。

Good morning and thank you for joining our Q4 2022 earnings call. One year ago, it would have been difficult to predict the number and severity of obstacles we and many other companies would face in 2022. Supply chain conditions were challenged entering this year. In February, Russia invaded Ukraine and the humanitarian tragedy that disrupted supply chains further and led to the effective shutdown of our operations in those markets.

早上好，感謝您加入我們的 2022 年第四季度財報電話會議。一年前，很難預測我們和許多其他公司在 2022 年將面臨的障礙的數量和嚴重程度。進入今年，供應鏈狀況面臨挑戰。 2 月，俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭和人道主義悲劇進一步擾亂了供應鏈，並導致我們在這些市場的業務有效關閉。

These and the aftereffects of the pandemic fueled an unprecedented level of inflation and currency dislocation. And Central Bank efforts to control inflation drove historic increases in interest rates. Finally, for Xerox, last year, we unexpectedly lost our dear friend and leader, John Visentin.

這些以及大流行的後遺症助長了前所未有的通貨膨脹和貨幣混亂。中央銀行控制通貨膨脹的努力推動了利率的歷史性增長。最後，對於 Xerox，去年我們意外失去了我們親愛的朋友和領導者 John Visentin。

I am proud to report that we managed through these challenges taking significant corrective actions to match supply with demand and lower cost to offset inflationary headwinds.

我很自豪地報告，我們通過採取重大糾正措施使供需相匹配並降低成本來抵消通脹逆風，成功應對了這些挑戰。

For the year, revenue of $7.1 billion increased 1% in actual currency and 4.8% in constant currency. Our first year of constant currency revenue growth since our separation from Conduent. However, growth in revenues and cost savings were more than offset by broad-based inflationary pressure, resulting in a decline in operating profits and free cash flow. Still we delivered revenue and free cash flow above the revised guidance levels given last quarter. Throughout the year, our company and our people remained resilient and never lost focus on what is most important, providing value to our clients. I couldn't be more proud of the effort our team expended in the fourth quarter to deliver the highest level of quarterly equipment revenue since 2019, an accomplishment that was instrumental in driving full year revenue and free cash flow above our revised guidance.

全年收入為 71 億美元，按實際貨幣計算增長 1%，按固定匯率計算增長 4.8%。自從我們從 Conduent 分離後，我們的第一年貨幣收入持續增長。然而，收入增長和成本節約被廣泛的通脹壓力所抵消，導致營業利潤和自由現金流下降。儘管如此，我們的收入和自由現金流仍高於上個季度給出的修訂後指導水平。在這一年中，我們的公司和我們的員工保持了韌性，從未忘記專注於最重要的事情，為我們的客戶提供價值。我為我們的團隊在第四季度為實現自 2019 年以來最高水平的季度設備收入而付出的努力感到無比自豪，這一成就有助於推動全年收入和自由現金流高於我們修訂後的指引。

We ended the year with momentum in our values and business performance. Sustainability has long been a top priority for Xerox, and our sustainability efforts are being recognized in the marketplace. Xerox was recently named one of the Global 100 most sustainable corporations in the world by Corporate Knights and received an A rating from the Climate Disclosure Project for climate transparencies. one of the leading evaluators of corporate environmental reporting efforts.

我們以價值觀和業務績效的強勁勢頭結束了這一年。可持續發展一直是 Xerox 的首要任務，我們在可持續發展方面的努力得到了市場的認可。 Xerox 最近被 Corporate Knights 評為全球最具可持續性的 100 家公司之一，並獲得了氣候信息披露項目氣候透明度的 A 評級。公司環境報告工作的主要評估者之一。

Importantly, the progress we have made to improve the sustainability of our offerings is driving improvement at our clients' own sustainability goals. And our ability to help clients manage their sustainability goals is increasingly a competitive differentiator in the marketplace.

重要的是，我們在提高我們產品的可持續性方面取得的進展正在推動我們客戶自身可持續性目標的改進。我們幫助客戶管理其可持續發展目標的能力日益成為市場競爭優勢。

Turning to our performance. In Print and Managed Print Services, equipment revenue grew at the highest rate since before the pandemic due to improved product supply. Consumables such as supplies and paper, grew again this quarter and contractual print services, our largest, most stable source of revenue, grew low single digits in constant currency, including contributions from recently acquired Go Inspire.

談到我們的表現。在打印和打印管理服務方面，由於產品供應的改善，設備收入增長自大流行前以來的最高水平。耗材和紙張等消耗品本季度再次增長，我們最大、最穩定的收入來源合同印刷服務按固定匯率計算增長低個位數，包括最近收購的 Go Inspire 的貢獻。

In Q1, we plan to launch a series of customer experience applications to improve the setup, security and productivity of equipment geared towards small and home office users. Included in these plans is the launch of CareAR Instruct, which provides augmented reality support for our A4 devices using digital twin technology.

在第一季度，我們計劃推出一系列客戶體驗應用程序，以改善面向小型和家庭辦公室用戶的設備的設置、安全性和生產力。這些計劃包括推出 CareAR Instruct，它使用數字孿生技術為我們的 A4 設備提供增強現實支持。

IT Services grew revenue double digits for the quarter and the year, including contributions from Powerland in Canada. Enabling that growth is the breadth of enterprise-class services we bring to mid-market clients. Xerox Automation, our robotics process automation solutions, once again grew signings meaningfully on a quarter-over-quarter basis. The automation group wins business by understanding at a deep level our clients' business, industry and needs and then use that knowledge to drive customer success through customized solutions. Increasingly, our team is integrating automation with other leading technologies such as object content recognition and machine learning to drive productivity enhancements.

IT 服務在本季度和本年度的收入增長了兩位數，其中包括來自加拿大 Powerland 的貢獻。實現這種增長是我們為中端市場客戶提供的企業級服務的廣度。我們的機器人流程自動化解決方案 Xerox Automation 的簽約數量再次環比大幅增長。自動化集團通過深入了解客戶的業務、行業和需求贏得業務，然後利用這些知識通過定制解決方案推動客戶取得成功。我們的團隊越來越多地將自動化與其他領先技術（例如對象內容識別和機器學習）相結合，以推動生產力的提高。

As an example, this quarter, our automation group won new business from an existing U.K. client by developing an end-to-end document workflow solutions that combines multiple advanced technologies to extract, classify and process digitized information from scanned documents, saving the client significant time and money. Digital Services signings also grew double digits in the quarter and for the full year, and our offerings are resonating in the marketplace.

例如，本季度，我們的自動化團隊通過開發端到端文檔工作流解決方案從現有的英國客戶那裡贏得了新業務，該解決方案結合了多種先進技術以從掃描文檔中提取、分類和處理數字化信息，從而為客戶節省了大量資金時間和金錢。數字服務簽約在本季度和全年也增長了兩位數，我們的產品在市場上引起了共鳴。

In December, Xerox was named a Top Accounts Payable Solution Provider by CFO Tech Outlook in recognition of our ability to assist clients with digital transformation of their payables process. Our AP workflow optimization solution delivers a reduction in processing costs and improvement in working capital for our clients and is just one of many digital services we offer.

12 月，施樂被 CFO Tech Outlook 評為頂級應付賬款解決方案提供商，以表彰我們協助客戶對其應付賬款流程進行數字化轉型的能力。我們的 AP 工作流程優化解決方案為我們的客戶降低了處理成本並改善了營運資金，這只是我們提供的眾多數字服務之一。

In 2023, we will begin offering our suite of digital services to the mid-market, further augmenting the types of enterprise-class services and solution sets we can bring to mid-market clients. FITTLE grew originations this quarter more than 40% for both captive and noncaptive leases, capping off a year where total originations grew high single digits, including double-digit growth in noncaptive leases.

2023 年，我們將開始向中端市場提供我們的數字服務套件，進一步擴大我們可以為中端市場客戶提供的企業級服務和解決方案集的類型。 FITTLE 本季度的專屬租賃和非專屬租賃增長了 40% 以上，結束了這一年的總起源增長高個位數，包括非專屬租賃的兩位數增長。

We recently announced an innovative funding solution for FITTLE, enabling a strategic shift in its business model to focus on being an asset-light best-in-class provider of leasing services and solutions. This funding agreement also allows for growth in FITTLE's portfolio without the use of Xerox balance sheet. Xavier will explain this funding solution in more detail.

我們最近宣布了一項針對 FITTLE 的創新融資解決方案，使其業務模式發生戰略轉變，專注於成為一流的輕資產租賃服務和解決方案提供商。該融資協議還允許在不使用 Xerox 資產負債表的情況下增加 FITTLE 的投資組合。 Xavier 將更詳細地解釋這個資金解決方案。

I will now touch on our priorities for 2023. Amid all the volatility and uncertainty in the marketplace, we, at Xerox, are focused on what we can control to drive growth in profits and shareholder value. Our 3 main priorities this year are customer success, profitability and shareholder returns. Starting with customer success, we can deliver more value to our clients by making it easier to do business with Xerox. I have spent a lot of time since becoming Xerox CEO meeting with our clients and partners to discuss the ways we can extend our relationships through additional value-added digital services.

我現在將談談我們 2023 年的優先事項。在市場的所有動盪和不確定性中，我們施樂專注於我們可以控制的因素，以推動利潤和股東價值的增長。我們今年的 3 個主要優先事項是客戶成功、盈利能力和股東回報。從客戶的成功著手，我們可以更輕鬆地與 Xerox 開展業務，從而為客戶提供更多價值。自從成為施樂首席執行官以來，我花了很多時間與我們的客戶和合作夥伴會面，討論我們如何通過額外的增值數字服務來擴展我們的關係。

And all too often I have heard, I didn't know Xerox could do that. To leverage this opportunity and drive revenue growth, we are taking a more holistic client-centric approach to improving customer outcomes by delivering essential products and services that are closely aligned with our clients' needs. The current macro backdrop plays to our advantage in this regard as our IT and digital services are designed to increase productivity by reducing the cost and complexity associated with clients' technology and document workflows.

我經常聽到，我不知道 Xerox 可以做到這一點。為了利用這一機會並推動收入增長，我們正在採取更全面的以客戶為中心的方法，通過提供與客戶需求密切相關的基本產品和服務來改善客戶成果。當前的宏觀背景在這方面對我們有利，因為我們的 IT 和數字服務旨在通過降低與客戶技術和文檔工作流程相關的成本和復雜性來提高生產力。

Further, it is apparent from our market research that Xerox has a clear path to win more business within the IT and Digital Service markets because of the trust we have built over time, providing value to our clients. We are confident our brand and client relationships can be leveraged to expand our penetration of wallet share, and we are confident in our ability to expand client TAM over time as we invest in and develop new types of digital services for a hybrid workplace and distributed workforce.

此外，從我們的市場研究中可以明顯看出，由於我們長期以來建立的信任，施樂在 IT 和數字服務市場中贏得更多業務的明確途徑，為我們的客戶提供了價值。我們有信心可以利用我們的品牌和客戶關係來擴大我們的錢包份額滲透率，並且隨著我們為混合工作場所和分佈式勞動力投資和開發新型數字服務，我們有信心隨著時間的推移擴大客戶 TAM .

An example of our ability to increase wallet share is the recent renewal and addition of services at a large telecom operator in Canada. This client, like many, is adapting to the complexities associated with a hybrid workplace. Leveraging our deep relationships across the company, we took a holistic approach to tailoring a set of print and digital services that will help them in the hybrid transition and improve overall productivity.

我們增加錢包份額的能力的一個例子是加拿大一家大型電信運營商最近更新和增加服務。與許多客戶一樣，該客戶正在適應與混合工作場所相關的複雜性。利用我們在整個公司的深厚關係，我們採取了一種整體方法來定制一套印刷和數字服務，以幫助他們進行混合轉型並提高整體生產力。

We also included advanced analytics for print management, digital mail, to bring speed, security and cost savings to their mail and carrier operations and advanced software solutions to streamline and enhance their production print operations. By leveraging our relationships and portfolio of offerings, we are able to drive customer success while growing our annual contract value by double-digit rate.

我們還包括用於打印管理、數字郵件的高級分析，以為其郵件和承運人運營帶來速度、安全性和成本節約，以及用於簡化和增強其生產打印操作的高級軟件解決方案。通過利用我們的關係和產品組合，我們能夠推動客戶成功，同時以兩位數的速度增加我們的年度合同價值。

Another priority for 2023 is the continued focus on profitability. Since 2018, Project Own It has been a cornerstone of our transformation efforts and a focal point for the optimization of our cost base. We reached our 2022 targeted gross cost savings of $450 million, bringing total savings since 2018 to more than $2 billion. Just as important as these savings, however, is the management operating system, the set of disciplines around measuring and monitoring business processes that was instilled in our organizational culture by Project Own It.

2023 年的另一個優先事項是繼續關注盈利能力。自 2018 年以來，Project Own It 一直是我們轉型工作的基石，也是優化我們成本基礎的重點。我們實現了 2022 年總成本節約 4.5 億美元的目標，使 2018 年以來的總成本節約超過 20 億美元。然而，與這些節省同樣重要的是管理操作系統，它是通過 Project Own It 灌輸到我們的組織文化中的一套關於衡量和監控業務流程的規則。

We do not plan to provide annual savings targets going forward, but the behaviors engendered by the program will aid in our continuous effort to implement a more flexible cost base and operating model. Just as we will make it easier to do business with Xerox, we will make it easier to do business within Xerox by investing in processes that drive incremental organizational efficiencies and enable the types of collaboration required to offer holistic solutions to our clients.

我們不打算提供未來的年度節省目標，但該計劃產生的行為將有助於我們不斷努力實施更靈活的成本基礎和運營模式。正如我們將使與 Xerox 開展業務變得更容易一樣，我們將通過投資於提高組織效率的流程並實現為我們的客戶提供整體解決方案所需的協作類型，從而使在 Xerox 內部開展業務變得更加容易。

The current macroeconomic environment necessitates a greater focus and scrutiny on the profitability of our offerings and operating units. Accordingly, we have become more disciplined about where and how we do business, placing emphasis on metrics such as return on investment and the generation of profit, not just revenue dollars. This discipline has already been applied to our investments in R&D. In the past few months, we have taken actions to lower and in some cases, redirect investments in R&D towards projects with more certain and near-term returns.

當前的宏觀經濟環境要求我們更加關注和審查我們的產品和運營部門的盈利能力。因此，我們在開展業務的地點和方式方面變得更加自律，將重點放在投資回報和利潤產生等指標上，而不僅僅是收入。這一原則已經應用到我們的研發投資中。在過去的幾個月裡，我們已經採取行動降低研發投資，在某些情況下，將研發投資轉向具有更確定和近期回報的項目。

We exited our joint venture Eloque and pared growth investments in 3D printing. Novity and Mojave, 2 successful businesses incubated at PARC were spun out, allowing these businesses the freedom and flexibility to attract external growth capital at their own pace. To be clear, investments in innovation remain a priority at Xerox, but will be more focused on projects and partnerships that augment our existing strengths and opportunities within print, IT and digital services.

我們退出了我們的合資企業 Eloque，並削減了對 3D 打印的增長投資。 Novity 和 Mojave 這兩家在 PARC 孵化的成功企業被分拆出來，使這些企業能夠自由靈活地按照自己的節奏吸引外部增長資本。需要明確的是，對創新的投資仍然是 Xerox 的優先事項，但將更加專注於能夠增強我們在印刷、IT 和數字服務領域的現有優勢和機會的項目和合作夥伴關係。

Finally, we will continue to prioritize shareholder returns, a greater focus on customer success and profitability will naturally result in higher profits, but we also remain laser-focused on cash flow generation. Despite a strong finish to the year, free cash flow in 2022 fell below our initial expectations. 2022 was an anomaly, not a trend. Beyond expected improvements in profitability for 2023, we have already taken steps to improve our capacity to generate more free cash flow per profit dollars, such as FITTLE's receivable funding agreement.

最後，我們將繼續優先考慮股東回報，更加關注客戶的成功和盈利能力自然會帶來更高的利潤，但我們也將繼續專注於現金流的產生。儘管今年業績強勁，但 2022 年的自由現金流低於我們最初的預期。 2022 年是一個反常現象，而不是趨勢。除了 2023 年盈利能力的預期改善外，我們已經採取措施提高每美元利潤產生更多自由現金流的能力，例如 FITTLE 的應收賬款融資協議。

We also remain focused on improving working capital and expect improvements in inventory efficiency in 2023 as supply chain conditions normalize. Each of these priorities, customer success, profitability and shareholder returns will remain cornerstones of our long-term strategic plan. And each of these priorities are reflected in our full year guidance, which calls for stable revenues amid a challenging and volatile economic environment and growth in adjusted operating income margin and free cash flow, the details of which Xavier will provide.

我們還繼續專注於改善營運資金，並預計隨著供應鏈狀況的正常化，2023 年庫存效率將有所提高。這些優先事項、客戶成功、盈利能力和股東回報中的每一個都將仍然是我們長期戰略計劃的基石。這些優先事項中的每一個都反映在我們的全年指導中，該指導要求在充滿挑戰和動蕩的經濟環境中實現穩定的收入，以及調整後的營業利潤率和自由現金流的增長，Xavier 將提供詳細信息。

To recap, '22 was a challenging year, one that tested the resolve of our employees and the strength of our business model. The lessons learned from overcoming these challenges will serve us well as we execute on our strategic priorities for the year. And these priorities will ultimately form the foundation of a long-term plan for delivering sustainable growth in profits.

回顧一下，'22 年是充滿挑戰的一年，它考驗了我們員工的決心和我們商業模式的實力。在我們執行今年的戰略重點時，從克服這些挑戰中吸取的教訓將很好地幫助我們。這些優先事項最終將構成實現利潤可持續增長的長期計劃的基礎。

I will now hand over to Xavier.

我現在將交給 Xavier。

Thank you, Steve, and good morning, everyone. As Steve mentioned, 2022 was a challenging year on a number of fronts. Revenue and profitability were impacted by surging inflation, supply chain challenges, currency disruption, the war in Ukraine, higher interest rate and as a consequence an uncertain and unpredictable macroeconomic environment. Encouragingly, we ended the year stronger with full year revenue exceeding our initial guidance of at least $7.1 billion, despite more than $250 million of currency headwinds and a more than $90 million headwinds from halting sales to Russia.

謝謝你，史蒂夫，大家早上好。正如史蒂夫所說，2022 年在許多方面都是充滿挑戰的一年。收入和盈利能力受到通脹飆升、供應鏈挑戰、貨幣中斷、烏克蘭戰爭、利率上升以及由此產生的不確定和不可預測的宏觀經濟環境的影響。令人鼓舞的是，儘管有超過 2.5 億美元的貨幣逆風和停止對俄羅斯的銷售帶來的超過 9000 萬美元的逆風，但我們以全年收入超過我們最初指導的至少 71 億美元，以更強勁的勢頭結束了這一年。

Adjusting operating margin improved sequentially each quarter this year and grew 440 basis points year-over-year in Q4, due in large part to improved product availability. Full year of free cash flow exceeded our revised guidance, and we put in place a funding solution at FITTLE that will improve future free cash flow generation while supporting FITTLE's growth. Q4 revenue grew in actual and constant currency for the first time since quarter 2 of 2021 due to resilient demand for our product and services and improvements in product supplies and mix.

調整後的營業利潤率今年每個季度都環比提高，第四季度同比增長 440 個基點，這在很大程度上歸功於產品可用性的提高。全年的自由現金流超過了我們修訂後的指引，我們在 FITTLE 實施了一項融資解決方案，該解決方案將改善未來的自由現金流產生，同時支持 FITTLE 的增長。由於對我們產品和服務的彈性需求以及產品供應和組合的改善，第四季度收入自 2021 年第二季度以來首次以實際和固定貨幣計算增長。

Revenue growth of 9.2% at actual currency was negatively impacted by 470 basis points of currency headwind, notably the euro and British pound. Equipment revenue grew significantly, reaching its highest level since Q4 of 2019 due to an improvement in supply chain conditions. As a result, our backlog, including equipment on IT hardware, declined 43% sequentially to $246 million. Our backlog remains elevated, but it's healthy.

以實際貨幣計算的 9.2% 的收入增長受到 470 個基點的貨幣逆風的負面影響，尤其是歐元和英鎊。由於供應鏈狀況的改善，設備收入大幅增長，達到自 2019 年第四季度以來的最高水平。因此，我們的積壓訂單（包括 IT 硬件設備）環比下降 43% 至 2.46 億美元。我們的積壓仍然很高，但它是健康的。

We expect backlog to decline through the first half of the year as supply chain conditions further normalize. Post-sale revenue grew mid-single digit in constant currency for the fourth consecutive quarter. Growth this quarter was driven by IT services, which includes the acquisition of Powerland and consumable. The resiliency of contractual print services revenue was observed again this quarter, aided by recent pricing action and the acquisition of Go Inspire.

隨著供應鏈狀況進一步正常化，我們預計今年上半年積壓訂單將減少。按固定匯率計算，售後收入連續第四個季度增長中個位數。本季度的增長是由 IT 服務推動的，其中包括對 Powerland 和消費品的收購。在最近的定價行動和收購 Go Inspire 的幫助下，本季度再次觀察到合同印刷服務收入的彈性。

Turning to profitability. Profits were higher year-over-year, driven mainly by better equipment sales, improved product and geography mix and lower logistics costs, partially offset by higher bad debt expense. We expect profitability to improve further in 2023 as we realize the benefit of price and cost action taken in 2022, further improvement in product availability, lower logistic cost and additional operating efficiency.

轉向盈利能力。利潤同比增長主要得益於設備銷售的改善、產品和地域組合的改善以及物流成本的降低，部分被更高的壞賬費用所抵消。我們預計 2023 年盈利能力將進一步提高，因為我們意識到 2022 年採取的價格和成本行動的好處、產品可用性的進一步提高、物流成本的降低和運營效率的提高。

Gross margin improved 190 basis points over the prior year quarter, mainly driven by a favorable shift in product and geography mix, lower supply chain-related costs and benefit associated with price and cost actions taken throughout the year, partially offset by ongoing product cost increases and the effect of recent acquisitions.

毛利率比上一季度提高 190 個基點，這主要是由於產品和地域組合的有利轉變、較低的供應鏈相關成本以及與全年採取的價格和成本行動相關的收益，部分被持續的產品成本增加所抵消以及近期收購的影響。

OpEx, excluding bad debt expense, was lower year-over-year due to our focus on improved return on R&D investment and Project Own It action. Adjusted operating margin of 9.2% increased 440 basis points year-over-year, driven by 300 basis points of supply chain-related cost improvement, 130 basis points from cost reductions action and 100 basis points from price increase on currency. Partially offsetting this benefit were higher bad debt expense associated with the release of reserve in the prior year.

由於我們專注於提高研發投資回報率和 Project Own It 行動，運營支出（不包括壞賬費用）同比下降。調整後的營業利潤率為 9.2%，同比增長 440 個基點，這主要得益於供應鏈相關成本改善 300 個基點、成本削減行動 130 個基點以及通貨價格上漲 100 個基點。部分抵消了這一收益的是與上一年釋放準備金相關的更高壞賬費用。

Other expense net were $7 million lower year-over-year due to a $39 million benefit from sales of noncore business assets, partially offset by an increase in nonservice retirement-related costs and higher currency losses due to currency volatility in certain geographies. Fourth quarter adjusted tax rate was 21.8% compared to minus 8.8% last year. The increase was largely due to prior tax benefit for changes in the remeasurement of uncertain tax position.

其他費用淨額同比減少 700 萬美元，原因是出售非核心業務資產帶來 3900 萬美元的收益，部分被非服務退休相關成本的增加和某些地區貨幣波動導致的更高貨幣損失所抵消。第四季度調整後的稅率為 21.8%，而去年為負 8.8%。增加主要是由於重新衡量不確定稅收狀況的變化而產生的先前稅收優惠。

Adjusted EPS of $0.89 in the fourth quarter was $0.55 higher than the prior year, driven by higher adjusted operating income, sales of noncore assets and a lower share count, partially offset by a higher tax rate. GAAP earnings per share of $0.74, was $4.71 higher, mainly due to a noncash goodwill impairment charge of $750 million or $4.38 per share in the prior year.

第四季度調整後每股收益為 0.89 美元，比上年同期高出 0.55 美元，原因是調整後營業收入增加、非核心資產出售和股份數量減少，部分被較高的稅率所抵消。 GAAP 每股收益為 0.74 美元，增長 4.71 美元，這主要是由於上一年的非現金商譽減值費用為 7.5 億美元或每股 4.38 美元。

Let me now review revenue, cash flow and profitability in more details. Turning to revenue. Equipment sales of $554 million in Q4, grew 49% year-over-year in constant currency or 44% in actual currency. Growth was driven by better availability of product across all categories and regions, particularly for higher-margin A3 devices in the Americas region. The sequential growth in equipment revenue mirrors the decline in equipment backlog, revealing a resilient order activity amid an uncertain macroeconomic backdrop.

現在讓我更詳細地回顧一下收入、現金流和盈利能力。談到收入。第四季度設備銷售額為 5.54 億美元，按固定匯率計算同比增長 49%，按實際貨幣計算同比增長 44%。增長是由所有類別和地區的產品可用性提高推動的，尤其是美洲地區利潤較高的 A3 設備。設備收入的環比增長反映了設備積壓訂單的減少，表明在不確定的宏觀經濟背景下訂單活動具有彈性。

We continue to see particular strength in demand for our A3 office machines. Equipment revenue growth outpaced installation this quarter due to favorable product mix and the benefit of recent pricing actions. Installation growth was strongest for higher-margin mid-range product and Color A4 multifunction equipment. Color A4 outperformed Black & White due to a stop in shipment of A4 mono product to Russia and supply shortage.

我們繼續看到對我們的 A3 辦公機器的需求特別強勁。由於有利的產品組合和近期定價行動的好處，本季度設備收入增長超過安裝。利潤率較高的中端產品和 Color A4 多功能設備的安裝增長最為強勁。由於 A4 單色產品運往俄羅斯的停運和供應短缺，彩色 A4 的表現優於黑白。

Post-sales revenue of $1.39 billion, grew 4.2% in constant currency year-over-year and declined 0.4% in actual currency.

售後收入為 13.9 億美元，按固定匯率計算同比增長 4.2%，按實際匯率計算下降 0.4%。

Post-sales growth in constant currency was driven by IT services, including benefit associated with the recent acquisition of Powerland in Canada and growth in consumable. Contractual print services revenue was resilient and grew low single digit year-over-year in constant currency, reflecting benefit of recent pricing action and the acquisition of Go Inspire. Notably, this important component of our annuity revenue grew modestly in 2022, despite a slower-than-expected return of employees to offices and ongoing macroeconomic concern.

固定匯率的售後增長是由 IT 服務推動的，包括與最近收購加拿大 Powerland 相關的收益和消耗品的增長。合同印刷服務收入具有彈性，按固定匯率計算同比增長低個位數，反映了近期定價行動和收購 Go Inspire 的好處。值得注意的是，儘管員工重返辦公室的速度低於預期且宏觀經濟持續受到關注，但我們年金收入的這一重要組成部分在 2022 年略有增長。

We believe we have now reached a normalized level for this revenue stream. Growth in post-sales revenue at constant currency was partially offset by lower financing revenue, reflecting a lower FITTLE receivable balance. Geographically, both regions grew in constant currency. The Americas region grew faster than EMEA due mainly to better product availability and mix as well as stronger growth in consumable sales.

我們相信我們現在已經達到了這一收入流的正常水平。按固定匯率計算的售後收入增長被較低的融資收入部分抵消，反映出較低的 FITTLE 應收賬款餘額。從地域上看，這兩個地區都以固定匯率增長。美洲地區的增長速度快於歐洲、中東和非洲地區，這主要是由於更好的產品可用性和組合以及消耗品銷售的強勁增長。

Let's now review cash flow. Free cash flow was $168 million in Q4, lower year-over-year by $14 million. Operating cash flow was $186 million in Q4 compared to $198 million in the prior year. Working capital was a source of cash of $73 million this quarter, $120 million lower than the prior year, driven by higher accounts receivable on the use of cash to position inventories ahead of Q1, partially offset by a higher account payable.

現在讓我們回顧一下現金流量。第四季度自由現金流為 1.68 億美元，同比減少 1400 萬美元。第四季度的運營現金流為 1.86 億美元，而去年同期為 1.98 億美元。本季度營運資金是 7300 萬美元的現金來源，比上年減少 1.2 億美元，這是由於在第一季度之前使用現金來定位庫存導致應收賬款增加，部分被應付賬款增加所抵消。

Additionally, cash used to fund finance receivable and operating lease was $169 million in the quarter compared to a use of cash of $50 million in the prior year, reflecting improved equipment sales activity and FITTLE growth strategy. Positively offsetting this effect were higher operating income in the current quarter and favorable timing of other liability payment. Going forward, we expect FITTLE receivable funding agreement to result in finance receivable being a source of cash as new originations are increasingly funded by third-party financing partner while collection runoff of existing receivables continues.

此外，本季度用於為應收融資和經營租賃提供資金的現金為 1.69 億美元，而去年同期為 5000 萬美元，反映了設備銷售活動的改善和 FITTLE 增長戰略。本季度較高的營業收入和其他負債支付的有利時機積極抵消了這一影響。展望未來，我們預計 FITTLE 應收賬款融資協議將導致應收賬款融資成為現金來源，因為第三方融資合作夥伴越來越多地資助新的發起，而現有應收賬款的收款仍在繼續。

Investing activities were a source of cash of $17 million compared to a use of cash of $31 million in the prior year due in large part to an asset sale in the current quarter, partially offset by slightly higher CapEx, which mainly support our investments in IT infrastructure. Financing activities consumed $67 million of cash this quarter, which is comprised of dividend payment on the early payment of a portion of our 2023 notes, netted by proceeds from finance receivable securitizations.

投資活動的現金來源為 1700 萬美元，而上一年使用現金為 3100 萬美元，這在很大程度上是由於本季度的資產出售，部分被略高的資本支出所抵消，資本支出主要支持我們在 IT 方面的投資基礎設施。本季度融資活動消耗了 6700 萬美元的現金，其中包括提前支付部分 2023 年票據的股息，以及應收賬款證券化收益的淨額。

During the quarter, we paid dividend totaling $43 million and did not repurchase any shares.

本季度，我們支付了總計 4300 萬美元的股息，並且沒有回購任何股票。

Turning to profitability. Quarter 4 adjusted operating profit margin grew substantially on a sequential year-over-year basis for the reasons previously discussed. Importantly, margin expanded sequentially each quarter this year as we took corrective measure to offset an unprecedented level of inflationary pressure and ongoing supply chain challenges. We successfully implemented price increases across our portfolio of products and services and took action to rein in costs, most notably, across areas of investment where the expected payback period extend across multiple years or was less certain.

轉向盈利能力。由於前面討論的原因，第 4 季度調整後的營業利潤率環比大幅增長。重要的是，由於我們採取了糾正措施來抵消前所未有的通脹壓力和持續的供應鏈挑戰，今年每個季度的利潤率都在連續增長。我們成功地在我們的產品和服務組合中實施了價格上漲，並採取行動控製成本，最顯著的是，在預期投資回收期跨越多年或不太確定的投資領域。

Many of these actions were reflecting in the achievement of our targeted Project Own It savings of $450 million. As Steve noted, we'll not be providing our targeted savings amount for 2023, but the principle of continuous improvement and operating efficiency instilled by Project Own It will play an important role in driving expected margin improvement in 2023 and beyond.

其中許多行動反映在我們實現 Project Own It 節省 4.5 億美元的目標上。正如史蒂夫指出的那樣，我們不會提供 2023 年的目標節省金額，但 Project Own 灌輸的持續改進和運營效率原則將在推動 2023 年及以後的預期利潤率改善方面發揮重要作用。

Turning to segment. In Q4, FITTLE finance assets were $3.3 billion, up 7% sequentially in actual currency. FITTLE origination volume grew more than 40% year-over-year. Both noncaptive channel origination, which includes third-party dealers and non-Xerox vendor and captive product origination grew more than 40%, a function of growth in new dealer relationships and third-party equipment origination as well as higher Xerox equipment for lease.

轉向細分。第四季度，FITTLE 金融資產為 33 億美元，按實際貨幣計算環比增長 7%。 FITTLE 的發起量同比增長超過 40%。包括第三方經銷商和非 Xerox 供應商在內的非專屬渠道來源和專屬產品來源均增長了 40% 以上，這是由於新經銷商關係和第三方設備來源的增長以及更高的 Xerox 設備租賃。

FITTLE revenue declined 9.6% in Q4, mainly due to a reduction in operating lease revenue, which reflect lower equipment installed in prior periods. Segment profit was minus $5 million, down $30 million year-over-year due to a reserve release of $12 million in the prior year quarter, lower net financing profit, higher intersegment commission associated with higher Xerox origination, higher bad debt expenses and strategic start-up cost on investment.

FITTLE 收入在第四季度下降了 9.6%，這主要是由於經營租賃收入減少，這反映了前期安裝的設備減少。分部利潤為負 500 萬美元，同比下降 3000 萬美元，原因是去年同期釋放了 1200 萬美元的儲備金、淨融資利潤下降、與施樂起源增加相關的部門間佣金增加、壞賬費用增加以及戰略啟動- 增加投資成本。

Segment margin was negative 3.4% compared to positive 15.2% a year ago. Over time, we expect current and future receivable funding solution to result in lower financing revenue and profit for FITTLE, which will be partially offset by growth in fee-based commission and servicing revenue. However, in 2023, we do not expect a material change in FITTLE revenue or profit as lower finance revenue will be offset by higher upfront commission and lower bad debt expense.

部門利潤率為負 3.4%，而一年前為正 15.2%。隨著時間的推移，我們預計當前和未來的應收賬款融資解決方案將導致 FITTLE 的融資收入和利潤下降，這將被收費佣金和服務收入的增長部分抵消。然而，在 2023 年，我們預計 FITTLE 收入或利潤不會發生重大變化，因為較低的財務收入將被較高的前期佣金和較低的壞賬費用所抵消。

Print and Other revenue grew 10.2% in Q4. Print and Other segment profit tripled over the prior year quarter, resulting in the 640-basis point expansion in segment profit margin year-over-year, driven by improved product supplies and mix and the benefit of price and cost actions taken throughout the year.

印刷和其他收入在第四季度增長了 10.2%。印刷和其他部門的利潤比去年同期增長了兩倍，導致部門利潤率同比增長 640 個基點，這得益於產品供應和組合的改善以及全年採取的價格和成本行動的好處。

I'd like to spend some time now to discuss how FITTLE recently receivable funding arrangement is expecting to affect free cash flow for the year. The agreement Xerox and FITTLE signed with an affiliate of HPS Investment Partners contemplates sales of FITTLE lease receivable of around $600 million in 2023. This amount will have otherwise been funded by Xerox, so this reduction in our funding obligation will result in a direct benefit to operating cash flow. However, this benefit is expected to be partially offset by growth in our lease receivable portfolio.

我現在想花點時間討論 FITTLE 最近的應收資金安排預計將如何影響今年的自由現金流。 Xerox 和 FITTLE 與 HPS Investment Partners 的附屬公司簽署的協議預計 2023 年 FITTLE 應收租賃款的銷售額約為 6 億美元。這筆款項本來由 Xerox 提供資金，因此我們資金義務的減少將直接有利於經營性現金流。然而，這一收益預計將被我們租賃應收賬款組合的增長部分抵消。

When considering the year-over-year change in free cash flow, the net receivable funding benefit will be additive to free cash flow. Additional agreement covering U.S. nondirect controlling receivables are not included in guidance but would further increase expected free cash flow for the year. Receivable funding agreements are expected to contribute to free cash flow for multiple years, but at a decreasing level due to the timing of prior lease receivable runoff.

在考慮自由現金流量的同比變化時，淨應收資金收益將添加到自由現金流量中。涵蓋美國非直接控制應收賬款的額外協議未包含在指引中，但將進一步增加今年的預期自由現金流。應收款融資協議預計將在多年內為自由現金流做出貢獻，但由於先前租賃應收款徑流的時間安排，其水平正在下降。

Turning to capital structure. We ended Q4 with $1.1 billion of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash. $2.9 billion of the $3.7 billion of our outstanding debt is allocated to -- onto FITTLE lease portfolio. The remaining debt of around $800 million is attributable to the core business. Debt consists of senior unsecured bond and finance asset securitization. We have a balanced bond maturity ladder over the next few years and expect to repay the remaining $300 million of debt maturing this year in March 2023.

轉向資本結構。我們以 11 億美元的現金、現金等價物和受限現金結束了第四季度。在我們未償債務的 37 億美元中，有 29 億美元分配給了 FITTLE 租賃組合。剩餘約 8 億美元的債務歸因於核心業務。債務包括高級無抵押債券和金融資產證券化。我們在未來幾年有一個平衡的債券到期階梯，預計將在 2023 年 3 月償還今年剩餘的 3 億美元到期債務。

Finally, I will address guidance. We expect revenue to be flat to down low single digit in constant currency in 2023. As noted earlier, demand for our portfolio of products and service remain resilient, particularly for our most material and profitable A3 office devices. Contractual print services revenue, our largest contributor to post-sales revenue, is expected to remain steady. While we have not yet experienced a meaningful pullback in demand for our product or services due to macroeconomic pressure, our revenue outlook does account for a potential deterioration in macroeconomic conditions.

最後，我將討論指導。我們預計 2023 年收入將持平至低個位數（按固定匯率計算）。如前所述，對我們產品和服務組合的需求保持彈性，尤其是對我們最重要和最賺錢的 A3 辦公設備。合同印刷服務收入是我們售後收入的最大貢獻者，預計將保持穩定。儘管由於宏觀經濟壓力，我們的產品或服務需求尚未出現明顯回落，但我們的收入前景確實說明了宏觀經濟狀況可能惡化。

If economic conditions were to degrade further, we believe the most likely effect will be delays in equipment purchases or service implementations, not cancellation or order reduction and difficulty implementing future price increases. Offsetting these risks are the annuity-like nature of our post-sell business on the countercyclicality of many of our IT and digital services for which demand is expected to increase even if IT budgets are rationalized.

如果經濟狀況進一步惡化，我們認為最有可能的影響將是設備採購或服務實施的延遲，而不是取消或訂單減少以及難以實施未來的價格上漲。抵消這些風險的是我們的許多 IT 和數字服務的反週期性售後業務的年金性質，即使 IT 預算合理化，預計需求也會增加。

This year, we are reinstituting guidance for adjusted operating income margin. For the year, we expect adjusted operating income margin to be at least 4.7%, an 80-basis point increase over 2022 level, driven by recent enacted and expected price and cost action as well as lower logistic costs. We expect to generate at least $500 million of free cash flow, including the benefit of FITTLE receivable funding solution. Excluding the net benefit of the receivable funding solution, we expect free cash flow to be in the range of 90% to 100% of adjusted operating income.

今年，我們將重新制定調整後營業利潤率的指導方針。今年，我們預計調整後的營業利潤率至少為 4.7%，比 2022 年的水平高 80 個基點，這主要是受近期制定和預期的價格和成本行動以及較低的物流成本的推動。我們預計將產生至少 5 億美元的自由現金流，包括 FITTLE 應收賬款融資解決方案的好處。排除應收賬款融資解決方案的淨收益，我們預計自由現金流將佔調整後營業收入的 90% 至 100%。

Finally, our policy of returning at least 50% of free cash flow to shareholders remain unchanged. While we do not provide quarterly guidance, I want to provide some color on the expected quarterly cadence of our result. First, on revenue, equipment sales growth is expected to be higher in the first half due to easier products-to-price compare. And at this time, we do not expect a significant deviation in the quarterly growth rate of post-sales revenue.

最後，我們將至少 50% 的自由現金流返還給股東的政策保持不變。雖然我們不提供季度指導，但我想為我們結果的預期季度節奏提供一些顏色。首先，在收入方面，由於產品價格比較容易，預計上半年設備銷售增長將更高。而此時，我們預計售後收入的季度增速不會出現明顯偏差。

For adjusted operating margin, we expect sequential improvement in margin after quarter 1 and year-over-year increase in margin in quarter 1 to quarter 3. The sequential improvement reflects normal seasonality, the clearing of the remaining backlog and the cumulative effect of lower R&D spend, which is expected to benefit margin in the second half relative to the first half.

對於調整後的營業利潤率，我們預計第一季度後利潤率將環比改善，第一季度至第三季度利潤率將同比增長。環比改善反映了正常的季節性、剩餘積壓訂單的清理以及較低研發的累積效應支出，預計下半年相對於上半年將有利於利潤率。

Finally, free cash flow. The cash flow benefit of the receivable funding arrangement are expected to be realized throughout the year at roughly the same cadence as equipment sales revenue.

最後，自由現金流。預計應收資金安排的現金流量收益將在全年以與設備銷售收入大致相同的節奏實現。

We will now open the line for Q&A.

我們現在將開通問答熱線。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question comes from the line of Ananda Baruah from Loop Capital.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Loop Capital 的 Ananda Baruah。

I guess just kick-starting right there, Xavier, with your comments about being kind of risk for the guidance and what you're seeing from customers. Can you give us any context about sort of what you're hearing and seeing from enterprise customers, sort of folks have started to see some slowing in enterprise? It doesn't seem like you guys are meaningfully seeing it yet.

我想就在那裡開始吧，Xavier，你對指導風險的評論以及你從客戶那裡看到的內容。您能否給我們介紹一下您從企業客戶那裡聽到和看到的情況，有些人已經開始看到企業發展放緩？看來你們還沒有有意義地看到它。

And so you did -- I think you pointed equipment sales out just now is kind of like the primary risk to the forecast that you see. So just some context there. And then I have a quick follow-up after that.

所以你做到了——我認為你剛才指出的設備銷售有點像你所看到的預測的主要風險。所以只有一些背景。之後我會進行快速跟進。

Ananda, Happy New Year to you as well. So yes, so what we are seeing here from a demand point of view, from our customer, enterprise and SMB customer, the demand is still strong. And Q4, as you have noticed, it has been a very good quarter for us. It was driven by the ability to reduce backlog -- equipment backlog, mainly with A3 equipment. But at the same time, the order pattern remains strong. So we still see a demand on our offering, and I should also flag services.

阿難，也祝你新年快樂。所以是的，從需求的角度來看，我們的客戶、企業和 SMB 客戶的需求仍然很強勁。正如您所注意到的，第四季度對我們來說是一個非常好的季度。它是由減少積壓的能力驅動的——設備積壓，主要是 A3 設備。但與此同時，訂單格局依然強勁。所以我們仍然看到對我們產品的需求，我也應該標記服務。

So I have commented in the early comment there, we have seen equipment demand being strong. But if you look at the post-sales revenue, post-sales is made of contracted activities. So some of this is print related, some of it is not print related.

所以我在那兒的早期評論中評論說，我們看到設備需求強勁。但如果你看售後收入，售後是由合同活動構成的。所以其中一些與印刷相關，一些與印刷無關。

And when we look at our forecast, we want to be, let's call that realistic and balanced in the way we approach it. Realistic because the macro environment is an environment which is bringing uncertainty. At the same time, we are confident and balanced when we look at the demand, not only for the equipment side but also for the solution side. I'm sure, Steve will be able to comment what the offerings are currently driving this demand here.

當我們查看我們的預測時，我們希望在處理預測的方式上做到現實和平衡。現實是因為宏觀環境是一個帶來不確定性的環境。同時，我們在看待需求的時候，既有信心，也有平衡，不僅是設備端，還有解決方案端。我敢肯定，史蒂夫將能夠在這裡評論當前推動這一需求的產品。

Yes. I am Steve. So one of the things that we're seeing, if you think about the macro environment with inflation, with the ability to be able to higher cost increases, all of our customers are dealing with those macro trends. And so as we think about customer success and really driving solutions specific to driving productivity for our customers, we think we have a great opportunity to expand inside of the existing customer base that we're in today.

是的。我是史蒂夫。因此，我們看到的一件事是，如果你考慮通貨膨脹的宏觀環境，以及能夠提高成本的能力，我們所有的客戶都在應對這些宏觀趨勢。因此，當我們考慮客戶成功並真正推動特定於為客戶提高生產力的解決方案時，我們認為我們有很好的機會在我們今天所在的現有客戶群內部進行擴展。

Simple example, if you think about school districts and their challenge with administrators, teachers, having more, doing more with less, how do we drive more productivity in workflow, things like, our equipment can do language translation, our equipment can grade papers, our equipment can do and look at things like plagiarisms on documents.

簡單的例子，如果你想想學區和他們對管理人員、教師的挑戰，擁有更多，事半功倍，我們如何提高工作流程的生產力，比如，我們的設備可以進行語言翻譯，我們的設備可以對論文進行評分，我們的設備可以做並查看諸如文檔抄襲之類的事情。

So driving productivity, driving workflow inside of very specific verticals, we can actually help drive and penetrate and help our customers with their macro trends, and we believe we've got a great opportunity to play certainly in the small and mid-market space.

因此，提高生產力，推動特定垂直領域內的工作流程，我們實際上可以幫助推動和滲透並幫助我們的客戶了解他們的宏觀趨勢，我們相信我們有很好的機會在中小型市場領域發揮作用。

And our next question comes from the line of Erik Woodring from Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Erik Woodring。

Congrats on the really strong results in the December quarter. Steve, I guess, I wanted to ask you a bigger picture question and that is just, as we enter 2023, it feels like based upon our conversations that most enterprises and small businesses have kind of settled down into their hybrid work set up, whatever that may be.

祝賀 12 月季度的強勁業績。史蒂夫，我想，我想問你一個更宏觀的問題，那就是，當我們進入 2023 年時，根據我們的談話，感覺大多數企業和小型企業都已經適應了他們的混合工作設置，無論那可能。

I'm just curious kind of what you've learned now as we've seen kind of hybrid work and work from home normalize, what have you seen in terms of how enterprises and SMBs are consuming Xerox in this new world? What's maybe surprising to you? What maybe is -- came a bit unexpected to you? Would love to just get your feedback on that. And then I have a follow-up.

我很好奇你現在學到了什麼，因為我們已經看到混合工作和在家工作正常化，你看到了企業和中小型企業如何在這個新世界中使用 Xerox？什麼可能會讓你感到驚訝？可能是 - 有點出乎您的意料？很想得到你的反饋。然後我有一個後續行動。

Yes. I think there's a couple of things, Erik. First of all, you're right, companies are getting settled into this new hybrid environment, but it's driving significant challenges in and around security of documents and data security around how workflows happen in the company, how do you drive productivity. And so what we're seeing is a great opportunity for a couple of things. One, to actually play in that space, right, we have been incredibly innovative through the years around how we drive workplace productivity. This is just a new area for us in terms of workplaces wherever an individual is. And so we see an opportunity to do a couple of things.

是的。我認為有幾件事，埃里克。首先，你是對的，公司正在適應這種新的混合環境，但它正在推動文件安全和數據安全方面的重大挑戰，圍繞著公司的工作流如何發生，你如何提高生產力。因此，我們看到的是兩件事情的絕佳機會。第一，要真正在那個領域發揮作用，對吧，多年來，我們圍繞如何提高工作場所生產力進行了令人難以置信的創新。就個人所在的工作場所而言，這對我們來說只是一個新領域。因此，我們看到了做幾件事的機會。

One, with our products and solutions, workflow with our cloud solutions, AI solutions, what we think we can do with augmented reality, we can actually help customers drive productivity, but more importantly, drive insights to the data that they have inside of those workflows. So we believe there's a great opportunity for us to play in that space and really be the provider of choice to help customers in this new world wherever their employees are and drive productivity and drive insights to data. So that's the first thing.

第一，通過我們的產品和解決方案，我們的雲解決方案工作流程，人工智能解決方案，我們認為我們可以用增強現實做的事情，我們實際上可以幫助客戶提高生產力，但更重要的是，推動對他們擁有的數據的洞察力工作流程。因此，我們相信我們有很好的機會在這個領域發揮作用，真正成為首選供應商，在這個新世界中幫助客戶，無論他們的員工在哪裡，並提高生產力並推動對數據的洞察力。所以這是第一件事。

Second, as you think about the macro headwinds that customers are facing, as I talked a little bit earlier to Ananda, we have an opportunity to drive some very specific workflow solutions. You heard me talk about what we're doing in accounts payable. We can do things like drive productivity and help our end customers in their workflow, but very specific around verticals and very specifically around customer success. And so we think we can play in this area, and we have a great opportunity to expand our wallet share inside of customer accounts there.

其次，當您考慮客戶面臨的宏觀逆風時，正如我之前與 Ananda 所說的那樣，我們有機會推動一些非常具體的工作流程解決方案。你聽我談過我們在應付賬款方面所做的工作。我們可以做一些事情，比如提高生產力和幫助我們的最終客戶完成他們的工作流程，但非常具體地圍繞垂直領域，非常具體地圍繞客戶成功。所以我們認為我們可以在這個領域發揮作用，我們有很好的機會在那裡擴大我們在客戶賬戶中的錢包份額。

Okay. Super. That's super helpful, Steve. And then, Xavier, maybe a question for you is, really nice to see some margin expansion into 2023. Can you help us -- two-part question, can you help us maybe better understand the trade-off between gross margins and OpEx in 2023, how to think about each of those? And then what would be some of the more influential factors that you would have to see in 2023 to help you maybe get operating margins closer to, for example, 2020 or 2021 levels?

好的。極好的。這非常有幫助，史蒂夫。然後，Xavier，也許你的問題是，看到 2023 年的利潤率有所擴張真的很高興。你能幫助我們嗎 - 由兩部分組成的問題，你能幫助我們更好地理解毛利率和 OpEx 之間的權衡嗎？ 2023，如何看待其中的每一個？然後，您必須在 2023 年看到哪些更有影響力的因素，以幫助您使營業利潤率更接近 2020 年或 2021 年的水平？

Yes. Thanks, Erik. So as you have noticed it on that, we commented it in quarter 3, Q4 was an important quarter for us. And you have noticed that we have been able to drive margin up and Q4 was a strong quarter, driving the overall margin for the company and for the year up there. So the ingredients that make it work and the ingredients that will be required to achieve the plan that we have in quarter -- in 2023 are quite simple.

是的。謝謝，埃里克。因此，正如您注意到的那樣，我們在第 3 季度對此進行了評論，第 4 季度對我們來說是一個重要的季度。你已經註意到我們已經能夠提高利潤率，第四季度是一個強勁的季度，推動了公司和全年的整體利潤率。因此，使其發揮作用的要素以及實現我們在 2023 年的季度計劃所需的要素非常簡單。

#1 is things that we have already put in place. We have put in place price increase. Price increases in order to phase some of the cost inflation, but also to rebuild the margin here. These price increases have been enacted in 2022, towards the year, and we'll have a flow-through of price increases that will still be valid and be measured during 2023. This price increase, as you know it, are contractual. 2/3 of our revenue is annuity-based, is contractual, which means that when we enact a price increase and it lasts, it lasts for the year and for the year after and the year after.

#1 是我們已經到位的事情。我們已經實施了價格上漲。價格上漲是為了階段性的部分成本通脹，也是為了重建這裡的利潤率。這些價格上漲已經在 2022 年實施，接近 2023 年，我們將有一系列價格上漲，這些價格上漲仍然有效，並在 2023 年進行衡量。如您所知，這種價格上漲是合同規定的。我們 2/3 的收入是基於年金的，是合同規定的，這意味著當我們實施價格上漲並持續時，它會持續一年、後年和後年。

So second point is the improvement on supply chain. You know that 2021 and 2022 have been, I would say, literally crazy from a supply chain point of view. And I say mainly the cost of supply chain and the uncertainty around this year. We are expecting -- and we're already seeing it, the supply chain condition to normalize. And even if the cost of container is not yet at what it was pre-supply chain crisis or pre-Ukraine and the COVID situation, I mean we have seen great improvement in the cost of container shipment, which will help to improve the gross margin up.

所以第二點是供應鏈的改善。你知道，我想說，從供應鏈的角度來看，2021 年和 2022 年簡直是瘋狂的。我主要說的是供應鏈成本和今年的不確定性。我們期待——而且我們已經看到了，供應鏈狀況將正常化。即使集裝箱的成本還沒有達到供應鏈危機或烏克蘭和 COVID 之前的水平，我的意思是我們已經看到集裝箱運輸成本有了很大的改善，這將有助於提高毛利率向上。

Finally, is the way we will invest. And the last point is quite important. We commented in our earnings that we are putting in place a flexible cost base. But in flexible, it just means that we will be very selective in the way we make the investment. And in an uncertain macro environment, our responsibility is to ensure that we prioritize for term high yield return investment versus longer-term investment. So that's a key component.

最後，是我們的投資方式。最後一點非常重要。我們在收益中評論說我們正在建立一個靈活的成本基礎。但靈活，只是意味著我們在投資方式上會非常有選擇性。在不確定的宏觀環境中，我們的責任是確保我們優先考慮長期高收益回報投資而不是長期投資。所以這是一個關鍵組成部分。

Obviously, we will have to offset some of the headwinds that could exist. Technically, you know that we have the benefit of the Fuji Xerox royalty, we still have some inflation costs there. But that's the reason why back to the 3 main components that I mentioned to you, price, supply chain and investment. We are confident in our ability in 2023 to expand our operating margin.

顯然，我們將不得不抵消一些可能存在的不利因素。從技術上講，你知道我們有富士施樂特許權使用費的好處，我們在那裡仍然有一些通貨膨脹成本。但這就是為什麼回到我向你提到的 3 個主要組成部分，價格、供應鍊和投資的原因。我們對 2023 年擴大營業利潤率的能力充滿信心。

And our next question comes from the line of Samik Chatterjee from JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Samik Chatterjee。

This is Angela Jin on for Samik Chatterjee. Congrats on a strong quarter. So a question about backlog. So I saw that backlog came down about $183 million quarter-on-quarter, and equipment sales are up $164 million quarter-on-quarter. So can you just walk us through the gap there? Like, is the implication here that you're seeing an uptick in cancellations or equipment order rates are dropping? And if you continue at this rate, will you reach pre-pandemic levels back within a quarter? So how should we think about sort of the cadence of backlog into the first quarter of 2023.

這是 Samik Chatterjee 的 Angela Jin。祝賀一個強勁的季度。所以關於積壓的問題。因此，我看到積壓訂單環比下降了約 1.83 億美元，設備銷售額環比增長了 1.64 億美元。那麼你能帶我們穿過那裡的缺口嗎？比如，這是否意味著您看到取消數量增加或設備訂購率下降？如果你繼續以這個速度，你會在四分之一內回到大流行前的水平嗎？那麼我們應該如何考慮到 2023 年第一季度的積壓節奏。

Yes. Angela, so the backlog here, I would say it's a good story because you know this backlog was building up. We started to see a decrease of the backlog in quarter 3, and we were pleased to be able to get some of these backlogs reducing and to have the 43% decline -- 49% -- just 43%, sorry, of a decline in quarter 4. This is mainly related to the high profit equipment that we have, what we call A3 equipment. And this is related to supply chain conditions improving and also the logistics agility and logistics speeds coming back to a normal level there. So that was a good story. That was a good story because it helped the mix of products that we are selling, bringing it back to, I would say, more normalized mix.

是的。安吉拉，所以這裡的積壓，我想說這是一個好故事，因為你知道這個積壓正在增加。我們在第 3 季度開始看到積壓訂單減少，我們很高興能夠減少其中一些積壓訂單，並且下降了 43% -- 49% -- 抱歉，僅下降了 43%第四季度。這主要與我們擁有的高利潤設備有關，我們稱之為A3設備。這與供應鏈狀況改善以及那裡的物流敏捷性和物流速度恢復到正常水平有關。所以這是一個好故事。這是一個好故事，因為它有助於我們銷售的產品組合，使它回到，我想說，更規範的組合。

Second point, it helped the overall gross margin improvement both on the equipment side, but also some of these products are driving good post-sales revenue and profit here. So that's regarding Q4. When we look at the order patterns that we are seeing here, we still see quite a very strong demand still for the same mix of products. So our A3 product, Steve described some of the capability of this product, don't look at them as printer only, they are essential for our customers to drive workflow and productivity that they need in this current hybrid new ways of working here.

第二點，它有助於提高設備方面的整體毛利率，而且其中一些產品正在推動良好的售後收入和利潤。這就是關於第四季度。當我們查看此處看到的訂單模式時，我們仍然看到對相同產品組合的需求非常強勁。因此，我們的 A3 產品，史蒂夫描述了該產品的一些功能，不要將它們僅視為打印機，它們對於我們的客戶來說至關重要，可以推動他們在當前混合新工作方式中所需的工作流程和生產力。

So when you look at what was the equipment growth versus the decline in backlog, you look at the inventory we have as well on the channels that we measure it, I mean the math works, I mean, we balance it on those growth that we can see on the equipment versus the backlog decline, was in line with what we were expecting and planning for.

因此，當您查看設備增長與積壓下降的情況時，您會查看我們擁有的庫存以及我們衡量的渠道，我的意思是數學有效，我的意思是，我們將其與我們衡量的那些增長相平衡可以看到設備與積壓下降的情況，符合我們的預期和計劃。

Looking at next year now, what we are expecting is to flush this backlog during the first half of the year. And to give you a number, the normalized backlog -- if you look at the backlog that we have today versus a normalized backlog, we are currently at 2.5x what is the normal backlog. So we're expecting this to be cleaned or flushed in quarter 1 with some remaining impact in quarter 2. Assuming supply chain and manufacturing stay good for the rest of the year, you should be in a BAU mode for the second half of the year.

現在看明年，我們期望在上半年解決這個積壓。給你一個數字，標準化積壓——如果你看看我們今天的積壓與標準化積壓，我們目前的積壓是正常積壓的 2.5 倍。因此，我們預計這將在第 1 季度得到清理或沖洗，並在第 2 季度產生一些剩餘影響。假設供應鍊和製造業在今年餘下時間保持良好，下半年應該處於 BAU 模式.

Got it. That's really helpful. And then for my follow-up, so just thinking about your free cash flow guide of at least $500 million, can you maybe dig in more into, what portion of that is attributable to your core business versus FITTLE? It seems at some point right now that the core free cash flow is, for in the low 100s range unless there's a plan to sort of very meaningfully ramp originations in 2023.

知道了。這真的很有幫助。然後對於我的後續行動，只要想想你至少 5 億美元的自由現金流指南，你能不能更深入地研究一下，其中哪一部分歸因於你的核心業務與 FITTLE？現在似乎在某個時候，核心自由現金流處於 100s 的低範圍內，除非有計劃在 2023 年實現非常有意義的增長。

Yes. So if I go back to -- let's start with 2022. In 2022, we said free cash flow is an anomaly. And it is an anomaly for 2 reasons. One anomaly is related specifically to the reduced profitability that we have in 2022. The second point, and I call it, good cholesterol, bad cholesterol. So good cholesterol was that FITTLE is growing. And when FITTLE is going, it means that the FITTLE is using cash and it has an impact on free cash flow.

是的。所以，如果我回到——讓我們從 2022 年開始。在 2022 年，我們說自由現金流是一個異常現象。這是一個異常現象，原因有二。一個異常與我們在 2022 年的盈利能力下降有關。第二點，我稱之為好膽固醇，壞膽固醇。如此好的膽固醇是 FITTLE 正在增長。當 FITTLE 運行時，這意味著 FITTLE 正在使用現金並且它對自由現金流有影響。

So now if I normalize this, and I project this in 2023, what will be a normal free cash flow? We gave you -- I gave you an indication in my earlier comment there, by saying we expect in 2023 free cash flow without FITTLE movement here, normalized free cash flow to be around 90% to 100% of adjusted operating profit. So that's a earlier indication of what it could be.

那麼現在，如果我將其正常化，併計劃在 2023 年進行，那麼正常的自由現金流量是多少？我們給了你——我在之前的評論中給了你一個暗示，說我們預計到 2023 年自由現金流在這裡沒有 FITTLE 變動，正常化的自由現金流將佔調整後營業利潤的 90% 到 100% 左右。所以這是它可能是什麼的早期跡象。

Then on top of that, you will have the benefit of what we call the forward flow agreement. You should look at this agreement as being simply the fact that we managed to get a great agreement with (inaudible) party who will fund the forward flow. By forward flow, you should look at this by saying this is like the future receivable from FITTLE or future origination of FITTLE, and we won't have to do that from the Xerox balance sheet.

然後最重要的是，您將受益於我們所謂的前向流量協議。您應該將此協議視為一個簡單的事實，即我們設法與將為遠期資金提供資金的（聽不清）一方達成了很好的協議。通過向前流動，你應該通過說這就像 FITTLE 的未來應收賬款或 FITTLE 的未來起源來看待這個，我們不必從 Xerox 資產負債表中這樣做。

What does that mean? It means that you will have the runoff of the book that was on Xerox balance sheet that will be completely offset by this forward flow agreement here. You have to take into account, 1 of the chart in the deck that explain it as an illustration. You have to take into account that FITTLE is still growing at the same time. So this affects the $600 million waive 1 that we have signed in quarter 4, is offset by the fact that FITTLE is growing.

這意味著什麼？這意味著您將擁有 Xerox 資產負債表上的賬本徑流，這將被此處的前向流量協議完全抵消。您必須考慮甲板上的圖表 1，將其解釋為插圖。您必須考慮到 FITTLE 仍在同時增長。因此，這會影響我們在第 4 季度簽署的 6 億美元豁免 1，但會被 FITTLE 的增長所抵消。

So when you look at our guidance of $500 million, this takes into account this normalized free cash flow without FITTLE, let's say, between $300 million to $330 million. And then you add on top of that roughly $200 million, and then you have this $500 million guidance that we have provided.

因此，當您查看我們 5 億美元的指導時，這考慮了沒有 FITTLE 的標準化自由現金流，比方說，在 3 億美元到 3.3 億美元之間。然後你再加上大約 2 億美元，然後你就有了我們提供的這 5 億美元的指導。

All right. And if I could just squeeze in one last quick one. So equipment margins are up to 33%. So it drove a lot of upside in this quarter. It seems like the mix is more favorable than usual with A3 units being shipped and strong U.S. sales. So what is the sustainable level of equipment margins going forward?

好的。如果我能擠進最後一個快速的話。因此，設備利潤率高達 33%。因此，它在本季度帶來了很大的上漲空間。似乎組合比往常更有利，A3 單元正在發貨且美國銷售強勁。那麼，未來設備利潤率的可持續水平是多少？

So equipment margins, when I look at the pattern we have had during the year, I'm not stopping only to quarter 4, I look at how equipment margin evolved across the year. And you're right, mix is a key driver. But one of the key driver was, as well our ability to pass price increases to customers. And to keep this important margin for us, I would say, protected or intact in the way we were dealing on pricing with customers. This is what we have done.

所以設備利潤率，當我審視我們這一年的模式時，我不會只停留在第 4 季度，我會看看設備利潤率在全年的演變情況。你是對的，混合是一個關鍵驅動因素。但關鍵驅動因素之一是我們將價格上漲轉嫁給客戶的能力。為了讓我們保持這一重要的利潤，我會說，在我們與客戶打交道的定價方式中受到保護或完好無損。這就是我們所做的。

And we believe that with the prices that we have enacted and the impact it will have in 2023, we will be able to sustain and offset some of the pricing or cost inflation that we're expecting here. So normalized margin is not far from what you have seen. I won't say quarter 4 is entirely representative. But we can -- if you want to -- also provide via our IR team, give more guidance around how we look at the margin for the rest of the year.

我們相信，根據我們制定的價格及其對 2023 年的影響，我們將能夠維持並抵消我們在這裡預期的一些定價或成本通脹。所以歸一化邊距與您所看到的相差不遠。我不會說第 4 季度完全具有代表性。但我們可以——如果你願意的話——也可以通過我們的 IR 團隊提供更多關於我們如何看待今年剩餘時間的利潤率的指導。

And our next question comes from a of Shannon Cross from Credit Suisse.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞士信貸的 Shannon Cross。

I'm wondering about just balance sheet cash requirements. As you're shifting, obviously, your model on the financing side, but also as the business itself changes more to solutions and services, how should we think about what level of inventory over time? Because I would assume this will maybe become a little bit more of an inventory-light model as you move more away from just equipment?

我想知道資產負債表的現金需求。很明顯，隨著你在融資方面轉變你的模式，而且隨著業務本身更多地轉向解決方案和服務，我們應該如何考慮隨著時間的推移庫存水平是多少？因為我認為隨著您越來越遠離設備，這可能會變得更像是一種庫存燈模型？

And then also just in terms of core cash needed to run the business because I'm trying to figure out what your excess cash is as you think about where maybe you're going to be exiting 20 -- I guess, '23, we're already in '23?

然後也只是在經營業務所需的核心現金方面，因為我試圖弄清楚你的多餘現金是多少，因為你正在考慮你可能會在哪裡退出 20 - 我猜，'23，我們已經在 23 年了嗎？

Shannon, let's go back, so I just provided some articulation. So I will maybe repeat or clarify some of the points here. So you have -- you can look at our guidance for free cash flow for next year in 2 ways, I would say, business without FITTLE and the business with FITTLE. So business without FITTLE, as we mentioned it, 2022 was an anomaly in the way free cash flow came, specifically due to the margin pressure and the erosion of margin, specifically during the first half of the year.

香農，讓我們回去，所以我只是提供了一些清晰度。所以我可能會在這裡重複或澄清一些要點。所以你有 - 你可以通過兩種方式查看我們明年的自由現金流量指南，我想說，沒有 FITTLE 的業務和有 FITTLE 的業務。因此，正如我們提到的，沒有 FITTLE 的業務，2022 年是自由現金流出現方式的異常，特別是由於利潤率壓力和利潤率下降，特別是在今年上半年。

Now if you look at the normalized on what we have put and guided for normalized free cash flow without FITTLE for next year, you can count on around 90% to 100% of adjusted operating profit. This is a number between $300 million to $330 million. The second part...

現在，如果你看一下我們對明年沒有 FITTLE 的標準化自由現金流的標準化和指導，你可以指望調整後營業利潤的 90% 到 100% 左右。這個數字在 3 億到 3.3 億美元之間。第二部分...

Xavier, I wasn't asking about cash flow. I was asking about actual cash. So just to be clear, so I understand the cash flow. I'm just saying what kind of -- what level of cash do you need to run the business? And then just off of your balance sheet because, obviously, you have to pay down some debt right now. But I'm wondering, like, if I think about your company right now, if you generate the $500 million in free cash flow next year, where do you think you need to be in terms of total cash coming out of the '23? So that will give us an idea of what excess cash you might use to deploy elsewhere.

澤維爾，我不是在問現金流。我問的是實際現金。所以要清楚，所以我了解現金流量。我只是說你需要什麼樣的現金來經營業務？然後就從你的資產負債表中刪除，因為很明顯，你現在必須償還一些債務。但我想知道，如果我現在考慮你的公司，如果你明年產生 5 億美元的自由現金流，你認為你需要在 23 年的總現金方面處於什麼位置？因此，這將使我們了解您可能會使用多少多餘現金來部署其他地方。

Yes. So we have been -- if your question is related to, I'd say, to capital allocation and what we do with cash here, so the priority is quite simple, and we did not change it, by the way. 50% of free cash flow is returned to shareholders. The first part will be by a dividend. As you know this, we have maintained our dividend and even during COVID-19 period. So we keep our $1 dividend, and this will be one of the driver on the way to drive the cash -- and to bring the cash back to shareholders.

是的。所以我們一直 - 如果你的問題與資本配置和我們在這里處理現金有關，那麼優先級很簡單，順便說一句，我們沒有改變它。 50% 的自由現金流返還給股東。第一部分將是股息。如您所知，我們一直保持分紅，甚至在 COVID-19 期間也是如此。因此，我們保留了 1 美元的股息，這將成為推動現金增長並將現金返還給股東的驅動因素之一。

So if you take 50% out of $500 million, you are at $250 million. So dividend is in the range of $140 million, $150 million. The way the cash will come and the free cash flow will come during the year will be related to this funding, and if not with FITTLE, it will be progressing. So we will provide a comment or more information during the next quarter earnings on how we will potentially use and the return of this cash between shareholders and also we will invest for the business and in order to support what Steve just described before, the investment or the strategies that we have on high yield, low -- I would say, low time of return that we will have on a product like digital services, but also all the automation offerings and the workflow automation that we are pushing to customers.

所以如果你從 5 億美元中取出 50%，你就是 2.5 億美元。所以股息在 1.4 億美元到 1.5 億美元之間。年內現金和自由現金流的方式將與這筆資金有關，如果沒有 FITTLE，它將取得進展。因此，我們將在下一季度的收益中提供評論或更多信息，說明我們將如何潛在地使用和回報股東之間的現金，我們還將為業務投資，以支持史蒂夫之前所說的投資或我們在高收益、低收益方面的戰略——我想說的是，我們將在數字服務等產品上擁有低迴報時間，還有我們向客戶推出的所有自動化產品和工作流程自動化。

Okay. And then I guess my question is basically, as you think about the debt maturities you have coming due and obviously, the near-term one will be paid with cash on hand. Is your idea to delever the balance sheet over time because you are shrinking the FITTLE business? Or do you anticipate utilizing the cash that you generate from FITTLE in other areas and keeping a higher level of leverage on the -- on your balance sheet going forward?

好的。然後我想我的問題基本上是，當你考慮即將到期的債務到期時，很明顯，短期債務將用手頭現金支付。你的想法是隨著時間的推移去槓桿化資產負債表，因為你正在縮減 FITTLE 業務嗎？或者您是否預計在其他領域利用您從 FITTLE 產生的現金，並在您的資產負債表上保持更高水平的槓桿作用？

So what we plan simply to do is to face our debt obligation. So we have a $300 million debt to pay in March, and we are on line and we plan to pay it based on the cash generated by the business. We are not planning at that time to add like a highly or overall leverage of the balance sheet. And if you look at the debt ladder that we have in 2024, 2025, I'll say, quite clean. And we think that we'll be able to face this debt obligation. So I'm not specifically concerned about our ability to phase debt and how debt will take a prevalence versus other type of investments we plan to do.

所以我們計劃要做的就是面對我們的債務義務。因此，我們在 3 月份有 3 億美元的債務要償還，我們已經上線，我們計劃根據業務產生的現金支付。我們當時不打算增加資產負債表的高度或整體槓桿作用。如果你看看我們在 2024 年、2025 年的債務階梯，我會說，非常乾淨。我們認為我們將能夠承擔這項債務義務。因此，我並不特別擔心我們分期償還債務的能力，以及與我們計劃進行的其他類型的投資相比，債務將如何普遍存在。

Okay. And then I guess, just my last question is, as you talk to customers and you look at some of these management services contracts that you have out there, what is the discussion in terms of page volumes going forward, size of equipment? Are you seeing -- I think last quarter, you talked about some customers sort of negotiating in lower page volumes, is that continuing? Or as offices open up are things normalizing?

好的。然後我想，我的最後一個問題是，當您與客戶交談並查看您現有的一些管理服務合同時，關於未來頁數、設備尺寸的討論是什麼？你看到了嗎——我想上個季度，你談到了一些客戶在較低的頁面量中進行談判，這種情況還在繼續嗎？或者隨著辦公室的開放，事情會正常化嗎？

Yes. Good question, Shannon. So what we see are currently and we commented, I think we believe we have reached like a normalized position here. We don't see a higher erosion around, I would say, page volume. We see as well on our ability to negotiate contracts with that product minimums. And from a price point as well, we have had some data points showing that the price increase that we are passing to customers are sticking.

是的。問得好，香農。所以我們目前看到的是我們評論的，我認為我們相信我們已經達到了一個正常的位置。我們沒有看到更高的侵蝕，我會說，頁面量。我們也看到了我們與該產品最低限度談判合同的能力。從價格角度來看，我們也有一些數據點表明我們傳遞給客戶的價格上漲是持續的。

So the way we look at this lines, what we call contracted print revenue lines there, the way we look at this line from a revenue next year is like a flattish type of line, which is good because this is not like an accelerated decline. So return to office has been, I would say, slow in some places, a little bit higher in certain geographies. But the way we look at it and for the last 3, 4 quarters, this line had been, I would call that like flattish, steady. So that's the way we look at it for the next year.

所以我們看待這條線的方式，我們稱之為合同印刷收入線，我們從明年的收入來看這條線的方式就像一條平坦的線，這很好，因為這不像是加速下降。因此，我想說，在某些地方，重返辦公室的速度較慢，但在某些地區則略高一些。但我們看待它的方式，在過去的 3、4 個季度裡，這條線一直是，我會稱之為平穩、穩定。這就是我們對明年的看法。

And our final question today comes from the line of Jim Suva from Citi.

我們今天的最後一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Jim Suva。

In your prepared comments, you mentioned about the Federal Reserve changing of interest rates and all that. And then I have a follow-up. But can you just kind of give us some outlook about what we kind of should be modeling or thinking about for interest expense because now that you have your relationship with FITTLE and things like that, it gets a little more complicated, especially with interest rates swinging a lot?

在您準備好的評論中，您提到了美聯儲改變利率等等。然後我有一個後續行動。但是你能不能給我們一些關於我們應該為利息支出建模或考慮什麼的展望，因為現在你與 FITTLE 建立了關係以及類似的事情，它變得有點複雜，尤其是在利率波動的情況下很多？

Is the Q4 number like a long-term number that we could use or kind of use the full year number and just divide it by 4? There's just a lot of moving parts in your interest expense item.

Q4 數字是我們可以使用的長期數字，還是可以使用全年數字除以 4？您的利息支出項目中只有很多活動部件。

Jim, so the way to look at the interest rate, and I'm speaking here about core debt. So this first of all, our core debt is mainly based on a fixed interest rate. So all the rates that we had for our debt maturing is not indexed or directly related to the Fed increase -- rate increase or inflation that we can see on the right there.

吉姆，那麼看待利率的方式，我在這裡談論的是核心債務。因此，首先，我們的核心債務主要基於固定利率。因此，我們所有到期債務的利率都沒有指數化，也沒有與美聯儲的加息直接相關——我們可以在右邊看到的加息或通貨膨脹。

#2, we are paying down our debt, as you have noticed it. We did it this year. We had a maturity of $1 billion coming in March 2023. We took the opportunity early in March and also in December to already pay down $300 million, around $350 million. We have [3, 2, $350 million], we have $300 million left to do, and we plan to do that there. So no concern on our ability to pay down cash.

#2，正如您所注意到的，我們正在償還債務。我們今年做到了。我們在 2023 年 3 月到期的金額為 10 億美元。我們在 3 月初和 12 月利用這個機會已經支付了 3 億美元，約 3.5 億美元。我們有 [3, 2, 3.5 億美元]，我們還有 3 億美元要做，我們計劃在那裡做。所以不用擔心我們支付現金的能力。

From an interest point of view, if you take just the interest charge that we have had in quarter 4 and you're really doing well , that means you will be closing the debt and the FITTLE business is not reported directly in this interest because you have this being reported in interest income on the one side, interest expenses on the other side.

從利息的角度來看，如果您只收取我們在第 4 季度收取的利息費用並且您確實做得很好，這意味著您將結清債務並且 FITTLE 業務不會直接報告在該利息中，因為您一方面在利息收入中報告，另一方面在利息支出中報告。

So the forward flow agreement will obviously change the way in the future on how the interest for the FITTLE business will be reported. Maybe, give me just the opportunity to reinforce 1 point on FITTLE. With the forward flow agreement that we have signed, the business model of FITTLE is changing. And FITTLE is becoming now an asset line -- asset-light servicing model for lease business, specifically related to that office-related or our industry-related type of equipment, Xerox and non-equipment there.

因此，遠期流量協議顯然會改變未來報告 FITTLE 業務利息的方式。也許，給我機會在 FITTLE 上加強 1 點。隨著我們簽署的前向流量協議，FITTLE 的商業模式正在發生變化。而 FITTLE 現在正在成為一種資產線——租賃業務的輕資產服務模式，具體涉及辦公室相關或我們行業相關類型的設備，施樂和非設備。

What it does mean? It means that the ability for FITTLE to grow outside of Xerox is now enabled, and it is not done at the detriment of the free cash flow. And potentially, as you highlighted, at the detriment of rate or our ability to leverage or to get the rate that could make FITTLE competitive, we signed and we signed this agreement with a strong partner that has a strong balance sheet that help us to support the growth of this business without having the impact on adjusted cash flow.

這是什麼意思？這意味著 FITTLE 現在可以在 Xerox 之外發展，而且不會損害自由現金流。正如您所強調的那樣，可能會損害利率或我們利用槓桿或獲得可能使 FITTLE 具有競爭力的利率的能力，我們與擁有強大資產負債表的強大合作夥伴簽署並簽署了該協議，這有助於我們支持該業務的增長不會對調整後的現金流產生影響。

Okay. And then my quick follow-up. On Page 12 of your earnings presentation, where you talk about the effect on free cash flow of your receivable funding arrangement. I know this year is kind of the inaugural year of this agreement with your financing partners and impacted the net positive, net funding benefit to your 2023 cash flow. Long term, should they kind of equal out, meaning the growth in the receivables, should they kind of equal out? Or should they kind of always be a net funding benefit like we're seeing in the year 2023?

好的。然後是我的快速跟進。在您的收益報告的第 12 頁，您談到了應收資金安排對自由現金流的影響。我知道今年是與您的融資合作夥伴達成這項協議的第一年，它影響了您 2023 年現金流的淨正淨融資收益。從長遠來看，他們是否應該持平，即應收賬款的增長，他們是否應該持平？或者它們應該像我們在 2023 年看到的那樣始終是淨資金收益嗎？

So you're right, Jim. The way to look at it is over the time and time will be 4 to 5 years, while the runoff of the existing portfolio, which has been funded by, let's call that the Xerox balance sheet on FITTLE acquisition programs that we have in place. So this one-off will decline over that time, and it will be replaced by this funding agreement. And this funding agreement is done outside of Xerox balance sheet. So this benefit that we see, specifically 2023 and also in 2024, will erode over time. But it will be offset, not from a free cash flow point of view, but in the P&L way of looking at Xerox. It will be offset by the fact that this agreement, as I mentioned, it is a shift in the way FITTLE will work. It will be offset by commission that we are receiving and every time we sell some of this future receivable to our partner.

所以你是對的，吉姆。看待它的方式是隨著時間的推移和時間將是 4 到 5 年，而現有投資組合的徑流，我們稱之為我們已經實施的 FITTLE 收購計劃的 Xerox 資產負債表。所以這個一次性的會隨著時間的推移而減少，它將被這個資助協議所取代。而這項融資協議是在施樂資產負債表之外完成的。因此，我們看到的這種好處，特別是 2023 年和 2024 年，將隨著時間的推移而消失。但它會被抵消，不是從自由現金流的角度來看，而是從查看施樂的損益表的角度來看。正如我所提到的，它會被這個協議所抵消，它是 FITTLE 工作方式的轉變。它將被我們收到的佣金和每次我們將這些未來應收賬款的一部分出售給我們的合作夥伴時所抵消。

But also, we are still highly, I would say, rewarded by the fact that we will have fees from this business and also some benefit of how we will service and manage this portfolio. So this is a change, this is a shift in the way the FITTLE business is being built. This is for the good, I would say, of Xerox because less use of Xerox balance sheet, while preserving the growth of FITTLE and being able to preserve the revenue on the profit related to this business.

但是，我想說，我們仍然非常高興，因為我們將從這項業務中獲得費用，並且我們將如何服務和管理該投資組合也會帶來一些好處。所以這是一個變化，這是 FITTLE 業務構建方式的轉變。我想說，這對施樂有利，因為施樂資產負債表的使用較少，同時保持了 FITTLE 的增長，並能夠保持與該業務相關的利潤收入。

This does conclude the question-and-answer session of today's program. I'd like to hand the program back to Steve Bandrowczak for any further remarks.

今天節目的問答環節到此結束。我想將該程序交還給 Steve Bandrowczak，以徵求他的進一步意見。

Thank you for listening to our earnings conference call this morning. We have turned the page on 2022. Macroeconomic conditions remain uncertain, but this past year has proven that at Xerox we can react and drive profitable results. I am confident we have the right team and strategy in place to deliver growth and profitability and shareholder returns in 2023 and beyond. Thank you for joining our call and have a great day.

感謝您今天早上收聽我們的收益電話會議。我們已經在 2022 年翻開了新的一頁。宏觀經濟狀況仍然不確定，但過去的一年證明，在 Xerox，我們可以做出反應並推動盈利結果。我相信我們擁有合適的團隊和戰略，可以在 2023 年及以後實現增長、盈利和股東回報。感謝您加入我們的電話，祝您有美好的一天。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect. Good day.

女士們，先生們，感謝你們參加今天的會議。這確實結束了程序。您現在可以斷開連接。再會。