全錄公司 (XRX) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the Xerox Holdings Corporation First Quarter 2023 Earnings Release Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) At this time, I would like to turn the meeting over to Mr. David Beckel, Vice President of -- and Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

歡迎來到施樂控股公司 2023 年第一季度收益發布電話會議。 （操作員說明）此時，我想將會議轉交給副總裁兼投資者關係主管大衛·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 First Quarter 2023 Earnings Release Conference Call hosted by Steven 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.

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 Steven Bandrowczak 主持的 Xerox Holdings Corporation 2023 年第一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。

Other recording and/or rebroadcasting of this call are prohibited without the expressed permission of Xerox. During this call, Xerox executives will refer to slides that are available on the web at www.xerox.com/investor. And we'll 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.

未經 Xerox 明確許可，禁止對本次通話進行其他錄音和/或轉播。在此次電話會議中，施樂高管將參考 www.xerox.com/investor 網站上提供的幻燈片。我們將發表包含前瞻性陳述的評論，就其性質而言，這些陳述涉及未來和不確定的問題。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 Q1 2023 earnings call. I would like to start by complementing the Xerox team in its execution of another solid quarter. We delivered another quarter of revenue and profitability growth in what continues to be a dynamic and challenging operating environment. Some of the challenges we faced in prior quarters, such as supply constraints and elevated logistics costs have receded, but new challenges have emerged as central banking policies remain restrictive to global economic growth.

早上好，感謝您參加我們的 2023 年第一季度財報電話會議。我想首先補充施樂團隊執行另一個穩定的季度。在充滿活力和挑戰性的運營環境中，我們又實現了四分之一的收入和盈利增長。我們在前幾個季度面臨的一些挑戰（例如供應限制和物流成本上升）已經消退，但隨著中央銀行政策仍然限制全球經濟增長，新的挑戰又出現了。

Against this backdrop, we, at Xerox, remained focused on the execution of our 2023 priorities and the goal of delivering client success through products and services that address the productivity challenges of today's hybrid workplace. In other words, we are focused on making work, work for our clients.

在此背景下，我們施樂繼續專注於執行我們 2023 年的優先事項，以及通過解決當今混合工作場所生產力挑戰的產品和服務幫助客戶取得成功的目標。換句話說，我們專注於為我們的客戶創造工作。

Summarizing results for the quarter. Revenue of $1.72 billion grew 5.5% in constant currency and 2.8% in actual currency. Adjusted EPS was $0.49, and $0.61 higher year-over-year. Free cash flow was $70 million compared to $50 million in the prior year quarter and adjusted operating margin of 6.9% was higher year-over-year by 710 basis points. Demand for our print equipment and related services remains resilient, as evidenced by another quarter of constant currency growth in both equipment and post-sale revenue. This quarter, we also observed a pickup in office-related print activity. As a result, we continue to expect a stable revenue and demand outlook for the year.

總結本季度的結果。收入 17.2 億美元，按固定匯率計算增長 5.5%，按實際匯率計算增長 2.8%。調整後每股收益為 0.49 美元，同比增長 0.61 美元。自由現金流為 7000 萬美元，上年同期為 5000 萬美元，調整後營業利潤率為 6.9%，同比高出 710 個基點。對我們的印刷設備和相關服務的需求保持彈性，設備和售後收入的另一個季度的貨幣持續增長證明了這一點。本季度，我們還觀察到與辦公室相關的印刷活動有所回升。因此，我們繼續預計今年的收入和需求前景將保持穩定。

Consistent with recent quarters, we are seeing isolated pockets of softer installation activity, often the result of delays in project deployments rather than order reduction. This softness, however, is being offset by continued strength in our office print business particularly for state and local government, education and mid-market accounts as well as strength in our print and digital service offerings.

與最近幾個季度一致，我們看到一些孤立的較軟的安裝活動，通常是項目部署延遲而不是訂單減少的結果。然而，這種疲軟正在被我們辦公印刷業務的持續強勁所抵消，尤其是針對州和地方政府、教育和中端市場客戶的業務，以及我們印刷和數字服務產品的實力。

We believe current secular and macro business challenges such as hybridization of the workplace, higher inflation, labor shortages and liquidity constraints played to our service offering strength, particularly those that utilize AI, machine learning, augmented reality and other leading technologies to help optimize our client workflows and improve workplace productivity. Xavier will cover results for the quarter and guidance in more detail.

我們認為當前的長期和宏觀業務挑戰，例如工作場所的混合化、更高的通貨膨脹、勞動力短缺和流動性限制，對我們提供的服務實力產生了影響，尤其是那些利用人工智能、機器學習、增強現實和其他領先技術來幫助優化我們客戶的服務工作流程並提高工作效率。 Xavier 將更詳細地介紹本季度的結果和指導。

I'd like to focus my comments on our strategic priorities. Our team continues to work diligently on the development of a long-term plan for generating sustainable growth in profits. For this year, we remain focused on executing against our 3 strategic priorities: client success, profitability and shareholder returns. I am pleased to say we are making progress on each measure.

我想把我的評論集中在我們的戰略重點上。我們的團隊繼續努力製定長期計劃，以實現利潤的可持續增長。今年，我們仍然專注於執行我們的 3 個戰略重點：客戶成功、盈利能力和股東回報。我很高興地說，我們在每項措施上都取得了進展。

Starting with client success. It is clear from our market research and client conversations that the success of any strategy we deploy will be measured against our ability to enable positive business outcomes for our clients. Critical to enabling these outcomes is the delivery of products and solutions that solve our clients' most challenging hybrid and workplace productivity needs before they need them.

從客戶的成功開始。從我們的市場研究和客戶對話中可以清楚地看出，我們部署的任何戰略的成功將根據我們為客戶實現積極業務成果的能力來衡量。實現這些成果的關鍵是交付能夠在客戶需要之前解決他們最具挑戰性的混合和工作場所生產力需求的產品和解決方案。

One such solution is recently launched CareAR Instruct app, which leverages CareAR's augmented reality technology and allows users of our entry printers to self troubleshoot machine disruptions wherever they happen to be working. Much like CareAR's field service solutions, the app uses augmented reality to provide an immersive self-support experience, complete with step-by-step guidance, instructional content and interactive 3D visualization to help users solve common issues quickly.

此類解決方案之一是最近推出的 CareAR Instruct 應用程序，該應用程序利用 CareAR 的增強現實技術，並允許我們的入門打印機用戶在他們碰巧工作的任何地方自行解決機器中斷問題。與 CareAR 的現場服務解決方案非常相似，該應用程序使用增強現實技術提供身臨其境的自助體驗，並配有分步指導、教學內容和交互式 3D 可視化，可幫助用戶快速解決常見問題。

When combined with another recently launched service, the easy Assist app, Xerox users can walk through machine setup, perform routine maintenance tasks and order supplies on their own through the convenience of their mobile devices. CareAR Instruct is also available to support our existing and future clients field service management requirements. Another example is the expansion of our digital services offerings to the mid-market, bolstering our TAM opportunity in the largest print marketplace we currently serve.

當與最近推出的另一項服務 easy Assist 應用程序相結合時，施樂用戶可以通過方便的移動設備自行完成機器設置、執行日常維護任務和訂購耗材。 CareAR Instruct 也可用於支持我們現有和未來客戶的現場服務管理要求。另一個例子是我們將數字服務產品擴展到中端市場，增強了我們在目前服務的最大印刷市場中的 TAM 機會。

We now provide clients in this market the same types of accounts payable, digital mail and intelligent document processing capabilities we provide to our largest enterprise and government clients. We see particularly high levels of demand for these services among our mid-market clients in the public sector, healthcare, education and financial services industries.

我們現在為這個市場的客戶提供與我們為最大的企業和政府客戶提供的相同類型的應付賬款、數字郵件和智能文檔處理功能。我們發現公共部門、醫療保健、教育和金融服務行業的中端市場客戶對這些服務的需求特別高。

Our digital services security and productivity solutions provide us with a true competitive advantage in an industry most think of as being mature. In recognition of these advantages, Keypoint Intelligence awarded Xerox the BLI 2023 Smart Workplace Software Line of the Year for the fifth consecutive year, acknowledging our diverse portfolio of applications, software and services that help solve modern workplace challenges. This technology advantage is driving an expansion of wallet share with existing clients. For example, this quarter, we sold an expansion of services to a large British telecom client. The initial mandate involved helping this client optimize their print needs for direct marketing campaigns.

我們的數字服務安全和生產力解決方案為我們在大多數人認為成熟的行業中提供了真正的競爭優勢。鑑於這些優勢，Keypoint Intelligence 連續第五年將施樂評為 BLI 2023 年度智能工作場所軟件系列，以表彰我們幫助解決現代工作場所挑戰的多樣化應用程序、軟件和服務組合。這種技術優勢正在推動與現有客戶的錢包份額的擴大。例如，本季度，我們向一家大型英國電信客戶出售了一項服務擴展。最初的任務涉及幫助該客戶優化其直接營銷活動的印刷需求。

Under the new agreement, we are moving up the value chain to provide services such as customer acquisition database hosting, data analysis and marketing consultation services. In total, the addition of these services drove total contract value higher by 20% and further solidifies an already strong business relationship.

根據新協議，我們將向價值鏈上游移動，提供客戶獲取數據庫託管、數據分析和營銷諮詢服務等服務。總的來說，增加這些服務使合同總價值提高了 20%，並進一步鞏固了本已牢固的業務關係。

Moving forward, we see an opportunity to standardize these successful business outcomes by verticalizing workplace productivity solutions across industries. One such example is the healthcare industry, where our motto is, patients, not paperwork. Through years of intense collaboration with healthcare providers, we have developed a suite of digital solutions that drive synchronicity between inbound and outbound communications. More specifically, we have helped clients in the healthcare services industry transition patient records from paper to digital systems, added intelligence to paper and digital inbound communications and helped automate certain types of outbound communications like clinical outcomes and guidance.

展望未來，我們看到了通過跨行業垂直化工作場所生產力解決方案來標準化這些成功的業務成果的機會。一個這樣的例子是醫療保健行業，我們的座右銘是患者，而不是文書工作。通過與醫療保健提供商多年的密切合作，我們開發了一套數字解決方案，可推動入站和出站通信之間的同步。更具體地說，我們幫助醫療保健服務行業的客戶將病歷從紙質系統轉移到數字系統，為紙質和數字入站通信增加智能，並幫助自動化某些類型的出站通信，如臨床結果和指導。

Additional industries with identified verticalization potential include consumer goods, banking and insurance, to name a few.

具有確定的垂直化潛力的其他行業包括消費品、銀行和保險等。

Our second strategic priority is profitability. In the first quarter, we delivered the second consecutive quarter of growth in operating profitability. Lower transportation and logistics costs and lower bad debt expense contributed to the year-over-year improvement in profitability. But the bulk came from operating efficiencies driven by the management system put in place under Project Own It, including the implementation of new technologies to simplify and streamline operations as well as specific actions taken to implement a more flexible cost base.

我們的第二個戰略重點是盈利能力。第一季度，我們的營業利潤率連續第二個季度實現增長。較低的運輸和物流成本以及較低的壞賬費用有助於盈利能力的同比提高。但大部分來自 Project Own It 下實施的管理系統推動的運營效率，包括實施新技術以簡化和精簡運營，以及為實施更靈活的成本基礎而採取的具體行動。

One such action that will drive profit improvement in the remainder of the year is the donation of PARC to SRI International, which, like PARC, is one of the world's leading research institutions. The donation and resulting research partnership provides Xerox greater capacity to focus on our innovation efforts on projects in print, IT and digital services. It also supports a more flexible and focused approach to R&D spend by lowering our run rate R&D costs and preserving access to SRI and PARC's leading research capabilities.

將在今年剩餘時間內推動利潤改善的一項此類行動是將 PARC 捐贈給 SRI International，與 PARC 一樣，SRI International 也是世界領先的研究機構之一。捐贈和由此產生的研究合作夥伴關係使 Xerox 有更大的能力專注於我們在印刷、IT 和數字服務項目上的創新努力。它還通過降低我們的運行率研發成本並保留對 SRI 和 PARC 領先研究能力的訪問，支持更靈活和集中的研發支出方法。

Innovation is in Xerox's DNA and will continue to be a priority for the company going forward. Importantly, our relationship with PARC is not ending, rather it is being extended through a new technology exploration and innovation program with SRI and PARC. Through this program, SRI and PARC scientists, engineers and researchers will work with us and our clients to pioneer new technologies that are closely aligned with our print, digital and IT services focus.

創新是 Xerox 的 DNA，並將繼續成為公司前進的首要任務。重要的是，我們與 PARC 的關係並沒有結束，而是通過與 SRI 和 PARC 的新技術探索和創新計劃得到擴展。通過該計劃，SRI 和 PARC 的科學家、工程師和研究人員將與我們和我們的客戶合作，開拓與我們的印刷、數字和 IT 服務重點密切相關的新技術。

Finally, shareholder returns. Our capital return policy is designed to provide shareholders a means of participating in our success through the distribution of at least 50% of our free cash flow. We will update investors on specific plans for distributing free cash flow and excess cash as it builds throughout the year. In Q1, we decided the most responsible use of cash was the pay down of $450 million of debt.

最後，股東回報。我們的資本回報政策旨在通過分配至少 50% 的自由現金流，為股東提供一種參與我們成功的方式。我們將向投資者更新有關分配自由現金流和全年積累的多餘現金的具體計劃。在第一季度，我們認為最負責任的現金使用方式是償還 4.5 億美元的債務。

To recap, we got off to a strong start for the year. The operational discipline instilled in our organization by Project Own It and other specific actions recently taken are driving more margin improvement than expected. As a result, we increased our profitability outlook for the year. Despite a challenging and fluid business environment, the resiliency of demand for our products and a demonstrated ability to control costs, leave us confident in our ability to achieve updated guidance.

回顧一下，我們今年開局良好。 Project Own It 向我們組織灌輸的運營紀律和最近採取的其他具體行動正在推動比預期更多的利潤改善。因此，我們上調了今年的盈利前景。儘管商業環境充滿挑戰且變化無常，但我們產品的需求彈性和控製成本的能力使我們對實現最新指導的能力充滿信心。

I will now hand it over to Xavier.

我現在將它交給 Xavier。

Thank you, Steve, and good morning, everyone. As Steve mentioned, we delivered another strong quarter of growth across all key metrics due to a stable demand environment for our equipment and services, improvement in product supply and supply chain-related costs and the benefit of price and cost actions taken last year. Starting with revenue, the momentum in sales growth we experienced in the second half of last year carried over to start this year. In Q1, we posted the fourth consecutive quarter of constant currency growth in total revenue and the third consecutive quarter of constant currency growth in both equipment and post sales revenue.

謝謝你，史蒂夫，大家早上好。正如史蒂夫提到的那樣，由於對我們的設備和服務的穩定需求環境、產品供應和供應鏈相關成本的改善以及去年採取的價格和成本行動的好處，我們在所有關鍵指標上實現了又一個強勁的季度增長。從收入開始，我們在去年下半年經歷的銷售增長勢頭延續到了今年年初。在第一季度，我們的總收入連續第四個季度保持貨幣穩定增長，設備和售後收入連續第三個季度保持貨幣穩定增長。

Revenue growth this quarter of 2.8% at actual currency was negatively impacted by 270 basis points of currency headwinds and reflected improved product supplies, healthy equipment order flows and growth in contractual print and digital services.

本季度按實際貨幣計算的收入增長 2.8%，受到 270 個基點的貨幣逆風的負面影響，反映了產品供應的改善、設備訂單流的健康以及合同印刷和數字服務的增長。

Turning to profitability. We delivered a second consecutive quarter of year-over-year improvement in growth on operating profit margins driven by higher equipment sales and favorable mix, price increases, lower logistic costs and a reduction in operating expense, including a $23 million reduction in bad debt expense.

轉向盈利能力。我們連續第二個季度實現了營業利潤率的同比增長，這得益於更高的設備銷售和有利的組合、價格上漲、更低的物流成本和運營費用的減少，包括壞賬費用減少 2300 萬美元.

Gross margin improved 250 basis points over the prior year quarter, mainly driven by lower supply chain-related costs, benefits associated with price and cost action taken in 2022, currency and improved product mix. These benefits were partially offset by ongoing product cost increases.

毛利率較上年同期提高 250 個基點，主要受供應鏈相關成本降低、與 2022 年採取的價格和成本行動相關的收益、貨幣和產品組合改善的推動。這些好處被持續的產品成本增加部分抵消了。

Adjusted operating margin of 6.9% increased 710 basis points year-over-year, driven by 380 basis points from cost reduction actions, 250 basis points of supply chain-related cost improvement, 130 basis points from lower bad debt expense and 90 basis points from price increases. Partially offsetting this benefit were effect from currency. Adjusted other expenses net were $10 million lower year-over-year due to lower net interest expenses associated with lower core debt, partially offset by $11 million of currency losses in the current quarter.

調整後的營業利潤率為 6.9%，同比增長 710 個基點，這主要得益於成本削減行動 380 個基點、供應鏈相關成本改善 250 個基點、壞賬費用降低 130 個基點和 90 個基點價格上漲。貨幣的影響部分抵消了這一好處。調整後的其他費用淨額同比減少 1000 萬美元，原因是與核心債務減少相關的淨利息費用減少，部分被本季度 1100 萬美元的貨幣損失所抵消。

Adjusted tax rate was 15.5% compared to 52.9% in the same quarter last year. The decrease in tax rate reflects benefit in the current quarter from the redetermination of certain unrecognized tax positions on nonrecurring benefit in the prior year quarter.

調整後的稅率為 15.5%，而去年同期為 52.9%。稅率的下降反映了本季度受益於重新確定上一季度非經常性福利的某些未確認稅收狀況。

Adjusted EPS of $0.49 in the first quarter was $0.61 higher than the prior year, driven by higher adjusted operating income, lower net interest expense and the lower tax rate, partially offset by currency. GAAP earnings per share of $0.43 was $0.81 higher due to the same factors as well as a contract termination expense in the prior year quarter.

第一季度調整後的每股收益為 0.49 美元，比上年同期高出 0.61 美元，這是由於調整後的營業收入增加、淨利息支出減少和稅率降低，部分被匯率抵消。由於相同的因素以及去年同期的合同終止費用，GAAP 每股收益為 0.43 美元，增加了 0.81 美元。

Let me now review revenue, cash flow and profitability in more detail. Turning to revenue, equipment sales of $391 million in Q1 grew 27% year-over-year in constant currency, or roughly 25% in actual currency. Growth was driven by better availability of product in both the Americas and EMEA, particularly for our higher-margin A3 device and color production equipment. Backlog declined for the third consecutive quarter as supply chain conditions further normalize. We expect our backlog to return to typical levels, which range from $100 million to [$225] million by the end of Q2. Equipment revenue outpaced installation this quarter due to a greater mix of office A3 and production equipment as well as the continued benefit of price increases.

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，第一季度的設備銷售額為 3.91 億美元，按固定匯率計算同比增長 27%，按實際貨幣計算增長約 25%。美洲和歐洲、中東和非洲地區產品可用性的提高推動了增長，尤其是我們利潤率較高的 A3 設備和彩色生產設備。隨著供應鏈條件進一步正常化，積壓訂單連續第三個季度下降。我們預計我們的積壓訂單將恢復到典型水平，到第二季度末從 1 億美元到 [2.25 億美元] 不等。由於辦公室 A3 和生產設備的更多組合以及價格上漲的持續好處，本季度設備收入超過安裝。

Installation growth was strongest for our high-margin, mid-range product on color production equipment. Entry A4 installation were down slightly year-over-year due to the stoppage of shipments of Russia and the ongoing normalization of work-from-home trends. Post-sales revenue of $1.32 billion grew 0.5% in constant currency year-over-year and declined 2.2% in actual currency. Post-sales growth in constant currency was driven by growth in consumable and contractual print and digital services, including the acquisition of Go Inspire, partially offset by lower sales of IT hardware.

我們在彩色生產設備上的高利潤、中端產品的安裝增長最為強勁。 Entry A4 的安裝量同比略有下降，原因是俄羅斯的發貨中斷以及在家工作趨勢的持續正常化。售後收入為 13.2 億美元，按固定匯率計算同比增長 0.5%，按實際貨幣計算下降 2.2%。以固定匯率計算的售後增長是由消費品和合同印刷及數字服務的增長推動的，包括收購 Go Inspire，部分被 IT 硬件銷售額的下降所抵消。

Contractual print and digital services, our largest and most stable source of revenue, has grown at a consistent pace at constant currency for more than a year, despite only a modest return of workers to the office and macro uncertainty due in large part to the expansion of our digital services offerings and price increases.

合同印刷和數字服務是我們最大和最穩定的收入來源，在一年多的時間里以固定匯率保持穩定增長，儘管只有少量員工重返辦公室，而且宏觀不確定性在很大程度上是由於擴張我們的數字服務產品和價格上漲。

Growth this quarter was further aided by an improvement in office-related print activity. Geographically, both regions grew mid-single-digit in constant currency. EMEA grew slightly faster than the Americas due to stronger post-sales growth, including the prior year acquisition of Go Inspire.

與辦公室相關的印刷活動的改善進一步推動了本季度的增長。從地域上看，這兩個地區的增長率均保持在中個位數（以固定匯率計算）。由於更強勁的售後增長，包括前一年收購 Go Inspire，歐洲、中東和非洲地區的增長略快於美洲。

Let's now review cash flow. Free cash flow was $70 million in Q1, higher by $20 million year-over-year. Operating cash flow was $78 million in Q1 compared to $66 million in the prior year. Working capital was a use of cash of $66 million, resulting in $159 million year-over-year decrease in cash flow, driven by a reduction in accounts payable and a larger use of cash for inventory, reflecting greater product availability, strategic buying action and positioning ahead of Q2.

現在讓我們回顧一下現金流量。第一季度的自由現金流為 7000 萬美元，同比增加 2000 萬美元。第一季度的運營現金流為 7800 萬美元，而去年同期為 6600 萬美元。營運資金使用了 6600 萬美元的現金，導致現金流量同比減少 1.59 億美元，這是由於應付賬款減少和更多地使用現金存貨，反映出產品可用性提高、戰略購買行動和定位在Q2之前。

The unfavorable timing of other liability payment also resulted in a greater use of operating cash this quarter. Positively offsetting this effect were higher operating income and the net source of cash from finance receivable. Finance assets activity was a source of cash this quarter of $120 million compared to a source of cash of $5 million in the prior year, reflecting the benefit of our recently signed receivable funding program with HPS, partially offset by higher operating lease placements.

其他負債支付的不利時機也導致本季度更多地使用運營現金。較高的營業收入和應收融資現金的淨來源抵消了這一影響。金融資產活動是本季度 1.2 億美元的現金來源，而去年同期為 500 萬美元，反映了我們最近與 HPS 簽署的應收賬款融資計劃的收益，部分被較高的經營租賃安排所抵消。

Investing activity were a use of cash of $17 million compared to a use of cash of $75 million in the prior year due to lower M&A activity and lower CapEx. Financing activity consumed $505 million of cash this quarter, which includes the payment of the remaining $300 million of 2023 notes and approximately $150 million of secured debt. During the quarter, we paid dividends totaling $45 million and did not repurchase any shares.

由於併購活動減少和資本支出減少，投資活動使用現金 1700 萬美元，而上一年使用現金 7500 萬美元。本季度融資活動消耗了 5.05 億美元現金，其中包括支付剩餘的 3 億美元 2023 年票據和約 1.5 億美元的擔保債務。本季度，我們支付了總計 4500 萬美元的股息，並且沒有回購任何股票。

Turning to profitability. Q1 adjusted operating profit margin expanded 710 basis points year-over-year for reasons previously discussed. We are carefully monitoring our cost base in the context of macro uncertainty. As Steve mentioned, profitability improvement this quarter reflects the ongoing benefit associated with operating discipline instilled by Project Own It in prior years. We also benefited from strategic actions taken in 2022 to make our cost base more flexible.

轉向盈利能力。由於前面討論的原因，第一季度調整後的營業利潤率同比擴大了 710 個基點。在宏觀不確定性的背景下，我們正在仔細監控我們的成本基礎。正如史蒂夫所提到的，本季度盈利能力的提高反映了與前幾年 Project Own It 灌輸的運營紀律相關的持續收益。我們還受益於 2022 年採取的戰略行動，使我們的成本基礎更加靈活。

While we are not providing an official cost savings target for 2023, we do expect to deliver low- to mid-single-digit of gross operating cost efficiency for the year, driven by our culture of continuous improvement on specific cost reductions. These efficiencies are expected to support margin growth in 2023 despite an expected increase in product cost. We are confident in our ability to more than offset (inaudible) for the product cost increases through ongoing contractual price increases, a more flexible cost structure, future business simplification effort on greater diversification of product sourcing.

雖然我們沒有提供 2023 年的官方成本節約目標，但在我們持續改進特定成本削減的文化的推動下，我們確實希望今年的總運營成本效率實現中低個位數。儘管產品成本預計會增加，但這些效率預計將支持 2023 年的利潤率增長。我們有信心通過持續的合同價格上漲、更靈活的成本結構、未來的業務簡化努力來實現產品採購的更大多元化，從而抵消（聽不清）產品成本的增加。

Turning to segment. FITTLE origination volume grew 57% year-over-year. Captive product originations were up 59% on higher Xerox equipment revenue, particularly in the mid-market. Non-captive channel origination, which includes third-party dealers and non-Xerox vendors, grew 55%, a function of growth in new dealer relationships and third-party equipment origination. Despite the continued growth in origination activity, FITTLE finance assets were down 3% sequentially in actual currency due to the runoff of existing finance receivable on HPS funding of close to 50% of FITTLE Q1 origination.

轉向細分。 FITTLE 發起量同比增長 57%。由於 Xerox 設備收入增加，專屬產品的來源增長了 59%，尤其是在中端市場。包括第三方經銷商和非施樂供應商在內的非專屬渠道來源增長了 55%，這得益於新經銷商關係和第三方設備來源的增長。儘管發起活動持續增長，但由於 HPS 資金的現有融資應收賬款接近 FITTLE Q1 發起的 50%，FITTLE 金融資產按實際貨幣連續下降了 3%。

FITTLE revenue declined 3% in Q1, mainly due to a reduction in operating lease revenue, which reflect lower Xerox equipment installs in prior period. This decline was partially offset by higher fees, including those associated with the new receivable funding agreement. Segment profit was $12 million, down $5 million year-over-year due to a decline in revenue, higher intersegment commission and higher borrowing costs, partially offset by lower bad debt expense. Segment margin was 7.9%, down 310 basis points year-over-year.

FITTLE 收入在第一季度下降了 3%，這主要是由於經營租賃收入減少，這反映了前期施樂設備安裝量的減少。這一下降部分被更高的費用所抵消，包括與新的應收賬款融資協議相關的費用。部門利潤為 1200 萬美元，同比下降 500 萬美元，原因是收入下降、部門間佣金增加和借貸成本增加，部分被壞賬費用減少所抵消。分部利潤率為 7.9%，同比下降 310 個基點。

Print and Other revenue grew 4.1% in Q1. Print and Other segment profit improved $126 million versus the prior year quarter, resulting in an 810 basis points expansion in segment profit margin year-over-year, driven by improved product supplies, lower logistic cost mix and the benefit of price and cost actions taken last year.

第一季度印刷和其他收入增長 4.1%。印刷和其他部門的利潤比上一季度增加了 1.26 億美元，導致部門利潤率同比增長 810 個基點，這得益於產品供應的改善、物流成本組合的降低以及採取的價格和成本行動的好處去年。

Turning to capital structure. Net core cash of around $200 million was down from the prior quarter. We ended Q1 with around $700 million of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, a reduction from Q4 level mainly due to the $300 million repayment of our 2023 notes and roughly $150 million of secured debt. $2.8 billion of the remaining $3.3 billion of our outstanding debt is allocated to support FITTLE lease portfolio, with the remaining debt of around $500 million attributable to the core business.

轉向資本結構。淨核心現金約為 2 億美元，較上一季度有所下降。我們以大約 7 億美元的現金、現金等價物和受限制現金結束了第一季度，比第四季度的水平有所減少，這主要是由於我們償還了 2023 年票據的 3 億美元和大約 1.5 億美元的擔保債務。在我們剩餘的 33 億美元未償還債務中，有 28 億美元用於支持 FITTLE 租賃組合，剩餘約 5 億美元的債務歸屬於核心業務。

Total debt consists of senior unsecured bonds on finance asset securitization. We have a balanced bond maturity ladder over the next few years with no debt coming due over the next 12 months.

總債務包括金融資產證券化的高級無擔保債券。未來幾年，我們有一個平衡的債券到期階梯，未來 12 個月內沒有到期的債務。

Finally, I will address guidance. Our outlook for revenue remains unchanged at flat to down low single digits and continue to reflect a stable demand environment with some contingency for potential macroeconomic weakness. Regarding operating margin, Q1 operating profit margin benefited from a favorable equipment revenue mix, which is expected to normalize across Q2 (inaudible) quarter.

最後，我將討論指導。我們的收入前景保持不變，保持在低個位數至低個位數，並繼續反映出穩定的需求環境以及潛在的宏觀經濟疲軟的一些偶然性。關於營業利潤率，第一季度的營業利潤率受益於有利的設備收入組合，預計這將在第二季度（聽不清）正常化。

Q1 profit margin also benefited from a credit to bad debt and lower labor cost associated with a higher-than-expected number of open position. This benefit may not repeat in future quarter. That said, we are increasing adjusting operating income margin guidance from at least 4.7% to a range of 5% to 5.5%. The increase in margin guidance reflects better-than-expected Q1 profitability even after excluding the previously mentioned item as well as the success of ongoing efficiency programs, partially offset by greater-than-expected unfavorable currency, which mainly affect profit in Q2.

第一季度的利潤率還受益於壞賬信貸和低於預期的未平倉頭寸數量相關的較低勞動力成本。這種好處可能不會在未來的季度重複出現。也就是說，我們正在將調整後的營業收入利潤率指引從至少 4.7% 提高到 5% 至 5.5% 的範圍。利潤率指引的增加反映了第一季度的盈利能力好於預期，即使排除了前面提到的項目以及正在進行的效率計劃的成功，部分被大於預期的不利貨幣所抵消，這主要影響第二季度的利潤。

The indicated range of profit margin outcomes largely reflects the degree to which macroeconomic uncertainty could affect our operating profit for the year. We did not change free cash flow guidance, but no changes were made to our assumption of free cash flow conversion, which is still expected to be 90% to 100% of adjusted operating income, excluding finance receivable activity.

所示的利潤率結果範圍在很大程度上反映了宏觀經濟不確定性對我們當年營業利潤的影響程度。我們沒有改變自由現金流量指導，但我們的自由現金流量轉換假設沒有變化，預計自由現金流量仍為調整後營業收入的 90% 至 100%，不包括應收融資活動。

We'll now open the line for Q&A.

我們現在打開問答熱線。

(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。

Congrats on solid execution and the solid results. A couple if I could. First one is, could you sort of highlight for us like any of the remaining sort of expansion of services that you guys are continuing to provide to customers? And if there's any distinction between enterprise customers as well as business customers, that would be helpful as well. But any -- you spoke some -- at least some on the call about sort of the expanded services offerings, but if there's any that you haven't spoken to, could you give us some sense of what those are, and what your philosophy is around the services expansion and how those are resonating, that would be super helpful. And then I have a follow-up.

祝賀您的執行力和出色的結果。如果可以的話一對夫婦。第一個是，你能為我們強調一下你們繼續為客戶提供的任何剩餘的服務擴展嗎？如果企業客戶和企業客戶之間存在任何區別，那也會有所幫助。但是任何 - 你談到了一些 - 至少是一些關於擴展服務產品的電話，但如果有任何你沒有談過的，你能告訴我們這些是什麼以及你的理念是什麼圍繞服務擴展以及它們如何產生共鳴，這將非常有幫助。然後我有一個後續行動。

A couple of things on the services. So as we've been talking about for a while now, we are trying to help and focus on client success, really looking at the headwinds that our clients are dealing with in terms of inflationary headwinds, labor, et cetera, and the hybrid workforce, right, really trying to help them with productivity.

關於服務的一些事情。因此，正如我們現在一直在談論的那樣，我們正在努力幫助並專注於客戶的成功，真正關注我們的客戶在通貨膨脹逆風、勞動力等方面所面臨的不利因素，以及混合勞動力，對，真的在努力幫助他們提高生產力。

So with that said, we're taking things that we've already implemented internally to help ourselves like Robotics-as-a-Service, artificial intelligence and around document, document flow and taking those and bringing them both to the enterprise customers, which we've been doing with things like Digital Mail, helping with things like accounts payables and workflow, now bringing into our mid-market customers.

所以話雖如此，我們正在利用我們已經在內部實施的東西來幫助我們自己，比如機器人即服務、人工智能和圍繞文檔、文檔流，並將它們帶給企業客戶，這我們一直在處理諸如數字郵件之類的事情，幫助處理諸如應付賬款和工作流程之類的事情，現在將其引入我們的中端市場客戶。

So taking a lot of the things that we've been doing internally and now turning them externally and helping out both our enterprise customers and, more importantly, where we have midsized customers that have enterprise needs, but don't have enterprise solutions, we are bringing those to our customers. So a couple of examples, Robotics-as-a-Service in law firms, really helping law firms with clerical and with things around paper and workflow and document flow, helping in hospitals and in schools and universities around administrative tasks, around digital services and very specifically, helping them with document flow, helping them with driving more productivity.

因此，將我們一直在內部做的很多事情轉移到外部，幫助我們的企業客戶，更重要的是，我們有中型客戶有企業需求，但沒有企業解決方案，我們正在將這些帶給我們的客戶。舉幾個例子，律師事務所的機器人即服務，真正幫助律師事務所處理文書工作，處理紙張、工作流程和文件流方面的事情，幫助醫院、學校和大學解決行政任務、數字服務和非常具體地，幫助他們處理文檔流程，幫助他們提高生產力。

So we're seeing more of that and especially as we see the macro trends, more and more of our clients are asking us to help them to offset the macro trends and the headwinds they're seeing in the industry without technology and services.

因此，我們看到了更多這樣的情況，尤其是當我們看到宏觀趨勢時，越來越多的客戶要求我們幫助他們抵消宏觀趨勢以及他們在沒有技術和服務的情況下在行業中看到的逆風。

Yes, that's helpful, Steve. And are you -- how would you sort of describe the manifestation so far relative to your initial expectations? Is it as planned? Is it a little bit stronger given what's going on with macro? Any color there would be helpful just to get a sense of resonation.

是的，這很有幫助，史蒂夫。你是——你會如何描述到目前為止相對於你最初期望的表現？是否按計劃進行？考慮到宏觀的情況，它會更強一點嗎？那裡的任何顏色都會有所幫助，只是為了獲得共鳴感。

I would say a little mixed, right, where we talked about the enterprise customers just slowing down a little bit and installs, but not backing off. And then we're seeing acceleration in other areas where customers are asking us to accelerate so that we can drive their cash flow and drive their productivity. So it's a little bit of mix. I think, in state, local government, in midsized customers, we're seeing opportunities to grow the TAM in the existing accounts that we're in. I've talked about this before how do we take our current products and services and really expand it inside of existing customer base and really focusing on is client success. That's a big shift for us and really focusing on how do we help clients succeed in the macro environment and the challenges that they're seeing, and we're seeing some success in those areas.

我會說有點複雜，對，我們談到企業客戶只是稍微放慢安裝速度，但沒有退縮。然後我們看到客戶要求我們加速的其他領域加速發展，以便我們能夠推動他們的現金流並提高他們的生產力。所以它有點混合。我認為，在州、地方政府和中型客戶中，我們看到了在我們現有的客戶中增加 TAM 的機會。我之前已經討論過這個問題，我們如何利用我們當前的產品和服務，真的將其擴展到現有客戶群中，真正關注的是客戶的成功。這對我們來說是一個很大的轉變，真正關注我們如何幫助客戶在宏觀環境和他們所看到的挑戰中取得成功，我們在這些領域看到了一些成功。

Cool, cool. And then the follow-up is, can you sort of just update us on how you view -- how incremental you guys view the potential for the small and medium business hardware opportunity to be? It's been a meaningful part of the company's narrative over the last few years, but would love to get -- now that you've been in the seat for a few quarters, love to get your sense of how material you think hardware, and then the broader services portfolio following from that can incrementally be to the (inaudible)?

酷，酷。然後是後續行動，您能否向我們介紹一下您的看法 - 你們如何看待中小型企業硬件機會的潛力？在過去的幾年裡，它一直是公司敘述中一個有意義的部分，但很想知道——既然你已經在位幾個季度了，很想了解你對硬件的看法，然後隨之而來的更廣泛的服務組合可以逐步成為（聽不清）？

I will take these questions here. So regarding SMB hardware, so the interesting part of -- as you know it, so we attract higher margin on this type of sales, specifically on the A3 devices and led with HPS in the U.S. here. But we have seen, and we are still seeing quite a resilient demand of this type of hardware. We also positioned pricing on price increases in the past to offset some of the cost increases that we were facing. So currently, this is one of the strong driver of the profit improvement. And we are quite positive around the rest of the year with product availability normalizing and the ability to keep the margin at the expected level of margin that we have in our assumptions.

我將在這裡回答這些問題。所以關於 SMB 硬件，所以有趣的部分 - 正如你所知，我們在這種類型的銷售中吸引了更高的利潤，特別是在 A3 設備上，並在美國以 HPS 為首。但我們已經看到，並且我們仍然看到對此類硬件的相當有彈性的需求。我們還定位了過去價格上漲的定價，以抵消我們面臨的一些成本增加。因此，目前，這是利潤改善的強大驅動力之一。我們對今年餘下時間非常樂觀，產品可用性正常化，並且有能力將利潤率保持在我們假設的預期利潤率水平。

And Steve, Xavier, do you -- like structurally speaking, in coming years, do you believe there's a meaningful share gain opportunity? It's really share participation opportunity for the company in small and medium business hardware.

史蒂夫，澤維爾，你 - 從結構上講，在未來幾年，你是否相信有有意義的份額增長機會？這確實是公司在中小企業硬件領域的共享參與機會。

Yes. I think it's not just the hardware, it's going to be the solution and services we provide around that hardware. You think about our A3 devices, think about it as an engine that we can bring products and services in and around, so things like language translation, things like being able to help universities and help hospitals in administrative tasks, not just around the hardware, but around the software that we can provide around the things like ConnectKey, things like print in the cloud and then adding AI to it. So it's really how do we advance those other digital services in and around our hardware that I think is going to be the differentiation. And the more we focus on client success meaning the more we drive customer outcomes, help them with their P&L, the more successful we're going to be. And do I see that as an opportunity for growth? Absolutely.

是的。我認為這不僅僅是硬件，它將是我們圍繞該硬件提供的解決方案和服務。你想想我們的 A3 設備，把它想像成一個引擎，我們可以把產品和服務帶入內部和周圍，比如語言翻譯，比如能夠幫助大學和醫院完成管理任務，而不僅僅是硬件，但圍繞著我們可以提供的軟件，比如 ConnectKey，比如在雲中打印，然後向其中添加 AI。因此，我認為我們如何在硬件內部和周圍推進其他數字服務才是真正的差異化。我們越關注客戶的成功，這意味著我們越能推動客戶取得成果，幫助他們改善損益，我們就會越成功。我是否將其視為增長機會？絕對地。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

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。

I have a few as well. And then really nice operating margin expansion, so congrats on that. I just want to kind of double-click on some of your guys' kind of macro comments or spending comments. Obviously, last week, there were some, let's call it, shots at the [bow] from some hardware companies that seemed to expose some potential deterioration in enterprise spending patterns, perhaps mid-March and beyond and maybe even to April. Can you maybe just address kind of linearity in the quarter for you guys? How your client conversations are trending? How that's trended into April? Just to give us a little more comfort around maybe what you're seeing compared to maybe what perhaps others outside of the print world, but still exposed to enterprise (inaudible)? And then I have a follow-up.

我也有一些。然後非常好的營業利潤率擴張，所以恭喜。我只是想雙擊你們一些人的宏觀評論或消費評論。顯然，上週，一些硬件公司（我們可以稱之為）向 [弓箭] 開槍，似乎暴露了企業支出模式的一些潛在惡化，可能是在 3 月中旬及以後，甚至可能到 4 月。你能不能為你們解決本季度的線性問題？您的客戶對話趨勢如何？ 4 月份的趨勢如何？與印刷界以外但仍面向企業（聽不清）的其他人相比，您所看到的可能只是為了讓我們更加安心？然後我有一個後續行動。

Let me start, Erik, and then I'll turn it over to Xavier. So I think if you look at the macro trends over the last 24 months in the hybrid workforce, we saw a lot of placement of end devices in the homes, whether it's laptops or whether it's printers. And that cycle, as we all know, is very cyclical. And so I think what we're seeing in the hardware space, certainly on endpoints is we're now seeing that refresh cycle has ended, and now you'll see the low like we normally see in most laptops and most of those technology life cycles. What we have seen, though, is we haven't seen that big upside in COVID. And so now what we're seeing is an opportunity to expand on the base that we have with products and services in and around how do we help clients success in productivity in and around things like digital services, software. And so for us, it's an expansion on the base that we have, and we have an opportunity to bring new products and services into existing client base. Xavier?

讓我開始，Erik，然後我會把它交給 Xavier。所以我認為，如果你看看過去 24 個月混合勞動力的宏觀趨勢，我們就會看到很多終端設備在家庭中的位置，無論是筆記本電腦還是打印機。眾所周知，這個週期是非常週期性的。所以我認為我們在硬件領域看到的，當然是在端點上，我們現在看到更新周期已經結束，現在你會看到我們通常在大多數筆記本電腦和大多數技術生命中看到的低價週期。不過，我們所看到的是，我們還沒有看到 COVID 的巨大上漲空間。因此，現在我們看到的是一個機會，可以在我們擁有的產品和服務基礎上擴展我們如何幫助客戶在數字服務、軟件等方面取得成功。所以對我們來說，這是對我們現有基礎的擴展，我們有機會為現有客戶群帶來新產品和服務。澤維爾？

Yes. Erik, I would add as well that, as you know, we have quite a resilient business model. The resilient business model is based on, I would say, some simple pillars. The #1 is our contractual revenue base. What is contracted for 4, 5 years, even more in some cases there, represent 2/3 of our revenue. So we are less subject to the bumps on the high-end loads that some of our traditional hardware competitors are facing.

是的。埃里克，我還要補充一點，正如你所知，我們有一個非常有彈性的商業模式。我想說，彈性商業模式基於一些簡單的支柱。 #1 是我們的合同收入基礎。合同期限為 4、5 年，在某些情況下甚至更長，占我們收入的 2/3。因此，我們較少受到一些傳統硬件競爭對手所面臨的高端負載衝擊的影響。

The second point is that we still see a strong demand, the demand for equipment, the demand for service. You have noted we have reduced our backlog, but we still have some backlog to clean during quarter 2 here with a good mix. The third item and to close on this one, price increases. We have been able to enact during the prior year at a difficult time, price increases, and the price increases that we apply, not only on the equipment revenue on the hardware, but also on the contracted revenue, will be now with us for 3, 4, 5 years depending on the customer contract.

第二點，我們還是看到了強勁的需求，對設備的需求，對服務的需求。您已經註意到我們已經減少了積壓工作，但我們在第二季度仍然有一些積壓工作需要清理，並且要進行良好的組合。第三個項目和關閉這個項目，價格上漲。我們已經能夠在前一年的困難時期實施價格上漲，我們應用的價格上漲，不僅在硬件設備收入上，而且在合同收入上，現在將與我們一起 3 , 4, 5 年取決於客戶合同。

Okay. That's super helpful, and then maybe, Xavier, just to touch on the point you just made. You're obviously -- or maybe over the last 2 quarters, you've been able to work on backlog. It looks like you ended at $180 million versus $435 million a year ago. So I know you made the comment about backlog being normalized, I think you said around $225 million. But shouldn't we interpret this as backlog being below normalized? Or maybe just help me square that, and then help me understand kind of as a result of that point, how -- if we should still think about a stronger first half of equipment sales relative to maybe a weaker second half just as a result of working down that backlog, if that's still the same view you take today?

好的。這非常有幫助，也許，Xavier，只是想談談你剛才提出的觀點。你顯然 - 或者也許在過去的兩個季度裡，你已經能夠處理積壓工作。看起來你的收盤價是 1.8 億美元，而一年前是 4.35 億美元。所以我知道你發表了關於將積壓正常化的評論，我想你說的是大約 2.25 億美元。但是我們不應該將其解釋為積壓低於正常化嗎？或者也許只是幫助我解決這個問題，然後幫助我理解這一點的結果，如果我們仍然應該考慮上半年設備銷售相對於下半年較弱的結果，如何 -處理那些積壓的工作，如果這仍然是您今天的看法？

Yes. So it's quite simple. Backlog normalized value is around $100 million, [$225] million. So I will simplify it by saying around 1 month to 1.5 months of equipment revenue. So currently, we are running above, I believe, and this is our assumption that in quarter 2, we will clear the backlog. The backlog is solid. That's another point I want to share here. We are not seeing backlog cancellations. On the second point, the aging of the backlog, more than 50% of the backlog is less than 90 days old, which means that, during quarter 2, this backlog should reduce and will be at a normalized level here.

是的。所以這很簡單。積壓標準化價值約為 1 億美元，[225] 億美元。因此，我將通過說大約 1 個月到 1.5 個月的設備收入來簡化它。所以目前，我相信我們正在運行，這是我們的假設，即在第二季度，我們將清除積壓。積壓是堅實的。這是我想在這里分享的另一點。我們沒有看到積壓取消。關於第二點，積壓的時效，超過 50% 的積壓不到 90 天，這意味著在第二季度，積壓應該會減少，並且會在這里處於正常水平。

And then maybe just the last part in terms of does that -- should that still imply a weaker second half of equipment sales relative to the first half? I think that's what you guys said 90 days ago. I just want to see if that's still how you're thinking about the world today.

然後也許只是最後一部分 - 這是否仍然意味著下半年設備銷售相對於上半年較弱？我想這就是你們 90 天前所說的。我只是想看看你是否仍然是這樣看待當今世界的。

No, the way we see it because this backlog is refilled every quarter, and this refresh away we'll see it is back to the prior comment, we still see a strong demand of our equipment. We have orders from customers, not only for next quarter, but also that will be deployed during the rest of the year. So I'm not looking at the backlog being like a way to hide slower demand or more of a recession. I mean you know our total revenue guidance that we published here. We are still sticking with this guidance, which is flat to low mid-single-digit decline. We had obviously a strong quarter to compare versus last year is certainly easier. But so far, we are still sticking with the guidance here.

不，我們看到它的方式是因為這個積壓每個季度都會重新填滿，而這次刷新我們會看到它又回到了之前的評論，我們仍然看到對我們設備的強勁需求。我們有來自客戶的訂單，不僅是下個季度的，而且將在今年剩餘時間部署。因此，我並沒有將積壓視為隱藏需求放緩或更多衰退的一種方式。我的意思是你知道我們在這裡發布的總收入指南。我們仍然堅持這一指導方針，該指導方針持平至低中個位數跌幅。與去年相比，我們顯然有一個強勁的季度，當然更容易。但到目前為止，我們仍然堅持這裡的指導。

Perfect. No, that's very helpful. And then, Steve, maybe last question for you was, I think the licensing agreement with the existing Fuji Xerox entity has now expired as of the end of last quarter. How should we think about your opportunity to go after the Asia Pacific market? I know you didn't mention that. Is that a focus? Is that not really a focus? Maybe help us understand yes or no? And then second to that, why it would or would not be a focus for potential growth going forward? And that's it for me.

完美的。不，這非常有幫助。然後，史蒂夫，也許最後一個問題是，我認為與現有富士施樂實體的許可協議已於上個季度末到期。我們應該如何看待你們進軍亞太市場的機會？我知道你沒有提到這一點。那是一個重點嗎？這真的不是重點嗎？也許可以幫助我們理解是或否？其次，為什麼它會或不會成為未來潛在增長的重點？對我來說就是這樣。

Yes, I think there's a couple of things. One, focusing on profitable growth and an expansion in our existing accounts, in our existing regions, we see more than enough opportunity to expand the TAM within IT services, digital services and software and services in and around the products that we already have. If you think about the amount of capital, of what it takes to go put into a new region, building a supply chain, building services, building inventory equipment and that ecosystem, it's a pretty long put in terms of setting that up and the costs associated with that. So right now, we see the regions that we're in as an opportunity to expand profitable growth and expand inside the existing accounts. So at least, short term, we have no desires to go and spend a whole lot of money to start up and spin up in a new region.

是的，我認為有幾件事。第一，專注於盈利增長和現有客戶的擴張，在我們現有的地區，我們看到有足夠的機會在 IT 服務、數字服務和軟件以及我們已有產品及其周圍的服務中擴展 TAM。如果你想一想投入新地區、建立供應鏈、建立服務、建立庫存設備和生態系統所需的資金量，就建立和成本而言，這是一個相當長的過程與之相關。所以現在，我們將我們所在的地區視為擴大盈利增長和擴大現有賬戶的機會。因此，至少在短期內，我們不希望花費大量資金在新地區啟動和發展。

One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Samik Chatterjee from JPMorgan.

稍等一下我們的下一個問題。我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Samik Chatterjee。

I have a couple. The first one was really on operating margin, the guide that you are issuing or raising today and congrats on the strong execution here to set that up. But I'm also trying to think about the reasons that the operating margin has to moderate into the second half, particularly if you go back and look historically, your first quarter margins are typically the lowest and your OpEx is typically the highest in 1Q. Even if I keep some of the macro headwinds and some of the one-offs you called out, like it seems like OpEx and there's probably more room on the OpEx to go in the second half to drive the margins to remain at these levels or even higher.

我有一對。第一個實際上是關於營業利潤率，您今天發布或提出的指南，並祝賀這裡強大的執行力來建立它。但我也在努力思考營業利潤率必須在下半年放緩的原因，特別是如果你回顧歷史，你的第一季度利潤率通常是最低的，而你的運營支出通常是第一季度最高的。即使我保留了一些宏觀逆風和你提到的一些一次性因素，就像 OpEx 一樣，下半年 OpEx 可能還有更多空間來推動利潤率保持在這些水平甚至更高。

So I'm just maybe more for Xavier, just to sort of outline why should we expect margins to moderate materially in the second half because, typically, that hasn't happened in the prior years? And I have a follow-up.

所以我可能更支持澤維爾，只是為了概述為什麼我們應該期望利潤率在下半年大幅下降，因為通常情況下，這在前幾年沒有發生過？我有一個後續行動。

Samik, good question. So this is very simple there. The margin for quarter 1 was a strong margin. For the reason we explained, it was helped by a mix -- product mix, a little bit like what we had in Q4 that was more favorable. We expect this mix to normalize. If you look at the chart, the high-end equipment was higher. The A3 equipment was higher. A4 was a little bit lower. So this helped the equipment margin.

薩米克，好問題。所以這很簡單。第一季度的利潤率很高。出於我們解釋的原因，它得到了產品組合的幫助，有點像我們在第四季度所擁有的更有利的產品組合。我們預計這種組合會正常化。如果你看圖表，高端設備更高。 A3裝備更高。 A4 有點低。因此，這有助於提高設備利潤率。

The other item is, in Q1, we have had some one-off benefits, specifically a bad debt benefit here that we are not seeing this as a recurring item there. So when you normalize here, we are in the range for this quarter or something which is around 5.5% here. That's the reason why when we guided for the rest of the year, we are not expecting a deterioration of the margin. If you look at the implied gross margin for the rest of the year, it is around 4.7% to 5.1% or a little bit higher here. So we are not expecting like a margin deterioration, but we have to take into account some of the items that I mentioned for Q1. And also, we want to consider potentially what we call macro headwinds. There are some uncertainty around still some cost items and how some normalization of the cost base will happen here.

另一個項目是，在第一季度，我們獲得了一些一次性收益，特別是這裡的壞賬收益，我們沒有將其視為那裡的經常性項目。因此，當您在這裡進行標準化時，我們處於本季度的範圍內或此處約為 5.5%。這就是為什麼當我們為今年剩餘時間提供指導時，我們預計利潤率不會惡化的原因。如果你看一下今年剩餘時間的隱含毛利率，它大約在 4.7% 到 5.1% 之間，或者稍微高一點。所以我們預計利潤率不會下降，但我們必須考慮我在第一季度提到的一些項目。而且，我們還想潛在地考慮我們所說的宏觀逆風。仍然有一些成本項目存在一些不確定性，以及成本基礎的正常化將如何在這裡發生。

Okay. And, Xavier, just to quickly follow up, the $471 million in OpEx that you have in 1Q, what is the best way to think about the run rate exiting the year, particularly with the PARC benefits coming in as well?

好的。而且，澤維爾，只是為了快速跟進，你在第一季度擁有 4.71 億美元的運營支出，考慮今年結束的運行率的最佳方式是什麼，特別是考慮到 PARC 的好處？

Yes. So on PARC, we -- I think we commented that or we put that in the press release there, and PARC was included in our guidance. So we were working on this transaction, and one in January, we have given the guidance there. So the PARC benefit, and the flexibilization of the RD&E cost base. By the way, we started this last year. If you remember, with more Mojave and also with Novity when we spun these businesses to be more flexible on the year. We've got some of this benefit in quartrer 1, and obviously, in quarter 2, quarter 3, quarter 4, will have further benefit from PARC, but you should consider this being already included in the guidance there.

是的。因此，在 PARC 上，我們——我認為我們對此發表了評論，或者我們將其放在新聞稿中，PARC 已包含在我們的指南中。所以我們正在處理這項交易，在一月份的一項交易中，我們在那裡給出了指導。所以 PARC 的好處，以及 RD&E 成本基礎的靈活性。順便說一句，我們從去年開始。如果你還記得，當我們將這些業務拆分為更靈活的一年時，有更多的 Mojave 和 Novity。我們在第 1 季度獲得了一些這樣的好處，顯然，在第 2 季度、第 3 季度、第 4 季度，我們將從 PARC 中獲得更多好處，但你應該認為這已經包含在那裡的指導中。

From an OpEx point of view, I believe I mentioned that in my script. We're expecting around, overall, it's not on the OpEx, but cost base there, around low to mid-single digit growth cost efficiency, which is the Own It engine and the traditional way of looking at how we address the cost base, and we make it flexible, I won't say regardless, but taking into account potentially some of the macro headwinds that some of the economists are indicating for the back end of the year.

從 OpEx 的角度來看，我相信我在我的腳本中提到了這一點。我們預計，總的來說，它不是在運營支出上，而是那裡的成本基礎，圍繞中低個位數增長成本效率，這是 Own It 引擎和看待我們如何解決成本基礎的傳統方式，我們讓它變得靈活，我不會說無論如何，但考慮到一些經濟學家在今年年底指出的一些宏觀逆風。

Okay. And if I -- last question, if I may -- and sorry for the multiple questions here. But just what we've heard from general distributors and VARs has a lot more pressure in the finance field services, customer verticals since the headwinds on the banking side. Any sort of way to ballpark what your exposure to that customer vertical is? And if there has been a more sort of pocket of softness there since what's happened over the last couple of months? And that's it for me.

好的。如果我——最後一個問題，如果我可以的話——對這裡的多個問題表示抱歉。但正如我們從一般分銷商和 VAR 那裡聽到的那樣，由於銀行方面的逆風，金融領域服務、客戶垂直領域面臨更大的壓力。有什麼方法可以大致了解您對該垂直客戶的接觸程度？自從過去幾個月發生的事情以來，那裡是否出現了更多的軟化？對我來說就是這樣。

Yes, this is a good question. And I will look at it in 2 ways, and FITTLE will be at the core of the answer. The first way is if I look at what we call the bad debt situation for Xerox, bad debt related to FITTLE there, it's quite steady. It's quite strong. We have not changed any way we do credit or risk rating for our customer. So our own performance from a financing point of view with our own customer remain resilient and strong. The other point on the -- and I think you have also this in mind there is the fact that some of the SMB business, and potentially some of these bank difficult case here, could drive more business for FITTLE. This is the way we look at it. There is an opportunity, but I want to be very clear on this one. We won't do that at the decrement of the quality of our leasing portfolio. And the team is very stringent on this.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。我將以兩種方式看待它，而 FITTLE 將是答案的核心。第一種方法是，如果我看一下施樂的壞賬情況，那裡與 FITTLE 相關的壞賬，它非常穩定。這是相當強大的。我們沒有改變我們為客戶進行信用或風險評級的任何方式。因此，從融資的角度來看，我們自己的表現與我們自己的客戶保持彈性和強勁。另一點——我認為你也想到了這一點，即一些 SMB 業務，以及這裡可能存在的一些銀行困難案例，可能會為 FITTLE 帶來更多業務。這就是我們看待它的方式。有機會，但我想非常清楚這一點。我們不會在租賃組合質量下降的情況下這樣做。團隊對此非常嚴格。

One more for our next question. And our next question comes from the line of Shannon Cross from Crédit Suisse.

我們的下一個問題還有一個。我們的下一個問題來自 Crédit Suisse 的 Shannon Cross。

Steve, can you talk a little bit about your decision regarding donating PARC? I mean, I've worked with multiple CEOs over the years, who all expected to monetize PARC, and generally, were unsuccessful. So I'm not sure this -- I think it's probably the right decision. I'm just curious, as you looked at it, can you maybe talk a bit about why you think that was the case? And then are there any other benefits -- just I understand on R&D savings, but in terms of tax benefits for that, maybe, Xavier, you could touch on it?

史蒂夫，你能談談你捐贈 PARC 的決定嗎？我的意思是，多年來我與多位 CEO 共事過，他們都希望通過 PARC 獲利，但通常都沒有成功。所以我不確定——我認為這可能是正確的決定。我只是很好奇，當你看到它時，你能談談你為什麼認為是這種情況嗎？然後還有其他好處嗎——據我所知，可以節省研發費用，但就稅收優惠而言，Xavier，你可以談談嗎？

Yes. Let me go back to, when I took the CEO role, Shannon, I talked very specifically about a shift in 2 areas. One was the focus on R&D that was a little bit nearer to our revenue horizon. And very specifically, we took actions around Novity d Mojave as Xavier talked about a little bit earlier, and that was we weren't going to continue to use our cash as those particular products and those particular businesses were growing. And so as we looked at PARC, we saw significant shifts in the industry in terms of valuation of startups and products, et cetera. And we decided that if we were looking at too long a horizon and too big a spend and continue to invest in those things, however, it was very important for us to be able to see inside to that innovation and have the ability to take advantage of that innovation going forward with our overall strategy around R&D.

是的。讓我回到香農，當我擔任首席執行官一職時，我非常具體地談到了兩個領域的轉變。一個是對研發的關注，這有點接近我們的收入範圍。非常具體地，我們圍繞 Novity d Mojave 採取了行動，正如 Xavier 早些時候談到的那樣，那就是我們不會繼續使用我們的現金，因為那些特定的產品和那些特定的業務正在增長。因此，當我們審視 PARC 時，我們看到該行業在初創企業和產品估值等方面發生了重大變化。我們決定，如果我們的眼光太長、支出太大並繼續投資於這些東西，那麼能夠看到創新的內在並有能力利用這一點對我們來說非常重要這種創新與我們圍繞研發的總體戰略一起向前發展。

So the PARC SRI donation fit perfectly into what we were trying to do, meaning that we could still have insight to innovation, still have insights to technology -- by the way, have the greatest researchers in the world focus on some of the toughest world's challenges and very specifically some of the challenges we see in cleantech, et cetera, et cetera. And we have the ability to be able to take our long-range plan, meaning our R&D and our business strategy, work with PARC SRI in the future to help us to develop our strategy and get insights to those technologies. So I see it as an expansion of our PARC capabilities in terms of seeing insights to technology and getting access to longer-term development while we can focus our capital resources on more near-term revenues. So that's why we made the decision, Shannon.

所以 PARC SRI 捐贈完全符合我們正在嘗試做的事情，這意味著我們仍然可以對創新有洞察力，仍然對技術有洞察力——順便說一下，讓世界上最偉大的研究人員專注於一些最艱難的世界挑戰，特別是我們在清潔技術等領域看到的一些挑戰。我們有能力製定我們的長期計劃，即我們的研發和業務戰略，在未來與 PARC SRI 合作，幫助我們制定戰略並深入了解這些技術。因此，我認為這是我們 PARC 能力的擴展，可以看到對技術的洞察力和獲得長期發展的機會，同時我們可以將我們的資本資源集中在更近期的收入上。所以這就是我們做出決定的原因，香農。

Okay. And then, I guess, Xavier, anything from a tax credit benefit maturity, I don't know if there's a benefit there down the road?

好的。然後，我想，Xavier，任何來自稅收抵免福利到期的事情，我不知道未來是否有好處？

Yes. So the reason tax credit, we do not disclose a number precisely there. More to come when the overall credit will be enacted there. We will disclose when the amount will be published here. But so far, we are not disclosing any specific figure regarding the tax credit.

是的。所以稅收抵免的原因，我們不會在那裡透露具體數字。當整體信貸將在那裡制定時，還會有更多。我們將在此處披露金額的發佈時間。但到目前為止，我們沒有透露任何有關稅收抵免的具體數字。

Okay. And then my final question is just you made a number of comments about flexible cost structure. I'm wondering how we should think about fixed versus variable. I mean, traditionally, copiers had a pretty high fixed cost structure because you had to go out and maintain them. You had to drop -- you can drop ship and you had to bring them to a loading dock, all of that. So how do you see your cost basis maybe over the next couple of years shifting? What's fixed versus variable now? And what do you think you can get to over the next few years?

好的。然後我的最後一個問題是你就靈活的成本結構發表了一些評論。我想知道我們應該如何考慮固定與可變。我的意思是，傳統上，複印機的固定成本結構相當高，因為你必須出去維護它們。你必須放下——你可以放下船，你必須把它們帶到裝貨碼頭，所有這些。那麼您如何看待您的成本基礎可能在未來幾年發生變化？現在什麼是固定的和可變的？你認為在接下來的幾年裡你能得到什麼？

And so, Shannon, let me start and then turn it over to Xavier. So we've been focusing on driving operational efficiencies and driving sustainable change in terms of a management operating system within the company. And so that was the foundation of Project Own It. On top of that, it was the constant utilization and embedding technology inside of our overall processes. So a simple example is what we talked about with CareAR. We now launch products with CareAR automatically as part of when a customer receives a box, they see CareAR in terms of how to unbox and actually install.

所以，Shannon，讓我開始，然後交給 Xavier。因此，我們一直專注於提高運營效率，並在公司內部的管理操作系統方面推動可持續變革。這就是 Project Own It 的基礎。最重要的是，在我們的整體流程中不斷利用和嵌入技術。所以一個簡單的例子就是我們談到的 CareAR。我們現在使用 CareAR 自動啟動產品，當客戶收到盒子時，他們會看到 CareAR 如何拆箱和實際安裝。

That CareAR session helps us to reduce service calls. We can do more things remotely. We talked about artificial intelligence and helping and using artificial intelligence to help our service delivery team and help them resolve problems quicker, and, in fact, sometimes not even have to go to a customer site.

該 CareAR 會話幫助我們減少了服務電話。我們可以遠程做更多的事情。我們談到了人工智能以及幫助和使用人工智能來幫助我們的服務交付團隊並幫助他們更快地解決問題，事實上，有時甚至不必去客戶現場。

So we have been embedding technology inside of our processes, inside of [Xavier's] area using technology, artificial intelligence, business intelligence and how we run our management operating system. So we have been very systematically, over the last couple of years, with Project Own It, not only putting a managed operating system in place, putting discipline in place for our people, but more importantly, using technology that drives sustainable and continuous improvement. And we're on that journey, and we'll continue that journey. That's why we lost Project Own It the name because it's now embedded in the culture of the company, and we'll continue to do that. Xavier?

因此，我們一直在使用技術、人工智能、商業智能以及我們運行管理操作系統的方式將技術嵌入到我們的流程中，在 [Xavier] 的領域內。因此，在過去的幾年裡，我們一直非常系統地使用 Project Own It，不僅建立了一個託管操作系統，為我們的員工製定了紀律，而且更重要的是，使用推動可持續和持續改進的技術。我們正在這段旅程中，我們將繼續這段旅程。這就是我們取消 Project Own It 這個名稱的原因，因為它現在已融入公司文化，我們將繼續這樣做。澤維爾？

Yes, Shannon, just to build from a pure financial or P&L (inaudible) there. So we focus obviously on gross margin expansion. Pricing is a driver and we are also, as Steve mentioned, attacking any cost of goods sold opportunities that we have. We have some headwinds with raw material increase and some material increase there. But if you notice it, our gross margin is still expanding. This is not related specifically to one-off type of item. It is structurally done with what Steve mentioned. The other ratio that we are monitoring constantly is a ratio of OpEx, so RD&E plus SAG versus total revenue. And if you notice this year over year, this is a ratio that we are pushing to improve. If you exclude also the benefit and, in some cases, the impact of bad debt, just looking at selling on G&A plus RD&E, all these metrics, this is a focus of the management team to drive them down and to make the cost base flexible.

是的，香農，只是從那裡的純財務或損益表（聽不清）開始構建。因此，我們顯然專注於毛利率擴張。定價是一個驅動因素，正如史蒂夫提到的那樣，我們也在攻擊我們擁有的任何商品銷售成本機會。我們有一些原材料增加的逆風，那裡有一些材料增加。但如果你注意到的話，我們的毛利率仍在擴大。這與一次性類型的項目無關。它在結構上是根據史蒂夫提到的內容完成的。我們持續監控的另一個比率是 OpEx 比率，即 RD&E 加上 SAG 與總收入的比率。如果您注意到今年年復一年，這是我們正在推動改善的比率。如果你還排除好處，在某些情況下，壞賬的影響，只看 G&A 加上 RD&E 的銷售，所有這些指標，這是管理團隊降低它們並使成本基礎靈活的重點.

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

今天節目的問答環節到此結束。我現在想將程序交給 Steven Bandrowczak，請他作進一步評論。

Yes. Thank you for listening to our earnings conference call this morning. Demand for our products and services remains resilient amid a challenging macroeconomic background, and we are making progress in our efforts to improve profitability. Our performance is a credit to our hard-working team who have embraced our strategy, strategic priorities by developing customer success while focusing on profitability. I thank you for attending today's call.

是的。感謝您今天早上收聽我們的收益電話會議。在充滿挑戰的宏觀經濟背景下，對我們產品和服務的需求保持彈性，我們正在努力提高盈利能力。我們的業績歸功於我們辛勤工作的團隊，他們通過在關注盈利能力的同時發展客戶成功來接受我們的戰略和戰略重點。感謝您參加今天的電話會議。

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。