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spk_0: breeding and welcome to express our group fourth quarter twenty twenty one earnings conference call at the time all participants are a listen only mode a question and answer session will fall the formal presentation if anyone should require operator system during the conference please press shore euro on your telephone keypad agile minor this conference is being recorded i would night trend is covered over to james berry chief financial officer think you sure you may begin
spk_1: would have no thank you for joining us today and for your interest in expressed by group before i knew ceos got milford operatives prepared remarks and i review with quarter and four year twenty twenty one financial result i first need to advise you have the following comments made on today's call may contain forward looking statements within the meaning of the private security litigation reform act of nineteen ninety by the forward looking statements are based on current assumptions and opinions that involve a variety of known and unknown risks and uncertainties actual without may differ materially from those contained in was suggested that if it forward looking statements important factors that my carthage differences include those that forth from time to time and our se ve piling including our report on for ten k for the year ended december thirty first twenty twenty one which will be filed by the end of the month as well as their earnings release issued this afternoon along with other current and periodic reports that we file with the fifi please note that the financials mentioned on this call our preliminary final financial results and other disclosures will be reported in our annual report on form ten k for the year ended december thirty first twenty twenty one and may differ from the with open disclosures in the document due to among other things the completion of final review procedures the occurrence the subsequent events where the discovery of additional information i would now like to turn the call over to got
spk_2: thank you james and hello everyone we appreciate you taking the time to join us this afternoon since taking over a video in january i have been working with my leadership team to develop a set of strategic imperative that we believe will accelerate our evolution as a leading out and wireless provider for people on the go i'm incorporating my prior experience with express far as well as my experience leading teams to help us realize the many opportunities we believe are cheap a bullet that company as we pursue generating five hundred million dollars in revenue by twenty twenty five and i'll share that strategic imperative that i believe will get us there in just a moment but first i share the collective disappointment in our stock price and one are shareholders to know that we are doing everything we can to strengthen the foundation of our business to improve our stock value and return to our investors
spk_1: be sure that the interest of the board and management you are firmly aligned with your desire and that the efforts we engage in to accomplish are designed to have both short and long term positive impacts in the near term we will continue to be active in repurchasing shares under our prior optimization
spk_2: we are doing this because we believe there is a disconnect between the stocks current price and our view of it's value adding further to this during most of the first quarter of this year we were subject to blackout out periods that restrained our ability to do so even as the share price has declined however because we were able to accelerate the delivery of our fourth quarter reporting i two weeks compared to when we would have reported it in previous years we have a wider window to repurchase shares before the onset of our next blackout period and we intend to do so briefly on the quarter
spk_1: we generated our highest quarterly top line agree with consolidated revenue surpassing twenty nine million dollars and achieved our second ever full quarter of profitability as measured by both net income and adjusted ebitda net income came in at three point three million dollars and adjusted ebitda reached four and a half million dollars either all incredible achievements
spk_2: or liquidity position also remains strong
spk_1: or cash balance has grown to a hundred and five and a half million dollars and we had positive working capital of eighty nine point two million dollars with no long term debt and with a healthy balance sheet of the foundation i would like to share how we intend to leverage our past accomplishments to grow our future as we all know the pandemic has proven to be the great equalizer and we believe that now more than ever and humorous are focused on their wellbeing safety and health and even as restrictions began to lift we are confident that the safety and wellness infrastructure we've built with our airport footprint of the start will serve our long term growth to ensure were able to deliver on that expectation our first strategic objective have to be to create and leverage a fully integrated set of products and services that are both profitable and skill level of across our portfolio brands being able to identify and execute a unified set of services supported by a relevant retail offering and the technology platform to optimize efficiency and delivery across all three of our brains is critical to driving more customer traffic and more revenue
spk_2: this will include efforts to integrate postcode the diagnostic health services and incorporating them into our expressed check and even certain expressed by locations
spk_1: we will also incorporate wellness services such as hydration and vitamin i therapies or higher margin services into our expressed check and expressed by locations
spk_2: additionally we have already begun to expand our retail strategy
spk_1: not only adding more products for sale but aligning those products more efficiently to our service offerings
spk_3: for example
spk_1: adding fortified water and hydration packets to the delivery of an onsite hydration id or adding muscle relaxation pat patches to a neck or back massage continue treatment even after delivery of the surface
spk_2: we have also begun to work on a set of health and wellness kids the customers will be able to purchase our locations and online
spk_1: that are specifically designed to address issues affecting travelers including scientists and respiratory issues travel anxiety sleep and well being all supported by an ecommerce platform that allows for purchase long after the customer leaves or location if integration of products and services strategy also allows us to further advance or work to unify under a single branding we have already begun the zapper and will report on our progress at a later date our second strategic imperative will be to build our capability for delivering health and mana services outside the airport we believe operating outside of the airport compliments are offering and allows us to scale growth faster without many of the requirements imposed by airports and concessionaires to locate in an airport we also believe we can accomplish this as a natural expansion of our treat brand we think there are opportunities and other travel ban use like the cruise business as well and with the businesses who are starting to return to the office as an opportunity to sell treat health and wellness services as well we have already begun work towards the strategic priority and we'll be announcing our first off airport partnership said
spk_2: aligned with our growth strategy outside at the airport we are also looking to further expand internationally
spk_1: and while international travel has not pick back up to pre pandemic levels
spk_2: we want to be opportunistic and our approach
spk_1: taking advantage of the current market to grow in preparation for a full return a problem
spk_2: we already have strong relationships with our partners operating express bout in dubai amsterdam and soon enough sample and expect to leverage those relationships further we also intend to leverage are strong cash position to growth you acquisition
spk_1: and as those opportunities arise
spk_2: we will report our progress in subsequent cause
spk_1: we believe a strategy for international expansion further advances are by of surveillance efforts as well especially as it relates to the work we are currently doing that the cdc
spk_2: despite the progress being made to manage the pandemic there's still an ongoing threat
spk_1: whether it's another variant for a new virus altogether and having boots on the ground internationally will help to further efforts to protect our country when the next read emerges
spk_2: and finally a strong growth platform like we are building have to be supported by an infrastructure that enables scale about and efficient growth
spk_1: our fourth strategic imperative is focused on building and organization can not only facilitate growth but it as a size and scale that optimizes cost and allowed to dedicate more of are available cash to drive shareholder value and long term viability our efforts to date include investments we are in the process of making to build an efficient supply chain that serves our brands collectively hiring key leaders with experience and brand and sales building and further investments in technology to streamline and infrastructure that was largely manual and cost effective my team and i are committed to delivering on a strategic imperatives and i expect your report on our progress as milestones or reached and during our regular earnings calls i'm very fortunate to work with such a dedicated group of leaders in the pursuit of growth and i want to thank the hard work and dedication of our support and feel teams who each and every day deliver on our vision to transform care or people on the go and now let me share our business update
spk_2: beginning with express check passing volumes were strong during the fourth quarter as james will address resulting in second quarter revenue and record profitability
spk_1: it was driven by increases and leisure travel during the rebounding holiday season and continued improvement in business travel although at a slower pace the rise of the omagh cranberry and certainly drove more testing
spk_2: and because of the relationship sleep bastard with healthcare providers we didn't suffer as much as many of the other testing centers when lines increased at the end of the year in the first quarter of this year
spk_1: with your seasonally a weaker quarter for airport traffic than the fourth quarter following the holidays we have been a slight reduction in testing by
spk_2: this is not surprising to us
spk_1: and perhaps compounded by hesitancy to embark on european travel in particular given what's going on with russia and the ukraine
spk_2: but even as vaccinations are now more widely available and the omagh cranberry has waned in the u s
spk_1: we have not seen the same reduction in overseas track and overseas and are seeing only a modest relaxation and testing requirements this demonstrates the continued need an importance reliable and convenience file surveillance testing within an airport shuttle bill we recognize the importance of the bobbing express check into something that goes beyond coded testing which is why we are integrating or health and wellness services across our brands including express check having already established the footprint with toby testing we now have a platform to augment or services for the traveling public
spk_2: supplementing covered testing with other higher margin medical and wellness services such as vitamin id
spk_1: boosters off from the treat model importantly a services are sustainable by their very nature and will have a longer shelf life and covert testing express chat which is now led by as were urged to also heads or recent hyper point acquisition currently consists of fifteen locations across twelve airports it is the largest koba testing company and us airports most recently we opened in hartsfield jackson atlanta airport in october where we converted a legacy expressed by location located in concourse eat and in denver international airport
spk_2: in the great hall priests security early this year in february
spk_1: we have one expressed shock that will open shortly in orlando priests security in the south walk area of the main terminal under previous leadership we had shared the potential to open to the for additional express check locations this year
spk_2: however given our shift in thinking or intention now is not to proceed with additional openings at this time what will look at how we leverage existing locations across all our brain
spk_1: to integrate and support our bio surveillance efforts notably the overwhelming majority of patients are choosing the rapid pc or test which is that a substantially higher price point of two hundred to two hundred and seventy five dollars versus the seventy five dollar standard pcr test it is dramatically elevated the margin profile of the business and supported us generating nine point seven million dollars in operating cash flow for the year we also administered eleven hundred and sixteen rapid pcr test per day during the fourth quarter
spk_4: up from seven hundred eighty nine rapid pcr test per day during the third quarter and four hundred and two test per day
spk_1: during the second quarter as a percentage of all test rapid pcr test accounted for ninety eight percent of those during the fourth quarter and sixty seven percent during the third quarter also driving express check success is our ability to form working relationships with major airlines and government agencies our initial contract for bio surveillance with the cdc at our four major airports was for two million dollars but has since been extended an expanded for an additional three point six million totaling five point six million dollars if expansion included additional pool testing beyond the initial india pilot adding the uk france germany and south africa among other at risk countries our bio surveillance platform now has the ability to pivot rapidly to monitor additional countries as the threat of a new variant or virus changes most of the initial two million dollars in revenue was recognized in the fourth quarter last year but the remainder of the contracts revenue will be recognized during the first half of this year
spk_2: we believe the program demonstrates the confidence that they have placed than us and are hopeful that it will lead to further expansion
spk_1: we will be releasing data in the coming weeks which will demonstrate the efficacy and value of the robust bio surveillance platform we have built with our network or partners
spk_2: importantly the program can similarly be implemented for any incoming port beyond airports upon feces direction
spk_1: if this program eventually expands for it
spk_2: we could see this as a potentially significant business line extension for express check
spk_1: with the foundation of this government contract already in place now turning to our airport spa business we currently have sixteen spas operating domestically and have four to five additional location slated to open
spk_2: performance continues to improve as we are still running modified operating hours but he took a price increase in october which is helping us as well
spk_1: our domestic expressed by locations up for approximately eight hours per day during the busy get out compared to up to sixteen hours per day pre pandemic and sales volumes are about fifty percent of prepared demichelis but felt for our are tracking at about ninety percent of prevent damage levels we are seeing renewed interest in wellness services among travelers along with a willingness to spend additional dollars on products and services that will improve their wellbeing while they travel
spk_5: and as we roll out new services that are more on trend with today travel consumer we expect to see improvement in service sales and related retail revenue
spk_1: further we expect to drive revenue through the delivery of integrated services were were able to which will dramatically improved the size of our service footprint to bring it's integrated strategy further to life in a spot we are currently looking at our ability to deliver minor health services such as cold and flu diagnostics or hydration therapy in a spine barb
spk_2: and we will look at other services we can add to the business to further drive a unified offering across all brands
spk_1: internationally there are six expressed by locations operate these consist of three in dubai and three operating out of ship or amsterdam airport we are preparing for further expansion to other major global hubs including our newest location in istanbul turkey where we have time to build up to five locations at that airport and expect you up in the first stores this summer and now let's discuss treat our newest brand is designed for people on the go looking for a one stop travel health and wellness solution it was sweet of integrated services health all the services for travelers include diagnostic testing for virus cold flu and other illnesses as well as id drip and height gration infusion therapy
spk_2: travel it can also purchase interactive wellness services like thought guy did yoga meditation and low impact weight exercises
spk_1: all in a relaxing and bind where they can unplug from the hectic pace at the airport and renew themselves before or after their trip you are analysis we believe airport passengers typically have a dwell time of around seventy minutes once a clear security and boy their flights and with much more focused today on health and improving individual well being we see a clear opportunity to address is needed to treat and the delivery of a more integrated product strategy in our other brands
spk_2: we are currently open at jfk and will be opening soon in phoenix sky harbor and salt lake city while we originally anticipated a more limited demographic centered on an affluent organizer and manager of family travel
spk_1: we believe there is an opportunity to attract a wider variety of discerning consumers to the treat brand with a more varied array of products and services phoenix unlike jfk will be our first priests security location
spk_2: when we expect to learn a great deal as it relates to differences in customer buying patterns pre vs post carry
spk_1: our third tree in salt lake city will be our first location value engineered from our original jfk and phoenix design it is a post security location in a former expressed by
spk_2: it is also the first treat to provide a more open floor plan and new hybrid rooms that can offer both health and wellness services in the same room
spk_1: providing a greater opportunity to meet travel to me and it will also offer more retail product
spk_2: we think the open floor plan with a cost efficient design at about half that of jfk
spk_1: will be our defaulted i'm going forward
spk_4: creating a more inviting experience to years back because they will be able to see more retail and more activity
spk_1: to catch ones i we intend to roll out additional three locations across other major us airports it's year and next
spk_2: our growth strategy will include both greenfield bills as well as leveraging existing spot and express check locations to convert to this brand don't have to offer is a website at www dot treat dot com
spk_1: and a mobile app to compliment the offering with relevant health and wellness content designed to help people on the go with information that could impact or travel the platform provides travelers access to a comprehensive online marketplace of services
spk_2: including global illness tracker tools such as the covert requirements map
spk_1: on demand track care by a license provider i help while it to store personal and family medical records and scheduler to arrange for direct care at one of our onsite locations we will see a modest revenue contribution from treat this year but view the brand as a mid term play with long term value creation this is because it extends our health and wellness leadership position and travel offering multiple revenue channels outside of just operating in the airports
spk_2: treat will be the brand we leverage in our out of airport strategy
spk_1: final
spk_2: we recall that in january the clock acquired hyperbole
spk_1: a leading digital healthcare and data analytics relationship marketing agency servicing thing the global health care and pharmaceutical industry type of point has significant experience in patient and healthcare professional market and deep technological experience with customer experience management and data analytics we have been working with hyper point for nearly two years and their teams and suite of services and technology were used to develop and deploy the technological infrastructure for expressed shock hyper point is now operating as a standalone entity led by feel as were urged it was also now serving a cdr expressed shock and reporting to me in that capacity he is spearheading efforts to integrate express checked covert testing business with hyper points customer experience management technology and data management know how this has the potential to further product and service offerings to additional airport
spk_4: other travel centers and other business customers within the health care and pharmaceutical verticals
spk_1: we look forward to sharing further details in upcoming quarters and so we now have a portfolio of health and wellness brands with a vision of expanding our services and products both inside and outside of the airports pursuing your creative acquisitions and other strategic accurate transactions were appropriate to further broaden our service and retail offerings the outstanding result we are generating today are only the beginning but they lay the foundation for the long term success of this developing audible only channel company and increase in value for it shake a stick stakeholders with that i'll turn it over to james thank you for that it i will now detail we can read it incredibly strong financial without going with what what are last year racking up the a path began to what with a great year for our business revenue rose to twenty nine point one million dollars compute point three million dollars in the fourth quarter at the prior year the increase was primarily due to the recognition of and consolidation of revenue from the fourteen express check location was the cdc contract totaling twenty six point nine million dollars we also generated revenue from services and products of two point one million related to help reopened express that location got to feel the increase to fifteen point eight million from two point four in the prior year with quarter the increases prior merrily due to the cost of field encouraging express check offset by a decrease in the variable cost associated with the decline in the express our revenues and be created in occupant because they the result of bring concessions wifi from the airports during help it general and administrative expenses were nine point eight million dollars compared to approximately five million dollars for the year ago comparable period they think grief was related primarily due the costs associated with express check the development of treat and stamping to the support the record revenues i somewhat off that by reduce variable class related to the quote express their location we are proud to report realize and operating profit in the quarter of two point three million dollars compared to an operating losses seventeen point one million in the prior year what what are primarily due to higher revenue and recognize a and recognized lot on revaluation of worth and conversions options in the prior year i twenty twenty we generated net income attributable to calm and share holders for the quarter a three point three million dollars compared to a net loss attributable to common shareholder it a fifteen point seven million dollars in the prior year with quarter finally with respect to our yeah financial or liquidity remain strong with cash and cash equivalents tolling hundred and five point five million dollars as of december thirty first twenty twenty one we generated operating cash flow of nine point seven million dollars i'm which we deployed seven point three million per share repurchase during the fourth quarter we repurchase boring a half million shares outside of the blackout period at the end of the year ten point three million shares remained available under the fifteen million share repurchase program announced last august thirty first night twenty twenty one in twenty twenty one total we we purchase four point seven million shares but had been severely restrict due to blacken the pyramids of course if we had been able to do so we would have repurchased from war and given the current year price which we view is vastly undervalued we intend to be more active repurchasing our stock with in the limits of our blackout period because the prevent such a good investment opportunity on a non gap is adjusted either with four point five million dollars compared to the adjusted either a lot of six point seven million in the prior year with what this represents an improvement of eleven point two million dollars and it's indicative of express checks profitability we define a jet that day days earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization extent and adjusted for stock based compensation and impairment in disposal of asset we do computer get that he better be important indicator for the performance of are operating didn't express check in particular we believe it useful for analysts and investors to understand that adjusted he would exclude certain transactions not related to our core cash operating activities which are primarily related to our express check wellness center we believe that excluding these transactions allow investors to meaningfully he analyzed the performance of our core cash operations we ought to burnish than the earnings relief and interesting metrics with respect to the growth and patients that we've tested over the past with water along with the percentages they're opting for rapid and rapid pcr test please review the that your convenience but we think the take away here is we are serving more patient and more of those patients a choosing the lucrative rapid pcr option
spk_6: finally we are reiterating our revenue guidance for twenty twenty two we project over one hundred million dollars in revenue while by twenty twenty five we continue to project five hundred million dollars investment
spk_7: thank you for your time that the afternoon we would now be happy to take your question will begin by taking questions from are covering the analysts and then turn the call over to investor relations to ask questions from our retail shareholders who were invited to submit questions ahead of today's call at the samuel be conducting a question and answer session like asking question please pass star one on your telephone keypad a confirmation someone vicky your line isn't the question que you might start future move your question from the queue workers
spk_8: using speaker equipment and may be necessary to pick up your hands said before pressing the snarky is one moment while we pull for question
spk_9: at first question comes on line of theory will loud with water power research may proceed with your question
spk_8: i think you're good afternoon scott good afternoon james
spk_1: have to literally be free if we can start with the on the cdc relationship you you've had basic here ad hoc contract with the cdc but do you think they're looking to to develop with to print to procure mold a permanent capability to have to deal with potential new viruses and so
spk_2: on i'm happy to answer that i think the cdc has been very happy with the work that we've done in in partnership with them
spk_1: i think the our ability to pivot quickly in the airports that we were initially conducting a pilot and then expand services where demonstrated by that
spk_2: you know we were the first we were the first service
spk_10: pulling service to identify the be a to virus and the be a three virus one it had our shores
spk_8: and i think because of that we were able to deliver a sample to the cdc and they were able to process that sample within seven days as a result to that i think the cdc again is is very pleased with the progress of the work that's being done
spk_11: and we we we look forward to continuing the partnership
spk_8: great
spk_2: the moving to the to the that could test i'm
spk_1: the asian countries have been very i have had many restrictions on travel and i would imagine at some point in time those my does my place ten and a lot enable more
spk_2: passenger volumes given me up dating terms of primarily in china maybe india did the two largest destination whether we're seeing any in fine job of making trouble you are and and changing the changing the requirements
spk_1: i have not heard of any changing requirements for travel out of asia i think they they're still requiring tests it out of india there was a report i read recently about them
spk_2: relaxing some of their requirements towards the end of this month
spk_8: but but i think if you're if you read the are if you read the news both in europe and are in asia or the on the crime variant is starting to grow again and so am i you know i'm i'm unsure what what additional relaxation will happen over time okay well maybe
spk_2: he added there's been some point in requirements i think you still get
spk_8: relax that might come i suppose more travel volume
spk_12: yes
spk_1: okay maybe just are just one more question so if a church has been focused on coded nineteen tests with with obviously a lot of success in in twenty twenty one you mentioned india in your remark that pay you are considering may be adding to the menu they're based on what you're seeing
spk_2: is is is in high demand with the with the tweak location and lady with the sky location can you give it a bit more color their how quickly could you add to the year to the menu of services that express check
spk_1: yeah the
spk_2: thank you for asking that you know we we are because of our express check locations having medical personnel are on the premises and a provider on the premises wearing a unique we have unique opportunity to be able to deploy some of those treat services are at a much at a much faster pace
spk_0: think like vitamin i be hydration therapy
spk_13: vitamin c n b twelve injections to start and then over time introducing additional health services cold flu
spk_14: testing as well as other diagnostic services that we have rolled out in treat and can easily bringing to the expression combined
spk_13: try to let her help to call congratulation on the quarter and and the thank you for your for the discussion
spk_15: thank you very thank you very much
spk_16: our next question council i know scott bug with eight she wainwright you may proceed with your question
spk_1: i get up to new guy that graduated another progress
spk_2: and keep the give the my first question i've got given some of the i get tweak in in the strategy you feel like the business on the corporate side ah you have everything you need or or or is there are young requirement of additional investment whether it's you know headcount door ill some other type of caught infrastructure to help you
spk_1: we'll go to bed at like you'd like it yeah so so as we start to lay out the strategic comparative i think there's a couple of things that were going to be looking to make investments in i'm we we had already begun the process for looking for a new mark up and looking for a marketing leader we think that has been a a part of the business that has not had a lot of attention paid to it in the past and and even though we have a a
spk_2: a group of eyes that walk around the airport a hot that are that are somewhat are somewhat contained we still think that there is an opportunity to help customers identify need and then
spk_1: let them see that we are a good provider that need for them so that's one of the one of the areas that were making some investments and i think the other ah his investments in our our supply chain capability and building a more robust our fulfillment capability if we intend and we fully intend to improve and increase our our reach l offering we need that infrastructure built so that we can ah optimize delivery and at which was helped save us are on margin ah but but it will also increase our the quality of the products and and the timing of when the products are delivered to to consumers to those are two the areas that were
spk_13: specifically looking to make investments in and will continue to make investments in in building up and showing up our our digital infrastructure
spk_2: at in and instead of it supporting ah three distinct brands
spk_1: treat express check and and expressed bar will look to integrate that more holistically so that we can we can leverage things like our patient scheduler cetera buy it in a much more efficient way
spk_17: i that that that's great it's right helpful color am i know it's early on on treat and the your you mention we should think that are they young providing them incremental revenue the here by not the a near term play what what what has been real kind of the initial feedback on that first door at i j k and
spk_1: and then what's been the initial feedback on the online am your online store go on the the feedback on the on the physical location has been has been positive we've seen we've seen customers
spk_2: very engaged as they come in
spk_18: we're we're actually in this is what informed some of our discussion around the type of customer that were that we're appealing to
spk_2: if we had we had initially in our outset focus our attention on
spk_1: a generally a female skew demographic that was largely affluent and and ah the the organizer and manager of travel
spk_2: but but anecdotally we're seeing
spk_1: we're seeing more men come into our location
spk_19: we're seeing the use of our rooms for for just break instead of using them for wellness services they're they're using the time box that they're paying for just to go in and chill out in in the room and then ah leverage other services like are shower
spk_2: for example and and mind you we only opened our location in december so so we're still we're still looking at very early returns on the feedback we're seeing ah interest in our vitamin ivy is are be twelve and see injections as well those kinds of services are starting to bear fruit for us our as well as you know the ubiquitous called the testing with which is available i think that coupled with some interest in
spk_1: in in our retail and again there's opportunity for us to do to do more work to to get the word out around our retail offering and expanding our retail offering
spk_2: both on the treat side and on and on the express check in and express bar side
spk_1: and so the the we we have a a fantastic offering on on online but i think there's opportunity for us to continue to look at that and refine it further it so that we can add more ah more users down the road
spk_2: and i think during that on that as we look at our product as we look at the treat product and make treats more available to to the consumers and other airports
spk_1: at that very helpful and then on on in a ham you're clearly you get quite the bridge to go from yeah gotta five hundred million in revenue by twenty twenty five when you think about emanate yeah what specifically are you looking for a that something you'll is it or a retail outlet that already had a footprint or is it that up in the tech car or you were any kind of color you can provide a there would be i would be great
spk_13: yeah i i think what what we're going to be looking ah we're going to be looking for acquisitions that are are obviously a creative to revenue are and that compliment our core business that that may be ah
spk_2: as you said a piece of technology that greatly enhances the offering were able to give to our consumers
spk_0: but but ideally
spk_20: what what we would likely be looking at his local regional players are in markets where we can compliment our existing health and wellness offering for the consumers both inside and outside the airport
spk_21: our that damn that's very helpful i appreciate all the time guide and i can grab the gun on the quarter
spk_2: thank you scott
spk_1: thanks that i'd like to turn it back over to investor relations thank you how many just read some of the questions that are common to the email address first question about lying why not changed the name of the company and pecker to something more relevant to where you are added
spk_20: i can take that james
spk_2: it you know as i referenced earlier in our first strategic imperative
spk_1: what we want to do is integrate a course at a products and services across all three brands once we start to do that then it it paves the way for us to begin to transition from a family of brands to a single brand with a single name so it is absolutely our intention to do just that as it makes sense for us to do it and as consumers can relate more to the product offerings were giving them next question is glad to see you're going to be more active repurchasing shares wondering if your intention is to go off this authorization and then get approval for another authorization
spk_22: james deep would you like to answer that
spk_20: sure am it is with the it faded the are both i hesitated we we put our firmly believe that our stock is undervalued the pray if that is undervalued to the the dale that we proceed with the in our company and we will continue to do by back of shares at it makes sense that the business with we do need effectively
spk_1: balance you know any investments that we need for the growth of the business including acquisition with the investment in the by back eaten wicked is is done
spk_23: for the improvement of of shareholder value so it will be an ongoing efforts and our commitment to do both effectively
spk_1: will be in place right
spk_20: question on your stress check we serve or any of them coming deal over the next few months and will you renew them even if they cannot be converted to treat locations i'm you know some of our express test leases or month to month and while others are longer term leases
spk_2: and and i think it's worth mentioning that while we were at the recent ex an airport concessionaires conference many of the airport partners expressed a desire to extend our bases and express test with the belief that were a valuable partner in the airports longer term pandemic and by
spk_1: i was response program will continue to evaluate the integration of our product and service offerings across the three locations emma wanna make optimize decisions about which releases make more sense and should be extend i'm sure we renew them and whether or not that that allows or other businesses the opportunity to grow how do you know that lower casting volume is seasonal or due to work relaxation of restrictions or maybe because there's more testing availability outside of the airport how do you view the cat fingers is now that case numbers are coming down and maybe you can comment on testing numbers so far to date and the fourth quarter they're good question you know normal airport traffic is lower during the first three months to the years travelers tend to recover from the holidays in what we have seen over the past two years of the carbon testing rates tend to rise and fall with seasonal changes and airport traffic
spk_2: as you mentioned you know some of the countries in western europe have begun relaxing testing requirements
spk_1: allowing for more time in advance to travel to secure a task and this will undoubtedly have an impact on on testing levels as we move throughout the balance at a year you know it's it's been proven to be challenging to effectively plan ahead of this pandemic we've already begun to above are testing business beyond managing just corbett testing to more of a whole that holistic bio surveillance brand providing a broader array of health services and products while leveraging the infrastructure to initiate a biodefense component giving us the opportunity to even work with the deity you know i think express test is uniquely suited in our airports as that front line defense against the next microscopic invasion that it's our shores
spk_2: question on treat when you think you're going to see meaningful revenue from tree and then also when do you think treat and express by will be profitable a standalone businesses
spk_1: you know expressed by already a profitable business i'm me expect that to continue to grow in the coming year based on the investments were making both a new products and service offerings
spk_20: and you know what we're we're really we're still learning about treat with only a single unit operating right now
spk_2: we're trying to implement change while we're learning about the business and are changing perspective on consumer tastes and preferences
spk_1: you know i think personally travelers now more than our focused on products that create or reinforce their sense of wellbeing especially when they travel
spk_2: and we think three can address that and will continue to focus on that as we evolve with the expectation that it not only drives revenue but also eventually becomes a neat a key enabler of our future growth
spk_1: can you explain how the hyper point acquisition help the overall business yeah
spk_20: so i think in two ways
spk_2: i think the first is is just the technical an organizational synergies created by the acquisition and we fully intend to exploit one of the key strength of the hyper point business which is the deep history and relationship with the healthcare industry why do that you realize you are expansion of our by or surveillance partnership with the c d c
spk_1: the development of strategies to further leverage
spk_2: expressed her health data for example with health partners like the pharmaceutical industry
spk_1: hyper point would be directly involved in building new revenue chance for us
spk_20: question on high inflation are you concerned about weaker demand for your services because of the high inflation work there and thing potentially rising airline prices price of gas and are you concerned that can result in less travel
spk_1: yeah
spk_2: like like most other businesses that provide products and services to customers we are we are acutely concerned with rising prices and and all the inflationary pressures that i think we're doing two things to help address that
spk_1: one of which is building are out of airport strategy which we think can help lump some of the impact of rising fuel costs and potential travel disruptions and then i think the second is developing a smarter supply chain process making sure that we're integrating products and services are lining our business under a single consistent operating strategy all of those things in concert will help us refining reduce our cost but also help us drive new revenue outside of the airport should the airport
spk_2: be adversely impacted by continued to rise in inflationary pressures
spk_1: how many more express bars you plan on reopening and what do you plan to do with remaining leases that you have what are you saying from these new touch with bus services and could they be implemented across all of the expressed by locations right now we are planning to open for five more spas that currently sit on a reopening plan that could expand as travel continues to rebound and our strategies begin to take effect there are some spas that we will not reopen
spk_2: and those will likely be no be the usual suspects fat sites that we don't believe will add to our immigration strategy or or sites that
spk_1: that that we'd know will not be successful with additional products and services ah and will identify opportunities outside the airport will allow it will allow us to apply more selective land to our reopening strategy inside the airport so as we focus on outside it will allow us to refine our inside the airport
spk_2: view of what we open and what we doubt in terms of the touch with services
spk_20: you know we're just now starting to execute the rollout of these services some of the initial feedback we got from our teams has been positive and we translate once we translate that the customer feedback and sales will look at expanding those services across more spas and potentially even other brands
spk_2: will you convert all your spas and to treat
spk_1: so the plan right now is to convert spawn locations to treat locations where it makes sense and and that our strategy is to have a uniform core product and service is offering that can be tailored to local demand so for example if nail kids are part of our core product offering in all or locations across the us we may offer nail services in charlotte location to compliment that retail offering but not offer it in our new york locations where those services or less relevant but our consumers still find the product to be relevant final question as you increase your retail presence outside of fight inside of airport what is the margin profile look like james would you like to into that
spk_2: i sure a is you know as we look to expand the retail products and that the most important thing is that we're going to be looking for the that had them a lot and as we do that of course when we're going to be considering the imagine associated with it while maintaining and in a for ability to the traveler so ah
spk_20: we will we're not looking for the mind and me reduced and intact we most likely whoop them look for those those products they can offer as her had a good margin on on the retail with the exception of the earth and sometimes they it's got mention where they're going to be a tie in
spk_24: when that type of thing that that we anticipate that the market will remain strong
spk_2: we have great in real estate much to offer the real estate it filthy off at the retail and the and answer were wearing to speeding maintain stronger increasing mountain
spk_1: pray that i know if i'll to add to that i if i could i'm sorry just it just to add to to james is points i think it's worth reinforcing it it it's it's something that historically we've never really taken advantage of the real estate that we have an and the the great real estate that we have an with fully intend on doing that with a stronger retail are offering and that retail offering will be up at margins that
spk_0: will help sustain and grow the business
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