Global Business Travel Group Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Provided by Quartr
May 9, 2023

There are 9 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to the American Express Global Business Travel First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. As a reminder, please note today's call is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to the Vice President of Investor Relations, Barry Siever, Soh, please go ahead, sir.

Speaker 1

Hello, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us for our Q1 earnings conference call. This morning, we issued an earnings press release, which is available on the SEC or our website at investors. Amexglobalbusinesstravel.com. The slide presentation, which accompanies today's prepared remarks, is also available on the Amex GVT Investor Relations webpage.

Speaker 1

We would like to advise you that our comments contain forward looking statements that represent our beliefs or expectations about future events, Including the duration and effect of COVID-nineteen, industry trends, cost savings and acquisition synergies among others, All forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made on today's conference call. More information on these and other risks and uncertainties is contained in our earnings release issued this morning and our other SEC filings. Throughout today's call, we will also be presenting certain non GAAP financial measures such as EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted operating expense, free cash flow and net debt. All references during today's call to such non GAAP financial measures have been adjusted to exclude certain items. Definitions of these terms and the most directly comparable GAAP measures and reconciliation for non GAAP measures are available in the supplemental materials of this presentation and in the earnings release.

Speaker 1

Participating with me on the call today are Paul Abbott, Our Chief Executive Officer Martine Giraud, our Chief Financial Officer and Karen Williams, our Deputy Chief Financial Officer. Also joining for the Q and A session today is Eric Bak, our Chief Legal Officer and Head of Global M and A. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Paul. Paul?

Speaker 2

Well, thank you, Barry, and welcome to everyone, and thank you for joining our Q1 earnings call. Before I begin, I'd like to extend a sincere thank you to Martine Giro, our Chief Financial Officer, for her Strong leadership and significant contribution to our business. As I mentioned on our previous quarter's call, this is actually Martine's Last earnings call with us as she steps down from the CFO role at the end of June to join Accor as Group CFO. Karen Williams, who has been working very closely with Martine over the last year since she joined Amex GBT As Deputy CFO last May, he is going to take over as CFO effective July 1. And of course, Karen Just as a reminder, Karen joined us from IHG.

Speaker 2

She also worked at Avios and American Express, where she held several Senior finance leadership roles, and I am very confident that we are going to have a smooth and successful transition. So I'm going to kick things off by reviewing the quarterly highlights before then turning it over to Martine, who will take us through the financials. Karen will then go through our outlook and our guidance for 2023. So we reported a strong start to 2023 in the Q1 driven by continued growth in business travel, significant new wins, Continued momentum in the SME segment and significant margin expansion. Our first quarter revenue and adjusted EBITDA were both ahead of guidance and showed strong year over year growth.

Speaker 2

Revenue totaled €578,000,000 up 65% year over year. Q1 adjusted EBITDA totaled €99,000,000 Nearly reaching our adjusted EBITDA total for all of 2022 and we delivered an adjusted EBITDA margin of 17%. And with these strong first quarter results, we remain very confident in delivering our full year guidance. Our results also demonstrate continued momentum with SME customers. In the SME customer segment, we benefit From offering a choice of market leading solutions, Amex GBT, Egesia and Ovation.

Speaker 2

In a very large and unconsolidated customer segment, a segment with the fastest growth and the highest margins in the industry. SME transactions grew 61% year over year, reaching 88% for 2019 levels. Our last 12 months SME new wins value reached €2,200,000,000 of annual TTV And that's based on the current recovery levels. Within this, approximately 30% of our SME new wins value Over the last 12 months is now from the unmanaged category. So both our last 12 months SME new wins value in total and the share coming from unmanaged customers increased versus the Q4 of 2022.

Speaker 2

Total transactions grew 61% year over year to reach 76% of 2019 levels, Clearly ahead of the broader travel management industry. On a workday adjusted basis, total transaction recovery was actually 74%. Now unlike previous quarters, the Q1 of 2023 had 1.5 additional workdays Versus 2019, which benefited the Q1 2023 reported recovery by about 2 points. Our significant new wins position us well for continued strong growth ahead and clearly demonstrate that we To deliver on the significant organic growth opportunity we have ahead of us. Last 12 months total new wins value was €3,400,000,000 And finally, our customer retention rate over the last 12 months remains very stable at 95%.

Speaker 2

So overall, we delivered strong revenue and adjusted EBITDA. Continued growth in business travel, Combined with share gains, SME momentum and proven operating leverage gives us confidence as we look ahead to the balance of 2020 So on Slide 7, let's take a closer look at our strong year over year growth. As I mentioned, Q1 transactions increased 61% To reach 76% of 2019 or 74% on a workday adjusted basis. That 74% transaction recovery represents a 2 point sequential increase in transaction recovery versus the Q4 of 2022, Which is consistent with what we have guided in previous discussions. TTV increased 88% year over year in the Q1 And benefited from really strong international growth year over year.

Speaker 2

Finally, revenues grew 65% year over year in the quarter reach 83% of 2019 levels. On the next page, we're going to look at the growth trends in more detail. You'll see by customer segment here at Global Multinational, transaction growth was level with SME customer transaction growth in the quarter With both up 61% year over year. International growth, as I just mentioned, very strong in the quarter. International transactions up 81% year over year.

Speaker 2

We have said in previous calls that as travel restrictions around the world are lifted, Strong growth follows and we're clearly seeing that in our results, particularly in our international recovery. Growth in hotel transactions outpaced Air by 2 percentage points, up 62% 60%, respectively. And as mentioned previously, we are making very good progress increasing the ratio of hotel to air bookings. We've achieved this by continuing to improve the hotel content and the displays in our proprietary software platforms, both Egencia and Neo. We're seeing particular strength in the SME segment.

Speaker 2

Important to note, Egencia Hotel transactions We're 111% of 2019 levels in the Q1. On a regional basis, you can see that Asia Pacific It was the clear standout with 114% year over year growth in the quarter, driven by the relaxation and removal of travel restrictions In China, Hong Kong and Singapore. EMEA transactions increased 63%. We estimate that industrial actions that took place across France, Spain, Belgium, Germany had Approximately a 1 percentage point negative impact on the global transaction recovery in March. Finally, the Americas was up 52%.

Speaker 2

So let's now turn To our commercial highlights for the quarter, we delivered strong new wins and continued to progress our product And our technology leadership. We are the clear leader in a $1,200,000,000,000 industry with a significant runway for growth. We continue to gain share with €3,400,000,000 of total new wins value over the last 12 months, supported of course by very strong Customer retention of 95%. Our biggest growth opportunity, of course, remains in the SME segment. This represents a total opportunity of €950,000,000,000 in travel spend.

Speaker 2

Within the SME customer segment, We are the number one player in managed travel, but only 30% of that €950,000,000,000 opportunity is actually managed today, providing a significant growth opportunity in the managed and even more so in the unmanaged segment. And you can see we're making good progress. We signed €2,200,000,000 of SME new wins value over the last 12 months. Of this approximately 30% of the value of that €2,200,000,000 and 55% of the customers are from companies whose travel programs were previously unmanaged, which I think really demonstrates that we continue To gain traction and we're converting this unmanaged customer travel opportunity into managed travel spend. Also supporting our technology leadership, we recently announced customer pilots and rollouts with booking of Air France KLM NDC content Across our proprietary software platforms, Neo and Egencia, this new NEC content will be enabled through Amadeus in a way that fully meets the needs of our corporate clients.

Speaker 2

And it's an important milestone because we have Set a standard here that can be used by the managed travel industry to ensure a successful and scalable launch of NDC content in a way that fully meets the needs of corporate customers. We continue to advance our technology to help our customers to reach their sustainability goals. This quarter in Egencia, for example, the moment a traveler searches for rail content, they'll now see carbon emission details across all available routes to help travelers make more sustainable choices. Travelers and arrangers Can now effortlessly sort, locate and book hotels with environmental certifications. And we also added additional carbon emission data into NEO, our proprietary online travel and expense platform Through a new partnership that we have with a leading climate tech company, Choose.

Speaker 2

We reported record transactions on the NEO travel and expense software platform in the Q1. 76% All of our transactions now come through digital channels, and we continue to increase the share of this On our own software platforms, it's really important because it improves the customer experience And it increases productivity and margins in our business. And I'm very pleased to say That Q1 was the highest quarter of all time in terms of Neo transaction volumes. So on Slide 10, when we were on the path towards becoming a public company, we shared our strategic priorities. Nearly 1 year since going public later this month, I am very pleased to say that we are clearly delivering on These commitments and creating strong momentum for the future.

Speaker 2

First of all, business travel momentum indeed continues. Q1 year over year revenue growth was 65%, transaction growth 61%. Strong start to the year that gives us Confidence that we're on track to achieve our full year guidance. Secondly, our new sales pipeline, strong new wins, continued share gains position us for continued strong growth in the future. Our new wins value reached €3,400,000,000 over the last 12 months based on the current recovery levels.

Speaker 2

3rd, we said our focus on winning in the SME segment would accelerate growth and our results Clearly show strong progress in this area. Q1 SME transaction recovery reached 88%. We reported SME new wins value of €2,200,000,000 over the last 12 months, up from €2,100,000,000 in the 4th quarter. And we also announced accelerated new wins coming from the unmanaged segments. Dollars 660,000,000 of new wins From the unmanaged segment, 30% of the new wins.

Speaker 2

And that €660,000,000 of new wins from the unmanaged segment is 25% higher Than it was in the Q4. 4th, we are delivering on the Agensia synergies. We're on track to deliver £60,000,000 of Egencia synergies in the full year 2023 based on actions we've already completed so far, we've achieved approximately 80% Of the expected synergies from Agencia at the full recovery level. 5th, our business model is clearly delivering the operating leverage we committed to. Last quarter, we said we added costs To support incremental volumes heading into Q1, in the Q1 of this year, We actually reported over 100% adjusted EBITDA fall through versus Q4.

Speaker 2

Meaning Sequentially versus Q4, we delivered incremental adjusted EBITDA that actually exceeded incremental revenue. And finally, all these results combined to deliver significant margin expansion. In the Q1, we reported a 17% adjusted EBITDA margin With volume growth, higher online adoption and structural changes creating operating efficiencies. So to sum up our Q1 performance, I think it provides yet another proof point of our continued strategic, Commercial and financial progress. So that completes my review of the Q1 highlights.

Speaker 2

And I'd like to hand it over to Martin, who will discuss the financial results in more detail. Martine?

Speaker 3

Thank you, Paul, and hello, everyone. As you heard from Paul, we continue to deliver on our strategic and financial priorities, and we started 2023 with a strong 1st quarter. Our total transaction value or TTV increased 88% year over year in the Q1 to reach €7,400,000,000 And this is well above our 61% growth in transaction volume and driven by the 81% growth in international volume in the quarter. Revenue increased 65% to €578,000,000 driven by stronger than expected supplier results. Revenue was €8,000,000 above the top end of our Q1 guidance, driven by a €10,000,000 favorable carryover in supplier revenue.

Speaker 3

Our yield, which is measured as revenue over TTV, reached 7.8% In Q1, and this is in line with our expectation for the full year and the second quarter, And it follows a different seasonality than in 2019. We are now seeing a timelier reporting of realized supplier performance and we can recognize revenue earlier as compared to 2019. This makes our revenue seasonality better aligned with our volume seasonality. When comparing our year over year results, do remember that the Q1 of 2022 yield was Favorably impacted by a higher component of fixed product and professional services revenue over a depressed volume base due to Omicron. Travel revenue increased 82%, It is broadly in line with TTV growth.

Speaker 3

Product and Professional Services revenue increased 19%, primarily due to increased management fees and growth in meeting and events revenue driven by strengthened demand. Our adjusted operating expenses increased 27% in the quarter, which compares Favorably to the 65% increase in revenue and highlights the operating leverage in the model. As expected, volumes were 26% higher in Q1 as compared to Q4, but our expenses were flat as compared to Q4 as we ramped up our cost base last quarter in advance of the expected incremental first quarter volume. As a result, we delivered €99,000,000 of adjusted EBITDA in the Q1, which is an improvement of €127,000,000 year over year. Our adjusted EBITDA margin was 17%, which is up 25 percentage points year over year.

Speaker 3

And this demonstrates the strong operating leverage as well as The execution of cost savings and Egentia Synergy. As we announced in January, We have moved to a global customer segment operating model, which is centered around our global multinational and SME customers to better position us for accelerating growth, drive consistency, Increase efficiencies and deliver unrivaled value to our customers. Associated with this, We booked a CHF23 million restructuring charge in the Q1, which will start delivering benefits from Q2 onwards with an acceleration in the second half Let's now turn to cash flow. As expected, cash usage increased in the Q1 of 2023 and totaled €109,000,000 driven by Continued recovery, our volume and working capital seasonality as well as the timing of annual employee incentive payments. Our AR and AP balances are correlated to volume, driving the working capital build in the 1st quarter.

Speaker 3

Our TTV seasonality, which follows business travel demand, is strongest in the 1st quarter and lowest in the 4th quarter. TTV in the Q1 was up 26% sequentially versus the Q4 of 2022. This combined with the payment of our annual incentive resulted in an increase of €101,000,000 in working capital in the Q1. And for more insights into our cash flow seasonality, I would like to point you to the supplemental material section of this presentation, where we have included slides outlining our historical TTV revenue, adjusted EBITDA and working capital seasonality. And while I will not review these slides on our call today, they are intended to be a resource to help with your modeling.

Speaker 3

As of March 31, we have an unrestricted cash balance of $320,000,000 and total available liquidity of $370,000,000 And our net debt is €1,035,000,000 To accelerate cash flow generation In the balance of year, we have launched a working capital optimization program that we expect will drive material benefits over the next 12 months. As a matter of fact, looking at the balance of year, we expect to approach free cash flow breakeven in the second quarter And to generate positive free cash flow in the 3rd and 4th quarter. And before I hand it off to Paul, I want to welcome Karen into her new role as CFO effective 1st July. I'm very grateful for the past 6 years At Amex GVT, I'm confident that after successfully navigating through a global pandemic And taking the company public, we are well positioned for strong work ahead. I have worked side by side with Karen for nearly a year, And I am confident we will have a smooth, seamless and successful transition.

Speaker 3

And I will now turn it back to Paul and Karen to review our outlook full year 2023 and share our 2nd quarter guidance.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Martin. Before I hand it to Karen to go through our outlook and guidance for the balance of the year, I just wanted to share Some data points here that I think demonstrate several tailwinds that set us up for strong continued growth in the year ahead, Including continued business travel recovery, improved airline capacity, our significant share gains And the increasing meetings and events demand. What you see here on the page is GBTA's Business travel outlook poll that we've shared with you in the past. This was published at the end of April. You'll see domestic and international bookings at 72% And 63% of 2019 levels respectively or approximately 68% combined.

Speaker 2

This is up from 62% that we shared with you in the January survey. So 6 point improvement in the GBTA outlook between January April. So it's clear that industry momentum continues and you can also see that we are clearly outpacing the industry With our Q1 transaction recovery of 76% driven by our share gains. We've talked in the past how distributed teams and the hybrid work model are creating a new type of business travel meetings and events demand. With workforces increasingly distributed, the predicted increase in meetings and events is certainly gaining traction.

Speaker 2

Our small meetings division is the fastest growing area of our meetings and events team and we're seeing growing demand for our services as company has increased their investment in these types of meetings. Drilling down on our meetings and events pipeline, Recovery in the number of meeting and events projects in the first half of this year is trending at about 85% of 2019 levels and therefore outpacing the broader corporate travel recovery. The spend for the first half of this year has already reached over 100% of 2019 levels, driven by an increase in larger events, An increase in international destinations and of course price inflation. So overall, we believe that These data points from industry experts and from customers support our expectations for continued Growth in the balance of 2023 and beyond. So I'm now going to hand it over to Karen to go through our 2023 guidance in more detail.

Speaker 2

Karen, over to you.

Speaker 4

Thank you, Paul. Before we jump into the details, Let me give you the headlines. We are reaffirming our full year guidance. We expect to deliver strong revenue growth, Significant year over year margin expansion and importantly to return positive free cash flow in the back half of the year. So let's take a closer look at the figures and review the key drivers for our 2023 guidance.

Speaker 4

We continue to expect revenues of between $2,170,000,000 $2,220,000,000 Which represents 17% to 20% revenue growth. As Martine said, Our revenue seasonality is now better aligned with volume seasonality, which we have reflected in our implied revenue guidance for H1 and H2. We expect revenue yield for the full year to be in line with Q1 at 7.8%. On the cost side, we expect single digit growth in operating expenses as we improve Our operational efficiencies, realized cost synergies and achieved benefit from the reorganization, which we announced in January. We expect savings to accelerate in the second half of the year, driving a reduction in expenses compared to the first half Projection of €950,000,000 Our productivity gains and high operating leverage are still expected to deliver 9 to 11 points of We acknowledge that if current trends continue, we may reach the upper end of our revenue guidance.

Speaker 4

But at the same time, whilst our expense exit rate is in line with our previous expectations, we may have some delayed execution of our European restructuring plan, which could impact the phasing of our cost reduction. Additionally, We have several attractive opportunities for incremental product and technology investments, which we may choose to take advantage of in the balance of the year. And frankly, whilst we recognize Q1 was a strong quarter, We are just 1 quarter into the year. Therefore, we reaffirm our full year adjusted EBITDA guidance of $330,000,000 to £370,000,000 As previously mentioned, we anticipate reaching positive free cash flow during the year, which is an important milestone. We expect to approach breakeven free cash flow in the Q2 of 2023 and to generate positive free cash flow in Q3 and Q4.

Speaker 4

We are confident in our ability Given the seasonality of our working capital, which is outlined in the supplementary materials of this presentation and the working capital optimization plan we have recently initiated specifically in relation to Agistia as we continue to integrate them into our business. Finally, we continue to exit 2023 with a leverage ratio in line with our long term target leverage target of 2 times to 3 times. So now let's turn to guidance and key drivers for the Q2 of 2023. We expect delivered revenue of between $555,000,000 $575,000,000 representing a growth of 14 to 18%. This is still on our expectations for low double digit TTV growth and revenue yield largely in line with the first Quarter.

Speaker 4

We expect operating expenses to start trending down sequentially in the second quarter Net of salary inflation. This is driven by the changes we announced in January relating to our reorganization, which will create operational efficiencies and as a result of our continued focus on cost. This results in expectations for $85,000,000 to $100,000,000 in adjusted EBITDA with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 15% to 17%, representing year over year adjusted EBITDA margin expansion of 5 to 7 percentage points. Finally, as previously mentioned, Q2 will be a pivotal turning point As we expect to approach breakeven free cash flow moving to positive free cash flow in the back half of the year. In summary, we delivered strong Q1 revenue and adjusted EBITDA.

Speaker 4

The business travel recovery continues And we are delivering on share gains and SME momentum. We continue to execute on Egencia synergies and cost savings to drive operating leverage. We are well positioned to deliver strong second quarter and significant revenue growth Margin expansion in 2023. So we are delivering on what we said we would do and are confident in continued momentum ahead. I look forward to stepping into the CFO role on July 1 and getting to know all of you in the months and years ahead.

Speaker 4

So we can now move into Q and A. Paul, Martine and I are joined by Erik Box, who is our Chief Legal Officer, Global Head of M and A compliance and corporate secretary. Operator, please go ahead and open the line.

Operator

Thank The first question we have comes from Stephen Ju of Credit Suisse.

Speaker 5

Okay. Thank you so much. So Paul, the transaction recovery overall stands at 76% for you guys. I don't know if you have the regional data handy, but can you talk about where the Asia Pacific recovery may be As that region, it still seems to be growing the highest year over year amongst your, I guess, the regional comparisons. Thank you.

Speaker 2

Stephen, hi. Look, yes, thanks for the question. We I don't have the regional Recovery rates in front of me. Maybe Martine, have you got those handy there?

Speaker 3

So Asia was transaction recovery for APAC was 87%. That's A reported, so you'd have to adjust that by a couple of points to get what they adjusted.

Speaker 6

Thank you.

Speaker 2

Stephen, you probably Saur, as we go through the presentation, we're trying to focus more on the year over year Performance going forward and start to move away from recovery rates versus 2019. It was obviously 2019. It's 4 years ago now and we run into sometimes some Reporting challenges with quarter over quarter analysis. So you will see us focus more on The year over year growth rates and quarter over quarter growth rates going forward.

Speaker 5

Understood. Thank you. Yes, because higher APAC transaction recovery is a little bit odd versus what I was thinking given that that Region is growing at the highest rate for you right now. So, but I guess the good news here is that some of the other Potentially larger regions are still lagging in

Speaker 2

the recovery, so there's still a

Speaker 5

lot more light space in front of the recovery. Is that a correct characterization?

Speaker 2

Yes. Worth remembering though that the Asia Pacific region for us, We don't consolidate domestic China volumes because it's a joint venture market. And so when you look at our Asia Pacific results, they are primarily driven by The recovery in Australia and India that's been actually pretty very strong and actually has been ahead of the curve in terms of the other markets in Asia. What we're seeing more recently is the recovery of international volumes to and from China, but those recovery rates actually We'll register in the point of origin. So if that trip is booked from the U.

Speaker 2

S. Or it's booked from Europe, Then that trip from the U. S. To China or Europe to China is registered where it is ticketed. So it'd be registered in Europe Or in the U.

Speaker 2

S.

Speaker 6

Thank you.

Operator

We now have Lee Horowitz of Deutsche Bank.

Speaker 6

Great. Thanks so much. Can you maybe help us understand your definition of full year revenue guide? And I guess given the 1QD and the Q2 outlook, the high revenue growth And the second half of the year is in the low to mid single digit range versus 1 half 30% in the front half of the year. Anything else that I understand sort of the macro I'm sure an underpinning the second half growth and why we should be expecting sort of revenue growth to slow down some materially in the second half.

Speaker 2

Yes, sure. I think As Karen mentioned in her comments there, we acknowledge that if the current trends continue, we're Likely to reach the upper end of the revenue guidance. I think We guided in previous calls that we are expecting to see a couple of points recovery per quarter sequentially. I think we made that statement in Q3 and we saw a couple of points recovery in Q4. Also made that statement in Q4 and we've seen essentially a couple of points recovery when you work, they adjusted in Q1.

Speaker 2

We've gone from 72 to 74. So we are continuing to model out 2 points of recovery per quarter in the balance of the year. And if that recovery level plays out, then yes, we're likely to be at the upper end of the revenue guidance. I think what Karen also said though was that we do have potentially some delays in the restructuring in Europe And which won't affect our exit rate from an operating expense standpoint. And we also have attractive investments that we may or may not choose To trigger in the balance of the year.

Speaker 2

So that's why we feel that actually the current range for revenues And adjusted EBITDA are still appropriate, whilst acknowledging that the current trend would take us to the higher end on the revenue side.

Speaker 6

Great. Helpful. Thank you. And then maybe I don't think we're allowed to go through the conference call this year without touching on Chairman of AI. So Paul, can you maybe talk a bit about how you see these cutting edge technologies impacting your business operations?

Speaker 6

How are you thinking about putting investment to work in, say, the intermediate term in order to harness the power of V600?

Speaker 2

Yes. Look, it's a great question. We see it as a tremendous opportunity. I mean, if you look at what we actually do In Egencia and in Neo, we are consistently using data to automate Transactions that were previously through the voice channel through our travel counselors. And that percentage of online adoption, as we call it, has been steadily increasing year over year and it's now 76%.

Speaker 2

But we still have a big opportunity to take more demand out of the voice channel. And when we do that, it increases Our margins and in many cases creates a better self serve experience for customers. So it's a muscle that we've got well developed In the company and what AI and the developments and the advancements in AI are doing is frankly just Making the speed and scale of those changes look even more exciting. And so we do have a team that are focused Using generative AI models and big data to see what can we do to automate our processes more effectively. And yes, definitely see that as a significant opportunity for us, not just in the months, but years ahead.

Speaker 6

Helpful. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. We now have Duane Penningworth of Evercore ISI.

Speaker 7

Hey, thank you. Could you just talk a little bit about the drivers of upside in the March quarter Relative to your initial guidance, which regions or segments kind of surprised you? And then I wonder if you could speak broadly to performance by month. What did a March exit rate on recovery look like relative to a January?

Speaker 2

Yes, sure. Maybe Martin, if I could just come in and give you a perspective on the drivers Of Q1 performance?

Speaker 3

Sure. So we actually Hey, Matt. We had $10,000,000 of favorable carryover on supply revenue as I shared with you in the earnings presentation. If you Just for that, we're actually sitting at the high end of the guidance. And this is really driven by better volume growth across all regions.

Speaker 3

And there is Really one particular region that stands out versus where the high end of the guidance was. And we saw a progressive recovery through the quarter on kind of month by month basis. We do see a similar pattern as what we saw in around the summer holiday And the year end Christmas holiday, which is we tend to have a bit of a dip around the holiday period and then followed by a Strong recovery for the holiday period and we're seeing that around Easter as well.

Speaker 7

Thanks. You led into my that was a good segue for my follow-up, was just going to be around seasonality. And You mentioned remote work and maybe some structural changes in the underlying seasonality, but maybe you could just expand on that. What As you look back on kind of the second half of last year and the early part of this year, where do you see periods of maybe Exaggerated strength and maybe periods of exaggerated weakness relative to say a 2019 baseline Based on differing behavior.

Speaker 2

Yes. Maybe I'll just Coming on expand on the comment Martine made. We have now seen really across 3 holiday Period. So the run up to December holidays, also in August and the summer holidays and then over the Easter period. We have sort of seen an extended impact over the holiday period, and we've seen more of a trough and more of a peak.

Speaker 2

And we do think that, That is probably the new normal now. Having seen it across 3 holiday periods, we do think that people are perhaps taking extended Holidays and maybe working from that holiday destination for a period of time. But then what we see is we see A much stronger bounce back, which we saw in January. We saw that in September post Labor Day. And as Martin mentioned, in the run up to Easter, we saw a little bit more of a dip than we're expecting, but we saw a really strong recovery post Easter.

Speaker 2

So I think that's the one key trend that I think is something that we are looking at as the new normal now.

Speaker 1

Okay. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. We now have Tony Kaplan of Morgan Stanley.

Speaker 8

Hi, this is Hilary Leaf on for Tony. Just wanted to ask about the adjusted EBITDA flow through. Obviously, you guys talked about quarter over quarter, it was well over 100%. Year over year, it looks like it was down to around 56%. Just wondering how we should kind of think about it going forward.

Speaker 8

Any cadence you guys could provide would be helpful.

Speaker 2

Sure. Martine, would you like to take that one?

Speaker 3

Sure. So if I think going forward, right, I think what we've always We shared with you and guided you on is we expected our flow through kind of a longer term basis to be 60%, 65% territory. That being said, Foxtrot was a real useful Driver, if you wish, and you were going very quickly through the recovery of business travel. As that recovery starts normalizing and the growth starts normalizing, Looking at the overall margin of the business will be a more useful driver going forward because you will see a lot more stability In the margin and margin expansion quarter over quarter than you would in full through as you just saw in the first Quarter over quarter. That being said, to answer your question more specifically on the Q1 versus the Q1 of last year, you may recall that in the Q1 2022, our volume base was obviously very depressed with Omicron.

Speaker 3

And we had not and the volume returned very quickly At the end of the Q1, and we did not obviously ramped up our costs as quickly as volume came back. So in some sense, you had On your staffing in the Q1, which is really why you have a lower fall through as compared to the Q1. And you have exactly the reverse when you compare 4th quarter clearance of the cost in the Q4 of last year. So you have an excellent call through Q1 over Q4.

Speaker 8

Great. Thank you. And just wondering if we could touch on SMEs a little bit. Would you be able to give kind of the split In terms of number of transactions, TTV and revenue between the GMNs and SMEs For the quarter?

Speaker 2

We don't provide that level of detail by quarter. I think we have previously guided that our SME business is over 50% Of our revenues and a higher share of our profits, but we don't Provide the details by segment, by quarter.

Speaker 8

All right. Thanks.

Speaker 2

Other than the new wins information, of course, which we do.

Operator

I can confirm we have had no further questions. I'd like to hand it back to Paul Abbott, CEO, for any final remarks.

Speaker 2

Great. Well, look, once again, thank you very much for joining. I would like to extend a sincere thank you to All of our team across Amex GBT for their dedication to our customers and the strong results that they've delivered in the quarter. We are very confident in our position and our outlook for continued success in 2023. Thank you for joining and your continued interest in the company.

Operator

Thank you all for joining. I can confirm that does conclude today's call. You may now disconnect your lines and please

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