GDS Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:GDS) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript November 22, 2023 8:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Laura Chen - Head of IR

William Huang - Founder, Chairman and CEO

Dan Newman - CFO

Conference Call Participants

Jonathan Atkin - RBC

Yang Liu - Morgan Stanley

Sara Wang - UBS

Michael Elias - TD Cowen

Operator

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by for GDS Holdings Limited Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. After management’s prepared remarks, there will be the question-and-answer session. Today's conference call is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to your host, Ms. Laura Chen, Head of Investor Relations for the company. Please go ahead, Laura.

Laura Chen

Thank you. Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call of GDS Holdings Limited. The company's results were issued via newswire services earlier today and are posted online. A summary presentation, which we will refer to during this conference call, can be viewed and downloaded from our IR website at investors.gds-services.com.

Leading today's call is Mr. William Huang, GDS Founder, Chairman and CEO, who will provide an overview of our business strategy and performance, Mr. Dan Newman, GDS CFO, will then review the financial and operating results. Ms. Jamie Khoo, our COO, is also available to answer questions.

Before we continue, please note that today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. As such, the company's results may be materially different from the views expressed today. Further information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties is included in the company's prospectus as filed with the US SEC. The company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable law.

Please also note that GDS earnings press release and this conference call include discussions of unaudited GAAP financial information as well as unaudited non-GAAP financial measures. GDS press release contains a reconciliation of the unaudited non-GAAP measures to the unaudited most directly comparable GAAP measures.

I will now turn the call over to GDS Founder, Chairman and CEO, William Huang. Please go ahead, William.

William Huang

Hello, everyone. This is William. Thank you for joining us on today's call. The number one priority of GDS management is to create value for our shareholders and drive share price recovery. We are pursuing this goal by executing distinct strategies for our China and International business. For China, our financial objectives are to grow EBITDA at a steady rate, maintain positive cash flow before financing and deleverage -- de-lever the balance sheet. We are getting there by, one, first taking a highly selective approach to new bookings, which match our inventory and come with fast-moving rates. Second, delivering the backlog and the increasing capacity utilization and setting a high bar for new CapEx to fulfill orders with first firm moving schedules.