ABM Industries Inc (ABM) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the ABM Industries, Inc. Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

問候，歡迎來到 ABM Industries, Inc. 2022 年第四季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）提醒一下，正在錄製此會議。

It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Paul Goldberg, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. Thank you, Paul. You may begin.

現在我很高興向您介紹主持人，投資者關係高級副總裁保羅戈德堡。謝謝你，保羅。你可以開始了。

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to ABM's Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. My name is Paul Goldberg and I'm the Senior Vice President of Investor Relations at ABM. With me today are Scott Salmirs, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Earl Ellis, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

大家下午好，歡迎來到 ABM 2022 年第四季度財報電話會議。我叫 Paul Goldberg，是 ABM 的投資者關係高級副總裁。今天和我在一起的是我們的總裁兼首席執行官 Scott Salmirs；和我們的執行副總裁兼首席財務官 Earl Ellis。

Please note that earlier this afternoon, we issued our press release announcing our fourth quarter 2022 financial results. A copy of the release and an accompanying slide presentation can be found on our website ibm.com. After Scott and Earl's prepared remarks, we will host a Q&A session. But before we begin today, I would like to remind you that our call and presentation contain predictions, estimates and other forward-looking statements. Our use of the words estimate, expect and similar expressions are intended to identify these statements, and they represent our current judgment of what the future holds. While we believe them to be reasonable, these statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially. These factors are described in the slide that accompanies our presentation as well as our filings with the SEC.

請注意，今天下午早些時候，我們發布了新聞稿，宣布了我們 2022 年第四季度的財務業績。可以在我們的網站 ibm.com 上找到該新聞稿的副本和隨附的幻燈片演示文稿。在 Scott 和 Earl 準備好的發言之後，我們將舉辦問答環節。但在我們今天開始之前，我想提醒您，我們的電話會議和演示文稿包含預測、估計和其他前瞻性陳述。我們使用“估計”、“期望”和類似的表達方式來識別這些陳述，它們代表了我們當前對未來的判斷。雖然我們認為它們是合理的，但這些陳述本身就存在風險和不確定性，可能導致我們的實際結果存在重大差異。這些因素在我們的演示文稿以及我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件所附的幻燈片中進行了描述。

During the course of this call, certain non-GAAP financial information will be presented. A reconciliation of historical non-GAAP numbers to GAAP financial measures is available at the end of the presentation and on the company's website under the Investor tab. And with that, I would like to now turn the call over to Scott.

在此次電話會議期間，將提供某些非 GAAP 財務信息。歷史非 GAAP 數據與 GAAP 財務措施的對賬可在演示文稿末尾和公司網站的“投資者”選項卡下找到。有了這個，我現在想把電話轉給斯科特。

Thanks, Paul. Good afternoon, and thank you all for joining us today to discuss our fourth quarter results and 2023 guidance. ABM posted solid results in the fourth quarter, capping off a strong year. Organic revenue growth of 5.8% was broad-based, driven by robust growth in our eMobility, Aviation, Manufacturing & Distribution and Education businesses complemented by consistent organic growth in B&I. The ABM team continued to execute well, mitigating much of the impact from higher wage costs and labor shortages while advancing our ELEVATE initiatives and moving toward our 2025 goals.

謝謝，保羅。下午好，感謝大家今天加入我們討論我們的第四季度業績和 2023 年指導。 ABM 在第四季度公佈了穩健的業績，為強勁的一年畫上了句號。 5.8% 的有機收入增長具有廣泛的基礎，這得益於我們的電動汽車、航空、製造和分銷以及教育業務的強勁增長以及 B&I 的持續有機增長。 ABM 團隊繼續執行良好，減輕了工資成本上漲和勞動力短缺的大部分影響，同時推進了我們的 ELEVATE 計劃並朝著我們的 2025 年目標邁進。

ABM generated fourth quarter revenues of over $2 billion, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 6.8%. Our adjusted EBITDA margin remained well above pre-pandemic levels, reflecting improved operational efficiency that we believe is sustainable and can be enhanced over time through our ELEVATE initiative. Our solid financial and operational performance in fiscal 2022 demonstrated ABM's underlying brand strength and enhanced competitive positioning in a challenging market environment. Despite the expected decline in high-margin disinfection related work orders, significant wage inflation, rising interest rates and a historically tough labor market, the ABM team delivered strong full year EBITDA growth of 9.5% with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 6.6%. Additionally, with our expanded breadth of service offerings, we generated new sales totaling more than $1.3 billion, another record year.

ABM 第四季度的收入超過 20 億美元，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 6.8%。我們調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率仍遠高於大流行前的水平，反映出我們認為可持續的運營效率提高，並且可以通過我們的 ELEVATE 計劃隨著時間的推移而提高。我們在 2022 財年穩健的財務和運營業績證明了 ABM 的潛在品牌實力，並在充滿挑戰的市場環境中增強了競爭地位。儘管高利潤消毒相關工作訂單預計會下降、工資大幅上漲、利率上升以及勞動力市場歷來艱難，但 ABM 團隊全年 EBITDA 強勁增長 9.5%，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 6.6%。此外，隨著我們服務範圍的擴大，我們創造了總額超過 13 億美元的新銷售額，再創新高。

I'll now discuss the demand environment for each of our industry groups. Beginning with B&I, office occupancy rates in the fourth quarter remained at relatively low levels, but continue to modestly increase, a trend we expect to continue into 2023. Similar to 2022, we anticipate our operating margin to remain steady in 2023 as we maintain our base of existing customers while leveraging our scale and unrivaled breadth of services to expand our growth opportunities. Recently, we won a sizable contract expansion with Google to serve their newly built Bay View campus, and we see additional opportunities to expand our partnerships with other significant customers.

我現在將討論我們每個行業組的需求環境。從 B&I 開始，第四季度的辦公室入住率保持在相對較低的水平，但繼續溫和上升，我們預計這一趨勢將持續到 2023 年。與 2022 年類似，我們預計我們的營業利潤率將在 2023 年保持穩定，因為我們維持我們的現有客戶群，同時利用我們的規模和無與倫比的服務範圍來擴大我們的增長機會。最近，我們贏得了與穀歌的一項規模可觀的擴展合同，為他們新建的 Bay View 校區提供服務，我們看到了擴大與其他重要客戶合作夥伴關係的更多機會。

Moving to Aviation. Travel, including parking and transportation has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels. So we expect our growth rate in Aviation to moderate in 2023 from the elevated level we experienced in fiscal 2022. We expect continued growth in our ABMVantage parking solution as our airport clients continue to migrate to integrated touchless parking solutions that generate higher revenue and improve the traveler experience. On the cost side, labor availability remains a challenge in the aviation market as time to hire is the biggest impediment due to the TSA's lengthy background check process. As we've discussed previously, in this labor market, speed to hire is important and a projected background check process causes headwinds.

轉向航空。包括停車和交通在內的旅行幾乎恢復到大流行前的水平。因此，我們預計我們在 2023 年的航空增長率將從 2022 財年的高水平放緩。我們預計我們的 ABMVantage 停車解決方案將繼續增長，因為我們的機場客戶將繼續遷移到集成的非接觸式停車解決方案，從而產生更高的收入並改善旅行者體驗。在成本方面，勞動力可用性仍然是航空市場的一個挑戰，因為由於 TSA 冗長的背景調查流程，招聘時間是最大的障礙。正如我們之前所討論的，在這個勞動力市場中，招聘速度很重要，而預計的背景調查過程會造成不利影響。

Demand in Manufacturing & Distribution continued to be solid, in part, reflecting our successful efforts to expand our business with existing customers in the e-commerce and automotive markets. ABM is also winning new business in faster growing and underpenetrated markets like life sciences. In fact, we just won a sizable new contract with a large pharmaceutical manufacturer in the fourth quarter, and given the significant growth opportunity in this sector, we view life sciences as a strategic priority for 2023.

製造和分銷領域的需求繼續保持穩健，部分反映了我們成功地擴大了與電子商務和汽車市場現有客戶的業務。 ABM 還在生命科學等增長較快但滲透率低的市場中贏得了新業務。事實上，我們剛剛在第四季度與一家大型製藥商簽訂了一份規模可觀的新合同，鑑於該領域的巨大增長機會，我們將生命科學視為 2023 年的戰略重點。

In Education, the addition of important new clients in the fourth quarter helped drive organic growth of 7%. We're also seeing a good deal of new contract proposal activity providing ample opportunity to win new business in 2023 from a variety of potential clients, both from those who currently outsource as well as those who are contemplating outsourcing. However, labor cost inflation in nonunionized markets, especially in the southern eastern regions of the U.S. continues to be challenging for this segment. That being said, we've made steady progress in filling open positions. So we're optimistic moving forward.

在教育領域，第四季度重要新客戶的增加幫助推動了 7% 的有機增長。我們還看到大量新合同提案活動為在 2023 年從各種潛在客戶中贏得新業務提供了充足的機會，這些潛在客戶既有目前正在外包的客戶，也有正在考慮外包的客戶。然而，非工會化市場的勞動力成本通脹，尤其是美國東南部地區，繼續對該細分市場構成挑戰。話雖如此，我們在填補空缺職位方面取得了穩步進展。所以我們樂觀地向前邁進。

In Technical Solutions, we continue to experience robust demand for our eMobility charging solutions where revenue more than doubled over the prior year period. For the fiscal full year, eMobility revenue grew to nearly $130 million from a base of just $36 million in 2021. We also saw strong growth in our mission-critical end markets where we provide comprehensive services for data centers, 911 call centers and national defense-related facilities. We expect Technical Solutions to show strong growth in 2023, aided by the U.S. Infrastructure Bill and recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. In addition, our results should benefit from the contribution from RavenVolt which recently signed a sizable contract with a national logistics solution provider to design and install a backup battery storage system at numerous locations over the next few years. So Technical Solutions is well positioned to benefit from long-term secular trends and remains an area of strategic focus as we seek to identify future acquisitions that broaden our capabilities.

在技術解決方案方面，我們繼續感受到對我們的電動汽車充電解決方案的強勁需求，其收入比去年同期增長了一倍多。在整個財政年度，eMobility 收入從 2021 年的 3600 萬美元增長到近 1.3 億美元。我們在關鍵任務終端市場也看到了強勁增長，我們在這些市場為數據中心、911 呼叫中心和國防提供綜合服務-相關設施。在美國基礎設施法案和最近通過的《降低通脹法案》的幫助下，我們預計技術解決方案將在 2023 年表現出強勁增長。此外，我們的結果應該受益於 RavenVolt 的貢獻，RavenVolt 最近與一家國家物流解決方案提供商簽署了一份規模龐大的合同，以在未來幾年內在許多地點設計和安裝備用電池存儲系統。因此，技術解決方案處於有利地位，可以從長期的長期趨勢中受益，並且在我們尋求確定能夠擴大我們能力的未來收購時，它仍然是一個戰略重點領域。

Over the past year, we made significant progress with respect to our ELEVATE initiative. Most recently, we developed a team member retention predictive model that forecast where and why we may see attrition rise. With this predictive information, we can proactively implement an effective team member retention strategies including bolstering HR recruiting support and ultimately reduce labor acquisition costs. We also developed and started piloting a workforce management tool that provides enhanced visibility into productivity levels across our portfolio of accounts. When fully shaped after our pilot period this year, we should start seeing scaled improvements in overall labor spend and meaningful insight into low-performing buildings and how to solve the challenges we may have. Lastly, among all the other initiatives that are in flight, we continue to move forward with our cloud-based ERP system, which we expect will begin deployment midyear 2023 as part of our ELEVATE tech road map that runs through 2025.

在過去的一年裡，我們在 ELEVATE 計劃方面取得了重大進展。最近，我們開發了一個團隊成員保留預測模型，可以預測我們可能會看到流失率上升的地點和原因。有了這些預測信息，我們可以主動實施有效的團隊成員保留策略，包括加強 HR 招聘支持並最終降低勞動力獲取成本。我們還開發並開始試用一種勞動力管理工具，該工具可以增強對我們客戶組合生產力水平的可見性。當我們在今年的試點期結束後完全成形時，我們應該開始看到整體勞動力支出的大規模改善以及對低績效建築的有意義的洞察以及如何解決我們可能遇到的挑戰。最後，在所有其他正在進行的計劃中，我們繼續推進基於雲的 ERP 系統，我們預計該系統將在 2023 年年中開始部署，作為我們貫穿 2025 年的 ELEVATE 技術路線圖的一部分。

Before I turn the call over to Earl to discuss the Q4 financials and guidance, I want to make a few summary comments. First, and most importantly, I'm extremely proud of our talented and dedicated team who delivered extraordinary financial and operational results this past year despite the toughest labor market on record. By putting our customers first, our team has done a tremendous job in strengthening our client relationships and opening up new growth opportunities to provide additional value-added services. At the same time, we made significant progress on our ELEVATE initiatives, laying the groundwork that will help accelerate our organic growth and enhance our profitability over the long term.

在我把電話轉給 Earl 討論第四季度的財務和指導之前，我想做一些總結性的評論。首先，也是最重要的是，我為我們才華橫溢、敬業奉獻的團隊感到無比自豪，他們在過去一年裡儘管勞動力市場處於有史以來最艱難的時期，但仍取得了非凡的財務和運營業績。通過將客戶放在首位，我們的團隊在加強客戶關係和開闢新的增長機會以提供額外的增值服務方面做了大量工作。與此同時，我們在 ELEVATE 計劃方面取得了重大進展，為有助於加速我們的有機增長和提高我們的長期盈利能力奠定了基礎。

As we enter 2023, now is a good time to provide a status update on how we are progressing toward our 2025 goals of $9 billion in sales, adjusted EBITDA margin of 7.2% and $400 million of free cash flow. We are already well on our way towards achieving $9 billion in revenue, driven by solid organic growth complemented by acquisitions including Able, Momentum and RavenVolt with more to come. We also remain confident in our adjusted EBITDA margin and free cash flow targets. The 6.6% margin we posted this year is consistent with our expectations and represents a solidified base from which we aim to add 60 basis points of incremental margin over the next 3 years.

隨著我們進入 2023 年，現在是提供狀態更新的好時機，說明我們如何實現 2025 年 90 億美元銷售額、7.2% 的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率和 4 億美元自由現金流的目標。在穩健的有機增長以及包括 Able、Momentum 和 RavenVolt 在內的收購的推動下，我們已經朝著實現 90 億美元收入的目標邁進了一大步。我們也對調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率和自由現金流目標充滿信心。我們今年公佈的 6.6% 的利潤率符合我們的預期，代表了一個堅實的基礎，我們的目標是在未來 3 年內增加 60 個基點的增量利潤率。

Given current challenges in the labor market, this projected margin step-up is not likely to be a linear progression, but the end target remains fully achievable as we expect labor costs and inflation to ease in the coming couple of years. This will coincide with our evolving service mix. Additionally, margin should benefit over the next few years from increased operational efficiency and cost savings associated with our ELEVATE investments I outlined earlier. Our vision for ABM remains clear. We strive to be the leading facility solutions provider in terms of size, scale and client and team member satisfaction. ABM remain strongly positioned supported by a substantial base of recurring maintenance-related revenue, including janitorial and engineering services where we serve more than 20,000 clients. We will continue to invest in and grow our base businesses, both organically and through acquisitions where it makes sense, and we will enhance our performance through a greater use of advanced technology.

鑑於當前勞動力市場面臨的挑戰，預計利潤率的提高不太可能呈線性增長，但最終目標仍然完全可以實現，因為我們預計未來幾年勞動力成本和通脹將有所緩解。這將與我們不斷發展的服務組合相吻合。此外，利潤率在未來幾年應該會受益於與我之前概述的我們的 ELEVATE 投資相關的運營效率提高和成本節約。我們對 ABM 的願景仍然清晰。我們努力成為規模、規模以及客戶和團隊成員滿意度方面領先的設施解決方案提供商。 ABM 在經常性維護相關收入的基礎上保持強大的地位，包括我們為 20,000 多個客戶提供服務的清潔和工程服務。我們將繼續投資和發展我們的基礎業務，無論是有機地還是通過有意義的收購，我們將通過更多地使用先進技術來提高我們的績效。

The free cash that our core business generates will be reinvested in adjacent businesses with large addressable markets and high growth rates and margins as we have done with acquisitions like RavenVolt and organic investments in eMobility. Through this strategy, we see ABM evolving into a higher growth, higher margin facility solution provider underpinned by resilient strength of our core business. We also intend to use our strong cash flow to return cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

我們的核心業務產生的自由現金將重新投資於具有廣闊可尋址市場和高增長率和利潤率的相鄰業務，就像我們對 RavenVolt 等收購和對 eMobility 的有機投資所做的那樣。通過這一戰略，我們看到 ABM 發展成為一個增長更快、利潤更高的設施解決方案提供商，並以我們核心業務的彈性實力為支撐。我們還打算利用我們強勁的現金流通過股息和股票回購向股東返還現金。

Now I'll turn the call over to Earl for the financials.

現在我會把電話轉給 Earl 來了解財務狀況。

Thank you, Scott, and good afternoon, everyone. For those of you following along with our earnings presentation, please turn to Slide 5. Fourth quarter revenue increased 18.6% to $2 billion, reflecting the contribution for acquisitions as well as broad-based organic revenue growth of 5.8%.

謝謝斯科特，大家下午好。對於跟隨我們的收益演示的那些人，請轉到幻燈片 5。第四季度收入增長 18.6% 至 20 億美元，反映了收購的貢獻以及基礎廣泛的有機收入增長 5.8%。

Moving on to Slide 6. Net income in the fourth quarter was $48.9 million or $0.73 per diluted share, up 43% and 46%, respectively, over the same period last year. The increase in GAAP net income primarily reflects higher segment earnings on significantly higher volume and lower acquisition and integration costs, partially offset by higher interest expense and higher ELEVATE-related investments. Adjusted net income for the fourth quarter increased 2% and to $59.4 million and adjusted earnings per share was $0.89, an increase of 5% over the prior year period. The increases in adjusted net income and adjusted EPS were due primarily to higher segment earnings, partially offset by higher interest expense.

轉到幻燈片 6。第四季度淨收入為 4890 萬美元或每股攤薄收益 0.73 美元，分別比去年同期增長 43% 和 46%。 GAAP 淨收入的增長主要反映了更高的銷量和更低的收購和整合成本帶來的更高的分部收益，部分被更高的利息支出和更高的 ELEVATE 相關投資所抵消。第四季度調整後淨收入增長 2%，達到 5940 萬美元，調整後每股收益為 0.89 美元，比去年同期增長 5%。調整後淨收入和調整後每股收益的增加主要是由於分部收益增加，部分被利息支出增加所抵消。

Adjusted EBITDA grew 18% over the prior year period to $130.7 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter was 6.8%, flat with last year, largely reflecting tight cost control and price escalation, which largely offset the anticipated decline in higher-margin disinfection services as well as higher operating costs, particularly for labor. I believe our margin performance was quite impressive given the labor environment we faced during the year, and our team did a phenomenal job successfully negotiating price through escalation.

調整後的 EBITDA 比上年同期增長 18% 至 1.307 億美元。本季度調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 6.8%，與去年持平，這在很大程度上反映了嚴格的成本控制和價格上漲，這在很大程度上抵消了利潤率較高的消毒服務的預期下降以及更高的運營成本，尤其是勞動力成本。考慮到我們這一年面臨的勞動力環境，我相信我們的利潤率表現相當可觀，而且我們的團隊在通過升級成功談判價格方面做得非常出色。

Now turning to our segment results beginning on Slide 7. B&I revenue increased 27.5% to over $1 billion, primarily driven by the contributions from the acquisitions of Able and Momentum. Excluding acquisitions, organic revenue growth was 2.6%, reflecting modestly improved office occupancy rates as well as solid demand for parking services, concerts and sporting events. Operating profit in B&I increased 32.9% to $92.4 million, benefiting from significantly higher revenue. Our operating margin of 9% was slightly higher than that of the prior year period and largely reflected leverage on volume and strong execution with regard to price escalation and cost controls.

現在轉向我們從幻燈片 7 開始的分部業績。B&I 收入增長 27.5%，超過 10 億美元，這主要是由收購 Able 和 Momentum 的貢獻推動的。不包括收購在內，有機收入增長 2.6%，反映了辦公室入住率的小幅提高以及對停車服務、音樂會和體育賽事的強勁需求。 B&I 的營業利潤增長 32.9% 至 9,240 萬美元，這得益於顯著增加的收入。我們 9% 的營業利潤率略高於上年同期，這在很大程度上反映了對數量的影響以及在價格上漲和成本控制方面的強有力執行。

Aviation revenue increased 9.1% to $214.4 million, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of robust year-over-year revenue growth. This improvement was largely due to increased leisure and business airline traffic and related increase in parking activity in a post-COVID environment. Looking ahead, we believe year-over-year growth rate in Aviation will moderate as travel has essentially transitioned back to pre-COVID levels. Aviation operating profit was $1.3 million versus $13.2 million in the prior year period and margin was 0.6%. Operating earnings and margin were negatively impacted by work order approval timing related to a large parking construction project where ABM had completed significant work and awaits final customer approval. We expect to receive approvals in the first half of the calendar 2023.

航空收入增長 9.1% 至 2.144 億美元，標誌著收入連續第六個季度實現強勁的同比增長。這一改善主要是由於休閒和商務航空客流量的增加以及後 COVID 環境中停車活動的相關增加。展望未來，我們認為航空業的同比增長率將會放緩，因為旅行基本上已經恢復到 COVID 之前的水平。航空運營利潤為 130 萬美元，而去年同期為 1320 萬美元，利潤率為 0.6%。營業收入和利潤率受到與大型停車場建設項目相關的工作訂單批准時間的負面影響，ABM 已完成重要工作並等待最終客戶批准。我們預計將在 2023 年上半年獲得批准。

Turning to Slide 8. Manufacturing & Distribution revenue grew 8.7% to $371.2 million, reflecting solid market demand and expanded business with existing e-commerce and manufacturing clients. Operating profit increased 11.3% to $41.2 million and operating margin improved 30 basis points to 11.1%. These results were driven by favorable customer mix and operating leverage on higher volume, partially offset by lower levels of disinfection related work orders.

轉到幻燈片 8。製造和分銷收入增長 8.7% 至 3.712 億美元，反映出穩健的市場需求以及與現有電子商務和製造客戶的業務擴展。營業利潤增長 11.3% 至 4120 萬美元，營業利潤率提高 30 個基點至 11.1%。這些結果是由有利的客戶組合和更高產量的運營槓桿推動的，部分被較低水平的消毒相關工作訂單所抵消。

Education revenue increased 6.9% to $217.1 million, benefiting from new clients onboarded in the fourth quarter. With bidding activity in Education fairly strong, we expect Education to continue to post positive year-over-year growth in 2023. Education operating profit was $8.3 million, up 3% on the prior year period on higher volume. Margin decreased 20 basis points to 3.8% due to lower EnhancedClean revenue as well as higher wage costs, including overtime expenses.

教育收入增長 6.9% 至 2.171 億美元，這得益於第四季度新客戶的加入。由於教育領域的投標活動相當強勁，我們預計教育領域將在 2023 年繼續實現同比正增長。教育業務營業利潤為 830 萬美元，較上年同期增長 3%，原因是數量增加。由於 EnhancedClean 收入減少以及包括加班費在內的工資成本增加，利潤率下降 20 個基點至 3.8%。

Technical Solutions grew revenue 21.5% to $179.6 million, largely driven by continued strong growth in our eMobility service offering, strong growth in mission-critical markets and from the recent RavenVolt acquisition. Operating profit was $20.9 million compared to $18.8 million last year. Operating margin decreased to 11.7%, primarily reflecting service mix that was most heavily weighted to our eMobility service line versus the prior year.

Technical Solutions 收入增長 21.5% 至 1.796 億美元，這主要是由於我們的 eMobility 服務產品持續強勁增長、關鍵任務市場的強勁增長以及最近對 RavenVolt 的收購。營業利潤為 2090 萬美元，而去年為 1880 萬美元。營業利潤率下降至 11.7%，主要反映了與上一年相比，我們的 eMobility 服務線權重最大的服務組合。

Moving on to Slide 9. We ended the fourth quarter with total debt of $1.4 billion, including $158 million in standby letters of credit, resulting in a total debt to pro forma adjusted EBITDA ratio of 2.6x. At the end of Q4, we had available liquidity of $686 million, including cash and cash equivalents of $73 million. Free cash flow in the fourth quarter was $104 million. For the full year, free cash flow was negative $30 million, reflecting a $143 million legal settlement and another combined $146 million impact from our CARES Act repayment, integration costs and ELEVATE expenses. Full 2022 free cash flow was over $250 million, excluding these items. Interest expense was $16 million in the fourth quarter up nearly $10 million over the prior year period and about $5 million sequentially from Q3, reflecting significantly higher interest rates as well as a year-over-year increase to total debt by $380 million.

轉到幻燈片 9。我們在第四季度結束時的總債務為 14 億美元，其中包括 1.58 億美元的備用信用證，導致總債務與備考調整後 EBITDA 的比率為 2.6 倍。第四季度末，我們的可用流動資金為 6.86 億美元，包括現金和現金等價物 7300 萬美元。第四季度的自由現金流為 1.04 億美元。全年，自由現金流為負 3000 萬美元，反映了 1.43 億美元的法律和解以及我們的 CARES 法案還款、整合成本和 ELEVATE 費用的另外 1.46 億美元的總影響。不包括這些項目，2022 年的全部自由現金流超過 2.5 億美元。第四季度的利息支出為 1600 萬美元，比去年同期增加近 1000 萬美元，比第三季度增加約 500 萬美元，反映出利率顯著上升以及總債務同比增加 3.8 億美元。

Turning to capital allocation. We repurchased roughly 580,000 shares in the fourth quarter at an average price of $39.69 per share, for a total cost of $23 million. For the fiscal 2022 year, we repurchased approximately $2.3 million for $97.5 million. We also recently received Board approval for $150 million expansion of ABM's share repurchase authorization. The total authorization now stands at $197 million.

轉向資本配置。我們在第四季度以每股 39.69 美元的平均價格回購了大約 580,000 股股票，總成本為 2300 萬美元。在 2022 財年，我們以 9750 萬美元的價格回購了大約 230 萬美元。我們最近還獲得了董事會批准，將 ABM 的股票回購授權擴大 1.5 億美元。目前授權總額為 1.97 億美元。

Now let's move on to guidance for fiscal 2023, as shown on Slide 10. For 2023, we expect GAAP EPS to be in the range of $2.43 to $2.63 with adjusted EPS to be in the range of $3.40 to $3.60. Interest expense is expected to be between $71 million and $74 million in 2023 compared to $41 million in 2022. Our tax rate is expected to be between 29% and 30%. We expect to grow adjusted EBITDA at a mid-single-digit rate with an adjusted EBITDA margin between 6.4% and 6.8%. We expect full year 2023 cash flow to be in the range of $270 million to $300 million before the second and final installment of our Cares Act repayment of $66 million and combined integration and ELEVATE cost of about $75 million to $80 million.

現在讓我們繼續討論 2023 財年的指導，如幻燈片 10 所示。對於 2023 年，我們預計 GAAP 每股收益將在 2.43 美元至 2.63 美元之間，調整後每股收益將在 3.40 美元至 3.60 美元之間。 2023 年的利息支出預計在 7100 萬美元至 7400 萬美元之間，而 2022 年為 4100 萬美元。我們的稅率預計在 29% 至 30% 之間。我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 將以中等個位數的速度增長，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率將在 6.4% 至 6.8% 之間。我們預計 2023 年全年現金流量將在 2.7 億美元至 3 億美元之間，然後我們的《關懷法案》第二期也是最後一期還款 6600 萬美元，合併整合和 ELEVATE 成本約為 7500 萬至 8000 萬美元。

Turning to Slide 11. We expect to post solid mid-single-digit growth in operating earnings at the midpoint of our guidance, reflecting revenue growth supported by price escalation and other cost control measures to help mitigate higher labor costs and labor shortages. At the same time, we anticipate interest expense will be a $0.32 to $0.35 headwind to earnings per share in 2023 representing the primary cause of the year-over-year decline in our forecasted adjusted EPS. Overall, our anticipated growth in operating earnings in a tough macro environment speaks to the underlying strength of our business model and our team.

轉到幻燈片 11。我們預計營業收入將在我們的指引中點實現穩健的中個位數增長，反映出價格上漲和其他成本控制措施支持的收入增長，以幫助緩解勞動力成本上升和勞動力短缺的問題。與此同時，我們預計利息支出將對 2023 年的每股收益造成 0.32 美元至 0.35 美元的不利影響，這是我們預測的調整後每股收益同比下降的主要原因。總體而言，我們在艱難的宏觀環境中預期的營業收入增長說明了我們的商業模式和團隊的潛在實力。

Additionally, we expect the quarterly cadence of our adjusted EPS to return to a more typical pattern now that most of the impacts of COVID have subsided. Prior to the pandemic, for example, our Q1 earnings have represented, on average, approximately 21% to 22% of our full year adjusted EPS, with about 45% of adjusted earnings per share generated in the first half of the year, we expect a similar performance in fiscal 2023.

此外，由於 COVID 的大部分影響已經消退，我們預計調整後每股收益的季度節奏將恢復到更典型的模式。例如，在大流行之前，我們第一季度的收益平均佔全年調整後每股收益的 21% 至 22%，我們預計上半年產生的調整後每股收益約為 45% 2023 財年的表現類似。

With that, let me turn it back to Scott for closing comments.

有了這個，讓我把它轉回 Scott 以結束評論。

Thanks, Earl. I'm very excited about the future of ABM. Nobody in our industry matches the scope of our services, the scale of our operations or the strength of our balance sheet. I'm confident we will deliver a solid 2023 and continue to make progress towards our 2025 goals.

謝謝，厄爾。我對 ABM 的未來感到非常興奮。在我們的行業中，沒有人能比得上我們的服務範圍、運營規模或資產負債表的實力。我相信我們將在 2023 年實現堅實的目標，並繼續朝著我們的 2025 年目標取得進展。

With that, let's take some questions.

有了這個，讓我們提出一些問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question is from Tim Mulrooney with William Blair.

我們的第一個問題來自蒂姆馬爾羅尼和威廉布萊爾。

This is Sam Kusswurm filling in for Tim. Maybe to start, we've seen recently some companies pull back hiring or even announced targeted layoffs and recent (inaudible) seem to show some cooling in the labor market. It sounds like it's still a very difficult labor mark for you guys. But are you guys seeing any signs of increased labor availability? Or are you even able to find talent easier than, maybe, say, a few months ago?

這是 Sam Kusswurm 代替 Tim。也許首先，我們最近看到一些公司撤回招聘，甚至宣布有針對性的裁員，最近（聽不清）似乎顯示勞動力市場有所降溫。聽起來這對你們來說仍然是一個非常困難的勞工標誌。但是你們有沒有看到任何勞動力供應增加的跡象？或者說，您是否比幾個月前更容易找到人才？

Yes, sure. That's a good question. Look, I think if you think of 2022, right, I mean, for us, we're in 2023 now with our fiscal year, but when you think of 2022, I mean, that was as bad as we've ever seen. So we're expecting a little bit of moderation this year. We're starting to see the participation rate, which is people that will come into the market. We're starting to see applications go up a little bit. So we're still cautious, Tim, for sure, and we still think it's going to be a very challenging year. We're hoping that it's going to be incrementally better than last year.

是的，當然。這是個好問題。看，我想如果你想到 2022 年，對，我的意思是，對我們來說，我們現在是 2023 年的財政年度，但當你想到 2022 年時，我的意思是，這是我們所見過的最糟糕的情況。因此，我們預計今年會有所緩和。我們開始看到參與率，即進入市場的人。我們開始看到應用程序有所增加。所以我們仍然保持謹慎，蒂姆，當然，我們仍然認為這將是非常具有挑戰性的一年。我們希望它會比去年更好。

That's helpful. I appreciate the color. For maybe pivoting to ERP actually, you mentioned you expect to begin the rollout in 2023. I was wondering if you could provide us a bit more detail on that project? Will the rollout be targeting any segment or client type first? And I know you broadly talked about the margin benefits from the ELEVATE program, but can you share how you think about the ERP project as it relates to any margin benefit?

這很有幫助。我很欣賞這種顏色。對於可能實際上轉向 ERP，您提到您希望在 2023 年開始推出。我想知道您是否可以向我們提供有關該項目的更多詳細信息？推出會首先針對任何細分市場或客戶類型嗎？我知道您廣泛地談到了 ELEVATE 計劃的邊際收益，但您能否分享您對 ERP 項目的看法，因為它與任何邊際收益相關？

Sure. I mean, look, we're going to be very prescriptive and careful in how we roll them out. We're going to start with our Education group midyear next year, and it's probably a 2-year process of rollout industry group by industry group. And I mean, we're just super excited about it because we're going to just going to have modern best-in-class systems for our financial data. And I think what people forget is that the ERP is kind of the center of the hub, the financial system that every system that we have talks to the ERP, right?

當然。我的意思是，看，我們將非常規範和謹慎地推出它們。我們將在明年年中從我們的教育集團開始，這可能是一個按行業集團推出行業集團的 2 年過程。我的意思是，我們對此感到非常興奮，因為我們將為我們的財務數據配備一流的現代系統。而且我認為人們忘記的是，ERP 是集線器的中心，我們擁有的每個系統都與 ERP 對話的財務系統，對嗎？

So the data analytics we're going to have with our timekeeping system, our work order system, like everything, think of the ERP as a heartbeat of every system that we have in the firm and workforce management tools that we're going to be rolling out through ELEVATE, everything ties into it. So we just couldn't be more excited about it, but expected to start cascading through mid-year next year with Education. And we're going to -- we'll keep you guys close to it as we roll it out because, again, there's so much of an anticipation in the firm for it.

因此，我們將對我們的計時系統、我們的工作訂單系統進行數據分析，就像所有的事情一樣，將 ERP 視為我們在公司和勞動力管理工具中擁有的每個系統的心跳通過 ELEVATE 推出，一切都與之相關。因此，我們對此感到非常興奮，但預計明年年中將開始與教育部門進行級聯。我們將 - 我們將在推出時讓你們接近它，因為再次，公司對此有太多的期待。

Excellent. That's good to hear. And maybe if I could just squeeze 1 more real quick, just a housekeeping question. For your guidance, how much are you assuming in management reimbursement revenue? I know your EBITDA margin guidance excludes this, so I just want to level set for everybody.

出色的。聽起來還不錯。也許我可以再快一點，只是一個內務問題。對於您的指導，您假設管理報銷收入有多少？我知道你的 EBITDA 利潤率指導不包括這一點，所以我只想為每個人設定水平。

Management reimbursement is that more for -- on the parking side, which is something we talked about. It's about 30 basis points you can think about.

管理報銷更多的是——在停車方面，這是我們談到的。大約是你可以考慮的30個基點。

Our next question is from Andy Wittmann with Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自 Baird 的 Andy Wittmann。

I thought I would ask a question here just on some of the implications from your guidance on the revenue line. You went through this a little bit by the segment, but I guess with the EBITDA expected to be up mid-single digits, you obviously have some inorganic contribution from RavenVolt and the other deal. I guess in margins, basically, at the midpoint guided EBITDA margins guided flat year-over-year. I guess that means that the organic revenue guidance is probably like in the 3% or 4% range, I guess I just wanted to see, have you comment on that? And then it sounds like you're taking good growth in Technical Solutions. It sounds like there's good momentum in Education, M&D has been strong for years and had a good quarter here. So it feels like the slower growing segments are Aviation and B&I. So maybe Earl, do I have that right? Or is there some way I should be thinking about that differently?

我想我會在這裡問一個問題，只是關於你對收入線的指導的一些影響。你按細分市場進行了一點點，但我猜 EBITDA 預計將上升到中等個位數，你顯然從 RavenVolt 和其他交易中得到了一些無機貢獻。我想在利潤率方面，基本上，在中點指導的 EBITDA 利潤率指導下同比持平。我想這意味著有機收入指導可能在 3% 或 4% 的範圍內，我想我只是想看看，你對此有何評論？然後聽起來您在技術解決方案方面取得了良好的發展。聽起來教育領域勢頭良好，M&D 多年來一直很強勁，並且在這裡有一個很好的季度。所以感覺增長較慢的部分是航空和 B&I。所以也許 Earl，我說得對嗎？或者有什麼方法我應該以不同的方式考慮這個問題？

Yes. No, thanks, Andy. To answer your first question with regards to revenue. So I think one way of thinking about it is that we're planning on growing our revenue organically above GDP. And again, if you think about it, we're continuing to see good demand for our services across each of our IGs. And again, if you look at that plus the contributions associated with acquisitions, and to your point, flat margin, that kind of gets you to that mid-single digit EBITDA growth year-over-year.

是的。不，謝謝，安迪。回答你關於收入的第一個問題。因此，我認為一種思考方式是，我們計劃讓我們的收入有機地增長到 GDP 以上。再一次，如果你仔細想想，我們會繼續看到我們每個 IG 對我們服務的良好需求。再說一遍，如果你看看這個加上與收購相關的貢獻，就你的觀點而言，利潤率持平，這會讓你的 EBITDA 同比增長達到中個位數。

With regards to the IGs, one thing to note, you're absolutely right. ATS, we will see probably above-average growth as we continue to see the benefits associated with eMobility and sustainability projects. However, Aviation, because we're still -- if you think about the first couple of quarters of FY '22, where we weren't still back to kind of like pre-pandemic levels, as we now have been emerging to prepandemic levels, and we lap those periods, you will see kind of like outpaced growth in Aviation as well.

關於 IG，需要注意一件事，你是完全正確的。 ATS，隨著我們繼續看到與電動交通和可持續發展項目相關的好處，我們可能會看到高於平均水平的增長。然而，航空業，因為我們仍然——如果你想想 22 財年的前幾個季度，我們還沒有回到大流行前的水平，因為我們現在已經恢復到大流行前的水平，並且我們在這些時期內進行了重疊，您也會看到航空業的增長速度也有所加快。

Okay. Speaking of Aviation, I guess, could you help us understand the magnitude of the work order or the change order that you're waiting for on the approval for that one? And why is -- is there a dispute over the work? Is that why it's taking longer to get paid? Maybe just some background on that. It looks like just judging on the margins here versus kind of historical levels, but it looks like it's fairly material.

好的。說到航空，我想，您能否幫助我們了解您正在等待批准的工作訂單或變更訂單的規模？為什麼 - 對工作有爭議嗎？這就是為什麼要花更長的時間才能得到報酬的原因嗎？也許只是一些背景知識。看起來只是根據這裡的利潤率與某種歷史水平來判斷，但它看起來相當重要。

Yes. No. I mean, relatively speaking, not for the enterprise, but for Aviation, it was only because if you think about half that we've had for Aviation at 5% operating profit, right? So now this gets flat. So you could do the math as well as I can. It's about a $10 million issue. And this context, Andy, is we're in this very large project with a client that involves construction operations. We're putting in our ABMVantage. So what happens, these projects are super dynamic, right? And there's changes that happen along the way. And as these changes are requested by clients, we'll do that even ahead of the formality of some approval processes that clients go through.

是的。不，我的意思是，相對而言，不是對企業而言，而是對航空業而言，這只是因為如果你考慮一下我們航空業的營業利潤為 5% 的一半，對吧？所以現在這變得平坦了。所以你可以像我一樣做數學。這是一個價值 1000 萬美元的問題。安迪，這個背景是我們在這個非常大的項目中，有一個涉及建築運營的客戶。我們正在投入我們的 ABMVantage。那麼會發生什麼，這些項目是超級動態的，對吧？一路上會發生一些變化。由於客戶要求進行這些更改，我們甚至會在客戶完成某些批准流程的手續之前就這樣做。

So in this case, towards quarter end, we are in the process where the work got ahead of the formality of the approval process, we're highly confident that in the first half of the year, we're going to get that payment. It's for us, it's a timing issue.

因此，在這種情況下，在接近季度末時，我們正處於工作領先於批准流程正式化的過程中，我們非常有信心在今年上半年，我們將獲得這筆款項。對我們來說，這是一個時間問題。

Got it. Okay. Last question, Scott. Just you didn't mention in the script, but it was in the press release that you're targeting the 30% to 35% payout of adjusted EPS as the dividend over time. Now maybe I missed it or maybe I just haven't focused on it enough, but you paid out about 21% this year. So I guess what's a realistic time period, not looking for specific guidance, but to get to that level, obviously, the dividend bump that you had here was a little bit bigger, it seems like you're starting to strive for that. But is this like something we can expect to happen by like '24 to get to that payout ratio? Or how should we be thinking about that?

知道了。好的。最後一個問題，斯科特。只是你沒有在腳本中提到，但在新聞稿中，你的目標是調整後每股收益的 30% 到 35% 作為分紅。現在也許我錯過了它，或者我只是沒有足夠關注它，但你今年支付了大約 21%。所以我想什麼是現實的時間段，不是尋找具體的指導，而是要達到那個水平，很明顯，你在這裡的股息增長有點大，你似乎開始為此而努力。但這是否像我們可以期望在 24 年之前發生的事情以達到該支付率？或者我們應該如何考慮？

Yes. I'll take that question, Andy. So if you look at the increase that we've just announced, it really is what I would call a jump-start to our longer-term strategy of getting back to that 30% to 35%, which again, is where we were pre-pandemic. I would say from a time perspective, again, we're not rushing into this. So I'd say it's not going to be linear, but probably about three- to 5-year period.

是的。我來回答這個問題，安迪。因此，如果您看看我們剛剛宣布的增長，我認為這真的是我們恢復到 30% 到 35% 的長期戰略的啟動，這也是我們之前的目標-大流行。我想再次強調，從時間的角度來看，我們並不是急於求成。所以我想說它不會是線性的，但可能大約是三到五年的時間。

Our next question is from Faiza Alwy with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Faiza Alwy。

So first, I guess, Scott, I was wondering if you could reflect back on maybe the acquisition of Able and how you would characterize some of the cross-selling efforts, sort of where are you in that cycle, like has the acquisition so far been in line with your expectations ahead of your expectations. Just some perspective on that would be helpful?

所以首先，我想，斯科特，我想知道你是否可以回顧一下對 Able 的收購，以及你將如何描述一些交叉銷售的努力，比如你在那個週期中的位置，就像到目前為止的收購一樣超出您的期望符合您的期望。對此有一些看法會有幫助嗎？

Sure. Well, I could start by saying we are just super excited that we consummated that transaction and what this does for us, Faiza, in like the kind of engineering space, right, and sustainability and all the headwinds in that area or I should say, tailwinds in that area, just phenomenal. So we're super pleased with the acquisitions. It's on our expectation, everything we thought we would get from Able. So really, really excited. The cross-selling efforts just beginning now. I think that's something -- and I think we've said from the start, that's something that takes time because you put business development teams together, they've got to get educated on the platform. So that's a longer journey, but I would just say today, we're as optimistic as ever -- probably a little bit more optimistic now that we got a chance to look under the covers and we're just really happy with the acquisition.

當然。好吧，我可以首先說，我們非常興奮我們完成了這筆交易，這對我們 Faiza 有什麼好處，比如工程空間，對，可持續性以及該領域的所有不利因素，或者我應該說，該地區的順風，非常驚人。所以我們對這些收購非常滿意。這是我們的期望，我們認為我們會從 Able 那裡得到的一切。真的，真的很興奮。交叉銷售的努力現在才剛剛開始。我認為這是一件事——我想我們從一開始就說過，這需要時間，因為你將業務開發團隊放在一起，他們必須在平台上接受教育。所以這是一段較長的旅程，但我今天只想說，我們一如既往地樂觀——現在我們有機會深入了解，我們對此次收購感到非常高興，因此可能會更加樂觀。

Great. And then on the eMobility part of the business. Could you help size it for us in terms of what it was in the year? I know it's been growing very strongly. And maybe if there is a number that you can put in terms of how you're thinking about that for 2023? And like are you thinking of RavenVolt as, I mean I don't think it's part of eMobility specifically, but would you put it in a similar box, maybe, like what's the growth trajectory that we should be thinking about for those 2 businesses?

偉大的。然後是業務的 eMobility 部分。你能根據當年的情況幫助我們調整規模嗎？我知道它的增長非常強勁。也許您可以提供一個數字來說明您對 2023 年的看法？就像你認為 RavenVolt 一樣，我的意思是我不認為它是 eMobility 的一部分，但你會把它放在一個類似的盒子裡嗎，也許，比如我們應該為這兩家企業考慮的增長軌跡是什麼？

Sure, sure. So like eMobility, I can only tell you, like you saw the numbers, it went from $30 million plus to $130 million plus year-over-year. And it's like we have such high hopes for it. It's really hard to talk about the addressable market because it's so big. The numbers are crazy, right, because. And you know this just intuitively, the demand for electric vehicles, the lack of charging stations out into the public, it's a huge addressable market. We love the fact that we are #1 installer and that we're building a business around that because there's so many components of eMobility that we're still not in yet. So we're super excited about eMobility, but it's really hard for me to tell you what the ultimate size will be other than we're putting a lot of effort into it, and we're going to be growing, we're going to be growing, obviously, faster probably than any other place -- any other segment.

好的好的。所以就像 eMobility，我只能告訴你，就像你看到的數字一樣，它從 3000 萬美元以上增長到 1.3 億美元以上。就好像我們對它寄予厚望一樣。很難談論潛在市場，因為它太大了。這些數字很瘋狂，對吧，因為。你憑直覺就知道這一點，對電動汽車的需求，缺乏面向公眾的充電站，這是一個巨大的潛在市場。我們喜歡這樣一個事實，即我們是排名第一的安裝商，並且我們正在圍繞這一點開展業務，因為 eMobility 的許多組件我們還沒有涉足。所以我們對 eMobility 感到非常興奮，但我真的很難告訴你最終的規模是多少，除非我們為此付出了很多努力，而且我們會不斷成長，我們會顯然，增長速度可能超過任何其他地方——任何其他細分市場。

And then RavenVolt, again, super excited about that. I mean if there was anything with RavenVolt like they're experiencing what everyone is experiencing in terms of supply chain issues, that hasn't led up. But the backlog is growing. I made mention in my prepared remarks about this massive contract that we just won. So for us, it's about just rolling it out. And actually, like we said, we don't recognize revenue until we turn to (inaudible) or install the microgrid. And I think we're all just hoping that in '23 or at least the back half of '23, we'll start seeing some relaxing on the supply chain.

然後 RavenVolt 再次對此感到非常興奮。我的意思是，如果 RavenVolt 有任何問題，就像他們正在經歷每個人在供應鏈問題方面所經歷的那樣，那還沒有導致。但是積壓的訂單越來越多。我在準備好的評論中提到了我們剛剛贏得的這份巨額合同。所以對我們來說，這只是推出它。實際上，正如我們所說，在我們轉向（聽不清）或安裝微電網之前，我們不會確認收入。而且我認為我們都希望在 23 年或至少 23 年的後半段，我們將開始看到供應鏈有所放鬆。

And then just a follow-up on the labor point. I think you said, although I could be wrong, that you -- over time, you expect labor costs to ease, which I think is a fair paint. But I also know that you do have a pretty heavily unionized workforce. And those contracts, I believe, are up for renewal in '24, '25. Give us a sense of like how far in advance do those negotiations start? Like are you anticipating that you might see sort of a big increase, sort of almost like a catch-up payment that might happen? Like how do you think about that?

然後只是對勞動點的跟進。我想你說過，雖然我可能是錯的，但隨著時間的推移，你預計勞動力成本會下降，我認為這是公平的。但我也知道你們確實有一支工會化程度很高的勞動力。我相信，這些合同將在 24 年、25 年續簽。讓我們了解這些談判提前多長時間開始？就像您是否預計您可能會看到大幅增長，有點像可能發生的追加付款？你怎麼看？

Yes. So typically, these negotiations start anywhere from 6 months to 4 months before. So we have some time on that. And there could be a catch-up. For us, it's less worrisome because with collective bargaining agreements, they're public documents. A lot of time, Faiza, the management companies and the owners help negotiate this. So it's very transparent and it's when we're going for customer increases, it's the easier part of the market because they know about what the wage progression is going to be. They help negotiate a lot of times. So it's an easier conversation when you say to them, listen, the wage and benefit portions going up 4.5% and we're a lower-margin business. We have to recapture that. So that doesn't cause us a lot of hard ache.

是的。因此，通常情況下，這些談判會在 6 個月到 4 個月之前的任何地方開始。所以我們有一些時間來解決這個問題。並且可能會趕上來。對我們來說，這並不那麼令人擔憂，因為有了集體談判協議，它們就是公開文件。很多時候，Faiza、管理公司和業主幫助談判。所以它非常透明，當我們要增加客戶時，它是市場中比較容易的部分，因為他們知道工資的增長情況。他們幫助談判很多次。因此，當你對他們說，聽著，工資和福利部分上漲 4.5%，而我們是一家利潤率較低的企業時，談話會更容易。我們必須重新抓住這一點。所以這不會給我們帶來很多痛苦。

Our next question is from Sean Eastman with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Sean Eastman。

I just wanted to start with a granular one just given the initial guidance came in below the forecast I had. And I want to make sure we frame exactly why, because the margins coming in line with expectations was good to see. So maybe one of the other kind of missing pieces is the [D&A], especially in light of RavenVolt being folded in there, Earl, would you be able to help us out with that?

我只是想從一個細化的開始，因為最初的指導低於我的預測。我想確保我們準確地說明原因，因為利潤率符合預期是件好事。所以也許另一種缺失的部分是 [D&A]，特別是考慮到 RavenVolt 被折疊在那裡，Earl，你能幫我們解決這個問題嗎？

Yes. I would say just based on what I've seen from some of the consensus. I think the biggest outlier is really interest. And I think based on what we put out in the script, where we're suggesting that our interest is going to be anywhere between $72 million to $74 million, which is a significant increase year-over-year. That's probably the biggest delta that you actually have to your current consensus.

是的。我想說的只是基於我從一些共識中看到的內容。我認為最大的異常值是真正的興趣。而且我認為根據我們在劇本中提出的內容，我們建議我們的興趣將在 7200 萬美元到 7400 萬美元之間，這比去年同期有了顯著增長。這可能是您對當前共識實際擁有的最大增量。

Yes. And what I would say, Sean, is like if you strip out interest expense, and you look at where we're guiding and the range we're guiding and we are growing this firm. And the reason I wanted to jump in is we're just so proud of that, right? We all know the macroeconomic environment. We know the wage pressures. We know what people are thinking about potential recession, all that good stuff. And we're continuing to grow this firm operationally, which says that we're agile, we know how to manage our labor, we're aggressive in getting price escalations from our clients. So like super, super proud of where we're coming in ex the interest expense portion.

是的。肖恩，我想說的是，如果你剔除利息費用，看看我們的指導方向和範圍，我們正在發展這家公司。我想加入的原因是我們為此感到非常自豪，對吧？我們都知道宏觀經濟環境。我們知道工資壓力。我們知道人們對潛在衰退的看法，所有這些好東西。我們將繼續在運營上發展這家公司，這表明我們很敏捷，我們知道如何管理我們的勞動力，我們積極地從客戶那裡獲得價格上漲。因此，就像超級一樣，我們為利息支出部分的進展感到非常自豪。

Yes. I think that's a good jump in, Scott, but early, I still want that D&A?

是的。我認為這是一個很好的開始，斯科特，但早點，我還想要那個 D&A？

The D&A. So if we think, look, D&A, we don't have the -- I'm not guiding to the exact number, but what I can tell you is that the D&A is really associated with the acquisitions of RavenVolt. If you look at what we're guiding from an acquisition perspective, we have the RavenVolt the latest acquisition. And again, what we shared last quarter is that we're anticipating that to be $0.03 to $0.04 of accretive EPS, net of the interest expense.

在達。因此，如果我們認為，看，D&A，我們沒有——我沒有指導確切的數字，但我可以告訴你的是，D&A 確實與 RavenVolt 的收購有關。如果你從收購的角度來看我們的指導方針，我們有 RavenVolt 是最新的收購。再一次，我們上個季度分享的是，我們預計扣除利息支出後每股收益將增加 0.03 美元至 0.04 美元。

Okay. All right. That helps. Great. And over the past several quarters, we've been kind of waiting for contract rebids to occur in a meaningful fashion. My understanding was a lot of those decisions were kind of being pushed out through the pandemic. And I wondered if those decisions have started to kick off and how you'd characterize how ABM is faring in terms of retention and maybe market share gains?

好的。好的。這有幫助。偉大的。在過去的幾個季度裡，我們一直在等待以有意義的方式重新投標合同。我的理解是，很多這些決定都是在大流行期間被推遲的。我想知道這些決定是否已經開始啟動，以及您如何描述 ABM 在保留率和市場份額增長方面的表現？

Sure. I mean, look, I think you saw we had a 93% retention rate this year, which was phenomenal from our perspective, right? And so it hasn't been yet because -- I'll always be conservative, you know that, Sean, but it hasn't been yet this onslaught of all these clients saying, we have to go out to bid. We have to reprice we've been pretty aggressive on working with clients on renewals, right, ahead of bids, but this cascade of clients bidding out work hasn't been on the radar right now. It doesn't mean it won't change, it doesn't mean we won't come back from -- I'm always going to be conservative, right? It doesn't mean we won't come back from the holidays. But I have to tell you this is not something that's keeping us awake at night right now, whereas maybe a year or so ago, we thought, wow, when the pandemic ends or all these clients are going to go out to bid, and we're just that's not the sentiment that we're getting from our clients right now.

當然。我的意思是，你看，我想你看到我們今年的保留率達到了 93%，從我們的角度來看這是驚人的，對吧？所以它還沒有，因為 - 我將永遠保守，你知道，肖恩，但還沒有所有這些客戶的攻擊說，我們必須出去投標。我們必須重新定價，我們一直非常積極地與客戶就續約進行合作，正確的，在出價之前，但目前還沒有引起人們的注意。這並不意味著它不會改變，這並不意味著我們不會回來——我總是會保持保守，對吧？這並不意味著我們不會從假期回來。但我必須告訴你，這並不是現在讓我們徹夜難眠的事情，而大約一年前，我們想，哇，當大流行結束或所有這些客戶都將出去競標時，我們這不是我們現在從客戶那裡得到的情緒。

Okay. That's probably good. Okay. And then -- how would you characterize the economic sensitivity to sort of the nonjanitorial margin-accretive growth story over the next couple of years?

好的。這可能很好。好的。然後 - 您如何描述未來幾年非清潔利潤增長故事的經濟敏感性？

Yes. So look, I think for us, the tailwinds are incredible with some of the federal programs that they've put in place and availability towards everything around ESG, right? And with our Technical Solutions group and what they offer, our Manufacturing & Distribution group, which is dealing with all the e-commerce life science companies, we think there's tremendous tailwinds. I think the short-term impediment is the supply chain. And it's -- this isn't new news. I mean this has been going on for a couple of years now, right? I think just the reason it's coming more to the fore is that we thought by now that things would open up more, but some of the Asian markets where we get a lot of the supply from have had their COVID issues. So hopefully, towards the back half of this year, it will open up. But I think for us, if you look at our industry groups and our segments, we think we just have a lot of tailwinds in the next couple of years.

是的。所以看，我認為對我們來說，他們已經實施的一些聯邦計劃以及 ESG 周圍一切的可用性令人難以置信，對吧？通過我們的技術解決方案小組及其提供的服務，我們的製造和分銷小組與所有電子商務生命科學公司打交道，我們認為有巨大的順風。我認為短期障礙是供應鏈。這是——這不是新消息。我的意思是這已經持續了幾年，對吧？我認為它越來越突出的原因是我們現在認為事情會更加開放，但是我們從中獲得大量供應的一些亞洲市場存在 COVID 問題。因此，希望在今年下半年，它將開放。但我認為對我們來說，如果你看看我們的行業集團和我們的細分市場，我們認為在未來幾年我們會有很多順風。

Our last question is from Marc Riddick with Sidoti.

我們的最後一個問題來自 Marc Riddick 和 Sidoti。

So I wanted to start with -- you touched on it in your prepared remarks around the pace of return -- or the activity around return to office. And just wondering if you could touch a little bit on that because I guess since we last spoke, when you report your 3Q numbers, that change has been kind of gradual, I guess, if you talk about from call it, September -- the beginning of September, call it labor day to now that's been kind of gradual. So wondering if you can talk a little bit about maybe what you're seeing and what your planning is going into next year as to how -- what you're looking for as to how that plays into your planning and your expense matching and the like?

所以我想開始——你在準備好的關於回歸步伐的評論中提到了它——或者關於回歸辦公室的活動。只是想知道你是否可以稍微談談這個，因為我想自從我們上次發言以來，當你報告你的第三季度數字時，我想如果你談論從九月開始，這種變化是漸進的——九月初，稱它為勞動節，到現在有點漸進。所以想知道你是否可以談談你所看到的，你明年的計劃是什麼——你正在尋找什麼，關於它如何影響你的計劃和你的費用匹配以及像？

Sure. I mean, look, the return to office has been slow, like we've said but -- slow but increasing, right? And I think we've seen it a little bit in the numbers. And I could just tell you anecdotally, as I travel in my circles and talk to some peer CEOs, there's definitely a push to get people back to the office. I don't think we're going to see 5-day a week anytime soon. We may not even see 4-day a week anytime soon, but like 2 to 3 is solidly in the crosshairs for 2023, and that should play to our benefit because we want people back to work, right? It's good for us, generates work orders. It generates demand. So we're optimistic that there will be incremental return to work in 2023, but not outsized. I think it's going to be moderate, but up moderate.

當然。我的意思是，看，重返辦公室的速度很慢，就像我們說過的那樣 - 緩慢但在增加，對吧？而且我認為我們已經在數字中看到了一點點。我可以告訴你一些有趣的事情，當我在我的圈子裡旅行並與一些同行 CEO 交談時，肯定有一種推動讓人們回到辦公室的動力。我不認為我們很快就會每週工作 5 天。我們甚至可能不會很快看到每週工作 4 天，但 2 到 3 天是 2023 年的目標，這應該對我們有利，因為我們希望人們重返工作崗位，對吧？這對我們有好處，生成工作訂單。它產生需求。因此，我們樂觀地認為 2023 年將逐步恢復工作，但不會過大。我認為它會適度，但會適度。

Got you. And then the second question I have is around -- well, topic, I guess, is really around acquisition and the overall pipeline, the valuations that you're seeing. Because certainly, when you set the initial goals, the initial ELEVATE goals, I mean with the (inaudible) already done, you're certainly most of the way there as to the goals that you set at that time. So I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about your own appetite for additional deal flow as well as maybe what the pipeline looks like in valuations and the like?

明白了然後我的第二個問題是——好吧，我想這個話題實際上是關於收購和整個管道，你所看到的估值。因為當然，當你設定初始目標時，初始提升目標，我的意思是（聽不清）已經完成，你肯定已經完成了當時設定的目標。所以我想知道你是否可以談談你自己對額外交易流的興趣以及估值等方面的管道情況？

Yes. So look, we're still going to do acquisitions. I think there will be probably more in the range of tuck-ins right now. It's a different interest rate environment at this moment. And we're hyper focused on the Technical Solutions area, and they tend to be smaller in size anyway. The acquisitions in that space don't have to be at the end or (inaudible) at the end, right? So we'll still be active in the markets. There is a pipeline, but -- so I would say what we're seeing is there are people that are -- it's more pausing than stopping, I think, and that probably aligns well with what we're seeing in the capital markets as well. But we're not going to be shy about pulling the trigger on something that's strategic and makes sense. But as Earl has said, we're careful about our leverage ratio, and you're not going to see it popping above 3x. That's not what we want to do here. So rest assured, we're not going to get over our skis on acquisitions, but we will continue to grow this company through acquisition.

是的。所以看，我們仍然會進行收購。我認為現在可能會有更多的塞入範圍。目前是不同的利率環境。我們非常專注於技術解決方案領域，而且它們的規模往往更小。該領域的收購不必在最後或（聽不清）結束，對吧？所以我們仍然會活躍在市場上。有一條管道，但是 - 所以我想說我們看到的是有人 - 我認為它比停止更暫停，這可能與我們在資本市場上看到的情況非常吻合出色地。但我們不會羞於觸發具有戰略意義且有意義的事情。但正如 Earl 所說，我們對槓桿率非常謹慎，您不會看到它突然超過 3 倍。這不是我們想要做的。所以請放心，我們不會在收購方面失控，但我們將繼續通過收購來發展這家公司。

Well, thanks, everybody. I know that was the last question. I appreciate you getting on tonight. And just we're excited about 2023. Hopefully, you can -- it came through in our sentiment. And I just wish everyone has a happy and healthy holiday and we look forward to getting back and talking to you about our Q1 results. So have a good night, everybody.

嗯，謝謝大家。我知道那是最後一個問題。感謝你今晚的到來。我們對 2023 年感到興奮。希望你能——它在我們的情緒中得到了體現。我只希望每個人都有一個快樂健康的假期，我們期待著回來與您討論我們第一季度的結果。祝大家晚安。

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。