ABM Industries Inc (ABM) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the ABM Industries First Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

問候，歡迎來到 ABM Industries 2023 年第一季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）提醒一下，正在錄製此會議。

I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Paul Goldberg, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations for ABM Industries. Thank you.

我現在想把會議轉交給你的主持人，ABM Industries 投資者關係高級副總裁 Paul Goldberg。謝謝。

Good morning, everyone. And welcome to ABM's First Quarter 2023 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. Please note that earlier this morning, we issued our press release announcing our first quarter 2023 financial results. A copy of the release and an accompanying slide presentation can be found on our website, abm.com. After Scott and Earl's prepared remarks, we will host a Q&A session.

大家，早安。歡迎來到 ABM 的 2023 年第一季度收益電話會議。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。請注意，今天上午早些時候，我們發布了新聞稿，宣布了我們 2023 年第一季度的財務業績。可以在我們的網站 abm.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。

But before we begin, I would like to remind you that our call and presentation today 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.

但在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，我們今天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 our presentation and on the company's website under the Investor tab.

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我們的演示文稿末尾和公司網站的“投資者”選項卡下找到。

And with that, I would like to now turn over the call to Scott.

有了這個，我現在想把電話轉給斯科特。

Thanks, Paul. Good morning, and thank you all for joining us today to discuss our first quarter results. ABM posted solid results in the first quarter, reflecting strong execution by the ABM team amid a challenging operating environment. Organic revenue grew 1% even as we experienced a $35 million reduction in disinfection-related work orders versus the prior year period.

謝謝，保羅。早上好，感謝大家今天加入我們討論我們的第一季度業績。 ABM 在第一季度取得了穩健的業績，反映了 ABM 團隊在充滿挑戰的經營環境中的強大執行力。儘管與去年同期相比，與消毒相關的工作訂單減少了 3500 萬美元，但有機收入仍增長了 1%。

Adjusted EBITDA was essentially unchanged from last year as we effectively mitigated much of the impact from higher wage costs, labor shortages and lower disinfection-related work orders. In all, ABM generated first quarter revenue of $2 billion with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 6.4%, which remain well above pre-pandemic levels, reflecting improved operational efficiency that we believe can be enhanced over time through our ELEVATE initiatives. So I'm certainly pleased with our performance in the first quarter and that we remain on track to achieve our full year outlook.

調整後的 EBITDA 與去年基本持平，因為我們有效地減輕了工資成本上升、勞動力短缺和消毒相關工作訂單減少的大部分影響。總的來說，ABM 第一季度的收入為 20 億美元，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 6.4%，仍遠高於大流行前的水平，反映出運營效率的提高，我們認為隨著時間的推移，我們的 ELEVATE 計劃可以提高運營效率。因此，我當然對我們第一季度的表現感到滿意，並且我們仍有望實現全年展望。

Despite continued economic uncertainty and persistent inflationary pressures, our business remains resilient given the essential nature of our services. Our clients are increasingly focused on attracting talent and retaining customers by creating and maintaining environments that are inviting, healthy and energy efficient. We remain uniquely positioned to support them given our financial strength and industry-leading capabilities, and the fact that we continue to innovate has never been more appreciated or important to our clients.

儘管經濟持續存在不確定性和持續的通脹壓力，但鑑於我們服務的基本性質，我們的業務仍然具有彈性。我們的客戶越來越注重通過創造和維護溫馨、健康和節能的環境來吸引人才和留住客戶。鑑於我們的財務實力和行業領先的能力，我們仍然處於支持他們的獨特位置，而且我們不斷創新的事實對我們的客戶來說從未像現在這樣受到讚賞或重視。

I'll now discuss the demand environment for each of our industry groups. Beginning with B&I, office occupancy rates in the first quarter remained at relatively stable levels at around 50% on a blended basis, though occupancy varies region by region and by day of the week. We don't expect significant changes to these trends in 2023 as employers continue to accommodate remote and hybrid work, though office occupancy will likely marginally tick up. Our expectation is that through 2023, B&I will be the steady performer we are accustomed to.

我現在將討論我們每個行業組的需求環境。從 B&I 開始，第一季度的辦公室入住率在混合基礎上保持在 50% 左右的相對穩定水平，但入住率因地區和星期而異。我們預計這些趨勢在 2023 年不會發生重大變化，因為雇主將繼續適應遠程和混合工作，儘管辦公室入住率可能會略有上升。我們的預期是，到 2023 年，B&I 將成為我們習以為常的穩定表現者。

Moving to Aviation. Following a rapid recovery in travel last year, consumer and business travel, including parking and transportation has largely returned to pre-pandemic levels. As a result, we anticipate that our Aviation revenue growth rate in 2023 will be reflective of more normalized overall market growth as compared to the accelerated level we experienced in fiscal 2022. We do expect continued growth in our ABMVantage parking solution, which is proven to generate higher revenue for our clients while improving the traveler experience. That all being said, labor cost inflation and worker availability remain ongoing challenges in this segment, in part, exacerbated by the lengthy TSA background check process that we've spoken about.

轉向航空。隨著去年旅行的快速復蘇，包括停車和交通在內的消費者和商務旅行已基本恢復到大流行前的水平。因此，我們預計 2023 年我們的航空收入增長率將反映出與我們在 2022 財年經歷的加速水平相比更加正常化的整體市場增長。我們確實預計我們的 ABMVantage 停車解決方案將持續增長，事實證明為我們的客戶創造更高的收入，同時改善旅客體驗。話雖如此，勞動力成本通脹和工人可用性仍然是這一領域的持續挑戰，部分原因是我們談到的冗長的 TSA 背景調查流程加劇了這一挑戰。

I'm pleased to announce that after quarter end, we received formal approval on the parking project we discussed last quarter. As you'll remember, we have completed much of the work in 2022, but we were awaiting final client approval in order to recognize the revenue and associated earnings. The project revenue will be recognized in Q2.

我很高興地宣布，在季度結束後，我們收到了上個季度討論的停車項目的正式批准。您會記得，我們已經在 2022 年完成了大部分工作，但我們正在等待最終客戶批准，以便確認收入和相關收益。項目收入將在第二季度確認。

Moving on. Demand in Manufacturing & Distribution continues to be strong, and our team is doing an outstanding job of driving organic growth by expanding their served markets and bringing on new clients. As an example, ABM has won nearly $50 million of new business in the U.S. semiconductor manufacturing market over the past 12 months. This area is experiencing renewed growth, driven by the recent enactment of the CHIPS and Science Act. This legislation provides approximately $280 billion to fund domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductors. We expect revenue growth in our M&D segment to remain solid for the remainder of the year.

繼續。製造和分銷領域的需求持續強勁，我們的團隊在通過擴大服務市場和吸引新客戶來推動有機增長方面做得非常出色。例如，ABM 在過去 12 個月中在美國半導體製造市場贏得了近 5000 萬美元的新業務。在最近頒布的 CHIPS 和科學法案的推動下，該領域正在經歷新的增長。該立法提供了大約 2800 億美元，用於資助國內的半導體研究和製造。我們預計我們的 M&D 部門的收入增長將在今年剩餘時間保持穩定。

Turning to Education. The addition of sizable new clients in the fourth quarter of 2022 helped drive solid mid-single-digit organic revenue growth in this segment. We have a strong pipeline of new business opportunities in the fiscal year, and I'm confident ABM will win our fair share given our competitive positioning. While labor cost inflation in nonunionized markets continues to be a challenge for the segment, we incrementally reduced overtime this quarter by filling open positions more quickly than in 2022. And our focus on hiring in this area should prove beneficial in the near term.

轉向教育。 2022 年第四季度大量新客戶的增加幫助推動了該領域穩健的中個位數有機收入增長。我們在本財年擁有大量新商機，鑑於我們的競爭定位，我相信 ABM 將贏得我們公平的份額。儘管非工會化市場的勞動力成本通脹仍然是該部門面臨的挑戰，但本季度我們通過比 2022 年更快地填補空缺職位來逐步減少加班時間。我們在這一領域的招聘重點應該在短期內證明是有益的。

In Technical Solutions, we continue to see the benefits from the demand for electric vehicles and the consequent need to expand the EV charging infrastructure. This shift to EVs will be a multiyear trend providing ample opportunity for ABM in the future. After several quarters of strong growth, our EV-related revenue declined in the first quarter, primarily reflecting program timing and supply chain delays. Demand remains strong, and we expect the pace of EV charger installations to pick up in the second half of the year as we begin to deliver on recently won programs.

在技術解決方案中，我們繼續看到電動汽車需求帶來的好處以及隨之而來的擴大電動汽車充電基礎設施的需求。這種向電動汽車的轉變將是一個多年趨勢，為未來的 ABM 提供了充足的機會。經過幾個季度的強勁增長，我們的電動汽車相關收入在第一季度有所下降，主要反映了項目時間安排和供應鏈延遲。需求依然強勁，隨著我們開始實施最近贏得的項目，我們預計 EV 充電器的安裝速度將在今年下半年加快。

RavenVolt continues to experience strong customer demand for its microgrid solutions and the sales pipeline continues to grow, though first quarter installations were impacted by some lingering supply chain constraints in what is typically a seasonally slower period. Total ATS backlog has grown significantly to nearly $450 million, supporting our outlook for strong full year revenue growth escalating in the back half of the year.

RavenVolt 繼續感受到客戶對其微電網解決方案的強勁需求，並且銷售渠道繼續增長，儘管第一季度的安裝受到一些揮之不去的供應鏈限制的影響，這通常是季節性較慢的時期。 ATS 積壓訂單總額已大幅增長至近 4.5 億美元，這支持了我們對今年下半年全年收入強勁增長的預期。

From a strategic perspective, we continue to make progress on our ELEVATE initiatives. Most notably, we're developing a new mobile app for our frontline team members. This app will facilitate a smoother time and attendance experience, offer greater clarity on work schedules and tasks and provide quick access to shift change notifications. We should begin piloting this app by the middle of this year with a rollout plan for 2024.

從戰略角度來看，我們繼續在 ELEVATE 計劃上取得進展。最值得注意的是，我們正在為一線團隊成員開發一款新的移動應用程序。此應用程序將促進更順暢的時間和考勤體驗，提供更清晰的工作計劃和任務，並提供對輪班變更通知的快速訪問。我們應該在今年年中開始試用這個應用程序，並製定了 2024 年的推出計劃。

We're also beginning to scale a workforce management tool that enhances visibility into labor productivity levels across our portfolio of accounts. These advanced analytics will enable more efficient labor management over time and also provide actionable insights to enhance the efficiency of lower-performing buildings. We're also in the final stages of testing our cloud-based ERP financial system for its initial deployment. This segment-by-segment rollout will begin midyear as part of our ELEVATE technology road map. From an IT and innovation standpoint, we are at an exciting time for ABM as a great deal of hard work begins to get embedded across the organization.

我們還開始擴展勞動力管理工具，以提高我們客戶組合中勞動生產率水平的可見性。隨著時間的推移，這些高級分析將實現更高效的勞動力管理，並提供可操作的見解，以提高性能較低的建築的效率。我們還處於測試基於雲的 ERP 財務系統的初始部署的最後階段。作為我們 ELEVATE 技術路線圖的一部分，這種逐個細分市場的推出將於年中開始。從 IT 和創新的角度來看，我們正處於 ABM 的激動人心的時刻，因為大量的艱苦工作開始在整個組織中得到體現。

Lastly, our team has been making some great progress on our ESG journey, which resulted in a couple of nice accolades for ABM. We were recently recognized by Newsweek as one of America's most responsible companies, and we also won the prestigious SEAL Business Sustainability Service Award. We also formally launched an initiative called ABM Impact Groups, which are voluntary, employee-led groups whose aim is to foster a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with ABM's mission, values and business strategy.

最後，我們的團隊在我們的 ESG 之旅中取得了一些重大進展，這為 ABM 帶來了一些不錯的讚譽。我們最近被《新聞周刊》評為美國最負責任的公司之一，我們還獲得了著名的 SEAL 企業可持續發展服務獎。我們還正式啟動了一項名為 ABM 影響小組的計劃，這些小組是自願的、由員工領導的小組，其目的是營造一個多元化、包容的工作場所，與 ABM 的使命、價值觀和業務戰略保持一致。

Before I turn it over to Earl, I want to make a few summary comments. I couldn't be proud of the entire ABM team who continued to deliver solid results despite challenging market conditions. ABM's resilience and our ability to adapt, innovate, scale and deliver results in dynamic conditions is truly a hallmark of our company. As we move forward, I'm confident that our team will continue to provide our clients with extraordinary service and build value for our shareholders.

在我把它交給 Earl 之前，我想做一些總結性的評論。我不能為整個 ABM 團隊感到自豪，他們在充滿挑戰的市場條件下繼續取得可觀的業績。 ABM 的彈性以及我們在動態條件下適應、創新、擴展和交付結果的能力確實是我們公司的標誌。隨著我們的前進，我相信我們的團隊將繼續為我們的客戶提供卓越的服務，並為我們的股東創造價值。

Our business is supported by a substantial base of recurring revenue in our janitorial, engineering and parking services, where we serve more than 20,000 clients. And we will continue to invest organically and in adjacent businesses with large addressable markets and high growth rates and margins, which we certainly demonstrated with the ramp-up of our EV charging business and the acquisition of RavenVolt. As we execute the strategy, we see ABM evolving into a higher-growth, higher-margin facility solutions provider underpinned by the resilient strength of our core businesses.

我們的業務得到清潔、工程和停車服務中大量經常性收入的支持，我們為超過 20,000 名客戶提供服務。我們將繼續有機地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，我們通過 EV 充電業務的增長和對 RavenVolt 的收購無疑證明了這一點。在我們執行該戰略時，我們看到 ABM 在我們核心業務的彈性實力的支持下，發展成為一家增長更快、利潤更高的設施解決方案提供商。

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

現在我將把它交給 Earl 進行財務處理。

Thank you, Scott, and good morning, everyone. For those of you following along with our earnings presentation, please turn to Slide 5. First quarter revenue increased 3% to $2 billion, reflecting organic revenue growth of 1% and a 2% contribution from the acquisitions of Momentum and RavenVolt. As a reminder, we will anniversary the acquisition of Momentum in the second quarter.

謝謝斯科特，大家早上好。對於跟隨我們的收益演示的那些人，請轉到幻燈片 5。第一季度收入增長 3% 至 20 億美元，反映出 1% 的有機收入增長以及收購 Momentum 和 RavenVolt 的 2% 貢獻。提醒一下，我們將在第二季度紀念 Momentum 的收購。

Moving on to Slide 6. Net income in the first quarter was $38.5 million or $0.58 per diluted share, down from $76 million and $1.11 per diluted share last year. The decrease in GAAP net income partially reflected higher interest expense and labor costs, the absence of the benefit from a prior year insurance adjustment, lower volume of higher-margin virus protection services and the absence of a gain on sale of assets recorded in the prior year period.

轉到幻燈片 6。第一季度的淨收入為 3850 萬美元或攤薄後每股收益 0.58 美元，低於去年的 7600 萬美元和攤薄後每股收益 1.11 美元。 GAAP 淨收入的減少部分反映了較高的利息支出和勞動力成本、沒有從上一年的保險調整中受益、利潤率較高的病毒保護服務的數量減少以及沒有上一年度記錄的資產出售收益年期間。

Adjusted net income decreased 18% to $52.7 million and adjusted earnings per share was $0.79, a decrease of 16% from the prior year period. The decreases in adjusted net income and adjusted EPS were primarily due to higher interest expense and wage inflation, partially offset by tight cost controls. Adjusted EBITDA of $122.7 million was essentially flat with the prior year period, and adjusted EBITDA margin was 6.4% versus 6.6% last year. This performance largely reflects the decline in higher-margin disinfection services as well as higher labor costs, which were partially offset by price increases and effective cost management.

調整後淨收入下降 18% 至 5270 萬美元，調整後每股收益為 0.79 美元，較上年同期下降 16%。調整後淨收入和調整後每股收益的下降主要是由於利息支出增加和工資上漲，部分被嚴格的成本控制所抵消。調整後的 EBITDA 為 1.227 億美元，與去年同期基本持平，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 6.4%，而去年為 6.6%。這一業績在很大程度上反映了利潤率較高的消毒服務的下降以及勞動力成本的上升，但部分被價格上漲和有效的成本管理所抵消。

Now turning to our segment results, beginning on Slide 7. B&I revenue increased 1% to over $1 billion, primarily driven by contribution from acquisitions. Excluding acquisitions, organic revenue declined 1%, mainly reflecting a lower volume of disinfection-related work orders versus prior year. Operating profit in B&I decreased 9% to $75.9 million and operating margin was 7.3%, down 80 basis points from the prior year. Operating profit and margin declines were largely due to a change in business mix.

現在轉向我們的分部業績，從幻燈片 7 開始。B&I 收入增長 1%，超過 10 億美元，主要受收購貢獻的推動。不包括收購在內，有機收入下降了 1%，主要反映了與去年相比消毒相關工作訂單的數量減少。 B&I 的營業利潤下降 9% 至 7590 萬美元，營業利潤率為 7.3%，較上年下降 80 個基點。營業利潤和利潤率下降主要是由於業務組合的變化。

Aviation revenue increased 6% to $212.3 million, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of robust year-over-year revenue growth. This improvement was driven by increased leisure and business airline traffic as well as related increases in parking activity. As Scott mentioned earlier, we will recognize the revenue for the parking project in Q2 as we now have the received official client acceptance. Aviation's operating profit was $8.3 million versus $8.9 million in the prior year period, and margin was 3.9% compared to 4.4% last year. Operating profit and margin reflect the impact of higher labor costs and labor availability challenges, partially offset by price escalations.

航空收入增長 6% 至 2.123 億美元，標誌著收入連續第七個季度實現強勁的同比增長。這一改善是由休閒和商務航空客流量的增加以及停車活動的相關增加所推動的。正如斯科特之前提到的，我們將在第二季度確認停車項目的收入，因為我們現在已經收到了正式的客戶驗收。航空業的營業利潤為 830 萬美元，而去年同期為 890 萬美元，利潤率為 3.9%，而去年同期為 4.4%。營業利潤和利潤率反映了更高的勞動力成本和勞動力可用性挑戰的影響，部分被價格上漲所抵消。

Turning to Slide 8. Manufacturing & Distribution revenue grew 6% to $380.5 million, reflecting solid market demand and the addition of clients in new end markets such as life sciences and semiconductor manufacturing. Operating profit increased 1% to $40.9 million on higher volume, while operating margin declined 60 basis points, 10.7%. Margin was impacted by lower levels of the disinfection-related work orders.

轉到幻燈片 8。製造和分銷收入增長 6% 至 3.805 億美元，反映出強勁的市場需求以及生命科學和半導體製造等新終端市場客戶的增加。由於銷量增加，營業利潤增長 1% 至 4090 萬美元，而營業利潤率下降 60 個基點，即 10.7%。利潤率受到與消毒相關的工作訂單數量減少的影響。

Education revenue increased 4% to $214.9 million, benefiting from the addition of new clients in the fourth quarter of 2022. The new business pipeline in Education remains favorable, and we expect Education to continue to post positive year-over-year growth in 2023. Education operating profit was $11.8 million, down 6% from the prior year period, while margin decreased 50 basis points to 5.5%. These declines were attributable to lower EnhancedClean revenue as well as higher wages, including overtime expenses, partially offset by price increases.

受益於 2022 年第四季度新客戶的增加，教育收入增長 4% 至 2.149 億美元。教育領域的新業務渠道仍然有利，我們預計教育將在 2023 年繼續實現同比正增長。教育營業利潤為 1180 萬美元，比去年同期下降 6%，而利潤率下降 50 個基點至 5.5%。這些下降歸因於較低的 EnhancedClean 收入以及較高的工資，包括加班費用，部分被價格上漲所抵消。

Technical Solutions grew revenue 4% to $147 million, driven by our recent RavenVolt acquisition. Organic revenue declined 9%, mainly due to the timing of large EV charger insulation programs and the pushout of some bundled energy solution projects as well as last year's sale of customer contracts. Backlog in ATS is nearly $450 million, and we are expecting a strong back half of the year assuming supply chains are supportive. ATS operating profit was $7.2 million and margin was 4.9%. This compares to operating profit of $9.2 million and margin of 6.5% last year after adjusting for a $7.7 million gain on the sale of customer contracts. The decrease in margin and profit were largely driven by changes in service mix and the amortization of intangibles related to the RavenVolt acquisition.

在我們最近收購 RavenVolt 的推動下，Technical Solutions 的收入增長了 4%，達到 1.47 億美元。有機收入下降 9%，主要是由於大型 EV 充電器絕緣項目的時機和一些捆綁能源解決方案項目的推出以及去年客戶合同的銷售。 ATS 的積壓訂單接近 4.5 億美元，假設供應鏈提供支持，我們預計今年下半年會有強勁增長。 ATS 營業利潤為 720 萬美元，利潤率為 4.9%。相比之下，去年經調整銷售客戶合同收益 770 萬美元後，營業利潤為 920 萬美元，利潤率為 6.5%。利潤率和利潤的下降主要是由於服務組合的變化以及與 RavenVolt 收購相關的無形資產攤銷所致。

Moving on to Slide 9. We ended the first quarter with total debt of $1.5 billion, including $83.6 million in standby letters of credit, resulting in a total debt to pro forma adjusted EBITDA ratio of 2.6x. At the end of Q1, we had available liquidity of $651.2 million including cash and cash equivalents of $87.9 million. Free cash flow in the first quarter, which is generally softer from a seasonal perspective due to compensation and tax payments, was negative $84.8 million and included our final $66 million installment of our CARES Act repayment.

轉到幻燈片 9。我們在第一季度末的總債務為 15 億美元，其中包括 8360 萬美元的備用信用證，導致總債務與備考調整後 EBITDA 的比率為 2.6 倍。第一季度末，我們的可用流動資金為 6.512 億美元，包括現金和現金等價物 8790 萬美元。第一季度的自由現金流為負 8,480 萬美元，其中包括我們為 CARES 法案還款的最後 6,600 萬美元分期付款，從季節性角度來看，由於補償和納稅的原因，自由現金流通常較為疲軟。

Interest expense was $19.8 million in the first quarter, up nearly $14 million over the prior year period and about $4 million sequentially from Q4. The increase was due to significantly higher interest rates as well as a year-over-year increase in total debt.

第一季度的利息支出為 1980 萬美元，比去年同期增加近 1400 萬美元，比第四季度增加約 400 萬美元。增加的原因是利率顯著提高以及總債務同比增加。

Now let's move on to our full year fiscal 2023 outlook as shown on Slide 10. Our expectations for the full year are largely unchanged in aggregate. We continue to 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 and is trending towards the higher end of the range. Our tax rate before discrete items is anticipated to be between 29% and 30%.

現在讓我們繼續討論我們的 2023 財年全年展望，如幻燈片 10 所示。我們對全年的預期總體上基本沒有變化。我們繼續預計 GAAP 每股收益將在 2.43 美元至 2.63 美元之間，調整後的每股收益將在 3.40 美元至 3.60 美元之間。預計 2023 年的利息支出將在 7100 萬美元至 7400 萬美元之間，並趨向於該範圍的高端。我們不計離散項目的稅率預計在 29% 到 30% 之間。

As we discussed last quarter, we expect to grow adjusted EBITDA at a mid-single-digit rate with an adjusted EBITDA margin between 6.4% and 6.8%. Full year 2023 free cash flow is expected to be between the range of $270 million to $300 million before the final installment of our CARES Act repayment of $66 million, which was made in Q1, and combined integration and ELEVATE costs of about $75 million to $80 million. And as we communicated last quarter, with respect to the cadence of earnings, we expect approximately 45% to 50% of full year adjusted earnings per share to be generated in the first half of the year.

正如我們上個季度所討論的那樣，我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 將以中個位數的速度增長，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率將在 6.4% 至 6.8% 之間。預計 2023 年全年自由現金流將在 2.7 億美元至 3 億美元之間，然後我們的 CARES 法案還款在第一季度支付了 6600 萬美元的最後一筆款項，整合和 ELEVATE 的綜合成本約為 7500 萬至 80 美元百萬。正如我們上個季度所傳達的那樣，關於收益的節奏，我們預計今年上半年將產生約 45% 至 50% 的全年調整後每股收益。

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'll deliver a solid 2023 and continue to make progress toward 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) Our first question comes from the line of Tim Mulrooney with William Blair.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Tim Mulrooney 和 William Blair 的台詞。

This is Sam on for Tim. I guess to start, I think we had a lot of discussions around labor availability and the difficulties in finding labor. I was hoping you could also comment on how labor turnover has been trending over the last few quarters and if any of the platform investments that you're making might meaningfully bring that up?

這是蒂姆的山姆。我想首先，我認為我們圍繞勞動力可用性和尋找勞動力的困難進行了很多討論。我希望您也能評論過去幾個季度勞動力流動率的趨勢，以及您正在進行的任何平台投資是否可以有意義地提出這一點？

Sure. Thanks, Tim. Look, I think we're starting to see a little bit of a stabilization on turnover. It's still not great, right? The market is still tough. But for us, we've been really doubling down on talent acquisition. We have a new leader that's been with us for about a year, and we're building that team, and we're getting some really good traction. And we're also supplementing it with tools we have, what we call a team member retention tool that's doing analytics.

當然。謝謝，蒂姆。看，我認為我們開始看到營業額有點穩定。它仍然不是很好，對吧？市場依然嚴峻。但對我們來說，我們確實在人才招聘方面加倍努力。我們有了一位新領導，他已經和我們一起工作了大約一年，我們正在組建這個團隊，我們得到了一些非常好的牽引力。我們還用我們擁有的工具對其進行補充，我們稱之為進行分析的團隊成員保留工具。

We have -- we've talked before about the fact that ABM now has data scientists onboard, and we're just looking at all this data and figuring out where the turnover is, where it's more acute and how to attack it. And it's worked out. I mean, even in a segment like Education, where we had much higher turnover just because of the nonunion nature of it, we're starting to see more applicant flow, more people starting jobs because we've attacked it with tools.

我們已經 - 我們之前已經談到了 ABM 現在有數據科學家在船上的事實，我們只是在查看所有這些數據並弄清楚營業額在哪裡，哪裡更嚴重以及如何攻擊它。它已經解決了。我的意思是，即使在像教育這樣的細分市場中，由於它的非工會性質，我們的營業額要高得多，我們開始看到更多的申請者流動，更多的人開始工作，因為我們已經用工具對其進行了攻擊。

Okay. I appreciate the color there. Maybe pivoting to our eMobility business. Many of the folks that we speak to are initially surprised that you're one of the largest installers of EV chargers. And my sense is, as you install more microgrid solutions, that same surprise will show up. I guess, can you help explain why you're able to come in and provide these solutions at such a large scale? Is it that you're working with the same point of contact as your other services or maybe leveraging the same labor? Just anything to help us understand that better would be helpful.

好的。我欣賞那裡的顏色。也許轉向我們的 eMobility 業務。與我們交談的許多人最初都對您是最大的 EV 充電器安裝商之一感到驚訝。我的感覺是，隨著您安裝更多的微電網解決方案，同樣的驚喜也會出現。我想，您能幫忙解釋一下為什麼您能夠進來並提供如此大規模的這些解決方案嗎？您是在使用與其他服務相同的聯繫點，還是在利用相同的勞動力？任何能幫助我們更好地理解的事情都會有所幫助。

Sure, Tim. It's about focus, right? This is something we've been on for 2 or 3 years now. We saw the signs on EV and we built a team around it, and we've just been able to scale it. No pun intended, there's a lot of energy around it in our organization, and we feel really, really good about it. And we had a little bit of a slowdown in Q1 because we had a major installation with a large dealership that was rolling off, and we are starting another massive installation of over 1,000 charges with a top three automaker. And that, we thought was going to start a little earlier than it's kicking off. So that's why you see in Q1 a little bit of a dip, but the pipeline is super strong and we feel really great about it.

當然，蒂姆。這是關於專注，對吧？這是我們已經進行了 2 或 3 年的事情。我們看到了 EV 的跡象，我們圍繞它建立了一個團隊，我們剛剛能夠擴展它。沒有雙關語的意思，我們組織中圍繞著它充滿活力，我們對此感覺非常非常好。我們在第一季度有一點放緩，因為我們有一個大型經銷商的主要安裝正在下線，我們正在與一家前三大汽車製造商開始另一個超過 1,000 個收費的大規模安裝。而且，我們認為會比開始時間早一點開始。所以這就是為什麼你在第一季度看到一點點下降，但管道非常強大，我們對此感覺非常好。

Our next question comes from the line of 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 on ATS since that's kind of where the -- some of the noise is in the first quarter. It sounded like from Earl's comments that we're assuming some improvement in the supply chain in the second half. I just -- in light of that, I wanted to understand the nature of the supply chain-related delays early in the year so we can track them.

我只是想從 ATS 開始，因為那是第一季度的一些噪音。從 Earl 的評論來看，我們假設下半年供應鏈會有所改善。我只是 - 有鑑於此，我想在今年年初了解與供應鏈相關的延遲的性質，以便我們進行跟踪。

Sure. So I think I'd start off by saying we have a $450 million backlog in ATS comparing to this time last year, which was probably like $300 million. So the backlog is super strong. And for us, it's always been a back half of the story, Sean. If you can go back years and you look at ATS, and it's always been a back half story. So we feel really good about where we're sitting now.

當然。所以我想我首先要說的是，與去年這個時候相比，我們在 ATS 方面有 4.5 億美元的積壓，這可能是 3 億美元。所以積壓是非常強大的。對我們來說，這一直是故事的後半部分，肖恩。如果你能回到幾年前，看看 ATS，它總是一個後半部分的故事。所以我們對現在的位置感覺很好。

The supply chain, I will tell you the supply chain has been loosening up a little bit, right? Because what's been happening is the delays, although they've not gotten much better from a timing standpoint, they've stabilized, right? So I mean, I could just give you an example. Like pre-COVID to order a chiller, you'd have a 24-week wait. Now it's 52 weeks, right? But it's stabilizing at 52 weeks. And we're doing a lot of preordering right now. We've looked for alternate suppliers because a lot of the stuff, whether it's chillers, EV chargers, switchgear was coming from China.

供應鏈，我會告訴你供應鏈已經鬆動了一點，對吧？因為發生的是延遲，雖然從時間的角度來看它們並沒有好轉多少，但它們已經穩定下來，對吧？所以我的意思是，我可以給你舉個例子。就像在 COVID 之前訂購冷水機一樣，您需要等待 24 週。現在是52週了吧？但它穩定在 52 週。我們現在正在進行大量預訂。我們一直在尋找替代供應商，因為很多東西，無論是冷卻器、EV 充電器、開關設備都來自中國。

And when they had their lockdown policy, they weren't producing. So we had our teams flying all over the country locking up alternative suppliers. So we're in the process of catching up now. And that's why we feel so confident in the back half of the year because I'll remind you, and I think you know this, but when we say $450 million in backlog, those are signed contracts. We just haven't turned the rents yet. So it's not sales pipeline, it's actual contracts. So that's why we feel so confident about the back half.

當他們實施封鎖政策時，他們就沒有生產。所以我們讓我們的團隊飛遍全國尋找替代供應商。所以我們現在正在迎頭趕上。這就是為什麼我們對今年下半年如此有信心，因為我會提醒你，我想你知道這一點，但當我們說 4.5 億美元的積壓訂單時，這些都是已簽署的合同。我們只是還沒有交房租。所以這不是銷售渠道，而是實際合同。所以這就是為什麼我們對後半部分如此有信心。

All right. Scott, that's helpful. And then moving over to M&D where the growth has just been super strong and resilient. Maybe a little more color on what's happening there. I mean, are these new facilities? Are you kind of taking share in some existing facilities? And also, if you could comment on ABM's ability to staff up to meet that growth and keep costs under control, that would be an interesting discussion.

好的。斯科特，這很有幫助。然後轉向 M&D，那裡的增長非常強勁且富有彈性。也許對那裡發生的事情有更多的了解。我的意思是，這些是新設施嗎？你有點分享一些現有的設施嗎？而且，如果你能評論 ABM 的人員配備以滿足這種增長並控製成本的能力，那將是一個有趣的討論。

Yes. I mean, look, we're just so pleased that we pivoted to this segment because if you remember, this is kind of a new industry group that we recently stood up and it was a good call. So they continue to see amazing opportunities. We're focused on pharmaceutical now. E-commerce is slowing down a little bit. But make no mistake, it's still pretty robust, right? It's just not the outsized growth from the big e-commerce companies that you know about, right?

是的。我的意思是，看，我們很高興我們轉向了這個細分市場，因為如果你還記得的話，這是我們最近站起來的一個新的行業集團，這是一個很好的決定。所以他們繼續看到驚人的機會。我們現在專注於製藥。電子商務正在放緩。但別搞錯了，它仍然非常堅固，對吧？這不是您所知道的大型電子商務公司的超額增長，對吧？

But we still see so much headroom. We talked a little bit about -- in the prepared remarks about semiconductors, and we just got a really large contract in the semiconductor space that's a multimillion dollar contract that we think could quadruple over the next few years. So super focused on all the areas around manufacturing and distribution because it's -- from a directional standpoint, we think we're right on point. So we're not backing off on growth estimates. Over the next few years, this is going to be a solid industry growth.

但我們仍然看到了很大的餘量。我們談了一點——在準備好的關於半導體的評論中，我們剛剛在半導體領域獲得了一份非常大的合同，這是一份數百萬美元的合同，我們認為在未來幾年內可能會翻兩番。所以超級專注於製造和分銷的所有領域，因為它 - 從方向的角度來看，我們認為我們是正確的。因此，我們不會放棄增長預測。在接下來的幾年裡，這將是一個穩健的行業增長。

And Scott, maybe just on the team's ability to bring the labor in to support these growth rates. This was a concern for the Street as revenue started to recover. So just seeing a segment with that kind of level of organic growth in this labor environment, maybe comment on the execution there on the labor availability side.

而斯科特，也許只是團隊引進勞動力以支持這些增長率的能力。隨著收入開始恢復，這是華爾街的一個擔憂。因此，只要看到在這種勞動力環境中具有這種有機增長水平的細分市場，就可以在勞動力可用性方面評論那裡的執行情況。

Yes. So always a challenge, right? Anyone who would say it's not -- it would be foolish, right? It's always a challenge. But you also have to remember, though, when we're winning facilities, there's already existing labor there. So it's not like you're starting from 0, right? So when we take over a big site, there's a full staff, right? So that's helpful.

是的。所以總是一個挑戰，對吧？誰會說這不是——那是愚蠢的，對吧？這總是一個挑戰。但你也必須記住，當我們贏得設施時，那裡已經有勞動力。所以這不像是從 0 開始，對吧？所以當我們接管一個大網站時，會有一個完整的員工，對嗎？所以這很有幫助。

And then one of the things that makes ABM so, I guess, interesting from a client's perspective is we have this branch network, right? So we have offices in every city where we're probably already the #1 service provider. So we have access to labor. We have fully built out networks of HR recruiters. So that branch network that we have across the country is a huge advantage because if we were -- if one of our competitors were to pick up one of these sites in an area where most likely they wouldn't have business, they're starting from 0. They don't have the infrastructure that ABM has.

然後，從客戶的角度來看，讓 ABM 如此有趣的事情之一就是我們擁有這個分支網絡，對吧？因此，我們在可能已經是排名第一的服務提供商的每個城市都設有辦事處。所以我們有機會獲得勞動力。我們已經完全建立了人力資源招聘人員網絡。因此，我們在全國擁有的分支網絡是一個巨大的優勢，因為如果我們 - 如果我們的競爭對手之一要在他們最有可能沒有業務的地區選擇其中一個站點，他們就會開始從 0 開始。他們沒有 ABM 擁有的基礎設施。

And I think that's what's been so compelling on our client pitches. We deal -- we show them a map of ABM offices all over the country and the branch network. And it's just a home run because then you also know as you're growing and you light up facilities across the country, there is an almost 100% chance that ABM is going to have a branch network system in that area. So that's what's become so compelling.

我認為這就是我們客戶宣傳中如此引人注目的地方。我們交易——我們向他們展示了全國各地的 ABM 辦事處和分支網絡的地圖。這只是一個本壘打，因為你也知道隨著你的成長和全國各地設施的點亮，ABM 幾乎有 100% 的機會在該地區擁有一個分支網絡系統。這就是變得如此引人注目的原因。

Our next question comes from the line of Andy Wittmann with Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自 Andy Wittmann 與 Baird 的對話。

I guess I wanted to ask on the work order decline. Scott, you started your prepared remarks noting that there is a $35 million year-over-year reduction in these work orders. I was just wondering, that's actually a pretty good chunk of business, obviously has implications on your margins as well. I was just wondering, how did that compare to what you were expecting? Obviously, work orders have been trending down. But I thought previously that -- thought that this was stabilizing. So is this the stabilized decline at $35 million? Or is this a little bit more -- is this down a little bit more than maybe you would have thought?

我想我想問一下工作訂單下降的問題。斯科特，你開始準備好的發言時指出，這些工作訂單同比減少了 3500 萬美元。我只是想知道，這實際上是一筆相當不錯的業務，顯然也會對您的利潤產生影響。我只是想知道，這與您的預期相比如何？顯然，工單一直在下降。但我之前認為 - 認為這是穩定的。那麼這是 3500 萬美元的穩定下降嗎？或者這比你想像的要多一點——比你想像的要少一點？

Yes, that's a good call out. No, I think this is -- we're almost at normalization. We had a little bit in Q2 as well last year, Andy, but we're pretty much at stabilization. And that's almost all related to kind of the disinfection work orders. But there's also some general slowdown in regular work orders as well. Like there's no question in this economic climate that people are pulling back a bit. So I think from -- we'll be lapping disinfection one more quarter, and then we're done with that. And then could it trickle down another 0.5 point or 1 point? Possibly, depending on the economic outlook. So that wouldn't be all that surprising to us. But again, still above pre-COVID levels.

是的，這是一個很好的呼籲。不，我認為這是——我們快要正常化了。安迪，去年第二季度我們也有一點，但我們幾乎處於穩定狀態。這幾乎都與消毒工作單的種類有關。但常規工作訂單也普遍放緩。毫無疑問，在這種經濟環境下，人們正在退縮一點。所以我認為 - 我們將再進行四分之一的消毒，然後我們就完成了。然後它會再下降 0.5 點還是 1 點？可能，取決於經濟前景。所以這對我們來說並不那麼令人驚訝。但同樣，仍高於 COVID 之前的水平。

I got it. That's helpful. I guess -- I don't know where to go next. Look, can we talk about the corporate unallocated segment results? The cost there was less than we'd expected and less than the prior run rate you've been previously running the adjusted corporate expense, around $60 million, $62 million. This quarter, $52 million. It's a pretty big step down sequentially for what I usually think of something that should be relatively stable. So I was wondering maybe, Earl, if you could talk about some of the causes for that and what you expect in this line specifically for the remainder of the year.

我得到了它。這很有幫助。我想——我不知道下一步該去哪裡。看，我們可以談談公司未分配部門的業績嗎？那裡的成本低於我們的預期，也低於你之前運行調整後的公司費用的運行率，大約 6000 萬美元，6200 萬美元。本季度，5200 萬美元。對於我通常認為應該相對穩定的東西來說，這是一個相當大的順序下降。所以我想知道，厄爾，你是否可以談談造成這種情況的一些原因，以及你對這一行的具體期望是今年餘下的時間。

Yes. No. Thanks for the question, Andy. In light of the economic climate, we have been very disciplined in cost management. So just to give you some examples, travel and entertainment has been cut to a bare minimum. When we look at all of our open headcounts, we've been very disciplined in ensuring that we're not filling headcounts unless they are value-added and/or mandatory.

是的。不，謝謝你的問題，安迪。鑑於經濟形勢，我們在成本管理方面一直非常嚴格。因此，僅舉一些例子，旅行和娛樂活動已被削減到最低限度。當我們查看所有開放的員工人數時，我們一直非常有紀律地確保我們不會填補員工人數，除非他們是增值和/或強制性的。

And so if you look at in light of kind of like what's actually happened in our P&L over the last quarter with lower disinfection revenue, we still actually have higher wages. So the wage increases that we saw last year have not abated. And although the teams are doing a great job in covering that, it still is having an impact on our overall margins and profitability. And as a result of that, we've been very, very diligent in cost management.

因此，如果您根據上個季度我們的 P&L 中實際發生的消毒收入較低的情況來看，我們實際上仍然有更高的工資。因此，我們去年看到的工資增長並沒有減弱。儘管團隊在這方面做得很好，但它仍然對我們的整體利潤率和盈利能力產生影響。因此，我們在成本管理方面非常非常勤奮。

Sorry, second part of that question on what you expect for the rest of the year. Is that -- is this $52 million run rate kind of the right number? Or what do you think there? Sounds -- based on your answer, but I don't know what to...

抱歉，該問題的第二部分是關於您對今年剩餘時間的期望。那是——這個 5200 萬美元的運行率是正確的數字嗎？或者你覺得那裡怎麼樣？聽起來——根據你的回答，但我不知道該……

Yes, we're going to continue to manage the P&L. You might see an uptick in there, but not back to the $60 million mark that we've actually historically seen.

是的，我們將繼續管理損益表。你可能會看到價格上漲，但不會回到我們歷史上實際看到的 6000 萬美元大關。

Got it. So Scott, when you put it all together, you heard a little bit more interest expense or turning to the higher end of the range that you've previously given. When you think about this guidance range, Scott, does -- a little bit, does your commentary on work orders here and the interest expense, does that bias you to one side of the range? Could you care to comment on that?

知道了。所以斯科特，當你把它們放在一起時，你會聽到更多的利息支出或轉向你之前給出的範圍的高端。當你考慮這個指導範圍時，Scott，確實 - 一點點，你對這裡的工作訂單和利息支出的評論，這會讓你偏向范圍的一側嗎？你能評論一下嗎？

No. Look, we're sticking to our guidance range. We feel good about it. It's -- again, it's -- nothing has really changed, Andy, other than we definitely see the climate is just not as robust. But we're so good at managing to the bottom line and going after price increases to offset labor. So it doesn't bias me towards the bottom end. I still feel really good about the range and confident we're going to hit it.

不，看，我們堅持我們的指導範圍。我們對此感覺很好。它——再一次，它——什麼都沒有真正改變，安迪，除了我們確實看到氣候沒有那麼強勁。但我們非常擅長管理底線並追求價格上漲以抵消勞動力。所以它不會讓我偏向低端。我仍然對這個範圍感覺非常好，並且有信心我們會達到它。

Our next question comes from the line of Marc Riddick with Sidoti & Company.

我們的下一個問題來自 Marc Riddick 與 Sidoti & Company 的合作。

So I wanted to start on aviation. And maybe you could touch a little bit on maybe consumer travel transfer, kind of the leisure side of things, at least, was kind of one of the first things to recover post-pandemic. I was wondering if you can talk a little bit about maybe what your expectations are there going forward? It certainly seems as though folks are still out there traveling. Particularly, the flights are more full than I would have liked. But maybe you could talk a little bit about what your expectations are going forward there. And then I have a quick follow-up.

所以我想從航空開始。也許你可以稍微談談消費者旅行轉移，至少是休閒方面的事情，至少是大流行後恢復的第一批事情之一。我想知道你是否可以談談你對未來的期望是什麼？看起來人們似乎還在外面旅行。特別是，航班比我希望的更滿。但也許你可以談談你對未來的期望。然後我有一個快速跟進。

Yes. Look, I think for the most part, we think the aviation sector has normalized. We're kind of -- we're at business as usual, if you will, from the demand side, right? To your point, like travel is robust. So -- and it's been like that for, I would say, a quarter or two, right, at least. So we feel good about it. We feel good about our strategy of focusing on the infrastructure in terms of airports versus airlines, in terms of moving our mix of business. And you've seen a pretty significant margin tick up since pre-COVID as a result of that. So we think the aviation sector is going to remain strong through the balance of the year.

是的。看，我認為在很大程度上，我們認為航空業已經正常化。我們有點——如果你願意，我們照常營業，從需求方面來說，對吧？就您而言，就像旅行一樣健壯。所以——我想說，至少有四分之一或兩分之一的時間是這樣的。所以我們對此感覺很好。就轉移我們的業務組合而言，我們對我們專注於機場與航空公司基礎設施的戰略感到滿意。因此，自 COVID 之前以來，您已經看到了相當可觀的利潤率上升。因此，我們認為航空業將在今年餘下時間保持強勁。

Great. And then just to shift back to the work order question. I was sort of curious about something. One of the things that -- your quarter end at the end of January, and if I remember correctly, we had literally no snow in New York City your entire first quarter, which there were times where a couple of good snow storms through the country could have been pretty helpful with those kind of orders. I was wondering if -- is there any extent to which that had any impact or maybe what you saw there? Or was that kind of a net-net now over the year?

偉大的。然後回到工作訂單問題。我有點好奇。其中一件事 - 你的季度在一月底結束，如果我沒記錯的話，你的整個第一季度紐約市幾乎沒有下雪，有時全國有幾場暴風雪可能對這類訂單很有幫助。我想知道這是否有任何影響，或者您在那裡看到了什麼？或者在過去的一年中現在是那種網絡？

Yes. It's probably not significant from a financial standpoint. It's funny, if you talk to the team running the Northeast, they wouldn't like a snow storm or two, I guess. But when you talk about kind of an $8 billion revenue company, it becomes insignificant.

是的。從財務角度來看，這可能並不重要。有趣的是，如果您與運行東北部的團隊交談，我猜他們不會喜歡一兩場暴風雪。但當你談論一家收入 80 億美元的公司時，它就變得微不足道了。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from the line of David Silver with CL King & Associates.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 CL King & Associates 的 David Silver。

I would like to maybe start just with a question about the trend in your Education segment. So I think you called out -- during your prepared remarks, you called out some new wins that you thought would be meaningful in terms of growth trend going forward. So a couple of questions, but maybe could you characterize the value proposition or what drove that unusually good trend that you called out? And then secondly, would this be the type of new Education business that tends to carry with it maybe some ATS work possibilities? So kind of what are the drivers behind that recent pickup in business in your Education segment?

我想從一個關於您的教育領域趨勢的問題開始。所以我認為你大聲疾呼——在你準備好的發言中，你大聲疾呼了一些你認為對未來增長趨勢有意義的新勝利。所以有幾個問題，但也許你能描述一下價值主張的特徵，或者是什麼推動了你所說的異常好的趨勢？其次，這會是一種新的教育業務，它可能會帶來一些 ATS 工作的可能性嗎？那麼，您的教育部門最近業務回升背後的驅動因素是什麼？

Yes. Look, it's like anything else. I think there's a couple of things. One, we have new leadership on our Education account over the past year or so, and it's paying real dividends for us. And there's just a renewed focus on value-added clients and it's just paid off, David. Our margins are still trending higher than they were pre-COVID. And if you look at an operating margin of 5.5% in this labor environment -- because what you have to remember is Education for us is almost all nonunion. And nonunion is where the pressure is on wage growth, right, because it's not part of a collective bargaining agreement where it's kind of a predicted wage growth.

是的。看，這就像其他任何東西一樣。我認為有幾件事。第一，在過去一年左右的時間裡，我們的教育賬戶有了新的領導層，這為我們帶來了實實在在的回報。 David 只是重新關注增值客戶，而且剛剛得到回報。我們的利潤率仍呈高於 COVID 之前的趨勢。如果你看看在這種勞動環境下 5.5% 的營業利潤率——因為你必須記住的是，對我們來說，教育幾乎全是非工會。不工會是工資增長的壓力所在，對吧，因為它不是集體談判協議的一部分，在集體談判協議中它是一種預期的工資增長。

So you have higher wage growth, you have higher turnover, a lot more use of overtime. So we're super proud of the financial discipline and what we've been able to do in the Education group. And we just think there's just tremendous opportunity. We've been investing in business development people in that area. We have new leadership, in fact, even on the business development side. So -- and our pipeline is bigger than it's ever been before. So yes, I'm glad you asked that question because we're super proud of how we've moved the Education group from where it was maybe 2 or 3 years ago to where it is today. So...

所以你有更高的工資增長，你有更高的營業額，更多的加班使用。因此，我們對財務紀律以及我們在教育部門所做的工作感到非常自豪。我們只是認為有巨大的機會。我們一直在投資該領域的業務發展人員。事實上，我們有了新的領導層，甚至在業務發展方面也是如此。所以 - 我們的管道比以往任何時候都大。所以，是的，我很高興你問了這個問題，因為我們為如何將教育集團從 2 或 3 年前的位置轉移到今天的位置而感到非常自豪。所以...

And then just maybe a follow-on comment about the potential for ATS work to flow from that would be helpful.

然後就 ATS 工作的潛力發表後續評論可能會有所幫助。

Yes, I think that's right. The relationship -- the working relationship between our Technical Solutions group and the Education group is super powerful. And -- so not only am I excited about the cross-selling opportunities, but I have to tell you, probably every single presentation we've been on for new business in the last year has included the Technical Solutions group even if it was a janitorial contract because we're talking about the power to cross-sell. Because that's not a bad word, right? For clients that's value-add.

是的，我認為這是對的。這種關係——我們的技術解決方案小組和教育小組之間的工作關係非常強大。而且 - 所以我不僅對交叉銷售機會感到興奮，而且我必須告訴你，去年我們為新業務所做的每一次演示都可能包括技術解決方案組，即使它是清潔合同，因為我們談論的是交叉銷售的能力。因為這不是一個壞詞，對吧？對於增值的客戶。

So we'll go into a presentation on janitorial and say to them, "By the way, if there's an energy efficiency contract or potential here, if there's EV charging potential." And clients make decisions based on the breadth and scope of your portfolio. So it may not be immediate, David, but it's now in the background and it's part of our book of services. So I think it's going to be big in the future for us.

所以我們會做一個關於清潔工的介紹，然後對他們說，“順便說一句，如果這裡有能源效率合同或潛力，如果有電動汽車充電的潛力。”客戶會根據您的投資組合的廣度和範圍做出決定。所以它可能不是即時的，大衛，但它現在在後台，它是我們服務手冊的一部分。所以我認為這對我們來說未來會很重要。

Very good. I'd like to maybe shift over to your RavenVolt business. Admittedly, I'm still getting up to speed on microgrids and whatnot. But a new scan that I did before this call, I mean, it just kind of indicates that at least for high-profile microgrid projects, there tend to be, I don't know, a lot of delays, some pushback from the local utilities and this and that, in other words, things that don't maybe necessarily suspend -- sorry, cancel the business, but maybe building in more delays or more bureaucratic or administrative tasks before you can get to work.

非常好。我可能會轉向你的 RavenVolt 業務。不可否認，我仍然在加快微電網和諸如此類的事情的速度。但是我在這次電話會議之前進行的一次新掃描，我的意思是，它只是某種程度上表明，至少對於備受矚目的微電網項目，我不知道，往往會有很多延遲，一些來自當地的阻力公用事業和這個那個，換句話說，那些不一定會暫停的事情——抱歉，取消業務，但可能會在你開始工作之前造成更多的延誤或更多的官僚或行政任務。

Could you comment, since you've closed on RavenVolt, has there been a change in the operating environment? I mean, is there a more extended time period from when you identify the opportunity to when you sign a contract to when you actually can complete the work? Or is it kind of going as you anticipated when you first made the investment in RavenVolt?

您能否評論一下，自從您關閉 RavenVolt 以來，操作環境是否發生了變化？我的意思是，從你發現機會到你簽合同再到你真正可以完成工作，是否有更長的時間？或者它是否像您第一次投資 RavenVolt 時預期的那樣發展？

Yes, sure. There are a couple of things to unpack there. First of all, I'll start by saying we're as thrilled with the RavenVolt acquisition and the team and the leadership as we've ever been from the day we bought them. So that's not changed. And in terms of the utilities and the pushback, I'm surprised that you're hearing that. We're not seeing that as much because there's so much talk out there about the electrical grids, around the country's ability to handle all the demand that's going to be put on from EV chargers, that microgrids and a lot of places is a welcome change to go off power grid and get power.

是的，當然。那裡有幾件事情要解壓。首先，我首先要說的是，我們對 RavenVolt 的收購以及團隊和領導層感到非常興奮，因為我們從收購他們的那天起就一直如此。所以這沒有改變。就公用事業和阻力而言，我很驚訝你聽到這些。我們沒有看到那麼多，因為關於電網的討論太多了，圍繞國家處理電動汽車充電器將要提出的所有需求的能力，微電網和很多地方是一個受歡迎的變化離開電網並獲得電力。

So maybe there's some more administrative work. But like in terms of kind of utilities' desire for microgrids, we haven't seen a major change in that. And if there's anything that's out there as a little bit of a headwind the microgrids, I'd say it's the same thing in our bundled energy solutions group which is using a lot of the same equipment. There's supply chain issues which I talked about earlier. Granted, it's great that they're stabilizing now and we're getting a hold of it and we're preordering. So we're doing all that good stuff. But I think it's really about supply chain. It's really about supply chain. And we seem to be handling and being proactive on it and, again, not backing off on the performance. And we think it's just going to be a second half story.

所以也許還有更多的行政工作。但就像公用事業對微電網的渴望一樣，我們還沒有看到重大變化。如果有什麼東西對微電網來說有點不利，我會說在我們的捆綁能源解決方案小組中也是一樣的，它使用了很多相同的設備。我之前談到過供應鏈問題。當然，很高興他們現在穩定下來，我們正在掌握它，我們正在預訂。所以我們正在做所有這些好事。但我認為這真的與供應鏈有關。這實際上與供應鏈有關。而且我們似乎正在處理並積極主動地處理它，並且再次沒有放棄性能。我們認為這只是後半部分的故事。

Okay. Great. I'm going to squeeze one more and then this would be about interest expense. And again, it's -- I'm thinking of yesterday's comments by our Fed Chief. But I was just wondering a couple of things. First off, have you thought about or how do you think about the opportunity or the benefit of trying to lock in, I guess, interest rates in the current environment on the variable portion of your debt? Just using derivatives or whatever. But the -- just how you view the volatility in the particular rate that you're most sensitive to.

好的。偉大的。我要再擠一個，然後這就是利息支出。再說一次，我想到的是美聯儲主席昨天的評論。但我只是想知道幾件事。首先，您是否考慮過或如何考慮嘗試鎖定當前環境下債務可變部分的利率的機會或好處？只是使用衍生品或其他任何東西。但是——你如何看待你最敏感的特定利率的波動。

And then if you could remind me in the variable portion, should we be tracking, I don't know, the 2-year treasury or is it SOFR, what particular rate base would your variable rate borrowings be most sensitive to?

然後，如果你能在可變部分提醒我，我不知道，我們應該跟踪 2 年期國庫券還是 SOFR，你的可變利率借款對什麼特定利率基礎最敏感？

Yes. No, thanks for the question, David. I would say we're always looking at rate locks and kind of like our mix of fixed and variable debt. And in fact, last year, as we saw the ramp-up in rates, we were very active in investing in rate locks. And so just to put it in perspective, right now we're about 60% fixed, 40% floating. We actually like that mix at this point in time, but it's something we will continue to look at, absolutely. As far as our variable debt, it is actually based off of SOFR at this point in time.

是的。不，謝謝大衛的提問。我會說我們一直在關注利率鎖定，有點像我們的固定和可變債務組合。事實上，去年，當我們看到利率上升時，我們非常積極地投資利率鎖定。因此，從長遠來看，現在我們大約有 60% 是固定的，40% 是浮動的。在這個時間點，我們實際上喜歡這種組合，但我們絕對會繼續關注它。就我們的可變債務而言，此時它實際上是基於 SOFR 的。

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our question-and-answer session. I'll turn the floor back to Mr. Salmirs for any final comments.

謝謝。女士們，先生們，我們的問答環節到此結束。我會將發言權轉回給 Salmirs 先生，讓他發表最後的評論。

Well, thanks all for participating. And as you can see, there's a lot of enthusiasm and energy in what we're doing here. And we're excited about the future, we're excited about our investments in ELEVATE. And we'll come back to you in Q2 with an update, but we're -- we feel like we're in a really good place now. So thanks for participating today.

嗯，謝謝大家的參與。正如您所看到的，我們在這裡所做的事情充滿了熱情和活力。我們對未來感到興奮，我們對我們對 ELEVATE 的投資感到興奮。我們會在第二季度返回給您更新，但我們 - 我們覺得我們現在處於一個非常好的位置。所以感謝今天的參與。

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

謝謝。今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。