ABM Industries Inc (ABM) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the ABM Industries, Inc. Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call.

您好，歡迎參加 ABM Industries, Inc. 2023 年第三季度收益電話會議。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Paul Goldberg, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

提醒一下，本次會議正在錄製中。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。你可以開始了。

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to ABM's Third 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 third quarter 2023 financial results. A copy of that release and accompanying slide presentation can be found on our website abm.com. After Scott and Earl's prepared remarks, we will host the Q&A session.

大家早上好，歡迎參加 ABM 2023 年第三季度財報電話會議。我叫 Paul Goldberg，是 ABM 投資者關係高級副總裁。今天與我在一起的有我們的總裁兼首席執行官斯科特·薩爾米爾斯 (Scott Salmirs)；以及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 2023 年第三季度的財務業績。該新聞稿的副本和隨附的幻燈片演示文稿可以在我們的網站 abm.com 上找到。在斯科特和厄爾準備好發言後，我們將主持問答環節。

But before we begin, I want to remind you that our call and presentation today contain predictions, estimates and other forward-looking statements. Our use of the word 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 in our filings with the SEC. 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.

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”和類似表達方式的目的是為了識別這些陳述，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，但這些陳述本質上存在風險和不確定性，可能導致我們的實際結果出現重大差異。這些因素在我們的演示文稿隨附的幻燈片以及我們向 SEC 提交的文件中進行了描述。在本次電話會議期間，將提供某些非 GAAP 財務信息。歷史非 GAAP 數據與 GAAP 財務指標的對賬可在演示文稿末尾以及公司網站的“投資者”選項卡下找到。現在，我想將電話轉給斯科特。

Thanks, Paul. Good morning. and thank you all for joining us today to discuss our third quarter results. Third quarter revenue grew 3.4% to $2 billion, including 2.5% organic growth. Our aviation, education and manufacturing and distribution segments performed well, driven by robust air travel, new education clients and our strong market positioning in M&D. These solid results were partially offset by lower activity in bundled energy solutions and delayed project starts in our Technical Solutions group and by the softening market conditions for janitorial services and business and industry.

謝謝，保羅。早上好。感謝大家今天加入我們討論我們的第三季度業績。第三季度收入增長 3.4%，達到 20 億美元，其中有機增長 2.5%。在強勁的航空旅行、新的教育客戶以及我們在 M&D 領域強大的市場定位的推動下，我們的航空、教育、製造和分銷部門表現良好。這些紮實的業績被捆綁能源解決方案活動的減少、技術解決方案團隊項目啟動的延遲以及清潔服務和商業和工業的市場狀況疲軟所部分抵消。

Our teams are acting to resolve project delays and technical solutions, which we believe to be transient and we've also proactively adjusted our cost structure to better match the current demand environment in B&I. In addition to our cost management efforts, we have aggressively pursued price increases to cover the inflationary labor environment and reflect the value of the essential services we provide. I'll now discuss the demand environment for each of our industry groups. Let's begin with B&I.

我們的團隊正在採取行動解決項目延遲和技術解決方案，我們認為這些問題是暫時的，我們還主動調整了成本結構，以更好地匹配 B&I 當前的需求環境。除了我們的成本管理工作外，我們還積極尋求價格上漲，以應對通貨膨脹的勞動力環境並反映我們提供的基本服務的價值。我現在將討論我們每個行業群體的需求環境。讓我們從 B&I 開始。

Office density rates remain relatively static in the third quarter at around 50% on a blended basis. Although the hybrid work model remains prevalent, we expect to see a gradual increase in the number of days per week employees spend at the office. In fact, many of our clients plan to mandate employees work an additional day per week in the office starting sometime after Labor Day. Accordingly, office density is likely to gradually improve, which should help stabilize our volume of work orders over time. However, we are beginning to see what has been so prevalent in the media that as office leases expire, many clients are downsizing their office footprint given hybrid work models and the macroeconomic environment. This puts pressure on the demand side for us until vacant floors are re-leased and reoccupied. This trend will likely continue into 2024.

第三季度辦公密度保持相對穩定，混合基礎上約為 50%。儘管混合工作模式仍然盛行，但我們預計員工每週在辦公室度過的天數將逐漸增加。事實上，我們的許多客戶計劃從勞動節後的某個時間開始，要求員工每週在辦公室多工作一天。因此，辦公室密度可能會逐漸提高，這將有助於隨著時間的推移穩定我們的工單量。然而，我們開始看到媒體上普遍存在的現象：隨著辦公室租約到期，考慮到混合工作模式和宏觀經濟環境，許多客戶正在縮小辦公室規模。這給我們的需求方帶來了壓力，直到空置樓層被重新出租和重新佔用。這一趨勢可能會持續到 2024 年。

We remain well positioned to navigate the challenges in commercial real estate given our flexible labor model. Also importantly, our multi-tenant commercial real estate profile largely consist of Class A and newer buildings. These properties have been less impacted than Class B and Class C properties and should be leased up fairly quickly. In addition, Engineering services constitute a sizable portion of our revenue in B&I. This revenue stream is less impacted than janitorial services as HVAC and electrical systems must be maintained regardless of occupancy density.

鑑於我們靈活的勞動力模式，我們仍然能夠很好地應對商業房地產的挑戰。同樣重要的是，我們的多租戶商業地產主要由甲級和較新的建築組成。這些房產受到的影響比 B 級和 C 級房產要小，應該很快就能出租。此外，工程服務占我們 B&I 收入的很大一部分。該收入流比清潔服務受到的影響要小，因為無論佔用密度如何，暖通空調和電氣系統都必須維護。

Finally, I would note that our B&I segment includes a large portion of nonmulti-tenant locations such as corporate office towers and corporate campuses. This portion of B&I has seen more stability from a vacancy perspective. Summing it all up, we see the pressures on commercial real estate modestly impacting our revenue line but allowing us to protect margin through our labor model and the ability to manage our cost structure. Moving to Aviation. The leisure and business travel markets, including international travel, continue to be quite strong given pent-up demand.

最後，我要指出的是，我們的 B&I 部門包括很大一部分非多租戶地點，例如公司辦公樓和公司園區。從空缺角度來看，B&I 的這一部分更加穩定。總而言之，我們看到商業房地產的壓力對我們的收入線產生了適度的影響，但使我們能夠通過我們的勞動力模式和管理成本結構的能力來保護利潤。轉向航空。鑑於需求被壓抑，包括國際旅行在內的休閒和商務旅行市場仍然相當強勁。

Our aviation team has executed well in this environment, managing through a historically tight labor market while ramping up service volumes to above pre-pandemic levels. They've also done a great job winning new business, such as a significant recent expansion of one of the country's busiest airports that included multiple service lines through our ABM Performance Solutions integrated offering, which is known as ATS in the marketplace.

我們的航空團隊在這種環境下表現出色，在應對歷史上緊張的勞動力市場的同時，將服務量提高到大流行前的水平以上。他們在贏得新業務方面也做得非常出色，例如最近對該國最繁忙的機場之一進行了重大擴建，其中包括通過我們的ABM Performance Solutions 集成產品（市場上稱為ATS）提供的多條服務線。

Demand within our manufacturing and distribution segment has remained solid benefiting from our core e-commerce and logistics clients and from our diversification efforts, including expanded business with clients in the manufacturing, semiconductor and biopharma markets. These newer end markets continue to offer strong growth opportunities as clients increasingly outsource support services so they can focus on their core business operations and the momentum for onshoring manufacturing is continuing. Of note, we booked a significant contract with a leading energy company in the third quarter, further diversifying our client base.

得益於我們的核心電子商務和物流客戶以及我們的多元化努力，包括擴大與製造、半導體和生物製藥市場客戶的業務，我們的製造和分銷部門的需求保持強勁。隨著客戶越來越多地外包支持服務，這些新的終端市場繼續提供強勁的增長機會，以便他們能夠專注於核心業務運營，並且本土製造的勢頭仍在持續。值得注意的是，我們在第三季度與一家領先的能源公司簽訂了一份重要合同，進一步豐富了我們的客戶群。

We will continue to focus on new growth opportunities as we prepare for a large client of ours to rebid and rebalance their work needs over the next year. This is part of their normal business process and even after the bid. While we expect some revenue pressure, we also expect to maintain a disproportionate share of their business, having provided stellar service to them through a strong growth period.

我們將繼續關注新的增長機會，為我們的大客戶在明年重新投標和重新平衡他們的工作需求做好準備。這是他們正常業務流程的一部分，甚至是在投標之後。雖然我們預計會面臨一些收入壓力，但我們也預計將在他們的業務中保持不成比例的份額，並在強勁的增長時期為他們提供一流的服務。

Moving to education. We continue to post mid-single-digit organic revenue growth, driven by 100% in-class learning and by the addition of new clients. We executed well on our sales pipeline and won several new contracts during the third quarter, including a sizable win with the Providence Rhode Island Public School District. We are pleased that Providence has opted to utilize our ATS offering, which, as I noted earlier, combines multiple service offerings into one comprehensive solution. Other notable education wins in the third quarter included the Prosper Texas Independent School District and Palm Beach State College in Florida. Our pipeline of new business opportunities remain strong and we expect to continue to win our fair share going forward.

轉向教育。在 100% 課堂學習和新客戶增加的推動下，我們繼續實現中個位數的有機收入增長。我們的銷售渠道表現良好，並在第三季度贏得了幾份新合同，其中包括與普羅維登斯羅德島公立學區的重大合同。我們很高興普羅維登斯選擇使用我們的 ATS 產品，正如我之前提到的，該產品將多種服務產品結合到一個全面的解決方案中。第三季度其他值得注意的教育勝利包括德克薩斯州普羅斯珀獨立學區和佛羅里達州棕櫚灘州立學院。我們的新商機渠道仍然強勁，我們預計未來將繼續贏得公平的份額。

Moving to Technical Solutions. The global demand environment for EV charging infrastructure and microgrids, particularly battery storage systems remains strong. Our ATS backlog now exceeds $450 million with easy and microgrid services representing over 60% of the total. At the same time, we are experiencing soft market conditions and bundled energy solutions, which includes HVAC, lighting and electrical system retrofits. This is driven by reduced investment spending especially in K-12 schools, primarily due to higher interest rates and the pressure that puts on project ROI. ATS did not perform as we anticipated in the third quarter for 2 key reasons. First, we expected to complete a greater number of booked microgrid projects at multiple locations, specifically large battery systems for a large industrial client. This project was initially impacted by supply chain constraints in the first half of the year. With the supply chain having largely stabilized, we faced new delays relating to local permitting and utility issues.

轉向技術解決方案。全球對電動汽車充電基礎設施和微電網，特別是電池存儲系統的需求環境仍然強勁。我們的 ATS 積壓訂單現已超過 4.5 億美元，其中 Easy 和微電網服務佔總數的 60% 以上。與此同時，我們正在經歷疲軟的市場狀況和捆綁能源解決方案，其中包括暖通空調、照明和電氣系統改造。這是由於投資支出減少，尤其是 K-12 學校的投資支出減少，這主要是由於利率上升和項目投資回報率帶來的壓力。 ATS 第三季度的表現沒有達到我們的預期有兩個主要原因。首先，我們預計將在多個地點完成更多數量的預訂微電網項目，特別是為大型工業客戶提供的大型電池系統。該項目最初受到上半年供應鏈限制的影響。隨著供應鏈基本穩定，我們面臨著與當地許可和公用事業問題相關的新的延誤。

Because the deployment of large-scale battery storage system is relatively new, many local governments are not accustomed to dealing with the unique and complex requirements of these projects and permitting gets protracted. We continue to work closely with our clients, and we are executing a plan to address near-term hurdles, including targeting alternative sites where appropriate. Turning to e-mobility. As we discussed on our last call, we expected the pace of EV charger installations to materially accelerate in the second half of the year as we began to deliver on several new programs, including one for a large automotive dealer network. Because of this particular auto OEM recently announced a change in its EV production goals, the dealerships have slowed their rollout in EV infrastructure to match the production schedule. We view the battery store system delays as well as the project pushouts on EV as transitory and reflective of rapidly evolving markets experience disruptive change.

由於大規模電池存儲系統的部署相對較新，許多地方政府不習慣處理這些項目的獨特而復雜的要求，並且許可過程曠日持久。我們將繼續與客戶密切合作，並正在執行一項計劃來解決近期障礙，包括在適當的情況下瞄準替代地點。轉向電動汽車。正如我們在上次電話會議中所討論的那樣，隨著我們開始實施多項新計劃，其中包括針對大型汽車經銷商網絡的一項計劃，我們預計電動汽車充電器的安裝速度將在今年下半年大幅加快。由於這家特定的汽車原始設備製造商最近宣布改變其電動汽車生產目標，經銷商已放慢了電動汽車基礎設施的推出速度，以配合生產計劃。我們認為電池存儲系統的延遲以及電動汽車項目的推出都是暫時的，反映出快速發展的市場正在經歷顛覆性變化。

While we address the near-term challenges in this market, ABM remains well positioned in the EV charging space, given our track record of over 22,000 EV installations as well as our innovative technical capabilities that include end-to-end solutions. Also, the level of interest and bidding activity for EV infrastructure and microgrid has never been higher, so we remain really encouraged. Turning now to our ELEVATE initiative. We have continued to make important progress in reaching our long-term technology objectives. During the third quarter, we utilized our new cloud-based ERP system to complete our quarterly close for the Education segment. This platform, which provides significant efficiency and operational improvements will be rolled out to the remainder of ABM over the next 2 years as planned.

在我們應對該市場的近期挑戰的同時，ABM 在電動汽車充電領域仍處於有利地位，因為我們擁有超過 22,000 輛電動汽車安裝記錄以及包括端到端解決方案在內的創新技術能力。此外，人們對電動汽車基礎設施和微電網的興趣和投標活動從未如此之高，因此我們仍然感到非常鼓舞。現在轉向我們的 ELEVATE 計劃。我們在實現長期技術目標方面繼續取得重要進展。第三季度，我們利用新的基於雲的 ERP 系統完成了教育部門的季度結算。該平台可顯著提高效率並改進運營，將按計劃在未來 2 年內推廣到 ABM 的其餘部分。

We also continue to leverage our workforce productivity and optimization tool, which provides our operations teams with advanced analytics into productivity levels across their portfolios. In fact, we've seen about a 10% improvement in gross margins on the jobs where the tool has been piloted. This capability will become even more critical going forward to effectively manage our labor utilization as we navigate the commercial office landscape. Additionally, we now have over 200 digital client dashboards deployed at sites across the country and feedback has been exceptionally positive. As we manage through some specific challenges, ABM remains resilient, supported by our leading market position, diversified industry groups and financial strength. We continue to be the clear leader in facility services and we have expanded our long-term growth opportunity through strategic investments in fast-growing markets and will continue to do so.

我們還繼續利用我們的員工生產力和優化工具，為我們的運營團隊提供對其投資組合生產力水平的高級分析。事實上，我們已經看到試用該工具的工作崗位的毛利率提高了約 10%。隨著我們在商業辦公領域的發展，這種能力對於有效管理我們的勞動力利用率將變得更加重要。此外，我們現在在全國各地的站點部署了 200 多個數字客戶端儀表板，並且反饋非常積極。在我們應對一些具體挑戰的同時，在我們領先的市場地位、多元化的行業集團和財務實力的支持下，ABM 仍然保持彈性。我們仍然是設施服務領域明顯的領導者，我們通過對快速增長的市場進行戰略投資擴大了我們的長期增長機會，並將繼續這樣做。

We've done a terrific job winning large new contracts in aviation and education as well as in manufacturing and distribution where we continue to expand. And although we've experienced some delays in ATS, we are confident our performance will improve as the market matures. In B&I, we're fortunate that our portfolio remains heavily weighted towards better performing Class A commercial real estate and more stable engineering services, combined with our flexible labor model.

我們做得非常出色，贏得了航空和教育領域以及我們繼續擴張的製造和分銷領域的大量新合同。儘管我們在 ATS 方面經歷了一些延遲，但我們相信，隨著市場的成熟，我們的業績將會得到改善。在 B&I，我們很幸運，我們的投資組合仍然重點關注表現更好的甲級商業房地產和更穩定的工程服務，以及我們靈活的勞動力模式。

Given the recent challenges in ATS and B&I, we expect full year 2023 adjusted EPS to come in at the bottom half of our prior outlook range. Looking further ahead to next year, although our forecasting and budget process is in its early stages, it wouldn't surprise me that fiscal 2024 adjusted EPS was slightly down from 2023 given the softness in the commercial office sector.

鑑於 ATS 和 B&I 最近面臨的挑戰，我們預計 2023 年全年調整後每股收益將位於我們之前展望範圍的下半部分。展望明年，儘管我們的預測和預算流程仍處於早期階段，但考慮到商業辦公領域的疲軟，2024 財年調整後每股收益略低於 2023 年，我並不感到驚訝。

We will share our more formal 2024 outlook on our Q4 earnings call in December. We are laser focused on overcoming these near-term challenges including tightly managing costs and making tough decisions to adjust our cost structure across the organization. Beyond that, we are building for the future by winning new business in attractive markets leveraging our ELEVATE technology and by using our strong free cash flow to enhance shareholder returns. We will also continue to invest for the long term to position ABM for sustainable success. Now I'll turn it over to Earl for the financials.

我們將在 12 月的第四季度財報電話會議上分享更正式的 2024 年展望。我們專注於克服這些近期挑戰，包括嚴格管理成本並做出艱難的決定來調整整個組織的成本結構。除此之外，我們正在利用我們的 ELEVATE 技術在有吸引力的市場中贏得新業務，並利用我們強大的自由現金流來提高股東回報，從而為未來奠定基礎。我們還將繼續進行長期投資，以使 ABM 取得可持續成功。現在我會把它交給厄爾來處理財務事宜。

Thank you, Scott, and good morning, everyone. For those of you following along with our earnings presentation, please turn to Slide 5. Third quarter revenue increased 3.4% to $2 billion, comprised of organic revenue growth of 2.5% and acquisition contribution of roughly 1%.

謝謝你，斯科特，大家早上好。對於那些關注我們的收益演示的人，請參閱幻燈片 5。第三季度收入增長 3.4%，達到 20 億美元，其中有機收入增長 2.5%，收購貢獻約 1%。

Moving on to Slide 6. Net income in the third quarter was $98.1 million or $1.47 per diluted share, both up 73% as compared to last year. The increase in GAAP net income was driven by a gain from employee retention credits of $22.4 million. The adjustment of the fair value of contingent consideration of $37.2 million and tight expense controls, partially offset by higher interest expense and labor costs, project delays in ATS and lower commercial office space related volume. Adjusted net income of $52.8 million and adjusted earnings per diluted share of $0.79 were both down 16% from the prior year period. The year-over-year changes in adjusted net income and adjusted EPS primarily reflected higher interest expense and slightly lower income from operations, partially offset by cost management and benefits from price increase.

轉到幻燈片 6。第三季度淨利潤為 9810 萬美元，攤薄後每股收益 1.47 美元，均較去年增長 73%。 GAAP 淨利潤的增長是由 2240 萬美元的員工保留積分收益推動的。或有對價公允價值調整為 3,720 萬美元，以及嚴格的費用控制，但部分被較高的利息費用和勞動力成本、ATS 項目延誤以及商業辦公空間相關數量減少所抵消。調整後淨利潤為 5280 萬美元，調整後每股攤薄收益為 0.79 美元，均較上年同期下降 16%。調整後淨利潤和調整後每股收益的同比變化主要反映了利息支出的增加和運營收入的略有下降，但部分被成本管理和價格上漲的收益所抵消。

Adjusted EBITDA was essentially flat with the prior year at $125.3 million and adjusted EBITDA margin was 6.4% versus 6.6% last year. The margin decline was largely reflective of inefficiencies related to project delays in ATS and the impact of lower volumes in B&I, partially offset by cost initiatives. Now turning to our segment results beginning on Slide 7. B&I revenue declined 1% year-over-year to $1 billion, mainly due to reduced demand in the commercial office market. Operating profit in B&I decreased to $78.9 million and operating margin declined to 7.7% as the impact of lower volume was partially offset by price increases and cost actions. Aviation revenue grew 17% to $238 million, marking the ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue growth. This increase was driven by strong demand for leisure and business travel.

調整後 EBITDA 與上年基本持平，為 1.253 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 6.4%，去年為 6.6%。利潤率下降主要反映了與 ATS 項目延遲相關的效率低下以及 B&I 銷量下降的影響，但成本舉措部分抵消了這一影響。現在轉向我們從幻燈片 7 開始的部門業績。B&I 收入同比下降 1% 至 10 億美元，主要是由於商業辦公市場需求減少。 B&I 的營業利潤下降至 7890 萬美元，營業利潤率下降至 7.7%，因為銷量下降的影響被價格上漲和成本行動部分抵消。航空收入增長 17%，達到 2.38 億美元，連續第九個季度實現收入同比增長。這一增長是由休閒和商務旅行的強勁需求推動的。

We expect demand within our Aviation segment to remain constructive going forward. Aviation's operating profit was $11.7 million versus $9.5 million in the prior year period. And operating margin expanded 20 basis points to 4.9%. The increase in profit and margin primarily reflected higher volume and price increases, partially offset by increased labor costs. Turning to Slide 8. manufacturing and distribution revenue grew 7% to $381.9 million, reflecting broad-based demand. Operating profit increased to $38.1 million while operating margin declined 60 basis points to 10%. Profit and margin performance was largely due to mix as new wins came in slightly below our historical margin in this segment.

我們預計航空領域的需求未來仍將保持建設性。航空業的營業利潤為 1,170 萬美元，而去年同期為 950 萬美元。營業利潤率增長 20 個基點，達到 4.9%。利潤和利潤率的增長主要反映了銷量和價格的增長，但部分被勞動力成本的增長所抵消。轉向幻燈片 8。製造和分銷收入增長 7%，達到 3.819 億美元，反映了廣泛的需求。營業利潤增至 3810 萬美元，而營業利潤率下降 60 個基點至 10%。利潤和利潤率表現在很大程度上是由於混合因素造成的，因為新勝利的利潤率略低於我們在該領域的歷史利潤率。

Education revenue increased 6% to $219.1 million, benefiting from the addition of new clients. Education operating profit was $15.9 million up 10% over the prior year period, while margin increased 30 basis points to 7.3%. These increases were largely attributable to increased organic revenue growth and labor efficiencies. Technical Solutions revenue grew 6% to $167.9 million, which was below our expectations heading into the quarter. Revenue growth was comprised of 12% growth from RavenVolt partially offset by a 6% organic decline. As Scott mentioned, ATS revenue was negatively impacted by 3 factors: namely delays in certain RavenVolt battery storage projects. Ongoing softness in our bundled energy solutions markets as investment decisions are being impacted by higher interest rate environment; and thirdly, the pushout of a large EV charging installation program.

得益於新客戶的增加，教育收入增長了 6%，達到 2.191 億美元。教育運營利潤為 1,590 萬美元，比上年同期增長 10%，利潤率增長 30 個基點，達到 7.3%。這些增長主要歸因於有機收入增長和勞動效率的提高。技術解決方案收入增長 6% 至 1.679 億美元，低於我們對本季度的預期。 RavenVolt 收入增長 12%，部分被 6% 的有機下降所抵消。正如 Scott 提到的，ATS 收入受到 3 個因素的負面影響：即某些 RavenVolt 電池存儲項目的延誤。由於投資決策受到較高利率環境的影響，我們的捆綁能源解決方案市場持續疲軟；三是大規模電動汽車充電安裝計劃的推出。

Backlog in ATS is now over $450 million, much of which is scheduled to convert to revenue in 2024. Also of note, supply chain issues in ATS have been stabilized which will be helpful as we move forward. ATS operating profit was $11.4 million, and margin was 6.8% compared to operating profit of $15.4 million, margin of 9.7% last year. The decrease in margin and profit were largely driven by inefficiency associated with project delays, changes in business mix and the amortization of intangibles related to the RavenVolt acquisition.

ATS 的積壓訂單目前超過 4.5 億美元，其中大部分計劃在 2024 年轉化為收入。還值得注意的是，ATS 的供應鏈問題已經穩定，這將有助於我們前進。 ATS 營業利潤為 1,140 萬美元，利潤率為 6.8%，而去年營業利潤為 1,540 萬美元，利潤率為 9.7%。利潤率和利潤的下降主要是由於項目延誤、業務組合變化以及與 RavenVolt 收購相關的無形資產攤銷導致效率低下。

Moving on to Slide 9. We ended the third quarter with total debt of $1.4 billion including $58.4 million in standby letters of credit, resulting in total debt to pro forma adjusted EBITDA ratio of 2.3x. At the end of Q3, we had available liquidity of $582.6 million, including cash and cash equivalents of $97.7 million. Free cash flow in the third quarter was still strong at $138 million.

轉向幻燈片 9。第三季度結束時，我們的總債務為 14 億美元，其中包括 5,840 萬美元的備用信用證，導致總債務與預計調整後 EBITDA 的比率為 2.3 倍。截至第三季度末，我們的可用流動資金為 5.826 億美元，其中現金和現金等價物為 9770 萬美元。第三季度自由現金流仍然強勁，達到 1.38 億美元。

During the third quarter, we repurchased 644,000 shares of common stock at an average price of $42.10 for a total cost of $27.1 million. Interest expense was $20.9 million, up approximately $10 million from the prior year period, but down slightly on a sequential basis. The year-over-year increase was primarily attributable to higher interest rates. Now let's move on to our full year fiscal 2023 outlook, as shown on Slide 10. On a GAAP basis, we now expect EPS to be in the range of $3.52 to $3.62, up from our prior outlook, driven by gains from changes in items impacting comparability occurring in the third quarter, namely $0.26 related to employee retention credits and an incremental $0.59 related to an adjustment to the fair value of contingent consideration. As for the adjusted EPS, we are tightening to the lower end of our prior range largely reflecting project pushouts in ATS and ongoing softness in the commercial real estate market. As a result, we now expect full year 2023 adjusted EPS to be $3.40 and to $3.50.

第三季度，我們以平均價格 42.10 美元回購了 644,000 股普通股，總成本為 2710 萬美元。利息支出為 2090 萬美元，比上年同期增加約 1000 萬美元，但環比略有下降。同比增長主要歸因於利率上升。現在讓我們繼續展望2023 財年全年前景，如幻燈片10 所示。按照GAAP 計算，我們現在預計每股收益將在3.52 美元至3.62 美元之間，高於我們之前的預期，這主要得益於項目變化帶來的收益影響第三季度發生的可比性，即與員工保留積分相關的 0.26 美元和與或有對價公允價值調整相關的增量 0.59 美元。至於調整後每股收益，我們正在收緊至先前範圍的下限，這主要反映了 ATS 項目的推出以及商業房地產市場的持續疲軟。因此，我們現在預計 2023 年全年調整後每股收益為 3.40 美元和 3.50 美元。

Our full year outlook for adjusted EBITDA margin, interest expense and tax rate before discrete items are all unchanged. Adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be 6.5% to 6.8%. Interest expense is expected to be approximately $80 million, and the tax rate before discrete items is expected to be between 29% and 30%. We also continue to expect to grow full year adjusted EBITDA in the mid-single digits and for full year free cash flow to be in the range of $240 million to $270 million before the carried a repayment of $66 million, which was made in Q1 and combined full year integration and elevate expenses of approximately $75 million to $80 million. With that, let me turn it back to Scott for closing comments.

我們對調整後 EBITDA 利潤率、利息支出和不計離散項目稅率的全年預期均保持不變。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率預計為 6.5% 至 6.8%。利息支出預計約為 8000 萬美元，離散項目前的稅率預計在 29% 至 30% 之間。我們還繼續預計全年調整後 EBITDA 將實現中個位數增長，全年自由現金流將在 2.4 億美元至 2.7 億美元之間，然後再償還第一季度和第二季度支付的 6600 萬美元。全年整合費用總計約7500 萬美元至8000 萬美元。說到這裡，讓我把它轉回給斯科特以供結束評論。

Thanks, Earl. I couldn't be more pleased with our team's efforts in the face of macroeconomic headwinds and the challenges in commercial real estate. Their unrelenting focus on client service and winning new business, combined with the mixture of our end markets, the resiliency of our culture and the extraordinary talent of our teammates, gives me great confidence we will successfully navigate any near-term challenges. With that, let's take some questions.

謝謝，厄爾。我對我們團隊面對宏觀經濟逆風和商業房地產挑戰所做出的努力感到非常滿意。他們對客戶服務和贏得新業務的不懈關注，加上我們的終端市場的融合、我們文化的彈性和我們團隊成員的非凡才能，讓我充滿信心，我們將成功應對任何近期挑戰。那麼，讓我們提出一些問題。

The floor is now open for questions.

現在可以提問。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Today's first question is coming from Tim Mulrooney of William Blair.

今天的第一個問題來自威廉·布萊爾的蒂姆·馬爾羅尼。

Hey, this is Sam Kusswurm on for Tim. Scott, Earl, hope you both are doing well. I guess to start here, you shared that you're expecting the commercial real estate market to remain soft in 2024 and EPS may be down year-over-year. if that proves true, I guess I'm wondering how you think about that in terms of reaching your ELEVATE goals in 2025.

嘿，我是 Sam Kusswurm 替 Tim 發言。斯科特、厄爾，希望你們倆都一切順利。我想首先，您表示預計 2024 年商業房地產市場將保持疲軟，每股收益可能會同比下降。如果這是真的，我想我想知道您如何看待在 2025 年實現 ELEVATE 目標。

Yes. Thanks for the question. Look, I think for us, I think we have to talk about 2021 when we set our ELEVATE goals and how much the market has changed, right? I mean we have this multigenerational structural shift in commercial real estate between hybrid work and the macroeconomic environment which is certainly going to put short-term pressure on us. And the interest rate environment has significantly changed since then, right? Not to mention what's happened with wage inflation, especially in the blue-collar segment.

是的。謝謝你的提問。看，我認為對我們來說，我認為我們必須談論 2021 年，當我們設定 ELEVATE 目標時，以及市場發生了多大變化，對吧？我的意思是，商業房地產在混合工作和宏觀經濟環境之間發生了多代人的結構性轉變，這肯定會給我們帶來短期壓力。從那時起，利率環境發生了顯著變化，對嗎？更不用說工資上漲了，特別是在藍領階層。

So that's definitely going to put pressure on us, and we could see that pushing out our goals maybe a couple of years. But at the end of the day, we are firmly committed to these metrics and feel strongly we're going to hit our 7.2% margin, our free cash flow targets. The investments that we're making in ELEVATE. The ROI that we're seeing early on is so compelling between the hyper targeting tool and probably, although the year is not over, we believe we're going to hit a fifth consecutive year in sales growth. So we're excited about that.

所以這肯定會給我們帶來壓力，我們可能需要幾年的時間才能實現我們的目標。但歸根結底，我們堅定地致力於這些指標，並堅信我們將達到 7.2% 的利潤率，即我們的自由現金流目標。我們對 ELEVATE 的投資。我們早期看到的超級定位工具的投資回報率非常引人注目，儘管這一年尚未結束，但我們相信我們將連續第五年實現銷售增長。所以我們對此感到興奮。

I mentioned in my prepared remarks that we're seeing the labor productivity tool in the pilots, having 10% gross margin uplift. So we're absolutely firmly committed to our targets. It's just, again, maybe extended a couple of years.

我在準備好的發言中提到，我們在試點中看到勞動生產率工具的毛利率提高了 10%。因此，我們絕對堅定地致力於我們的目標。只是，再一次，可能會延長幾年。

I appreciate that response. Maybe pivoting to your technical solution, but I think it was last quarter, there was some hope that the (inaudible) in some of your technical solution projects was going to reverse in the back half here. But now that's looking more like in 2024. Can you give us a pulse on how clients are viewing right now? And are the projects still considered paused? Or have any clients canceled them altogether.

我很欣賞這個回應。也許轉向你的技術解決方案，但我認為那是上個季度，有人希望你的一些技術解決方案項目中的（聽不清）將在後半段逆轉。但現在看起來更像是在 2024 年。您能給我們介紹一下客戶目前的觀看情況嗎？這些項目是否仍被視為暫停？或者有任何客戶完全取消了它們。

Yes. No, that's a great question. There's been no cancellations. This is all part of our backlog, which is signed contracts. And I think for this -- these are big chunky projects, a big battery storage projects. And we had initially some delays because of supply chain. We got over those hurdles. But now to get these installations in, you have to go through permitting, you have to deal with the utilities.

是的。不，這是一個很好的問題。沒有取消的情況。這都是我們積壓訂單的一部分，即已簽署的合同。我認為，這些都是大型項目，大型電池存儲項目。由於供應鏈的原因，我們最初遇到了一些延誤。我們克服了這些障礙。但現在要安裝這些設備，你必須獲得許可，你必須處理公用事業問題。

And to give you a context on these battery storage projects, these battery farms that we're putting in are the size of 1, 2, sometimes 3 football fields, right? And this is a new market that's not really matured yet, right? So I think it's new even for the local governments in terms of permitting. So we're seeing them pushed out. We're having 2 of our 9 projected projects happen this year. So they're actually happening. It's just really delayed starts and a reflection of the maturity of the market. But I have to tell you, when we reflect on the RavenVolt acquisition and the whole microgrid space. I think the only thing that's happened in the last year is that we're more resolved that this was an amazing acquisition for us and absolutely the right space.

為了讓您了解這些電池存儲項目的背景，我們正在建設的這些電池場的大小相當於 1 個、2 個、有時 3 個足球場，對嗎？這是一個尚未真正成熟的新市場，對嗎？所以我認為即使對於地方政府來說，在許可方面也是新的。所以我們看到他們被推出去。我們的 9 個預計項目中有 2 個將於今年實現。所以它們確實正在發生。這只是真正的延遲啟動和市場成熟度的反映。但當我們反思 RavenVolt 收購和整個微電網領域時，我必須告訴你。我認為去年發生的唯一一件事是我們更加堅定地認為這對我們來說是一次令人驚嘆的收購，而且絕對是正確的空間。

I mean alternative energy is kind of the future of this country. And just to give you one quick anecdote, our Chief Operating Officer, is [Danish] and Willis in Denmark over the summer. And he was noting that when they give the weather forecast in Denmark, they give the weather forecast and they talk about how much of the country is operating on alternative power. And in some days, it approaches 100% or more. So like -- this is the future. We're excited about it. I think what we're going to have to get used to at ABM is that with these big chunky projects, it could be lumpy. And the timing is just going to be tough when you're dealing on a quarter-by-quarter basis. So kind of we're learning that as well as we go along.

我的意思是替代能源是這個國家的未來。簡單介紹一下我們的首席運營官，[丹麥人] 和 Willis 今年夏天在丹麥。他指出，當他們在丹麥發布天氣預報時，他們會談論該國有多少地區正在使用替代能源。在某些日子裡，它會接近 100% 或更高。就像——這就是未來。我們對此感到興奮。我認為我們在 ABM 必須適應的是，對於這些大而笨重的項目，它可能會很不穩定。當你按季度進行交易時，時機會很困難。我們正在學習這一點，同時我們也在繼續。

The next question is coming from Faiza Alwy of Deutsche Bank.

下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Faiza Alwy。

So I wanted to follow up on that line of questioning. You mentioned a few things, Scott, as it relates to the ATS delays. You mentioned sort of higher interest rates and potentially lower ROI, the government permitting issues and the delay around EV charging installations -- can you help us think through sort of each of those factors like how much has that been an impact this year? And when do you expect each of these to resolve -- so I have a follow-up after that.

所以我想跟進這個問題。斯科特，你提到了一些與 ATS 延誤有關的事情。您提到了較高的利率和可能較低的投資回報率、政府許可問題以及電動汽車充電安裝的延遲——您能否幫助我們思考每一個因素，例如今年的影響有多大？你預計這些問題什麼時候能得到解決——所以我會在這之後進行跟進。

Yes. I mean, why don't I focus on EV, maybe that would be helpful because I guess I just discussed the RavenVolt and microgrids. But with EV, we had talked before Pfizer about the fact that we are shifting our strategy away from dealerships and more towards bigger fleet projects, big infrastructure projects and our pipeline is bursting with those projects, right? And that's going to -- we have line of sight to '24 for that.

是的。我的意思是，為什麼我不關注電動汽車，也許這會有所幫助，因為我想我剛剛討論了 RavenVolt 和微電網。但在電動汽車方面，我們在輝瑞之前就曾討論過這樣一個事實，即我們正在將戰略從經銷商轉向更大的車隊項目、大型基礎設施項目，而我們的管道中充滿了這些項目，對嗎？我們將在 24 年前實現這一點。

But our bridge to that was on a dealership with a big OEM and they shifted their production goals for this year. And because of that, the bridge that we had got a little fractured for the rest of this year because they've pushed out their rollout on the dealership side. So we'll see that coming to '24. And that's why we feel so confident about ATS in '24 between the microgrid projects that are getting pushed into next year and the dealership program that's going to ramp up on EV, we feel great about it. But it put pressure on the remainder of '24, and that's why you saw pressure in Q3. Yes. So that's kind of the EV story.

但我們通往這一目標的橋樑是一家大型原始設備製造商的經銷商，他們改變了今年的生產目標。正因為如此，今年剩下的時間裡，我們的橋樑有點斷裂，因為他們已經在經銷商方面推出了他們的產品。所以我們會在 24 年看到這一點。這就是為什麼我們對 24 年的 ATS 充滿信心，因為微電網項目將在明年推進，而經銷商計劃將在電動汽車上加強，我們對此感覺很棒。但這給 24 年剩下的時間帶來了壓力，這就是為什麼你在第三季度看到了壓力。是的。這就是電動汽車的故事。

And if I just add to that. If you look at our longer-term financial goals, which Scott just mentioned, will probably get pushed out a couple of years, a lot of what was driving those benefits were really driven by our ELEVATE initiatives. And the good news is the benefits associated with ELEVATE are still very well intact. In fact, we've already probably reaped about 50% of those benefits to date.

如果我補充一下的話。如果你看看斯科特剛才提到的我們的長期財務目標，可能會推遲幾年，那麼推動這些效益的很多因素實際上是由我們的 ELEVATE 計劃推動的。好消息是，與 ELEVATE 相關的優勢仍然完好無損。事實上，到目前為止，我們可能已經獲得了其中約 50% 的收益。

Now some of the headwinds we've actually seen in the business that Scott alluded to, so the interest rate, the softness that we're seeing in CRE, the continued wage inflation that we're experiencing, some of those things will continue. So if I break it down, the interest rates, we believe, have kind of like plateaued, and we've now built that we're going to be building that into our projections to come. CRE, we expect softness to continue into 2004, and the wage inflation, the teams have really done a great job in counteracting that with priced increases. So the good news is that some of these headwinds that we've seen that have actually offset the benefits with regards to ELEVATE will subside. And therefore, we still are expecting to hit a long-term ELEVATE benefits, however, probably 2 years out.

現在，我們實際上已經在斯科特提到的業務中看到了一些不利因素，例如利率，我們在商業地產中看到的疲軟，我們正在經歷的持續的工資通脹，其中一些事情將繼續下去。因此，如果我細分一下，我們認為利率已經趨於穩定，我們現在已經將其納入我們未來的預測中。 CRE，我們預計疲軟將持續到 2004 年，而且工資上漲，各團隊在通過價格上漲來抵消這種情況方面確實做得很好。因此，好消息是，我們所看到的一些實際上抵消了 ELEVATE 帶來的好處的逆風將會消退。因此，我們仍然期望能夠實現長期的 ELEVATE 效益，不過，可能需要 2 年後。

That's really helpful. I was going to follow up on that. I guess if I think about then your comment that 2024 EPS might be below $23 million, if ADS is going to sort of see this recovery and interest rates have stabilized, it seems like it's more around wages in the commercial real estate market, I guess, what is your opinion on the commercial real estate market? And sort of what inning are we in, in your opinion?

這真的很有幫助。我本來打算跟進此事。我想如果我考慮一下您關於 2024 年每股收益可能低於 2300 萬美元的評論，如果 ADS 會看到這種複蘇並且利率已經穩定，我想這似乎更多地圍繞著商業房地產市場的工資，您對商業地產市場有何看法？您認為我們現在處於哪一局？

Yes. This is solely pinned on commercial real estate. Because Faiz, you have to think about it, 50% of our revenue base was in B&I, right? And when you have all the compression that's happening, I think the latest statistic is that tenants on average are taking 19% space, right? So that demand and that demand reduction is going to pull through to our EPS for next year. B&I is one of our highest margin segments. So there's no getting around that.

是的。這完全取決於商業地產。因為 Faiz，你必須考慮一下，我們 50% 的收入基礎來自 B&I，對吧？當你看到所有正在發生的壓縮時，我認為最新的統計數據是租戶平均佔用了 19% 的空間，對嗎？因此，需求和需求減少將影響我們明年的每股收益。 B&I 是我們利潤率最高的細分市場之一。所以這是無法迴避的。

But I would say where we become so resilient is 1/3 of our revenue in B&I is in engineering, which is more stable and doesn't have the demand compression because you have the air condition space regardless of occupancy. But the other 2/3 is in that commercial real estate segment, and we will see pressure on that, and the reason that we wanted to get that sentiment out there for next year, even ahead of guidance is, we typically grow 2% to 3% in B&I. And you can see with the compression that's going on, it becomes clear that, that could be in reverse. And it could be that negative 2% to 3%. And I think in context to everything that's going on with this massive structural shift in commercial real estate, the fact that we could look ahead to B&I and feel like we're only going to be down low single digit.

但我想說的是，我們變得如此有彈性的地方是，我們在 B&I 的收入中有 1/3 來自工程，這更穩定，並且沒有需求壓縮，因為無論佔用多少，你都有空調空間。但另外 2/3 是在商業房地產領域，我們將看到這方面的壓力，而我們希望明年即使在指導之前也能保持這種情緒的原因是，我們通常會增長 2% B&I 為 3%。你可以看到，通過正在進行的壓縮，很明顯，情況可能會相反。可能是負 2% 到 3%。我認為，考慮到商業房地產大規模結構性轉變所發生的一切，我們可以展望 B&I，並感覺我們只會下降低個位數。

I mean, again, it speaks to the resilience of our business model. And you pair that with our flexible labor model and our ability to protect margin. I mean it's -- we think it becomes compelling, but there's just no way around the fact that we're not going to see the demand effect with the compression that's going on.

我的意思是，這再次說明了我們商業模式的彈性。您可以將其與我們靈活的勞動力模式和保護利潤的能力相結合。我的意思是——我們認為它變得引人注目，但無可避免的事實是，我們不會看到正在進行的壓縮所產生的需求效應。

The next question is coming from Andy Wittmann of Baird.

下一個問題來自貝爾德 (Baird) 的安迪·維特曼 (Andy Wittmann)。

Your response so far to the questions have been helpful for the context in the '24. I just wanted to touch on one other thing regarding that outlook that I think would be incremental. In your prepared remarks, Scott, you kind of talked about in the M&D segment, which has been a very good segment for you over the last several years, very good growth. Obviously, very good margins here. But here, you said that there's a large client that's got a rebid, and this is an area that you're going to see some revenue pressure here.

到目前為止，您對這些問題的回答對於 24 世紀的背景很有幫助。我只是想談一談關於這一前景的另一件事，我認為這將是漸進的。斯科特，在你準備好的發言中，你談到了 M&D 領域，在過去幾年裡，這對你來說是一個非常好的領域，增長非常好。顯然，這裡的利潤非常好。但在這裡，您說有一個大客戶進行了重新投標，這是一個您將看到一些收入壓力的領域。

Do you still expect that the M&D segment margin can show some growth even with some potential revenue pressure that you might be looking at there? I guess because as I go through the segments here, you made it very clear in the last response, B&I is the area where you're seeing the most pressure. These other areas seems like pretty good with ATS maybe being very good on a year-over-year basis next year. So I guess the one area that I want to get a better sense on is this M&D segment. Please?

即使您可能會看到一些潛在的收入壓力，您是否仍然預計 M&D 部門的利潤率會出現一些增長？我想是因為當我瀏覽這裡的各個部分時，您在上次回復中非常清楚地表明，B&I 是您面臨最大壓力的領域。這些其他領域似乎相當不錯，而 ATS 明年的同比情況可能會非常好。所以我想我想要更好地了解的一個領域就是 M&D 部分。請？

Yes. That's great. Great, Andy. And like I'm in a weird position, right, because we're in advance of like providing guidance and finishing up our budgets, but I do want to give you color, and I want to be responsive to you. So let me start by saying like M&D is probably one of the best ideas from the management team in the last few years, and it's paid dividends to your point.

是的。那太棒了。太棒了，安迪。就像我處於一個奇怪的位置，對吧，因為我們提前提供指導並完成我們的預算，但我確實想給你顏色，我想對你做出回應。首先我要說的是，M&D 可能是過去幾年管理團隊提出的最好的想法之一，而且它為你的觀點帶來了好處。

And we're a little bit of a victim of our own success here because we have one very, very large client that we kind of grew up together with, right? And as part of their normal business process, they're going through a rebid and we're expecting to see revenue compression there. It just makes sense, right? We'll still end up with a disproportionate share of the work. That's going to put pressure on the M&D. But if you kind of segment that outside of M&D, M&D as a whole is still going to grow high single digit, low double digit. It still has all the compelling factors about it. It's just we have to think about kind of the impediment with this one rebid, but we feel good about that segment. But I think it's just too early to tell whether or not -- this is going to be margin accretive next year. It's going to be flat, but we do think there's going to be some pressure on the revenue side. But again, just reaffirming, it's just such a terrific segment for us. So I think this is more about an episodic event than any kind of structural change.

我們在這裡有點成為我們自己成功的受害者，因為我們有一個非常非常大的客戶，我們和他們一起成長，對吧？作為正常業務流程的一部分，他們正在經歷重新投標，我們預計收入會壓縮。這很有道理，對吧？我們最終仍然會承擔不成比例的工作。這會給 M&D 帶來壓力。但如果你把 M&D 之外的部分進行細分，M&D 作為一個整體仍然會增長高個位數、低兩位數。它仍然具有所有令人信服的因素。只是我們必須考慮這次重新投標的障礙，但我們對該部分感覺良好。但我認為現在判斷明年的利潤是否會增加還為時過早。它將持平，但我們確實認為收入方面將會面臨一些壓力。但再次重申，這對我們來說是一個非常棒的部分。所以我認為這更多的是一個偶發事件，而不是任何結構性變化。

That makes sense. I guess for my follow-up, let's talk maybe about ATS. The early COVID money from the federal government impacted schools in several ways, but one of them was on capital projects for ventilation and air conditioning projects, many schools have gone ahead and done those. And I think your business, correct me if I'm wrong, did benefit from that.

這就說得通了。我想在我的後續行動中，我們也許可以談談 ATS。聯邦政府早期為新冠疫情提供的資金以多種方式影響了學校，其中之一是通風和空調項目的資本項目，許多學校已經開始實施這些項目。我認為你的企業確實從中受益，如果我錯了，請糾正我。

How much of some of the pressures that you're seeing in that part of -- I mean you talked about EV being good. You talked about microgrids being good, but this bundled and Energy Solutions business, which is the education business largely is seeing some pressure. Is it just -- is it a tough compare from the federal dollars that's kind of propped up that market for a couple of years. I know you mentioned interest rates. But is there this other effect as well? Or do you not see that as being one of the reasons for some of the pressure you're seeing today there?

你在這部分看到了多少壓力——我的意思是你談到了電動汽車很好。您談到微電網很好，但捆綁和能源解決方案業務（主要是教育業務）正面臨一些壓力。與多年來支撐該市場的聯邦資金相比，這是一個艱難的比較嗎？我知道你提到了利率。但還有其他效果嗎？或者你不認為這是你今天看到的一些壓力的原因之一嗎？

Yes. I think it's like -- I don't want to oversimplify it, but so much of this is weighted towards interest rates because what happens, Andy, is that these are all highly financed, almost 100% financed, right? So when a school is looking at their infrastructure and a large-scale project that they want to put forward, they do that against the interest rate environment and the ROI against it.

是的。我認為這就像——我不想過於簡單化，但其中很大一部分都與利率有關，因為安迪，會發生什麼，這些都是高度融資的，幾乎 100% 融資的，對嗎？因此，當一所學校考慮他們的基礎設施和他們想要提出的大型項目時，他們會根據利率環境和投資回報率來做到這一點。

And when interest rates go up like this, it just puts pressure on those ROIs. And then what starts happening as you start going through this triage process where there are some schools that irregardless of the ROI have to make these changes to their air conditioning systems to the lighting, and they still move ahead. And that's why our BES segment isn't 0, right? It's just it's got pressure, but there are still projects that are happening. Where we're seeing the pressure is those projects that it's more of a nice to have. It's on the fringe, and now the ROIs get to a place where a lot of them aren't even canceling the projects, they're just kicking the can because they want to do them, but they're protracting them.

當利率像這樣上漲時，只會給投資回報率帶來壓力。然後，當你開始經歷這個分類過程時，就會發生什麼，有些學校無論投資回報率如何，都必須對空調系統和照明進行這些改變，但他們仍然繼續前進。這就是為什麼我們的 BES 段不為 0，對嗎？只是壓力很大，但仍有項目在進行。我們看到的壓力是那些更值得擁有的項目。它處於邊緣，現在投資回報率達到了一個地步，其中許多人甚至沒有取消項目，他們只是因為想做而推遲了項目，但他們正在拖延項目。

So -- and that's why because we don't think the interest rate environment is going to dramatically change anytime soon, we think there could be pressure in '24. But the BES segment is kind of alive and well. And if you were to take like a 5-year view, we're as excited as ever. But I think until we get a little relief on interest rates and the ROIs become more compelling, they'll have pressure. And now as we look at it, just to finish it up, as we start hunting again, we're now hunting for projects where it's not necessarily just about ROI on the fringe. We're looking at school districts where it's like they have to do these projects. But that takes time. There's a lead time on that. But it's -- interest rates is the majority of it, Andy.

因此，這就是為什麼我們認為利率環境不會很快發生巨大變化，因此我們認為 24​​ 年可能會面臨壓力。但 BES 細分市場仍然充滿生機。如果你從五年的角度來看，我們會一如既往地興奮。但我認為，在我們的利率得到一點緩解並且投資回報率變得更加引人注目之前，他們將面臨壓力。現在，當我們審視它時，只是為了完成它，當我們再次開始尋找時，我們現在正在尋找的項目不一定只是關於邊緣投資回報率。我們正在研究那些必須開展這些項目的學區。但這需要時間。這有一個前置時間。但安迪，利率是其中的主要部分。

The next question is coming from Sean Eastman of KeyBanc Capital Markets.

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

This is Nick Breckenridge for Sean today. Yes, I just wanted to sort of ask more about some of those prepared remarks you made, Scott, particularly that comment about how the CRE conditions are going to flow through in the model in '24. Just if you could give more color into the sort of how that labor market tightness would that improve visibility on the out-year margin trends with just being sort of less -- I mean, less occupancy rates are going to drive. I mean, maybe less more, I guess, more flexibility. Could you just provide more color on that, please?

我是今天肖恩的尼克·布雷肯里奇。是的，我只是想更多地詢問一下你所做的一些準備好的評論，斯科特，特別是關於 CRE 條件將如何在 24 年的模型中流動的評論。如果你能更多地說明勞動力市場的緊縮將如何提高年外利潤率趨勢的可見性，而只是減少一點——我的意思是，入住率將會下降。我的意思是，也許更少，更多，我想，更多的靈活性。您能提供更多顏色嗎？

Sure. I mean, look, I think the foundation of our B&I segment is the fact that we have this flexible labor model. So I'll just put it like simplistic terms, right? If a tenant's got 5 floors in the building and they go down to 4 floors, what happens the staff on that floor that gets vacated, we're allowed to release that staff, right? So that's how we end up protecting our margin through this is because we have this flexible labor model.

當然。我的意思是，我認為我們 B&I 部門的基礎是我們擁有這種靈活的勞動力模式。所以我就用簡單的術語來說吧？如果一個租戶在大樓裡有 5 層，他們下降到 4 層，那麼該樓層的員工騰出後會發生什麼，我們可以釋放該員工，對吧？這就是我們最終通過這種方式保護我們的利潤的方式，因為我們擁有這種靈活的勞動力模式。

So we think -- we think there's some positive trends, believe it or not, in terms of people coming back to work. But there is still this macroeconomic environment that's happening and clients are taking less space. So we are going to see contraction on that demand side. But again, we love the fact that we have this flexibility on the cost side. And that's the key to B&I. And that's why B&I has always been so successful through the years.

所以我們認為，不管你信不信，我們認為在人們重返工作崗位方面存在一些積極的趨勢。但宏觀經濟環境仍然存在，客戶佔用的空間越來越少。因此，我們將看到需求方面的收縮。但同樣，我們喜歡這樣一個事實：我們在成本方面具有這種靈活性。這就是 B&I 的關鍵。這就是 B&I 多年來一直如此成功的原因。

And then just one more sort of follow-up around ATS. Just sort of going forward and assuming that everything starts to flow through in terms of projects getting sort of taken out of backlog sort of the BES coming back is -- would you say you'd have more visibility onto getting a sustained ATS positive growth trend on the op income line. Would that be fair to say?

然後是關於 ATS 的又一種後續行動。只是向前邁進並假設一切都開始順利進行，項目從積壓的項目中取出，BES 回來了 - 您是否會說您對獲得持續的 ATS 積極增長趨勢有更多的了解在op收入線上。這樣說公平嗎？

Absolutely, absolutely. We -- as we look out over the next year or 2, ATS we see going back to what it's historically been over many years, which is top line double-digit growth and bottom line double-digit growth there as well. So this is one of our most exciting segments and will continue to be so.

絕對，絕對。展望未來一兩年，ATS 將會回到多年來的歷史水平，即營收兩位數增長和淨利潤兩位數增長。因此，這是我們最令人興奮的部分之一，並將繼續如此。

The next question is coming from Marc Riddick of Sidoti.

下一個問題來自西多蒂的馬克·里迪克。

So a lot of my questions have been answered. I was sort of curious as to whether you can sort of give us a bit of an update as to maybe some of the opportunities that you might see in the acquisition pipeline, valuations that you're seeing and maybe sort of your appetite as far as if there are some things out there that might make sense in this environment?

所以我的很多問題都得到了解答。我很好奇您是否可以向我們提供一些最新情況，包括您可能在收購渠道中看到的一些機會、您看到的估值以及您的興趣是否有一些事情在這種環境下可能有意義？

Yes. One of our biggest opportunities is our capital structure, right? I mean we're at 2.3x leverage. So we have plenty of powder not only from an M&A standpoint, but share buyback from our dividend standpoint. We have a lot of levers to pull in '24, Marc, which we're excited about.

是的。我們最大的機會之一是我們的資本結構，對吧？我的意思是我們的槓桿率為 2.3 倍。因此，我們不僅從併購的角度來看，而且從股息的角度來看，我們都有大量的股票回購。馬克，我們在 24 年有很多手段可以利用，對此我們感到很興奮。

And the M&A pipeline probably not as robust as it was a couple of years ago just because of the financial markets, right? But we still have a pipeline there is stuff that we're working on, and we'll update you as that happens. But thankfully, our capital structure and our strong free cash flow is one of the accelerators for ABM as we move forward.

由於金融市場的原因，併購渠道可能不像幾年前那麼強勁，對嗎？但我們仍然有一個管道正在處理一些事情，我們會及時向您通報最新情況。但值得慶幸的是，我們的資本結構和強勁的自由現金流是 ABM 前進的加速器之一。

Excellent. And along those lines, with the investment spending for -- be it technology personnel at the like, I know there's been really some of that as you prepare for future opportunities. Are there any areas that you feel as though as the timing or being able to pull the trigger on some of those types of investments? Has that changed at all? Or are there any areas that actually might maybe need to be accelerated more so than maybe what you may have thought a year ago?

出色的。沿著這些思路，隨著投資支出——無論是技術人員等，我知道當你為未來的機會做準備時，確實會有一些投資支出。您是否認為某些領域是時機或能夠觸發某些類型的投資？這有什麼改變嗎？或者是否有任何領域實際上可能需要比您一年前想像的更多的加速？

No, I think we still -- we have our ELEVATE plan. We have our cadence. The majority of the funds for ELEVATE have been deployed now and is behind us, which is good, and that's why you're going to see an uptick in free cash flow over the next couple of years. And we're right on plan. We've got a lot going on here, but I have to tell you, as I said earlier, the ROI is proving out to be exactly what we wanted, if not better.

不，我認為我們仍然有我們的 ELEVATE 計劃。我們有我們的節奏。 ELEVATE 的大部分資金現已部署並在我們身後，這很好，這就是為什麼您將在未來幾年看到自由現金流的上升。我們的計劃是正確的。我們在這裡發生了很多事情，但我必須告訴你，正如我之前所說，事實證明，投資回報率即使不是更好，也正是我們想要的。

And then finally for me, just labor availability, I know it's always kind of -- can be a little tricky. I just want to talk a little bit about -- just as far as broad term wise, has that changed much over the last 6 months or so? Or are there any particular areas that maybe they've improved and -- or particular areas where it's maybe even gotten a little more difficult?

最後對我來說，只是勞動力的可用性，我知道這總是有點棘手。我只想談談——就廣義而言，在過去 6 個月左右的時間裡，情況是否發生了很大變化？或者是否有任何特定領域他們可能已經改進，或者特定領域可能變得更加困難？

No, no, I was -- I'm glad you asked that question because I probably should have addressed that. We are seeing positive signs in the labor markets in terms of participation rate, applicant flow. It's allowed us to reduce our overtime because we've been able to hire better. It doesn't change the fact, though, Marc, that wage inflation is still there. We're seeing that in the 5% range which is absolutely a headwind and we didn't predict this when we started ELEVATE.

不，不，我是——我很高興你問這個問題，因為我可能應該解決這個問題。我們在勞動力市場的參與率和申請人流量方面看到了積極的跡象。它使我們能夠減少加班時間，因為我們能夠僱用更好的員工。不過，馬克，這並沒有改變工資通脹仍然存在的事實。我們看到，在 5% 的範圍內，這絕對是一個逆風，我們在開始 ELEVATE 時並沒有預測到這一點。

We were in like the 3% range. So to be kind of at 5% now, it's a big deal, but our operations team is such an amazing job on price increases and recovery. And we've said we've been in that 75% to 80% recovery range, which is best-in-class. So the good news is better [Canada] flow, more people coming in. We just need to get the wage inflation down and -- but we don't necessarily have a solve for that at this moment.

我們的範圍大概是 3%。所以現在達到 5%，這是一件大事，但我們的運營團隊在價格上漲和復蘇方面做得非常出色。我們說過，我們的恢復率一直處於 75% 到 80% 的範圍內，這是同類中最好的。因此，好消息是[加拿大]人流更好，更多的人進來。我們只需要降低工資通脹——但目前我們不一定能解決這個問題。

The next question is coming from Josh Chan of UBS.

下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的喬什·陳（Josh Chan）。

Yes, I guess on your comments about 2024 EPS being slightly down, I guess does that scenario require total revenue to be down? Because otherwise, I would have thought that the ATS recovery and a couple of small items could at least give you some EPS growth next year.

是的，我想根據您對 2024 年每股收益略有下降的評論，我想這種情況是否需要總收入下降？因為否則的話，我本以為 ATS 的複蘇和一些小項目至少可以給你明年的每股收益帶來一些增長。

Yes. I don't think that necessarily means that our total revenue as an enterprise is going to be down. Certainly, it will be impeded. But I think you got to -- where we got to focus is on the mix of business, right? And when B&I is going to be down possibly 2 or 3 points. Now remember, B&I as a segment is one of our highest performing margin segments, right? So it's really about a mix and -- so for us, the flow-through of B&I being 50% of our book of business and that being down flows through as to why EPS could have that pressure on it.

是的。我認為這並不一定意味著我們作為企業的總收入將會下降。當然，它會受到阻礙。但我認為你必須——我們必須關注的是業務組合，對嗎？當 B&I 可能會下跌 2 或 3 個點時。現在請記住，B&I 作為一個細分市場是我們利潤率最高的細分市場之一，對吧？所以這實際上是一個混合——所以對我們來說，B&I 的流量占我們業務的 50%，而向下流量則說明了為什麼 EPS 可能會承受這樣的壓力。

So it's clearly just business mix, but shouldn't let you believe that the firm will be down organically as a whole. We have segments that are firing on all cylinders right now. Just, again, hard to overcome one segment that's 50% of our revenue and high margin.

所以這顯然只是業務組合，但不應該讓你相信公司會整體下滑。我們現在所有的部件都在全速運轉。再說一遍，占我們收入 50% 且利潤率很高的細分市場很難攻克。

That's right. That's good color there. And then my follow up. So I guess in the past, you've been able to do a good job of maintaining margins flattish to maybe even higher during downturn. You mentioned the flexible labor model. Could you talk about the ability to do that again in this downturn within B&I? What are the pluses and minuses of achieving that next year?

這是正確的。那裡的顏色很好。然後是我的後續行動。所以我想在過去，在經濟低迷時期，你能夠很好地保持利潤率持平甚至更高。您提到了靈活用工模式。您能談談 B&I 在這次經濟低迷時期再次做到這一點的能力嗎？明年實現這一目標的優點和缺點是什麼？

Yes, I think it's early to tell right now. We haven't formed our '24 guidance. But again, you hit it on the head with our flexible labor model, we are able to protect margins in each segment. And again, I just don't -- I don't want to come out and give margin guidance now. But on top of -- and I would say, like on top of our Flex in the field. We also have the ability to do structural cost changes even on enterprise-wide, right? So we have -- we still have plenty of labor.

是的，我認為現在說還為時過早。我們還沒有形成 '24 指南。但我們靈活的勞動力模式再次擊中了你的要害，我們能夠保護每個細分市場的利潤。再說一次，我只是不想——我現在不想出來提供保證金指導。但我想說的是，就像我們在現場的 Flex 之上。我們甚至還有能力在整個企業範圍內進行結構性成本變化，對吧？所以我們仍然有充足的勞動力。

And I guess the grounding point is, we still firmly believe we're going to be at 7.2% as our ELEVATE in the future. So we've always said that it wasn't going to be a straight line. And again, I don't think we could have predicted this massive structural change in commercial real estate. But even with that, we're resolved to hit our 7.2%.

我想基本點是，我們仍然堅信我們未來的 ELEVATE 將達到 7.2%。所以我們總是說它不會是一條直線。再說一遍，我認為我們無法預測商業房地產的這種巨大結構性變化。但即便如此，我們仍決心達到 7.2%。

The next question is coming from David Silver of CL King.

下一個問題來自 CL King 的 David Silver。

I'd like to start with a couple maybe for Earl. But in this quarter, there were a couple of big positive nonrecurring items, the employee retention credit and the contingent consideration adjustment. So firstly, with employee retention, is that $22 million number. Is that the sum total of all of the credit? Or will that be adjusted? Or could there be incremental credits coming in the future?

我想先為厄爾介紹一些。但在本季度，有幾個重大的積極非經常性項目，即員工保留信用和或有對價調整。首先，員工保留率是 2200 萬美元。這是所有信用的總和嗎？或者說會有所調整嗎？或者未來是否會增加積分？

And then secondly, if you could just talk about the adjustment to RavenVolt purchase price. It's an incentive laden purchase structure that was established. And I think this -- I asked this question last time when the adjustment was smaller. But is this the case where the revenues are a little light, the adjusted EBITDA? Is this -- and you mentioned the project delays. I'm just wondering if this is potentially an unanticipated benefit? In other words, longer term, the business retains its full value, but for the incentive period maybe you're benefiting by some of these delays or permitting issues that you cited. So just some comments on those 2, please.

其次，您能談談 RavenVolt 購買價格的調整嗎？這是一個充滿激勵的購買結構的建立。我認為，我上次在調整較小時問過這個問題。但這是營收有點清淡的情況下，調整後的EBITDA嗎？是這樣嗎——你提到了項目延誤。我只是想知道這是否可能是一個意想不到的好處？換句話說，從長遠來看，業務保留其全部價值，但在激勵期內，您可能會從您提到的一些延遲或許可問題中受益。請對這兩個問題發表一些評論。

Sure. Yes. So let me start with the question with regards to the ERC. So yes, the majority of the credit has come in. We actually apply for all eligible credits. The majority has come in. We'll probably maybe see some more trickle in, but nothing significant. With regards to the contingent liability, as Scott mentioned earlier, a lot of the -- what we've actually seen within RavenVolt this year has been a result of the delays, most notably based on delays in just permitting.

當然。是的。讓我從有關 ERC 的問題開始。所以，是的，大部分學分已經到位。我們實際上申請了所有符合條件的學分。大多數人都進來了。我們可能會看到更多的人進來，但沒什麼重要的。關於或有負債，正如 Scott 之前提到的，我們今年在 RavenVolt 中實際看到的很多情況都是延誤的結果，最明顯的是基於許可方面的延誤。

So when you look at kind of like the first year, that's going to result in virtually no consideration or earn-out for this year. Then secondly, when you look at the forecast going forward and then you risk adjust that from an accounting perspective than discount it, just from an accounting perspective, it results in a lower contingent liability. Now having said that, the teams are more than ever committed and motivated to driving as much EBITDA and profit as possible. And so long term, we are still very bullish and very optimistic in the value that this acquisition is going to create. One thing I do want to note is that when we did the deal model for RavenVolt, it did not assume and earn it. And it actually has a significant payback.

因此，當你看看第一年的情況時，這將導致今年幾乎沒有任何考慮或盈利。其次，當您查看未來的預測時，您可能會從會計角度進行調整，而不是對其進行貼現，僅從會計角度來看，它會導致或有負債降低。話雖如此，團隊比以往任何時候都更加致力於並積極推動盡可能多的 EBITDA 和利潤。從長遠來看，我們仍然非常看好這次收購將創造的價值。我確實想指出的一件事是，當我們為 RavenVolt 制定交易模型時，它並沒有假設並賺取它。它實際上有顯著的回報。

So when you look long term, I think it's still going to be value accretive, and we see great opportunities long term.

因此，從長遠來看，我認為它仍然會增值，而且我們看到了長期的巨大機遇。

I'd like to go back to maybe the comment about the ATS backlog $450 million as of, I guess, end of July -- could you kind of benchmark that? I mean how does that compare to the backlog maybe at the beginning of this fiscal year or 12 months ago? Just how should we think about the growth in that backlog over, like, I guess, the medium term?

我想回顧一下關於 ATS 積壓 4.5 億美元的評論，我想是在 7 月底——你能對此進行基準測試嗎？我的意思是，與本財年年初或 12 個月前的積壓相比，情況如何？我想，從中期來看，我們應該如何看待積壓的增長？

Yes. I mean it's as high as it's been. This is the backlog is so strong. And I think the significant part of the backlog is that it's happening in EV and microgrids. And that's what's compelling because -- as you know, that's been the areas of investment for the firm over the last couple of years. So I think it validates that we're playing in the right space. So backlog is strong.

是的。我的意思是它和以前一樣高。這就是積壓如此之強。我認為積壓的重要部分是發生在電動汽車和微電網中。這就是令人信服的地方，因為如您所知，這一直是該公司過去幾年的投資領域。所以我認為這證明我們在正確的空間中比賽。因此積壓情況很嚴重。

And then maybe the last one, I'd like to pick up on Scott's comment just a minute or so ago regarding certain parts of your business that are firing on all cylinders, I believe you said. And look, I know there are some issues maybe driving the sentiment this morning. But overall, I mean, I was looking at the organic growth numbers in aviation and manufacturing and distribution and education.

然後也許是最後一個，我想听一下斯科特大約一分鐘前關於您業務中正在全速運轉的某些部分的評論，我相信您說過。看，我知道今天早上可能有一些問題推動了市場情緒。但總的來說，我的意思是，我關注的是航空、製造、分銷和教育領域的有機增長數字。

And I mean, historically, those are great organic growth numbers. And I'm just wondering if you could highlight, are there some common themes? Is it -- are you gaining the organic growth in these areas due to better labor procurement and evaluation? Is it a bundled service offering? So in your core kind of bread and butter or segments where you're not affected by, let's say, the commercial real estate was. I mean what is the recipe that's kind of driving that historically well above average organic growth?

我的意思是，從歷史上看，這些都是巨大的有機增長數字。我只是想知道您是否可以強調一下，有一些共同的主題嗎？由於更好的勞動力採購和評估，您是否在這些領域獲得了有機增長？它是捆綁服務嗎？因此，在您的核心麵包和黃油或您不受商業房地產影響的細分市場中。我的意思是，推動有機增長遠高於歷史平均水平的秘訣是什麼？

Yes. I think it's more about a strong focus on development, a strong focus on business development. We have a whole sales effectiveness area, utilizing tools like Salesforce and a CRM model, our hypertargeting tool that we invested in with ELEVATE where you can kind of 0 in on opportunities and go after them with focus. It's just been a very strategic approach to business development, and figuring out where we -- the term we use here is do we have the right to win in that space, and it's just been paying dividends for us. So I think that's the key.

是的。我認為這更多的是對發展的強烈關注，對業務發展的強烈關注。我們有一個完整的銷售效率領域，利用 Salesforce 和 CRM 模型等工具，我們通過 ELEVATE 投資了超級目標定位工具，您可以在其中以 0 的方式抓住機會，並專注於抓住它們。這是一種非常具有戰略意義的業務發展方法，弄清楚我們在哪裡——我們在這裡使用的術語是我們是否有權利在這個領域獲勝，而且它一直在為我們帶來紅​​利。所以我認為這是關鍵。

Thank you. At this time, I would like to turn the floor back over to management for closing comments.

謝謝。此時，我想將發言權交還給管理層以徵求結束意見。

Yes. I just want to thank everybody for participating today again, we've talked about some of the impediments, but we are as confident as ever about what's going on at ABM and excited to come back to you next quarter with our results and our full year guidance. But have a good fall, and we'll see you in December. Thanks, everybody.

是的。我只是想感謝大家今天再次參與，我們已經討論了一些障礙，但我們對 ABM 的進展一如既往地充滿信心，並很高興能在下個季度向您匯報我們的業績和全年業績指導。但祝你秋天愉快，我們十二月見。謝謝大家。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's event. You may disconnect your lines or log off the webcast at this time, and enjoy the rest of your day.

女士們、先生們，今天的活動到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路或註銷網絡廣播，然後享受剩下的一天。