ABM Industries Inc (ABM) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the ABM Industries Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Paul Goldberg, Head of Investor Relations for ABM. Thank you. You may begin.

您好，歡迎參加 ABM Industries 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，本次會議正在錄製中。現在我將把會議交給東道主 ABM 投資者關係主管 Paul Goldberg。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to ABM's Fourth 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.

大家早安，歡迎參加 ABM 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。我叫 Paul Goldberg，是 ABM 投資人關係資深副總裁。今天與我在一起的有我們的總裁兼執行長 Scott Salmirs；以及我們的執行副總裁兼財務長 Earl Ellis。

Please note that earlier this morning, we issued our press release announcing our fourth quarter and full year 2023 financial results. A copy of that release and an 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.

請注意，今天上午早些時候，我們發布了新聞稿，宣布了 2023 年第四季度和全年財務業績。該新聞稿的副本和隨附的幻燈片簡報可以在我們的網站 abm.com 上找到。在史考特和厄爾準備好發言後，我們將主持問答環節。

But before we begin, I would like to remind you that our call and presentation today contains 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，它們代表了我們目前對未來的判斷。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。這些因素在我們的簡報以及我們向 SEC 提交的文件隨附的幻燈片中進行了描述。

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

在本次電話會議期間，將提供某些非 GAAP 財務資訊。歷史非 GAAP 數據與 GAAP 財務指標的對帳可在簡報末尾以及公司網站的「投資者」標籤下找到。說到這裡，我想把電話轉給史考特。

Thanks, Paul. Good morning, and thank you all for joining us today to discuss our fourth quarter results. Fourth quarter revenue grew 4.1% to $2.1 billion, including 3.8% organic growth. All segments grew organically in the quarter, led by double-digit growth in our Aviation segment, driven by healthy airport activity and the addition of new clients. Our Technical Solutions, Education and Manufacturing and Distribution segments also posted solid growth, reflecting several project closeouts in Technical Solutions, new education clients and our strong positioning in M&D.

謝謝，保羅。早安，感謝大家今天加入我們討論我們的第四季業績。第四季營收成長 4.1%，達到 21 億美元，其中有機成長 3.8%。在健康的機場活動和新客戶增加的推動下，航空部門實現兩位數成長，本季所有部門均實現有機成長。我們的技術解決方案、教育以及製造和分銷部門也實現了穩健成長，反映出技術解決方案、新教育客戶的多個專案收尾以及我們在研發領域的強大地位。

We also recorded modest organic growth in B&I, where robust sports and entertainment and special event activity hope to offset continued softness in the commercial real estate market. Additionally, our team set another sales record in 2023 with new sales bookings of $1.6 billion, which is a great accomplishment.

我們還記錄了 B&I 的適度有機成長，其中強勁的體育和娛樂以及特殊活動活動希望抵消商業房地產市場的持續疲軟。此外，我們的團隊在 2023 年創下了新的銷售記錄，新銷售訂單達到 16 億美元，這是一項偉大的成就。

I'm pleased with our progress in resolving certain microgrid project delays in Technical Solutions as well as our ability to win new clients, push price increases and effectively manage our cost structure. As a result, ABM generated double-digit increases in net income, adjusted net income and adjusted EBITDA and achieved an adjusted EBITDA margin of 7.2%.

我對我們在解決技術解決方案中某些微電網專案延誤方面的進展以及我們贏得新客戶、推動價格上漲和有效管理成本結構的能力感到滿意。結果，ABM 的淨利潤、調整後淨利潤和調整後 EBITDA 實現了兩位數成長，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率達到 7.2%。

I'll now discuss the demand environment for each of our industry groups. Let's begin with B&I. Office density rates remain relatively static in the fourth quarter at around 50-plus percent on a blended basis with the commercial office vacancy rate near 20%. These factors directly impacted demand for our janitorial services in B&I.

我現在將討論我們每個產業群的需求環境。讓我們從 B&I 開始。第四季辦公大樓密度維持相對穩定，綜合計算在 50% 以上，商業辦公大樓空置率接近 20%。這些因素直接影響了 B&I 清潔服務的需求。

Although the hybrid work model remains prevalent, we expect to see a continued gradual increase in the time employees spend at the office in the next couple of years. We expect as office leases expire in 2024, many clients will move forward with their plans to downsize their office footprint to match their density, which will put pressure on demand for janitorial services until vacant floors are re-leased and reoccupied.

儘管混合工作模式仍然盛行，但我們預計未來幾年員工在辦公室的時間將持續逐步增加。我們預計，隨著辦公室租約於 2024 年到期，許多客戶將繼續實施縮小辦公室佔地面積以適應密度的計劃，這將對清潔服務的需求造成壓力，直到空置樓層重新出租和重新佔用為止。

If companies become more proactive and requiring their employees to return to the office, the impact may be more muted than our current expectations. Given our flexible labor model, ABM remains well positioned to navigate the challenges of commercial real estate. As a reminder, our multi-tenant commercial real estate profile largely consists of Class A and newer buildings, which we believe are far more resilient than lower quality buildings.

如果公司變得更加主動並要求員工返回辦公室，其影響可能會比我們目前的預期更小。鑑於我們靈活的勞動力模式，ABM 仍然能夠很好地應對商業房地產的挑戰。提醒一下，我們的多租戶商業房地產概況主要由甲級和較新的建築組成，我們相信這些建築比低品質的建築更具彈性。

In addition to janitorial services, our B&I segment provides engineering services and has clients in submarkets like sports and entertainment and health care, all of which are influenced by demand drivers that are far less correlated to office density. That's an important reason why B&I's full year revenue declined to less than 1% despite softness in the commercial real estate market.

除了清潔服務外，我們的 B&I 部門還提供工程服務，並在體育、娛樂和醫療保健等子市場擁有客戶，所有這些都受到需求驅動因素的影響，而與辦公室密度的相關性則小得多。這是儘管商業房地產市場疲軟，B&I 全年收入仍下降至少於 1% 的重要原因。

In summary, while the pressure in commercial real estate is tangible and will impact B&I's performance next year, we plan to mitigate a portion of the impact through our flexible labor model, cost management and the diversity of our end markets and mix of service lines.

總之，雖然商業房地產的壓力是切實存在的，並將影響 B&I 明年的業績，但我們計劃透過靈活的勞動力模式、成本管理以及終端市場和服務線組合的多樣性來減輕部分影響。

Moving to Aviation. The leisure and business travel markets, including international travel, remain quite strong and should be solid in 2024, although we face tougher year-over-year comparisons due to the large 2022 parking project that carried over into Q1 of 2023. Our aviation team has executed extremely well, managing through a historically tight labor market while ramping up service volumes to above pre-pandemic levels.

轉向航空。包括國際旅行在內的休閒和商務旅行市場仍然相當強勁，並且在2024 年應該會保持穩定，儘管由於2022 年大型停車項目延續到2023 年第一季度，我們面臨著更嚴峻的同比比較。我們的航空團隊執行得非常好，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。

They also continue to win new business, including 2 large airport janitorial contracts pending final approval, along with 2 core airline projects, all of which kick in, in the first half of the year. Demand within our manufacturing and distribution segment has remained strong, 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.

他們還繼續贏得新業務，包括兩份待最終批准的大型機場清潔合同，以及兩個核心航空公司項目，所有這些項目均於今年上半年啟動。我們的製造和分銷部門的需求仍然強勁，這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。

The newer end markets continue to offer exciting growth opportunities as clients increasingly outsource support services in order to focus on their core business operations. In addition, we see growing momentum from the onshoring of manufacturing. As we mentioned last quarter, we expect a large and valued M&D client to rebid and rebalance their work needs in 2024 as part of their normal procurement process.

隨著客戶越來越多地外包支援服務以專注於其核心業務運營，新的終端市場繼續提供令人興奮的成長機會。此外，我們看到製造業外包的勢頭不斷增長。正如我們上季度所提到的，我們預計大型且有價值的 M&D 客戶將在 2024 年重新投標並重新平衡他們的工作需求，作為其正常採購流程的一部分。

Our team has been working to offset the anticipated revenue reduction through expansion with other clients and pursuing new opportunities in other end markets. Over the midterm, we expect M&D to grow revenue in the high-single digits. However, the 2024 growth rate will be impacted by the rebalancing.

我們的團隊一直致力於透過與其他客戶的擴張以及在其他終端市場尋求新的機會來抵消預期的收入減少。從中期來看，我們預計 M&D 的收入將以高個位數成長。然而，2024年的成長率將受到再平衡的影響。

Moving to Education. We generated 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 year. We expect 2024 to be another year of solid growth and stability.

轉向教育。在 100% 課堂學習和新客戶增加的推動下，我們實現了中個位數的有機收入成長。我們的銷售管道表現良好，年內贏得了幾份新合約。我們預計 2024 年將是另一個穩健成長和穩定的一年。

Moving to Technical Solutions. Segment backlog now exceeds $410 million even after several completions of projects in the fourth quarter with EV and microgrid services representing nearly 60% of the segment total. Conversely, we continue to experience soft market conditions in Bundled Energy Solutions, which includes HVAC, lighting and electrical system retrofits, primarily due to the impact of higher interest rates on project ROIs and the availability of government funding through legacy coded legislations.

轉向技術解決方案。儘管第四季度完成了多個項目，但該部門的積壓訂單目前仍超過 4.1 億美元，其中電動車和微電網服務佔該部門總額的近 60%。相反，我們在捆綁能源解決方案（包括暖通空調、照明和電氣系統改造）方面繼續經歷疲軟的市場狀況，這主要是由於較高的利率對項目投資回報率的影響以及通過傳統編碼立法獲得政府資金的影響。

We believe projects will pick up once return expectations get reset and the government funding projects onset. The timing of this is hard to predict, which is why we are tempering 2024 expectations for Bundled Energy Solutions. Technical Solutions as a whole performed better in the fourth quarter as we were able to closeout several legacy projects and make progress on certain microgrid projects following supply chain and permitting delays earlier in the year.

我們相信，一旦回報預期重新調整且政府資助計畫啟動，計畫將會回升。這一時間點很難預測，這就是我們調整 2024 年捆綁能源解決方案預期的原因。技術解決方案作為一個整體在第四季度表現更好，因為我們能夠關閉幾個遺留項目，並在供應鍊和今年早些時候允許延遲之後在某些微電網項目上取得進展。

Looking forward, we expect to advance microgrid projects during the year. Also, the level of interest and bidding activity for microgrid systems and large EV infrastructure projects including the opportunity recurring revenue remains high. We expect 2024 to be a year of solid growth in Technical Solutions.

展望未來，我們預計年內將推進微電網計畫。此外，對微電網系統和大型電動車基礎設施項目（包括經常性收入機會）的興趣和招標活動仍然很高。我們預計 2024 年將是技術解決方案穩健成長的一年。

Now turning to our elevated initiatives. Following the successful financial close on our new cloud-based ERP system for the Education segment, we achieved 2 more milestones in the fourth quarter. First, we launched a new workforce management solution for pilot sites in the Education segment. This tool allows for a more modern approach to time and attendance for scheduling, providing managers with improved visibility. By pairing this tool with the workforce productivity and optimization tool we released last year, we are now entering a new phase of efficiency that provides operators with enhanced insights. We expect to complete the rollout of this tool to our Education segment in 2024 and further expand deployment thereafter.

現在轉向我們的進階舉措。繼教育部門新的基於雲端的 ERP 系統成功完成財務結算後，我們在第四季度又實現了 2 個里程碑。首先，我們為教育領域的試點推出了新的勞動力管理解決方案。該工具允許採用更現代的時間和出勤方法進行安排，為管理人員提供更好的可見性。透過將該工具與我們去年發布的勞動力生產力和優化工具相結合，我們現在進入了一個新的效率階段，為操作員提供了增強的洞察力。我們預計於 2024 年完成該工具在教育領域的推出，並在此之後進一步擴大部署。

The second milestone is the initial release of our new team member, mobile app called Team Connect. The app is currently in the hands of more than 500 frontline team members. Over the next year, this app will deliver on-demand training, safety moments, clock in and clock out integrations and task management features among other capabilities. These tools will create a digital connection to the front line, driving a higher level of engagement and delivering real-time updates to our clients that provide more transparency on services performed.

第二個里程碑是我們新團隊成員行動應用程式 Team Connect 的首次發布。該應用程式目前已掌握在 500 多名一線團隊成員手中。明年，該應用程式將提供按需培訓、安全時刻、上下班打卡整合以及任務管理功能等功能。這些工具將與前線建立數位連接，推動更高水準的參與，並向我們的客戶提供即時更新，從而提高所執行服務的透明度。

Over the next couple of years, we plan to scale this ecosystem, deliver the outcomes we initially shared during Investor Day in late 2021. We've also had a lot of learnings from the successful initial deployment of our cloud-based ERP system in our education industry group earlier this year. We are applying those learnings to future segment ERP rollouts to ensure we minimize any potential disruptions to our clients and our internal operations.

在接下來的幾年裡，我們計劃擴展這個生態系統，交付我們最初在 2021 年底投資者日分享的成果。我們也從我們基於雲端的 ERP 系統在教育產業集團今年稍早。我們正在將這些經驗應用到未來部門 ERP 的推出中，以確保最大限度地減少對客戶和內部營運的任何潛在幹擾。

As a result, we expect the full deployment may take about a year longer than first anticipated and the total program cost will likely be about $200 million to $250 million, which is modestly higher than we said in 2021. We cannot be more excited about the positive impact that our transformation initiatives are having on our clients and team members. Our expectation is that these capabilities will be game-changing in our industry.

因此，我們預計全面部署可能比最初預期的時間長一年左右，專案總成本可能約為 2 億至 2.5 億美元，略高於我們在 2021 年所說的水平。我們對此感到非常興奮我們的轉型措施對我們的客戶和團隊成員產生了正面影響。我們期望這些功能將改變我們行業的遊戲規則。

Looking back at our performance in 2023, we did a terrific job winning large new contracts in Aviation, in Education as well as in M&D, where we continue to expand. Although we experienced some project delays in Technical Solutions, our performance improved in the fourth quarter, and we expect further progress as the nascent markets mature.

回顧我們 2023 年的表現，我們做得非常出色，在航空、教育以及 M&D 領域贏得了大量新合同，我們將在這些領域繼續擴張。儘管我們在技術解決方案方面經歷了一些專案延遲，但我們的業績在第四季度有所改善，隨著新興市場的成熟，我們預計會取得進一步的進展。

In B&I, we are effectively navigating this challenging market, benefiting from the flexibility in our labor model and our real estate portfolio that remains heavily weighted towards better performing Class A properties. In 2024, we expect generally healthy market activity for Technical Solutions, Aviation, Education and M&D. At the same time, we anticipate that the conditions will remain challenging in the commercial real estate office market and that we will be impacted by some business rebalancing and M&D. We expect these factors, along with projected labor inflation will likely mute our revenue growth and cause our margins to incrementally tick lower when compared to the strong levels we achieved in 2023.

在 B&I，我們正在有效地應對這個充滿挑戰的市場，這得益於我們勞動力模式的靈活性以及我們的房地產投資組合，該投資組合仍然偏重於表現更好的 A 級房地產。到 2024 年，我們預計技術解決方案、航空、教育和研發領域的市場活動將整體健康。同時，我們預期商業房地產辦公市場的情況仍將充滿挑戰，我們將受到一些業務再平衡和併購的影響。我們預計這些因素以及預期的勞動力通膨可能會削弱我們的收入成長，並導致我們的利潤率與 2023 年實現的強勁水平相比逐步下降。

Our overall outlook for 2024, therefore, is essentially unchanged from the comments we shared last quarter. Earl will walk you through the specifics of our 2024 outlook in his comments. As we look forward, we expect our teams to set another new sales record in 2024 after record sales in 2023.

因此，我們對 2024 年的整體展望與我們上季度分享的評論基本上沒有變化。 Earl 將在評論中向您詳細介紹我們 2024 年的展望。展望未來，我們預計我們的團隊繼 2023 年創下銷售紀錄後，將在 2024 年再創新的銷售紀錄。

Through our ELEVATE initiatives, we are leveraging our scale, depth of service offerings and technology. In addition, we will continue to carefully manage cost and proactively make changes to our cost base, if necessary, just as we did in 2023. And of course, our anticipated strong free cash flow will enable us to continue to invest for the long term while regularly returning cash to our shareholders. Now I'll turn it over to Earl.

透過我們的 ELEVATE 計劃，我們正在利用我們的服務產品和技術的規模、深度。此外，我們將繼續謹慎管理成本，並在必要時主動改變我們的成本基礎，就像我們在 2023 年所做的那樣。當然，我們預期強勁的自由現金流將使我們能夠繼續進行長期投資同時定期向股東返還現金。現在我會把它交給厄爾。

Thank you, Scott, and good morning, everyone. For those of you following along with our earnings presentation, please turn to Slide 5. Fourth quarter revenue of $2.1 billion increased 4.1%, comprised of organic revenue growth of 3.8% and a 1-month contribution from RavenVolt. Moving on to Slide 6. Net income in the fourth quarter was $62.8 million or $0.96 per diluted share, up 29% and 32%, respectively, versus last year. These increases were largely driven by higher segment earnings on higher revenue, the benefits of the prior year self-insurance adjustments and lower ELEVATE costs, partially offset by higher interest expense and labor costs.

謝謝你，斯科特，大家早安。對於那些關注我們的收益演示的人，請參閱幻燈片 5。第四季度收入為 21 億美元，增長 4.1%，其中包括 3.8% 的有機收入增長和 RavenVolt 的 1 個月貢獻。轉到投影片 6。第四季淨利為 6,280 萬美元或稀釋後每股 0.96 美元，分別比去年同期成長 29% 和 32%。這些成長主要是由於收入增加帶來的部門收益增加、上一年自我保險調整的好處和較低的 ELEVATE 成本推動的，但部分被較高的利息費用和勞動力成本所抵消。

Adjusted net income of $66.2 million increased 11% and adjusted earnings per diluted share of $1.01 and was up 13% over the prior year period. These year-over-year increases primarily reflect higher segment earnings, including the benefits from price increases and our cost management efforts partially offset by higher interest expense and labor costs.

調整後淨利為 6,620 萬美元，年增 11%，調整後每股攤薄收益為 1.01 美元，較上年同期成長 13%。這些同比增長主要反映了較高的部門收益，包括價格上漲帶來的收益以及我們的成本管理努力，但部分被較高的利息支出和勞動力成本所抵消。

Adjusted EBITDA grew 10% over the prior year to $144.2 million and adjusted EBITDA margin increased 40 basis points to 7.2%. These year-over-year improvements were driven by higher segment earnings, including several project closeouts in Technical Solutions and normalized performance in Aviation as compared to the prior year, which was impacted by adverse project timing.

調整後 EBITDA 比上年成長 10%，達到 1.442 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率成長 40 個基點，達到 7.2%。這些同比改善是由更高的部門收益推動的，包括技術解決方案中的幾個項目收尾以及航空領域與上一年相比的正常化績效，這是由於不利的項目時機的影響。

Now turning to our segment results beginning on Slide 7. B&I revenue increased modestly to $1 billion, partly due to strong sports and special event demand, which helped to offset reduced demand in the commercial real estate market.

現在轉向我們從幻燈片 7 開始的部門業績。B&I 收入小幅增長至 10 億美元，部分原因是體育和特殊活動需求強勁，這有助於抵消商業房地產市場需求的減少。

Operating profit in B&I decreased to $84.6 million and operating margin declined to 8.2% as adverse service mix was partially offset by price increases and cost actions. Aviation grew 16% and to $248.2 million, once again driven by strong demand for leisure and business travel and new business wins. We expect demand within our Aviation segment to remain robust going forward.

B&I 的營業利潤下降至 8,460 萬美元，營業利潤率下降至 8.2%，因為不利的服務組合被價格上漲和成本行動部分抵消。航空業成長 16%，達到 2.482 億美元，這再次受到休閒和商務旅行的強勁需求以及新業務的推動。我們預計航空領域的需求未來將保持強勁。

Aviation's operating profit was $16.4 million versus $1.3 million in the prior year period, and operating margin expanded significantly to 6.6%. These increases reflected the absence of the adverse project timing, which negatively impacted the prior year period as well as benefits of higher volume and price increases.

航空部門的營業利潤為 1,640 萬美元，而去年同期為 130 萬美元，營業利潤率大幅成長至 6.6%。這些成長反映了不存在對上一年期間產生負面影響的不利項目時機以及銷售和價格上漲的好處。

Turning to Slide 8. Manufacturing and Distribution revenue grew 5% to $391.2 million, reflecting broad-based demand. Operating profit increased to $42 million while operating margin declined 40 basis points to 10.7%. Profit and margin performance was largely due to customer mix. Education revenue increased 6% to $229.8 million, benefiting from the addition of new clients earlier in the year. Education operating profit was $10.2 million, up 23% over the prior year period, while margin increased 60 basis points to 4.4%. These increases were largely attributable to increased organic revenue growth and a modestly improved labor market.

轉向投影片 8。製造和分銷收入成長 5%，達到 3.912 億美元，反映了廣泛的需求。營業利潤增至 4,200 萬美元，而營業利益率下降 40 個基點至 10.7%。利潤和利潤率表現很大程度取決於客戶組合。由於今年稍早新客戶的增加，教育收入成長了 6%，達到 2.298 億美元。教育營運利潤為 1,020 萬美元，比上年同期成長 23%，利潤率成長 60 個基點，達到 4.4%。這些成長主要歸因於有機收入成長的增加和勞動市場的適度改善。

Technical Solutions grew 6% over the prior year period to $190.8 million comprised of an even split between organic growth and acquisition contribution. This performance largely reflecting the closeout of several legacy projects and progress on battery storage system projects. Of note, RavenVolt contributed to organic growth beginning in September.

Technical Solutions 較上年同期成長 6%，達到 1.908 億美元，其中有機成長和收購貢獻平分秋色。這項業績很大程度上反映了幾個遺留項目的結束和電池儲存系統項目的進展。值得注意的是，RavenVolt 為 9 月開始的有機成長做出了貢獻。

After these project closeouts, as Scott noted, Technical Solutions backlog now exceeds $410 million. a large portion of which is scheduled to convert to revenue in 2024. Technical Solutions' operating profit was $24.4 million and margin was 12.8%, and compared to operating profit of $20.9 million and margin of 11.7% last year. These increases were largely due to higher volume and approximately $2 million of onetime gains related to certain contracts.

正如 Scott 指出的，在這些項目結束後，技術解決方案積壓工作現已超過 4.1 億美元。其中很大一部分計劃在 2024 年轉化為收入。 Technical Solutions 的營業利潤為 2,440 萬美元，利潤率為 12.8%，而去年的營業利潤為 2,090 萬美元，利潤率為 11.7%。這些增長主要是由於交易量增加以及與某些合約相關的約 200 萬美元的一次性收益。

Moving on to Slide 9. We ended the fourth quarter with total indebtedness of $1.4 billion, including $58.2 million of standby letters of credit, resulting in a total debt to pro forma adjusted EBITDA ratio of 2.3x. At the end of Q4, we had available liquidity of $552.5 million, including cash and cash equivalents of $69.5 million. Free cash flow was strong in the fourth quarter at $121 million and was $191 million for the year. Excluding full year ELEVATE and integration costs of $71 million, our CARES Act repayment of $66 million and employee retention credits received of $24 million, Normalized free cash flow was $303 million in 2023.

轉到投影片 9。第四季結束時，我們的總債務為 14 億美元，其中包括 5,820 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。截至第四季末，我們的可用流動資金為 5.525 億美元，其中現金和現金等價物為 6,950 萬美元。第四季自由現金流強勁，達到 1.21 億美元，全年自由現金流為 1.91 億美元。不包括全年 7,100 萬美元的 ELEVATE 和整合成本、我們的 CARES 法案還款 6,600 萬美元以及收到的 2,400 萬美元的員工保留積分，2023 年正常化自由現金流為 3.03 億美元。

We repurchased 2.7 million shares of common stock in the fourth quarter at an average price of $40.82 per share for a total cost of $110 million. For the full year, we repurchased 3.3 million shares for $137.1 million, excluding excise taxes and reduced our share count by 5%. Also, subsequent to the year-end, our Board approved a $150 million expansion of our share repurchase authorization. The total current authorization is now $210 million. Interest expense was $20.5 million, up $4.5 million from the prior year period.

我們在第四季以每股 40.82 美元的平均價格回購了 270 萬股普通股，總成本為 1.1 億美元。全年，我們以 1.371 億美元回購了 330 萬股股票（不含消費稅），並將股票數量減少了 5%。此外，年底後，我們的董事會批准將股票回購授權擴大 1.5 億美元。目前授權總額為2.1億美元。利息支出為 2,050 萬美元，比去年同期增加 450 萬美元。

Now let's move on to the full year fiscal 2024 outlook, as shown on Slide 10. As Scott mentioned, our view for 2024 is consistent with the comments we made on the third quarter earnings call. We expect full 2024 adjusted EPS to be in the range of $3.20 and $3.40. Adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be 6.2% to 6.5%, largely driven by a shift in business mix. This includes expected lower B&I janitorial activity, a change in revenue mix in M&D and continued labor cost pressure, partially offset by ELEVATE and cost initiatives as well as price increases.

現在讓我們轉向 2024 財年全年展望，如幻燈片 10 所示。正如 Scott 所提到的，我們對 2024 年的看法與我們在第三季財報電話會議上發表的評論一致。我們預計 2024 年調整後每股盈餘將在 3.20 美元至 3.40 美元之間。調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率預計為 6.2% 至 6.5%，這主要是由業務組合的轉變所推動的。這包括預期的 B&I 清潔活動減少、M&D 收入結構的變化以及持續的勞動力成本壓力，但部分被 ELEVATE 和成本措施以及價格上漲所抵消。

Interest expense is estimated to be in the range of $82 million to $86 million. The tax rate before discrete items is expected to be between 29% to 30%. Lastly, full year normalized free cash flow is expected to be in the range of $240 million to $270 million, excluding the estimated $45 million of ELEVATE and integration costs, the majority being ELEVATE investments. With that, let me turn it back to Scott for closing comments.

利息支出估計在 8,200 萬至 8,600 萬美元之間。離散項目之前的稅率預計在 29% 至 30% 之間。最後，全年正常化自由現金流預計在 2.4 億至 2.7 億美元之間，不包括估計 4,500 萬美元的 ELEVATE 和整合成本，其中大部分是 ELEVATE 投資。說到這裡，讓我把它轉回給斯科特以供結束評論。

Thanks, Earl. I want to thank our teams for their incredible efforts and dedication throughout the year. despite challenging commercial real estate and labor markets and through the introduction of new technology and processes, our teams never took their eyes off our clients and delivered solid performance. I wish you and your loved ones a very happy and healthy holiday season and a happy new year. With that, let's take some questions.

謝謝，厄爾。我要感謝我們的團隊在這一年中所做的令人難以置信的努力和奉獻。儘管商業房地產和勞動力市場面臨挑戰，並透過引入新技術和流程，我們的團隊從未將目光從客戶身上移開，並交付了穩健的業績。祝您和您所愛的人度過一個快樂健康的假期和新年快樂。那麼，讓我們提出一些問題。

We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) Our first questions come from the line of Jasper Bibb with Truist.

我們現在將進行問答環節。 （操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Jasper Bibb 和 Truist 的線路。

I wanted to ask what you're seeing from a labor inflation and pricing perspective and if you could kind of provide underlying assumptions for '24 guidance with respect to labor cost inflation and the recovery rate there, that would definitely be helpful.

我想問一下，您從勞動力通膨和定價的角度看到了什麼，如果您能為 24 年關於勞動力成本通膨和復甦率的指導提供基本假設，那肯定會有所幫助。

Sure. So for us, we're thinking it's going to be in the 4% to 5% range. A lot of the collective bargaining agreements for the janitorial workers across the country are in process right now. And we feel encouraged that they're going to end in that range. So our guess is on the collective bargaining agreements, which are the union-based agreements, they're going to be in that 4% range, and it will be a little higher for the nonunion as we look to those markets with the lower labor rates.

當然。所以對我們來說，我們認為它將在 4% 到 5% 的範圍內。全國各地清潔工的許多集體談判協議目前正在處理中。我們對他們將在這個範圍內結束感到鼓舞。因此，我們的猜測是集體談判協議，即基於工會的協議，它們將在 4% 的範圍內，當我們關注勞動力較低的市場時，對於非工會來說，這一比例會稍高一些。費率。

So again, that 4% to 5% range. And just as a reminder, we've been successful over the last few years of recovering 75% to 80% of that. So kind of that's what we're thinking.

再說一次，4% 到 5% 的範圍。提醒一下，過去幾年我們已經成功恢復了 75% 到 80%。這就是我們的想法。

Makes sense. And then I was hoping to get an update on the ELEVATE progress. I think on the last call, you mentioned you've already captured about 50% of the cost benefit there. Any color on where you expect to be from a cost capture perspective by the end of fiscal '24? And are there any kind of key deliverables like ERP deployments we should be aware of over the next 12 months?

說得通。然後我希望獲得有關 ELEVATE 進展的最新資訊。我想在上次通話中，您提到您已經獲得了大約 50% 的成本效益。從成本捕獲的角度來看，到 24 財年末您預計會達到什麼程度？在接下來的 12 個月裡，我們是否應該注意諸如 ERP 部署之類的關鍵交付成果？

Yes. So we're probably -- I think we're in the kind of that 30% range, 1/3 of the benefits that we've captured to date. And it's something that escalates over time as we actually execute on the different industry group segments, then we can put in some of the tools. So I think it's just going to be a normal ramping up to that range that we laid out of $110 million to $130 million over time. So we're right on track with our cadence on that. So everything is going as planned right now.

是的。所以我們可能——我認為我們處於 30% 的範圍內，即我們迄今為止所獲得的收益的 1/3。隨著我們實際在不同的行業細分領域執行，這種情況會隨著時間的推移而升級，然後我們可以放入一些工具。因此，我認為隨著時間的推移，我們投入的資金將逐漸增加到 1.1 億美元至 1.3 億美元的範圍，這將是正常的。所以我們的節奏是正確的。所以現在一切都照計劃進行。

Got it. Last question for me. The company really stepped up the repurchase this quarter. How should we think about the pace of capital deployment into 2024?

知道了。對我來說最後一個問題。公司本季確實加大了回購力道。我們該如何思考2024年的資本部署節奏？

Yes. No, thanks for the question, Jasper. I would say that we're really pleased that we're able to return capital back to our shareholders over Q4, especially in light of the compression in our share price that we saw after our Q3. And as we look to the future within FY '24 at a minimum, we'll buy back shares against the dilutive share-based compensation. We have board authorization now for about $210 million worth of shares. And so we'll be opportunistic where it makes sense.

是的。不，謝謝你的提問，賈斯柏。我想說，我們真的很高興我們能夠在第四季度將資本返還給股東，特別是考慮到我們在第三季後看到的股價壓縮。當我們展望至少 24 財年的未來時，我們將根據稀釋性股票薪酬回購股票。我們現在已獲得董事會授權，可以購買價值約 2.1 億美元的股票。因此，我們將在有意義的情況下採取機會主義態度。

Our next questions come from the line of Faiza Alwy with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Faiza Alwy。

So I wanted to ask about technical solutions. I know you don't guide to revenues, but it sounds like the range of alternatives or the range of scenarios on Technical Solutions is quite wide just given timing. So give us a bit more color on how do you expect the pacing of these new projects, project revenues to be realized? And how do you expect sort of the underlying business to perform within Technical Solutions.

所以想請教一下技術解決方案。我知道您不指導收入，但聽起來替代方案的範圍或技術解決方案的場景範圍在給定的時間範圍內相當廣泛。那麼，請告訴我們更多關於您預計這些新項目的節奏、專案收入如何實現的資訊？您期望技術解決方案中的基礎業務如何執行。

It's great. Thanks for the question. So look, we feel strongly about technical solutions as we ever have. We love kind of the end markets that we're serving here. And we think it's going to be a strong year for Technical Solutions in '24. They continually post high single-digit margins. We're expecting that again. And remember, Faiza the cadence of Technical Solutions, it starts off a little soft and then progresses through the year from a margin standpoint, because it is quite seasonal in the summer, you do a lot of the work, right?

這很棒。謝謝你的提問。所以看，我們對科技解決方案的感受一如既往。我們喜歡我們在這裡服務的終端市場。我們認為 24 年技術解決方案將是強勁的一年。他們持續保持高個位數的利潤率。我們再次期待這一點。請記住，Faiza 是技術解決方案的節奏，它一開始有點軟，然後從利潤的角度來看全年進展，因為夏天是相當季節性的，你做了很多工作，對吧？

So -- we're excited about that. We don't guide to revenue, but we're excited about the potential for growth this year. And we have the strongest backlog that we've ever had in -- just as a reminder, backlog are the contracts that are signed and locked and it's just a question of starting the work. So we're feeling really good about Technical Solutions this year.

所以——我們對此感到興奮。我們不預測收入，但我們對今年的成長潛力感到興奮。我們有有史以來最強勁的積壓訂單——提醒一下，積壓訂單是已簽署和鎖定的合同，這只是開始工作的問題。因此，我們對今年的技術解決方案感覺非常好。

Maybe just a follow-up on that, now that you've ended fiscal '23, could you give us a bit of a breakdown because I know there is a bunch of different items underneath Technical Solutions. There's the Bundled Energy, there's other things, there's the EV charging segment? Can you give us just a breakdown of the revenues in fiscal '23?

也許只是對此的後續行動，既然您已經結束了 23 財年，您能否給我們提供一些詳細信息，因為我知道技術解決方案下面有很多不同的項目。有捆綁能源，還有其他東西，還有電動車充電部分？您能給我們 23 財年收入的詳細資訊嗎？

Sure. So yes, there's really 3 core areas. There's Bundled Energy Solutions, EV and RavenVolt. And I guess the best way to describe it is our sentiment on those different industries, both sub industries. And we just feel really strong about EV, all the signs are pointing to strong growth there. Because if you remember, like there has been some news coverage lately that EV is maybe taking a step back or is not as exciting as it was. But that's all in context to the crazy growth rates that they've had in the past.

當然。是的，確實有 3 個核心領域。有捆綁能源解決方案、EV 和 RavenVolt。我想描述它的最好方式是我們對這些不同行業（兩個子行業）的看法。我們對電動車的感覺非常強烈，所有跡像都顯示電動車將出現強勁成長。因為如果你還記得的話，就像最近有一些新聞報導說，電動車可能會後退一步，或者不像以前那麼令人興奮。但這都是在他們過去瘋狂的成長率的背景下發生的。

And the truth is what a lot of the card deals are realizing is the impediment to this excitement is they call it range fear that people feel like they're going to run out of power. And that's because there's not a lot of infrastructure. So for us, the catalyst -- the way we see EV, the catalyst for our growth is going to be the fact that infrastructure is so light. So we're really happy about our backlog. So EV is going to be a really strong segment for us.

事實上，許多卡牌交易都意識到，這種興奮的障礙是他們稱之為“範圍恐懼”，即人們感覺自己即將耗盡電力。那是因為沒有太多的基礎設施。因此，對我們來說，催化劑——我們看待電動車的方式，我們成長的催化劑將是基礎設施如此輕這一事實。所以我們對積壓的訂單感到非常高興。因此，電動車對我們來說將是一個非常強大的領域。

And RavenVolt, we're really excited about. We have a very strong backlog, probably close to half of our backlog in Technical Solutions is around RavenVolt and these big projects. And the frustrating part, frankly, is the fact that it's really hard to time these quarter-by-quarter. Because the way you got to think about it Faiza, it's not they're basically battery backup projects, right? And it's not like you're going in and installing one battery.

還有 RavenVolt，我們真的很興奮。我們有非常強大的積壓工作，可能接近一半的技術解決方案積壓工作是圍繞 RavenVolt 和這些大型專案進行的。坦白說，令人沮喪的是，很難按季度來安排這些時間。因為你必須考慮一下 Faiza，它們基本上不是電池備援項目，對嗎？這並不像你要進去安裝一顆電池。

These are battery fields, some of them are the size of a football field, right? So it's almost like a construction project. and timing of construction project, getting the permits, getting the equipment. So when you look across a year, we feel really confident that RavenVolt is going to perform. But can I tell you whether or not Q2 is going to be stronger than Q1? It's hard to get that insight, but we're getting better at it, frankly.

這些都是電池場，有些有足球場那麼大，對吧？所以這幾乎就像是建築項目。以及建設工程的時間安排、取得許可證、取得設備。因此，當您回顧這一年時，我們對 RavenVolt 的表現充滿信心。但我可以告訴你Q2會不會比Q1更強嗎？要獲得這種洞察力很困難，但坦白說，我們正在做得更好。

We think the back half of the year is going to be stronger than the first half of the year right now, but RavenVolt is going to be another big, strong performer for ATS. And then the last piece is Bundled Energy Solutions. And that's the one that's going to be most pressured. And the way I want you to think about it, think about these big projects where you go in and retrofit a school, and it's a $15 million project, changing out the lighting, the air conditioning equipment, the heating equipment. And what ends up happening there is it's high capital for these schools. And the IRRs were typically really strong when interest rates were low.

我們認為今年下半年的表現將比上半年更強，但 RavenVolt 將成為另一個 ATS 的表現強勁的公司。最後一部分是捆綁能源解決方案。這就是壓力最大的一個。我希望你們思考一下，想想這些改造學校的大型項目，這是一個耗資 1500 萬美元的項目，需要更換照明、空調設備和暖氣設備。最終發生的事情是這些學校的資本很高。當利率較低時，內部報酬率通常非常強勁。

But now that interest rates are higher, it's causing them to push and to see when will interest rates come down, what's going to happen. And that's why you're seeing a little bit of a step back in Bundled Energy Solutions. And plus, there's been a lot of government funding through the CARES Act. And so there's been a lot of free money out there for school. So we think that's going to be sunsetting towards the end of this year.

但現在利率更高，這促使他們推動並看看利率何時會下降，會發生什麼。這就是為什麼你會看到捆綁能源解決方案有所退步。此外，政府也透過《CARES 法案》提供了大量資金。因此，學校有很多免費的錢。因此，我們認為這種情況將在今年年底結束。

So I would suggest that Bundled Energy Solutions will be soft in '24, more excited about '25. But that being said, they'll still perform just not at their kind of run rate that they used to be at where it was over $200 million in projects. It will probably be around half of that this year, which is still fairly strong, but not what we're used to. So hopefully, that gives you more color.

因此，我建議捆綁能源解決方案在 24 年會比較疲軟，在 25 年會更加興奮。但話雖這麼說，他們的表現仍然不會像以前那樣，專案的運行速度超過 2 億美元。今年可能會是這個數字的一半左右，仍然相當強勁，但不是我們習慣的那樣。希望這能給你更多的色彩。

Yes. And then just a quick one on your interest expense guide, are you assuming any debt paydown? Just talk a little bit more about your capital allocation. I know you've talked about the share buyback. But is any sort of debt paydown? Or are you thinking about that at all?

是的。然後簡單介紹一下您的利息支出指南，您是否承擔任何債務償還？多談談您的資本配置。我知道你已經談到股票回購了。但有任何形式的債務償還嗎？或者你在想這個嗎？

Yes. It anticipates marginal paydown in debt. And so if you think about we have a term loan that amortizes probably about $30 million a year. And then we'll use some of the excess cash to pay down a bit of the revolver. But nothing material in that. When you look at our leverage of 2.3x, we feel very comfortable there. And we're looking to maintain that level of leverage into next year.

是的。它預計債務邊際償還。因此，如果您考慮我們的定期貸款，每年可能攤提約 3000 萬美元。然後我們將用一些多餘的現金來支付一些左輪手槍的費用。但其中沒有任何實質內容。當你看到我們 2.3 倍的槓桿率時，我們感覺非常舒服。我們希望在明年保持這一槓桿水平。

When it comes to capital allocation, our plan is still consistent. We'll continue to invest in our organic growth through the ELEVATE program, investing in talent, et cetera. And again, based on our strong projected cash flows, relatively low leverage, it continues to provide us with the flexibility to allocate capital, whether it's to M&A opportunities or returning back to shareholders.

在資本配置方面，我們的計畫還是一致的。我們將繼續透過 ELEVATE 計劃、投資人才等來投資我們的有機成長。同樣，基於我們強勁的預期現金流和相對較低的槓桿率，它繼續為我們提供資本配置的靈活性，無論是併購機會還是回報股東。

Our next questions come from the line of Andy Wittmann with Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自安迪·魏特曼 (Andy Wittmann) 和貝爾德 (Baird) 的對話。

I guess I just want to understand the quarter a little bit better, particularly in the Technical Solutions segment. And so for Earl. So you talked about how there were several closeouts in the quarter, oftentimes, but not always, closeouts are basically accounting adjustments when projects that you've been working on come in better than expected after you finish them and then you recognize a whole bunch of revenue and basically almost 100% profit against that revenue in the quarter.

我想我只是想更了解這個季度，特別是在技術解決方案領域。對厄爾來說也是如此。所以你談到了本季度如何有幾次結清，經常但並非總是如此，結清基本上是會計調整，當你一直在做的項目在完成後比預期好時，然後你認識到一大堆該季度的收入和基本上幾乎100% 的利潤。

Is that what you mean by saying -- by attributing the revenue growth year-over-year significantly to that kind of performance? Or were you saying something different? I just want to make sure we're clear about what you're saying on the project closeouts and how that contributed to revenue and profits.

這就是您所說的—將營收同比成長主要歸因於這種業績嗎？還是你說的是不同的東西？我只是想確保我們清楚您在專案收尾方面所說的內容以及這對收入和利潤有何貢獻。

Yes. No, I think you got it spot on, Andy. There were a number of projects that closed out. And as a result of that, you're actually able to do your final billings. Any holdouts that you actually had, you're now able to capture that. And in the quarter, that amounted to about $2 million. When we talk about the profitability in Q4. Remember, Q4 is a seasonal business and typically back half with Q4 being our largest quarter. So keep that in mind that by no means would be a run rate into Q1, which we know typically would be a lower quarter than others.

是的。不，我想你說得對，安迪。有許多項目已經結束。因此，您實際上可以進行最終的帳單處理。任何你實際遇到的抵制者，你現在都可以捕捉到。在本季度，這一數字約為 200 萬美元。當我們談論第四季度的獲利能力時。請記住，第四季度是季節性業務，通常是後半季度，第四季是我們最大的季度。因此請記住，第一季的運行率絕不是這樣，我們知道第一季的運行率通常會低於其他季度。

Okay. But your revenue growth was like $11 million, $12 million in the quarter for Technical Solutions. The gain was only 2. I guess it sounded like the other whatever $9-ish million of revenue might also be attributable to closeouts. Is that true or not? Just trying to understand that.

好的。但本季技術解決方案的營收成長約為 1,100 萬美元、1,200 萬美元。收益僅為 2。我想這聽起來就像其他 9 億美元左右的收入也可能歸因於清倉。這是真的還是假的？只是想了解這一點。

No, that would be the regulatory -- if you think about on RavenVolt where throughout the first half of the year, we actually had delays on certain battery storage projects as we're waiting for not only inventory supplies, but getting a lot of the authorizations finalized. So we actually were able to closeout on a number of those deals in Q4. And as a result, you're seeing the revenue and the associated profit.

不，這將是監管——如果你想想RavenVolt，整個上半年，我們實際上在某些電池儲存項目上出現了延誤，因為我們不僅在等待庫存供應，而且在等待大量的庫存供應。授權最終確定。因此，我們實際上能夠在第四季度完成其中一些交易。結果，您會看到收入和相關利潤。

Okay. That's helpful. And then, Scott, just on the B&I segment. I guess you mentioned in your press release or your report here, your slide deck, you talked about kind of diversification. I just want to make sure I'm understanding what you're saying there as well. Is that meaning you had the good entertainment and sports and diversified in that way -- from, I don't know, call it, the traditional janitorial services? Or is there some other dynamic there that we should be aware of that -- that you're referring to in diversification.

好的。這很有幫助。然後，斯科特，關於 B&I 部分。我想您在新聞稿或報告、幻燈片中提到過，您談到了多元化。我只是想確保我也理解你在說什麼。這是否意味著您擁有良好的娛樂和體育活動，並以這種方式實現多元化——我不知道，稱之為傳統的清潔服務？或者是否還有其他一些我們應該意識到的動態——您提到的多元化。

Yes. No. That's a great question. Yes. It's partly that. It's partly we have a little health care in there. But it's more importantly, the engineering segment. So if you think about, especially with the Able acquisition, where between Able and the legacy ABM, we had a lot of stationary engineers, and that's about 25% of our business is just engineering, and that doesn't change with office occupancy and density.

是的。不，這是一個很好的問題。是的。部分是這樣。部分原因是我們在那裡有一些醫療保健。但更重要的是工程領域。因此，如果你想一想，特別是在收購 Able 後，在 Able 和傳統 ABM 之間，我們有很多固定工程師，我們大約 25% 的業務只是工程，這不會隨著辦公室佔用和使用而改變。密度。

If you have engineers in an engine room whether you're 80% occupied or 95%, that's really not going to change. And we have parking in that segment as well. and that's been relatively stable since we've come out of the pandemic. So that moderates the janitorial, which is the piece of it that becomes more variable. So I guess, Andy, I'm so glad you brought up this question because like when we look at B&I, we don't want you to look at that as just purely janitorial and having all that kind of variability, so to speak, based on density because the truth of it is, it's so mitigated by again, the engineering specifically.

如果機房裡有工程師，無論是 80% 還是 95%，這都不會改變。我們在該路段也設有停車場。自從我們擺脫大流行以來，這種情況一直相對穩定。這樣就緩和了清潔工作，這也是變得更加多變的部分。所以我想，安迪，我很高興你提出這個問題，因為就像我們看待 B&I 時一樣，我們不希望你將其視為純粹的清潔工作並具有所有此類可變性，可以這麼說，基於密度，因為事實是，它又被工程特別減輕了。

Yes. Okay. I just wanted to make sure I understood that and now we do. And then just -- just on the, I guess, the ELEVATE program here. So you said it's taking about a year longer. The new number is, what, $215 I think I heard $200 to $215. I think previously, the high end of the total ELEVATE spend was $175 million. So that's the delta looks like. I guess you were always planning for like around, I think, $15 million of spend in '24. So -- am I doing the math here, like the extra $30 million with the extra year is the delta that takes you from that $175 million number into the low 2s, Earl. Is that -- am I thinking about that correctly? Is that what you're saying here today?

是的。好的。我只是想確保我理解這一點，現在我們明白了。然後，我猜，就是這裡的 ELEVATE 程式。所以你說需要大約一年的時間。新的數字是，什麼，215 美元，我想我聽說過 200 美元到 215 美元。我認為之前，ELEVATE 總支出的上限為 1.75 億美元。這就是三角洲的樣子。我猜你一直計劃在 24 年花費大約 1500 萬美元。那麼，我是否在這裡算了一下，例如一年額外增加的 3000 萬美元就是將您從 1.75 億美元的數字變為低 2 的增量，厄爾。我的想法正確嗎？這就是你今天在這裡所說的嗎？

Yes, you are. So it's a spillover. We'll have an extra year. You remember, for FY '24, we are actually planning on that being a bit higher as it tails down throughout the -- so you could almost think of rough numbers, probably about $35 million in '24, followed by 25% for the next 2 years.

是的，你是。所以這是一個溢出效應。我們還有一年的時間。你還記得，對於24 財年，我們實際上計劃稍微高一點，因為它在整個財年中都在下降——所以你幾乎可以想到粗略的數字，可能在24 財年約為3500 萬美元，接下來是25% 2年。

And then, Scott, can you just talk a little bit about kind of what you've learned along the way that's causing the extra year and the extra cost here? What are some of the technical challenges or maybe operational challenges that go along with the extension of the program.

然後，史考特，你能談談你一路上學到的導致額外一年和額外成本的東西嗎？隨著計劃的擴展，有哪些技術挑戰或可能的操作挑戰？

Sure, Andy. And these things are so complex, right? And the way I would think about it -- the way I would think about it is when you think about deploying an ERP, like the easiest part of it is putting a financial system in -- it's all the other systems that talk to it, right, whether it's your payroll system, your T&E system, your procurement system, and the data has to flow in and out through a pipe.

當然，安迪。而且這些事情太複雜了，對吧？我的想法是，當你考慮部署 ERP 時，就像其中最簡單的部分是放入財務系統一樣，所有其他系統都會與之對話，對吧，無論是你的薪資系統、你的差旅系統、你的採購系統，資料都必須透過管道流入和流出。

It's almost like -- I look at it like a Lego, where you got the middle of the Lego is the ERP and then you have all these systems coming around that creating a wheel. And as part of that, what we learned with Education is it's just going to take longer to get that data flow right and clean and to set up all the processes to go in and out of the ERP. And then once you launch the system, all the -- we call it hyper care internally, which is basically all the training, all the answering of questions of the field as they start using the new system. And it's just it's taking longer than we originally expected because we had no frame of reference, right?

這幾乎就像——我把它看作一個樂高積木，樂高積木的中間是 ERP，然後所有這些系統都圍繞著它形成一個輪子。作為其中的一部分，我們從教育中了解到，要讓資料流正確、乾淨，並設定進出 ERP 的所有流程，將需要更長的時間。一旦你啟動了系統，所有的——我們在內部稱之為超級護理，這基本上是所有的培訓，當他們開始使用新系統時所有的現場問題的回答。只是它花費的時間比我們最初預期的要長，因為我們沒有參考框架，對吧？

So I think the strong point here, Andy, more than anything, is this is -- it's not a system that's off the rails. It's not like, hey, we were going with Oracle and we ditched that, and now we're going to SAP. It's not like we had a specific consulting group that was helping us with some process work and we had to change them and scrap it and start over again. So none of this is about really missteps. It's really about the fact that risk mitigation is the most important thing to us internally and to our shareholders, right? So we just have to make sure we do everything we can so that our invoices are right, our payables are right and our payroll is right, and it's just going to take a year longer, but it's all for like good reason.

所以安迪，我認為這裡最重要的一點是──這不是一個脫軌的系統。這並不是說，嘿，我們原本選擇 Oracle，然後放棄了它，現在我們轉向 SAP。這不像我們有一個特定的諮詢小組來幫助我們完成一些流程工作，我們必須改變它們並放棄它並重新開始。所以這一切都不是真正的失誤。這實際上是關於這樣一個事實：降低風險對我們內部和我們的股東來說是最重要的，對吧？因此，我們只需要確保盡我們所能，以便我們的發票是正確的，我們的應付帳款是正確的，我們的薪資單是正確的，這只是需要多花一年的時間，但這都是有充分理由的。

Our next questions come from the line of Josh Chan with UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的 Josh Chan。

So you mentioned the margin guidance for '24. I appreciate the drivers behind that. So I guess as you think about going beyond 2024, how should we think about the trajectory of margins? And what are some of the factors that will drive it up or down beyond this year?

所以你提到了 24 年的保證金指導。我很欣賞這背後的推動者。所以我想，當您考慮 2024 年之後，我們應該如何考慮利潤率的軌跡？今年之後哪些因素會推動該指數上漲或下跌？

Sure. Thanks. Look, we think there is going to be a cadence up to our 7.2%. I think '25 will be one of the more challenging years for us to predict, right, because so much of kind of the -- I don't want to say set back, but the stall in our trajectory is because of commercial real estate. And we kind of think that's a 2-year overhang '24 and '25. So I think once we get out of that trough, it will be a normal cadence up. But at the same time, we're not sitting around and just admiring the problem, right?

當然。謝謝。看，我們認為節奏將達到 7.2%。我認為 25 年將是我們預測中最具挑戰性的一年，對吧，因為很多——我不想說挫折，但我們的發展軌跡停滯是因為商業房地產。我們認為這是 24 年和 25 年的 2 年懸而未決。所以我認為一旦我們走出低谷，這將是一個正常的上升節奏。但同時，我們並沒有坐視這個問題，對吧？

We've made some changes to our cost structure. And then the ELEVATE benefits start kicking in as we start lighting up these industry segments and put our new financial system and overlay the tools that I talked about in my prepared remarks, like workforce management and this app that's going to be a game changer because we're going to be able to communicate with all of our frontline employees and ultimately help them manage labor during the day and night. It's just going to be phenomenal. So I think, again, it won't be a straight line up, but the key thing will be when do we think we're going to get past the commercial real estate trough and we're suggesting that it's probably just another year or 2.

我們對成本結構進行了一些改變。然後，當我們開始點亮這些行業細分市場並建立新的財務系統並涵蓋我在準備好的演講中談到的工具時，ELEVATE 的好處就開始發揮作用，例如勞動力管理和這個將改變遊戲規則的應用程序，因為我們我們將能夠與所有第一線員工進行溝通，並最終幫助他們管理白天和晚上的勞動力。這將是非凡的。所以我再次認為，這不會是一條直線，但關鍵是我們認為我們什麼時候才能度過商業房地產低谷，我們建議這可能只是再過一年或2.

Okay. And then I want to follow up on the repurchase. I guess, could you just talk to the amount of repurchase and -- it's obviously a lot higher than what you normally do. And so I just wonder if there's any change in philosophy in terms of how you think about the stock versus other means of deployment, mainly M&A, I suppose.

好的。然後我想跟進回購情況。我想，你能談談回購的數量嗎——它顯然比你平常的回購量要高得多。因此，我只是想知道，與其他部署方式（我認為主要是併購）相比，您對股票的看法是否存在任何理念上的變化。

Yes. No change in philosophy. As we mentioned, when we look at capital allocation, first and foremost, we want to ensure that we're actually investing in our organic growth. And we feel that we actually have sufficient investments there with ELEVATE and other key investments. When you look at the fact that after looking at organic growth, M&A opportunities, when we actually have excess cash, we look at how is the best way to deploy that back to shareholders.

是的。哲學沒有改變。正如我們所提到的，當我們考慮資本配置時，首先也是最重要的是，我們希望確保我們真正投資於我們的有機成長。我們認為我們實際上在 ELEVATE 和其他關鍵投資方面有足夠的投資。當你看到這樣一個事實時，在考慮了有機成長、併購機會之後，當我們實際上擁有多餘的現金時，我們會考慮如何將其部署回股東的最佳方式。

And after Q3 with the compression that we saw in the share price, we thought that it was prudent to actually take actions. But going forward, we'll actually take a balanced approach. We manage our leverage. Currently, right now, it's 2.3x, and we anticipate that, that's going to be consistent going to the next year. So we'll continue to look at opportunities and allocate accordingly.

在第三季看到股價壓縮之後，我們認為實際採取行動是謹慎的。但展望未來，我們實際上將採取平衡的方法。我們管理我們的槓桿。目前，現在是 2.3 倍，我們預計明年會保持一致。因此，我們將繼續尋找機會並進行相應的分配。

Our next questions come from the line of Sam Kusswurm with William Blair.

我們的下一個問題來自 Sam Kusswurm 和 William Blair 的對話。

Yes. I guess to start here, you mentioned last quarter that B&I could be down 2% to 3% in 2024. And today's outlook commentary calls for a challenging B&I market. I guess I want to see first, it down 2% to 3% is the right way to think about this business for next year still. And then I'd also like to get your thoughts on how long this type of challenging environment could last. I think you just mentioned that maybe in the 2025 where it goes to, but is there a chance that it goes beyond that? Just trying to get your broad kind of commentary there.

是的。我想首先，您在上個季度提到 B&I 可能會在 2024 年下降 2% 到 3%。今天的展望評論稱 B&I 市場充滿挑戰。我想我想先看看，下降 2% 到 3% 仍然是考慮明年這項業務的正確方式。然後我也想了解您對這個充滿挑戰的環境能持續多久的想法。我想你剛才提到，也許到 2025 年，但有沒有可能超越這個目標？只是想得到你廣泛的評論。

Sure. So I think you're kind of spot on, on how you're thinking about '24 from that revenue perspective on the growth side. So I think you hit that. And yes, we do think it's going to go into '25. And the reason we're more optimistic about '26 and beyond. So just from a pure statistics standpoint, I think they're saying that 50% of all leases are coming due in '24 and '25. So you're going to see that volatility with some of the compression. Because opportunistically, when your lease comes up, you have a chance to kind of narrow your density a bit. So that's why we think it's going to be more of a 2-year problem than extended.

當然。因此，我認為您從成長方面的收入角度來思考「24」是很正確的。所以我認為你做到了。是的，我們確實認為它會進入 25 年。這也是我們對 26 年及以後更加樂觀的原因。因此，僅從純粹的統計角度來看，我認為他們說 50% 的租賃將在 24 年和 25 年到期。所以你會看到一些壓縮帶來的波動。因為機會主義地，當你的租約到期時，你有機會稍微縮小你的密度。因此，我們認為這將是一個持續兩年的問題，而不是長期的問題。

But more importantly than that, I have to tell you, and I think you're probably seeing it and everybody on the call are seeing it too, like the sentiment out there is really becoming stronger and stronger on return to work. I can tell you in my CEO peer networks, all we're talking about is getting people back to the office for collaboration.

但更重要的是，我必須告訴你，我認為你可能已經看到了這一點，電話會議中的每個人也都看到了這一點，就像重返工作崗位後，人們的情緒確實變得越來越強烈。我可以告訴你，在我的執行長同事網絡中，我們所討論的只是讓人們回到辦公室進行協作。

There's all these studies now that are being released on effectiveness of organizations by having people on-site and collaborating. And the macroeconomic environment, frankly, are giving employers more power over saying you have to come into the office versus where we were a year or 2 ago when the labor situation was different, right? So there's a bit of a power shift going on right now in favor of employers who want to bring people back.

現在，所有這些研究都已發布，這些研究都是透過人員在場和協作來衡量組織的有效性。坦白說，宏觀經濟環境正在賦予雇主更大的權力，讓雇主可以要求你必須到辦公室上班，而我們一兩年前的情況與一兩年前的情況有所不同，對吧？因此，現在正在發生一些權力轉移，有利於那些想要把員工帶回來的雇主。

So I think it's episodic. I think it's '24 and '25. I suspect '25 won't even be as difficult as '24. And that's our feeling, and it seems to be the general sentiment.

所以我認為這是一個情節。我認為是'24和'25。我懷疑25年甚至不會像24年那麼困難。這就是我們的感覺，而且似乎是普遍的情緒。

Awesome. Very, very helpful color. Maybe sticking with B&I then. Maybe you could break out the growth rates between commercial cleaning and engineering services. I guess I'd just be curious how each of those are doing within the broader portfolio.

驚人的。非常非常有用的顏色。那也許會繼續使用 B&I。也許您可以列出商業清潔和工程服務之間的成長率。我想我只是好奇這些在更廣泛的投資組合中的表現如何。

Yes. We don't really guide to revenue or anything like that. But I will tell you -- I could give you some high-level color, right? Engineering is just a lot more stable, right? You do not see variability in -- on the downside. Because again, if you have an office building and it requires 12 engineers to take care of the equipment between the day shift, the night shift and the weekend shift. That equipment has to be taken care of.

是的。我們並不真正指導收入或類似的事情。但我會告訴你——我可以給你一些高級的色彩，對吧？工程技術更加穩定，對嗎？你看不到不利方面的變化。因為，如果你有一棟辦公大樓，需要 12 名工程師在白班、夜班和週末輪班之間照顧設備。必須照顧好該設備。

And it doesn't matter what the occupancy is, right? Because you have to run that equipment. You're still delivering air conditioning to the building. You're still doing electrical and mechanical work. Pumps are still breaking that have to be fixed. So this stuff all happens. And that's why when you look at it being like 25% of B&I, you have that stability. It's the janitorial side that ends up being more, I guess, flexible, if you will, having more variability.

入住率是多少並不重要，對吧？因為你必須運行該設備。您仍在向大樓提供空調。你還在做電氣和機械工作。泵仍然損壞，需要修理。所以這一切都會發生。這就是為什麼當你看到它佔 B&I 的 25% 時，你就擁有了穩定性。我想，如果你願意的話，清潔方面最終會變得更加靈活，具有更多的可變性。

Got you. Makes sense. Maybe a final one related more to M&D. Maybe you could characterize the growth across the end markets, parsing out the e-commerce logistics, I think biopharma and semiconductor. I'm not asking for any actual numbers here, just more curious how you'd rank these in terms of performance or maybe growth opportunities as you head into 2024?

明白你了。說得通。也許最後一篇與 M&D 更多相關。也許你可以描述整個終端市場的成長，解析電子商務物流，我認為是生物製藥和半導體。我在這裡並不是要求任何實際數字，只是更好奇，當您進入 2024 年時，您會如何根據績效或成長機會對這些數字進行排名？

Yes. So look, we've done a really good job on the e-commerce side, and we'll see some good growth there, but probably more normalized. But it's really where we're focusing now like semiconductors, biopharma, some of the manufacturing stuff that we're doing. We think those will be higher growth areas. Listen, I have to tell you, like we'll have this little impediment in '24 because of the rebalancing of 1 big client. But we have every confidence in the outer years after that, that this is going to be a high single-digit grower, one of our fastest growing in all of ABM. So really enthusiastic about the manufacturing and distribution industry segment.

是的。所以看，我們在電子商務方面做得非常好，我們會看到那裡有一些良好的成長，但可能會更加正常化。但這確實是我們現在關注的領域，例如半導體、生物製藥以及我們正在做的一些製造業。我們認為這些將是更高成長的領域。聽著，我必須告訴你，就像我們在 24 年會遇到這個小障礙一樣，因為 1 個大客戶的重新平衡。但我們對未來幾年充滿信心，這將是一個高個位數的成長者，也是我們所有 ABM 中成長最快的成長者之一。對製造和分銷行業領域非常熱衷。

Our next questions come from the line of David Silver with CL King.

我們的下一個問題來自 David Silver 和 CL King 的對話。

I'd like to ask a question firstly on your Aviation segment. So clearly not your biggest segment in terms of revenues or absolute profit, but it was the best performer by a wide margin this year, both in revenue growth and in -- well, operating income growth and especially margin improvement. So I know there's a number of initiatives that you've undertaken over the last couple of years, which I would say are starting to bear fruit.

我想先問一個關於航空部門的問題。顯然，就收入或絕對利潤而言，這不是您最大的部門，但它是今年表現最好的部門，無論是在收入成長方面，還是在營業收入成長，尤其是在利潤率改善方面。所以我知道你們在過去幾年採取了許多舉措，我想說這些舉措已經開始取得成果。

But on a scale of 1 to 10 or 0 to 100 or whatever, where do you think ABM is in terms of fully exploiting the opportunities from your evolving strategies there? In other words, should we expect another meaningful improvement next year, assuming that, I don't know, air flight or air travel trends continue as positively as they've been.

但是，按照 1 到 10 或 0 到 100 的範圍，您認為 ABM 在充分利用您不斷發展的策略中的機會方面處於什麼位置？換句話說，假設（我不知道）航空航班或航空旅行趨勢繼續像以前一樣積極，我們是否應該期待明年再次出現有意義的改善。

Sure. That's a good question. So there's so much going on in Aviation that we're excited about. Firstly, we've had a new management team in place for the last couple of years that have been phenomenal, both on the ability to operate the business. And then on business development, we've been really excited about. And you may remember, David, that we started a few years back, shifting our focus to airports and less on airlines because we saw all the modernizations that were happening across the country.

當然。這是個好問題。因此，航空業發生了很多讓我們興奮的事情。首先，我們在過去幾年中組建了一支新的管理團隊，他們在業務營運能力方面都表現出色。然後在業務發展方面，我們非常興奮。大衛，你可能還記得，我們​​幾年前就開始將重點轉向機場，而不是航空公司，因為我們看到了全國各地正在發生的現代化建設。

And the perfect example of that is LaGuardia. Just got named the best new airport in the world. Terminal B is like, I don't know, 80% of that airport, we do everything there. We just got a very large -- we call it APS, which is ABM Performance Solutions, which is integrated facility services, basically where the client says, "Look, you self-perform a bunch of these services. In addition to that, why don't you take care of all our subcontracted services as well." So basically bundling everything together and letting us run it.

拉瓜迪亞機場就是一個完美的例子。剛被評為世界最佳新機場。 B 航站樓就像是，我不知道，機場 80% 的面積，我們都在那裡做。我們剛剛得到了一個非常大的——我們稱之為 APS，即 ABM Performance Solutions，它是綜合設施服務，基本上客戶會說，「看，你自己執行一堆這些服務。除此之外，為什麼難道你不也照顧我們所有的分包服務嗎？”所以基本上將所有內容捆綁在一起並讓我們運行它。

So we just got a massive contract at LaGuardia to handle all of Terminal B, also Provident school systems we got. So we're excited about the ability to take this ABM Performance Solutions to airports around the country, and our pipeline is growing there.

因此，我們剛剛在拉瓜迪亞機場獲得了一份巨額合同，負責處理所有 B 航站樓以及我們獲得的普羅維登斯學校系統。因此，我們很高興能夠將此 ABM 性能解決方案帶到全國各地的機場，我們的管道正在那裡不斷增長。

So air travel is up. It continues to be up. Aviation had a really, really great year. It was also helped, if you remember, in Q1 by the parking project that happened in 2022, a lot of the expenses happened in 2022, but we got paid in '23. So the profit flow-through is about $11 million or $12 million. So that helped as well. But we're very, very enthusiastic about Aviation and its growth ability for next year, and again, loving the team.

因此，航空旅行正在興起。它繼續上漲。航空業度過了非常非常偉大的一年。如果你還記得，2022 年發生的停車項目也對第一季有所幫助，很多費用發生在 2022 年，但我們在 23 年收到了付款。因此利潤流轉約為 1,100 萬美元或 1,200 萬美元。所以這也有幫助。但我們對航空業及其明年的成長能力非常非常熱情，並且再次熱愛這個團隊。

And I just would like to ask for a clarification on the share repurchase activity this quarter. So there were a couple of comments, certainly already, but I'm just trying to sharpen my understanding. Should I assume that the bulk of the fourth quarter activity was kind of concentrated early in the quarter? In other words, after your stock was quite volatile 90 days ago. Is that when the activity was concentrated in, in other words, more opportunistic? Or would you say it was spread a little more evenly and hence, maybe more, I don't know, programmatic or more balanced through the quarter?

我只想要求澄清本季的股票回購活動。當然已經有一些評論了，但我只是想加深我的理解。我是否應該假設第四季度的大部分活動都集中在本季初？換句話說，在 90 天前你的股票波動很大之後。換句話說，那時的活動是否集中在機會主義方面？或者你會說它分佈得更均勻一些，因此，我不知道，也許更多的是程序化的或更平衡的？

Yes. No, it was definitely more front-end loaded. And hence, when we look at the average price, which was $40.82, that is emblematic of kind of like where it was trading shortly after the Q3 earnings call.

是的。不，它肯定是前端加載的更多。因此，當我們看到平均價格為 40.82 美元時，這有點像第三季財報電話會議後不久的交易價格。

Great. And then last question would be for Scott, I guess. And Scott, I'd like you to maybe look back a few years and then compare it to today. But in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic -- and I'm sorry, I should say this is kind of related to your and competitive advantages and your ability to gain new business. But in the immediate aftermath, when the pandemic began, your company was kind of in a very strong position in some ways to capture new business because of your scale, because of your ability to source scarce equipment, better purchasing power, et cetera, as well as staffing, a number of advantages.

偉大的。我想最後一個問題是問史考特的。斯科特，我希望你回顧幾年前的情況，然後與今天進行比較。但在大流行之後——我很抱歉，我應該說這與你的競爭優勢以及你獲得新業務的能力有關。但在疫情爆發後不久，由於您的規模、採購稀缺設備的能力、更好的購買力等等，您的公司在某些方面處於非常有利的地位，可以捕獲新業務。還有人員配置，多項優勢。

And we're kind of in the post (technical difficulty) and at least in some parts of your business, commercial real estate, things are structurally a little softer. But my sense is that your go-to-market strategy or your value proposition to your core, like bread and butter industrial or commercial customer is probably a little bit stronger even than it was a few years ago just in terms of maybe the enhancements from your internal ELEVATE program and whatnot.

我們處於後期（技術難度），至少在你的業務的某些部分，商業房地產，事情在結構上有點軟。但我的感覺是，你的進入市場策略或你的核心價值主張，例如麵包和黃油工業或商業客戶，可能比幾年前更強一點，只是就可能的增強而言您的內部ELEVATE 計劃等等。

But how would you think about just for the core kind of bread and butter clientele across education manufacturing, et cetera. How has your value proposition kind of shifted, let's say, over the last couple of years and in particular, as you kind of look at the post-pandemic environment. Maybe if you could comment on that, that would be helpful.

但是，您會如何考慮教育製造業等領域的核心麵包和黃油客戶。比如說，在過去的幾年裡，特別是當你檢視大流行後的環境時，你的價值主張發生了怎樣的轉變。也許如果你能對此發表評論，那會很有幫助。

Yes, sure. Yes. Look, I think for us, as a brand, it's certainly I guess our positioning has changed a great deal as we came through this pandemic different than our competitors. And I think our competitors would admit that, too. We're developing our enhanced clean product. We got so much more exposure on social media. If you remember, we did a commercial. So we've become more prevalent. And it's just -- it's just a different swagger, I guess, if you will, when we're pursuing business development and talking to clients.

是的，當然。是的。聽著，我認為對我們來說，作為一個品牌，我想我們的定位肯定發生了很大的變化，因為我們與競爭對手不同，經歷了這場大流行。我認為我們的競爭對手也會承認這一點。我們正在開發增強型清潔產品。我們在社群媒體上獲得了更多的曝光。如果你還記得的話，我們拍了一個廣告。所以我們變得更加普遍。我想，如果你願意的話，當我們追求業務發展和與客戶交談時，這只是一種不同的招搖。

And then you layer on top of that, David, all the investments that we're making in technology and to sit across from a client in the presentation and show them a digital dashboard and how we're monitoring their facilities in with this ABM Team Connect and how very shortly, all of our team members in the field are going to have an app that is going to connect them to the client, to us. It's just going to be game changer.

David，然後你將我們在技術方面所做的所有投資放在上面，並在演示中坐在客戶對面，向他們展示數位儀表板以及我們如何與 ABM 團隊一起監控他們的設施連接，很快，我們所有現場團隊成員都將擁有一個應用程序，將他們與客戶、我們聯繫起來。這將會改變遊戲規則。

So I just feel like this momentum that we're having is very palpable. And I would close off the comment by saying we just had another record year of new sales. We were -- to give you a context a few years back, we put a true north of -- is it possible to possibly bring in $1 billion in new sales. And we were like -- that was our like aspiration that was really far out there.

所以我覺得我們所擁有的這種勢頭是非常明顯的。最後我要說的是，我們剛剛迎來了另一個新銷售創紀錄的年份。我們 - 為了給您幾年前的背景，我們提出了一個真正的問題 - 是否有可能帶來 10 億美元的新銷售額。我們就像──那才是我們真正遙遠的願望。

And this year, we did over $1.6 billion in new sales. I mean, what we brought in, in new sales is probably 3x bigger than our nearest competitor in terms of total revenue, not what they brought in, and I'm talking about their book of business. So we feel like we have a really compelling value proposition.

今年，我們的新銷售額超過 16 億美元。我的意思是，就總收入而言，我們帶來的新銷售額可能是我們最接近的競爭對手的三倍，而不是他們帶來的收入，我說的是他們的業務。所以我們覺得我們有一個非常引人注目的價值主張。

Our final questions come from the line of Marc Riddick with Sidoti.

我們的最後一個問題來自馬克·里迪克和西多蒂。

I'll be brief on this. I know we've gone deep into a lot of things. So wonder if you could talk a little bit about what you're seeing with Education and the commentary was around the strength that you saw there and some of the prior new business wins, the benefits of that. Maybe you could bring us a little bit of an update as to maybe what you're seeing there on revenue visibility, the margin profile there and the opportunity to continue to gain share in the space?

我將簡要介紹這一點。我知道我們已經深入探討了很多事情。因此，想知道您是否可以談談您在教育方面看到的情況，評論是圍繞您看到的優勢以及之前的一些新業務獲勝及其好處進行的。也許您可以為我們帶來一些最新情況，例如您在收入可見度、利潤狀況以及繼續獲得該領域份額的機會方面所看到的情況？

Sure. We're like so happy about our Education positioning. We're the clear #1 in Education, and we're split between K through 12 and higher ed, we have great growth this year. brought in over $100 million in new business, never done that before. And our margins are up since the pandemic. We've held on to that. And then what I said earlier, Marc about our APS or our integrated solution that we not only got at LaGuardia, but Provident school district, that's something that we're pitching now to our education clients that like, listen, we can do so many things and self-perform, put everything under us, and we'll strategically manage it.

當然。我們對我們的教育定位非常滿意。我們在教育領域無疑是第一名，我們分為 K 到 12 年級和高等教育，今年我們取得了巨大的成長。帶來了超過 1 億美元的新業務，這是以前從未有過的。自大流行以來，我們的利潤率上升。我們一直堅持這一點。然後我之前說過，Marc 關於我們的APS 或我們的整合解決方案，我們不僅在拉瓜迪亞，而且在普羅維登斯學區，這是我們現在向我們的教育客戶推銷的東西，他們喜歡，聽著，我們可以做很多事情事情和自我表現，把一切都交給我們，我們會策略性地管理它。

Our pipeline is really growing there. We picked up George Washington University last year. So we're just really excited about that industry group. And we typically project like kind of GDP-ish growth and hopefully, we'll get to GDP plus. Usually, it's longer decision time frames in that segment. But again, the proof is in the pudding, and we just had a tremendous year this year. So I appreciate you asking that question.

我們的管道在那裡確實在增長。去年我們選擇了喬治華盛頓大學。所以我們對這個行業團體感到非常興奮。我們通常會預測 GDP 左右的成長，並希望我們能夠實現 GDP+。通常，該細分市場的決策時間框架較長。但同樣，布丁就是證據，今年我們剛度過了美好的一年。所以我很感謝你問這個問題。

Thank you. We have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the call back over to Scott Salmirs for any closing remarks.

謝謝。我們的問答環節已經結束。我現在想將電話轉回給斯科特·薩爾米爾斯（Scott Salmirs），請他發表結束語。

Just want to thank everybody for their interest, and we were excited to closeout the year the way we did. And '24 will be a challenging year for everybody in the business environment. We know that. But I could just tell you that this team at ABM is going to be attacking it with enthusiasm, and we're really excited about it. So have an amazing holiday, everybody, hopefully, get some time with your loved ones, and we look forward to giving you an update in Q1. So take care, everybody.

只是想感謝大家的興趣，我們很高興能以這樣的方式結束這一年。對於商業環境中的每個人來說，24 年將是充滿挑戰的一年。我們知道。但我可以告訴你，ABM 的團隊將熱情地攻擊它，我們對此感到非常興奮。希望大家度過一個愉快的假期，與您所愛的人共度時光，我們期待在第一季為您提供最新消息。所以大家要保重。

Thank you. This does conclude today's teleconference. We appreciate your participation. You may disconnect at this time. Enjoy the rest of your day.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝您的參與。此時您可以斷開連線。享受你一天剩下的時間。