ABM Industries Inc (ABM) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings and welcome to the ABM Industries, Inc. First quarter 2024 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

歡迎參加 ABM Industries, Inc. 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。

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

現在我很高興向您介紹主持人保羅·戈德堡（Paul Goldberg），他是投資者關係部門的負責人。謝謝你，戈德堡先生。你可以開始了。

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to ABM's first quarter 2024 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 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。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 first quarter 2024 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 a 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 2024 年第一季的財務業績。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，我們將舉辦問答環節。

But before we begin, I would like to remind you that our call and presentation today contains certain 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 a 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某些預測、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.

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。

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

就這樣，我現在想把電話轉給史考特。

Thanks, Paul. Good morning, and thank you all for joining us today to discuss our first quarter results. We're off to an excellent start in 2024. First quarter revenue increased 3.9% to $2.1 billion, all of which was organic growth. Our aviation team is doing a great job of leveraging ABM's leading position in a robust travel market, winning significant new business with both airports and major airlines, which I'll speak more about later.

謝謝，保羅。早安，感謝大家今天加入我們討論我們的第一季業績。我們在 2024 年有了一個良好的開端。第一季營收成長 3.9%，達到 21 億美元，所有這些都是有機成長。我們的航空團隊在利用 ABM 在強勁的旅遊市場中的領先地位方面做得非常出色，贏得了機場和主要航空公司的重要新業務，我稍後將詳細介紹這一點。

Manufacturing & Distribution and Education also both generated solid revenue growth in the quarter, with M&D capitalizing on positive demand trends and an effective sales strategy. Despite some project delays and winter weather interruptions, Technical Solutions grew revenue double-digits, driven by the closeout of several battery energy storage system projects in Q1. We were pleased to sign a large contract with a leading national retailer at more than 150 sites over a multiyear period. This is a large and exciting program for us, showcasing the breadth of capabilities that ABM can now offer.

製造與分銷以及教育在本季度也實現了穩健的收入成長，M&D 充分利用了積極的需求趨勢和有效的銷售策略。儘管存在一些專案延遲和冬季天氣中斷的情況，但在第一季多個電池儲能係統專案關閉的推動下，技術解決方案的收入仍實現了兩位數成長。我們很高興與一家領先的全國零售商簽署了一份為期多年、覆蓋 150 多個地點的大合約。對我們來說，這是一個令人興奮的大型計劃，展示了 ABM 現在可以提供的廣泛功能。

It's also a testament to our RavenVolt team as this contract represents a significant expansion of our relationship with this particular client, both in the scope of services and the number of sites. Our B&I business remained resilient, benefiting from end-market diversification and from strong cost management. B&I's revenue was essentially flat year-over-year, reflecting softer demand within the commercial real estate market. We also continued to effectively push pricing across our business, resulting in adjusted EBITDA and margin that were consistent with our expectations. As a result of the recognition of certain discrete tax benefits and our solid Q1 operating results, we are raising our full-year outlook for adjusted EPS, which Earl will discuss in more detail.

這也是對我們 RavenVolt 團隊的證明，因為這份合約代表了我們與該特定客戶的關係在服務範圍和網站數量方面的顯著擴展。我們的 B&I 業務保持彈性，受益於終端市場多元化和強大的成本管理。 B&I 的營收年比基本持平，反映出商業房地產市場的需求疲軟。我們也繼續有效地推動整個業務的定價，調整後的 EBITDA 和利潤率與我們的預期一致。由於承認某些離散稅收優惠和我們穩健的第一季營運業績，我們提高了調整後每股收益的全年預期，厄爾將對此進行更詳細的討論。

I'll now discuss the demand environment within each of our industry groups. Let's start with B&I. Office density and vacancy rates remain largely unchanged from 3 months ago, with density at 50% plus and vacancy at approximately 20%. While we're not expecting material changes in office utilization trends over the next few quarters, we believe there will be a gradual increase in the time employees spend at the office over the next couple of years.

我現在將討論我們每個產業群內的需求環境。讓我們從 B&I 開始。辦公室密度和空置率與三個月前基本持平，密度為50%以上，空置率為20%左右。雖然我們預計未來幾季辦公室利用率趨勢不會發生重大變化，但我們相信未來幾年員工在辦公室花費的時間將逐漸增加。

In this operating environment, we remain confident in B&I's resilience. We continue to focus on better-performing Class A office space, while providing a broad mix of services, including engineering and parking. Our strategy continues to largely mitigate ongoing pressure within commercial real estate market and enhance our long-term growth opportunities. For example, we saw double-digit revenue growth in our sports and entertainment business, driven by strong consumer demand for live sports and concerts. I'm so proud that the ABM team was responsible for facility services at the Super Bowl at Allegiant Field in Las Vegas last month and did an amazing job.

在這種營運環境下，我們對 B&I 的韌性仍然充滿信心。我們繼續專注於性能更好的甲級辦公空間，同時提供廣泛的服務，包括工程和停車。我們的策略持續在很大程度上緩解商業房地產市場的持續壓力，並增強我們的長期成長機會。例如，在消費者對現場體育和音樂會的強勁需求的推動下，我們的體育和娛樂業務收入實現了兩位數的成長。我感到非常自豪，ABM 團隊上個月負責拉斯維加斯 Allegiant 球場超級盃的設施服務，並且做得非常出色。

Additionally, we recently won a multi-year contract for facility services at Chase Field in Arizona, the major league home of the Diamondbacks, and we're pursuing opportunities at several other sports and concert venues. Looking forward, we believe we will outperform the underlying commercial real estate markets given our flexible labor model, cost management efforts, and the diversity of our service lines and clients.

此外，我們最近贏得了亞利桑那州大聯盟響尾蛇隊主場蔡斯球場的設施服務多年合同，並且我們正在其他幾個體育和音樂會場地尋求機會。展望未來，我們相信，鑑於我們靈活的勞動力模式、成本管理努力以及服務線和客戶的多樣性，我們將跑贏基礎商業房地產市場。

Moving to aviation. The leisure business travel markets, including international travel, have remained strong and we've continued to win new business, including a large janitorial contract at Tulsa Airport and an airline cabin cleaning contract in Boston with more on the way. One reason for our success is our branded ABM Clean service offering, which is gaining significant traction in the market. ABM Clean is a technology-driven, demand-based cleaning service that integrates data from beacons, guest and user feedback, as well as from real-time flight schedules, which allows our on-the-ground teams to deliver enhanced outcomes for our clients and a better travel experience for the public.

轉向航空。包括國際旅行在內的休閒商務旅行市場仍然強勁，我們繼續贏得新業務，包括塔爾薩機場的大型清潔合約和波士頓的飛機客艙清潔合同，還有更多合約正在進行中。我們成功的原因之一是我們的品牌 ABM Clean 服務產品在市場上獲得了巨大的吸引力。 ABM Clean 是一項技術驅動、基於需求的清潔服務，整合了來自信心標、賓客和用戶回饋以及即時航班時刻表的數據，使我們的地面團隊能夠為客戶提供更好的結果為公眾提供更好的出行體驗。

Because it's demand-based as opposed to schedule-based, ABM Clean adapts to the dynamic conditions in the airports. We believe ABM is the only company in the industry that can self-perform operations and provide designed-for-purpose technology, which can be fully integrated into our client systems. We currently have ABM Clean up and running at 10 locations with several other airports and airlines interested in our innovative solution. To demonstrate our capabilities in the aviation market and the advantage of our solutions, we will host a small analyst tour at LaGuardia Airport Terminal B in late April. Terminal B was named the world's best new airport terminal at the 2023 World Airport Awards. Please let Paul Goldberg know if you're interested in attending.

由於 ABM Clean 是基於需求而不是基於時間表，因此它能夠適應機場的動態條件。我們相信 ABM 是業內唯一一家能夠自行運作並提供專用技術的公司，這些技術可以完全整合到我們的客戶系統中。目前，我們在 10 個地點部署了 ABM Clean up 並運行，其他幾個機場和航空公司也對我們的創新解決方案感興趣。為了展示我們在航空市場的能力和解決方案的優勢，我們將於 4 月下旬在拉瓜迪亞機場 B 航站樓舉辦小型分析師參觀活動。 B 航廈在 2023 年世界機場獎中被評為全球最佳新機場航廈。如果您有興趣參加，請告知保羅·戈德堡。

Moving on to Manufacturing & Distribution, demand has remained solid, reflecting a favorable industrial economy as well as our focus on expanding our service offerings and presence in fast-growing markets like biopharma, semiconductor and industrial manufacturing. As I've mentioned on prior calls, we knew a large and valued M&D client would rebalance a large portion of their work needs in 2024 as part of their normal procurement process and changes in their overall strategy. This process is largely done and our initial estimates of the rebalancing were reasonable and our full year forecast accurately incorporates the anticipated impact.

轉向製造和分銷，需求仍然強勁，反映出有利的工業經濟以及我們專注於擴大我們的服務範圍以及在生物製藥、半導體和工業製造等快速增長的市場中的影響力。正如我在之前的電話中提到的，我們知道一個大型且有價值的 M&D 客戶將在 2024 年重新平衡其大部分工作需求，作為其正常採購流程和整體策略變化的一部分。這個過程已基本完成，我們對再平衡的初步估計是合理的，我們的全年預測準確地包含了預期影響。

We continue to be focused on gaining new clients, expanding our relationship with existing clients through new locations and services, and pursuing opportunities in other end markets. We expect the segment to generate mid to high single-digit annual revenue growth over the midterm. However, 2024 will reflect the impact of the rebalancing.

我們繼續專注於贏得新客戶，透過新地點和服務擴大與現有客戶的關係，並在其他終端市場尋求機會。我們預計該部門在中期將實現中高個位數的年收入成長。然而，2024 年將反映出再平衡的影響。

Moving to Education, markets remain solid and we're effectively managing labor costs. While we face tough comparables in the back half of 2024, as some big wins in 2023 (technical difficulty), we continue to work diligently to win new business and lead with our APS self-perform platform.

轉向教育領域，市場依然穩固，我們正在有效管理勞動成本。儘管我們在2024 年下半年面臨著嚴峻的挑戰，但隨著2023 年取得了一些重大勝利（技術難度），我們仍將繼續努力工作，以贏得新業務，並以我們的APS 自我執行平台為主導。

Moving to Technical Solutions. Segment backlog is now approximately $590 million with the addition of $180 million of new microgrid business from the contract I mentioned earlier. This well-known retailer selected ABM to enhance their energy resilience at more than 150 of their locations over the next few years. We will accomplish this through the installation of individually customized microgrids at each site. This project also provides us the opportunity to cross-sell additional services like maintenance and EV infrastructure over the coming years as the systems at each location become operational.

轉向技術解決方案。加上我之前提到的合約中的 1.8 億美元新微電網業務，目前該部門的積壓訂單約為 5.9 億美元。這家知名零售商選擇 ABM 來增強未來幾年其 150 多個地點的能源彈性。我們將透過在每個站點安裝單獨客製化的微電網來實現這一目標。隨著每個地點的系統投入運行，該項目還為我們提供了在未來幾年交叉銷售維護和電動車基礎設施等附加服務的機會。

In total, EV and microgrid services now represent nearly 2/3 of APS's backlog. Additionally, backlog for our bundled energy solutions offering improved on a sequential basis. While modest, this improvement may indicate a positive shift in market sentiment. Although, we expect the overall market to remain challenging in 2024 due to the interest rate environment. Our acquisition of RavenVolt has significantly expanded our growth opportunity it ATS and we believe can build our positive momentum going forward. While the exact timing of project closeouts can vary quarter-by-quarter based on externalities such as weather and permitting, we are confident in our leading-edge technology and that our outstanding team will continue to win new business and deliver improved results. As we grow and scale over the next few years, we expect the quarter-to-quarter variability to dissipate.

總的來說，電動車和微電網服務目前佔 APS 積壓訂單的近 2/3。此外，我們的捆綁能源解決方案的積壓訂單數量逐年改善。雖然這種改善幅度不大，但可能表明市場情緒發生了積極轉變。儘管如此，由於利率環境，我們預計 2024 年整體市場仍將充滿挑戰。我們對 RavenVolt 的收購顯著擴大了 ATS 的成長機會，我們相信可以為我們的未來奠定積極的動力。雖然專案收尾的確切時間可能會根據天氣和許可等外部因素而按季度有所不同，但我們對我們的領先技術充滿信心，並且我們優秀的團隊將繼續贏得新業務並提供更好的業績。隨著我們在未來幾年的發展和規模擴大，我們預計季度與季度之間的差異將會消失。

Turning now to our ELEVATE initiative. Following the successful financial close on our new cloud-based ERP system for the Education segment last year, we plan to implement this system for B&I and M&D later this year. Much of our ELEVATE efforts are centered around this implementation, which includes enhanced capabilities for our operations and back office teams, including connection to several key systems such as procurement and payroll.

現在轉向我們的 ELEVATE 計劃。繼去年教育部門新的基於雲端的 ERP 系統成功完成財務結算後，我們計劃在今年稍後為 B&I 和 M&D 實施該系統。我們的大部分 ELEVATE 工作都是圍繞著這項實施展開的，其中包括增強我們的營運和後台團隊的能力，包括與採購和工資單等多個關鍵系統的連接。

We've continued to roll out ABM Connect, our team member mobile app that delivers on-demand training, safety moments, time clock integrations and task management thesis. Early feedback on this tool from our frontline team members and managers is super positive. When distributed at scale, we believe will drive higher levels of engagement for our team members and better outcomes for our clients, ultimately resulting in even higher customer retention rates.

我們繼續推出 ABM Connect，這是我們團隊成員的行動應用程序，可提供隨選培訓、安全時刻、時鐘整合和任務管理論文。我們的第一線團隊成員和經理對工具的早期回饋非常積極。當大規模分發時，我們相信將提高我們團隊成員的參與度，並為我們的客戶帶來更好的結果，最終帶來更高的客戶保留率。

In summary, we're pleased with the start of the year and our positioning as we begin the second quarter. Our markets have generally been constructed despite an unsettled macro environment and the pressures on commercial real estate, and our teams have done a great job winning new business and satisfying our clients. While there is still much to be accomplished this year, we're focused on achieving our goals, supported by our cash-generating business, balance sheet optionality, and the best team in the industry.

總之，我們對今年的年初以及第二季開始時的定位感到滿意。儘管宏觀環境不穩定，商業房地產面臨壓力，但我們的市場整體建設完成，我們的團隊在贏得新業務和滿足客戶方面做得很好。儘管今年仍有許多工作要做，但我們將在現金產生業務、資產負債表選擇性和業內最佳團隊的支持下，專注於實現我們的目標。

With that, I'll turn it over to Earl for the financials.

有了這個，我會把它交給厄爾來處理財務事宜。

Thank you, Scott, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝你，斯科特，大家早安。

For those of you following along with our earnings presentation, please turn to Slide 5. First quarter revenue of $2.1 billion increased 3.9%, all of which was organic. Revenue growth was led by Aviation, which was up 18%, and Technical Solutions, which grew 13%. Also of note, B&I, our largest segment, declined less than 0.5% despite market headwinds.

對於那些關注我們的收益演示的人，請參閱幻燈片 5。第一季收入為 21 億美元，增長 3.9%，所有這些都是有機收入。航空業收入成長 18%，技術解決方案收入成長 13%。另外值得注意的是，儘管市場不利，我們最大的業務 B&I 仍下跌了不到 0.5%。

Moving on to Slide 6. Net income in the first quarter was $44.7 million or $0.70 per diluted share, up 16% and 21%, respectively, versus last year. These increases were largely driven by lower year-over-year ELEVATE costs, the recognition of certain discrete tax benefits of $4.4 million or $0.07 per share, and higher segment earnings on higher revenue. These gains were partially offset by higher corporate investments, which were primarily technology-related, and the impact of prior year self-insurance adjustments.

轉到投影片 6。第一季淨利潤為 4,470 萬美元，攤薄後每股收益 0.70 美元，分別比去年增長 16% 和 21%。這些成長主要是由於 ELEVATE 成本年減、對 440 萬美元或每股 0.07 美元的某些離散稅收優惠的認可，以及收入增加帶來的部門收益增加。這些收益被主要與技術相關的企業投資增加以及上一年自我保險調整的影響所部分抵消。

Adjusted net income of $54.8 million increased 4% and adjusted earnings per diluted share of $0.86 was up 9% over the prior year period. The year-over-year increase in adjusted net income primarily reflected certain discrete tax benefits and higher segment earnings, including the benefit from price increases, partially offset by higher corporate investments and increased interest expense.

調整後淨利為 5,480 萬美元，較上年同期成長 4%，調整後稀釋每股收益為 0.86 美元，成長 9%。調整後淨利潤的同比增長主要反映了某些離散稅收優惠和較高的部門收益，包括價格上漲的收益，但部分被企業投資增加和利息支出增加所抵消。

The growth in adjusted EPS is due to higher adjusted earnings on a lower share count, driven by our share repurchase activities last year. Adjusted EBITDA declined 5% to $116.7 million and adjusted EBITDA margin decreased 50 basis points to 5.9%. These year-over-year changes were generally in line with our expectations, reflecting higher investments as well as adverse project mix in Technical Solutions.

調整後每股盈餘的成長是由於我們去年的股票回購活動推動了股票數量減少，調整後收益增加。調整後 EBITDA 下降 5%，至 1.167 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率下降 50 個基點，至 5.9%。這些同比變化總體上符合我們的預期，反映出技術解決方案的投資增加以及不利的專案組合。

Now, turning to our segment results, beginning on Slide 7. B&I revenue decreased less than 0.5% to $1 billion as strong demand in sports and entertainment and solid results in parking offset most of the impact of softer demand in the commercial real estate market. Of note, we expect B&I revenue to be down low single digits in Q2 on a year-over-year basis as certain clients transition to new suppliers, as a result of our disciplined price and margin strategy. Operating profit in B&I increased nearly 5% to $79.6 million and operating margin improved to 7.7% as positive business mix, price increases and cost actions more than offset sluggish demand dynamics in commercial real estate.

現在，轉向我們的部門業績，從幻燈片7 開始。B&I 收入下降了不到0.5%，至10 億美元，因為體育和娛樂的強勁需求以及停車方面的強勁業績抵消了商業房地產市場需求疲軟的大部分影響。值得注意的是，由於我們嚴格的價格和利潤策略，隨著某些客戶轉向新供應商，我們預計第二季 B&I 收入將比去年同期降低個位數。 B&I 的營業利潤成長近 5%，達到 7,960 萬美元，營業利潤率提高至 7.7%，因為積極的業務組合、價格上漲和成本行動足以抵消商業房地產需求動態的疲軟。

Aviation revenue grew 18% to $249.5 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. Aviation's operating profit was $9.7 million versus $8.3 million in the prior year, and operating margin was unchanged at 3.9%. This performance included improved labor utilization, which was largely offset by approximately $2 million of costs related to reconciliations under customer contracts completed in prior years. Absent these costs, operating margin would have exceeded 4.5%.

航空收入成長 18%，達到 2.495 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將保持強勁。航空業的營業利潤為 970 萬美元，上一年為 830 萬美元，營業利潤率維持在 3.9% 不變。這一業績包括勞動力利用率的提高，這在很大程度上被前幾年完成的客戶合約調節相關的約 200 萬美元成本所抵消。如果沒有這些成本，營業利潤率將超過 4.5%。

Turning to Slide 8, Manufacturing & Distribution revenue grew 5% to $400.9 million, reflecting broad-based demand. Operating profit increased to $41.3 million, while operating margin declined 40 basis points to 10.3%. Profit and margin performance was largely due to changes in customer mix. Education revenue increased 2% to $220.1 million, benefiting from the addition of new clients earlier in the year. Education operating profit was $12.7 million, up 8% over the prior year period, while margin increased 30 basis points to 5.8%. These increases were largely attributable to a modestly improved labor market that resulted in reduced overtime expense.

轉向投影片 8，製造和分銷收入成長 5%，達到 4.009 億美元，反映了廣泛的需求。營業利潤增至 4,130 萬美元，而營業利益率下降 40 個基點至 10.3%。利潤和利潤率表現很大程度歸因於客戶結構的變化。由於今年稍早新客戶的增加，教育收入成長了 2%，達到 2.201 億美元。教育營運利潤為 1,270 萬美元，比去年同期成長 8%，利潤率成長 30 個基點，達到 5.8%。這些成長主要歸因於勞動市場的適度改善，導致加班費用減少。

Technical Solutions revenue grew 13% to $165.9 million, largely due to closeouts of a number of battery storage projects executed by RavenVolt and growth in our mission-critical and power business. As Scott noted, Technical Solutions backlog exceeded $590 million at the end of the first quarter, with about 2/3 of it actionable within the year. Technical Solutions operating profit was $6.6 million and margin was 4% compared to operating profit of $7.2 million and margin of 4.9% last year. These declines were largely due to project mix. We expect ATS margin to climb higher as the year progresses.

技術解決方案營收成長 13%，達到 1.659 億美元，這主要是由於 RavenVolt 執行的多個電池儲存專案的結束以及我們關鍵任務和電力業務的成長。正如 Scott 指出的那樣，第一季末技術解決方案已積壓超過 5.9 億美元，其中約 2/3 可以在年內採取行動。 Technical Solutions 的營業利潤為 660 萬美元，利潤率為 4%，而去年的營業利潤為 720 萬美元，利潤率為 4.9%。這些下降主要是由於專案組合造成的。我們預計 ATS 利潤率將隨著時間的推移而攀升。

Moving on to Slide 9. We ended the first 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 2.4x. At the end of Q1, we had available liquidity of $507.8 million, including cash and cash equivalents of $58 million. Free cash flow in the first quarter, which is our seasonally softest quarter, was in line with our expectations at negative $14 million. Interest expense was $21.3 million, up $1.5 million from the prior year period, driven by higher year-over-year interest rates. Our Q1 tax rate of 17.2% included certain discrete tax benefits of roughly $4.4 million.

轉向投影片 9.第一季結束時，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 2.4 倍。截至第一季末，我們的可用流動資金為 5.078 億美元，其中現金和現金等價物為 5,800 萬美元。第一季的自由現金流是我們季節性最疲軟的季度，與我們的預期相符，為負 1,400 萬美元。由於年比利率上升，利息支出為 2,130 萬美元，較上年同期增加 150 萬美元。我們第一季的稅率為 17.2%，其中包括約 440 萬美元的某些離散稅收優惠。

Finally, our current total authorization under our share repurchase program stands at $210 million.

最後，我們目前的股票回購計畫授權總額為 2.1 億美元。

Now, let's move on to our full year fiscal 2024 outlook as shown on Slide 10. As Scott mentioned, we are raising our full year guidance for adjusted EPS based on the flow-through of the discrete tax benefits recognized in the first quarter and our solid Q1 operating results. We now expect full year 2024 adjusted EPS to be in the range of $3.30 to $3.45, up from $3.20 to $3.40 previously. All other elements of our outlook remain unchanged from our last quarterly call. Adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be between 6.2% and 6.5%. Interest expense is estimated to be in the range of $82 million to $86 million and the normalized tax rate before discrete items is expected to be between 29% and 30%.

現在，讓我們繼續展望幻燈片10 所示的2024 財年全年展望。正如斯科特所提到的，我們正在根據第一季確認的離散稅收優惠的流動情況和我們的預期，上調調整後每股收益的全年指引。第一季營運表現穩健。我們現在預計 2024 年全年調整後每股收益將在 3.30 美元至 3.45 美元之間，高於先前的 3.20 美元至 3.40 美元。我們前景的所有其他要素與上一季電話會議相比保持不變。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率預計在 6.2% 至 6.5% 之間。利息支出預計在 8,200 萬至 8,600 萬美元之間，不計離散項目的標準化稅率預計在 29% 至 30% 之間。

Lastly, full year normalized free cash flow is expected to be in the range of $240 million and $270 million, excluding the estimated $45 million of ELEVATE and integration costs, with the majority being ELEVATE investments.

最後，全年正常化自由現金流預計在 2.4 億美元至 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。

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

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 a great start to the year. Our success reflects our resilient business model, the benefits from our ELEVATE investments, and consistent execution by the ABM team. As we move forward, I'm confident in our ability to build value for our stakeholders as we work tirelessly towards achieving our goals and evolving ABM into the technology-driven leader of facility services.

謝謝，厄爾。我要感謝我們的團隊在今年取得了良好的開端。我們的成功反映了我們富有彈性的業務模式、ELEVATE 投資的收益以及 ABM 團隊的一貫執行力。隨著我們不斷前進，我對我們為利益相關者創造價值的能力充滿信心，我們將不懈地努力實現我們的目標，並將 ABM 發展成為技術驅動的設施服務領導者。

With that, let's take some questions.

那麼，讓我們提出一些問題。

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) Thank you. Our first question comes from the line of Tim Mulrooney with William Blair.

謝謝。我們現在將進行問答環節。 （操作員說明）謝謝。我們的第一個問題來自蒂姆·馬爾魯尼和威廉·布萊爾的對話。

I wanted to ask about the guide really quick. You listed a couple of reasons for raising that guide in the press release. Among them was resilience in the B&I segment. Does that mean that your outlook for this segment has changed for the full year? Are you still kind of expecting that organic decline in the 2% to 3% range?

我想盡快詢問指南。您在新聞稿中列出了提出該指南的幾個原因。其中包括 B&I 領域的韌性。這是否意味著您對該細分市場的全年展望發生了變化？您是否仍預期有機下降在 2% 至 3% 範圍內？

Yes. No, yes, we are still expecting that. I think, look, we feel even more confident in how we're going to perform and how we guided because as you saw for this quarter, we were flat year-over-year. But there's no question that it's realistic to expect low single-digit declines as we see some compression with our clients. But we feel really good about where we are, and we continue to see people come back to the office. So our outlook is positive, Tim, but in line with the way we guided.

是的。不，是的，我們仍然期待著這一點。我認為，看，我們對我們的表現和指導方式更加有信心，因為正如您在本季度看到的那樣，我們與去年同期持平。但毫無疑問，由於我們看到客戶受到一些壓縮，預計低個位數的下降是現實的。但我們對自己所處的位置感覺非常好，而且我們繼續看到人們回到辦公室。因此，蒂姆，我們的前景是積極的，但與我們指導的方式一致。

Okay. That's helpful, Scott. I'm going to switch gears really quick. So I wanted to ask about this microgrid project you announced, obviously, a very big win, $180 million. My question is, how did that come about? Like, was this a retailer that was an existing client of yours that you introduced to the RavenVolt team? Can you also remind me like what the margins are on a microgrid project like this relative to maybe a more traditional leveled solutions project.

好的。這很有幫助，斯科特。我要快速切換。所以我想問一下您宣布的這個微電網項目，顯然，這是一個非常大的勝利，1.8 億美元。我的問題是，這是怎麼發生的？例如，這家零售商是您介紹給 RavenVolt 團隊的現有客戶嗎？您能否提醒我，像這樣的微電網專案相對於更傳統的分級解決方案專案的利潤是多少？

Sure. Yes. So it's an existing client, and it's actually a client that we have across other industry groups as well. So it was just a really great win for us. And especially when you're talking about installing these microgrids, which really consist of switchgear and generators across 150 different sites over multiple years, right? So we're excited about that, and it's going to have double-digit margins, right? The switchgear and generators are a higher margin profile than the projects that we did last year that actually ended up in this quarter, which were battery-related projects. Like if you looked at ATS this quarter, you saw a really great growth. But on the bottom line, it wasn't really up to what you would normally expect in ATS. And that's because the mix this quarter was around the large battery projects, which again doesn't have the margin profile that the national retailer project is going to have. And that's going to come back. And that's going to really manifest itself in the second half of the year, with the bulk of it being in '25. But it's super, super exciting for us. And our pipeline is huge, right? And I think we mentioned it, but if you look at the ATS segment, Tim, 2/3 of our backlog now is around microgrids and EV. So we feel we feel really a big sense of satisfaction that our thesis is proving out that these are the right areas to be in.

當然。是的。所以這是一個現有的客戶，實際上也是我們在其他產業群中擁有的客戶。所以這對我們來說真是一場偉大的勝利。尤其是當您談論安裝這些微電網時，這些微電網實際上由多年來分佈在 150 個不同地點的開關設備和發電機組成，對吧？所以我們對此感到興奮，並且它將有兩位數的利潤率，對吧？開關設備和發電機的利潤率高於我們去年所做的項目（實際上在本季結束的項目），這些項目是與電池相關的項目。就像如果你觀察本季的 ATS，你會看到一個非常巨大的成長。但歸根結底，它並沒有真正達到您通常對 ATS 的期望。這是因為本季的組合是圍繞著大型電池專案進行的，而這些專案又不具備全國零售商專案所具有的利潤率。那會回來的。這將在今年下半年真正體現出來，其中大部分是在 25 年。但這對我們來說非常非常令人興奮。我們的管道很大，對吧？我想我們提到過這一點，但蒂姆，如果你看看 ATS 領域，我們現在 2/3 的積壓訂單都是圍繞著微電網和電動車的。因此，我們感到非常滿意，因為我們的論文證明這些是正確的領域。

Got it. I could ask a lot more questions about that. That's really exciting, but I'll leave it here and hop back in the queue.

知道了。對此我還可以問更多問題。這真的很令人興奮，但我會把它留在這裡並跳回到隊列中。

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

我們的下一個問題來自安德魯·魏特曼和貝爾德的對話。

I guess I'll keep going on ATS a little bit more here. And I guess, Scott, I wanted to just understand, there was a comment on some timing as it related to the margin performance in Technical Solutions. I don't think this is new, there's been like permit delays for some of these projects. Is that what you're referring to in this case here today in this quarter? And can you talk about how the projects that were previously delayed are proceeding? Do you have certain start dates for those contracts now? Or were those the ones that were maybe completed in the quarter? And in the case that you don't have great visibility on start dates for some of these projects, can you talk about what your options are to manage your profit margins while you wait for them to begin?

我想我會繼續在這裡繼續使用 ATS。我想，斯科特，我只是想了解，有人對某些時機發表了評論，因為它與技術解決方案中的利潤表現有關。我不認為這是什麼新鮮事，其中一些項目的許可出現了延誤。這就是您在本季今天的案例中所指的嗎？您能談談之前被推遲的專案進度如何嗎？您現在有這些合約的具體開始日期嗎？或者那些可能在本季完成的項目？如果您對其中一些專案的開始日期不太清楚，您能否談談在等待專案開始時您有哪些選擇來管理您的利潤率？

Yes, sure. I mean, look, no question that it feels like, I guess, even to the outside world that it could be a little frustrating, right? Because we're gravitating to on ATS is so much project-based. And when you're doing projects and they're weighted this way, you have weather issues to start. You have permitting issues to start, you have supply chains. So all these things, and even at ABM, we're getting used to this, right, with the RavenVolt acquisition and leaning into EV. So I think this choppiness is something that until we get really big scale in this area is just not going to smooth out. So we're going to have some lumpiness. But this quarter, it was really about the fact that the projects that happened in this quarter, it was really the projects that we talked about last year, which were the battery storage projects, and that's kind of the lower margin and of the microgrid work, whereas generators and switchgear is a higher margin end, and that we'll see towards the back half. So it is tough. We're not going to scale up and down SG&A quarter-by-quarter. It's not a quarter-by-quarter again. Andy, where I feel good is that the look back, when you look at FY'24 is going to feel really good on ATS. But quarter-by-quarter, it's just going to be choppy.

是的，當然。我的意思是，聽著，毫無疑問，我想，即使對外界來說，這也可能有點令人沮喪，對吧？因為我們傾向於 ATS 很大程度上是基於專案的。當你做專案並以這種方式加權時，你就會遇到天氣問題。你有許可問題的開始，你有供應鏈。因此，所有這些事情，甚至在 ABM，我們都已經習慣了這一點，對吧，隨著 RavenVolt 的收購並傾向於電動車。所以我認為，除非我們在這個領域取得真正的規模，否則這種波動是不會消失的。所以我們會有一些塊狀的東西。但本季度，真正重要的是本季度發生的項目，這實際上是我們去年討論的項目，即電池存儲項目，這就是利潤率較低和微電網工作的情況，而發電機和開關設備的利潤率較高，我們將在後半部分看到這一點。所以這很難。我們不會按季度擴大或縮小銷售、管理及行政費用。這不再是一個季度一個季度了。安迪，讓我感覺良好的地方是，當你回顧 24 財年時，你會對 ATS 感覺非常好。但按季度來看，情況只會變得不穩定。

Okay. That's a helpful perspective. So then I guess, Earl for you, I just wanted to make sure that I understood and we all understood a little bit about the guidance here and what changed. It feels like the discrete tax item for $4.4 million or $0.07 in the quarter was really the preponderance of the change given that the adjusted EBITDA number didn't change and all the other assumptions. So I just want to confirm that that's really correct.

好的。這是一個很有幫助的觀點。那麼我想，厄爾，對你來說，我只是想確保我理解並且我們都理解一點關於這裡的指導和變化的內容。考慮到調整後的 EBITDA 數字沒有變化以及所有其他假設，感覺本季 440 萬美元或 0.07 美元的離散稅收項目確實是變化的主要部分。所以我只是想確認這確實是正確的。

And then if you could talk to us a little bit about, I mean, there's always some level of discrete tax items in your results from the various tax credits and other things that you get. And so I was just wondering maybe if you could comment on, I know it's hard to guide on, but what a realistic range or what we should be thinking about for fiscal year '24 could be for those now that we have this extra one here in the first quarter?

然後，如果您可以與我們談談，我的意思是，您獲得的各種稅收抵免和其他東西的結果中總是存在一定程度的離散稅收項目。所以我只是想知道您是否可以發表評論，我知道這很難指導，但對於那些現在我們有這個額外的人來說，24 財年的現實範圍或我們應該考慮的範圍可能是什麼第一季？

Yes. No, you're absolutely right, Tim. So when we look at the guide, sorry, Andrew, when we look at the guide, it really was the flow-through of 2 discrete tax items that generated about $0.07. And as a result, you can see that our midpoint in the guide has actually gone up $0.07. In addition to that, we felt confident actually rolling that through just based on the Q1 performance in the underlying business and the confidence that we actually have in our performance for the balance of the business. So that really is the story around the guide. As far as tax, these 2 discrete items came about by our normal kind of like quarterly review of our tax provisions across a multiple number of jurisdictions. As we look towards the full year, we don't anticipate any sizable discrete items outside of the ones that were actually accrued for in the quarter.

是的。不，你說得完全正確，提姆。因此，當我們查看指南時，對不起，安德魯，當我們查看指南時，實際上是 2 個離散稅項的流動，產生了約 0.07 美元。結果，您可以看到指南中的中點實際上上漲了 0.07 美元。除此之外，我們有信心根據基礎業務的第一季業績以及我們對業務平衡業績的實際信心來實現這一目標。這確實是圍繞著指南的故事。就稅收而言，這兩個獨立的項目是透過我們對多個司法管轄區的稅收規定進行正常的季度審查來實現的。當我們展望全年時，除了本季實際應計的項目外，我們預計不會有任何相當大的離散項目。

Great. That's also helpful. I'm going to ask one more here because I'm feeling like there's probably not that many questioners in the queue. And I guess I just wanted a little perspective on your sports and entertainment business. I guess in the past, I haven't asked a lot about this business, but I've seen over the last few years, you've been picking up more sites here. So I think maybe it's time to talk about it a little bit. Can you help us understand the size of the sports and entertainment business inside of the B&I segment? And maybe if you could talk about, it feels like it was an unusually good quarter. Obviously, saying Super Bowl is, that seems flashy and interesting. But one event doesn't make a quarter. I'm just wondering if there's any other way to talk about how just attendance or of the calendar, if you would, benefited the quarter just so that we have an understanding of what it could mean a year from now when we have this as the comp.

偉大的。這也很有幫助。我要在這裡再問一個問題，因為我覺得隊列中可能沒有那麼多提問者。我想我只是想了解你們的體育和娛樂業務。我想過去我並沒有問過很多關於這項業務的問題，但我發現在過去的幾年裡，你在這裡找到了更多的網站。所以我想也許是時候談談它了。您能否幫助我們了解 B&I 細分市場內體育和娛樂業務的規模？也許如果你可以談談的話，感覺這是一個異常好的季度。顯然，說超級盃是，看起來華而不實又有趣。但一項活動並不能賺到四分之一。我只是想知道是否還有其他方式來討論出勤率或日曆（如果您願意的話）如何使本季度受益，以便我們了解一年後當我們將此作為比較。

Yes. That's good. To give you context, look, it's probably like $100 million odd in revenue. But why we get so excited about it is it's been having double-digit growth. And if you look at all the major stadiums that have opened in the last few years, I think we've gotten all or 90% of them because of how good we do in this. And I think the Super Bowl is in New Orleans next year, and we have that as well. So it's going to be, I think, we're 4 for 4 in the last 4 Super Bowls of taking care of it. So we just get a lot of pride around that. So it's not from a revenue standpoint across our $8 billion in revenue. It's not earth shattering. But it's pretty exciting, right? And it does speak to the fact that people are back at venues. And so it's growing, and we expect it to continue to grow double digit. So, yes.

是的。那挺好的。為了給你背景信息，你看，它的收入可能有 1 億美元左右。但為什麼我們對此如此興奮是因為它一直在實現兩位數的成長。如果你看看過去幾年開放的所有主要體育場館，我認為我們已經獲得了全部或 90% 的體育場館，因為我們在這方面做得很好。我認為超級盃明年將在新奧爾良舉行，我們也有這個賽事。所以，我認為，在過去 4 場超級盃比賽中，我們會以 4 比 4 的戰績來應對。所以我們對此感到非常自豪。因此，這並不是從我們 80 億美元收入的收入角度來看的。這不是驚天動地的事。但這非常令人興奮，對吧？這確實說明了人們回到場館的事實。因此它正在增長，我們預計它將繼續以兩位數的速度增長。所以，是的。

Okay. Great. Appreciate the perspective, guys. Have a good day.

好的。偉大的。欣賞你的觀點，夥計們。祝你有美好的一天。

Our next question comes from the line of Faiza Alwy with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自 Faiza Alwy 與德意志銀行的聯繫。

So I wanted to talk about the Aviation business first. It looks like you've had very strong growth for the last few quarters. And the tech-enabled solutions that you talked about, Scott, sounds very interesting. I'm curious how we should think about that business from here? Obviously, you have some new wins. And also, I know you've been spending on technology for some time investing behind sort of some of these new solutions. So talk about maybe other areas where you're developing solutions that might be helpful and interesting going forward?

所以我想先談談航空業務。看來過去幾季你們的成長非常強勁。斯科特，你談到的技術驅動的解決方案聽起來非常有趣。我很好奇我們應該如何考慮這個業務？顯然，你有一些新的勝利。而且，我知道你們已經在技術上花了一段時間，投資其中一些新解決方案。那麼，談談您正在開發的解決方案的其他領域，這些解決方案可能對未來有用且有趣？

Sure, sure. So look, we are super excited about our Aviation segment. We were in a pretty rocky place 3 or 4 years ago, and our team is phenomenal. We've been getting double-digit growth over the last couple of years, and we continue a lot of our press releases on these big wins that we're getting, and we think there's more to come. So it's a really exciting space for us. And we've also talked about the fact that we're shifting more towards airports than airlines, which are a little bit more stable. And so we're really excited about this. The technology is clearly, Faiza, as you know, it's baked into our numbers. It's developed. And we'll always continue to enhance it. But it's super cool to think that our people in the airport are getting signals from beacons, telling them where the activity is, where to go, and it's game changing. And I mentioned in my comments, we're already in 10 sites and a lot of demand for more of this. So it proves out that if you can add technology to your value proposition around the fact that we're good at execution, we're good at relationships and now to add technology, we think it's game changing. And this all part of our ELEVATE initiative and parallel to what we're doing in Aviation, we're piloting now in B&I and M&D, the same type of concept that's just emerging.

一定一定。所以看，我們對我們的航空部門感到非常興奮。三、四年前，我們的處境相當艱難，但我們的團隊非常出色。在過去的幾年裡，我們一直在實現兩位數的成長，我們繼續發布大量關於我們所取得的重大勝利的新聞稿，我們認為還會有更多的成果。所以這對我們來說是一個非常令人興奮的空間。我們也談到了這樣一個事實，即我們更多地轉向機場而不是航空公司，後者更穩定一些。所以我們對此感到非常興奮。 Faiza，如你所知，這項技術顯然已融入我們的數據中。發達了。我們將始終繼續增強它。但想到我們在機場的工作人員正在從信標接收訊號，告訴他們活動在哪裡、要去哪裡，這真是太酷了，這正在改變遊戲規則。我在評論中提到，我們已經擁有 10 個站點，並且對更多站點的需求很大。因此，事實證明，如果你能夠圍繞我們擅長執行、擅長建立關係的事實將技術添加到你的價值主張中，現在添加技術，我們認為這會改變遊戲規則。這都是我們 ELEVATE 計劃的一部分，與我們在航空領域所做的工作並行，我們現在正在 B&I 和 M&D 進行試點，這是剛剛出現的相同類型的概念。

And I guess the last comment I'll have about this, what we haven't yet seen on scale yet is what this is going to do from a workforce management standpoint in terms of labor efficiency and directing people where to go to be more efficient. And as that happens over the next 1, 2, 3 years from now as this develops, again, what you're going to start seeing in our labor percentages and how it gravitates to the bottom line, we think it's going to be compelling. So we feel like ABM Clean is one of the first steps towards our path on ELEVATE.

我想我對此的最後評論是，我們尚未大規模看到的是，從勞動力管理的角度來看，這將在勞動效率方面發揮什麼作用，並指導人們去哪裡提高效率。隨著這種情況在未來 1、2、3 年內發生，隨著情況的發展，您將再次開始看到我們的勞動力百分比以及它如何吸引到底線，我們認為這將是引人注目的。因此，我們認為 ABM Clean 是我們邁向 ELEVATE 之路的第一步。

Great. And then you mentioned pricing. I believe it was in the context of B&I. But just curious how you're thinking about pricing from here? Has anything changed? Are you able to take higher pricing? I believe there were also some union contracts that maybe were slated to renew this year. So just talk a little bit about sort of pricing and the dynamic between pricing and labor costs.

偉大的。然後你提到了定價。我相信這是在 B&I 的背景下發生的。但只是好奇您如何考慮這裡的定價？有什麼改變嗎？你能接受更高的定價嗎？我相信今年還有一些工會合約可能會續約。因此，我們只談定價以及定價與勞動成本之間的動態。

Look, we remain as disciplined as ever on recovering pricing, right? We've said in the past, we're recovering 75% to 80% of the increases that we're seeing on wages. And so far for this year, we're seeing a little bit of a tick down on the wage growth, which is a really good sign. And also a significant amount of collective bargaining agreements have been settled over the last few months and where they're coming in is actually reasonable as well. So it's not like we have to go back to clients and ask for 7% or 8% increases, which is really nice for us, right? So we feel like we're in a good place. And just to round out the conversation, Faiza, I will tell you, so much of this is also cultural, right? Getting your teams to understand that we have to capture these price increases because we're working hard out there. We're providing value. And when wages are going up for our teammates, they have to be passed along to the clients. And it doesn't hurt the fact that our clients are seeing that in their businesses as well. So to make a long story short, we remain disciplined on capturing price increases.

看，我們在恢復定價方面仍然一如既往地嚴格，對嗎？我們過去說過，我們正在恢復薪資成長的 75% 至 80%。今年到目前為止，我們看到薪資成長略有下降，這是一個非常好的跡象。在過去的幾個月裡，大量的集體談判協議也已經達成，而這些協議的達成實際上也是合理的。所以我們不必回到客戶那裡要求加價 7% 或 8%，這對我們來說真的很好，對吧？所以我們感覺我們處於一個很好的位置。為了讓談話更加圓滿，Faiza，我會告訴你，其中很多也是文化方面的，對嗎？讓您的團隊了解我們必須抓住這些價格上漲的機會，因為我們正在努力工作。我們正在提供價值。當我們隊友的薪水上漲時，他們必須轉嫁到客戶身上。我們的客戶也在他們的業務中看到了這一點，這並不影響我們的業務。因此，長話短說，我們在捕捉價格上漲方面仍然保持紀律。

Our next question comes 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。

I know that you don't guide to revenue, but you had a pretty good result in B&I this quarter. You won that contract in ATS. Aviation continues to be strong. Does it feel like your revenue backdrop is getting a little bit better than expected compared to a couple of months ago? If you could just kind of talk about that?

我知道你們沒有對收入進行指導，但本季度你們在 B&I 方面取得了相當不錯的成績。您贏得了 ATS 的合約。航空業持續強勁。與幾個月前相比，您的收入背景是否比預期好一點？你能談談這個嗎？

No, I don't think we have a dramatic change right now. I think we're asking you guys to channelize what we're feeling here, which is 1 quarter down, feeling incrementally more confident in how we guided and where we see the business. And it's almost like kind of detoxing the risk associated with B&I because you mentioned B&I. And I think there was like an overhang out there, like how bad could this be? Could this be worse? You read in the papers every day that the world is coming to an end when it comes to commercial real estate. And we've been consistent in saying we didn't think that was going to happen. And especially when you look at ABM, where we focus on Class A properties, which, again, even in the media, it's validating that tenants in B and C properties are gravitating to A properties, right? So we feel super confident that between the asset class that we're focused on Class A and the fact that we have this flexible labor model and if a client goes from 5 floors to 4 floors, we do have the ability to release the staff on that fifth floor and maintain our margins. And you've seen that come through even in this quarter, where we hold or even raise margins. So we're feeling really good.

不，我認為我們現在沒有發生巨大的變化。我認為我們要求你們傳達我們在這裡的感受，即下降了一個季度，對我們的指導方式和我們對業務的看法越來越有信心。這幾乎就像是消除與 B&I 相關的風險，因為你提到了 B&I。我認為那裡有一個懸而未決的問題，就像這有多糟糕？這樣還能更糟嗎？你每天都會在報紙上看到商業房地產的世界末日即將到來。我們一直一致表示，我們認為這種情況不會發生。尤其是當你看 ABM 時，我們專注於 A 級房產，這再次證明，即使在媒體上，B 級和 C 級房產的租戶也會被 A 級房產所吸引，對嗎？因此，我們非常有信心，我們專注於 A 類資產類別，而且我們擁有這種靈活的勞動力模式，如果客戶從 5 層樓增加到 4 層樓，我們確實有能力釋放員工第五層並保持我們的利潤。您已經看到，即使在本季度，我們也保持甚至提高了利潤率。所以我們感覺非常好。

That's great color. And I guess if I can ask about Technical Solutions. You mentioned that there will be quarter-to-quarter volatility, but at the same time, margins should improve through the year. So could you just kind of frame for us what the margin trajectory could be like over the next couple of quarters as we take a look at ATS?

那顏色真棒。我想我是否可以詢問技術解決方案。您提到季度與季度之間將會出現波動，但同時，全年利潤率應該會有所改善。那麼，您能否為我們介紹一下 ATS 未來幾季的利潤軌跡？

Yes. Look, I think on a high level, if you look historically at ATS, it's always been like a 35%, 65% first half, back half story. And a lot of that has to do with seasonality, right? Because we recognize revenue and profitability when we turn a ranch. And it's tougher to turn ranches in the winter where it becomes hard in education when kids are in school. So it's typically a back half story. So you'll see the trajectory of margins and revenue happen in the back half of the year, just like it always does. So we don't give margin guidance, but it will certainly be stronger than it is right now.

是的。看，我認為從較高的層面來看，如果你回顧 ATS 的歷史，它總是像 35%、65% 的前半部分、後半部分故事。其中很多與季節性有關，對嗎？因為當我們轉變牧場時，我們會確認收入和獲利能力。而且在冬天，牧場變得更加困難，孩子們上學的時候，教育就變得很困難。所以這通常是一個後半部的故事。因此，您會看到利潤和收入的軌跡發生在今年下半年，就像往常一樣。因此，我們不給出保證金指導，但肯定會比現在更強。

Our next question comes from the line of Jasper Bibb with Truist Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jasper Bibb 與 Truist Securities 的對話。

On the ELEVATE initiatives, I think you said targeting B&I and M&D migrating to the ERP platform in 2024. Does that represent like a faster pace of deployment than you anticipated going into the year? And if everything goes to plan there, where do you think you'd be by year-end as far as realizing the targeted cost saves from ELEVATE?

關於 ELEVATE 計劃，我認為您說過目標是在 2024 年將 B&I 和 M&D 遷移到 ERP 平台。這是否意味著今年的部署速度比您預期的要快？如果一切按計劃進行，您認為到年底您將實現 ELEVATE 的目標成本節省嗎？

So you're absolutely right. The next deployment of our OCF Oracle Financial Cloud is scheduled for early next fiscal, and that will include both B&I and M&D. That's pretty well on pace with our plan. So no change from a scaling perspective. And then as we mentioned, to kind of like de-risk the deployment, we're actually going by IG by IG. So we anticipate that shortly thereafter, we'll actually be able to incorporate our legacy able business into that. And then subsequent to that, will be aviation and our technical solutions. So everything is on track from both a spending perspective as well as the benefit case.

所以你是完全正確的。我們的 OCF Oracle Financial Cloud 的下一個部署計劃於下一財年初進行，其中將包括 B&I 和 M&D。這與我們的計劃非常吻合。所以從擴展的角度來看沒有改變。正如我們所提到的，為了降低部署風險，我們實際上是逐一 IG 進行。因此，我們預計不久之後，我們實際上將能夠將我們的遺留業務納入其中。接下來是航空和我們的技術解決方案。因此，從支出角度和福利角度來看，一切都步入正軌。

Okay. Understood. Just wanted to get your updated thoughts on capital returns. The last quarter, you bought back I think 4% of shares at $41. stocks around that level now again, but didn't buy back any shares in the first quarter. So just how should we think about share repurchase and capital return over the balance of the year?

好的。明白了。只是想了解您對資本回報的最新想法。上個季度，您以 41 美元的價格回購了 4% 的股票。現在股票又回到了這個水平，但第一季沒有回購任何股票。那麼，我們該如何考慮今年餘下的股票回購和資本報酬呢？

Absolutely. Let's put it this way, we feel really good about our strong cash flow. And if you look at this quarter, which Q1 is typically the lowest net cash flow quarter of the year. When we look at the full year, we anticipate still on pace to deliver the $240 million to $270 million of cash flow, excluding kind of like ELEVATE and integration costs. And that, combined with our relatively low leverage ratio, we finished the quarter at 2.4 just outside of kind of like the low end of our range. So we feel really good with the capabilities that we actually have to continue to do opportunistic share buybacks if that case warrants. At a minimum, we'll be doing kind of like the anti-dilutive buybacks in the next quarter or so.

絕對地。這麼說吧，我們對強勁的現金流感到非常滿意。如果你看看這個季度，第一季通常是一年中淨現金流量最低的季度。當我們展望全年時，我們預計仍將實現 2.4 億至 2.7 億美元的現金流，不包括諸如 ELEVATE 和整合成本之類的費用。再加上我們相對較低的槓桿率，本季結束時我們的槓桿率為 2.4，略高於我們範圍的低端。因此，我們對自己的能力感到非常滿意，如果情況允許的話，我們實際上必須繼續進行機會主義股票回購。至少，我們將在下個季度左右進行類似的反稀釋回購。

Got it. Last one for me. I just wanted to ask about the EV business. You've had really good growth there. the last couple of years, but message this year being a bit more flat with just, I guess, slower rollout to customers. Do you see any change there as far as the pipeline or just the tender or client conversations in the EV business?

知道了。最後一張給我。我只是想問電動車業務。你在那裡得到了很好的成長。過去幾年，但今年的資訊有點平淡，我猜只是向客戶推出的速度較慢。您認為電動車業務的管道或招標或客戶對話方面有什麼變化嗎？

Yes. Look, it's been a little slower than we would have liked. But we were focused on, and this is maybe old news because we've talked about, we've been focused on the dealer side, car dealerships. And that slowed down a bit, and we're gravitating more towards fleet, bigger scale projects. And it just does take time, right? But like in terms of EV sentiment and where we're going, we still are so so enthusiastic about where this will be over the next few years because you read some of the headlines about the feelings of pulling back, but the addressable market is massive. It's still happening, and it's where the future is. So we're kind of rebooting and have been in the process of rebooting our strategy towards larger fleet projects. So I think that's going to manifest itself over time. And I suspect '25 will be stronger than '24 and '26 will be stronger than '25, but it's been a slow role for us because of the fact that the dealerships have definitely pulled back a little bit. But make no mistake, we feel like we picked the right swim lane when we think about EV and its future.

是的。看，它比我們希望的要慢一點。但我們專注於，這可能是舊新聞，因為我們已經討論過，我們一直專注於經銷商方面，汽車經銷商。這速度有所放緩，我們更傾向於車隊、規模更大的專案。這確實需要時間，對吧？但就像就電動車的情緒和我們的發展方向而言，我們仍然對未來幾年的發展充滿熱情，因為你讀過一些關於撤退的感覺的頭條新聞，但潛在的市場是巨大的。它仍在發生，這就是未來。因此，我們正在重新啟動，並且一直在重新啟動我們針對大型機隊專案的策略。所以我認為隨著時間的推移，這一點將會顯現出來。我懷疑 '25 會比 '24 更強，'26 會比 '25 更強，但這對我們來說是一個緩慢的角色，因為經銷商肯定已經退縮了一點。但毫無疑問，當我們思考電動車及其未來時，我們感覺我們選擇了正確的泳道。

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

我們的下一個問題來自 CL King & Associates 的 David Silver。

My first question, I'd have a couple of things maybe to ask about Technical Solutions this quarter. So you have discussed it. But I guess I was just kind of wondering why the margins weren't just a little bit stronger this period. In other words, you did mention closeouts on a number of microgrid projects. And I don't know, my understanding is when you close something out, you resolved some contingencies and a certain amount of incremental profit can get released with the closeout. And then maybe bigger picture, but with the closeouts and with the big new contract that you signed, I'm thinking about the earn-out or the total incentive compensation that ABM may be responsible for this year. So I do believe the targets are EBITDA-based. And last year, there were some adjustments for a lower EBITDA outcome than envisioned in the original purchase agreement. So could you just maybe touch on maybe the first thing with the closeouts and the profit impact of that?

我的第一個問題是，我可能有一些關於本季技術解決方案的問題要問。所以你們已經討論過了。但我想我只是想知道為什麼這段時期的利潤率沒有提高一點點。換句話說，您確實提到了一些微電網專案的關閉。我不知道，我的理解是，當你平倉時，你解決了一些意外情況，並且一定數量的增量利潤可以隨著平倉而釋放。然後也許是更大的圖景，但隨著收尾和您簽署的大型新合同，我正在考慮 ABM 今年可能負責的盈利或總激勵補償。所以我確實相信目標是基於 EBITDA 的。去年，我們對 EBITDA 結果進行了一些調整，結果低於最初購買協議中的預期。那麼您能否談談清倉的第一件事及其對利潤的影響？

And then secondly, what's the outlook for the RavenVolt unit hitting or exceeding that EBITDA threshold for a larger earn-out?

其次，RavenVolt 部門達到或超過 EBITDA 門檻以獲得更大收益的前景如何？

Sure. So look, you're right. we talked about this a little bit a few minutes ago, but it's the same thing. This is really a function of the mix of business and timing of the project. So the reason that you saw a little pressure on the margin on the ATS segment was that the mix of work this quarter was such that it was a lower margin segment of the business. And don't forget we still have continued pressure on our bundled energy solutions project because of interest rates. So for us, David, there's no warning signs as it relates to ATS. RavenVolt has been growing like unbelievably, if you think about kind of where they were when we did the acquisition versus where they are today with their pipeline and how we believe they're going to finish the year. I mean it's a massive growth from year-over-year. So super, super excitement around this. And we are not focused on profit margin quarter-by-quarter. We just can't do it just because of the timing of projects, but I know Earl wants to take the second half of that question.

當然。所以你看，你是對的。幾分鐘前我們稍微討論過這一點，但這是同一件事。這實際上是專案業務和時間安排的結合的函數。因此，您看到 ATS 部門的利潤率面臨一些壓力的原因是，本季的工作組合使其成為該業務利潤率較低的部門。不要忘記，由於利率的原因，我們的捆綁能源解決方案專案仍然面臨持續的壓力。因此，大衛，對我們來說，沒有任何與苯丙胺類興奮劑相關的警告信號。 RavenVolt 一直以令人難以置信的速度成長，如果你想想我們收購時他們的情況與他們今天的管道情況以及我們相信他們將如何完成今年的情況。我的意思是，與去年同期相比，這是一個巨大的成長。對此非常非常興奮。我們並不關注每季的利潤率。我們不能僅僅因為專案的時間表而做到這一點，但我知道厄爾想回答這個問題的後半部分。

Sure. Yes. So David, as it pertains to the earn-out on RavenVolt, that's something that we kind of like value on a quarter-by-quarter basis. And therefore, when we look at kind of like the projection for the balance of this year and into the future, we saw no changes since the last valuation. Now having said that, just to remind you that when we actually did the deal model, the deal model actually checked out very, very positively even without that earn-out. So we continue to feel very, very confident (technical difficulty) that we're getting through this acquisition.

當然。是的。因此，大衛，因為它涉及 RavenVolt 的盈利，我們喜歡按季度評估這一點。因此，當我們審視今年和未來的預測時，我們發現自上次估值以來沒有任何變化。話雖如此，只是想提醒您，當我們實際進行交易模型時，即使沒有收益，交易模型實際上也非常非常積極。因此，我們仍然對我們正在完成這項收購感到非常非常有信心（技術難度）。

Okay. I apologize if I missed this next one before earlier in your remarks. But you did call out the ABM Clean program and provide some details of that, which I appreciated, including the differentiated aspect of it. Could I ask you to just do the same thing for the ABM Performance Solutions offering that you highlighted in the press release, please?

好的。如果我之前在您的發言中錯過了下一篇，我深表歉意。但您確實提到了 ABM Clean 計劃並提供了一些細節，我對此表示讚賞，包括它的差異化方面。我可否請您對您在新聞稿中強調的 ABM 效能解決方案產品做同樣的事情？

Sure. And ABM Performance Solutions is not technology-based, right? ABM Clean is more technology-based, ABM Performance Solutions is really the best way to think about it, just to put it in layman's terms, it's the concept of bundling self-perform services. So the one thing that we can do that others can't is we can go to a client and say, there's a range of services that you contract for and you're subcontracting those services to a range of other providers, we can do all of the service in a self-perform way where we're controlling the cost, the quality and reporting right to you versus having a whole host of different contractors. And it becomes really compelling because for a client, there's certainty on budget, on execution when you hire someone like ABM and say, "No, no, we do that. We don't have to hire somebody else to do that." And we're getting a tremendous amount of traction. And what I would urge you to do, David, is go on our tour next month at LaGuardia. And you're going to see, like you're going to walk through Terminal B, which again is the best terminal in the world, you're going to walk through there, and you're going to see so many service providers doing things from wayfinding people to say which gates they're at, cleaning, the engineering, you bump into so many people, and we're going to be able to say ABM person, ABM person, ABM person, and that's the beauty, versus saying, "We do this one service here and everybody else is a whole host of the service providers." And I think that's what it became so compelling to the LaGuardia management team is to be able to control the quality and control the spend by having ABM. So take that tour and you'll really understand APS.

當然。而且 ABM Performance Solutions 並不是基於技術的，對吧？ ABM Clean比較基於技術，ABM Performance Solutions確實是最好的思考方式，通俗地說，就是捆綁自我執行服務的概念。因此，我們能做而其他人不能做的一件事是，我們可以去找客戶說，您簽訂了一系列服務合同，並將這些服務分包給一系列其他提供商，我們可以做所有這些我們以自我執行的方式控制服務的成本、品質和向您報告的權利，而不是擁有大量不同的承包商。這變得非常有吸引力，因為對於客戶來說，當你僱用像ABM 這樣的人並說：「不，不，我們這樣做。我們不需要雇用其他人來這樣做時，預算和執行都是確定的。”我們正在獲得巨大的吸引力。大衛，我敦促你做的是下個月在拉瓜迪亞進行我們的巡迴演出。你會看到，就像你要走過 B 航站樓一樣，這又是世界上最好的航站樓，你會走過那裡，你會看到很多服務提供者在做從尋路人員到說出他們在哪個登機口、清潔、工程，你會遇到很多人，我們將能夠說ABM 人、ABM 人、ABM 人，這就是美妙之處，而不是說：「我們在這裡提供一項服務，其他人都是一大群服務提供者。”我認為，拉瓜迪亞管理團隊之所以如此引人注目，是因為能夠透過 ABM 來控製品質並控制支出。因此，參加這次旅行，您將真正了解 APS。

Next question comes from the line of Marc Riddick with Sidoti.

下一個問題來自馬克·里迪克和西多蒂的台詞。

So in the interest of time, I'm going to keep mine brief as we're approaching the opening here. But I wanted to touch a little bit on a couple of things that you said in prepared remarks, one was around labor utilization in Aviation. I think it was and the other was a little bit of the labor market improvement or a relative improvement, I guess, I think that was in Education. Could you touch a little bit on that, particularly the utilization comment and maybe whether that is something that's transferable maybe in some of the other segments and something that you could see going forward?

因此，為了節省時間，在我們即將開幕之際，我將保持簡短的發言。但我想談談您在準備好的發言中所說的幾件事，其中之一是關於航空業的勞動力利用。我認為是的，另一個是勞動市場的一點改善或相對改善，我想，我認為那是在教育方面。您能否談一下這一點，特別是利用率評論，也許這是否可以在其他一些細分市場中轉移，以及您未來可以看到的東西？

Yes, yes. I'm so glad you brought it up because it is, look, it's probably one of the most exciting things we're working on at ABM because that's what we do, right? We don't manufacture anything. We're a labor company, right? So when you have the ability to integrate technology and best-in-class approaches to labor utilization, you just become more efficient and your cost of labor goes down. A great way to highlight that is just an overtime, right? If you're less efficient, you're going to be spending more money on overtime to get things done. We've seen our overtime come down in the Aviation segment as a result of ABM Clean. And as we roll out our pilots for the same type of technology in B&I, we're seeing labor efficiency. We just haven't gotten it to scale yet. So super excited about our technology that we're developing and piloting and how it's going to result in labor utilization, efficiency and savings. So more to come on that as we get proof points. But I'm glad you brought it up because I'm challenged to think what we're doing that's going to provide more benefit and excitement and getting efficient on labor, which is again what we do. And so that's where you're seeing the improvement, and that's how you're seeing technology tie into that.

是的是的。我很高興你提出這個問題，因為這可能是我們在 ABM 所做的最令人興奮的事情之一，因為這就是我們所做的，對吧？我們不製造任何東西。我們是勞務公司吧？因此，當您有能力將技術和一流的勞動力利用方法整合起來時，您的效率就會提高，勞動力成本就會下降。一個很好的方式來強調這只是加班，對吧？如果你的效率較低，你就會在加班上花更多的錢來完成工作。由於 ABM Clean，我們發現航空領域的加班時間減少。當我們在 B&I 中推出同類技術的試點時，我們看到了勞動力效率。我們只是還沒有達到規模化。我們對我們正在開發和試點的技術以及它將如何提高勞動力利用率、效率和節省感到非常興奮。當我們得到證據時，還會有更多的內容。但我很高興你提出這個問題，因為我面臨挑戰，認為我們正在做的事情將提供更多的利益和興奮，並提高勞動效率，這也是我們所做的。這就是你看到改進的地方，這就是你看到技術與之聯繫的方式。

And then in terms of wage increases, which I think you were hinting at, like we are seeing a little bit of relief on wage increases as compared to the last couple of years. So if I were to look at our wage increases, sure, it's still more elevated than probably 2016 or '17, but as it compares to the last couple of years, we're seeing the trend go down a bit, which is great because, again, it makes it an easier ask when you go to your clients for price increases.

然後就薪資成長而言，我認為您已經暗示了這一點，與過去幾年相比，我們看到薪資成長有所緩解。因此，如果我看看我們的薪資成長，當然，它仍然比 2016 年或 17 年更高，但與過去幾年相比，我們看到趨勢有所下降，這很好，因為再次，當你向當客戶詢問漲價事宜時，這會讓你更容易提出要求。

Excellent. See you in Queens.

出色的。皇后區見。

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the floor back over to CEO, Scott Salmirs for closing comments.

謝謝。目前沒有其他問題。我想請執行長 Scott Salmirs 發表結束評論。

Yes. I just want to thank everybody for getting on the call and following the story. We're excited about everything that's going on here. And again, hopefully, the first quarter result shows you that we have the confidence in how we guided and what we're doing and enthusiastic about getting back on the call in Q2 and giving you an update and hope to see a bunch of you at our tour at LaGuardia to really get a tangible, tactical feel of what we're doing in the field when we're self-performing multiple services. So thanks, everybody.

是的。我只想感謝大家撥通電話並關注這個故事。我們對這裡發生的一切感到興奮。再次，希望第一季度的結果向您表明，我們對我們的指導方式和我們正在做的事情充滿信心，並熱衷於在第二季度重新接到電話並向您提供最新情況，並希望在我們在拉瓜迪亞機場的巡演，是為了讓我們在自我執行多項服務時真正獲得切實的、戰術性的感受。謝謝大家。

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

今天的電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。