AECOM (ACM) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the AECOM Fourth Quarter 2022 Conference Call. I would like to inform all participants this call is being recorded at the request of AECOM. This broadcast is the copyrighted property of AECOM. Any rebroadcast of this information in whole or part without the prior written permission of AECOM is prohibited.

早上好，歡迎來到 AECOM 2022 年第四季度電話會議。我想通知所有與會者，應 AECOM 的要求，此次通話正在錄音。此廣播是 AECOM 的版權財產。未經 AECOM 事先書面許可，禁止全部或部分轉播此信息。

As a reminder, AECOM is also simulcasting this presentation with slides at the Investors section at www.aecom.com. (Operator Instructions)

提醒一下，AECOM 還在 www.aecom.com 的“投資者”部分用幻燈片同步播放此演示文稿。 （操作員說明）

I would now like to turn the call over to Will Gabrielski, Senior President, Finance, Treasury, Investor Relations.

我現在想把電話轉給財務、財政部、投資者關係高級總裁 Will Gabrielski。

Thank you, operator. I would like to direct your attention to the safe harbor statement on Page 1 of today's presentation. Today's discussion contains forward-looking statements about future business and financial expectations. Actual results may differ significantly from those projected in today's forward-looking statements due to the various risks and uncertainties, including the risks described in our periodic reports filed with the SEC. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update our forward-looking statements.

謝謝你，運營商。我想請您注意今天演示文稿第 1 頁上的安全港聲明。今天的討論包含有關未來業務和財務預期的前瞻性陳述。由於各種風險和不確定性，包括我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的定期報告中描述的風險，實際結果可能與今天的前瞻性陳述中預測的結果大不相同。除法律要求外，我們不承擔更新前瞻性陳述的義務。

We use certain non-GAAP financial measures in our presentation. The appropriate GAAP reconciliations are incorporated into our materials, which are posted to our website. Any references to segment margins or segment adjusted operating margins will reflect the performance for the Americas and International segments.

我們在演示文稿中使用某些非 GAAP 財務指標。適當的 GAAP 調節已納入我們的材料中，這些材料發佈在我們的網站上。對分部利潤率或分部調整後營業利潤率的任何提及都將反映美洲和國際分部的業績。

When discussing revenue and revenue growth, we will refer to net service revenue, or NSR, which is defined as revenue excluding pass-through revenue. NSR and backlog growth rates are presented on a constant currency basis unless otherwise noted.

在討論收入和收入增長時，我們將參考淨服務收入或 NSR，其定義為不包括傳遞收入的收入。除非另有說明，否則 NSR 和積壓增長率以固定貨幣為基礎呈現。

For year-over-year constant currency growth for 2023 guidance, foreign exchange rates are based on the underlying rates we used when we set our 2024 target in late 2021. Return on invested capital is measured on the continuing operations of the business and exclude any retained assets or liabilities of previously disposed businesses.

對於 2023 年指導的同比恆定貨幣增長，外匯匯率基於我們在 2021 年底設定 2024 年目標時使用的基礎匯率。投資資本回報率是根據業務的持續經營來衡量的，不包括任何先前處置業務的保留資產或負債。

Today's remarks will focus on continuing operations and exclude impacts related to our exit from Russia. On today's call, Troy Rudd, our Chief Executive Officer, will review our key accomplishments, our strategy and our outlook for the business; Lara Poloni, our President, will discuss key operational successes and priorities. And Gaurav Kapoor, our Chief Financial Officer, will review our financial performance and outlook in greater detail. We will conclude with a question-and-answer session.

今天的評論將重點關注持續運營，並排除與我們退出俄羅斯相關的影響。在今天的電話會議上，我們的首席執行官 Troy Rudd 將回顧我們的主要成就、我們的戰略和我們的業務前景；我們的總裁 Lara Poloni 將討論關鍵的運營成功和優先事項。我們的首席財務官 Gaurav Kapoor 將更詳細地審查我們的財務業績和前景。我們將以問答環節結束。

With that, I will turn the call over to Troy. Troy?

有了這個，我會把電話轉給特洛伊。特洛伊？

Thank you, Will, and thank you all for joining us today. Fiscal 2022 was a year of many accomplishments and successes. I want to begin by thanking our employees for their unwavering dedication to their clients and to our purpose of delivering a better world. Our teams truly differentiate us in the market and are key to our widening competitive advantage.

謝謝你，威爾，感謝大家今天加入我們。 2022 財年取得了許多成就和成功。首先，我要感謝我們的員工對他們的客戶和我們創造更美好世界的目標的堅定奉獻。我們的團隊真正使我們在市場上脫穎而出，是我們擴大競爭優勢的關鍵。

To fully capitalize on this advantage, we are continuing to invest in the professional development and personal well-being of our teams. Let me give you a few examples. First, we recently made a substantial investment in employee health care benefits in the United States. Beginning in 2023, employees' premiums are being reduced by as much as 80%, which is especially beneficial against the backdrop of continued rising health care costs and inflation. We expect our health care benefits to lead both our industry and Fortune 500 companies.

為了充分利用這一優勢，我們將繼續投資於我們團隊的專業發展和個人福祉。讓我舉幾個例子。首先，我們最近對美國的員工醫療保健福利進行了大量投資。從 2023 年開始，員工的保費將減少多達 80%，這在醫療保健成本持續上漲和通貨膨脹的背景下尤其有利。我們希望我們的醫療保健福利能夠引領我們的行業和財富 500 強公司。

Second, we are investing to expand our technical practice networks, which bring together the best and brightest minds to share ideas and experiences. Today, tens of thousands of our professionals are connecting with colleagues around the world, which is furthering our commitment to enhanced collaboration.

其次，我們正在投資擴大我們的技術實踐網絡，匯集最優秀和最聰明的頭腦來分享想法和經驗。今天，我們數以萬計的專業人員正在與世界各地的同事聯繫，這進一步推動了我們加強合作的承諾。

Finally, we're doubling down on professional career development. We have multiple leadership programs underway to expand opportunities for our employees. This includes a partnership with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Our people are benefiting individually from these programs and the opportunity to expand their global collaborative relationships. Please turn to the next slide.

最後，我們在職業生涯發展方面加倍努力。我們正在進行多項領導力計劃，以擴大員工的機會。這包括與賓夕法尼亞大學沃頓商學院的合作。我們的員工正從這些計劃中受益，並有機會擴大他們的全球合作關係。請翻到下一張幻燈片。

Turning to our fiscal 2022 results. We extended our track record of delivering on all of our financial targets for the year. Our success in the market has transformed the trajectory and expanded the long-term earnings power of our business. Our fourth quarter results were highlighted by 9% organic NSR growth in the Design business, which is the highest quarterly growth rate in more than a decade. This performance reflects our continued high win rate, a near-record Design backlog and healthy end market conditions. Notably, this performance does not include a material benefit from IIJA funding, which has materialized at a slower-than-anticipated pace.

轉向我們的 2022 財年業績。我們延續了今年實現所有財務目標的記錄。我們在市場上的成功改變了發展軌跡並擴大了我們業務的長期盈利能力。我們第四季度的業績突出體現在設計業務的 9% 有機 NSR 增長，這是十多年來最高的季度增長率。這一業績反映了我們持續的高贏率、接近創紀錄的設計積壓和健康的終端市場狀況。值得注意的是，這一業績不包括 IIJA 資金的物質收益，該資金的實現速度低於預期。

Turning to profitability. The full year segment adjusted operating margin increased by 40 basis points to a new high, exceeded guidance and included accelerated business development investments in the fourth quarter. We also achieved our earnings guidance while overcoming a significant currency headwind, particularly in the fourth quarter.

轉向盈利能力。全年部門調整後的營業利潤率增加了 40 個基點，創下新高，超過了指導，並包括第四季度加速的業務發展投資。我們還實現了收益指引，同時克服了重大的貨幣逆風，尤其是在第四季度。

If not for these impacts, we would have exceeded our ranges for both adjusted EPS and EBITDA. Importantly, backlog in the design business, which accounts for approximately 90% of the NSR and profitability, increased by 8%, reflecting an all-time high win rate, while our pipeline of opportunities is also at a record level. We are winning what matters to transform the earnings power of our business. Please turn to the next slide.

如果不是因為這些影響，我們將超出調整後每股收益和 EBITDA 的範圍。重要的是，約佔 NSR 和盈利能力 90% 的設計業務積壓增加了 8%，反映出歷史最高的贏單率，而我們的機會渠道也處於創紀錄水平。我們正在贏得對改變我們業務的盈利能力至關重要的事情。請翻到下一張幻燈片。

Our successes are the direct result of the deliberate actions we have taken over the past 2 years to deliver on our Think and Act Globally strategy and capitalize on our strengths. These actions have included: collaborating globally like never before to capture the full power of our industry-leading technical capabilities; expanding our addressable market through program management and advisory services to complement our technical expertise; investing in digital AECOM to enhance our value proposition for clients; and finally, prioritizing our resources to the highest returning growth opportunities.

我們的成功是我們在過去 2 年中為實現我們的 Think and Act Globally 戰略並利用我們的優勢而採取的慎重行動的直接結果。這些行動包括：通過項目管理和諮詢服務擴大我們的目標市場，以補充我們的技術專長；投資數字 AECOM 以提升我們對客戶的價值主張；最後，將我們的資源優先用於回報率最高的增長機會。

Today, these actions are bearing fruit in the form of our record win rate, accelerating growth, industry-leading margins and increased return on capital. I should note that our momentum has continued in all of these fronts into fiscal 2023. We had notable design wins in the first quarter of fiscal 2023 that further underpin the confidence we have in our growth outlook.

今天，這些行動正在以我們創紀錄的贏單率、加速增長、行業領先的利潤率和更高的資本回報率的形式取得成果。我應該指出，我們在所有這些方面的勢頭一直持續到 2023 財年。我們在 2023 財年第一季度取得了顯著的設計勝利，進一步鞏固了我們對增長前景的信心。

As we look ahead, 3 secular growth drivers are accelerating across our markets. The first secular growth driver is the global infrastructure investment renaissance, which is driving synchronized funding growth across a number of our largest markets.

展望未來，3 個長期增長動力正在我們的市場中加速發展。第一個長期增長動力是全球基礎設施投資復興，它正在推動我們多個最大市場的同步融資增長。

In the U.S., multiple bills have been signed into law to fund infrastructure investment, creating many years of funding visibility. This includes the IIJA, where, as I noted, funding has not materialized as quickly as expected. However, this funding is committed, and we expect these short-term impacts to resolve and create strong multiyear tailwinds.

在美國，多項法案已簽署成為法律，為基礎設施投資提供資金，創造了多年的資金知名度。這包括 IIJA，正如我所指出的，資金沒有像預期的那樣迅速到位。然而，這筆資金是承諾的，我們預計這些短期影響將解決並創造強大的多年順風。

Internationally, the Australian and Canadian provincial governments are committed to their sizable infrastructure investments, and our backlog growth and win rates in these markets remain exceptionally strong. In fact, in both markets, we have secured large wins in the last few months that further solidify our confidence and growth for the next several years.

在國際上，澳大利亞和加拿大省政府致力於進行大規模的基礎設施投資，我們在這些市場的積壓增長和贏單率仍然非常強勁。事實上，在過去幾個月裡，我們在這兩個市場都取得了巨大的勝利，進一步鞏固了我們未來幾年的信心和增長。

The second secular growth driver is demand for sustainable, resilient infrastructure and investments in energy transition. The need for this investment is especially apparent in the aftermath of the Hurricanes Ian and Fiona. In fact, we recently aided the rebuilding of the Sanibel Causeway that was severely damaged by Hurricane Ian.

第二個長期增長動力是對可持續、有彈性的基礎設施和能源轉型投資的需求。颶風伊恩和菲奧娜過後，對這項投資的需求尤為明顯。事實上，我們最近幫助重建了被伊恩颶風嚴重破壞的薩尼貝爾堤道。

We were also recently selected by San Diego Gas & Electric for a program management contract to move a substantial share of its grid infrastructure underground to protect the communities against wildfire, which is a growing demand driver for which we are well positioned to deliver.

我們最近還被 San Diego Gas & Electric 選中，簽訂了一項項目管理合同，將其大部分電網基礎設施轉移到地下，以保護社區免受野火的侵害，這是一個不斷增長的需求驅動因素，我們有能力滿足這一需求。

Finally, our clients are accelerating investments to adapt assets and supply chains to a post-COVID new normal. The U.S., for instance, is prioritizing the reshoring of critical manufacturing capabilities, while Europe and many parts of the world are advancing energy transition priorities. It bears repeating that we are ranked at or near the top of every high-value market that is critical to delivering these secular growth drivers. We are #1 in transportation design, facilities design, green design, environmental engineering and holds several leadership positions in the water sector.

最後，我們的客戶正在加速投資，以使資產和供應鏈適應後 COVID 新常態。例如，美國正在優先考慮關鍵製造能力的回流，而歐洲和世界許多地區正在推進能源轉型優先事項。值得重申的是，我們在每個對提供這些長期增長動力至關重要的高價值市場中都處於或接近領先地位。我們在交通設計、設施設計、綠色設計、環境工程方面排名第一，並在水務領域擔任多個領導職務。

In addition, we have built a world-class program management business, which is a distinguishing competitive advantage that we did not have at scale in prior cycles. This capability has resulted in a step change in how we engage with clients and the scope of the opportunities on each project and has resulted in some of our largest wins over the past 2 years. For example, we just announced our appointment as the program manager for California High-Speed Rail. Please turn to the next slide.

此外，我們還建立了世界一流的項目管理業務，這是我們在之前的周期中不具備的顯著競爭優勢。這種能力使我們與客戶的互動方式和每個項目的機會範圍發生了巨大變化，並在過去 2 年中為我們贏得了一些最大的勝利。例如，我們剛剛宣布任命為加州高速鐵路的項目經理。請翻到下一張幻燈片。

We've initiated fiscal 2023 guidance for adjusted EBITDA of between $935 million and $975 million and adjusted EPS guidance of between $3.55 and $3.75. This guidance is based on accelerating organic NSR growth of 8%, which is underpinned by our strong backlog position and a 20% increase in bids and proposals submitted in our design business.

我們已啟動 2023 財年調整後 EBITDA 指導值在 9.35 億美元至 9.75 億美元之間，調整後每股收益指導值在 3.55 美元至 3.75 美元之間。該指南基於 8% 的加速有機 NSR 增長，這得益於我們強大的積壓狀況以及我們設計業務中提交的投標和提案增加 20%。

This expectation is also balanced against near-term uncertainties in a few markets, most notably in the U.K., where funding on major highway programs is uncertain due to the leadership transition and the potential austerity measures. In addition, we expect to deliver 40 basis points of adjusted operating margin expansion to 14.6%, a new high, with profitable growth enabling both margin expansion and a continued high level of investment in our teams and to capitalize on our record pipeline.

這種預期也與一些市場的近期不確定性相平衡，尤其是在英國，由於領導層換屆和潛在的緊縮措施，主要公路項目的資金存在不確定性。此外，我們預計調整後的營業利潤率將增長 40 個基點，達到 14.6%，創下新高，利潤增長將促進利潤率增長和對我們團隊的持續高水平投資，並利用我們創紀錄的渠道。

Finally, we expect another year of strong cash flow, and we are reiterating our returns-driven capital allocation policy, including our intent to return substantially all available cash flow to shareholders through repurchases and dividends. I should note the rising U.S. dollar, which is not within our control, is having a translational impact on our international earnings.

最後，我們預計又是強勁現金流的一年，我們重申我們以回報為導向的資本配置政策，包括我們打算通過回購和派息將幾乎所有可用現金流返還給股東。我應該指出，我們無法控制的美元上漲正在對我們的國際收入產生轉化影響。

In fact, if not for impacts of foreign exchange, we would have expected to deliver adjusted EBITDA in excess of $1 billion in 2023 at the midpoint. This would have been ahead of the expectation built into our long-term model that supports our 2024 targets. As a result of this underlying outperformance, we are affirming our 2024 adjusted EPS target of at least $4.75.

事實上，如果不是因為外彙的影響，我們預計到 2023 年的調整後 EBITDA 將超過 10 億美元。這將超出我們支持 2024 年目標的長期模型中的預期。由於這種潛在的出色表現，我們確認 2024 年調整後的每股收益目標至少為 4.75 美元。

We're also increasing our 2024 return on invested capital target from 15% to 17% to reflect our strong performance to date and continued discipline on capital allocation. Taken together, the strength of our outlook speaks to the durability of our strategy and platform and the benefits of our focus on organic growth and high returns. I am proud of how well we are collaborating and going to market.

我們還將 2024 年的投資資本回報率目標從 15% 提高到 17%，以反映我們迄今為止的強勁表現和對資本配置的持續約束。總而言之，我們前景的實力說明了我們戰略和平台的持久性以及我們專注於有機增長和高回報的好處。我為我們的合作和上市感到自豪。

Through our actions, we have created enduring competitive advantages with unrivaled technical expertise and a culture that is fully committed to our purpose of delivering a better world. With that, I'll turn the call over to Lara.

通過我們的行動，我們憑藉無與倫比的技術專長和完全致力於實現我們創造更美好世界的目標的文化創造了持久的競爭優勢。有了這個，我會把電話轉給勞拉。

Thanks, Troy. Please turn to the next slide. Our accomplishments over the past year were transformational and represented the realization of our strategy. We are a purpose-driven company, and we continue to be inspired by the positive impact our teams have for our clients and in our communities. Our competitive advantages and culture of global collaboration are visible in the many momentum-changing wins that are changing the trajectory of the business. I will take you through a few examples.

謝謝，特洛伊。請翻到下一張幻燈片。我們過去一年的成就是變革性的，代表了我們戰略的實現。我們是一家以目標為導向的公司，我們的團隊對我們的客戶和社區產生的積極影響繼續激勵著我們。我們的競爭優勢和全球協作文化體現在許多正在改變業務軌蹟的改變勢頭的勝利中。我會帶你通過幾個例子。

Beginning in the transportation market, we were recently selected for a 9-figure contract for California High-Speed Rail. This win reflects so much of what makes collaboration so powerful. For this pursuit, we called upon our world-class rail program management, digital and local market expertise to create an innovative approach.

從運輸市場開始，我們最近被選中獲得加州高速鐵路的 9 位數合同。這場胜利在很大程度上反映了合作如此強大的原因。為了實現這一目標，我們利用我們世界一流的鐵路項目管理、數字和本地市場專業知識來創造一種創新方法。

In the end, our offering was substantially ahead of very formidable competition. Our transportation business not only leads in the U.S., but globally as well. The ingenuity of our team was on full display in a recent win in Australia, where we were selected for a substantial tunneling project that will transform transit options for the community. Key to our selection was the close relationships we've built with key partners and our approach to reducing technical risk and construction cost through our design.

最後，我們的產品大大領先於非常強大的競爭。我們的運輸業務不僅在美國處於領先地位，在全球也是如此。我們團隊的聰明才智在最近在澳大利亞的一次勝利中得到了充分展示，我們被選中參與一項重大的隧道工程，該項目將改變社區的交通選擇。我們選擇的關鍵是我們與主要合作夥伴建立的密切關係以及我們通過設計降低技術風險和施工成本的方法。

We were also recently selected for the Northeast Link in Melbourne, Australia; won several notable projects in Canada, including the 16-kilometer Ontario Line South to Metrolinx; and have key pursuits in the U.K. with decisions expected this year. It was a great year for our transportation business.

我們最近還被選為澳大利亞墨爾本的 Northeast Link；在加拿大贏得了幾個著名的項目，包括 16 公里長的安大略線南至 Metrolinx；並在英國有重要的追求，預計今年將做出決定。對於我們的運輸業務來說，這是豐收的一年。

Turning to our industry-leading environment business. We had several marquee wins during the year. For instance, we were awarded the multiyear NASDAQ Atlantic contract by the U.S. Navy and seeking a very formidable incumbent. And we also hold the contract for another key large region for this client. On a combined basis, we now have the greatest value exposure to this client's environmental program.

轉向我們行業領先的環境業務。我們在這一年中取得了幾次重大勝利。例如，我們獲得了美國海軍授予的多年納斯達克大西洋合同，並正在尋找一個非常強大的現任者。我們還為該客戶持有另一個重要大區域的合同。在綜合基礎上，我們現在對該客戶的環境計劃擁有最大的價值。

In addition, we are gaining critical share with FEMA as demonstrated by our selection for the risk map program earlier this year. This program represents the key flood risk assessment and disaster response program with this client. Our success also extends to the private sector, where we are advising on some of the largest and most complex environmental remediation projects in the world, including the Faro Mine Remediation Program in Canada, which is the largest project of its kind in that country.

此外，正如我們今年早些時候選擇風險地圖計劃所證明的那樣，我們正在獲得 FEMA 的重要份額。該計劃代表了與該客戶的關鍵洪水風險評估和災難響應計劃。我們的成功還延伸到私營部門，我們正在為世界上一些最大和最複雜的環境修復項目提供建議，包括加拿大的 Faro 礦山修復計劃，這是該國同類項目中最大的。

In water, we are increasingly responding to growing demand for clean and safe drinking water supply. During the year, we were selected for the Padre Dam East County Advanced Purification Program. This facility will recycle up to 95% of water throughput, which will set the bar for water reuse.

在水資源方面，我們越來越多地響應對清潔和安全飲用水供應日益增長的需求。在這一年中，我們被選中參加 Padre Dam East County 高級淨化計劃。該設施將回收高達 95% 的水處理量，這將為水的再利用設定標準。

This program is part of an expected nearly $10 billion being allocated in California alone to address the growing need to ensure adequate water supply. Similarly, in Canada, we were selected for the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant, a LEED-certified facility that will serve 0.25 million residents in the Vancouver area.

該計劃是預計將僅在加利福尼亞州分配近 100 億美元的一部分，用於解決確保充足供水的日益增長的需求。同樣，在加拿大，我們被選中建造北岸污水處理廠，這是一個獲得 LEED 認證的設施，將為溫哥華地區的 25 萬居民提供服務。

These large complex facilities are a great representation of how we are helping clients and communities address the biggest challenges of our time. These wins are changing our momentum and our digital AECOM investments are expanding our advantages further. A great example is in the water market, where we recently unveiled our PipeInsights product, which uses proprietary algorithms to accelerate water system inspections and enhance defect detection.

這些大型複雜設施很好地體現了我們如何幫助客戶和社區應對我們這個時代面臨的最大挑戰。這些勝利正在改變我們的勢頭，我們的數字 AECOM 投資正在進一步擴大我們的優勢。一個很好的例子是在水市場，我們最近推出了我們的 PipeInsights 產品，該產品使用專有算法來加速水系統檢查並增強缺陷檢測。

Through this technology, we can provide actionable insight to our clients in 1 hour versus the several weeks or months it takes our competitors. This is possible because of our deep technical understanding of our clients' critical infrastructure, which sets us apart.

通過這項技術，我們可以在 1 小時內為我們的客戶提供可行的見解，而我們的競爭對手則需要幾週或幾個月的時間。這是可能的，因為我們對客戶的關鍵基礎設施有深入的技術理解，這使我們與眾不同。

Across all of these successes, we are in great position to lead the development of transformational projects that will leave a lasting impact for future generations. With a strong foundation in place and further progress on our strategic priorities, we are confident that AECOM will continue to lead the industry with our expectation of delivering growth over the long term.

在所有這些成功中，我們處於領先地位，可以引領轉型項目的發展，這些項目將對子孫後代產生持久影響。憑藉堅實的基礎和我們戰略重點的進一步進展，我們相信 AECOM 將繼續引領行業，我們期望實現長期增長。

With that, I will now turn the call over to Gaur.

有了這個，我現在將把電話轉給 Gaur。

Thanks, Lara. Please turn to the next slide. Our focus on sustained value creation through highly profitable organic growth and disciplined capital allocation is resulting in consistently strong performance. In fiscal 2022, we encountered numerous unplanned market headwinds. Even so, the competitive advantage of our platform and dedication of our teams to delivering on our commitments produced another strong year of performance.

謝謝，勞拉。請翻到下一張幻燈片。我們專注於通過高利潤的有機增長和有紀律的資本配置來持續創造價值，從而實現了持續強勁的業績。在 2022 財年，我們遇到了許多計劃外的市場逆風。即便如此，我們平台的競爭優勢和我們團隊對兌現承諾的奉獻精神帶來了又一個強勁的表現。

In the fourth quarter, we delivered our highest organic NSR growth in the design business in nearly a decade. Our margins for the year reached a new all-time high and exceeded our guidance, and strong cash flow supported our shareholder value-focused capital allocation policy. Importantly, we are positioned for continued growth with record full year wins in the design business and a near-record backlog position.

在第四季度，我們在設計業務中實現了近十年來最高的有機 NSR 增長。我們今年的利潤率創下歷史新高，超出了我們的指導，強勁的現金流支持了我們以股東價值為中心的資本配置政策。重要的是，我們為持續增長做好了準備，全年在設計業務中取得了創紀錄的勝利，積壓量也接近創紀錄的水平。

As Troy and Lara noted, our success in the market is transforming the trajectory and long-term earnings power of our business. Please turn to the next slide.

正如 Troy 和 Lara 指出的那樣，我們在市場上的成功正在改變我們業務的軌跡和長期盈利能力。請翻到下一張幻燈片。

NSR in the Americas Design business increased by 5% in the fourth quarter, which was the highest growth rate this year and reflects the continued acceleration we saw throughout the year. Our wins and pipeline were strong. We had a 1.2 book-to-burn ratio in the design business in the fourth quarter, which resulted in 9% total backlog growth in the design business to a record high, and our contracted backlog also increased.

美洲設計業務的 NSR 在第四季度增長了 5%，這是今年以來的最高增長率，反映了我們在全年看到的持續加速。我們的勝利和管道很強大。我們在第四季度的設計業務的賬面消耗率為 1.2，這導致設計業務的總積壓量增長了 9%，創歷史新高，我們的合同積壓量也有所增加。

Our Americas business continues to lead the industry margins and delivered in the fourth quarter, consistent with our expectations. We strategically accelerated business development during the quarter to capitalize on unprecedented pipeline of opportunities, which contributed to double-digit growth in our bids submitted and proposals.

我們的美洲業務繼續引領行業利潤率並在第四季度交付，符合我們的預期。我們在本季度戰略性地加快了業務發展，以利用前所未有的機會渠道，這有助於我們提交的投標和建議書實現兩位數的增長。

These investments already started to pay dividends in early wins in fiscal 2023 as noted by Troy and Lara earlier. Investing in the future while leading our industry in margins is a perfect example of the competitive advantage we have built within our platform. Please turn to the next slide.

正如 Troy 和 Lara 早些時候指出的那樣，這些投資已經開始在 2023 財年的早期勝利中產生紅利。投資於未來，同時在利潤率上領先於我們的行業，這是我們在平台內建立的競爭優勢的完美例證。請翻到下一張幻燈片。

NSR growth in the International segment accelerated to 13% in the fourth quarter and included growth in all of our largest geographies. Key to delivering this double-digit growth is our high win rate in our core markets. Backlog increased by 6%, highlighted by strong growth in the U.K., Australia and the Middle East. Contracted backlog also increased and remains near a record high, which is a great leading indicator of growth.

國際部門的 NSR 增長在第四季度加速至 13%，其中包括我們所有最大地區的增長。實現兩位數增長的關鍵是我們在核心市場的高贏率。積壓訂單增加了 6%，英國、澳大利亞和中東的強勁增長凸顯了這一點。合同積壓訂單也有所增加，並保持在歷史高位附近，這是一個很好的增長領先指標。

Margins expanded to 9% in the quarter, a new high for the segment and a 160 basis point increase from the prior year. We have made tremendous progress on our target of double-digit margins by executing our strategy and creating efficiencies within the organization. We have exited and will continue to exit lower-returning markets so we can prioritize our capital and time to our highest returning opportunities. Please turn to the next slide.

本季度利潤率擴大至 9%，創下該領域的新高，比上年增長 160 個基點。通過執行我們的戰略並在組織內提高效率，我們在實現兩位數利潤率的目標方面取得了巨大進展。我們已經退出並將繼續退出回報率較低的市場，這樣我們就可以優先考慮我們的資本和時間來獲得回報率最高的機會。請翻到下一張幻燈片。

Turning to cash flow, liquidity and capital allocation. Our returns-focused capital allocation policy is unchanged. As such, our first priority is investing in our teams, our digital capabilities and to capitalize on the strong organic growth opportunities ahead, which provide an incremental return on capital of approximately 50%. After these investments, which are made through our margins, we are repurchasing our stock and paying dividends with substantially all available cash flow.

轉向現金流、流動性和資本配置。我們以回報為中心的資本配置政策沒有改變。因此，我們的首要任務是投資於我們的團隊、我們的數字能力，並利用未來強勁的有機增長機會，這將提供大約 50% 的增量資本回報率。在通過我們的利潤進行這些投資之後，我們將回購我們的股票並用幾乎所有可用現金流支付股息。

During the year, we returned nearly $500 million, including more than $420 million of share repurchases. In total, we have bought back 26 million shares since September 2020 when we initiated our repurchases, or 16% of our shares outstanding and have earned a high return.

年內，我們返還了近 5 億美元，其中包括超過 4.2 億美元的股票回購。自 2020 年 9 月啟動回購以來，我們總共回購了 2600 萬股股票，佔已發行股票的 16%，並獲得了高回報。

We continue to believe investing in ourselves through organic growth or share repurchases provide for a superior EPS growth and returns when compared to other options. This includes M&A, given today's disparity between value and price in the market. The result of our capital allocation policy is evident in our EPS growth, which has increased at double-digit pace organically and our strong ROIC.

我們仍然相信，與其他選擇相比，通過有機增長或股票回購對自己進行投資可以帶來更高的每股收益增長和回報。考慮到當今市場價值和價格之間的差異，這包括併購。我們的資本配置政策的結果在我們的 EPS 增長中顯而易見，它以兩位數的速度有機增長，並且我們的 ROIC 強勁。

With respect to dividends, it remains our intent to grow our per-share dividend by double-digit percentage annually for the foreseeable future. Our ability to deploy capital is supported by strong cash flow. For the year, our free cash flow of $586 million exceeded the midpoint of our guidance, and we had a better phasing of cash flow throughout the year, which is a benefit to our return on capital.

關於股息，我們仍然打算在可預見的未來每年以兩位數的百分比增長每股股息。我們部署資本的能力得到強勁現金流的支持。這一年，我們 5.86 億美元的自由現金流超過了我們指導的中點，而且我們全年的現金流分期更好，這有利於我們的資本回報。

Given the volatility in many sectors of the economy and across the globe, it is worth repeating that our business has inherent attributes that lend to consistently strong cash flow through cycles. These include a highly variable cost model, strong backlog visibility, a high-quality and diverse client base and a highly agile culture focused on profitable growth and cash conversion.

鑑於許多經濟部門和全球的波動性，值得重申的是，我們的業務具有內在屬性，可以在周期中提供持續強勁的現金流。其中包括高度可變的成本模型、強大的積壓可見性、高質量和多樣化的客戶群以及專注於盈利增長和現金轉換的高度敏捷的文化。

In addition, our balance sheet is in a very strong position. 80% of our debt is fixed or capped over the next several years, and we have no bond maturities until 2027. We believe our balance sheet is a competitive advantage. Please turn to the next slide.

此外，我們的資產負債表處於非常有利的地位。我們 80% 的債務在未來幾年內是固定的或有上限的，而且我們的債券要到 2027 年才到期。我們相信我們的資產負債表是一個競爭優勢。請翻到下一張幻燈片。

Turning to our financial outlook. We expect organic NSR growth to accelerate in fiscal 2023 to approximately 8%, reflecting momentum in our backlog and across our markets. We expect adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS to both increase by 10%, respectively, at the midpoint on a constant currency basis.

轉向我們的財務前景。我們預計 NSR 的有機增長將在 2023 財年加速至約 8%，反映出我們積壓訂單和整個市場的勢頭。我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 和調整後的每股收益在固定匯率基礎上分別增長 10%。

The rapid rise of the U.S. dollar will have a translational impact on our reported results. We expect MSR growth to be negatively impacted by approximately 400 basis points, including a more than 500 basis point impact in the first 2 quarters of the year.

美元的快速升值將對我們報告的結果產生轉化影響。我們預計 MSR 增長將受到約 400 個基點的負面影響，其中包括今年前兩個季度超過 500 個基點的影響。

We expect to deliver 14.6% adjusted operating margin for the full year, which represents a 40 basis point increase from fiscal 2022. This would mark a new high and includes an approximately 10 to 20 basis point FX impact. Importantly, we are continuing to make growth investments to achieve our long-term targets. We are also affirming our fiscal 2024 financial targets.

我們預計全年調整後營業利潤率為 14.6%，比 2022 財年增加 40 個基點。這將創下新高，其中包括約 10 至 20 個基點的外匯影響。重要的是，我們將繼續進行增長投資以實現我們的長期目標。我們還確認了 2024 財年的財務目標。

As Troy noted, this includes outperformance on underlying NSR growth and profitability, which are within our control and includes headwinds from FX, which are outside of our control. We are increasing our return on capital target from 15% to 17%, which reflects strong profitability and the benefits of our return-focused capital allocation policy.

正如 Troy 指出的那樣，這包括在我們控制範圍內的基礎 NSR 增長和盈利能力方面的出色表現，以及我們無法控制的來自外彙的逆風。我們將資本回報率目標從 15% 提高到 17%，這反映了強勁的盈利能力和我們以回報為中心的資本配置政策的好處。

Consistent with our approach, our guidance does not include any future share repurchase activity. With that, operator, we are ready for questions.

與我們的方法一致，我們的指引不包括任何未來的股票回購活動。有了這個，接線員，我們準備好提問了。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

And our first question today comes from Michael Feniger from Bank of America.

我們今天的第一個問題來自美國銀行的 Michael Feniger。

The targeted investments you're making in Americas that have kind of weighed on the margin in the second half, can we get margin expansion in 2023 in Americas next year? Where are these investments? And what kind of leads to that margin coming back up? Is it a pickup in growth. So utilization goes up? Is it a drop-off in investments? Just love to understand the cadence as we think about Americas heading into next year.

您在美洲進行的有針對性的投資對下半年的利潤率造成了一定壓力，明年我們能否在 2023 年在美洲實現利潤率擴張？這些投資在哪裡？什麼樣的因素會導致利潤率回升？這是增長的回升嗎？所以利用率上升了？這是投資的下降嗎？只是喜歡了解我們考慮進入明年的美洲時的節奏。

Michael, this is Gaur. I'll take that question. Our goal as a management team, if you just take a step back, is to deliver on sustained long-term value creation. Path to deliver that for us is to meet or beat every single target that we put forth today, while at the same time, creating a competitive edge or expanding the competitive edge we have created on our platform for tomorrow and in the future. And margin's a perfect example of this competitive edge that we have created.

邁克爾，這是 Gaur。我會回答這個問題。如果您退後一步，我們作為管理團隊的目標是實現持續的長期價值創造。為我們實現這一目標的途徑是實現或超越我們今天提出的每一個目標，同時為明天和未來創造競爭優勢或擴大我們在平台上創造的競爭優勢。保證金是我們創造的這種競爭優勢的完美例子。

This is where, again, in FY '22, we beat our target for the enterprise we have put forth while investing in the business more than we ever have. And the investments specific to your question are in business development opportunities in abundant pipeline that we saw in front of us in the second half of the year, some of which we've already started to capitalize on as Lara and Troy commented in their opening remarks. It also includes our digital capability. Our PM and advisory services, which will expand the total addressable market that's available to us.

在這裡，在 22 財年，我們再次超越了我們提出的企業目標，同時對企業的投資比以往任何時候都多。針對你的問題的具體投資是我們在今年下半年看到的大量管道中的業務發展機會，其中一些我們已經開始利用，正如 Lara 和 Troy 在開場白中評論的那樣.它還包括我們的數字能力。我們的 PM 和諮詢服務，這將擴大我們可用的總目標市場。

And we have no interest in just growing. What we always will have interest on is growing with profitable growth. Profitable growth is always a focus of ours. And this is where you step back and say, 2.5, 3 years ago, when a lot of people thought we put forth a very aggressive target of 15% to deliver in 2014, is no longer a question mark. We will deliver 15-plus percent.

我們對增長沒有興趣。我們總是會感興趣的是隨著盈利的增長而增長。盈利增長始終是我們關注的焦點。這就是你退後一步說，2.5，3 年前，當時很多人認為我們提出了一個非常激進的目標，即 2014 年實現的 15%，現在不再是一個問號。我們將交付 15% 以上。

FY '23 will be a continuation of that, where we expect margin expansion as we put forth on the enterprise level but also at both of the segments. And we're putting forth the stepping stones to what we want to deliver in the future, our mid- to long-term target of 17%. And then just to be redundant, what I've said before is we're never going to be penny-wise today and pound-foolish tomorrow.

23 財年將是這種情況的延續，我們預計我們在企業層面以及兩個細分市場上提出的利潤率都會擴大。我們正在為我們未來想要實現的目標鋪平道路，即我們 17% 的中長期目標。然後只是多餘的，我之前說過的是，我們永遠不會今天精打細算，明天犯傻。

Yes. And Michael, this is Troy as well. I'll just make a couple of quick points here to be maybe a little bit more specific about this. As Gaur said, for us, this is about balance. We're trying to create, again, sustained growth in earnings, and that's a balance between growth and investing in the future. And this past quarter and frankly, through this past year, there are a couple of things that gave us that great opportunity.

是的。邁克爾，這也是特洛伊。我將在這裡簡要說明幾點，以便更具體地說明這一點。正如 Gaur 所說，對我們來說，這關乎平衡。我們再次努力創造持續的收益增長，這是增長與未來投資之間的平衡。在過去的這個季度，坦率地說，在過去的一年裡，有幾件事給了我們這個巨大的機會。

A few quarters ago, we talked about the increase in our pipeline, and we said that within our pursuits, which is where clients are telling us about the things they're bringing to market. In this last quarter, we actually saw that move through our funnel, and there was a significant increase in these bids that we submitted and the proposals that we're investing today to bid on. And that increased by almost 20% this last quarter. And so again, that's an important investment in the future.

幾個季度前，我們談到了我們管道的增加，我們說在我們的追求中，這是客戶告訴我們他們正在推向市場的東西的地方。在上個季度，我們實際上看到了通過我們的漏斗的移動，我們提交的這些出價和我們今天投資投標的提案顯著增加。上個季度增長了近 20%。再次強調，這是對未來的一項重要投資。

And the other investment we're making is something like program management, where we said we would double the size of that business over a 3-year period. And we expected to grow that business 25% this year. Well, that business grew over 30% this year and has us well on track to double it in that 2-year period. And that's a very specific investment that we're making to deliver today but also build into the future.

我們正在進行的另一項投資類似於項目管理，我們說我們將在 3 年內將該業務的規模擴大一倍。我們預計今年該業務將增長 25%。好吧，該業務今年增長了 30% 以上，並且我們有望在 2 年期間將其翻一番。這是一項非常具體的投資，我們正在為今天交付但也為未來而努力。

So again, I'd just think about it this way. There's not one thing that we're going to be doing, but we're focused on finding that balance, which is continuing to invest in a business while continuing to expand the margins of that business in the future.

所以再一次，我只是這樣想。我們不會做一件事，但我們專注於找到平衡，即繼續投資業務，同時在未來繼續擴大該業務的利潤率。

And Troy, just on balance, I mean, when we think of that 2024 targets you all laid out, what -- since you laid those targets out, what dynamics are coming in better than expected? What headwinds are coming in stronger than expected? It looks like FX would be one. And just help us get comfortable with how you build off of that 2023 and the building block to kind of accelerate us to that EPS target in 2024. How should we kind of think about that?

特洛伊，總的來說，我的意思是，當我們想到你們都制定的 2024 年目標時，什麼——既然你們制定了這些目標，有什麼動力比預期的要好？哪些不利因素比預期的要強？看起來 FX 就是其中之一。並幫助我們了解您如何在 2023 年的基礎上發展，以及如何加速我們在 2024 年實現 EPS 目標。我們應該如何考慮這一點？

Okay. Yes, good question. When we laid that path a few years ago, we did anticipate that things are going to change, and they certainly have. But there are a lot of things, as you said. There's a lot of things that have gone in our favor, a lot of things that kind of have gone against us. But through all of that, we've been increasing the earnings capacity of the business.

好的。是的，好問題。幾年前，當我們鋪設這條道路時，我們確實預料到事情會發生變化，而且他們確實發生了變化。但是有很多事情，就像你說的那樣。有很多事情對我們有利，也有很多事情對我們不利。但通過所有這些，我們一直在提高企業的盈利能力。

So you mentioned foreign currency, and that certainly is a headwind and it was a headwind in the second half of this last year. And we predicted it will be a headwind into this next year. And that's not really what our guidance is dependent upon. The other thing that's happened in this past year is a lot of -- or the last 2 years is a lot of money has actually come into the market to support the long-term future of infrastructure.

所以你提到了外匯，這肯定是一個逆風，這是去年下半年的一個逆風。我們預測這將是明年的逆風。這並不是我們的指導所依賴的。過去一年發生的另一件事是——或者說過去兩年，大量資金實際上進入了市場，以支持基礎設施的長期未來。

But through all that, we focused on delivering on increasing the earnings capacity of the business. And frankly, when you take those factors out, we have actually built the earnings capacity of business at a faster rate than we had anticipated. And so that's given us -- again, I'd say that's given us confidence in the longer term in achieving our targets. And I'll give it -- I'll pass it over to Gaur to give you a little bit more detail.

但通過這一切，我們專注於提高企業的盈利能力。坦率地說，當你排除這些因素時，我們實際上以比我們預期更快的速度建立了企業的盈利能力。因此，這給了我們 - 再一次，我想說這給了我們實現目標的長期信心。我會給它 - 我會把它傳遞給 Gaur 給你更多的細節。

Yes. Troy, you said it best. The targets we put forth in FY '24 is a dynamic model. There's not a singular path that we will take to achieve it. And as you noted, Michael, the key metrics, let it be NSR margins or a stepping stone ROIC, we're ahead on every single one of them compared to what we built into that model almost 2 years ago when we unveiled it.

是的。特洛伊，你說得最好。我們在 FY '24 中提出的目標是一個動態模型。我們不會走一條單一的道路來實現它。正如你所指出的，邁克爾，關鍵指標，讓它成為 NSR 利潤率或踏腳石 ROIC，與我們將近 2 年前推出該模型時建立的模型相比，我們在每一個方面都領先。

Everything that is in our control is ahead. And things that are not in our control like FX is a headwind. Where FX would be 20 to 24 months from now, your guess will be as good as mine. But at the same time, just being cognizant, when we built that model, another dynamic piece to it is utilization of our very strong balance sheet that we have created, which we will continue to utilize for capital allocation purposes.

一切在我們掌控之中的都在前方。而像 FX 這樣不在我們控制範圍內的事情是不利因素。從現在起 20 到 24 個月後，您的猜測將和我的一樣準確。但與此同時，只要認識到，當我們建立該模型時，它的另一個動態部分就是利用我們已經創建的非常強大的資產負債表，我們將繼續將其用於資本配置目的。

The next question comes from Andy Kaplowitz from Citi.

下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Andy Kaplowitz。

So Troy, your total backlog is up but your contracted backlog is down year-over-year and sequentially, particularly in the Americas. Can you give us a little more color into what's going on and your expectation for contracted backlog heading to '23?

所以特洛伊，你的總積壓量增加了，但你的合同積壓量同比和連續下降，特別是在美洲。你能給我們更多的顏色來了解正在發生的事情以及你對合同積壓到 23 年的期望嗎？

Have you seen any signs of slower awards in design? It doesn't look like you have. And should we generally see sequential and year-over-year growth in contracted backlog from here?

你有沒有看到設計獎項放緩的跡象？看起來你沒有。我們是否應該從這裡看到合同積壓訂單的連續和同比增長？

Yes, Andy. The answer is yes. You will see a significant increase in contracted backlog from where we sat at the end of the year. And I'll break the backlog down into 2 components. Our design business, which over the course of the year, was up 8%. And the fastest-growing part of that was in the Americas, and as we mentioned in the call, transportation.

是的，安迪。答案是肯定的。您會看到合同積壓訂單與我們年底時的情況相比顯著增加。我會將積壓工作分解為 2 個部分。我們的設計業務在這一年中增長了 8%。其中增長最快的部分是在美洲，正如我們在電話中提到的那樣，交通。

And so we've seen some slowness in conversion of that backlog. And that just gets to the -- again, the situation of some of our clients, which, frankly, are overwhelmed with the amount of opportunities that are out in the marketplace that they're managing. So that will just convert over time, and that has been a little bit slower to convert than we had expected.

因此，我們看到積壓工作的轉換有些緩慢。這只是——再一次，我們的一些客戶的情況，坦率地說，他們被他們正在管理的市場上的大量機會所淹沒。所以這只會隨著時間的推移而轉變，而且轉變的速度比我們預期的要慢一些。

With respect to our Construction Management business, remember, that business is a little larger and a little lumpy. And so we have some awards that we received that had not converted by the end of the year. But I can say with a very high degree of certainty that they will be converted to contracted backlog in the quarter, and you will see our contracted backlog grow significantly.

關於我們的施工管理業務，請記住，該業務規模更大，而且有點起伏不定。因此，我們收到了一些到年底還沒有轉換的獎項。但我可以非常肯定地說，它們將在本季度轉換為合同積壓訂單，您會看到我們的合同積壓訂單顯著增長。

Very helpful, Troy. Maybe just following up on that. Just a little more color regarding the balance between your 8% design backlog growth and the double-digit pipeline that you mentioned versus sort of watching some markets like the U.K. When you're doing -- when you made this slide and you talked about 8% NSR growth, how much visibility do you have into generating that revenue growth?

非常有幫助，特洛伊。也許只是跟進。關於你 8% 的設計積壓增長和你提到的兩位數管道之間的平衡，與觀察一些像英國這樣的市場相比，還有一點顏色。當你做的時候——當你製作這張幻燈片時，你談到了 8 NSR 增長百分比，您對產生收入增長有多大的了解？

How dependent is it on IIJA funding ramping in the U.S.? And is the growth back-end loaded at all? I know you mentioned currency is front-end loaded, but what about organic as you go throughout the year?

它對美國 IIJA 資金的依賴程度如何？增長後端是否加載？我知道你提到過貨幣是前端加載的，但是你全年都在使用有機貨幣嗎？

Okay. Andy, that was a lot. I'm going to give you a little bit higher level, and then I'll let Lara give some more detail on this. You asked about a few markets. So first of all, I would expect our back -- our NSR to grow in the same way that it has over the past few years, which is, it's a little lower in the first half of the year and will grow in the second half of the year. And again, that gets to the trajectory of the backlog, but that also gets to what I described is in our pipeline.

好的。安迪，那太多了。我會給你一個更高的層次，然後我會讓 Lara 給出更多的細節。你問了幾個市場。因此，首先，我希望我們的支持——我們的 NSR 能夠以與過去幾年相同的方式增長，也就是說，今年上半年略低，下半年會增長的一年。再一次，這涉及到積壓的軌跡，但也涉及到我所描述的我們管道中的內容。

Things move through our pipeline. We hear from our clients what's going to come to market. It then comes to market. We submit the bids and proposals, which we've been doing this last quarter, and we will work through that in the first half of this year. There will then be the awards and we'll head to contracted backlog and we'll start to deliver it. So that will contribute to this next year.

事情通過我們的管道移動。我們從客戶那裡聽到將要上市的產品。然後它進入市場。我們提交了我們上個季度一直在做的投標和提案，我們將在今年上半年完成這些工作。然後會有獎勵，我們將前往合同積壓，我們將開始交付它。因此，這將有助於明年。

But nevertheless, we go into the year with 8% growth in our DCS backlog, which, as we always said, is the best indicator of the future. And so I'll pass it over to Lara for a little bit more detail, and particularly about the U.K.

但儘管如此，今年我們的 DCS 積壓訂單增長了 8%，正如我們常說的那樣，這是未來的最佳指標。因此，我會將其傳遞給 Lara 以獲取更多詳細信息，尤其是關於英國的信息。

Yes. Thank you, Troy. And Andy, with respect to our U.K. business, it's a key part of our business. It did grow 7% over the last year. So despite the changes in Prime Minister and some of the other headwinds that we've navigated, let's not forget, it's -- we had a very deliberate strategy a few years ago to secure our key long-term positions on the U.K. framework.

是的。謝謝你，特洛伊。安迪，關於我們的英國業務，這是我們業務的關鍵部分。它確實比去年增長了 7%。因此，儘管首相發生了變化，我們也克服了其他一些不利因素，但我們不要忘記，幾年前我們制定了一項非常慎重的戰略，以確保我們在英國框架中的關鍵長期立場。

We've achieved that, and that gives us confidence about the longer-term and there are some very key prospects that we're awaiting decisions on. But despite that, we closed the year with a 1.1 book-to-burn ratio for the U.K. so we have a lot of confidence in that business in the long term.

我們已經實現了這一點，這讓我們對長期前景充滿信心，我們正在等待一些非常關鍵的前景。但儘管如此，我們以 1.1 的英國賬面銷毀比率結束了這一年，因此從長遠來看，我們對這項業務充滿信心。

The next question comes from Andy Wittmann from Baird.

下一個問題來自 Baird 的 Andy Wittmann。

I guess when you guys set the original 2024 guidance is I guess, $4.30 and then you raised it to $4.75, your stock was cheaper at the time, and the free cash flow yield was probably in the high single digits and debt was cheaper then, too.

我想當你們設定最初的 2024 年指導是 4.30 美元，然後你們將其提高到 4.75 美元，當時你們的股票更便宜，自由現金流收益率可能是高個位數，那時債務更便宜，也。

And so your long-term targets were therefore benefiting much more substantially from the buyback's impact to EPS accretion than they can today with the stock being, frankly, just more expensive as well as the debt being more expensive. So I was just wondering if that changes your approach at all towards the velocity of your share repurchase plan or even your confidence in achieving the $4.75 '24 guidance.

因此，您的長期目標因此從回購對 EPS 增長的影響中獲益比現在要大得多，坦率地說，股票價格和債務價格都更高。所以我只是想知道這是否會改變您對股票回購計劃速度的方法，甚至改變您對實現 4.75 美元 '24 指導的信心。

Yes, Andy. So you're right to point out that as your stock price increases, you should at least be thoughtful about how you're buying back stock. But I'll start with the headline is we set that goal. As you said, we started at $4.30, moved it to $4.75 based on our growing confidence in the business. And we still maintain that confidence and that's why we've retained that target.

是的，安迪。所以你正確地指出，隨著你的股票價格上漲，你至少應該考慮如何回購股票。但我將從頭條新聞開始，我們設定了這個目標。正如您所說，我們的起步價為 4.30 美元，基於我們對業務的信心不斷增強，將價格提高到 4.75 美元。我們仍然保持這種信心，這就是我們保留該目標的原因。

As we said, we still believe the right way to allocate capital is to allocate the majority of that, first of all, to the extent to organic growth and then secondly, to our shareholders through repurchases and dividends, and we will remain true to that. The other element of it is we don't have any intention of using debt markets, to go out and to borrow -- borrow over the long term in terms of our capital allocation strategy.

正如我們所說，我們仍然認為正確的資本分配方式是將大部分資本分配給有機增長，其次通過回購和股息分配給我們的股東，我們將繼續堅持這一點.它的另一個要素是我們無意使用債務市場，出去借錢——就我們的資本配置策略而言，長期借錢。

Again, but I'll say we'll always be opportunistic. And then when we look forward, we said we would match our cash flow -- our buybacks with our cash flow. And we intend on doing that, although we will look for opportunities, as we did this past year, to accelerate those opportunities.

再一次，但我會說我們將永遠是機會主義的。然後當我們展望未來時，我們說我們會匹配我們的現金流——我們的回購與我們的現金流。我們打算這樣做，儘管我們會像去年一樣尋找機會來加速這些機會。

Okay. That makes sense, yes. If you're funding the buyback totally out of free cash flow, [of total debt, then the average charge] works a little better. Okay. So I guess the other thing I just want to ask about here is trying to understand the organic growth revenue guidance that you're delivering here today.

好的。這是有道理的，是的。如果你完全從自由現金流中為回購提供資金，[總債務，然後平均費用]效果會更好一些。好的。所以我想我想在這裡問的另一件事是試圖理解你今天在這裡提供的有機增長收入指導。

There's obviously some degree of inflation that's causing wage rates and, therefore, the multipliers or whatever you're using to bill your clients would go up slightly, too. So is there a way you can help us just think about how much is kind of pass-through pricing here versus actual volumes of man-hours or labor hours delivered? Something to get an idea of kind of price versus volume in these numbers.

顯然有某種程度的通貨膨脹導致工資率，因此，乘數或您用來向客戶收費的任何東西也會略有上升。那麼，有沒有一種方法可以幫助我們考慮這裡的傳遞定價與實際交付的工時或工時相比有多少？了解這些數字中價格與數量的關係。

I know it's tricky in a business like yours, but I think it's an idea that I think would resonate and be helpful as to understand how the business is progressing.

我知道這在像您這樣的企業中很棘手，但我認為這是一個我認為會引起共鳴並有助於了解企業進展情況的想法。

Andy, this is Gaur. In terms of your specific question as to hours versus rates, we don't provide guidance or breakout on each of those specific metrics. But overall, we are in a very strong position to manage our contracts, which in general, right, at any given point in time, we have 40,000, 50,000 contracts going on. Average term is, call it, 5 to 6 months or less. So these are not long-burning contracts that allows us to price them appropriately. And there is going to be some skill that we're going to leverage for our benefit in terms of increasing our hours by utilizing capability centers across the globe to deliver the work.

安迪，這是 Gaur。就您關於工時與費率的具體問題而言，我們不會針對每個具體指標提供指導或突破。但總的來說，我們在管理合同方面處於非常有利的地位，一般來說，在任何給定時間點，我們都有 40,000、50,000 份合同在進行中。平均期限為 5 至 6 個月或更短。因此，這些不是讓我們能夠適當定價的長期合同。在通過利用全球能力中心交付工作來增加我們的工作時間方面，我們將利用一些技能來為我們帶來好處。

The next question comes from Steven Fisher from UBS.

下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的 Steven Fisher。

Nice to see the International margins closing in on double digits here. How much of that is driven by mix versus operational efforts or anything else? I know you just mentioned centers of excellence. So I'm just curious kind of -- but now you also have some of these bigger programs in, say, the Middle East. So what are the drivers of the margins in International and what do you see as the runway from here?

很高興看到國際利潤率在這裡接近兩位數。其中有多少是由混合與運營努力或其他因素驅動的？我知道您剛剛提到了卓越中心。所以我只是有點好奇——但現在你在中東也有一些更大的項目。那麼，國際利潤率的驅動因素是什麼？您認為從這裡開始的跑道是什麼？

Yes. Steven, this is Gaur. I'll take that question. International margins are a clear example of us realizing the strategy we have put forth, focused on winning the big transitional job that Lara pointed out too early, while at the same time, be very cognizant of running a very efficient and effective cost structure. So it's a combination of all those matters. And in terms of the market opportunities, I'll turn it over to Lara to provide a little bit more clarity on it.

是的。史蒂文，這是 Gaur。我會回答這個問題。國際利潤率是我們實現我們提出的戰略的一個明顯例子，專注於贏得 Lara 過早指出的重大過渡工作，同時非常認識到運行非常高效和有效的成本結構。所以這是所有這些問題的結合。就市場機會而言，我會把它交給 Lara 來提供更多的清晰度。

Yes, sure. Steven, so we're continuing to see a very strong infrastructure outlook. A good example of that is the Australian market where we secured some key wins that we've announced at the end of fiscal '22. There are another couple of big transformational -- transportation wins that we'll be able to announce in the not-too-distant future.

是的，當然。史蒂文，所以我們繼續看到非常強勁的基礎設施前景。一個很好的例子是澳大利亞市場，我們在 22 財年末宣布了一些關鍵的勝利。在不久的將來，我們將能夠宣布另外幾項重大的轉型——運輸勝利。

And then the other -- another great example is our work in the Middle East. Middle East, most notably Saudi Arabia, up 33% in terms of NSR growth year-on-year. So the long-term outlook there for our program management capabilities and infrastructure generally is very strong. So a strong outlook. And as Gaur said, really, it's the realization of our strategy and our Think and Act Globally strategy.

然後另一個 - 另一個很好的例子是我們在中東的工作。中東地區，尤其是沙特阿拉伯，NSR 同比增長 33%。因此，我們的項目管理能力和基礎設施的長期前景總體上非常強勁。所以前景看好。正如 Gaur 所說，真的，這是我們戰略和我們的全球思考和行動戰略的實現。

Okay. And then I wonder if you could just give us a little bit more specificity or breakdown of bridging from 5% NSR growth in '22 to 8% in '23. Any sense of what's the Americas Design growth you expect for '23? What's the Construction Management international? Any of those sort of bridge items to get that acceleration?

好的。然後我想知道你是否可以給我們更多的具體信息或從 22 年的 5% NSR 增長到 23 年的 8% 的橋接細分。您對 23 世紀美洲設計的增長有何期待？什麼是國際建築管理？任何此類橋樑項目都可以獲得加速？

Yes. So Steve, maybe think about it this way, is we did have strong growth in the International business this past year. And so to actually have that expand at a significantly faster rate would be difficult. So I think that's where we will have very good growth, but in terms of a significant improvement, that's more difficult. But turning to our Americas business, in particular, our DCS business, that's where we see there is a larger opportunity to grow that business in the future.

是的。所以史蒂夫，也許可以這樣想，去年我們的國際業務確實有強勁增長。因此，實際上要以明顯更快的速度進行擴展將很困難。所以我認為這就是我們將有非常好的增長的地方，但就顯著改進而言，這更加困難。但轉向我們的美洲業務，特別是我們的 DCS 業務，我們認為未來有更大的機會發展該業務。

Can you quantify what the Americas Design growth you expect for '23 then?

您能否量化您對 23 世紀的美洲設計增長的預期？

No. No, we're not going to define that because when we look across the business, you make dynamic decisions all through the year about the things that we're going to take advantage of. So again, I'll just describe it as a balance. And we're not giving up a projection or prediction of what that would look like in each of the businesses.

不，不，我們不打算定義它，因為當我們審視整個業務時，您全年都會就我們將要利用的事物做出動態決策。因此，我再次將其描述為一種平衡。我們不會放棄對每項業務的預測或預測。

The next question comes from Sean Eastman of KeyBanc Capital Markets.

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

So just continuing on with that last discussion on the revenue ramp. So we're stepping up from 5% to 8%, like Steve called out there. A lot of that ramp is being driven by DCS. And you guys are also saying that there's -- sounds like there's not much tailwind from the IIJA in this fiscal year. So I guess what I'm driving at here is that it sounds like we're still going to have some gas in the tank in terms of the Americas Design business as we go into next year as well with that big funding tailwind still not really driving the model. Is that fair?

因此，繼續關於收入增長的最後討論。所以我們正在從 5% 提高到 8%，就像史蒂夫在那裡喊的那樣。很多斜坡都是由 DCS 驅動的。你們還說，在本財年，IIJA 似乎沒有太大的推動力。所以我想我在這裡的意思是，聽起來我們在美洲設計業務方面仍然會有一些油箱，因為我們進入明年以及巨大的資金順風仍然不是真的駕駛模型。這公平嗎？

I think so, Sean, I think that's a fair characterization. But when we did -- we are -- again, as we said, we saw an increase in what we thought was -- when our clients' [rate finance] coming to market, we've seen an increase in terms of what we're bidding. And a lot of that is in the Americas, and that is in the U.S.

我認為是的，肖恩，我認為這是一個公平的描述。但是當我們做到了——我們再次——正如我們所說，我們看到了我們認為的增加——當我們的客戶的 [利率融資] 進入市場時，我們看到了我們所認為的增加正在出價。其中很多在美洲，在美國。

So I think we're starting to see the impact from IIJA. What I think we've been describing is it's slower than we had been anticipating. But it is -- nonetheless, we are starting to see that. And it's impossible to sort of break down and say, well, this percentage of that increase is related to IIJA and this percentage isn't. The fact is it's influencing all of our clients and creating positive momentum.

所以我認為我們開始看到 IIJA 的影響。我認為我們一直在描述的是它比我們預期的要慢。但它是——儘管如此，我們開始看到這一點。並且不可能分解並說，好吧，這個增長百分比與 IIJA 有關，而這個百分比不是。事實上，它正在影響我們所有的客戶並創造積極的勢頭。

So I think the way that you actually described it is, it is a tailwind for the business and something that we'll capitalize. And we see this as now entering into the market and we think we'll expect to see that in our results in '23 and beyond. But again, if something doesn't come to market as fast as you had thought, that means that it's probably going to stay there for longer than you had thought. So I think you should think about this as a long-term tailwind for our U.S. business.

所以我認為你實際描述的方式是，它是業務的順風，也是我們將利用的東西。我們認為這是現在進入市場，我們認為我們會在 23 年及以後的結果中看到這一點。但同樣，如果某些東西沒有像您想像的那樣快速進入市場，這意味著它可能會在那裡停留的時間比您想像的要長。所以我認為你應該將此視為我們美國業務的長期順風。

Okay. Got it. That makes sense. And you guys highlighted reshoring of critical manufacturing as kind of a core mega-trend. And it'd be helpful just to get a little more color on how to think about AECOM's exposure around that trend in particular. And what types of things are kind of entering the pipeline around that theme?

好的。知道了。這就說得通了。你們強調關鍵製造業的回流是一種核心大趨勢。並且它會有助於獲得更多關於如何考慮 AECOM 特別是圍繞該趨勢的曝光的顏色。什麼類型的東西正在圍繞這個主題進入管道？

Yes. Well, again, I would describe it as -- I mean, the trends themselves, I think, I'm not going to describe. I think they're well described by you, the analyst community, and fairly well understood. But in terms of our exposure to them, our exposure is fairly broad. Through our Buildings + Places business, we certainly have a lot of exposure to clients as they relocate and build new infrastructure to support supply chain changes.

是的。嗯，再一次，我會把它描述為——我的意思是，趨勢本身，我想，我不會描述。我認為您，分析師社區對它們進行了很好的描述，並且相當容易理解。但就我們對它們的接觸而言，我們的接觸範圍相當廣泛。通過我們的 Buildings + Places 業務，當客戶搬遷和建設新的基礎設施以支持供應鏈變化時，我們當然會接觸到很多客戶。

But our exposure is actually broader than that because we're exposed well across our business because you sort of think about those trends, there has to be the planning that you do upfront, which, again, our business is exposed to. There's the program management work that you do along the way, which our business is certainly now exposed to more than it ever has. And then there's all the supporting infrastructure.

但我們的曝光實際上比這更廣泛，因為我們在整個業務中都有很好的曝光，因為你有點考慮這些趨勢，你必須提前做計劃，這又是我們的業務所面臨的。一路上你要做項目管理工作，我們的業務現在肯定比以往任何時候都更容易受到影響。然後是所有支持基礎設施。

For example, a lot of these changes in facilities that are being built use a lot of water. And kind of our water business is participating in that as well. You think about a semiconductor facility that's being built. We've built over a long period of time, but you go through the permitting process, there's a program management element to it. There's our buildings and places exposure to that. And our water business is exposed to that.

例如，正在建造的設施中的許多這些變化使用大量的水。我們的水業務也參與其中。您考慮正在建造的半導體設施。我們已經建立了很長一段時間，但你要經過許可程序，其中有一個程序管理元素。我們的建築物和地方都暴露在其中。我們的水務業務也受到了影響。

Now we certainly don't do any work inside that facility, but frankly, nobody really does because that is proprietary to that particular manufacturer. So we're fairly well exposed to all of those trends broadly across our business.

現在我們當然不會在那個設施內做任何工作，但坦率地說，沒有人真正這樣做，因為那是那個特定製造商的專有財產。因此，我們在整個業務範圍內都很好地了解了所有這些趨勢。

The next question comes from Jamie Cook at Credit Suisse.

下一個問題來自瑞士信貸的傑米庫克。

Just a follow-up question. I think in your prepared remarks, Troy, you talked about a 20% increase in bid prospects. And I'm just sort of wondering where that's coming from. Is it increasing? Is it market share? Is it specific to a certain market? Are you looking at additional markets that you haven't looked at before? So any color on that front?

只是一個後續問題。我想在你準備好的發言中，特洛伊，你談到了投標前景增加 20%。我只是想知道這是從哪裡來的。它在增加嗎？是市場份額嗎？它特定於某個市場嗎？您是否正在尋找以前未曾關注過的其他市場？那麼前面有什麼顏色嗎？

And then I guess my second question, like back to your 2024 targets, again, just comfort to get there, given where you're guiding for 2023. I mean, do we just assume like the sort of constant EBITDA growth that you guys have been targeting in the high single-digit 10% range and then you get the rest of it through just -- to hit the EPS target, you just -- you're going to -- just buying back the stock. That's how you get there?

然後我想我的第二個問題，就像回到你的 2024 年目標，考慮到你對 2023 年的指導，只是很高興到達那裡。我的意思是，我們是否只是假設你們擁有的那種持續的 EBITDA 增長一直將目標定在 10% 的高個位數範圍內，然後你就可以通過 - 達到 EPS 目標，你只需 - 你將要 - 回購股票。這就是你到達那裡的方式？

Sure. Thanks, Jamie. So first question, the 20% is coming across our entire business. And we're seeing -- we described it in the opening comments. It certainly is here in North America, in the U.S. and in Canada and in Australia and in the Middle East. So that is -- we're seeing that broadly across the business. We're also seeing that broadly across our business lines.

當然。謝謝，傑米。所以第一個問題，這 20% 涉及我們的整個業務。我們正在看到 - 我們在開場評論中對其進行了描述。它肯定存在於北美、美國、加拿大、澳大利亞和中東。這就是 - 我們在整個業務中廣泛看到了這一點。我們也在我們的業務線中廣泛看到了這一點。

The one difference is now we have an exposure to program management that we didn't have 2 years ago. So if you want to look at something that has changed, we are exposed to more of those markets than we have been in the past.

一個不同之處在於，現在我們可以接觸到 2 年前所沒有的項目管理。因此，如果你想看看發生了什麼變化，我們會比過去接觸到更多的市場。

So certainly, some of that increase, that 20% is coming through an increased exposure to program management. And those opportunities are fairly large opportunities. In terms of the guidance, I'm going to hand it over to Gaur.

因此，可以肯定的是，其中 20% 的增長是通過增加對項目管理的接觸來實現的。這些機會是相當大的機會。在指導方面，我將把它交給 Gaur。

So FY '24, again, just a reminder, it's a dynamic model, right? There's not one singular path and that's how you get there. But to give you some examples of this dynamic model is if we would achieve a very low double-digit organic growth in FY '24, mind you, we're already doing -- we're projected to do 80% in FY '23 without significant tailwind from IIJA, and we achieve our 15-plus percent margins, which we have full confidence in, that will propel us consistent with our capital allocation strategy we had built into our model to get to the $4.75 while incurring significant headwinds from FX, which is not in our control.

所以 FY '24，再次提醒一下，這是一個動態模型，對嗎？沒有一條單一的路徑，這就是你到達那裡的方式。但是給你一些這種動態模型的例子，如果我們在 24 財年實現非常低的兩位數有機增長，請注意，我們已經在做——我們預計在 23 財年實現 80%沒有 IIJA 的顯著順風，我們實現了 15% 以上的利潤率，我們對此充滿信心，這將推動我們與我們在模型中建立的資本配置策略保持一致，以達到 4.75 美元，同時招致來自 FX 的重大逆風，這不在我們的控制範圍內。

And the second thing, as a reminder, for our FY '23 EPS guidance we put forth, it does not incorporate any repurchases beyond what has already been executed in FY '22.

第二件事，提醒一下，對於我們提出的 FY '23 EPS 指導，它不包含任何超出 FY '22 已經執行的回購。

The next question comes from Michael Dudas from Vertical Research.

下一個問題來自 Vertical Research 的 Michael Dudas。

Troy, can you maybe give us a little more thoughts on your federal business, which I've been tracking, seems to be doing -- has been growing quite well and is the funding and access an issue there as opposed to like some of the complication you're seeing in getting it from federal states to these projects that you talked about in the pipeline?

特洛伊，你能不能給我們更多關於你的聯邦業務的想法，我一直在跟踪，似乎正在做 - 一直增長得很好，資金和訪問是一個問題，而不是像一些您在將它從聯邦州轉移到您在管道中談到的這些項目時看到的複雜情況？

And then, secondly, on Construction Management, just the general tone, given the sharp backup in interest rates? What's the temperature of developers or folks? You say you got some contracts converting here in the next couple of quarters. Is that something that's kind of -- like kind of getting a leg about itself? Or is there some concern about the opportunities maybe for '24 and '25, given some of the funding issues we've seen in the market?

然後，其次，關於施工管理，只是一般基調，考慮到利率的大幅支持？開發人員或鄉親的溫度是多少？你說你在接下來的幾個季度裡有一些合同在這裡轉換。那是不是有點 - 就像有點了解自己一樣？還是考慮到我們在市場上看到的一些資金問題，是否有人擔心 24 和 25 年的機會？

Okay. Yes. So first, with respect to federal, again, our U.S. federal business, I guess the most important point there is just the starting point is we've unseated some incumbents on some rather large programs or high-value programs. So that obviously gives us confidence as we move into the future.

好的。是的。因此，首先，關於聯邦，再一次，關於我們的美國聯邦業務，我想最重要的一點只是起點，我們已經讓一些在職者在一些相當大的項目或高價值項目中脫穎而出。因此，這顯然給了我們走向未來的信心。

The other thing is that a lot of our activity in that market is determined by the kind of the contract vehicles or the IDIQs that you've won. And over this past year, we've had a great amount of success there increasing our IDIQ capacity. And as it stands today, we have -- again, this isn't in our backlog but we have over $100 billion of IDIQ capacity, which means that there's -- we'll have a -- we have an ongoing dialogue with those federal clients to do project work for them under those contract vehicles.

另一件事是，我們在該市場的許多活動都取決於您贏得的合同工具或 IDIQ 的類型。在過去的一年裡，我們在提高 IDIQ 產能方面取得了巨大成功。就目前的情況而言，我們 - 再一次，這不在我們的積壓工作中，但我們擁有超過 1000 億美元的 IDIQ 容量，這意味著 - 我們將 - 我們與那些聯邦機構進行持續對話客戶根據這些合同工具為他們做項目工作。

And they're experiencing the same thing that all of our clients are. They have a lot of things they have to -- they're working to accomplish. But it's a lot for them to handle. And so it's a little slower, I think, than we would have anticipated. But nevertheless, in terms of that long-term opportunity with the programs of IDIQs, it does create a great long-term tailwind into the future.

他們正在經歷與我們所有客戶相同的事情。他們有很多必須要做的事情——他們正在努力完成。但他們要處理的事情很多。所以我認為它比我們預期的要慢一些。但儘管如此，就 IDIQ 計劃的長期機會而言，它確實為未來創造了一個巨大的長期順風。

And with respect to the Construction Management business is -- we certainly have seen, in the quarter, a couple of -- I'm going to quote sort of some nontraditional development investors, kind of not the large mainstream developers. They've decided to not proceed with projects. And so that's -- we certainly did see that in the quarter.

關於施工管理業務——我們當然已經在本季度看到了幾個——我要引用一些非傳統的開發投資者，而不是大型主流開發商。他們決定不繼續進行項目。所以這就是 - 我們確實在本季度看到了這一點。

But I will say this, again, just about our Construction Management business. It is a much more diversified business than it has been in the past. We now have a fairly significant exposure to aviation, convention centers, government buildings and sports facilities. And so we're -- in terms of that portfolio, we're less dependent upon commercial office and mixed-use development. And so that's what we're seeing today.

但我會再說一遍，只是關於我們的施工管理業務。這是一個比過去更加多元化的業務。我們現在對航空、會議中心、政府大樓和體育設施有相當大的風險敞口。因此，就該投資組合而言，我們對商業辦公和混合用途開發的依賴程度較低。這就是我們今天所看到的。

And I think 2 other important points to highlight, which is we have 3.5 years of backlog in that business now. And it certainly had, even this past year, we came out of this past year with a 1x book-to-burn, a 1x book-to-burn in that business, and it does represent somewhere between 8% or 9% of the overall business.

我認為還有 2 個要點需要強調，那就是我們現在在該業務中有 3.5 年的積壓。它當然有，即使在過去的一年裡，我們在過去的一年中也有 1x book-to-burn，1x book-to-burn in that business，它確實佔了 8% 或 9% 之間整體業務。

So again, it's a contributor. It's not a significant contributor the way that our design business is. And it's, even with some of the market turbulence, it's set up well for the future.

再一次，它是一個貢獻者。它不像我們的設計業務那樣是一個重要的貢獻者。而且，即使存在一些市場動盪，它也為未來做好了準備。

The next question comes from Adam Thalhimer from Thompson, Davis.

下一個問題來自 Thompson, Davis 的 Adam Thalhimer。

Congrats on a solid Q4.

祝賀 Q4 穩健。

Thank you, Adam.

謝謝你，亞當。

One more, if you will, on the IIJA. In terms of not coming as fast -- in terms of not coming as fast as expected, was that a transportation comment? Because I feel like some of the water and wastewater opportunities are starting to flow through. Curious on that.

再來一個，如果你願意的話，在 IIJA 上。關於沒有來得那麼快——沒有來得像預期的那麼快，這是交通評論嗎？因為我覺得一些水和廢水的機會開始流過。對此很好奇。

Actually, I'll just say, Adam, it's fairly broad-based. Again, there's some elements of the IIJA funding has come through a little bit faster than others. And water is certainly a place because there's a little more direct path to market than there is in transportation. Transportation usually comes through another agency. So it has to be -- again, it has to be married up with either it's a local government agency or a state agency. So that is certainly true.

實際上，我只想說，亞當，它的基礎相當廣泛。同樣，IIJA 資金的某些部分比其他部分來得快一點。水肯定是一個地方，因為與運輸相比，通往市場的路徑更直接。運輸通常通過另一個機構進行。所以它必須——再一次，它必須與地方政府機構或國家機構結合起來。所以這當然是真的。

But we have seen that broadly across all of our business lines that it has just been slower to market. But again, what we're seeing now, and as I said, it's difficult for us to differentiate to say within our pipeline of what we're bidding and submitting today. Is it purely IIJA or not? I think it's a fair comment to say that, that entire increase in the pipeline certainly is contributed to by the IIJA. But it was slower than I think we -- everyone had anticipated when the bill was passed.

但我們已經廣泛地看到，在我們所有的業務線中，它的上市速度都比較慢。但同樣，我們現在所看到的，正如我所說，我們很難在我們今天投標和提交的管道中區分說什麼。是否純粹是IIJA？我認為這是一個公平的評論，整個管道的增加肯定是由 IIJA 貢獻的。但它比我認為的要慢——每個人在法案通過時都預料到了。

Got it, okay. And then lastly, I wanted to ask on the $30 million to $40 million of restructuring expenses next year. Can you talk about what investments you're making there? And what the benefit long term is for AECOM from those investments?

知道了，好的。最後，我想問問明年 3000 萬到 4000 萬美元的重組費用。你能談談你在那裡進行的投資嗎？這些投資對 AECOM 的長期利益是什麼？

Adam, this is Gaur. I'll respond to that question. We're -- I think I mentioned this before, right? We're always committed to driving profitable growth in our business while, at the same time, being very cognizant of markets that may not meet our hurdles, our hurdles on ROIC growth, margin profitability and cash conversion. If they don't meet those in the small, mid to long term in those markets, we will prune them. And we'll always hold ourselves accountable to deliver as high of return on invested capital returns to our shareholders as we can.

亞當，這是 Gaur。我會回答那個問題。我們——我想我之前提到過這個，對吧？我們始終致力於推動我們業務的盈利增長，同時非常了解可能無法滿足我們障礙的市場，我們在 ROIC 增長、利潤率和現金轉換方面的障礙。如果他們不滿足那些市場中小、中長期的需求，我們將修剪它們。我們將始終對自己負責，為我們的股東提供盡可能高的投資資本回報率。

And a great example of that is we've already increased our ROIC target from 15% to 17% based on the small tweaks and pruning is, what I would call, have led to better working capital conversion, better profitability, better growth and really focus in geographies and markets that have the long-term fundamentals to support the growth strategy we've employed.

一個很好的例子是，我們已經根據小的調整和修剪將 ROIC 目標從 15% 提高到 17%，我稱之為，已經導致更好的營運資本轉換、更好的盈利能力、更好的增長和真正專注於具有長期基本面以支持我們採用的增長戰略的地區和市場。

We have no further questions at this time, so I'll hand back to Troy Rudd for concluding remarks.

我們現在沒有其他問題了，所以我將把結束語交還給 Troy Rudd。

All right, thank you. And I will keep this brief. Look, I said this at the opening, we've had a successful year. And as we look forward, we certainly feel good about the business because we're exposed to what we think are some very long-term investment trends in infrastructure. We've built a business that has created some long-term competitive advantage. And frankly, we have a lower -- a higher-returning lower rates business model. And as Gaur made reference, we're always looking to fine-tune and improve that.

好噠。謝謝你們。我會保持簡短。看，我在開幕式上說過，我們度過了成功的一年。展望未來，我們當然對這項業務感覺良好，因為我們接觸到我們認為是基礎設施的一些非常長期的投資趨勢。我們建立的業務創造了一些長期的競爭優勢。坦率地說，我們有一個回報率較低的低利率商業模式。正如 Gaur 所提到的，我們一直在尋求微調和改進。

And ultimately, in a difficult time, if there is one ahead, 90% of our costs are valuable. And when you add all this up, it means that we have a great platform for the future. And I have to end the call, most importantly, by just thanking our teams again for their contributions this past year. You aggregate the contributions of all of the people that work here and it aggregates to our strong results. So thank you all. And thank you, everyone, for joining today's call.

最終，在困難時期，如果有先行者，我們 90% 的成本都是有價值的。當你把所有這些加起來，就意味著我們擁有一個面向未來的偉大平台。我必須結束電話會議，最重要的是，再次感謝我們的團隊在過去一年中所做的貢獻。您匯集了所有在這里工作的人的貢獻，匯聚成我們出色的成果。所以謝謝大家。感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。

This concludes today's call. Thank you very much for your attendance. You may now disconnect your lines.

今天的電話會議到此結束。非常感謝您的出席。您現在可以斷開線路。