AECOM (ACM) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the AECOM Third Quarter 2023 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. As a reminder, AECOM is also simulcasting this presentation with slides at the Investors section at www.aecom.com. (Operator Instructions)

早上好，歡迎參加 AECOM 2023 年第三季度電話會議。我謹通知所有參與者，本次通話是應 AECOM 的要求進行錄音的。該廣播是 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。謹此提醒，AECOM 還在 www.aecom.com 的投資者部分同步播放了本演示文稿和幻燈片。 （操作員說明）

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

我想將電話轉給財務、財務和投資者關係高級副總裁威爾·加布里埃爾斯基 (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 various risks and uncertainties, including those described in our periodic reports filed with the SEC. Except as law requires, we undertake no obligation to update our forward-looking statements.

謝謝你，接線員。我想請您注意今天演示文稿第一頁的安全港聲明。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和不確定性，實際結果可能與今天的前瞻性聲明中預測的結果存在顯著差異。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 of the Americas and International segments. 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.

我們在演示中使用某些非公認會計準則財務指標。適當的 GAAP 調節已納入我們的材料中，並發佈到我們的網站上。任何對分部利潤率或分部調整後營業利潤的提及都將反映美洲和國際分部的業績。在討論收入和收入增長時，我們會提到淨服務收入（NSR），它的定義是不包括轉嫁收入的收入。 NSR 和積壓訂單增長率按固定匯率計算。

Unless otherwise noted, today's discussion of key performance indicators will focus on the continuing operations of the company and will exclude AECOM Capital, which is reported as noncore given the company's intent to transition the business.

除非另有說明，今天對關鍵績效指標的討論將重點關注公司的持續運營，並將排除 AECOM Capital，鑑於該公司打算進行業務轉型，AECOM Capital 被報告為非核心。

On today's call, Troy Rudd, our Chief Executive Officer, will review our key accomplishments, our strategy and 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.

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、我們的戰略和業務前景。我們的總統拉拉·波洛尼 (Lara Poloni) 將討論關鍵的運營成功和優先事項。我們的首席財務官高拉夫·卡普爾 (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?

這樣，我就把電話轉給特洛伊。特洛伊？

Thank you, Will, and thank you all for joining us today. The strength and consistency of our results are a testament to the competitive advantage we have built through our Think and Act Globally strategy, which has enabled the strong collaboration of our 50,000 technical experts and a focus on winning what matters to expand the long-term earnings power of the company.

謝謝威爾，也謝謝大家今天加入我們。我們成果的實力和一致性證明了我們通過全球思考和行動戰略建立的競爭優勢，該戰略使我們 50,000 名技術專家能夠緊密合作，並專注於贏得擴大長期收益的重要機會公司的力量。

I'm pleased to see that our leadership was again recognized by ENR in its recent annual survey. In addition to our top rankings in transportation and facilities design and environmental design, we overtook the top spot in mass transit, chemical remediation and environmental consulting. Our focus on organic growth in our Program Management business also resulted in us moving up the rankings, displacing strong competitors, and we expect this trend to continue.

我很高興看到我們的領導地位在 ENR 最近的年度調查中再次得到認可。除了在交通和設施設計以及環境設計方面排名第一之外，我們還在公共交通、化學修復和環境諮詢方面超越了榜首。我們對項目管理業務有機增長的關注也導致我們排名上升，取代了強大的競爭對手，我們預計這種趨勢將持續下去。

These market share gains are especially notable as they are driven by high-margin organic growth which is in contrast to our peer group that remains highly acquisitive. I want to thank our teams for their commitment to our success and congratulate them on these remarkable achievements.

這些市場份額的增長尤其引人注目，因為它們是由高利潤有機增長推動的，這與我們仍然高度收購的同行形成鮮明對比。我要感謝我們的團隊對我們成功的承諾，並祝賀他們取得這些非凡的成就。

Turning to our third quarter performance. A few key trends are apparent in our results. First, our investments in organic growth are paying off. NSR growth in the design business was 10%, which is the highest growth rate in many years and included strong performance across nearly every major geography in which we operate. Second, this growth is coming at consistently high margins, which is enabling us to invest in a high rate of growth in our backlog and pipeline. And our adjusted operating margin of 15.2% reflected an all-time high. This trend affirms our confidence in delivering a 17% margin in the future. Both the Americas and International segments contributed to this strong performance, which resulted in adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS increases of 10% and 12% on a constant-currency basis.

轉向我們第三季度的業績。我們的結果顯示了一些主要趨勢。首先，我們對有機增長的投資正在獲得回報。 NSR 設計業務的增長率為 10%，這是多年來的最高增長率，並且在我們開展業務的幾乎每個主要地區都表現強勁。其次，這種增長帶來了持續的高利潤，這使我們能夠投資於我們的積壓訂單和管道的高增長率。我們調整後的營業利潤率為 15.2%，創下歷史新高。這一趨勢堅定了我們對未來實現 17% 利潤率的信心。美洲和國際業務部門均對這一強勁業績做出了貢獻，導致調整後 EBITDA 和調整後每股收益（按固定匯率計算）分別增長 10% 和 12%。

Third, we continue to generate strong cash flow with $265 million of free cash flow in the quarter, which enabled the consistent execution of our returns-focused capital allocation policy, including returning more than $220 million to investors fiscal year-to-date. Finally, we have built a foundation for continued growth throughout our strong pipeline and targeted investments. Backlog in the design business increased by 10% to a new record, driven by both the Americas and International businesses. This growth included 3 other noteworthy attributes. First, given our record quarterly margins, our backlog is more profitable than ever. Second, delivering a double-digit increase in backlog on top of a double-digit increase in revenue reflects the strength of our pipeline and our continued high win rate. Third, our share of wins valued at greater than $25 million have more than doubled over the past few years, which creates greater visibility and certainty into the future. Please turn to the next slide.

第三，我們繼續產生強勁的現金流，本季度自由現金流為 2.65 億美元，這使得我們能夠持續執行以回報為中心的資本配置政策，包括本財年迄今向投資者返還超過 2.2 億美元。最後，我們通過強大的產品線和有針對性的投資為持續增長奠定了基礎。在美洲和國際業務的推動下，設計業務的積壓訂單增加了 10%，創下新紀錄。這種增長還包括其他 3 個值得注意的特徵。首先，考慮到我們創紀錄的季度利潤，我們的積壓訂單比以往任何時候都更有利可圖。其次，在收入兩位數增長的基礎上，積壓訂單也實現了兩位數的增長，這反映了我們管道的實力和我們持續的高贏率。第三，我們價值超過 2500 萬美元的勝利份額在過去幾年中增加了一倍多，這為未來創造了更大的可見性和確定性。請翻到下一張幻燈片。

Turning to our markets. In the U.S., funding for key infrastructure initiatives is advancing. This includes increasing activity from the IIJA, Inflation Reduction Act and robust state and local infrastructure investment. A great example is our selection to serve as a lead designer for the renovation of the historic Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project, which we were awarded after the quarter closed.

轉向我們的市場。在美國，關鍵基礎設施項目的融資正在推進。這包括 IIJA、通貨膨脹削減法案以及強勁的州和地方基礎設施投資的增加活動。一個很好的例子是我們被選為歷史悠久的布倫特斯彭斯大橋走廊項目翻修的首席設計師，我們在季度結束後獲得了該項目。

Our technical expertise beat out the formidable competition on this landmark pursuit that is being supported by $1.6 billion of funding from the IIJA. We expect these drivers to further accelerate in 2024 and beyond, which is consistent with the continued growth in our pipeline of proposals and bids submitted. In Canada, our backlog continued to increase. Both provincial and national priorities are aligned around transportation, environmental remediation, energy transition and hydrogen infrastructure investment, markets where we are well positioned to capitalize. Across our international markets, backlog reached a new high with strength across nearly every major market. Importantly, with our margins now effectively at our double-digit target, each point of growth is increasingly valuable to the enterprise, and our confidence is high in continuing to increase our margins in the future.

我們的技術專長在這一具有里程碑意義的追求中擊敗了強大的競爭對手，該追求得到了 IIJA 16 億美元的資金支持。我們預計這些驅動因素將在 2024 年及以後進一步加速，這與我們提交的提案和投標管道的持續增長是一致的。在加拿大，我們的積壓訂單繼續增加。省級和國家級優先事項均圍繞交通、環境整治、能源轉型和氫基礎設施投資，我們在這些市場上處於有利地位。在我們的國際市場上，積壓訂單達到了新高，幾乎每個主要市場都表現強勁。重要的是，由於我們的利潤率現在實際上達到了兩位數的目標，每個增長點對企業來說都越來越有價值，我們對未來繼續提高利潤率充滿信心。

Importantly, in all of these markets, our program management and advisory businesses have expanded our addressable market to provide a strong complement to our technical expertise. I want to highlight another noteworthy accomplishment during the quarter. We successfully positioned AECOM as the leader in the long-term rebuilding of Ukraine, which is estimated to cost nearly half a trillion dollars. This included a memorandum of understanding with Ukraine's Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development to serve as its reconstruction delivery partner.

重要的是，在所有這些市場中，我們的項目管理和諮詢業務擴大了我們的目標市場，為我們的技術專長提供了強有力的補充。我想強調本季度另一項值得注意的成就。我們成功地將 AECOM 定位為烏克蘭長期重建的領導者，該重建預計耗資近 5000 億美元。其中包括與烏克蘭社區、領土和基礎設施發展部簽署的諒解備忘錄，作為其重建交付合作夥伴。

In addition, we signed an agreement with the Ukraine State Agency for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure, which will advance national design standards and provide engineering support for critical infrastructure projects. Discussions to begin are already underway, and we are proud to be at the forefront of the reconstruction of Ukraine.

此外，我們還與烏克蘭國家基礎設施恢復和發展機構簽署了一項協議，該協議將提高國家設計標準，並為關鍵基礎設施項目提供工程支持。開始的討論已經在進行中，我們很自豪能夠站在烏克蘭重建的最前沿。

I'm also pleased that our recent activities are consistent with our planned transition of AECOM Capital and include the following. First, we have signed a term sheet to transition the AECOM Capital team to a new platform, which will be facilitated by AECOM on a transitional basis and will enable the team to continue to support AECOM's existing investment vehicles and investments in a manner consistent with their current obligations. This transaction, which we expect will close later this fiscal year, will create continuity for the team, reduce overhead costs for AECOM and ensure the right level of ongoing support for the management and delivery of our commitments.

我還很高興我們最近的活動與我們計劃的 AECOM Capital 過渡一致，包括以下內容。首先，我們簽署了一份條款清單，將AECOM Capital 團隊過渡到一個新平台，該平台將由AECOM 在過渡的基礎上提供便利，並使該團隊能夠以符合其業務的方式繼續支持AECOM 現有的投資工具和投資。當前義務。我們預計這項交易將於本財年晚些時候完成，它將為團隊創造連續性，降低 AECOM 的管理成本，並確保為管理和履行我們的承諾提供適當水平的持續支持。

Second, we have completed a project-by-project review of our existing investments. Based on this review, we expect the disposition of AECOM Capital investments to return between $50 million and $100 million of capital to AECOM over the next several years. Third, we also evaluated alternatives for investment on its balance sheet, including funding additional carrying costs that might be required if the current market conditions persist. We determined that additional investments of time and capital in these investments would be inconsistent with our return-driven capital allocation policy.

其次，我們已經完成了對現有投資的逐個項目審查。根據此次審查，我們預計 AECOM Capital 投資的處置將在未來幾年內向 AECOM 返還 5000 萬至 1 億美元的資本。第三，我們還評估了其資產負債表上的投資替代方案，包括為當前市場狀況持續下去可能需要的額外持有成本提供資金。我們認為，在這些投資中額外投入時間和資本將不符合我們以回報為導向的資本分配政策。

Finally, to reflect this change, we've adjusted the carrying value of these investments which resulted in a noncash impact to our P&L. However, as I spoke a moment ago, we are confident that the realization of our investments will be a positive cash contributor to AECOM and create additional capital for higher-returning opportunities.

最後，為了反映這一變化，我們調整了這些投資的賬面價值，這對我們的損益產生了非現金影響。然而，正如我剛才所說，我們相信，我們的投資變現將為 AECOM 帶來積極的現金貢獻，並為更高回報的機會創造額外的資本。

Before turning the call over to Lara, I want to provide an update on our guidance. Against a strengthening market backdrop and with our strong year-to-date performance, we are increasing our fiscal 2023 financial guidance. This performance would mark the fourth consecutive year that we have outperformed our initial expectations.

在將電話轉給勞拉之前，我想提供有關我們指導的最新信息。在市場走強的背景下，鑑於我們今年迄今的強勁表現，我們正在提高 2023 財年的財務指導。這一業績將標誌著我們連續第四年超出我們最初的預期。

With that, I will turn the call over to Lara.

這樣，我就把電話轉給勞拉。

Thanks, Troy. Please turn to the next slide. The business is delivering at a high level, and we are well positioned to capitalize on the substantial growth opportunities ahead. Against a backdrop of rising demand for talent, we are investing in our teams, which is an essential element of our success. To that point, I am pleased to report that our teams are highly engaged and thriving.

謝謝，特洛伊。請翻到下一張幻燈片。該業務正在高水平交付，我們已做好充分利用未來大量增長機會的準備。在人才需求不斷增長的背景下，我們正在對團隊進行投資，這是我們成功的重要因素。至此，我很高興地向大家報告，我們的團隊高度敬業且蓬勃發展。

In our most recent employee survey, a record level of our employees stated that they would recommend AECOM as a great place to work. This positive feedback validates the benefits of our career and leadership development programs, and the superior career opportunities afforded by our leading position on marquee projects across the globe. In addition, our safety performance leads our industry, which is a critical advantage that matters to all of our stakeholders. Safety is a key element of any pursuit, and our safety record is a great leading indicator of retention, employee satisfaction and the success of the business.

在我們最近的員工調查中，表示願意推薦 AECOM 作為理想工作場所的員工數量創歷史新高。這種積極的反饋證實了我們的職業和領導力發展計劃的好處，以及我們在全球大型項目中的領先地位所提供的優越的職業機會。此外，我們的安全績效領先於行業，這是對我們所有利益相關者都很重要的關鍵優勢。安全是任何追求的關鍵要素，我們的安全記錄是保留率、員工滿意度和業務成功的重要領先指標。

In a human capital business, employee engagement and safety go hand-in-hand with client satisfaction. To that point, I am also pleased to report that client satisfaction continues to increase and exceed key benchmarks. Our strong employee and customer satisfaction is especially important as the 3 secular megatrends of continued investments in global infrastructure, sustainability and resilience, and long-term energy and supply chain transitions converge to create a powerful multi-decade growth cycle.

在人力資本業務中，員工敬業度和安全與客戶滿意度密切相關。至此，我還很高興地報告，客戶滿意度持續提高並超過了關鍵基準。我們強大的員工和客戶滿意度尤為重要，因為全球基礎設施持續投資、可持續性和彈性以及長期能源和供應鏈轉型這三大長期大趨勢匯聚在一起，創造了強大的數十年增長周期。

This convergence is apparent as we look across our largest wins over the past year. From transformational high-speed rail and transit projects across the globe, to critical federal environmental and resilience programs in the U.S. and Canada, to megacity developments in the Middle East, we are playing a leading role in the most iconic projects around the world. And in each and every win, our technical excellence remains the key component of our success.

當我們回顧過去一年中最大的勝利時，這種趨同是顯而易見的。從全球各地的轉型高速鐵路和交通項目，到美國和加拿大重要的聯邦環境和復原力項目，再到中東的特大城市開發，我們在世界各地最具標誌性的項目中發揮著主導作用。在每一次勝利中，我們卓越的技術仍然是我們成功的關鍵因素。

As the convergence of these megatrends becomes more ubiquitous, our strength stands us further apart from the competition. Let me share a few examples. Across both our transportation and water businesses, projects are increasing in size and clients are demanding more. A great example of how we distinguish ourselves is our global tunneling practice. While our tunneling team represents a small percentage of a larger project, it is an essential element of any proposal and is heavily weighted in overall technical evaluations given its critical nature to a project's success. As such, our tunneling expertise has seen us unseat incumbents on projects.

隨著這些大趨勢的融合變得更加普遍，我們的實力使我們在競爭中脫穎而出。讓我分享幾個例子。在我們的運輸和水務業務中，項目規模不斷擴大，客戶的要求也越來越高。我們如何脫穎而出的一個很好的例子就是我們的全球隧道施工實踐。雖然我們的隧道團隊只佔較大項目的一小部分，但它是任何提案的重要組成部分，並且鑑於其對項目成功的關鍵性質，在整體技術評估中佔有重要地位。因此，我們的隧道專業知識使我們在項目上取代了現有的人。

Additionally, tunneling has a high pull-through rate to the rest of the organization. We estimate that every dollar of tunneling revenue often creates as much as $10 of revenue opportunity for other disciplines within the organization. Investment in energy transition is also gaining momentum, particularly in the U.S. from funds provided by the Inflation Reduction Act and other initiatives. We are poised to benefit in many ways with leading advisory, environmental permitting, air quality, transmission and distribution, and program management expertise. This positions us to lead the rapid growth in offshore wind, where our multi-disciplined expertise is well equipped for the technical challenges inherent in this emerging market.

此外，隧道對組織其他部門的滲透率很高。我們估計，每 1 美元的隧道收入通常都會為組織內的其他學科創造多達 10 美元的收入機會。能源轉型投資也在不斷增長，特別是在美國，來自《減少通貨膨脹法案》和其他舉措提供的資金。憑藉領先的諮詢、環境許可、空氣質量、輸配電以及項目管理專業知識，我們將在許多方面受益。這使我們能夠引領海上風電的快速增長，我們的多學科專業知識足以應對這個新興市場固有的技術挑戰。

Similarly, we are leading the advancement of other forms of alternative energy, such as hydrogen, where we were recently awarded a contract to manage the delivery of a green hydrogen facility for Chemours. Our transmission and distribution business is also growing rapidly, bolstered by continued growth with San Diego Gas & Electric to move transmission lines underground as well as several engagements to advance proposed mega transmission lines in the U.S. Momentum is also building in the PFAS market, where we are a clear leader with more than 20 years of experience on over 500 sites for the largest clients.

同樣，我們正在引領其他形式的替代能源（例如氫氣）的發展，我們最近獲得了一份合同，負責管理科慕綠色氫氣設施的交付。我們的輸電和配電業務也在快速增長，這得益於與聖地亞哥天然氣和電力公司的持續增長，將輸電線路移至地下，以及在美國推進擬議的大型輸電線路的多項合作。PFAS 市場也正在形成勢頭，我們在該市場中是一位明確的領導者，在為最大的客戶服務的 500 多個網站上擁有 20 多年的經驗。

Our backlog and pipeline increased 50% and 40%, respectively. The EPA's new drinking water regulations passed in March, which created a timeline for water utilities to advance plans to meet stringent requirements. Demand in this market is set to accelerate for the next several years.

我們的積壓訂單和管道數量分別增加了 50% 和 40%。 EPA 新的飲用水法規於三月份通過，為自來水公司製定了推進計劃以滿足嚴格要求的時間表。未來幾年該市場的需求將加速增長。

Lastly, our leadership in sustainability continues to create opportunities. Our appointment to advise on delivering a carbon neutral COP28, a leading global climate summit to be held this November, is a testament to our reputation and credibility with the key thought leaders and subject matter experts across the globe. All of these markets represent substantial growth opportunities for AECOM.

最後，我們在可持續發展方面的領導地位繼續創造機會。我們被任命為將於今年 11 月舉行的全球領先的氣候峰會 COP28 提供諮詢，這證明了我們在全球主要思想領袖和主題專家中的聲譽和信譽。所有這些市場都為 AECOM 帶來了巨大的增長機會。

As demand increases across our markets, the investments we are making to extend the capacity of our workforce will enable us to deliver. These investments include digital delivery capabilities and automating repeatable elements of the design process. As an example, we are integrating our local teams with our enterprise capability centers to automate computational design scripts, the key elements of transportation projects, such as bridges, which accelerate delivery and improve quality. As an organization, we embrace the opportunity to innovate and transform how we deliver work, which will compound our competitive advantage over time.

隨著市場需求的增加，我們為擴大員工能力而進行的投資將使我們能夠實現目標。這些投資包括數字交付能力和設計過程中可重複元素的自動化。例如，我們正在將本地團隊與企業能力中心整合起來，以實現計算設計腳本的自動化，這是橋樑等交通項目的關鍵要素，從而加速交付並提高質量。作為一個組織，我們擁抱創新和轉變工作交付方式的機會，這將隨著時間的推移增強我們的競爭優勢。

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

現在，我將把電話轉給高爾。

Thanks, Lara. Please turn to the next slide. Our teams continue to embrace our culture and strategy, which is extending our competitive advantage and driving strong performance, as evidenced by this being the fourth consecutive year in which we expect to outperform our initial guidance expectations. This year's increase is especially notable in that our strong underlying performance has more than offset the previous removal of the expected $5 million to $10 million contribution to adjusted EBITDA from AECOM Capital that was contemplated in our initial guidance.

謝謝，拉拉。請翻到下一張幻燈片。我們的團隊繼續擁抱我們的文化和戰略，這正在擴大我們的競爭優勢並推動強勁的業績，這一點從我們連續第四年預計超越我們最初的指導預期就可以看出。今年的增長尤其引人注目，因為我們強勁的基本業績足以抵消之前取消 AECOM Capital 對調整後 EBITDA 的預期貢獻 500 萬至 1000 萬美元的影響，這一點在我們的初步指導中是考慮的。

We have spent the last 3 years instilling a mindset of continuous improvement into our culture, and we have rooted our decision-making and risk-adjusted returns on capital and on time. As an organization, we avoid unnecessary layers and complexity, and focus on winning what matters and delivering for our clients. As a result, we delivered another quarter that included several key milestones, including double-digit organic NSR growth and a record design backlog.

在過去的三年裡，我們一直在向我們的文化中灌輸持續改進的心態，並且我們已經將我們的決策和風險調整後的資本回報紮根於按時的基礎上。作為一個組織，我們避免不必要的層次和復雜性，並專注於贏得重要的勝利並為客戶提供服務。結果，我們在另一個季度實現了幾個關鍵里程碑，包括兩位數的有機 NSR 增長和創紀錄的設計積壓。

In addition, our growth remains highly profitable. Our margin surpassed 15% for the first time ever at 15.2%, a 60 basis point increase over the prior year. Our international margins reached 9.9%, and we are well on our way to delivering continued profitability improvements across the business as we progress towards our 17% longer-term target. All of these accomplishments build on our momentum over the past few years and create confidence in the opportunities ahead. Please turn to the next slide.

此外，我們的增長仍然保持高利潤。我們的利潤率首次突破 15%，達到 15.2%，比上年增加 60 個基點。我們的國際利潤率達到 9.9%，隨著我們向 17% 的長期目標邁進，我們正在穩步提高整個業務的盈利能力。所有這些成就都建立在我們過去幾年的勢頭之上，並讓我們對未來的機遇充滿信心。請翻到下一張幻燈片。

NSR growth in the Americas was 10%. The adjusted operating margin was 18.8%, up 20 basis points from the prior year. Our proposals and bids submitted are growing faster than our backlog, which allowed us to grow our design backlog by 8%, more than replacing the accelerating revenue growth. This reflects our high win rate and continued investments to collaborate and bring the best resources and ideas to our critical pursuits. Please turn to the next slide.

美洲的 NSR 增長率為 10%。調整後營業利潤率為18.8%，較上年上升20個基點。我們提交的提案和投標的增長速度快於我們的積壓訂單，這使我們的設計積壓訂單增加了 8%，超過了收入的加速增長。這反映了我們的高勝率和持續投資，以合作並為我們的關鍵追求帶來最好的資源和想法。請翻到下一張幻燈片。

NSR in the International segment increased by 10%, with growth in nearly every key region. While weakness in Mainland China persists, we have taken actions to significantly decrease our exposure in the region. The adjusted operating margin was 9.9%, reflecting continued progress on our key initiatives to drive operational efficiencies and focus on the highest-returning markets. Backlog increased by 17% and included several large wins in the U.K., Hong Kong and the Middle East that enhance our visibility. Please turn to the next slide.

國際業務的 NSR 增長了 10%，幾乎每個關鍵地區都有增長。儘管中國大陸市場持續疲軟，但我們已採取行動大幅減少在該地區的投資。調整後的營業利潤率為 9.9%，反映出我們在提高運營效率和專注於回報率最高的市場的關鍵舉措方面不斷取得進展。積壓訂單增加了 17%，其中包括在英國、香港和中東取得的幾項重大勝利，提高了我們的知名度。請翻到下一張幻燈片。

Free cash flow was strong, and we affirmed our expectation to deliver free cash flow within our guidance range for the ninth consecutive year. Our balance sheet is unchanged and remains in great shape. We have no bond maturities until 2027, and the vast majority of our debt is fixed or capped at highly attractive rates. Our returns-focused capital allocation policy is unchanged and is supported by the highly cash-generative nature of our business. This includes allocating capital to the highest-returning opportunities, which remains organic growth investments followed by share repurchases and dividends.

自由現金流強勁，我們確認了連續第九年在指導範圍內提供自由現金流的預期。我們的資產負債表沒有變化並且保持良好狀態。我們的債券在 2027 年之前沒有到期日，而且我們的絕大多數債務都是固定的或利率上限非常有吸引力。我們以回報為中心的資本配置政策保持不變，並得到我們業務的高現金生成特性的支持。這包括將資本分配給回報率最高的機會，其中仍然是有機增長投資，然後是股票回購和股息。

In addition to our investment in business development and growth initiatives, we have returned more than $220 million to shareholders this year, including our July dividend payment. Please turn to the next slide.

除了對業務發展和增長計劃的投資外，我們今年還向股東返還了超過 2.2 億美元，其中包括 7 月份的股息支付。請翻到下一張幻燈片。

As Troy noted, we are raising our financial guidance for this year to reflect our strong growth and margin performance. At the midpoint, our guidance reflects 10% and 11% constant-currency growth for adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS, respectively. AECOM Capital is excluded from the adjusted results given our intent to transition the business.

正如特洛伊指出的，我們正在提高今年的財務指導，以反映我們強勁的增長和利潤率表現。在中點，我們的指導反映了調整後 EBITDA 和調整後每股收益按固定匯率計算分別增長 10% 和 11%。鑑於我們打算進行業務轉型，AECOM Capital 被排除在調整後的業績之外。

With that, operator, we are ready for questions.

接線員，我們已經準備好回答問題了。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Sean Eastman with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Sean Eastman。

Hi team, nice update here. I thought a good place to start would just be -- kind of driving home some of the comments around the resilience in the revenue build, the momentum in the business headed into fiscal '24, particularly in light of some confusion last quarter around the commercial real estate exposure, that would be a helpful start.

嗨，團隊，這裡有很好的更新。我認為一個好的起點就是——讓一些關於收入增長的彈性、進入 24 財年的業務勢頭的評論深入人心，特別是考慮到上個季度圍繞商業的一些混亂。房地產投資，這將是一個有用的開始。

Right. Sean, thank you for the question. So maybe I'll sort of start with the success that we've had in the quarter -- the last few quarters. We've seen accelerating NSR growth which has been important. But again, behind that is the backdrop of our pipeline, which has been consistently growing. And we've actually seen it continue to grow at a faster rate than we have been winning work. And then behind that is our backlog growth, and particularly in our DCS business, which, again, represents 90% of the overall business. And our backlog grew extraordinarily well, again, another 10% year-over-year in the quarter.

正確的。肖恩，謝謝你的提問。因此，也許我會從我們在本季度（過去幾個季度）取得的成功開始。我們已經看到 NSR 的加速增長，這一點非常重要。但同樣，這背後是我們的管道的背景，管道一直在不斷增長。事實上，我們已經看到它的增長速度比我們贏得工作的速度還要快。其背後是我們的積壓訂單增長，尤其是我們的 DCS 業務，該業務再次佔整體業務的 90%。我們的積壓訂單再次增長得非常好，本季度同比又增長了 10%。

And within that, our win rates. We are continuing to win work at an extraordinary high level. This is our seventh quarter in a row where our capture rate has been over 50%. And just for everyone's benefit, I remind you that capture rate is for every dollar we bid, it's how much dollars of work that we win. And so that's an extraordinary result. And even within that, in what we refer to is our most important and largest and complex pursuits, we've been winning at even a higher rate. In fact, our year-to-date capture rate amongst our largest and most important bids is over 80%. So we are winning at an extraordinary rate, which obviously is driving our great success.

其中，我們的勝率。我們正在繼續以非凡的高水平贏得工作。這是我們的捕獲率連續第七個季度超過 50%。為了大家的利益，我提醒您，捕獲率是指我們出價的每一美元，即我們贏得的工作量。所以這是一個非凡的結果。即便如此，在我們所說的最重要、最大、最複雜的追求中，我們的獲勝率甚至更高。事實上，今年迄今為止我們最大、最重要的投標中的中標率超過 80%。因此，我們以驚人的速度獲勝，這顯然推動了我們取得巨大成功。

And what that leads to is that leads to great visibility and predictability or even certainty for the future. With building kind of those -- I'll call it, the competitive advantage or the must continue to win, gives us great confidence that even beyond next year and the backlog that we've built for next year, we will continue this kind of success. And again, I should also make a comment just around our Construction Management business. Again, our Construction Management business, the way we win work, it's a little bit lumpier than what you see in our design business. And I'll say that our Q4 is off to a very great start. And so again, it's lumpy, but we've had some really positive success already heading into Q4.

這會帶來巨大的可見性和可預測性，甚至未來的確定性。通過建立這些——我稱之為競爭優勢或必須繼續獲勝，給我們很大的信心，即使在明年和我們為明年建立的積壓之後，我們將繼續這種成功。再次，我還應該圍繞我們的施工管理業務發表評論。再說一次，我們的施工管理業務，我們贏得工作的方式，比你在我們的設計業務中看到的要復雜一些。我想說的是，我們的第四季度有了一個非常好的開始。再說一次，情況很不穩定，但進入第四季度我們已經取得了一些真正積極的成功。

And then the important thing is around our pipeline in the Construction Management business. Our pipeline is actually up year-over-year and even up sequentially. And so what that tells us is that the opportunities in front of us are greater than they were a year ago or even last quarter, but they're just different, right? We're focused again on different geographies and, in particular, continuing to have success in aviation, sports and convention centers. So the opportunities for construction management as we go forward in aggregate are actually greater than they were in the past. And again, as I said, they're just going to be in different geographies and different markets.

然後重要的是我們的施工管理業務管道。我們的管道實際上逐年增加，甚至連續增加。這告訴我們，我們面前的機會比一年前甚至上個季度都要大，但只是有所不同，對嗎？我們再次關注不同地區，特別是繼續在航空、體育和會議中心取得成功。因此，總體而言，施工管理的機會實際上比過去更大。正如我所說，他們只是位於不同的地區和不同的市場。

Very helpful. And then switching over to margins, I thought it would be helpful just to get a bit of a refresh on the bridge from the 15% plus segment level margin to the 17% plus target. I mean we're talking about the enterprise capability centers. There's a real estate strategy. There's new way of working. Just kind of the build -- understanding the building blocks and the most significant contributors to that bridge to 17% would be helpful.

很有幫助。然後轉向利潤率，我認為在從 15% 以上的細分市場利潤率到 17% 以上的目標之間進行一些更新會很有幫助。我的意思是我們正在談論企業能力中心。有一個房地產策略。有新的工作方式了。只是一種構建——了解構建模塊以及對 17% 的過渡最重要的貢獻者將會有所幫助。

Yes. Thanks for the question, Sean. In fact, I'll pass it on over to Gaurav.

是的。謝謝你的提問，肖恩。事實上，我會將其轉交給 Gaurav。

Good question. It's a great achievement. The whole team has collaborated towards achieving 15%, a little bit ahead of our expectations, especially what we thought 3 years ago. And the main reason for this, if we want to talk about it, is creating a platform over the last 3 years that is built on competitive edge. And you know what I mean by that is we're focused on key markets where we dominate in the business lines, have the best growth opportunities in those markets. It's a Think and Act Globally strategy, which sounds like a tagline, but it's so important to what we have done over the last 3 years, because it's bringing the best talent and winning what matters to us, as Troy just articulated, on the fantastic win rates we have experienced now for 7 quarters in a row.

好問題。這是一項偉大的成就。整個團隊通力合作，實現了 15%，稍微超出了我們的預期，尤其是我們 3 年前的想法。如果我們想談論這個問題，主要原因是在過去三年中創建了一個基於競爭優勢的平台。你知道我的意思是我們專注於我們在業務領域占主導地位的關鍵市場，在這些市場中擁有最好的增長機會。這是一項“全球化思考和行動”戰略，聽起來像是一個口號，但它對於我們過去3 年所做的事情非常重要，因為它帶來了最優秀的人才並贏得了對我們來說重要的東西，正如特洛伊剛剛在精彩的演講中所闡述的那樣我們已經連續 7 個季度經歷了這樣的勝率。

It's a culture of having continuous improvement on all cost facets in the business. And there's more to go there. As you pointed out in a few things, including real estate, our capability centers across the globe of how we share resources and workload, looking at our support functions on the most cost-efficient structure. Digital is something we're just scratching the surface, and this is more focused on our productivity and delivery platform, digital. And then you combine that with the strategy Troy and Lara have initiated very successfully over the last 3 years for our program management business and advisory, those opportunities are abundant.

這是一種在業務的所有成本方面持續改進的文化。那裡還有更多的事情要做。正如您在包括房地產在內的一些事情中指出的，我們的能力中心遍布全球，研究我們如何共享資源和工作量，並在最具成本效益的結構上審視我們的支持職能。數字化只是我們剛剛觸及表面的東西，這更關注我們的生產力和交付平台，數字化。然後，您將其與 Troy 和 Lara 在過去 3 年中非常成功地為我們的項目管理業務和諮詢發起的戰略相結合，這些機會是豐富的。

You put all those together, it gives us a lot of confidence that we're going to go from what people a few years thought was unachievable, 15%, to now our ambitious target of 17%. And look forward to laying out the detailed building blocks of each one of those pillars I just discussed during our Investor Day in December.

把所有這些放在一起，這給了我們很大的信心，我們將從幾年前人們認為無法實現的 15%，到現在我們雄心勃勃的 17% 目標。並期待列出我剛剛在 12 月份的投資者日討論過的每一個支柱的詳細構建模塊。

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

我們的下一個問題來自安迪·魏特曼和貝爾德的對話。

Great. I guess -- so just -- I guess probably for Gaurav. The comments on the '24 running at $5 or north of $5 of adjusted EPS is interesting. But that assumes, like you said, historical interest rates and historical FX factors. So Gaurav, could you just help level set us what that means in today's interest and today's FX? I just want to kind of understand what it all boils down to as we head into the year-end and your [Investor] (corrected by company after the call) Day.

偉大的。我想——所以只是——我想可能是為了高拉夫。關於 24 年調整後 EPS 運行在 5 美元或超過 5 美元的評論很有趣。但這是假設的，就像你說的，歷史利率和歷史外匯因素。那麼，Gaurav，您能幫助我們了解一下這對今天的利息和今天的外匯意味著什麼嗎？我只是想了解一下，當我們進入年底和您的[投資者]（在電話會議後由公司更正）日時，這一切都歸結為什麼。

Yes. Andy, it's Troy. I'm going to surprise you by answering that question instead of Gaur. I guess -- first of all, this is an opportunity to talk about our operational performance because I think that we sort of separate the world and the things that we can control and the things that we can't control. And again, as you pointed out and we pointed out in our earnings release that based on the path we set out back in 2021, we set a certain bar for performance and certainly financial performance. And in terms of what we can control, we've exceeded that, and we're continuing to exceed that, and that just gets to outperforming on NSR and organic growth. And as Gaur said, improving our margins to an all-time high.

是的。安迪，這是特洛伊。我將代替高爾來回答這個問題，這會讓你感到驚訝。我想，首先，這是一個談論我們運營績效的機會，因為我認為我們在某種程度上將世界以及我們可以控制的事物和我們無法控制的事物分開。再次，正如您和我們在財報中指出的那樣，根據我們在 2021 年設定的路徑，我們為業績和財務業績設定了一定的標準。就我們可以控制的範圍而言，我們已經超越了這個目標，並且我們將繼續超越這個目標，並且在 NSR 和有機增長方面表現出色。正如高爾所說，將我們的利潤率提高到歷史最高水平。

But most importantly, behind that is we've been building backlog across the business, and our pipeline continues, as I said, to grow. So when we look at that and then combine that with our new margin target and where we expect to get to over time is 17%. We're externally optimistic about continuing to exceed on those things that we can control. But as you point out, there are some things that we simply can't control, and those are interest rate and foreign exchange. Those are the 2 things that have the most significant impact, certainly below the operating performance line.

但最重要的是，這背後是我們一直在整個業務中積累積壓的訂單，正如我所說，我們的渠道繼續增長。因此，當我們考慮這一點，然後將其與我們新的利潤率目標結合起來時，我們預計隨著時間的推移，我們將達到 17%。從外部來看，我們對繼續超越我們可以控制的事情持樂觀態度。但正如您所指出的，有些事情我們根本無法控制，那就是利率和外匯。這些是影響最重大的兩件事，當然低於運營績效線。

And as we look forward, it's our belief that those items have certainly gone against us and our industry. And we believe they've stabilized. Again, we can't really be accurate in terms of that prediction, but we do believe that they have stabilized and they're not going to be a significantly growing headwind in the future as they have been over the course of this past year.

展望未來，我們相信這些項目肯定不利於我們和我們的行業。我們相信他們已經穩定下來。同樣，我們的預測並不准確，但我們確實相信它們已經穩定下來，並且不會像過去一年那樣在未來成為顯著增長的阻力。

And so again, I'm not at this point ready to sort of say here's what our guidance is for '24. We will give our guide in November. We are right in the middle of our planning process, and so it's premature for us to do this. And when we do that, it will incorporate our foreign exchange and interest that exists at that point in time. But in terms of those long-term targets, all I can say is we do believe that in '24, we will have a significant growth in our overall earnings.

再說一次，我現在還沒有準備好說出我們對 24 年的指導。我們將在 11 月提供指南。我們正處於規劃過程中，因此現在這樣做還為時過早。當我們這樣做時，它將納入我們當時存在的外彙和利息。但就這些長期目標而言，我只能說，我們確實相信，在 24 年，我們的整體收益將出現顯著增長。

Okay. That makes sense. I guess just for my follow-up, I just wanted to check in on your utilization rates and your ability to find the right number and the right people to fill the growth that you're delivering here. Over the last couple of years, it's been kind of knowledge that labor of all sorts, including some of the technical labor, has been more scarce and we've seen a little bit higher turnover rates in the industry. So I was just wondering what AECOM's experience has been in the last 90, 180 days on that front. Are you seeing greater stabilization for the labor force as well as what are you seeing in terms of the overall cost of labor in the projects that you're executing today?

好的。這就說得通了。我想只是為了我的後續行動，我只是想檢查一下您的利用率以及您找到合適的人數和合適的人員來滿足您在這裡實現的增長的能力。在過去的幾年裡，人們知道各種勞動力，包括一些技術勞動力，都變得更加稀缺，而且我們看到該行業的流動率有所上升。所以我只是想知道 AECOM 在過去 90、180 天裡在這方面的經歷如何。您是否看到勞動力更加穩定，以及您今天執行的項目的總體勞動力成本如何？

Yes. Yes, it's a good question, Andy, because obviously, our most important input in the business is our people. And what really fuels our growth is obviously our ability to continue to perform really great work for our clients. And so just in terms of our people, I'm going to deal with them in 2 respects. First of all, just our hiring and retention. We've been able to add significantly to the overall headcount in the business over the course of this past year. Even though the labor force only grows by a limited rate, we've actually grown at a faster rate in terms of adding people.

是的。是的，這是一個很好的問題，安迪，因為顯然，我們對業務最重要的投入是我們的員工。真正推動我們成長的顯然是我們繼續為客戶提供出色工作的能力。因此，就我們的員工而言，我將從兩個方面與他們打交道。首先，只是我們的招聘和保留。在過去的一年裡，我們的業務總人數大幅增加。儘管勞動力的增長速度有限，但在人口增加方面，我們實際上以更快的速度增長。

Our turnover has gone down very significantly over the course of the last year, and we continued to see it decline even in the last 6 months. And we're at a point where we look at the industry benchmarks and we're significantly below that. But also we're at a point where we are comfortable. We sort of set expectations about where we should be with respect to what healthy turnover looks like, and we're in a good place. I wouldn't see -- I wouldn't want us, frankly, to go a whole lot lower from where we are.

去年，我們的營業額大幅下降，甚至在過去 6 個月裡，我們的營業額仍持續下降。我們現在的情況是，我們觀察行業基準，發現我們遠遠低於這個基準。但我們也正處於一個讓我們感到舒服的時刻。我們對健康的營業額應該達到什麼水平設定了期望，而且我們處於一個很好的位置。坦率地說，我不認為我們的水平會比現在的水平下降很多。

And then just in terms of productivity, you're always trying to drive improved productivity in the business, and there are certainly things that we're doing to improve that productivity. And in terms of that, why don't I turn it over and let Lara answer that part of the question.

然後就生產力而言，您總是在努力提高業務生產力，並且我們肯定正在採取一些措施來提高生產力。就這一點而言，我為什麼不把它翻過來，讓勞拉回答這部分問題。

Yes. And the other key part of this strategy is just continuing to leverage our enterprise capability centers. And just this quarter, our volumes were up 54% year-on-year. So it's a key part of our labor and productivity strategy. And just building on what Troy said, we're going to continue to be laser-focused on just continuous improvement with our employee value proposition. So the investment in training and benefits, which we really believe are leading the industry. We've done a lot of work on our career paths. So we're feeling pretty good about just that the voluntary turnover exceeding our own expectations and sitting well above industry standards.

是的。該戰略的另一個關鍵部分是繼續利用我們的企業能力中心。就在本季度，我們的銷量同比增長了 54%。因此，這是我們勞動力和生產力戰略的關鍵部分。在特洛伊所說的基礎上，我們將繼續專注於持續改進我們的員工價值主張。因此，我們確實相信培訓和福利方面的投資處於行業領先地位。我們在職業道路上做了很多工作。因此，我們對自願營業額超出我們自己的預期並遠高於行業標準感到非常滿意。

In an industry where we know that -- in the E&C sector that headcount growth typically runs at about 1% per annum. So when you consider all of those things, it's a pretty positive picture in terms of productivity and, most importantly, the ability to grow and continue to attract and retain top talent.

我們知道，在 E&C 行業，員工人數的增長速度通常為每年 1% 左右。因此，當您考慮所有這些因素時，您會發現，在生產力方面，以及最重要的是，在發展以及繼續吸引和留住頂尖人才的能力方面，這是一幅非常積極的圖景。

Your next question comes from the line of Steven Fisher with UBS.

你的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的史蒂文·費舍爾。

So it's nice to see the organic growth rate hit that double-digit 10% rate. Just looking though at the implied Q4 organic growth rate, it's consistent with the full year of 8%, but that would be a little bit of a slight slowdown, I think, from that 10% in Q3. I'm curious what's driving that assumption, if anything, in particular? And then kind of related to this, I think you've talked about potential for double-digit growth in 2024. So do you see kind of a reacceleration into 2024 on that metric?

因此，很高興看到有機增長率達到兩位數的 10%。僅看第四季度隱含的有機增長率，它與全年 8% 的增長率一致，但我認為，與第三季度的 10% 相比，這將略有放緩。我很好奇是什麼推動了這個假設，如果有的話，特別是？與此相關的是，我認為您已經談到了 2024 年兩位數增長的潛力。那麼您是否認為該指標會在 2024 年重新加速？

Yes. So Andy, I'm just simply going to use a line that Gaur has become famous for in terms of our guidance, which is we still remain prudently conservative. While we've seen accelerated growth over the years and across the quarters, we set an expectation for 8% for the year and we still think that that's the right approach. And again, you're right to point out, our 10% organic growth is the first time that we've had double-digit organic growth in the business for, frankly, more than -- well more than a decade. So it is a milestone for us.

是的。所以安迪，我只是簡單地使用高爾在我們的指導方面聞名的一句話，那就是我們仍然保持審慎保守。雖然我們看到多年來和各個季度的加速增長，但我們設定了今年 8% 的預期，而且我們仍然認為這是正確的方法。您再次指出，我們 10% 的有機增長是正確的，坦率地說，十多年來，我們的業務首次實現兩位數的有機增長。所以這對我們來說是一個里程碑。

As we look forward, we do see an opportunity to have accelerated revenue growth off the 8% number. But we're always looking to make sure that there's a balance to that because it's our -- again, it's our priority to not just grow the top line but to grow the business and make it more profitable. So we clearly believe, based on our wins and the pipeline of the opportunities, there is an opportunity to accelerate growth beyond that 8% in the future, but we're always going to be balancing that to make sure that we're making those important investments in the business, and we're maintaining, frankly, a cost structure in the business that means that we're going to actually grow profitability at a faster rate.

展望未來，我們確實看到了收入加速增長 8% 的機會。但我們一直在尋求確保平衡，因為這是我們的——再說一遍，我們的首要任務不僅是增加收入，而且是發展業務並提高利潤。因此，我們清楚地相信，基於我們的勝利和機會渠道，未來有機會加速增長超過 8%，但我們始終會平衡這一點，以確保我們能夠實現這些目標坦率地說，我們正在維持業務的成本結構，這意味著我們實際上將以更快的速度提高盈利能力。

Okay. That's very helpful. And maybe you can just give us an update on what's been the impact of inflation on your infrastructure customers. I know it's been disruptive for a little while, has that now kind of steadied with some moderating inflation? And what has it been doing to the pace of project progression? We hear some rumblings from another company we cover this quarter that is maybe slowing things down, particularly on the -- kind of the road-building transportation side of things. I'm curious what you're seeing the impact of inflation, on sort of the whole infrastructure progression of spending?

好的。這非常有幫助。也許您可以向我們提供有關通貨膨脹對您的基礎設施客戶的影響的最新信息。我知道它已經造成了一段時間的破壞，現在隨著通貨膨脹的緩和，這種情況是否已經穩定下來？它對項目進展的速度有何影響？我們聽到本季度我們報導的另一家公司的一些傳言，這可能會減慢速度，特別是在道路建設運輸方面。我很好奇您認為通貨膨脹對整個基礎設施支出進程有何影響？

Yes. So Steve, we actually have seen inflation obviously have an impact. And that impact has been on the planned budgets or the ambitions that existed a few years ago. So it certainly has had an impact. The cost of actually delivering infrastructure projects has increased. But the other thing that we started to see is we've seen those costs begin to stabilize. And so while they did rise over a period of time, they see -- the costs seem to have stabilized. But in terms of the opportunities in front of us, what's most interesting is, again, is we've seen our pipeline continue to grow over that period of time.

是的。史蒂夫，我們實際上已經看到通貨膨脹明顯產生了影響。這種影響已經影響到了計劃預算或幾年前存在的雄心。所以它肯定產生了影響。實際交付基礎設施項目的成本有所增加。但我們開始看到的另一件事是我們已經看到這些成本開始穩定。因此，雖然他們在一段時間內確實有所上漲，但他們發現成本似乎已經穩定下來。但就我們面前的機會而言，最有趣的是，我們看到我們的管道在那段時間繼續增長。

So I think that's just the fact that there is a lot of funding that has been put in place that exists today that is just starting to get deployed. Here in the U.S., what we're starting to see this year is we're actually seeing the IIJA money come into the market for projects. And I mentioned a project, the Bruce Spence Bridge Corridor project -- Brent Spence Bridge, sorry, project in the quarter. And that's a great example of the IIJA money coming into the marketplace, that's significant. That was a $1.6 billion planned expenditure. So while inflation has had an impact, we've seen it stabilize, but we don't see it, at this point, really impacting the pipeline for the future, pipeline is still growing at a faster rate than our backlog.

因此，我認為事實是，目前已有大量資金剛剛開始部署。在美國，今年我們開始看到 IIJA 的資金實際上進入了項目市場。我提到了一個項目，布魯斯·斯彭斯大橋走廊項目——布倫特·斯彭斯大橋，抱歉，是本季度的項目。這是 IIJA 資金進入市場的一個很好的例子，意義重大。計劃支出為 16 億美元。因此，雖然通貨膨脹產生了影響，但我們已經看到它穩定下來，但目前我們還沒有看到它真正影響未來的管道，管道的增長速度仍然快於我們的積壓。

Your next question comes from the line of Andy Kaplowitz with Citi.

您的下一個問題來自花旗集團的安迪·卡普洛維茨 (Andy Kaplowitz)。

So this question might be for Troy, Lara or Gaur. Like International margin continue to rise basically at double digits. As it's gone there, have you gotten more clarity around where it could go? I think you've said you see it materially above 10%. But what does that mean? Could it be low to mid-teens? And where are you on your sort of process of making international more efficient these days?

所以這個問題可能是針對特洛伊、勞拉或高爾的。像國際利潤率繼續基本以兩位數增長。當它消失後，你是否更清楚它會去哪裡？我想你已經說過你看到這一比例明顯高於 10%。但是，這是什麼意思？它可以低到十幾歲嗎？如今，您在提高國際效率方面處於什麼階段？

Andy, this is Gaur. Thanks for that question. It is, again, a fantastic milestone that we had set for ourselves and achieving it earlier than our expectations we laid out is, again, a testament to the team. And as we move forward, our objectives are very clear and unchanged. It wasn't to get to double digit, our objective is what we have delivered in the Americas, which is head and shoulders above our competitors. That's what we're targeting, too, for international as well. And as we sit here today to Troy's point earlier, we're in the middle of our planning process for FY '24 and we will be having our Investor Day in December, we'll provide much more clarity and detail. But there, we clearly see international margins expanding. A lot of opportunity for us there that will help us achieve the overall 17% margin ambitious target that we have laid out.

安迪，這是高爾。謝謝你提出這個問題。這再次是我們為自己設定的一個奇妙的里程碑，比我們設定的預期更早實現它再次是對團隊的證明。隨著我們的前進，我們的目標非常明確且沒有改變。我們的目標不是達到兩位數，而是我們在美洲所交付的成果，遠遠超過我們的競爭對手。這也是我們國際化的目標。正如我們今天坐在這裡討論 Troy 早些時候所說的那樣，我們正處於 24 財年的規劃過程中，我們將在 12 月舉辦投資者日，我們將提供更多的清晰度和細節。但在那裡，我們清楚地看到國際利潤率在擴大。我們在那裡有很多機會，這將幫助我們實現我們制定的 17% 總體利潤率的雄心勃勃的目標。

Got it. Very helpful. And then maybe to Lara, like the longevity of some of the international drivers that you see. Obviously, the Middle East has been pretty strong here recently. Sometimes it does tend to be cyclical or maybe cycle faster. So do you see this as a more elongated cycle in the international markets? And maybe more clarity in sort of your bigger markets there.

知道了。很有幫助。然後也許是勞拉，就像你看到的一些國際車手的長壽一樣。顯然，中東地區最近的表現相當強勁。有時它確實往往是周期性的，或者可能循環得更快。那麼您認為國際市場的周期更長嗎？也許對那裡更大的市場有更清晰的了解。

Yes. Thanks for the question, Andy. So the book-to-burn 1.3, very healthy for international. In part because it's increasingly comprised of much more long-term projects, typified by a lot of those program management wins. And a lot of those, as you say, are in the Middle East, but it's our strategy, obviously, to grow that not just in the International segment but also across the Americas.

是的。謝謝你的提問，安迪。所以Book-to-Burn 1.3對於國際化來說非常健康。部分原因是它越來越多地由更長期的項目組成，其中許多項目管理的勝利就是典型的例子。正如你所說，其中很多都在中東，但顯然，我們的戰略是不僅在國際市場而且在整個美洲發展。

So I think that strategy -- that program management is key for getting much more long-term visibility of the pipeline and much more longer-term contracts that give us much more certainty in terms of the longer-term outlook. And it's a key part of the growth -- and we've set very ambitious targets in terms of the rate at which we intend to grow our program management business, and it is growing at double digits. So we're on track with our aspiration there.

因此，我認為該策略 - 項目管理對於獲得更多的管道長期可見性和更多的長期合同至關重要，這使我們在長期前景方面具有更大的確定性。這是增長的關鍵部分——我們在計劃管理業務的增長速度方面設定了非常雄心勃勃的目標，而且它正在以兩位數的速度增長。所以我們正在實現我們的願望。

Your next question comes from the line of Sabahat Khan with RBC Capital Markets.

您的下一個問題來自加拿大皇家銀行資本市場的薩巴哈特·汗 (Sabahat Khan)。

Just curious, I think when you talked about the IIJA funding, if you can give a little bit of color around maybe some of the end markets where you're seeing some of the IIJA money. And then maybe just kind of a broader question, as you look across your global footprint, can you maybe talk about some of the end markets that might be doing better than others? Or have any moderated? Have any accelerated? Just curious in the macro environment how the various end markets may be trending?

只是好奇，我認為當您談到 IIJA 資金時，您是否可以對一些終端市場進行一些說明，您可能會在這些市場上看到一些 IIJA 資金。然後也許只是一個更廣泛的問題，當您縱觀您的全球足跡時，您能否談談一些可能比其他市場表現更好的終端市場？或者有沒有主持？有加速的嗎？只是好奇在宏觀環境下各個終端市場的趨勢如何？

Sure. Thanks, Saba. So just again around the U.S. and the deployment of IIJA money. First of all, the point that it's really not the deployment of IIJA money, right, there's also the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPs Act, there's just a lot of other things that have caused funding to be in the marketplace and will be there for a long period of time. But nevertheless, across all of those, and you get all those increased funding opportunities. There are opportunities across our transportation business, and I see it very diversely across the transportation business. Again, transit, roads, rail. And so there are significant opportunities there.

當然。謝謝，薩巴。因此，再次在美國各地部署 IIJA 資金。首先，這確實不是 IIJA 資金的部署，對吧，還有《減少通貨膨脹法案》、《CHIPs 法案》，還有很多其他因素導致資金進入市場並將持續存在。很長一段時間。但儘管如此，在所有這些方面，你都會獲得所有更多的融資機會。我們的運輸業務中存在著機遇，而且我認為整個運輸業務中的機會非常多樣化。再次，交通、公路、鐵路。因此那裡存在著重要的機會。

We are also seeing a significant amount of funding coming to the water market. And we have a number of states that are undertaking some very ambitious water programs that will address either the fact that there's too much water or there's not enough water in a lot of the regions in the U.S. And then also, we're seeing the impacts in energy and alternative energy. As Lara had mentioned earlier in her script about -- again, our impact in hydrogen and new technologies to store and deploy energy. And now we're even seeing it in the areas of transmission. And I think that the money is going to be funding those themes for many years. But those are the most significant themes that we see here in the U.S.

我們還看到大量資金湧入水市場。我們有許多州正在實施一些非常雄心勃勃的水計劃，這些計劃將解決美國許多地區水太多或水不足的問題。此外，我們也看到了影響在能源和替代能源方面。正如勞拉早些時候在她的劇本中再次提到的那樣，我們對氫以及儲存和部署能源的新技術的影響。現在我們甚至在傳播領域也看到了它。我認為這筆錢將在很多年里為這些主題提供資金。但這些是我們在美國看到的最重要的主題。

When we go around the globe, in all of our major markets, we are actually still seeing strength. There are a few exceptions to that, but they're in places, for example, like China. We have not seen strength in China. And what we've been doing -- again, our reaction to that is that we are actually shrinking that business. And ultimately, that means decreasing in our exposure to China in the long run. And again, it's not a large market for us. It represents less than, I think, 1.5% of revenue of the business. So it's not material to us, but we certainly do see, again, a significant -- have a significant slowdown in that market.

當我們環遊全球時，在所有主要市場中，我們實際上仍然看到了實力。有一些例外，但它們都在一些地方，例如中國。我們沒有看到中國的實力。我們一直在做的事情——再說一遍，我們對此的反應是我們實際上正在收縮該業務。最終，從長遠來看，這意味著我們對中國的投資減少。再說一次，這對我們來說並不是一個大市場。我認為它只佔企業收入的不到 1.5%。因此，這對我們來說並不重要，但我們確實再次看到該市場顯著放緩。

But the rest of the world, we still see very positive funding and we see very positive indications of infrastructure funding. One of the constraints that we have seen in markets has frankly just been the constraint of our clients, being able to bring their awards and their contracts to market as quickly as they originally had anticipated. And so the only thing that I'll say is in a lot of our markets where we have wins, it's taken a little bit longer to get started than our clients had expected and we had expected. But again, it isn't really slowing us down for the moment, given the fact that we had 10% organic growth.

但在世界其他地區，我們仍然看到非常積極的融資，並且我們看到基礎設施融資的非常積極的跡象。坦率地說，我們在市場上看到的限制之一就是我們客戶的限制，他們無法像最初預期的那樣盡快將合同和合同推向市場。因此，我唯一要說的是，在我們取得勝利的許多市場中，啟動時間比我們的客戶和我們的預期要長一些。但同樣，鑑於我們的有機增長率為 10%，目前這並沒有真正讓我們放慢腳步。

Great. And then just one quick, I guess, follow-up. Not to push on the '24 guidance, but I guess as you look out to the next fiscal year, what inning would you say we will be in kind of the rollout of the IIJA funding? Obviously, a little bit is showing up in the back half of this year. But just curious, when you look out over the next few years, where about do you think that funding will be over the next year?

偉大的。我想，然後就是一個快速的後續行動。並不是要推動“24 世紀 24 日”指導方針，但我想，當您展望下一個財年時，您認為我們將在哪一階段推出 IIJA 資金？顯然，今年下半年出現了一些情況。但只是好奇，當你展望未來幾年時，你認為明年的資金將在哪裡？

I continue to see the IIJA -- the deployment of IIJA funds accelerating next year. And I think we may have said this before, we actually see those funds or deployment of funds peaking maybe in '27 or '28. There is a significant amount of money that has been -- again, as I said, from -- not just IIJA, but from all the other funding instruments that's available. But we see that growing in '24 and growing even through '27 and '28 and perhaps peaking at that point in time.

我繼續看到 IIJA——明年 IIJA 資金的部署將加速。我想我們之前可能已經說過了，我們實際上看到這些資金或資金部署可能會在 27 或 28 年達到頂峰。正如我所說，大量資金不僅來自 IIJA，還來自所有其他可用的融資工具。但我們看到，這種增長在 24 年持續增長，甚至在 27 年和 28 年持續增長，也許在那個時間點達到頂峰。

Your next question comes from the line of Michael Dudas with Vertical Research.

您的下一個問題來自垂直研究公司的邁克爾·杜達斯 (Michael Dudas)。

Just following up on some of the international comments. First, you did call out in your prepared remarks, Canada. So I just want to see, that appears to be maybe a better contributor to the overall mix and what areas for AECOM. And secondly, internationally, how do you see the pace of some of the Middle East projects, the major NEOMs in the world, are they still on pace? Has there been a little bit of slowdown of digestion? Is that, you think, going to accelerate as we move over the next couple of years?

只是跟進一些國際評論。首先，你確實在準備好的發言中提到了加拿大。所以我只是想看看，這似乎對整體組合以及 AECOM 的哪些領域有更好的貢獻。其次，在國際上，您如何看待一些中東項目、世界上主要的 NEOM 的步伐，它們是否仍然保持同步？消化有一點減慢嗎？您認為，隨著我們在未來幾年的發展，這種情況會加速嗎？

Yes. Again, Mike, thank you for the question. And I will take the first part, and then I will turn the second part with the Middle East over to Lara. So with respect to Canada, there -- Canada they've always been focused on investing in infrastructure. Certainly, if we go back a number of years, there's been a very robust environment for investment in infrastructure. And a number of the provinces and federal sort of re-upped their ambitions this past year and the funding for those items. But it's actually similar to what we're seeing here in the U.S. It's funding around transportation, and a lot of that is around, again, transit.

是的。邁克，再次感謝你的提問。我將負責第一部分，然後我將把中東的第二部分交給勞拉。因此，就加拿大而言，加拿大一直專注於基礎設施投資。當然，如果我們回顧幾年，基礎設施投資的環境非常強勁。去年，許多省和聯邦都重新提高了他們的雄心和對這些項目的資助。但這實際上與我們在美國看到的情況類似。它是圍繞交通運輸提供資金，而其中很多資金又是圍繞交通運輸。

And then we're also seeing it in water, in major urban markets, investment in water. And then we're seeing it in energy, just significant investments in energy transition and again transmission. So the themes are the same as we're seeing here in the U.S. And from our perspective, that really describes our business in Canada. We are a transportation, water and energy business in Canada. So it lines up really well for our Canadian business. So a great amount of optimism for the future in Canada.

然後我們也看到了水務領域、主要城市市場的水務投資。然後我們在能源領域看到了這一點，在能源轉型和輸電方面進行了大量投資。因此，主題與我們在美國看到的主題相同。從我們的角度來看，這真正描述了我們在加拿大的業務。我們是加拿大的一家運輸、水務和能源企業。因此，這非常適合我們的加拿大業務。因此，人們對加拿大的未來非常樂觀。

If I could just add also, with respect to Canada, some of the world's largest infrastructure projects that's going to continue to be in Canada, the most ambitious transit programs. And again, this we played very well. This aligns perfectly with our #1 position in transit globally. So we're bringing not just the fantastic Canadian resources, but a lot of the global expertise that we have from our leading transit business to Canada, and the outlook continues to be very strong. And another dimension of the Canadian outlook also is the growth in some of the environmental projects and very large-scale remediation programs, again, our leading environmental franchise, we're bringing that and those technical skills to bear in the Canadian market.

我還可以補充一點，就加拿大而言，一些世界上最大的基礎設施項目將繼續在加拿大進行，這是最雄心勃勃的交通項目。再說一次，我們打得很好。這與我們在全球運輸領域排名第一的地位完美契合。因此，我們不僅將出色的加拿大資源，而且還將我們領先的運輸業務所擁有的大量全球專業知識帶到加拿大，並且前景仍然非常強勁。加拿大前景的另一個方面是一些環境項目和非常大規模的修復計劃的增長，同樣，我們領先的環境特許經營權，我們正在將這些和那些技術技能帶到加拿大市場。

And with respect, Mike, to your question about NEOM specifically and the Middle East and longer-term outlook, we're pretty optimistic about that. Projects like NEOM now are out in construction, well beyond shovel ready. And as you probably know, some very ambitious time frames around the realization of many of these programs. But our strategy in the Middle East and our presence and our bookings aren't just limited to NEOM. We've had a very comprehensive presence and involvement in all of the major giga-city programs. But also some of the newer long-term programs in some of the key cities, such as Jeddah and Riyadh as well. So it's a much broader sort of play, particularly in Saudi Arabia, and we're well positioned in the long term.

邁克，恕我直言，對於您關於 NEOM 以及中東和長期前景的問題，我們對此非常樂觀。像 NEOM 這樣的項目現在已經開始建設，遠遠超出了準備就緒的階段。正如您可能知道的那樣，圍繞其中許多計劃的實現制定了一些非常雄心勃勃的時間表。但我們在中東的戰略、我們的存在和我們的預訂並不僅限於 NEOM。我們非常全面地參與並參與了所有主要的超級城市項目。還有一些在一些主要城市（例如吉達和利雅得）的較新的長期計劃。因此，這是一種更廣泛的遊戲，特別是在沙特阿拉伯，從長遠來看，我們處於有利地位。

And as we've said, these programs are multiple -- they're decade-long programs and we've been in there since the beginning, and we're bringing our global strength across all of the technical capabilities to bear on this fastly growing market.

正如我們所說，這些計劃是多個的——它們是長達十年的計劃，我們從一開始就參與其中，我們正在利用我們在所有技術能力方面的全球優勢來快速實現這一目標不斷增長的市場。

Your next question comes from the line of Adam Thalhimer with Thompson, Davis & Co.

您的下一個問題來自 Adam Thalhimer 和 Thompson, Davis & Co. 的線路。

First question on capital allocation. Now that we're in a higher rate environment, does that change your thought process, your calculations at all, specifically with buybacks?

第一個問題關於資本配置。現在我們處於更高的利率環境中，這是否會改變您的思維過程和計算，特別是在回購方面？

Yes, Adam, it really doesn't. Our capital allocation policy still remains unchanged. And again, it's -- the headline that is that we're always going to deploy capital to the highest-returning opportunities. Again, I think sometimes we forget about this, but the first is obviously organic growth. That clearly has the highest-returning opportunity for us. And then beyond that, when we look at the business, returning capital to shareholders, it still remains our next highest-returning opportunity and priority even with rising interest rates in the world.

是的，亞當，事實並非如此。我們的資本配置政策仍然沒有改變。再說一次，標題是我們總是將資本部署到回報率最高的機會上。再說一遍，我認為有時我們會忘記這一點，但首先顯然是有機增長。這顯然對我們來說是回報率最高的機會。除此之外，當我們審視業務、向股東返還資本時，即使全球利率不斷上升，它仍然是我們下一個回報率最高的機會和優先事項。

I guess when you say investing in growth, I mean, with your backlog growing and you said the opportunities are even greater, are you opening new offices, hiring more people? How does that look?

我想當你說投資增長時，我的意思是，隨著你的積壓訂單不斷增加，你說機會更大，你是否會開設新辦事處，僱用更多人？看起來怎麼樣？

Well, the answer is we're not opening a lot of new offices. That's not something that is a significant investment for us. Obviously, as the business grows in certain places, you have to create -- you have to invest in real estate to create capacity for people to work. But that's not part of our overall strategy for investment. I would say that we're just continuing to become more efficient with respect to real estate. However, in terms of growing the business, we are making significant investments in business development. In fact, this year's business development spend remains at elevated rates similar to our past year. And so while we've got so many opportunities in front of us, we're going to continue to invest in business development at an elevated rate, which also is important, because we've been able to get our margins over 15%, while continuing to have elevated investments in business development.

嗯，答案是我們不會開設很多新辦事處。這對我們來說並不是一項重大投資。顯然，隨著業務在某些地方的發展，你必須創造——你必須投資房地產來創造人們的工作能力。但這不是我們總體投資戰略的一部分。我想說的是，我們只是在房地產方面繼續提高效率。然而，在發展業務方面，我們正在對業務發展進行大量投資。事實上，今年的業務發展支出仍保持與去年相似的較高水平。因此，雖然我們面前有如此多的機會，但我們將繼續以較高的速度投資於業務發展，這也很重要，因為我們已經能夠使利潤率超過 15%，同時繼續加大對業務發展的投資。

But as the other things that we're investing when I say organic growth, it's investing to grow our program management business, investing to grow our advisory business, investing in our people and developing our technical ability, investing in our enterprise capability centers, and investing in technologies so that we can transform the way that we deliver work and become more productive. And so that's what I mean by investment in organic growth. It's all of those things.

但是，當我說有機增長時，我們正在投資的其他事情是，投資於發展我們的項目管理業務，投資於發展我們的諮詢業務，投資於我們的員工並發展我們的技術能力，投資於我們的企業能力中心，以及投資技術，以便我們能夠改變工作方式並提高生產力。這就是我所說的有機增長投資的意思。這就是所有這些事情。

Okay. That makes sense. And lastly -- sorry to sneak one more in. We talked about water more today than we have in the past. Just curious if you can help size the forth coming water opportunity versus where that market has been historically?

好的。這就說得通了。最後，抱歉再偷偷插一句。今天我們談論水的次數比過去更多。只是好奇您是否可以幫助評估即將到來的水機會與歷史上的市場狀況？

Well, water -- again, I think water when we think about it, we have a tendency to talk about a lot in the United States. But there is certainly funding from the federal government that has been focused on expanding water. But also across all the states, and so it's very broad-based. The fact is -- I mean, the best way to describe this is we have situations where we don't have enough water and situations we have too much water. And it's probably -- that trend has probably been accelerated over the first -- in the last few years. And it really is causing city and state and local governments in the U.S. to focus their investment on water.

好吧，水——再說一次，我認為當我們想到水時，我們傾向於在美國談論很多。但聯邦政府肯定會提供專門用於擴大用水量的資金。但也遍及所有州，因此基礎非常廣泛。事實是——我的意思是，描述這一點的最好方式是，我們有沒有足夠水的情況，也有水太多的情況。在過去的幾年裡，這種趨勢可能比最初的趨勢有所加速。這確實促使美國的市、州和地方政府將投資重點放在水資源上。

Again, you look along the Southwest and certainly the biggest impact and the biggest concern is drought and water shortage. And you look along the Gulf Coast and you look along the East Coast of the U.S., and it's frankly, it's too much water. And so there is just a very significant focus and investment in it. But it doesn't just end there, it goes across the world because the rest of the world is experiencing those same trends. And we are starting to see more of the funding and focus being put on water projects around the world. So again, I'd say that's -- from our perspective, that is a great long-term fast-growing opportunity.

再一次，你看看西南地區，肯定會發現最大的影響和最大的擔憂是乾旱和缺水。你看看墨西哥灣沿岸和美國東海岸，坦率地說，水太多了。因此，對此有非常重要的關注和投資。但它並不止於此，它還蔓延到世界各地，因為世界其他地區正在經歷同樣的趨勢。我們開始看到世界各地的水項目投入了更多的資金和關注。所以我再說一遍，從我們的角度來看，這是一個巨大的長期快速增長的機會。

There are no further questions. I'll turn the call back to Troy Rudd for closing remarks.

沒有其他問題了。我將把電話轉回給特洛伊·拉德（Troy Rudd）做結束語。

Great. Thank you, operator. And again, I'd just start by thanking our teams for their tremendously hard work over the course of this past quarter and year. And I'm really proud of the team and our very consistent strong performance. It's continued to position us really well to do great things for our clients and have great success, and continue to create long-term sustained shareholder value. So again, thank you for your time today, and we look forward to talking to you next quarter.

偉大的。謝謝你，接線員。再次，我首先要感謝我們的團隊在過去的季度和一年中所做的巨大努力。我為我們的團隊和我們始終如一的強勁表現感到自豪。它繼續使我們處於有利地位，能夠為客戶做偉大的事情並取得巨大的成功，並繼續創造長期持續的股東價值。再次感謝您今天抽出時間，我們期待下個季度與您交談。

This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連接。