AECOM (ACM) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the AECOM's First Quarter 2024 Conference Call. I would like to inform all participants, this call is being recorded at the request of AECOM. This broadcast is a copyrighted property of AECOM, and 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 2024 年第一季電話會議。我想通知所有參與者，本次通話是應 AECOM 的要求進行錄音的。本廣播是 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資訊。謹此提醒，AECOM 也在 www.aecom.com 的投資者部分同步播放了本簡報和投影片。 （操作員說明）

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

我現在想將電話會議轉交給財務、財務和投資者關係高級副總裁威爾·加布里埃爾斯基 (Will Gabrielski)。請繼續。

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 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，接線生。我想請您注意今天簡報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所述的風險，實際結果可能與今天的前瞻性聲明中預測的結果有顯著差異。除法律要求外，我們不承擔更新前瞻性聲明的義務。

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. Growth rates are presented on a year-over-year basis unless otherwise noted. Any references to segment margins or segment adjusted operating margins will reflect the performance for 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 unless otherwise noted.

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 調整已納入我們的資料中，並發佈到我們的網站上。除非另有說明，增長率均按年計算。任何提及分部利潤率或分部調整後營業利潤率的內容均將反映美洲和國際分部的業績。在討論收入和收入成長時，我們將指淨服務收入或NSR，其定義為不包括傳遞收入的收入。除非另有說明，NSR 和積壓成長率均以固定匯率計算。

Today's remarks will be focused on continuing operations. Our discussion excludes the results of the AECOM Capital business, which we announced our intended exit from last year. During the quarter based on current market conditions, we incurred a $29 million after-tax adjustment to the carrying value of our investments, we continue to expect positive cash recovery as we exit our investments.

今天的演講將集中於持續運營。我們的討論不包括 AECOM Capital 業務的業績，我們去年宣布打算退出該業務。在本季度，根據當前的市場狀況，我們對投資的帳面價值進行了 2,900 萬美元的稅後調整，我們繼續預計，隨著我們退出投資，現金將得到積極的回收。

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 and Operations 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，我們的執行長 Troy Rudd 將回顧我們的主要成就、我們的策略和我們的業務前景；我們的總裁拉拉·波洛尼 (Lara Poloni) 將討論關鍵的營運成功和優先事項；我們的財務和營運長 Gaurav Kapoor 將更詳細地審查我們的財務表現和前景。我們將以問答環節結束。

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

這樣，我就把電話轉給特洛伊。

Thank you, Will, and thank you all for joining us. Our first quarter performance exceeded our expectations, and I'm very proud of how the organization is delivering on our key priorities. We've established ourselves as a trusted infrastructure consulting firm at a time when funding is accelerating at an unprecedented pace across our markets.

謝謝你，威爾，也謝謝大家加入我們。我們第一季的業績超出了我們的預期，我對該組織如何實現我們的關鍵優先事項感到非常自豪。在我們市場上的資金以前所未有的速度加速成長之際，我們已經成為一家值得信賴的基礎設施顧問公司。

As professional services organization, our people and their passion to deliver a better world, create the competitive advantage we bring to our clients. It is through their unrivaled technical expertise and our collaborative culture that we consistently win at a high rate and distinguish ourselves from the competition.

作為專業服務組織，我們的員工和他們對創造更美好世界的熱情，創造了我們為客戶帶來的競爭優勢。正是透過他們無與倫比的技術專長和我們的協作文化，我們才能始終保持高勝率並在競爭中脫穎而出。

To that point, I'm also pleased to report that we were recently recognized as one of Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies for the 10th consecutive year. In addition, our employee satisfaction scores remain at an all-time high. And employee retention remains well ahead of both internal and industry benchmarks, which is significantly better than our pre-COVID levels.

至此，我還很高興地向大家報告，我們最近連續十年被《財星》雜誌評為全球最受尊敬的公司之一。此外，我們的員工滿意度得分保持在歷史最高水準。員工留任率仍遠遠領先內部和產業基準，明顯優於新冠疫情前的水平。

Our headcount also continues to increase organically across our largest markets, demonstrating the health and strength of our workforce and business. These outcomes demonstrate the value we realize when we consistently invest in our teams through technical and leadership development and the positive benefits to recruiting and retention from winning marquee projects globally.

我們在最大市場的員工人數也持續有機成長，這證明了我們員工和業務的健康和實力。這些成果證明了當我們透過技術和領導力發展持續投資於我們的團隊時所實現的價值，以及從全球贏得的大型專案中招募和留住人才所帶來的積極效益。

Turning to our financial performance for the quarter. Organic NSR in the design business increased by 9% in the Americas and 8% overall. Growth was also especially strong in our global water and transportation markets. The segment adjusted operating margin increased by 100 basis points to 15%, which is a new first quarter high. This performance reflects the high returns we deliver on our organic growth and our commitment to efficient delivery.

轉向我們本季的財務業績。美洲設計業務的有機 NSR 成長了 9%，整體成長了 8%。我們的全球水務和運輸市場的成長也尤其強勁。該部門調整後營業利潤率成長了100個基點，達到15%，創第一季新高。這項績效反映了我們在有機成長方面所帶來的高回報以及我們對高效交付的承諾。

As a result, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS increased by 14% and 25%, respectively, which puts us firmly on track to deliver on our full year guidance. During the quarter, we continued to execute on a returns-focused capital allocation policy. Free cash flow was $87 million, and we returned nearly $100 million through repurchases and dividends.

因此，調整後的 EBITDA 和調整後的每股盈餘分別成長了 14% 和 25%，這使我們堅定地有望實現全年指引。本季度，我們繼續執行以回報為中心的資本配置政策。自由現金流為 8,700 萬美元，我們透過回購和股息返還了近 1 億美元。

In addition, in November, our Board approved an increase to the share repurchase authorization to $1 billion, and our January dividend payment reflected a 22% increase in our quarterly dividend program. Supporting future organic growth, our design backlog hit a new record high, and our pipeline continued to expand, reflecting the strength of our end markets and the continued expansion of our addressable market through our day 1, day 2, day 3 strategy.

此外，11 月份，我們的董事會批准將股票回購授權增加到 10 億美元，我們 1 月份的股息支付反映出我們的季度股息計劃增加了 22%。為了支持未來的有機成長，我們的設計積壓創下新高，我們的產品線繼續擴大，反映了我們終端市場的實力以及我們透過第一天、第二天、第三天策略不斷擴大的目標市場。

To that point, our program management pipeline remains at an all-time high, which is consistent with our long-term aspiration for program management and advisory to represent 50% of our revenue. We are encouraged by our clients' investment plans, the growth of which is apparent in our record pipeline of pursuits. Even more encouragingly, growth is accelerating in the earlier stages of our pipeline, which aligns well with our expectation for an extended period of elevated growth and opportunity.

到目前為止，我們的專案管理管道仍處於歷史最高水平，這與我們對專案管理和諮詢占我們收入的 50% 的長期願望是一致的。我們對客戶的投資計畫感到鼓舞，其成長在我們創紀錄的追求中顯而易見。更令人鼓舞的是，我們管道的早期階段的成長正在加速，這與我們對長期成長和機會增加的預期非常吻合。

Please turn to the next slide. Our strong start to the year and consistently strong execution as a result of our Think and Act Globally strategy, which we discussed in detail at our Investor Day in December. Lara will further discuss how our strategy is delivering results across our business. But before that, I'd like to highlight a few notable trends.

請翻到下一張投影片。我們在 12 月的投資者日上詳細討論了「全球思考和行動」策略，這使得我們今年的強勁開局和持續強勁的執行力得以實現。拉拉將進一步討論我們的策略如何在我們的業務中取得成果。但在此之前，我想強調一些值得注意的趨勢。

First, the funding outlook in our core markets has never been stronger. In the Americas, IIJA funding is accelerating as evidenced by another milestone program management win for Amtrak's Susquehanna Bridge Replacement Project, which will improve operations on one of the busiest rail corridors in the U.S.

首先，我們核心市場的融資前景從未如此強勁。在美洲，IIJA 的資助正在加速，Amtrak 的薩斯奎哈納大橋更換項目的另一個里程碑式的項目管理勝利證明了這一點，該項目將改善美國最繁忙的鐵路走廊之一的運營。

Additionally, state and local budgets remain strong, and our private sector clients are investing into reshore capacity and adapt to water and energy transition impacts.

此外，州和地方預算仍然強勁，我們的私部門客戶正在投資於回流能力並適應水和能源轉型的影響。

In Canada, large transit projects are advancing against a backdrop of continued national and provincial investment and water and mining markets also remain robust.

在加拿大，在國家和省級持續投資、水務和採礦市場也保持強勁的背景下，大型交通項目正在推進。

Other international markets are similarly strong. In the U.K., growth in the water market is set to accelerate from the substantially expected AMP8 funding. And in Australia, we won 2 substantial water projects in the quarter that reflect a continued focus amongst our clients on water capacity expansion and achieving their net-zero ambitions.

其他國際市場也同樣強勁。在英國，水務市場的成長將因 AMP8 資金的廣泛預期而加速。在澳大利亞，我們本季贏得了 2 個大型水務項目，這反映了我們的客戶對水容量擴張和實現淨零目標的持續關注。

Second, investments in sustainability, resilience and energy transition are expanding rapidly, which is creating new opportunities for which we are ideally suited. Today, more than $1 trillion is spent annually on the energy transition alone, and this is expected to double by the year 2030. As a result, projects are increasing in size and complexity, and clients are seeking more holistic, programmatic solutions to create execution certainty.

其次，對永續性、復原力和能源轉型的投資正在迅速擴大，這正在創造我們非常適合的新機會。如今，每年僅在能源轉型上的支出就超過1 兆美元，預計到2030 年這一數字將翻倍。因此，專案的規模和複雜性不斷增加，客戶正在尋求更全面、程序化的解決方案來創造執行力肯定。

For instance, we are helping the New York City Department of Environmental Protection achieve their 80% greenhouse gas reduction goal. Water infrastructure accounts for nearly 15% of the city's emissions and reducing Water's emission is a key element to their plan. Nearly every market and clients we serve is working to address a similar challenge, which is evident on our record pipeline.

例如，我們正在幫助紐約市環保署實現 80% 溫室氣體減排目標。水利基礎設施佔該市排放量的近 15%，減少水利排放是他們計畫的關鍵要素。我們服務的幾乎每個市場和客戶都在努力應對類似的挑戰，這在我們的記錄管道中顯而易見。

Third, we continue to gain market share organically by winning at a high rate, while bidding record levels of work. Our share of $25 million or greater wins represents more than 1/3 of our wins in the past 12 months. And our overall win rate remained at the historically high 50% mark.

第三，我們透過高中標率和創紀錄的工作水準繼續有機地獲得市場份額。我們贏得的 2500 萬美元或以上的勝利佔過去 12 個月勝利的 1/3 以上。我們的整體勝率維持在史上最高的50%大關。

Finally, we are successfully investing to build highly complementary revenue streams that pair well with our strong domain expertise and high credibility with clients.

最後，我們成功地投資建立了高度互補的收入流，與我們強大的領域專業知識和客戶的高信譽相得益彰。

A great example of digital consulting. We are helping clients with their digital journeys in markets such as water and transportation. Our recent selection on the U.K.'s intelligent automation framework for the National Health Service showcases our advantage.

數位諮詢的一個很好的例子。我們正在幫助客戶在水務和交通等市場實現數位化旅程。我們最近選擇的英國國家衛生服務智慧自動化框架展示了我們的優勢。

AECOM was the only infrastructure firm selected amongst the field of traditional IT and management consulting firms demonstrating the enhanced value proposition we bring to our infrastructure clients and IT journeys. This is a multibillion dollar market and a substantial growth opportunity.

AECOM 是傳統 IT 和管理顧問公司領域中唯一入選的基礎設施公司，展示了我們為基礎設施客戶和 IT 之旅帶來的增強價值主張。這是一個數十億美元的市場和巨大的成長機會。

Importantly, as we look ahead, momentum in the business is strong and the overall funding environment is robust. As such, we are affirming our fiscal 2024 guidance, which includes an expectation for 20% adjusted EPS growth resulting from high margin and high returning organic growth.

重要的是，展望未來，業務動能強勁，整體融資環境強勁。因此，我們確認 2024 財年指引，其中包括由於高利潤率和高回報有機成長而預期調整後每股收益將成長 20%。

With that, I'll 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. Our teams are energized by our strong start to the year, including our continued high win rate, backlog, pipeline, and the momentum in our markets. Key to our success is our client-focused innovative and collaborative culture. We are engaging early and often with clients to fully understand their needs and strategic priorities. And by collaborating globally, we are able to holistically address their needs by bringing the best of our technical, advisory, digital, and program management experts to each client.

謝謝，特洛伊。請翻到下一張投影片。我們的團隊因今年的強勁開局而充滿活力，包括我們持續的高贏率、積壓訂單、管道以及市場的勢頭。我們成功的關鍵是我們以客戶為中心的創新和協作文化。我們儘早並經常與客戶接觸，以充分了解他們的需求和策略重點。透過全球合作，我們能夠為每位客戶提供最好的技術、諮詢、數位和專案管理專家，全面滿足他們的需求。

Let's look at 2 success stories that exemplify what we mean by winning what matters organically. First, we have gained significant market share with FEMA, having won several of their most significant contracts over the past few years. This was highlighted by our selection last month to support its largest public assistance grant program in its most active zone, the Atlantic that covers disaster recovery efforts across the Northeast to the Caribbean. This win, combined with our existing Consolidated Resource Center and Flood Mapping contracts positions us for the first time as their leader across FEMA's critical missions of preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery at a time when mistakes have never been higher. Importantly, these successes exemplifies the strength of our teams and the benefits of collaboration across our regions and business lines.

讓我們來看兩個成功案例，它們體現了我們透過有機方式贏得重要事物的含義。首先，我們在過去幾年中贏得了 FEMA 的幾份最重要的合同，從而獲得了巨大的市場份額。上個月，我們選擇支持其最活躍地區大西洋地區最大的公共援助補助計劃，該計劃涵蓋了從東北部到加勒比地區的災難復原工作，這凸顯了這一點。這場勝利，加上我們現有的綜合資源中心和洪水測繪合同，使我們首次成為FEMA 在準備、緩解、響應和恢復等關鍵任務中的領導者，而此時的錯誤卻比以往任何時候都多。重要的是，這些成功體現了我們團隊的實力以及跨地區和業務線合作的好處。

Second, our global leadership in transit has been on full display in Canada, where we have won large roles on several key projects over the past year. As a result, we've delivered double-digit organic NSR growth, a 1.4 book-to-burn ratio and have a record backlog for our Canadian business. Our high win rate is enabled by several factors that underpin our competitive advantage.

其次，我們在交通運輸領域的全球領先地位在加拿大得到了充分展示，去年我們在多個關鍵項目中贏得了重要角色。結果，我們實現了兩位數的 NSR 有機成長、1.4 的預訂銷毀比，而加拿大業務的積壓訂單創歷史新高。我們的高勝率得益於支撐我們競爭優勢的多個因素。

First, we have leading transit and rail system capabilities, Second, we have a strong local presence and great relationships and track records with our clients. Third, our program management expertise is distinguishing us against both traditional design firms and program management firms. Fourth, we've built strong partnerships that best position us for commercial success.

首先，我們擁有領先的交通和鐵路系統能力，其次，我們在當地擁有強大的影響力以及與客戶的良好關係和記錄。第三，我們的專案管理專業知識使我們有別於傳統設計公司和專案管理公司。第四，我們建立了強而有力的合作關係，為我們商業成功奠定了最佳的基礎。

Finally, our scale enables us to draw on our global expertise and to augment local capabilities to create more efficient delivery for our clients. Our growth with FEMA and in the Canadian transit market is emblematic of the strengths of our platform and the [Paragon] strategy. We position early, advise and bring the full AECOM's suite of capabilities from across the globe to our clients. As a result, we have created an unrivaled value proposition for our clients. These successes aren't unique for us. We are delivering consistently strong growth and capitalizing on accelerating trends across our markets.

最後，我們的規模使我們能夠利用我們的全球專業知識並增強本地能力，為我們的客戶創造更有效率的交付。我們與 FEMA 以及加拿大交通市場的共同成長象徵著我們平台和 [Paragon] 策略的優勢。我們儘早定位、提供建議，並將 AECOM 在全球的全套功能帶給我們的客戶。因此，我們為客戶創造了無與倫比的價值主張。這些成功對我們來說並不是獨一無二的。我們正在實現持續強勁的成長，並利用整個市場的加速趨勢。

For instance, opportunities for lead pipe replacement are expanding, supported by IIJA funding, state and local investment and the prospects of expanded federal support from the EPA's proposed Lead and Copper Rule. We were an early mover in this market, including our ongoing support for Denver Water's Accelerated Lead Service Line Replacement Program as just one example.

例如，在 IIJA 資金、州和地方投資的支持下，以及 EPA 擬議的鉛和銅規則擴大聯邦支持的前景的支持下，鉛管更換的機會正在擴大。我們是這個市場的先驅，包括我們對丹佛水務公司加速鉛服務線更換計劃的持續支持只是一個例子。

On this program, we brought both our program management and digital capabilities to bear, including developing and deploying an AI-enabled tools that enabled our teams to double the amount of lead pipe identified in Denver's hotspots. Ultimately, this reduced costs and accelerated service line replacements. We expect this market to accelerate from here.

在這個專案中，我們利用了專案管理和數位化能力，包括開發和部署人工智慧工具，使我們的團隊能夠將丹佛熱點地區發現的鉛管數量增加一倍。最終，這降低了成本並加速了服務線的更換。我們預計這個市場將從此加速發展。

Another example is grid modernization, where investments are increasing and our pipeline has expanded to nearly $1 billion. This growth is driven by the additional capacity required to facilitate ongoing electrification and renewable energy generation capacity growth. Clients are seeking programmatic support and digital innovation to deliver projects on schedule and within budget, which plays right to our strengths as demonstrated by our several notable wins in this market over the past year.

另一個例子是電網現代化，投資不斷增加，我們的管道已擴大到近 10 億美元。這一成長是由促進持續電氣化和再生能源發電能力成長所需的額外產能所推動的。客戶正在尋求程序化支援和數位創新，以便在預算範圍內按時交付項目，這正好發揮了我們的優勢，過去一年我們在這個市場上取得的幾項重大勝利就證明了這一點。

Finally, our leadership position in the tunneling market remains a competitive differentiator on large and complex transportation and water programs. Our win on the 2-mile-deep Kensico water conveyance tunnel in New York City demonstrates our ability to deliver on the most complex and critical projects in the world.

最後，我們在隧道市場的領導地位仍然是大型複雜運輸和水務專案的競爭優勢。我們在紐約市 2 英里深的 Kensico 輸水隧道的勝利證明了我們有能力交付世界上最複雜和最關鍵的項目。

Additionally, our largest transportation wins in the quarter were defined by both our tunneling and program management expertise. Taken together across each of our markets, the strength of our strategy and our technical expertise is differentiating us and positioning us well for continued strong growth in the years ahead.

此外，我們在本季度最大的運輸勝利是由我們的隧道施工和專案管理專業知識決定的。綜合考慮我們每個市場的實力，我們的戰略優勢和技術專長使我們脫穎而出，並為我們在未來幾年的持續強勁增長做好了準備。

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

這樣，我會將電話轉給 Gaur。

Thanks, Lara. Please turn to the next slide. Our first quarter results exceeded our expectations, highlighted by continued strong organic NSR growth, a record first quarter margin, double-digit earnings growth and strong free cash flow. We are really pleased to start the year with such strong momentum.

謝謝，拉拉。請翻到下一張投影片。我們第一季的業績超出了我們的預期，突顯持續強勁的 NSR 有機成長、創紀錄的第一季利潤率、兩位數的獲利成長和強勁的自由現金流。我們很高興以如此強勁的勢頭開始新的一年。

Our backlog in nearly every market is at an all-time high, and our pipeline is at record level. We are realizing both the benefits of our organic growth at higher incremental margins and the investments we've made to deliver our work more efficiently, including a shift in our head count with digital and program management representing the fastest-growing areas of headcount increases across the company.

我們幾乎每個市場的積壓訂單都處於歷史最高水平，我們的管道也達到了創紀錄的水平。我們正在認識到以更高的增量利潤實現有機增長的好處，以及為更有效地交付工作而進行的投資，包括透過數位化和專案管理來改變我們的員工人數，這代表了員工人數增長最快的領域公司。

As a result, innovation is accelerating, and we are bringing new solutions to our clients that further enhance our advantage. For instance, our Fund Navigator tool has been utilized by clients to position for and successfully when funding from IIJA programs, and we're expanding these successes to help our clients deliver on these projects through our day 1, day 2, and day 3 capabilities. All of this strengthens our confidence into the future.

因此，創新正在加速，我們正在為客戶帶來新的解決方案，進一步增強我們的優勢。例如，客戶已利用我們的基金導航工具成功地從 IIJA 計劃獲得資金，並且我們正在擴大這些成功，以幫助我們的客戶透過我們的第 1 天、第 2 天和第 3 天的能力交付這些項目。這一切都增強了我們對未來的信心。

Please turn to the next slide. Turning to our results in more detail. Organic NSR in the Americas design business increased by 9%, led by growth in water, transportation and program management. Our adjusted operating margin in the Americas expanded to 18.3%, which was a new first quarter high. Our backlog in the design business is at a record level and included 23% growth in contracted backlog reflecting our high win rate and focus on winning what matters to expand our long-term earnings power.

請翻到下一張投影片。更詳細地討論我們的結果。美洲設計業務的有機 NSR 成長了 9%，其中水務、運輸和專案管理業務的成長帶動了成長。我們在美洲調整後的營業利潤率擴大至 18.3%，創第一季新高。我們的設計業務積壓訂單達到創紀錄的水平，其中合約積壓訂單增長了 23%，這反映出我們的高勝率和專注於贏得重要的事情以擴大我們的長期盈利能力。

I should note that our construction management backlog declined due to our decision to remove 2 projects from awarded backlog where the final terms and conditions were inconsistence with our risk framework, which did not materially impact our profit and backlog given the high pass-through revenue in this business.

我應該指出，我們的施工管理積壓工作有所下降，因為我們決定從授予的積壓工作中刪除 2 個項目，這些項目的最終條款和條件與我們的風險框架不一致，鑑於這項業務。

Please turn to the next slide. Organic NSR growth in the International segment was 8%, driven by growth in our highest returning markets. This is reflected in 230 basis points of margin expansion in the quarter to 10.6%. Further, improvement in our international margins will continue to be a key driver of our enterprise-wide margin expansion goals. Backlog also increased across all our regions in the quarter and positions us for continued strong growth in the year.

請翻到下一張投影片。國際部門的有機 NSR 成長率為 8%，這得益於我們回報率最高的市場的成長。這反映在本季利潤率擴大 230 個基點至 10.6%。此外，我們國際利潤率的提高將繼續成為我們整個企業利潤率擴張目標的關鍵驅動力。本季我們所有地區的積壓訂單也有所增加，這使我們能夠在今年繼續強勁成長。

Please turn to the next slide. We had a strong start to the year on cash flow with free cash flow of $87 million. This enabled a return of nearly $100 million to shareholders in the quarter. As Troy noted, the Board of Directors increased our repurchase authorization to $1 billion in November, and our quarterly dividend payment increased by 22% beginning with our January payment. We remain committed to our disciplined returns-focused capital allocation policy.

請翻到下一張投影片。今年我們的現金流開局強勁，自由現金流為 8,700 萬美元。這使得該季度為股東帶來了近 1 億美元的回報。正如特洛伊所指出的，董事會在 11 月將我們的回購授權增加到 10 億美元，從 1 月開始，我們的季度股息支付增加了 22%。我們仍然致力於遵守以回報為中心的嚴格資本配置政策。

We continue to expect at least 100% conversion of adjusted net income to free cash flow for the full year, which will support ongoing dividend and share repurchases. Importantly, our balance sheet remains strong. Both S&P and Moody's upgraded our credit ratings over the past few months, and we are operating with low leverage and cost of debt certainty.

我們仍然預計全年調整後淨利潤將至少 100% 轉化為自由現金流，這將支持持續的股息和股票回購。重要的是，我們的資產負債表仍然強勁。標準普爾和穆迪在過去幾個月都提升了我們的信用評級，而且我們的槓桿率和債務確定性成本較低。

Please turn to the next slide. With our accomplishments in the quarter and the strong start to the year, we reaffirmed our guidance across all financial metrics for fiscal 2024. This includes our expectations for 13% and 20% adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS growth enabled by our expectations for 8% to 10% organic NSR growth and 90 basis points of margin expansion to a new record.

請翻到下一張投影片。憑藉本季的成就和今年的強勁開局，我們重申了對2024 財年所有財務指標的指導。這包括我們對13% 和20% 調整後EBITDA 的預期，以及我們對8% 至8% 的預期所帶來的調整後每股收益成長的預期。NSR 有機成長 10%，利潤率擴大 90 個基點，創下新紀錄。

I will continue to note that our adjusted EPS guidance only incorporates the benefit of repurchases completed to date, even though it is our intent to continue repurchasing stock over the course of the year.

我將繼續指出，我們調整後的每股盈餘指引僅包含迄今為止完成的回購的收益，儘管我們打算在今年繼續回購股票。

For modeling purposes, we also expect our second and third quarter tax rates to be in the high 20s, consistent with the phasing we've experienced last year.

出於建模目的，我們也預計第二季和第三季的稅率將在 20 左右，與我們去年經歷的階段一致。

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 Michael Feniger from Bank of America.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自美國銀行的 Michael Feniger。

There will be a focus on the overall backlog being down. I'm just curious about the gross profit in the backlog. So the overall backlog is down. You discussed kind of the moving pieces of the construction management design up. Maybe you can help us with that overall figure down, what does it actually look like when we think of the gross profit in the backlog trending?

人們將重點放在總體積壓的減少。我只是好奇積壓訂單中的毛利。因此，總體積壓情況有所下降。您討論了施工管理設計的一些移動部分。也許您可以幫助我們降低總體數字，當我們考慮積壓趨勢中的毛利時，它實際上是什麼樣子？

Yes. Thanks for the question. And I'm going to let Gaur walk you through that.

是的。謝謝你的提問。我將讓 Gaur 引導您完成這個過程。

Yes. Thanks, Troy. So in regards to the overall backlog trajectory, if you would recall, one of the things we have done over the last couple of years, including our most recent Investor Day, was continue to highlight where the profitability lies in our businesses.

是的。謝謝，特洛伊。因此，就整體積壓軌跡而言，如果您還記得的話，我們在過去幾年中所做的事情之一，包括我們最近的投資者日，就是繼續強調我們業務的盈利能力。

Particularly, DCS represents 94% of our NSR and the same percentage in profitability, the residual being in the CM business. And what you see overall in the backlog, even though it's a 3% decline when you combine both of them, but when you separate the design backlog increased 9% in the quarter for us. The total backlog decreased 3%, but the total backlog profitability increased 9%, again, highlighting why we've continued to emphasize the core of our business being design and the profitability in it.

特別是，DCS 占我們 NSR 的 94%，獲利能力也佔相同比例，剩餘部分在 CM 業務。你在積壓中看到的總體情況是，儘管將兩者結合起來時下降了 3%，但當你分開時，我們的設計積壓在本季度增加了 9%。總積壓訂單減少了 3%，但總積壓訂單獲利能力增加了 9%，這再次凸顯了我們為何繼續強調設計及其獲利能力是我們業務的核心。

Now specific to the backlog CM, I just want to comment very quickly. We actually had over $1 billion of wins in the current quarter in our CM business. And consistent with our IR day, where we highlighted one of our foundational operating principles is risk management. This was the perfect example in the current quarter in our CM business for backlog because what you saw were 2 developer projects on commercial side, high floor construction, where the developers wanted to pass incremental risk to us after the project had been awarded, but before it had been contracted.

現在具體到積壓的 CM，我只想快速發表評論。事實上，本季我們的 CM 業務贏得了超過 10 億美元的勝利。與我們的投資者關係日一致，我們強調了我們的基本營運原則之一是風險管理。這是本季度我們的 CM 業務積壓的完美例子，因為您看到的是商業方面的 2 個開發商項目，高層建築，開發商希望在項目授予之後但之前將增量風險傳遞給我們它已經簽訂了合約。

And we just said, no, because as we've said, we're always going to make investments that are towards the highest and best use for our shareholders and to create profitability. And we don't have to chase work because of the diversification strategy we've employed in CM, where 1/3 of our backlog is in sports, 1/3 in aviation hospitality and 1/3 in other, including commercial real estate, but mind you, commercial real estate in the CM business represents less than 2.5% of our total NSR.

我們只是說，不，因為正如我們所說，我們始終會進行投資，為我們的股東帶來最高和最好的利用，並創造盈利能力。我們不必追逐工作，因為我們在 CM 採取了多元化策略，其中 1/3 的積壓工作在體育領域，1/3 在航空酒店領域，1/3 在其他領域，包括商業房地產，但請注意，CM業務中的商業房地產僅占我們總NSR 的不到2.5%。

So there's no reason for us to deviate from our returns-focused strategy. And there's no reason for us to take on onerous risk because all of our end markets, especially in our design business, shown through our backlog growth, profitability growth are extremely robust and a high level of bidding activity that's going on globally for us.

因此，我們沒有理由偏離以回報為中心的策略。我們沒有理由承​​擔巨大的風險，因為我們所有的終端市場，尤其是我們的設計業務，透過我們的積壓訂單增長、盈利增長以及全球範圍內正在進行的高水平投標活動表明，我們的盈利能力增長非常強勁。

Makes sense. And just my follow-up. You guys kind of flagged earlier stages of the pipeline are increasing and maybe that, that's a lead indicator. And I just wanted to ask because there are some concerns that maybe the stimulus dollars and the project pipeline maybe peaks out in '24, you kind of lose momentum.

說得通。這只是我的後續行動。你們有點標記管道的早期階段正在增加，也許這是一個領先指標。我只是想問，因為有人擔心刺激資金和專案管道可能會在 24 年達到頂峰，你會失去動力。

What are these early discussions that you're seeing in the pipeline? What does that kind of tell you about the visibility and sustainability? Maybe we can start to even think about '25 and beyond, even as we're facing a year of election uncertainty. So just help us contextualize what those early discussions kind of tell you about the lead in terms of how we kind of think about the business and the project pipeline, even as we look beyond '24?

您在管道中看到的這些早期討論是什麼？這告訴您有關可見性和可持續性的什麼資訊？也許我們甚至可以開始考慮 25 年及以後的事情，即使我們面臨選舉不確定性的一年。因此，請幫助我們了解這些早期討論告訴您的領先地位，即我們如何看待業務和專案管道，即使我們的目光超越了 24 世紀？

Yes. So we have actually seen our early -- again, as I made in prepared comments, we've seen our early stage pipeline continue to improve. And that's not isolated to the U.S., but your comments were focused on the U.S. .

是的。因此，我們實際上已經看到了我們的早期階段——再次，正如我在準備好的評論中所做的那樣，我們已經看到我們的早期階段管道在不斷改進。這並非孤立於美國，但你的評論主要針對美國。

We are seeing, again, the early-stage pipeline continue to grow year-over-year. And over the past few years, we've continued to see an improvement in that trajectory. So for us, what that means is those projects will come to market sometime in the next 6 months or possibly 18 months for award, and then we'll start work on them. So I've seen the pipeline continue to grow, means that we have great longer-term visibility to growth in the business, and particularly, in our U.S. infrastructure market.

我們再次看到早期產品線持續逐年成長。在過去的幾年裡，我們不斷看到這條軌蹟的改善。因此，對我們來說，這意味著這些項目將在未來 6 個月或可能 18 個月內的某個時候進入市場並獲得獎勵，然後我們將開始處理它們。因此，我看到管道繼續成長，這意味著我們對業務成長有很好的長期可見性，特別是在我們的美國基礎設施市場。

When we look around the world, we see something very similar. We see growth in our pipeline and a continued growth in those longer-term investments in infrastructure. As with -- again, as with everything, there's always a few opportunities -- there's always a few markets here, where in fact, there's some difficulty -- it is -- I think everyone is aware. And as Gaur pointed out, certainly in commercial office, and I'll call it in tall buildings in North America. We see a slowdown.

當我們環顧世界時，我們會看到一些非常相似的東西。我們看到我們的管道不斷成長，基礎設施的長期投資也持續成長。再次強調，就像所有事情一樣，總是有一些機會，這裡總是有一些市場，但事實上，存在一些困難，我想每個人都知道。正如高爾指出的那樣，當然在商業辦公室，我將在北美的高層建築中稱呼它。我們看到經濟放緩。

We also see in the U.K. very strong opportunities. But within our transportation business, we actually see a slowing of investment in large transportation projects. And we don't think that will pick up until after there is an election and perhaps for a few quarters after that. But the ambitions in the U.K. are still the same. There's still a need for large long-term investments infrastructure but we think that there's a pause for the moment, while there perhaps might be a change of government. But again, I would just come back to the fact that around the world, we are seeing very positive momentum, and we think it will build for the long term for us in terms of our pipeline.

我們在英國也看到了非常好的機會。但在我們的交通運輸業務中，我們實際上看到大型交通項目的投資正在放緩。我們認為，直到選舉之後，或許在選舉後的幾個季度內，這種情況才會有所改善。但英國的野心仍然是一樣的。仍然需要大規模的長期投資基礎設施，但我們認為暫時會暫停，而政府可能會更迭。但我想再次回到這樣一個事實：在世界各地，我們看到了非常積極的勢頭，我們認為這將為我們的管道建設提供長期支持。

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

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

Maybe just shifting a bit over to the margin side. Can you maybe talk through the puts and takes on it -- probably a little bit of color earlier, but -- just kind of Americas segment was maybe a little bit soft relative to our expectations, but international came in much better. Maybe just the puts and the takes on the 2 segments and your expectations for the rest of the year across the 2 geographical segments.

也許只是稍微移到邊緣一側。你能談談它的看跌和承受嗎——可能早些時候有點色彩，但是——美洲部分相對於我們的預期可能有點軟，但國際部分要好得多。也許只是這兩個細分市場的看跌期權和買入期權以及您對這兩個地理細分市場今年剩餘時間的期望。

Saba, this is Gaur. I'll take that. On the margin side, it was definitely ahead of our expectations of what we had laid out. And it's, again, continued focus on making sure we deliver on our commitments.

薩巴，這是高爾。我會接受的。在利潤方面，這絕對超出了我們對所製定的預期。再次，我們將繼續致力於確保我們兌現我們的承諾。

I'll expand what I mean by that. So the key things when we operate, we make sure, as we've said over and over again, we're focused, not trying to be everything to everybody, everywhere. And that's -- when especially when you look at our international business, it's the countries we have exited because we want to focus on the key geographies where we are the premier professional service provider of choice by our clients to leverage our technical expertise and that have the best growth opportunities, as Troy just laid out in the previous response.

我將擴展我的意思。因此，正如我們一再說過的那樣，我們在運作時的關鍵事情是確保我們專注，而不是試圖成為每個地方的每個人的一切。那就是——特別是當你看看我們的國際業務時，我們已經退出了這些國家，因為我們希望專注於關鍵地區，在這些地區，我們是客戶選擇的首要專業服務提供商，可以利用我們的技術專長，並且已經正如特洛伊在之前的回應中所闡述的那樣，這是最好的成長機會。

Now we also make very sound decisions that are returns-focused, return on investment focused. An example of that is the restructuring that we took in Q4 and are also executing those efficiency initiatives in the current year. Those margins are what you're seeing in international, you're seeing also that coming through in Americas and also allowing us to continue to invest in the business in the Americas where the pipeline, the bidding level is at historic levels. And this is us holding ourselves accountable. It's not restructuring that we just do, but it doesn't just go into either.

現在我們也做出非常明智的決策，這些決策注重回報、投資回報。一個例子是我們在第四季進行的重組，並在今年執行了這些效率措施。這些利潤是你在國際上看到的，你也在美洲看到的，也讓我們能夠繼續投資美洲的業務，那裡的管道、投標水平都處於歷史水平。這就是我們對自己負責。我們所做的並不是重組，但也不僅僅涉及其中任何一個。

You see it in our results with a 90 bps increase year-over-year. we just saw in Q1 and what you should be expecting as we continue through the remaining 3 quarters into FY '24, if consistent phasing in performance, what you've seen us from before, we expect and are confident now with Q1 behind us to deliver on our margin target.

您可以在我們的業績中看到這一點，比去年同期成長 90 個基點。我們剛剛在第一季看到了，當我們繼續進入24 財年的剩餘3 個季度時，您應該期待什麼，如果業績分階段一致，您之前看到的，我們期望並有信心現在第一季已經過去了實現我們的利潤目標。

And again, just on DCS -- on our Americas business, I'm going to make the same comment, again, as I just said a few seconds earlier, which is, the margins are expanding through our initiatives of providing the right level of technical expertise, which allows us to bring the right commercial pricing structure in play, but more importantly, allows us to focus on BD to invest -- our business development to continue to invest in the future because the pipeline is quite strong and robust for us.

再說一次，就 DCS 而言——關於我們的美洲業務，我將再次發表同樣的評論，正如我幾秒鐘前所說的那樣，即透過我們提供適當水平的舉措，利潤率正在擴大。技術專長，這使我們能夠發揮正確的商業定價結構，但更重要的是，使我們能夠專注於BD 投資——我們的業務發展繼續投資於未來，因為管道對我們來說相當強大和穩健。

All right. Great. And then just, I guess, on the ACAP business, I -- maybe if you could just remind us what kind of the plan there is. I know there's a transition out of it. But maybe just remind us what the plan is over the next little while to sort of transition that or exit that business completely?

好的。偉大的。然後，我想，關於 ACAP 業務，我——也許你能提醒我們有什麼樣的計劃。我知道有一個過渡。但也許只是提醒我們接下來一段時間的計劃是什麼，以進行過渡或完全退出該業務？

Sure. Absolutely. Now if you recall, in -- for ACAP, we moved that into held for sale a few quarters ago. And what that basically requires is it's got to be carried at fair market value of cost per the accounting rule. So what you saw through was just an accounting entry coming through in the current quarter because the credit markets continue to tighten.

當然。絕對地。現在，如果您還記得，對於 ACAP，我們在幾個季度前將其轉入待售狀態。這基本上要求的是，它必須根據會計規則以公平的市場成本價值進行計量。因此，您看到的只是本季的會計分錄，因為信貸市場持續收緊。

But our expectations that we had communicated a few quarters ago on the expected cash flow from this business, now being part of noncore, that has not changed. Also, I think it's important to note, there's minimal value left of our direct investments in ACAP on our balance sheet. I believe it's less than $15 million. Nothing has changed in terms of what our strategy was, what we communicated a few quarters ago, and we continue on the timing consistent with our expectations to execute on that strategy.

但我們在幾個季度前就該業務（現已成為非核心業務的一部分）的預期現金流量進行了溝通的預期並未改變。另外，我認為值得注意的是，我們對 ACAP 的直接投資在我們的資產負債表上所剩無幾。我相信不到 1500 萬美元。我們的策略以及我們幾個季度前溝通的內容沒有任何變化，我們將繼續按照與我們預期一致的時間來執行該策略。

Okay. Great. And then just one last quick one. How are you thinking about, given where the share price is today? How are you thinking about buybacks, as we look ahead for the rest of the year? Is there a certain amount that you definitely want to do? Or is it going to be more opportunistic over the next few quarters?

好的。偉大的。然後是最後一個快速的。考慮到今天的股價，您有何想法？當我們展望今年剩餘時間時，您如何看待回購？您是否確實想要做一定數量的事情？或者在接下來的幾個季度中它會變得更加機會主義嗎？

So Saba, first, I'd just point out that with respect to how we allocate capital, nothing has really changed. And so again, what we've described in the past, we'll stick to this, is that we're going to be returns focused in terms of allocating our capital. We will continue to invest in organic growth. It's a little bit different investing in organic growth, as Gaur pointed out, that does go through our margins. So our margins actually contain a pretty significant investment in the future. .

因此，薩巴，首先，我只想指出，就我們如何分配資本而言，沒有任何真正改變。因此，我們過去所描述的，我們將堅持這一點，即我們將在分配資本方面以回報為重點。我們將繼續投資於有機成長。正如高爾指出的那樣，對有機成長的投資有點不同，這確實會影響我們的利潤。所以我們的利潤其實包含了對未來相當大的投資。 。

Secondly, we believe that we should be returning capital to shareholders. And we've increased the dividend. And as I said in the prepared comments, we've got a Board authorization for $1 billion of repurchases and we will continue to repurchase our stock. What we said with respect to timing is that we will effectively use our cash flow through the year to buy back our stock. So that might be a way to think about just the timing of it. We don't look at being opportunistic. We look at just doing it consistently over the course of the year.

其次，我們認為我們應該向股東返還資本。我們增加了股利。正如我在準備好的評論中所說，我們已獲得董事會授權進行 10 億美元的回購，我們將繼續回購我們的股票。我們所說的時間安排是，我們將有效地利用全年的現金流來回購我們的股票。所以這可能是考慮時機的一種方式。我們不認為機會主義。我們希望在這一年中始終如一地這樣做。

Your next question comes from the line of Andy Kaplowitz from Citigroup.

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

Troy or Gaurav, you beat the street excluding the lower tax rate by something like $0.05 and your design backlog is up nicely as you said. It increased the guide at either end of the range. I know it's early in the year, but is there anything that you're seeing that gives you some pause? And then how do you think about EPS cadence in Q2 and for the rest of the year? Should it just be sort of normal seasonality?

Troy 或 Gaurav，排除較低的稅率，您的表現比其他公司高了 0.05 美元，而且您的設計積壓工作如您所說，增長得很好。它增加了範圍兩端的引導。我知道現在還早，但是你所看到的有什麼事情讓你停下來嗎？那麼您如何看待第二季度和今年剩餘時間的 EPS 節奏？這應該只是正常的季節性嗎？

Yes, Andy, thank you for the question. We did have a very strong first quarter, and it's a valid question, right? Because we have met and beat expectations for the last 4 years. But as you would recall, this management team, our mantra is to be prudently conservative, especially in Q1. So we're going to continue to operate with that mantra. Q1 definitely gives us a lot of confidence in continuing the trend we have accomplished over the last 4 years.

是的，安迪，謝謝你的提問。我們的第一季確實非常強勁，這是一個有效的問題，對吧？因為過去 4 年我們達到並超越了預期。但正如您所記得的，這個管理團隊的口號是謹慎保守，尤其是在第一季。因此，我們將繼續秉承這一理念開展業務。第一季無疑給了我們很大的信心來延續我們過去 4 年所取得的趨勢。

And I think from a phasing standpoint, as we've said before, the phasing is going to be consistent on earnings with our historical phasing we have delivered upon. But there's nothing in the horizon that would give us pause as we continue to operate in FY '24, given the backdrop of how strong our businesses are, including, again, I can't emphasize enough, how we'll have to be redundant is how the robust pipeline and record level of bidding we're experiencing in the business.

我認為，從分階段的角度來看，正如我們之前所說，分階段的收益將與我們已經實現的歷史分階段保持一致。但考慮到我們的業務有多強大，包括，我再次強調，我們將如何不得不裁員，因此我們在 24 財年繼續運營時，沒有什麼可以讓我們停下來的這就是我們在業務中所經歷的強勁的管道和創紀錄的投標水平。

And then, Troy, maybe you can give us a little more color to your end markets within the Americas. You mentioned strength in water and transportation, but didn't really highlight facilities, for instance, yet. I think AECOM has good data center design exposure. So could you elaborate on what you're seeing across all the end markets in the Americas?

然後，特洛伊，也許您可以為我們在美洲的終端市場提供更多的色彩。您提到了水利和交通的實力，但還沒有真正強調設施等。我認為 AECOM 擁有良好的資料中心設計經驗。那麼您能否詳細說明一下您在美洲所有終端市場所看到的情況？

Yes, sure. The simple answer is we're seeing strength across all of our end markets, including our facilities business. And again, within our facilities business, we have shifted our focus over the past 3 years from what we had done in the past to again, it's more public infrastructure, and that includes transportation projects.

是的，當然。簡單的答案是，我們看到所有終端市場的實力，包括我們的設施業務。在我們的設施業務中，我們在過去三年再次將重點從過去所做的事情轉移到更多的公共基礎設施上，其中包括交通項目。

So we saw strength across the entire business. But I think there's another importable -- another important trend to call out, which is we've actually changed the focus so that we are now, instead of being a design firm that's exposed to, say, 10% to 15% of a project spend. Through the expansion of our advising program management offering, we're now exposed to, say, 30% of the project spend.

所以我們看到了整個業務的實力。但我認為還有另一個重要的因素——另一個需要指出的重要趨勢，那就是我們實際上已經改變了重點，這樣我們現在就不再是一家接觸項目 10% 到 15% 的設計公司。花費。透過擴展我們的專案管理諮詢服務，我們現在承擔了 30% 的專案支出。

But more importantly, we're exposed to -- we think, more than 50% of the profitability of the projects. And so that's given us an opportunity. So even where there might be some slowness in the market because we are exposed to much greater client spend, we have the opportunity to support businesses that might even -- they might even be seeing some slowing in the market.

但更重要的是，我們認為，我們獲得了該項目 50% 以上的獲利能力。這給了我們一個機會。因此，即使由於我們面臨更大的客戶支出而導致市場出現一些放緩，我們也有機會支持那些可能會看到市場放緩的企業。

Again, strength across the business because of healthy markets, but also because of our increased exposure to client projects and spending. And with respect to program management, over the course of the last year, on projects that we bid that are greater than $50 million in size, we've bid 11 and we've won all 11. So again, I think that just speaks to the strength of our program management offering, but it also gives you an example of the opportunity that we see, again, across all of our markets and all of our projects and our end customers.

同樣，整個業務的實力得益於健康的市場，也得益於我們對客戶項目和支出的增加。就專案管理而言，在去年的過程中，在我們投標的規模超過5000 萬美元的項目中，我們投標了11 個項目，並且贏得了全部11 個項目。所以我再說一遍，我認為這只是說明問題不僅反映了我們專案管理服務的優勢，而且還為您提供了一個例子，說明我們在所有市場、所有專案和最終客戶中再次看到的機會。

Your next question comes from the line of Sangita Jain from KeyBanc Capital Markets.

您的下一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Sangita Jain。

Troy, you talked about the U.K. elections and a little bit of a pause in spending there. Can you give us color on the U.S. and the EU elections, which are also coming up? And whether you think you're seeing a pull forward of business there? Are people in a wait and see mode maybe?

特洛伊，您談到了英國大選以及英國支出的暫停。您能為我們介紹一下即將舉行的美國和歐盟選舉嗎？您是否認為那裡的業務有所成長？人們可能處於觀望狀態嗎？

Certainly. So with respect to the U.S., we're not seeing a change in, as you described in spending patterns or spending habits. There is, first of all, over the last few years, there have been a lot of funding put in place that is long-term and multiyear funding. And that's all supported, again, I think in part bipartisan way in the United States. So we haven't seen a change in funding or change in the appetite for our U.S. government clients to invest in infrastructure.

當然。因此，就美國而言，正如您所描述的，我們的消費模式或消費習慣並沒有改變。首先，在過去幾年中，已經投入了大量長期和多年期資金。我認為這在美國得到了兩黨的部分支持。因此，我們沒有看到資金發生變化，也沒有看到美國政府客戶投資基礎設施的意願改變。

With respect to the EU, again, I'd just start by saying our exposure to the EU market is quite small. If you recall, 90% of our business actually comes from 4 countries. It's the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia. So well, Europe may be choppy in terms of infrastructure funding, we just don't see it having a large impact on us. But we still see, again, there are some places across the EU, where there is certainly money being put in infrastructure, in particular, into water programs.

關於歐盟，我首先要說的是，我們在歐盟市場的曝險很小。如果你還記得的話，我們 90% 的業務實際上來自 4 個國家。是美國、加拿大、英國和澳洲。那麼，歐洲在基礎設施融資方面可能會出現波動，我們只是認為它不會對我們產生很大的影響。但我們仍然再次看到，歐盟的一些地方肯定有資金投入基礎設施，特別是水項目。

Great. And if I can ask you another one on your project management portfolio. Obviously, you've been seeing some phenomenal wins there. Can you talk a little bit about the typical pushbacks that you may be seeing as you take share from incumbents in these projects maybe?

偉大的。我可否再向您詢問有關您的專案管理組合的另一項問題。顯然，您已經在那裡看到了一些驚人的勝利。您能否談談當您從這些項目中的現任者那裡獲取份額時可能會遇到的典型阻力？

Well, it's an interesting question. We really haven't seen much pushback as evidenced by our win rate. I have to say I think that there's a large opportunity that was a long -- it was driven a few years ago from our customers. And our customers recognize that with all of the funding that was available and frankly, the complexity and size of these programs that the only way they could advance them was actually having help from someone like us who has the technical ability to understand these complex projects and then has the management ability to deliver them.

嗯，這是一個有趣的問題。正如我們的勝率所證明的那樣，我們確實沒有看到太多的阻力。我必須說，我認為這是一個長期存在的巨大機會——幾年前我們的客戶就帶來了這個機會。我們的客戶認識到，坦率地說，利用所有可用資金，這些項目的複雜性和規模，他們推進這些項目的唯一方法實際上是獲得像我們這樣有技術能力理解這些複雜項目的人的幫助，並且然後有管理能力來交付它們。

So our opportunity was born out of a need from our customers. And then we've just taken advantage of the opportunity to take our skills across the platform and to grow it by supplementing it with people from across the industry with those skills. So we've built up a really strong impressive core team. And I think it's a combination of our skills and our core team and then frankly, some of the things we're doing with respect to our digital innovations to make the customer process much more transparent and to improve the communication or think about it as an improved client experience. So all those things have come together, and we are just not seeing the pushback in the market as evidenced by our win rate.

因此，我們的機會源自於客戶的需求。然後，我們抓住了這個機會，在整個平台上運用我們的技能，並透過與來自整個行業的具有這些技能的人員進行補充來發展它。因此，我們已經建立了一支非常強大、令人印象深刻的核心團隊。我認為這是我們的技能和核心團隊的結合，坦白說，我們在數位創新方面所做的一些事情使客戶流程更加透明並改善溝通或將其視為改善客戶體驗。因此，所有這些事情都集中在一起，我們只是沒有看到市場上的阻力，正如我們的勝率所證明的那樣。

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

您的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的史蒂文費雪。

I just wanted to come back to the regional growth for a second. I'm just curious how you see the relative growth rates overall in the Americas versus international over the next several quarters, curious which should be growing faster and what would drive that?

我只是想回到區域增長上來。我只是好奇您如何看待未來幾季美洲與國際的整體相對成長率，好奇哪個成長應該更快，什麼會推動這一成長？

Well, we are actually seeing a little bit more momentum in our Americas market in Canada and the U.S. than we have seen outside the U.S. But again, not to point out that we're seeing significant slowing. We're actually just seeing more projects come to market because the funding is available, again, across the Americas, Canada and the U.S. And you can -- again, you can see that in our contracted backlog. .

嗯，我們實際上看到加拿大和美國的美洲市場比美國以外的市場有更多的動力。但同樣，並不是說我們看到了明顯的放緩。實際上，我們只是看到更多的項目進入市場，因為美洲、加拿大和美國都可以獲得資金，而且您可以再次在我們的合約積壓中看到這一點。 。

The other thing I'll point out is, is that you saw that our NSR, our DCS business in the Americas grew faster than international during the quarter. That also is helpful because our margins are significantly higher in our Americas business in the U.S. And so as we see the opportunities accelerate in North America, we also think that, again, bodes well for the future of the profitability of the business.

我要指出的另一件事是，您看到我們的 NSR、我們在美洲的 DCS 業務在本季度的成長速度快於國際業務。這也很有幫助，因為我們在美國的美洲業務的利潤率要高得多。因此，當我們看到北美的機會加速增加時，我們也認為這對業務盈利能力的未來來說是個好兆頭。

Great. And then just a cadence question. So with 7% NSR growth in Q1 kind of 8% to 10% for your expectation, can you just give us a sense of how the rest of the year's cadence will play out? Do you think as soon as Q2 will start to be sort of towards the upper end of that range? Or do you think, we're sort of like somewhere in that range, just the rest of the year?

偉大的。然後只是一個節奏問題。因此，第一季 NSR 成長 7%，相當於您的預期 8% 到 10%，您能否讓我們了解今年剩餘時間的節奏將如何發揮？您認為第二季就會開始接近該範圍的上限嗎？或者你認為，我們在今年剩下的時間裡有點像這個範圍內的某個地方？

Steve, this is Gaur. In terms of the annual forecast, that hasn't changed. It's 8% to 10%, and we fully expect to be within that range. In terms of cadence and phasing in Q2, we expect because there's fewer number of workdays. So there's just going to be a shift between Q2 and later quarters than what you and us, we have historically experienced and we can work with that with you off-line, if that's okay.

史蒂夫，這是高爾。就年度預測而言，這一點並沒有改變。這個比例是 8% 到 10%，我們完全預期會在這個範圍內。就第二季的節奏和階段而言，我們預計，因為工作日數量較少。因此，第二季和後面幾季之間將會出現比您和我們歷史上經歷過的變化，如果可以的話，我們可以與您離線合作。

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

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

Troy, thinking about public sector versus private just maybe generally and maybe you can break it down from Americas International, but is the growth rates there surprising you one way or the other? And as you look at your 5% to 8% long-term net revenue growth, organic expectations, it seems you'll be focusing more on public? And is that mix going to change a bit? And I guess, on top of that, on the CM business, are you being much more selective? Are you pulling back? Are you -- like where is the cadence or the pace of what you're doing in that market given the mix and importance of growth elsewhere out of AECOM's platform?

特洛伊，考慮公共部門與私營部門的比較可能只是一般性的，也許你可以將其與美洲國際分開，但那裡的成長率是否讓你感到驚訝？當您考慮 5% 至 8% 的長期淨收入成長和有機預期時，您似乎會更加關注公眾？這種組合會有些變化嗎？我想，除此之外，在 CM 業務上，你們是否更挑剔？你要撤退嗎？考慮到 AECOM 平台之外其他地方成長的混合性和重要性，您是否認為您在該市場所做的事情的節奏或步伐在哪裡？

Mike, thank you. I'm going to share this with Lara. I'll let her take the first part of your question, then I'll take the second part of your question on CM.

麥克，謝謝你。我要和勞拉分享這個。我會讓她回答你問題的第一部分，然後我會回答你關於 CM 問題的第二部分。

Yes. Thanks, Michael. So we -- in terms of that balance in our portfolio, it remains pretty constant. It's about 60% public and 40% private. We see substantial opportunities in both sectors going forward in line with those ongoing secular trends.

是的。謝謝，麥可。因此，就我們投資組合的平衡而言，它仍然相當穩定。大約 60% 是公共的，40% 是私人的。我們認為這兩個行業都存在著巨大的機遇，與這些持續的長期趨勢保持一致。

So a long-term infrastructure, very robust, a lot of wins in this first quarter for many of our public transportation clients. Some nice wins in terms of the resiliency and sustainability play, signaled by our great win with FEMA, which rounds out the project life cycle work that we're undertaking for them, water and environmental services.

因此，長期的基礎設施非常強大，在第一季為我們的許多公共交通客戶帶來了許多勝利。在彈性和永續性方面取得了一些不錯的勝利，這以我們與聯邦緊急管理局的巨大勝利為標誌，它完善了我們為他們承擔的專案生命週期工作、水和環境服務。

And then in terms of that outlook, obviously, strong opportunities ahead of us in terms of our market leadership with PFAS. But that's a good example of where those opportunities are actually nicely balanced between public sector clients in, for example, in the defense space, but private sector opportunities also in aviation and the growing opportunities that are going to come up for private industrial clients. So we know there are a lot of longer-term liabilities. So that gives you a couple of examples about around how we have a pretty -- we're going to have a pretty balanced portfolio going forward between public and private.

就這一前景而言，顯然，我們在 PFAS 的市場領導地位方面面臨著巨大的機會。但這是一個很好的例子，說明這些機會實際上在國防領域等公共部門客戶、航空領域的私營部門機會以及私營工業客戶將出現的不斷增長的機會之間得到了很好的平衡。所以我們知道有很多長期負債。因此，這為您提供了一些關於我們如何在公共和私人之間建立相當平衡的投資組合的範例。

And with respect to CM, I'll -- again, Gaur covered a little bit of this. So I'll just -- I'll try and leave you with 3, what I think are 3 important points. First is, is that construction management, those de-bookings were frankly immaterial to the profit that we had in backlog. And it gives you a sense of the strength of the DCS business and the strength of margins that reside in that business.

關於 CM，我會——再次，Gaur 對此進行了一些介紹。所以我會嘗試給你們留下 3 點，我認為這是 3 個重要的點。首先是施工管理，坦白說，這些取消預訂對於我們積壓的利潤並不重要。它讓您了解 DCS 業務的實力以及該業務的利潤實力。

Second is, those debookings were, frankly, at our discretion. They were places where we had been awarded the work and the client wanted us to take on a different set of terms and conditions that we weren't comfortable with. So it just gets to the point that we're not going to, again, chase work perhaps in a market that would be difficult, and that's in sort of the commercial tall buildings environment.

其次，坦白說，這些取消預訂是由我們自行決定的。我們在這些地方獲得了工作，但客戶希望我們接受一套我們不滿意的不同條款和條件。因此，我們不會再次在一個困難的市場中尋找工作，而這就是商業高層建築環境中的情況。

And the third thing is we saw this through the conversations and with our clients and through our pipeline a number of years ago that there was going to be a sort of a slowing in tall buildings. And so we made the decision to actually pivot the CM business and start to focus on other kinds of projects and build experiences for the future. And as Gaur pointed out, 1/3 of our business comes from aviation. If you go back 5 years ago, we didn't have that same expertise. And so we are building experience and, frankly, world-class quals. So that team will be able to pivot to that market in the future where we see long-term opportunity.

第三件事是，我們透過幾年前的對話、與客戶以及我們的管道看到了這一點，高層建築將會出現某種程度的放緩。因此，我們決定真正轉向 CM 業務，並開始專注於其他類型的專案並為未來累積經驗。正如高爾所指出的，我們 1/3 的業務來自航空。如果你回到 5 年前，我們還沒有同樣的專業知識。因此，我們正在累積經驗，坦白說，我們正在累積世界一流的素質。因此，該團隊將來能夠轉向那個我們看到長期機會的市場。

And so that's been the focus with CM as -- we think that, that business in the future, we'll -- we're making some good decisions as that business evolves, but we see there being strength in the future and the business will just look different, if you look forward 5 years.

因此，這一直是 CM 的重點，因為我們認為，隨著業務的發展，我們將在未來的業務中做出一些好的決策，但我們看到未來和業務的實力如果你展望5年，你會發現它看起來會有所不同。

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

您的下一個問題來自戴維斯湯普森的 Adam Thalhimer。

Congrats on the strong start to fiscal '24, nice Q1 beat. I also wanted to ask about the early stages of your project funnel. So when you look at Stage 1 and 2 of your pipeline, are there any particular end markets that are contributing to strength there?

恭喜 24 財年的強勁開局，第一季表現良好。我還想問一下你們專案管道的早期階段。那麼，當您查看管道的第一階段和第二階段時，是否有任何特定的終端市場對那裡的實力做出了貢獻？

Well, it sort of -- as we -- as I described a little bit earlier, we are seeing strength across all of our end markets. And so we think about that as environment, energy, transportation, water, even our facilities are buildings some places for us.

嗯，正如我們之前所描述的，我們在所有終端市場都看到了實力。因此，我們認為環境、能源、交通、水，甚至我們的設施都是我們的建築。

And then across that, it's a combination of design work and program management advisory work. So again, I just -- we see that, that strength across the entire pipeline in the early stages. But again, as I said, there are some places where -- they were -- it's not a perfect world. There are places where there is some slowness in the market, which you pointed out in the U.K. in transportation and certainly in tall buildings here in North America where we're exposed. But overall...

然後，它是設計工作和專案管理諮詢工作的結合。再說一次，我只是——我們看到了整個管道在早期階段的實力。但正如我所說，有些地方——確實如此——這並不是一個完美的世界。您指出，有些地方的市場發展緩慢，在英國的交通方面，當然在北美的高層建築中也是如此。但總的來說...

Okay. That's my -- that's my second question.

好的。這是我的第二個問題。

Yes.

是的。

Sorry. So the weakness that you're seeing in U.S. tall buildings, do you think that will broaden into other sectors? Or you think the vast majority of your end markets will stay strong, while tall buildings goes through a downturn?

對不起。那麼，您在美國高層建築中看到的弱點，您認為這會擴展到其他領域嗎？或者您認為絕大多數終端市場將保持強勁，而高層建築卻陷入低迷？

Well, again, I think that if you look at the long-term trends or needs and again, this sort of goes back to the long-term trends around the need for improved infrastructure. The funding is available for it.

嗯，我認為，如果你再看看長期趨勢或需求，你會發現這又回到了圍繞改善基礎設施的需求的長期趨勢。資金是可用的。

Secondly, is there's large investments. This is sort of as infrastructure is being transitioned, and there's funding for it as well. Think about the long-term investment in building semiconductor chip capacity here in North America. So those trends are changing.

其次，投資規模大。這有點像基礎設施正在轉型，也有資金支持。想想在北美建造半導體晶片產能的長期投資。所以這些趨勢正在改變。

And then the other big trend, which we're seeing a lot more activity is in energy transition. There is a long-term investment in energy transition that is taking place. And so we just -- we don't see that changing. And again, when I -- when we look at, I'll call it, again, our commercial office markets or mixed-use markets, that's really in the private developer market. And I think that's very interest rate sensitive, and that's what's driving that outcome.

然後，我們看到更多活動的另一個大趨勢是能源轉型。能源轉型方面正在進行長期投資。所以我們只是——我們沒有看到這種情況發生改變。再說一次，當我們看到時，我會再次稱之為我們的商業辦公市場或混合用途市場，這實際上是在私人開發商市場。我認為這對利率非常敏感，這就是推動這一結果的原因。

But the funding -- the need and the funding across our other markets still remains lined up well. And again, I'll just make the point about that, again, our kind of commercial office market or a commercial retail market, that represents less than a few points of NSR for our entire business. And as I said, we're -- we've been actively transitioning away from that work to other more well-funded opportunities.

但資金——我們其他市場的需求和資金仍然保持良好狀態。再次強調，我們的商業辦公市場或商業零售市場對我們整個業務來說只代表了不到幾個 NSR 點。正如我所說，我們一直在積極從這項工作轉向其他資金更充足的機會。

And we have no further questions in our queue at this time. I will now turn the conference over to Troy Rudd, Chief Executive Officer, for closing remarks.

目前我們的隊列中沒有其他問題。我現在將把會議交給執行長特洛伊·拉德 (Troy Rudd) 致閉幕詞。

Thank you, operator. Again, I want to thank all of our teams for their contributions to a very strong first quarter, and we've extended our track record of delivering our commitments. So thank you to our team. And I thank you all for joining us today, and look forward to talking to you at the next quarter. Have a good day.

謝謝你，接線生。我要再次感謝我們所有的團隊為第一季的強勁表現做出的貢獻，並且我們已經擴大了兌現承諾的記錄。所以感謝我們的團隊。我感謝大家今天加入我們，並期待在下個季度與你們交談。祝你有美好的一天。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。