Acuity Inc. (AYI) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Acuity Brands' Fiscal 2024 First Quarter earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

各位早安，歡迎參加 Acuity Brands 2024 會計年度第一季財報電話會議。（接線員指示）請注意，今日的會議正在錄音。

I would now like to hand the conference over to Charlotte McLaughlin, Vice President of Investor Relations. Charlotte, please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給投資人關係副總裁 Charlotte McLaughlin。Charlotte，請開始。

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to the Acuity Brands' Fiscal 2024 First Quarter Earnings Call. As a reminder, some of our comments today may be forward-looking statements based on our management's beliefs and assumptions and information currently available to our management at this time. These beliefs are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which may be beyond our control, including those detailed in our periodic SEC filings. Please note that our company's actual results may differ materially from those anticipated, and we undertake no obligation to update these statements.

謝謝。各位早安，歡迎參加 Acuity Brands 2024 會計年度第一季財報電話會議。提醒各位，我們今天的部分評論可能屬於前瞻性陳述，係基於管理層的信念與假設，以及目前管理層可取得的資訊。這些信念受到已知與未知風險及不確定性的影響，其中許多可能超出我們的控制範圍，包括我們定期向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交之文件中所詳述者。請注意，本公司實際結果可能與預期有重大差異，我們亦不承擔更新此等陳述之義務。

Reconciliations of certain non-GAAP financial metrics with their corresponding GAAP measures are available in our 2024 first quarter earnings release, which is available on our Investor Relations website at www.investors.acuitybrands.com.

部分非 GAAP 財務指標與其對應 GAAP 指標之調節表，已載於我們 2024 會計年度第一季財報新聞稿中，並可於投資人關係網站 www.investors.acuitybrands.com 取得。

With me this morning is Neil Ashe, our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, who will provide an update on our strategy and give an overview of the quarter; and Karen Holcom, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, who will walk us through our fiscal first quarter financial performance. There will be an opportunity for Q&A at the end of this call. For those participating, please limit your remarks to one question and one follow-up if necessary. We are webcasting today's conference call live.

今天早上與我一同出席的有：董事長、總裁兼執行長 Neil Ashe，他將更新我們的策略並概述本季表現；以及資深副總裁兼財務長 Karen Holcom，她將帶領我們回顧 2024 會計年度第一季的財務表現。本次電話會議結束前將提供問答時間。參與提問者請將發言限制為一個問題，必要時可再追問一次。我們也正在進行本次電話會議的即時網路直播。

Thank you for your interest in Acuity Brands. I will now turn the call over to Neil Ashe.

感謝各位對 Acuity Brands 的關注。現在我把電話交給 Neil Ashe。

Thank you, Charlotte, and thanks to all of you for joining us this morning. We continue to demonstrate strong execution in our fiscal 2024 first quarter. We increased our adjusted operating profit, our adjusted operating profit margin and our adjusted diluted earnings per share. We generated significant free cash flow, and we allocated capital effectively to drive value.

謝謝你，Charlotte，也感謝各位今天早上加入我們。我們在 2024 會計年度第一季持續展現強勁的執行力。我們提高了調整後營業利益、調整後營業利益率，以及調整後稀釋每股盈餘。我們創造了可觀的自由現金流，並有效配置資本以推動價值。

Both our Lighting and our Intelligent Spaces businesses continued to perform well during the quarter. Particularly in ABL, our performance was excellent. We increased adjusted operating profit by $15 million on $71 million less sales and increased the adjusted operating profit margin 280 basis points to 17.5%.

本季我們的照明（Lighting）與智慧空間（Intelligent Spaces）兩大業務皆持續表現良好。尤其在 ABL，我們的表現非常出色。在銷售額減少 7,100 萬美元的情況下，我們仍將調整後營業利益提高 1,500 萬美元，並將調整後營業利益率提升 280 個基點至 17.5%。

Our strategy is yielding results. We're increasing product vitality, elevating service levels, using technology to improve and differentiate both our products and how we operate the business, and we are driving productivity. Today, our products are perceived as being more valuable in the marketplace. At the same time, we are lowering costs.

我們的策略正在產生成果。我們提升產品活力、提高服務水準、運用科技改善並差異化我們的產品與營運方式，同時推動生產力。如今，我們的產品在市場上被認為更具價值；同時，我們也在降低成本。

Our product vitality efforts are the combination of new product introductions and improvements to our existing portfolio to ensure that our products are more valuable to our customers and more profitable for us. Our Contractor Select portfolio is about 300 of our most popular products. They are used in common everyday lighting applications and are in stock at retailers and electrical distributors.

我們的產品活力工作結合了新產品導入，以及對既有產品組合的改良，以確保產品對客戶更有價值，並為我們帶來更高獲利。我們的 Contractor Select 產品組合約包含 300 項最受歡迎的產品，適用於常見的日常照明應用，並在零售商與電氣經銷商處備有庫存。

We continue to invest in product vitality, and we have expanded our Lithonia Lighting ESXF Floodlight family. This is a better product for distributors because it allows them to carry less inventory and is better for contractors because it is easier to install. This product family was first introduced in 2022 to offer a uniform lighting solution for parking lots, walkways and outer buildings. It uses switchable technology to provide installers 36 on-site options, including lumen output, color temperature, photocell and mounting options.

我們持續投資於產品活力，並擴充 Lithonia Lighting ESXF 投光燈（Floodlight）系列。對經銷商而言，這是一款更好的產品，因為可讓他們降低庫存；對承包商而言也更好，因為更容易安裝。該產品系列於 2022 年首次推出，旨在為停車場、人行道與外部建築提供一致的照明解決方案。它採用可切換技術，為安裝人員提供 36 種現場選項，包括流明輸出、色溫、光電感測器與安裝方式等選項。

Our Design Select portfolio consists of configurable product options that meet the key choices of lighting specifiers with high levels of service. This quarter, we added additional products in our downlighting, panel, emergency lighting and outdoor categories. As we expand the options available in this portfolio, our focus is on product vitality and making it easier for the specification community to choose superior solutions.

我們的 Design Select 產品組合由可配置的產品選項構成，能以高水準服務滿足照明規格制定者的關鍵選擇。本季，我們在嵌燈（downlighting）、面板燈、緊急照明與戶外等類別新增了更多產品。隨著我們擴大此產品組合可提供的選項，我們的重點在於產品活力，並讓規格制定社群更容易選擇更優質的解決方案。

Our efforts to elevate service are having a positive impact on our customers. In October, we were once again recognized by the voters of IMARK Electrical as one of the suppliers of the year for 2023. We also continue to invest in productivity improvements in our operations.

我們提升服務的努力正對客戶產生正面影響。10 月，我們再次獲 IMARK Electrical 的投票者評選為 2023 年度供應商之一。我們也持續投資於營運中的生產力改善。

Earlier this quarter, we traveled with a group of associates to our Mexican manufacturing facilities to open our new state-of-the-art Santa Rosa production facility, which includes our highly efficient new paint line. This facility embraces technology to deliver a better product to our customers and improves the efficiency of the paint line process while also reducing the environmental impact.

本季稍早，我們與一群同仁前往墨西哥製造基地，為全新的最先進 Santa Rosa 生產設施揭幕，其中包含我們全新且高效率的塗裝產線。該設施採用科技以向客戶提供更好的產品，提升塗裝流程效率，同時降低對環境的影響。

I'd like to highlight a couple of ways we're doing this. Our paint guns and torque guns in our new facility are powered by a high-efficiency air compressor that aims to reduce approximately half of our CO2 generation compared to the air compressor from our previous paint line. High-efficiency walls, burners and booster technology in our ovens require less gas than similar systems and use around 40% less natural gas than our previous infrared ovens. The transition to this facility has been seamless. We relocated an existing facility to the new SPF facility without any service interruption and now have capacity available for future growth.

我想強調我們做到這點的幾種方式。新設施中的噴漆槍與扭力槍由高效率空壓機供氣，目標是相較於先前塗裝產線的空壓機，將二氧化碳（CO2）排放量降低約一半。烤爐中的高效率牆體、燃燒器與增壓技術所需燃氣量低於類似系統，且相較於先前的紅外線烤爐，天然氣用量約可降低 40%。轉移至此設施的過程十分順利。我們將既有設施遷移至新的 SPF 設施，期間未造成任何服務中斷，且目前仍保有可供未來成長使用的產能。

Our combined paint and natural gas savings are delivering on our required financial return for the facility while also meeting our sustainability objectives. You can learn more about this project and other accomplishments in our recently released EarthLIGHT report, available on our ESG for Investors page on our Investor Relations website.

我們在塗裝與天然氣方面的合計節省，不僅達成該設施所要求的財務報酬，也符合我們的永續目標。您可在我們近期發布的 EarthLIGHT 報告中了解更多此專案與其他成果；該報告可於投資人關係網站的「投資人 ESG」頁面取得。

Now moving to our Spaces Group. Our mission in our Intelligent Spaces business is to make spaces smarter, safer and greener through our strategy of connecting the edge to the cloud. Distech has the best edge control devices on the market, while Atrius will be the best in cloud applications.

接著談到我們的 Spaces Group。我們在智慧空間（Intelligent Spaces）業務的使命，是透過「連接邊緣到雲端」的策略，讓空間更智慧、更安全、更綠色。Distech 擁有市場上最好的邊緣控制裝置，而 Atrius 將成為雲端應用方面的最佳選擇。

At Distech, we are focused on expanding our addressable market in 2 ways. The first is geographic, and the second is increasing what we control in a build space. This quarter, we continued our geographic expansion, adding several new system integrators in the U.K., Asia and Australia. In one of our original markets, France, our hard work is paying off. The Building Services Research and Information Association called out Distech as dominating the French building automation and control systems market in a newly released report.

在 Distech，我們聚焦以兩種方式擴大可服務市場。第一是地理版圖擴張；第二是增加我們在建築空間中可控制的範圍。本季，我們持續進行地理擴張，在英國、亞洲與澳洲新增了多家系統整合商。在我們最早的市場之一法國，我們的努力正在獲得回報。建築服務研究與資訊協會（Building Services Research and Information Association）在最新發布的報告中指出，Distech 在法國樓宇自動化與控制系統市場占據主導地位。

We also continue to increase what we can control in a build space. In October, we launched our Distech Resense Move sensor at several industry conferences in Europe. This is an advanced 7-in-1 ceiling-mounted sensor that is able to detect occupancy in spaces. It counts the number of people using a space, providing feedback on occupancy requirements to the building users. It is AI-powered and can be used to optimize indoor air quality, reduce energy and cleaning costs and enhance occupancy comfort. It will be revealed to our North American and international customers at the AHR Expo in Chicago later this month.

我們也持續提升在建築空間中可控制的範圍。10 月，我們在歐洲多場產業會議上推出 Distech Resense Move 感測器。這是一款先進的 7 合 1 天花板安裝式感測器，能偵測空間是否有人使用，並可計算使用空間的人數，向建築使用者回饋空間使用需求。它採用 AI 驅動，可用於最佳化室內空氣品質、降低能源與清潔成本，並提升使用舒適度。本月稍晚在芝加哥舉行的 AHR Expo 上，我們將向北美及國際客戶正式展示。

Our expansion into refrigeration controls is also going well with the integration of KE2 Therm on track and performing as we expected. During the quarter, we released the KE2 Therm Edge Manager with a BACnet communication stack. This is the same open protocol technology that is used by Distech and is an important step to ensure compatibility between both the Distech edge controllers and the KE2 Therm edge controllers.

我們在冷凍冷藏控制（refrigeration controls）領域的擴張也進展順利，KE2 Therm 的整合按計畫推進，表現符合我們的預期。本季，我們發布了搭載 BACnet 通訊堆疊的 KE2 Therm Edge Manager。這與 Distech 所使用的是相同的開放式通訊協定技術，也是確保 Distech 邊緣控制器與 KE2 Therm 邊緣控制器之間相容性的重要一步。

Now turning to our outlook. The changes that we have made to the business are impactful and long lasting. Our order rates are growing both year-over-year and sequentially. We're back to typical lead times and absent the excess backlog from last year, we would be experiencing sales growth. We are focused on controlling what we can control, and we are confident our execution will continue.

接下來談我們的展望。我們對業務所做的改變影響深遠且具長期性。我們的接單率不僅年增，也呈現季增。我們已回到典型的交期水準；若不考慮去年過多的積壓訂單，我們本應呈現銷售成長。我們專注於掌控可掌控的事項，並對持續的執行力充滿信心。

In our Lighting and Lighting Controls business, we will continue to focus on delivering margin and cash flow. In our Spaces group, we will continue to grow geographically and by adding to what we can control in a build space. We're delivering applications that are making a difference.

在我們的照明與照明控制（Lighting and Lighting Controls）業務中，我們將持續專注於提升利潤率與現金流。在我們的 Spaces group，我們將持續透過地理擴張，以及增加在建築空間中可控制的範圍來推動成長。我們正在交付能帶來改變的應用。

Now I'll turn the call over to Karen, who will update you on our first quarter performance.

現在我把電話交給 Karen，她將向各位更新我們第一季的表現。

Thank you, Neil, and good morning to everyone on the call. We started the year with strong performance. We increased our adjusted operating profit by $14 million year-over-year, improved our adjusted operating profit margin by 250 basis points over the prior year and by 40 basis points sequentially. We increased our adjusted diluted earnings per share by $0.43 year-over-year and generated cash flow from operations of $190 million. We continue to improve our businesses and allocated capital effectively.

謝謝你，Neil，也向所有參與電話會議的各位道早安。我們以強勁的表現展開新的一年。我們的調整後營業利益年增 1,400 萬美元，調整後營業利益率較去年提升 250 個基點，且較前一季提升 40 個基點。我們的調整後稀釋每股盈餘年增 0.43 美元，並創造 1.90 億美元的營運活動現金流。我們持續改善各項業務並有效配置資本。

For total AYI, we generated net sales in the first quarter of $935 million, which was $63 million or 6% lower than the prior year as a result of the lower net sales in our ABL business. This was partially offset by continued growth in the ISG business of 13% in the quarter.

就 AYI 整體而言，我們第一季淨銷售額為 9.35 億美元，較去年同期減少 6%（或 6,300 萬美元），主要因 ABL 業務淨銷售額較低所致。部分降幅被 ISG 業務本季持續成長 13% 所抵銷。

We continue to deliver year-over-year margin improvement. During the quarter, our adjusted operating profit increased by $14 million on lower sales while we expanded adjusted operating profit margin to 16.5%, an increase of approximately 250 basis points from the prior year. This increase was driven largely by the significant year-over-year improvement in our gross profit margin as we continued to execute and drive margin through product vitality, the management of price and cost and productivity improvements.

我們持續實現年對年毛利率改善。本季在銷售下滑的情況下，調整後營業利益仍增加 1,400 萬美元，同時調整後營業利益率擴大至 16.5%，較去年同期提升約 250 個基點。此一提升主要來自毛利率顯著的年對年改善，因我們持續執行並透過產品活力（product vitality）、價格與成本管理以及生產力提升來推動利潤率。

During the quarter, our adjusted diluted earnings per share of $3.72, increased $0.43 or 13% over the prior year, primarily as a result of higher net income and to a lesser extent lower shares outstanding due to the share repurchases.

本季調整後稀釋每股盈餘為 3.72 美元，較去年同期增加 0.43 美元（或 13%），主要由於淨利提高，此外也部分受惠於股票回購使流通在外股數下降。

In ABL, net sales were $876 million in the quarter, a decrease of around 7% compared with the prior year, driven by declines across most of our channels, offset slightly by continued strong performance in our retail channel. Sales growth in ABL this quarter had a challenging year-over-year comparison as the results in the first quarter of fiscal 2023 benefited from working down an elevated level of backlog.

在 ABL 方面，本季淨銷售額為 8.76 億美元，較去年同期下降約 7%，主要因我們多數通路銷售下滑所致，但零售通路持續強勁表現略為抵銷。ABL 本季的銷售成長面臨較具挑戰的年對年比較，因 2023 會計年度第一季的結果受惠於消化先前偏高的積壓訂單（backlog）。

ABL's adjusted operating profit increased 11% to $154 million on lower net sales, and we delivered adjusted operating profit margin of 17.5%, a 280 basis point improvement over the prior year. ISG's net sales for the first quarter were $64 million, an increase of 13% as Distech continue to grow and KE2 Therm performed as we expected. ISG's adjusted operating profit was $10 million.

ABL 的調整後營業利益在淨銷售額較低的情況下仍年增 11% 至 1.54 億美元，調整後營業利益率為 17.5%，較去年同期改善 280 個基點。ISG 第一季淨銷售額為 6,400 萬美元，年增 13%，主要因 Distech 持續成長且 KE2 Therm 表現符合我們預期。ISG 的調整後營業利益為 1,000 萬美元。

Now turning to our cash flow performance. We generated $190 million of cash flow from operating activities for the first quarter of fiscal 2024, an increase of $3 million over the prior year, primarily due to an improvement in net income partially offset by a decrease in cash flow from working capital.

接著談我們的現金流表現。2024 會計年度第一季，我們的營運活動現金流為 1.90 億美元，較去年同期增加 300 萬美元，主要因淨利改善，但部分被營運資金帶來的現金流下降所抵銷。

During the first quarter of fiscal 2024, we continue to allocate capital consistent with our priorities. We invested $15 million in capital expenditures and allocated approximately $50 million to repurchase around 300,000 shares. Since the beginning of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, we have repurchased over 9 million shares at an average price of about $143 per share, which was funded by organic cash flow.

在 2024 會計年度第一季，我們持續依照資本配置優先順序進行配置。我們投入 1,500 萬美元資本支出，並配置約 5,000 萬美元回購約 30 萬股。自 2020 會計年度第四季初以來，我們已回購超過 900 萬股，平均每股價格約 143 美元，資金來源為有機現金流。

To wrap up, we had a strong quarter, particularly in ABL. We continued to deliver strong margin and cash flow performance. We grew adjusted operating profit and improved adjusted operating profit margin. We increased adjusted diluted earnings per share, generated strong cash flow from operations and allocated capital effectively. We are pleased with our performance, and we will reevaluate the outlook at the midpoint of the year.

總結來說，我們本季表現強勁，尤其是在 ABL。我們持續交出強勁的利潤率與現金流表現。我們提升了調整後營業利益並改善調整後營業利益率。我們提高了調整後稀釋每股盈餘，創造強勁的營運活動現金流，並有效配置資本。我們對表現感到滿意，並將在年中重新評估展望。

Thank you for joining us today. I will now pass you over to the operator to take your questions.

感謝各位今天加入。我現在把電話交給接線員，開始進行提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Joe O'Dea with Wells Fargo.

（接線員指示）我們的第一個問題來自 Wells Fargo 的 Joe O'Dea。

So -- I mean, really impressive gross margin obviously this quarter. I think just any additional detail unpacking that. You talked kind of high level on vitality, productivity and price cost. But anything in terms of kind of quantifying that bridge when we think about sequentially gross profit down kind of less than what we saw out of the revenue decline and trying to appreciate sort of what some of the moving pieces are there and then bigger picture just the sustainability of a 45.8% gross margin?

所以——我是說，本季毛利率真的非常亮眼。我想請你再多補充一些細節來拆解。你提到產品活力、生產力以及價格與成本，算是比較高層次的說法。但就量化的角度，當我們觀察到毛利（gross profit）季減幅度小於營收下滑幅度時，能否說明一下這個橋接（bridge）大概是怎麼來的、有哪些變動因素？另外從更宏觀的角度來看，45.8% 的毛利率是否具有可持續性？

Yes. Thank you, Joe. Good morning to all of you. So -- as we unpack the margin performance, a couple of things to talk about. First of all, obviously, our year is off to a really good start. We're taking the companies to levels of performance that it has never seen before and these margins are the results of the impacts of the strategy and the work that our team has been doing to implement that around product vitality, around service, around technology and around productivity.

是的。謝謝你，Joe。各位早安。那——在拆解利潤率表現時，有幾點可以談。首先，很明顯我們今年開局非常好。我們正把公司帶到前所未有的表現水準，而這些利潤率正是策略影響與我們團隊為落實策略所做工作的成果，包括產品活力、服務、技術以及生產力。

That is culminated in this performance, specifically in this quarter, we're recognizing that our products, as I said in the prepared remarks, are being valued for their impact in the marketplace, which affords us the opportunity to manage price strategically. We continue to take cost out of the production of the products. So the output is the margin that you see.

這些努力最終體現在這次的表現上，特別是在本季，我們看到我們的產品——如同我在事先準備的講稿中所說——在市場上的影響力受到重視，這讓我們有機會以策略性方式管理價格。我們也持續在產品生產成本上做減法。因此，最終呈現的就是你所看到的利潤率。

This quarter was mildly impacted by some mix. The -- our Controls business was strong. Our ISG is obviously growth accretive, margin accretive and return accretive. So that has some impact. But when you boil it all down, this quarter is a result -- and the margin performance in this quarter is a result of the strategy and the work that we've been doing around product vitality, around service, around technology and around productivity.

本季也受到一些產品組合（mix）的輕微影響——我們的 Controls 業務表現強勁。我們的 ISG 顯然對成長、利潤率與報酬都有增益（accretive），因此也帶來一些影響。但歸根結底，本季的結果——以及本季的利潤率表現——是我們在產品活力、服務、技術與生產力方面所推動策略與工作的成果。

And just a quick clarification because you did make the point in prepared remarks and just kind of reiterated there, where products perceived is more valuable in the marketplace today. I thought about sort of the pricing dynamic over the last couple of years as being priced in response to cost. But is it fair to sort of deduce that this quarter, you're actually in the market sort of taking price up because it's the value that you're delivering, and so you're still able to achieve price up?

我再快速釐清一下，因為你在事先準備的講稿中提到、剛剛也再次強調，現在市場對產品的認知價值更高。我回想過去幾年的定價動態，多半是因應成本而調價。但是否可以合理推論，本季你們其實是在市場上因為所提供的價值而主動提高價格，因此仍能做到價格上調（price up）？

So we -- I believe that's a fair conclusion. Yes, we are realizing the benefits in the first quarter price. We talked about in the last call and in the second quarter, we also implemented a price increase. So we're demonstrating to the market that we will continue to manage price. So -- and that's obviously in the second quarter, so it has no impact on these numbers. But -- but as I've said consistently, we're moving to strategically manage price. And by that, we mean that, number one, our products need to be valued in the marketplace because they need to deserve to be valued. We're in a good position on that front.

我認為這是合理的結論。是的，我們在第一季確實實現了價格帶來的效益。我們在上一次電話會議也提到，第二季我們也實施了漲價。因此我們正在向市場證明，我們會持續管理價格。那——這是在第二季，所以對本季數字沒有影響。但——如我一再強調，我們正轉向以策略性方式管理價格。所謂策略性，第一，我們的產品必須在市場上被認為有價值，因為它們必須值得被認為有價值。我們在這方面處於良好位置。

The second around our product vitality efforts is that we need to demonstrate that we can make more money with profit as a result of those prices, which is what we're doing from a cost perspective. So I believe this is a good foundation. Now obviously, these are extraordinary margins. So we don't need to continue to perform at this level for the rest of the year, but to deliver outstanding results, but we feel very good about the how in these margins.

第二，關於我們的產品活力工作，我們需要證明我們能因這些價格而賺到更多利潤，而這正是我們從成本面所做的事。所以我認為這是一個良好的基礎。當然，這些是非常突出的利潤率。因此，我們不需要在今年剩餘時間都維持在這個水準，仍然可以交出優異成果，但我們對這些利潤率背後的形成方式（the how）感到非常有信心。

Our next question comes from the line of Tim Wojs with Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自 Baird 的 Tim Wojs。

Maybe just my first question. Neil, you had kind of talked about in the prepared remarks that order rates kind of improved sequentially and that they're up year-over-year. I know it's probably hard, but I'll ask the question anyway. I mean, how much of that do you think is just the year-over-year comparisons kind of lapping some of the backlog depletion and a lead time improvement versus maybe what's going on in the underlying end market?

也許先問第一個問題。Neil，你在事先準備的講稿中提到訂單率（order rates）季對季有所改善，且年對年也上升。我知道這可能很難回答，但我還是想問：你認為其中有多少只是年對年比較因素——例如剛好跨過了積壓訂單消化、交期改善所帶來的影響——相對於終端市場基本面本身的變化？

Yes. Thanks for the question, Tim. Let me unpack that because I think this is really important. So our net sales is obviously a result of our shipments in the period. The shipments in the period are a result of the orders that led up to at times the lead time basically. So we are now in a position where our lead times have more normalized.

是的。謝謝你的提問，Tim。讓我把這點拆開說明，因為我認為這非常重要。我們的淨銷售額顯然是期間出貨的結果。而期間出貨則是由先前的訂單所帶動，某種程度上取決於交期（lead time）。因此，我們現在處於交期已更趨於正常化的位置。

In other words, the order and the shipment rates are relatively consistent with each other. And so it's important that on both a sequential basis and on a year-over-year basis, our order rates are modestly up, in other words, without last year's comparable sales would be growing. Last year was -- the net sales were the beneficiary of backlog reduction from orders which had been placed earlier. So -- the order -- when we talk about this order rate being up modestly, that versus the daily order rate of last year's first quarter and last year's fourth quarter.

換句話說，接單與出貨的節奏彼此相對一致。因此，無論以季比或年比來看，我們的接單率都有小幅上升；也就是說，若不考慮去年可比基期的影響，銷售其實會呈現成長。去年——淨銷售額受惠於把先前已下的訂單所形成的積壓訂單（backlog）消化掉。所以——我們談到接單率小幅上升，是相對於去年第一季與去年第四季的日均接單率而言。

So -- the best way that we've come to think about this is that there was more of a pull-forward last year industry-wide than there was a cycle. So in effect, we processed a lot more business last year than that existed. When you smooth the line over time -- and we've talked about this consistently, when you smooth the line over time, we will be -- the Lighting and Lighting Control business will be a consistent grower.

所以——我們目前最好的理解方式是：去年整個產業更像是「提前拉貨（pull-forward）」多於一個循環。也就是說，實際上我們去年處理的業務量，超過了當時真正存在的需求。當你把時間拉長、把曲線平滑化——而我們也一直這麼說——當你把曲線平滑化之後，我們的照明與照明控制業務將會是穩定的成長者。

And I guess, have you seen any sort of kind of underlying improvement in the end market? I mean obviously, rates have kind of moved back with what the Fed has done. I'm just kind of curious if you see that in your order rates at all?

我想問的是，你們是否看到終端市場有任何底層的改善？我的意思是，利率顯然已隨著聯準會的動作回落一些。我只是好奇，你們是否在接單率上也有看到這樣的反映？

Yes. So obviously, we're seeing -- if it's year-over-year improvement and sequential improvement, there is improvement in our order rate. As we look forward to our -- kind of our view on the macro, as I've been consistent with this, we don't have a better crystal ball than you do. Our -- we are confident in the current levels of the order rate and the performance of the order rate.

是的。所以很明顯地——不論是年比改善或季比改善，我們的接單率確實有改善。展望未來、就我們對總體環境（macro）的看法而言，我一直保持一致：我們並沒有比你更好的水晶球。我們——對目前接單率的水準以及其表現是有信心的。

As I said last quarter, we're comfortable operating in this environment. And as we look forward, we feel pretty good about where things are. Our outlook doesn't expect things to get materially better or materially worse basically. So as Karen said, we'll reevaluate at the middle of the year where we are for the rest of the year.

如同我上季所說，我們對在這樣的環境中營運感到自在。往前看，我們對目前的狀況感覺相當不錯。我們的展望基本上不預期情況會明顯變好或明顯變差。所以如 Karen 所說，我們會在年中重新評估，看看下半年該如何看待。

And then maybe just the second question, just on maybe margins. Just given where the gross margins have kind of landed over the last couple of quarters, I mean, has that changed how you think about kind of the reinvestment that you'd want to make or need to make in the business to drive above-market growth? Or do you think it's just kind of a higher base level of margin for the business kind of going forward?

接著第二個問題，可能是關於毛利率。考量到過去幾季毛利率大致落在目前這個水準，我的意思是，這是否改變了你們對於再投資的想法——也就是為了推動高於市場的成長，你們想要或需要在業務上投入的再投資？還是你們認為，這只是未來這項業務毛利率的較高基準水準？

It's a little bit of both. And I would say on that front, Tim, we don't believe that these margins are a result of harvesting. So we believe that they're the outcome of the strategy, as I've said kind of -- and I won't continue to be redundant on it. But I believe they are an outcome. So we believe this is a point in time.

兩者都有一點。我會說在這方面，Tim，我們不認為這些毛利率是「收割（harvesting）」的結果。相反地，我們認為這是策略的成果——我之前也大致說過——我就不再重複。我相信這是成果。因此，我們認為這是某個時間點的狀態。

At the same time, we also are beginning to focus on verticals and areas where we haven't on the Lighting side, either been strong or participated at all. A very small example, we made a tiny investment in horticulture. Why? Because we think over the next kind of period of time that will be an opportunity and so we're positioning for that now. So we'll start to make those kind of investments, Tim, so that we can continue to hopefully expand the addressable market on the Lighting side.

同時，我們也開始聚焦在一些垂直領域與區域，這些在照明端我們過去不是很強、甚至完全沒有參與。舉個很小的例子，我們在園藝照明做了一筆很小的投資。為什麼？因為我們認為在接下來的一段時間，這會是一個機會，所以我們現在就先布局。因此我們會開始做這類投資，Tim，讓我們能夠持續、希望能擴大照明端的可服務市場（addressable market）。

And then I don't want to miss the opportunity to talk about Spaces. And Karen can address the specifics of the quarter -- the financials in the quarter, if necessary later. But in the big picture, the Spaces group is growth accretive, margin accretive and returns accretive. And we feel really good about what we're doing there and their impact -- their ability to continue to impact the company going forward.

另外我也不想錯過談 Spaces 的機會。若有需要，Karen 之後可以說明本季的細節——本季的財務表現。但從大方向來看，Spaces 團隊對成長是增益（growth accretive）、對毛利是增益（margin accretive）、對報酬也是增益（returns accretive）。我們對那邊正在做的事情感覺非常好，也對他們未來持續影響公司——持續帶來影響的能力——很有信心。

Our next question comes from the line of Chris Snyder with UBS.

下一個問題來自 UBS 的 Chris Snyder。

I wanted to follow up on the gross margin up a 410 basis points year-on-year despite the sales decline, which is really impressive. It seems to us that the driver there is one price cost. You guys have helped price as costs have moderated due to the technology, the vitality and all the stuff you mentioned, Neil, but also some level of selectivity, which you've talked to over the past couple of quarters. When we think about that 410 basis points, could you kind of break down the build between selectivity and price cost improvement over the last year?

我想追問一下：儘管銷售下滑，毛利率仍年增 410 個基點，這真的很令人印象深刻。我們看起來主要驅動因素是「價格/成本（price-cost）」的改善。你們在成本因技術、活力以及你提到的各項因素而趨緩時，仍能維持價格；另外也有某種程度的「選擇性（selectivity）」——你們過去幾季也談過。當我們看這 410 個基點時，你能否把過去一年中「選擇性」與「價格/成本改善」各自的貢獻拆解一下？

Yes, I'll start. Karen, you fill in for us. We have not built a walk directly from -- to break down the 410. So I'm going to do this more off the top of my head, Chris, than I am kind of reading on a walk. Big picture, let's start with -- let's start with price. So -- as we've said consistently, we managed price to where we think we need to be in the marketplace. So -- obviously, we have real strength in Contractor Select. You can see the retail channel was up this quarter. It's the growth spot despite the fact that net sales were down. So obviously, we're meeting the market at that level of the market.

可以，我先開始。Karen，你再幫我們補充。我們並沒有做一個直接的橋接（walk）來拆解這 410 個基點。所以我會比較用即席的方式回答，Chris，而不是照著一個橋接表來讀。大方向來看，先從價格說起。我們一直都說，我們會把價格管理在我們認為在市場上需要的位置。因此——很明顯地，我們在 Contractor Select 方面有很強的優勢。你可以看到本季零售通路是成長的。即使淨銷售額下滑，它仍是成長亮點。所以顯然，我們在那個市場層級上有對上市場需求。

On the project side, we have the ability to choose which projects we take, obviously. So in our pricing and then our bidding on those projects, we are choosing which projects we want to invest it in. And so -- and we do invest in some projects. So this is not -- we're not pure price takers here. We are choosing and based on the marketplace. And that's really the key for us is that when we talk about managing price strategically, we're meeting price where it needs to be.

在專案端，我們顯然有能力選擇要接哪些專案。因此在我們的定價以及對這些專案的投標上，我們會選擇哪些專案值得我們投入。所以——而且我們確實會投資在某些專案上。因此這不是——我們並不是被動的價格接受者（price takers）。我們是依據市場狀況做選擇。對我們而言真正的關鍵是：當我們談到策略性管理價格時，我們會把價格放在它應該在的位置。

Second, on the cost front. So obviously, there's been material improvements in the portfolio over the course of the last 3 years, and that continues. That has allowed us to create a more normalized distribution of margin within the portfolio. So we don't have the laggards that we had in the past. And so it's not wholly dependent on mix in a way that it has been in the past.

第二點是成本端。很明顯地，過去 3 年我們在產品組合（portfolio）上有實質改善，而且這仍在持續。這讓我們能在產品組合內建立更正常化的毛利分布。因此我們不再像過去那樣有落後者（laggards）。所以它不再像過去那樣在很大程度上完全依賴組合（mix）。

Now I would say that this quarter, we had a good quarter in Controls and obviously ISG performed at a higher growth level than ABL. So there is some mix impact, but it is modest. It is not determinative. And then finally, to your point on cost moderating, there are kind of -- there are some obvious post-pandemic costs, which have changed, steel containers, et cetera. And it's worth kind of calling out containers as an example because now we're dealing with obviously the Red Sea challenges.

我會說本季我們在 Controls 表現不錯，而且 ISG 的成長水準明顯高於 ABL。所以確實有一些組合影響，但幅度不大，並非決定性因素。最後，回到你提到的成本趨緩：有一些很明顯的疫情後成本已經改變，例如鋼材、貨櫃等等。特別值得點出貨櫃作為例子，因為我們現在也正面臨紅海（Red Sea）的挑戰。

So container costs that were about $3,000 per container can now rise as much as $6,000 per container. With that in context, at the peak, those were in the $20,000 per container kind of rate. So that gives you an idea of kind of where those differences are. And so we have a plan to deal with those higher container costs for the remainder of the year.

因此，原本每個貨櫃大約 3,000 美元的成本，現在可能上升到每個貨櫃高達 6,000 美元。放在這個脈絡下，在高峰期時，貨櫃成本曾經達到每個貨櫃約 20,000 美元的水準。這能讓你理解這些差異大概落在哪裡。因此，我們有一個計畫來因應今年剩餘期間較高的貨櫃成本。

So when I summarize those 3 things together. One is, as I said in the remarks, our products are being recognized for their value in the marketplace. That's fundamental. That's key. That's number one. Two is, the strategy has produced a more consistent result across our portfolio. So mix is less impactful than it may have been in the past. And then the third is, we've moved aggressively to get to a more consistent cost basis on materials.

所以把這三點合在一起總結：第一，如同我在談話中提到的，我們的產品在市場上因其價值而被認可。這是根本、是關鍵、也是第一要務。第二，我們的策略讓整個產品組合的結果更一致，因此組合的影響比過去小。第三，我們已積極行動，讓材料成本基礎更趨一致。

I appreciate that. And if I could just may follow up more thematically, it sounds like a lot of it say, we want to get price for the value we're bringing to the market. But the company has always been -- it's prickly I know, Neil, you have only been there for a few years, but over your time, I think the company has always been a leader on technology and a leader on product quality. So what's kind of flipped there to get the gross margin from 41%, 42% now to 45% plus? Because it feels like a lot of the -- you've always kind of leading on the product technology side.

我很感謝。若我可以再從較宏觀的主題追問一下，聽起來其中很大一部分是說，我們希望就我們帶給市場的價值取得相應的價格。但公司一直以來——我知道這話題有點棘手，Neil，你在那裡也才幾年，但在你任內，我認為公司一直都是技術領先者、也是產品品質的領先者。那麼，究竟是什麼發生了轉變，讓毛利率從41%、42%提升到現在45%以上？因為感覺你們一直都在產品技術面領先。

Yes. Thanks, Chris. These things take time. I wish I was not as old as I am, but I've been around the barn more than once. And you just realize that like kind of all of these changes are cumulative and it takes time for them to all kind of line up. And obviously -- and this is a conversation that we have with our team here, which is that we're taking the company to levels of performance that it's never seen before.

是的。謝謝你，Chris。這些事情需要時間。我希望我沒有現在這麼老，但我也算是見過世面不只一次了。你會意識到，這些改變都是累積性的，而且需要時間讓它們逐步到位、彼此對齊。當然——而且這也是我們在這裡與團隊一直在談的——我們正把公司帶到它過去從未達到過的績效水準。

That's true in the market -- broader market where the competence of our product quality cascades through our sales team, through our independent sales agents, et cetera, through distributors, through the service levels and the programs that we've put in place. So those things cumulatively add up to the performance that you're seeing today.

這在市場上也是如此——在更廣泛的市場中，我們產品品質的能力會層層傳導，透過我們的銷售團隊、透過我們的獨立銷售代理等，再透過經銷商、透過我們建立的服務水準與各項方案。因此，這些事情累積起來，就形成了你今天看到的表現。

Our next question comes from the line of Ryan Merkel with William Blair.

我們的下一個問題來自 William Blair 的 Ryan Merkel。

So my first question, Neil, can you talk about large projects spec market? How is activity? Are you seeing delays, cancellations? Or is that sort of improving? Just what's the latest update?

我第一個問題，Neil，你能談談大型專案的規格市場（spec market）嗎？目前活動如何？你們有看到延遲、取消嗎？還是說情況正在改善？最新狀況是什麼？

Yes, Ryan, thanks. I mean we called out the order rate to kind of demonstrate that we're finding a new kind of normal. I think anecdotally, there's a lot of talk around big projects in kind of calendar '25 that sort of period, whether it's infrastructure or other things. I think that's just kind of the general kind of on-the-street sentiment about kind of what's going on out there. So other than that, we're in a relatively -- I think we're in a kind of a new normal from a consistency perspective.

是的，Ryan，謝謝。我們特別提到訂單率，是想說明我們正在找到一種新的「常態」。就軼聞來看，市場上對於2025年曆年（calendar '25）那段期間的大型專案有很多討論，不論是基礎建設或其他類型。我想那就是街頭普遍的情緒，反映大家對外部情況的看法。除此之外，從一致性角度來看，我們處在相對——我認為是處在一個新的常態。

Okay. So you're not seeing large projects to be particularly weak?

了解。所以你們沒有看到大型專案特別疲弱？

I mean, anecdotally, there's some discussion about kind of that. I don't know what weak means. And I think that's a -- it's worth us all kind of taking a step back and saying, okay, if we had an industry-wide pull-forward over kind of, call it, '22 and '23, which is what we're talking about on our comparables, that has manifested in net sales higher than order rates for some period as we were very clear about that in '23.

我的意思是，軼聞上確實有一些這方面的討論。我不確定「疲弱」的定義是什麼。我認為值得我們都退一步想想：如果整個產業在我們所說的可比期間，也就是大約在'22和'23出現了整體提前拉貨（pull-forward），那麼這就會在一段時間內呈現為淨銷售高於訂單率——我們在'23已非常清楚地說明過。

Now with order rates and shipments more equilibrated in a normal relationship in a period, this is kind of the normal run rate of the market. And so yes, there are some good days and some bad days within that, obviously. So -- but it's not -- we don't -- we're not viewing a cliff on the horizon anywhere.

現在，隨著訂單率與出貨量在一段期間內回到較正常的關係、更加均衡，這就是市場的正常運行速度。因此，是的，其中當然會有一些好日子和壞日子。但——我們並不——我們不認為前方有任何「斷崖式下滑」在地平線上。

Okay. And then I had a question on gross margin as well. Obviously, first quarter was really strong. Normal seasonality would put you at about 45% for the year. I'm just curious, is there any reason that we should be below that? Is the biggest risk just sales and fixed cost deleverage at this point?

了解。接著我也有一個關於毛利率的問題。顯然第一季非常強。按正常季節性推算，你們全年大概會在45%左右。我想問的是，有沒有任何理由讓我們認為會低於這個水準？目前最大的風險是否只是銷售下滑以及固定成本槓桿反向（fixed cost deleverage）？

Karen, do you want to take that?

Karen，你要回答這題嗎？

Yes, Ryan. So in terms of seasonality, just when we look at where we are today, I think we are probably -- that Neil said, order rates and shipment rates are coming in alignment. So it's looking like we're getting back to seasonality, but we haven't fully seen that. On the margin side, when you look at where we are comparative to the first quarter last year, we ended up last year at 45.1%. So we increased our gross profit margin throughout the year. And as Neil described, that was a combination of our strategy and also executing on some costs that were higher in the first half of the year that moderated in the second half.

好的，Ryan。就季節性而言，從我們目前所看到的狀況來看，我想我們可能——如Neil所說，訂單率與出貨率正在趨於一致。所以看起來我們正在回到季節性，但我們還沒有完全看到那樣的型態。毛利率方面，若你看我們相較去年第一季的位置，去年我們最終全年是45.1%。也就是說，我們在去年全年逐步提升了毛利率。如Neil所描述，那是我們策略的組合，以及在成本執行上的成果——去年上半年有些成本較高，但在下半年趨於緩和。

So really, if you look at where we are now, we think this is a pretty strong level of gross profit impacted by the mix for Controls impacted by the mix of the higher ISG. So I would say that around this level is probably pretty high, but we expect to be pretty confident in our gross profit margin.

所以實際上，如果你看我們現在的位置，我們認為這是相當強勁的毛利水準，並受到產品組合影響：Controls 的組合，以及較高 ISG 的組合所帶動。因此我會說，接近這個水準可能已經算相當高，但我們對毛利率仍然相當有信心。

Our next question comes from the line of Christopher Glynn with Oppenheimer & Company.

我們的下一個問題來自 Oppenheimer & Company 的 Christopher Glynn。

Congrats on a strong start to the year. I was curious on Design Select, still kind of early days, but anything kind of pithy or interesting, you could share about the market reception on that rollout?

恭喜今年開局強勁。我想問一下 Design Select，現在仍算早期階段，但你能否分享一些精簡但有意思的觀察，談談市場對這次推出的反應？

The market reception has been really strong. So we continue to tweak how it's presented in the market so that people can understand it. The industry has historically focused on something that's called Quick Ship. And so sometimes this is confused for Quick Ship, it is not QuickShip. This is an overhaul of a group of products that the specification community can know that they can choose and the options they can choose with those products. And so that's starting to manifest as we talked about, nothing -- I'm thinking -- I'm trying to think of a pithy answer for you. I don't have a good pithy answer for you, but we're really -- or a good anecdote for you, but it is progressing really well, and we're pleased with where it is.

市場反應非常強勁。我們也持續微調它在市場上的呈現方式，讓大家能理解。這個產業過去一直聚焦在一種叫做 Quick Ship 的概念，所以有時候會把它誤認為 Quick Ship，但它不是 QuickShip。這是對一組產品的全面改造，讓規格制定社群（specification community）知道他們可以選哪些產品，以及這些產品可搭配的選項。因此這開始逐步顯現——如我們所談的，沒有——我在想——我試著給你一個精簡的回答。我沒有一個很精簡的回答，也沒有一個很好的軼事可以分享，但它進展得非常順利，我們對目前的狀況很滿意。

Okay. Well, that was pithy enough for me. And then on the seasonality, it sounds like I think Karen said, not declaring victory really, if I could paraphrase, but sort of leaning into normal seasonality. I think is the message I got there as we look at the forward quarters. I'm curious, the market is one part of that. And then it sounds like maybe your share momentum relative to the market in any given period might be adding muscle. So I'm curious about the interplay of that versus market when we say that we're kind of leaning towards normal seasonality here.

好吧，對我來說已經夠精簡了。接著關於季節性，聽起來我想Karen說的是——如果我轉述——還不能算是宣告勝利，但有點在往正常季節性靠攏。我從你們對未來幾季的看法中得到這個訊息。我好奇的是，市場是一個因素；另外聽起來你們相對於市場的市占動能，在任何一段期間可能也在增添力道。所以我想了解，當我們說正朝正常季節性傾斜時，市占與市場之間的互動是什麼？

Yes. So let me kind of take your comment. Thank you for paraphrasing Karen. That was a long answer to get to. We're not declaring victory yet, but that's exactly what the message was meant to be. The -- so building up, first of all, on what we can control. We feel very, very good about what we control. So that is -- that's the kind of the foundation.

是的。我先接你的評論。謝謝你幫Karen轉述——那確實是一個很長的回答才講到重點。我們還沒有宣告勝利，但那正是我們想傳達的訊息。——所以，先從我們能控制的事情談起。我們對我們能控制的部分感覺非常、非常好。這就是——這是基礎。

I think a lot of questions we've gotten from this crowd over the course of the last few quarters is, "Hey, are you sacrificing -- are you sacrificing share for margin?" And we don't believe that we are. We've said that consistently as we've gone through. So that culminates in the order rates that we are describing. So up sequentially and up year-over-year. However, modestly, they're up sequentially and year-over-year. So that is, as I said earlier, we believe these things are cumulative. In other words, the market really starting to realize those things.

我想過去幾季我們從各位這群人收到很多問題是：「你們是否為了毛利而犧牲市占？」我們不認為我們有，而且我們一路走來都一致這麼說。這也最終反映在我們所描述的訂單率上：不論是季比（sequentially）或年比（year-over-year）都在上升，雖然幅度不大，但確實是季比與年比都上升。正如我先前所說，我們相信這些事情是累積性的。換句話說，市場正在真正開始意識到這些事情。

As I said, when we open, we don't need to operate at these levels of margin for the rest of the year to deliver outstanding results. So -- so we don't have outrageous aspirations for the remainder of the year. But we're very confident in the quality, the how of how we're delivering these results.

如我在開場時所說，我們不需要在今年剩餘時間都維持這樣的毛利水準，也能交出非常出色的成果。所以——我們對今年剩下的時間並沒有不切實際的企圖。但我們對成果的品質、以及我們是如何交出這些成果（how of how）非常有信心。

Our next question comes from the line of Jeffrey Sprague with Vertical Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Vertical Research 的 Jeffrey Sprague。

Maybe just kind of picking up on that, I know you don't want to kind of speak to the framework or the guidance every quarter. But coming off this quarter and thinking about what you said about you don't need to do anything heroic now for the remainder of the year. What would -- in your mind, what would drive you to the bottom half or bottom even 2/3 of that larger framework that you put out?

也許就接續這點，我知道你們不太想每一季都談框架或指引。但從本季的表現，以及你提到今年剩餘時間不需要做任何「英雄式」的舉措來看，在你心中，什麼情況會驅使你們落到你們提出的那個較大框架的下半部，甚至是下方 2/3？

Yes. So let me unpack that a little bit and make sure kind of we're all on the same page. It is not our desire to provide quarterly guidance or update guidance on a quarterly basis. Karen was clear in her prepared remarks that we are going to take a look at the outlook and framework at the middle of the year, which is inconsistent with how we would normally do things.

是的。讓我稍微拆解一下，確保我們的理解一致。我們並不希望提供季度指引，或以季度為基礎更新指引。Karen 在她的事先準備發言中已清楚表示，我們會在年中檢視展望與框架，這與我們通常的做法並不一致。

So obviously, we can do the math also. If we take consensus plus our beat this quarter on an EPS basis, you get way up in the -- in our EPS range. So as she said, we'll take a look going forward in the middle point of the year.

所以很明顯，我們也會算數。如果以市場共識再加上我們本季在 EPS 上的超預期表現，你會落在我們 EPS 區間的很高端。所以如她所說，我們會在年中時點往前檢視。

And then just on SG&A. So that did move up a couple of hundred bps on a full year basis last year and up again this quarter, probably some deleverage on the sales decline obviously. But -- where are we at in terms of kind of getting to a normalization there or the ability to deliver some operating leverage on the SG&A line?

另外關於 SG&A。去年全年基礎上它上升了幾百個基點，本季又再上升，顯然部分是因銷售下滑造成的槓桿不利。但——就 SG&A 這一項而言，我們在達到正常化、或在 SG&A 端實現一些營運槓桿的能力方面，目前進展到哪裡了？

Sure, Jeff. As you recall in the fourth quarter, we did take some costs out of the ABL business. So we feel pretty good about those cost reductions as we evaluate how we do the work. And we think we're really at the right level of investment from where we need to be to leverage when the sales growth comes back. That being said, in the ISG business, we did have some isolated cost this year that don't really affect the run rate of that business. So overall, I just feel good about the current level of investment going forward that we can leverage.

當然，Jeff。如你所記得的，在第四季我們確實在 ABL 業務中削減了一些成本。因此，當我們評估工作如何執行時，對這些成本降低我們感覺相當不錯。我們也認為，目前的投資水準正好符合需求，當銷售成長回來時就能放大槓桿。話雖如此，在 ISG 業務方面，今年確實有一些零星成本，並不真正影響該業務的常態化運行水準（run rate）。整體而言，我對目前的投資水準很有信心，未來可以加以槓桿化。

Our next question comes from the line of Jeff Osborne with TD Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 TD Cowen 的 Jeff Osborne。

Karen, I just had a question on what was the surprise relative to the guidance that you had given or the commentary 3 months ago around margins declining sequentially. Was it the strength in controls or the strength in the retail channel? Just trying to get a sense of the surprise because Neil had indicated that the 4 areas of vitality, service, technology and productivity are essentially a culmination of years of investment. So what was the differential relative to 3 months ago's outlook?

Karen，我想問一下，相較於你們 3 個月前給的指引或評論——當時提到毛利率會季比下滑——這次的「意外」是什麼？是 Controls 的強勁，還是零售通路的強勁？我想了解差異在哪，因為 Neil 曾表示，活力（vitality）、服務、技術與生產力這 4 個領域基本上是多年投資的累積成果。所以相較於 3 個月前的展望，差別是什麼？

Yes. So what I would say is that I would not use the word surprise. We really weren't surprised by the level of gross margins that you're seeing this quarter. As Neil said, we're taking the company to levels of performance that it hasn't seen before. What -- kind of the gross margin of the 45.8%, the -- not typical level of performance that you would see. It's just a higher mix of Controls that had some impact this quarter. But overall, it's really the execution of the business, the continued growth of ISG and really the strategy as we execute over product vitality, service, technology and productivity improvements that are driving this level of gross profit margin.

是的。我會說我不會用「意外」這個詞。我們其實並不驚訝你們在本季看到的毛利率水準。正如 Neil 所說，我們正把公司帶到以前未曾達到的績效水準。45.8% 的毛利率——這不是你通常會看到的表現水準。只是 Controls 的組合占比更高，對本季有一些影響。但整體而言，這主要是業務執行力、ISG 的持續成長，以及我們在產品活力、服務、技術與生產力改善等策略執行上的成果，共同推動了這樣的毛利率水準。

Yes, Jeff, just a quick build on that. What Karen had said last quarter is that normally, on a sequential basis, the gross margin would go down from Q4 to Q1.

是的，Jeff，我補充一句。Karen 上一季的意思是，通常按季來看，毛利率會從第四季到第一季下滑。

Got it. And then what was abnormal then this time? I guess, I'm still confused on that.

了解。那這次不尋常的地方是什麼？我想我還是有點困惑。

Performance. We continue to perform.

表現。我們持續交出表現。

Perfect. And then, Neil, your predecessor, Vern, would -- I think the past 2 election cycles that highlighted weakness in the end markets and sort of the skittish buyer, if I recall, the terminology correct. I'm just curious, it sounds like your outlook on the macro is a bit more calm and pipeline looks good, et cetera. Do you anticipate the November election having any impact on either larger projects or smaller projects?

很好。接著，Neil，你的前任 Vern——我記得在過去兩個選舉週期中，他曾提到終端市場走弱，以及買方有點猶豫不決（如果我沒記錯用詞的話）。我很好奇，聽起來你對宏觀環境的看法更平穩、管線也不錯等等。你是否預期 11 月的選舉會對大型專案或小型專案造成任何影響？

I mean I don't know what Vern's logic was there. I can tell you that one thing I do know about Vern's feelings this morning is that he's a proud Michigan Wolverine. So I am sure that he was celebrating late into the night last night.

我的意思是，我不知道 Vern 當時的邏輯是什麼。我可以告訴你，我今天早上確定知道的一件事是，Vern 是個自豪的密西根大學狼獾隊（Michigan Wolverine）球迷。所以我敢肯定他昨晚慶祝到很晚。

As we look forward on the macro, the -- it is as we have described earlier in the call, we believe that we found a kind of new normal and we're not expecting -- we're not expecting anything extraordinarily positive or extraordinarily negative between now and the end of the calendar year.

展望宏觀環境——如同我們在電話會議前面所描述的，我們相信我們已經找到某種新的常態，我們不預期從現在到日曆年年底之間會出現任何特別正面或特別負面的變化。

Our next question comes from the line of Brian Lee with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自 Goldman Sachs 的 Brian Lee。

This is Grace on for Brian. I guess there's a lot of questions on margins. So I have -- I just have one question on the demand trend on the order rate. I think a year ago, you were the first one to call the interest rate impact and slower order rate. Now you talked about order rates up year-over-year and sequentially. So can you talk about what are the drivers of that? Are you taking market share? Is it because of lower interest rates? And also given how interest rates have been trending in the past few months, maybe this is too early to tell, but do you see any order rate acceleration based on your conversation with customers today?

我是代 Brian 提問的 Grace。我想大家對毛利率有很多問題，所以我只有一個關於需求趨勢、也就是接單率（order rate）的问题。一年前，你們是第一個提到利率影響與接單放緩的。現在你們談到接單率年比與季比都上升。能否談談驅動因素是什麼？你們是在搶市占嗎？是因為利率較低嗎？另外，考量過去幾個月利率的走勢，也許現在還太早，但你們從今天與客戶的對話中，是否看到接單率有加速的跡象？

Yes, Grace. I mean, I want to kind of make the same kind of point. So this will be mildly redundant. But the order rate is obviously year-over-year. The issue on a last year basis -- not the issue. The results last year on the net sales basis were the results of order rates that had happened prior to that. We pointed out that through -- kind of through the course of the year that there was an impact on those order rates, you're seeing the impact on those order rates.

是的，Grace。我想再強調同樣的重點，可能會有點重複。但接單率顯然是年比上升。去年在淨銷售（net sales）上的結果——不是說「問題」——去年淨銷售的結果，是由更早之前發生的接單率所導致。我們也指出，在——大概在那一年過程中——接單率確實受到影響，而你現在看到的就是那些接單率影響的反映。

Now those order rates have normalized, and we have found kind of a consistent level of operating performance. So as we annualize those -- the comps and eliminate the excess backlog impact that happened at the beginning of FY '23, then you'll start to see a kind of more normal performance, specifically from the Lighting business. Obviously, ISG has continued to grow.

現在這些接單率已經正常化，我們也找到一個相對一致的營運表現水準。因此，當我們把這些數字年化——也就是把比較基期（comps）年化——並消除 FY '23 初期發生的超額積壓訂單（excess backlog）影響後，你就會開始看到更正常的表現，特別是在 Lighting 業務方面。當然，ISG 一直持續成長。

So over the long arc of time, this will continue the Lighting business, basically had a pull-forward, an industry-wide pull-forward and will look like on a compounded annual growth rate exactly where we expect it to be, which is in the kind of mid-single digits of growth rate.

所以從更長的時間跨度來看，Lighting 業務基本上曾有一波提前拉貨（pull-forward），而且是全產業性的提前拉貨；若以複合年成長率（CAGR）來看，它會正好落在我們預期的位置，也就是大約中個位數（mid-single digits）的成長率。

And I'm showing no further questions in the queue at this time. I'd like to turn the call back to Neil Ashe for closing remarks.

目前我看到問題隊列中已沒有其他提問。我想把電話會議交回給 Neil Ashe 作結語。

Thank you all for joining us this morning. Obviously, our year is off to a really good start, and we are both pleased about that and encouraged about what that means for the future. We are focused on the strategy, and it is yielding results both in ABL and in the Spaces group. And we look forward to catching up with you again this time next quarter. Have a good day.

感謝各位今天早上加入我們。很明顯，我們今年開局非常好，我們對此感到高興，也對這對未來的意義感到鼓舞。我們專注於策略，而它正在 ABL 與 Spaces 團隊都產生成果。我們期待在下個季度的同一時間再與各位交流。祝各位有美好的一天。

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

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位的參與。您現在可以掛線。