Brookfield Business Partners LP (BBU) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome to the Brookfield Business Partners first-quarter 2025 results conference call and webcast. As a reminder, all participants are in a listen-only mode and the conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

您好，歡迎參加 Brookfield Business Partners 2025 年第一季業績電話會議和網路廣播。提醒一下，所有參與者都處於只聽模式，會議正在錄音。（操作員指示）

Now I would like to turn the conference over to Alan Fleming, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, Mr. Fleming.

現在，我想將會議交給投資者關係主管艾倫‧弗萊明 (Alan Fleming)。請繼續，弗萊明先生。

Thank you, operator, and good morning. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that in responding to questions and talking about our growth initiatives and our financial and operating performance, we may make forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, and future results may differ materially. For further information on known risk factors, I encourage you to review our filings with the securities regulators in Canada and the US, which are available on our website.

謝謝接線員，早安。在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，在回答問題和談論我們的成長計劃以及財務和營運績效時，我們可能會做出前瞻性的陳述。這些聲明受已知和未知風險的影響，未來結果可能會有重大差異。有關已知風險因素的更多信息，我建議您查看我們向加拿大和美國證券監管機構提交的文件，這些文件可在我們的網站上查閱。

We'll begin the call today with an update on business performance and our strategic initiatives from Anuj Ranjan, our Chief Executive Officer. Adrian Letts, Head of our Business Operations team, will then be on to share some perspective on the current operating environment. We'll end the call with Jaspreet Dehl, our Chief Financial Officer, providing a review of our financial results. After we finish our prepared remarks, the team will be available to take your questions.

今天的電話會議將以執行長 Anuj Ranjan 介紹業務表現和策略舉措的最新情況開始。我們的業務營運團隊負責人 Adrian Letts 隨後將分享對當前營運環境的一些看法。我們的財務長 Jaspreet Dehl 將結束本次通話，並對我們的財務表現進行回顧。在我們完成準備好的演講後，團隊將回答您的問題。

And with that, I'd like to now pass the call over to Anuj.

現在，我想將電話交給 Anuj。

Thanks, Alan, and good morning, everyone. Thank you all for joining us on the call today. We've had a good start to the year, generating over $1.5 billion from our capital recycling initiatives and committing $370 million to acquire two market-leading industrial businesses. We've significantly reduced our corporate borrowings and also bought back nearly 6 million of our units and shares. As you may recall, we announced a $250 million repurchase program earlier this year, and we have already returned $140 million to shareholders as part of that.

謝謝，艾倫，大家早安。感謝大家今天參加我們的電話會議。我們今年開局良好，透過資本循環計畫創造了超過 15 億美元的收益，並承諾投資 3.7 億美元收購兩家市場領先的工業企業。我們大幅減少了公司借款，並回購了近 600 萬股單位和股票。您可能還記得，我們​​今年稍早宣布了一項 2.5 億美元的回購計劃，其中我們已經向股東返還了 1.4 億美元。

While the market fluctuations we've seen play out over the past month can be unsettling, our strategy is exactly the same: to own great businesses with market-leading positions and execute on our plans to enhance their underlying performance and cash flows. This has allowed us to compound value through periods of uncertainty in the past and gives us confidence as we manage through the current evolving environment.

儘管過去一個月我們看到的市場波動可能令人不安，但我們的策略完全相同：擁有市場領先地位的優秀企業，並執行我們的計劃以提高其基本業績和現金流。這使我們能夠在過去的不確定時期實現價值複合成長，並讓我們在應對當前不斷變化的環境時充滿信心。

The reality is that most businesses, including ours, won't be entirely insulated from the impacts of tariffs or a potential downturn in global growth. However, having experience in navigating economic cycles and the operational capabilities to adapt will allow us to position our business for continued value creation.

現實情況是，包括我們在內的大多數企業都無法完全免受關稅或全球經濟成長潛在下滑的影響。然而，擁有應對經濟週期的經驗和適應的營運能力將使我們能夠定位我們的業務以持續創造價值。

Regardless of where policy changes shake out, it does feel like the broader themes of relocalization and digitalization are here to stay. Capital will flow to these areas as companies look to reduce dependency on cross-border trade, strengthen supply chains and invest in domestic capabilities.

無論政策變化如何，重新在地化和數位化等更廣泛的主題似乎仍將繼續存在。隨著企業尋求減少對跨境貿易的依賴、加強供應鏈並投資國內能力，資本將流向這些地區。

The United States remains an extremely attractive destination for capital. We've been investing in the backbone of the US economy for years, building a track record as an owner and operator of great businesses. Today, the growth of many of these businesses is accelerating as technology, relocalization, and policy changes converge. Advancements in artificial intelligence, automation and robotics are ushering in a new era and will create immense opportunities to buy and completely transform many of these industrial companies at a much more rapid pace.

美國仍然是一個極具吸引力的資本目的地。多年來，我們一直投資於美國經濟的支柱，並作為優秀企業的所有者和運營商建立了良好的業績記錄。如今，隨著技術、重新在地化和政策變化的融合，許多此類企業的成長正在加速。人工智慧、自動化和機器人技術的進步正在開啟一個新時代，並將創造巨大的機會，以更快的速度收購和徹底改造許多工業公司。

Growth in Europe has lagged behind the US for years, but the region is uniting around a pro-growth agenda with governments signaling that they are willing to play a part in easing regulation, promoting productivity and supporting spending. Meanwhile, India remains a bright spot in the global economy and the Middle East, specifically the Gulf countries, continue to thrive, largely insulated from current geopolitical dynamics, which is supporting a highly conducive deal-making environment and opportunities for us to strategically grow our presence or monetize businesses there over time.

歐洲的成長多年來一直落後於美國，但該地區正團結起來制定促進成長的議程，各國政府表示願意在放鬆監管、提高生產力和支持支出方面發揮作用。同時，印度仍然是全球經濟的一個亮點，中東，特別是海灣國家，繼續蓬勃發展，很大程度上不受當前地緣政治動態的影響，這為我們提供了非常有利的交易環境和機會，使我們能夠戰略性地擴大我們在中東的業務或隨著時間的推移將業務貨幣化。

Over the years, we've made some of our best investments during periods of significant dislocation. Being global with a local presence and having strong access to capital puts us in a great spot to both accelerate buybacks and take advantage of growth opportunities.

多年來，我們在嚴重混亂的時期做出了一些最好的投資。憑藉全球化佈局和在地化運營，以及強大的資本管道，我們既可以加速回購，又可以抓住成長機會。

Just recently, we reached an agreement to acquire Antylia Scientific, a leading manufacturer and distributor of critical consumables and testing equipment serving life sciences and environmental labs. Antylia has a sticky customer base, providing essential products which support the accuracy and repeatability of processes and labs. The business has historically grown through a series of acquisitions, and we see a lot of opportunities to improve its manufacturing, commercial strategy, and supply chain to capitalize on key growth opportunities.

就在最近，我們達成協議，收購 Antylia Scientific，這是一家為生命科學和環境實驗室提供關鍵消耗品和測試設備的領先製造商和分銷商。Antylia 擁有忠實的客戶群，提供支援流程和實驗室準確性和可重複性的必需產品。該業務歷來透過一系列收購而發展，我們看到許多機會來改善其製造、商業策略和供應鏈，以利用關鍵的成長機會。

A lot has changed since the start of the year, but our commitment to compounding long-term growth for our investors remains the same. We're prepared for some uncertain days ahead but are equally optimistic and confident in the quality of the businesses we own, the strength of our operational capabilities, and the increased flexibility of our balance sheet to support our growth.

自今年年初以來，很多事情都發生了變化，但我們為投資者實現長期成長的承諾始終不變。我們已經為未來的一些不確定的日子做好了準備，但對我們擁有的業務的質量、我們運營能力的實力以及我們資產負債表的靈活性的提高以支持我們的增長同樣感到樂觀和有信心。

With that, I'll pass the call over to Adrian Letts, who oversees our global business operations team and is going to spend some time talking about how we're positioning our business in the current operating environment.

說完這些，我將把電話轉給負責我們全球業務營運團隊的 Adrian Letts，他將花一些時間討論我們如何在當前營運環境中定位我們的業務。

Thank you, Anuj. Good morning, everyone. I'm happy to be on the call today. As many of you are aware, today, we have more than 30 dedicated operating professionals located around the world with a broad range of backgrounds, functional expertise, and domain knowledge. Having senior executives on the ground in all the regions where we operate to support our management teams is critical to allowing us to respond quickly to an evolving global operating environment like the one we've seen over the past few months.

謝謝你，Anuj。大家早安。我很高興今天能參加電話會議。大家可能都知道，今天，我們在全球擁有 30 多名敬業的營運專業人員，他們擁有廣泛的背景、職能專長和領域知識。在我們開展業務的所有地區都安排高階主管來支援我們的管理團隊，這對於我們能夠快速應對不斷變化的全球營運環境（就像我們在過去幾個月中看到的那樣）至關重要。

I'm sure the topic of tariffs and trade is top of mind for most of you. And like many, we're continuing to assess the impacts on our businesses as well as the broader risk that changing policy decisions may have on global economic growth. Our work is ongoing, but as we pass through the noise, we do not anticipate that tariffs will have a material impact on the cash flows of our businesses. While we're global, many of our businesses source, manufacture or provide services in a region for region.

我相信關稅和貿易問題是大多數人最關心的話題。與許多人一樣，我們正在繼續評估政策變化對我們業務的影響以及可能對全球經濟成長造成的更廣泛風險。我們的工作仍在進行中，但隨著我們克服這些障礙，我們預計關稅不會對我們業務的現金流產生重大影響。雖然我們是全球性的，但我們的許多業務都是在某個地區採購、製造或提供服務。

For the most part, this means that they're not heavily reliant on cross-border trade and our exposure is limited with most of our manufacturing and operating presence being in the US, Europe, Mexico, and Canada. Where we do have some exposure, we expect the impacts to be manageable and limited to a handful of industrial operations.

在大多數情況下，這意味著他們並不嚴重依賴跨境貿易，而且我們的業務範圍有限，我們大部分的製造和營運業務都在美國、歐洲、墨西哥和加拿大。對於我們確實存在一定影響的地方，我們預期其影響是可控的，並且僅限於少數工業運作。

At Clarios, our advanced energy storage operation, a portion of its US batteries are manufactured and recycled in Mexico. However, these should fall under a USMCA exemption that remains in place and the impact of tariffs on the business is not expected to be material.

在我們先進的能源儲存業務 Clarios，其部分美國電池是在墨西哥製造和回收的。然而，這些應該屬於仍然有效的 USMCA 豁免範圍，關稅對企業的影響預計不會很大。

We are working through some expected impacts at DexKo, our engineered components manufacturer related to tariffs on imports from China. However, on a relative basis, DexKo should fare better than most of its competitors given its sourcing and manufacturing footprint. Over time, we expect most of the impact on DexKo's business can be mitigated through commercial and sourcing opportunities.

我們正在努力解決中國進口關稅對我們的工程零件製造商 DexKo 造成的一些預期影響。然而，相對而言，考慮到其採購和製造足跡，DexKo 的表現應該比大多數競爭對手更好。隨著時間的推移，我們預計對 DexKo 業務的大部分影響可以透過商業和採購機會得到緩解。

More broadly, we're leaning into our operational capabilities and evaluating proactive measures across each of our businesses to ensure we're best positioned to mitigate any headwinds and prepare for scenarios that may arise as the environment changes. Where we can, we're evaluating opportunities to nearshore production capacity, exploring alternative supplier arrangements, utilizing contract pass-through clauses, and accelerating cost optimization initiatives.

更廣泛地說，我們正在依靠我們的營運能力並評估我們每個業務的主動措施，以確保我們能夠最好地減輕任何不利因素並為環境變化可能出現的情況做好準備。我們正在盡可能地評估近岸生產能力的機會、探索替代供應商安排、利用合約轉嫁條款以及加快成本優化計劃。

Measured pricing actions will almost certainly be a lever to support margin performance in a potentially inflationary environment, but we'll need to be balanced in our commercial actions. As we're working through all of these opportunities, we're also very focused on the relative impacts to our competitors and how that may shape demand and market dynamics across industries and end markets we operate.

在潛在的通膨環境中，有節制的定價行動幾乎肯定會成為支持利潤表現的槓桿，但我們需要在商業行動中保持平衡。在我們努力抓住所有這些機會的同時，我們也非常關注對競爭對手的相對影響，以及這些影響如何影響我們營運的各個產業和終端市場的需求和市場動態。

For the most part, volumes across our businesses have held up well despite some demand headwinds we're dealing with in parts of Europe and some softness related to more discretionary related demand. That said, it's too early to assess the secondary impacts tariffs could have on a broader slowdown on economic and global growth.

整體而言，儘管我們在歐洲部分地區面臨一些需求阻力，且與更多自由裁量相關需求相關的需求也出現一些疲軟，但我們各項業務的銷售量仍然保持良好。儘管如此，現在評估關稅對經濟和全球成長放緩可能產生的次要影響還為時過早。

On balance, the longer-term impacts from US trade policy could be positive for businesses that we own, but we recognize the risk of potential near-term disruption. As a result, we're preparing for a more uncertain outlook over the next 12 to 18 months as both businesses and consumers adapt behavior and purchasing decisions in the current environment.

總的來說，美國貿易政策的長期影響可能對我們擁有的企業產生正面影響，但我們認識到短期內可能造成中斷的風險。因此，隨著企業和消費者在當前環境下調整行為和購買決策，我們正在為未來 12 至 18 個月更不確定的前景做準備。

Fortunately, most of our larger businesses are global market leaders, providing essential products and services that are critical to their customers in any environment. There's always a market for these types of businesses, and their strong durable competitive advantages generally enable them to pass through higher costs and underpin stable cash flows. We've seen this resilience demonstrated through past cycles, including during the pandemic, and our goal is to ensure we can improve the positioning of our businesses as we go through the current period of volatility.

幸運的是，我們的大多數大型企業都是全球市場領導者，在任何環境下提供對客戶至關重要的產品和服務。這類企業總是有市場，其強大而持久的競爭優勢通常使它們能夠轉嫁更高的成本並支撐穩定的現金流。我們已經看到這種韌性在過去的周期中得到體現，包括在大流行期間，我們的目標是確保我們能夠在經歷當前的動盪時期改善業務定位。

With that, I'll hand it over to Jaspreet to review our financial results and be available to take any questions after prepared remarks.

接下來，我將把會議交給 Jaspreet 來審查我們的財務結果，並在準備好發言後回答任何問題。

Thanks, Adrian, and good morning, everyone. First-quarter adjusted EBITDA was $591 million compared to $544 million in the prior period. Adjusted EFO of $345 million during the quarter included $114 million of net gain related to the sale of offshore oil services shuttle tanker operation and $34 million in withholding tax expense related to the distribution received from our advanced energy storage operation.

謝謝，阿德里安，大家早安。第一季調整後的 EBITDA 為 5.91 億美元，上一季為 5.44 億美元。本季度調整後的 EFO 為 3.45 億美元，其中包括與出售海上石油服務穿梭油輪業務相關的 1.14 億美元淨收益，以及與我們先進的能源存儲業務收到的分配相關的 3400 萬美元預扣稅費用。

Turning to segment performance. Our Industrial segment generated first-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $304 million, which included $72 million of tax benefits at our advanced energy storage operation and contributions from our electric heat tracing manufacturer, which we acquired in January. Results at our advanced energy storage operation benefited from growing demand for higher-margin advanced batteries, ongoing commercial actions and the execution of optimization initiatives. The impact of end market weakness and lower volumes at our engineered components manufacturer were reflected in results as the business continues to actively manage costs to support margins and cash flow.

轉向細分市場表現。我們的工業部門第一季調整後 EBITDA 為 3.04 億美元，其中包括我們先進能源儲存業務的 7,200 萬美元稅收優惠，以及我們一月份收購的電伴熱製造商的貢獻。我們的先進能源儲存業務的業績受益於對高利潤先進電池日益增長的需求、持續的商業行動以及優化計劃的執行。由於企業繼續積極管理成本以支持利潤率和現金流，終端市場疲軟和工程零件製造商產量下降的影響反映在業績中。

Moving to our Business Service segment, we generated first-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $213 million, an increase compared to $205 million in 2024. Prior-period results included $6 million of contributions from our road fuels operations that was sold in July last year. Strong performance at our residential mortgage insurer and improved project execution at our construction operation contributed to segment performance during the quarter. Results at our dealer software and technology service operation reflect the impact of higher costs associated with the acceleration of planned technology modernization initiatives as well as customer churn.

轉向我們的商業服務部門，我們第一季的調整後 EBITDA 為 2.13 億美元，與 2024 年的 2.05 億美元相比有所增長。上期業績包括去年 7 月出售的道路燃料業務貢獻的 600 萬美元。我們的住宅抵押貸款保險公司表現強勁，建築業務項目執行情況改善，為本季的分部業績做出了貢獻。我們的經銷商軟體和技術服務營運的表現反映了與計劃中的技術現代化舉措加速以及客戶流失相關的成本上升的影響。

Finally, our Infrastructure Services segment generated first-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $104 million compared to $143 million during the same quarter last year, which included contributions from our offshore oil services' shuttle tanker operations, which we sold in January. Stable performance at our modular building leasing services and our lottery services operations was offset by the impact of weak market conditions in work access services.

最後，我們的基礎設施服務部門第一季調整後 EBITDA 為 1.04 億美元，而去年同期為 1.43 億美元，其中包括我們 1 月份出售的海上石油服務穿梭油輪業務的貢獻。我們的模組化建築租賃服務和彩票服務業務的穩定表現被工作通道服務市場狀況疲軟的影響所抵消。

Now turning to our balance sheet and capital allocation priorities. We ended the quarter with liquidity of approximately $2.3 billion at the corporate level, which is pro forma for recently announced acquisitions and realizations. Buying back our units at a significant discount to intrinsic value is an excellent use of our capital. As Anuj mentioned, in January, we launched a $250 million repurchase program. And since then, we have bought back almost 6 million units in shares, spending a total of $140 million. We will continue to execute our repurchase program under our existing NCIB, which we plan to renew once it expires in August this year.

現在轉向我們的資產負債表和資本配置優先事項。本季結束時，公司層級的流動資金約為 23 億美元，這是最近宣布的收購和變現的預測。以遠低於內在價值的價格回購我們的單位是對我們資本的絕佳利用。正如 Anuj 所提到的，今年 1 月，我們啟動了一項 2.5 億美元的回購計畫。自那時起，我們已回購了近 600 萬股股票，總計花費 1.4 億美元。我們將繼續執行現有 NCIB 下的回購計劃，並計劃在今年 8 月到期後進行續約。

With that, I'd like to close our prepared remarks and turn the call back to the operator for questions.

至此，我想結束我們準備好的發言並將電話轉回給接線員以回答問題。

(Operator Instructions) Gary Ho, Desjardins Capital Markets.

（操作員指示）Gary Ho，Desjardins Capital Markets。

Maybe to start off with DexKo. You mentioned there's volume improved in North America but softness in international. You also mentioned some tariff implications. Are you able to maybe quantify that perhaps impact to EBITDA near term? And are DexKo competitors also affected by tariffs as well? Just trying to see how easily you can pass through potential price increases there.

也許從 DexKo 開始。您提到北美的銷量有所提高，但國際銷量卻疲軟。您也提到了一些關稅影響。您能否量化這對近期 EBITDA 可能產生的影響？DexKo 的競爭對手是否也受到關稅的影響？只是想看看你能多麼輕鬆地度過潛在的價格上漲。

Yeah. Look, thank you for the question. So performance in Q1 was in line with plan. There's some sign of recovery in North America in Q1, but the market remains pretty muted. Trailer registrations in North America, which are a leading indicator of outlook, remain at a multiyear low. But I think the most important thing to point out is the business has done a great job on cost and capital management and actually improved margins in a down market.

是的。瞧，謝謝你的提問。因此第一季的表現符合計劃。第一季北美出現了一些復甦跡象，但市場仍然相當低迷。北美拖車註冊量是前景的領先指標，但目前仍處於多年來的低點。但我認為最重要的是要指出的是，該企業在成本和資本管理方面做得很好，並且在低迷的市場中實際上提高了利潤率。

We're still passing through the impacts of tariffs and putting appropriate plans in place. But to your question on competitor impact, there is going to be competitor impact on our competitors. And I think proportionately, DexKo is well placed to manage through this.

我們仍在承受關稅的影響並制定適當的計劃。但對於您關於競爭對手影響的問題，我們的競爭對手肯定會受到競爭對手的影響。我認為從比例上來說，DexKo 完全有能力解決這個問題。

Okay. Great. And my second question on Clarios. Can you walk us through kind of where you stand with the 45X filing? There's many policy changes in the past couple of months. Any pivots in how you think about these credits Clarios is entitled to today?

好的。偉大的。我的第二個問題是關於 Clarios 的。可以向我們介紹一下 45X 申請的進度嗎？過去幾個月政策發生了許多變化。您對 Clarios 目前應享有的這些榮譽有何看法？

Hi, Gary, it's Jaspreet. I'll take that. So to answer your last question first, there's really no change in terms of our views around the tax credit and it's kind of in line with what we've said. The business did file their tax return for the 2024 year at the end of January. And it's our understanding it's being processed in the normal course. And we are expecting that the tax benefits and the credit we will get from the 2024 return in the near term.

你好，加里，我是 Jaspreet。我會接受的。因此，首先回答您的最後一個問題，我們對稅收抵免的看法確實沒有改變，這與我們所說的一致。該企業確實在一月底提交了2024年度的報稅表。據我們了解，此事正在按正常程序處理。我們預計我們將在短期內獲得 2024 年回報的稅收優惠和抵免。

Okay. Great. And then just the last one, if I can. In your letter to shareholders, you mentioned to generate proceeds from monetization, you look at additional ways to accelerate plans to return capital to shareholders. Can you maybe talk us through kind of what that might look like? Is it a bigger share buyback program? Are you perhaps referring to the potential La Trobe monetization in those remarks? Any comment there would be helpful.

好的。偉大的。如果可以的話，我只說最後一個。在您致股東的信中，您提到為了從貨幣化中獲得收益，您會尋找其他方法來加速向股東返還資本的計劃。您能否向我們介紹一下它看起來是什麼樣子的？這是一個更大規模的股票回購計畫嗎？您所說的這些話是不是指拉籌伯大學的潛在貨幣化？任何評論都會有幫助。

Sure. It's Anuj here. So as we've always done, we've always continued to look for opportunities to monetize or generate realizations in the market. We've done a pretty good job over the last couple of years returning across the private equity group about $10 billion over two years, which a significant portion of which went to BBU. The nice thing is great businesses that generate significant cash flow always have options. And we've tended to be quite creative in getting those monetizations or distributions. So whether it was Everise or Altera or Greenergy or even Clarios, we use different approaches.

當然。我是 Anuj。因此，正如我們一直以來所做的那樣，我們一直在尋找在市場上實現貨幣化或實現價值的機會。過去幾年我們做得相當不錯，兩年內為私募股權集團返還了約 100 億美元，其中很大一部分流向了 BBU。令人高興的是，能夠產生大量現金流的優秀企業總是有選擇的。我們在實現這些貨幣化或分配方面往往頗具創意。因此，無論是 Everise、Altera、Greenergy 或 Clarios，我們都採用不同的方法。

So I'd just say that while I can't comment on any specific one company that may be mentioned in the media, I think we are always looking at opportunities, especially when we have great businesses that are getting appropriately valued. There's also a secondary market out there for private equity investments, which has been healthy.

因此，我只想說，雖然我無法對媒體提到的任何特定公司發表評論，但我認為我們一直在尋找機會，尤其是當我們擁有適當估值的優秀企業時。私募股權投資的二級市場也一直很健康。

And so if we are able to generate further monetizations or realizations, we do have continued capacity in our buyback, which is already currently going until August. We would look to renew that in August and afterwards continue to take our balanced approach of deleveraging, returning capital to shareholders and new investments.

因此，如果我們能夠產生進一步的貨幣化或實現，我們確實有繼續回購的能力，目前回購已經持續到八月。我們希望在八月重新實現這一目標，然後繼續採取平衡的去槓桿、向股東返還資本和進行新投資的方法。

Devin Dodge, BMO Capital Markets.

蒙特利爾銀行資本市場 (BMO Capital Markets) 的 Devin Dodge。

The unitholder letter, there was mention of a realignment at Scientific Games. Just wondering if you could provide some additional context on how you think this will enhance value of the business.

單位持有人的信中提到了 Scientific Games 的重新調整。只是想知道您是否可以提供一些額外的背景信息，說明您認為這將如何提升業務價值。

So thank you for the question. It's Adrian. We're continuing to invest in digital, and we're excited by the digital opportunity that we see. We think there's a significant opportunity to digitize the near $100 billion lottery ecosystem globally. And this opportunity extends well beyond online games and mobile games, and it's embedding the technology into everyday customer interactions.

謝謝你的提問。我是艾德里安。我們將繼續在數位領域進行投資，我們對所看到的數位化機會感到興奮。我們認為，將全球近 1000 億美元的彩票生態系統數位化是一個重大機會。這個機會遠遠超出了網路遊戲和手機遊戲的範圍，它將技術嵌入日常的客戶互動中。

To support this vision, we've already begun deploying a number of innovative technologies, including advanced retail vending solutions, cashless payment systems, mobile wallets to support a growth in omnichannel and customer engagement. And to accelerate that, we've stood up a dedicated team.

為了支持這個願景，我們已經開始部署一系列創新技術，包括先進的零售自動販賣解決方案、無現金支付系統、行動錢包，以支援全通路和客戶參與度的成長。為了加速這一進程，我們成立了一支專門的團隊。

In October 2024, we appointed a new Head of Digital, an accomplished leader with extensive experience in digital, including stints at Amazon and Symantec and Albertsons. We're actively expanding the team. And at scale, we believe this has a significant opportunity to continue to grow EBITDA.

2024 年 10 月，我們任命了一位新的數位主管，他是一位經驗豐富的領導者，在數位領域擁有豐富的經驗，曾在亞馬遜、賽門鐵克和 Albertsons 工作過。我們正在積極擴大團隊。從規模上看，我們相信這是一個繼續增加 EBITDA 的重要機會。

Okay. Excellent color. Thanks for that. Maybe second question. We saw that Brookfield recently announced an agreement to invest in Barclays payments business. Just given your current presence in the sector, should we assume that BBU participates in that transaction? And then more broadly, can you speak to that investment pipeline that you see in the payment sector and where you think Brookfield can enhance the value of these businesses?

好的。顏色極佳。謝謝。也許是第二個問題。我們看到，Brookfield最近宣布了一項投資巴克萊支付業務的協議。鑑於您目前在該領域的存在，我們是否應該假設 BBU 參與了該交易？然後更廣泛地講，您能否談談您在支付領域看到的投資管道，以及您認為 Brookfield 可以在哪些方面提升這些業務的價值？

Sure. It's Anuj here. I'll take that. The answer is yes, BBU will participate in the Barclays investment. It's exactly in line with what we've already done in Network and Magneti, which have both been excellent businesses where we've continued to make great progress in operations.

當然。我是 Anuj。我會接受的。答案是肯定的，BBU將參與巴克萊的投資。這與我們在 Network 和 Magneti 所做的完全一致，這兩家公司都是非常出色的企業，我們在營運方面也不斷取得巨大進展。

Stepping back a little bit, Barclays is a great example of the types of opportunities we're looking at in financial infrastructure, where we feel that the broader global financial backbone is -- it does need a lot of investment and does need real operational capability to turn it around. Often, the incumbents that own these businesses have challenges making those investments today on their own balance sheet. And it's opened up a lot of opportunities for us to step in and either acquire or partner with those incumbents in transforming those businesses.

退一步來說，巴克萊銀行是我們在金融基礎設施領域尋找的機會的一個很好的例子，我們認為更廣泛的全球金融支柱是——它確實需要大量的投資，也需要真正的營運能力來扭轉局面。通常，擁有這些企業的現任者在自己的資產負債表上進行這些投資時會遇到挑戰。這為我們介入、收購或與現有企業合作以改變這些業務提供了許多機會。

We've done this very successfully in Magneti. We're continuing to do it successfully now in Network. And I think we're going to apply very similar operational value creation plan with Barclays. And just broadly, there's many, many more opportunities like that out there. So I think you can expect to see BBU continue to participate in these kinds of investments as we make them.

我們在馬涅蒂非常成功地做到了這一點。我們現在正在網路中繼續成功地做到這一點。我認為我們將採用與巴克萊銀行非常相似的營運價值創造計劃。總的來說，像這樣的機會還有很多很多。因此我認為您可以期待看到 BBU 繼續參與我們進行的此類投資。

Okay. Interesting. Thanks for that. And then just one last one. Earlier this week, we saw that Schoeller Allibert reached an agreement to merge with IPL. Look, we recognize this is one of your smaller investments, but just wondering if that agreement provides Brookfield and BBU with an eventual exit.

好的。有趣的。謝謝。最後再說一句。本週早些時候，我們看到 Schoeller Allibert 與 IPL 達成合併協議。聽著，我們知道這是你們的一項較小投資，但我們只是想知道該協議是否為 Brookfield 和 BBU 提供了最終的退出機會。

Thank you. So look, as you rightly pointed out, we announced an agreement to merge the Schoeller business with IPL Plastics, which is a leading plastic manufacturer in North America and the UK, which has a very complementary product and geographic customer portfolio. IPL was privatized by Madison Dearborn, a private equity firm, in 2020. And the merger presents a substantial opportunity to create an international sustainable packaging producer at scale, including 27 locations across the UK, Europe and North America.

謝謝。所以，正如您正確指出的那樣，我們宣布了一項協議，將 Schoeller 業務與 IPL Plastics 合併，後者是北美和英國領先的塑膠製造商，擁有非常互補的產品和地理客戶組合。IPL 於 2020 年被私募股權公司 Madison Dearborn 私有化。此次合併為創建一家規模龐大的國際永續包裝生產商提供了巨大的機會，其業務範圍包括英國、歐洲和北美的 27 個地點。

The transaction does not require any additional funding from BBU and its institutional partners. Following a debt-funded distribution to IPL shareholders, the capital structure will be 54% to Madison Dearborn and 45% to Schoeller Allibert shareholders. And we expect the transaction to close in Q3 of this year. To your question, given that we are now creating an international sustainable packaging producer with substantial scale, we think it presents a tremendous opportunity for value creation over the next few years.

該交易不需要 BBU 及其機構合作夥伴提供任何額外資金。在向 IPL 股東進行債務融資分配後，資本結構將為 54% 歸 Madison Dearborn 所有，45% 歸 Schoeller Allibert 股東所有。我們預計交易將於今年第三季完成。對於您的問題，鑑於我們現在正在創建一個具有相當規模的國際永續包裝生產商，我們認為這為未來幾年創造價值提供了巨大的機會。

Jaeme Gloyn, NBF.

Jaeme Gloyn，NBF。

First question just on the CDK. I guess, the subpack called out a little bit of churn still going through. I was wondering if you could frame that for us. Have you seen improvements? Is it stabilizing, deteriorating? What can you tell us about how customers are still behaving with respect to the CDK business?

第一個問題是關於 CDK 的。我猜，子包中仍然有一點混亂。我想知道您是否可以為我們建立這個框架。您看到改進了嗎？它是在穩定，還是在惡化？您能告訴我們客戶對 CDK 業務的態度如何嗎？

Yeah, sure. It's Jaspreet. Maybe I'll start and then Adrian can add. So I'd say just generally, if you look at the business performance year over year, the current year performance is lower. The majority of that is due to the technology investments that we've been doing in our products at CDK. And these costs are -- we're not able to capitalize them and we need to expense them. So they flow through EBITDA. And that is really the biggest piece of kind of the year-over-year performance difference.

是的，當然。是 Jaspreet。也許我會開始，然後阿德里安可以補充。因此我想說，總的來說，如果逐年觀察業務表現，今年的表現會比較低。這主要歸功於我們在 CDK 產品上的技術投資。我們無法將這些成本資本化，因此需要將其作為費用。因此它們流經 EBITDA。這確實是同比業績差異最大的部分。

In terms of your question, churn. Churn is higher, and where we're seeing that is more around customers that have kind of a single product like a CRM or a single technology that they use from our stack. The customers that are kind of core DMS customers or across multiple products and tech stacks at CDK, the churn there is stabilizing. And what we are seeing is that the impact of the overall churn is also being mitigated by commercial actions as well as extension of contracts. So I'd say, overall, there's still work to be done, but the kind of broader core DMS churn just does feel like it is stabilizing.

就你的問題而言，流失。客戶流失率較高，我們發現，這種情況更發生在那些只使用我們產品組合中的單一產品（如 CRM）或單一技術的客戶身上。對於那些屬於核心 DMS 客戶或跨 CDK 多個產品和技術堆疊的客戶來說，其流失率正在趨於穩定。我們看到的是，商業行動和合約延長也正在減輕整體客戶流失的影響。所以我想說，總的來說，仍有工作要做，但更廣泛的核心 DMS 流失確實感覺正在穩定下來。

And then just to build on that, the investment in technology, we're taking a very customer-led approach. And we believe that that will really set us up well to enhance our overall market position, and as we look forward over the next 10 years, consolidate the strong position that we have.

然後，為了在此基礎上進行技術投資，我們採取了以客戶為主導的方法。我們相信，這將真正幫助我們提升整體市場地位，並展望未來 10 年，鞏固我們現有的強勢地位。

Okay. And something we don't hear too much about, but it still contributes meaningfully in Business Services is Unidas. Can you give us a quick update on the performance of that business and the underlying market? And are you seeing any other potential macro impacts affecting that business?

好的。我們不太了解 Unidas，但它仍然為商業服務做出了有意義的貢獻。您能否向我們簡要介紹一下該業務和相關市場的表現？您是否看到任何其他潛在的宏觀影響會影響該業務？

Sure. It's Jaspreet again. I'll start and then Adrian can add. So Unidas is our fleet management and car rental business in Brazil. And I'd say overall, the operating performance of the business has been fine. The two parts of the business on the fleet management side, these are kind of long-term -- medium-term lease contracts that we have with customers. We've got the ability to kind of price the contracts in line with inflation. They are quite stable just given that the term on the contracts and the lease contracts. So that business has been doing well. It's been continuing to grow.

當然。又是 Jaspreet。我先開始，然後 Adrian 可以補充。Unidas 是我們在巴西的車隊管理和汽車租賃業務。我想說，整體而言，公司的經營業績良好。車隊管理方面的兩個業務部分是我們與客戶簽訂的長期至中期租賃合約。我們有能力根據通貨膨脹來為合約定價。僅從合約期限和租賃合約來看，它們還是相當穩定的。所以這項業務一直進展順利。它一直在持續增長。

The other side of the business is the car rental side. And again, the business is doing fine from an operating perspective. We've spent a lot of time just on transformation activities within the business since we bought it. It's got a number of branches, so maximizing kind of utilization of the branches, sharing best practices, just improving underlying kind of operating performance.

業務的另一面是汽車租賃。從營運角度來看，業務表現良好。自從我們收購這家公司以來，我們已經花了很多時間在公司內部的轉型活動上。它有許多分支，因此可以最大限度地利用分支，分享最佳實踐，從而提高底層的營運績效。

We did see, over the last couple of years, the used car prices, which on the car rental side, we buy new vehicles, we'll use them over a couple of years and then we sell them in the market. There was some pressure on used car prices, but we have seen that start to ease.

在過去的幾年裡，我們確實看到了二手車價格，在汽車租賃方面，我們購買新車，使用幾年，然後在市場上出售。二手車價格面臨一些壓力，但我們已經看到這種壓力開始緩解。

So I'd say overall, operating performance of the business is quite good. The interest rates in Brazil have been going up. I think they're kind of over 14% now. So that has had an impact on kind of just the interest costs in the business, which impacts EFO. So we are kind of managing that, but the business is free cash flow positive. And look, I think the long term, we're quite excited about this opportunity.

所以我認為整體而言，該業務的經營業績相當不錯。巴西的利率一直在上升。我認為現在這個比例已經超過 14% 了。因此，這對業務中的利息成本產生了影響，進而影響了 EFO。因此，我們正在管理這一點，但業務的自由現金流是正的。而且我認為從長遠來看，我們對這個機會感到非常興奮。

Okay. And lastly, I just wanted to go back to a comment around managing through some of the potential tariff impacts, accelerating cost optimization initiatives and then pushing, I guess, some pricing actions through. Are these actions underway in any of the business lines? And maybe focus more on the pricing side. Or is this just a playbook waiting to be deployed?

好的。最後，我只想回到管理一些潛在關稅影響、加速成本優化舉措以及推動一些定價行動的評論。這些行動是否正在任何業務線中進行？或許應該多關注定價方面。或者這只是一個等待部署的劇本？

I'll start. It's Adrian. So we are underway in terms of the actions that we can take, the pricing that we can put through. I think it's important to go back to the statements I made at the beginning. We're passing through the noise. We're really trying to understand the situation as it unfolds. We're preparing, but we're also taking action where we can.

我先開始。我是艾德里安。因此，我們正在採取可以採取的行動以及可以實施的定價。我認為回顧我在開始時所作的陳述很重要。我們正在穿過噪音。我們確實在努力了解事態的進展。我們正在做準備，但我們也在盡我們所能採取行動。

Can you elaborate on where that action may be taking place at this point?

您能否詳細說明目前該行動可能在哪裡發生？

Look, I think there's a broad range of things that we're doing. Pricing is clearly something that we're looking at.

看，我認為我們正在做的事情範圍很廣泛。定價顯然是我們正在考慮的問題。

Yeah. And maybe I could just add a little bit of color there. If we step back into Adrian's earlier comments, like there's really only two businesses where we expect any kind of first-line impact from tariffs. One is Clarios. And at Clarios, most of that impact is between Mexico and the US, where we have some lead recycling that happens in Mexico. And again, Adrian spoke to this earlier, but with kind of the current tariffs that are in place, we don't expect that that's going to be any material impact.

是的。也許我可以在那裡添加一點顏色。如果我們回顧一下阿德里安之前的評論，我們預計只有兩家企業會受到關稅的第一線影響。一個是Clarios。在 Clarios，大部分影響發生在墨西哥和美國之間，我們在墨西哥進行了一些鉛回收。阿德里安之前也談到了這一點，但考慮到目前實施的關稅，我們預計這不會產生任何實質影響。

And then the second business is DexKo. And again, Adrian touched on this already. And we're looking at DexKo, we're looking at mitigation strategies, including commercial and pricing actions. And just relative to how our competitors source a lot of the end products, DexKo is in a good position. And if we do need to take pricing actions to mitigate the impact of tariffs, I'd say we'd be in a much stronger position to do that just given kind of our manufacturing footprint and how we source our products.

第二個業務是 DexKo。再次，阿德里安已經談到了這一點。我們正在研究 DexKo，我們正在研究緩解策略，包括商業和定價行動。相對於我們的競爭對手如何購買大量最終產品而言，DexKo 處於有利地位。如果我們確實需要採取定價行動來減輕關稅的影響，我想說，考慮到我們的製造足跡和產品採購方式，我們將處於更有利的地位。

So those are really the only two businesses, and it's not a very -- like DexKo is the only one where we think there will be more mitigation required if things do kind of continue down the path that they are.

所以，這實際上是僅有的兩家企業，而且這並不是非常——就像 DexKo 是唯一一家我們認為如果事情繼續按照現在的方式發展的話需要採取更多緩解措施的企業。

Nik Priebe, CIBC.

尼克·普里貝（Nik Priebe），加拿大帝國商業銀行（CIBC）。

Okay. Just going back to Clarios for a moment. Has the company had any interaction or dialogue with the IRS about the 2024 tax filing specifically and the credits that were recognized last year but haven't been converted to cash on balance sheet? Like, I'm just wondering if you have any visibility on how the review of that tax filing is progressing and maybe when you'd expect to hear back on it.

好的。暫時回到 Clarios。公司是否與美國國稅局就 2024 年納稅申報以及去年確認但尚未在資產負債表上轉換為現金的抵免額進行過任何互動或對話？例如，我只是想知道您是否了解稅務申報審查的進展情況，以及您何時可以收到回覆。

Look, I think the kind of process around filing the tax return is in the normal course. Like, there's nothing unusual about the way the process is progressing for this tax return relative to others that they've filed in the past. And I'd say anecdotally, we've heard of others that have been receiving payments against the tax benefit credits, like others in the industry. So we still feel quite confident that Clarios qualifies under the regulations and that we will receive payment in due course.

看，我認為提交報稅表的流程是正常的。就像，與他們過去提交的其他報稅表相比，這份報稅表的流程進展並沒有什麼不尋常之處。我想說的是，我們聽說過其他人也一直在接受稅收優惠抵免的付款，就像業內其他人一樣。因此，我們仍然非常有信心，Clarios 符合規定，並且我們將及時收到付款。

Got it. Okay. That's helpful. And then just at Sagen, the higher mortgage insurance cap became effective in December. Is there any early indication year to date what impact that might have on transactional premiums? I'm just wondering what proportion of transactional premiums would be on those properties valued between $1 million, $1.5 million. You can start with that detail, but I'm just looking for kind of a general sense of what it does to the size of the total addressable market for that business.

知道了。好的。這很有幫助。然後就在 Sagen，更高的抵押貸款保險上限於 12 月生效。今年迄今為止是否有任何早期跡象表明這可能會對交易保費產生什麼影響？我只是想知道，對於價值在 100 萬美元到 150 萬美元之間的房產，交易保費的比例是多少。您可以從這個細節開始，但我只是想大致了解一下它對該企業的總可尋址市場規模的影響。

Sure. I can start and then others can add to it. What I'd say is that the overall performance of Sagen continues to be very strong, and it's supported by kind of the resilience in the housing market. We did see a significant increase in kind of transactional volume this quarter from first-time homebuyers, even -- and I'd say the increase in volumes for Sagen kind of outpaced the general market for the housing market performance. And it was driven by the regulatory changes that we saw come through, one of which you referenced, the increase in the cap from $1 million to $1.5 million.

當然。我可以開始，然後其他人可以添加。我想說的是，Sagen 的整體表現持續非常強勁，並且受到房地產市場彈性的支持。本季我們確實看到首次購屋者的交易量大幅增加，而且我認為 Sagen 的交易量增幅超過了整個房地產市場的表現。這是由我們看到的監管變化所推動的，其中之一就是您提到的上限從 100 萬美元增加到 150 萬美元。

But then the second thing was the extension of the amortization period for first-time homebuyers to up to 30 years. So I'd say both of those things, the increased amortization period as well as the increased cap did lead to higher transactional volumes. I don't have the exact numbers, but I think the number of kind of mortgages underwritten with the 30-year amortization was higher than the number that we saw come through from the higher kind of price cap increase.

但第二件事是將首次購屋者的攤銷期延長至 30 年。所以我想說這兩件事，增加攤銷期以及增加上限確實導致了更高的交易量。我沒有確切的數字，但我認為採用 30 年攤銷期承保的抵押貸款數量高於我們看到的更高價格上限上漲帶來的數量。

Thank you. And I'm showing no further questions at this time. So with that, I'll hand the call back over to CEO, Anuj Ranjan, for any closing remarks.

謝謝。我現在沒有其他問題了。因此，我將把電話轉回給執行長 Anuj Ranjan，請他做最後發言。

Thank you all for joining our call today, and we look forward to speaking with you next quarter.

感謝大家今天參加我們的電話會議，我們期待下個季度與您交談。

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating. This does conclude today's program, and you may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，感謝你們的參與。今天的節目到此結束，大家可以斷開連結了。