信達思 (CTAS) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Cintas Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2023 Earnings Release Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Paul Adler, Vice President, Treasurer and Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

大家好，歡迎參加 Cintas 2023 財年第二季度收益發布電話會議。今天的通話正在錄音中。在這個時候，我想把電話轉給財務主管和投資者關係副總裁保羅·阿德勒先生。請繼續，先生。

Thanks, Ross, and thank you for joining us. With me is Todd Schneider, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Mike Hansen, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. We will discuss our fiscal 2023 second quarter results. After our commentary, we will open the call to questions from analysts. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a safe harbor from civil litigation for forward-looking statements. This conference call contains forward-looking statements that reflect the company's current views as to future events and financial performance.

謝謝，羅斯，感謝你加入我們。和我一起的是總裁兼首席執行官 Todd Schneider；執行副總裁兼首席財務官 Mike Hansen。我們將討論 2023 財年第二季度的業績。在我們的評論之後，我們將打開分析師提問的電話。 1995 年的《私人證券訴訟改革法案》為前瞻性陳述提供了避免民事訴訟的安全港。本次電話會議包含前瞻性陳述，反映了公司當前對未來事件和財務業績的看法。

These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and which could cause actual results to differ materially from those we may discuss. I refer you to the discussion on these points contained in our most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. I'll now turn the call over to Todd.

這些前瞻性陳述受風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與我們可能討論的結果大不相同。我建議您參考我們最近提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中對這些要點的討論。我現在將電話轉給托德。

Thank you, Paul. Second quarter total revenue grew 13.1% to $2.17 billion. Each of our businesses increased revenue at a double-digit rate. The benefits of our strong revenue growth flowed through to our bottom line. Operating income margin increased 70 basis points to 20.5%, and diluted EPS grew 13% to $3.12.

謝謝你，保羅。第二季度總收入增長 13.1% 至 21.7 億美元。我們每項業務的收入都以兩位數的速度增長。我們強勁的收入增長帶來的好處直接影響了我們的利潤。營業利潤率增長 70 個基點至 20.5%，稀釋後每股收益增長 13% 至 3.12 美元。

I thank our employees, whom we call partners, for their continued focus on our customers, our shareholders and each other. The Uniform Rental and Facility Services operating segment revenue for the second quarter of fiscal '23 was $1.71 billion compared to $1.54 billion last year. Organic revenue growth rate was 11.3%. Revenue growth was driven mostly from increased volume. Our sales force continues to add new customers and penetrate and cross-sell our existing customer base. Businesses prioritize all we provide, including image, safety, cleanliness and compliance. Challenged with labor scarcity from rising costs, businesses continue to turn to Cintas to help them get ready for the workday. Additionally, price increases contributed at a higher level than historically.

我感謝我們的員工，我們稱之為合作夥伴，感謝他們持續關注我們的客戶、股東和彼此。 23 財年第二季度統一租賃和設施服務運營部門的收入為 17.1 億美元，而去年為 15.4 億美元。有機收入增長率為 11.3%。收入增長主要來自銷量的增長。我們的銷售人員繼續增加新客戶，並滲透和交叉銷售我們現有的客戶群。企業優先考慮我們提供的一切，包括形象、安全、清潔和合規性。面對成本上升導致勞動力短缺的挑戰，企業繼續求助於 Cintas 來幫助他們為工作日做好準備。此外，價格上漲的貢獻高於歷史水平。

We believe such a mix of revenue drivers, volume and price is healthy in support of continued long-term growth.

我們認為，這種收入驅動因素、數量和價格的組合對於支持持續的長期增長是健康的。

Our First Aid and Safety Services operating segment revenue for the second quarter was $236.0 million compared to $202.2 million last year. The organic revenue growth rate was 15.1%. This rate reflects the continued momentum of our First Aid cabinet business, which continues to grow more than 20%. Whether it is COVID-19 or influenza, the health and safety of employees remains top of mind. We provide businesses with access to quick and effective products and services that promote health and well-being in the workplace.

我們的急救和安全服務運營部門第二季度的收入為 2.36 億美元，而去年同期為 2.022 億美元。有機收入增長率為 15.1%。這一比率反映了我們急救櫃業務的持續增長勢頭，該業務繼續增長超過 20%。無論是 COVID-19 還是流感，員工的健康和安全仍然是重中之重。我們為企業提供快速有效的產品和服務，以促進工作場所的健康和福祉。

Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE, while still elevated compared to pre-COVID levels declined slightly on a sequential basis. The revenue mix shift benefits our financial results because the cabinet service is a more consistent revenue stream and has higher profit margins than PPE. Our Fire Protection Services and Uniform Direct Sale businesses are reported in the all Other segment. All Other revenue was $228.9 million compared to $184.9 million last year.

個人防護裝備 (PPE) 雖然與 COVID 之前的水平相比仍處於較高水平，但環比略有下降。收入結構的轉變有利於我們的財務業績，因為機櫃服務是一個更穩定的收入來源，並且比 PPE 具有更高的利潤率。我們的消防服務和製服直銷業務在所有其他分部報告。所有其他收入為 2.289 億美元，而去年為 1.849 億美元。

The Fire business organic revenue growth rate was 18.0% and the Uniform Direct Sales business organic growth rate was 33.9%. And before turning the call over to Mike to provide details of our second quarter results, I'll provide our updated financial expectations for our fiscal year. We are increasing our financial guidance. We are raising our annual revenue expectations from a range of $8.58 billion to $8.67 billion to a range of $8.67 billion to $8.75 billion, a total growth rate of 10.4% to 11.4%. Also, we are raising our annual diluted EPS expectations from a range of $12.30 to $12.65 to a range of $12.50 to $12.80, a growth rate of 10.8% to 13.5%. Mike?

消防業務有機收入增長率為 18.0%，制服直銷業務有機增長率為 33.9%。在將電話轉給邁克提供我們第二季度業績的詳細信息之前，我將提供我們對本財年的最新財務預期。我們正在增加財務指導。我們將年收入預期從 85.8 億美元至 86.7 億美元提高到 86.7 億美元至 87.5 億美元，總增長率為 10.4% 至 11.4%。此外，我們將年度稀釋後每股收益預期從 12.30 美元至 12.65 美元上調至 12.50 美元至 12.80 美元，增長率為 10.8% 至 13.5%。麥克風？

Thanks, Todd, and good morning. Our fiscal 20, quarter revenue was $2.17 billion compared to $1.92 billion last year. The organic revenue growth rate, adjusted for acquisitions, divestitures and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations was 12.8%. Gross margin for the second quarter of fiscal '23 was $1 billion compared to $885.1 million last year, an increase of 15.5%.

謝謝，托德，早上好。我們第 20 財年的季度收入為 21.7 億美元，而去年為 19.2 億美元。經收購、剝離和匯率波動調整後的有機收入增長率為 12.8%。 23 財年第二季度的毛利率為 10 億美元，而去年同期為 8.851 億美元，增長 15.5%。

Gross margin as a percent of revenue was 47% for the second quarter of fiscal '23 compared to 46% last year. Energy expenses comprised of gasoline, natural gas and electricity were a headwind increasing 10 basis points from last year. Strong volume growth from new customers and the penetration of existing customers with more products and services helped generate great operating leverage.

23 財年第二季度的毛利率佔收入的百分比為 47%，而去年為 46%。由汽油、天然氣和電力組成的能源支出比去年增加了 10 個基點。來自新客戶的強勁銷量增長以及現有客戶對更多產品和服務的滲透幫助產生了巨大的經營槓桿。

Gross margin percentage by business was 47% for Uniform Rental and Facility Services, 50.5% for First Aid and Safety Services, 47.4% for Fire Protection Services and 37.2% for Uniform Direct sale, operating income of $444.9 million compared to $381.2 million last year. Fiscal '23 second quarter operating income increased 16.7% and operating income margin increased 70 basis points to 20.5% from 19.8% last year.

制服租賃和設施服務的業務毛利率為 47%，急救和安全服務為 50.5%，消防服務為 47.4%，制服直銷為 37.2%，營業收入為 4.449 億美元，而去年為 3.812 億美元。 23 財年第二季度營業收入增長 16.7%，營業收入利潤率從去年的 19.8% 增長 70 個基點至 20.5%。

Our effective tax rate for the second quarter was 22.1% compared to 18% last year. The tax rate can move from period to period based on discrete events, including the amount of stock compensation expense. Net income for the second quarter was $324.3 million compared to $294.7 million last year, an increase of 10.1%. This year's diluted EPS of $3.12 compared to $2.76 last year, an increase of 13%. We had to overcome higher inflation, interest expense and tax rate therefore, we are especially pleased with these financial results.

我們第二季度的有效稅率為 22.1%，而去年為 18%。稅率可以根據離散事件從一個時期移動到另一個時期，包括股票補償費用的金額。第二季度淨收入為 3.243 億美元，而去年同期為 2.947 億美元，增長 10.1%。今年的攤薄後每股收益為 3.12 美元，與去年的 2.76 美元相比增長了 13%。我們必須克服更高的通貨膨脹、利息支出和稅率，因此我們對這些財務結果特別滿意。

Cash flow remained strong on September 15, 2022. We declared dividends and paid them on December 15, 2022 in the amount of $117.4 million in quarterly dividends. To provide our annual -- Todd provided our annual financial guidance related to the guidance, please note the following: Fiscal '22 included a gain on sale of operating assets in the first quarter and a gain on an equity method investment in the third quarter. Excluding these items, fiscal '22 operating income was $1.55 billion, a margin of 19.7% and diluted EPS was $11.28. Please see the table in our earnings press release for more information.

現金流在 2022 年 9 月 15 日保持強勁。我們宣布派息並於 2022 年 12 月 15 日支付了 1.174 億美元的季度股息。為了提供我們的年度——托德提供了與指導相關的年度財務指導，請注意以下內容：22 財年包括第一季度出售經營資產的收益和第三季度權益法投資的收益。不包括這些項目，22 財年營業收入為 15.5 億美元，利潤率為 19.7%，攤薄後每股收益為 11.28 美元。有關更多信息，請參閱我們的收益新聞稿中的表格。

Fiscal '23 operating income is expected to be in the range of $1.75 billion to $1.79 billion compared to $1.55 billion in fiscal '22 after excluding the gains. Fiscal '23 interest expense is expected to be $113 million compared to $88.8 million in fiscal '22 due in part to higher interest rates. Our fiscal '23 effective tax rate is expected to be 20.7%. This compares to a rate of 17.9% in fiscal '22 after excluding the gains and their related tax impacts.

剔除收益後，23 財年的營業收入預計在 17.5 億美元至 17.9 億美元之間，而 22 財年的營業收入為 15.5 億美元。 23 財年的利息支出預計為 1.13 億美元，而 22 財年的利息支出為 8880 萬美元，部分原因是利率較高。我們的 23 財年有效稅率預計為 20.7%。相比之下，在排除收益及其相關稅收影響後，22 財年的增長率為 17.9%。

Please keep the following in mind when modeling third quarter versus fourth quarter financial results. The number of workdays in the third and fourth quarter of fiscal '23 are unchanged from fiscal '22. There are 64 days in the third quarter and 66 in the fourth. Less workdays results in less revenue to cover certain fixed and amortizing costs.

在對第三季度與第四季度的財務結果進行建模時，請牢記以下幾點。 23 財年第三和第四季度的工作日數與 22 財年沒有變化。第三季度有64天，第四季度有66天。工作日減少會導致用於支付某些固定成本和攤銷成本的收入減少。

In last year's third quarter, First Aid and Safety sold about $15 million in COVID test kits. We don't expect that revenue to repeat this year. Uniform Direct Sale organic revenue growth rates have been very strong year-to-date. However, we expect these rates to be pressured in the second half of the fiscal year as the business faces increasingly challenging comparisons.

去年第三季度，First Aid and Safety 售出了約 1500 萬美元的 COVID 測試套件。我們預計今年不會出現這種收入。年初至今，統一直銷有機收入增長率非常強勁。然而，我們預計這些利率將在本財年下半年面臨壓力，因為企業面臨越來越具有挑戰性的比較。

Payroll taxes reset in our third -- fiscal third quarter, increasing our SG&A costs on a sequential basis. Our financial guidance does not include the impact of any future share buybacks and we remain in a dynamic environment that can continue to change. Our guidance contemplates a stable economy and excludes pandemic-related setbacks or economic downturns. I'll turn it back over to Paul.

工資稅在我們的第三財季 - 第三財季重置，連續增加我們的 SG&A 成本。我們的財務指導不包括任何未來股票回購的影響，我們仍然處於一個可以繼續變化的動態環境中。我們的指導考慮了穩定的經濟，不包括與流行病相關的挫折或經濟衰退。我會把它轉回給保羅。

That concludes our prepared remarks. Now we are happy to answer questions from the analysts. Please ask just one question and a single follow-up if needed. Thank you.

我們準備好的發言到此結束。現在我們很樂意回答分析師的問題。如果需要，請只問一個問題和一次跟進。謝謝你。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Faiza Alwy from Deutsche Bank Securities.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自德意志銀行證券公司的 Faiza Alwy。

Yes. You've had really good results. So congratulations on that. I'm curious -- how would you characterize your outperformance? Has it been more because of new business? Has pricing come in sort of better than you expected -- and maybe as part of that, if you could talk about your SAP program, like how much of a benefit do you think that has had over the -- during the course of this year?

是的。你取得了很好的成績。祝賀你。我很好奇——你如何描述你的出色表現？是否更多是因為新業務？定價是否比你預期的要好——也許作為其中的一部分，如果你能談談你的 SAP 程序，比如你認為它在今年的過程中帶來了多少好處？

Thank you for your question. Yes, we're -- our beat on the revenue side are driven significantly by new business as it continues to be very attractive for us. But we are selling more items into our customer base. So it's pretty broad. I mentioned in the prepared comments that pricing is above what our historical experience has been, as you can imagine, due to the experience with inflation that we're seeing across our organization.

謝謝你的問題。是的，我們 - 我們在收入方面的節拍是由新業務顯著推動的，因為它對我們仍然非常有吸引力。但我們正在向我們的客戶群銷售更多商品。所以範圍很廣。我在準備好的評論中提到，正如您可以想像的那樣，由於我們在整個組織中看到的通貨膨脹經驗，定價高於我們的歷史經驗。

But it is -- but the primary driver is volume growth, and we're benefiting from that. We're investing for that. And things are -- we like the trend there. As far as on the margin side, we are committed that we are not going to be solely focused on growing margins because of pricing. In fact, we are dedicated to finding efficiencies in our business. Some of that is through revenue leverage, just general revenue leverage that we get. but we are -- we're focused on finding efficiencies.

但它是——但主要驅動力是銷量增長，我們正從中受益。我們正在為此進行投資。事情是——我們喜歡那裡的趨勢。就利潤率而言，我們承諾不會因為定價而只關注利潤率的增長。事實上，我們致力於提高業務效率。其中一些是通過收入槓桿，只是我們獲得的一般收入槓桿。但我們 - 我們專注於提高效率。

And you mentioned SAP. Certainly, that technology is helping us significantly. We've talked about our -- the digitization or digital transformation of our business. That has been very, very important to us, and we're seeing benefits, whether it's in our routing efficiencies, productivity of our sales partners, getting better reuse of our products, in-service inventory because of SAP. Those are all the benefits that we're seeing in the -- marketplace is noticing it, and it's helping us with a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

你提到了 SAP。當然，這項技術對我們有很大幫助。我們已經談到了我們的業務的數字化或數字化轉型。這對我們來說非常非常重要，我們看到了好處，無論是在我們的路由效率、我們的銷售合作夥伴的生產力、更好地重用我們的產品，還是因為 SAP 的服務庫存。這些都是我們在市場上看到的所有好處——市場正在註意到它，它幫助我們在市場上獲得競爭優勢。

Great. And then as we look ahead, some companies have started talking about -- started sounding a little bit more cautious. As you know, a lot of economists are forecasting a potential recession. Talk about how do you -- how does -- you've talked previously about how your business might get impacted. But talk about like what's the sales pitch during a recession? I think that would be helpful for us to hear.

偉大的。然後當我們展望未來時，一些公司已經開始談論 - 開始聽起來更加謹慎。如您所知，許多經濟學家預測可能會出現衰退。談談你如何——你如何——你之前談到過你的業務可能會受到怎樣的影響。但是談論經濟衰退期間的銷售宣傳是什麼？我認為這對我們傾聽很有幫助。

Great. First off, we continue to watch our customer base very closely. We're looking at all of our data to see if there's some trends that we might see if customers are consuming less and what have you. So we're watching that. Now as far as any recession, every recession that I've been -- I've experienced while it's in us over the last 33 years, we've always sold an attractive amount of new business. And the reason being is -- we hope businesses in an environment. We help them position them for success as far as if they're in the business, and they have less people, then somebody still has to take care of certain functions.

偉大的。首先，我們繼續密切關注我們的客戶群。我們正在查看我們所有的數據，看看是否存在一些趨勢，如果客戶消費減少以及您有什麼，我們可能會看到。所以我們正在觀察。就任何經濟衰退而言，我經歷過的每一次經濟衰退——我在過去 33 年中經歷過，我們總是出售大量有吸引力的新業務。原因是——我們希望企業在一個環境中。我們幫助他們為成功定位，就好像他們在業務中一樣，而且他們的人數較少，然後仍然需要有人負責某些職能。

So we're able to sell value there. If they are in an environment where they're looking to save money, there's -- in many cases, we're able to save them money. It's not that they are -- we're always asking for increased spend. It's just redirect the spend to us. And in many cases, we're able to help the customers with that instead of spending it with some other vendor or with an outsourced item that they bring it to us, and we can bring efficiencies to them.

所以我們能夠在那裡出售價值。如果他們處於希望省錢的環境中，那麼在許多情況下，我們能夠為他們省錢。這不是他們 - 我們總是要求增加支出。它只是將支出重定向給我們。在許多情況下，我們能夠幫助客戶解決這個問題，而不是將其花在其他供應商或他們帶給我們的外包項目上，我們可以為他們帶來效率。

So we fully expect that we -- our new business will be attractive in any type of economic environment. Certainly, we prefer when the economy is growing robustly, but we'll find ways to be successful in whatever the environment.

因此，我們完全希望我們——我們的新業務在任何類型的經濟環境中都具有吸引力。當然，我們更喜歡經濟強勁增長的時候，但我們會找到在任何環境下取得成功的方法。

And our next question comes from Ashish Sabadra from RBC.

我們的下一個問題來自 RBC 的 Ashish Sabadra。

This is John Bill in for Ashish. Congratulations on the strong results. Maybe just following up on Faiza's question. Could you talk more about kind of retention as well as just what the current customer conversations are going like today?

這是 Ashish 的 John Bill。祝賀你取得了優異的成績。也許只是跟進 Faiza 的問題。您能否更多地談談保留率以及當前客戶對話的情況？

Yes. Thank you, John. I'll speak to it if Mike, if you'd like to contribute on this subject. But first off, our retention levels are quite attractive. We very much like where they are. We're focused on making sure that our customer is -- it's why we wake up in the morning is to take care of them. And that focus, that culture is pervasive. And we're making sure that we're -- our partners are positioned to be able to make sure they can take care of them and exceed their expectations. So all that is attractive for us.

是的。謝謝你，約翰。如果你願意就此主題做出貢獻，我會和 Mike 談談。但首先，我們的保留水平非常有吸引力。我們非常喜歡他們所在的位置。我們專注於確保我們的客戶 - 這就是為什麼我們早上醒來是為了照顧他們。這種專注，這種文化無處不在。我們確保我們 - 我們的合作夥伴能夠確保他們能夠照顧好他們並超出他們的期望。所以這一切對我們來說都很有吸引力。

And keep in mind, we have a really broad customer base. So we serve over 1 million customers that we see on a very consistent basis. Some are doing -- some are challenged in the current economic environment whether they struggle to find people or they're struggling with the wage inflation or inflation in general -- and then we have other customers that are thriving in this type of environment. And frankly, we have everything in between. And -- but generally speaking, what we see are -- it's still -- we still like what we see with our customer base. And I think that broad customer base is a real benefit for us.

請記住，我們擁有非常廣泛的客戶群。因此，我們在非常一致的基礎上為超過 100 萬客戶提供服務。有些人正在做——有些人在當前的經濟環境中面臨挑戰，無論他們是在努力尋找人才，還是在努力應對工資上漲或總體通脹——然後我們還有其他客戶在這種環境中蓬勃發展。坦率地說，我們擁有介於兩者之間的一切。而且——但總的來說，我們看到的是——它仍然是——我們仍然喜歡我們在客戶群中看到的東西。我認為廣泛的客戶群對我們來說是一個真正的好處。

That's great color. Maybe quickly to follow up. Could you just talk about capital allocation and if there's any change there? And just what you're seeing today in M&A given some of the more challenging headwinds with inflationary pressures.

那是很棒的顏色。也許很快就會跟進。您能否談談資本配置以及那裡是否有任何變化？考慮到通貨膨脹壓力帶來的一些更具挑戰性的不利因素，您今天在併購中看到的正是這種情況。

Sure, John. This is Mike. And we haven't changed our philosophy in terms of capital allocation. We want to continue to invest in the business. And certainly, as we've seen the accelerated growth over the last 3 quarters, we are investing in the business. But we love M&A. And we continue to have all of the discussions to try to keep that pipeline active, but it always takes [2] to come to a decision, and we are working those conversations hard.

當然，約翰。這是邁克。我們沒有改變我們在資本配置方面的理念。我們想繼續投資這項業務。當然，正如我們看到過去 3 個季度的加速增長，我們正在對該業務進行投資。但我們喜歡併購。我們繼續進行所有討論，以試圖保持該管道的活躍，但總是需要 [2] 才能做出決定，我們正在努力進行這些對話。

And our expectation is that we will be able to continue in the M&A path, but that's -- we certainly love that option. And certainly, we -- I misspoke a minute ago on dividends. We paid a dividend in September -- on September 15. We paid another one on December 15. And we certainly have increased the dividend every year. We've gone public. We like that option as well. And then the buyback continues to be an opportunistic alternative for us when we have excess cash. So no philosophy changes. We're still working all of those in the same way that we have.

我們的期望是我們將能夠繼續併購之路，但那是——我們當然喜歡這個選擇。當然，我們——我一分鐘前就股息問題說錯了。我們在 9 月支付了股息——9 月 15 日。我們在 12 月 15 日又支付了一次。我們當然每年都增加股息。我們已經公開了。我們也喜歡這個選項。然後，當我們有多餘的現金時，回購對我們來說仍然是一種機會主義的選擇。所以哲學沒有改變。我們仍在以與以往相同的方式處理所有這些問題。

Our next question comes from George Tong from Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的 George Tong。

You mentioned you're continuing to sell more items to your existing customers. Can you describe how overall customer spending behaviors have evolved with the overall economy? And if sales cycles have changed at all?

您提到您將繼續向現有客戶銷售更多商品。您能否描述整體客戶消費行為如何隨著整體經濟而演變？如果銷售週期發生了變化？

Thank you, George, for the question. Again, we have a very broad customer base, and we have a very broad product offering, and we're blessed to have both. And as a result, we're organized in a manner where we're trying to make sure that our customers know everything that we have to offer. They don't always -- we've spoken in the past about how going through the pandemic was really, really challenging. One of the positive outputs of that was the fact that our customer base saw the broadness of our offering. And in many cases, didn't realize we had products and services that we have. So we're focused on that and trying to provide more value.

喬治，謝謝你提出這個問題。同樣，我們擁有非常廣泛的客戶群，我們提供非常廣泛的產品，我們很幸運能同時擁有這兩者。因此，我們的組織方式是努力確保我們的客戶了解我們所提供的一切。他們並不總是——我們過去曾談到過大流行是如何真正、非常具有挑戰性的。其中一個積極的成果是我們的客戶群看到了我們產品的廣泛性。在許多情況下，沒有意識到我們擁有我們擁有的產品和服務。所以我們專注於此並試圖提供更多價值。

When we do that, it is -- it helps us because we're when we stop our truck, the -- and the invoice is larger, that's good leverage for us. So we're providing more value to the customer, and we're getting leverage in that manner. So all that's positive. So as far as the sales process being elongated, we're not seeing that at this point. And as I mentioned earlier, we are certainly seeing a mix out there that some customers are struggling and some are doing quite well and everything in between. But generally speaking, the customer base continues to head in a positive manner.

當我們這樣做時，它是——它幫助了我們，因為當我們停下我們的卡車時，——而且發票更大，這對我們來說是很好的槓桿。因此，我們正在為客戶提供更多價值，並且我們正在以這種方式獲得影響力。所以這一切都是積極的。因此，就銷售流程的延長而言，我們目前還沒有看到。正如我之前提到的，我們肯定會看到一些客戶在苦苦掙扎，一些客戶做得很好，以及介於兩者之間的各種情況。但總的來說，客戶群繼續以積極的方式發展。

Got it. That's helpful. The upside in revenue this quarter was driven, I think, significantly by new business. Approximately how much of the new business growth in the quarter came from the no programmer market for uniform rentals?

知道了。這很有幫助。我認為，本季度收入的增長主要是由新業務推動的。本季度大約有多少新業務增長來自製服租賃的無程序員市場？

Yes. Good question, George. So no programmers continues to be really a great opportunity for us. The majority of our new accounts that we sell are in the no programmer section. And so we've been focused on that. We train our partners on that. And those -- that set of prospects sees value in what we provide. And as a result, the TAM is massive. And so that's very exciting for us, and we see very nice growth opportunities into the future.

是的。問得好，喬治。所以沒有程序員對我們來說仍然是一個很好的機會。我們出售的大多數新帳戶都在無程序員部分。所以我們一直專注於此。我們就此培訓我們的合作夥伴。而那些 - 這組前景在我們提供的產品中看到了價值。因此，TAM 是巨大的。所以這對我們來說非常令人興奮，我們看到了未來非常好的增長機會。

And our next question comes from Andy Wittmann from R.W. Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自 R.W. Baird 的 Andy Wittmann。

I guess I wanted to ask on the First Aid segment, Mike. The margins in particular, I think really stood out. You made the comment that you're getting some favorable mix shift as the [PPE] is rolling out. Last quarter's margins were also very good, I think, better than most people expected. So it feels like there's something pretty sustainable in the margin rates. Would you agree with that assessment? Or is there something in there that we should be aware of as we come to 2Q fiscal '24 as a tough comp or something? Maybe just some detail as to what's really driving these margins that are really frankly kind of a step function better than what you put up in the past.

我想我想問一下急救部分，邁克。特別是利潤率，我認為真的很突出。你發表評論說，隨著 [PPE] 的推出，你正在獲得一些有利的混合轉變。我認為，上一季度的利潤率也非常好，好於大多數人的預期。所以感覺保證金率有一些相當可持續的東西。你同意這樣的評價嗎？或者，當我們將 24 財年的第二季度作為一個艱難的競爭之類的時候，我們應該意識到其中有什麼東西嗎？也許只是一些關於真正推動這些利潤率的細節，坦率地說，這些利潤率比你過去提出的更好。

Yes. Andy, the -- you're right. The margins are better than historical. The mix shift has been great. We have a -- there's a number of areas where we're able to gain leverage. Certainly, the new business is a very nice lever for us. The change in, I'll call it, society and the focus on health and wellness is a real tailwind for us.

是的。安迪，你是對的。利潤率好於歷史。混合轉變很棒。我們有一個 - 我們可以在許多領域獲得影響力。當然，新業務對我們來說是一個非常好的槓桿。我稱之為社會的變化以及對健康和保健的關注對我們來說是一個真正的順風。

And -- so as a result of that, cabinet revenue growth is very attractive for us. That affects the mix. But we are also finding -- I mentioned we've got -- we're finding efficiencies in -- throughout our business. And First Aid is included in that. And so whether it's routing technology, we've been on SAP and First Aid for a little bit longer, but we're finding efficiencies and we have a very strong supply chain that is finding opportunities to source better and improve our overall operating margins. Mike, anything you'd like to contribute there?

而且 - 因此，內閣收入增長對我們來說非常有吸引力。這會影響混音。但我們也發現 - 我提到我們已經 - 我們正在尋找效率 - 在我們的整個業務中。其中包括急救。因此，無論是路由技術，我們使用 SAP 和 First Aid 的時間都長了一點，但我們正在尋找效率，我們擁有非常強大的供應鏈，正在尋找更好的採購機會並提高我們的整體運營利潤率。邁克，你有什麼想貢獻的嗎？

The only thing I might add is to specifically, Andy, nothing to call out that is onetime or short-term in nature. It's just that the business is performing very, very well.

我唯一要補充的是，安迪，沒有什麼可說的是一次性或短期的。只是業務表現非常非常好。

Great. I guess kind of a similar question, different segments on the Uniform Rental and Facility Services segment. Obviously, you're getting good gross margin leverage, which says a lot about all the things you've already talked about. You mentioned making investments in the business. It appears that the SG&A line in the Uniform Rental segment, in particular, has been seeing investments there. And I was just wondering, maybe you could provide some detail as to what kind of investments you're making or if it's maybe just still kind of return from COVID and getting some travel and T&E back in there. Maybe just a little detail about SG&A in the Rental segment.

偉大的。我想這是一個類似的問題，統一租賃和設施服務部分的不同部分。顯然，您獲得了良好的毛利率槓桿，這充分說明了您已經談到的所有事情。你提到對業務進行投資。看來，尤其是製服租賃部門的 SG&A 系列一直在那裡進行投資。我只是想知道，也許你可以提供一些細節，說明你正在進行什麼樣的投資，或者它是否仍然可以從 COVID 中獲得回報，並獲得一些旅行和差旅費。也許只是關於租賃部分 SG&A 的一些細節。

Yes, Andy, good question. We're excited about the gross margin improvement that we're seeing in that business despite a 20 basis point headwind that we're up against in energy still. So you're right. The SG&A is up. It's -- there is -- we're making investments in the business and appropriately so. Also some G&A medical costs, workers' comp and what have you, are higher this quarter. And there's always some puts and takes as it relates to that. But we are guiding towards for the whole year in that business incrementals in the 20% to 30% range. And we're -- as I mentioned (inaudible) that margin expansion is going to come in a number of ways. But revenue growth leverage productivity, which is a broad word, right? There's so many areas where we get productivity improvements and pricing. But Yes. So we're focused on improving the margins there, and we'll manage through the G&A investment -- the SG&A investment as we move forward.

是的，安迪，問得好。儘管我們在能源領域仍面臨 20 個基點的逆風，但我們對該業務的毛利率有所改善感到興奮。所以你是對的。 SG&A 上漲了。這是 - 有 - 我們正在對業務進行適當的投資。此外，本季度一些 G&A 醫療費用、工人補償金和你擁有的東西都更高。並且總是有一些與此相關的看跌期權。但我們全年都在指導業務增量在 20% 到 30% 的範圍內。而且我們 - 正如我提到的（聽不清），利潤率擴張將以多種方式出現。但收入增長會影響生產力，這是一個寬泛的詞，對吧？我們在很多領域都可以提高生產力和定價。但是，是的。因此，我們專注於提高那裡的利潤率，我們將通過 G&A 投資進行管理——隨著我們前進的 SG&A 投資。

Our next question comes from Tim Mulrooney from William Blair.

我們的下一個問題來自 William Blair 的 Tim Mulrooney。

Mike, Paul. Two questions. One on labor. We've heard from others -- other industries and companies that labor availability today still remains somewhat a governor of growth. I mean, has that been the case for you guys? Are you holding back in certain markets due to constraints around qualified labor? And just generally, how would you characterize the labor availability situation today versus, say, last quarter?

邁克，保羅。兩個問題。一個關於勞動。我們從其他人——其他行業和公司那裡聽說，今天的勞動力可用性在某種程度上仍然是增長的主導因素。我的意思是，你們也是這樣嗎？由於對合格勞動力的限制，您是否在某些市場上有所保留？一般來說，與上個季度相比，您如何描述今天的勞動力可用性情況？

Thanks for the question, Tim. As far as labor is concerned, the -- I'll call the labor market in totality easier, but not easy. It is still certainly challenging there. We care passionately about how that looks for our customers and how it impacts our customers. I mentioned some are struggling to staff still. And as a result, that affects their business, which impacts us. So -- but from the standpoint of Cintas and how we're staffed, that is not affecting our growth rate. It would be more about how our customers are impacted. I can tell you, it wouldn't go well here. If someone said, I can't grow as fast as you think I should because I can't staff. We figured that out.

謝謝你的問題，蒂姆。就勞動力而言，——我會稱勞動力市場總體上更容易，但並不容易。那里肯定仍然具有挑戰性。我們非常關心它如何看待我們的客戶以及它如何影響我們的客戶。我提到有些人仍在努力尋找工作人員。結果，這影響了他們的業務，進而影響了我們。所以——但從 Cintas 的角度以及我們的人員配備方式來看，這不會影響我們的增長率。更多的是關於我們的客戶如何受到影響。我可以告訴你，這裡不會很順利。如果有人說，我不能像你認為的那樣快速成長，因為我沒有員工。我們想通了。

And we think the environment that we provide for our partners, where they have great opportunities and a great wage and benefits and great security and great development is a real advantage for us in the marketplace. So as far as Cintas staffing, that is not slowing us up. Certainly, our customers could be impacted by that to some degree.

我們認為，我們為合作夥伴提供的環境，他們擁有巨大的機會、高薪和福利、高安全性和巨大的發展，是我們在市場上的真正優勢。因此，就 Cintas 人員配備而言，這並沒有讓我們放慢腳步。當然，我們的客戶可能會在某種程度上受到影響。

That's good color, Todd. I mean it's good to know. There are some companies we talk to that are literally dialing back on sales and marketing costs just because they can't find the labor to support the growth. So that's good to know you guys aren't in that situation. One more for me on wage rate inflation. Curious what that's running at approximately right now for your -- folks actually out on the routes? And how does that compare to your historical averages?

顏色不錯，托德。我的意思是很高興知道。我們採訪過的一些公司實際上正在縮減銷售和營銷成本，只是因為他們找不到支持增長的勞動力。所以很高興知道你們不在那種情況下。再給我一個關於工資率通脹的問題。好奇現在大約在運行什麼 - 伙計們實際上在路上嗎？這與你們的歷史平均水平相比如何？

Yes. Wage rates, I don't have an exact number to give you, but we start with the answer and work backwards. And the answer is we've got to have great people. We've got to have really well trained and prepared people who can help us be successful and take care of our customers. So is it above historical. Yes, it is above historical, but nevertheless, we're focused on putting the very, very best team out on the field so that we can take great care of our customers and prepare us for the future of this organization.

是的。工資率，我沒有確切的數字可以給你，但我們從答案開始，然後倒推。答案是我們必須擁有優秀的人才。我們必須擁有訓練有素、準備充分的人員，他們可以幫助我們取得成功並照顧好我們的客戶。那麼它是否高於歷史。是的，它超越了歷史，但儘管如此，我們仍然專注於將最優秀的團隊投入實地，以便我們能夠很好地照顧我們的客戶，並為這個組織的未來做好準備。

Our next question comes from Manav Patnaik from Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Manav Patnaik。

I guess just to follow up a little bit. There's a lot of press out there around C-suite anxiety, right? And I just wanted to know historically, I guess, how long before that's flowing all the way down to kind of your direct customers on the street and how quickly can you react? Because your current guidance obviously is through me. And so things might be fine till then. I'm just curious if there's a timing element that we should be considering, too?

我想只是跟進一點。有很多關於高管焦慮的報導，對吧？而且我只是想知道歷史，我想，在這種情況一直流到街上的直接客戶之前還有多久，你能多快做出反應？因為你目前的指導顯然是通過我。所以到那時事情可能會好起來。我很好奇我們是否也應該考慮時間因素？

Yes, Manav, thanks for the question. Yes, we always have anxiety, right? It's part of making sure you're sharp. And -- but nevertheless, it is -- we do worry about do our -- as an economy, do we talk ourselves into pulling back? And does that happen to our customer base? And does that happen as a ripple effect? And -- but we're not seeing it. We're -- again, our customer base, it's so broad. Some are doing great, some are not. But in general, we like the direction of our customer base. And we -- in many ways, we hope they don't read the press and they stay focused on taking care of the business and investing for the future. And -- but we'll see what that holds and how the Fed handles things and how that might impact the general economy.

是的，馬納夫，謝謝你的提問。是的，我們總是有焦慮，對吧？這是確保你敏銳的一部分。而且——但儘管如此，我們確實擔心——作為一個經濟體，我們是否說服自己退縮？我們的客戶群會發生這種情況嗎？這會產生連鎖反應嗎？而且 - 但我們沒有看到它。我們 - 再一次，我們的客戶群，它是如此廣泛。有些做得很好，有些則不然。但總的來說，我們喜歡我們客戶群的方向。我們——在很多方面，我們希望他們不要閱讀媒體，而是繼續專注於照顧業務和為未來投資。而且 - 但我們將看到它持有什麼以及美聯儲如何處理事情以及這可能如何影響整體經濟。

Manav, I might add, you go back 2.5 years, to the pandemic to the beginning of the pandemic. I think we showed that we can be pretty nimble when it comes to our cost structure and adapting to changes in the environment.

Manav，我可能會補充說，你回到 2.5 年前，回到大流行到大流行開始。我認為我們展示了在成本結構和適應環境變化方面我們可以非常靈活。

Yes, that's fair. And Mike, maybe if I could just ask a follow-up, just on CapEx and free cash flow expectations for the year. Any changes or help there?

是的，這很公平。邁克，也許我可以問一個後續問題，只是關於今年的資本支出和自由現金流預期。有什麼改變或幫助嗎？

Look, we -- what you've seen maybe in the first half of this year is when we grow and we've seen 3 quarters now straight of double-digit organic growth. So a nice -- actually 4 quarters. So nice acceleration in their performance. And when we grow and the volumes are healthy, we certainly invest in the business. And that investment can come through in the way of working capital. And so you see a little bit more working capital usage in our cash flow statement. And that's not necessarily unusual for us when we see an acceleration in the growth rate. But we like our cash flow.

看，我們 - 你可能在今年上半年看到的是我們增長的時候，我們已經看到 3 個季度連續兩位數的有機增長。太好了——實際上是 4 個季度。他們的表現如此出色。當我們成長並且銷量健康時，我們當然會投資於該業務。這種投資可以通過營運資金的方式來實現。因此，您會在我們的現金流量表中看到更多的營運資金使用。當我們看到增長率加速時，這對我們來說並不一定不尋常。但我們喜歡我們的現金流。

It will continue to be strong and this year should not be an exception to that. And that cash flow, I talked a few minutes ago about capital allocation and the cash flow that we've got going this year will not force us to make choices. We can still do all of the capital allocation that we typically think about. So we like where we are.

它將繼續保持強勁，今年也不應例外。而現金流，幾分鐘前我談到了資本配置，我們今年的現金流不會迫使我們做出選擇。我們仍然可以進行我們通常考慮的所有資本配置。所以我們喜歡我們所在的地方。

Our next question comes from Andrew Steinerman from JP Morgan Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通證券的 Andrew Steinerman。

Todd, Mike and Paul. I wanted to ask a little bit about merchandise amortization. Kind of given the strength of Cintas' new business, which usually has uniforms going into service, how did merchandise amortization effect gross margins, I mean rental gross margins in the second quarter. Obviously, I know rental gross margins were up despite any effect of merchandise amortization? And do you expect rental gross margins to be up in the second half of the year, year-over-year?

托德、邁克和保羅。我想問一些關於商品攤銷的問題。考慮到 Cintas 新業務的實力，通常有製服投入使用，商品攤銷如何影響毛利率，我指的是第二季度的租金毛利率。顯然，我知道儘管有商品攤銷的影響，租金毛利率還是上升了？您是否預計今年下半年的租金毛利率會同比上升？

We -- Andrew, we -- as it relates to the amortization, certainly, you've seen the growth that I've talked about a few times and that translates into more garments and other products being injected into our in-service inventory, and we love that. We love when that happens. And so we're seeing growth in the amortization, but we're able to leverage that pretty nicely so far. And you know our business well. Our -- we amortize many of those rental products. And so we have a good foresight or visibility into what's coming. And that means we can plan, we can source, we can increase prices when necessary. So the visibility gives us a nice advantage in terms of how we think about other ways of operating the business.

我們 - 安德魯，我們 - 因為它與攤銷有關，當然，你已經看到了我多次談到的增長，這轉化為更多的服裝和其他產品被注入我們的在役庫存，我們喜歡這樣。當這種情況發生時，我們會很高興。因此，我們看到了攤銷的增長，但到目前為止，我們能夠很好地利用它。而且你很了解我們的業務。我們的 - 我們攤銷了許多這些租賃產品。因此，我們對即將發生的事情有很好的預見性或可見性。這意味著我們可以計劃，我們可以採購，我們可以在必要時提高價格。因此，就我們如何思考其他經營業務的方式而言，可見性為我們提供了一個很好的優勢。

And as it relates to the second half of the year, look, we don't typically provide guidance on gross margin specifically. But certainly, the guidance that we've provided contemplates improvement in our operating margins in the second half of the year. And the growth that we have on the top line and all of the other initiatives and things we've got going on, they are performing well and enabling us to do that to do that margin improvement even in a difficult period of time.

由於它與今年下半年有關，我們通常不會專門提供有關毛利率的指導。但可以肯定的是，我們提供的指導考慮了下半年營業利潤率的提高。我們在收入上的增長以及我們正在進行的所有其他舉措和事情，它們表現良好，使我們能夠做到這一點，即使在困難時期也能提高利潤率。

And our next question comes from Heather Balsky from Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Heather Balsky。

So your guidance for the rest of the year, I guess, for the back half implies growth probably on the sales side in the 8% to 9% range, which is moderating from what you did in the first half. I'm curious if you could just walk us through kind of where you're assuming there might be some deceleration? Is that just as you come off lapping the COVID recovery and maybe where there might be opportunity for upside just based on the strength you've seen year-to-date?

所以你對今年剩餘時間的指導，我猜，對於下半年來說，銷售方面的增長可能在 8% 到 9% 的範圍內，這比你在上半年所做的有所放緩。我很好奇你是否可以帶我們走過你假設可能會減速的地方？就在你結束 COVID 復甦的時候，也許根據你今年迄今為止看到的實力，哪裡可能有上漲的機會？

Heather, thanks for the question. Yes. So a slight, but still very attractive growth. We like where that is, and we're preparing for that. And -- but we are certainly up against some tougher comps in the back half, specifically with First Aid and Uniform Direct Sale. So we'll be lapping those. And -- but we like the growth levels, and we find them quite attractive, and that's what we are preparing for.

希瑟，謝謝你的提問。是的。如此輕微但仍然非常有吸引力的增長。我們喜歡那個地方，我們正在為此做準備。而且——但我們肯定會在後半段遇到一些更艱難的競爭，特別是急救和製服直銷。因此，我們將對這些進行研磨。而且 - 但我們喜歡增長水平，我們發現它們非常有吸引力，這就是我們正在準備的。

And do you think there are areas that you're seeing in your business. You've done well year-to-date, you've raised your guidance, sort of. I know First Aid and Safety is very strong right now. Other sort of areas in your business, whether it's certain customers like your opportunity in health care or other business lines where you're really seeing outperformance and kind of growth beyond your typical run rate?

您是否認為您在業務中看到了某些領域？今年迄今為止你做得很好，你提高了你的指導，某種程度上。我知道急救和安全現在非常強大。您業務中的其他領域，無論是某些客戶喜歡您在醫療保健領域的機會，還是其他業務領域，您確實看到了超出典型運行率的出色表現和增長？

Yes. Good question. So again, our customer base is very broad, but I'll tell you this that our verticals where we're investing our health care, hospitality, education, government, are performing quite well and they're growing at an accretive rate to our growth. And we think we chose them wisely and invested in them appropriately. And that customer base is doing well. Within that customer base, again, you get a mix, but nevertheless, in general were, we like that area, and it's growing very attractively for us.

是的。好問題。再一次，我們的客戶群非常廣泛，但我要告訴你的是，我們投資醫療保健、酒店、教育、政府的垂直領域表現相當不錯，而且它們正在以增長的速度增長生長。我們認為我們明智地選擇了它們並適當地投資了它們。該客戶群表現良好。在那個客戶群中，你又一次得到了混合，但總的來說，我們喜歡那個領域，而且它的增長對我們來說非常有吸引力。

Our next question comes from Kartik Mehta from Northcoast Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Northcoast Research 的 Kartik Mehta。

I know you talked about the economy a few times. I'm wondering, as you look at some of the benchmarks for your business and maybe your customers' business. Anything that stands out either that is positive that maybe you were anticipating would decline or anything that's negative that you're anticipating would be the other way.

我知道你多次談到經濟。我想知道，當您查看您的業務以及您客戶的業務的一些基準時。任何突出的東西，要么是你預期的積極因素會下降，要么是任何你預期的消極因素都會以另一種方式出現。

Kartik, it's a good question. I continue to talk about how broad our customer base is. So you name it, we see it. But the scarcity of employee -- workers is an issue. Unemployment is still at a very, very low level. There's still, I think, 10 million job openings in the U.S. economy. So as a result of that, people are, I think, careful about how they're handling their employees and being judicious about that.

Kartik，這是個好問題。我繼續談論我們的客戶群有多廣泛。所以你說出來，我們看到了。但員工短缺——工人是一個問題。失業率仍然處於非常非常低的水平。我認為，美國經濟中仍有 1000 萬個職位空缺。因此，我認為，人們在對待員工的方式上非常謹慎，並對此保持審慎。

And then just last question. Just from an energy standpoint, obviously, fuel prices are coming down. It seems that natural gas prices are coming down as well. Is the headwind you're anticipating from energy prices, maybe what you anticipated at the beginning of the year when you gave guidance to now, has that changed at all?

然後是最後一個問題。顯然，從能源的角度來看，燃料價格正在下降。天然氣價格似乎也在下降。您對能源價格的預期逆風，也許是您在年初為現在提供指導時所預期的，是否已經完全改變？

Yes. So we still see energy as a headwind. And when you go to the pump right now, it is certainly a little bit lower than it was a quarter ago. But about 40% of our spend on energy is in natural gas for our production facilities and electric. And -- and that is not heading in the right direction. Natural gas prices are up and electric prices are up. And so certainly, the attention more gets to -- everybody fills up at the pump for the most part, but not as much focus on natural gas or electric, but we're seeing it. And it's -- I'm sure it's affecting households as well.

是的。因此，我們仍然將能源視為逆風。當你現在去加油時，它肯定比一個季度前低一點。但我們大約 40% 的能源支出用於生產設施和電力的天然氣。而且——這並沒有朝著正確的方向前進。天然氣價格上漲，電價上漲。所以可以肯定的是，更多的注意力集中在——大部分時間每個人都在加油，但沒有那麼多地關注天然氣或電力，但我們看到了。而且它——我相信它也會影響家庭。

Our next question comes from Seth Weber from Wells Fargo Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 Wells Fargo Securities 的 Seth Weber。

Happy holidays. I wanted to ask another margin question, Mike or Todd. I mean the guidance for this year the back half, it seems like your -- the guidance kind of implies a higher-than-normal incremental margin. And I think, Todd, you mentioned the uniform business could be 20% to 30% incrementals this year. Is this -- are we moving into a scenario where incrementals could be higher than your normal, call it, 20% to 25% range? And maybe are you more comfortable talking in like a 25% to 30% range for the business going forward?

節日快樂。我想問另一個保證金問題，邁克或託德。我的意思是今年下半年的指導，似乎你的 - 指導有點暗示高於正常的增量利潤率。我想，托德，你提到製服業務今年可能會增長 20% 到 30%。這是——我們是否正在進入一個增量可能高於正常水平的場景，稱之為 20% 到 25% 的範圍？也許您更願意談論未來業務的 25% 到 30% 的範圍？

Well, we haven't -- Seth, we haven't really changed the narrative on that in terms of the 20% to 30%. But as -- there are different ebbs and flows within the business. And sometimes there are periods where we are investing maybe a little bit more than in other quarters, et cetera. And Todd is focused on the full year results and the longer-term results. And so there can be ups and downs. Certainly, based on our guidance, we are contemplating a margin improvement in the back half of the year. And I don't know that it's anything that we're ready to say is a new norm.

好吧，我們還沒有——賽斯，我們並沒有真正改變關於 20% 到 30% 的敘述。但是，作為 - 業務中有不同的潮起潮落。有時在某些時期我們的投資可能比其他季度多一點，等等。托德專注於全年業績和長期業績。所以會有起伏。當然，根據我們的指導，我們正在考慮在今年下半年提高利潤率。而且我不知道我們準備說的任何事情都是新規範。

It's just simply we look at the year and say we've got some really good incremental margins in that 20% to 30% range that will cause the full year margins to go up. But I wouldn't look at it as a new normal type of a thing. It's just simply there are ebbs and flows within the business and timing of investments, et cetera.

只是我們簡單地回顧一下這一年，並說我們在 20% 到 30% 的範圍內獲得了一些非常好的增量利潤率，這將導致全年利潤率上升。但我不會將其視為一種新的常態。只是在業務和投資時機等方面存在潮起潮落。

Okay. That's helpful. And then just the fire business, the organic growth in the fire business continues to be in this sort of mid- to high teens range. Is that a sustainable number, do you feel like for fire. And just sort of maybe any color on really what's driving that unusually strong organic growth.

好的。這很有幫助。然後只是消防業務，消防業務的有機增長繼續處於這種中高十幾歲的範圍內。這是一個可持續的數字嗎，你喜歡火嗎？真正推動這種異常強勁的有機增長的可能只是某種顏色。

Yes, Seth, I'll take that one. We love the fire business. It's a very attractive business for us. It's the only business we're in where every business legally has to comply with the local laws around it. So the TAM is absolutely massive. And our sales team is doing really well, and they're -- and we're selling into additional customers. We're selling more into our existing customers. We've got a great offering. We really like our position in the marketplace. And the team is doing a heck of a job. So yes, we would like to continue to grow that business at double-digit rates. Can it achieve the levels that where we are today, that would be outstanding, but certainly double digits is our focus for that business.

是的，賽斯，我要那個。我們熱愛消防事業。這對我們來說是一項非常有吸引力的業務。這是我們所從事的唯一一項業務，每個企業在法律上都必須遵守當地的相關法律。所以 TAM 絕對是巨大的。我們的銷售團隊做得非常好，而且他們 - 我們正在向更多客戶銷售。我們正在向現有客戶銷售更多產品。我們有一個很棒的產品。我們真的很喜歡我們在市場上的地位。團隊正在做大量的工作。所以是的，我們希望繼續以兩位數的速度發展該業務。它能否達到我們今天所處的水平，那將是非常出色的，但當然兩位數是我們對該業務的關注點。

Our next question comes from Shlomo Rosenbaum from Stifel, Nicholas.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Shlomo Rosenbaum，Nicholas。

I want to get a little follow-up on some of the questions on client hiring, which obviously could impact Cintas volumes. Do you feel like you really sell at a level in the organization that you get kind of an advanced look at the hiring plans? Or is it really kind of you monitor it as it happens. So like concurrent you need to react because clients will just kind of add or subtract people kind of in the moment, but you don't -- it's not that you're getting a heads up on that. I'm just trying to understand like your view, obviously, it's a very broad client base, but just in more generalities. And then there been any change you used to talk about kind of an add-stops metric, and I'm wondering if there's anything materially different in what that would look like now.

我想對一些關於客戶招聘的問題進行一些跟進，這顯然會影響 Cintas 的交易量。您是否覺得自己在組織中的銷售水平真的可以讓您對招聘計劃有更深入的了解？還是您真的可以在它發生時對其進行監控。因此，就像並發一樣，您需要做出反應，因為客戶只會在當下增加或減少人員，但您不會——這並不是說您會對此有所了解。我只是想像您的觀點一樣理解，顯然，這是一個非常廣泛的客戶群，但只是更籠統。然後你曾經談論過某種添加停止指標的任何變化，我想知道現在看起來是否有任何實質性的不同。

Shlomo, great question. The -- it really depends upon our view of the -- what the staffing levels of our customers will be. It really depends upon where our relationship is. Some, they'll share with us, hey, calendar '23, here's what we're thinking, Others, they don't, depending upon our relationship levels or their planning level. And so in that case, it's a little bit more reactive. So you name it, we have that type of experience where it's very transparent, and we have a good -- we can see around the corner with our expectations there. And then some are just very reactive and wait to see what's going on with their customers.

Shlomo，好問題。這實際上取決於我們對客戶的人員配置水平的看法。這真的取決於我們的關係在哪裡。有些，他們會與我們分享，嘿，23 年日曆，這就是我們的想法，其他人，他們不會，這取決於我們的關係水平或他們的計划水平。因此，在那種情況下，它會更具反應性。所以你說出來，我們有那種非常透明的體驗，我們有一個很好的——我們可以看到拐角處的期望。然後有些人只是非常被動，等著看他們的客戶發生了什麼。

So -- but generally speaking, with add-stops, I would say we see our experiences continues and the patterns that we have in the past. And I mentioned earlier that I don't know, certainly, Q1 -- I'm speaking of the economy, Q1, Q2 was GDP shrunk. Q3 was slightly positive. We'll see what Q4 holds to store for GDP. Tough to tell if we're in a technical recession or if we're not and what the calendar '23 holds in store for us. But the employment situation in the U.S. is it's still tough to get people. And as I mentioned, there's 10 million job openings. We'll see if that continues to decline, but we're trying to make sure that we're positioned to grow.

所以——但一般來說，有了加站，我想說我們看到我們的經歷和過去的模式仍在繼續。我之前提到過，我當然不知道第一季度——我說的是經濟，第一季度、第二季度的 GDP 縮水了。第三季度略有積極。我們將看到第四季度為 GDP 存儲什麼。很難判斷我們是否處於技術性衰退中，或者我們是否處於衰退中，以及 23 年的日曆為我們準備了什麼。但是美國的就業形勢還是不好招人。正如我提到的，有 1000 萬個職位空缺。我們會看看這種情況是否會繼續下降，但我們正在努力確保我們有能力增長。

And -- but as Mike mentioned, if the economy affects our customer base in a very negative manner, we'll be prepared to pivot and manage our cost structure appropriately. And we're planning on being successful in whatever the economic environment brings to us.

而且——但正如邁克所提到的，如果經濟以非常負面的方式影響我們的客戶群，我們將準備適當地調整和管理我們的成本結構。我們計劃在任何經濟環境帶給我們的情況下取得成功。

Just one follow-up on just on the pricing. Is it kind of normal now for the clients to expect these pricing increases? Or is it -- are you getting any material pushback on them as this time is going on?

只是關於定價的後續行動。現在客戶期望這些價格上漲是否正常？或者是——隨著這次的進行，你是否對他們有任何實質性的反對？

Well, Shlomo, as I mentioned in our prepared remarks, pricing is -- has always been a component of our growth. Same is the -- what we went through with some serious economic turbulence with COV-19 and what have you. So that being said, we're planning on growing our business most attractively through volume growth and getting leverage there and planning on growing margins via leveraging that revenue growth and finding efficiencies in our business. That being said, it's a very competitive environment. And as we talk to our customers, they certainly challenge us and they want us to find efficiencies in our business and not just pass along cost to them, and that's what we're focused on.

好吧，Shlomo，正如我在準備好的發言中提到的那樣，定價一直是我們增長的一個組成部分。同樣是 - 我們經歷了 COV-19 的一些嚴重經濟動盪，你有什麼。話雖這麼說，我們計劃通過銷量增長和在那裡獲得槓桿作用來最具吸引力地發展我們的業務，併計劃通過利用收入增長和提高業務效率來提高利潤率。話雖如此，這是一個競爭非常激烈的環境。當我們與客戶交談時，他們肯定會挑戰我們，他們希望我們在業務中找到效率，而不僅僅是將成本轉嫁給他們，而這正是我們關注的重點。

Our next question comes from Scott Schneeberger from Oppenheimer.

我們的下一個問題來自 Oppenheimer 的 Scott Schneeberger。

Happy holidays, everyone. First question in Uniform Rental. I'm just curious about the winning business, you guys have obviously highlighted penetration of existing customers, strong volume growth, new customers. Could you speak to what is no programmer versus what is competitively won. Is there a lot of that activity right now of competitively won? And then if you could just kind of differentiate what you're seeing with large customers versus maybe small and midsize in the context of that question?

大家節日快樂。制服租賃中的第一個問題。我只是對獲勝的業務感到好奇，你們顯然強調了現有客戶的滲透、強勁的銷量增長和新客戶。你能說說什麼不是程序員，什麼是通過競爭贏得的嗎？現在有很多競爭獲勝的活動嗎？然後，如果你能在這個問題的背景下區分你對大客戶和中小型客戶的看法？

Yes, Scott. I'll start. Mike, if you want to contribute on the subject there. As far as the market -- the competitive market, we sell a lot of new programmers. Certainly, we do take business from our competitors. But that's -- we find that there are so many businesses out there that say, "Wow, I didn't realize that you would serve a business of my size or I didn't realize you had those types of products and services, and they see great value in what we do. And so we're very focused on that. As far as the customer base, the larger customers, some of them are struggling, smaller ones or certainly, some of them are struggling. But I would say, generally speaking, the smaller ones are probably under a little bit more pressure just because it's tough to attract, retain, staff, pay people and at the levels that you have to be competitive in the marketplace.

是的，斯科特。我會開始。邁克，如果你想在那裡就這個主題做出貢獻。至於市場——競爭激烈的市場，我們賣出了很多新程序員。當然，我們確實從競爭對手那裡搶了生意。但那是——我們發現有很多企業說，“哇，我沒有意識到你會為我這樣規模的企業提供服務，或者我沒有意識到你有那些類型的產品和服務，而且他們在我們所做的事情中看到了巨大的價值。所以我們非常專注於此。至於客戶群，較大的客戶，他們中的一些人正在苦苦掙扎，較小的客戶或者當然，他們中的一些人正在苦苦掙扎。但我會也就是說，一般來說，規模較小的公司可能會承受更大的壓力，因為很難吸引、留住員工、支付員工薪水，而且很難達到在市場上具有競爭力的水平。

So that's kind of a generalization that may not be completely fair. And I can give you plenty of examples of smaller businesses that are thriving, but that's kind of a generalization I thought I might share with you.

所以這是一種可能不完全公平的概括。我可以為您提供大量蓬勃發展的小型企業的例子，但這是我認為可以與您分享的概括。

Great. And then as a follow-up, specifically Uniform Direct sales, I think it was about 33%, 34% organic growth in the quarter, very strong. I heard you mention on an earlier question that would be a segment facing some tougher comps in the back half of the fiscal year. Can you just speak to kind of what the business activity has been there? What's driving the strong growth right now? What type of customers? Has it been particularly lumpy? Or has it been just solid, broad-based versus maybe just 1 or 2 big customer wins? Just a little bit more elaboration on that business line.

偉大的。然後作為後續行動，特別是統一直銷，我認為本季度有機增長約為 33%，34%，非常強勁。我聽說你在一個較早的問題中提到，這將是本財政年度下半年面臨一些更艱難的補償的部分。你能談談那裡的商業活動嗎？是什麼推動了目前的強勁增長？什麼類型的客戶？有沒有特別腫？或者它只是穩固、廣泛的基礎，而不是僅僅贏得 1 或 2 個大客戶？關於該業務線的更多詳細說明。

Sure. Good question. Very broad-based. It's not one customer or a couple of customers. It's very broad-based. And when you think about that area, certainly, hospitality is a big component of it. But there's other customers that are national and scope type customers, but hospitality specifically, I'll speak to -- yes, they're struggling to staff, but there are -- there's a lot of demand out there in the hospitality sector. And as a result, they need help.

當然。好問題。基礎非常廣泛。這不是一個客戶或幾個客戶。它的基礎非常廣泛。當您考慮該領域時，當然，熱情好客是其中的重要組成部分。但是還有其他客戶是國家和範圍類型的客戶，但特別是酒店業，我會說 - 是的，他們正在努力工作，但有 - 酒店業有很多需求。因此，他們需要幫助。

And when you think of that, when they're struggling to staff and they have to provide products and services, we've become a very attractive opportunity for them to sole source and to provide products that they can get quickly and that are very attractive and allow them to provide the proper guest experience that they want to provide for their patrons.

當你想到這一點時，當他們努力尋找員工並且他們必須提供產品和服務時，我們已經成為他們唯一來源和提供他們可以快速獲得且非常有吸引力的產品的非常有吸引力的機會並允許他們提供他們想要為顧客提供的適當的賓客體驗。

Our next question comes from Toni Kaplan from Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Toni Kaplan。

I wanted to ask a follow-up on pricing. I know you've been sort of putting through a higher level of price than normal recently. And now it sounds like -- obviously, you've mentioned a couple of times that volume is going to be a bigger driver to growth. But I guess my question is, is pricing going to be more of a normal increase versus prior years? Or based on like the challenging macro, although you said you're not seeing it yet -- like is it going to be lower than normal roughly around sort of a normal year for pricing in calendar '23.

我想問一下定價的後續問題。我知道你們最近的價格有點高於正常水平。現在聽起來 - 顯然，你已經多次提到數量將成為增長的更大驅動力。但我想我的問題是，與往年相比，定價是否會更加正常？或者基於像具有挑戰性的宏觀，雖然你說你還沒有看到它 - 就像它會比正常情況下大約大約正常年份的 23 年日曆定價低。

Yes. Toni, good question. As we think about pricing in the future, it certainly is above historical today. It's tough to predict what inflation holds in the future. But presuming that, that comes down, I'd say you'd see us closer to historical from price adjustments. But it really depends upon what happens with the Fed, what happens with the economy, what happens with wage pressures or so many inputs and that one is tough to predict. So -- but we're watching it very closely.

是的。托尼，問得好。當我們考慮未來的定價時，它肯定高於今天的歷史。很難預測未來的通貨膨脹情況。但假設這種情況下降，我會說你會看到我們從價格調整中更接近歷史。但這實際上取決於美聯儲會發生什麼，經濟會發生什麼，工資壓力或如此多的投入會發生什麼，而這很難預測。所以 - 但我們正在密切關注它。

Great. And then when you think about the margin expansion implied and you mentioned sort of higher margin expansion in the back half of the year. Is that -- like, I guess, how much of it is a result of like energy costs coming down from prior levels or maybe inflation having reached its peak and coming down? Like, I guess, how much of it is that versus scale or initiatives, if you could have any sort of breakdown or examples of where the margin expansion will come from.

偉大的。然後當你考慮隱含的利潤率擴張時，你提到了今年下半年更高的利潤率擴張。那是——我猜，其中有多少是能源成本從之前的水平下降或者通貨膨脹達到頂峰並下降的結果？就像，我想，如果你能有任何類型的細分或利潤擴張將來自何處的例子，那麼它與規模或計劃相比有多少。

Tony, I would say it comes from a lot of different places, and it's hard to put a number on any particular one of them but a couple of examples. Energy, we've kind of looked at that, as Todd mentioned earlier, still is a little bit of a headwind going forward. So we're not necessarily expecting we'll get a bunch of energy benefit in the second half of the year, but our revenue growth has been really strong and the performance -- the momentum has been good, and that certainly will continue to help in the second half of the year. When we grow at real nice levels, like we've guided towards and like we've had in the first half of the year, that always helps our ability to drive better margins.

托尼，我想說它來自很多不同的地方，除了幾個例子之外，很難對其中任何一個地方給出一個數字。能源，我們已經看過了，正如托德之前提到的那樣，它仍然是一個前進的逆風。因此，我們不一定期望我們會在今年下半年獲得大量能源收益，但我們的收入增長非常強勁，而且業績 - 勢頭良好，這肯定會繼續提供幫助在下半年。當我們以真正好的水平增長時，就像我們在今年上半年所指導的那樣，這總是有助於我們提高利潤率的能力。

But we've talked over the last year or so about important initiatives that we have. Those remain and continue to do well. And those are things like our routing improvements, through our Smart Truck initiative, and we have more of those, whether it is sourcing initiatives that Todd touched on in First Aid or others. But those initiatives become very important to us, too.

但我們在過去一年左右的時間裡討論了我們擁有的重要舉措。那些仍然存在並繼續表現良好。這些就是我們的路線改進，通過我們的智能卡車計劃，我們有更多這樣的東西，無論是托德在急救或其他方面提到的採購計劃。但這些舉措對我們也變得非常重要。

And then there are just some timing of things, maybe some investment in the first half of the year that was really helping propel our growth and continue our momentum that may not be at the same type of level in the second half of the year. So it's a lot of those different pieces that kind of fall together. And it's hard to put numbers on every single one of those.

然後只是一些事情的時機，也許是今年上半年的一些投資真正幫助推動了我們的增長並延續了我們下半年可能不會達到同樣水平的勢頭。所以很多不同的部分組合在一起。很難對其中的每一個都進行統計。

And at this time, there are no further questions. I would like to turn the call back to Paul for closing remarks.

而此時，沒有進一步的問題。我想將電話轉回給 Paul 以作結束語。

All right. Well, thank you for joining us this morning. We will issue our third quarter of fiscal '23 financial results in late March and we look forward to speaking with you again at that time. Take care.

好的。好吧，謝謝你今天早上加入我們。我們將在 3 月下旬發布 23 財年第三季度的財務業績，我們期待屆時再次與您交談。小心。

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。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。