藝康 (ECL) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Ecolab Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings Release Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

您好，歡迎參加藝康 2023 年第四季財報發布電話會議。 （操作員說明）

As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. At this time, it is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Andy Hedberg, Vice President of Investor Relations. Thank you, Mr. Hedberg. You may now begin.

提醒一下，本次會議正在錄製中。此時此刻，我很高興向您介紹主持人，投資者關係副總裁安迪‧赫德伯格 (Andy Hedberg)。謝謝你，赫德伯格先生。你現在可以開始了。

Thank you, and hello, everyone, and welcome to Ecolab's Fourth Quarter Conference Call. With me today are Christophe Beck, Ecolab's Chairman and CEO; and Scott Kirkland, our CFO. A discussion of our results, along with our earnings release and the slides referencing the quarter's results are available on Ecolab's website at ecolab.com/investor. Please take a moment to read the cautionary statement in these materials, which state that this teleconference and the associated supplemental materials include estimates of future performance.

謝謝大家，大家好，歡迎參加藝康第四季電話會議。今天與我在一起的有 Ecolab 董事長兼執行長 Christophe Beck；和我們的財務長斯科特柯克蘭。有關我們業績的討論、收益發布以及引用本季業績的幻燈片，請造訪藝康網站 ecolab.com/investor。請花點時間閱讀這些資料中的警告聲明，其中指出本次電話會議和相關補充資料包括對未來績效的估計。

These are forward-looking statements, and actual results could differ materially from those projected. Factors that could cause actual results to differ are described on the Risk Factors section in our most recent Form 10-K and in our posted materials. We also refer you to the supplemental diluted earnings per share information in the release. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Christophe Beck for his comments.

這些均為前瞻性陳述，實際結果可能與預測有重大差異。我們最新的 10-K 表格和發布的資料中的風險因素部分描述了可能導致實際結果不同的因素。我們也請您參閱新聞稿中的補充稀釋每股收益資訊。說到這裡，我想把電話轉給 Christophe Beck，徵求他的意見。

Thank you so much, Andy, and welcome to everyone on the call. The very strong performance in the fourth quarter capped off a phenomenal year for our company. With the fourth quarter organic sales growth of 6% and adjusted earnings per share up 22%. I'm so proud of this team because this strong performance underscores the collective hard work and dedication of our entire Ecolab team, reflects our sustained focus over the last few years on driving long-term growth the right way.

非常感謝你，安迪，歡迎大家參加電話會議。第四季的強勁表現為我們公司非凡的一年畫上了圓滿的句號。第四季有機銷售額成長 6%，調整後每股收益成長 22%。我為這個團隊感到非常自豪，因為這種強勁的表現突顯了整個 Ecolab 團隊的集體辛勤工作和奉獻精神，反映了我們在過去幾年中對以正確方式推動長期成長的持續關注。

Despite the unpredictability of macroeconomic conditions, our team drove further value-based pricing while maintaining our strong business momentum. Volumes in the fourth quarter continued to improve with the positive growth reflecting new business wins that more than offset soft macro demand. Our success is anchored in the value we create for customers by improving their operating performance while also reducing the water and energy consumption. In 2024, our focus remains on continuing to fuel our strong and consistent long-term double-digit earnings per share growth.

儘管宏觀經濟狀況不可預測，我們的團隊仍進一步推動基於價值的定價，同時保持強勁的業務動能。第四季的銷售量持續改善，積極成長反映了新業務的成長，足以抵消疲軟的宏觀需求。我們的成功是基於我們透過提高客戶的營運績效同時減少水和能源消耗為客戶創造的價值。 2024 年，我們的重點仍是繼續推動強勁且持續的長期每股盈餘兩位數成長。

The highlights for the fourth quarter was the continued and rapid expansion of our gross margin, which increased by 330 basis points and our organic operating income margin, which increased 200 basis points to 16%. This growth was led by a 390 basis point increase in the Institutional and Specialty segment margin as we continue to quickly narrow the gap to this segment's historical 21% operating income margin. The institutional specialty team continues to execute well, driving further value pricing and volume growth that accelerated to the mid-single-digit range, reflecting the strong new business wins.

第四季的亮點是我們的毛利率持續快速擴張，成長了 330 個基點，有機營業利潤率成長了 200 個基點，達到 16%。這一增長是由機構和專業部門利潤率增長 390 個基點帶動的，因為我們繼續迅速縮小與該部門歷史 21% 營業收入利潤率的差距。機構專業團隊持續表現良好，進一步推動價值定價和銷售成長，加速至中個位數範圍，反映出強勁的新業務勝利。

The Industrial segment operating income margin increased 220 basis points with notable expansion in each of our water, Food & Beverage and paper businesses. And other segment's operating income margin was up 160 basis points, driven by strong Pest Elimination performance once again. As expected, the Healthcare and Life Sciences segment operating income margin eased versus last year. Healthcare's profitability continued to improve, which is good, reflecting the benefits of separating our North America operations into 2 focused businesses as mentioned, infection prevention and surgical. Healthcare's income growth was more than offset by comparison to the very strong performance of Life Sciences last year in continued market pressures.

工業部門的營業利潤率成長了 220 個基點，水、食品飲料和造紙業務都顯著擴張。在強勁的害蟲消除業績的推動下，其他部門的營業利潤率成長了 160 個基點。正如預期的那樣，醫療保健和生命科學部門的營業利潤率較去年有所下降。醫療保健的獲利能力持續改善，這是一件好事，反映出將我們的北美業務分為上述兩個重點業務（感染預防和外科）的好處。與去年生命科學在持續的市場壓力下的強勁表現相比，醫療保健的收入成長被抵消了。

Most importantly, operating income dollars for this segment have grown sequentially throughout 2023 from the actions we have taken to improve performance, and we expect this growth to continue over the course of 2024. From a sales perspective, our Life Sciences business drove slightly positive growth in 2023 despite the market being down double digits. And while we continue to expect this market to remain soft for the next few quarters, our ongoing investments in new capabilities and new capacity enabling us to gain market share in this very attractive, long-term, high-growth and high-margin market. Our overall performance highlights the strength of the Ecolab model as we continue to execute on pricing and driving new business, all backed by delivering leading customer value.

最重要的是，由於我們採取了改善業績的行動，該細分市場的營業收入在2023 年連續增長，我們預計這種增長將在2024 年持續下去。從銷售角度來看，我們的生命科學業務推動了小幅正成長2023 年，儘管市場出現兩位數下滑。雖然我們仍然預計該市場在未來幾季將保持疲軟，但我們對新能力和新產能的持續投資使我們能夠在這個非常有吸引力、長期、高成長和高利潤的市場中獲得市場份額。我們的整體業績突顯了藝康模式的優勢，我們繼續執行定價和推動新業務，所有這些都以提供領先的客戶價值為後盾。

Additionally, we've seen some benefits from moderately lower delivered product costs. This costs are still up 35% compared to 2019 levels, but declined by mid-single digits relative to last year's fourth quarter, a bit more than we had anticipated. We continue to take a prudent stance on the trajectory of delivered product costs. Therefore, our outlook for 2024 assumes that these costs will remain favorable in the first half of the year and stable in the second half of the year. Although we are very pleased with the margin expansion we have delivered so far.

此外，我們也看到了適度降低交付產品成本帶來的一些好處。與 2019 年的水準相比，這一成本仍上漲 35%，但與去年第四季相比下降了中個位數，略高於我們的預期。我們繼續對交付產品成本的軌跡採取審慎立場。因此，我們對 2024 年的展望假設這些成本將在上半年保持有利，並在下半年保持穩定。儘管我們對迄今為止實現的利潤率擴張感到非常滿意。

Our focus remains on fully recapturing our historical 44% gross margin to reach our 20% OI margin target. Our value-based pricing model and delivered product costs that are now coming down a further strengthened our conviction in achieving this target over the next few years. Our underlying productivity also remains strong as we continue to leverage our leading digital capabilities. As expected, SG&A expenses remained relatively stable compared to the third quarter. And consistent with previous years, we anticipate a few percentage point sequential increase in SG&A dollars in Q1, but expect to drive further improvements in our SG&A ratio as the year progresses.

我們的重點仍然是全面奪回 44% 的歷史毛利率，以達到 20% 的 OI 利潤率目標。我們基於價值的定價模式和交付產品成本現已下降，進一步堅定了我們在未來幾年實現這一目標的信念。隨著我們繼續利用領先的數位能力，我們的基礎生產力也保持強勁。正如預期，SG&A 費用與第三季相比保持相對穩定。與往年一致，我們預計第一季的 SG&A 美元將環比增長幾個百分點，但預計隨著時間的推移，我們的 SG&A 比率將進一步改善。

We expect 2024 to be another strong year for Ecolab, building on our long-term 12% to 15% earnings growth trajectory that is amplified by shorter-term benefits from lower delivered product costs. For the year, we expect adjusted earnings per share to grow in the 17% to 25% range, which assumes soft but stable microeconomic demand and lower delivered product costs in the first half of the year as global inflation eases. With this, we expect to maintain our business momentum as we drive further pricing, volume growth and continued robust operating income margin expansion.

我們預計 2024 年將是 Ecolab 又一個強勁的一年，我們的長期獲利成長軌跡為 12% 至 15%，而較低的交付產品成本帶來的短期效益會放大這一成長軌跡。今年，我們預計調整後每股盈餘將成長 17% 至 25%，這是假設微觀經濟需求疲軟但穩定，且隨著全球通膨緩解，上半年交付產品成本下降。因此，隨著我們進一步推動定價、銷售成長和持續強勁的營業收入利潤率擴張，我們預計將保持我們的業務勢頭。

Looking at the first quarter, the benefit from lower delivered product costs is expected to peak with costs down high single digits in the quarter, resulting in adjusted earnings per share increasing 44% to 56% versus last year. Beyond the first quarter, quarterly adjusted diluted earnings per share growth is expected to progressively normalize towards the upper end of Ecolab's long-term 12% to 15% target as favorability from lower delivered product costs eases.

展望第一季度，交付產品成本降低的效益預計將達到頂峰，成本將在本季大幅下降個位數，調整後每股盈餘將比去年同期成長 44% 至 56%。在第一季之後，隨著較低的交付產品成本的緩解，季度調整後的稀釋每股收益成長預計將逐步正常化，接近藝康 12% 至 15% 的長期目標的上限。

As always, we will also remain good stewards of capital by continuing to invest in the business, increasing our dividend and returning cash to shareholders. Most importantly, with the best team, science and capabilities in the industry, we will continue to grow our share of the stable and high-quality $152 billion market we serve.

一如既往，我們還將透過繼續投資業務、增加股利並向股東返還現金，繼續做好資本管理。最重要的是，憑藉業內最優秀的團隊、科學技術和能力，我們將繼續擴大我們所服務的穩定且高品質的 1520 億美元市場份額。

I believe Ecolab's long-term parameters are stronger than ever. and I'm confident in our outlook for continued strong performance as we work to deliver superior shareholder returns. So thank you for your continued support and investment in Ecolab. I look forward to your questions.

我相信藝康的長期參數比以往任何時候都更強。我對我們持續強勁業績的前景充滿信心，因為我們致力於提供卓越的股東回報。感謝您對藝康的持續支持與投資。我期待您的提問。

Thanks, Christophe. That concludes our formal remarks. Operator, would you please begin the question-and-answer period?

謝謝，克里斯托夫。我們的正式發言到此結束。接線生，請開始問答環節好嗎？

We'll now be conducting a question-and-answer session.

我們現在將進行問答環節。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question is from Tim Mulrooney with William Blair.

我們的第一個問題是蒂姆·馬爾魯尼和威廉·布萊爾提出的。

If I'm recalling correctly, you guys talked about Europe as kind of being a drag on growth in 2023. Can you talk about how volumes trended in Europe in the fourth quarter? And what volumes for the business overall look like if you were to exclude Europe?

如果我沒記錯的話，你們談到歐洲會拖累 2023 年的成長。你們能談談第四季度歐洲的銷售趨勢嗎？如果不包括歐洲，那麼整體業務量會是多少？

Love that question, Tim. Thank you. Well, 2 parts of your question, obviously, here. So let me give you a little bit a picture of the broader company and then specifically to Europe, which had a lot of good stuff to offer as well at the same time. So as the world is slowing or has been slowing over the past few quarters, especially outside the U.S. especially in Europe, as you mentioned as well. Well, I'm really glad that we shifted to offense as we shared with you a few quarters back because it's really working. As you've seen, so in the fourth quarter, our volume growth went up 1 percentage point in Q4. And to your question, if you exclude Europe, our volume growth would be 3% up, so quite a bit.

喜歡這個問題，提姆。謝謝。嗯，顯然，你的問題有兩個部分，在這裡。因此，讓我向您介紹一下公司的整體情況，然後具體介紹一下歐洲，歐洲同時也提供了很多好東西。因此，正如您也提到的，世界正在放緩或在過去幾季一直在放緩，特別是在美國以外的地區，尤其是在歐洲。嗯，我真的很高興我們在幾個季度前與您分享時轉向進攻，因為它確實有效。正如您所看到的，在第四季度，我們的銷售量成長了 1 個百分點。至於你的問題，如果你排除歐洲，我們的銷售成長將是 3%，所以相當多。

So now our job is absolutely to maintain that choosing speed in 2024. As we rebuild margins, obviously, the right way, which means in Ecolab speak in a way that benefits customers by reducing the total operating cost. But to your point on Europe specifically. Yes, it's been a drag on growth in overall company plus 1%, excluding Euro plus 3%. Europe has had an exceptional year in 2023. We reached almost 14% operating income margin, which was our objective when we started the whole transformation in Europe. So good evolution in a very difficult market where we prioritized really making sure we get the right margins, the right businesses, the right customers, investing in the right places. So slight volume decline, very good pricing and really focused on the right businesses with the right productivity. So good year in Europe, difficult from a volume perspective, but good for the overall company in Q4 and especially so the 3% ex Europe is a very good news for us.

因此，現在我們的工作絕對是在 2024 年保持這種選擇速度。當我們重建利潤時，顯然，這是正確的方式，這意味著藝康以透過降低總營運成本使客戶受益的方式說話。但具體來說你關於歐洲的觀點。是的，這拖累了公司整體成長 1%（不包括歐元 3%）。 2023 年是歐洲不平凡的一年。我們的營業利潤率達到了近 14%，這是我們在歐洲開始全面轉型時的目標。在一個非常困難的市場中，我們取得瞭如此良好的發展，我們的首要任務是確保我們獲得正確的利潤、正確的業務、正確的客戶，並在正確的地方進行投資。銷量略有下降，定價非常好，並且真正專注於具有適當生產力的正確業務。歐洲的這一年表現不錯，從銷售的角度來看很困難，但對第四季度的整體公司來說是件好事，尤其是歐洲以外的 3% 對我們來說是一個非常好的消息。

Our next question comes from the line of Ashish Sabadra with RBC Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 RBC Capital Markets 的 Ashish Sabadra。

Just as we think about fiscal year '24, how should we think about the volume growth as well as pricing normalizing in '24? And congrats on the solid quarter.

正如我們思考 24 財年一樣，我們該如何思考 24 財年的銷售成長和定價正常化？恭喜季度業績穩定。

Thank you, Ashish. Good question as well. So in that environment, as described before, so with Tim, I really expect that to stay on our long-term average Ecolab growth trajectory. With what I would say is a 2% plus pricing, as I've shared with you as well and positive volume growth as we've had in the fourth quarter as well. But bottom line, our long-term growth target remain unchanged. Even in difficult environments, it's going to be a little bit lower than that range for 2024, where we prioritize, obviously, getting the right value pricing, while keeping driving growth as we did in Q4, and that will help us deliver a very good year in '24.

謝謝你，阿什什。也是個好問題。因此，在那種環境下，正如之前所描述的，對於蒂姆來說，我真的希望藝康能夠保持在我們的長期平均成長軌跡上。我想說的是，正如我也與您分享的那樣，定價上漲了 2%，我們在第四季度也實現了銷量的正增長。但最重要的是，我們的長期成長目標保持不變。即使在困難的環境下，它也會比2024 年的範圍略低一些，顯然，我們優先考慮的是獲得正確的價值定價，同時像第四季度那樣繼續推動增長，這將幫助我們實現非常好的業績24 年。

Our next question is from the line of Seth Weber with Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題來自富國銀行的賽斯‧韋伯 (Seth Weber)。

Maybe just if I could just clarify, Christophe, that last comment. Are you -- is pricing 2% in 2024? Is that what you said? And then my bigger question is, I was trying to disaggregate the 5 points of pricing that you got in the fourth quarter, how much of that is new versus carryover? Which I guess, is ultimately kind of the same question, but I just want to make sure I understood your answer to the prior question about pricing for 2024.

克里斯托夫，如果我能澄清最後的評論就好了。 2024 年定價是否會上漲 2%？是你說的嗎？然後我更大的問題是，我試圖將第四季度的 5 個定價點進行分類，其中新定價與結轉定價的比例是多少？我想這最終是同一個問題，但我只是想確保我理解您對之前有關 2024 年定價問題的回答。

Yes, a few elements to unpack here. So the 5% in Q4 was all new pricing realized in '23, there was no carryover anymore from the previous years. In the fourth quarter, which was a remarkable accomplishment. So the 5% in an environment with delivered product costs. So tends to ease, obviously, the fact that we can still get incremental pricing from our customers because we deliver even more value to them in terms of total operating cost reduction. For me, it's a very good sign. And as I've shared with you, I don't know exactly where pricing is going to end up on a longer-term basis. We used to be plus pre-inflationary cycle, if I may say. And what I've shared with you is to say, I'm fairly confident that we will be north of 2%, as I called it, so the 2-plus for the future. We'll see where we end up. I feel good about the 2-plus. That's going to be true for '24, while we keep volume growing as well at the same time. So let's see where we will end up.

是的，這裡需要解開一些元素。因此，第四季的 5% 都是 23 年實現的新定價，不再有前幾年的結轉。在第四季度，這是一個了不起的成就。因此，5% 是在具有交付產品成本的環境中。顯然，這往往會緩解這樣一個事實：我們仍然可以從客戶那裡獲得增量定價，因為我們在降低總營運成本方面為他們提供了更多價值。對我來說，這是一個非常好的跡象。正如我與大家分享的那樣，我不知道長期來看定價最終會如何。如果我可以說的話，我們曾經處於通膨前週期。我與大家分享的是，我相當有信心我們將超過 2%，正如我所說的，所以未來是 2+。我們會看看最終結果如何。我對2+感覺很好。 24 年也是如此，同時我們的銷售也保持成長。那麼讓我們看看我們最終會在哪裡。

Our next question is from the line of Josh Spector with UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的 Josh Spector。

So I wanted to ask about the cadence of earnings through the year. So first, congrats on a strong guide for the first quarter. But I guess if you look at the typical run rate, you're up about 30% -- $0.30 in the second order, another $0.30 in the second half. I guess if we run that math through, we're closer to something in $7 in EPS for this year, versus your guide in the low 6s. So just curious if you can kind of run through. Are there things through the year that add to costs or things we should be aware of that would deter you from that path? Or any comments you have around that?

所以我想問全年收入的節奏。首先，恭喜第一季的強勁指南。但我想如果你看一下典型的運行率，你會發現大約增長了 30%——第二個訂單增長了 0.30 美元，下半年又增長了 0.30 美元。我想，如果我們進行數學計算，我們今年的每股收益更接近 7 美元，而您的指導則約為 6 美元。所以只是好奇你是否能跑過去。一年中是否有一些事情會增加成本，或者我們應該注意哪些事情會阻止您走這條路？或者您對此有何評論？

Josh, this is Scott. I'll cover this one. Thanks for the question. Yes, as Christophe said in his opening, we're expecting this a bigger benefit of DPC in the first half and bigger in the first quarter. But if you look at sort of separating out DPC, would expect throughout the year that underlying EPS delivery to be at the high end of our long-term targeted range. So it's really this expected benefit in the first quarter, a little bit in the second quarter as well, but really looking at DPC in the second half being pretty stable.

喬什，這是斯科特。我會介紹這一點。謝謝你的提問。是的，正如 Christophe 在開場白中所說，我們預計 DPC 在上半年和第一季會帶來更大的收益。但如果你考慮將 DPC 分開，預計全年基本每股盈餘將處於我們長期目標範圍的高端。所以，這確實是第一季的預期收益，第二季也有一點，但實際上下半年的 DPC 相當穩定。

Our next question is from the line of John McNulty with BMO Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 BMO 資本市場的 John McNulty。

On the delivered product costs, I guess, are you expecting to see either raw materials or some other part of those costs pushing noticeably higher as we go through the year? Or is there some kind of a, I don't know, speed bump or I guess, reverse speed bump, some best fit that you're seeing in 1Q? Because I guess, I don't understand why you would necessarily be seeing delivered product costs pushing higher throughout the year.

關於交付的產品成本，我想，您是否期望看到原材料或其他一些成本在我們這一年中明顯上升？或者是否有某種，我不知道，減速帶，或者我猜，反向減速帶，您在第一季看到的一些最適合的東西？因為我想，我不明白為什麼您一定會看到全年交付的產品成本不斷上漲。

So we haven't said higher. What we said is that we reached a peak mid of last year, so 2023, and it kept easing. So in the third quarter, in the fourth quarter and will be the case as well in the first quarter of 2024. What we're saying is that it's going to keep easing in the second quarter until the second half where we expect it now to be rather stable versus last year. We know and you know how hard it is to predict obviously, sort of delivered product cost or inflation, as we've seen this morning as well, so was the inflationary print. It was hard to predict when it went up, obviously, how much and how quickly, it's hard to predict how much and how fast it's going to go down.

所以我們沒有說更高。我們所說的是，我們在去年年中達到了峰值，所以到了 2023 年，然後它一直在放緩。因此，在第三季、第四季，2024 年第一季也是如此。我們所說的是，第二季將繼續寬鬆，直到下半年，我們現在預計它會與去年相比比較穩定。我們知道，你也知道，要預測交付的產品成本或通貨膨脹是多麼困難，正如我們今天早上所看到的那樣，通貨膨脹印刷品也是如此。很難預測它何時會上漲，顯然，上漲幅度和速度，也很難預測它會下跌多少和速度。

So for now, with what we see with what we know, keeping in mind that we buy 10,000 products in our portfolio. So it's very diverse, which is a good thing in a way as well. Some will go up, some will go down. But generally, so it's easing for the first half, stable in the second half, and we will see what truly happens. But it's important to keep in mind what Scott just said before, we keep our eyes laser-focused on really driving this 12% to 15% earnings per share growth with everything we can control and really to get as close to the 15% as we can, and DPC comes on top of it, which means the bump in the first half and in the second half, so to be closer to the upper end of that range.

因此，就目前而言，根據我們所看到的和我們所知道的，請記住，我們在我們的投資組合中購買了 10,000 種產品。所以它非常多樣化，這在某種程度上也是一件好事。有些會上升，有些會下降。但總的來說，上半年情況有所緩解，下半年保持穩定，我們將看看到底會發生什麼。但重要的是要記住斯科特之前所說的，我們將目光集中在我們能控制的一切上，真正推動每股收益增長 12% 至 15%，並真正接近 15%。可以，而DPC 位於其之上，這意味著上半場和下半場的碰撞，因此更接近該範圍的上限。

How do we do that? Well, it's the old fashioned way that we've been practicing for a long time now with new business, with value pricing, with productivity and with innovation. That's the way we think about it and that we hope you will see that way, too.

我們該怎麼做呢？嗯，這是我們長期以來在新業務、價值定價、生產力和創新方面實踐的老式方式。這就是我們的想法，我們希望您也能這麼看。

Our next question is from the line of Jeff Zekauskas with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Jeff Zekauskas。

It's a 2-part question. Have volumes in the institutional business accelerated? And if so, why? Or is it just that the comparisons are easier year-over-year in the fourth quarter than they were in the third? And secondly, in terms of pricing, how will your price initiatives work? Are you already raising prices in the first quarter here at the beginning of the year? Or will they come later? Will they sort of make their way smoothly quarter-by-quarter through the year? Or will things bump up, I don't know, in May or June? That's the base case.

這是一個由兩部分組成的問題。機構業務量是否加速成長？如果是這樣，為什麼？或者只是第四季的年比比較比第三季更容易？其次，在定價方面，你們的價格措施將如何運作？今年年初你們已經在第一季漲價了嗎？或者他們會晚點來嗎？他們會在一年中每季順利前進嗎？或者五月或六月事情會突然好轉嗎？我不知道。這是基本情況。

Jeff, good to hear you. So two questions, obviously, here for the price of one. So the volume in Institutional is clearly up. It's not a year-on-year comparison question especially when the market is down as well at the same time so really showing that this business, Institutional is in a great shape, with great momentum, driving volume, driving share, getting price, driving margin really like where Institutional is heading. So the short answer is yes, volume in Institutional keep accelerating. The second part of your question on pricing, there are the exceptional times like in the past few years, and there are the more normal times. I would say, like now, which basically the discussions with customers for the most part, they're not all created equal, obviously, are happening in the fourth and the first quarter of the year.

傑夫，很高興聽到你的聲音。顯然，這裡有兩個問題，但價格卻是一個。所以機構的交易量明顯增加了。這不是一個同比比較問題，特別是當市場同時下跌時，因此真正表明機構業務處於良好狀態，勢頭強勁，推動數量，推動份額，獲得價格，推動利潤率確實很像機構的發展方向。所以簡短的答案是肯定的，機構交易量不斷增加。關於定價問題的第二部分，有像過去幾年這樣的特殊時期，也有比較正常的時期。我想說，就像現在一樣，基本上與客戶的討論大部分都發生在今年第四季度和第一季度，顯然，它們並非都是平等的。

So fourth quarter and as we speak now. So it's usually something that's evolving progressively during the year with no big bumps. It's something which is pretty organic, keeping in mind that the pricing is always based on the value we create for customers which is why we were able to deliver $3 billion in the last few years and kept it and keep building it. It's because ultimately for customers, it's a good deal. The net-net in the operations, while it's positive, including our pricing as well at the same time. So from a timing perspective, Jeff, happening in Q4, Q1, and it's being delivered in the quarters during the year.

第四季以及我們現在所說的。因此，它通常是在一年中逐步發展的事情，沒有重大的障礙。這是一種非常有機的東西，請記住，定價始終基於我們為客戶創造的價值，這就是為什麼我們能夠在過去幾年中交付 30 億美元，並保持並繼續建立它。這是因為最終對客戶來說，這是一筆划算的交易。營運中的淨淨額雖然是正面的，但同時也包括我們的定價。因此，從時間角度來看，傑夫，發生在第四季度、第一季度，並將在一年中的幾個季度交付。

Next question is from the line of Manav Patnaik with Barclays.

下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的馬納夫·帕特奈克 (Manav Patnaik)。

Christophe, it looks like a lot of things are aligning well here starting the year, and you've touched a lot of them. I just wanted to touch base on how you thought about your portfolio. There have been a few pieces like HealthCare and even paper that have been dragged to top line growth. And just curious on how you think about your portfolio composition today and if anything might be in the works there?

Christophe，看起來從今年開始很多事情都進展順利，而且你已經觸及了其中很多。我只是想談談你對你的投資組合的看法。醫療保健甚至紙張等一些業務已被拖累收入成長。只是想知道您今天如何看待您的投資組合組成以及是否有任何進展？

Yes, Manav. So it's a little bit like with our kids, they're not always doing great at the same time. That's a bit the same with our businesses. It doesn't mean that we love them less. But if we look at all our businesses and markets out there, over 90% of them had double-digit operating income growth. So a pretty remarkable bias towards good performance for all our businesses. And so I like the overall portfolio that we have. We're also approaching investments and resources as a company. That's been true for many years in 4 different buckets. The one that we want to fuel, those are the ones with the highest growth potential, the ones with the highest margin potential as well, you have the one that we want to protect. Those are the ones that are doing well, no big change. You have the ones that we need to transform. And those are the ones that obviously have potential but are not exactly there yet. And then you have the ones that you need to fix.

是的，馬納夫。所以這有點像我們的孩子，他們並不總是同時表現出色。這與我們的業務有點相同。這並不意味著我們對他們的愛減少了。但如果我們看看我們所有的業務和市場，就會發現其中超過 90% 的營業收入實現了兩位數的成長。因此，我們所有業務都非常注重良好業績。所以我喜歡我們現有的整體產品組合。作為一家公司，我們也在尋求投資和資源。多年來，在 4 個不同的桶子中都是如此。我們想要推動的那些，那些具有最高成長潛力的，那些具有最高利潤潛力的，我們想要保護的那些。這些都是表現良好的，沒有太大的變化。你們有我們需要改造的那些。這些顯然具有潛力，但尚未完全實現。然後你就有了需要修復的問題。

HealthCare being one of the perfect example of that. Paper would either be on the transform side because it's north of 16% margin that we have in that business, not great volume growth right now but very good margin, and we'll end up in a good place as well as we keep transforming that business. So that's the way we think about it. We're not investing so everyone the same way. It's really sort of by category along the 4 that I just mentioned as well. So overall, I like the portfolio we have, but we always kind of critical for every business, every market to make sure that we have the best owner's mindset and making sure that we do what's right for shareholders.

醫療保健就是最好的例子之一。造紙業要么會處於轉型方面，因為我們在該業務中的利潤率高於 16%，目前銷量增長不是很大，但利潤率非常好，我們最終會處於一個好的位置，並且我們會繼續轉型商業。這就是我們的想法。我們不會以同樣的方式投資。這確實是按照我剛才提到的 4 個類別進行分類的。總的來說，我喜歡我們擁有的投資組合，但我們總是對每項業務、每個市場都至關重要，以確保我們擁有最好的所有者心態，並確保我們為股東做正確的事情。

Our next question is coming from the line of David Begleiter with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 David Begleiter。

Christophe, again, just on the delivered product costs, could you unpack the dynamics as to the high single digit increase in Q1? Is that primarily a function of the caustic price decrease last year we saw for, I think, every month of the year? And then going forward is your flattening out a function of just caustic being up as the year progresses?

Christophe，再一次，就交付的產品成本而言，您能否解釋一下第一季高個位數成長的動態？我認為，這主要是去年我們看到的腐蝕劑價格下降的結果，一年中每個月都在下降？然後，隨著時間的推移，你的扁平化是否會成為腐蝕性上升的函數？

Thank you, David. I'm looking at Scott and he'd love to answer that question.

謝謝你，大衛。我正在看著斯科特，他很樂意回答這個問題。

Yes, happy to, David. Thank you. Yes, as Christophe referenced earlier, our DPC is still up, and again, just to clarify, 35% versus our pre-inflationary period. And as you referenced, we -- it peaked in the middle of last year, right? And then we started to see some modest benefit in Q3, some additional single-digit benefit in Q4 and are expecting then that benefit really to peak in Q1 up high single digits. So as we said, and then some modest benefit likely in Q2 as then we see costs stabilizing for the second half. And with the 10,000 raw materials, very difficult to sort of isolate individual buckets.

是的，很高興，大衛。謝謝。是的，正如 Christophe 之前提到的，我們的 DPC 仍然上升，再次澄清，與通貨膨脹前相比，上升了 35%。正如你所提到的，我們——它在去年年中達到頂峰，對嗎？然後我們開始在第三季度看到一些適度的收益，在第四季度看到一些額外的個位數收益，並預計這種收益在第一季真正達到峰值，達到高個位數。正如我們所說，第二季可能會出現一些適度的收益，因為我們看到下半年成本趨於穩定。對於 10,000 種原料，很難對各個桶進行分類。

Obviously, you have some raw materials like caustic, where we've seen some easing, but you've also seen other products, raw materials like propylene or resins, where we've seen those costs going up as well. And so with the big basket of materials, hard to isolate any one of those.

顯然，有一些原料，例如苛性鹼，我們看到了一些寬鬆，但您也看到了其他產品，例如丙烯或樹脂等原材料，我們也看到這些成本也在上漲。因此，面對一大籃材料，很難分離出其中任何一種。

But what's important to keep in mind here is really where we focus our attention. It's really driving the business in order to get on the upper end of this 12% to 15% earnings growth. And what's happening on the DPC front, we see that all incremental benefit which is exactly what we've shared for Q1 in pretty detailed terms as well. We'll get some more in Q2. And we expect flat from DPC tailwind perspective in the second half. But let's see what truly happens. Your best guess will be my guess, too.

但這裡要記住的重要一點是我們真正關注的焦點。它確實在推動業務，以達到 12% 至 15% 盈利增長的上限。 DPC 方面正在發生的事情，我們看到了所有增量收益，這也正是我們在第一季分享的非常詳細的內容。我們將在第二季度獲得更多資訊。從 DPC 順風的角度來看，我們預計下半年將持平。但讓我們看看到底發生了什麼事。你最好的猜測也是我的猜測。

Our next question is from the line of Pavel Molchanov with Raymond James.

我們的下一個問題來自帕維爾·莫爾恰諾夫和雷蒙德·詹姆斯。

In this uncertain macro environment, including the inflationary pressures you alluded to earlier, can you talk about what you're seeing on the M&A front as far as valuations and any particular geographies that perhaps look more enticing than others?

在這種不確定的宏觀環境下，包括您之前提到的通膨壓力，您能否談談您在併購方面所看到的估值以及任何可能比其他地區更具吸引力的特定地區？

Good question but a difficult one to answer for me, obviously, Pavel, as you know. But the way I always answer that question is basically what you've seen in the past from Ecolab is what you're going to see in the future. We have an extremely strong balance sheet, now our leverage levels are closer to our longer-term average of these 2x as well. So we're in a very good position to go after opportunities that we believe are strategically relevant for us. And obviously, that we can buy at the right price as we've done very successfully so in the past.

很好的問題，但對我來說顯然是一個很難回答的問題，帕維爾，正如你所知。但我總是回答這個問題的方式基本上是你過去從藝康看到的就是你將來也會看到的。我們擁有極為強勁的資產負債表，現在我們的槓桿水平也更接近這 2 倍的長期平均值。因此，我們處於非常有利的位置，可以抓住我們認為對我們具有戰略意義的機會。顯然，我們可以以合適的價格購買，正如我們過去所做的非常成功的那樣。

So yes, the market becomes even more interesting right now, which is good. We have a rich pipeline as we've always had, and we will keep focusing on our 3 key priorities but as I've always shared, first is water, second is Life Science, third is digital and AI technology, mostly focused on North America and in Europe.

所以，是的，市場現在變得更加有趣，這是好事。我們一如既往地擁有豐富的管道，我們將繼續專注於我們的三個關鍵優先事項，但正如我一直分享的那樣，第一是水，第二是生命科學，第三是數位和人工智慧技術，主要集中在北方美國和歐洲。

Next question is coming from the line of John Roberts with Mizuho.

下一個問題來自約翰羅伯茲與瑞穗的關係。

Congrats on making the Just 100 list again. In Healthcare, some companies have been talking about destocking continuing. Are you seeing destocking in Healthcare? And are you seeing equal benefits between your surgical and infection prevention business now that you've got the separation?

恭喜您再次進入 Just 100 名單。在醫療保健領域，一些公司一直在談論繼續去庫存。您是否看到醫療保健產業正在去庫存？既然您已經分離，您是否看到外科手術和感染預防業務之間有同等的好處？

John, thank you for your comment on the Just list. We're never going after awards, obviously, but we're always honored and humbled when we get those awards, that's basically describing that the way we run our business the right way as much as we can, obviously. So the question on HealthCare. I've committed quite a while ago so to fix that business, with the team. I like the progress that we're making. We went through a few phases, as I shared very openly with you, and we'll keep doing so in the future. So we worked on the cost structure early on then we worked on the bifurcation of the 2 surgical and infection prevention businesses by leveraging as well the critical mass of institutional, we early on that journey because that happened, obviously, in the fall of last year.

約翰，感謝您對 Just 列表的評論。顯然，我們從不追求獎項，但當我們獲得這些獎項時，我們總是感到榮幸和謙卑，這基本上描述了我們盡可能以正確的方式經營業務的方式，顯然。所以關於醫療保健的問題。我很久以前就承諾與團隊一起解決這個問題。我喜歡我們正在取得的進展。正如我非常公開地與你們分享的那樣，我們經歷了幾個階段，將來我們將繼續這樣做。因此，我們很早就研究了成本結構，然後透過利用機構的臨界質量，我們研究了兩個外科和感染預防業務的分歧，我們很早就開始了這一旅程，因為這顯然發生在去年秋天。

Healthcare is growing overall, which is something I like because that's early signs of success. Our margins are increasing quite significantly from a low level, as we know, but that's the second good sign as well of progress and the teams working really well with the institutional team. So I think that we found the right model for now. Again, the work is not finished. We've committed to get to double-digit type of margin in that business. And we will get there a few more phases. I expect it as well to happen, and I will keep you posted on our plans and our progress as transparently as I can.

醫療保健總體上正在增長，這是我喜歡的，因為這是成功的早期跡象。如我們所知，我們的利潤率從低水準顯著增加，但這是第二個好跡象，也是進步以及團隊與機構團隊合作非常好的跡象。所以我認為我們現在找到了正確的模型。再說一遍，工作還沒完成。我們致力於在該業務中實現兩位數的利潤率。我們還會再經歷幾個階段。我也希望這會發生，我將盡可能透明地向您通報我們的計劃和進展。

The next question comes from the line of Laurence Alexander with Jefferies.

下一個問題來自勞倫斯·亞歷山大和傑弗里斯的對話。

Could you give a bit more granularity on the trends you're seeing in Asia, particularly the strong volumes in China? Can you break out where you're seeing that? And are you seeing sequential acceleration? Or is it just a comp issue?

您能否更詳細地介紹一下您在亞洲看到的趨勢，特別是中國的強勁銷售？你能說出你在哪裡看到的嗎？您是否看到連續加速？或者這只是一個補償問題？

We're in a fairly good place actually in Asia, especially China. For us, we separate our Asia Pacific and where we have a few markets in China, which is one of the mega markets. As you maybe remember, North America, Western Europe and Greater China to be our 3 mega markets where we focus 80% of our retention where 80% of the opportunity lies as well. And I like quite a bit how we're working in China, not an easy environment, as we all know, but growth has been good in China, especially in Institutional.

事實上，我們在亞洲，尤其是中國，處於一個相當好的位置。對我們來說，我們將亞太地區和中國的幾個市場分開，中國是大型市場之一。您可能還記得，北美、西歐和大中華區是我們的三大市場，我們專注於 80% 的保留率，同時也存在 80% 的機會。我非常喜歡我們在中國的工作方式，眾所周知，這不是一個輕鬆的環境，但中國的成長勢頭良好，尤其是在機構方面。

We have a great team, a great business and we have very good margins as well in China. That was not the case 10 years ago, but that's clearly the case today. So we have a very good business, a great team, very well positioned with what customers in China wants when we think food safety, infection prevention and water, that's exactly what they're looking for as well. So pleased with the evolution of China, and that's true with the rest of Asia Pacific as well, but every country is a bit in a different place, but in aggregate, a pretty good story.

我們擁有一支優秀的團隊，一項出色的業務，並且在中國也擁有很高的利潤率。十年前並非如此，但今天顯然是如此。因此，我們擁有非常好的業務，一支優秀的團隊，非常適合中國客戶的需求，因為我們認為食品安全、感染預防和水也正是他們所尋求的。我對中國的發展感到非常滿意，亞太地區其他國家也是如此，但每個國家的情況都有些不同，但總的來說，這是一個相當不錯的故事。

Our next question is from the line of Shlomo Rosenbaum with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自什洛莫·羅森鮑姆 (Shlomo Rosenbaum) 和施蒂費爾 (Stifel)。

Christophe, you made tremendous strides in the margin over the last little bit and the pricing has been very successful and it looks like volumes have turned positive. So there's a lot of positivity there. I was wondering if you could bridge us from where you are today to where -- you mentioned getting to that 20% margins. And can you walk us through that bridge, how much would be pricing? How much would you think about in volumes? Is there a certain cadence that we should be thinking about over the next several years? Just give us your thoughts on how investors should be thinking about it, how you're thinking about it?

Christophe，在過去的一段時間裡，你們在利潤方面取得了巨大的進步，定價也非常成功，而且看起來銷量已經轉為正值。所以那裡有很多正面的一面。我想知道您是否可以將我們從現在的情況過渡到您提到的達到 20% 的利潤率。您能帶我們走過那座橋嗎？定價是多少？您會考慮多少卷？未來幾年我們是否應該考慮某種節奏？請告訴我們您對投資者應該如何考慮它的想法，您是如何考慮的？

I'll give it to Scott first, and then I'll make a few comments.

我會先把它交給 Scott，然後我會發表一些評論。

Yes, thanks, Shlomo. Great question. Yes, as we've talked about and we talked about at Investor Day, really very focused on getting to that 20% OI margin, and I think we have a very clear path over the next few years. And it's largely by getting back to those 2019 sort of pre-pandemic gross margins, right, which are still down relative to 2019. If you look at overall OI margin, so we finished the year at 14%, so about 6 points from that 20% OI margin. And by recovering those 2019 gross margins, which is really split pretty evenly between the value-based pricing, what we do for our customers, driving that value-based pricing and then the other half of that being volume and mix, sort of combined there, okay?

是的，謝謝，什洛莫。很好的問題。是的，正如我們所討論的以及我們在投資者日所討論的那樣，我們確實非常注重實現 20% 的 OI 利潤率，而且我認為我們在未來幾年有一條非常明確的道路。這主要是透過回到2019 年大流行前的毛利率來實現的，對吧，相對於2019 年，毛利率仍然下降。如果你看一下整體OI 利潤率，那麼我們今年的毛利率為14%，大約比2019 年低了6 個百分點20% 持倉保證金。透過恢復 2019 年的毛利率，毛利率實際上在基於價值的定價、我們為客戶所做的事情、推動基於價值的定價以及另一半的銷量和組合之間平均分配。 ， 好的？

As we showed during '23, our OI margins were up 140 basis points. And we're expecting about another 200 basis points in 2024. So we think that's great evidence for what we can do and that path to get to that 20% OI margin. And then additionally, in there, aside from the gross margin, we'll expect to continue to deliver some SG&A leverage, at least equal to what we've done historically.

正如我們在 2023 年所展示的那樣，我們的 OI 利潤率上升了 140 個基點。我們預計 2024 年還會再上漲 200 個基點。因此，我們認為這是我們可以做什麼以及實現 20% 持倉利潤率的途徑的有力證據。此外，除了毛利率之外，我們預計將繼續提供一些銷售、管理和行政費用槓桿，至少等於我們歷史上所做的水平。

So bottom line, Shlomo, with all the elements that Scott just mentioned, I feel even better with what I said and shared with you at the Investor Day in 2023 of saying we will get to this 20% OI margin, so within the next few years, and it's not going to take us 5 years to get there. So our confidence level has just risen with the delivery of the last 3 quarters.

因此，什洛莫，最重要的是，考慮到斯科特剛才提到的所有要素，我對我在2023 年投資者日所說和與您分享的內容感覺更好，我們將實現20% 的OI 利潤率，因此在接下來的幾年內幾年，而且我們不會花五年時間就能實現這一目標。因此，隨著過去三個季度的交付，我們的信心水平剛剛上升。

The next question is from the line of Steve Byrne with Bank of America.

下一個問題來自美國銀行的史蒂夫·伯恩 (Steve Byrne)。

[Rob Hoffman] on for Steve Byrne. And my question was, if you guys could share any update on the water for climate and science certified initiatives?

[羅布·霍夫曼] 代替史蒂夫·伯恩。我的問題是，你們是否可以分享有關氣候和科學認證倡議的水的最新資訊？

Yes, those are 2 platform innovations as we call them, Ecolab Science Certified. So it's keeping -- progressing very nicely with a few big customers as well jumping on that journey, McDonald's being the latest big one, obviously out there. So we like how Ecolab Science Certified is not only providing benefits to our customers by protecting their guests by providing a safe and clean and welcoming environment but also safe foods at the right cost with the total operating cost manage as well as we can. So Ecolab Science Certified is an overall promise by our customers, which encompasses all our services as well. So it's a penetration play, which is good for us, driving good results for our customers.

是的，這就是我們所說的兩個平台創新，即藝康科學認證。所以它一直在進步，一些大客戶也加入了這趟旅程，麥當勞顯然是最新的大客戶。因此，我們喜歡藝康科學認證，它不僅透過提供安全、清潔和溫馨的環境來保護客人，從而為我們的客戶帶來好處，而且還以適當的成本提供安全的食品，並儘可能地管理總營運成本。因此，藝康科學認證是我們對客戶的整體承諾，其中也包括我們的所有服務。所以這是一種滲透遊戲，這對我們有好處，可以為我們的客戶帶來良好的結果。

Ecolab Water for Climate is a bit the same in a very different set up, obviously, because it's helping our customers get to their ambition of the net zero. Some customers are much further down the road and some are very early on that journey. So to give you some highlights, without going too much in detail since we don't share our customers' details publicly. We have a dozen of flagship customers, as we call them, who have committed to getting to net zero. One has been very public, that's Microsoft and progressing very well on that journey as well. It's really helping them get to net zero, but in a way that makes financial sense for them and for us by driving a lot of innovation and services in their own operations in order to deliver their objective. So 2 growth platforms, driving penetration, improving impact from our customers, which helps us ultimately drive growth and value pricing.

顯然，藝康氣候水務計劃在非常不同的設置中有點相同，因為它正在幫助我們的客戶實現淨零的目標。有些客戶在這條道路上走得更遠，而有些客戶則很早就開始了這趟旅程。由於我們不會公開分享客戶的詳細信息，因此我們只向您介紹一些重點內容，但不會透露太多細節。我們有十幾個旗艦客戶（我們稱之為「旗艦客戶」），他們致力於實現淨零排放。其中一個非常公開，那就是微軟，並且在這過程中也進展順利。這確實幫助他們實現了淨零排放，但透過在自己的營運中推動大量創新和服務以實現他們的目標，對他們和我們都具有財務意義。因此，兩個成長平台，推動滲透，提高客戶的影響力，這有助於我們最終推動成長和價值定價。

The next question is from the line of Kevin McCarthy with Vertical Research Partners.

下一個問題來自垂直研究夥伴的 Kevin McCarthy。

Christophe, back at your Investor Day in September last fall, I think it was. You talked a little bit about cross-selling initiatives. And I was wondering if you could provide an update on those efforts. In other words, if I look at the volume improvement from the first half of '23 to the back half, basically going negative to positive. Do you think that those cross-selling efforts have borne fruit? Or is that on the come in 2024?

Christophe，回到去年秋天九月的投資者日，我想是的。您談到了一些交叉銷售計劃。我想知道您是否可以提供這些努力的最新情況。換句話說，如果我看一下從 23 年上半年到下半年的銷售改善，基本上就是從負轉正。您認為這些交叉銷售的努力是否有了成果？還是 2024 年就會出現？

There's no doubt that it's proving right. It's been true for a very long time, by the way. I'd like just to indicate what we've built with Pest Elimination, for instance, which is 90% circle the globe type of business, which is ultimately all our businesses from Institutional, Healthcare and Industrial bringing our team from Pest Elimination in order to offer the world-class service to all those different segments, while we've managed to build $1 billion business with great margins and highest returns by doing so.

毫無疑問，事實證明這是正確的。順便說一句，很長一段時間以來，這都是事實。例如，我只想指出我們透過 Pest Elimination 建立的業務，其中 90% 屬於全球業務類型，最終是我們來自機構、醫療保健和工業的所有業務將我們來自 Pest Elimination 的團隊帶入秩序為所有這些不同的細分市場提供世界一流的服務，同時我們已經成功建立了價值10 億美元的業務，並獲得了豐厚的利潤和最高的回報。

So that's something that we have proven for a very long time in our company. It's also keeping in mind that half of the $152 billion market we have out there, well is an opportunity of penetration. Ultimately, customers we already have that should be or could be buying everything from what Ecolab does. And the 2 main drivers for it is what I just shared before with Ecolab Science Certified and Ecolab Water for Climate that ultimately drives bigger gains for our customers by driving the overall end-to-end proposition that we have in the company. And last point I'll make is that we have further focused as well our execution work towards out top 35 customers in the company to make absolutely sure that we were not only providing them with all the resources of the company, but that we could capture as well as much of the opportunity that those customers can offer to us, which is a number that counts in the billions.

這是我們公司長期以來已經證明的事情。還要記住，我們擁有的 1520 億美元市場中有一半是滲透機會。最終，我們已經擁有的客戶應該或可能會購買藝康所做的一切。其兩個主要驅動因素是我先前與 Ecolab Science Certified 和 Ecolab Water for Climate 分享的內容，它們最終透過推動我們公司的整體端到端主張為我們的客戶帶來更大的收益。我要說的最後一點是，我們進一步關注公司前 35 名客戶的執行工作，以確保我們不僅為他們提供公司的所有資源，而且我們可以捕獲以及這些客戶可以為我們提供的許多機會，這是一個以數十億計的數字。

Our next question comes from Patrick Cunningham with Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Patrick Cunningham。

I have kind of a specific follow-up on the last question. So you've had the solid share gains in institutional with volumes up maybe mid-single digits where end markets are stable to slightly down, how much of this was a share of wallet versus new customers? And are there any sort of representatives, products or technologies, which have driven a lot of the share gain this year? And then how should we think about new business wins for institutional and specialty into 2024?

我對最後一個問題有具體的跟進。因此，您在機構市場上獲得了穩固的份額增長，交易量可能上升到中個位數，而終端市場穩定到略有下降，其中錢包份額與新客戶份額有多少？是否有任何類型的代表、產品或技術推動了今年的大量份額成長？那我們應該如何考慮 2024 年機構和專業領域的新業務？

So a few different questions here. Patrick so all related to the same topic, obviously. So new business generation is our #1 focus in the company where sales organization says that heart our mantra in the company for the 47,000 people is we're all in sales, just to describe how we think about it as well. So it's really sort of a teamwork. And new business generation, our pipelines are at record levels right now, really like how much we have gained. Obviously, we now we need to install all that in the next few months, next few quarters. That's always true, and it's different by businesses. It goes faster in Institutional, which is why you see as well a very good growth in Institutional. They have a great new business generation. They can install pretty quickly as well, good for the customers, good for us and leading to great results because margins are so good, obviously, in that business.

這裡有幾個不同的問題。帕特里克顯然都與同一主題相關。因此，新一代業務是我們公司的第一個重點，銷售組織表示，我們公司 47,000 名員工的座右銘是我們都從事銷售工作，這也只是為了描述我們如何看待它。所以這確實是一種團隊合作。對於新的業務世代，我們的管道目前處於創紀錄的水平，真的就像我們所獲得的那樣。顯然，我們現在需要在接下來的幾個月、接下來的幾個季度內安裝所有這些。這始終是事實，但不同企業的情況有所不同。機構業務發展得更快，這就是為什麼您也看到機構業務成長非常快。他們擁有偉大的新一代企業。他們也可以很快安裝，這對客戶有利，對我們有利，並帶來了巨大的成果，因為顯然，該行業的利潤率非常高。

So to your question on how much is cross-selling versus totally new. The best way to think about it in our company is generally 2/3 is cross-selling, which is really selling to customers that other businesses already have and a third is brand new, and that's an average number. It's not obviously always the same across businesses and geographies, but that's a good way to think about it and to keep in mind that we are primarily focused on cross-selling, which is the best way and easiest way to sell and the cheapest way driving the highest margins.

那麼，關於你的問題，交叉銷售與全新銷售的比例是多少。在我們公司，最好的思考方式是，一般 2/3 是交叉銷售，即真正向其他企業已經擁有的客戶銷售，三分之一是全新的，這是一個平均數字。顯然，不同企業和不同地區的情況並不總是相同，但這是一個很好的思考方式，並請記住，我們主要專注於交叉銷售，這是最好、最簡單的銷售方式，也是最便宜的駕駛方式最高的利潤。

Our next question comes from Mike Harrison with Seaport Research Partners.

我們的下一個問題來自海港研究合作夥伴的麥克哈里森。

I wanted to ask another question around the Institutional business, but I wanted to dig in more on the specialty side of that business. You just had within specialty, probably the best year of growth in a decade or more. Can you talk about what is driving the improvement on both the QSR and the food retail side? And then you also -- it also looks like you acquired this Chemlink business back in May. Can you talk about what Chemlink is bringing into the portfolio within that specialty business?

我想問有關機構業務的另一個問題，但我想深入了解該業務的專業方面。你剛剛經歷了專業領域，可能是十年或更長時間以來成長最好的一年。您能談談是什麼推動了 QSR 和食品零售方面的改進嗎？然後您也 - 看來您早在 5 月就收購了 Chemlink 業務。您能否談談 Chemlink 在該專業業務的產品組合中引入了什麼？

Okay. So a few questions in there. So Mike, you're right, the specialty, which is QSR as a quick serve restaurants and food retail, had a great year in '23. It's been true for pretty long time, by the way. So great businesses based in the same place in North Carolina, as you probably know as well the -- the key reasons why those businesses are going so well. On one hand, especially QSR is an industry that's doing well at all times, especially in more difficult times because people have a tendency to trade down. And when they move from full service restaurants to quick serve, obviously we can capture them in a good way, at high margin as well at the same time. That's a little bit the beauty of our portfolio since we serve all the various segments. So serving an industry that is very successful. It's the first element.

好的。所以有幾個問題。所以麥克，你是對的，QSR 作為快餐餐廳和食品零售的特色，在 23 年度過了美好的一年。順便說一句，很長一段時間以來，這都是事實。您可能也知道，如此出色的企業都位於北卡羅來納州的同一個地方，這也是這些企業發展如此順利的關鍵原因。一方面，尤其是快餐業是一個一直表現良好的行業，尤其是在困難時期，因為人們傾向於降低消費。當他們從全方位服務餐廳轉向快速服務時，顯然我們可以以一種好的方式抓住他們，同時也獲得高利潤。這就是我們產品組合的優點，因為我們為所有不同的細分市場提供服務。因此，服務於一個非常成功的行業。這是第一個元素。

The second one is it's an industry that, by definition, is very standardized as we know, across the country or across the world. When you think about our promise, well, it's probably the industry where it resonates the most because what we're helping our customers achieve is to understand what's the best-performing unit in their enterprise and to help them get all the units from the enterprise at the level of performance of the best-performing one in terms of cost, in terms of quality of delivery and in terms of environmental impact as well. So the combination of a very strong business that's been built over decades with an industry that is especially successful right now, '23 was a great year for that industry and a value proposition that resonates exactly with them because their objective is to reach the best-in-class performance across the universe as well. Well those are 3 key reasons why this business is doing well. And I believe in the future of that business as well going forward.

第二個是，根據定義，這是一個在全國或世界各地都非常標準化的行業。當您想到我們的承諾時，嗯，這可能是最能引起共鳴的行業，因為我們幫助客戶實現的目標是了解他們企業中表現最好的單位是什麼，並幫助他們從企業中獲得所有單位衡量成本、交付品質以及環境影響方面表現最佳的企業的績效水準。因此，幾十年來建立的非常強大的業務與目前特別成功的行業相結合，23 年對於該行業來說是偉大的一年，價值主張與他們產生了完全的共鳴，因為他們的目標是達到最好的水平——在整個宇宙中也具有一流的性能。這就是該業務表現良好的 3 個關鍵原因。我也相信該業務的未來。

Our next question is from the line of Scott Schneeberger with Oppenheimer & Company.

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

Sort a little bit regarding the cost savings program. It's now been a full year in place and very sizable. Scott touched a bit earlier on some of the key focus areas, geographies and segments, and that was very helpful. But just curious, is this on track as far as timing-wise, is it something that maybe you've had the opportunity where you haven't had to be as aggressive because you've had a really nice growth 2023? Just curious how close to on plan timing-wise and size-wise, this is? And any incremental thoughts you'd like to share?

將成本節約計劃進行一些分類。現在已經整整一年了，而且規模非常大。斯科特早些時候談到了一些關鍵的重點領域、地區和細分市場，這非常有幫助。但只是好奇，就時間而言，這是否走上正軌？也許你有機會不必那麼激進，因為你在 2023 年經歷了非常好的成長？只是好奇這在時間和規模上與計劃有多接近？您想分享任何增量想法嗎？

So let me have the other Scott answer part of that question, and I'll make a few comments.

讓我請斯科特回答該問題的一部分，然後我將發表一些評論。

Yes, thank, Scott. No, we are exactly where we expected to be. If we think about the combined program, which is really what we have left. We had some older restructuring programs, which are complete, the institutional advancement 2020 or complete through the end of the year. The combined program, we delivered through the end of 2023, 75% of those expected savings cumulatively through the end of the year and expect to realize the lion's share of that through 2024. And as you know, when we initially launched this at the end of 2022. It was initially focused on Europe and early in '23. We expanded it to Institutional and Healthcare. And if you think about the performance of those businesses, Christophe talked about Europe, talked about the great margins there, the great growth, and you've seen the great OI in Institutional specialty, up over 40% in the quarter and as well as the Healthcare continuing to get better. And so we're on track with those, and those program -- that program is having a significant impact.

是的，謝謝，斯科特。不，我們正是在我們預期的地方。如果我們考慮合併計劃，這確實是我們剩下的。我們有一些較舊的重組計劃，這些計劃已經完成，2020 年的機構升級或到年底完成。我們在 2023 年底之前交付了合併計劃，到年底累計實現了預期節省的 75%，並預計到 2024 年實現其中的大部分。正如您所知，當我們最初在年底推出該計劃時2022 年。它最初專注於歐洲，23 年初。我們將其擴展到機構和醫療保健。如果你考慮這些業務的表現，Christophe 談到了歐洲，談到了那裡的巨大利潤和巨大增長，你已經看到了機構專業領域的巨大 OI，本季度增長了 40% 以上，以及醫療保健持續改善。因此，我們正在實施這些計劃，這些計劃正在產生重大影響。

Well said, Scott. In general, we want to get transformation done the old-fashioned organic way. It's only in exceptional opportunities that we go the restructuring way. When it helps us move quicker which means making the business more competitive to gain share and improve our margins in order to return more to shareholders. And to Scott's point, you look at what we've done in Europe, has been an unbelievable journey. The fact that, that business has been doing so well in '23, reaching the highest level of margin as well in some of the toughest of times as well, is speaking very well on how we're doing that. Think about Institutional, we had to adjust to a new reality business is in the best place it's ever been. And then Healthcare early on that journey, much smaller business, obviously, but we will get to the right place as well over time. And the restructuring investment helped us in all 3 cases to move much faster and to get returns quicker as well into the P&L. So when I look back, I like what's been done and especially been done as well. So in budget and in time as we had promised as well. So overall, good stuff for the company, our customers and our shareholders.

說得好，斯科特。總的來說，我們希望以老式的有機方式完成轉型。只有在特殊的機會下，我們才會走重組之路。當它幫助我們更快採取行動時，這意味著使業務更具競爭力，以獲得份額並提高我們的利潤率，從而為股東帶來更多回報。對於斯科特來說，你看看我們在歐洲所做的一切，這是一次令人難以置信的旅程。事實上，該業務在 23 年一直表現出色，在一些最困難的時期也達到了最高的利潤水平，這很好地說明了我們是如何做到這一點的。想想製度，我們必須適應新的現實，業務處於有史以來最好的位置。然後，在這趟旅程的早期，醫療保健業務顯然要小得多，但隨著時間的推移，我們也會到達正確的地方。重組投資幫助我們在所有 3 個案例中加快了行動速度，並更快地將回報計入損益表。所以當我回顧過去時，我喜歡已經完成的事情，尤其是已經完成的事情。正如我們所承諾的那樣，在預算和時間範圍內。總的來說，這對公司、我們的客戶和我們的股東來說都是好事。

Our next question is from the line of Vincent Andrews with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的文森特安德魯斯。

Wondering if there's been some change in your procurement strategy, whether it's been changing in some of your large suppliers or changing the terms or duration of the contracts that you have? I'm just really trying to bridge. 4Q came in a bit better than expected, but 1H is obviously a lot better than what we were talking about 3 months ago. So I'm just trying to understand if something has meaningfully changed in what you're doing or if it is just conservatism? Or what drives us from there to here, particularly because -- it sounds like a lot of folks think the back half raw guide is conservative. I would probably echo that. So just trying to understand what might change over the next quarter or 2 that could allow that second half to come in better than what you're guiding to right now?

想知道您的採購策略是否發生了一些變化，您的一些大型供應商是否發生了變化，或者您所擁有的合約的條款或期限發生了變化？我只是真的想架起橋樑。第四季的表現比預期要好一些，但第一季的表現顯然比我們三個月前談論的要好得多。所以我只是想了解你正在做的事情是否發生了有意義的改變，或者這只是保守主義？或者是什麼驅使我們從那裡到這裡，特別是因為——聽起來很多人認為後半部分原始指南是保守的。我可能會同意這一點。因此，只是想了解下一個或兩個季度可能會發生什麼變化，從而使下半年的情況比您現在的指導更好？

Well, a few points in your question here. So when I think about our procurement team, we have an unbelievable team around the world. We have a new Chief Procurement Officer, who joined us a year ago from a world-class organization that been very respected in the procurement world. And yes, he has brought new capabilities new tools, new approaches, new ways as well of managing relationships with suppliers. So yes, quite a bit of a transformation. And I think we're really reaching world-class levels that new leadership and that new team that we have on procurement.

好吧，你的問題有幾點。因此，當我想到我們的採購團隊時，我們在世界各地擁有一支令人難以置信的團隊。我們有一位新的首席採購官，他一年前從一家在採購界備受尊敬的世界級組織加入我們。是的，他帶來了新的能力、新的工具、新的方法、新的方法以及管理與供應商關係的新方法。所以，是的，相當大的轉變。我認為我們在採購方面的新領導層和新團隊確實達到了世界一流水平。

So I really like what I see on the procurement side. So if there's 1 team that can leverage as much as we can in terms of capturing the benefits of the easing of DPC inflation. Well, that's the right team. When we talk about what you've heard from Scott a little bit early on, our cost, DPC costs are still 35% up versus what they used to be pre inflation. Well, I see it as a huge opportunity, obviously, for our company and for our shareholders because most of it will recoup at some point. The timing is not in our hands. Our team is trying to get it as quickly as we can. So we will get it. And at the same time, I want to make absolutely sure that we get our value pricing done the right way.

所以我真的很喜歡我在採購方面看到的情況。因此，如果有 1 個團隊可以盡可能利用 DPC 通膨緩解帶來的好處。嗯，這是正確的團隊。當我們談論您早些時候從 Scott 那裡聽到的消息時，我們的成本、DPC 成本仍然比通貨膨脹前高出 35%。嗯，我認為這顯然對我們公司和我們的股東來說是一個巨大的機會，因為其中大部分都會在某個時候收回。時機不在我們手中。我們的團隊正在努力盡快獲得它。所以我們會得到它。同時，我想絕對確保我們以正確的方式完成價值定價。

As you know, our margins are not at the high watermark, the 44% where it used to be, we will get back to these 44% because, yes, DPC is going to get back close to where it used to be. When I don't know, it might take a few years to get there. But on the price side with our customers, we want to do it exactly the right way. That's a net benefit for our customers as well. They get more pricing. But when you think about the value we create for them, when it far outweighs the pricing that they're paying for us, which is one of the key reasons why our margins are improving so nicely and why are we keeping our customers and building even new relationship as we move forward. So overall, a good story for our customers, our company and our shareholders.

如您所知，我們的利潤率並未達到以前的 44% 高水位，我們將回到 44%，因為，是的，DPC 將恢復到接近以前的水平。如果我不知道的話，可能需要幾年的時間才能到達那裡。但在與客戶的價格方面，我們希望以正確的方式做到這一點。這對我們的客戶來說也是淨收益。他們得到更多的定價。但是，當你想到我們為他們創造的價值時，它遠遠超過了他們為我們支付的價格，這就是我們的利潤率提高如此之快的關鍵原因之一，也是我們留住客戶並建立均勻關係的關鍵原因之一。我們不斷前進的新關係。總的來說，這對我們的客戶、我們的公司和我們的股東來說都是一個好故事。

Thank you. At this time, we have reached the end of the question-and-answer session. I'll now hand the floor back to Mr. Hedberg for closing remarks.

謝謝。此時，我們的問答環節已經結束了。現在我將把發言權交還給赫德伯格先生作結語。

Thank you. That wraps up our fourth quarter conference call. This conference call and the associated discussion slides will be available for replay on our website. Thank you for your time and participation, and hope everyone has a great rest of your day.

謝謝。我們的第四季電話會議到此結束。本次電話會議和相關討論幻燈片將在我們的網站上重播。感謝您的時間和參與，希望大家有個愉快的一天。

This will conclude today's conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines at this time, and have a wonderful day.

今天的會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開線路，度過美好的一天。