藝康 (ECL) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Ecolab's Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Release Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It's now my pleasure at this time to introduce your host, Andy Hedberg, Vice President, Investor Relations. Mr. Hedberg, you may now begin.

您好，歡迎參加藝康 2024 年第三季財報發布電話會議。（操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。現在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)。赫德伯格先生，您現在可以開始了。

Thank you, and hello, everyone, and welcome to Ecolab's third 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 results are available on Ecolab's website at ecolab.com/investor. Please take a moment to read the cautionary statements 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，歡迎參加藝康第三季電話會議。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、收益發布以及引用季度業績的幻燈片，請訪問 Ecolab 網站：ecolab.com/investor。請花一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 under 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.

這些均為前瞻性陳述，實際結果可能與預測有重大差異。我們最新的表格 10-K 和我們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。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Christophe Beck for his comments.

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. And let me start by thanking our incredible team for their hard work and seamless execution this quarter again. It's because of our team's endless dedication to our customers and commitment to our goals that I have the pleasure of sharing another excellent quarter, delivering broad-based performance across our businesses, end markets and geographies. .

非常感謝你，安迪，歡迎大家參加電話會議。首先，我要再次感謝我們令人難以置信的團隊在本季的辛勤工作和無縫執行。正是由於我們的團隊對客戶的不懈奉獻和對我們目標的承諾，我很高興分享另一個出色的季度，在我們的業務、終端市場和地區提供廣泛的業績。。

Our company has never been as healthy as it is today, and I'm proud to lead such a talented team with such a great future. Moving to the specifics of our performance. Our third quarter was highlighted by strengthening volume growth continued strong value pricing and robust operating income margin expansion. These all combined to deliver 19% growth in adjusted earnings. With this strong momentum, we are increasing once again the midpoint of our full year earnings guidance range.

我們的公司從未像今天這樣健康，我很自豪能夠領導這樣一支才華橫溢的團隊，擁有如此美好的未來。接下來談談我們的具體表現。我們第三季的亮點是銷售成長強勁、價值定價強勁以及營業利潤率強勁擴張。所有這些加起來使調整後收益增加了 19%。憑藉著這種強勁的勢頭，我們再次提高了全年獲利指導範圍的中點。

As expected, organic sales grew 4% and with very healthy growth across our businesses. Importantly, volume growth improved to 2% driven by strong business wins and breakthrough innovation. The Ecolab team also delivered solid value pricing. At the same time, in our targeted 2% to 3% range in a quarter where carryover pricing is at zero and new pricing for 2025 is not in yet. In a world that remains hard to predict, our solutions are more essential than ever to our customers.

正如預期的那樣，有機銷售額成長了 4%，我們的業務成長非常健康。重要的是，在強勁的業務勝利和突破性創新的推動下，銷量成長提高至 2%。Ecolab 團隊也提供了可靠的價值定價。同時，在我們的季度 2% 至 3% 的目標範圍內，結轉定價為零，且 2025 年的新定價尚未出台。在一個仍然難以預測的世界中，我們的解決方案對我們的客戶來說比以往任何時候都更重要。

Backed by our reliable supply and global expertise, our unique technologies are recognized to dramatically enhance productivity while significantly reducing water and energy usage. This solid top line growth helped to further increase our gross margin 220 basis points to 43.5%. Our SG&A productivity also improved consistent with our long-term trends.

在我們可靠的供應和全球專業知識的支持下，我們獨特的技術被認為可以顯著提高生產力，同時顯著減少水和能源的使用。營收的穩健成長幫助我們的毛利率進一步提高了 220 個基點，達到 43.5%。我們的銷售、行政管理 (SG&A) 生產力也得到了提高，與我們的長期趨勢保持一致。

In 2017, our SG&A ratio was over 29%. And today, it's around 27%. This year, we expect it will further improve from 28% in the first half to 26% in the second half even after growth investments in frontline Firepower, digital technologies, and service capabilities.

2017年，我們的SG&A比率超過29%。如今，這一比例約為 27%。今年，即使在一線火力、數位技術和服務能力的投資成長後，我們預計該成長率仍將從上半年的28%進一步提高至下半年的26%。

And on a side note, third quarter SG&A also benefited from FX, which we expect will reverse next quarter. With this, we anticipate fourth quarter's SG&A ratio to be flattish versus last year's fourth quarter, while long-term trends will keep improving 20 to 30 basis points per year.

順便說一句，第三季的銷售、一般管理費用也受益於外匯，我們預計下季這種情況將會逆轉。因此，我們預計第四季度的 SG&A 比率將與去年第四季持平，而長期趨勢將保持每年 20 至 30 個基點的改善。

Overall, our operating income grew 22%. NOI margin expanded by 260 basis points to 17.9%, which is very close to a record third quarter margin for Ecolab. For the full year 2024, we expect NOI margin of around 16.5%, 50 basis points better than our early commitment and 260 basis points better than last year. With our strong margin expansion momentum, my confidence in consistently delivering 12% to 15% long-term EPS growth has only strengthened.

整體而言，我們的營業收入成長了 22%。NOI 利潤率擴大了 260 個基點，達到 17.9%，非常接近藝康第三季創紀錄的利潤率。對於 2024 年全年，我們預計 NOI 利潤率約為 16.5%，比我們早期的承諾好 50 個基點，比去年好 260 個基點。憑藉我們強勁的利潤率擴張勢頭，我對持續實現 12% 至 15% 的長期每股收益成長的信心只會更加堅定。

This will position Ecolab to reach our 20% operating income margin target over the next three years. Now I'd like to transition our attention from Q3 to what our teams are focused on to fuel long-term growth and margin expansion.

這將使 Ecolab 在未來三年內實現 20% 的營業利潤率目標。現在，我想將我們的注意力從第三季轉移到我們團隊的重點，以推動長期成長和利潤率擴張。

Our growth engines in clean tech, high tech and biotech are showing strength and momentum, even if each are at the different stage of development. In the clintech area, institutional and specialty as well as pest elimination are both delivering strong performance, growing 7% and 8%, respectively, with operating income margins north of 20%.

我們在清潔技術、高科技和生物技術領域的成長引擎正在顯示出實力和勢頭，儘管它們各自處於不同的發展階段。在臨床技術領域，機構和專業以及害蟲消除都表現強勁，分別成長了 7% 和 8%，營業收入利潤率超過 20%。

Global High Tech, which includes data center cooling and water for microelectronics is growing at strong double digits. And in biotech, our Life Sciences business remains ahead of the curve in what we believe will be a huge long-term growth opportunity.

全球高科技（包括資料中心冷卻和微電子用水）正以兩位數的強勁成長。在生物技術領域，我們的生命科學業務仍然處於領先地位，我們相信這將是一個巨大的長期成長機會。

Our innovation pipeline also continues to build as we shift our focus from renovation to breakthrough innovation. With nearly $1.5 billion, our 2024 pipeline is at record levels and laser-focused on the biggest opportunities across our clean tech, high tech and biotech platforms.

隨著我們將重點從創新轉向突破性創新，我們的創新管道也不斷建設。我們的 2024 年管道資金接近 15 億美元，達到創紀錄的水平，並專注於我們的清潔技術、高科技和生物技術平台中的最大機會。

Finally, our One Ecolab growth initiative, which seeks to leverage our digital technologies to deliver best-in-class business outcomes, operational performance and environmental impact that every customer location around the world is progressing very well.

最後，我們的 One Ecolab 成長計畫旨在利用我們的數位技術提供一流的業務成果、營運績效和環境影響，世界各地的每個客戶地點都進展順利。

Over the next few years, One Ecolab looks to more quickly unlock our current $55 billion penetration opportunity. Our early focus on our largest and fastest-growing certified customers is showing promising results with significant total value delivered for our customers and a great growth opportunity for Ecolab.

在接下來的幾年中，One Ecolab 希望更快地釋放我們目前 550 億美元的滲透機會。我們早期對最大和成長最快的認證客戶的關注正在顯示出可喜的成果，為我們的客戶提供了巨大的總價值，並為藝康帶來了巨大的成長機會。

With strong long-term business momentum, record free cash flow and the proceeds from the sale of the Surgical Drapes business, our balance sheet is in a very healthy position. This provides us with many options to allocate capital to organic and inorganic growth opportunities. On organic growth, we are well positioned to scale unique customer solutions like our AI dish machine program for QSR and circular water systems for data centers and microelectronic manufacturers.

憑藉強勁的長期業務勢頭、創紀錄的自由現金流以及出售手術單業務的收益，我們的資產負債表處於非常健康的狀態。這為我們提供了多種選擇來將資本分配給有機和無機成長機會。在有機成長方面，我們處於有利地位，可以擴展獨特的客戶解決方案，例如用於 QSR 的 AI 洗碗機專案以及面向資料中心和微電子製造商的循環水系統。

On the acquisition front, we're now in a unique position to enhance our focus on the core fields of water, digital and life sciences to generate strong returns for shareholders. In closing, I said this every quarter, and I'll say it again today. Ecolab's future has never looked brighter.

在收購方面，我們現在處於獨特的地位，可以加強對水、數位和生命科學核心領域的關注，為股東創造豐厚的回報。最後，我每季都會這麼說，今天我還會再說一次。藝康的未來從未如此光明。

Our leading customer value proposition where our technologies help customers improve their operating performance while reducing the water and energy usage is increasingly relevant, especially in unpredictable times and continues to fuel our growth and margin expansion.

我們領先的客戶價值主張，即我們的技術幫助客戶提高營運績效，同時減少水和能源的使用，這一主張越來越重要，特別是在不可預測的時期，並繼續推動我們的成長和利潤擴張。

Simply put, we remain very well positioned to consistently drive 12% to 15% growth in adjusted diluted earnings per share in 2025 and in the years to come. So thanks again for your continued support and naturally your investment in our company. I look forward to your questions.

簡而言之，我們仍然處於有利位置，能夠在 2025 年及未來幾年持續推動調整後稀釋每股收益成長 12% 至 15%。再次感謝您一直以來的支持，當然也感謝您對我們公司的投資。我期待您的提問。

Thanks, Christoph. 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？

(Operator Instructions) Tim Mulrooney, William Blair.

（操作員說明）Tim Mulrooney、William Blair。

So I wanted to talk about volumes a little bit. We saw them accelerating here in the third quarter. It was great to see was slightly above our expectations. I'm curious how you're thinking about that trajectory as we move into the fourth quarter?

所以我想談談體積。我們看到他們在第三季加速成長。很高興看到略高於我們的預期。我很好奇，當我們進入第四季時，您如何看待這一軌跡？

And maybe you could talk about some of the moving pieces here, whether it's institutional, what's happening in their volume-wise or any other business that may be having an outsized impact on that trajectory in volumes?

也許你可以談談這裡的一些變化，無論是機構方面的，在數量方面發生的事情，還是可能對數量軌跡產生巨大影響的任何其他業務？

Thank you, Tim. Yes, I'm very pleased with the 2% growth that we delivered in volume after the 1% in the previous quarter. And especially when it comes with the continuous build in value pricing. It's been quite a long time that we've managed to keep volumes strong, while building pricing, while retaining customers all at the same time, which was quite remarkable what the team has been able to execute for quite a while and especially in the third quarter.

謝謝你，提姆。是的，我對我們的銷量在上一季增長 1% 後實現 2% 的增長感到非常滿意。尤其是當價值定價不斷建立時。It's been quite a long time that we've managed to keep volumes strong, while building pricing, while retaining customers all at the same time, which was quite remarkable what the team has been able to execute for quite a while and especially in the third四分之一.

It's been because our team have been really focused the last few years at selling value for our customers, that's generated obviously record levels of new business and innovation sales. But to your question on how broad-based it is.

這是因為我們的團隊在過去幾年中一直專注於為客戶銷售價值，這顯然創造了新業務和創新銷售的創紀錄水平。但對於你的問題，它的基礎有多廣泛。

That's the best part of it because if I look at all our businesses, most are accelerating in terms of volume, which is good. And I mean, especially pleased with institutional and specialty that are growing and gaining share in a market that's going down.

這是最好的部分，因為如果我看看我們所有的業務，大多數業務的數量都在加速成長，這是很好的。我的意思是，對在不斷下降的市場中不斷增長並獲得份額的機構和專業感到特別滿意。

And it's the same in Industrial as well, where most of our businesses are improving as well. The volume growth also in most markets that are either soft or going down. But if we look at the markets or the geographies, the regions, whatever we want to call them in our company that's pretty remarkable is that we've delivered 4% organic growth when Europe was flat, which means that the rest of the world outside Europe was obviously north of 4%, which is demonstrating how nicely we're growing outside of Europe, which is a difficult place, obviously, to operate.

工業領域也是如此，我們的大多數業務也在改善。大多數疲軟或下降的市場的銷售也出現成長。但如果我們看看市場或地理、區域，無論我們在公司中如何稱呼它們，非常引人注目的是，當歐洲表現平平時，我們實現了 4% 的有機增長，這意味著世界其他地區歐洲的成長率顯然高於4%，這表明我們在歐洲以外的地區成長得有多好，而歐洲顯然是一個很難運作的地方。

But on the other hand, really like the margins that we have over there, but the growth is going to be our priority going forward.

但另一方面，我真的很喜歡我們在那裡的利潤，但成長將是我們未來的首要任務。

Manav Patnaik, Barclays.

馬納夫·帕特奈克，巴克萊銀行。

This is Ron Kennedy on for Manav. May I please ask Christophe as DPC deflation tailwinds fade and inflation normalizes, how do the drivers of margin expansion and the pace of it evolves. So if not mistaken, there would be GM leverage with -- 2% to 3% price over 1% to 2% inflation. But to what extent is that margin expansion depending on volume growth and mix shift, whether it be to high-growth, high-margin businesses or to digital?

我是馬納夫的羅恩‧甘迺迪。我想請問 Christophe，隨著 DPC 通貨緊縮的順風消退和通膨正常化，利潤擴張的驅動因素及其演變速度如何。因此，如果沒有弄錯的話，通用汽車的槓桿率將是－2%至3%的價格超過1%至2%的通膨率。但利潤擴張在多大程度上取決於銷量成長和組合轉變，無論是高成長、高利潤業務還是數位業務？

Yes. Great question, Ron. As you said, we expect delivered product costs to get back to normal inflationary trajectory kind of aligned with inflation as well, kind of a low single-digit growth. We expect that trend by the way to happen in the fourth quarter, as we've mentioned as well early on.

是的。好問題，羅恩。正如您所說，我們預計交付的產品成本將恢復到與通膨一致的正常通膨軌跡，即較低的個位數成長。正如我們早些時候提到的，我們預計這種趨勢將在第四季度發生。

So the fourth quarter will be the inflection point where we've seen some kind of a slight tailwind in Q3, turning point in Q4 and then back to historic level in 2025. That's the way we've been used to deliver as well in the past, and I feel really good about that because the way we're going to deliver is ultimately by staying focused on volume growth, keeping value pricing as well humming as it has so far as well.

因此，第四季度將是一個拐點，我們在第三季度看到某種輕微的順風，在第四季度出現轉折點，然後在 2025 年回到歷史水平。這也是我們過去慣用的交付方式，我對此感覺非常好，因為我們最終要交付的方式是專注於銷售增長，保持價值定價以及嗡嗡作響。

At the same time, we will keep working on SG&A productivity, improving 20 to 30 basis as well on an annual basis, while we keep investing as well in the business as well at the same time.

同時，我們將持續致力於提高 SG&A 生產力，每年提高 20 至 30%，同時我們也將繼續對業務進行投資。

And ultimately, so you end up with this 12% to 15% earnings per share growth, which we expect very clearly to deliver in 2025 and the years beyond as well, which will lead us ultimately to the 20% OI margin that we've committed to and I expect to get there over the next three years. So I feel really good about the trajectory that we have even with DPC delivered product costs getting back to its normal inflationary trends.

最終，每股收益將增長 12% 至 15%，我們非常明確地預計將在 2025 年及以後的幾年中實現這一目標，這將使我們最終實現 20% 的 OI 利潤率我致力於並希望在未來三年內實現這一目標。因此，即使 DPC 交付的產品成本恢復到正常的通膨趨勢，我對我們的發展軌跡感到非常滿意。

Josh Spector, UBS.

喬許‧斯佩克特，瑞銀集團。

I wanted to ask specifically on institutional margins. I mean you continue to do quite well there. However, when I look at margins relative to the past, there's been a lot more seasonality. So margins typically have been higher in the second half versus second quarter and the first half, it kind of stabilized.

我想具體詢問機構利潤。我的意思是你在那裡繼續做得很好。然而，當我觀察相對於過去的利潤率時，我會發現季節性因素多得多。因此，下半年的利潤率通常比第二季更高，而上半年則趨於穩定。

So I was wondering if you could unpack some of the moving parts there between maybe some of the reinvestments, product costs, et cetera. And as you look forward, is this now a more stable margin profile for that segment with some of the changes you made in Europe? Or do you expect that normal seasonality to kind of return? .

所以我想知道你是否可以在一些再投資、產品成本等之間解開一些活動部件。正如您所展望的那樣，隨著您在歐洲所做的一些改變，現在該細分市場的利潤率狀況是否更加穩定？或者您預計正常的季節性會回歸嗎？。

Thank you, Josh. I'll give that question to Scott and I'll add a few comments, if needed, after that.

謝謝你，喬許。我會將這個問題交給斯科特，然後如果需要的話我會添加一些評論。

Yes, absolutely. Thanks, Josh. As you noted, the margin performance in Institutional Specialty has been exceptional. Q3, their OI margin was up 380 basis points versus last year. You talked to the seasonality. Certainly, sales tend to be higher in the summer there.

是的，絕對是。謝謝，喬許。正如您所指出的，機構專業的利潤率表現非常出色。第三季度，他們的 OI 利潤率比去年上升了 380 個基點。你談到了季節性。當然，夏季的銷售額往往會更高。

Sequentially, we saw a very modest decline in Q2 to Q3, like 20 basis points. But that's really to your point, we're investing in that business as we are elsewhere, making field investments there. And so that's really what drove that just sequential decline Q2 to Q3, but very happy with the margin expansion there, performing well.

接下來，我們看到第二季到第三季的下降幅度非常小，例如 20 個基點。但這確實符合您的觀點，我們正在投資該業務，就像我們在其他地方一樣，在那裡進行實地投資。因此，這確實是導致第二季至第三季連續下降的原因，但對利潤率的擴張非常滿意，表現良好。

As Christoph said, in markets that are not helping. But given what we do, the labour savings are more important to ever to our customers and quarters move around, as you said. So I would expect OI margins for institutional, especially on a full year basis, around about 22%. So right around our long-term target.

正如克里斯托夫所說，在沒有幫助的市場。但正如您所說，鑑於我們所做的事情，節省勞動力對於我們的客戶和宿舍流動比以往任何時候都更加重要。因此，我預計機構的 OI 利潤率（尤其是全年）約為 22% 左右。就在我們的長期目標周圍。

John Roberts, Mizuho Securities.

約翰·羅伯茨，瑞穗證券。

There are currently outbreaks at a major (technical difficulty) provider in a major QSR. When something like this happens, do you pivot the sales force to leverage that as a teaching moment for your customers? And drive more penetration?

目前，一家主要 QSR 的主要（技術難度）供應商爆發了疫情。當發生類似情況時，您是否會調整銷售人員的策略，將其作為對客戶的教學機會？並推動更多滲透？

It's an interesting question. And it's always sad that it happens usually with a huge impact on human lives. And I feel really so sorry for all what happened. And every time happens as well when all things are happening on the market.

這是一個有趣的問題。令人悲傷的是，這種情況的發生通常會對人類生活產生巨大影響。我對所發生的一切感到非常抱歉。當市場上所有事情都發生時，每次都會發生。

And we really stepped back and look at -- it's never been happening to one of our customers just first. That's important to remember. And when it happens to some of those companies, we'll reach out. And we offer our services and almost every time after a while, they come to us and we work together in order to bring them to the right place. .

我們真的退後一步看看——這種情況從來沒有先發生在我們的客戶身上。記住這一點很重要。當其中一些公司發生這種情況時，我們會伸出援手。我們提供服務，幾乎每次一段時間後，他們都會來找我們，我們一起努力將他們帶到正確的地方。。

But most importantly, we talk about that to our new customers that haven't gone through those outbreaks, our current customers as well what we've learned from it. So we never leverage that as a sales opportunity. We leverage that as a learning opportunity to use (technical difficulty) as well as here and almost every single time those companies come and join us to do the right thing, the right way and ultimately, to protect guests, patients, consumers which is part of our mission as a company.

但最重要的是，我們向尚未經歷過這些疫情爆發的新客戶、我們現有的客戶以及我們從中學到的東西談論這一點。所以我們從不利用它作為銷售機會。我們利用這一點作為學習機會（技術難度），以及幾乎每次這些公司來加入我們，以正確的方式做正確的事情，並最終保護客人、患者和消費者，這是我們的一部分我們作為一家公司的使命。

John McNulty, BMO Capital Markets.

約翰·麥克納爾蒂 (John McNulty)，BMO 資本市場部。

I was hoping you could speak to the growth that you're seeing in the electronics and data center area and how you see that playing out over the next 12 to 24 months? And is it largely coming from existing data centers that are now converting over to and seeing the value kind of that your solutions bring? Or is it new data centers coming online? How should we be thinking about that?

我希望您能談談您在電子和資料中心領域看到的成長以及您如何看待未來 12 到 24 個月的發展？它主要來自現有的資料中心嗎？還是新的資料中心即將上線？我們該如何思考這個問題？

Thank you, John. It's a very interesting set of end market. So we call it global high tech, but it's really too complementary but differentiated end markets, microelectronics, obviously, the production of microprocessors and data centers.

謝謝你，約翰。這是一組非常有趣的終端市場。所以我們稱之為全球高科技，但它確實是互補性太強但又差異化的終端市場，微電子，顯然是微處理器和資料中心的生產。

They're related, but different. And to your question, is it existing or new ones? It's both. We try to focus as much as we can to the new ones because we can embed our technology in the whole design of the data center or of the microelectronic production site called a fab usually, but we work on both, actually.

它們是相關的，但又不同。對於你的問題，它是現有的還是新的？兩者都是。我們盡可能地專注於新技術，因為我們可以將我們的技術嵌入到資料中心或通常稱為晶圓廠的微電子生產場地的整個設計中，但實際上，我們兩者都在努力。

Maybe just for perspective as well. When I think about AI in the next five years, so 2025 to 2030, when you think about it, AI uses 4% of the power that's generated electricity in the US today. It's expected to use 10% to 15% by 2030.

也許也只是為了觀點。當我考慮未來五年（即 2025 年至 2030 年）的人工智慧時，你會發現人工智慧使用的電力佔當今美國發電量的 4%。預計2030年將使用10%至15%。

At the same time, AI globally will require as much water to cool those data centers than the drinking needs of the whole of India in the next five years. So we thought that we were heading for a water scarce world well with AI, it's just gotten way more acute.

同時，未來五年，全球人工智慧冷卻這些資料中心所需的水量將超過整個印度的飲用水需求量。因此，我們認為人工智慧正在走向一個水資源匱乏的世界，但情況變得更加嚴重。

So the fact that we're talking to those high-tech companies, they're very familiar with that challenge. And in the micro processing world (technical difficulty). We help them produce those microprocessors in ways that we use and recycle water at every step of the production process, which is really complicated to do in the past, while they were generating wastewater that they had to either dump or try to treat before the dump it, never to reuse it.

事實上，我們正​​在與那些高科技公司交談，他們非常熟悉這項挑戰。在微處理領域（技術難度）。我們幫助他們生產這些微處理器，在生產過程的每一步都使用和回收水，這在過去確實很複雜，而他們產生的廢水必須傾倒或在傾倒前嘗試進行處理它，永遠不要重複使用它。

Well, all the new technologies that we are deploying with our customers, we use this and recycled water, so within the fab. And for the data centers, technologies are evolving. Up to now, most of the data centers were cooled because you were cooling the room where the computer was in and tomorrow, it will be so cooling the chip that's within the computer and it's called direct chip cooling.

好吧，我們與客戶一起部署的所有新技術，我們都在工廠內使用它和回收水。對於資料中心來說，科技正在不斷發展。到目前為止，大多數資料中心都得到了冷卻，因為你正在冷卻電腦所在的房間，而明天，它將冷卻電腦內的晶片，這被稱為直接晶片冷卻。

And in both cases, we have some very good offering and innovations to help them do that job as well in ways that they're reducing water usage in dramatic ways. When they reduce water usage, they reduce power usage as well at the same time they improve the uptime as well and they reduce their cost, which is a very Ecolab-like type of model.

在這兩種情況下，我們都有一些非常好的產品和創新來幫助他們完成這項工作，並大幅減少用水量。當他們減少用水量時，他們也減少了電力使用量，同時也提高了正常運行時間，並降低了成本，這是一種非常類似於 Ecolab 的模型類型。

So we've created dedicated teams both for data centers and for microelectronics in very dedicated markets because that's not happening everywhere around the world, as we know, and really likes what we're building, what we have built, the performance of that business and I expect it to become a major driver for us in the years to come.

因此，我們在非常專業的市場中為資料中心和微電子領域創建了專門的團隊，因為正如我們所知，這種情況在世界各地都沒有發生，我們非常喜歡我們正在建立的內容、我們已經構建的內容以及該業務的績效我預計它將成為我們未來幾年的主要推動力。

Jason Hass, Wells Fargo.

傑森‧哈斯，富國銀行。

I'm curious if you could comment on the deceleration in the Water segment. I recognize it's relatively slight, but I was curious if that was entirely driven by mining or are there any other factors in if there is some softness in mind, can you just talk about when you would expect to see some improvement there.

我很好奇您是否可以對水領域的減速發表評論。我承認這是相對輕微的，但我很好奇這是否完全是由採礦驅動的，或者是否有任何其他因素，如果心裡有一些軟弱，你能談談你預計什麼時候會看到一些改善嗎？

Jason. You gave the answer, actually. So water is very stable growth as we had in Q2 was impacted by mining, which is the smallest business by the way, which has a tendency to be more lumpy, not cyclical, but lumpy. It's in remote places.

傑森.其實你已經給答案了因此，水的成長非常穩定，因為我們在第二季度受到採礦業的影響，順便說一下，採礦業是最小的業務，它傾向於更加不穩定，不是週期性的，而是不穩定的。是在偏僻的地方。

You send all those products as well in long distance as well. it's not every quarter is created equal, and that's the only reason for the water trend otherwise our businesses are doing really well, and they're trending up as well at the same time, which is a good thing.

您也可以長途發送所有這些產品。並不是每個季度都是平等的，這是水趨勢的唯一原因，否則我們的業務做得非常好，並且同時呈上升趨勢，這是一件好事。

Patrick Cunningham, Citi.

派崔克‧坎寧安，花旗銀行。

So I know it's early days, but could you -- could you discuss how the One Ecolab initiative is progressing in terms of commercial buy-in, value pricing and some of the modest cost efficiencies you laid out in the prior call. And then you mentioned the early focus on the largest 35 customers. But what's been the feedback from those customers? .

所以我知道現在還為時過早，但是您能否討論一下 One Ecolab 計劃在商業支援、價值定價以及您在上一次電話會議中提出的一些適度成本效率方面的進展情況。然後您提到了早期對最大 35 個客戶的關注。但這些客戶的回饋如何？。

So let me give the first part of the question to Scott, and then I'll talk a little bit more about the so-called 35 top customers.

因此，讓我向 Scott 提出問題的第一部分，然後我將更多地談論所謂的 35 位頂級客戶。

Yes. As we talked about last quarter, we've really just launched the program. And as you said, it's very much focused on growth, really getting after accelerating to our 5% to 7% targeted sales growth, focusing on our biggest customers, leveraging the teams that we have, but very focused on growth.

是的。正如我們上季度談到的那樣，我們實際上剛剛啟動了該計劃。正如您所說，我們非常注重成長，真正實現了 5% 到 7% 的目標銷售成長，專注於我們最大的客戶，利用我們現有的團隊，但非常注重成長。

The savings are pretty incidental to the program, frankly, but like the way it's going, getting to this best-in-class performance, the best restaurant, best hotel, data centers within our network and really transforming the way we working with these largest customers to get after and it really accelerates that $55 billion opportunity, cross-sell opportunity that we have.

坦白說，節省的成本對於該計劃來說是偶然的，但就像它的發展方式一樣，在我們的網路中獲得一流的性能、最好的餐廳、最好的酒店、數據中心，並真正改變我們與這些最大的公司合作的方式來吸引客戶，這確實加速了我們擁有的價值 550 億美元的交叉銷售機會。

So to be a little bit on that. So it's a combination of three things. I've shared early on, on previous calls as well here. So it's to do exactly what Scott has been talking about, really so penetrating much bigger share of the $55 billion that we have as a penetration opportunity within all customers. And it's -- the total opportunity for the top 35 is $5 billion, and half of it we don't have. So that's a penetration opportunity that we have.

所以要稍微談談這一點。所以這是三件事的結合。我很早就在之前的電話會議上分享過，也在這裡分享過。因此，我們要做的就是史考特一直在談論的事情，真正滲透到我們擁有的 550 億美元中更大的份額，作為滲透到所有客戶的機會。前 35 名的總機會是 50 億美元，而我們沒有其中一半。所以這是我們擁有的滲透機會。

But second, it's up to our team as well to figure out what's the path in order to deliver that penetration opportunity while delivering so the value for our customers. And third, it's to drive the productivity, which is third priority, but we'll take it.

但其次，我們的團隊也需要弄清楚如何提供滲透機會，同時為我們的客戶提供價值。第三，它是提高生產力，這是第三個優先事項，但我們會接受它。

The technology helps us improve our productivity, which helps us invest while keeping improving productivity as well at the same time. So one comment for the top 35, which is a combination of our largest 20 customers plus our emerging 15. So those are the ones with the potential to become one of the top 2/3 in the future.

這項技術幫助我們提高生產力，這有助於我們在不斷提高生產力的同時進行投資。前 35 位客戶是我們最大的 20 位客戶加上我們新興的 15 位客戶的組合。所以這些人是未來有潛力成為前2/3之一的人。

The reception from our customers has been very positive because the way we sell is evolving. In the past, we've been selling so much more annually, incrementally, what are the new things I can do for you. Tomorrow, we're selling very differently and it's saying, well, if one customer has a lot of facilities, locations, units, restaurants, while we can help them understand if all your units were performing at the best performing unit, what would be the potential.

我們的銷售方式正在不斷發展，因此客戶的反應非常正面。過去，我們每年的銷售量都在遞增，我可以為您做哪些新的事情。明天，我們的銷售方式將大不相同，也就是說，如果一位客戶擁有很多設施、地點、單位、餐廳，而我們可以幫助他們了解，如果您的所有單位都以表現最佳的單位表現，那麼會是什麼？

And that's the new way of selling saying, well, you can get that much savings in your operation in all three elements: first, your business outcome. It can be food safety in a restaurant example. The second is the operational performance. And third is the environmental impact. You add all three , you get to a dollar impact, you translate that in the total value delivered and we develop a plan in order to deliver that, that's driving growth for us. performance for our customers.

這是一種新的銷售方式，也就是說，您可以在營運中從所有三個要素中獲得如此多的節省：首先，您的業務成果。這可以是餐廳食品安全的例子。二是經營業績。第三是環境影響。將這三個因素相加，就會產生美元影響，將其轉化為交付的總價值，我們制定一個計劃來實現這一目標，這將推動我們的成長。為我們的客戶提供卓越的性能。

And our customers have been very pleased with that approach. And to be honest, it was customers that were asking us to approach them that way. So it made obviously the sale to those customers much easier, early in the journey but very promising so far.

我們的客戶對這種方法非常滿意。老實說，是客戶要求我們以這種方式接近他們。因此，它顯然使向這些客戶的銷售變得更加容易，在旅程的早期，但到目前為止非常有希望。

Chris Parkinson, Wolfe Research.

克里斯帕金森，沃爾夫研究中心。

Chris, you continue to put up pretty good results in pest elimination. Just the margin was just a touch a bit lighter than we were anticipating. Can you just hit on any color? I think that's a pretty asset-light business. So -- is there a head count investment there?

克里斯，你在消滅害蟲方面繼續取得了很好的成果。只是利潤比我們預期的少一點。你可以選擇任何顏色嗎？我認為這是一個相當輕資產的業務。那麼──那裡有人員投資嗎？

Is there innovation in terms of your digital efforts? Just any color on how we should think about the growth rate relative to the margin progress even if you just want to hit on it longer term, would be incredibly helpful.

您的數位化工作有創新嗎？即使您只是想實現長期目標，只要任何關於我們應該如何考慮相對於利潤率成長的成長率的顏色，都會非常有幫助。

Yes, you said it, Chris. It's a remarkable business. So high single-digit organic growth, high margin, insane return on invested capital because there's almost no capital that's being invested in that business, obviously the combination of high margin low capital or drive huge returns as well at the same time.

是的，你說過，克里斯。這是一門了不起的生意。如此高的個位數有機成長、高利潤率、瘋狂的投資資本回報率，因為幾乎沒有資本投資於該業務，顯然高利潤率低資本的結合或同時帶來了巨大的回報。

When we compare ourselves with other companies, large companies out there, and there's only four. So it's pretty easy that are large and then you have a zillion of smaller ones that represent the lion's share of the market, by the way, as well. We are the best-performing business in the world as well.

當我們與其他公司比較時，大公司只有四家。因此，很容易，規模較大，然後就有無數較小的規模，順便說一句，它們也代表了市場的最大份額。我們也是世界上表現最好的企業。

So when we look at that combination, best-performing business in the world are great performance versus all our businesses as well that we have. Well, it's pretty easy come to the conclusion that we should invest more behind that business and exactly what we're doing, what we've been doing as well over the past few quarters, and that's impacting the margin short term, but for good results are obviously long term. And to your question, where do we invest? It's basically in three areas.

因此，當我們考慮這種組合時，世界上表現最好的業務與我們所有的業務相比都表現出色。嗯，很容易得出這樣的結論：我們應該在該業務以及我們正在做的事情以及過去幾個季度我們一直在做的事情上投入更多資金，這會影響短期利潤率，但這是好的結果顯然是長期的。對於你的問題，我們在哪裡投資？基本上是三個方面。

The first one is in innovation. You've heard about our pest intelligence business, which is ultimately connecting the millions of devices that we have around the world in order to simplify the work that our teams need to do in a big conference center, well, you might have 500 devices over there, you need eight hours to get it done.

第一個是創新。您聽說過我們的害蟲情報業務，該業務最終將連接我們在世界各地擁有的數百萬台設備，以簡化我們的團隊需要在大型會議中心完成的工作，好吧，您可能擁有超過500 台設備在那裡，你需要八個小時才能完成它。

With test intelligence, you need 20 minutes to get the same job done and you have a better result as well in terms of activity in those locations. So better for us, better for the customer and better for the shareholder because it's a great added value business as such.

借助測試智能，您只需 20 分鐘即可完成相同的工作，並且在這些位置的活動方面也能獲得更好的結果。這對我們更好，對客戶更好，對股東也更好，因為它本身就是一項巨大的增值業務。

The second is to invest in our team, it sales firepower to sell more better to more customers around the world. And the third one is to invest in smaller bolt-on acquisitions, all focused on commercial, sometimes some residential is coming with it, but this is absolutely not our focus. We have commercial B2B business here, that's where we want to be in the future.

第二是投資我們的團隊，它的銷售火力能夠賣得更多、更好給全球更多的客戶。第三個是投資規模較小的補強收購，全部集中在商業上，有時有些住宅也會隨之而來，但這絕對不是我們的重點。我們這裡有商業B2B業務，這就是我們未來想要發展的方向。

So all in all, a great business that I believe has much more potential for the future. That's why we're investing behind it as well, and that has impact on the margin short term, but for great return long term.

總而言之，我相信這是一家偉大的企業，未來具有更大的潛力。這就是為什麼我們也在背後進行投資，這對短期利潤率有影響，但從長遠來看會帶來巨大的回報。

Shlomo Rosenbaum, Stifel.

什洛莫·羅森鮑姆，斯蒂菲爾。

Christoph, the margin is definitely doing better than expected and it looks like you put a framework in terms of time-wise into where to get when to get to 20%, you said the next three years. I was wondering a little bit more shifting on to the revenue side of things in terms of growth.

Christoph，利潤率肯定比預期的要好，而且看起來你在時間方面製定了一個框架，確定在哪裡、何時達到 20%，你說未來三年。我想知道在成長方面更多地轉向收入方面。

With declining raw material costs, that tailwind kind of now going to be behind you. Should we expect you to be leaning more into pricing? Should we expect that volume is going to get better with the investment in the resources? I'm just trying to map to what will be maybe 4% to 5% growth this year to getting to the 5% to 7%, which is your targeted range?

隨著原料成本的下降，這種順風將會成為過去。我們是否應該期望您更專注於定價？我們是否應該預期隨著資源投資，銷售會變得更好？我只是想將今年的成長率從 4% 到 5% 調整到 5% 到 7%，這是您的目標範圍嗎？

Well, ultimately, I want to get to that targeted range, obviously. That's going to take some time to get there. That's the beauty of our business. It's very consistent, very long-term, good momentum. And it's going to be a combination of volume and pricing.

嗯，顯然，最終我想達到這個目標範圍。這需要一些時間才能到達那裡。這就是我們業務的美妙之處。這是非常一致的、非常長期的、良好的動力。這將是數量和價格的結合。

I think the two to three on pricing range that I've been talking about and that we've been delivering as well in 2024, seems to be the sweet spot. We didn't know exactly where it would be. In the past, pre-Covid was 1 to 1.5, and we see that (technical difficulty) seems to be the sweet spot going forward and the balance is on the volume side.

我認為我一直在談論的以及我們在 2024 年提供的 2 到 3 個定價範圍似乎是最佳選擇。我們不知道它到底在哪裡。過去，新冠疫情之前的比例是 1 比 1.5，我們看到（技術難度）似乎是未來的最佳點，而平衡點則在數量方面。

Interestingly enough, when I look at all our sales of all our businesses, close to 60% of our portfolio today is already within the range that we committed to at Investor Day 1.5 years ago when we were together. So the majority of our business are already humming in the right direction.

有趣的是，當我查看我們所有業務的所有銷售額時，我們今天的投資組合中近 60% 已經在 1.5 年前我們在一起時在投資者日承諾的範圍內。因此，我們的大部分業務已經朝著正確的方向發展。

And when I look at the opportunity we have out of the penetration the 55 billion that I talked about just before as well, our new growth engine in water circularity in high tech, in pest elimination, in life sciences, the whole breakthrough innovation portfolio that's coming online as well.

當我看到我們在滲透率 550 億美元中所擁有的機會時，我之前也談過，我們在高科技、害蟲消除、生命科學、水循環、整個突破性創新組合方面的新增長引擎也將上線。

And last but not least, the monetization of our digital offering as well at the same time, makes me feel good about our progression towards that committed range of the five to seven.

最後但並非最不重要的一點是，我們的數位產品的貨幣化同時也讓我對我們朝著五到七的承諾範圍的進展感到滿意。

But what's important is when I commit to the 12 to 15, we don't need the five to seven to get there. That's why for next year, even if we keep progressing nicely, so quarter-over-quarter towards that range, we'll be delivering the 12% to 15% as well at the same time because value pricing is driving, obviously, 100% margin.

但重要的是，當我承諾 12 到 15 個目標時，我們不需要 5 到 7 個目標來實現目標。這就是為什麼明年，即使我們繼續取得良好進展，逐季度朝著這個範圍邁進，我們也將同時提供 12% 至 15%，因為價值定價顯然正在推動 100%利潤。

Volume is going to help, and we keep driving productivity. As Scott has mentioned as well. So with the One Ecolab initiative were expected to have 20 to 30 basis points SG&A improvement longer term we keep investing 20 to 30 basis points as well in the three big categories that I mentioned as well on earlier calls. So generally nice progression towards the range that we want to accomplish.

數量會有所幫助，我們會持續提高生產力。正如斯科特也提到的。因此，隨著 One Ecolab 計畫的實施，長期來看，SG&A 改善預計將有 20 到 30 個基點，我們將繼續在我先前電話會議中提到的三大類別上投資 20 到 30 個基點。總的來說，朝著我們想要實現的目標範圍取得了不錯的進展。

David Begleiter, Deutsche Bank.

大衛‧貝格萊特，德意志銀行。

Christophe, staying on value pricing, how should we think about for next year in terms of being closer to 2% or closer to 3%? What are the key drivers for the lower and upper end of that band?

Christophe，堅持價值定價，明年我們應該如何考慮接近 2% 或接近 3% 的情況？此區間下限和上限的關鍵驅動因素是什麼？

It's going to be between two and three, David, and we always around that number to make your life a bit easier. So sometimes it falls on the two, sometimes it falls on the three , but you've seen this year, it's gone pretty well.

大衛，這個數字會在兩到三之間，我們總是圍繞著這個數字，讓你的生活更輕鬆。所以有時它落在兩個人身上，有時它落在三個人身上，但你已經看到今年，一切進展得很好。

We had 2% in Q3 because as mentioned in my open as well, you have no carryover left in the third quarter, and you don't have the new pricing for the coming year in there either as well. So it's kind of the lowest pricing quarter. That's always the case. It's not a new thing.

我們在第三季有 2%，因為正如我在公開中提到的，第三季沒有結轉，也沒有來年的新定價。所以這是定價最低的季度。情況總是如此。這不是什麼新鮮事。

But I feel good with this two to three , as mentioned, feels like the sweet spot, we're going to try, obviously, to get as high as we can on that range. But now, since we just have a few quarters and our belt of that I want to make sure that I stay within that range.

但我對這 2 到 3 個感覺很好，正如前面提到的，感覺就像是最佳點，顯然，我們將嘗試在這個範圍內達到盡可能高的水平。但現在，由於我們只有幾個季度和我們的腰帶，我想確保我保持在這個範圍內。

We feel really good about that and the closer we can be on the upper side, the better it will be. The very good news is that, as I've mentioned many times, we drive that value pricing based on the TVD, so the total value delivered that we deliver for our customers. The savings in the operation business outcome, operational performance, and environmental impact.

我們對此感覺非常好，我們越接近領先優勢就越好。好消息是，正如我多次提到的，我們根據 TVD 推動價值定價，也就是我們為客戶提供的總價值。營運業務成果、營運績效和環境影響的節省。

And that TVD number is way higher than the pricing that we are delivering, which is demonstrating that net-net, it's a very good deal for our customers, and it's obviously a very good deal for us. So I feel really good about saying, getting in that range and having it very stable for the longer run.

TVD 數字遠高於我們提供的定價，這表明，這對我們的客戶來說是一筆非常划算的交易，顯然對我們來說也是一筆非常划算的交易。所以我覺得很高興地說，進入這個範圍並從長遠來看保持非常穩定。

Pavel Molchanov, Raymond James.

帕維爾·莫爾恰諾夫，雷蒙德·詹姆斯。

You had a divestiture this year, but I'm not sure that you've acquired anything since 2023. What are your latest thoughts on the M&A front?

你們今年進行了資產剝離，但我不確定你們自 2023 年以來是否收購了任何東西。您對併購的最新想法是什麼？

So we don't comment too much on M&A, obviously. So it's a lumpy proposition by design. Obviously, we can't plan too much in advance. But let me share some perspective on that. So we have a great track record of M&A. If I look at the 10 years behind us. We did roughly 100 transactions, smaller, bigger ones, so we have a lot of experience on how to get really, really well with a very high success rate.

因此，顯然我們不會對併購發表太多評論。所以這是一個設計上很複雜的提議。顯然，我們不能提前計劃太多。但讓我分享一些對此的看法。因此，我們在併購方面擁有良好的記錄。如果我看看我們身後的10年。我們進行了大約 100 筆交易，無論規模大小，因此我們在如何獲得非常非常好的交易以及非常高的成功率方面擁有豐富的經驗。

The second point is -- as mentioned in my opening, we are in a great place from a balance sheet perspective, very low leverage, great cash flow, so a very strong, very healthy balance sheet. And the third point is our M&A pipeline that we've been nurturing for years continuously is very strong and very focused on the 3B areas.

第二點是－正如我在開場白中提到的，從資產負債表的角度來看，我們處於一個很好的位置，槓桿率非常低，現金流很大，因此資產負債表非常強勁、非常健康。第三點是我們多年來不斷培育的併購管道非常強大，並且非常專注於3B領域。

I've mentioned all the time, the first one being in water technology. but high technology, not basic technology. Second, it's digital and high tech and third is in life science. So those are the three big areas. So I feel good with what we've done in the past, the position that we're in, in terms of firepower.

我一直提到，第一個是水技術。但高科技，不是基礎技術。其次，它是數位和高科技領域，第三是生命科學領域。這就是三大領域。因此，我對我們過去所做的事情以及我們在火力方面所處的位置感到滿意。

And third, in terms of opportunities that we have -- so can't comment much on what's going to happen, but we're best positioned ultimately to capture whatever would make sense for shareholders and for the company.

第三，就我們擁有的機會而言，因此無法對將要發生的事情發表太多評論，但我們最終處於最佳位置，可以抓住對股東和公司有意義的任何東西。

Jeff Zekauskas, JPMorgan.

傑夫‧澤考斯卡斯，摩根大通。

Year-on-year, was volume growth in industrial close to zero and volume growth in Institutional and Specialty close to four. And in terms of your 20% longer-term margin target, in three years. Would you reach that if you were at the bottom of your 5% to 7% sales range or do you need to be at the top or it doesn't matter, you'll get there anyway.

與去年同期相比，工業領域的銷售成長接近零，機構和專業領域的銷售成長接近四。就三年內 20% 的長期利潤目標而言。如果您處於 5% 到 7% 銷售範圍的底部，您會達到這個目標嗎？

I feel really good about getting there for all the reasons that I've mentioned as well earlier. We don't need to be at 7%. 7% is obviously easier than 5%. 5% is in a very good place to be to get to this 20%, but if we were to continue on the track we now, so the four to five, which is not my objective obviously so we want to keep accelerating our top line as well, but the environment plays a role as well around us. We would get to this 20% over the next three years.

由於我之前提到的所有原因，我對到達那裡感覺非常好。我們不需要達到 7%。 7%顯然比5%容易。 5% 是達到 20% 的一個非常好的位置，但如果我們繼續沿著現在的軌道前進，那麼四到五，這顯然不是我的目標，所以我們希望繼續加速我們的營收同樣，我們周圍的環境也發揮作用。我們將在未來三年內達到這個 20%。

If you do the math, with the 12% to 15% by year for the next three years, you get very close to that. You add a few other things as well like the One Ecolab initiative, and you get there pretty mechanically. We all know over the next few years are going to be from an external world perspective. We're going to react to that as we've done in the past as well, but I feel really good, Jeff, about delivering that in the next three years, as mentioned earlier.

如果你算一下，未來三年每年成長 12% 到 15%，你就非常接近這個數字了。你還添加了一些其他的東西，例如 One Ecolab 計劃，然後你就可以很機械地到達那裡。我們都知道未來幾年將會從外在世界的角度來看。我們也會像過去那樣對此做出反應，但傑夫，正如前面提到的，我對在未來三年內實現這一目標感覺非常好。

And then the volume growth question.

然後是銷量成長問題。

The volume growth question, as mentioned, so to get within this 2% to 3% is obviously a 1% to 2% -- sorry, and 2% to 3% on the value pricing. Is the base case to get to the 20%. Anything that comes on top of that will help us get there quicker.

正如前面提到的，銷售成長問題，因此要達到 2% 到 3% 的範圍，顯然是 1% 到 2%——抱歉，價值定價是 2% 到 3%。是達到 20% 的基本情況。除此之外的任何事情都將幫助我們更快地實現這一目標。

I'm sorry, I meant for the quarter, was industrial close to zero and institutional close to four in the quarter. .

抱歉，我的意思是本季工業接近零，機構接近四。。

Year-on-year, Jeff, just to understand that well. Yes, we had INS in Q3 was -- I'm looking at the table here north of 3% and Industrial is a bit north of 1% in Q3.

傑夫，年復一年，只是為了很好地理解這一點。是的，我們在第三季的 INS 是——我正在看這裡的表格，在第三季的 3% 之上，工業在第三季的 1% 之上一點。

Laurence Alexander, Jefferies.

勞倫斯·亞歷山大，杰弗里斯。

It's Dan Rizzo on for Laurence. I was just wondering if you've ever really talked about how much is cannibalization new technologies does of some existing products, if at all? And if you ever really talked about the vitality index for you guys?

丹·里佐 (Dan Rizzo) 替補勞倫斯 (Laurence)。我只是想知道您是否真正談論過新技術對某些現有產品的蠶食作用有多大（如果有的話）？你們是否真正談論過你們的活力指數？

So the vitality index, the way we calculate it, it's sort of sales of new products introduced within the last five years. That's our definition. That's the one that we've been using so over a very long time. It's around 30% plus and it's growing with our increased focus on breakthrough innovations, so really pleased with that.

因此，活力指數，我們計算它的方式，是過去五年內推出的新產品的銷售量。這就是我們的定義。這就是我們已經使用了很長時間的那個。它增加了大約 30% 以上，並且隨著我們對突破性創新的日益關注而不斷增長，所以對此感到非常滿意。

And the cannibalization, we don't really disclose that number, but it's a very high, especially on the innovation side and most importantly, all new products and offering coming in the market are incremental at margins, and this is the number one objective that we have.

至於蠶食，我們並沒有真正揭露這個數字，但它是一個非常高的數字，特別是在創新方面，最重要的是，市場上所有新產品和產品的利潤都是增量的，這是我們的首要目標我們有。

(technical difficulty) 30% growing? Is there a target you guys have for the -- over the next, say, five years or three years, given what you've laid out before with your sales growth target?

（技術難度）30%成長？鑑於你們先前所訂定的銷售成長目標，你們在未來五年或三年內是否有一個目標？

Can you ask again? I'm not (technical difficulty)

可以再問一下嗎？我不是（技術難度）

Vitality index at 30%, but growing. Given your sales growth targets, what is -- is there a target for Vitality Index? Do you expect it to get up to north of 40% or higher? Or is that -- I mean, I just -- how should we think about the growth from here?

活力指數為30%，但仍在成長。考慮到您的銷售成長目標，活力指數有目標嗎？您預計它會達到 40% 或更高嗎？或者是——我的意思是，我只是——我們該如何考慮這裡的成長？

It's going to be north of 30%. We haven't committed to a number out there. So for me, the quality of innovation is more important than just a number. as well here because it's this big shift that we've made. The 30% in the past was mostly renovation of existing products and offering that we provided to our customer.

它將超過 30%。我們還沒有承諾具體數字。所以對我來說，創新的品質比數字更重要。這裡也是如此，因為這是我們所做的重大轉變。過去的 30% 主要是對現有產品和我們提供給客戶的產品進行改造。

Now almost half of that innovation pipeline, which is at record level, is what we call breakthrough innovation. That's an end-to-end solution data center, as I shared before, for microelectronics manufacturer for a brewer or for a restaurant, making sure that their performance reaches the best-in-class level of performance as well.

現在，處於創紀錄水平的創新管道中幾乎有一半是我們所說的突破性創新。正如我之前分享的，這是一個端到端解決方案資料中心，適用於微電子製造商、啤酒廠或餐廳，確保他們的性能也達到一流的性能水平。

So the impact of our innovation is shifting way more in terms of driving performance for our customers and driving our top line and most importantly, our margin as well at the same time. So the 30% is going to go up. But most importantly, the quality of the innovation pipeline is going to be much better.

因此，我們創新的影響正在發生更大的變化，為我們的客戶提高績效，提高我們的營收，最重要的是，同時提高我們的利潤。所以30%將會上漲。但最重要的是，創新通路的品質將會大大提升。

Ashish Sabadra, RBC Capital Markets.

Ashish Sabadra，加拿大皇家銀行資本市場。

I was just wondering how should we think about the benefits of the growth investments in frontline digital technology and service capabilities as we approach fiscal year 25 in terms of like the pricing tailwinds or volume growth but also operating efficiency. So any incremental color?

我只是想知道，當我們接近第 25 財年時，我們應該如何考慮對一線數位技術和服務能力進行成長投資的好處，例如定價順勢或銷售成長以及營運效率。那麼有增量顏色嗎？

So the best way to think about it, Ashish, is that it's fuelling obviously our acceleration towards the 5% to 7%, helping us get obviously, so to the 20% OI margin over the next three years as mentioned. It's three components. One is the sales via power, more people on the street, more efficient at doing it as well. Second, it's digital technologies; and third, its service capabilities like the One Ecolab initiative that you heard as well from Scott a little bit early on as well.

因此，Ashish，最好的思考方式是，它顯然正在加速我們向 5% 至 7% 的目標加速，幫助我們在未來三年內實現 20% 的 OI 利潤率。它由三個組成部分組成。一是透過權力進行銷售，街上的人越多，銷售效率也越高。其次是數位技術；第三，它的服務能力，例如您很早就從 Scott 那裡聽到的 One Ecolab 計劃。

But what's important is we make those investments while driving a net productivity improvement as well at the same time, that's why I shared with you a little bit the numbers here. We think about in the years to come, 20 to 30 basis points of our sales in growth investments in the years to come and still getting 20 to 30 basis points of SG&A productivity improvement while we do that.

但重要的是，我們在進行這些投資的同時，也推動了淨生產力的提高，這就是為什麼我在這裡與大家分享一些數字。我們考慮在未來幾年中，我們的銷售額將成長 20 至 30 個基點進行成長投資，同時我們這樣做的同時，SG&A 生產力仍將提高 20 至 30 個基點。

So the improvement is net of the investments that we're making. So you get good applying evolution and at the same time, an EPS in line with the 12% to 15%, leading us to the 20% over the next 3 years.

因此，改進是扣除我們正在進行的投資後的。因此，你會得到良好的應用進化，同時，每股收益與 12% 到 15% 一致，使我們在未來 3 年內達到 20%。

Kevin McCarthy, Vertical Research Partners.

凱文·麥卡錫，垂直研究夥伴。

Christophe, I was wondering if you might hit the reset button for us as it relates to health care and life sciences. So now that you've closed the GSS divestiture. How would you characterize organic sales growth prospects and margin uplift prospects for 2025 and beyond?

Christophe，我想知道你是否可以為我們按下重置按鈕，因為它與醫療保健和生命科學有關。現在您已經完成了 GSS 的剝離。您如何描述 2025 年及以後的有機銷售成長前景和利潤提升前景？

So two different businesses. Healthcare and Life Sciences, as you said, with the reset we're going to separate that as well in 2025 and beyond that you have more clarity as well. So about those businesses, especially Life Sciences.

所以兩個不同的業務。醫療保健和生命科學，正如您所說，透過重置，我們將在 2025 年及之後將其分開，您將更加清晰。關於這些業務，尤其是生命科學。

Honestly, Health care is becoming a pretty small business after the divestiture. It's very close to the institutional team as well since they're leveraging the same sales force, especially in the United States. And I'm very pleased with the evolution that we're having here.

老實說，剝離後，醫療保健正在成為一項相當小的業務。它也與機構團隊非常接近，因為他們利用相同的銷售隊伍，尤其是在美國。我對我們這裡所取得的進展感到非常滿意。

So it's a smaller business, where we want to improve the profitability of that business. And build a new proposition around instrument reprocessing as I've shared with you as the next step on the health care journey.

因此，這是一家規模較小的企業，我們希望提高該企業的獲利能力。正如我與您分享的那樣，圍繞儀器再處理制定一個新的主張，作為醫療保健之旅的下一步。

We did -- the first step was driving cost to the right place. Second, is bifurcation of surgical and infection prevention. Third, the sale of surgical drapes and fourth is to rebuild or to build the instrument reprocessing business for the future. We have a nice base to start with in Europe. On that, and that's going to be the base that we're going to build on in the years to come.

我們做到了——第一步是將成本控制在正確的位置。其次，是手術與感染預防的分歧。第三，銷售手術單，第四是為未來重建或建立器械再處理業務。我們在歐洲有一個很好的起點。在此基礎上，這將成為我們未來幾年的基礎。

But still, it's going to be a smaller business, more quality business. and our expected business to grow low single to mid-single digits in the years to come, but really driving margin. The second, which is much more important is life sciences. And we've made that bet since 2016, 2017.

但儘管如此，這仍將是一家規模更小、品質更高的企業。我們預計業務在未來幾年將成長低個位數到中個位數，但確實會推動利潤率的成長。第二個更重要的是生命科學。我們從 2016 年、2017 年就開始這麼做了。

It's a great business in a great end market. I believe that it's going to be a booming business in the next 5 to 10 years. The industry is in a transition phase right now after the complicated years of COVID.

這是一個偉大的終端市場中的一項偉大的業務。我相信，未來5到10年，這將會是一個蓬勃發展的產業。在經歷了複雜的新冠疫情之後，該行業目前正處於過渡階段。

We've been growing slightly. My ambition was to grow double digit. Well, we've been low single in that business. while most of the competition was down, by the way, so it doesn't make me feel good, but certainly better than the trends that we've seen in other companies. in this business as well.

我們一直在小幅成長。我的目標是實現兩位數成長。嗯，我們在這個行業的單身率很低。順便說一句，雖然大多數競爭都在下降，所以這並沒有讓我感覺良好，但肯定比我們在其他公司看到的趨勢要好。在這個行業也是如此。

But when I look at what we're doing, how we're building that business, as I've said, so we're close to $1 billion today, expected business in the next 5 to 10 years to be a few billions. At margins that should be in the 30% range, if not more than 30 as well. We're building towards that. I like a lot of progress that we're making.

但當我看看我們正在做什麼，我們如何建立業務時，正如我所說，我們今天的業務接近 10 億美元，預計未來 5 到 10 年的業務將達到數十億美元。利潤率即使不超過 30%，也應在 30% 範圍內。我們正在朝這個方向努力。我喜歡我們正在取得的許多進展。

The speed at which we're going to get there, well, is also a bit depending on the market. But generally, this is an investment I like and the more I look at it, the more I understand so the opportunity out there, the more I like it. And I think that we're all going to love that business down the road.

我們到達那裡的速度也有點取決於市場。但總的來說，這是我喜歡的投資，我越看它，我就越了解它，所以我越喜歡它的機會。我認為我們都會喜歡這個行業。

Andres Castanos, Berenberg.

安德烈斯·卡斯塔諾斯，貝倫貝格。

Actually following up on health care. You just consolidated that business that was making 20% margin and you are expanding margins quarter-on-quarter despite that. So can you help us understand that what has gone well and what is turning around within health care.

實際跟進醫療保健。您剛剛整合了利潤率為 20% 的業務，儘管如此，您仍逐季度擴大利潤率。那麼您能否幫助我們了解醫療保健領域哪些方面進展順利，哪些方面正在好轉。

So the margin you were talking about was a combination of health care and Life Science, as mentioned before. So it's a combination of two very different businesses. One is serving hospitals and the other one is serving, obviously, the pharma industry and biotech, which is pharma as well.

因此，正如前面提到的，您所說的利潤是醫療保健和生命科學的結合。所以它是兩種截然不同的業務的結合。一種是為醫院服務，另一種顯然是為製藥業和生技服務，這也是製藥業。

So obviously, we'll have -- so if I look at today, so post the sale of surgical drapes -- our health care business is kind of a breakeven type of business. We knew that. So no big surprise. But it's a very Ecolab institutional-like type of business. So we know how to get to a better place.

很明顯，如果我看看今天，在手術單的銷售之後，我們的醫療保健業務將是一種收支平衡的業務。我們知道這一點。所以沒什麼大驚喜。但這是一種非常類似藝康機構的業務類型。所以我們知道如何到達更好的地方。

It requires work, time, and some investment to get to the right place. And this is a playbook that we're familiar with. I like where we're going and we're going to get to the right place. But again, it's less than 5% of the company. So it's a very small business. over there, but we really want to have this one being smaller, but much more quality focused than what we had in the past.

它需要工作、時間和一些投資才能到達正確的地方。這是我們熟悉的劇本。我喜歡我們要去的地方，我們會到達正確的地方。但同樣，它還不到公司的 5%。所以這是一個非常小的企業。在那裡，但我們真的希望這個比我們過去更小，但更注重品質。

On the Life Science side, we're investing now as we've been investing in many businesses that we've built in the past, so we're conscious on how we're investing in capacity and capability in team, in expertise, in technology as well, so to make sure that we can compete with two or three other big ones on the market as well, but truly aiming at the type of margin that's closer to 30 if not more than that down the road as well.

在生命科學方面，我們現在正在投資，就像我們一直在投資我們過去建立的許多業務一樣，所以我們意識到如何投資於團隊、專業知識、能力和能力，在技術方面也是如此，以確保我們也可以與市場上其他兩三家大公司競爭，但真正的目標是未來接近30（如果不是更多）的利潤率。

So very differentiated road maps, both for health care and for life science. Life science really focused as building a multibillion dollar business in the years to come in health care really focusing on building a highly quality business, which will remain relatively small in the years to come.

對於醫療保健和生命科學來說，路線圖都是非常差異化的。生命科學真正專注於在未來幾年建立數十億美元的業務，而醫療保健真正專注於建立高品質的業務，而在未來幾年該業務將仍然相對較小。

Mike Harrison, Seaport Research.

麥克哈里森，海港研究中心。

Christoph, I'm curious about the recent hurricanes and whether you saw any impact on your institutional or specialty businesses. Can you quantify any drag that you saw in Q3? And would you expect that to worsen in Q4 or be similar?

克里斯托夫，我很好奇最近的颶風以及您是否看到對您的機構或專業業務產生任何影響。您能量化您在第三季看到的任何阻力嗎？您預計第四季情況會惡化或類似嗎？

Well, I don't know what's going to come in Q4, Mike, obviously. So I can't talk about events that haven't happened yet. But we've gotten very good at that. I'm always heartened obviously with the human impact of those situations. On our teams and more broadly, we had a plant in Asheville as well.

好吧，顯然我不知道第四季會發生什麼，麥克。所以我不能談論尚未發生的事件。但我們在這方面已經做得很好了。顯然，我總是對這些情況對人類的影響感到振奮。在我們的團隊和更廣泛的範圍內，我們在阿什維爾也有一家工廠。

You've heard them in the news as well. But our supply chain team has become such a world-class team that's so resilient, so well organized in addressing whatever can happen in the environment of the market out there that ultimately, we haven't seen anything in the third quarter business perspective, there's a human impact, obviously, but not on the business side.

您也曾在新聞中聽過他們。但我們的供應鏈團隊已經成為一個世界級的團隊，具有如此強的彈性，組織得很好，可以解決市場環境中可能發生的任何情況，最終，我們在第三季度的業務角度沒有看到任何事情，有顯然是人類的影響，但不是商業方面的影響。

We've become so much better from a resilience perspective, that I feel quite good with whatever can happen out there assuming it's something that in a normal range, obviously. And even those more extreme situations around the world, I've been really pleased with the way we could deal with them.

從復原力的角度來看，我們已經變得更好了，顯然，假設一切都在正常範圍內，我對可能發生的任何事情都感覺很好。即使是世界各地那些更極端的情況，我也對我們處理這些情況的方式感到非常滿意。

When you think about it, 92% of our sales are produced locally. -- in a place like in China, it's 99% for instance, as well. And that whole evolution of producing locally for local markets not only has been better from a performance perspective, but it has risen as well our resilience levels in dramatic ways.

仔細想想，我們 92% 的銷售額都是在本地生產的。 ——比如在中國這樣的地方，也是99%。為當地市場進行本地生產的整個演變不僅從績效角度來看變得更好，而且還極大地提高了我們的彈性水平。

I'm so pleased with our supply chain team this used to be a huge competitive advantage in the past today and tomorrow, supply chain is a huge competitive advantage that we have as a company and our customers recognize that every single day, especially in extreme times because we always have them.

我對我們的供應鏈團隊感到非常滿意，這在過去、今天和明天都曾經是一個巨大的競爭優勢，供應鏈是我們作為一家公司擁有的巨大競爭優勢，我們的客戶每天都認識到這一點，尤其是在極端情況下有時因為我們總是有它們。

Vincent Andrews, Morgan Stanley.

文森安德魯斯，摩根士丹利。

Christophe, could I ask you, if you think about your market share gains, whether it's new business wins or increased share of wallet, maybe compared to the beginning of the year or this time last year, however, you think is more sensible. How would you characterize them in terms of their pace of acceleration? And are you doing better more with wallet share gains or with new business wins? Or is it about the same?

Christophe，請問您是否考慮過您的市場份額增長，無論是新業務的贏得還是錢包份額的增加，也許與今年年初或去年這個時候相比，您認為更明智。您如何評估它們的加速速度？您是否會透過錢包份額的成長或新業務的勝利而做得更好？或者說是差不多的嗎？

Well, it goes a bit together when we have a share of wallet that's an increased market share as well because we're taking it from competition by definition. But we try as well to get to new incremental type of offering. The example I was giving before on data centers and microelectronics where we use and recycle.

好吧，當我們擁有一定份額的錢包時，這也會增加市場份額，因為我們從定義上來說是從競爭中獲取它的。但我們也嘗試提供新的增量類型的產品。我之前舉的例子是關於我們使用和回收的資料中心和微電子產品。

Well, those are applications that customers do not have today. So that's an incremental sale, that's not a share gain because they were not buying from someone else, which is where we focus a big part of our retention.

嗯，這些是客戶今天沒有的應用程式。因此，這是增量銷售，不是份額收益，因為他們不是從其他人那裡購買產品，而這正是我們重點關注的留存率。

But the [55 billion] I mentioned before, which is the focus of One Ecolab, well, it's wallet cheer, obviously, because those are sales that are being generated by competition so far. I'd like to let the progression that we have, the fact that our top line is healthy, our volume is improving as well. in many markets where demand is not exactly accelerating.

但我之前提到的 [550 億]，這是 One Ecolab 的焦點，顯然，這是錢包歡呼，因為這些是迄今為止由競爭產生的銷售額。我想讓我們取得進展，事實上我們的營收很健康，我們的銷售量也在提高。在許多需求並未完全加速的市場中。

If anything, it's staying kind of stable out there. So for me, our share gains are improving over time. And if I look as well at our new business generation, very healthy as well. That's a good indication for what's to come down the road.

如果有的話，那就是它保持穩定。因此，對我來說，我們的份額收益隨著時間的推移而不斷提高。如果我也關注我們的新一代企業，他們也非常健康。這很好地預示了未來將會發生什麼。

And as mentioned before, our innovation pipeline, which helps us sell as well to customers is stronger than it's ever been as well at the same time, good indications for the future as well. So good evolution from a share gain perspective the last 12 to 18 months, and good indication for the quarters to come as well with those leading indicators of new business and innovation.

如同先前所提到的，我們的創新管道比以往任何時候都更強大，這有助於我們向客戶銷售產品，這也是未來的良好跡象。從過去 12 到 18 個月的股價漲幅來看，發展勢頭良好，新業務和創新的領先指標也為未來幾季提供了良好的跡象。

One is not materially stronger than the other in terms of leading (technical difficulty)

就領先地位而言，一方並不比另一方實質更強（技術難度）

The new business is the closest, obviously. But you get new business, thanks to innovation as well, at the same time, so we don't measure them so separately like that. There's some double count if you just -- you can't add both of them and to say that's the whole pipeline that we have down the road. But the fact that both are at record levels is a very good indication that we can maintain our sales momentum and accelerated as I was sharing before.

顯然，新業務是最接近的。但同時，由於創新，你也獲得了新業務，所以我們不會像那樣單獨衡量它們。如果你不能將它們兩者相加並說這就是我們未來的整個管道，那麼就會出現一些重複計算。但事實上，兩者都處於創紀錄水平，這很好地表明我們可以保持我們的銷售勢頭並加速，正如我之前分享的那樣。

Charles Neivert, Piper Sandler.

查爾斯·尼維特，派珀·桑德勒。

Just a couple of quick things. One, in terms of the fact that oil pricing has dropped quite a bit lately and may continue to drop a little bit more.

只是一些快速的事情。第一，事實上石油價格最近已經大幅下跌，並且可能會繼續進一步下跌。

And I know there's not sort of an effect on a raw material standpoint, but when people are looking for savings and the savings that you can offer them on the energy side, will that drop affect your ability to raise pricing further than it might have otherwise gone, meaning at higher oil prices, the value sale figure -- so therefore, price hikes would be bigger. So is this sort of a little bit of a problem in terms of how far you can raise pricing?

我知道這對原材料的角度沒有影響，但是當人們尋求節省以及您可以在能源方面為他們提供的節省時，這種下降會影響您進一步提高定價的能力嗎？的情況下，銷售價值數字- 因此，價格上漲幅度將會更大。那麼，就您可以提高定價的程度而言，這是一個有點問題嗎？

And secondly, can you talk specifically about your -- and so we know it's slow. We know the economy is slow, but is there anything specific? Is it Asian imports? Is there anything that's happening in Europe that is specifically sort of hindering your ability to grow at any -- at a better pace -- and will it change or a tenant change in your -- obviously, in your favour?

其次，你能具體談談你的——所以我們知道它很慢。我們知道經濟成長緩慢，但有什麼具體的情況嗎？是亞洲進口的嗎？歐洲發生的任何事情是否會特別阻礙您以更快的速度增長的能力，這種情況會發生變化嗎？

So two different questions, obviously here. So Charles, the first on pricing. Well, the best indication is what happened in the last 12 to 18 months where raw material costs were tailwind for us, and we still delivered some very strong value pricing because we are delivering so much total value delivered this TV Day, as mentioned before, so to our customers. Ultimately for them, well, it's TVD in price if it's a net positive. So for the customer, usually it works well. And that's what we've demonstrated over the last two years.

這是兩個不同的問題，顯然在這裡。查爾斯是第一個談論定價的人。嗯，最好的跡像是過去12 到18 個月發生的事情，原材料成本對我們來說是順風車，我們仍然提供了一些非常強勁的價值定價，因為我們在這個電視日提供瞭如此多的總價值，如前所述，對我們的客戶也是如此。最終對他們來說，如果這是淨利的話，那就是 TVD 的價格。所以對於客戶來說，通常效果很好。這就是我們在過去兩年中所展示的。

So we've demonstrated that even in an environment where delivered product cost is a tailwind, we can generate value pricing as well at the same time. Well, when it becomes a headwind as we expect it to be sometime in Q4.

因此，我們已經證明，即使在交付產品成本占主導地位的環境中，我們也可以同時產生價值定價。好吧，正如我們預計的那樣，它將在第四季度的某個時候成為逆風。

And certainly, in 2025, while the whole discussion of value pricing is even more important, obviously, here. So I feel reasonably good at delivering the value pricing in the next few quarters and years to come because we've been able to deliver very strong value pricing in easier environment from a DPC perspective, well in a more difficult one in the future, it should not make it harder, but it should make it slightly easier. Selling pricing is never something easy. So I want to be careful how I'm saying that as well time.

當然，到 2025 年，雖然價值定價的整個討論顯然更加重要，但在這裡。因此，我覺得在未來幾季和未來幾年內提​​供價值定價相當不錯，因為從DPC 的角度來看，我們已經能夠在更容易的環境中提供非常強大的價值定價，而且在未來更困難的環境中，它不應該讓它變得更難，但應該讓它變得稍微容易一些。銷售定價從來都不是一件容易的事。所以我要小心我說話的方式以及時間。

But generally, so that's why I feel really good about 2025 because we have a good volume growth. We have steady value pricing. DPC is probably going to become as a headwind. We have good productivity, but the combination of all four together puts us in a very good place to deliver this 12% to 15% in 2025, no matter what, which is something that we've practiced over the last few years. So we know how to manage that, and we'll keep managing it well going forward.

但總的來說，這就是為什麼我對 2025 年感覺非常好，因為我們的銷售成長良好。我們有穩定的價值定價。DPC 可能會變成一種逆風。我們擁有良好的生產力，但無論如何，這四者的結合使我們能夠在 2025 年實現 12% 到 15% 的生產力增長，這是我們過去幾年一直在實踐的事情。所以我們知道如何管理它，並且我們將繼續很好地管理它。

Scott Schneeberger, Oppenheimer.

史考特‧施內伯格，奧本海默。

Christophe, all the way back to the first question, it was a discussion about how volumes had picked up a little bit. And you mentioned you were really proud of how you continue to get pricing and retention had been quite strong. I just kind of want to ask this as a look-back question, but about two years ago was when you really started increasing pricing, inflationary environment.

Christophe，回到第一個問題，這是關於銷量如何有所回升的討論。您提到您對如何繼續獲得定價和保持相當強勁的保留感到非常自豪。我只是想把這個問題當作一個回顧性問題來問，但大約兩年前是你真正開始提高定價和通膨環境的時候。

I'm curious, did you see anything really unique or dynamic with retention over the last couple of years, which I imagine is improving now. But just to get a little perspective is what I'm working for over those two years. on retention and anything currently on the competitive environment that may influence that as well.

我很好奇，在過去的幾年裡，您是否看到任何真正獨特或充滿活力的保留率，我想現在正在改善。但這兩年我的工作就是為了獲得一些視角。關於保留以及當前競爭環境中可能影響這一點的任何事情。

The retention rate, which is close to 95%, it's been true for a very long time as a company. Hasn't changed in the last few years, which have been kind of extreme years since 2020, as we know, there was COVID and there was the hyperinflation driving the higher pricing as well. We've stayed at the same or very similar retention level.

保留率接近 95%，作為一家公司很長一段時間以來都是如此。過去幾年沒有改變，自 2020 年以來，這是一種極端的年份，眾所周知，有新冠疫情，惡性通貨膨脹也推動了價格上漲。我們一直保持相同或非常相似的保留水平。

So which is why I feel really good about our approach that's been demonstrated over years now in the most extreme of the situation. Our focus on total value delivered, making absolutely sure that our customers get more savings in their own operations by delivering better outcomes, better performance and better impact ultimately is more than what we ask from a pricing perspective.

這就是為什麼我對我們多年來在最極端的情況下所展示的方法感到非常滿意。我們專注於交付的總價值，絕對確保我們的客戶透過提供更好的結果、更好的性能和更好的影響力來在自己的營運中獲得更多的節省，最終超出了我們從定價角度要求的目標。

So net-net, a very good thing for them and ultimately a very good thing. So for us, as a company and you as shareholders, obviously. So retention, very stable, volume strengthening, pricing strengthening as well at the same time. So kind of a very good balance of all drivers here.

所以網絡，網絡，對他們來說是一件非常好的事情，最終也是一件非常好的事情。因此，對於我們作為一家公司和您作為股東來說，顯然是這樣。因此，保留率非常穩定，銷售量增強，同時定價也增強。這裡所有驅動程式之間的平衡非常好。

So at the end of the day, I feel really good with the momentum that we have as a company, as mentioned to Tim at the beginning, very broad-based across businesses, across geographies, with Europe being the tougher place.

因此，歸根結底，我對我們作為一家公司所擁有的勢頭感到非常滿意，正如蒂姆一開始提到的那樣，跨業務、跨地域的基礎非常廣泛，其中歐洲是最艱難的地方。

It's always going to be the case. I've been living there for half of my life as well, and we know how to win in Europe as well at the same time (technical difficulty) driving ultimately so margin improvement, driving productivity and delivering (technical difficulty) this 12 to 15 EPS growth.

情況總是如此。我也在那裡生活了半生，我們也知道如何在歐洲獲勝，同時（技術難度）最終推動利潤率提高，提高生產力並交付（技術難度）這12到15年每股收益增長。

I feel really good about where we're heading for 2025 and for the years ahead and ultimately, get to this 20% OI margin. That's the next step, but my focus is already beyond the 20% and making sure that we can grow beyond that for the benefit of all our shareholders. So that would be in summary, how I would look at it.

我對 2025 年和未來幾年的發展方向感到非常滿意，最終實現 20% 的 OI 利潤率。這是下一步，但我的重點已經超出了 20%，並確保我們能夠超越這一目標，為所有股東帶來利益。總而言之，我會如何看待它。

Thank you. That wraps up our third 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. I hope everyone has a great rest of the day.

謝謝。我們的第三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。我希望每個人都度過愉快的一天。

Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。