藝康 (ECL) 2026 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Ecolab second quarter 2026 earnings release conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Andy Hedberg, Vice President, Investor Relations for Ecolab. Thank you. Mr. Hedberg, you may begin.

各位好，歡迎參加藝康（Ecolab）2026 年第二季財報發布電話會議。(接線員指示) 提醒各位，本次會議將被錄音。現在我很榮幸介紹今天的主持人：藝康投資人關係副總裁 Andy Hedberg。謝謝。Hedberg 先生，您可以開始。

Thank you, and hello, everyone. Welcome to Ecolab's second 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，大家好。歡迎參加藝康第二季電話會議。今天與我一同出席的有藝康董事長暨執行長 Christophe Beck，以及我們的財務長 Scott Kirkland。我們的業績討論、新聞稿以及引用本季業績的簡報投影片，均已公布於藝康網站 ecolab.com/investor。請花點時間閱讀這些資料中的警示性聲明，內容指出本次電話會議及相關補充資料包含對未來績效的估計。

These are forward-looking statements, and actual results could differ materially from those projected. Factors that could cause actual results to differ are described in 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.

這些屬於前瞻性陳述，實際結果可能與所預測者有重大差異。可能導致實際結果不同的因素，已在我們最新的 Form 10-K 之「風險因素」章節以及我們公布的資料中說明。我們也請各位參閱新聞稿中關於稀釋後每股盈餘的補充資訊。

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

接下來，我想把電話交給 Christophe Beck，請他發表評論。

Thank you so much, Andy, and welcome to everyone joining us today. Well, we delivered another strong quarter with accelerating performance across our business. Adjusted EPS grew 11% driven by accelerating organic sales growth of 5%, stable organic gross margin and continued strong productivity. This performance reflects the strength of our growth model and, most importantly, the power of our global team to deliver for our customers every day in any environment.

非常感謝你，Andy，也歡迎今天加入我們的各位。我們在本季再度交出強勁表現，且整體業務的加速動能更為明顯。調整後每股盈餘（Adjusted EPS）成長 11%，主要受惠於有機銷售成長加速至 5%、有機毛利率維持穩定，以及持續強勁的生產力提升。這樣的表現反映了我們成長模式的實力，更重要的是，展現我們全球團隊在任何環境下每天為客戶交付成果的力量。

Last quarter, we talked about the second quarter being a short transition period. We entered the quarter with commodity costs increasing and the expectation that they would remain high through the year. We started the quarter with very little surcharge pricing, but expected benefit from the surcharge would progressively build through the quarter. That's exactly what happened. We moved quickly to implement the global energy surcharge backed by incremental customer value, as we always do.

上季我們提到，第二季將是一段短暫的過渡期。我們進入本季時，大宗商品成本正在上升，並預期全年都將維持在高檔。本季開始時，我們幾乎沒有附加費（surcharge）定價，但預期附加費帶來的效益會在本季逐步累積。結果正如預期。我們一如既往，迅速推動全球能源附加費，並以額外的客戶價值作為支撐。

As a result, pricing strengthened to 4% in the second quarter, and we expect the second half to be in our targeted 5% to 6% range. This is allowing us to offset the impact of rising commodity costs on our margins and EPS this year.

因此，第二季定價提升至 4%，我們預期下半年將落在我們目標的 5% 至 6% 區間。這使我們得以抵銷今年大宗商品成本上升對毛利率與每股盈餘的影響。

Our global team executed extremely well through this transition period. In just one quarter, we absorbed increasing commodity costs, continued to win new business, grew volumes, stabilized organic gross margin and delivered double-digit EPS growth. Importantly, momentum continued to strengthen across the portfolio. Volumes grew 1% despite a nearly 1% headwind from customer operations disrupted by conflict in the Middle East. Excluding this, underlying volume growth accelerated from the first quarter.

我們的全球團隊在這段過渡期執行得非常出色。僅在一個季度內，我們吸收了上升的大宗商品成本、持續贏得新業務、帶動銷量成長、穩定有機毛利率，並實現兩位數的每股盈餘成長。更重要的是，整體投資組合的動能持續增強。儘管中東衝突造成客戶營運受干擾、帶來接近 1% 的逆風，銷量仍成長 1%。若排除此因素，基礎銷量成長較第一季加速。

Growth in our core businesses strengthened with Food & Beverage accelerating to 7% growth, Institutional & Specialty growing 4% and growth in Light Water improving, also buoyed by strong new business from our One Ecolab growth initiative. At the same time, performance in Heavy Water and Paper improved.

我們核心業務的成長動能增強：食品與飲料（Food & Beverage）加速至 7% 成長，機構與專業（Institutional & Specialty）成長 4%，輕水（Light Water）成長也有所改善，同時受惠於我們「One Ecolab」成長計畫帶來的強勁新業務。同時，重水（Heavy Water）與造紙（Paper）業務表現亦有所改善。

Our growth engines continued to show strong momentum, delivering strong double-digit growth. Life Sciences accelerated to 15% growth, driven by very strong share gains in bioprocessing and pharma and personal care and improved performance in purification. We have been investing in talent capabilities, capacity and breakthrough innovation for years in this high-growth business, and those investments now are clearly paying off.

我們的成長引擎持續展現強勁動能，交出亮眼的兩位數成長。生命科學（Life Sciences）成長加速至 15%，主要由生物製程、製藥與個人護理領域非常強勁的市占提升所帶動，且純化（purification）表現也有所改善。多年來，我們在這個高成長業務持續投資人才能力、產能與突破性創新，而這些投資如今顯然正在帶來回報。

In value processing, we continue to take market share with the innovative resin technologies we've launched over the last few years. As a result, our business continues to rapidly scale as customers move their drugs into commercial manufacturing. Life Sciences margin performance was exceptional this quarter, delivering a mid-20% operating income margin, giving a strong indication of the high-margin profile this business has.

在價值加工（value processing）方面，我們憑藉過去幾年推出的創新樹脂技術持續取得市占。因此，隨著客戶將其藥品推進至商業化製造，我們的業務規模持續快速擴張。本季生命科學的利潤率表現極為出色，營業利益率達到 20% 中段水準，強烈顯示該業務具備高毛利特性。

During the quarter, we benefited from very strong sales growth and a spike in bioprocessing. While underlying operating income margin is expected to remain in the mid-20s, reported margin in the third quarter is expected to be in the high teens as we continue to invest in this high-growth, high-margin business.

本季我們受惠於非常強勁的銷售成長，以及生物製程需求的短期激增。雖然基礎營業利益率預期仍將維持在 20% 中段水準，但由於我們持續投資於這個高成長、高毛利業務，第三季的報告利潤率預期將落在 10% 高段。

Ecolab Digital grew 27%, reflecting strong adoption of software and connected solutions that help customers optimize performance in real time. Recent launches of solutions like DishIQ, AquaIQ, KitchenIQ and CIP IQ are performing very well and are expected to continue to help drive long-term growth of more than 20% for Eco Digital.

Ecolab Digital 成長 27%，反映客戶對軟體與連網解決方案的強勁採用，這些方案可協助客戶即時最佳化營運表現。近期推出的 DishIQ、AquaIQ、KitchenIQ 與 CIP IQ 等解決方案表現非常好，預期將持續推動 Eco Digital 長期超過 20% 的成長。

Pest Elimination also delivered a strong quarter with 7% growth, driven by share gain from our One Ecolab growth initiative and continued expansion of our test intelligence platform. We've deployed nearly 800,000 connected devices at customer sites and continue to expect to reach 1 million connected devices by year-end. With the unique insights from Pest Intelligence, we aim to deliver nearly 99% pest-free environments for customers on the platform.

病媒防治（Pest Elimination）同樣交出強勁的一季，成長 7%，主要由「One Ecolab」成長計畫帶來的市占提升，以及我們測試智慧平台（test intelligence platform）的持續擴張所驅動。我們已在客戶據點部署近 80 萬台連網裝置，並仍預期在年底前達到 100 萬台連網裝置。憑藉 Pest Intelligence 的獨特洞察，我們的目標是在該平台上為客戶提供接近 99% 無害蟲的環境。

And growth in Global High-Tech accelerated to 29%, reflecting very strong demand across both microelectronics and data centers driven by the rapid build-out of AI infrastructure. We further strengthened our position in this market with the acquisition of CoolIT Systems which closed on July 2. CoolIT is off to a very strong start with year-to-date sales growth prior to acquisition of more than 100%.

全球高科技（Global High-Tech）成長加速至 29%，反映在 AI 基礎設施快速建置的帶動下，微電子與資料中心兩大領域需求都非常強勁。我們於 7 月 2 日完成收購 CoolIT Systems，進一步強化我們在此市場的地位。CoolIT 開局表現非常強勁，在收購前其年初至今的銷售成長已超過 100%。

With this addition, Global High-Tech is now approaching $1.5 billion in sales, annualized sales, up from approximately $150 million in 2021. This reflects the strength of our strategy and sustained investments to capture the long-term opportunity in advanced computing.

隨著這項併入，全球高科技業務的年化銷售額目前已接近 15 億美元，較 2021 年約 1.5 億美元大幅提升。這反映我們策略的強度，以及為掌握先進運算長期機會所進行的持續投資。

At the heart of AI is water. Water is required to produce, to power and to cool chips. We are now the only company with integrated solutions across that value chain. And with all the talks around data centers and AI infrastructure, the world truly needs companies that can help build data centers the right way. We're one of them, and we're committed to lead that journey.

AI 的核心是水。生產晶片、為晶片供電以及為晶片散熱都需要用水。我們現在是唯一一家在該價值鏈上提供整合式解決方案的公司。而隨著各界對資料中心與 AI 基礎設施的討論升溫，世界確實需要能協助以正確方式建置資料中心的公司。我們就是其中之一，並承諾引領這段旅程。

Together with Ovivo and CoolIT, our Global High-Tech platform is expected to grow more than 25% annually, reaching $4 billion in sales by 2030 with an operating income margin of 25%. These targets represent an increase from our previous expectations of more than 20% growth and 20% OI margin, reflecting the acceleration we're seeing in this business.

結合 Ovivo 與 CoolIT，我們的全球高科技平台預期每年成長超過 25%，到 2030 年銷售額將達 40 億美元，營業利益率為 25%。這些目標較我們先前預期的超過 20% 成長與 20% 營業利益率有所上調，反映我們在此業務看到的加速趨勢。

Global High-Tech is now our largest growth engine. On a pro forma basis, including Ovivo and CoolIT, our sales growth would have been approximately 7% in the second quarter, demonstrating already the 2 points of incremental growth these businesses will add to the overall company. The rapid growth of Global High-Tech and our other growth engines continues to shift Ecolab's portfolio to higher growth, higher-margin businesses.

全球高科技如今已成為我們最大的成長引擎。以擬制（pro forma）基礎計算，若納入 Ovivo 與 CoolIT，我們第二季的銷售成長約可達 7%，已展現這些業務將為整體公司帶來額外約 2 個百分點的成長貢獻。全球高科技以及其他成長引擎的快速成長，正持續推動藝康的投資組合轉向更高成長、且利潤率更高的業務。

In 2025, our core businesses represented about 70% of our sales, growing low single digits with OI margins just above 20%. Our growth engines were approximately 15% of sales, growing low double digits with OI margins of nearly 20%. And our underperforming businesses represented about 15% of sales with low single-digit sales declines NOI margins in the mid-teens.

在 2025 年，我們的核心業務約占銷售額的 70%，以低個位數成長，營業利益（OI）率略高於 20%。我們的成長引擎約占銷售額的 15%，以低雙位數成長，營業利益（OI）率接近 20%。而表現落後的業務約占銷售額的 15%，銷售額低個位數下滑，NOI 利潤率在十幾%的中段。

In 2026, performance has strengthened across all three groups. Our core businesses are now growing mid-single digits with OI margins getting further above 20%. Our growth engines are growing in the low teens, with OI margin up nearly 20% as we continue to invest heavily behind these attractive high-growth opportunities. At the same time, our underperforming businesses have stabilized while maintaining operating income margins in the mid-teens.

在 2026 年，三大類別的表現全面轉強。我們的核心業務目前以中個位數成長，營業利益（OI）率進一步高於 20%。我們的成長引擎以十幾%的低段成長，營業利益（OI）率上升至接近 20%，因為我們持續在這些具吸引力的高成長機會上加大投資。同時，我們表現落後的業務已趨於穩定，並維持十幾%的中段營業利益率。

What is the more encouraging is that all parts of the portfolio are moving in the right direction. Our core is performing well, our growth engines are scaling faster and our underperforming businesses are improving. As a result, the mix of our business continues to shift towards faster-growing, higher-margin markets.

更令人鼓舞的是，投資組合的各個部分都朝正確方向前進。我們的核心表現良好，成長引擎擴張更快，而表現落後的業務也在改善。因此，我們的業務組合持續轉向成長更快、利潤率更高的市場。

Looking ahead to 2027, we expect this trend to accelerate further. Our core businesses should continue to deliver strong performance, while our growth engines, which are expected to approach 25% of Ecolab sales, continue to compound at double-digit rates and play an increasingly important role in driving growth and margin expansion for Ecolab.

展望 2027 年，我們預期這一趨勢將進一步加速。我們的核心業務應可持續交出強勁表現；同時，我們的成長引擎預計將接近 Ecolab 銷售額的 25%，並以雙位數速度持續複利成長，在推動 Ecolab 的成長與利潤率擴張方面扮演愈來愈重要的角色。

That future is already taking shape today. We're preparing to introduce a breakthrough innovation at SuperCompute, a new integrated end-to-end cooling platform combining CoolIT's liquid cooling technologies with Ecolab's 3D TRASAR digital capabilities to optimize water, power and compute performance at scale. We will be hosting an Investor Day at SuperCompute in Chicago on November 17, where we will share more about the growth opportunities ahead and how they will strengthen our long-term performance.

那個未來今天已在成形。我們正準備在 SuperCompute 推出一項突破性創新：全新的整合式端到端冷卻平台，將 CoolIT 的液冷技術與 Ecolab 的 3D TRASAR 數位能力結合，以在大規模下最佳化用水、用電與運算效能。我們將於 11 月 17 日在芝加哥的 SuperCompute 舉辦投資人日，屆時將分享更多關於未來成長機會，以及這些機會如何強化我們的長期表現。

As we move into the second half, we expect continued momentum. Pricing is anticipated to strengthen to the 5% to 6% range as energy surcharge benefits are fully realized. Volumes are expected to continue to grow as strong new business wins more than offset ongoing disruption in the Middle East. As a result, we expect organic sales growth of 6% to 7%, helping drive an adjusted operating income margin of 19% in the second half, keeping us on track to deliver our 20% OI margin next year.

隨著我們進入下半年，我們預期動能將持續。隨著能源附加費效益完全反映，定價預期將增強至 5% 至 6% 區間。在強勁的新業務得標足以抵銷中東持續干擾的情況下，銷量預期將持續成長。因此，我們預期有機銷售成長 6% 至 7%，並在下半年帶動調整後營業利益率達 19%，使我們維持在明年達成 20% OI 利潤率的軌道上。

With this momentum, we're increasing our outlook for 2026, where we now expect EPS in the range of to $8.05 to $8.25, rising 7% to 10% versus last year. This range reflects strong underlying performance and a short-term impact from noncash amortization and financing costs from the CoolIT acquisition. Beyond this year, we continue to expect adjusted EPS growth, including CoolIT, to accelerate to a strong 12% to 15% growth trajectory.

在此動能之下，我們上調 2026 年展望，目前預期 EPS 介於 8.05 美元至 8.25 美元，較去年成長 7% 至 10%。此區間反映強勁的基本面表現，以及因收購 CoolIT 所帶來的非現金攤銷與融資成本的短期影響。展望今年之後，我們仍預期調整後 EPS（包含 CoolIT）成長將加速至強勁的 12% 至 15% 成長軌跡。

In closing, our business continues to strengthen with the core improving and growth engine scaling. With this, our portfolio is shifting faster toward higher growth, higher-margin end markets. Just as importantly, our team continues to execute at a very high level to deliver for our customers every single day. We've never been better positioned to deliver long-term organic sales growth of 5% to 7%, expand operating income margins well beyond 20% and continue strengthening our EPS growth algorithm.

最後，我們的業務持續轉強，核心業務改善、成長引擎擴張。因此，我們的投資組合正更快速地轉向更高成長、利潤率更高的終端市場。同樣重要的是，我們的團隊每天都以非常高的水準執行，為客戶交付成果。我們從未像現在這樣具備更佳的定位，可實現 5% 至 7% 的長期有機銷售成長、將營業利益率擴張至遠高於 20%，並持續強化我們的 EPS 成長演算法。

So thank you for your continued trust and investment in Ecolab. I'll now turn it back to Andy for Q&A.

因此，感謝各位持續對 Ecolab 的信任與投資。接下來我把時間交回給 Andy 進行問答。

Thanks, Christophe. That wraps up our promo remarks. Operator, would you please begin the question-and-answer period?

謝謝你，Christophe。以上是我們的開場說明。接線員，請開始問答環節。

(Operator Instructions)

（接線員指示）

Tim Mulrooney, William Blair.

Tim Mulrooney，William Blair。

Yes, good afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. And thank you for, Christophe, for reaffirming the 20% operating margin target that you have for 2027. I was there in my model, but then when you acquired CoolIT, there's so much extra amortization there that I actually came off that margin target. But now, you reaffirmed it today.

是的，午安。謝謝讓我提問。也謝謝你，Christophe，重申你們對 2027 年 20% 營業利益率目標的承諾。我原本在模型裡有納入，但你們收購 CoolIT 之後，新增的攤銷很多，導致我其實把那個利潤率目標下修了。但你今天又重申了。

So can you just help bridge that gap for us? Because there's a lot of extra incremental amortization coming through on the CoolIT side. So I just want to make sure I heard you right. You are reaffirming the 20% operating margin target for 2027? And can you help us understand how you plan to offset those incremental expenses flowing through?

所以你能否幫我們把這個落差銜接起來？因為在 CoolIT 端會有不少額外的增量攤銷進來。我只是想確認我聽得沒錯。你們是在重申 2027 年 20% 的營業利益率目標嗎？也請幫我們理解，你們計畫如何抵銷這些流入的增量費用？

Yes, Tim. You understood that right. So we've been very consistent, by the way, on making sure that we stay on our commitment of delivering 20% operating income in 2027. So that remains unchanged. I'll ask as well, Scott, to add some color to it in a second. But before we get there, our expectation, and everything that we do, is ultimately to drive our commitment of 5% to 7% organic sales growth to 20% OI margin and a strong 12% to 15% earnings per share growth.

是的，Tim。你理解得沒錯。順帶一提，我們一直非常一致地確保我們會堅守在 2027 年達成 20% 營業利益的承諾。所以這點不變。我也會請 Scott 等一下補充一些說明。但在此之前，我們的預期，以及我們所做的一切，最終都是為了推動我們的承諾：5% 至 7% 的有機銷售成長、20% 的 OI 利潤率，以及強勁的每股盈餘成長 12% 至 15%。

And ultimately, our job is to make sure that everything we're doing, well, not only leads us to that, but leads us to beyond that. And that's especially true for the 20% OI in 2027. And I spent, together with the team, a lot of time as well to think how do we get beyond the 20% after 2027. And the vast majority of our businesses today are already either close to 20% or beyond 20%.

而我們的工作，最終是要確保我們所做的一切，不僅能帶我們達成這些目標，還能讓我們超越這些目標。這對 2027 年 20% OI 尤其如此。我也和團隊一起花了很多時間思考，2027 年之後要如何超越 20%。而我們目前絕大多數的業務，不是已經接近 20%，就是已經超過 20%。

So we know well how to do that. The second half of this year, the adjusted OI margins will be at 19% as well. So all leading nicely towards the 2027 story. It's going to be important to keep in mind that the first half and second half of '27, will be a tale of two stories because of the lapping, obviously, of the CoolIT acquisition that closed early July or 12 months, mid next year and then the second half of '27.

所以我們很清楚該怎麼做。今年下半年，調整後 OI 利潤率也將達到 19%。因此一切都在良好地朝 2027 年的目標推進。需要記住的是，因為比較基期（lapping）的關係，2027 年上半年與下半年會呈現兩段不同的故事：CoolIT 收購在 7 月初完成，因此到明年年中左右滿 12 個月，接著才是 2027 年下半年。

In other words, the second half of '27, we'll be even stronger. But as mentioned before, my objective is really to not only deliver on those commitments beyond '26, but really making sure that we get beyond the 20%, that we can strengthen this 5% to 7% on the organic and also on the earnings per share to 12% to 15%, well, I guess that's going to get stronger as well over time.

換句話說，2027 年下半年我們會更強。但如先前所提，我的目標不只是要在 2026 年之後履行這些承諾，而是確保我們能超越 20%，並且強化 5% 至 7% 的有機成長，以及每股盈餘 12% 至 15% 的成長；我想這些也會隨時間推移而變得更強。

But Scott, do you want to add any color to that?

不過 Scott，你要不要補充一些說明？

Yes. The only thing, Tim, that I would add is that next year, as you might remember, the Nalco amortization falls off. And so that's also as part of, when you said how do you reconcile that, that we do get the benefit of annualizing the CoolIT amortization, but offset by the Nalco amortization.

好的。Tim，我唯一想補充的是，明年如你可能記得的，Nalco 的攤銷會到期結束。因此，當你問要如何調和這件事時，我們確實會承受 CoolIT 攤銷全年化的影響，但會由 Nalco 攤銷到期所帶來的效益加以抵銷。

Manav Patnaik, Barclays.

Manav Patnaik，巴克萊。

Thank you. Good afternoon, Christophe, I was just hoping within High-Tech, could you just help us with the current mix of the business between data centers and microelectronics or however you want to break it out? And kind of just some more color on your confidence in getting to that $4 billion target, I guess?

謝謝。下午好，Christophe。我想請教一下，在高科技業務中，您能否協助我們了解目前業務組合在資料中心與微電子之間的占比（或您希望如何拆分）？另外，也想請您多談一些，您對達成 40 億美元目標的信心來源？

Yeah. Manav. So high level, obviously, since we don't go much in details for the size of the business right now, but it's roughly $1.5 billion annualized sales. Obviously, so right now, when you have our legacy business, microelectronics and data centers within legacy, and then CoolIT, and then Ovivo, which is in microelectronics. And each of them is roughly $0.5 billion today of annualized sales. That's how you get to the $1.5 billion.

好的。Manav。從高層次來看，顯然由於我們目前不會就業務規模提供太多細節，但大約是年化 15 億美元的銷售額。目前包含我們的既有業務——既有業務中的微電子與資料中心——以及 CoolIT，還有 Ovivo（屬於微電子）。而這三者目前各自大約都是年化 5 億美元的銷售額。加總起來就是 15 億美元。

And for perspective, we were $150 million just a few years back. So this is a platform that we've built over the last few years extremely rapidly. And the very good news is that all three elements are growing very nicely. You've heard about the legacy business growing 29%. Ovivo expected to deliver mid-teens for this year, and CoolIT being north of 100%. So you add it all up, so you get to a very good place. So our trajectory of 25% growth for the next few years leads you to the $4 billion by 2030 and feel quite confident that that's very realistic.

作為參考，幾年前我們只有 1.5 億美元。因此，這是一個我們在過去幾年以極快速度打造出來的平台。而非常好的消息是，這三個組成部分都成長得很不錯。你們也聽到既有業務成長 29%。Ovivo 預期今年可達到約中十位數（mid-teens）的成長，而 CoolIT 則超過 100%。把這些加總起來，就會到一個非常好的位置。因此，我們未來幾年 25% 的成長軌跡，將帶領我們在 2030 年達到 40 億美元；我們相當有信心這是非常可實現的。

Ashish Sabadra, RBC Capital Markets.

Ashish Sabadra，RBC 資本市場。

Thanks for taking my question. Just wanted to follow up on the Global High-Tech. So you mentioned the integrated end-to-end cooling platform that you plan to launch at the SuperCompute. I was just wondering if you could help or discuss how that can help drive more cross-selling opportunity across all the different Global High-Tech offerings that you have.

謝謝讓我提問。我想追問一下全球高科技（Global High-Tech）。您提到計畫在 SuperCompute 上推出整合式端到端冷卻平台。我想請問您能否協助說明，這將如何在您現有的各項全球高科技產品/服務之間，帶動更多交叉銷售機會？

Thank you, Ashish. Well, generally, as we mentioned, when we did the acquisition of CoolIT, adding CoolIT to the data center multiplies between 3 times and 5 times the sales opportunity that we have compared to legacy Ecolab in the data center. So much bigger, obviously, than what we had before. So that's the penetration of solutions opportunity.

謝謝你，Ashish。一般而言，如我們提到的，當我們收購 CoolIT 後，把 CoolIT 加入資料中心業務，與 Ecolab 在資料中心的既有業務相比，我們的銷售機會放大了 3 到 5 倍。顯然比我們以前擁有的要大得多。這就是解決方案滲透所帶來的機會。

But the most interesting part is when you put all the pieces together, from a CDU integrating, 3D TRASAR control technology to 3D TRASAR coolant to cold plates that are integrated in that system, and ultimately, an end-to-end optimization system to reduce the power used to cool while using zero net incremental water, because everything is within the system, is the biggest upside obviously so for our customers.

但最有意思的部分是，當你把所有拼圖組合在一起：從 CDU 的整合、3D TRASAR 控制技術、3D TRASAR 冷卻液，到整合在該系統中的冷板（cold plates），最終再到端到端的最佳化系統——在不增加淨用水量（zero net incremental water）的情況下，降低用於冷卻的電力，因為一切都在系統內部——這對我們客戶而言顯然是最大的上行空間。

And with everything that's happening right now in the AI infrastructure and data center pushback in the communities, well, as mentioned, the world needs a company can help this industry scale part while doing it the right way both in terms of cost performance and in terms of impact on communities and natural resources.

而在目前 AI 基礎設施的發展，以及社區對資料中心擴張的反彈之下，如前所述，世界需要一家能協助這個產業擴大規模、同時以正確方式推進的公司——無論是在成本效能方面，或是在對社區與自然資源的影響方面。

So I think that we're very uniquely placed here to do that. And it took us just two weeks basically to get the 3D TRASAR technology embedded in the next generation of the CDU for CoolIT. It's a good example of how the two teams have come together. So it's going to be really good to share with all of you and with customers obviously at SuperCompute how everything comes together.

所以我認為我們在這方面具備非常獨特的定位。而我們基本上只花了兩週，就把 3D TRASAR 技術嵌入 CoolIT 下一代 CDU。這是兩個團隊如何走到一起的很好例子。因此，能在 SuperCompute 上向各位以及客戶分享所有元素如何整合在一起，將會非常棒。

And last thing I'd say, we really look at it from an ecosystem perspective. We will not be owning everything. We don't want to get into a lot of hardware, obviously, out there. But we want to be the platform that ultimately all the other elements come around in order to truly maximize cooling, minimize the water and energy usage and maximize ultimately the uptime and performance of the data center as well. So a typical Ecolab story where the outcome of the operations is the main objective we have.

最後我想說的是，我們確實是從生態系的角度來看待這件事。我們不會擁有所有環節。顯然我們也不想涉入大量硬體。但我們希望成為一個平台，讓其他所有要素都能圍繞其上，從而真正最大化冷卻效果、最小化用水與能源使用，並最終最大化資料中心的正常運行時間（uptime）與效能。這是一個典型的 Ecolab 故事：我們的主要目標是營運成果（outcome）。

John McNulty, BMO Capital Markets.

John McNulty，BMO 資本市場。

Yeah, good afternoon. Thanks for taking my question and congrats on some really solid results. Just wanted to ask or dig a little bit deeper on the Life Sciences side of the business. And clearly, there's a lot of interest on the bioprocessing side. We've seen a number of drugs kind of hitting the market or starting to hit the market.

是的，下午好。謝謝讓我提問，也恭喜你們交出相當扎實的成果。我想就生命科學（Life Sciences）業務再深入一點。很明顯，市場對生物製程（bioprocessing）端非常感興趣。我們看到有不少藥物陸續上市或開始上市。

At the same time, like you've outpaced kind of the other major competitor in the space by a decent amount. So I guess, can you help us to think about how much of it is just the end market growth, how much of it is share gain, and how much of it may be just some of the capacity unlock that you've been working on well?

同時，你們的成長幅度也明顯超越該領域的另一家主要競爭對手。所以我想請你們協助我們思考：其中有多少來自終端市場成長、有多少是市占提升（share gain），以及有多少可能是你們一直在推動的產能釋放所帶來的？

Thank you, John, I'm very pleased with the Life Sciences team. It's been a few years in the making. As you know, we started that business in 2017, it was less than $100 million. And today, it's close to $1 billion, so 10 times the size of where it was back then. We made the acquisition of Purolite in 2021.

謝謝你，John。我對生命科學團隊非常滿意。這是多年累積的成果。如你所知，我們在 2017 年開始這項業務，當時不到 1 億美元。而今天接近 10 億美元，規模是當年的 10 倍。我們在 2021 年完成了對 Purolite 的收購。

And the COVID implications on the market have been a little bit difficult to manage, for all industry, by the way. But when I look back and think about what the team has done in how to build capacity, capabilities, relationship with customers, trust, that we can really be the best partner in the future, well, I'm super pleased with what the team has done. We were not on the trajectory we had initially planned, as you know, since the acquisition of Purolite, but we have always been growing when the rest of the industry was not. So not in line with what we had expected, but better at competition.

而 COVID 對市場的影響確實有點難以管理——順帶一提，這對所有產業都是如此。但回頭看，團隊在擴建產能、提升能力、建立與客戶的關係與信任方面所做的一切，讓我們能在未來真正成為最佳合作夥伴；我對團隊的表現非常滿意。如你所知，自收購 Purolite 以來，我們的發展軌跡並未完全符合最初規劃，但在產業其他公司沒有成長時，我們始終保持成長。因此，雖然不如我們原先預期，但相較競爭對手表現更好。

The very good news right now, John, is that, well, we're not only our forming the market and competition, but we're backing on with our return expectations that we had set early in that process. So really happy with the trajectory, the returns, the work that's been done by the team.

John，目前非常好的消息是，我們不僅持續優於市場與競爭對手，而且也正回到我們在流程早期所設定的報酬預期（return expectations）軌道上。所以我對目前的成長軌跡、報酬，以及團隊所完成的工作都非常滿意。

And ultimately, the most important element is to listen to our customers, that are really pleased with the agility of the team, the innovation strength of this team, being very entrepreneurial, need to be as close to them what they need short term in order to deliver the life-saving drugs that they're trying to bring to the market.

最重要的要素，最終還是傾聽客戶的聲音；他們對團隊的敏捷性、創新實力，以及非常具創業精神的作風感到非常滿意。我們需要盡可能貼近他們短期的需求，協助他們把正在推向市場的救命藥物交付出去。

We knew we would not become in the short or medium term the largest life science player in the industry. But our objective is to be the best-performing and the best partner of our customers, I guess that we're pretty close to the ambition right now. So early, but good news for the future.

我們知道在短期或中期內，我們不會成為產業中最大的生命科學玩家。但我們的目標是成為客戶表現最佳、也是最好的合作夥伴；我想我們現在已經相當接近這個企圖心。因此，雖然還早，但對未來是好消息。

David Begleiter, Deutsche Bank.

David Begleiter，德意志銀行。

Thank you. Good afternoon. Christophe, on CoolIT, when the business was acquired, you mentioned perhaps a 30% type annual growth rate to model going forward. Given the 100% plus growth rate in the first half of the year, should we update our models to a higher growth rate over the next few years here for CoolIT?

謝謝。下午好。Christophe，關於 CoolIT，在收購該業務時，你曾提到未來可用約 30% 的年成長率來建模。鑑於今年上半年超過 100% 的成長率，我們是否應該把未來幾年對 CoolIT 的成長率假設上修到更高？

So really like this acquisition. That's one of those -- one of many where obviously before you embark on such a journey, I had my set of sleepless nights. And when I look back, well, I'm really saying, I'm glad we did it. Because this is the best technology in the market. It's the best performing business as well, so in direct shipping liquid cooling technology.

我們真的很喜歡這項收購。這是其中之一——也是眾多之一——顯然在你踏上這樣的旅程之前，我也有過幾個徹夜難眠的夜晚。但回頭看，我會說，我很高興我們做了這件事。因為這是市場上最好的技術。它也是表現最好的業務，也就是直送式液冷技術（direct shipping liquid cooling technology）。

And I've been so impressed with the team that I've met at CoolIT and how these two teams are coming together. Maybe it's been two or three weeks that we're together. It's very early. And we're getting to know each other, starting to work together with customers. So it's so early, that we're not in a position to change anything. But if I look at the trajectories, well, they're better than what we had told.

我也對我在 CoolIT 認識的團隊，以及這兩個團隊如何走到一起，感到非常印象深刻。我們在一起可能才兩三週。現在還非常早。我們正在彼此熟悉，並開始與客戶一起合作。所以現在真的還太早，我們還沒有條件去改變任何東西。但如果我看這些發展軌跡，確實比我們當初所說的更好。

That's the good news. But when we did our plans for the next 4, 5, 10 years, a lot can happen, and that's why we've picked a trajectory of 30%, which I think is the right one. True that the first half of this year for CoolIT has been way better than that. The acceptance by customers of the latest technologies of CoolIT is extremely good, and even better when we come together with Ecolab. So that's an even better sign.

這是好消息。但當我們做未來 4、5、10 年的規劃時，可能發生很多事情，這也是為什麼我們選擇了 30% 的軌跡，我認為這是正確的。確實，CoolIT 今年上半年的表現遠遠好於此。客戶對 CoolIT 最新技術的接受度非常好，而當我們與 Ecolab 結合時更是更好。所以這是更正面的訊號。

And that's the reason why we'd like to be together with you in November at SuperCompute, is basically we will have sort of four, five months of working together with CoolIT, we better understand how it works, what's to like, what we need to work on, what's the new type of trajectory. So too early to change right now, but give us the time in the next few months to really get the teams together, making it really well work together with the customers. And in November, we will sit together to share with you how do we see '27, and the years beyond.

這也是為什麼我們希望在 11 月的 SuperCompute 與各位相聚：基本上，屆時我們將與 CoolIT 共同合作約四、五個月，更能理解其運作方式、有哪些值得肯定之處、哪些需要改善，以及新的成長軌跡可能是什麼。所以現在改變還太早，但請給我們接下來幾個月的時間，讓團隊真正整合起來，並與客戶端形成良好的協同運作。到了 11 月，我們會坐下來與各位分享我們如何看待 2027 年以及之後的年度。

Chris Parkinson, Wolfe Research.

Wolfe Research 的 Chris Parkinson。

Chris, I wanted to just circle back to Life Sciences just given the trajectory there and all the work you've been doing with your team in King of Prussia. And just a few things that I'd like to break down. First of all, just kind of how you see the trajectory of some of the biopharma applications versus some of the purification and resins, how much this is attributable to basically the beginning of the ramps in both King of Prussia and Wales?

Chris，我想回到生命科學（Life Sciences）這塊，考量到那邊的發展軌跡，以及你和你在 King of Prussia 團隊所做的所有工作。我有幾點想拆解一下。首先，你如何看待部分生物製藥（biopharma）應用相較於部分純化與樹脂（purification and resins）的發展軌跡？其中有多少可歸因於 King of Prussia 與威爾斯（Wales）兩地產能爬坡（ramps）才剛開始？

And then also correct me if I'm wrong, but a lot of that business initially started off in a larger scale in Europe, and it seems like you've been making a lot of investments and leeway with partners in the United States. So I'd love to kind of just drill down to just anything that you can do to basically increase the probability of the Street sustaining this type of growth in trajectory, especially relative to the '27, margin targets?

另外，如果我沒理解錯，這項業務一開始在歐洲是以較大規模起步，而看起來你們在美國也透過合作夥伴做了很多投資並取得進展。所以我想更深入了解：你們能做哪些事情來提高市場（Street）對這種成長軌跡可持續性的信心，特別是相對於 2027 年的利潤率目標？

So it's been a few quarters now that Life Science has been on the high end of the expected performance, which is a very good sign, and I've been very open with you at the early years of that journey where we're growing, growing faster than the industry, but we were not growing as fast as we were expecting or ours expecting.

生命科學已經連續幾個季度都落在預期表現的高端，這是非常好的訊號。我也在這段旅程的早期就很坦白地跟各位說過：我們在成長、成長速度也快於產業，但並沒有如我們預期的那麼快。

But that's time behind us, and it gave us the opportunity to build those capabilities and these capacities that we needed around the world. We just opened our latest, one of the biggest plants in China a few weeks ago. That's going to give us a big footprint in a market that's going really well for life science, the industry and for us. By the way, expanding as well around Asia.

但那段時間已經過去了，也讓我們有機會在全球建立所需的能力與產能。幾週前我們剛在中國開設最新、也是最大的工廠之一。這將讓我們在一個生命科學產業與我們自身都表現非常好的市場中，擁有更大的布局。順帶一提，我們也正在亞洲其他地區擴張。

In Europe, the core of Purolite came from Europe as well, both Eastern Europe and Wales, as you mentioned, for bioprocessing, and capacity as well in North America that we've kept building and that we will keep building. It's always been part of our strategy to be in each of the three continents: North America, Europe and Asia.

在歐洲，Purolite 的核心也來自歐洲，包括東歐與你提到的威爾斯，主要用於生物製程（bioprocessing）；同時我們也在北美持續建置產能，未來也會繼續擴建。在北美、歐洲與亞洲三大洲都要有布局，一直都是我們策略的一部分。

And we're almost there. And it's never going to be enough because it's growing fast. That's a good problem to have as well. We have great teams as well that we had to build bioprocessing, is the fastest-growing one, it is a very interesting, very technology-leading type of business that we will keep the anchor in the biotechnology industry.

我們幾乎已經達成了。而且永遠都不會覺得足夠，因為成長很快。這也是一個值得擁有的好問題。我們也建立了很強的團隊；生物製程是成長最快的一塊，是非常有趣、技術領先的業務，我們會持續把它作為生技產業中的核心支柱。

But I'd like to add as well our whole pharma and personal care business that's focused on contamination control, basically making sure that the environment where the drugs are being produced is as healthy as it can be. This business is doing extremely well as well at the same time. And the purification business that's kind of lower grades on the type of products, but still on the same platform, we were capped by capacity constraints. As you know, that's changing with the opening of the plant in China. So that's going to help us as well as sustain the growth trajectory of that business going forward.

但我也想補充我們整體的製藥與個人護理業務，重點在污染控制（contamination control），基本上是確保藥品生產環境盡可能健康與潔淨。這項業務同樣表現非常好。至於純化業務，產品等級相對較低一些，但仍在同一平台上；我們先前受到產能限制。如各位所知，隨著中國工廠的啟用，這正在改變。因此這也將幫助我們在未來維持該業務的成長軌跡。

So we're in a place where we have very good momentum. Our long-term target was 10% to 12%, by the way. So we are ahead of that range right now on margin. So to get towards the 30% OI target, we will get there. We see the line of sight to get there.

所以我們目前處在動能非常好的位置。順帶一提，我們的長期目標是 10% 到 12%。目前在利潤率方面我們已經領先於這個區間。因此要達到 30% 的營業利益（OI）目標，我們會做到。我們看得到清晰的達成路徑。

But I want to make absolutely sure that we keep investing in capacity and capabilities in the meantime in order to get the business that has not only a critical mass, but the right momentum to keep winning in the future. So kind of a little bit of an overview of what we're trying to build here, all driven by research, by innovation, by science, which is ultimately what's most important for our customers, and it's working really well.

但同時我也要非常確定：在此期間我們持續投資產能與能力，讓這個業務不僅具備關鍵規模（critical mass），也有正確的動能，未來才能持續勝出。這算是我們正在打造的整體概覽——一切都由研發、創新與科學所驅動，而這最終也是客戶最重視的，且目前運作得非常好。

Seth Weber, BNP Paribas.

BNP Paribas 的 Seth Weber。

Please proceed with your question. I wanted to ask a little bit about your -- some of your old economy stuff. I was struck by your comment that you think paper could see some modest growth here in the third quarter. I mean do you feel like we're past the bottom in some of these categories? Or is it just maybe less bad and pricing is helping? Or can you just help us frame what's going on in some of your older economy stuff? Thank you.

請提出您的問題。我想問一下你們——一些比較傳統的業務。我注意到你提到你認為紙品在第三季可能會有一些溫和成長。我的意思是，你覺得我們已經走過這些類別的谷底了嗎？還是只是情況沒那麼糟，而定價在提供幫助？或者你能否幫我們梳理一下你們一些較傳統業務目前的狀況？謝謝。

I'm not sure I would call that old economy, but it's more traditional businesses. So for sure, we know that those businesses are not going to grow as the growth engines do. That's why we have the differentiation, by the way, between growth engines, double-digit type of business, our core business, which is the key of our company kind of in this mid-single, and then you have the lower-growth businesses. But I've called, with some affection, underperforming because they were underperforming for a while.

我不確定我會稱之為「舊經濟」，但它們確實是比較傳統的業務。所以可以肯定的是，我們知道這些業務不會像成長引擎那樣成長。這也是為什麼我們會做區分：成長引擎（雙位數成長的業務）、我們的核心業務（大約中個位數成長，是公司關鍵），以及低成長業務。不過我帶著一點感情把它們稱為「表現落後」，因為它們確實有一段時間表現落後。

And to your point on paper, well, the good news is that it was barely positive in Q2, which is a big deal. Obviously, it's for the business after more than a year being in negative territory, impacted by the industry that was not doing great, and then an industry that was consolidating because of that. So we lost a lot of paper mills as well. And when we lose a paper mill, that has a big impact on our sales because they use a lot of our solutions.

至於你提到的紙品業務，好消息是第二季（Q2）勉強轉為正成長，這非常重要。顯然，這對於在負成長區間待了一年多的業務而言意義重大，先前受到景氣不佳的產業影響，且該產業也因此進入整併。所以我們也失去了很多紙廠。而當我們失去一家紙廠時，對我們的銷售會有很大影響，因為他們會使用大量我們的解決方案。

And we can see that the last six months, that consolidation stopped, paused and that things are getting slightly better. And here as well, we are a bit better than the industry, so we're gaining share, which is a good thing as well. So barely positive in Q2 for the paper team. But I feel really confident, with the great leadership that we have there, to get even more positive in Q3 and beyond.

我們也看到過去六個月，那波整併已經停止、暫緩，情況正在略為好轉。而且在這裡我們的表現也略優於產業，因此我們正在提升市占，這也是好事。所以紙品團隊在第二季（Q2）是勉強轉正。但我非常有信心，憑藉那邊優秀的領導團隊，第三季（Q3）以及之後會更為正向。

So I'm cautiously optimistic with that business. Observing good margins, by the way, important to keep that in mind. But yes, they're improving and they are in positive territories or they're generating value for shareholders, which is the first step towards greatness.

因此我對這項業務抱持審慎樂觀。順帶一提，利潤率表現不錯，這點很重要，要記得。但沒錯，他們正在改善，並且已經回到正向區間，或是正在為股東創造價值，這是邁向卓越的第一步。

Laurence Alexander, Jefferies.

Laurence Alexander，Jefferies。

I'd like to revisit the Life Sciences. Can you just dig in a little bit on bioprocessing? Are you mostly winning share in the early-stage preclinical or are you also getting the equivalent share gains in the later-stage commercial? And really, I'm trying to dig into your CapEx. You're talking about big CapEx, I think, was the word you used.

我想再回到生命科學（Life Sciences）。你能否再深入談一下生物製程（bioprocessing）？你們主要是在早期的臨床前（preclinical）階段贏得市占，還是在後期的商業化（commercial）階段也取得同等的市占提升？另外，我其實是想更深入了解你們的資本支出（CapEx）。你提到很大的CapEx，我想那是你用的措辭。

Are you trying to get your CapEx additions ahead of your growth rates so you can go into adjacencies? Or should we be thinking about this CapEx cycle as this is kind of the run rate that you'll be continuing into the 2030s because it's just how fast the end market is growing?

你們是否試圖讓CapEx的新增投資走在成長率之前，以便切入相鄰領域（adjacencies）？或者我們應該把這一輪CapEx週期視為一種常態水準（run rate），你們會一路延續到2030年代，因為終端市場就是以這麼快的速度在成長？

So a few things here, Laurence. First, bear with me, I'll have to be careful into how much details I'm going on the sensitivity of the competitive situation. There's very few players in that industry. We know each other very well. We all understand that what we do well is sustaining lives around the world.

Laurence，這裡有幾點。首先請見諒，我必須小心，因為競爭態勢相當敏感，我能談的細節有限。這個產業的玩家非常少。我們彼此非常了解。我們都明白，我們做得好的事情是在全球各地延續生命。

So I'm very careful, so I'm going to talk about that. But generally, we have a very good position now across the whole spectrum between early innovations, clinical trials of various stages and commercial drugs, that the team has done very well in terms of jumping ahead of the queue in some cases to make sure that we were covering the whole chain.

所以我會非常謹慎，我會以這樣的方式來談。但整體而言，我們現在在整個光譜上都有非常好的布局，涵蓋早期創新、不同階段的臨床試驗，以及商業化藥物；團隊在某些情況下做得非常好，能夠搶先卡位，確保我們覆蓋整條價值鏈。

And as you know, it's a funnel type of approach, you need to have a lot early in order to get a few big ones later. So that's the rule of the game, obviously, so in Life Science. And now we are ideally positioned as the team has done in order to make sure that we can sustain and accelerate the growth in the future.

而如你所知，這是一種漏斗式（funnel）的做法：你必須在早期佈局很多，後期才能產出少數幾個大案子。這顯然就是生命科學領域的遊戲規則。而現在我們已處於理想位置，正如團隊所做的那樣，確保我們能在未來維持並加速成長。

The question on investments, we've clearly been investing ahead of the growth in that business. That's why we were talking about reported growth in the mid-teens and underlying growth in the mid-20s. Well, those 10 points were investments ahead of the growth as we want to see that business driving 30%-ish type of margin at cruising speed.

至於投資的問題，我們確實一直在這項業務上超前於成長進行投資。這也是為什麼我們談到：表觀成長在十幾個百分點（mid-teens），而內生成長在二十幾個百分點（mid-20s）。這中間的10個百分點，就是我們為了讓該業務在穩態運行時能帶動約30%左右的利潤率，而提前投入的投資。

But I don't want to get too quickly ahead of that. This is an industry of perfection. The quality of the products, of the team of the delivery of the innovation, it takes time, it takes steps, it takes passion and commitment to getting done. But as you can see now, so the underlying margins are getting closer to the reported margins, which is a good thing. Q2 was a little bit of an extreme because we had a spike in bioprocessing.

但我不想太快超前推進。這是一個追求完美的產業。產品品質、團隊、創新交付的品質，都需要時間，需要循序漸進，需要熱情與承諾才能把事情做好。但如你現在所見，內生利潤率正逐步接近表觀利潤率，這是好事。第二季（Q2）有點偏極端，因為生物製程出現了一波尖峰。

It's not every quarter created the same. But generally, the trajectory is still good. So I like our competitive situation. And as mentioned before, we don't have the ambition to become the biggest, we want to become the best life sciences business in the industry.

不是每一季都一樣。但整體而言，趨勢仍然良好。所以我喜歡我們的競爭態勢。而如先前所提，我們的企圖不是成為最大，而是要成為業界最好的生命科學業務。

Vincent Andrews, Morgan Stanley.

Vincent Andrews，Morgan Stanley。

Thank you very much. To go back to CapEx, Christophe, when you acquired CoolIT, my recollection is you said that they had enough capacity on their own to supply a doubling of their sales, which seems like a pace that they're very much on. And I think you separately said that the plan was to go sort of asset-light, sort of similar to how you do it in your dishwashing business where you design and have the IP and then somebody else does the manufacturing. So just wondering if you can tell us where you are in that journey given it sounds like the growth rate of CoolIT is really moving maybe faster than originally thought.

非常感謝。回到CapEx，Christophe，當你收購CoolIT時，我記得你說他們自身的產能足以支應其銷售額翻倍，而看起來他們確實正以這樣的速度在前進。我也記得你另外提到，計畫是走偏資產輕（asset-light）的模式，有點像你們在洗碗業務的做法：你們負責設計並擁有智慧財產（IP），然後由其他人負責製造。所以想請你談談，考量到CoolIT的成長率似乎可能比原先預期更快，你們在這段轉型旅程上目前走到哪一步？

Yeah, so generally, directionally, absolutely no change, what you've said is still valid, with one small exception, which is a good one, is that the growth seems to be faster than what we had expected. For all the reasons I mentioned before: the leading-edge technologies that CoolIT is having, the combination of Ecolab and CoolIT coming together providing the market with something that no one else can provide in terms of higher performance, no water and less energy to do the same job as well.

是的，整體方向上完全沒有改變；你說的仍然成立。只有一個小例外，而且是好事：成長似乎比我們原先預期更快。原因如我先前提到的：CoolIT所擁有的尖端技術（leading-edge technologies），以及Ecolab與CoolIT結合後，能為市場提供其他人無法提供的方案——在同樣完成工作下，具備更高效能、不用水、且耗能更低。

So generally, for the company, I don't see big changes, but for our High-Tech business, we might have to go faster, which is exactly what we'd like to see and you'd like to see, I guess, as well. But let me ask maybe, Scott, if you'd like to add any perspective on CapEx in general.

所以就公司整體而言，我看不到大的變化；但對我們的高科技（High-Tech）業務來說，我們可能得加快腳步，這正是我們想看到、我想你們也想看到的。不過我想請Scott補充一下，對CapEx整體是否有任何看法。

Yes, just more broadly, as Christophe talked about, we will invest ahead of growth in the growth engines, but expect that the CapEx as a company to remain similar to where we're at now for the next couple of years. And we've talked about this for a little while, likely remaining around the 7% in the next couple of years because we are investing ahead for the Global High-Tech business and Life Science. But then as we scale these growth engines, we'll continue to evaluate it. But we're always going to take advantage of these attractive returns.

是的，更廣泛來說，正如Christophe所談，我們會在成長引擎上超前於成長進行投資，但預期公司整體的CapEx在未來幾年會維持在與目前相近的水準。我們也談了一段時間，未來幾年可能會維持在約7%左右，因為我們正為全球高科技業務與生命科學提前投資。但隨著這些成長引擎規模擴大，我們會持續評估。不過我們一向會把握這些具吸引力的報酬。

Patrick Cunningham, Citi.

Patrick Cunningham，Citi。

Maybe just on Food and Beverage, pretty strong 7% sales growth there. Pretty good execution against a flat broader industry. I guess can you share details on what is contributing to the increased traction there? And how much acceleration do you expect to see within this business over the coming quarters?

也許談一下食品與飲料（Food and Beverage），那邊銷售成長7%相當強勁。在整體產業持平的情況下，你們的執行表現相當不錯。我想請你分享一下，哪些因素促成了那邊動能的提升？以及你預期未來幾季這項業務的加速幅度會有多少？

So Food and Beverage, which is one of those core businesses that we have that I think it's one of the best global businesses we have, is one of the best teams around the world, serving a very sophisticated industry of consumer goods companies with big brands everywhere around the world. So it's a business I love. And I love it even more looking at the performance that this business is driving.

食品與飲料是我們其中一項核心業務；我認為它是我們最好的全球性業務之一，擁有全球最優秀的團隊之一，服務的是一個非常成熟的產業——全球各地擁有大型品牌的消費品公司。所以這是一項我很喜歡的業務。而看到這項業務所帶動的表現，我就更喜歡它了。

You mentioned 7%. If you remember, so our long-term target for this business is 5% to 7%. So they are at the higher end of that range. And why that? I'll give you the simple answer here. It's the One Ecolab approach where the team has brought together our food safety capabilities with our water capabilities as one integrated organization. So it's not just two teams playing nice together to serve the customer. It's an integrated team with experts in food safety and experts in water working on the same team, for the same customers, anywhere around the world.

您提到 7%。如果您記得，我們對這項業務的長期目標是 5% 到 7%。所以他們處於該區間的高端。那為什麼會這樣？我在這裡給您一個簡單的答案。這是 One Ecolab 的做法：團隊把我們的食品安全能力與水務能力整合為一個一體化的組織。所以不只是兩個團隊友好合作來服務客戶。而是一個整合團隊，由食品安全專家與水務專家在同一個團隊中，為同一批客戶，在全球任何地方共同工作。

We're not done yet. We've done the work in North America where the teams came together and, ultimately, well, I can position it as a strategic idea of producing safe food while using less water and energy, but there is a much more mundane driver of the growth, is the cross-selling. So how do we sell food safety solutions into water customers and water solutions into food safety customers? That's the sales execution play with a good strategic intent.

我們還沒結束。我們已在北美完成了團隊整合的工作；最終，我可以把它定位為一個策略性理念：在使用更少的水與能源的同時生產安全食品；但推動成長還有一個更為務實的驅動因素，就是交叉銷售。那麼我們如何把食品安全解決方案賣給水務客戶，並把水務解決方案賣給食品安全客戶？這就是帶著良好策略意圖的銷售執行打法。

So that's being the main driver. The execution has worked really well. We're expanding what we've done in North America now around the world. That will take some time, but it's also driving some good runway of momentum, so for the years to come. And last but not least is what you're hearing as well on the market, producing safe food, well, is something that is pretty top of mind for everyone right now, being in restaurants, being in retail. And what we're doing is even more in demand than what it was in the past.

所以這一直是主要驅動因素。執行得非常好。我們正在把在北美做過的事情擴展到全球。這需要一些時間，但也正在帶來良好的動能跑道，支撐未來幾年。最後但同樣重要的是，您在市場上也聽到的：生產安全食品，嗯，現在對每個人而言都是非常關注的議題，無論是在餐飲或零售。而我們所做的事情，比過去更受需求。

Eric Boyes, Evercore ISI.

Eric Boyes，Evercore ISI。

Thanks, and good afternoon. I think Ecolab Digital is nearly at a $500 million annual run rate and growing 20% to 30%. Smaller than Global High-Tech, but pretty attractive incremental margins. So I was wondering if there's anything you can share on the trajectory for Digital into 2027. Maybe talk to the margin contribution. Then why not push through a faster transition to the subscription model given the value proposition of the offerings?

謝謝，下午好。我認為 Ecolab Digital 的年化營收運行率接近 5 億美元，且成長 20% 到 30%。規模小於 Global High-Tech，但增量利潤率相當吸引人。所以我想請問，您是否能分享一下 Digital 到 2027 年的發展軌跡？也許談談對利潤率的貢獻。另外，鑑於這些產品的價值主張，為什麼不推動更快轉向訂閱模式？

Thank you. Eric, so what you said is absolutely true as well on what you said, pushing for more faster. We're speaking the same language here. There's a lot of execution that needs to happen, obviously, in between. But I'm very pleased with the progress that we've made over the last couple of years. As you know, it's a pretty new business as a business, not as an activity, because we've been on digital since we invented 3D TRASAR.

謝謝。Eric，您說得完全正確，包括您提到要更快推進。我們在這方面是同一種語言。當然，中間還需要做大量的執行工作。但我對過去幾年我們取得的進展非常滿意。如您所知，這是一項相當新的業務——作為一門業務是新的，但作為一項活動並不新，因為自從我們發明 3D TRASAR 以來就一直在做數位化。

And just for memory, it was invented in 1991. So it's been a long time that we've been in connected devices, but they were obviously not connected to the cloud, to mainframes and all that complicated technology that we have.

順帶回顧一下，它是在 1991 年發明的。所以我們在連網設備領域已經很久了，但當時顯然還沒有連到雲端、主機等我們現在所擁有的那些複雜技術。

So today, that's the good news. Well, we have hundreds of thousands of connected devices, in thousands of customer locations around the world. So we have a great installed base, with a good critical mass that only a few companies have out there. But we know that for, well, almost 30 years of that journey, we were doing that for free, without going for subscriptions and making sure that we were remunerated for the value and the offering that we are providing for our customers.

所以今天，好消息是：我們在全球數千個客戶據點部署了數十萬台連網設備。因此我們擁有很好的裝機基礎，且達到相當的臨界規模，外部只有少數公司具備。但我們也知道，在這段將近 30 年的旅程中，我們幾乎是免費在做，沒有採用訂閱制，也沒有確保我們能就為客戶提供的價值與服務獲得報酬。

So we changed that two years ago. That was a change for customers, not a change for the industry because that's what tech companies are doing for a living as well, is making sure our teams know how to do that. Our customers realize that, yes, they pay for something that is something that we're used to, it's new, but it's driving as well incremental value.

所以我們在兩年前改變了這一點。這對客戶而言是一個改變，但對產業而言不是，因為科技公司本來就是靠這樣的模式在運作；同時也要確保我們的團隊知道如何去做。我們的客戶也意識到，是的，他們是在為某些東西付費——這是我們習慣的做法，對他們來說是新的，但也同樣帶來了增量價值。

And that's why we've introduced internally that playbook which we call the 100-100-100 model, Eric, which is basically to say we want to connect 100% of the customer locations, 100% of the applications within those customer location, and that 100% of them generate revenue. If you add all that, it drives a potential value of $3 billion.

這也是為什麼我們在內部導入了我們稱為 100-100-100 模型的作戰手冊，Eric；基本上是說，我們希望連接 100% 的客戶據點、在這些客戶據點內連接 100% 的應用，並且讓其中 100% 都能產生營收。把這些加總起來，潛在價值可達 30 億美元。

So $3 billion is the revenue we could generate doing exactly that within our current customers. We have $500 million today, and that's why growing towards the $3 billion is the job number one. We're all aligned that we'd like to grow even faster, and I guess we will get there at some point. And what's even better is that the $3 billion opens incremental $10 billion to it for applications that we haven't sold yet or customers that we haven't sold yet. So early on that journey, but on a very good trajectory so far.

所以，30 億美元是我們在現有客戶中、若完全做到上述目標所能產生的營收。我們今天是 5 億美元，這也是為什麼朝 30 億美元成長是第一要務。我們都一致希望能更快成長，我想我們終究會在某個時間點達成。更好的是，這 30 億美元還能再打開額外 100 億美元的增量空間，來自我們尚未銷售的應用或尚未銷售的客戶。所以這段旅程還在早期，但到目前為止軌跡非常好。

Shlomo Rosenbaum, Stifel.

Shlomo Rosenbaum，Stifel。

Hi, thank you very much for taking my question. Christophe, could you talk a little bit about the volume trajectory? It looks like it picked up. And the implication is if you would not have had that impact from the Mid-East war, you would have picked up to like 2% volume growth. Can you talk about where you're seeing the volume increases, where you might not be seeing them? And geographically, maybe by from a high level, which areas of the business?

嗨，非常感謝讓我提問。Christophe，您能否談談量的走勢？看起來有所回升。其含義是，如果沒有中東戰爭的影響，量的成長可能會回升到大約 2%。您能談談您在哪些地方看到量的增加、哪些地方沒有看到嗎？以及從地理區域角度，或從較高層級來看，是哪些業務領域？

And really, what should we be thinking about that? We've seen -- we've been accustomed to seeing some of the growth in terms of the pricing, but it's been a while since we've seen volume pick up to this level on whatever is a sustainable rate. And can you give us your thoughts on that?

另外，我們應該如何看待這件事？我們已經習慣看到成長更多來自價格，但已經有一段時間沒有看到量回升到這個水準——不論這是否是可持續的速度。您能分享一下您的看法嗎？

Yeah, thank you, Shlomo. It seems like for the short term, for the next few quarters, the 1% run rate seems to be the right one. As you said, we were closer to 2% without the impact of the Middle East, but okay, we live in an imperfect world and there will always be something somewhere obviously happening. We were all hoping that the Middle East resolves itself much earlier. It doesn't seem to be exactly the case right now.

好的，謝謝你，Shlomo。看起來在短期、接下來幾個季度，1% 的運行率似乎是比較合適的。如你所說，若沒有中東的影響，我們更接近 2%，但好吧，我們生活在一個不完美的世界，顯然總會有某個地方發生一些事情。我們都希望中東能更早解決。但目前看起來並非如此。

So we're living with it. And that's why I'm saying, okay, the 1% trajectory is a healthy trajectory that I really like. But this 1% is obviously the company average. So you have the ones that are way ahead of that, and those are the growth engines, in High-Tech, in Life Science, in Pest, but also Food & Beverage has had some very good track record in volume.

所以我們只能與之共存。這也是為什麼我說，好的，1% 的走勢是一個健康的走勢，我非常喜歡。但這 1% 顯然是公司的平均值。因此有些業務遠高於此，那些就是成長引擎：高科技、生命科學、害蟲防治；同時食品與飲料在量方面也有非常好的表現紀錄。

And then you have the other extreme, of the paper and heavier industries that we're in the negative territory. So that's the beauty of the Ecolab portfolio that, ultimately, whatever happens one business or one region in the world, we can keep a steady momentum, which I believe the 1% next few quarters seems to be the right assumption to make. And things improve out there, okay, it's going to be better. But directionally, I think it's going to be 1%, 1% plus, trending in the right direction.

然後你也有另一個極端：我們所涉足的紙業與較重工業仍在負成長區間。這就是 Ecolab 產品組合的優勢：最終，不論某個業務或全球某個地區發生什麼，我們都能維持穩定的動能；我認為接下來幾個季度以 1% 作為假設是合理的。如果外部環境改善，好，那就會更好。但就方向而言，我認為會是 1%、1% 以上，並朝正確方向趨勢發展。

And the Ovivo and CoolIT, by the way, which are not in those numbers because they're not organic, by definition, well, they add almost 2-percentage-points to it as well. Well, this 1% plus the 2%, plus or minus the Middle East I talked about, you get to some very healthy type of volume growth, which is exactly the place we want to be.

順帶一提，Ovivo 和 CoolIT 並未包含在那些數字中，因為按定義它們不屬於有機成長，但它們也會額外貢獻將近 2 個百分點。那麼，這 1% 加上這 2%，再加上或減去我提到的中東因素，你就會得到相當健康的銷量成長，這正是我們希望達到的位置。

Scott Schneeberger, Oppenheimer.

Scott Schneeberger，Oppenheimer。

Thanks very much. Similar question to Shlomo's, but on the pricing side. Just curious how the energy surcharge is progressing. You've spoken about, hey, it's ramping up in second quarters, likely going to be more solidly in place in the back half. So just thoughts on that. And then the second part of the question is, how is structural pricing progressing, and thoughts in the second half here? Thanks.

非常感謝。問題和 Shlomo 的類似，但聚焦在定價面。想請教能源附加費的進展如何。你們提到第二季會逐步拉升，下半年可能會更穩固地到位。想聽聽你們的看法。第二部分是，結構性定價的進展如何，以及對下半年的看法？謝謝。

So we've always been pretty good at pricing. I think that we've become really good at value pricing because of all the practice that we were given for the last few years to manage through that. Let's not forget, stepping back as well as, that Ecolab for a very long time had an approach of getting the incremental cost back in dollars year one and the margin year two. So two year cycle. And now in Q2, we managed to do both within three months, which is really a major change of the model.

我們一直以來在定價方面都做得不錯。我認為，因為過去幾年我們有大量實戰來管理這些狀況，我們在價值定價（value pricing）上已經變得非常擅長。另外也別忘了，從更宏觀的角度看，Ecolab 長期以來的做法是：第一年以美元把增量成本收回來，第二年再把毛利率做回來。所以是一個兩年循環。而現在在第二季，我們在三個月內就同時做到兩件事，這確實是商業模式上的重大改變。

And that's mostly driven by this value pricing approach, driven by this total value delivered that we're providing to customers, that customers are seeing that, yes, they pay more, but they're getting more as well. And net-net, they are in a better place financially, which is where we're laser-focused to deliver to them. It takes some time to get it done the right way, but the fact that our retention of customers has remained super stable during all those years, what is a good indication that the approach is the right one. It's good for customers. It's good for Ecolab.

這主要是由這種價值定價方法所驅動，來自我們為客戶提供的整體價值（total value delivered）；客戶也看得到：是的，他們付得更多，但同時也得到更多。綜合來看，他們在財務上處於更好的位置，而這正是我們高度聚焦、要為他們實現的目標。要把事情用正確方式做好需要一些時間，但我們在這些年客戶留存率一直非常穩定，這是很好的指標，顯示這個方法是對的。這對客戶好。也對 Ecolab 好。

It's good for shareholders as well at the same time. So to your question on energy surcharge versus pricing, it's always an imperfect science because some of the businesses go straight into structural price, others in energy surcharge and move then afterwards in structural price. Honestly, I don't really care how the whole thing is happening, as long as we get to the right place for us and for the customer as well.

同時也對股東有利。至於你問的能源附加費相對於定價，這一直不是精準科學，因為有些業務會直接進入結構性價格，有些則先用能源附加費，之後再轉入結構性價格。老實說，我不太在意整體是怎麼發生的，只要我們和客戶都能到達正確的位置就好。

And we exited Q2 with 5% of pricing. So when we're talking about 5% to 6% in the second half, well, it's the exit trajectory of the second quarter. So it's pretty solid, to say the least, which is why I feel quite good that we can get positive gross margin organic gross margin in the second half because the team is really good at it. We have all the systems, the processes, the customers understand that. And we can manage almost any situation that's happening in the world that we cannot predict.

我們在第二季結束時，定價達到 5%。所以當我們談下半年 5% 到 6% 時，其實就是第二季末的退出（exit）走勢。所以至少可以說相當扎實，這也是為什麼我對下半年能實現有機毛利率（organic gross margin）正成長感到很有信心，因為團隊真的很擅長。我們有所有的系統、流程，客戶也理解這點。而且我們幾乎可以管理世界上發生、但我們無法預測的任何情況。

But we've demonstrated not only we can do it, but we can get it done in pretty short-term timing as well.

而且我們已經證明，不僅做得到，還能在相當短的時間內把它完成。

John Roberts, Mizuho.

John Roberts，Mizuho。

Pest Elimination has been delivering high single-digit revenue growth pretty consistently for at least a year now and the operating margins are up around 20%. Does it accelerate to low mid-teens growth as you deploy Digital and agentic AI? And do you spend the margin improvement or do margins go up as you deploy digital and agentic AI?

害蟲防治（Pest Elimination）至少一年來一直相當穩定地交出高個位數的營收成長，而營業利益率大約在 20% 左右。當你們部署數位化與代理式 AI（agentic AI）後，成長會加速到低到中十位數嗎？另外，部署數位化與代理式 AI 時，你們會把毛利改善拿去投入（花掉）嗎？還是毛利率會隨著部署而上升？

Well, John, it's going to be a sequential work here. First, on the top line, our targeted trajectory is 6% to 8%. So with the 7%, we're kind of like in the middle of that targeted range, which is always an important first step for me, delivering on our promise first, and then improving from it, the ambition of the team, which is an exceptional team, by the way, that we have in Pest Elimination. They're great at transforming the business, great innovation, working with the largest customers in the world in a difficult environment. The transformation they're doing is remarkable.

John，這會是一個循序漸進的工作。先談營收端，我們的目標軌跡是 6% 到 8%。所以以 7% 來看，我們大概就在目標區間的中間；對我來說，這永遠是重要的第一步：先兌現承諾，然後再在此基礎上提升，而這也反映團隊的企圖心——順帶一提，我們在害蟲防治這邊的團隊非常出色。他們很擅長推動業務轉型、創新能力很強，也能在艱難環境下與全球最大的客戶合作。他們正在做的轉型非常了不起。

I'm so impressed with everything that is doing. So it's going to drive top line, ultimately, even stronger. That's going to be the other. But back to the question on margin, it's a bit of the Life Science question. When we get into new technologies, new innovation, they suddenly need to create the right foundations first before we really get the benefit of it.

我對他們所做的一切都非常印象深刻。所以最終它會推動營收端變得更強。那會是另一個面向。但回到你問的毛利率問題，這有點像生命科學（Life Science）的問題。當我們導入新技術、新創新時，往往需要先建立正確的基礎，之後才能真正享受到其效益。

So yes, in the margin of Pest Elimination and in the operating income growth, you have investments behind, so Pest Intelligence, that are going to continue. As I've said, 800,000 connected devices, we'll be north of 1 million by the end of the year. No other company is there around the world. Well, that requires efforts and investments. But ultimately, we know it's going to pay out both on top line and on bottom line in one of the businesses with the highest margins and the highest return as well at the same time. So early investments and, ultimately, better returns down the road.

所以是的，在害蟲防治的毛利率與營業利益成長中，背後包含持續的投資，例如 Pest Intelligence。如我所說，我們有 80 萬台連網裝置，到年底會超過 100 萬台。全球沒有其他公司能做到這個規模。當然，這需要投入努力與資本。但最終我們知道，這會在營收端與獲利端都帶來回報，而且這也是我們毛利率最高、報酬率也最高的業務之一。所以是前期投資，最終在未來帶來更好的回報。

Jeff Zekauskas, JPMorgan.

Jeff Zekauskas，JPMorgan。

Thanks very much. Two-part question. The first is that you've acquired to accelerate your growth. Do you have goals for either return on capital or return on assets or return on equity or goals that situate those metrics relative to where Ecolab was before the acquisitions were made?

非常感謝。兩個問題。第一，你們透過併購來加速成長。你們是否有資本報酬率（return on capital）、資產報酬率（return on assets）、股東權益報酬率（return on equity）等目標？或是有目標能把這些指標相對於 Ecolab 在併購前的水準做定位？

And secondly, in the Global Institutional & Specialty business, the organic growth was about 4%. And I would expect pricing in that segment to be higher than 4%. So was volume growth negative by 1% or 2%? And I guess that may have had to do with the institutional business. Can you talk about what's going on in that area?

第二，在全球機構與專業（Global Institutional & Specialty）業務中，有機成長約 4%。而我原本預期該部門的定價應該會高於 4%。所以銷量成長是否為負 1% 或 2%？我猜這可能與機構業務有關。你能談談那一塊目前發生了什麼嗎？

Yeah, thank you, Jeff, so two very different questions here. Let me start with the second, and then I'll go to the first one, and then I'll ask Scott as well to add to the returns question. So on institutional, really pleased with the steadiness, the 4% in Institutional & Specialty, as you know, the restaurants, hotels and specialty retail and quick-serve, well, allows us to capture consumers going to whatever segment, cheaper or more premium depending on the economic state of the country, wherever our customers operate.

好的，謝謝你，Jeff，這裡是兩個非常不同的問題。我先從第二個開始，接著再回答第一個，然後我也會請 Scott 補充報酬率的問題。就機構端而言，我對機構與專業（Institutional & Specialty）4% 的穩健表現非常滿意；如你所知，餐廳、飯店、專業零售與速食（quick-serve）讓我們能夠捕捉消費者流向任何區隔的需求——依各國經濟狀況不同，可能更便宜或更高端——在我們客戶營運的各個地方都是如此。

So in a place where wherever people are going, we capture that growth. So the 4%, I think, is a pretty good steady type of performance for that business. Keeping in mind that food traffic in the US in restaurants is down 5% year-over-year right now. So the growth of the 4% versus the minus 5% in the restaurants is quite remarkable.

所以不管人們去哪裡消費，我們都能捕捉到那個成長。因此我認為 4% 對這個業務來說是相當不錯、穩健的表現。要記得，目前美國餐廳的用餐人流（food traffic）年減 5%。所以在餐廳人流 -5% 的情況下還能成長 4%，相當了不起。

So it's not growth of Life Science, of Digital or GHT, but for such a traditional industry, we're clearly gaining share, and we're gaining margin as well at the same time. Because that business is in the low 20s to mid-20s type of operating margins, so a very strong, solid business with a franchise that's unmatched as well around the world. So I&S, I'd love them to grow even faster, but honestly, I think that they are in a darn good place where they are now.

因此，這並不是生命科學、數位或 GHT 的成長，而是在這樣一個傳統產業中，我們很明顯正在提升市占，同時也在提升利潤率。因為那項業務的營業利潤率大約在 20% 出頭到 20% 中段，所以這是一個非常強勁、穩健的業務，而且其全球特許經營地位也無可匹敵。所以 I&S，我當然希望他們能更快成長，但老實說，我認為他們目前所處的位置已經非常好。

And second or first, your question, when you talk about organic versus nonorganic, well, the results of growth that we had in the second quarter, especially if you adjust for the Middle East, well, that growth of volume was not acquired. That was organic. Yes, now CoolIT, Ovivo, which have been acquired, are going to add a couple of points to the overall company.

再來，或先回到你第一個問題，當你談到有機成長與非有機成長時，我們第二季的成長結果——尤其是若你把中東因素調整掉——那個量的成長並不是靠併購得來的。那是有機成長。是的，現在已併購的 CoolIT、Ovivo 會為整體公司再增加幾個百分點。

It's always been a kind of a combination of 2/3 or 80% core growth and 20% M&A. We're going to keep on that path as well, Jeff. And it's working quite well. I like as well the return profile of it. But I'd like to ask Scott to comment on that.

一直以來都是一種組合：2/3 或 80% 來自核心成長，20% 來自併購（M&A）。Jeff，我們也會持續走這條路。而且運作得相當好。我也喜歡這種做法的報酬輪廓。不過我想請 Scott 來補充評論。

Jeff, as we talked about, obviously, just specifically to CoolIT, but with all deals that we look at, the specific investment or asset returns, and as we've talked about with CoolIT, the returns on this are well above our cost of capital. And then more specifically, as we think about just the company as a whole, we've talked about ROIC for a long time, obviously, ROIC is sort of a point-in-time measure.

Jeff，如同我們討論過的，當然，先就 CoolIT 來說，但其實對我們評估的所有交易也是一樣，我們會看特定投資或資產的報酬；而如同我們談到 CoolIT 時所說，這筆投資的報酬遠高於我們的資本成本。再更具體地，從整體公司角度來看，我們談 ROIC 已經很久了；顯然 ROIC 某種程度上是一個「某一時間點」的衡量指標。

And when you have a significant acquisition like this, that will have a dilutive impact in the short term, but we still have a very focused on ROIC and growing ROIC, organic ROIC as we define it by at least 100 basis points a year and feel very good about that. As we think about the impact of CoolIT, that will take 1.5 years or so to annualize because of the denominator but expect to get back to pre-acquisition levels on our organic ROIC by 2028.

當你進行像這樣的大型併購時，短期內會有稀釋影響，但我們仍然非常專注於 ROIC，並且讓 ROIC 成長；就我們定義的有機 ROIC 而言，我們目標是每年至少提升 100 個基點，對此我們感到非常有信心。就 CoolIT 的影響而言，因為分母的關係，大約需要 1.5 年左右才能年化；但我們預期到 2028 年，我們的有機 ROIC 可以回到併購前的水準。

I'd like to make a comment on Life Science as well, so just underlying what I said before, Jeff. We've said what's the return expectations that we have for that business early on. We were not on track for two to three years as we know. And that was the absolute focus for the team to get back on the early promise return of that business. And that business is back on that track. So we take it super seriously.

我也想對生命科學補充一下，Jeff，呼應我先前說的。我們早期就說過對那項業務的報酬期待是什麼。如我們所知，我們有兩到三年沒有走在軌道上。而讓那項業務回到早期承諾的報酬水準，是團隊的絕對重點。而那項業務現在已經回到那條軌道上。所以我們非常嚴肅看待這件事。

Matthew DeYoe, Bank of America.

Matthew DeYoe，美國銀行。

Thank you for squeezing me in. So 5%, 6% price, I don't know, $450 million-plus of just EBIT tailwind year-over-year for the back half, if I just give you a 100% margin, I don't know, maybe it's too much. But that's implying like raw material inflation that candidly feels way too high. And if I'm thinking about just operating leverage through the business covering normal course inflation, which maybe isn't the case, long story with this is just why isn't margin expanding more materially in the back half?

謝謝讓我插個問題。所以 5%、6% 的價格，我不知道，如果下半年單就 EBIT 的年對年順風（tailwind）就有超過 4.5 億美元；如果我假設 100% 利潤率，我不知道，可能太誇張。但那樣就意味著原物料通膨坦白說感覺高得離譜。如果我只是在想，業務透過營運槓桿去吸收正常的通膨（也許並非如此），總之我的問題是：為什麼下半年利潤率沒有更明顯地擴張？

And does the guidance for raw material inflation that you're baking in reflective of the basket in March, April? Or is it reflective of the current situation as I think about things like propylene basket kind of coming under pressure? I mean, obviously, who knows, right, with the strait-clothes. But I'm just trying to understand why the operating leverage isn't significantly higher with mid-single-digit price.

另外，你們在指引中納入的原物料通膨假設，是反映 3、4 月的那個組合（basket）嗎？還是反映目前的情況？例如我在看丙烯（propylene）那個 basket 似乎正承受壓力。我的意思是，當然，誰知道呢，畢竟有「緊身衣」般的限制。但我只是想理解，當價格是中個位數上漲時，為什麼營運槓桿沒有顯著更高。

So a few comments here, and I'll pass it to Scott as well a bit more. So first, it's always, with the latest information that we update you, we don't stay stuck to assumptions that were made in March. The world has changed quite a bit, obviously, in the meantime. So it's fresh information when we talk together. Second, I don't need to explain to you how it works to get margins in positive territory, since we have roughly 50% gross margin, well, you need double the price versus the cost that you're getting.

這裡我先說幾點，之後也會把問題交給 Scott 補充。第一，我們每次更新給你們的都是最新資訊，我們不會被 3 月做的假設綁住。顯然這段時間世界已經改變很多。所以我們現在討論的是最新資訊。第二，我不需要向你解釋要讓利潤率轉正是怎麼運作的：因為我們的毛利率大約 50%，所以你需要「價格」的提升是「成本」上升的兩倍。

And when you need to do that in three months, not in a chemical business, but in a service technology, expertise type of business, this is a remarkable accomplishment, and especially when you need to do it over and over again, while keeping, building more growth with more customers without losing any as well at the same time. So that's the simple math of the projecting gross margin. And as I said before, it took us two years to do the same work as we do in three months today a few years back.

而且你要在三個月內做到這件事——我們不是化工業，而是服務、技術、專業能力型的業務——這是一項了不起的成就；尤其是你還得一再重複做到，同時維持、建立更多成長、增加更多客戶，而且也不能流失任何客戶。所以這就是推算毛利率的簡單數學。如我之前所說，幾年前我們做同樣的工作要花兩年，但現在三個月就能做到。

And last point, I'd say we do it in ways that are always constructive for our customers, which means that they get the savings in their operations higher than the incremental price that we are asking from them as a share of benefit that they get as well at the same time. So it's going to lead ultimately, that's the good news, is once the delivered product cost is going to stabilize, well, then you get a much better gross margin because we never give the pricing back in the model, not because we just stay stuck on it, but because the value we're generating to our customers will remain within the customer operations.

最後一點，我會說我們採取的方式一向對客戶具有建設性，這代表他們在營運上獲得的節省，會高於我們要求的增量價格；也就是說，他們同時也能分到所獲得效益的一部分。所以最終會導向——好消息是——一旦交付產品成本趨於穩定，你就會看到更好的毛利率，因為在我們的模型裡，我們從不把定價讓回去；不是因為我們固守價格，而是因為我們為客戶創造的價值會持續留在客戶的營運之中。

So that's why every time that there is an economic cycle, so going up in inflation, not only we manage it well. But second, it leads to a net incremental margin on our trajectory, which is why if you look at the last 10 years, our gross margin has kept going up.

因此，每當出現一個經濟循環，例如通膨上行時，我們不僅能把它管理好。第二，它還會在我們的軌跡上帶來淨增的利潤率，這也是為什麼你看過去 10 年，我們的毛利率一直在上升。

Yes, a couple of things to that, Christophe, thank you. As you talked about, it's difficult to make these firm assumptions because it's dynamic environment. But as we see it here today, we're expecting these high single-digit commodity prices for the balance of the year, right? And so if you look at that and then also the other thing I would say, and we talked about this earlier, if you look at the gross margin, you also have the impact of Ovivo. So we had a reported gross margin.

是的，針對這點補充幾件事，Christophe，謝謝。如你所說，在這種動態環境下，很難做出非常確定的假設。但以我們今天看到的情況，我們預期今年剩餘期間的大宗商品價格會是高個位數的漲幅，對吧？所以你看這點，另外我還想說——我們先前也談過——如果你看毛利率，還有 Ovivo 的影響。所以我們有「報告」毛利率。

We have organic gross margin. And Ovivo, as we talked about in Q2, excluding Ovivo on an organic basis, our gross margins were stable. So there's that called 60 basis points drag just for Ovivo, and you'll see that same type of sort of difference in the second half. So that may be part of the math.

我們也有「有機」毛利率。而如同我們在第二季所談到的，若在有機基礎上排除 Ovivo，我們的毛利率是持平的。所以單就 Ovivo 就有大約 60 個基點的拖累，而你在下半年也會看到類似的差異。所以這可能是計算上的一部分原因。

Josh Spector, UBS.

Josh Spector，瑞銀（UBS）。

Hey, good afternoon, guys. Thanks for squeezing me in. I wanted to go back to the High-Tech piece. And really what I want to ask about is that a few weeks ago when you closed CoolIT, you took up your plan to 2030, you took up your margins. Obviously, a high degree of confidence. I thought you'd come on this call and be able to give an update on CoolIT expectations for '27, '28. And maybe if that accretion math is pulled forward.

嗨，大家下午好。謝謝讓我插個問題。我想回到高科技（High-Tech）這一塊。我真正想問的是，幾週前你們完成 CoolIT 交割時，你們把 2030 年的規劃上調了，也把利潤率上調了。顯然信心很高。我原本以為你們會在這通電話上，更新一下對 CoolIT 在 2027、2028 年的預期。以及也許那個增厚（accretion）的數學是否會提前實現。

Based on your comments earlier to David, it seems like you want to talk about that maybe in a few months. So I'm just really curious like what gave you the confidence then as the start of July to raise your 2030 expectations there so much? Was it Ovivo or something else organic? Or is it that you saw the backlog on CoolIT? Just help me understand that, please.

根據你先前對 David 的評論，感覺你可能想在幾個月後再談這件事。所以我很好奇，為什麼你在 7 月初就有信心把你們對 2030 年的預期上調那麼多？是因為 Ovivo，還是其他內生成長因素？或者是你看到了 CoolIT 的訂單積壓（backlog）？請幫我理解一下，謝謝。

So a few things here. First, when we share a new target with you, we want to be sure, well, sure as it can be, of what we're sharing obviously with you. And together with CoolIT since the first week of July, so that's been just a few weeks and you can't do much before you close, as you know, as well. So we're getting to know much more when we look at the trajectory of both businesses, CoolIT and Ovivo, and our core business, by the way, which has been doing really well for quite a long time now and especially in the second quarter, well, we ended up in a position where we can say the minimum has to be arisen. And we don't need to go much into math and to say, okay, we can move up the floor, which means that the middle of the range is going up as well at the same time.

這裡有幾點。首先，當我們向各位分享新的目標時，我們希望能夠確定——當然是在可確定的最大程度上——我們所分享的內容。而且自 7 月第一週起我們就與 CoolIT 一起合作，到現在也才幾週時間；而且如你所知，在交易完成（close）之前你也做不了太多。因此，當我們更深入了解 CoolIT 與 Ovivo 兩項業務的發展軌跡，以及我們的核心業務（順帶一提，核心業務長期以來表現一直很好，尤其是第二季）之後，我們最後得出的結論是：最低值必須上調。我們不需要做太多數學推導就能說，好，我們可以把下限往上移，這也意味著區間中位數同時也會上移。

But this is also the reason why we want to have an Investor Day at SuperCompute in November, because we firmly believe, with not only when the market is going, but most importantly how our businesses are leading in those technologies, that we'll be better than what we had initially planned, which is a good problem to have. So if anything, it's going to be better than what we just communicated. But we want to do the right work. We're talking about the next three or five years to come. And that requires some in-depth work on all those businesses. But generally, the direction of travel for all of those, well, is quite a bit better than what we had expected. So I expect good news in November.

但這也是我們想在 11 月 SuperCompute 舉辦投資人日的原因，因為我們堅信，不僅是市場走向，更重要的是我們的業務在這些技術領域的領先地位，將使我們的表現優於最初規劃——這算是一個「好問題」。所以如果有什麼結論，那就是它會比我們剛剛對外溝通的還要更好。但我們希望把功課做對。我們談的是未來三到五年。這需要對所有這些業務做深入的工作。但總體而言，這些業務的發展方向都比我們原先預期好得多。所以我預期 11 月會有好消息。

Mike Harrison, Seaport Research Partners.

Mike Harrison，Seaport Research Partners。

Hi. Good afternoon. Christophe, you kind of referenced the increased attention that's happening around food safety recently. And I'm just curious if you can comment at all on what kind of impact this Cyclospora outbreak has had on consumer behavior and maybe impacting your restaurant customers in terms of foot traffic, and then, I guess, on your customers and then coming to you for food safety solutions or with greater attention on that?

嗨。下午好。Christophe，你提到最近外界對食品安全的關注度提高。我想請你談談，這次 Cyclospora 爆發對消費者行為有什麼影響？是否也影響你們餐飲客戶的來客數（foot traffic）？另外，我想也請你談談，這是否讓你們的客戶更重視食品安全解決方案、或更常來找你們？

And maybe also tie in, it seems like the FDA has taken a little bit of a stepback in terms of what they're monitoring. And just curious if you view that as something that is helpful to your business or harmful to your business.

另外也想把另一點放在一起問：看起來 FDA 在監測方面稍微退了一步。想請問你是否認為這對你們的業務是有利還是不利？

So Mike, I would not call that helpful or harmful. We're talking a little bit -- well, a lot about people being impacted by what's happening again here. We're experiencing those situations too often in our country and around the world, and that's why we exist, actually, it's to reduce and remove that risk as much as it's possible for every one of us eating food, or infection prevention in general. So we feel for everyone that's been impacted by what's happening in our country right now.

Mike，我不會把這稱為有利或不利。我們談的是——其實是很多——人們再次受到當前事件影響。我們在國內與全球都太常遇到這類情況，而這也正是我們存在的原因：盡可能降低並消除每個人食用食品時的風險，或更廣義的感染預防。所以我們對所有受到目前國內情況影響的人深表同理。

So the few key questions that you had, impact on demand on our business now, no change of consumption at all. And in F&B, you've seen as well, so no change either. What's true, however, every time that something like that happens, customers come to us, spend a lot of time with our research and development team, with our scientists to really understand what is it. How does it work? How does it impact us?

針對你問的幾個關鍵問題：就目前而言，對我們業務的需求沒有影響，消費行為完全沒有改變。在餐飲（F&B）方面，你也看到了，同樣沒有變化。不過確實的是，每次發生這類事件，客戶都會來找我們，並花很多時間與我們的研發團隊、科學家一起深入了解到底是什麼情況。它如何運作？它會如何影響我們？

How can we solve it? There is no one in the world that has more knowledge and expertise in infection prevention as an Ecolab. So customers are clearly coming to us, which is a good sign. And in the case of the end users, the restaurants, in that case, I think that they've done a very good job. And in the specific case that we're talking about, they've been example exemplary how they've taken care of their guests, of their employees, of their processes. We've been very close to them, as we always do. But we stay behind the scene. We're there to help them.

我們要如何解決？在感染預防方面，全球沒有任何一家能像 Ecolab 一樣擁有這麼多知識與專業。所以客戶明顯會來找我們，這是一個好現象。至於終端使用者，也就是餐廳端，我認為他們做得非常好。就我們正在談的這個特定案例而言，他們在照顧顧客、員工以及流程方面的作法堪稱典範。我們一直與他們保持非常密切的合作，一如既往。但我們是在幕後。我們的角色是協助他們。

We're not there, obviously, so to get ahead of them news. We've worked with a lot of producers as well out there to make sure that they were learning from us, that we could make sure that the risk was going down for all the other ones as well. And the one that's being talked about in the media right now is not one of our partners or customers. I can't comment on them.

我們當然不是要搶在他們前面上新聞。我們也與許多生產者合作，確保他們能向我們學習，並讓其他業者的風險也能下降。而目前媒體正在談的那一家，並不是我們的合作夥伴或客戶。我無法對他們發表評論。

But I think ultimately that the next phase, and that's a big business opportunity so for us is to connect the producers with the end users being restaurants or retailers, which is something that hasn't been done much so far, and we're uniquely placed because we protect one third of the world food production and we serve even more of the end users, retail and restaurants and hotels. So connecting the two in the future will be a new business opportunity for us.

但我認為最終下一個階段——而這對我們而言是很大的商機——是把生產者與終端使用者（餐廳或零售商）連結起來；到目前為止這件事做得不多，而我們具備獨特優勢，因為我們保護全球三分之一的食品生產，同時服務更多的終端使用者，包括零售、餐廳與飯店。因此，未來把兩端連結起來將成為我們新的業務機會。

Jason Haas, Wells Fargo.

Jason Haas，Wells Fargo。

Hey, good afternoon, and thanks for taking my question. I'm curious if you could comment on what the customer and industry reaction has been to the 50-kilowatt cold plate that was announced by CoolIT. Just curious what sort of reception there is? And maybe it's going to take some time, but curious just time line for when that could start to benefit you guys.

嗨，下午好，謝謝讓我提問。我想請你談談，客戶與產業界對 CoolIT 發布的 50 千瓦冷板（cold plate）的反應如何。想了解市場接受度大概是什麼狀況？另外也許需要一些時間，但也想請問大概什麼時間線（time line）開始能對你們帶來效益？

It's been very well received, actually. It's the first time in my business history, I have to admit that I see and hear customers not only wanting to be in the queue, but to be ahead of the queue because there's limited capacity as we know out there. Well, that's the situation of CoolIT, Ovivo, too, by the way, in a different part of that industry. It's a very unique place to be.

其實反應非常好。我必須承認，這是我職涯中第一次看到、也聽到客戶不只是想排隊，還想排在隊伍最前面，因為如我們所知，市場上的產能有限。這就是 CoolIT 的情況；順帶一提，Ovivo 也是，只是處在該產業的不同環節。這是一個非常獨特的處境。

And that technology that you're talking about on the cold plate is one of the elements but there's many more in terms of CDU, in terms of 3D TRASAR, in terms of coolants as well that we've developed and will be developing as well. Everybody is looking so for the latest and to have that as soon as they can. So a very new experience for us where you need to manage supply more than demand, but I guess that's a good problem to have.

你提到的冷板技術只是其中一個要素；此外還有很多，包括 CDU、3D TRASAR，以及我們已開發並將持續開發的冷卻液（coolants）等。每個人都在尋找最新技術，並希望能盡快取得。所以對我們而言這是非常新的經驗：你需要管理的更多是供給而不是需求，但我想這也是個好問題。

Kevin McCarthy, Vertical Research Partners.

Kevin McCarthy，Vertical Research Partners。

Yes. Good afternoon, and thank you for squeezing me in. Christophe, I want to follow up on a few prior questions regarding CoolIT. Is there a way to characterize or quantify the visibility that CoolIT has or you now have into the order backlog or pipeline? Is there a way to measure it in terms of months or quarters or years? Maybe you can talk a little bit about how they go to market.

是的。下午好，謝謝讓我插個問題。Christophe，我想延續前面幾個關於 CoolIT 的問題。是否有辦法描述或量化 CoolIT（或你們現在）對訂單積壓（order backlog）或商機管線（pipeline）的可見度（visibility）？能否用幾個月、幾季或幾年來衡量？也許你可以再談談他們的市場推進方式（go to market）。

What are the standard contract terms, and over the next little while here, perhaps we'll learn more in November, certainly, but is that triple-digit growth rate stable, do you think, between now and the end of the year? Or maybe you could just elaborate on that visibility question there. Thank you.

標準合約條款是什麼？另外，在接下來這段時間裡，也許我們在11月會了解更多，當然會的，但您認為從現在到年底，這種三位數的成長率是穩定的嗎？或者您也可以就您剛才提到的可見度問題再多做一些說明。謝謝。

So a few questions into that. So the visibility for the foreseeable future, so for '26, at the end of the year, as you're calling it, is pretty clear. So yes, we feel good about the trajectory so far for the year, which is a very good way to start, obviously, saw an integration. And for the years to come, as mentioned before, we've considered in all our math and projections, the 30% growth rate for the next 10 years.

針對這點有幾個問題。就可見度而言，在可預見的未來，也就是您所說的到年底、面向'26的部分，是相當清楚的。所以是的，我們對今年迄今的走勢感到很有信心，這顯然是一個非常好的開局，也看到了整合的進展。至於未來幾年，如先前所提，我們在所有計算與預測中，都以未來10年30%的成長率納入考量。

So we do the work to really understand what's the right number for it, and we'll share that with you when we get together at Supercompute in November. But generally, that sounds like a good news. Your second question on the go-to-market, it's mostly two different drivers. The first one are the chip designers and chip manufacturers because the cold plates and technology of cooling for each individual chip well, is chip related, and that needs to be developed together with the chip designers and/or manufacturers depending on who that is out there. So they're very close to them, and this is a huge strength of that business.

因此我們會做功課，真正去理解對它而言正確的數字應該是多少，並在11月我們於Supercompute聚在一起時與各位分享。但整體而言，這聽起來是個好消息。您第二個關於市場推進（go-to-market）的问题，主要有兩個不同的驅動因素。第一個是晶片設計商與晶片製造商，因為冷板以及針對每一顆獨立晶片的冷卻技術，本質上是與晶片相關的，這需要與晶片設計商和／或製造商共同開發，視外部實際對象而定。因此他們與這些夥伴的關係非常緊密，而這也是該業務的一大優勢。

At the same time, they're very close to the hyperscalers as well that are interested in optimizing the overall cooling performance of the data center that goes beyond, obviously, individual chips when you put all of them together in one rack and then afterwards in one data center, the physics look very different. And that's the relationship with the hyperscalers.

同時，他們也與超大規模業者（hyperscalers）保持非常緊密的合作，這些客戶有興趣優化資料中心的整體冷卻效能；當你把所有晶片放在同一個機架裡，之後再放進同一座資料中心時，物理條件顯然就不再只是單顆晶片層級，整體呈現會非常不同。而這就是與超大規模業者之間的關係。

So it's to be very close to those two constituents and CoolIT and Ecolab, by the way, are very strong at that type of relationship. So that's the way the model works. It's developing together with the hyperscalers and the chip industry, and that's going very fast. As you know, every week, there's something new that's happening, very different than many of our businesses.

因此，關鍵在於與這兩類利害關係人保持非常緊密的合作；順帶一提，CoolIT和Ecolab在建立這類關係方面都非常強。這就是這個模式的運作方式。也就是與超大規模業者以及晶片產業共同開發，而這進展非常快。如各位所知，每週都有新事情發生，這與我們許多業務非常不同。

And the last question on the backlog and pipeline. We're learning as we are working closer together with them. They have very good sales metrics. We have on the more traditional Ecolab side, similar but a little bit different sales metric. So we're going to try to learn from each other.

最後一個問題是關於在手訂單（backlog）與商機管線（pipeline）。我們在與他們更緊密合作的過程中也在學習。他們有非常好的銷售衡量指標。而我們在較傳統的Ecolab端也有類似但略有不同的銷售衡量指標。因此我們會嘗試彼此學習。

And that's also something that we'd like to share with you in November. We've been three weeks together, so that's very early. So more is going to come in November. So since it's the last question, I just wanted to recap briefly. We had a very strong quarter in Q2 in a tough and complicated environment. As we all know, really happy with the team that's been able to protect gross margin in three months versus two years in the past, while accelerating the organic growth as well of the business.

這也是我們希望在11月與各位分享的內容。我們才合作三週，所以現在還非常早。因此11月會有更多資訊。既然這是最後一個問題，我想簡要回顧一下。我們在艱難且複雜的環境中，第二季（Q2）表現非常強勁。如大家所知，我們對團隊感到非常滿意；他們能在三個月內守住毛利率，相較過去需要兩年的時間，同時也加速了業務的有機成長。

Second, the second half looks promising for the company, especially as the trajectory for '27, and the years to come as well, where I believe that we have really been in a better position to deliver on our growth ambitions, our margin ambitions and earnings growth ambition. And ultimately, where we need to focus over time is how do we improve from there even further, which is where I spend my time, what the team is aligning around.

第二，公司下半年看起來很有希望，特別是展望'27以及之後的幾年；我相信我們確實已處於更有利的位置，能夠實現我們的成長目標、毛利率目標以及獲利成長目標。而最終，隨著時間推進我們需要聚焦的是：如何在此基礎上進一步提升；這也是我投入時間的地方，以及團隊正在對齊的方向。

And I think that we're in a very good place as a company, especially when we look into the future because we have the best team in the industry. So thank you again for all your time and your commitment to Ecolab. All the best. Talk to you soon.

我認為公司目前處於非常好的位置，尤其是當我們展望未來時，因為我們擁有業界最好的團隊。再次感謝各位投入時間並對Ecolab的支持與承諾。祝一切順利。很快再與各位交流。

Thanks, Christophe. That's it for our second quarter conference call. This call and the associated discussion slides will be available for replay on our website. Thank you for your time and participation. Hope everyone has a great rest of the day.

謝謝你，Christophe。以上就是我們第二季電話會議的全部內容。本次電話會議及相關的簡報討論投影片，將可在我們的網站上回放。感謝各位的時間與參與。祝大家今天剩下的時間一切順利。

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation. This does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Enjoy the rest of your day.

各位女士、先生，感謝您的參與。今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以掛斷電話線。祝您今天剩下的時間愉快。