Everforth, Inc. (EFOR) 2019 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the ASGN Incorporated Third Quarter 2019 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Kimberly Esterkin, Investor Relations. Thank you, you may begin.

各位好，歡迎參加 ASGN Incorporated 2019 年第三季財報電話會議。(接線員指示) 請注意，本次會議將被錄音。現在我想把會議交給今天的主持人——投資人關係部的 Kimberly Esterkin。謝謝，您可以開始了。

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today for ASGN Third Quarter 2019 Conference Call. With me are Ted Hanson, President and Chief Executive Officer; Rand Blazer, President of Apex Systems; George Wilson, President of ECS; and Ed Pierce, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝，接線員。各位下午好，感謝各位今天參加 ASGN 2019 年第三季電話會議。與我一同出席的有：總裁暨執行長 Ted Hanson；Apex Systems 總裁 Rand Blazer；ECS 總裁 George Wilson；以及財務長 Ed Pierce。

Before we get started, I would like to remind everyone that our commentary contains forward-looking statements. Although we believe these statements are reasonable, they are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and as such, our actual results could differ materially from those statements.

在開始之前，我想提醒各位，我們的評論包含前瞻性陳述。雖然我們相信這些陳述是合理的，但其仍受某些風險與不確定性影響，因此我們的實際結果可能與這些陳述存在重大差異。

Certain of these risks and uncertainties are described in today's press release and in our SEC filings. We do not assume any obligation to update statements made on this call. For your convenience, our prepared remarks and supplemental materials can be found in the Investor Relations section of our website at investors.asgn.com.

其中部分風險與不確定性已在今日新聞稿及我們向 SEC 提交的文件中說明。我們不承擔更新本次電話會議中所作陳述的任何義務。為方便各位，我們的事先準備講稿與補充資料可於 investors.asgn.com 網站的投資人關係專區取得。

Please also note that on this call, we will be referencing certain non-GAAP financial measures such as adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and free cash flow.

也請注意，在本次電話會議中，我們將引用若干非 GAAP 財務衡量指標，例如調整後 EBITDA、調整後淨利以及自由現金流。

These non-GAAP measures are intended to supplement the comparable GAAP measures. Reconciliations between the GAAP and non-GAAP measures are included in today's press release.

這些非 GAAP 指標旨在補充可比較的 GAAP 指標。GAAP 與非 GAAP 指標之間的調節表已包含在今日新聞稿中。

I will now turn the call over to President and Chief Executive Officer, Ted Hanson. Ted?

現在我將把電話會議交給總裁暨執行長 Ted Hanson。Ted？

Thank you, Kimberly, and thank you for joining ASGN's third quarter conference call. It's been an exciting time for ASGN as we accelerate into the next phases of our 5-year strategic plan. As we initially outlined at our Analyst Day in May of 2018, by 2022 we anticipate reaching $5 billion in top line revenue, which includes $500 million to $700 million in acquired revenue and adjusted EBITDA margins of 12% to 12.5%.

謝謝你，Kimberly，也感謝各位參加 ASGN 的第三季電話會議。對 ASGN 而言，這是一段令人振奮的時期，因為我們正加速邁入五年策略計畫的下一階段。正如我們在 2018 年 5 月的分析師日最初所概述的，我們預期到 2022 年達成 50 億美元的營收規模，其中包含 5 億至 7 億美元的併購營收，並達到 12% 至 12.5% 的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率。

I'm pleased to report that we remain on track to reach each of these targets. Our ability to attain these targets derives from a combination of ASGN's deep industry expertise, expanded consultative and solutions capabilities and a vast talent pool of accomplished professionals who deliver productive and effective solutions to our commercial and government clients. Our unique deployment model differentiates ASGN from other IT service providers.

我很高興向各位報告，我們仍按計畫朝著每一項目標前進。我們達成這些目標的能力，來自 ASGN 深厚的產業專業、擴大的顧問式與解決方案能力，以及龐大的人才庫——由一群成就卓著的專業人士組成，為我們的商業與政府客戶提供高產出且有效的解決方案。我們獨特的部署模式，使 ASGN 有別於其他 IT 服務供應商。

We are very pleased with our quarterly performance, with all numbers either in line or exceeding our Q3 guidance ranges. Ed Pierce, our CFO, will provide further details on our results later during today's call.

我們對本季表現非常滿意，所有數字皆符合或超越我們第三季的財測區間。我們的財務長 Ed Pierce 將在今天稍後的會議中，提供更多關於業績的細節。

So I will focus on a few key highlights for the quarter, including revenues and free cash flow. Consolidated revenues for the third quarter totaled just over $1 billion, an increase of 10.6% year-over-year and at the high end of our guidance range for the quarter.

因此我將聚焦於本季幾項重點亮點，包括營收與自由現金流。第三季合併營收總計略高於 10 億美元，年增 10.6%，並位於本季財測區間的高端。

This growth was mainly driven by strength in our Apex and ECS segments and represents a significant milestone for our company by reaching $1 billion in quarterly revenues for the very first time.

這項成長主要由 Apex 與 ECS 兩個事業部的強勁表現所帶動，並且對公司而言是一個重要里程碑——我們首次達成單季 10 億美元營收。

Apex, our largest segment, which services clients across multiple commercial end markets, generated revenue of $644.1 million, up 9.2% year-over-year. Growth in the Apex segment was driven by strong performance in our top accounts portfolio. Rand Blazer will provide more color on Apex's success later on today's call.

Apex 是我們最大的事業部，服務橫跨多個商業終端市場的客戶，營收為 6.441 億美元，年增 9.2%。Apex 事業部的成長，主要由我們核心客戶組合的強勁表現所驅動。Rand Blazer 將在今天稍後的會議中，進一步說明 Apex 的成功。

ECS, which provides IT solutions to the federal government, including the Department of Defense, intelligence agencies and certain civilian agencies, generated revenue of $206.1 million, up 25.7% year-over-year. George Wilson will speak more on ECS shortly.

ECS 為聯邦政府提供 IT 解決方案，客戶包括國防部、情報機構以及部分民用機構，營收為 2.061 億美元，年增 25.7%。George Wilson 將在稍後進一步談到 ECS。

Oxford, which offers on-demand consulting talent for commercial IT, healthcare, Life Sciences and engineering clients, reported revenues of $152.5 million for the third quarter, roughly consistent with the prior year period when adjusted for both billable days and currency fluctuations.

Oxford 為商業 IT、醫療保健、生命科學與工程客戶提供隨需的顧問人才，第三季營收為 1.525 億美元；若就可計費天數與匯率波動進行調整，與去年同期大致一致。

We also continued to generate strong free cash flow for the quarter, enabling us to pay down $42 million of our long-term debt and repurchase $20 million in common stock. Even after paying down our long-term debt and buying back shares, we saw a decline in our average leverage ratio to 2.26x our trailing 12 months adjusted EBITDA at quarter end. We anticipate a leverage ratio of approximately 2.19 by the end of 2019.

本季我們也持續產生強勁的自由現金流，使我們得以償還 4,200 萬美元的長期負債，並回購 2,000 萬美元普通股。即使在償還長期負債與回購股份之後，截至季末，我們的平均槓桿比率仍下降至過去 12 個月調整後 EBITDA 的 2.26 倍。我們預期到 2019 年底槓桿比率約為 2.19。

As I noted last quarter, neither the repayment of our debt nor the repurchase of our shares precludes ASGN from making strategic acquisitions.

如同我在上季所提到的，無論是償還債務或回購股份，都不會排除 ASGN 進行策略性併購的可能性。

In fact, just this past week, we announced the acquisition of Intersys Consulting, a leading IT services and solutions provider, for $67 million in cash. Intersys Consulting is now part of Apex Systems, and we welcome their team to ASGN. The acquisition of Intersys Consulting is an important step in our strategic growth plan to deliver increased value to both our customers and our shareholders. Intersys consulting anticipates generating approximately $31 million in revenues for full year 2019, followed by double-digit revenue growth in 2020.

事實上，就在上週，我們宣布以 6,700 萬美元現金收購 Intersys Consulting——一家領先的 IT 服務與解決方案供應商。Intersys Consulting 現已成為 Apex Systems 的一部分，我們也歡迎他們的團隊加入 ASGN。收購 Intersys Consulting 是我們策略性成長計畫中的重要一步，旨在為客戶與股東創造更高價值。Intersys Consulting 預期 2019 全年營收約為 3,100 萬美元，並在 2020 年實現兩位數的營收成長。

Their addition deepens and expands our capabilities in digital innovation and systems modernization. We expect to realize revenue synergies by leveraging their robust capabilities within our current Apex Systems and Oxford customer bases to capture an increased portion of our existing pipeline of higher-end consulting opportunities.

他們的加入將加深並擴展我們在數位創新與系統現代化方面的能力。我們預期可透過在現有 Apex Systems 與 Oxford 客戶基礎中運用其強大能力，實現營收協同效益，從而在我們既有的高階顧問機會管線中取得更高的份額。

While Rand will further discuss Intersys Consulting capabilities shortly, I'd like to briefly address our strategy behind this acquisition. When making acquisitions, ASGN looks to acquire companies that continue to evolve our business as a preeminent and differentiated IT services and solutions provider in attractive markets. Increasing our consultative capabilities and leveraging our existing account relationships and pipeline continues to be our focus. Targeted acquisitions must fulfill this strategic need, be accretive to growth rates and margin profiles, and possess in-demand consultative and solutions capabilities.

Rand 將在稍後進一步說明 Intersys Consulting 的能力；但我想先簡要談談我們進行此項收購背後的策略。在進行併購時，ASGN 會尋求收購能持續推動我們業務演進、使我們在具吸引力的市場中成為卓越且具差異化的 IT 服務與解決方案供應商的公司。提升我們的顧問式能力，並運用既有的客戶關係與業務管線，仍是我們的重點。目標型併購必須滿足此一策略需求，能增厚成長率與利潤率結構，並具備市場需求旺盛的顧問式與解決方案能力。

Intersys Consulting checks the box on each of these attributes. Their industry expertise, combined with a deep focus on developing long-standing customer relationships, fits well within ASGN's own mission to provide high-end technology services across each of the end markets we serve.

Intersys Consulting 在上述每一項特質上都符合我們的要求。他們的產業專業，加上對建立長期客戶關係的深度投入，與 ASGN 的使命高度契合——在我們所服務的各終端市場中提供高階技術服務。

Through the acquisition of Intersys Consulting, our most recent prior acquisitions of ECS and DHA, we are scaling our consultative and solutions capabilities and expanding into key industry segments across the commercial and government sectors.

透過收購 Intersys Consulting，以及我們先前收購的 ECS 與 DHA，我們正在擴大顧問式與解決方案能力的規模，並在商業與政府領域的關鍵產業區隔中持續擴張。

We're strengthening our vision of merging industry expertise and technology solutions with unparalleled account relationships.

我們正在強化我們的願景：將產業專業與科技解決方案，與無可比擬的客戶關係相結合。

Ultimately, our strategy to execute our long-term business plan to expand our presence in commercial and government IT services and solutions, and to acquire assets which complement our industry expertise and solution capabilities will further position ASGN to achieve strong growth today, tomorrow and into the future.

最終而言，我們執行長期業務計畫的策略，是擴大我們在商業與政府 IT 服務與解決方案領域的布局，並收購可補強我們產業專業與解決方案能力的資產；這將進一步使 ASGN 具備更有利的定位，以在今日、明日乃至未來持續實現強勁成長。

I'll now turn the call over to Rand Blazer to speak further about the Apex segment's third quarter performance. Rand?

接下來我把電話交給 Rand Blazer，請他進一步說明 Apex 部門第三季的表現。Rand？

Great. Thank you, Ted. The Apex segment, which consists of Apex Systems and Creative Circle, again reported solid results for the quarter. As Ted noted, third quarter revenues totaled $644.1 million, up 9.2% year-over-year on a difficult prior year comparable.

好的。謝謝你，Ted。Apex 部門由 Apex Systems 與 Creative Circle 組成，本季再次繳出穩健的成績。如 Ted 所提，第三季營收合計為 6.441 億美元，在去年同期基期較具挑戰的情況下，年增 9.2%。

In the third quarter of 2018, we grew 14%, the highest growth quarter of last year. Our margins this past quarter were down slightly on lower permanent placement work compared to the third quarter of 2018 but remained stable on a sequential basis.

2018 年第三季我們成長 14%，是去年成長最高的一季。本季毛利率較 2018 年第三季略為下滑，主因永久安置（permanent placement）業務量較少，但就季比而言仍維持穩定。

During this third quarter, the Apex segment's performance was driven by a number of factors including, first, double-digit overall revenue growth in Apex Systems as well as double-digit revenue growth in 5 of the 8 industry verticals we serve, including: Aerospace & Defense, Business Services, Financial Services, Healthcare and Consumer & Industrial industry accounts.

在本第三季，Apex 部門的表現受多項因素帶動，其中首先是 Apex Systems 整體營收達雙位數成長，且我們服務的 8 個產業垂直領域中有 5 個也呈現雙位數營收成長，包括：航太與國防、商業服務、金融服務、醫療保健，以及消費與工業等產業客戶。

Our technology vertical posted mid-single-digit revenue growth for the quarter, while Life Sciences and telecommunications saw revenues decline year-over-year.

本季我們的科技垂直領域營收呈現中個位數成長，而生命科學與電信的營收則較去年同期下滑。

Top accounts again achieved double-digit revenue growth, outpacing our overall top line growth, while retail or branch-centric accounts saw flat revenues year-over-year. Creative Circle's revenue improved sequentially, with a revenue growth rate in line with our internal expectations for the third quarter.

主要客戶（top accounts）再次達成雙位數營收成長，增速高於我們整體營收成長；而零售或以分公司為中心（branch-centric）的客戶，營收則與去年同期持平。Creative Circle 的營收較前一季改善，其營收成長率符合我們對第三季的內部預期。

Lastly, growth in consulting work across both our Apex and Oxford segments also continued to outpace our internal revenue estimates for the quarter.

最後，Apex 與 Oxford 兩個部門的顧問（consulting）業務成長，也持續超出我們本季的內部營收預估。

Led by Apex Systems, total consulting revenue was $100.5 million for the third quarter 2019, up 30.5% year-over-year and now accounts for mid-teens as a percentage of our combined Apex and Oxford segments' business.

在 Apex Systems 帶動下，2019 年第三季顧問業務總營收為 1.005 億美元，年增 30.5%，目前約占 Apex 與 Oxford 兩部門合計業務的十幾個百分點（mid-teens）。

We remain excited about the opportunity to grow our consulting business as we continue to provide solutions that create added value for our clients. While achieving strong organic growth is certainly key to our success, as Ted discussed, we also continue to keep an eye out for ways to enhance ASGN's growth through strategic acquisitions. Subsequent to the quarter end we did just that, welcoming Intersys Consulting to Apex Systems. The Apex segment provides a full complement of IT and technology consulting services in workforce mobilization, modern enterprise and digital innovation solutions for the commercial sector.

我們仍對擴大顧問業務的機會感到振奮，因為我們持續提供能為客戶創造附加價值的解決方案。雖然達成強勁的有機成長無疑是我們成功的關鍵，但如 Ted 所述，我們也持續留意透過策略性併購來提升 ASGN 成長的方式。在季末之後，我們確實採取了行動，歡迎 Intersys Consulting 加入 Apex Systems。Apex 部門為商業領域提供完整的 IT 與科技顧問服務組合，涵蓋人力動員（workforce mobilization）、現代化企業（modern enterprise）與數位創新（digital innovation）解決方案。

Intersys Consulting enhances our current capabilities in digital innovation and enterprise solutions with capabilities in data strategy and transformation, machine learning, data analytics, cloud, agile, and full stack development and DevOps. The ability to provide these high-end services to our growing client base will assist in our mission to continue to differentiate ASGN from other IT service providers.

Intersys Consulting 透過其在資料策略與轉型、機器學習、資料分析、雲端、敏捷（agile）、全端開發（full stack development）與 DevOps 等能力，強化我們在數位創新與企業解決方案方面的既有能力。能向日益成長的客戶群提供這些高階服務，將有助於我們持續拉開 ASGN 與其他 IT 服務供應商的差異化。

With the acquisition closing less than 1 week ago, the Intersys Consulting team is already in the process of fully integrating within Apex Systems. We are excited to begin leveraging Intersys Consulting's experience to serve our growing pipeline of business opportunities across Apex Systems, Oxford and Creative Circle accounts.

由於本次收購在不到一週前才完成交割，Intersys Consulting 團隊已在進行全面整合至 Apex Systems 的流程中。我們很期待開始運用 Intersys Consulting 的經驗，服務 Apex Systems、Oxford 與 Creative Circle 客戶所帶來、持續成長的商機管線。

In summary, I am pleased with the Apex segments revenue and margin performance this past quarter. Given our strong performance in Q3 of 2018, our third quarter 2019 results were all the more noteworthy. As solid as the Q3 results were, we did see a slowdown in client IT spend in August and September and in the initial week of October. It's hard to determine if this trend will continue through the fourth quarter. However, the additional actions we are taking to better serve our clients with IT staffing and expanded digital innovation and enterprise solutions will be important to continuing our strong growth record.

總結而言，我對 Apex 部門本季的營收與利潤率表現感到滿意。考量到我們在 2018 年第三季的強勁表現，2019 年第三季的成果更顯難能可貴。儘管第三季結果相當穩健，我們確實在 8 月與 9 月以及 10 月第一週看到客戶 IT 支出放緩。很難判斷此趨勢是否會延續到第四季。然而，我們為了更好地以 IT 人力派遣與擴大的數位創新及企業解決方案來服務客戶而採取的額外行動，將是延續我們強勁成長紀錄的重要因素。

I'll now turn the call over to George Wilson to speak about our ECS segment. George?

接下來我把電話交給 George Wilson，請他談談我們的 ECS 部門。George？

Thank you, Rand. ECS's third quarter performance, from the standpoint of financial execution, business operations and new business development, was outstanding. We continued to execute our strategy to provide advanced technical solutions, coupled with subject matter expertise, to address our customers' most pressing needs. Several key contract awards provided additional large and durable contract vehicles so our customers can expand the use of our technologies, solutions and services. Awards included both re-competes of past contracts, contract expansions, and net new contract awards. These awards reflect positively on our strategy and the quality of our execution.

謝謝你，Rand。從財務執行、營運以及新業務開發的角度來看，ECS 第三季表現非常出色。我們持續執行策略，提供先進技術解決方案並結合領域專家能力，以滿足客戶最迫切的需求。多項關鍵合約得標，提供了額外的大型且具持久性的合約載具（contract vehicles），使客戶能擴大採用我們的技術、解決方案與服務。得標內容包含既有合約的再競標（re-competes）、合約擴增，以及全新合約得標。這些得標成果正面反映了我們的策略與執行品質。

Our financial growth continues to be significantly ahead of the industry average for peer companies in the federal technology space. Third quarter revenues grew on a reported basis by 25.7% over the prior year, along with similar growth in adjusted EBITDA.

我們的財務成長持續顯著領先於聯邦科技領域同業公司的產業平均。第三季營收以申報口徑（reported basis）較去年同期成長 25.7%，調整後 EBITDA 亦呈現類似幅度的成長。

Included in this impressive third quarter growth were contributions from our prior acquisition, some onetime technology purchases, and several license renewals that are critical to our advanced solutions, primarily in the defense and the intelligence market.

此一亮眼的第三季成長包含先前收購案的貢獻、部分一次性技術採購，以及數項對我們先進解決方案至關重要的授權續約，主要集中於國防與情報市場。

We anticipate revenues from technology purchases and license renewals will be lower in the fourth quarter.

我們預期第四季來自技術採購與授權續約的營收將較低。

In Q3, we received a total of $954.5 million in contract awards, which resulted in a book-to-bill ratio of 4.6x:1 for the third quarter, another period of very strong performance on the business development front.

第三季我們合計取得 9.545 億美元的合約得標，使第三季的接單出貨比（book-to-bill ratio）達 4.6 倍：1，顯示業務開發面再度呈現非常強勁的表現。

Our book-to-bill ratio for the trailing 12 months ended September 30, 2019, was 2.4x:1. ECS won several key awards during the third quarter, which contributed to this extraordinary book-to-bill. I'd like to review a few examples, beginning with 2 significantly expanded contracts to continue the development, deployment, and maintenance of a secure, unclassified network used by the U.S. and U.S. partners worldwide, as well as an expanded award to develop and deploy software systems and tools on that network.

截至 2019 年 9 月 30 日的過去 12 個月，我們的接單出貨比為 2.4 倍：1。ECS 在第三季贏得數項關鍵標案，促成這個非凡的接單出貨比。我想舉幾個例子，首先是 2 份大幅擴增的合約，用於持續開發、部署與維護一個安全、非機密（unclassified）的網路，供美國及其全球合作夥伴使用；以及一項擴增得標，用於在該網路上開發與部署軟體系統與工具。

We were also awarded additional tasks to deliver innovative AI solutions and services to an important defense customer and a contract to support computer network defense of the DoD's Defense Health Agency network. We also received an award for the modernization of human resource management applications for the U.S. Marine Corp, including cloud migration, application of AI to improve processes and deliver maximum value to the end customer.

我們也獲得額外任務，為一位重要的國防客戶提供創新的 AI 解決方案與服務；並取得一份合約，支援國防部（DoD）國防健康署（Defense Health Agency）網路的電腦網路防禦。此外，我們也獲得一項標案，負責美國海軍陸戰隊的人力資源管理應用程式現代化，包括雲端遷移、運用 AI 改善流程，並為終端客戶創造最大價值。

Lastly, we were awarded a multi-year contract to lead IT modernization efforts for the U.S. Mint's Office of the CIO, including operations applications management, cloud migration and service delivery optimization.

最後，我們獲得一份多年期合約，主導美國鑄幣局（U.S. Mint）資訊長辦公室（Office of the CIO）的 IT 現代化工作，包括營運應用管理、雲端遷移與服務交付最佳化。

All of these contracts were competitively awarded and all were single awards. Our cyber capabilities and technology partnerships continue to expand as we continue to invest heavily in partnerships, training and certification of our workforce, and in facilities to include our secure operations center and our advanced AI system integration lab.

上述所有合約皆為競爭性得標，且皆為單一得標（single awards）。隨著我們持續在合作夥伴關係、員工訓練與認證，以及設施方面（包括我們的安全營運中心與先進 AI 系統整合實驗室）投入大量資源，我們的資安能力與技術合作夥伴關係也持續擴展。

Our recent proposal activity has remained strong, and we believe ECS is positioned well within the advanced solutions and services market, which is currently in high demand. At the end of the third quarter, ECS had $2.7 billion in total contract backlog, which was an increase of over $700 million sequentially. This contract backlog equates to a very healthy coverage ratio of 3.6x our trailing 12-month revenue.

我們近期的提案活動仍然強勁，我們相信 ECS 在目前需求旺盛的先進解決方案與服務市場中具備良好定位。截至第三季末，ECS 的合約積壓總額為 27 億美元，較前一季增加超過 7 億美元。此合約積壓相當於非常健康的覆蓋比率，為我們過去 12 個月營收的 3.6 倍。

I will now turn the call over to Ed Pierce to discuss ASGN's consolidated financial results for the quarter. Ed?

接下來我把電話交給 Ed Pierce，請他說明 ASGN 本季的合併財務結果。Ed？

Thanks, George. As Ted has highlighted, we reported impressive financial results for the quarter. Revenues for the first time exceeded $1 billion and were at the high end of our guidance range. Earnings and adjusted EBITDA were both above the high end of our guidance range, driven by high revenue growth and lower-than-expected SG&A expenses.

謝謝，George。如 Ted 所強調的，我們本季公布了令人印象深刻的財務成果。營收首次突破 10 億美元，並位於我們指引區間的高端。獲利與調整後 EBITDA 皆高於我們指引區間的高端，主要受惠於強勁的營收成長以及低於預期的 SG&A 費用。

Revenue growth for the quarter was 10.6% on a reported basis and 10.1% on a same billable day constant currency basis. Revenues from our ECS segment were above expectations as a result of higher revenues from license renewals and some onetime technology purchases. We anticipate lower revenues from these type purchases in the fourth quarter.

本季營收成長在報表基礎為 10.6%，在同等計費天數的固定匯率基礎為 10.1%。我們 ECS 部門的營收高於預期，原因是授權續約收入較高，以及部分一次性的科技採購。我們預期第四季此類採購帶來的營收將較低。

Gross margin was within our guidance range but down approximately 70 basis points year-over-year. About half of the compression in margin related to a lower mix of permanent placement revenues and the remainder to lower contract margins, which were mainly the result of a higher mix of revenues from ECS and from high volume, low margin customers.

毛利率落在我們的指引區間內，但年對年下降約 70 個基點。約一半的毛利率壓縮與永久派遣收入占比降低有關，其餘則來自合約毛利率較低，主要是因為 ECS 營收占比提高，以及來自高量、低毛利客戶的營收占比提高。

Although ECS' gross margins are lower than our other segments, it generates double-digits adjusted EBITDA margins as a result of its low SG&A expense base. Its margins are at the higher end of its industry peer group. SG&A expenses were $3.4 million, below our guidance range, mainly related to favorable variances in compensation and health care expenses.

雖然 ECS 的毛利率低於我們其他部門，但由於其 SG&A 費用基礎較低，仍能產生雙位數的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率。其利潤率位於同業可比公司群的高端。SG&A 費用為 340 萬美元，低於我們的指引區間，主要與薪酬與醫療保健費用的有利差異有關。

Our effective tax rate for the quarter was slightly lower than guidance and 9 percentage points higher than Q3 of last year, which had benefited from a number of discrete items, including reductions to certain provisional tax estimates made under the Tax Reform Act.

本季有效稅率略低於指引，且較去年第三季高 9 個百分點；去年第三季受惠於多項一次性項目，包括依《稅改法案》對某些暫估稅額所做的下調。

Net income, adjusted net income and adjusted EBITDA were all above our guidance range, mainly related to favorable expense variances.

淨利、調整後淨利與調整後 EBITDA 皆高於我們的指引區間，主要與費用出現有利差異有關。

Cash flows from operating activities were $91.3 million and free cash flow was $84.4 million, or 8.4% of revenues.

營運活動現金流為 9,130 萬美元，自由現金流為 8,440 萬美元，約占營收的 8.4%。

During the quarter, as Ted mentioned, we paid down $42 million of our long-term debt and used $20 million to repurchase 324,000 shares of our common stock.

本季如 Ted 所提及，我們償還了 4,200 萬美元的長期負債，並使用 2,000 萬美元回購 324,000 股普通股。

Regarding our financial estimates for the fourth quarter, we're estimating revenues of $995 million to $1.005 billion net income of $51.9 million to $55.6 million, and adjusted EBITDA of $113.2 million to $118.2 million.

關於第四季的財務預估，我們預估營收為 9.95 億至 10.05 億美元，淨利為 5,190 萬至 5,560 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 1.132 億至 1.182 億美元。

These estimates include results for Intersys Consulting from the date of its acquisition. Our estimates are based on estimated billable days of 60.5, which is the same as the fourth quarter of last year.

上述預估包含自收購日起 Intersys Consulting 的業績。我們的預估係以計費天數 60.5 天為基礎，與去年第四季相同。

Each billable day is approximately $12.1 billion in assignment revenues. On a sequential basis, there are 2.5 fewer billable days than Q3 and the effect on Q4 revenues is approximately $30.2 million.

每一個計費天約為 121 億美元的派遣（assignment）營收。以季對季來看，計費天數較第三季少 2.5 天，對第四季營收的影響約為 3,020 萬美元。

We're also estimating a sequential increase of approximately 4% in assignment revenues per billable day. Our estimates considered the effect of sequentially fewer billable days and 2 additional holidays on ECS' revenues from time and materials contracts. As previously mentioned, we are also assuming lower revenues from third-party technology purchases than Q3.

我們也預估每計費天的派遣營收將季對季增加約 4%。我們的預估已考量計費天數季對季減少，以及多出 2 個假期對 ECS 的工時與材料（time and materials）合約營收的影響。如先前所述，我們也假設第三方科技採購帶來的營收將低於第三季。

I will now turn the call back over to Ted for some closing remarks. Ted?

接下來我把電話交回給 Ted，請他做一些結語。Ted？

Thanks, Ed. I'm very pleased with ASGN's 2019 financial performance to-date. The size, scale and breadth of our services continues to position us well for success. Through our unique industry insights and sophisticated project delivery, we've developed long, trusted customer relationships with over 300 of the Fortune 500 companies as well as major defense, intelligence and civilian government agencies. These relationships enable us to maintain a sustainable business model and margins that can withstand economic cycles.

謝謝，Ed。我對 ASGN 2019 年迄今的財務表現感到非常滿意。我們服務的規模、量體與廣度持續讓我們處於有利位置以取得成功。透過我們獨特的產業洞察與成熟的專案交付能力，我們已與超過 300 家《財富》500 強企業，以及主要的國防、情報與民用政府機構，建立長期且互信的客戶關係。這些關係使我們得以維持可持續的商業模式與利潤率，並能承受經濟循環。

I'd like to thank you again for your time today and for your support of ASGN. These are exciting times for our company, and we look forward to continuing to share our progress on future quarterly calls. We will now open the call to your questions. Operator?

再次感謝各位今天撥冗參與，以及對 ASGN 的支持。這對我們公司而言是令人振奮的時期，我們也期待在未來的季度電話會議中持續分享我們的進展。現在我們開放提問。接線員？

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Ed Caso with Wells Fargo Securities.

（接線員指示）我們的第一個問題來自 Wells Fargo Securities 的 Ed Caso。

The -- just trying to get a sense if there's any cultural issues here as you start the migration from a staffing company towards a more consultive solutions company.

我只是想了解一下，當你們開始從一家人力派遣公司轉型為更偏向顧問式解決方案公司時，是否會有任何文化上的問題。

Thanks, Ed. I think our people in the marketplace feel like this is a natural move. Remember, as we've talked about this part of our business, it's really a client-driven activity. We're not pushing our way in, if you will, to work. The client is inviting us in based on our past [quals] and our capabilities, not just to provide resources but also to provide certain solutions. And so it's just been a natural evolution, if you will, for our people who are serving the customer. So I think they feel great about not only performing the activity of providing resources but also having the opportunity to add more value to the relationship, by providing solutions on top of that. And so I think from a cultural standpoint, it's an upper for all of our team.

謝謝，Ed。我認為我們在市場上的同仁覺得這是一個很自然的轉變。請記得，正如我們談到這塊業務時所說，這其實是由客戶驅動的活動。我們並不是在「硬推」自己去取得工作。客戶是基於我們過去的[資歷]與能力而邀請我們進來，不僅是提供人力資源，也提供某些解決方案。因此，對於服務客戶的同仁而言，這就是一種自然的演進。所以我認為他們對於不僅執行提供人力資源的工作、同時也有機會透過在其上提供解決方案來為關係創造更多價值，感到非常正面。因此我認為從文化角度來看，這對我們整個團隊都是一個提振。

My other question is on Creative Circle. If you could just give us an update there?

我另一個問題是關於 Creative Circle。你們能否提供一下最新進展？

Rand, you want to talk about Creative Circle?

Rand，你想談談 Creative Circle 嗎？

Yes. I think Creative Circle's doing fine. Their growth rate in the third quarter was higher than their growth rate in the second quarter on a year-over-year basis. We've talked a lot about the not just creative marketing but digital marketing. And as you -- the [modeling] world yearns for digital marketing, so they're competing with a broader set of people now in that marketplace. They have very good account relationships. They have very good internal processes. So -- but they're facing the transition to facing a broader set of competition, competition that comes from the normal IT players in that marketplace. So they're performing well. There are -- they typically picked up toward the end of the quarter, and I think they're doing the things we think they should be doing. And there's good synergy between the Apex and Creative team around some of our larger accounts, which is getting healthier and healthier as we grow.

好的。我認為 Creative Circle 表現不錯。他們第三季的成長率在年對年基礎上高於第二季的成長率。我們談了很多，不只是創意行銷，還包括數位行銷。而隨著[建模]世界對數位行銷的渴求，他們現在在該市場上要與更廣泛的一群人競爭。他們有非常好的客戶關係。他們有非常好的內部流程。所以——但他們正面臨轉型，也就是要面對更廣泛的競爭，這些競爭來自該市場中一般的 IT 參與者。因此他們表現良好。他們通常在季度末會有所回升，我認為他們正在做我們認為他們應該做的事情。而且 Apex 與 Creative 團隊在我們一些較大型客戶上有很好的協同效應，隨著我們成長，這種協同也越來越健康。

Our next question comes from the line of Tobey Sommer with SunTrust.

我們的下一個問題來自 SunTrust 的 Tobey Sommer。

I was wondering if you could elaborate a little bit, Rand, on your remarks that said IT spending slowed within the quarter and kind of early October. Any kind of color you could give us on that would be helpful.

Rand，我想請你再多闡述一下你提到的評論：本季內以及 10 月初 IT 支出有所放緩。如果你能提供一些相關背景說明，會很有幫助。

Okay, Ted, you want me to go ahead? So Tobey, yes, I think -- first of all, I think again for the IT services we provide, we've seen a little bit of a slowdown in that business flow. We measure that by the amount of assignments or requisitions and openings that we are presented with.

好的，Ted，你要我先回答嗎？所以 Tobey，是的，我想——首先，就我們提供的 IT 服務而言，我們確實看到該業務的流量有些放緩。我們是透過交付給我們的指派、需求單（requisitions）以及職缺開放數量來衡量的。

So I think I said in Q3, we had 2 of our industries performing single-digit to negative -- 3 of our industries, single-digit to negative or flat growth year-over-year: Technology, telecommunications and our mid-market accounts or branch-centric accounts. So those 3 are not keeping up with the other 4, if you will, which is I think where we've seen most of the slowdown occur.

所以我想我在第三季提到，我們有 2 個產業呈現個位數到負成長——其實是 3 個產業，年對年為個位數到負成長或持平：科技、電信，以及我們的中型市場客戶或以分公司為中心的客戶。因此，如果你要說的話，這 3 個產業沒有跟上其他 4 個產業，而我們看到的大部分放緩也主要發生在這裡。

We've gone through this before, Tobey, where you have a little what I call pauses in spend by the client as they reset their projects or they turn left or turn right in their own strategies. So it's not new to us. But we -- I think Ted and I and Ed all felt it was fair to say, look, we did see a little bit of a slowdown in the spend. You see that reflected -- I mean normally we had 7 or 8 of our industries all in double-digit growth. So that's the -- that's what we're seeing,

Tobey，我們以前也經歷過這種情況：客戶在支出上會出現我所謂的短暫「暫停」，因為他們在重新設定專案，或是在自身策略上左轉或右轉。所以這對我們來說並不新鮮。但我們——我想 Ted、我和 Ed 都覺得可以公平地說：我們確實看到支出有些放緩。你也會看到這反映在——我的意思是，通常我們有 7 或 8 個產業都呈現兩位數成長。所以——這就是我們所看到的。

So would you describe this as a typical oscillation in growth rates and not a significant change?

所以你會把這形容為成長率的典型波動，而不是一個重大的變化嗎？

No. I think it is -- as I said, I think it is an oscillation that occurs. I call it ebb and flow. We've used those words before on the earnings calls. I think there's a little bit of ebb and flow in spending. If you think about technology, they're dealing with their manufacturing base in China and have other investment priorities.

不。我認為——如我所說，我認為這是一種會發生的波動。我稱之為潮起潮落（ebb and flow）。我們在過去的財報電話會議上也用過這些詞。我認為支出確實有一些潮起潮落。如果你想想科技產業，他們正在處理其在中國的製造基地，並且有其他投資優先順序。

I'm just conjecturing this. I don't want to speak for that industry. But I imagine that's going on in telecommunications. There is a continuation of looking for ways to provide more content and different ways of streaming content out there. So there's good things to do. And I think at some point every so often they look at our history over the last 3 or 4 years, you do see some oscillation in the pattern of business that's presented to us. So I think that's what I said in my remarks, I said we're -- we just think this is a normal ebb and flow and we'll see how it goes in the quarter.

我只是推測。我不想代表那個產業發言。但我想電信產業也可能正在發生類似情況。他們持續在尋找提供更多內容以及以不同方式串流內容的方法。所以有很多正面的事情可以做。而且我認為，每隔一段時間，若你回顧我們過去 3 到 4 年的歷史，你確實會看到呈交到我們這裡的業務型態有一些波動。所以我在評論中所說的是：我們——我們認為這只是正常的潮起潮落，接下來看看本季的情況如何發展。

Okay. Within the ECS segment, the growth rate is obviously very strong, in part by, you said, some -- driven by some pass-through revenues. Can you kind of maybe break that out in a little bit more detail that try to tell us maybe what the services growth was versus these product-related things or how are you'd like to do it yourself, what size of a contributor the pass-through revenues might have been.

了解。在 ECS 部門內，成長率顯然非常強勁，其中一部分如你所說是由某些——由一些轉付收入（pass-through revenues）所帶動。你能否更詳細地拆解一下，試著告訴我們服務成長相較於這些產品相關項目的成長各是多少，或用你覺得合適的方式說明：轉付收入可能貢獻了多大比例？

George, do you want to take that?

George，你要回答這題嗎？

Yes. Sure. And thanks for the question. I want to kind of make sure we're differentiating between 2 things. It's important to differentiate between onetime purchases, it would be nonrecurring, and what we have in recurring purchases, license, hardware, specialized services that are needed to deliver our end solutions. As long as we're delivering those end solutions, those technology purchases are [licenses that occur] and will provide some lumpiness in our quarterly revenues. But over the course of the year, typically these things are semi-annual or annual licenses or hardware refresh and stuff like that. So on an annual basis those will recur and it will be smoothed out. But on a quarterly basis, it'll provide a little bit of lumpiness. As far as simple onetime purchases, those are very small relative to the rest of the revenue. So there's been a growth in both our solutions as well as our services delivery, which on an annual basis, there's been -- as far as direct labor, has been a strong growth.

是的。當然。也謝謝你的問題。我想先確保我們區分兩件事。很重要的是要區分一次性採購（one-time purchases），也就是非經常性，以及我們的經常性採購，包括授權、硬體、以及為交付我們端到端解決方案所需的專業服務。只要我們持續交付這些端到端解決方案，這些技術採購就會發生（例如授權），並會使我們的季度營收出現一些不均勻（lumpiness）。但從全年來看，通常這些是半年或年度授權、或硬體汰換更新之類的。因此以年度基礎來看，這些會重複發生，並且會被平滑化。但以季度來看，會造成一些不均勻。至於單純的一次性採購，相對於其他營收而言占比非常小。所以我們的解決方案與服務交付兩者都有成長；以年度來看——就直接人力而言——成長一直很強勁。

That's helpful. And then, Ted, maybe a question for you. And I'll get back in the queue. The -- your recent acquisition, is this an example of what an acquisition may look like in the future as opposed to the kind of step-out platform acquisitions that we've seen ASGN consummate in the past?

這很有幫助。接著，Ted，可能有個問題想請教你。我之後再回到提問隊列。你們最近的收購案，是否可視為未來收購可能的樣貌，相較於過去我們看到 ASGN 完成的那種跨出式平台型收購（step-out platform acquisitions）？

Well, maybe I'll answer that 2 ways, Tobey. I mean I think we're in the end markets we want to be in as it relates to IT services. So thinking about making platform acquisitions that get us outside of IT is probably not on our roadmap or not on our roadmap.

嗯，Tobey，也許我用兩個角度回答。我的意思是，我認為就 IT 服務而言，我們已經在我們想要的終端市場裡。所以，去思考做一些讓我們跳出 IT 領域的平台型收購，可能不在我們的路線圖上，或至少不在我們的路線圖上。

It's difficult for me to say in the future what we would or wouldn't acquire because those are, as you know, opportunistic things. But if you go back to our Analyst Day in April of 2018, you heard us talk about how we wanted to expand our businesses of Apex and ECS through key acquisitions that give us either expanded capabilities or bring us into a customer set that we may not be in, or otherwise enhance the value that we're providing to the customer. So I think this is in line with that, and between that and being placed in the markets that we are now where we are where we like, I think you'll see us stick to our knitting there.

我很難說未來我們會或不會收購什麼，因為如你所知，那些都是機會型的事情。但如果你回到我們 2018 年 4 月的分析師日，你會聽到我們談到：我們希望透過關鍵收購來擴大 Apex 與 ECS 的業務，這些收購要麼能擴充我們的能力，要麼能把我們帶進我們可能尚未進入的客戶群，或以其他方式提升我們提供給客戶的價值。所以我認為這與那個方向一致；再加上我們目前所處的市場正是我們喜歡的位置，我想你會看到我們會專注於我們最擅長的領域。

Our next question comes from the line of Gary Bisbee with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行（Bank of America）的 Gary Bisbee。

This is Jay Hanna on for Gary today. So I guess my first question really is just with regard to your perm business. We've seen some data recently just suggesting that job openings have come down a bit in recent months. Just wanted to get your thoughts on with the current market is now and maybe your expectations going forward.

今天由 Jay Hanna 代替 Gary 提問。所以我想我的第一個問題是關於你們的永久職（perm）業務。我們最近看到一些數據顯示，近幾個月職缺開放數量略有下降。想請教你們對目前市場狀況的看法，以及對未來的預期。

Well, look, our perm revenues were basically flat from the second quarter to the third. It's going to -- we expect it to grow both as a percent of our total business, because the other units are growing faster, just the mix of that it's naturally become a smaller and smaller part. I think it's maybe $35 million on $1 billion of revenues this quarter.

嗯，先說，我們的永久職（perm）營收從第二季到第三季基本上持平。它——我們預期它在我們總業務中的占比會成長，因為其他單位成長更快，所以從組合（mix）的角度來看，它自然會變成越來越小的一部分。我想本季大概是 10 億美元營收中的 3,500 萬美元左右。

So I'd -- it's an important part of our business but not something that we're going to overemphasize. The -- what you see in the market today I think in that piece of the business, that's really a candidate-driven marketplace. Not difficult to find clients with opportunities, but the candidate side of it is very difficult. So I think that's the major headwind in that market. I can't comment too much on whether the number of openings is down or not on a macro basis. But that's a little bit of color what we see inside of our business.

所以我會——這是我們業務的重要組成部分，但不是我們要過度強調的事情。——我認為你今天在市場上看到的，在那一塊業務裡，確實是一個由候選人主導的市場。不難找到有職缺機會的客戶，但候選人端非常困難。所以我認為那是該市場的主要逆風。我無法在宏觀層面過多評論職缺數量是否下降。但這就是我們在自身業務內部所看到的一些補充說明。

Okay. And then just shifting to Apex. And obviously, the growth continues to be nice despite difficult comps. I mean is there anything company specific or macro driven that's changed here? What's generally behind this performance?

好的。接著把話題轉到 Apex。而且很明顯，儘管比較基期很困難，成長仍然不錯。我是說，這裡有什麼公司特定或宏觀驅動的因素發生變化嗎？整體而言，這樣的表現主要是由什麼支撐的？

Look I don't think -- I think you're seeing strong uptake by our client on our consultative capabilities inside of Apex. Obviously, they see a great value in using us on certain solutions in addition to just providing resources. So I think that most of what you're seeing there in terms of their continued strong performance is a testament to their account portfolio, and it continued expansion of that, both in new clients and in terms of share of wallet. And that's really the path that we're on inside of Apex and you should look for that to continue.

你看，我不認為——我想你看到的是我們客戶對 Apex 內部顧問式能力的採用度很強。很明顯，除了僅僅提供人力資源之外，他們也看到在某些解決方案上使用我們能帶來很大的價值。所以我認為，你在那裡看到的大部分持續強勁表現，證明了他們的客戶組合，以及該組合持續擴張——不論是新增客戶，或是錢包份額的提升。而這正是我們在 Apex 內部所走的路徑，你應該預期這會持續下去。

Okay. Then lastly, really quickly, are you willing to comment on the Intersys margin profile?

好的。最後一個問題，很快地，你們願意評論一下 Intersys 的利潤率概況嗎？

We didn't give information on margins for Intersys. We did give you a sense of what the revenue was expected for 2019. What we included in our estimates for the quarter, you can assume that both their gross margin profile and their EBITDA margin profile is higher than the rest of our business just based on their business, but I think we'll probably stop there.

我們沒有提供 Intersys 的利潤率資訊。我們確實提供了 2019 年預期營收的大致情況。就我們在本季估算中所納入的部分而言，你可以假設，基於他們的業務特性，他們的毛利率概況與 EBITDA 利潤率概況都高於我們其餘業務，但我想我們大概就說到這裡。

Our next question comes from the line of Surinder Thind with Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Surinder Thind。

Just wanted to follow up on kind of Apex. For a couple of quarters now you've discussed the divergence in growth between like top accounts where you're seeing some really good growth, and then the retail branch-centric accounts where maybe not as much strength. Can you talk about the relative contribution to revenues of each?

我想追問一下關於 Apex 的部分。過去幾個季度你們提到成長出現分歧：像是大型重點客戶那邊成長很好，而以零售分支據點為中心的客戶可能就沒那麼強。你能談談兩者各自對營收的相對貢獻嗎？

Rand, you want to take that?

Rand，你要回答嗎？

Sure. We have commented before that the top accounts represent about mid-70% of our total revenues and branch-centric accounts are the remaining 20-some percent of our accounts. So it's pretty weighted towards the top accounts, for sure.

當然。我們之前評論過，重點大客戶約占我們總營收的 70% 中段，而以分支據點為中心的客戶則是其餘約 20% 多的客戶。所以確實相當偏重於重點大客戶。

Understood. And what is the growth profile of the branch accounts at this point?

了解。那目前分支客戶的成長概況如何？

Well, I think we reported in Q3, they were flat year-over-year for the third quarter.

嗯，我想我們在第三季（Q3）報告過，他們在第三季同比是持平。

Understood. And then can you provide a little bit more color maybe on the Oxford segment? If I was to take a step back, is it fair to say that most or all the weakness is coming from CyberCoders? Or how should we think about the Oxford business itself? Last quarter I think you guys talked about it was showing a little bit of growth. Maybe any color at this point.

了解。接著你能否再多提供一些 Oxford 部門的補充說明？如果我退一步看，是否可以說大部分或全部的疲弱都來自 CyberCoders？或者我們應該如何看待 Oxford 本身的業務？上個季度我記得你們提到它有一些成長。目前有沒有什麼補充說明？

The growth profile was similar for the third, I think, adjusted for currency and other effects. They're slightly above even. The CyberCoders business is performing a little bit better through the quarter. So they're making some progress on the initiatives that we have discussed with you before and laid out, difficult marketplace for them, but they are making some headway there.

第三季的成長概況我想是類似的，若調整匯率與其他影響。他們略高於持平。CyberCoders 的業務在本季表現稍微好一些。所以他們在我們之前與你們討論並提出的各項措施上正在取得一些進展；對他們而言市場環境仍然艱難，但他們確實正在取得一些突破。

Understood. And as you make headway through those initiatives, is that something that's kind of a 6-month project, a year-long project, kind of be some sort of, I'll call it, new normal, all else equal, meaning that the way that you guys are kind of pushing small stuff like [California] and some of those other kinds of things that you said.

了解。當你們在這些措施上取得進展時，這會是一個大概 6 個月的專案、一年的專案，還是某種我稱之為「新常態」的狀態（在其他條件不變下）？

Yes. I think those are longer term initiatives, Surinder. I mean both the adding of staff and getting them up to productivity as well as diversifying our business geographically is a long-term kind of proposition. So those are quarters out, not next month, if you will, or next quarter, but we're pleased with the progress they're making.

是的。我認為那些是較長期的措施，Surinder。我的意思是，無論是增聘人員並讓他們提升到具生產力的水準，或是從地理上分散我們的業務，都是一種長期的命題。所以那會是以季度為單位的時間跨度，不是下個月、或下個季度就能完成的，但我們對他們取得的進展感到滿意。

Understood. And then one final question, your SG&A, the variance there was lower than I think -- it was positive. Can you talk a little bit about more color there? Was that maybe more variable compensation cost associated with maybe the different mix in revenues you guys had this quarter? Or is there something maybe a little bit more sustainable that we might be able to see on a go-forward basis? How should we think about that delta that you guys saw?

了解。最後一個問題，你們的 SG&A，那裡的差異低於我想的——是正向的。你能多談一些補充說明嗎？那是否可能是與本季營收組合不同相關的變動薪酬成本？或者是否有一些更可持續的因素，讓我們在未來也可能看到？我們應該如何看待你們看到的那個差額？

One thing is there was a onetime benefit that we picked up about [$1.2 million] that we set out in our release.

其中一點是，我們取得了一次性利益，大約是 [$1.2 million]，我們在新聞稿中已經說明。

The other favorable variances we indicated was related mainly to compensation and to healthcare expenses. Those are going to have a fair amount of variability. And we saw the same thing or almost the same thing in Q4 of last year. We gave estimates for Q4, as you know, and we're expecting an uptick and sequentially in SG&A of about $2.6 million to $3.5 million. And when you consider that, that also includes the SG&A related to Intersys, it's pretty much in line with what we would expect. And I think the Intersys piece to Q4 is about $1.6 million.

我們提到的其他有利差異主要與薪酬以及醫療保健費用相關。這些會有相當程度的波動性。而我們在去年第四季（Q4）也看到同樣或幾乎同樣的情況。如你所知，我們已提供 Q4 的估計，我們預期 SG&A 會較前一季增加約 $2.6 million 到 $3.5 million。而當你把這點納入考量時，其中也包含與 Intersys 相關的 SG&A，基本上符合我們的預期。我想 Intersys 在 Q4 的部分大約是 $1.6 million。

Our next question comes from the line of Henry Chien with BMO Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 BMO Capital Markets 的 Henry Chien。

I'd noticed and maybe if I missed it, it looks like your disclosure doesn't have bill rates anymore. Just curious if you can, I guess, for what reason that's taken away and if you could just comment on your bill rates trend this quarter?

我注意到——也許是我漏看了——看起來你們的揭露不再包含計費費率（bill rates）。我只是好奇，這是基於什麼原因拿掉的？另外你能否評論一下本季你們的計費費率趨勢？

No. It's not taken away. If you go to the supplemental we have that disclosed, and we're not calling it bill rate, we're calling it average revenue per hour worked, which we think is a better metric because it includes all the factors that go into cost to the customer.

沒有。並沒有拿掉。如果你看我們的補充資料（supplemental），我們有揭露；而且我們不稱它為計費費率，我們稱之為每工作小時平均營收（average revenue per hour worked），我們認為這是更好的指標，因為它包含了所有構成客戶成本的因素。

And it's not really -- it's not a lot of difference between how -- what we reported in the past and what we're reporting today. This is just a better way of looking at it.

而且其實——我們過去所揭露的內容與我們今天所揭露的內容之間，差異並不大。這只是用更好的方式來看待它。

And as we did for everybody on the call, we did go back and disclose prior quarters on that so that there was a road map there.

而且就像我們對電話會議上的所有人所做的一樣，我們確實回頭把先前幾季也一併揭露，讓大家有一個路線圖可循。

If you flip back through the supplemental, you'll see that we went back to Q1 of '18 by a quarter.

如果你往回翻補充資料，你會看到我們按季度一路回溯到 2018 年第一季。

Okay. Got it. I will take that. Okay. Great. And then I guess just a question on ECS. With -- I guess with sort of elections coming up, what kind of impact does like an election cycle have on the business typically....

好的。了解。我接受這個說法。好的。很好。接著我想問一個關於 ECS 的問題。隨著——我想隨著選舉將近，選舉週期通常會對業務造成什麼樣的影響……

George?

George？

Yes, sure thing. Some -- 2 things to really consider. One is the budget and the acquisition process in terms of are we going to go back to having continuing resolutions versus a budget government shutdown, those type of thing. The other thing to look at is whether one party or the other party is going to remain in the White House. Both of those things will have less effect on ECS than other companies that may provide not end solutions supporting critical missions. Our customer set, even in the federal civilian space, is in the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, with marshals, these are areas that even though there might be some funding shifts from one party to the other and in some of the other federal and civilian organizations like EPA and such like that, the funding streams for the mission-critical customer sets are pretty, pretty even whether it's a Democrat or Republican. So I really don't expect to see a big change or a big impact to ECS, whoever takes the White House.

是的，當然。主要有——兩件事需要考量。第一是預算與採購流程，也就是我們是否會回到持續決議（continuing resolutions），或是有預算導致政府關門之類的情況，這些因素。第二個要看的是，究竟是某一黨或另一黨會繼續留在白宮。這兩件事對 ECS 的影響會比對其他公司小，因為其他公司可能提供的不是端到端解決方案、也不一定支援關鍵任務。我們的客戶群，即便在聯邦文職領域，也集中在國土安全部、司法部、法警等單位；這些領域即使不同政黨之間可能有一些資金挪移，而在其他一些聯邦文職機構（例如 EPA 等）也可能如此，但對於這些任務關鍵型客戶群的資金來源，不論是民主黨或共和黨，基本上都相當、相當穩定。因此我真的不預期不論誰入主白宮，會對 ECS 帶來很大的變化或很大的影響。

Our next question comes from the line of Seth Weber with RBC Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自 RBC Capital Markets 的 Seth Weber。

Wanted to go back to your comments about the Apex business, the kind of the cadence that you saw through the quarter, August, September, early October. And can you just tell us what's your kind of -- what your assumptions are for that trajectory here into the fourth quarter? Do you expect it to kind of continue to slow down? Do you expect it to stabilize? Any comments there on sort of what's embedded in your fourth quarter guide?

我想回到你們對 Apex 業務的評論，也就是你們在本季看到的節奏——8 月、9 月、10 月初。你們能否談談，對於進入第四季的這個走勢，你們的假設是什麼？你們預期它會繼續放緩嗎？你們預期它會趨於穩定嗎？能否就第四季指引中所隱含的假設做些評論？

Well, I think if you look at that guide, it pretty much implies that we expect to continue to move forward. The guidance range is roughly the same revenue levels that we did in the third and it's on less billable days so we're expecting to grow. We see opportunities where we can grow, and I think Rand did a good job of just saying, look, in the quarter whether it was the summer or it was a few weeks of kind of -- was a lull here and there that we saw a certain trend in the quarter and we're just letting you know what we see and how we see it by industry.

我想如果你看那個指引，它幾乎意味著我們預期會持續向前推進。指引區間大致與我們第三季的營收水準相當，而且是在可計費天數更少的情況下，所以我們預期會成長。我們看到可以成長的機會；我認為 Rand 也說得很清楚：本季不論是夏季，或是我們在某些時段看到的幾週小幅——時有時無的空檔，我們在季度內看到某種趨勢，我們只是把我們看到的、以及我們如何按產業來看待它告訴大家。

Okay. And then just -- your fourth quarter gross margin guidance is pretty strong. It sort of suggests you could get it close to par year-over-year for total company. So do you think next -- do you think 2020 you could be flat to up on an aggregate gross margin basis?

好的。另外——你們第四季的毛利率指引相當強勁。這似乎表示整體公司毛利率有機會接近與去年同期持平。那你們認為明年——你們認為 2020 年在整體毛利率層面可能持平到上升嗎？

We're not going to comment on 2020 just yet. And frankly, what -- as it relates to gross margin of what happened this could be mainly by businessman. And so we'll have more to say when we report on Q4.

我們現在還不會評論 2020 年。坦白說，就毛利率而言，這次發生的情況可能主要取決於各個業務線。因此等我們公布第四季時，會再多談一些。

Our next question comes from the line of Kevin McVeigh with Crédit Suisse.

下一個問題來自 Crédit Suisse 的 Kevin McVeigh。

I wonder if you can just give a little bit of the context of Intersys relative to the core digital business itself. I guess just where does that sit? And what's the incremental opportunity as you leverage that asset?

我想請你們提供一些 Intersys 相對於核心數位業務本身的背景脈絡。我想問它大概處在什麼位置？以及當你們運用這項資產時，增量機會是什麼？

Well, look, I mean the incremental opportunity and then I'll let Rand comment, is really to come in, integrate and engage on a pipeline of work that we already have developed within our business units under the Apex and Oxford segments.

嗯，你看，我的意思是，增量機會——然後我會讓 Rand 補充——主要是進來之後，整合並投入我們在 Apex 與 Oxford 事業群之下、各業務單位已經建立的工作管線。

So this is not bringing something to new customers, if you will. These are existing customers' needs that we understand, have qualified, are in our pipeline, and so we believe that there is going to be a pretty immediate uptake, if you will, on their ability to help us win more work. Rand, would you add anything to that?

所以這不是把某些東西帶給新客戶，若你這麼理解的話。這些是我們已理解、已完成資格認定、並已納入我們管線的既有客戶需求；因此我們相信，他們協助我們贏得更多專案的能力，將會相當立即地被採用、被拉升。Rand，你要補充什麼嗎？

Yes. I guess I agree with Ted, obviously. Having said their first wave is they just deliver the revenues that they have projected for themselves and their own client base. But the real wave is, just what Ted said, our ability to muscle up on more of the pipeline that's pretty strong inside of Apex and Oxford. In addition to that, Intersys not only brings solution capability in those areas but they also have a nearshore development center in Mexico, which we believe is a gold nugget and it really will, I think, give us a nice push to providing the kind of services and the scale of services we want to provide to some of our larger accounts. So there's a real revenue opportunity here with this, which is why we did the acquisition.

是的。我想我當然同意 Ted 的說法。話雖如此，第一波就是他們交付自己所預估的營收，以及他們自身客戶群的營收。但真正的第二波是——就像 Ted 說的——我們有能力在 Apex 與 Oxford 內部相當強勁的管線上「加大火力」，拿下更多案子。除此之外，Intersys 不僅在那些領域帶來解決方案能力，他們在墨西哥也有一個近岸（nearshore）開發中心；我們認為那是一塊金礦，我想它確實會推動我們，為一些較大型客戶提供我們想提供的那種服務，以及服務規模。因此這裡確實有實質的營收機會，這也是我們進行這項收購的原因。

And Rand or Ed, in terms of the $31 million in revenue, is that all new customers? Or is there any existing overlap with your current customer footprint?

Rand 或 Ed，關於那 3,100 萬美元的營收，那些都是新客戶嗎？還是與你們目前的客戶版圖有任何既有重疊？

Ted, I'll go ahead. There is very few overlap. There are a couple accounts that they had that we have, one in financial services, one in the technology sector, but most of their accounts are more smaller accounts, I would say. I mean by scale they're a different scale business. But not very much customer overlap, I guess is the end point to you.

Ted，我來回答。重疊非常少。他們有幾個客戶我們也有：一個在金融服務，一個在科技產業，但他們大多數客戶是比較小的客戶，我會這麼說。我的意思是，就規模而言，他們是不同規模的業務。但客戶重疊不多，我想這就是你要的結論。

Our final question comes from the line of Mark Marcon with Baird.

我們最後一個問題來自 Baird 的 Mark Marcon。

I was wondering if you could talk a little bit more about both the statement of work in terms of hitting roughly $100 million this quarter and growing 30% plus, then we take Intersys and think about that a little bit longer term just in terms of how big could that be and in a couple years -- assuming we have normal economic growth and what are the constraints to continuing that growth rate that you're currently seeing?

我想請你們多談一點關於兩件事：第一是工作說明書（statement of work），本季大約達到 1 億美元並成長 30% 以上；第二是把 Intersys 納入後，從較長期的角度來看，它可能會有多大——在一兩年後——假設經濟維持正常成長，而目前你們看到的成長率要持續下去，限制因素會是什麼？

Well, look, Mark, we can't can give you future numbers on it, but...

嗯，你看，Mark，我們不能給你未來的數字，但是……

Just how you're thinking about it strategically? And how you're envisioning it?

只是想了解你們在策略上是怎麼思考的？以及你們是如何描繪它的？

Look, I think -- this business our -- inside of Apex and Oxford has been growing at 20%-plus rates for many years now organically. We don't see any headwinds to that. And save for anything in the economy that we don't see today. And I think that obviously as the business gets larger, it's kind of on a run rate to do about $400 million there. You could -- law of large numbers could affect growth rate but otherwise, I don't see anything in the marketplace. Matter of fact, I would say the wind is in our sail.

你看，我認為——我們在 Apex 與 Oxford 內部的這項業務，多年來一直以 20% 以上的速度自然成長。我們看不到任何不利因素。除非經濟面出現我們今天尚未看到的狀況。而且我認為，顯然隨著業務規模變大，它目前的運行水準大約可做到 4 億美元。你可以——大數法則可能會影響成長率，但除此之外，我在市場上看不到任何問題。事實上，我會說我們正順風而行。

That's great. And then can you talk a little bit about the nearshore facility and how big that can be? And what is the -- what the key attraction is? Went through the Intersys website and they had a couple of really cool case studies, but they didn't go through like specifically what attracted certain clients to wanting to interact with that particular group and what the actual value-add was to the extent that I would like.

太好了。接著你能談談近岸（nearshore）設施，以及它的規模可以做到多大嗎？還有——它的主要吸引力是什麼？我看了 Intersys 的網站，他們有幾個很酷的案例研究，但沒有具體說明是什麼吸引某些客戶想要與那個特定團隊合作，以及實際的加值到底是什麼，至少沒有達到我希望了解的程度。

Well, I will say this, and I'll turn it over to Rand, the customer doesn't decide to work with the nearshore facility or not; that's a delivery mechanism, if you will. And the solution, so if the solution calls for capabilities that they have in this nearshore facility then they deliver it through there because, obviously, there's a cost advantage to that. Rand, do you want to say anything else about the nearshore?

嗯，我會這麼說，然後我把問題交給 Rand：客戶並不會決定要不要與近岸設施合作；那是一種交付機制，可以這麼說。而解決方案——如果解決方案需要他們在這個近岸設施所具備的能力，那我們就會透過那裡來交付，因為顯然那樣有成本優勢。Rand，你還想補充近岸方面的內容嗎？

Yes, I mean I agree with what you said Ted. And so, Mark, I say first of all they're in -- it's in Guadalajara, Mexico, which is a business center. A lot of universities there as well as a business point of reflection in terms of the work force and the availability of talent and the technical skills that that talent has. It's in Central time in the U.S. Very strong English-speaking, so there's a lot of attributes to that versus far in China or India or some of the Philippines, some of the other areas, and I think companies we've seen them -- more of an interest by companies to think about building capabilities like this or using capabilities like this in different places. I agree with Ted, it's mostly a decision that they accept our work in support of them and we leverage that capability, I would say, is a set of Golden Nugget leverage, and there's a lot of attributes to it that we see.

是的，我同意你說的，Ted。所以，Mark，我先說他們在——是在墨西哥瓜達拉哈拉（Guadalajara），那是一個商業中心。那裡有很多大學，同時在勞動力、人才供給與人才所具備的技術能力方面，也是一個重要的聚集點。它位於美國中部時區。英語能力非常強，所以相較於遠在中國、印度或菲律賓等其他地區，有很多優勢；而且我們看到企業——對於在不同地點建立或使用這類能力的興趣正在提高。我同意 Ted，這多半是客戶接受我們為其提供支援的工作，而我們運用那項能力；我會說那是一套「黃金資產（Golden Nugget）」式的槓桿運用，我們看到它有很多優點。

The other thing I would add to that, Mark, is this was -- that facet of their business was very attractive all the big consulting companies that you would think of here in the U.S. were involved in this competitive process that Intersys won. And so I think that -- and if you think about some of the consulting firms that have nearshore capabilities down there, everyone that seems to be the hotspot, if you will, for all the reasons that Rand laid out, and so we're very pleased to have that as a component of our offering now.

另外我想補充的是，Mark，他們業務的那個面向非常有吸引力——你在美國能想到的所有大型顧問公司都參與了 Intersys 最終勝出的那場競標流程。所以我認為——而且如果你想想一些在當地具備近岸能力的顧問公司，那裡似乎成了熱點（hotspot），原因正如 Rand 所說；因此我們很高興現在能把它作為我們產品／服務組合的一部分。

It sounded like it, and I was just wondering if you could dimensionalize maybe the cost advantage, the price value relative to onshore? And then also like what is the available supply? How quickly can you scale it? Because it does sound like you have a lot of opportunities resident within the Apex client base that you could lay over to Intersys. I'm just wondering like how much of a constraint do they have in terms of the growth, in terms of resources, et cetera.

聽起來確實如此。我只是想知道你是否能量化一下成本優勢，例如相對於在岸（onshore）的價格／價值。另外，可用的人才供給有多少？你們能多快擴張規模？因為聽起來在 Apex 的客戶基礎中，你們有很多機會可以導入到 Intersys。我只是想了解，他們在成長方面、資源等方面到底有多大的限制。

That facility, Mark, has been spun up in the last 2 years for that business and so although we don't give out numbers on head counts between the U.S. and there, it just gives you a sense of how scalable it is, if you will. We view that, that center could be much larger in the future, serving our U.S.-based clients, than it is today. And there is a pretty significant cost advantage to that, although we don't get that out for competitive reasons. But it's a very nice part of that business. We're very excited to be able to bring that to our clients, and we think it's really going to help in the value proposition.

Mark，那個設施是在過去 2 年內為那項業務建立起來的；因此雖然我們不會公布美國與當地的人數配置，但這能讓你感受到它的可擴展性。我們認為，未來那個中心的規模可以比現在大得多，為我們以美國為主的客戶提供服務。而且它確實有相當顯著的成本優勢，雖然出於競爭原因我們不便對外透露。但那是該業務非常好的組成部分。我們很興奮能把這帶給客戶，也認為這將在價值主張上提供很大幫助。

That's great. And then one other question, just with regard to the guidance. To what extent did where the holidays fall this year relative to prior years, did that impact your thoughts in terms of number of billable days and what the potential impact could be as we take a look at this current quarter?

太好了。另外還有一個問題，關於指引（guidance）。今年假期落點相較於往年，在多大程度上影響了你們對可計費天數的看法，以及當我們看本季時，可能造成的影響？

So Mark, you may -- we disclosed it on a year-over-year basis that there is no change to billable days. It's 60.5. Now sequentially, in terms of holidays, there are 2 fewer -- or 2 more holidays in Q3 or Q4 than Q3. And that probably is going to have more of an effect on EPS and their time and material. Anyway, that's also included. By the way, the billable days is included in the supplemental information.

Mark，你可能——我們已在年對年（year-over-year）的基礎上揭露，可計費天數沒有變化。是 60.5 天。不過就季對季而言，假期方面，Q3 或 Q4 比 Q3 少 2 天——或多 2 個假期。而那可能會對每股盈餘（EPS）以及按工時與材料計價（time and material）的部分產生較大影響。不管怎樣，這也都已包含在內。順帶一提，可計費天數已包含在補充資訊中。

Yes. No. I was just thinking about the variance in terms of having a holiday fall on a Wednesday.

是的。不。我只是想到，例如假期剛好落在星期三時，可能造成的差異。

Yes, there's no variance.

是的，沒有差異。

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the end of our question-and-answer session as well as today's call. You may now disconnect your lines at this time. We thank you for your participation and have a wonderful day.

各位女士、先生，我們的問答環節以及今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以掛斷電話。感謝各位的參與，祝您有美好的一天。