Everforth, Inc. (EFOR) 2019 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the ASGN Incorporated Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2019 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this conference is being recorded.

各位好，歡迎參加 ASGN Incorporated 2019 年第四季暨全年財報電話會議。(接線員指示) 請注意，本次會議將被錄音。

I will now turn the conference over to your host, Kimberly Esterkin, Investor Relations.

現在我將把會議交給本次主持人——投資人關係部的 Kimberly Esterkin。

Thank you. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today for ASGN's Fourth 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。各位下午好，感謝各位今天參加 ASGN 2019 年第四季電話會議。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 risks and uncertainties. And as such, our actual results could differ materially from those statements. 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.

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，但仍可能受到風險與不確定性的影響。因此，我們的實際結果可能與這些陳述存在重大差異。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查閱。

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. 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.

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。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於今日新聞稿中。

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

現在我將把電話會議交給總裁暨執行長 Ted Hanson。

Thank you, Kimberly. And thank you for joining ASGN's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2019 Earnings Call. Before we get started, I have a quick housekeeping item to discuss. In the interest of time and efficiency, beginning on today's earnings call, we've decided to streamline our prepared remarks to include myself, along with ASGN's Chief Financial Officer, Ed Pierce. Rand Blazer, President of Apex Systems; and George Wilson, President of ECS, are also on the line and will be available to answer your questions during the Q&A session. Now let's turn to the results.

謝謝你，Kimberly。也感謝各位參加 ASGN 2019 年第四季暨全年財報電話會議。在開始之前，我有一項簡短的會務事項要說明。為了節省時間並提升效率，自今天的財報電話會議起，我們決定精簡事先準備的講稿內容，將由我以及 ASGN 財務長 Ed Pierce 進行說明。Apex Systems 總裁 Rand Blazer 與 ECS 總裁 George Wilson 也在線上，並將在問答環節中回答各位的提問。現在讓我們來看本次業績。

2019 was a year of many accomplishments for ASGN, as we continued to pursue our strategy to build an IT services provider of scale in the commercial and government markets via our differentiated resource deployment model. Our customers, including Fortune 1000 corporations, federal defense and civilian government agencies look to us to be more consultative than ever before to proactively anticipate their needs and employ advanced workforce management and cutting-edge IT solutions. To accomplish each of their business objectives through continued organic growth combined with select strategic tuck-in acquisitions, we successfully responded to our clients' most crucial and complex challenges. ASGN's ability to quickly but effectively act on our customers' evolving needs is evidenced by our solid financial performance.

2019 年對 ASGN 而言是成果豐碩的一年；我們持續推進策略，透過具差異化的人才部署模式，在商業與政府市場打造具規模的 IT 服務供應商。我們的客戶包括《財富》1000 大企業、聯邦國防與民用政府機構，他們比以往更期待我們以更具顧問式的方式，主動預判需求，並運用先進的人力管理與尖端 IT 解決方案。為協助客戶達成各項業務目標，我們在持續的有機成長基礎上，結合精選的策略性補強型併購，成功回應客戶最關鍵且最複雜的挑戰。ASGN 能夠迅速且有效地因應客戶不斷演變的需求，從我們穩健的財務表現即可見一斑。

We are very pleased with our fourth quarter and full year 2019 results. All numbers reported for the quarter were in line with or exceeded our guidance, with revenues for both Q4 and for the full year 2019, improving double digits year-over-year. Margins also remained solid, with EBITDA margins of 11.3% and 11.4% for the quarter and full year, respectively.

我們對 2019 年第四季與全年業績感到非常滿意。本季所公布的所有數據均符合或超越我們的指引；第四季與 2019 全年營收皆較去年同期呈現雙位數成長。利潤率亦維持穩健，第四季與全年 EBITDA 利潤率分別為 11.3% 與 11.4%。

Consolidated revenues for the fourth quarter totaled just over $1 billion, up 10.3% year-over-year and above the high end of our guidance range. I am pleased to note that this is our second consecutive quarter of greater than $1 billion in revenue. Apex, our largest segment, which services clients across multiple commercial end markets, generated revenue of $641.3 million for the quarter, up 6.1% year-over-year on very tough comps in the fourth quarter of 2018, in which segment revenues grew by 13.1%. For the full year, Apex segment revenues improved 9.6%.

第四季合併營收合計略高於 10 億美元，年增 10.3%，並高於我們指引區間的上緣。我很高興指出，這是我們連續第二個季度營收超過 10 億美元。Apex 為我們最大的事業部門，服務多個商業終端市場；本季營收為 6.413 億美元，年增 6.1%。在 2018 年第四季的比較基期非常具挑戰性，當時該部門營收成長 13.1%。就全年而言，Apex 部門營收提升 9.6%。

In terms of end markets for the Apex segment, in the fourth quarter, Business Services, Financial Services, Healthcare and Consumer/Industrial all posted double-digit revenue growth over the prior period. Aerospace & Defense posted single-digit growth year-over-year for the quarter. And the communication/media, Life Sciences and Technology end markets each saw a slight revenue decline over the fourth quarter of 2018.

就 Apex 部門的終端市場而言，第四季商業服務、金融服務、醫療保健以及消費/工業皆較前期呈現雙位數營收成長。航太與國防在本季年增為個位數成長。而通訊/媒體、生命科學與科技等終端市場，則各自較 2018 年第四季出現小幅營收下滑。

Despite the double-digit revenue growth in Business and Financial Services accounts, there was a slowdown in these end markets in the final 2 weeks of December, which led to a revenue shortfall of approximately $5 million to $6 million, as compared to the same time period a year ago. This slowdown resulted from higher-than-expected time off by our consultants, along with mandatory furloughs during the holiday period enacted by a small number of our key accounts.

儘管商業與金融服務客戶的營收呈現雙位數成長，但在 12 月最後兩週，這些終端市場出現放緩，導致相較於去年同期約短少 500 萬至 600 萬美元的營收。此放緩主要源於我們顧問休假時間高於預期，以及少數重要客戶在假期期間實施強制無薪休假（furlough）。

Top accounts still achieved high single-digit growth rates for the fourth quarter, while retail and branch accounts grew mid-single digits year-over-year. Fortunately, in January, we saw production return to expected levels, and so we believe that this slowdown was isolated to the holiday season.

主要客戶在第四季仍達成接近雙位數的高個位數成長率，而零售與分支客戶年增為中個位數成長。所幸在 1 月，我們看到產出回到預期水準，因此我們認為此次放緩僅限於假期季節。

To round out the Apex segment, Creative Circle posted revenue in line with our expectations for the quarter. Gross margins for the Apex segment were 29.7%, consistent with our expectations. Consulting work for the Apex and Oxford segments continued to grow with consulting revenues across both segments, totaling $108.1 million for the fourth quarter, up 31.3% year-over-year.

就 Apex 部門的其他部分而言，Creative Circle 本季營收符合我們的預期。Apex 部門毛利率為 29.7%，與我們的預期一致。Apex 與 Oxford 部門的顧問業務持續成長；兩個部門合計第四季顧問營收為 1.081 億美元，年增 31.3%。

On a full year basis, the Apex and Oxford segments reported consulting revenues of $398.7 million, up 28.7% over 2018. Margins for our consulting work continued to outperform overall margin rate. As we continue to grow our consulting revenues organically, we also look to broaden our capabilities through strategic M&A.

以全年計，Apex 與 Oxford 部門的顧問營收為 3.987 億美元，較 2018 年成長 28.7%。我們顧問業務的利潤率持續優於整體利潤率水準。在持續推動顧問營收有機成長的同時，我們也將透過策略性併購來擴大能力版圖。

In the fourth quarter, we've made significant progress integrating Intersys Consulting, which we acquired in mid-October 2019. We expect that the full integration of Intersys' back-office support functions and systems will be completed in Q1 2020.

在第四季，我們在整合於 2019 年 10 月中旬收購的 Intersys Consulting 方面取得重大進展。我們預期 Intersys 後勤支援職能與系統的全面整合將於 2020 年第一季完成。

The Intersys acquisition has contributed positively to the overall profitability of the Apex segment and their contribution to our shared pipeline and bookings in the fourth quarter, which was above our expectation. With the integration of Intersys, we've been able to bid on an increased amount of work together, including securing new contracts in cloud strategy and DevOps-type engagements for multiple clients by leveraging work with our cloud partners.

Intersys 的收購對 Apex 部門的整體獲利能力帶來正面貢獻；此外，其在第四季對我們共享的商機管道與接單（bookings）的貢獻也高於預期。隨著 Intersys 的整合，我們得以共同投標更多工作，包括透過與雲端合作夥伴的合作，為多家客戶取得雲端策略與 DevOps 類型專案的新合約。

There's the scarcity of talent to support newer cloud services, as opposed to talent to support the traditional enterprise resource planning software vendors that have been around for decades. The Apex segment is able to provide consultants to assist with the implementation and upgrades of these new technologies within our clients' embedded systems.

相較於支援已存在數十年的傳統企業資源規劃（ERP）軟體供應商所需的人才，用於支援較新雲端服務的人才更為稀缺。Apex 部門能提供顧問，協助在客戶的嵌入式系統中導入並升級這些新技術。

Most recently, Intersys and Apex systems jointly won an engagement with a fast-growing fin-tech account, where we will apply our advanced data analytics solutions team and cloud expertise to develop operating reports and dashboards for our client's customer service team. For this project, the newly acquired Mexican Development Center will be a critical component of our approach, and we believe this center was a contributing factor for winning this work. We are seeing great traction with Intersys' near-shore Mexican Development Center, which will be able to serve many of Apex's U.S. clients. Some of our clients have even performed site tours of work being performed on behalf of their accounts.

最近，Intersys 與 Apex systems 共同贏得一家快速成長的金融科技客戶之專案，我們將運用先進資料分析解決方案團隊與雲端專業能力，為客戶的客服團隊開發營運報表與儀表板。就此專案而言，新近收購的墨西哥開發中心將是我們方法中的關鍵組成部分，我們相信該中心也是我們贏得此案的促成因素之一。我們看到 Intersys 的近岸墨西哥開發中心帶來良好動能，該中心將能服務 Apex 的許多美國客戶。我們的一些客戶甚至已前往現場參觀為其帳戶所執行的工作。

Now let's turn to our next largest segment, ECS, which provides IT solutions to the federal government, including the Department of Defense, intelligence agencies and certain civilian agents. For the fourth quarter, ECS reported revenues of $233.5 million, up 34.3% year-over-year, primarily driven by high demand for machine learning services and solutions from our defense customers.

接下來我們來看第二大業務部門 ECS，其為聯邦政府提供 IT 解決方案，包括國防部、情報機構以及部分文職機關。第四季，ECS 營收為 2.335 億美元，年增 34.3%，主要受國防客戶對機器學習服務與解決方案的高需求所帶動。

ECS' financial growth continues to be ahead of the industry average. And while we expected this segment to outperform for the fourth quarter and full year, performance was even stronger than initially anticipated due to a customer-driven early purchase of software licenses under a cost reimbursable contract of $34.4 million that we originally expected would come in 2020.

ECS 的財務成長持續領先於產業平均。雖然我們原本預期該部門在第四季與全年都會表現優於平均，但由於客戶在一份 3,440 萬美元的成本可報銷合約下提前採購軟體授權（我們原先預期將於 2020 年入帳），使得表現比最初預期更為強勁。

ECS' new business pipeline remains strong as we enter 2020. In Q4 2019, ECS received $110.2 million in new contract awards, resulting in a book-to-bill ratio of 0.5 to 1, which ultimately equates to a healthy book-to-bill ratio of 2.1 to 1 for the full year.

進入 2020 年，ECS 的新業務管線仍然強勁。在 2019 年第四季，ECS 取得 1.102 億美元的新合約得標，使接單出貨比（book-to-bill）為 0.5 比 1；最終換算全年接單出貨比為健康的 2.1 比 1。

Some of the key contract awards won by ECS in the fourth quarter included new tasking to provide technical and analytical support services to the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and a programmatic support effort for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. In the fourth quarter, we also saw a significant expansion of 2 key technology contracts that we hold with the U.S. Postal Service in the areas of cloud deployment and geographic information system used to optimize delivery routes.

ECS 在第四季贏得的主要合約之一，包括新增任務以向美國國防高等研究計畫署（DARPA）提供技術與分析支援服務，以及為美國國家海洋暨大氣總署（NOAA）提供計畫性支援工作。第四季我們也看到與美國郵政署在兩項關鍵技術合約上的顯著擴張，涵蓋雲端部署與用於最佳化投遞路線的地理資訊系統。

At the end of the fourth quarter, ECS had a total contract backlog of $2.6 billion or a coverage ratio of 3.2x ECS' trailing 12 months revenue. The Oxford segment, which offers on-demand consulting talent for commercial, IT, health care, life sciences and engineering clients, reported revenues of $150.4 million for the fourth quarter, down slightly from the prior year period as a result of a decrease in permanent placement revenue work.

截至第四季末，ECS 的合約積壓（backlog）總額為 26 億美元，或覆蓋倍數為 ECS 過去 12 個月營收的 3.2 倍。Oxford 部門為商業、IT、醫療保健、生命科學與工程客戶提供隨需顧問人才，第四季營收為 1.504 億美元，較去年同期略降，原因是永久派遣（permanent placement）營收工作減少。

I'd like to take a moment now to focus on our borrowing capacity, and specifically, the unsecured notes we issued in the fourth quarter.

我想花點時間聚焦於我們的借款能力，特別是我們在第四季發行的無擔保票據。

In November, we announced our intention to offer $500 million in senior notes to the market. Through the closing of this offering, we paid down a portion of our term loan fees with a variable interest rate and established a new loan with a highly competitive fixed rate. This allowed us to secure a longer-term piece of capital, while simultaneously lowering our balance sheet risk. I'm pleased to report that our team's execution of the deal was so successful that it was oversubscribed by $50 million for a total of $550 million. To be able to elongate our debt tenor at favorable fixed rate, while simultaneously paying off our revolving credit facility and a portion of our current term loan, we positioned ASGN to go back to the marketplace in the future to support our strategic needs. Ed Pierce, our CFO, will speak further on the specifics of our high-yield bond deal shortly.

11 月，我們宣布計畫向市場發行 5 億美元的優先票據。在本次發行完成交割後，我們償還了部分具浮動利率的定期貸款，並以極具競爭力的固定利率建立了一筆新貸款。這使我們得以取得更長期的資本，同時降低資產負債表風險。我很高興報告，我們團隊執行本交易非常成功，超額認購 5,000 萬美元，總額達 5.5 億美元。透過以有利的固定利率延長債務期限，同時清償循環信用額度以及部分現有定期貸款，我們也讓 ASGN 未來能再次回到資本市場，以支援我們的策略需求。我們的財務長 Ed Pierce 稍後將進一步說明本次高收益債券交易的細節。

Importantly, our strong free cash flow has not only enabled us to pay down our debt, but to also make strategic tuck-in acquisitions that fit with our long-term strategy of providing higher value, higher margin consulting services to our commercial and government clients. Our goal is not just about businesses for their intrinsic value, but rather to purposefully add companies to ASGN that create strong revenue synergies with our existing businesses. To accomplish this goal, we maintain a very strong pipeline of future targets, so that we can be ready to make opportunistic purchases in the commercial and government spaces that support our long-term strategy.

重要的是，我們強勁的自由現金流不僅使我們得以償還債務，也讓我們能進行符合長期策略的策略性補強型收購（tuck-in acquisitions），以向商業與政府客戶提供更高價值、更高毛利的顧問服務。我們的目標不僅是看重企業本身的內在價值，更是有目的地將能與既有業務產生強大營收綜效的公司納入 ASGN。為達成此目標，我們維持非常強的未來標的管線，以便在商業與政府領域把握機會進行收購，支援我們的長期策略。

While we are not necessarily shying away from transformative M&A, we are focused now on tuck-ins that enable us to leverage our current pipeline of opportunity, moving us up the value chain to scale our services, while leveraging our market position and become even more entrenched with our clients. Case in point, in 2019, we successfully acquired DHA and Intersys as part of our ECS and Apex segments, respectively. Then just over 3 weeks ago, we welcomed Blackstone Federal to ECS. It is clear that ASGN is an acquirer of choice in IT services and solutions for the commercial and government markets.

雖然我們不一定迴避具轉型性的併購（transformative M&A），但目前我們聚焦於補強型收購，以便運用現有的機會管線，推動我們在價值鏈上升、擴大服務規模，同時憑藉市場地位，與客戶建立更深的黏著度。例如在 2019 年，我們分別在 ECS 與 Apex 部門成功收購了 DHA 與 Intersys。而就在三週多前，我們也迎來 Blackstone Federal 加入 ECS。很明顯，ASGN 是商業與政府市場 IT 服務與解決方案領域的首選收購方。

We are pleased to welcome Blackstone Federal to ASGN. Their impressive group of technical and functional consultants deliver some of the most complex IT services from agile application development to cloud modernization and cybersecurity to the federal government. Blackstone Federal will be joining ECS' enterprise solutions group.

我們很高興歡迎 Blackstone Federal 加入 ASGN。其令人印象深刻的技術與功能顧問團隊，向聯邦政府提供最複雜的 IT 服務之一，涵蓋敏捷應用程式開發、雲端現代化以及資安。Blackstone Federal 將加入 ECS 的企業解決方案團隊。

Blackstone Federal has an 18-year-old track record supporting the Department of Homeland Security, DHS, and its sub-agencies. Through their addition, we deepen our digital transformation capabilities within our government IT solutions business and also add new prime contract pathways for our DHS customers. This acquisition fits perfectly with our hybrid growth and capital allocation strategy to scale ECS to over $1 billion in revenue through a combination of organic growth and strategic tuck-ins. We anticipate Blackstone Federal will see 10% revenue growth this year and EBITDA margins in the mid-teens for 2020.

Blackstone Federal 擁有 18 年支援國土安全部（DHS）及其下屬機構的實績。透過其加入，我們在政府 IT 解決方案業務中深化數位轉型能力，並為 DHS 客戶新增主承包（prime contract）合約途徑。此收購與我們的混合式成長與資本配置策略完美契合，透過有機成長與策略性補強型收購的組合，將 ECS 規模擴大至營收超過 10 億美元。我們預期 Blackstone Federal 今年營收將成長 10%，且 2020 年 EBITDA 利潤率將落在 10% 中段（mid-teens）。

With that said, I'll now turn the call over to Ed Pierce, to speak in more detail about our fourth quarter financial performance. Ed?

接下來，我將把電話會議交給 Ed Pierce，請他更詳細說明我們第四季的財務表現。Ed？

Thanks, Ted. And as Ted has highlighted, we reported solid financial results for the quarter. And for the full year 2019, revenues, net income and adjusted net income were all above the high end of our guidance estimates, after excluding the onetime write-off of deferred loan costs and acquisition and integration expenses, which were not in our guidance estimates. Revenue growth for the quarter was 10.3% and included $34.4 million from the purchase of third-party software licenses under a cost reimbursable contract at ECS. These purchases, which were expected to occur at various dates in 2020 were made in December 2019 at the direction of the customer to take advantage of favorable pricing and terms.

謝謝，Ted。如 Ted 所強調，我們本季繳出穩健的財務成果。而在 2019 全年，營收、淨利與調整後淨利在排除一次性遞延貸款成本沖銷，以及未納入我們指引預估的收購與整合費用後，皆高於我們指引區間的上緣。本季營收成長 10.3%，其中包含 ECS 在一份成本可報銷合約下採購第三方軟體授權所帶來的 3,440 萬美元。這些原本預期於 2020 年不同時間點發生的採購，因客戶指示為把握有利的價格與條款而於 2019 年 12 月完成。

Revenues from the other divisions were generally in line with expectations, except as Ted mentioned earlier, revenues at Apex Systems were lower-than-expected in the last 2 weeks of December as a result of higher-than-expected time off by consultants and mandatory furloughs at a few large accounts. Gross profit for the quarter was in line with our expectations. Gross margin was, however, below our guidance estimate, mainly as a result of faster growth at Apex Systems and ECS than our higher-margin division and a year-over-year decline in permanent placement revenues. SG&A expenses were above our guidance estimates and included $3.9 million in acquisition and integration expenses, which were not in our estimate.

其他事業部的營收大致符合預期；但如 Ted 先前提到，Apex Systems 在 12 月最後兩週的營收低於預期，原因是顧問休假時間高於預期，以及少數大型客戶要求強制無薪休假（furlough）。本季毛利符合我們的預期。然而，毛利率低於我們的指引預估，主要因 Apex Systems 與 ECS 的成長速度快於我們毛利率較高的部門，以及永久派遣營收年減。SG&A 費用高於我們的指引預估，其中包含 390 萬美元的收購與整合費用，該費用未納入我們的預估。

Excluding those expenses, SG&A was slightly lower than our guidance estimates. In November, ASGN issued $550 million of senior notes due 2028 and used the proceeds to pay down borrowings on other senior debt. Concurrent with that issuance, we completed the restructuring of our senior credit facility, our term loan B and revolving credit facilities, resulting in a 0.25 point reduction in the interest rate and an increase in the borrowing capacity under the revolving credit facility to $250 million. In connection with the restructuring, we took a onetime write-off of $18.9 million in deferred loan costs.

扣除這些費用後，SG&A 略低於我們的指引預估。11 月，ASGN 發行了 2028 年到期的 5.5 億美元優先票據，並將所得款項用於償還其他優先債務的借款。與該次發行同時，我們完成了對優先信貸融資安排、B 期定期貸款以及循環信貸額度的重整，使利率下調 0.25 個百分點，並將循環信貸額度下的借款能力提高至 2.5 億美元。與該次重整相關，我們一次性沖銷了 1,890 萬美元的遞延貸款成本。

Our effective tax rate for the quarter was lower than our guidance estimates due to certain favorable discrete items in the quarter, including excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation, a onetime benefit related to state tax planning initiative and the true-up of state tax expense following the completion and filing of the 2018 state tax returns. Our full year effective tax rate for 2019 was 26.2%. And we expect our effective tax rate for 2020 before any excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation to be approximately 27%.

本季的有效稅率低於我們的指引預估，原因是本季出現若干有利的一次性（離散）項目，包括股權型薪酬帶來的超額稅務利益、與州稅規劃措施相關的一次性利益，以及在完成並申報 2018 年州稅申報後對州稅費用的調整（true-up）。我們 2019 年全年的有效稅率為 26.2%。我們預期 2020 年在未計入股權型薪酬的任何超額稅務利益之前，有效稅率約為 27%。

Net income for the quarter was $39.3 million, which included onetime write-off of deferred loan cost of $18.9 million or $13.9 million after income taxes, and acquisition and integration expenses of $3.9 million or $2.9 million after income taxes. Excluding these 2 items, net income was approximately $56.1 million and slightly above our guidance estimates.

本季淨利為 3,930 萬美元，其中包含一次性沖銷遞延貸款成本 1,890 萬美元（稅後 1,390 萬美元），以及併購與整合費用 390 萬美元（稅後 290 萬美元）。扣除這兩項後，淨利約為 5,610 萬美元，且略高於我們的指引預估。

Cash flow from operating activities were $81.4 million and free cash flow was $71.5 million or 6.6% of revenues. For the quarter, accounts receivable DSOs were 57.6 days or 2.5 fewer days than Q4 of last year. Each DSO day is approximately $11 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $116.2 million and was above the midpoint of our guidance estimates.

營運活動現金流為 8,140 萬美元，自由現金流為 7,150 萬美元，約占營收的 6.6%。本季應收帳款 DSO 為 57.6 天，較去年第四季減少 2.5 天。每減少 1 天 DSO 約相當於 1,100 萬美元。調整後 EBITDA 為 1.162 億美元，高於我們指引預估的中位數。

For the full year 2019, cash flows from operating activities were $313.2 million and free cash flow was $280.5 million. During 2019, we used $116.4 million of our capital resources for acquisitions, $83.2 million to pay down debt, $20 million to repurchase stock, and $53.4 million to increase our cash on hand. During 2019, our leverage ratio, debt to trailing 12 months adjusted EBITDA, declined from 2.69x at the beginning of the year to 2.3x at the end of the year.

2019 年全年，營運活動現金流為 3.132 億美元，自由現金流為 2.805 億美元。2019 年期間，我們使用 1.164 億美元資本資源用於併購、8,320 萬美元用於償還債務、2,000 萬美元用於庫藏股回購，以及 5,340 萬美元用於增加手上現金。2019 年期間，我們的槓桿比率（債務／過去 12 個月調整後 EBITDA）由年初的 2.69 倍下降至年末的 2.3 倍。

Regarding our financial estimates for the first quarter of 2020, we're estimating revenues of $990 million to $1 billion, net income of $42.3 million to $45.9 million and adjusted EBITDA of $100 million to $105 million. These estimates include the results from Blackstone Federal from the date of this acquisition on January 24, 2020.

關於 2020 年第一季的財務預估，我們預估營收為 9.90 億至 10.0 億美元，淨利為 4,230 萬至 4,590 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 1.00 億至 1.05 億美元。上述預估包含 Blackstone Federal 自 2020 年 1 月 24 日完成收購日起的業績。

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. 2019 was a year of solid financial and operational execution for ASGN. As we enter 2020, I feel confident that this year is also starting off on a positive note, with the successful close of yet another strategic acquisition, Blackstone Federal.

謝謝，Ed。2019 年對 ASGN 而言，是財務與營運執行穩健的一年。進入 2020 年，我有信心今年也以正面的態勢開局，因為我們成功完成了另一項策略性收購——Blackstone Federal。

While it's certainly important to discuss our historical track record, it is also as important to review the go-forward opportunities. In 2020, the IT staffing market is expected to total approximately $33 billion, with ASGN the #2 player in this space. The IT services market, where we are quickly gaining market share, is several times larger than its staffing counterpart at approximately $252 billion in size with ASGN's total addressable market accounted for roughly $120 billion.

雖然討論我們過去的績效紀錄當然重要，但檢視未來的機會同樣重要。2020 年，IT 人力派遣市場預計總規模約 330 億美元，而 ASGN 是此領域的第 2 大業者。IT 服務市場（我們正快速提升市占）規模約 2,520 億美元，為人力派遣市場的數倍；其中 ASGN 的整體可服務市場（TAM）約為 1,200 億美元。

As I mentioned, when we began today's call, ASGN continues to differentiate itself through our unique resource deployment model. Unlike others in our industry, we're able to leverage the same candidate pool as staff augmentation, but then tailor our consultant selection to the project's individual needs. This makes our offering much more customized, competitive and profitable for our clients. It also enables us to provide advanced, high-end technical solutions in addition to traditional staffing resources, the original foundation and backbone of our company.

如我在今天電話會議一開始提到的，ASGN 持續透過我們獨特的資源部署模式來展現差異化。不同於同業，我們能運用與人力增補（staff augmentation）相同的候選人才庫，並依專案的個別需求量身挑選顧問。這使我們的方案對客戶而言更具客製化、更具競爭力且更具獲利性。這也讓我們除了傳統的人力派遣資源（公司最初的基礎與核心）之外，還能提供更先進、高階的技術解決方案。

Our continued success on IT solutions engagement has resulted in long-standing relationships with Fortune 1000 companies and federal government and civilian agencies that know they can rely on ASGN to provide the most advanced workforce technologies and consultants available.

我們在 IT 解決方案專案上的持續成功，使我們與《財富》1000 大企業、聯邦政府及民間機構建立了長期合作關係；他們知道可以信賴 ASGN 提供最先進的勞動力技術與可用的顧問人才。

Digital transformation is quickly changing companies' business processes from finance and procurement to inventory management. Enterprise resource planning, or ERP, in particular, is expected to dramatically change with the introduction and acceptance of cognitive computing, automation, AI, machine learning and blockchain technologies.

數位轉型正快速改變企業的業務流程，從財務與採購到庫存管理皆然。尤其是企業資源規劃（ERP），隨著認知運算、自動化、AI、機器學習與區塊鏈技術的導入與普及，預期將出現劇烈變革。

To best service our customers in light of these evolving needs, we continue to invest in the training and certification of our workforce as well as in our facilities, including Apex's development center in Mexico, Apex's gaming and digital innovation center in Seattle, and ECS' secure operations center and advanced AI systems integration lab in the Virginia area.

為了在這些不斷演進的需求下更好地服務客戶，我們持續投資於員工的訓練與認證，也投資於我們的設施，包括 Apex 在墨西哥的開發中心、Apex 在西雅圖的遊戲與數位創新中心，以及 ECS 在維吉尼亞地區的安全營運中心與先進 AI 系統整合實驗室。

Our commitment to investing in areas of growth for our clients is evident in the awards we received. During the fourth quarter, for example, ECS was named an Attivo Networks Platinum Technology Partner in the cybersecurity area or -- and a Top 200 Public Cloud MSP for 2019.

我們對於投資客戶成長領域的承諾，從我們獲得的獎項可見一斑。例如在第四季，ECS 在資安領域獲評為 Attivo Networks 白金級技術合作夥伴，並且獲選為 2019 年 Top 200 公有雲 MSP。

With the strengthening economy, and a tighter labor supply, ASGN will continue to find ways to grow and evolve our offerings to meet our commercial and government clients' most critical needs. This will come from a balanced approach of organic growth, combined with strategic tuck-in acquisitions that expand and enhance our IT service solutions.

隨著經濟走強以及勞動供給更趨緊俏，ASGN 將持續尋找方法成長並演進我們的產品與服務，以滿足商業與政府客戶最關鍵的需求。這將來自於有機成長與策略性補強型併購（tuck-in acquisitions）的平衡做法，以擴大並強化我們的 IT 服務解決方案。

Thank you all for your time today and for your continued support of ASGN. We look forward to continuing to share our progress on future quarterly calls. We will now open up the call to your questions. Operator?

感謝各位今天撥冗參與，也感謝各位持續支持 ASGN。我們期待在未來的季度電話會議上持續與各位分享我們的進展。現在我們將開放提問。接線員？

(Operator Instructions) Our first set of questions come from the line of Kevin McVeigh of Crédit Suisse.

（接線員指示）第一組問題來自 Crédit Suisse 的 Kevin McVeigh。

Great. It sounds like you folks have kind of given a little bit more context around kind of the transition of the Fortune 500, more federal government, procurement, things like that. Any sense of the revenue mix around that, longer term, from a contribution perspective? And what that can ultimately mean to the margin profile of business? And then just within the context of that, any sense of the pace of M&A this year, given -- just any thoughts as we kind of remix the business a little bit?

很好。聽起來你們對《財富》500 大客戶、更多聯邦政府、採購等方面的轉換提供了更多背景。就長期而言，從貢獻度角度來看，這部分的營收組合占比大概會是如何？而這最終可能對業務的利潤率輪廓意味著什麼？另外，在這樣的背景下，對今年併購（M&A）的節奏有何看法——也就是當我們稍微重新調整業務組合時？

If you think about whether we have a target, if you will, for our mix of business between commercial and federal government, we really don't. You can see by the numbers that ECS has grown much faster than our other 2 segments. So naturally, that's going to increase there. But as they now approach $800 million and are basically 25% of the business, you can get a sense of the mix versus the commercial marketplace, but we don't have a specified target, if you will.

如果你在想我們是否對商業與聯邦政府之間的業務組合有一個目標，其實我們並沒有。從數字可以看出，ECS 的成長速度遠快於我們另外兩個事業部門。因此自然會提高那一塊的占比。但當他們接近 8 億美元、且基本上占整體業務的 25% 時，你可以大致看出相對於商業市場的組合情況；但我們並沒有設定一個明確的目標。

And then as it relates to the question on acquisitions, I mean, I think you could see our posture is going to be what it's been here over the last 12 to 24 months, which is opportunistic. I think that we look at capital allocation very carefully. It's one of the most important things that we do. If there is an acquisition out there that we think really is going to increase our value proposition, as it relates to the customer, the contracts that we may obtain with it or the solution set, then that's really the marriage that we're looking for. And at that point, we're likely to make an opportunistic acquisition. But we don't have a target for a certain number of acquisitions during the year.

接著就併購這個問題而言，我的意思是，我想你們可以看到，我們的態度會跟過去 12 到 24 個月一樣，也就是把握機會、伺機而動。我認為我們非常審慎地看待資本配置。這是我們所做事情中最重要的一項。如果市場上有一項併購，我們認為確實能提升我們對客戶的價值主張——不論是與之相關我們可能取得的合約，或是解決方案組合——那才是我們在尋找的「結合」。到了那個時點，我們很可能會進行機會型併購。但我們並沒有設定一年內要完成特定數量併購的目標。

That's helpful. And then just real quick on kind of the Q4 guidance. So if you adjust for that third-party license sale, it seems like you may come in a little bit below the low end. Was that primarily the furloughs coming in there? And then just within the context of that, did that pull some of the revenue out of the Q1 guidance as it related to the third-party software license sale?

這很有幫助。接著很快問一下關於第四季指引。所以如果把那筆第三方授權銷售調整掉，看起來你們可能會略低於區間下緣。那主要是因為無薪假（furlough）造成的嗎？另外在這個脈絡下，這是否把原本與第三方軟體授權銷售相關的一些營收，從第一季指引中拉走了？

No. If you think about -- maybe those are 2 separate things, Kevin. So definitely, the furloughs and the awkward timing of the holidays in the last 2 weeks of the year, where both Christmas and New Year's Day were on a Wednesday, definitely have an impact on these 2 weeks, as we mentioned, to the tune of about $5 million to $6 million. We've seen now the spend from those customers in January come back up to levels that we would expect. So I think that that's kind of a onetime event, if you will, at the end of the year.

不是。如果你想一下——Kevin，也許那是兩件不同的事。所以確實，無薪假以及年底最後兩週假期時間點很尷尬——聖誕節與元旦都落在星期三——如我們提到的，確實會對這兩週造成影響，約莫是 500 萬到 600 萬美元。我們現在看到，這些客戶在一月份的支出已回升到我們預期的水準。所以我認為，那算是年底的一次性事件。

On the commercial side of the business, specifically with our Apex's Creative Circle and Oxford unit, they naturally have a reset coming out of the pre-holiday period and into the first of January. You have budgets that are spent through, they don't restart immediately on January 1. And so we may typically lose 4% to 5% of volume, if you will, in those business units as you come from the end of December into the first week of January. So I think those 2 things are not related, but those are 2 -- that -- the latter that I mentioned is something that happens every year.

在商業端業務方面，特別是我們 Apex 旗下的 Creative Circle 與 Oxford 單位，它們在假期前後本來就會有一個重置期，從假期前進入一月初。你會看到預算被花完，而它們不會在 1 月 1 日立刻重啟。因此，從 12 月底到 1 月第一週，這些事業單位的量通常會下滑約 4% 到 5%。所以我認為這兩件事彼此無關；但我剛提到的後者，是每年都會發生的情況。

As it relates to the ECS software license, that is not going to be a problem for us on the pull-through in Q1 because several -- most of those licenses would have been renewed in the second half of 2020. So it may be a little bit of a headwind then, but not here in the first quarter.

至於 ECS 軟體授權，第一季在延續效應（pull-through）上對我們不會是問題，因為其中有好幾項——大多數——授權原本就會在 2020 年下半年續約。所以那時可能會有一點逆風，但不是在第一季。

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

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

I guess, the first question on Apex. And even adjusting for the $5 million to $6 million, which sounds like it was basically due to the holiday timing, the growth in the business slowed quite a bit from Q3, and I think total revenue, you've guided to slowing a bit more in Q1. A quarter ago, you talked about sort of normal ebb and flow of business coming and going and a pause in demand at Apex in some of those end markets. Is that still how you characterize this? Or are you seeing any impact from just some of the macro uncertainties following growth, trade, whatever it is, maybe having a more prolonged impact on growth?

我想先問 Apex 的問題。即使把那 500 萬到 600 萬美元（聽起來基本上是因為假期時間點）調整掉，業務成長相較第三季仍明顯放緩；而且我認為你們指引顯示第一季總營收成長還會再放慢一些。一季前你們談到，Apex 在某些終端市場的需求出現暫停，以及業務正常的起伏變化。你們現在仍是這樣描述嗎？或者你們是否看到，在成長、貿易等宏觀不確定性之後，對成長造成更持久的影響？

Gary, I'll let -- I'm going to let Rand talk to that because a portion of this is industry related, if you will, in terms of our Apex business. And a portion of this is just a natural byproduct of the strategy we've got going on.

Gary，我會——我讓 Rand 來回答，因為其中一部分可以說是與產業相關，特別是我們的 Apex 業務。另外一部分則只是我們目前策略運作下的自然結果。

Well, so go back -- Gary, you're correct. At the end of the third quarter, we reported that our requisition flow or requirement flow was slowing down. And we reported that to you all at that time. That continued into the fourth quarter. Having said that, the fourth quarter drop-off at the end of the holiday period was probably the biggest surprise to us. That last -- the holiday falling on a Wednesday happened in 2014. And we looked at the numbers way back then when we did our forecast and didn't expect furloughs or some of the other excess -- increased paid time off, but it's probably a little bit of the nature of American work society today.

嗯，所以回頭看——Gary，你說得沒錯。在第三季末，我們回報過職缺需求流（requisition flow）或需求流（requirement flow）正在放緩。當時我們就已經向各位說明。這個情況延續到第四季。話雖如此，第四季在假期結束時的下滑，可能是最讓我們意外的部分。假期落在星期三這種情況在 2014 年也發生過。我們在做預測時回頭看了當年的數字，原本沒預期會出現無薪假或其他額外——增加的帶薪休假，但這可能也反映了當今美國工作型態的一些特性。

Having said that, we believe that our comps are obviously very tough in Q1 and Q2 from a year ago. If you look at Q1 and Q2, in 2019, we were over 14% and over 12% growth in the Apex Systems. So tough comps. The normal reset at the beginning of the year, which Ted mentioned a few minutes ago, are things that we have to make sure we anticipate and overcome.

話雖如此，我們認為第一季與第二季的比較基期（comps）顯然都非常艱難，因為去年同期表現很強。如果你看 2019 年第一季與第二季，Apex Systems 的成長率分別超過 14% 與超過 12%。所以基期很硬。年初的正常重置（Ted 幾分鐘前提到的）也是我們必須確保能預先掌握並克服的因素。

Will revs begin to pick up as budgets get solidified for the year? I don't know. That will unfold as the quarter goes on, but there's 2 industries, where we definitely saw a slowdown: technology; and telecommunications industry. So the other industries are still holding in double-digit range through fourth quarter. I would say, also, we're continuing to hire. We believe the opportunity is there, and our consulting business is doing very well, as you can tell from the numbers Ted gave. So it's a matter of all these moving pieces and see how it shakes out in the quarter.

隨著年度預算逐步定案，營收會開始回升嗎？我不知道。這會在本季進行中逐步明朗，但有兩個產業我們確實看到放緩：科技；以及電信產業。其他產業在第四季仍維持在雙位數成長區間。我也會說，我們仍在持續招募。我們相信機會仍在，而且我們的顧問業務表現非常好，從 Ted 提供的數字你也看得出來。所以就是這些變動因素交互作用，看看本季最終會如何發展。

Okay. And then the follow-up on the consulting business. Obviously, that was quite strong, as you said. Is this the right way to think about this that a lot of this is incremental demand because you're offering something new into the customer? Or is it fair to say that a portion of that revenue is just a better fit than sort of a traditional assignment revenue that you have and that some of it is coming out of that?

好的。接著追問顧問業務。如你所說，顯然表現相當強勁。我們是否可以這樣理解：其中很大一部分是因為你們向客戶提供了新的服務，因此帶來增量需求？或者說，其中一部分營收其實只是比起你們傳統的派遣（assignment）營收更適配，因此有些營收是從那邊轉過來的？

And the reason I ask is, if you back that consulting out, the growth in the non-consulting part, I think, has slowed even more sharply. But maybe that's not a fair way to think about it.

我之所以這樣問，是因為如果把顧問業務扣掉，非顧問部分的成長我認為放緩得更明顯。但也許這樣想並不公平。

Rand?

Rand？

Well, Ted, I'll go ahead and respond, yes. I think the second thing you said is more correct. There is definitely incremental new business coming to us because we're entering into areas where we're providing new solutions, doing different kind of work than we've ever done before. I think, to some extent, some of our past staffing work is being reshuffled, if you will, or redefined into consulting work, whereby, we pick up more accountability and responsibility for driving the outcome and the performance for our clients, as opposed to just providing the bodies. So it's a little bit of both, but I think definitely, we see it as we're moving into a new frontier of new solutions and certainly taking on some accountability, while controlling the risk associated with that.

好的，Ted，我來回應，是的。我認為你提到的第二種說法更貼近事實。確實有增量的新業務進來，因為我們正在進入一些領域，提供新的解決方案，做過去從未做過的不同類型工作。同時在某種程度上，我們過去的一些人力派遣工作也正在被重新調整或重新定義為顧問工作；在這種模式下，我們會承擔更多責任與問責，去推動客戶的成果與績效，而不只是提供人力。所以兩者都有，但我認為更重要的是，我們把它視為正邁向新的解決方案前沿，並且在控制相關風險的同時，確實承擔起一定的責任。

And Gary, I was going to add to that. As you see us drive up the value chain, these are natural byproducts of what you're going to see there. So it's a positive thing. The value proposition to the client is higher. Our stickiness with that client will become that much more sticky. And then ultimately, this is a, if you will, better business in terms of rate, in terms of margin and in terms of more prospects for the business. So I think that this is the right strategy, if you will, and there'll be ebb and flow here as we migrate up the value chain.

Gary，我本來也想補充這一點。如你所見，當我們往價值鏈上游推進時，你將會看到的這些情況，都是那裡自然產生的副產品。所以這是正面的事情。對客戶而言的價值主張更高。我們與該客戶的黏著度會變得更加黏著。而最終，這可以說是在費率、在毛利率，以及在業務更多機會面向上，都是更好的生意。所以我認為這是正確的策略，而且當我們往價值鏈上游遷移時，這裡會有起伏變動。

Our next comes from the line of Edward Caso of Wells Fargo Securities.

下一位提問來自富國證券（Wells Fargo Securities）的Edward Caso。

Ed?

Ed？

Ed, is your phone on mute?

Ed，你的電話有靜音嗎？

Yes. Sorry about that. This is Justin Donati, on for Ed. The first question I had was on your margin outlook for Q1. It looks like not only gross margins are down, but also EBITDA margin. So just wondering if you could walk through some of the drivers and how you're planning to offset some of these mix issues?

是的。抱歉。我是Justin Donati，代Ed提問。我第一個問題是關於你們第一季（Q1）的毛利率展望。看起來不只是毛利率下滑，EBITDA利潤率也下滑。想請你們說明一下背後的一些驅動因素，以及你們打算如何抵消這些組合（mix）問題？

Justin, thanks for the question. The one thing that you're going to see here, as it relates to gross margin, is that ECS becomes a much bigger part of the mix. You're going to see our gross margin profile, kind of, react to that from a mix standpoint. If you look at margins within the business unit, I think, we're doing a very good job of maintaining and even increasing gross margin in certain ways.

Justin，謝謝你的問題。你會看到的一點是，就毛利率而言，ECS在組合中的占比變得更大。你會看到我們的毛利率結構在組合面向上對此有所反應。如果你看各事業單位內部的毛利率，我認為我們在維持、甚至在某些方面提高毛利率上做得很好。

And then naturally, and I'll let Ed handle this, when you come across the year, you lose a certain amount of EBITDA margin in the first quarter. Ed?

然後很自然地——我讓Ed來說——每年跨年度時，你在第一季會損失一定程度的EBITDA利潤率。Ed？

Yes. If you're talking about a decline sequentially that is mainly due to the payroll tax reset. And historically, that's been in terms of effect on EBITDA margin, about 130 to 150 basis points. And as it relates to the effect on gross margin, at least on the assignment business, it's roughly 90 basis points. If you look at it year-over-year, the margins really haven't moved that much, if you compare it with our midpoint.

是的。如果你談的是季對季的下滑，主要是因為薪資稅重置（payroll tax reset）。歷史上，這對EBITDA利潤率的影響大約是130到150個基點。至於對毛利率的影響，至少在派遣（assignment）業務上，大約是90個基點。如果你看年對年，若與我們的中位數指引相比，利潤率其實沒有太大變動。

And Ted is right, I mean, movement that you're seeing is going to be mainly the result of sort of mix of business changing. And the other thing is probably a lower mix of permanent placement revenue too as well. Does that answer your question?

而Ted說得對，你看到的變動主要會是業務組合改變所造成的結果。另外一點可能是永久派遣（permanent placement）收入占比也較低。這樣有回答到你的問題嗎？

Yes. I appreciate the color there. And then just one last one. In your conversations with customers, have you been hearing anything about a slowdown in healthcare, Life Sciences? I know it's weaker this quarter, but in healthcare leading up to the elections?

有的。謝謝你提供的說明。最後一個問題。你們在與客戶的對話中，有聽到醫療保健、生命科學（Life Sciences）放緩的跡象嗎？我知道這一季比較弱，但在選舉前夕，醫療保健方面呢？

No. I wouldn't characterize it that way. I think what you see from us in Life Sciences is just a refocus, if you will, of us serving the scientific and clinical market and really drilling down harder on IT. So a little de-emphasis there, if you will, on our part. And so I think that's what's underneath that. I would say in the healthcare market, relating to the election, that's not too much of what you hear. However, you do naturally see healthcare providers being, in the past, they were really focused on implementation of EHR systems. Now that they have these systems, they're really focused on the integration of those systems to their other enterprise systems as well as security and everything else that comes with that. And so that's about most of the color that we hear from our healthcare clients.

沒有。我不會那樣形容。我認為你從我們生命科學業務看到的是我們重新聚焦：服務科學與臨床市場，並且更用力地深耕IT。所以可以說我們那邊稍微降低了比重。我想這就是背後的原因。至於醫療保健市場與選舉的關聯，這並不是我們常聽到的內容。不過你確實會自然看到，醫療服務提供者過去非常專注於電子病歷（EHR）系統的導入。現在他們已有這些系統，重點就轉向把這些系統與其他企業系統整合，以及資安與相關配套等。這大致就是我們從醫療保健客戶那裡聽到的主要情況。

Our next question comes from the line of Jeff Silber of BMO Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自BMO資本市場（BMO Capital Markets）的Jeff Silber。

I just wanted to focus on Oxford a little. I know it's a small piece of the business. But excluding the decline in perm that you called out, it looks like the assignment revenues did start to increase year-over-year. I know you're not giving specific annual guidance for next year. But do you think you'll be able to grow the Oxford business next year even if perm continues to go down?

我想稍微聚焦一下Oxford。我知道它在整體業務中占比不大。但撇除你提到的永久派遣（perm）下滑，看起來派遣（assignment）收入確實開始年對年成長。我知道你們沒有提供明年的具體年度指引。但你認為即使perm持續下滑，明年Oxford業務仍能成長嗎？

We do. Right? I think that you did see a little bit of growth in the Oxford business. They're doing a really good job on the EBITDA margin side of things, and now we've gotten a little bit of growth. We have prospects for it to grow kind of at market rates, if you will, for the 2020 year. So that would be kind of lower single-digit rates. And obviously, if we could do a little bit better, we will.

我們認為可以。對吧？我想你確實看到Oxford業務有一些成長。他們在EBITDA利潤率方面做得非常好，而現在我們也取得了一點成長。我們也看到它在2020年有機會以接近市場的速度成長。也就是大概低個位數的成長率。當然，如果我們能做得更好，我們也會努力。

Okay, that's helpful. And Ed, is it possible to parse out the impact on 4Q revenues of the DHA acquisition as well as the Intersys acquisition? Just helps us kind of model organic growth in each segment.

好的，這很有幫助。另外，Ed，是否可以拆分一下第四季（4Q）營收中DHA收購案以及Intersys收購案的影響？這有助於我們在各個部門建模有機成長。

Yes. We're not separately disclosing DHA, as you know, and we did commentary on that earlier in the year. As it relates to Intersys, we said, last quarter, that we expected Intersys to contribute about $7.6 million in revenues, and about $1.4 million in adjusted EBITDA, and they were pretty much in line with those projections.

可以。如你所知，我們不會單獨揭露DHA，我們也在今年稍早對此做過說明。至於Intersys，我們在上季說過，預期Intersys將貢獻約760萬美元營收，以及約140萬美元調整後EBITDA，而實際結果基本上符合這些預估。

Okay. Great. And then embedded in guidance for the first quarter, can you give us what you're looking for in terms of Blackstone?

好的。很好。另外，在第一季指引中，你們能否提供對Blackstone的預期？

Yes. We also included that in our earnings release. And so we're expecting a contribution of about $8.5 million in revenues and $1.4 million in adjusted EBITDA.

可以。我們也在財報新聞稿中納入了這點。因此我們預期其貢獻約850萬美元營收，以及140萬美元調整後EBITDA。

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

下一個問題來自RBC資本市場（RBC Capital Markets）的Seth Weber。

Maybe for George. The book-to-bill in ECS of 0.5. Just anything you'd call out there? Is there just some timing issues? Do you feel like that your win rate or close rate has changed here? And just any kind of color you could provide around the step down in book-to-bill.

也許問George。ECS的接單出貨比（book-to-bill）是0.5。這裡有什麼你會特別指出的嗎？只是一些時點（timing）問題嗎？你覺得你們的得標率或成交率在這裡有變化嗎？以及關於接單出貨比下滑，有沒有任何補充說明？

George?

George？

Yes. Sure. Thanks, Seth, and I appreciate the question. No, nothing to call out that I'm concerned with in terms of win rates or any of those type of things. It's primarily timing, best in the industry. As well as we've got several things that are hanging out on protests and waiting protest awards. So I do expect it to pick up in Q1. We've already seen several awards that support that forecast.

是的。當然。謝謝，Seth，也謝謝你的提問。沒有什麼需要特別指出、或讓我擔心的地方，無論是得標率或那類指標。主要是時點因素，我們仍是業界最佳。另外，我們也有幾個案子仍在抗議（protests）程序中，等待抗議裁決後的授標。所以我確實預期第一季會回升。我們已經看到幾個授標結果支持這個預測。

Seth, I think, too, I'll add to that, if we didn't over-celebrate 4.5 to 1 in the third quarter and we don't want to -- there's not a problem around 0.5 to 1, like George said, it's kind of the cyclical nature, if you will, seasonal nature, if you will, of government contracting. If you look at LTM, it's a really healthy 2.1 to 1. So I think we're very pleased there. And like George said, I mean, we've got a lot of great prospects here.

Seth，我想我也補充一下，如果我們沒有在第三季過度慶祝 4.5 比 1，而我們也不想——如 George 所說，0.5 比 1 左右其實不是問題，這有點像政府承包的週期性特徵（如果你願意這麼說），或季節性特徵（如果你願意這麼說）。如果你看 LTM，這是非常健康的 2.1 比 1。所以我認為我們對此非常滿意。而且如 George 所說，我是說，我們這裡有很多很棒的潛在機會。

Yes. No, understood. And then just -- I just want to make sure I'm understanding the software license, the $34 million of revenue. Can you just -- how does that impact margin in the quarter? Because gross margin came in a little bit light even with the big revenue. So I'm just trying to make sure we're calibrating for the impact on that revenue -- on margin.

是的。不，了解。然後就是——我只是想確認我對軟體授權那 3,400 萬美元營收的理解。你能不能——它在本季對毛利率有什麼影響？因為即使有這筆大額營收，毛利率還是略低於預期。所以我只是想確保我們在校準這筆營收——對毛利率的影響。

Ed?

Ed？

Well, that was lower-margin business, again, ECS' other revenues. So if you were to normalize or exclude that particular item, it -- you would see an improvement of about 130 basis points in ECS' Q4 gross margin.

嗯，那是低毛利的業務，同樣地，屬於 ECS 的其他營收。所以如果你把那個特定項目正常化或排除掉——你會看到 ECS 第四季毛利率大約改善 130 個基點。

And on a consolidated basis, our margins would have gone up about -- or would have been 66 basis points higher. So it does have -- it did have an effect.

而在合併基礎上，我們的毛利率本來會上升大約——或本來會高出 66 個基點。所以它確實——它確實產生了影響。

Our next set of questions come from the line of Tobey Sommer, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

我們下一組問題來自 SunTrust Robinson Humphrey 的 Tobey Sommer。

Could you describe the long-term EBITDA margin implications and also on CapEx spending of moving to higher-margin IT services?

你能描述一下，轉向更高毛利的 IT 服務，對長期 EBITDA 利潤率的意涵，以及對資本支出（CapEx）支出的影響嗎？

Well, Tobey, I think that this is like -- if you go back to our Analyst Day in 2018, where we laid out our 5-year strategy, in the 5-year target, we incorporated the idea that we were going to be moving up the value chain. Now with ECS, now with Apex system, having more consultative capabilities that that would be one of the drivers to help us move to the target we set, which was 12% to 12.5% EBITDA margin at the end of the 5-year period.

嗯，Tobey，我認為這就像——如果你回到我們 2018 年的分析師日，當時我們提出了 5 年策略，在 5 年目標中，我們納入了我們將往價值鏈上移的想法。現在有了 ECS、現在有了 Apex system，具備更多顧問式能力，這將成為推動我們達成所設定目標的驅動因素之一；我們設定的目標是在 5 年期結束時達到 12% 到 12.5% 的 EBITDA 利潤率。

And so while we have a little up and down here in EBITDA margins as we deal with what's going on in the marketplace and the strategic evolution of our business, still feel like those are good targets for us over the 5-year plan.

因此，雖然我們在 EBITDA 利潤率上會有一些起伏，因為我們要因應市場上正在發生的事情以及我們業務的策略演進，但我們仍然覺得，在 5 年計畫中，這些對我們而言是很好的目標。

And then the CapEx, we've told you many times in the past that we typically set a target and come in right around 1% of revenues. I think we were right at it for the fourth quarter. And I think our stance on that remains the same.

至於 CapEx，我們過去多次告訴各位，我們通常會設定一個目標，並且大約落在營收的 1% 左右。我想我們第四季正好就在那個水準。而且我認為我們在這方面的立場仍然相同。

Our next questions come from the line of Tim Mulrooney of William Blair.

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

It looks like bill rates were up pretty strong in the fourth quarter, whereas, volumes were down a little bit at Apex and Oxford. Is this just reflective of an extremely tight labor market? And is this the type of mix that you'd expect for the next several quarters?

看起來第四季的計費費率（bill rates）上升得相當強勁，而 Apex 和 Oxford 的量（volumes）則略有下降。這是否只是反映勞動市場極度緊俏？而這是否是你預期未來幾季會出現的組合型態？

I think, Tim, like we said, you've got -- certainly, the biggest contributor to this was the falloff in the last 2 weeks from some of our large customers here as they had furloughs, which eventually they worked through and are now back here in January. So that was the #1 contributor. And then second to that, we expect our bill rates will continue to rise as we go after higher value, higher margin work. And so I think, you should expect to see that.

Tim，我想如我們所說，你有——當然，對此貢獻最大的因素，是我們一些大型客戶在最後兩週的下滑，因為他們有無薪假（furloughs），他們最終已經消化處理完，現在在一月又回來了。所以這是第一大因素。其次，我們預期隨著我們爭取更高價值、更高毛利的工作，我們的計費費率將會持續上升。所以我想，你應該會看到這種情況。

I think too, an important distinction I would make is, pricing is not necessarily changing in our large account portfolio. So we're not driving a higher price every day in that work because those are typically set for a year and then they reset at other times. So the increase in rates that you see within our commercial units is definitely driving higher up the value and doing higher-end more complex work.

我也認為，我會做的一個重要區分是，在我們的大型客戶組合中，定價不一定正在改變。所以我們並不是在那類工作上每天都推動更高價格，因為那些通常是一年設定一次，然後在其他時間點再重設。因此，你在我們商業單位看到的費率上升，確實是由於我們往更高價值、承接更高端、更複雜的工作所驅動。

All right. Very helpful. And then on ECS, this week, the White House released their budget proposal. And I was wondering, it's early in the process, if you had any thoughts as to how this might impact ECS over the coming year?

好的。非常有幫助。然後關於 ECS，本週白宮發布了他們的預算提案。我想問，雖然現在還早，你們是否對這可能在未來一年對 ECS 造成的影響有任何看法？

George?

George？

Yes, sure. Actually, as I looked at the Washington Post article, it showed the federal civilian organizations that were being decreased, and I was very happy to report to my wife that we had very few customers in that list of customers. I mean we've been very focused on making sure that our customer set is very mission-oriented customer set. And that's where the budget monies are going, and that's where we're putting our capital investments. And so I'm not too concerned about the way that the budget was proposed. We'll see how it all ends up, but I wasn't very concerned about how it was proposed.

是的，當然。其實，我在看《華盛頓郵報》的文章時，它列出了將被削減的聯邦文職機構，我很高興可以向我太太報告：我們在那份名單上的客戶非常少。我的意思是，我們一直非常專注於確保我們的客戶組合是非常以任務為導向的客戶組合。而預算資金會流向那裡，我們也把資本投資放在那裡。因此，我對這份預算提案的方式並不太擔心。我們會看看最後結果如何，但我對它被提出的方式並不太擔心。

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

我們最後一個問題來自 Baird 的 Mark Marcon。

With regards to the consulting portion of the business, how much of that is in Oxford versus Apex?

關於業務中的顧問（consulting）部分，有多少是在 Oxford，多少是在 Apex？

Mark, thanks for the question. We, I don't think, have separately disclosed that. I mean I will say just by -- just naturally, it's a larger chunk in Apex than it is in the Oxford. But I would say that the growth rates and the margin profiles are very similar in both units and the revenue is generally proportional.

Mark，謝謝你的問題。我們，我想，我們沒有分別揭露過那個數字。我的意思是，我會說就——就自然而言，它在 Apex 的占比比在 Oxford 更大。但我會說，兩個單位的成長率和利潤率輪廓非常相似，而營收通常也大致成比例。

Okay. And from -- I mean this -- are we saying like 80%, 90% of it's in Apex? Just -- and what's the difference in terms of the go-to-market?

好的。那從——我是說——我們是在說大概 80%、90% 都在 Apex 嗎？就是——那在 go-to-market（市場進入策略）方面有什麼差異？

I would say it's generally proportional and the difference in the go-to-market is, I think, consistent with what each of one of those businesses focuses on. If you think about Oxford, not only are they serving IT, but they're also serving healthcare IT, the life sciences and regulatory marketplaces as well as engineering. And so their work in consulting services falls across all of those different offerings, where in Apex, it's very highly focused IT within Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 accounts in specific industries, the solutions, they are more tailored to the profile of those customers.

我會說它大致是成比例的，而 go-to-market 的差異，我認為，與這兩個業務各自的重點一致。如果你想想 Oxford，他們不僅服務 IT，也服務醫療保健 IT、生命科學與法規市場，以及工程領域。因此，他們在顧問服務上的工作橫跨所有這些不同的服務項目；而在 Apex，則是高度聚焦於特定產業中《財富》500 與《財富》1000 客戶的 IT，解決方案也更貼合那些客戶的輪廓。

Got it. And then with regards to the labor market, obviously, it's quite tight. What are you seeing just in terms of any sort of elevation with regards to conversions? And then how do we reconcile the tight labor market with the trends in perm?

了解。然後關於勞動市場，顯然非常緊俏。你們在轉換（conversions）方面看到什麼情況，例如是否有任何程度的上升？然後我們要如何把緊俏的勞動市場與正職（perm）的趨勢做對照與解釋？

So we haven't seen a real change in conversion. I mean, I think, we spoke to what we saw at the end of the year, but didn't necessarily create anything that we saw around conversion. I will tell you that in the direct hire or permanent placement marketplace because it's so candidate-driven today that it's definitely causing a bottleneck, if you will, in the ability to grow revenues at a faster rate. And so while our revenues in permanent placement are down year-over-year, they did grow sequentially Q1 to Q2 to Q3. And then in Q4, we saw a -- we saw the normal slowdown that we saw because candidates are less likely to leave a job at the end of the year when they're waiting out a bonus or something like that at the end of the year.

所以我們尚未看到轉換率出現真正的變化。我的意思是，我想我們談到了年末所看到的情況，但不一定在轉換方面看到任何變化。我可以告訴你，在直接雇用或永久安置市場，因為如今非常以候選人為主導，這確實造成了（如果你願意這麼說）在以更快速度成長營收能力上的瓶頸。因此，雖然我們的永久安置營收年比年下滑，但從第一季到第二季到第三季是逐季成長的。然後在第四季，我們看到——我們看到正常的放緩，因為候選人在年末較不願意離職，通常是在等年終獎金或類似年末的獎金。

So those are kind of the trends, we would say. But overall, I would tell you that definitely because candidate supply is so tight that it is causing a more difficult environment to grow revenues in the permanent placement.

所以我們會說，這些算是一些趨勢。但整體而言，我會告訴你，確實因為候選人供給非常緊俏，導致永久安置在營收成長上處於更具挑戰的環境。

Got it. And then any comments with regards to AB5?

了解。那麼關於 AB5 有什麼評論嗎？

It doesn't really affect our business, if you will, like it may some others, if anything, is to help because...

如果你願意這麼說，它其實不太影響我們的業務，可能不像影響某些其他公司那樣；若有的話，反而是有幫助，因為……

I would think it would be.

我想應該會是。

Yes, it's a help to us. I mean it's the value proposition, if you will, to our large customers. I mean we're bringing talent in a compliant way. And so that avoids the risk that they have in the gig economy world. So I think in that way, I would say, it's a slight help. I would not call it out as an industry trend in IT that's going to make a meaningful difference, if you will, in terms of growth rate, but it's certainly not hurting.

是的，這對我們有幫助。我的意思是，這是我們對大型客戶的價值主張（如果你願意這麼說）。我們以合規的方式引進人才。因此，這能避免他們在零工經濟世界中的風險。所以我想從這個角度來看，我會說這是些微的助益。我不會把它稱作 IT 產業的一個趨勢，會在成長率方面帶來有意義的差異（如果你願意這麼說），但它當然也沒有造成傷害。

Great. And then in Financial Services, you were up double digits. That's terrific. How do you think about Fin Services as the year unfolds? And then I have one more.

很好。接著在金融服務方面，你們是雙位數成長。這很棒。你怎麼看金融服務在今年接下來的發展？然後我還有最後一個問題。

Rand, do you want to take that one on Financial Services?

Rand，你要不要回答金融服務這題？

Well, I think, we have a broad approach, Mark, to it. Meaning, we are not only focused on the big banks, but regional banks, fin-tech, wealth management, insurance. So we do see some ebb and flow among all of those players. The banks continue to show some pretty good earnings results. So our anticipation is we'll continue to grow. We have a big footprint in Financial Services. But if we're not broadening out our portfolio, we're not going to sustain the growth. And we're certainly trying to broaden out the portfolio.

嗯，我想，我們採取的是一個廣泛的策略，Mark。也就是說，我們不只聚焦大型銀行，也涵蓋區域性銀行、金融科技、財富管理、保險。所以我們確實看到這些參與者之間有些起伏消長。銀行持續展現相當不錯的獲利表現。因此我們預期會持續成長。我們在金融服務領域有很大的布局。但如果我們不擴大我們的組合，我們就無法維持成長。而我們也確實正努力擴大這個組合。

Great. And then Intersys. It sounds like you're seeing some early signs of success there. Can you just provide a little bit more color in terms of how the cross sales have gone and the introductions into your existing client base?

很好。接著是 Intersys。聽起來你們在那裡看到一些早期成功的跡象。你能否再多提供一些細節，說明交叉銷售的進展，以及向你們既有客戶群所做的引介情況？

Rand?

Rand？

Yes, Mark, I think, we've mentioned before, we have a pretty large pipeline across our Apex and Oxford units and Creative Circle units with our account base for value services. So our pipeline is large enough that when we acquired Intersys, while we wanted them to deliver on their legacy accounts, if you will, we needed to cross-purpose them. So we have -- if I -- we don't report this number, but the amount of pursuits we're doing jointly now is astronomical, considering we've only been at this for 2 months, 2.5 months. We are really leveraging them across our entire client base, to the point we're probably wearing them thin. And so we have to watch that. But we're certainly picking and choosing areas. And I think, we are focused on trying to get at that larger pipeline, as opposed to just delivering on Intersys' legacy accounts. And this was important, obviously. Okay?

是的，Mark，我想我們之前提過，透過我們 Apex 與 Oxford 事業單位以及 Creative Circle 事業單位，針對我們的客戶基礎在價值型服務方面，我們有相當大的案源管道。所以我們的管道規模夠大，以至於當我們收購 Intersys 時，雖然我們希望他們能在其既有客戶（如果你願意這麼說）上交付成果，但我們也需要把他們用於交叉用途。所以我們——如果我——我們不揭露這個數字，但考量到我們才做了 2 個月、2 個半月，我們現在共同進行的追案數量是天文數字。我們真的在整個客戶基礎上充分運用他們，甚至到可能把他們用到快撐不住的程度。所以我們必須留意這點。但我們當然也在挑選與取捨重點領域。而且我想，我們的重點是試圖切入那個更大的管道，而不只是交付 Intersys 的既有客戶。而這顯然很重要。好嗎？

Absolutely.

當然。

This does conclude today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation, and have a great night.

今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以掛斷電話線。感謝各位的參與，祝各位晚安。