FirstService Corp (FSV) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the second quarter investors conference call. Today's call is being recorded. Legal counsel requires us to advise that the discussion scheduled to take place today may contain forward-looking statements that involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results may be materially different from those -- any other future results, performance or achievements contemplated in the forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from those in the forward-looking statements is contained in the company's annual information form as filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and in the company's annual report on Form 40-F as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加第二季度投資者電話會議。今天的通話正在錄音。法律顧問要求我們告知，計劃於今天進行的討論可能包含涉及已知和未知風險和不確定性的前瞻性陳述。實際結果可能與前瞻性陳述中設想的任何其他未來結果、業績或成就存在重大差異。有關可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中的結果存在重大差異的因素的更多信息包含在公司向加拿大證券管理局提交的年度信息表以及公司向加拿大證券管理局提交的40-F 表格年度報告中。美國證券交易委員會。

As a reminder, today's call is being recorded. Today is July 27, 2023. I would now like to turn the call over to Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Patterson. Your line is open.

提醒一下，今天的通話正在錄音。今天是 2023 年 7 月 27 日。我現在想將電話轉給首席執行官帕特森先生。您的線路已開通。

Thank you, Lisa. Good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining our 2023 second quarter conference call. I'm on the line today with Jeremy Rakusin, our CFO. I'll kick us off with some high-level comments, and Jeremy will follow with more detail. As you saw this morning, we reported very strong results that reflect continuing trends and momentum that drove our Q4 of last year and the first quarter of this year. Total revenues for the quarter were up 20% over the prior year with the organic growth at 15%. EBITDA was up 30%, reflecting a margin of 10.6%, which is an 80 basis point improvement over the prior year.

謝謝你，麗莎。大家，早安。我們感謝您參加我們的 2023 年第二季度電話會議。今天我和我們的首席財務官傑里米·拉庫辛 (Jeremy Rakusin) 通了電話。我將首先發表一些高層評論，傑里米將隨後提供更多細節。正如您今天早上所看到的，我們報告了非常強勁的業績，反映了推動我們去年第四季度和今年第一季度的持續趨勢和勢頭。該季度總收入較上年同期增長 20%，有機增長 15%。 EBITDA 增長 30%，利潤率為 10.6%，比上年提高 80 個基點。

Similar to our previous 2 quarters, outsized organic growth in our Brands division boosted our top line and led to enhanced margins from operating leverage. Earnings per share for the quarter were also up 30%, in line with the increase in EBITDA. Let me move to highlights for each division. Starting with FirstService Residential, where revenues were up 13% in total with the organic growth again hitting double digits at 10%. As I stated in my Q1 comments, we entered this year with momentum from strong sales in the fourth quarter of '22, combined with solid client retention.

與前兩個季度類似，我們品牌部門的大幅有機增長提高了我們的營收，並導致運營槓桿的利潤率提高。該季度每股收益也增長了 30%，與 EBITDA 的增長一致。讓我談談每個部門的亮點。首先是 FirstService Residential，其總收入增長了 13%，有機增長再次達到兩位數，達到 10%。正如我在第一季度評論中所說，我們進入今年的勢頭來自 22 年第四季度的強勁銷售，加上穩固的客戶保留率。

This favorable momentum continued through our Q2. The other trend that is helping us in terms of a year-over-year comparison is an increase in labor and services with many of our larger cost plus contracts. We have reduced the number of contracted but unfilled positions compared to a year ago, which increases revenue in a cost-plus environment. Looking forward to the last half of the year, we expect to show similar low double-digit top line growth for FirstService Residential with the organic growth at a high single-digit level. Moving on to FirstService Brands. Revenues for the quarter were up 27%, with the organic growth at 20%, driven by very strong results at our restoration brands and supported by solid double-digit growth at Century Fire and our home improvement brands. Our restoration brands, Paul Davis and First Onsite together recorded revenues that were up over 40% versus the prior year, with about 2/3 of the growth generated organically.

這種有利的勢頭持續到了第二季度。與去年同期相比，對我們有幫助的另一個趨勢是勞動力和服務的增加，以及我們許多較大的成本加成合同。與一年前相比，我們減少了已簽約但未填補的職位數量，這在成本加成環境中增加了收入。展望今年下半年，我們預計 FirstService Residential 的營收將實現類似的低兩位數增長，而有機增長將保持在高個位數水平。轉向 FirstService 品牌。本季度收入增長 27%，有機增長 20%，這得益於我們的修復品牌強勁的業績以及 Century Fire 和我們的家居裝修品牌強勁的兩位數增長的支持。我們的修復品牌 Paul Davis 和 First Onsite 的收入合計比上一年增長了 40% 以上，其中約 2/3 的增長是有機增長的。

We booked approximately $35 million from named storms during the quarter, split between Hurricane Ian and Winter Storm Elliott. This is down from $75 million plus in Q1, but significantly higher than storm-related revenues in Q2 of last year. We're pleased with the performance from our restoration brands in Q2. Sequentially, relative to Q1, we generated less than half the storm-related revenue but booked approximately the same total revenue for the quarter, which reflects positively on our day-to-day activity levels across our branch network. Excluding storm-related revenue, we generated solid double-digit organic growth in restoration for the quarter.

我們在本季度從命名風暴中預訂了約 3500 萬美元，其中包括颶風伊恩和冬季風暴埃利奧特。這比第一季度的 7500 萬美元以上有所下降，但明顯高於去年第二季度與風暴相關的收入。我們對第二季度修復品牌的表現感到滿意。因此，相對於第一季度，我們產生的與風暴相關的收入不到一半，但本季度的總收入大致相同，這對我們整個分支機構網絡的日常活動水平產生了積極的影響。排除與風暴相關的收入，我們在本季度的恢復中實現了兩位數的有機有機增長。

Looking forward in restoration, we expect to show continued year-over-year growth for Q3, but at a more modest level than we have seen in the past 3 quarters. Our backlog is solid and above prior year's level. A portion of the backlog is reconstruction work related to Hurricane Ian. Much of this work is slow moving, while we wait on permits or engineering studies or insurance confirmation or materials. The work will be completed over the next year as hurdles are cleared and issues resolved. The backlog excluding this portion is approximately at prior year's level. At this juncture, we expect to show year-over-year growth of 10% or more for Q3, somewhat dependent on the amount of Ian-related reconstruction that gets completed between now and September 30.

展望復蘇，我們預計第三季度將繼續實現同比增長，但增速將低於過去三個季度的水平。我們的積壓訂單很充足，高於去年的水平。一部分積壓工作是與伊恩颶風相關的重建工作。當我們等待許可或工程研究或保險確認或材料時，大部分工作進展緩慢。隨著障礙的清除和問題的解決，這項工作將於明年完成。不包括這部分的積壓訂單大約相當於去年的水平。目前，我們預計第三季度的同比增長將達到 10% 或以上，這在一定程度上取決於從現在到 9 月 30 日期間完成的與 Ian 相關的重建工作量。

As I mentioned earlier, we're pleased with the level of day-to-day work we've been securing through our branch network and expect a solid finish to our year in restoration. Moving to Century Fire, we had a strong quarter, right in line with our expectations. Low double-digit organic growth against a tough comparative quarter in the prior year. All our branches and service lines continue to perform, and we expect similar results for the balance of the year. The year-over-year growth rates will moderate in Q3 and again in Q4 due to the strong sequential growth we were generating from quarter-to-quarter throughout 2022.

正如我之前提到的，我們對通過分支機構網絡確保的日常工作水平感到滿意，並期望今年的恢復工作取得圓滿成功。轉向世紀火災，我們有一個強勁的季度，完全符合我們的預期。與去年艱難的比較季度相比，有機增長較低，達到兩位數。我們所有的分支機構和服務線都將繼續運營，我們預計今年剩餘時間也會有類似的結果。由於 2022 年各個季度的強勁環比增長，第三季度的同比增長率將放緩，第四季度的同比增長率將再次放緩。

And I'll finish with our home improvement brands, which as a group were up over 10% versus the prior year with high single-digit organic growth. This is an impressive result and a real credit to our operating teams. The home remodeling sector in general is facing headwinds from higher interest rates and very sluggish home resales. Our leads continue to lag year-ago levels, but a heightened focus on lead conversion and close ratio is enabling us to continue to drive growth. Looking forward, we expect the environment to remain difficult, but our teams believe they will continue to generate at least mid- to high single-digit growth through the back half of the year. Let me now ask Jeremy to review our results in more detail. Jeremy?

最後我要談談我們的家居裝修品牌，這些品牌作為一個整體，比上一年增長了 10% 以上，並實現了高個位數的有機增長。這是一個令人印象深刻的結果，也是我們運營團隊的真正榮譽。總體而言，房屋改造行業面臨著利率上升和房屋轉售非常低迷的阻力。我們的銷售線索繼續落後於去年同期的水平，但對銷售線索轉化和成交率的高度關注使我們能夠繼續推動增長。展望未來，我們預計環境仍將困難，但我們的團隊相信，他們將在今年下半年繼續實現至少中高個位數增長。現在讓我請傑里米更詳細地審查我們的結果。傑里米？

Thank you, Scott, and good morning, everyone. We are very pleased with our second quarter financial results, which yielded strong year-over-year growth metrics that closely matched our prior Q1 performance in every respect. On a consolidated basis, revenues for the quarter were $1.12 billion, up 20% year-over-year and driving to adjusted EBITDA of $118.4 million and adjusted EPS of $1.46, both up 30% versus the prior year. Our 6 months year-to-date consolidated financial performance included revenues of $2.14 billion, an increase of 21% over the $1.77 billion last year, with a contribution from organic growth at 16%.

謝謝你，斯科特，大家早上好。我們對第二季度的財務業績感到非常滿意，該業績產生了強勁的同比增長指標，在各個方面都與我們之前第一季度的業績非常匹配。綜合來看，本季度收入為 11.2 億美元，同比增長 20%，調整後 EBITDA 為 1.184 億美元，調整後每股收益為 1.46 美元，均較上年增長 30%。今年迄今 6 個月的綜合財務業績包括收入 21.4 億美元，比去年的 17.7 億美元增長 21%，其中有機增長的貢獻率為 16%。

Adjusted EBITDA of $200.4 million, representing 30% growth over the $153.7 million last year with a margin of 9.4%, up 70 basis points from the 8.7% in the prior year period; and adjusted EPS at $2.31, up 25% over the $1.85 per share reported during our same 6-month period last year. Our adjustments to operating earnings and GAAP EPS to calculate our adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS, respectively, have been summarized in this morning's release and remain consistent with disclosure in prior periods. I'll now break down our division financials for the second quarter. Beginning with FirstService Residential, quarterly revenues came in at $517 million, up 13% over the prior year.

調整後 EBITDA 為 2.004 億美元，比去年同期的 1.537 億美元增長 30%，利潤率為 9.4%，比上年同期的 8.7% 增長 70 個基點；調整後每股收益為 2.31 美元，比去年同期 6 個月期間報告的每股 1.85 美元增長 25%。我們對營業收益和 GAAP 每股收益的調整分別用於計算調整後的 EBITDA 和調整後的每股收益，已在今天上午的新聞稿中進行了總結，並與之前期間的披露保持一致。我現在將詳細分析我們第二季度的部門財務狀況。從 FirstService Residential 開始，季度收入為 5.17 億美元，比上年增長 13%。

EBITDA for the quarter was $55.7 million, a 10% year-over-year increase, with a 10.8% margin, down a modest 20 basis points from the 11% margin in Q2 of last year. We expect the division margin to be relatively flat to prior year in the remaining half of 2023, which would result in our full year margin being closely in line with our 2022 annual performance. At our FirstService Brands division, we reported second quarter revenues of $603 million, a 27% increase over the prior year period. EBITDA for the quarter came in at $65.8 million, up 50% year-over-year. Our margin during the quarter was 10.9%, up 160 basis points over the 9.3% during last year's Q2.

本季度 EBITDA 為 5570 萬美元，同比增長 10%，利潤率為 10.8%，較去年第二季度的 11% 略微下降 20 個基點。我們預計 2023 年下半年的部門利潤率將與上年持平，這將導致我們的全年利潤率與 2022 年的年度業績密切相關。 FirstService Brands 部門報告第二季度收入為 6.03 億美元，比去年同期增長 27%。該季度 EBITDA 為 6580 萬美元，同比增長 50%。本季度我們的利潤率為 10.9%，比去年第二季度的 9.3% 上升了 160 個基點。

As Scott previously outlined, our restoration operations benefited during the current period from elevated weather-related storm activity compared against the dormant level in the prior year second quarter. This contribution from our restoration platform was the primary driver behind both the higher division top line growth and margin improvement versus prior year, just as we saw in Q1. For the upcoming third quarter, we expect the Brands division margin to be more in line with prior year with anticipated tapering in contribution from storm backlog conversion within restoration compared to the first 2 quarters of this year.

正如斯科特之前概述的那樣，與去年第二季度的休眠水平相比，我們的恢復業務在當前時期受益於與天氣相關的風暴活動的增加。正如我們在第一季度看到的那樣，我們的恢復平台的貢獻是較高部門營收增長和利潤率較上年提高的主要驅動力。對於即將到來的第三季度，我們預計品牌部門的利潤率將與去年同期更加一致，與今年前兩個季度相比，預計恢復過程中風暴積壓轉換的貢獻將逐漸減少。

With the Brand's margin improvement we have booked year-to-date, we expect to finish the year with annual division margins up versus 2022. Moving below the operating earnings line. Our earnings per share of $1.46 during the quarter benefited from a nonrecurring $0.07 per share related to a gain on sale of an owned building. This gain helped offset higher year-over-year interest expense to drive to our 30% adjusted EPS growth matching our EBITDA growth for the quarter. Looking at our cash flow from operations, we delivered [$86] million, up 40% over the prior year quarter. More than half of the increase came from earnings growth across both divisions. And then we also benefited from working capital movements, which in the current quarter delivered a slight cash inflow versus a more typical cash requirement as seen in last year's Q2.

隨著今年迄今為止該品牌利潤率的提高，我們預計到今年年底，部門年度利潤率將比 2022 年有所上升。低於營業利潤線。本季度我們的每股收益為 1.46 美元，受益於與出售自有建築物的收益相關的每股 0.07 美元的非經常性收益。這一收益有助於抵消同比利息支出的增加，推動我們調整後每股收益增長 30%，與本季度 EBITDA 增長相匹配。從我們的運營現金流來看，我們交付了 8600 萬美元，比去年同期增長了 40%。超過一半的增長來自兩個部門的盈利增長。然後，我們還受益於營運資金變動，與去年第二季度所見的更典型的現金需求相比，本季度的營運資金變動帶來了輕微的現金流入。

With respect to capital expenditures, we invested $23 million during the quarter in support of our existing operations and our year-to-date total of $44 million is pacing with our targeted full year maintenance CapEx of $80 million and overall spending of approximately $100 million. Tuck-under acquisition activity during the quarter was tempered with minimal capital deployment. But with year-to-date investments approaching $100 million, recent acquisitions will contribute to our growth during the upcoming quarters. In closing our financial review, our balance sheet remains very strong. Leverage, as measured by net debt-to-EBITDA moderated to 1.6x, down from 1.8x in the prior first quarter. Liquidity, reflecting total undrawn availability under our revolver and cash on hand remains ample at approximately $420 million.

在資本支出方面，我們在本季度投資了2300 萬美元來支持我們的現有運營，今年迄今的資本支出總額為4400 萬美元，與我們全年目標維護資本支出8000 萬美元和總體支出約1 億美元相匹配。本季度的隱藏式收購活動受到了限制，資本部署也極少。但今年迄今的投資已接近 1 億美元，最近的收購將有助於我們未來幾個季度的增長。在結束我們的財務審查時，我們的資產負債表仍然非常強勁。以淨債務與 EBITDA 衡量的槓桿率從上一季度的 1.8 倍降至 1.6 倍。流動性（反映我們左輪手槍下未提取的可用資金總額和手頭現金）仍然充裕，約為 4.2 億美元。

Our conservative capital structure and financial flexibility allow us to be assertive as we keep our eyes open for opportunities to deploy capital. Looking forward, the strong year-to-date performance we have booked thus far reinforces our conviction that our businesses will collectively deliver low teens consolidated revenue growth with our consolidated EBITDA margin being roughly in line to potentially a little higher than our annual 2022 level. That concludes our prepared comments. Lisa, you may now open the call to questions. Thank you.

我們保守的資本結構和財務靈活性使我們在密切關注部署資本的機會時保持自信。展望未來，我們迄今為止的強勁業績增強了我們的信念，即我們的業務將共同實現低雙位數的綜合收入增長，而我們的綜合EBITDA 利潤率大致與可能略高於2022 年年度水平相一致。我們準備好的評論到此結束。麗莎，您現在可以開始提問。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) The first question that we have today is coming from Stephen MacLeod of BMO Capital Markets.

（操作員說明）我們今天的第一個問題來自 BMO 資本市場的 Stephen MacLeod。

Great. Just a couple of questions. I just wanted to start with the residential business. Just curious if you can give an outlook or an update on sort of what you're seeing in terms of pricing? And I guess as you have some of these fixed price contracts coming up for renewal, what's the ability or what's the outlook for passing through some of those prices?

偉大的。只是幾個問題。我只是想從住宅業務開始。只是好奇您能否對您在定價方面看到的情況給出展望或更新？我想，由於您有一些固定價格合同需要續簽，那麼通過其中一些價格的能力或前景如何？

Stephen, I'll take that -- go ahead, Scott.

史蒂芬，我接受——繼續吧，斯科特。

Yes. Okay, Jeremy. It's an ongoing exercise, Stephen. We're having contracts renew throughout the year. As you know, it has been and always will be a price-competitive market. It's generally how our smaller competitors compete against us. So -- we remain in an inflationary environment. And while wages have stabilized, we're still seeing increases. As contracts renew, we need to cover off these increases.

是的。好吧，傑里米。這是一個持續的練習，斯蒂芬。我們全年都會續簽合同。如您所知，它一直是並將永遠是一個價格競爭的市場。這通常是我們規模較小的競爭對手與我們競爭的方式。因此，我們仍處於通脹環境中。雖然工資已經穩定，但我們仍然看到增長。隨著合同的續簽，我們需要彌補這些增加。

In some cases, we're getting that increase. In some cases, we're not. We're getting part of it. We're getting over a period of time. So I've talked about in the last several quarters, it's a balance for us between margin and organic growth. And I think that will continue. We are, I think, right now probably at about 3% in terms of price increases, 10% organic for the quarter, 3% of that would be price. And I think that's the level we'll be at for the foreseeable future.

在某些情況下，我們會得到這種增長。在某些情況下，我們不是。我們正在參與其中。我們已經過了一段時間了。所以我在過去幾個季度談到，這對我們來說是利潤率和有機增長之間的平衡。我認為這種情況將會持續下去。我認為，目前我們的價格漲幅可能約為 3%，本季度有機漲幅為 10%，其中 3% 為價格漲幅。我認為這就是我們在可預見的未來將達到的水平。

Okay. That's great. And then maybe just on the home improvement side of things. You talked a little bit about you're sort of seeing the home remodeling sector facing headwinds, but still expecting mid- to high single-digit growth through the back half of the year. So just curious if you can give a little bit of color as to where that incremental or those pockets of strength are coming from in light of the weaker macro backdrop?

好的。那太棒了。然後也許只是在家居裝修方面。您談到了您看到房屋改造行業面臨逆風，但仍預計今年下半年將實現中高個位數增長。因此，我只是好奇，在宏觀背景較弱的情況下，您是否可以透露一下增量或部分力量來自何處？

Yes. I mean there's a number of things. We see this environment as an opportunity to grab share. So we have invested in marketing. We are carefully using promotion and discount, all to drive leads. And then we're very focused on converting the leads and closing the sale. Our leads are down year-over-year, as I think I said in my comments, but we're having greater success in converting them and closing them. And certainly, marketing and promotions are helping. The other thing this year is we have a greater capacity in these home improvement brands to complete work with a more stable labor environment. So our productivity has improved. We're able to schedule work more quickly. All of that is helping with the close ratio.

是的。我的意思是有很多事情。我們將這種環境視為搶占市場份額的機會。所以我們在營銷方面進行了投資。我們謹慎地利用促銷和折扣來吸引潛在客戶。然後我們非常專注於轉化潛在客戶並完成銷售。正如我在評論中所說，我們的領先優勢逐年下降，但我們在轉化和關閉它們方面取得了更大的成功。當然，營銷和促銷也有幫助。今年的另一件事是，我們這些家裝品牌有更大的能力來完成工作，並且有更穩定的勞動力環境。所以我們的生產力提高了。我們能夠更快地安排工作。所有這些都有助於提高接近比率。

And our next question will be coming from Michael Doumet of Scotiabank.

我們的下一個問題將來自豐業銀行的邁克爾·杜梅特。

My first question is on the residential business. On labor, I wonder, are you at a point where you think you've essentially filled the vacancies, maybe call it your kind of like normal vacancy levels, particularly as it relates to fulfilling ancillary services? Just trying to get a sense for the continued momentum of that business on a go-forward basis.

我的第一個問題是關於住宅業務的。關於勞動力，我想知道，您是否認為您基本上已經填補了空缺，也許可以稱之為正常空缺水平，特別是因為它與履行輔助服務有關？只是想了解該業務的持續發展勢頭。

Yes, we have. We're back to historical levels in terms of our open positions. And so we've made real progress over the last 6 months. It's a -- we're in a labor environment that has improved certainly for us in the type of positions we're trying to fill. So we have seen a little boost to our organic growth the last few quarters. We'll probably see it again in Q3, but it's a temporary boost, and we won't see it certainly next year.

是的我們有。就未平倉頭寸而言，我們回到了歷史水平。因此，我們在過去 6 個月中取得了真正的進展。我們所處的勞動力環境對於我們想要填補的職位類型來說肯定有所改善。因此，過去幾個季度我們的有機增長有所提振。我們可能會在第三季度再次看到它，但這只是暫時的推動，明年我們肯定不會看到它。

Got it. So it's a bit of a catch-up. You're -- again, for the residential business, I think you're calling for a high single-digit growth in the second half versus 10% plus in the first half. If I look at the comps last year, it doesn't really look like the second half grew much faster than the first half. I'm just trying to wonder why you're calling for an effective slowdown of the organic comps in the first half versus the second half, particularly given some of the tailwinds here.

知道了。所以這有點追趕。再說一遍，對於住宅業務，我認為您要求下半年實現高個位數增長，而上半年則為 10% 以上。如果我看一下去年的比較，看起來下半年的增長速度並沒有比上半年快得多。我只是想知道為什麼你要求上半年與下半年相比有機比較的有效放緩，特別是考慮到這裡的一些順風車。

Yes. I think it's not a significant decline, but we will see this labor boost. We still -- we'll see that start to fall off. So I think we're certainly making an accommodation for that as we guide towards high single digit. Otherwise, this business is stable month-to-month, quarter-to-quarter. So we won't see any big moves one way or the other.

是的。我認為這並不是顯著的下降，但我們會看到勞動力的增加。我們仍然會看到這種情況開始下降。因此，我認為，當我們朝著高個位數的方向發展時，我們肯定會為此做出調整。否則，這項業務每個月、每個季度都是穩定的。因此，我們不會看到任何重大舉措。

Okay. That makes sense. And maybe just a third one for Jeremy. On the working capital side, I think you commented Jeremy, I thought was neutral. Typical seasonality is usually it's a draw, but there's been nearly, call it, $175 million of investment to working capital in the last 4 quarters. So just wondering how to think about that, how correlated it should be to restoration activity to seasonality in the second half?

好的。這就說得通了。對於傑里米來說，也許只是第三個。在營運資金方面，我認為你對傑里米的評論是中立的。典型的季節性通常是平局，但過去 4 個季度的營運資金投資接近 1.75 億美元。因此，我想知道如何思考這一點，它與下半年的恢復活動與季節性的相關性如何？

You're right. I mean a lot of the investment in working capital is reflected in accounts receivable and that's largely driven by our restoration operations. We expect to collect on that in the coming quarters. They are longer paying customers, good paying customers, all backed by insurance. And the timing and -- as to which quarter it's going to come in, it's hard to predict and it obviously also dependent on further weather-driven activity in coming quarters. So the timing is always around working capital, as I said, is very tough to predict quarter-to-quarter. It's -- we feel comfortable that we are going to convert it. And I think you saw the start of that in this quarter with some of our other working capital items swing to the positive.

你說得對。我的意思是，營運資金的大部分投資都反映在應收賬款中，這很大程度上是由我們的恢復業務推動的。我們預計將在未來幾個季度收集相關信息。他們是付費時間較長、付費良好的客戶，並且都有保險支持。至於具體時間，以及將在哪個季度出現，很難預測，而且顯然也取決於未來幾個季度天氣驅動的進一步活動。因此，正如我所說，時機始終圍繞營運資金，很難按季度進行預測。我們對轉換它感到很放心。我認為您在本季度看到了這一點的開始，我們的其他一些營運資金項目開始轉向積極的方向。

(Operator Instructions) And our next question will be coming from Tom Callaghan of RBC.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題將來自 RBC 的 Tom Callaghan。

Maybe just to start on the restoration side and going back to your prepared remarks there, mentioned in Q2 that total revenue was really the same despite kind of that lower booked amount of storm revenue in Q2. Can you maybe just talk about some of the positive drivers of that day-to-day activity? And is it broad-based? Or is there something specific driving that?

也許只是從恢復方面開始，回到您準備好的評論，在第二季度提到，儘管第二季度的風暴收入預訂金額較低，但總收入實際上是相同的。您能否談談日常活動的一些積極驅動因素？它的基礎廣泛嗎？或者有什麼特定的驅動因素嗎？

Well, between the 2 brands, we have 430 or 440 branches. So we are positioned across North America. While there weren't any named storms in the first 6 months, there was widespread weather really throughout North America. And so our branch network benefited from that. We are responding well to our customers, the national commercial and insurance carriers. And I think we're building on and improving our service delivery. We feel like we're getting more wallet share.

嗯，這兩個品牌之間，我們有 430 或 440 家分店。所以我們的業務遍及北美。雖然前 6 個月沒有任何命名的風暴，但整個北美確實出現了廣泛的天氣。因此我們的分支機構網絡從中受益。我們對客戶、全國商業和保險公司的反應良好。我認為我們正在加強並改進我們的服務交付。我們覺得我們獲得了更多的錢包份額。

So it's just day-to-day organic growth across the branch network. The other thing I will say is that we did benefit from a few very large projects that were not storm related. We are in the business of large loss, principally through First Onsite, and we always have large losses on the go, but we did get a boost in Q2 from a few particularly large jobs.

因此，這只是整個分支機構網絡的日常有機增長。我要說的另一件事是，我們確實從一些與風暴無關的大型項目中受益。我們從事的是巨額虧損的業務，主要是通過 First Onsite，而且我們總是在旅途中遭受巨額虧損，但我們確實在第二季度從一些特別大的工作中得到了提振。

Got it. That's helpful. And then maybe just one more from me on the M&A front. Maybe just talk about what you're seeing in the pipeline? And then any commentary on any evolution of pricing valuations thus far in 2023?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後也許只是我在併購方面的另一篇文章。也許只是談談您在管道中看到的內容？那麼對 2023 年迄今為止定價估值的演變有何評論？

Sure. Our pipeline is steady, and I would say it reflects a normal level of activity for us. We didn't close anything in the quarter, but we do have deals in process, and they really are -- I think I said in the last quarter, there are typical tuck-under family-owned business. I would say that the deal flow has slowed. The availability of companies has decreased. I think it may be because owners believe multiples are down or competition has moderated, but we haven't seen that.

當然。我們的管道很穩定，我想說這反映了我們的正常活動水平。我們在本季度沒有完成任何交易，但我們確實有正在進行中的交易，而且確實是——我想我在上個季度說過，有典型的隱藏家族企業。我想說的是，交易流程已經放緩。公司的可用性下降了。我認為這可能是因為業主認為市盈率下降或競爭減弱，但我們還沒有看到這一點。

Good businesses are attracting multiples as high as they've ever been, and good businesses are attracting many bids. So it's a -- I don't think the valuations have changed. We haven't seen it, and I think the deal flow is off a bit. But I would expect us to close some of our pipeline between now and year-end.

優秀的企業吸引的倍數達到了前所未有的水平，優秀的企業也吸引了許多出價。所以我認為估值沒有改變。我們還沒有看到這一點，我認為交易流程有點不對勁。但我預計我們會從現在到年底關閉一些管道。

And our next question is coming from Matthew Filek of William Blair.

我們的下一個問題來自威廉·布萊爾的馬修·菲萊克。

Scott and Jeremy, you've Matthew Filek on for Stephen Sheldon. I wanted to start with one on residential. What is the pace of new HOA construction meant to growth in the Residential segment. Is that becoming a bigger component of organic revenue growth by giving you newer properties to pursue?

斯科特和傑里米，你們讓馬修·菲萊克代替斯蒂芬·謝爾頓。我想從住宅開始。新 HOA 建設的步伐對住宅領域的增長意味著什麼？通過為您提供新的房產來追求，這是否會成為有機收入增長的更大組成部分？

I would say new development for us, Matt, has always been a stable component of our growth, but it's probably off right now compared to the last 5 years. We've always given the number that it's average is about 20% of our growth, and that's where it is right now, I would say, or thereabouts. But it has been stronger, I think, the last few years. But we do -- it's a core part of our strategy, and we have strong relationships with developers across North America, particularly high-rise and large lifestyle communities. Does that answer your question?

我想說，馬特，對我們來說，新的發展一直是我們增長的穩定組成部分，但與過去 5 年相比，現在可能有所下降。我們一直給出的數字是我們的平均增長率約為 20%，我想說，這就是現在的情況，或者大約是這樣。但我認為，過去幾年它變得更加強大。但我們確實這麼做了——這是我們戰略的核心部分，而且我們與北美各地的開發商有著密切的關係，特別是高層和大型生活方式社區。這是否回答你的問題？

Yes, that's helpful color. And then I was just looking for an update on the restoration technology platform and how that's progressing relative to your expectations? And what that platform could mean for margins in the Brands segment and if it could move the needle any?

是的，這是有用的顏色。然後我只是在尋找修復技術平台的更新以及相對於您的期望進展如何？該平台對品牌細分市場的利潤意味著什麼？它是否能帶來任何改變？

Yes. Matt, it's Jeremy. I'll take that one. Making continuous progress. I said on our last call, we were approaching the halfway mark, we're a little more than that. So it's steady, on track. We've got many branches still to onboard. And any benefits that we're going to see from that is -- will only start to incrementally realize on that at some point in '24 and beyond, a multiyear effort, hard to quantify until we have kind of completed getting everyone on one system and going to market with one brand in terms of processes that are consistent and systematic across the board.

是的。馬特，這是傑里米。我會接受那個。不斷進步。我在上次通話中說過，我們已經接近一半目標，我們還不止於此。所以一切都很穩定，步入正軌。我們還有許多分支機構尚未上線。我們將從中看到的任何好處 - 只會在 24 年及以後的某個時候開始逐步實現，這是一項多年的努力，很難量化，直到我們完成讓每個人都使用一個系統並以統一的品牌進入市場，流程全面一致且系統化。

Got it. That makes sense. And then just a quick clarification question here, and forgive me if I missed this, but how should we think about the impact from weather in the third quarter relative to levels seen in the second quarter, assuming no other named weather events come through?

知道了。這就說得通了。然後這裡只是一個快速澄清的問題，如果我錯過了這一點，請原諒我，但是假設沒有其他命名的天氣事件發生，我們應該如何考慮第三季度天氣相對於第二季度所見水平的影響？

It will be down quite a bit. We're through most of our backlog from Ian and Winter Storm Elliott. So we'll see some, but down materially from Q1 and 2.

會下降不少。我們已經處理完伊恩和冬季風暴艾略特積壓的大部分訂單。所以我們會看到一些，但比第一季度和第二季度大幅下降。

At this time, I'm showing no further questions in the queue. I would like to turn the call back over to the CEO for closing remarks. Please go ahead, sir.

目前，我在隊列中沒有顯示任何其他問題。我想將電話轉回給首席執行官，讓他發表結束語。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, Lisa. And thank you all for joining today, and enjoy the rest of your summer, and we'll regroup for Q3 at the end of October.

謝謝你，麗莎。感謝大家今天加入，祝大家度過愉快的夏天，我們將在 10 月底為第三季度重新集結。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you all for joining. You may all disconnect, and please have a great day.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝大家的加入。你們可以斷開連接，祝您有美好的一天。