HEICO Corp (HEI) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the HEICO Corporation Fourth Quarter Year-End 2023 Financial Results Call. My name is Samara, and I'll be today's operator. Certain statements in this conference call will constitute forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks, uncertainties and contingencies. HEICO's actual results may differ materially from those expressed in or implied by those forward-looking statements.

歡迎參加 HEICO Corporation 2023 年第四季財務業績電話會議。我叫薩馬拉，我是今天的接線生。本次電話會議中的某些陳述將構成前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受到風險、不確定性和意外事件的影響。 HEICO 的實際結果可能與這些前瞻性陳述中明示或暗示的結果有重大差異。

Factors that could cause such differences include the severity, magnitude and duration of public health threats, such as the COVID-19 pandemic or health emergencies; HEICO's liquidity and the amount and timing of cash generation; lower commercial air travel caused by health emergencies and their aftermath, airline fleet changes or airline purchasing decisions, which could cause lower demand for our goods and services; product specification costs and requirements, which could cause an increase to our cost to complete contracts; governmental and regulatory demands, export policies and restrictions; reductions in defense, space or homeland security spending by U.S. and/or foreign customers or competition from existing and new competitors, which could reduce our sales.

可能導致這種差異的因素包括公共衛生威脅的嚴重性、規模和持續時間，例如 COVID-19 大流行或突發衛生事件； HEICO 的流動性以及現金產生的金額和時間；由於突發衛生事件及其後果、航空公司機隊變化或航空公司購買決定而導致商業航空旅行減少，這可能會導致對我們的商品和服務的需求減少；產品規格成本和要求，這可能會導致我們完成合約的成本增加；政府和監管要求、出口政策和限制；美國和/或外國客戶減少國防、太空或國土安全支出或現有和新競爭對手的競爭，這可能會減少我們的銷售。

Our ability to introduce new products and services at profitable pricing levels, which could reduce our sales or sales growth; product development or manufacturing difficulties, which could increase our product development and manufacturing costs and delay sales; our ability to make acquisitions, including obtaining any applicable domestic and/or foreign governmental approvals and achieve operating synergies from acquired businesses; customer credit risk, interest, foreign currency exchange and income tax rates; and economic conditions, including the effects of inflation within and outside of the aviation, defense, space, medical, telecommunications and electronics industries, which could negatively impact our costs and revenues.

我們以有利可圖的定價水準推出新產品和服務的能力，這可能會降低我們的銷售或銷售成長；產品開發或製造困難，這可能會增加我們的產品開發和製造成本並延遲銷售；我們進行收購的能力，包括獲得任何適用的國內和/或外國政府批准以及從收購的業務中實現營運協同效應；客戶信用風險、利息、外匯和所得稅率；和經濟狀況，包括航空、國防、航太、醫療、電信和電子產業內外的通貨膨脹的影響，這可能會對我們的成本和收入產生負面影響。

Parties listening to this call are encouraged to review all of HEICO's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, filings on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the except required by Apple Global law. I now turn the call over to Laurans Mendelson, HEICO's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

我們鼓勵聽取本次電話會議的各方審查 HEICO 向美國證券交易委員會提交的所有文件，包括但不限於表格 10-K、表格 10-Q 和表格 8-K 上的文件。我們不承擔公開更新或修改任何前瞻性聲明的義務，無論是由於新資訊、未來事件或其他原因，除非蘋果全球法律要求。我現在將電話轉給 HEICO 董事長兼執行長 Laurans Mendelson。

Thank you, Samara. Good morning to everyone on this call, and we thank you very much for joining us, and we welcome you to the HEICO Fourth Quarter Fiscal '23 Earnings Announcement Teleconference. I'm Larry Mendelson, Chairman and CEO of HEICO Corporation, and I'm joined here this morning by Eric Mendelson, HEICO's Co-President and President of HEICO's Flight Support Group; Victor Mendelson, HEICO's Co-President and President of HEICO's Electronic Technologies Group; and Carlos Macau, our Executive Vice President and CFO. Before reviewing our operating results in detail, I would like to take a moment to thank all of HEICO's talented team members for delivering another strong quarter and strong year.

謝謝你，薩馬拉。大家早安，我們非常感謝您加入我們，我們歡迎您參加 HEICO 23 年第四季財報電話會議。我是HEICO 公司董事長兼執行長 Larry Mendelson，今天早上與我一起來到這裡的還有HEICO 聯席總裁兼HEICO 飛行支援集團總裁 Eric Mendelson)； Victor Mendelson，HEICO 聯合總裁兼 HEICO 電子技術集團總裁；以及我們的執行副總裁兼財務長卡洛斯·澳門。在詳細回顧我們的經營業績之前，我想花一點時間感謝 HEICO 所有才華橫溢的團隊成員，感謝他們再次實現了強勁的季度和強勁的年度。

Your continued focus on exceeding customer expectations and operational excellence has translated into suburb results for the shareholders. I would also like to congratulate and thank the Wencor team for a terrific quarter within the HEICO family. We could not be more pleased with their performance and their results. I personally continue to be very optimistic about the future for HEICO. And as a matter of fact, I have never been more optimistic about HEICO's future than I am today. I will now summarize the highlights of our fourth quarter fiscal '23 record results.

您對超越客戶期望和卓越營運的持續關注已轉化為股東的郊區成果。我還要祝賀並感謝 Wencor 團隊在 HEICO 大家庭中度過了一個精彩的季度。我們對他們的表現和結果非常滿意。我個人仍然對 HEICO 的未來非常樂觀。事實上，我從來沒有像今天這樣對 HEICO 的未來更加樂觀。我現在將總結 23 年第四季創紀錄業績的亮點。

Consolidated fourth quarter fiscal '23 operating income and net sales represent record results for HEICO, driven principally by record net sales within the Flight Support Group and Electronic Technologies Group, mainly arising from continued strong demand for our commercial aerospace products and services and the contributions from our fiscal '23 and '22 acquisitions. Consolidated operating income and net sales in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23 improved by 29% and 54%, respectively, as compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal '22. These results mainly reflect 14% quarterly consolidated organic net sales growth as well as the impact from the acquisitions.

23財年第四季合併營業收入和淨銷售額代表了HEICO 創紀錄的業績，這主要是由飛行支援集團和電子技術集團創紀錄的淨銷售額推動的，這主要是由於對我們的商業航空航太產品和服務的持續強勁需求以及來自我們的 23 財年和 22 財年收購。與 22 財年第四季相比，23 財年第四季的綜合營業收入和淨銷售額分別成長了 29% 和 54%。這些業績主要反映了 14% 的季度合併有機淨銷售額成長以及收購的影響。

Consolidated net income increased 6% to $103.4 million or $0.74 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23, and that was up from $97.2 million or $0.70 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of fiscal '22. In connection with the Wencor acquisition. HEICO incurred acquisition cost during the fourth quarter of fiscal '23, and they decreased net income attributable to HEICO by approximately $13.6 million or $0.10 per diluted share. Our consolidated operating margins before the Wencor related nonrecurring deal expenses remain strong and are consistent with the expectations we have previously communicated. These margins are extremely healthy, even though our product mix this year has meant lower overall margins than in prior year.

23 財年第四季的合併淨利潤成長了 6%，達到 1.034 億美元，即稀釋後每股 0.74 美元，高於 22 財年第四季的 9,720 萬美元，即稀釋後每股 0.70 美元。與 Wencor 收購有關。 HEICO 在 23 財年第四季產生了收購成本，導致 HEICO 淨利潤減少了約 1,360 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.10 美元。在扣除 Wencor 相關的非經常性交易費用之前，我們的綜合營業利潤率仍然強勁，並且與我們先前傳達的預期一致。儘管我們今年的產品組合意味著整體利潤率低於去年，但這些利潤率非常健康。

In the fourth quarter of fiscal '23, excluding the Wencor acquisition cost, consolidated net income increased 20% to $117 million or $0.84 per diluted share. Our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio was 3.04x as of October 31, '23, and that compares to 0.25x as of October 31, '22. The net debt-to-EBITDA ratio increased in the fiscal year ending October 31, '23, principally reflects our successful offering of $1.2 billion in senior unsecured notes and increased borrowings on our revolving credit facility. We used the net proceeds from the sale of the notes and additional borrowings on our revolving credit facility to fund the acquisition of Wencor.

23 財年第四季，不包括 Wencor 收購成本，合併淨利成長 20%，達到 1.17 億美元，即攤薄後每股收益 0.84 美元。截至 2023 年 10 月 31 日，我們的淨負債與 EBITDA 比率為 3.04 倍，而截至 22 年 10 月 31 日，比率為 0.25 倍。截至 2023 年 10 月 31 日的財年中，淨債務與 EBITDA 比率有所上升，主要反映了我們成功發行了 12 億美元的優先無擔保票據，並增加了循環信貸額度的借款。我們使用出售票據的淨收益和循環信貸額度的額外借款來為收購 Wencor 提供資金。

Cash flow provided by operating activities improved to $148.4 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23, and that was up from $143.9 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal '22. Cash flow provided by operating activities in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23 reflects an increase in working capital, principally driven by an increase in inventories to support our increased consolidated backlog. The continued excellent cash flow generation by HEICO permitted our Board of Directors to recently declare a $0.10 per share semiannual dividend, which represents our 91st consecutive dividend payment.

23 財年第四季營運活動提供的現金流量增加至 1.484 億美元，高於 22 財年第四季的 1.439 億美元。 23 財年第四季經營活動提供的現金流量反映了營運資本的增加，這主要是由庫存增加所推動的，以支持我們增加的合併積壓訂單。 HEICO 持續產生的出色現金流使我們的董事會最近宣布派發每股 0.10 美元的半年度股息，這是我們連續第 91 次支付股息。

At this time, I would like to introduce Eric Mendelson, Co-President of HEICO and President of HEICO's Flight Support Group, and he will discuss the fourth quarter results of the Flight Support Group.

這次我想介紹一下HEICO聯席總裁兼HEICO飛行支援集團總裁Eric Mendelson，他將討論飛行支援集團第四季的業績。

Thank you very much. I would like to take a moment to recognize and welcome the Wencor team members to the HEICO family. The Wencor team is a perfect and highly complementary fit with the HEICO culture, and I'm extremely optimistic about the future of Wencor's contributions to the Flight Support Group's future. I must say that over the last number of months, I've gotten the chance to visit most of the Wencor facilities. And I've been incredibly impressed with the caliber of team members that Wencor has.

非常感謝。我想花一點時間向 Wencor 團隊成員表示認可並歡迎他們加入 HEICO 大家庭。 Wencor 團隊與 HEICO 文化完美且高度互補，我對 Wencor 對飛行支援集團未來的貢獻極為樂觀。我必須說，在過去的幾個月裡，我有機會參觀了 Wencor 的大部分設施。 Wencor 團隊成員的才華給我留下了深刻的印象。

We had very high expectations for them prior to closing the acquisition, but they continue to amaze everyone and really perform outstandingly well. It really is a privilege and an honor to have gotten to know these people. And also I'd like to thank the HEICO team members for being so welcoming to their new Wencore brothers and sisters and bringing them into the fold because as a team, we can accomplish so much more than we can individually.

在完成收購之前，我們對他們抱有很高的期望，但他們繼續讓所有人感到驚訝，並且表現得非常出色。能夠認識這些人確實是一種榮幸。我還要感謝 HEICO 團隊成員如此歡迎他們的新 Wencore 兄弟姐妹，並將他們帶入其中，因為作為一個團隊，我們可以完成比個人更多的事情。

The HEICO team members have been phenomenally excited about the Wencor acquisitions. We've done about 100 acquisitions, but I can say that this one really has generated incredible enthusiasm and excitement. And I am just absolutely honored to work with both the HEICO and the Wencor team members. We've got a phenomenal group, and I think the results really speak for themselves with a lot more to come. So again, thank you very much to all of our HEICO Flight Support team members for an incredible performance in the fourth quarter and full 2023. On to the results.

HEICO 團隊成員對 Wencor 的收購感到非常興奮。我們已經完成了大約 100 起收購，但我可以說，這次確實產生了令人難以置信的熱情和興奮。我非常榮幸能夠與 HEICO 和 Wencor 團隊成員合作。我們擁有一支非凡的團隊，我認為結果不言自明，而且還會有更多的結果。再次，非常感謝我們所有 HEICO 飛行支援團隊成員在第四季度和整個 2023 年取得的令人難以置信的表現。關於結果。

The Flight Support Group's net sales increased 74% to a record $601.7 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23, up from $346 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal '22. The net sales increase in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23 reflects $185.7 million from Wencor and strong organic growth of 20%. The Flight Support Group's operating income increased 47% to a record $114.6 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23, up from $77.8 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal '22. Wencor's operating income in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23 was $29.3 million. The operating income increase principally reflects the previously mentioned net sales growth and an improved gross profit margin, partially offset by $12.7 million of Wencor acquisition costs and $11.8 million of Wencor's intangible asset amortization expense and higher performance-based compensation expense.

23 財年第四季度，飛行支援集團的淨銷售額成長了 74%，達到創紀錄的 6.017 億美元，高於 22 財年第四季的 3.46 億美元。 23 財年第四季的淨銷售額成長反映了 Wencor 的 1.857 億美元和 20% 的強勁有機成長。 23 財年第四季度，飛行支援集團的營業收入成長了 47%，達到創紀錄的 1.146 億美元，高於 22 財年第四季的 7,780 萬美元。 Wencor 23 財年第四季的營業收入為 2,930 萬美元。營業收入的成長主要反映了前面提到的淨銷售額成長和毛利率的提高，部分被Wencor 的1,270 萬美元收購成本和Wencor 的1,180 萬美元無形資產攤銷費用以及更高的績效補償費用所抵消。

The improved gross profit margin principally reflects higher net sales within our aftermarket replacement parts and repair and overhaul parts and services product lines. The Fight Support Group's operating margin was 19% in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23 as compared to 22.5% in the fourth quarter of fiscal '22. The operating margin decrease in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23 principally reflects the previously mentioned Wencor acquisition costs and intangible asset amortization expense. Excluding the Wencor acquisition costs and intangible asset amortization expense, the Flight Support Group's operating income increased 79% to $139.1 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23, and the operating margin was 23.1%. Now I would like to introduce Victor Mendelson, Co-President of HEICO and President of HEICO's Electronic Technologies Group, to discuss the fourth quarter results of the Electronic Technologies Group.

毛利率的增加主要反映了我們的售後更換零件以及維修和大修零件和服務產品線的淨銷售額增加。 Fight Support Group 在 2023 財年第四季的營業利潤率為 19%，而在 22 財年第四季為 22.5%。 23財年第四季營業利潤率下降主要反映了前面提到的Wencor收購成本和無形資產攤提費用。不計入Wencor收購成本和無形資產攤銷費用，飛行支援集團23財年第四季的營業收入成長79%，達到1.391億美元，營業利潤率為23.1%。現在我想介紹HEICO聯席總裁兼HEICO電子技術集團總裁Victor Mendelson，討論電子技術集團第四季業績。

Thank you, Eric. The Electronic Technologies Group's net sales increased 28% to a record $342.5 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23, up from $268.5 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal '22. The net sales increase principally reflects the impact from our fiscal '23 and '22 acquisitions as well as 6% organic growth. The organic net sales increase in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23 mainly resulted from increased net sales of defense, space and commercial aviation products, partially offset by lower net sales of other electronics products. We're pleased to see 26% sequential growth in defense product net sales in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23 over the prior quarter, which now marks our third consecutive quarter of defense-related net sales growth.

謝謝你，埃里克。 23 財年第四季，電子科技集團的淨銷售額成長了 28%，達到創紀錄的 3.425 億美元，高於 22 財年第四季的 2.685 億美元。淨銷售額的成長主要反映了我們 23 財年和 22 財年收購以及 6% 有機成長的影響。 23財年第四季的有機淨銷售額成長主要是由於國防、航太和商用航空產品淨銷售額的成長，部分被其他電子產品淨銷售額的下降所抵銷。我們很高興看到 23 財年第四季的國防產品淨銷售額比上一季連續成長 26%，這標誌著我們的國防相關淨銷售額連續第三個季度成長。

The Electronic Technologies Group's operating income increased 8% to a record $86.4 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23, up from $79.9 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal '22. The operating income increase in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23 principally reflects the previously mentioned higher net sales volume, partially offset by higher costs from the Exxelia acquisition, higher performance-based compensation expense and unfavorable changes in the estimated fair value of accrued contingent compensation. The Electronic Technologies Group's operating margin was 25.2% in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23 as compared to 29.7% in the fourth quarter of fiscal '22. As acquisitions intangible amortization is equal to approximately 400 basis points from our sales, we view that our ETG businesses achieved a roughly 29% margin from their -- what we consider to be their true operational activities, -- which is excellent by any measure, and we're very happy with it even if it is not as high as it was before.

電子科技集團的營業收入在 2023 財年第四季成長了 8%，達到創紀錄的 8,640 萬美元，高於 22 財年第四季的 7,990 萬美元。 23財年第四季的營業收入成長主要反映了前面提到的較高的淨銷量，但部分被Exxelia收購帶來的較高成本、較高的績效薪酬費用以及應計或有薪酬估計公允價值的不利變化所抵消。電子科技集團 23 財年第四季的營業利潤率為 25.2%，而 22 財年第四季為 29.7%。由於收購的無形攤銷相當於我們銷售額的約400 個基點，我們認為我們的ETG 業務從其真正的營運活動中獲得了約29% 的利潤率，無論以何種標準衡量，這都是非常出色的，我們對此感到非常滿意，即使它沒有以前那麼高。

I also note that in last year's fourth quarter, we recorded a $3 million gain from contingent consideration reversal. So last year's fourth quarter operating income included that gain, while this year, we had the opposite effect, which reduced the operating margin in total between the 2 years by around 140 basis points from last year's fourth quarter. All of this is why I look at what we consider to be the business' actual performance before noncash acquisition accounting. And that, as I said before, is excellent in absolute terms. The lower operating margin in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23, as we said, principally reflects the previously mentioned higher costs from the Exxelia acquisition, the unfavorable changes in the estimated fair value of contingent compensation and higher performance-based compensation. I turn the call back over to Larry Mendelson.

我還注意到，去年第四季度，我們從或有對沖中獲得了 300 萬美元的收益。因此，去年第四季的營業收入包括了這項收益，而今年，我們產生了相反的效果，兩年間的營業利潤率總計比去年第四季減少了約 140 個基點。所有這些就是為什麼我在非現金收購會計之前考慮我們認為的企業實際表現。正如我之前所說，這絕對是非常出色的。正如我們所說，23 財年第四季營業利潤率較低，主要反映了前面提到的收購 Exxelia 帶來的較高成本、或有薪酬估計公允價值的不利變化以及基於績效的薪酬較高。我把電話轉回給拉里·門德爾森。

Thank you, Victor. Now for the outlook. As we look ahead to fiscal '24, we anticipate net sales growth in both the Flight Support Group and the Electronic Technologies Group. And that will be driven by contributions from our fiscal '23 acquisitions as well as the demand for the majority of our products. Additionally, continued inflationary pressures may lead to higher material and labor costs. We plan to actively work on Wencor's ongoing integration into our business and operations, continue our commitment to developing new products and services and further market penetration while maintaining our financial strength and flexibility.

謝謝你，維克多。現在展望一下。展望 24 財年，我們預期飛行支援集團和電子技術集團的淨銷售額都會成長。這將受到我們 23 財年收購的貢獻以及對我們大多數產品的需求的推動。此外，持續的通膨壓力可能導致材料和勞動力成本上升。我們計劃積極致力於 Wencor 不斷融入我們的業務和運營，繼續致力於開發新產品和服務並進一步滲透市場，同時保持我們的財務實力和靈活性。

Our operating margins, especially before nonrecurring acquisition expenses remain extremely healthy and reflect our strong business operations. We believe that our ongoing conservative policies and strong cash flow enable us to continuously invest in new research and development and to take advantage of strategic acquisition opportunities, which collectively position HEICO for success in the markets that we serve.

我們的營業利潤率，特別是在非經常性收購費用之前仍然非常健康，反映了我們強勁的業務運作。我們相信，我們持續的保守政策和強勁的現金流使我們能夠持續投資於新的研發並利用策略性收購機會，使 HEICO 在我們所服務的市場取得成功。

In closing, I would like to again thank our incredible team members for their continued support and commitment to HEICO. Their persistent drive and determination to win in the marketplace has resulted in another quarter of outstanding results. Thank you all team members for everything you do to make HEICO a great company. And now, Samantha, I'd like to open the floor for questions.

最後，我要再次感謝我們優秀的團隊成員對 HEICO 的持續支持與承諾。他們堅持不懈的動力和贏得市場的決心帶來了另一個季度的出色業績。感謝所有團隊成員為使 HEICO 成為一家偉大的公司所做的一切。現在，莎曼珊，我想請大家提問。

(Operator Instructions) We'll take our first question from Robert Spingarn with Melius Research.

（操作員說明）我們將回答 Melius Research 的 Robert Spingarn 提出的第一個問題。

You put up a terrific quarter. You're so far ahead of 2019 where everybody else is trying to get even on an organic basis. I'd like to start there with Victor and just talk about this 26% sequential growth vector, if you could and characterize what's behind that? Is that across defense? Is it a few specific programs that have started to move forward?

你這個季度的表現非常出色。 2019 年你已經遙遙領先，其他人都在努力實現有機平衡。我想從 Victor 開始，談談這個 26% 的連續成長向量，如果你可以的話，請描述一下背後的原因是什麼？這是越過防守嗎？是一些已經開始推進的具體項目嗎？

Rob, it's good to talk with you. And it's a good question as always. So I think our strongest market right now and what's the biggest driver has been commercial aviation. And we have a few businesses in the ETG that have been particularly strong as a result of multiple factors. Some of it is the recovery in air travel, some of its new products that we've introduced.

羅布，很高興與你交談。這是一個一如既往的好問題。因此，我認為我們目前最強大的市場和最大的推動力是商業航空。由於多種因素的影響，我們 ETG 中的一些業務特別強勁。其中一些是航空旅行的復甦，以及我們推出的一些新產品。

Some of it is also some efficiency initiatives and some of it's acquisition related. So it's a broad mix there. Defense is definitely moving in the right direction for us as well. The, and commercial space is holding in pretty nicely overall for us. There are pockets of weakness here and there. But overall, it's pretty good for us. I would say the headwind for us, and I mentioned this before. I think over the last year, I signaled this probably a year or more ago that I thought some of our high-end non-aerospace and defense markets would start to turn down this year. And those have been more difficult.

其中一些也是一些效率舉措，其中一些與收購相關。所以這是一個廣泛的混合。對我們來說，防守無疑也朝著正確的方向發展。總體而言，商業空間對我們來說保持得相當好。到處都有弱點。但總體而言，這對我們來說非常好。我想說的是我們的逆風，我之前提到過這一點。我認為在過去的一年裡，我可能在一年前或更早的時候就發出了這樣的訊號，我認為我們的一些高端非航空航太和國防市場今年將開始下滑。而這些則更加困難。

So those markets that serve some high-end electronics, medical and markets like those are definitely trending in the opposite direction. And I would expect that will continue for some time. And I think we'll see the effects of that over the next few quarters, actually, first quarter in particular and as we go on into the year before that starts to reverse. And that's principally a result of probably overly aggressive ordering by customers during the supply chain crunch dealing with the same kinds of things that we were dealing with. They wanted to get out ahead of it. And now the deliveries are coming in and some of their orders may be slower, so they have to correct their inventory levels.

因此，那些服務於高端電子產品、醫療和類似市場的市場肯定會朝著相反的方向發展。我預計這種情況會持續一段時間。我認為我們將在接下來的幾個季度（實際上，特別是第一季）看到這種影響的影響，隨著我們進入到開始逆轉的前一年，我們會看到這種影響。這主要是由於客戶在供應鏈緊縮期間處理與我們處理的同類事務時過於激進的訂購所造成的。他們想提前離開。現在交貨正在到來，他們的一些訂單可能會變慢，因此他們必須糾正庫存水準。

Okay. Understood. And then the next one moves over to FSG. So Eric, this is either for you, it could be for Carlos. But if we look at the 8-K that you filed back in mid-October, it looks like Wencor sales outgrew overall organic sales for FSG. I mean the numbers look like they could be 40% or more. It's not an exact comparison because it's an October quarter versus the December quarter. But I wanted to ask if that math is correct. And if so, what's driving that strong performance and can it continue for Wencor?

好的。明白了。然後下一個轉移到 FSG。所以埃里克，這要么是給你的，也可能是給卡洛斯的。但如果我們看一下您在 10 月中旬提交的 8-K，您會發現 Wencor 的銷售額似乎超過了 FSG 的整體有機銷售額。我的意思是，這些數字看起來可能是 40% 或更多。這不是一個精確的比較，因為這是 10 月季度與 12 月季度的比較。但我想問這個數學是否正確。如果是這樣，是什麼推動了 Wencor 如此強勁的業績？它能否持續下去？

Rob, this is Eric. So I'll start out answering that question, and then Carlos will fill in with some of the details. encore has performed exceptionally well as have, frankly, all of the HEICO Flight Support businesses. They're ahead of plan. They're doing very well, working incredibly hard and very similar in culture to the HEICO Group in terms of being conservative in what they predict and frankly, outperforming. I'm not sure that the numbers that you state are -- let's see what Carlos has to say about it. My sense is the encore is growing at a similar rate to the HEICO Flight Support aftermarket businesses. But I'll let Carlos fill in on that.

羅布，這是艾瑞克。所以我將首先回答這個問題，然後卡洛斯將填寫一些細節。坦白說，encore 的表現與所有 HEICO 飛行支援業務一樣出色。他們比計劃提前了。他們做得很好，工作非常努力，而且在文化上與 HEICO 集團非常相似，他們對預測持保守態度，坦白說，表現出色。我不確定你所說的數字是——讓我們看看卡洛斯對此有何評論。我的感覺是 encore 的成長速度與 HEICO Flight Support 售後市場業務的成長速度相似。但我會讓卡洛斯補充這一點。

Yes, Rob, this is Carlos. I would say that you have to remember that when we put the 8-K out, we had pro forma sales in there, which, as you know, on core has some acquisitions early in '23 and -- so that's probably why you're seeing sort of exponential growth. I really, to be honest, I haven't gone back and calculated the organic because we just bought them. I will tell you that we were counting on about $724 million in pro forma sales. I mean if you just divide that before, we would expect at $181 million, they delivered almost $186 million. So we're pleased with the sales growth. I would say that Q4 is typically a little bit more richer than some of the other quarters when it comes to aerospace sales. So none of this is unexpected.

是的，羅布，這是卡洛斯。我想說的是，你必須記住，當我們推出 8-K 時，我們在那裡進行了形式銷售，正如你所知，核心在 23 年初進行了一些收購，所以這可能就是你的原因我們看到了指數級成長。說實話，我真的沒有回去計算有機物，因為我們剛買了它們。我會告訴您，我們預計銷售額約為 7.24 億美元。我的意思是，如果您之前將其除以 1.81 億美元，那麼他們將交付近 1.86 億美元。因此，我們對銷售成長感到滿意。我想說，在航空航天銷售方面，第四季通常比其他一些季度更豐富一些。所以這一切都不足為奇。

But no, they had a great year. And to Eric's point, they're performing at the same rate that the overall FSG is, particularly in the parts business.

但不，他們度過了美好的一年。艾瑞克認為，他們的表現與整個 FSG 的表現相同，尤其是在零件業務方面。

Okay. That's super helpful. And just on all of this growth and on the complementary nature of the 2 groups, Eric, how are you doing with the cross-selling effort? Has that started to get traction? And what might we expect from that?

好的。這非常有幫助。就所有這些成長以及兩個群體的互補性而言，艾瑞克，你的交叉銷售工作做得怎麼樣？這已經開始受到關注了嗎？我們可以從中期待什麼？

Yes, I would say that we have started the effort and it's borne fruit. There are a number of projects that the companies are cooperating on. The HEICO style is very much to let our new acquisitions to continue to run as they have, so we can really make sure that we fully understand. I can tell you that a lot of the businesses are cooperating, figuring out product rationalization, how to maximize sales opportunities. There are a number of projects that are moving forward. But I would say that, that's something that we're going to be getting into more heavily in 2024.

是的，我想說我們已經開始了努力並且已經取得了成果。兩家公司正在合作進行多個專案。 HEICO 風格很大程度上是為了讓我們新收購的產品繼續按原樣運行，這樣我們才能真正確保我們完全理解。我可以告訴你，很多企業正在合作，研究產品合理化，如何最大化銷售機會。有許多項目正在推進。但我想說的是，我們將在 2024 年更加重視這一點。

And our next question comes from Pete Skibitski with Alembic Global.

我們的下一個問題來自 Alembic Global 的 Pete Skibitski。

Maybe another one for Eric or Carlos. But Eric, I think what you called out for kind of the adjusted FSG margin was over 23%, which is really strong. And I don't know how much seasonality factored in there, but I would also think you'd have some pricing power in '24 because some of the bigger suppliers, I think, have called out high single-digit pricing increases for '24. So it seems like you've got some like room there or even though I know you guys don't like to be too aggressive, but is something approaching 23% reasonable all-in for 2024 in FSG? Or are there other factors that we should -- I know Laurans called out inflation and that sort of thing. So how do you think it nets out next year?

也許是埃里克或卡洛斯的另一份。但是艾瑞克，我認為你所要求的調整後的 FSG 利潤率超過 23%，這確實很強勁。我不知道其中有多少季節性因素，但我也認為你在 24 年有一定的定價能力，因為我認為一些較大的供應商已經要求 24 年的個位數價格上漲。所以看起來你們有一些類似的空間，或者儘管我知道你們不喜歡太激進，但是 2024 年 FSG 接近 23％ 的合理全押是合理的嗎？或者還有其他我們應該考慮的因素——我知道勞蘭斯提到了通貨膨脹之類的事情。那麼您認為明年的業績如何？

Let me take that one, Eric. So Pete, this is Carlos. You have to remember that we have a pretty big amortization slow coming in from the Wencor acquisition. So that's going to temper some of the, just going to temper the GAAP margin a little bit. I think that it's going to be a little lumpy throughout the quarters, but I wouldn't get too proud over your skis. I've been talking about the segment doing around 21% margins when things settle when we sort of settle into our footprint. And I think as we're looking forward, that might be a good barometer. We haven't given guidance, but that's kind of what I'm thinking that the 24 is going to look like right now.

讓我來吧，埃里克。皮特，這是卡洛斯。您必須記住，收購 Wencor 後我們的攤提速度相當大。所以這會緩和一些，只是稍微緩和一下公認會計原則利潤率。我認為整個季度都會有點不穩定，但我不會為你的滑雪板感到太自豪。我一直在談論當事情穩定下來，當我們稍微適應我們的足跡時，該部門的利潤率約為 21%。我認為，當我們展望未來時，這可能是一個很好的晴雨表。我們還沒有給出指導，但這就是我認為 24 現在的樣子。

Okay and just curious. Go ahead.

好吧，只是好奇。前進。

I'm sorry. And Pete, this is Eric to add. You had asked about pricing. Yes, there's no question that we've got pricing upside potential. However, it's really been our philosophy to pass along our cost increases. And so that's what we've been focused on doing to be able to maintain our margins and to continue to provide a lot of opportunities for our customers. So I think that there is a very large potential there. One of the things is as -- if someone's not buying a part and the OEM has raised the price on the part, then as new customers come in and start buying that part, they pay higher prices. So in a sense, we do get some pricing that way, but we are being very good to our existing customers, and we're looking very much at our cost increases and cost increases have been significant in a number of areas.

對不起。皮特，這是艾瑞克要補充的。您曾詢問過定價。是的，毫無疑問我們有定價上行潛力。然而，轉嫁成本增加確實是我們的理念。因此，這就是我們一直致力於保持利潤並繼續為我們的客戶提供大量機會的事情。所以我認為那裡有很大的潛力。其中一件事是，如果有人不購買某個零件，而 OEM 提高了該零件的價格，那麼隨著新客戶進來並開始購買該零件，他們就會支付更高的價格。因此，從某種意義上說，我們確實透過這種方式獲得了一些定價，但我們對現有客戶非常好，我們非常關注成本增加，並且在許多領域成本增加都很顯著。

I don't need to tell you about labor and material. And we have been successful in passing along those cost increases because it's something that we've got to do in order to maintain our margins. As far as the overall operating margin before intangible amortization, I think that we'll continue to perform as we have in the past that I'm quite pleased with our performance in the past. And we've got a lot of very, very good things in the hopper, a lot of projects where HEICO and Encore can work together on a number of things. So I'm very optimistic about the future.

我不需要告訴你關於勞動力和材料的事情。我們成功地轉嫁了這些成本增加，因為這是我們為了維持利潤而必須做的事。就無形攤銷前的整體營業利潤率而言，我認為我們將繼續像過去那樣表現，我對我們過去的表現非常滿意。我們已經有了很多非常非常好的東西，HEICO 和 Encore 可以在很多專案上合作做很多事情。所以我對未來非常樂觀。

I appreciate it guys. And just overall, clear on the amortization, I think you called out $11.8 million in the fourth quarter. What's kind of the run rate you're expecting in '24 that flows through FSG?

我很感激你們。總體而言，在明確攤銷方面，我認為您在第四季度支出了 1,180 萬美元。您預計 24 年 FSG 的運轉率是多少？

That would be the quarterly run. Are you talking about for just Wencor or for the whole segment?

那將是季度運行。您指的是 Wencor 還是整個細分市場？

Well, I think the $11.8 million you referred to was Wencor purchase intangibles amortization. So I'm just wondering that number, how that runs through '24.

嗯，我認為你提到的 1180 萬美元是 Wencor 購買無形資產攤銷。所以我只是想知道這個數字，它是如何貫穿 24 年的。

So it should be about that much each quarter. I will caution you that we're in the middle of purchase accounting and valuations and all that kind of stuff. So it could move a few ticks to the right or left, but that's what we're counting on for next year, each quarter about $11.8 million.

所以每季應該是這麼多。我要提醒你的是，我們正在進行採購會計和估價以及所有類似的事情。因此，它可能會向右或向左移動幾個刻度，但這就是我們明年的預期，每個季度約為 1180 萬美元。

We'll take our next question from Bert Subin with Stifel.

我們將回答 Bert Subin 和 Stifel 提出的下一個問題。

Maybe just to follow up on that margin question. If we look at FSP margins being dilutive to HEICO, just given where ETG margins are, you noted last quarter, Wencor was in line with FSG, excluding the amortization piece, which seems to be the case based on your prepared comments, Eric. When you put that together with the synergy opportunity and the broader parts pricing opportunity that we've seen on the OEM side, do you think there's a path to overall operating margins getting back to or above FY '22 levels in the next, let's say, 3 years?

也許只是為了跟進保證金問題。如果我們看看 FSP 利潤率對 HEICO 的稀釋程度，只要考慮到 ETG 利潤率，您上季度指出，Wencor 與 FSG 一致，不包括攤銷部分，根據您準備好的評論，情況似乎就是這樣，Eric。當您將其與我們在OEM 方面看到的協同機會和更廣泛的零件定價機會結合起來時，您認為接下來是否有辦法使整體營運利潤率回到或高於22 財年的水平，比方說， 3年？

Well, so when we look at this past year for the Flight Support Group, in '23, our operating margin even after the onetime expenses was about roughly 22%. So we are going to have some additional headwinds as a result of the intangible amortization. But I think that when you add back the intangible amortization, you get into around the 23% area within the Flight Support Group. So I do think that we yes, when you add back the intangible amortization and M&A expense, you get back to the 23%. So I do think that there is additional opportunity for us.

嗯，所以當我們回顧過去一年的飛行支援集團時，在 23 年，即使扣除一次性費用，我們的營運利潤率也約為 22%。因此，由於無形攤銷，我們將面臨一些額外的阻力。但我認為，當你加回無形攤銷時，你就會進入飛行支援小組內大約 23% 的區域。所以我確實認為我們是的，當你加回無形攤銷和併購費用時，你會回到 23%。所以我確實認為我們還有額外的機會。

But again, as I said, we want to be very protective and make sure we take care of our existing customers who have been buying the existing parts. But there is no question that there is a pricing opportunity. I mean if somebody has not purchased a part from us, our list price would escalate and they would not be able to pay the same price for that part as somebody who had been buying it for a long time. So yes, I think that we do have pricing opportunity on the upside. I want to be careful not to get too far over my skis here because again, we are very customer-friendly, but I do think there is pricing opportunity.

但正如我所說，我們希望採取強有力的保護措施，確保照顧到購買現有零件的現有客戶。但毫無疑問存在定價機會。我的意思是，如果有人沒有從我們這裡購買零件，我們的價格就會上漲，他們將無法以與長期購買該零件的人相同的價格購買該零件。所以，是的，我認為我們確實有上行的定價機會。我想小心不要在這裡超出我的滑雪板，因為我們對客戶非常友好，但我確實認為有定價機會。

Okay. Great. And then just as, I guess, a higher-level follow-up, you've called out commercial aviation in that end market as being strong. Boeing and Airbus is clearly talking about driving towards target production rates, that are much higher than today's rates over the next couple of years. Assuming that plays out based on sort of what you know today, how would you expect your Commercial aero end market to change? Do you think they remain fairly similar over that period?

好的。偉大的。然後，我想，就像更高層級的後續行動一樣，您稱該終端市場的商業航空很強大。波音和空中巴士顯然正在討論在未來幾年內實現目標生產力，該生產率將遠高於目前的生產力。假設根據您今天所了解的情況，您預計您的商業航空終端市場將如何變化？你認為他們在那個時期仍然相當相似嗎？

Yes. I think they remain fairly similar. One of the things that happened for us during the COVID crisis is we got rid of a lot of old aircraft at one time. So instead of having those headwinds, those headwinds as those older aircraft would have been retired over time, we got rid of them all. So if you look at our sales today, there's been a significant upgrade in the improvement in our fleet age and distribution. So I think that the aircraft that we're servicing today are going to be out there for a long time. They continue to age 1 year per year, and their price points are very positive for HEICO. So I think that we're going to have the wind to our backs for many years.

是的。我認為它們仍然相當相似。在新冠危機期間，我們發生的一件事是我們一次處理了很多舊飛機。因此，我們沒有遇到這些逆風，那些舊飛機會隨著時間的推移而退役，而是將它們全部消除了。因此，如果你看看我們今天的銷售情況，你會發現我們的機隊年齡和分佈有了顯著的改善。因此，我認為我們今天維修的飛機將繼續存在很長一段時間。它們每年繼續老化 1 年，它們的價格點對 HEICO 來說非常有利。所以我認為我們將在未來很多年逆風而行。

We'll take our next question from Ken Herbert with RBC.

我們將回答 RBC 的 Ken Herbert 提出的下一個問題。

Maybe a question, Eric, for you to start off. If you look at HEICO now with Wencor in the combined business. Can you talk organically perhaps how much you'd expect your PMA portfolio, for instance, to grow into '24 or '25? I guess I'm just curious about what kind of share gain or or opportunities you're seeing in PMA in particular and how you're investing to support that?

艾瑞克，也許你可以先問一個問題。如果你看看 HEICO 現在與 Wencor 合併後的業務。例如，您能否有機地談談您期望您的 PMA 投資組合在「24」或「25」中成長多少？我想我只是好奇您在 PMA 中看到了什麼樣的份額收益或機會，以及您如何投資來支持這一點？

Yes. We, both HEICO and Wencor performed very well in terms of new PMA generation. We're continuing to invest, continuing to find new opportunities. So I mean without doubt, this is going to be a record year in terms of PMA generation and the number of parts that we can come out with. I can tell you that I've met with a number of customers since Wencor has closed, and they are really excited and enthusiastic unlike I've ever seen, concerning our product line. They want us to do more Again, there's going to be plenty of business for the OEMs. There's more than enough business to go around.

是的。我們 HEICO 和 Wencor 在新一代 PMA 方面都表現得非常好。我們將繼續投資，繼續尋找新的機會。所以我的意思是，毫無疑問，就 PMA 的生成量和我們可以推出的零件數量而言，今年將是創紀錄的一年。我可以告訴您，自從 Wencor 關閉以來，我已經會見了許多客戶，他們對我們的產品線非常興奮和熱情，這是我從未見過的。他們希望我們做得更多 同樣，原始設備製造商將會有大量的業務。有足夠的生意可以做。

But they clearly have seen after going through a supply chain constraint like we've seen over the last couple of years, not only does HEICO bring cost savings, but we also bring availability. And that is a very, very key part of our value proposition. So that is driving them to want to continue to develop more parts with us. And why I'm so bullish on it. I mean, obviously, we're not going to HEICO, Wencor won't develop the same parts and we can have each of the business units focused in areas where they have a competitive advantage, and that is our plan to be able to broaden the amount of product that we can bring to our customers.

但他們清楚地看到，在經歷了像我們過去幾年所看到的供應鏈限制之後，HEICO 不僅帶來了成本節約，而且還帶來了可用性。這是我們價值主張中非常非常關鍵的部分。因此，這促使他們想要繼續與我們一起開發更多零件。以及為什麼我如此看好它。我的意思是，顯然，我們不會去 HEICO，Wencor 不會開發相同的部件，我們可以讓每個業務部門專注於他們具有競爭優勢的領域，這就是我們能夠擴大業務範圍的計劃我們可以為客戶帶來的產品數量。

Okay. That's very helpful, Eric. And maybe, Carlos, if you look at the Wencor business, to the extent to which it's still sort of stand-alone or independent somewhat. How is the cash generation profile of that business relative to legacy HEICO? And is there an opportunity to maybe see some better cash generation out of the Wencor business?

好的。這非常有幫助，埃里克。卡洛斯，如果你看看 Wencor 業務，也許它在某種程度上仍然是獨立的或獨立的。與傳統 HEICO 相比，該業務的現金產生狀況如何？是否有機會從 Wencor 業務中看到更好的現金產生？

Ken, it was a little hard to hear that, but it sounds like you're wondering how we might be able to squeeze more money out of Wencore? Is that essentially your question?

Ken，聽起來有點困難，但聽起來你想知道我們如何從 Wencore 身上榨取更多錢？這本質上是你的問題嗎？

Exactly. Yes, sort of the cash profile and the outlook there.

確切地。是的，是現金狀況和前景。

Sure. So I think that on a cash flow for basis from an EBITDA perspective, they're doing quite nicely. They're ahead of our expectations. I think that as we coordinate operations and coordinate our sort of consolidation of some back office things, there may be some savings there. As I mentioned to you before, we're not going to, we're not going to disrupt operations right now with any consolidation moves because our end markets are too hot and candidly, they're doing great. And I think that if they continue to do what they did this quarter, we'll be very happy. They're not consuming a lot of working capital at the moment. So that's all a positive going forward in '24.

當然。所以我認為，從 EBITDA 的角度來看，以現金流為基礎，他們的表現相當不錯。他們超出了我們的預期。我認為，當我們協調營運並協調一些後台事務的整合時，可能會節省一些費用。正如我之前向您提到的，我們不會，我們現在不會透過任何整合舉措來擾亂運營，因為我們的終端市場太熱了，坦白說，他們做得很好。我認為，如果他們繼續做本季所做的事情，我們會非常高興。他們目前並沒有消耗大量營運資金。所以這都是 24 年的正面進展。

We'll take our next question from Scott Deuschle with Deutsche Bank.

我們將回答德意志銀行斯科特‧德施勒 (Scott Deuschle) 提出的下一個問題。

Eric, can you talk a little bit about the munitions growth at FSG? Maybe kind of what the growth has looked like over the last year than what the outlook is going forward into 2024?

Eric，可以談談 FSG 的彈藥成長嗎？也許是去年的成長情況而不是 2024 年的前景？

I'm sorry, can you just. The growth of which product line?

對不起，你可以嗎？哪些產品線的成長？

The munitions product line, I think, in Specialty Products, I think it was a big driver of growth in the first half of the year. I'm just curious a little more granularity there?

我認為，在特種產品中，軍火產品線是今年上半年成長的一大推手。我只是好奇那裡有更多的粒度嗎？

Got it. Yes. I think what you're speaking about is the Missile Defense products that we're doing. And there's a lot of, there's been a tremendous amount of growth as you can imagine in that area. Everybody has been significantly under-invested in it. And for that reason, we're very optimistic on it. Within our Specialty Products business, we are adding capabilities and space and people to a number of those businesses. So there's a fair amount of, I would say, onetime costs that we're anticipating in 2024, but we're going to be able to cover it within our normal margins.

知道了。是的。我認為你所說的是我們正在做的導彈防禦產品。正如你可以想像的那樣，該領域有很多、巨大的成長。每個人對此的投資都嚴重不足。出於這個原因，我們對此非常樂觀。在我們的特種產品業務中，我們正在為其中一些業務增加能力、空間和人員。因此，我想說，我們預計 2024 年會產生大量一次性成本，但我們將能夠在正常利潤範圍內涵蓋它。

But the business is very strong. And I think that we've really carved out a niche for ourselves in many areas in the defense products.

但生意卻非常強勁。我認為我們確實在國防產品的許多領域為自己開闢了一個利基市場。

Okay. And then Eric, you talked earlier about price and availability being two of the differentiators for what allows you to get the sale on a PMA part. But it seems like another one is that the PMA part is often just a better part. So I'm curious if you could talk a bit about that and how frequently the product itself and the capabilities of the product are what drives the sale? As opposed to just the price and availability piece that you mentioned earlier.

好的。然後，Eric，您之前談到價格和可用性是您獲得 PMA 零件銷售的兩個差異化因素。但似乎另一個問題是 PMA 部分通常只是一個更好的部分。所以我很好奇您是否可以談談這個問題以及產品本身和產品功能驅動銷售的頻率如何？而不僅僅是您之前提到的價格和可用性部分。

Sure, Scott. I'd be happy to. So in order to get PMA, it's got, the part has got to be the same in terms of form, fit and function. So therefore, yes, the way that we are able to differentiate ourselves with respect to quality, is we typically have tighter tolerances so we produce more consistent parts. And we also have an extremely robust quality inspection program. So when parts come in from vendors, whether they are HEICO vendors or outside vendors, there's a very robust material analysis, whether the part's metal or not metal to confirm grain size, microstructure, hardness, coatings, all of those various constituents to ensure that the part that we ship out is exactly what was designed.

當然，斯科特。我很樂意。因此，為了獲得 PMA，零件在形狀、配合和功能方面必須相同。因此，是的，我們能夠在品質方面脫穎而出的方式是我們通常具有更嚴格的公差，因此我們生產出更一致的零件。我們也擁有極為健全的品質檢驗計畫。因此，當零件來自供應商時，無論他們是HEICO 供應商還是外部供應商，都會進行非常可靠的材料分析，無論零件是金屬還是非金屬，以確認晶粒尺寸、微觀結構、硬度、塗層以及所有這些不同的成分，以確保我們發出的部件正是設計的部件。

Likewise, we have a very robust inspection process to review the dimensions. So I would say that with regard to basically shipping the part according to the design intent, HEICO scores incredibly high in that area. So the parts are more consistent. Airlines are able to basically use them and install them right away and the fallout or rejection rate with HEICO parts, we believe, is significantly lower than with other companies' parts. So they are improved in that regard.

同樣，我們有一個非常強大的檢查流程來檢查尺寸。所以我想說，就基本上根據設計意圖運送零件而言，HEICO 在該領域的得分非常高。所以零件更加一致。航空公司基本上能夠使用它們並立即安裝它們，我們相信，HEICO 零件的後果或拒絕率明顯低於其他公司的零件。所以他們在這方面有所改進。

We do offer some parts that are improvements where material or dimensions can be changed. But that is a smaller part of our business, but that's also an area of opportunity for us.

我們確實提供了一些可以更改材料或尺寸的改進零件。但這只是我們業務的一小部分，但這對我們來說也是一個機會領域。

And then last question, Carlos. Can you give any kind of framework for how to best think about ETG margins for next year? Is something in the range of 24% to 25%, a good kind of base case framework to think about '24?

最後一個問題，卡洛斯。您能否給出任何框架來最好地考慮明年的 ETG 利潤率？ 24% 到 25% 範圍內的某個內容是否是考慮「24」的良好基本個案架構？

Well, I can tell you this for the ETG. I think it's going to be lumpy. I think the defense sales look like they have turned to our benefit. But we have, as Victor mentioned earlier, we have a lot of high-end reliable parts that are going to non-aerospace defense and space areas. That business, we believe, will calm down a little bit. So the margin is going to go all over the place. I would say if you're at 24%, you're probably in the right ballpark for the year.

好吧，我可以為 ETG 告訴你這一點。我認為它會變得凹凸不平。我認為國防銷售看起來已經為我們帶來了好處。但正如維克多之前提到的，我們有許多高端可靠零件將用於非航空航天國防和太空領域。我們相信，這項業務將會平靜下來。所以利潤將會到處都是。我想說，如果你的比例是 24%，那麼你今年的大致情況可能是正確的。

But I would let us get a couple of quarters underneath this before we before we commit to a margin. Because, again, I think based on backlog and what we see right now, it's going to be a little lumpy going into next year.

但在我們承諾利潤之前，我會讓我們先獲得幾個季度的收益。因為，我再次認為，根據積壓訂單和我們現在所看到的情況，明年的情況將會有點不穩定。

We'll take our next question from Sheila Kahyaoglu with Jefferies.

我們將回答 Sheila Kahyaoglu 和 Jefferies 提出的下一個問題。

Maybe just continuing on that line of questioning with ETG profitability. Victor, can you talk about Exxelia, just to provide us with an update there, the performance of what you're seeing in terms of the underlying profitability profile of the business? And kind of how that tempers into your fiscal '24 expectations. As just Carlos just said as well as beyond that period.

也許只是繼續質疑 ETG 的獲利能力。 Victor，您能談談 Exxelia 嗎？只是為了向我們提供最新情況，您所看到的業務基本盈利狀況的表現？這會影響你對 24 財年的預期。正如卡洛斯剛才所說，以及在那段時期之後。

Sure, Sheila. So Exxelia has been doing pretty much exactly what we expected it to do, more or less right on plan. The business has been growing. And I, as we've said before, that penalizes our operating margin by about 200 basis points. And I would expect that to probably continue to be the case. I would expect their margins will march up a bit over time, but not to the level of the rest of the ETG. So we're very happy to have the business. They have mined out a lot of new opportunities. They're working on other opportunities beyond that. Continuing good product development, producing out their backlog, which has been very strong. So overall, very happy and very happy with the people there.

當然，希拉。因此，Exxelia 所做的事情幾乎完全符合我們的預期，或多或少都符合計劃。業務一直在成長。正如我們之前所說，這會使我們的營業利潤率下降約 200 個基點。我預計這種情況可能會繼續下去。我預計他們的利潤率會隨著時間的推移而略有上升，但不會達到 ETG 其餘公司的水平。所以我們很高興能開展這項業務。他們挖掘出了很多新的機會。除此之外，他們還在尋找其他機會。繼續良好的產品開發，生產出非常強勁的積壓訂單。總的來說，對那裡的人們非常滿意。

Okay. And maybe, Eric, one for you. I know you got lots of questions on price. Any way you could quantify cumulative price over the last, since 2019 for us? And also, any thoughts on the GTF issues and how you think that will potentially benefit HEICO's PMA portfolio?

好的。埃里克，也許有一個適合你。我知道您對價格有很多疑問。您有什麼辦法可以量化我們自 2019 年以來的累積價格嗎？另外，您對 GTF 問題有何想法以及您認為這將如何有利於 HEICO 的 PMA 產品組合？

So great question. With regard to price action, I don't have that information in front of me. And due to HEICO's decentralized nature, it would be very difficult to pull all of that together. But I would say that in general, we have not, as I said before, we have not pushed price beyond our cost increases. So therefore, customers who have been purchasing the parts for a long time have been treated very well and it's our plan to continue doing that. But of course new people buy the parts, and they haven't purchased the parts in the past, they pay the newer price, and that would reflect increased prices as our labor and material costs have gone up.

很好的問題。關於價格走勢，我沒有這些資訊。由於 HEICO 的去中心化性質，將所有這些整合在一起非常困難。但我想說的是，總的來說，正如我之前所說，我們沒有將價格推高到超出成本增長的水平。因此，長期購買零件的客戶受到了很好的對待，我們計劃繼續這樣做。但當然，新人購買這些零件，他們過去沒有購買過這些零件，他們支付更新的價格，這將反映出隨著我們的勞動力和材料成本上漲，價格上漲。

So, and then with regard to the GTF, I assume that will keep the existing fleet in great demand for a long time. It's going to take a while to work through the GTF problems. And I have no question that they'll ultimately get through them. But in the meantime, that should be really a very strong indicator, I would say, for the aftermarket. And fortunately, these aircraft are able to pick up the slack. So I think that, that's working out quite nicely.

因此，關於 GTF，我認為這將使現有機隊在很長一段時間內保持巨大的需求。解決 GTF 問題需要一段時間。我毫不懷疑他們最終會度過難關。但同時，我想說，對於售後市場來說，這確實應該是一個非常強的指標。幸運的是，這些飛機能夠彌補這一不足。所以我認為，效果很好。

Originally, we always said that whenever you got a recovery, there's always a little bit of an overshoot. Well, it looks like perhaps as a result of the GTF issue that overshoot may either be delayed or won't happen, because there's just increased demand. Our backlogs are tremendous. Our suppliers are challenged to keep up I think we're doing better than most in that regard, but there's tremendous, there continues to be tremendous demand for our products and services.

最初，我們總是說，每當你恢復時，總會有一點超調。好吧，看來可能是由於 GTF 問題，超調可能會被延遲或不會發生，因為需求只是增加了。我們的積壓訂單數量龐大。我們的供應商面臨著跟上的挑戰，我認為我們在這方面比大多數供應商做得更好，但對我們的產品和服務的需求仍然很大。

We'll take our next question from Michael Ciarmoli with Truist Securities.

我們將回答 Truist Securities 的 Michael Ciarmoli 提出的下一個問題。

Carlos, just can you give us any more maybe clarity or direction on the revenue growth outlook for '24? I mean, I know you called out in the press release, you expect growth in FSG and ETG, assuming FSG will be lapping a tough comp on the 20% organic, so maybe unlikely to see acceleration there. But I would think with ETG and defense kind of showing that sequential improvement. We get some acceleration of this 1%. Can you maybe give us a little bit more detail on kind of the top line growth expectations?

卡洛斯，您能給我們更多關於 24 世紀收入成長前景的澄清或方向嗎？我的意思是，我知道您在新聞稿中指出，您預計 FSG 和 ETG 會成長，並假設 FSG 將在 20% 的有機比例上進行嚴格的補償，因此可能不太可能看到加速。但我認為 ETG 和防守會顯示出連續的改進。我們得到了這 1% 的一些加速。您能否為我們提供有關營收成長預期的更多詳細資訊？

Well, I mean, as we're sitting here today, our growth is going to be solid next year from acquisition revenue. If you're referring to organic, you are right. We're lapping 20-plus% growth quarters for 2 years now. So I think what, in the FSG, I think that will be, I don't think it will continue at that rate, Michael. I mean it could, but I'm not anticipating that. I do think it peels back a little bit. Not a ton, but it will peel back, I think the ETG's growth is going to be quite lumpy based on what we see in backlog right now. And I think with the ETG, if you're counting on the organic side, look to the low to mid-single digits. FSG should be high single to double digits, something like that. It should continue a nice growth next year.

嗯，我的意思是，正如我們今天坐在這裡一樣，明年我們的成長將透過收購收入來穩健。如果您指的是有機，那麼您是對的。我們已經連續兩年實現了 20% 以上的季度成長。所以我認為，在 FSG 中，我認為這將是，我認為它不會以這種速度繼續下去，邁克爾。我的意思是它可以，但我並沒有預料到這一點。我確實認為它會剝落一點。不是很多，但它會減少，我認為根據我們現在在積壓中看到的情況，ETG 的成長將相當不穩定。我認為對於 ETG，如果你指望有機方面，請關注低至中個位數。 FSG 應該是高個位數到兩位數，類似的東西。明年應該會繼續良好的成長。

Okay. That's helpful. And then just back to the FSG margins, I guess, as you guys think about kind of the integration plans, Wencor had been running at 15.8%, give or take. Where do you think you can take those margins? And I know, Carlos, you called out a couple of times the amortization from Wencor to $11.8 million flowing through. But what was the other amortization as well that flows through there to kind of get to that 23%? Just want to make sure we've got all the math correct.

好的。這很有幫助。然後回到 FSG 利潤率，我猜，當你們考慮某種整合計畫時，Wencor 的利潤率一直在 15.8%，無論是多少。您認為您可以在哪裡獲得這些利潤？我知道，Carlos，您多次提到 Wencor 的攤銷額為 1,180 萬美元。但是，為了達到 23%，流經那裡的其他攤銷是多少呢？只是想確保我們所有的數學計算都是正確的。

Michael, are you talking about just Wencor or the segment?

Michael，您指的是 Wencor 還是該細分市場？

The first question was just on Wencor. The second was the segment in total at that 23%.

第一個問題是關於 Wencor 的。第二個是總共佔 23% 的細分市場。

So I think that percent of sales are going to run 2%, 2.5%, I believe, is the number for amortization in the segment. And when Wencor is part of that. And like I said, you're close to $12 million a quarter for Wencor in amortization. So that's what we're looking at next year.

所以我認為銷售額的百分比將達到 2%，我相信 2.5% 是該細分市場的攤銷數字。當 Wencor 參與其中時。正如我所說，Wencor 每季的攤銷額接近 1200 萬美元。這就是我們明年的目標。

Okay. Got it. And then any thoughts on where you could take those Wencore margins? Like just that, from that 15.8% level as you guys integrate and kind of go through the process?

好的。知道了。那麼你有什麼想法可以把 Wencore 的利潤帶到哪裡呢？就像那樣，從 15.8% 的水平開始，你們整合並經歷了這個過程？

So Michael, this is Eric. Let me see if I can help you out with that a little bit. If you take the Wencor operating income for the quarter, of $29.3 million. And then you add back the $11.8 million of intangible amortization. Then you get to a number of about $41 million for the quarter. So when you divide that $41 million by the $186 million approximately of Wencor sales get to about 22% margin adding back the intangible amortization.

邁克爾，這是埃里克。讓我看看是否可以幫助您解決這個問題。如果考慮 Wencor 本季的營業收入，則為 2,930 萬美元。然後再加上 1180 萬美元的無形攤銷。那麼該季度的營收約為 4,100 萬美元。因此，當您將這 4,100 萬美元除以約 1.86 億美元的 Wencor 銷售額時，加上無形攤銷，就可以獲得約 22% 的利潤率。

So if we're saying that HEICO is, Flight Support Group is going to be in the 23% area for this coming year. Wencore based on the fourth quarter was just a tick below that. To just, but I would say it's very similar, very similar to HEICO.

因此，如果我們說 HEICO 是，那麼來年 Flight Support Group 將處於 23% 的區域。 Wencore 基於第四季的數據僅比該數字低一點點。只是，但我想說它與 HEICO 非常相似。

We'll take our next question from Gautam Khanna with TD Cowen.

我們將回答 Gautam Khanna 和 TD Cowen 提出的下一個問題。

A couple of questions. First, Eric, I was wondering if you've seen any differences in demand by channel? Wencor, I think you guys said sells more to the MROs, whereas HEICO on the PMA side directly to the airlines. Was there any discernible differences or changes in customer pager between the two channels?

有幾個問題。首先，艾瑞克，我想知道您是否發現不同管道的需求有差異？ Wencor，我想你們說過要向 MRO 銷售更多，而 PMA 方面的 HEICO 則直接向航空公司銷售。兩個管道之間的客戶尋呼機是否有任何明顯的差異或變化？

No, I would say there really hasn't been thus far. I think that, that is an opportunity for us to mine, as we go forward. And I think that, that will be very much an opportunity. Again, Wencor has operated basically as a stand-alone business. Yes, we're coordinating some activities, but it continues to operate with its own leadership and its own P&L. And, but I think there will be opportunities, such as the ones you're alluding to.

不，我想說到目前為止還沒有。我認為，在我們前進的過程中，這對我們來說是一個挖掘的機會。我認為，這將是一個非常好的機會。同樣，Wencor 基本上是作為一家獨立企業運營的。是的，我們正在協調一些活動，但它繼續以自己的領導力和自己的損益表運作。而且，但我認為會有機會，就像你提到的那樣。

Okay. And Airlines appear to be in some financial distress incrementally. I'm just curious, has that, have you seen any increase in the number of inquiries from non-PMA buying customers that are now looking to switch over? Or just you're seeing more volume among certain customers than you would expect at the airlines given some of the challenges?

好的。航空公司似乎逐漸陷入財務困境。我只是好奇，您是否發現現在尋求轉換的非 PMA 購買客戶的詢問數量有所增加？或者只是在面臨一些挑戰的情況下，您發現某些客戶的數量超出了您對航空公司的預期？

Yes, it's a great question. And they're, I mean, pretty much everybody uses PMAs, but there has been an increase in using parts that using HEICO parts that they haven't purchased in the past. And what is it the old saying "Necessity is the motherhood of invention". And sometimes people can't get apart from the OEM, then they'll go ahead and and then they'll buy it from HEICO. And we certainly have seen that happen. And as a matter of fact, it's particularly gratifying when you see OEMs do that.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。我的意思是，幾乎每個人都使用 PMA，但使用他們過去未購買過的 HEICO 零件的零件有所增加。那句老話「需要是發明之母」又是什麼意思呢？有時人們無法擺脫 OEM，然後他們會繼續從 HEICO 購買。我們當然已經看到這種情況發生。事實上，當你看到原始設備製造商這樣做時，你會感到特別高興。

So, and that's been, I'm not going to get into specifics, obviously, but it's very nice when we see OEMs purchasing the HEICO and the Wencor alternative parts in order to meet their demand because we know the quality is outstanding.

所以，顯然，我不會透露具體細節，但當我們看到 OEM 購買 HEICO 和 Wencor 替代零件以滿足他們的需求時，這是非常好的，因為我們知道品質非常出色。

Appreciate it. And then, Victor, just quickly on some of the earlier questions related to the defense improvement that you saw sequentially. What, is this a letup of past due backlog? Or is there, is that not really a driver? And what can you say about maybe book-to-bill or any sort of discernible change in order trends among those customers?

欣賞它。然後，維克多，請快速回答一些與您依次看到的防禦改善相關的早期問題。什麼，這是逾期積壓的減少嗎？或者說，那不是真正的司機嗎？對於這些客戶中的訂單到帳單或訂單趨勢的任何明顯變化，您有何看法？

Yes. On defense, I think our book-to-bill is positive on defense, and moving in the right direction. For our defense businesses, I would say, very little of it, if any, would be supply chain catch up. In fact, quarter, in the whole quarter, we, our companies estimate that maybe approximately $10 million worth of shipments moved to the right, right? So compare that to where we were, I don't know, roughly a year ago, I think we reached up in the $40 million range or even higher. So that's definitely trended in the right direction for us and overall optimistic on our defense business. throughout the year.

是的。在防守方面，我認為我們的訂單在防守方面是積極的，並且正在朝著正確的方向前進。我想說，對於我們的國防業務來說，供應鏈的追趕（如果有的話）很少。事實上，在整個季度中，我們、我們的公司估計大約價值 1000 萬美元的出貨量向右移動，對吧？因此，與我們的情況相比，我不知道，大約一年前，我認為我們達到了 4000 萬美元的範圍，甚至更高。因此，這對我們來說絕對是正確的趨勢，並且對我們的國防業務總體持樂觀態度。全年。

Again, as Carlos emphasized, it will be lumpy. And the mix sensitivity is important. Because we have some products on subsidiaries, which have a much higher margin than others and how that backlog falls out is very important. So I would expect, for example, the first quarter on margin side to be tougher for us than the following quarters.

正如卡洛斯所強調的，這將是凹凸不平的。混合靈敏度很重要。因為我們的子公司有一些產品，它們的利潤率比其他產品高得多，因此積壓的訂單如何減少非常重要。因此，我預計第一季的利潤率對我們來說會比接下來的幾季更困難。

Last one, if I may, just back to Eric. On the number of PMA parts you expect to introduce between the two entities, legacy HEICO and Wencor. Can you just update us on that. Over the next year.

最後一個，如果可以的話，回到艾瑞克。關於您期望在傳統 HEICO 和 Wencor 這兩個實體之間引入的 PMA 零件數量。能告訴我們最新情況嗎？在接下來的一年裡。

Yes. I think HEICO has been running in that 300 to 500 area, roughly 400 parts a year. And Wencor has been running in about 150 area. So I would anticipate those numbers continuing that way.

是的。我認為 HEICO 已經在 300 到 500 個區域運行，每年大約 400 個零件。而Wencor已經在大約150個地區運作。所以我預計這些數字會繼續這樣下去。

And we'll take our next question from Louie DiPalma with William Blair.

我們將回答路易·迪帕爾瑪和威廉·布萊爾提出的下一個問題。

Larry, Eric, Victor and Carlos. Good morning. When discussing the Wencor deal, Wencor's e-commerce platform was touted as one of the unique assets with potential synergies. Has HEICO started the process of selling any of the HEICO parts on the Wencor online marketplace? And are there many revenue and cost synergy projects planned for 2024? Or is that more of a 2025 event?

拉里、艾瑞克、維克多和卡洛斯。早安.在討論 Wencor 交易時，Wencor 的電子商務平台被吹捧為具有潛在協同效應的獨特資產之一。 HEICO 是否已開始在 Wencor 線上市場上銷售任何 HEICO 零件？ 2024 年計畫的收入和成本協同項目是否有很多？或者這更像是 2025 年的事件？

Yes. This is Eric. I'd be happy Louie, to answer that. As I mentioned, the HEICO philosophy when we acquire a business is just to leave it alone and observe what's going on. We've got our initial view, and then we want to make sure we confirm that first before making substantial changes. So yes, the ownership period of Wencor has gone extremely well. And we are working on a number of projects in terms of product rationalization, sharing resources between the businesses, sending business to HEICO, Wencor, which used to go outside. So all of that is going well. specifically with regard to the e-commerce platform, we think that, that's going to be an opportunity for 2024.

是的。這是埃里克。路易，我很樂意回答這個問題。正如我所提到的，當我們收購一家企業時，HEICO 的理念就是不去管它，觀察發生了什麼事。我們已經有了初步的看法，然後我們希望確保在做出重大改變之前首先確認這一點。所以，是的，Wencor 的所有權時期進展得非常順利。我們正在做一些產品合理化的項目，業務之間共享資源，將業務轉移到以前走出去的HEICO、Wencor。所以這一切都很順利。特別是在電子商務平台方面，我們認為這將是 2024 年的機會。

It's something that we're looking at right now. We continue to believe very much that's going to be a huge asset. They are studying the best way to go ahead and do that. But no, we have not done it to date, not because we don't want to do it, but because frankly, both businesses are running at such a high percentage of utilization that we don't have people to be able to focus on all of the projects that we're just sort of taking them as we can handle them. But we believe that that's going to be a tremendous benefit for us in 2024.

這是我們現在正在考慮的事情。我們仍然堅信這將是一筆巨大的資產。他們正在研究繼續做到這一點的最佳方法。但不，我們迄今為止還沒有這樣做，不是因為我們不想這樣做，而是因為坦率地說，這兩項業務的利用率都很高，以至於我們沒有人能夠集中精力我們只是在我們能夠處理的範圍內進行所有項目。但我們相信，這將在 2024 年為我們帶來巨大的好處。

Great. And a follow-up on that. In terms of the cost synergies, then you said that you plan to let Wencor operate in a stand-alone mode. Should we think of synergies more as a 2025 event then? Like how long would you generally plan to let it operate in a stand-alone mode?

偉大的。以及後續行動。說到成本綜效，那麼你說你打算讓Wencor以獨立模式運作。那麼我們是否應該將綜效更多地視為 2025 年的事件呢？例如您通常會計劃讓它以獨立模式運作多久？

Well, I think the revenue synergies are going to start accruing quickly. And then as far as some of the cost synergies, the business units are taking it upon themselves to work together and to find areas where they can rationalize product lines. If one business does more of a particular product than another, they're looking at swapping. So this way, we can maintain the workforces. We've got tremendous volumes and all the businesses are running at a high utilization factor.

嗯，我認為收入協同效應將很快開始產生。然後，就一些成本協同效應而言，業務部門正在共同努力，尋找可以合理化產品線的領域。如果一家企業比另一家企業生產更多的特定產品，他們就會考慮交換。這樣，我們就可以維持勞力。我們擁有巨大的產量，所有業務都以高利用率運作。

So, but if we can redirect people to more efficient activities, we want to do that. So we are taking advantage of the revenue synergies and of some of the cost synergies but I would say that's going to be something that benefits us in both '24 and '25.

所以，如果我們能夠引導人們從事更有效的活動，我們就想這麼做。因此，我們正在利用收入協同效應和一些成本協同效應，但我想說這將在 24 年和 25 年讓我們受益。

And we'll take our next question from Larry Solow with CJS Securities.

我們將回答 CJS 證券的 Larry Solow 提出的下一個問題。

Great. Thanks. Good morning. Most of my questions have been answered. Just one, I guess, just on free cash flow, a couple there. Sort of you're without getting specific guidance sort of your general outlook on free cash flow in terms of working capital needs, do you expect maybe to have to build more inventory? How do you think that's going to shake out? And then part to that question would be kind of priorities for free cash flow. A little more leverage than you guys are used to. So I'm just curious, would that #1 priority be sort of debt pay down? Maybe in front of these strategic acquisitions?

偉大的。謝謝。早安.我的大部分問題都得到了解答。我想，只有一個，只是靠自由現金流，還有幾個。您在營運資金需求方面沒有獲得關於自由現金流整體前景的具體指導，您是否預計可能需要建立更多庫存？你認為這會如何擺脫？這個問題的一部分是自由現金流的優先事項。比你們習慣的槓桿多一點。所以我很好奇，第一要務是償還債務嗎？也許在這些策略收購面前？

So let me take a stab at that, Larry. It's Carlos. I think that on the as you mentioned, the inventory side, we did have a significant investment in '23 in inventory. And I suspect that for a few quarters into '24, we might have a little bit more inventory build. Part of that is due to firm commitment orders we place sometimes as much as 2 years ago, to deal with the supply chain challenges to make sure we had product on the shelf for our customers.

所以讓我來嘗試一下，拉里。是卡洛斯。我認為，正如您所提到的，在庫存方面，我們確實在 23 年的庫存方面進行了大量投資。我懷疑在 24 年的幾個季度裡，我們的庫存可能會增加一些。部分原因是我們有時早在兩年前就下了堅定的承諾訂單，以應對供應鏈挑戰，確保我們為客戶提供貨架上的產品。

But I do think that carrying costs and inventory isn't free anymore, right? Rates are up. So we're very cognizant of that. And I do think as we get into '24, my hope is, is that towards the back half of the year, we get a little bit more rationalization on the working capital usage. That's my expectation. As far as free cash flow, I expect the company to continue to have strong free cash flows. And I do think you've hit the nail on the head. Once the working capital investment to support the growth and some of these firm commitment orders has tempered, I think our conversion will be slightly (inaudible). Does that answer your question, Larry?

但我確實認為持有成本和庫存不再是免費的，對嗎？價格上漲了。所以我們對此非常了解。我確實認為，當我們進入 24 世紀時，我的希望是，到今年下半年，我們的營運資金使用會更加合理化。這是我的期望。就自由現金流而言，我預計該公司將繼續擁有強勁的自由現金流。我確實認為你說得一針見血。一旦支持成長的營運資本投資和其中一些堅定的承諾訂單有所緩和，我認為我們的轉換將會略有（聽不清楚）。這能回答你的問題嗎，拉里？

Yes. Absolutely. And I guess just prior to Debt pay down, is that probably a priority or...

是的。絕對地。我想在償還債務之前，這可能是優先事項還是...

Yes. Look, I mean, our objective right now, as we stated before, is to try and delever as quick as possible. Our plan after completing the Wencor acquisition within 12 to 18 months, we set out on a plan to get our debt leverage ratio, something close to normal, around the 2% range, roughly. That's the goal of the 12 to 18 months. I would say that that is not a goal that prohibits us from doing acquisitions. I would say that for smaller acquisitions we will draw on our line to do what we need to do to complete those if they're good for our shareholders.

是的。我的意思是，正如我們之前所說，我們現在的目標是盡快嘗試去槓桿化。我們的計劃是在 12 至 18 個月內完成 Wencor 收購後，我們制定了一項計劃，使我們的債務槓桿率接近正常水平，大致在 2% 左右。這是 12 到 18 個月的目標。我想說，這並不是禁止我們進行收購的目標。我想說，對於規模較小的收購，如果對我們的股東有利，我們將利用我們的優勢來完成我們需要做的事情。

I think if they are larger deals, we might have to get creative, but I don't expect that over the next 12 to 18 months, something as large as Wencor probably would be very unique. I don't know that we've got something on the horizon right now. And I do think, to your point, that deleveraging is sort of our highest and best use of free cash right now.

我認為，如果是規模較大的交易，我們可能需要發揮創意，但我不認為在接下來的 12 到 18 個月內，像 Wencor 這樣的大型交易可能會非常獨特。我不知道我們現在有什麼事情即將發生。我確實認為，就你的觀點而言，去槓桿化是我們目前對自由現金的最高、最好的利用。

We'll take our next question from Ron Epstein with Bank of America.

我們將回答美國銀行的 Ron Epstein 提出的下一個問題。

This is Mariana Perez Mora on for Ron today.

這是瑪麗安娜·佩雷斯·莫拉今天為羅恩做的節目。

I'm going to ask a big picture question. Larry, in your prepared remarks you highlited, have never been more optimistic about HEICO's future than you are today. When you think about the year ahead, what are you most excited about? If the industry is a particular end market? It's HEICO competitive position?

我要問一個大問題。拉里（Larry），在您準備好的演講中強調，您對 HEICO 的未來從未像今天這樣樂觀。當你思考未來的一年時，你最興奮的是什麼？該行業是否是特定的終端市場？這是HEICO的競爭地位嗎？

I think all of the above and other areas, too. I think that the Wencor acquisition puts us in a very unique spot. As we've told you today, it's actually working out better than we anticipated. To HEICO, the culture of a company is critical. And I can tell you, as a large acquisition like Wencor, having that excellent culture is really a wonderful thing. We have learned, I'm a financial person, originally started as a CPA long ago, and finance is very important. And we key on that, of course, in cash.

我認為上述所有領域和其他領域也是如此。我認為收購 Wencor 讓我們處於一個非常獨特的位置。正如我們今天告訴您的，它的效果實際上比我們預期的要好。對 HEICO 來說，公司文化至關重要。我可以告訴你，作為Wencor這樣的大收購，擁有這種優秀的文化確實是一件很棒的事。我們了解到，我是一名財務人員，很早以前就開始做CPA，財務非常重要。當然，我們的重點是現金。

But when I look at our cash flow and I look at our culture, the culture is what ultimately drives the bottom line. So this is very, very good. On the other hand, the Exxelia acquisition has come off almost exactly what we expected. So, and we expected it to be good, and it is good. So when I look at all these things and the size of the company, I also believe that, as a matter of fact, I've said many times that we have a goal of growing 15% to 20% bottom line. And in '23, if you add back those nonrecurring expenses that we incurred, the legal investment banking and so forth for the acquisition, we grew about 20% over the prior year '22.

但當我審視我們的現金流和我們的文化時，文化才是最終推動利潤的因素。所以這非常非常好。另一方面，對 Exxelia 的收購幾乎完全符合我們的預期。所以，我們期望它會很好，而且它也很好。因此，當我看到所有這些事情和公司規模時，我也相信，事實上，我已經說過很多次了，我們的目標是成長 15% 到 20% 的利潤。在 23 年，如果再加上我們因收購而產生的非經常性費用、合法投資銀行業務等，我們比前一年 22 年成長了約 20%。

I feel very confident that in the current year, we will be able to grow 15% or 20%. We don't give guidance, but clearly, we focus on our budgets and where we think we will wind up. But I feel knowing everything I know now that we will be able to repeat a 15%, 20% growth. So, and then that's after making these sizable acquisitions and digesting them so, HEICO is a much stronger, bigger company than it has ever been. I mean it's a major factor today in this, in the industries we operate. So for all those reasons, I would say HEICO has become a powerhouse, and for those reasons, I feel extremely confident of the future for HEICO. Does that answer your question?

我非常有信心，今年我們能夠成長15%或20%。我們不提供指導，但顯然，我們專注於我們的預算和我們認為最終的結果。但我覺得現在知道的一切我們將能夠重複 15%、20% 的成長。因此，在進行了這些大規模收購併消化它們之後，HEICO 是一家比以往任何時候都更強大、更大的公司。我的意思是，這是今天我們所經營的行業的一個主要因素。因此，出於所有這些原因，我想說 HEICO 已經成為一家強大的公司，並且出於這些原因，我對 HEICO 的未來充滿信心。這是否回答你的問題？

Yes. And then when you think about potential challenges, what keeps you up at night, gets you up at night? Like where are you like paying close attention to?

是的。然後，當您考慮潛在的挑戰時，是什麼讓您徹夜難眠、讓您徹夜難眠？例如你喜歡密切關注哪裡？

Well, the only thing that I worry about is exogenous events, which we can't control or strange things like this. But as far as the operation of HEICO, I I'm highly confident because we have great depth in management. In other words, since we're a company that's not consolidated. We're diversified and we leave the decision-making down at the level where we believe it belongs. So corporate doesn't tell the operating entities, what they have to do. We say to them, what do you think we should do? And how will you accomplish it in your budget?

嗯，我唯一擔心的是我們無法控制的外生事件或像這樣的奇怪的事情。但對於HEICO的運營，我是非常有信心的，因為我們的管理很有深度。換句話說，因為我們是一家沒有合併的公司。我們是多元化的，我們將決策權留在我們認為合適的層面上。因此，公司不會告訴營運實體他們必須做什麼。我們對他們說，你認為我們應該做什麼？您將如何在預算內實現這一目標？

And to that extent, I have great confidence, these are people who have been running these businesses for many years. Nobody, in my opinion, nobody knows their market, their labor market, their customer market better than the people operating the businesses. So and they've done it over and over and over again. So it's not as though, well, this is something new, can they do it? Can they accomplish it? No. They've been doing this for many years. I mean, HEICO has a record of growing over 30-some years, the bottom line close to 20% compounded growth. So because of that, I have great, great confidence in what they're doing.

就這個意義上來說，我非常有信心，這些人已經經營這些企業很多年了。在我看來，沒有人比經營企業的人更了解他們的市場、勞動市場、顧客市場。所以他們一遍又一遍地這樣做。所以這並不是說，這是新事物，他們能做到嗎？他們能實現嗎？不。他們這樣做已經很多年了。我的意思是，HEICO 擁有超過 30 年的成長記錄，複合成長率接近 20%。因此，我對他們所做的事情非常非常有信心。

I mean, Eric and Victor run those companies, and they go out and they meet with the business unit leaders constantly. They speak to them by phone. Carlos has an extremely detailed financial report weekly. So we keep track of the receivables of growth, the backlog, cash flows, everything. So for all those reasons, I really don't worry about the operation of our company. I just worry about, but I don't worry about it because I can't control it. The things like COVID, wars and things like that, which might impact us. But I can't change that. I think we've done as well, Eric, Victor and our team members have done as well as can be done with the company in terms of operations and control. So none of those things worry me.

我的意思是，艾瑞克和維克多經營這些公司，他們經常出去與業務部門的領導會面。他們透過電話與他們交談。卡洛斯每週都有非常詳細的財務報告。因此，我們追蹤應收帳款的成長、積壓、現金流等一切。因此，出於所有這些原因，我真的不擔心我們公司的營運。我只是擔心，但我不擔心，因為我無法控制它。像是新冠肺炎、戰爭之類的事情可能會影響我們。但我無法改變這一點。我認為我們也做得很好，埃里克、維克多和我們的團隊成員在營運和控制方面已經與公司一起做到了以及可以做到的。所以這些事情都不讓我擔心。

Perfect. And then if I may, one last question for Carlos. Could we please dig deeper on M&A? I'm curious if you could discuss the two sides of it, like, number One, like pipeline of opportunities and like how, any color on pricing there? But also you mentioned deleveraging. What is the targeted leverage? And I'm curious how and if the increasing interest rate environment influences that target?

完美的。如果可以的話，我想問卡洛斯最後一個問題。我們能否更深入探討併購？我很好奇你是否可以討論它的兩個方面，例如第一，例如機會的管道，例如如何定價，有什麼顏色嗎？但您也提到了去槓桿化。目標槓桿是多少？我很好奇不斷上升的利率環境如何以及是否會影響該目標？

Well, clearly, higher interest rates causes me to want to pay down debt quicker, right? I mean that's kind of our motor operation here. Within the next 12 to 18 months, I'm targeting somewhere in the low 2x, and that gets us close to historic norms, which have been somewhere slightly lower than 2x. That was the goal when we set out, and that's what our objectives are. As far as M&A backlog goes, we have a very active process, both segments have teams that are focused on markets and opportunities. It's very opportunistic.

嗯，顯然，更高的利率會讓我想要更快地償還債務，對吧？我的意思是，這就是我們這裡的機動操作。在接下來的 12 到 18 個月內，我的目標是 2 倍的低值，這使我們接近歷史標準，標準略低於 2 倍。這是我們出發時的目標，也是我們的目標。就併購積壓而言，我們有一個非常活躍的流程，兩個部門都有專注於市場和機會的團隊。這是非常機會主義的。

And as I mentioned earlier, there'll be those handful of deals that we see every year, which I would probably categorize a smaller $100 million spend and less and things like that. We'll find deals like that all day long, and if it makes sense for our shareholders, we'll pull the trigger. That won't damage our plan to delever.

正如我之前提到的，我們每年都會看到一些交易，我可能會將其歸類為較小的 1 億美元支出以及類似的事情。我們整天都會發現這樣的交易，如果這對我們的股東有意義，我們就會扣下板機。這不會損害我們的去槓桿計劃。

But as far as larger deals, such as Wencor where we spent over $2 billion, I would think over the next 12 to 18 months that, that would be unlikely that we would pursue something like that until we've delevered a bit.

但就規模較大的交易而言，例如我們花費超過 20 億美元的 Wencor，我認為在接下來的 12 到 18 個月內，我們不太可能追求類似的交易，除非我們稍微去槓桿化。

We'll take our next question from [Ian Franz Engebret] with Baird.

我們將與貝爾德一起回答 [Ian Franz Engebret] 提出的下一個問題。

Eric, if I can just sort of a high-level question, just over the next 12 months, in terms of flight activity across narrow-body, wide-body and then sort of North America, Europe and China. If you can just let us know how you're thinking about sort of potential areas of strength and potential regions where there's a watch item for your business for the aftermarket?

Eric，我能否就未來 12 個月內窄體飛機、寬體飛機以及北美、歐洲和中國的飛行活動提出一個高級問題。您能否告訴我們您如何考慮潛在的優勢領域以及適合您的售後業務的手錶產品的潛在區域？

Yes. We're seeing strength, frankly, across the board. So we dive down into the part number level. So it's just very, very broad-based strength straight across the board. So I wouldn't want to call out one area or another. It's really just very strong across the board.

是的。坦白說，我們看到了全面的力量。因此，我們深入了解零件編號等級。所以這是非常非常廣泛的全面優勢。所以我不想指出某個領域或另一個領域。它真的非常全面。

No, that makes sense. And if I could just have a quick follow-up. Victor, I think you may have answer just with ETG. But if you could just talk about sort of the supply chain outlook in 2024 and beyond. So there's less of an impact. I think you guys mentioned $10 million. Does that keep on improving for the remainder of 2024?

不，這是有道理的。如果我能快速跟進就好了。 Victor，我想您可能透過 ETG 就能得到答案。但如果您能談談 2024 年及以後的供應鏈前景。所以影響比較小。我想你們提到了 1000 萬美元。在 2024 年剩餘時間內，這種情況會持續改善嗎？

I would expect that to be the case. I think it's improved dramatically, but there's still room to go. Lead times have improved. Of course, there are some products. There are some components particularly when the real one would think of as "Chips", that's still elevated and a little complicated -- and I would say even in ordinary times, as I reflect on it, I would expect that there will always be products and vendors that are delayed, but we wouldn't categorize it as a supply chain crunch like the world experienced before. And so I think it will return to normal at some time, I would expect within calendar 2024.

我希望情況會如此。我認為它已經有了顯著的改善，但仍有進步的空間。交貨時間有所改善。當然，還有一些產品。有一些組件，特別是當真正的組件被認為是“晶片”時，它仍然是高級的並且有點複雜 - 我想說，即使在平時，正如我反思的那樣，我希望總會有產品以及延遲的供應商，但我們不會將其歸類為像以前的世界那樣的供應鏈緊縮。所以我認為它會在某個時候恢復正常，我預計在 2024 年之內。

And we'll take our next question from Louis Raffetto with Wolfe Research.

我們將回答沃爾夫研究公司的路易斯·拉菲托提出的下一個問題。

Victor, so it's great to see defense up again. I guess have we lapped a year-over-year growth yet? I know it was down high single digits last year or last quarter for defense. I guess, was it up this quarter?

維克多，很高興看到防守再次增強。我想我們已經實現了同比增長了嗎？我知道去年或上個季度的國防支出下降了高個位數。我想，這個季度還漲嗎？

Yes, it was up this quarter.

是的，這個季度有所上升。

Okay. Great. And then, Eric, just can you help baseline $186 million of sales for Wencor between sort of the subsegments within? Any way you could help us out there?

好的。偉大的。然後，Eric，您能否協助確定 Wencor 各個細分市場之間 1.86 億美元的銷售額基準？有什麼辦法可以幫助我們嗎？

I can't. I don't have that actually in front of me right now. but it would fall broadly into parts and into in terms of the disaggregation of revenue. But I don't have that information in front of me at the moment. But I would say that we're doing very well in in both of those areas.

我不能。我現在實際上並沒有這個。但它會大致分為幾個部分並按照收入分類進行劃分。但目前我面前沒有這些資訊。但我想說，我們在這兩個領域都做得很好。

All right. Great. Appreciate it. And then Carlos, just to make sure we're all based on, I guess, on the interest cost in the quarter. Was there anything one time? Or should we think of this $40 million level as sort of going into fiscal year '24 as the right level?

好的。偉大的。欣賞它。然後卡洛斯，我想，只是為了確保我們都基於本季的利息成本。曾經有過什麼事情嗎？或者我們應該將這個 4000 萬美元的水平視為進入 24 財年的正確水平？

Louis, that's a good question. So within the interest line this quarter, we had a $3.8 million worth of onetime costs in there related to the commitment letter to fund the Wencor deal. So going into there, we basically had to pay about $3.8 million to get a bank to write a letter to say that we were good for the purchase price. That's the onetimer that won't repeat. So as you're looking forward next year, if you pull that out, you're looking at roughly $38 million and then decreasing as we delever.

路易斯，這是個好問題。因此，在本季的利息額度內，我們有價值 380 萬美元的一次性成本，與為 Wencor 交易提供資金的承諾函相關。因此，進入那裡，我們基本上必須支付大約 380 萬美元才能讓銀行寫一封信，說我們對購買價格感到滿意。這是不會重複的一次性事件。因此，當你展望明年時，如果你把它拿出來，你會看到大約 3800 萬美元，然後隨著我們去槓桿化而減少。

Okay. And then I guess, just taxes. Any way to think about taxes for next year?

好的。然後我想，只是稅。有什麼辦法可以考慮明年的稅收嗎？

Yes. I hope they remain, I'm planning on them to remain similar to what they were this year. I always kind of count on a 20% to 21% rate. This year, we did a little better. It's because, frankly, the, we have that leadership compensation plan where we have some tax deferred earnings that has a positive impact on our rate and because the market was generally up through '23 for our fiscal year, that did help us as opposed to hurting us last year. So I think if you're in the 20% to 21% range, you're going to be in good shape.

是的。我希望它們保持不變，我計劃它們保持與今年相似的狀態。我總是指望 20% 到 21% 的比率。今年，我們做得更好。坦白說，這是因為，我們有領導層薪酬計劃，其中有一些遞延稅款收入，這對我們的利率產生積極影響，而且因為我們財政年度的市場總體上在23 世紀上漲，這確實幫助了我們，而不是去年傷害了我們。所以我認為如果你在 20% 到 21% 的範圍內，你就會處於良好的狀態。

Okay. And then just last clean-up on the intangible amortization. Was there no sort of onetime step-ups or anything like that, that $11.8 million was, to your point, sort of the go-forward rate?

好的。然後最後一次清理無形攤銷。是否沒有任何一次性的提升或類似的東西，在你看來，1180 萬美元是某種前進率？

Yes, it was one thing about, Wencor doesn't have what I'll call a manufacturing base like we do, they outsource a lot of their manufacturing. So there wasn't any manufacturing profit to pull out of the purchase accounting to pull out of the numbers. I mean maybe a little bit on the repair side, but it wasn't anything notable, Luis. So I would say that $11.8 million is a pretty good run rate number.

是的，這是一件事，Wencor 沒有像我們這樣的製造基地，他們將許多製造業務外包。因此，沒有任何製造利潤可以從採購會計中提取出來。我的意思是，也許在修復方面有一點點，但沒什麼值得注意的，路易斯。所以我想說 1180 萬美元是一個相當不錯的運行率數字。

We'll take our next question from Colin Ducharme with Sterling Capital.

我們將回答 Sterling Capital 的 Colin Ducharme 提出的下一個問題。

I had actually one clarification for Eric and then one question for Carlos, if I may. Eric, on the GTF question earlier, could you just please clarify the your impression of the materiality of that potential demand driver for 2024. Do you view that as an incremental needle mover for you all? And then do you have any additional certifications, et cetera, that your subsidiaries perhaps need to attain to win that work and then you have the capacity to kind of take that on?

如果可以的話，我實際上向埃里克（Eric）做了一項澄清，然後向卡洛斯（Carlos）提出了一個問題。 Eric，關於先前的 GTF 問題，您能否澄清一下您對 2024 年潛在需求驅動因素的重要性的印象。您認為這對您所有人來說是一個增量推動者嗎？然後，您的子公司是否擁有任何其他認證等，您的子公司可能需要獲得這些認證才能贏得這項工作，然後您有能力承擔這項工作？

And then for Carlos, just stepping back and thinking of the post Wencor and Exxelia balance sheet that you're sitting on now, you're facing one of the most significant delevering processes in recent memory for HEICO. And we've just witnessed a significant and favorable change to financial market conditions in the last month or so. And while I'm no macroeconomist, things could continue to favorably develop here in 2024. So I just wanted to ask about your thinking and has it changed at all regarding the cost or pace of this delevering journey that you're on. Any change to your thinking and/or steps as you kind of prosecute that playbook?

然後，對於 Carlos 來說，只要退後一步，想想您現在所坐的 Wencor 和 Exxelia 後的資產負債表，您就面臨著 HEICO 最近記憶中最重要的去槓桿化過程之一。我們剛剛目睹了過去一個月左右金融市場狀況發生的重大而有利的變化。雖然我不是宏觀經濟學家，但到2024 年，情況可能會繼續朝著有利的方向發展。所以我只想問一下您的想法，以及您正在進行的去槓桿化之旅的成本或步伐是否發生了變化。當你執行該劇本時，你的想法和/或步驟有什麼改變嗎？

Colin, so I'll start out. What I was referring to in response to the prior question, concerning the GTF was that as a result of the GTF-powered aircraft being taken out of service in order to have their engines overhauled, that would create additional demand for legacy aircraft. So I don't want to call that out as anything more than a tailwind. But clearly, it's going to be good for the use of the utilization of non GTF-powered aircraft. With regard to HEICO's involvement in the GTF fleet campaign, I would say that it is not material. We are not supplying PMAs on the GTF in any material quantity.

科林，那我就開始吧。我在回答之前有關 GTF 的問題時所指的是，由於 GTF 驅動的飛機因發動機大修而停運，這將為傳統飛機帶來額外的需求。所以我不想稱之為順風而已。但顯然，這將有利於非 GTF 動力飛機的使用。至於HEICO參與GTF車隊活動，我想說這並不重要。我們不向 GTF 提供任何材料數量的 PMA。

And frankly, the service that's being done now is being paid by the manufacturer. So that would not be a revenue opportunity for us. If we've got businesses that are supplying parts into the OEM, then there could be a little bit of increased demand for that. But no, I would not call it out as a special onetime item.

坦白說，現在正在進行的服務是由製造商支付費用的。所以這對我們來說不是一個收入機會。如果我們有企業向原始設備製造商供應零件，那麼需求可能會增加。但不，我不會稱之為特殊的一次性物品。

Colin, this is Carlos. I don't know that anything on the horizon is going to change my view on the delevering. In my mind, we've got almost 10,000 team members and uncountly number of family members that are attached to those people, and we want to make sure we have a battle hardened company that has a lot of staying power. And so my objective with that in mind is to try and delever as quick as possible, so we could derisk the balance sheet. I will tell you this, I mean, at net leverage at 3x, it's not like we're highly levered. But for me, I'd prefer to be back down to historical norms. So that's kind of the marching orders into the next couple of years, and we'll see how it plays out.

科林，這是卡洛斯。我不知道即將發生的任何事情會改變我對去槓桿化的看法。在我看來，我們有近 10,000 名團隊成員和無數的家庭成員，我們希望確保我們擁有一家久經沙場、具有強大持久力的公司。因此，我的目標是盡快嘗試去槓桿化，這樣我們就可以降低資產負債表的風險。我會告訴你，我的意思是，淨槓桿是 3 倍，我們的槓桿率並不高。但對我來說，我更願意回到歷史規範。這就是未來幾年的行進命令，我們將看看結果如何。

I can tell you, we will not miss opportunities that are good for our shareholders as a result of that plan. But the stated goals right now are to continue the thoughts of delevering. Does that answer your question?

我可以告訴你，我們不會因為該計劃而錯過對股東有利的機會。但目前既定的目標是繼續去槓桿的想法。這是否回答你的問題？

We'll take our next question from Jordan [Lanes] with Bank of America. It appears disconnected and we have no additional questions at this time.

我們將接受美國銀行 Jordan [Lanes] 提出的下一個問題。它似乎已斷開連接，目前我們沒有其他問題。

Okay. Well, thank you very much. I want to thank everybody who has been listening to this call. I hope we've satisfied you and give you information that you would like, if not, we are available, as you know, give us a call, Eric, Victor, Carlos, myself. And we look forward to speaking to you in the first quarter call, which will be in a few months from now. And we wish all of you a very happy, healthy holiday season, and New Year. And that's the end of this call.

好的。好的，謝謝。我要感謝所有收聽此電話的人。我希望我們能讓您滿意，並為您提供您想要的信息，如果沒有，我們可以為您提供幫助，如您所知，請給我們打電話，埃里克、維克多、卡洛斯、我本人。我們期待在幾個月後的第一季電話會議上與您交談。我們祝福大家有個快樂、健康的假期和新年。本次通話就到此結束。

Thank you. And this concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。