ICF International Inc (ICFI) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the second quarter 2024 ICF earnings conference call. My name is Stephen, and I will be your operator for today's call. (Operator Instructions)

歡迎參加 2024 年第二季 ICF 收益電話會議。我叫史蒂芬，我是今天電話的接線生。（操作員說明）

I will now turn the call over to David Gold of AdvisIRy Partners. David, you may begin.

我現在將把電話轉給 AdvisIRy Partners 的 David Gold。大衛，你可以開始了。

Thank you, Stephen. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us to review ICF's second quarter 2024 performance. With us today from ICF are John Wasson, Chair and CEO; and Barry Broadus, CFO. Joining them is James Morgan, Chief Operating Officer.

謝謝你，史蒂芬。大家下午好，感謝您與我們一起回顧 ICF 2024 年第二季的業績。今天與我們一起出席的有 ICF 主席兼執行長 John Wasson；和財務長巴里·布羅德斯 (Barry Broadus)。首席營運長詹姆斯·摩根也加入了他們的行列。

During this conference call, we'll make forward-looking statements to assist you in understanding ICF management's expectations about our future performance. These statements are subject to a number of risks that could cause actual events and results to differ materially, and I refer you to our August 1, 2024, press release and our SEC filings for discussions of those risks.

在本次電話會議中，我們將做出前瞻性陳述，以協助您了解 ICF 管理階層對我們未來績效的期望。這些陳述存在多種風險，可能導致實際事件和結果出現重大差異，我建議您參閱我們 2024 年 8 月 1 日的新聞稿和 SEC 文件，以討論這些風險。

In addition, our statements during this call are based on our views as of today. We anticipate that future developments will cause our views to change. Please consider the information presented in that light. We may at some point elect to update the forward-looking statements made today, but specifically disclaim any obligation to do so.

此外，我們在本次電話會議中的聲明是基於我們今天的觀點。我們預計未來的發展將導致我們的觀點改變。請從這個角度考慮所提供的資訊。我們可能在某個時候選擇更新今天所做的前瞻性聲明，但明確不承擔任何這樣做的義務。

I'll now turn the call over to ICF's CEO, John Wasson, to discuss second quarter 2024 performance. John?

現在我將把電話轉給 ICF 執行長 John Wasson，討論 2024 年第二季的業績。約翰？

Thank you, David, and thank you all for participating in today's call to review our second quarter results and discuss our business outlook. As you've seen from our release, this was another excellent quarter for ICF in which we executed well on existing contracts and continue to lay the foundation for future growth.

謝謝大衛，也感謝大家參加今天的電話會議，回顧我們第二季的業績並討論我們的業務前景。正如您從我們的發布中看到的，這是 ICF 的另一個出色的季度，我們在現有合約上執行良好，並繼續為未來的成長奠定基礎。

With respect to key takeaways from the quarter: First, our Energy Environment, Infrastructure and Disaster Recovery client market continued to be a standout performer, reflecting an array of very strong secular growth trends in these areas.

關於本季的主要要點：首先，我們的能源環境、基礎設施和災難復原客戶市場持續表現出色，反映出這些領域一系列非常強勁的長期成長趨勢。

Second, our profitability metrics increased considerably again this quarter, leading us to increase our EPS and EBITDA guidance for the full year.

其次，本季我們的獲利指標再次大幅成長，導致我們提高了全年每股收益和 EBITDA 指引。

Third, this was an outstanding quarter for new contract wins, bringing our trailing 12 month book-to-bill ratio to 1.4.

第三，本季贏得的新合約表現出色，使我們過去 12 個月的訂單出貨比達到 1.4。

And lastly, our new business development pipeline increased sequentially by 8.3% to a record $10.5 billion, even after record Q2 sales, providing us with substantial growth opportunities across our government and commercial client sets.

最後，即使在創紀錄的第二季銷售額之後，我們的新業務開發管道仍連續成長 8.3%，達到創紀錄的 105 億美元，為我們的政府和商業客戶群提供了巨大的成長機會。

Taking a closer look at second quarter performance, our work in the Energy, Environment, Infrastructure, and Disaster Recovery client market continued to increase significantly, with revenue growing by 14% to account for 45% of our total second quarter revenues, up from 41% in last year's second quarter.

仔細觀察第二季的業績，我們在能源、環境、基礎設施和災難復原客戶市場的工作持續大幅成長，營收成長了 14%，佔第二季總營收的 45%，高於 41%。二季度的%。

All areas of ICF's commercial energy work posted substantial revenue growth in both the second quarter and first half of 2024, again reflecting positive secular trends in our markets.

ICF 商業能源工作的所有領域在 2024 年第二季和上半年均實現了大幅收入成長，再次反映出我們市場的正面長期趨勢。

We continue to see strong demand for energy efficiency programs, which remain the most cost-effective means for utilities to increase their capacity. ICF has built an excellent track record in this arena, consistently reaching and exceeding program goals, and we continue to win new clients. At the same time, the size and scope of our programs have increased as our utility clients expand their energy efficiency, electrification, and consumer marketing programs.

我們繼續看到對能源效率計劃的強勁需求，這仍然是公用事業公司提高產能的最具成本效益的手段。ICF 在這一領域建立了出色的記錄，不斷達到並超越計劃目標，並且我們不斷贏得新客戶。同時，隨著我們的公用事業客戶擴大其能源效率、電氣化和消費者行銷計劃，我們計劃的規模和範圍也隨之擴大。

Also, we are very pleased with the performance and revenue synergies associated with last year's CMY acquisition. Their grid engineering and analytics capabilities are a natural extension of ICF's work in electrification, utility planning and renewables, enabling us to provide a broader set of services to utility and developer clients.

此外，我們對去年收購 CMY 所帶來的業績和收入綜效感到非常滿意。他們的電網工程和分析能力是 ICF 在電氣化、公用事業規劃和再生能源領域工作的自然延伸，使我們能夠為公用事業和開發商客戶提供更廣泛的服務。

Additionally, there are important synergies with our climate and resilience advisory work as we build in more detailed climate analytics into our grid engineering studies.

此外，當我們將更詳細的氣候分析納入電網工程研究時，我們的氣候和復原力諮詢工作也具有重要的協同作用。

Similarly, our energy advisory work continues to show strong growth, particularly in the area of power and technical advisory, reflecting increasing demand from developers of renewable energy resources. And growth in our environment and planning business line is benefiting from increasing resilience work for utilities undergrounding power lines for wildfire restoration, work for renewable developers, as well as providing ongoing licensing, permitting and compliance services.

同樣，我們的能源諮詢工作繼續呈現強勁成長，特別是在電力和技術諮詢領域，反映了再生能源開發商日益增長的需求。我們的環境和規劃業務線的成長受益於公用事業地下電線恢復野火復原能力的增強、為再生能源開發商提供的工作以及提供持續的許可、許可和合規服務。

As you know, we perform our climate services across all our client categories. This area continued to achieve significant growth in the second quarter, reflecting the expansion of climate programs at DOE and EPA as well as [at] an increasing number of utilities, state agencies and additional federal entities. We're also seeing an uptick in RFPs for state and local climate planning to be funded independently of the IIJA and IRA, and we're benefiting from client demand for ICF's CO2Sight system, our proprietary strategic planning platform that helps utilities and government agencies achieve their clean energy and greenhouse gas emission goals.

如您所知，我們為所有客戶類別提供氣候服務。該領域在第二​​季度繼續實現顯著增長，反映出美國能源部和美國環保局以及越來越多的公用事業公司、州機構和其他聯邦實體的氣候計劃的擴大。我們還看到獨立於IIJA 和IRA 資助的州和地方氣候規劃RFP 有所增加，並且我們受益於客戶對ICF 的CO2Sight 系統的需求，該系統是我們專有的戰略規劃平台，可幫助公用事業和政府機構實現他們的清潔能源和溫室氣體排放目標。

Our disaster management area also continues to do well. The Government of Puerto Rico's Public-Private Partnership Authority recently awarded ICF an $84 million recompete contract to provide professional grant management services over the next three years, and we're awaiting final word on other opportunities in the territory. ICF is currently executing nearly 50 disaster recovery programs in 16 states and 2 territories, and we're supporting over 30 clients' mitigation efforts in 10 states and 1 territory.

我們的災害管理領域也持續表現良好。波多黎各政府公私合作管理局最近授予 ICF 一份價值 8,400 萬美元的重新競爭合同，以在未來三年內提供專業贈款管理服務，我們正在等待該地區其他機會的最終決定。ICF 目前正在 16 個州和 2 個地區執行近 50 個災難復原計劃，並為 10 個州和 1 個地區的 30 多個客戶的緩解工作提供支援。

As a whole, we see double-digit growth ahead for our Energy, Environment, Infrastructure and Disaster Recovery client market over the next several years. Increasing physical impacts, improving economic fundamentals, public commitments by corporations, and legislative and regulatory actions regarding clean energy are driving policy and funding support for decarbonization programs, including energy efficiency, flexible load management, electrification. Increasing load growth from new data centers and transportation electrification is forcing utilities and regulators to quickly assess and deploy additions to the utility resource mix including supply, demand management, and resilience options. Renewable development is proceeding at a rapid pace, and we continue to see electric utility clients increase spending to replace aging infrastructure, to underground power lines, to improve resilience, and to expand the power grid, creating demand for ICF's grid engineering, environmental, and disaster management teams.

總體而言，我們預計未來幾年能源、環境、基礎設施和災難復原客戶市場將出現兩位數成長。不斷增加的物理影響、改善經濟基本面、企業的公開承諾以及有關清潔能源的立法和監管行動正在推動對脫碳計劃的政策和資金支持，包括能源效率、靈活的負載管理、電氣化。新資料中心和交通電氣化帶來的負載成長迫使公用事業公司和監管機構快速評估和部署公用事業資源組合中的附加內容，包括供應、需求管理和彈性選項。再生能源開發正在快速進行，我們繼續看到電力公司客戶增加支出，以更換老化的基礎設施、地下輸電線、提高彈性和擴大電網，從而創造了對 ICF 的電網工程、環境和電力的需求。災害管理團隊。

In our judgment, there's no company better positioned to benefit from these trends than ICF. We have long-standing relationships with utility, developer, and government clients, multidisciplinary expertise across energy, climate, transportation and health, plus industry leading analytical tools that support our advisory services as well as technology platform solutions that underpin our implementation work.

根據我們的判斷，沒有一家公司比 ICF 更能從這些趨勢中受益。我們與公用事業、開發商和政府客戶建立了長期合作關係，擁有能源、氣候、交通和健康領域的多學科專業知識，以及支持我們諮詢服務的行業領先的分析工具以及支撐我們實施工作的技術平台解決方案。

And we continue to see IIJA and IRA grant funding being released to applicants for a variety of approved infrastructure needs. Examples include formula grants to states, territories, and tribes for energy infrastructure and grid reliability upgrades, and award of competitive grants for clean energy manufacturing infrastructure.

我們繼續看到 IIJA 和 IRA 向申請人發放贈款資金，以滿足各種經批准的基礎設施需求。例如，向各州、領地和部落提供用於能源基礎設施和電網可靠性升級的公式撥款，以及為清潔能源製造基礎設施提供競爭性撥款。

ICF's IIJA and IRA related wins to date have reached almost $140 million, and our active pipeline of IIJA / IRA opportunities is now at $275 million. These metrics represent work primarily for government clients, As it is difficult to tie commercial projects to specific legislation.

迄今為止，ICF 與 IIJA 和 IRA 相關的勝利已達到近 1.4 億美元，而我們的 IIJA / IRA 機會的活躍管道目前已達到 2.75 億美元。這些指標主要代表政府客戶的工作，因為很難將商業項目與具體立法連結起來。

Moving to our Health and Social Programs client market. As expected, this market had lower year-on-year gross revenue comparisons, primarily reflecting three factors: the impact of last year's divestitures, anticipated fall-off in small business contracts that were held by the acquisitions we made over the last couple of years in IT modernization, and lower pass-through revenues primarily in public health. The reduction in pass-through revenues alone in this client market was approximately $7.5 million in the second quarter. We should see improved gross revenue comparisons from federal government clients in the second half of the year, but the increase will not be of the magnitude we had originally anticipated. We are confident that the strong growth in our Energy Environment, Infrastructure, and Disaster Management client market will continue to more than offset the impact of lower than expected revenue growth in Health and Social Programs.

轉向我們的健康和社會計劃客戶市場。正如預期的那樣，該市場的同比總收入比較較低，主要反映了三個因素：去年資產剝離的影響，過去幾年我們進行的收購所持有的小企業合約的預期下降IT 現代化，並降低主要在公共衛生領域的轉嫁收入。第二季光是該客戶市場的轉手收入就減少了約 750 萬美元。我們應該會看到下半年來自聯邦政府客戶的總收入比較有所改善，但增幅不會達到我們最初預期的幅度。我們相信，能源環境、基礎設施和災害管理客戶市場的強勁成長將繼續抵消健康和社會項目收入成長低於預期的影響。

We continue to execute effectively across our federal government climate-- client base and remain well positioned and have a healthy pipeline of opportunities in our two key areas, public health and IT modernization.

我們繼續在聯邦政府環境和客戶群中有效執行，並在公共衛生和 IT 現代化這兩個關鍵領域保持良好地位並擁有健康的機會管道。

In public health, we expanded our support for CDC's BioSense program in the second quarter and we'll begin developing additional functionality to include hospital admission data and hospital discharge and transfer data to the platform. As you may recall, BioSense was front and center during the pandemic as it tracks data from more than 75% of hospital emergency room visits nationwide, providing CDC and public health officials with insights into factors impacting the health of Americans at both the national and local level.

在公共衛生方面，我們在第二季擴大了對 CDC BioSense 計畫的支持，我們將開始開發其他功能，包括入院數據和出院數據，並將數據傳輸到平台。您可能還記得，BioSense 在大流行期間處於前沿和中心位置，因為它跟踪全國75% 以上的醫院急診室就診的數據，為CDC 和公共衛生官員提供了有關影響美國人健康的國家和地方因素的見解等級。

And we won our $237 million recompete contract with the US Agency for International Development Bureau for Global Health to continue to deliver the Demographic and Health Surveys program. ICF has long-standing relationships at six key agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services, and we have deep subject-matter expertise in areas that have bipartisan support, including cancer research, mental health, diabetes prevention, overdose prevention, and education on the impact of prescription opioids.

我們還贏得了與美國國際開發署全球健康局價值 2.37 億美元的重新競爭合同，以繼續實施人口和健康調查計劃。ICF 與衛生與公眾服務部內的六個主要機構建立了長期合作關係，我們在兩黨支持的領域擁有深厚的專業知識，包括癌症研究、心理健康、糖尿病預防、過量預防和有關教育處方阿片類藥物的影響。

IT modernization also remains a bipartisan priority, and ICF is now a recognized leader in the most widely used low-code, no-code, and open-source platforms in the federal government. The US federal IT services market is growing at a CAGR of 8.5% and is expected to reach $95 billion by 2027, and ICF's targeted areas, consulting and application services, are growing at CAGRs of 14% and 9%, respectively. We had two important contract wins in the second quarter at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and are seeing increased traction on opportunities where we'll be able to combine our technology and domain expertise, particularly when the scope includes a data or AI focus.

IT 現代化仍然是兩黨的優先事項，ICF 現在是聯邦政府使用最廣泛的低程式碼、無程式碼和開源平台的公認領導者。美國聯邦 IT 服務市場的複合年增長率為 8.5%，預計到 2027 年將達到 950 億美元，而 ICF 的目標領域諮詢和應用服務的複合年增長率分別為 14% 和 9%。第二季度，我們在醫療保險和醫療補助服務中心贏得了兩份重要合同，並且看到我們能夠將我們的技術和領域專業知識結合起來的機會越來越有吸引力，特別是當範圍包括數據或人工智慧焦點時。

We recently completed work with a federal agency client to leverage GenAI solutions for regulatory development support and public comment analysis. This was a very exciting project for our teams as within three months from inception to delivery we proved the viability of using GenAI to produce faster insights into numerous regulatory comments.

我們最近完成了與一家聯邦機構客戶的合作，利用 GenAI 解決方案提供監管發展支援和公眾意見分析。對於我們的團隊來說，這是一個非常令人興奮的項目，因為從啟動到交付的三個月內，我們證明了使用 GenAI 更快地洞察眾多監管意見的可行性。

Also, FEMA awarded us a new $17 million contract to build a cloud-based data exchange platform to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of their disaster recovery and response efforts. Here we will leverage our leading disaster management expertise along with cloud computing, Generative AI, and other forms of AI and advanced analytic capabilities, an excellent example of how ICF's multi-disciplinary approach is winning new business.

此外，FEMA 還授予我們一份價值 1700 萬美元的新合同，用於構建基於雲端的數據交換平台，以提高災難恢復和響應工作的效率和成本效益。在這裡，我們將利用我們領先的災難管理專業知識以及雲端運算、生成式人工智慧和其他形式的人工智慧以及先進的分析功能，這是ICF 的多學科方法如何贏得新業務的一個很好的例子。

On the topic of new business, as I mentioned already, this was a record second quarter for us in terms of contract awards, which reached $810 million, representing a book-to-bill ratio of 1.58 for the quarter. New business wins accounted for approximately 55% of our first half awards, demonstrating how well ICF's capabilities are aligned with client spending priorities.

關於新業務，正如我已經提到的，第二季度我們的合約授予額達到了創紀錄的水平，達到 8.1 億美元，該季度的訂單出貨比為 1.58。新業務的勝利約占我們上半年獎項的 55%，這表明 ICF 的能力與客戶支出優先事項的契合程度。

Additionally, an increased percentage of the value of our year-to-date awards represented contracts that included an AI component, a good indication of our recognized expertise in this high-demand area.

此外，我們今年迄今所簽訂的合約價值中包含人工智慧組件的比例有所增加，這很好地表明了我們在這一高需求領域的專業知識得到了認可。

In summary, this was a very strong quarter for ICF in terms of execution, profitability, and metrics that set us up for future growth.

總而言之，就執行力、獲利能力和為我們未來成長奠定基礎的指標而言，這是 ICF 非常強勁的一個季度。

I'll now turn over the call to our CFO, Barry Broadus, for a financial review. Barry?

我現在將把電話轉給我們的財務長巴里·布羅德斯 (Barry Broadus)，以進行財務審查。巴里？

Thank you, John, and good afternoon, everyone. I'm pleased to provide you with additional details on our 2024 second quarter financial performance.

謝謝約翰，大家下午好。我很高興向您提供有關我們 2024 年第二季財務業績的更多詳細資訊。

Total revenues increased 2.4% to $512 million or 6.2% compared to the second quarter of 2023 after adjusting for the divestiture of our commercial marketing business last year. Our second quarter revenue growth reflected many of the same business drivers as this year's first quarter and was led by revenue growth of 24.8% from our commercial energy clients and by a combined 5.9% growth in revenues from our state and local and international government clients.

經過去年商業行銷業務剝離的調整後，總營收較 2023 年第二季成長 2.4%，達到 5.12 億美元，成長 6.2%。我們第二季的營收成長反映了許多與今年第一季相同的業務驅動因素，其中商業能源客戶的收入成長了 24.8%，州、地方和國際政府客戶的收入成長了 5.9%。

Gross revenues from our federal government clients were flat in the second quarter. This was mainly due to a reduction in pass-through revenues of approximately $9 million, which unfavorably impacted our year-on-year revenue growth by approximately 450 basis points.

第二季來自聯邦政府客戶的總收入持平。這主要是由於轉嫁收入減少了約 900 萬美元，這對我們的年收入成長產生了約 450 個基點的不利影響。

As we look towards the future of our federal government business, the increases in our federal contract awards, along with an expanding new business pipeline, bodes well for future sustained growth in our federal business. ICF had $625 million in contract wins in this client category year to date, far outpacing our 2023 and 2022 first half awards, which averaged about $350 million. In addition, our federal new business pipeline has grown to over $7.5 billion, which is a 13% increase since the start of 2024.

當我們展望聯邦政府業務的未來時，我們聯邦合約授予的增加以及新業務管道的擴大，預示著我們聯邦業務未來的持續成長。今年迄今為止，ICF 在該客戶類別中贏得了 6.25 億美元的合同，遠遠超過了我們 2023 年和 2022 年上半年的平均合約金額約為 3.5 億美元。此外，我們的聯邦新業務管道已成長至超過 75 億美元，自 2024 年初以來成長了 13%。

Subcontractor and other direct costs declined in the second quarter to $132.8 million, representing 25.9% of total revenues, down from 27.5% in the prior year.

第二季分包商和其他直接成本下降至 1.328 億美元，佔總收入的 25.9%，低於前一年的 27.5%。

Second quarter gross margin was 35.7% of total revenues, up 80 basis points year over year. This improvement was primarily driven-- due to a favorable revenue and direct cost mix, as we saw strong revenue growth from our higher margin commercial marketing-- commercial energy clients and less subcontractor revenues.

第二季毛利率佔總營收的35.7%，年增80個基點。這種改善主要是由於有利的收入和直接成本組合而推動的，因為我們看到利潤率較高的商業行銷（商業能源客戶）和較少的分包商收入帶來了強勁的收入成長。

Indirect and selling expenses increased 0.4% year over year to $127.1 million, considerably less than our year-over-year revenue growth. As a percentage of total revenue, indirect and selling expenses were 24.8%, 50 basis points lower than the 25.3% reported in the prior year. We remain focused on driving efficiencies throughout the organization and continue to realize benefits from higher utilization, managing our indirect costs, and our increased scale.

間接費用和銷售費用年增 0.4% 至 1.271 億美元，遠低於我們的年收入成長。間接費用和銷售費用佔總收入的比例為 24.8%，比上年報告的 25.3% 下降 50 個基點。我們仍然專注於提高整個組織的效率，並繼續從更高的利用率、管理間接成本和擴大規模中實現效益。

The favorable revenue mix I mentioned earlier, combined with these factors, drove EBITDA growth of 17.2% year over year to $55.6 million. Adjusted EBITDA grew 9.9% to $56 million, substantially outpacing our revenue growth. Additionally, our adjusted EBITDA margins expanded to 10.9% of total revenue, an increase of 80 basis points as compared to the second quarter of last year.

我之前提到的有利收入組合，加上這些因素，推動 EBITDA 年成長 17.2%，達到 5,560 萬美元。調整後 EBITDA 成長 9.9%，達到 5,600 萬美元，大大超過我們的營收成長。此外，我們調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率擴大至總營收的 10.9%，比去年第二季增加了 80 個基點。

Interest expense of $7.7 million decreased $2.4 million from the same period last year due to a lower average debt balance. Our tax rate was 26.3% compared to 4.4% in the prior year period. The lower tax rate in the prior year second quarter reflected tax optimization strategies we were able to employ at that time. Our tax rate in the second quarter of 2024 was in line with our expectations, and we continue to expect a full year tax rate of 23.5%.

由於平均債務餘額較低，利息支出為 770 萬美元，較去年同期減少 240 萬美元。我們的稅率為 26.3%，去年同期為 4.4%。去年第二季較低的稅率反映了我們當時能夠採用的稅收優化策略。我們2024年第二季的稅率符合我們的預期，我們繼續預計全年稅率為23.5%。

Net income was $25.6 million and diluted EPS of $1.36 per diluted share increased 26.1% and 27.1% respectively, versus the comparable period last year. Last year's second quarter net income included $3.5 million or $0.13 per share of tax-effected special charges. Our non-GAAP EPS grew 7.6% year over year to $1.69 per share.

淨利潤為 2,560 萬美元，攤薄後每股收益為 1.36 美元，與去年同期相比分別增長 26.1% 和 27.1%。去年第二季的淨利潤包括 350 萬美元或每股 0.13 美元的受稅收影響的特殊費用。我們的非 GAAP 每股盈餘年增 7.6% 至 1.69 美元。

Now turning to our cash flow. Our operating cash flow in the first half of this year was $50.6 million, more than double the $19.9 million reported in the first half of 2023, reflecting higher net income and the execution of our cash management initiatives. Our days sales outstanding were 72 days compared to 73 days last year. Year to date, capital expenditures were $10.4 million, down from $13.1 million last year due to timing and the divestiture of our commercial marketing business.

現在轉向我們的現金流。今年上半年我們的營運現金流為 5,060 萬美元，是 2023 年上半年報告的 1,990 萬美元的兩倍多，反映出更高的淨利潤和我們現金管理計畫的執行。我們的銷售天數為 72 天，而去年為 73 天。今年迄今為止，由於時機和商業行銷業務的剝離，資本支出為 1,040 萬美元，低於去年的 1,310 萬美元。

At the end of June, our debt was $433.9 million compared to $601.8 million at the end of June 2023, which reflects $168 million of debt reduction. Approximately 63% of our debt is currently set at a fixed rate. Our adjusted net leverage ratio was 2.01 times at quarter end compared to 3.11 times at the end of last year's second quarter, demonstrating the company's ability to utilize our favorable cash flow from operations to quickly delever.

截至 6 月底，我們的債務為 4.339 億美元，而 2023 年 6 月底為 6.018 億美元，債務減少了 1.68 億美元。目前，我們大約 63% 的債務設定為固定利率。我們季度末調整後的淨槓桿率為2.01倍，而去年第二季末為3.11倍，這表明公司有能力利用有利的營運現金流來快速去槓桿化。

As for our capital allocation priorities, our strong financial position enables us to fund organic growth initiatives, consider strategic acquisitions, paying down debt, repurchasing shares to avoid dilution from our employee incentive plans, and paying quarterly dividends. Today, we announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.14 per share payable on October 11, 2024, to shareholders of record on September 6, 2024.

至於我們的資本配置優先事項，我們強大的財務狀況使我們能夠為有機成長計畫提供資金，考慮策略性收購，償還債務，回購股票以避免員工激勵計畫的稀釋，以及支付季度股息。今天，我們宣布將於 2024 年 10 月 11 日向 2024 年 9 月 6 日登記在冊的股東派發每股 0.14 美元的季度現金股利。

Now to help you with your financial models, please note the following. We are reducing our guidance for depreciation and amortization expense, interest expense, and CapEx. Our depreciation and amortization guidance has been reduced and is now expected to range from $22 million to $24 million. Guidance for interest expense has been lowered and we now expect a range from $30 million to $32 million. Our capital expenditures are anticipated to be between $22 million and $25 million. We are maintaining our guidance for all other metrics. As a reminder, amortization of intangible guidance will remain at approximately $32 million to $33 million; our full year tax rate expectations remain at approximately 23.5%; we continue to expect a fully diluted weighted average share count of approximately 19 million share;, and we continue to expect a full year operating cash flow of $155 million.

現在，為了幫助您建立財務模型，請注意以下事項。我們正在降低對折舊和攤銷費用、利息費用和資本支出的指導。我們的折舊和攤銷指引已降低，目前預計範圍為 2,200 萬美元至 2,400 萬美元。利息支出指引已降低，我們現在預計利息支出範圍為 3,000 萬美元至 3,200 萬美元。我們的資本支出預計在 2,200 萬至 2,500 萬美元之間。我們維持對所有其他指標的指導。提醒一下，無形指引的攤銷將維持在約 3,200 萬至 3,300 萬美元；我們全年稅率預期維持在23.5%左右；我們仍然預計完全攤薄加權平均股數約為 1,900 萬股；並且我們仍然預計全年營運現金流為 1.55 億美元。

And with that, I'll turn the call back over to John for his closing remarks.

接下來，我將把電話轉回給約翰，讓他作結束語。

Thank you Barry. Our first half results have put us on track to achieve our full year revenue guidance for 2024 and have enabled us to substantially increase our EPS and EBITDA guidance. We're pleased to increase our guidance for GAAP EPS to $5.60 to $5.90 and for non-GAAP EPS to $6.95 to $7.25, up $0.35 from prior guidance, representing year on year-on-year growth of 32.2% and 9.2%, respectively at the midpoint. Adjusted EBITDA is now expected to range between $225 million and $235 million up from our prior guidance of $220 million to $230 million.

謝謝巴里。我們的上半年業績使我們預計將實現 2024 年全年收入指導，並使我們能夠大幅提高 EPS 和 EBITDA 指導。我們很高興將 GAAP 每股盈餘指引上調至 5.60 至 5.90 美元，將非 GAAP 每股盈餘指引上調至 6.95 至 7.25 美元，比先前的指引上漲 0.35 美元，年比分別成長 32.2% 和 9.2%。調整後 EBITDA 目前預計在 2.25 億美元至 2.35 億美元之間，高於我們先前指引的 2.2 億美元至 2.3 億美元。

Further, we're also very pleased to note that reaching the midpoint of our increased EBITDA guidance range will result in ICF achieving the three-year EBITDA objective we provided in our 2022 Investor Day, adjusted for the 2023 divestitures, and we expect to accomplish this with substantially fewer acquisitions than originally contemplated.

此外，我們也非常高興地註意到，達到我們增加的EBITDA 指導範圍的中點將導致ICF 實現我們在2022 年投資者日提供的三年EBITDA 目標，並針對2023 年資產剝離進行調整，我們預計將實現收購數量比最初預期的要少得多。

A growing multi-year backlog and our record business development pipeline of $10.5 billion at the end of the second quarter support our expectations for continued strong growth in 2024 and give us confidence in ICF's ability to continue to grow at a high single digit rate over the next several years.

多年積壓的不斷增長以及第二季末創紀錄的105 億美元業務開發管道支持了我們對2024 年持續強勁增長的預期，並使我們對ICF 在2024 年繼續以高個位數速度增長的能力充滿信心。

We are experiencing strong demand from commercial clients for our energy and environment expertise and implementation skills. We have excellent credentials to assist state and local government clients in their planning, resilience, and mitigation objectives, and have expanded our capabilities in areas in the federal government that have bipartisan support, particularly IT modernization, which remains an area of priority spending. And we have a "secret sauce", the passion and commitment of our people, which supports our confidence in ICF's future success.

商業客戶對我們的能源和環境專業知識和實施技能有強烈需求。我們擁有出色的資歷，可以協助州和地方政府客戶實現規劃、彈性和緩解目標，並在聯邦政府得到兩黨支持的領域擴大了我們的能力，特別是 IT 現代化，這仍然是優先支出領域。我們擁有“秘密武器”，即我們員工的熱情和承諾，這支撐著我們對 ICF 未來成功的信心。

With that, operator, I would like to open the call to questions.

接線員，我想開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Joseph Vafi, Canaccord Genuity.

（操作員說明）Joseph Vafi，Canaccord Genuity。

Hey, guys, good afternoon, and nice to see the EPS revision higher. So congrats on that. I thought we'd just maybe just drill down first into maybe the federal business. I know in your commentary, John, you're talking about some of the health sectors being a bit weaker and for right now.

嘿，夥計們，下午好，很高興看到每股收益修正更高。所以恭喜你。我想我們可能會先深入研究聯邦業務。約翰，我知道在你的評論中，你談論的是一些衛生部門目前的狀況有些薄弱。

Just wondering how you're expecting to see maybe some of that health business over the next year or so in terms of what you're seeing, in terms of your bids submitted, and stuff that's in the pipeline? And then if you could compare and contrast that to maybe some of your other areas, I would imagine IT modernization is doing pretty well. And so it would be useful to get a flavor of maybe how they're doing relative to some of your other parts of the federal business and then I'll follow up.

只是想知道，就您所看到的情況、提交的投標以及正在醞釀的內容而言，您預計在未來一年左右的時間內看到一些健康業務的情況如何？然後，如果您可以將其與其他一些領域進行比較和對比，我想 IT 現代化做得相當不錯。因此，了解他們相對於聯邦業務的其他部分的表現可能會很有用，然後我會跟進。

Sure. No, well, thanks for the question, Joe. I'll start at the highest level. I mean, I think if you look at the forward focus metrics, our sales, our trailing 12-month book-to-bill ratio, the pipeline, those were obviously very strong in the quarter and have been very strong for this year.

當然。不，好吧，謝謝你的提問，喬。我將從最高級別開始。我的意思是，我認為如果你看看前瞻性指標、我們的銷售額、過去 12 個月的訂單出貨比、通路，這些指標在本季顯然非常強勁，今年也非常強勁。

Certainly the federal component of that pipeline and those sales has been very strong. I think Barry mentioned some of the specifics on the federal market. And so when we look at those results, they give us confidence that we'll see strong growth in federal over the next year and beyond.

當然，該管道的聯邦部分和這些銷售一直非常強勁。我認為巴里提到了聯邦市場的一些細節。因此，當我們看到這些結果時，它們讓我們相信，我們將在明年及以後看到聯邦經濟的強勁成長。

We continue to see significant proposal activity and significant opportunities in the federal arena. We continue to see awards occurring. And so I wouldn't say we've seen any change there. And obviously, as you know, the two key growth drivers are public health and IT modernization. And the proposals, the wins, and the book-to-bills are strong, and we're obviously strong in the quarter.

我們繼續看到聯邦領域的重大提案活動和重大機會。我們繼續看到獎項的出現。所以我不會說我們在那裡看到了任何變化。顯然，如您所知，兩個關鍵的成長動力是公共衛生和 IT 現代化。提案、勝利和訂單出貨比都很強勁，我們在本季的表現顯然很強勁。

With that said, I think in the quarter, and I think we talked about this last quarter, I think our federal business, I mean, I'll just review the numbers again, our federal business was essentially flat for the quarter. I think -- And as we said, I think a big part of that was pass-throughs in the federal arena were down materially year on year, at $9.1 million.

話雖如此，我認為在本季度，我認為我們在上個季度討論了這一點，我認為我們的聯邦業務，我的意思是，我將再次審查這些數字，我們的聯邦業務在本季度基本持平。我認為——正如我們所說，我認為其中很大一部分原因是聯邦領域的轉嫁金同比大幅下降，為 910 萬美元。

If you look at our revenue, if you look at our total revenue less the pass-throughs, the growth was about 5%. So total revenues less pass-throughs, that's subcontractors and other direct costs, is the work done by ICF.

如果你看看我們的收入，如果你看看我們的總收入減去轉手費，成長率約為 5%。因此，總收入減去轉包費（即分包商和其他直接成本）就是 ICF 所做的工作。

And so on that metric, we're at mid-single digit growth for Q2, and I think for the first quarter and for the first half of the year. There's a few things that are specifically impacting our federal business here. So in the first half of the year, I think it will continue into the second half of the year. But I don't think they're long-term issues. These are contract-specific issues.

就這個指標而言，我們第二季的成長處於中個位數，我認為第一季和今年上半年也是如此。有一些事情特別影響我們的聯邦業務。所以上半年，我認為這種情況會持續到下半年。但我不認為它們是長期問題。這些是合約特定的問題。

We've been -- the ramp-up of work under a recompete contract we won this quarter, one of the largest contracts, our large USAID Demographic and Health Surveys, we're rolling off of the prior contract, we've won the recompete for the new contract. There's always a couple of quarters when you make a transition with that contract where pass throughs and the work slows down a bit. So we're seeing that. We have another contract with USAID that ended at the end of the year where we've been awaiting award on that. We'll thought we'd have it in the first half of the year, it looks like we're not going to have it--a-- We'll have a decision until Q3. So that's impacting us. And then we also talked about rolling off some small business contracts from our acquisitions and the IT modernization front in 2022, again, which we anticipated and were part of our guidance and explanation when we did those deals.

我們一直在——根據本季度我們贏得的重新競爭合同加大工作力度，這是最大的合同之一，我們的大型美國國際開發署人口統計和健康調查，我們正在取消之前的合同，我們已經贏得了重新爭奪新合約。總有幾個季度，當你根據合約進行過渡時，工作會稍微放緩。所以我們看到了這一點。我們與美國國際開發署還有另一份合同，該合約於今年年底到期，我們一直在等待合約的授予。我們認為我們會在今年上半年得到它，看起來我們不會得到它——我們將在第三季度之前做出決定。所以這正在影響我們。然後我們也再次討論了在 2022 年從收購和 IT 現代化方面取消一些小型企業合約的問題，這是我們在進行這些交易時所預料到的，也是我們指導和解釋的一部分。

And so those three issues are really what's impacting our federal business here for a few quarters. I think as we look at the longer term and look down the road, given the opportunity, given the lens, given the book-to-bill, given the sales, we feel, I'm quite confident in it.

因此，這三個問題確實是幾個季度以來影響我們聯邦業務的因素。我認為，當我們著眼長遠並展望未來時，考慮到機會，考慮到鏡頭，考慮到訂單到帳單，考慮到銷售，我們覺得我對此非常有信心。

And to your point, I think we're-- certainly the IT modernization, we're continue to see significant opportunity. As you know, that's been a bipartisan issue for some time. I think that remains bipartisan. It's one of the few things that the Trump administration put a real emphasis on, and the Biden administration has continued it. And so I think certainly that will continue to be a significant source of growth for us as we look forward.

就您的觀點而言，我認為我們——當然是 IT 現代化，我們將繼續看到重大機會。如你所知，這一直是兩黨共同關心的問題。我認為這仍然是兩黨的共識。這是川普政府真正重視的少數事情之一，拜登政府也繼續這樣做。因此，我認為，展望未來，這肯定將繼續成為我們成長的重要來源。

Great. Thanks. Thanks for all that extra color, John, that's helpful. And then, I guess just on that IT modernization front again, I just -- I did see you win a pretty large contract recently with DOD in IT modernization.

偉大的。謝謝。感謝約翰提供的所有額外顏色，這很有幫助。然後，我想再次在 IT 現代化方面，我確實看到您最近與國防部在 IT 現代化方面贏得了相當大的合約。

I was wondering if you could kind of drill down into that a little bit. And if there's any kind of appetite to kind of continue to try to grow the DOD business and IT modernization, given the massive size of the budgets that there are over there? Thanks a lot, guys.

我想知道你是否可以深入研究一下。考慮到那裡的預算規模龐大，是否有任何興趣繼續嘗試發展國防部業務和 IT 現代化？非常感謝，夥計們。

Sure. No. So I think we did just recently announce that we've won a large DOD data -- applications in data services modernization BPA, a $1.4 billion BPA. I had 10 award winners to support DOD on IT modernization, particularly with an HR and data analytics focus.

當然。不。因此，我認為我們最近剛剛宣布，我們贏得了國防部的一項大型數據——數據服務現代化 BPA 中的應用程序，價值 14 億美元的 BPA。我有 10 位獲獎者支持國防部的 IT 現代化，特別是在人力資源和數據分析方面。

And so certainly we have significant HR, human capital capabilities that we will look to marry with our IT modernization capabilities. So we're excited about this. I think there's opportunity for us down the road. We expect that the task orders will start to flow later this year.

因此，我們當然擁有強大的人力資源和人力資本能力，我們希望將其與我們的 IT 現代化能力結合。所以我們對此感到興奮。我認為我們未來還有機會。我們預計任務訂單將於今年稍後開始流動。

And I think there was -- I think it was 10 winners -- 10 companies won a position on this BPA. And so I think there'll be opportunity for us there. And I think it's certainly an area we'll look to grow the business as we look forward.

我認為有 10 家公司贏得了 BPA 的席位。所以我認為我們在那裡會有機會。我認為這肯定是我們未來發展業務的一個領域。

Great. All right. Thanks very much, John. Nice results.

偉大的。好的。非常感謝，約翰。不錯的結果。

Thanks Joe. You take care.

謝謝喬。你保重。

Tim Mulrooney, William Blair.

提姆·馬爾魯尼，威廉·布萊爾。

Yeah, good afternoon. Nice quarter, guys. I think

是的，下午好。夥計們，這個季度不錯。我認為

Thank you.

謝謝。

I think this question is probably for Barry. Can you just give a little more detail on the primary factors behind the EPS guidance raise on a consolidated basis? Is this primarily due to the higher profitability outlook? Or is it also related to higher top line expectations relative to your prior expectations?

我想這個問題可能是問巴里的。您能否更詳細地介紹一下綜合每股盈餘指引上調背後的主要因素？這主要是由於獲利前景較高嗎？或者這也與相對於您先前預期的更高的收入預期有關？

Hey Tim, thanks for the question. Yeah, if you look at the guidance increase on EPS and adjusted EBITDA, that really has to do with the mix that we have. We talked about that during the remarks, especially in our commercial energy marketplace and the mix, not just from a standpoint of margins, which are significant in that market sector. It's the cost mix as well.

嘿提姆，謝謝你的提問。是的，如果你看看每股盈餘和調整後的 EBITDA 的指引成長，你會發現這確實與我們的組合有關。我們在演講中談到了這一點，特別是在我們的商業能源市場和組合中，而不僅僅是從利潤的角度來看，這在這個市場領域非常重要。這也是成本組合。

So we're more reliant on our direct labor versus subcontractor. So that's boosting. So we can keep our revenues -- the guidance in that hasn't changed. But you know because of the higher margin profile of that business and the throughput of that, we're able to increase the guidance for our EPS and both on the GAAP and non-GAAP basis and our adjusted EBITDA.

因此，與分包商相比，我們更依賴直接勞動力。所以這就是推動。所以我們可以保持我們的收入——這方面的指導沒有改變。但你知道，由於該業務的利潤率較高且吞吐量較高，我們能夠提高每股收益的指引，無論是在 GAAP 和非 GAAP 基礎上，還是調整後的 EBITDA 上。

Okay. That's helpful. Thanks. So no change there still about a 10% increase in revenue on the top line, more of a mix. Okay, that's helpful. The other question I had maybe for, well for anyone really, I know it's early but I'm getting this question a lot. I think most investors are curious how you all think about the Supreme Court's recent overturning of Chevron and how that might or might not have an impact on your business.

好的。這很有幫助。謝謝。所以沒有變化，營收仍然增加了 10% 左右，更多的是混合因素。好的，這很有幫助。我可能想問的另一個問題，對於任何人來說，我知道現在還為時過早，但我經常收到這個問題。我認為大多數投資者都好奇你們如何看待最高法院最近推翻雪佛龍案，以及這可能會或可能不會對你們的業務產生影響。

Yeah, thanks for the question, Tim. I think -- well I would say the punch line for us is that overall, given the Chevron decision and related Supreme Court decisions on the regulatory front, we don't really see any significant material impact to our business from that decision.

是的，謝謝你的提問，提姆。我認為，我想說的是，總的來說，考慮到雪佛龍的裁決和最高法院在監管方面的相關裁決，我們並沒有真正看到該決定對我們的業務產生任何重大的實質影響。

And honestly, I think if anything, it has the potential to create new opportunity, and new business potential for us just because given that decision, the regulatory agencies, when they do their rule making so that they will have to do much more detail than--more fact-intensive work.

老實說，我認為，如果有的話，它有可能為我們創造新的機會和新的業務潛力，因為監管機構在製定規則時做出了這樣的決定，因此他們將不得不做更多的細節——更重視事實的工作。

And as they do that, I think they'll need support with that. And so I think our regulatory support practices actually, -- I think there's a view that there could be a more work for us on that front. I would say just to put the context here, only about 1% to 2% of our total revenues are what I would consider regulatory-related work either doing regulatory support or implementing programs or doing implementation to comply with rules of regulations. It's really a small percentage of our work.

當他們這樣做時，我認為他們需要支持。因此，我認為我們的監管支援實踐實際上——我認為有一種觀點認為我們在這方面可能需要做更多的工作。我想說，只是為了說明背景，我認為我們總收入中只有大約 1% 到 2% 是與監管相關的工作，要么提供監管支持，要么實施計劃，要么實施以遵守監管規則。這確實只占我們工作的一小部分。

We really -- we only do that work really at EPA and FDA and I think on DOT And so it's about 1% to 2% of revenue, but it's -- of that 1% to 2% less than half of it is what I would consider regulatory or regulatory analysis or regulatory implementation. So it's not material. And ultimately, I think it has as much likelihood to create opportunity for us, as you know, in having an adverse impact, but any impact will not be material to our business and to our results.

我們真的——我們只在EPA 和FDA 真正做這項工作，我認為在DOT 上，所以它大約佔收入的1% 到2%，但它——在這1% 到2% 中，不到一半是我的收入。所以這不是物質的。最終，我認為這很有可能為我們創造機會，如您所知，產生不利影響，但任何影響對我們的業務和業績都不會產生重大影響。

Okay. I appreciate you framing that - for me, John, again, congrats on a nice quarter and we'll talk to you all soon.

好的。我很感謝你這麼描述——對我來說，約翰，再次恭喜你度過了一個愉快的季度，我們很快就會與你們交談。

Okay. Take care, thanks Tim.

好的。保重，謝謝蒂姆。

Kevin Steinke, Barrington Research Associates.

凱文‧史坦克，巴林頓研究協會。

Yes, good afternoon. Thank you. So in circling back there on the increase to the profitability guidance metrics, you talked there about favorable utilization metrics. And in response to one of Tim's questions, you talked about more use of your own labor versus subcontractors on some of the commercial energy efficiency side. Is that just -- is that the just the sole driver of the federal utilization metrics? Or is it kind of more across the board for your entire company, just better utilization of consultants, I guess.

是的，下午好。謝謝。因此，在談到獲利能力指導指標的增加時，您談到了有利的利用率指標。在回答蒂姆的一個問題時，您談到了在某些商業能源效率方面與分包商相比，更多地使用自己的勞動力。這只是聯邦利用率指標的唯一驅動因素嗎？或者我想這對整個公司來說是更全面的，只是更好地利用顧問。

Thanks for the question, Kevin. Yeah. So with that particular-- the services that we provide in the commercial energy business, that is more related to our staff as well as the contract, not just the mix of cost, but also it's more fixed price work than some of our other clients, especially like in the government clients.

謝謝你的提問，凱文。是的。因此，我們在商業能源業務中提供的服務，與我們的員工和合約更相關，不僅僅是成本的組合，而且比我們的一些其他客戶更固定價格工作，尤其是政府客戶。

So that enables us to manage the cost and improve margins. So not only is the type of work that we're doing more conducive to having more direct labor, less contracts, subcontractors, but also the type of contracts that we deploy also help with being able to manage the higher margins.

這使我們能夠管理成本並提高利潤。因此，我們所做的工作類型不僅更有利於擁有更多的直接勞動力、更少的合約、分包商，而且我們部署的合約類型也有助於管理更高的利潤。

In addition, on the profit increases, one thing I would like to mention is that as I noted in my remarks, we are lowering our interest expense guidance as well as our depreciation and amortization expense guidance. And so that's also helping boost our EPS as we go for the rest of the year.

此外，關於利潤成長，我想提的一件事是，正如我在發言中指出的那樣，我們正在降低利息費用指導以及折舊和攤銷費用指導。因此，這也有助於提高我們今年剩餘時間的每股盈餘。

Okay.

好的。

Actually, (multiple speakers) I think Barry did a nice job of summarizing. I mean, I do, historically and for a long time, I mean, our energy business, of course our energy businesses is just ultimately more profitable than our government business. So that's growing more rapidly, and then as Barry says there's not as many pass throughs to other firms that those are both driving the margin up, Kevin.

事實上，（多個發言者）我認為巴里總結得很好。我的意思是，我確實如此，從歷史上看，在很長一段時間內，我的意思是，我們的能源業務，當然，我們的能源業務最終比我們的政府業務更有利可圖。因此，成長速度更快，然後正如巴里所說，沒有那麼多的公司轉移到其他公司，而這些公司都在推動利潤率上升，凱文。

Okay, great. And obviously, commercial energy has been a nicely growing business for the last few years, but there almost seems to be an acceleration going on here the last couple of quarters in terms of the growth. I don't know if there are any specific catalyst or trends in the utility market that is driving faster growth that you want to highlight. And what seems to be kind of an acceleration in growth going on there?

好的，太好了。顯然，商業能源在過去幾年中一直是一個成長良好的業務，但在過去幾個季度中，成長似乎正在加速。我不知道公用事業市場是否有任何特定的催化劑或趨勢正在推動您想要強調的更快成長。那裡似乎正在加速成長？

Yeah. I mean, I guess what I'd say, Kevin, is I mean, I would just say that energy markets in the United States right now are undergoing a once-in-a-century transformation right now. I mean, just to you know we're seeing, and it's multipronged. I mean, we're seeing a significant reduction in the cost of carbon free energy due to technology innovation. And in that arena, we're seeing state level regulatory activities around renewable portfolio standards and climate planning and mandating energy efficiency programs that's helping to drive this.

是的。我的意思是，凱文，我想我想說的是，我想說的是，美國的能源市場目前正在經歷百年一遇的轉變。我的意思是，正如你所知，我們正在看到，而且它是多方面的。我的意思是，由於技術創新，我們看到無碳能源的成本顯著降低。在這個領域，我們看到州級圍繞再生能源組合標準和氣候規劃以及強制能源效率計劃開展的監管活動有助於推動這一目標。

We're seeing the electrification of transportation with EVs and buildings driving change. We're seeing -- I mean, I'm sure you've been reading, I mean, the rapid rise in the load from data centers supporting AI is just unprecedented. Then you have the public commitments on from both citizens and corporations around how carbon neutrality, including the hyperscalers, the Googles and the Metas and the Amazons.

我們看到電動車和建築帶來的交通電氣化正在推動改變。我們看到——我的意思是，我相信你已經讀過，我的意思是，支援人工智慧的資料中心負載的快速成長是前所未有的。然後，公民和企業（包括超大規模企業、Google、Metas 和亞馬遜）就如何實現碳中和做出了公開承諾。

And so that's going to create a lot of extreme demand given what's going on with data centers. And so I think it's a unique time in the energy industry. I think the challenges around how we're going to meet electric demand and we're going to address in -- make progress on clean energy and reducing carbon footprints, there's just tremendous opportunity there.

考慮到資料中心的現狀，這將產生大量的極端需求。所以我認為這是能源產業的一個獨特時期。我認為圍繞著我們如何滿足電力需求以及我們將要解決的挑戰——在清潔能源和減少碳足跡方面取得進展，那裡存在著巨大的機會。

And I think as I said in my remarks, we've been in these businesses for 30 to 40 years and we can look at it from every angle, we can look at it from the energy, from the environmental, from the health, from the technology, from the regulatory.

我認為正如我在演講中所說，我們從事這些業務已經有 30 到 40 年了，我們可以從各個角度來看待它，我們可以從能源、環境、健康、技術，來自監管。

And so I mean, it's just a long winded way. I think it's a unique time and it is accelerating. It is accelerating and I think that's what's giving us confidence that we're going to see strong double digit growth here for some time, and there's just tremendous opportunity.

所以我的意思是，這只是一條漫長的路。我認為這是一個獨特的時代，而且它正在加速發展。它正在加速，我認為這給了我們信心，我們將在一段時間內看到強勁的兩位數成長，並且存在巨大的機會。

That's great. That's really helpful color. And lastly, I just wanted to ask about one of the comments you made about an increasing percentage of the value of your year-to-date contract awards, including an AI component and your expertise there. Maybe if you kind of elaborate on the AI component of the awards you're seeing, and how you can apply your expertise to those contracts?

那太棒了。這真是有用的顏色。最後，我只是想問一下您對今年迄今為止的合約價值所佔比例不斷增加的評論，其中包括人工智慧組件和您在這方面的專業知識。也許您可以詳細說明您所看到的獎項中的人工智慧部分，以及如何將您的專業知識應用到這些合約中？

Yeah. So I think -- I mean, I would say certainly in our federal business, we're seeing increased interest in new business opportunities on that AI front, and from our federal clients. I think we're well positioned to benefit from that.

是的。所以我認為——我的意思是，我肯定會說，在我們的聯邦業務中，我們看到我們的聯邦客戶對人工智慧領域的新商機越來越感興趣。我認為我們處於有利位置，可以從中受益。

And honestly, I think we're finding that our programmatic clients who are carrying out their missions are increasingly interested in how they can leverage AI to achieve their goals and achieve their missions. And as part of that, I think what we -- given that we have both domain experts working with those clients and those programmatic folks as they carry out their work plus we have a deep technology bench who can bring the technology capability around AI.

老實說，我認為我們發現正在執行任務的程式化客戶對如何利用人工智慧來實現目標和使命越來越感興趣。作為其中的一部分，我認為我們——鑑於我們既有與這些客戶合作的領域專家，也有那些在開展工作時的程序化人員，而且我們擁有深厚的技術基礎，可以圍繞人工智能帶來技術能力。

We're finding that with many of these opportunities, we need to have both sides of the house. We need to have the domain people and the technology people working side-by-side with our clients on AI to really maximize the benefit and figure out the most innovative solution.

我們發現，面對許多這樣的機會，我們需要兼顧雙方。我們需要讓領域人員和技術人員與我們的客戶在人工智慧領域並肩工作，以真正實現利益最大化並找出最具創新性的解決方案。

And so a lot of these opportunities are coming from the federal agencies and the programmatic people. So the energy policy people or the public health experts, the epidemiologists, the toxicologists, sort of public health experts who are talking to our domain people, want to figure out how to leverage AI and then we can bring our technology people to bear on it.

因此，許多機會都來自聯邦機構和計劃人員。因此，能源政策人員或公共衛生專家、流行病學家、毒理學家、與我們領域人員交談的公共衛生專家想要弄清楚如何利用人工智慧，然後我們可以讓我們的技術人員來解決這個問題。

So I think that's something we can do particularly well. And so we have a tiger team of AI experts in Corporate that can work with our domain people to take advantage of these opportunities quickly. I think there's several buckets that we're looking at where we think they have the potential, the use cases could potentially be material to our business, I mean grants management, training and technical assistance, research and evaluation. On the commercial side, perhaps rebate processing area. Anyway we're looking at a set of use cases that we think would be particularly relevant, but we're seeing a lot of interest. Obviously, we also have 1,800 people who do the IT modernization work and the key platforms are working with ServiceNow, Salesforce, Appian, who are all building AI capabilities in their platforms and so our technologists are (inaudible) supporting clients on that. And obviously, we're using it to improve the productivity of our technologists. We're also finding that AI can help us create content for our marketing activities for clients.

所以我認為這是我們可以做得特別好的事情。因此，我們在企業中擁有一支由人工智慧專家組成的老虎團隊，他們可以與我們的領域人員合作，快速利用這些機會。我認為我們正在研究幾個我們認為有潛力的領域，這些用例可能對我們的業務至關重要，我的意思是補助金管理、培訓和技術援助、研究和評估。商業方面，或許是回扣處理領域。無論如何，我們正在研究一組我們認為特別相關的用例，但我們看到了許多人的興趣。顯然，我們還有1,800 名人員從事IT 現代化工作，關鍵平台正在與ServiceNow、Salesforce、Appian 合作，他們都在自己的平台中建立人工智慧功能，因此我們的技術人員（聽不清楚）正在為客戶提供支持。顯然，我們正在使用它來提高技術人員的生產力。我們也發現人工智慧可以幫助我們為客戶的行銷活動創建內容。

And so yeah, a number of quite a different and a wide array of things we're looking at, as I say, I think kind of trying to leverage our domain expertise and our technology expertise. And I think it's also, we're really trying to figure out what are the use cases that could be most impactful for our clients and impactful for our business.

所以，是的，我們正在研究許多完全不同且廣泛的事物，正如我所說，我認為嘗試利用我們的領域專業知識和技術專業知識。我認為我們也在努力找出哪些用例對我們的客戶和我們的業務影響最大。

Okay. That's great. I appreciate all the insights. I will turn it back over. Thanks.

好的。那太棒了。我很欣賞所有的見解。我會把它翻過來。謝謝。

Marc Riddick, Sidoti.

馬克·里迪克，西多蒂。

Very good afternoon. So I wanted to touch a little bit on the, one of the comments in the prepared remarks and the press release talked about the disaster recovery client market and the growth that you're expecting in the second half of the year.

午安.因此，我想談談準備好的發言和新聞稿中的一條評論，其中涉及災難復原客戶端市場以及您預計下半年的成長。

So why don't you talk a little bit about maybe, we've certainly seen some of the announcements, but maybe talk a little bit about what you've seen open up on the disaster recovery front and sort of what's driving that?

那麼，您為什麼不談談也許，我們確實已經看到了一些公告，但也許談談您在災難復原方面看到的開放情況以及推動這一趨勢的因素？

Yeah. I think on the disaster recovery front, I mean, obviously, as you know, we've talked about, over the last several years, I mean, we've continued to be quite active in Puerto Rico. We have just announced a recompete contract there, to support FEMA related disaster recovery.

是的。我認為在災難復原方面，我的意思是，顯然，如您所知，我們在過去幾年中已經討論過，我的意思是，我們在波多黎各繼續非常活躍。我們剛剛在那裡宣布了一份重新競爭合同，以支持 FEMA 相關的災難復原。

We also are still quite engaged and quite busy on the housing side in Puerto Rico, and continue to win follow-on work and we have several new contract opportunities in the pipeline we're waiting award on and so I think we're still, though they are significant client, there's material opportunity in front of us there.

我們在波多黎各的住房方面仍然非常忙碌，並繼續贏得後續工作，我們正在等待授予的幾個新合約機會，所以我認為我們仍然，儘管他們是重要客戶，但我們面前有大量的機會。

We're still very busy in Texas supporting Texas disaster recovery, particularly our mitigation related work. And that continues to be significant long-term opportunity for us in Texas, including potentially in both Puerto Rico and Texas, the potential for us to introduce and play a larger role on the technology side around disaster recovery, which we're excited about.

我們在德克薩斯州仍然非常忙碌，支持德克薩斯州的災難恢復，特別是與緩解相關的工作。對於我們在德克薩斯州（包括波多黎各和德克薩斯州）來說，這仍然是重要的長期機會，我們有可能在災難復原技術方面引入並發揮更大的作用，對此我們感到很興奮。

I know we've discussed in the past, we're doing our first major wildfire disaster recovery effort for the state of Oregon, that's going well and that's a great qualification for us. In my remarks, I noted the number of disaster recovery clients we have and, you know, and the number of mitigation plans.

我知道我們過去討論過，我們正在為俄勒岡州進行首次重大野火災難復原工作，進展順利，這對我們來說是一個很好的資格。在我的演講中，我指出了我們擁有的災難復原客戶的數量，以及緩解計畫的數量。

I mean, it's an impressive number and an impressive list. But I would say, we continue to be busy in Louisiana. I think that as you know also, Mark, you know it's the frequency and severity of these events is only, as you know, is certainly increasing.

我的意思是，這是一個令人印象深刻的數字和令人印象深刻的清單。但我想說，我們在路易斯安那州仍然很忙。我認為，馬克，你也知道，這些事件的頻率和嚴重程度肯定在增加。

I'm sure you saw the story, you know what put out there, 2024 Atlantic hurricane, predictions, they were saying 17 to 25 tropical storms, including 4 to 7 major hurricanes, which is a significant increase. And we're seeing more wildfires and we're also seeing the potential that heat events are going to become -- be considered eligible for disaster recovery funding and well, I don't know, I think if you live anywhere in the United States, you are experiencing some heat events this summer.

我相信你看過這個故事，你知道那裡發布的內容，2024 年大西洋颶風預測，他們說會有 17 到 25 場熱帶風暴，其中包括 4 到 7 場大型颶風，這是一個顯著的增加。我們看到了更多的野火，我們也看到了高溫事件的可能性——被認為有資格獲得災難恢復資金，好吧，我不知道，我想如果你住在美國的任何地方，今年夏天您正在經歷一些高溫事件。

So I think that business, we're growing, we're doing well, and I think there's going to be significant opportunity there as we look down the road and we really are an industry leader in that arena.

所以我認為我們的業務正在成長，我們做得很好，而且我認為當我們展望未來時，那裡將會有巨大的機會，我們確實是該領域的行業領導者。

Great. And then the one other thing I wanted to sort of touch on, you certainly covered a lot already. I was wondering if you could touch on or give us maybe an update on what your thoughts are around potential acquisitions and maybe what the acquisition pipeline looks like currently as far as I know what you think may be available out there, quality and quantity wise, and maybe thoughts on valuation and that maybe the chances of some of those things maybe shaking loose, should we get some interest rate cuts? Thanks.

偉大的。然後我想談的另一件事是，你肯定已經涵蓋了很多內容。我想知道您是否可以談談或向我們介紹一下您對潛在收購的想法的最新情況，以及據我所知您認為可能存在的收購渠道目前的情況，無論是質量還是數量，也許是對估值的想法，也許其中一些事情可能會鬆動，我們是否應該降息？謝謝。

Yeah, no, good question. Well, I would say that it was currently -- first of all, I think as Barry noted, our balance sheet is in a strong, strong position. I mean, our leverage ratio's down to 2, we're generating significant cash.

是的，不，好問題。嗯，我想說的是，目前——首先，我認為正如巴里指出的那樣，我們的資產負債表處於非常強勁的位置。我的意思是，我們的槓桿率降至 2，我們正在產生大量現金。

We'll certainly continue to do that. We have high confidence to that. I think and as you know, acquisitions have been a key part of our strategy over the last several, two decades. I think there's been three or four times where we placed a strategic bet whether in, you know, federal markets or IT modernization or digital engagement, levered up, acquired key strategic resources capabilities, and then paid the debt down the next two or three years and levered up again.

我們肯定會繼續這樣做。我們對此充滿信心。我認為，正如您所知，在過去二十年裡，收購一直是我們策略的關鍵部分。我認為我們已經有三到四次進行策略性押注，無論是在聯邦市場、IT 現代化還是數位參與領域，提高槓桿率，獲得關鍵戰略資源能力，然後在未來兩三年內償還債務並再次加槓桿。

But I think that remains a key component of our strategy, and I think we discussed this before. I think sort of in the energy area, given all the opportunity and the breadth of that opportunity in terms of the wide array of skills and capabilities required to support it, we're certainly looking carefully at opportunities in that market and that would be of interest.

但我認為這仍然是我們策略的關鍵組成部分，我想我們之前已經討論過這一點。我認為在能源領域，鑑於支持它所需的廣泛技能和能力方面的所有機會和機會的廣度，我們當然正在仔細尋找該市場的機會，這將是一種興趣。

I think we've continued to look at opportunities in the Federal market more around data and analytics and perhaps smaller tuck-in technology acquisitions. But I think we're going to do the and then disaster recovery, I think if something came along that gave us greater geographic reach or broad tools and systems that we thought were complementary to our business, we'd look at those.

我認為我們繼續在聯邦市場上更多地關注數據和分析方面的機會，或許還有較小的技術收購。但我認為我們將先進行災難恢復，我認為如果出現了一些東西可以為我們提供更大的地理覆蓋範圍或我們認為與我們的業務互補的廣泛工具和系統，我們會考慮這些。

And so I would say the deal flow is improving. We're seeing more potential opportunities. I think the valuations are improving a bit. And (laughter) And I think to your note, interest rates, you know, perhaps those will come down.

所以我想說交易流程正在改善。我們看到了更多潛在的機會。我認為估值正在改善。（笑聲）我認為你知道，利率也許會下降。

And so I mean we're in the market we're looking I think we're as you know, we're quite disciplined, we're not going to -- we have a very clear set of criteria, and we'll stick to that. But I mean, it remains part of our strategy and we're certainly out in the market, taking a look at potential opportunities. I don't think -- if we were to do anything before the end of the year, it could be more of a small tuck-in.

所以我的意思是，我們在我們正在尋找的市場中，我想我們就像你知道的那樣，我們非常自律，我們不會——我們有一套非常明確的標準，我們會堅持下去。但我的意思是，這仍然是我們策略的一部分，我們當然會進入市場，尋找潛在的機會。我不認為——如果我們要在年底之前做任何事情，那可能只是小規模的塞錢。

(multiple speakers) I really appreciate it. Thanks.

（多個發言者）我真的很感激。謝謝。

Tobey Sommer, Truist Securities.

托比·索默 (Tobey Sommer)，Truist 證券公司。

Thanks. I was wondering if you could talk about your, in billable employee headcount growth, and maybe comment about what attrition has been like year to date. A lot of the companies that have reported before you have talked about that rebounding to pre-pandemic or maybe even better than that levels, do you see continued opportunity for even better retention? Thanks.

謝謝。我想知道您是否可以談談您的計費員工人數成長情況，也許還可以評論一下今年迄今為止的人員流失情況。在您之前報道過的許多公司都談到了反彈到大流行前的水平，甚至可能比這個水平更好，您是否認為有繼續提高保留率的機會？謝謝。

Yeah, thanks for the question. You know, our retention rate has certainly improved, certainly year over year and quarter over quarter. We ended in a little bit less than the 12% from a turnover perspective. So we're happy about that, and we're seeing a little bit of ease from a talent perspective and our head count from a year-over-year perspective has been growing. And we feel good that we've got that -- able to get the talent to execute on the programs that we have and retain the talent.

是的，謝謝你的提問。您知道，我們的保留率確實有所提高，尤其是與去年同期相比。從營業額的角度來看，我們最終的業績略低於 12%。因此，我們對此感到高興，從人才角度來看，我們看到了一點輕鬆，而且從逐年角度來看，我們的員工人數一直在增加。我們感到很高興，我們已經做到了——能夠讓人才執行我們現有的計劃並留住人才。

Yeah. Maybe to give you a little bit more color on that. Tobey, this is James Morgan. From a billable headcount perspective, year over year, we're up like mid-single digit ranges, squared basically as and certainly as Barry mentioned, retention is significantly down a little bit under 12% from an attrition perspective, which is the lowest it's been in years.

是的。也許是為了讓你對此有更多的了解。托比，這是詹姆斯摩根。從可計費員工人數的角度來看，逐年增長，我們的增幅約為中個位數，基本上平方，正如巴里提到的那樣，從人員流失的角度來看，保留率顯著下降到12 % 以下，這是最低的已經好幾年了。

I appreciate that. From a contract award and pipeline perspective, are there any discernible trends that you could call out in terms of the margin of the bids that you're submitting or plan to in winning and or any sort of mix shift that may be implied by the composition of those bids towards, and I'm thinking primarily of like any kind of change in type of firm fixed price, et cetera. Thanks.

我很欣賞這一點。從合約授予和管道的角度來看，您在提交或計劃獲勝的投標利潤方面是否存在任何明顯的趨勢，或者組合可能暗示的任何類型的混合變化我主要考慮的是固定價格類型的任何變化，等等。謝謝。

You know, I think from a pricing perspective, I don't see our view across the key markets. I don't think we've -- I think the pricing has been pretty stable and I don't think, we're not saying -- we're not under significant pressure to lower our margins. I think the margins have been pretty stable. I do think that we're -- we continue to see, I would say, fixed price contracts. Yeah I would say that if you look at our percentage.

你知道，我認為從定價的角度來看，我沒有看到我們對主要市場的看法。我不認為我們——我認為定價一直相當穩定，而且我不認為，我們並沒有說——我們沒有面臨降低利潤率的巨大壓力。我認為利潤率相當穩定。我確實認為我們——我想說的是，我們繼續看到固定價格合約。是的，如果你看看我們的百分比，我會這麼說。

Yeah if you look at our fixed price contract percentage of all of our contracts, it's going up significantly. And that's replacing our cost reimbursable contracts, which is certainly helping with the margins. So that's good. I would say that as far as the mix of our direct labor versus subcontractor labor, that really hasn't changed significantly. And we haven't seen big shifts in any of that.

是的，如果你看看我們所有合約中固定價格合約的百分比，你會發現它正在顯著上升。這正在取代我們的成本可償還合同，這無疑有助於提高利潤。所以這樣很好。我想說，就我們的直接勞動力與分包商勞動力的組合而言，這確實沒有重大變化。我們還沒有看到任何重大變化。

I'd say the other thing is the size of our deals has been going up, I mean, our proposals, and given the opportunities and focus in IT modernization and honestly in the energy area, particularly energy implementation side with energy efficiency and some of the programs there, which you know tend to be fixed price and very beneficial to us. So, the size of the deals that we're bidding is certainly on the uptick.

我想說的另一件事是，我們的交易規模一直在增加，我的意思是，我們的建議，並考慮到 IT 現代化以及能源領域的機會和重點，特別是能源實施方面的能源效率和一些你知道那裡的項目往往是固定價格的，對我們非常有利。因此，我們競標的交易規模肯定會增加。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

All right, thank you. I am showing no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn it back to John Wasson for closing remarks.

好的，謝謝。我目前沒有提出任何進一步的問題。現在我想請約翰·沃森（John Wasson）發表結束語。

Okay. Well, thanks for participating in today's call. We look forward to connecting at upcoming conferences and events. Have a good rest of summer.

好的。好的，感謝您參加今天的電話會議。我們期待在即將舉行的會議和活動中進行交流。暑假好好休息吧。

All right. Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.

好的。感謝您參加今天的會議。這確實結束了該程式。您現在可以斷開連線。