ICF International Inc (ICFI) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the first-quarter 2025 ICF earnings conference call. My name is Karen, and I will be your operator for today's call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

歡迎參加 2025 年第一季 ICF 收益電話會議。我叫凱倫，今天我將擔任您的電話接線生。（操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。

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

現在我將把電話轉給 AdvisIRy Partners 的 Lynn Morgen。林恩，你可以開始了。

Thank you, Karen. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us to review ICF's first-quarter 2025 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，凱倫。大家下午好，謝謝大家與我們一起回顧 ICF 2025 年第一季的業績。今天與我們一起參加活動的是 ICF 主席兼執行長 John Wasson；以及財務長 Barry Broadus。首席營運長詹姆斯摩根 (James Morgan) 也加入其中。

During this conference call, we will 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 May 1, 2025, 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。這些聲明受到多種風險的影響，這些風險可能導致實際事件和結果有重大差異，我建議您參閱我們 2025 年 5 月 1 日的新聞稿和我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件，以了解這些風險的討論。

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陳述均基於我們今天的觀點。我們預期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。我們可能會在某個時候選擇更新今天所做的前瞻性陳述，但明確否認有這樣做的義務。

I will now turn the call over to ICF's CEO, John Wasson, to discuss first-quarter 2025 performance. John?

現在，我將把電話轉給 ICF 的執行長 John Wasson，討論 2025 年第一季的業績。約翰？

Thank you, Lynn, and thank you all for joining us this afternoon to review our first-quarter results and discuss our business outlook. We are pleased to report that our first-quarter revenues were in line with our expectations, reflecting the strength of our diversified business model and supporting the 2025 guidance framework we discussed during our February 27 earnings call.

謝謝你，Lynn，也謝謝大家今天下午加入我們，回顧我們的第一季業績並討論我們的業務前景。我們很高興地報告，我們的第一季收入符合我們的預期，反映了我們多元化業務模式的實力，並支持了我們在 2 月 27 日財報電話會議上討論的 2025 年指導框架。

There are several key takeaways worth noting, First, our revenues from commercial, state and local, and international government clients in the aggregate accounted for 51% of our first-quarter revenues, up from about 45% one year ago. Second, revenues from commercial energy clients increased 21% year over year, demonstrating continued strong demand from utility clients.

有幾個關鍵點值得注意，首先，來自商業、州和地方以及國際政府客戶的收入總計占我們第一季收入的 51%，高於一年前的 45% 左右。其次，商業能源客戶的營收年增21%，顯示公用事業客戶的需求持續強勁。

Third, adjusted EBITDA margin on total revenues expanded 10 basis points to 11.3%, reflecting mix benefits and careful cost management. And lastly, our non-GAAP EPS was up almost 10%, considerably ahead of our first-quarter revenue comparisons. And we do expect non-GAAP EPS to outpace revenue performance for the full year as well.

第三，調整後總收入的 EBITDA 利潤率擴大 10 個基點至 11.3%，反映了組合效益和謹慎的成本管理。最後，我們的非公認會計準則每股收益成長了近 10%，大大高於第一季的營收水準。我們確實預期非公認會計準則每股收益也將超過全年收入表現。

I'll now review additional first-quarter business trends and then provide further insight into ICF's federal government business in the context of the new administration's directives and spending priorities.

我現在將回顧第一季的其他業務趨勢，然後根據新政府的指示和支出重點進一步了解 ICF 的聯邦政府業務。

To begin, revenues from commercial clients increased 22.1% to account for 29.5% of total first-quarter revenues, up from 23.9% in last year's first quarter. Commercial energy was the key driver of the strong performance, with revenues up 21% to represent 87% of the commercial client category. This growth was driven by new and expanded energy efficiency, electrification, and customer engagement programs for utility clients.

首先，來自商業客戶的營收成長了22.1%，佔第一季總營收的29.5%，高於去年第一季的23.9%。商業能源是強勁業績的主要推動力，其營收成長 21%，佔商業客戶類別的 87%。這一成長是由針對公用事業客戶的全新和擴大的能源效率、電氣化和客戶參與計劃所推動的。

We are experiencing continued demand from utilities for energy efficiency, demand response, customer engagement, and flexible load management programs as our clients seek to accommodate rapid load growth. The vast majority of these programs are funded by ratepayers, as public service commissions in over 30 states recognize the benefits of reducing energy usage over building new power plants.

隨著我們的客戶尋求適應快速的負載成長，我們感受到公用事業對能源效率、需求響應、客戶參與和靈活負載管理計劃的持續需求。這些項目中的絕大多數都是由納稅人資助的，因為超過 30 個州的公共服務委員會認識到減少能源使用比建造新發電廠更有好處。

ICF is the market leader in developing and implementing residential energy efficiency programs, having earned this position by meeting or exceeding our clients' energy savings goals over the last 20 years, and we are progressively gaining share in commercial energy efficiency as well. We also saw solid demand for environment and planning services in the first quarter, with notable increases in work associated with utility infrastructure replacement after the California wildfires and work for solar and wind developers for projects that are not on federal land, which more than offset the softening in offshore wind projects.

ICF 是開發和實施住宅能源效率計劃的市場領導者，透過在過去 20 年中達到或超越客戶的能源節約目標而贏得了這一地位，並且我們在商業能源效率領域的份額也在逐步增加。我們也看到第一季對環境和規劃服務的需求強勁，加州森林大火後與公用事業基礎設施更換相關的工作以及非聯邦土地上的太陽能和風能開發商的項目工作顯著增加，這足以抵消海上風電項目的疲軟。

And our Energy Advisory group won new business that included a diverse portfolio of projects that includes natural gas market analysis, transmission and wholesale price assessments, engineering and technical advisory services, and grid engineering projects, including planning for new utility substations to meet demand from data centers.

我們的能源諮詢小組贏得了新業務，其中包括多樣化的項目組合，包括天然氣市場分析、輸送和批發價格評估、工程和技術諮詢服務以及電網工程項目，包括規劃新的公用事業變電站以滿足數據中心的需求。

In the first quarter, we also completed the integration of AEG, the leading energy technology and advisory firm we acquired at the end of 2024. AEG provides a suite of integrated technology and solutions to electric and gas utilities, state and local governments, and state energy offices nationwide, and our teams are working together to find opportunities for synergistic growth.

第一季度，我們也完成了對我們於 2024 年底收購的領先能源技術和顧問公司 AEG 的整合。AEG 為全國的電力和天然氣公用事業、州和地方政府以及州能源辦公室提供一套綜合技術和解決方案，我們的團隊正在共同努力尋找協同成長的機會。

ICF has deep domain expertise and experience across the energy landscape, and we are very confident in the growth prospects for our commercial energy business. Many of our utility clients are increasing budgets, resisting energy efficiency and flexible load management programs, and are seeking permission from regulators to add new programs. We're also experiencing greater demand for resource adequacy planning, renewal integration, transmission and distribution engineering, and demand-side planning, especially since generation alternatives are facing increasing supply chain and tariff concerns. And there's been an uptick in requests for transactions and due diligence services, all this pointing to the continuation of strong demand for ICF's capabilities.

ICF 在整個能源領域擁有深厚的專業知識和經驗，我們對商業能源業務的成長前景非常有信心。我們的許多公用事業客戶正在增加預算，抵制能源效率和靈活的負載管理計劃，並正在尋求監管機構的許可來增加新的計劃。我們對資源充足性規劃、更新整合、輸配電工程以及需求面規劃的需求也越來越大，特別是因為發電替代方案面臨越來越多的供應鏈和關稅問題。交易和盡職調查服務的需求增加，所有這些都表明對 ICF 能力的需求持續強勁。

Revenues from state and local government clients were stable year on year in the first quarter. Disaster management, which accounts for about 45% of this client category, experienced lower pass-through revenues in the first quarter, although revenues less pass-throughs in this market were actually up 3% year on year. We were awarded two new contracts in two additional states, bringing to 95 the number of active disaster recovery contracts we are executing in 22 states and territories. Additionally, we are responding to several competitive opportunities to support wildfire recovery efforts in California and we are currently operating and supporting Oregon's ReOregon program to help homeowners, renters, and communities recover from the wildfires.

第一季來自州和地方政府客戶的收入較去年同期保持穩定。災害管理約佔該客戶類別的 45%，第一季的轉嫁收入有所下降，儘管該市場減去轉嫁收入後的實際同比增長率為 3%。我們在另外兩個州獲得了兩份新合同，使我們在 22 個州和地區執行的有效災難恢復合約數量達到 95 個。此外，我們正在響應幾個競爭性機會，以支持加州的野火恢復工作，我們目前正在運營和支持俄勒岡州的 ReOregon 計劃，以幫助房主、租戶和社區從野火中恢復過來。

Our climate, environment, and infrastructure services for state and local clients represents about 40% of our state and local government client category, and revenues in this area were stable with last year's first quarter following the completion of a large infrastructure project for the state of Maryland. This market area continues to be attractive as the general increase in large infrastructure projects is providing enhanced opportunities for our planning, permitting, and construction monitoring services. And we are seeing increased activity among many state and local governments in spending approval -- approved IRA, and infrastructure -- bipartisan infrastructure legislative funds and filling the gap that has been left after reductions in federal climate programs. States like California and New York are doubling down on their climate commitments, and many state and local entities are investing in climate resilience and adaptation strategies in order to mitigate the impact and recovery costs of future potential disasters, and providing opportunities for ICF's planning and program administration services.

我們為州和地方客戶提供的氣候、環境和基礎設施服務約占我們州和地方政府客戶類別的 40%，在馬裡蘭州完成一個大型基礎設施項目後，該領域的收入與去年第一季保持穩定。由於大型基礎設施項目的普遍增加為我們的規劃、許可和施工監控服務提供了更多機會，因此該市場領域繼續具有吸引力。我們看到許多州和地方政府在支出審批方面的活動增加——批准了 IRA 和基礎設施——兩黨基礎設施立法資金並填補了聯邦氣候項目削減後留下的缺口。加州和紐約州等州正在加倍履行其氣候承諾，許多州和地方實體正在投資氣候復原力和適應策略，以減輕未來潛在災害的影響和恢復成本，並為 ICF 的規劃和專案管理服務提供機會。

Also, our revenues from international government clients increased 7.2% in the first quarter. After a slower start than expected, we are beginning to execute task orders related to recent sizable contract wins with the European Union and the UK government, and we are finding opportunities to leverage our technology solutions and AI capabilities to bid on an expanded universe of task order opportunities.

此外，第一季我們來自國際政府客戶的營收成長了7.2%。在起步比預期慢之後，我們開始執行與最近與歐盟和英國政府簽訂的大量合約相關的任務訂單，我們正在尋找機會利用我們的技術解決方案和人工智慧能力來競標更廣泛的任務訂單機會。

To sum up, ICF's first-quarter revenues and outlook from commercial energy, state and local, and international government clients support our expectation that for the full year, revenues from these three client categories, in the aggregate, are forecasted to grow at least 15% and will account for over 55% of our 2025 total revenues.

總而言之，ICF 第一季來自商業能源、州和地方以及國際政府客戶的收入和前景支持了我們的預期，全年來自這三個客戶類別的收入預計將增長至少 15%，並將占我們 2025 年總收入的 55% 以上。

Now to our revenues from federal clients, which declined 12.6% compared to last year's first quarter. Year-on-year comparisons were impacted by contract funding curtailments and the slower pace of new RFPs as well as a decline in subcontractor and other direct costs estimated at $12 million.

現在談談來自聯邦客戶的收入，與去年第一季相比下降了 12.6%。與去年同期相比，合約資金縮減、新招標速度放緩以及分包商和其他直接成本下降（估計為 1,200 萬美元）均對其產生了影響。

The good news is that the government shutdown was averted in March, and we are beginning to see a flow of contract extensions and modifications and RFPs -- not at a normalized pace but still an improvement from earlier in the year. As we noted last quarter, we continue to take a hard look at all of our federal government contracts and pipeline of opportunities to determine where there is a likelihood for additional stop work orders, terminations or opportunities to be delayed or fall out of the pipeline due to the shift in priorities associated with the new administration. Our evaluation of the risk to our revenues is based on a conservative bottom-up analysis and is updated regularly based on market and client feedback. Year to date through May 1, approximately $115 million of our estimated 2025 revenues have been affected by stop work orders and by contract terminations.

好消息是，三月避免了政府關門，我們開始看到合約延期、修改和招標書的湧現——雖然速度沒有恢復正常，但與今年早些時候相比還是有所改善。正如我們上個季度所指出的，我們將繼續認真審視我們所有的聯邦政府合約和機會管道，以確定哪些方面可能會出現額外的停工令、終止或機會延遲或因新政府優先事項的轉變而中斷。我們對收入風險的評估是基於保守的自下而上的分析，並根據市場和客戶的回饋定期更新。截至 5 月 1 日，今年迄今，我們預計 2025 年的收入中約有 1.15 億美元受到停工令和合約終止的影響。

While we expect the environment to remain fluid, we reaffirm our revenue guidance for 2025 of flat to 10% down from last year. As a reminder, the 10% reduction in total revenues from 2024 levels represents the floor we foresee for our 2025 revenue performance from the loss of primarily federal government revenues.

雖然我們預計環境仍將不穩定，但我們重申 2025 年的營收預期，與去年持平或下降 10%。提醒一下，總收入將較 2024 年水準減少 10% 是我們預計的 2025 年收入表現的底線，主要是由於聯邦政府收入的損失。

As Barry will discuss in his remarks, we plan to maintain our adjusted EBITDA margins on 2025 revenues at levels comparable to our 2024 margins, and the caveats remain the same. This guidance framework does not contemplate an extensive governance shutdown this year, nor a prolonged period of pauses in funding modifications to existing contracts or new procurements. This estimate also does not consider any additional work that ICF may gain as a result of the changes underway. For example, ICF performs work for the federal government focused on prevention of fraud, waste, and abuse, and we have extensive public health expertise and experience in key areas such as nutrition, obesity, suicide prevention, cancer research, health risks associated with use of pesticides, chemicals and plastics, and food additives that we expect will be areas of focus under the new administration at HHS. Also, over 80% of our IT modernization digital transformation work for federal government clients is in Agile scrums and sprints, and at least half is under fixed price outcome-based contracts, which represent the administration's preferred approach for procuring services and solutions. So we are well prepared to respond to federal proposals which require fixed-price outcome-based solutions.

正如 Barry 在其演講中將要討論的那樣，我們計劃將 2025 年收入的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率維持在與 2024 年利潤率相當的水平，並且注意事項保持不變。該指導框架並未考慮今年出現大規模的治理關閉，也沒有考慮長期暫停現有合約或新採購的資金修改。這一估計還沒有考慮 ICF 因正在進行的變革而可能獲得的任何額外工作。例如，ICF 為聯邦政府開展的工作重點是預防詐欺、浪費和濫用，我們在營養、肥胖、自殺預防、癌症研究、使用殺蟲劑、化學品和塑膠以及食品添加劑相關的健康風險等關鍵領域擁有豐富的公共衛生專業知識和經驗，我們預計這些領域將成為 HHS 新政府的重點領域。此外，我們為聯邦政府客戶進行的 IT 現代化數位轉型工作中，超過 80% 都採用敏捷 scrum 和 sprint 模式，至少有一半採用基於結果的固定價格合同，這代表了政府採購服務和解決方案的首選方法。因此，我們已做好充分準備來回應要求固定價格、基於結果的解決方案的聯邦提案。

ICF has a proven track record of effectively managing through difficult business environments, and we believe our broad capabilities and diversified client base will serve us well in 2025 and position us for return to growth in 2026.

ICF 在有效管理困難的商業環境中擁有良好的記錄，我們相信，我們廣泛的能力和多樣化的客戶群將在 2025 年為我們提供良好的服務，並為我們在 2026 年恢復成長做好準備。

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

現在我將把電話轉給我們的財務長 Barry Broadus，進行財務審查。巴里？

Thank you, John, and good afternoon, everyone. I'm pleased to provide additional details on our first-quarter financial performance. The change in our business mix, coupled with careful cost management, is evident in our first-quarter results where we delivered higher gross margin, increased our adjusted EBITDA margin, and grew non-GAAP EPS despite a modest revenue decline. Our results reflect the actions we have taken to adapt our growth and investment strategies to the current business environment and manage the cost structure of the company. First quarter of 2025 yielded a revenue decline of 1.4% year over year to $487.6 million, firmly within our guidance range. Adjusting for one less workday than in the prior year's first quarter, 2025 revenues [would] (added by company after the call) have been flat. Revenues from commercial, state and local, and international government clients increased 12.6% year over year and represented 51% of our first-quarter revenues, up from approximately 45% in the comparable period last year. Growth was led by continued strength in our commercial business, where revenues increased 22% year over year, led by continued significant growth in our energy efficiency business. Commercial revenues accounted for 29.5% of total revenues as we continue to expand our services and solutions amid sustained demand from our utility and other clients. Revenues, excluding subcontractor and other direct costs increased approximately 1% versus prior year.

謝謝你，約翰，大家下午好。我很高興提供有關我們第一季財務業績的更多詳細資訊。我們業務組合的變化，加上謹慎的成本管理，在我們的第一季業績中得到了明顯體現，儘管收入略有下降，但我們實現了更高的毛利率、提高了調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率，並且非 GAAP EPS 有所增長。我們的業績反映了我們為使我們的成長和投資策略適應當前的商業環境並管理公司的成本結構而採取的行動。2025 年第一季營收年減 1.4% 至 4.876 億美元，穩居我們的指導範圍內。考慮到比上年第一季少一個工作日，2025 年的收入（公司在電話會議後補充）將持平。來自商業、州和地方以及國際政府客戶的收入年增 12.6%，占我們第一季營收的 51%，高於去年同期的約 45%。成長主要得益於我們商業業務的持續強勁成長，該業務的營收年增 22%，這主要得益於我們能源效率業務的持續顯著成長。由於我們在公用事業和其他客戶的持續需求下繼續擴展我們的服務和解決方案，商業收入佔總收入的 29.5%。不包括分包商和其他直接成本的收入比上年增加約 1%。

First-quarter subcontractor and other direct costs declined 170 basis points to 22.7% of total revenues, compared to 24.4% in the first quarter of 2024, primarily related to a shift in our client portfolio and a decrease in our US federal government pass-throughs that John noted in his remarks.

第一季分包商和其他直接成本下降 170 個基點，至總收入的 22.7%，而 2024 年第一季為 24.4%，這主要與我們的客戶組合轉變以及約翰在演講中指出的美國聯邦政府轉嫁的減少有關。

The favorable mix shift, which included an increase in our higher-margin commercial business, a larger percentage of fixed price and T&M contracts, and a decrease in subcontractor revenues, led to an 80-basis-point expansion in gross margins to 38%.

有利的組合轉變，包括我們利潤率較高的商業業務的成長、固定價格和 T&M 合約比例的增加以及分包商收入的減少，導致毛利率擴大 80 個基點至 38%。

Indirect and selling expenses were $131.9 million, up 2.2% year over year, and represented 27% of total revenues, inclusive of $3.1 million in special charges related to severance and M&A costs. Adjusting for these charges, indirect and selling expenses would have been flat year over year. We expect to see indirect expenses as a percentage of total revenues decline over the course of the year as we continue to realize benefits from higher utilization, scale, and closely managing our indirect costs. EBITDA was $52.1 million compared to $56.4 million in the prior-year period. Adjusted EBITDA was $55.2 million, flat year over year, and adjusted EBITDA margin on total revenue expanded 10 basis points to 11.3%.

間接和銷售費用為 1.319 億美元，年增 2.2%，佔總收入的 27%，其中包括與遣散費和併購成本相關的 310 萬美元特殊費用。調整這些費用後，間接費用和銷售費用將與去年同期持平。我們預計，隨著我們繼續從更高的利用率、規模和密切管理間接成本中獲益，間接費用佔總收入的百分比將在今年下降。EBITDA 為 5,210 萬美元，而去年同期為 5,640 萬美元。調整後的 EBITDA 為 5,520 萬美元，與去年同期持平，調整後的 EBITDA 總營收利潤率擴大 10 個基點至 11.3%。

Interest expense declined $7.3 million from $8.2 million in the first quarter of 2024, which reflects a 50-basis-point decrease in our interest rate as compared to last year's first quarter. We continue to successfully execute tax optimization strategies, which yielded a tax rate of 10.5% in this year's first quarter, considerably below the 20.4% reported in the comparable period last year. The lower tax rate in the first quarter is inclusive of a one-time pickup related to tax strategies executed in connection with new IRS regulations. We now expect our full-year tax rate to be in the range of 18.5%.

利息支出從 2024 年第一季的 820 萬美元減少了 730 萬美元，這反映出與去年第一季相比，我們的利率下降了 50 個基點。我們繼續成功執行稅收優化策略，今年第一季的稅率為 10.5%，遠低於去年同期的 20.4%。第一季的較低稅率包括與新國稅局法規相關的稅務策略相關的一次性漲價。我們現在預計全年稅率將在 18.5% 左右。

Net income was $26.9 million, slightly below the $27.3 million reported in last year's first quarter. And GAAP EPS [of] (corrected by company after the call) $1.44 was flat year over year. Our EPS was inclusive of $0.12 in tax effected special charges and an offsetting tax-related benefit of $0.13 associated with the one-time tax strategy pickup I previously noted. Non-GAAP EPS was $1.94, increased 9.6% year on year.

淨收入為 2,690 萬美元，略低於去年第一季的 2,730 萬美元。而 GAAP EPS（電話會議後公司進行了更正）為 1.44 美元，與去年同期持平。我們的每股盈餘包括 0.12 美元的稅務影響特殊費用和與我之前提到的一次性稅務策略提領相關的 0.13 美元的抵銷稅收相關收益。非公認會計準則每股收益為 1.94 美元，年增 9.6%。

Backlog at the end of the first quarter was $3.4 billion, of which $1.9 billion is funded, underscoring the stability and strength of our business. The backlog has been adjusted to include the impact of our federal government contracts that have been terminated as a result of the administration's executive orders or actions by DOGE, which impacted our backlog by approximately $375 million since the beginning of the year. Similarly, we have adjusted our new business pipeline, which stood at $10.5 billion at the end of this year's first quarter.

第一季末的積壓訂單為 34 億美元，其中 19 億美元已獲得資金支持，凸顯了我們業務的穩定性和實力。積壓訂單已進行調整，以包括由於政府的行政命令或 DOGE 的行動而終止的聯邦政府合約的影響，自今年年初以來，這對我們的積壓訂單產生了約 3.75 億美元的影響。同樣，我們也調整了新業務管道，截至今年第一季末，新業務管道規模為 105 億美元。

Moving to our cash flow and balance sheet. In the first quarter, we consumed $33 million of operating cash, primarily due to our seasonal working capital needs. Capital expenditures were $3.5 million, down from $5.2 million a year ago. Days sales outstanding were 81 days compared to 75 days last year, primarily reflecting the timing of collections, including a temporary disruption of the pace of collections in our US federal government business in the first quarter. We're pleased to report that the federal government collections have now returned to historical norms and we expect to see a decline in our DSO going forward.

轉向我們的現金流和資產負債表。第一季度，我們消耗了 3,300 萬美元的營運現金，這主要是由於我們的季節性營運資金需求。資本支出為 350 萬美元，低於一年前的 520 萬美元。應收帳款週轉天數為 81 天，而去年為 75 天，這主要反映了收款時間安排，包括第一季美國聯邦政府業務收款速度的暫時中斷。我們很高興地報告，聯邦政府的稅收現已恢復到歷史正常水平，我們預計未來 DSO 將會下降。

We ended the first quarter with a net debt of $499 million, up from $475 million at the end of last year's first quarter. The increase in debt reflects our typical seasonality, our share repurchase initiatives, and the acquisition of AEG, which closed in December of 2024.

我們第一季末的淨債務為 4.99 億美元，高於去年第一季末的 4.75 億美元。債務的增加反映了我們典型的季節性、我們的股票回購計畫以及 2024 年 12 月完成的 AEG 收購。

At the end of the quarter, our adjusted net leverage ratio was 2.25 versus 2.29 in the prior year period. Absent any acquisition activity, we expect our leverage position to decrease by approximately three-quarters of a turn by year-end. Currently, 35% of our debt is at a fixed rate. Given the anticipated debt reduction, we expect this to increase to approximately 50% by year-end. In the first quarter, we repurchased 313,000 shares for an aggregate purchase price of $35 million. We will continue to be active and opportunistic in the market, demonstrating our confidence in ICF's long-term outlook and our intention to deliver value to our shareholders.

截至本季末，我們的調整後淨槓桿率為 2.25，而去年同期為 2.29。如果沒有任何收購活動，我們預計到年底我們的槓桿率將下降約四分之三。目前，我們的35%的債務是固定利率。考慮到預期的債務減少，我們預計到年底這一比例將增至約 50%。第一季度，我們回購了 313,000 股，總購買價為 3,500 萬美元。我們將繼續在市場上積極進取、抓住機遇，展現我們對 ICF 長期前景的信心以及為股東創造價值的意願。

In addition to share repurchases, our capital allocation strategy remains focused on reducing debt, pursuing organic growth initiatives and strategic acquisitions in targeted markets, and maintaining our quarterly dividend payments. Today, we announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.14 per share payable on July 11, 2025, to shareholders of record on June 6, 2025.

除了股票回購之外，我們的資本配置策略仍專注於減少債務、在目標市場推行有機成長計畫和策略性收購，以及維持季度股利支付。今天，我們宣布向 2025 年 6 月 6 日登記在冊的股東派發每股 0.14 美元的季度現金股息，派發日期為 2025 年 7 月 11 日。

Now to help you with your financial models, please note the following. Given the dynamic market conditions in our federal government business, we expect the cadence of this year to vary from historical trends. Second-quarter revenues are anticipated to be similar to those of first quarter, and as we discussed on our previous call, we expect to maintain our profitability margins at similar levels to what we reported in 2024.

現在，為了幫助您建立財務模型，請注意以下幾點。鑑於聯邦政府業務的動態市場條件，我們預計今年的節奏將與歷史趨勢有所不同。預計第二季的收入將與第一季相似，正如我們在上次電話會議上所討論的那樣，我們預計我們的獲利利潤率將保持在與 2024 年報告的水平相似的水平。

We are maintaining our prior expectations for the following metrics for full-year 2025. Our depreciation and amortization expense is expected to range from $21 million to $25 million -- to $23 million Amortization of intangibles is expected to be $35 million to $37 million. We anticipate interest expense to range from $30 million to $32 million. We continue to expect full-year operating cash flow to be approximately $150 million. And capital expenditures are anticipated to be approximately $26 million to $28 million.

我們維持對 2025 年全年以下指標的先前預期。我們的折舊和攤銷費用預計在 2,100 萬美元至 2,500 萬美元之間，無形資產攤銷預計在 3,500 萬美元至 3,700 萬美元之間。我們預計利息支出將在 3,000 萬美元至 3,200 萬美元之間。我們繼續預計全年經營現金流約為 1.5 億美元。預計資本支出約 2,600 萬至 2,800 萬美元。

Additionally, we are updating our tax rate and full-year share count estimates as follows. The full year tax rate is now expected to be approximately 18.5%. Due to our share repurchases in the first quarter, we expect a fully diluted weighted average share count to be approximately $18.6 million.

此外，我們還將更新稅率和全年股票數量估計如下。目前預計全年稅率約為18.5%。由於我們在第一季回購了股票，我們預計完全稀釋的加權平均股數約為 1,860 萬美元。

With that, I'll turn the call back over to John.

說完這些，我就把電話轉回給約翰。

Thanks, Barry. ICF's diversified business model is enabling us to manage through a dynamic federal government business environment while remaining agile to capture future business opportunities, which we expect to evolve given the substantial reduction in the federal workforce.

謝謝，巴里。ICF 多元化的商業模式使我們能夠在充滿活力的聯邦政府商業環境中進行管理，同時保持靈活性以抓住未來的商業機會，鑑於聯邦勞動力的大幅減少，我們預計這些機會將會不斷發展。

We are maintaining the guidance framework we provided at the time of our fourth-quarter 2024 earnings release, namely, for ICF's 2025 total revenues, GAAP EPS and non-GAAP EPS will see a range from flat to down 10% from last year's levels, with a 10% decline representing the floor we foresee from the loss of business primarily from federal government clients during this first year of the new administration.

我們維持在 2024 年第四季收益發佈時提供的指導框架，即對於 ICF 的 2025 年總收入，GAAP EPS 和非 GAAP EPS 將在與去年水平持平到下降 10% 之間，其中 10% 的降幅代表我們預計新政府第一年主要來自聯邦政府的業務損失的底線。

Underpinning this framework is our projection that ICF revenues from commercial energy, state and local, and international government clients will grow at least 15% in the aggregate for the year, offsetting or partially offsetting lower revenues from our federal government clients due to potential funding curtailments and a slower pace of new RFPs.

支撐這一框架的是我們預測，ICF 來自商業能源、州和地方以及國際政府客戶的收入今年將總體增長至少 15%，從而抵消或部分抵消由於潛在的資金縮減和新 RFP 速度放緩而導致的來自聯邦政府客戶的收入減少。

Our first-quarter margin performance demonstrates careful expense management, supporting our expectation that we can manage expenses in 2025 to maintain adjusted EBITDA margins similar to those of 2024. Our GAAP and non-GAAP EPS framework for 2025 is exclusive of the special one-time tax benefit accrued in this year's first quarter, which benefited EPS by $0.13.

我們第一季的利潤率表現反映了謹慎的費用管理，支持了我們的預期，即我們可以在 2025 年管理費用，以維持與 2024 年類似的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率。我們 2025 年的 GAAP 和非 GAAP EPS 框架不包括今年第一季累積的特殊一次性稅收優惠，該優惠使 EPS 受益 0.13 美元。

We appreciate the support of our professional staff, who have shown a strong commitment to ICF and our clients who have helped us navigate during this period. The ICF corporate culture has been a key differentiator for us and takes on even greater importance in times of challenging business conditions.

我們感謝我們的專業員工的支持，他們對 ICF 表現出了堅定的承諾，也感謝我們的客戶在這段時期幫助我們度過難關。ICF 企業文化一直是我們與眾不同的關鍵因素，當商業環境充滿挑戰時，它顯得特別重要。

With that, operator, I'd like to open the call for questions.

接線員，現在我想開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Tim Mulrooney, William Blair.

（操作員指示）蒂姆·穆爾羅尼、威廉·布萊爾。

I've got a few here. The first is on the guidance, please do correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe when you provided your guide last quarter, it was your expectation that the second quarter would kind of be peak DOGE impact, so to speak, with the potential for that to lessen in the back half of the year. With the visibility into the business today, is that still your expectation? Or are you thinking about that a little bit differently now?

我這裡有幾個。首先是關於指導，如果我錯了，請糾正我，但我相信，當您上個季度提供指導時，您預計第二季度將達到 DOGE 影響力的頂峰，可以這麼說，但這種影響有可能在下半年減弱。從今天對業務的了解來看，這仍然是您的期望嗎？或者您現在對此有稍微不同的看法？

Tim, first, I think that the environment in the federal arena remains fluid and unsettled. I would say that I would expect to see continued activity from DOGE over the next several quarters. But I think Q2 -- I think still Q2 and Q3 will continue to see activity. I don't think they're going to be -- it's hard to say that there'll be significantly more impact or impact us more in Q2 relative to Q1. I would say that we'll see similar to Q1, but not be more impactful of DOGE.

提姆，首先，我認為聯邦領域的環境仍然充滿變數且不穩定。我想說的是，我預計 DOGE 在接下來的幾季裡會繼續活躍起來。但我認為 Q2——我認為 Q2 和 Q3 仍將繼續活躍。我認為它們不會——很難說第二季度相對於第一季會受到更大的影響。我想說，我們會看到與第一季類似的情況，但不會對 DOGE 產生更大的影響。

Okay. That's really helpful, John. I know it's difficult to say exactly. So I just appreciate the color at all. Along those lines, I think you gave an update on stop work orders.

好的。這真的很有幫助，約翰。我知道這很難準確地說出。所以我很欣賞這種顏色。順著這個思路，我想你已經對停工令進行了更新。

I noticed in your K, which I think was published on February 25, that you'd received notice for termination of convenience of approximately $276 million. Can you update us on where that figure stands today?

我注意到，在您的 K 中（我認為是在 2 月 25 日發布的），您收到了約 2.76 億美元的終止便利通知。您能告訴我們目前這個數字的情況嗎？

Yes. This is Barry. The number is now about $375 million.

是的。這是巴里。現在這個數字約為 3.75 億美元。

$375 million. okay. And Barry, did you give an estimate for how much Applied Energy Group contributed to the quarter to revenues?

3.75億美元。好的。巴里，您是否估計過應用能源集團對本季營收的貢獻是多少？

I don't think we broke up our energy revenues out separately. I think we --

我認為我們沒有單獨劃分能源收入。我認為我們--

We don't disclose that separately, but suffice it to say, we're very pleased with the integration and the performance of AEG and they're performing very well. And I think we said at the time of the deal that they were about $13 million of revenue and would grow about 15%. You can do the math, and I think you get to what we expect.

我們沒有單獨揭露這一點，但可以說，我們對 AEG 的整合和表現非常滿意，而且他們的表現非常出色。我想我們在達成交易時就說過，他們的收入約為 1300 萬美元，並且會成長約 15%。你可以算一下，我想你就會知道我們的期望。

And Tim, I would like to clarify one point on the $375 million, that is a number that is over a long period of time. It's not a one-year impact backlog perspective. So typically, our contracts will range anywhere from three to five years. So that number would be spread over a number of periods, not just this year.

提姆，我想澄清一下關於 3.75 億美元這一點，這是一個長期的數字。這不是一年影響積壓的觀點。通常，我們的合約期限為三至五年。因此，這個數字將分佈在多個時期，而不僅僅是今年。

Okay. That's helpful color. One more for me, and then I'll hop back in queue. I just wanted to touch on your IT modernization business. I mean, I believe your guidance called for growth for the year.

好的。這是很有幫助的顏色。再給我一個，然後我就會跳回隊列。我只是想談談您的 IT 現代化業務。我的意思是，我相信您的指導要求今年實現成長。

Please correct me if I'm wrong on that as well. But since you last reported, there's been news that DOGE has taken a more critical eye towards some of the more broader software and IT contracts that the government entered into. I'm wondering if you've been impacted at all by that focus. And if you could just remind me what your expectation is for that business for this year.

如果我有錯誤，請糾正我。但自從您上次報道以來，有消息稱 DOGE 對政府簽訂的一些更廣泛的軟體和 IT 合約採取了更批判的眼光。我想知道您是否受到了這種關注的影響。如果您能提醒我您對今年該業務的期望是什麼。

Sure. So the IT modernization business, I think absolutely -- what we said last quarter is that we expected that business to be down 5% to 10% for the year, primarily driven by delays in awards due to the fact that DOGE was obviously doing the projects reviews on the existing, existing contract base in the federal government and that, that would lead to delays in procurement.

當然。因此，我認為 IT 現代化業務絕對會下降——我們上個季度說過，我們預計該業務全年將下降 5% 至 10%，這主要是由於授予延遲，因為 DOGE 顯然在對聯邦政府現有的現有合約基礎進行專案審查，這將導致採購延遲。

And so I think we're thinking 5% to 10% down for this year. We really haven't seen material cuts in our IT modernization contracts to date. And so I think there is more an issue of the pace and speed of new opportunities.

因此我認為我們預計今年的降幅將達到 5% 至 10%。到目前為止，我們確實沒有看到 IT 現代化合約出現實質削減。因此，我認為更重要的是新機會的步伐和速度的問題。

Joe Vafi, Canaccord Genuities.

Canaccord Genuities 的 Joe Vafi。

Just first, I know, John, you provided some good color on what's implied in the guidance for the commercial business. I just wanted to double-click on that a bit and focus on commercial energy in there. Would you say that the guide for the year implies the kind of metrics for energy we saw in this quarter in terms of revenue and margins? Or is there anything else there that we should be aware of? And then I'll have a few follow-ups.

首先，我知道，約翰，你對商業業務指導中隱含的內容提供了一些很好的解釋。我只是想稍微雙擊一下並重點關注其中的商業能源。您是否認為年度指南隱含了我們在本季看到的能源收入和利潤指標？或是還有其他事情需要我們注意的嗎？然後我會進行一些後續跟進。

No, I think you -- it assumes that commercial energy will continue to be the outstanding performer in that as the business and the margins there are very strong. And so we certainly expect to continue that throughout the remainder of the year on the energy side. I think as we reported, we had 21%, 22% growth there in commercial energy. As you know, Joe, that's our highest margin business.

不，我認為你——它假設商業能源將繼續表現優異，因為那裡的業務和利潤率非常強勁。因此，我們當然希望在今年剩餘時間內繼續保持能源的這種勢頭。我認為正如我們所報告的，我們的商業能源成長了 21% 至 22%。喬，你知道，這是我們利潤最高的業務。

Sure. Absolutely. And then kind of switching over. I know we kind of talked about some of the stop works and the contract terminations. It might be helpful to get your view on the stop work orders and if you believe that those stop work orders in any way, shape or form could be temporary. Or how do you kind of look at the difference between a termination and a stop work order relative to why they weren't actually terminated -- the stop works weren’t terminated? And if there is an outlook for the future on those.

當然。絕對地。然後進行切換。我知道我們討論了一些停工和終止合約的問題。如果您認為這些停工令無論以何種形式出現都可能是暫時的，那麼了解您對停工令的看法可能會有所幫助。或者您如何看待解僱和停工令之間的區別，相對於為什麼他們實際上沒有被解僱——停工並沒有被終止？以及對這些的未來有何展望。

I think if you look at the number of terminations for convenience or stop work orders, I think the stop orders are a much smaller number. I'll tell you that we've had a few of those turned on and off in the last several weeks and months and some more than once. But at the end of the day, I think in our guidance, Joe, we're assuming that, that the stop work orders will ultimately result in termination and will not come back this year. If they do, that would be great, and that would be upside. And as I say, the vast majority of the, the contract impacts are in the terminations for convenience.

我認為，如果你看一下因方便而終止工作或停工命令的數量，我認為停工命令的數量要少得多。我可以告訴你，在過去的幾週和幾個月裡，我們已經打開和關閉了其中一些功能，有些功能打開和關閉了不只一次。但最終，喬，我認為在我們的指導中，我們假設停工令最終將導致解僱，並且今年不會再出現。如果他們這樣做了，那就太好了，而且會有好處。正如我所說，合約的絕大多數影響都是為了方便而終止的。

Got it. And then maybe just one other quick one. It might be interesting to get a little more insight into the pace of award activity. Obviously, I believe everyone would be, no surprise if it's down here in Q1 as well as through the month of April. I was just wondering if you could provide color on the kind of work that is actually getting awarded or renewed and kind of how is that pace of activity versus pre-DOGE.

知道了。然後也許再來一個快速的。進一步了解獎項活動的節奏可能會很有趣。顯然，我相信如果第一季以及整個四月的銷量都下降，每個人都不會感到驚訝。我只是想知道您是否可以提供一些關於實際獲得獎勵或續約的工作類型的信息，以及與 DOGE 之前相比活動速度如何。

Yes. I think I said in my remarks, I would say that we are pleased. We have seen pickup in activity, both in terms of modifications to existing contracts and in RFPs that are beginning to move in the federal arena. So that's a positive sign. I would say it's not where we would like it, and it's not where it was pre this administration assuming office, so there's still a way to go there.

是的。我想我在發言中已經說過，我們會很高興。我們看到活動有所回升，無論是對現有合約的修改，還是在聯邦領域開始實施的 RFP。這是一個正面的信號。我想說，這還不是我們所希望的，也不是本屆政府上任前的狀態，所以還有很長的路要走。

I would say that there's more activity around modifications on existing contracts, more activity around recompetes, I would say, the newer opportunities. We've seen a little activity there. But honestly, there's still very, really many of the key, the key political figures are just getting into their agencies and settling the agenda. So I would say there's still a ways to go on new opportunities certainly in the federal arena.

我想說的是，圍繞著修改現有合約的活動更多，圍繞著重新競爭的活動更多，我想說的是，新的機會更多。我們看到那裡有一些活動。但老實說，仍然有很多關鍵的政治人物剛剛進入他們的機構並確定議程。所以我想說，在聯邦領域，我們仍然有很長的路要走，去尋找新的機會。

Got it. Fair enough.

知道了。很公平。

Tobey Sommer, Truist Securities.

托比·索默（Tobey Sommer），Truist Securities。

I wanted to start with commercial energy. Years ago, the energy efficiency projects were almost exclusively the big ones that you got, but I'm curious if some of the things that you talked about at Investor Day a number of years ago have matured and increased in size, so that your commercial energy customers are, in some cases, maybe buying multiple projects of size in different parts of their business. Maybe if you could contextualize that, that would be great.

我想從商業能源開​​始。幾年前，能源效率項目幾乎都是你們承接的大型項目，但我很好奇，你們幾年前在投資者日談到的一些項目是否已經成熟並且規模有所擴大，以至於你們的商業能源客戶在某些情況下可能會在其業務的不同部分購買多個規模較大的項目。如果你能將其具體化，那就太好了。

I would say that certainly, the energy efficiency component of our utility programs continues to be the largest component. As you know, over the last three or four years, going back to our Investor Day, I think we've talked about the fact that utilities are looking at additional programs given the ongoing changes in their business, including the shift to distributed energy and more recently, including the significant spike in power demand.

我想說的是，我們公用事業計劃中的能源效率部分仍然是最大的組成部分。如您所知，在過去的三四年裡，回顧我們的投資者日，我想我們已經討論過這樣一個事實：鑑於公用事業公司業務的持續變化，它們正在考慮額外的計劃，包括向分佈式能源的轉變，以及最近電力需求的大幅增長。

I think that over the last three or four years, it has driven interest in additional programs. And I think we've talked about these flexible load management, electrification, battery storage programs. And so we are now implementing those increasingly for utilities, many of them have been in a pilot phase. I think we've talked about that, that we're running pilot programs. And if they're, as we demonstrate success with those, we would expect them to scale materially over time.

我認為在過去的三、四年裡，它激發了人們對其他計畫的興趣。我想我們已經討論過這些靈活的負載管理、電氣化、電池儲存計劃。因此，我們現在正在為公用事業越來越多地實施這些措施，其中許多措施已經處於試點階段。我想我們已經討論過這個問題，我們正在運行試點計畫。如果它們確實成功了，我們預計它們會隨著時間的推移而大幅擴大。

And so we're looking for many -- we have many utility clients where we're now supporting two or three of those types of programs in addition to, in addition to the energy efficiency programs. I think there's still, I wouldn't say they are at the scale of energy efficiency, but we're growing. It's becoming a larger component of our portfolio. I think that we believe in the long run, those will drive significant growth for us in the next three to five years.

因此，我們正在尋找許多——我們有許多公用事業客戶，除了能源效率計劃之外，我們現在還支持其中兩到三種類型的計劃。我認為，雖然我們不能說他們已經達到了能源效率的規模，但我們正在成長。它正在成為我們投資組合中更重要的組成部分。我認為從長遠來看，我們相信這些將在未來三到五年內推動我們實現顯著成長。

In the state and local business, you talked about lower pass-throughs. Do you still have the same growth outlook for that for the year? I know there's been some news around rejiggering the way FEMA works and perhaps even the community development block grant mechanism. So I'm curious what your perspective is for the year.

在州和地方業務中，您談到了較低的轉嫁率。您對今年的成長前景是否仍然相同？我知道有一些關於重新調整聯邦緊急事務管理署工作方式甚至社區發展撥款機制的新聞。所以我很好奇你對今年的看法是什麼。

I mean I think that we -- I think our outlook and view of the disaster recovery business remains positive, and we think it'll certainly grow this year and grow to our expectations for the year. We do have a robust pipeline there.

我的意思是，我認為我們對災難復原業務的展望和看法仍然是積極的，我們認為它今年肯定會成長並達到我們對今年的預期。我們在那裡確實擁有強大的管道。

I think I talked about the opportunities that lie, opportunities in California. There's opportunities in Florida, Carolinas and Georgia from the hurricanes we had recently that should play out later this year. And so I think we generally believe that will continue to be a growth area.

我想我談論的是潛在的機遇，加州的機會。最近佛羅裡達州、卡羅來納州和喬治亞州遭遇的颶風將在今年稍後結束，為當地帶來機會。因此我認為我們普遍相信這將繼續成為一個成長領域。

As you know, there is a discussion about the future role of FEMA, how these disaster recovery programs may evolve. But I think we still believe that there will be the need for disaster recovery, particularly around significant disasters and that whether FEMA plays a lead role or the states play a greater lead role, that business will be there, and there'll be opportunity for us.

如您所知，人們正在討論聯邦緊急事務管理署的未來角色以及這些災難復原計劃將如何發展。但我認為，我們仍然相信，災難復原是必要的，特別是在重大災難發生時，無論是聯邦緊急事務管理署發揮主導作用，還是各州發揮更大的主導作用，都會有業務，也會為我們帶來機會。

So for this year, we're still counting on it to be a growth market. And given the pipeline, I think we feel, feel confident with that.

因此，就今年而言，我們仍然指望它成為一個成長型市場。考慮到這一管道，我想我們對此充滿信心。

Last one for me. Could you discuss the industrial logic between, that sort of ties together your federal work for the DOE and other agencies, and your commercial energy business? Just curious with the growth rate that you have in commercial energy, wondering if there's an opportunity to ever kind of separate that or spin it off and unlock value that way.

對我來說是最後一個。您能否討論一下您為能源部和其他機構所做的聯邦工作與您的商業能源業務之間的產業邏輯？我只是對商業能源的成長率感到好奇，想知道是否有機會將其分離或剝離並以這種方式釋放價值。

I think that we -- I mean, our energy business, we work across -- obviously, we work for commercial utilities. We also work for state energy agencies. We work for the federal government on energy issues; some of our energy efficiency work has been in other federal agencies. And so I would say that it's an integrated set of capabilities that we sell across federal, state and local and commercial, and commercial is the largest, but state and local is the second largest component of that business.

我認為我們——我的意思是，我們的能源業務，我們跨越——顯然，我們為商業公用事業工作。我們也為國家能源機構工作。我們為聯邦政府處理能源問題；我們的一些能源效率工作已在其他聯邦機構進行。所以我想說，這是我們在聯邦、州、地方和商業領域銷售的一套綜合能力，商業是最大的組成部分，但州和地方是該業務的第二大組成部分。

Federal is actually the smallest. And so I think we think there's value from that integrated portfolio. And we think there's -- certainly on the state energy side, we'll continue to see growth. So that's how we think about the business, I think.

聯邦實際上是最小的。因此我認為我們認為該綜合投資組合具有價值。我們認為，在國家能源方面，我們肯定會繼續看到成長。我想這就是我們對業務的看法。

Kevin Steinke, Barrington Research.

凱文‧史坦克，巴靈頓研究中心。

Great. I just wanted to follow up on IT modernization. As you noted, your expectation’s for a 5% to 10% decline this year. And then in response to an earlier question, you talked about maybe it's a little too early to see new awards coming out of this administration in the federal arena.

偉大的。我只是想跟進 IT 現代化進程。正如您所說，您預計今年的降幅將達到 5% 至 10%。然後，在回答先前的問題時，您談到也許現在看到本屆政府在聯邦領域頒發新的獎項還為時過早。

Does that also apply to IT modernization because I think you had kind of thought this is a transition year for that business and maybe you start to see some opportunities in IT modernization flow at some point in 2025 kind of setting up 2026 for that business.

這是否也適用於 IT 現代化，因為我認為您認為這是該業務的過渡年，也許您會在 2025 年的某個時候開始看到 IT 現代化流程中的一些機會，為該業務設定 2026 年的目標。

Yes, I would say -- well, first of all, I do think with the IT modernization and technology side of the house in federal that I think -- I do think this administration is going to continue to invest in that area. It's going to be AI-led.

是的，我想說——首先，我確實認為，隨著聯邦政府的 IT 現代化和技術方面的發展，我認為——我確實認為本屆政府將繼續在該領域進行投資。它將由人工智慧主導。

They're clearly looking for some efficiency. They're also focused always rotates and you're going to want to leverage technology more broadly across agencies and across the federal government to get additional efficiencies. But I think it will continue to be an area of opportunity.

他們顯然在尋求一些效率。他們也始終專注於輪換，並且您將希望在各個機構和聯邦政府之間更廣泛地利用技術來獲得額外的效率。但我認為這仍將是一個充滿機會的領域。

I think in, my assumption, so I do assume that there will be opportunities there. I think that there'll certainly be more of a second-half opportunity. And I think to the extent that we see them and the work orders, I think they'll set us up.

我認為，在我的假設中，我確實認為那裡會有機會。我認為下半場肯定會有更多的機會。我認為，只要我們看到它們和工作指示，他們就會為我們做好準備。

It's more about what's the potential growth for 2026. I think for 2025, as I've said, we're assuming a 5% to 10% reduction. We're assuming that it's going to be due to projects not moving as quickly and so we're not counting on significant new contracts in 2025 to get there.

這更多的是關於2026年的潛在成長是多少。我認為到 2025 年，正如我所說，我們預計減幅將達到 5% 至 10%。我們假設這是由於專案進展不夠快，所以我們不指望在 2025 年簽訂重要的新合約來實現這一目標。

Marc Riddick, Sidoti.

馬克里迪克、西多蒂。

I wanted to ask within Health and Human Services. I was wondering if you could give a sense of -- have you heard to this point, any communication as far as shifts of priorities or kind of are there any areas that may pick up in messaging or what have you, where the administration wants to go that might present upside opportunities for you there?

我想向衛生與公眾服務部詢問。我想知道您是否可以透露——到目前為止，您是否聽說過有關優先事項轉變的任何溝通，或者是否存在可以在信息傳遞中得到重視的領域，或者您有什麼想法，政府希望去哪裡，這可能會給您帶來好處？

Yes. I think as I indicated in my remarks, I think that there is a potential for new opportunities for us at HHS. I think the new administration has literally indicated they'll focus on children's health. They're very interested in issues around pesticides and food, food additives, and so those types of issues are going to create a new organization within HHS around making America healthy, improving American Health.

是的。我想，正如我在演講中所指出的，我認為 HHS 有可能為我們帶來新的機會。我認為新政府已經明確表示他們將關注兒童的健康。他們對農藥、食品、食品添加劑等議題非常感興趣，因此，他們將在衛生與公共服務部 (HHS) 內部創建一個新組織，致力於讓美國人更健康、改善美國人的健康。

And so I think there'll be opportunities there. I would say the same thing. I think it's -- those will -- we hope to get clarity on those in the second half of the year. But there will certainly be opportunities. We have expertise in chronic health issues for children. We have expertise in pesticides, we have expertise in food additives and so some of the things that have been discussed around those issues are areas that we could certainly support and we're watching it very carefully.

所以我認為那裡會有機會。我也會說同樣的話。我認為──我們希望在今年下半年明確這些問題。但機會肯定會有的。我們在兒童慢性健康問題方面擁有專業知識。我們在農藥方面有專業知識，我們在食品添加劑方面有專業知識，因此圍繞這些問題討論的一些事情是我們肯定可以支持的領域，我們正在密切關注。

And do you get the sense of -- I think you had prepared remarks in last quarter's call around the acquisition pipeline. Do you get the sense that there may be some services or opportunity sets that might lead you to pursue inorganic talent acquisition? Or how should we think about that?

您是否感覺到——我認為您在上個季度的電話會議上已經準備好了有關收購管道的發言。您是否覺得某些服務或機會可能會促使您追求無機人才獲取？或者我們應該如何思考這個問題？

I mean obviously on the acquisition front. I mean it's, obviously it's been a key element of our strategy over many, many years. I think that if we were going to do anything, I think it would most likely be in the energy arena. It would be similar to an AEG-type acquisition where we do some smaller tuck-in acquisition.

我的意思顯然是在收購方面。我的意思是，顯然，多年來它一直是我們策略的關鍵要素。我認為如果我們要做任何事情的話，最有可能的就是在能源領域。這類似於 AEG 類型的收購，我們進行一些較小的收購。

I think in the federal arena, there's obviously a lot of uncertainty. I think we're unlikely to get scale or anything at all in the federal arena for the remainder of this year. So I mean, we certainly are looking at the opportunities out there. But I think we would focus on energy and it would be more of a tuck-in acquisition if we were to pull the trigger.

我認為在聯邦領域顯然存在著許多不確定性。我認為，今年剩餘時間內我們不太可能在聯邦領域取得任何規模或進展。所以我的意思是，我們當然正在尋找那裡的機會。但我認為我們會專注於能源，如果我們採取行動的話，這將更像是小規模收購。

I don't know, Barry, if there's anything you want to add or no?

我不知道，巴里，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

And I think from a capacity perspective, if something interesting does come along, we have plenty of capacity to execute an acquisition and we're comfortable from a leverage perspective as well as a debt perspective. So I think we're in good shape on that.

我認為從產能角度來看，如果確實出現一些有趣的事情，我們有足夠的產能來執行收購，從槓桿角度和債務角度來看，我們都感到滿意。所以我認為我們在這方面的狀況很好。

Do you get the sense -- Barry, as far as acquisition multiples, maybe where they are vis-a-vis six months ago. Have they changed much for some of those types of targets?

您是否感覺到——巴里，就收購倍數而言，可能與六個月前相比有所差異。針對某些類型的目標，他們做出過很大改變嗎？

Well, I think it depends on the market. And I would say, from a federal market perspective, obviously, the activity has slowed, we're just not really seeing anything, you know, folks sending books around. I think that sellers are holding what they’ve got right now. They've got an interesting property. I would say that from the other parts of the business that we're interested in, as John said, the energy market and other parts of the energy business.

嗯，我認為這取決於市場。我想說，從聯邦市場的角度來看，顯然活動已經放緩，我們只是沒有真正看到任何東西，你知道，人們到處寄書。我認為賣家現在正在保住他們所擁有的東西。他們擁有一處有趣的財產。我想說的是，正如約翰所說，我們感興趣的其他業務部分是能源市場和能源業務的其他部分。

I'd say that those valuations remain similar in fashion to what they have been in the past. And so just like any acquisition, we look at what the capabilities and the contracts and customers that can, they would have. And if the culture fits and it'd be accretive to the new organization, we certainly would take a good look at it.

我想說這些估值與過去的情況大致相同。因此，就像任何收購一樣，我們會考慮他們擁有的能力、合約和客戶。如果文化適合併能為新組織帶來益處，我們肯定會認真考慮。

Thank you. This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn it back to John Wasson for concluding remarks.

謝謝。問答環節到此結束。現在我想請約翰·沃森作總結發言。

Thanks for participating in today's call. We appreciate everyone attending and look forward to connecting at upcoming conferences and events.

感謝您參加今天的電話會議。我們感謝大家的參加，並期待在即將舉行的會議和活動中進行交流。

This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.

該計劃確實就此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。