ICON PLC (ICLR) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the ICON PLC Q1 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised today's conference is being recorded.

您好，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 ICON PLC 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。

I'd now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Kate Haven. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給今天的第一位演講者凱特·海文 (Kate Haven)。請繼續。

Good day and thank you for joining us on this call covering the quarter ended March 31, 2025. Also on the call today, we have our CEO, Dr. Steve Cutler; our CFO, Nigel Clerkin; and our COO, Barry Balfe. I would like to note that this call is webcast and that there are slides available to download on our website to accompany today's call.

大家好，感謝您參加本次電話會議，會議內容涵蓋截至 2025 年 3 月 31 日的季度。今天的電話會議還有我們的執行長史蒂夫·卡特勒博士；我們的財務長 Nigel Clerkin；以及我們的營運長 Barry Balfe。我想指出的是，這次電話會議是網路直播的，您可以在我們的網站上下載今天的電話會議的幻燈片。

Certain statements in today's call will be forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations and information currently available, including current economic and industry conditions. Actual results may differ materially from those stated or implied by forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties associated with the company's business, and listeners are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance.

今天電話會議中的某些陳述將是前瞻性陳述。這些聲明是基於管理層當前的預期和當前可用的信息，包括當前的經濟和行業狀況。由於與公司業務相關的風險和不確定性，實際結果可能與前瞻性陳述所明示或暗示的結果有重大差異，請注意，前瞻性陳述並不能保證未來的績效。

Forward-looking statements are only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement either as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. More information about the risks and uncertainties relating to these forward-looking statements may be found in SEC reports filed by the company, including the Form 20-F filed on February 21, 2025.

前瞻性陳述僅截至其作出之日有效，我們不承擔因新資訊、未來事件或其他原因而公開更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。有關這些前瞻性陳述的風險和不確定性的更多信息，可在公司提交的美國證券交易委員會報告中找到，包括 2025 年 2 月 21 日提交的 20-F 表。

This presentation includes selected non-GAAP financial measures, which Steve and Nigel will be referencing in their prepared remarks. For presentation of the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, please refer to the press release section titled Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. While non-GAAP financial measures are not superior to or a substitute for the comparable GAAP measures, we believe certain non-GAAP information is more useful to investors for historical comparison purposes.

本次演講包括精選的非 GAAP 財務指標，史蒂夫和奈傑爾將在他們準備好的發言中引用這些指標。有關最直接可比較的 GAAP 財務指標的介紹，請參閱新聞稿部分「簡明合併營業報表」。雖然非公認會計準則財務指標並不優於或取代可比較的公認會計準則指標，但我們認為某些非公認會計準則資訊對於投資者進行歷史比較更有用。

Included in the press release and the earnings slides, you will note a reconciliation of non-GAAP measures. Adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income, and adjusted diluted earnings per share excludes stock compensation expense, restructuring costs, foreign currency gains and losses, amortization and transaction-related and integration-related costs, and their respective tax benefits.

在新聞稿和收益幻燈片中，您會注意到非公認會計準則 (GAAP) 指標的對帳。調整後的 EBITDA、調整後的淨收入和調整後的每股攤薄收益不包括股票薪酬費用、重組成本、外幣損益、攤銷和交易相關及整合相關成本及其各自的稅收優惠。

We will be limiting the call today to one hour and would therefore ask participants to keep their questions to one each in the interest of time. I would now like to hand the call over to our CEO, Dr. Steve Cutler.

我們將今天的通話時間限制為一小時，因此請與會者為了節省時間，將問題限制在每位與會者只提出一個問題。現在我想將電話交給我們的執行長史蒂夫卡特勒博士。

Thank you, Kate.

謝謝你，凱特。

I want to begin my comments with a few perspectives on the market given the dynamic and unpredictable environment in which we are currently operating. Our overall view has been one of cautious optimism as we began this year, noting positive leading indicators of mid-term demand alongside more challenging dynamics of elevated cancellations and delays in clinical trial decisions and starts, which has pressured our outlook on near-term revenue.

鑑於我們目前所處的動態且不可預測的市場環境，我想從幾個角度開始我的評論。今年伊始，我們的總體觀點是謹慎樂觀，我們注意到中期需求的積極領先指標，但臨床試驗決策和開始的取消和延遲增加等更具挑戰性的動態，這給我們對近期收入的前景帶來了壓力。

We knew that this year was going to be one of transition for the company, and unfortunately, broader macro uncertainty had only accentuated those market risks as we progressed through the year. The persistent volatility and narrow focus of biotech funding has not yet supported a sustained recovery in that part of the market despite continued progress in opportunity flow.

我們知道今年將是公司的轉型之年，不幸的是，隨著這一年的推進，更廣泛的宏觀不確定性只會加劇這些市場風險。儘管機會流不斷取得進展，但生物技術融資的持續波動性和狹窄的關注點尚未支持該市場部分持續復甦。

Large pharma demand continues to be mixed, linked to company specific exposure to loss of exclusivity and overall budgetary spend. On the positive side, we continue to generate momentum from our recent strategic partnerships, as well as in the mid-sized Pharma segment.

大型製藥公司的需求持續好壞參半，這與公司特定風險中獨佔權的喪失和整體預算支出有關。從積極的一面來看，我們繼續從最近的戰略合作夥伴關係以及中型製藥領域中獲得發展動力。

Net net, there continues to be evidence of solid opportunities supporting the mid- to long-term outlook, as well as a continued need for innovation by our customers, and we remain highly constructive on our prospects going forward. However, conversion has been inconsistent on a quarterly basis as cautious behavior has tightened or delayed spending, and there remain broad elements of uncertainty in our market.

總體而言，有證據表明，中長期前景仍存在堅實的機遇，而且我們的客戶也持續需要創新，我們對未來的前景仍然充滿信心。然而，由於謹慎的行為收緊或推遲了支出，因此每季的轉換率並不一致，而且我們的市場仍然存在廣泛的不確定因素。

We are focused on navigating this period adeptly to support our customers while capitalizing on the opportunities we do see to further improve our market-leading position.

我們專注於巧妙地度過這段時期，為我們的客戶提供支持，同時利用我們看到的機會進一步提高我們的市場領先地位。

The ICON team have good collective and individual experience in managing through similar cycles in this industry and well understand the need for agility and flexibility across our business to quickly react to opportunities and changes in demand. We are well placed to do this again.

ICON 團隊在管理該行業類似週期方面擁有良好的集體和個人經驗，並且非常了解整個業務對敏捷性和靈活性的需求，以便快速回應機會和需求變化。我們有能力再次做到這一點。

From a business development standpoint, overall opportunity flow was mixed in quarter one. In Biotech, we've seen a significant increase in overall opportunities, as well as a modest uptick in our win rate on projects that have gone through to decision.

從業務發展的角度來看，第一季的整體機會流好壞參半。在生物技術領域，我們看到整體機會顯著增加，經過決策的專案的成功率也略有上升。

However, this was offset by an increase in the number of RFP opportunities that were ultimately canceled by customers. Hence, while we are making progress in Biotech, the segment remains challenging given the funding environment and continued cautious decision making.

然而，這被最終被客戶取消的 RFP 機會數量的增加所抵消。因此，雖然我們在生物技術領域取得了進展，但鑑於融資環境和持續謹慎的決策，該領域仍然充滿挑戰。

In large Pharma, while RFP opportunities were more muted during the quarter, our success rate remained high, underscoring our strong partnership position in this segment. These mixed dynamics, in addition to delays and decisions we anticipated to be made in the quarter, negatively impacted our overall performance in bookings, decreasing our book to bill to 1.01 times in the quarter.

在大型製藥業，儘管本季的 RFP 機會比較少，但我們的成功率仍然很高，凸顯了我們在該領域的強大合作夥伴地位。這些混合動態，加上我們預計在本季做出的延遲和決定，對我們的整體預訂表現產生了負面影響，導致本季我們的訂單出貨比降至 1.01 倍。

In terms of cancellations, we saw elevated levels again this quarter, a similar absolute amount to quarter four. Reasons for cancellations were broad ranging from portfolio prioritization to clinical data and futility decisions. Overall, in terms of customer split, the cancellations were in line with the relative distribution of revenue across the company.

就取消量而言，本季我們再次看到取消量上升，絕對數量與第四季相似。取消的原因多種多樣，包括投資組合優先順序、臨床數據和無效決策。整體而言，就客戶分佈而言，取消訂單的情況與整個公司的收入相對分配一致。

We anticipate continued volatility in bookings performance on a quarterly basis due to continued caution and reprioritizations. Cancellations remain a headwind to revenue this year and our updated full-year guidance reflects this dynamic continuing to be elevated in the near term.

由於持續的謹慎和重新調整優先級，我們預計季度預訂表現將繼續波動。取消預訂仍然是今年收入的阻力，我們更新的全年指引反映出這種動態在短期內將繼續上升。

Our results for quarter one are reflective of the transition period we expected as we came into the year. Revenue in the quarter was impacted by the delayed next generation COVID vaccine study that we disclosed in early March.

我們第一季的業績反映了我們今年預期的過渡期。本季的收入受到我們在 3 月初披露的下一代 COVID 疫苗研究延遲的影響。

Our focused efforts on driving operational utilization alongside good cost control across our business resulted in better-than-expected adjusted EBITDA margin performance of 19.5% in the quarter, translating to earnings per share in line with our initial expectations to start the year. This clearly demonstrates our ability to align our resources with the work in our backlog and effectively manage our business.

我們致力於提高營運利用率，同時在整個業務範圍內實現良好的成本控制，使得本季調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率表現優於預期，達到 19.5%，每股收益符合我們年初的初步預期。這清楚地表明了我們有能力將資源與積壓工作結合併有效地管理我們的業務。

We have updated our full-year guidance to reflect recent booking trends, including increased cancellations, as well as the removal of both of the next generation COVID trials, approximately $350 million that were previously expected to start this year.

我們已更新全年指引，以反映最近的預訂趨勢，包括取消數量的增加，以及取消兩項下一代 COVID 試驗（原定於今年開始，共耗資約 3.5 億美元）。

We felt it was appropriate to take this action, as one of those studies was canceled early in quarter two and will be reflected in our second-quarter cancellations. And the other study was on 90-day hold as of the end of quarter one. However, we received a positive update on the second study just this week, lifting the whole to restart patient screening activity.

我們認為採取這項行動是適當的，因為其中一項研究在第二季初被取消，並將反映在我們第二季的取消中。另一項研究截至第一季末已暫停 90 天。然而，就在本週，我們收到了第二項研究的積極更新，這促使我們重新開始患者篩檢活動。

We have resumed work on this project and are actively working with this customer to begin screening patients. We will provide further updates as we gain additional visibility on the expected impact and timeline for study enrollment this year.

我們已經恢復了該專案的工作，並正在積極與該客戶合作開始篩檢患者。當我們對今年研究入學的預期影響和時間表有更多了解時，我們將提供進一步的更新。

As we navigate this period of uncertainty, we remain focused on customer delivery and continuing to strengthen our offering, prioritizing the investment and execution of what is squarely within our control. While we ultimately can't influence decisions on study cancellations, we can ensure we are delivering even better for our customers. This ultimately leads to increased visibility of in-flight studies and solutions to expedite development milestones, which will also assist us in our efforts to improve our burn rate.

在度過這段不確定的時期時，我們仍然專注於客戶交付並繼續加強我們的服務，優先考慮我們能夠控制範圍內的投資和執行。雖然我們最終無法影響取消研究的決定，但我們可以確保為客戶提供更好的服務。這最終將提高飛行研究和解決方案的可見性，從而加快開發里程碑，這也將有助於我們努力提高燒錢率。

To that end, we have seen early benefits from leveraging best practices and implementing standardization across our portfolio in areas such as trial planning, activation, and oversight, as well as contract management. By streamlining processes and unifying platform technology across our operational units, we are seeing better performance on our study cycle times.

為此，我們在試驗規劃、激活和監督以及合約管理等領域利用最佳實踐並在我們的產品組合中實施標準化，已經看到了早期的益處。透過簡化流程和統一各營運部門的平台技術，我們的研究週期時間得到了更好的表現。

This integration is driving increased cross-sell opportunities within customers with meaningful wins in ancillary offerings such as laboratory services. In quarter one, we saw evidence of this with a new partnership award in labs with an existing large pharma strategic customer, expanding our position, and providing additional opportunity for growth. This partnership win is representative of the solid opportunity and continued growth we've seen in our laboratory services business, as well as recent momentum in our early phase business.

這種整合正在推動增加客戶的交叉銷售機會，並在實驗室服務等輔助產品方面取得重大勝利。在第一季度，我們看到了這一點的證據，我們與現有的大型製藥策略客戶在實驗室中獲得了新的合作獎，擴大了我們的地位，並提供了額外的成長機會。此次合作的成功體現了我們在實驗室服務業務中看到的堅實機會和持續成長，以及我們早期業務的近期發展勢頭。

Beyond our focus on operational delivery, we have leveraged one of our long-standing core competencies, managing our cost base to align with customer demand. We have been executing on our plans to ensure proper alignment of resources across our business, as well as identifying additional opportunities for further efficiencies through automation and other non-labor elements of our costs.

除了專注於營運交付之外，我們還利用了長期的核心競爭力之一，管理我們的成本基礎以滿足客戶需求。我們一直在執行計劃，以確保整個業務的資源得到適當的調整，並透過自動化和其他非勞動力成本要素來尋找進一步提高效率的更多機會。

Our investment in digital innovation has also continued in earnest with the release of two new AI-enabled tools in the quarter which will advance our strategy to accelerate trials, enhance data, and optimize operational efficiencies.

我們對數位創新的投資也持續不斷，本季發布了兩款新的人工智慧工具，這將推進我們加速試驗、增強數據和優化營運效率的策略。

The first is iSubmit, which automates the clinical trial document management process, primarily through managing electronic trial master files. It also uses AI to improve compliance, reduce the burden on clinical project teams, and manage documents in an efficient and accurate way.

第一個是 iSubmit，它主要透過管理電子試驗主文件來自動化臨床試驗文件管理流程。它還使用人工智慧來提高合規性，減輕臨床專案團隊的負擔，並以高效準確的方式管理文件。

The other tool is SmartDraft, which streamlines the clinical contract drafting process during study startup, allowing sites to shorten overall startup times. These two new releases join our broader suite of AI solutions that are truly enhancing our delivery for customers, embracing the opportunities that AI and advanced technology are presenting to transform clinical development.

另一個工具是 SmartDraft，它簡化了研究啟動期間的臨床合約起草流程，使研究中心能夠縮短整體啟動時間。這兩個新版本加入了我們更廣泛的 AI 解決方案套件，真正增強了我們為客戶提供的服務，抓住了 AI 和先進技術為改變臨床開發而帶來的機會。

Finally, we continue to execute our capital deployment strategy, balancing further investment in the business while returning capital to our shareholders. We have highlighted our current priority on share repurchase given our recent share price performance, and we executed on this with the repurchase of $250 million in shares over the course of quarter one.

最後，我們繼續執行我們的資本配置策略，在向股東返還資本的同時平衡對業務的進一步投資。鑑於我們最近的股價表現，我們強調了股票回購是我們當前的優先事項，並且我們在第一季回購了價值 2.5 億美元的股票。

Within the confines of Irish law, we plan to assertively allocate capital towards share repurchases in the near term, while also evaluating strategic M&A opportunities that are in our pipeline. We remain focused on addressing key customer challenges such as patient recruitment and retention by enhancing and scaling our current clinical services.

在愛爾蘭法律的約束下，我們計劃在短期內積極分配資本用於股票回購，同時評估我們正在進行的策略併購機會。我們將繼續致力於透過增強和擴展現有的臨床服務來解決關鍵客戶挑戰，例如病患招募和保留。

Our concentration on these key areas will aid in our return to growth over the short to medium term. Importantly, the strength of our balance sheet affords us the opportunity to execute both share repurchases and acquisitions, should they meet our strategic and financial criteria.

我們對這些關鍵領域的關注將有助於我們在短期至中期內恢復成長。重要的是，如果符合我們的策略和財務標準，我們強勁的資產負債表使我們有機會執行股票回購和收購。

Before handing over to Nigel, I'll close out with a perspective I often share with investors when asked about cyclical periods in our industry and customers' changing behavior and requirements when it comes to development needs. And simply put, it's why we exist as a company and as an industry.

在交給奈傑爾之前，當我被問及我們行業的周期性時期以及客戶在開發需求方面不斷變化的行為和要求時，我經常與投資者分享我的觀點。簡單地說，這就是我們作為一家公司和一個行業存在的原因。

Day in and day out, we are adapting to meet our customers' needs and opportunities as we partner with them to navigate the complex and ever-changing healthcare environment to develop life-saving medicines. It's incumbent upon us as an organization to identify the available opportunities and manage that change appropriately, ensure we are innovative, agile, and resourced to meet the needs of our customers and become an even better partner for them.

日復一日，我們不斷適應以滿足客戶的需求和機遇，並與客戶合作，在複雜多變的醫療保健環境中開發救命的藥物。作為一個組織，我們有責任識別可用的機會並適當管理變化，確保我們具有創新性、靈活性和資源，以滿足客戶的需求並成為他們更好的合作夥伴。

We are keenly focused on capitalizing on the many opportunities that are in front of us at this time of uncertainty to further solidify our leading position in the market. I want to thank all of the employees across ICON that are working incredibly hard to do just that.

我們熱切地致力於利用當前不確定時期擺在我們面前的眾多機遇，進一步鞏固我們在市場上的領先地位。我要感謝 ICON 所有為此付出巨大努力的員工。

I'll now hand it over to Nigel for a review of our financial results. Nigel.

我現在將其交給奈傑爾來審查我們的財務結果。奈傑爾。

Thanks, Steve. Revenue in quarter one was $2 billion representing a year-on-year decrease of 4.3% or minus 3.2% on a constant currency basis. Overall, customer concentration in our top 25 customers was aligned with quarter four 2024. Our top five customers represented 24.9% of revenue in the quarter. Our top 10 represented 40.2%, while our top 25% represented 64%.

謝謝，史蒂夫。第一季營收為 20 億美元，年減 4.3%，以固定匯率計算下降 3.2%。整體而言，我們前 25 家客戶的客戶集中度與 2024 年第四季保持一致。我們前五大客戶佔本季營收的 24.9%。我們的前 10 名佔 40.2%，而前 25% 佔 64%。

Adjusted gross margin for the quarter was 28.2% compared to 29.9% in quarter one 2024. Adjusted SG&A expense was $173.4 million in quarter one, or 8.7% of revenue, a reduction on quarter one 2024 SG&A expense of $181.7 million.

本季調整後的毛利率為 28.2%，而 2024 年第一季為 29.9%。第一季調整後的銷售、一般及行政費用為 1.734 億美元，佔營收的 8.7%，較 2024 年第一季的 1.817 億美元減少。

Adjusted EBITDA was $390.7 million for the quarter, or 19.5% of revenue. In the comparative period last year, adjusted EBITDA was $444 million or 21.2% of revenue. Adjusted operating income for quarter one was $353.6 million, a margin of 17.7%.

本季調整後的 EBITDA 為 3.907 億美元，佔營收的 19.5%。與去年同期相比，調整後的 EBITDA 為 4.44 億美元，佔營收的 21.2%。第一季調整後的營業收入為 3.536 億美元，利潤率為 17.7%。

Adjusted net interest expense was $44.3 million for quarter one. In the comparable period last year, net interest expense was $65.8 million representing a year-on-year decrease of 32.6%. The effective tax rate was 16.5% for the quarter. We continue to expect the full-year 2025 adjusted effective tax rate to be approximately 16.5%.

第一季調整後的淨利息支出為 4,430 萬美元。去年同期淨利息支出為 6,580 萬美元，年減 32.6%。本季有效稅率為16.5%。我們繼續預計 2025 年全年調整後有效稅率約為 16.5%。

Adjusted net income for the quarter was $258.3 million, a margin of 12.9%, equating to adjusted earnings per share of $3.19, a decrease of 8.1% year over year. US GAAP income from operations amounted to $219.6 million or 11% of quarter one revenue. US GAAP net income in quarter one was $154.2 million or $1.90 per diluted share compared to $2.25 per share for the equivalent prior year period, a decrease of 15.6%.

本季調整後淨收入為 2.583 億美元，利潤率為 12.9%，相當於調整後每股收益為 3.19 美元，年減 8.1%。美國 GAAP 營業收入為 2.196 億美元，佔第一季營收的 11%。第一季美國 GAAP 淨收入為 1.542 億美元，即每股 1.90 美元，而去年同期每股 2.25 美元，下降 15.6%。

We had a good quarter from a cash perspective, with cash from operating activities in the quarter coming in at $268.2 million and free cash flow of $239.3 million. At March 31, 2025, cash totaled $526.7 million and debt totaled $3.4 billion leaving a net debt position of $2.9 billion. This was broadly in line with net debt at December 31, 2024, and a decrease on net debt of $3.1 billion at March 31, 2024. We ended the quarter with a leverage ratio of 1.7 times net debt to adjusted EBITDA.

從現金角度來看，我們本季表現良好，本季經營活動現金流入 2.682 億美元，自由現金流為 2.393 億美元。截至 2025 年 3 月 31 日，現金總額為 5.267 億美元，債務總額為 34 億美元，淨債務為 29 億美元。這與 2024 年 12 月 31 日的淨債務基本一致，且較 2024 年 3 月 31 日的淨債務減少了 31 億美元。本季末，我們的槓桿率為淨債務與調整後 EBITDA 的 1.7 倍。

Our balance sheet position remains very strong, and we continue to be disciplined as we evaluate opportunities for further capital deployment. Our strategy is focused in the near term on a balanced approach to deployment in favor of share repurchases, as well as opportunistic M&A execution.

我們的資產負債表狀況依然非常強勁，我們在評估進一步資本部署的機會時將繼續保持紀律。我們的短期策略重點在於採取平衡的部署方式，有利於股票回購以及機會性的併購執行。

We made significant share repurchases in quarter one totaling $250 million at an average price of $184 per share. We plan to remain active in buying back shares with our total current authorization of $750 million remaining. Additionally, there are a number of M&A opportunities in our pipeline that we are evaluating with the potential for execution within this calendar year.

我們在第一季進行了大量股票回購，總額達 2.5 億美元，平均價格為每股 184 美元。我們計劃繼續積極回購股票，目前授權總額剩餘 7.5 億美元。此外，我們正在評估一些併購機會，以期在今年內實現這些機會。

With that, we'll now open it up for questions.

好了，我們現在開始回答問題。

(Operator Instructions) Michael Cherny, Leerink Partners.

（操作員指示）Michael Cherny，Leerink Partners。

Thank you for the question. This is Ahmed Muhammad on for Mike Cherny. I was hoping to ask about cancellations. I appreciated the color on the call, but is there anything else you can say about the elevated levels? Were there any out outlier or sizable cancellations that impacted the quarter? And if you could give any more color across the distribution in terms of customer type. Thank you very much.

謝謝你的提問。艾哈邁德·穆罕默德 (Ahmed Muhammad) 取代邁克·切爾尼 (Mike Cherny)。我希望詢問有關取消的情況。我很欣賞通話時的色彩，但對於升高的水平，您還有什麼可以說的嗎？是否存在對本季產生影響的異常值或大額取消？並且您是否可以根據客戶類型對分佈情況給予更多說明。非常感謝。

Sure. I mean, the short answer to your question, is no. There's nothing unusual about any particular customer group, market segment, or ever. They were generally elevated across the customer segments that we work in that reflect our portfolio of business.

當然。我的意思是，對於你的問題，簡短的回答是「不」。任何特定的客戶群、市場部分或任何時候都沒有什麼不尋常的。它們在我們所服務的客戶群中普遍有所提升，反映了我們的業務組合。

So -- and we do expect that those cancellations will continue that elevated level of -- will continue as we work through the year, we're in that sort of environment. But there was nothing there that was particularly focused in any one particular segment or customer or anything else for that matter. So that's where we are on cancellation.

所以 - 我們確實預計這些取消的數量將持續增加 - 這種現象將持續到我們全年工作，我們處於這樣的環境中。但那裡沒有任何東西特別關注某個特定的細分市場、客戶或其他任何東西。這就是我們取消的原因。

Patrick Donnelly, Citi.

花旗銀行的 Patrick Donnelly。

Thank you for taking the questions. Steve, maybe one just on kind of follow up there just on the overall backdrop here, obviously cancellations, similar level to last quarter but elevated. Can you just talk about the conversations I we've heard a lot about these pharma reprioritization, the biotech funding environment. Those are obviously the headwinds to your point. Maybe one of these barter contracts comes back.

感謝您回答這些問題。史蒂夫，也許只是對這裡的整體背景進行跟進，顯然取消的數量與上一季度相似但有所上升。您能否談談我聽到的許多有關製藥業重新排序和生物技術融資環境的討論。這些顯然都是你的觀點的阻力。也許這些以物易物合約中的一個會回來。

We have seen at least some headlines about reinvestments, including one of your larger customers. So I'm curious how you think about the positives and negatives here, where we are in this cycle, again, the cancellations are they stable going forward? Is there potential for them to go down, up? Just curious, given the conversations you're having, what the expectations are going forward, including the book the bill, right, the 1.01 obviously a little bit light. How do you think about the trends going forward given the conversations, would appreciate it.

我們至少看到了一些有關再投資的頭條新聞，其中包括你們的一位大客戶。所以我很好奇您如何看待這裡的正面和負面因素，我們處於這個週期的哪個階段，取消的情況在未來是否穩定？它們有下降或上升的潛力嗎？只是好奇，根據你們的談話，對未來的期望是什麼，包括帳目帳單，對吧，1.01 顯然有點輕。從談話內容來看，您如何看待未來的趨勢？我們將不勝感激。

Yeah, Patrick, it's a tough question in terms of where we think this is going. Obviously the cancellations have ticked up from our normal levels, and we do expect that that will continue. I don't believe it's still going to go higher, although, of course, in quarter two we will have a significant cancellation as we were open and transparent about with one of the (inaudible) studies being canceled in quarter two, and then as we report quarter two, we will report that as a cancellation, so it may tick up a little bit in the next quarter.

是的，派崔克，對於我們認為事情會如何發展，這是一個很難回答的問題。顯然，取消的數量已經超出了正常水平，我們預計這種情況還會持續下去。我不認為它會繼續走高，儘管，當然，在第二季度，我們將有一個重大的取消，因為我們對第二季度取消的一項（聽不清）研究持開放和透明的態度，然後在我們報告第二季度時，我們會將其報告為取消，因此它可能在下個季度略有上升。

But overall, we see, as I say, continued elevated levels. On a sort of run rate basis, I don't believe it's necessarily going to increase any more than it is at the moment, but I do think it will be sustained for probably the rest of this year. It is kind of would be my expectation from the cancellation basis.

但總體而言，正如我所說，我們看到水平持續上升。從運行率的角度來看，我認為它不一定會比現在增加更多，但我確實認為它可能會在今年剩餘時間內持續下去。這有點像我對取消基礎的期望。

We have some work to do in that space, and we're obviously working on our backlog and making sure that as much of it as possible is moving forward as quickly as possible. But our burn rate has come down a little bit. That's -- we've been honest and transparent about that. And that does suggest that there's some work in there that probably will move out at some point in the future.

我們在該領域有一些工作要做，顯然我們正在處理積壓的工作，並確保盡可能多的工作盡快取得進展。但我們的燒錢率已經下降了一點。那是——我們對此一直保持誠實和透明。這確實表明其中的一些工作可能會在未來的某個時候轉移出去。

So it's very hard to be Nostradamus on this sort of stuff, but we do expect, as I say, elevated to continue at around about the levels we're seeing, notwithstanding, it may pick up a bit more in Q2 given the large cancellation that we will be taking at that time.

因此，在這種事情上很難成為諾查丹瑪斯，但正如我所說，我們確實預計，將繼續保持在我們所看到的水平左右，儘管如此，考慮到我們當時將進行大規模取消，它可能會在第二季度進一步回升。

I think -- I'll just need to quickly add in Patrick. I mean, that is, we have embedded that in our guidance, of course, in terms of the updated guide that that we've given does assume an elevated cancellation rate continues, and we think that's appropriately cautious given the environment at this stage.

我想——我只需要快速添加帕特里克。我的意思是，我們已經將其嵌入到我們的指導中，當然，就我們提供的更新指南而言，確實假設取消率會持續上升，並且我們認為考慮到現階段的環境，這是適當謹慎的。

David Windley, Jefferies.

傑富瑞的戴維溫德利 (David Windley)。

Thanks for taking my question. Mine also around revenue in general. What we hear from our contacts in the industry is that customers, probably more on the smaller end of the scale, but customers are price sensitive and issuing more RFPs to try to essentially fish for more bids and potentially more competitive bids.

感謝您回答我的問題。我的收入也大致如此。我們從業內聯絡人那裡了解到，客戶可能規模較小，但客戶對價格很敏感，並發布更多的 RFP，試圖爭取更多的投標和可能更具競爭力的投標。

So I'm wondering: one, if you're seeing that; two, how do you kind of try to adjust for that noise that it might look like RFP values are stable or growing but it's actually kind of inflated by this dynamic.

所以我想知道：第一，你是否看到了這一點；二，您如何嘗試調整這種噪音，它可能看起來 RFP 值是穩定的或正在增長，但實際上它在某種程度上因這種動態而膨脹。

How is that changing your win rate from those customers and have you considered to your point that you just made, Steve, have you considered risk adjusting out kind of unproductive backlog to kind of take that risk off the table, so to speak. Thank you for taking my questions.

這如何改變您從這些客戶那裡獲得的贏單率？您是否考慮過您剛才提出的觀點？史蒂夫，您是否考慮過調整一些非生產性積壓訂單的風險，從而消除這種風險。感謝您回答我的問題。

Yeah, Dave, I'll try, and then Barry Balfe may jump in on that one. He's close to these biotech opportunities. I mean, I think it's fair to say that in the biotech space, we do tend to compete with more competitors, other CROs. And so our strike rate in that space is lower, and you'd expect it to be lower.

是的，戴夫，我會嘗試，然後巴里·巴爾夫可能會加入進來。他接近這些生物技術機會。我的意思是，我認為可以公平地說，在生技領域，我們確實傾向於與更多的競爭對手、其他 CRO 競爭。因此，我們在該領域的成功率較低，這也是你所期望的較低水準。

I don't know that that necessarily changes the way we think about those things. We do believe we're making some progress. In terms of that strike rate, it's ticked up modestly and as you say -- as we've said, we are seeing more opportunity in that space. Some of that opportunity where we are a little, I don't want to say suspicious, but a little careful with given we have seen a bit of an uptick in in RFPs that have been canceled as well.

我不知道這是否必然會改變我們對這些事情的看法。我們確實相信我們正在取得一些進展。就該命中率而言，它略有上升，正如您所說 - 正如我們所說，我們在該領域看到了更多機會。對於其中的一些機會，我們有點，我不想說懷疑，但要有點謹慎，因為我們看到被取消的 RFP 數量有所增加。

In other words, RFPs that really never come to a yes or a no decision. So we're conscious of despite the uptick in opportunities. Some of it is not always of immediate opportunity if that makes sense, or is not always going to go to a contract within a reasonable period of time because we've seen that uptick there.

換句話說，RFP 實際上從來不會做出「是」或「否」的決定。因此，儘管機會在增加，但我們仍然意識到這一點。如果有意義的話，其中一些並不總是立即出現的機會，或者並不總是在合理的時間內簽訂合同，因為我們已經看到了這種上升趨勢。

We don't necessarily risk adjust as such. We do recognize that there are different dynamics in that segment. There's more competition in that segment from other competitors, and we adjust from that point of view in terms of our expectations, but we don't treat it any differently to large pharma in that space. (inaudible)

我們不一定會進行這樣的風險調整。我們確實認識到該領域存在著不同的動態。該領域其他競爭對手的競爭更加激烈，我們將從這個角度調整我們的預期，但我們對待它的方式與該領域的大型製藥公司並沒有什麼不同。 （聽不清楚）

Yeah, thanks, Steve. Dave, I think it's a good question to think about RFP flow and win rates as having slightly different dynamics between pharma and biotech. Very honestly, in pharma, our win rates remain very healthy. We're winning substantially more than half of what we touch and we're very pleased about that.

是的，謝謝，史蒂夫。戴夫，我認為思考 RFP 流程和中標率在製藥和生物技術之間略有不同是一個好問題。坦白說，在製藥業，我們的成功率仍然非常高。我們贏得的訂單遠遠超過我們所接觸訂單的一半，我們對此感到非常高興。

As Steve says, there has been an uptick, something of a sustained uptick in RFP flow in biotech, but the quality of that RFP flow isn't always as strong as we might wish. I don't link that to price actually. I think that's more to do with funding sensitivities and people trying to scope out the viability of certain development programs that seems to be what we see more among those smaller customers. So we're heartened that we're seeing more of that market, albeit we're looking forward to a higher proportion of those RFPs converting to contract into (inaudible).

正如史蒂夫所說，生物技術領域的 RFP 流量出現了上升趨勢，某種程度上是持續上升趨勢，但 RFP 流量的品質並不總是像我們所希望的那樣高。我實際上並沒有將其與價格聯繫起來。我認為這更多是與資金敏感性有關，人們試圖確定某些開發計劃的可行性，而這似乎是我們在那些較小的客戶中看到的更多情況。因此，我們很高興看到更多的這類市場，儘管我們期待更高比例的 RFP 轉化為合約（聽不清楚）。

Justin Bowers, Deutsche Bank.

德意志銀行的賈斯汀·鮑爾斯。

So just want to stick with in the overall landscape here, and I think there's been a lot of talk over the last couple of quarters about what inning we're in with respect to large pharma in terms of reprioritizations, pricing, strategic partnerships. And there's a lot of macro sort of noise, but I'd love to get your perspective on, again, like where we are in the cycle and how some of these efforts in the administration have driven your conversations with those important customers about the partnerships going forward.

因此，我只想堅持這裡的整體形勢，我認為在過去的幾個季度裡，人們已經就我們在重新排序、定價、戰略夥伴關係方面與大型製藥公司所處的局面進行了大量討論。雖然有很多宏觀方面的噪音，但我很想再次聽聽你的看法，例如我們處於週期的哪個階段，以及政府的一些努力如何推動你與那些重要客戶就未來合作關係進行的對話。

Yeah, Justin, it's a big question and one we think about quite a lot. The way we're looking at it at the moment is that's certainly -- we're certainly very much focused -- as a large pharma we're very much focused on cost reduction on budgets, particularly with the LOE issues that they're confronting over the next few years. And they're certainly very much in the middle of that. I don't know -- we don't know where, what sort of stage it is.

是的，賈斯汀，這是一個大問題，我們對此思考了很多。我們目前的看法是——我們當然非常關注——作為一家大型製藥公司，我們非常關注削減預算成本，特別是未來幾年他們將面臨的 LOE 問題。他們確實正處於其中。我不知道──我們不知道它在哪裡，是什麼樣的舞台。

I don't want to call out an inning or whatever, but we do think that that's been very much the focus over the last 12 months. It probably will continue. I don't know that there'll ever be an end to it, but I think that's certainly very much a focus at the moment.

我不想宣布結束比賽或諸如此類，但我們確實認為這是過去 12 個月的焦點。這種現象可能還會持續下去。我不知道這種情況是否會結束，但我認為這肯定是目前的焦點。

I do think as we move into the -- in the sort of more medium -- short to medium term, the focus will switch to how they bring new drugs to market, how they effectively replace the revenue. They're not going to cut their way to success. We all know that. And so they are going to have to, they are going to have to spend on an R&D basis, they are going to have to probably acquire companies. I do think there's likely to be a period of M&A, either consolidating in the pharma space and buying the biotechs. We all know that most of the innovation comes out of the biotechs these days.

我確實認為，隨著我們進入中短期階段，重點將轉向如何將新藥推向市場，如何有效地取代收入。他們不會透過走捷徑來獲得成功。我們都知道這一點。所以他們必須這樣做，他們必須在研發上投入資金，他們可能還必須收購公司。我確實認為可能會出現一段併購時期，要么在製藥領域合併，要么收購生物技術公司。我們都知道，如今大多數創新都來自生物技術。

We think we're very well positioned as they move into that phase, as they move into bringing -- to spending more obviously, or acquiring projects with requiring companies that have drugs that are ready for the market. As Barry mentioned, our strike rate, our partnership strategy in the large pharma space has been paying dividends for it, so we think as those large pharma's [require], we'll have an opportunity to benefit from that from an outsourcing point of view.

我們認為，當他們進入這個階段時，當他們開始更明顯地投入資金或收購需要擁有已準備好上市的藥物的公司的項目時，我們處於非常有利的位置。正如巴里所提到的，我們的成功率、我們在大型製藥領域的合作策略一直在帶來紅利，因此我們認為，隨著這些大型製藥公司的[要求]，我們將有機會從外包的角度從中受益。

We also believe that if we're working with the particular biotech at that time and we're acquired by a partner company, there's a benefit for us on that space as well. And I think we basically want to come back to the fact that they're not going to cut their way to success. They are going to need to spend some money or buy some companies or bring to bring new drugs to market, new companies, new pharmaceuticals to market.

我們也相信，如果我們當時與特定的生物技術公司合作並被合作夥伴公司收購，那麼我們在該領域也會受益。我認為我們基本上想回到這樣一個事實：他們不會透過削減開支來獲得成功。他們需要花一些錢或收購一些公司或將新藥、新公司、新藥品推向市場。

And I think that also leads us as an outsourcing group to feel that we're well positioned. It's a very, very uncertain time. There's a lot of things happening that we all -- we can talk a lot about, but it doesn't seem to -- it seems to me that during those times of uncertainty and of volatility that outsourcing becomes an even more viable option for those large pharmas as they don't necessarily want to add significant fixed costs to their organizations when it's unclear as to as to what's going to be happening, what they're going to be doing in 6, 12, or 24 months' time.

我認為這也讓我們作為一個外包集團感到我們處於有利地位。這是一個非常非常不確定的時期。有很多事情正在發生，我們可以談論很多，但似乎並沒有——在我看來，在那些不確定和動蕩的時期，外包對於那些大型製藥公司來說成為一個更可行的選擇，因為當不清楚接下來會發生什麼，以及他們將在 6 個月、12 個月或 24 個月內做什麼時，他們不一定想給他們的組織增加大量的固定成本。

So again, in terms of the environment as we go forward, and certainly in the medium to longer term, we're very constructive on the ability for outsourcers and organizations like ours to do more of the clinical development work, as I say, given the uncertainty that our pharma brethren are facing at the moment.

因此，就我們未來發展的環境而言，當然從中長期來看，考慮到我們的製藥同行目前面臨的不確定性，我們對外包商和像我們這樣的組織進行更多臨床開發工作的能力非常有建設性。

Thank you, Steve. I appreciate the thoughtful response and just a quick follow up. You did talk about efforts to drive, a greater burn rate, and can you just elaborate, maybe Barry can chime in too on what levers you can pull to do that. And is that really the swing factor in the top-line guide for the rest of the year, or is that more related to cancellations, et cetera. Thank you.

謝謝你，史蒂夫。我很感謝您的深思熟慮的回覆和快速的跟進。您確實談到了努力推動、更高的燃燒率，您能否詳細說明一下，也許 Barry 也可以談談您可以採取哪些措施來做到這一點。這真的是今年剩餘時間收入指南中的關鍵因素嗎？還是與取消等因素更相關？謝謝。

I'll let Barry jump in on that one, Justin.

賈斯汀，我會讓巴里參與其中。

Yeah. Justin, I think when we think about burn rate, we're thinking about those studies that are yet to begin burning as we take them post award and those that are already burning and the way we increase burn rate primarily is by focusing on faster execution of the clinical trials that are already underway.

是的。賈斯汀，我認為當我們考慮燒錢率時，我們考慮的是那些在獲得資助後尚未開始燒錢的研究，以及那些已經開始燒錢的研究，我們提高燒錢率的主要方法是專注於更快地執行已經在進行的臨床試驗。

As you're aware, we aligned our operational groups under common leadership in quarter one, and one of the things I'm focusing a lot on with the team. It's trying to replicate best practice. So where we have business units that are doing really well on applying technologies, standardized processes to better execute those trials, whether it's the startup phase, the patient recruitment phase, data aggregation phase, to make sure we roll those out across the organization to avail of those benefits for the customers and obviously in terms of burn rate.

如你所知，我們在第一季將我們的營運團隊調整到共同領導之下，這是我與團隊重點關注的事情之一。它正在嘗試複製最佳實踐。因此，我們的業務部門在應用技術和標準化流程以更好地執行這些試驗方面做得非常好，無論是啟動階段、患者招募階段還是數據聚合階段，我們確保將這些技術推廣到整個組織，以便為客戶帶來好處，顯然在燒錢率方面也是如此。

And really one of the things we look at, we already talked about the win rate and large pharma and the more of the market that we're seeing in biotech. We're trying to make sure that while we offer differentiated solutions and service offerings for those different ends of the market, that we're a uniform best practice is in the interest of all of those customers that we roll it out, be that a system of technology or [wave] work.

我們真正關注的事情之一是，我們已經討論了中標率和大型製藥公司以及我們在生物技術領域看到的更多市場。我們試圖確保，雖然我們為不同的市場終端提供差異化的解決方案和服務，但我們採用統一的最佳實踐，這符合我們推出的所有客戶的利益，無論是技術系統還是[波動]工作。

Justin, I might add, just on your point on the upper end of the range and the guidance. So certainly, burn rate would obviously be a factor in that. So the midpoint of the range does assume burn rate sort of continuing roughly where it was in Q1 over the course of the year. That will be one factor along with, of course, also where we end up ultimately on both wins as we go through the rest of the year and cancellation so it will be a combination of all of those factors.

賈斯汀，我想補充一下，只是關於你關於範圍上限和指導的觀點。因此，燃燒率顯然是其中的一個因素。因此，該範圍的中點確實假設燒錢率在全年中大致保持在與第一季大致相同的水平。當然，這將是一個因素，此外，當我們度過今年剩餘的時間並取消比賽時，我們最終會獲得兩場勝利，所以這將是所有這些因素的結合。

Jack Meehan, Nephron Research.

傑克·米漢（Jack Meehan），腎元研究。

Wanted to ask a couple of tariff-related questions. The first is, could you just talk about any direct impact on tariffs for ICON maybe in the lab or elsewhere. and then, more broadly, there's this discussion around pharmaceutical tariffs. They obviously haven't been enacted yet but just curious what you're hearing from customers as it relates to that. Thank you.

想問幾個與關稅相關的問題。首先，您能否談談對 ICON 關稅的任何直接影響，可能是在實驗室或其他地方。然後，更廣泛地說，還有關於藥品關稅的討論。顯然這些法規尚未頒布，但我好奇您從客戶那裡聽到了什麼與此相關的消息。謝謝。

Sure, let me take the first question, Jack, with respect to our business. We don't see any much of an impact in terms of our services business. It's not out of the question, of course, expect the unexpected with the current administration, but we're not thinking there's going to be an immediate or material impact in terms of our services.

當然，傑克，讓我來回答關於我們業務的第一個問題。就我們的服務業務而言，我們認為不會受到太大影響。當然，這並非不可能，預計現任政府會出現一些意外情況，但我們認為這不會對我們的服務產生直接或實質的影響。

There are some components of our business that do mean that components, stock is moved across boundaries and so things like our lab kits could potentially be impacted, it's a relatively minor part of our overall lab business and certainly our overall revenue. So I don't think there's going to be a material impact there, but it could impact on us on that.

我們業務中的一些組成部分確實意味著組件、庫存將跨越邊界移動，因此我們的實驗室套件等可能會受到影響，但這只占我們整體實驗室業務和整體收入的一小部分。因此，我認為這不會產生實質影響，但可能會對我們產生影響。

In terms of our pharma customers, I hear what you hear, I read what you read. We've seen some announcements fairly recently about giving them a little bit more time to work through. I saw some comments just recently from the White House around a delayed implementation of any pharma tariffs.

就我們的製藥客戶而言，我聽到您所聽到的，我讀到您所讀的。我們最近看到一些公告，表示將給予他們更多時間來完成工作。我最近看到白宮關於推遲實施藥品關稅的一些評論。

Clearly there's a requirement or a wish from the current administration to do more manufacturing onshore, sort of in the US, and that will have -- and potentially could have some implications, but it's pretty early days on that front and it does, as I say, seem like there's some delays. There'll be some discussions there, and I know the pharma brethren will be lobbying hard the various key people in the administration to represent themselves, and they do a pretty good job with that sort of thing.

顯然，現任政府有要求或希望在美國境內開展更多製造業，這會產生——並且可能會產生一些影響，但現在這方面還處於早期階段，正如我所說，似乎存在一些延遲。那裡會有一些討論，我知道製藥業的兄弟們會極力遊說政府中的各個關鍵人物來代表他們自己，他們在這方面做得相當不錯。

So we'll wait and see, like you. If there is an impact in pharma, it's potentially going to flow down to us, but it's really unclear at the moment and I'm hesitant to speculate too much on what the impact on our business would be and what the timeframe for that would be as well.

所以我們會像你一樣拭目以待。如果對製藥業產生影響，那麼它可能會波及到我們，但目前情況還不清楚，我也不太願意過多猜測這會對我們的業務產生什麼影響，以及影響的時間框架是什麼。

Jailendra Singh, Truist Securities.

Jailendra Singh，Truist Securities。

With all the macro noise and large pharma still focused on reprivatization, have you seen any changes in full service versus FSP RFP mix among your large pharma clients or the mix still relatively steady? And related to that, have you seen any increased adoption of FSP projects downstream like among mid-pharma clients?

在所有的宏觀噪音和大型製藥公司仍然專注於重新私有化的情況下，您是否看到大型製藥客戶中的全方位服務與 FSP RFP 組合有任何變化，或者組合仍然相對穩定？與此相關，您是否看到下游（例如中型製藥客戶）對 FSP 專案的採用有所增加？

I'll start and maybe Barry might jump in on that one, Jailendra. At the moment, really we see the mix of FSO and FSP business being pretty consistent. Now, over the quarter, the top three wins we had were in full service. The partnership that we were able to secure in more the mid-size was more full service business, so the proportions of our revenue that are full service versus FSP haven't changed dramatically over that period of time.

我先開始，也許 Barry 可能會加入，Jailendra。目前，我們確實看到 FSO 和 FSP 業務的組合相當一致。現在，本季度，我們取得的三大勝利都是全力以赴的。我們能夠在更多的中型企業中獲得的合作夥伴關係更多的是全方位服務業務，因此，在這段時間內，全方位服務與 FSP 的收入比例並沒有發生顯著變化。

It is true to say -- I think that -- well, I know that our FSP business is growing a little faster than our full service business at the moment, but -- and so, over the long term, there may be some changes, but really at the moment we're not seeing any major shifts, and I think I'd apply that to our mid-size customers as well.

確實，我認為，我知道我們的 FSP 業務目前比全方位服務業務增長得稍微快一點，但是，從長遠來看，可能會有一些變化，但實際上目前我們並沒有看到任何重大轉變，我想我也會將這一點應用於我們的中型客戶。

Barry, do you want to drop in?

巴里，你想來嗎？

Yeah. I think that's absolutely right. It remained relatively constant (inaudible) adjusted for seasonal factors. I think the trend, if there is one, remains that in order to compete for strategic alliances at the top level, you've got to be able to demonstrate mastery of FSP and full service, and we're fortunate in that regard to be the largest and I would argue the best in the FSP space as well as the leading provider of FSO.

是的。我認為這絕對正確。經過季節性因素調整後，它保持相對穩定（聽不清楚）。我認為，如果有趨勢的話，那就是為了在頂級層面上競爭策略聯盟，你必須能夠展示對 FSP 和全方位服務的掌握，在這方面我們很幸運，我們是 FSP 領域中最大的，我認為也是最好的，也是 FSO 的領先提供者。

That does lead you to a conversation where it's getting harder and harder to define what's FSO versus FSP. Our experience is very much that we are blending around the margins. Most of our large alliances involve customers doing elements of the work themselves, elements in FSP and elements with FSO. So that's certainly something we continue to see.

這確實會引發一場對話，其中 FSO 與 FSP 之間的區別變得越來越難以定義。我們的經驗是，我們正處於邊緣融合之中。我們的大多數大型聯盟都涉及客戶自己完成部分工作、在 FSP 中完成部分工作以及與 FSO 一起完成部分工作。所以這肯定是我們繼續看到的事情。

There are some more mid-sized customers perhaps nibbling around FSP solutions, but ultimately the ability to adopt an FSP component to your development strategy is largely dependent on what competencies you have in-house. They're quite hard to build if you don't have them, certainly, in a hurry. So we don't see any major disturbance in terms of that distribution, Jailendra.

還有一些中型客戶可能正在考慮採用 FSP 解決方案，但最終將 FSP 組件納入您的開發策略的能力在很大程度上取決於您內部擁有的能力。如果你沒有它們，它們就很難建造，當然，要著急的話。因此，就分佈而言，我們沒有看到任何重大干擾，Jailendra。

Max Smock, William Blair.

馬克斯史莫克、威廉布萊爾。

Thanks for taking the questions. Maybe just one on margins here. I wonder if you could comment on the total adjust the target for this year and just how to think about the cadence for adjusted EBITDA moving forward. Is it fair to think about 1Q being the floor on the margin side and how big of a step up should we expect in 2Q? And then what does that acceleration look like in the back half of the year?

感謝您回答這些問題。也許這裡只有一個邊緣。我想知道您是否可以評論今年的整體調整目標以及如何考慮未來調整後的 EBITDA 的節奏。將第一季視為利潤率的底線是否合理？第二季的增幅應達到多大？那麼今年下半年的加速情況如何呢？

Max, it's Nigel. I'll take that one. So no real change actually in our margins outlook for the year from what we would have talked about before. Still, expectation would be that EBITDA margin for the year as a whole would be roughly 1% or so lower than it was last year.

馬克斯，我是奈傑爾。我要那個。因此，與先前討論的相比，我們對今年利潤率的預期實際上並沒有發生真正的變化。不過，預計全年 EBITDA 利潤率將比去年低約 1% 左右。

Within that, obviously Q1 was a good performance, 19.5%, slightly better, frankly, than we had initially anticipated given the strong measures we've been taking on cost controls. And I'd expect that to gradually increase as we go through the year marks. So it's a gradual uptake as we go through the quarters -- quarter to quarter, and I'd anticipate exiting the year at a rate somewhere around or hopefully slightly higher than we were in Q4 last year, so close to 21% as we exit the year.

其中，第一季的表現顯然不錯，成長了 19.5%，坦白說，由於我們在成本控制方面採取了強有力的措施，所以這比我們最初預期的要好一些。我希望隨著時間的推移，這一數字會逐漸增加。因此，隨著我們逐季地推進，這是一個逐漸上升的過程——我預計今年年底的成長率將與去年第四季持平，或者略高一些，因此今年年底的成長率將接近 21%。

Dan Leonard, UBS.

瑞銀的丹·倫納德（Dan Leonard）。

Steven, I was wondering if you had any perspective on the amount of clinical development coming out of China, how you're positioned to participate and whether any regional shifts might have a positive or negative influence on your total addressable opportunity.

史蒂文，我想知道您是否對來自中國的臨床開發數量、您如何參與以及任何區域轉變是否會對您的整體可尋址機會產生積極或消極的影響有任何看法。

Sure, Dan, yeah, it's a good question. China's a very topical at the moment. I was on a panel a couple of weeks back talking about the many, many opportunities that companies in the US and, not just biotech, but large pharma are taking out of China. The research and development capabilities out there are really catching up with what we're -- what we do here in the United States and in Europe.

當然，丹，是的，這是個好問題。中國是當前非常熱門的話題。幾週前，我參加了一個小組討論，討論了美國公司（不僅是生物技術公司，還有大型製藥公司）從中國獲得的眾多機會。那裡的研發能力確實正在趕上我們在美國和歐洲所做的工作。

And so, we are well positioned, we believe. We have something like 1,200 people in China. We have a big operation there and we're increasingly able to run other clinical trials in China, as many of them are, something like a third of the worldwide clinical trial starts are from Chinese companies and they happen in China. So they are an underrecognized powerhouse really in clinical development, and I think they're going to be very much ready to emerge and to come west in the longer term.

因此，我們相信我們處於有利地位。我們在中國大約有 1,200 名員工。我們在那裡有一個大型業務，我們越來越有能力在中國進行其他臨床試驗，其中許多臨床試驗都是如此，大約三分之一的全球臨床試驗是由中國公司啟動的，而且這些試驗都在中國進行。因此，他們是臨床開發領域中真正未被充分重視的強者，我認為從長遠來看，他們已經做好了崛起和進軍西方的準備。

So we feel we're well represented there with those 1,200 people. We're obviously ready to bring work from China as they come and do multinational clinical trials, but a lot of the clinical trials we run in China at the moment are run within the country. It's a country -- what is it, 1.2 billion, 1.3 billion people. They don't necessarily need to go to other parts of the world, although of course, if they want to get access to those markets, that's a regulatory discussion that they that they need to have.

因此，我們認為這 1,200 人具有很好的代表性。我們顯然已經準備好從中國引進工作，因為他們會來做跨國臨床試驗，但目前我們在中國進行的許多臨床試驗都是在國內進行的。這是一個國家──有12億、13億人口。他們不一定需要去世界其他地方，當然，如果他們想進入這些市場，他們就需要進行監管討論。

We're very optimistic about the opportunities that are happening in China, not just in the sort of R&D space, but in the ability for us to do those development programs either in China or as a global multinational.

我們對中國正在發生的機會非常樂觀，不僅在研發領域，而且在我們在中國或作為全球跨國公司開展這些開發項目的能力方面。

Michael Ryskin, Bank of America.

美國銀行的邁克爾·里斯金（Michael Ryskin）。

Thanks for taking the question. I want to kind of circle up a couple [prog] comments on cancellations going forward, book to build going forward, just kind of bring that back to your updated full-year guide on revenues. So you cut the full-year guide by, I think $400 million at the midpoint, then as you said $350 million of that is just attributed to the two next gen COVID trials. But if I look at how first quarter came in, 1.01 book the bill, you talked about the elevated cancellations, talked about pretty sizable drop in gross [wind] down, mid-teens.

感謝您回答這個問題。我想就未來的取消情況、未來的預訂建設情況總結幾條[prog]評論，只是將其帶回您更新的全年收入指南中。因此，您將全年指南削減了，我認為中間值為 4 億美元，然後正如您所說，其中 3.5 億美元僅歸因於兩項下一代 COVID 試驗。但是，如果我看一下第一季的情況，1.01 的帳單，您談到了取消量的增加，談到了總收入的大幅下降，下降了十幾歲。

Why isn't there a little bit more conservatism for the rest of the year, I guess, well, it feels like the environment has turned a little bit worse in the quarter beyond just those two projects, and yet I see the full-year guide is relatively in changed excluding that. So just, maybe this ties into the [burnary] discussion or something like that, just what kind of makes a difference for you as you go through the rest of the year.

我想，為什麼今年剩餘時間內不會出現更多保守的跡象？嗯，感覺除了這兩個項目之外，本季的環境變得更糟了，但我發現，不包括這兩個項目，全年指南的變化相對較小。所以，也許這與 [burnary] 討論或類似內容有關，這對您在接下來的一年裡會有什麼影響？

Yeah, Michael, it's Nigel. Let me have a stab at that. So firstly, obviously, we've provided a range, rather than just a point estimates, just as a reminder. So the range as a whole does allow for all of the factors that you spoke to.

是的，邁克爾，我是奈傑爾。讓我嘗試一下。因此，首先，顯然，我們提供了一個範圍，而不僅僅是一個點估計，只是為了提醒。因此，整個範圍確實考慮到了您提到的所有因素。

I would think as well, FX, although it was a modest drag for us in Q1, likely will be a modest benefit for us for the year as a whole. So just bear that in mind as well, probably in around 1% for the full year. So do you remember that as well? So look, from our feet, we've tried to set out a guidance range that that does reflect the current macro environment and takes a cautious view, frankly, in terms of book to build outlook over the balance of the year broadly in line with what we saw in the first quarter.

我還認為，儘管外匯對我們第一季造成了輕微的拖累，但對全年而言，這很可能對我們產生輕微的利好。所以請記住這一點，全年的成長率可能在 1% 左右。那你也記得這個嗎？因此，從我們的角度來看，我們試圖制定一個能夠反映當前宏觀環境的指導範圍，並且坦率地說，在賬簿構建方面對今年餘下的前景持謹慎態度，與我們在第一季度看到的情況大致一致。

I think the other thing, Michael, as we've alluded to on the call, we had -- we did have some positive news earlier in the week around one of the next gen trials, and that work is starting straight away. So we do think that provides us some insurance or reassurance as well with respect to the ranges of revenue guidance that we've incorporated as well.

邁克爾，我認為另一件事，正如我們在電話中提到的那樣，我們——本週早些時候我們確實收到了一些關於下一代試驗的積極消息，而且這項工作馬上就要開始了。因此，我們確實認為，就我們所納入的收入指引範圍而言，這也為我們提供了一些保險或保證。

So, as always, there's opportunity as we go forward and that certainly represents some immediate term opportunity and Barry's teams are very much on top of that straight away and we're anxious to get that trial going with that customer.

因此，像往常一樣，隨著我們繼續前進，機會仍然存在，這肯定代表了一些短期機會，而 Barry 的團隊馬上就抓住了這些機會，我們渴望與該客戶一起進行試驗。

Luke Sergott, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的盧克‧塞戈特 (Luke Sergott)。

I just wanted to touch on your margins and more what's in the backlog and coming through. So the current thinking is that you're facing a little bit more pricing pressure, probably a little bit more FSP mix. And so as you guys look at that backlog and then at your current bookings trend and revenue growth, like what's the --have the incrementals changed here where your minimum growth range before we see margin contraction, where it was like probably around 2% prior might be -- like see like 3% or 4% just as we think about going forward in the [out] years.

我只是想談談你的利潤率以及積壓和即將完成的工作。因此，目前的想法是，您面臨的定價壓力會更大一些，FSP 組合可能會更多。因此，當你們查看積壓訂單，然後查看當前的預訂趨勢和收入成長時，例如，這裡的增量是否發生了變化？在我們看到利潤率收縮之前，你們的最低成長範圍大概是 2% 左右，而當我們考慮未來幾年的發展時，可能會看到 3% 或 4%。

Yeah, Luke, why don't I take that. I think Steve and Barry have touched on the macro environment fundamentally. We don't see anything that's radically different in terms of the pricing environment today from where it has been, nor do we see much in the way of significant shift certainly in the near-term FSP to (inaudible). I did mention a sort of a longer-term gradual shifts just given what we're seeing overall.

是的，盧克，我為什麼不接受呢？我認為史蒂夫和巴里從根本上觸及了宏觀環境。就目前的定價環境而言，我們沒有看到任何與以前根本不同的情況，也沒有看到短期 FSP 發生重大轉變（聽不清楚）。我確實提到過，根據我們所看到的整體情況，會出現一種長期漸進的轉變。

But stepping back then, I don't think anything has really changed, frankly, in terms of the margin opportunity for this business overall into the medium term. When you look at the history, this company before I got here certainly has been doing a very good job over years in terms of creating operating leverage, which means that as revenue does turn to growth, when we get to that place, if market conditions recover and when they do, we would expect to see operating leverage, and we are continuing to manage the cost base prudently as I think you can see even in our Q1 performance.

但退一步來說，坦白說，我認為就中期而言，該業務的整體利潤機會而言，並沒有什麼真正改變。回顧歷史，在我加入之前，這家公司多年來在創造經營槓桿方面一直做得非常出色，這意味著，隨著收入轉向增長，當我們達到那個水平時，如果市場狀況復甦，我們預計會看到經營槓桿，而且我們將繼續審慎地管理成本基礎，我想您甚至可以從我們的第一季業績中看到這一點。

And of course we'll continue to do that along with all of the investments we've been making in automation and so on. So that fundamental perspective of margin expansion opportunity over time as and when and if revenue returns to growth, we don't think that's changed at all, frankly.

當然，我們會繼續這樣做，同時繼續在自動化等領域進行投資。因此，坦白說，我們認為，隨著收入恢復成長，利潤率隨時間推移而擴大的機會這一基本觀點根本沒有改變。

Matt Sykes, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的馬特·賽克斯 (Matt Sykes)。

I just want to focus on some of the cost savings you mentioned at the outset. I think there's an assumption that given a labor cost component is just a hard thing to do, but it sounds like you've made some progress on the non-labor side. So maybe some more details on what types of costs you're taking out, what the runway is on further cost takeout to preserve margins this year, and do you feel like that puts you out of balance in terms of a demand recovery at some point in the future?

我只想關注您一開始提到的一些成本節約。我認為有一種假設，即給出勞動成本組成部分是一件很難的事情，但聽起來你在非勞動力方面取得了一些進展。因此，也許您可以更詳細地了解您正在削減哪些類型的成本，今年進一步削減成本以保持利潤率的計劃是什麼，以及您是否覺得這會讓您在未來某個時候的需求復甦方面失去平衡？

Maybe I'll start, this is Nigel, and then Steve, Barry, if you want to chime in. So in terms of cost, you're right, obviously the majority of our cost base is people cost. And so yes, we constantly adjust our resourcing against the demand profile that's there. We're obviously very thoughtful in terms of how we do that, and I'll leave Steve and Barry to comment on that.

也許我先開始，這是奈傑爾，然後是史蒂夫、巴里，如果你願意加入的話。所以就成本而言，你是對的，顯然我們的成本基礎的大部分是人力成本。是的，我們會根據需求狀況不斷調整資源。我們顯然對如何做到這一點非常深思熟慮，我將讓史蒂夫和巴里對此發表評論。

So it's not the totality of our cost base and we are of course in parallel making lots of investments and progress with automation as well. So it's a combination of all of the above marks. So Barry, I don't know if you want to add to that.

因此，這不是我們的全部成本基礎，當然，我們也在同時進行大量投資並在自動化方面取得進展。所以它是上述所有標記的組合。所以巴里，我不知道你是否想補充這一點。

Yeah. I would say that the non-labor components echo with something I commented on earlier on around standardizing platforms and best practices where that's appropriate. We know that our biotech and pharma customers, for example, require different solutions, team structures, different project team configurations.

是的。我想說的是，非勞動力部分與我之前評論的關於標準化平台和適當情況下的最佳實踐的內容相呼應。例如，我們知道我們的生物技術和製藥客戶需要不同的解決方案、團隊結構和不同的專案團隊配置。

But since the beginning of the year, we have been looking closely at the platforms we operate to make sure that we leverage the best value for the customer in the first instance in terms of quality, but also in terms of the cost that we spend. And in terms of how far into that process, both on labor and non-labor, we've been very active in quarter two and would expect to be very significantly true the near-term change by the end of the quarter.

但自今年年初以來，我們一直在密切關注我們營運的平台，以確保我們首先在品質方面為客戶提供最佳價值，同時也在我們所花費的成本方面。至於這一進程進展如何，無論是在勞動力還是非勞動力方面，我們在第二季度都非常活躍，並預計到本季末，短期變化將非常顯著。

Eric Coldwell, Baird.

埃里克·科德威爾，貝爾德。

I have a couple of quick clarifications, is all here. First off, regarding a recent question on the $350 million of COVID work that's been removed from your outlook. To be clear, that wasn't all going to burn in 2025, correct? i.e., what was the actual revenue impact of that those removed studies from this year's revenue outlook.

我有幾個簡單的澄清，都在這裡。首先，關於最近提出的有關 3.5 億美元 COVID 工作的問題，該問題已從您的展望中刪除。需要明確的是，這一切不會在 2025 年全部燒毀，對嗎？即，從今年的收入展望中刪除的那些研究對實際收入有何影響。

Eric, it's Nigel, no, sorry, to be clear, the $350 million was the anticipated revenue in 2025 that has been adjusted within the revenue range guidance, then to now.

艾瑞克，我是奈傑爾，不，抱歉，需要明確的是，3.5 億美元是 2025 年的預期收入，已在當時到現在的收入範圍指導內進行了調整。

Okay, so -- got it. Okay, so were they -- I guess I'm a bit confused because looking at your BARDA award, I don't remember it being much more than that, so you were expecting all of this to burn this year?

好的，那--明白了。好的，他們也是如此——我想我有點困惑，因為看了你的 BARDA 獎，我不記得它比這多多少，所以你預計今年所有這些都會燒掉嗎？

Separate studies.

單獨研究。

Yeah, there's two studies, Eric, so an aggregate, they would have had an award value higher than that and it would have turned over a significant chunk this year but also into next year as well.

是的，艾瑞克，有兩項研究，所以總的來說，他們的獎勵價值會高於這個數字，而且今年和明年都會產生很大一部分收益。

Help us with what is the sizing of the project that is canceled, what the incremental headwind is in Q2.

請幫助我們了解取消的項目的規模是多少，第二季的增量阻力是多少。

For book (inaudible), do you mean?

對於書籍（聽不清楚），你是指什麼？

Yeah, for book for cancellation and bookings, yes.

是的，對於取消預訂和預訂，是的。

Yeah, so it'll be somewhere in the region of about $300 million Eric, for that [council] in the second quarter.

是的，艾瑞克，所以第二季該委員會的撥款大約在 3 億美元左右。

Charles Rhyee, TD Cowen.

查爾斯·瑞伊（Charles Rhyee），考恩（Cowen）TD。

Hey, this is [Luke Deshant] on for Charles Rhyee. Thanks for taking the questions. Can you guys update us on trends you're seeing with your two largest customers? Last we heard you were starting to see stable trends with your largest customer and then that your second largest customer was still seeing declining sales. Are there any changes to what you're seeing with those two? And then have they given you any indication on what their plans are with you in 2025?

嘿，我是 [Luke Deshant]，為 Charles Rhyee 服務。感謝您回答這些問題。你們能否向我們介紹一下你們兩個最大客戶的最新趨勢？我們最近聽說，您最大的客戶的銷售額開始呈現穩定趨勢，但第二大客戶的銷售額仍在下降。您看到這兩者有什麼改變嗎？那麼他們有沒有透露過 2025 年的計畫？

Okay, so I'll take that one. I mean, there is some -- we are still seeing some downtick in one of those customers. The other one is also sort of moving around a little bit as well. But really, we're sort of seeing that those last year (inaudible) our two largest customers. This year, there's a fair bit of movement within our top 10, I suppose. And so it's hard to sort of get too specific about any sort of group of customers at the moment.

好的，那我就選這個了。我的意思是，我們仍然看到其中一位客戶的業績有所下滑。另一個也有點移動。但實際上，我們看到去年（聽不清楚）我們的兩個最大客戶。我想，今年我們的前十名會有相當大的變動。因此，目前很難對任何類型的客戶群進行過於具體的了解。

And so we're kind of -- we'd like to sort of move away from our discussion around the two largest customers. As I say, there's some customers going up, some customers have come down. It goes beyond, as I say, our top 10. And so it's something that we're kind of moving on with. We're looking at our portfolio as a whole now and looking at the various segments that we're working in and seeing where the opportunities are.

因此，我們有點——我們想不再討論兩個最大的客戶。正如我所說，有些客戶數量正在增加，有些客戶數量正在減少。正如我所說，它超越了我們的前十名。因此，我們正在繼續前進。我們現在正在審視我們的整個投資組合，並研究我們正在進行的各個領域，看看其中有哪些機會。

And we see plenty of opportunities as several of our more strategic partnerships are now moving very much in the right direction. We're being able to start to win work from those strategic partners. And those are the ones we're really focused on.

我們看到了很多機會，因為我們的幾個更具策略性的合作夥伴關係現在正朝著正確的方向發展。我們開始能夠贏得這些策略夥伴的工作。這些正是我們真正關注的。

Casey Woodring, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的凱西‧伍德林。

Thank you for taking my questions. Can you just talk about month-over-month demand trends in April in large pharma and biotech? Just wondering if customer behavior has changed, following the tariff announcements. And then on to book to bill, you talked about taking one of the vaccine trials out and the cancellations next quarter. Is it safe to assume book to bill will come in below 1Q sequentially and then maybe just any color there on how we should think about book to bill for the rest of the year? I know previously you had kind of anchored towards a 1.2 number on a trailing 12 months for the year.

感謝您回答我的問題。您能談談大型製藥和生技公司 4 月的每月需求趨勢嗎？只是想知道，在關稅公告發布後，客戶行為是否改變了。然後談到訂單到帳單，您談到了下個季度取消其中一項疫苗試驗。是否可以安全地假設訂單出貨比將低於第一季的環比水平，然後也許我們可以用任何顏色來預測今年剩餘時間的訂單出貨比？我知道您之前曾將過去 12 個月的年度數字定為 1.2。

Casey, it's Barry here, in terms of the book to bill outlook for the rest of the year, I think it's a bit early to call a book to bill for Q2. I think Nigel's already given an outlook in terms of the relative impact of that one particular council in the quarter, so I'm certainly not going to call the quarter this early. In terms of month over month or (inaudible), the answer to your question is no, I wouldn't observe any, but also no, I wouldn't particularly look to a month-over-month trend as being something I could extrapolate.

凱西，我是巴里，就今年剩餘時間的訂單出貨比前景而言，我認為現在預測第二季的訂單出貨比還為時過早。我認為奈傑爾已經對該特定委員會在本季度的相對影響給出了展望，所以我肯定不會這麼早就宣布本季度的業績。就月環比或（聽不清楚）而言，你的問題的答案是否定的，我不會觀察到任何變化，但同樣不，我不會特別將月環比趨勢視為可以推斷的東西。

So -- I think Nigel already pointed out that the guidance is reissued presumes roughly consistent conditions throughout the balance of the year and (inaudible) work.

所以——我認為奈傑爾已經指出，重新發布的指南假設全年餘額和（聽不清楚）工作條件大致一致。

Josh Waldman, Cleveland Research.

克利夫蘭研究公司的喬許‧沃爾德曼。

Thanks for taking my question. A follow up, I think. I mean, it sounds like the 50 -- sounds like 50 million of the guide reduction was related to slower activity outside of the COVID program headwinds, I guess, is that right? And if so, any additional color you can provide on what variables you contemplated to get to that number, why you think that's the right number. Was that based on projects that you have visibility on as of the end of Q1, or is this also trying to predict kind of future trend, be it better or worse from here?

感謝您回答我的問題。我認為這是一個後續行動。我的意思是，聽起來指導性減少的 5000 萬與 COVID 計劃阻力之外的活動放緩有關，對嗎？如果是這樣，您能否提供任何其他信息，說明您考慮了哪些變數來得出這個數字，以及為什麼您認為這是正確的數字。這是基於您截至第一季末所了解的項目，還是也試圖預測未來的趨勢，無論是好是壞？

Josh, it's Nigel. Maybe just to recap over some of the points there again. So in aggregate, you're right, the midpoint moved by $400 million. I would just remind you what we've issued is a range, not just a point estimate. So that's the first thing. Second thing is, yes, we -- you're right in terms of the $350 million impact of the two studies being removed.

喬希，我是奈傑爾。也許只是再次回顧其中的一些要點。所以總的來說，你是對的，中點移動了 4 億美元。我只是想提醒你，我們發布的是一個範圍，而不僅僅是一個點估計。這是第一件事。第二件事是，是的，我們——您說得對，這兩項研究被刪除將造成 3.5 億美元的影響。

I also touched on earlier FX we'd anticipate being roughly a 1% tailwind for the full year, so your net adjustment, bear in mind that implies everything else is slightly more negative. And then within that it is the factors we talked about. Again, booked to bill in Q1 was what it was. We tried to take a cautious view on what that might be for the balance of the year as we've mentioned.

我之前也提到過，我們預計全年外匯將出現大約 1% 的順風，因此請記住，您的淨調整意味著其他一切都會略微負面一些。然後，我們就討論了其中的因素。再一次，第一季的預定帳單就是這樣。正如我們所提到的，我們試圖對今年剩餘時間的情況持謹慎的看法。

Burn rate, again, we touched on, it was 8.1% in Q1. Again, we're anticipating it being approximately similar as we go through the rest of the year. So those are the major factors and obviously the guidance reflects everything we're aware of as of now.

我們再次提到，第一季的燒錢率為 8.1%。再次，我們預計今年剩餘時間的情況將大致相同。這些是主要因素，顯然指導反映了我們目前所知的一切。

Thank you. And there are no further questions, so I will now hand the conference back to the speakers.

謝謝。沒有其他問題了，我現在將會議交還給發言者。

Thanks, operator. We are focused on managing the business through this heightened period of uncertainty and volatility in the broader market, properly balancing investment in our business to further enhance our offering for customers while returning capital to shareholders. We continue to see good opportunity to accelerate our position across customers and areas of the market, capitalizing on our experience and success as a strategic and essential development partner.

謝謝，接線生。我們專注於在更廣泛的市場充滿不確定性和波動性的時期管理業務，適當平衡對我們業務的投資，以進一步增強我們為客戶提供的服務，同時向股東返還資本。我們持續看到良好的機會，利用我們作為策略和重要發展合作夥伴的經驗和成功，提升我們在客戶和市場領域中的地位。

Thank you for joining us today and for your support of ICON. Good day.

感謝您今天的加入我們以及對 ICON 的支持。再會。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating and you may now disconnect.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。