R C M Technologies Inc (RCMT) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. This is Kevin Miller, Chief Financial Officer of RCM Technologies. I am joined today by Brad Vizi, RCM's Executive Chairman.

早上好，感謝您加入我們。我是 RCM Technologies 的首席財務官 Kevin Miller。今天，RCM 的執行主席 Brad Vizi 加入了我的行列。

Our presentation in this call will contain forward-looking statements. The information contained in the forward-looking statements is based on our beliefs, estimates and assumptions and information currently available to us, and these matters may materially change in the future. Many of these beliefs, estimates and assumptions are subject to rapid changes.

我們在本次電話會議中的演示將包含前瞻性陳述。前瞻性陳述中包含的信息基於我們的信念、估計和假設以及我們目前可獲得的信息，這些事項可能在未來發生重大變化。其中許多信念、估計和假設會發生快速變化。

For more information on our forward-looking statements and the risks, uncertainties and other factors to which they are subject, please see the periodic reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K that we file with the SEC as well as our press releases that we issue from time to time.

有關我們的前瞻性陳述及其所受風險、不確定性和其他因素的更多信息，請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的 10-K、10-Q 和 8-K 表格定期報告以及我們不時發布的新聞稿。

I will now turn the call over to Brad Vizi, Executive Chairman, to provide an overview of RCM's operating performance during the fourth quarter.

我現在將電話轉交給執行主席 Brad Vizi，以概述 RCM 在第四季度的經營業績。

Thanks, Kevin. Good morning, everyone.

謝謝，凱文。大家，早安。

RCM closed 2022 on a high note despite an increased drumbeat of adverse economic prognostications over the last 12 months. Also of note, Q4 was our second consecutive quarter lapping a year-over-year pandemic-related comparable period. Our society and labor markets transition to a more normalized labor environment.

儘管在過去 12 個月中，不利的經濟預測越來越多，但 RCM 以高調結束了 2022 年。同樣值得注意的是，第四季度是我們連續第二個季度超過與去年同期大流行相關的可比時期。我們的社會和勞動力市場過渡到更加規範的勞動力環境。

Again, growth and value creation remain a testament to the strength of RCM's client-first platform, secular-end markets and devoted-employee base.

同樣，增長和價值創造仍然證明了 RCM 的客戶至上平台、長期市場和忠誠的員工基礎的實力。

I will now reflect on progress made within each of our businesses. In 2022, significant progress was made by RCM's Health Care division in building school health care staffing. As policymakers and educators recognized the importance of providing comprehensive health care services to students. Many school districts nationwide faced significant staffing shortages further highlighting underinvestment in the nation's social infrastructure. The pandemic brought increased focus on health and safety in schools, highlighting the need for trained health care professionals to care for students.

我現在將反思我們每項業務所取得的進展。 2022年，RCM的醫療保健部門在建設學校醫療保健人員方面取得了重大進展。由於政策制定者和教育工作者認識到為學生提供全面醫療保健服務的重要性。全國許多學區面臨嚴重的人員短缺，進一步凸顯了國家社會基礎設施投資不足。大流行使人們更加關注學校的健康和安全，突出表明需要訓練有素的醫療保健專業人員來照顧學生。

In response, many schools are working to improve their staffing, including hiring more nurses, therapists and behavioral health providers. A significant development in school health care staffing was expanding mental and behavioral health services. There has been growing concern about student's mental health in recent years, especially considering the COVID-19 pandemic.

作為回應，許多學校正在努力改善他們的人員配置，包括僱用更多的護士、治療師和行為健康提供者。學校醫療保健人員配備的一項重大發展是擴大心理和行為健康服務。近年來，人們越來越關注學生的心理健康，尤其是考慮到 COVID-19 大流行。

In cooperation with RCM subject matter experts, many schools recognized the need for additional mental and behavioral health support. These districts worked with our RCM team to hire more mental and behavioral health professionals, including power professionals, RBTs, BCBAs, counselors and social workers.

許多學校與 RCM 主題專家合作，認識到需要額外的心理和行為健康支持。這些地區與我們的 RCM 團隊合作，聘請了更多的心理和行為健康專業人士，包括權力專業人士、RBT、BCBA、輔導員和社會工作者。

In 2022, there was a significant increase in the number of new school clients that needed RCM to help offer their students behavioral health services by providing students with access to these services, schools are helping to address a vital need and support the well-being of their students. We believe RCM is positioned to be a critical part of their solution for many years to come.

2022 年，需要 RCM 為學生提供行為健康服務的新學校客戶數量顯著增加他們的學生。我們相信 RCM 將在未來許多年內成為其解決方案的關鍵部分。

In 2023, RCM will continue to expand these service offerings. In addition, RCM is also taking proactive measures to tackle the challenge of staffing shortages, high vacancies and voluntary turnover in hospitals and long-term care facilities through its comprehensive and outstanding recruitment solutions. The demand for such services in nursing and allied is significant as health care organizations strive to provide exceptional care while maintaining cost-effective solutions.

2023 年，RCM 將繼續擴大這些服務範圍。此外，RCM還通過其全面而卓越的招聘解決方案，積極應對醫院和長期護理機構人員短缺、高空缺和自願離職的挑戰。護理和相關領域對此類服務的需求很大，因為醫療保健組織努力提供卓越的護理，同時保持具有成本效益的解決方案。

To help its clients achieve this objective, RCM is fully committed to offering world-class innovative solutions. These include, but are not limited to, MSP solutions, international recruitment solutions and extensive recruitment initiatives.

為幫助客戶實現這一目標，RCM 致力於提供世界一流的創新解決方案。其中包括但不限於 MSP 解決方案、國際招聘解決方案和廣泛的招聘計劃。

As for Life Sciences and IT, in 2022, we accelerated our transition to higher value services, setting the foundation, advancing our divisional identity and enabling our team to be self-sufficient. We have begun to solidify our management team. We have successfully placed several building blocks that will allow our division to further expand the relationships with our clients while attracting new ones. We created new building blocks for recruiting, managed services, ACM, data governance and project management.

至於生命科學和 IT，我們在 2022 年加快了向更高價值服務的過渡，奠定了基礎，提升了我們的部門身份，並使我們的團隊能夠自給自足。我們已經開始鞏固我們的管理團隊。我們已經成功放置了幾個基石，使我們的部門能夠在吸引新客戶的同時進一步擴大與客戶的關係。我們為招聘、託管服務、ACM、數據治理和項目管理創建了新的構建模塊。

As we move into 2023, those foundation blocks will be put to good use. We will take those blocks and combine them to build the next level, including our new HCM managed service practice or retain an executive search practice as well as our new assessment initiative for Life Science companies.

隨著我們進入 2023 年，這些基礎塊將得到很好的利用。我們將採用這些模塊並將它們組合起來以構建下一個級別，包括我們新的 HCM 託管服務實踐或保留獵頭實踐以及我們針對生命科學公司的新評估計劃。

On the engineering front, RCM Process and Industrial continues to deliver and confirm a strong growth trajectory. I am proud of the evolution that this team has undergone in 2022 with new leadership and structuring the organization for scale and future growth. The team has kept laser focus on existing customer and vendor relationships while diversifying their client base and building inroads to new and emerging markets.

在工程方面，RCM Process and Industrial 繼續交付並確認強勁的增長軌跡。我為這個團隊在 2022 年經歷的演變感到自豪，新的領導層和組織結構的規模和未來增長。該團隊一直專注於現有的客戶和供應商關係，同時使他們的客戶群多樣化並打入新興市場。

Performance in 2022 and focus on the future has led to several key partnerships in diverse sets of end markets that will blossom in 2023 and last for many years to come. The creativity, commitment and drive of this team is contagious and united adjacent groups within RCM around common customers to provide a greater depth in our scope, our services and ultimately in our value-added partner.

2022 年的表現和對未來的關注促成了在不同終端市場的幾個關鍵合作夥伴關係，這些合作夥伴關係將在 2023 年蓬勃發展並持續多年。這支團隊的創造力、承諾和動力具有感染力，並將 RCM 內的相鄰團隊團結在共同客戶周圍，以提供更深入的範圍、我們的服務，並最終提供我們的增值合作夥伴。

RCM Process and Industrial made significant progress with our partners in 2022, commissioning several major projects across the globe while placing others on a launch pad that will undoubtedly revolutionize the worldwide impact society has in the environment.

RCM Process and Industrial 在 2022 年與我們的合作夥伴取得了重大進展，在全球範圍內委託了幾個重大項目，同時將其他項目置於發射台上，這無疑將徹底改變全球社會對環境的影響。

Our expertise and patented technological integration and advanced energy saving solutions including distillation and evaporation, materially lower carbon intensity scores and ultimately aid in addressing one of the most pressing problems of the 21st century, climate change while proudly matching each of our customers' specific needs with optimal productivity and profitability.

我們的專業知識和專利技術集成以及先進的節能解決方案，包括蒸餾和蒸發，顯著降低碳強度分數，並最終幫助解決 21 世紀最緊迫的問題之一，即氣候變化，同時自豪地滿足我們每個客戶的特定需求最佳生產力和盈利能力。

The formative work performed by this team in 2022 has led to multiple shovel-ready projects which we are already seeing advance in 2023. Through the opening of RCM Thermal Kinetics Innovation Center in Amherst, New York, we are positioned to design and perform laboratory tests supporting our clients and bringing projects to market more efficiently with less risk and with an enhanced ability to demonstrate, process, output result beyond computer simulation. The innovation center houses a state-of-the-art test center, where customers can witness their feed material being separated in the latest distillation, evaporation, crystallization, and specialty processed lab equipment. We expect the Innovation Center to be integral in supporting carbon-reduction and net-zero emission goals for rapidly evolving renewable technologies within the Bioeconomy, Sustainable Aviation Fuel, pharmaceutical, heavy chemical, metals and food and beverage and markets.

該團隊在 2022 年進行的形成性工作促成了多個準備就緒的項目，我們已經看到這些項目在 2023 年取得了進展。通過在紐約阿默斯特開設 RCM 熱動力學創新中心，我們可以設計和執行實驗室測試支持我們的客戶，並以更低的風險更有效地將項目推向市場，並增強展示、處理和輸出結果的能力，超越計算機模擬。創新中心設有最先進的測試中心，客戶可以在最新的蒸餾、蒸發、結晶和專業加工實驗室設備中見證他們的進料被分離。我們希望創新中心能夠在支持生物經濟、可持續航空燃料、製藥、重化工、金屬、食品和飲料以及市場中快速發展的可再生技術的碳減排和淨零排放目標方面發揮不可或缺的作用。

In summary, RCM Process and Industrial has a team for strategic direction to drive and momentum to accelerate our clients in their pursuit to conquer the most difficult air and liquid separation problems faced in society today. From carbon transformation to heavy oil scrapping, sustainable transportation fuels, clean hydrogen and many related applications, our patented processes and expertise are key to facilities seeking to achieve environmental compliance and optimize operations at and below net zero.

總而言之，RCM Process and Industrial 擁有一支戰略方向的團隊來推動和推動我們的客戶加速他們追求克服當今社會面臨的最困難的空氣和液體分離問題。從碳轉化到重油報廢、可持續運輸燃料、清潔氫氣和許多相關應用，我們的專利工藝和專業知識是尋求實現環境合規和優化淨零及以下運營的設施的關鍵。

Continuing with engineering, RCM Energy Services closed the year with record bookings as we become a significant player in the energy transition across the globe. The group made investments in business development and growth strategies to get closer to our clients and bring innovative solutions to support our clients, increasing demand to enhance grid resiliency, grid security and modernization of the electrical power grid. The establishment of offices in Florida and Puerto Rico were a part of the strategic step to expand geographically and serve our communities in new and valuable ways.

繼續進行工程設計，RCM 能源服務公司以創紀錄的預訂量結束了這一年，因為我們成為全球能源轉型的重要參與者。該集團對業務發展和增長戰略進行了投資，以更貼近我們的客戶，並帶來創新的解決方案來支持我們的客戶，增加對增強電網彈性、電網安全性和電網現代化的需求。在佛羅里達州和波多黎各設立辦事處是戰略步驟的一部分，旨在擴大地域範圍並以新的有價值的方式為我們的社區服務。

Our sales funnel has expanded, becoming more balanced as we serve new markets and sectors are full turnkey solutions. The high-quality innovative approach and trusting relationships we have consistently built with our clients remain paramount. The continued growth of our long-term client portfolio is a testament to the team's ability to deliver value and safe-- value safely and efficiently. Being awarded 7 multiyear EPC projects with one of North America's largest utility companies was extremely gratifying to see our clients' trust and our project delivery excellence through these continued partnerships.

隨著我們為新市場和行業提供完整的交鑰匙解決方案，我們的銷售渠道已經擴大，變得更加平衡。我們始終與客戶建立的高質量創新方法和信任關係仍然至關重要。我們長期客戶組合的持續增長證明了團隊有能力安全高效地交付價值和安全價值。與北美最大的公用事業公司之一簽訂了 7 個多年期 EPC 項目，我們非常高興看到客戶的信任以及我們通過這些持續的合作夥伴關係實現的卓越項目交付。

The trajectory into 2023 remains growth and performance excellence, building from a position of strength. The energy services team is relentlessly driven by the new and evolving demands we are seeing across the world as RCM becomes a significant player on an international stage, helping the world navigate a multi-decade energy transition.

到 2023 年的軌跡仍然是增長和卓越績效，建立在強勢地位之上。隨著 RCM 成為國際舞台上的重要參與者，幫助世界駕馭長達數十年的能源轉型，能源服務團隊不斷受到我們在世界各地看到的新的和不斷變化的需求的推動。

Finally, I will close with Aerospace. Aerospace substantially exceeded all financial goals and operational objectives in 2022. These objectives, which is to solidify the base in engineering and aftermarket while adding high-level engineering talent and management expertise across business development, operations and recruitment. This division has more than doubled in size and enhanced capabilities since mid-2021.

最後，我將以航空航天結束。航空航天在 2022 年大大超過了所有財務目標和運營目標。這些目標是鞏固工程和售後市場的基礎，同時在業務發展、運營和招聘中增加高級工程人才和管理專業知識。自 2021 年年中以來，該部門的規模和能力都增加了一倍多。

Our strategy continues to encompass investing in highly technical specialty management and employees to attract new customers, both within our engineering and aftermarket domains. Our targets will continue to include other large OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to broaden our depth within Aerospace.

我們的戰略繼續包括投資於技術含量高的專業管理人員和員工，以在我們的工程和售後市場領域吸引新客戶。我們的目標將繼續包括其他大型原始設備製造商和一級供應商，以擴大我們在航空航天領域的深度。

In 2023, our plan will also be to strengthen our engineering and aftermarket groups within space and air mobility, which helps to diversify our customer base and support our expansion to include other service offerings.

到 2023 年，我們的計劃還將是加強我們在太空和空中交通領域的工程和售後市場團隊，這有助於使我們的客戶群多樣化，並支持我們擴展到包括其他服務產品。

Before turning the call to Kevin, who will cover our financial results in more detail, I will take a moment to touch on our progress on the capital allocation front.

在將電話轉給凱文之前，他將更詳細地介紹我們的財務業績，我將花點時間談談我們在資本配置方面的進展。

During the fourth quarter, we were able to take advantage of perceived economic to [mall] and sell off in financial markets to retire over 750,000 shares. Encompassing, the 10-week period between the end of the fourth quarter and this call, we were able to achieve a net share count reduction of nearly 1.2 million shares over 10% of the company since the end of the third quarter, while maintaining abundant financial flexibility.

在第四季度，我們能夠利用感知到的經濟 [mall] 並在金融市場上拋售超過 750,000 股股票。包括從第四季度末到本次電話會議的 10 週期間，自第三季度末以來，我們能夠實現淨減持近 120 萬股，超過公司 10% 的股份，同時保持充足財務靈活性。

As mentioned on previous calls, we believe that our ability to remain nimble as we scale and react to opportunity in every aspect of the business is an attribute that will enhance the rate at which we are able to compound value over time.

正如之前的電話會議所提到的，我們相信，隨著我們在業務的各個方面擴展和應對機會，我們保持敏捷的能力是一種屬性，它將提高我們能夠隨著時間的推移複合價值的速度。

Now I will turn the call back to Kevin to discuss the Q4 2022 and full year financial results in more detail.

現在我將把電話轉回凱文，更詳細地討論 2022 年第四季度和全年的財務業績。

Thanks, Brad. Regarding our consolidated results, revenue for the fourth quarter was $70.2 million, growing by $5.3 million on a year-over-year basis. Gross margin in the fourth quarter was 29.1% versus 27.4%, improving by 174 basis points on a year-over-year basis. Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter was $7 million versus $5.3 million, growing by 32% on a year-over-year basis. We're especially pleased with our fourth quarter year-over-year gross profit growth with specialty health care growing by $1.9 million or 21%, engineering growing by $0.6 million or 12%. Life Sciences and IT growing by $0.2 million or 6%. As we look to 2023 and beyond, we've never been more excited about our potential growth and new initiatives.

謝謝，布拉德。關於我們的綜合業績，第四季度的收入為 7020 萬美元，同比增長 530 萬美元。第四季度的毛利率為 29.1%，高於 27.4%，同比提高 174 個基點。第四季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 700 萬美元，高於 530 萬美元，同比增長 32%。我們對第四季度的毛利潤同比增長感到特別滿意，其中專業醫療保健增長 190 萬美元或 21%，工程增長 60 萬美元或 12%。生命科學和 IT 增長 20 萬美元或 6%。展望 2023 年及以後，我們對我們的潛在增長和新舉措感到前所未有的興奮。

Of course, after completing a historic 2022, we realized that we have some tough quarterly comps in 2023. We do expect to have a strong 2023, but we expect the sequential growth curve to be more typical starting slow in Q1 '23 and building from there. While we are optimistic that our 2023 engineering results will beat 2022, we will see lumpy results in Q1 '23. Due to our strong pipeline, we expect a nice jump in Q2 '23 and to build from there.

當然，在完成了歷史性的 2022 年之後，我們意識到我們在 2023 年有一些艱難的季度業績。我們確實預計 2023 年會很強勁，但我們預計連續增長曲線將更加典型，從 23 年第一季度開始放緩，並從那裡。雖然我們樂觀地認為我們 2023 年的工程成果將超過 2022 年，但我們將在 23 年第一季度看到參差不齊的結果。由於我們強大的渠道，我們預計 23 年第二季度會有一個很好的飛躍，並從那裡開始建設。

Based on our current engineering backlog and pipeline, we expect our best second half in a very long time. And on a consolidated basis, we expect the first half of 2023 to look similar to the second half of 2022, except for Q3 seasonality in health care. We expect significant improvement in the second half of 2023. We're especially excited by new behavioral health initiatives and new school contracts that will kick into gear during the 2023-2024 school year starting in September of 2023.

根據我們目前的工程積壓和管道，我們期待在很長一段時間內我們最好的下半年。在合併的基礎上，我們預計 2023 年上半年與 2022 年下半年相似，但醫療保健第三季度的季節性除外。我們預計 2023 年下半年會有顯著改善。我們對將於 2023 年 9 月開始的 2023-2024 學年生效的新行為健康計劃和新學校合同感到特別興奮。

This concludes our prepared remarks. At this time, we will open the call for questions.

我們準備好的發言到此結束。這個時候，我們會開啟提問的徵集。

(Operator Instructions) All right. First up, it looks like we have Bill Sutherland.

（操作員說明）好的。首先，看起來我們有 Bill Sutherland。

Brad, Kevin. I wondered if I could just get a couple of numbers. One is, if you could give the split in specialty health care between education clients and health care?

布拉德，凱文。我想知道我是否可以得到幾個數字。一個是，您是否可以在教育客戶和醫療保健之間劃分專業醫療保健？

Sure. Let me just get that for you...

當然。讓我給你拿那個...

And so while you're searching for that, Kevin. I'm wondering about -- there's a lot going on in the health care world, certainly apart from education. And I know education is your biggest piece. What are some of the tailwinds and headwinds that you guys are seeing as you map out '23 in health care?

所以當你在尋找它的時候，凱文。我想知道——醫療保健領域發生了很多事情，當然除了教育之外。我知道教育是你最重要的部分。你們在製定 23 年醫療保健計劃時看到了哪些順風和逆風？

Yes, Bill, I'll take that one. I'd say most of the discussion has been around effectively increasing bandwidth. As we discussed in prior calls, recruiter productivity has been a major initiative for us. We should see the benefits of that start to come online as this month and as we move through Q2. So we have pretty good data points, not call it, 90 days out on that side.

是的，比爾，我要那個。我想說大部分討論都是圍繞有效增加帶寬展開的。正如我們在之前的電話中所討論的那樣，招聘人員的工作效率一直是我們的一項重大舉措。隨著本月和第二季度的推進，我們應該會看到這樣做的好處開始顯現。所以我們有很好的數據點，不稱它為 90 天。

In addition, we are also looking at and making significant investments ramping up our [foreign] program. So most of the discussion has been the last couple of years, frankly, but I would describe the cadence of the activity has not changed a bit around basically meeting supply in the market. So I wouldn't describe demand waning whatsoever.

此外，我們還在研究並進行重大投資以加強我們的 [外國] 計劃。因此，坦率地說，大部分討論都是在過去幾年進行的，但我想描述的是，圍繞基本滿足市場供應的活動節奏並沒有發生任何變化。所以我不會描述需求減弱。

Okay. And then on the MSP front, Brad, is that a new solution for you? Or are you just focusing more on it now?

好的。然後在 MSP 方面，布拉德，這對你來說是一個新的解決方案嗎？或者你現在只是更關注它？

We have a major MSP client. And we're looking to ultimately leverage that relationship can evolve into a more robust offering and build out the portfolio. So it's been a very successful endeavor for us and sort of an opportunity to expand the division further.

我們有一個主要的 MSP 客戶。我們希望最終利用這種關係可以發展成更強大的產品並構建產品組合。因此，這對我們來說是一次非常成功的嘗試，也是進一步擴大該部門的機會。

Yes. So Bill, in the fourth quarter, our school revenue was about $23.8 million, and our non-school revenue was $12 million.

是的。所以比爾，在第四季度，我們的學校收入約為 2380 萬美元，我們的非學校收入為 1200 萬美元。

Okay. The only thing I noticed in the 4Q print that kind of stood out in the segments was the gross margins for Engineering. And I'm assuming that's just -- it moves around depending on where you are with the project -- but it was down a couple of points versus first 3 quarters? And then just a huge gross margin for IT in the fourth quarter. Any color there?

好的。我在 4Q 打印中註意到的唯一在細分市場中脫穎而出的是工程的毛利率。而且我假設這只是 - 它會根據您在項目中的位置而移動 - 但與前 3 個季度相比下降了幾個點？然後是第四季度 IT 的巨大毛利率。那裡有什麼顏色？

Sure. As you pointed out, engineering can jump around quite a bit. We have a lot of fixed price contracts. We have large EPC contracts. So the margin can be pretty haphazard, as you know. So there's nothing really in particular to discuss there, other than you should expect to see margins jump around a little bit. That's just historically what we've seen and frankly, (inaudible) in the future.

當然。正如您所指出的，工程學可以跳躍很多。我們有很多固定價格合同。我們有大量的 EPC 合同。因此，如您所知，保證金可能非常隨意。所以這裡沒有什麼特別要討論的，除了你應該期望看到利潤率略有上升。這只是我們在歷史上看到的，坦率地說，（聽不清）在未來。

Kevin, remind me when you guys divested Canadian Power?

凱文，提醒我你們什麼時候剝離了加拿大電力公司？

That was in July of '21.

那是在 21 年 7 月。

Okay. So that's out of the numbers last year.

好的。所以這超出了去年的數字。

Okay. Yes, that's out of the quarterly numbers in both periods. And then as far as far as IT is concerned, we're just continuing to push to get higher margins. Obviously, our RPO business impacted the overall margins because the margins are quite high on that business, as you know, the gross margins. We're probably a little bit high in Q4 in terms of where I expect to see it on a go-forward basis, but certainly we'll be above what you're used to seeing for the first 3 quarters. So we'll be -- Q4 was a bit of a spike but we'll be consistently beating what we've done in the past in terms of the gross margin of IT.

好的。是的，這不在兩個時期的季度數字中。然後就 IT 而言，我們只是繼續努力以獲得更高的利潤。顯然，我們的 RPO 業務影響了整體利潤率，因為該業務的利潤率非常高，如您所知，毛利率。就我預計在前進的基礎上看到的情況而言，我們在第四季度可能有點高，但肯定會高於前 3 個季度的水平。所以我們會——第四季度有點飆升，但我們將始終如一地超越我們過去在 IT 毛利率方面所做的事情。

Great. And then last one, I'm just impressive of share repurchase going on here, is this probably the major focus of capital allocation for the time being?

偉大的。最後一個，我對這裡正在進行的股票回購印象深刻，這可能是目前資本配置的主要重點嗎？

Yes. I think that's a fair assessment, Bill. I said look, I think these things tend to follow kind of economic trends with respect to sentiments around just the economy in general or nerves and those don't always match up with reality. So I think we potentially can stand to benefit substantially from that. And so repurchases is one way to go about it. So and when you look at the map of these levels, it becomes quite compelling and frankly, makes the capital allocation decisions pretty easy, at least over the near term there, so.

是的。我認為這是一個公平的評估，比爾。我說，看，我認為這些事情往往會遵循某種經濟趨勢，即圍繞總體經濟或神經的情緒，而這些並不總是與現實相符。所以我認為我們有可能從中受益匪淺。因此，回購是一種解決方法。因此，當您查看這些級別的地圖時，它變得非常引人注目，坦率地說，它使資本配置決策變得非常容易，至少在短期內如此。

Next up, we have Alex Rygiel.

接下來，我們有 Alex Rygiel。

Thank you for the directional guidance for 2023. Very helpful. But Brad, maybe you could talk a little bit about maybe at the macro high-end level. Long-term growth expectations as it relates to revenue growth? And maybe just talk a little bit about margins long term and directionally how they can go higher?

感謝您對 2023 年的方向性指導。非常有幫助。但是布拉德，也許你可以談談宏觀高端水平。與收入增長相關的長期增長預期？也許只是談談長期和方向性的利潤率如何才能走得更高？

Yes. No, that's a fair and comprehensive question. So as we may have said before, Alex, on the revenue front, you can book a lot of revenue in the services business. We are very focused on booking quality, productive revenue at adequate margins that ultimately translate into free cash flow. So very much returns focused in that regard.

是的。不，這是一個公平而全面的問題。因此，正如我們之前所說，亞歷克斯，在收入方面，您可以在服務業務中獲得大量收入。我們非常注重預訂質量、有足夠利潤的生產性收入，最終轉化為自由現金流。很多回報都集中在這方面。

But I'll also add that there's been a major move over the last several years to make sure underwriting is really paramount in what we do as we continue to move up the value chain and feel more differentiated, high value-add solutions to our client portfolio. We always need to be cognizant of our underwriting and our selection of business. So from a margin perspective, generally speaking, when you balance growth and where we're at in the right cycle of the company and where we hope to get the company long term, we should for a double-digit operating margin. So there's certainly upside to where we've been in the past.

但我還要補充一點，在過去幾年中，我們採取了一項重大舉措，以確保承保在我們所做的工作中真正至關重要，因為我們繼續向價值鏈上游移動，並為我們的客戶提供更加差異化、高附加值的解決方案文件夾。我們始終需要了解我們的承保和業務選擇。因此，從利潤率的角度來看，一般來說，當您平衡增長和我們在公司的正確週期中所處的位置以及我們希望使公司長期發展的位置時，我們應該獲得兩位數的營業利潤率。因此，我們過去的處境肯定有好處。

But again, there's a bit of a toggle between maximizing that part of the P&L and high-return investments. So I would look to something similar to what we've had this last year with some band around that. But long term, we certainly think that we can enhance the margin profile of the company. And I think you're already starting to see that throughout the divisions for the most part.

但同樣，最大化這部分損益與高回報投資之間存在一些切換。所以我會尋找一些類似於去年我們有一些樂隊的東西。但從長遠來看，我們當然認為我們可以提高公司的利潤率。而且我認為你已經開始在大部分部門看到這一點。

And then as it relates to the school health care business, can you help us to understand sort of the -- what the intermediate term outlook is for -- or how you're driving growth as it relates to new schools or new school systems versus greater depth inside existing systems versus pricing?

然後，當它與學校醫療保健業務相關時，您能否幫助我們了解某種程度的 - 中期前景是什麼 - 或者您如何推動與新學校或新學校系統相關的增長與定價相比，現有系統更深入？

Well, I can talk a little bit about the school contracts and Brad can probably talk a little bit about the pricing. But at the end of -- and I was looking at this yesterday, at the end of 2019, we had less than 30 school customers and only 3 were over $300,000 a year. Today, we have well over 60 school customers and we have well over 15 that are over $300,000 a year. So when you look at the growth curve of total clients and what we call the larger clients, ones that are over $300,000 a year or more, that's where we're focused. And we can absolutely see that kind of growth curve continue in terms of the number of schools and the number of schools that we have over $300,000 and over $1 million. There aren't that many 5 million-plus schools out there, but there are of -- there are hundreds more schools that are $300,000 or more and quite a few that are potentially over $1 million.

好吧，我可以談談學校合同，Brad 可能會談談定價。但到最後——我昨天在看這個，在 2019 年底，我們的學校客戶不到 30 家，只有 3 家每年超過 30 萬美元。今天，我們有 60 多家學校客戶，其中超過 15 家每年的收入超過 300,000 美元。因此，當您查看總客戶和我們所謂的大客戶（年收入超過 300,000 美元或更多）的增長曲線時，這就是我們關注的重點。我們絕對可以看到這種增長曲線在學校數量和我們擁有超過 300,000 美元和超過 100 萬美元的學校數量方面繼續存在。那裡沒有那麼多 500 萬以上的學校，但有數百所學校的收入在 300,000 美元或以上，還有相當多的學校可能超過 100 萬美元。

So when you look at the school market, we believe we're the largest health care provider to the school market in the country, but we're still just capturing a pretty small percentage of the overall market. And the growth is clearly there. And we're just scratching the surface, frankly, on the behavioral health side, which we think is just an explosive market. It's big today and 3 or 4 years from now, it's going to be 10x as it is today, in our opinion.

因此，當你看學校市場時，我們相信我們是該國學校市場最大的醫療保健提供商，但我們仍然只佔據整個市場的一小部分。增長顯然就在那裡。坦率地說，我們只是在行為健康方面觸及表面，我們認為這只是一個爆炸性市場。我們認為，今天和 3 或 4 年後，它會是今天的 10 倍。

Yes. I think that's a key point and a good way to kind of articulate it we'll be scratching the surface of the opportunity. And I think you're going to have another meaningful leg of growth to that end market in general from behavioral health but with respect to driving margins and pricing and so on. Pricing isn't really a primary variable that we focus on. We'll see a mix shift depending on the types of professionals we staff and so on.

是的。我認為這是一個關鍵點，也是一種很好的表達方式，我們將觸及機會的表面。而且我認為你將從行為健康但在推動利潤和定價等方面為該終端市場帶來另一個有意義的增長。定價並不是我們真正關注的主要變量。我們將看到混合轉變，這取決於我們員工的專業人員類型等。

But it really is less a matter of maximizing rate. So we think the education market has significant legs for a long time. This is an area that's been underinvested in for a long time, and people are just starting to wake up to it, as a result of COVID and even just coming out of COVID. To be honest with you, it even ramped up a little bit slower than we would have anticipated, but you're really starting to see it full throttle in many ways now. And we anticipate that being reflected in our results as we kind of move forward and get into the back half of this year.

但這實際上不是最大化速率的問題。因此，我們認為教育市場在很長一段時間內都有很大的優勢。這是一個長期投資不足的領域，由於 COVID 甚至剛剛從 COVID 中走出來，人們才剛剛開始意識到這一點。老實說，它的增長甚至比我們預期的要慢一點，但你現在真的開始在很多方面看到它的全速發展。我們預計，隨著我們向前邁進並進入今年下半年，這一點將反映在我們的結果中。

And then one last question as it relates to the Energy services business. Obviously, this is in Puerto Rico and Florida is pretty strategic. Given the amount of hurricane or repair activity and infrastructure upgrade that has been needed and is going to be needed in the area to [underground] activities that are forever ongoing in Florida and other markets. Can you talk about sort of those new geographies and sort of your thoughts and growth expectations and maybe some of the customers or services you're providing in the...

最後一個問題與能源服務業務有關。顯然，這在波多黎各和佛羅里達州非常具有戰略意義。考慮到該地區已經需要和將需要的颶風或維修活動和基礎設施升級的數量，以在佛羅里達州和其他市場永遠進行的 [地下] 活動。你能談談那些新的地域和你的想法和增長預期，也許你在...中提供的一些客戶或服務嗎？

Yes. This is a great question. We're actually very excited about these initiatives. We've been doing business in Puerto Rico for a very long time, but primarily in the Life Sciences front. We are increasing significantly in Energy Services there. And in many ways, that's a function of the technological capability and really the goodwill with major utility clients in the United States that we've been able to leverage into increased market share in Puerto Rico.

是的。這是一個很好的問題。我們實際上對這些舉措感到非常興奮。我們在波多黎各開展業務已有很長時間，但主要是在生命科學領域。我們在那裡的能源服務顯著增加。在許多方面，這是技術能力的一個功能，也是我們能夠利用美國主要公用事業客戶增加波多黎各市場份額的真正商譽。

So I actually look for that to be certainly a bright spot in the portfolio going forward. We had significant success over the last, call it, 90 to 120 days or so, and we actually think that, that's very much at the beginning. And it's exciting as you see the portfolio start to grow because historically, if you look at the geographic concentration of the business, we certainly had a strong hold in the Northeast and throughout the East Coast.

所以我實際上認為這肯定是未來投資組合中的一個亮點。我們在過去 90 到 120 天左右的時間裡取得了重大成功，我們實際上認為，這才剛剛開始。當你看到投資組合開始增長時，這是令人興奮的，因為從歷史上看，如果你看一下業務的地理集中度，我們肯定在東北部和整個東海岸擁有強大的控制力。

Now we are starting to migrate and follow demographics in a much more meaningful way down in the Southeast, South and out West. So it's exciting and strategic for a number of reasons.

現在，我們開始以更有意義的方式遷移和跟踪東南部、南部和西部以外的人口統計數據。因此，出於多種原因，它既令人興奮又具有戰略意義。

All right. And at this time, there are no further questions in queue. Did you gentlemen want to press --excuse me, sorry.

好的。此時，隊列中沒有其他問題。各位先生是不是想按——對不起，對不起。

No. I think we're fine. So we'll go ahead and kind of close it out here. So thank you, everyone, for attending the fourth quarter call, and we look forward to our next update in May.

不，我認為我們很好。因此，我們將繼續並在此處將其關閉。因此，感謝大家參加第四季度電話會議，我們期待著 5 月份的下一次更新。

All right. Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude your call. You may now disconnect your lines, and thank you again for joining us today.

好的。女士們，先生們，你們的電話到此結束。您現在可以斷開線路，再次感謝您今天加入我們。