Rollins Inc (ROL) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Rollins, Inc. first-quarter 2026 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Lyndsey Burton, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

各位好，歡迎參加 Rollins, Inc. 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。(接線員指示) 請注意，本次會議將被錄音。現在我將把會議交給今天的主持人——投資人關係副總裁 Lyndsey Burton。請開始。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. In addition to the earnings release that we issued yesterday, the company has also prepared a supporting slide presentation. The earnings release and presentation are available on our website at www.rollins.com.

謝謝，各位早安。除了我們昨天發布的財報新聞稿之外，公司也準備了一份配套的簡報。財報新聞稿與簡報可於我們的網站 www.rollins.com 取得。

We have included certain GAAP financial measures as part of our discussion this morning. The non-GAAP reconciliations are available in the appendix of today's presentation, as well as in our earnings release. The company's earnings release discusses the business outlook and contains certain forward-looking statements.

今天上午的討論中，我們將納入若干 GAAP 財務衡量指標。非 GAAP 的調節表可在今日簡報的附錄中以及我們的財報新聞稿中查閱。公司的財報新聞稿討論了業務展望，並包含若干前瞻性陳述。

These particular forward-looking statements and all other statements that have been made on this call, excluding historical facts, are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from any statement we make today. Please refer to yesterday's press release and the company's SEC filings, including the Risk Factors section of our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025.

這些特定的前瞻性陳述，以及本次電話會議中除歷史事實之外的所有其他陳述，均受多項風險與不確定性影響，實際結果可能與我們今天所作的任何陳述存在重大差異。請參閱昨天的新聞稿以及公司向 SEC 提交的文件，包括截至 2025 年 12 月 31 日止年度 Form 10-K 中的「風險因素」章節。

On the line with me today and speaking are Jerry Gahlhoff, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Ken Krause, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Management will make some opening remarks, and then we'll open the line for your questions.

今天與我同線並將發言的有：總裁兼執行長 Jerry Gahlhoff，以及執行副總裁兼財務長 Ken Krause。管理團隊將先做開場說明，之後我們將開放提問。

Jerry, would you like to begin?

Jerry，您要先開始嗎？

Thank you, Lyndsey. Good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to report Rollins delivered strong first-quarter results. We saw sequential acceleration through the quarter and continued to see solid growth across all major service lines with total revenue growth of 10.2% and organic growth of 6.6%. Demand was a little slower to start the quarter, particularly given some unfavorable weather in January, but we exited with well over 8% organic growth in March.

謝謝你，Lyndsey。各位早安。我很高興向各位報告，Rollins 第一季交出強勁的成績。我們在本季呈現逐月加速的趨勢，且在所有主要服務線皆持續維持穩健成長，總營收成長 10.2%，有機成長 6.6%。本季初需求略為偏慢，特別是 1 月有一些不利天候因素，但我們在 3 月結束時的有機成長率已遠超過 8%。

Spring sprang quickly for our teams as we are experiencing healthy growth in recurring and one-time services. As expected, we continued our investments in incremental sales staffing and marketing activities ahead of peak season to ensure that we are positioned top of mind for the consumer as pet season begins. We are well-staffed on the sales, technician, and customer support front with our teammates onboarded, extensively trained, and ready to provide an exceptional level of service for our customers.

對我們的團隊而言，春季來得很快，我們在經常性與一次性服務方面都正經歷健康的成長。如預期，我們在旺季前持續加碼投資於增量銷售人力與行銷活動，以確保在害蟲季節開始時，我們能成為消費者心中的首選。在銷售、技術人員與客服支援方面，我們的人力配置充足，隊友已完成到職、接受充分訓練，並準備為客戶提供卓越的服務水準。

Earlier this month, we announced our acquisition of Romex Pest Control, a top 40 pest management company according to PCT Top 100 rankings. Romex provides us with entry points into new markets while enabling them to further scale their operations and expand service offerings to their existing customer base. Most importantly, they have a strong people and customer-focused culture, and we are thrilled to welcome our new Romex teammates to the Rollins family.

本月稍早，我們宣布收購 Romex Pest Control；依據 PCT Top 100 排名，Romex 是前 40 大的害蟲管理公司。Romex 為我們提供進入新市場的切入點，同時也讓他們能進一步擴大營運規模，並將服務項目擴展至其既有客戶群。最重要的是，他們擁有以員工與客戶為核心的強大文化，我們非常高興歡迎 Romex 的新隊友加入 Rollins 大家庭。

As you know, we believe the combination of Orkin and our strong group of regional brands is a competitive differentiator for Rollins, giving us multiple bites at the apple with potential customers, while also providing some balance and diversification with respect to customer acquisition. The addition of Romex is another example of our successful M&A playbook in action as we continue to add quality businesses to our premier portfolio brands through a disciplined and strategic approach.

如各位所知，我們相信 Orkin 與我們強大的區域品牌組合，是 Rollins 的競爭差異化優勢；這讓我們能以多個品牌觸及潛在客戶，同時在客戶獲取方面也提供一定的平衡與多元化。Romex 的加入，是我們成功併購（M&A）作戰手冊持續發揮作用的另一個例子；我們透過嚴謹且具策略性的方式，持續將優質企業納入我們一流的品牌組合。

On the commercial side of the business, we're encouraged by our momentum. Overall, we delivered solid commercial growth for the first quarter. Over the last year, we have strategically added resources to support our dedicated commercial division within Orkin. These resources are paying off as Orkin Commercial continues to deliver new customer wins across key verticals.

在商業端業務方面，我們對目前的動能感到鼓舞。整體而言，我們第一季交出穩健的商業成長。過去一年，我們已策略性地增加資源，以支援 Orkin 旗下專責的商業事業部。這些資源正開始帶來成效，Orkin Commercial 持續在關鍵垂直領域贏得新客戶。

Beyond growth, our dedication to operational efficiency and continuous improvement is an important part of our strategy and culture. Ken will discuss in more detail, but we saw headwinds to profitability from higher insurance and claims, as well as some pressure from headcount, given lower volume earlier in the quarter.

除了成長之外，我們對營運效率與持續改善的投入，也是我們策略與文化的重要一環。Ken 會更詳細說明，但我們在獲利能力方面面臨逆風，主要來自較高的保險與理賠成本，以及由於本季前段業務量較低而帶來的人力編制壓力。

As we discussed last quarter, it's important that we maintain healthy staffing levels ahead of peak season, so we aren't hiring, training, and onboarding a large number of new teammates at the same time seasonal demand ramps up. We've learned that extreme swings in hiring activity drives teammate turnover rates higher and has potential negative impacts on the customer experience. This hinders profitability in the short-term, but is the right decision for the business long-term and sets us up to capitalize on peak season demand, as evidenced by our performance in March.

如同我們上季所討論的，在旺季前維持健康的人力配置非常重要，這樣我們就不必在季節性需求開始攀升的同時，還要大量招募、訓練並讓新隊友到職。我們已經學到，招募活動的劇烈波動會推升隊友離職率，並可能對客戶體驗造成負面影響。這在短期內會抑制獲利能力，但從長期來看是對業務正確的決策，並讓我們能把握旺季需求；這點也從我們 3 月的表現得到印證。

In closing, we're excited about where our business stands today. The year is off to a solid start and demand from our customers remain strong. Our teams in the field are ready to support our customers as peak season ramps up. And I want to thank each of our 20,000-plus team members around the world for their ongoing commitment to our customers.

最後，我們對公司目前的狀態感到振奮。今年開局穩健，客戶需求仍然強勁。我們在第一線的團隊已準備就緒，將在旺季需求升溫之際支援客戶。同時，我也要感謝全球超過 20,000 位團隊成員持續對客戶的投入與承諾。

I'll now turn the call over to Ken. Ken?

接下來我把電話交給 Ken。Ken？

Thank you, Jerry, and good morning, everyone. Diving into the quarterly financial statements and starting first with revenue. Revenue growth was solid to start the year. It was very encouraging to see an improving growth profile as we move throughout the quarter.

謝謝你，Jerry，各位早安。接下來我們進入本季財務報表，先從營收開始。年初的營收成長表現穩健。令人振奮的是，隨著季度推進，我們看到成長輪廓持續改善。

In total, we delivered revenue growth of 10.2% year-over-year. Organic growth of 6.6% was negatively impacted by unfavorable weather, particularly in January, but we saw very strong sequential improvement in each month moving through the quarter.

整體而言，我們的營收年增 10.2%。有機成長 6.6% 受到不利天候影響而承壓，尤其是在 1 月；但在本季期間，我們看到每個月都呈現非常強勁的逐月改善。

We were especially pleased with approximately 12% total growth and over 8% organic growth in the month of March. Overall, organic growth of 6.6% in the quarter represents a 90-basis-point improvement versus the fourth quarter of 2025.

我們特別滿意 3 月約 12% 的總成長，以及超過 8% 的有機成長。整體來看，本季 6.6% 的有機成長，較 2025 年第四季提升 90 個基點。

We realized good growth across each of our service offerings. In the first quarter, Resi revenues increased 9.3%, Commercial Pest Control rose 9.6%, and Termite and Ancillary increased by 13.5%. Organic growth was also healthy across the portfolio, with growth of 4.2% in Residential, 7.7% in Commercial, and almost 10% in Termite and Ancillary.

我們在各項服務內容上都實現了良好成長。第一季，住宅（Resi）營收增加 9.3%，商業害蟲防治（Commercial Pest Control）上升 9.6%，白蟻與附加服務（Termite and Ancillary）增加 13.5%。整體組合的有機成長也維持健康水準：住宅成長 4.2%，商業成長 7.7%，白蟻與附加服務接近 10%。

Turning to profitability and our gross margins, they were 50.8%, a decrease of 60 basis points. The lower volume in the first part of the quarter, coupled with higher insurance and claims activity, were headwinds to quarterly margins. Looking at our four major buckets of service costs: people, fleet, materials and supplies, and insurance claims.

接著談獲利能力與毛利率：毛利率為 50.8%，下降 60 個基點。本季前段業務量較低，加上保險與理賠活動增加，對本季毛利率造成逆風。從我們四大服務成本項目來看：人員、車隊、材料與用品，以及保險理賠。

First and foremost, lower vehicle gains within our fleet line on the income statement created 50 basis points of headwinds to gross profit margin. We should see this start to improve as we go into the second quarter. Insurance and claims drove an additional 30 basis points of headwinds to gross margins, while service payroll costs provided 20 basis points of headwinds as we carried more technicians ahead of the start to peak season in March.

首先也是最重要的是，損益表中我們車隊項下的車輛處分收益下降，對毛利率造成了50個基點的逆風。隨著進入第二季，我們應該會看到這點開始改善。保險與理賠帶來額外30個基點的毛利率逆風，而由於我們在3月旺季開始前提前配置更多技術人員，服務薪資成本帶來20個基點的逆風。

Fuel costs represent approximately 1.5% of sales, and we saw a relatively neutral impact from fuel in the quarter. We currently expect fuel costs to continue to track below 2% of sales in 2026. We are seeing good receptivity on our recent price increase and expect price to contribute 3% to 4% of growth for the year ahead of CPI, and we expect to be positive on price cost for the year at that level of price realization. Gross margins are usually at their lowest point in Q1 given revenue seasonality, but we anticipate improving margins in our underlying operations as we move through peak season.

燃料成本約占銷售額的1.5%，本季燃料對我們的影響相對中性。我們目前預期2026年的燃料成本將持續低於銷售額的2%。我們看到市場對近期調價的接受度良好，並預期價格在未來一年將在CPI之前為成長貢獻3%至4%；在此價格實現水準下，我們也預期全年價格相對成本將呈正向。由於營收季節性，毛利率通常在第一季落在全年低點，但隨著旺季推進，我們預期基礎營運的利潤率將改善。

Quarterly SG&A cost as a percentage of revenue increased by 70 basis points versus last year. Incremental selling investments provided 50 basis points of headwind, while higher insurance and claims cost contributed 20 basis points of headwinds on the SG&A line.

季度SG&A成本占營收比重較去年增加70個基點。額外的銷售投資帶來50個基點的逆風，而較高的保險與理賠成本在SG&A項下貢獻了20個基點的逆風。

First-quarter GAAP operating income was $145 million, up 2% year-over-year. Adjusted operating income was $153 million, up 4% versus prior year. First-quarter adjusted EBITDA was $179 million, up 4.4% versus last year and represents a 19.8% margin.

第一季GAAP營業利益為1.45億美元，年增2%。調整後營業利益為1.53億美元，較去年增加4%。第一季調整後EBITDA為1.79億美元，年增4.4%，EBITDA利潤率為19.8%。

The effective tax rate was 21.3% in the quarter versus 23.5%, and reflects the benefits of both the improvement associated with windfall tax benefits as well as the work our tax team has done to improve our effective tax rate. We expect our effective tax rate to come in under 25% for the year, down approximately 100 basis points from historical levels.

本季有效稅率為21.3%，相較之下去年為23.5%；這反映了與意外稅務利益（windfall tax benefits）相關的改善效益，以及我們稅務團隊為降低有效稅率所做的工作成果。我們預期全年有效稅率將低於25%，較歷史水準約下降100個基點。

Quarterly GAAP net income was $108 million or $0.22 per share. For the first quarter, we had non-GAAP pre-tax adjustments associated with acquisition-related and other items, totaling approximately $7 million of pre-tax expense in the quarter. Accounting for these expenses, adjusted net income for the quarter was $113 million or $0.24 per share, increasing 9.1% from the same period a year ago.

本季GAAP淨利為1.08億美元，或每股0.22美元。第一季我們有與併購相關及其他項目的非GAAP稅前調整，合計約700萬美元的稅前費用。計入這些費用後，本季調整後淨利為1.13億美元，或每股0.24美元，較去年同期成長9.1%。

Turning to cash flow in the balance sheet, we delivered operating cash flow of $118 million and free cash flow of $111 million. Free cash flow conversion, the percent of income that was converted into cash flow, was over 100% for the quarter. Cash flow performance was negatively impacted by the timing of tax payments associated with our tax credit planning strategy.

接著看資產負債表中的現金流，我們實現營運現金流1.18億美元，自由現金流1.11億美元。自由現金流轉換率（即收入轉換為現金流的比例）本季超過100%。現金流表現受到與我們稅額抵減規劃策略相關的稅款支付時點影響而承壓。

This strategy has delivered meaningful benefits and is enabling very strong improvements in our effective rate. Also, our year-over-year cash performance was impacted by our transition to semi-annual interest payments on our 2035 senior notes that we issued a year ago. Excluding these items, free cash flow would have increased 14% versus Q1 2025, and free cash flow conversion would have been approximately 140%, all very healthy, enabling us to continue our balanced capital allocation strategy.

此策略帶來顯著效益，並使我們的有效稅率得以大幅改善。此外，我們的年對年現金表現也受到影響，原因是我們對一年前發行的2035年期優先票據改為半年付息。若排除上述項目，自由現金流相較2025年第一季將增加14%，自由現金流轉換率約為140%，整體相當健康，使我們得以持續推動均衡的資本配置策略。

During Q1, we made acquisitions totaling $18 million and paid $88 million in dividends in the first quarter. We continue to expect M&A to contribute 2% to 3% of revenue growth for 2026. Our allowance ratio stands at 0.9 times. Our balance sheet remains very healthy in a position (technical difficulty) --

第一季期間，我們完成合計1,800萬美元的併購，並在第一季支付8,800萬美元股利。我們仍預期併購在2026年將為營收成長貢獻2%至3%。我們的備抵比率為0.9倍。我們的資產負債表仍然非常健康，處於一個(技術問題) --

(Operator Instructions) Lyndsey, your line is now open. You may come in.

(接線員指示) Lyndsey，您的線路已開通。您可以加入。

Hey. I'm sorry, everybody. I think what we understand is that our line, we had network issues and we dropped right around the time where Ken was speaking about leverage. Do you want to just start from that point and we can go from there and then we'll open the line for questions? Apologies, everybody.

嗨。各位抱歉。我們了解到的是，我們的線路出現網路問題，在Ken談到槓桿的時候左右就斷線了。你要不要就從那個點開始，我們再接著往下，然後再開放提問？各位抱歉。

I'll actually go back through and just redo my area real quick here and just cover the areas. But just starting over here. Diving into the quarterly financial statement and starting first with revenue. Revenue growth was solid to start the year. It was very encouraging to see an improving growth profile as we moved through the quarter.

我其實會回頭把我負責的部分快速重講一遍，把相關重點帶過。那就從這裡重新開始。我們來看季度財務報表，先從營收開始。年初的營收成長表現穩健。很令人鼓舞的是，隨著季度推進，我們看到成長動能逐步改善。

In total, we delivered revenue growth of 10.2% year-over-year. Organic growth of 6.6% was negatively impacted by unfavorable weather, particularly in January, but we saw very strong sequential improvement in each month moving through the quarter. We were especially pleased with approximately 12% total growth and over 8% organic growth in the month of March.

整體而言，我們的營收年增10.2%。有機成長6.6%受到不利天候影響而承壓，特別是在1月，但隨著季度推進，我們在每個月份都看到非常強勁的逐月改善。我們尤其滿意3月約12%的總成長，以及超過8%的有機成長。

Overall organic growth of 6.6% in the quarter represents 90 basis points of improvement versus Q4 of 2025. We realized good growth across each of our service offerings in the first quarter. Residential revenues increased 9.3%, Commercial Pest Control rose 9.6% and Termite and Ancillary increased by 13.5%. Organic growth was also healthy across the portfolio with growth of 4.2% in Residential, 7.7% in Commercial, and almost 10% in the Termite and Ancillary area.

本季整體有機成長6.6%，較2025年第四季改善90個基點。第一季我們在各項服務提供上都實現良好成長。住宅業務營收增加9.3%，商業害蟲防治增加9.6%，白蟻與附加服務增加13.5%。投資組合的有機成長同樣健康：住宅成長4.2%，商業成長7.7%，白蟻與附加服務領域接近10%。

Turning to profitability, our gross margins were 50.8%, a decrease of 60 basis points. The lower volume in the first part of the quarter coupled with higher insurance and claims activity were headwinds to quarterly margins. Looking at our four major buckets of service costs: people, fleet, materials and supplies, and insurance and claims.

接著看獲利能力，我們的毛利率為50.8%，下降60個基點。本季前段的較低業務量，加上較高的保險與理賠活動，對季度毛利率形成逆風。我們從四大服務成本類別來看：人員、車隊、材料與耗材，以及保險與理賠。

Vehicle gains, lower vehicle gains with our fleet line on the income statement created 50 basis points of headwind to our margins, and we should start to see this improve as we go into the second quarter. Insurance and claims drove an additional 30 basis points of headwind to the gross margin line, while service payroll costs provided 20 basis points of headwinds as we carried more technicians ahead of the start to peak season in March.

車輛處分收益方面，損益表中車隊項下的車輛處分收益較低，對利潤率造成50個基點的逆風；隨著進入第二季，我們應該會開始看到改善。保險與理賠在毛利率項下帶來額外30個基點的逆風；同時，由於我們在3月旺季開始前提前配置更多技術人員，服務薪資成本帶來20個基點的逆風。

Fuel costs represent approximately 1.5% of sales, and we saw a relatively neutral impact from fuel in the quarter. We currently expect fuel costs to continue to track below 2% of sales in 2026. We are seeing good receptivity on our recent price increase and expect price to contribute 3% to 4% of growth for the year ahead of CPI, and we expect to be positive on price cost for the year at that level of price realization.

燃料成本約占銷售額的1.5%，本季燃料對我們的影響相對中性。我們目前預期2026年的燃料成本將持續低於銷售額的2%。我們看到市場對近期調價的接受度良好，並預期價格在未來一年將在CPI之前為成長貢獻3%至4%；在此價格實現水準下，我們也預期全年價格相對成本將呈正向。

Gross margins are usually at their low point in Q1 given revenue seasonality, but we anticipate improving margins in our underlying operations as we move through peak season. Quarterly SG&A cost as a percentage of revenue increased by 70 basis points versus last year. Incremental selling investments provided 50 basis points of headwind, while higher insurance and claims costs contributed 20 basis points of headwinds.

由於營收的季節性，毛利率通常在第一季處於低點，但我們預期隨著進入旺季，我們的核心營運毛利率將逐步改善。季度SG&A成本占營收比重較去年增加70個基點。額外的銷售投資帶來50個基點的不利影響，而較高的保險與理賠成本則帶來20個基點的不利影響。

First-quarter GAAP operating income was $145 million, up 2% percent year-over-year. Adjusted operating income was $153 million, up 4% versus prior year. First-quarter adjusted EBITDA was $179 million, up 4.4% versus last year and represents a 19.8% margin.

第一季GAAP營業利益為1.45億美元，年增2%。調整後營業利益為1.53億美元，較去年增加4%。第一季調整後EBITDA為1.79億美元，較去年增加4.4%，對應利潤率為19.8%。

The effective tax rate was 21.3% in the quarter versus 23.5% and reflects the benefits of both improvement associated with windfall tax benefits as well as the work our tax team has done to improve our effective tax rate. We expect our effective tax rate to come in under 25% for the year; that's down approximately 100 basis points from historical levels.

本季有效稅率為21.3%，相較於23.5%有所下降，反映了與一次性稅務利益（windfall tax benefits）相關的改善效益，以及我們稅務團隊為降低有效稅率所做的工作成果。我們預期全年有效稅率將低於25%；較歷史水準約下降100個基點。

Quarterly GAAP net income was $108 million or $0.22 per share. For the first quarter, we had non-GAAP pre-tax adjustments associated with acquisition-related and other items totaling approximately $7 million of pre-tax expense in the quarter. Accounting for these expenses, adjusted net income for the quarter was $113 million or $0.24 per share, increasing 9.1% from the same period a year ago.

本季GAAP淨利為1.08億美元，或每股0.22美元。第一季我們有與併購相關及其他項目相關的非GAAP稅前調整，合計約700萬美元的本季稅前費用。在計入這些費用後，本季調整後淨利為1.13億美元，或每股0.24美元，較去年同期成長9.1%。

Turning to cash flow and the balance sheet, we delivered operating cash flow of $118 million and free cash flow of $111 million. Free cash flow conversion, the percent of income that was converted into cash flow, was over 100% for the quarter. Cash flow performance was negatively impacted by the timing of tax payments associated with our tax credit planning strategy.

接著談現金流與資產負債表，我們實現營運現金流1.18億美元，自由現金流1.11億美元。自由現金流轉換率（即獲利轉換為現金流的比例）本季超過100%。現金流表現受到與我們稅額抵減規劃策略相關的稅款支付時點影響而承壓。

That strategy has delivered meaningful benefits and is enabling very strong improvements in our effective rate. Also, our year-over-year cash performance was also impacted by our transition to semi-annual interest payments on our 2035 notes that we issued a year ago. Excluding these items, cash flow would have increased 14% versus the first quarter of 2025, and free cash flow conversion would have been approximately 140%, all very healthy, enabling us to continue our balanced capital allocation strategy.

該策略帶來顯著效益，並使我們的有效稅率得以大幅改善。此外，我們的年對年現金表現也受到影響，原因是我們轉為對一年前發行的2035年到期票據採半年付息。若排除上述項目，現金流相較2025年第一季將成長14%，自由現金流轉換率約為140%，整體非常健康，使我們得以持續推動均衡的資本配置策略。

During the first quarter, we made acquisitions totaling $18 million, and we paid $88 million in dividends. We continue to expect M&A to contribute 2% to 3% of revenue growth in 2026. Our leverage ratio stands at 0.9 times. Our balance sheet is very healthy, and it positions us well to continue to execute on our growth priorities while returning capital to our shareholders.

第一季期間，我們完成合計1,800萬美元的收購，並支付8,800萬美元股利。我們仍預期在2026年，併購（M&A）將貢獻營收成長2%至3%。我們的槓桿比率為0.9倍。我們的資產負債表非常健康，使我們能在持續執行成長優先事項的同時，向股東回饋資本。

As we look to the remainder of 2026, we remain encouraged by the strength of our markets, our recession-resilient business model, and the engagement and execution by our teams. We are positioned extremely well to deliver on our financial objectives. We continue to expect organic growth in the 7% to 8% range for the year with growth from M&A up 2% to 3%. We remain focused on improving our incremental margin profile while investing in growth opportunities, and we anticipate that cash flow will continue to convert at a rate that is above 100% in 2026.

展望2026年剩餘期間，我們仍對市場的強勁表現、具抗衰退韌性的商業模式，以及團隊的投入與執行力感到鼓舞。我們具備極佳條件以達成財務目標。我們仍預期全年有機成長落在7%至8%區間，併購帶來的成長為2%至3%。我們將持續聚焦在投資成長機會的同時，改善增量利潤率表現，並預期2026年的現金流轉換率將持續高於100%。

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

接下來我把電話交回給Jerry。

Ken, that was much better the second time around. You really paid off on the Mulligan. So thank you for that great recovery. We're happy to take any questions you have at this time.

Ken，你第二次講得好多了。你這次的「重來一次」（Mulligan）真的很值得。所以謝謝你精彩的回穩。我們很樂意現在回答各位的提問。

(Operator Instructions) Manav Patnaik, Barclays.

(接線員指示) Barclays 的 Manav Patnaik。

This is Ronan on for Manav. How should we think about the sustainability of that March exit rate as we move through peak season? Does it primarily reflect normalization from the early quarter weather-induced softness? Or is it underlying demand trends that suggest the higher organic base going forward for the rest of the year?

我是代替Manav的Ronan。隨著我們進入旺季，應該如何看待3月的期末退出成長率（exit rate）的可持續性？它主要反映第一季初因天候造成的疲弱回歸正常嗎？還是反映基本需求趨勢，意味著今年剩餘期間的有機成長基礎將更高？

We feel good about the exit rate. We feel good about our business. The improvement of 90 basis points from Q4 to Q1 reaffirms the confidence we have in our outlook. Our outlook is rooted in that 7% to 8% organic growth. We remain committed to that level of growth and organic growth across the business, coupled with the 2% to 3% of M&A growth.

我們對這個退出成長率感到樂觀。我們對業務也很有信心。從第四季到第一季改善90個基點，再次印證我們對展望的信心。我們的展望以7%到8%的有機成長為基礎。我們仍致力於維持這個成長水準，並在全公司推動有機成長，同時搭配2%到3%的併購成長。

When we think about our exit rate at 8.4% or so percent as we think about March, Yeah, you had an extra day there, but you also just had a really good month, just really good demand. The residential area, which in the quarter, I think, grew at something around 4% to 4.2%. In the month of March, we saw over 7%. So we continue to see good demand for our services, which gives us confidence in our outlook at that 7% to 8% organic growth, Ronan.

當我們看3月的退出成長率約8.4%時，沒錯，那個月多了一天，但同時那也是非常好的一個月，需求真的很強。住宅端在本季我記得成長大約4%到4.2%。而在3月單月，我們看到超過7%的成長。因此，我們持續看到對我們服務的良好需求，這也讓我們對7%到8%的有機成長展望更有信心，Ronan。

That's helpful. And then as volume ramps through into peak season, how should we think about the incremental margin flow-through relative to 1Q given the cost set up and the margin drivers and dynamics you described for the quarter?

這很有幫助。另外，隨著量能一路提升進入旺季，考量你們所描述的本季成本配置、毛利驅動因素與動態，相較於第一季，我們應該如何看待增量利潤率的流入（flow-through）？

Yeah. Thank you for the question. And really, when we think about margins, Q1 is usually our low point just because of the seasonality of the business, and it came through in that manner. We fully expect improvements to start to -- we start to see improvements here as we ramp into Q2 and Q3.

好的。謝謝你的問題。談到利潤率，第一季通常是我們的低點，主要因為業務的季節性，而這次也確實如此。我們完全預期，隨著進入第二季與第三季，將開始看到改善。

We should see improvements going into the second and third quarter here of 2026.So we remain committed to the outlook we have on our incrementals. The business is intact, and provides us a sense of confidence in what we can deliver from an incremental margin profile.

我們應該會在2026年的第二季與第三季看到改善。所以我們仍致力於我們對增量的展望。業務基本面完好，讓我們對能夠交付的增量利潤率表現更有信心。

Sam Kusswurm, William Blair.

William Blair 的 Sam Kusswurm。

I think you just touched on this already, but maybe to help us bridge to that 7% to 8% organic growth the remainder of the year, can you just share how April has trended so far relative to exiting March here?

我想你剛剛已經提到一些了，但為了幫助我們銜接到今年剩餘期間7%到8%的有機成長，你能否分享一下，4月到目前為止相較於3月期末的趨勢如何？

We're early, Sam, in April. But we really, looking at our projections and forecasts that we continue to look at, I mean, we still have a lot of confidence in that 7% to 8% organic growth and as I said before, the 2% to 3% of M&A growth. So we feel like business is very much intact and should continue to deliver that growth profile for our investors.

Sam，4月才剛開始。但就我們持續檢視的預測與展望來看，我們對7%到8%的有機成長仍非常有信心，並如我先前所說，還有2%到3%的併購成長。因此我們認為業務基本面非常穩健，並應能持續為投資人帶來這樣的成長輪廓。

Okay. That's helpful. maybe pivoting a little bit. We saw that the insurance and claims expense was 3.7% of sales in the quarter. This compares to the full-year rates of 2.9% in '25 and 3.2% in 2024. I guess I'm curious how we should think about this expense line as we move through the remainder of the year, and if you're expecting it to remain at this elevated level?

好的。這很有幫助。也許稍微轉個方向。我們看到本季保險與理賠費用占銷售額的3.7%。相較之下，全年比率在'25年為2.9%，在2024年為3.2%。我想我好奇的是，隨著今年剩餘時間推進，我們應該如何看待這條費用線，以及你們是否預期它會維持在這個較高的水準？

That's a hard one to predict. When we think about insurance and claims, it's an area with a lot of, oftentimes, volatility. We do our best every quarter to put the most accurate number on the financials, and that's what we did in Q1. We unfortunately had some claims that continue to mature and go through the maturation process.

這很難預測。當我們談到保險與理賠時，這個領域往往具有很大的波動性。我們每一季都盡力在財報上反映最準確的數字，第一季我們也是這麼做的。不幸的是，我們有一些理賠案件仍在持續發展並進入成熟處理的過程。

And that was a headwind for us. And -- but it's really hard to predict what that line will look like as we go forward. We're hopeful that we'll see it moderate as we go into the second half of the year and improve, but we also know that tax and circumstances change as we go through out each and every quarter.

這對我們來說是一個逆風。但是——隨著往後推進，這條費用線會呈現什麼樣貌，真的很難預測。我們希望在下半年能看到它趨於緩和並改善，但我們也知道，稅務與各種情況會在每一季的過程中發生變化。

With that said, we still are -- we are still holding strong to our incremental margin profile as well as our ability to grow earnings in that double-digit range. And so we continue, despite having and facing some of those headwinds in insurance and claims have a -- continue to have an outlook that remains unchanged with respect to the incremental margin profile.

話雖如此，我們仍然——我們仍然堅守我們的增量利潤率輪廓，以及讓獲利以雙位數成長的能力。因此，儘管保險與理賠方面存在並面臨一些逆風，我們——對於增量利潤率輪廓的展望仍維持不變。

And Ken, I would add that long term, how we approach safety and insurance and claims has to do with investments that we're making today and investments we made last year that are going to continue to pay off for us long run by reducing our collision frequency rate, our injury frequency rate.

Ken，我補充一下，長期而言，我們在安全、保險與理賠上的作法，與我們今天正在進行的投資，以及去年所做、並將在長期持續帶來回報的投資有關，這些投資將透過降低碰撞發生頻率、受傷發生頻率來發揮效果。

That long term should be able to help us drive our costs down. We're piloting a lot of programs making investments, especially in driving safety to avoid these types of situations that hopefully can begin to change the arc or the trajectory of that component on our P&L.

長期來看，這應該能幫助我們把成本降下來。我們正在試行許多方案並進行投資，特別是在行車安全方面，以避免這類情況；希望這能開始改變我們損益表上該項目的走勢或軌跡。

Greg Parrish, Morgan Stanley.

Greg Parrish，摩根士丹利。

Hey, guys. Good morning. Congrats on the quarter. Great.

嗨，各位。早安。恭喜本季表現。很棒。

Maybe covered some of the big topics. Maybe just touch on Romex you acquired a few weeks ago? Maybe just touch on the strategic rationale, what attracted you to their culture of that business and any early expectations for that?

也許你們已經涵蓋了一些重要主題。能否談談幾週前你們收購的Romex？請簡要說明策略性理由、是什麼吸引你們看中他們的企業文化與這門業務，以及對此是否有任何初步的期待？

Yeah, this is Jerry. We got to know the team at Romex over some period of time and had a number of meetings with them. And as I've referred to it or described it as a dating process where you just get to know each other.

是的，我是Jerry。我們在一段時間內逐步認識Romex的團隊，並與他們進行了多次會面。我常把這形容或描述為一個「交往」的過程，就是彼此逐漸了解。

And they've got some really talented people on the team that we had met, and we're very impressed with their operations, how they -- how closely they were aligned with us, how they treated people, how they approach customer service. They also operated in some very complementary markets to -- that were good markets that were -- that they had some really strong positions in and continue to grow and expand.

他們團隊裡有一些非常有才華的人，我們也見過，對他們的營運非常印象深刻——他們與我們的契合度很高、如何對待員工、以及他們如何看待客戶服務。他們也在一些與我們高度互補的市場中營運——那些都是很好的市場——他們在其中擁有很強的地位，並且持續成長與擴張。

And plus, we saw a great opportunity to leverage some of the things that we do as we add additional services to customers. They were focused pretty heavily on pest control, Residential Pest Control, primarily and a little bit of Ancillary service offerings and we saw an opportunity to be able to leverage our knowledge and expertise to help them continue to expand their depth of relationship with their customers over time as well.

此外，我們也看到一個很好的機會，可以運用我們所做的一些事情，為客戶增加更多服務。他們相當聚焦於害蟲防治，主要是住宅害蟲防治，並提供少量的附加服務；我們看到一個機會，能夠運用我們的知識與專業，協助他們也在時間推移中持續擴大與客戶之間關係的深度。

So we're really excited about the team at Romex, especially the talent that we know is there. And that's oftentimes one of the -- if you look across our portfolio of brands, oftentimes when we add brands to our group, we're getting super talented people, and that really helps shape our company and has formed who we are today. So we're really proud of that.

所以我們對Romex的團隊感到非常興奮，尤其是我們知道那裡的人才。而這往往是——如果你看我們的品牌組合，很多時候當我們把品牌納入集團時，我們同時也獲得了非常有才華的人，而這確實有助於塑造我們的公司，也形塑了我們今天的樣貌。所以我們對此非常自豪。

And then I wanted to ask on fuel costs. I appreciate the additional disclosure that you gave. I know you've talked about your exposure in the past as well, and it's fairly low exposure. But just remind us, the limited exposure that you do have, is that hedged at all? And did that have any impact, albeit small, on margin in the quarter?

接著我想問燃料成本。我很感謝你們提供了更多揭露。我知道你們過去也談過你們的曝險，而且曝險相對不高。但請再提醒我們一下，你們確實存在的那部分有限曝險，有做任何避險嗎？而這是否對本季利潤率造成任何影響（即便很小）？

On the fuel costs, Greg, just to double-click on that, we do not hedge that cost. It's a relatively minor cost in our P&L. It's about 1.5 points in terms of total exposure in the P&L. We will continue to evaluate it. But for now, we don't see a meaningful exposure that would require us to take extensive approaches outside of just making sure that our price increase reflects this volatility and challenging environment that we might be in. But with that said, we continue to enjoy a highly variable cost structure with a very low amount of exposure to the fuel area.

關於燃料成本，Greg，為了再更深入確認一下，我們沒有對這項成本做避險。在我們的損益表中，這是一項相對次要的成本。以損益表的總曝險來看，大約是1.5個百分點。我們會持續評估。但就目前而言，我們看不到需要採取大規模措施的重大曝險；我們主要是確保我們的漲價能反映這種波動性與我們可能面臨的具挑戰性的環境。不過話說回來，我們仍然享有高度可變動的成本結構，在燃料方面的曝險非常低。

Tomo Sano, JPMorgan.

Tomo Sano，摩根大通。

Earlier, you mentioned that residential organic growth in March was about 7%. Could you provide more detail on the trends you saw in March for the Commercial and Termite segments as well? Additionally, are there any notable differences in growth rates or demand recovery by region?

先前你提到3月住宅業務的有機成長約為7%。你能否也更詳細說明3月在商業與白蟻（Termite）部門所看到的趨勢？另外，不同地區在成長率或需求復甦方面，是否有任何顯著差異？

Overall, Tomo, the business is very healthy in March. Residential probably showed the greatest improvement. Commercial also was stronger relative to January and February, and Termite and Ancillary hung in there.

Tomo，整體而言，3月的業務非常健康。住宅端可能呈現最大的改善。商業端相較於1月與2月也更強，而白蟻與附加服務則維持穩健。

Our one-time business certainly benefited as we went throughout the quarter. If you recall, Q4 was negatively impacted by a very weak one-time number, and we saw some improvements in that area as we went throughout the quarter. So all told, we feel good about where we are to start Q2 across all of our major service offerings.

我們的一次性業務在整個季度推進中確實受益。如果你還記得，第四季受到一次性業務數字非常疲弱的負面影響，而我們在本季推進過程中看到該領域有所改善。總體來說，我們對第二季開始時在所有主要服務項目上的狀況感到樂觀。

But it was probably Residential that improved the most quarter-to-quarter, which makes sense. As you get into season, it's usually going to be the residential side that pops more than the commercial side that is much more stable through the year.

但季度對季度來看，改善最多的可能是住宅端，這也合理。進入旺季時，通常住宅端的彈升會比全年更穩定的商業端更明顯。

Thank you. And follow-up. You have to continue to invest in people, service, and infrastructures even during the periods of unfavorable weather and revenue softness to ensure continuity and improvement in customer service. So when you look at the market today, do you see this as a strategy that clearly differentiates the Rollins from competitors? Are there specific ways in which your approach to investment and service stands out versus peers?

謝謝。以及追問。即使在天候不利、營收偏弱的期間，你們仍必須持續在人員、服務與基礎設施上投資，以確保客戶服務的連續性與改善。那麼從目前市場來看，你們是否認為這是一項能明確讓Rollins與競爭對手區隔開來的策略？相較同業，你們在投資與服務上的作法有哪些具體突出的地方？

I wouldn't comment about how it compares versus peers, I think this is our strategy and when you look at the investments we make, and the best example I can give you, when I started in this business decades ago, this business was a lot simpler and I did pest control and I did termite work. And the options that we had I had to learn about and what I had to do were relatively simple 30 years ago, today you've heard Ken talk about having nine shots on goal.

我不會評論我們與同業相比如何；我認為這就是我們的策略。而當你看我們所做的投資時，我能給你的最佳例子是：幾十年前我剛進入這個行業時，這個行業簡單得多，我做的是害蟲防治，也做白蟻防治。當時我們必須學習的選項以及我必須做的事情，在30年前相對都很簡單；而今天你也聽到Ken談到我們有九次進攻機會。

And when you have to train people to be able to be experts and knowledgeable, both on the service and the sales side for the complexity of all the things that our team does, that takes time. It takes experience. It's harder and harder. You can't just get somebody up and running in a few weeks like it was 30 years ago when I started in this business.

而當你必須訓練人員，讓他們能在服務端與銷售端都成為專家並具備專業知識，以應對我們團隊所做各種事情的複雜性，這需要時間。這需要經驗。也越來越難。你不可能像我30年前剛入行時那樣，只用幾週就讓一個人上手並開始運作。

So those are investments that we make that we do think probably differentiate us from our competitors, but we do it because it's the right thing to do. It's the right thing to do for our customers to ensure that we have trained people that have been through a season and have been experienced so that when they're dealing with a problem in the month of April or the month of May, we're able to put more experience at the door to help them solve their problems.

所以我們所做的這些投資，我們確實認為可能讓我們與競爭對手有所區隔，但我們這麼做是因為這是正確的事。對客戶而言，確保我們有受過訓練、經歷過一個季節並累積經驗的人員，這是正確的事；如此一來，當他們在四月或五月遇到問題時，我們能派出更有經驗的人到現場，協助他們解決問題。

So that's a big part of our strategy. It has to do with how do we improve customer retention by ensuring that we have a better service delivery offered through some of these kinds of investments that we make, because this is about the long game. It's about lifetime value of a customer. And the more that we can invest to improve the long-term value of the customers, the better off we are. Would you add anything to that, Ken?

因此，這是我們策略的一大部分。這關乎我們如何透過這類投資所帶來的更佳服務交付，來提升客戶留存率，因為這是一場長期戰。這關乎客戶的終身價值。而我們越能投資以提升客戶的長期價值，我們的處境就越有利。Ken，你要補充什麼嗎？

Yeah. The only thing I would add is when you look at some industries, you might look at how people pare back headcount quickly or change headcount. I mean, as Jerry had used the word, we take a long-term oriented approach; we very much do.

是的。我唯一想補充的是，當你看某些產業時，你可能會看到人們很快就削減人力或調整人力。我的意思是，正如Jerry用的那個詞，我們採取的是長期導向的方法；我們確實非常如此。

And so when we think about January. Some may have decided to pare back and pull back on headcount. We decided to hold in there because we were confident in the ability to drive growth in the business. We knew there was a temporary and a transitory challenge with weather. We saw through that and we kept our people. We invested in our people and that's paying off now as we start peak season.

因此，當我們想到一月時，有些人可能已決定縮編並削減人力。我們決定撐住，因為我們對推動業務成長的能力有信心。我們知道天氣帶來的是暫時性、過渡性的挑戰。我們看穿了這一點並留住了我們的人。我們投資在員工身上，而現在隨著旺季開始，這些投資正在回收成效。

Curtis Nagle, Bank of America.

Curtis Nagle，美國銀行。

Just one, and apologies if I missed this. If you'd be able to break out the growth rates for recurring and one-time in the quarter, and then I'll just have a follow-up.

只有一個問題，如果我漏聽了也先致歉。你們是否能拆分本季經常性與一次性業務的成長率？然後我還有一個追問。

Yeah. Overall, when you look at the recurring and one-time and you compare that to what we've seen historically, as we had talked during the call, January, February were weaker. We saw weakness in January, February. March was very healthy at that 7% range on the recurring business.

可以。整體來看，當你看經常性與一次性業務，並與我們歷史表現相比，正如我們在電話會議中提到的，一月、二月較弱。我們在一月、二月看到疲弱。三月在經常性業務方面非常健康，約在7%的區間。

The one-time business continue to accelerate and improve as well. If you recall in November and December, we were contracting in that area because of the challenging weather. And in January, we were flat. We saw a nice strong improvement in March. And so it shows that business didn't necessarily go away, but we were able to go back and recover that. And we exited with a pretty healthy backlog.

一次性業務也持續加速並改善。如果你記得，十一月和十二月因為惡劣天氣，我們在那一塊是萎縮的。而在一月，我們是持平。我們在三月看到相當不錯且強勁的改善。因此這顯示業務不一定消失了，而是我們能回頭把它追回來。而且我們在期末帶著相當健康的待辦量（backlog）離開。

Ancillary, the more of the nine shots on goal that I oftentimes refer to as double-digit solid growth in March. And so overall, all healthy, all signs point to healthy -- a healthy portfolio across recurring, one-time, and the Ancillary.

附加業務（Ancillary）方面，也就是我常說的「九次進攻機會」中更多的項目，在三月呈現雙位數的穩健成長。因此整體而言都很健康，所有跡象都指向健康——在經常性、一次性以及附加業務上，都是一個健康的組合。

Okay. Thanks. And then maybe, Ken, could you give an update on the efforts to improve your retention rates going into the spring season, both from just raw retention and then some of the cost savings you've talked about?

好的。謝謝。接著也許Ken，你能否更新一下你們在春季旺季前提升留存率的努力，包含純粹的留存率，以及你之前提到的一些成本節省？

Certainly. When we think about retention, there's two aspects of retention. There's technician turnover and technician retention and then there's customer retention. On the technician turnover, it's more around short-term people that are coming into business in the first year and how do we improve upon that?

當然。談到留存，有兩個面向。一個是技術人員流動率與技術人員留任，另一個是客戶留存。在技術人員流動方面，更多是針對第一年進入這個行業的短期人員，我們要如何改善這一點？

We're making great strides there. We're going to have an Investor Day on May 14. We're going to talk a lot about what we're doing around our culture and all the investments and the results we're seeing, as well as the potential to move the needle when it comes to margins with spending less on onboarding because we're keeping our people through that first year. So continue to make progress there.

我們在這方面取得很大進展。我們將在5月14日舉辦投資人日。我們會大量談到我們在企業文化上的作為、所有投資與我們看到的成果，以及在第一年留住員工後，因為在入職培訓（onboarding）上的支出更少，而在毛利率/利潤率方面推動改善的潛力。所以我們會持續在這方面取得進展。

And then on the customer side, we're also making changes there. We're putting leadership around that, and we'll talk more about that in Investor Day. We're not seeing any major changes in the quarter per se when it comes to customer retention. It's not precluding or prohibiting us from growing our business, but there's an opportunity there. We just lose way too many customers every year, and we're making investments in that as well. And Jerry and the team, and all of us, we're going to speak to that in our Investor Day in May.

而在客戶端，我們也在做改變。我們正在配置相關的領導職責，並會在投資人日進一步說明。就客戶留存而言，本季本身我們並未看到任何重大變化。這並未排除或阻礙我們的業務成長，但這裡確實有機會。我們每年流失的客戶實在太多了，我們也正在對此進行投資。Jerry和團隊，以及我們所有人，都會在5月的投資人日談到這一點。

Yeah, the commercial side of retention remains very strong, very stable. We did make some modest improvements in. Residential side, particularly across our business as we exited the first quarter, so we're good to see that. But we still see that there's a lot of potential upside there and, thus, the investments that we've talked about making.

是的，商業端的留存仍然非常強勁、非常穩定。我們確實在住宅端做了一些小幅改善，特別是在第一季結束時，整體業務層面都有所改善，所以很高興看到這點。但我們仍然認為那裡有很大的上行潛力，因此才會有我們所談到要進行的投資。

Stephanie Moore, Jefferies.

Stephanie Moore，Jefferies。

I wanted to ask on just the margin improvement opportunity as the year progresses. Maybe if you could just talk about what gives you confidence that you'll be able to see some improvement? And maybe commenting on areas of opportunity outside of just inherent operating leverage as the top line accelerates? Thanks.

我想問的是，隨著今年進行，關於毛利率/利潤率改善的機會。也許你可以談談，是什麼讓你有信心能看到一些改善？另外，除了營收加速帶來的固有營運槓桿之外，是否也能評論一下其他機會領域？謝謝。

Thanks for the question, Stephanie. And when we think about it, when we look at the first quarter, you look at the incremental coming in at a pretty low point. But whenever you understand and whenever I took the time to really analyze and dig into the results, what I found was about 100 basis points in total of headwind was associated with insurance and claims, and then the gains on sales that we had in the fleet.

謝謝你的問題，Stephanie。當我們思考這件事時，回頭看第一季，你會看到增量利潤率處在相當低的水準。但當你理解並且當我花時間真正分析、深入挖掘結果時，我發現總計約有100個基點的逆風與保險與理賠相關，另外還有我們在車隊（fleet）出售時所產生的處分收益。

We talked about the fact that if we excluded those two items, you would have had a closer to a 20% or so incremental margin profile. And that's about what we would expect in Q1. I mean, a lower volume and that's the kind of performance we would expect to see come through the model in a lighter revenue quarter.

我們談到過，如果把那兩個項目排除，你的增量利潤率輪廓會更接近約 20%。而這大致就是我們對第一季的預期。我的意思是，量較低，而在營收較輕的季度，這就是我們預期會在模型中呈現出的那種表現。

When we think about those two areas, we talked about the fact that the sales on leased asset or gain on sale of assets should change and not be a headwind as we go into Q2. We should start to see some improvements there year-over-year. And so that certainly should help us regain some traction on the margin line.

當我們思考那兩個領域時，我們談到過，租賃資產的銷售或資產出售收益應該會有所變化，進入第二季後不應再成為逆風。我們應該會開始看到年對年有所改善。因此，這當然應該有助於我們在利潤率這條線上重新找回一些動能。

And the fact that we continue to see improvements in the overall growth of the business should also just yield solid results as we carried higher technicians and people into peak season. So considering those two or three points, I think it gives us a lot of confidence that Q2, three and four, we should see improvements in the margin profile to get us back into that range that we're targeting.

而且，我們持續看到整體業務成長改善的事實，也應該會在我們帶著較多技術人員與人力進入旺季時，帶來穩健的成果。所以綜合那兩三點，我認為這讓我們對第二季、第三季與第四季充滿信心，我們應該會看到利潤率輪廓改善，讓我們回到我們所鎖定的區間。

When you look at how much we spend on our P&L basis on people, when the growth is there, you get leverage on the people side as well. And that's probably the biggest opportunity that we have going in the rest of the year.

當你看我們在損益表基礎上在人員方面花了多少錢時，只要成長在，你在人員端也會產生槓桿效益。而這可能是我們在今年剩餘時間裡最大的機會。

Peter Keith, Piper Sandler.

Peter Keith，Piper Sandler。

Sorry about that. Good morning, everyone.

不好意思。各位早安。

Good morning, Peter. Hopefully, you weren't having the same issues we had earlier in the day.

早安，Peter。希望你沒有遇到我們今天稍早遇到的同樣問題。

No. But Ken, you sounded fabulous on the second go-around. On the margin topic, I'll just stick with that. For the gross margin. I was curious because you quantified all the negatives at a negative 100 basis points in some versus the 60-basis-point decline. So what were the positives that offset? And I'm assuming pricing played into that, but I was hoping you could answer the question.

沒有。不過 Ken，你第二次重來時聽起來非常棒。關於利潤率的話題，我就先聚焦在這裡。就毛利率而言。我很好奇，因為你把所有負面因素量化為負 100 個基點左右，但實際下降是 60 個基點。所以有哪些正面因素抵銷了？我猜定價有貢獻，但我希望你能回答這個問題。

Yeah. No, thanks for the question. I mean, we saw some good performance in the materials and service line. We also saw some improvements across a broad category of items that you normally would leverage, like branch rent and professional services, and things like that, other cost categories, if you will.

是的。謝謝你的問題。我的意思是，我們在材料與服務線上看到不錯的表現。我們也在一大類通常可以被槓桿化的項目上看到一些改善，例如分公司租金、專業服務等等，其他成本類別也有改善。

And so across those two or three areas, you had the materials and supplies and then you had the other areas. The 3% to 4% pricing allowed us to leverage those because they're not -- they're not changing as much -- they're not as, maybe, as variable as some of the other costs. And so we're able to leverage that through the P&L. Those are the things that produced the positive improvement in the gross margin, which was unfortunately fully offset by the items we talked about.

因此，在那兩三個領域中，你有材料與耗材，然後還有其他領域。3% 到 4% 的定價讓我們能夠槓桿化那些項目，因為它們並不是——它們變動沒那麼大——可能不像其他一些成本那麼具變動性。因此我們能在損益表中把這種槓桿效益體現出來。這些就是帶來毛利率正向改善的因素，但不幸的是，被我們談到的那些項目完全抵銷了。

Okay. Helpful. And then secondly, for me, just on the free cash flow, thanks for the details on the one-time items. I guess as we think about those items going forward on the timing of credits and the semi-annual interest payments, does what you've experienced as headwinds on free cash flow in Q1 reverse in Q2 or now we should see abnormal year-on-year increase?

好的。很有幫助。第二個問題，關於自由現金流，謝謝你提供一次性項目的細節。我想，當我們往前看這些項目的時間點，包括抵減（credits）的時點以及半年一次的利息支付，你們在第一季對自由現金流造成的逆風，會在第二季反轉嗎？還是我們現在會看到年對年出現異常的增加？

Yeah. They will -- as you go throughout the year, they will. The interest expense certainly will. That's paid semi-annually. So Q2, you won't see that come through year-over-year and be a headwind.

是的。隨著你在一年中往後走，它們會——會的。利息費用當然會。那是半年支付一次。所以在第二季，你不會看到它以年對年的方式出現並成為逆風。

The tax payments, we fully expect that by Q4, you'll see a nice improvement in the use of cash with respect to this. Some of this is front-loaded in the first half of the year. So you might -- yeah, you probably see improvement in Q2 and Q3 from where we are in Q1. You won't see it reach its full potential until Q4. But for the full year, that mid-teen sort of growth rate in cash is something that we continue to target and have a lot of confidence in delivering.

至於稅款支付，我們完全預期到第四季，你會看到在這方面的現金使用有不錯的改善。其中一部分在上半年是前置的。所以你可能——是的，你大概會在第二季和第三季看到相較第一季的改善。但要到第四季才會達到其全部潛力。不過就全年而言，那種中十位數（mid-teen）的現金成長率仍是我們持續鎖定的目標，而且我們很有信心能夠達成。

Helpful, and congrats on that March exit rate.

很有幫助，也恭喜你們三月的退出（exit）成長率。

Josh Chan, UBS.

Josh Chan，瑞銀（UBS）。

Maybe for Jerry, I guess in prior years where the weather is tougher to start the year, in your experience, by what month does everything normalize and then you move past the slowness and maybe catch up? I guess, when do things get back to normal usually?

也許問 Jerry：我想在過去幾年，如果年初天氣比較嚴峻，依你們的經驗，大概到哪個月份一切會正常化，然後你們就能走出低迷、甚至追趕回來？也就是說，通常什麼時候會回到正常？

Yeah. So Ken and I were talking about this yesterday. There have been times where we've had slow Marches and literally it was right around this time of the year in April when it would suddenly break and business would pick up. We were very fortunate, I think, in March to have had very favorable conditions pretty -- by the end of the first week of March, it really popped. It felt like things were literally heating up and --

是的。所以 Ken 和我昨天在談這件事。有些時候我們三月很慢，真的就在每年四月這個時間點左右突然就破局，業務開始回升。我認為我們在三月非常幸運，因為天候條件相當有利——大概到三月第一週結束時，業務就真的跳起來了。感覺事情真的開始升溫，--

But oftentimes, it's usually end of March, beginning at April that it starts to go. Sometimes that's delayed to like the third week of April and we're really sweating it when that happens. And once in a while it does. And you're just waiting when is it -- and we can tell based on phone call volumes on a day-to-day basis. We know when that's -- when it's official, so to speak, and it happened. And really, that happened for us at the end of the first week of March, so that was really good.

但很多時候，通常是三月底、四月初才開始動起來。有時候會延後到四月第三週，那時我們真的會很緊張。偶爾確實會這樣。你就一直在等到底什麼時候——而我們可以根據每天的來電量來判斷。我們知道那何時——可以說——正式發生。而對我們來說，真的就是在三月第一週結束時發生的，所以那真的很好。

Thanks for the color there. And then I think you mentioned earlier that you want to improve retention. I guess the retention in the industry has always been maybe not incredibly high. So I guess I wonder, what is it that you think you could change about something that has been this way for a little while?

謝謝你補充這些背景。另外我想你先前提到想提升留存率。我想這個產業的留存率一直以來可能都不是特別高。所以我想知道，你認為你們能改變什麼，來改善這種已經維持一段時間的狀況？

Well, I guess that goes back to the mindset of continuous improvement, that there's always something that can be made better, that we ought to be able to improve. I mean, for example, I give a shout out to our team at Fox Pest Control. When we acquired Fox three years ago, their customer retention was what I would call normal-ish.

嗯，我想這回到持續改善的心態：總有一些事情可以做得更好，我們應該能夠改善。例如，我要特別稱讚我們 Fox Pest Control 的團隊。三年前我們收購 Fox 時，他們的客戶留存率我會稱之為大致正常。

They have partnered with our -- with the HomeTeam brand who has some best-in-class retention. And over the last few years, have moved their residential retention by 5 percentage points. That's big movement over a few-year period of time. So that demonstrates to us that there's always room for improvement, always opportunity to get better, and we're going to be pushing hard on that lever across all of our business units, even if you're really good.

他們與我們的——與 HomeTeam 品牌合作，而 HomeTeam 在留存率方面屬於同業最佳之一。在過去幾年裡，他們把住宅客戶留存率提高了 5 個百分點。這是在幾年期間非常大的提升幅度。因此，這向我們證明總是有改善空間、總是有變得更好的機會，而我們會在所有業務單位上大力推動這個槓桿，即使你已經做得非常好。

The expectation is we need you to also make some modest improvements compared to maybe some of the territories or brands or parts of the business that are -- lag a little further behind others. So we see it as a huge opportunity. It's an opportunity to also potentially accelerate our organic growth rate a little bit more. And so we'll probably unpack that. We'll definitely be unpacking that a little bit more for you at the Investor Conference in May.

我們的預期是，相較於某些地區、品牌或業務部門——可能落後於其他部分一些——我們也需要做出一些適度的改善。因此我們將其視為一個巨大的機會。這也是一個機會，讓我們有可能把有機成長率再稍微加速一些。所以我們可能會進一步拆解說明。我們一定會在五月的投資人會議上為各位更深入地說明。

Thank you both for the color today and look forward to the Investor Day.

感謝兩位今天提供的補充說明，也期待投資人日。

Ashish Sabadra, RBC Capital Markets.

Ashish Sabadra，RBC Capital Markets。

This is David Paige on for Ashish. I had a question on Commercial. It looks like some solid growth -- continued solid growth. You mentioned some maybe some business wins and some other investments. So I was wondering if you could just double-click on how trends are going in Commercial? And then maybe as a follow-up, what is the competitive environment that you're seeing in Commercial? Thank you.

我是代替 Ashish 的 David Paige。我有一個關於商業（Commercial）業務的問題。看起來成長相當穩健——而且持續穩健成長。你們提到了一些業務贏單以及其他投資。所以我想請你們再更深入說明一下，商業業務的趨勢目前進展如何？另外作為追問，你們在商業業務看到的競爭環境是什麼樣子？謝謝。

We haven't seen any significant change in the competitive environment in Commercial. We still feel that we're positioned in -- just perfectly to have scale, to be able to service customers anywhere in North America, and that creates great opportunity. We've continued to invest in feet on the street.

我們沒有看到商業業務的競爭環境有任何重大變化。我們仍然認為，我們的定位——非常到位——具備規模優勢，能夠在北美任何地方服務客戶，這創造了很大的機會。我們也持續投資於前線人力。

Looking at some reports recently, we began the year with almost 80 more commercial account sales managers than we had in the first quarter of last year, and they're putting wins on the board. So we see it in both in local sales.

從我們最近看到的一些報告來看，今年年初我們的商業客戶（commercial account）銷售經理人數，比去年第一季多了將近 80 位，而且他們正在持續拿下贏單。所以我們在在地銷售上也看得到這個成果。

Those are the account managers that are more in the branches and the regions and the territories that they're working in. We also see it amongst our national accounts; getting great growth out of both those channels, driving growth throughout different verticals that we know that we like to focus on, and so we're really excited about that.

這些客戶經理比較是在分公司、區域以及他們所負責的地區裡運作。我們也在全國性客戶（national accounts）上看到同樣的情況；兩個通路都帶來很好的成長，並推動我們在不同垂直領域的成長——這些都是我們知道、也喜歡聚焦的領域——因此我們對此非常振奮。

And so those investments on the Commercial side take a little longer to pay off. But it's also one of the reasons we're so optimistic about the rest of the year because we know that the business coming in that's recently been sold, it turns into that organic recurring revenue growth throughout the remainder of the year.

因此，商業端的這些投資需要更長時間才會回收成效。但這也是我們對今年剩餘時間如此樂觀的原因之一，因為我們知道近期成交、導入的業務，會在今年剩餘期間轉化為有機的經常性營收成長。

George Tong, Goldman Sachs.

George Tong，Goldman Sachs。

You mentioned with insurance and claims that certain claims are going through the maturation process. Can you elaborate on whether this was from a specific vintage or period when claims activity was particularly high and how quickly your safety investments should translate into improved claims performance?

你們提到在保險與理賠方面，某些理賠正在進入成熟（maturation）流程。你能否進一步說明，這是否來自某個特定批次（vintage）或期間——當時理賠活動特別高——以及你們的安全投資需要多快才能轉化為理賠表現的改善？

When you think about these claims, I mean, these claims have the potential to go back a number of years. I mean, what you saw just generally across the business was post-COVID. When people came back on the highways, accidents started to happen. And so you saw claims from that vintage. You also saw more near-term claims.

談到這些理賠，我的意思是，這些理賠有可能可以追溯到好幾年前。整體來看，你在業務上看到的是疫情後（post-COVID）。當人們回到高速公路上，事故就開始發生。因此你會看到來自那個批次（vintage）的理賠。你也會看到一些較近期的理賠。

And so it's not -- it's hard to pinpoint any specific period that these claims pertain to. They're across a number of years and, I mean, when you think about the safety, I think it's already paying off. I mean we're seeing great improvements in our safety experience. But what happens is it just takes time for that to see its way through the cycle.

所以——很難把這些理賠精準歸因到任何特定期間。它們橫跨好幾年；而談到安全，我認為其實已經在產生效益。我們看到安全表現有很大的改善。但問題在於，這需要時間才能在整個循環中反映出來。

As I described, some of these claims are three, four, five years old. So as you think about it, you're probably going to continue to see experience like this in the next several years, hopefully, tailing off and trailing off as you move forward and make even more improvements in the safety experience. But this is probably something we're going to deal with, unfortunately, for a while.

如我所說，其中一些理賠已經是三、四、五年前的案子。所以從這個角度來看，未來幾年你可能仍會持續看到類似的經驗值——希望會逐步減弱、逐步下降——因為我們會持續往前並在安全表現上做出更多改善。但不幸的是，這可能還會是我們需要面對一段時間的事情。

The lead indicators are positive. That's the good news. So when your accident and injury frequency rates are coming down long-term, that is the best predictor that we have for those volumes. But at the same time, we see the cost of insurance and the crazy market that that is has just been a headwind for us for several years now.

領先指標是正向的。這是好消息。因此，當你的事故與受傷發生頻率長期下降時，這就是我們對那些量（volumes）最好的預測指標。但同時，我們也看到保險成本以及那個瘋狂的市場，這幾年來一直是我們的逆風。

Got it. That's helpful. And then with respect to fuel costs, can you discuss what your strategy is to pass along the costs to customers? How real-time can your prices adjust to changes in fuel costs?

了解。這很有幫助。另外關於燃料成本，你能否談談你們將成本轉嫁給客戶的策略？你們的價格能多即時地因燃料成本變動而調整？

So, George, we have two ways of charging for cost in our business. And really, we don't think about -- we think about the value of our business, but there's two. There's this annual price increase that we always talk about, then we have rate cards.

所以，George，我們在業務中有兩種方式來收取成本。而且嚴格來說，我們不太是以成本來思考——我們是以業務價值來思考——但確實有兩種方式。一種是我們一直在談的年度調價；另一種是我們有費率表（rate cards）。

And so as we go throughout the year, we have the ability to adjust the rate cards based upon what we're experiencing in our cost inputs. And so that's something we've, I think, we've done historically and will continue to do as we go forward.

因此在一年當中，我們可以根據成本投入的實際變化來調整費率表。我認為這是我們過去一直在做、未來也會持續做的事情。

And I would add that, for us, it's more about how do we avoid the fuel costs? How do we, for example, reduce idling time? How do we use apps that are installed on all of our phones that help direct us to the location nearest us that has the best gas prices? How do we leverage relationships?

我再補充一點，對我們而言，更重要的是如何避免燃料成本。例如，如何降低怠速時間？如何使用安裝在所有手機上的 App，協助我們導引到離我們最近、油價最便宜的地點？如何善用合作關係？

Our fleet team is doing a good job negotiating deals with large providers of fuel to get rebates on fuel use that runs through their systems. Those are the things that we're more focused on is about efficiency in our model and efficiency in our entire fleet system, and we'll let our normal price increase programs do their part to help us also offset.

我們的車隊團隊在與大型燃料供應商談判方面做得很好，能針對透過其系統的用油取得回饋（rebates）。我們更聚焦的是這些事情：提升我們模型的效率、以及整個車隊系統的效率；同時也讓我們既有的例行調價方案發揮作用，協助我們抵銷部分影響。

Or even how we build out dense routes, like or we acquire businesses like Fox, Saela, or Romex who have very dense routes. And like those are really good points, Jerry, that you highlight. And it's not just about reacting, but it's how do we proactively do things to make our business better.

甚至包括我們如何建立更密集的路線；或者我們如何收購像 Fox、Saela 或 Romex 這些路線密度很高的公司。Jerry，你提出的這些點都非常好。這不只是被動反應，而是我們如何主動採取行動，讓業務變得更好。

Seth Weber, BNP Paribas.

Seth Weber，BNP Paribas。

This is Christina (inaudible) on for Seth Weber. So I wanted to touch a bit about how you guys target around 2% to 3% revenue growth from M&A. And after the acquisition revenue in the first quarter and the Romex acquisition, I was wondering if you guys expect this acquisition to push the full-year M&A contribution above the 3%? And how does this change the overall M&A pipeline for the rest of the year?

我是代替 Seth Weber 的 Christina（聽不清）。我想稍微談一下你們如何以併購（M&A）來鎖定約 2% 到 3% 的營收成長。在第一季的併購營收貢獻以及 Romex 收購案之後，我想請問你們是否預期這筆收購會把全年 M&A 的貢獻推升到 3% 以上？這會如何改變你們今年剩餘時間的整體 M&A 管線？

Thank you for the question. In the first quarter, I think M&A contributed 3.6% of revenue growth for M&A. And we expect that to moderate as we go throughout the year. That was certainly bolstered last year by the Saela acquisition. And so right now, we're solidly in that 2% to 3% range.

感謝您的提問。第一季我認為併購（M&A）對營收成長的貢獻為3.6%。我們預期隨著今年推進，這個數字會趨於溫和。去年這部分確實因Saela的收購而受到提振。因此目前我們穩定落在2%到3%的區間。

There's an opportunity to go higher. There's probably very low likelihood that it would be below that. We are very confident in 2% to 3%. We're not ready to raise it yet, but we also just know that we're very active and we have a very strong pipeline. But right now, step 2% to 3% is probably the right range to be in.

仍有機會更高。但低於該區間的可能性大概非常低。我們對2%到3%非常有信心。我們還沒準備好上調，但我們也知道我們非常積極，而且案源管線非常強。不過就目前而言，2%到3%大概是合適的區間。

Got it. Thanks so much. And as a follow-up, so Termite and Ancillary was up about 9.8%. So I was wondering what's actually driving this and if you guys are seeing any customer demand for bigger ticket ancillary services? And I guess how cross-selling is going for selling these services across the rest of the brand portfolio? Thanks.

了解。非常感謝。另外追問一下，白蟻與附加服務（Termite and Ancillary）成長約9.8%。我想請問實際上是什麼在驅動這個成長？你們是否看到客戶對更高客單價的附加服務有需求？以及我想了解，將這些服務在其餘品牌組合中進行交叉銷售的進展如何？謝謝。

Going well. That'll be a big topic that we talk about in May. The Ancillary -- Termite and Ancillary includes Ancillary, which is this nine hockey season we're in here and playoff season, the nine shots on goal. We continue to see great demand there.

進展很好。這會是我們在5月會重點談的一大主題。附加服務——白蟻與附加服務包含附加服務；我們現在正處於這個九局的球季以及季後賽球季，也就是九次射門機會。我們持續看到那邊有很強的需求。

I think Ed Donahue will be joining us as part of the panel in May and he actually was really instrumental with developing our approach with Orkin, and we've seen great improvements there. But it's a great business. We continue to see good levels of demand, and it's a huge opportunity across the portfolio because we have a number of brands that aren't doing much with that part of the business today.

我想Ed Donahue會在5月以座談小組成員身分加入我們；他在制定我們在Orkin的做法上其實非常關鍵，我們也在那裡看到很大的改善。但這是一門很棒的業務。我們持續看到良好的需求水準，而且在整個品牌組合中有很大的機會，因為我們有不少品牌目前在這塊業務做得不多。

Yeah. That's a great point, Ken. We moved Ed Donahue, who is VP of Sales for Orkin for many years, and we've moved him over to our non-Orkin brands this year. And the group in brands has been moving the needle a great deal in adding services, using our RAC, our in-house financing, teaching them how to -- and training them how to leverage that throughout their businesses.

是的。Ken，你說得很好。我們把Ed Donahue——他多年擔任Orkin的銷售副總——今年調到我們非Orkin的品牌。而品牌團隊在增加服務方面大幅推動進展，運用我們的RAC、我們的內部融資，教他們如何——並訓練他們如何在各自的業務中加以運用。

And we've seen some really nice improvements in that regard very, very quickly, and we're excited about that. And like Ken said, you guys will see and meet Ed in May at the Investor Day. You'll hear more about that.

我們在這方面很快就看到一些非常不錯的改善，我們對此感到很振奮。而且如Ken所說，各位會在5月的投資人日看到並認識Ed。你們會聽到更多相關內容。

Jason Haas, Wells Fargo.

Wells Fargo的Jason Haas。

This is [Jamie] on for Jason Haas. We've heard that one of your competitors is being more aggressive with their marketing. So wondering if you're seeing any change in the competitive environment and if you're adjusting your marketing strategy and response?

我是代Jason Haas提問的[Jamie]。我們聽說你們的一位競爭對手在行銷上更具侵略性。想請問你們是否看到競爭環境有任何變化？以及你們是否在調整行銷策略與應對？

Not really. We're seeing great growth there and good performance.

沒有特別。我們在那邊看到很好的成長與良好的表現。

Yeah. We're continuing to focus on what we do, how we do it, spending our money efficiently, moving it to efficient channels and making adjustments. I'm sure that that team has to monitor and see what a variety of competitors. We have so many competitors in this space looking to gain the same customers.

是的。我們持續專注於我們做什麼、怎麼做，並有效率地花錢，把預算移到效率更高的渠道並做出調整。我相信那個團隊必須監控並觀察各式各樣的競爭對手。在這個領域我們有非常多競爭者，都在爭取同一批客戶。

But the more we try to target who our best customers are, what we're doing, and the marketing team stays on brand and focused on getting the right types of customers to our brands, that's when we win. And we still feel very comfortable and confident in everything that we're doing from a marketing standpoint.

但我們越能鎖定誰是我們最好的客戶、我們在做什麼，且行銷團隊維持品牌一致性並專注於為我們的品牌帶來正確類型的客戶，我們就越能勝出。而且就行銷面而言，我們對目前所做的一切仍然感到非常自在且有信心。

I mean, the fact that we saw 90 basis points of improvement in organic growth from Q4 to Q1, I think that stands out and shows that the investments we're making continue to yield really strong results in our markets.

我的意思是，我們看到有機成長率從第四季到第一季改善了90個基點，我認為這很突出，也顯示我們所做的投資在市場上持續產生非常強勁的成果。

Great point.

說得好。

That's helpful. And then as my follow-up, I'm curious within the Residential segment, if the acceleration you saw in March was caused by any business from earlier in the quarter shifting into March or if all of that acceleration was just strong underlying demand?

這很有幫助。接著追問，在住宅（Residential）部門中，你們3月看到的加速成長，是否是因為本季較早時點的部分業務延後到3月認列？還是這些加速完全來自強勁的基本面需求？

There may have been a little bit of carryover from backlog in February into March. But based on what I saw, and February was not nearly as tough as January was in terms of branch closures and number of days that we really couldn't get the work done. So we carried probably more backlog into February than we did March.

2月的積壓訂單可能有一小部分延續到3月。但就我所見，2月在分公司關閉與我們確實無法完成工作的天數方面，並不像1月那麼嚴峻。所以我們帶到2月的積壓訂單，可能比帶到3月的更多。

But March, as I mentioned, by the first week, I mean, it started going and the phone started ringing and things just picked up. So a lot of that organic was just coming at us right there in the quarter, and we also had time to get all of our work done that was scheduled to be done in a month.

但如我提到的，3月到了第一週就開始動起來了，電話開始響，事情就加速了。所以那一大部分的有機成長就是在本季當下直接湧現的需求；而且我們也有時間把一個月內排定要完成的工作都做完。

And this now concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to management for closing comments.

現在問答環節到此結束。我想把時間交回管理層作結語。

Well, thank you, everyone, for joining us today. As a reminder, we will be hosting our Investor and Analyst Conference on May 14 at the New York Stock Exchange. We're excited about what we have to share and look forward to seeing many of you in person. Thanks.

好的，感謝各位今天加入我們。提醒一下，我們將於5月14日在紐約證券交易所舉辦投資人與分析師會議。我們對將要分享的內容感到很興奮，也期待能與許多各位當面見面。謝謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation. This does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines and have a wonderful day.

各位女士、先生，感謝您的參與。今天的電話會議到此結束。您可以掛斷電話，祝您有美好的一天。