Roper Technologies, Inc. (ROP) 2021 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. The Roper Technologies First Quarter 2021 Financial Results Conference call will now begin. Today's call is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

早安。Roper Technologies 2021 年第一季財務結果電話會議現在開始。今天的電話會議將被錄音。（接線員指示）

I would now like to turn the call over to Zack Moxcey, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我想把電話交給投資人關係副總裁 Zack Moxcey。請開始。

Good morning and thank you all for joining us as we discuss the first quarter financial results for Roper Technologies. Joining me on the call this morning are Neil Hunn, President and Chief Executive Officer; Rob Crisci, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Jason Conley, Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer; and Shannon O'Callaghan, Vice President of Finance.

早安，感謝各位加入我們，一同討論 Roper Technologies 第一季財務結果。今天早上與我一同參與電話會議的有：總裁兼執行長 Neil Hunn；執行副總裁兼財務長 Rob Crisci；副總裁兼首席會計長 Jason Conley；以及財務副總裁 Shannon O'Callaghan。

Earlier this morning, we issued a press release announcing our financial results. The press release also includes replay information for today's call. We have prepared slides to accompany today's call, which are available through the webcast and are also available on our website.

今天稍早，我們發布新聞稿公告財務結果。新聞稿亦包含今天電話會議的重播資訊。我們已準備投影片搭配今天的電話會議，可透過網路直播取得，也可在我們的網站上查看。

Now if you'll please turn to Slide 2. We begin with our safe harbor statement.

現在請翻到投影片第 2 頁。我們先從安全港聲明開始。

During the course of today's call, we will make forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties as described on this page, in our press release and in our SEC filings. You should listen to today's call in the context of that information.

在今天電話會議過程中，我們將做出前瞻性陳述，該等陳述受本頁、我們的新聞稿以及我們向 SEC 提交文件中所述之風險與不確定性影響。請在該等資訊的脈絡下收聽今天的電話會議。

And now please turn to Slide 3. Today, we will discuss our results for the quarter primarily on an adjusted non-GAAP basis. Reconciliations between GAAP and adjusted measures can be found in our press release and in the appendix to this presentation on our website.

現在請翻到投影片第 3 頁。今天我們將主要以調整後的非 GAAP 基礎來討論本季結果。GAAP 與調整後衡量指標之間的調節表可在我們的新聞稿以及本簡報網站附錄中找到。

For the first quarter, the difference between our GAAP results and our adjusted results consist of the following items: amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets; purchase accounting adjustments to acquired deferred revenue and related commission expense; and lastly, a gain on sale related to a minority investment in Sedaru.

就第一季而言，我們的 GAAP 結果與調整後結果之差異包含以下項目：併購相關無形資產攤銷；對收購之遞延收入及相關佣金費用的購買會計調整；以及最後，與對 Sedaru 的少數股權投資相關的出售收益。

And now if you'll please turn to Slide 4, I'll hand the call over to Neil. After our prepared remarks, we will take questions from our telephone participants. Neil?

現在請翻到投影片第 4 頁，我將把電話交給 Neil。在我們的準備發言之後，我們將接受電話與會者提問。Neil？

Good morning and thanks for joining us. For this morning's call, I'll start with a brief summary of this quarter's results and activities. Rob will then highlight our P&L performance and balance sheet metrics. I'll then walk through our segment details, our increased outlook for the year and our concluding comments. As usual, we'll leave plenty of time to talk to your questions towards the end.

早安，感謝各位加入今天的電話會議。今天早上的會議，我會先簡要總結本季的結果與活動。接著 Rob 會說明我們的損益表表現與資產負債表指標。之後我會帶各位看各事業部門細節、我們上調的全年展望，以及結語。照例，我們會在最後預留充足時間回答各位的問題。

Next slide, please. As we turn to Page 5, we got off to a better start than we expected. Business execution was strong across the portfolio and was also broad based. We are encouraged by seeing nice improvements across the vast majority of our software and product-based end markets. In addition, we continue to see accelerating software recurring revenue growth, growing approximately 6% on an organic basis. Importantly, our 2020 cohort of acquisitions led by Vertafore continued to perform very well versus our expectations.

請看下一頁。翻到第 5 頁，我們的開局比預期更好。整個投資組合的業務執行都很強勁，而且是全面性的。我們很受鼓舞，因為看到我們絕大多數軟體與產品型終端市場都有不錯的改善。此外，我們持續看到軟體經常性收入成長加速，以有機基礎計算約成長 6%。重要的是，我們 2020 年的併購組合（以 Vertafore 為首）持續顯著優於我們的預期。

When you put this altogether, we experienced double-digit growth across virtually all financial metrics: revenue, EBITDA, DEPS and cash flow. The growth in cash flow performance in the quarter allowed to continue our rapid leveraging with about $500 million in debt paydown during the quarter. Based on this encouraging start, we're increasing our outlook and guidance for the full year.

綜合以上因素，我們幾乎所有財務指標都出現兩位數成長：營收、EBITDA、DEPS 與現金流。本季現金流表現的成長，使我們得以持續快速去槓桿化，本季約償還 5 億美元債務。基於這個令人鼓舞的開局，我們上調全年展望與指引。

And with that, let me turn it over to Rob to review the financial details. Rob?

接下來我把時間交給 Rob，請他說明財務細節。Rob？

Thanks, Neil. Good morning, everyone. Turning to Page 6 and covering the Q1 financial highlights.

謝謝，Neil。各位早安。請翻到第 6 頁，我將說明第一季財務重點。

Total revenue increased 13% to $1.53 billion, which was an all-time record for any Roper quarter. Organic revenue for the enterprise declined 1% versus last year's plus 4% prepandemic comp. EBITDA grew 20% to $561 million. EBITDA margin increased 220 basis points to 36.7% on really great incrementals across the portfolio. Adjusted DEPS was $3.60, 18% above prior year. Free cash flow was $543 million, up 54%. We continue to benefit from our business transformation to a more software-weighted model, where working capital boosts cash flow as our growth accelerates.

總營收成長 13% 至 15.3 億美元，創下 Roper 單季歷史新高。企業整體有機營收較去年下降 1%，相較於疫情前的比較基期為 +4%。EBITDA 成長 20% 至 5.61 億美元。EBITDA 利潤率提升 220 個基點至 36.7%，主要來自整個投資組合非常出色的增量利潤。調整後 DEPS 為 3.60 美元，較去年同期高 18%。自由現金流為 5.43 億美元，成長 54%。我們持續受惠於業務轉型為更偏重軟體的模式；隨著成長加速，營運資金的變動會推升現金流。

Our results were enhanced a bit by approximately $40 million of accelerated payments that were the result of wins at our U.K.-based CliniSys laboratory software business.

我們的結果也因約 4,000 萬美元的加速收款而略有提升，該加速收款來自我們英國 CliniSys 實驗室軟體業務的得標。

Aided by our outstanding cash flow performance, we reduced our debt by approximately $500 million in the quarter. More on that to follow. So in summary, a great start to 2021.

在卓越的現金流表現帶動下，我們本季將債務減少約 5 億美元。稍後會再補充。因此總結來說，2021 年開局非常好。

Next slide. Turning to Page 7, an update on our deleveraging.

下一頁。請翻到第 7 頁，更新我們的去槓桿化進度。

The charts on this page are a good preview for how we expect 2021 to look as we follow through on our commitment to reduce debt after our 2020 opportunistic capital deployment. As each quarter passes by, we will benefit from meaningfully improved trailing EBITDA as the performance of last year's acquisitions rolls into Roper's financials. EBITDA is then further enhanced by our accelerating organic growth.

本頁圖表很好地預示了我們預期 2021 年的樣貌：在 2020 年把握機會進行資本配置之後，我們將落實降低債務的承諾。隨著每一季推進，去年併購案的表現將逐步納入 Roper 的財務報表，使過去 12 個月（TTM）EBITDA 顯著改善。接著，EBITDA 也會因我們有機成長加速而進一步提升。

Concurrently, our strong cash conversion allows us to apply our high levels of excess free cash flow toward consistent reduction of our debt. In the first quarter, we reduced our debt by approximately $500 million. Over the first 3 months of the year, our EBITDA growth, combined with debt reduction, enabled us to lower our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio from 4.7 to 4.2. We expect this downward trend in leverage ratios to continue moving forward.

同時，我們強勁的現金轉換能力，使我們能將大量超額自由現金流用於持續降低債務。第一季我們將債務減少約 5 億美元。在今年前 3 個月，EBITDA 成長加上債務下降，使我們的淨負債／EBITDA 比率從 4.7 降至 4.2。我們預期這個槓桿比率下降趨勢未來仍將持續。

So with that, I'll turn it back over to Neil to discuss our segment performance.

那麼我把時間交還給 Neil，請他說明各事業部門表現。

Thanks, Rob. As we turn to Page 9, revenues in our application software segment were $578 million, up 2% on an organic basis. EBITDA margins were an impressive 44.9% in the quarter.

謝謝，Rob。翻到第 9 頁，我們的應用軟體事業部門營收為 5.78 億美元，以有機基礎計算成長 2%。本季 EBITDA 利潤率達到令人印象深刻的 44.9%。

Across this segment, we saw organic recurring revenue, which is about 75% of the revenue for this segment, increase approximately 6%. This recurring revenue strength is based on strong customer retention and continued migration to our SaaS delivery models. Of note, this quarter should be the last quarter of nonrecurring revenue declines as we come across the COVID comp from last year.

在此事業部門中，我們看到有機經常性收入（約占該部門營收的 75%）成長約 6%。這項經常性收入的強勁表現，來自高客戶留存率以及持續移轉至我們的 SaaS 交付模式。值得注意的是，隨著我們跨越去年 COVID 的比較基期，本季應該會是非經常性收入下滑的最後一季。

From a business unit perspective, Deltek continued its long string of great performance. As we expected, Deltek's recurring revenue grew nicely. Of particular importance, Deltek saw an increase to their perpetual revenue during the quarter, coming off a decently strong quarter a year ago. Also encouraging was the nature of the bookings activity, which was broad based across our architecture, engineering, creative and government contracting end markets. For reference, the professional services end markets tied to AEC and creative have been slow since the onset of COVID.

從事業單位角度來看，Deltek 延續其長期以來的優異表現。如我們所預期，Deltek 的經常性收入穩健成長。特別重要的是，Deltek 本季的永久授權收入有所增加，而一年前的同季本來就有相當不錯的表現。同樣令人鼓舞的是訂單活動的性質，涵蓋我們的建築、工程、創意與政府承包等終端市場，呈現廣泛分布。供參考，與 AEC 與創意相關的專業服務終端市場自 COVID 爆發以來一直偏慢。

Also, CliniSys, our European lab software business, just crushed it during the quarter. As Rob mentioned, CliniSys had exceptionally strong cash flow as they gained tremendous market share within the clinical lab consolidation occurring within the United Kingdom. CliniSys has approximately 85% market share in the U.K. and is now recognized as 1 of 4 critical IT vendors for the entire National Health Service, just outstanding execution by the CliniSys team, and congrats.

此外，我們的歐洲實驗室軟體業務 CliniSys 本季表現極為亮眼。正如 Rob 所提到的，CliniSys 現金流異常強勁，因其在英國臨床實驗室整併的過程中大幅提升市占率。CliniSys 在英國約有 85% 的市占率，現在也被認定為全國健康服務體系（National Health Service）整體的 4 家關鍵 IT 供應商之一；CliniSys 團隊的執行力非常出色，恭喜。

We also saw thawing in the higher education markets that CBORD serves, certainly encouraging.

我們也看到 CBORD 所服務的高等教育市場出現回溫，這當然令人鼓舞。

Finally, our 2020 cohort of acquisitions continues to perform very well. Specific to Vertafore, we continue to be encouraged by their customers' comfort in having Roper as a long-term owner for the business. Also, Amy and her team have done a great job transitioning to Roper and our governance model.

最後，我們 2020 年的併購組合持續表現非常好。就 Vertafore 而言，我們持續受到鼓舞，因為其客戶對於由 Roper 作為該業務的長期擁有者感到更安心。此外，Amy 與她的團隊在轉型融入 Roper 以及我們的治理模式方面做得非常出色。

As we turn to the outlook for the balance of the year, we expect high single-digit organic growth for this segment. This is based on the expectation for sustained levels of recurring revenue growth and the resumption of nonrecurring revenue growth.

展望今年剩餘期間，我們預期該事業群將實現高個位數的有機成長。此預期係基於經常性收入成長可望維持在穩健水準，以及非經常性收入成長的恢復。

As it relates specifically to the second quarter, we expect our growth to be a touch below high single digits due to our global lab software group coming off across a challenging comp from a year ago as they are instrumental standing up COVID testing on a global basis, a solid and encouraging quarter for sure.

就第二季而言，由於我們的全球實驗室軟體團隊在去年同期面臨具挑戰性的比較基期（當時他們在全球範圍內協助建立 COVID 檢測，確實是非常扎實且令人鼓舞的一季），我們預期成長率將略低於高個位數。

And with that, let's turn to our next slide, please. Turning to Page 10, revenue in our network segment were $440 million, flat versus last year and down 3% on an organic basis. EBITDA margins were 40.9% in the quarter. Our software businesses in the segment, about 65% of the revenues, were up 4% on an organic basis. This revenue was broad based among our software businesses and driven by organic recurring revenue growth of approximately 6%. Recurring revenue growth is underpinned by strong customer retention. Recurring revenues are also benefited by increasing network participation.

接著請看下一張投影片。翻到第 10 頁，我們網路事業群營收為 4.40 億美元，與去年持平，按有機基礎計算下降 3%。本季 EBITDA 利潤率為 40.9%。該事業群中的軟體業務約占營收的 65%，按有機基礎計算成長 4%。此營收成長在我們各軟體業務間呈現廣泛分布，並由約 6% 的有機經常性收入成長所帶動。經常性收入成長的基礎來自強勁的客戶留存。經常性收入亦受惠於網路參與度提升。

At the business level, our Freight Match businesses, both in the U.S. and Canada, continued to be solid growers for us. As a reminder, our Freight Match networks are critical and necessary elements to help organize and transact the trucking/shipping spot markets. Strength in our businesses has been on both sides of the network, brokers and carriers.

在業務層面，我們的 Freight Match 業務（美國與加拿大）持續為我們帶來穩健成長。提醒一下，我們的 Freight Match 網路是協助組織並促成卡車/貨運即期市場交易的關鍵且必要要素。我們業務的強勁表現來自網路兩端——經紀商與承運商。

We also continued to see nice organic gains at ConstructConnect as their network enables commercial construction planning and bidding to occur in a more efficient and transparent manner.

我們也持續看到 ConstructConnect 取得良好的有機成長，因其網路使商業建築規劃與投標能以更有效率且更透明的方式進行。

And lastly, as it relates to our network software businesses, we saw improved end market activity, especially in the middle market, for Foundry, our media and entertainment compositing software business.

最後，就我們的網路軟體業務而言，我們看到終端市場活動改善，特別是在中型市場；其中 Foundry（我們的媒體與娛樂合成軟體業務）表現尤為明顯。

Our nonsoftware businesses in this segment were down 13% for the quarter, a touch better than we anticipated. TransCore's New York project work continues and is tracking well. TransCore's tag volumes declined versus a year ago based on lower traffic volumes across the U.S.

本事業群的非軟體業務本季下降 13%，略優於我們的預期。TransCore 的紐約專案工作持續進行且進度良好。TransCore 的標籤（tag）出貨量較去年下降，主要因美國各地交通流量降低。

Turning to the outlook for the balance of the year, we expect to see high single-digit organic revenue growth for this segment, with consistent high single-digit growth through the balance of the year for our network software businesses.

展望今年剩餘期間，我們預期該事業群將呈現高個位數的有機營收成長；其中我們的網路軟體業務在今年剩餘期間可望維持一致的高個位數成長。

As it relates specifically to the second quarter, we anticipate our segment organic growth to be a touch below HSD given TransCore should be stronger in the second half versus next quarter based on timing of project execution and tag shipments. All in all, a solid outlook for the balance of the year.

就第二季而言，考量 TransCore 受專案執行與標籤出貨時點影響，下半年應較下一季更強，我們預期本事業群的有機成長將略低於高個位數。整體而言，今年剩餘期間展望穩健。

Please turn to the next slide. As we turn to Page 11, revenues in our MAS segment were $381 million, up 2% on an organic basis. EBITDA margins were 34.8% in the quarter.

請翻到下一張投影片。來到第 11 頁，我們 MAS 事業群營收為 3.81 億美元，按有機基礎計算成長 2%。本季 EBITDA 利潤率為 34.8%。

As usual, in this segment, we will profile the 3 macro parts, medical products, Neptune and our industrial businesses. To start, our medical product business has performed very well this quarter. Verathon continued its strength based on consistent factors: GlideScope unit placements and recurring consumables pull-through and continued momentum and share gains with our single-use bronchoscope product offering. What's also encouraging to see is the growth in their BladderScan product line. We believe this was based on a broader-based trend of hospitals resuming some normal level of clinical capital spending.

如同以往，在此事業群中我們將聚焦三大部分：醫療產品、Neptune，以及我們的工業業務。首先，我們的醫療產品業務本季表現非常出色。Verathon 延續其強勢，主要來自幾項一致的因素：GlideScope 設備裝機量、耗材的經常性拉動效應（pull-through），以及我們一次性支氣管鏡產品組合持續的動能與市占提升。同樣令人鼓舞的是其 BladderScan 產品線的成長。我們認為這反映出更廣泛的趨勢：醫院正恢復到某種正常水準的臨床資本支出。

We saw similar strength in our other medical product businesses as well. For instance, Northern Digital, had their best Q1's bookings quarter in history. This trend bodes well for the balance of the year. Neptune, as expected, declined in the quarter for the same reasons discussed in each of the last 3 quarters, having limited access to indoor meters in the Northeast United States and Canada. However, we did see some easing of these restrictions in March, and Neptune's customers are beginning to increase their maintenance schedules throughout Q2 and into the second half of the year.

我們在其他醫療產品業務也看到類似的強勁表現。例如 Northern Digital 創下其歷史上最佳的第一季接單（bookings）表現。此趨勢對今年剩餘期間是正向訊號。Neptune 如預期在本季下滑，原因與過去三季所討論相同：在美國東北部與加拿大，室內水表的進入受限。不過，我們確實在 3 月看到這些限制有所緩解，Neptune 的客戶正開始在第二季並延伸至下半年提高其維護排程。

Finally, our industrial businesses benefited from improvements in their end market conditions.

最後，我們的工業業務受惠於其終端市場狀況改善。

For the balance of the year, we expect high single-digit growth for this segment. This is based on broadly improving conditions, both in medical and industrial end markets, and increases to access and indoor meter replacements at Neptune. This strength will be somewhat offset by the extraordinary prior year COVID demand at Verathon. We're encouraged by our expected high single-digit growth for the balance of the year.

就今年剩餘期間而言，我們預期該事業群將實現高個位數成長。此預期係基於醫療與工業終端市場狀況普遍改善，以及 Neptune 室內進入與室內水表更換的增加。上述強勁表現將部分被 Verathon 去年因 COVID 帶來的異常需求所形成的高基期所抵銷。我們對今年剩餘期間可望達成高個位數成長感到鼓舞。

Now let's turn to our final segment, Process Tech. As we turn to Page 12, revenues in our Process Technologies segment were $131 million, down 10% on an organic basis. EBITDA margins hung in at 31% in the quarter.

現在讓我們看最後一個事業群：流程技術（Process Tech）。翻到第 12 頁，我們流程技術事業群營收為 1.31 億美元，按有機基礎計算下降 10%。本季 EBITDA 利潤率仍維持在 31%。

The short story here is we're seeing improving end market conditions across virtually every one of our businesses in this segment after nearly 2 years of declines. For instance, at CCC, we're seeing the resumption of previously deferred projects and demand for field services to come back online. Also, greenfield bidding activity is back in full swing, especially on an international basis.

簡而言之，在經歷近兩年的下滑後，我們看到該事業群幾乎所有業務的終端市場狀況正在改善。例如在 CCC，我們看到先前延後的專案重新啟動，現場服務需求也回到正軌。此外，新建（greenfield）投標活動已全面回溫，尤其是在國際市場。

Cornell continues to perform well for us. This is particularly partially based on market conditions but also based on Cornell's product innovation as they're seeing very nice demand pickup for their IoT connected pumping solutions.

Cornell 持續為我們帶來良好表現。這部分固然與市場狀況有關，但也得益於 Cornell 的產品創新；其物聯網（IoT）連網泵浦解決方案的需求回升相當明顯。

As we look to the outlook for the balance of the year, we see double-digit organic growth based on improving end market conditions and continued easing comps.

展望今年剩餘期間，基於終端市場狀況改善以及比較基期持續趨於有利，我們預期有機成長將達到雙位數。

Now please turn to Page 14, where I'll highlight our increased guidance for 2021.

現在請翻到第 14 頁，我將重點說明我們對 2021 年上調的財測指引。

Based on strong Q1 performance and our increased confidence for the balance of the year, we are raising our full year adjusted DEPS to be in the range of $14.75 and $15 per share and organic growth to be in the 6% to 7% range. This 6% to 7% organic growth is against a 1% organic decline in 2020. This demonstrates that we have meaningfully improved on an organic basis since 2019. The compounding continues.

基於第一季強勁表現以及我們對今年剩餘期間信心提升，我們將全年調整後 DEPS 上調至每股 14.75 至 15.00 美元區間，並將有機成長上調至 6% 至 7% 區間。此 6% 至 7% 的有機成長係相較於 2020 年 1% 的有機下滑。這顯示自 2019 年以來，我們在有機基礎上已顯著改善。複利成長仍在持續。

Our tax rate should continue to be in the 21% to 22% range.

我們的稅率應可持續維持在 21% 至 22% 區間。

For the second quarter, we're establishing adjusted DEPS guidance to be between $3.61 and $3.65 and expect second quarter organic revenue growth to be in line with the full year organic growth rate.

就第二季而言，我們建立調整後 DEPS 指引為每股 3.61 至 3.65 美元，並預期第二季有機營收成長將與全年有機成長率一致。

Now let's turn to our summary and get to your questions.

現在讓我們進入總結並回答各位的問題。

Turning to Page 15 and our closing summary, this was an encouraging start, and we're raising our outlook for the year. We performed well across virtually every financial metric with double-digit increases in revenue, EBITDA, DEPS and cash flow. EBITDA margins expanded nicely, and free cash flow grew 54% to $543 million, which enabled us to continue our rapid deleveraging in the quarter. Importantly, we are well positioned for continued double-digit compounding.

翻到第 15 頁作為結語總結，這是一個令人鼓舞的開局，我們也上調了今年展望。我們在幾乎所有財務指標上均表現良好，營收、EBITDA、DEPS 與現金流皆呈現雙位數成長。EBITDA 利潤率明顯擴張，自由現金流成長 54% 至 5.43 億美元，使我們得以在本季持續快速去槓桿。重要的是，我們已為持續的雙位數複利成長做好充分準備。

We're seeing improving conditions across virtually all of our end markets. When combined with our leading market positions, we expect high single-digit organic growth for the remainder of the year.

我們看到幾乎所有終端市場的狀況都在改善。結合我們領先的市場地位，我們預期今年剩餘期間將實現高個位數的有機成長。

As owners or prospective owners of Roper Tech, you should be encouraged by our increasing levels of recurring revenue and the stability of our recurring revenue growth. Also, our 2020 cohort of acquisitions are performing very well, and Vertafore has proven to be an excellent addition to our growing portfolio of software businesses.

作為 Roper Tech 的股東或潛在股東，您應對我們經常性收入水準的提升以及經常性收入成長的穩定性感到鼓舞。此外，我們 2020 年收購的企業表現非常出色，而 Vertafore 已證明是我們不斷擴大的軟體業務組合中的一項極佳補強。

We continue to focus on deleveraging our balance sheet and remain committed and focused on our long-term capital deployment strategy. To this end, our pipeline of M&A candidates is active, robust and has many high-quality opportunities. As our balance sheet becomes more offensive towards the end of this year, our active pipeline of M&A targets will enable us to resume capital deployment in our usual process-oriented and disciplined manner.

我們將持續聚焦於資產負債表去槓桿，並維持對長期資本配置策略的承諾與專注。為此，我們的併購（M&A）候選標的管線活躍且強勁，並包含許多高品質機會。隨著我們的資產負債表在今年稍晚更具進攻性，我們活躍的併購目標管線將使我們能以一貫流程導向且嚴謹自律的方式，恢復資本配置。

In closing, and as we turn to your questions, we recently announced that Amy Woods Brinkley will become our new Board Chair effective June 1. Amy has been a tremendous Board member since 2015 and will be a fantastic Board Chair. I certainly look forward to working with Amy and the full Board for many years to come.

最後，在我們轉向各位提問之前，我們最近宣布 Amy Woods Brinkley 將自 6 月 1 日起出任我們的新任董事會主席。Amy 自 2015 年起一直是非常傑出的董事會成員，並將成為一位出色的董事會主席。我非常期待在未來多年與 Amy 以及全體董事會成員一同合作。

But as we turn to your questions, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge and thank our outgoing board chair, Bill Prezzano. Bill has been a Roper director since 1997 and has reached our mandatory Board retirement age. He served as our Lead Independent Chair Director and became Board Chair during the CEO transition from Brian Jellison to myself.

不過在我們轉向各位提問之前，我想花一點時間致謝並感謝即將卸任的董事會主席 Bill Prezzano。Bill 自 1997 年起擔任 Roper 董事，並已達到我們董事會強制退休年齡。他曾擔任首席獨立董事，並在執行長由 Brian Jellison 交接至我本人期間出任董事會主席。

Bill has been a wonderful Board Chair, enabling a smooth CEO transition and the continued evolution of our strategy and business model. On a personal note, Bill has been a tremendous mentor to me, which I hope will continue on an informal basis for years to come. Bill, thank you for your years of service to Roper shareholders. I think the share price is around $16 when you started. And thank you for helping me become a better leader and Chief Executive Officer.

Bill 一直是非常出色的董事會主席，促成了順利的執行長交接，並推動我們策略與商業模式的持續演進。就個人而言，Bill 一直是我非常重要的導師，我也希望未來多年仍能以非正式的方式持續向他請益。Bill，感謝你多年來為 Roper 股東所做的貢獻。我記得你剛開始時股價大約在 16 美元左右。也謝謝你幫助我成為更好的領導者與執行長。

With that, we'd like to open it up to your questions.

接下來，我們想開放讓各位提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is from Christopher Glynn from Oppenheimer.

（接線員指示）我們的第一個問題來自 Oppenheimer 的 Christopher Glynn。

So strong margins across the board. I was curious. In particular, Application Software was particularly better than expected. I don't know if Vertafore had some incremental revenue versus what you expected, but what kind of drove up the App Soft margins in the quarter?

整體來看毛利率都很強。我有點好奇，尤其是應用軟體（Application Software）的表現明顯優於預期。我不確定 Vertafore 是否有一些超出你們預期的增量營收，但本季是什麼因素推升了應用軟體的利潤率？

Yes, there's strength across those businesses. I think Neil mentioned CliniSys was strong, Sunquest had a nice quarter. Deltek, sort of perpetual license wins there. All that stuff comes in at really high incrementals, and that drove most of the margin performance.

是的，這些業務整體都很強。我想 Neil 提到 CliniSys 表現強勁，Sunquest 也有不錯的一季。Deltek 方面，算是拿下了一些永久授權（perpetual license）的案子。這些收入的增量利潤率都非常高，而這推動了大部分的利潤率表現。

Okay. And then a question on acquisition philosophy. You've kind of highlighted financial profile and returns and characteristics over strategic end markets. But it strikes that Vertafore and iPipeline, 2 out of your 3 biggest deals ever, both kind of serve in the insurance marketplaces. I'm wondering if there's any emerging prioritization in types of end markets.

了解。接著想問併購理念。你們一直強調財務輪廓、報酬與特性，而不是策略性的終端市場。但看起來 Vertafore 和 iPipeline——你們史上三大交易中的兩筆——都服務於保險市場。我想知道在終端市場類型上，是否有任何正在浮現的優先順序？

I appreciate the question and the opportunity to talk about that. The short answer is no. I mean our M&A strategy for 20 years is centered on picking the best businesses and business models that we can identify from the range of opportunities in the marketplace.

謝謝你的問題，也謝謝你給我機會談這點。簡短答案是沒有。我們 20 年來的併購策略，一直是以在市場各種機會中，挑選我們能辨識到的最佳企業與最佳商業模式為核心。

If you go back to really starting in 2011, you might have thought from '11 to '13 we're all about health care IT; and then maybe from '14 to '17 about professional services, ERP; and then the last couple of years about insurance tech. But all of those steps are completely coincidental. We really just evaluate the range of opportunities and pick the very best business that we can find.

如果回頭看，從 2011 年真正開始，你可能會覺得 2011 到 2013 年我們專注在醫療 IT；接著 2014 到 2017 年可能是專業服務、ERP；而過去幾年則像是保險科技。但這些步驟完全是巧合。我們真的只是評估各種機會範圍，然後挑選我們能找到的最優質企業。

The next question is from Deane Dray from RBC Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自 RBC Capital Markets 的 Deane Dray。

First question is, how would you characterize the software demand this quarter? It might be hard to parse this out, but how much might have been pent-up from the COVID shutdown, kind of a catch-up versus a true recovery and resumption of growth? I'm not sure you can characterize it broadly but maybe some individual examples within the businesses.

第一個問題是，你會如何描述本季的軟體需求？這可能不容易拆解，但其中有多少可能是 COVID 停擺期間累積的遞延需求、屬於補回（catch-up），而不是實質復甦與成長恢復？我不確定你能否做整體性的描述，但也許可以舉一些各事業的個別例子。

Yes, I don't think there's much pent-up here from our call-downs to our businesses this year. So this quarter, it's more of a -- more recovery story. For instance, we talked about in the prepared remarks about the professional services end markets that Deltek serves. Architecture, engineering, creative agencies started to come back in the quarter, which is great to see. Vertafore was steady as she goes. They were not particularly impacted by the pandemic. Aderant law firms continued to proceed with their transition. We did see some recovery start in the education and health care markets at CBORD, the middle market at Foundry, which is great to see, as production -- live production begins and comes out of production into post production. It was really just a nice increasing sort of start to recovery.

是的，我不認為今年我們各事業的下滑（call-downs）帶來太多遞延需求。所以本季更像是——更偏向復甦的故事。比如我們在事先準備的講稿中提到 Deltek 所服務的專業服務終端市場：建築、工程、創意代理商在本季開始回來了，這很令人欣慰。Vertafore 則是維持穩定，他們並未特別受到疫情影響。Aderant 的律師事務所客戶也持續推進其轉換。我們也看到 CBORD 在教育與醫療市場、Foundry 在中型市場開始出現一些復甦，這很棒，因為製作——現場製作（live production）開始恢復，並從製作進入後期製作（post production）。整體而言，就是一個很不錯、逐步升溫的復甦起點。

And then anytime anybody asked a question about software, we got to talk about the recurring revenue stream. It was around 6% growth organically across the 2 segments and in total, which bodes well for the future.

另外，只要有人問到軟體，我們就會談到經常性收入（recurring revenue stream）。兩個部門合計以及整體的有機成長大約是 6%，這對未來是個好兆頭。

That's great to hear. And then just a second question. Since it is such a high-profile project, any updates on the New York City congestion tolling? I saw in the slide it says that work has continued, but any update there would be helpful.

很高興聽到。第二個問題，因為這是高度受關注的專案，想請問紐約市擁堵收費（congestion tolling）有沒有更新？我看到投影片上寫「工作持續進行」，但若能提供任何更新會很有幫助。

Yes. Just the project continues. The customer continues to want us to get the project done, so they can commence the discussions on how they're going to do the tolling and begin to start the tolling. Certainly, the most macro backdrop is more favorable now with the administration in the White House and Secretary Pete and all the -- that is all in a much more favorable position than it was just a quarter or 2 ago. So the project continues.

是的，專案持續進行。客戶仍希望我們把專案完成，這樣他們就能開始討論要如何實施收費並啟動收費。當然，從更宏觀的背景來看，現在的環境更有利，白宮的新政府與 Pete 部長等——整體都處於比一、兩季前更有利的位置。所以專案仍在推進。

The next question comes from Julian Mitchell from Barclays.

下一個問題來自 Barclays 的 Julian Mitchell。

Maybe my first question, just to try and circle back on to the margin aspect. So in Application Software, you did have a very substantial margin increase year-on-year in the first quarter. You've laid out some of the reasons why. But maybe just help us understand, sort of as we think about the balance of the year for that business and maybe for Roper firm-wide, what type of incremental margins or margin trajectory we should expect. Because it looks as if the sort of drop-through margin is maybe around 20% in the guide for the balance of the year. I just wanted to sort of check how you are thinking about that.

第一個問題想回到利潤率。應用軟體在第一季的利潤率年增幅度非常可觀，你們也說明了一些原因。但能否幫我們理解一下，當我們看這項業務今年剩餘期間、以及 Roper 全公司層面時，應該預期怎樣的增量利潤率或利潤率走勢？因為看起來指引中今年剩餘期間的落底（drop-through）利潤率大概在 20% 左右。我只是想確認你們的思考方式。

Yes, so I'll give a crack at that. On an EBITDA margin basis, right, I mean, Vertafore is a higher-EBITDA-margin business. So that -- you're seeing that, and we talked about when we bought the business, it's around a 50%-or-so, a-little-below-that EBITDA margin business. So that helps.

好的，我來試著回答。以 EBITDA 利潤率來看，Vertafore 本來就是 EBITDA 利潤率較高的業務。所以——你看到的就是這個效果。我們在收購時也提過，它的 EBITDA 利潤率大約在 50% 左右、略低於 50%。這確實有幫助。

I think on a core basis, it's going to be relatively consistent year-over-year for the rest of the businesses on an EBITDA margin basis. And that's conversion at 40% to 50%. And that's just consistent with what we see in these businesses as they grow. And as you know, they have great cash characteristics, very negative working capital. So the cash flow growth can often be even faster than the EBITDA growth.

我認為就核心而言，其餘業務在 EBITDA 利潤率基礎上，全年剩餘期間與去年相比會相對一致。其轉換率（conversion）在 40% 到 50%。這與我們在這些業務隨成長所觀察到的情況一致。而且如你所知，它們的現金特性非常好，營運資金非常負（very negative working capital）。因此，現金流成長往往甚至可能比 EBITDA 成長更快。

And so it's a great story there, and I think we'll continue to see margins high into that segment.

所以這是一個很好的故事，我認為我們會持續看到該部門維持高利潤率。

And Julian, this is Neil, just to underscore one thing Rob said, I mean, the incremental EBITDA margins for the year are 40%, as he said. I just want to underscore again.

Julian，我是 Neil，我想強調 Rob 剛才說的一點：全年增量 EBITDA 利潤率是 40%，如他所說。我只是想再一次強調。

Yes. That's right.

是的，沒錯。

Perfect. And then second question would really be around the -- in network software. How are you thinking about the -- leaving aside TransCore, the sort of core piece of it, you did have some big impacts there in network software last year from COVID in sort of health care, food and media, I think you had called out before. Maybe just clarify what pace of sort of top line acceleration you're seeing in some of those COVID-impacted areas and what kind of cyclical recovery, if you like, in network software you're experiencing.

很好。第二個問題是關於——網路軟體（network software）。先不談 TransCore，談核心部分：去年網路軟體在醫療、食品與媒體等領域受到 COVID 的一些重大影響，我記得你們之前有提到。能否說明一下，在這些受 COVID 影響的領域，你們看到營收加速的步伐如何？以及你們在網路軟體中經歷到的、如果可以這麼說的話，週期性復甦是什麼樣子？

Yes. So the network software businesses are strong, high single-digit organic for the rest of the year. That's the consistency in the recurring which we talked about has been growing all along. But then you do get a little bit of a bounce back in some of the markets. You mentioned Foundry and others. So I think you're on the right track there. Neil, do you want to add anything to that?

是的。網路軟體業務表現強勁，全年剩餘期間的有機成長為高個位數。這反映了我們所談到的經常性收入一致性——它一直在成長。不過你也會在某些市場看到一些反彈。你提到 Foundry 和其他業務就是例子。所以我認為你的方向是對的。Neil，你要補充什麼嗎？

Yes. Just to color on the 3, the health care, entertainment and food. So MHA is the health care business that was tied and indexed to patient and volumes going through long-term care, skilled nursing, assisted living facilities. That's normalized. That business also has added products to its contract portfolio. So that business is on its way to recovery as we speak.

是的。就第 3 點補充一下，也就是醫療保健、娛樂與食品。所以 MHA 是醫療保健業務，與長期照護、專業護理、協助式生活機構中的病患與就診量掛鉤並按其指數化。這部分已經正常化。該業務也在其合約組合中新增了產品。所以就目前而言，這項業務正走在復甦的路上。

We talked about Foundry in the prepared remarks, which is -- there's just tremendous content budget, not surprising, in the marketplace, and all that content requires postproduction, and we're a critical element in that post.

我們在準備好的發言中談到了 Foundry，也就是——市場上內容預算非常龐大，這並不令人意外，而所有這些內容都需要後期製作，而我們是後期製作中的關鍵一環。

And then finally, iTrade. iTrade is going to be one of the longer recovery cycles for us. It'll be a second half this year and the next year as they're indexed partially to retail/food but also partially to what I'll call institutional food, which is -- think about that as restaurants, schools, universities, a little bit of stadiums. And that's going to come back on a longer recovery curve.

最後是 iTrade。iTrade 對我們而言會是較長的復甦週期之一。會落在今年下半年以及明年，因為它部分與零售/食品掛鉤，但也部分與我所稱的機構型餐飲掛鉤——可以把它想成餐廳、學校、大學，還有一點點體育場館。這部分會以較長的復甦曲線回來。

The next question is from Allison Poliniak from Wells Fargo.

下一個問題來自富國銀行（Wells Fargo）的 Allison Poliniak。

Just want to circle back on to Deane's question around -- I know he mentioned around the reopening kind of theme in Q2, and it sounds like you are seeing some green shoots. Just trying to reconcile for the balance of the year. It sounds like you guys are expecting a more, I would say, gradual recovery in some of those businesses. Any color from your customers in terms of are they still a little concerned about the COVID impact? Are they thinking maybe there could be some pent-up demand as we sort of exit this year? Any thoughts there?

我想回到 Deane 關於——我知道他提到第二季「重新開放」這個主題，聽起來你們確實看到一些復甦跡象。只是想把它和今年剩餘時間的情況對照一下。聽起來你們預期其中一些業務會是較為、我會說，逐步的復甦。從你們客戶那邊，有沒有一些補充資訊：他們是否仍對 COVID 的影響有些擔憂？他們是否認為在今年接近尾聲時，可能會出現一些被壓抑的需求？你們有什麼想法？

Well, we got to sort of run through the portfolio, Allison, in that regard. I think it'll be - or I think our comments here will be around the product businesses as opposed to the software ones. First is the tag volumes at TransCore. I mean that's going to be a -- probably a second half of this year recovery cycle just based on when the tags were bought last year, into this year and having the customers burn through existing inventory as traffic patterns come back on.

嗯，Allison，就這點我們得把整個投資組合大致跑一遍。我想——或者說，我想我們這裡的評論會聚焦在產品型業務，而不是軟體型業務。第一個是 TransCore 的標籤（tag）出貨量。我是說，那可能會是——大概在今年下半年的復甦週期，主要取決於去年到今年標籤的採購時點，以及當交通型態回升時，客戶把既有庫存消化完的節奏。

We talked about medical products. We got the COVID headwind for a quarter or 2 at Verathon, but the other businesses definitely saw a palpable improvement in the capital purchases of their medical equipment in the quarter. And we got no sense if that was pent-up or onetime. We'll find out in the next quarter or 2, but that was not the read-through from the conversations we had with our customers. In fact, NDI had record bookings in the quarter.

我們談過醫療產品。Verathon 會有 1 到 2 個季度的 COVID 逆風，但其他業務在本季度的醫療設備資本採購方面，確實看到明顯改善。而我們也沒有感覺那是被壓抑需求或一次性因素。我們會在接下來 1 到 2 個季度看出來，但從我們與客戶的對話中，並沒有得到那樣的解讀。事實上，NDI 本季度的訂單（bookings）創下紀錄。

As we go through the industrial businesses, Struers -- we definitely saw an improvement across the portfolio of industrial businesses through the quarter with Struers having record March bookings, which shows that there's some sort of gradual improvement there to continue. And then on the Process Technologies businesses, there was just nice -- I would call that very similar to what we saw at Struers and industrial. March got better than February, and February was better than January.

再看工業類業務，Struers——我們確實在本季度看到整個工業業務組合都有改善，其中 Struers 在 3 月的訂單創下紀錄，顯示那裡存在某種逐步改善，並可望延續。至於製程技術（Process Technologies）業務，表現也不錯——我會說這與我們在 Struers 與工業業務看到的非常相似。3 月比 2 月好，而 2 月又比 1 月好。

Great. That's helpful. And then a strong deleveraging in the quarter. You talked about an active pipeline, maybe more comfort towards the end of the year. Any change to thinking just given the strong performance so far? Obviously, strong cash flow characteristics that you would have some comfort level of staying slightly above your comfort range at this point. Or are you still focused on getting that down in terms of the net debt leverage?

很好，這很有幫助。接著，本季度去槓桿（deleverage）很強。你提到有一個活躍的併購/投資管線（pipeline），可能在年底會更有把握。鑑於目前為止表現強勁，你們的想法有改變嗎？顯然你們現金流特性很強，這會讓你們在此時對於槓桿率略高於你們的舒適區間也更有信心。還是你們仍專注於把淨負債槓桿降下來？

Yes, Allison, it was a great start to deleveraging for Q1. So that certainly helped boost our ability to pay down the debt faster, and we'll continue to do that throughout the year. And as Neil mentioned, we're making sure the pipeline is active, and there are some exciting things that we're looking at in the early stages, and we'll be ready to deploy capital at some point. But for right now, we're really focused on the deleveraging.

是的，Allison，第一季在去槓桿方面是個很好的開始。所以這確實提升了我們更快償還債務的能力，我們也會在全年持續這麼做。正如 Neil 提到的，我們確保管線保持活躍，我們在早期階段也看到一些令人興奮的機會，並會在某個時間點準備好部署資本。但就目前而言，我們真的專注在去槓桿。

The next question is from Joe Giordano from Cowen.

下一個問題來自 Cowen 的 Joe Giordano。

Just -- I'm going to pick on the guide a little bit. So revenue for the year, you're expecting 6% to 7%. It was kind of mid-single-digit-plus before. Came in pretty good into 1Q. Good margins. And we're kind of just passing through the 1Q beat essentially, maybe a tad higher than that for the full year. So like how would you kind of argue that? Are you seeing anything incrementally challenging? It sounds like you're -- everything seems to be at least on plan, if not a bit above. So just we want to think through the framework there.

我想——我稍微挑戰一下你們的指引（guide）。所以全年營收你們預期成長 6% 到 7%。之前大概是中個位數再多一點。第一季表現相當不錯。毛利率也好。而你們對全年基本上就是把第一季的超預期（beat）反映進去，可能只比那再高一點點。所以你會怎麼解釋這個做法？你們是否看到任何額外的挑戰？聽起來你們——一切至少都在計畫內，甚至略高一些。所以我們想把這個框架想清楚。

Yes, I think that's right. I think it was 1 quarter, right? We had a really nice first quarter. And we felt it prudent to raise the guide because it certainly gives us more confidence for the rest of the year. But it was 1 quarter, and this is an unusual environment where we're coming off of a sort of, hopefully, once-a-lifetime pandemic. And so we're trying to be balanced in the outlook and sort of what we do with the businesses.

是的，我想你說得對。我們只有 1 個季度，對吧？第一季確實非常不錯。我們認為上調指引是審慎的，因為這確實讓我們對今年剩餘時間更有信心。但畢竟只有 1 個季度，而且這是個不尋常的環境——我們正從一場希望是一生一次的疫情中走出來。因此我們試著在展望以及我們對各項業務的作法上保持平衡。

Yes, that's fair. And maybe can you talk us through just like the structural differences between the lab software businesses in the U.S. and in Europe and how businesses in each region are like differently positioned and why CliniSys is able to do so well here?

是的，這很合理。那也許你能帶我們了解一下，美國與歐洲的實驗室軟體業務在結構上有哪些差異？各區域的業務分別如何定位？以及為什麼 CliniSys 在這裡能做得這麼好？

Yes I mean the -- in the U.S., the -- as we've talked about quite a bit, the lab was the first part of the hospital to become automated. And then 20 years later due to -- with the government stimulus, there was the -- hospitals deployed electronic medical records. And then those EMRs -- the hospitals, as a general matter, appreciated and wanted the connectivity of the lab software to the EMR, and that's how we had had sort of the competitive headwinds for 4 or 5 years at Sunquest.

是的，我的意思是——在美國，正如我們談過很多次的，實驗室是醫院裡最早實現自動化的部分。然後在 20 年後，由於——在政府刺激政策的推動下，醫院開始部署電子病歷（EMR）。而接著這些 EMR——一般而言，醫院很重視並希望實驗室軟體能與 EMR 連結互通，這也是為什麼 Sunquest 在過去 4 到 5 年面臨一些競爭逆風。

When you look at Europe, that dynamic does not exist. The health systems are different, first of all. They're country driven. The -- there is not the concept of an EMR landscape on a country-by-country basis. It's very, very different. It's characterized by local providers, characterized by country-specific providers. And as a result, CliniSys' lab software is not just -- we highlighted the U.K. wins and strengths in this quarter, but they've just been doing a great job pan-European in France, in Benelux, emerging presence in Germany. Bought a small business last year in Spain to be able to consolidate the laboratory infrastructure across Europe. Each of the countries in their own way are going through a laboratory consolidation in a way to save money for the health system itself, and we being the -- basically the only scaled provider that with the demonstrable success at scale and being able to win market share at a meaningful clip there.

當你看歐洲時，這種動態並不存在。首先，醫療體系不同，它們是以國家為主導。——並不存在以國家為單位的 EMR 版圖概念。這非常、非常不同。其特徵是本地供應商、以及各國特定的供應商。因此，CliniSys 的實驗室軟體不只是——我們在本季度強調了英國的得標與優勢，但他們在泛歐地區也一直做得非常出色，包括法國、比荷盧（Benelux），並在德國建立新興據點。去年在西班牙收購了一家小公司，以便能在歐洲各地整合實驗室基礎設施。各國都以各自的方式推動實驗室整併，以節省醫療體系本身的成本；而我們作為——基本上唯一具規模的供應商，具備可在大規模環境中證明成功的實績，並能以相當可觀的速度在那裡取得市占。

And just so I understand, what gives you confidence that sort of like integration of labs with the broader hospital systems is not something that's a near-term threat to the business?

我想確認一下，是什麼讓你有信心，實驗室與更廣泛的醫院系統整合這件事，在短期內不會對業務構成威脅？

Yes. I think it's essentially you need -- the way that, for instance, the primary competitor in the U.S. that we -- is Epic. Epic, for instance, is -- basically doesn't have a presence in Europe. And when they do, it's a country-specific presence. They might be in a very small country or small region of a country, and it's sort of isolated there given that it's a country-specific decision process. And also, there just isn't -- that competitive activity just isn't there.

是的。我想本質上你需要——例如，我們在美國的主要競爭對手是 Epic。以 Epic 來說——基本上在歐洲沒有據點。即使有，也是各國特定的據點。他們可能只在某個很小的國家，或某個國家的一個小區域，因為決策流程是以國家為單位，所以那種存在是相對孤立的。而且，那種競爭活動確實也不存在。

Our next question comes from Blake Gendron from Wolfe Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Wolfe Research 的 Blake Gendron。

First question on free cash flow. The conversion from EBITDA has been extremely -- exceedingly strong over the last several quarters on top of already strong margins. How should we think about conversion going forward through the year relative to what you accomplished in 4Q and 1Q? I'd imagine the recovery in nonrecurring software is helping the working capital profile. So really just wondering how sustainable that trend is as the recovery kind of moderates through the year.

第一個問題關於自由現金流。過去幾個季度，EBITDA 的現金轉換率在原本就很強的利潤率之上，表現得極其——非常強勁。對於今年接下來的時間，相較於你們在第 4 季與第 1 季所達成的水準，我們應該如何看待轉換率的走勢？我猜非經常性軟體收入的復甦正在改善營運資金的結構。所以主要想了解的是，隨著這種復甦在今年逐步趨於溫和，這個趨勢的可持續性如何。

Sure. So I think -- so in the first quarter, right, there's no federal tax payments. So that's always a high cash conversion quarter. So that normalizes more when we make the -- start making federal payments in Q2. But really, as I mentioned a little bit earlier, I mean, it's great growth from the software businesses. They have negative working capital. Therefore, the cash performance is very strong. The more software growth you have, you drive working capital further negative. It's very structural part of the model. High conversion is embedded in everything that we do.

好的。我想——第一季嘛，對吧，沒有聯邦稅款支付。所以那一向是現金轉換率很高的一季。到了第二季我們開始支付聯邦稅款時，這就會更趨於正常化。但真正的原因是，如我稍早提到的，軟體業務的成長非常好。它們是負營運資金。因此，現金表現非常強。軟體成長越多，營運資金就越往負的方向走。這是我們模式中非常結構性的部分。高轉換率已經內嵌在我們所做的一切之中。

So we expect that free cash flow conversion to continue to get better over time as we've improved the quality of our portfolio. So we feel good about the rest of the year and continue to have high cash conversion and continue that double-digit cash flow compounding that we all expect to achieve.

因此，隨著我們改善投資組合的品質，我們預期自由現金流轉換率會隨時間持續變得更好。所以我們對今年剩餘時間感覺良好，會繼續維持高現金轉換率，並延續我們都期望達成的雙位數現金流複利成長。

Excellent. Just wanted to circle back on M&A. So plenty of puts and takes with potential U.S. tax increases and yields moving higher. I'm wondering if you could help us think about these inputs in the context of historical private software pricing in the pipeline. Some of these changes come through taxes rise, yields rise. How would you expect asset pricing to evolve? Or how has it evolved in the past? I think we've discussed this before about it being a net positive for Roper.

很好。我想再回到併購（M&A）上。考量到可能的美國加稅以及殖利率走高，這裡面有很多利弊權衡。我想請你們協助我們把這些因素放到歷史上私有軟體資產在管線中的定價脈絡來看。當稅率上升、殖利率上升時，這些變化會如何反映？你們預期資產定價會如何演變？或過去是如何演變的？我記得我們之前討論過，這對 Roper 應該是淨正面。

Yes. We certainly believe balance, that's the case. So, well, obviously, when taxes went down, rates are -- sort of private prices went up a touch. I think the -- it was 14x, 15x for Deltek and 16x for PowerPlan and really the only difference in the market there was the tax change. So that gives you a sense of the order of magnitude. Maybe a couple of turns, but it depends on what the magnitude of the tax change is.

是的。我們確實相信整體平衡下來是如此。當然，當稅率下降時，利率——私有市場的價格確實小幅上升。我想——Deltek 大約是 14 倍、15 倍，PowerPlan 大約是 16 倍，而市場上唯一真正的差異就是稅制變化。這能讓你大致了解量級。可能是倍數上升個兩三「turn」（倍數的幾個點），但也取決於稅制變化的幅度。

Relative to interest rates going up, we think that does greatly benefit us in the compounding model. If you think as interest rates go up, we're competing against private equity firms who have a levered acquisition model. So as interest rates go up, the amount of leverage they can put on a transaction goes down. And subsequently, the total equity that they put into a deal goes down and multiples compress more so with interest rates going up, I think, than what you see conversely with taxes.

至於利率上升，我們認為這會在複利成長模型上大幅有利於我們。你想想，利率上升時，我們是在跟採用槓桿收購模式的私募股權公司競爭。利率越高，他們能在交易上加的槓桿就越少。隨之而來，他們在一筆交易中需要投入的總股權資金就會下降，而估值倍數也會因利率上升而更明顯地被壓縮；我認為這種影響甚至比稅制變動的對應效果更大。

And then in our case, the majority of our acquisition proceeds come from our cash that we generate. And so we're relatively insensitive to interest rate where our competitors for acquisitions are. So in the long arc of time, that's a good thing for us.

而在我們這邊，大多數併購資金來自我們自身產生的現金。因此，我們對利率的敏感度相對較低，而我們的併購競爭對手則不是。從長期來看，這對我們是好事。

The next question comes from Steve Tusa from JPMorgan.

下一個問題來自 JPMorgan 的 Steve Tusa。

Just to clarify on the answer before on kind of the degree of leverage you're comfortable with before doing a new deal, is kind of 3x a bit of a line in the sand there where you would get back down to below that before doing another deal? Or maybe just talk about kind of that 3x level and how that kind of plays into your thoughts.

我想釐清一下你們剛才關於在做新交易之前、你們能接受的槓桿程度的回答。3 倍左右是否算是一條「底線」，也就是你們會先把槓桿降到低於這個水準再做下一筆交易？或者請談談 3 倍這個水準，以及它如何影響你們的思考。

Yes, sure. I wouldn't say a line in the sand. I think once you get into the low 3s, that - -certainly it's more reasonable. I think the -- we spent a lot of time with the rating agencies when we did our last couple of acquisitions. I think they understand the high quality of the cash flow that we have and our incredibly high cash conversion. And so it's really about how good our business model is, how fast we can pay down any leverage that we put on the business. I think we've demonstrated that time and time again, and we can do it pretty quickly. So once we get into the low 3s, then I think we have the ability to deploy capital.

好的，當然。我不會說那是一條硬性的底線。我認為一旦進入 3 倍出頭的低區間，那——就確實更合理。我想——在我們做最近幾筆併購時，我們花了很多時間與信評機構溝通。我認為他們理解我們現金流的高品質，以及我們極高的現金轉換率。所以重點在於我們的商業模式有多好、我們能多快把加在公司上的任何槓桿償還下來。我想我們一次又一次證明了這點，而且可以相當快地做到。因此，一旦我們進入 3 倍出頭的低區間，我認為我們就有能力去部署資本。

Okay. Great. And then just lastly, when you kind of look out to next year, are there any -- you're obviously not going to have any deals here, at least in the near term. But are there any moving parts and items from a headwinds perspective, whether it's the Vertafore tax benefit or some of these Sunquest deals around COVID? How do those play out for next year? Do they generally offset -- are they offset by growth in some of the other businesses? Maybe if there's anything mechanical that kind of happens next year that you want to call out.

好的。很好。最後一個問題，當你們展望明年時，有沒有任何——你們顯然短期內不會有交易。但從逆風的角度來看，有沒有任何變動因素或項目，例如 Vertafore 的稅務利益，或是一些與 COVID 相關的 Sunquest 交易？這些在明年會如何發展？它們大致上會被其他業務的成長所抵消嗎？如果明年有任何偏機械性的事項會發生、你們想特別點出來的，也請分享。

So I'll -- let me just hit a couple of things, and then I think Neil wants to add on. But yes, you're right, there's this $100 million-plus tax benefit around Vertafore that we talked about that will hit throughout Q2 through Q4. We did not benefit from that in the first quarter. And then there's about $60 million or so of this payroll tax deferral, which is a bad guy this year, for the rest of the year given that was part of the COVID rules, that you can defer some of those payments. And there's always going to be pluses and minuses in sort of that part of the world, but I'll let Neil talk about some of the growth.

我先——我先提幾點，然後我想 Neil 也會補充。是的，你說得對，我們談過與 Vertafore 相關、超過 1 億美元的稅務利益，會在第二季到第四季期間逐步反映。我們在第一季沒有受益於此。另外，還有大約 6,000 萬美元左右的薪資稅遞延，這在今年剩餘時間會是個負面因素，因為那是 COVID 規則的一部分，允許你遞延部分支付。這一塊通常都會有一些正負項目交錯，但我讓 Neil 來談談一些成長面。

Well, I think it's always appreciated in a quarter that we have here, you highlight the headwinds going into next year, Steve, so we appreciate that. But as a general matter, year 2 out of a pandemic should be pretty good.

我想在我們這樣的一個季度裡，你能特別點出明年將面臨的逆風，Steve，這總是令人感激，我們也很感謝。不過一般而言，疫情之後的第二年應該會相當不錯。

The next question comes from Alex Blanton from Clear Harbor Asset Management.

下一個問題來自 Clear Harbor Asset Management 的 Alex Blanton。

Congratulations. That's a great quarter, and it looks like you're going to have a very good year. I just wanted to comment that so far, there've been 7 analysts and every one of them has been cut off before they finished with their second question. None of them said thank you, and I'd like to ask the moderator to please stop doing that because that is really not a very good way to conduct a call. You need to allow dialogue with the management on the second question. Don't cut people off before they say, thank you. Let them finish, please.

恭喜。這是一個很棒的季度，看起來你們今年也會非常好。我想先評論一下，到目前為止已經有 7 位分析師，而每一位在問完第二個問題之前都被打斷了。他們都還沒來得及說謝謝。我想請主持人不要再這樣做，因為這真的不是一個很好的電話會議進行方式。你需要允許分析師在第二個問題上與管理層對話。不要在別人說謝謝之前就把人打斷。請讓他們把話說完。

I wanted to ask about the backlog of opportunities that you mentioned that you might get back to accessing it at the end of the year as you start to deploy capital. Could you just say a little more on the nature of that pipeline, the size of the companies in there? Because as you get bigger, it's obviously important to find bigger and bigger companies in order to keep the growth rate constant. So could you just give us a little bit on that? And perhaps characterize the kinds of markets those companies are in that you're looking at in the pipeline.

我想問你們提到的機會儲備（backlog）。你們說在年底開始部署資本時，可能會重新回去接觸這些機會。你能否再多談一點這個管線的性質、裡面公司的規模？因為隨著你們變得更大，為了維持成長率不變，顯然就必須找到規模越來越大的公司。所以能否就這點多分享一些？也許也請你們描述一下，你們在管線中所看的公司大概位於哪些市場。

Alex, it's Neil here. Appreciate the question and appreciate your opening comments. The -- let me give you a broader view to the -- to your question. First, why we're active now with our M&A pipeline is that we -- and we're meeting with companies is that every company of size that we bought from 2016 forward, we met with roughly 9 to 12 months at the earliest -- at a minimum before buying the company. So we're establishing a relationship, getting to know the management team, getting to know the business, and then sort of, if you will, have a running start when the business actually comes for sale. So we're active. And the work we're doing now is going to pay dividends 9, 12, 18 months from now in terms of deploying capital and our ability to do that in companies that we have a high level of conviction in.

Alex，我是 Neil。謝謝你的提問，也謝謝你一開始的評論。——我從更宏觀的角度來回答你的問題。首先，我們現在之所以在併購管線上保持活躍、並與公司會面，是因為我們——自 2016 年以來所收購的每一家具規模的公司，我們最早也都是在收購前大約 9 到 12 個月——至少——就開始與對方接觸。我們是在建立關係、了解管理團隊、了解業務，然後可以說，當該公司真正要出售時，我們就能有一個「起跑優勢」。所以我們現在很活躍。而我們現在做的工作，將在 9、12、18 個月後，以資本部署以及我們在那些我們高度有信心的公司上執行交易的能力等方面，帶來回報。

To your question about doing bigger and bigger deals, I would beg to differ with that a little bit. When you look at our model over the next 7 years, we have to deploy somewhere, on a run rate basis, $2 billion to $2.5 billion a year based on our cash flow and the leverage profile that we just talked about. And in doing so, when you're looking at the types of businesses that we look to buy, small market, vertically focused, leading software-type or software-type business models, I think the sweet spot in that is going to be somewhere in the $750 million to $1.5 billion range. So we're talking about doing a couple-ish deals a year, and then we'll always do a small number of tuck-ins or bolt-ons to the existing portfolio. So I think we can -- at least for the next 7 years on a per-year basis, we don't have to do bigger and bigger deals to keep the growth rate at the sustained double-digit rate.

針對你關於做越來越大型交易的問題，我會稍微持不同看法。當你看我們未來 7 年的模型時，基於我們剛剛談到的現金流與槓桿結構，我們必須在某個地方以年化速度部署每年 20 億到 25 億美元。而在此過程中，當你看我們想收購的企業類型——小型市場、垂直領域聚焦、具領先地位的軟體型或類軟體型商業模式——我認為其中的甜蜜點大概會落在 7.5 億到 15 億美元之間。所以我們談的是一年做大概兩筆左右的交易，然後我們也會一向對既有投資組合做少量的補強型（tuck-in）或加掛型（bolt-on）併購。因此我認為——至少在未來 7 年、以每年為基礎——我們不必為了把成長率維持在可持續的雙位數水準而去做越來越大的交易。

But would you say that these companies, the margins and the cash flow and the EBITDA and so on are such that you can keep increasing those metrics like EBITDA margin and the operating margin and the gross margin the way you've done for many, many years by buying companies that have margins that are above the corporate average? Can you keep doing that?

但你會不會說，這些公司的利潤率、現金流、EBITDA 等等的特性，使得你可以像過去很多很多年那樣，透過收購利潤率高於公司平均的企業，持續提高像 EBITDA 利潤率、營業利益率與毛利率這些指標？你能一直這樣做嗎？

I think so. The answer to that is yes, Alex. So it's really about the target, the businesses that we target, right? Businesses that have higher organic growth than Roper has historically, businesses that have very good margins, often better than Roper, at least at the same level now that we've improved ours over many, many years. And then we buy those businesses. They grow. We hope -- we believe we can make them better. They accelerate growth. They generate more cash, and you get this compounding effect.

我認為可以。答案是肯定的，Alex。這其實關鍵在於標的——也就是我們鎖定的企業，對吧？那些有著高於 Roper 歷史水準的內生成長、利潤率非常好的企業，通常比 Roper 更好，至少也與我們現在的水準相當——而我們在過去很多很多年已經把自身利潤率提升到這個水準。然後我們收購這些企業。它們成長。我們希望——也相信——我們能讓它們變得更好。它們加速成長、產生更多現金，於是就形成這種複利效應。

And so it's really the same strategy that -- I appreciate you've followed us for a long time -- we've had for for over a decade now. And it's -- the good news is, as you get more and more into software and these types of opportunities, we find more and more companies that fit that model that will allow us to continue to improve all those metrics for many, many more years to come.

所以這其實就是同一套策略——我很感謝你長期關注我們——我們已經採行超過十年了。而好消息是，當你越來越深入軟體以及這類機會時，我們會找到越來越多符合這個模型的公司，讓我們在未來很多很多年仍能持續改善所有這些指標。

Right. Well, this has been the company's strategy since I started following it in 1992 when you went public. It's been a great ride.

對。嗯，這一直是公司的策略，自從我在 1992 年你們上市時開始追蹤以來就是如此。這段旅程非常精彩。

Next question comes from Richard Eastman from Robert W. Baird.

下一個問題來自 Robert W. Baird 的 Richard Eastman。

Yes. Yes. Just a question or 2 around the Application Software business. And when we look at the lab software business as part of that in aggregate around CliniSys and Sunquest, you've spoken nicely about CliniSys's share gains in Europe and the rationale for that. Could you just talk a little bit and maybe characterize the U.S. business around Sunquest? Has Sunquest's share stabilized? And maybe post COVID, what does the recovery environment look like for Sunquest domestically?

是。是。我有一兩個關於應用軟體（Application Software）業務的問題。當我們看實驗室軟體業務作為其中一部分，整體涵蓋 CliniSys 和 Sunquest，你們已經很清楚地談到 CliniSys 在歐洲市占提升以及其背後的理由。你能否再多談一點，並且描述一下 Sunquest 在美國的業務狀況？Sunquest 的市占是否已經穩定？以及在 COVID 之後，Sunquest 在美國本土的復甦環境看起來如何？

Yes. So Sunquest did -- I mean, they were benefited -- let's also -- let me back up. Let's not -- so you mentioned 2 companies, CliniSys and Sunquest. We ought to include a third, which is Data Innovations, which is a middleware business. They've -- they're very global business, but they're domiciled in the U.S.

是的。所以 Sunquest 確實——我的意思是，他們有受惠——另外——讓我先退一步。不要——你提到兩家公司，CliniSys 和 Sunquest。我們其實應該再加上第三家，也就是 Data Innovations，這是一個中介軟體（middleware）業務。他們——是非常全球化的業務，但公司設立地在美國。

But specific to your question about Sunquest, the U.S. laboratory business, they were benefited last year and in this quarter with the COVID tailwinds, standing up COVID testing. They continued to invest in their public health offering and their molecular offering. The leadership team has done a nice job in that. So that's good news.

但就你關於 Sunquest 的問題、也就是美國實驗室業務而言，他們去年以及本季都受惠於 COVID 的順風因素，因為建立起 COVID 檢測。他們也持續投資於公共衛生產品與分子檢測產品。領導團隊在這方面做得很好。所以這是好消息。

The unfortunate part of that news is it just delayed the bottoming of this business, which we thought was going to be this year-ish if it weren't for COVID. Now it's going to be pushed out a year or 2 before that business sort of gets through all the known attrition and then is baselined from which it can grow from.

這個好消息不幸的一面是，它只是延後了這項業務觸底的時間；如果不是因為 COVID，我們原本認為大概會在今年左右觸底。現在會再往後推一到兩年，等這項業務走過所有已知的客戶流失（attrition），並建立一個基準，之後才能在此基礎上恢復成長。

Okay. And how much of that lab software business now is domestic? When you put those 3 businesses together, CliniSys, Sunquest and Data Innovation, how much is domestic versus international? Is it a 50-50...

了解。那目前這塊實驗室軟體業務有多少是在美國本土？把這三個業務放在一起——CliniSys、Sunquest 和 Data Innovation——國內與國際的占比各是多少？是 50-50 嗎……

I'm going to let Rob take a look at this. We might have to get back to you.

我讓 Rob 看一下這個。我們可能需要之後再回覆你。

Yes. I might have to circle back. I mean it's approaching probably 50-50 given the growth in the CliniSys business, the fact the DI business is very global and the Sunquest business is mostly U.S. So as a group, it's probably about half.

是的。我可能需要再補充回覆。我的意思是，考量到 CliniSys 業務的成長、DI 業務非常全球化，以及 Sunquest 業務主要在美國，整體來看大概接近 50-50。所以作為一個群組，可能大約一半。

I understand. And then just a follow-up question around measurement, analytical and the process businesses. Could you just talk about pricing there? I know you usually allow your GMs to price according to margin targets and things. But can you talk about price and how proactive you've been able to be on the M&A business as well -- M&A as in Measurement & Analytical, and the process side?

我了解。接著我想追問一個關於量測、分析以及製程（measurement, analytical and the process）業務的問題。你能談談那邊的定價嗎？我知道你們通常讓各事業部總經理依照毛利目標等來定價。但你能談談價格，以及你們在 M&A 業務上——這裡的 M&A 指的是 Measurement & Analytical，以及製程端——你們能有多主動嗎？

Yes. I think the characteristics of these businesses is they -- all Roper businesses is they price based on the values created. A great example there is in our Hansen business where they've had a couple of innovations in their refrigeration valve business product line with coatings and some sensors to allow -- to identify clearly when it's been triggered. Very low-cost increase to bill of materials but massive increase to value. So we've seen very nice price increases on situations like that.

是的。我認為這些業務的特性——其實所有 Roper 的業務——都是依照所創造的價值來定價。一個很好的例子是在我們的 Hansen 業務，他們在冷凍閥門產品線上做了幾項創新，包含塗層以及一些感測器，用來——清楚辨識何時被觸發。對物料清單（bill of materials）的成本增加非常低，但價值提升非常巨大。因此我們在這類情境下看到相當不錯的漲價。

On a like-for-like basis, it's -- the businesses are agile. They've been very good at being able to push through any increase to the bill of materials, kind of the supply chain and otherwise taking normal price.

在同品項可比（like-for-like）的基礎上——這些業務很靈活。他們在把物料清單的任何成本上升（也就是供應鏈等因素）轉嫁出去方面做得很好，並且也能進行正常的價格調整。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. We will now turn -- return back to Zack Moxcey for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。接下來我們將——把時間交還給 Zack Moxcey，請他做結語。

Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. We look forward to speaking with you during our next earnings call.

感謝各位今天加入我們。我們期待在下一次財報電話會議中與各位交流。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

本次電話會議已結束。感謝各位參加今天的簡報。您現在可以中斷連線。