Roper Technologies, Inc. (ROP) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. The Roper Technologies Conference Call will now begin. Today's call is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

早安。Roper Technologies 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 of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我想把電話會議交給投資人關係副總裁 Zack Moxcey。請開始。

Good morning and thank you all for joining us. We discussed the second quarter 2024 financial results for Roper Technologies. Joining me on the call this morning are Neil Hunn, President and Chief Executive Officer; Jason Conley, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Brandon Cross, Vice President and Principal Accounting Officer; and Shannon Callahan, Vice President of Finance.

早安，感謝各位加入我們。我們將討論 Roper Technologies 2024 年第二季財務結果。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 Jason Conley；副總裁兼首席會計主管 Brandon Cross；以及財務副總裁 Shannon Callahan。

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，亦可在我們的網站上查看。

Now if you please turn to page 2. We begin with our safe harbor statement. 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.

現在請翻到第 2 頁。我們先從安全港聲明開始。在今天電話會議過程中，我們將作出前瞻性陳述，該等陳述受本頁、我們的新聞稿以及向 SEC 提交文件中所述之風險與不確定性影響。請在上述資訊的脈絡下收聽今天的電話會議。

And now please turn to page 3. Today, we will discuss our results primarily on an adjusted non-GAAP and continuing operations basis. For the second quarter, the difference between our GAAP results and adjusted results consists of the following items: amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets and financial impacts associated with minority investments. Reconciliations can be found in our press release and in the appendix of this presentation on our website.

接著請翻到第 3 頁。今天我們將主要以調整後的非 GAAP 以及持續營運基礎來討論業績。就第二季而言，我們的 GAAP 結果與調整後結果之差異包含以下項目：與併購相關之無形資產攤銷，以及與少數股權投資相關的財務影響。對帳表可在我們的新聞稿以及本簡報網站版本的附錄中找到。

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

現在請翻到第 4 頁，我將把電話會議交給 Neil。在我們的準備發言之後，我們將接受電話與會者提問。Neil？

Thank you, Zack, and thanks to everyone for joining our call. We're looking forward to sharing our second quarter results with you this morning.

謝謝你，Zack，也感謝各位加入我們的電話會議。我們很期待今天早上與各位分享第二季的結果。

As we turn to page 4, you can see the topics we'll cover today. I'll start by highlighting our second quarter performance, Jason will then go through our financial results in greater detail, review our balance sheet, including our M&A capacity and discuss our strong cash flow performance. Then I'll walk through our segment highlights and discuss our guidance for the full year. After our closing remarks, we'll open up the call for your questions. So let's go ahead and get started.

翻到第 4 頁，您可以看到我們今天將涵蓋的主題。我會先重點說明第二季表現，接著 Jason 會更詳細地說明財務結果、檢視資產負債表（包括我們的併購能力），並討論我們強勁的現金流表現。然後我會說明各事業部門重點並討論全年指引。在結語之後，我們將開放提問。那我們就開始吧。

Next slide, please. As we turn to page 5, three key takeaways for today's call are: first, we delivered another solid quarter results. Second, we're increasing the bottom end of our full year outlook. And third, we continue to be very well positioned relative to executing on our capital deployment strategy.

請看下一張投影片。翻到第 5 頁，今天電話會議有三個關鍵重點：第一，我們再度交出穩健的一季成果。第二，我們上調全年展望區間的下緣。第三，就執行我們的資本配置策略而言，我們仍處於非常有利的位置。

To double-click a bit, we grew total revenue by 12%, organic revenue by 4% and EBITDA by 13% with EBITDA margins expanding by 20 basis points to 40.5%. Importantly, we saw good bookings momentum with organic enterprise software bookings increasing in the high single digits area during the quarter. Finally, we grew free cash flow of 24% in the quarter and 35% on a TTM basis. Also, TTM free cash flow margins came in at 32%.

再深入一點說明：我們總營收成長 12%，有機營收成長 4%，EBITDA 成長 13%，EBITDA 利潤率擴張 20 個基點至 40.5%。重要的是，我們看到良好的訂單動能，本季有機企業軟體訂單在高個位數區間成長。最後，我們本季自由現金流成長 24%，以過去十二個月（TTM）計成長 35%。此外，TTM 自由現金流利潤率為 32%。

We are also increasing our full year 2024 guidance on the low end and maintaining our outlook for total revenue and organic revenue reflecting our continued confidence in our outlook, notwithstanding some production efficiency challenges at Neptune, which we'll discuss in a bit. And we continue to be very active in the M&A market, an environment that continues to improve and one where we have a large pipeline of highly attractive opportunities. Net-net, we continue to be quite bullish about our ability to be active on the M&A front this year.

我們也上調 2024 年全年指引的下緣，並維持對總營收與有機營收的展望，反映我們對前景持續有信心，儘管 Neptune 存在一些生產效率挑戰，我們稍後會再說明。我們在併購市場仍非常活躍；該環境持續改善，我們也擁有大量極具吸引力的機會管線。總而言之，我們對今年在併購方面保持積極作為的能力仍相當樂觀。

So with that, let me turn the call over to Jason to walk through our P&L and key balance sheet metrics. Jason?

接下來，我把電話會議交給 Jason，請他帶我們檢視損益表以及資產負債表的關鍵指標。Jason？

Thanks, Neil, and good morning to those joining the call. As always, thank you for your interest in Roper.

謝謝你，Neil，也向加入電話會議的各位道早安。一如往常，感謝各位對 Roper 的關注。

If we look at slide 6, I will provide an update on Q2, both against prior year and against a longer historical time frame. Revenue was $1.72 billion, which is 12% higher than prior year. Underpinning this was organic growth of 4% and an acquisition contribution of 8%, driven mostly by Procare and Syntellis. Organic recurring software revenue grew 6% and as we cycle through the tougher comps at Freight Match and Foundry, which we've outlined in prior calls. We see signs of stabilization in both the Freight and Media and Entertainment markets, which Neil will discuss further.

如果我們看第 6 張投影片，我將就第二季提供更新，並同時對照去年同期以及更長期的歷史區間。營收為 17.2 億美元，較去年同期成長 12%。其支撐因素為有機成長 4% 以及併購貢獻 8%，主要由 Procare 與 Syntellis 帶動。有機經常性軟體營收成長 6%；同時我們也正度過 Freight Match 與 Foundry 較具挑戰性的比較基期，我們在先前的電話會議中已說明。我們看到貨運以及媒體與娛樂市場皆出現穩定的跡象，Neil 稍後會進一步說明。

Given our leadership positions and continued innovation investments at DAT, Loadlink and Foundry, we are confident that these businesses will capture growth upon market recovery. Also of note, organic growth in our tech segment was 5% with some production delays at Neptune.

鑑於我們在 DAT、Loadlink 與 Foundry 的領導地位以及持續的創新投資，我們有信心這些業務將在市場復甦時掌握成長。另外值得注意的是，我們科技事業部門的有機成長為 5%，但 Neptune 出現一些生產延遲。

EBITDA was $695 million, which is 13% over prior year and yielded EBITDA margin of 40.5%, representing 20 basis points of expansion. Debt of $4.48 was above our guidance range of $4.42 to $4.46. Free cash flow was quite good at $367 million, up 24% over prior year and bringing year-to-date growth to 19%. Broadly over three years, our Q2 revenue has compounded 13% through a combination of organic growth and our consistent repeatable and disciplined M&A process. Q2 EBITDA CAGR over the same period has outpaced revenue at 14%.

EBITDA 為 6.95 億美元，較去年同期成長 13%，EBITDA 利潤率為 40.5%，擴張 20 個基點。債務為 4.48，略高於我們 4.42 至 4.46 的指引區間。自由現金流表現相當不錯，為 3.67 億美元，較去年同期成長 24%，使年初至今成長達 19%。整體而言，過去三年我們第二季營收以 13% 的複合成長率成長，來自有機成長以及我們一貫、可重複且嚴謹的併購流程。同期間第二季 EBITDA 的複合年成長率（CAGR）為 14%，高於營收成長。

On a trailing 12-month basis, free cash flow compounded at 10%. Adjusting for cash tax payments related to Section 174, which went into effect in 2022, the normalized CAGR is 12% over this 3-year period. Just looking at our current trailing 12-month performance against the prior TTM period, free cash flow of $2.1 billion grew 35% with free cash flow margins of 32%. We expect this to normalize in the second half and for 2024, we continue to expect free cash flow margins of 30% or more.

以過去 12 個月（TTM）計，自由現金流以 10% 的複合成長率成長。若調整 2022 年生效之第 174 條（Section 174）相關現金稅款支付，則在這三年期間的常態化 CAGR 為 12%。僅就目前 TTM 表現相較前一個 TTM 期間而言，自由現金流 21 億美元成長 35%，自由現金流利潤率為 32%。我們預期下半年將回歸常態；對 2024 年而言，我們仍預期自由現金流利潤率為 30% 或以上。

With that, we can turn to slide 7 to go through our financial position. With our strong Q2 cash flow, we paid down the revolver by $300 million, which brings our drawn balance down to $1.45 billion on a $3.5 billion capacity facility. Our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio now sits at 2.7 times, which when coupled with future cash generation provides us with capacity to deploy $4 billion or more towards market-leading BMS businesses. On the capital deployment front, we have been quite busy over the second quarter and expect that to continue into the second half.

接著我們可以看第 7 張投影片，檢視我們的財務狀況。受惠於第二季強勁的現金流，我們償還循環信貸（revolver）3 億美元，使已動用餘額降至 14.5 億美元，而該授信額度總規模為 35 億美元。我們的淨負債對 EBITDA 比率目前為 2.7 倍；結合未來的現金創造能力，這使我們有能力投入 40 億美元或以上，用於市場領先的 BMS 業務。在資本配置方面，我們在第二季相當忙碌，並預期這樣的態勢將延續到下半年。

Now I'll turn it back over to Neil to talk through our segment detail and updated guidance.

現在我把時間交回給 Neil，請他說明我們的分部細節與更新後的財測指引。

Thanks, Jason. As we turn to page 9, let's review our Application Software segment results. Revenue here grew by 21% in total and organic revenue grew by 5%. EBITDA margins were 43.6%. We experienced strong performance across this portfolio of businesses with organic recurring and reoccurring revenue growing in the high single-digit area.

謝謝，Jason。接著翻到第 9 頁，我們來回顧應用軟體（Application Software）分部的業績表現。本分部營收總計成長 21%，有機營收成長 5%。EBITDA 利潤率為 43.6%。我們在這個業務組合中表現強勁，有機經常性與重複性收入皆以高個位數的幅度成長。

So let's start with Deltek. Our software business serving the government contracting, architecture, engineering and construction contractor markets. Deltek was solid in the quarter. We saw continued momentum across our private sector solutions and improved bookings activity and revenue within their GovCon business.

先從 Deltek 開始。我們的軟體業務服務政府承包、建築、工程與營造承包商市場。Deltek 本季表現穩健。我們看到私部門解決方案持續有動能，且其 GovCon 業務的接單活動與營收均有所改善。

Importantly, and as we started to highlight last quarter, Deltek's new GenAI-powered digital assistant Dela is in the process of integrated across Deltek's core suite of software applications. We're keen to see the customer workflow efficiency benefits take route as Dela is deployed throughout the Deltek tech stack, exciting for sure.

重要的是，且如同我們上季開始強調的，Deltek 新推出、由 GenAI 驅動的數位助理 Dela，正在整合至 Deltek 的核心軟體應用套件中。隨著 Dela 在 Deltek 的技術堆疊中全面部署，我們非常期待客戶工作流程效率效益逐步落地，確實令人振奮。

Turning to Aderant. Our software business focused on the needs of large law firms continues to perform incredibly well in the market and had another great quarter with continued SaaS momentum and GenAI-focused innovation. The Aderant team is consistently delivering new GenAI-powered capabilities across our platform, enabling meaningful efficiencies in creating significant value for their customers in areas like billing, receivables management and time entry.

接著看 Aderant。我們聚焦大型律師事務所需求的軟體業務，持續在市場上表現極為出色，本季在 SaaS 動能與以 GenAI 為核心的創新帶動下，再度繳出亮眼成績。Aderant 團隊持續在平台上推出新的 GenAI 功能，帶來實質效率提升，並在帳單開立、應收帳款管理與工時登錄等領域為客戶創造顯著價值。

Also, Vertafore and Frontline performed well in the quarter with strong net dollar retention and bookings growth. Also during the quarter, we completed our periodic strategic reviews with each of these businesses and left the reviews encouraged by the long-term opportunities in front of each. PowerPlan, our financial planning and tax software business serving heavy fixed industries was impressive yet again in the quarter and grew its ARR with strong net dollar retention and adoption of its new SaaS solution. Excited to see the progress the PowerPlan team is making. Our health care IT businesses led by Strata and data innovations were also strong in the quarter.

此外，Vertafore 與 Frontline 本季表現也很不錯，淨美元留存率強勁且接單成長。本季我們也完成了對這些業務的例行策略檢視，檢視結果讓我們對各業務面前的長期機會感到鼓舞。PowerPlan 是我們服務重資產固定資產產業的財務規劃與稅務軟體業務，本季再次表現亮眼，在強勁的淨美元留存率與新 SaaS 解決方案採用率帶動下，ARR 持續成長。很高興看到 PowerPlan 團隊取得的進展。我們以 Strata 與 Data Innovations 為主的醫療 IT 業務，本季同樣表現強勁。

As it relates to Strata, the combination with Syntellis continues to go very well with the vast majority of the cost synergies now in the rearview mirror. Great job by the team implementing this portion of the value creation plan. Since the completion of the transaction with Syntellis, the sales pipeline has continued to fill with substantial growth opportunities with several of these opportunities converting to bookings during the quarter. Further to this end, with the cost synergy faced behind the team, their full attention is now focused on long-term growth-related initiatives about which we are quite bullish and look forward to discussing in the quarters to come.

就 Strata 而言，與 Syntellis 的整合持續進展順利，絕大多數的成本綜效如今已基本落袋。團隊在落實這一段價值創造計畫方面做得非常出色。自完成與 Syntellis 的交易以來，銷售管線持續充實，出現大量成長機會，其中數個機會在本季轉化為接單。進一步來說，隨著成本綜效階段已在團隊身後，他們目前已將全部注意力轉向長期成長相關的計畫；我們對此相當看好，也期待在未來幾季進一步分享。

As for data innovations, we saw accelerated growth in the quarter with customer decision-making returning to normal, encouraging for sure. Finally, Procare, the most recent addition to the Roper family companies is off to a strong start. For the second half of the year, we expect to see mid-single-digit organic revenue growth trending to the upper end of this range for this segment.

至於 Data Innovations，本季成長加速，客戶決策節奏回到常態，確實令人鼓舞。最後，Procare 作為近期加入 Roper 旗下的公司，開局表現強勁。展望下半年，我們預期本分部有機營收將呈現中個位數成長，並有望落在區間上緣。

Please turn us to page 10. Organic revenue in our Network Software segment grew 2% in the quarter and was impacted by the fact we continue to experience pressure with our Freight Matching businesses and work through the impact on Foundry in the recent actors and rider strikes. Excluding our Freight Matching businesses and Foundry, the segment grew in the mid-singles area, which demonstrates the underlying quality of this group of market-leading businesses.

請翻到第 10 頁。我們的網路軟體（Network Software）分部本季有機營收成長 2%，主要受到兩項因素影響：我們的貨運撮合（Freight Matching）業務仍面臨壓力，以及近期演員與編劇罷工對 Foundry 的影響仍在消化中。若排除貨運撮合業務與 Foundry，本分部成長約在中個位數，顯示這一組市場領先業務的基本面品質。

EBITDA margins continue to be strong at 54.8%. Let's dig into the details and start with our freight matching businesses, DAT and Loadlink, which declined slightly as expected due to the continuing challenging freight market conditions that adversely impact both businesses. That said, the market appears stable, both on the carrier and broker side, bouncing along the bottom, if you will. Notwithstanding this and is typical for Roper, we invest for long-term sustainable and improving levels of organic growth. In DAT's case, we're absolutely doing this, leading the industry with GenAI-enabled fraud detection and prevention tools.

EBITDA 利潤率仍維持強勁，達 54.8%。我們深入細節，先從貨運撮合業務 DAT 與 Loadlink 談起；如預期，因貨運市場環境持續艱困、對兩項業務皆不利，營收小幅下滑。不過，市場看起來相對穩定，無論承運商或經紀商端，都可說是在底部區間震盪。儘管如此，且這也符合 Roper 一貫作風，我們仍會為長期、可持續且逐步改善的有機成長水準進行投資。以 DAT 為例，我們確實正在這麼做，並以 GenAI 賦能的詐欺偵測與防範工具引領產業。

Also, and importantly, in the quarter, we welcomed a new DAT CEO to the team, Jeff Clemens. Jeff has a long and successful career in network and software businesses, and we look forward to working with him to deliver the next chapter of DAT's growth. Now let's turn to Foundry, our postproduction media and entertainment software business. Foundry continued to roll out innovative product updates and ML-powered functionality this quarter, enhancing the creative process for high-quality visual effects. Given the continued impact related to the recent industry strikes Foundry declined in the quarter as expected. That said, the current content production pipeline is filling, and Foundry's customers are beginning to re-ramp their capacity, which gives us confidence Foundry return to more normalized growth next year.

另外且很重要的是，本季我們迎來新的 DAT 執行長 Jeff Clemens 加入團隊。Jeff 在網路與軟體業務領域擁有長期且成功的職涯，我們期待與他合作，開啟 DAT 成長的下一篇章。接著談 Foundry，我們的後期製作媒體與娛樂軟體業務。Foundry 本季持續推出創新產品更新與 ML 驅動的功能，提升高品質視覺特效的創作流程。由於近期產業罷工的影響仍在延續，Foundry 本季如預期出現下滑。不過，目前內容製作管線正在回補，Foundry 的客戶也開始重新提升產能，這讓我們有信心 Foundry 明年可回到較正常的成長軌道。

As mentioned, the balance of this segment grew mid-singles organically in the quarter with solid execution across this portfolio of businesses. By pipeline, our life insurance and annuities network software business has strong renewals, customer expansions and market activity, especially in the annuities market. ConstructConnect continued its solid march of improved financial results and bookings momentum. In addition, ConstructConnect continues to lead the market with their GenAI power and take off and estimating solutions. Great job by Matt Buck and the entire ConstructConnect team.

如前所述，本分部其餘業務本季有機成長為中個位數，整體業務組合執行穩健。Byline（我們的人壽保險與年金網路軟體業務）續約表現強勁、客戶擴張良好，市場活動也相當活躍，尤其是在年金市場。ConstructConnect 持續穩步推進，財務表現改善且接單動能延續。此外，ConstructConnect 也持續以其 GenAI 驅動的 quantity takeoff 與估算解決方案引領市場。Matt Buck 與整個 ConstructConnect 團隊做得非常出色。

Finally, our alternate site healthcare businesses performed well with MHA benefiting from increased operational focus and rigor and improvement in senior care occupancy rates.

最後，我們的替代場域醫療（alternate site healthcare）業務表現良好，其中 MHA 受惠於更高的營運聚焦與管理紀律，以及高齡照護入住率的改善。

SoftWriters, our LTC pharmacy software business continued their cadence of solid execution, well done. For the second half of the year, we expect the difficult freight market conditions to persist which resulted in our continued low single-digit organic revenue growth outlook for this segment.

SoftWriters（我們的長期照護藥局軟體業務）持續維持穩健執行的節奏，做得很好。展望下半年，我們預期艱困的貨運市場狀況仍將持續，因此我們對本分部的有機營收成長展望維持在低個位數。

Now please turn to page 11, and let's review our TEP segment's results. Revenue here grew 5% on an organic basis and EBITDA margins remain strong at 36.2%. We'll start with Verathon. Verathon had very strong growth across all through its product families and once again executed at an exceptional level in the quarter. The long-term success of Verathon is directly attributable to its leadership team building the business and all the underlying processes to enable sustainable long-term and improved organic growth.

現在請翻到第 11 頁，我們來回顧 TEP 分部的業績。本分部有機營收成長 5%，EBITDA 利潤率仍維持強勁，為 36.2%。先從 Verathon 開始。Verathon 在其所有產品線均呈現非常強勁的成長，且本季再次以卓越水準執行到位。Verathon 的長期成功，直接歸功於其領導團隊打造業務與各項底層流程，以支撐可持續的長期有機成長並持續改善。

This long-term disciplined focus is truly a competitive advantage for Verathon. Neptune continues to be solid and delivered another record quarter financial results. Demand remains strong and consistent with our expectations. Also, the Neptune team did a great job commissioning substantial ultrasonic meter capacity during the first half of this year, both of which are great relative to Neptune's long-term success. However, Neptune struggled in the quarter to achieve the manufacturing efficiency needed to deliver on the mechanical meter demand. We anticipate this to progressively be resolved through the balance of this year.

這種長期且自律的專注，確實是 Verathon 的競爭優勢。Neptune 持續穩健，本季再度繳出創紀錄的季度財務表現。需求依然強勁，且符合我們的預期。此外，Neptune 團隊在今年上半年也很出色地完成了大量超音波水表產能的投產，這些都對 Neptune 的長期成功非常有利。然而，Neptune 本季在達成滿足機械式水表需求所需的製造效率方面遇到挑戰。我們預期這個問題將在今年剩餘期間逐步獲得解決。

Northern Digital, or NDI, declined as expected in the quarter. As a reminder, NDI is our market-leading precision measurement business. NDI partners with the world's leading medical device manufacturers to deliver innovative health care applications that require super precise navigation such as robotic surgery and cardiac procedures to name a couple. Their long-term historical growth rate has been in the double-digit area. However, NDI is declining this quarter and this year based on customer program timing. Notwithstanding the first half performance, NDI continues to see strong OEM order activity, and we fully expect NDI to return to their normalized organic growth rate next year.

Northern Digital（或稱 NDI）本季如預期下滑。提醒一下，NDI 是我們市場領先的高精度量測業務。NDI 與全球領先的醫療器材製造商合作，提供需要極高精準導航的創新醫療照護應用，例如機器人手術與心臟相關處置等。其長期歷史成長率一直維持在雙位數區間。然而，由於客戶專案時程因素，NDI 在本季及今年呈現下滑。儘管上半年表現如此，NDI 仍持續看到強勁的 OEM 訂單活動，我們完全預期 NDI 明年將回到其常態化的有機成長率。

Finally, IPA Inovonics and rf IDEAS declined against a difficult prior year comp. As a reminder, these businesses started recovering from supply chain challenges this quarter a year ago. For the balance of the year, we expect the TEP segment to grow in the mid-single to high singles range, which is slightly below our prior expectation of high singles growth due to the mechanical meter production efficiency timing at Neptune. We do expect to return to high singles growth in the fourth quarter as Neptune's efficiency improvements take hold.

最後，IPA Inovonics 與 rf IDEAS 在艱難的去年同期比較基期下出現下滑。提醒一下，這些業務在一年前的本季開始從供應鏈挑戰中復甦。就今年剩餘期間而言，我們預期 TEP 部門將以中個位數到高個位數的區間成長；由於 Neptune 的機械式水表生產效率改善時點因素，該預期較我們先前的「高個位數成長」略低。我們確實預期在第四季，隨著 Neptune 的效率改善開始發揮作用，將回到高個位數成長。

Please turn with us to page 13. Now let's review our full year 2024 guidance and discuss the third quarter outlook. Based on our first half performance, enterprise momentum and our confidence in our outlook, we're maintaining our 12% total revenue growth and 6% organic revenue growth outlook for the full year. In addition, we're raising at the bottom end of our full year guidance of touch to be in the range of $18.10 and $18.25. Our guidance continues to assumes full year effective tax rate in the 21% to 22% range. For the third quarter, we expect adjusted debt to be between $4.50 and $4.54.

請與我們一起翻到第 13 頁。現在讓我們檢視 2024 全年指引，並討論第三季展望。基於上半年表現、企業動能以及我們對展望的信心，我們維持全年總營收成長 12% 與有機營收成長 6% 的展望。此外，我們上調全年指引的下緣，調整後 EPS 預計落在 18.10 至 18.25 美元區間。我們的指引仍假設全年有效稅率在 21% 至 22% 的區間。就第三季而言，我們預期調整後 EPS 介於 4.50 至 4.54 美元。

Now please turn us to page 14, and then we'll open it up for your questions. We'll conclude with the same key takeaways with which we started. First, we delivered a solid quarter of financial results, Second, we're increasing the low end of our outlook for the full year. And third, we are very well positioned relative to our capital deployment strategy. For the quarter, we delivered 12% total revenue and 4% organic revenue growth while increasing our EBITDA 13%. Importantly, free cash flow was strong, growing 24% in the quarter and 35% on a trailing 12-month basis. Free cash flow margins were 32% on a TTM basis as well.

現在請翻到第 14 頁，接著我們將開放提問。我們將以與開場相同的重點結語作結。第一，我們交出穩健的一季財務成果；第二，我們上調全年展望的下緣；第三，就資本配置策略而言，我們處於非常有利的位置。本季我們實現總營收成長 12%、有機營收成長 4%，同時 EBITDA 成長 13%。重要的是，自由現金流表現強勁，本季成長 24%，過去 12 個月（TTM）成長 35%。自由現金流利潤率在 TTM 基礎上也達到 32%。

Next, we're maintaining our full year outlook for 12% total revenue and 6% organic revenue growth and increasing the bottom end of our full year guidance. We're confident in our outlook given the mission criticality of our solutions, the ongoing expansion of our recurring revenue base and seeing HSD growth in our enterprise software bookings.

接著，我們維持全年總營收成長 12% 與有機營收成長 6% 的展望，並上調全年指引的下緣。鑑於我們解決方案的任務關鍵性、經常性收入基礎持續擴張，以及我們看到企業軟體訂單（bookings）呈現高個位數成長（HSD），我們對展望充滿信心。

Finally, we continue to maintain a strong financial position with over [$4 billion] capacity for capital deployment. The M&A markets are very active. We have a robust pipeline of attractive acquisition opportunities that we're excited to pursue with our unbiased and disciplined approach. We remain quite bullish about our ability to execute this partner strategy over the balance of this year and into the future.

最後，我們仍維持強勁的財務狀況，具備超過 40 億美元的資本配置能力。併購市場非常活躍。我們擁有強健的、具吸引力的併購機會管線，並期待以我們客觀且嚴謹自律的方法加以推進。我們對於在今年剩餘期間以及未來持續執行此夥伴策略的能力，仍相當樂觀。

Now as we turn to your questions and if you could flip to the final slide, our strategic flywheel, we'd like to remind everyone that what we do at Roper (inaudible) we compound cash flow over a long arc of time by operating a portfolio of market-leading application-specific and vertically oriented businesses.

現在進入提問環節；如果各位可以翻到最後一張投影片、我們的策略飛輪，我們想提醒大家：我們在 Roper（聽不清）所做的，是透過營運一個由市場領先、應用特定且垂直導向的企業所組成的投資組合，在長時間跨度中複利累積現金流。

Once a company is part of Roper, we operate a decentralized environment, so our businesses can compete and win based on customer intimacy. We coach our businesses on how to structurally improve their long-term and sustained organic growth rates and underlying business quality.

一旦公司成為 Roper 的一部分，我們採取分權式的營運環境，使各事業能以貼近客戶的方式競爭並勝出。我們也輔導各事業如何在結構上提升其長期且可持續的有機成長率，以及底層的業務品質。

Finally, we run a centralized process-driven capital deployment strategy that focuses in a deliberate and disciplined manner on finding the next great business to add to our cash flow compounding flywheel. Taken together, we compound our cash flow over a long arc of time in the mid-teens area.

最後，我們以集中式、流程驅動的資本配置策略運作，並以審慎且自律的方式，專注尋找下一家可加入我們現金流複利飛輪的優秀企業。綜合而言，我們在長時間跨度中以約中十位數（mid-teens）的水準複利累積現金流。

So with that, we'd like to thank you for your continued interest and support and open the floor for your questions. Operator, please go ahead.

因此，我們感謝各位持續的關注與支持，並開放提問。接線生，請開始。

(Operator Instructions) Deane Dray, RBC Capital Markets.

（接線生指示）Deane Dray，RBC Capital Markets。

Maybe we can start with the production efficiency issues at Neptune. And if I understand this correctly, so mechanical meters, it's an established platform. So I would not expect it to be like a start-up issue on this, but maybe just share with us what the problem is, what the remedy is and so forth?

也許我們可以先從 Neptune 的生產效率問題談起。如果我理解正確，機械式水表是一個成熟的平台。所以我不會預期這會像新創那樣的問題，但能否請你們分享一下問題是什麼、補救措施是什麼等等？

Sure, delighted to do that. I appreciate the question. So just to highlight what we talked about on the call. So first, the demand at Neptune is consistent with our expectations. So there's no demand issue here on either the static or the mechanical side.

當然，很樂意說明。謝謝你的提問。我先重點回顧一下我們在電話會議中提到的內容。首先，Neptune 的需求符合我們的預期。因此，不論是靜態式或機械式產品，這裡都不存在需求面的問題。

Second, the team did just a remarkable job standing out of the static ultrasonic capacity in the first half. That business is growing north of 20% a quarter year-on-year. So there's capacity had to happen there. And we get to the mechanical, and I think the root cause here is just a simple, the fact that the team's attention was standing up the static and the ultrasound capacity, and we lost a little bit of production efficiency on the mechanical side.

第二，團隊在上半年把靜態超音波產能建置起來，做得非常出色。該業務的年對年季度成長超過 20%。因此，那邊必須擴充產能。接著談到機械式產品，我認為根本原因很單純：團隊的注意力放在建置靜態與超音波產能上，導致機械式端的生產效率略有流失。

The countermeasures are in place. We just have to get back to prior levels of efficiency. We don't have to have a breakthrough level of efficiency here. And so like I said, the countermeasures are in process. it's got the full attention of the team, and this should be resolved this year.

對策已經到位。我們只需要回到先前的效率水準。這裡不需要達到突破性的效率提升。因此如我所說，對策正在推進中，已獲得團隊全力關注，且應可在今年內解決。

All right. That's good to hear. And then a second question, how about any issues with the CrowdStrike fiasco earlier this week? Any impact, any new vulnerabilities across your businesses? And anything you could share there would be helpful.

好的。很高興聽到。第二個問題，本週稍早 CrowdStrike 的風波有沒有帶來任何問題？對你們各項業務是否有任何影響、是否出現新的弱點？若能分享相關情況會很有幫助。

Yes. Generally, a nonevent for us. And based on the information we have at this stage, at this time, we don't anticipate the event will have any general impact on us.

是的。整體而言，對我們來說基本上不是事件。就我們目前掌握的資訊，在此階段、此時此刻，我們不預期該事件會對我們造成任何整體性的影響。

And the next question comes from the line of Joe Vruwink.

下一個問題來自 Joe Vruwink。

Great. There was a fair amount of discussion over the past quarter from others in enterprise software, just around maybe deal delays customers contemplate AI and investments related to it certainly doesn't seem like that's happening at broker application software. So I was hoping you could comment just on what the portfolio companies at Roper are hearing from customers on AI and are there either postponements or I might ask inversely, is Roper actually being brought in new ways by customers to assist with their AI strategies?

很好。過去一季，其他企業軟體公司有相當多討論，主要圍繞在交易延遲，因為客戶在思考 AI 以及與之相關的投資；但在 Roper 的應用軟體業務上似乎沒有發生這種情況。因此我想請你們評論一下：Roper 旗下投資組合公司從客戶那邊聽到關於 AI 的哪些回饋？是否有延後？或者反過來問，客戶是否以新的方式把 Roper 納入其合作範圍，以協助其 AI 策略？

Yes. I'll take a first pass of this and then Jason has anything to add. So first, it's been this -- certainly, we're aware of the situation from the other companies. And so we're listening intently for this when we do our call downs of their businesses. And not once in any of our call downs or none of the first quarter, second quarter written summaries of business unit performance is this then the other as an issue in terms of our customers' IT spending diverting away from what we did is the first point.

是的。我先初步回應一下，然後 Jason 再補充。首先，這件事一直是這樣——我們當然也注意到其他公司所面臨的情況。因此，當我們在對他們的業務進行電話訪談（call downs）時，我們會非常仔細地聆聽是否有提到這點。但在我們任何一次電話訪談中，或在第一季、第二季各事業單位績效的書面摘要裡，從未出現「客戶的 IT 支出從我們所做的事情轉移出去」這類問題；這是第一點。

We've started to think about why that is. I think part of the reason is we're a tiny portion of the IT spend of our customers, and we're mission critical in what we do. So I think it's a combination of the two.

我們也開始思考為什麼會是這樣。我認為部分原因是，我們在客戶整體 IT 支出中只占很小一部分，但我們所做的事情又是關鍵任務（mission critical）。所以我想這是兩者結合的結果。

And our customers are very much looking to us to GenAI and (inaudible) our product offerings. And we're very much doing that. We've talked about it in the prepared remarks for the last several quarters. I think there's three or four references in it in today's call. And so we're super bullish about the opportunity. We noted enterprise software bookings up high single digits in the quarter, so some momentum there.

而且客戶非常期待我們把 GenAI 和（聽不清）融入我們的產品供應中。我們也確實正在這麼做。我們在過去幾季的事先準備講稿裡都談過這點。我想今天的電話會議裡也提了三、四次。因此我們對這個機會非常看多。我們也提到本季企業軟體訂單（bookings）成長達到高個位數，所以那裡有一些動能。

Yes, that's right. Joe, we talked about this a month or two ago. It's pretty consistent there. And I think, like Neil said, our enterprise bookings were strong across a number of businesses. Even Deltek was still down a little bit, so it was pretty widespread. So no. Like Neil said nothing on our calls indicated that this is an issue whatsoever, at least at this point.

是的，沒錯。Joe，我們在一兩個月前談過這個。整體來看相當一致。而且我想，如 Neil 所說，我們的企業端訂單在多個業務上都很強勁。甚至 Deltek 仍然小幅下滑，所以其實是相當廣泛的表現。所以沒有。如 Neil 所說，我們的電話訪談沒有任何跡象顯示這會是問題，至少目前為止是如此。

Okay. That's great to hear. Yes. And I wanted to follow-up on the high single-digit growth in enterprise bookings because that does seem like a positive change in trend. So Deltek contributed, it sounds like any other big needle movers to call out just in terms of the bookings developments?

好的。很高興聽到這個。是的。我也想追問一下企業端訂單高個位數成長，因為這看起來像是趨勢上的正向變化。所以 Deltek 有貢獻——聽起來是這樣——那在訂單進展方面，還有沒有其他值得特別點出的、能明顯帶動的因素？

And actually, Joe, Deltek was still down a little bit. So that's what Deltek. But Neil highlighted some strength at Strata. So we saw, like I said, pipeline has been building and saw some good bookings at the latter part of Q2, Aderant has continued to be strong. Vertafore, Frontline, also really good quarters as well.

其實，Joe，Deltek 仍然小幅下滑。所以 Deltek 是這樣。但 Neil 提到 Strata 有一些強勁表現。所以我們看到——如我所說——管線一直在累積，並且在第二季後段看到一些不錯的訂單；Aderant 也持續強勁。Vertafore、Frontline 也都有非常好的季度表現。

Julian Mitchell, Barclays.

Julian Mitchell，Barclays。

Yes. I just wondered if you could give us some color around the Q3 EPS guide. Normally, you have a stronger sequential uplift maybe (inaudible) plus in the last couple of years into the -- of into the third quarter, is there much sort of happening there this year that's kind of weighing on that? any kind of one-timers maybe on that point on Neptune that's weighing on the sequential growth.

是的。我想請問能否就第三季 EPS 指引提供一些背景說明。通常第三季相較前一季會有更強的提升，過去幾年大概是（聽不清）以上；今年是否有什麼因素在壓抑這個表現？例如 Neptune 是否有任何一次性因素，正在拖累這個序列成長？

Yes. Thanks, Julian. I think a little bit is Neptune. So just getting that -- those operational efficiencies will push some of that revenue that we normally have in the third quarter into the fourth.

是的。謝謝你，Julian。我想有一部分是 Neptune 的影響。也就是說，為了取得那些營運效率，我們通常在第三季會認列的一部分營收，會被推遲到第四季。

And then if you just look prior year. I think we think AS margins are going to be down year-over-year in Q3. If you recall last year, it was kind of the high watermark, Q3 was, of 2023. So we actually expect it to be stronger AS margins in Q4. So we'll have a strong Q4 there. So it's just a little bit of a shift on margin, I think in the AS segment, which is obviously more than half of our revenue.

另外，如果你看去年同期。我們認為第三季 AS 的利潤率將會年減。如果你還記得，去年 2023 年的第三季算是高水位。因此我們其實預期第四季 AS 利潤率會更強。所以第四季那裡會很強。所以我想這只是利潤率在 AS 部門上的一些時點移轉；而 AS 部門顯然占我們營收的一半以上。

That's helpful. And then just my follow-up question would really be around the network software piece and going back to the freight market. It sounds like it's trending kind of as you thought. Maybe update us where we sit in terms of the timing of that cycle trough and what sort of slope of recovery you think we should expect there in the next kind of 12, 18 months, please?

這很有幫助。那我的追問會是關於網路軟體（network software）這一塊，以及回到貨運市場。聽起來走勢大致符合你們的預期。能否更新一下：就這個循環的谷底時點而言，我們目前處於什麼位置？以及未來 12 到 18 個月，你們預期復甦斜率大概會是什麼樣子？謝謝。

I'll give you our best crack at what's going on there. So as we all know, in recent past periods, CAT just really experienced abnormal growth that was consistent with the freight cycle. And sort of the freight recession is what's been impacting the business over the last several quarters. This quarter was flattish in terms of the volumes that we're seeing.

我來盡力說明我們對那邊狀況的判斷。如大家所知，在不久前的幾個期間，CAT 確實經歷了與貨運循環一致的異常成長。而所謂的貨運衰退（freight recession）就是過去幾季影響該業務的因素。本季就我們看到的量而言，大致持平。

And then maybe there's a little bit of green shoots happening. The spot market volumes are stable to slightly improving Carrier attrition and the network has slowed a little bit more than originally expected or anticipated.

然後也許出現了一些小小的復甦跡象（green shoots）。現貨市場量能穩定到略有改善；承運商流失（carrier attrition）以及網路端的下滑速度，比原先預期或估計的還要再放緩一些。

And finally, maybe most importantly, freight rejection rates in the market are improving. And so we're sort of balancing, as I mentioned, we're bouncing along the bottom. That's our call for the balance of the year, and we're not going to bake in an improvement in our outlook until we actually see it, but maybe there's some great shoots happening here.

最後，也許最重要的是，市場上的貨運拒載率（freight rejection rates）正在改善。因此我們在做平衡——如我提到的——我們目前就是在底部附近徘徊。這是我們對今年剩餘期間的判斷；在真正看到改善之前，我們不會把改善納入展望，但也許確實有一些復甦的嫩芽正在出現。

Terry Tillman, Truist Securities.

Terry Tillman，Truist Securities。

The first question, it's kind of a multi-parter. It's related to the Deltek business. And then I did have a follow-up. It's going to be on Aderant. But in terms of Deltek on that large GovCon side, I assume that's for some of that volatility and some of the bookings weakness is still going on. Is there some seasonality dynamics and just kind of strengthening of the pipeline and visibility into the second half where you think that can turn positive in terms of bookings?

第一個問題有點多段。與 Deltek 業務相關。然後我還有一個追問。會是關於 Aderant。但就 Deltek 在大型 GovCon 那一側而言，我猜那仍是造成部分波動以及訂單疲弱的原因。是否存在一些季節性因素，以及在下半年你們看到管線增強、能見度提升，使得訂單有機會轉正？

And the second part of this first question is on FedRAMP. If I wasn't mistaken, FedRAMP could potentially unlock some large deals? And then I had a follow-up.

而第一個問題的第二部分是關於 FedRAMP。如果我沒記錯，FedRAMP 可能有機會解鎖一些大型交易？然後我還有一個追問。

Yes. So we'll try to take both of those. So Deltek is not really a seasonal business. Just so we're clear. Deltek got two parts of the business, about 60% GovCon, about 40% is the professional services end markets, architects, engineers, construction contractors. The professional services side, it's been solid, robust, consistent. The slowness has been on the GovCon side, particularly the enterprise, the very largest customers as just the last 12 months or maybe a little bit longer if government spending uncertainty is what's driven sort of the slowdown or sluggishness in the market.

是的。我們會試著把這兩點都回答。Deltek 其實不是一個有明顯季節性的業務。先說清楚。Deltek 的業務有兩個部分，大約 60% 是 GovCon，大約 40% 是專業服務終端市場，包括建築師、工程師、營造承包商。專業服務那一側一直都很穩健、強勁且一致。放緩主要出現在 GovCon 端，特別是企業級、也就是最大的那些客戶；過去 12 個月、甚至可能更久一些，政府支出不確定性是導致市場放緩或遲滯的主因。

In the second quarter, Deltek on the GovCon side, there was a little bit of enterprise activity, bookings activity, which was super encouraging to see it's been two quarters since we've seen that. And there also isn't really an election impact that's tied to this part of the business. At least historically, there's not been. So it's just having some stability in the government spending outlook. It also doesn't really matter what the government spending is on. It just is the government operation of spending has been uncertain.

在第二季，Deltek 在 GovCon 這一側，我們看到一些企業端活動、訂單（bookings）活動，這點非常令人振奮，因為我們已經有兩季沒看到這種情況了。而且這一塊業務其實也沒有真正與選舉相關的影響。至少從歷史上看是沒有的。所以重點在於政府支出展望的穩定性。而且政府把錢花在什麼項目上其實也不太重要。主要是政府運作層面的支出一直存在不確定性。

I mean you're right on FedRAMP, the company is, I think, FedRAMP have moderate complied today, and it's a definitive unlock for the SaaS migration on the GovCon side of the business, which is just in the very, very beginning, like the bottom of the first inning.

你的 FedRAMP 觀察是對的；我認為公司目前已符合 FedRAMP Moderate 的合規要求，這對 GovCon 這邊業務的 SaaS 遷移而言是明確的解鎖因素，而這才剛剛開始，就像棒球比賽第一局的最底部那樣非常早期。

And I guess just a follow-up question. I've been struck by just from our own primary research, just the Aderant customer base and optimism about moving to cloud. Where are we in that upgrade cycle and moving to cloud. And is it unlocking kind of expansion sales opportunities?

我想再追問一下。從我們自己的第一手研究來看，我注意到 Aderant 的客戶群對於移轉到雲端相當樂觀。我們目前在這個升級週期與上雲進程中處於什麼位置？這是否正在解鎖某種擴張型銷售機會？

Yes. Aderant, it's just so good at the moment for multiple factors, the one you list around the SaaS migration is just one. I mean the company has just done a -- we got a lot of market momentum. They're leading the market on the use of generative AI tools and software applications. Their net market share winners that continue to gain net market share and just to give everybody listening context, the last five to seven years has been a market share gain, right? So we've gone from to north of 50% market share over that period of time for large law firms, and most of that share gain was on-premise. And with the advent of COVID, the large law firms decided they wanted to start the migration to the cloud.

是的。Aderant 目前表現非常好，原因有很多，你提到的 SaaS 遷移只是其中之一。我的意思是，公司做得非常出色——我們獲得了很強的市場動能。他們在生成式 AI 工具與軟體應用的使用上領先市場。他們是持續取得淨市佔的贏家；為了讓各位聽眾有個背景，過去五到七年一直是市佔提升的過程，對吧？在這段期間，我們在大型律師事務所的市佔已提升到 50% 以上，而大部分的市佔提升其實是在地端（on-premise）完成的。而在 COVID 出現之後，大型律所決定要開始移轉到雲端。

So we've got a multiyear journey of the lift and shift from our on-premise customers to the cloud. The product is enabled and we're just beginning that migration now. Maybe this is in the second or third inning and barrier.

因此，我們有一段為期多年的旅程，要把既有的地端客戶「搬移並平移」（lift and shift）到雲端。產品已經具備能力，而我們現在才剛開始這個遷移。也許現在是在第二或第三局，且仍有門檻。

There's a few dozen conversions that's happened over the last three or four years. So we're still really early. It's obviously picked up in the last, call it six quarters. But yes, still plenty of running there.

過去三到四年大概完成了幾十個轉換案例。所以我們仍然非常早期。當然在最近大約六個季度確實加速了。但沒錯，後面仍有很大的成長空間。

Scott Davis, Melius Research.

Scott Davis，Melius Research。

Is there to say it's getting a little harder to get price year-over-year? I'm kind of thinking specifically network software, but I guess, application software as well. But I know you had some pretty big price increases the last couple of years. Has it gotten a little harder to get price in those markets?

能否談談是不是一年比一年更難漲價？我主要想到的是網路軟體，但應用軟體可能也是。我知道你們過去幾年有一些幅度不小的漲價。在那些市場裡，現在是不是更難取得漲價？

Scott, we would actually say we've not gotten outsized price in our software businesses over the last couple of years. It's price is part of the growth algorithm that we talked about. As a general matter, right, is going to offset the attrit on the ARR base, and then we're going to cross-sell and upsell and add new to sort of get to the total growth of the business. There's been just maybe a little bit look a teeny tiny amount of rigs that's above normal on both the network and application software side. So it wasn't a big benefit historically. We don't have to lap that going forward to the extent pricing were to normalize because in our case, we've been normal through the period.

Scott，我們其實會說，過去幾年我們的軟體業務並沒有取得特別超常的漲價幅度。價格是我們所談到的成長公式（growth algorithm）的一部分。一般而言，漲價會用來抵消 ARR 基礎上的流失（attrition），接著我們會透過交叉銷售與向上銷售，再加上新增客戶，來達到整體業務的總成長。在網路與應用軟體兩邊，可能只是有一點點、非常微小的幅度高於常態。所以歷史上它並不是很大的助益。如果未來定價回歸常態，我們也不需要去「比較基期」（lap）那部分的好處，因為就我們而言，這段期間我們一直都算是正常水準。

Okay. All right. That's good color. And then last quarter, my takeaway was your enthusiasm on kind of M&A markets unlocking was pretty high. Is it fair to say you're still in the same level of enthusiasm about being able to get high-quality deals done this year?

好的。好。這些說明很有幫助。另外，上季我的感受是，你們對於併購（M&A）市場解凍的熱情相當高。可以說你們今年仍然同樣有信心能完成高品質交易嗎？

Very much so. The market is -- the commentary we talked about a quarter ago was the exact same commentary today. There's just an amazing amount of pent-up demand for opportunities. I think I said last time, it's going to be 3 to 3.5 years deals compressed in a couple of years. We still believe that's the case. Interesting thing happened in the first half is that the first half deals in the market were super binary based on asset quality. (inaudible) assets trade in anything in the or below did not which is leading sponsors to really face the reality about value and valuations. And so the combination of that, the pent-up demand, interest rates being higher should yield more reasonable valuations. We'll see but we're super encouraged by both that dynamic around valuation and then just the volume of opportunities that we see.

非常是。市場狀況——我們一季前談到的評論，今天完全一樣。市場上對機會有驚人的累積需求（pent-up demand）。我想我上次說過，可能會把 3 到 3.5 年的交易量壓縮在兩年內完成。我們仍然相信會是如此。上半年發生了一件有趣的事：市場上的交易在資產品質上呈現非常二元的結果；（聽不清）高品質資產成交，其他在同等或更低層級的則沒有成交，這讓贊助方（sponsors）不得不真正面對價值與估值的現實。因此，這些因素加上累積需求、以及利率較高，應該會帶來更合理的估值。我們再觀察，但我們對估值動態以及我們看到的機會量都非常受到鼓舞。

Final thing I'd say is that Janet and her team are much more proactive and proprietary in our pursuits. And that's being well received by the sponsors we're engaging with.

最後我想補充的是，Janet 和她的團隊在我們的尋案上更主動、也更具專屬性（proprietary）。而且這種做法在我們接觸的贊助方之間反應很好。

Joe Giordano, TD Cowen.

Joe Giordano，TD Cowen。

Can you remind me of at Neptune, the mix between ultrasonic and mechanical? And like where that is today, where you see that going? And like is there any material margin difference between the two products today.

你能提醒我一下，在 Neptune，超音波與機械式的組合比例大概如何嗎？以及目前的狀況、你們認為未來會往哪個方向走？另外，這兩種產品在今天的毛利率上是否有任何顯著差異？

Yes. So on the mix, we've been advised by Neptune for competitive reasons to sort of stay away from the specifics of the mix today, the market is declaratively going to static. There's a lot of benefit to static, and we believe we have a most product advantage with our static leader around being able to be accurately both high and low flow rates. Relative to the margin profile today, they're similar-ish in terms of margin profile.

可以。關於組合比例，Neptune 基於競爭因素建議我們避免談目前比例的細節；市場明確正走向靜態（static）。靜態有很多好處，而我們相信我們的靜態領先產品具備優勢，能在高流量與低流量下都保持精準。至於目前的毛利結構，兩者在毛利率輪廓上大致相近。

Okay. And then if I just think about maybe more ConstructConnect, but maybe a little bit on Deltek too, but it seems like construction starts and like activity is still at a good level, but like the starts are getting worse and like we're kind of -- it seems like even on the institutional side, things getting a little bit weaker, but from good levels. Like what are the implications there? And are you seeing any of that of those businesses?

好的。那如果我把焦點放在 ConstructConnect（也可能稍微包含 Deltek），看起來施工開工（construction starts）與活動量仍在不錯的水準，但開工似乎在轉差，我們也——看起來即便在機構端（institutional）也開始有些走弱，但仍是從高檔回落。這會帶來什麼影響？你們在那些業務上有看到這些現象嗎？

Yes. So on the Deltek side, the construction vertical, Deltek remains strong. The pipeline activity is strong. Their bookings activity is strong. Now mind you, our customer base is very much on the S&M side. They're not the enterprise. They're not the largest customers, the Deltek services. So maybe -- I mean there's a gigantic unbended market. So even in the headwinds of maybe a little bit of slowdown when these smaller contracts are looking for efficiency, they would look to using our software to do that, which might help with some of the pressure.

有。先談 Deltek 這邊，建築垂直領域對 Deltek 來說仍然強勁。管線活動很強。他們的訂單（bookings）活動也很強。不過要注意，我們的客戶基礎主要是在中小企業（S&M）端。他們不是企業級客戶。也不是 Deltek 服務的最大型客戶。所以也許——我的意思是，仍有非常巨大的未滲透市場。因此，即使在可能略為放緩的逆風下，當這些較小的合約在尋求效率時，他們會轉而使用我們的軟體來達成，這可能有助於緩解部分壓力。

At ConstructConnect, this business has just been -- it's just good old-fashioned execution that has led to better outcomes there. They're going to really get choice on their strategy and making choices to focus on the trade contractors and building product manufacturers. They've done a great job enabling that strategy around the product and R&D and go-to-market sort of changes, the lead generation changes, the way they hear their demos I think we've been four quarters of double-digit bookings at ConstructConnect. And so it's just been good old-fashioned execution there that's led to quite improved outcome here.

在 ConstructConnect，這項業務一直以來——就是靠著傳統、扎實的執行，才帶來了更好的成果。他們會在策略上真正做出取捨，並選擇聚焦於工種承包商與建材產品製造商。他們在產品、研發以及上市策略等變革、線索開發的變革、以及他們呈現產品示範的方式上，都把這個策略落實得非常好；我想我們在 ConstructConnect 已經連續四個季度達成雙位數的訂單預訂（bookings）。所以，這裡就是靠著傳統、扎實的執行，帶來了相當明顯的改善成果。

Steve Tusa, JPMorgan.

Steve Tusa，摩根大通（JPMorgan）。

On the Neptune side, what's the kind of backlog status there? And what's your book-to-bill on that front? Just some color on the orders because accelerating into 4Q when your growth was 15% seems to imply quite a catch-up even beyond maybe just fulfilling some of these other orders? And then secondarily, you mentioned high single-digit growth in software, I believe it was bookings. Is that organic or reported? And if that's total software, shouldn't that translate to revenues more near term in the second half. It doesn't look like you're accelerating there in the second half.

在 Neptune 這邊，目前的積壓訂單（backlog）狀況如何？那邊的接單出貨比（book-to-bill）是多少？想請你們補充一些訂單面的細節，因為在第四季加速、而你們的成長是 15%，看起來意味著相當程度的追趕，甚至可能不只是履行其他一些訂單而已？另外，你們提到軟體的高個位數成長，我記得說的是 bookings。那是有機成長還是報表口徑（reported）？如果那是整體軟體業務，是否應該在下半年更快反映到營收？看起來你們下半年並沒有在那邊加速。

So on Neptune bookings, I mean we talked about the backlog coming into the year was still extremely strong, right? And so we had three or four quarters, almost four quarters of backlog going into the year. And so that's what we've been working through this year. And then orders continue to be strong, continue to be enough to -- I guess to answer your question around the fourth quarter for sure in our guide and then setting up for next year.

關於 Neptune 的 bookings，我們之前談過，年初進來時的積壓訂單仍然非常強勁，對吧？所以我們帶著三到四個季度、幾乎四個季度的積壓訂單進入今年。因此，今年我們一直在消化這些積壓訂單。而且訂單持續強勁，持續足以——我想是回答你關於第四季的問題：在我們的指引中肯定如此，並且也為明年做準備。

And then on enterprise bookings, the way we define that is it's all of the software business outside of DAT, Loadlink and ConstructConnect because those are more SMB-type businesses and those are annual contract value revenue. So it's the time of booking and then you've got a -- depending on the company, the delay between when the booking happens and when it converts to revenue, that can vary. Depending on the nature of the award. And so it doesn't always translate into revenue in the current year, but it certainly does help support where we think AS is going to be in the second half and then into '25.

至於企業端（enterprise）bookings，我們的定義是：DAT、Loadlink 和 ConstructConnect 以外的所有軟體業務，因為那些更偏向中小企業（SMB）型態的業務，而且是以年度合約價值（annual contract value）作為收入。所以會有一個預訂時間點，接著——依公司而定——從 booking 發生到轉為營收之間會有一段延遲，這段時間可能不同。取決於得標/授予（award）的性質。因此，它不一定會在當年度就轉成營收，但確實有助於支撐我們對 AS 在下半年、以及延伸到 2025 年的走勢判斷。

That's right. And just the only thing I'd add to Jason, Scott, on the software bookings is the majority, if not the vast majority of bookings are subscription or SaaS related. So you've got the number of months left in the year, it's just hard to impact bookings in the second half or even second quarter, six months left to go. So it really is about the launch of point in AR for '25.

沒錯。另外我想補充 Jason、Scott 一點：在軟體 bookings 方面，多數——如果不是絕大多數——的 bookings 都與訂閱或 SaaS 有關。所以你看一年剩下的月份數，下半年甚至第二季要讓 bookings 對營收產生影響其實很難，因為只剩六個月。因此，重點其實在於 2025 年 AR 的起始/推出時點。

And yes, just to clarify, it is organic.

對，補充說明一下，這是有機成長。

That's right.

沒錯。

And the next question comes from Alexander Blanton, individual investor.

下一個問題來自 Alexander Blanton，個人投資人。

It's clearly Clear Harbor Asset Management, not an individual investor. I want to go back to the Neptune production issue. I really wasn't clear on the answer that you gave before. So perhaps you can make some clarifying comments. What's the nature of the production holdup or problem? And I think you said that you expected it to be resolved by the end of the third quarter so that you would do some catch-up in the fourth quarter. Could you elaborate on that?

很明顯是 Clear Harbor Asset Management，不是個人投資人。我想回到 Neptune 的生產問題。我對你先前給的回答其實不太清楚。所以也許你可以再做一些澄清說明。生產延宕或問題的性質是什麼？而且我想你說你預期在第三季末前解決，這樣第四季就能追趕一些進度。你能否再詳細說明？

I'll do my best. So as you know, Neptune makes the sense that the highest level makes two forms of meters, a static meter and mechanical meter. The static meter, we've had to add production capacity, which was successfully commissioned in the first half. So that's great news to the existing factory that we have in Alabama.

我會盡力。如你所知，Neptune 在最高層面來看生產兩種水表：靜態表（static meter）和機械表（mechanical meter）。靜態表方面，我們必須增加產能，而這在上半年已成功完成投產/驗收（commissioned）。所以這對我們在阿拉巴馬州既有的工廠來說是個好消息。

The mechanical meter side, we have the capacity that's needed, but there was essentially a daily efficiency production rate that was below where it needed to be to meet the demand and deliver on the customer commitments. That's what's in the process of being countermeasured.

機械表方面，我們具備所需的產能，但基本上日常效率的產出率低於應有水準，無法滿足需求並履行對客戶的交付承諾。這就是目前正在採取對策加以改善的部分。

Again, I mentioned before, this is just returning to levels of previous efficiency, not a breakthrough level of efficiency that would not get ever achieved. And so the teams are fully contrasting this at the moment, and we expect it's beginning to resolve itself in the third quarter, and we hope and expect to resolve itself for the balance of the year.

我之前也提過，這只是回到過去的效率水準，而不是要達到某種前所未有、也不可能達成的效率突破。因此，團隊目前正全力處理這件事，

My question really was what caused it to deviate from prior levels?

我的問題其實是：是什麼原因導致它偏離了先前的水準？

We think the root cause of that is you've got a factory management team that was super focused on adding the static capacity in the first half and just got distracted or lost focus on the daily efficiency or production efficiency on the mechanical side.

我們認為根本原因在於：工廠管理團隊在上半年非常專注於增加靜態表產能，結果在機械表這邊的日常效率或生產效率上分心了、或是失去了焦點。

Well, right. But what is the nature of the production efficiency problem. That's what I'm getting at.

好，沒錯。但生產效率問題的性質到底是什麼？這才是我想問的重點。

Alex. We're delighted to take this off-line if you want to talk about more detail.

Alex。如果你想談更細節的內容，我們很樂意在會後私下再談。

Thank you. This concludes our Q&A session. I will now hand the call over back to Zack Moxcey. Please go ahead, sir.

謝謝。我們的問答環節到此結束。我現在把電話交回給 Zack Moxcey。先生，請繼續。

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

謝謝各位今天加入我們。我們期待在下一次財報電話會議中再與各位交流。

Thank you. This concludes our conference call for today. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位參加今天的簡報。您現在可以掛線。