標普全球 (SPGI) 2021 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. Welcome to S&P Global's First Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call. I'd like to inform you that this call is being recorded for broadcast. (Operator Instructions)

早安。歡迎參加 S&P Global 2021 年第一季財報電話會議。我想提醒各位，本次通話將被錄音以供播出。（接線員指示）

To access the webcast and slides, go to investor.spglobal.com. (Operator Instructions)

如需收看網路直播並取得簡報投影片，請前往 investor.spglobal.com。（接線員指示）

I would now like to introduce Mr. Chip Merritt, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations for S&P Global. Sir, you may begin.

現在我想介紹 S&P Global 投資人關係資深副總裁 Chip Merritt 先生。先生，您可以開始了。

Thank you for joining S&P Global's First Quarter 2021 Earnings Call. Presenting on today's call are Doug Peterson, President and CEO; and Ewout Steenbergen, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

感謝各位參加 S&P Global 2021 年第一季財報電話會議。今天出席並發言的有總裁暨執行長 Doug Peterson，以及執行副總裁兼財務長 Ewout Steenbergen。

We issued a news release with our results earlier today. If you need a copy of the release and financial schedules, they can be downloaded at investor.spglobal.com.

我們已於今日稍早發布新聞稿公布業績結果。如需新聞稿與財務附表，可至 investor.spglobal.com 下載。

Before we begin, I need to provide certain cautionary remarks about forward-looking statements. Except for historical information, the matters discussed in the teleconference may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including projections, estimates and descriptions of future events. Any such statements are based on current expectations and current economic conditions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from results anticipated in these forward-looking statements. In this regard, we direct listeners to the cautionary statements contained in our Form 10-Ks, 10-Qs and other periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

在開始之前，我需要就前瞻性陳述提供若干警示性說明。除歷史資訊外，本次電話會議所討論事項可能包含《1995 年私人證券訴訟改革法》所定義之前瞻性陳述，包括預測、估計及對未來事件的描述。任何此類陳述均基於目前預期與當前經濟狀況，並受風險與不確定性影響，可能導致實際結果與這些前瞻性陳述所預期者出現重大差異。就此，我們請聽眾參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交之 Form 10-K、10-Q 及其他定期報告中所載之警示性聲明。

In addition, as we announced late last year, S&P Global and IHS Markit entered into a definitive merger agreement. In March, shareholders of both companies overwhelmingly voted in favor of the merger. The merger is pending regulatory approval, and we expect to close in the second half of 2021. This call will touch on the merger but does not constitute an offer to sell or buy or the solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any securities nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which this offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities law of any such jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933.

此外，如同我們於去年年底宣布，S&P Global 與 IHS Markit 已簽訂具約束力的最終合併協議。3 月，兩家公司股東以壓倒性票數表決支持合併。該合併仍待監管核准，我們預期將於 2021 年下半年完成交割。本次電話會議將提及該合併，但不構成出售或購買之要約，亦不構成徵求任何購買或出售任何證券之要約；且在任何司法管轄區，如於依該司法管轄區證券法完成註冊或資格認定之前進行該要約、徵求或出售屬違法者，則不得於該司法管轄區進行任何證券出售。任何證券之發行，僅得透過符合《1933 年證券法》第 10 條要求之公開說明書（prospectus）進行。

In connection with the proposed transaction, S&P Global and IHS Markit has filed a registration statement on Form S-4 with the SEC, which includes a joint proxy statement and a prospectus. S&P Global and IHS Markit have filed other documents regarding the proposed transaction with the SEC. Investors and security holders of S&P Global or IHS Markit stock are urged to carefully read the entire registration statement and joint proxy statement/prospectus, which is available on our website and sec.gov.

就擬議交易而言，S&P Global 與 IHS Markit 已向 SEC 提交 Form S-4 註冊聲明，其中包含聯合委託書聲明（joint proxy statement）及公開說明書（prospectus）。S&P Global 與 IHS Markit 亦已就擬議交易向 SEC 提交其他文件。敦促 S&P Global 或 IHS Markit 股票之投資人與證券持有人仔細閱讀完整的註冊聲明及聯合委託書聲明／公開說明書；相關文件可於我們的網站及 sec.gov 取得。

In today's earnings release and during the conference call, we provide adjusted financial information. This information is provided to enable investors to make meaningful comparisons of the corporation's operating performance between periods and to view the corporation's business from the same perspective as management's. The earnings release contains exhibits that reconcile the difference between the non-GAAP measures and the comparable financial measures calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

在今日的財報新聞稿及本次電話會議中，我們提供經調整的財務資訊。提供此資訊旨在使投資人能在不同期間之間對本公司營運表現進行有意義的比較，並以與管理層相同的視角檢視本公司業務。財報新聞稿包含附表，用以調節非 GAAP 指標與依美國 GAAP 計算之可比財務指標之差異。

This call, especially the discussion of our outlook, contains statements about expected future events that are forward-looking and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations can be found in our filings with the SEC and on our website.

本次通話，特別是對我們展望的討論，包含對預期未來事件的陳述，屬前瞻性陳述並受風險與不確定性影響。可能導致實際結果與預期出現重大差異的因素，可於我們向 SEC 提交的文件及我們的網站中查閱。

I would also like to call your attention to European regulation. Any investor who has or expects to obtain ownership of 5% or more of S&P Global should give me a call to better understand the impact of this legislation on the investor and potentially the company.

我也想提醒各位注意歐洲法規。任何已持有或預期取得 S&P Global 5% 或以上持股的投資人，請致電與我聯繫，以更了解該立法對投資人及可能對本公司造成的影響。

We're aware that we do have some media representatives with us on the call. However, this call is intended for investors, and we would ask that questions from the media be delivered to Dave Guarino at (201) 755-5334.

我們知道本次通話中有部分媒體代表與會。然而，本次通話旨在面向投資人；我們請媒體的提問改由致電 (201) 755-5334 聯繫 Dave Guarino。

At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Doug Peterson. Doug?

此時，我想把電話交給 Doug Peterson。Doug？

Thank you, Chip. Welcome to today's earnings call. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the essential nature of our products has demonstrated the resilience of our business model. As the economy improves, our colleagues continue to launch innovative new products to help our customers with the ratings, benchmarks, data and insights they need to navigate the recovery. We continue to prioritize the safety of our colleagues, and I want to thank them again for their dedication and commitment in these extremely unusual and challenging times.

謝謝你，Chip。歡迎各位參加今天的財報電話會議。自疫情開始以來，我們產品的關鍵性已展現出我們商業模式的韌性。隨著經濟改善，我們的同仁持續推出創新新產品，協助客戶取得其在復甦過程中所需的評級、基準、數據與洞見。我們持續將同仁安全列為優先事項，也再次感謝他們在這段極不尋常且充滿挑戰的時期所展現的投入與承諾。

Now let me begin with our first quarter financial highlights. S&P Global is off to a great start in 2021 as we delivered exceptional first quarter results. Revenue increased 13%, and all 4 businesses delivered revenue growth and adjusted operating profit margin improvement. Ratings once again delivered the strongest revenue growth from a surge in leveraged loans, high-yield issuance and structured finance. Adjusted expense growth was limited to less than 2%, thanks to our ongoing productivity program and lower T&E.

接下來先從第一季財務重點開始。S&P Global 在 2021 年開局強勁，我們交出卓越的第一季成績。營收成長 13%，四大業務皆實現營收成長並提升經調整營運利潤率。評級業務再次因槓桿貸款、高收益債發行與結構性融資激增而帶來最強勁的營收成長。受惠於我們持續推動的生產力計畫以及較低的差旅與招待（T&E）支出，經調整費用成長控制在 2% 以下。

It's very rare when we increase guidance on our first quarter earnings call. However, we expect additional growth in Ratings from strong issuance of high-yield and structured finance and in Indices from the higher level of AUM and equities. Therefore, we're raising our annual guidance for 2021. Ewout will provide details in a moment.

在第一季財報電話會議上上調財測是非常罕見的。不過，我們預期評級業務將因高收益與結構性融資強勁發行而進一步成長；指數業務也將受惠於較高的資產管理規模（AUM）與股票市場水準。因此，我們上調 2021 年全年財測。Ewout 稍後將提供細節。

I would also like to share some additional highlights from the first quarter. We issued a report highlighting the performance of our ratings in 2020, which demonstrated that our ratings showed their value as indicators of creditworthiness and relative default risk. Our investment in growth initiatives continues to result in new product launches particularly in ESG, Platts benchmarks, Kensho and our Marketplace. Our China Ratings business is gaining momentum, and we just entered into the first sustainability-linked banking facility in the U.S. information services space. We'll provide further details on all these accomplishments on today's call.

我也想分享第一季的其他亮點。我們發布了一份報告，重點說明 2020 年我們評級的表現，顯示我們的評級作為信用狀況與相對違約風險指標的價值。我們對成長計畫的投資持續帶動新產品推出，特別是在 ESG、Platts 基準、Kensho 以及我們的 Marketplace 方面。我們的中國評級業務動能正在增強，而我們也剛在美國資訊服務領域簽訂首筆與永續連結的銀行融資額度。我們將在今天的電話會議中就上述成果提供更多細節。

The most important initiative of the year will be our upcoming merger with IHS Markit. This is an incredibly transformative opportunity for our company and our customers. The combination of S&P Global and IHS Markit creates a very strong company. We will have increased scale and world-class products across numerous core markets with a track record of deploying cutting-edge technology to accelerate our Powering the Markets of the Future strategy. Together, we can offer our customers differentiated data, analytics, research and benchmarks, important to the workflows of many of the world's leading companies. I'm incredibly proud of the team we've built at S&P Global, and I look forward to welcoming the talented IHS Markit employees to our company.

今年最重要的計畫將是我們即將與 IHS Markit 進行的合併。這對我們公司與客戶而言是極具變革性的機會。S&P Global 與 IHS Markit 的結合將打造一家非常強大的公司。我們將在多個核心市場擁有更大的規模與世界級產品，並具備運用尖端科技、加速推進「Powering the Markets of the Future」策略的實績。透過合作，我們能為客戶提供差異化的數據、分析、研究與基準，這些對全球許多領先企業的工作流程至關重要。我對 S&P Global 所建立的團隊深感自豪，也期待歡迎才華洋溢的 IHS Markit 員工加入我們。

There are 3 parallel paths that are underway to close the transaction and prepare for the combination. Our progress is on track, and we continue to expect closing in the second half of 2021. The first was shareholder approval. The recent shareholder votes at both companies was overwhelmingly passed with 99% of the votes in favor of the merger.

目前有三條並行路徑正在推進，以完成交易並為整合做準備。我們的進度符合規劃，且仍預期於 2021 年下半年完成交割。第一項是股東核准。兩家公司近期的股東投票以壓倒性結果通過，99% 的投票支持合併。

The second is regulatory approval. We're working toward regulatory approval in the countries listed. The third is pre-close integration planning. The integration teams continue to prepare for day 1 readiness. These teams are developing plans that focus on organization integration, real estate consolidation, technology, scale and efficiency, cross-selling and new product development. And the value capture work stream is preparing to pursue and track synergies. We've been doing a lot of work to make sure that when our companies are united, we have the culture, purpose and values in place to position us for success.

第二項是監管核准。我們正朝向所列國家的監管核准努力。第三項是交割前的整合規劃。整合團隊持續為第 1 天（day 1）就緒做準備。這些團隊正在制定聚焦於組織整合、不動產整併、科技、規模與效率、交叉銷售與新產品開發的計畫。而價值實現（value capture）工作流也在準備推進並追蹤協同效益。我們已投入大量工作，以確保兩家公司合而為一時，具備能讓我們成功的文化、使命與價值觀。

To recap the financial results for the first quarter, revenue increased 13% to $2 billion. Our adjusted operating profit increased 23%, and our adjusted operating profit margin increased 450 basis points to 57.6%. As you know, we measure and track adjusted operating profit margin on a trailing 4-quarter basis, which increased 300 basis points to 54.5%. In addition, diluted shares outstanding decreased 1% over last year, contributing to a 24% increase in adjusted diluted EPS.

回顧第一季財務結果，營收成長 13% 至 20 億美元。經調整營運利潤成長 23%，經調整營運利潤率提升 450 個基點至 57.6%。如各位所知，我們以過去 4 季（trailing 4-quarter）為基礎衡量並追蹤經調整營運利潤率，該指標提升 300 個基點至 54.5%。此外，稀釋後流通在外股數較去年下降 1%，帶動經調整稀釋後每股盈餘（EPS）成長 24%。

Each quarter, we highlight a few key drivers to our business and important projects underway. This quarter, let me start with Ratings bond issuance trends. During the first quarter, global bond issuance increased 9%.

每一季，我們都會重點說明幾項業務的關鍵驅動因素與正在進行的重要專案。本季先從評級業務的債券發行趨勢談起。第一季期間，全球債券發行量成長 9%。

Turning to the data. In the U.S., bond issuance in aggregate increased 4% as investment-grade decreased 17%, high-yield increased 111%, public finance increased 9% and structured finance increased 17% mostly due to a 63% increase in CLOs. European bond issuance increased 23% as investment-grade increased 22%, high-yield increased 53% and structured finance increased 6% mostly due to more than a tripling of CLO volume. In Asia, bond issuance increased 11% overall.

接著看數據。在美國，整體債券發行量成長 4%，其中投資級下降 17%、高收益成長 111%、公共融資成長 9%、結構性融資成長 17%，主要因 CLO 成長 63%。歐洲債券發行量成長 23%，其中投資級成長 22%、高收益成長 53%、結構性融資成長 6%，主要因 CLO 規模增加至逾三倍。亞洲方面，債券發行量整體成長 11%。

The data on this slide only depicts bond issuance. When we include bank loan volumes, overall global issuance increased 13%.

本投影片上的數據僅呈現債券發行。若納入銀行貸款量，全球整體發行量增加了 13%。

Since bank loan ratings are an important element of Ratings revenue and they're not included in our bond issuance slide, we like to disclose this bank loan rating revenue each quarter. In the first quarter, bank loan rating revenue surged 70% to $148 million. In fact, first quarter revenue from leveraged loans is more than half the leveraged loan revenue in all of 2020.

由於銀行貸款評等是評等業務收入的重要組成部分，且未包含在我們的債券發行投影片中，我們每季都會揭露這部分的銀行貸款評等收入。第一季銀行貸款評等收入大增 70%，達 1.48 億美元。事實上，第一季來自槓桿貸款的收入已超過 2020 年全年槓桿貸款收入的一半。

The next 2 slides look at the combined high-yield issuance and leveraged loan volume for the U.S. and Europe. Data is not readily available for the rest of the world. This slide shows that over the last 3 years, the combination of global leveraged loan and high-yield issuance has averaged $244 billion per quarter. The first quarter of 2021 reached a quarterly record of $465 billion, nearly twice the quarterly average for the past 3 years.

接下來 2 張投影片將檢視美國與歐洲合計的高收益債發行與槓桿貸款量。世界其他地區的數據不易取得。本投影片顯示，過去 3 年全球槓桿貸款與高收益債發行的合計規模，平均每季為 2,440 億美元。2021 年第一季達到單季紀錄 4,650 億美元，幾乎是過去 3 年單季平均的兩倍。

This slide depicts the combination of high-yield issuance and leverage loan volume in terms of the use of proceeds of the funds raised. The category with the largest increase was refinancing, some of which could include pull forward. M&A and LBO activity and buybacks and dividends also increased.

本投影片以募集資金的用途來呈現高收益債發行與槓桿貸款量的合計情況。增幅最大的類別是再融資，其中部分可能包含提前拉動（pull forward）。併購（M&A）與槓桿收購（LBO）活動，以及庫藏股回購與股利發放也有所增加。

The CLO market had the busiest quarter on record in both the U.S. and Europe, with twice the volume of new issuances in the first quarter of last year. We believe that investor demand for floating-rate instruments, their search for yield and the relatively strong CLO performance during 2020 pandemic had contributed to increased CLO issuance this year.

CLO 市場在美國與歐洲都創下史上最繁忙的一季，第一季新發行量為去年第一季的兩倍。我們認為，投資人對浮動利率工具的需求、對收益的追求，以及 2020 年疫情期間 CLO 相對強勁的表現，共同促成今年 CLO 發行量增加。

Whilst exciting to see increases in issuance, what's always more important to us is how our ratings perform. 2020 was a tumultuous year, yet our ratings performed as designed.

雖然看到發行量增加令人振奮，但對我們而言更重要的始終是我們的評等表現。2020 年動盪不安，然而我們的評等仍如設計般發揮作用。

In February, S&P Global Ratings issued a report entitled Credit Trends: Review of Ratings Performance Highlights Resilience In 2020. We pulled this chart from the report. You can see that the level of issuer defaults was in line with the rank order of the ratings with lower-rated issuers having higher levels of default.

2 月，S&P Global Ratings 發布一份題為《Credit Trends: Review of Ratings Performance Highlights Resilience In 2020》的報告。我們從該報告擷取了此圖表。你可以看到，發行人違約水準與評等的排序一致：評等較低的發行人違約程度較高。

You will notice that the graph only includes high-yield issuers. This is because, in 2020, not one single issuer that was rated investment-grade by S&P Ratings at the beginning of 2020 defaulted. Importantly, amid challenging economic circumstances our ratings in 2020 showed their value as indicators of creditworthiness and relative default risk.

你會注意到，圖表僅包含高收益發行人。這是因為在 2020 年，年初被 S&P Ratings 評為投資級的發行人，沒有任何一家在 2020 年發生違約。重要的是，在充滿挑戰的經濟環境下，我們 2020 年的評等展現其作為信用狀況與相對違約風險指標的價值。

Turning to our investments in growth initiatives. Let me start with ESG. We continue to make advances with our ESG franchise across the board. After recording ESG revenue of $65 million in 2020, we're off to a good start in the first quarter with revenue up more than 40% to $21 million.

接著談我們在成長計畫上的投資。我先從 ESG 開始。我們在各方面持續推進 ESG 版圖。2020 年 ESG 收入為 6,500 萬美元後，第一季開局良好，收入成長逾 40%，達 2,100 萬美元。

In Ratings, in the first quarter, we completed 18 ESG evaluations, 6 Green Evaluations and 53 SAM benchmark engagements. This compares to 40 ESG evaluations, 24 Green Evaluations and 76 SAM benchmark engagements completed in all of 2020. We also launched new social and sustainability Framework Alignment Opinions.

在評等業務方面，第一季我們完成了 18 項 ESG 評估、6 項綠色評估（Green Evaluations）以及 53 項 SAM 基準參與（SAM benchmark engagements）。相較之下，2020 年全年共完成 40 項 ESG 評估、24 項綠色評估與 76 項 SAM 基準參與。我們也推出新的社會與永續框架一致性意見（Framework Alignment Opinions）。

In Market Intelligence, our ESG scores have been enhanced. 400 data points have been made available for each company that we score. The additional data points will provide clients with a better understanding of companies' environmental reporting disclosures, biodiversity commitments, CO2 and greenhouse emissions, waste and hazardous disposal, energy consumption and water usage.

在 Market Intelligence 方面，我們強化了 ESG 評分。對於每一家我們評分的公司，已提供 400 個資料點。新增的資料點將讓客戶更了解企業的環境揭露報告、生物多樣性承諾、CO2 與溫室氣體排放、廢棄物與有害處置、能源消耗與用水情況。

For the social dimension, it will now be possible to determine whether companies disclose safety policies, human rights commitments, code of ethics and whether social reporting disclosures have been independently audited. The new data sets will also provide greater insights on the governance and economic dimensions and help obtain better understanding of companies' codes of conduct and policies addressing anticrime, corruption and bribery, governance of the Board and executive compensation, ownership, diversity, materiality disclosures, risk and supply chain management and tax strategy and reporting. Market Intelligence also launched an ESG data solution to support the European Commission's sustainable finance disclosure requirements, enabling market participants to meet these disclosure requirements.

在社會面向方面，現在可判斷企業是否揭露安全政策、人權承諾、倫理守則，以及社會面揭露是否經獨立稽核。新的資料集也將在治理與經濟面向提供更深入洞見，並協助更了解企業的行為準則與政策（涵蓋反犯罪、貪腐與賄賂）、董事會治理與高階主管薪酬、所有權、 多元性、重大性揭露、風險與供應鏈管理，以及稅務策略與申報。Market Intelligence 亦推出 ESG 資料解決方案，以支援歐盟執委會的永續金融揭露要求，協助市場參與者符合這些揭露規範。

In Indices, we had $22.9 billion of ESG ETF AUM at the end of the first quarter. This is an increase of more than 400% since the end of the first quarter of last year. Our Indices business also launched ESG versions of our S&P MidCap 400 and S&P SmallCap 600 indices. In addition, UBS licensed the S&P 500 ESG Elite Index for a new ETF, and Barclays licensed the S&P EuroUSA 50 Low Carbon ESG Select Equal Weight Index for use in structured products.

在指數業務方面，截至第一季末，我們的 ESG ETF 資產管理規模（AUM）為 229 億美元，較去年第一季末成長逾 400%。我們的指數業務也推出 S&P MidCap 400 與 S&P SmallCap 600 指數的 ESG 版本。此外，UBS 授權使用 S&P 500 ESG Elite Index 推出新的 ETF，而 Barclays 授權使用 S&P EuroUSA 50 Low Carbon ESG Select Equal Weight Index 於結構型產品。

Platts has been very active as well with the launch of assessments on carbon credits and copper concentrate. You may be wondering why we include a copper assessment as an ESG product. It's because this new assessment will help support the need for increased solar, wind, energy storage systems, electric vehicle and EV charging stations, all of which require large amounts of copper. For example, an electric vehicle uses approximately 175 pounds of copper.

Platts 也非常活躍，推出碳權與銅精礦的評估。你可能會好奇為何我們將銅的評估納入 ESG 產品。原因在於，這項新評估將有助於支援對太陽能、風能、儲能系統、電動車與電動車充電站日益增加的需求，而這些都需要大量銅。例如，一輛電動車約使用 175 磅的銅。

Platts also launched hydro-treated vegetable oil price assessments. HVO, also known as renewable diesel in America, is a biomass-derived fuel suitable for diesel engines. It is made of nonpetroleum renewable resources such as natural fat, vegetable oil and greases and can be blended in traditional diesel or used as a substitute.

Platts 也推出加氫處理植物油（HVO）的價格評估。HVO 在美國也稱為再生柴油（renewable diesel），是一種源自生質的燃料，適用於柴油引擎。其原料為非石油的再生資源，例如天然脂肪、植物油與油脂，可與傳統柴油混摻或作為替代品使用。

And finally, Platts launched daily assessments for low-carbon aluminum and zero carbon aluminum, which will complement existing Platts European price offerings for high-grade primary aluminum. These new prices are designed to help the market quantify cost and manage risk for the opportunities associated with a growing focus on carbon reduction strategies amid increasing global regulation.

最後，Platts 推出低碳鋁與零碳鋁的每日評估，將補強既有的 Platts 歐洲高級原鋁價格產品。這些新價格旨在協助市場量化成本並管理風險，以掌握在全球監管日益加強、聚焦減碳策略的趨勢下所帶來的機會。

On Earth Day last week, S&P Global launched a new ESG brand, Sustainable1, your single source of essential sustainability intelligence. With the wide array of ESG capabilities that we have and the fact that many of our customers are interested in multiple products from different divisions, we have unified our ESG efforts across the company. This includes product development, technology, channel partnerships, distribution, marketing, sales and client support. We believe that this new brand will help convey S&P Global's commitment and leadership position in ESG.

上週的世界地球日，S&P Global 推出全新的 ESG 品牌 Sustainable1，作為你取得關鍵永續情報的單一來源。鑑於我們具備廣泛的 ESG 能力，且許多客戶對不同事業部的多項產品都有興趣，我們已在全公司整合 ESG 的各項工作，包括產品開發、技術、通路夥伴、發行、行銷、銷售與客戶支援。我們相信這個新品牌將有助於傳達 S&P Global 在 ESG 的承諾與領導地位。

Outside of ESG, let me highlight a few other new product launches and product enhancements. We launched Kensho NERD, short for Named Entity Recognition and Disambiguation. NERD was developed by the company's natural language processing team, which specializes in machine learning research and engineering related to analyzing and understanding human language. This is the first entity extraction system specifically optimized for business-related documents. NERD makes it easier for users to analyze unstructured text, for example, investigating suppliers and competitors mentioned in company filings, and enables them to drill down instantaneously to the documents they need to see.

在 ESG 之外，我再強調幾項其他新產品推出與產品強化。我們推出 Kensho NERD，為 Named Entity Recognition and Disambiguation（命名實體辨識與消歧）的縮寫。NERD 由公司自然語言處理團隊開發，該團隊專精於與分析與理解人類語言相關的機器學習研究與工程。這是第一個專為商業相關文件最佳化的實體擷取系統。NERD 讓使用者更容易分析非結構化文字，例如調查公司申報文件中提及的供應商與競爭對手，並可即時深入查找所需文件。

We launched the S&P MAESTRO 5 Index, which is designed to measure the performance of a multi-asset risk parity strategy with a 5% target volatility. The index allocates risk equally among 7 equity, fixed income and commodity indices and further mitigates equity market volatility by dynamically allocating to S&P VIX future indices.

我們推出 S&P MAESTRO 5 Index，旨在衡量目標波動率 5% 的多資產風險平價策略表現。該指數在 7 個股票、固定收益與商品指數間等風險配置，並透過動態配置至 S&P VIX 期貨指數，進一步降低股票市場波動。

With about 100 different data sets available on the Marketplace we launched last year, we created Product Finder to help clients find what they're looking for based on their job function, topic, use case and workflow. For example, someone working in investment banking and deal origination can receive different results from a search than a corporate client in a supply chain role.

我們去年推出的 Marketplace 上已有約 100 種不同資料集，因此我們建立了 Product Finder，協助客戶依其職務功能、主題、使用情境與工作流程找到所需內容。例如，從事投資銀行與交易開發的人員，其搜尋結果可能會與供應鏈職能的企業客戶不同。

Platts expanded its presence in shipping with the new APSI 5 dry bulk weighted index for Supramax class bulkers. APSI 5 is the dry bulk freight market's first regional weighted average index capturing the Asia Pacific trade on Supramax bulkers. This product continues to fill out our shipping products.

Platts 透過針對 Supramax 級散裝船推出新的 APSI 5 散裝加權指數，擴大其在航運領域的布局。APSI 5 是散裝運費市場首個區域加權平均指數，涵蓋 Supramax 散裝船在亞太貿易的表現。此產品持續完善我們的航運產品線。

One of the most important aspects of managing benchmarks is to ensure that they are periodically updated to reflect underlying market conditions. When streams of oil that feed a benchmark become depleted, they need to be replaced. After consulting with market participants, Platts is progressing work to add West Texas Intermediate Midland as an additional stream to Dated Brent. Since the 1980s, Dated Brent has acted as the benchmark for and is currently used to price approximately 60% of global waterborne crude. This change will provide significant additional volume and ensure the continued robustness of the Brent complex.

管理基準最重要的面向之一，是確保其會定期更新以反映基礎市場狀況。當作為基準的原油流（streams）逐漸枯竭時，就需要替換。在諮詢市場參與者後，Platts 正推進將 West Texas Intermediate Midland 作為額外原油流納入 Dated Brent 的工作。自 1980 年代以來，Dated Brent 一直作為基準，目前約用於全球 60% 海運原油的定價。此變更將提供顯著的額外交易量，並確保 Brent 複合體系持續穩健。

Let me now turn to our outlook for global issuance and GDP. After issuance growth of 15% in 2019 and 17% in 2020, our ratings research group initial 2021 forecast called for a decrease of 3%. The updated forecast issued earlier this week now calls for a decrease of 2% excluding international public finance. There were 2 changes. Structured finance went from a 3% gain to a 6% gain and non-financials went from a 9% decrease to a 7.5% decrease.

現在我來談談我們對全球發行量與GDP的展望。在2019年發行量成長15%、2020年成長17%之後，我們評級研究團隊對2021年的初始預測為下降3%。本週稍早發布的更新預測則指出，若排除國際公共融資，將下降2%。其中有兩項變動：結構性融資由成長3%上修至成長6%，非金融類由下降9%調整為下降7.5%。

Please note that this is a bond issuance forecast. This is not a revenue forecast. For example, it doesn't address non-transaction revenue and doesn't include leveraged loan activity.

請注意，這是一份債券發行量預測，並非營收預測。例如，它不涵蓋非交易性收入，也不包含槓桿貸款活動。

There are clearly puts and takes when we think about 2021 issuance. For example, the bulk of the first quarter's corporate issuance came from repeat issuers who may have exhausted their funding needs early this year on the anticipation of rising rates. However, there are several items that should support upcoming issuance, including a rebound in economic growth, very favorable financing conditions, large amounts of sovereign debt with negative yields and a growing pipeline of pending M&A deals.

在思考2021年發行量時，顯然存在利多與利空因素。例如，第一季企業發行量的大部分來自重複發行人；他們可能因預期利率上升而在今年較早時就提前滿足了資金需求。然而，仍有數項因素應可支撐後續發行，包括經濟成長反彈、非常有利的融資條件、大量殖利率為負的主權債務，以及持續增加的待完成併購（M&A）交易管線。

We have revised our 2021 global GDP growth forecast, up by 50 basis points to 5.5%. The economic recovery looks set to accelerate in mid-2021, particularly in the U.S. on back of a massive fiscal stimulus plan, although a high degree of unevenness and uncertainty persists. An issue is the pace of vaccinations and the spread of virus variants. The U.S. and U.K. have taken the lead in vaccinations. A slow rollout is hampering the rebound in Europe, and we expect slow vaccination rollouts to cause the recovery in several key emerging markets to lag.

我們已將2021年全球GDP成長預測上修50個基點至5.5%。經濟復甦看來將在2021年年中加速，尤其是在美國，受惠於大規模財政刺激方案；不過，不均衡與不確定性仍然很高。問題之一在於疫苗接種速度以及病毒變異株的擴散。美國與英國在疫苗接種方面領先。歐洲接種推進緩慢，正在抑制復甦；我們預期，疫苗推廣緩慢也將使數個主要新興市場的復甦落後。

Our economists view orderly reflation as a positive development for both the economy and credit. We also believe that rising yields on the back of a robust recovery is a positive as opposed to rising yields solely on inflation concern. Moving away from very low rates lessens the search for yield and lessens distortions to financial and nonfinancial asset prices. And finally, Platts is forecasting that oil will remain above $60 a barrel through 2022. This bodes well for the health of the oil industry.

我們的經濟學家認為，有序的再通膨（reflation）對經濟與信用都是正面發展。我們也相信，在強勁復甦帶動下的殖利率上升是正面的，相較於僅因通膨疑慮而上升的殖利率。利率脫離極低水準可降低追逐收益的行為，並減少對金融與非金融資產價格的扭曲。最後，Platts預測油價將在2022年前維持每桶60美元以上，這對石油產業的健康狀況是利多。

I will now turn the call over to Ewout Steenbergen, who's going to provide additional insights into our financial performance and outlook. Ewout?

接下來我把電話交給Ewout Steenbergen，他將就我們的財務表現與展望提供更多洞見。Ewout？

Thank you, Doug. Let me start with our first quarter financial results. Doug covered the highlights of strong revenue and adjusted earnings per share growth. I will take a moment to cover a few other items.

謝謝你，Doug。我先從第一季財務結果談起。Doug已涵蓋強勁營收與調整後每股盈餘成長的重點。我再花點時間補充幾個其他項目。

While there were some acquisitions and divestitures since the first quarter of 2020, the revenue associated with them was not large enough to result in a difference between reported and organic revenue growth. Adjusted total expenses only increased 2%, thanks to ongoing productivity programs and lower T&E. Keep in mind that while T&E remains almost nonexistent, the year-over-year benefits will no longer exist beginning in the second quarter.

雖然自2020年第一季以來有一些併購與處分，但其相關營收規模不足以造成「報告口徑」與「有機」營收成長之間的差異。調整後總費用僅增加2%，主要受惠於持續的生產力提升計畫以及較低的差旅與娛樂（T&E）支出。請記住，雖然T&E目前幾乎不存在，但自第二季開始，年對年帶來的效益將不再存在。

The increase in the effective tax rate was primarily due to a decrease in the tax benefit associated with stock-based compensation and an increase in taxes on foreign operations. While the effective tax rate fluctuates from quarter-to-quarter due to the timing of discrete tax adjustments, our full year tax rate guidance remains unchanged.

有效稅率上升主要是因為與股票基礎薪酬相關的稅務利益減少，以及海外營運稅負增加。雖然有效稅率會因單筆稅務調整的入帳時點而在各季間波動，但我們對全年稅率的指引維持不變。

Our diluted shares outstanding declined by 1.7 million shares. This was the result of shares repurchased before we paused the share repurchase programs due to the pending merger. During the quarter, changes in foreign exchange rates had a positive impact on adjusted EPS of $0.03. The only meaningful impact was in Ratings, where adjusted operating profit was positively impacted by $9 million.

我們的稀釋後流通股數減少了170萬股。這是因為在因應待完成合併而暫停庫藏股回購計畫之前，我們已回購部分股份。本季匯率變動對調整後EPS帶來0.03美元的正面影響。唯一具實質意義的影響出現在評級業務，調整後營業利益因匯率而增加900萬美元。

We are introducing 3 new categories to provide insight into the type of expenses that are going to be incurred related to the pending merger. The first category is transaction costs. These are costs related to completing the merger. They include legal fees, investment banking fees and filing fees.

我們新增三個類別，以提供與待完成合併相關、將會發生之費用類型的洞見。第一類是交易成本，亦即完成合併所需的成本，包括法律費用、投資銀行費用與申報費用。

The second category is integration costs. These are costs to operationalize the integration. They include consulting, infrastructure and retention costs. The third category is cost to achieve. These are costs needed to enable expense and revenue synergies. They include lease terminations, severance, contract exit fees and costs related to product development, marketing and distribution enhancements.

第二類是整合成本，亦即使整合得以落地運作的成本，包括顧問費、基礎設施成本與留任成本。第三類是達成成本（cost to achieve），亦即為實現費用與營收協同效益所需的成本，包括租約終止、資遣費、合約退出費，以及與產品開發、行銷與通路強化相關的成本。

In the first quarter, the non-GAAP adjustments collectively totaled to a net pretax loss of $81 million. They included $9 million for merger transaction costs; $40 million for merger integration costs; there were no merger costs to achieve this quarter, these will begin to occur around the closing of the merger; a $2 million gain for an adjustment on the prior year period divestiture; $2 million for Kensho retention-related expenses; and $31 million in deal-related amortization.

第一季，非GAAP調整項合計為稅前淨損8,100萬美元。其中包括：合併交易成本900萬美元；合併整合成本4,000萬美元；本季沒有合併達成成本，這些將在合併交割前後開始發生；前一年期間處分案調整帶來200萬美元收益；Kensho留任相關費用200萬美元；以及交易相關攤銷3,100萬美元。

This quarter, all 4 divisions delivered increased revenue and adjusted operating profit. On a trailing 4-quarter basis, adjusted operating profit margin increased significantly in Ratings, Platts and Market Intelligence while Indices had a small decrease. I will provide color on the individual business results in a moment.

本季四個事業部門的營收與調整後營業利益皆成長。以過去四季（trailing 4-quarter）為基礎，評級、Platts與市場情報的調整後營業利益率顯著提升，而指數業務則小幅下降。我稍後會就各業務的個別結果補充說明。

Now turning to the balance sheet. Our balance sheet has low leverage and ample liquidity. We have cash and cash equivalents of $4.5 billion, debt of $4.1 billion, an undrawn revolver capacity of $1.5 billion and no commercial paper outstanding. Our adjusted gross debt to adjusted EBITDA improved since the end of last year to 1.8x.

接著看資產負債表。我們的資產負債表槓桿偏低且流動性充裕。我們持有現金及約當現金45億美元、負債41億美元、未動用的循環信貸額度15億美元，且沒有商業本票未償餘額。自去年底以來，我們的調整後總負債／調整後EBITDA改善至1.8倍。

We recently entered into the first sustainability-linked banking facility in the U.S. information services sector. Linking our line of credit to our emission reduction targets verified by the Science Based Targets Initiative is another tangible example of our commitment to becoming net zero by 2040.

我們近期簽訂了美國資訊服務產業中的第一筆永續連結（sustainability-linked）銀行融資。將我們的信用額度與經「科學基礎減量目標倡議」（Science Based Targets Initiative）驗證的減排目標連結，是我們承諾在2040年前達成淨零的另一個具體例證。

Free cash flow excluding certain items was $718 million in the first quarter, an increase of $100 million or 16% over the prior year period. Due to the pending merger with IHS Markit, share repurchases have been curtailed. If there is an open window and we have an opportunity, we will repurchase shares before the merger closes. If not, we anticipate resuming share repurchases after the merger is completed.

第一季，排除特定項目的自由現金流為7.18億美元，較去年同期增加1億美元或16%。由於與IHS Markit的合併尚待完成，股票回購已被縮減。若有開放窗口且我們有機會，我們會在合併完成前回購股份；若沒有，我們預期在合併完成後恢復股票回購。

Now let's turn to the division results. Ratings revenue increased 23%. This revenue growth was driven by the increase in issuance Doug already discussed. Adjusted expenses increased 9%. Excluding changes in foreign exchange rates and the acquisition of Greenwich Associates by CRISIL, adjusted expenses increased 5% primarily due to increased salary and incentives, partially offset by lower T&E.

接下來看各事業部門表現。評級業務營收成長23%。這項營收成長主要由Doug先前提到的發行量增加所帶動。調整後費用增加9%。若排除匯率變動以及CRISIL收購Greenwich Associates的影響，調整後費用增加5%，主要因薪資與獎酬增加，部分被較低的T&E所抵銷。

These resulted in a 32% increase in adjusted segment operating profit and a 440 basis point increase in adjusted segment operating profit margin. On a trailing 4-quarter basis, adjusted segment operating profit margin increased 340 basis points to 63.6%. Please keep in mind that the 67.5% adjusted segment operating profit margin achieved in the first quarter is temporarily elevated based on the surge of issuance in high-yield, levered loans and structured finance.

上述因素使調整後部門營業利益成長32%，調整後部門營業利益率提高440個基點。以過去四季為基礎，調整後部門營業利益率提高340個基點至63.6%。請記住，第一季達到的67.5%調整後部門營業利益率，因高收益、槓桿貸款與結構性融資發行量激增而暫時偏高。

In China, we see momentum and interest in our ratings picking up. In fact, we completed 18 ratings in the first quarter compared to 22 in all last year.

在中國，我們看到市場對我們評級的動能與興趣正在升溫。事實上，我們第一季完成了18筆評級，而去年全年為22筆。

Non-transaction revenue increased 10% primarily due to growth at CRISIL, fees associated with surveillance as well as elevated new entity ratings and Ratings Evaluation Services activity. Notably, revenue from Ratings Evaluation Services and new entity ratings each increased approximately 30%. In fact, there were 217 new entity ratings this quarter, the highest quarterly total in over 2 years. This was due to investors' quest for yield and increased risk appetite, enabling increasingly weaker credits to raise debt. Transaction revenue increased 35% primarily due to substantial levels of high-yield issuance, bank loan ratings and structured finance.

非交易性收入成長10%，主要來自CRISIL的成長、監測（surveillance）相關費用，以及新發行人評級與評級評估服務（Ratings Evaluation Services）活動維持在較高水準。值得注意的是，評級評估服務與新發行人評級的營收各自約成長30%。本季新發行人評級共有217筆，為兩年多來最高的單季總量。這反映投資人追求收益與風險偏好上升，使信用體質愈來愈弱的發行人也能舉債融資。交易性收入成長35%，主要因高收益發行量處於高檔、銀行貸款評級以及結構性融資活動強勁。

This slide depicts Ratings revenue by the end markets. The largest contributor to the increase in Ratings revenue was a 27% increase in corporates. In addition, financial services revenue increased 10%, structured finance increased 34%, governments increased 18% and the CRISIL and other category increased 8%. On the right side of the slide, you can see the changes in revenue within structured finance. The clear driver of growth was a 70% increase in CLO revenue.

本頁投影片呈現按終端市場劃分的評級業務營收。評級營收增加的最大貢獻來源是企業類營收成長27%。此外，金融服務營收成長10%，結構性融資成長34%，政府類成長18%，CRISIL及其他類別成長8%。在投影片右側，您可以看到結構性融資內部的營收變化。成長的明確驅動因素是CLO營收成長70%。

Turning to S&P Dow Jones Indices. The segment delivered 4% revenue growth primarily due to gains in AUM linked to our indices and data subscriptions, substantially offset by reduced exchange-traded derivative activity. In the first quarter, adjusted expenses only increased 2%. This was particularly low as the first quarter of 2020 had elevated expenses, including a $4 million catch-up charge on past royalties. The adjusted segment operating profit increased 5%, and the adjusted segment operating profit margin increased 70 basis points to 71.3%. On a trailing 4-quarter basis, the adjusted segment operating profit margin decreased 40 basis points to 69.3%.

接著談到 S&P Dow Jones Indices。該業務分部營收成長 4%，主要來自與我們指數相關的資產管理規模（AUM）成長以及資料訂閱增加，這些增長在很大程度上抵銷了交易所交易衍生性商品活動減少的影響。第一季調整後費用僅增加 2%。這個增幅特別低，因為 2020 年第一季費用偏高，其中包含就過往權利金補提的 400 萬美元一次性費用。調整後分部營業利益增加 5%，調整後分部營業利益率上升 70 個基點至 71.3%。以過去 4 個季度（trailing 4-quarter）計，調整後分部營業利益率下降 40 個基點至 69.3%。

Revenue growth was mixed this quarter. Asset-linked fees increased 15% with gains in ETFs, mutual funds and insurance and over-the-counter derivative activity. Exchange-traded derivative revenue decreased 24% on reduced trading volumes. The first quarter of last year saw extraordinary volatility related to the pandemic market correction, creating a very difficult comparison. Data and custom subscriptions only increased 1% due to a catch-up in real-time customer reporting in the first quarter last year.

本季營收成長表現不一。資產連結費用（asset-linked fees）成長 15%，受惠於 ETF、共同基金與保險，以及場外（OTC）衍生性商品活動增加。交易所交易衍生性商品營收因交易量下降而減少 24%。去年第一季因疫情引發的市場修正出現異常波動，使得比較基期非常困難。資料與客製化訂閱僅成長 1%，原因是去年第一季即時客戶申報（real-time customer reporting）有一次性的補提（catch-up）。

For our Indices division, over the past year, ETF net inflows were $125 billion and market appreciation totaled $749 billion. This resulted in quarter-ending ETF AUM of $2.2 trillion, which is 65% higher compared to 1 year ago when the market was near its pandemic low. Our ETF revenue is based on average AUM, which increased 30% year-over-year. Sequentially, versus the end of 2020, ETF net inflows associated with our indices totaled $73 billion and market appreciation totaled $143 billion.

就我們的指數事業而言，過去一年 ETF 淨流入為 1,250 億美元，市場增值合計 7,490 億美元。因此，季末 ETF 資產管理規模（AUM）達 2.2 兆美元，較一年前（當時市場接近疫情低點）高出 65%。我們的 ETF 營收以平均 AUM 為基礎計算，年增 30%。按季來看，相較 2020 年底，與我們指數相關的 ETF 淨流入合計 730 億美元，市場增值合計 1,430 億美元。

As I just noted, exchange-rated derivative revenue faced a difficult comparison. Activity at the CBOE decreased in the first quarter with S&P 500 Index options activity decreasing 29% and VIX futures and options activity decreasing 23%. Activity at the CME equity complex decreased 6%.

如我剛才所提，交易所交易衍生性商品營收面臨艱難的比較基期。第一季 CBOE 的活動下降，其中 S&P 500 指數選擇權活動下降 29%，VIX 期貨與選擇權活動下降 23%。CME 股票相關產品群（equity complex）活動下降 6%。

Market Intelligence delivered reported and organic revenue growth of 4%. Collectively, revenue from recently launched products increased by over 40%. This was primarily from ESG, Panjiva aftermarket research, Marketplace and SME data. Adjusted expenses were flat as recent productivity initiatives and lower T&E offset salary growth and higher investment spending. Investment spending continues, particularly with the Marketplace and SME initiatives.

Market Intelligence 的申報（reported）與有機（organic）營收均成長 4%。整體而言，近期推出產品的營收成長超過 40%。主要來自 ESG、Panjiva 售後市場研究（aftermarket research）、Marketplace 以及 SME 資料。調整後費用持平，因近期生產力提升措施與差旅與娛樂（T&E）降低，抵銷了薪資成長與投資支出增加。投資支出仍在持續，特別是在 Marketplace 與 SME 計畫上。

Adjusted segment operating profit increased 13%, and the adjusted segment operating profit margin increased 260 basis points to 33.5%. On a trailing 4-quarter basis, adjusted segment operating profit margin increased 120 basis points to 33.1%.

調整後分部營業利益增加 13%，調整後分部營業利益率上升 260 個基點至 33.5%。以過去 4 個季度計，調整後分部營業利益率上升 120 個基點至 33.1%。

Looking across the Market Intelligence components, Desktop revenue grew 2%. Data Management Solutions revenue grew 9% and Credit Risk Solutions revenue grew 6%. Based on our ACV trends, we expect Desktop to grow low to mid-single digits for the full year and both Data Management Solutions and Credit Risk Solutions to grow high single digit this year.

從 Market Intelligence 各組成項目來看，Desktop 營收成長 2%。Data Management Solutions 營收成長 9%，Credit Risk Solutions 營收成長 6%。根據我們的 ACV 趨勢，我們預期 Desktop 全年將呈現低至中個位數成長，而 Data Management Solutions 與 Credit Risk Solutions 今年均可望達到高個位數成長。

And now turning to Platts. Reported revenue increased 5%. Our core subscriptions increased 6%. Over the past year, oil prices have increased, resulting in a customer base that is healthier, and our retention rates remained in the mid-90s. Global Trading Services decreased 4% compared to a very strong first quarter of 2020. GTS revenue decreased mainly due to lower petroleum and natural gas volumes partially offset by increased LNG volume.

接著談到 Platts。申報營收增加 5%。我們的核心訂閱成長 6%。過去一年油價上升，使客戶基礎更為健康，而我們的留存率維持在 90% 中段。Global Trading Services（GTS）相較 2020 年第一季非常強勁的表現下降 4%。GTS 營收下降主要因石油與天然氣交易量較低，部分被 LNG 交易量增加所抵銷。

Adjusted expenses improved 7% due to lower T&E, rent and bad debt provision. Please note that we expect expenses to pick up in the second quarter as Platts investment spending increases. Adjusted segment operating profit margin increased 520 basis points to 58.1%. The trailing 4-quarter adjusted segment operating profit margin increased 280 basis points to 56%.

調整後費用改善 7%，主要因 T&E、租金與呆帳提列（bad debt provision）降低。請注意，我們預期第二季費用將回升，因 Platts 的投資支出增加。調整後分部營業利益率上升 520 個基點至 58.1%。過去 4 個季度的調整後分部營業利益率上升 280 個基點至 56%。

On our first quarter earnings call last year, Doug noted that the first-ever Kensho-powered price assessments went live. One year later, we now have 19 markets that have Kensho-powered price assessments. This has resulted in more than a 75% reduction in publishing time.

在去年第一季財報電話會議上，Doug 提到首批由 Kensho 驅動（Kensho-powered）的價格評估已正式上線。一年後，我們已有 19 個市場採用 Kensho 驅動的價格評估，使發布時間縮短超過 75%。

This quarter, because shipping has increasingly become an important product offering for Platts customers, we're introducing shipping as a new category. Shipping is essential to commodities trading with 90% of global trade transported by sea. S&P Global Platts has been in the business of providing transparency to the shipping market for more than 35 years. These assessments are used by market participants for physical benchmarking, and 5 are listed by exchanges as the basis of derivative contracts.

本季，由於航運日益成為 Platts 客戶的重要產品供給，我們將航運（shipping）引入為新的類別。航運對大宗商品交易至關重要，全球貿易有 90% 透過海運運輸。S&P Global Platts 在提供航運市場透明度方面已有超過 35 年的經驗。這些評估被市場參與者用於實體基準定價（physical benchmarking），其中有 5 項被交易所列為衍生性契約的基礎。

In 2014, Platts expanded its freight offering into the dry freight market with daily assessment of freight rates for key commodity trade routes for products such as iron ore, coal, grains, sugar, bauxite and alumina. Platts now publishes hundreds of daily freight rate assessments covering all major shipping markets. To help you with your models, we have provided historical quarterly information on the new reporting basis in the appendix of this slide deck. And finally, while every category on this slide grew revenue during the quarter, the fastest growth was in petrochemicals.

2014 年，Platts 將其運費產品擴展至乾散貨（dry freight）市場，針對鐵礦砂、煤、穀物、糖、鋁土礦與氧化鋁等產品的關鍵大宗商品航線，提供每日運費評估。Platts 目前每日發布數百項運費評估，涵蓋所有主要航運市場。為協助各位建立模型，我們已在本投影片簡報的附錄中，提供依新申報基礎編製的歷史季度資訊。最後，雖然本頁各類別本季營收皆成長，但成長最快的是石化（petrochemicals）。

We're not providing 2021 GAAP guidance because, given the inherent uncertainty around the merger, management cannot reliably predict all the necessary components of GAAP measures. This slide depicts our adjusted guidance. While we expect that the merger will occur in the second half of this year, we're providing adjusted guidance on a stand-alone basis. The second column shows our new 2021 adjusted guidance with all the line items that James highlighted.

我們不提供 2021 年 GAAP 指引，因為鑑於合併相關的固有不確定性，管理層無法可靠地預測 GAAP 指標所需的所有必要組成項。本頁呈現的是我們的調整後（adjusted）指引。雖然我們預期合併將於今年下半年完成，但我們以獨立公司（stand-alone）基礎提供調整後指引。第二欄顯示我們新的 2021 年調整後指引，包含 James 所強調的所有各項目。

We're making these changes because we now have expectations for greater revenue growth primarily due to improved outlooks in Ratings and Indices. While we expect greater revenue growth, it's not enough to change our revenue guidance. Therefore, our revenue guidance remains a mid-single-digit increase.

我們進行這些調整，是因為我們目前預期營收成長將更高，主要來自 Ratings 與 Indices 展望改善。雖然我們預期營收成長更高，但幅度不足以改變我們的營收指引。因此，我們的營收指引仍為中個位數成長。

Operating profit margin is increased by 20 basis points to a range of 54% to 54.5%, and this results in a $0.30 increase in adjusted diluted EPS guidance to a new range of $12.55 to $12.75. And finally, free cash flow generation has been increased by $100 million to a range of $3.4 billion to $3.5 billion.

營業利益率上調 20 個基點至 54% 至 54.5% 的區間，並使調整後稀釋 EPS 指引上調 0.30 美元至 12.55 至 12.75 美元的新區間。最後，自由現金流產生量上調 1 億美元至 34 億至 35 億美元的區間。

In conclusion, we're off to a great start to 2021 with exceptional first quarter results. Vaccinations are rolling out. The global economy is poised for accelerated growth, and our customers are benefiting from these improvements. During this pandemic, we have been working hard to ensure the safety of our employees, and I want to end by thanking them for their perseverance, creativity and passion and by thanking all of you for your continued investment in S&P Global.

總結而言，2021 年我們有一個非常好的開局，第一季表現極為出色。疫苗接種正在推進。全球經濟有望加速成長，而我們的客戶也正受惠於這些改善。在這場疫情期間，我們一直努力確保員工安全；最後我想感謝他們的堅持、創意與熱情，也感謝各位持續投資 S&P Global。

And with that, let me turn the call back over to Chip for your questions.

接下來，我把電話交回給 Chip 來回答各位的提問。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions) Operator, we will now take our first question.

謝謝。（接線員指示）接線員，我們現在開始第一個問題。

Our first question comes from Toni Kaplan with Morgan Stanley.

第一個問題來自 Morgan Stanley 的 Toni Kaplan。

Wanted to ask about capital return. You talked earlier and last quarter about the limitations of buybacks until the deal closes. But you do have $4.5 billion of cash on the balance sheet, and it's building as you generate free cash flow every quarter. So after the deal close, should we expect a large ASR or a special dividend? Or will capital return be far below the typical 85% of free cash flow in '21?

我想問一下資本回饋（capital return）。你們先前以及上季都提到，在交易完成前回購（buybacks）會受到限制。但你們資產負債表上有 45 億美元現金，而且每季產生自由現金流使現金持續增加。因此在交易完成後，我們是否應預期會有大規模的 ASR（加速股票回購）或特別股利？或者 2021 年的資本回饋會遠低於典型的自由現金流 85%？

Toni, this is Ewout. Thank you for raising that point. Definitely, the way we look at our current cash balances is that this is temporarily elevated. We are thinking about the following in terms of what we are planning to do going forward.

Toni，我是 Ewout。謝謝你提出這點。我們確實認為目前的現金餘額是暫時性偏高。就未來規劃而言，我們的思考方向如下。

First of all, once we have an open window, the likelihood is low that the open window will be before the merger will close so that means after the merger close is more likely, what we will do is, first, we have an opportunity to catch up with respect to our capital return targets from the last few quarters because, clearly, we have not been able to deliver on those targets given these limitations. And then going forward, we have the new capital return target of at least 85%. So what you may expect is a kind of a catch-up after the merger will close and then ongoing, an increased level of capital return to our shareholders.

首先，一旦我們進入可操作的開放窗口（open window），在合併完成前就有開放窗口的可能性不高，因此更可能是在合併完成後。我們會做的第一件事，是有機會就過去幾季的資本回饋目標進行補回（catch-up），因為很明顯在這些限制下我們無法達成那些目標。接著往前看，我們有新的資本回饋目標：至少 85%。因此你們可以預期的是，合併完成後會有某種程度的補回，之後則會持續以更高水準向股東進行資本回饋。

I can't give you exact numbers and amounts so I can't quantify this for you. But philosophically, this is the direction of our thinking.

我無法提供確切數字與金額，因此也無法為你量化。但從理念上（philosophically）來說，這就是我們思考的方向。

That's great. I wanted to ask about index subscription. You're up 1% in the quarter. I think it was closer to about 10% last year. I think you mentioned a change in the reporting.

很好。我想問一下指數訂閱（index subscription）。你們本季成長 1%，我記得去年大約接近 10%。我想你提到申報方式有所改變。

But could you give a little bit more color on what that was? And also just broader, if you could just talk about the trends that you're seeing in index subscription like cancellations and pricing and competition.

但你能否再多補充一些細節說明那是什麼情況？另外更廣泛地，如果你能談談你在指數訂閱方面看到的趨勢，例如取消訂閱、定價以及競爭等。

Toni, this was more a catch-up in reporting that we had last year first quarter, and this was due to what we call real-time reporting catch-up, which had to do with the change of some administration. And therefore, the period-over-period differential looked relatively small with a growth of just 1%. Strategically, this is definitely an area we would like to grow, so the 1% is unusually low and should not be the basis of what to expect going forward. We should expect much higher growth from data and custom subscriptions.

Toni，這比較像是我們把去年第一季的一些申報進度補齊；這是因為我們所稱的即時申報（real-time reporting）補提，與部分行政作業的變更有關。因此，期對期的差異看起來相對小，成長只有 1%。從策略上來看，這絕對是我們希望成長的領域，所以 1% 異常偏低，不應作為未來的預期基礎。未來我們應該會看到資料與客製化訂閱帶來更高的成長。

And we would like to grow this because we think it's a good balance in the overall revenue mix for the index business, where we have, as you know, fees over assets under management, we have the derivative trading fees. And recurring revenue, subscription-like revenues in the index business is definitely an area we will grow as well. So unusually low at 1% and the expectation should be much higher growth going forward.

我們希望推動這一塊成長，因為我們認為這能讓指數業務的整體營收組合更均衡：如你所知，我們有依資產管理規模（AUM）收取的費用，也有衍生品交易費。指數業務中的經常性收入、類訂閱型收入也絕對是我們會擴張的領域。因此 1% 的成長異常偏低，未來的預期應該是更高的成長。

Did anything come out of your index consulting from last year? I'll stop there.

你們去年在指數顧問（index consulting）方面有產生任何成果嗎？我先問到這裡。

Toni, we're going to limit to 2 questions as always, please, okay, so that we get everybody involved.

Toni，我們一如既往每位只限 2 個問題，麻煩你，好嗎？這樣我們才能讓每個人都有機會提問。

Yes, sorry.

好的，抱歉。

Our next question is from George Tong with Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自高盛（Goldman Sachs）的 George Tong。

Ratings revenue saw a strong growth in the quarter. To what extent do you believe there was a pull forward in issuance from future quarters? And how does your outlook for 2Q through 4Q debt issuance and Ratings revenue change?

評級（Ratings）營收在本季呈現強勁成長。你認為有多少程度是把未來季度的發行量提前到本季（pull forward）？另外，你對第二季到第四季的債務發行與評級營收展望有何變化？

George, this is Doug. Thanks for joining the call. Well, first of all, as you know, we saw a very strong increase in results in the first quarter. Just to give you a few numbers to put them in context. As an example, investment-grade in the U.S. was down 17%, and you think about that being down 17%. At the same time, investment-grade in Europe was up 22%.

George，我是 Doug。謝謝你加入這通電話。首先，如你所知，我們第一季的結果大幅提升。我提供幾個數字作為背景。例如，美國投資級（investment-grade）下滑 17%，你想想是下滑 17%。同時，歐洲投資級則成長 22%。

High-yield in the U.S. was up 111%. High-yield in Europe was up 53%. Structured finance globally was up 5% but a couple of tidbits there. In the U.S., CLOs were up 63%, and in Europe, CLOs were up 300%. And bank loans were also up 70% as well. So you could see a mix of different aspects of what were up and what were down.

美國高收益（high-yield）成長 111%。歐洲高收益成長 53%。全球結構性融資（structured finance）成長 5%，但其中有幾個小細節：美國 CLO 成長 63%，歐洲 CLO 成長 300%。銀行貸款也成長 70%。所以你可以看到不同面向有的上升、有的下降，呈現不同組合。

We think that in the investment-grade, both in the U.S. and Europe, that there probably wasn't necessarily pull forward, to use that phrase, because you saw the 17% down in the U.S. but there was definitely an interest in investment -- non-investment-grade issuers as well as structured finance to look at the -- what they believe is going to be upcoming economic growth. Rates and spreads have been quite attractive. Spreads are at an all-time historical low in some cases or lows over the last 2 or 3 years. And there's also potentially some expectations that inflation starts coming in the market and interest rates will start going up again.

我們認為在投資級方面，無論美國或歐洲，可能未必存在所謂的「提前」（pull forward），因為你看到美國下滑 17%。但非投資級發行人以及結構性融資確實有興趣把握他們認為即將到來的經濟成長。利率與利差相當具吸引力；在某些情況下，利差處於歷史新低，或是過去 2 到 3 年的低點。此外，市場也可能預期通膨開始出現，利率將再度上升。

But as you know, in our forecast that we just gave you, we saw at the original forecast that the corporates would be down about 9%. We now see them down about 7.5% for the forecast for the year. Financial services that originally were going to be up about 5%, we see them now up around 4%. It hasn't changed that much. Structured finance is where we saw a bigger swing, originally up 3% and up now about 6%.

但如你所知，在我們剛提供的預測中，原先預估企業（corporates）將下滑約 9%，現在我們預估全年下滑約 7.5%。金融服務（financial services）原先預估成長約 5%，現在我們看大約成長 4%。變化不大。結構性融資的變動較大，原先成長 3%，現在約成長 6%。

So when you look at the total, we had originally forecasted that the issuance for 2021 would be down about 3% and now we think it's going to be about -- down about 2%. As I started off, it's always hard to tell what pull forward is and what's coming in this pull forward, but it's possible that there could have been some in the high-yield space in particular.

因此看整體，我們原先預測 2021 年發行量將下滑約 3%，現在我們認為大約會下滑 2%。如我一開始所說，要判斷哪些是提前（pull forward）、哪些不是一直都很難，但在高收益領域，特別是高收益，確實有可能存在一些提前。

Very helpful. And then just a follow-up with the Ratings operating margins. How do you expect those to perform as debt issuance normalizes from strong 1Q levels?

非常有幫助。接著追問一下評級業務的營業利益率（operating margins）。當債務發行從第一季的強勁水準回歸常態時，你預期這些利益率會如何表現？

George, if you think about the Ratings margins, we think about it as 3 data points. One is the full year margins last year, 2020, which was somewhere in the 62% -- at the 62% level. Then we look at it for the trailing 4-quarter at this moment, which is around the 63% level, and then the quarter stand-alone was around 67% level.

George，談到評級利益率，我們會用 3 個數據點來看：第一是去年 2020 全年的利益率，大約在 62% 左右；第二是目前過去 4 個季度（trailing 4-quarter）的利益率，大約在 63% 左右；第三是單看本季，大約在 67% 左右。

The 67% level is clearly elevated due to the surge in the issuance environment and shouldn't be seen as the new normal. We think that there is an opportunity to expand margins from the level that we saw in 2020 but not at the level of what you saw in the first quarter of this year. So directionally, improvements but this quarter was elevated due to the reasons we just explained.

67% 顯然偏高，主要是因為發行環境激增，不應被視為新的常態。我們認為相較於 2020 年的水準，仍有擴大利益率的機會，但不會達到你在今年第一季看到的水準。因此方向上會改善，但本季因我們剛解釋的原因而偏高。

Our next question is from Hamzah Mazari with Jefferies.

下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Hamzah Mazari。

My question was just on Market Intelligence organic revenue growth. I realize it was a slightly tougher comp, but could you maybe talk about some of the investment spend that you're doing and how that will help your top line specifically and timing of that? I know from a margin side, you've already talked about margins there being in the high 30s on a target basis. So any thoughts on the ramp and the growth from all the investment spend you're doing there? And maybe any other areas to highlight?

我的問題是關於 Market Intelligence 的有機營收成長。我知道比較基期稍微更具挑戰，但你能否談談你們正在進行的一些投資支出，以及這些投資將如何在營收端（top line）帶來幫助、時間點大概如何？我知道在利益率方面，你們已經談過目標是高 30% 的區間。所以對於你們在那邊的投資支出所帶來的爬坡（ramp）與成長，有什麼看法？另外還有沒有其他值得強調的領域？

Hamzah, if you think about Market Intelligence, there were some reasons why the revenue growth was a bit lower this particular quarter. Think about the Desktop that has seen some uneven recovery in various regions, particularly, therefore, the COVID impact from 2020, impact from the past ACV. But what we are seeing is a really healthy commercial activity now, and therefore, you heard us guiding to still low to mid-single-digit growth for revenue -- for Desktop revenue this year and high single-digit growth for Data Management Solutions and Credit Risk Solutions.

Hamzah，如果你看 Market Intelligence，本季營收成長較低有一些原因。以 Desktop 來說，各地區復甦不均，特別是因此受到 2020 年 COVID 的影響，以及過去 ACV 的影響。但我們目前看到非常健康的商業活動，因此你也聽到我們仍指引今年 Desktop 營收為低到中個位數成長，而 Data Management Solutions 與 Credit Risk Solutions 則為高個位數成長。

Specifically with respect to the growth initiatives, we're very excited about all the new initiatives and the investments we are making. We know that it always takes a bit of time to see the revenue ramp up, and of course, from an overall basis, these numbers are still relatively small. But think about that Data Marketplace is doing very well, and we see very nice growth. Actually, the revenues in the first quarter were more or less the same of the total revenues we booked over the full year 2020. The same applies for SME, ESG, private company data.

就成長計畫而言，我們對所有新計畫與正在進行的投資感到非常振奮。我們知道通常需要一些時間才能看到營收開始爬坡，當然從整體來看，這些數字目前仍相對較小。但你可以看到 Data Marketplace 表現非常好，我們看到很不錯的成長。事實上，第一季的營收大致上已接近我們 2020 全年所認列的總營收。同樣的情況也適用於 SME、ESG、私募公司資料（private company data）。

So overall, I think, it's clearly very, very good initiatives, and we see a lot of traction. Overall, Market Intelligence growth is expected at mid- to high single digit for the full year 2021, so mid- to high single-digit growth for the full year 2021, which we think is a very healthy growth for this business and clearly helped by some of those initiatives.

總體而言，我認為這些都是非常、非常好的計畫，我們也看到很多動能。整體來看，Market Intelligence 在 2021 全年預期為中到高個位數成長，也就是 2021 全年中到高個位數成長；我們認為這對這項業務而言是非常健康的成長，並且明顯受惠於其中一些計畫。

That's great. And then just -- maybe just any thoughts on the China business and what you're seeing there in terms of gaining traction relative to your expectations? Aside from the pandemic, just sort of any color as to how big China could be over time, what you're seeing there in the revenue base today?

很好。接著再問一下——你對中國業務有什麼看法？就你們目前看到的動能是否符合預期？撇除疫情因素之外，能否補充一些細節，例如長期來看中國可能有多大、以及你們目前在中國的營收基礎大概如何？

Hamzah, this is Doug, and thank you for joining the call today. As you know, China is one of our most important strategic initiatives for the entire company. And we typically talk about Ratings, but we have other initiatives. We're investing with Platts. We're investing in our index business. And recently, we've had some very good traction with our credit portal from Market Intelligence.

Hamzah，我是 Doug，也謝謝你今天加入電話會議。如你所知，中國是我們全公司最重要的策略計畫之一。我們通常會談評級（Ratings），但我們還有其他計畫：我們在 Platts 上投資、在指數業務上投資，而最近我們的 Market Intelligence 信用入口網站（credit portal）也取得了非常好的進展。

But let me give you a quick update on Ratings. Last year, we had 22 ratings that were issued in the full year of 2020, and this year, in the first quarter alone, we issued 18 ratings. We believe that the market participants are really interested and increasingly interested in the quality of the ratings themselves, the underlying ratings. As I've talked about over time, we've assembled a very, very strong team.

不過我先快速更新一下評級業務。去年 2020 全年我們發出了 22 個評級，而今年僅第一季我們就發出了 18 個評級。我們相信市場參與者對評級本身的品質、也就是底層評級（underlying ratings），確實非常有興趣，而且興趣正在增加。正如我過去一段時間所提到的，我們已建立了一支非常、非常強的團隊。

The market is building up over time. We see that the market has started attracting more offshore investors as well as the foreign banks that are coming in with their wholly owned or controlled subsidiaries, which is bringing new capital and new approach to the markets. But what we're out doing is educating the market. We're doing literally hundreds of meetings a week. And when we have seminars or events when we've rolled out some new research, we're getting thousands of people joining that.

市場正在隨時間逐步建立起來。我們看到市場已開始吸引更多離岸投資人，以及以全資或控股子公司形式進入的外資銀行，這為市場帶來新的資本與新的方法。不過我們目前在做的是教育市場。我們每週實際上要進行數百場會議。而當我們舉辦研討會或活動、推出一些新的研究時，會有數千人參與。

One thing that I'm very pleased with is that -- in addition to having such a strong team, is that the ratings that we've done when you look over the last 2 years. We've now rated financial structured products, our first nonfinancial corporation, and the breadth of our ratings goes from AAA to BBB. We're getting a lot of really good attention, a lot of high traction to our websites, et cetera. So we see China as a long-run investment but off to a really good start.

有一點讓我非常高興的是——除了擁有如此強大的團隊之外——還有我們在過去兩年所做的評級成果。現在我們已經評了金融結構性產品、我們第一家非金融企業，而我們評級的廣度從 AAA 到 BBB。我們獲得了很多非常好的關注，我們的網站等也有很高的流量與黏著度。因此我們把中國視為一項長期投資，但目前開局非常好。

Our next question is from Kevin McVeigh with Crédit Suisse.

下一個問題來自瑞士信貸（Crédit Suisse）的 Kevin McVeigh。

Doug or Ewout, I wonder if you could just contextualize. Like you've done an amazing job capturing kind of this default cycle as opposed to the last one, where there's a lot more disruption. What does that mean for the next cycle as you think about this in the business and capturing some of the more secular trends in the business?

Doug 或 Ewout，我想請你們幫忙做個脈絡化的說明。你們在捕捉這一輪違約週期方面做得非常出色，相較於上一輪，這一輪的擾動要多得多。當你們從業務角度思考下一個週期，以及如何把握業務中更偏長期結構性的趨勢時，這代表什麼？

Well, as we look out over the next few years, clearly, there's various factors that are important to us. As we showed you in the slides themselves, we think that the economy globally is recovering, although it's going to be a choppy recovery. You've got the U.S. growing at 6.5% this year on the back of a very, very successful vaccination program. China is going to be growing at 8%. Actually, the government says themselves they're going to grow at double digit, at a 10% rate. But you also see that Europe and India and some other markets might not be growing at a very quick rate.

嗯，展望未來幾年，顯然有多項因素對我們很重要。正如我們在投影片中所展示的，我們認為全球經濟正在復甦，儘管這將是一個顛簸的復甦。美國在非常、非常成功的疫苗接種計畫帶動下，今年成長 6.5%。中國將成長 8%。其實政府自己也說他們將以兩位數、也就是 10% 的速度成長。但你也會看到，歐洲、印度以及其他一些市場的成長速度可能不會很快。

But overall, given the pull of the U.S. and China and other markets that are recovering pretty quickly like the U.K., we think that the growth this year is going to be 5.5% globally. The following year is also going to be quite strong because those other markets that haven't had the vaccinations yet will continue to improve as well. So global growth over the next couple of years in the 4% to 5% range, which bode well for our businesses.

但整體而言，考量到美國與中國的拉動，以及像英國等其他復甦相當快的市場，我們認為今年全球成長將達到 5.5%。下一年也會相當強勁，因為那些尚未完成疫苗接種的其他市場也將持續改善。因此未來幾年全球成長大約在 4% 到 5% 的區間，這對我們的業務是利多。

One of the biggest trends we look at is and what we talk about is as markets become capital markets around the world. And the question we just had about China is an important one for us, as China savers move from just investing in real estate to putting money into financial assets, into pension, insurance and savings program. As foreign investors move into China, we're seeing a much more advanced capital markets.

我們觀察到、也常談到的最大趨勢之一，是全球各地市場正逐步成為資本市場。剛才關於中國的問題對我們很重要，因為當中國的儲蓄者從僅投資房地產，轉向把資金投入金融資產、退休金、保險與儲蓄計畫；以及當外國投資人進入中國時，我們看到資本市場變得更為成熟。

The European trends over the last couple of years, we've always talked about them, but they've been very strong the last couple of years. And we've seen them incredibly strong in the last couple of quarters and becoming more like capital markets.

歐洲的趨勢在過去幾年我們一直都有談，但最近兩年特別強勁。我們也看到在最近幾個季度這些趨勢極為強勁，並且正變得更像資本市場。

Now one final comment. When we take a step back and we think about our strategy that's called Powering the Markets of the Future, it allows us to take all of the different capabilities of S&P Global, whether it's the rating agency, it's the index business. And now when we think about the addition of the IHS Markit capabilities, we'll have -- right now, we'll move from -- up to 76% of our business will be coming from subscription or subscription-like recurring revenue services. That will give us some stability as we head into potentially high-growth markets over the next couple of years but as well any sort of choppiness that could come from either fiscal policy or coming out of the very low interest rate environment, et cetera.

最後再補充一點。當我們退一步思考我們名為「Powering the Markets of the Future（驅動未來市場）」的策略時，它讓我們能整合 S&P Global 的各種能力，不論是評級機構、指數業務。而當我們再考慮加入 IHS Markit 的能力後——我們將從目前的狀態提升到：高達 76% 的業務將來自訂閱或類訂閱的經常性收入服務。這將在未來幾年我們邁向可能的高成長市場時提供一定的穩定性，同時也能因應可能來自財政政策、或從極低利率環境走出所帶來的任何波動等。

But we watch very carefully the external environment. We think our businesses are well prepared to support the growth of financial markets and our customers. And we always then incorporate that into our planning of where we invest and how we set up our budgets.

不過我們會非常仔細地觀察外部環境。我們認為我們的業務已做好充分準備，能支持金融市場與客戶的成長。我們也會把這些因素納入規劃，決定投資方向以及如何編列預算。

That's very helpful. And then, Ewout, real quick. Is there any way to think about how much the ratings mix contributed to that 67.5% margin like in terms of just the mix relative to what it is historically?

這很有幫助。接著 Ewout，很快問一下：有沒有辦法思考評級組合對 67.5% 利潤率的貢獻有多少——也就是相對於歷史水準，組合變化的影響？

It plays a bit of a role, Kevin. Because if you think about bank loans and high-yields, those are usually not on frequent issuer programs, so that helps from the translation of overall activity in terms of volumes and issuance to revenue. So definitely, mix has played a role here as well.

Kevin，它確實有一些影響。因為如果你想想銀行貸款與高收益債，這些通常不在常態性的發行人計畫之內，因此在把整體活動（以量與發行來看）轉換成營收時會更有利。所以組合在這裡也確實扮演了一定角色。

Our next question comes from Manav Patnaik with Barclays.

下一個問題來自巴克萊（Barclays）的 Manav Patnaik。

I just had a quick question. You've obviously curtailed your buybacks, as you said, as you wait for the deal to close. But are you holding back on your M&A pipeline as well, like presumably just tuck-ins? Would just be curious there.

我有個簡短問題。你們顯然如你們所說，在等待交易完成期間已經縮減了回購。但你們是否也在 M&A 的管線上有所保留——我想應該只是一些小型併購（tuck-ins）？想了解一下。

Manav, let me take that. As you know, right now, the #1 priority for S&P Global is to successfully execute the integration program with IHS Markit after the deal closes. So we don't have an active aggressive M&A program. If something came along in the ESG space in particular or if there was a fill-in for a new asset class for Platts to expand our energy transition or battery metals opportunity, carbon trading, things like this could be something we might look at, but those will be small tuck-ins. But right now, our major emphasis is on successful closing and successful integration of the IHS Markit transaction.

Manav，我來回答。你知道，目前 S&P Global 的第一優先事項是在交易完成後，成功執行與 IHS Markit 的整合計畫。因此我們並沒有積極、進取的 M&A 計畫。如果在 ESG 領域特別是有機會出現，或是對 Platts 而言能補齊某個新的資產類別、以擴展我們在能源轉型或電池金屬機會、碳交易等方面的布局，這類事情我們可能會考慮，但都會是小型的補強型併購。不過目前我們的重點仍是成功完成交易並成功整合 IHS Markit 這筆交易。

All right. That makes sense. And then I just had one small follow-up, which is breaking out the shipping segment in Platts. Is there any particular reason for that? I mean is there something we should be looking out for? Could that be a category that's really going to grow fast for you guys?

好，這很合理。接著我還有一個小小的追問：你們在 Platts 裡把航運（shipping）這個分部拆出來單獨揭露，有什麼特別原因嗎？我的意思是，有沒有什麼是我們應該留意的？這會不會是一個對你們來說將快速成長的類別？

It's -- Manav, it's an interesting question. We had a lot of discussion around it. Shipping is becoming one of those areas where the markets are looking for news. And we've had a couple of instances over the last few months where the data and the analytics and the research from Platts have been in very high demand.

Manav，這是個有趣的問題。我們對此做了很多討論。航運正成為市場尋求資訊與新聞的領域之一。而在過去幾個月裡，我們有幾次看到 Platts 的數據、分析與研究出現非常高的需求。

If you recall, there was -- there's been a period where the ships are stacked up at ports like in Long Beach in California, around China, around Yokohama in Japan, where they're -- the rates have gone up, they've doubled, they've tripled. We also had the large ship which was stuck in the Suez Canal.

如果你還記得，曾有一段時間船隻在港口大排長龍，例如加州長灘（Long Beach）、中國周邊、日本橫濱周邊——運價上升、翻倍、甚至三倍。我們也遇到那艘大型船隻卡在蘇伊士運河的事件。

So not only is there a heightened demand for information about shipping, it's been in the news, and we felt like our very high growth rate there gives us an emphasis and a focus to continue to invest there and grow there. And it highlights for us which is a very interesting area with a lot of implications for global trade, for energy transition, for climate. It's a great area for us to invest in, and we're pleased that we can break it out now.

因此，不僅對航運資訊的需求升高、也成為新聞焦點；我們認為該領域的高成長率讓我們更有理由在此加大投入並持續成長。同時也凸顯出這是一個非常有意思、對全球貿易、能源轉型與氣候都有許多影響的領域。這是我們很適合投資的方向，我們也很高興現在能把它拆分出來揭露。

Our next question is from Alex Kramm with UBS.

下一個問題來自瑞銀（UBS）的 Alex Kramm。

Just shifting to the deal quickly. You made a comment that you've been spending more time with the teams from IHS Markit as this deal closing approaches. I know this is not the time for any updates to financial expectations, I assume. But anything else you can share with us potentially on the cost and revenue side where you may have just gotten more comfortable, new things that you've discovered as you've spent more time? I mean it's been, I think, exactly 5 months now, so I assume there's a few new findings. So anything you can share would be great.

快速把話題轉到這筆交易。你提到隨著交易接近完成，你花了更多時間與 IHS Markit 的團隊合作。我知道我想現在不是更新財務預期的時點。但在成本與營收面，有沒有其他你們可以分享的內容——例如你們因為投入更多時間而變得更有把握，或發現了新的事項？我的意思是，現在我想剛好是 5 個月，所以應該有一些新的發現。若能分享會很棒。

Alex, this is Ewout. Definitely, a lot of work is going on with respect to the integration planning, getting to know each other, thinking about organizational design, thinking about future strategy. At the same time, these are still 2 independently run companies. The transaction hasn't closed, as you know, so these are 2 companies that are still independently functioning with their own management teams and with their own Boards for the oversight.

Alex，我是 Ewout。確實，整合規劃方面正在進行大量工作，包括彼此熟悉、思考組織設計、思考未來策略。同時，這仍是兩家獨立運作的公司。你也知道交易尚未完成，因此這兩家公司仍各自獨立運作，擁有各自的管理團隊，並由各自的董事會進行監督。

So we are working, I think, in a great way, in a very collaborative way with respect to the integration planning. Definitely, we're diving deeper in terms of the revenue synergies, the expense synergies, trying to build up what we have detected during the due diligence phase, trying to build this up bottoms up and get additional levels of comfort around it. Yes, I am not, as you already mentioned in your question, able to give you any new indication with respect to numbers. These are the numbers we're committed to: the $480 million expense synergies and the $350 million of revenue synergies. But we are working very hard to make sure that we're able to deliver on that. And further updates, we can provide to you after the merger will close.

所以我認為，在整合規劃方面，我們正以非常好的方式、非常協作的方式在推進。毫無疑問，我們正在更深入地檢視營收協同效益與費用協同效益，嘗試把盡職調查階段所辨識到的內容進一步落實，採取由下而上的方式建構，並在此基礎上取得更多的信心層級。是的，正如你在問題中已經提到的，我目前無法就數字提供任何新的指引。我們承諾的數字就是：4.8 億美元的費用協同效益，以及 3.5 億美元的營收協同效益。但我們正非常努力，確保能夠兌現這些目標。至於進一步的更新，我們可以在併購完成後再向各位提供。

Fair enough. Staying on a similar topic though. A few people asked about capital returns. When it comes to buybacks in the future, I mean, obviously, you've mentioned the new leverage target. And again, this is not a new, new thing. But I know there's been some hesitancy in the past of levering up just to buy back your stock.

可以理解。不過我想延續一個相近的主題。有幾位人士問到資本回饋。談到未來的庫藏股回購，我的意思是，顯然你們已經提到新的槓桿目標。而且這也不是什麼全新的事情。但我知道過去在僅僅為了回購自家股票而提高槓桿方面，曾經有些猶豫。

So can you maybe just remind us how your thinking may have changed there? Given that, I think, as Doug just mentioned very shortly ago, you're going to have your hands full, so there's probably not a lot of other things to do. So what's the appetite to fully leveraging up the balance sheet, after this period of not buying back your stock, to accelerate that?

所以你能否提醒我們，你們在這方面的想法可能有哪些改變？考量到我想 Doug 剛剛也提到，你們接下來會非常忙，所以大概也沒有太多其他事情可做。那麼，在這段期間沒有回購股票之後，你們對於在資產負債表上把槓桿拉到更充分、以加速回購的意願有多大？

Alex, as we always have said, we set a leverage range target. And once we fall outside of that range, we will take action to bring ourselves back within the range. The range has been increased. We were at 1.75 to 2.25 as a range as S&P Global stand-alone. After the merger, that range will be brought up to 2 to 2.5x.

Alex，正如我們一貫所說，我們會設定一個目標槓桿區間。一旦我們落在該區間之外，我們就會採取行動把自己拉回到區間內。這個區間已經上調。作為 S&P Global 單獨公司時，我們的區間是 1.75 到 2.25。併購完成後，該區間將提高到 2 到 2.5 倍。

As you saw in our earnings announcement this morning, we're currently at 1.8. IHS Markit is slightly higher levered than S&P Global today. So we need to see and look at the mix after we combine the debt base of both companies. But clearly, if we will fall below the lower end of the new range, we will take action. We will add additional leverage on our balance sheet to make sure that we have an optimal overall corporate financing structure. And if that means we have excess cash and excess capital going forward, that will be an opportunity to return to shareholders as well.

如同你在今天早上的財報公告中看到的，我們目前是 1.8。IHS Markit 目前的槓桿略高於 S&P Global。因此，在我們把兩家公司的債務基礎合併之後，我們需要觀察並評估其組合。但很明確的是，如果我們低於新區間的下緣，我們就會採取行動。我們會在資產負債表上增加額外槓桿，以確保整體公司融資結構達到最佳化。而如果這意味著未來我們會有多餘的現金與多餘的資本，那也將成為回饋股東的機會。

Our next question is from Andrew Nicholas with William Blair.

下一個問題來自 William Blair 的 Andrew Nicholas。

This is actually Trevor in for Andrew. First of all, just on the Ratings segment, bank loans and high-yield both performed really well to start the year. You kind of talked about some of the market drivers already. Just wondering, since those 2 categories don't always move in the same direction, do you have any thoughts on the trajectory for both of them going forward the rest of the year? Do you expect them to both continue to see similar levels of strength?

我其實是代 Andrew 提問的 Trevor。首先，關於評級（Ratings）部門，銀行貸款與高收益債在年初的表現都非常強勁。你們已經談到一些市場驅動因素。我想請教的是，由於這兩個類別並不總是同向變動，你們對於今年剩餘時間兩者的走勢有什麼看法？你們是否預期它們都會持續呈現類似強度？

Trevor, this is Doug. Thanks for joining the call today. Yes, you're absolutely right, sometimes bank loans and high-yield do not move in the same direction. This time, they did.

Trevor，我是 Doug。謝謝你今天加入電話會議。是的，你說得完全正確，有時候銀行貸款與高收益債不會同向變動。但這一次，它們確實同向。

We look at a few of the key factors which drove that. Clearly, there is a lot of capital-chasing deals. We see that the M&A pipeline has increased to a level which is it's not quite historic but it's getting there, and there's a lot of M&A pipeline that is out there. It's from a combination of private equity firms, strategic investments as well as the SPACs, and that brings along with it revenue for us, which is not just an issuance revenue from loans and from high-yield bonds. We also see from new issuer fees as well as Ratings Evaluation Services that comes from that kind of a pipeline.

我們觀察了幾個驅動因素。很明顯，有大量資金在追逐交易。我們看到併購（M&A）管線已經上升到一個水準，雖然還不到歷史高點，但已經接近，而且市場上確實存在大量的併購管線。這些來自私募股權公司、策略性投資以及 SPAC 的組合，而這也為我們帶來收入，不僅是來自貸款與高收益債券的發行收入。我們也會從新發行人費用以及評級評估服務（Ratings Evaluation Services）中受益，這些都源自這類管線。

But we see going forward this year, as I mentioned earlier, the overall corporate sector, we think, is going to be down with the investment-grade issuers not being very active in the market, especially in the U.S. And with the high-yield probably leveling out, we don't know exactly what's going to happen with rates and spreads. But you're right that they do usually move in opposite directions.

但展望今年後續，如我先前提到的，我們認為整體企業部門將會下滑，因為投資級發行人不會在市場上非常活躍，尤其是在美國。而高收益債可能會趨於持平；我們不確定利率與利差究竟會如何變化。但你說得對，它們通常會朝相反方向移動。

There's one other point I want to make. There has been demand for loans from investors that are looking for potential increase in interest rates. You saw that the 10-year yield had started climbing over the last 3 or 4 months. And so there's a lot of demand from investors for loans which are floating rate. They want to, in a sense, kind of hedge their interest rate exposure and have floating-rate exposure. So it's embedded in our outlook for the rest of the year and are -- as well as our -- what we see is our forecast for issuance. But you're right that they don't always move lockstep, and this quarter, they did.

我還想補充一點。投資人對貸款的需求增加，因為他們在尋求應對利率可能上升的方式。你看到 10 年期殖利率在過去 3 到 4 個月開始上升。因此，投資人對浮動利率貸款有很大的需求。他們某種程度上想要對沖利率曝險，並持有浮動利率曝險。這已反映在我們對今年剩餘時間的展望以及我們對發行量的預測之中。但你說得對，它們並不總是同步變動，而本季它們確實同步。

Okay. Great. That's helpful. And then just kind of given some of the increasing focus on ESG, just wondering if you could talk about your energy transition practice within Platts a bit. Just how large is that business now? What's your outlook going forward? And then if there's any way the IHS resource business plays into the strategy there, I would just love to hear your thoughts.

好的，很有幫助。接著，鑑於市場對 ESG 的關注日益提高，我想請你談談 Platts 旗下的能源轉型業務。這項業務目前規模有多大？你對未來的展望如何？另外，如果 IHS 的資源業務在這方面能夠融入策略，我也很想聽聽你的看法。

Great. Thank you. And I'll take that also. Well, first of all, we are very pleased with the progress we're making on our ESG franchise. As you probably saw last week, on April 22, on Earth Day, we announced a new brand, Sustainable1, for our ESG efforts across the entire company. And it's -- as we call it, it's your single source of essential sustainability intelligence. Across all of S&P Global, we're now coordinating our ESG initiatives, and we have over 500 people that are dedicated full time to this.

很好，謝謝。我也來回答這個問題。首先，我們對於 ESG 版圖（franchise）所取得的進展感到非常滿意。你可能在上週看到，4 月 22 日世界地球日，我們宣布推出一個新品牌 Sustainable1，用於整個公司範圍內的 ESG 工作。正如我們所稱，它是你取得關鍵永續資訊的單一來源。現在在整個 S&P Global，我們正在協調各項 ESG 計畫，並且有超過 500 名員工全職投入其中。

But to dig a little bit deeper into what you mentioned about Platts. Platts is building up an expertise in energy transition as well as transportation, and you heard us talk about shipping a few minutes ago. And when it comes to energy transition, you think about the move from coal to renewables as maybe the end of the spectrum. But in between, there is a whole new set of opportunities for Platts to be looking at, many of them we're already in.

但更深入談你提到的 Platts。Platts 正在建立能源轉型以及運輸領域的專業能力，而你們幾分鐘前也聽到我們談到航運。談到能源轉型，你可能會把從煤轉向再生能源視為光譜的一端。但在兩者之間，Platts 有一整套新的機會可以切入，其中很多我們已經在做。

Hydrogen is an example. We have a hydrogen benchmark. We're the first one with a hydrogen benchmark. There is something called clean oil. There's clean natural gas. What that means is that clean oil has had -- the entire value chain of the delivery of that oil has been rebuilt to ensure that you can capture all of the methane, that there's no leakage along the way, so there's ways that refineries are run, that storage systems and pipelines are run. And we're able to provide the research and the data and the analytics and the benchmarks against something like clean oil.

氫能就是一個例子。我們有一個氫能基準（benchmark），而且我們是第一個推出氫能基準的。還有所謂的「潔淨原油」（clean oil）與「潔淨天然氣」。其含義是：潔淨原油在整個交付價值鏈上都已重新建構，以確保可以捕捉所有甲烷，並且在過程中沒有任何洩漏；因此，煉油廠的運作方式、儲存系統與管線的運作方式都會有所不同。而我們能夠針對像潔淨原油這樣的產品，提供研究、數據、分析以及相對應的基準。

We also -- in Platts, we mentioned earlier on the call about copper. There's a whole set of new metals which are quite important to the energy transition; as an example, copper, which there's 175 pounds at least of copper in an electric vehicle. You also have lithium in the batteries. So these are areas where we also see a lot of opportunities for the benchmarks to be used from a combination of new power grids, from the metals that are in them, from the clean energy that is going to be clean transition energy.

此外——在 Platts，我們先前在電話會議中也提到銅。能源轉型需要一整套新的金屬，這些金屬相當重要；例如銅，一輛電動車至少含有 175 磅的銅。電池中也有鋰。因此，這些領域我們也看到很多機會：基準可以被用於新的電網建設、其中所使用的金屬，以及將成為潔淨轉型能源的潔淨能源等。

Finally, I'd like to mention that with the merger with IHS Markit, they also bring along a set of new products and services that bringing together will strengthen our ESG franchise. At IHS Markit, they have additional research that comes from their transportation business, which is going to be quite valuable for the Platts business in the energy transition. They also have a carbon registry. They've got a set of other carbon research products and then generally, other research and news on energy transition and ESG, which are going to be quite valuable to us.

最後我想提到，與 IHS Markit 的合併也會帶來一系列新產品與服務，整合後將強化我們的 ESG 版圖。在 IHS Markit，他們的運輸業務提供額外研究，對 Platts 在能源轉型方面將非常有價值。他們也有碳登錄（carbon registry），並且有一系列其他碳研究產品，以及更廣泛的能源轉型與 ESG 相關研究與新聞，這些對我們都將非常有價值。

So we think we're very well positioned. We've just launched the Sustainable1 brand. We have an organization in place with over 500 people, and we're ready to really start growing.

因此我們認為自身處於非常有利的位置。我們剛推出 Sustainable1 品牌。我們已建立一個由超過 500 人組成的組織，並且已準備好真正開始成長。

And as a quick addition, Platts is already today the largest contributor to the overall ESG revenues of the company, so clearly, an important contributor to the overall strategy.

另外補充一點，Platts 目前已是公司整體 ESG 收入的最大貢獻者，因此顯然也是整體策略的重要貢獻來源。

Our next question is from Craig Huber with Huber Research Partners.

下一個問題來自 Huber Research Partners 的 Craig Huber。

My first question on costs. Can you just give us a broad sense of how much cost you think will come back into the system for T&E, other general office expenses once people start coming back and you get back to a normal workflow in the company and how many hundreds of millions of dollars you think that might add on an annualized basis?

我第一個問題關於成本。你們能否大致說明一下，一旦大家開始回到辦公室、公司工作流程回到正常後，差旅與招待（T&E）以及其他一般辦公費用，你們認為會有多少成本回流到系統中？按年化計算，你們覺得可能會增加數億美元中的多少？

Let me give you a couple of data points here. First, pre the COVID pandemic, in 2019, we spent on overall T&E $85 million as a company. Last year, we spent $15 million. But clearly, going forward, what we would expect to be the new normal with new ways of working, hybrid working, more virtual tools, it's correct that we wouldn't expect the whole $85 million to come back. Our best estimate would be maybe a haircut of, let's say, 25%, so maybe around $60 million or so that should be a T&E kind of level after the whole COVID situation is over.

我先給你幾個數據點。首先，在 COVID 疫情之前的 2019 年，我們公司整體在差旅與招待（T&E）上的支出是 8,500 萬美元。去年我們花了 1,500 萬美元。但很明顯，往前看，隨著新的工作方式、混合辦公、更多虛擬工具成為新常態，你說得對，我們不預期 8,500 萬美元會全部回來。我們最佳估計可能會打個折，譬如說減少 25% 左右，因此在整個 COVID 情況結束後，T&E 的水準可能約在 6,000 萬美元左右。

Some of the benefits of that are already captured in our productivity program, so a part of the $120 million productivity program. But clearly, we expect overall more efficiency due to a different way of working going forward and the lessons that we have learned of being able to operate over the last 12 to 15 months.

其中一些效益已經反映在我們的生產力計畫中，也就是 1.2 億美元生產力計畫的一部分。但很明顯，我們預期未來因不同的工作方式，以及過去 12 到 15 個月我們學到能夠持續營運的經驗，整體效率會更高。

By the way, the same applies to real estate. We clearly expect also real estate expenses to come down. We don't need the extensive footprint that we have today because we would expect people to be spending less days at the office going forward. And also the benefits of that are already captured in the productivity program, the $120 million productivity program.

順帶一提，不動產也是同樣道理。我們也明確預期不動產費用會下降。我們不需要像現在這麼大的據點規模，因為我們預期未來大家在辦公室的天數會更少。而這些效益也已經納入生產力計畫，也就是 1.2 億美元的生產力計畫。

And then my last question, please. Can you just talk about the pricing on average for this year in your non-indices businesses? Is it sort of up 3% to 4% over normal range you have year in, year out?

那我最後一個問題。你們能否談談今年在非指數業務的平均定價？是否大概比你們年復一年正常的區間高出 3% 到 4%？

We're always careful to talk about pricing going forward, as you know, Craig. But nothing is different than what you should have seen historically from what we're doing in our businesses. And I think that should be overall, in general terms, the expectation across the company.

Craig，如你所知，我們一向對談論未來的定價很謹慎。但我們在各項業務上的作法，與你過去歷史上看到的並沒有不同。我認為整體而言，對全公司來說，一般性的預期應該就是如此。

Our next question is from Owen Lau with Oppenheimer.

下一個問題來自 Oppenheimer 的 Owen Lau。

So I have a question about Trucost. I think State Street just announced a strategic engagement with Trucost, and President Biden also committed to cut greenhouse gas emission in half by 2030. I'm wondering how all these have impacted your Trucost business and also your outlook. If you can talk about the recent traction there and also the opportunities ahead, that would be great.

我有一個關於 Trucost 的問題。我想 State Street 剛宣布與 Trucost 展開策略合作，而拜登總統也承諾在 2030 年前將溫室氣體排放減半。我想了解這些因素如何影響你們的 Trucost 業務以及你們的展望。如果你能談談近期的進展動能以及未來的機會，那就太好了。

Great. Thank you, Owen. Let me take that question. Well, when we think about the energy transition and now in a much more broad way and you look at all the different initiatives going on around the globe, one of the most important dialogues that we have no matter where we go -- any meeting I go to, whether it's with central bankers, ministers of finance, it's with corporate bankers, investment bankers, with corporate executives, people are talking about energy transition, they're talking about climate and they're talking about ESG. And we see that there is a need for people to have clear, simple, concise, comparable, consistent data and analytics around climate, around ESG.

很好，謝謝你，Owen。我來回答這個問題。當我們以更廣泛的角度思考能源轉型，並觀察全球各地正在推動的各種倡議時，不論我們走到哪裡，能源轉型都是最重要的對話之一——我參加的任何會議，不管是與央行人士、財政部長，或是與企業銀行家、投資銀行家、企業高階主管，人們都在談能源轉型、談氣候、談 ESG。而我們看到，人們需要在氣候與 ESG 方面具備清晰、簡單、精煉、可比較且一致的數據與分析。

As you know, we did an acquisition of Trucost about 3.5 years ago, and it brought to us the premier set of data and analytics around carbon, around climate, around physical risk as well as waste, water and other types of analytical information. We also have physical risk. We have SDGs, sustainable development goals as ways that we can do analytics on that.

如你所知，我們在約 3 年半前收購了 Trucost，這為我們帶來了在碳排、氣候、實體風險，以及廢棄物、水資源等其他類型分析資訊方面的一流數據與分析能力。我們也有實體風險資料。我們也有 SDGs（永續發展目標），作為我們可進行相關分析的方式。

But going to your -- the first part of your question. We just announced an agreement with State Street, where we're providing them information from Trucost that can be embedded in all of their modeling. All of their clients will be able to use that intelligence and that risk information and build it into State Street's existing client-focused ESG services. State Street has about $40 trillion of clients -- of assets under management that their clients hold. So we're going to be able to be providing that functionality.

回到你問題的第一部分。我們剛宣布與 State Street 達成協議，我們將提供來自 Trucost 的資訊，並可嵌入到他們所有的模型之中。他們所有客戶都能使用這些洞見與風險資訊，並將其整合進 State Street 既有、以客戶為中心的 ESG 服務。State Street 的客戶持有約 40 兆美元的資產管理規模（AUM）。因此我們將能提供這項功能。

What it does is it allows those clients to have access to the carbon footprint and other environmental data that will map to their portfolios. As you know, a lot of organizations are increasingly using the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure reporting. And you can take the Trucost data, the Carbon Earnings at Risk, the Paris alignment, the physical risk data, the general carbon information and build it right into that kind of modeling. So we're very pleased with that partnership with State Street. We see this as a start of many, many other partnerships and something that for us is quite important and one of our most important strategic initiatives in the entire company.

這使得這些客戶能夠取得可對應到其投資組合的碳足跡及其他環境數據。如你所知，許多機構正日益採用「氣候相關財務揭露工作小組」（TCFD）的報告框架。你可以把 Trucost 的數據——碳收益風險（Carbon Earnings at Risk）、巴黎一致性（Paris alignment）、實體風險數據、一般碳資訊——直接建入那類模型之中。因此我們對與 State Street 的合作非常滿意。我們將此視為許多、許多其他合作的起點；對我們而言，這相當重要，也是全公司最重要的策略倡議之一。

Got it. That's helpful. And then maybe switching gears a little bit to the index business. You have a partnership with Lukka and the potential launch of a global cryptocurrency asset-based asset -- index. Could you please talk about your thinking about the product launch and the revenue model there in your index business participating in the crypto space?

了解，這很有幫助。接著也許稍微轉到指數業務。你們與 Lukka 有合作，並可能推出一個以全球加密貨幣資產為基礎的資產——指數。你能否談談你們對於產品推出的想法，以及在指數業務參與加密貨幣領域時的營收模式？

Yes. We -- it's another one of those areas. It's not nearly as far along as something like ESG is. Crypto is just, just starting. And we feel that it's such an important asset class, it's on everyone's minds, that we needed to do some specific research around crypto. And one of the groups where we can do that, where there's a lot of relevance is within the index business.

是的。這也是其中一個領域，但它的進展遠不如 ESG 那樣成熟。加密貨幣才剛剛開始。我們認為這是一個非常重要的資產類別，大家都在關注，因此我們需要針對加密貨幣做一些專門研究。而我們可以進行這些研究、且高度相關的一個團隊，就在指數業務之內。

So this actually goes back for more than just the last few weeks or last few quarters. We've been researching crypto for a while and hadn't felt that it had the seriousness and the ability to be hedged, the ability for crypto to be really understood, to be traded, to have the liquidity in it. It was quite speculative, and we had not launched any products up until now. We haven't launched any products yet, we're close to.

其實這不只是過去幾週或幾季的事。我們研究加密貨幣已經有一段時間，但一直覺得它還不夠嚴謹、也缺乏可對沖性；加密貨幣也還不夠容易被真正理解、被交易，或具備足夠流動性。它相當投機，因此直到現在我們都沒有推出任何產品。我們目前仍尚未推出任何產品，但已經接近了。

But because crypto is becoming more mainstream, it's beyond just Bitcoin. There's many other sources. They're -- you can trade them on other exchanges. There are some companies now that have listed that are crypto companies that have the standards of being a listed company. You've got -- some of the exchanges have started having futures and forwards. You're starting to see some of the conditions that would allow us to develop some products.

但因為加密貨幣正變得更主流，它不再只是比特幣，還有許多其他來源——你可以在其他交易所交易它們。現在也有一些公司是加密貨幣公司，並已上市且符合上市公司的標準。你也看到——部分交易所開始提供期貨與遠期。你開始看到一些條件逐步成形，使我們能夠開發某些產品。

As of now, our revenue model would be similar to the revenue model we have on other indices, which would either be AUM-based fees or it would come from data that we would sell to the markets that could use the data from a product or an index like that. But -- an area that's quite promising but it's really -- it's starting at 0. So I can't give you much of a projection of what the revenue might look like because it's starting so low, but something that we feel like we need to be understanding and learning and building into our portfolio of products.

截至目前，我們的營收模式會類似於其他指數的營收模式：要嘛是以資產管理規模（AUM）為基礎的費用，要嘛是來自我們向市場出售數據——市場可使用該產品或該指數的數據。不過——這是一個相當有前景的領域，但它真的——是從 0 開始。所以我無法對營收可能長什麼樣子給出太多預測，因為起點非常低；但我們認為這是我們需要理解、學習，並納入我們產品組合的一個方向。

Our next question comes from Jeff Meuler with Baird.

下一個問題來自 Baird 的 Jeff Meuler。

So you obviously have a fantastic margin expansion track record over many years while investing in innovation, and obviously, that continued this quarter. IHS Markit also has been expanding margin. And you've given us post-deal synergy targets. But I guess my question is did the expense synergy targets incorporate running similar productivity programs that you've run at S&P in recent years at IHS post close? Or would those types of productivity programs be incremental to the targets that you've provided? And if so, does it appear to be a significant opportunity for you?

你們顯然在多年來一邊投資創新、一邊擴大利潤率方面有非常出色的紀錄，而且本季也持續如此。IHS Markit 也一直在擴大利潤率。你們也提供了交易完成後的協同效益目標。但我想問的是：這些費用協同效益目標是否已納入在 IHS 交易完成後，執行類似你們近年在 S&P 推動的生產力計畫？還是說，那類生產力計畫會是在你們已提供目標之外的額外增量？如果是的話，對你們而言看起來是否是一個顯著的機會？

Jeff, first of all, welcome to the call, and thank you for initiating your coverage of S&P Global. We're very pleased with that.

Jeff，首先，歡迎加入這通電話，也謝謝你開始對 S&P Global 進行研究覆蓋。我們對此非常高興。

With respect to your question about our expense management philosophy, first of all, both companies today already have philosophies in place. As you know, we have our productivity program on the S&P Global side, where we're aiming now at the $120 million cost takeout. And IHS Markit is having a particular target with respect to margin expansion of 100 basis points on an annual basis.

關於你對我們費用管理理念的問題，首先，兩家公司目前都已經有各自的理念。如你所知，在 S&P Global 這邊我們有生產力計畫，目前目標是削減 1.2 億美元成本。而 IHS Markit 也有一個特定目標，即每年利潤率擴張 100 個基點。

What we are planning to do once we bring the 2 companies together is to, of course, focus on the overall expense synergies that we have mentioned to you before. That's going to be a large program. In order to achieve that -- that's a period of 2 to 3 years that we are fully able to achieve those expense synergies, although the ramp-up will go fast. We are probably in year 2 at a level of 80% of the expense synergies.

一旦我們把這兩家公司整合在一起，我們計畫要做的事情當然是聚焦於先前向各位提到的整體費用協同效益。這將會是一個大型計畫。為了達成這個目標——我們完全有能力在 2 到 3 年的期間內實現這些費用協同效益，儘管爬坡速度會很快。我們大概在第 2 年就能達到約 80% 的費用協同效益水準。

But philosophically, on top of that, you may expect us to continue to look at opportunities where we find scale across all of the different divisions that we'll have going forward. As you know, we are in a business where scale really matters particularly with all the technology investments that are needed, and we have an opportunity to leverage that across the company. We also will continue to benefit from operating leverage, just the benefit of growing the top line faster than your expense line. The incremental margin on the next dollar of revenue that comes into the company should always be higher than your average margin because you don't have your fixed cost that you need to cover anymore. So philosophically, you may expect us to continue to be very focused on taking benefit of efficiencies and scales on top of all the existing programs and commitments that we already have in place.

但從理念上來說，除此之外，各位也可以預期我們會持續尋找機會，在未來所有不同事業部之間取得規模效益。如各位所知，我們所處的業務中，規模非常重要，特別是需要大量科技投資，而我們有機會在全公司範圍內加以槓桿運用。我們也將持續受益於營運槓桿，也就是營收成長速度快於費用成長速度所帶來的好處。公司新增的下一美元營收，其增量利潤率應該永遠高於平均利潤率，因為你不再需要去覆蓋那些必須承擔的固定成本。因此，從理念上來說，各位可以預期我們會在既有計畫與承諾之上，持續非常專注於把握效率與規模所帶來的效益。

Okay. And then on Platts, it's had this resilient and good mid-single-digit growth through some pretty challenging end markets. You mentioned a healthier customer base. And I guess the Platts oil forecast remain above $60 per barrel through 2022. Does that allow you to take an even more aggressive posture on price or create more growth opportunities for you to potentially break out of the mid-single-digit growth to the upside at some point?

好的。接著談 Platts，它在一些相當具挑戰性的終端市場中，仍展現出具韌性且良好的中個位數成長。你提到更健康的客戶基礎。我想 Platts 的油價預測在 2022 年之前仍維持每桶 60 美元以上。這是否讓你們能在定價上採取更積極的姿態，或為你們創造更多成長機會，使你們有可能在某個時間點把成長率從中個位數往上突破？

Again, Jeff, we don't talk about future pricing, but let me give you a little bit of a color and perspective of what we are seeing within Platts at this moment. As you mentioned, very healthy revenue development during the quarter. If you think about the recurring part, the subscription part of the business, it was growing 6%, a little bit held back by the Global Trading Services.

再說一次，Jeff，我們不談未來的定價，但我可以提供一些我們目前在 Platts 看到的情況與觀點。如你所提到，本季營收發展非常健康。若看經常性部分、也就是訂閱型業務，其成長為 6%，但受到 Global Trading Services 稍微拖累。

But that is understandable because Global Trading Services was really elevated in the first quarter of last year, a little bit similar to the ETDs within the index business. When the markets show a lot of volatility, there's a lot of trading, hedging that is happening. And the hedge programs are helping the GTS revenues to go up. But if you look at it in perspective, GTS was, in fact, higher on a stand-alone basis this quarter than the last 3 quarters itself. So nothing from our perspective when we look at GTS that we think that, that wouldn't be helpful going forward. It's just that the comp 1 year ago was so high.

但這是可以理解的，因為 Global Trading Services 在去年第一季確實處於高峰，有點類似指數業務中的 ETD。當市場波動很大時，交易與避險活動就會增加，而避險計畫會推升 GTS 的營收。但若從整體角度來看，本季 GTS 以單獨口徑計算，實際上高於其自身過去 3 個季度。因此，從我們的角度來看，檢視 GTS 時並沒有任何讓我們認為未來不會有幫助的因素；只是 1 年前的比較基期太高。

So all in all, if you put it together, we see healthy developments, good retention rates in the mid-90s, good commercial activity. The book of business, that is building up well. We like that. The ACV and subscription level is at that 6-ish percent at the moment. So overall, mid-single digits is the outlook for Platts for this year in terms of revenue growth. But overall, incrementally, we are definitely positive on the outlook of this business given where are the commodities markets and the health of the customer base as well.

總體而言，綜合來看，我們看到健康的發展、約在 90% 中段的良好留存率、良好的商務活動。業務儲備（book of business）也在良好累積，我們很喜歡這點。目前 ACV 與訂閱水準大約在 6% 左右。因此，就今年 Platts 的營收成長而言，展望仍為中個位數。不過整體來說，考量大宗商品市場的狀況以及客戶基礎的健康程度，我們對這項業務的前景在邊際上確實更為正面。

Our next question is from Jeff Silber with BMO Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自 BMO Capital Markets 的 Jeff Silber。

This is Ryan filling in for Jeff. Just had a quick question. Did the SPAC boom create any incremental need to issue debt? And if so, do you know what the contribution of the SPAC frenzy was to debt issuance or your Ratings revenue in the first quarter?

我是 Ryan，代替 Jeff 提問。我有個簡單問題。SPAC 熱潮是否帶來任何額外的發債需求？如果有的話，你們是否知道 SPAC 狂熱對第一季債券發行或你們評級業務營收的貢獻是多少？

Ryan, if you think about SPAC activity, that is definitely helpful at multiple levels for the Ratings business. First, it can help with Ratings Evaluation Services activity. Then it can help with new entity ratings fees. And then thirdly, it will ultimately lead to new issuance, and that is helpful as well. So we think the SPAC activity definitely is overall an important and good element of the overall M&A market and will help ratings at multiple different levels.

Ryan，如果你看 SPAC 活動，這在多個層面上確實對評級業務有幫助。第一，它可以帶動 Ratings Evaluation Services 的活動。第二，它可以帶來新實體評級費用。第三，它最終會導向新的發行，而這同樣有幫助。因此我們認為，SPAC 活動整體而言是整個併購市場中重要且正面的元素，並會在多個不同層面上幫助評級業務。

Our next question is from Judah Sokel with JPMorgan.

下一個問題來自 JPMorgan 的 Judah Sokel。

You mentioned $21 million of ESG revenues in the quarter. I was trying to think about does that number reflect your total ESG initiatives. Or is it possible that there is some level of ESG products and services that are kind of embedded in other products that might just be increasing, reinforcing the value of those products but not necessarily driving incremental revenues or necessarily unpacked in that $21 million revenue number?

你提到本季 ESG 營收為 2,100 萬美元。我在想，這個數字是否反映你們所有的 ESG 計畫？或者是否可能有某些 ESG 產品與服務其實嵌入在其他產品中，可能只是提升、強化那些產品的價值，但未必帶來增量營收，或未必被拆分計入這 2,100 萬美元的營收數字？

We believe it's a pretty complete level in terms of our overall revenue base. Obviously, we have very clear definitions of what we think should be contained with respect to ESG and energy transition and what's not. We actually have built, as you have heard, a horizontal organization across the company that touches all of the different divisions. We think ESG is such a great initiative because it is really being driven by all of the parts of S&P Global today and actually even being helped also in the future with the parts of IHS Markit that are joining the company.

我們認為就整體營收基礎而言，這是一個相當完整的口徑。當然，我們對於哪些內容應納入 ESG 與能源轉型、哪些不應納入，有非常清楚的定義。正如你所聽到的，我們實際上已在公司內建立一個橫向組織，觸及所有不同事業部。我們認為 ESG 是一項非常棒的倡議，因為它確實由當今 S&P Global 的各個部分所驅動，而且未來也會因加入公司的 IHS Markit 各部分而得到助益。

And we have now so-called insight on a horizontal basis of our revenues on the -- on an ESG level as well as we start to think about what it does from an overall P&L perspective. So we're pretty comfortable that this is a complete number. $21 million is clearly north of 40% growth year-over-year in terms of our ESG revenue base. So we are still very comfortable that, that 40% CAGR that we have mentioned to you in the past is still achievable.

而且我們現在也能以所謂的橫向方式洞察我們在——在 ESG 層面的營收，同時也開始思考它對整體損益表（P&L）的影響。因此我們相當有信心這是一個完整的數字。2,100 萬美元就我們的 ESG 營收基礎而言，年增率明顯超過 40%。所以我們仍然非常有信心，過去向各位提到的 40% 複合年成長率（CAGR）仍可達成。

Okay. Great. No, that's really clear. My other question is just about Platts. You highlighted all the different commodities that you've expanded into, certainly expanding, diversifying beyond just petroleum. And in the past, you've talked about not being too worried about peak oil, that it's still many years away, a couple of decades potentially. But I was thinking about it maybe from the other perspective, which is that maybe a move away from petroleum could be beneficial for you guys just from the standpoint that quarter after quarter, it seems that the other -- some of the other asset classes are growing faster than petroleum for you.

好的。很清楚。我的另一個問題是關於 Platts。你強調你們擴展到各種不同的大宗商品，確實是在擴張、分散到不僅僅是石油。過去你們談到不太擔心石油峰值（peak oil），因為那仍是很多年以後，可能是幾十年。但我在想，從另一個角度看，也許遠離石油對你們反而有利，因為一季又一季看起來，其他——某些其他資產類別對你們的成長速度似乎比石油更快。

And now you've broken out shipping, which is another potentially fast-growth area. So is it a situation that maybe as the market moves into some of these other asset classes, your growth rate could pick up in Platts? Or is it just perhaps cannibalizing itself and it will stay the same in that mid-single-digit area?

而且你們現在把航運拆分出來，這也是另一個可能快速成長的領域。所以，是否可能隨著市場轉向這些其他資產類別，Platts 的成長率會加快？還是說這只是彼此侵蝕（cannibalize），最後仍會維持在中個位數的區間？

Well, thanks, Judah. The way we look at it is that what's critical for us is to be the most relevant benchmark, research, analytics, news organization for commodity solutions, We think about it as you just described. The peak oil is going to be a while away. People still forecast that could be 8, 10, 15 sometimes people say even 20 years away. It depends a little bit on some of the programs around the world for energy transition and climate change.

嗯，謝謝你，Judah。我們的看法是，對我們而言最關鍵的是，成為最具相關性的基準、研究、分析與新聞機構，為大宗商品解決方案提供服務。我們的思考方式如你所描述：石油峰值還要一段時間。人們仍預測那可能是 8、10、15 年，有時甚至有人說 20 年之後。這在某種程度上取決於全球各地在能源轉型與氣候變遷方面的一些計畫。

But when we look at that, we believe that there will be a lot of different types of services and commodities that are going to be taking the place of what is today oil that's used in transportation and manufacturing, et cetera. So that's one of the reasons we've invested in our ESG products and services. We also look at power grids. We're looking at renewable energy, at power generation. As you've heard us over time, we've also expanded into agriculture. We've looked at metals and mining.

但當我們看待這件事時，我們相信將會有許多不同類型的服務與商品，取代目前在運輸、製造等領域使用的石油。因此，這也是我們投資 ESG 產品與服務的原因之一。我們也關注電網；我們在看再生能源、發電。如各位長期以來聽到的，我們也擴展到農業；我們也關注金屬與礦業。

So we think that there's 2 aspects to this. One of them is the diversification, generally speaking, of taking the expertise we have in commodities and expanding that to other commodity classes. And we hope that, that brings us growth over time. And then the second is filling the gap of the needs of what's going to happen in climate and energy transition and moving very rapidly and aggressively into all of the spaces that will be the opportunities there like carbon registries, carbon pricing, hydrogen, et cetera. So it's kind of 2 different angles on the same way. It's the growth horizontally, and then it's filling the space for all of the opportunities related to ESG.

因此我們認為這有兩個面向。其一是多元化：一般而言，將我們在大宗商品方面的專業擴展到其他商品類別。我們希望這能隨時間帶來成長。其二是補足在氣候與能源轉型中將發生之需求缺口，並非常快速且積極地進入所有存在機會的領域，例如碳登錄（carbon registries）、碳定價、氫能等。因此這其實是同一件事的兩個角度：一方面是橫向成長，另一方面是填補所有與 ESG 相關機會的空間。

Our next question is from Sameer Kalucha with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行（Deutsche Bank）的 Sameer Kalucha。

I just wanted to get an idea of the scale of the technology transformation program that's going to be involved in integrating all the technology programs across the 2 companies. So I'm wondering if there's any way to quantify that in terms of how you're tracking it in terms of number of projects or teams and just to get a sense of how does it compare in scale with the S&P Global platform initiative that you've been working on.

我只是想了解一下，在整合兩家公司所有技術計畫時，所涉及的技術轉型計畫規模大概有多大。因此我想知道，是否有任何方式可以量化，例如你們如何追蹤：以專案數量或團隊數量來衡量，並且想了解其規模與你們一直在推動的 S&P Global 平台倡議相比如何。

Well, thank you, Sameer, for joining the call. When you look at our overall program for the integration with IHS Markit, there is a major emphasis on technology transition, and there's a few different categories. The first is what I would start with that relates to just pure infrastructure, how do we run our rails, who are our major service providers of our desktops, of our communication services, of our cloud.

嗯，謝謝你，Sameer，加入這通電話。當你看我們與 IHS Markit 的整體整合計畫時，技術轉型是非常重要的重點，且可分為幾個不同類別。第一個我會先從純粹的基礎設施談起：我們如何運行我們的「軌道」（rails），誰是我們桌面服務、通訊服務、雲端服務的主要供應商。

And so there's a program on that is -- provides us the way that we run our business and everything around the business. And as you know, at S&P Global, over the last 4 years, we have put in place a centralized program to manage our data centers, our cloud transformation and all of that. And we're able to take that learning and also take what IHS Markit has done along the same way and very quickly look at a program to bring all of that together.

因此在這方面有一個計畫——它提供我們經營業務的方式，以及圍繞業務的一切。如你所知，在 S&P Global，過去 4 年我們已建立一個集中化計畫來管理我們的資料中心、雲端轉型等。我們能夠把這些經驗帶過來，也把 IHS Markit 以類似方式所做的事情納入，並且很快地制定一個把所有這些整合在一起的計畫。

The second aspect of technology relates to delivering services to customers, and that's where we have a very similar approach, where within the businesses, we have development teams, client services teams, client experience teams. And we're working on looking at the merger of those organizations in the divisions; as an example, like the Market Intelligence and Financial Services division. There's a whole set of work streams around how are we going to use the Desktop, which is the Market Intelligence/CapIQ Desktop; how are we going to use the workflow and the service and products that IHS Markit has and how you take the data and how you work those together. So that's a whole another set of work streams that we have.

技術的第二個面向與向客戶交付服務有關；在這方面我們也採取非常相似的方法：在各業務內部，我們有開發團隊、客戶服務團隊、客戶體驗團隊。我們正在研究在各事業部門中如何合併這些組織；例如市場情報（Market Intelligence）與金融服務（Financial Services）事業部。有一整套工作流程在處理：我們要如何使用 Desktop，也就是 Market Intelligence/CapIQ Desktop；我們要如何使用 IHS Markit 的工作流程、服務與產品；以及如何使用資料並把它們協同運作。因此這又是我們的一整套工作流程。

And then the third work streams relate to risk management, cyber risk. And we have an absolutely aligned attitude and policies on ensuring that we always operate at the highest standards of risk and control and compliance as well as ensuring that we're ahead of any sort of cyber risk.

接著第三個工作流程與風險管理、資安風險有關。我們在確保始終以最高的風險、控制與合規標準運作，以及確保我們領先任何形式的資安風險方面，態度與政策完全一致。

And then the fourth is data sciences and artificial intelligence, natural language processing, et cetera. We have Kensho, which has been a fantastic organization that joined S&P Global 3 years ago. And what they've been able to achieve is really unprecedented. And we talked right now about NERD on this call. But as you know, Kensho has had a really strong track record at S&P Global. And at IHS Markit, they have the data lake, and as well, they also have data sciences teams as we do across all the businesses so thinking about that community of data sciences and ways to think about the most modern approach to running technology.

第四個則是資料科學與人工智慧、自然語言處理等等。我們有 Kensho，這是一個在 3 年前加入 S&P Global 的非常出色的組織。他們所達成的成果確實是前所未見。我們在這通電話中也談到了 NERD。但如你所知，Kensho 在 S&P Global 有非常強的實績。而在 IHS Markit，他們有資料湖（data lake），同時也像我們在各業務中一樣擁有資料科學團隊，因此我們會思考這個資料科學社群，以及以最現代的方法來運行技術的各種方式。

So we have teams working in parallel, working together across all of those different work streams. We think this is one of the advantages of the scale of the business overall. We can really take advantage of large global scale and technology, and we can also take advantage of large global scale of our data science, of our machine learning, our natural language processing. And so we're very excited. This is going to be one of the most important upsides of working with IHS Markit.

因此我們有團隊並行運作，並在所有不同的工作流程中共同合作。我們認為這是整體業務規模帶來的優勢之一。我們可以真正善用龐大的全球規模與技術，也能善用我們在資料科學、機器學習、自然語言處理方面的全球規模。因此我們非常興奮。這將是與 IHS Markit 合作最重要的上行空間之一。

Great. And just a quick follow-up on that. I mean you've been working together over the past 5 months with all teams interacting with each other. Any surprises you have come across in the things you described in terms of work streams in like infrastructure and data or analytics flows between the 2 companies?

很好。再快速追問一下。我的意思是，你們在過去 5 個月一直一起合作，所有團隊彼此互動。在你剛才描述的那些工作流程（例如基礎設施、資料或兩家公司之間的分析流程）方面，你們有遇到任何意外嗎？

There have been no major negative surprises. But there's a lot of positive surprises, that many of the areas that we knew from the outside or saw as either clients or competitors or understanding how their products work together, we've seen that there are some really, really high-quality products. There's high-quality people. We think that the complementarity -- the way that our products complement each other are quite strong. So we see that there are some really, really exciting opportunities.

沒有任何重大的負面意外。但有很多正面的驚喜：許多我們從外部所知道或看到的領域——不論是作為客戶或競爭對手，或是理解他們的產品如何運作——我們看到其中有一些非常、非常高品質的產品，也有高品質的人才。我們認為互補性——也就是我們的產品彼此互補的方式——相當強。因此我們看到一些非常、非常令人振奮的機會。

We are all waiting to be able to get together to learn more about the businesses once we can operate together after the transaction closes. And so we're all very excited about this. It's -- for us, as I said earlier, our most important strategic initiative this year is to have a smooth integration and a smooth close on this transaction. And all the surprises are in areas that we're just so excited and we get more excited the more we learn and in particular, the more we learn about the people.

我們都在等待能夠真正聚在一起，在交易完成後可以共同運作時，進一步了解各項業務。因此我們都非常興奮。對我們而言——如我先前所說——今年最重要的策略倡議，就是讓這筆交易順利整合並順利完成交割。而所有的驚喜都在那些讓我們非常興奮的領域：我們越了解就越興奮，尤其是越了解這些人。

So if you don't mind, let me wrap up the call. First of all, I want to apologize for some of those sound glitches we had earlier on the call. It was something that -- oh, do we still have another -- we have another question. Sorry about that.

如果你不介意的話，讓我做個總結。首先，我想為我們在電話會議較早時出現的一些聲音故障致歉。那是——喔，我們還有另一個——我們還有一個問題。抱歉。

Our last question will come from Shlomo Rosenbaum with Stifel.

我們最後一個問題將來自 Stifel 的 Shlomo Rosenbaum。

Doug, I'm going to make it very quick. It's just a piggyback question on something from before just in terms of the SPAC market and its importance for issuance, for ratings. If we see a real slowdown in the SPAC market either because of legislation in the U.S. or because of freezing of the pipe markets or anything like that, should we expect that that's going to have a material impact on issuance? Or do you think there are corporates that have been kind of waiting in the wings and if some of the valuations come down, they would be ready to step in and it should not make any material impact?

Doug，我會很快。我只是接續前面的一個問題，關於 SPAC 市場及其對發行、對評級的重要性。如果我們看到 SPAC 市場明顯放緩，不論是因為美國的立法，或是因為 PIPE 市場凍結或類似因素，我們是否應預期這會對發行量造成實質影響？還是你認為有一些企業一直在觀望，如果部分估值下來，他們會準備進場，因此不會造成任何實質影響？

Yes. I don't think there would be a material impact. We are -- we've got people -- our staffing model is quite strong. We've got a team, and we like to keep our team ready.

是的。我不認為會有實質影響。我們——我們有人員——我們的人力配置模式相當強。我們有一個團隊，而且我們喜歡讓團隊保持隨時就緒。

In addition, you recall that every time we do a rating, we have surveillance that goes along with that rating over time, which means that we always have a certain level of activity to ensure that we're always watching the market quite carefully. And we have formalized programs around surveillance. It's not just something that's done randomly. So I would think that we have a very strong staffing team. We don't want to lose all that expertise we have. Okay. Well, thank you, Shlomo.

此外，你會記得每次我們做出一個評級時，隨著時間推移都會有與該評級相伴的監測（surveillance），這意味著我們始終有一定程度的活動，以確保我們一直非常仔細地觀察市場。我們也有正式化的監測計畫；這不是隨機進行的事情。因此我認為我們有一個非常強的人力團隊。我們不希望失去我們所擁有的所有專業能力。好。那麼，謝謝你，Shlomo。

Well, again, let me wrap up the call. And I want to apologize for some sound glitches that happened along the way. I think we were able to get those fixed at some point.

那麼，再次讓我做個總結。我也想為過程中發生的一些聲音故障致歉。我想我們在某個時點已經把那些問題修好了。

We're very pleased with our performance this quarter and our prospects for our strategic initiatives. We've talked about ESG, about China, about the merger with IHS Markit. But I want to go back to where I started and one of the things that Ewout said, very importantly, our people. They continue to show an unparalleled commitment during very difficult times, especially as the third wave of the pandemic hits countries like India, where we have a large group of employees.

我們對本季的表現以及我們策略倡議的前景感到非常滿意。我們談到了 ESG、談到了中國、談到了與 IHS Markit 的合併。但我想回到我一開始提到的，以及 Ewout 非常重要地提到的一點：我們的員工。他們在非常艱難的時期持續展現無與倫比的投入，特別是當疫情第三波衝擊像印度這樣的國家，而我們在那裡有一大群員工。

So we want to thank all of our employees. And I also want to thank all of you who joined the call today for your support. Again, thank you very much.

因此我們要感謝所有員工。我也要感謝今天加入電話會議、給予支持的各位。再次非常感謝。

That concludes this morning's call. A PDF version of the presenter's slides is available now for downloading from investor.spglobal.com. Replays of the entire call will be available in about 2 hours. The webcast with audio and slides will be maintained on S&P Global's website for 1 year. The audio-only telephone replay will be maintained for 1 month.

今天上午的電話會議到此結束。簡報投影片的 PDF 版本現已可於 investor.spglobal.com 下載。整場電話會議的重播將在約 2 小時後提供。含音訊與投影片的網路直播將在 S&P Global 的網站上保留 1 年。僅音訊的電話重播將保留 1 個月。

On behalf of S&P Global, we thank you for participating and wish you a great day.

我謹代表 S&P Global，感謝各位參與，並祝各位有美好的一天。