Stantec Inc (STN) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to Stantec's first quarter 2025 results webcast and conference call. Leading the call today are Gord Johnston, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Vito Culmone, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Stantec invites those dialing in to view the slide presentation, which is available in the Investors section at stantec.com. Today's call is also webcast. Please be advised that if you have dialed in while also viewing the webcast, you should mute your computer as there is a delay between the call and the webcast.

歡迎參加 Stantec 2025 年第一季業績網直播和電話會議。今天主持電話會議的是總裁兼執行長 Gord Johnston 和執行副總裁兼財務長 Vito Culmone。Stantec邀請所有撥入電話會議的與會者查看幻燈片演示文稿，該演示文稿可在stantec.com網站的「投資者」版塊中找到。今天的電話會議也提供網路直播。請注意，如果您在撥打電話的同時觀看網路直播，則應將電腦靜音，因為通話和網路直播之間存在延遲。

All information provided during this conference call is subject to the forward-looking statement qualification set out on slide 2, detailed in Stantec's management's discussion and analysis and incorporated in full for the purposes of today's call. Unless otherwise noted, dollar amounts discussed in today's call are expressed in Canadian dollars and are generally rounded.

本次電話會議中提供的所有資訊均受第 2 頁幻燈片中列出的前瞻性聲明限制的約束，該限制已在 Stantec 管理層的討論和分析中詳細說明，並已完整納入今天的電話會議。除非另有說明，今天電話會議中討論的金額均以加元表示，並且通常會進行四捨五入。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Mr. Gord Johnston.

接下來，我將把電話交給戈德·約翰斯頓先生。

Good morning and thank you for joining us today. Stantec had a very strong start to 2025, delivering organic growth in each of our regional and business operating units, most notably in Canada with double-digit organic growth. Amid a dynamic market environment, we continue to thrive in a resilient industry driven by macro factors, including water security, aging infrastructure, emerging technologies and the expansion of advanced manufacturing.

早安，感謝各位今天收看我們的節目。Stantec 在 2025 年開局非常強勁，各個區域和業務營運部門均實現了有機成長，尤其是在加拿大，實現了兩位數的有機成長。在瞬息萬變的市場環境中，我們繼續在一個具有韌性的行業中蓬勃發展，這得益於包括水資源安全、基礎設施老化、新興技術和先進製造業擴張在內的宏觀因素。

As a result, in the first quarter, we delivered net revenue of $1.6 billion, up 13.3% year-over-year. This was underpinned by 5.9% organic and 3.2% acquisition growth. With our focus on solid project execution and operational excellence, we grew our adjusted EBITDA by over 19% with an enhanced margin of 16.2%. We also delivered adjusted EPS growth of 29% compared to Q1 2024.

因此，第一季我們實現了16億美元的淨收入，年增13.3%。這主要得益於 5.9% 的內生成長和 3.2% 的收購成長。我們專注於紮實的專案執行和卓越的運營，使調整後的 EBITDA 成長超過 19%，利潤率提高到 16.2%。與 2024 年第一季相比，我們調整後的每股盈餘成長了 29%。

I'm also pleased to announce that we started off the year strong on the M&A front with two strategic acquisitions. In early April, Stantec entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Page, a 1,400-person architecture and engineering firm headquartered in Washington, DC, which delivered over USD300 million in net revenue last year.

我也很高興地宣布，今年我們在併購方面開局強勁，完成了兩項策略收購。4 月初，Stantec 達成最終協議，收購 Page。 Page 是一家總部位於華盛頓特區的建築和工程公司，擁有 1400 名員工，去年的淨收入超過 3 億美元。

The acquisition of Page will deepen Stantec's expertise and resources in key growth areas, such as advanced manufacturing, data centers and health care, while adding new capabilities in cleanroom design and fabrication facilities. The acquisition will result in Stantec becoming the second largest architectural firm in North America. It also significantly strengthens our position as the largest integrated engineering and architecture firm. We expect the Page acquisition to close in Q3.

收購 Page 將深化 Stantec 在先進製造、資料中心和醫療保健等關鍵成長領域的專業知識和資源，同時增加無塵室設計和製造設施的新能力。此次收購將使Stantec成為北美第二大建築設計公司。這也大大鞏固了我們作為規模最大的綜合性工程和建築公司的地位。我們預計對 Page 的收購將於第三季完成。

We also announced the acquisition of Ryan Hanley, a 150-person engineering and environmental consultancy firm in Ireland, expanding our presence in the country. Consistent with over 145 acquisitions that we've completed over the last 30 years, these acquisitions will deliver strong shareholder value and contribute to the target that we set out in our 2024 to 2026 strategic plan. And we look forward to welcoming over 1,500 talented individuals to the Stantec team.

我們也宣布收購了愛爾蘭擁有 150 名員工的工程和環境顧問公司 Ryan Hanley，擴大了我們在該國的業務。與過去 30 年我們完成的 145 多項收購一致，這些收購將為股東帶來強勁的價值，並有助於實現我們在 2024 年至 2026 年戰略計劃中設定的目標。我們期待著 1500 多名優秀人才加入 Stantec 團隊。

Looking at our results in each of our geographies. In the US, we increased our Q1 net revenues by 9.7%, reflecting positive foreign exchange and organic growth of 2.4%. Organic growth was in line with our expectations for the quarter as we had expected some project cycle timing in our Water segment. While we had a major project roll off, we have several new projects, which are set to accelerate in Q2, and we are maintaining our mid to high single-digit organic growth guidance for the year.

查看我們在各個地區的業績。在美國，我們第一季淨收入成長了 9.7%，這主要得益於正面的匯率因素和 2.4% 的內生成長。本季有機成長符合我們的預期，因為我們預期水務業務部門會有一些專案週期性問題。雖然我們有一個大型項目結束，但我們有幾個新項目，這些項目將在第二季度加速推進，我們維持今年中高個位數有機成長的預期。

Public and private sector investments across our health care, industrial and science and technology sectors contributed to growth in buildings. Growth in environmental services was mainly driven by our energy transition, mining and infrastructure sectors as well as the continued work for a large-scale utility provider. Momentum on major infrastructure projects continues to fuel strong organic growth, particularly in transit and rail projects in the West and railway design in the East. Overall, activity in the US remains strong and our outlook for the full year remains intact.

公共和私營部門在醫療保健、工業、科技等領域的投資促進了建築業的發展。環境服務的成長主要得益於能源轉型、採礦和基礎設施產業的推動，以及為大型公用事業供應商持續進行的工作。重大基礎設施項目的推進勢頭持續推動強勁的內生成長，尤其是在西部地區的交通和鐵路項目以及東部地區的鐵路設計方面。整體而言，美國經濟活動依然強勁，我們對全年的展望保持不變。

In Canada, we had a very strong first quarter, growing net revenue by 15% largely underpinned by 12.2% organic growth. The continued momentum on major wastewater solution projects contributed to double-digit organic growth in Water. We also delivered solid double-digit organic growth in Energy & Resources and Infrastructure. E&R was driven by the ramp-up of major power-intensive industrial process projects, and Infrastructure was spurred by transit and rail projects in Eastern Canada, airport sector projects in Quebec and land development projects in Alberta. And our buildings team delivered high single-digit organic growth through public investments in health care and civic sectors.

在加拿大，我們第一季業績非常強勁，淨收入成長了 15%，這主要得益於 12.2% 的內生成長。重大污水處理解決方案專案的持續推進，推動了水務業務兩位數的有機成長。我們在能源資源和基礎設施領域也實現了兩位數的穩健內生成長。E&R 的發展動力來自大型高耗能工業流程項目的推進，而基礎設施的發展動力則來自加拿大東部的交通和鐵路項目、魁北克的機場項目以及艾伯塔的土地開發項目。我們的建築團隊透過在醫療保健和市政領域的公共投資，實現了接近兩位數的有機成長。

Finally, in the first quarter, our global business delivered 20.3% growth in net revenue with 7.5% organic growth and 9.4% acquisition growth. Our industry-leading Water business delivered over 20% organic growth across the UK, New Zealand and Australia through long-term framework agreements and public sector investments. The ramp-up of new projects in Chile and Peru drove double-digit organic growth in Energy & Resources as the growing need for energy transition solutions continues to drive demand in mining for copper.

最後，在第一季度，我們的全球業務淨收入成長了 20.3%，其中有機成長為 7.5%，收購成長為 9.4%。我們行業領先的水務業務透過長期框架協議和公共部門投資，在英國、紐西蘭和澳洲實現了超過 20% 的有機成長。智利和秘魯新項目的加速推進推動了能源與資源領域兩位數的有機成長，因為對能源轉型解決方案日益增長的需求繼續推動銅礦開採的需求。

Now I'll call over to Vito to review our Q1 financial results in more detail.

現在我請維托過來，更詳細地回顧一下我們第一季的財務表現。

Thank you, Gord, and good morning, everyone. We achieved very strong results in the first quarter, setting us up for another very successful year. Our gross revenue in Q1 grew to $1.9 billion, up almost 12% year-over-year, and net revenue of $1.6 billion is up 13.3% compared to Q1 of 2024. As a percentage of net revenue, our project margins came in at 54.3%, reflecting solid project execution and a 10 basis points increase over last year. We achieved a very solid adjusted EBITDA margin of 16.2% in the quarter, representing an increase of 70 basis points year-over-year. And our adjusted EPS in the quarter increased almost 29% to $1.16.

謝謝你，戈爾德，大家早安。我們在第一季取得了非常強勁的業績，為另一個非常成功的一年奠定了基礎。第一季總營收成長至 19 億美元，年增近 12%；淨收入為 16 億美元，較 2024 年第一季成長 13.3%。專案利潤率佔淨收入的百分比為 54.3%，反映出專案執行情況良好，比去年增長了 10 個基點。本季我們實現了非常穩健的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率，達到 16.2%，比去年同期成長了 70 個基點。本季調整後的每股盈餘成長近 29%，達到 1.16 美元。

Turning to our cash flow, liquidity and capital resources. During the quarter, our operating cash flow increased almost 136% year-over-year from $43 million to $101 million, reflecting continued strong cash flow generation, growth and solid operational performance. DSO at the end of the first quarter remained consistent at 77 days, remaining well within our internal target of 80 days or lower. Our net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio at March 31 was 1.1 times, a further reduction from where our leverage sat at the end of the calendar year at 1.2 times. I'll note that upon closure of the Page acquisition, we expect our leverage to remain well within our internal target of 1 times to 2 times.

接下來談談我們的現金流、流動性和資本資源。本季度，我們的營運現金流年增近 136%，從 4,300 萬美元增至 1.01 億美元，反映出持續強勁的現金流產生、成長和穩健的營運績效。第一季末的應收帳款週轉天數 (DSO) 保持穩定在 77 天，遠低於我們 80 天或更低的內部目標。截至 3 月 31 日，我們的淨負債與調整後 EBITDA 比率為 1.1 倍，較日曆年末的槓桿率 1.2 倍進一步下降。我在此指出，在完成對 Page 的收購後，我們預計我們的槓桿率將保持在 1 倍至 2 倍的內部目標範圍內。

Gord, with that, I'll now hand the call back to you.

戈爾德，那麼，我現在把電話交還給你。

Great. Thanks, Vito. At the end of the first quarter, our backlog reached a new all-time record of $7.9 billion. Year-over-year, backlog has grown overall by almost 13%, of which 7.5% was organic growth. Organic growth was achieved in each of our regional operating units with double-digit growth in our Water and Energy & Resources business. Our backlog represents approximately 12 months of work and underscores the continued strong demand to support our clients' most pressing challenges.

偉大的。謝謝你，維托。第一季末，我們的積壓訂單金額達到創歷史新高，為79億美元。與去年同期相比，積壓訂單總量增加了近 13%，其中 7.5% 為自然成長。我們各個區域營運部門均實現了有機成長，其中水務和能源資源業務實現了兩位數成長。我們積壓的工作量大約相當於 12 個月的工作量，凸顯了我們持續強勁的需求，以支持客戶應對最迫切的挑戰。

Turning to some of the major projects we have recently won. In the first quarter, Stantec was awarded a $1.1 billion major upgrade at the Irving Pulp & Paper westside mill in New Brunswick. The upgrade is one of the largest investments project in the Canadian forest products industry and is expected to increase production by almost 66%. We were also selected to lead the detailed design and contract administration on the Dundas Bus Rapid Transit Mississauga East Corridor, which includes over seven kilometers of bus rapid transit with eight stations. This BRT segment has an estimated project budget of $580 million, which includes design, construction, land acquisition and additional regional utility upgrades to be coordinated to increase construction efficiency.

接下來談談我們近期贏得的一些重大項目。第一季度，Stantec 獲得了位於新不倫瑞克省的 Irving Pulp & Paper 西側工廠價值 11 億美元的重大升級改造項目。此次升級是加拿大林產品產業最大的投資項目之一，預計將使產量提高近 66%。我們還被選中負責 Dundas 巴士快速交通密西沙加東走廊的詳細設計和合約管理，該走廊包括超過 7 公里的巴士快速交通線路和 8 個車站。這條快速公車系統路段的預估工程預算為 5.8 億美元，其中包括設計、施工、土地徵用以及其他需要協調的區域公用設施升級，以提高施工效率。

Finally, I'm pleased to announce that Stantec was selected by the city of Vancouver, Washington, to design a treatment system to remove per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, from a high-volume water station with the goal of providing cleaner and more reliable drinking water for the community. When complete, this PFAS filter system will treat up to 12.2 million gallons per day, making it the largest PFAS project in the Northwestern United States in terms of treatment capability.

最後，我很高興地宣布，華盛頓州溫哥華市已選擇 Stantec 公司設計一套處理系統，用於從大流量水站去除全氟和多氟烷基物質（PFAS），以期為社區提供更清潔、更可靠的飲用水。建成後，此 PFAS 過濾系統每天可處理高達 1,220 萬加侖的水，就處理能力而言，這將是美國西北部最大的 PFAS 專案。

Despite heightened market uncertainty driven by tariffs, policy shifts and regulatory changes, we remain confident in our ability to achieve our outlook for the year. Trends like aging infrastructure, energy security, water treatment, health care, data centers and reshoring, all continue to drive strong demand for our business. And our diversified business model across different geographies, across five business operating units, each with multiple subsectors, ensures that we're able to capitalize on this demand.

儘管關稅、政策轉變和監管變化導致市場不確定性加劇，但我們仍然有信心實現我們今年的預期目標。基礎設施老化、能源安全、水處理、醫療保健、資料中心和產業回流等趨勢，都持續推動對我們業務的強勁需求。我們多元化的商業模式，業務遍及不同地區，涵蓋五個業務營運部門，每個部門包含多個子行業，確保我們能夠充分利用這項需求。

Throughout each of our geographies, we continue to see steady levels of bidding activity and forecast mid- to high single-digit organic growth in each of them. In the US, we continue to see growth in Infrastructure with IIJA-funded projects, in Water with new projects ramping up in Q2, and we're seeing momentum on the health care front, especially in the Western US.

在我們各個地區，競標活動持續保持穩定水平，預計每個地區的自然成長率將達到中高個位數。在美國，我們看到基礎設施領域（IIJA 資助的項目）持續成長，水務領域（第二季新項目加速推進），醫療保健領域也呈現成長勢頭，尤其是在美國西部地區。

In March, the American Society for Civil Engineers released its 2025 comprehensive infrastructure assessment, which highlights that increased funding is beginning to improve the conditions of infrastructure across the US. However, the report estimated -- estimates that an additional $9.1 trillion in funding is needed across all infrastructure categories to achieve a state of good repair. And even with current funding levels, including IIJA, a significant funding gap will remain over the next decade. As a result, while some government priorities are changing, we still expect steady investment from the federal, state and local governments as they continue to address these challenges.

今年 3 月，美國土木工程師協會發布了 2025 年綜合基礎設施評估報告，該報告強調，增加的資金投入正在開始改善美國各地的基礎設施狀況。然而，該報告估計，所有基礎設施類別還需要額外9.1兆美元的資金才能達到良好的維修狀態。即使按照目前的資金水準（包括 IIJA），未來十年仍將存在巨大的資金缺口。因此，儘管一些政府優先事項正在發生變化，但我們仍然期望聯邦、州和地方政府在繼續應對這些挑戰的過程中保持穩定的投資。

In Canada, major investments continue to be driven by large scale water projects, transportation infrastructure, including roads and transit, and health care. The federal government's recent economic platform places further emphasis on infrastructure, energy, housing, community development and critical health care. While it may take some time for these additional investments to materialize, we are well positioned to capitalize on the opportunities head.

在加拿大，大型水利工程、交通基礎設施（包括道路和公共交通）以及醫療保健仍然是主要投資的驅動力。聯邦政府最近的經濟綱領進一步強調了基礎設施、能源、住房、社區發展和關鍵醫療保健。雖然這些額外投資可能需要一段時間才能落實，但我們已做好充分準備，抓住即將到來的機會。

And globally, we continue to see significant opportunities. In the UK, the GBP104 billion AMP8 program is starting to ramp up in Q2, and the government's renewed focus on housing and community development is generating new opportunities. In Germany, we continue to see work in infrastructure, specifically in roads and transit. And with the EUR500 billion fund for infrastructure, defense and energy transition projects, we expect more opportunities to follow.

在全球範圍內，我們持續看到巨大的機會。在英國，耗資 1,040 億英鎊的 AMP8 計畫在第二季開始加速推進，政府對住房和社區發展的重新關注正在創造新的機會。在德國，我們繼續看到基礎設施建設方面的工作，特別是道路和交通運輸方面的工作。隨著用於基礎設施、國防和能源轉型項目的 5000 億歐元基金的設立，我們預計未來將有更多機會。

And finally, new frameworks in Australia and New Zealand continue to drive growth in our Water business in these regions. With all of this in mind, we remain optimistic for 2025 and beyond. While we await the closing of the Page acquisition, we're maintaining our current outlook, which includes net revenue growth of 7% to 10% for the year, EBITDA margin in the range of 16.7% to 17.3%, which reflects our continued confidence in solid project execution and operational performance; and adjusted EPS growth to be in the range of 16% to 19%, once again, above our net revenue growth expectations.

最後，澳洲和紐西蘭的新框架繼續推動我們在這些地區的水務業務成長。考慮到以上所有因素，我們對2025年及以後仍然保持樂觀。在等待 Page 收購完成的同時，我們維持目前的展望，其中包括全年淨收入增長 7% 至 10%，EBITDA 利潤率在 16.7% 至 17.3% 之間，這反映了我們對穩健的項目執行和運營業績的持續信心；以及調整後每股收益增長 16% 至 19%，再次高於我們預期增長的淨收入。

As we near the halfway mark of our 2024 to 2026 strategic plan, I'm extremely pleased with our performance. We're tracking well against all of the targets set out in the plan, including growth from M&A. With the anticipated closing of the Page acquisition later this year, we will have completed five acquisitions since the start of 2024, welcoming nearly 4,500 new employees to Stantec, and we are just getting started.

在我們即將完成 2024 年至 2026 年策略計畫的中期之際，我對我們的表現非常滿意。我們各項計畫目標均進展順利，包括透過併購實現的成長。隨著今年稍後 Page 收購案的預計完成，自 2024 年初以來，我們將完成五項收購，為 Stantec 帶來近 4,500 名新員工，而這只是個開始。

Our M&A pipeline remains full and our balance sheet remains strong. I'm confident that we can achieve our strategic plan target of 50% growth in net revenues to $7.5 billion by the end of next year. As we continue throughout the year, we remain committed to sustainable growth, strong project execution, operational excellence and delivering sustained shareholder value for years to come.

我們的併購專案儲備充足，資產負債表依然穩健。我有信心，到明年年底，我們能夠實現淨收入成長 50% 至 75 億美元的策略目標。在接下來的日子裡，我們將繼續致力於可持續成長、強有力的專案執行、卓越的運營，並在未來幾年內為股東創造持續的價值。

And with that, I'll turn the call back to the operator for questions. Operator?

好了，接下來我會把電話轉回接線生，回答大家的問題。操作員？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Benoit Poirier, Desjardins

貝努瓦·波瓦里耶，德斯雅爾丹

Yes, good morning, Gord. Good morning, Vito.

是的，早上好，戈爾德。早安，維托。

Good morning, Benoit.

早上好，貝努瓦。

Yes. Just in terms of organic growth for the US, you were able to grow organically 2.4%, which is slightly below the consolidated level. Obviously, there's some color in the MD&A, but I was wondering if it's more a matter of a tough comparison versus the double-digit territory a year ago? Or are you seeing some uncertainty south of the border right now? It looks -- the backlog is strong, but just curious about your take on the US.

是的。僅就美國市場的有機成長而言，你們實現了 2.4% 的有機成長，略低於整體水準。顯然，管理層討論與分析中存在一些問題，但我想知道這是否更多是由於與一年前兩位數的增長率相比，現在的增長率難以比較造成的？或者您目前看到邊境以南存在一些不確定性？看起來——積壓案件很多，但我只是好奇你對美國的看法。

Yeah. Great question, Benoit. So absolutely, we look at it from a number of perspectives. The first is, as you highlighted there, that coming off a 10% comp a year ago. And a year ago, we were finishing up a really significant Water project for a semiconductor fabrication plant. And so that really spiked things a bit a year ago. Now that project is off, but we see a lot of additional projects in the Water space and others coming on.

是的。貝努瓦，問得好。當然，我們會從多個角度來看這個問題。第一點，正如你所強調的，是相對於一年前 10% 的薪酬調整而言的。一年前，我們剛完成了一個對半導體製造廠來說非常重要的水處理工程。所以，一年前那件事確實讓情況急轉直下。現在那個計畫已經停止了，但我們看到水務領域還有很多其他計畫正在啟動。

We spent a lot of time actually over the last little bit working with our business leaders, business operating unit leaders here in North America just to see where they're thinking, how they're feeling about things. Certainly, they've reiterated their confidence that we will achieve that mid to high single-digit organic growth, strengthen through the year, and we will see that get there by the end of the year. And as you said, backlog is good and it is up low double digits organically, a little low -- mid to high single digits organically.

過去一段時間，我們花了很多時間與北美地區的業務領導和業務營運部門領導溝通，以了解他們的想法和感受。當然，他們重申了他們的信心，認為我們將實現中高個位數的有機成長，並在年內不斷增強，我們將在年底前看到這一目標的實現。正如你所說，積壓訂單情況良好，自然增長量達到了兩位數左右，略低於個位數中高段。

Okay. That's great. And with respect to the guidance for the outlook for 2025, it was maintained despite the addition of two acquisition and close to 1,600 people. Is there any reason why you haven't raised the guidance? Is it more a matter of closing or maybe some cautiousness?

好的。那太棒了。至於 2025 年的業績展望，儘管新增了兩項收購和近 1,600 名員工，但公司仍維持了先前的預期。為什麼還沒有提高指導意見？是關門大吉的問題，還是出於謹慎考慮的問題？

No, Benoit. It's Vito. In regards to our base business, excluding the acquisitions, we're off to a terrific start relative to our expectations in the guidance. So the fact we haven't changed the guidance has nothing to do with our degree of confidence, obviously. It's just a normal course with respect to -- we'll let those two transactions close and obviously get another three months under our belt here with Q2.

不，貝努瓦。是維托。就我們的基礎業務而言，不計收購，我們的開局非常出色，超出了我們在業績指引中的預期。所以，我們沒有改變指導方針這件事，顯然與我們的信心程度無關。這只是正常的流程——我們會讓這兩筆交易完成，然後顯然在第二季再累積三個月的經驗。

And you can expect us then, obviously, coming out of Q2 to assess our guidance and either narrow or expand or do whatever we need to do. But get another three months under our belt, have these transactions close as we expect on a timely basis, and then we'll give an update to our guidance.

顯然，在第二季結束後，我們可以評估我們的業績指引，並根據需要縮小或擴大指引範圍或採取其他任何措施。但再過三個月，如果我們能按預期及時完成這些交易，我們就會更新我們的指導意見。

That's what I thought. Okay. Great color, Vito. And last one for me. If you look at the stock price, it's been a great performer year-to-date. Could you maybe remind us about the sensitivity for stock-based comp and whether it's embedded in the guidance?

我也是這麼想的。好的。顏色真棒，維托。這是我最後一個問題。從股價來看，它今年迄今表現非常出色。能否提醒我們一下股票選擇權激勵的敏感度分析，以及它是否已納入績效指引中？

Yeah, Now what we've done with our stock-based comp, as you know, we've hedged a certain degree component of it. So on a go-forward basis, you should expect very little variability, if you will, or year-over-year variance related to stock price appreciation. In the quarter, itself in Q1, I think the delta was close to $4 million year-over-year, where last year's LTIP would have been sort of a $7 million charge. And this year, we're in more the $3 million to $4 million. So you can see that it's becoming less noisy than it was in previous years.

是的，如你所知，我們已經對股票選擇權補償方案中的某一部分進行了對沖。因此，從長遠來看，您應該不會看到股價上漲出現太大的波動，或者說同比波動很小。在第一季度，我認為年比差額接近 400 萬美元，而去年同期的長期激勵計劃 (LTIP) 則相當於 700 萬美元的費用。今年，我們的預算超過了 300 萬到 400 萬美元。所以你可以看出，這裡比往年安靜多了。

That's perfect. Okay. Thank you very much for the time.

那很完美。好的。非常感謝您抽出時間。

Great. Thanks, Benoit.

偉大的。謝謝你，貝努瓦。

Chris Murray, ATB Capital Markets

克里斯·莫瑞，ATB資本市場

Yeah, thanks folks. Good morning.

是啊，謝謝大家。早安.

Good morning.

早安.

Good morning. Gord, you talked a little bit about the US business. And I was wondering, there has been a lot of uncertainty around the US government business. I know you've got some different aspects in there, certainly a lot of water work, also some other direct government work.

早安.戈爾德，你剛才談到了美國業務。我一直在想，美國政府事務一直存在著許多不確定性。我知道你們的工作涉及很多方面，當然有很多水利工程，還有一些其他直接的政府工作。

Can you maybe give us some color on exactly what you guys are seeing at this particular point, not only on new contract awards but maybe some of the conversations that you folks are having around what to expect around contract renewals on a go-forward basis?

您能否詳細介紹一下目前你們觀察到的具體情況，不僅是新合約的授予情況，還有你們正在討論的關於未來合約續約的預期情況？

Yeah. No, great question. So really, in the US, we aren't seeing any appreciable impact from this uncertainty. We've seen a little bit of slowing in procurement cycles in some areas in the government. In particular, that would be early in Q1 when they had to reshape their procurement practices a little bit by removing references to DE&I in both procurement documents and evaluation scoring. That sort of has worked through. So we see that we're back into a more normal cadence now.

是的。不，問得好。所以實際上，在美國，我們並沒有看到這種不確定性造成任何明顯的衝擊。我們發現政府某些領域的採購週期略有放緩。尤其是在第一季初，他們必須稍微調整採購做法，從採購文件和評估評分中刪除有關 DE&I 的內容。這種做法基本上奏效了。所以我們看到，現在節奏又恢復正常了。

The groups that we're working with in the federal, state and local government aren't those groups that are particularly impacted by some of the budget changes that are being made down there. So our groups are still feeling positive about the projects that we have on the books right now as well as what they foresee coming down the pipe.

我們在聯邦、州和地方政府合作的團體，並不是那些會受到當地一些預算調整影響的團體。因此，我們各個團隊仍然對目前正在進行的專案以及他們預見的未來專案感到樂觀。

Interestingly, when we talk with some of our private sector clients there, there was a little bit of uncertainty earlier in the year. Tariffs are on, tariffs are off, a little bit of heightened rhetoric, but that all seems to have calmed down a little bit. The temperature has seemed to have been reduced. So we're seeing a little bit better sense of it from our private sector clients.

有趣的是，當我們與那裡的一些私營部門客戶交談時，他們表示今年早些時候存在一些不確定性。關稅政策時而生效，時而取消，雙方言辭也略顯激烈，但現在一切似乎都平靜了一些。氣溫似乎有所下降。因此，我們從私部門客戶那裡看到了更清晰的認知。

Again, we didn't see any appreciable uptick in projects that were postponed or canceled. But we're just seeing a little bit more positive sentiment from people. So I think that bodes well for the rest of the year. It makes us even feel better about maintaining our organic growth guidance, particularly in the US.

同樣，我們沒有看到被推遲或取消的項目數量有顯著增長。但我們確實看到人們的情緒稍微好轉了一些。所以我認為這預示著今年餘下的時間情況會很好。這讓我們對維持有機成長目標更有信心，尤其是在美國。

Okay. That's helpful. Thank you. My other question is just around acquisitions on a go-forward basis. And I'd also like to dovetail this into talking a little bit about ZETCON for a second. So when you acquired ZETCON, certainly, it was a different territory in Germany. But the idea was it sort of gave you a base to try to grow. Even when you get -- I think, some of the other acquisitions done, I think Vito alluded to the fact that you'll be well within your 1 times to 2 times range, if not, I'll say, probably still to the bottom end of that. So a couple of questions on this.

好的。那很有幫助。謝謝。我的另一個問題是關於未來收購方面的。我還想藉此機會簡單談談 ZETCON。所以，當你收購 ZETCON 時，它肯定是在德國一個不同的領域。但這樣做的目的是為了提供你一個發展的基礎。即使你完成了一些其他的收購，我認為維託也暗示過，你的估值會遠遠低於1到2倍的範圍，如果不是，我會說，可能仍然會處於這個範圍的下限。關於這一點，我有幾個問題。

One, how is ZETCON coming? Because I know the integration was a little more complicated than typical. And two, in the German market now, does this give you the opportunity to start growing that as part of the strategy that was at least originally envisioned?

第一，ZETCON進展如何？因為我知道這次整合比一般情況複雜一些。其次，就目前的德國市場而言，這是否給了您一個機會，讓您開始將其發展成為最初設想的策略的一部分？

Yeah. Absolutely. And so when we look at ZETCON, they're performing even better than we had initially anticipated when we brought them on. Great firm, extremely well run. The manufacturing market, of course, as you read in Germany is not as solid right now. But the infrastructure market, particularly with this EUR500 billion infrastructure bill, is very, very robust. And they have a lot of needs in transportation, rail, electrical distribution and transmission.

是的。絕對地。因此，當我們審視 ZETCON 時，發現他們的表現甚至比我們當初引進他們時預期的還要好。很棒的公司，管理非常出色。當然，正如你在德國看到的那樣，製造業市場目前並不那麼穩固。但基礎設施市場，特別是有了這項 5,000 億歐元的基礎建設法案，非常非常強勁。他們在交通運輸、鐵路、電力分配和傳輸方面有很多需求。

So we see a lot of opportunities there. But to your point, that exactly dovetails into our initial thesis when we acquired ZETCON is that we would use them as a platform to continue to build on and acquire additional firms in the German market. So we are absolutely looking at those, Chris.

所以我們看到了很多機會。但正如您所說，這與我們收購 ZETCON 時的最初理念完全吻合，即我們將利用它們作為平台，繼續在德國市場成長並收購其他公司。所以，我們肯定會關注這些，克里斯。

Okay. And the integration, we're moving along now that you're -- you feel comfortable with where you're at? Or is there still a little more work to do?

好的。整合工作現在正在推進，因為你對目前的情況感到滿意了？或者還有一些工作要做？

Yeah, the integration of ZETCON, we're taking it a little bit slower, certainly German language issues, German GAAP and so on. So we had initially planned to continue to go a bit slower or to go a bit slower on this one, and we're maintaining that philosophy.

是的，ZETCON 的整合，我們進展得比較慢，當然是因為德語問題、德國會計準則等等。所以我們最初就計劃繼續放慢速度，或者說在這個專案上放慢速度，我們將繼續堅持這個理念。

Okay, I'll leave it there. Thank you.

好了，我就說到這裡。謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Krista Friesen, CIBC.

克麗斯塔‧弗里森，加拿大帝國商業銀行。

Hi, good morning.

您好，早安。

Good morning, Krista.

早安，克麗絲塔。

Maybe if I could just dig a bit deeper on the M&A. I believe last quarter, you mentioned to us that you're happy with executing in your sweet spot of small to medium sized transactions, which clearly you've done since you last reported. Is that where you're still feeling comfortable or where you're still feeling the most interest? Or are you starting to maybe see larger transactions come to market?

或許我可以更深入地研究一下併購案。我相信上個季度您曾向我們提到，您對在中小規模交易領域取得的成績感到滿意，而自從您上次匯報以來，您顯然也確實做到了這一點。你仍然覺得在那裡很自在，或仍然對那裡最感興趣嗎？還是您開始看到市場上出現更大規模的交易？

We -- I think the answer to that, Krista, would be yes to both of them. There continues to be a number of those sub 1,500, 2,000 person firms out there that we're in active conversations with. But there are a number of those 5,000, 7,000 plus companies that we see that we're coming to market here later this year that we've already had some initial conversations with. So there is opportunities really at both the small and that larger size. And from a balance sheet and a capital perspective, we're -- we'd be very comfortable with transacting on either of those.

我想，克麗斯塔，這個問題的答案應該是肯定的。目前仍有一些員工人數在 1500 人到 2000 人以下的公司，我們正在積極與他們洽談。但是，我們看到今年稍後將有 5000 家、7000 多家公司進入這個市場，我們已經與其中一些公司進行了一些初步的洽談。所以無論規模大小，都存在著很多機會。從資產負債表和資本的角度來看，我們對這兩項交易都非常有信心。

And Krista, all I'd add there is I think it's not so much the size that is our starting point with our criteria. It really is strategic, cultural fit, geographic, how it fit with our sectors and whatnot. That's the primary lens by which we look at things. And as Gord has alluded to, there's tremendous opportunity both in the tuck-ins, if you will, and some larger ones coming forth.

克麗斯塔，我只想補充一點，我認為我們評判標準的出發點並不是規模。這確實涉及到策略、文化契合度、地理位置、與我們產業的契合度等等諸多因素。這是我們看待事物的主要視角。正如戈爾德所暗示的那樣，無論是小規模的調整，還是未來更大的機遇，都蘊藏著巨大的機會。

And then maybe if you could just expand on, are there -- I mean you've laid out your kind of longer-term priorities in terms of what areas you'd like to grow on. But kind of in the near term, in your different operating units, are there areas that you're really looking to build out?

然後，如果您能再詳細說說，您——我的意思是，您已經列出了您在哪些領域希望發展的長期優先事項。但就近期而言，在你們不同的營運部門中，有哪些領域是你們真正想要大力發展的？

We're feeling pretty good actually about the overall spread of those business operating units. Now certainly having acquired Page, we probably will not focus on additional buildings or architectural for a while, but absolutely continuing to look for opportunities in the water space, in the infrastructure space, the environmental, and certainly even in our Energy & Resources space, good opportunities, certainly mining making a bit of a comeback there. We're seeing good opportunities.

實際上，我們對這些業務營運部門的整體分佈感覺相當不錯。現在我們收購了 Page 公司，我們可能暫時不會再專注於其他建築或建築設計，但我們肯定會繼續在水務領域、基礎設施領域、環境領域，當然還有我們的能源和資源領域尋找機會，尤其是採礦業，那裡正在復甦。我們看到了很多好機會。

So really, we have a bit of a blank canvas as we're looking at opportunities based on service line. Even from a geography perspective, we see a lot of opportunities for us to -- for continued consolidation in the US. But even in the markets outside that we've talked about being active in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, still looking up in the Nordics a little bit. So a lot of opportunity for us from an M&A perspective.

所以實際上，我們就像一張白紙，可以根據服務線來尋找機會。即使從地理角度來看，我們也看到了許多機會——在美國繼續整合。但即使在我們談到積極參與澳洲、紐西蘭、英國等市場以外的其他市場，我們仍然在關注北歐市場。所以從併購的角度來看，我們有很多機會。

Okay, thanks. Congrats on the quarter. I'll jump back in the queue.

好的，謝謝。恭喜你本季取得佳績。我重新排隊。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Michael Tupholme, TD Cowen.

Michael Tupholme，TD Cowen。

Thank you. Good morning.

謝謝。早安.

Morning, Michael.

早上好，麥可。

Maybe just to follow on to some of the other questions you've had about M&A. So thinking about some of the macro and trade-related uncertainty that's existed for a little while now, it certainly doesn't sound like that's having any kind of an impact on your outlook for your business. But I'm just wondering if in terms of M&A opportunities, has that affected the M&A landscape in any way, shape or form, whether that be from a seller perspective or buyer perspective?

或許可以接著回答你之前提出的其他關於併購的問題。考慮到目前存在的一些宏觀經濟和貿易方面的不確定性，聽起來這似乎並沒有對你的企業前景產生任何影響。但我只是想知道，就併購機會而言，這是否以任何方式、任何形式影響了併購格局，無論是從賣方角度還是買方角度來看？

And has it in any way changed your views on what regions you might be interested in? I realize you're taking a longer-term view here, but not sure if there's been anything going on in any particular regions or heightened uncertainty that's affected the views around regional M&A opportunities?

這是否在某種程度上改變了你對可能感興趣的地區的看法？我知道您是從長遠角度考慮問題，但不確定是否有任何特定地區發生了什麼事情，或者是否存在加劇的不確定性，從而影響了人們對區域併購機會的看法？

Yeah. No, great question. As we've looked at -- your comment about long term is exactly where we're thinking about things. We -- a lot of the firms that we've been talking about, we've partnered with them. We've been working with them for years or decades in many cases. And so we're looking at good firms and good markets from a long-term perspective.

是的。不，問得好。正如我們所看到的—您對長期發展的評論正是我們思考問題的方向。我們——我們一直在談論的許多公司，我們都與他們建立了合作關係。在很多情況下，我們已經與他們合作多年甚至幾十年了。因此，我們從長遠角度看待優秀的公司和良好的市場。

Have we seen some uncertainty here over the last quarter? Absolutely. But these are our firms that we haven't seen any rapid adjustments to valuations and -- over the quarter. And if we had, we might see some things strengthening a bit, as coming back up. So it really hasn't changed our outlook, Michael. We just continue to take that long-term approach, making sure it's value-accretive and it's -- we're going to do the right thing for the company that we're acquiring and for Stantec overall.

過去一個季度我們是否看到了一些不確定性？絕對地。但這些是我們尚未看到估值出現任何快速調整的公司——而且在本季中。如果情況屬實，我們可能會看到一些事物有所好轉，出現回升。所以，這並沒有真正改變我們的看法，麥可。我們將繼續採取長期策略，確保它能增值，並且——我們將為被收購的公司和整個 Stantec 做正確的事情。

And Michael, I would say from a seller's perspective, nothing fundamentally has changed. When you sit back and you look at why are companies coming to market, the themes around smaller firms and how this industry is going to evolve from a technology perspective and the investments required, clearly, smaller firms have a scale-related issue with that or challenges with respect to that. Valuation is still continuing to be robust in our industry, presents dynamics for them as they think about succession. So bigger picture from a seller's perspective, nothing has really changed, perhaps even accelerating.

邁克爾，從賣家的角度來看，我認為本質上沒有任何變化。當你冷靜下來思考企業進入市場的原因、小型企業的發展趨勢以及該行業在技術層面將如何演變和所需的投資時，很明顯，小型企業在規模方面存在問題或挑戰。我們產業的估值依然強勁，這為他們考慮繼任問題帶來了新的動態。所以從賣家的角度來看，情況並沒有真正改變，甚至可能還在加速改變。

Okay. That's all very helpful. Thank you. Next question is just about the Energy & Resources business operating units. So that was an area that in 2024 you had seen some negative organic growth, and I think you were calling for it to turn positive in the first quarter, which it didn't. I think in the first quarter, it was actually your strongest unit from an organic growth perspective.

好的。這都很有幫助。謝謝。下一個問題是關於能源與資源業務運作部門的。所以，在 2024 年，你看到了該領域的一些負成長，我認為你當時預測它會在第一季轉正，但結果並沒有。我認為在第一季度，從內生成長的角度來看，它實際上是你們成長最強勁的部門。

Just wondering if you can talk a little bit about that shift and that change and exactly what's driving that now and how you see that evolving over the next coming quarters?

我想請您談談這種轉變和變化，以及目前推動這種轉變的具體原因，還有您認為這種轉變在接下來的幾季會如何發展？

Yeah. So we -- the world of E&R is kind of unfolding as we have thought. You're right, 8.3% organic growth in Q1. But backlog is also up organically low double digits in that group year-over-year. So that's kind of -- we saw a lot of strengthening, particularly in the mining space. You've heard some of the talk about some of the large projects that we're doing from an industrial process perspective, energy transition, grid strengthening-type work, really strong copper. We've had a number of copper projects move forward because of the need for copper to support the transitioning.

是的。所以，E&R 的世界正在按照我們預想的方式發展。你說得對，第一季有機成長率為 8.3%。但該集團的積壓訂單也實現了同比兩位數的自然成長。所以，我們看到了很多加強的跡象，尤其是在採礦領域。你們可能聽說過一些我們正在從工業流程角度進行的大型項目，例如能源轉型、電網強化之類的工作，以及非常堅固的銅材。由於轉型需要銅，我們已經推進了多個銅礦項目。

So we're actually feeling really good about that space as we move forward. Backlogs continue to be strong and customer sentiment is solid. So we're feeling good about that. We see strong continued organic growth in that business throughout the year. Albeit we're coming off some lower comps for the next couple of quarters, but we do see strong organic growth.

所以，隨著我們不斷推進，我們對這個領域的發展前景感到非常樂觀。積壓訂單依然充足，顧客滿意度也很穩定。所以我們對此感覺很好。我們預計該業務全年將持續保持強勁的內生成長。儘管未來幾季的年比數據會有所下降，但我們確實看到了強勁的內生成長。

Very pleased with that growth.

對這樣的成長非常滿意。

Okay, that's helpful. Thanks very much. And then just one last one. The margin performance in the quarter was obviously quite strong, up 70 basis points, I think year-over-year in terms of adjusted EBITDA margin. Does that -- is that in line with what you were expecting? Is that becoming a little stronger? And how do we think about what that means as far as where you're likely to land on a full year basis?

好的，這很有幫助。非常感謝。最後還有一個。本季利潤率表現顯然相當強勁，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率年增 70 個基點。這——這符合你的預期嗎？是不是感覺強度稍微增強了一些？那麼，我們該如何看待這意味著什麼，才能預測你一年後的最終排名呢？

Yeah, Michael, you saw that when we provided guidance, obviously, for our margin profile with our year-end results late in February, we expanded the range there, and we expect year-over-year improvement. We're very pleased with how that's working its way through here in the early goings of the year. And that's just kudos to the entire organization, the operations and the support teams.

是的，邁克爾，你也看到了，我們在2月底公佈年終業績時，對利潤率狀況給出了指導，我們擴大了預期範圍，並預計同比有所改善。我們對這項措施在今年年初的進展非常滿意。這完全要歸功於整個組織、營運團隊和支援團隊。

When you look at the year-over-year improvement, 16.2 bps this year versus 15.5 bps last year. That's what you were referencing, the 70 basis points, really comes from three or four key areas. It all starts with project margin, of course. I mean that's key to us, and that was up about 0.1 bps effectively, as you saw. We had lower admin and marketing. So that's a whole bunch of -- it's a game of inches when it comes to that. That's utilization, that's labor, that's discretionary spend.

從年比來看，今年的改善幅度為 16.2 個基點，而去年為 15.5 個基點。這就是你提到的，70個基點，實際上來自三到四個關鍵領域。當然，這一切都始於專案利潤率。我的意思是，這對我們來說至關重要，而且正如你所看到的，這實際上上升了約 0.1 個基點。我們的行政和行銷成本較低。所以，這完全是一場毫釐之爭。這就是利用率，這就是勞動力，這就是可自由支配的支出。

And we did have a smaller impact there on a gain on sale of equities, which wasn't significant at about $3 million year-over-year. But overall, very pleased with the performance of where we're tracking both on solid execution of project margins and overall demand and then how we are fulfilling that through our corporate services and all the other aspects of our discretionary spend. So pleased with the start we have for the year.

而且，我們在出售股票的收益方面也產生了較小的影響，年比約為 300 萬美元，並不顯著。但總的來說，我對我們目前在專案利潤率和整體需求方面的出色表現非常滿意，也對我們透過企業服務和所有其他可自由支配支出方面如何滿足這些需求感到非常滿意。對我們今年的開局非常滿意。

Got it. I will leave it there. Thank you.

知道了。我就說到這裡吧。謝謝。

Maxim Sytchev, National Bank Financial

馬克西姆西切夫，國家銀行金融

Hi, good morning, gentleman.

早安，先生們。

Good Morning.

早安.

For Vito, obviously, we're seeing federal elections in Canada and Australia seems to be sort of normalizing a little bit. How do you think about sort of continued demand from these two geographies as there still seems to be a lot of support for infra spending? I guess my question is, can we actually see further acceleration, especially in Australia that's been a little bit more sluggish? Thanks.

對維託來說，很顯然，我們看到加拿大舉行聯邦選舉，而澳洲的情況似乎也逐漸恢復正常。您如何看待這兩個地區持續的需求，因為似乎仍然有很多人支持基礎建設支出？我想問的是，我們是否真的能看到進一步的加速成長，尤其是在成長相對緩慢的澳洲？謝謝。

Yeah. So you're right, the little -- quite a few elections so far this year. It made some changes for us. When we look at Canada and the platform that Prime Minister Carney ran on with the supportive infrastructure, that feels really good for us. You're right, our Australia business infrastructure, a little bit slower at the first part of the year, but we do see it strengthening through going ahead and we -- certainly as the year progresses, many of our -- we've heard some commentary from a number of our peers sort of feeling the same way.

是的。所以你說得對，今年到目前為止已經有不少選舉了。它為我們帶來了一些改變。當我們看到加拿大以及卡尼總理競選時所提出的綱領和配套的基礎設施時，我們感到非常欣慰。你說得對，我們澳洲的商業基礎設施在今年上半年發展稍顯緩慢，但我們確實看到它正在逐步加強，而且隨著這一年的推進，我們——當然，我們很多——也聽到一些同行表達了類似的看法。

But in the same way in the UK, they've recently introduced that UK Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which isn't passed yet. But if it does, again, more support there for nationally significant infrastructure projects, building 1.5 million new homes, process improvements to make the things smoother. They're all directionally positive for us. So whether it's the UK, whether it's Australia, whether it's Canada, we've seen some good directionally positive announcements and movement over the next little -- last little bit.

但英國的情況也類似，他們最近推出了《英國規劃和基礎設施法案》，但該法案尚未獲得通過。但如果真的實現了，那麼將再次為具有國家意義的基礎設施項目提供更多支持，例如建造 150 萬套新住房，以及改進流程以使事情更加順利。從方向上看，這些都對我們有利。所以無論是英國、澳洲還是加拿大，我們都看到了一些正面的訊號和接下來一段時間的進展。

And Gord, all I'll add is in Australia, Water continues to be really, really strong.

戈爾德，我只想補充一點，在澳大利亞，水資源依然非常非常豐富。

Oh, extremely strong in Australia and New Zealand, yeah.

哦，在澳洲和紐西蘭非常流行，是的。

Yeah.

是的。

Okay. No, that's good to hear. And then in terms of UK, the ramp-up around AMP programs, how is that tracking in terms of kind of the curvature of acceleration? Where we are in terms of that spending bucket? Thanks.

好的。不，那真是個好消息。那麼就英國而言，AMP 計畫的推進情況，就加速曲線而言，進展如何呢？目前我們在這個支出預算範圍內進展如何？謝謝。

Yeah. So AMP8 officially started in April. And so -- and of course, you've seen the considerable increase in the -- over 75%, I think it was, the increase in the overall funding. So as we've talked about for the last several quarters, we're actively ramping up hiring, taking real estate, getting ready to deliver on the additional work that's coming our way. And it is sort of tracking as we would expect, Max.

是的。所以 AMP8 正式於四月開始。因此——當然，你們也看到了——超過 75% 的大幅增長，我認為是，整體資金增長了。正如我們在過去幾季一直在討論的那樣，我們正在積極加大招聘力度，購買房地產，為即將到來的額外工作做好準備。正如我們所預期的那樣，Max。

We're seeing the additional work orders coming through now and keeping our folks really busy over there. So directionally, the AMP8 program is unfolding exactly as we had anticipated that it would.

現在我們看到額外的工作訂單紛至沓來，讓我們的員工在那邊忙得不可開交。因此，從方向來看，AMP8 計畫的展開完全符合我們的預期。

100%.

100%。

Okay. And Vito, I guess the follow-up question for you, because, again, as you were doing this hiring, I presume revenue was less robust from these programs. Does it mean that the operating leverage should start to kick in, in Q2 and Q3? Or am I just being too tactical here?

好的。維托，我想問你一個後續問題，因為，再次強調，在你進行這些招募的同時，我估計這些項目的收入並不理想。這是否意味著經營槓桿效應將在第二季和第三季開始顯現？還是我想得太複雜了？

And you're referring to the UK in particular, Max?

馬克斯，你指的是英國嗎？

Yeah.

是的。

Yeah. No, I think -- well, I think overall -- and maybe this dovetails back to the earlier question around our margin and whatnot. I think, obviously, as we continue to expand and the organic growth of the acquisition, I think scale and operating leverage just continues to be a major area of focus for us. The entire organization is focused on that. And we'll see that flow through our results as we move forward.

是的。不，我認為——嗯，我認為總體而言——也許這與之前關於我們利潤率之類的問題有關。我認為，很顯然，隨著我們不斷擴張和收購帶來的有機成長，規模和營運槓桿將繼續是我們關注的重點領域。整個組織都專注於此。隨著我們不斷前進，我們將在結果中看到這種趨勢。

Okay. Excellent. Thank you so much. That's it for me.

好的。出色的。太感謝了。就這些了。

Yeah, you're welcome. Thank you.

不客氣。謝謝。

Devin Dodge, BMO Capital Markets

Devin Dodge，BMO資本市場

Yeah, good morning, Gord. Good morning, Vito. I wanted to start with maybe data centers. There's been some questions about the growth outlook there after one of the large tech companies pulled back its CapEx budget. Look, from a Stantec perspective, I believe your backlog for data centers continues to increase. But just wondering if you've seen any evidence of slowing growth from this market when you look at earlier-stage bidding or RFP activity.

早上好，戈爾德。早安，維托。我想先從資料中心入手。此前，一家大型科技公司削減了資本支出預算，引發了人們對該地區成長前景的一些疑問。從 Stantec 的角度來看，我認為你們的資料中心訂單積壓情況會持續增加。但我想知道，當你觀察早期階段的投標或 RFP 活動時，是否發現這個市場成長放緩的任何跡象。

Yeah. We really haven't at this point, Devin. We think that data center market continues to be robust for us. But the one thing that -- of interest to note is, I think in our previous call, we said that that represents 2% to 3% of our overall revenue. So it continues with that overall diversification model of Stantec that -- to the upside, we'll certainly take additional work as it comes, and we could perhaps double the size of that.

是的。德文，目前我們還沒有。我們認為資料中心市場對我們來說依然強勁。但有一點值得注意，我認為我們在之前的電話會議中說過，這占我們總收入的 2% 到 3%。因此，Stantec 的整體多元化模式仍在繼續——從好的方面來看，我們當然會承接更多的工作，而且我們或許可以將規模擴大一倍。

But if a downturn comes, it's not really material to us as it is for some other firms that are heavily, heavily exposed to it. So we feel good about it. Certainly, we want to ride the wave on the way up. But if it does slow, we don't see it being an overhang for us.

但即便經濟衰退來臨，對我們來說影響也不大，不像對其他一些嚴重受經濟衰退影響的公司。所以我們對此感到很滿意。當然，我們希望乘著上升的浪潮一路高歌猛進。但即便增速放緩，我們認為也不會對我們造成不利影響。

Okay. Good context. Thanks for that. And then just second question, it might be early days here, but there seems to be an improving backdrop for energy-related investments in Western Canada. Just wondering if you started to see more RFPs or inquiries from some of your midstream customers?

好的。很好的背景資訊。謝謝。第二個問題，現在下結論可能還為時過早，但加拿大西部能源相關投資的背景似乎正在改善。想問您是否開始收到更多中游客戶的招標邀請書或諮詢？

Absolutely. Yeah. We're having a number of discussions and ongoing talk about this project or that project or which one might be supported or come back to market. Still early days, but certainly, that increasing sentiment and those ongoing discussions, we feel very positive about.

絕對地。是的。我們正在就這個專案或那個專案進行多次討論和持續交流，探討哪些專案可能會得到支持或重新推向市場。現在下結論還為時過早，但我們對這種日益高漲的情緒和正在進行的討論感到非常樂觀。

Okay. Thanks for that. I'll turn it over.

好的。謝謝。我把它翻過來。

Jonathan Goldman, Scotiabank.

喬納森‧戈德曼，加拿大豐業銀行。

Hi, good morning team. Thanks for taking my questions. Maybe just circling back --

大家早安。謝謝您回答我的問題。或許只是繞個圈子回來--

Good morning.

早安.

Good morning. Maybe just circling back to the margin conversation coming at it a different way. You maintained the guidance, which seems to apply back nine months improvement of 10 bps year-on-year. You just did 70 bps in the first quarter. And it seems like the reasons you described were just solid execution, things that can actually be maintained for the balance of the year while we're adding a utilization of labor. So is there some conservatism baked in there? Or why wouldn't we think improvements could be sustainable through the balance of the year?

早安.或許我們可以換個角度，重新討論邊緣問題。您維持了先前的指引，這似乎意味著過去九個月同比改善了 10 個基點。你第一季就實現了70個基點的成長。看來你所描述的那些原因只是執行得當，這些事情其實可以在今年剩餘的時間裡維持下去，同時我們也會增加勞動投入。所以其中是否蘊含著一些保守主義思想？否則，我們為什麼會認為這些改善措施無法在今年剩餘的時間內持續下去？

Yeah. I mean, again, any time you're providing full year guidance at the outset, a lot of moving pieces. But I think from an overall sentiment perspective, Jonathan, what you're describing, we don't expect to be giving any gains back in a way. It doesn't mean we'll carry 70 bps all the way through the year sort of thing. But I would look at Q1 and consider that an indication of the pacing of the business, for sure.

是的。我的意思是，再說一遍，任何時候你在年初就提供全年業績指引，都會有很多變數。但我認為，從整體情緒的角度來看，喬納森，你所描述的情況，我們預計不會以某種方式回吐任何收益。但這並不代表我們會全年維持70個基點的利率。但我認為第一季的數據可以作為衡量業務發展速度的一個指標，這點毋庸置疑。

And again, we'll get another three months under our belt. We've got meaningful acquisitions coming through the back half that we'll need to obviously digest and understand. The cost structure of that and how it moves through, we got a pretty good handle on that already. Obviously, we understand that well. So just be patient for the update here at midyear. But by all means, I share your enthusiasm around what's possible.

這樣，我們就能再累積三個月的經驗了。下半年我們將迎來一些意義重大的收購，我們顯然需要消化和理解這些收購。我們已經對這部分的成本結構及其運作方式有了相當不錯的了解。顯然，我們對此非常清楚。所以請耐心等待年中更新。但無論如何，我都非常認同你對各種可能性的熱情。

No. Fair enough. And that's good color. And we did have a pretty fulsome discussion already about M&A, but on sellers, have you noticed them being a little more hesitant to consummate a deal? So maybe the environment is still the same valuations, incentive to close, but things getting drawn out a bit longer?

不。很公平。這顏色真好看。我們已經就併購問題進行了相當全面的討論，但是關於賣方，您是否注意到他們在完成交易方面變得更加猶豫不決？所以，或許市場環境依然相同，估值和成交的動力也一樣，只是交易時間被拖延了一段時間？

No, we haven't -- we actually have not experienced that at all. The two that we announced this year, so far, we executed exactly as per our schedule. In fact, we had talked about when the Page one came out the day that we announced and ended up being when President Trump had Liberation Day. So we had talked about should we delay it just not to go on that day. But again, we thought longer -- bigger picture, long-term perspective, we're going to move forward with our schedule as it is.

不，我們沒有——我們實際上根本沒有經歷過這種情況。今年我們宣布的兩項計劃，到目前為止，都已完全按照計劃執行。事實上，我們之前討論過第一頁什麼時候發布，就在我們宣布消息的那天，結果發現那天正好是川普總統的解放日。所以我們討論過是否該延後行程，乾脆那天不去。但是，我們再次從更長遠的角度來看待問題——從更宏觀的角度，從長遠的角度出發，我們將繼續按原計劃推進。

No great. And it's good to see. And then maybe, I guess, one more, Gord, I guess, from a high-level perspective. Have you had a chance to look at Trump's proposed mini budget? And did you have any takeaways for the IIJA or infrastructure spending in general in the US?

不太好。很高興看到這一點。然後，我想，或許，戈爾德，從更高的層次來說，還有一點。你有沒有機會看一下川普提出的迷你預算案？您對IIJA或美國整體基礎建設支出有什麼看法？

Interestingly, on IIJA, in general, I think we've commented on past calls that we've been engaging with some discussions related to what an IIJA 2.0 could look like. Those discussions -- sort of in the first several months of President Trump's presidency, those have slowed a little bit, I think just as people are taking stock of where we are and what are the priorities of the new administration.

有趣的是，關於 IIJA，總的來說，我認為我們在過去的電話會議中提到過，我們一直在進行一些與 IIJA 2.0 可能會是什麼樣子相關的討論。在川普總統執政的頭幾個月裡，這些討論有所放緩，我認為這是因為人們正在評估我們所處的位置以及新政府的優先事項。

So you heard us talk in the prepared remarks today about the -- while the state of infrastructure has improved a little bit from the last infrastructure report card, the amount of funds required to continue to improve it has actually increased as well to over $9 trillion. So certainly, the need is there. But the discussions at this point in the first several months have slowed a little bit. But I anticipate that those will pick up near the back half of the year.

正如我們今天在準備好的演講稿中談到的那樣——雖然基礎設施狀況比上次基礎設施報告卡有所改善，但繼續改善基礎設施所需的資金數額實際上也增加了，超過了 9 兆美元。所以，這種需求是毋庸置疑的。但目前這幾個月來的討論已經放緩。但我預計這些情況會在下半年有所改善。

Okay. That's great color. Thanks again guys. Good results. I'll get back into you.

好的。顏色真好看。再次感謝各位。結果良好。我會再跟你聯絡的。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. I would now like to turn the call back over to Gord Johnston for any closing remarks.

謝謝。現在我願將電話轉回給戈德·約翰斯頓，請他作總結發言。

Great. Well, thanks to everyone for joining us this morning. Thanks, operator. So in summary, we started the year off really very, very positively here in Q1. We feel good about our forecast for the rest of the year. And if you have any follow-up questions following today's call, please reach out to Jess Nieukerk, our VP of Investor Relations. And have a great day, everyone.

偉大的。感謝各位今天早上收看我們的節目。謝謝接線生。總而言之，我們今年第一季的開局非常非常順利。我們對今年剩餘時間的預測感到樂觀。如果您在今天的電話會議後有任何後續問題，請聯絡我們的投資者關係副總裁 Jess Nieukerk。祝大家今天過得愉快。

Thank you. This concludes the conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線了。