Transcat Inc (TRNS) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings. Welcome to the Transcat, Inc. Fourth Quarter and Full Fiscal Year 2023 Financial Results. (Operator Instructions) Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Tom Barbato. You may begin.

問候。歡迎閱讀 Transcat, Inc. 2023 年第四季度和整個財年的財務業績。 （操作員說明）請注意正在錄製此會議。我現在將會議轉交給主持人 Tom Barbato。你可以開始了。

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate your time and your interest in Transcat. With me here on the call today is our President and CEO, Lee Rudow; and our Chief Operating Officer, Mark Doheny. We'll begin the call with some prepared remarks, and then we will open up the call for questions. Our earnings release crossed the wire after markets closed yesterday, both the earnings release and the slides that we will reference -- be referenced during our prepared remarks can be found on our website, transcat.com in the Investor Relations section.

謝謝接線員，大家早上好。感謝您抽出寶貴時間和對 Transcat 的興趣。今天與我一起接聽電話的是我們的總裁兼首席執行官 Lee Rudow；以及我們的首席運營官 Mark Doheny。我們將以一些準備好的言論開始電話會議，然後我們將開始電話提問。昨天市場收盤後，我們發布了收益報告，我們將參考的收益報告和幻燈片 - 在我們準備好的評論中引用可以在我們的網站 transcat.com 的投資者關係部分找到。

If you would please refer to Slide #2. As you are aware, we make forward-looking statements during the formal presentation and Q&A portion of this teleconference. These statements apply to future events, which are subject to risks and uncertainties as well as other factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from where we are today. These factors are outlined in the news release as well as in the documents filed by the company with the SEC. You can find those on our website where we regularly post information about the company as well as on the SEC's website at sec.gov.

如果願意，請參閱幻燈片 #2。如您所知，我們在本次電話會議的正式演示和問答部分做出了前瞻性陳述。這些聲明適用於未來事件，這些事件受風險和不確定性以及可能導致實際結果與我們今天的情況大不相同的其他因素的影響。新聞稿以及公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中概述了這些因素。您可以在我們定期發布有關公司信息的網站以及 SEC 網站 sec.gov 上找到這些信息。

We undertake no obligation to publicly update or correct any of the forward-looking statements contained in this call, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise expect as required by law. Please review our forward-looking statements in conjunction with these precautionary factors. Additionally, during today's call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP measures, which we believe will be useful in evaluating our performance. You should not consider the presentation of this additional information in isolation or as a substitute for results prepared in accordance with GAAP. We've provided reconciliations of non-GAAP to compare GAAP measures in the tables accompanying the earnings release. With that, I'll turn the call over to Lee.

我們沒有義務公開更新或更正本次電話會議中包含的任何前瞻性陳述，無論是由於新信息、未來事件還是法律要求的其他預期。請結合這些預防因素查看我們的前瞻性陳述。此外，在今天的電話會議中，我們將討論某些非 GAAP 措施，我們認為這些措施將有助於評估我們的業績。您不應孤立地考慮此附加信息的呈現或作為根據 GAAP 編制的結果的替代。我們提供了非 GAAP 的對賬，以比較收益發布隨附表格中的 GAAP 措施。有了這個，我會把電話轉給李。

Thank you, Tom. Good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us on the call today. Our strong performance in the fourth quarter rounded out another great year for Transcat, broad-based strength across our business platforms drove an increase in consolidated revenue of 12% to $230 million for fiscal 2023, a new record for Transcat. The results also included record revenue and gross margin in our Service segment as well as on a consolidated basis. Consolidated gross margin expanded 110 basis points to 29.6%, was driven by margin expansion in both our Service and Distribution segments.

謝謝你，湯姆。大家，早安。感謝您今天加入我們的電話會議。我們在第四季度的強勁表現為 Transcat 又一個偉大的一年畫上了圓滿的句號，我們業務平台的廣泛實力推動 2023 財年的綜合收入增長了 12%，達到 2.3 億美元，創下了 Transcat 的新紀錄。結果還包括我們的服務部門以及綜合基礎上創紀錄的收入和毛利率。綜合毛利率增長 110 個基點至 29.6%，這得益於我們的服務和分銷部門的利潤率擴張。

Adjusted EBITDA, a key metric for us given our acquisition strategy grew 16% in the prior year to $30.4 million. So another good year in the books, demonstrating the continued durability and resiliency of our business model and the attractive regulated end markets we serve. For the full year, our Service segment generated 19% overall revenue growth, including 10% organic growth, demand in both our core calibration business as well as our NEXA Enterprise Asset Management business remains strong. Our ability in fiscal 2023 to capture a significant number of revenue synergies between NEXA's professional services platform and Transcat's technical services platform continue to drive a sustainable, long-term competitive advantage in a highly regulated, high cost of failure industries that we serve. The expansion of NEXA's suite of professional services has been well received throughout the United States, Ireland; for the first time, we opportunistically performed work in various parts of Europe, including the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany.

考慮到我們的收購戰略，調整後的 EBITDA 是我們的一個關鍵指標，在上一年增長了 16%，達到 3040 萬美元。因此，又是一個好年頭，證明了我們的商業模式的持續耐用性和彈性，以及我們所服務的有吸引力的受監管終端市場。全年，我們的服務部門實現了 19% 的整體收入增長，包括 10% 的有機增長，我們的核心校準業務以及 NEXA 企業資產管理業務的需求依然強勁。我們在 2023 財年能夠在 NEXA 的專業服務平台和 Transcat 的技術服務平台之間獲得大量收入協同效應，繼續在我們服務的高度監管、高失敗成本的行業中推動可持續的、長期的競爭優勢。 NEXA 專業服務套件的擴展在整個美國、愛爾蘭受到好評；我們第一次有機會在歐洲各地開展工作，包括荷蘭、瑞士和德國。

For the full year, we expanded Service gross margin by 30 basis points to 32.2%. Service margins continue to benefit from our differentiated value proposition, inherent operating leverage, our continued focus on automation and operational excellence, primarily through process improvement. For fiscal 2023, we successfully acquired and integrated 3 companies: Alliance Calibration in Cincinnati, e2b Calibration in Cleveland and Complete Calibration in Ireland. The acquisitions expanded our addressable markets, widen the breadth of our service offerings and allowed us to leverage our existing infrastructure. We are very proud of the success our various teams are having around integration. The process of successfully joining multiple companies together into a cohesive, well-integrated system is one of the ways we continually differentiate Transcat, capitalizing on both sales synergies, which is our typical and primary objective, along with practical cost synergies is a nuanced process.

全年，我們將服務毛利率提高了 30 個基點，達到 32.2%。服務利潤率繼續受益於我們差異化的價值主張、固有的運營槓桿、我們對自動化和卓越運營的持續關注，主要是通過流程改進。在 2023 財年，我們成功收購併整合了 3 家公司：辛辛那提的 Alliance Calibration、克利夫蘭的 e2b Calibration 和愛爾蘭的 Complete Calibration。這些收購擴大了我們的目標市場，拓寬了我們提供服務的範圍，並使我們能夠利用現有的基礎設施。我們為我們的各個團隊在整合方面取得的成功感到非常自豪。成功地將多家公司合併成一個有凝聚力的、集成良好的系統的過程是我們不斷區分 Transcat 的方法之一，利用銷售協同效應，這是我們的典型和主要目標，以及實際成本協同效應是一個微妙的過程。

The alignment of both synergies delivers operational excellence and a superior customer and employee experience. Turning to our fourth quarter Service segment performance. Steady demand drove service segment revenue growth of 15% and organic growth of 10%. This represented our 56th straight quarter of year-over-year service revenue growth. Recurring revenue streams in the highly regulated environments that we serve continue to benefit our Service segment. Service gross margin in the fourth quarter expanded 90 basis points to 34%. Turning to distribution for the full year despite continued challenges with supply chain shortages, revenue grew 3%.

兩種協同作用的結合提供了卓越的運營以及卓越的客戶和員工體驗。轉向我們第四季度的服務部門業績。穩定的需求推動服務部門收入增長 15%，有機增長 10%。這是我們服務收入連續第 56 個季度同比增長。我們所服務的高度監管環境中的經常性收入流繼續使我們的服務部門受益。第四季度服務毛利率擴大 90 個基點至 34%。儘管供應鏈短缺持續存在挑戰，但全年轉向分銷，收入增長了 3%。

Gross margin expanded 180 basis points from prior year, driven primarily by significant growth in our high-margin rental business. The $30.4 million in EBITDA supported a strong balance sheet. Our leverage ratio of 1.6x positions us to capitalize on growth opportunities, which include M&A activities in the highly fragmented third-party calibration services market and the NEXA-oriented professional services market. Behind the numbers, we continue to focus on leadership development. Strong financial performance over the past several years has supported investments in our people on a continuous basis.

毛利率較上年增長 180 個基點，主要受我們高利潤租賃業務的顯著增長推動。 3040 萬美元的 EBITDA 支撐著強勁的資產負債表。我們 1.6 倍的槓桿率使我們能夠利用增長機會，其中包括高度分散的第三方校準服務市場和麵向 NEXA 的專業服務市場的併購活動。在這些數字的背後，我們繼續關注領導力發展。過去幾年強勁的財務業績支持了對我們員工的持續投資。

Leadership is another differentiator that widens the moat around Transcat, fortifies our ability to execute our strategic plan well into the future. With that, I'll turn things over to Tom for a deeper look into the fiscal 2023 fourth quarter and full year financial performance.

領導力是另一個差異化因素，它拓寬了 Transcat 周圍的護城河，增強了我們在未來很好地執行戰略計劃的能力。有了這個，我將把事情交給湯姆，以便更深入地了解 2023 財年第四季度和全年的財務業績。

Thanks, Lee. I'll start on Slide #4 of the earnings deck posted on our website, which provides detail regarding our revenue on a consolidated basis and by segment for the fourth quarter and full year. Fourth quarter consolidated revenue of $62.1 million was up 11% versus prior year on Service segment strength and solid revenue performance in our Distribution business. Looking at it by segment, Service revenue growth remained very strong at 15% with 10% of the growth coming organically and the other 5% from acquisition.

謝謝，李。我將從我們網站上發布的收益平台的幻燈片 #4 開始，它提供了有關我們在合併基礎上和按部門劃分的第四季度和全年收入的詳細信息。第四季度綜合收入為 6210 萬美元，比上年增長 11%，這歸功於服務部門的實力和我們分銷業務穩健的收入表現。按細分來看，服務收入增長仍然非常強勁，達到 15%，其中 10% 的增長來自有機增長，另外 5% 來自收購。

Turning to distribution. Revenue of $22.3 million was up 5% versus the prior year. We continue to see excellent performance from the rental business, which continues to grow at a very meaningful rate. And we do continue to be impacted by extended vendor lead times contributed to our year-end backlog of [$8.1] million which is up 8% in comparison to the end of the prior fiscal year. On a full year basis, consolidated revenue was $230.6 million, an increase of over 12% compared to the prior fiscal year, which represents a new record high for Transcat.

轉向分銷。收入為 2230 萬美元，比上年增長 5%。我們繼續看到租賃業務的出色表現，該業務繼續以非常有意義的速度增長。我們確實繼續受到供應商交貨時間延長的影響，這導致我們的年終積壓 [810 萬美元] 與上一財年末相比增長了 8%。按全年計算，合併收入為 2.306 億美元，與上一財年相比增長超過 12%，創下 Transcat 的歷史新高。

Our Service business continued to be very resilient, resulting in year-over-year growth of 19%. The distribution business was up over 3% compared to the prior year, again driven by strong performance in the rental business. Turning to Slide 5. Our consolidated gross profit for the fourth quarter of $19.2 million was up 15% from the prior year, and our gross margin expanded 100 basis points to 30.9%. Service gross margins expanded 90 basis points to a record quarterly high of 34%. The Service margin increase further demonstrates our ability to leverage our fixed costs and higher levels of technician productivity. Distribution segment gross margin of 25.2% was up 70 basis points.

我們的服務業務繼續保持非常有彈性，實現了 19% 的同比增長。分銷業務與上一年相比增長超過 3%，再次受到租賃業務強勁表現的推動。轉到幻燈片 5。我們第四季度的綜合毛利潤為 1920 萬美元，比去年同期增長 15%，毛利率增長 100 個基點至 30.9%。服務毛利率擴大了 90 個基點，達到創紀錄的季度高點 34%。服務利潤率的提高進一步表明我們有能力利用我們的固定成本和更高水平的技術人員生產力。分銷部門的毛利率為 25.2%，上升了 70 個基點。

For the full year, our consolidated gross profit increased 17% to $68.4 million and our gross margin improved 110 basis points to 29.6%. Our service gross margin was 32.2%, which represented an increase of 30 basis points compared to prior year. Distribution segment gross margin of 25.3% was up 180 basis points as the segment benefited from significant growth in the higher-margin rental business and also included the impact of previously discussed strategic buys.

全年，我們的綜合毛利增長 17% 至 6,840 萬美元，毛利率提高 110 個基點至 29.6%。我們的服務毛利率為 32.2%，比上年增長 30 個基點。分銷部門的毛利率為 25.3%，上升了 180 個基點，因為該部門受益於利潤率較高的租賃業務的顯著增長，並且還包括之前討論的戰略收購的影響。

Turning to Slide 6. Q4 net income of $3.7 million increased 20% from the prior year, and our diluted earnings per share came in at $0.48. We report adjusted diluted earnings per share as well to normalize for the impacts of upfront and ongoing acquisition-related costs. Q4 adjusted diluted earnings per share was $0.60. Full year net income declined 6% from prior year and down $0.10 per share, primarily driven by higher interest expense, which drove a negative year-over-year impact of $0.21 per share. Flipping to Slide 7, where we show our adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin.

轉到幻燈片 6。第 4 季度淨收入為 370 萬美元，比上年增長 20%，攤薄後每股收益為 0.48 美元。我們報告調整後的攤薄每股收益，並針對前期和持續收購相關成本的影響進行標準化。第 4 季度調整後的攤薄每股收益為 0.60 美元。全年淨收入較上年下降 6%，每股下降 0.10 美元，這主要是由於利息支出增加，導致每股 0.21 美元的同比負面影響。翻到幻燈片 7，我們在其中顯示調整後的 EBITDA 和調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率。

We use adjusted EBITDA, which is non-GAAP to gauge the performance of our business because we believe it's the best measure of our operating performance and ability to generate cash. As we continue to execute on our acquisition strategy, this metric becomes even more important to highlight, as it does adjust for onetime deal-related transaction costs as well as the increased level of noncash expenses that will hit our income statement from acquisition purchase accounting. With that in mind, fourth quarter consolidated adjusted EBITDA of $9 million was up 18% from the same quarter in the prior year, and adjusted EBITDA margins expanded 80 basis points.

我們使用調整後的 EBITDA（非公認會計原則）來衡量我們的業務表現，因為我們相信這是衡量我們的經營業績和產生現金能力的最佳指標。隨著我們繼續執行我們的收購戰略，這一指標變得更加重要，因為它確實調整了與一次性交易相關的交易成本以及非現金支出水平的增加，這些支出將影響我們的收購採購會計損益表。考慮到這一點，第四季度綜合調整後 EBITDA 為 900 萬美元，比去年同期增長 18%，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率擴大了 80 個基點。

Both segments had adjusted EBITDA growth and EBITDA margin expansion compared to last year. Full year EBITDA was $30.4 million, which was up 16% compared to the prior year, driven by significant year-over-year profit improvement in both segments. As always, a reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to operating income and net income can be found in the supplemental section of this presentation. Moving to Slide 8. Operating free cash flow was consistent with last year, with cash from operations well in line with expectations. Full year capital expenditures were $800,000 lower than prior year and continued to be centered around Service segment capabilities, technology, including automation and future growth projects. The spend was slightly down year-over-year due to sizable -- several sizable investments in our facility footprint taking place in the prior fiscal year.

與去年相比，這兩個部門都調整了 EBITDA 增長和 EBITDA 利潤率擴張。全年 EBITDA 為 3040 萬美元，比上年增長 16%，這主要得益於這兩個部門的利潤同比顯著增長。與往常一樣，調整後的 EBITDA 與營業收入和淨收入的對賬可以在本演示文稿的補充部分找到。轉到幻燈片 8。運營自由現金流與去年一致，運營現金與預期一致。全年資本支出比上年減少 800,000 美元，並繼續以服務部門的能力、技術為中心，包括自動化和未來增長項目。由於在上一財年對我們的設施足跡進行了大量投資，因此支出同比略有下降。

For fiscal year 2024, we anticipate our CapEx to be in the range of $10 million to $11 million with the areas of focus remaining consistent with fiscal 2023. Slide 9 highlights our strong balance sheet. At year-end, we had total net debt of $47.6 million with a leverage ratio of 1.6x. We had $37.3 million available from our credit facility at quarter end. And as previously announced, we acquired TIC-MS for $9.7 million just after the end of our fiscal year, paid for with a combination of 70% stock and 30% cash. As we focus on fiscal 2024, there is 1 item to note in more detail. We expect our income tax rate to range between 21% and 23% in fiscal 2024.

對於 2024 財年，我們預計我們的資本支出將在 1000 萬至 1100 萬美元之間，重點領域與 2023 財年保持一致。幻燈片 9 突出了我們強大的資產負債表。年底時，我們的淨債務總額為 4760 萬美元，槓桿率為 1.6 倍。截至季度末，我們的信貸額度有 3730 萬美元可用。正如之前宣布的那樣，我們在財政年度結束後以 970 萬美元的價格收購了 TIC-MS，支付方式為 70% 的股票和 30% 的現金。當我們關注 2024 財年時，有 1 個項目需要更詳細地註意。我們預計 2024 財年的所得稅稅率將在 21% 至 23% 之間。

This estimate includes federal, various state Canadian and Irish income taxes, and it reflects the discrete tax accounting associated with share-based payment awards. Although the tax rate is consistent with recent years, there will be a difference in calendarization of the tax benefit from the vesting of share-based payments in fiscal 2024. These benefits are normally realized in the first fiscal quarter. But in fiscal 2024, we'll see the benefit in quarter 2 due to a timing difference of when the awards were made in fiscal 2021. In the first quarter of fiscal 2023, the benefit -- this benefit positively impacted the tax rate by approximately 13%. And we would expect a similar impact in the second quarter of fiscal 2024. Lastly, we expect to file our Form 10-K on June 6. With that, I'll turn it back to you, Lee.

這一估計包括聯邦、加拿大和愛爾蘭各州的所得稅，它反映了與基於股份的支付獎勵相關的離散稅務會計。儘管稅率與近幾年一致，但 2024 財年基於股份支付的歸屬稅收利益的日曆化將有所不同。這些利益通常在第一財季實現。但在 2024 財年，由於 2021 財年獎勵的時間差異，我們將在第二季度看到收益。在 2023 財年第一季度，收益——這一收益對稅率產生了大約13%。我們預計 2024 財年第二季度會產生類似的影響。最後，我們預計將在 6 月 6 日提交 10-K 表格。有了這個，我會把它轉回給你，Lee。

Okay. Thank you, Tom. So to wrap up, we are pleased with the team's performance in fiscal 2023. We've consistently delivered exceptional results through various economic cycles as can be seen over the past 10-plus years. We believe the combination of our talented team and our differentiated portfolio of businesses is unique and will continue to drive longer-term competitive advantage. Our business model remains durable and demand across our highly regulated end markets remain strong.

好的。謝謝你，湯姆。因此，總而言之，我們對團隊在 2023 財年的表現感到滿意。在過去 10 多年中可以看到，我們在各種經濟周期中始終如一地取得了優異的成績。我們相信，我們才華橫溢的團隊與我們差異化的業務組合的結合是獨一無二的，並將繼續推動長期競爭優勢。我們的商業模式依然持久，我們受到高度監管的終端市場的需求依然強勁。

We expect to perform well in fiscal 2024 despite macroeconomic uncertainty. As we work our way through the first quarter of fiscal 2024, we have good momentum in our new service pipeline, and we expect another year of organic growth in the high single-digit range. In fiscal 2024, we expect continued margin expansion across our service channels, particularly in the back half of the year as we make incremental first quarter investments to drive scalability for longer-term growth. We are well positioned financially and expect our strong balance sheet, solid cash flow generation to support the conversion of our robust and diverse M&A pipeline.

儘管宏觀經濟存在不確定性，但我們預計 2024 財年將表現良好。在我們努力度過 2024 財年第一季度的過程中，我們的新服務渠道勢頭良好，我們預計又一年將實現高個位數的有機增長。在 2024 財年，我們預計整個服務渠道的利潤率將繼續擴大，尤其是在下半年，因為我們將在第一季度進行增量投資以推動可擴展性以實現長期增長。我們在財務上處於有利地位，並期望我們強大的資產負債表和穩健的現金流產生能夠支持我們強大而多樣化的併購管道的轉換。

At the very start of fiscal 2023 in April, we acquired TIC Metrology Services. Early indication points to a strong start to the St. Louis bolt-on. We expect acquisitions along with strong organic growth to increase the trajectory of our business over time to continue to drive the sustainable growth journey that we've been on for over the past decade. With that, operator, we can open the line for questions.

在 2023 財年 4 月伊始，我們收購了 TIC Metrology Services。早期跡象表明，聖路易斯的補強措施開局強勁。我們預計收購以及強勁的有機增長將隨著時間的推移增加我們的業務軌跡，以繼續推動我們在過去十年中一直在進行的可持續增長之旅。有了它，接線員，我們可以打開問題熱線。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question comes from the line of Greg Palm with Craig-Hallum Capital Group.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Greg Palm 與 Craig-Hallum Capital Group 的合作。

Let's maybe start with the commentary about some of these kind of near-term investments in NEXA, in CBLs, maybe a little bit more detail on kind of what you're seeing from those 2 areas, presumably better activity. But why now? Why not 6 months from now or a year from now and just a little bit more details on sort of what investments you're doing here?

讓我們從對 NEXA、CBL 中的一些此類近期投資的評論開始，也許更詳細地說明你從這兩個領域看到的東西，可能是更好的活動。但為什麼是現在？為什麼不在 6 個月後或一年後提供更多關於您在這裡進行的投資的詳細信息？

Okay. Well, I appreciate the question. Yes, I think we called out CBLs and NEXA in the first quarter because it's just a natural byproduct of our growth. When you look at CBLs, we know year in and year out, when you land a significant or meaningful material number, you sometimes have a short-term drag as you get your technicians up and running on margin before they become effective and efficient.

好的。好吧，我很欣賞這個問題。是的，我認為我們在第一季度召集了 CBL 和 NEXA，因為它只是我們增長的自然副產品。當您查看 CBL 時，我們知道年復一年，當您獲得重要或有意義的材料數量時，您有時會遇到短期拖累，因為您讓您的技術人員在他們變得有效和高效之前啟動並在利潤率上運行。

So we've got that taking place, Greg, in the first quarter. And NEXA, they've continued to grow, performed really well as an acquisition, both in the U.S. and in Ireland primarily. And it's time we think it's appropriate to do an infrastructure build there around sales and even operations so we can continue to scale that operation. We think it's got some upside, and we want to make sure we have the right investments in a timely manner. So it's a combination of those 2 things. Those are the primary drivers. And -- but we definitely expect margin improvement in the year for sure.

所以我們已經在第一季度發生了，格雷格。而 NEXA，他們一直在持續增長，作為一項收購表現非常好，主要是在美國和愛爾蘭。現在是我們認為圍繞銷售甚至運營建立基礎設施是合適的時候了，這樣我們就可以繼續擴大運營規模。我們認為它有一些好處，我們希望確保我們及時進行正確的投資。所以這是這兩件事的結合。這些是主要驅動因素。而且 - 但我們肯定希望今年的利潤率有所提高。

Yes. That makes sense. On NEXA, specifically, I think it's been, I don't know, what, 1.5 years, 2 years under ownership now. So I guess looking back in hindsight, what surprised you in terms of synergies. Can you just give us some sense on kind of how that's played out? It sounds like you're pretty excited about the future of the business there. So a little bit more commentary on what's working would be great.

是的。這就說得通了。在 NEXA 上，具體來說，我認為它已經擁有 1.5 年、2 年了，我不知道是什麼時候。所以我想事後回顧，在協同作用方面讓你感到驚訝的是什麼。你能給我們一些關於它是如何發揮作用的感覺嗎？聽起來您對那裡業務的未來感到非常興奮。因此，對有效的方法進行更多評論會很棒。

Right. Well, we still love the deal, and September will be 2 years. So they got off to a really good start when we reflect back on the first year and 3 quarters. We like the team. We like the management team. I think it's met our expectations. It's probably exceeded our expectations. We knew we had potential there. I think the synergies that go both ways between Transcat customers, offering opportunities to NEXA and vice versa. I think they both come to fruition. NEXA certainly has picked up a fair amount of meaningful business from our portfolio of 35,000-ish customers. So it's all going well. And the infrastructure built the byproduct of that success.

正確的。好吧，我們仍然喜歡這筆交易，9 月將是 2 年。因此，當我們回顧第一年和三個季度時，他們的開局非常好。我們喜歡這個團隊。我們喜歡管理團隊。我認為它達到了我們的預期。這可能超出了我們的預期。我們知道我們在那裡有潛力。我認為 Transcat 客戶之間的協同作用是雙向的，為 NEXA 提供機會，反之亦然。我認為他們都取得了成果。 NEXA 無疑從我們 35,000 名左右的客戶組合中獲得了大量有意義的業務。所以一切都很順利。基礎設施構建了這一成功的副產品。

Okay. Great. And then I guess last one, and it sort of dovetails into the NEXA. But more broadly speaking, just expansion into Europe, but you sort of called out a number of additional countries where you're doing business now. So where does geographical expansion into Europe or other areas sort of rank in terms of near-term priorities?

好的。偉大的。然後我猜是最後一個，它與 NEXA 有點吻合。但更廣泛地說，只是擴展到歐洲，但你有點叫出了你現在開展業務的其他一些國家。那麼，就近期優先事項而言，向歐洲或其他地區的地理擴張排在什麼位置？

Right. Well, we use the word opportunistic when we talked about the development into some of these other countries. And what that means from our perspective, Greg, is that customers that we're doing business with in the U.S., customers that we're doing business with in Ireland, have locations throughout Europe. And it's not a difficult leap for us to start servicing them in those countries.

正確的。好吧，當我們談論到其他一些國家的發展時，我們使用了機會主義這個詞。格雷格，從我們的角度來看，這意味著與我們在美國開展業務的客戶、與我們在愛爾蘭開展業務的客戶在整個歐洲都有分支機構。在這些國家開始為他們提供服務對我們來說並不是一個艱難的飛躍。

A little bit different than a strategic approach where we're going to conquer Europe with our NEXA services. So I think today, it's opportunistic. It's part of our natural expansion. We're excited about it. And down the road, when we think it becomes more strategic, we'll talk to that. But right now, we're pleased with the group's ability to service other parts of Europe.

與我們要用我們的 NEXA 服務征服歐洲的戰略方法有點不同。所以我認為今天，這是機會主義的。這是我們自然擴張的一部分。我們對此感到興奮。在未來，當我們認為它變得更具戰略意義時，我們會討論它。但現在，我們對該集團為歐洲其他地區提供服務的能力感到滿意。

Our next question comes from the line of Gerry Sweeney with Roth Capital.

我們的下一個問題來自 Roth Capital 的 Gerry Sweeney。

Growth has been really good. And I mean I think you even highlighted differentiated value to your customers. Can you give us a little bit more detail what's driving the growth? How you're really differentiating yourself? Where you differentiate yourself? But also where are you also seeing some competition? Just trying to get a little bit better feel for the market and what's really driving this growth market share or geographic? Obviously, geographic expansion, service expansion, but just trying to dig in a little bit, if you would.

增長真的很好。我的意思是，我認為您甚至向客戶強調了差異化價值。你能告訴我們更多的細節是什麼推動了增長嗎？你如何真正與眾不同？你在哪裡與眾不同？但你也在哪裡看到一些競爭？只是想更好地了解市場以及真正推動這一增長市場份額或地域的因素是什麼？顯然，地理擴張，服務擴張，但如果你願意的話，只是想深入一點。

Right. The -- so I get the question. The game plan hasn't changed much, Gerry. The depth and breadth of our services, we think it's as good as any in the industry. We focused many, many years ago, over a decade or so on the life sciences space because we thought the demographics were favorable. There's high barriers to entry in that space, but we've got an early start. And so some of those early years back in 2009, '10, '11, when we didn't even have a positive operating income.

正確的。 - 所以我得到了問題。遊戲計劃沒有太大變化，格里。我們服務的深度和廣度，我們認為它與業內任何一家一樣好。很多很多年前，十多年前，我們就專注於生命科學領域，因為我們認為人口統計數據是有利的。進入該領域的門檻很高，但我們起步較早。因此，在 2009 年、10 年、11 年的一些早年，我們甚至沒有正營業收入。

They were big investment years. That turned out to be a really good decision. So now we've got a good running head start on the competition in some of these highly regulated spaces. We invested a lot into acquisitions to improve our geographic footprint, our capabilities, they all drive towards differentiation as well. We've got different service buckets. We handle small customers transactional customers, midsized, large, now ones both here and in Ireland. So we can enterprise accounts. I think that goes towards our value prop. And the thing that's always differentiated us in these highly regulated markets is our quality.

他們是大投資年。事實證明這是一個非常好的決定。因此，現在我們在其中一些受到高度監管的領域的競爭中取得了良好的開端。我們在收購上投入了大量資金，以改善我們的地理足跡、我們的能力，它們也都在推動差異化。我們有不同的服務範圍。我們處理小客戶交易客戶，中型客戶，大型客戶，現在在愛爾蘭和愛爾蘭。所以我們可以企業賬戶。我認為這符合我們的價值主張。在這些高度監管的市場中，始終讓我們脫穎而出的是我們的質量。

We've always come in at the high end of the scale, the most expensive third-party vendor, at least that's what we think. And -- but we provide services that's well aligned with our pricing. And so when customers need the best service from a quality perspective, I think they consider Transcat. And so that's a very important part of our value prop. All those things together are consistent with our plan for the last decade or so, and we're going to stick to it and keep getting stronger in terms of our value prop.

我們一直處於規模的高端，最昂貴的第三方供應商，至少我們是這麼認為的。而且 - 但我們提供的服務與我們的定價完全一致。因此，當客戶需要從質量角度獲得最佳服務時，我認為他們會考慮 Transcat。因此，這是我們價值支柱的一個非常重要的部分。所有這些都符合我們過去十年左右的計劃，我們將堅持下去，並在我們的價值支柱方面不斷變得更強大。

Got it. And what about NEXA, how much of an opportunity is there for cross-sell either their services into your 35,000 customers or even open up additional avenues and sort of where are you on that process?

知道了。 NEXA 又如何呢，有多少機會可以將他們的服務交叉銷售給您的 35,000 名客戶，甚至可以開闢更多渠道，以及您在該流程中處於什麼位置？

Yes. Well, I get the question. We're very early in the process. I mean 2 years or 1 year and 3 quarters is not a long time. Literally after we acquired NEXA within the first quarter or so, we started seeing opportunities. We started winning some opportunities, and we continue to do so. So it's just really -- it's a good match for our company. When you look at the 5 or 6 service tracks that they offer, and you look at the calibration services we offer, it's in the same ecosystem, it's with the same customer, in most cases, with the same buyer. And so it's just a natural way for their company to grow by capitalizing and leveraging our customer base and vice versa.

是的。好吧，我明白了。我們還處於這個過程的早期階段。我的意思是 2 年或 1 年 3 個季度並不算長。從字面上看，在第一季度左右收購 NEXA 之後，我們開始看到機會。我們開始贏得一些機會，而且我們會繼續這樣做。所以它真的 - 它非常適合我們公司。當您查看他們提供的 5 或 6 個服務軌道，以及我們提供的校準服務時，它們在同一個生態系統中，它與同一個客戶，在大多數情況下，同一個買家。因此，這只是他們公司通過資本化和利用我們的客戶群實現增長的自然方式，反之亦然。

So I like the acquisition, I like the match, and I think the synergies are available to us to continue the growth. So we'll continue to execute the plan.

所以我喜歡這次收購，我喜歡這場比賽，我認為協同效應可以讓我們繼續增長。所以我們會繼續執行這個計劃。

Qualitatively, I mean, adding a point or 2 to growth, do you think, with NEXA -- as much as you can answer it? I know you probably don't want to give up too much, but...

定性地，我的意思是，增加一個或兩個點的增長，你認為，使用 NEXA - 盡可能多地回答它？我知道你可能不想放棄太多，但是...

Yes, we won't get into details. But I think when we point to high single digits, obviously, the better NEXA does and the better we're able to execute those synergies the more like we already hit those targets over time. And like in this past year, we actually exceeded them a couple of quarters. That's always good, too. So this will keep us in our range of high single digits in the uncertain deal with which we're working. I think NEXA gives us a comfort level that in part that we'll go to hit those targets.

是的，我們不會詳細介紹。但我認為，當我們指向高個位數時，顯然，NEXA 做得越好，我們執行這些協同作用的能力就越好，我們就越像隨著時間的推移已經達到這些目標。就像去年一樣，我們實際上超過了他們幾個季度。這也總是好的。因此，這將使我們在我們正在處理的不確定交易中保持在高個位數的範圍內。我認為 NEXA 給了我們一個舒適度，部分原因是我們將實現這些目標。

Great. And then 1 or 2 more quick questions on the margin side. would you remind NEXA -- apologizes, would you remind me NEXA's similar margin profile as the calibration side or better or worse?

偉大的。然後在空白處再問 1 或 2 個快速問題。你會提醒 NEXA —— 抱歉，你會提醒我 NEXA 與校準側相似的餘量曲線還是更好或更差？

So Gerry, it's Tom. We've always pointed out that NEXA is -- their average margin is higher than our average total Services margin for Transcat.

格里，是湯姆。我們一直指出 NEXA 是——他們的平均利潤率高於我們 Transcat 的平均總服務利潤率。

Okay. Got you. And then, obviously, I think in the past, you've really pointed to 35% gross margin as a target. I mean you have operational excellence automation. Is it safe to say we're looking at 35% in the next year or 2 and then maybe we'll readjust and look at some other operational -- other improvements we can make internally?

好的。明白了然後，很明顯，我認為過去你確實將 35% 的毛利率作為目標。我的意思是你有卓越的運營自動化。可以肯定地說我們在明年或兩年內看到 35%，然後也許我們會重新調整併看看其他一些運營 - 我們可以在內部進行其他改進嗎？

Yes. We still look at -- we ended the year at right around 32%, a little bit higher than that. We still see 35% as sort of the next level of achievement in terms of margin gain. We think it's realistic. I don't want to put a timetable on it, whether it's a year or 2 or 3, but it's in a relatively near future. We think it's achievable over the next year or so, a couple of years, and then we'll talk beyond that when we get there.

是的。我們仍然在看 - 我們今年結束時大約在 32% 左右，略高於此。就利潤率收益而言，我們仍然認為 35% 是下一個成就水平。我們認為這是現實的。我不想在上面放一個時間表，不管是一年還是兩年或三年，但它是在相對不久的將來。我們認為它在未來一年左右、幾年內是可以實現的，然後當我們到達那裡時我們會討論更多。

Yes. And just to clarify, that Service's margins...

是的。澄清一下，該服務的利潤......

Correct. This would be Service.

正確的。這將是服務。

Our next question comes from the line of Scott Buck with H.C. Wainwright.

我們的下一個問題來自 Scott Buck with H.C.溫賴特。

Can you talk a little bit about the difference between -- in margin between the rental business and the equipment sales side?

你能談談租賃業務和設備銷售方面的利潤率之間的區別嗎？

Sure. Scott, it's Tom. So -- and again, as we've said in the past, the rental margin is significantly better than the overall distribution margin. We haven't gotten into details specifically, but it is significantly higher.

當然。斯科特，是湯姆。所以 - 再一次，正如我們過去所說的那樣，租金利潤率明顯好於整體分銷利潤率。我們還沒有具體了解細節，但它要高得多。

Okay. And Tom, of the CapEx number that you gave us for 2024, how much of that is for rental replacement and whatnot in that business?

好的。湯姆，在你給我們的 2024 年資本支出數字中，有多少是用於租金更換以及該業務中的其他內容？

It's a quarter to 1/3.

這是四分之一到 1/3。

That's great. And then I'm curious, guys, given the rise in interest rates, does that make you rethink or change the way you're thinking about the cap structure and your use of debt?

那太棒了。然後我很好奇，伙計們，鑑於利率上升，這是否會讓你重新思考或改變你對上限結構和債務使用的思考方式？

Yes. I mean we -- it certainly does, right? And all you got to do is look at kind of what our interest expense has done over the past year and as you model it out in the future, right? So it's definitely something that we're looking at, we're talking about and kind of evaluating all of our options around.

是的。我的意思是我們 - 它確實如此，對吧？你所要做的就是看看我們的利息支出在過去一年裡做了什麼，以及你未來的模型，對吧？所以這絕對是我們正在關注的事情，我們正在談論並評估我們周圍的所有選擇。

I appreciate that. And then last one for me, just on M&A. Curious what the appetite is for a larger, more transformational type deal and even if there are opportunities like that on the calibration side currently?

我很感激。最後一個是關於併購的。好奇對更大、更具變革性的交易的胃口是什麼，即使目前在校準方面有這樣的機會？

Yes, Scott, this is Lee. We are always interested and more than capable of acquiring larger companies. We've got a strategy where we've got our 3 drivers that sort of dictate our day-to-day focus, geography and capabilities, expertise, bolt-ons and the like. But something more transformative is always on our radar. And I think when we use the word diverse pipeline, we're sort of guiding towards the fact that we're open to more transformative opportunities.

是的，斯科特，這是李。我們一直對收購更大的公司感興趣，而且完全有能力收購。我們有一個戰略，我們有 3 個驅動因素，這些驅動因素在某種程度上決定了我們的日常重點、地理和能力、專業知識、補強等。但更具變革性的東西總是在我們的雷達上。我認為，當我們使用多樣化管道這個詞時，我們在某種程度上是在引導我們對更多變革機會持開放態度。

There aren't that many out there, but they're out there, and it's always something we're interested in. I think the company is ready if one presents itself, we certainly have the infrastructure to be able to acquire and integrate. So it's on our radar, and we'll see.

那裡沒有那麼多，但他們在那裡，而且它一直是我們感興趣的東西。我認為公司已經準備好了，如果有人出現，我們當然擁有能夠獲得和整合的基礎設施。所以它在我們的雷達上，我們會看到。

Our next question comes from the line of Ted Jackson with Northland Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 Ted Jackson 與 Northland Securities 的對話。

I also would like to throw my congratulations in for a great quarter and also a great fiscal year. So my first question is kind of boring, but I just kind of going to talk about the balance sheet really quick, and there was a pretty good jump in working capital, mainly from receivables. I mean inventory also relative to my expectations is a little higher. So I mean, those things I look at free cash flow a lot and kind of wanted to have a little bit of color provided maybe on what we could expect to see with regards to those line items as we roll through '24 -- excuse me, '23.

我還要祝賀一個偉大的季度和一個偉大的財政年度。所以我的第一個問題有點無聊，但我只是很快地談論資產負債表，營運資金有一個很好的跳躍，主要來自應收賬款。我的意思是庫存也相對於我的預期要高一點。所以我的意思是，我經常關注自由現金流的那些事情，並且有點想提供一些顏色，也許是我們在 24 年滾動時可以期望看到的關於這些項目的內容 - 對不起, '23.

I think we've talked about strategic buys in the past, and that being something we're taking advantage of when we can, right? And that's really the driver to the inventory increase. And we've kind of talked about that quarter-to-quarter. From an AR standpoint, I mean it's just -- to some extent, it's a function of the growth that we've seen in the business and the timing of when billings take place within a quarter. There's nothing to be concerned about there. It's just -- with working capital, there are cycles that we experience and nothing out of the norm and nothing inconsistent with what we've talked about before.

我認為我們過去曾討論過戰略收購，這是我們在可能的時候利用的東西，對吧？這確實是庫存增加的驅動因素。我們已經按季度討論過這個問題。從 AR 的角度來看，我的意思是它只是 - 在某種程度上，它是我們在業務中看到的增長以及在一個季度內進行計費的時間的函數。那裡沒有什麼可擔心的。只是 - 在營運資金方面，我們經歷了一些週期，沒有任何異常，也沒有與我們之前談到的不一致。

I don't have any concerns with it. I just kind of want to think about it roll through. I mean would we expect to see your receivables maybe kind of trend down as we roll through '24, hold steady. I mean, if we think about it from like a turns or days basis, I mean, kind of what are your thoughts with regards to that in particular?

我對此沒有任何顧慮。我只是想考慮一下它。我的意思是，我們是否希望看到您的應收賬款可能會隨著 24 年的到來而呈下降趨勢，保持穩定。我的意思是，如果我們從輪流或天數的角度來考慮它，我的意思是，您對此有何看法？

I mean I think we should expect AR to kind of grow with the increase in the business -- the overall percentage increase in the business. And inventory, I would expect to probably remain flat. I think we do continue to see increases in pricing, which is going to have an impact. But I think some of the strategic buys, as we've talked about before, are going to kind of dry up on us this year, and then we'd expect to bring inventory down as a result of that.

我的意思是我認為我們應該期望 AR 會隨著業務的增長而增長——業務的整體百分比增長。而庫存，我預計可能會保持平穩。我認為我們確實會繼續看到價格上漲，這將產生影響。但我認為，正如我們之前所討論的那樣，一些戰略性收購今年將在我們身上枯竭，然後我們預計因此會降低庫存。

And then just jumping over to just kind of -- sort of, I don't know, a way to set expectations or set things with regards to the current fiscal year with the acquisition that you did in St. Louis, is there -- can you provide maybe a little more color on how you think about first quarter revenue and the incorporation of that into the revenue mix for this current quarter?

然後只是跳到某種 - 我不知道，一種通過你在聖路易斯所做的收購來設定預期或設定當前財政年度的事情的方法 -您能否提供更多關於您如何看待第一季度收入以及將其納入本季度收入組合的顏色？

Yes. I think we'll be able to achieve the growth targets that we've alluded to in the earnings release. The St. Louis acquisition is a pure bolt-on. They're within striking distance of our current labs. So there'll be some integration activities where we're going to put these 2 labs together, that makes a lot of sense. But I don't think that's going to really impact revenue to any large extent in the first quarter. So I think we'll look at high single digits in that range. I think we'll be able to achieve that from Service perceptive.

是的。我認為我們將能夠實現我們在財報中提到的增長目標。對聖路易斯的收購純屬補強。他們離我們目前的實驗室很近。所以會有一些集成活動，我們將把這兩個實驗室放在一起，這很有意義。但我認為這不會對第一季度的收入產生很大影響。所以我認為我們會看看這個範圍內的高個位數。我認為我們將能夠通過服務感知來實現這一點。

We should think about -- like, I mean, you wouldn't provide any color kind of like will be additive relative to first quarter by x million dollars or anything like that. There's no color or commentary around that you could provide?

我們應該考慮——就像，我的意思是，你不會提供任何顏色，比如相對於第一季度增加 x 百萬美元或類似的東西。有沒有你可以提供的顏色或評論？

No, we won't be adding any color like that, at least at this point.

不，我們不會添加任何顏色，至少在這一點上是這樣。

Okay. And sorry for being still on the line. I woke up this morning with a (inaudible). Okay, then moving -- but moving over just on the distribution. Do you expect to see growth in your distribution business in '24?

好的。很抱歉還在線。我今天早上醒來時（聽不清）。好的，然後移動——但只是在分發上移動。您希望在 24 世紀看到您的分銷業務增長嗎？

Well, the way we look at distribution is the way we've looked at it for the last several years, and that is we've always won a core distribution just to be a stable segment for us. Just to remind you, Ted and others. We primarily use distribution as an opportunity to sort of crack open the door for service opportunities. It's an important differentiator for us. So every time we have a distribution order that oftentimes leads to a service opportunity.

好吧，我們看待分銷的方式是過去幾年我們看待它的方式，那就是我們總是贏得核心分銷，只是為了成為我們的穩定細分市場。只是提醒你，泰德和其他人。我們主要利用分銷作為打開服務機會之門的機會。這對我們來說是一個重要的差異化因素。因此，每次我們收到配送訂單時，通常都會帶來服務機會。

We expect that to continue. But it's never been our goal to grow distribution, take it from roughly $70 million, $80 million to $100 million or $150 million. That's not our goal. It is our goal to grow our rental business. Rentals falls under distribution, and that's had significant growth both in margin from a gross profit perspective and revenue perspective, it moves the needle more on margin than revenue, but that is more strategic. So I'm going to say steady as she goes with core distribution, and you would expect growth in rentals over time.

我們希望這種情況繼續下去。但增加分銷從來都不是我們的目標，將其從大約 7000 萬美元、8000 萬美元增加到 1 億美元或 1.5 億美元。那不是我們的目標。我們的目標是發展我們的租賃業務。租金屬於分銷範疇，從毛利和收入的角度來看，利潤率都有顯著增長，它對利潤率的影響大於對收入的影響，但這更具戰略意義。所以我要說她在核心分銷方面保持穩定，你會預計租金會隨著時間的推移而增長。

Okay. And then my last question, which is a little more fun is with the Irish acquisition, the thing that was exciting about (inaudible) was the efforts they were making in terms of robotics and automation. And I know that's kind of a slower and kind of a long-term opportunity, if you would, for the company, but I was wondering if you could provide a little color on kind of things that are going on in that front and efforts and successes and such.

好的。然後我的最後一個問題，更有趣的是關於愛爾蘭的收購，令人興奮的是（聽不清）他們在機器人技術和自動化方面所做的努力。而且我知道，如果你願意的話，對於公司來說，這是一個緩慢而長期的機會，但我想知道你是否可以為這方面正在發生的事情和努力提供一些顏色和成功等等。

Well, it is a slow burn, and I would characterize it as being in the first inning, that's a good place to start. But just because you asked the question, we actually did install a couple of robots in our Philadelphia lab that are related to mass calibrations, which is weight. And so they are up and running and we're working through the kinks. But yes, we started the process.

好吧，這是一個緩慢的燃燒，我會把它描述為在第一局，這是一個很好的起點。但就因為你問了這個問題，我們實際上確實在我們的費城實驗室安裝了幾個與質量校準相關的機器人，也就是重量。所以他們啟動並運行，我們正在努力解決問題。但是，是的，我們開始了這個過程。

And so the key is looking at the disciplines that we perform work on and putting them in some logical order that makes sense from a robotics perspective and to continue to develop that technology over time. But I think characterizing as the first inning is important. There's a lot of work to be done. It's more of a longer-term play. And so when we get to the mid-single digits in our service margins, the next year or so, a couple of years, then we'll start talking about robotics somewhere down the road, I'm sure.

因此，關鍵是審視我們所從事的學科，並將它們按照從機器人學角度來看有意義的邏輯順序排列，並隨著時間的推移繼續發展該技術。但我認為定性為第一局很重要。有很多工作要做。這更像是一場長期的比賽。因此，當我們的服務利潤率達到中等個位數時，明年左右，幾年後，我敢肯定，我們將在未來的某個地方開始談論機器人技術。

And our next question comes from the line of Mitra Ramgopal with Sidoti.

我們的下一個問題來自 Mitra Ramgopal 與 Sidoti 的對話。

First, just on the Service segment. I know it's being driven by the life science industry in particular. Just curious if you're seeing growth from any of the other areas that might get you excited, whether it's aerospace, energy, chemicals, industrial, anything that might accelerate the growth in this segment.

首先，僅在服務領域。我知道它尤其受到生命科學行業的推動。只是好奇你是否看到任何其他領域的增長可能會讓你興奮，無論是航空航天、能源、化工、工業，還是任何可能加速這一領域增長的領域。

Yes. Most of our growth in the low 60 percentile range is where we see life sciences, but we have had growth as well, Mitra, in Aerospace and Defense. Our pipeline has some interesting aerospace and defense opportunities in it. There's been a little bit of growth as well in general manufacturing. So it is sort of broad-based once you get outside of the concentration that we naturally have in life sciences, which is pharma, biomedical, medical device, you start seeing some -- the next ranking down would probably be aerospace and defense and then general and then chemical, some alternative energy as well as in the...

是的。我們在低 60% 範圍內的大部分增長是我們看到生命科學的地方，但我們在航空航天和國防領域也有增長，Mitra。我們的管道中有一些有趣的航空航天和國防機會。一般製造業也有一些增長。因此，一旦你脫離了我們在生命科學領域自然擁有的重點，即製藥、生物醫學、醫療設備，你就會開始看到一些——下一個排名下降的可能是航空航天和國防，然後一般然後化學，一些替代能源以及...

Yes. That's what I was going to say. This is Mark, Mitra, our wind energy business has actually picked up a little bit in the recent quarters. And so there's pockets of activity. We haven't talked a lot about (inaudible) business, which is life science as well, but that's also a platform that's continuing to grow nicely and supporting our organic growth that's been strong recently.

是的。這就是我要說的。我是馬克，米特拉，我們的風能業務在最近幾個季度實際上有所回升。所以有一些活動。我們沒有談論太多關於（聽不清）業務，這也是生命科學，但這也是一個繼續良好增長並支持我們最近強勁的有機增長的平台。

Okay. No, that's great. And then just digging a little deeper in terms of the biotech space and biotech companies having difficulty given the capital markets currently, et cetera. Just wondering if you're seeing any slowdown in that area.

好的。不，那太好了。然後就生物技術領域和生物技術公司在目前資本市場等方面遇到的困難進行更深入的挖掘。只是想知道您是否看到該領域有任何放緩。

When we think of bio -- when you think of biomedical, we do a lot -- we do a hospital business that came many years ago through an expanded addressable market with the Spectrum acquisition. And that business has performed well over the last year and continues to grow. And that's where we focus our energy on. As far as biotechs and the development of that smaller market for us, so we haven't been impacted much.

當我們想到生物時——當你想到生物醫學時，我們做了很多事情——我們做的是多年前通過收購 Spectrum 擴大潛在市場而產生的醫院業務。該業務在去年表現良好，並繼續增長。這就是我們集中精力的地方。就生物技術和我們較小市場的發展而言，我們沒有受到太大影響。

Okay. And then, Lee, I know one of the things you're excited by -- in terms of the investments you're making Transcat University, so to speak. Just wanted to get an update on that in terms of how far along are you on that front? And as it relates to the investment at set when do you expect to really see that paying off for you?

好的。然後，李，我知道你很興奮的一件事——可以這麼說，就你對 Transcat 大學的投資而言。只是想了解一下您在這方面的進展情況？由於它與片場投資有關，您希望什麼時候真正看到它為您帶來回報？

Well, it continues to progress. This time last year, I think we had 50 students that have been put through the program. I think we're upwards to about 100 now, which is great news for us. And the original 50 are more productive than they were, as you can imagine, Mitra, in the first couple of quarters that we put them out into the field after the initial training.

嗯，它繼續進步。去年這個時候，我想我們有 50 名學生完成了該計劃。我認為我們現在已經上升到大約 100 個，這對我們來說是個好消息。 Mitra，最初的 50 人比你想像的更有效率，在最初的培訓後，我們將他們投入實地。

So we're scaling that. It's a competitive advantage for us. If we do it right, took a long time to get that program up and running, but we're pleased with where we are. And the large percentage -- the lion's share of that people have been through the score still with us. So we're getting good retention rates. And that's just as important as getting them through is keeping them progressing in their careers here with Transcat. So I think it's good news on that front.

所以我們正在擴展它。這對我們來說是一個競爭優勢。如果我們做得對，需要很長時間才能啟動並運行該程序，但我們對目前的進展感到滿意。而且很大一部分人 - 大部分人已經完成了分數仍然與我們在一起。所以我們得到了很好的保留率。這與讓他們通過並讓他們在 Transcat 的職業生涯中取得進步一樣重要。所以我認為這在這方面是個好消息。

Okay. And then finally, just on M&A. Obviously, you have an active pipeline and a lot of opportunities out there. But I'm just wondering in light of NEXA, et cetera, if you're more willing to maybe consider M&A activity outside of the U.S. than maybe you might have been willing to do in the past.

好的。最後，就併購而言。顯然，你有一個活躍的渠道和很多機會。但我只是想知道，根據 NEXA 等，你是否更願意考慮在美國以外的併購活動，而不是你過去可能願意做的事情。

I think that they will come. But generally speaking, our focus has been on the U.S. primarily. I mean we did a small acquisition in the calibration space in Ireland after NEXA, and it's not like we wouldn't be able to do something like that in the near future. But if you look at the pipeline, you want to characterize it by its geographic impact, 95% of it is in the U.S. And I see that as -- that's pretty much what our intent is, and I see that not changing anytime soon. We'll certainly add some color to it if that changes. But right now, we're mostly U.S. focused with our acquisition strategy.

我想他們會來的。但總的來說，我們的重點主要放在美國。我的意思是，在 NEXA 之後，我們在愛爾蘭的校準空間進行了一次小型收購，而且我們在不久的將來也不會做不到這樣的事情。但如果你看管道，你想通過它的地理影響來描述它，其中 95% 在美國。我認為這幾乎是我們的意圖，我認為這不會很快改變。如果情況發生變化，我們當然會為其添加一些顏色。但現在，我們主要關注美國的收購戰略。

We have reached the end of the question-and-answer session. I'll now turn the call back over to Lee Rudow for closing remarks.

我們已經結束了問答環節。我現在將電話轉回給 Lee Rudow 以作結束語。

Thank you all for joining us on today's call. We appreciate the questions. We appreciate the continued interest in Transcat. We'll be presenting at the Craig-Hallum Investor Conference in Minneapolis on May 31, so feel free to check in with us there. Otherwise, you can check in with us at any time. We look forward to talking to everybody again after our first quarter results. I hope everybody has a nice Memorial Day. And again, thanks for participating. Take care.

感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。我們感謝您提出問題。我們感謝您對 Transcat 的持續關注。我們將於 5 月 31 日在明尼阿波利斯舉行的 Craig-Hallum 投資者大會上發表演講，歡迎隨時與我們聯繫。否則，您可以隨時與我們聯繫。我們期待在第一季度業績公佈後再次與大家交談。我希望每個人都有一個愉快的陣亡將士紀念日。再次感謝您的參與。小心。

And this concludes today's conference, and you may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束，此時你們可以掛斷電話。感謝您的參與。