Tetra Tech Inc (TTEK) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning and thank you for joining the Tetra Tech earnings call. As a reminder, Tetra Tech is also simulcasting this presentation with slides in the Investors section of its website at tetratech.com. This call is being recorded at the request of Tetra Tech, and this broadcast is a copyrighted property of Tetra Tech. Any rebroadcast of this information in whole or part without the prior written permission of Tetra Tech is prohibited.

早安，感謝您參加 Tetra Tech 財報電話會議。提醒一下，Tetra Tech 也在其網站 tetratech.com 的投資者部分同步播放了本簡報和幻燈片。此通話是應 Tetra Tech 的要求錄製的，此廣播是 Tetra Tech 的版權財產。未經 Tetra Tech 事先書面許可，禁止全部或部分轉播此資訊。

With us today from management are Dan Batrack, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Steve Burdick, Chief Financial Officer; Jill Hudkins, President; and Leslie Shoemaker, Chief Sustainability Officer. They will provide a brief overview of the results, and then we'll open the call for questions.

今天與我們一起出席的還有來自管理階層的董事長兼執行長 Dan Batrack；史蒂夫‧伯迪克，財務長；吉爾·哈金斯，總裁；以及首席永續發展長 Leslie Shoemaker。他們將簡要概述結果，然後我們將開始提問。

I would like to direct your attention to the safe harbor statement in today's presentation. Today's discussion contains forward-looking statements about future business and financial expectations. Actual results may differ significantly from those projected in today's forward-looking statements due to various risks and uncertainties including the risks described in Tetra Tech's periodic reports filed with the SEC. Except as required by law, Tetra Tech undertakes no obligation to update its forward-looking statements.

我想請大家注意今天演講中的安全港聲明。今天的討論包含有關未來業務和財務預期的前瞻性陳述。由於各種風險和不確定性，包括 Tetra Tech 向 SEC 提交的定期報告中描述的風險，實際結果可能與今天的前瞻性聲明中預測的結果有顯著差異。除法律要求外，Tetra Tech 不承擔更新其前瞻性聲明的義務。

In addition, since management will be presenting some non-GAAP financial measures as references, the appropriate GAAP financial reconciliations are posted in the Investors section of Tetra Tech's website (Operator Instructions) With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Dan Batrack. Please go ahead, Mr. Batrack.

此外，由於管理層將提供一些非 GAAP 財務指標作為參考，因此適當的 GAAP 財務調整表將發佈在 Tetra Tech 網站的投資者部分（操作員說明）因此，我現在想將電話轉給 Dan巴特拉克。請繼續，巴特拉克先生。

Great. Thank you very much, Paul, and good morning, and welcome to our first quarter of fiscal year 2024 earnings conference call. We're looking forward to sharing with you Tetra Tech's first quarter results and how we're building on our record-breaking 2023 performance.

偉大的。非常感謝保羅，早安，歡迎參加我們的 2024 財年第一季財報電話會議。我們期待與您分享 Tetra Tech 第一季的業績，以及我們如何在 2023 年破紀錄的業績基礎上再接再厲。

We just celebrated our first year since the RPS group joined us, and we couldn't be happier with their successful transition into the greater Tetra Tech.

我們剛剛慶祝了 RPS 團隊加入我們的第一年，我們對他們成功過渡到更大的 Tetra Tech 感到無比高興。

As a pure-play global leader in high-end water and environmental consulting, our future outlook is strong. It speaks to the success of our strategy to focus on the entire full water cycle. And you're going to hear a lot more about this today from both Jill Hudkins and from Leslie Shoemaker.

身為高端水和環境諮詢領域的全球領導者，我們的未來前景十分光明。這說明我們專注於整個水循環的策略取得了成功。今天您將從吉爾哈德金斯和萊斯利舒梅克那裡聽到更多有關此問題的信息。

Our Leading with Science approach is led by our talented workforce of scientists, data analysts and engineers who leverage our Tetra Tech Delta digital tool solutions in performing their work every day. Our Delta technologies not only include analytic tools that make us best-in-class but also include software and applications that are being subscribed to by our clients.

我們的科學領導方法由我們才華橫溢的科學家、數據分析師和工程師團隊領導，他們利用我們的 Tetra Tech Delta 數位工具解決方案來執行日常工作。我們的 Delta 技術不僅包括使我們成為同類最佳的分析工具，還包括客戶訂閱的軟體和應用程式。

Based on our strong first quarter and the outlook that we see for the rest of the fiscal year, we've raised our full year guidance for net revenue and increased our earnings per share guidance to reflect a 20% growth rate year-over-year. And while we report our financials on a U.S. GAAP basis, for our international investors, we've included some IFR metrics for their reference.

基於第一季的強勁表現以及本財年剩餘時間的展望，我們上調了全年淨收入指引，並上調了每股收益指引，以反映 20% 的同比增長率。雖然我們根據美國公認會計原則報告我們的財務數據，但對於我們的國際投資者，我們提供了一些 IFR 指標供他們參考。

I'll begin with an overview of the quarter. Steve Burdick, our Chief Financial Officer, will provide an overview of our financial performance and our capital allocation strategy. And Jill Hudkins and Dr. Leslie Shoemaker are going to provide today an overview of our differentiated water services.

我將首先概述本季。我們的財務長 Steve Burdick 將概述我們的財務表現和資本配置策略。吉爾哈德金斯 (Jill Hudkins) 和萊斯利舒梅克 (Leslie Shoemaker) 博士今天將概述我們的差異化供水服務。

Our first quarter results build on the record performance results that we had just last year. In the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, our net revenue increased 38% to $1 billion or $1.02 billion, which represents a double-digit organic growth rate. Our EBITDA increased 32% to $131 million in the quarter, which generated an all-time first quarter high earnings per share of $1.40. This quarter also had strong new orders of $1.2 billion, which resulted in our largest first quarter backlog of $4.74 billion, which is up 24% from last year.

我們第一季的業績建立在去年創紀錄的業績基礎之上。 2024 財年第一季度，我們的淨收入成長 38%，達到 10 億美元或 10.2 億美元，實現了兩位數的有機成長率。本季我們的 EBITDA 成長了 32%，達到 1.31 億美元，第一季每股收益創歷史新高，達到 1.40 美元。本季還有 12 億美元的強勁新訂單，這導致我們第一季最大的積壓訂單達到 47.4 億美元，比去年增長 24%。

As I mentioned earlier, the alignment of RPS with Tetra Tech is proceeding extremely well. And I'm really pleased to announce and share with you that in less than 1 year, RPS' EBITDA margin now exceeds 10%, rising more than 600 basis points from when they joined us on January 23 of last year.

正如我之前提到的，RPS 與 Tetra Tech 的協調進展非常順利。我非常高興地宣布並與大家分享，在不到一年的時間裡，RPS 的 EBITDA 利潤率現已超過 10%，比去年 1 月 23 日加入我們時上升了 600 個基點以上。

I'd like to start by providing you an overview of our performance by our end customers. In the first quarter, revenue for all 4 of our client sectors increased by double digits compared to last year. Work for our U.S. Federal clients was up 49% from the same quarter last year. Federal growth was driven by the Department of Defense and USAID resiliency consulting. Our state and local revenues grew organically about 16%, continuing to be driven by the work that we're doing in the water supply and treatment areas that you're going to hear a lot more about from Jill and Leslie later in this call.

首先，我想向您概述一下我們的最終客戶的表現。第一季度，我們四個客戶部門的營收均較去年成長了兩位數。我們為美國聯邦客戶提供的工作量比去年同期成長了 49%。聯邦成長是由國防部和美國國際開發署彈性諮詢推動的。我們的州和地方收入有機增長了約16%，這繼續受到我們在供水和處理領域所做的工作的推動，稍後您將在本次電話會議中從吉爾和萊斯利那裡聽到更多有關這些工作的資訊。

Our U.S. Commercial net revenues were up about 10% from last year. This growth was driven by increases in infrastructure decarbonization, which is performed mostly in our high-performance buildings practice, environmental permitting and high-end consulting and energy transition services.

我們的美國商業淨收入比去年增長了約 10%。這一成長是由基礎設施脫碳的增加所推動的，這主要體現在我們的高性能建築實踐、環境許可以及高端諮詢和能源轉型服務中。

And finally, our international revenue was up 74%. Now the international operations, together with RPS are growing our water and clean energy services, especially in the geographies of the United Kingdom and in Australia.

最後，我們的國際收入成長了 74%。現在，國際業務與 RPS 一起正在發展我們的水和清潔能源服務，特別是在英國和澳洲地區。

I'd like to share with you our performance by each of our 2 end segments, the Government Services Group and our Commercial International segment. In the first quarter, the Government Services Group, we refer to it as our GSG segment was up 25% compared to last year to $443 million and generated a strong 14.3% margin in the quarter. Key revenue growth drivers included inland waterways and coastal flood protection programs as well as continued support for our USAID energy programs.

我想與您分享我們的兩個終端部門（政府服務部門和商業國際部門）的表現。第一季度，政府服務集團（我們稱之為 GSG 部門）與去年相比成長了 25%，達到 4.43 億美元，並在本季度產生了 14.3% 的強勁利潤率。主要收入成長動力包括內陸水道和沿海防洪計畫以及對美國國際開發署能源計畫的持續支持。

For comparison purposes, I'll note that the first quarter of last year or 2023 were extremely busy across all of Tetra Tech because we were responding to the impacts of Hurricane Ian that went across Florida, which drove our margins to more than 17% in the first quarter of last year. And so at least on a margin basis, it was a very high comp to compare our performance of this year.

出於比較目的，我要指出的是，去年或2023 年第一季整個Tetra Tech 都非常繁忙，因為我們正在應對橫跨佛羅裡達州的颶風伊恩的影響，這使得我們的利潤率在2020 年達到了17% 以上。去年第一季。因此，至少在利潤率的基礎上，與我們今年的業績進行比較，這是一個非常高的競爭。

On the Commercial and International Group, or the CIG segment, we grew our net revenue by 49% and delivered a 12.5% margin for this segment in the quarter. While the addition of RPS contributed significantly to the top line or revenue growth, we did see the CIG segment grow at about a 10% organic rate.

在商業和國際集團（CIG）領域，本季我們的淨收入成長了 49%，利潤率為 12.5%。雖然 RPS 的加入對營收或營收成長做出了重大貢獻，但我們確實看到 CIG 細分市場以約 10% 的有機成長率成長。

I'd now like to discuss backlog, our best forward-looking indicator in our business. As I previously noted on these quarterly investor calls, we report backlog based on contracts that are signed, projects that are funded and where we receive authorization from our clients that's already been received here in-house. All 3 of these are required before we include any dollars in our backlog. Now, we do not include in backlog the financial estimates for future orders on the more than $25 billion we hold in contract capacity across the company.

我現在想討論一下積壓訂單，這是我們業務中最好的前瞻指標。正如我之前在這些季度投資者電話會議中指出的那樣，我們根據已簽署的合約、資助的項目以及我們從內部收到的客戶授權來報告積壓情況。在我們將任何資金納入積壓訂單之前，這三項都是必要的。現在，我們在積壓訂單中不包括整個公司超過 250 億美元合約產能的未來訂單的財務估計。

Key wins that added to our contract capacity in the quarter included recent awards of $125 million United Utilities program or AMP8 Better Rivers program, an $800 million U.S. Army Corp of Engineers PFAS remediation contract and a $450 million Great Lakes environmental restoration contract.

本季增加我們合約能力的主要勝利包括最近授予的 1.25 億美元的聯合公用事業計劃或 AMP8 Better Rivers 計劃、價值 8 億美元的美國陸軍工程兵團 PFAS 修復合約以及價值 4.5 億美元的五大湖環境恢復合約。

Overall, we booked about $1.2 billion in orders in just the first quarter of 2024. As a result, our backlog was up 24%, from last year, resulting in a new first quarter high of $4.74 billion of funded and authorized work that we have in-house.

總體而言，我們僅在2024 年第一季就預訂了約12 億美元的訂單。因此，我們的積壓訂單比去年增加了24%，導致我們的資助和授權工作創下第一季新高，達到47.4億美元內部。

Now I would like to turn the presentation over to Steve Burdick, our Chief Financial Officer, who will go over some more of the details of our financials from the first quarter.

現在我想將簡報交給我們的財務長 Steve Burdick，他將詳細介紹我們第一季的財務狀況。

Thank you, Dan. So I'd like to now provide an update on our working capital and cash flow for the first quarter.

謝謝你，丹。因此，我現在想提供有關第一季營運資金和現金流的最新資訊。

So cash flows generated from operations for the first quarter were positive and for the trailing 12 months totaled $353 million, which is up 26% year-over-year. Now, over the same 12 months, cash flows exceeded net income by more than 152% and as I further thought about this key metric, I actually researched our historical financial results and found that our cash flow from operations has exceeded our net income every year for the last 2 decades. And I got to say, I'm not aware of many other companies who have that same track record. So I'm really proud of what Tetra Tech has been able to do.

因此，第一季營運產生的現金流為正，過去 12 個月總計 3.53 億美元，年增 26%。現在，在同樣的12 個月裡，現金流超過淨利潤超過152%，當我進一步思考這個關鍵指標時，我實際上研究了我們的歷史財務業績，發現我們每年的營運現金流都超過了淨利潤過去20年。我必須說，我不知道還有多少其他公司擁有相同的業績記錄。因此，我對 Tetra Tech 所取得的成就感到非常自豪。

Our focus on working capital and cash flows has resulted in our DSO reflecting an industry-leading standard of 55 days versus the industry average at over 80 days. This first quarter results are an improvement of 6 days over last year. And we consider this high watermark for working capital to be sustainable over the long term as we continue to make cash flows from operations a priority. The lower DSO metric also provides significant insight into our core business as it reflects the outstanding work that our project managers perform relative to high-quality projects and highly satisfied clients in our broad portfolio across all of our end markets and all of our geographies.

我們對營運資金和現金流的關注使得我們的 DSO 反映了 55 天的行業領先標準，而行業平均則超過 80 天。第一季業績比去年提高了 6 天。我們認為，隨著我們繼續將營運現金流作為優先事項，營運資本的高水位是長期可持續的。較低的DSO 指標也為我們的核心業務提供了重要的洞察力，因為它反映了我們的專案經理在我們所有終端市場和所有地區的廣泛投資組合中相對於高品質專案和高度滿意的客戶所做的出色工作。

Our net debt amounted to $746 million and the net debt on EBITDA was a leverage of 1.5x, well within our target and much lower than when we acquired RPS a year ago. In addition, we have total cash positions of about $199 million at the end of the quarter. So as we present here today, we continue to execute on high-quality operating results with strong cash flows, industry-leading days sales outstanding and the leverage well within our target range.

我們的淨債務達 7.46 億美元，EBITDA 的淨債務槓桿率為 1.5 倍，完全符合我們的目標，並且遠低於我們一年前收購 RPS 時的水平。此外，截至本季末，我們的現金部位總額約為 1.99 億美元。因此，正如我們今天在這裡介紹的那樣，我們將繼續執行高品質的經營業績，擁有強勁的現金流、行業領先的應收帳款週轉天數以及遠在我們目標範圍內的槓桿率。

For those following along in the presentation, I'd like to now present our capital allocation overview for 2024. We have a significant amount in liquidity available to invest in organic and acquisitive priorities and we have a well-balanced mix to both fixed and floating rate debt to mitigate interest rate risk as we look to invest in key strategic priorities. We have a strong pipeline of acquisitions, which are aligned towards technical leaders especially in the water and environmental spaces where we have led the market for the last 20 years.

對於接下來的演示，我現在想介紹一下我們 2024 年的資本配置概述。我們擁有大量流動資金可用於投資有機和收購優先事項，並且我們的固定和浮動資本結構非常均衡當我們尋求投資於關鍵戰略優先事項時，對債務進行評級，以降低利率風險。我們擁有強大的收購管道，這些收購與技術領導者保持一致，尤其是在水和環境領域，我們在過去 20 年裡一直引領市場。

And regarding our dividend program, I want to announce that our Board of Directors approved a $0.26 dividend which is a 13% increase year-over-year to be paid in the second quarter, and this is our 35th consecutive quarterly dividend with double-digit increases in the amount paid.

關於我們的股息計劃，我想宣布，我們的董事會批准了第二季度支付的 0.26 美元股息，同比增長 13%，這是我們連續 35 個季度股息達到兩位數支付金額的增加。

As we revised our capital structure in the last year to take advantage of the credit market to really support our financing means, I want to remind our shareholders that we do still have available a significant portion of the $400 million buyback plan that was approved by our Board back in 2022 for future consideration as part of our capital allocation strategy going forward.

當我們去年調整資本結構以利用信貸市場來真正支持我們的融資手段時，我想提醒我們的股東，我們仍然可以使用我們已批准的 4 億美元回購計劃中的很大一部分。董事會將於2022年重新召開會議，以供未來考慮，作為我們未來資本配置策略的一部分。

I'm really pleased to share these results for the quarter with you all. And I want to thank you for your support. I will now hand the call over to Leslie Shoemaker to discuss Tetra Tech's differentiated leadership in the water and environmental sector.

我真的很高興與大家分享本季的這些結果。我要感謝您的支持。現在我將把電話轉給 Leslie Shoemaker，討論 Tetra Tech 在水和環境領域的差異化領導地位。

Thank you, Steve. Hello. My name is Leslie Shoemaker, and I've spent over 30 years with Tetra Tech in the research and development of watershed simulation, watershed protection studies and the advancement of our Tetra Tech Delta offerings across the company.

謝謝你，史蒂夫。你好。我叫 Leslie Shoemaker，在 Tetra Tech 工作了 30 多年，致​​力於流域模擬的研發、流域保護研究以及整個公司 Tetra Tech Delta 產品的改進。

Tetra Tech's pure-play focus on water and environment has differentiated us from the very beginning. Since our founding in 1966, we have developed first-of-a-kind solutions for the entire water cycle and then provided our clients with practical implementation at scale. Tetra Tech has set the standard for water analytics from the earliest simulation of flood protection structures to our industry-leading models of watershed behavior that have protected over 100,000 critical water bodies worldwide.

Tetra Tech 對水和環境的純粹關注使我們從一開始就與眾不同。自 1966 年成立以來，我們為整個水循環開發了首創的解決方案，然後為客戶提供了大規模的實際實施。 Tetra Tech 為水分析制定了標準，從最早的防洪結構模擬到業界領先的流域行為模型，這些模型已保護了全球超過 100,000 個關鍵水體。

It is this work, Leading with Science and scaling solutions across government and commercial clients that has led to our rapid growth and the #1 ranking that Tetra Tech has held in water for 20 consecutive years as well as #1 rankings in water treatment, hydro and environment.

正是這項工作，以科學為主導，並為政府和商業客戶提供擴展解決方案，使我們實現了快速成長，並讓Tetra Tech 連續20 年在水領域排名第一，並在水處理、水力發電領域排名第一。和環境。

So Tetra Tech works across the full water cycle in 4 major phases. We think of it as research and development, followed by climate and watershed work, water treatment and then flood protection and navigation.

因此，Tetra Tech 在整個水循環中分為 4 個主要階段。我們將其視為研究和開發，然後是氣候和流域工作、水處理，然後是防洪和航行。

Our water work represents approximately 85% of our annual revenue or approximately $4.25 billion of revenue distributed across our 4 distinct water cycle phases. In the research and development phase, the smallest in revenue, but the most important in the work that we do, working side-by-side with our clients to investigate new contaminants, unlock the impact of climate on water quality and even decipher the root causes of degradation of essential water bodies. It's this research that actually helps drive us to new opportunities and new research that can provide the climate and watershed phase with the new ideas.

我們的水務工作約占我們年收入的 85%，分佈在 4 個不同水循環階段的收入約 42.5 億美元。在研發階段，收入最小，但在我們所做的工作中卻是最重要的，與客戶並肩工作，調查新的污染物，解開氣候對水質的影響，甚至破解根源重要水體退化的原因。正是這項研究實際上幫助我們找到了新的機會和新的研究，可以為氣候和流域階段提供新的想法。

In the climate and watershed phase, at $2 billion in revenue a year, by far the largest phase of our services, we scale these ideas into practical solutions. Applying our analytical and software solutions on large regional programs like the Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico as well as essential water bodies worldwide.

在氣候和分水嶺階段，我們將這些想法轉化為實際的解決方案，每年收入達到 20 億美元，這是迄今為止我們服務的最大階段。將我們的分析和軟體解決方案應用於切薩皮克灣、五大湖和墨西哥灣等大型區域專案以及全球重要水體。

Now, increasing variability in climate has also further increased the demand for our risk-based analysis of watershed behavior and the science underpinning specific design solutions to adapt to these changes. Our Leading with Science approach has also built our Tetra Tech Delta solutions that differentiate us. It's the ability to leverage new technology and apply it at scale that has been the hallmark of Tetra Tech's success.

現在，氣候變遷的加劇也進一步增加了對流域行為基於風險的分析以及支持適應這些變化的具體設計解決方案的科學的需求。我們以科學引領的方法也建立了 Tetra Tech Delta 解決方案，使我們脫穎而出。利用新技術並大規模應用的能力一直是 Tetra Tech 成功的標誌。

Today, we are scaling water solutions by providing new data platforms that make the application of artificial intelligence practical and useful in managing water-related risk. The research and development we do and the scalable solutions we provide are the flywheel of our success in the water market.

今天，我們透過提供新的​​數據平台來擴展水解決方案，使人工智慧的應用在管理水相關風險方面變得實用且有用。我們所做的研究和開發以及我們提供的可擴展解決方案是我們在水市場取得成功的飛輪。

I'll now turn it over to Jill to speak to the other phases of the water cycle.

現在我將把它交給吉爾來談談水循環的其他階段。

Thank you, Leslie. Although you may primarily know me as Tetra Tech's President, I have spent most of my 25 years with Tetra Tech designing advanced water treatment facilities. I've led the design of 15 desalination programs and developed a deep passion for our digital water services using data and digital technologies to create value for our clients. Tetra Tech is the market leader with $1 billion in water supply and treatment revenue for municipal, commercial and federal clients. We provide high-end engineering and consulting services for advanced treatment for drinking water, optimization of sewer networks and water reuse.

謝謝你，萊斯利。雖然您可能主要以 Tetra Tech 的總裁身份認識我，但我在 Tetra Tech 工作的 25 年中大部分時間都在設計先進的水處理設施。我領導了 15 個海水淡化專案的設計，並對利用數據和數位技術為客戶創造價值的數位水務服務產生了濃厚的熱情。 Tetra Tech 是市場領導者，為市政、商業和聯邦客戶提供 10 億美元的供水和處理收入。我們為飲用水深度處理、污水管網優化和中水回用提供高端工程和諮詢服務。

Tetra Tech designs first-of-their-kind water treatment programs for PFAS removal, desalination and potable reuse including our award-winning Orange County Water District PFAS program, which includes the largest PFAS treatment facility of its kind in the U.S.

Tetra Tech 設計了第一個用於 PFAS 去除、海水淡化和飲用水再利用的水處理項目，其中包括我們屢獲殊榮的橘郡水區 PFAS 項目，其中包括美國同類中最大的 PFAS 處理設施。

Continuing with the water cycle, Tetra Tech is the industry leader with $1 billion in flood protection and navigation revenue for state, local and federal clients. This phase of our water work includes planning, permitting and design for dams, levees and locks, including Tetra Tech's design of the largest surge barrier ever constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers.

繼續水循環領域，Tetra Tech 是行業領導者，為州、地方和聯邦客戶帶來了 10 億美元的防洪和導航收入。這一階段的水務工作包括水壩、堤防和水閘的規劃、許可和設計，其中包括 Tetra Tech 設計的陸軍工程兵部隊有史以來建造的最大的防浪湧屏障。

We are also a market leader for designing solutions that help communities adapt to the increased frequency of flood events. Tetra Tech is the leader in all 4 phases of the water cycle while many of our competitors perform work that is limited to only 1 or 2 parts of the water cycle.

我們也是設計解決方案的市場領導者，幫助社區適應日益頻繁的洪水事件。 Tetra Tech 是水循環所有 4 個階段的領導者，而我們的許多競爭對手的工作僅限於水循環的 1 或 2 個部分。

When we discuss market drivers for the water cycle, a lot of airtime has been given to new federal infrastructure funding from the IIJA, IRA and the CHIPS and Science Act. Clients across all of our end markets are benefiting from multiple state, local and commercial funding opportunities, sometimes augmented by federal government funding like the IIJA.

當我們討論水循環的市場驅動因素時，大量的報告涉及來自 IIJA、IRA 以及 CHIPS 和科學法案的新聯邦基礎設施資金。我們所有終端市場的客戶都受益於多個州、地方和商業融資機會，有時還得到 IIJA 等聯邦政府資金的支持。

Leslie spoke to Tetra Tech's early water cycle position in client-funded research and development. Our federal clients such as the Department of Defense, NASA and NOAA distribute more than $100 billion in annual funding for research and development.

Leslie 談到了 Tetra Tech 在客戶資助的研發方面的早期水循環地位。我們的聯邦客戶（例如國防部、NASA 和 NOAA）每年分配超過 1000 億美元的研發資金。

Market drivers for Tetra Tech watershed protection and restoration projects include an estimated $380 billion spend for emerging contaminant removal from global watersheds as well as site-specific environmental restoration programs such as the estimated $1.8 billion cleanup program for the Passaic River.

Tetra Tech 流域保護和恢復項目的市場驅動因素包括估計花費 3800 億美元用於全球流域新興污染物清除以及特定地點的環境恢復計劃，例如估計 18 億美元的帕賽克河清理計劃。

Tetra Tech's water utility clients fund their programs through a combination of established sources. These include user fee revenues, debt financing and tax receipts. These are sometimes supplemented by federal funding or loan programs. For example, the GBP 96 billion U.K. water AMP8 program will be funded through user fee revenues and debt financing. While the $1 billion Texas Water Fund has been funded 100% through state appropriation.

Tetra Tech 的水務公司客戶透過結合現有資源為其專案提供資金。其中包括使用費收入、債務融資和稅收。這些有時會得到聯邦資助或貸款計劃的補充。例如，價值 960 億英鎊的英國水 AMP8 計畫將透過用戶費用收入和債務融資提供資金。而10億美元的德州水基金則100%來自州撥款。

Climate change and multiple $1 billion extreme storm events continue to drive demand for Tetra Tech's high-end flood protection and navigation services. The state of Florida estimates a $4 billion spend to protect Florida's coast from sea level rise, and the state of California is investing $1.5 billion for modernizing the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

氣候變遷和多次價值 10 億美元的極端風暴事件繼續推動對 Tetra Tech 高端防洪和導航服務的需求。佛羅裡達州估計將花費 40 億美元來保護佛羅裡達海岸免受海平面上升的影響，加州將投資 15 億美元對洛杉磯和長灘港口進行現代化改造。

And now I'd like to turn the presentation back to Dan.

現在我想把演講轉回給丹。

Great. Thank you very much, Jill, and thank you, Leslie, for going over our position and our differentiation within the entire water market, specifically the entire water cycle.

偉大的。非常感謝您，吉爾，感謝您，萊斯利，感謝您回顧了我們在整個水市場（特別是整個水循環）中的地位和差異化。

As we enter the election cycle here in the United States, we received quite a few questions recently about how Tetra Tech's business may [be impacted] by the outcome of the United States presidential election coming up this next November. Tetra Tech's U.S. federal clients represent about 30% of the overall company's revenues. And they're distributed pretty evenly across the Department of Defense, civilian agencies and USAID with the U.S. State Department.

隨著美國進入選舉週期，我們最近收到了很多關於 Tetra Tech 業務可能如何受到明年 11 月美國總統選舉結果影響的問題。 Tetra Tech 的美國聯邦客戶約占公司總收入的 30%。他們相當均勻地分佈在國防部、民事機構、美國國際開發署和美國國務院。

I'd just like to start with each of these components to walk through them briefly and how we see there would be an impact, depending on which administration may be in place when we come to the outcome of the election this November.

我只想從每個組成部分開始，簡要介紹它們，以及我們如何看待它們會產生的影響，這取決於當我們得出今年 11 月的選舉結果時，可能會是哪個政府。

So I'll start with the approximately 10% of our revenues from defense that are likely to have stable growth under the current administration or an increase under a Republican administration and typically have a high priority with either political party due to their essential need to support national security.

因此，我將從大約 10% 的國防收入開始，這些收入在現任政府領導下可能會穩定增長，或者在共和黨政府領導下有所增加，並且通常會受到任一政黨的高度重視，因為他們需要支持國家安全。

The second area or the second 10%. Our civilian agency programs are largely essential. For example, the services that we provide to our largest civilian client, Federal Aviation Administration. Air traffic programs are just not optional, and they require consistent funding and have bipartisan support, and we really see no impact on the growth and the funding that we have in these areas of civilian programs.

第二個區域或第二個10%。我們的民事機構計劃在很大程度上至關重要。例如，我們為最大的民用客戶聯邦航空管理局提供的服務。空中交通計畫不是可選的，它們需要持續的資金並得到兩黨的支持，我們確實認為這些民間計畫領域的成長和資金不會受到影響。

Now USAID or the U.S. State Department, does have the potential to be impacted by a change in administration. But it is interesting the timing of the impact that we've seen historically is highly tempered by the long duration of contract awards that we have. When we go to international locations, these contracts are typically 5 to 10 years long and have a direct linkage to national security interest. So they're not as discretionary as many might consider.

現在美國國際開發署或美國國務院確實有可能受到政府更迭的影響。但有趣的是，我們歷史上所看到的影響的時機受到我們所擁有的長期合約授予期限的極大影響。當我們去國際各地時，這些合約通常為期 5 至 10 年，並且與國家安全利益直接相關。因此，它們並不像許多人想像的那樣隨意。

Of course, that's the 10% for each of these, the 30%, but the remaining 70% of our revenues that are not associated with the U.S. federal government are comprised of commercial, state and local and international work, which we see relatively unaffected by the outcome of any U.S. presidential election. So regardless of the administration elected, we see Tetra Tech's federal revenues up on a collective basis, either from continued increase in funding under a Democratic administration or through an increase in the outsourcing of government services under a Republican administration.

當然，這就是其中每一項的 10%，即 30%，但我們其餘 70% 的收入與美國聯邦政府無關，由商業、州、地方和國際工作組成，我們認為這些工作相對不受影響任何美國總統選舉的結果。因此，無論選出哪屆政府，我們都認為 Tetra Tech 的聯邦收入總體上有所增加，無論是由於民主黨政府領導下資金的持續增加，還是共和黨政府領導下政府服務外包的增加。

I'd now like to present our guidance for the second quarter and our increased guidance for fiscal year 2024. First, for the second quarter of fiscal year 2024, our net revenue guidance is for a range of $990 million to $1.04 billion with an associated diluted earnings per share of $1.25 to $1.35 per share. For the entire year, our increased net revenue guidance is for a range of 1 -- sorry, $4.15 billion to $4.3 billion with an associated diluted earnings per share of $5.90 to $6.20.

我現在想介紹我們對第二季度的指導以及我們對 2024 財年增加的指導。首先，對於 2024 財年第二季度，我們的淨收入指導範圍為 9.9 億美元至 10.4 億美元，相關的稀釋後每股收益為1.25 美元至1.35 美元。對於全年，我們增加的淨收入指引範圍為 1——抱歉，41.5 億美元至 43 億美元，相關稀釋後每股收益為 5.90 美元至 6.20 美元。

And I would note, and if you take a look at the midpoint on the graph, if you're following along on the webcast, this does represent a net revenue increase at a midpoint of 13% over a record high fiscal year 2023 and a midpoint of 19% over our GAAP earnings of 2023 to the midpoint of the guidance I've just shared.

我要指出的是，如果你看一下圖表的中點，如果你關注網絡廣播，這確實代表淨收入比 2023 財年創歷史新高的中點增長了 13%，並且比我們2023 年GAAP 收益的中點高出19%，達到我剛剛分享的指導的中點。

Now, we do have assumptions on the webcast that you can see here. For the entire year, we do anticipate intangible amortization of a total of $44 million or $0.59 per share, and we provided on the presentation a breakdown of those charges per quarter and that are included in our guidance. We do estimate a 27% effective tax rate for the year and approximately 54 million diluted shares outstanding.

現在，我們確實對網路廣播做出了假設，您可以在此處看到。對於全年，我們預計無形攤銷總額為 4400 萬美元，即每股 0.59 美元，我們在演示文稿中提供了每季度這些費用的細目，這些費用已包含在我們的指導中。我們預計今年的有效稅率為 27%，攤薄後流通股數約為 5,400 萬股。

In summary, as we begin fiscal year 2024, we see strong demand for our differentiated Leading with Science services in both the water and the environmental markets. Our first quarter results set new records for revenue and profitability that we've shared with you today. And our strategic focus on the entire pure-play water and environmental services markets are continuing to drive strong margin performance and long-term growth. And I'm pleased to have shared with you today that we've raised our entire fiscal year 2024 guidance for both net revenue and earnings per share.

總之，隨著 2024 財年的開始，我們看到水和環境市場對我們差異化的科學領先服務的強勁需求。我們今天與您分享的第一季業績創下了收入和盈利能力的新紀錄。我們對整個純水和環境服務市場的策略重點將繼續推動強勁的利潤表現和長期成長。我很高興今天與大家分享，我們提高了 2024 財年淨收入和每股收益的指導值。

And with that, Paul, I would like to open the call up for questions.

保羅，我現在想開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is from Tim Mulrooney with William Blair.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題是 Tim Mulrooney 和 William Blair 提出的。

I have 2 this morning on the guide. The first one, it looks like you raised the midpoint of your full year guidance range for net revenue by about $75 million. We noticed you beat the first quarter by about $40 million. So you raised the full year by more than you beat the first quarter. Can you just talk about what's driving that confidence? What businesses are seeing strong demand or that you're excited about as you head into 2024?

今天早上我在指南上有 2 個。第一個，看起來您將全年淨收入指導範圍的中點提高了約 7500 萬美元。我們注意到您比第一季獲利了約 4000 萬美元。所以你全年的成長超過了第一季的成長。您能談談是什麼推動了這種信心嗎？進入 2024 年，哪些企業需求強勁或讓您感到興奮？

Great question, Tim, and thank you for noticing that our raise was much more than our beat in the first quarter. I would like to point out that a few of the examples I gave in our backlog commentary that had added to our contract capacity of $25 billion, I commented on our new win with the Army Corps of Engineers of $800 million, I commented on our U.K. single award at over $100 million. And in fact, we included on our backlog sheet in the presentation, a full tabulation of new awards. And what I would comment on those based on the way that Tetra Tech tracks and reports its backlog, these are new contract wins that have gone into our contract capacity and yet don't even show up in our backlog or revenue. And the first quarter, while our -- while we did book $1.2 billion in new orders that were added to our backlog, I'll tell you it's not nearly representative of how much new work we won in the quarter.

提姆，這是一個很好的問題，感謝您注意到我們的加薪遠遠超過了第一季的表現。我想指出的是，我在積壓評論中給出的一些例子增加了我們 250 億美元的合約能力，我評論了我們與陸軍工程兵團取得的 8 億美元的新勝利，我評論了我們的英國單項獎金超過1億美元。事實上，我們在簡報中的積壓工作表中包含了新獎項的完整清單。我對那些基於 Tetra Tech 跟踪和報告其積壓訂單的方式的評論是，這些是新贏得的合同，這些合同已經進入我們的合同容量，但甚至沒有出現在我們的積壓訂單或收入中。第一季度，雖然我們確實預訂了 12 億美元的新訂單，這些訂單已添加到我們的積壓訂單中，但我會告訴您，這並不能代表我們在本季度贏得的新工作量。

And so a number of these new very large programs we won really across the United States with many programs with the federal government, state, local and others, both in the U.K. and Australia being the primary large awards, are going to begin contributing to revenue as we move through the rest of the year.

因此，我們在美國各地贏得了許多新的大型項目，其中包括聯邦政府、州、地方和其他政府的許多項目，在英國和澳大利亞都是主要的大型獎項，這些項目將開始為收入做出貢獻當我們度過今年剩下的時間時。

So I think that with the new records of our backlog hitting new all-times high is pretty clear to us, particularly with single awards that are going to be executed solely by Tetra Tech for these clients and the new synergies that we're seeing with RPS. We see that things are going to continue to build based on actual awards, not just a feeling or some insight that things are getting better. We've got tangible awards, new clients and new programs starting up that will begin to contribute as we move through the year.

因此，我認為，我們的積壓訂單創下歷史新高的新記錄對我們來說非常清楚，特別是由 Tetra Tech 為這些客戶單獨執行的單一獎項以及我們所看到的新協同效應RPS。我們看到，事情將繼續基於實際的獎項而發展，而不僅僅是事情正在變得更好的感覺或一些洞察力。我們已經獲得了切實的獎項、新客戶和啟動的新項目，這些項目將在我們度過這一年的過程中開始做出貢獻。

So it's really those items that have come together to cause us to raise the outlook for the year even more than we had in the first quarter. And by the way, you see the growth rates in the upper 30%. Just adding those numbers, we felt it was even better than that.

因此，正是這些因素共同促使我們比第一季提高了今年的預期。順便說一句，您會看到 30% 以上的成長率。只要加上這些數字，我們就覺得它比那更好。

Interesting. Okay. Very clear. Staying on this idea about the guide, I just wanted to ask, I mean it looks like you raised the full year EPS guide by about $0.15 at the midpoint, which is greater than what we would have expected from the increase in your revenue guide. I think that implies that you're expecting some stronger margins this year. Can you just also talk about what kind of higher-margin work that you're doing, which I assume is differentiated, that's maybe helping drive that guide?

有趣的。好的。非常清楚。繼續關於該指南的想法，我只是想問，我的意思是，看起來您將全年 EPS 指南中點提高了約 0.15 美元，這高於我們對收入指南增長的預期。我認為這意味著您預計今年的利潤率會更高。您能否也談談您正在做的哪種高利潤工作，我認為這是有區別的，這可能有助於推動該指南？

Yes, that's a really good question. I think if you followed Tetra Tech for a number of years, you've seen we've continued to shape the business by moving more and more to the front end of the services of work we provide for our clients. And I know that we're quite often discussed that we do consulting and engineering work, but I would put a very large C on the consulting and maybe a lower E on the engineering because the work that we're providing is earlier and earlier by our scientists, our technical professionals and engineers. But it's not necessarily for general engineering support, it's more and more for consulting, being thought leaders, which allow us to have higher billing rates for the very differentiated individuals that -- really, there isn't many that exist in the different markets we have.

是的，這是一個非常好的問題。我認為，如果您關注 Tetra Tech 多年，您將看到我們透過越來越多地轉向為客戶提供的工作服務的前端來繼續塑造業務。我知道我們經常討論我們做諮詢和工程工作，但我會在諮詢上放一個很大的 C，在工程上可能放一個較低的 E，因為我們提供的工作越來越早我們的科學家、技術專家和工程師。但這不一定是為了一般的工程支持，它越來越多地用於諮詢，成​​為思想領袖，這使我們能夠為非常差異化的個人提供更高的計費率——實際上，在我們不同的市場中存在的人並不多。有。

So our average charge-out rates are actually going up as we move to the earlier portion. And by the way, it's not that we're more expensive. We're providing more value than ever to our clients on their approaches and evaluations and outcome of their programs.

因此，隨著我們進入早期階段，我們的平均收費率實際上正在上升。順便說一句，這並不是說我們比較貴。我們為客戶的方法、評估和專案結果提供比以往更多的價值。

The second item, so I would say our average billing rate is going up, it's a more differentiated service and they carry slightly higher margins. So that's the differentiation between revenue coming in and margin. And I would say the second area is the use of the internal tools, digital tools we have that we utilize in the water cycle. You heard both Leslie and Jill speak to those. So as we do the work on a fixed price basis more efficiently, it's converting to higher margins. And so that's being helpful. And we're seeing that become a larger contribution.

第二項，所以我想說我們的平均計費率正在上升，這是一項更具差異化的服務，而且它們的利潤率略高。這就是收入和利潤之間的差別。我想說的第二個領域是內部工具的使用，我們在水循環中使用的數位工具。你聽到萊斯利和吉爾對那些人說話。因此，當我們在固定價格的基礎上更有效地開展工作時，它就會轉化為更高的利潤。所以這很有幫助。我們看到這將成為一個更大的貢獻。

And the final item that I would say is in its nascent phase. At the very beginning is -- I did get an early Christmas present this year -- it did come through December. And one of them was it was reported to me that Tetra Tech subscription services have actually seen an uptake. We do have them on our website, and these are areas where we've not had a "marketing" team out trying to sell these to clients, but we've had clients go to our website and actually subscribed for and put payments directly down on subscription services for the different software packages we have for managing watersheds, optimization for water treatment systems and other specialized services.

我要說的最後一個專案還處於起步階段。一開始是——今年我確實提前收到了一份聖誕禮物——它確實在十二月收到了。其中之一是據我報告，Tetra Tech 訂閱服務實際上已經有所成長。我們的網站上確實有它們，在這些領域我們沒有「行銷」團隊試圖將它們出售給客戶，但我們已經讓客戶訪問我們的網站並實際訂閱並直接付款關於我們用於管理流域、優化水處理系統和其他專業服務的不同軟體包的訂閱服務。

So I'm glad to see that actually begin to take a -- I don't know if I'd call it, certainly, it's an organic, but self-filling subscription revenues increasing, still quite small, but it does contribute to this margin expansion that you see that's reflected in our earnings increase for EPS for this year.

所以我很高興看到這實際上開始發生——我不知道我是否會這麼稱呼它，當然，這是一種有機的、但自我填充的訂閱收入的增長，雖然仍然很小，但它確實有助於您看到的這種利潤率擴張反映在我們今年每股收益的成長中。

That's interesting. I know that you're excited to see that gain some traction because it's harder at first to gain traction, but then it builds on itself. But I'll let the others -- a lot of questions I'd love to ask you after that, but I'll get back in the queue and let others ask questions.

那很有意思。我知道你很高興看到它獲得一些關注，因為一開始獲得關注比較困難，但隨後它會自行發展。但我會讓其他人——在那之後我很想問你們很多問題，但我會回到隊列中並讓其他人提問。

Our next question is from Sangita Jain with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Sangita Jain。

Dan, if I can ask you on -- you had some nice AMP8 and PFAS awards this quarter amongst the recent wins. Can you elaborate a little bit on how you're seeing the pace of these awards materialize? Are you still thinking of a slow ramp this year with the peak next year? Or is it happening a little bit faster?

Dan，我可以問您嗎？在本季度最近獲獎的項目中，您獲得了一些不錯的 AMP8 和 PFAS 獎項。您能否詳細說明一下您如何看待這些獎項的實現速度？您是否還在考慮今年緩慢成長，明年達到高峰？還是它發生得更快一點？

Well, I'll make a comment overall regarding a peak next year or late next year. We have spoken, and I think both I've spoken, I know Jill did on a previous quarterly call, that we expect the U.S. stimulus programs, particularly IIJA, to see a peak probably in late 2025, so a little over a year from now. But AMP8 is a United Kingdom or U.K.-wide asset management program for their water utilities and it's really unrelated to a peak of next year.

好吧，我將對明年或明年底的峰值做出總體評論。我們已經說過，而且我想我也說過，我知道吉爾在之前的季度電話會議上也說過，我們預計美國的刺激計劃，特別是 IIJA，可能會在 2025 年底達到頂峰，所以距離現在。但 AMP8 是英國或英國範圍內的水務公司資產管理計劃，它與明年的高峰確實無關。

So we see that this is going to continue the contracting for their AMP8 cycle, which is a 5-year cycle. It's just beginning here shortly. And maybe I can just have -- Jill is tracking this quite closely, both on IIJA, but more importantly, I'm really pleased to share with you that in the presentation to the client for United Utilities, Jill herself was over there all the way up until essentially Christmas Eve, the Friday before Christmas, participating in our presentation and making commitments to, in this case, our U.K. clients of United Utilities that will bring the best of all RPS has and the more than 50 years of technical leadership we hold here in the U.S. and bring all of those lessons learned to the U.K.

所以我們看到這將繼續他們的 AMP8 週期的承包，這是一個 5 年的週期。這裡才剛開始。也許我可以——吉爾在 IIJA 上非常密切地跟踪這一情況，但更重要的是，我真的很高興與您分享，在向聯合公用事業公司的客戶進行的演示中，吉爾本人就在那裡直到聖誕節前夕，即聖誕節前的星期五，參加我們的演示並向United Utilities 的英國客戶做出承諾，這將帶來RPS 的最佳優勢以及我們50 多年的技術領先地位在美國舉行並將所有這些經驗教訓帶到英國

And certainly, I think it's just the first of, I would hope, many different successes we have under the AMP program, but maybe I can have Jill say a few words to this.

當然，我希望這只是我們在 AMP 計劃下取得的許多不同成功中的第一個，但也許我可以讓吉爾對此說幾句話。

Yes. Thanks, Dan. And great question, Sangita, on AMP8 U.K water. Although the AMP8 funding cycle officially starts in April 2025, what we're seeing is multiple U.K. water clients going out for procurement to be ready and start the planning for the AMP8 water cycle. A lot of our existing contracts or frameworks as they call them in the U.K. are also being utilized to start the planning or acceleration for the historic AMP8 U.K. water spend, which I mentioned in my remarks, is GBP 96 billion, which is 2x the spend from AMP7.

是的。謝謝，丹。 Sangita，關於 AMP8 英國水的問題很好。儘管 AMP8 融資週期於 2025 年 4 月正式啟動，但我們看到多個英國水務客戶外出採購，為 AMP8 水循環做好準備並開始規劃。我們在英國所稱的許多現有合約或框架也被用來開始規劃或加速歷史性的 AMP8 英國水支出，我在發言中提到，該支出為 960 億英鎊，是支出的 2 倍來自 AMP7。

So we're very excited about bringing the resources and capabilities and client relationships of RPS, along with Tetra Tech's water industry leadership in both wastewater overflow reductions and high-end water management services that Leslie and I talked about earlier on the call.

因此，我們非常高興能夠引入 RPS 的資源、能力和客戶關係，以及 Tetra Tech 在減少廢水溢流和高端水管理服務方面的水產業領導地位，我和 Leslie 之前在電話會議上談到過這一點。

Great. That's very helpful. If I can ask one more. Dan, thank you for the breakdown on the elections and the possible outcomes. But if I can ask a more shorter-term question. It looks like we've avoided a shutdown, but there is still not that much clarity on passing a full budget. So does this continuation of a short-term CR situation hurt your line of sight into funding opportunities? Like at what point do we start to worry over the next several months if we don't get a full budget?

偉大的。這非常有幫助。如果我可以再問一個的話。丹，感謝您對選舉和可能結果的詳細介紹。但如果我可以問一個更短期的問題。看起來我們已經避免了政府關門，但通過完整的預算仍然沒有那麼明確。那麼，短期 CR 情況的持續是否會損害您對融資機會的視線？例如，如果我們沒有得到完整的預算，我們什麼時候開始擔心接下來的幾個月？

That's a really good question. And I've spoken to this, unfortunately, quite a few times over the past few years because of the bit of dysfunction in this funding process. I personally -- we here at Tetra Tech, I think an ongoing continuing resolution is a pretty good outcome. In fact, a really good outcome. So continuing resolution means that we agree to disagree and that we'll fund at the same level that existed a year before.

這是一個非常好的問題。不幸的是，由於融資過程中出現了一些功能障礙，我在過去幾年中多次談到這個問題。我個人認為，我們在 Tetra Tech，我認為持續不斷的解決方案是一個非常好的結果。事實上，這確實是一個很好的結果。因此，持續解決意味著我們同意不同意，並且我們將按照一年前的水平提供資金。

And the year before, 2023 was at record highs. And in fact, it allows the administration in this case, the Biden administration or the Democrats to further the priorities that they have with the appointees that they have in the different areas for executing strategies. Those do include priorities for a clean environment, for clean water, for mitigation of climate change or extreme flooding events in areas that are very much tailwinds as many of -- described it for us.

而前一年，2023 年則創下歷史新高。事實上，在這種情況下，它允許政府、拜登政府或民主黨進一步確定他們在不同領域的被任命者的優先事項，以執行策略。這些確實包括清潔環境、清潔水、緩解氣候變遷或極端洪水事件等方面的優先事項，正如許多人為我們所描述的那樣。

So a continuing resolution. I would just assume they do one continuing resolution between now and the end of the fiscal year or September 30 and that we don't have these various milestones where they do a continuing resolution. But I don't see that a CR actually has any negative impact for us. In fact, it's pretty favorable in a lot of different respects. We'll see how each one of these go that has -- they all have their own drama to the 11th hour before they approve them. But I don't see it as an issue.

所以一個持續的決議。我只是假設他們從現在到本財年結束或 9 月 30 日之間會制定一項持續解決方案，並且我們沒有在他們制定持續解決方案的這些不同里程碑中實現。但我不認為 CR 實際上對我們有任何負面影響。事實上，它在許多不同方面都相當有利。我們將看看其中每一個人的進展如何——他們都有自己的戲劇性，直到第 11 個小時才獲得批准。但我不認為這是一個問題。

The one thing I will comment on this, when I go back many years, the first time there was a shutdown. We were quite disappointed and surprised that "Really? You would really do this?" But this goes all the way back to Gingrich a number of years ago. But if you take a look at the more frequent threats and dysfunction that's taken place, we've become much more adept at working with our clients to have funding put in place so that we're well prepared for funding that's been already authorized, where we can work remotely outside of government facilities that might have temporary restrictions. And so we do think that the impact or short-term impact may be measured in a month or so, would be very de minimis with respect to impact to our ongoing activities in the event that they actually do go through another one of these uncomfortable and unfortunate short-term shutdown.

我要對此發表評論的一件事是，當我回到很多年前，第一次出現關閉。我們感到非常失望和驚訝：“真的嗎？你真的會這麼做嗎？”但這可以追溯到幾年前的金里奇。但如果你看一下發生的更頻繁的威脅和功能障礙，我們已經變得更加善於與客戶合作以到位資金，以便我們為已經授權的資金做好充分準備，其中我們可以在可能有臨時限制的政府設施之外進行遠距工作。因此，我們確實認為，影響或短期影響可能會在一個月左右的時間內衡量，如果他們確實經歷了另一場令人不舒服和不愉快的事情，那麼對我們正在進行的活動的影響將是微乎其微的。不幸的短期關閉。

So I hate to say bring it on, I want to never go that far, but we're not uninformed or unaware about the different implications of what we can do as a company.

所以我不想說，繼續吧，我不想走那麼遠，但我們並不是不了解或不知道我們作為一家公司可以做的事情的不同影響。

Our next question is from Sabahat Khan with RBC Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自加拿大皇家銀行資本市場的 Sabahat Khan。

I guess you provided a bit of color earlier and as well as in the materials around the RPS integration so far and the margin uplift you've seen. Can you maybe talk about -- maybe some of the bigger contributors to that 600-basis point of margin improvement? And then maybe what are some of the bigger buckets that are still to go, which can maybe add to that margin profile over the next 1, 2 years? And maybe on the tail end of that, just like what are the longer-term things because I think the comment in the past has been RPS can do maybe even higher margins than legacy Tetra Tech. So I just want to -- if you can maybe lay out kind of the margin story on the acquired platform for us, so kind of the near to medium and long term, please?

我想您之前提供了一些顏色，以及迄今為止圍繞 RPS 集成的材料以及您所看到的利潤提升。您能否談談—也許一些對利潤率提高 600 個基點做出更大貢獻的因素？那麼，也許還有哪些更大的目標尚未實現，可能在未來 1、2 年內增加利潤率？也許在最後，就像更長期的事情一樣，因為我認為過去的評論是 RPS 可能比傳統的 Tetra Tech 獲得更高的利潤。所以我只是想 - 如果你能為我們在所收購的平台上闡述一些利潤故事，那麼近期、中期和長期，好嗎？

Yes. I'll kind of -- I'll go near, mid and long term, and I'll call it our Phase 1, 2 and 3. And Phase 1, which was really this last 1 year, so it was the first year they were with us. We were mostly focused on having them move their cost structure, I'll call it, cost synergies, which was mostly back office, moving to more efficient ERP systems, moving on to Tetra Tech. So the 600 basis points, I would say, was mostly associated with cost synergies, and that moved them from somewhere between 2% to 4% margin up to the 10% that we entered this year. So those were pretty discrete, finite.

是的。我會——我會進行近期、中期和長期，我稱之為我們的第一階段、第二階段和第三階段。第一階段，實際上是過去一年，所以這是第一年他們和我們在一起。我們主要關注的是讓他們改變成本結構，我稱之為成本協同效應，這主要是在後台，轉向更有效率的 ERP 系統，轉向 Tetra Tech。因此，我想說，600 個基點主要與成本協同效應有關，這使利潤率從 2% 到 4% 上升到我們今年進入的 10%。所以這些都是相當離散的、有限的。

We took about 2/3 of their entire operation, which is really U.K., and the U.S., very small U.S. portion and moved them onto our ERP system. So we are quite busy doing that. So I'd say we're 2/3 finished with that process on the cost side, and I'd call that most of what's Phase 1. So take the cost, takes us from -- that's the 600 basis points.

我們把他們整個業務的大約 2/3（實際上是英國）和美國（美國的一小部分）轉移到我們的 ERP 系統上。所以我們非常忙於這樣做。所以我想說，在成本方面，我們已經完成了該流程的 2/3，我將其稱為第一階段的大部分內容。因此，考慮成本，讓我們從 - 這就是 600 個基點。

Phase 2 is actually having them run on our systems, and it actually will yield from running their programs more similarly to Tetra Tech, changing the portfolio of contracts. I think one comment I've made before is we have addition through subtraction. And because the work that they've had in the past that is revenue that may not carry margins or carries unusual risk with respect to the type of contracting mechanism, we would look to have that exited from the business and not continue with that work. And that's why I would say that RPS on a revenue basis has been relatively flat from when we first acquired them. And in fact, some areas actually down, but the actual dollars contributed on an EBITDA basis and margin have gone up quite dramatically, and that's what you've seen.

第二階段實際上是讓它們在我們的系統上運行，並且實際上將透過與 Tetra Tech 更相似地運行它們的程式來產生收益，從而改變合約組合。我想我之前說過的一個評論是我們透過減法來進行加法。而且由於他們過去所做的工作是收入，可能不會帶來利潤或就承包機制的類型而言存在不尋常的風險，因此我們希望將其從業務中退出，而不是繼續進行這項工作。這就是為什麼我會說，從我們第一次收購它們時開始，以收入為基礎的 RPS 一直相對持平。事實上，有些領域實際上有所下降，但以 EBITDA 計算的實際美元和利潤率卻大幅上升，這就是您所看到的。

I think we're going to continue the portfolio shaping by having them focus on high-end differentiated services that will carry higher margins. And I believe that process along with revenue synergies is what Phase 2 is. And I think you saw -- we've seen it not in the revenue yet, but we've seen it in contract wins, which I've spoken to that helped drive our increase in our guidance for both top and bottom line. So I think this year, we'll watch them operationally, not from a cost synergies but operationally execute moving to higher end and move another 20% higher, so from 10% to 12% at the end of this year. And I think we're off to a really good start on that here in the first quarter.

我認為我們將繼續調整投資組合，讓他們專注於利潤率更高的高端差異化服務。我相信這個過程以及所得綜效就是第二階段。我想你已經看到了——我們還沒有在收入中看到這一點，但我們在贏得合約中看到了這一點，我已經說過這​​有助於推動我們增加對頂線和底線的指導。因此，我認為今年，我們將在營運上觀察它們，不是從成本協同效應的角度，而是在營運上向高端邁進，再提高 20%，即在今年年底從 10% 升至 12%。我認為我們在第一季有了一個非常好的開始。

Then I'll call Phase 3. Phase 3 is where we'll actually be executing work together with RPS seamlessly as one single company. We're going to move collectively to the high end and I do believe that RPS -- I do recognize that RPS does not have what I would call inherently lower margin work that we have that is cost plus with the federal government, which actually dampened some of the margins that we have. They have more consulting.

然後我將稱之為第 3 階段。第 3 階段是我們實際上作為一家公司與 RPS 無縫合作的階段。我們將集體走向高端，我確實相信 RPS——我確實認識到 RPS 沒有我所說的本質上較低利潤的工作，而我們擁有的是聯邦政府的成本加成，這實際上抑制了我們擁有的一些利潤。他們有更多的諮詢。

And I think as we grow this front-end consulting and advisory business they have, particularly the advisory business in Australia as an example, led by our division leader, Meegan Sullivan, who's just phenomenal and one of the leaders in the entire industry in that region, that I expect that will carry margins that are far higher than what we have at Tetra Tech. I'd say well over 15% that's going to help, I think, in this Phase 3 of Tetra Tech's overall margins up, and that's not even including the technologies that Tetra Tech is bringing with respect to the Delta technologies and subscription services.

我認為，隨著我們發展前端諮詢和諮詢業務，他們擁有，特別是澳大利亞的諮詢業務，以我們的部門領導梅根·沙利文（Meegan Sullivan）為首，他非常出色，是整個行業的領導者之一。我預計該地區的利潤率將遠高於我們 Tetra Tech 的利潤率。我認為，超過 15% 這將有助於 Tetra Tech 整體利潤率第三階段的成長，這甚至還不包括 Tetra Tech 為 Delta 技術和訂閱服務帶來的技術。

So the fundamental consulting revenues on the margins associated with that out of RPS, I think, in the Phase 3 that I think will be at 2025, if you want to move to it, you would call it a longer term, I think it's going to be very big contributions to the company.

因此，我認為，與 RPS 相關的利潤率的基本諮詢收入，在我認為將在 2025 年的第三階段，如果你想轉向它，你會稱之為長期，我認為它會持續下去。為公司做出非常大的貢獻。

Great. And then maybe sort of related to the kind of the improved utilization or improved margin side, can you maybe give some perspective on how the utilization for the combined business is trending? Were there opportunities to maybe improve the utilization at RPS? Just an understanding of how that's kind of going for the combined platform? And are you on track to -- maybe what your initial plan might have been for the combined business?

偉大的。然後，可能與利用率提高或利潤率提高有關，您能否對合併後業務的利用率趨勢給出一些看法？是否有機會提高 RPS 的利用率？只是了解合併平台的情況如何？您是否有望實現—也許您最初的合併業務計劃是什麼？

Well, I would say operationally, because we don't -- we at the legacy Tetra Tech, we don't differentiate operations from the collective activity. So when we've talked about 70% target, that's if you take the entire company's payroll and what we built. So I would say that in RPS, those that have migrated on to Tetra Tech's ERP system, we call it Tetralinx here. But the ERP system have actually seen the utilization go up and it's beginning to approach Tetra Tech's level. But we still have another 1/3 to go with respect to that transition.

嗯，我想說的是營運方面，因為我們在傳統的 Tetra Tech 中不區分營運和集體活動。因此，當我們談到 70% 的目標時，這是指如果你考慮整個公司的薪資單和我們建造的產品。所以我想說，在 RPS 中，那些已經遷移到 Tetra Tech 的 ERP 系統的人，我們在這裡稱之為 Tetralinx。但 ERP 系統的利用率實際上有所上升，並且開始接近 Tetra Tech 的水平。但我們還有另外 1/3 的時間來實現這一轉變。

And so they do have a lower utilization. Their systems are not as state-of-the-art as Tetra Tech. They're not on one complete common system. So they have a lot of integration activities that take place that bring down utilization. So I would say we've watched the RPS utilization move up to the Tetra Tech level throughout fiscal year 2024 as we remove the rest of -- as we move the rest of the company onto our platforms.

因此它們的利用率確實較低。他們的系統不像 Tetra Tech 那麼先進。它們不在一個完整的通用系統上。因此，他們進行了大量的整合活動，從而降低了利用率。因此，我想說，隨著我們將公司的其餘部分轉移到我們的平台上，我們在整個 2024 財年看到 RPS 利用率上升到 Tetra Tech 水平。

So Tetra Tech remains pretty highly utilized. I would say we're still up about 70% of what I'd call legacy Tetra Tech and by the way, to say the 2/3 of RPS has moved to our systems typically translates to a 13% to 14% EBITDA margin on a GAAP basis. I want to make clear, a GAAP basis. I would just make a comment for international investors if you use IFRS and if you use NSR, it's probably about a 6 percentage points or 600 basis points difference. So you can take our numbers and add 600 basis points if you want to compare it using some international standards.

因此，Tetra Tech 的利用率仍然相當高。我想說的是，我們仍然比我所說的傳統 Tetra Tech 的 70% 左右，順便說一句，2/3 的 RPS 已經轉移到我們的系統中，通常意味著 13% 到 14% 的 EBITDA 利潤率以公認會計準則為基礎。我想澄清一下，GAAP 基礎。我只想對國際投資者發表評論，如果你使用 IFRS，如果你使用 NSR，可能會有 6 個百分點或 600 個基點的差異。因此，如果您想使用一些國際標準進行比較，您可以將我們的數字加上 600 個基點。

But -- so I don't think RPS will get to our full utilization until the end of this year as we move them over and transfer them onto our ERP systems in the last 30% of their business. So that's sort of our timing and about the transition on the utilization staff.

但是，所以我認為，直到今年年底，RPS 才能充分利用，因為我們將其最後 30% 的業務轉移到我們的 ERP 系統上。這就是我們的時間安排以及利用人員的過渡。

Okay. Great. And if I could sneak in one more here. You alluded to some of the progress you're making with the digital subscription model and that tracking better than expected. Can you maybe just share some thoughts on sort of your outlook or strategy for that business. How big or meaningful could that be over the next 2, 3 years? And maybe what are you doing to support its growth? You indicated you're not doing much marketing now, but maybe just a plan for the next few years, if you can.

好的。偉大的。如果我能再偷偷溜進去一次就好了。您提到了您在數位訂閱模式方面取得的一些進展，並且追蹤情況比預期要好。您能否就該業務的前景或策略分享一些想法？在接下來的 2、3 年裡，這會產生多大的影響或意義？也許你正在做什麼來支持它的成長？您表示您現在沒有做太多行銷，但如果可以的話，也許只是未來幾年的計劃。

Well, I've spoken to some investors. And one thing they have pointed out to us is clearly you're not a software company. And I would say, "Boy, that's the truth." But that the very nature of the work that we're paid for by our clients to develop these software applications, I think Leslie Shoemaker spoke well to the funding on the research and development and software applications that were funded by our clients to develop. We typically retain the IP or the patents and trademarks and the technology itself. It has picked up, it has sort of taken a growth rate on its own, call it, organically growing without our pushing it.

嗯，我已經和一些投資者談過了。他們向我們指出的一件事是，你們顯然不是一家軟體公司。我會說：“孩子，這就是事實。”但是，我們的客戶支付我們開發這些軟體應用程式的工作的本質，我認為萊斯利·舒梅克（Leslie Shoemaker）很好地談到了由我們的客戶資助開發的研發和軟體應用程式的資金。我們通常保留智慧財產權或專利和商標以及技術本身。它已經開始回升，它在某種程度上以自己的速度成長，稱之為有機成長，無需我們推動。

I do want to -- it is growing well. We want to mature the software products a bit more, have a number of anchor clients that will become reference platforms that we use as we expand this to other clients. In fact, it is interesting, some of our anchor clients have referred it to other colleagues in the industry, state and local clients. That's what's picked up the subscription without our having gone out and market it. So we're -- maybe we're playing catch-up to our own growth.

我確實想要——它生長得很好。我們希望軟體產品更加成熟，擁有一些主力客戶，這些客戶將成為我們在將其擴展到其他客戶時使用的參考平台。事實上，有趣的是，我們的一些主要客戶已將其推薦給業界的其他同事、州和當地客戶。這就是我們沒有出去行銷就獲得訂閱的原因。所以我們——也許我們正在追趕我們自己的成長。

As far as visibility and talking about recurring subscriptions and all of the rest of the metrics that come along with subscription services, I expect to roll out somewhere between 5% to 10% of our overall earnings or EBITDA of the company. I think that would translate to $50 million to $100 million in revenue. We see it's about a 50% margin. And I've shared with others, I think selling the first 1,000 subscriptions -- although I'd say in some areas, we're well over that already. But selling the first 1,000 is, in some instance, more difficult than selling the next 100,000. And so we're in that first [formulaic] period. I'd like to say it's 1 to 2 years before we would hit our financially disclosing, tracking and sharing all of the individual metrics on this part of the business. And personally, my goal would be that it's a segment and that we have complete transparency with respect to all of the financial performance metrics or key performance indicators, the KPIs in that industry.

就可見性和談論定期訂閱以及訂閱服務附帶的所有其他指標而言，我預計將推出公司整體收益或 EBITDA 的 5% 到 10% 之間的內容。我認為這將轉化為 5,000 萬至 1 億美元的收入。我們看到利潤率約為 50%。我和其他人分享過，我認為銷售前 1,000 個訂閱——儘管我想說在某些領域，我們已經遠遠超過了這個目標。但在某些情況下，銷售前 1,000 件比銷售接下來的 100,000 件更困難。所以我們正處於第一個[公式化]時期。我想說的是，我們需要一到兩年的時間才能實現財務揭露、追蹤和分享這部分業務的所有單獨指標。就我個人而言，我的目標是它是一個細分市場，並且我們在該行業的所有財務績效指標或關鍵績效指標（KPI）方面具有完全的透明度。

So I don't think it's a 2024 full disclosure, but I would hope that maybe towards the end of 2025 we'll be at that level. And if we had it earlier, it's because we're able to play catch-up with respect to how this is growing on its own.

所以我不認為 2024 年會完全披露，但我希望也許到 2025 年底我們就能達到這個水準。如果我們更早做到這一點，那是因為我們能夠追趕它的自身成長方式。

Our next question is from Tate Sullivan with Maxim Group.

我們的下一個問題來自 Maxim Group 的 Tate Sullivan。

Okay. Great. And actually, a question for Jill on -- I think do -- you mentioned a PFAS treatment facility in the U.S. and was that the Orange County facility? And can you talk a bit about the PFAS opportunity in terms of how a lot of your orders started to be funded, please?

好的。偉大的。實際上，我想問吉爾一個問題，您提到了美國的一個 PFAS 治療設施，是奧蘭治縣的設施嗎？您能談談 PFAS 機會嗎？您的訂單是如何開始融資的？

Sure. Speaking directly to the -- my comments, our prepared comments, the Orange County Water District program actually includes multiple water treatment programs, multiple water treatment facilities, including the largest U.S. facility that I mentioned. So that really puts us at the forefront of municipal water opportunities and thought leadership and expertise.

當然。直接針對我的意見，我們準備好的意見，奧蘭治縣水區計劃實際上包括多個水處理計劃、多個水處理設施，包括我提到的美國最大的設施。因此，這確實使我們處於市政水務機會、思想領導和專業知識的最前沿。

Relative to our PFAS revenues, historically, we have had somewhere between $50 million and $60 million in annual revenues for PFAS work. That's predominantly been with Department of Defense and more in the characterization and remediation of water bodies. And as we contemplate or finalize federal-level regulations, I think we will see growing opportunities for state and local facilities, much like the Orange County Water District program.

相對於我們的 PFAS 收入，從歷史上看，我們 PFAS 工作的年收入在 5000 萬至 6000 萬美元之間。這主要是國防部的工作，更多的是水體的表徵和修復工作。當我們考慮或最終確定聯邦級法規時，我認為我們將看到州和地方設施的機會越來越多，就像奧蘭治縣水區計劃一樣。

And is that still a -- I think, a couple of presentations ago, you highlighted that just the U.S. PFAS market or maybe of $200 billion and is that part of the watershed market -- watershed management opportunity of $380 billion?

我想，在幾次演講之前，您強調了美國 PFAS 市場，或者可能是 2000 億美元，這是否仍然是分水嶺市場的一部分——3800 億美元的分水嶺管理機會？

Yes. Well, in -- the $380 billion refers to multiple emerging compounds. Tetra Tech is not just a leader on PFAS, but also in microplastics and pharmaceuticals and other emerging contaminants. So the $380 billion was the combination of multiple emerging compounds and the market that we see the -- you're correct, the $200 billion referred to, what we see as the PFAS market, not just for watershed protection and enhancement but also for future treatment opportunities on the municipal side.

是的。嗯，3800 億美元指的是多種新興化合物。 Tetra Tech 不僅是 PFAS 領域的領導者，而且還是微塑膠、藥物和其他新興污染物領域的領導者。因此，3800 億美元是多種新興化合物和我們所看到的市場的結合——你是對的，所提到的2000 億美元，我們所看到的PFAS 市場，不僅用於流域保護和增強，而且也用於未來市政的治療機會。

Is this opportunity moving faster than you expected or sort of as you expected? Or any delays in getting PFAS work, if you could summarize it?

這個機會的進展速度是否比您預期的要快，或者有點像您預期的那樣？或者 PFAS 工作有任何延誤嗎？您能總結一下嗎？

I would say, as expected, as Dan has commented on prior calls as well as myself, which is having spent my whole career in the water treatment arena, when our clients move forward on programs once there is a final regulation. And so until there is a final U.S. EPA regulation for PFAS, there's going to be continued conversation about the levels that utilities will be requested or required to treat to.

我想說，正如預期的那樣，正如丹對之前的電話以及我自己的評論一樣，我的整個職業生涯都在水處理領域，一旦最終法規出台，我們的客戶就會繼續推進專案。因此，在美國環保署針對 PFAS 制定最終法規之前，將會繼續討論公用事業公司將被要求或要求處理的程度。

And so I think it's as expected. It's going to mostly be on the watershed side for characterization until the final U.S. EPA regulations are established. And there will also be another -- at that point, another 24 months typically for compliance.

所以我認為這正如預期的那樣。在美國環保署最終法規制定之前，它主要是在分水嶺一側進行表徵。而且還會有另一個 - 到那時，通常還有 24 個月的合規期。

Okay. Great. And just one more to fit in, please either Dan or Steve, you mentioned -- you put a sentence in the press release about the repurchase capacity. Just how are you thinking about repurchases relative to acquisitions at this point a year on from RPS, please?

好的。偉大的。還有一個要補充的，請丹或史蒂夫，你提到的——你在新聞稿中放了一句話關於回購能力。一年後的此時，您如何看待 RPS 的回購與收購？

Yes. No, I think as many people noted and as we explained a little over 1.5 years ago as we were preparing for and figuring out the financing to do or to complete RPS, we put our share repurchases on hold. And as we've brought our leverage down to kind of the midpoint between our range, where we're starting to once again think about does that make sense from a capital allocation, a long-term value for our shareholders. So that is something that we are starting to think about now that we've paid that down quite a bit. And so that's why that's there.

是的。不，我認為正如許多人所指出的那樣，正如我們在 1.5 年前解釋的那樣，當我們準備並解決實施或完成 RPS 的融資時，我們暫停了股票回購。當我們將槓桿率降低到我們的範圍之間的中點時，我們開始再次思考這對資本配置是否有意義，對我們股東的長期價值是否有意義。所以這是我們現在開始考慮的事情，因為我們已經付出了相當多的代價。這就是為什麼會出現這樣的情況。

Our next question is from Andy Wittmann with Robert W. Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自安迪·魏特曼 (Andy Wittmann) 和羅伯特·W·貝爾德 (Robert W. Baird)。

I guess I'll just build on that last one and ask Dan. You mentioned that the M&A pipeline is strong. I'm just curious, as you look at the opportunities that are in that pipeline, are there larger deals in there that you would consider doing? I guess I asked that because I guess it's an implication if RPS is far enough along now that you're willing to do something else bigger that would take management time the way larger deals can typically do.

我想我會在最後一個問題的基礎上詢問丹。您提到併購通路很強大。我只是很好奇，當您審視該管道中的機會時，是否會考慮進行更大的交易？我想我問這個問題是因為我想如果 RPS 已經走得足夠遠，那麼這意味著您願意做其他更大的事情，而這些事情會像大型交易通常所做的那樣佔用管理時間。

That's a great question. I have said we've got an incredible track record of companies between 100 and 1,000 people. So if you'd ask what's our normal diet, we've had hundred people, 300 people, 500 people, 1,000 people. So that's been sort of our 1 to 2 acquisitions, 3 acquisitions a year in that size range. And then we've had a few that are larger. So we've had about 5, 6-plus years ago, Coffey in Australia, that rounded us out, that was a few thousand people, U.K. with White Young Green, 2,000, 3,000 people and then 5,000 people. So these have been every sort of 2 to 3 years. There are others out there that actually fit that are in this.

這是一個很好的問題。我說過我們在員工數量在 100 到 1,000 人之間的公司中擁有令人難以置信的業績記錄。所以如果你問我們的正常飲食是什麼，我們有一百人、三百人、五百人、一千人。因此，我們每年進行 1 到 2 次收購，在這個規模範圍內進行 3 次收購。然後我們有一些更大的。因此，大約五、六年多前，澳洲的科菲（Coffey）使我們更加完善，英國的白人青年綠（White Young Green）有數千人，2,000、3,000 人，然後是 5,000 人。所以這些已經有兩到三年了。還有其他一些實際上適合此內容的人。

I would say that the management's time -- and I would say that means my time and Steve's time is relatively de minimis with respect to RPS. This has moved into integration of execution within our operations. Actually, out of all of them, RPS arguably has gone the smoothest, it's the largest, but it's actually gone the smoothest with respect to each of the different areas. Our people are working together. And in many respects, they wouldn't know they haven't been here for a long, long period of time.

我想說，管理層的時間——我想說，這意味著我的時間和史蒂夫的時間相對於 RPS 來說是微不足道的。這已轉變為我們營運中執行的整合。事實上，在所有這些中，RPS 可以說是最順利的，它是最大的，但它實際上在每個不同的領域都是最順利的。我們的人民正在共同努力。從很多方面來說，他們都不知道自己已經很久沒有來到這裡了。

So I would say if there's something else at the size of RPS or larger, which means sort of $1 billion a year revenue, we're ready, and we've got the resources. And I will tell you that there'd be no inhibition whatsoever with respect to management's ability to manage it, integrate it and make it even more successful than either of the two entities were before they joined us. So we're up ready to go.

所以我想說，如果有其他東西達到 RPS 或更大的規模，這意味著每年 10 億美元的收入，我們已經準備好了，並且我們已經擁有了資源。我會告訴你，管理層管理它、整合它並使其比這兩個實體加入我們之前更成功的能力不會受到任何抑制。所以我們準備出發了。

Now with respect to does it actually going to happen, it needs to fit 2 criteria. It's got to fit our strategic -- maybe 3 criteria. It's got to fit our strategic direction. We're not going to start making shoes, and we're not going to compete with SpaceX. So we know what we do. We want to be the global leader as we are today, in water, environment, sustainable infrastructure. And we want to further the distance that we have with respect to our #1 ranking. So if they fit with that criteria strategically, they're in.

現在關於它是否真的會發生，它需要符合兩個標準。它必須符合我們的策略——也許有 3 個標準。它必須符合我們的策略方向。我們不會開始生產鞋子，也不會與 SpaceX 競爭。所以我們知道我們在做什麼。我們希望成為當今水、環境和永續基礎設施的全球領導者。我們希望進一步拉近與第一名的距離。因此，如果他們在戰略上符合該標準，他們就會加入。

Number two, culturally, we want people that are culturally aligned, that want to be front-end, best scientists and technical engineers that are differentiated by providing the best technical solutions to our clients, bar none.

第二，在文化上，我們希望員工在文化上保持一致，想要成為前端、最好的科學家和技術工程師，透過為我們的客戶提供最好的技術解決方案而脫穎而出，沒有之一。

They fit those 2 criteria, then we've got the last one, which Steve holds me to task all the time as it needs to make financial sense for the company, and it needs to be accretive for the company and to our shareholders so that it actually adds value to the financial structure of the corporation and support our returns to shareholders. So those are 1, 2, 3. There are companies out there that meet that but with respect to, are we still busy with RPS or anything else, we're ready to go. And if we find the right opportunities, we will make them actionable.

他們符合這兩個標準，然後我們得到了最後一個標準，史蒂夫一直要求我完成這個任務，因為它需要對公司具有財務意義，並且需要為公司和我們的股東帶來增值，以便它實際上為公司的財務結構增加了價值，並支持我們對股東的回報。所以這些是 1、2、3。有些公司可以滿足這項要求，但就我們是否仍在忙於 RPS 或其他任何事情而言，我們已經準備好了。如果我們找到合適的機會，我們將使它們付諸實踐。

But I'd like Steve's comments, so we did include it here with intent. We have no -- there's no intent for the company to move its leverage down to sub-1%. If we don't find the right entities that we will take action on, we're going to deploy the capital back to our shareholders either through dividends or buybacks in the event that we don't have a strategic entity through M&A to join the company. So we are going to use our capital allocation to ensure that it goes back to shareholders.

但我想要史蒂夫的評論，所以我們特意將其包含在這裡。我們沒有——公司無意將其槓桿率降至 1% 以下。如果我們找不到合適的實體來採取行動，如果我們沒有透過併購建立策略實體來加入，我們將透過股利或回購的方式將資本部署回我們的股東。公司。因此，我們將利用我們的資本配置來確保其返還給股東。

That was a thorough answer. I guess I'm going to ask for just another kind of angle on that one just because I haven't asked it before or at least in a while, but there's been private equity that has moved into the consulting and the environmental consulting space. I think today, more than we've seen in the last while, some pretty highly regarded companies. I'm just curious, as they look to transact, while you've never been an auction buyer, a buyer from a banker, are these companies candidates, do you think? Or could they be a good fit inside of Tetra Tech? I'm just kind of curious as to your thought process on that now that the company has grown -- your company has grown to a larger size.

這是一個徹底的答案。我想我會要求從另一個角度來看待這個問題，因為我以前或至少有一段時間沒有問過這個問題，但已經有私募股權公司進入了諮詢和環境諮詢領域。我認為今天，比我們過去一段時間看到的更多的一些非常受推崇的公司。我只是好奇，當他們尋求交易時，雖然你從來不是拍賣買家，銀行家的買家，但你認為這些公司是候選人嗎？或者它們是否適合 Tetra Tech 內部？我只是對你的思考過程感到好奇，因為公司已經發展壯大——你的公司已經發展到更大的規模。

Yes. It's a really good question. I've had the great fortune -- good fortune to have been in this industry for a while. And I do recall that it seems like yesterday, when the only thing PE ever stood for was a professional engineering license. We didn't know that was private equity in a million years. That's changed. Nowadays, it wouldn't -- nobody knows that PE stands for professional engineering, it's only private equity.

是的。這是一個非常好的問題。我很幸運——很幸運能夠在這個行業工作一段時間。我確實記得，PE 唯一代表的就是專業工程許可證，這一切彷彿就在昨天。一百萬年後我們才知道這就是私募股權。那已經改變了。如今，不會了——沒有人知道PE代表專業工程，它只是私募股權。

Now the thing I've seen over the past few years, it's remarkable. That if you go back, pre the increased interest rates, I don't want to wander too far on this, but there was no cost of capital. They could lever up 8x, 9x. I saw some private equities go to 10x. They required management teams to roll over 40%. So buying these companies essentially with no out-of-pocket dollars. But I've seen in the past 2 or 3 years, that changed dramatically. Rollover dollars have become less. The leverage has become smaller, maybe down to 6x or even less. And what's happened is I think that some private equity who are not equity entities that are not as familiar with this industry may have overpaid dramatically.

現在我過去幾年所看到的事情，是非常了不起的。如果你回到升息之前，我不想在這個問題上走得太遠，但沒有資本成本。他們可以將槓桿提高 8 倍、9 倍。我看到一些私募股權的價格上漲了 10 倍。他們要求管理團隊滾動股份超過 40%。因此，購買這些公司基本上不需要自掏腰包。但我看到在過去的兩三年裡，情況發生了巨大的變化。展期資金變得更少。槓桿變得更小，可能降至6倍甚至更低。我認為發生的情況是，一些不熟悉這個行業的非股權實體的私募股權公司可能付出了巨大的代價。

And in fact, based on the -- and you're going to see it through all sorts of different metrics, if you're in the industry, I could take it off-line and go into all the details, you'd see what those are. And I think they may end up having to break up and sell components and look for more, what I would call appropriate valuations that would make it attractive for us.

事實上，基於——你會透過各種不同的指標看到它，如果你在這個行業，我可以把它離線並深入研究所有細節，你會看到那些是什麼。我認為他們最終可能不得不拆分並出售組件並尋找更多組件，我稱之為適當的估值，這將使其對我們有吸引力。

Now, I think they'll try auctions, but I've actually seen management's team say that I don't want to go to X. So I'm also seeing management teams interact with private equity to actually have us say where they go. And when a company has a say where they want to go for a career, nobody is a better destination than Tetra Tech, period. And I think it can be a win-win for the shareholders, we can actually help out private equity where they need to monetize portions of an overpaid investment and it could be good for Tetra Tech.

現在，我認為他們會嘗試拍賣，但我實際上看到管理團隊說我不想去 X。所以我也看到管理團隊與私募股權公司互動，實際上讓我們說出他們要去哪裡。當一家公司對自己的職涯發展方向有發言權時，沒有人比 Tetra Tech 更好的目的地了。我認為這對股東來說是雙贏的，我們實際上可以幫助私募股權公司將部分超額投資貨幣化，這對 Tetra Tech 來說可能是件好事。

So a straight-up auction where you pay a higher number because they want to flip it and yield some large return, that may not be as viable as it was when interest rates were sub-1%. So maybe a little bit more detail than you were looking at, but it does reflect the perspective we have here at Tetra Tech.

因此，在直接拍賣中，你支付更高的價格，因為他們想翻轉它並產生一些大的回報，這可能不像利率低於 1% 時那樣可行。因此，可能比您看到的更詳細一些，但它確實反映了我們 Tetra Tech 的觀點。

I appreciate the context and thanks for indulging on that one. Just a technical question, maybe Steve, for you to wrap up for me. Can you quantify the amount of Ukraine net revenue in the quarter as well as any contribution that you expected from Ukraine in the second quarter guidance?

我很欣賞這個背景，並感謝您沉迷於此。只是一個技術問題，也許是史蒂夫，請你幫我總結。您能否量化烏克蘭本季的淨收入以及您預計烏克蘭在第二季指導下的貢獻？

Yes. In the last quarter, it was probably right around $75 million is what came in from Ukraine. And that was...

是的。上個季度，來自烏克蘭的收入可能約為 7,500 萬美元。那是...

That's gross or net revenue? Sorry.

這是毛收入還是淨收入？對不起。

Net. And that was about $35 million more than what we had expected going into the quarter just because there was quite a few contracts that were won late after we released earnings.

網。這比我們對本季的預期高出約 3500 萬美元，因為在我們發布收益後，有相當多的合約是稍後贏得的。

Got it. And then is there any expectation for second quarter revenue contribution from Ukraine?

知道了。那麼烏克蘭第二季的營收貢獻是否有預期？

Yes. There's -- we have contracts that are continuing, and that's included in our guidance. Now -- right around there, $20 million to $40 million-ish is our estimate.

是的。我們的合約仍在繼續，這已包含在我們的指導中。現在——我們估計大約在 2000 萬到 4000 萬美元左右。

Our last question is from Michael Dudas with Vertical Research Partners.

我們的最後一個問題來自垂直研究合作夥伴的邁克爾·杜達斯（Michael Dudas）。

Just quickly on your assessment, you talked a bit about it on the last call about renewable energy and some -- what's been going on with some of the volatility in that space. Maybe some updated thoughts as you assess in '24 -- through the lens of RPS and what you're doing internationally and some of the wind and offshore work that's been the kind of pushed and pulled here in North America.

就您的評估而言，您在上次電話會議上談到了一些有關可再生能源以及該領域的一些波動的情況。也許你在 24 年評估時會得到一些更新的想法——透過 RPS 的視角，以及你在國際上所做的事情，以及在北美這裡被推拉的一些風能和海上工作。

Yes, it's a really good question. I'll start with renewable energy overall for us is four big ones and, call it, one small one. So it's onshore wind, offshore wind, solar, hydro and a little bit of geothermal. So that's our -- that's primarily our truly renewable energy, a portfolio of areas that we're focused on. And no doubt, the supply chain, which is code for increased costs and availability of turbines, towers, labor, other items has gone up and has created some volatility, for sure. We've not really engaged that much on the on-site support of the construction activities. We do do compliance that they're meeting their environmental permits and water quality monitoring and things like this. So most of the work we're doing on the upfront permitting work. So it is interesting.

是的，這是一個非常好的問題。我將從再生能源開始，對我們來說，總體而言，再生能源分為四大類和一小類。包括陸上風能、離岸風能、太陽能、水力發電和一些地熱能。這就是我們的——主要是我們真正的再生能源，我們關注的領域組合。毫無疑問，供應鏈——渦輪機、塔架、勞動力和其他項目的成本和可用性增加的代碼——已經上升，並且肯定造成了一些波動。我們並沒有真正投入太多施工活動的現場支援。我們確實確保他們滿足環境許可和水質監測等要求。因此，我們所做的大部分工作都是在前期許可工作上。所以這很有趣。

We did support a number of the -- some of the programs that have actually been canceled or tabled and they're looking to sell them, or -- I don't know if I'd call the word offload, but provide them to other developers that it may make their financial measure better. And so that has given us a chance to do the work all over again. So what has been one project may turn into two projects or three projects if it rolls over again. So it is interesting on the upfront work. It's actually been pretty good for us, interestingly enough. I certainly don't want to say that a misfortune because of economic challenges for a developer turned into good fortune for us. But we do think that we can help the clients turn lemons into lemonade with respect to what was a difficult situation into something that can actually yield value through a different permitting process or changing the number of power generation locations.

我們確實支持了一些項目——一些項目實際上已經被取消或擱置，他們正在尋求出售它們，或者——我不知道我是否會稱之為“卸載”這個詞，但將它們提供給其他開發商認為這可能會改善他們的財務指標。這給了我們重新開始工作的機會。所以一個項目如果再滾動的話，可能會變成兩個項目、三個項目。所以前期工作很有趣。有趣的是，這對我們來說實際上非常好。我當然不想說開發商因經濟挑戰而遭受的不幸變成了我們的幸運。但我們確實認為，我們可以幫助客戶將檸檬變成檸檬水，將困難的情況轉變為可以透過不同的許可流程或改變發電地點數量實際產生價值的東西。

We've not seen that impact quite as much on solar. We've not seen hydro. It's a big item. As you know, hydro has generated about half of the overall renewable energy power generation across North America, about half of it comes just from hydro. I think the most recent number is like 44%. So that's gone well for us. And of course, the big push for environmental impacts associated with impacts to fisheries and others. Some have said taking TAMs down. You can hardly imagine the number of permitting technical evaluations, things with respect to fisheries, everything else, endangered species with respect to taking something down or what we are big advocate. I think it can be a win-win. We're doing a lot of work on hydro with fish passages. So how can you actually include or expand fish passages such that you can restore the habitat for fisheries while still maintaining power generation and flood control along major river systems across North America.

我們還沒有看到這對太陽能的影響那麼大。我們還沒見過水電。這是一個大項目。如您所知，水力發電量約佔北美再生能源發電總量的一半，其中約一半僅來自水力發電。我認為最新的數字大約是 44%。所以這對我們來說進展順利。當然，對環境影響的大力推動與對漁業和其他方面的影響有關。有些人說要取消 TAM。你很難想像有多少許可的技術評估、漁業方面的事情、其他一切、瀕臨滅絕的物種以及我們大力倡導的事情。我認為這可以是雙贏的。我們在水力和魚道方面做了很多工作。那麼，如何才能真正納入或擴大魚類通道，以便恢復漁業棲息地，同時仍維持北美主要河流系統的發電和防洪。

So that's gone well for us here in the U.S. We've had a number of big wins in Australia that we've actually press released that would not have been won either we believe, by RPS or Tetra Tech alone. Phenomenal people in Australia and really some of the thought leaders we have in the U.K., where really a lot of the biggest offshore wind and onshore wind was initiated, we've done well with the advent of RPS joining us.

所以這對我們在美國來說進展順利。我們在澳洲取得了許多重大勝利，我們實際上已發布了這些勝利，我們認為僅靠 RPS 或 Tetra Tech 是無法贏得這些勝利的。澳洲的傑出人士以及英國的一些思想領袖，英國是許多最大的離岸風電和陸上風電的發源地，隨著 RPS 的加入，我們做得很好。

So I kind of wondered about -- around there a little bit. But I guess I'd say on balance, I see the renewable energy work up for us. And that does not translate into more as being constructed. I'm saying more as being studied and evaluated for bringing power generation online through renewable energy sources.

所以我有點想知道——那裡有一點。但我想總的來說，我認為再生能源對我們有利。這並沒有轉化為更多的建設。我所說的更多是關於透過再生能源上網發電的研究和評估。

This will conclude the Q&A session. I will now turn the conference over to Dan Batrack to conclude.

問答環節到此結束。現在我將把會議交給丹·巴特拉克（Dan Batrack）來總結。

Well, thank you very much, Paul. Thanks for introducing us this morning and for turning it back to us as a team. I really appreciate all of your questions. I appreciate you being on the call today. And for all of the current shareholders and those interested in following Tetra Tech, I really appreciate your being on the call and following in, getting a little bit of insight into Tetra Tech's entire water cycle.

嗯，非常感謝你，保羅。感謝您今天早上向我們介紹並把它交給我們作為一個團隊。我真的很感謝你們提出的所有問題。感謝您今天接聽電話。對於所有現有股東和有興趣關注 Tetra Tech 的人，我非常感謝你們的參與和關注，對 Tetra Tech 的整個水循環有了一些了解。

I know there's been some confusion that individuals that may do treatment of one water treatment plant or one other aspect or somehow analogous to Tetra Tech and that they're magically up here. I hope that today's details presented by Dr. Leslie Shoemaker and Jill, and I assure you we have thousands and thousands of others professionals that dedicate their entire careers just to the water cycle, all the way from research and development to coastal flooding and navigation systems that we are the pure-play water and environmental leader, and we expect to remain in that, and we are going to continue to evolve the entire thought process and technology application to this industry to transform it to new heights to report value for our clients across the board.

我知道人們對那些可能對水處理廠或其他方面進行處理或以某種方式類似於 Tetra Tech 的人感到困惑，他們神奇地在這裡。我希望今天由 Leslie Shoemaker 博士和 Jill 介紹的詳細信息，我向你們保證，我們還有成千上萬的其他專業人士將他們的整個職業生涯奉獻給水循環，從研究和開發到沿海洪水和導航系統我們是水和環境領域的純粹領導者，我們希望繼續保持這一地位，我們將繼續發展該行業的整個思維過程和技術應用，將其轉變到新的高度，為我們的客戶報告價值全面。

And I look forward to sharing more details on exactly which programs we have and in sharing with you how they translate into higher growth and higher margins for our collective business and for our shareholders. And with that, I look forward to talking to you on our next quarterly call, and hope you have a great rest of the day and week. Thank you.

我期待與您分享更多有關我們擁有哪些計劃的詳細信息，並與您分享這些計劃如何為我們的集體業務和股東帶來更高的增長和更高的利潤。就此而言，我期待在下一個季度電話會議上與您交談，並希望您今天和每週都能好好休息。謝謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our conference for today. Thank you all for participating, and have a nice day. All parties may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的會議到此結束。感謝大家的參與，祝您有美好的一天。所有各方現在都可以斷開連接。