Wesco International Inc (WCC) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Yes. Hello, and welcome to Wesco's 2024 fourth quarter and full year earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Please note that this event is being recorded.

是的。您好，歡迎參加 Wesco 2024 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，該事件正在被記錄。

I will now hand the call over to Scott Gaffner, SVP, Investor Relations to begin.

現在，我將把電話交給投資者關係高級副總裁 Scott Gaffner 開始通話。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝大家，早安。

Before we get started, I want to remind you that certain statements made on this call contain forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance and by their nature, subject to uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially. Please see our webcast slide in the company's SEC filings for additional risk factors and disclosures. Any forward-looking information speaks only as of this date and the company undertakes no obligation to update the information to reflect changed circumstances.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，本次電話會議中的某些聲明包含前瞻性資訊。前瞻性陳述並非對績效的保證，且本質上存在不確定性。實際結果可能存在重大差異。請參閱該公司提交給美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 的文件中的網路廣播幻燈片，以了解更多風險因素和揭露。任何前瞻性資訊僅代表截至目前的情況，本公司不承擔更新資訊以反映情況變化的義務。

Additionally, today, we will use certain non-GAAP financial measures. Provided information about these measures is available on our webcast slides and in our press release, both of which are posted on our website at wesco.com.

此外，今天我們將使用某些非 GAAP 財務指標。有關這些措施的資訊可在我們的網路廣播投影片和新聞稿中找到，兩者都發佈在我們的網站 wesco.com 上。

On the call this morning we have John Engel, Wesco's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Dave Schulz, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

今天早上的電話會議由 Wesco 董事長、總裁兼執行長約翰恩格爾 (John Engel) 主持；以及執行副總裁兼財務長戴夫舒爾茨 (Dave Schulz)。

I'll turn the call over to you, John.

我會把電話轉給你，約翰。

Thank you, Scott. And good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our call today.

謝謝你，斯科特。大家早安。感謝您今天參加我們的電話會議。

We're pleased with our return to sales growth in the fourth quarter. It was sparked by accelerated growth in our Global Data Center business, which was up more than 70%. And in addition, we had 20% growth in our Broadband business, and we had renewed positive sales momentum in our Electrical Electronic Solutions business.

我們對第四季度銷售恢復成長感到非常高興。這是由我們的全球資料中心業務的加速成長引發的，該業務成長了 70% 以上。此外，我們的寬頻業務成長了20％，我們的電氣電子解決方案業務也重新展現了積極的銷售動能。

It's important to note that for EDS this marks our first quarter of growth since early 2023. Now, this sales growth momentum was partially offset by a slowdown with our industrial customers, especially in the last two weeks of December, and what we expected, the continued weakness in our utility business. With that said, our positive momentum overall has carried into January and our preliminary sales per workday adjusted for M&A is up 5% versus prior year. Our opportunity pipeline remains at a record level. Our backlog remains healthy, and our bid activity levels remain very strong.

值得注意的是，對於 EDS 來說，這標誌著我們自 2023 年初以來的第一個季度實現成長。現在，這一銷售成長勢頭被我們工業客戶業務的放緩（尤其是在 12 月的最後兩週）以及我們預期的公用事業業務持續疲軟所部分抵消。話雖如此，我們整體的積極勢頭已經延續到了一月份，經併購調整後的每個工作日初步銷售額較上年增長了 5%。我們的機會管道仍然處於創紀錄的水平。我們的積壓訂單仍然健康，我們的投標活動水準仍然非常強勁。

On a full-year basis, organic sales were roughly flat with the prior year and gross margin was stable. Although we experienced some pressure in Communication and Security Solutions and sales ramped at Data Center customers on project deployments. Consistent with our past practice and experiences, we expect to improve CSS margins as we move through the Data Center lifecycle. Dave will address this in more detail shortly, including the actions we're taking to improve CSS margins in 2025.

從全年來看，有機銷售額與去年基本持平，毛利率穩定。儘管我們在通訊和安全解決方案方面遇到了一些壓力，但資料中心客戶的專案部署銷售額卻大幅增加。與我們過去的實踐和經驗一致，我們希望在資料中心生命週期中提高 CSS 利潤率。Dave 很快就會詳細討論這個問題，包括我們在 2025 年提高 CSS 利潤率所採取的措施。

Now, turning to free cash flow. Our continued focus on effective working capital management yielded strong benefits again in the fourth quarter. We generated $268 million of free cash flow and drove net working capital intensity down significantly versus the prior year. On a full-year basis, we exceeded our expectations and delivered record free cash flow of more than $1 billion or 154% of adjusted net income.

現在，談談自由現金流。我們持續專注於有效的營運資本管理，在第四季度再次獲得了豐厚的收益。我們產生了 2.68 億美元的自由現金流，並使得淨營運資本強度較上年大幅下降。從全年來看，我們超出了預期，實現了創紀錄的超過 10 億美元的自由現金流，佔調整後淨收入的 154％。

Overall, key developments in 2024 set us very well for future margin expansion outgrowth relative to our market and to our peers.

整體而言，2024 年的關鍵發展為我們未來相對於市場和同業的利潤擴張奠定了良好的基礎。

First, we made excellent progress on our enterprise-wide digitalization efforts and our overall business transformation last year were more than halfway complete on our technology and capabilities build, which once deployed, is expected to accelerate our earnings growth through greater cross-sell. And you expect to expand our margins through improved pricing and operating cost leverage and is expected to dramatically increase our speed the values on the integration of future acquisitions.

首先，我們在整個企業的數位化工作方面取得了顯著進展，去年我們的整體業務轉型在技術和能力建設方面已完成一半以上，這些一旦部署，預計將透過更多的交叉銷售來加速我們的獲利成長。並且您希望透過提高定價和營運成本槓桿來擴大我們的利潤率，並有望大幅提高我們未來收購整合的速度和價值。

Second, we materially strengthen our Wesco portfolio through both divestitures and acquisitions. Early in 2024, we divested our integrated supply business, which drove a positive mix shift for UBS. We also acquired three service-based businesses, including Ascent which closed in December. I think you all recall that Ascent is a premier provider of data center facility management services, and it enables us to provide additional value throughout and across the entire data center lifecycle. The strategic portfolio moves, that is divesting a low margin business and adding a higher margin services businesses are integral to achieving our 10 plus percent EBITDA margin goals.

其次，我們透過資產剝離和收購大大增強了我們的 Wesco 投資組合。2024 年初，我們剝離了綜合供應業務，這為瑞銀帶來了積極的業務組合轉變。我們也收購了三家服務型企業，包括 12 月關閉的 Ascent。我想大家都記得，Ascent 是資料中心設施管理服務的首要供應商，它使我們能夠在整個資料中心生命週期內提供額外的價值。策略性投資組合的變動，即剝離低利潤率業務並增加高利潤率服務業務，對於實現我們 10% 以上的 EBITDA 利潤率目標至關重要。

Third, in addition to generating record free cash flow in 2024, we also reduced our net debt by $431 million, repurchased $425 million of shares and increased our common dividend 10% after initiating it in 2012.

第三，除了在 2024 年創造創紀錄的自由現金流外，我們還減少了 4.31 億美元的淨債務，回購了 4.25 億美元的股票，並在 2012 年啟動普通股股息後將其提高了 10%。

Now, moving to 2025 and our outlook. We expect organic sales to grow 2.5% to 6.5% and operating margin to expand as all three business units are expected to deliver profitable growth this year. We expect to generate $600 million to $800 million of free cash flow, and I'm pleased to announce that we plan to increase our common stock dividend by 10% again this year to $1.82 per share while continuing our share buyback program. We also expect to strengthen our balance sheet by fully redeeming our outstanding preferred equity in June, which will improve both our cash flow and our earnings per share.

現在，我們展望 2025 年。我們預計有機銷售額將成長 2.5% 至 6.5%，營業利潤率也將擴大，因為預計三個業務部門今年都將實現獲利成長。我們預計將產生 6 億至 8 億美元的自由現金流，我很高興地宣布，我們計劃今年再次將普通股股息提高 10% 至每股 1.82 美元，同時繼續我們的股票回購計劃。我們還希望透過在六月完全贖回我們未償還的優先股來加強我們的資產負債表，這將改善我們的現金流量和每股盈餘。

With that, we outlined in our recent Investor Day, we are committed to substantial value creation from operational improvements, our digital transformation and our overall capital allocation strategy, including additional M&A. As we look to 2025, our pipeline of strategic acquisitions remains strong, and it's aligned with our goal to increase our service offerings to our customers.

正如我們在最近的投資者日上所概述的那樣，我們致力於透過營運改善、數位轉型和整體資本配置策略（包括額外的併購）來創造巨大的價值。展望 2025 年，我們的策略性收購管道依然強勁，這與我們增加向客戶提供的服務的目標一致。

We're well positioned to deliver outsized growth to do the secular trends of AI driven data centers, increased power generation, electrification, automation and reshoring. And importantly, we remain laser-focused on our enterprise-wide margin improvement program, which has been a historical strength for Wesco. I'm confident that Wesco will outperform our markets again this year, and we're well positioned to deliver improved sales growth and continue toward our long-term EBITDA margin expansion goal.

我們已做好準備，實現超額成長，順應人工智慧驅動的資料中心、發電量增加、電氣化、自動化和回流等長期趨勢。重要的是，我們仍然專注於整個企業的利潤率提升計劃，這一直是 Wesco 的歷史優勢。我相信 Wesco 今年的表現將再次超越我們的市場，而且我們已準備好實現銷售成長並繼續實現我們的長期 EBITDA 利潤率擴大目標。

Finally, I continue to be very proud of our talented and dedicated Wesco team who remain steadfast in executing our strategic plan to capture the significant value creation opportunity in front of us. And we're doing this as we realize our vision of becoming the best tech-enabled supply chain solutions provider in the world.

最後，我繼續為我們才華橫溢、敬業的 Wesco 團隊感到非常自豪，他們堅定不移地執行我們的策略計劃，以抓住我們面前的重大價值創造機會。我們這樣做是為了實現我們的願景：成為世界上最好的技術支援的供應鏈解決方案提供者。

So with that, I'll now hand it over to Dave to take you through our fourth quarter and full year 2024 results, as well as provide a much more detailed look at our 2025 outlook. Dave?

因此，現在我將把時間交給戴夫，讓他帶您了解我們 2024 年第四季和全年的業績，並更詳細地介紹我們 2025 年的展望。戴夫？

Thank you, John. And good morning, everyone.

謝謝你，約翰。大家早安。

Turning to page 4, I'll walk you through our fourth-quarter results.

翻到第 4 頁，我將向您介紹我們的第四季業績。

Sales were below our expectations with the concern of drop-off in the latter half of December for organic sales in the quarter were up mid-single digits through the end of November. Sales per workday were turning positive in December before dropping high-single digits versus the prior year in the last two weeks of the months to finish down low-single digits. In the fourth quarter, market weakness continued in Utility, Industrial and Enterprise Network Infrastructure while we saw strong growth in Canadian Broadband and again, delivered exceptional growth in our West Coast Data Center Solutions business.

由於擔心 12 月下半月銷售額會下降，因此銷售額低於我們的預期，因為截至 11 月底，本季度的有機銷售額僅增長了個位數中段。12 月份，工作日銷售額轉為正值，但在最後兩週，與去年同期相比，銷售額下降了高個位數，最終降至低個位數。第四季度，公用事業、工業和企業網路基礎設施市場持續疲軟，而加拿大寬頻則出現強勁成長，西海岸資料中心解決方案業務再次實現卓越成長。

Reported sales in the fourth quarter were flat year over year, organic sales were up 2%. Price contributed approximately 1.5% versus the prior year with volume growth just under 1%. In addition, reported sales were negatively impacted by approximately 300 basis points from the divestiture of integrins line in foreign exchange rates. These headwinds were partially offset by a benefit of an additional workday.

第四季報告銷售額與去年同期持平，有機銷售額成長 2%。與前一年相比，價格貢獻了約 1.5%，而銷售成長略低於 1%。此外，由於外匯匯率的變動，整合素產品線的剝離對報告的銷售額產生了約 300 個基點的負面影響。額外工作日帶來的好處部分抵消了這些不利因素。

On the lower half of the page, you can see the adjusted EBITDA impacts of higher sales, offset by lower gross margin and slightly higher S units. Gross margin was down one basis points from the prior year, including a headwind of approximately 30 basis points from lower supply volume regions. Adjusted earnings per share of $3.16 was up 19% from prior year.

在頁面的下半部分，您可以看到銷售額增加對調整後 EBITDA 的影響，但毛利率下降和 S 單位數量略有增加抵消了這一影響。毛利率較前一年下降 1 個基點，其中供應量較低地區帶來的約 30 個基點的不利影響。調整後每股收益為 3.16 美元，較上年增長 19%。

Turning to page 5.

翻到第 5 頁。

On a full-year basis, sales were down 2.5% on a reported basis and down 0.5% organically. Price contributed about 1.5%, which was offset by lower volume and a 109 basis points cumulative impact from acquisitions and divestitures, differences in foreign exchange rates in the benefit of two additional workdays compared to 2023.

從全年來看，報告銷售額下降 2.5%，有機銷售額下降 0.5%。價格貢獻了約 1.5%，但被交易量的下降和收購與資產剝離帶來的 109 個基點的累積影響以及與 2023 年相比增加兩個工作日的匯率差異所抵消。

On the lower half of the page, you can see that adjusted EBITDA was down from the prior year due to lower sales. Gross margins is flat on the prior year level and the benefit of the integrated supply divestiture was offset by lower supplier volume rebates. SG&A was up slightly, reflecting inflation on employee-related costs in warehouse reasons.

在頁面的下半部分，您可以看到由於銷售額下降，調整後的 EBITDA 較上年下降。毛利率與去年同期持平，而綜合供應剝離的收益被供應商批量回扣的降低所抵消。銷售、一般及行政開支略有上漲，反映出倉庫原因導致的員工相關成本上漲。

Turning to page 6.

翻到第 6 頁。

On the left side of this page, you can see that gross margin in 2024 was flat in the prior year and 21.6%, this reflects an increase of more than 200 basis points over the past five years, and we believe there is opportunity for further margin expansion.

在本頁的左側，您可以看到 2024 年的毛利率與上年持平，為 21.6%，這反映了過去五年中超過 200 個基點的增長，我們相信利潤率還有進一步擴大的機會。

The right side of the page shows that gross margin in 2024 vary by business unit. For EES and GBS margin increase from the prior year and were up 10 and 80 basis points respectively. They contributed to the 80 basis point increase by EBS with the direct result of our strategic portfolio shifts. We've resolved the divestiture of the Integrated Supply business. In addition, the increases that EES and UBS reflects the positive impact of our enterprise-wide margin improvement program.

頁面右側顯示 2024 年的毛利率因業務部門而異。EES 和 GBS 利潤率較上年同期分別增加 10 個和 80 個基點。它們促使 EBS 實現了 80 個基點的成長，這是我們策略性投資組合轉變的直接結果。我們已經解決了綜合供應業務的剝離問題。此外，EES 和 UBS 的成長反映了我們全企業利潤率改善計畫的正面影響。

As John mentioned in his opening remarks, the exceptional growth that we have experienced within our Data Center business has included participation in numerous large-scale data center continents. Some of these projects are direction which have a lower gross margin. We believe that over the course of the Data Center lifecycle, we will improve margins with these customers as we provide additional products and services consistent with past experience.

正如約翰在開幕詞中提到的，我們的資料中心業務取得了顯著成長，包括參與了許多大型資料中心業務。其中一些項目是毛利率較低的方向。我們相信，在資料中心生命週期內，隨著我們提供與過去經驗一致的附加產品和服務，我們將提高這些客戶的利潤率。

(inaudible) want to do our business unit results, beginning with EES on slide 7. Note that we have provided additional disclosure on gross profit and SG&A for each of our segments, as this information will be provided in our annual and quarterly SEC filings starting in 2025.

（聽不清楚）想介紹一下我們業務部門的業績，從投影片 7 上的 EES 開始。請注意，我們已經為每個部門提供了毛利和銷售、一般及行政費用（SG&A）的額外揭露，因為這些資訊將從 2025 年開始在我們的年度和季度 SEC 文件中提供。

EES organic sales were up 1% in Q4. Reported sales were up 2%, reflecting the benefit of an extra workday compared to prior year. We are pleased with the return to growth in our EES business. Construction sales were up low-single digits in the fourth quarter, driven by a higher level of funding activity that drove growth in Canada, [Cala], [in Aman], offset by continued weakness in solar in the United States.

EES 第四季有機銷售額成長了 1%。報告的銷售額成長了 2%，反映出與前一年相比額外一個工作日的好處。我們很高興看到 EES 業務恢復成長。第四季度，建築銷售額成長了低個位數，這得益於融資活動的增加推動了加拿大、卡拉、阿曼的成長，但抵消了美國太陽能持續疲軟的影響。

Industrial sales were down low-single digits. We delivered growth in Canada, offset by a weaker US market, reflecting the broad-based industrial slowdown experience across the market in the fourth quarter. OEM sales were up low-single digits for the second consecutive quarter, reflecting improved momentum in the second half of 2024. Backlog was down 1% from the prior year and down 2% sequentially in line with normal seasonality.

工業銷售額下降個位數。雖然美國市場表現疲軟，但加拿大市場仍實現了成長，這反映出第四季度整個市場普遍出現了工業放緩的現象。OEM 銷售額連續第二季實現低個位數成長，反映出 2024 年下半年動能增強。積壓訂單較前一年下降 1%，季減 2%，符合正常季節性。

And then again on the right side of this page, you can see that EES adjusted EBITDA margin was up 10 basis points from the prior year, reflecting improved operational efficiency and cost controls, with SG&A as a percent of sales favorable by 30 basis points. For the full year, organic and reported sales were down 1% due to low-single digit growth in construction, flat industrial sales and a low single-digit decline in OEM. Gross margin was up 10 basis points and full year adjusted EBITDA margin was flat in the prior year.

然後再次在此頁的右側，您可以看到 EES 調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率比上年上升了 10 個基點，反映了營運效率和成本控制的提高，其中銷售、一般及行政費用佔銷售額的百分比上升了 30 個基點。全年而言，有機銷售額和報告銷售額下降 1%，原因是建築業務呈現低個位數成長，工業銷售額持平，以及 OEM 呈現低個位數下降。毛利率上升了 10 個基點，全年調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率與前一年持平。

Turning to Slide 8.

翻到幻燈片 8。

CSS saw accelerating momentum in the fourth quarter with sales up 11% year-over-year on an organic basis and up 14% as rewarding. The growth was driven by Wesco Data Center Solutions, which was up 7% with double-digit growth across all three end these customer times: hyperscale, multi-tenant data center and enterprise. This growth has significantly increased the mix of Data Center within CSS (inaudible). Within CSS, Data Center represented nearly 40% of sales, up from about 25% of segment sales in the prior year quarter.

CSS 第四季發展勢頭強勁，銷售額較去年同期有機成長 11%，利潤成長 14%。這項成長主要得益於 Wesco 資料中心解決方案，其成長了 7%，在超大規模、多租戶資料中心和企業這三個客戶領域均實現了兩位數的成長。這種增長顯著增加了 CSS 中資料中心的混合度（聽不清楚）。在 CSS 中，資料中心佔銷售額的近 40%，高於去年同期分部銷售額的約 25%。

From a total company perspective, Data Center, which includes sales across all three business units was approximately 16% of Wesco's sales in the quarter, approximately 13% on full year basis. Note this is an increase from the comparable 10% less those sales that was shared at Investor Day, which was based on trailing 12-month sales through June.

從整個公司的角度來看，包括所有三個業務部門的資料中心銷售額約佔 Wesco 本季銷售額的 16%，約佔全年銷售額的 13%。請注意，這比投資者日分享的銷售額下降 10% 有所增加，該銷售額是基於截至 6 月的 12 個月的銷售額計算的。

Security sales were approximately flat in fourth quarter and Enterprise Network Infrastructure was down in the quarter, reflecting continued softness in the wireless and structured cabling, partially offset by strength in our service provider business. Backlog was up 16% from the prior year, reflecting the substantial growth in our Data Center business and down in the 5% sequentially, given the timing of large project shipments in Q4.

第四季安全銷售額基本上持平，企業網路基礎設施銷售額則出現下滑，反映出無線和結構化佈線業務持續疲軟，但服務提供商業務的強勁表現部分抵消了這一影響。積壓訂單較上年同期成長 16%，反映出我們資料中心業務的大幅成長；由於第四季大型專案出貨時間較晚，積壓訂單季減 5%。

Adjusted EBITDA margin for CSS were down 150 basis points versus the prior year, primarily reflecting the mix of large customer Data Center projects in the quarter with a lower gross margin that I mentioned a moment ago. For the full year, CSS sales were up 5% on a reported basis and up 4% organic. This growth was due to the exceptional strong growth in Data Center buildouts in 2024.

CSS 的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率較上年下降 150 個基點，主要反映了我剛才提到的本季大型客戶資料中心專案組合導致毛利率較低。就全年而言，CSS 銷售額報告顯示成長 5%，有機成長 4%。這一成長得益於 2024 年資料中心建設的強勁成長。

Turning to Slide 9.

翻到幻燈片 9。

I want to take a moment and discuss the growth in the broader data center space that we've seen recently and how we participate. We first provided the information on the left side of this page in our investor day last September. It highlights the two stages of the data center construction site, time of power in the construction period.

我想花點時間討論我們最近看到的更廣泛的資料中心領域的成長以及我們如何參與。我們去年 9 月的投資者日上首次提供了此頁面左側的資訊。重點介紹了資料中心施工現場、施工期通電時間兩個階段。

The key takeaway is that projects that are announced today and have obtained funding for life and paying about four to seven years before they would be up and running. Pipeline of data center projects continues to rapidly expand, especially in the mega-projects space. Based on data of the past two years, data centers have accounted for approximately 35% of the total mega-project investment, the highest by far among the 16 categories we track. Our solutions now encompass everything from the electrical distribution systems through advanced IT infrastructure, to services that's important in center operations, ensuring that our customers and comprehensive solutions throughout all phases of the data center side.

關鍵的一點是，今天宣布的項目在啟動運行之前已經獲得了終身資金和約四至七年的資金支持。資料中心專案管道持續快速擴大，尤其是大型專案領域。根據過去兩年的數據，資料中心佔巨型專案總投資的約35％，是我們追蹤的16個類別中迄今為止最高的。我們的解決方案現已涵蓋從電力分配系統到先進的 IT 基礎設施，再到中心營運中重要的服務的一切，確保我們的客戶在資料中心的各個階段都能獲得全面的解決方案。

On the right side of the slide, you can see the substantial and accelerating growth that our data center business delivered in 2024. This growth has been driven by organic initiatives, along with substantial acquisition investments made to increase our exposure to certain capabilities within this space. We continue to invest in capabilities and in 2024 and an interest in a sense to expand our capabilities to service data center customers from cradle to grave, including on-site services and data center technology upgrades.

在投影片的右側，您可以看到我們的資料中心業務在 2024 年實現的大幅加速成長。這一增長是由有機舉措以及為增加我們在該領域某些能力的曝光度而進行的大量收購投資所推動的。我們將繼續在能力方面進行投資，並在 2024 年投資於某種意義上的擴展我們的能力，為資料中心客戶提供從搖籃到墳墓的服務，包括現場服務和資料中心技術升級。

Moving to page 10.

移至第 10 頁。

As John mentioned on the top of the call, in December, we closed the acquisition of Ascent, provider of data center facility management services. Headquartered in St. Louis, Ascent provides data center operators, highly specialized facility management services. Ascent strengthens our leading global data center solution portfolio for our customers by allowing us to further extend our end-to-end service offerings, including advanced liquid cooling design and implementation solutions.

正如約翰在電話會議開始時所提到的，12 月，我們完成了對資料中心設施管理服務供應商 Ascent 的收購。Ascent 總部位於聖路易斯，為資料中心營運商提供高度專業化的設施管理服務。Ascent 讓我們能夠進一步擴展端到端服務產品，包括先進的液體冷卻設計和實施解決方案，從而增強了我們為客戶提供的領先的全球資料中心解決方案組合。

Turning to slide 11.

翻到第 11 張投影片。

Organic sales in UBS were down 6% in quarter and reported sales were down 17%, with (inaudible) has invested integrated supply business in the base period. As we've discussed previously, the utility market continues to experience short-term softness related to customer destocking and lower project activity levels, which is partly a function of the current interest rate and regulatory environment. We expect these inputs to continue into the first half of 2025 for their return to growth in the second half of the year.

瑞銀本季有機銷售額下降 6%，報告銷售額下降 17%，其中（聽不清楚）在基準期內投資了綜合供應業務。正如我們之前所討論的，公用事業市場繼續經歷與客戶去庫存和專案活動水準較低相關的短期疲軟，這在一定程度上是當前利率和監管環境的結果。我們預計這些投入將持續到 2025 年上半年，並在下半年恢復成長。

We remain highly confident in the future benefit from the secular trend of electrification, green energy and grid modernization and believe these trends support substantial growth acceleration in our utility business over the long term.

我們對未來受益於電氣化、綠色能源和電網現代化的長期趨勢仍然充滿信心，並相信這些趨勢將支持我們的公用事業業務長期大幅加速成長。

We are pleased with our return to growth in Broadband in the fourth quarter. Broadband sales were up more than 20%, albeit against the prior year that was down more than 30%, reflecting exceptionally strong growth in hand.

我們對第四季度寬頻業務恢復成長感到非常高興。寬頻銷售額成長逾 20%，儘管去年同期下降逾 30%，但仍反映出強勁的成長動能。

Canada broadband business began showing signs of improving momentum in Q3. UBS backlog was down 25% from the prior year and down 10% sequentially. Adjusted EBITDA margin was up 40 basis points over the prior year. On a full-year basis, organic sales were down 5% from prior year and reported sales were down 13%, reflecting the divestiture. Gross margin was up 80 basis points as we discussed a moment ago.

加拿大寬頻業務在第三季開始顯示出改善勢頭的跡象。瑞銀積壓訂單較上年同期下降 25%，較上一季下降 10%。調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率較前一年上升了 40 個基點。從全年來看，有機銷售額較前一年下降 5%，報告銷售額下降 13%，反映了資產剝離的影響。正如我們剛才討論的那樣，毛利率上升了 80 個基點。

Turning to page 12.

翻到第 12 頁。

In the fourth quarter, we delivered $268 million of free cash flow or 156% of adjusted net income. This contributed into our full year free cash flow of more than $1 billion, a record for the company, representing 154% of adjusted net income, which is substantially more than our through-the-cycle target 100%. This has largely been driven by a reduction in working out.

第四季度，我們實現了 2.68 億美元的自由現金流，佔調整後淨收入的 156%。這為我們全年超過 10 億美元的自由現金流貢獻了力量，創下了公司的最高紀錄，佔調整後淨收入的 154%，大大超過了我們整個週期 100% 的目標。這很大程度上是由於運動減少造成的。

I would like to point out that cash flow in the fourth quarter benefited from the timing of payments for tax credit purchases that effectively moved to $45 million cash payment from the fourth quarter of 2024 through the first quarter of 2025.

我想指出的是，第四季度的現金流受益於稅收抵免購買的付款時間，從 2024 年第四季到 2025 年第一季度，稅收抵免購買的付款時間實際上已變為 4,500 萬美元的現金支付。

You can see on the right side of this page that we reduced net working capital intensity by 160 basis points in 2024. We are pleased with this result, and we remain focused on making further progress, including reducing inventory as a percent of sense. In 2025, we expect net working capital to grow a hot line of sales for which will further drive down net working capital as a percentage of sales.

您可以在本頁右側看到，我們在 2024 年將淨營運資本強度降低了 160 個基點。我們對這個結果感到滿意，我們將繼續致力於取得進一步的進展，包括合理地減少庫存。到 2025 年，我們預計淨營運資本將會成長，銷售專線將進一步降低淨營運資本佔銷售額的百分比。

Turning to slide 13.

翻到第 13 張投影片。

This slide shows our 2025 outlook by strategic business unit in the individual operating groups. As John mentioned, we expect organic sales to be up 2.5% or 6.5% and reported sales in the range of flat to up 4%. With the difference driven by M&A activity, along with headwinds from foreign exchange and workdays.

這張投影片展示了我們各個營運集團內各策略業務部門對 2025 年的展望。正如約翰所提到的，我們預計有機銷售額將成長 2.5% 或 6.5%，報告銷售額將在持平至成長 4% 之間。這種差異是由併購活動以及外匯和工作日帶來的不利因素所造成的。

Starting with the EES, we expect 2025 reported sales to be flat to up low-single digits. You can see that sales from all three operating groups were relatively flat in 2024. As we move into 2025, our expectation is that construction will be approximately flat, Industrial will be up and OEM will grow as the positive momentum we experienced in the second half of 2024 continues this year.

從 EES 開始，我們預計 2025 年報告的銷售額將持平至上漲低個位數。您可以看到，2024 年三個營運集團的銷售額相對持平。隨著我們進入 2025 年，我們預計建築業將大致持平，工業將上升，OEM 將成長，因為我們在 2024 年下半年經歷的積極勢頭將延續到今年。

Looking at our CSS outlook, we expect 2025 reported sales will be up mid-single digits. We've already discussed the significant growth in data centers in 2024, which we believe will continue into 2025 with an operating group up mid-10s. We also expect security will be up driven by a recovery in US markets. Enterprise network infrastructure, which primarily sells and contractors, service providers and communications end markets has a softness throughout 2024 due to slower 5G build-outs and construction specific markets. Particularly in structured team, we expect overall enterprise network infrastructure will be flat in 2025.

縱觀我們的 CSS 展望，我們預計 2025 年報告的銷售額將成長中等個位數。我們已經討論過 2024 年資料中心的顯著成長，我們相信這種成長將持續到 2025 年，營運團隊將達到 10% 左右。我們也預計，美國市場的復甦將推動安全性的提升。企業網路基礎設施主要銷售和承包商、服務供應商和通訊終端市場，由於 5G 建設放緩和特定建設市場放緩，整個 2024 年都將呈現疲軟狀態。特別是在結構化團隊中，我們預計到 2025 年整體企業網路基礎設施將保持穩定。

Lastly, looking at UBS. Our utility business was down throughout 2024 due to customer destocking and lower project activity. While we expect that softness to continue in the first half of 2025, our expectation is that growth will return in the second half of the year. As we have discussed previously, there is significant underlying demand for modernization investment in grid, as well as investments in new generation, transmission and distribution to support the growing power and electrical needs.

最後，來看看瑞銀。由於客戶庫存減少和專案活動減少，我們的公用事業業務在 2024 年全年處於下滑狀態。雖然我們預計這種疲軟態勢將持續到 2025 年上半年，但我們預計下半年經濟將恢復成長。正如我們之前所討論的，為了滿足日益增長的電力和電力需求，對電網現代化投資以及新發電、輸電和配電的投資有著巨大的潛在需求。

Moving to page 14. Let me walk you through the details of our outlook for 2025.

移至第 14 頁。讓我向您詳細介紹我們對 2025 年的展望。

Starting at the top of the page, we expect organic sales to grow between 2.5% and 6.5% for the year. Reported sales are expected to be flat to up 4%, including a foreign exchange headwind of approximately 1.5% due to rate differences, primarily in Canada. Reported sales also includes an approximately 1% impact from net divestitures in one (inaudible) workday in 2025. We call the best integrated supply last April, which was partially offset by acquisitions completed in the second half 2022.

從頁面頂部開始，我們預計今年的有機銷售額將成長 2.5% 至 6.5%。預計報告的銷售額將持平至成長 4%，其中包括由於利率差異（主要是加拿大）導致的約 1.5% 的外匯逆風。報告的銷售額還包括 2025 年一個（聽不清楚）工作日內淨資產剝離造成的約 1% 的影響。我們稱去年 4 月的綜合供應量最佳，但這一數字被 2022 年下半年完成的收購部分抵消。

We expect adjusted EBITDA margin to be in a range of 6.7% to 7.2%. Recall that we are facing a 20 to 30 basis point SG&A headwind from the restoration of incentive compensation. Given the results in 2024, incentive compensation is below target, and we have assumed a target payout in 2025. Without this handling, we are on track with the 20 to 30 basis points of annual margin improvement that we highlighted at our Investor Day. The upper end of this EBITDA margin range reflects lower gross margin expansion and operating leverage on higher sales, while lowering the range reflects the impact of flat volume on operating leverage. Regarding gross margin, we expect to deliver some level of gross margin expansion in 2025, due in part to a slightly higher level of supplier volume rebates and improvement of CSS gross margin. Our outlook range for adjusted diluted earnings per share on $12 to $14.50 reflects year-over-year growth of 8% of the midpoint.

我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率在 6.7% 至 7.2% 之間。回想一下，我們正面臨著因激勵薪資恢復而帶來的 20 至 30 個基點的銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A) 逆風。鑑於 2024 年的業績，激勵性薪酬低於目標，我們假設 2025 年達成目標支出。即使不採取這種處理方式，我們也能實現在投資者日強調的每年 20 到 30 個基點的利潤率提高目標。EBITDA 利潤率範圍的上限反映出毛利率擴張幅度較低以及銷售額增加帶來的營業槓桿率下降，而範圍降低則反映出銷售持平對營業槓桿率的影響。至於毛利率，我們預計 2025 年毛利率將有所擴大，部分原因是供應商批量回扣水平略有提高以及 CSS 毛利率有所改善。我們對調整後每股攤薄收益的預期範圍為 12 美元至 14.50 美元，反映了中位數年增 8%。

Recently note that we have also provided key modeling assumptions, and I want to comment on specifics. For our outlook assumes that cloud security expense will be approximately $40 million in 2025, up from $14 million in 2024. Consistent with historical results, cloud computing amortization is recognized in SG&A and not included in adjusted EBITDA. It is, however, included in adjusted operating income and adjusted earnings per share.

最近請注意，我們還提供了關鍵的建模假設，我想對具體內容進行評論。我們的預測是，到 2025 年，雲端安全費用將達到約 4,000 萬美元，高於 2024 年的 1,400 萬美元。與歷史結果一致，雲端運算攤銷在銷售、一般及行政開支中確認，但不包含在調整後的 EBITDA 中。但它包含在調整後的營業收入和調整後的每股收益中。

Business expense is expected to decrease in 2025 due to lower debt balances and digital on preferred equity will be reduced by half as we anticipate redeeming the preferred in June of this year. We expect to generate substantial expense savings by redeeming the preferred stock due to the difference between our expected borrowing rates in of 10- and 5-days preferred dividend rain.

由於債務餘額減少，預計 2025 年業務費用將減少，由於我們預計今年 6 月將贖回優先股，優先股的數字將減少一半。由於 10 天和 5 天優先股股息預期借款利率存在差異，我們預計透過贖回優先股可以節省大量費用。

Lastly, turning to free cash flow. We expect to deliver free cash flow of between $600 million to $800 million in 2025. As a percentage of adjusted net income, this implies a range of approximately 95% to 105%.

最後，談談自由現金流。我們預計 2025 年的自由現金流將達到 6 億至 8 億美元。作為調整後淨收入的百分比，這意味著大約 95% 到 105% 的範圍。

Regarding capital allocation, our strategy is unchanged. Our top priority is to invest organically in the business to drive growth and operational efficiency, including the completion of our business in digital transformation.

關於資本配置，我們的策略沒有改變。我們的首要任務是對業務進行有機投資，以推動成長和營運效率，包括完成我們業務的數位轉型。

After funding organic investments, our free cash flow being allocated to the highest return option. We will find more and find acquisitions to continue to expand our capabilities and better serve our customers, particularly those engaged in high-growth end markets.

在為有機投資提供資金後，我們的自由現金流被分配給最高回報選項。我們將尋找更多機會並進行收購，以繼續擴大我們的能力並更好地服務我們的客戶，特別是那些從事高成長終端市場的客戶。

We will continue to repurchase shares under our current authorization. Given our expectation to redeem the preferred stock, we would anticipate share repurchases will be opportunistic in well below the 2024 level of $425 million. Lastly, in 2025, we expect to increase our common stock dividend by 10% for approximately an incremental $2 million per quarter versus 2024.

我們將根據現有授權繼續回購股票。鑑於我們贖回優先股的預期，我們預期股票回購金額將遠低於 2024 年 4.25 億美元的水平。最後，到 2025 年，我們預計普通股股息將比 2024 年增加 10%，每季增加約 200 萬美元。

Turning to page 15, this slide shows the year-over-year monthly important sales growth comparisons for the past two years in our expectations for the first quarter. Versus the prior year, we expect first quarter organic sales, excluding a net headwind of M&A and one fewer workday than the prior year to be up low to mid-single digits.

翻到第 15 頁，這張投影片展示了我們對第一季的預期中過去兩年每月重要銷售成長同比對比。與去年同期相比，我們預計第一季的有機銷售額（不包括併購的淨逆風和比去年同期減少一個的工作日）將增長低至個位數。

On a reported basis, we expect sales to be approximately flat versus the prior year from lasted for any problem, down 5% from the prior year. Preliminary, January sales per workday adjusted per M&A were about 5% in the prior year. Note that January of 2024 is the easiest comparable of the year. We expect adjusted EBITDA margins will be slightly lower than the prior year level of 6.4% as we continue to manage costs effectively in a mixed economic environments.

據報道，我們預計銷售額與上年同期相比基本持平，但由於出現任何問題，銷售額將比上年下降 5%。初步估計，經併購調整後的 1 月每個工作日銷售額較上年同期成長約 5%。請注意，2024 年 1 月是一年中最容易比較的。我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率將略低於去年同期的 6.4%，因為我們在混合經濟環境下繼續有效管理成本。

Moving to slide 16. We covered a lot of material this morning, so let me briefly recap the key points before we open the call to your questions.

移至投影片 16。我們今天早上討論了很多內容，所以在我們開始回答你們的問題之前，讓我先簡單回顧一下要點。

Sales in fourth quarter were at the high end of our outlook. Growth momentum in data center continues to be exceptionally strong, and we received the market returned to growth in both broadband and our EES business unit. Full year free cash flow was one of $1 billion, a record level for the company. In 2024, we repurchased $425 million of common shares and reduced net debt by $431 million. In 2025, we expect to deliver above market growth and improved profitability.

第四季的銷售額達到了我們預期的高點。資料中心的成長勢頭持續保持強勁，我們看到寬頻和 EES 業務部門的市場都恢復了成長。全年自由現金流達 10 億美元，創下公司歷史新高。2024 年，我們回購了 4.25 億美元的普通股，並減少了 4.31 億美元的淨負債。到 2025 年，我們預計將實現高於市場的成長並提高獲利能力。

With that, operator, we'll now open the call to questions.

接線員，現在我們可以開始提問了。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指令）

Sam Darkatsh, Raymond James.

山姆達卡什，雷蒙德詹姆斯。

Good morning, John. Good morning, Dave. How are you?

早安，約翰。早上好，戴夫。你好嗎？

Two quick questions, if I could. Help us with what gives you confidence with respect to your visibility into the second half recovery, with the utility vertical. I know that the first quarter is the seasonal low point, but you also took your primary KPI, as I recall, was mostly fill rates as opposed to perhaps forecasting demand level. So, what gives you confidence that the second half? Is there a right time to assume a snapback in that business?

如果可以的話，我有兩個快速問題。幫助我們，讓您對公用事業垂直領域下半年復甦的可預見性充滿信心。我知道第一季是季節性的低谷，但我記得，你的主要 KPI 主要是填充率，而不是預測需求水準。那麼，是什麼讓您對下半場充滿信心呢？現在是否是假設該行業出現反彈的正確時機？

A good question, Sam. First, we do have a couple of new customer wins that start to ramp up here in the first quarter build through the second quarter and are reaching the electronic run rate of sales in the second half. So irrespective of the market, those wins occurred in the second half of '24. So, we enter the year they're both very meaningful, so we're very much encouraged by that.

好問題，山姆。首先，我們確實贏得了一些新客戶，這些客戶的數量在第一季到第二季開始增加，並在下半年達到了電子銷售的運行率。因此，無論市場如何，這些勝利都發生在24年下半年。所以，我們進入了非常有意義的一年，因此我們對此感到非常鼓舞。

Secondly, Jim Cameron and his team have had deep discussions with all our utility customers. And I think that given the secular growth trends we're seeing, the change in the administration in the U.S. and the fact that we think they've been customers, on behalf of with us have been working down their inventory levels where we've built the customer by customer. It's our team here that as we get through the first quarter, through the second quarter, moving into second -- latter part of the second quarter into the second half that materially that utilities will turn back the purchasing engine backlog.

其次，吉姆·卡梅隆和他的團隊與我們所有的公用事業客戶進行了深入的討論。我認為，鑑於我們看到的長期成長趨勢、美國政府的變化以及我們認為他們一直是客戶的事實，我們一直在降低他們的庫存水平，我們根據客戶需求建立了庫存體系。我們的團隊認為，隨著我們度過第一季、第二季、進入第二季後半段、進入下半年，公用事業公司的購買引擎積壓將實質減少。

I think, overall, our view of this overwhelmingly strong secular growth trends through the entire utility power chain remain intact. As I've mentioned quite a few times, all these other secular growth trends we're talking about require one thing: power. So, we're going to have a kind of an overall increase in the power demand curve as far as we can say and that's going to pull on capacity. It's got a mandate in utilities, in dash that increasing our capacity from generation through transmission substations. And then, obviously, through the distribution portion of the power chain.

我認為，總體而言，我們對整個公用事業電力鏈中這種壓倒性強勁的長期成長趨勢的看法仍然完好無損。正如我多次提到的，我們所談論的所有其他長期成長趨勢都需要一件事：力量。因此，就我們所能說的而言，我們的電力需求曲線將總體上增加，這將拉動產能。它在公用事業方面有一項任務，即提高從發電到輸電變電站的容量。然後，顯然是透過電力鏈的分配部分。

Thanks.

謝謝。

To my second question, Dave, you mentioned that you expect gross margins to be up slightly for the year. I'm guessing, especially because it's an easy comparison in the first quarter, that you're anticipating gross margins to be up all year long, is that a fair representation?

對於我的第二個問題，戴夫，您提到預計今年的毛利率將略有上升。我猜，特別是因為第一季很容易比較，您預計毛利率會全年上升，這是一個公平的陳述嗎？

Yes, it's a fair representation. I would point you to -- we did have a peak in the third quarter. Again, a lot of that will be predicated on what is the mix of the business and the impact on gross margin. As we think about the full year, one of the benefits we are expecting on gross margin is the higher supplier volume rebates are supplier volume rebates in 2024 was that one of the lowest historical levels that we've had so we do expect that to increase, particularly, as we looked at growth at the higher end of our range. At the midpoint, we would still expect SDR benefits against gross margin in 2025.

是的，這是一個公平的表述。我要指出的是——我們確實在第三季達到了頂峰。再次強調，這很大程度上取決於業務組合及其對毛利率的影響。當我們考慮全年時，我們預計毛利率將獲得好處之一，那就是供應商批量折扣將更高，2024 年的供應商批量折扣是我們的歷史最低水平之一，因此我們確實預計這一數字會增加，特別是當我們著眼於範圍高端的增長時。從中點來看，我們仍預期 2025 年 SDR 將對毛利率產生影響。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Tommy Moll, Stephens.

湯米·莫爾，史蒂芬斯。

Good morning and thank you for taking my questions.

早上好，感謝您回答我的問題。

John, thanks so much for the gross margin inside at the segment level, maybe next quarter, we'll get to a business unit as well. But for the moment, could you just give us some of the back story here on what was the decision-making process on going ahead and providing that disclosure and what you want to make sure we take away?

約翰，非常感謝您提供細分層面的毛利率，也許下個季度我們也會進入業務部門。但目前，您能否向我們介紹一下背景情況，例如繼續進行並提供披露的決策過程以及您希望確保我們了解到什麼？

Yes. Hey, Tommy. It's Dave Schulz.

是的。嘿，湯米。他是戴夫·舒爾茨。

So there is a new requirement from the SEC that companies filing after December 15, 2024, are required to provide the key segment expenses. And when you take a look at the composition and the profit structure of our business, one of the key drivers of our profitability is obviously gross margin. So, we are just closing that, you'll see that in our 10-K that will be released here, probably the end of the week, early next week. You'll see three years of detail within the segment footnote, disclosing the gross profit and then the adjusted SG&A as well. And so, we do intend to continue to disclose the gross margin at the SKU level. From our perspective, it is complying with the SEC regulation.

因此，美國證券交易委員會提出了一項新要求，即在 2024 年 12 月 15 日之後提交申請的公司必須提供關鍵部門的費用。當你觀察我們業務的組成和利潤結構時，你會發現獲利能力的關鍵驅動因素之一顯然是毛利率。所以，我們剛剛結束了，你會在我們將在這裡發布的 10-K 中看到這一點，可能是在本週末或下週初。您將在分部腳註中看到三年的詳細信息，其中披露了毛利以及調整後的銷售、一般和行政費用。因此，我們確實打算繼續揭露 SKU 層級的毛利率。從我們的角度來看，它符合美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 的規定。

Thank you.

謝謝。

And Dave, a follow-up on your comments regarding redeeming the preferred. It's really a two-part question. As you laid out your EPS guidance range for the year, how many quarters are you assuming we'll have that roughly $14 million headwind there? And then as you redeem these in the June timeframe, the expectation you'll be able to fully redeem with cash on hand or there would potentially need to be impartial debt financing just given timing of cash flows? Thanks.

戴夫，關於你關於贖回優先股的評論，我想跟進一下。這實際上是一個由兩個部分組成的問題。當您列出今年的每股盈餘指引範圍時，您認為多少季後我們會面臨約 1,400 萬美元的逆風？然後，當您在六月贖回這些債務時，您是否預期能夠用手頭上的現金完全贖回，或者是否可能需要公正的債務融資，僅考慮到現金流的時間安排？謝謝。

Yes, Tommy, we fully intend to redeem the preferred. That means that we'll pay the two quarters worth of the dividend on that preferred stock. We will evaluate how we fund that redemption, whether it's with a combination of cash on hand borrowing against existing facilities or depending on the market, whether we would go out and issue an additional note. One thing to keep in mind, as we provided you with those key modeling assumptions for 2025, we have assumed a range on interest expense, which based on the current rate environment, now it's almost agnostic whether we use our existing facilities or we finance that with a new note.

是的，湯米，我們完全有意贖回優先股。這意味著我們將支付該優先股兩季的股息。我們將評估如何為贖回提供資金，是透過現有資金或抵押現有設施來籌集現金，還是根據市場情況，是否要發行額外票據。需要記住的一點是，當我們為您提供 2025 年的關鍵模型假設時，我們假設了利息支出的範圍，該範圍基於當前的利率環境，現在我們幾乎無法確定我們是否使用現有設施或使用新票據進行融資。

Thank you. I'll turn it back.

謝謝。我會把它轉回去。

David Manthey, Baird.

大衛曼蒂，貝爾德。

Yes, thank you and good morning.

是的，謝謝你，早安。

Dave, just a question on SG&A, you've mentioned the reset of the incentive comp, but you also, I believe, have a 3% annual merit increase. And remind me, does that hit April first?

戴夫，我只想問一下銷售、一般及行政費用，你提到了激勵薪酬的重新設定，但我相信你每年的績效工資也會增加 3%。提醒我一下，那是在四月一日嗎？

And then in light of those two items, could you provide any color on how SG&A stepped through 4Q to 1Q, and then from the first quarter and into the second quarter progressively?

那麼，鑑於這兩項，您能否詳細說明銷售、一般及行政開支從第四季度到第一季度，以及從第一季到第二季度的逐步變化情況？

Certainly. The -- you're right that we've assumed a 20 to 30 basis point headwind on the incentives and that our typical merit increases effective on April 1. So, as we think about the sequential impact to SG&A moving from Q4 of '24 to Q1, we would've expect an uptick. And that uptick in the sequential increase is primarily going to be driven by that incentive compensation. But we then moved from Q1 to Q2, there will be the step-up related to a low-single digit increase in our people costs.

當然。您說得對，我們假設激勵措施將面臨 20 到 30 個基點的阻力，而我們的典型績效薪資成長將於 4 月 1 日生效。因此，當我們考慮從 24 年第四季到第一季對銷售、一般及行政開支的連續影響時，我們預計會出現上升趨勢。而連續成長的上升主要將受到激勵性薪酬的推動。但從第一季到第二季度，我們的人力成本將出現低個位數的成長。

Okay.

好的。

And then second, if we adjust for the WIS divestiture, I believe UBS segment EBITDA was one of the lowest rates that we've seen in many quarters, has there been any structural change in UBS profitability as we go forward or with growth as we accelerate into 2025, do you expect to return to more of that sort of 11% plus EBITDA margins we saw in '23 and early '24?

其次，如果我們針對 WIS 資產剝離進行調整，我認為瑞銀部門的 EBITDA 是我們在許多季度中看到的最低水平之一，隨著我們向前發展或隨著我們加速進入 2025 年，瑞銀的盈利能力是否發生了結構性變化，您是否預計 EBITDA 利潤率將恢復到 11% 以上，就像我們在 2023 年和 2023 年初看到的一樣？

Yes. Let me provide a little bit of background on the integrated supply divestiture. So you know, we have spoken about that had a lower gross margin. And when we strip out the impact of integrated supply on gross margin, there was some favorability to the total company, but that was primarily offset by an increase in SG&A due to lack of the operating leverage.

是的。讓我提供一些有關綜合供應剝離的背景資訊。你知道，我們已經討論過毛利率較低問題。當我們剔除綜合供給對毛利率的影響時，對整個公司而言有一些有利因素，但這主要被缺乏經營槓桿所導致的銷售、一般及行政費用的增加所抵銷。

So overall, the integrated supply, the best figure at the company level was a slight favorable on an adjusted EBITDA margin, low-single digit, but basis points so really, no meaningful impact. Within utility and broadband solutions, yes, there was a benefit from was coming out from a gross margin perspective. The business actually performed extremely well and managed gross margin effectively well in 2024. The margin pressure was really coming from SG&A on the lower steps. So, this is a very efficiently run business.

因此，總體而言，綜合供應在公司層級的最佳數字對調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率略有好處，雖然為低個位數，但只是基點，所以實際上沒有顯著影響。在公用事業和寬頻解決方案中，從毛利率的角度來看確實存在好處。該業務實際上表現非常出色，並在 2024 年有效地管理了毛利率。利潤壓力其實來自於較低階層的銷售、一般及行政費用。因此，這是一個運作非常有效率的企業。

But as those sales continued to decline, how you can see from the slide that we just didn't get the operating leverage on from the business within UBS, I wouldn't say that that's less from integrated supply coming out more from (technical difficulty) being down throughout 2024.

但隨著這些銷售額的持續下降，您可以從幻燈片中看到，我們只是沒有從瑞銀內部的業務中獲得經營槓桿，我不會說這不是由於綜合供應造成的，而是由於（技術難度）在整個 2024 年下降。

Save time going forward, though with a return to growth. I think Dave, you call it a question around operating leverage going forward.

節省未來的時間，同時恢復成長。我認為戴夫，你稱之為有關未來經營槓桿的問題。

Yes, absolutely so that this business runs very efficiently. So as we see there are return to growth on the top line, we would fully anticipate that we will get the margin benefit on adjusted EBITDA.

是的，絕對如此，這樣業務才能有效運作。因此，當我們看到營收恢復成長時，我們完全可以預期我們將獲得調整後 EBITDA 的利潤率收益。

Great. Thank you and good luck.

偉大的。謝謝你，祝你好運。

Thanks, Dave.

謝謝，戴夫。

Deane Dray, RBC Capital Markets.

加拿大皇家銀行資本市場 (RBC Capital Markets) 的 Deane Dray。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone.

謝謝。大家早安。

Can we put the spotlight on the good start to January, just take us through the composition of the business, stock and flow, what kind of mix, direct ship, any kind of pricing difference versus what you saw in the fourth quarter? Just some color there would be really helpful.

我們能否重點介紹一月份的良好開端，請介紹一下業務組成、庫存和流量、組合類型、直​​接運輸以及與第四季度相比的任何定價差異？只要有一些顏色就會很有幫助。

Yes. Yes, we're really pleased again with how the calendar turned, how January ended up. I will mention that actually started a bit soft, so it was interesting, I don't know if this has come out. Not many other companies have had their earnings calls, but the softness that we saw kind of have to speed January, right, second half of January or December, that is -- that was soft by kind of -- January started off a bit soft for a week or so, a little longer than a week and then we kick into gear. So, it's really nice to see that momentum. As we exit January at a 5 plus percent growth rate, that's x M&A, so it's a good sense. There's some headwinds in January too because FX has stepped up -- has picked up substantially the start of Q1 of 2025 versus where there's certain Q4 of 2024. So that just -- I think that help calibrate the 5% of it.

是的。是的，我們對日曆的翻轉和一月的結束感到非常高興。我要說的是，實際上開始時有點軟，所以很有趣，我不知道這是否已經出來了。沒有多少其他公司召開了盈利電話會議，但我們看到的疲軟勢頭在 1 月份有所加速，對吧，1 月下半月或 12 月，也就是說，1 月份開始時經濟有點疲軟，持續了大約一周，但比一周稍長一點，然後我們開始進入復甦階段。所以，看到這種勢頭真的很高興。由於我們 1 月份的成長率超過 5%，所以這是一個好兆頭。1 月也面臨一些阻力，因為外匯市場已經加大——在 2025 年第一季初大幅上漲，而 2024 年第四季則有所上漲。所以這只是——我認為這有助於校準其中的 5%。

In terms of overall mix, Deane, it's really an extension of what we saw in the fourth quarter, so no material mix changes in January thus far. I will say that the bookings were very strong, so book-to-bill was above one data, strongly above one data and margins were up for a very stable so yes, very good start. We feel good about it.

就整體組合而言，迪恩，這實際上是我們在第四季度看到的延伸，因此到目前為止，一月份的材料組合沒有變化。我想說的是，預訂量非常強勁，因此訂單出貨比高於一個數據，遠高於一個數據，而且利潤率非常穩定，所以是的，開局非常好。我們對此感覺很好。

That's great color.

顏色真棒。

And then just a follow up, but maybe we can visit tariffs, what the risks are, you guys have a playbook, I know you've been through this before so just what -- talk about prioritization. And then anything around the metals? I know this is all laid for a long year, you're just going to have the keep the spreadsheet open as these changes happened on the fly, but just -- if you could share with us your current thinking.

然後只是後續問題，但也許我們可以討論關稅，風險是什麼，你們有一個劇本，我知道你們以前經歷過這個，所以只是談論優先事項。那麼，金屬周圍還有什麼嗎？我知道這一切都是經過了一年多的準備，你只需要讓電子表格保持打開狀態，因為這些變化是即時發生的，但是——如果你能和我們分享你目前的想法。

We do have a playbook, it's a well-developed playbook. We've been through this before. I think I'd take it back to the first Trump administration, look at what we -- look at the tariffs that were put in place, look at the, you know, we took all the appropriate action and was able to launch our margins very well through that process.

我們確實有劇本，這是一本完整的劇本。我們以前也經歷過這樣的事情。我想回顧第一屆川普政府，看看我們——看看實施的關稅，看看我們採取了一切適當的行動，並且能夠透過這個過程很好地提高我們的利潤率。

I'll just remind everyone that we have very, very low, I'll call it first derivative direct exposure, because our private label business is a very small percent of our overall business. So, where we see the effect on the supply side of our business is on the -- is with our supplier partners and that's the exposure we have. We work with them through, and together with them, to push that the pricing through.

我只是想提醒大家，我們的風險敞口非常非常低，我稱之為一階衍生性商品直接風險敞口，因為我們的自有品牌業務僅占我們整體業務的很小一部分。因此，我們看到對我們業務供應的影響在於我們的供應商合作夥伴，這就是我們所面臨的風險。我們與他們合作，並與他們一起推動定價。

And then for distribution, look, we don't want to have to put the price increases through to our customers, but we absolutely will, and we'll do that, and we'll protect our margins. We have a strong history of doing that. So, the way to really think about tariffs is to the extent it drives an inflationary effect on the supply side of our distribution business model, we take that, we work it through to our customers, continue to sell our value, add capabilities and work that pricing through.

然後對於分銷，你看，我們不想把價格上漲的責任轉嫁給我們的客戶，但我們絕對會這樣做，我們會保護我們的利潤。我們在這方面有著豐富的經驗。因此，真正考慮關稅的方式是，在它對我們的分銷業務模式的供應方產生通膨效應的範圍內，我們接受這一點，並將其轉嫁給我們的客戶，繼續銷售我們的價值，增加能力，並透過定價來實現。

So, I think this all -- this will just speak to an environment where inflation stays higher than maybe some expected. And that is our outlook as we move through 2025.

所以，我認為這一切——這都說明通膨環境可能高於預期。這就是我們對 2025 年的展望。

That's great color. Thank you.

顏色真棒。謝謝。

Christopher Glynn, Oppenheimer.

奧本海默的克里斯托弗·格林。

Thanks. Good morning.

謝謝。早安.

So, I was curious about comparing the public power (inaudible) at utility, John. I think the slides called out public is kind of weak.

所以，我很好奇，想比較一下公用事業的公共電力（聽不清楚），約翰。我認為呼籲大眾關注的幻燈片有點弱。

We saw in fourth quarter, Chris, both public power and investor-owned utilities, those two respective set of end-user customers in utility, we're down mid-single digits. So, we actually saw similar headwinds with both.

克里斯，我們在第四季度看到，無論是公共電力還是投資者所有的公用事業，這兩組公用事業的終端用戶客戶，都下降了中等個位數。因此，我們實際上看到了兩者類似的阻力。

If we take a look on a full year basis, I would say that probably a little stronger with industrial owned utilities versus public power in general. But look, I wouldn't really call out any major differences. The utility effects that we saw are really market driven and driven by customers, but it's kind of a market-driven set of effects.

如果我們從全年角度來看，我會說，工業公用事業的表現可能比公共電力的表現更強。但是，瞧，我不會真正指出任何重大差異。我們看到的效用效應實際上是由市場驅動和客戶推動的，但這是一種市場驅動的效應。

Okay.

好的。

And then on ENI, the declines there were a little steeper. Was that kind of a noisy quarter for ENI with some of the particular kind of December effects more acute in that business, maybe? Was it kind of an air pocket or do you think the market stepping down a bit more?

然後就 ENI 而言，其跌幅更大一些。對於 ENI 來說，這個季度是否有些動盪，12 月的一些特殊影響對該業務的影響可能更為嚴重？這是否是氣泡現象，還是您認為市場還會進一步下滑？

Look, I think your characterization is accurate. A little bit of softness in the second half of December there. Look, overall, CSS, really terrific momentum we build across the year, exit the year with very strong data center momentum, very strong of an improvement and a return to growth in security. It happened in the year.

看，我認為你的描述是準確的。十二月下半月稍微有點疲軟。總體而言，CSS 在今年建立了非常強勁的勢頭，以非常強勁的資料中心發展勢頭、非常強勁的改善和恢復安全性成長結束了這一年。這件事發生在那一年。

One thing I will call out, I don't want to get too -- because we are pulling all data center sales related to data centers, and we're reporting that as data center series that includes security. Again, we're bundling other CSS products, and it includes core enterprise network infrastructure, what classically would be called that. So, I think when you look at security like-for-like, just as a category, we got mid-single-digit growth in Q4. It was returning to growth, so it's good -- very good I'll call it, broad-based momentum across CSS. I would not call out ENI as being kind of a real weak spot. Again, if you look at some of the categories of products that were in classically in ENI before we broke out data centers, it would have looked much stronger in the quarter. I hope that helps, Chris, because I think it's probably (multiple speakers).

我要指出的是，我不想說太多了——因為我們正在撤下所有與資料中心相關的資料中心銷售，並且我們將其報告為包括安全性在內的資料中心系列。再次，我們捆綁了其他 CSS 產品，其中包括核心企業網路基礎設施，也就是傳統上所說的那樣。因此，我認為，當您將安全性視為一個類別時，我們在第四季度實現了中等個位數的成長。它正在恢復成長，所以這是好的——我稱之為非常好的，CSS 的廣泛發展勢頭。我不會說 ENI 是真正的弱點。同樣，如果您查看在我們突破資料中心之前 ENI 中的一些經典產品類別，您會發現它在本季度的表現會更加強勁。我希望這能有所幫助，克里斯，因為我認為它可能（多位發言者）。

Yeah. Appreciate that. Thanks.

是的。非常感謝。謝謝。

Stephen Volkmann, Jefferies.

傑富瑞（Jefferies）的史蒂芬·福爾克曼（Stephen Volkmann）。

Thank you, guys.

謝謝你們。

Dave, I wanted to dig into something you said, I think earlier, when you're talking about data centers and large customer projects, which maybe come in a little bit lower margin and provide a little bit of a headwind, but maybe over time, there's more service. So I'm curious, as we continue to see data centers grow much faster than the rest of the business, is that still kind of a margin headwind as we go forward or do you get that service more quickly and it kind of normalizes?

戴夫，我想深入探討你之前說過的一件事，當你談論資料中心和大型客戶專案時，這些專案的利潤可能會稍微低一些，也會帶來一點阻力，但也許隨著時間的推移，會提供更多的服務。所以我很好奇，當我們繼續看到資料中心的成長速度遠遠快於其他業務時，這是否仍然會成為我們未來利潤的阻力，還是您可以更快地獲得該服務並且使其正常化？

It normalizes. And so just to provide a little bit more color on this one, particularly in the fourth quarter, we saw a lot more of the early phases of these data center builds, and those were direct ships for many of those larger customers. So just like the balance of our business, whenever we have a direct shipment, it never touches our warehouse, we don't service, it basically goes directly from the manufacturer to the job site, so the gross margins on that always tend to be low. And that's one of the things that impacted our CSS margins in Q4.

其變化正常化。為了提供更多的細節，特別是在第四季度，我們看到了更多這些資料中心建設的早期階段，這些都是直接向許多大客戶發貨。因此，就像我們業務的平衡一樣，每當我們直接發貨時，它不會到達我們的倉庫，我們也不會提供服務，它基本上直接從製造商運送到工作現場，因此毛利率總是很低。這是影響我們第四季 CSS 利潤的因素之一。

But as we began working with the customer to operate that facility, there is that opportunity for more products and services to be sold through to that customer, which will come at the higher margin, particularly if we can attach it to the services portfolio that we've continued to expand, including with the acquisitions that we completed in 2024. So, it is a margin story that we would expect to normalize. That's been our experience with other large customers in the past.

但隨著我們開始與客戶合作運營該設施，我們就有機會向該客戶銷售更多的產品和服務，這將帶來更高的利潤，特別是如果我們可以將其與我們不斷擴展的服務組合結合起來，包括我們在 2024 年完成的收購。因此，我們期望利潤率能夠正常化。這是我們過去與其他大客戶合作的經驗。

Got it. Okay, thanks.

知道了。好的，謝謝。

And then just switching over to free cash flow. I guess, I'm might have expected a little bit more of this year, just in the sense that we spend a couple of years well below the 100%, it seems like we have some ground to work to get back to sort of that 5-year average. So, maybe the way to think about that is working capital to sales ratio is still quite a bit higher than pre-COVID, does that get meaningfully lower from here? How do we see think about that?

然後就轉換到自由現金流。我想，我可能對今年的期望更高一些，只是因為我們花了幾年的時間才達到 100% 以下，似乎我們還有一些工作要做才能回到 5 年平均值。因此，也許可以這樣思考：營運資本與銷售額的比率仍然比疫情之前高出不少，從現在起，這一比率會顯著降低嗎？我們怎麼看待這個問題？

We would expect it to get meaningfully lower in 2025. And we've highlighted that when we do at the midpoint of our outlook, we do expect continued growth in 2025, consistent with what we provided to you. So yes, if you take a look at just the midpoint of that from where we started with net working capital at the end of 2024, we've highlighted that we would anticipate that our networking capital will grow half the rate of sales. So just looking at the midpoint of our outlook yield, a sign that 1% increase in net working capital that will drive further efficiency overall on net working capital.

我們預計到 2025 年這一比例將顯著下降。我們已經強調，當我們處於展望的中期時，我們確實預計 2025 年將繼續成長，這與我們向您提供的數據一致。所以是的，如果您只看 2024 年底淨營運資本的中點，我們強調，我們預計我們的網路資本將以銷售額的一半速度成長。因此，僅從我們預期收益率的中點來看，這表明淨營運資本增加 1% 將進一步提高淨營運資本的整體效率。

Also, please keep in mind that from an overall inventory requirement, John mentioned, we've got some new accounts in utility, so that will require us to fill inventory requirements earlier than we begin to see the sales. So, there will be some lumpiness in our net working capital, particularly in the first quarter as we begin building out for some of those new customers. But overall, we would expect continued efficiency to net working capital through the end of 2025.

此外，請記住，從整體庫存需求來看，約翰提到，我們在實用方面有一些新帳戶，因此這要求我們在開始看到銷售之前滿足庫存需求。因此，我們的淨營運資本會出現一些波動，特別是在第一季度，因為我們開始為一些新客戶進行擴張。但總體而言，我們預計到 2025 年底淨營運資本將持續保持高效率。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

Ken Newman, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

肯‧紐曼 (Ken Newman)，KeyBanc 資本市場。

Hey. Good morning, guys.

嘿。大家早安。

Maybe first, I just wanted to get a quick clarification, Dave, from an earlier question. First, is the earnings guidance that you outlined on slide 15 or 14, that does include a full year of the preferred dividend or is that not the case?

也許首先，戴夫，我只是想對之前​​的一個問題做一個快速澄清。首先，您在第 15 頁或第 14 頁上列出的獲利預期是否包括全年的優先股息，還是沒有包括？

That is not the case. So, it assumes that we have half year of the dividend payout, so rough round $14 million a quarter, we'll pay that for the first two quarters of 2025. That is included in our outlook.

事實並非如此。因此，假設我們有半年的股息支付，所以每季大約 1400 萬美元，我們將在 2025 年前兩個季度支付。這包含在我們的展望中。

Got it. Okay.

知道了。好的。

And then for my follow up here, I just wanted to run back to the 1Q organic growth guide. And then just trying to square that against the 5% you saw in January, given that it doesn't look like the comp do step down sequentially in February and March. Do you think January is just a normalization from a snapback from that slower in the back half of December, slower first half of January? Or help us kind of understand the assumptions underlying that first quarter guide?

然後，為了跟進，我只想回顧一下第一季的有機成長指南。然後嘗試將其與 1 月份的 5% 進行比較，因為看起來 2 月份和 3 月份的銷售額並沒有連續下降。您是否認為 1 月的經濟成長只是 12 月下半月和 1 月上半月經濟回升後的正常化趨勢？或幫助我們理解第一季指南背後的假設？

Yes, certainly.

是的，當然。

So the 5% that we talked about for the month of January, preliminary sales growth, it is against an easier comp. It does not include the impact of M&A. So, it's adjusted for the M&A impact in the month of January.

因此，我們談到的一月份初步銷售成長 5%，這是相對於比較容易實現的。不包括併購的影響。因此，它根據一月份的併購影響進行了調整。

As you think about how January shaped up relative to the fourth quarter, the composition of our businesses was about the same. We continue to see strong growth from CSS. We're still seeing some challenges within UBS. We expect those challenges in UBS to recover in the second half of the year. But in terms of where we're seeing the full quarter, as John mentioned, we've got a couple of new contracts within the utility space. We've got backlog that is still at a near a record high level. So from that perspective, yes, the comps get tougher in February and March, but excluding the M&A impact, the low- to mid-single-digit outlook is appropriate.

當您思考一月份相對於第四季的情況時，您會發現我們的業務組成大致相同。我們繼續看到 CSS 的強勁成長。我們仍然看到瑞銀內部面臨一些挑戰。我們預計瑞銀面臨的這些挑戰將在今年下半年得到緩解。但就我們對整個季度的展望而言，正如約翰所提到的，我們在公用事業領域簽訂了幾份新合約。我們的積壓訂單量仍然接近歷史最高水準。因此從這個角度來看，二月和三月的年比銷售額確實會更加艱難，但排除併購的影響，低至中等個位數的前景是合適的。

Very good. Appreciate the color.

非常好。感謝色彩。

Patrick Baumann, J.P. Morgan.

摩根大通的派崔克‧鮑曼 (Patrick Baumann)。

Hi, good morning. Just a couple here.

嗨，早安。這裡只有一對夫婦。

I had a question, first, maybe on the sales cadence through the year. It looks to me like the first quarter, you're guiding down about 1% on a workday adjusted basis versus the fourth quarter. And historically, my math says it's typically down 4% to 5% on a workday-adjusted basis sequentially. So what this means, I think, is you need below seasonal trends for the rest of the year to get to the midpoint of your guide, are there any large projects maybe for data center or construction that are coming off from the first half to the second half that would cause this? Or any other color you could provide on why that would be.

首先，我有一個問題，可能是關於全年的銷售節奏。在我看來，第一季的工作日調整後收入將比第四季下降約 1%。從歷史上看，我的計算表明，按工作日調整後計算，其環比下降幅度通常為 4% 至 5%。所以，我認為，這意味著你需要低於今年剩餘時間的季節性趨勢才能達到指南的中點，是否有任何大型項目，可能是數據中心或建築項目，從上半年到下半年，會導致這種情況？或者您可以提供任何其他顏色來解釋為什麼會發生這種情況。

Certainly. So, we provided you our expectations for Q1. One of the key drivers to the phasing of the quarters throughout the year is the timing of the recovery on utility. And we've talked about that being more in the second half so that will influence the growth rates that we would expect to see in the first half of the year with an expansion in the second half of this year.

當然。因此，我們為您提供了第一季的預期。全年各季度分階段的關鍵驅動因素之一是公用事業復甦的時機。我們已經討論過這一趨勢將在下半年進一步加劇，這將影響我們預計上半年的成長率，而下半年將出現擴張。

So in terms of how the outlook would lay out, we would expect that from a reported sales perspective, we'll be light in Q1 as we've already provided you that information, and then we would begin to see an improvement through the Q2 through 4, primarily driven by continued benefit from that data center growth, the EES business for the full year being on a reported basis, flat to up low-single digit in that back half recovery on utility.

因此就前景如何而言，從報告的銷售角度來看，我們預計第一季的銷售額會比較少，正如我們已經向您提供的信息那樣，然後我們將在第二季度到第四季度開始看到改善，這主要得益於數據中心增長的持續受益，根據報告，全年 EES 業務在後半年公用事業復甦中持平至低個位數增長。

Okay. Right.

好的。正確的。

On the U.S. construction market for '25, can you talk about that flat outlook that you have maybe by vertical You mentioned solar as a headwind in the fourth quarter. Any other color you can offer in terms of vertical end markets? And then also with the E&I segment, I guess that's also related to construction, why that's flat. Maybe just flesh out kind of the construction outlook across the different segments, I guess.

關於 25 年美國建築市場，您能否談談您對垂直市場平淡前景的看法？在垂直終端市場方面，您還能提供其他顏色嗎？然後對於 E&I 部門，我想這也與建築有關，這就是為什麼它是持平的。我想，也許只是充實不同領域的建設前景。

Yes. We're still seeing and have an expectation for considerable growth in the data center space. That will impact our EES business as well across some of the other verticals within non-res construction, we're not expecting there to be any significant growth opportunities. In the office space, there are some pickups in non-residential construction related to manufacturing and then also within the health care space. So, those are the verticals that are, right now, we're targeting.

是的。我們仍然看到並期待資料中心領域將出現顯著的成長。這也會影響我們的 EES 業務以及非住宅建築領域的其他一些垂直領域，我們預計不會有任何重大的成長機會。在辦公空間方面，與製造業相關的非住宅建築以及醫療保健領域也有一些回升。所以，這些就是我們目前瞄準的垂直市場。

And again, most of our business in that construction space will be on the non-res side, that's where our exposure is. We're also comping -- we primarily finished the comparisons that have been negative on solar, so we won't see that downdraft on solar in our construction business.

而且，我們在建築領域的大部分業務都是非住宅領域，這就是我們的關注點所在。我們也正在進行比較——我們主要完成了對太陽能產生負面影響的比較，因此我們不會在建築業務中看到太陽能的下滑趨勢。

As it relates to ENI, again, that business is influenced by both new construction plus renovation jobs. Some of it is office related, some of it is manufacturing related. So, that's what's also informing our outlook for enterprise network infrastructure. Those same impacts to our EES construction business will be impacting our ENI business.

就 ENI 而言，該業務再次受到新建築和翻新工程的影響。其中一些與辦公室有關，一些與製造有關。這也為我們對企業網路基礎設施的展望提供了參考。對我們的 EES 建築業務的影響也將影響我們的 ENI 業務。

Got it.

知道了。

And one more just really quick one, housekeeping. On the Ascent deal that you guys did, you booked, I guess, $30 million in the quarter, which for one month of ownership seemed like a big number. What's like the right run rate of sales for this business and why would the fourth quarter have been so high in terms of sales contribution from that business?

還有一個非常簡單的問題，就是家事管理。在你們達成的 Ascent 交易中，我猜你們在本季的訂單額為 3000 萬美元，對於一個月的所有權來說，這個數字似乎很大。該業務的正確銷售運作率是多少？

Yes. On the Ascent acquisition that was completed in December, one of the things that we had already talked about publicly was that when we acquired the business, it had run rate sales of about $115 million per year, but it was growing at about a 30% rate. We did have a very strong December within our CSS business contributing -- with Ascent contributing to that growth rate. We've not provided any other specifics. We do anticipate that that business will continue to grow consistent with what we've already shared. Think about it growing double digits with the capability that we are providing within the data center space.

是的。關於 12 月完成的 Ascent 收購，我們已經公開談論過的一件事是，當我們收購該業務時，其年銷售額約為 1.15 億美元，但成長率約為 30%。我們的 CSS 業務 12 月確實表現非常強勁，Ascent 為這一增長率做出了貢獻。我們沒有提供任何其他具體資訊。我們確實預計該業務將繼續按照我們已經分享的內容成長。想像一下，憑藉我們在資料中心領域提供的功能，其成長率將達到兩位數。

Okay, thanks a lot. Best of luck.

好的，非常感謝。祝你好運。

That concludes our question-and-answer session. I'll now turn the conference back over to John Engel for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。現在我將會議交還給約翰恩格爾 (John Engel) 做結束語。

Thank you, all, again for your support, it's much, much appreciated. We've addressed all the questions that they got teed up during the call. I know we have a lot of calls lined up through this afternoon and tomorrow and I think some after the weekend as well. So, I'll bring the call to a close.

再次感謝大家的支持，我非常感激。我們解答了他們在通話中提出的所有問題。我知道今天下午和明天我們已經接到很多電話，我想週末之後也會接到一些電話。那麼，我將結束本次通話。

In terms of future events, we look forward to speaking with many of you over the next two months as well. At the rate, we'll be attending the Raymond James Institutional Investor Conference on March 4. We'll be attending the J.P. Morgan Industrial Conference on March 12, and we'll be also attending the DistribuTECH conference on March 25. So with that, I will -- and we will announce our first quarter earnings on Thursday, May 1.

對於未來的活動，我們也期待在接下來的兩個月與你們中的許多人進行交談。照這個速度，我們將於 3 月 4 日參加雷蒙詹姆斯機構投資者會議。我們將於 3 月 12 日參加摩根大通工業會議，也將於 3 月 25 日參加 DistribuTECH 會議。因此，我將——我們將於 5 月 1 日星期四公佈第一季收益。

So with that, I'll bring the call to a close. Again, thank you, and have a good day.

好了，我將結束本次通話。再次感謝您，祝您有美好的一天。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。