SP Plus Corporation

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the second quarter 2023 SP Plus Corporation's earnings conference call. At this time, all participants in our listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there'll be a question and answer session. To ask a question during this session, you'll need to press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising you your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Chris Roy, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Catherine, and good afternoon, everyone. As Catherine just said, I'm Chris Roy, Chief Financial Officer of SP Plus. Welcome to our conference call following the release of our second quarter 2023 earnings. During the call today, management will make remarks that may be considered forward-looking statements. including statements as to the outlook and expectations for 2023 and statements regarding the company's strategies, plans, intentions, future operations and expected financial performance. Actual results, performance and achievements could differ materially from those expressed or implied due to a variety of risks, uncertainties or other factors, including those described in the company's earnings release issued earlier this afternoon. which is incorporated by reference for purposes of this call and available on the SP Plus website and list factors in the company's annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the SEC. In addition, management will discuss non-GAAP financial information during the call. Management believes the presentation of non-GAAP results provides investors with useful, supplemental information concerning the company's ongoing operations and is an appropriate way to evaluate the company's performance. They are provided for informational purposes only. A full reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to comparable GAAP financial measures were presented in the tables accompanying the earnings release. To the extent other non-GAAP financial measures are discussed on the call, reconciliations to comparable GAAP measure will be posted under the Regulation G tab in the Investor Relations section of the SP Plus website. Please note, this call is being broadcast live over the internet and is being recorded. A replay will be available on the SP Plus website shortly after the end of the call and will be available for 30 days from today. I will now turn the call over to Mark Ballman, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Hey, thank you, Chris, and good afternoon, everyone. This is another strong quarter for SP+. Adjusted gross profit and adjusted EBITDA were at record levels for both the second quarter and first half of this year. By combining innovative technology solutions with a highly trained workforce, we continue to build on our competitive advantages, expand our addressable market, and execute effectively on our long-term growth strategy. Adjusted gross profit increased at a double-digit rate, reaching a second quarter record for SP+, driven by solid growth in both our commercial segment, which was up almost 9% year-on-year, and our aviation segment, which was up 24% above last year's second quarter. This strong performance is largely due to our continued success in winning new business, growing net new locations, as well as expanding the scope of services we provide at existing locations. Commercial segment adjusted gross profit growth was achieved across nearly all verticals, led by hospitality, healthcare, and large event venues. The breadth of capabilities we bring to clients is exceptional, positioning SP Plus as a leader in the digital transformation of our industry. We added 126 net new locations during the first half of 2023, with 55 net new locations added in the second quarter, our ninth consecutive quarter of net new location growth. At the same time, we succeeded in increasing our location retention rate to 94%, the highest in recent memory. Turning to aviation, Q2 adjusted gross profit increased 24% year over year, reflecting both organic and acquisition growth, as we benefited from new contract wins and renewals, as well as expanded services we provide at 160 global airports. Notably, our curbside concierge service continues to gain traction, The pilot program we launched with the second airline is performing above expectations, and we anticipate to roll out this service at additional airports with this airline in the near term. Also, we expect to bring additional airlines onto the program, which provides a cost-effective way to ease congestion and enhance the travel experience. Gross profit from technology solutions continued to grow in the second quarter, and we are on track to double the 2022 contribution as a percentage of adjusted gross profit for the full year 2023. More than a quarter of the new locations added during the second quarter were for standalone SPHERE deployments, where we currently do not provide other SP-plus services, illustrating the appeal of our technology solutions and the way they're expanding our addressable market. In addition to achieving strong financial performance, we succeeded in effectively executing on our long-term growth strategy in the second quarter. First, we strengthened our leadership position by bringing innovative technology solutions and superior operations to existing and new clients. A great example of this is the technology overhaul we implemented for the city of Richmond, Virginia. We replaced outdated equipment with our sphere technology solutions which has already resulted in increased transactions as well as a significant boost in revenue. Other benefits include improved operating performance, reduced operating costs, and a completely digital, frictionless consumer experience that eliminates the need for paper tickets. In Baltimore, SP Plus was chosen to design an ambitious and tech-forward parking plan for a large-scale development project to transform a former industrial port into a vibrant shopping and entertainment hub. Also, the City of Los Angeles, where we already operate one of the largest on-street meter programs in the United States, recently awarded us an add-on contract to manage the parking for an additional 23 facilities consisting of off-street surface lots and parking structures, demonstrating how well our solutions and services are meeting the needs of the city. We're experiencing similar positive momentum in our aviation business. Recent new awards in the aviation segment include Omaha and West Palm Beach airports, and contract renewals were secured at San Francisco, Detroit Metropolitan, and Buffalo airports. In addition, we're beginning to regain traction with our sponsored remote airline check-in service. We recently started up operations at the Orlando airport and will shortly begin to provide remote airline check-in services at an airport serving a major tourist destination on the west coast. We hope to be able to talk to you more about this win on our next call. And with the addition of one additional airline, our remote check-in services are now available to passengers traveling on eight airlines, which account for 96% of domestic travel. Secondly, we continue to increase our addressable market and achieve revenue synergies in the second quarter. SP Plus is working together with public-private partnerships, or P3s, that are helping universities monetize their assets, with our role being to manage their parking operations. The program has been so successful at one large university in Ohio that another university in the state has asked us to replicate and expand upon it on their campus. Our technology is designed to enable students, faculty, staff, and visitors to pay by phone, QR code, or via text. Based on the success of our initial P3 deployment, we're seeing strong inbound activity to replicate this success, and we expect this area of opportunity to continue to grow. With respect to revenue synergies, we recently launched our Aeroparker online parking reservation system at Houston's Intercontinental and Hobby airports, where SP Plus was already providing parking management services. We're working together with our Aeroparker colleagues to further leverage our relationships and combined expertise to gain additional synergies. Third, we continue to leverage and monetize our technology investments. In the second quarter, we processed 5.4 million transactions on SP Plus technology platforms, up 36% sequentially. Transactions in June are up almost 70% over December 2022. These transactions include reservations and on-demand transactions for both on- and off-street parking, as well as at large venues and payment processing for remote airline check-in and curbside concierge. These examples indicate how well our services are aligned with client demand and consumer preferences. And finally, last week we announced the acquisition of certain assets of Rocker, a provider of fully integrated parking solutions that simplify permit violation and enforcement management for organizations and municipalities. We believe this transaction will enable SP Plus to take advantage of the demand from municipal clients for a comprehensive mobility solution that helps them leverage smart city applications and from healthcare and university clients looking to digitize the complex permitting requirements that are common on their campuses. This is the third technology acquisition we've made in the last nine months, demonstrating our commitment to accelerate the pace of deployment of cutting-edge technology offerings, which is a key element of our continued growth. Now I'm going to turn the call back over to Chris for financial review. Chris?

Thank you, Mark. Strong business momentum continued in the second quarter, enabling us to reaffirm our full-year guidance. Consistent with prior quarters, comments about our financial performance and outlook will focus on our adjusted results. Adjusted gross profit and adjusted EBITDA were at record levels in the second quarter. Adjusted gross profit, which excludes depreciation, as well as integration and restructuring costs, increased 12% year-over-year to $66 million, attributable to a number of factors, namely increased profitability at same locations, new business wins, and successful deployment of technology-enabled solutions at both existing and new locations. Adjusted EBITDA increased 9% to a record $34.4 million compared to $31.7 million in the same period last year. This is particularly impressive given we continue to invest in G&A to support technology solutions that position us to deliver sustainable long-term gross profit growth. Second quarter adjusted G&A, excluding acquisition, integration, and other costs, was $30.6 million compared to $26.3 million in last year's second quarter. This level was consistent with our comments on last earnings call, note this level was consistent with our comments on the last earnings call, noting that Q1 adjusted G&A was a good run rate for the remainder of the year. Our expectation remains unchanged for the balance of the year. As a result of higher interest rates and increased D&A expenses from technology-related capital investments, second quarter 2023 adjusted earnings per share were 78 cents compared to 81 cents in the second quarter of last year. This was another solid quarter of cash flow generation, bringing our year-to-date operating cash flow to $21 million and free cash flow to $8.3 million compared to $35.7 million and $25.5 million in the year-ago period, respectively. As a reminder, 2022 included the receipt of a one-time federal income tax refund of $20.5 million. Adjusting for this, operating cash flow in the first half was up 38%, and free cash flow increased 66% year-over-year. Based on our visibility into the second half and our anticipation of continued investments for technology-related capital expenditures, we reaffirm our free cash flow gains of $60 million to $70 million, or approximately $3 to $3.50 per share, which at the midpoint is 35% above 2022 levels. adjusting for the tax refund. We expect to deploy our healthy cash flows coupled with our $600 million credit facility to fund our capital allocation priorities, which include organic growth, acquisitions, and share repurchases. With regard to our expectations for full year 2023, we are reaffirming our guidance on all metrics. Adjusted gross profit is expected to range from $240 million to $260 million 11% above 2022 level at the midpoint. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $125 million to $135 million, 11% above or ahead of 2022 at the midpoint. And we're forecasting adjusted EPS to range from $2.70 to $3.20 per share, approximately 6% above 2022 levels at the midpoint. As you update your models, I do want to point out that year-to-date revenues, excluding reimbursed management contract expenses, increased 15% and adjusted gross profit increased 13%. Based on our increased gross profit contribution from higher margin technology services and a greater proportion of management fee contracts, we expect this close correlation of revenue and gross profit trend to continue. Additionally, we still forecast 2023 GNA to be approximately 15 million higher than 2022, primarily due to technology-related investments that support future growth. With that, I'll turn the call back over to Mark.

Hey, thanks, Chris. First half results, together with our current visibility, underpin our confidence that 2023 will be a record year for SP Plus in terms of adjusted gross profit and adjusted EBITDA performance. while we continue to make investments to support our multifaceted growth strategy. SP Plus continues to build its market leadership within a business environment where commercial, retail, and travel activity is increasing, and where clients and consumers are seeking solutions and services that reduce congestion and offer low-friction transaction options. Through our ongoing investments in technology and people, we're leading the digital transformation of our industry and positioning SP Plus to capture the considerable growth opportunities ahead, providing innovative solutions to make every moment matter for a world on the go. Operator, let's open the line for questions.

Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from Daniel Moore with CJS Securities. Your line is open.

Thank you. Hello, Dan. Good afternoon, Mark. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Yep, sorry about that. Let me start with maybe I believe it's pronounced, you pronounced it, Mark, rocker. You know, maybe talk a little bit more about Opportunity. Is there anything you can disclose in terms of purchase price, kind of run rate revenue, but more importantly, you know, the revenue model and what are the exact capabilities that they bring to the table that maybe would have been more difficult to build in-house?

Sure. No, I'd be happy to. And, I mean, you do have it right as rocker. And we at SP Plus have been working in the areas that we talked about for some time. You know, we have many municipal clients, university clients, and others, and what we have found is that there is some functionality out there that we really would like to add to the Sphere platform, and a bit like what we told you last year when we were acquiring Divert, you know, acquiring Rocker gives us the ability to accelerate the deployment of additional functionality. And in some cases, bring those things to market more quickly than we would have before. This is an early stage company. Mostly we were acquiring the capability to add to our platform. And it really is around digital permitting, citations, and enforcement. And in some areas, the complexity of some of the client requirements weren't met by the current Sphere platform. So this will roll into the Sphere platform. We expect to integrate it fairly quickly and be out in the marketplace proposing on opportunities that will enable us to sell this additional functionality. It's not a big acquisition. It certainly doesn't contribute anything meaningfully to our P&L in the short run. It's more about making the Sphere platform more compelling in the marketplace.

Very helpful. Maybe switching gears a little bit, and you can use the recent contract extension in McCormick Place as an example, perhaps. Maybe talk about how Sphere is changing your positioning or leveraging and negotiating renewals. Are there specific examples of kind of cross-selling opportunities, incremental services that you're winning as these renewals come up?

Yep. Well, as you point out, we did get a five-year extension with McCormick Place in Chicago. It's a client we've served. for many, many years. It's a very complex operation, and I'm sure they recognize that, you know, we operate their facilities very, very efficiently, and that was really a key ingredient for us in the renewal. But in general, you know, clients are looking to reduce congestion and friction. And whether that's in an event venue, like the McCormick Place Convention Center, or just in the everyday movement of people in and around airports and away from curbs, where we can bring technology solutions, either through sphere or bags, you know, we're actually solving a problem for the traveling public. And what we've learned in large venues, you know, a big consideration for those clients is really getting people in before the activity starts and not having people leave before it's over. So a lot of it is is actually making it easy for people to get in and out. It's as simple as that. And we, of course, do that with our legacy operating business. But with technology, we have the tools to process transactions, to check credentials, and to get people in and out more quickly than before.

Excellent. Last for me, and I'll jump back into you. Sounds like Curbside Concierge is starting to gain significant traction. Um, I, I think you alluded to some additional airports, but also, uh, probably as critical, um, expect, uh, additional airline, uh, agreements in the coming months, quarters, any more detail on kind of the pace of those conversations. Thanks again.

Yep. Yep. Sure. Be glad to address that. And I think, as you know, from the conversations we've had over the years and particularly pre pandemic. You know, the proprietary remote check-in tool, which, as I commented, can now accommodate eight airlines instead of seven airlines, and that represents 96% of domestic employment, offers the ability to get people checked in, in some cases at the curb of the airport, but also in parking garages or other parking lots and other facilities away from the curb. So it's about reducing congestion through technology. And prior to the pandemic, the business model was to go to airports or cruise lines or ports and ask them to sponsor a model, so provide a free service for the traveling public. And there's a lot of interest in this tool, but in many cases, the concern that the sponsor was facing was, do I want to pay on behalf of the public? Do I want to pay on behalf of other stakeholders that might be benefiting from the service? And so coming out of the pandemic, our BEGS leadership team recognized that there's a consumer pay model that really works, and that's what consumer or curbside concierge really is. And we rolled it out to 40 airports with one airline. We are having a successful pilot with a second airline and believe that we are on the verge of adding additional airports there. But as congestion continues to build and travel volumes go to levels above the pre-pandemic period, We're getting some inbound interest for the first time from other airlines that would like to join in, and particularly because this service can be offered free to the airline. It doesn't cost them anything for this to be provided. But we're also seeing, and I mentioned this in the prepared remarks, that the sponsored model is coming back. There's many airports that have construction going on or the travel volumes are just way beyond the pre-pandemic levels. And so they're willing to entertain, once again, the idea of the sponsored model. And so we're now bringing a couple of those out as well. But fortunately for us, it's the same technology in either case. And the only question of whether the public is going to be paying for it, whether the client might pay for it, or potentially even a hybrid model where it's subsidized by an airport or an airline on behalf of the public and then the public pays the rest. So I think we feel very confident we have the right tool for reducing congestion in the check-in experience. And what's exciting for us is to see that I think both pricing models are now gaining traction in the marketplace.

Sounds great. Appreciate the color. I might have one or two follow-ups, but I'll jump back. Thank you.

Thanks a lot, Dan. Thanks, Dan.

Thank you. And our next question. comes from Tim Mulrooney with William Blair. Your line is open.

Mark, Chris, good afternoon. Hey, good afternoon, Tim.

Chris, you know, I'm looking at the SG&A and I appreciate all the color you gave, but if I just step back and I look at SG&A as a percent of sales, you know, it's like 13% in the first half of 23, similar to 2022, but well above the pre-pandemic levels of around 9%, 10%, 11%. My question is, is this a temporary increase due to investments in technology, or should we expect SG&A levels to remain around that, like 13%, 13% to 14% beyond the short-term guide that you gave for this year? Has there been a structural change in your cost structure?

Yeah, I mean, Tim, this is, you know, the short answer is no. I think, you know, where we have seen opportunities in terms of growth and in terms of new business wins, technology, we really want to make some of those investments. Those investments don't immediately contribute to gross profit on day one. And so these are things that we think are out there in terms of providing for us to be able to deliver that kind of high single digit growth in the long term. So there are some investments this year that will pay off in the latter part of this year and into next year. So, you know, I don't see that this is not a trend that's going to continue where we're going to continue to kind of continue to dump the P&L with G&A and investments. We think there's going to be some operating leverage as we kind of move forward through this year and into next year.

Okay, that's really helpful. Same question on CapEx. You know, I see, I look back at your P and L I see 10 million, 10 million, 8 million, 9 million, and then 22 million in 2022, it's going to be another 20 million this year. Is that, is that kind of the same story as with SG&A? Like you're making the investments now, but as a percentage of sales that kept extra go down over time, or are we in a structurally different situation here?

I think it's, you know, we've certainly made some large investments last year. I think it was around 21, 22. right around there in terms of CapEx this year. Certainly, if you look at it on a trend basis, we're kind of getting to that same point this year as it relates to CapEx. I think in the back part of the schedules, we kind of said 19 to 21 million or so in terms of a range. I think that's a good range for this year. I think as we look at future CapEx, you know, you're going to probably see CapEx maybe come down a bit I don't see that kind of upper levels sustaining through these next couple years. But certainly where I think we really want to be focused on is are there things, and Mark has mentioned this before, are there things that we can develop that we think will benefit the clients and allow us to grow faster? And so while I say I would expect it to come down slightly, I don't want to also take off the table those opportunities to make investments that we think can facilitate faster growth.

Understood. We wouldn't want you to do that either. That makes sense. Just one more for me on your retention levels. I mean, 94%, it's really high, near the highest I think we've ever seen. Do your technology solutions make your services stickier? Or is it too early to say that those solutions are having a tangible impact on retention rates and it's just more about execution?

Well, I think our thesis is that they will make it stick here. The more things that we provide for a client and do so successfully, the fewer options they have in terms of looking elsewhere to provide those services. And there's nothing easier for a client than to have a one-stop shop to do everything. And so whether a client needs boots on the ground or needs technology, needs both, we're there to provide it. And we're not just providing it in a simple way. scenario of a surface parking lot or a parking garage, but really all the various verticals and permutations of where people are parking. And so I think our ability to manage complex environments and bring technology along, if that's what the situation requires, I think does make us more sticky to the client. We're also benefiting, I think, from the fact that Some of our competitors have not invested in technology, and many are lagging in technology. And there's others who are struggling operationally and aren't really delivering value to the client base. And so our new business wins and the retention of our existing business, I think, are a reflection that when clients are thinking about who is best positioned to deliver against my objectives, they're thinking SP+.

Got it. Thank you, Mark and Chris, and congrats on a nice quarter, guys. Thanks so much, Tim. Thanks, Tim.

Thank you. And as a reminder, to ask a question, please press star 11 on your telephone. And our next question will come from Mark Riddick with Sedoti. Your line is open.

Hey, good afternoon, everyone.

Good afternoon.

So I was wondering if you could talk maybe sort of stretching out on the retention question because certainly 94% is obviously really, really good. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about maybe some of the pricing dynamics that you're seeing as far as renewals as well as, and certainly appreciate you providing color on net new wins and the technology contributions, Spears contributions to the new wins. So maybe you could talk a little bit about sort of the pricing dynamic when renewals come up. And as well, maybe they could talk and then segue into maybe the labor environment, inflationary realities. Thanks.

Sure. Sure. I mean, you know, I would say that the competitive dynamic and pricing hasn't really changed much for a long, long time. And I think that's partly, we're talking about the pricing of what we charge for our services as opposed to what the consumer pays. And the reality is, is that what we are charging a client to manage their facility or bring in technology solutions is is a very small amount as a percentage of revenue. And so I think when a client is looking at who's going to provide the services, they're really looking at who is best poised to execute and deliver the value that the client's looking for, whether it's a low-friction consumer experience, updated technology, or maximizing profit. And so I don't think that competitive pricing environment has changed much. One of the things that's new for us is that as we have developed the Sphere platform, we're able to offer it to clients at little or no upfront cost if the transaction volumes are high, and a lower cost than maybe some of the traditional parking equipment companies are charging for those locations that don't have a lot of transactions. And that's because we're asking the consumer to pay a transaction fee. And so a client or a prospective client has the ability to upgrade antiquated technology, capture more revenue, and have more reliability in their tech platform, and not have to make the capital outlays that they might have. And of course, as people feel financial pressures or higher interest rates and the like, not having to make capital outlays is an important priority for a lot of both of our current clients and prospective clients. I think the labor challenges you know, have moderated significantly. Obviously, coming out of the pandemic, there was a big reset that went on in terms of, you know, people weren't in the workforce, you know, wage rates, you know, rose significantly in many places. And, of course, there's a lot of demand for delivery drivers and the like. I think some of those industries have plateaued in terms of their growth trajectories. And so, you know, we're finding in general that the labor market is in much better condition, you know, than it was say a year or two years ago. But that being said, you know, it's another attraction of our business model where we are heavily skewed toward management type contracts. And of course, as you know, on the fixed fee contracts, you know, increases in labor costs are passed on to the client. And so they don't affect our P&L directly.

Great. And then I was wondering if we could shift gears. It seems as though from the prepared remarks as well as the press release that the strength that you're seeing and the activity that you're seeing is quite broad-braced when it comes to industry vertical customers and the like. I was wondering if you could sort of maybe bring us up to date on are you seeing any particular – uh, geographies that are maybe a little more active, uh, than others, uh, as far as bringing on new business wins or, or are there any sort of, you know, it seems there's a lot of green shoots, but wondering if there are any areas that are a little greener than others.

Yeah, no, that's a, that's a great point. You know, I'd say it's fairly broad-based. I mean, there's strong economic activity, you know, everywhere. And, of course, we're seeing, for the most part, you know, the hybrid working model has, I think, become the new normal. And so, you know, there's certain days of the week that have a lot of parking demand, and there's other days of the week that have less demand. But certainly, as the people that serve, you know, people traveling for work, have looked at their businesses. They're saying, where do I bring new technology to drive costs out of my business operation? Do I have technology solutions that are innovative and can deal with the fact that there are fewer monthly parkers now and more daily parkers? And so, interestingly, you know, a lot of our growth in new locations is really coming from commercial office buildings, hotels, retail, mixed use, and residential properties. So I think these are the people that are super excited about how do we drive efficiency with technology, maybe take operating costs out of the business, and how do we ensure that we have optimally priced you know, the parking and, of course, through our digital tools, our parking.com, you know, mobile app, our web scraping tools, and our yield management experts and analysts are able to advise clients on what the optimal parking rate should be and really are able to drive through our digital marketing programs to create solutions to drive demand to the parking facilities that we operate. And in these economic times, you know, that's a major focal point you know, for our client base or our prospective client base. Obviously, many markets are experiencing more congestion because of migration. You know, the southeast and the southwest have had a big uptick in people. But even in some of our legacy markets, we're seeing, you know, places like New York and others, we're seeing nice same-store growth taking place across our portfolio. And I think it's just a reflection of the fact that that people are out and about and are pretty much returned to normal now that the pandemic is behind us.

Great. And then last one for me, I think the announcement of the rocker acquisition, I think it was like the day after we did our preview notes. So I did want to sort of ask, though, if you could sort of bring us up to date as to kind of what you're seeing as far as the potential acquisition pipeline out there. It's certainly, you know, technology is certainly one of the key priority areas. But I just wanted to talk a little bit about what the pipeline kind of looks like in valuations and, you know, it seems as though there's more room to grow there. But maybe you sort of bring us up to date on what you're seeing out there. Thanks.

Yeah. Well, I think we're definitely, I'll comment on the technology space and Chris can maybe comment more broadly. But, you know, certainly what we are seeing is that there have been a number of early stage technology companies that have developed some functionality that actually is useful in the marketplace. But what they're finding is that it's a long, slow slog to go sell clients one at a time. That is the challenge because the ownership or the property management in our industry is very fragmented. And so I think some of them are realizing that in order to get the value out of their innovation, they really need to sell their business to somebody like us that already has a large geographic footprint. And so realistically, we're seeing quite a bit of inbound activity around technology. And people are saying, hey, we're going to come to market with this, or we're looking at selling our business. And fortunately, because we have a tech roadmap for our business, we have the discipline to say, is this really going to accelerate our growth? We're not looking to acquire technology for its own sake, but if we can accelerate the the deployment of our Sphere platform, the capabilities of the Sphere platform, ensure that it can provide capabilities that other people can't provide, then an acquisition makes sense, provided we can get it at a good value. That doesn't mean we're not interested in operating businesses as well, but I think certainly we've seen because of this changing market dynamic, opportunities over the past year to acquire technology businesses at valuations that enable us to really create value for our shareholders by making that acquisition.

And on the operating business side, I would say we continue to keep our eyes and ears open in terms of opportunities that are out there. I think we've mentioned this on prior calls that what we don't want to do is acquire an operating business that It's kind of a slow-growing version of who we are. What we really want to find is opportunities where we can speed up or continue to grow our business at that high single-digit basis. And maybe that could be through the deployment of technology solutions into that operating business that maybe hasn't leveraged the technology that is there or available. And so I think there are some opportunities. We continue to look for those. and we continue to keep our eyes and ears open.

Great. Thank you very much.

Thanks, Mark.

Thanks, Mark.

Thank you. One moment for our next question. We have a question from Kevin Steinke with Barrington Research Associates. Your line is open.

Hey, good afternoon, Mark. Good afternoon.

So I think on your... first quarter conference call. You talked about expecting gross profit to grow on a quarterly sequential basis throughout 2023 with more significant sequential growth in the second half of 2023. And so, you know, we had a really nice sequential growth in gross profit here in the second quarter of about 13%. And, you know, if I just, assume pretty modest or um functional growth and gross profit here and over the next two quarters it gets me to the high end or a little bit above the high end of your adjusted gross profit uh guidance range for 2023 so i mean is there any reason we should think about the sequential comparisons kind of flattening out as we get into the that can happen in 2023, or is there maybe just a little bit of conservatism in, you know, the fact that you maintain that guidance?

Yeah, Kevin, this is Chris. I think if you look at our traditional Q2, that's typically our strongest quarter, and certainly we have a lot of new robust wins as it relates to the operating business as well as technology, and certainly we had some strong same-store allocation growth. So certainly that is contributing to it. I would say there's maybe a little bit of pull forward in terms of some new business that we expected in the back part of the year. I think what I mentioned on the Q2 call is that we would expect to see some continued growth in the business that would be overshot, you know, the seasonality would be overshadowed by the growth in the business. I think if you look at, and I mentioned this on the Q1 call, I still think Q4 is going to be our strongest quarter if you were to look at gross profit. So I think if you look at how we're going to sequence up the remainder of the year, Q3 is generally a slower quarter for us. Q4 is typically maybe number two, and Q2 is always number one. So I think if you think about it in terms of that, in terms of a sequence basis, I think that would help.

Okay, great. Yeah, thank you. Very helpful. And I wanted to follow up on your comment about adjusted gross profit and revenue before or excluding reimbursed expenses growing at a similar pace in the first half of the year and that you would expect that trend to continue, I guess, you know, both growing at a similar rate. But does that imply some sort of stabilization in the you know, the lease contract base, just given the revenue recognition dynamics there of the different contract types. You know, normally when you switch from a lease to a management fee contract, you know, the revenue will go down just based on the recognition, even though the gross profit might, you know, be very similar. So I'm just wondering if that makes sense or, you know, if you've seen some sort of stabilization on the lease side.

Yeah, I think, you know, Kevin, I think we are. I think if you look at the lease location numbers, that certainly has been somewhat of a static number. It's kind of been in that 410 to 420 locations in terms of leases for the last few quarters. So I would definitely feel, I definitely feel like that's kind of static. We certainly have nice momentum on our management contracts, and I think that gives us increased visibility in terms of how we're seeing the revenue come into the business. I think from time to time we do get questions around what does a revenue trend look like for SP? And I think what we're trying to provide here is a little bit of guidance around not necessarily guiding to revenue, but giving some color around how we're seeing the business evolve and mature in terms of that revenue growth and trying to link that into gross profit. So I think that's close correlation from a gross profit perspective to revenue is there. And I think it's primarily due to the management contracts that we have the technology and the contributions for technology, and that our lease portfolio is somewhat static in terms of the number of locations we have.

Okay, great. Thank you. And you mentioned their visibility, and you talked about in your earnings release how year-to-date new business wins and the robust business development pipeline are supporting your high single-digit long-term gross profit growth outlook. Does that imply that you're starting to get some decent visibility into what 2024 could look like or at what point do you start to get better visibility, I guess, into the next year?

I think if you look at this year, certainly it's a really good year for us. I mean, I think what we said is we would deliver, you know, in the the low double digits in terms of gross profit growth and high single digits on a go-forward basis. And I think that's still the case. I think we feel really good with our business in terms of where we're at. I think as we look out into the horizon, I would still reiterate, we feel really comfortable with that high single digit gross profit growth in terms of growth in the business.

Great. Thank you for the commentary. I'll turn it over.

Thanks, Kevin. Thanks, Kevin.

Thank you. And I'm showing no other questions in the queue. I'd like to turn the call back to Mr. Mark Bauman for closing remarks.

Hey, thank you, Catherine. And thank you, everyone, for joining us. We're obviously very excited about our results for Q2, and particularly because they reflect the fastest organic growth rate we've ever delivered as a management team. So we're very excited about that and the prospects for a successful year. And we look forward to talking to you again next quarter. Thank you.

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Bye.

Thank you.

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the second quarter 2023 SP Plus Corporation's earnings conference call. At this time, all participants in our listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there'll be a question and answer session. To ask a question during this session, you'll need to press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising you your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Chris Roy, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Catherine, and good afternoon, everyone. As Catherine just said, I'm Chris Roy, Chief Financial Officer of SP+. Welcome to our conference call following the release of our second quarter 2023 earnings. During the call today, management will make remarks that may be considered forward-looking statements, including statements as to the outlook and expectations for 2023 and statements regarding the company's strategies, plans, intentions, future operations, and expected financial performance. Actual results, performance, and achievements could differ materially from those expressed or implied due to a variety of risks, uncertainties, or other factors, including those described in the company's earnings release issued earlier this afternoon. which is incorporated by reference for purposes of this call and available on the SP Plus website and list factors in the company's annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the SEC. In addition, management will discuss non-GAAP financial information during the call. Management believes the presentation of non-GAAP results provides investors with useful, supplemental information concerning the company's ongoing operations and is an appropriate way to evaluate the company's performance. They are provided for informational purposes only. A full reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to comparable GAAP financial measures were presented in the tables accompanying the earnings release. To the extent other non-GAAP financial measures are discussed on the call, reconciliations to comparable GAAP measure will be posted under the Regulation G tab in the Investor Relations section of the SP Plus website. Please note, this call is being broadcast live over the internet and is being recorded. A replay will be available on the SP Plus website shortly after the end of the call and will be available for 30 days from today. I will now turn the call over to Mark Bauman, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Hey, thank you, Chris, and good afternoon, everyone. This is another strong quarter for SP+. Adjusted gross profit and adjusted EBITDA were at record levels for both the second quarter and first half of this year. By combining innovative technology solutions with a highly trained workforce, we continue to build on our competitive advantages, expand our addressable market, and execute effectively on our long-term growth strategy. Adjusted gross profit increased at a double-digit rate, reaching a second quarter record for SP+, driven by solid growth in both our commercial segment, which was up almost 9% year-on-year, and our aviation segment, which was up 24% above last year's second quarter. This strong performance is largely due to our continued success in winning new business, growing net new locations, as well as expanding the scope of services we provide at existing locations. Commercial segment adjusted gross profit growth was achieved across nearly all verticals, led by hospitality, healthcare, and large event venues. The breadth of capabilities we bring to clients is exceptional, positioning SP Plus as a leader in the digital transformation of our industry. We added 126 net new locations during the first half of 2023, with 55 net new locations added in the second quarter, our ninth consecutive quarter of net new location growth. At the same time, we succeeded in increasing our location retention rate to 94%, the highest in recent memory. Turning to aviation, Q2 adjusted gross profit increased 24% year over year, reflecting both organic and acquisition growth, as we benefited from new contract wins and renewals, as well as expanded services we provide at 160 global airports. Notably, our curbside concierge service continues to gain traction, The pilot program we launched with the second airline is performing above expectations and we anticipate to roll out this service at additional airports with this airline in the near term. Also, we expect to bring additional airlines onto the program, which provides a cost-effective way to ease congestion and enhance the travel experience. Gross profit from technology solutions continued to grow in the second quarter, and we are on track to double the 2022 contribution as a percentage of adjusted gross profit for the full year 2023. More than a quarter of the new locations added during the second quarter were for standalone sphere deployments, where we currently do not provide other SP plus services, illustrating the appeal of our technology solutions and the way they're expanding our addressable market. In addition to achieving strong financial performance, we succeeded in effectively executing on our long-term growth strategy in the second quarter. First, we strengthened our leadership position by bringing innovative technology solutions and superior operations to existing and new clients. A great example of this is the technology overhaul we implemented for the city of Richmond, Virginia. We replaced outdated equipment with our sphere technology solutions which has already resulted in increased transactions as well as a significant boost in revenue. Other benefits include improved operating performance, reduced operating costs, and a completely digital, frictionless consumer experience that eliminates the need for paper tickets. In Baltimore, SP Plus was chosen to design an ambitious and tech-forward parking plan for a large-scale development project to transform a former industrial port into a vibrant shopping and entertainment hub. Also, the city of Los Angeles, where we already operate one of the largest on-street meter programs in the United States, recently awarded us an add-on contract to manage the parking for an additional 23 facilities consisting of off-street surface lots and parking structures, demonstrating how well our solutions and services are meeting the needs of the city. We're experiencing similar positive momentum in our aviation business, Recent new awards in the aviation segment include Omaha and West Palm Beach airports, and contract renewals were secured at San Francisco, Detroit Metropolitan, and Buffalo airports. In addition, we're beginning to regain traction with our sponsored remote airline check-in service. We recently started up operations at the Orlando airport and will shortly begin to provide remote airline check-in services at an airport serving a major tourist destination on the west coast. We hope to be able to talk to you more about this win on our next call. And with the addition of one additional airline, our remote check-in services are now available to passengers traveling on eight airlines, which account for 96% of domestic travel. Secondly, we continue to increase our addressable market and achieve revenue synergies in the second quarter. SP Plus is working together with public-private partnerships, or P3s, that are helping universities monetize their assets, with our role being to manage their parking operations. The program has been so successful at one large university in Ohio that another university in the state has asked us to replicate and expand upon it on their campus. Our technology is designed to enable students, faculty, staff, and visitors to pay by phone, QR code, or via text. Based on the success of our initial P3 deployment, we're seeing strong inbound activity to replicate this success, and we expect this area of opportunity to continue to grow. With respect to revenue synergies, we recently launched our Aeroparker online parking reservation system at Houston's Intercontinental and Hobby Airports. where SP Plus was already providing parking management services. We're working together with our Aeroparker colleagues to further leverage our relationships and combined expertise to gain additional synergies. Third, we continue to leverage and monetize our technology investments. In the second quarter, we processed 5.4 million transactions on SP Plus technology platforms, up 36% sequentially. Transactions in June are up almost 70% over December 2022. These transactions include reservations and on-demand transactions for both on and off street parking, as well as at large venues and payment processing for remote airline check-in and curbside concierge. These examples indicate how well our services are aligned with client demand and consumer preferences. And finally, last week we announced the acquisition of certain assets of Rocker, a provider of fully integrated parking solutions that simplify permit violation and enforcement management for organizations and municipalities. We believe this transaction will enable SP Plus to take advantage of the demand from municipal clients for a comprehensive mobility solution that helps them leverage smart city applications and from healthcare and university clients looking to digitize the complex permitting requirements that are common on their campuses. This is the third technology acquisition we've made in the last nine months, demonstrating our commitment to accelerate the pace of deployment of cutting-edge technology offerings, which is a key element of our continued growth. Now I'm going to turn the call back over to Chris for a financial review. Chris?

Thank you, Mark. Strong business momentum continued in the second quarter, enabling us to reaffirm our full-year guidance. Consistent with prior quarters, comments about our financial performance and outlook we'll focus on our adjusted results. Adjusted gross profit and adjusted EBITDA were at record levels in the second quarter. Adjusted gross profit, which excludes depreciation, as well as integration and restructuring costs, increased 12% year-over-year to $66 million, attributable to a number of factors, namely increased profitability at same locations, new business wins, and successful deployment of technology-enabled solutions at both existing and new locations. Adjusted EBITDA increased 9% to a record $34.4 million compared to $31.7 million in the same period last year. This is particularly impressive given we continue to invest in G&A to support technology solutions that position us to deliver sustainable long-term gross profit growth. Second quarter adjusted G&A, excluding acquisition, integration, and other costs, was $30.6 million compared to $26.3 million in last year's second quarter. This level was consistent with our comments on the last earnings call noting that Q1 adjusted G&A was a good run rate for the remainder of the year. our expectation remains unchanged for the balance of the year. As a result of higher interest rates and increased DNA expenses from technology-related capital investments, second quarter 2023 adjusted earnings per share were 78 cents compared to 81 cents in the second quarter of last year. This was another solid quarter of cash flow generation, bringing our year-to-date operating cash flow to $21 million and free cash flow to $8.3 million, compared to $35.7 million and $25.5 million in the year-ago period, respectively. As a reminder, 2022 included the receipt of a one-time federal income tax refund of $20.5 million. Adjusting for this, operating cash flow in the first half was up 38%, and free cash flow increased 66% year-over-year. Based on our visibility into the second half and our anticipation of continued investments for technology-related capital expenditures, we reaffirm our free cash flow gains of $60 million to $70 million, or approximately $3 to $3.50 per share, which at the midpoint is 35% above 2022 levels, adjusting for the tax refund. We expect to deploy our healthy cash flows, coupled with our $600 million credit facility, to fund our capital allocation priorities, which include organic growth, acquisitions, and share repurchases. With regard to our expectations for full year 2023, we are reaffirming our guidance on all metrics. Adjusted gross profit is expected to range from $240 million to $260 million, 11% above 2022 level at the midpoint. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $125 million to $135 million, 11% above or ahead of 2022 at the midpoint, and we're forecasting adjusted EPS to range from $2.70 to $3.20 per share, approximately 6% above 2022 levels at the midpoint. As you update your models, I do want to point out that year-to-date revenues, excluding reimbursed management contract expenses, increased 15% and adjusted gross profit increased 13%. Based on our increased gross profit contribution from higher margin technology services and a greater proportion of management fee contracts, we expect this close correlation of revenue and gross profit trend to continue. Additionally, we still forecast 2023 GNA to be approximately $15 million higher than 2022, primarily due to technology-related investments that support future growth. With that, I'll turn the call back over to Mark.

Hey, thanks, Chris. First half results, together with our current visibility, underpin our confidence that 2023 will be a record year for SP Plus in terms of adjusted gross profit and adjusted EBITDA performance. While we continue to make investments to support our multifaceted growth strategy, SP Plus continues to build its market leadership within a business environment where commercial, retail, and travel activity is increasing. and where clients and consumers are seeking solutions and services that reduce congestion and offer low-friction transaction options. Through our ongoing investments in technology and people, we're leading the digital transformation of our industry and positioning SP Plus to capture the considerable growth opportunities ahead, providing innovative solutions to make every moment matter for a world on the go. Operator, let's open the line for questions.

Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star 1-1 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star 1-1 again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from Daniel Moore with CJS Securities. Your line is open.

Thank you. Good afternoon, Mark. Good afternoon. Yep, sorry about that. Let me start with maybe I believe it's pronounced, you pronounced it, Mark, rocker. Maybe talk a little bit more about opportunity. If there's anything you can disclose in terms of purchase price, kind of run rate revenue, but more importantly, the revenue model and what are the exact capabilities that they bring to the table that maybe would have been more difficult to build in-house.

Sure. No, I'd be happy to. And, I mean, you do have it right as rocker. And we at SP Plus have been working in the areas that we talked about for some time. You know, we have many municipal clients, university clients, and others. And what we have found is that there is some functionality out there that we really would like to add to the Sphere platform. And a bit like what we told you last year when we were acquiring Divert, you know, acquiring Rocker gives us the ability to accelerate the deployment of additional functionality and in some cases bring those things to market more quickly than we would have before. This is an early stage company. Mostly we were acquiring the capability to add to our platform. And it really is around digital permitting, citations, and enforcement. And in some areas, the complexity of some of the client requirements you know, weren't met by the current Sphere platform. So this will roll into the Sphere platform. We expect to integrate it fairly quickly and be out in the marketplace proposing on opportunities that will enable us to sell this additional functionality. It's not a big acquisition. It certainly doesn't contribute anything meaningfully to our P&L in the short run. It's more about making the Sphere platform more compelling in the marketplace.

Very helpful. Maybe switching gears a little bit, and you can use the recent contract extension in McCormick Place as an example, perhaps. Maybe talk about how Sphere is changing your positioning or leveraging and negotiating renewals. Are there specific examples of kind of cross-selling opportunities, incremental services that you're winning as these renewals come up?

Well, as you point out, we did get a five-year extension with McCormick Place in Chicago. It's a client we've served for many, many years. It's a very complex operation, and I'm sure they recognize that we operate their facilities very, very efficiently, and that was really a key ingredient for us in the renewal. But in general, clients are looking to reduce congestion and friction. And whether that's in an event venue like the McCormick Place Convention Center or just in the everyday movement of people in and around airports and away from curbs, where we can bring technology solutions either through sphere or bags, you know, we're actually solving a problem for the traveling public. And what we've learned in large venues, you know, a big consideration for those clients is really getting people in before the activity starts and not having people leave before it's over. So a lot of it is is actually making it easy for people to get in and out. It's as simple as that. And we, of course, do that with our legacy operating business. But with technology, we have the tools to process transactions, to check credentials, and to get people in and out more quickly than before.

Excellent. Last for me, and I'll jump back into you. Sounds like Kurdish side concierge is starting to gain significant traction. Um, I, I think you alluded to some additional airports, but also, uh, probably as critical, um, expect, uh, additional airline, uh, agreements in the coming months, quarters, any more detail on kind of the pace of those conversations. Thanks again.

Yep. Yep. Sure. Be glad to address that. And I think, as you know, from the conversations we've had over the years and particularly pre pandemic. You know, the proprietary remote check-in tool, which, as I commented, can now accommodate eight airlines instead of seven airlines, and that represents 96% of domestic employment, offers the ability to get people checked in, in some cases at the curb of the airport, but also in parking garages or other parking lots and other facilities away from the curb. So it's about reducing congestion through technology. And prior to the pandemic, the business model was to go to airports or cruise lines or ports and ask them to sponsor a model, so provide a free service for the traveling public. And there's a lot of interest in this tool, but in many cases, the concern that the sponsor was facing was, do I want to pay on behalf of the public? Do I want to pay on behalf of other stakeholders that might be benefiting from the service? And so coming out of the pandemic, our BEGS leadership team recognized that there's a consumer pay model that really works, and that's what consumer or curbside concierge really is. And we rolled it out to 40 airports with one airline. We are having a successful pilot with a second airline and believe that we are on the verge of adding additional airports there, but as congestion continues to build and travel volumes go to levels above the pre-pandemic period, we're getting some inbound interest for the first time from other airlines that would like to join in, and particularly because this service can be offered free to the airline. It doesn't cost them anything for this to be provided. But we're also seeing, and I mentioned this in the prepared remarks, that the sponsored model is coming back. There's many airports that have construction going on or the the travel volumes are just way beyond the pre-pandemic levels. And so they're willing to entertain, once again, the idea of the sponsored model. And so we're now bringing a couple of those out as well. But fortunately for us, it's the same technology in either case. And the only question of whether the public is going to be paying for it, whether the client might pay for it, or potentially even a hybrid model where it's subsidized by an airport or an airline on behalf of the public, and then the public pays the rest. So I think we feel very confident we have the right tool for reducing congestion in the check-in experience. And what's exciting for us is to see that I think both pricing models are now gaining traction in the marketplace.

Sounds great. Appreciate the color. I might have one or two follow-ups, but I'll jump back. Thank you.

Thanks a lot, Dan. Thanks, Dan.

Thank you. And our next question. comes from Tim Mulrooney with William Blair. Your line is open.

Mark, Chris, good afternoon. Hey, good afternoon, Tim.

Chris, you know, I'm looking at the SG&A and I appreciate all the color you gave, but if I just step back and I look at SG&A as a percent of sales, you know, it's like 13% in the first half of 23, similar to 2022, but well above the pre-pandemic levels of around 9%, 10%, 11%. My question is, is this a temporary increase due to investments in technology, or should we expect SG&A levels to remain around that, like 13%, 13% to 14% beyond the short-term guide that you gave for this year? Has there been a structural change in your cost structure? Sure.

Yeah, I mean, Tim, the short answer is no. I think where we have seen opportunities in terms of growth and in terms of new business wins, technology, we really want to make some of those investments. Those investments don't immediately contribute to gross profit on day one, and so these are things that we think are out there in terms of providing for us to be able to deliver that kind of high single-digit growth in the long term. So there are some investments this year that will pay off in the latter part of this year and into next year. So, you know, I don't see that this is not a trend that's going to continue where we're going to continue to kind of continue to dump the P&L with G&A and investments. We think there's going to be some operating leverage as we kind of move forward through this year and into next year.

Okay, that's really helpful. Same question on CapEx. You know, I see, I look back at your P&L, I see 10 million, 10 million, 8 million, 9 million, and then 22 million in 2022. It's going to be another 20 million this year. Is that kind of the same story as with SG&A? Like you're making the investments now, but as a percentage of sales, that capex should go down over time? Or are we in a structurally different situation here?

I think it's, you know, we've certainly made some large investments last year. I think it was around 21, 22. right around there in terms of CapEx this year. Certainly, if you look at it on a trend basis, we're kind of getting to that same point this year as it relates to CapEx. I think in the back part of the schedules, we kind of said 19 to 21 million or so in terms of a range. I think that's a good range for this year. I think as we look at future CapEx, you know, you're going to probably see CapEx maybe come down a bit. I don't see that kind of upper levels sustaining through these next couple of years. But certainly where I think we really want to be focused on is, are there things, and Mark has mentioned this before, are there things that we can develop that we think will benefit the clients and allow us to grow faster? And so while I say I would expect it to come down slightly, I don't want to also take off the table those opportunities to make investments that we think can facilitate faster growth.

Understood. We wouldn't want you to do that either. That makes sense. Just one more for me on your retention levels. I mean, 94%, it's really high, near the highest I think we've ever seen. Do your technology solutions make your services stickier? Or is it too early to say that those solutions are having a tangible impact on retention rates and it's just more about execution?

Well, I think our thesis is that they will make us stickier. The more things that we provide for a client and do so successfully, the fewer options they have in terms of looking elsewhere to provide those services. And there's nothing easier for a client than to have a one-stop shop to do everything. And so whether a client needs boots on the ground or needs technology, needs both, you know, we're there to provide it. And we're not just providing it in a simple way. scenario of a surface parking lot or a parking garage, but really all the various verticals and permutations of where people are parking. And so I think our ability to manage complex environments and bring technology along, if that's what the situation requires, I think does make us more sticky to the client. We're also benefiting, I think, from the fact that Some of our competitors have not invested in technology, and many are lagging in technology. And there's others who are struggling operationally and aren't really delivering value to the client base. And so our new business wins and the retention of our existing business, I think, are a reflection that when clients are thinking about who is best positioned to deliver against my objectives, they're thinking SP+.

Got it. Thank you, Mark and Chris, and congrats on a nice quarter, guys. Thanks so much, Tim. Thanks, Tim.

Thank you. And as a reminder, to ask a question, please press star 11 on your telephone. And our next question will come from Mark Riddick with Sedoti. Your line is open.

Hey, good afternoon, everyone.

Good afternoon. Good afternoon.

So I was wondering if you could talk, maybe sort of stretching out on the retention question, because certainly 94% is obviously really, really good. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about maybe some of the pricing dynamics that you're seeing as far as renewals as well as, and certainly appreciate you providing color on net new wins and the technology contributions, Spears contributions to the new wins. So maybe you could talk a little bit about sort of the pricing dynamic when renewals come up. And as well, maybe they could talk and then segue into maybe the labor environment, inflationary realities. Thanks.

Sure. Sure. I mean, you know, I would say that the competitive dynamic and pricing hasn't really changed much for a long, long time. And I think that's partly we're talking about the pricing of what we charge for our services as opposed to what the consumer pays. And the reality is, is that what we are charging a client to manage their facility or bring in technology solutions is is a very small amount as a percentage of revenue. And so I think when a client is looking at who's going to provide the services, they're really looking at who is best poised to execute and deliver the value that the client's looking for, whether it's a low-friction consumer experience, updated technology, or maximizing profit. And so I don't think that competitive pricing environment has changed much. One of the things that's new for us is that as we have developed the Sphere platform, we're able to offer it to clients at little or no upfront cost if the transaction volumes are high, and a lower cost than maybe some of the traditional parking equipment companies are charging for those locations that don't have a lot of transactions. And that's because we're asking the consumer to pay a transaction fee. And so a client or a prospective client has the ability to upgrade antiquated technology, capture more revenue, and have more reliability in their tech platform, and not have to make the capital outlays that they might have. And of course, as people feel financial pressures or higher interest rates and the like, not having to make capital outlays is an important priority for a lot of both of our current clients and prospective clients. I think the labor challenges you know, have moderated significantly. Obviously, coming out of the pandemic, there was a big reset that went on in terms of, you know, people weren't in the workforce, you know, wage rates, you know, rose significantly in many places. And of course, there's a lot of demand for delivery drivers and the like. I think some of those industries have, plateaued in terms of their growth trajectories. And so, you know, we're finding in general that the labor market is in much better condition, you know, than it was say a year or two years ago. But that being said, you know, it's another attraction of our business model where we are heavily skewed toward management type contracts. And of course, as you know, on the fixed fee contracts, you know, increases in labor costs are passed on to the client. And so they don't affect our P&L directly.

Great. And then I was wondering if we could shift gears. It seems as though from the prepared remarks as well as the press release that the strength that you're seeing and the activity that you're seeing is quite broad-braced when it comes to industry vertical customers and the like. I was wondering if you could sort of maybe bring us up to date on are you seeing any particular geographies that are maybe a little more active than others as far as bringing on new business wins or are there any sort of, you know, it seems there's a lot of green shoots, but wondering if there are any areas that are a little greener than others.

Yeah, no, that's a great point. You know, I'd say it's fairly broad-based. I mean, there's strong economic activity, you know, everywhere. And, of course, we're seeing, for the most part, you know, the hybrid working model has, I think, become the new normal. And so, you know, there's certain days of the week that have a lot of parking demand, and there's other days of the week that have less demand. But certainly, as the people that serve, you know, people traveling for work, have looked at their businesses. They're saying, where do I bring new technology to drive costs out of my business operation? Do I have technology solutions that are innovative and can deal with the fact that there are fewer monthly parkers now and more daily parkers? And so, interestingly, you know, a lot of our growth in new locations is really coming from, you know, commercial office buildings, hotels, retail, mixed use, and residential properties. So I think these are the people that are super excited about how do we drive efficiency with technology, maybe take operating costs out of the business, and how do we ensure that we have optimally priced you know, the parking and, of course, through our digital tools, our parking.com, you know, mobile app, our web scraping tools, and our yield management experts and analysts are able to advise clients on what the optimal parking rate should be and really are able to drive through our digital marketing programs to create solutions to drive demand to the parking facilities that we operate. And in these economic times, you know, that's a major focal point you know, for our client base or our prospective client base. Obviously, many markets are experiencing more congestion because of migration. You know, the southeast and the southwest had a big uptick in people. But even in some of our legacy markets, we're seeing, you know, places like New York and others, we're seeing nice same-store growth taking place across our portfolio. And I think it's just a reflection of the fact that that people are out and about and are pretty much returned to normal now that the pandemic is behind us.

Great. And then last one for me, I think the announcement of the rocker acquisition, I think it was like the day after we did our preview notes. So I did want to sort of ask, though, if you could sort of bring us up to date as to kind of what you're seeing as far as the potential acquisition pipeline out there. It's certainly, you know, technology is certainly one of the key priority areas. But I just wanted to talk a little bit about what the pipeline kind of looks like in valuations and, you know, it seems as though there's more room to grow there. But maybe you sort of bring us up to date on what you're seeing out there. Thanks.

Yeah. Well, I think we're definitely – I'll comment on the technology space, and Chris can maybe comment more broadly. But, you know, certainly what we are seeing is that there have been a number of early-stage technology companies that have developed some functionality that actually is useful in the marketplace today. But what they're finding is that it's a long, slow slog to go sell clients one at a time. That is the challenge because the ownership or the property management in our industry is very fragmented. And so I think some of them are realizing that in order to get the value out of their innovation, they really need to sell their business to somebody like us that already has a large geographic footprint. And so realistically, we're seeing quite a bit of inbound activity around technology. And people are saying, hey, we're going to come to market with this, or we're looking at selling our business. And unfortunately, because we have a tech roadmap for our business, we have the discipline to say, is this really going to accelerate our growth? We're not looking to acquire technology for its own sake, but if we can accelerate our the deployment of our Sphere platform, the capabilities of the Sphere platform, ensure that it can provide capabilities that other people can't provide, then an acquisition makes sense provided we can get it at a good value. That doesn't mean we're not interested in operating businesses as well, but I think certainly we've seen because of this changing market dynamic, opportunities over the past year to acquire technology businesses at valuations that enable us to really create value for our shareholders by making that acquisition.

And on the operating business side, I would say we continue to keep our eyes and ears open in terms of opportunities that are out there. I think we've mentioned this on prior calls that what we don't want to do is acquire an operating business that is kind of a slow-growing version of who we are. What we really want to find is opportunities where we can speed up or continue to grow our business at that high single-digit basis. And maybe that could be through the deployment of technology solutions into that operating business that maybe hasn't leveraged the technology that is there or available. And so I think there are some opportunities. We continue to look for those. and we continue to keep our eyes and ears open.

Great. Thank you very much.

Thanks, Mark.

Thanks, Mark.

Thank you. One moment for our next question. We have a question from Kevin Steinke with Barrington Research Associates. Your line is open.

Hey, good afternoon, Mark. Good afternoon. So I think on your...

first quarter conference call. You talked about expecting gross profits to grow on a quarterly sequential basis throughout 2023 with more significant sequential growth in the second half of 2023. And so, you know, we had a really nice sequential growth in gross profit here in the second quarter of about 13%. And, you know, if I just, assume pretty modest or um sequential growth and gross profit here and over the next two quarters it gets me to the high end or a little bit above the high end of your adjusted gross profit uh guidance range for 2023 so i mean is there any reason we should think about the sequential comparisons kind of flattening out as we get into the second half of 2023, or is there maybe just a little bit of conservatism in, you know, the fact that you maintain that guidance?

Yeah, Kevin, this is Chris. I think if you look at our traditional Q2, that's typically our strongest quarter, and certainly we have a lot of new robust wins as it relates to the operating business as well as technology, and certainly we had some strong same-store allocation growth. So certainly that is contributing to it. I would say there's maybe a little bit of pull forward in terms of some new business that we expected in the back part of the year. I think what I mentioned on the Q2 call is that we would expect to see some continued growth in the business that would be overshot, you know, the seasonality would be overshadowed by the growth in the business. I think if you look at, and I mentioned this on the Q1 call, I still think Q4 is going to be our strongest quarter if you were to look at gross profit. So I think if you look at how we're going to sequence up the remainder of the year, Q3 is generally a slower quarter for us. Q4 is typically maybe number two, and Q2 is always number one. So I think if you think about it in terms of that, in terms of a sequence basis, I think that would help.

Okay, great. Yeah, thank you. Very helpful. And I wanted to follow up on your comment about adjusted gross profit and revenue before or excluding reimbursed expenses growing at a similar pace in the first half of the year and that you would expect that trend to continue, I guess, you know, both growing at a similar rate. But does that imply some sort of stabilization in the you know, the lease contract base, just given the revenue recognition dynamics there of the different contract types. You know, normally when you switch from a lease to a management fee contract, you know, the revenue will go down just based on the recognition, even though the gross profit might, you know, be very similar. So I'm just wondering if that makes sense or, you know, if you've seen some sort of stabilization on the lease side.

Yeah, I think, you know, Kevin, I think we are. I think if you look at the lease location numbers, that certainly has been somewhat of a static number. It's kind of been in that 410 to 420 locations in terms of leases for the last few quarters. So I would definitely feel, I definitely feel like that's kind of static. We certainly have nice momentum on our management contracts, and I think that gives us increased visibility in terms of how we're seeing the revenue come into the business. I think from time to time we do get questions around what does a revenue trend look like for SP? And I think what we're trying to provide here is a little bit of guidance around not necessarily guiding to revenue, but giving some color around how we're seeing the business evolve and mature in terms of that revenue growth and trying to link that into gross profit. So I think that's close correlation from a gross profit perspective to revenue is there. And I think it's primarily due to the management contracts that we have the technology and the contributions for technology, and that our lease portfolio is somewhat static in terms of the number of locations we have.

Okay, great. Thank you. And you mentioned their visibility, and you talked about in your earnings release how year-to-date new business wins and the robust business development pipeline are supporting your high single-digit long-term gross profit growth outlook. Does that imply that you're starting to get some decent visibility into what 2024 could look like or at what point do you start to get better visibility, I guess, into the next year?

I think if you look at this year, certainly it's a really good year for us. I mean, I think what we said is we would deliver, you know, in the the low double digits in terms of gross profit growth and high single digits on a go-forward basis. And I think that's still the case. I think we feel really good with our business in terms of where we're at. I think as we look out into the horizon, I would still reiterate, we feel really comfortable with that high single digit gross profit growth in terms of growth in the business.

Great. Thank you for the commentary. I'll turn it over.

Thanks, Kevin. Thanks, Kevin.

Thank you. And I'm showing no other questions in the queue. I'd like to turn the call back to Mr. Mark Bauman for closing remarks.

Hey, thank you, Catherine. And thank you, everyone, for joining us. We're obviously very excited about our results for Q2, and particularly because they reflect the fastest organic growth rate we've ever delivered as a management team. So we're very excited about that and the prospects for a successful year. And we look forward to talking to you again next quarter. Thank you.

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.