Earnings Call Transcript
Aecom (ACM)
Earnings Call Transcript - ACM Q3 2022
Operator, Operator
Good morning, and welcome to the AECOM Third Quarter 2022 Conference Call. I want to inform all participants that this call is being recorded at AECOM's request. This broadcast is the copyrighted property of AECOM. Any rebroadcast of this information, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from AECOM is prohibited. As a reminder, AECOM is also simulcasting this presentation with slides in the Investors section at www.aecom.com. Now, I will turn the call over to Will Gabrielski, Senior Vice President of Finance, Treasury, and Investor Relations.
William Gabrielski, Senior Vice President, Finance, Treasury and Investor Relations
Thank you, operator. I would like to direct your attention to the safe harbor statement on Page 1 of today's presentation. Today's discussion contains forward-looking statements about future business and financial expectations. Actual results may differ significantly from those projected in today's forward-looking statements due to various risks and uncertainties including the risks described in our periodic reports filed with the SEC. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update our forward-looking statements. We use certain non-GAAP financial measures in our presentation. The appropriate GAAP reconciliations are incorporated into our materials, which are posted to our website. Any references to segment margins or segment adjusted operating margins will reflect the performance of the Americas and International segments. When discussing revenue and revenue growth, we will refer to net service revenue or NSR, which is defined as revenue excluding pass-through revenue. NSR and backlog growth rates are presented on a constant currency basis unless otherwise noted. Today's remarks will focus on continuing operations. Financial impacts from the previously announced exit of our operations in Russia are excluded from today's discussion. On today's call, Troy Rudd, our Chief Executive Officer, will review our key accomplishments, our strategy, and our outlook for the business; Lara Poloni, our President, will discuss key operational successes and priorities; and Gaur Kapoor, our Chief Financial Officer, will review our financial performance and outlook in greater detail. We will conclude with a question-and-answer session. With that, I will turn the call over to Troy Rudd.
Troy Rudd, CEO
Thank you, Will, and thank you all for joining us today. I want to begin by acknowledging the unwavering commitment of our professionals to our clients and to our shared purpose of delivering a better world. We take great pride in what we do. To that point, we are proud to have been ranked as the #1 company in our industry on Fortune's World's Most Admired Company list, and have recently been recognized as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere. I'm also pleased to report that this month's Engineering News Record affirmed our ranking as the #1 environmental engineering services firm, placing us well ahead of our professional services peers. Our teams are the best in the industry. A great example of this is the nomination of Shailen Bhatt by President Biden to lead the Federal Highway Administration. Shailen is a great industry talent and reflects the caliber of professionals that reside at AECOM. The proof point of how the strength of our professionals translates to value creation is our EPS growth. We grew adjusted EPS 31% last year and 28% year-to-date through the third quarter. Turning to the business, five key themes underpin our confidence. First, we are consistently delivering on our financial and strategic priorities. These include accelerating organic NSR and backlog growth, gaining market share, expanding margins, and delivering strong per-share earnings and free cash flow growth. I'm proud of the discipline our leaders have exhibited in balancing organic growth with margin expansion and profit growth while we continue to invest in the business. When you look around the industry, you can see these characteristics make us distinct. Second, our Think and Act Globally strategy has transformed how we operate and how we deliver by prioritizing collaboration and innovation and emphasizing return on time and on capital. This has translated into a record high win rate, design backlog, and pipeline of opportunities. Third, our investments in digital advisory and program management have expanded our addressable market, deepened client engagement, and enhanced the value of our technical capabilities. As a result, we are supporting clients more broadly across the life cycle of their investments and enhancing value for both us and our clients. Fourth, the markets in which we operate remain strong despite recessionary pressures. A global infrastructure investment renaissance, investments in environment, sustainability, and resilience, and adaptation to a post-COVID new normal are secular mega trends that will continue to create growth opportunities for several years to come. Finally, our balance sheet is in great shape. This is a competitive advantage that creates certainty and allows us to deploy capital to drive value creation. Please turn to the next slide and a review of our financial performance. Organic NSR growth accelerated to 6% and was driven by a strong backlog, accelerating funding in our markets, and strong execution. I should note that our growth does not yet reflect any material impact from IIJA funding, which I will discuss shortly. Importantly, we are driving increased profitability as revenue growth accelerates. Our adjusted operating margin was 14.6%, an increase of 50 basis points over the prior year. We are investing at a high rate to expand our capabilities and prepare for increased funding. Our margins remain the highest amongst our peers, which in turn maximizes the value of revenue growth. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS increased by 7% and 18%, which were both a little ahead of our expectations. Free cash flow was also strong at $183 million. On a year-to-date basis, our free cash flow increased by 15%, and on a per share basis increased by more than 20%. In addition to the investments in organic growth, we've returned more than $400 million to shareholders so far this year. Over the past four quarters, we have returned cash equivalent to 6% of our market capitalization. As our results demonstrate, we have created competitive advantages that are differentiating our performance. Despite an unexpected market headwind from unprecedented U.S. dollar appreciation, we have raised the midpoint of our fiscal 2022 adjusted EPS guidance for the second time this year, and we have reiterated our fiscal 2024 financial targets. As we have consistently proven, our teams are agile, and the inherent attributes of our business model and strategy result in a more predictable and resilient business. Please turn to the next slide. Now turning to our backlog, key wins, and pipeline. Our backlog in the design business, which accounts for 90% of our NSR and profit, increased by 10%, and total backlog is now more than $41 billion, a 5% increase. This performance reflects our high win rate and our focus on pursuing and winning high-quality backlog. Our book-to-burn ratio in the quarter was 1.2x, led by 1.5 in the Americas Design business. With this performance, there are a few key wins and trends that demonstrate the success of our strategy. To that point, we were recently selected for a nine-figure program management contract for one of the largest greenfield transportation projects in the United States. Our bid emphasized collaboration across the business. In addition, we embedded key digital elements into our proposal, including the program management digital toolkit we announced last quarter to create a differentiated offering for the client. We also had several wins that showcase our sustainability and decarbonization initiatives in the transportation sector. We were selected by the Arizona Department of Transportation to develop a statewide plan to deploy EV charging stations. In addition, we were selected by New Jersey Transit to provide design and engineering services to advance the agency's zero-emission strategy. Electrification and vehicle automation are key growth markets for AECOM, and we are leading with innovation. We have developed proprietary digital tools to accelerate growth. For example, ev-readi is a tool to help clients integrate electrification of transit systems into existing infrastructure. These tools are in the market today, helping clients advance their strategies, which is furthering our reputation as a partner of choice. I'm also pleased to report that we were selected for a substantial water reuse project in California. Persistent droughts have pressured water supply, and this is a signature win that showcases our leadership in the water reuse market ahead of a substantial expected spend in the coming years. Finally, our leadership in the growing PFAS remediation market was reflected in a win to design a PFAS treatment system for the city of Madison, Wisconsin. We will be tailoring the design to match IIJA requirements and best position the project for future IIJA funding. This project is emblematic of a number of wins and opportunities we are pursuing, with smaller upfront work being awarded as our clients position for the greater IIJA funding now becoming available. Please turn to the next slide. Turning to trends across our markets. In the U.S., there has been $114 billion of IIJA funding announced as available, and notices of funding opportunities are accelerating. Consistent with our prior forecast, we expect funding will most meaningfully benefit our markets in fiscal 2023 and beyond. Today, clients are beginning to mobilize for this expected growth. We can see this momentum in our pipeline where identified opportunities have increased by nearly 40%, and we expect bid submissions to accelerate in the coming months as a result. The strength in federal spending is coming at an opportune time. Our state and local clients, which represent 23% of our NSR, are also in a strong position. Budgets are at record levels, which creates a backdrop for predictable market growth for us against broader market volatility. Turning to our international markets, in the U.K., we are benefiting from the key framework positions we have secured over the past several years, supporting strong growth in the quarter and confidence as we look ahead. In the Middle East, work is progressing on our large multiyear program management and design contracts for the substantial investments being made in NEOM and AlUla. We also grew in Australia and Hong Kong, where demand for large-scale transportation projects remains strong. However, in Mainland China, the ongoing uncertainties created by COVID policies continue to impact us, though we are managing through this with the performance of other parts of our international business. Broadly across the business, we are delivering high-value organic growth in a highly disciplined way despite the ongoing fierce competition for talent in our industry. Our disciplined approach is resulting in profitable growth. Please turn to the next slide. As our results demonstrate, we are operating from a position of strength with great momentum in both our business and across our markets. Our investments in digital, advisory, and program management have created new opportunities, differentiate us from peers, and expanded our addressable market. Our deliberate capital allocation policy has resulted in strong shareholder value creation. We have not been distracted by risky and expensive M&A. Instead, our focus is squarely on executing our profitable growth strategy, as well as returning cash to shareholders through stock repurchases at a discount to peer and M&A valuations and our quarterly dividend program. Underpinning all of this is our strong balance sheet, which is a competitive advantage. Taken together, we are well positioned for sustained growth and success, which supports our financial guidance for this year and through 2024. With that, I will turn the call over to Lara.
Lara Poloni, President
Thanks, Troy. Please turn to the next slide. To echo your comments, our Think and Act Globally strategy has transformed how we operate and go to market in several ways. First, we have created a culture that inspires and demands collaboration, and as a result, we are collaborating like never before. When we pursue a must-win opportunity that can transform our position in the marketplace, we bring the totality of our global capabilities and experience to bear, which has resulted in a record win rate, market share gains, and created a positive client feedback loop that is reinforcing this approach. Second, we are investing at high levels in the professional and technical development of our nearly 50,000 people. This includes regular technical academies where our experts share best practices and technical know-how with our teams. The result is even greater alignment on our vision and greater collaboration across disciplines. We are ensuring our clients get the best of AECOM's capabilities every single time. Third, we are attracting and retaining the best talent in the industry. We emphasize the superior career opportunities at AECOM to meaningfully benefit clients and communities. In addition, we have enhanced our benefits, and we are supporting our employees' desire for increased flexibility through our Freedom to Grow initiative. I am pleased to report that our efforts are paying off. In a recent company-wide survey, 75% of our employees said they would recommend AECOM as a Great Place to Work. Fourth, we are building our capabilities to address growing demand for environment, sustainability, and resilience priorities. We are winning projects that reflect our multidisciplined leadership in this area. A great example of this was our selection to provide environmental master planning services for the Greater Toronto Airport Authority. Our client is pursuing ambitious sustainability targets, and we are best suited to help them deliver. Across all pursuits, our focus on environmental improvements, positive social impacts, energy savings, productivity enhancements, digital solutions, and overall efficiency are becoming instrumental in our success. And I am pleased that our leadership position in this area remains very strong. In fact, last week, our #1 position in the environmental engineering and science markets was reaffirmed by Engineering News-Record, and we improved to the #2 environment firm overall, eclipsing all of our professional services peers. Finally, our growing suite of digital AECOM products and tools have deepened our engagements with our clients. For instance, our proprietary IIJA digital tool is helping clients best position for specific funding programs and is also allowing us to engage with clients earlier and more meaningfully in their programs. Importantly, our headcount of digital experts and data scientists is over 2,500 strong and growing. Few firms can bring innovative solutions at this scale to their clients globally so quickly, which creates enduring competitive advantages. With a strong foundation in place and further progress on our strategic priorities, we are confident that AECOM will continue to lead the industry with our expectation of delivering growth over the long term. With that, I will now turn the call over to Gaur.
Gaurav Kapoor, CFO
Thanks, Lara. Please turn to the next slide. We delivered another strong quarter, demonstrating the strength of our professionals and the benefit of our Think and Act global strategy. Organic NSR increased by 6%, year-to-date adjusted EBITDA increased by 9%, and year-to-date adjusted EPS increased by 28%. Our margins were also strong and continue to lead our industry, reflecting our focus on high returning organic growth opportunities and our culture of continuous improvement. Year-to-date, our operating margin has increased by 60 basis points to 14%, and we are on track to deliver at least a 14.1% margin for the full year, consistent with our guidance. The underlying outperformance of the business gives us confidence to consistently deliver on our commitments. This performance and outlook further support our expectation for approximately 6% NSR growth in fiscal 2022 across the company. Please turn to the next slide. NSR growth in the Americas was 4% with strength across the business. We also had a 1.5 book-to-burn ratio in the design business, and contracted backlog increased by 19% in the Americas. Our wins and pipeline were strong. And when combined with the expected increase in IIJA funded projects and strong state and local budgets, we continue to expect NSR growth to accelerate into fiscal 2023 and beyond. With respect to profitability, the adjusted operating margin was 18.5%, reflecting strong execution and the high quality of our backlog. Please turn to the next slide. The International segment delivered 8% NSR growth, which included growth in all of our largest geographies. Backlog increased by double digits highlighted by Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. Contracted backlog also increased and is near a record high, which is a great leading indicator of growth. Margins expanded to 8.8%, up 150 basis points from the prior year. This was the eighth consecutive quarter of sequential margin improvement, reflecting tremendous progress on our goal of achieving a double-digit margin in this business. Please turn to the next slide. Turning to cash flow, liquidity, and capital allocation, our capital allocation policy is unchanged. We are investing at a high level in key initiatives to drive growth, expand margins, and competitively differentiate ourselves. We are continuing to deploy substantially all available cash flow to share repurchases and dividends. During the quarter, we bought back $105 million of stock, and through the first three quarters, we have bought back nearly $400 million of stock. In total, we have now bought back approximately 25 million shares over the past two years or more than 15% of our outstanding shares. Including our July payment, we have also paid more than $60 million in dividends this year. As a reminder, it is our intent to grow our per share dividend by a double-digit percentage annually for the foreseeable future. Our ability to deploy capital is supported by strong cash flow and balance sheet certainty. Operating cash flow was $205 million in the quarter, and free cash flow was $183 million. Our business has inherent attributes that lend to consistently strong cash flows through cycles. These include a highly variable cost model, strong backlog visibility, a high-quality and diverse client base, and a highly agile culture. As such, we expect to achieve free cash flow within our guidance range for an eighth consecutive year. We also have a strong balance sheet, which creates certainty for us as debt markets and rates have been more volatile of late. We have a high degree of certainty on the cost of 80% of our debt over the next several years, and we have no bond maturities until 2027. We believe our balance sheet is a competitive advantage. Please turn to the next slide. Turning to our financial outlook. Despite unanticipated external headwinds, we are delivering. As a result, we are increasing our adjusted EPS guidance for 2022 for a second time this year, and we now expect to deliver between $3.35 and $3.50, which would reflect 21% growth at the midpoint. We have also narrowed our adjusted EBITDA guidance to between $890 million and $910 million, or 8% growth at the midpoint. While we could point to foreign exchange or other factors that are impacting the market, the business is outperforming our initial expectations. I should note that for modeling purposes, our NSR guidance is on a constant currency basis, but you should factor in approximately 300 basis points to your revenue forecast for the fourth quarter to reflect the impact of foreign exchange translation. The impacts on margin and profitability are already captured in our guidance. We continue to deploy our strong cash flow to buy back our stock, though I will note that our guidance does not incorporate any benefit from incremental share repurchases we expect to execute in the balance of the year. Our accomplishments to date and favorable long-term market trends support our confidence in our long-term 2024 financial targets, including our expectations for at least 19% adjusted EPS CAGR from fiscal 2021 to 2024. With that, operator, we are ready for questions.
Operator, Operator
Our first question comes from Sean Eastman of KeyBanc Capital Markets.
Sean Eastman, Analyst
Nice quarter. I wanted to hone in on the win rates, which have been hovering around all-time highs all through this year. I mean, obviously, from a headline perspective, that sounds positive, but I wondered if this elevated win rate is optimal. I mean, particularly with end market activity levels continuing to accelerate. I wondered if perhaps the returns targets embedded in bids actually need to be raised as we go into next year.
Troy Rudd, CEO
Thank you for the question, Sean. It’s important to find the right balance between expectations and focus. A high win rate is crucial as it helps us invest in our business and its future while also improving our margins. Additionally, we are very intentional about our focus areas. While our win rate is strong, the quality of our backlog is equally significant. We are securing complex, long-term projects for key clients, which distinguish us by the level of impact we have in the communities we serve. These wins create significant momentum for our business. Not all wins carry the same weight, and when we emphasize our high win rate, it reflects our commitment to disciplined investing and highlights the quality of the backlog. The projects we secure can shift the momentum of the business, creating a flywheel effect that attracts larger and better opportunities. We're concentrating on these two aspects, and while the quality of our backlog may not always be evident in our figures, it remains a critical component of our strategy.
Sean Eastman, Analyst
And then I wondered just relative to the tight hiring environment, would you say this is becoming more or less of a concern as it relates to that being a governor on growth over the next one to two years versus, say, the start of the year?
Troy Rudd, CEO
Yes, we view it as a limit on growth without a doubt. While we are taking steps to enhance our delivery process to increase the capacity for our employees, there is undeniably a shortage of experienced professionals in our industry to carry out the work we do. We approach this situation in a few ways. Firstly, we are committed to investing in our people and providing them with the best opportunities. This includes enhancing our employee value proposition to attract top talent. Additionally, we are investing in digital solutions to expand what our team can achieve. We are also focusing on developing capability centers to effectively distribute work across our network and improve efficiency. These are the three key areas we are concentrating on to tackle this challenge. However, in the short term, it is indeed a limitation. As we progress, we anticipate that it will continue to be a factor. Yet, in light of current discussions around a recession or potential recession, the situation may evolve.
Sean Eastman, Analyst
Okay, I’d like to ask one more question. There are definitely positive factors for the business as we exit fiscal '22, but I believe we need to adjust our model based on the changes in foreign exchange rates this year. This question is for Gaur, but what are the known factors affecting us as we enter fiscal '23? We experienced a 300 basis point drag on Net Sales Revenue from foreign exchange in the fourth quarter. How will that impact the upcoming year? Are there any margin considerations that we should keep in mind?
Gaurav Kapoor, CFO
Sean, thanks for the question. This is Gaur; I will respond to that one. You're right, FX has been a headwind for us in the third quarter, and we expect it to continue in the fourth quarter. To put it into perspective for six months, FX is a headwind of approximately $15 million. But as we said in our prepared comments, our operational outperformance during the year is allowing us to overcome it. If it weren't for the FX headwind, we would be at the top end of our committed range. If you look forward and say, these spot rates will hold, there's no doubt it will impact FY '23. Currently, we're going through our planning process. We can't really comment on what the FY '23 bridge will look like, but in the coming quarter, we will definitely provide more clarity to it.
Operator, Operator
Our next question comes from Michael Feniger at Bank of America.
Michael Feniger, Analyst
With you reaffirming the 2024 EPS target of $4.75, I know this was touched on earlier. However, regarding the various factors we need to consider for next year as we approach 2024, will the pathway to that $4.75 number be smooth and linear? You mentioned foreign exchange impacts. Should we anticipate needing to invest more, possibly hire additional staff, to support the growth we might see in 2024 and achieve that operating leverage? I'm trying to understand where we stand as we close this year and how we should approach the progression to the 2024 target over the next two years.
Gaurav Kapoor, CFO
Sure. Michael, this is Gaur; I'll take that question as well. So we just reconfirmed our 2024 long-term targets. No additional comments specific to that. But consistent with what Troy said earlier in his comments, we've really created a platform here that's providing us a competitive edge. Not only are we winning better than our share in the market, we're winning what we want in the market. We're operating at the top of our peer group in terms of execution of projects, delivering on margins and making strategic decisions on various other matters. A great example of that is capitalization of our balance sheet, where we have created certainty on interest costs and a capacity to use. All these things are driving to that competitive edge that we want, all backed by the investments we're making in the business to allow for sustained value creation.
Michael Feniger, Analyst
I think that makes sense, and my next question relates to this. Troy, you noted this earlier, and we are observing a significant increase in mergers and acquisitions in the engineering sector. Just last night, another one of your competitors announced an acquisition. How does AECOM perceive the overall rise in acquisitions within the sector? Do you think AECOM is falling behind, or do you believe you have sufficient investment and breadth to compete? Additionally, are there any indirect advantages for AECOM given the M&A activity that has taken place over the past 12 to 24 months?
Troy Rudd, CEO
Yes, that's a great question. First of all, we have confidence in the strategy that we've adopted. I think that we've been showing discipline in what we're doing, and it's coming through in our results. I'll describe that a couple of different ways. First of all, we think that investing in organic growth, ultimately means investing in our people and our markets and our clients, and doing things that create a long-term competitive advantage for us are the right things to do. It's coming through in our results. When you think about what we're trying to accomplish in the long term, we're trying to again, get the highest return that we can on the capital that we invest, and trying to do it with the least risk possible. We believe that in this environment, investing in organic growth and returning to shareholders is the right way to go about doing that. I'll just make this simple comment, which is I think our job is to create long-term competitive advantage. When you create long-term competitive advantage, no matter how people are allocating capital, it pays off. To create that long-term competitive advantage, we believe the right way to do this is to invest in our own business. That's again, the least risky way to do that. At the end of the day, how it pays off is it pays off in your EPS, your cash EPS CAGR. When we compare ourselves to our peers that are doing M&A, we see ourselves as having the highest cash per share, EPS CAGR. Confusingly, when you look at companies doing M&A and how they're growing when you compare it to how we're doing it organically, we end up having a higher cash EPS CAGR. Another really important point is, does it impact your ability to compete? Well, heck, no. We're already #1 in the markets that we're in. Even with our competitors doing M&A, we reaffirmed our position as the #1 engineering environmental engineering firm, increasing that gap surprisingly. Our need to do M&A to compete is nonexistent because we're #1.
Operator, Operator
Our next question comes from Andrew Kaplowitz at Citi.
Andrew Kaplowitz, Analyst
Can you update us on what's going on in your international business in terms of margin? You've obviously recorded your highest margin segment this quarter. But as on NSR, that was the lowest so far this year. So we know you've been taking restructuring, I think, for real estate consolidation. Is that the biggest reason for the higher margin? If so, where are you in that progression, or is it more mix related?
Gaurav Kapoor, CFO
Yes, Andy. This is Gaur; I'll take that question. The restructuring we undertook was predominantly for our global business center where we provide support services globally. It impacts all of our businesses. There are some duplicate real estate IT costs as we renew leases that come through that are also going through it. But it's duplicate costs that are going through. Specific to your question on the international margin, that has been a focus of ours. We are being very tactical by investing in PM and advisory opportunities, digital, and focused execution where, again, probably going back to the last question, we're not interested in building scale just for the purpose of having scale; we're interested in driving sustained shareholder value. This is a continuing result of our commitment not only to achieve double-digit margins in international but just like we are in the Americas, to be the leader of the pack in margins.
Andrew Kaplowitz, Analyst
And Gaur, maybe I could ask you about free cash flow. Obviously, almost $330 million through Q3. I know you've said in the past that you're trying to smooth out cash over the quarters, but given just usual seasonality, wouldn't you be at the high end of the $450 million to $650 million if you deliver a normal Q4? And then just maybe a clarification on capital deployment. If this Inflation Reduction Act does pass, do you think there's a 1% excise tax on share repurchases? Does that impact your behavior at all around repurchases?
Gaurav Kapoor, CFO
Sure, I'll take both of those questions on cash flow and on the tax repurchase tax. First on the cash target, we've delivered on our cash commitments seven years in a row, and this year will be no different. Our priority is not only on delivering on that annual commitment, but making sure we have the best phasing possible to take advantage of our capital allocation strategy as efficiently as possible. Andy, yes, our cash flow, if you look at it year-to-date, is up 15% year-over-year because of that phasing. But we have 40,000 to 50,000 projects at any given point in time. It's not ten or twenty that can really pull through and give us the confidence that we will be in a certain place. We do have confidence, and like I said, we've delivered seven years in a row on our commitments either at or above our commitment; this year will be no different. Now specific to the tax repurchase tax, we're always going to be committed to investing in what provides the best shareholder value creation opportunity. For us, that's looking at ROIC; it's looking at EPS growth to deliver the best TSR. Our stock continues to be undervalued, even though we have consistently outperformed our commitments. We see no change in that. The plan put forth, no doubt, is unfortunate. It impacts individual investors who own AECOM shares through investments with institutions. So it's a triple taxation. Let's see where it goes.
Operator, Operator
Our next question comes from Steven Fisher of UBS.
Steven Fisher, Analyst
Your contracted backlog was up double digits year-over-year, but it was down sequentially. I think some of that was FX and maybe some of the building construction business. I guess what's your take on the trajectory of the contracted backlog from here? I know you've highlighted that as an important leading indicator for the business. So just curious what you're expecting going forward on that.
Troy Rudd, CEO
Yes, Steve. Thanks for the question. Again, I think you made the important point for us that contracted backlog is a leading indicator of the future. So again, we look forward and we think that certainly, it will be helpful as we exit the year and head into next year. A couple of other things that I think are important to indicate the future trajectory of the business. One of those that we haven't spoken about is just pipeline. We're constantly looking at how our pipeline is doing, giving us an indication of what the longer-term future looks like. Certainly, we're seeing our pipeline; it's been increasing mid-single digits consistently over the last three quarters. But what's interesting is that when we look at what we referred to as the part of the pipeline that we believe is moving to later stages. We see a significant increase in that pipeline and what's moving to those later stages that we're going to bid on in the relatively near future, and that has been increasing at a faster rate. So when you take that combination; an increase in pipeline and an increase in the things that we're going to be bidding on in the relatively near future and our contracted backlog, all of those things point to good long-term trends for our business.
Steven Fisher, Analyst
I appreciate the insight. I’d like to ask about the pipeline commentary and how it relates to the building construction business. Do you think that sector has potentially reached a stable point? Have you assessed the future impact of this business? Although it only represents about 9% to 10% of total revenues, do you expect it to maintain stability in the backlog or do you foresee opportunities in the pipeline that could lead to growth over the coming quarters?
Troy Rudd, CEO
Yes, Steve, good question. Look, when I made comments, I was referring to the entire business, but I'll address CM separately. The fact is that the backlog is a little lumpy as it grows. Nevertheless, in the quarter, our book-to-burn was 1x, and that backlog has been growing consistently when you consider the lumpiness. To your point about what do we see in the future? Our pipeline in the Construction Management business is at an all-time high. It's been increasing as well, consistent with what we see in the global design business. That's good news across our entire portfolio. A couple of comments around why we see that at all-time high. I think it's the nature of our diverse portfolio. If I look at 80% or 85% of the work they do, it falls in categories of aviation, office, and residential buildings, and sports venues. Within that, there's actually a large investment to be made in the U.S. and convention centers, which is something that I don't think was being invested in during the pandemic. Now we're seeing a significant and broad opportunity and investment cities are making in convention centers to attract people to these cities and promote hospitality. We feel good about that across our Construction Management business; the pipeline is at an all-time high. We currently have over three to four years' worth of work in our backlog.
Operator, Operator
Our next question comes from Sabahat Khan at RBC Capital Markets.
Sabahat Khan, Analyst
Just I guess a question on the International segment. I know you've been working as an organization towards improving those margins for some time. Given where they are today, how much of that is kind of the restructuring and the reorganizing work you've done? Assuming there's some contribution from these bigger projects like NEOM there. Just thinking over the long run, that some of those projects cycle out, is there a further reorganization or just kind of fixing up that business? How much of the margins do you think are more structural that will stick through over the next two, three, or four years?
Troy Rudd, CEO
I would think about our international business; the work that we've been doing over the last few years to strengthen that business has paid off. First of all, that business is very strong. So our international business is very strong, and it's winning large transformative projects at a very high win rate. I don't see the trajectory of that business changing. There are great long-term opportunities around the world for that business to pursue with our customer base, and the business is very healthy. But like all businesses, we are always looking for opportunities to make sure that we continue to drive efficiency and improve the overall business. There won't be massive changes, but we're always looking to make incremental changes. I look at our international business; it's an incredibly healthy and strong business for the long term.
Sabahat Khan, Analyst
Okay. And then just some of your commentary earlier around the pipeline, can you maybe give a little bit of color on the feedback or the mix of the business you're building across public versus private? Is it more tilted towards one side? Have you seen any change in tone at all based on where the macro is headed?
Troy Rudd, CEO
Sure. That's an easy question to answer. We really don't see a significant change in the mix between private and public customers. Our government customers represent about 60% of the work that we do, and it's fairly consistent in our backlog. In terms of the overall mix, think about it this way: our mix of business is really driven by the longer-term mega trends we've been talking about. There are significant investments coming across the globe in infrastructure. That's feeding our transportation, water, environment, and buildings in places business. It's a very diverse investment in infrastructure, and we're well positioned for that. Nothing unusual in the trends that we're seeing, but those trends are broad and they benefit the entire business.
Operator, Operator
Our next question comes from Michael Dudas at Vertical Research.
Michael Dudas, Analyst
Just in your prepared remarks, I think, Troy, you mentioned that NSR growth in Americas Design was, I guess, 6% this quarter, and you said it's accelerating into 2023. So I assume with similar numbers in the fourth quarter can that growth, I guess, given the backdrop that you've positioned, accelerate from that 6%? Just early look into 2023.
Gaurav Kapoor, CFO
Michael, this is Gaur. I was the one who commented; America's organic growth was 4% in Q3. We did reconfirm that we're targeting approximately 6% NSR growth company-wide, consistent with our commitments, and that's at constant currency. No comments on FY '23, but a couple of things you could take a look at are what Troy alluded to earlier. Our contracted backlog is up significantly, specifically in the Americas, it has increased by 8% year-over-year. That provides us a lot of confidence going into Q4 and into Q3 on accelerating growth before the IIJA funding hits the ground.
Michael Dudas, Analyst
Got it. I understand that. Second question, can you remind us what you do for your clients and your exposure to clean energy? Certainly, all the buzz and noise out of last has been with all of the excess funding that's going forth. How does AECOM get in that mix? Is that an area that can support maybe some differentiated growth for you guys over the next several years?
Lara Poloni, President
Yes, Michael, it's Lara here. I'm happy to take that question. We are investing significantly in our technical capability. A great example of that is a new global leader for offshore wind. We see significant wind opportunities across all of our operations. There's so much activity in the EV space as well. That is another great example where we're applying some of our digital tools in particular. The combination of continuing to invest in technical capability in some of these rapidly growing areas, in conjunction with the application of the digital tools, gives us a lot of confidence about growth in that segment of our business.
Michael Dudas, Analyst
Is it going to be better growth than some of the other areas because it's from maybe a different base or just the fact that you're going to be adding some more skill sets and tools to penetrate some market share there?
Gaurav Kapoor, CFO
Michael, this is Gaur, I'll take that. We don't break our growth targets into that level of detail, but we do provide our long-term guidance. No doubt to Lara's point, based on the investments we're making, we anticipate significant returns on our investments moving forward based on our pipeline.
Operator, Operator
Our next question comes from Adam Thalhimer at Thompson Davis.
Adam Thalhimer, Analyst
Nice quarter. Troy, I think you said something; it might have been a transportation comment at the pipeline of identified programs is up 40%. Is that right?
Troy Rudd, CEO
I don't think I said the transportation pipeline was up 40%. What I mentioned was is that within our pipeline, we have different categories of pipeline. Think about it as the initial prospect all the way through to placing the bid. Kind of in the middle of that, we have a clear line of sight to projects that are coming to market. I'm going to use our own terminology, which is again, it's our own terminology, but we view that as where that work is in the capture phase. We know it's coming to market, and we're going to bid it. Our pipeline, when we look at; it's not linear in terms of its growth. We see lumpiness in that phase. That piece of our pipeline is up 40% year-over-year, which means there's a substantial amount of work coming to market, and we expect that to hit in '23. That bodes well for the long-term health of the business.
Adam Thalhimer, Analyst
How do we think about that in terms of your win rate? That gives a big number, plus 40%.
Troy Rudd, CEO
I would be very positive. With the win rate and the things that we're doing to create long-term momentum in the business and create competitive advantage, that certainly bodes well for the health of our backlog and the business itself.
Adam Thalhimer, Analyst
So stay tuned. Okay. And then just quickly, the Arizona charging award, I was just curious about what's your scope on something like that? Are you looking at the resiliency of the grid in addition to just the charging infrastructure?
Troy Rudd, CEO
Yes. So it's again, it's a broader advisory engagement. I'm not going to talk about the specific scope of a client engagement, but it certainly is an advisory engagement to help build the plan for the state to figure out how they build towards their defined EV goals in the future. When you think about that, it really is a very important part of what we do. We look around the world and we see people define these large long-term ambitions, but as we've seen over the last number of quarters, many have yet to define the solid path to get to the end state. This is as important goal that the state of Arizona has set, and we're working with them to build a long-term plan for their achievement. It's fairly broad in its ultimate approach.
Operator, Operator
Our next question comes from Jamie Cook at Credit Suisse.
Jamie Cook, Analyst
Nice quarter. Most of my questions have been asked. I guess, Troy, just your portfolio today, obviously, and your focus is very different relative to the prior AECOM. Just wondering if we were to go into a recession or in a recession, which parts of the business do you think would be most impacted? And how resilient would AECOM's earnings be just given some of the secular growth tailwinds and maybe internal levers you have to structurally improve margins?
Troy Rudd, CEO
Okay, thanks, Jamie. First of all, when there's a recession, everybody's impacted by the recession. But I would describe us as not being as affected as others, for a couple of reasons. One, I think even within a recession or recessionary trend, we see a lot of funding that is coming into infrastructure. It's coming in to continue to transform the world in terms of environmental and social improvement. Frankly, there are some long-term trends post-COVID. Even if there is a broad recession, we look at this and say, with insider that recession, the things we do are going to receive funding for the long term. That bodes well for the long-term health of the business even in a recession. I also look at the attributes of our business that put us in a very good position to work our way through that. One is our backlog. We have long-lived backlog in the business. We also have an asset-light business and a business that can be made agile to react to shorter-term market volatility. The other thing that happens is, being where we are in the number one position in our industry, customers typically coalesce around the number one company in a recession. The recession usually hits smaller organizations or those that don't sit at the top of a particular industry. We've had experience with this in the past. If you go back to 2008, there was a recession, and it was fairly dramatic. The AECOM business at that time was a consulting business, and we grew from 2009 through 2012. This is proof of the resiliency of the business for a recession.
Operator, Operator
Our next question is a follow-up question from Sabahat Khan.
Sabahat Khan, Analyst
There's a little bit of commentary earlier on the call around the labor situation. I guess, how are you planning for that just given some of the potential recession concerns but also with the IIJA ramping up next year? How are you balancing the two and making sure you have enough people to see it when the demand flows through?
Lara Poloni, President
Thanks for the question. It's Lara. I'm happy to take that one. I think we're pretty optimistic. In this last quarter, our design headcount increased by over 4% year-on-year. It's certainly one of our focus areas at the moment. We have ramped up in terms of talent acquisition capability. Another key part of our strategy is the enterprise capability centers, where we are building long-term capabilities and centers of technical expertise. A great example is the continuing trend for transit or the pent-up demand and congestion in all major cities. We have our #1 position in transit. We've built up capability centers in Madrid and the U.K. to support that need long-term. It's a combination of short-term hiring in local markets, supplemented by our enterprise capability center strategy, providing us confidence.
Operator, Operator
At this time, there are no further questions. I'd now like to pass over to Troy Rudd, CEO, for any final remarks.
Troy Rudd, CEO
Great. Well, thanks, everyone, for joining us today. Again, I'm just going to finish the call by complimenting the people here at AECOM. They've done a fantastic job in finding the right balance between pursuing profitable growth today and for the long term while continuing to recognize that we can improve by expanding margins while making investments in the business to drive long-term competitive advantage. I thank them all for their dedication to our mission. Everybody, have a nice day.
Operator, Operator
Thank you, everybody, for joining today's conference call. You may now disconnect.