​

​

美國

證券交易委員會

華盛頓特區 20549

表格 10-K

​

委員會檔案號碼000-52423

AECOM

（依照公司章程規定指定的登記證券名稱）

​

​

​

(972) 788-1000

申請人電話號碼，包括區號

曾用名稱、曾用地址及如果自上次報告以來有所更改的財政年度

根據法案第12(b)條登記的證券：

​

請勾選方框以表示登記人是否為《證券法》第405條中定義的著名老手發行人。☒ Yes ☐無

如註冊人不需要根據法案第13條或第15(d)條提交報告，請以勾選標記表示。☐是 ☒ 不

請在方框內選上，表示申報人（1）在過去12個月（或規定申報人須申報報告的較短時間內），已如期申報證券交易法案第13條或15(d)條文件；及（2）已在過去90天內遵守該申報要求。☒ Yes ☐無

請以勾選的方式指示註冊者是否已根據S-t規則第405條（§ 232.405本章）在過去12個月內（或在註冊者必須提交此類文件的較短期間內）電子提交每一個互動數據文件。在過去12個月內（或在註冊者必須提交此類文件的較短期間內）電子提交每一個互動數據文件。☒ Yes ☐無

請勾選指示登記者是否為大型快速提交人、快速提交人、非快速提交人、較小的報告公司或新興成長型公司。請參閱交易所法規120億2條，了解「大型快速提交人」、「快速提交人」、「較小的報告公司」和「新興成長型公司」的定義。

​

如果一家新興成長型公司，請用勾選標記表示該申報人已選擇不使用根據證交所法案13(a)條款提供的任何新的或修訂過的財務會計準則的延長過渡期。 ☐

請以勾選方式表示，登記人是否根據薩班斯－豪利法第404(b)條（美國15 U.S.C. 7262(b)條）要求，由準備或發布其審計報告的註冊公眾會計師對其內部控制效能進行評估並作出證明。 ☒

如果證券根據本法案第12(b)條註冊，請在方框內打勾，以指示登記者在文件中包含的財務報表是否反映了對先前發行的財務報表的錯誤進行了更正。 ☐

以選中標記表示，這些錯誤更正是否屬於重新陳述，並且需要根據§240.10D-1(b)進行相關的恢復分析，以評估在恢復期間內由註冊人的高級管理人員獲得的激勵報酬。 ☐

請用勾號標示登記公司是否為空殼公司（根據《法規第120億2條》的定義）。  是 ☐   否 ☒

截至2024年3月29日（註冊人最近完成的第二個財政季度的最後一個營業日），非關聯方持有的註冊人普通股的總市值，根據當日報告的在紐約交易所的註冊人普通股收盤價格，約為$13.3 十億美金。

截至2024年11月15日註冊人已發行的普通股數量： 132,463,704

文件引用

第三部分引用了註冊人的2025年股東年會的最後代理聲明中的信息，該聲明將在註冊人2024財政年度結束後的120天內提交。

​

​

​

​

目錄

​

​

​

第I部分

項目 1. 業務

在本報告中，我們使用“公司”、“我們”、“我們的”來指代AECOm及其合併子公司。除非另有說明，否則對年份的引用指的是財政年度。我們的財政年度由52或53周組成，結束於最接近9月30日的星期五。為了清晰呈現，我們將所有期間呈現為年結束於9月30日。我們將截至2023年9月30日的財政年度稱為“財政2023”，將截至2024年9月30日的財政年度稱為“財政2024”。

Overview

我們是全球領先的專業基礎設施諮詢和顧問服務提供商，為全球的政府、企業和組織提供服務。我們向公共和私人客戶提供顧問、規劃、諮詢、建築和工程設計、施工和項目管理服務，以及投資和開發服務，涵蓋交通、設施、水、環保和能源等主要終端市場。

根據《工程新聞紀錄》（ENR）2024年設計調查，我們是全球第二大綜合建築和工程設計公司，按2023年的設計營業收入排序，而我們在水、交通設計、設施設計、環保工程、環保顧問和環境科學等領域則排名第一。此外，我們在多個設計終端市場中被ENR評為領先公司，包括幾個水基礎設施相關市場。我們利用規模及技術力量來為客戶創造創新解決方案。客戶越來越多地尋求我們的技術專長來解決世界上最複雜和大規模的基礎設施相關挑戰。老化基礎設施、日益城市化和不斷增長的能源需求為我們的市場創造了增長的長期利好。我們全球的技術專家網絡，加上我們的顧問、設計和提供項目管理服務的能力，創造了競爭優勢。我們的規模還創造了對數字能力投資的潛力，進一步提升我們的交付能力和價值主張。

我們的業務主要專注於提供以費用為基礎的知識型服務。我們主要通過計算我們員工在客戶項目上所花費的時間進行計費，以及管理我們的成本來獲取營業收入。AECOm Capital 主要通過房地產開發銷售和管理費用來獲取收入。

在2020財政年度的第一季度，我們重組了運營和報告結構，以更好地與我們正在進行的專業服務業務對齊。這次重組更好地反映了我們在出售管理服務業務、出售自我承接的高風險民用基礎設施和能源施工業務，以及出售我們的油氣施工業務後的持續運營。我們的管理服務和自我承接的高風險施工業務曾是我們前管理服務業務的一部分，並分別代表了我們前施工服務部門的可觀營業收入。這些業務在所有呈現的期間內被歸類為已終止的業務。

我們通過三個板塊報告持續的業務，每個板塊在下面進一步詳細描述：美洲、國際和AECOm資本（ACAP）。這些板塊是根據各自客戶的不同專業需求以及我們如何管理業務來組織的。我們根據相似的特徵將各種運營板塊聚合為可報告的板塊，包括相似的長期財務表現、提供的服務性質、提供這些服務的內部流程和客戶類型。

我們的美洲及國際區域

我們的美洲與國際業務涵蓋廣泛的服務，通常以服務費的方式提供。這些服務包括顧問、規劃、諮詢、建築與工程設計、項目管理及施工管理，面向全球的公共與私人客戶。對於這些服務，我們的技術專業包括土木工程、結構工程、數位技術、流程工程、機械工程、岩土系統和電氣工程、建築、景觀及室內設計、城市及區域規劃、項目經濟學、成本顧問及環保、健康與安全工作。

憑藉我們的設計和技術顧詢、顧問及項目管理專業知識，我們能夠為客戶提供廣泛的服務範疇，涵蓋其資產的整個生命周期。例如，在我們的水務服務提供中，我們提供水、廢水、水供應及水資源服務，這是應對氣候適應和韌性、乾旱緩解及其他環境和社會影響因素所必需的，作為重大資本/基礎設施項目的一部分。

我們的服務可能以計劃的形式分為多個階段或多個項目。例如，在計劃管理和施工管理服務方面，我們為客戶的工作可能從一個小型諮詢或規劃合同開始，然後可能發展成為項目或一系列項目的更廣泛的諮詢、設計或整體管理角色，我們稱之為計劃。計劃和施工管理合同可能會雇用小型或大型項目團隊，並且在許多情況下，與我們位於項目現場的員工合作。

此外，我們的行業板塊正在經歷數位轉型，我們正在投資數位能力，以擴展我們的優勢，改善整體交付，並為客戶創造獨特的解決方案，使我們與競爭對手區分開來，並增強客戶體驗。這些投資包括利用我們的數據庫的價值來建立更高效的設計流程，並提供創新且更愛文思控股的解決方案，以應對日益複雜的挑戰。

​

我們直接或通過合資企業或類似安排在這些領域提供服務，面向以下最終市場或業務領域：

交通。

設施。

水。

環保母基和能源。

​

項目管理 – 我們通過量身定制的方法、經驗豐富的工作方法和多學科解決方案，整合大型項目和計劃的複雜性，以為我們的客戶及其服務的社區帶來變革性成果，包括：

水和環境顧問 – 我們通過發展高價值的策略，將戰略方向與實際專業知識和深度合作融合，為基礎設施客戶提供專業驅動的顧問服務，包括：

我們的AECOm資本板塊

ACAP通常與投資者和有經驗的開發商作為共同一般合夥人進行合作。這些合作關係可能需要，亦可能不需要，與我們的其他AECOm附屬公司簽訂合同，以提供設計、業主工程師、施工管理、開發及運營維護服務，以用於ACAP資助的項目。ACAP的開發活動是通過合資企業或子公司進行的，根據我們的所有權利益的程度和性質，這些子公司可能會在財務報告中合併或不合併。此外，關於ACAP的投資活動，AECOm或其附屬公司可能會提供某些財務責任的擔保，包括項目的完成擔保、債務的償還、環保賠償責任和其他貸款人要求的擔保。ACAP專注於與高質量夥伴投資共同一般合夥人的股本機會，主要針對在美國頂尖市場的所有物業類型中，以“建設核心”投資為目標。

我們完成了一項交易，將AECOm Capital團隊在2024財年的第三季度轉移到新的第三方平台。該團隊將根據某些顧問協議繼續支持AECOm Capital的投資工具，以符合他們目前的義務。

思考與全球行動

AECOm在全球思考與行動時表現最佳。我們的策略專注於為專業服務行業設定新的卓越標準。首先，我們的運營結構促進了七個地區和六個全球業務線之間更大的連接性與合作。我們通過優先考慮核心市場、發揮我們最大的優勢，並確保最優秀的人才和資源專注於培養客戶關係來推動增長。我們正在通過科技和數字平台改變我們交付工作的方式，改善客戶體驗，並提高效率。

人力資本管理

我們的主要資產是我們的員工，且我們有大比例的員工擁有技術和專業背景以及本科及/或愛文思控股學位。在我們2024財年的結尾，我們約僱用了51,000人，其中約18,000人在美國就業。我們國內的300多名員工受集體談判協議或特定勞動協議的約束，該協議在相關項目完成後到期。我們相信，我們的專業人員所提供的服務質量和水準在行業中屬於最高之列。

我們致力於加強作為行業領先雇主的地位，吸引和留住世界上最優秀的技術專業人才。繼續成功的關鍵在於我們能夠提供一個有吸引力的員工價值主張，保證競爭力的薪資和福利、支持靈活性和幸福感的包容環境，並鼓勵合作和創新，以及對技術卓越、持續學習和職業成長的共同承諾。通過我們的「與AECOm一起茁壯成長」計畫，我們專注於通過建立多元化人才、擴大理解、豐富社區和無限制思考來培養AECOm內外的包容性環境。這一理解指導我們管理人力資本資源的方法。我們的人力資本目標和舉措由我們的董事會根據企業治理準則進行監督。

健康與安全. 我們企業價值觀的核心是保護我們的人員，並培養一種關懷的文化，以促進我們員工、承包商和業務合作夥伴的福祉。我們通過追求零員工傷害和疾病來保護我們的人員、項目和聲譽，同時以負責任和可持續的方式運營和交付我們的工作。我們維持行業板塊內最佳的失工日案例和可紀錄事件率，我們的安全表現始終受到我們工作地區內主要客戶以及公認安全組織的認可。我們已經採取了並將繼續採取關鍵措施，以確保我們的人員、客戶和社區的安全，包括對於當地和全球健康危機的任何必要應對措施。

成長的自由. 成長的自由是我們的全球貨幣框架，旨在幫助員工尋找他們需要的平衡與靈活性，以便達到最佳狀態並為客戶提供服務，同時也是我們吸引和留住人才的關鍵因素。員工和經理可以評估工作時間和地點，並就一個優先考慮客戶和團隊責任而支持個人需求的安排達成一致，包括每週三天在辦公室或項目現場工作作為期望。我們的成長自由計劃遠不止於我們工作的時間和地點。我們會考慮到人員的整體體驗，尊重工作、溝通和思維風格的多樣性。

技術和專業發展。 技術卓越是我們業務的基礎——這是我們如何利用團隊的技術技能和專業知識為客戶和我們所服務的社區提供高質量解決方案。我們努力成為行業中最優秀技術人才的家園——那些在鼓勵合作和創新的環境中茁壯成長的專業人士，並慶祝卓越的項目和客戶成果。

我們投資於一個健全的學習生態系統，幫助員工在項目中始終保持準備狀態，透過「在職」的技術培訓，未來準備好面對新數位工具，以及能夠激發創新的思想領導和計劃，並在他們的技術實踐和戰略夥伴關係中保持與全球的連結。

我們的數位學習平台AECOm大學提供高質量和個性化的學習體驗，包括我們的全球技術學院。這些學院是由我們自己創建，為我們自己提供結構化和自主的技術培訓課程，涵蓋與我們業務相關的主要全球話題、實踐和市場。我們的技術實踐網絡每天都在全球的線上社區中連接專業人士，以便促進網絡、合作和問題解決。

此外，我們的所有板塊專業發展計劃，稱為各級領導力，增強了業務和領導技能。從早期職業和研究生計劃，到實用的經理培訓，以及高管輔導和領導力發展，我們在每個職業階段都提供了支持。這些計劃基於我們的四大領導能力支柱，這些支柱概述了我們希望領導者展示和體現的行為，以實現作為一個組織的共同成功。

目的及影響. 我們致力於創造更美好的世界，這是我們所有工作的核心。作為全球受信任的製造行業諮詢公司，我們有決心且在適當的位置提供正面的、有影響力的和可持續的傳承，給我們的公司、社區及地球。透過我們的項目和運營，我們既有重要的機會，也承擔著保護、提升及修復世界自然與社會系統的責任。透過戰略性的非營利夥伴關係、志願無償工作、技能型志願服務和慈善活動，我們的企業責任平台專注於為最需要幫助的人提供安全及穩定的製造行業，為明天的領袖創造機會，並保護我們的星球，使我們的公司能夠實現創造更美好世界的目的。作為我們無償計劃的一部分，我們的技術專家與當地社區的非營利組織合作，提供關鍵的設計、工程及製造行業解決方案。我們維持一個內部的全球可持續傳承委員會，專注於實現我們的目的，確保我們的行動與政策同樣強大。

我們的客戶

我們的客戶主要包括國家、州、區域型及地方政府、公共及私營機構和大型公司。以下表格列出了在每個指定期間內，這些客戶所產生的總營業收入。

​

​

過去五個財政年度內，沒有任何單一客戶的營業收入佔比達到10%或以上。至於截至2024年、2023年和2022年9月30日的財年，約有7%、5%和6%的營業收入是通過與美國聯邦政府機構的直接合同獲得的。

合約

我們所簽訂合同的價格條款可分為幾個大類：成本報銷合同、最高保證價格合同和固定價格合同。截至2024年9月30日的財年，我們的營業收入分別由40%、37%和23%的成本報銷、最高保證價格和固定價格合同組成。

成本報銷合同

成本報銷合同包括成本加固定費用、成本加固定費率及時間與材料價格合同。在成本加合同下，我們向客戶收取成本，包括直接和間接成本，以及經過談判的費用或費率。我們根據實際發生的直接成本以及在資產負債表日期獲得的適用固定費率或固定費用的部分確認營業收入。在時間與材料價格合同下，我們商議每小時計費費率及根據我們在項目上實際投入的時間向客戶收費。此外，客戶會賠償我們因執行合同而產生的材料及其他直接附加支出，包括支付給分包商的費用。時間與材料價格合同也可能有一個固定價格元素，以不超過或最高保證價格條款的形式存在。

一些成本加合同根據績效標準提供獎金或罰金，以取代固定費用或固定費率。其他合同則包括基本費用組成部分及基於績效的獎金費用。此外，我們可能與分包商分享獎金費用。我們通常根據實際發生的成本加上預計獲得的費用的相應部分確認營業收入。在估算營業收入和利潤率時，我們考慮合同上的獎金費用或罰金，並在有足夠的信息來評估預期合同績效且獎金費用顯著逆轉不太可能時，記錄與獎金費用相關的營業收入。一旦獲得獎金，估算或累計的費用會調整為實際獎金金額。

某些成本加成合同根據對合同里程碑的表現提供激勵費用。激勵費用的金額會根據我們是否達到超過、達到或低於目標結果而有所不同。我們最初根據預期結果確認這些合同的營業收入。當合同進展時，根據可用的額外信息，這些估算會在必要時進行修訂。

保證最高價格合約

保證最高價格（GMP）合約與成本加成和固定價格合約具有許多相同的合約條款。與成本加成合約一樣，客戶會獲得所有項目成本的披露，並單獨識別一筆總額百分比費用。我們為客戶提供整個項目的保證價格（根據客戶發出的變更訂單進行調整）以及包括預期完成日期的時間表。成本超支或與項目延誤完成相關的成本通常由我們負責。對於我們許多商業或住宅的GMP合約，最終價格通常在我們將相當比例的交易合約的分包給其他承包商，且其條款與主合約一致後確定，我們還協商其他合約限制，例如放棄間接損害賠償和責任及懲罰性賠償的總額上限。營業收入在GMP合約的項目成本相對於總估計項目成本發生時認列。

固定價格合約

固定價格合約包括總包合約和固定單位價格合約。在總包合約下，我們以指定的價格進行合約下的所有工作。如果項目的範圍改變或出現意外情況，總包合約通常會受到價格調整的影響。在固定單位價格合約下，我們以每單位約定的價格執行一定數量的工作，合約的總付款由實際交付的單位數確定。營業收入在固定價格合約中採用輸入法認列，按成本對成本的基準衡量，因為公司認為這是最佳的進度進展衡量標準。

我們的一些固定價格合約要求我們提供保證金或母公司保證，以確保我們的客戶其項目將根據合約條款完成，具體詳情見第18註釋—承諾和或有事項。在這種情況下，我們可能要求主要分包商提供類似的履約保證和保障，並保持足夠的保險，我們也可能將合約中的條款和條件轉移到我們的分包商中。如果我們無法在固定價格合約條款內履行服務，則可能會存在獲利完成這些項目的風險。

合夥企業

我們的一些大型合同可能會在合資企業或其他安排下運作，在這種情況下我們與其他有口碑的公司合作，這些公司通常是我們多年來合作的公司。當專案的規模需要這種安排時，或者當我們想加強我們的市場地位或技術能力時，通常會採用這種方式。

積壓訂單

待完成工作代表我們期望從我們的合併子公司和我們對未合併合資企業的比例分享中實現的營業收入。待完成工作以總營業收入為表達方式，因此可能包括顯著的第三方或轉包給其他方的費用的估算金額。我們報告尚未滿足的履約義務（RUPO）交易價格為198億，如附註4中所述，營業收入確認，這些附註載於我們的合併基本報表中。我們的待完成工作和RUPO之間最顯著的差異在於，待完成工作包含我們預計在未來記錄的營業收入，這些工作已被授予，但尚未簽署合同協議，以及延伸到那些合同終止條款以外的服務合同的營業收入，而RUPO則要求我們假設合同將在最早的方便時終止。因此，RUPO比待完成工作低176億。對於非政府合同，我們的待完成工作包括按合同價格計算的未來營業收入，排除客戶酌情決定的合同續約或延長。對於不超過最高金額的合同，我們將這類合同的營業收入計入待完成工作，直至剩餘的估算金額。我們計算待完成工作時不考慮可能的專案減少或擴展或潛在的取消，直到這些變更或取消發生。無法保證我們最終會實現我們的全部待完成工作。待完成工作因合同授予和簽約時間及合同營業收入確認的時機而波動。我們的許多合同要求我們提供超過一年的服務。截至2024年9月30日的年度，我們的待完成工作減少了22億，或5.6%，降至374億，相較於去年同期的396億，主要是由於我們的美洲施工管理設計業務減少。

以下是積壓的總結（以十億為單位）：

​

​

競爭

我們所服務的市場高度分散，我們與大量的區域型、國家型以及國際型公司競爭。我們擁有眾多競爭對手，從小型私營公司到數十億美元的企業，其中一些擁有更大的財務資源或更專業，並在特定的專業領域集中其資源。競爭的程度因特定市場和地理區域而異。我們面對的競爭程度和類型也受到特定項目的類型和範圍的影響。我們服務的技術和專業方面通常不需要大量的 upfront 資本支出，因此對新競爭者提供了有限的阻礙。

我們相信，由於我們的聲譽、成本效益、長期客戶關係、廣泛的辦公室網絡、員工專業技能以及我們的廣泛服務範圍，讓我們在市場上競爭中處於有利位置。此外，得益於我們廣泛的國家和國際網絡，我們能夠為客戶提供當地的知識和專業，並且獲得我們全球專業團隊的支持。此外，通過在科技和創新方面的投資，我們能夠為客戶帶來愛文思控股的解決方案。

季節性

我們的業務經歷季節性趨勢。我們的營業收入通常在財政年度的下半年較高。我們財政年度的第四季度（7月1日至9月30日）通常是我們最強的一個季度。我們發現美國聯邦政府在財政年度結束前的9月30日之前往往會授權更多的工作。此外，許多美國州政府的財政年度在6月30日結束，通常在第一季度加快支出，這時新資金變得可用。此外，我們的施工管理營業收入通常在夏季提升，因為此時的天氣和日照時間更適合戶外活動。在美國以及世界其他地方，我們的業務通常受益於第四財季的溫和天氣條件。我們的施工和項目管理服務在夏季也通常擴展，因為此時的天氣和日照時間更適合戶外活動。我們財政年度的第一季度（10月1日至12月31日）通常是我們營業收入最低的季度。嚴酷的氣候條件影響我們在北美部分地區完成工作的能力，且假期的安排影響我們在此期間的生產力。基於這些原因，加上在特定期間內開始和完成的客戶合同的數量和重要性，以及為企業計劃所產生的支出的時機，經常會出現我們在季度經營結果中經歷季節性變化或波動的情況。

風險管理與保險

風險管理是我們項目管理方法與項目執行過程的重要組成部分。我們設有風險管理辦公室，通過各層級的正式風險委員會對我們運營的風險概況進行審查和監督，最高風險的追求在每個層級都需進行審查。在合同執行和交付開始後，項目透過正式的每月或每季度項目審查過程進行監測，旨在確保項目績效和風險緩解。此外，根據我們的內部授權委任，風險管理團隊的資深成員組成的小組通過對高風險項目、合同或其他商業決策進行內部風險分析來評估風險。我們保持覆蓋專業責任和涉及身體傷害及財產損失的索賠的保險，此外還包括其他保險範圍。在可能的情況下，我們努力通過質量保證/控制、風險管理、職場安全和類似方法來消除或減少項目的損失風險。

法規

我們的業務受到環保母基、健康與安全、政府採購、反貪污及其他政府法規和要求的影響。以下是一些影響我們業務的重要法規的摘要。

環保、健康和安全。 我們的業務涉及在各個項目現場進行規劃、設計、節目管理、工程管理以及營運和維護工作，包括但不限於核設施、有害廢物和超級基金網站、碳氫化合物生產、分銷和運輸網站以及其他相關基礎設施設施。我們還定期在敏感環境區域進行工作，例如河流、湖泊和濕地周圍。

對環保和健康安全法律法規的不遵守可能會導致重大罰款、處罰和其他制裁，有些法律規定對於處置有害物質、使之釋放而產生的治理責任採取聯合和共同嚴格責任，使一個人對環境損害負責，不考慮該人的疏忽或過失。這些法律和法規可能使我們承擔因運營行為或由他人引起的狀況而產生的責任，或是因我們在執行這些行為時符合所有適用法律而產生的責任。例如，有許多政府法律嚴格規定有毒和有害物質的處理、移除、處理、運輸和處置，如1980年的綜合環境應對補償和責任法等類似國家和州法律，對整個清潔成本施加嚴格、聯合和共同的責任，不考慮一家公司是否知曉或導致有害物質釋放。此外，一些環境法律可能使業主、運營商、製造商、運輸者和為有毒物質的處置或處置安排的其他人對於污染設施或項目現場相關的有毒物質產生的整個清潔責任負責。影響我們的其他聯邦環境、健康和安全法律包括但不限於資源保護和回收法、國家環境政策法、清潔空氣法、清潔空氣汞規則、職業安全衛生法、有毒物質管制法以及超級基金修正和重新授權法，以及其他類似的國家和州法律。與環境污染或人類接觸有害物質、類似的國家和州法律或未遵守適用法規相關的責任可能導致對我們造成巨大成本，包括清潔成本、罰款和民事或刑事制裁、對財產損害或人身傷害的第三方索賠，或停止清理活動。

我們一些業務操作受《公法85-804》覆蓋，該法案允許美國聯邦政府對我們執行的不尋常危險或核活動申請提供賠償。然而，如果公共政策和法律發生變化，美國聯邦政府賠償可能無法對我們未來執行的任何與危險活動相關的索賠或責任進行賠償。

政府採購。 我們為美國聯邦政府提供的服務受聯邦採購規則、真實談判法（Truth in Negotiations Act）、成本會計標準、勞工服務合同法（Services Contract Act）、虛假索賠法（False Claims Act）、出口管制規則和國防部（DOD）安全規定等許多法律和法規約束。這些法律和法規影響我們與客戶進行業務交易的方式，有時會對我們的業務運作造成額外成本。對特定法律和法規的違反可能導致罰款、合同終止或暫停未來合同。我們的政府客戶還可以方便隨意終止、重新協商或修改與我們的任何合同；我們許多政府合同每年需要續簽或延長。

反賄賂及其他法規。 我們受美國外國腐敗行為法、2010年英國賄賂法等反賄賂法律的規範，一般禁止公司及其中介機構向外國政府官員提供不當支付以獲取或保留業務。在我們輸出技術服務、數據和產品至美國以外地區的范圍內，我們受美國和國際法律和法規的管轄，包括但不限於《武器貿易條例》、出口管理條例以及針對禁運國家的貿易制裁。我們為國防部及其他與國防有關的機構提供服務，常常需要專業資格和安全許可。此外，作為工程設計服務專業人員，我們受到各種地方、州、聯邦和外國的牌照和許可要求以及道德規則的約束。

原材料

我們從多個來源購買營運業務所需的大部分原材料和元件。然而，由於客戶需求、生產能力、市場狀況和物資短缺等因素，原材料和元件的價格和供應情況可能因年而異。儘管我們目前並未預見短期內任何特定原材料的供應短缺，但若我們的專案和服務所需的原材料長期缺貨，或這些原材料的價格出現顯著上漲，可能會對我們的業務短期內造成重大不利影響。

政府合同

一般而言，我們的政府合約可能因美國聯邦、州或地方政府以及其他國家政府的自行決定，而受到重新談判或終止合約或分包合約的影響。

商業機密和其他知識產權

我們主要依賴於商業機密、保密政策和其他合同安排來保護我們多數知識產權。

可用信息

我們向證券交易委員會提交的報告，包括10-K表格的年度報告、10-Q表格的季度報告、8-K表格的即時報告和包括任何修訂在內的代理材料，可在我們的網站上免費獲得。 www.aecom.com 在我們與SEC電子檔案或提供此類資料後合理可行的情況下。SEC亦設有一個網站 （www.sec.gov） 內含我們向SEC提交的報告、代理和資訊聲明以及其他資訊。我們的企業治理指引和道德守則可在我們的網站 www.aecom.com 的“投資者”版面下提供。您可通過書面向我們索取上述資訊，地址為13355 Noel Road, Suite 400, Dallas, Texas 75240，收件人：公司秘書。

​

項目1A. 風險因素

我們在一個不斷變化的全球環境中運作，涉及眾多已知和未知的風險和不確定性，可能對我們的業務產生重大不利影響。以下描述的風險突顯了一些影響過我們業務的因素，並在未來可能影響我們業務的因素。我們現在還不知道的其他風險，或者我們目前認為不重要的風險，也可能影響我們的業務運作。如果以下風險中描述的任何事件或情況實際發生，我們的業務、財務狀況或營運結果可能受到重大不利影響。

與我們市場、客戶和業務相關的風險

我們所處的行業競爭激烈，我們可能無法有效競爭，這可能導致收入減少、盈利能力降低和市場份額下降。

我們從事的是一個競爭激烈的業務。我們所服務的市場高度分散，我們與眾多地區、國家和國際公司競爭。這些競爭對手可能擁有比我們更豐富的財務和其他資源。其他公司可能較小且更專業化，在特定領域集中資源。我們的競爭程度根據特定市場和地理區域而有所不同。此外，我們一些服務的技術和專業方面通常不需要大量的前期資本支出，對新競爭對手提供有限障礙。

我們面臨的競爭程度和類型也受特定項目的類型和範圍的影響。我們的客戶基於資格、經驗、績效、聲譽、技術、客戶關係、價格以及能夠及時、安全、具成本效益地提供相關服務的能力做出競爭決策。競爭加劇可能導致我們無法贏得未來項目的投標、增加利潤壓力以及損失收入、盈利能力和市場份額。

如果我們無法保留高級管理人員和主要技術人員的持續服務，我們在業界的競爭能力將受損。

我們高度依賴我們團隊的專業知識和領導能力。在我們競爭的行業中，對合格的技術和管理人員存在激烈競爭。我們可能無法持續吸引和保留合格的技術和管理人員，例如工程師、建築師和項目經理，這些人對我們業務的發展或以符合客戶要求時間內接替合格人員至關重要。此外，我們的一些人員擁有政府授予的資格，可能需要獲得政府項目。喪失高級管理人員或關鍵技術人員的服務，或未能招聘他們，可能影響公司的長期表現，並限制我們成功完成現有項目並競爭新項目的能力。

我們的服務需求具有周期性，並且容易受到突然的經濟衰退和政府及私營行業支出減少的影響。如果經濟狀況持續不確定和/或惡化，我們的營業收入和盈利能力可能會受到不利影響。

我們的服務需求具有周期性，可能容易受到突然的經濟衰退、利率波動以及政府和私營行業支出減少的影響，這可能導致客戶延遲、縮減或取消提議和現有項目。在經濟疲弱的情況下，我們的客戶可能會要求更有利的價格或其他條件，同時，他們支付我們發票的能力或及時支付的能力可能會受到不利影響。我們的政府客戶可能面臨預算赤字，無法為提議和現有項目提供資金。如果經濟狀況持續不確定和/或惡化和/或政府支出減少，我們的營業收入和盈利能力可能會受到實質不利影響。

我們依賴於長期政府合同，其中一些合同僅以年度為基礎進行資金支持。如果在多年度合同的後續年份中未撥款，我們可能無法實現我們預期的營業收入和利潤。

我們的營業收入的大部分來自於與國家、州和地方政府的機構及部門簽訂的合同。在2024和2023财政年度，我們的營業收入中大約46%和43%是來自於與政府實體簽訂的合同。

大多數政府合同都需經政府的預算批准過程。立法機構通常對特定項目的資金撥款是基於年度，即使合同執行可能需要超過一年。此外，公共支持的融資，如州和地方市政債券，可能僅部分籌集資金以支持現有的基礎設施項目。因此，在項目開始時，相關合同僅部分獲得資金，而額外的資金通常僅在每個財政年度撥款時才會承諾。這些撥款以及批准金額的支付時間，可能受到經濟狀況、政府持續關閉、撥款競爭優先事項、行政或立法機構控制的變化以及稅收收入的時間和金額及整體政府支出水平等因素的影響。同樣，經濟衰退對政府的影響可能使其更難為基礎設施項目提供資金。如果在我們的政府合同的後續年份中未撥款，那麼我們將無法實現這些合同的所有潛在營業收入和利潤。

如果我們無法在監管的採購過程中贏得或續約政府合約，我們的運營和財務業績將會受到損害。

政府合約是通過受到監管的採購過程授予的。聯邦政府已經授予了多年合約，並設定了預先確定的條款和條件，例如無限交付合約，這通常要求曾經獲得無限交付合約的承包商在發布訂單前參加額外的競爭招標過程。聯邦政府還根據低價和技術可接受的標準授予聯邦合約，特別強調價格而非質量因素，例如過去的表現。由於這些競爭性價格壓力，我們未來聯邦合約的利潤率可能會減少，並可能需要我們不斷努力降低成本，以便在政府合約下實現利潤。如果我們未能降低所產生的成本，我們在政府合約下的盈利能力將受到負面影響。此外，由於現行的政府政策旨在保護小企業和少數族裔承包商，我們可能不會獲得政府合約。我們在監管的採購過程中無法贏得或續約政府合約，可能會損害我們的運營並減少我們的利潤和營業收入。

政府機構可以在合同完成之前隨時修改、縮減或終止我們的合同，如果我們不進行替換，則可能會導致我們的營業收入下降。

大多數政府合約可以由政府隨意修改、縮減或終止，或因承包商的違約而終止。如果政府因其酌情權終止合約，那麼我們通常只能收回所產生或承諾的成本、結算費用和在終止之前完成工作的利潤，這可能會阻止我們認識到所有可能來自該合約的營業收入和利潤。此外，對於某些任務，美國政府可能會試圖將服務“內部化”給政府員工，而不是外包給承包商。如果政府因我們的違約終止合約，我們可能需要對政府從其他來源獲得服務所產生的超額成本負責。

我們與政府部門訂立的合同可能會被審計，這可能導致應退合同成本的調整，或者如果我們被指控有不當行為，可能暫時或永久被暫停參與政府計劃。

我們的帳目和記錄可能會受到我們服務的各政府部門及其代表的審計。這些審計可能導致我們認為可由政府部門退回的合同成本金額和分配給政府部門的我們間接成本金額的調整。如果這些事項未能以我們有利的方式解決，可能對我們的業務產生重大不利影響。此外，如果我們的子公司因審計而被控有不當行為，該子公司，以及可能我們整個公司，可能會被暫時停權，或可能會被禁止在一段時間內競標並獲得未來政府合同。此外，作為政府承包商，我們面臨著增加的調查風險、刑事訴訟、民事詐欺行為、告密者訴訟，以及其他法律行動和法律責任，這些風險對純私營部門公司不適用，其結果可能對我們的業務造成重大不利影響。例如，我們可能不時受到qui tam訴訟的影響，這些訴訟通常指控我們在要求支付時提交虛假陳述或證明，或者在政府方面過多保留付款。這些訴訟可能在封的情況下（因此，對我們來說是不知情）維持一段時間，直到政府決定是否代表qui tam原告介入。

與我們的資本結構相關的風險

管理我們債務的協議包含一系列限制性契約，將限制我們為未來業務、收購或資本需求籌措資金的能力，或從事其他可能符合我們利益的業務活動。

信用協議（如下所定義）和管理我們債務的債券包含一系列重要條款，對我們及我們的子公司施加營運和其他限制。這些限制影響或將影響並在很多方面限制或禁止我們及部分子公司的能力，包括但不限於：

此外，我們的信貸協議要求我們遵守綜合槓桿比率。我們是否能夠遵守這個比率可能受到我們無法控制的事件影響。這些限制可能會限制我們為市場或經濟情況做計劃或反應，滿足資本需求或其他情況下限制我們的活動或業務計劃，並可能對我們籌措資金來支持營運、收購、投資、戰略聯盟或其他資本需求或進行對我們有利的其他業務活動產生負面影響。任何違反這些條款或我們無法遵守所需財務比率均可能導致我們債務工具的違約。如果發生違約事件，我們的債權人可以選擇：

如果我們無法在到期時償還或以其他方式再融資這些借款，有關債權人可能會出售抵押品，這些抵押品擔保了我們的某些債務工具，佔了公司及其特定境內全資子公司的資產。

我們的變動利率負債使我們面臨利率風險，這可能導致我們的償還債務責任大幅增加。

根據我們的信貸協議借款採用浮動利率，使我們面臨利率風險。如果利率上升，我們那些浮動利率負債的償還責任將增加，即使借款金額仍然相同，我們的淨利潤和現金流量，包括可用於支付我們債務的現金，將相應減少。這種利率上升1.00%將使我們截至2024年9月30日年度的信貸協議下的總利息支出增加960萬美元，包括我們的利率掉期和利率上限協議的影響。我們可能不時進行其他利率衍生品的交易，這類衍生品涉及將浮動利率支付換成固定利率支付，以減少利率波動。然而，我們可能不對我們所有的浮動利率負債保持利率衍生品，我們進行的任何衍生品也可能無法完全減輕我們的利率風險，並可能面臨信用風險。

如果我們無法繼續以可接受的條件取得信貸，我們的業務可能受到不利影響。

全球信貸市場性質的變化可能使我們更難取得資金，再融資現有債務，訂立未批准的債券融資協議與新的債務，取代現有的輪借與固定貸款協議，或通過發行證券籌集資金。我們使用信貸設施支持我們的營運資金和其他需求。不能保證我們能繼續依照現有信貸設施那樣有利的條件續訂我們的信貸設施，如果我們無法這樣做，我們的借貸成本和業務可能受到不利影響。

與我們的國際業務相關的風險

我們在全球各地的業務使我們面臨不同國家的法律、政治和經濟風險，以及貨幣兌換匯率波動和通脹對我們業務和財務業績的影響。

在2024財年，我們為非美國客戶提供的服務所貢獻的收入約佔我們總收入的27%。在國際業務中存在著固有的風險，包括：

這些因素中的任何一個都可能對我們的業務、營運結果或財務狀況產生重大不利影響。

我們在許多不同的司法管轄區運營，我們可能受到各國立法機關行動的不利影響，以及違反美國《反海外腐敗行為法》和類似世界範圍內反腐敗法的法律。

美國外國腐敗行為法（FCPA）和類似的全球反腐敗法律，包括2010年英國賄賂法，通常禁止公司及其中介向非美國官員提供不當付款，以獲取或保留業務。 我們的內部政策要求遵守這些反腐敗法律，包括必須保持準確信息和內部控制，這可能屬於FCPA的範圍，其記錄規定或反賄賂規定。 我們在許多曾經存在某種程度的政府腐敗的世界各地運作；有時，嚴格遵守反腐敗法律可能與當地習俗和做法相衝突。 儘管我們進行過培訓和合規計劃，但我們無法保證我們的內部控制政策和程序總是能保護我們免受員工或代理人的鲁莽或犯罪行為。此外，偶爾會有政府對腐敗的調查影響我們和同行。 違反這些法律，或指控違反這些法律，可能會擾亂我們的業務並對我們的營運業績或財務狀況產生重大不利影響。

建築安全法案（“法案”）是引入英國建築業新規範的主要立法，於2022年4月28日成為法律。儘管該法案的部分限定部分尚未生效，預計還會有進一步的次級立法，但大多數規定目前已生效。 該法案延長了對於2022年之前完成的住宅物業的一些歷史缺陷的責任期限，建立了一個新的政府監管機構負責建築安全和建築安全的新法律義務，重新分配了與設計和施工相關的風險，並要求對選定建築物開發更嚴格的監管制度。 這項新立法為我們在英國和全球業務帶來了新的風險、監管和成本挑戰。

任何這些事件都可能對我們的英國、歐洲業務以及整體業務和財務業績產生負面影響。

我們在國際地點從事業務，存在著高風險安全問題，可能導致對我們的員工和承包商造成傷害或對我們造成重大成本。

我們的部分服務在高風險地點執行，如中東、非洲和東南亞，當地正遭受政治、社會或經濟問題、戰爭或社會動盪之苦。在我們有員工或業務的這些地點，我們可能需要費用來維護我們人員的安全。儘管採取這些預防措施，我們在這些地點的人員安全仍有風險。我們運營的各地區發生恐怖主義行為和武裝衝突威脅，可能限制或干擾市場和我們的業務，包括因疏散人員、合同取消或關鍵員工、承包商或資產損失而導致的干擾。

與我們業務和技術相關的風險

我們許多項目工地本身就是危險的工作場所。未能維護安全工地和設備可能導致環境災害、員工死亡或受傷、利潤減少、項目或客戶流失，以及可能面臨訴訟。

我們的項目工地經常使我們的員工和其他人與機械設備、移動車輛、化學和製造過程以及受高度監管的物質密切接觸。在某些項目工地，我們有責任安全，因此我們有義務實施有效的安全程序。如果我們未能實施這些程序或我們實施的程序無效，我們可能面臨員工傷亡、訴訟風險。因此，我們未能保持足夠的安全標準和設備可能導致利潤減少、損害我們的聲譽或損失項目或客戶，對我們的業務、財務狀況和營運業績可能產生重大不利影響。

網絡安全概念威脅、信息技術系統故障和數據隱私事件可能對我們的業務造成不利影響。

我們的信息技術系統可能會出現錯誤、故障或服務延遲，這可能會顯著干擾我們的運行，影響我們的客戶和員工，損害我們的聲譽，並導致訴訟和監管罰款或懲罰。關於客戶和員工數據使用的各類隱私和安全法律要求我們管理和保護敏感和專有信息。例如，歐盟的通用數據保護條例可能適用於處理歐盟居民數據的公司，即使該公司並不位於歐盟。此外，加利福尼亞州消費者隱私法增加了數據隱私事件的處罰。

我們面臨著對我們的信息技術系統的威脅，包括未經授權的訪問、計算機黑客、計算機病毒、惡意代碼、網絡攻擊、勒索軟體、數據敲詐、網絡釣魚及其他網絡安全概念問題和系統中斷，包括可能對我們及我們客戶的專有信息的未經授權訪問。 我們的網絡安全概念程序旨在使用行業認可的安全措施和科技安全地維護我們的信息技術系統上的所有專有信息。在日常業務中，我們曾遭到惡意的網絡攻擊。任何繞過我們安全措施的人都可能竊取專有信息，包含有關我們、我們的員工和/或我們的客戶的信息，或者導致我們的運行中斷。雖然我們投入了大量資源於我們的網絡安全概念程序，並已實施安全措施以保護我們的系統，防止、檢測和響應網絡安全概念事件，但不能保證我們的努力能防止這些威脅。隨著這些安全威脅的不斷演變，我們可能需要投入額外資源以協助防止、檢測和響應系統中斷和網絡安全概念事件。

我們在某種程度上依賴第三方軟體和信息技術供應商來運行我們的關鍵會計、項目管理及財務信息系統。我們依賴我們的軟體和信息技術供應商為我們的信息系統提供長期的軟體和硬件支持。我們的軟體和信息技術供應商可能會決定停止對我們的信息系統進一步開發、整合或長期的軟體和硬件支持，在這種情況下，我們可能需要放棄其中一個或多個現有的信息系統，並將我們的會計、項目管理和財務信息遷移到其他系統，從而增加我們的運營支出，同時打斷我們業務運營的管理。

這些事件中的任何一個可能損害我們的聲譽，並對我們的業務、財務狀況、營業結果和現金流產生重大不利影響。此外，儘管我們保持針對這些事件設計的保險，但是我們的覆蓋可能不足以涵蓋可能出現的所有類型的損失或索賠，或受到排除的限制。

與合同和合資企業有關的風險

我們的業務和運營結果可能會受到固定價格或保證最高價格合同下損失的負面影響。

固定價格合同要求我們在特定的總額下，完成所有合同下的工作，或以約定的單價完成估計的工作單位數，總付款由實際執行的工作單位數決定。此外，我們可能會進入保證最高價格合同，保證一個價格或交貨日期。至2024年9月30日止的年度，我們的營業收入由40%、37%和23%的成本報銷、保證最高價格和固定價格合同組成。固定價格合同使我們面臨許多在成本報銷合同中沒有的風險，包括成本低估、規範模糊、原材料、設備或勞動力成本未預見的增加或未能估算、通脹導致的成本上升、新技術的問題、超出我們控制範圍的延遲、利潤率波動、分包商無法履行的風險，以及在合同期間可能發生的經濟或其他變化。美國及外國在美國的貿易政策行動可能會影響我們固定價格項目的盈利能力。在固定價格或保證合同下的損失可能非常可觀，並對我們的營業結果產生不利影響。

我們未能滿足我們所保證的合同進度或性能要求，可能會對我們的營運結果造成不利影響。

在某些情況下，如果我們未能在預定日期完成項目，則可能會產生違約金或其他賠償。如果我們或我們提供保證的實體未能如期完成項目，且無法與客戶滿意地解決此問題，我們可能會對客戶因任何延遲造成的成本影響或完成項目的成本負責。我們的成本通常會因進度延遲而增加，或可能超出我們對特定項目的預測。此外，項目的表現可能受到許多我們無法控制的因素影響，包括****造成的不可避免的延遲、公共反對、無法獲得融資、天氣條件、供應商材料的無法獲得、客戶要求的服務範圍變更、行業事故、環境危害、勞動中斷、包括目前的冠狀病毒在內的疫情，及其他因素。現有和未來合同的重大表現問題可能導致我們的實際營運結果與我們的預期不同，並可能使我們在行業和客戶群中受到名譽損害。

我們可能無法維持足夠的保證金和財務能力，以便成功投標和贏得合同。

根據行業慣例，我們經常需要向客戶提供保證債券、備用信用證或公司保證，確保如果我們的關聯公司未能履行合同條款下的義務，則對他們進行賠償。到2024年9月30日和2023年9月30日，我們的或有負債分別為51億和46億，主要是為了支持項目執行，我們還有備用信用證未償還金額分別為93890萬和88330萬。保證人可能會發出履行或付款債券，以向客戶保證我們的關聯公司將根據合同條款履行。如果我們的關聯公司未能根據合同條款履行，則客戶可以要求保證人或其他企業關聯提供合約服務。此外，我們通常會對保證人因與債券有關的任何損失進行賠償。如果某個特定項目需要保證債券或信用證，而我們無法獲得適當的保證債券或信用證，我們可能無法追求該項目，這可能會對我們的業務、財務狀況、營運結果和現金流造成重大不利影響。

我們通過創業公司進行部分運營，但對其可能僅有有限的控制權。

約14%的2024財年營業收入來自我們通過創業公司或類似合夥安排的運營，其控制權可能與無關的第三方共享。與大多數創業安排一樣，創業參與者之間的觀點差異可能導致決策延遲或爭議。我們也無法控制創業夥伴的行為，並且根據適用的創業專案合同，我們通常需要對創業夥伴承擔聯合及各自的責任。這些因素可能對創業公司的業務和運營帶來不利影響，進而影響我們的業務和運營。

在我們是少數股東的創業公司中運營，導致我們對許多有關專案的決策和與專案相關的內部控制幾乎沒有控制權。我們提供給非合併創業公司的服務銷售約占2024財年營業收入的2%。我們通常對這些非合併創業公司沒有控制權。這些創業公司可能不受我們遵循的內部控制和財務報告的內部控制的相同要求的約束。因此，這些創業公司可能會出現內部控制問題，這可能對我們的財務狀況和業務結果產生重大不利影響，並可能影響我們的聲譽。

我們參與創業公司，提供擔保，並可能因創業公司或其參與者未能履行其義務而受到不利影響。

我們在與無關方的創業公司中擁有投資和承諾，包括與政府服務和ACAP的投資活動有關的事項。例如，房地產和製造行業的創業公司本質上是有風險的，並可能導致未來的損失，因為房地產市場受到我們無法控制的經濟趨勢和政府政策的影響。這些創業公司不時可能會借款來幫助其活動的融資，在某些情況下，我們需要對我們關聯實體的義務提供擔保。此外，關於ACAP的投資活動，我們提供包括專案完成擔保、債務償還擔保、環保賠償義務及其他貸款人要求的擔保。

AECOm Capital的房地產開發和投資活動存在固有風險，可能導致未來損失。

ACAP的房地產業務涉及管理、贊助、投資和開發商業房地產項目和聯合企業（房地產聯合企業），具有固有風險，可能由我們無法控制的因素導致未來損失，包括經濟趨勢、政府政策和競爭。我們的通過SEC註冊的投資顧問共同管理和贊助AECOm-Canyon Equity Fund, LP（“基金”），公司間接持有股權，還代表其投資者投資和開發房地產聯合企業。房地產聯合企業依靠大量第三方借貸來融資其開發活動，此類融資的貸款人通常要求AECOm或聯屬公司提供完成保證、償還保證、環境保證和其他貸款人所需的信用支持保證，以確保房地產聯合企業的融資。雖然基金和這些房地產聯合企業有備用金將用於分享房地產聯合企業的任何成本超支，但如果這些備用金被用盡，則AECOm可能需要支付支持款項，以資助基金非預算成本超支（但不是代表基金共同合作夥伴或房地產聯合企業的任何非關聯有限合夥人）。基金的部分有限合夥人已對某些房地產聯合企業進行了額外的股權合作投資，在備用金用盡後，AECOm將代表有限合夥人合作投資者支付支持款項，以應對房地產聯合企業成本超支。2024財政年度內，公司完成了一筆交易，根據該交易，AECOm Capital團隊成員過渡至新第三方平台，並將根據特定諮詢協議提供有關AECOm Capital業務的投資諮詢服務。公司已實施全面政策和程序來監督這些諮詢服務的提供；但是，這些變更將影響公司監督投資團隊活動的能力。

與法律和法規相關的風險

我們的員工、分包商、合作夥伴或顧問的不端行為，或者我們未能遵守適用於我們業務的法律或法規，可能導致我們失去客戶或與政府機構簽訂合同的能力。

作為政府承包商，由於我們的員工、分包商、合作夥伴或顧問未能遵守法律或法規而引起的不端行為、欺詐或其他不當活動可能對我們的業務和聲譽產生重大負面影響。這些不當行為可能包括不遵守採購法規、環境法規、關於保護敏感政府信息的法規、有關政府合同中勞動和其他成本定價的立法、關於遊說或類似活動的法規，以及反腐敗、反競爭、出口管制和其他適用的法律或法規。我們未能遵守適用法律或法規、我們的任何員工、分包商、合作夥伴或顧問的不端行為，或者我們未能對政府機構及時和准確地作出有關不當行為或潛在不當行為的認證可能導致我們面臨罰款和處罰、失去政府授予的資格、合同取消以及被暫停或禁止與政府機構簽訂合同，這些任一情況可能對我們的業務產生不利影響。

我們可能需要遵守環保母基法律和法規下產生的重大責任。

我們的服務受到眾多複雜嚴格的環境保護法律法規約束。我們的業務涉及部分不同地點的規劃、設計、項目管理、施工管理以及運營和維護，包括但不限於核設施、危險廢棄物和超级基金場址、碳氫化合物生產、分配和運輸場址，以及其他基礎設施相關設施。我們也經常在及周圍敏感的環境地區進行工作，如河流、湖泊和濕地。此外，我們與支持美國聯邦政府實體的合同是為了去污和停運核設施。這些活動可能要求我們管理、處理、移除、處理、運輸和處置有毒或危險物質。

Significant fines, penalties and other sanctions may be imposed for non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations, and some environmental laws provide for joint and several strict liabilities for remediation of releases of hazardous substances, rendering a person liable for environmental damage, without regard to negligence or fault on the part of such person. These laws and regulations may expose us to liability arising out of the conduct of operations or conditions caused by others, or for our acts that were in compliance with all applicable laws at the time these acts were performed. For example, there are a number of governmental laws that strictly regulate the handling, removal, treatment, transportation and disposal of toxic and hazardous substances, such as Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, and comparable state laws, that impose strict, joint and several liabilities for the entire cost of cleanup, without regard to whether a company knew of or caused the release of hazardous substances. In addition, some environmental regulations can impose liability for the entire cleanup upon owners, operators, generators, transporters and other persons arranging for the treatment or disposal of such hazardous substances related to contaminated facilities or project sites. Other federal environmental, health and safety laws affecting us include, but are not limited to, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Air Mercury Rule, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act and the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act and the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as well as other comparable national and state laws. Liabilities related to environmental contamination or human exposure to hazardous substances, or a failure to comply with applicable regulations could result in substantial costs to us, including cleanup costs, fines and civil or criminal sanctions, third-party claims for property damage or personal injury or cessation of remediation activities. Our continuing work in the areas governed by these laws and regulations exposes us to the risk of substantial liability.

Risks Related to Climate Change

Climate change, natural disasters and related environmental issues could have a material adverse impact on us.

Climate-related events, such as an increase in frequency and severity of storms, floods, wildfires, droughts, hurricanes, freezing conditions, and other natural disasters, may have a long-term impact on our business, financial condition and results of operation. While we seek to mitigate our business risks associated with climate events, we recognize that there are inherent climate-related risks regardless of where we conduct our businesses. For example, a catastrophic natural disaster could negatively impact any of our office locations and the locations of our clients. Accordingly, a natural disaster has the potential to disrupt our and our clients’ businesses and may cause us to experience work stoppages, project delays, financial losses and additional costs to resume operations, including increased insurance costs or loss of cover, legal liability and reputational losses.

There is a rapidly evolving awareness and focus from stakeholders with respect to environmental, social and governance practices, which could affect our business.

Stakeholder expectations with respect to environmental, social and governance matters have been rapidly evolving and increasing. We risk damage to our reputation if we do not act responsibly in key areas including diversity and inclusion, environmental stewardship, support for local communities and corporate governance. A failure to adequately meet stakeholders’ expectations, including failing to meet client commitments and targets, may result in loss of business, and an inability to attract and retain customers and talented personnel, which could have a negative impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition, and potentially on the price of our common stock and cost of capital.

Risks Related to Acquisitions and Divestitures

We may be unable to successfully execute or effectively integrate acquisitions and divestitures may not occur as planned.

We regularly review our portfolio of businesses and pursue growth through acquisitions and seek to divest non-core businesses. We may not be able to complete transactions on favorable terms, on a timely basis, or at all, and during the integration of any acquisition, we may discover regulatory and compliance issues. In addition, our results of operations and cash flows may be adversely impacted by (i) the failure of acquired businesses to meet or exceed expected returns; (ii) the failure to integrate acquired businesses on schedule and/or to achieve expected synergies; (iii) the inability to dispose of non-core assets and businesses on satisfactory terms and conditions; (iv) diversion of attention and increased burdens on our employees; and (v) the discovery of unanticipated liabilities or other problems in acquired businesses for which we lack contractual protections, insurance or indemnities, or with regard to divested businesses, claims by purchasers to whom we have provided contractual indemnification. Additional difficulties we may encounter as part of the integration process include the following:

Any of these factors could adversely affect our ability to maintain relationships with customers, suppliers, employees and other constituencies or could reduce our earnings or otherwise adversely affect our business and financial results.

Our plans to divest businesses are subject to various risks and uncertainties and may not be completed in accordance with the expected plans or anticipated time frame, or at all, and will involve significant time and expense, which could disrupt or adversely affect our business.

Divesting businesses involve risks and uncertainties, such as the difficulty separating assets related to such businesses from the businesses we retain, employee distraction, the need to obtain regulatory approvals and other third-party consents, which potentially disrupts customer and vendor relationships, and the fact that we may be subject to additional tax obligations or loss of tax benefits. Because of these challenges, as well as market conditions or other factors, anticipated divestitures may take longer or be costlier or generate fewer benefits than expected and may not be completed at all. If we are unable to complete divestitures or to successfully transition divested businesses, our business and financial results could be negatively impacted. After we dispose of a business, we may retain exposure on financial or performance guarantees and other contractual, employment, pension and severance obligations, and potential liabilities that may arise under law because of the disposition or the subsequent failure of an acquirer. Our results of operations, cash flows, working capital, effective tax rate, and financing requirements may be subject to increased volatility and our ability to fund capital expenditures, investments and service debt may be diminished. In addition, any purchase price adjustments could be unfavorable and other future proceeds owed to us as part of these transactions could be lower than we expect. As a result, performance by the divested businesses or other conditions outside of our control could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. In addition, the divestiture of any business could negatively impact our profitability because of losses that may result from such a sale, the loss of sales and operating income, or a decrease in cash flows.

Other Risks

An impairment charge of goodwill could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

Because we have grown in part through acquisitions, goodwill represents a substantial portion of our assets, and was $3.5 billion as of September 30, 2024. Under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, we are required to test goodwill carried in our consolidated balance sheets for possible impairment on an annual basis based upon a fair value approach and whenever events occur that indicate impairment could exist. These events or circumstances could include a significant change in the business climate, including a significant sustained decline in a reporting unit’s market value, legal factors, operating performance indicators, competition, sale or disposition of a significant portion of our business, a significant sustained decline in our market capitalization and other factors.

In addition, if we experience a decrease in our stock price and market capitalization over a sustained period, we would have to record an impairment charge in the future. The amount of any impairment could be significant and could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations for the period in which the charge is taken.

We may be required to contribute additional cash to meet our significant underfunded benefit obligations associated with pension benefit plans we manage or multiemployer pension plans in which we participate.

We have defined benefit pension plans for employees in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Ireland. At September 30, 2024, our defined benefit pension plans had an aggregate deficit (the excess of projected benefit obligations over the fair value of plan assets) of approximately $134.0 million. In the future, our pension deficits may increase or decrease depending on changes in the levels of interest rates, pension plan performance and other factors that may require us to make additional cash contributions to our pension plans and recognize further increases in our net pension cost to satisfy our funding requirements. If we are forced or elect to make up all or a portion of the deficit for unfunded benefit plans, our results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

A multiemployer pension plan is typically established under a collective bargaining agreement with a union to cover the union-represented workers of various unrelated companies. Our collective bargaining agreements with unions require us to contribute to various multiemployer pension plans; however, we do not control or manage these plans. For the year ended September 30, 2024, we contributed $2.5 million to multiemployer pension plans. Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, an employer who contributes to a multiemployer pension plan, absent an applicable exemption, may also be liable, upon termination or withdrawal from the plan, for its proportionate share of the multiemployer pension plan’s unfunded vested benefit. If we terminate or withdraw from a multiemployer plan, absent an applicable exemption (such as for some plans in the building and construction industry), we could be required to contribute a significant amount of cash to fund the multiemployer plan’s unfunded vested benefit, which could materially and adversely affect our financial results; however, since we do not control the multiemployer plans, we are unable to estimate any potential contributions that could be required.

We may experience disproportionately high levels of collection risk and nonpayment if clients in specific geographic areas or industries are adversely affected by factors particular to their geographic area or industry.

Our clients include public and private entities that have been, and may continue to be, negatively impacted by the changing landscape in the global economy. While no one client accounted for over 10% of our revenue for fiscal 2024, we face collection risk as a normal part of our business where we perform services and subsequently bill our clients for such services, or when we make equity investments in majority or minority controlled large-scale client projects and other long-term capital projects before the project completes operational status or completes its project financing. In the event that we have concentrated credit risk from clients in a specific geographic area or industry, continuing negative trends or a worsening in the financial condition of that specific geographic area or industry could make us susceptible to disproportionately high levels of default by those clients. Such defaults could materially adversely impact our revenues, results of operations or accounts receivable.

Our services expose us to significant risks of liability and our insurance policies may not provide adequate coverage.

Our services involve significant risks of professional and other liabilities that may substantially exceed the fees that we derive from such services. In addition, we sometimes contractually assume liability to clients on projects under indemnification or guarantee agreements. We cannot predict the magnitude of potential liabilities from the operation of our business. In addition, in the ordinary course of our business, we frequently make professional judgments and recommendations about environmental and engineering conditions of project sites for our clients. We may be deemed to be responsible for these professional judgments and recommendations if they are later determined to be inaccurate. Any unfavorable legal ruling against us could result in substantial monetary damages or even criminal violations.

Our professional liability policies cover only claims made during the term of the policy. Additionally, our insurance policies may not protect us against potential liability due to various exclusions in the policies and self-insured retention amounts. Partially or completely uninsured claims, if successful and of significant magnitude, could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Unavailability or cancellation of third-party insurance coverage would increase our overall risk exposure as well as disrupt the management of our business operations.

We maintain insurance coverage from third-party insurers as part of our overall risk management strategy and because some of our contracts require us to maintain specific insurance coverage limits. If any of our third-party insurers fail, suddenly cancel our coverage or otherwise are unable to provide us with adequate insurance coverage, then our overall risk exposure and our operational expenses would increase and the management of our business operations would be disrupted. In addition, there can be no assurance that any of our existing insurance coverage will be renewable upon the expiration of the coverage period or that future coverage will be affordable at the required limits.

If we do not have adequate indemnification for our services related to nuclear materials, it could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

We provide services to the nuclear energy industry primarily related to decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear energy plants. Indemnification provisions under the Price-Anderson Act available to nuclear energy plant operators and contractors do not apply to all liabilities that we might incur while performing services as a radioactive materials cleanup contractor for the nuclear energy industry. If the Price-Anderson Act’s indemnification protection does not apply to our services or if our exposure occurs outside the U.S., our business and financial condition could be adversely affected either by our client’s refusal to retain us, by our inability to obtain commercially adequate insurance and indemnification, or by potentially significant monetary damages we may incur.

Our backlog of uncompleted projects under contract is subject to unexpected adjustments and cancellations and, thus may not accurately reflect future revenue and profits.

At September 30, 2024, backlog was approximately $37.4 billion. We reported transaction price allocated to remaining unsatisfied performance obligations (RUPO) of $19.8 billion, as described in Note 4, Revenue Recognition, in the notes to our consolidated financial statements. The most significant differences between our backlog and RUPO are backlog contains revenue we expect to record in the future where we have been awarded the work, but the contractual agreement has not yet been signed and revenue related to service contracts that extend beyond the termination provisions of those contracts, where guidance for the calculation of RUPO requires us to assume the contract will be terminated at its earliest convenience. Accordingly, RUPO is $17.6 billion lower than backlog. We cannot guarantee that future revenue will be realized from either category of backlog or, if realized, will result in profits. Many projects may remain in our backlog for an extended period of time because of the size or long-term nature of the contract. In addition, from time to time, projects are delayed, scaled back or canceled. These types of backlog reductions adversely affect the revenue and profits that we ultimately receive from contracts reflected in our backlog.

From time to time, we submit claims to clients for work we performed beyond the initial scope of some of our contracts. If these clients do not approve these claims, our results of operations could be adversely impacted.

We typically have pending claims submitted under some of our contracts for payment of work performed beyond the initial contractual requirements for which we have already recorded revenue. In general, we cannot guarantee that such claims will be approved in whole, in part, or at all. Often, these claims can be the subject of lengthy arbitration or litigation proceedings, and it is difficult to accurately predict when these claims will be fully resolved. When these types of events occur and unresolved claims are pending, we have used working capital in projects to cover cost overruns pending the resolution of the relevant claims. If these claims are not approved, our revenue may be reduced in future periods.

In conducting our business, we depend on other contractors, subcontractors and equipment and material providers. If these parties fail to satisfy their obligations to us or other parties or if we are unable to maintain these relationships, our revenue, profitability and growth prospects could be adversely affected.

We depend on contractors, subcontractors and equipment and material providers in conducting our business. There is a risk that we may have disputes with our subcontractors arising from, among other things, the quality and timeliness of work performed by the subcontractor, customer concerns about the subcontractor, or our failure to extend existing task orders or issue new task orders under a subcontract. Also, to the extent that we cannot acquire equipment and materials at reasonable costs, or if the amount we are required to pay exceeds our estimates, our ability to complete a project in a timely fashion or at a profit may be impaired. In addition, if any of our subcontractors fail to deliver on a timely basis the agreed-upon supplies and/or perform the agreed-upon services, our ability to fulfill our obligations as a prime contractor may be jeopardized; we could be held responsible for such failures and/or we may be required to purchase the supplies or services from another source at a higher price. This may reduce the profit to be realized or result in a loss on a project for which the supplies or services are needed.

We also rely on relationships with other contractors when we act as their subcontractor or joint venture partner. Our future revenue and growth prospects could be adversely affected if other contractors eliminate or reduce their subcontracts or joint venture relationships with us, or if a government agency terminates or reduces these other contractors’ programs, does not award them new contracts or refuses to pay under a contract. In addition, due to “pay when paid” provisions that are common in subcontracts in many countries, including the U.S., we could experience delays in receiving payment if the prime contractor experiences payment delays.

If clients use our reports or other work product without appropriate disclaimers or in a misleading or incomplete manner, or if our reports or other work product are not in compliance with professional standards and other regulations, our business could be adversely affected.

The reports and other work product we produce for clients sometimes include projections, forecasts and other forward-looking statements. Such information by its nature is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, any of which could cause the information produced by us to ultimately prove inaccurate. While we include appropriate disclaimers in the reports that we prepare for our clients, once we produce such written work product, we do not always have the ability to control the manner in which our clients use such information. As a result, if our clients reproduce such information to solicit funds from investors for projects without appropriate disclaimers and the information proves to be incorrect, or if our clients reproduce such information for potential investors in a misleading or incomplete manner, our clients or such investors may threaten to or file suit against us for, among other things, securities law violations. If we were found to be liable for any claims related to our client work product, our business could be adversely affected.

In addition, our reports and other work product may need to comply with professional standards, licensing requirements, securities regulations and other laws and rules governing the performance of professional services in the jurisdiction where the services are performed. We could be liable to third parties who use or rely upon our reports and other work product even if we are not contractually bound to those third parties. These events could in turn result in monetary damages and penalties.

Failure to adequately protect, maintain, or enforce our rights in our intellectual property may adversely limit our competitive position.

Our success depends, in part, upon our ability to protect our intellectual property. We rely on a combination of intellectual property policies and other contractual arrangements to protect much of our intellectual property where we do not believe that trademark, patent or copyright protection is appropriate or obtainable. Trade secrets are generally difficult to protect. Although our employees are subject to confidentiality obligations, this protection may be inadequate to deter or prevent misappropriation of our confidential information and/or the infringement of our patents and copyrights. Further, we may be unable to detect unauthorized use of our intellectual property or otherwise take appropriate steps to enforce our rights. Failure to adequately protect, maintain, or enforce our intellectual property rights may adversely limit our competitive position.

Our revenue and growth prospects may be harmed if we or our employees are unable to obtain government granted eligibility or other qualifications we and they need to perform services for our customers.

A number of government programs require contractors to have government granted eligibility, such as security clearance credentials. Depending on the project, eligibility can be difficult and time-consuming to obtain. If we or our employees are unable to obtain or retain the necessary eligibility, we may not be able to win new business, and our existing customers could terminate their contracts with us or decide not to renew them. To the extent we cannot obtain or maintain the required security clearances for our employees working on a particular contract, we may not derive the revenue or profit anticipated from such contract.

Negotiations with labor unions and possible work actions could divert management attention and disrupt operations. In addition, new collective bargaining agreements or amendments to agreements could increase our labor costs and operating expenses.

We regularly negotiate with labor unions and enter into collective bargaining agreements. The outcome of any future negotiations relating to union representation or collective bargaining agreements may not be favorable to us. We may reach agreements in collective bargaining that increase our operating expenses and lower our net income as a result of higher wages or benefit expenses. In addition, negotiations with unions could divert management attention and disrupt operations, which may adversely affect our results of operations. If we are unable to negotiate acceptable collective bargaining agreements, we may have to address the threat of union-initiated work actions, including strikes. Depending on the nature of the threat or the type and duration of any work action, these actions could disrupt our operations and adversely affect our operating results.

Our charter documents contain provisions that may delay, defer or prevent a change of control.

Provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire control of us, even if the change in control would be beneficial to stockholders. These provisions include the following:

We cannot guarantee the timing, amount or payment of dividends.

Although our Board of Directors has adopted a dividend policy under which we intend to pay a regular quarterly cash dividend, the timing and amount of any subsequently declared dividend (or any special dividend) is subject to the discretion of the Board of Directors and will be based on a variety of factors, including cash flows, earnings and financial borrowing availability and other restrictions under our outstanding indebtedness. We are not required to declare dividends and we are restricted under our outstanding indebtedness and could be restricted under future financing or other arrangements. Our Board of Directors may modify or terminate our dividend policy. Accordingly, we cannot provide any assurances that we will pay quarterly or special dividends or the amount or timing thereof. Any reduction or elimination of our dividend policy or dividend payments could have a negative effect on the price of our common stock.

Changes in tax laws could increase our worldwide tax rate and materially affect our results of operations.

We are subject to tax laws in the U.S. and numerous foreign jurisdictions. The U.S. and many international legislative and regulatory bodies continually propose and enact legislation that could significantly impact how U.S. multinational corporations are taxed.

In the ordinary course of our business, there are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain, and we are regularly subject to audit by tax authorities. Although we believe that our tax estimates and tax positions are reasonable, they could be materially affected by many factors including the final outcome of tax audits and related litigation, the introduction of new tax accounting standards, legislation, regulations and related interpretations.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a global coalition of member countries, has developed a two-pillar framework to reform international taxation. The proposal aims to ensure that multinationals pay a minimum rate of tax on their foreign profits through the introduction of a global minimum tax among other provisions. The minimum tax will affect our financial statements beginning October 1, 2024 for those operations that are doing business in countries that have enacted the framework. The continued enactment by all OECD countries or by individual countries could result in additional income tax liability, but the timing and ultimate impact on our tax obligations are uncertain.

Due to the large scale of our U.S. and international business activities, many of these proposed changes, if enacted into law, could have an adverse impact on our worldwide effective tax rate, income tax expense and cash flows.

​

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

ITEM 1C. CYBERSECURITY

Risk Management and Strategy

We maintain a cybersecurity program designed to assess, identify and manage risks from cybersecurity threats that may result in adverse effects on the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our information systems. Dedicated security and information governance and compliance professionals administer the program with oversight by our senior management team.

We utilize a combination of technology controls, service providers, and processes to actively monitor and protect our network and systems. All employees are required to participate in a number of information security training and awareness programs on an annual basis, which include training on how to identify and report cyber risks and events.

We engage industry cybersecurity experts to evaluate and review our cybersecurity programs. These external reviews include regular audits, threat assessments, vulnerability scans, simulated attacks and other advice regarding information security practices. We regularly conduct incident response exercises with key stakeholders.

To manage risks associated with third-party service providers, we typically perform a cybersecurity assessment on new vendors before they are onboarded as a supplier. We conduct periodic reviews of these vendors to evaluate continued compliance with our policies and standards. We strive to ensure that our contracts with such vendors require them to maintain security controls in line with industry practices, applicable laws and our policies. We rely on vendors to notify us in a timely manner of significant cybersecurity incidents, by virtue of the documents governing their relationship with us or applicable law.

Governance

Our Board of Directors (“Board”) receives regular updates from management and external consultants which may address a broad range of cybersecurity and IT topics, including trends, regulatory developments, data security policies and practices, cybersecurity incidents, and ongoing efforts to further strengthen our security posture. Our Board reviews key metrics related to cybersecurity on a quarterly basis, and is notified of applicable cybersecurity incidents if and when they occur.

The Chief Information Security Officer (“CISO”) heads the cybersecurity program which includes personnel based in several of our global locations. Our CISO brings over 25 years of experience, which includes both consulting and practitioner roles, and maintains the following certifications: Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP), Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), and Certified Information Security Manager (CISM). Our CISO reports to our Chief Information Officer, who meets with our Board at least annually to discuss cybersecurity risk and related topics.

Our CISO’s team is responsible for leading enterprise-wide cybersecurity strategy, policy, standards and processes. The CISO receives ongoing updates from his team regarding the prevention, detection, mitigation, and remediation of cybersecurity incidents.

In the event of a cybersecurity incident, we have a plan which sets forth a framework to report such incidents to our cybersecurity incident response team. This framework is designed with the goal of enabling the response team to take actions to monitor, mitigate and remediate such incidents in a timely manner. As part of this incident response plan, we have retainers in place with professional service firms to assist with cybersecurity incidents if needed.

Cybersecurity Risks, Threats and Material Incidents

While we are not aware of any cybersecurity incidents that have materially affected us through the date of this report, there can be no guarantee that we will not be the subject of future material cybersecurity incidents. Additional information on cybersecurity risks that we may face can be found in Item 1A – Risk Factors – of this Form 10-K.

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

Our corporate offices are located in approximately 9,000 square feet of space at 13355 Noel Road, Dallas, Texas. Our other offices, including smaller administrative or project offices, consist of an aggregate of approximately 5.8 million square feet worldwide. Virtually all of our offices are leased. See Note 11 in the notes to our consolidated financial statements for information regarding our lease obligations. We may add additional facilities from time to time in the future as the need arises.

​

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

As a government contractor, we are subject to various laws and regulations that are more restrictive than those applicable to non-government contractors. Intense government scrutiny of contractors’ compliance with those laws and regulations through audits and investigations is inherent in government contracting and, from time to time, we receive inquiries, subpoenas, and similar demands related to our ongoing business with government entities. Violations can result in civil or criminal liability as well as suspension or debarment from eligibility for awards of new government contracts or option renewals.

We are involved in various investigations, claims and lawsuits in the normal conduct of our business. We are not always aware if we or our affiliates are under investigation or the status of such matters. Although the outcome of our legal proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty and no assurances can be provided, in the opinion of our management, based upon current information and discussions with counsel, with the exception of the matters noted in Note 18, Commitments and Contingencies, to the financial statements contained in this report to the extent stated therein, none of the investigations, claims and lawsuits in which we are involved is expected to have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations, cash flows or our ability to conduct business. See Note 18, Commitments and Contingencies, to the financial statements contained in this report for a discussion of certain matters to which we are a party. The information set forth in such note is incorporated by reference into this Item 3. From time to time, we establish reserves for litigation when we consider it probable that a loss will occur.

​

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

None.

​

PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol “ACM.” According to the records of our transfer agent, there were 1,369 stockholders of record as of November 15, 2024.

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities

None.

Equity Compensation Plans

The following table presents certain information about shares of AECOM common stock that may be issued under our equity compensation plans as of September 30, 2024:

​

Performance Measurement Comparison⁽¹⁾

The following chart compares the cumulative total stockholder return of AECOM stock (ACM) with the cumulative total return of the S&P MidCap 400, and the S&P Mid Cap 400 Commercial & Professional Services Index, from September 27, 2019 to September 27, 2024.

We believe the S&P 400 MidCap is an appropriate independent broad market index, since it measures the performance of similar mid-sized companies in numerous sectors. In addition, we believe the S&P Mid Cap 400 Commercial & Professional Services Index is an appropriate third party published industry index since it measures the performance of professional services companies. During fiscal 2024, we determined that the S&P Mid Cap 400 Commercial & Professional Services Index is a more appropriate comparison than the prior S&P Composite 1500 Construction & Engineering Index due to the composition of the included companies given their size, comparable services, and lines of business.

​

​

​

Stock Repurchase Program

The following table shows the repurchase activity for each of the three months ended September 30, 2024:

​

​

ITEM 6. RESERVED

​

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are not limited to historical facts, but reflect the Company’s current beliefs, expectations or intentions regarding future events. These statements include forward-looking statements with respect to the Company, including the Company’s business, operations and strategy, and infrastructure consulting industry. Statements that are not historical facts, without limitation, including statements that use terms such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “expects,” “estimates,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “potential,” “projects,” and “will” and that relate to our future revenues, expenditures and business trends; future reduction of our self-perform at-risk construction exposure; future accounting estimates; future contractual performance obligations; future conversions of backlog; future capital allocation priorities, including common stock repurchases, future trade receivables, future debt pay downs; future post-retirement expenses; future tax benefits and expenses, and the impact of future tax laws; future compliance with regulations; future legal claims and insurance coverage; future effectiveness of our disclosure and internal controls over financial reporting; future costs savings; and other future economic and industry conditions, are forward-looking statements. In light of the risks and uncertainties inherent in all forward-looking statements, the inclusion of such statements in this Annual Report should not be considered as a representation by us or any other person that our objectives or plans will be achieved. Although management believes that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements are reasonable, these assumptions and the forward-looking statements are subject to various factors, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, including, but not limited to, our business is cyclical and vulnerable to economic downturns and client spending reductions; government shutdowns; long-term government contracts and subject to uncertainties related to government contract appropriations; governmental agencies may modify, curtail or terminate our contracts; government contracts are subject to audits and adjustments of contractual terms; losses under fixed-price contracts; limited control over operations run through our joint venture entities; liability for misconduct by our employees or consultants; failure to comply with laws or regulations applicable to our business; maintaining adequate surety and financial capacity; potential high leverage and inability to service our debt and guarantees; ability to continue payment of dividends; exposure to political and economic risks in different countries, including tariffs, geopolitical events, and conflicts; currency exchange rate and interest fluctuations; retaining and recruiting key technical and management personnel; legal claims; inadequate insurance coverage; environmental law compliance and inadequate nuclear indemnification; unexpected adjustments and cancellations related to our backlog; partners and third parties who may fail to satisfy their legal obligations; managing pension costs; AECOM Capital’s real estate development; cybersecurity issues, IT outages and data privacy; risks associated with the benefits and costs of the sale of our Management Services and self-perform at-risk civil infrastructure, power construction, and oil and gas construction businesses, including the risk that any purchase adjustments from those transactions could be unfavorable and any future proceeds owed to us as part of the transactions could be lower than we expect; as well as other additional risks and factors discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent reports we file with the SEC. Accordingly, actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by any forward-looking statement.

All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements concerning the Company or other matters attributable to the Company or any person acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements above. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only to the date they are made. The Company is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or revise any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. Please review “Part I, Item 1A—Risk Factors” in this Annual Report for a discussion of the factors, risks and uncertainties that could affect our future results.

Our fiscal year consists of 52 or 53 weeks, ending on the Friday closest to September 30. For clarity of presentation, we present all periods as if the year ended on September 30. We refer to the fiscal year ended September 30, 2023 as “fiscal 2023” and the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024 as “fiscal 2024.” Fiscal years 2024, 2023, and 2022 each contained 52, 52, and 52 weeks, respectively, and ended on September 27, September 29, and September 30, respectively.

In this section, we discuss the results of our operations for the year ended September 30, 2024 compared to the year ended September 30, 2023. For a discussion on the year ended September 30, 2023 compared to the year ended September 30, 2022, please refer to Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2023.

Overview

We are a leading global provider of professional infrastructure consulting and advisory services for governments, businesses and organizations throughout the world. We provide advisory, planning, consulting, architectural and engineering design, construction and program management services, and investment and development services to public and private clients worldwide in major end markets such as transportation, facilities, water, environmental, and energy.

Our business focuses primarily on providing fee-based knowledge-based services. We primarily derive income from our ability to generate revenue and collect cash from our clients through the billing of our employees’ time spent on client projects and our ability to manage our costs. AECOM Capital primarily derives its income from real estate development sales and management fees.

We report our continuing business through three segments, each of which is described in further detail below: Americas, International, and AECOM Capital (ACAP). Such segments are organized by the differing specialized needs of the respective clients, and how we manage the business. We have aggregated various operating segments into our reportable segments based on their similar characteristics, including similar long-term financial performance, the nature of services provided, internal processes for delivering those services, and types of customers.

Our revenue is dependent on our ability to attract and retain qualified and productive employees, identify business opportunities, allocate our labor resources and capital to profitable and high growth markets, secure new contracts, and renew existing client agreements. Demand for our services may be vulnerable to sudden economic downturns and reductions in government and private industry spending, which may result in clients delaying, curtailing or canceling proposed and existing projects. Moreover, as a professional services company, maintaining the high quality of the work generated by our employees is integral to our revenue generation and profitability. Given the global nature of our business, our revenue is exposed to currency rate fluctuations that could change from period to period and year to year.

Our costs consist primarily of the compensation we pay to our employees, including salaries, fringe benefits, the costs of hiring subcontractors, other project-related expenses and sales, general and administrative costs.

At September 30, 2024, we had approximately $560.5 million remaining of the Board’s repurchase authorization. On November 13, 2024, the Board approved an increase in our stock repurchase authorization to $1.0 billion. We intend to deploy future available cash towards dividends and stock repurchases consistent with our returns driven capital allocation policy.

We have exited substantially all of our former self-perform at-risk construction businesses. As part of our ongoing plan to improve profitability and maintain a reduced risk profile, we continuously evaluate our geographic exposure.

We completed a transaction that transitioned the AECOM Capital team to a new third-party platform in the third quarter of fiscal 2024. The team will continue to support AECOM Capital’s investment vehicles pursuant to certain advisory agreements in a manner consistent with their current obligations.

Acquisitions

There was one business acquisition consummated during the year ended September 30, 2024, and there were no acquisitions consummated during the years ended September 30, 2023 and 2022.

All of our business acquisitions have been accounted for as business combinations and the results of operations of the acquired companies have been included in our consolidated results since the dates of the acquisitions.

Components of Income and Expense

​

​

Revenue

We generate revenue primarily by providing planning, consulting, advisory, architectural and engineering design, construction management and program management services to public and private clients around the world. Our revenue consists of both services provided by our employees and pass-through revenues from subcontractors and other direct costs. We generally recognize revenue over time as performance obligations are satisfied and control over promised goods or services are transferred to our customers. We generally measure progress to completion using an input measure of total costs incurred divided by total costs expected to be incurred.

Cost of Revenue

Cost of revenue reflects the cost of our own personnel (including fringe benefits and overhead expense) and fees from subcontractors and other direct costs associated with revenue.

Amortization Expense of Acquired Intangible Assets

Included in our cost of revenue is amortization of acquired intangible assets. We have ascribed value to identifiable intangible assets other than goodwill in our purchase price allocations for companies we have acquired. These assets include, but are not limited to, backlog and customer relationships. To the extent we ascribe value to identifiable intangible assets that have finite lives, we amortize those values over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Such amortization expense, although non-cash in the period expensed, directly impacts our results of operations.

Equity in Earnings of Joint Ventures

Equity in earnings of joint ventures includes our portion of fees charged by our unconsolidated joint ventures to clients for services performed by us and other joint venture partners along with earnings we receive from our return on investments in unconsolidated joint ventures.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses include corporate expenses, including personnel, occupancy, and administrative expenses.

Restructuring Costs

Restructuring costs are comprised of personnel and other costs, real estate costs, and costs associated with business exits primarily related to actions that are expected to deliver continued margin expansion and operating efficiencies.

Geographic Information

For geographic financial information, please refer to Note 4 and Note 19 in the notes to our consolidated financial statements found elsewhere in the Form 10-K.

Critical Accounting Estimates

Our accounting policies, including those described below, often require management to make significant estimates and assumptions using information available at the time the estimates are made. Such estimates and assumptions significantly affect various reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses. If future experience differs significantly from these estimates and assumptions, our results of operations and financial condition could be affected. Our most critical accounting policies and estimates are described below. We have not materially changed our estimation methodology during the period presented.

Revenue Recognition

Our accounting policies establish principles for recognizing revenue upon the transfer of control of promised goods or services to customers. We generally recognize revenues over time as performance obligations are satisfied. We generally measure our progress to completion using an input measure of total costs incurred divided by total costs expected to be incurred. In the course of providing these services, we routinely subcontract for services and incur other direct cost on behalf of our clients. These costs are passed through to clients and, in accordance with accounting rules, are included in our revenue and cost of revenue.

Revenue recognition and profit is dependent upon a number of factors, including the accuracy of a variety of estimates made at the balance sheet date, such as engineering progress, material quantities, the achievement of milestones, penalty provisions, labor productivity and cost estimates. Additionally, we are required to make estimates for the amount of consideration to be received, including bonuses, awards, incentive fees, claims, unpriced change orders, penalties and liquidated damages. Variable consideration is included in the estimate of transaction price only to the extent that a significant reversal would not be probable. We continuously monitor factors that may affect the quality of our estimates, and material changes in estimates are disclosed accordingly.

Claims Recognition

Claims are amounts in excess of the agreed contract price (or amounts not included in the original contract price) that we seek to collect from customers or others for delays, errors in specifications and designs, contract terminations, change orders in dispute or unapproved contracts as to both scope and price or other causes of unanticipated additional costs. Judgment is required to estimate the amount, if any, of revenue to be recognized on claims. We record contract revenue related to claims only if it is probable that the claim will result in additional contract revenue and only to the extent that a significant reversal would not be probable. The amounts recorded, if material, are disclosed in the notes to the financial statements. Costs attributable to claims are treated as costs of contract performance as incurred.

Government Contract Matters

Our federal government and certain state and local agency contracts are subject to, among other regulations, regulations issued under the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). These regulations can limit the recovery of certain specified indirect costs on contracts and subject us to ongoing multiple audits by government agencies such as the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA). In addition, most of our federal and state and local contracts are subject to termination at the discretion of the client.

Audits by the DCAA and other agencies consist of reviews of our overhead rates, operating systems and cost proposals to ensure that we account for such costs in accordance with the Cost Accounting Standards of the FAR (CAS). If the DCAA determines we have not accounted for such costs consistent with CAS, the DCAA may disallow these costs. There can be no assurance that audits by the DCAA or other governmental agencies will not result in material cost disallowances in the future.

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts and Expected Credit Losses

We record accounts receivable net of an allowance for doubtful accounts. This allowance for doubtful accounts is estimated based on management’s evaluation of the contracts involved and the financial condition of our clients. The factors we consider in our contract evaluations include, but are not limited to:

Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities

Contract assets represent the contract revenue recognized but not yet billed pursuant to contract terms.

Contract liabilities represent the billings to date, as allowed under the terms of a contract, but not yet recognized as contract revenue using our revenue recognition policy.

Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures

We have noncontrolling interests in joint ventures accounted for under the equity method. Fees received for and the associated costs of services performed by us and billed to joint ventures with respect to work done by us for third-party customers are recorded as our revenues and costs in the period in which such services are rendered. In certain joint ventures, a fee is added to the respective billings from both us and the other joint venture partners on the amounts billed to the third-party customers. These fees result in earnings to the joint venture and are split with each of the joint venture partners and paid to the joint venture partners upon collection from the third-party customer. We record our allocated share of these fees as equity in earnings of joint ventures.

Additionally, our ACAP segment primarily invests in real estate projects.

Income Taxes

We provide for income taxes in accordance with principles contained in ASC Topic 740, Income Taxes. Under these principles, we recognize the amount of income tax payable or refundable for the current year and deferred tax assets and liabilities for the future tax consequences of events that have been recognized in our financial statements or tax returns.

Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in earnings in the period when the new rate is enacted. Deferred tax assets are evaluated for future realization and reduced by a valuation allowance if it is more likely than not that a portion will not be realized.

We measure and recognize the amount of tax benefit that should be recorded for financial statement purposes for uncertain tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. With respect to uncertain tax positions, we evaluate the recognized tax benefits for recognition, measurement, derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, interim period accounting and disclosure requirements. Judgment is required in assessing the future tax consequences of events that have been recognized in our financial statements or tax returns.

Valuation Allowance. Deferred income taxes are provided on the liability method whereby deferred tax assets and liabilities are established for the difference between the financial reporting and income tax basis of assets and liabilities, as well as for tax attributes such as operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are adjusted for the effects of changes in tax laws and tax rates on the date of enactment of such changes to laws and tax rates.

Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance when, in our opinion, it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets may not be realized. The evaluation of the recoverability of the deferred tax asset requires the Company to weigh all positive and negative evidence to reach a conclusion that it is more likely than not that all or some portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The weight given to the evidence is commensurate with the extent to which it can be objectively verified. Whether a deferred tax asset may be realized requires considerable judgment by us. In considering the need for a valuation allowance, we consider a number of factors including the nature, frequency, and severity of cumulative financial reporting losses in recent years, the future reversal of existing temporary differences, predictability of future taxable income exclusive of reversing temporary differences of the character necessary to realize the asset, relevant carryforward periods, taxable income in carry-back years if carry-back is permitted under tax law, and prudent and feasible tax planning strategies that would be implemented, if necessary, to protect against the loss of the deferred tax asset that would otherwise expire. Whether a deferred tax asset will ultimately be realized is also dependent on varying factors, including, but not limited to, changes in tax laws and audits by tax jurisdictions in which we operate.

If future changes in judgment regarding the realizability of our deferred tax assets lead us to determine that it is more likely than not that we will not realize all or part of our deferred tax asset in the future, we will record an additional valuation allowance. Conversely, if a valuation allowance exists and we determine that the ultimate realizability of all or part of the net deferred tax asset is more likely than not to be realized, then the amount of the valuation allowance will be reduced. This adjustment will increase or decrease income tax expense in the period of such determination.

Undistributed Non-U.S. Earnings. The results of our operations outside of the United States are consolidated for financial reporting; however, earnings from investments in non-U.S. operations are included in domestic U.S. taxable income only when actually or constructively received. No deferred taxes have been provided on the undistributed gross book-tax basis differences of our non-U.S. operations of approximately $1.2 billion because we have the ability to and intend to permanently reinvest these basis differences overseas. If we were to repatriate these basis differences, additional taxes could be due at that time.

We continually explore initiatives to better align our tax and legal entity structure with the footprint of our non-U.S. operations and we recognize the tax impact of these initiatives, including changes in assessment of its uncertain tax positions, indefinite reinvestment exception assertions and realizability of deferred tax assets, earliest in the period when management believes all necessary internal and external approvals associated with such initiatives have been obtained, or when the initiatives are materially complete.

Goodwill and Acquired Intangible Assets

Goodwill represents the excess of amounts paid over the fair value of net assets acquired from an acquisition. In order to determine the amount of goodwill resulting from an acquisition, we perform an assessment to determine the value of the acquired company’s tangible and identifiable intangible assets and liabilities. In our assessment, we determine whether identifiable intangible assets exist, which typically include backlog and customer relationships.

We test goodwill for impairment annually for each reporting unit in the beginning of the fourth quarter of the fiscal year and between annual tests, if events occur or circumstances change which suggest that goodwill should be evaluated. Such events or circumstances include significant changes in legal factors and business climate, recent losses at a reporting unit, and industry trends, among other factors. A reporting unit is defined as an operating segment or one level below an operating segment. Our impairment tests are performed at the operating segment level as they represent our reporting units.

Goodwill is evaluated for impairment either by assessing qualitative factors or by performing a quantitative assessment. Qualitative factors, such as overall financial performance, industry or market considerations, or other relevant events, are assessed to determine if it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting units is less than their carrying amounts. During a quantitative impairment test, we estimate the fair value of the reporting unit using income and market approaches, and compare that amount to the carrying value of that reporting unit. In the event the fair value of the reporting unit is determined to be less than the carrying value, goodwill is impaired, and an impairment loss is recognized equal to the excess, limited to the total amount of goodwill allocated to the reporting unit.

The impairment evaluation process includes, among other things, making assumptions about variables such as revenue growth rates, profitability, discount rates, and industry market multiples, which are subject to a high degree of judgment.

There are inherent uncertainties related to each of the above listed assumptions, and our judgment in applying them. Changes in the assumptions used in our goodwill and intangible assets could result in impairment charges that could be material to our consolidated financial statements in any given period. We have not materially changed our estimation methodology during the periods presented.

Pension Benefit Obligations

A number of assumptions are necessary to determine our pension liabilities and net periodic costs. These liabilities and net periodic costs are sensitive to changes in those assumptions. The assumptions include discount rates, long-term rates of return on plan assets and inflation levels limited to the United Kingdom and are generally determined based on the current economic environment in each host country at the end of each respective annual reporting period. We evaluate the funded status of each of our retirement plans using these current assumptions and determine the appropriate funding level considering applicable regulatory requirements, tax deductibility, reporting considerations and other factors. Based upon current assumptions, we expect to contribute $24.2 million to our international plans in fiscal 2025. Our required minimum contributions for our U.S. qualified plans are not significant. In addition, we may make additional discretionary contributions. We currently expect to contribute $11.2 million to our U.S. plans (including benefit payments to nonqualified plans and postretirement medical plans) in fiscal 2025. If the discount rate was reduced by 25 basis points, plan liabilities would increase by approximately $30.7 million. If the discount rate and return on plan assets were reduced by 25 basis points, plan expense would decrease by approximately $0.4 million and increase by approximately $2.8 million, respectively. If inflation increased by 25 basis points, plan liabilities in the United Kingdom would increase by approximately $15.1 million and plan expense would increase by approximately $0.9 million.

At each measurement date, all assumptions are reviewed and adjusted as appropriate. With respect to establishing the return on assets assumption, we consider the long-term capital market expectations for each asset class held as an investment by the various pension plans. In addition to expected returns for each asset class, we take into account standard deviation of returns and correlation between asset classes. This is necessary in order to generate a distribution of possible returns which reflects diversification of assets. Based on this information, a distribution of possible returns is generated based on the plan’s target asset allocation.

Capital market expectations for determining the long-term rate of return on assets are based on forward-looking assumptions which reflect a 20-year view of the capital markets. In establishing those capital market assumptions and expectations, we rely on the assistance of our actuaries and our investment consultants. We and the plan trustees review whether changes to the various plans’ target asset allocations are appropriate. A change in the plans’ target asset allocations would likely result in a change in the expected return on asset assumptions. In assessing a plan’s asset allocation strategy, we and the plan trustees consider factors such as the structure of the plan’s liabilities, the plan’s funded status, and the impact of the asset allocation to the volatility of the plan’s funded status, so that the overall risk level resulting from our defined benefit plans is appropriate within our risk management strategy.

Between September 30, 2023 and September 30, 2024, the aggregate worldwide pension deficit decreased from $165.3 million to $134.0 million due to an increase in the actual return on plan assets partially offset by decreased discount rates. If the various plans do not experience future investment gains to reduce this shortfall, the deficit will be reduced by additional contributions.

Accrued Professional Liability Costs

We carry professional liability insurance policies or self-insure for our initial layer of professional liability claims under our professional liability insurance policies and for a deductible for each claim even after exceeding the self-insured retention. We accrue for our portion of the estimated ultimate liability for the estimated potential incurred losses. We establish our estimate of loss for each potential claim in consultation with legal counsel handling the specific matters and based on historic trends taking into account recent events. We also use an outside actuarial firm to assist us in estimating our future claims exposure. It is possible that our estimate of loss may be revised based on the actual or revised estimate of liability of the claims.

Fiscal year ended September 30, 2024 compared to the fiscal year ended September 30, 2023

Consolidated Results

​