One of the sort of miracle drugs right now that everyone's talking about are GLP-1s and how they have so many applications. Obviously, they're very expensive. The last administration had talked about opening them up to people.Obviously, it's a big upfront cost, but ultimately because it makes people healthier down the line, it might pay off. What are your thoughts on making GLP1s available for weight loss in Medicare. Can we afford it or can we afford not to do it.>> Uh, it's the only question I'm going to ...

Preliminary discussions on the bond deal are underway, including on terms such as tenor and pricing https://t.co/ZAO9VVP4t3 ...

Model Performance & Capabilities - GBD5 excels in coding and agent development, demonstrating competitive pricing [1][3][8][11] - The model sets a new Pareto frontier for intelligence versus price, outperforming Gemini in this aspect [1][2][4][22] - While not a dramatic leap from GBD4, GBD5 is a strong daily driver, particularly for building agents and coding [3][8][11] - GBD5 shows state-of-the-art tool calling capabilities, especially for long-running agents [9][11] - Testing indicates a performance increase in deep research tasks when using GBD5 as a researcher agent, achieving 49.4% performance on deep research bench [18] Pricing & Availability - GBD5 is priced competitively, even lower than GPT-4 and GPT-4.01 at $1.25 per million input tokens [3][4] - Through the API, different models are available (main, mini, thinking, pro), while the Chat GBT app uses a router to automatically select the model [5] Limitations & Considerations - GBD5 is considered weaker at writing compared to GPT-40, GPT-41, and GPT-45, being more practical but less conversational [1][7][13][15] - Initial confusion existed in the open SDK regarding model names, but this is expected to be resolved [5][6]

“This is a fairly blunt but effective method of segmenting business from leisure travellers.” @DanRosenheck tells “The Intelligence” about airlines’ newest pricing wheeze https://t.co/nRR6efJQw6 ...

Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - Group revenues increased by 3.1% to $3,360,000,000 with organic growth of 1.6% [2][8] - Group adjusted profit before tax (PBT) was $418,000,000, and the operating margin was 15.2%, down 120 basis points year-on-year [2][9] - Cash flow conversion was strong at 93%, exceeding the guidance of 80% [9][19] - Net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio stood at 2.8 times, slightly up from the year-end [9][21] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - North America revenue increased by 2% to $2,106,000,000, with organic growth of 1.1% [10][12] - International revenue rose by 5.1% to $1,251,000,000, with organic growth of 2.7% [13][14] - Pest Control organic growth was strong at 3.8%, while Hygiene and Well-being grew at 1.1% [14][15] - Adjusted operating profit for North America decreased by 7.3% to $356,000,000, reflecting cost inflation and lower volumes [10][11] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - North America accounted for 63% of group revenues, with pest control making up 81% of that segment [31][32] - The international region represented 37% of group revenues, with strong performance in Europe and Asia [30][31] - The pest control market is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 6.2% over the next ten years, reaching approximately $50,000,000,000 by 2034 [28][29] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company is focusing on improving customer retention, pricing, and new customer contracts to drive contract portfolio growth [27][36] - Plans to optimize satellite branches and increase their number to around 150 by year-end [5][43] - The divestment of the French workwear operations is expected to enhance cash generation and focus on core pest control and hygiene sectors [17][22] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management expressed confidence in the long-term growth of the pest control market, driven by factors such as urbanization and increased hygiene standards [28][29] - The company is optimistic about improving lead flow and sales performance in the second half of the year, following positive trends in June [25][72] - Management acknowledged the challenges in contract revenue growth but emphasized ongoing efforts to enhance customer retention and pricing strategies [36][37] Other Important Information - The company acquired eight businesses with combined revenues of approximately $18,000,000 in the year prior to purchase [11][16] - The sale of the French workwear business is expected to complete by late Q3 or early Q4, with net cash proceeds of approximately €370,000,000 [17][18] - The predictive churn model is being developed to identify at-risk customers and improve retention efforts [73][74] Q&A Session Summary Question: Discussion on termite provision claims and future changes - Management indicated that the increase in termite provision is based on recent experiences, with costs for settling claims up by 9% [54][55] - Future provisions may vary based on the cost per claim, which remains volatile [55] Question: Insights on quarterly growth rates and lead flow - Management noted improvements in lead flow in June but did not provide specific insights on July performance [56] Question: Clarification on digital and organic lead generation - Management confirmed a shift in marketing spend from paid to organic channels, resulting in improved lead performance [60][61] Question: One-off jobs growth slowdown - Management acknowledged variability in one-off job revenues and emphasized the focus on improving contract sales [64] Question: Confidence in brand investments and funding - Management expressed confidence in reallocating marketing spend to support brand investments without needing additional funding [82][88] Question: Clarification on cost savings and integration timelines - Management clarified that while the path to $100,000,000 in cost savings remains, not all branches may be fully integrated by 2026 [91][92]