UL Solutions Q1 2025 Earnings Report

UL Solutions EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $0.37
• Consensus EPS: $0.32
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$0.05
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

UL Solutions Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $705.00 million
• Expected Revenue: $704.19 million
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$815.00 thousand
• YoY Revenue Growth: +5.20%

UL Solutions Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q1 2025
• Date: 5/6/2025
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Tuesday, May 6, 2025
• Conference Call Time: 8:30AM ET

UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) (NYSE: ULS) is a global applied safety science company that provides testing, inspection, certification, verification and advisory services. The company helps manufacturers, retailers, regulators and other organizations assess whether products, systems and processes meet applicable safety, security, performance and sustainability requirements.

Its services cover a broad range of industries and technologies, including consumer products, industrial equipment, energy and utilities, chemicals, mobility, information technology and the built environment. UL Solutions also provides standards development, regulatory consulting, engineering support, software and data-driven solutions designed to help customers manage product development, compliance and risk.

The business traces its origins to Underwriters Laboratories, which was founded in 1894 to address electrical and fire safety concerns. It serves customers through operations and technical facilities in markets around the world. The company is led by Jennifer Scanlon, who serves as president and chief executive officer.

UL Solutions Q1 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Consolidated revenue rose 5.2% year-over-year (7.6% organic) with balanced growth across segments and regions, while adjusted EBITDA grew 22.9%, expanding margins by 320 basis points.
• UL Solutions generated over $100 million of free cash flow in the quarter, paid $26 million in dividends and reduced net debt by $90 million, maintaining a strong balance sheet.
• The company is investing in capacity expansions, including HVAC testing sites in Texas and Italy, a new fire science center in Illinois, and an advanced automotive EMC lab in Japan to capture megatrend-driven demand.
• UL Solutions noted that potential tariffs may trigger product redesigns or manufacturing shifts leading to incremental recertification work, but expects overall resilience and customer trust to support ongoing demand.
• Management reaffirmed its full-year 2025 outlook, targeting mid-single-digit organic revenue growth, ~24% adjusted EBITDA margin, 7–8% CapEx of revenue, and a ~26% effective tax rate despite macro uncertainty.

Presentation

[Operator]

Good day, and welcome to the UL Solutions First Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star, then one, on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to your host, Mr. Mitchell Ji, Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance at UL Solutions. Thank you. You may now begin.

[Mitchell Ji, Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance at UL Solutions]

Thank you, and welcome everyone to our First Quarter 2025 Earnings Call. Joining me today are Jenny Scanlon, our Chief Executive Officer, and Ryan Robinson, our Chief Financial Officer. During our discussion today, we will be referring to our earnings presentation, which is available on the Investor Relations section of our website at ul.com. Our earnings release is also available on the website. I would like to remind everyone that on today's call, we may discuss forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may include, among other things, statements about UL Solutions' results of operations and estimates and prospects that involve substantial risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ in a material way from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.

[Mitchell Ji, Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance at UL Solutions]

Please see the disclosure statement on slide two of the earnings presentation, as well as the disclaimers in our earnings release concerning forward-looking statements and the risk factors that are described in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, except as required by law. Today's presentation also includes references to non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation to the most comparable GAAP financial measure can be found in the appendix to the earnings presentation. With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Jenny.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us. Last month, we celebrated the one-year anniversary of our successful initial public offering, which launched the next chapter of our story that is already more than 130 years in the making. In fact, this very week in 1893, our founder, William Henry Merrill, Jr., first visited the Chicago World's Fair to inspect exhibits for electrical fire risks. This experience led him to launch the Underwriters Electrical Bureau. Over the course of that 130-plus years, we've grown to be a global safety science leader with established customer relationships, recurring revenue, global scale, a healthy balance sheet, and a track record of strategic capital allocation aligned with major growth trends. Our company has endured and prospered. I'm pleased to say that our strong performance in 2024 extended into the first quarter of 2025, with balanced strength across all segments, service offerings, and geographic regions.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

The Megatrends we're focused on—global energy transition, the electrification of everything, and digitalization—continue to drive robust demand for our industry-leading services. I'll cover three areas before turning the call over to Ryan. Our first quarter performance highlights, notable achievements and activities since we last reported, and finally, some perspective on tariffs. Our strong first quarter performance stems from healthy market demand and focused execution across our global organization. I'm deeply grateful to our employees, whose dedication is fundamental to our success. Their unwavering commitment to our mission of safety, scientific excellence, and customer-centric service defines our culture and propels our business. Ryan will dive into the numbers in a minute, so let me hit the high notes of our first quarter 2025 results. We delivered consolidated revenues that were up 5.2% versus the first quarter last year, which is up 7.6% on an organic basis.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

Our industrial segment continued to lead the way up 8.1% organically, followed closely by consumer at 7.7% and software and advisory at 5.6%. Our results reflected growth across all geographic regions. These balanced results highlight the diversity and strength of our business model, a differentiator, particularly in uncertain times. Profitability improved year-over-year, with adjusted EBITDA growing 22.9% and adjusted EBITDA margin expanding by 320 basis points, reflecting higher revenue, realized operating leverage, and disciplined expense management. We generated over $100 million of free cash flow, and our balance sheet remains strong. Next, let me highlight planned notable capacity expansions that address growth opportunities and Megatrends in our key end markets. In January, we announced that we're expanding our HVAC testing facilities in Plano, Texas, and Caro Gatte, Italy, to address the surging demand for more sustainable HVAC systems, such as heat pumps and environmentally friendly refrigerants.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

The Plano facility expansion will include commercial HVAC performance testing and will fortify our capacity for safety evaluations of low global warming potential refrigerant capabilities. The Caro Gatti facility will provide comprehensive performance testing for European residential and light commercial heat pump manufacturers. Collectively, these expansions will enable us to offer more integrated solutions for manufacturers navigating evolving global regulations and thereby streamlining testing processes and reducing time to market. We announced in February that we're developing a new global fire science center of excellence at our 110-acre Northbrook, Illinois, campus. This center of excellence will enhance our market-leading position in the fire safety, security, and building and construction markets. We'll be constructing new capabilities while also modernizing existing fire science laboratories, providing enhanced research and testing services for commercial and residential fire safety systems, and this includes sprinklers, pipes, firefighting equipment, and exterior walls.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

The center will also feature a dedicated R&D hub for applied research and science-based guidance, which is designed to help customers minimize risks associated with new product development and accelerate their innovation timelines. In March, we announced plans to develop a New Advanced Automotive Electromagnetic Compatibility Laboratory in Toyota City, Japan. The 25,000 sq ft facility will be one of the few EMC laboratories in Japan equipped to conduct high-voltage, high-current, and high-torque testing. This strategic investment addresses the growing EMC automotive testing market, which is projected to reach $2.7 billion by 2030. It also strengthens our support for Japan's automotive industry while complementing our existing global network of automotive EMC testing laboratories. Finally, let me provide some perspective on the potential impacts of tariffs on our business.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

We are a global leader of critical product safety science offerings, and this means we go where our customers go, to the locations around the world where products are researched and developed and where they are manufactured. In each case, we are well-positioned to support our customers' needs with our existing global footprint and capacity. Now, you will recall that we provide initial testing for a product or a component as part of the new product development process, and then we are frequently engaged in ongoing certification for as long as that product or component is in the market. This is not the first time our customers have faced tariffs, and from time to time, our customers make both R&D and manufacturing decisions to address country-specific risks and other considerations. Tariffs, or the threat of them, may cause customers to redesign their products and/or move product manufacturing to more favorable locations.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

Should a product design or manufacturing location change, there is often a need for the product to be recertified, which can result in incremental new business for us. Of course, global macroeconomic concerns could change the overall pace of new product demand, innovation, and introduction. Thus far, the pace of new product development has generally proven to be resilient. Additionally, products are becoming more technologically advanced, which adds complexity and can increase testing requirements. We believe we continue to be well-positioned to support customers in navigating times of uncertainty like we are seeing today. Our global and strategic accounts team is staying in close contact with our customers to understand potential impacts and plans. Our customers trust us, and history has shown our global business to be resilient throughout dynamic economic periods.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

The increasingly uncertain and complex near-term macroeconomic and geopolitical environment presents both potential risks and opportunities for UL Solutions. Like many other global businesses, we are carefully monitoring our key performance indicators and the potential impacts. Based on what we know today, including our strong performance in the first quarter, we are reaffirming our full year 2025 outlook. Now, I'll turn the call over to Ryan for a detailed review of our first quarter results.

[Ryan Robinson, CFO at UL Solutions]

Thank you, Jenny. Hello, everyone. I want to thank all of our team members for delivering another strong quarter, representing a solid start to 2025. We're proud to report in our first quarter, on a consolidated basis, a continuation of strong growth, margin expansion, and solid cash generation. As Jenny mentioned, it's encouraging to see that revenue growth once again occurred across all of our segments and all of our geographies. Now, let me dive into the details of the quarter. Consolidated revenue of $705 million was up 5.2% over the prior year quarter, including organic revenue growth of 7.6%. The increase was well-balanced across our three segments, partially offset by FX headwinds and acquisition divestiture impact. Cost of revenue for the quarter increased by 3.7% as compared to the prior year period due to increased depreciation and amortization and services and materials, as well as employee compensation.

[Ryan Robinson, CFO at UL Solutions]

SG&A expenses, as a percentage of revenue, decreased 110 basis points from 34% in the year-ago quarter to 32.9% in Q1 of 2025. This was primarily driven by lower services and materials and prudent headcount management. I would point out that both our cost of revenue and our SG&A benefited from changes in FX, roughly offsetting the negative impact on revenues. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $161 million, an improvement of 22.9% year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 22.8%, up 320 basis points from the same period a year ago on strength across all three of our segments. Adjusted net income for the first quarter was $80 million, up 31.1% from $61 million in the first quarter of 2024. Adjusted diluted earnings per share was $0.37, up from $0.28 per share in the first quarter of 2024. Now, let me turn to our performance by segment, starting with industrial.

[Ryan Robinson, CFO at UL Solutions]

Revenues in industrial rose 4.4% to $308 million, or 8.1% on an organic basis as compared to the first quarter of 2024. Those impressive gains were driven by growth in ongoing certification services and certification testing led by energy and automation and materials. Increased lab capacity, including our new North American Advanced Battery Lab in Auburn Hills, Michigan, also contributed to the growth. Revenue was also impacted by FX and the divestiture of our payments testing business. Adjusted EBITDA for the industrial segment increased 16.3% to $100 million in the quarter, while adjusted EBITDA margin improved 330 basis points to 32.5%. The industrial segment showed good operating leverage, and the majority of incremental revenue flowed to incremental operating income. Now, turning to the consumer segment, revenues in consumer were $304 million, up 6.3% from the first quarter of 2024, or 7.7% on an organic basis.

[Ryan Robinson, CFO at UL Solutions]

The improvement was driven by demand across all of our service offerings. We saw particularly strong demand across consumer technology and retail products. It is possible that consumer organic revenue growth benefited from increased customer activity in anticipation of tariffs. We expect some moderation of consumer organic revenue growth in Q2. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter in consumer was $48 million, an increase of 37.1% versus the first quarter of last year. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter was 15.8%, an increase of 360 basis points year-over-year. Solid organic growth and improved operational efficiency were the main drivers of the year-over-year improvement. Our third segment is software and advisory. Revenues for that segment were $93 million, an increase of 4.5% year-over-year on a total basis and 5.6% on an organic basis. Our software service line within software and advisory grew 9.3% on an organic basis.

[Ryan Robinson, CFO at UL Solutions]

The improvement was driven by strong demand for our Ultra-Software Portfolio, including Retail Product Compliance and Sustainability Software Solutions. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter in Software and Advisory was $13 million, a 30% increase as compared to the first quarter of last year. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter was 14%, up 280 basis points from the first quarter of 2024, driven by higher revenues and improved operating leverage. Turning to our cash generation, for the first quarter of 2025, we generated $154 million of cash from operating activities, up from $141 million in the prior year period. Capital expenditures for the quarter were $51 million compared to $57 million in the prior year period. Free cash flow for the first quarter was $103 million, up from $84 million in the prior year period, and we paid $26 million in dividends in the quarter.

[Ryan Robinson, CFO at UL Solutions]

We also used some of the free cash flow as well as utilizing our global cash balance to pay down a net of $90 million of debt. At March 31, we had $267 million of cash and cash equivalents. The strength of our balance sheet is reflected in our investment-grade credit ratings. Our robust balance sheet and cash flow generation give us great flexibility to invest in organic initiatives and accretive acquisitions that are intended to help produce best-in-class shareholder returns. As Jenny said, we are investing in key capacity additions intended to better align the business with the megatrends driving demand for our services. Now, turning to our 2025 full-year outlook, the increasingly uncertain near-term macroeconomic and geopolitical environment presents both potential risks and opportunities for UL Solutions.

[Ryan Robinson, CFO at UL Solutions]

As Jenny mentioned, we are carefully monitoring the potential impacts, weighing these factors along with our first quarter results and visibility into our end markets. We are affirming our 2025 outlook. As a reminder, organic growth is constant currency and excludes acquisitions and divestitures. We continue to expect 2025 consolidated organic revenue growth to be in the mid-single-digit range as compared to our full-year 2024 results. We're off to a strong start with our Q1 results, but also acknowledge the increased level of uncertainty in the world and for our customers. In addition, recall that we face increasingly challenging comparisons in the second half of 2025 versus the second half of 2024. We continue to expect further adjusted EBITDA margin organic improvement to approximately 24% for the full year 2025.

[Ryan Robinson, CFO at UL Solutions]

We have multiple avenues to drive margin expansion, leveraging operational scale from top-line growth, benefiting from industrial segment growth outpacing other segments, and continuously enhancing productivity. We also intend to continue to pursue strategic M&A opportunities in key markets that offer paths to margin and earnings improvement while regularly reassessing portfolio optimization. Our outlook for capital expenditures in 2025 remains a range of approximately 7% to 8% of revenue, with investments in new labs and software continuing as we seek to match strong customer demand in all three segments. Our expectation for our effective tax rate in 2025 remains approximately 26%. This compares to an effective rate of 16.9% in 2024, with the anticipated change due primarily to additional implementation of the OECD's Pillar II, which affects how multinational corporations are taxed.

[Ryan Robinson, CFO at UL Solutions]

As a reminder, in the second quarter of 2024, we recorded a $25 million pre-tax gain on the sale of our payments testing business, which was recorded as non-operating income and is excluded from adjusted EBITDA. Our first quarter results display a continuation of our strong momentum while improving profitability and cash generation. Our investment-grade balance sheet provides flexibility for strategic capital deployment as we seek to deliver superior shareholder value. Now, let me turn the call back to Jenny for her closing remarks.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

Thanks, Ryan. The first quarter is always busy. Recently, as I have for several years, I traveled to Asia to mark a number of special events in Japan, Korea, and China, and met with customers and other stakeholders. I was proud to be at groundbreaking ceremonies at our upcoming facilities in Toyota City, Japan, and Pyeongtaek, Korea, which are expected to be opened in the second half of 2026 and the second half of 2025, respectively. Following meetings with our joint venture colleagues, which are always meaningful, my trip concluded at the China Development Forum, which was well attended by global CEOs. I was fortunate, along with other American CEOs, to meet with Chinese Premier Li and convey our company's value proposition in the region as we continue to advance safety science for new product innovation, quality manufacturing, and market access.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

In conclusion, we've begun 2025 with strong momentum, building on our successful IPO just over a year ago. The megatrends we have identified, from global energy transition to sustainability, align well with our capabilities and our market position. The hallmarks of our business, including healthy cash flow, recurring revenue streams, exceptional customer retention rates, and a strong balance sheet, continue to provide a durable foundation for delivering shareholder value. With that, let's open the line for questions.

[Operator]

We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press Star, then one on your telephone keypad. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw your question, please press star, then two. The first question comes from the line of Stephanie Moore. Jefferies, please go ahead.

[Stephanie Moore, Senior Vice President of Equity Research at Jefferies]

Hi, good morning. Thank you. Maybe just continuing on the conversation around tariffs, you called out areas where you certainly would be impacted, and it sounds like certainly more so on the positive front in terms of retesting. Have you seen any of your customers look to redesign products or move manufacturing locations that have resulted in incremental recertification testing, or maybe any other impact from tariffs that you can call out in the quarter or even in the last month or so? Thank you.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

Thanks, Stephanie. I think it's important to recall that our customers have been making decisions about tariffs for the last six or eight years. We've seen our industrial customers over the last number of years already shifting a lot of their manufacturing locations and capital decisions. This isn't new for them. They make smart decisions about costs across their supply chain. In the consumer space, B2C customers tend to be quicker to react to short-term macroeconomic trends. One of our customers calls it the retail metabolism. I think we'll continue to see them make decisions both about their overall product design as well as their manufacturing locations as there's more clarity in their minds about where tariffs are ultimately going to land. Our goal is to be next to our customers wherever they are.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

Ryan can comment a little more about anything specific, but we're not seeing a material impact today.

[Stephanie Moore, Senior Vice President of Equity Research at Jefferies]

Great. Okay. Thank you for your time. Maybe just switching as a follow-up from in terms of your M&A strategy. Given maybe the more uncertain macro backdrop globally or certainly in the U.S., have you seen that change, maybe the appetite for sellers or anything else that could change your M&A strategy, either accelerate or more on the negative side? Thank you.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

We continue to be active in conversations all over the world across all of our segments about various opportunities of various scale. We think that certainly CapEx is an important accelerator of our growth, but where there are opportunities to strengthen our position, we will do so. We are continuing those types of conversations and look forward to continuing to grow our business through acquisitions.

[Stephanie Moore, Senior Vice President of Equity Research at Jefferies]

Really appreciate the time. Thank you.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

Thanks, Stephanie.

[Operator]

Next question comes from the line of George Tong, Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

[George Tong, Business and Information Services Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

Hi, thanks. Good morning. You've noted that you're not seeing any material impact today from tariffs. In your guide, can you talk about whether you're incorporating any anticipated impact, either to the positive or negative?

[Ryan Robinson, CFO at UL Solutions]

Yeah, George, thank you for the question. We affirmed our guidance, and when we established our guidance for the beginning of the year, we appreciated there was an increased level of uncertainty but strengthened our core business visibility to our revenue and our order book. When we were deciding what to communicate this quarter, we maintained that confidence. Based upon what we see in our business now, we were comfortable affirming that outlook.

[George Tong, Business and Information Services Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

Got it. That's helpful. During periods of macro uncertainty, companies will sometimes slow their pace of product innovation, which could impact demand for testing, inspection, and certifications. To what extent have you seen any moderation in new product launches from your customers year to date?

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

Innovation for our customers continues to be an important part of their vitality. Our global and strategic accounts tend to have the long-term view with our customers about their new product development plans. We are staying close with that. We have not seen any meaningful impact as of today. Certainly, as our customers make decisions, we will be by their side making the appropriate decisions to support them. We believe in the long-term importance of innovation, and we also believe that you can't have innovation without safety.

[George Tong, Business and Information Services Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

Very helpful. Thank you.

[Operator]

Next question comes from the line of Josh Chen, UBS. Please go ahead.

[Josh Chan, Research Analyst at UBS]

Hi, good morning, Jenny and Ryan. Congrats on a strong quarter. I was wondering if you could help contextualize kind of the level of margin expansion that you experienced in Q1, especially with the industrial side seeing the 100% drop-through. Obviously, that's not very typical. I was just hoping to get some color on what drove that level of margin improvement. Thank you.

[Ryan Robinson, CFO at UL Solutions]

Yeah. We're pleased with the operational execution of each of the three segments. You're right, we had strong flow-through, particularly in industrial. Maybe just focusing at an operating income level, the business experiences operating leverage with growth, particularly in the first quarter, which across UL is a slightly lower revenue quarter. When we do have revenue growth, we see disproportional operating leverage. Within adjusted EBITDA, we do have some incremental add-back of stock-based compensation compared to the first quarter of last year. We have some incremental depreciation as we invest in laboratory capacity in industrial. Putting those aside in just core operating income, the majority of our incremental revenue flowed through to incremental operating income in industrial in the second quarter. In the first quarter. Thank you.

[Josh Chan, Research Analyst at UBS]

Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, thanks for the color there. I guess you mentioned the increasingly uncertain environment, yet you reiterated your guide. I guess how would you anticipate any impacts possibly flowing into your business? I would think that it would be fairly resilient, but I'm just trying to gauge where the cautiousness is coming from at this point. Thank you.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

Yeah, I think there's puts and takes across our services lines. New testing for new products, or as I like to say, all new and improved products, products that are being value-engineered by customers. We continue to have visibility. As Ryan mentioned, we could see some moderation in consumer in the second quarter there. The long-term trends, as we've seen in the past in other macroeconomic concerning situations, tend to be very resilient. Even as customers move manufacturing locations, it's fairly easy for us to move our ongoing certification services. These are people on the ground going to factories to inspect and certify. As these trends play out, in the long term, we're very resilient.

[Josh Chan, Research Analyst at UBS]

That's great color, and congrats on a good quarter.

[Operator]

The next question comes from the line of Jun Yixi, Wells Fargo. Please go ahead.

[Jun Yixi, Analyst of Equity Research at Wells Fargo]

Hi, this is Jun Yixi for Jason Haas at Wells Fargo. I was curious, you guys talked about how ongoing certification services growth benefited from increased activity last quarter due to a pull forward from tariffs. Do you continue to see that dynamic in this quarter?

[Ryan Robinson, CFO at UL Solutions]

Yeah. Thank you for the question. As compared to Q4 2024, we did see some normalization within ongoing certification services, which was expected and it impacted particularly our industrial segment growth. As a reminder, across UL in Q4, we saw $27 million, or 12% year-over-year, ongoing certification growth. We said we believe this benefited from increased activity from manufacturers ahead of anticipated tariffs. In Q1, the growth of ongoing certification was $12 million, or 5%. It does appear that that did occur in Q4 2024.

[Jun Yixi, Analyst of Equity Research at Wells Fargo]

Thank you. Could I also just double-click on the software piece? It's continuing to accelerate there. What's driving that demand?

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

Yeah. Some of the biggest things that are propelling that demand is the sales transformation that has really been reinvigorating our expansion of software sales. We saw strong bookings in the fourth quarter, and that drove Q1 revenue. Looking at renewals and extending our ARR in software has been important. We are seeing particular strength in customers really wanting the types of services that we offer in our supply chain transparency, our retail product compliance, where we have some new supplier analytics, we have a new PFAS module, we have an omnichannel market AI tool. Those are all resonating with customers and extending our relationships and extending our footprint with them. We are seeing in the ESG space as well, continued strength and growth.

[Jun Yixi, Analyst of Equity Research at Wells Fargo]

Thank you.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

Thanks for the question.

[Operator]

Next question comes from the line of Andrew Nicholas, William Blair. Please go ahead.

[Andrew Nicholas, Research Analyst of Global Services at William Blair]

Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. You mentioned pretty significant growth momentum across the business. I think you said across all segments, which we've seen, and also geographies. Could you spend a little bit more time talking about growth by geography? Are there any areas or regions in particular that are showing outsized growth and any kind of drivers there that are worth calling out?

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

I think when you look at both industrial and consumer, North America and in particular industrial in the United States continues to be strong. The increasing demand for new energy sources for data centers, that trend here in the United States is extremely important. We are seeing that strength through our industrial business, both in our industrial automation and in our engineered materials business, particularly as there is a shift to higher voltage and greater cable needs. On the consumer side, we are also seeing particular strength in North America and across all of Asia, including Greater China. Each region is holding its own and contributing to our growth across all segments.

[Andrew Nicholas, Research Analyst of Global Services at William Blair]

Understood. Thank you. For my follow-up, I wanted to touch on software and advisory again. You mentioned good growth in software specifically. I think it was 9% organic. On the advisory side, is that a business that is going to be a little bit more lumpy? I am just curious if in this environment with a lot of puts and takes and complexity, if that is a business that would also potentially benefit from your services.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

Yeah. Advisory, it is lumpy, and it's lumpy. It doesn't benefit as much from the sales transformation. A lot of times in advisory, they're buying the people that are going to be serving. So it's a different sales process. We're also seeing some headwinds around some of the sustainability regulation shifts in the U.S. Our business focuses in our renewables focuses on financing renewables projects. As that demand shifts, our needs for advisory can shift in that. We also have a nice footprint in healthy buildings, which is really dependent on the commercial real estate market. Of course, in the United States, we're seeing some headwinds in that market as well. Advisory is lumpier. We believe in its importance to contributing to our tech customers' overall perspectives and requirements for how their products come to market, but we'll continue to focus on it.

[Andrew Nicholas, Research Analyst of Global Services at William Blair]

Thank you.

[Operator]

The next question comes from the line of Arthur Truslov from Citi. Please go ahead.

[Arthur Truslove, Senior Analyst at Citi]

Good afternoon. Good morning, your time. Good afternoon, my time. And congratulations on the results. Three from me if I can. First question, in Q4, you talked a little bit about potentially some pull-forward demand. You obviously had some in the fourth quarter, you thought. Can you give us an idea of how much you think might have been for that in the first quarter? Second question, how have you able to just comment on the impact of pricing within your overall organic growth? So roughly what proportion of it was pricing? And then obviously, you've been very focused on what you've been expanding in China and have built some new labs recently. Can you just give us an idea of how your Chinese labs are performing? Is it all sort of in line with expectation? And are you seeing any impact there from what's going on in Washington?

[Arthur Truslove, Senior Analyst at Citi]

Thank you.

[Ryan Robinson, CFO at UL Solutions]

Thank you, Arthur. I'll take the first couple of questions in regard to pull forward of demand. In general, we haven't seen substantial changes in the timing of revenue. We mentioned in the fourth quarter, we saw an increase in ongoing certification services. Through the first three quarters of last year, that service line grew about 8%. In the fourth quarter, it grew about 12%. There are some services within that that the markets value so much that each individual product has a certification or a labeling to reduce risk. We did see that increase in the fourth quarter. As we anticipated in the first quarter, that normalized, that service line was about 5% growth. Another area that we mentioned that likely has some moderate impact is we had a very strong first quarter in consumer, 7.7% organic growth. That's higher than the last several quarters.

[Ryan Robinson, CFO at UL Solutions]

We can see regionally, some of that was particularly in soft lines and hard lines. Some of it was in markets that would be affected by tariffs. We thought it's reasonable that a small amount of that could moderate in the second quarter. To put it in perspective, that 7.7% organic growth compares to 5.8% organic growth in the first quarter of last year, 6% growth in the second quarter, 9% growth in the third quarter, 6.5% in the fourth quarter. It's moderately above our trend, and we can see geographically that it's logical to say that there was some effect. These are relatively small for consumer. Next, about pricing, we're pleased with that organic revenue growth that there was fairly even contribution from both price and volume. We continue to make progress on our pricing initiatives.

[Ryan Robinson, CFO at UL Solutions]

That came through within the quarter and assisted the revenue growth, but it was relatively similar contributions from both price and volume. The final question was about China lab performance.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

Just one more thing on pricing. We continue to have strong net promoter score results. We evaluate that every quarter. We want to ensure that our customers are getting the value for our services, and we watch that very closely and are pleased with what a great job our team does all over the world on behalf of our customers. On China, we have announced new labs. China had outstanding performance and continues, of course, to be a very important region for us. Some of the new lab openings, such as the one in Ningbo, really improves our cost position for our retail services. It is a beautiful lab in what is considered in China a tier two city of 10 million people, but we see excellent performance in all of our labs across China.

[Arthur Truslove, Senior Analyst at Citi]

Thank you very much.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

Thanks, Arthur.

[Operator]

As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star and one. The next question comes from the line of Brett Castelli. Morningstar, please go ahead.

[Brett Castelli, Equity Analyst at Morningstar]

Hi, thank you. Maybe just big picture on tariffs. As your customers potentially shift their supply chains, how does that potentially impact utilization across your labs? Ryan, how does that then potentially impact incremental margins and the strong operating leverage that you have shown historically?

[Ryan Robinson, CFO at UL Solutions]

Yeah. A couple of things, as Jenny said, breaking it out by our different service lines. First, about a third of our revenue is ongoing certification services, and not much of that is laboratory-based. That is an employee-based human service. As trade shifts, we can adjust our workforce to meet that demand. That is about a third of our revenue. Over a long period of time, we have been adjusting our lab capacity based on global trade patterns and the needs of our customers. We have expanded capacity in Vietnam. We have expanded capacity in Mexico in a number of different regions. We have visibility to what the plans of our customers are in building their new manufacturing capabilities, their new research and development facilities. We have time to react.

[Ryan Robinson, CFO at UL Solutions]

We are fortunate that our laboratories, our physical assets are being well utilized, and that's leading to high operating leverage and economic flow-through like in the first quarter. It is something that we will continually monitor to serve our customers, and we have made adjustments.

[Brett Castelli, Equity Analyst at Morningstar]

That's really helpful. For my second one, just on the free cash flow performance in the quarter was really strong, nearly 15% of revenue. Just any comments, Ryan, how you would expect that number to move going forward for the full year? Thank you.

[Ryan Robinson, CFO at UL Solutions]

Yeah. We're pleased with the performance of cash flow, and it's coming from a number of different factors. Core profitability and growth in net income, improved working capital management, and days sales outstanding. Better global cash management of our balances around the world allowed us to pay down debt. Some of this is a shift to being a public company, a transition from cash-based long-term incentives to more stock-based compensation. All of those contribute. We continue to invest in growth for the business and had over $50 million in CapEx. We anticipate a similar percentage on a full-year basis. We had a small increase in our dividend that was an increased utilization of cash, but we're pleased with the material growth in both cash flow from operations and free cash flow.

[Brett Castelli, Equity Analyst at Morningstar]

Thank you.

[Operator]

This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Jenny Scanlon, Chief Executive Officer, for any closing remarks.

[Jenny Scanlon, CEO at UL Solutions]

Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. As always, we appreciate your support, and we look forward to updating you on our progress next quarter.

Participants

Executives

• Ryan Robinson, CFO
• Mitchell Ji, Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance
• Jenny Scanlon, CEO

Analysts

• George Tong, Business and Information Services Analyst at Goldman Sachs
• Josh Chan, Research Analyst at UBS
• Stephanie Moore, Senior Vice President of Equity Research at Jefferies
• Andrew Nicholas, Research Analyst of Global Services at William Blair
• Brett Castelli, Equity Analyst at Morningstar
• Arthur Truslove, Senior Analyst at Citi
• Jun Yixi, Analyst of Equity Research at Wells Fargo