Argan Inc (AGX) 2025 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Argan, Inc., earnings release conference call for the fiscal fourth quarter and year ended January 31, 2025. This call is being recorded. (Operator Instructions) There is a slide presentation that accompanies today's remarks, which can be accessed via the webcast.

女士們、先生們，晚上好，歡迎參加 Argan, Inc. 2025 年 1 月 31 日止第四財季和年度收益發布電話會議。本次通話正在錄音。（操作員指示）今天的發言附有幻燈片演示，可透過網路廣播觀看。

At this time, it is my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host for today, Jennifer Belodeau, of IMS Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在，我很高興將發言權交給今天的主持人、IMS 投資者關係部的 Jennifer Belodeau。請繼續。

Thank you. Good evening, and welcome to our conference call to discuss Argan's results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended January 31, 2025. On the call today, we have David Watson, Chief Executive Officer; and Josh Baugher, Chief Financial Officer. I will take a moment to read the Safe Harbor statement.

謝謝。晚上好，歡迎參加我們的電話會議，討論 Argan 截至 2025 年 1 月 31 日的第四季度和財政年度的業績。今天參加電話會議的有執行長 David Watson；以及財務長 Josh Baugher。我將花一點時間來讀一下安全港聲明。

Statements made during this conference call and presented in the presentation that are not based on historical facts are forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, projections or statements of future goals and targets regarding the company's revenues and profits. These statements are subject to known and unknown factors and risks.

本次電話會議中所做的以及在簡報中呈現的非基於歷史事實的陳述均為前瞻性陳述。這些聲明包括但不限於有關公司收入和利潤的未來目標和指標的預測或聲明。這些聲明受已知和未知的因素和風險的影響。

The company's actual results, performance, or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, and some of the factors and risks that could cause or contribute to such material differences have been described in this afternoon's press release and in Argan's filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. These statements are based on information and understandings that are believed to be accurate as of today, and we do not undertake any duty to update such forward-looking statements.

本公司的實際結果、業績或成就可能與這些前瞻性陳述表達或暗示的結果、業績或成就存在重大差異，而一些可能導致或促成此類重大差異的因素和風險已在今天下午的新聞稿和 Argan 向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中進行了描述。這些聲明是基於截至今天被認為準確的資訊和理解，我們不承擔更新此類前瞻性聲明的任何責任。

Earlier this afternoon, the company issued a press release announcing its fourth quarter and fiscal 2025 financial results and filed its corresponding Form 10-K report with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

今天下午早些時候，該公司發布了一份新聞稿，宣布了其第四季度和2025財年的財務業績，並向美國證券交易委員會提交了相應的10-K表報告。

Okay. With that out of the way, I'll turn the call over to David Watson, CEO of Argan.

好的。說完這些，我將把電話轉給 Argan 執行長 David Watson。

Thanks, Jennifer, and thank you, everybody, for joining today. I'll start by reviewing some of the highlights of our operations and activities; and Josh Baugher, our CFO, will go over our financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended January 31, 2025. Then we'll open up the call for a brief Q&A.

謝謝詹妮弗，也謝謝大家今天的參與。我將首先回顧我們營運和活動的一些亮點；我們的財務長 Josh Baugher 將介紹我們截至 2025 年 1 月 31 日的第四季度和全年財務業績。然後我們將開始電話會議，進行簡短的問答。

Our fourth-quarter performance continued the momentum we built throughout fiscal 2025, delivering a strong close to a year characterized by exceptional execution across all of our businesses. The focus and dedication of our team resulted in consolidated revenue growth in fiscal 2025 of 52% to $874 million, full year-gross margin of 16.1%, record full year diluted EPS of $6.15, and EBITDA of $113.5 million. Our growth in the year was led by significantly increased revenue from our Power Industry Services segment and strong revenue performance in our Industrial Construction Services business.

我們第四季的業績延續了我們在整個 2025 財年建立的勢頭，以所有業務出色執行為一年劃上了一個強勁的句號。我們團隊的專注和奉獻精神使得 2025 財年的綜合收入增長 52%，達到 8.74 億美元，全年毛利率為 16.1%，全年攤薄每股收益創歷史新高，達到 6.15 美元，EBITDA 達到 1.135 億美元。我們本年度的成長得益於電力產業服務部門收入的大幅成長以及工業建築服務業務的強勁收入表現。

We exited the fiscal year with a project backlog of approximately $1.4 billion at January 31, 2025, an 80% increase compared to backlog of $757 million at January 31, 2024.

截至 2025 年 1 月 31 日，我們的財政年度結束時專案積壓訂單約為 14 億美元，與 2024 年 1 月 31 日的 7.57 億美元積壓訂單相比增加了 80%。

In today's energy demand environment, characterized by increasing pressure on the power grid and an urgent need for additional resources, we are seeing a tremendous pipeline of project opportunities. In fact, during the fourth quarter, we added 1 gigawatt of power projects to our backlog.

在當今的能源需求環境中，電網壓力不斷增加，對額外資源的需求迫切，我們看到了大量的專案機會。事實上，在第四季度，我們增加了 1 千兆瓦的電力項目積壓項目。

The two new projects include an approximately 700-megawatt combined cycle natural gas-powered project in the US and a 300-megawatt biofuel plant in Ireland. Further, we believe the heightened demand for our capabilities will continue for the next decade and beyond. We're very optimistic about the demand environment and the runway for our continued growth in the near, mid, and long term.

這兩個新項目包括美國約 700 兆瓦的聯合循環天然氣發電項目和愛爾蘭 300 兆瓦的生物燃料工廠。此外，我們相信，未來十年乃至更長時間內，對我們能力的需求仍將持續增加。我們對近期、中期和長期的需求環境和持續成長的前景非常樂觀。

Our balance sheet remains strong with $525 million of cash and investments, net liquidity of $301 million, and no debt at January 31, 2025. And with the 25% increase our Board approved during the third quarter of fiscal 2025, our annual dividend rate is now $1.50 per common share.

我們的資產負債表依然強勁，截至 2025 年 1 月 31 日，現金和投資為 5.25 億美元，淨流動資金為 3.01 億美元，且沒有債務。隨著董事會在 2025 財年第三季批准的 25% 成長，我們的年度股息率現在為每股普通股 1.50 美元。

With that, now on to the operational review. Slides 4 and 5 present our three reportable business segments. Power Industry Services is comprised of our Gemma Power Systems, an Atlantic Projects Company operating units, which focus on the construction of multiple types of power facilities, including efficient gas-fired power plants, solar energy fields, biomass facilities, and battery energy storage systems.

好了，現在開始進行營運審查。投影片 4 和 5 展示了我們三個可報告的業務部門。電力產業服務由我們的 Gemma Power Systems（大西洋專案公司營運部門）組成，專注於多種類型的電力設施建設，包括高效能燃氣發電廠、太陽能場、生物質設施和電池儲能係統。

Power Industry Services revenues increased 65% to $197 million for the current quarter as compared to $119 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. The segment represented 85% of our fourth-quarter revenues and reported pretax book income of $38 million.

本季電力產業服務收入為 1.97 億美元，而 2024 財年第四季為 1.19 億美元，成長 65%。該部門占我們第四季收入的 85%，報告的稅前帳面收入為 3800 萬美元。

Industrial Construction Services, which is represented by TRC, had a solid quarter. Although, as we expected, due to the timing of certain projects, revenues decreased to $33 million as compared to revenue of $41 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. TRC contributed 14% of our fourth-quarter consolidated revenues and pretax book income of $4 million. TRC primarily provides solutions for industrial construction projects with a concentration in agriculture, petrochemical, pulp and paper, water, and power.

由 TRC 代理的工業建築服務本季表現穩健。不過，正如我們預期的那樣，由於某些項目的時間安排，收入從 2024 財年第四季的 4,100 萬美元下降至 3,300 萬美元。TRC 為我們第四季的合併收入貢獻了 14% 以及 400 萬美元的稅前帳面收入。TRC 主要為農業、石化、紙漿和造紙、水和電力等領域的工業建設項目提供解決方案。

As many companies onshore expand their US manufacturing operations, TRC is seeing strong market interest for their capabilities as a project partner. And with their large footprint in the Southeast region of the US, they are well situated in a high-growth region for their focused industries.

隨著許多本土公司擴大其美國製造業務，TRC 看到市場對其作為專案合作夥伴的能力表現出濃厚的興趣。由於其在美國東南地區擁有龐大的業務，因此其重點關注的行業處於高成長地區。

Finally, we have our Telecommunications Infrastructure Services group, our smallest segment, which contributed 1% of our fourth quarter revenues. SMC Infrastructure Solutions is our operating brand in this segment, providing outside construction services for the utility and telecommunications sectors as well as inside-the-premises wiring services primarily for federal government locations and military installations requiring high-level security clearance.

最後，我們的電信基礎設施服務集團是我們最小的部門，貢獻了我們第四季營收的 1%。SMC 基礎設施解決方案是我們在此領域的營運品牌，為公用事業和電信業提供外部施工服務，並主要為需要高級安全許可的聯邦政府場所和軍事設施提供室內佈線服務。

As we announced recently, we are excited about the appointment of our new CEO at SMC, Brian Orlandi, to help drive growth objectives and increase profitability in this segment.

正如我們最近宣布的那樣，我們很高興任命 SMC 新任執行長 Brian Orlandi，以幫助推動成長目標並提高該領域的獲利能力。

Throughout the past year, the electrification of everything has regularly been cited as the major contributor to rising power demand and the resulting strain on the existing power grid. The increase in data centers, the reshoring of complex manufacturing, the steady adoption of EVs, and accompanying charging activity are all driving the need for additional energy resources to provide reliable, high-quality power to meet 24/7 demand. Less widely reported is the fact that a significant portion of the nation's energy infrastructure is approaching the end of its operational life and that for approximately the last decade, there has been notable underinvestment in building replacement 24/7 power facilities and energy resources.

在過去的一年裡，一切電氣化經常被認為是電力需求上升和現有電網壓力增加的主要原因。資料中心的增加、複雜製造業的回流、電動車的穩步普及以及隨之而來的充電活動都在推動對額外能源資源的需求，以提供可靠、高品質的電力來滿足全天候需求。較少被報道的事實是，該國很大一部分能源基礎設施已接近使用壽命的終點，而且在過去大約十年中，在建設替代的24/7電力設施和能源資源方面存在明顯的投資不足。

Argan is energy agnostic with the ability to construct all types of power facilities. Our broad capabilities, many years of experience, and long-standing customer and subcontract relationships are a competitive advantage in today's market environment. Judging from the current pipeline, the industry has acknowledged that the most efficient way to ensure stable grids and reliable power generation is through a combination of traditional gas-fired plants as well as renewables, and we build them all.

Argan 是一家能源不可知論者，擁有建造所有類型電力設施的能力。我們廣泛的能力、多年的經驗以及長期的客戶和分包關係是我們當今市場環境中的競爭優勢。從目前的規劃來看，業界已經認識到，確保電網穩定和可靠發電的最有效方法是結合傳統的燃氣發電廠和再生能源，而我們都在建造這些發電廠。

We have a proven track record of success in the construction of complex combined-cycle and simple-cycle natural gas facilities as well as solar, biofuel, and other renewable energy resources. The project pipeline is robust, and we believe our favorable reputation as a partner of choice and our record of success, building both natural gas and renewable power generating assets, positions us well to drive continued growth in the current energy environment.

我們在建造複雜的複合循環和簡單循環天然氣設施以及太陽能、生物燃料和其他再生能源方面擁有成功的經驗。專案管道非常豐富，我們相信，作為首選合作夥伴，我們擁有良好的聲譽，並且我們在建設天然氣和可再生能源發電資產方面擁有成功記錄，這些都使我們能夠在當前能源環境中推動持續增長。

We have been a long-time leader in supporting the establishment of diversified power resources. And as this slide illustrates, our current project backlog is approximately 54% natural gas projects and 42% renewable. As I just mentioned a moment ago, the energy industry recognizes that the best pathway to reliable support of an increasingly pressured power grid is through a combination of natural gas and renewable resources. As such, we expect gas-fired and other thermal power plants to remain the core of our business for many years to come, especially as the industry seeks to provide consistent and high-quality power sources.

我們在支持建立多元化電力資源方面長期處於領先地位。正如這張投影片所示，我們目前的項目積壓約有 54% 是天然氣項目，42% 是再生能源項目。正如我剛才提到的，能源產業認識到，對壓力日益增大的電網提供可靠支援的最佳途徑是天然氣與再生資源的結合。因此，我們預計燃氣發電廠和其他火力發電廠在未來許多年內仍將是我們業務的核心，特別是在該行業尋求提供穩定和高品質的電源的情況下。

As you can see from our backlog of $1.4 billion at January 31, we have added several power plant construction jobs, and we expect to add more over the next six months. During fiscal 2025, we invested in our workforce and grew our team in preparation for this increased project load, and we are focused, as always, on delivering excellent on-time execution for our customers as we support the electric economy.

從 1 月 31 日我們 14 億美元的積壓訂單中可以看出，我們增加了幾個發電廠建設崗位，並且預計未來六個月內還會增加更多崗位。在 2025 財年，我們對員工隊伍進行了投資，擴大了團隊規模，為增加專案負荷做準備，並且我們一如既往地專注於在支持電力經濟的同時為客戶提供出色的按時執行服務。

Now, I'd like to provide some project updates. Gemma is in the later stages of construction on the Trumbull Energy Center project in Lordstown, Ohio, where we're providing EPC services for a 950-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant. As a reminder, Trumbull is a combined-cycle power station that will assist in fulfilling electricity needs as the region phases out several coal-fired plants. From start to finish, the project includes design, procurement, construction, and commissioning. Trumbull is designed to be one of the cleanest and most efficient combined cycle gas turbine projects in the PJM market, and we expect to complete it within the next 12 months.

現在，我想提供一些項目更新資訊。Gemma 正處於俄亥俄州洛茲敦特朗布爾能源中心項目的後期建設階段，我們正在為該工程的一座 950 兆瓦天然氣發電廠提供 EPC 服務。提醒一下，特朗布爾是一個​​聯合循環發電站，它將在該地區逐步淘汰幾座燃煤電廠時協助滿足電力需求。從開始到結束，該項目包括設計、採購、施工和調試。Trumbull 旨在成為 PJM 市場上最乾淨、最高效的聯合循環燃氣渦輪機專案之一，我們預計將在未來 12 個月內完成。

We are also currently executing an EPC services contract for utility-scale solar field in Illinois. The project will provide 405 megawatts of electrical power and will use preexisting transmission and utility infrastructure from a nearby retired coal power plant. Spanning more than 2,000 acres, this is our largest solar project to date.

我們目前也正在為伊利諾州公用事業規模太陽能場執行 EPC 服務合約。該項目將提供 405 兆瓦的電力，並將使用附近退役燃煤電廠的現有輸電和公用事業基礎設施。佔地超過 2,000 英畝，這是我們迄今為止最大的太陽能專案。

Turning to slide 10, we highlight one of our newer Gemma projects, an EPC contract with Sandow Lakes Energy Company, or SLEC, for a 1.2 gigawatt ultra-efficient combined-cycle gas-powered plant in Texas. When completed, the facility will be capable of supplying approximately 800,000 homes within the ERCOT grid, and we expect to begin construction this summer. Although the contract has been executed, we are waiting on the final notice to proceed for this project, so the project is not included in our $1.4 billion project backlog as of January 31.

轉到幻燈片 10，我們重點介紹了我們較新的 Gemma 項目之一，即與 Sandow Lakes Energy Company （SLEC）簽訂的 EPC 合同，用於在德克薩斯州建設一座 1.2 千兆瓦超高效聯合循環燃氣發電廠。該設施竣工後將能夠為 ERCOT 電網內約 80 萬戶家庭供電，我們預計將於今年夏天開始建設。雖然合約已經執行，但我們正在等待該項目的最終通知，因此該項目未包含在我們截至 1 月 31 日的 14 億美元項目積壓訂單中。

At the end of the fourth quarter, APC, our power industry subsidiary operating in Ireland, received full notice to proceed on the Tarbert Next Generation Power Station, a 300-megawatt biofuel plant in Ireland for SSE thermal. This is at a project site that we are familiar with and have performed work at in the past. We have recently kicked off this project.

在第四季末，我們在愛爾蘭營運的電力產業子公司 APC 收到全面通知，繼續建造塔伯特下一代發電站，這是一座位於愛爾蘭的 300 兆瓦生物燃料發電廠，為 SSE 熱能發電。這是我們熟悉且曾經工作過的專案現場。我們最近啟動了這個專案。

There is tremendous demand for the capabilities and proven track record Argan has established as a full-service construction partner for energy facilities. And as it relates to construction of traditional combined-cycle natural gas-powered plants, we are one of only a handful of companies who can execute those complex projects.

Argan 作為能源設施全方位服務建設合作夥伴所建立的能力和成功業績記錄有著巨大的需求。就傳統聯合循環天然氣發電廠的建設而言，我們是少數能夠執行這些複雜項目的公司之一。

We're very excited about the many project opportunities we're seeing and believe our expertise, the bench strength of our team, and our recognized reputation for on-time and on-budget project delivery positions us for continued backlog growth and financial strength.

我們對所看到的許多專案機會感到非常興奮，並相信我們的專業知識、我們團隊的實力以及我們按時和按預算交付專案的公認聲譽使我們能夠繼續保持積壓成長和財務實力。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Josh Baugher to take us through the fourth-quarter financials. Go ahead, Josh.

說完這些，我將把電話轉給 Josh Baugher，讓他向我們介紹第四季的財務狀況。繼續吧，喬希。

Thanks, David, and good evening, everyone. On slide 12, we present our consolidated statements of earnings for the fourth-quarter and year-end fiscal 2025.

謝謝，大衛，大家晚上好。在投影片 12 上，我們展示了 2025 財年第四季和年末的綜合損益表。

Fourth quarter revenues increased 41% to $232.5 million, reflecting particularly strong performance in our Power Industry Services segment and solid growth in our Industrial Construction Services segment as compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, as David detailed earlier. Project-wise, the increase in revenues primarily related to increased quarterly construction activities for the Midwest solar and battery projects, the Trumbull Energy Center, the 405-megawatt Midwest Solar project, and the Louisiana LNG facility.

正如 David 先前詳細介紹的那樣，第四季度營收成長 41% 至 2.325 億美元，這反映了我們電力產業服務部門的表現尤為強勁，以及與 2024 財年第四季相比工業建築服務部門的穩健成長。從專案來看，營收的成長主要與中西部太陽能和電池專案、特朗布爾能源中心、405 兆瓦中西部太陽能專案和路易斯安那州液化天然氣設施的季度建設活動增加有關。

For the three-month period ended January 31, 2025, Argan reported consolidated gross profit of approximately $47.6 million, which represented a gross margin of approximately 20.5%, and reflected contributions from all three reportable business segments. Consolidated gross profit for the comparative quarter last fiscal year was $23.6 million, representing a gross margin of 14.4%. The increased gross profit and the improved gross margin for the recently ended quarter reflects the changing mix of projects, including increased US-based revenues, strong execution, and certain positive job closeouts.

截至 2025 年 1 月 31 日的三個月期間，Argan 報告的綜合毛利約為 4,760 萬美元，毛利率約為 20.5%，反映了所有三個可報告業務部門的貢獻。上財年同期的綜合毛利為 2,360 萬美元，毛利率為 14.4%。最近結束的季度的毛利增加和毛利率提高反映了項目組合的變化，包括美國收入的增加、強勁的執行力以及某些積極的工作完成。

Selling, general, and administrative expenses of $14.9 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 increased as compared to SG&A of $11.9 million for the comparable prior-year period, but these expenses decreased as a percentage of revenues to 6.4% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 as compared to 7.2% in last year's fourth quarter.

2025 財年第四季的銷售、一般及行政費用為 1,490 萬美元，與去年同期的 1,190 萬美元相比有所增加，但這些費用佔收入的百分比在 2025 財年第四季下降至 6.4%，而去年同期為 7.2%。

Net income for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year was $31.4 million or $2.22 per diluted share compared to $12 million or $0.89 per diluted share for last year's comparable quarter.

本財年第四季的淨收入為 3,140 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 2.22 美元，而去年同期的淨收入為 1,200 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.89 美元。

EBITDA, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, for the quarter ended January 31, 2025, increased to $39.3 million compared to $17.6 million for the same period of last year.

截至 2025 年 1 月 31 日的季度，EBITDA（息稅折舊攤提前利潤）至 3,930 萬美元，而去年同期為 1,760 萬美元。

Looking at our full fiscal 2025 performance, revenues increased by 52% to $874.2 million as compared to revenues of $573.3 million in the prior year. The overall revenue growth reflects increased revenues in our Power Industry Services and Industrial Construction Services segments.

綜觀我們 2025 財年的整體業績，營收較上年的 5.733 億美元成長了 52%，達到 8.742 億美元。整體收入成長反映了我們的電力產業服務和工業建築服務部門收入的成長。

Our consolidated gross margin of 16.1% for fiscal 2025 increased as compared to gross margin of 14.1% for fiscal 2024, primarily due to the same reasons I previously described for the quarter. The prior year was also meaningfully impacted by a loss on the Kilroot project. Gross margins for our Power Industry Services, our Industrial Construction Services and our Telecommunications Infrastructure Services segments were 16.7%, 13.3%, and 23.8%, respectively, for fiscal 2025 as compared to 14.1%, 12.9%, and 26.5%, respectively, for fiscal 2024.

我們 2025 財年的綜合毛利率為 16.1%，較 2024 財年的 14.1% 有所增加，這主要是由於我之前描述的該季度的相同原因。上一年也因 Kilroot 計畫的損失而受到了嚴重影響。2025 財年，我們的電力產業服務、工業建築服務和電信基礎設施服務部門的毛利率分別為 16.7%、13.3% 和 23.8%，而 2024 財年分別為 14.1%、12.9% 和 26.5%。

SG&A expenses increased to $52.8 million for fiscal 2025 as compared to $44.4 million for fiscal 2024, but decreased to 6% of revenues in the fiscal year compared to 7.7% of revenues in the prior fiscal year.

2025 財年的銷售、一般及行政費用從 2024 財年的 4,440 萬美元增至 5,280 萬美元，但佔本財年收入的 6% 低於上一財年的 7.7%。

Net income for the fiscal year was $85.5 million or $6.15 per diluted share compared to $32.4 million of net income or $2.39 per diluted share for fiscal 2024.

本財年淨收入為 8,550 萬美元，即每股攤薄收入 6.15 美元，而 2024 財年的淨收入為 3,240 萬美元，即每股攤薄收入 2.39 美元。

EBITDA was $113.5 million for fiscal 2025 compared with EBITDA of $51.3 million for fiscal 2024.

2025 財年的 EBITDA 為 1.135 億美元，而 2024 財年的 EBITDA 為 5,130 萬美元。

With that, I'll turn the call back to David.

說完這些，我就把電話轉回給大衛。

Thanks, Josh. Turning to slide 13. Our consolidated project backlog was $1.4 billion at January 31, 2025, representing backlog growth of 80% compared to the prior fiscal year-end.

謝謝，喬希。翻到第 13 張投影片。截至 2025 年 1 月 31 日，我們的綜合項目積壓訂單為 14 億美元，與上一財年末相比積壓訂單成長了 80%。

As I said earlier in the call, the project pipeline is robust and growing. Our current backlog includes fully committed projects in both the Power Industry Services and Industrial Services segments, including a strong representation of renewable projects. However, with the marketplace demand for natural gas facilities, we anticipate that our backlog will be comprised of a larger portion of traditional gas-powered projects in the coming years. We plan to sustain and continue to nurture our renewable business, but our natural gas projects will be the core of our growth engine for the foreseeable future.

正如我早些時候在電話會議中所說，項目儲備十分充足並且還在增加。我們目前的積壓項目包括電力產業服務和工業服務領域的全部承諾項目，其中包括大量再生能源項目。然而，隨著市場對天然氣設施的需求，我們預計未來幾年我們的積壓訂單將由更大比例的傳統天然氣動力項目組成。我們計劃維持並繼續培育我們的再生能源業務，但在可預見的未來，我們的天然氣項目將是我們成長引擎的核心。

Slide 14 highlights certain major projects currently underway or expected to begin in the near term. Earlier, I touched on several projects listed here, such as Trumbull, the 405-megawatt utility scale solar project; and two of our new contract wins, SLEC and Tarbert.

投影片 14 重點介紹了目前正在進行或預計近期開始的某些主要項目。之前，我談到了這裡列出的幾個項目，例如 405 兆瓦公用事業規模太陽能項目 Trumbull；以及我們贏得的兩份新合約：SLEC 和 Tarbert。

Additionally, during the fourth quarter, we entered into an EPC contract and received the corresponding full notice to proceed with a customer for an approximately 700-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant located in the United States. This large project is already underway and fully reflected in our year-end backlog.

此外，在第四季度，我們與一家客戶簽訂了一份 EPC 合同，並收到了相應的完整通知，將在美國建造一座約 700 兆瓦的聯合循環天然氣發電廠。這個大型計畫已經在進行中，並且完全反映在我們年底的積壓工作中。

Other significant projects include a subcontract to install five 90-megawatt gas turbines to provide dedicated power to an LNG facility in Louisiana, which we are expected to finish during the first half of this year. We have also completed two of the three solar plus battery projects in Illinois during fiscal 2025 and expect to finish the third during fiscal 2026. Finally, you'll see two separate water treatment plant projects being performed by TRC.

其他重要項目包括安裝五台 90 兆瓦燃氣渦輪機的分包合同，為路易斯安那州的液化天然氣設施提供專用電力，預計該項目將於今年上半年完成。我們也在 2025 財年完成了伊利諾州三個太陽能加電池專案中的兩個，預計在 2026 財年完成第三個專案。最後，您將看到 TRC 正在執行的兩個獨立的水處理廠專案。

The industry is seeing strong demand, particularly for natural gas projects, and our backlog reflects the scope of our capabilities and the strategic diversification of our project mix to include renewables as well as traditional gas-fired builds. As we move through the current demand environment, we anticipate that natural gas projects will be more heavily represented in our project mix.

該行業的需求強勁，特別是對天然氣項目的需求，我們的積壓訂單反映了我們的能力範圍和項目組合的策略多樣化，包括再生能源和傳統的燃氣發電。隨著我們適應當前的需求環境，我們預計天然氣專案將在我們的專案組合中佔據更重要的地位。

We further strengthened our balance sheet during the fourth quarter. At January 31, 2025, we had approximately $525 million in cash, cash equivalents, and investments, generating meaningful investment yields. Our net liquidity was $301 million, and we had no debt. Stockholders' equity was $352 million at January 31, 2025.

我們在第四季進一步加強了資產負債表。截至 2025 年 1 月 31 日，我們擁有約 5.25 億美元的現金、現金等價物和投資，產生了可觀的投資收益。我們的淨流動資金為 3.01 億美元，而且沒有債務。截至 2025 年 1 月 31 日，股東權益為 3.52 億美元。

This liquidity bridge demonstrates that our business model ordinarily requires a low level of capital expenditures. Our net liquidity of $301 million at January 31, 2025, has increased $56 million compared to net liquidity at January 31, 2024, while, at the same time, enabling us to return $26 million of capital to our shareholders during the year.

這種流動性橋樑表明我們的商業模式通常需要較低的資本支出。截至 2025 年 1 月 31 日，我們的淨流動性為 3.01 億美元，與 2024 年 1 月 31 日的淨流動性相比增加了 5,600 萬美元，同時使我們能夠在年內向股東返還 2,600 萬美元的資本。

Since November 2021, when we began our share buyback program, we have returned a total of approximately $102.5 million to shareholders as we've repurchased approximately 2.7 million shares of our common stock or approximately 17% of our shares outstanding at the beginning of the program at an average price of $37.91 per share.

自 2021 年 11 月開始股票回購計畫以來，我們已向股東返還了總計約 1.025 億美元，因為我們以每股 37.91 美元的平均價格回購了約 270 萬股普通股，約佔計畫開始時已發行股票的 17%。

Additionally, in September 2024, we increased the company's quarterly dividend by 25% from $0.30 to $0.375 per share, reflecting the strength of our business and increasing our annual run rate to $1.50 per share. This increase comes just a year after we raised our quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share in September of 2023. Together, these two increases represent an aggregate 50% increase in our annual dividend run rate in less than two years.

此外，2024 年 9 月，我們將公司季度股息提高 25%，從每股 0.30 美元提高至 0.375 美元，這反映了我們業務的實力，並將我們的年運行率提高至每股 1.50 美元。此次股息上調發生在我們於 2023 年 9 月將季度股息提高至每股 0.30 美元一年之後。加起來，這兩次增加意味著不到兩年的時間內我們的年度股息率總共增加了 50%。

Our company is dedicated to driving long-term value creation for shareholders. Our pipeline is stronger than it has ever been, and we remain focused on delivering long-term value to shareholders.

我們公司致力於為股東創造長期價值。我們的產品線比以往任何時候都更加強大，我們仍然專注於為股東創造長期價值。

Since 2008, we have increased our tangible book value and cumulative dividends per share to record levels. We are in the midst of an extraordinary time in the power industry. The aging power infrastructure and decade-long underinvestment in power facilities has brought us to an inflection point where hundreds of facilities, both gas-powered and renewable, need to be built now.

自 2008 年以來，我們已將有形帳面價值和每股累積股息提高到創紀錄的水平。我們正處於電力產業的非常時期。電力基礎設施老化以及十年來電力設施投資不足已經將我們帶到了一個轉折點，現在需要建造數百個天然氣發電設施和再生能源發電設施。

Argan is one of only a few companies with the capabilities to construct both the complex combined- and simple-cycle natural gas plants and the renewable energy resources that are necessary to reliably and affordably power the electric economy. With the pipeline of opportunities we are seeing, we are very optimistic about our growth prospects for the next several years.

Argan 是少數幾家有能力建造複雜的聯合循環和簡單循環天然氣工廠以及可再生能源的公司之一，這些對於可靠且經濟地為電力經濟提供動力是必不可少的。憑藉我們所看到的眾多機遇，我們對未來幾年的成長前景非常樂觀。

To close, we remain focused on our long-term growth strategy, leverage our core competencies to capitalize on existing and emerging market opportunities, maintain disciplined risk management with the goal of improving our project management effectiveness and minimizing costly project overruns, strengthen our position as a partner of choice in the construction of power generation facilities that power the electric economy and maintain grid reliability, and last, but not least, drive organic growth while also being alert for acquisition opportunities that make sense for our business through thoughtful capital allocation.

最後，我們將繼續專注於我們的長期成長策略，利用我們的核心競爭力來抓住現有和新興的市場機遇，保持嚴格的風險管理，以提高我們的專案管理效率並儘量減少代價高昂的專案超支，加強我們作為發電設施建設的首選合作夥伴的地位，為電力經濟提供動力並維持電網可靠性，最後但並非最有意義的是，透過深思熟慮的投資

We are energized by the strong pipeline of projects ahead as our industry prepares to establish the dependable energy resources necessary to power the reshoring of complex manufacturing operations, the growing number of data centers, and increased EV charging among other demands.

隨著我們的行業準備建立可靠的能源資源，為複雜製造業務的回流、不斷增長的數據中心和增加的電動車充電等需求提供動力，我們對未來的強大項目儲備感到充滿活力。

It's important to note that the current build-out of power facilities is in its early stages and that the combined-cycle projects we take on typically have a duration of three to four years. With the volume of projects we're seeing coming to market, we believe our runway for continued growth is substantial. We are focused on leveraging our capabilities, financial flexibility, and long-standing customer and industry relationships to drive continued growth as we pursue new opportunities to build the energy infrastructure needed today, tomorrow and beyond.

值得注意的是，目前發電設施的建設尚處於早期階段，我們承擔的聯合循環項目通常持續三至四年。隨著我們看到越來越多的項目進入市場，我們相信我們持續成長的空間巨大。我們致力於利用我們的能力、財務靈活性以及長期的客戶和行業關係來推動持續成長，同時尋求新的機會來建立當前、未來和未來所需的能源基礎設施。

I'd like to thank our employees for their dedication to executing each job on time and on budget and to thank our shareholders for their continued support.

我要感謝我們的員工致力於按時、按預算完成每一項工作，並感謝我們的股東一直以來的支持。

And before we open it up for questions, I wanted to mention that we'll be holding an Investor Day in about a week, on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. We're holding the event at the New York Stock Exchange, and we'd love for you to join us. The day will kick off at 8:30 AM and will be an opportunity for you to learn more about Argan and meet the management teams of some of our operating subsidiaries. I hope we'll see many of you there.

在我們開始提問之前，我想提一下，我們將在大約一周後，即 2025 年 4 月 8 日星期二舉辦投資者日。我們將在紐約證券交易所舉辦此活動，歡迎您參加。活動將於上午 8:30 開始，這將是您了解有關 Argan 的更多資訊並與我們一些營運子公司的管理團隊會面的機會。我希望我們能在那裡見到你們。

With that, operator, let's open it up for questions.

接線員，現在我們可以開始提問了。

(Operator Instructions) Chris Moore, CJS Securities.

（操作員指示）Chris Moore，CJS 證券。

All right, thank you. Wow, congrats, guys. That's a great quarter, and outlook just keeps getting better. Could you maybe break down the 20.5% gross margin a bit further? I know Josh went into it a little bit, but anything else? It sounds like there's some job closeouts in there. I don't know if you're close enough on Trumbull to be getting anything from there. Just anything that could help me better understand that such a big number?

好的，謝謝。哇，恭喜你們，夥計們。這是一個偉大的季度，而且前景越來越好。能否再細分一下 20.5% 的毛利率？我知道 Josh 對此做了一些深入研究，還有其他嗎？聽起來好像那裡有一些工作要結束。我不知道您是否距離特朗布爾足夠近，能否從那裡得到任何東西。有什麼可以幫助我更好地理解如此大的數字嗎？

Chris, good evening, and great question on the margins. I knew that this would kind of jump out to you and other folks. And it really comes down to the fundamentals that we put in place here at Argan: strong execution across all the businesses; higher margins are reflecting the shift in project mix, part of which includes more US-based and power revenues for the quarter versus in the past; we were able to avoid certain risk and related costs and close out a number of jobs in our Power and Industrial segments positively.

克里斯，晚上好，這是一個非常好的問題。我知道你和其他一些人一定會注意到這一點。這實際上歸結於我們在 Argan 所製定的基本原則：所有業務的強力執行；利潤率上升反映了項目組合的轉變，其中包括本季度與過去相比美國本土和電力收入的增加；我們能夠避免某些風險和相關成本，並積極地完成電力和工業領域的許多工作。

I mean, keep in mind, the prior year's fourth quarter had some margin degradation from the Kilroot project. We may not see margins reflecting this quarter's levels often, where a lot of things went right all at the same time, but we would expect our consolidated gross margin in general to benefit with the expected increase of gas projects, which are, frankly, higher risk/higher reward type jobs.

我的意思是，請記住，去年第四季的利潤率由於 Kilroot 專案而有所下降。我們可能不會經常看到利潤率反映本季度的水平，因為很多事情同時順利進行，但我們預計我們的綜合毛利率總體上將受益於天然氣項目的預期增長，坦率地說，天然氣項目是風險更高/回報更高的工作。

And also along those lines, Chris, our project backlog, if you might recall, earlier in the prior year, had more T&M versus fixed price, and now we have a larger portion of fixed price contracts today.

此外，克里斯，如果你還記得的話，我們的專案積壓在去年早些時候有更多的 T&M 而不是固定價格，而現在我們擁有更大比例的固定價格合約。

And also, I've noted in the past, we are generally in a good market, which allows us to be selective and focus on jobs that are best for our organization.

而且，我過去曾指出，我們總體上處於良好的市場，這使我們能夠選擇性地專注於最適合我們組織的工作。

Got it. Yeah, that's where I was going next. It sounds like given the number of new projects out there, the relatively few number of firms capable of doing them, I would guess, just in general, the level of margin would go up a little bit just from that as well.

知道了。是的，那就是我接下來要去的地方。聽起來，考慮到新項目的數量，以及能夠完成這些項目的公司數量相對較少，我猜，總體而言，利潤水平也會因此略有上升。

The 1.2 gigawatt project, what exactly has to happen, David, to get that into backlog?

戴維，1.2 千兆瓦專案到底需要做什麼才能讓其積壓？

Yeah. So getting the full notice to proceed, we feel very confident that, that project is going to start sometime this summer, and that's what we, frankly, put in our press release. So once we get released on that job, we'll put the whole contract into project backlog. So it's not reflected in our current backlog, which is $1.4 billion.

是的。因此，在獲得了完整的通知之後，我們非常有信心該項目將在今年夏天的某個時候啟動，坦率地說，這就是我們在新聞稿中所說的內容。因此，一旦我們完成這項工作，我們就會將整個合約放入專案積壓中。所以這並沒有反映在我們目前 14 億美元的積壓訂單中。

Right. What about on the interconnect side? Any reason to think the new administration can have a positive impact there? Any other positive drivers that give you a little more comfort that the interconnect piece of this equation is getting better?

正確的。那麼互連方面又如何呢？有什麼理由認為新政府能夠在那裡產生正面影響？還有什麼其他正面的驅動因素可以讓您更加放心，相信這個等式的互連部分正在變得更好嗎？

Yeah. Honestly, I think there's been a fair amount of progress over the last year or so by the grid operators themselves. I think they've been able to get through some of those bottlenecks. There's still some that are there, and it's always a constant challenge for the industry, but we are seeing a little bit greater progress for getting jobs approved.

是的。老實說，我認為電網營運商本身在過去一年左右已經取得了相當大的進展。我認為他們已經能夠克服一些瓶頸。仍然存在一些問題，這對行業來說始終是一個持續的挑戰，但我們看到獲得工作批准方面取得了更大的進展。

Frankly, Chris, though, I think the larger headwind is more related to kind of getting your turbines, getting the long lead supply chain, which should, over time, abate given that the manufacturers are in overdrive trying to increase their capacity.

坦白說，克里斯，我認為更大的阻力更多地與獲取渦輪機、獲取長週期供應鏈有關，但隨著時間的推移，阻力應該會減弱，因為製造商正在加班加點地試圖提高產能。

I think the other thing to keep in mind in general is, to the extent there's general deregulation with the current administration, that might be able to streamline projects getting approved and getting through all the various things that they have to do to be able to break ground.

我認為總體上要記住的另一件事是，在現任政府普遍放鬆管制的範圍內，這或許能夠簡化專案審批流程，並完成開工前必須做的所有各種事情。

Got it, perfect. Maybe just last one for me. I'm just trying to get a sense of the pace on this 405-megawatt solar project. So you're talking about completing that sometime in calendar '26?

明白了，完美。對我來說也許這只是最後一個。我只是想了解這個405兆瓦太陽能專案的進度。所以您說的是將在 26 年的某個時候完成這個任務嗎？

Yes. I mean, that is a massive 2,000-acre project that we are executing really well, similar to all of our other projects, which is reflective in our gross profit margin.

是的。我的意思是，這是一個佔地 2,000 英畝的大型項目，我們執行得非常好，與我們所有的其他項目類似，這反映在我們的毛利率上。

Got it. Are you at kind of a peak run rate at this point in time or is that still ramping?

知道了。您現在的運行率是否處於峰值水平，還是仍在不斷提升？

It's -- I mean, keep in mind, renewables aren't as -- their run rates don't get -- they don't peak as much as gas jobs do. They're a little bit flatter in nature. But yeah, it is -- we're in the midst of things there.

我的意思是，請記住，再生能源並不像天然氣那樣——它們的運行率不會達到高峰。它們的本質稍微平坦一些。但確實如此——我們正處於其中。

Perfect. Alright, I'll leave it there. Thanks, guys.

完美的。好的，我就把它留在那裡了。謝謝大家。

Sure, Chris.

當然，克里斯。

Rob Brown, Lake Street Capital.

羅布布朗 (Rob Brown)，Lake Street Capital。

Hi, David, congratulations on a strong quarter.

你好，大衛，恭喜你本季業績強勁。

Thanks, Rob.

謝謝，羅布。

On the project pipeline, I know you talked a lot about it, but can you give us a sense of how many projects are sort of in that pipeline and maybe the regions that are active and maybe sort of a sense of how those -- you see those kind of flowing in over the next 18 months?

關於專案管道，我知道您已經談了很多，但您能否告訴我們有多少項目正在管道中，哪些地區正在進行項目，以及您認為這些項目在未來 18 個月內將如何開展？

Yeah. I mean, the pipeline is largely US-based, largely. And when I speak to the pipeline, I'm referring to the pipeline over the next six months, but also the pipeline in the years down the road as well, given that we are, again, as I said earlier in the call, in the early innings of this build-out.

是的。我的意思是，該管道大部分位於美國。當我談到管道時，我指的是未來六個月的管道，也包括未來幾年的管道，因為正如我在電話會議中早些時候所說的那樣，我們正處於這項建設的早期階段。

No surprise, Texas is a meaningful area for us, but also throughout the United States as it relates to we mentioned that we plan to be adding to our project backlog over the next six months from where we are as of 1/31, and that's -- we're pretty excited about that. And that's obviously just going to drive our opportunity for more revenues over the next four years.

毫不奇怪，德克薩斯州對我們來說是一個有意義的地區，而且在整個美國，我們都提到，我們計劃在未來六個月內從 1 月 31 日起增加我們的項目積壓，我們對此感到非常興奮。這顯然會為我們在未來四年創造更多收入的機會。

Got it, okay. Great. And in terms of the customers that you're pursuing, has that changed over time, or is that still the independent power producers and kind of the same set of people that you know? Or are there new kind of potential customers like directly to data center operators coming into the mix?

知道了，好的。偉大的。就您所追求的客戶而言，這種情況是否隨著時間的推移而發生了變化，還是仍然是獨立電力生產商和您所認識的同一群人？或是有新的潛在客戶，例如資料中心營運商直接加入其中？

Great question. I mean, we're talking to all potential customers, to be clear. Have we historically worked primarily with independent power producers, that is historically accurate. And so at the end of the day, though, we are looking to build the right jobs in the right place with the right contract with the right customer, and that includes everybody. But currently, it's primarily been with IPPs.

好問題。我的意思是，我們正在與所有潛在客戶進行交談，要明確一點。我們歷史上是否主要與獨立電力生產商合作？從歷史上看，這是準確的。因此，歸根結底，我們希望在正確的地方與正確的客戶簽訂正確的合同，創造正確的工作，其中包括每個人。但目前，它主要與 IPP 有關。

Okay, great. And then lastly, on the industrial business, that was down a little bit year over year on project timing. How do you see the trend line there playing out over the next year? Is that sort of picking up? Or are there sort of stability there at this point?

好的，太好了。最後，就工業業務而言，專案進度較去年同期略有下降。您認為未來一年該趨勢將如何發展？這算是回暖嗎？或者現在那裡有某種穩定性嗎？

Yeah. No, I'm glad you asked that question because it did have a little bit of a drop in its backlog as of 1/31. But we're seeing really strong demand for TRC. And frankly, subsequent to year-end, we've added over $40 million in new contracts related to water treatment plant and some data center activity. So we believe TRC will grow its revenue kind of come middle of the year, later in the year and continue to grow like it's been growing over the last several years.

是的。不，我很高興你問了這個問題，因為截至 1 月 31 日，它的積壓量確實有所下降。但我們看到對 TRC 的需求非常強勁。坦白說，截至年底，我們增加了超過 4000 萬美元的與水處理廠和一些資料中心活動相關的新合約。因此，我們相信 TRC 的收入將在今年年中或稍後實現成長，並繼續保持過去幾年的成長動能。

I mean, in general, kind of looking forward, all these additions we've made to project backlog in the power space, it takes time for those revenues to start generating in earnest. So from a revenue cadence standpoint, we might expect a small decrease in our overall revenues for the upcoming quarter here before increasing throughout the year for the overall organization. Again, we are in a significant growth phase and looking forward to it.

我的意思是，總的來說，展望未來，我們對電力領域的專案積壓所做的所有這些增加，都需要時間才能開始真正產生收入。因此，從收入節奏的角度來看，我們可能會預期下一季我們的總收入會略有下降，然後全年整個組織的收入都會增加。再次強調，我們正處於重要的成長階段，並對此充滿期待。

Okay, thank you. Congratulations again.

好的，謝謝。再次恭喜。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. This does conclude today's Q&A session. I would now like to turn the floor back to David Watson for closing remarks.

謝謝。今天的問答環節到此結束。現在我想請戴維·沃森作最後發言。

Thank you all for participating in today's call, our first in our new offices here in Arlington, Virginia. As a reminder, please join us for our first Investor Day in New York on April 8, and you're always welcome to come visit us here in Virginia. We look forward to speaking with you again when we report our first-quarter fiscal 2026 results. Have a great evening.

感謝大家參加今天的電話會議，這是我們在維吉尼亞州阿靈頓新辦公室舉行的第一次電話會議。提醒一下，請參加我們於 4 月 8 日在紐約舉行的首屆投資者日，並歡迎您隨時來維吉尼亞拜訪我們。我們期待在報告2026財年第一季業績時再次與您交談。祝您有個愉快的夜晚。

Thank you. This does conclude today's conference call. You may disconnect your phone lines at this time, and have a wonderful day. Thank you once again for your participation.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開電話線，並享受美好的一天。再次感謝您的參與。