Alto Ingredients Inc (ALTO) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Alto Ingredients First Quarter 2023 Financial Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this event is being recorded.

美好的一天，歡迎來到 Alto Ingredients 2023 年第一季度財務業績電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，正在記錄此事件。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Kirsten Chapman, LHA Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

我現在想將會議轉交給 LHA 投資者關係部的 Kirsten Chapman。請繼續。

Thank you, Betsy, and thank you all for joining us today for the Alto Ingredients' First Quarter 2023 Results Conference Call. On the call today are Mike Kandris, CEO; and Bryon McGregor, CFO. Alto Ingredients issued a press release after the market closed today, providing details on the company's financial results. The company has also prepared a presentation for today's call that is available on the company's website at altoingredients.com.

謝謝 Betsy，也感謝大家今天加入我們參加 Alto Ingredients 2023 年第一季度業績電話會議。今天的電話會議是首席執行官 Mike Kandris；和首席財務官 Bryon McGregor。 Alto Ingredients 在今天收市後發布了一份新聞稿，提供了公司財務業績的詳細信息。該公司還為今天的電話會議準備了一份演示文稿，可在公司網站 altoingredients.com 上查閱。

A telephone replay of today's call will be available through May 15, the details of which are included in today's press release. A webcast replay will be available on the website as well.

今天電話會議的電話重播將在 5 月 15 日之前提供，其詳細信息包含在今天的新聞稿中。網站上也將提供網絡廣播重播。

Please note that the information on this call speaks as of today, May 8. You are advised that any time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate at the time of any replay. Please refer to the company's safe harbor statement on Slide 2 of the presentation available online, which states that some of the comments in the presentation constitute forward-looking statements and considerations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties.

請注意，本次電話會議的信息截至今天，即 5 月 8 日。請注意，任何時間敏感的信息在重播時可能不再準確。請參閱在線演示文稿幻燈片 2 上的公司安全港聲明，其中聲明演示文稿中的某些評論構成前瞻性聲明和考慮因素，涉及許多風險和不確定性。

The actual future results of Alto Ingredients could differ materially from those statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, events, risks and other factors previously and from time to time disclosed in Alto Ingredients' filings with the SEC. Except as required by applicable law, the company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

Alto Ingredients 未來的實際結果可能與這些陳述存在重大差異。可能導致或促成此類差異的因素包括但不限於 Alto Ingredients 向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中不時披露的事件、風險和其他因素。除適用法律要求外，公司不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。

In management's prepared remarks, non-GAAP measures will be referenced. Management uses these non-GAAP measures to monitor the financial performance of the operations and believes these measures will assist investors in assessing the company's performance for the periods being reported. The company defines adjusted EBITDA as unaudited net income or loss before interest expense, interest income, provision for income taxes, asset impairment, loss of extinguishment of debt, acquisition-related expense, fair value adjustments and depreciation and amortization expense. To support the company's review of any non-GAAP information, a reconciling table was included in today's press release.

在管理層準備好的評論中，將引用非 GAAP 措施。管理層使用這些非 GAAP 指標來監控運營的財務業績，並相信這些指標將有助於投資者評估公司在報告期間的業績。公司將調整後的 EBITDA 定義為未經審計的利息支出前淨收入或虧損、利息收入、所得稅準備金、資產減值、債務清償損失、收購相關費用、公允價值調整以及折舊和攤銷費用。為了支持公司對任何非 GAAP 信息的審查，今天的新聞稿中包含了一個調節表。

On the call today are -- Mike will provide a review of the strategic plan and activities. Bryon will comment on our financial results. Then Mike will wrap up and open the call for questions.

今天的電話會議是——邁克將對戰略計劃和活動進行審查。 Bryon 將對我們的財務業績發表評論。然後邁克將結束並打開問題電話。

It's now my pleasure to introduce Mike Kandris, CEO. Please go ahead, sir.

現在我很高興介紹首席執行官 Mike Kandris。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, Kirsten, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today to review the first quarter of 2023. Since our call in March, we have continued to make good progress on our transformative capital projects, which will drive our near- and long-term EBITDA expansion goals. I will discuss this further in a minute. We are also pleased with the current market improvements, which are positively impacting our business. Crush margins have been improving since December. Notably, each month this year has improved sequentially. March 2023 ended with regional natural gas prices, corn basis and ethanol prices greatly improved over December of 2022, all of which benefited our business. For the month of March, we generated positive bottom line financial results. Should the strong crush margins continue, we would expect positive adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter of 2023. Bryon will review the financial results in detail shortly.

謝謝 Kirsten，也感謝大家今天加入我們回顧 2023 年第一季度。自我們 3 月份的電話會議以來，我們在轉型資本項目上繼續取得良好進展，這將推動我們近期和長期的發展長期 EBITDA 擴張目標。我將在一分鐘內進一步討論這個問題。我們也對當前的市場改善感到滿意，這對我們的業務產生了積極影響。自去年 12 月以來，壓榨利潤率一直在提高。值得注意的是，今年每個月都在連續改善。 2023 年 3 月結束，區域天然氣價格、玉米基差和乙醇價格較 2022 年 12 月大幅上漲，所有這些都使我們的業務受益。對於 3 月份，我們產生了積極的底線財務業績。如果強勁的壓榨利潤率繼續保持，我們預計 2023 年第二季度調整後的 EBITDA 為正。Bryon 將在短期內詳細審查財務業績。

Even though we have positive crush margins today, we don't control commodity pricing. This is exactly why we are implementing a series of near- and long-term projects aimed at reducing our exposure to those volatile markets. We continue to transform Alto Ingredients by further diversifying our products and optimizing operations to expand margins and increase profitability. We are excited about our capital improvement initiatives and their return profiles. With the completion of our near-term projects, we expect to increase annualized EBITDA by over $65 million by the end of 2025, an increase to $125 million annually by the end of 2026, when our carbon capture and sequestration, cogeneration and other initiatives are fully realized.

儘管我們今天的壓榨利潤率是正的，但我們無法控製商品定價。這正是我們實施一系列近期和長期項目的原因，旨在減少我們在這些動盪市場中的風險敞口。我們通過進一步多樣化我們的產品和優化運營來擴大利潤和提高盈利能力，從而繼續改造 Alto Ingredients。我們對我們的資本改善計劃及其回報情況感到興奮。隨著我們近期項目的完成，我們預計到 2025 年底年化 EBITDA 將增加超過 6500 萬美元，到 2026 年底將增加到每年 1.25 億美元，屆時我們的碳捕獲和封存、熱電聯產和其他計劃將得到實施完全實現。

Regarding diversification, our strategy is to pursue multiple paths. We are increasing production of our most differentiated and highest quality products. Our near-term focus includes grain neutral spirits, corn oil and high protein, and our longer-term plan includes primary yeast as well as carbon capture and sequestration. Regarding costs, our near-term initiatives are to improve plant efficiency, reliability and, where appropriate, redundancy by adding corn storage and installing our own natural gas pipeline.

關於多元化，我們的策略是走多條路。我們正在增加最具差異化和最優質產品的產量。我們的近期重點包括穀物中性烈酒、玉米油和高蛋白，我們的長期計劃包括初級酵母以及碳捕獲和封存。關於成本，我們的近期舉措是通過增加玉米儲存和安裝我們自己的天然氣管道來提高工廠效率、可靠性並在適當情況下增加冗餘。

Our long-term vision includes upgrading equipment, converting our biogas to renewable natural gas and building energy cogeneration capabilities at our Pekin Campus. We are confident in our ability to fund our near-term capital projects through our term loan facility, current working capital resources and expected cash generated from operating activities. As far as funding our longer-term projects, we continue to hold productive discussions with strategic partners, and we will assess our capital needs at that time.

我們的長期願景包括升級設備、將我們的沼氣轉化為可再生天然氣以及在我們的北京校區建設能源熱電聯產能力。我們有信心通過我們的定期貸款安排、當前營運資金資源和經營活動產生的預期現金為我們的短期資本項目提供資金。至於為我們的長期項目提供資金，我們將繼續與戰略合作夥伴進行富有成效的討論，屆時我們將評估我們的資金需求。

Let me provide updates on our capital projects. First, I'll review our high-quality alcohol strategy. As discussed previously, we completed the upgrade of our distillation system at our Pekin Wet Mill to produce the highest quality 190 proof and low-moisture 200 proof GNS products on the market. We also added right bulk and distribution capabilities, enabling tote and drum packaging and distribution through the acquisition of the Eagle Alcohol. Recently, we have added new beverage customers, and we are working to place our GNS product on a spot purchase basis for the remainder of 2023.

讓我提供我們資本項目的最新情況。首先，我將回顧一下我們的優質酒戰略。如前所述，我們完成了 Pekin Wet Mill 蒸餾系統的升級，以生產市場上質量最高的 190 度和低水分 200 度 GNS 產品。我們還增加了正確的散裝和分銷能力，通過收購 Eagle Alcohol 實現手提袋和圓桶包裝和分銷。最近，我們增加了新的飲料客戶，我們正在努力在 2023 年剩餘時間內將我們的 GNS 產品置於現貨採購的基礎上。

More importantly, this fall, we expect to place additional volumes with new and existing customers during our annual contracting period for 2024. Our valuable certifications will be advantageous as we work towards qualifications by various customers. Beginning in 2024, we estimate these products will contribute approximately $5 million in EBITDA annually and continue to grow over time.

更重要的是，今年秋天，我們希望在 2024 年的年度合同期內與新客戶和現有客戶增加數量。我們有價值的認證將在我們努力獲得各種客戶的資格時發揮優勢。從 2024 年開始，我們估計這些產品每年將貢獻約 500 萬美元的 EBITDA，並隨著時間的推移繼續增長。

Regarding our expanded production of corn oil and high protein. As previously discussed, in December, we moderated production at our Columbia plant and temporarily idled the Magic Valley facility to minimize the impact of sustained high natural gas prices in the Pacific Northwest. This created an opportunity of Magic Valley for us to focus our attention on finalizing installation of the high-protein technology. We have now resumed production at our Magic Valley facility and completed all material installations of the CoPromax corn oil and high-protein system. We are currently aligning all the new and existing operating systems at the plant to ensure optimal efficiency.

關於我們擴大玉米油和高蛋白的生產。如前所述，在 12 月，我們降低了哥倫比亞工廠的產量，並暫時閒置了 Magic Valley 工廠，以盡量減少太平洋西北地區天然氣價格持續高企的影響。這為我們創造了魔谷的機會，將注意力集中在完成高蛋白技術的安裝上。我們現在已經恢復了 Magic Valley 工廠的生產，並完成了 CoPromax 玉米油和高蛋白系統的所有材料安裝。我們目前正在調整工廠所有新的和現有的操作系統，以確保最佳效率。

We plan to achieve full production of both higher corn oil volumes and higher quality dry protein at the facility by the end of the second quarter. We anticipate sales from these products at increased values to begin in the third quarter of 2023. We estimate corn oil and high-quality protein will combine to contribute approximately $9 million of EBITDA annually.

我們計劃在第二季度末之前在該工廠實現更高產量的玉米油和更高質量的干蛋白的全面生產。我們預計這些產品的銷售額將從 2023 年第三季度開始增加。我們估計玉米油和優質蛋白質每年將貢獻約 900 萬美元的 EBITDA。

Beginning in late 2023, management plans to start the state rollout of the corn oil technology installation at our other 3 dry mills. Although each facility is a slightly different size, on average, we expect to produce similar financial results to Magic Valley. When fully installed, we estimate the corn oil installations into 3 other plants in aggregate will contribute over $14 million in EBITDA annually.

從 2023 年底開始，管理層計劃在我們的其他 3 家乾磨廠開始在州內推出玉米油技術安裝。儘管每個設施的規模略有不同，但平均而言，我們預計會產生與魔穀類似的財務結果。完全安裝後，我們估計玉米油安裝到其他 3 家工廠每年將貢獻超過 1400 萬美元的 EBITDA。

After the high-protein system is fully and successfully operational at Magic Valley, we will evaluate and anticipate rolling out the high-protein technology at our other dry mills with similar expected economics. We estimate the high-protein installations at our other 3 plants in aggregate will contribute over $13 million in EBITDA or over $27 million annually in the aggregate with corn oil expansion.

在高蛋白系統在 Magic Valley 全面成功運行後，我們將評估並預期在我們其他具有類似預期經濟性的干磨機上推廣高蛋白技術。我們估計我們其他 3 家工廠的高蛋白裝置總共將貢獻超過 1300 萬美元的 EBITDA 或每年貢獻超過 2700 萬美元的玉米油擴張。

Regarding the longer-term initiatives for high-margin offerings, we plan to expand into primary yeast production. Having completed successful product trials, we have selected a highly qualified third-party engineering group to complete our front-end engineering and design or FEED study. We expect the study to be completed in Q3. This project would extend the past upgrades made to our yeast operations. We estimate the primary yeast product will contribute approximately $19 million of EBITDA in the first 12 months, enhance the potential to increase to over $25 million annually thereafter. We are targeting beginning construction in early 2024 and completing in the summer of 2025.

關於高利潤產品的長期計劃，我們計劃擴展到初級酵母生產。在成功完成產品試驗後，我們選擇了高素質的第三方工程團隊來完成我們的前端工程設計或 FEED 研究。我們預計該研究將在第三季度完成。該項目將擴展過去對我們的酵母操作進行的升級。我們估計初級酵母產品將在前 12 個月貢獻約 1900 萬美元的 EBITDA，此後每年有可能增加到 2500 萬美元以上。我們的目標是在 2024 年初開始建設，並在 2025 年夏季完工。

As you know, we also have a significant opportunity in carbon capture and sequestration. As previously discussed, we produced approximately 700,000 metric tons of carbon a year at our Pekin Campus. Our advanced negotiations for this important and game-changing project proceed in earnest. We have selected a third-party FEED firm to determine capture, compression and engineering design. We expect this study to be completed in Q3. We are also finalizing the selection of a development partner to provide turnkey transportation, sequestration and monitoring services. Our goal is to have CCS operational in 2026.

如您所知，我們在碳捕獲和封存方面也有重要機會。如前所述，我們在北京校區每年生產大約 700,000 公噸碳。我們為這個重要且改變遊戲規則的項目進行的高級談判認真進行。我們選擇了第三方 FEED 公司來確定捕獲、壓縮和工程設計。我們預計這項研究將在第三季度完成。我們還將最終確定開發合作夥伴的選擇，以提供交鑰匙運輸、封存和監測服務。我們的目標是在 2026 年讓 CCS 投入運營。

As we discussed last quarter, based solely on a conservative assumption of annual carbon production and $85 per metric ton, reflecting the 45Q incentive established under the Inflation Reduction Act, we believe we can generate over $30 million annually in EBITDA. To be clear, this is after operating and sequestration costs and does not include any of the substantial economic benefits of the environmental attributes associated with low carbon ethanol.

正如我們上個季度所討論的那樣，僅基於每年碳產量和每公噸 85 美元的保守假設，反映了根據《通貨膨脹減少法案》建立的 45Q 激勵措施，我們相信我們每年可以產生超過 3000 萬美元的 EBITDA。需要明確的是，這是在扣除運營和封存成本之後，不包括與低碳乙醇相關的環境屬性帶來的任何實質性經濟效益。

On to a review of our strategies to improve plant efficiency, reliability and capacity. Regarding additional corn storage at our Pekin site, the 850,000 bushel silo is now fully operational and contributing to improved corn procurement costs, plant reliability and plant operating costs to Pekin Campus. We estimate the silo to conservatively contribute over $2 million to EBITDA annually.

回顧我們提高工廠效率、可靠性和產能的戰略。關於我們北京工廠的額外玉米儲存，容量為 850,000 蒲式耳的筒倉現已全面投入運營，有助於降低北京校區的玉米採購成本、工廠可靠性和工廠運營成本。我們保守估計筒倉每年為 EBITDA 貢獻超過 200 萬美元。

Regarding our new natural gas pipeline, we completed the third-party FEED study and are working on the initial routing steps, which enables the project to advance to definitive land agreements and the construction permit application process. Community interaction has been initiated around the pipeline, and initial feedback has been positive. We are planning our new pipeline to bypass our current utility with the goal of optimizing procurement, usage and expense, which will contribute to our sustainability efforts. When fully operational, the pipeline will reduce our energy costs by approximately $3 million annually. Upon completion, the new gas pipeline will create the opportunity for us to convert and monetize our current biogas waste stream into renewable natural gas or RNG. Based on our current output, we estimate we could produce and sell RNG for more than $3 million in EBITDA annually.

關於我們的新天然氣管道，我們完成了第三方 FEED 研究，並正在研究初始路由步驟，這使該項目能夠推進最終土地協議和施工許可申請流程。圍繞管道啟動了社區互動，初步反饋是積極的。我們正在規劃我們的新管道繞過我們目前的公用事業，目標是優化採購、使用和費用，這將有助於我們的可持續發展努力。全面投入運營後，該管道每年將為我們減少約 300 萬美元的能源成本。完成後，新的天然氣管道將為我們創造機會，將我們目前的沼氣廢物流轉化為可再生天然氣或 RNG，並將其貨幣化。根據我們目前的產量，我們估計我們每年可以以超過 300 萬美元的 EBITDA 生產和銷售 RNG。

Regarding cogeneration of Pekin, we completed our FEED study with a third-party expert. The design is intended to address our current needs, support the increased energy requirements for both our primary yeast and CCS projects and offset grid electrical power consumption. In addition to supporting these projects and based on current energy prices, we estimate that cogeneration will contribute approximately $15 million in EBITDA annually.

關於北京的熱電聯產，我們與第三方專家完成了 FEED 研究。該設計旨在滿足我們當前的需求，支持我們的初級酵母和 CCS 項目增加的能源需求，並抵消電網電力消耗。除了支持這些項目外，根據當前的能源價格，我們估計熱電聯產每年將貢獻約 1500 萬美元的 EBITDA。

Renewable products are part of the Alto Ingredients' DNA, and producing them safely is one of our core tenets. Each of our capital initiatives address advances and addresses sustainability. While these and our continual process improvements are labeled as ESG, our decisions to ensure safety, quality and sustainability are simply good business. I'll review our actions over the past year.

可再生產品是 Alto Ingredients DNA 的一部分，安全生產是我們的核心原則之一。我們的每一項資本計劃都針對進步和可持續發展。雖然這些以及我們持續的流程改進都被標記為 ESG，但我們確保安全、質量和可持續性的決定簡直就是一門好生意。我將回顧我們過去一年的行動。

Our work with NASDAQ on ESG included a materiality survey to determine areas of focus, and we have completed all of the initial road map action items. We have strengthened and communicated our environmental health, safety and security policy and objectives, added consistent standards and details to our code of ethics and supplier code of conduct, implemented a supplier transparency program with components such as supplier scorecards and on-site auditing and, in some cases, partnered with C-DACS, a leading data platform with over 74,000 members, to improve our sustainability performance and to ensure that we are ethically sourcing our goods and services.

我們與納斯達克在 ESG 方面的合作包括確定重點領域的重要性調查，並且我們已經完成了所有初始路線圖行動項目。我們加強並傳達了我們的環境健康、安全和安保政策和目標，在我們的道德準則和供應商行為準則中添加了一致的標準和細節，實施了供應商透明度計劃，其中包括供應商記分卡和現場審計等組成部分，以及，在某些情況下，與擁有超過 74,000 名成員的領先數據平台 C-DACS 合作，以提高我們的可持續發展績效並確保我們以合乎道德的方式採購我們的商品和服務。

Looking ahead, we have launched a 3-year employee engagement program with Gallup to identify areas of opportunity and facilitate communication at all levels, and we completed our first engagement survey in December 2022. This employee engagement is more than a survey. It's a comprehensive program with tools and training to achieve our goals for supporting one of our most important assets, our employees. Diversity has been a focus for recruiting internally and at the board level, and we will include further metrics in our mid-2023 sustainability reporting.

展望未來，我們與蓋洛普啟動了一項為期 3 年的員工敬業度計劃，以確定機會領域並促進各級溝通，並於 2022 年 12 月完成了我們的第一次敬業度調查。此次員工敬業度不僅僅是一項調查。這是一項包含工具和培訓的綜合計劃，旨在實現我們支持我們最重要的資產之一——員工的目標。多元化一直是內部和董事會層面招聘的重點，我們將在 2023 年年中的可持續發展報告中納入更多指標。

We have completed our Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions inventory and have third-party verification for both 2021 and 2022 at all production facilities. This information, combined with our key projects such as carbon capture, improving energy efficiencies and cogeneration and boiler upgrades and maximizing biogas utilization, will lead us to set and achieve carbon reduction targets and help us do our part to meet sustainable development goals. We look forward to sharing our ESG progress with everyone midyear.

我們已經完成了範圍 1 和範圍 2 溫室氣體排放清單，並對所有生產設施的 2021 年和 2022 年進行了第三方驗證。這些信息與我們的關鍵項目（如碳捕獲、提高能源效率、熱電聯產和鍋爐升級以及最大限度地利用沼氣）相結合，將引導我們設定並實現碳減排目標，並幫助我們為實現可持續發展目標儘自己的一份力量。我們期待在年中與大家分享我們的 ESG 進展。

With that, Bryon, over to you for a review of the financials.

有了這個，Bryon，請你回顧一下財務狀況。

Thank you, Mike. I'll provide additional color around our first quarter 2023 results. I'd like to reemphasize that our business can be impacted by seasonal swings in consumer demand. For instance, reductions in ethanol usage during the fourth and first quarters or winter period immediately impacted margins. With increased driving activity in spring and summer periods, it is normal demand for ethanol increase and margins improve. Therefore, the simple annualization of a quarter will not provide an accurate projection for (inaudible).

謝謝你，邁克。我將圍繞我們 2023 年第一季度的結果提供額外的顏色。我想再次強調，我們的業務可能會受到消費者需求季節性波動的影響。例如，第四季度和第一季度或冬季期間乙醇使用量的減少立即影響了利潤率。隨著春季和夏季駕駛活動的增加，對乙醇的需求增加和利潤率提高是正常的。因此，一個季度的簡單年化不會為（聽不清）提供準確的預測。

While January proved challenging but better than December, we benefited from significant sequential ethanol margin improvement in February and March. As a result, our Q1 2023 gross loss of $3 million improved greatly over Q4 '22. For Q1 '23, that loss available to common stockholders was $13.5 million, and adjusted EBITDA was negative $4.5 million. In Q2 '23, with a continued improvement in margins to date and, as Mike mentioned, assuming they remain strong, we can expect to generate positive adjusted EBITDA.

雖然 1 月證明具有挑戰性但好於 12 月，但我們受益於 2 月和 3 月乙醇利潤率的顯著連續改善。因此，我們 2023 年第一季度的 300 萬美元毛虧損比 22 年第四季度有了很大改善。對於 23 年第一季度，普通股股東可承受的損失為 1350 萬美元，調整後的 EBITDA 為負 450 萬美元。在 23 年第二季度，隨著迄今為止利潤率的持續改善，正如 Mike 提到的那樣，假設它們保持強勁，我們可以預期會產生積極的調整後 EBITDA。

In addition, the real fuel outlook is improved as E15 was recently approved by the EPA for summer blending. Our cash balance was $21.2 million at the end of March compared to $36.5 million at the end of 2022. The change in cash represents $10 million invested in our projects, $3.5 million for crude to Eagle earnout payments and $1.7 million for 860,000 shares. Given Alto's significantly undervalued market price, these repurchases as a beneficial return on investment and effective use of current capital resources.

此外，由於 E15 最近被 EPA 批准用於夏季混合，實際燃料前景得到改善。截至 3 月底，我們的現金餘額為 2120 萬美元，而 2022 年底為 3650 萬美元。現金變化表示對我們項目的 1000 萬美元投資，350 萬美元用於原油對 Eagle 的收益支付，170 萬美元用於 860,000 股股票。鑑於奧拓的市場價格被嚴重低估，這些回購是一種有利的投資回報和對當前資本資源的有效利用。

Our liquidity remains strong and more than sufficient for our immediate needs. Our March 31 working capital was $118 million compared to $121 million at December 31, 2022. We have $40 million in unutilized committed borrowing and $25 million in uncommitted funds under our term loan facility to support our immediate capital improvement plans. In aggregate, these resources represent more than $180 million to support our business operations and growth initiatives.

我們的流動性仍然強勁，足以滿足我們的即時需求。我們 3 月 31 日的營運資金為 1.18 億美元，而 2022 年 12 月 31 日為 1.21 億美元。根據我們的定期貸款安排，我們有 4000 萬美元未使用的承諾借款和 2500 萬美元未承諾資金，以支持我們的即時資本改善計劃。這些資源總計超過 1.8 億美元，用於支持我們的業務運營和增長計劃。

While we have no intention of conducting an equity raise currently or at these irrational prices, our shelf expires this summer, and as part of good long-term financial planning, we intend to refresh it. While it is difficult to provide guidance for the full year of 2023, we expect to benefit from approximately $10 million of EBITDA generated from the capital projects we have already completed or will complete this year.

雖然我們無意在當前或以這些不合理的價格進行股權融資，但我們的貨架將於今年夏天到期，作為良好的長期財務規劃的一部分，我們打算更新它。雖然很難為 2023 年全年提供指導，但我們預計將從我們已經完成或將在今年完成的資本項目中產生的約 1000 萬美元的 EBITDA 中受益。

In addition, from our term loan and the associated accelerated investment in the further diversification of our specialty alcohols and essential ingredient products, as previously stated, we expect to almost double our annualized EBITDA by year-end 2025 compared to our average EBITDA over the past 3 years and nearly double it again when our other projects are fully operational by year-end 2026. We look forward over the coming quarters to discuss the progress we've made.

此外，如前所述，根據我們的定期貸款和相關的加速投資，我們的特種酒精和基本成分產品的進一步多樣化，與過去的平均 EBITDA 相比，我們預計到 2025 年底我們的年化 EBITDA 將增加近一倍3 年，當我們的其他項目到 2026 年底全面投入運營時，它又將增加近一倍。我們期待在未來幾個季度討論我們取得的進展。

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

有了這個，我會把電話轉回給邁克。

Thanks, Bryon. In summary, we are excited about our revenue (inaudible) plans, margin expansion and plant optimization initiatives. We are executing as planned and pleased with our progress, particularly in the first quarter. Further, the increasingly positive renewable ethanol crush margins are encouraging. We are optimistic and expect positive adjusted EBITDA from (inaudible) based on current crush margins. Regarding our near-term projects, which we expect will achieve roughly $65 million of additional annualized EBITDA by the end of '25 and with our longer-term initiatives, including CCS and cogeneration, we expect to increase annualized EBITDA to approximately $125 million by the end of 2026. We look forward to sharing our progress.

謝謝，布萊恩。總之，我們對我們的收入（聽不清）計劃、利潤擴張和工廠優化計劃感到興奮。我們正在按計劃執行，並對我們的進展感到滿意，尤其是在第一季度。此外，越來越積極的可再生乙醇壓榨利潤率令人鼓舞。我們持樂觀態度，並預計根據當前的壓榨利潤率（聽不清）調整後的 EBITDA 為正。關於我們的近期項目，我們預計到 25 年底將實現大約 6500 萬美元的額外年化 EBITDA，並且通過我們的長期計劃，包括 CCS 和熱電聯產，我們預計將年化 EBITDA 增加到大約 1.25 億美元2026 年底。我們期待分享我們的進展。

With that, I'd like to open the call for questions. Operator?

有了這個，我想打開問題的電話。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) The first question today comes from Amit Dayal with H.C. Wainwright.

（操作員說明）今天的第一個問題來自 H.C. 的 Amit Dayal。溫賴特。

Just quickly, guys, on the 2Q outlook with respect to the positive margins you're seeing, are you expecting net profit for the quarter or positive adjusted EBITDA for the quarter?

伙計們，關於您所看到的正利潤率的第二季度前景，您是否期望本季度的淨利潤或本季度的正調整後 EBITDA？

It's a good question, Amit. Right now, we're comfortable with the positive EBITDA. Our hope is to also be able to generate positive (inaudible) but it's still very early still. I know we used to give a longer guidance, but it's a world with lots of facts that continue to change. So we're comfortable with a positive EBITDA number for right now, at least.

這是個好問題，阿米特。現在，我們對積極的 EBITDA 感到滿意。我們希望也能夠產生積極的影響（聽不清），但現在還為時過早。我知道我們過去常常提供更長的指導，但這是一個有很多事實不斷變化的世界。因此，至少目前我們對正的 EBITDA 數字感到滿意。

Understood. No, I appreciate that. And then our specialty alcohol sales at this point, mostly in the spot market, Bryon, or is there any contracted volume that is also coming into play for you?

明白了。不，我很感激。然後我們此時的特種酒精銷售，主要是在現貨市場，Bryon，或者是否有任何合同量也在為您發揮作用？

So as we mentioned last quarter, we entered the year with about $90 million of value -- or 90 million gallons of contracted volume. The comments that Mike made with regards to gallons sold in the spot market represents the highest quality, the 190 proof or 200 proof, the dry product that's coming off of the improvements that we have completed in the first quarter of this year.

因此，正如我們上個季度提到的那樣，我們以大約 9000 萬美元的價值進入了這一年——或 9000 萬加侖的合同量。邁克對現貨市場上銷售的加侖的評論代表了最高質量，即 190 標準樣或 200 標準樣，這是我們在今年第一季度完成的改進後的干產品。

Yes, I could put a lot more -- or a little more clear about that. I was really referring to -- we missed the contracting cycle on GNS coming out of 2022. And so now that the system is up and running and producing wonderful, we are looking at the spot market for the remainder of this year, but fully again to hit the contracting cycle for 2024 when we get to the fall.

是的，我可以說得更多——或者說得更清楚一點。我真的指的是——我們錯過了 2022 年 GNS 的合同周期。所以現在系統已經啟動並運行並產生了很好的效果，我們正在關註今年剩餘時間的現貨市場，但再次全面到秋天時進入 2024 年的合同周期。

Understood. And just one last one for me. This EBITDA improvement you're expecting in 2023, has any of that materialized in 1Q? Or are we expecting those to come through in the second half of the year?

明白了。最後一張給我。您期望在 2023 年實現的 EBITDA 改善在第一季度實現了嗎？還是我們希望這些在今年下半年通過？

Oh, you mean of the $10 million that I mentioned previously?

哦，你是說我之前提到的 1000 萬美元？

Yes, yes.

是的是的。

Yes, I think of it as being spread out over the year. So yes, we're experiencing some of that. Some of that was not -- so you'll recall, we did the $10 million earlier in the quarter that we included -- it [assumed] restarting the Magic Valley facility in Q1. So we're still comfortable with those numbers and -- but I would expect the balance of those to show up in the second half of the year.

是的，我認為它分佈在一年中。所以是的，我們正在經歷其中的一些。其中一些不是——所以你會記得，我們在本季度早些時候做了 1000 萬美元——它 [假設] 在第一季度重新啟動魔術谷設施。所以我們仍然對這些數字感到滿意 - 但我希望這些數字的平衡會在今年下半年出現。

The next question comes from Eric Stine with Craig-Hallum.

下一個問題來自 Eric Stine 和 Craig-Hallum。

So can I just confirm, just to follow up on the previous question, so you talked about the $10 million in incremental, I guess, second half of '23, and it might have been your phone or my phone, but it kind of cut out talking about -- I'm not sure if you were talking about potentially how you see this rolling out '24 and then into '25 and I guess $65 million, approximately $65 million incremental at that point. The way it sounded to me, and again, I just want to confirm this, that your typical 3-year average EBITDA has been about $30 million. Are you anticipating that you would double that, and that's kind of a soft outlook for 2024?

所以我可以確認一下，只是為了跟進上一個問題，所以你談到了 23 年下半年增加的 1000 萬美元，它可能是你的手機或我的手機，但它有點削減出去談論 - 我不確定你是否在談論潛在的你如何看待這個推出'24 然後進入'25 我猜是 6500 萬美元，到那時大約增加 6500 萬美元。在我看來，我只想再次確認這一點，即您典型的 3 年平均 EBITDA 約為 3000 萬美元。你是否預計你會翻倍，這是對 2024 年的一種軟展望？

So the way that we've been talking about this is that these projects are going to be adding incremental benefits, right, to whatever we would be producing on a run rate basis. So if $30 million is a good base assumption, right, which includes both a good -- some really good quarters and some really bad quarters, yes, then it would be incrementally on top of that. So you'd be assuming that you're on run rate for $30 million this year, you're adding an additional $4 million or $10 million on that, so you'd be at $40 million, and then you have incremental additions in 2024 on top of that, which would include gallons sold and GNS products sold for a full year.

所以我們一直在談論這個的方式是，這些項目將增加增量收益，正確的，無論我們將在運行率的基礎上生產什麼。因此，如果 3000 萬美元是一個很好的基本假設，對，它包括一個好的 - 一些非常好的季度和一些非常糟糕的季度，是的，那麼它會逐漸增加。所以你會假設你今年的運行率是 3000 萬美元，你要再增加 400 萬美元或 1000 萬美元，所以你會達到 4000 萬美元，然後你會在 2024 年增加最重要的是，這將包括全年售出的加侖數和售出的 GNS 產品。

So you get the benefit to that. We would expect as well to see full run rates for the Magic Valley facilities. And then incrementally, over time, you'd be adding additional corn oil capacity and rolling out, as Mike mentioned, is kind of a staggered rollout of the protein and corn oil projects, in addition to them rolling out renewable natural gas, the Pac gas pipeline benefits -- sorry, yeast, and then, of course, in the bigger cogeneration and carbon sequestration. Included in that $10 million, of course, is the benefits and the savings that we get from now having corn oil -- I'm sorry, from having corn storage, additional corn storage at the facility.

所以你會從中受益。我們也希望看到魔術谷設施的全速運轉。然後逐漸地，隨著時間的推移，你會增加額外的玉米油產能並推出，正如邁克提到的那樣，除了推出可再生天然氣 Pac 之外，蛋白質和玉米油項目也是交錯推出的天然氣管道的好處——對不起，酵母，當然還有更大的熱電聯產和碳封存。當然，包括在這 1000 萬美元中的是我們從現在擁有玉米油中獲得的好處和節省——我很抱歉，從擁有玉米儲存，在設施中額外的玉米儲存。

Yes. Okay. Got it. All right. So it sounds like that, I guess I did understand that correctly. So that's great. Maybe just turning to Magic Valley, I mean can you just talk about kind of the process that you've completed it? I mean how do you anticipate that rolling out? Is it a general ramp-up and something where you're going to bring it up, bring it back down, make sure it's running correctly? Or do you anticipate that it's more of a smooth linear ramp-up? And then maybe just some thoughts on what type of yields you're expecting either early on or as it plays out a little longer term?

是的。好的。知道了。好的。聽起來是這樣，我想我確實理解正確。那太好了。也許只是轉向 Magic Valley，我的意思是你能談談你完成它的過程嗎？我的意思是你如何預期推出？它是一般性的提升，還是你要啟動它、降低它、確保它正確運行的東西？還是您預計它更像是一個平滑的線性上升？然後也許只是一些關於您在早期或長期內期望什麼樣的收益率的想法？

Yes. So the plant is back up, and this is a fully integrated system within the plant. It's not just a bolt-on to the upside. So what we're doing right now, Eric, is we're fine-tuning all the different controls and mechanisms to make sure that the operators are trained, make sure everybody is up to speed. We have harvest technology on site, and we're dialing in the system. We expect to have that within weeks, dialed in and operating. And then you go through a process on the high protein. We've already worked with several of the people in the surrounding area in terms of acceptance of the protein product, which as we indicated, is over 50%. And we expect to continue that sampling and working with various folks in the area to get that product placed.

是的。所以工廠是備份的，這是工廠內的一個完全集成的系統。這不僅僅是上行的一個螺栓。因此，埃里克，我們現在正在做的是微調所有不同的控制和機制，以確保對操作員進行培訓，確保每個人都跟上速度。我們在現場有收穫技術，我們正在撥入系統。我們希望在幾週內完成，撥入並運行。然後你通過高蛋白的過程。我們已經與周邊地區的一些人就蛋白質產品的接受度進行了合作，正如我們所指出的那樣，接受度超過 50%。我們希望繼續抽樣並與該地區的各種人合作以放置該產品。

So it will be a little bit of a ramp-up as we go forward. but we fully expect by the end of this quarter will be -- the system will be up and running, producing the product. Corn oil, by the way, should come up right away. There's such a strong demand for corn oil that soon as the system is fully up and running. We don't anticipate happy to do a lot of work to grow that market. So it's mainly on the protein side. Again, it will be a ramp-up through Q3, and then we expect it to be fully integrated for Q4 and beyond.

因此，隨著我們的前進，這將有所增加。但我們完全預計到本季度末將 - 系統將啟動並運行，生產產品。順便說一句，玉米油應該馬上出現。系統完全啟動並運行後，對玉米油的需求如此強勁。我們預計不會樂於做大量工作來發展該市場。所以主要是在蛋白質方面。同樣，這將是第三季度的增長，然後我們預計它將在第四季度及以後完全整合。

Got it. Okay. And maybe last one for me. Just on the carbon capture, I know that when you look out to 2026, you're targeting $30 million plus in incremental. And I know that's after, obviously, a lot of the cost. Does that contemplate having a partner where you're potentially splitting the economics? Or would that be a number that it's -- that's kind of an all-in number for you?

知道了。好的。也許對我來說是最後一個。就碳捕獲而言，我知道當您展望 2026 年時，您的目標是增加 3000 萬美元以上。我知道這顯然是在付出了很多成本之後。這是否考慮有一個合作夥伴，你可能會分裂經濟？還是那是一個數字——這對你來說是一個全包的數字？

It's a great question, Eric. It could, but it may not require it as well. We're exploring all the various options. We're certainly in discussions with key relationships talking about that, seeing the best way to optimize the value for shareholders and for the company, right? So that's part of the negotiations and discussions, both with the downstream parties, right, as well as independent parties and then talking with other -- and there's crossover as well as you start thinking about the environmental attributes associated with that.

這是一個很好的問題，埃里克。它可以，但也可能不需要它。我們正在探索所有不同的選擇。我們當然正在與關鍵關係進行討論，討論優化股東和公司價值的最佳方式，對吧？所以這是談判和討論的一部分，包括與下游各方，以及獨立方，然後與其他方交談——並且有交叉，你開始考慮與之相關的環境屬性。

So there's a lot of demand for that product. And so part of the discussion is, of course, is lining that out and making sure that you have a good source of long-time customers that want that product. So it's a fairly complex and fully nuanced opportunity, but clearly a significant one. And there's a lot of attention and a lot of resources committed to this at this point.

所以對該產品有很多需求。因此，當然，討論的一部分是將其排除在外，並確保您擁有大量需要該產品的長期客戶。所以這是一個相當複雜和完全微妙的機會，但顯然是一個重要的機會。在這一點上，有很多關注和大量資源致力於此。

Yes. And I guess that's why it would be 2026.

是的。我想這就是 2026 年的原因。

(Operator Instructions) The next question comes from David Bastian with Kingdom Capital Advisors.

（操作員說明）下一個問題來自 Kingdom Capital Advisors 的 David Bastian。

First, I was wondering about the essential ingredient margins this quarter. It seemed like you guys got really good realizations there. I was curious what the key drivers were of that number being up.

首先，我想知道本季度的基本成分利潤率。看起來你們在那裡得到了很好的認識。我很好奇這個數字上升的關鍵驅動因素是什麼。

Yes. Actually, I think part of that, David, is that we've -- it's clearly a big driver for us in that essential ingredients market is how well the wet mill is operating. So we saw really good results. We've been able to get yields up. If you go back over the last couple of years, we've had -- we've changed our flag, for a better term, our cocktail, the enzymes and the requirements to meet certain requirements, whether it's at the wet mill or at the ICP distillery, to be able to accommodate certain customers and the like, but that has not allowed us to get the yield that we otherwise would like.

是的。實際上，大衛，我認為部分原因是我們已經 - 在基本成分市場上，濕磨機的運行情況顯然是我們的重要推動力。所以我們看到了非常好的結果。我們已經能夠提高產量。如果你回顧過去幾年，我們已經 - 我們已經改變了我們的旗幟，為了更好的術語，我們的雞尾酒，酶和滿足某些要求的要求，無論是在濕磨還是在ICP 釀酒廠，能夠容納某些客戶等，但這並沒有讓我們獲得我們想要的產量。

So we've made some changes to that, and we're seeing a lot better yield out of that. So we've also had better alignment of our dryers to be able to maximize the value of our various essential ingredients, almost had to put $1 in the swear jar there. But getting a lot better value for those various corn values that you get out of the wet mill as well. Mike, anything else that you think...

所以我們對此做了一些改變，我們看到了更好的收益。因此，我們還更好地調整了烘乾機，以便能夠最大限度地發揮我們各種基本成分的價值，幾乎不得不在發誓罐中放 1 美元。但是，從濕磨機中獲得的各種玉米價值也能獲得更好的價值。邁克，你還有什麼想...

No. I mean, David, that's an absolute critical path for us to take the -- with the wet mill, you have to get the value out of the essential ingredients. And as Bryon mentioned, we've made great progress in that regard.

不，我的意思是，大衛，這對我們來說是一條絕對關鍵的道路——使用濕磨機，你必須從基本成分中獲得價值。正如 Bryon 提到的，我們在這方面取得了很大進展。

Got it. That's helpful. A question on the liquidity. You mentioned the remaining draws on your term loan. I didn't see the Kinergy line of credit listed with your liquidity levers. Is there a reason for that?

知道了。這很有幫助。關於流動性的問題。你提到了你定期貸款的剩餘提款。我沒有看到 Kinergy 信用額度與您的流動性槓桿一起列出。這是有原因的嗎？

No. I think we tried to capture that in the prepared remarks. So that would be -- the assumption is -- well, first off, on the balance sheet that the Kinergy line shows up under the long-term debt. What we did mention was that we have excess of $40 million in availability as of the month end of the quarter or into Q1. Yes. And so that was a $40 million plus the $40 million that's available for -- $40 million -- So $40 million plus the additional $40 million that's available that's committed under the Orion facility plus an additional $25 million that's uncommitted but available, and then any improvements in operating income and improvements in the working capital availability. That gets you to the $180 million.

不，我認為我們試圖在準備好的評論中捕捉到這一點。所以這將是 - 假設是 - 首先，在資產負債表上，Kinergy 線顯示在長期債務下。我們提到的是，截至本季度末或第一季度，我們有超過 4000 萬美元的可用性。是的。所以這是 4000 萬美元加上可用的 4000 萬美元 - 4000 萬美元 - 所以 4000 萬美元加上 Orion 設施承諾的額外 4000 萬美元 加上未承諾但可用的額外 2500 萬美元，然後是任何改進營業收入和營運資金可用性的改善。這讓你達到了 1.8 億美元。

Okay. And then on the working capital side, you listed that as a source of liquidity. How much do you think reasonably you'd be able to draw down on working capital, if needed?

好的。然後在營運資金方面，您將其列為流動性來源。如果需要，您認為您可以合理地提取多少營運資金？

Yes. So another way to think about it is the working capital reflects -- it's another way to -- how do I put this? It's a different perspective on the same question that you had before, which is how much excess availability, right? But for the fact that you only get certain advance rates under the line of credit from Wells Fargo, so you may -- that difference is really just the amount of additional collateral they want on top of their existing borrowing base and excess availability. Does that make sense?

是的。所以另一種思考它的方式是營運資本反映 - 這是另一種方式 - 我怎麼說呢？這是對您之前遇到的同一個問題的不同看法，即有多少過剩可用性，對嗎？但事實上，你只能從富國銀行的信貸額度下獲得一定的預付利率，所以你可能 - 這種差異實際上只是他們在現有借款基礎和超額可用性之外想要的額外抵押品的數量。那有意義嗎？

Got it.

知道了。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mike Kandris for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回 Mike Kandris 的閉幕詞。

Thank you again for joining us today and for your continued support. We'll be in New York City conducting a non-deal roadshow with H.C. Wainwright later this month. Please let your Investor Relations team know if you would like to arrange a meeting. And with that, I'd like everyone to have a good day. Thank you.

再次感謝您今天加入我們以及您一直以來的支持。我們將在紐約市與 H.C. 進行非交易路演。溫賴特本月晚些時候。如果您想安排會面，請告知您的投資者關係團隊。因此，我希望每個人都有美好的一天。謝謝。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連接。