Alto Ingredients Inc (ALTO) 2021 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to Alto Ingredients Fourth Quarter 2021 and Year-end Financial Results. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

女士們，先生們，感謝您的支持，歡迎來到 Alto Ingredients 2021 年第四季度和年終財務業績。 （操作員說明）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

(Operator Instructions) I would now like to turn the conference over to your speaker for today, Dusty Buell, you may begin.

（操作員說明）我現在想把今天的會議交給你的演講者，Dusty Buell，你可以開始了。

Thank you, operator, and thank you all for joining us today for the Alto Ingredients Fourth Quarter and Year-end 2021 Results Conference Call. On the call today are Mike Kandris, CEO; and Bryon McGregor, CFO.

謝謝您，接線員，感謝大家今天加入我們參加 Alto Ingredients 第四季度和 2021 年年底業績電話會議。今天的電話會議是首席執行官 Mike Kandris；和首席財務官布賴恩·麥格雷戈。

Alto Ingredients issued a press release after the market closed today, providing details of the company's quarterly results. The company also prepared a presentation for today's call that is available on the company's website at altoingredients.com. A telephone replay of today's call will be available through March 17, the details of which are included in today's earnings press release. A webcast replay will also be available at Alto Ingredients website.

Alto Ingredients 在今天收盤後發布了一份新聞稿，提供了公司季度業績的詳細信息。該公司還為今天的電話會議準備了一份演示文稿，該演示文稿可在公司網站 altoingredients.com 上找到。今天電話會議的電話重播將持續到 3 月 17 日，詳細信息包含在今天的收益新聞稿中。 Alto Ingredients 網站上還將提供網絡直播重播。

Please note that information on this call speaks only as of today, March 10. You are advised that 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 this presentation constitute forward-looking statements and considerations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. 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 on Alto Ingredients' filings with the SEC.

請注意，本次電話會議的信息僅在今天（3 月 10 日）發布。請注意，在任何重播時，時間敏感信息可能不再準確。請參閱公司在網上提供的演示文稿幻燈片 2 上的安全港聲明，其中指出本演示文稿中的一些評論構成涉及許多風險和不確定性的前瞻性陳述和考慮因素。 Alto Ingredients 的實際未來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先前和不時在 Alto Ingredients 向 SEC 提交的文件中披露的事件、風險和其他因素。

Except as required by applicable law, the company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. In management's prepared remarks, non-GAAP measures will be referenced. Management uses these non-GAAP measures to monitor their financial performance of operations and believes these measures will assist investors in assessing the company's performance for the period being reported.

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。在管理層準備好的評論中，將引用非公認會計原則措施。管理層使用這些非公認會計原則措施來監控其運營的財務業績，並相信這些措施將有助於投資者評估公司在報告期間的業績。

The company defines adjusted EBITDA as unaudited net income or loss attributed to Alto Ingredients before interest expense, interest income, provisions or benefit for income taxes, asset impairment, loss on extinguishment of debt, purchase accounting adjustments, fair value adjustments and depreciation expense. To support the company's review of non-GAAP information later in this call, a reconciling table was included in today's press release.

該公司將調整後的 EBITDA 定義為在利息費用、利息收入、所得稅準備金或福利、資產減值、債務清償損失、採購會計調整、公允價值調整和折舊費用之前歸屬於 Alto Ingredients 的未經審計的淨收入或損失。為了支持公司稍後在本次電話會議中對非公認會計原則信息的審查，今天的新聞稿中包含了一個核對錶。

On today's call, Mike will begin with some financial highlights and accomplishments for 2021, followed by key plans for the next few years. Bryon will then provide additional detail on our Q4 and 2021 financial results. Then Mike will wrap up with a summary before opening the call for Q&A.

在今天的電話會議上，邁克將從 2021 年的一些財務亮點和成就開始，然後是未來幾年的關鍵計劃。然後，Bryon 將提供有關我們第四季度和 2021 年財務業績的更多詳細信息。然後 Mike 將在打開問答電話之前做一個總結。

It is now my pleasure to introduce Mike Kandris, CEO. Mike?

現在我很高興介紹首席執行官 Mike Kandris。麥克風？

Thank you, Dusty, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today to hear about the exciting progress we are making as we continue to execute on our strategic initiatives. We promised the market we would change the strategic vision and focus of the company, and I believe we have accomplished that goal.

感謝 Dusty，感謝大家今天加入我們，了解我們在繼續執行戰略計劃時取得的令人興奮的進展。我們向市場承諾，我們將改變公司的戰略願景和重點，我相信我們已經實現了這一目標。

I'll begin with some financial highlights for full year 2021 over 2020. Our net sales reached $1.2 billion, an increase of 35%. Gross profit increased to $67.8 million, up 28%. Net income increased to $44.2 million compared to a loss of $16.4 million in 2020, and adjusted EBITDA grew to $76.8 million, up 15%. This outstanding performance is the result of numerous achievements.

我將從 2020 年全年 2021 年的一些財務亮點開始。我們的淨銷售額達到 12 億美元，增長了 35%。毛利潤增至 6780 萬美元，增長 28%。與 2020 年的虧損 1640 萬美元相比，淨收入增至 4420 萬美元，調整後的 EBITDA 增至 7680 萬美元，增長 15%。這種出色的表現是無數成就的結果。

To highlight a few, beginning in 2021, we renamed the company to Alto Ingredients. This was important for us both internally and externally to reinforce our broadened outlook, brand and strategic direction. During the year, we invested in capacity, expanded our protein strategy, secured valuable certifications, optimized our asset base by selling noncore facilities and became net debt free. In November of 2021, we restarted our Magic Valley facility, which we idled in 2020 due to low renewable fuel margins. Magic Valley has the advantage of being located in a market that is experiencing significant growth in cattle, poultry, pork and aquaculture.

為了突出一些，從 2021 年開始，我們將公司更名為 Alto Ingredients。這對我們內部和外部都非常重要，以加強我們拓寬的視野、品牌和戰略方向。在這一年裡，我們投資了產能，擴大了我們的蛋白質戰略，獲得了有價值的認證，通過出售非核心設施優化了我們的資產基礎，並實現了淨負債。 2021 年 11 月，我們重新啟動了魔術谷設施，由於可再生燃料利潤率低，我們在 2020 年閒置。 Magic Valley 的優勢在於位於牛、家禽、豬肉和水產養殖業正在經歷顯著增長的市場。

Given these opportunities, we committed to resume operations at the facility and began upgrading this dry mill to produce concentrated protein feed and food ingredients by installing harvesting technologies patented CoPromax system. When completed, the system will produce over 33,000 tons annually of feed with the protein content greater than 50%, increase corn oil yields by 50% or almost 9 million pounds annually and contribute over $9 million annually in adjusted EBITDA based on current market prices and the combination of additional sales of corn oil and high-value proteins. We expect to be able to commence our expanded production of corn oil at the facility in mid-2022 as planned, and we expect to be fully operational in oil and protein feed before year-end.

鑑於這些機會，我們致力於恢復工廠的運營，並開始通過安裝收穫技術專利的 CoPromax 系統來升級這家乾磨機以生產濃縮蛋白飼料和食品配料。建成後，該系統每年將生產超過 33,000 噸蛋白質含量超過 50% 的飼料，將玉米油產量提高 50% 或每年近 900 萬磅，並根據當前市場價格每年為調整後的 EBITDA 貢獻超過 900 萬美元，以及玉米油和高價值蛋白質的額外銷售相結合。我們預計能夠按計劃於 2022 年年中開始在該工廠擴大玉米油生產，我們預計將在年底前全面投入石油和蛋白質飼料的生產。

Next, we invested in certifications for specialty alcohol production, where high-quality stable stakes in the specialty alcohol market, reliability and surety of supply, as demonstrated through rigorous and robust certifications are sought after and valuable market differentiators for our customers.

接下來，我們投資於特種酒精生產認證，其中高質量穩定的特種酒精市場、供應的可靠性和保證，正如通過嚴格和強大的認證所證明的那樣，為我們的客戶尋求和有價值的市場差異化。

After securing ISO 9001 certification, the world's most widely recognized standard for quality management systems, in December of 2020, we turned our focus on the comprehensive processes and procedures required for pharmaceutical and medical markets. In February of 2021, at ICP, we earned ICH Q7, which is the internationally recognized active pharmaceutical ingredient certification and EXCiPACT Good Manufacturing Practices certification, which is the globally recognized standard for use of excipients, which are the inactive components of the drug or medication.

2020 年 12 月，在獲得全球最廣泛認可的質量管理體系標準 ISO 9001 認證後，我們將重點轉向製藥和醫療市場所需的綜合流程和程序。 2021 年 2 月，我們在 ICP 獲得了國際公認的活性藥物成分認證 ICH Q7 和 EXCiPACT 良好生產規範認證，這是全球公認的輔料使用標準，輔料是藥物或藥物的非活性成分.

Then, and most importantly, in February of 2022, we earned the same distinctions at our Alto Pekin facility, thus creating the advantage of having full redundancy of the certified product at our Pekin campus. These certifications appeal to customers using high-grade alcohols and health, home and beauty as well as distilled spirits. They can deepen existing customer relationships and open the door to new opportunities in domestic markets as well as a growing export market.

然後，最重要的是，在 2022 年 2 月，我們在 Alto Pekin 工廠獲得了同樣的榮譽，從而創造了在我們的北京園區完全冗餘的認證產品的優勢。這些認證吸引了使用高級酒精和健康、家居和美容以及蒸餾酒的客戶。他們可以加深現有的客戶關係，並為國內市場和不斷增長的出口市場打開新機遇之門。

On to a review of monetizing assets. As discussed, we have focused on our strengths, leaning towards more profitable and less commoditized markets. To that end, we chose to dispose of our noncore facilities in Nebraska and California. Upon exiting these businesses, we utilized the proceeds from the sales, combined with strong cash flow from our operations to retire restricted debt. Today, we have a stronger balance sheet and are net debt free. Bryon will elaborate more on this in a moment.

審查貨幣化資產。如前所述，我們專注於我們的優勢，傾向於利潤更高、商品化程度更低的市場。為此，我們選擇處置我們在內布拉斯加州和加利福尼亞的非核心設施。退出這些業務後，我們利用銷售收益，結合我們業務的強勁現金流來償還受限制的債務。今天，我們擁有更強大的資產負債表，並且沒有淨債務。稍後，Bryon 將對此進行詳細說明。

On January 14, 2022, we completed the downstream acquisition of Eagle Alcohol, an established leader in premium alcohol distribution. Eagle expands our scope of offerings, customer base and commercial opportunities, and we expect it to accelerate our penetration into new high-margin markets. Eagle specializes in small package products preferred by a large segment of the specialty alcohol market, including beverage alcohol companies, concentrating in break bulk distribution, Eagle purchases both alcohol from suppliers, including Alto then stores, denatures, packages and resells alcohol products in smaller sizes, including tank trucks, totes and drums, the garner of premium to bulk alcohols.

2022 年 1 月 14 日，我們完成了對優質酒類分銷領域老牌龍頭鷹酒的下游收購。 Eagle 擴大了我們的產品範圍、客戶群和商業機會，我們預計它將加速我們進入新的高利潤市場。 Eagle 專注於專業酒精市場的大部分客戶偏好的小包裝產品，包括飲料酒精公司，專注於散裝分銷，Eagle 從包括 Alto 在內的供應商購買酒精，然後存儲、變性、包裝和轉售較小尺寸的酒精產品，包括油罐車、手提袋和桶，它們是散裝酒精的優質來源。

Eagle also delivers products to customers in the beverage, food, pharma and related process industries via its own dedicated trucking fleet and common carrier. Between Alto's bulk production and Eagle's differentiated distribution capabilities and established customer relationships, we look forward to lowering our exposure to bulk alcohol price volatility, increasing our margins and creating new opportunities for organic growth.

Eagle 還通過自己的專用貨運車隊和公共承運人向飲料、食品、製藥和相關加工行業的客戶提供產品。在 Alto 的散裝生產和 Eagle 的差異化分銷能力以及已建立的客戶關係之間，我們期待降低散裝酒精價格波動的風險，增加我們的利潤率並為有機增長創造新的機會。

We are excited to welcome former Eagle President, Dan Croghan, to our team as Vice President of Alto and General Manager of Eagle. He and his team bring over 60 years of combined experience and expertise in the chemical and alcohol distribution industry. As we have worked with Eagle for some time, the integration efforts are minimal and progressing smoothly. Eagle fits perfectly into our strategic road map as we continue to raise the quality of our production to the highest grades of grain neutral spirits by further enhancing our distillation process, optimizing our production capabilities and integrating Eagle's strong distribution and sales services.

我們很高興歡迎前 Eagle 總裁 Dan Croghan 加入我們的團隊，擔任 Alto 副總裁兼 Eagle 總經理。他和他的團隊在化學和酒精分銷行業擁有 60 多年的綜合經驗和專業知識。由於我們與 Eagle 合作了一段時間，因此集成工作量很小且進展順利。 Eagle 完全符合我們的戰略路線圖，因為我們通過進一步改進蒸餾工藝、優化我們的生產能力和整合 Eagle 強大的分銷和銷售服務，繼續將我們的生產質量提高到最高等級的穀物中性烈酒。

In summary today, we operate 3 biorefinery campuses with 1 wet and 4 dry mills located in Pekin, Illinois; Burley, Idaho and Boardman, Oregon; and are able to produce 350 million gallons of alcohol annually. In addition, we now also operate Eagle's distribution center located in St. Louis, Missouri.

總結今天，我們在伊利諾伊州的北京經營 3 個生物精煉園區，其中 1 個濕法和 4 個乾法工廠；愛達荷州伯利和俄勒岡州博德曼；並且能夠每年生產 3.5 億加侖的酒精。此外，我們現在還在密蘇里州聖路易斯經營 Eagle 的配送中心。

Our numerous blue-chip customers incorporate our various high-quality products into a range of vital finished goods that touch people's lives every day, from pharmaceuticals to pet foods. For example, in the health, home and beauty markets, our products include API-grade ethyl alcohol used in mouthwashes, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. USP-grade ethyl alcohol used in hand sanitizer, disinfectant, cleaning products and industrial-grade ethyl alcohol. In the food and beverage market, our products include grain neutral spirits, or GNS, used in alcoholic beverages and vinegar and CO2 used in industrial applications and dry ice. In the essential ingredients markets, our products include Alto Yeast, corn gluten, corn condensed distillers, corn oil and germ and distillers grains, all used in pet food, food production and animal feed. And in the renewable fuels markets, our products are used in transportation fuels.

我們眾多的藍籌客戶將我們的各種高品質產品融入到一系列重要的成品中，這些成品每天觸及人們的生活，從藥品到寵物食品。例如，在健康、家居和美容市場，我們的產品包括用於漱口水、化妝品和藥品的 API 級乙醇。 USP 級乙醇用於洗手液、消毒劑、清潔產品和工業級乙醇。在食品和飲料市場，我們的產品包括用於酒精飲料和醋的穀物中性烈酒或 GNS，以及用於工業應用和乾冰的二氧化碳。在基本成分市場，我們的產品包括 Alto 酵母、玉米麩質、玉米濃縮蒸餾器、玉米油、胚芽和酒糟，均用於寵物食品、食品生產和動物飼料。在可再生燃料市場，我們的產品用於運輸燃料。

In 2022, we intend to reinvest further. Regarding Eagle, we plan to invest $5 million in 2022 to further optimize specialty alcohol distribution. We expect Eagle to contribute $4 million of EBITDA in 2022 and an additional $4 million to $5 million annually beginning in 2023 for a total of $8 million to $9 million annually.

2022年，我們打算進一步再投資。關於 Eagle，我們計劃在 2022 年投資 500 萬美元，進一步優化特種酒的分銷。我們預計 Eagle 將在 2022 年貢獻 400 萬美元的 EBITDA，並從 2023 年開始每年額外貢獻 400 萬至 500 萬美元，每年總計 800 萬至 900 萬美元。

Also, we will expand corn storage at our Pekin campus. This will increase the company's corn buying flexibility, enabling Alto to reduce the need to purchase product at premium prices when farmers and elevators are not shipping corn during holidays or unfavorable weather conditions. We will spend approximately $6 million and expect this project to provide over $2 million of EBITDA annually with a payback in less than 3 years beginning in Q4 of 2022.

此外，我們將擴大北京校區的玉米儲存量。這將增加公司玉米採購的靈活性，使 Alto 能夠在節假日或不利天氣條件下農民和電梯不運送玉米時減少以高價採購產品的需求。我們將花費約 600 萬美元，並預計該項目每年將提供超過 200 萬美元的 EBITDA，並從 2022 年第四季度開始在不到 3 年的時間內收回投資。

Naturally, we will continue to reinvest in our facilities, upgrading and improving systems to increase efficiency and plant uptime. These capital expenditures will be more ongoing in nature and we will provide color on these projects periodically as the year progresses.

當然，我們將繼續對我們的設施進行再投資，升級和改進系統，以提高效率和工廠正常運行時間。這些資本支出在本質上將更加持續，隨著時間的推移，我們將定期為這些項目提供顏色。

As previously discussed also in 2022, we are focused on completing the CoPromax system at Magic Valley. Then in 2023 and beyond, we plan to roll out these upgrades to our other 3 dry mills, with the goal to have them fully operational by no later than year-end 2024. The total investment plan is approximately $70 million for all 4 facilities. The benefit is expected to exceed $34 million in EBITDA annually based on current market values.

正如之前在 2022 年所討論的，我們專注於在 Magic Valley 完成 CoPromax 系統。然後在 2023 年及以後，我們計劃將這些升級推廣到我們的其他 3 座乾磨機，目標是在不遲於 2024 年底之前讓它們全面投入運營。所有 4 座設施的總投資計劃約為 7000 萬美元。根據當前的市場價值，預計每年的 EBITDA 收益將超過 3400 萬美元。

There are other opportunities in development. For example, we are evaluating investing in a natural gas bypass at our Pekin campus, reducing the price we pay for natural gas by approximately 11% based on 2021 values and bypassing the local utility. This would create the opportunity to sell renewable natural gas produced by the plant directly into the pipeline in the future. We would expect to invest approximately $9 million in 2023 for a return of approximately $5 million in EBITDA annually beginning in 2024.

還有其他發展機會。例如，我們正在評估在北京園區投資天然氣旁路，根據 2021 年的價值將我們支付的天然氣價格降低約 11%，並繞過當地公用事業公司。這將為將來將工廠生產的可再生天然氣直接銷售到管道中創造機會。我們預計在 2023 年投資約 900 萬美元，從 2024 年開始每年的 EBITDA 回報約為 500 萬美元。

Regarding carbon capture and sequestration, the various options include developing the project as a stand-alone system sized to our facility or interconnecting with other viable gathering and sequestration systems under development in close proximity to our Pekin campus. Prior to signing commitments, we want to ensure that we fully evaluate risks and benefits to affect the highest and best probable outcome for investors, the company and the communities in which we live and operate. At the same time, we also believe that this is a high priority for us, and we look forward to providing more information at a later date. We began our transformation 18 months ago and have turned Alto into a consistently profitable company. We are committed to continue to transform the company by pursuing additional profitable opportunities with a focus on 2024 and beyond.

關於碳捕獲和封存，各種選擇包括將該項目開發為一個適合我們設施的獨立系統，或與我們北京園區附近正在開發的其他可行的收集和封存系統互連。在簽署承諾之前，我們希望確保我們充分評估風險和收益，以影響投資者、公司和我們生活和經營所在社區的最高和最佳可能結果。同時，我們也認為這對我們來說是一個高度優先事項，我們期待在以後提供更多信息。我們在 18 個月前開始轉型，並將 Alto 轉變為一家持續盈利的公司。我們致力於通過尋求更多盈利機會來繼續改造公司，重點關注 2024 年及以後。

Before I turn the call over to Bryon, I would like to welcome Auste Graham, our new Vice President and General Counsel. Auste has over 15 years of legal experience in multiple industries, including specialty chemicals, components, and industrial coatings, and she will be a valuable addition to our executive team.

在我將電話轉給布賴恩之前，我想歡迎我們的新副總裁兼總法律顧問 Auste Graham。 Auste 在多個行業擁有超過 15 年的法律經驗，包括特種化學品、組件和工業塗料，她將成為我們執行團隊的重要補充。

I would now turn the call over to Bryon to review the financials.

我現在會把電話轉給布賴恩來審查財務狀況。

Thank you, Mike. I'll provide some additional color around our results and metrics for the quarter and full year.

謝謝你，邁克。我將圍繞我們的季度和全年結果和指標提供一些額外的顏色。

For the fourth quarter of 2021, net sales were $385 million, up from $306 million in the third quarter due to an increase in our average sales price per gallon. The average sales price per gallon of renewable fuel largely reflects supply constraints translating into strong ethanol prices. We had alcohol sales of $325 million and $60 million in revenue from this -- from sales of our essential ingredients. Of the 69 million production gallons sold in the fourth quarter, 26 million gallons consisted of specialty alcohols, up 10 million gallons over fourth quarter 2020, reflecting expanded capacity and increased export and industrial demand.

2021 年第四季度的淨銷售額為 3.85 億美元，高於第三季度的 3.06 億美元，原因是我們每加侖的平均銷售價格上漲。每加侖可再生燃料的平均銷售價格在很大程度上反映了轉化為強勁乙醇價格的供應限制。我們的酒類銷售額為 3.25 億美元，其中的收入為 6000 萬美元——來自我們基本成分的銷售。在第四季度售出的 6900 萬加侖生產中，2600 萬加侖由特種酒精組成，比 2020 年第四季度增加 1000 萬加侖，反映出產能擴大以及出口和工業需求增加。

Gross profit improved significantly to $42.1 million, up from a gross loss of $3.4 million last quarter. This reflects not only the profitable operations of our Pekin campus, but also over $7 million in gross profit at our Idaho and Oregon facilities, over a $10 million improvement quarter-over-quarter and an $11 million swing year-over-year for the same period.

毛利潤從上一季度的毛虧損 340 萬美元大幅提高至 4210 萬美元。這不僅反映了我們北京校區的盈利運營，還反映了我們愛達荷州和俄勒岡州設施的毛利潤超過 700 萬美元，環比增長超過 1000 萬美元，同比增長 1100 萬美元時期。

SG&A expenses in the quarter were $9.4 million, bringing our annual SG&A of $29.2 million in line with our previous guidance. This quarter, we had a gain of $4.6 million for selling our production facility in Stockton, California. Provision for income taxes was $1.5 million. While we have a considerable amount of federal NOLs, some states in which we operate suspended their use in 2021, resulting in a modest tax expense.

本季度的 SG&A 費用為 940 萬美元，使我們的年度 SG&A 為 2920 萬美元，與我們之前的指導一致。本季度，我們因出售位於加利福尼亞州斯托克頓的生產設施而獲得了 460 萬美元的收益。所得稅準備金為 150 萬美元。雖然我們有大量的聯邦 NOL，但我們經營所在的一些州在 2021 年暫停了它們的使用，導致稅收費用不高。

Taking into account profits for 2021, NOLs available to offset taxable income in 2022 and beyond, totaled $169 million. Net income available to common shareholders was $35.4 million or $0.49 per diluted share. This compares to a net loss of $3.5 million or $0.05 per share in the third quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was $43.4 million compared to $3 million in the third quarter.

考慮到 2021 年的利潤，2022 年及以後可用於抵消應稅收入的 NOL 總計 1.69 億美元。普通股股東可獲得的淨收入為 3540 萬美元或稀釋後每股 0.49 美元。相比之下，第三季度淨虧損 350 萬美元或每股 0.05 美元。調整後的 EBITDA 為 4340 萬美元，而第三季度為 300 萬美元。

For the full year of 2021 compared to 2020, a few items to note. Net sales were $1.2 billion compared to $897 million. Gross profit reached $67.8 million compared to the gross profit of $52.9 million. The significant year-over-year improvement in results was largely void of specialty alcohol sales for use in sanitizers and disinfectants, which were primary contributors to our financial recovery in 2020 driven by the spike in demand early in the pandemic.

與 2020 年相比，2021 年全年有幾點需要注意。淨銷售額為 12 億美元，而淨銷售額為 8.97 億美元。毛利潤達到 6780 萬美元，而毛利潤為 5290 萬美元。結果的同比顯著改善在很大程度上沒有用於消毒劑和消毒劑的特種酒精銷售，這是我們在大流行初期需求激增推動的 2020 年財務復甦的主要貢獻者。

In short, 2021 results are a testament to our focus on improved quality of sales and earnings and the rationalization and optimization efforts of our renewable fuel production. Capital expenditures for the year totaled $16.4 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $76.8 million. This compared to $66.6 million versus prior year, which is previously -- which as previously discussed, benefited from hand sanitizer surge.

簡而言之，2021 年的業績證明了我們專注於提高銷售和收益質量以及我們可再生燃料生產的合理化和優化工作。本年度的資本支出總額為 1640 萬美元。調整後的 EBITDA 為 7680 萬美元。相比之下，去年同期為 6660 萬美元，此前一年 - 如前所述，這得益於洗手液的激增。

Turning to our balance sheet. On December 31, 2021, our cash and cash equivalents were $51 million compared to $36 million on September 30, 2021. During the quarter, with proceeds of $24 million from the sale of the Stockton facility and our cash flows from operations, we paid down $38 million in debt and spent $4 million in CapEx. As of December 31, 2021, we are both term debt free and net debt free. Having retired the remaining term debt balances in Q4 and leaving us with only $50 million outstanding in the inexpensive working capital line of credit, more than offset by cash and cash equivalents.

轉向我們的資產負債表。 2021 年 12 月 31 日，我們的現金和現金等價物為 5100 萬美元，而 2021 年 9 月 30 日為 3600 萬美元。在本季度，憑藉出售斯托克頓設施的 2400 萬美元收益和我們的運營現金流，我們償還了3800 萬美元的債務和 400 萬美元的資本支出。截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日，我們既沒有定期債務，也沒有淨債務。在第四季度償還了剩餘的定期債務餘額，我們在廉價的營運資金信貸額度中只有 5000 萬美元的未償餘額，被現金和現金等價物所抵消。

Before I turn the call back to Mike, I'll provide some color on our expectations for 2022 and beyond. Consistent with our goal to place more specialty alcohol in 2022 and excluding Eagle's volume, we've already contracted over 90 million gallons in specialty alcohol sales. This represents a 28% increase in volume contracted at the same time last year for sale in 2021 similar to the prior year. These gallons, while still priced at a premium to renewable fuel reflect tighter spreads than we experienced last year due to higher commodity prices as well as unusual swings in demand related to the pandemic.

在我將電話轉回給邁克之前，我將對我們對 2022 年及以後的預期進行一些說明。與我們在 2022 年銷售更多特種酒的目標一致，不包括 Eagle 的銷量，我們已經簽訂了超過 9000 萬加侖的特種酒銷售合同。這意味著與去年同期相比，2021 年的銷售合同量增加了 28%。由於大宗商品價格上漲以及與大流行相關的需求異常波動，這些加侖的價格雖然仍高於可再生燃料，但反映了比我們去年經歷的價差收窄。

Looking forward, as demand and supply rebalance, we expect specialty alcohol margins to return to more stable and normalized levels. While our contracted volumes provide much greater visibility into our expected results for the year, the extreme volatility in commodity prices, ongoing logistical constraints and the potential impact the war in Ukraine may have on corn supplies and related commodities makes it difficult to provide 2022 revenue or gross profit guidance at this time.

展望未來，隨著供需再平衡，我們預計特種酒精利潤率將恢復到更穩定和正常化的水平。雖然我們的合同量為我們今年的預期結果提供了更大的可見性，但商品價格的極端波動、持續的物流限制以及烏克蘭戰爭可能對玉米供應和相關商品產生的潛在影響使得難以提供 2022 年的收入或此時的毛利潤指導。

Nonetheless, we expect to produce positive results for the year and generate over $18 million in additional EBITDA in 2022 related to the improvements, initiatives and the acquisition completed over the past 12 months over our base business, excluding our renewable fuel business.

儘管如此，我們預計今年將取得積極成果，並在 2022 年產生超過 1800 萬美元的額外 EBITDA，這與過去 12 個月我們的基礎業務（不包括我們的可再生燃料業務）的改進、舉措和完成的收購有關。

Looking further into the future, we expect just the projects Mike outlined to be completed over the next few years to result in over $45 million in additional EBITDA contribution annually by the end of 2024. This does not include the additional benefits of carbon capture or other projects that are under evaluation and development. In short, we've built a profitable, resilient base of business on which investors can rely today, and we intend to continue to build on this foundation through strategic investment in our specialty alcohol and essential ingredient lines of business. In addition, we expect SG&A for 2022 to be in line with our results for 2021 or under $30 million.

展望未來，我們預計邁克概述的項目將在未來幾年內完成，到 2024 年底每年將產生超過 4500 萬美元的額外 EBITDA 貢獻。這不包括碳捕獲或其他方面的額外收益正在評估和開發的項目。簡而言之，我們已經建立了一個盈利的、有彈性的業務基礎，投資者今天可以依賴它，我們打算通過對我們的特種酒精和基本成分業務線進行戰略投資，繼續在這個基礎上再接再厲。此外，我們預計 2022 年的 SG&A 將與我們 2021 年的業績一致或低於 3000 萬美元。

Finally, as we pursue new high-value growth opportunities, we are evaluating long-term funding options in the debt market to further bolster the balance sheet, accelerate investment and further improve our bottom line. We believe a balance sheet should have the right kind of debt that reflects lower cost of capital with high rate of return projects to properly leverage our equity base. As we do so, we also continue to consider share repurchase opportunities. Although we believe investing in our current capital projects provides a better long-term return profile, we will continue to weigh our options to optimize the value return to shareholders.

最後，隨著我們尋求新的高價值增長機會，我們正在評估債務市場的長期融資選擇，以進一步加強資產負債表、加速投資並進一步提高我們的底線。我們認為資產負債表應該有正確的債務類型，以反映較低的資本成本和高回報率的項目，以適當地利用我們的股權基礎。在這樣做的同時，我們還將繼續考慮股票回購機會。儘管我們相信投資於我們當前的資本項目可以提供更好的長期回報，但我們將繼續權衡我們的選擇，以優化股東的價值回報。

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

有了這個，我會把時間轉回到邁克身上。

Thank you, Bryon. I appreciate that. In summary, we are pleased with our successes, having turned the company into a profitable business with significant unique opportunities for top and bottom line growth, and we feel we are in a great position as we continue to execute on key initiatives in 2022 and beyond. Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the efforts of our tremendous employees that have contributed significantly to our success.

謝謝你，布賴恩。我很感激。總而言之，我們對我們的成功感到高興，將公司轉變為一家盈利的企業，為頂線和底線增長提供了重要的獨特機會，我們認為我們處於有利位置，因為我們將在 2022 年及以後繼續執行關鍵計劃.最後，如果我不承認為我們的成功做出重大貢獻的巨大員工的努力，我將是失職。

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) First question comes from the line of Eric Stine with Craig-Hallum.

（操作員說明）第一個問題來自 Eric Stine 和 Craig-Hallum 的台詞。

So I would love to just try to dig in on the guide a little bit, and I can certainly appreciate there are so many moving parts right now, very difficult to kind of think about that. But maybe putting the fuel ethanol aside and with your contracted volumes, are you able to look at that judging where pricing is today and maybe your expectations and think about maybe what your nonfuel grade EBITDA would be even if it's directionally versus 2021 when you think about 2022?

所以我很想試著深入了解一下指南，我當然可以理解現在有這麼多活動的部分，很難想一想。但是，也許將燃料乙醇放在一邊，並根據您的合同量，您是否能夠判斷今天的定價以及您的期望，並考慮您的非燃料級 EBITDA 可能是多少，即使它與 2021 年相比是方向性的，當您考慮時2022 年？

I normally would, Eric, with the challenges is that there's so much volatility that's occurring across the board. It's not just about ethanol and corn. It's about logistical costs. It's about interruptions in that supply and everything. So it would seem -- while if we were looking at a more steady position, we probably feel comfortable in providing that information. I think the best you could do is what we feel comfortable with is if you look and you kind of look at our base business, we provide segmented information, you can see that and you can build off of that and to make a determination as to what that looks like going forward.

埃里克，我通常會面臨的挑戰是，全面發生的波動太大了。這不僅僅是關於乙醇和玉米。這是關於物流成本的。這是關於供應和一切的中斷。所以看起來 - 如果我們正在尋找一個更穩定的位置，我們可能會覺得提供這些信息很舒服。我認為您能做的最好的事情就是讓我們感到滿意的是，如果您看一下我們的基礎業務，我們會提供細分信息，您可以看到它，您可以以此為基礎並下定決心未來會是什麼樣子。

Okay. Well, maybe then as we think about the difference between the 2 years, you mentioned the $18 million as a result of some of the operational things that you've done. So you called out, I just want to make sure I'm thinking about this right. We've certainly got Eagle, which in 2022, I believe you said that would be another $4 million incremental in EBITDA and then the corn storage potentially is another $2 million, not tell me, I could have the numbers wrong.

好的。好吧，也許當我們考慮兩年之間的差異時，您提到了 1800 萬美元，這是您所做的一些運營事情的結果。所以你喊出來了，我只是想確保我在考慮這個問題。我們當然有 Eagle，我相信你說過，到 2022 年，EBITDA 將再增加 400 萬美元，然後玉米儲存量可能再增加 200 萬美元，不要告訴我，我的數字可能有誤。

Yes, the corn storage would be in Q4. That would be completed. So what we did is we took the projects that we had identified in the Q3 earnings call, and we've just layered them in based on completion of those projects. Well, they're all pretty much on track. We had a few disruptions from supply chain, not unlike the rest of the world. But pretty much all of those projects are on track. And in net, if you add in the Eagle contribution, that's the $18 million bracket.

是的，玉米儲存將在第四季度。那將完成。所以我們所做的是我們在第三季度財報電話會議中確定的項目，我們只是根據這些項目的完成情況將它們分層。嗯，他們都在軌道上。我們的供應鏈出現了一些中斷，與世界其他地區沒有什麼不同。但幾乎所有這些項目都走上了正軌。在淨額中，如果你加上 Eagle 的貢獻，那就是 1800 萬美元。

Okay. That's my fault. Yes, you are referring to what you had previously discussed. Those would be for 2022. And then what you laid out, the $8 million to $9 million for Eagle plus the $2 million for storage, think about an incremental $11 million-plus, somewhere in that range, at least at this point for 2023. Is that kind of the way to think about it?

好的。這是我的錯。是的，您指的是您之前討論過的內容。那些將是 2022 年的。然後你所列出的，Eagle 的 800 萬到 900 萬美元加上存儲的 200 萬美元，考慮增加 1100 萬美元以上，在這個範圍內的某個地方，至少在 2023 年的這一點上。有這樣的想法嗎？

Yes. Correct.

是的。正確的。

I also don't want to cause any kind of real panic around thinking about fuel ethanol. Indeed, if you look at the crush margin today, ethanol is actually tracked relatively well with the other commodity prices, even though we're seeing the highest prices, historical prices in corn. So it's actually tracked well and actually that crush margin is better than it was a year ago at the same time. So again, there's a lot of things in moving around. And I just -- we think it's not -- it would be prudent to not put a stake in the ground yet and with regard to 2022 at least.

我也不想在考慮燃料乙醇時引起任何真正的恐慌。事實上，如果你看一下今天的壓榨利潤率，乙醇實際上與其他商品價格的走勢相對較好，儘管我們看到的是玉米的最高價格，即歷史價格。所以它實際上得到了很好的跟踪，實際上壓榨利潤率比一年前同時要好。再說一次，四處走動有很多事情。而且我只是 - 我們認為不是 - 至少在 2022 年之前不要投入資金是謹慎的做法。

No, understood. I can certainly appreciate that. So thinking about the 90 million gallons contracted. Curious, I know that you got the key certification. So now all of Pekin is covered by the pharmaceutical and the medical grade certifications. Did those limit you in any way in terms of contracting for 2022, given that those were recently received or is it just that given what's going on in the overall market in the world today that you weren't able to lock in a higher number of your overall 140.

不，明白了。我當然可以欣賞。所以想想收縮的 9000 萬加侖。很好奇，我知道你獲得了密鑰認證。所以現在北京所有的醫藥和醫療級認證都覆蓋了。這些是否以任何方式限制了您在 2022 年的合同，因為這些是最近收到的，或者僅僅是鑑於當今世界整體市場的情況，您無法鎖定更多的你的總分140。

No. Yes, I think the way to look at that is you go back to 2019, we were at 50, then that ramped up to 70, and then we're now sitting at 90. And what we've said all along is we have 140 capable, but we want to be really careful by the way we layer that in. It's more of a longer term. We want to be very diligent. We want to be very sensitive to the market, we don't want to just go out and try to place that entire 140 and do damage to the market. We want to be very thoughtful. And what we've been able to do is grow about 28% a year in contracted volume. I think Bryon mentioned that number. And we'll continue on that path.

不。是的，我認為看待它的方式是回到 2019 年，我們當時是 50 歲，然後上升到 70 歲，然後我們現在坐在 90 歲。我們一直在說的是我們有 140 個能力，但我們希望在分層的方式上非常小心。這更像是一個長期的。我們要非常勤奮。我們希望對市場非常敏感，我們不想只是出去嘗試放置整個 140 並破壞市場。我們想非常周到。我們能夠做到的是合同量每年增長約 28%。我認為布賴恩提到了這個數字。我們將繼續沿著這條道路前進。

We're never going to contract the entire 140 because we want to maintain a certain level of ability to play in the spot market or to make sure we have adequate supply for our customers that we do contract with. The redundancy that we gained by having the Pekin side of the campus certified is that surety of supply to our customers and being able to have redundant certified product that gives us a lot of comfort that -- and our customers a lot of comfort that we're going to be able to honor the contractual amounts.

我們永遠不會承包整個 140，因為我們希望在現貨市場保持一定水平的能力，或者確保我們有足夠的供應給我們與之簽約的客戶。通過讓園區的北京一側獲得認證，我們獲得的冗餘是向我們的客戶供應的保證，並且能夠擁有冗餘的認證產品，這給我們帶來了很多舒適——我們的客戶也因為我們而感到很舒服。重新能夠兌現合同金額。

It also allows us to be able to move product back and forth between the facilities, so you're no longer constrained by one or the other.

它還使我們能夠在設施之間來回移動產品，因此您不再受其中一種或另一種的限制。

Right.

正確的。

Got it. And that 90 -- just sticking with the 90. So I mean, obviously, that's not a number that you'd ever give your outlook, I mean, is it fair to say that 90 is kind of in line with what your expectations were?

知道了。那個 90 - 只是堅持 90。所以我的意思是，很明顯，這不是一個你曾經給出過前景的數字，我的意思是，可以公平地說 90 符合你的期望嗎？ ?

Yes. Yes. And I think it's also reflected, if you look, we guided and provided indications early on last year that we were at 70 million gallons that we ended up on the year at about 90 million gallons sold. So we should be able to sell product this year.

是的。是的。而且我認為這也反映出，如果你看的話，我們在去年早些時候指導並提供了跡象，表明我們的銷量為 7000 萬加侖，而我們最終售出的銷量約為 9000 萬加侖。所以我們應該能夠在今年銷售產品。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from the line of Amit Dayal with H.C. Wainwright.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Amit Dayal 和 H.C.溫賴特。

I mean just sticking to that 90 million specialty alcohol number, is there any concentration in that? Or is that spread across multiple customers? Any concentration risk?

我的意思是只堅持那 9000 萬特製酒精的數量，這有什麼集中嗎？還是分佈在多個客戶中？有沒有集中風險？

Actually, not necessarily -- I mean, and indeed, if you look at the spread of that across the board, kind of business segments that we talked about, we actually were able to grow it across those all 4 segments. So we continue to make as we had -- as a goal we were able to actually execute on that goal and move product up the value chain and expand those year-over-year. So -- and that's not and just to note that does not include Eagle.

實際上，不一定 - 我的意思是，事實上，如果你看一下它的全面分佈，我們談到的那種業務部門，我們實際上能夠在所有 4 個部門中發展它。因此，我們將繼續按照我們的目標 - 作為一個目標，我們能夠實際執行該目標並將產品提升到價值鏈並逐年擴大。所以 - 這不是而且只是要注意不包括 Eagle。

Okay. Okay. Got it. With respect to the inflationary environment we are in right now, have you shifted towards this ingredients opportunity or market. How should we think about potential impact on margins, et cetera? Are you able to pass on increases in your own costs to your customers? Or is there a lag between when you can do some of those types of things relative to how 2021 played out for you guys and what 2022 is shaping up on that front? How should we think about margins and costs for you guys?

好的。好的。知道了。關於我們現在所處的通脹環境，您是否已經轉向這個成分機會或市場。我們應該如何考慮對利潤率等的潛在影響？您能否將增加的成本轉嫁給客戶？或者，相對於 2021 年對你們的影響以及 2022 年在這方面的發展，你們何時可以做一些此類事情之間是否存在滯後？我們應該如何考慮你們的利潤和成本？

Yes. Amit, you kind of broke up on the first part when you're asking with regards to our essential ingredients or are you asking across the board across all our different product lines?

是的。阿米特，當你問到我們的基本成分時，你在第一部分就分手了，或者你是在全面詢問我們所有不同的產品線嗎？

Primarily on the ingredient side, Bryon. But I mean, any color you can provide across for just generally as well would be helpful.

主要是在成分方面，Bryon。但我的意思是，您可以提供的任何顏色通常都會有所幫助。

It's a great question. Clearly, depending on where you are and what products you're selling, you have the ability to pass on or they get built into the price, particularly if you're selling under index for some of the more fixed-price contracts that becomes more of a challenge. So we try to offset those or to fix our input costs as much as we can for those products to be able to lock in that spread. But yes, it's certainly a challenge and something that we're keeping an eye on and making sure that we can offset those pressures as much as possible.

這是一個很好的問題。顯然，根據您所在的位置和您銷售的產品，您有能力傳遞或將它們納入價格，特別是如果您在指數下銷售一些更固定價格的合約，這些合約變得更的挑戰。因此，我們嘗試盡可能多地抵消這些或固定我們的投入成本，以使這些產品能夠鎖定這種價差。但是，是的，這肯定是一個挑戰，也是我們一直關注的事情，並確保我們能夠盡可能地抵消這些壓力。

Okay. All right. I had a question on the tonnage, but Mike has already provided color on that. I'll take the other questions off-line guys. That's all I have. Thank you.

好的。好的。我對噸位有疑問，但邁克已經提供了顏色。我將把其他問題離線。那是我的全部了。謝謝你。

Thanks, Amit.

謝謝，阿米特。

Thank you. I'm not showing -- ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to turn the call over to Mike for closing remarks.

謝謝你。我沒有露面——女士們，先生們，我現在想把電話轉給邁克做閉幕詞。

Thank you, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today and your continued support. We're excited about the progress we have made, and as we continue to execute on our strategic plan, we feel extremely optimistic about the future of Alto. Thank you, everyone.

謝謝大家，謝謝大家今天加入我們並繼續支持。我們對我們取得的進展感到興奮，並且隨著我們繼續執行我們的戰略計劃，我們對 Alto 的未來感到非常樂觀。謝謝大家。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

女士們，先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。