Air Products and Chemicals Inc (APD) 2022 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning and welcome to the Air Products first quarter earnings release conference call. Today's call is being recorded at the request of Air Products. Please note that this presentation and the comments made on behalf of Air Products are subject to copyright by Air Products, and all rights are reserved. Beginning today's call is Simon Moore. Please go ahead.

早上好，歡迎參加 Air Products 第一季度財報電話會議。今天的電話是應空氣產品公司的要求進行錄音的。請注意，本演示文稿和代表 Air Products 發表的評論受 Air Products 的版權保護，並保留所有權利。開始今天的電話的是西蒙摩爾。請繼續。

Thank you, Ali. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Air Products' First Quarter 2022 Earnings Results Teleconference. This is Simon Moore, Vice President of Investor Relations, Corporate Relations and Sustainability.

謝謝你，阿里。大家，早安。歡迎來到空氣產品公司 2022 年第一季度收益結果電話會議。我是投資者關係、企業關係和可持續發展部副總裁 Simon Moore。

I'm pleased to be joined today by Seifi Ghasemi, our Chairman, President and CEO; Dr. Samir Serhan, our Chief Operating Officer; Melissa Schaeffer, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Sean Major, our Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. After our comments, we will be pleased to take your questions.

我很高興今天有我們的董事長、總裁兼首席執行官 Seifi Ghasemi 加入；我們的首席運營官 Samir Serhan 博士； Melissa Schaeffer，我們的高級副總裁兼首席財務官；以及我們的執行副總裁、總法律顧問兼秘書 Sean Major。在我們發表評論後，我們將很高興回答您的問題。

Our earnings release and the slides for this call are available on our website at airproducts.com. This discussion contains forward-looking statements. Please refer to the forward-looking statement disclosure that can be found in our earnings release and on Slide #2.

我們的收益發布和此次電話會議的幻燈片可在我們的網站 airproducts.com 上找到。本討論包含前瞻性陳述。請參閱我們的收益發布和幻燈片#2中的前瞻性聲明披露。

In addition, throughout today's discussion, we will refer to various financial measures. Unless we specifically state otherwise, when we refer to earnings per share, EBITDA, EBITDA margin, the effective tax rate and ROCE, both on a company-wide and segment basis, we are referring to our adjusted non-GAAP financial measures, adjusted earnings per share, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted effective tax rate and adjusted return on capital employed. Reconciliations of these measures to our most directly comparable GAAP financial measures can be found on our website in the relevant earnings release section.

此外，在今天的討論中，我們將提到各種財務措施。除非我們另有明確說明，否則當我們提及公司範圍內和分部的每股收益、EBITDA、EBITDA 利潤率、有效稅率和 ROCE 時，我們指的是調整後的非公認會計原則財務指標、調整後的收益每股、調整後的 EBITDA、調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率、調整後的有效稅率和調整後的資本回報率。這些措施與我們最直接可比的 GAAP 財務措施的對賬可以在我們網站的相關收益發布部分找到。

Also, as we shared with you on our last call, this is the first quarter we reported our results with our new Middle East and India and our new Corporate segments. Now I'm pleased to turn the call over to Seifi.

此外，正如我們在上次電話會議上與您分享的那樣，這是我們報告新中東和印度以及新企業部門業績的第一季度。現在我很高興將電話轉給 Seifi。

Thank you, Simon, and good day to everyone. Thank you for taking time from your very busy schedule to be on our call today. I am proud to say that despite significant challenges, including unprecedented energy cost increases, and I mean unprecedented, especially in Europe, supply chain disruptions and the continued adverse effects caused by the pandemic, the talented, committed and motivated people of Air Products continued to deliver excellent results, including earnings per share this quarter in the top half of our guidance range.

謝謝你，西蒙，祝大家有美好的一天。感謝您在百忙之中抽出時間來接聽我們今天的電話。我很自豪地說，儘管面臨重大挑戰，包括前所未有的能源成本增加，而且我的意思是前所未有的，尤其是在歐洲，供應鏈中斷和大流行造成的持續不利影響，空氣產品公司才華橫溢、忠誠和積極的員工繼續致力於提供出色的業績，包括本季度每股收益在我們指導範圍的上半部分。

This quarter, we closed on Phase 1 of the Jazan project, which is the single largest project in our company's history and will create significant value for many years to come. As always, I want to thank our more than 20,000 employees around the globe for standing together, working hard, staying agile and delivering for our customers and shareholders.

本季度，我們完成了 Jazan 項目的第一階段，這是我們公司歷史上最大的單一項目，將在未來許多年創造重大價值。與往常一樣，我要感謝我們在全球的 20,000 多名員工團結一致、努力工作、保持敏捷並為我們的客戶和股東提供服務。

Let me start this presentation with our highest priority, which is obviously safety. Please take a look at Slide #3. Although we have made significant progress in this area since fiscal year 2014, our first quarter safety performance was slightly behind last year. That is not acceptable. Our goal remains 0 accidents and 0 incidents. And we are committed to drive towards that goal across the organization, knowing that the right attitude and constant attention to safety is absolutely necessary and required.

讓我以我們的最高優先級開始這個演示，這顯然是安全。請看幻燈片#3。儘管自 2014 財年以來我們在這一領域取得了重大進展，但我們第一季度的安全績效略低於去年。這是不可接受的。我們的目標仍然是 0 事故和 0 事故。我們致力於在整個組織內實現這一目標，因為我們知道正確的態度和對安全的持續關注是絕對必要的。

Slides #4, 5 and 6 include our goal, our management philosophy and our Five-Point Plan. We have shared these slides with you before, so I'm not going to go through the details. But these are the principles that we follow every day, and they will guide us in the future.

幻燈片 #4、5 和 6 包括我們的目標、我們的管理理念和我們的五點計劃。我們之前已經與您分享過這些幻燈片，所以我不打算詳細介紹。但這些是我們每天遵循的原則，它們將在未來指導我們。

Now please turn to Slide #7. We are focused on making Air Products a leader in providing solutions to today's significant energy and environmental challenges through gasification, carbon capture and clean hydrogen. I am proud to say that we have continued to create and win projects that help customers and countries meet their growing needs for cleaner energy and environmental solutions.

現在請轉到幻燈片#7。我們致力於通過氣化、碳捕獲和清潔氫氣，使空氣產品公司成為為當今重大能源和環境挑戰提供解決方案的領導者。我很自豪地說，我們繼續創造並贏得項目，幫助客戶和國家滿足他們對清潔能源和環境解決方案日益增長的需求。

Last year, we announced 2 landmark blue hydrogen projects, one in Alberta, Canada and the other in Louisiana, United States of America, adding to our slate of broadscale megaprojects supporting the energy transition. At the beginning of our fiscal year, this fiscal year, we successfully closed on Phase 1 of the $12 billion Jazan gasification and power project, fulfilling one of our major commitments.

去年，我們宣布了兩個具有里程碑意義的藍色氫項目，一個在加拿大艾伯塔省，另一個在美國路易斯安那州，為我們支持能源轉型的大型大型項目增添了新的元素。在本財年伊始，我們成功完成了價值 120 億美元的 Jazan 氣化和電力項目的第一階段，履行了我們的一項主要承諾。

We continue to expect Phase 1 of this project to contribute $0.80 to $0.85 per share on a full year basis, consistent with what we have committed to you before. We also continue to make great progress on this -- our significant project backlog.

我們繼續預計該項目的第一階段將在全年的基礎上為每股貢獻 0.80 美元至 0.85 美元，這與我們之前對您的承諾一致。我們還在這方面繼續取得巨大進展——我們的重要項目積壓。

Now please turn to Slide #8. Creating a cleaner future requires experience, investment and innovation on a broader scale. At Air Products, we have the technology, the track record, the capital and the ambition to execute our bold strategy in bringing people around the world together to collaborate in an inclusive environment and help solve sustainability challenges. We are living our higher purpose as a company. That is our higher purpose.

現在請轉到幻燈片#8。創造更清潔的未來需要更廣泛的經驗、投資和創新。在空氣產品公司，我們擁有技術、業績記錄、資本和雄心，可以執行我們大膽的戰略，將世界各地的人們聚集在一起，在一個包容的環境中合作，幫助解決可持續發展的挑戰。作為一家公司，我們正在實現我們更高的目標。那是我們更高的目的。

Now please turn to Slide #9. It is clear that at Air Products, sustainability is our growth strategy. Sustainability creates our broad opportunities, and our growth opportunities support our sustainability goals and focus.

現在請轉到幻燈片#9。很明顯，在 Air Products，可持續發展是我們的增長戰略。可持續發展為我們創造了廣泛的機會，我們的增長機會支持我們的可持續發展目標和重點。

We are very proud to help drive the energy transition, in particular through our world-scale hydrogen megalo-projects. Our NEOM project in Saudi Arabia, Alberta project in Canada and Louisiana project in the United States of America represent almost $10 billion of direct Air Products capital to create zero- and low-carbon hydrogen needed to drive decarbonization and accelerate the energy transition. These projects will significantly reduce CO2 equivalent emissions for our customers, for Air Products itself and for the world.

我們非常自豪能夠幫助推動能源轉型，特別是通過我們的世界級氫巨型項目。我們在沙特阿拉伯的 NEOM 項目、加拿大的阿爾伯塔項目和美國的路易斯安那項目代表了近 100 億美元的空氣產品公司直接資本，用於生產推動脫碳和加速能源轉型所需的零碳和低碳氫。這些項目將為我們的客戶、空氣產品公司本身和全世界顯著減少二氧化碳當量排放。

As a first mover taking real action through these real projects, we can bring a portfolio of experiences and technologies together to provide lower carbon forms of energy, improve our customers' sustainability and help solve significant energy and environmental challenges. As I said, this is our higher purpose as a company.

作為通過這些實際項目採取實際行動的先行者，我們可以將一系列經驗和技術結合在一起，以提供低碳形式的能源，提高客戶的可持續性，並幫助解決重大的能源和環境挑戰。正如我所說，這是我們作為一家公司的更高目標。

In addition, it is important that our commitments are aligned with our strategy. We introduced our Third by '30 carbon intensity reduction goal more than a year ago. And I'm very proud to say that the major projects we have announced, along with our day-to-day focus on operational efficiency, puts us in a great position to meet or exceed this goal by 2030.

此外，重要的是我們的承諾與我們的戰略保持一致。一年多前，我們推出了第三個“30 年前碳強度降低目標”。我非常自豪地說，我們宣布的主要項目，以及我們對運營效率的日常關注，使我們能夠在 2030 年之前實現或超過這一目標。

But as a company, we are never satisfied with our current performance. Therefore, we are taking another look at our opportunities to make even more meaningful progress towards higher environmental growth. Under the purview of our Sustainability Leadership Council, we are reviewing additional areas of opportunity, which could include a Scope 3 emissions goal, the benefits of avoided emissions and/or other potential scenarios. I expect to share more with you on these exciting topics by midyear.

但作為一家公司，我們從不滿足於我們目前的表現。因此，我們正在重新審視我們的機會，以便在更高的環境增長方面取得更有意義的進展。在我們的可持續發展領導委員會的職權範圍內，我們正在審查其他機會領域，其中可能包括範圍 3 排放目標、避免排放的好處和/或其他潛在情景。我希望在年中之前與您分享更多關於這些令人興奮的話題。

Now please turn to Slide #10, which shows our EPS growth. While we focus on our strong long-term prospects, we remain vigilant and motivated to deliver excellent near-term results, consistent with our strategy and what we have already promised to investors. As you can see, we have delivered on what we promised you in 2014 and achieved an 11% annual cumulative EPS growth on average since 2014 while building a strong foundation for our future growth.

現在請轉到幻燈片#10，它顯示了我們的每股收益增長。雖然我們專注於我們強勁的長期前景，但我們仍保持警惕並積極提供出色的近期業績，這與我們的戰略和我們已經向投資者承諾的內容相一致。如您所見，我們兌現了我們在 2014 年向您承諾的內容，自 2014 年以來平均實現了 11% 的年累計每股收益增長，同時為我們的未來增長奠定了堅實的基礎。

The excellent results and key projects we have executed represent the initial stages of our strategy to advance the world toward a cleaner energy future. I am very optimistic about our company's prospects to capitalize on these growing opportunities by being a meaningful player in the energy transition.

我們執行的卓越成果和關鍵項目代表了我們推動世界走向更清潔能源未來的戰略的初始階段。我對我們公司通過成為能源轉型中有意義的參與者來利用這些不斷增長的機會的前景非常樂觀。

Now please turn to Slide #11. As a reminder, we do share our earnings growth directly with our customers through our dividend, while we continue to invest in growth opportunities. The whole team at Air Products is very proud that we just announced our 40th consecutive year of dividend increase. This tremendous long-term record is a testament to our people and our strength and consistency of our business model.

現在請轉到幻燈片#11。提醒一下，我們確實通過股息直接與客戶分享我們的收益增長，同時我們繼續投資於增長機會。空氣產品公司的整個團隊為我們剛剛宣布連續第 40 年增加股息感到非常自豪。這一巨大的長期記錄證明了我們的員工以及我們業務模式的實力和一致性。

The most recent increase is 8%, which increases our dividend to $1.62 per share per quarter, which we expect to -- will translate to directly returning more than $1.4 billion to our shareholders in 2022. And as Melissa Schaeffer, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will share with you in a moment, we have significant remaining cash flow to support our many project opportunities.

最近的增長是 8%，這將我們的股息增加到每季度每股 1.62 美元，我們預計這將轉化為在 2022 年直接向我們的股東返還超過 14 億美元。正如我們的高級副總裁兼高級副總裁 Melissa Schaeffer 和首席財務官，稍後將與您分享，我們有大量剩餘現金流來支持我們的許多項目機會。

And finally, please turn to Slide #12, still my favorite slide since it captures in one chart the progression of our business since 2014. We continue to deliver strong underlying results, but our margin declined in recent quarters primarily driven by higher energy pass-through, which increases our sales but doesn't impact profit.

最後，請轉到幻燈片 #12，它仍然是我最喜歡的幻燈片，因為它在一張圖表中記錄了我們自 2014 年以來的業務進展。我們繼續提供強勁的基本業績，但我們的利潤率在最近幾個季度有所下降，這主要是由於更高的能量傳遞-通過，這增加了我們的銷售額，但不影響利潤。

2/3 of the margin decline from our peak is due to the impact of this higher energy pass-through. But as I indicated last quarter, we are continuing to take action to improve our margins through controlling costs and increasing prices to cover cost increases.

從我們的峰值下降 2/3 的利潤是由於這種更高的能量傳遞的影響。但正如我上個季度所指出的，我們將繼續採取行動，通過控製成本和提高價格來彌補成本增加來提高我們的利潤率。

Now I'm happy to turn the call over to Melissa to discuss our results in more detail. Melissa?

現在，我很高興將電話轉給 Melissa，以更詳細地討論我們的結果。梅麗莎？

Thank you, Seifi. Now please turn to Slide 13. Before we discuss the details of our first quarter results, I would like to highlight a few notable items in our reported financials this quarter.

謝謝你，賽菲。現在請轉到幻燈片 13。在我們討論第一季度業績的細節之前，我想強調一下我們本季度報告的財務中的一些值得注意的項目。

As we previously announced, we reorganized our reporting segments starting this quarter. To provide more visibility to our regions, we separated the previous EMEA segment into Europe and a Middle East and India segment. The new segment is made up of our business in the Middle East, which includes the new Jazan joint venture, and India. Additionally, we combined Global Gases with the Corporate and other segment. The historical resegment financial information is available in a Form 8-K, which we published in December.

正如我們之前宣布的那樣，我們從本季度開始重組了我們的報告部門。為了提高我們地區的知名度，我們將之前的 EMEA 部分分為歐洲、中東和印度部分。新部門由我們在中東的業務組成，其中包括新的 Jazan 合資企業和印度。此外，我們將 Global Gases 與 Corporate 和其他部門合併。我們在 12 月發布的 8-K 表中提供了歷史重新細分財務信息。

We are proud to have completed Phase 1 of the $12 billion Jazan joint venture in late October. This milestone has led to 2 separate but related events, which impact our results favorably this quarter.

我們很自豪能夠在 10 月底完成價值 120 億美元的 Jazan 合資企業的第一階段。這一里程碑導致了 2 個獨立但相關的事件，這對我們本季度的業績產生了有利影響。

First was the start of a new joint venture known as JIGPC's ongoing financial contribution consistent with the contract between the joint venture in Saudi Aramco. On an ongoing basis, our portion of the Jazan joint venture's net profit isn't included in equity affiliate income since we don't consolidate this joint venture. We also recognized interest income on the shareholder loans associated with our $1.5 billion investment, which is included in the nonoperating income line of our income statement.

首先是一家名為 JIGPC 的新合資企業的啟動，其持續的財務貢獻與沙特阿美合資企業之間的合同一致。在持續的基礎上，我們在 Jazan 合資企業的淨利潤中不包括在股權附屬收入中，因為我們沒有合併這家合資企業。我們還確認了與我們 15 億美元投資相關的股東貸款的利息收入，這包含在我們損益表的非營業收入線中。

To be clear, these are loans from Air Products to the joint venture and are a mechanism for us to efficiently fund our contribution. Together, these 2 income streams drive $0.80 to $0.85 of annual Phase 1 EPS, exactly what we expected and committed to our shareholders and consistent with what we recognized for 2 months in Q1. We remain on track for closing of Phase 2 in 2023.

需要明確的是，這些是空氣產品公司向合資企業提供的貸款，是我們有效地為我們的貢獻提供資金的一種機制。這兩種收入來源共同推動了第一階段年度每股收益 0.80 美元至 0.85 美元，這正是我們對股東的預期和承諾，也與我們在第一季度 2 個月內確認的一致。我們仍有望在 2023 年結束第二階段。

Second, a nonreoccurring event of approximately $0.20 involve the transfer of the air separation units supporting the gasifiers at Jazan from our previous ASU joint venture to the Jazan joint venture. This transfer required the final settlement of our ASU joint venture, which previously owned and operated these air separation units, and enabled us to recognize a portion of the profit that was deferred when Air Products sold the ASUs to the joint venture.

其次，大約 0.20 美元的非重複事件涉及將支持 Jazan 氣化器的空氣分離裝置從我們之前的 ASU 合資企業轉移到 Jazan 合資企業。此次轉讓需要我們的 ASU 合資企業最終結算，該合資企業之前擁有和經營這些空氣分離裝置，並使我們能夠確認在 Air Products 將 ASU 出售給合資企業時遞延的部分利潤。

This profit was recognized as equity affiliate income. Partially offsetting this and also in equity affiliate income recorded a loss associated with the ASU joint venture settlement. Our joint venture partner's share of the settlement loss is reflected as a favorable noncontrolling interest item.

該利潤被確認為股權關聯公司收入。與 ASU 合資企業結算相關的虧損部分抵消了這一點以及股權附屬收入。我們的合資夥伴在結算損失中的份額反映為有利的非控制性權益項目。

Now please turn to Slide 14 for our first quarter results. Compared to last year, sales increased 26% to nearly $3 billion. Volume and price were strong and together account for 13% of the increase, while the remaining half was driven by higher energy pass-through.

現在請轉到幻燈片 14 了解我們的第一季度業績。與去年相比，銷售額增長了 26%，達到近 30 億美元。銷量和價格強勁，合計佔增長的 13%，而其餘一半是由更高的能量傳遞推動的。

Rapidly escalating energy costs continue to negatively impact our business across the regions this quarter. The situation was especially challenging in Europe and Americas as natural gas and electricity costs surged even higher from the already elevated levels we saw last quarter. Simon will share more details, but in Europe, natural gas costs were almost 6x higher, and power costs were almost 4x higher than the beginning of the year.

本季度快速上漲的能源成本繼續對我們在各地區的業務產生負面影響。歐洲和美洲的情況尤其具有挑戰性，因為天然氣和電力成本比我們上個季度已經很高的水平飆升得更高。西蒙將分享更多細節，但在歐洲，天然氣成本幾乎是年初的 6 倍，電力成本幾乎是年初的 4 倍。

Our on-site business, about half of our total company sales, has contractual protection from the energy cost increases. The costs are passed on to the customer. The energy cost pass-through drove sales 14% higher but did not impact our profits.

我們的現場業務（約占公司總銷售額的一半）受到能源成本增加的合同保護。成本轉嫁給客戶。能源成本轉嫁推動銷售額增長 14%，但並未影響我們的利潤。

In our merchant business, our teams around the world have quickly executed price actions to help offset the escalating energy costs. For this quarter, prices improved compared to last year and last quarter in all 3 largest segments: Asia, Europe and the Americas. We are able to recognize a 10% price increase across the merchant business, which translated to a 5% increase in price for the total company. This is our best pricing results in many years.

在我們的商業業務中，我們在世界各地的團隊迅速採取了價格行動，以幫助抵消不斷上漲的能源成本。本季度，亞洲、歐洲和美洲三個最大細分市場的價格與去年和上一季度相比都有所提高。我們能夠認識到整個商戶業務的價格上漲了 10%，這意味著整個公司的價格上漲了 5%。這是我們多年來最好的定價結果。

I would like to thank all our teams for the excellent work they have done in response to such a significant challenge. However, we still have more work to do. We are actively executing against price actions across the regions to recover the unprecedented cost impacts.

我要感謝我們所有團隊為應對如此重大的挑戰所做的出色工作。但是，我們還有更多工作要做。我們正在積極執行跨地區的價格行動，以恢復前所未有的成本影響。

Volume improved 8%, up in all segments, driven by new assets, hydrogen and merchant recovery and stronger sale of equipment activities. EBITDA increased 8%, again, exceeding the $1 billion mark for a quarter as favorable volume, prices and equity affiliate income more than offset higher costs.

在新資產、氫氣和商業復甦以及設備銷售活動強勁的推動下，所有細分市場的銷量都增長了 8%。 EBITDA 再次增長 8%，超過一個季度的 10 億美元大關，因為有利的數量、價格和股權附屬收入抵消了更高的成本。

EBITDA margin declined 570 basis points mostly due to the higher energy pass-through, which negatively impacted our margins about 450 basis points, while higher costs net of price increases contributed to the remaining shortfall. Sequentially, volumes were down 3% primarily due to the strong sale of equipment in prior quarter. The 2% price increase was a direct result of our ongoing price actions.

EBITDA 利潤率下降 570 個基點，主要是由於更高的能源傳遞，這對我們的利潤率產生了約 450 個基點的負面影響，而扣除價格上漲後的成本增加導致了剩餘的缺口。隨後，銷量下降了 3%，主要是由於上一季度設備銷售強勁。 2% 的價格上漲是我們正在進行的價格行動的直接結果。

EBITDA was 4% lower sequentially as better price and equity affiliate income were more than offset by higher costs and lower sale of equipment profit recognition. ROCE was 10.3%. We currently have significant cash on our balance sheet, which will support the major projects we have announced. Adjusting for this cash, our ROCE would have been 13.9%. We expect ROCE to improve as we deploy the cash and bring projects onstream.

EBITDA 環比下降 4%，因為更好的價格和股權附屬收入被更高的成本和更低的設備銷售利潤確認所抵消。 ROCE 為 10.3%。我們目前的資產負債表上有大量現金，這將支持我們宣布的主要項目。調整這筆現金後，我們的 ROCE 為 13.9%。隨著我們部署現金並將項目投入使用，我們預計 ROCE 會有所改善。

Now please turn to Slide 15. Our first quarter adjusted EPS was $2.52, which is $0.40 or 19% above last year. Volume was favorable $0.19. And price, net of variable cost, was modestly unfavorable $0.04 as our price actions were able to offset most of the unprecedented energy cost increases. For the quarter, our price actions alone before netting against variable costs contributed about $0.40. Costs were up this quarter.

現在請轉到幻燈片 15。我們第一季度調整後的每股收益為 2.52 美元，比去年高 0.40 美元或 19%。成交量有利 0.19 美元。扣除可變成本後的價格略低於 0.04 美元，因為我們的價格行動能夠抵消大部分前所未有的能源成本增長。對於本季度，僅我們在扣除可變成本之前的價格行動就貢獻了約 0.40 美元。本季度成本上升。

Similar to prior quarters, our growth strategy has us continuing to invest in additional resources. The very high and dynamic energy prices in our last -- in our largest 3 segments also impacted our supply chain as we incurred higher operating and distribution costs to keep our customers supplied.

與前幾個季度類似，我們的增長戰略要求我們繼續投資於額外資源。在我們最大的 3 個部門中，非常高且動態的能源價格也影響了我們的供應鏈，因為我們為保持客戶供應而產生了更高的運營和分銷成本。

We had additional discretionary compensation this quarter and a positive settlement of a supply contract last year, neither of which will continue in the future. The ongoing EPS contribution of Jazan -- of the Jazan joint venture this quarter represents 2 months and is consistent with our commitment, adding to both equity affiliate income and nonoperating income.

我們在本季度獲得了額外的酌情補償，並在去年積極解決了供應合同，這兩者都不會在未來繼續下去。本季度 Jazan 合資企業 Jazan 的持續每股收益貢獻為 2 個月，符合我們的承諾，增加了股權關聯公司收入和非營業收入。

Equity affiliate income increased $0.29, including the ongoing Jazan results, the deferred profit recognition and the unfavorable ASU joint venture settlement, which I mentioned earlier. Noncontrolling interest was $0.07 favorable versus prior year, representing our partners' portion of the ASU joint venture settlement. Nonoperating income was flat as the interest income from the shareholder loan associated with the Jazan joint venture was offset by higher pension expense.

股權附屬收入增加了 0.29 美元，包括我之前提到的正在進行的 Jazan 業績、遞延利潤確認和不利的 ASU 合資結算。非控制性權益較上年有利 0.07 美元，代表我們合作夥伴在 ASU 合資企業和解中的份額。由於與 Jazan 合資企業相關的股東貸款的利息收入被較高的養老金支出所抵消，營業外收入持平。

Our first quarter effective tax rate of 17.1% was 220 basis points lower than last year, including the favorable impact of Jazan. It is seasonally lower primarily due to the additional share-based compensation, and we still expect our tax rate to be 19% to 20% this year.

我們第一季度的有效稅率為 17.1%，比去年低 220 個基點，其中包括吉讚的有利影響。季節性較低主要是由於額外的基於股份的薪酬，我們仍預計今年的稅率為 19% 至 20%。

Now please turn to Slide 16. The stability of our business continues to allow us to generate strong cash flow despite the challenging energy environment. Over the last 12 months, we generated about $2.8 billion of distributable cash flow or about $12.50 per share.

現在請轉到幻燈片 16。儘管能源環境充滿挑戰，但我們業務的穩定性繼續使我們能夠產生強勁的現金流。在過去 12 個月中，我們產生了約 28 億美元的可分配現金流或每股約 12.50 美元。

From our EBITDA of almost $4 billion, we pay interest, tax and maintenance capital. Note that our maintenance capital is a little higher than usual driven in part by the spending on our new global headquarters, which is now essentially complete.

從我們近 40 億美元的 EBITDA 中，我們支付利息、稅收和維護資本。請注意，我們的維護資本比平時略高，部分原因是我們新的全球總部的支出，該總部現已基本完成。

From the distributable cash flow, we paid over 45% or $1.3 billion as dividends to our shareholders and still have about $1.5 billion available for high-return projects. This strong cash flow, even in uncertain times, enables us to continue to create shareholder value through increasing dividends and capital deployment.

從可分配的現金流中，我們向股東支付了超過 45% 或 13 億美元的股息，並且仍有約 15 億美元可用於高回報項目。即使在不確定的時期，這種強勁的現金流也使我們能夠通過增加股息和資本配置繼續創造股東價值。

Slide #17 provides an update on our capital deployment. We continue to make great progress in developing and executing our major growth projects. In fact, we see potential opportunities significantly greater than the investment capacity we show here.

幻燈片 #17 提供了我們資本部署的最新信息。我們繼續在開發和執行我們的主要增長項目方面取得重大進展。事實上，我們看到的潛在機會遠大於我們在這裡展示的投資能力。

With the closing of Jazan Phase 1, we see a reduction in cash on hand and an increase in capital already spent. As you can see, our deployment potential is over $33 billion through fiscal 2027. The $33 billion includes over $8 billion of cash and additional debt capacity available today, over $16 billion we expect to be available by 2027 and over $9 billion already spent.

隨著 Jazan 第一階段的結束，我們看到手頭現金減少，而已經花費的資本增加。如您所見，到 2027 財年，我們的部署潛力超過 330 億美元。這 330 億美元包括超過 80 億美元的現金和今天可用的額外債務能力，我們預計到 2027 年將超過 160 億美元，並且已經花費了超過 90 億美元。

We still believe this capacity is conservative given the potential for additional EBITDA growth, which generates additional cash flow and additional borrowing capacity. We will continue to focus on managing our debt balance to maintain our current targeted A/A2 rating.

考慮到 EBITDA 增長的潛力，我們仍然認為這種能力是保守的，這會產生額外的現金流和額外的借貸能力。我們將繼續專注於管理我們的債務餘額，以維持我們目前的目標 A/A2 評級。

So you can see we've already spent 27% and have already committed 70% of the updated capacity we show here. We have made great progress and still have substantial investment capacity remaining to invest in high-return projects.

所以你可以看到我們已經花費了 27% 並且已經承諾了我們在此處顯示的更新容量的 70%。我們取得了長足的進步，但仍有相當大的投資能力可以投資高回報項目。

Now to begin the review of our business segment results, I'll turn the call back over to Seifi. Seifi?

現在開始審查我們的業務部門結果，我將把電話轉回 Seifi。賽菲？

Thank you, Melissa. Now please turn to Slide #18 for our Asia results. Sales were up 9% compared to last year. Volumes grew 4% due to strong on-site volume as a variety of the small- to medium-sized new plants came onstream across the region.

謝謝你，梅麗莎。現在請轉到第 18 張幻燈片查看我們的亞洲結果。與去年相比，銷售額增長了 9%。由於各種中小型新工廠在該地區投產，現場產量強勁，產量增長了 4%。

The Lu'An facility continues to operate at full capacity under the interim supply agreement. We continue to recognize that reduced fee in quarter 1, consistent with this interim supply agreement. We expect this to continue through fiscal year 2022 before returning to the full fee in 2023.

根據臨時供應協議，六安工廠將繼續滿負荷運營。我們繼續認識到第一季度的費用降低，這與該臨時供應協議一致。我們預計這將持續到 2022 財年，然後在 2023 年恢復全額費用。

We saw the best price performance for Asia in nearly 2 years. The 3% overall price increase improvement for the region equals to about 8% price increase for our merchant business. Our team has implemented price action in response to higher power costs and general inflation.

我們看到了亞洲近兩年來最好的價格表現。該地區 3% 的整體價格上漲改進相當於我們的商戶業務價格上漲約 8%。我們的團隊已實施價格行動以應對更高的電力成本和普遍的通貨膨脹。

China's government has also relaxed its power tariff program to allow local power costs to fluctuate. This market-oriented approach may result in more variability in our power costs going forward. We are monitoring this situation very closely.

中國政府還放寬了電價計劃，以允許當地電力成本波動。這種以市場為導向的方法可能會導致我們未來的電力成本出現更多變化。我們正在密切關注這種情況。

In addition, China's effort to reduce energy usage and intensity through its dual control policy continue to impact customer demand and caused isolated disruptions of our plants. This had a very modest negative impact on our plant efficiency and supply chain costs. This impact was more prominent earlier in the quarter and seem to ease in December.

此外，中國通過其雙重控制政策減少能源使用和強度的努力繼續影響客戶需求並導致我們工廠的孤立中斷。這對我們的工廠效率和供應鏈成本產生了非常輕微的負面影響。這種影響在本季度早些時候更為突出，並且在 12 月似乎有所緩解。

Costs were also unfavorable due to resources that we needed to add to support our new project start-ups in the region and were higher without the COVID-related government incentives that we received last year. EBITDA was up 2% as better volumes, price and currencies more than offset higher costs. Sequentially, sales and profits were up as strong price more than offset higher costs.

由於我們需要增加資源來支持我們在該地區的新項目啟動，成本也不利，而且在沒有我們去年收到的與 COVID 相關的政府激勵措施的情況下成本更高。 EBITDA 增長 2%，原因是銷量、價格和貨幣的增長抵消了成本上升的影響。隨後，銷售和利潤上升，因為強勁的價格抵消了更高的成本。

Now I would like to turn the call over to Simon to talk about our European results. Simon?

現在我想把電話轉給西蒙來談談我們在歐洲的成績。西蒙？

Thank you, Seifi. Now please turn to Slide 19. Before I get into our Europe results and to build on Melissa's comments earlier, I wanted to share some details related to the unprecedented energy cost increases this quarter.

謝謝你，賽菲。現在請轉到幻燈片 19。在我了解我們的歐洲業績並在之前 Melissa 的評論的基礎上，我想分享一些與本季度前所未有的能源成本增長有關的一些細節。

Energy costs climbed throughout the quarter from already elevated levels. Natural gas costs were almost 6x higher, and power costs were almost 4x higher than the beginning of the calendar year. While the energy costs have been elevated all year, this quarter saw energy costs more than double from the previous quarter.

整個季度的能源成本從已經很高的水平攀升。天然氣成本幾乎是年初的 6 倍，電力成本幾乎是年初的 4 倍。雖然能源成本全年都在上漲，但本季度的能源成本是上一季度的兩倍多。

As Melissa mentioned, our on-site business has contractual pass-through of the higher costs. For the merchant business, our team has delivered significant price actions to partially recover the recent cost increases.

正如梅麗莎所提到的，我們的現場業務具有較高成本的合同轉嫁。對於商戶業務，我們的團隊採取了重大的價格行動，以部分彌補近期的成本上漲。

I also would like to thank our European team for their extraordinary efforts. Although we are very proud of the work done by our team, our price actions have not fully recovered the cost increase. And as Melissa said, we have more work to do. We do believe we will be able to recover this shortfall by the end of the year.

我還要感謝我們的歐洲團隊所做的非凡努力。儘管我們對團隊所做的工作感到非常自豪，但我們的價格行動並沒有完全收回成本增加。正如梅麗莎所說，我們還有更多工作要做。我們確實相信我們將能夠在今年年底之前彌補這一短缺。

Now please turn to Slide 20 for a review of our Europe results. Sales increased 37% versus last year. Volume and price were strong and together grew 14%. However, our profit and margin were unfavorable this quarter due to the dramatic energy cost increases. The energy cost pass-through increased sales 27% but did not increase profit.

現在請轉到幻燈片 20，查看我們的歐洲結果。銷售額與去年相比增長了 37%。銷量和價格強勁，共同增長了 14%。然而，由於能源成本急劇增加，本季度我們的利潤和利潤率不利。能源成本轉嫁增加了 27% 的銷售額，但沒有增加利潤。

For the quarter, our price actions resulted in a 9% price gain for the region, which corresponds to a 14% improvement for the merchant business. Prices were higher across all major product lines and subregions. Volume increased 5% primarily driven by improved hydrogen and merchant demand. Currencies were unfavorable 4% primarily due to the weaker euro against the U.S. dollar. For this quarter, other costs also increased.

在本季度，我們的價格行動使該地區的價格上漲了 9%，這對應於商家業務的 14% 的改善。所有主要產品線和次區域的價格均較高。銷量增長 5%，主要是由於氫氣和商業需求的改善。主要由於歐元兌美元走軟，貨幣匯率下跌 4%。本季度，其他成本也有所增加。

The very significant energy cost increases also disrupted our supply chain, negatively impacting both plant, operating and distribution efficiencies. We also saw inflation, higher maintenance, discretionary incentive compensation and COVID-related costs, while we continue to invest in additional resources needed to support our growth strategy.

非常顯著的能源成本增加也擾亂了我們的供應鏈，對工廠、運營和分銷效率產生了負面影響。我們還看到了通貨膨脹、更高的維護、可自由支配的激勵補償和與 COVID 相關的成本，同時我們繼續投資於支持我們的增長戰略所需的額外資源。

EBITDA was down 19% as higher costs were partially offset by price increases. Volume was positive in sales but did not contribute significantly to profit due to unfavorable mix. EBITDA margin was 1,500 basis points lower. About 700 basis points of the decline was due to the significant energy cost pass-through increase, while the remainder was mostly due to higher costs, partially offset by price in the merchant business.

由於較高的成本被價格上漲部分抵消，EBITDA 下降了 19%。銷量為正，但由於不利的組合對利潤貢獻不大。 EBITDA 利潤率下降 1,500 個基點。大約 700 個基點的下降是由於能源成本轉嫁的顯著增加，而其餘的主要是由於成本增加，部分被商業業務的價格所抵消。

Compared to prior quarter, EBITDA was 19% lower due to unfavorable business mix, higher costs and lower equity affiliate income. Higher energy pass-through also negatively impacted margin by about 350 basis points sequentially.

由於不利的業務組合、較高的成本和較低的股權附屬收入，與上一季度相比，EBITDA 下降了 19%。更高的能量傳遞也依次對利潤率產生了約 350 個基點的負面影響。

Now I would like to turn the call over to Dr. Serhan for a brief discussion of our other segments.

現在我想將電話轉給 Serhan 博士，簡要討論我們的其他部分。

Thank you, Simon. Now please turn to Slide 21 for a review of our Americas results. Sales increased more than 30% versus last year. Volume and price together were up 11%, while energy cost pass-through accounted for the remaining increase. Volume grew 8% primarily due to hydrogen recovery and strong merchant demand.

謝謝你，西蒙。現在請轉到幻燈片 21，查看我們在美洲的結果。與去年相比，銷售額增長了 30% 以上。銷量和價格一起上漲了 11%，而能源成本轉嫁佔了剩餘的漲幅。銷量增長 8% 主要是由於氫氣回收和強勁的商業需求。

Although our hydrogen business has improved, it has not yet fully returned to its pre-COVID levels. Similar to other regions, Americas also experienced significant energy cost increases versus last year. Our team has done an excellent job raising prices to cover the energy cost increase in this quarter.

儘管我們的氫氣業務有所改善，但尚未完全恢復到 COVID 之前的水平。與其他地區類似，與去年相比，美洲的能源成本也顯著增加。我們的團隊在提高價格以彌補本季度能源成本增加方面做得非常出色。

The 3% gain for the region is equivalent to 9% on our merchant business. Costs were favorable despite inflation and supply chain-related challenges and partly due to lower maintenance costs this quarter. We expect planned maintenance activities to pick up next quarter.

該地區 3% 的收益相當於我們商戶業務的 9%。儘管存在通脹和供應鏈相關挑戰，但成本仍然有利，部分原因是本季度維護成本降低。我們預計計劃中的維護活動將在下個季度回升。

EBITDA posted another double-digit gain, 14% ahead of last year as better volume, price and equity affiliate income more than offset the higher energy costs. EBITDA margin was 560 basis points lower than last year. Higher energy cost pass-through negatively impacted EBITDA margin by about 700 basis points. In other words, EBITDA margin would have been up, excluding the energy cost pass-through.

EBITDA 再次實現兩位數增長，比去年高出 14%，原因是銷量、價格和股權關聯公司收入的增長抵消了更高的能源成本。 EBITDA 利潤率比去年低 560 個基點。較高的能源成本轉嫁對 EBITDA 利潤率產生了約 700 個基點的負面影響。換句話說，不包括能源成本轉嫁，EBITDA 利潤率會上升。

Sequentially, EBITDA was lower due to higher maintenance costs. Higher energy costs pass-through negatively impacted EBITDA margin by about 300 basis points.

隨後，由於維護成本較高，EBITDA 較低。較高的能源成本轉嫁對 EBITDA 利潤率產生了約 300 個基點的負面影響。

Now please turn to Slide 22, our newly created Middle East and India segment. Again, as I stated before, this segment is composed of our businesses in the Middle East, including the Jazan joint venture and our business in India.

現在請轉到幻燈片 22，這是我們新創建的中東和印度部分。同樣，正如我之前所說，這部分由我們在中東的業務組成，包括 Jazan 合資企業和我們在印度的業務。

Sales and operating income in this segment are modest since our Middle East and India wholly owned operations are smaller in size. However, the segment's EBITDA is significant since it includes the equity affiliate income related to the Jazan joint venture and our India joint venture.

由於我們在中東和印度全資擁有的業務規模較小，因此該部門的銷售和營業收入不高。然而，該部門的 EBITDA 非常重要，因為它包括與 Jazan 合資企業和我們的印度合資企業相關的股權附屬收入。

The roughly $70 million increase in equity affiliate income included our share of the Jazan joint venture net profit for 2 months and the net impact due to the finalization of the ASU joint venture that Melissa previously discussed.

大約 7,000 萬美元的股權附屬收入增加包括我們在 Jazan 合資企業 2 個月的淨利潤份額以及 Melissa 之前討論的 ASU 合資企業最終確定所產生的淨影響。

Sales and operating income are up compared to last year due to a new facility on stream in India but are down sequentially to a favorable -- due to a favorable contract settlement in the previous quarter.

由於印度的新設施投產，銷售和營業收入與去年相比有所上升，但由於上一季度的合同結算有利，因此連續下降至有利的水平。

Now please turn to Slide 23, which addresses our new Corporate segment, which now includes our previous Global Gases segment. This segment includes our sale of equipment businesses as well as our centrally managed functions and corporate costs.

現在請轉到幻燈片 23，它涉及我們新的企業部門，現在包括我們以前的全球氣體部門。該部分包括我們的設備業務銷售以及我們的集中管理職能和公司成本。

Over the past few years, our non-LNG sale of equipment businesses have grown considerably, are now contributing most of the sales in this segment. However, the margins of these businesses are typically below our company average. Sales were higher in this quarter driven by increased project activities, but the profits were lower due to higher corporate costs and without last year's settlement of a supply contract.

在過去的幾年裡，我們的非液化天然氣設備銷售業務大幅增長，現在貢獻了這一領域的大部分銷售額。然而，這些業務的利潤率通常低於我們公司的平均水平。由於項目活動增加，本季度銷售額較高，但由於公司成本較高且沒有去年簽訂供應合同，利潤較低。

At this point, I would like to return the call back over to Seifi to provide his closing comments. Seifi?

在這一點上，我想將電話回電給 Seifi，以提供他的結束意見。賽菲？

Thank you very much, Dr. Serhan. During my nearly 5 decades in business, I have learned that the world changes all the time, sometimes in very unpredictable ways as we have seen in the past several years. Therefore, for an organization, the ability to anticipate, plan and react to change with speed and resiliency is key to success.

非常感謝您，Serhan 博士。在我近 5 年的經商生涯中，我了解到世界無時無刻不在變化，有時以非常不可預測的方式發生變化，正如我們在過去幾年中所看到的那樣。因此，對於一個組織而言，預測、計劃和快速響應變化的能力和彈性是成功的關鍵。

I have also learned that all challenges can be addressed by staying focused and united and calm and by working towards a common goal. That is why I'm proud that despite the continuing adverse effects of the pandemic, the rising costs, inflation, supply chain disruptions and all of the challenges facing us, our people at Air Products have done just what we expected them to do. That is, they have adapted to the change and are acting accordingly. This is why we delivered strong results despite all of these challenges.

我還了解到，所有挑戰都可以通過保持專注、團結和冷靜以及朝著共同目標努力來解決。這就是為什麼我感到自豪的是，儘管大流行的持續不利影響、成本上升、通貨膨脹、供應鏈中斷以及我們面臨的所有挑戰，我們空氣產品公司的員工所做的正是我們期望他們做的。也就是說，他們已經適應了變化並正在採取相應的行動。這就是為什麼儘管面臨所有這些挑戰，我們仍取得了強勁的成果。

Our volume, price and profits all grew this quarter versus last year even as we have stayed the course and added resources to support our opportunities and world-scale projects for the cleaner energy future. I truly believe that our company has become even stronger in the past 2 years and fully expect to deliver significant earnings growth as the economies around the world normalize and our new projects come onstream.

與去年相比，本季度我們的數量、價格和利潤均有所增長，儘管我們一直堅持並增加資源來支持我們為清潔能源未來創造的機會和世界規模的項目。我堅信我們公司在過去 2 年變得更加強大，並且隨著全球經濟正常化和我們的新項目投產，我們完全期望實現顯著的盈利增長。

Now please turn to Slide #24. As I said, I remain highly confident of Air Products' resilient business model, our strategy and our execution. However, I do have some concerns on the economic backdrop driven by continued COVID challenge, the impact of supply chain constraints, inflation, energy costs and geopolitical tensions.

現在請轉到幻燈片#24。正如我所說，我對 Air Products 具有彈性的商業模式、我們的戰略和執行力仍然充滿信心。但是，我確實對由持續的 COVID 挑戰驅動的經濟背景、供應鏈限制的影響、通貨膨脹、能源成本和地緣政治緊張局勢感到擔憂。

Therefore, for quarter 2 of fiscal year 2022, our earnings per share guidance is $2.30 to $2.40, up $0.11 (sic) [11%] to $0.15 (sic) [15%] over last year. For fiscal year 2022, our earnings per share guidance remains unchanged at $10.20 to $10.40, which is 13% to 15% better than last year. We continue to see our capital expenditure in 2022 to be around $4.5 billion to $5 billion, including the approximately $1.5 billion for Phase 1 of the Jazan project.

因此，對於 2022 財年第二季度，我們的每股收益指引為 2.30 美元至 2.40 美元，比去年增加 0.11 美元（原文如此）[11%] 至 0.15 美元（原文如此）[15%]。對於 2022 財年，我們的每股收益指引保持不變，為 10.20 美元至 10.40 美元，比去年提高 13% 至 15%。我們繼續預計 2022 年的資本支出約為 45 億至 50 億美元，其中包括 Jazan 項目第一階段的約 15 億美元。

Now please turn to Slide #25. The opportunities created by the energy transition are immense. That is why through our mega projects in gasification, carbon capture and hydrogen, we are acting as a first mover. We are taking real action through real world-scale investments in projects that address significant energy and environmental challenges.

現在請轉到幻燈片#25。能源轉型創造的機會是巨大的。這就是為什麼通過我們在氣化、碳捕獲和氫氣方面的大型項目，我們是先行者。我們正在通過對解決重大能源和環境挑戰的項目進行真正的世界規模投資來採取實際行動。

We have the portfolio of experiences and technologies that we can bring together in an optimal configuration for a project. Working with customers and countries around the world, we will deliver low carbon forms of energy and improve their sustainability.

我們擁有豐富的經驗和技術，可以將這些經驗和技術整合到項目的最佳配置中。我們將與世界各地的客戶和國家合作，提供低碳能源形式並提高其可持續性。

In addition to investment and technology, we know that as always, the real enablers of this transition are the people who work alongside our customers and bring our opportunities and projects to life. At Air Products, we have consciously increased our talent and resources to take on these urgent challenges, adding over 3,000 people over the past 2 years.

除了投資和技術之外，我們知道，與往常一樣，這種轉變的真正推動者是與我們的客戶一起工作並將我們的機會和項目變為現實的人。在 Air Products，我們有意識地增加了人才和資源來應對這些緊迫的挑戰，在過去 2 年中增加了 3,000 多人。

As we drive toward a clean energy world, we need talented people to help us accelerate the progress. We are continuing to build a diverse and inclusive culture that our people feel they belong and know that their contribution matters. As I always say, our long-term competitive advantage is the commitment and motivation of our people. I know that through their hard work and contribution, we will continue to succeed.

在我們向清潔能源世界邁進的過程中，我們需要人才來幫助我們加快進程。我們將繼續建立一種多元化和包容性的文化，讓我們的員工感到他們的歸屬感並知道他們的貢獻很重要。正如我常說的，我們的長期競爭優勢是我們員工的承諾和動力。我知道，通過他們的辛勤工作和貢獻，我們將繼續取得成功。

Now we are pleased to answer your questions. Operator?

現在我們很高興回答您的問題。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) And we'll go ahead and take our first question from P.J. Juvekar with Citi.

（操作員說明）我們將繼續向花旗銀行的 P.J. Juvekar 提出我們的第一個問題。

Yes. A couple of questions. First, can you give us an update on the NEOM project, especially on the downstream side where you will be executing on your own? Is there any update on contract signings? And then the significant disruption that we are seeing in energy pricing in Europe, does that create uncertainty for customers to commit to long-term contracts on that side?

是的。幾個問題。首先，您能否向我們介紹一下 NEOM 項目的最新情況，尤其是在您將自行執行的下游方面？合同簽署有更新嗎？然後，我們在歐洲的能源定價中看到的重大破壞，是否會給客戶承諾簽訂長期合同帶來不確定性？

Well, P.J., thank you for the question. The NEOM project with respect to the downstream side, obviously, we are working in developing the infrastructure needed to bring in the green ammonia, crack it and then sell it to our customers. So those projects are underway.

好吧，P.J.，謝謝你的問題。 NEOM 項目在下游方面，顯然，我們正在開發引入綠色氨所需的基礎設施，將其裂解然後出售給我們的客戶。所以這些項目正在進行中。

In terms of any contract signing and all of that, we have said from the beginning 2 years ago that we are going to be very cautious about saying anything about that because that is an issue of competitive advantage. And we certainly don't want to give all of our secrets away.

就任何合同簽署和所有這些而言，我們從 2 年前開始就表示，我們將對此非常謹慎，因為這是一個競爭優勢問題。我們當然不想洩露我們所有的秘密。

With respect to the question that you asked about energy costs, obviously, the significant fluctuation in energy costs and especially them going up is going to make it more competitive for the green and clean products. So from that point of view, the level of interest in green hydrogen and blue hydrogen has significantly increased around the world.

關於你問的關於能源成本的問題，顯然，能源成本的顯著波動，尤其是它們的上漲，將使其在綠色和清潔產品方面更具競爭力。所以從這個角度來看，全球對綠氫和藍氫的興趣水平顯著提高。

Okay. That's fair enough. And a quick question for Melissa. On Slide 13, you mentioned interest income from loans to Jazan. Can you just give us more details on that loan?

好的。這很公平。和梅麗莎的一個快速問題。在幻燈片 13 中，您提到了向 Jazan 提供貸款的利息收入。你能告訴我們更多關於那筆貸款的細節嗎？

Yes, absolutely.

是的，一點沒錯。

Melissa will address that, but that's a very, very complicated transaction and I'm not sure she can -- she will be able to answer all of your details of your question on the call. We can always have another call with you on the side to give you the details. But I'll turn it over to Melissa to say what she can at -- on this call. Go ahead, Melissa.

梅麗莎會解決這個問題，但這是一個非常非常複雜的交易，我不確定她能不能——她將能夠在電話中回答您的所有問題的詳細信息。我們可以隨時與您通話，為您提供詳細信息。但我會把它交給梅麗莎，讓她在這次電話會議上說出她能做什麼。來吧，梅麗莎。

Yes. Thank you very much, Seifi. Thank you, P.J., for the question. So as Seifi mentioned, it is complex, but just a quick highlight. So as we mentioned during our statements that 1/3 of the contribution from the JIGPC joint venture is in nonoperating income. This is the interest income on our investment as a shareholder loan. So this is just our efficient way of funding the joint venture.

是的。非常感謝你，賽菲。謝謝你，P.J.，這個問題。正如 Seifi 所提到的，它很複雜，但只是一個快速的亮點。因此，正如我們在聲明中提到的，JIGPC 合資企業 1/3 的貢獻來自營業外收入。這是我們作為股東貸款投資的利息收入。所以這只是我們為合資企業提供資金的有效方式。

We'll go ahead and move on to our next question from Steve Byrne with Bank of America.

我們將繼續討論美國銀行史蒂夫·伯恩提出的下一個問題。

Simon, you made a comment about in the European segment, you expect to recover costs with price actions by year-end. Just wanted to drill into that a little more. Can you comment on what fraction of your merchant business has this pass-through in it? Perhaps it's small, but do you have it in place in some -- but in order for you to recover it by year-end, are you -- do you have more price actions that you have yet to announce? Or is there a lag effect? Or do you expect cost to come down? I just would like to better understand that.

西蒙，您在歐洲市場發表了評論，您希望在年底前通過價格行動收回成本。只是想再深入一點。您能否評論一下您的商家業務中有多少部分有這種傳遞？也許它很小，但你是否已經在某些地方實施了它——但為了讓你在年底之前恢復它，你是否有更多尚未宣布的價格行動？還是有滯後效應？還是您預計成本會下降？我只是想更好地理解這一點。

Sure. It's actually pretty straightforward. What happens is that we anticipate energy cost increases and the announced price increases. But energy prices have been going up significantly higher than our anticipation. Therefore, we need to take a delayed action to increase prices to recover what has happened in the past. That is why there will be a delay in recovering the cost.

當然。這實際上非常簡單。所發生的情況是，我們預計能源成本會增加和宣布的價格上漲。但能源價格的上漲幅度遠高於我們的預期。因此，我們需要採取延遲行動來提高價格，以恢復過去發生的事情。這就是為什麼會延遲收回成本的原因。

We will take the action. But obviously, from the time we take the action and invoice the customer until we get the money and all of that, there is a delayed action. But fundamentally, we can't increase prices every day. We do that every quarter.

我們將採取行動。但顯然，從我們採取行動並向客戶開具發票直到我們收到錢以及所有這些，都有延遲的行動。但從根本上說，我們不可能每天都漲價。我們每個季度都這樣做。

And what we anticipated for the first quarter of this year was significantly lower than what actually happened. So now we have increased prices starting January 1, and we will increase prices starting April 1 and as we go with different customers, and that is why there is a lag.

我們對今年第一季度的預期遠低於實際發生的情況。所以現在我們從 1 月 1 日開始提高價格，我們將從 4 月 1 日開始提高價格，隨著我們與不同的客戶一起去，這就是為什麼會有滯後。

And any (inaudible) pass-through in the contract?

合同中有任何（聽不清）傳遞嗎？

Well, the merchant business, a lot of it is not contract. The pass-through, which is per contract, is for our on-site business. That is pass-through. That hasn't affected our results, and all of those pass-throughs have happened. That is why our results on our on-sites are very good.

好吧，商人的生意，很多不是合同。根據合同的傳遞是針對我們的現場業務的。那就是穿越。這並沒有影響我們的結果，所有這些傳遞都發生了。這就是為什麼我們在現場的結果非常好。

On the merchant side, which in Europe is approximately 60% of our business, that is where we execute price increases. And over there, most of the contracts do not have kind of official pass-through, it's a merchant business. Yes, sir?

在商家方面，在歐洲約占我們業務的 60%，這是我們執行價格上漲的地方。而且那邊，大部分的合同都沒有官方的過戶，是商家的生意。是的先生？

Okay. And one more for you, Seifi. It seems like your focus and goals on energy has kind of expanded to beyond hydrogen to include carbon capture now. My question for you is, do you see this as a business development for your products that could be completely independent of hydrogen, i.e., working with customers to perhaps capture carbon from combustion sources? That's a completely different approach, and perhaps that could drive increased sales of oxygen. Just where would you like to see that particular business go for Air Products?

好的。還有一個給你的，Seifi。看起來你對能源的關注和目標已經擴展到氫之外，現在包括碳捕獲。我的問題是，您是否認為這是您的產品可以完全獨立於氫的業務發展，即與客戶合作可能從燃燒源中捕獲碳？這是一種完全不同的方法，也許這可以推動氧氣的銷售量增加。您希望看到 Air Products 的特定業務在哪裡？

That is an excellent question. At this point in time, we are doing carbon capture in order to produce green -- I mean, blue hydrogen specifically. So I don't see us branching into that. But if that becomes a very attractive sector and we have the technology, we take a look at it. But right now, we are doing carbon capture, those projects, in conjunction with producing blue hydrogen.

這是一個很好的問題。在這個時間點，我們正在進行碳捕獲以產生綠色——我的意思是，特別是藍色氫。所以我不認為我們會涉足這一領域。但是，如果這成為一個非常有吸引力的行業並且我們擁有技術，我們就會看看它。但現在，我們正在做碳捕獲，這些項目，同時生產藍色氫。

And we'll move on to our next question from Jeff Zekauskas with JPMorgan.

我們將繼續討論 Jeff Zekauskas 與摩根大通的下一個問題。

You earned $2.52 in the quarter. And so if you annualize that, that's $10.10. And your guidance is $10.20 to $10.40, and the December quarter is probably a seasonally weak quarter. So it doesn't seem like you expect very much progress or maybe you're really at the top of your range or a little bit beyond that. Why aren't your earnings higher this year? Energy costs are coming down in Europe. You're passing through prices. Shouldn't you have higher returns this year?

您在本季度賺了 2.52 美元。因此，如果您按年計算，那就是 10.10 美元。你的指導是 10.20 美元到 10.40 美元，而 12 月季度可能是一個季節性疲軟的季度。因此，您似乎並不期望取得很大進步，或者您可能真的處於您的範圍的頂部或略高於此範圍。為什麼你今年的收入不高？歐洲的能源成本正在下降。你正在傳遞價格。今年不應該有更高的回報嗎？

Jeff, the thing is that everything obviously depends on your view of the world and in terms of what will happen. Look at this quarter, we had high expectations for this quarter, but then COVID came in and Europe got shut down. And energy prices went up significantly higher.

傑夫，事情是一切顯然取決於你對世界的看法以及將要發生的事情。看看這個季度，我們對這個季度寄予厚望，但後來 COVID 進來了，歐洲被關閉了。能源價格大幅上漲。

I am not shy to say that I am very concerned about some of the geopolitical tensions, what would be the implications of that for energy prices. Heavens forbid, if anything happens with Ukraine and so on, what would that do to Europe energy.

我可以毫不避諱地說，我非常擔心一些地緣政治緊張局勢，這將對能源價格產生什麼影響。上天禁止，如果烏克蘭等發生任何事情，那會對歐洲能源造成什麼影響。

So as a result, we are trying to be balanced and give people projections that we realistically believe we can meet. Now you can say we are conservative, but we might not be. But we didn't see any reason at this point in time, considering what has happened in the first quarter, to change our guidance. Now if next quarter, things change, we will obviously share any thoughts that we have with you.

因此，我們正在努力保持平衡，並為人們提供我們實際上相信我們可以滿足的預測。現在你可以說我們是保守的，但我們可能不是。但考慮到第一季度發生的情況，我們目前沒有看到任何理由來改變我們的指導。現在，如果下個季度情況發生變化，我們顯然會與您分享我們的任何想法。

Okay. And then secondly, I'm always puzzled about your corporate EBITDA line. Can you give us any insight into what that number might be over the next 3 quarters? Does it change much? Is there a certain level?

好的。其次，我總是對貴公司的 EBITDA 線感到困惑。您能否告訴我們未來 3 個季度這個數字可能是多少？變化很大嗎？有一定的水平嗎？

And then for Melissa, the undistributed earnings of equity method investments in the quarter were negative $117 million. What should that number be for the year, order of magnitude?

然後對於梅麗莎來說，本季度權益法投資的未分配收益為負 1.17 億美元。這一年的數字應該是多少，數量級？

Okay. Jeff, I'll answer your first question, and Melissa will answer your second question. The thing is that, that corporate sector, obviously, from my point of view, I'd like to see the number to be basically an EBITDA thing to be balanced. That means that we make enough money on the other parts of the business in order to balance our corporate overhead. That's our goal.

好的。傑夫，我會回答你的第一個問題，梅麗莎會回答你的第二個問題。問題是，很明顯，從我的角度來看，我希望看到這個數字基本上是一個 EBITDA 平衡的東西。這意味著我們在業務的其他部分賺到了足夠的錢，以平衡我們的公司開銷。這就是我們的目標。

But obviously, because it is -- some of it is sale of equipment, it goes up and down quarter-by-quarter. But overall, we would like to see that number to be just flat. Basically, we don't make money, we don't lose money. So with respect to your second question, Melissa, would you like to address that, please?

但很明顯，因為它是 - 其中一些是設備銷售，它會逐季度上升和下降。但總的來說，我們希望看到這個數字持平。基本上，我們不賺錢，也不虧錢。那麼關於你的第二個問題，Melissa，你願意解決這個問題嗎？

Yes. Thank you, Seifi. Jeff, I think you're referring to the undistributed earnings of equity affiliates in the cash flow statement. So this is cash...

是的。謝謝你，賽菲。傑夫，我認為您指的是現金流量表中股權關聯公司的未分配收益。所以這是現金...

Yes, exactly right.

是的，完全正確。

Yes. Thank you. So this is cash on the operating activity from the joint venture. So as the dividends are distributed later this year, which we fully expect, they will go through the investment section.

是的。謝謝你。所以這是來自合資企業經營活動的現金。因此，隨著股息在今年晚些時候分配，我們完全預期，它們將通過投資部分。

We'll move on to our next question from John McNulty with BMO Capital Markets.

我們將繼續討論 BMO 資本市場的 John McNulty 提出的下一個問題。

Just a question on the European energy issues. So it sounds like, if I'm understanding and, I guess, that's what I want to clear up, what you're putting through, it's not a surcharge or anything like that, it's more of a direct pricing. So if we start to see energy prices subside as we get past kind of the winter months, et cetera, it sounds like that would be a reasonable windfall for you as the pricing is going through as the energy is coming down. Am I thinking about that right? Or is there some other nuance to consider?

只是關於歐洲能源問題的問題。所以聽起來，如果我理解的話，我想這就是我想要澄清的，你正在接受的，這不是附加費或類似的東西，它更多的是直接定價。因此，如果我們開始看到能源價格隨著冬季的過去而下降，等等，這聽起來對你來說是一個合理的意外之財，因為隨著能源價格的下降，價格正在經歷。我想對了嗎？或者還有其他一些細微的差別需要考慮嗎？

With respect to the question that you're asking, you always get it right. That is exactly what we're trying to do. That means that we are increasing the prices. And then hopefully, as energy costs goes down, we expect to keep some of those prices because -- to make up for the fact that we didn't get enough of it in the previous quarters.

關於你提出的問題，你總是做對的。這正是我們想要做的。這意味著我們正在提高價格。然後希望，隨著能源成本的下降，我們希望保留其中的一些價格，因為 - 以彌補我們在前幾個季度沒有得到足夠的價格的事實。

So you're right. If energy prices go down, if they go down, then we will have an upside. But that's a big if, John. But that is exactly right. You have it -- you are thinking about it exactly the way we are trying to execute.

所以你是對的。如果能源價格下跌，如果它們下跌，那麼我們將有上漲空間。但這是一個很大的假設，約翰。但這完全正確。你擁有它——你正在以我們試圖執行的方式思考它。

Got it. Okay. And then just a question on the Third by '30 carbon intensity goal that you have. I guess when you think about the 3 big hydrogen projects, the 2 big blue ones and the green one, does that actually get you to that target already? Or is there more to do there?

知道了。好的。然後只是一個關於“30 年前的第三個碳強度目標”的問題。我想當你想到 3 個大型氫項目時，2 個大型藍色項目和一個綠色項目，這真的會讓你達到那個目標嗎？或者那裡還有更多事情要做？

And I guess tied to that, are there projects going forward that Air Products might not do just because of the carbon intensity around them that in the past, they might have? So say, whatever, the big coal gasification project where there's no carbon capture or something like that. Does that -- does a target like this preclude you from actually going after that type of business? I guess how should we be thinking about that?

我猜想與此相關的是，空氣產品公司是否會因為過去可能擁有的碳強度而無法開展項目？所以說，不管怎樣，大型煤氣化項目沒有碳捕獲或類似的東西。那 - 這樣的目標是否會阻止您實際從事此類業務？我想我們應該怎麼想？

Well, John, that is an excellent question. First of all, in my comments, you're very smart, you read through it, I was saying I look at the projects that we are doing, we think we can meet that target and exceed it. And therefore, we are going to give you an update by midyear. So you're right. I mean we are doing a lot of good projects, and that would help us.

嗯，約翰，這是一個很好的問題。首先，在我的評論中，你很聰明，你通讀了它，我說我看看我們正在做的項目，我們認為我們可以達到並超越它。因此，我們將在年中之前為您提供更新。所以你是對的。我的意思是我們正在做很多好的項目，這會對我們有所幫助。

With respect to your second question, it depends on how the contracts are structured, John, because countries will come to us, have come to us and said, "I want you to do this project. It's coal gasification, and you are not responsible for the CO2. I give you the raw material, and you give me the product. You are just the toller, and the CO2 is my responsibility." If people are willing to do it like that, as they have been, then we do the project because then we are not adding any CO2 to the world, somebody else is doing that. You see what I mean?

關於你的第二個問題，這取決於合同的結構，約翰，因為國家會來找我們，已經來找我們說，“我希望你做這個項目。它是煤氣化，你不負責二氧化碳。我給你原材料，你給我產品。你只是收費者，二氧化碳是我的責任。”如果人們願意像他們一樣那樣做，那麼我們就做這個項目，因為那時我們不會向世界添加任何二氧化碳，其他人正在這樣做。你明白我的意思嗎？

But if it turns out that we are doing a project where the CO2 is our responsibility, then we would think twice about doing it, John, because we are about reducing CO2 in the world, not adding to it.

但如果事實證明我們正在做一個項目，其中二氧化碳是我們的責任，那麼我們會三思而後行，約翰，因為我們是要減少世界上的二氧化碳，而不是增加二氧化碳。

But there are circumstances that the customers, a country comes to us and said, "Look, I don't want to take the coal and make methanol out of it. And I'll take the responsibility for the CO2." Okay, John? Makes sense?

但是有些情況下，客戶，一個國家來找我們說，“看，我不想拿煤來製造甲醇。我會承擔二氧化碳的責任。”好吧，約翰？說得通？

Got it. Very helpful.

知道了。非常有幫助。

We'll go ahead and move on to our next question from Chris Parkinson with Mizuho Securities.

我們將繼續討論瑞穗證券的克里斯帕金森提出的下一個問題。

Sorry about that. I was on mute. Can you just give us a bit of a broader view on the situation of China, Lu'An as well some just very quick updates on Jiutai and Debang. Just how should investors be thinking about the cadence of these projects?

對於那個很抱歉。我是靜音的。您能否就中國、潞安以及九台和德邦的情況給我們提供一些更廣泛的看法。投資者應該如何考慮這些項目的節奏？

But the thing is that I gave you an update on Lu'An, that the project is -- the plant is operating at full scale and all of that. And we had consciously given a break for the -- to the customer for 2 years for a lot of good reasons. And now we expect that to be going back to normal at the October of 2022.

但問題是我給了你關於潞安的最新消息，這個項目是——工廠正在全面運營等等。出於很多充分的理由，我們有意識地為客戶提供了 2 年的休息時間。現在我們預計這將在 2022 年 10 月恢復正常。

The other projects are being executed on plan. We don't expect any major issues with those. So up to now, we are -- we don't have any significant disruption that we need to talk about.

其他項目正在按計劃執行。我們預計這些不會有任何重大問題。所以到目前為止，我們 - 我們沒有任何需要談論的重大中斷。

Got it. Yes. No, that's very helpful. And just as a very quick follow-up, prior to COVID, there was a lot of talk and obviously, there were some projects signed across Central and Southeast Asia. It seems like you still have a very large opportunity in Indonesia, and there's still several projects being decided on in India. Could you just give us a very quick update on your overall thought process and how those would potentially fit in to APD's backlog?

知道了。是的。不，這很有幫助。作為一個非常快速的後續行動，在 COVID 之前，有很多討論，顯然，在中亞和東南亞簽署了一些項目。看起來你在印度尼西亞仍然有很大的機會，而且在印度還有幾個項目正在決定中。您能否向我們簡要介紹一下您的整體思考過程以及這些過程可能如何適應 APD 的積壓工作？

Well, we have decided not to talk about those projects, and there are a lot of them, as you alluded to, until we sign a final contract. So we don't want to announce MOUs or we don't want to announce every time that I have a video conference with a minister or anything like that.

好吧，我們決定不談論這些項目，正如你所提到的，在我們簽署最終合同之前，其中有很多。所以我們不想宣布諒解備忘錄，或者我們不想每次都宣布我與部長舉行視頻會議或類似的事情。

So those -- the opportunities are there. And when those contracts get to the stage that they are definitive contracts, then we will obviously announce them. But those projects are there. We haven't seen any slowdown, but they are delayed because of COVID in terms of getting to the final stage of a contract. But I expect that they will.

所以那些 - 機會就在那裡。當這些合同達到最終合同的階段時，我們顯然會宣布它們。但那些項目在那裡。我們沒有看到任何放緩，但由於 COVID，他們在進入合同的最後階段方面被推遲了。但我希望他們會。

We'll take our next question with David Begleiter with Deutsche Bank.

我們將向德意志銀行的 David Begleiter 提出下一個問題。

Seifi, in Europe, you mentioned the delays in implementing or capturing the pricing this time around. Why is that the case? Is that because of the sharp rise in energy prices? And are you seeing similar cadences by competitors in delaying or extending captures until the end of the year?

Seifi，在歐洲，你提到了這次實施或獲取定價的延遲。為什麼會這樣？是因為能源價格急劇上漲嗎？您是否看到競爭對手將捕獲延遲或延長到年底的類似節奏？

Yes. David, I'm very glad that you asked the question. When we say the delay, please, it is not as if we are delayed in price increases. We are following -- let's say, here is the month of -- end of April, right? And our team gets together and say, "We anticipate that prices in June, July and August, the price of energy will go up 10%." Therefore, we announce a 10% increase on prices on June 1, right?

是的。大衛，我很高興你提出這個問題。當我們說延遲時，拜託，這並不是說我們在價格上漲方面被延遲了。我們正在關注——比如說，這裡是——四月底，對吧？我們的團隊聚在一起說，“我們預計在 6 月、7 月和 8 月，能源價格將上漲 10%。”因此，我們宣佈在 6 月 1 日價格上漲 10%，對吧？

If the price during that quarter of June, July and August goes up 20%, then we have fallen behind. Then in the month -- the next quarter, now we need to raise the prices 30% to catch up again. But then the energy prices -- so what our issue in Europe has been that every time we anticipate price increases, the actual price increases goes way beyond that. There was no way that we would have predicted, no way, that natural gas prices in Europe will go up 6x. There was no way that we would have predicted that the electricity cost in Europe will get to $0.20 a hundred -- $0.20 a kilowatt.

如果 6 月、7 月和 8 月那個季度的價格上漲 20%，那麼我們就落後了。然後在本月——下個季度，現在我們需要將價格提高 30% 才能再次趕上。但是能源價格——所以我們在歐洲的問題是，每次我們預期價格上漲時，實際價格上漲遠不止於此。我們無法預測，不可能，歐洲的天然氣價格會上漲 6 倍。我們無法預測歐洲的電力成本會達到每百美元 0.20 美元——每千瓦 0.20 美元。

So that is the delay. It is not as if we are delayed in action. It is the fact that our anticipation of price increases were lower because we thought it was pretty robust, but the real world got ahead of us. That is why we are lagging behind.

所以這就是延遲。這並不是說我們行動遲緩。事實上，我們對價格上漲的預期較低，因為我們認為它非常強勁，但現實世界領先於我們。這就是我們落後的原因。

We think that we will see a significant improvement in the performance of our business in Europe in the quarter we are in. I fully expect that. But who knows what happens with the energy price?

我們認為我們將在我們所在的季度看到我們在歐洲的業務表現有顯著改善。我完全期待這一點。但是誰知道能源價格會發生什麼？

That is our inability. That is where we are falling short, in terms of ability to predict energy prices. But nobody could do that because they have been so unprecedented that if at the beginning of last year, you would have told somebody that electricity costs for Air Products will go from a few cents a hundred to $0.20, we would have thought that was unreasonable. But that's the way it has worked out. I hope I made myself clear, David, rather than doing a lot of talking (inaudible).

那是我們的無能。這就是我們在預測能源價格的能力方面的不足之處。但是沒有人能做到這一點，因為它們是前所未有的，如果在去年年初，你會告訴某人空氣產品公司的電費將從 100 美分到 0.20 美元，我們會認為這是不合理的。但這就是它的工作方式。我希望我說清楚了，大衛，而不是說很多話（聽不清）。

No, very clear. And just for Melissa on Jazan. Melissa, what was the net impact of the transfer of the ASU assets this quarter, the net impact?

不，很清楚。只是為了吉讚的梅麗莎。梅麗莎，本季度 ASU 資產轉讓的淨影響是什麼？

So the net impact was about $0.20.

因此，淨影響約為 0.20 美元。

And we'll take our next question from Kevin McCarthy with Vertical Research Partners.

我們將向垂直研究合作夥伴的 Kevin McCarthy 提出我們的下一個問題。

On Slide 15, you provide a helpful disaggregation of the EPS growth. And as I read it, it looks as though you're recovering the vast majority of the energy cost increases in terms of the $0.04 drag from price net of variable. Then below that, there's a $0.21 headwind from other costs. Can you speak to what costs are resident in that $0.21 number and how you would expect that to trend over time?

在幻燈片 15 上，您提供了 EPS 增長的有用分解。當我讀到它時，看起來好像你正在從價格淨值的 0.04 美元拖累中收回絕大部分的能源成本增長。然後在此之下，其他成本有 0.21 美元的阻力。你能談談這個 0.21 美元的數字中存在哪些成本，以及隨著時間的推移你會如何預期它的趨勢？

Very good question. The thing is that there is a list of about 30 items in there, and we can go through that with you off-line in terms of some of that. Some of that has got to do with the fact that we had some one-off benefits last year.

非常好的問題。問題是那裡有一個大約 30 項的列表，我們可以與您離線查看其中的一些內容。其中一些與我們去年獲得了一些一次性福利的事實有關。

So when you compare this year to last year, those numbers look as if the costs have gone up significantly. But there is no question that the -- our underlying costs are higher because of all of the money that we are spending in the development of the projects that -- the megaprojects.

因此，當您將今年與去年進行比較時，這些數字看起來好像成本已顯著上升。但毫無疑問，我們的基本成本更高，因為我們花在開發大型項目的項目上的所有資金。

I mean each one of these projects takes $5 million, $10 million to develop. As I said before, we have added 3,000 people to our organization in order to deal with that. Now as some of these projects become investment projects and approved by our Board, then some of these costs will go into capital rather than just being charged to the bottom line. But while that is going on, they are charged to the bottom line. They are ongoing costs.

我的意思是，這些項目中的每一個都需要 500 萬美元、1000 萬美元來開發。正如我之前所說，我們已經在我們的組織中增加了 3,000 人來解決這個問題。現在，隨著其中一些項目成為投資項目並得到我們董事會的批准，那麼其中一些成本將進入資本，而不僅僅是計入底線。但是，在這種情況下，他們被收取了底線。它們是持續成本。

So I don't expect the number to be as big as it is this quarter. But underlying, we probably have $20 million, $30 million a year of additional cost because of what we are doing with the megaprojects.

所以我預計這個數字不會像本季度那樣大。但從根本上說，由於我們正在處理大型項目，我們每年可能有 2000 萬美元、3000 萬美元的額外成本。

I see. That's very helpful. And then secondly, you raised your dividend by 8% yesterday. If I look at the EPS guidance, that would suggest potential for growth of 14% at the midpoint. Can you speak to the delta between those numbers? What is the thinking behind adopting a more measured pace for the dividend relative to what you contemplate for earnings?

我知道了。這很有幫助。其次，你昨天將股息提高了 8%。如果我看一下每股收益指引，那將表明中點有 14% 的增長潛力。你能談談這些數字之間的差異嗎？相對於您對收益的預期，採用更謹慎的股息步伐背後的想法是什麼？

Well, again, thank you for the question, Kevin. I mean we thought 8% is pretty robust. You're saying that your dividend is not growing as much as your EPS. But we obviously want to have some cash for growth.

好吧，再次感謝你的問題，凱文。我的意思是我們認為 8% 是相當穩健的。你是說你的股息沒有像你的每股收益增長那麼多。但我們顯然希望有一些現金用於增長。

But there is another measure that we have talked about. This is not how we decide on dividend. We have a lot of factors into that. But overall, we have always said that we want the dividend to be something between 2% to 2.5% of the stock price in terms of our dividend yield.

但是我們已經談到了另一種措施。這不是我們決定股息的方式。我們有很多因素。但總的來說，我們一直說，就股息收益率而言，我們希望股息在股價的 2% 到 2.5% 之間。

So if you take $1.62 times 4 and divide it by the stock price, we are at around 2.3%, 2.4%. So that's another measure. But as I said, that's not the only way that we decide on EPS. There's a lot of factors in terms of cash flow and all of that. But that's -- and besides that, we are way ahead of everybody else in our sector in terms of dividend. So we didn't want to overdo it, Kevin.

因此，如果您將 1.62 美元乘以 4 並除以股價，我們大約為 2.3%、2.4%。所以這是另一個措施。但正如我所說，這不是我們決定 EPS 的唯一方式。在現金流和所有這些方面有很多因素。但那是——除此之外，我們在股息方面領先於我們行業的其他所有人。所以我們不想做得過火，凱文。

And our next question comes from John Roberts with UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀的約翰·羅伯茨。

The -- you mentioned your power costs in China might fluctuate more. Are the merchant contracts in China any different than your merchant contracts in Europe and elsewhere that you might have a harder time dealing with those fluctuations?

- 你提到你在中國的電力成本可能會波動更大。中國的商戶合同與您在歐洲和其他地方的商戶合同有什麼不同，您可能更難以應對這些波動嗎？

I don't think so, John. I mean at the end of the day, this is all a function of the competitive environment and the utilization of your facilities. In China, right now, our utilization of our merchant facilities is at -- in mid-80s. So at mid-80s, if power costs go up, I think we will have the ability to pass that through.

我不這麼認為，約翰。我的意思是，歸根結底，這完全取決於競爭環境和您的設施利用率。在中國，目前，我們對商戶設施的利用率處於 80 年代中期。因此，在 80 年代中期，如果電力成本上升，我認為我們將有能力度過難關。

And I think it was mentioned that pension costs actually went up. It was a bit of a contributor to the headwind. It's going down for a lot of other companies because of interest rates going up and good plan performance last year. Why would your pension be going up?

我認為有人提到養老金成本實際上上升了。這有點助長逆風。由於去年利率上升和良好的計劃表現，許多其他公司的情況正在下降。為什麼你的養老金會漲？

Well, there is a lot of reason because we have a lot more people. We have 3,000 more people that we need to -- people say that, okay, you need to provide for these people and so on. But we don't have too many defined pension plans.

嗯，有很多原因，因為我們有更多的人。我們還需要 3,000 多人——人們說，好吧，你需要為這些人提供服務，等等。但我們沒有太多明確的養老金計劃。

But I'd like to see if Melissa has anything else to add to that. This is a function of actuaries doing all the numbers, how long people are going to live and all of that. You know all of that. But Melissa, do you have anything else to add?

但我想看看梅麗莎是否還有什麼要補充的。這是精算師計算所有數字的功能，人們將活多久等等。你知道這一切。但是梅麗莎，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yes. Thank you, Seifi. Because of where we are in our funding, we are going through a derisking glide path. And that is a portion of the reason that you're seeing that change.

是的。謝謝你，賽菲。由於我們在資金方面的地位，我們正在經歷一條危險的下滑路徑。這就是您看到這種變化的部分原因。

And we'll take our next question from Mike Sison with Wells Fargo.

我們將向富國銀行的 Mike Sison 提出下一個問題。

Nice quarter. I guess given high energy costs, electricity costs and industrial gases tend to be used as sort of an efficiency aid for a lot of facilities, is this environment good for the fundamental demand for industrial gases over the next couple of years? I mean will it sort of spark more bigger -- many projects or just general demand for oxygen, nitrogen, et cetera?

漂亮的季度。我想鑑於高昂的能源成本、電力成本和工業氣體往往被用作許多設施的一種效率輔助手段，這種環境是否有利於未來幾年對工業氣體的基本需求？我的意思是它會產生更大的火花——許多項目還是對氧氣、氮氣等的一般需求？

Well, on -- for that to materialize, we need to get COVID to go away so that the economic activity goes up. And then usually, inflationary environment is a good thing for industrial gases, usually but not always. But we think that if the inflationary environment continues and we are able to increase prices and then if the cycle turns and we keep some of those price increases, that might be a positive. It's very difficult to quantify that right now.

好吧，為了實現這一點，我們需要讓 COVID 消失，這樣經濟活動才會增加。然後通常情況下，通貨膨脹環境對工業氣體來說是一件好事，通常但並非總是如此。但我們認為，如果通脹環境持續下去，我們能夠提高價格，然後如果週期轉向，我們保持部分價格上漲，那可能是積極的。現在很難量化。

Got it. And a quick follow-up in Europe. EBITDA was down about $40 million. Is that the delta that you need to just offset with pricing over the next couple of quarters?

知道了。並在歐洲快速跟進。 EBITDA 下降了約 4000 萬美元。這是您需要在接下來的幾個季度中通過定價來抵消的增量嗎？

Yes. That's most of it, yes.

是的。這是大部分，是的。

And our next question comes from Mike Harrison with Seaport Research Partners.

我們的下一個問題來自 Seaport Research Partners 的 Mike Harrison。

Seifi, I was wondering if you can give a little bit more color on the impact of dual control in China on your Asia volumes as well as the margin impact. You mentioned some plant efficiency and supply chain was also impacted. And then it sounds like maybe the dual control policy is evolving. You said you were watching it closely. So do you expect a similar impact in Q2 or maybe not as bad?

Seifi，我想知道您能否就中國的雙重控制對您的亞洲銷量以及利潤率的影響多說一些。您提到一些工廠效率和供應鏈也受到影響。然後聽起來可能雙重控制政策正在演變。你說你在密切關注。那麼您是否預計第二季度會有類似的影響，或者可能不會那麼糟糕？

Mike, in my comments, I tried to shed some light into that by saying that, first of all, the impact -- there was an impact, but it was not material in the first quarter. The impact was a lot more in the month of October than it turned out to be in the month of November and December. And it seems that the harshness with which the government was trying to implement that back in September, October has subsided a little bit. And as a result, we don't expect any material effect of that on our results in the next quarter.

邁克，在我的評論中，我試圖闡明這一點，首先是影響——有影響，但在第一季度並不重要。與 11 月和 12 月相比，10 月份的影響要大得多。看來，政府在 9 月和 10 月試圖實施的嚴厲措施已經消退了一點。因此，我們預計這不會對我們下一季度的業績產生任何重大影響。

All right. And then in terms of the inflationary environment, as you look at some of your committed projects and the capital associated with them, are you seeing higher costs for labor and equipment, steel, other materials increase the capital costs associated with those projects? And do those higher costs then get passed on to the customer through some change in the base facility charge? Or do they end up eating into returns if your capital costs are higher?

好的。然後在通貨膨脹環境方面，當您查看您的一些承諾項目和與之相關的資本時，您是否看到勞動力和設備、鋼鐵、其他材料的成本增加會增加與這些項目相關的資本成本？這些更高的成本是否會通過基礎設施費用的一些變化轉嫁給客戶？或者，如果您的資本成本較高，他們最終會侵蝕回報嗎？

Well, first of all, when we did some of these projects, we obviously have made provisions for possible inflation and all that. But at the end of the day, it is a fact that some of the costs are going up.

嗯，首先，當我們做其中一些項目時，我們顯然已經為可能的通貨膨脹和所有這些做好了準備。但歸根結底，一些成本正在上升是事實。

In terms of how much of it we can pass on to the on-site customer and so on is very much dependent on the details of the contract that we have negotiated with the specific customers. So I cannot make a general statement. But overall, there is pressure on us to be very diligent to make sure that we stay on top of the cost for our projects and all of that and make sure that they don't eat into our returns, as you alluded to.

至於我們可以將多少轉給現場客戶等等，在很大程度上取決於我們與特定客戶協商的合同細節。所以我不能做一個籠統的陳述。但總的來說，我們面臨著非常努力的壓力，以確保我們的項目成本和所有這些都保持在最高水平，並確保它們不會像你提到的那樣侵蝕我們的回報。

Our next question comes from Duffy Fischer with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊的 Duffy Fischer。

A question around your new segment, the Middle East and India. If you look at the $103 million of EBITDA and you normalize for having Jazan for the full quarter and not changing the JV structure, what would like a normalized EBITDA run rate be for that segment?

關於您的新細分市場、中東和印度的問題。如果您查看 1.03 億美元的 EBITDA，並且您將整個季度的 Jazan 標準化而不改變合資企業結構，那麼該細分市場的標準化 EBITDA 運行率會是多少？

Well, I -- to some extent, you can calculate it in the sense that for the first quarter, you have 2 months of Jazan. So for the next quarter, you have 3 months of Jazan. And most of that cost is Jazan. So you can kind of triangulate that approximately to come up with that number you are looking for.

好吧，我 - 在某種程度上，你可以計算出第一季度，你有 2 個月的 Jazan。所以下個季度，你有 3 個月的 Jazan。大部分成本是吉贊。因此，您可以對其進行三角測量，以得出您正在尋找的數字。

Okay. And then going forward, how variable will that EBITDA number be? Is there seasonality in it? Are there going to be lumpy quarters, where you've got turnarounds and stuff like that? Or will it be in a very tight range, and you kind of just print the same number quarter-over-quarter until you move on from Phase 1?

好的。然後展望未來，EBITDA 數字會有多大的變化？它有季節性嗎？是否會有崎嶇不平的季度，在那裡你有周轉之類的東西？或者它會在一個非常小的範圍內，並且您只是按季度打印相同的數字，直到您從第 1 階段繼續前進？

I expect that number to be pretty stable because it's basically a facility fee. And I don't expect that to change significantly, and our maintenance cost shouldn't change that significantly.

我希望這個數字相當穩定，因為它基本上是一種設施費。而且我預計這不會發生顯著變化，我們的維護成本也不應該發生顯著變化。

We'll go ahead and move on to our next question from Vincent Andrews with Morgan Stanley.

我們將繼續討論來自摩根士丹利的文森特安德魯斯的下一個問題。

Seifi, I'm reading about there's about $9 million in infrastructure grants in the U.S. that are going to come out. Is it fair to assume that you'll be positioning the company to get some part of that for hydrogen projects?

Seifi，我聽說美國將有大約 900 萬美元的基礎設施撥款。假設您將公司定位為氫項目的一部分，是否公平？

We will try for sure.

我們一定會嘗試的。

And what order of magnitude do you think that could be?

你認為這可能是什麼數量級？

I have no idea because it depends on what gets allocated, how much of that will be for hydrogen, where the locations will be, what would be the criteria. I mean we are -- these projects, as you know, there's sometimes a lot of strings attached that some of it might not be acceptable to us and all of that.

我不知道，因為這取決於分配的內容，其中有多少用於氫氣，位置將在哪裡，標準是什麼。我的意思是我們 - 這些項目，如你所知，有時會附加很多條件，其中一些可能對我們來說是不可接受的，所有這些。

So it is very, very difficult to project at this stage because they have just started. We obviously are engaged with the Department of Energy because we have some real hydrogen projects. It's not theoretical. But I have really no visibility into what that number could be or should be.

所以在這個階段進行項目是非常非常困難的，因為他們才剛剛開始。我們顯然與能源部合作，因為我們有一些真正的氫項目。這不是理論上的。但我真的不知道這個數字可能或應該是什麼。

Okay. And just as a follow-up, there was a comment in the prepared remarks about Americas hydrogen still being below pre-COVID levels. Do you have a rough approximation of how below pre-COVID levels you are?

好的。作為後續行動，在準備好的評論中有一條評論稱，美洲的氫氣仍低於 COVID 之前的水平。您是否對自己的水平低於 COVID 之前的水平有一個粗略的估計？

Something in the order of magnitude of about 5%, something like that. Dr. Serhan, do you want to add to that?

大約 5% 的數量級，類似的東西。 Serhan 博士，你想補充一下嗎？

Yes, it is, Seifi. It's around 5% to 10% from about 2 years ago.

是的，是的，賽菲。大約是 2 年前的 5% 到 10%。

And we'll move on to Bob Koort with Goldman Sachs. Due to no response, we will move on to our next question from Marc Bianchi with Cowen.

我們將繼續討論高盛的 Bob Koort。由於沒有回應，我們將繼續討論 Marc Bianchi 和 Cowen 的下一個問題。

The question came up earlier about annualizing the EPS and getting $10. But if I try to take out all the onetime Jazan and the recurring contribution of Jazan, it sort of looks like to me that the second half EPS implied in the guidance is up about 15% to 20% from the first half just in the underlying business, which seems like a big ramp. I know there's some favorable seasonality in there, and you've got some pricing initiatives to recover some of the energy costs. But could you talk to maybe the components of that improvement, how much is seasonality, what's anticipated in terms of energy recovery, those sorts of things? I'm curious for some more color.

早些時候出現了關於年化每股收益並獲得 10 美元的問題。但是，如果我嘗試剔除所有一次性的 Jazan 和 Jazan 的經常性貢獻，在我看來，指引中隱含的下半年每股收益僅在基礎資產中就比上半年增長了約 15% 至 20%業務，這似乎是一個大坡道。我知道那裡有一些有利的季節性，並且您有一些定價計劃來收回一些能源成本。但是你能否談談這種改進的組成部分，季節性有多少，在能量回收方面的預期，諸如此類的事情？我很好奇更多的顏色。

Sure. I mean there is 2 pipelines. Obviously, we go through all of this thing before we give you guidance. And because of what you said, that's why we didn't change our guidance for the year.

當然。我的意思是有2條管道。顯然，在給您指導之前，我們會經歷所有這些事情。由於您所說，這就是為什麼我們沒有改變今年的指導。

But number one, you know the results for the first quarter. We have given you guidance for the second quarter. So you can add it up, and you get to what we expect to make in the first half. Usually, from a seasonality point of view, approximately if you take all of the years, we make about 47%, 48% of our profit during the first half and 52% to 53% of it during the second half. So that is the seasonality kind of a thing that you can take a look at.

但第一，你知道第一季度的結果。我們已經為您提供了第二季度的指導。所以你可以把它加起來，你就會得到我們期望在上半年做出的事情。通常，從季節性的角度來看，如果你把所有年份都計算在內，我們在上半年賺了大約 47%、48% 的利潤，在下半年賺了 52% 到 53%。所以這是季節性的東西，你可以看看。

And then the other thing is that we do expect that we will get ahead of this energy cost in Europe a little bit and therefore, recover some of that. And therefore, the performance of our European sector will be better. When you look at this quarter, actually, the performance of our business in Asia and in the United States were very good. It's just the Europe that hit our results. So if you put the combination of the seasonality and the recovery in Europe, then we have a reasonable chance of doing the guidance that we have given you.

然後另一件事是，我們確實希望我們將在歐洲的能源成本之前領先一點，因此，可以收回部分成本。因此，我們歐洲部門的表現會更好。當您查看本季度時，實際上，我們在亞洲和美國的業務表現非常好。只是歐洲影響了我們的結果。因此，如果您將歐洲的季節性和復蘇結合起來，那麼我們就有合理的機會來執行我們給您的指導。

We'll go ahead and take our next question from Laurence Alexander with Jefferies.

我們將繼續回答 Laurence Alexander 和 Jefferies 的下一個問題。

In your European on-site business, are you receiving any kind of performance bonuses for running at higher operating rates and helping customers be more energy efficient given the high electricity prices that they're facing?

在您的歐洲現場業務中，您是否因以更高的運行率運行並幫助客戶提高能源效率而獲得任何形式的績效獎金，因為他們面臨著高昂的電價？

Nothing that substantial because over there, those customers on our on-site business are obviously paying for the higher energy costs. We are not receiving any special compensation or anything like that. They're just paying for the additional energy cost, and we get our fee -- our contract.

沒什麼大不了的，因為在那裡，我們現場業務的那些客戶顯然正在為更高的能源成本買單。我們沒有收到任何特殊的補償或類似的東西。他們只是支付額外的能源成本，我們得到了我們的費用——我們的合同。

And we have no further questions. With that, that does conclude our question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn back over to our presenters for any additional or closing remarks.

我們沒有進一步的問題。這樣，我們的問答環節就結束了。我現在想轉回我們的演示者，以獲取任何補充或結束語。

Well, thank you very much, everybody, for participating in our call. We appreciate your attention and your good questions. And we wish you good health and success for the balance of the quarter and look forward to talking to you next quarter. Thank you again.

好的，非常感謝大家參加我們的電話會議。我們感謝您的關注和您的好問題。我們祝您身體健康，在本季度的剩餘時間內取得成功，並期待在下個季度與您交談。再次感謝你。

And with that, that does conclude today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

這樣，今天的電話會議就結束了。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。