Air Products and Chemicals Inc (APD) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to Air Products' second 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.

早上好，歡迎來到空氣產品公司第二季度收益發布電話會議。今天的通話是應 Air Products 的要求進行錄音的。請注意，此演示文稿和代表 Air Products 發表的評論受 Air Products 版權保護，並保留所有權利。

Beginning today's call is Mr. Sid Manjeshwar. Please go ahead.

開始今天的電話會議的是 Sid Manjeshwar 先生。請繼續。

Thank you, Sharon. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Air Products' Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Results Teleconference. This is Sid Manjeshwar, Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Treasurer. I am 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. Our earnings release and the slides for this call are available on our website at airproducts.com.

謝謝你，莎倫。大家，早安。歡迎參加空氣產品公司 2023 年第二季度收益結果電話會議。我是投資者關係副總裁兼公司財務主管 Sid Manjeshwar。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；我們的高級副總裁兼首席財務官 Melissa Schaeffer；以及我們的執行副總裁、總法律顧問兼秘書 Sean Major。在我們發表意見後，我們將很樂意回答您的問題。我們的收益發布和本次電話會議的幻燈片可在我們的網站 airproducts.com 上獲取。

Today's discussion contains forward-looking statements, including those about earnings, capital expenditure guidance, business outlook and investment opportunities. Please refer to the cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements that is provided in our earnings release and on Slide #2. Additionally, throughout today's discussion, we will refer to various financial measures, including earnings per share, operating income, operating margin, EBITDA, EBITDA margin, the effective tax rate and ROCE, both on a total company and segment basis. Unless we specifically state otherwise, statements regarding these measures are referring to our adjusted non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliation of these measures to our most directly comparable GAAP financial measures can be found on our website in the relevant earnings release section.

今天的討論包含前瞻性陳述，包括有關收益、資本支出指導、業務前景和投資機會的陳述。請參閱我們的收益發布和幻燈片 #2 中提供的有關前瞻性陳述的警示性說明。此外，在今天的整個討論中，我們將參考各種財務指標，包括每股收益、營業收入、營業利潤率、EBITDA、EBITDA 利潤率、有效稅率和 ROCE，包括整個公司和部門的基礎。除非我們另有明確說明，否則有關這些措施的陳述指的是我們調整後的非 GAAP 財務措施。這些措施與我們最直接可比的 GAAP 財務措施的調節可以在我們網站的相關收益發布部分找到。

Now I'm pleased to turn the call over to Seifi.

現在我很高興將電話轉給 Seifi。

Thank you, Sid, 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 our people delivered another set of outstanding results this quarter, continuing to grow our business in a challenging environment. Our team also continued to make great progress in executing our growth strategy, which is focused on the production of low-carbon and zero carbon hydrogen. I would like to thank each one of our talented, dedicated and motivated employees at Air Products for their commitment and hard work.

謝謝你，Sid，祝大家有美好的一天。感謝您今天從百忙之中抽出時間來接聽我們的電話。我很自豪地說，我們的員工在本季度取得了又一組出色的成果，在充滿挑戰的環境中繼續發展我們的業務。我們的團隊在執行我們的增長戰略方面也繼續取得重大進展，該戰略專注於低碳和零碳氫的生產。我要感謝空氣產品公司每一位才華橫溢、敬業且積極進取的員工，感謝他們的承諾和辛勤工作。

Now please turn to Slide #3, our safety performance, which is always our highest priority. As you can see, we have made significant progress since 2014, but we are always working hard to do better. I want to make it clear that our goal is to achieve 0 incidents and 0 accidents.

現在請轉到幻燈片 #3，我們的安全性能，這始終是我們的重中之重。如您所見，自 2014 年以來我們取得了重大進展，但我們一直在努力做得更好。我想明確一點，我們的目標是做到0事故，0事故。

Slide #4, which we have shown you many, many times before, summarizes our management philosophy which is critical to Air Products' success and will continue to guide our actions as we move forward.

我們之前多次向您展示過的幻燈片 #4 總結了我們的管理理念，這對 Air Products 的成功至關重要，並將在我們前進的過程中繼續指導我們的行動。

Now please turn to Slide #5. Our second quarter adjusted earnings of $2.74 per share improved $0.40 or 17% versus last year despite the lingering economic headwinds in many parts of the world and exceeded the top line of our guidance for the quarter. We have consistently delivered earnings and top line growth driven by both price and volume, which were collectively up 14% for the quarter versus quarter of last year. We also brought new projects onstream that further enhance our earnings. Our roughly $16 billion of backlog with more than $11 billion focused on energy transition will continue to drive long-term earnings growth.

現在請轉到幻燈片#5。儘管世界許多地區經濟逆風揮之不去，但我們第二季度調整後的每股收益為 2.74 美元，比去年同期增長 0.40 美元或 17%，超出了我們本季度的指導目標。在價格和銷量的推動下，我們始終如一地實現了收益和收入增長，本季度與去年同期相比總體增長了 14%。我們還啟動了新項目，進一步提高了我們的收益。我們約有 160 億美元的積壓訂單，其中超過 110 億美元專注於能源轉型，這將繼續推動長期收益增長。

Now please turn to Slide #6. As mentioned last quarter, we have again raised our quarterly dividend this year up 8% to $1.75 per share per quarter, extending our record of more than 40 consecutive years of dividend increase. We expect to pay out more than $1.5 billion to our shareholders in 2023, demonstrating our commitment to return cash to shareholders.

現在請轉到幻燈片 #6。正如上個季度所述，我們今年再次將季度股息提高 8% 至每股 1.75 美元，延續了我們連續 40 多年增加股息的記錄。我們預計在 2023 年向股東支付超過 15 億美元，表明我們承諾向股東返還現金。

Now please turn to Slide #7, which shows our EBITDA margin trend. This continues to be my favorite slide as it shows our business performance over time. We were happy to see our margins improve over the past 2 quarters after the decline which was caused largely due to the dilutive effect of higher energy cost pass-through that increases our sales but doesn't increase our bottom line. We expect our margin to move higher as energy costs decrease while we continue to improve productivity in our base business and add new projects.

現在請轉到幻燈片#7，它顯示了我們的 EBITDA 利潤率趨勢。這仍然是我最喜歡的幻燈片，因為它顯示了我們隨著時間的推移的業務績效。我們很高興看到我們的利潤率在下降後的過去兩個季度有所改善，這主要是由於更高的能源成本轉嫁的稀釋效應增加了我們的銷售額但沒有增加我們的底線。我們預計，隨著能源成本的下降，我們的利潤率會更高，同時我們將繼續提高基礎業務的生產力並增加新項目。

Now please turn to Slide #8 where I would like to share a few thoughts on our hydrogen strategy. We knew being a first mover in real mega projects has its challenges and that novel ideas and approaches are sometimes met with skepticism initially. When we launched the NEOM green hydrogen project 3 years ago, we were the first hydrogen producer to capitalize on the ideal renewable energy resources in the Middle East and the first to recognize ammonia's potential as an effective transport medium for hydrogen. When we announced the Louisiana blue hydrogen project in 2021, we were again first mover to act on carbon capture and sequestration on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

現在請轉到幻燈片 #8，我想在其中分享一些關於我們的氫戰略的想法。我們知道，作為真正的大型項目的先行者會面臨挑戰，而且新穎的想法和方法有時最初會遭到質疑。當我們 3 年前啟動 NEOM 綠色氫項目時，我們是第一家利用中東理想的可再生能源的氫生產商，也是第一個認識到氨作為氫的有效運輸介質的潛力的公司。當我們在 2021 年宣布路易斯安那藍氫項目時，我們再次成為美國墨西哥灣沿岸碳捕獲和封存行動的先行者。

Now the promise of clean energy is a reality. These projects have gained significant government support around the world, and many companies have since followed our lead and want to become a hydrogen company, announcing large clean hydrogen projects and exploring ammonia dissociation innovation. We believe these developments are actually good for the industry because a successful energy transition will require the work of many different companies, organizations and governments around the world. However, as a global leading hydrogen producer, we are confident that our experience, know-how and proprietary assets will continue to capture the first mover advantage and support Air Products' success in leading clean energy and clean hydrogen development for the decades to come.

現在，清潔能源的承諾已成為現實。這些項目在全球範圍內獲得了政府的大力支持，許多公司紛紛效仿我們，希望成為一家氫能公司，宣布大型清潔氫項目並探索氨離解創新。我們相信這些發展實際上對行業有利，因為成功的能源轉型需要世界各地許多不同的公司、組織和政府的努力。然而，作為全球領先的氫氣生產商，我們相信我們的經驗、專業知識和專有資產將繼續佔據先發優勢，並支持空氣產品公司在未來幾十年引領清潔能源和清潔氫氣的發展。

Now it is my pleasure to turn the call over to Melissa Schaeffer, our Chief Financial Officer. Melissa?

現在，我很高興將電話轉給我們的首席財務官 Melissa Schaeffer。梅麗莎？

Thank you, Seifi. As Seifi mentioned earlier, our business performed very well this quarter despite significant macroeconomic headwinds. Price and volume gained 14% and all profit metrics were up double digits versus last year. I, too, would like to thank the Air Products team for their continued outstanding efforts.

謝謝你，賽菲。正如 Seifi 之前提到的，儘管宏觀經濟面臨重大逆風，但本季度我們的業務表現非常好。與去年相比，價格和銷量增長了 14%，所有利潤指標都增長了兩位數。我也想感謝 Air Products 團隊一直以來的出色努力。

In March, we were proud to announce the successful issuance of our first-of-its-kind green bond with principal amount of USD 600 million and EUR 700 million after publishing our green finance framework. With these offerings, Air Products became the first investment-grade U.S. issuer to execute multicurrency green bonds on the same day. Additionally, we are very proud to be the first U.S. chemical company to qualified green and blue hydrogen projects as an eligible expenditure category, which further demonstrates our position as a leader in advancing the world's energy transition.

3 月，我們自豪地宣布，在發布綠色金融框架後，我們成功發行了首筆本金為 6 億美元和 7 億歐元的綠色債券。通過這些發行，Air Products 成為第一家在同一天執行多貨幣綠色債券的投資級美國發行人。此外，我們非常自豪能夠成為第一家將綠色和藍色氫項目作為合格支出類別的美國化學公司，這進一步證明了我們作為推動世界能源轉型的領導者的地位。

Now please turn to Slide 9 for a review of our second quarter results. In comparison to last year, volumes increased 6% driven primarily by better on-site activities. Volume has been positive for 8 consecutive quarters. Merchant price is 18% higher compared to last year, the sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit increases. This equates to an 8% price gain for the total company, for which we saw positive price gains across all regions. This partially was offset by a 1% lower energy cost pass-through and currency translation from the strong U.S. dollar, which reduced both sales and EBITDA by about 4%.

現在請轉到幻燈片 9 查看我們第二季度的業績。與去年相比，銷量增長了 6%，這主要得益於更好的現場活動。成交量已連續 8 個季度為正。商品價格比去年高出 18%，連續第六個季度實現兩位數增長。這相當於整個公司的價格上漲 8%，為此我們在所有地區都看到了積極的價格上漲。這部分被強勢美元降低 1% 的能源成本轉嫁和貨幣換算所抵消，這使銷售額和 EBITDA 均減少了約 4%。

Despite this headwind, EBITDA improved 13%, and EBITDA margin was 140 basis points higher as strong price, volume and the contribution from the second phase of the Jazan project more than offset higher costs. ROCE climbed steadily, reaching 11.7%, which is 140 basis points higher than last year. We expect ROCE to further improve as we bring new projects onstream and continue to put the cash on our balance sheet to work. Adjusting for cash, our ROCE would have been 13.5% this quarter. Sequentially, volume was up 3% driven by improvement in merchant and our on-site business. EBITDA was up 6%, driven by better volume and equity affiliate results.

儘管存在這種不利因素，EBITDA 還是提高了 13%，EBITDA 利潤率提高了 140 個基點，原因是強勁的價格、銷量和 Jazan 項目二期的貢獻抵消了更高的成本。 ROCE穩步攀升，達到11.7%，比去年高出140個基點。我們預計 ROCE 會進一步改善，因為我們將新項目投入生產並繼續將資產負債表上的現金投入使用。調整現金後，本季度我們的 ROCE 為 13.5%。隨後，由於商家和我們現場業務的改善，銷量增長了 3%。 EBITDA 增長了 6%，這主要歸功於更好的銷量和股權附屬公司業績。

Now please turn to Slide 10 for a discussion of our earnings per share results. Our second quarter GAAP earnings of $1.97 per share included 2 non-GAAP items, which had a combined impact of $0.77 per share. First, we recorded a $0.69 charge for business and asset actions primarily related to our previously announced decision to withdraw from Indonesia coal gasification and permanently suspend the construction of a plant in Ukraine due to the ongoing uncertainty regarding Russia's invasion of the country.

現在請轉到幻燈片 10 討論我們的每股收益結果。我們第二季度的 GAAP 每股收益為 1.97 美元，其中包括 2 個非 GAAP 項目，其綜合影響為每股 0.77 美元。首先，由於俄羅斯入侵該國的持續不確定性，我們記錄了 0.69 美元的業務和資產行動費用，這主要與我們之前宣布的退出印度尼西亞煤炭氣化和永久暫停在烏克蘭建設一家工廠的決定有關。

Secondly, the non-service components of our defined benefit plans resulted in an $0.08 cost this year versus a $0.04 gain last year. Excluding the non-GAAP items, our second quarter adjusted earnings was $2.74 per share, up $0.40 or 17% compared to last year, driven by strong pricing and higher equity affiliate income. Price, volume and cost together added $0.40.

其次，我們固定收益計劃的非服務部分導致今年的成本為 0.08 美元，而去年為 0.04 美元。排除非 GAAP 項目，我們第二季度調整後的收益為每股 2.74 美元，比去年增加 0.40 美元或 17%，這主要得益於強勁的定價和更高的股權附屬公司收入。價格、數量和成本一起增加了 0.40 美元。

Our price actions more than offset variable cost increases. Price, net of variable costs, contributed over $0.70 this quarter, and volume improvements contributed an additional $0.12. Cost was a headwind of $0.44, but this increase does not represent our new run rate. In addition to inflation and costs related to the execution of our growth strategy, this quarter we saw increased planned maintenance activities, the onstream project costs and other onetime items we do not expect to repeat. Meanwhile, the completion of the second phase of the Jazan project and good results from our other unconsolidated joint ventures in the Americas and Europe drove equity affiliate income $0.16 higher. Our consolidated joint ventures also performed well this quarter. And we shared the improved results with our partners as shown in the noncontrolling interest line. The effective tax rate was 120 basis points unfavorable due to lower tax benefits this year. We still expect an effective tax rate of 19% to 20% for FY 2023.

我們的價格行動足以抵消可變成本的增加。扣除可變成本後的價格在本季度貢獻了 0.70 多美元，銷量改進貢獻了額外的 0.12 美元。成本是 0.44 美元的不利因素，但這一增長並不代表我們的新運行率。除了與執行我們的增長戰略相關的通貨膨脹和成本外，本季度我們還看到計劃維護活動、投產項目成本和其他我們預計不會重複的一次性項目有所增加。與此同時，Jazan 項目第二階段的完成以及我們在美洲和歐洲的其他未合併合資企業的良好業績推動股權附屬公司收入增加 0.16 美元。我們合併的合資企業本季度也表現良好。我們與我們的合作夥伴分享了改進的結果，如非控制利益線所示。由於今年的稅收優惠減少，實際稅率為 120 個基點。我們仍然預計 2023 財年的有效稅率為 19% 至 20%。

Now please turn to Slide 11. Our distributable cash flow continued to improve, driven by growing EBITDA and stable cash expenses, including interest, cash tax and maintenance CapEx. Over the last 12 months, we generated about $3.2 billion of distributable cash flow or over $14 per share. From our distributable cash flow, we paid over 45% or $1.4 billion as dividends to our shareholders while maintaining more than $1.7 billion to invest for growth. Our ability to grow cash flow, especially in challenging conditions, demonstrates the strength and stability of our business, which enables us to continue creating shareholder value by increasing dividends and deploying capital for our high-return projects.

現在請轉到幻燈片 11。在不斷增長的 EBITDA 和穩定的現金支出（包括利息、現金稅和維護資本支出）的推動下，我們的可分配現金流繼續改善。在過去 12 個月中，我們產生了約 32 億美元的可分配現金流或每股超過 14 美元。從我們的可分配現金流中，我們向股東支付了超過 45% 或 14 億美元的股息，同時保持超過 17 億美元用於增長投資。我們增加現金流的能力，尤其是在充滿挑戰的條件下，證明了我們業務的實力和穩定性，這使我們能夠通過增加股息和為高回報項目部署資本來繼續創造股東價值。

Slide 12 provides an update of our capital deployment. Our capital deployment potential through fiscal 2027 remained stable at roughly $35 billion, which includes over $7 billion of cash and additional debt capacity available today, about $15 billion we expect to be available by 2027 and $13 billion already spent. We still believe this capacity is conservative given the potential for additional EBITDA growth, which would generate additional cash flow and additional borrowing capacity. As always, we continue to focus on managing our debt balance to maintain our current targeted A/A2 rating.

幻燈片 12 提供了我們資本部署的最新情況。到 2027 財年，我們的資本部署潛力保持穩定，約為 350 億美元，其中包括超過 70 億美元的現金和目前可用的額外債務能力，我們預計到 2027 年將可用的約 150 億美元和已經支出的 130 億美元。我們仍然認為，考慮到 EBITDA 額外增長的潛力，這將產生額外的現金流和額外的借貸能力，這種能力是保守的。一如既往，我們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。

We have adjusted our backlog to reflect our recent developments, including the successful completion of our second phase of the Jazan project, the lower equity contribution for NEOM expected from the finalization of the project financing and our withdrawal from coal gasification in Indonesia. Our current backlog of about $16 billion will provide a substantial amount of growth in the future, and we are looking to add additional projects. We have already spent 37% and committed 17% of the updated capacity we show on this slide. We have made great progress and still has substantial investment capacity remaining to invest in high-return projects. We believe that investing in these high-return projects is the best way to create shareholder value for the long run. We continue to evaluate our capital deployment options and determine the best way to use the available cash entrusted to us by our shareholders.

我們調整了我們的積壓訂單以反映我們最近的發展，包括我們 Jazan 項目第二階段的成功完成、項目融資完成後預期對 NEOM 的較低股權貢獻以及我們退出印度尼西亞的煤氣化。我們目前約 160 億美元的積壓訂單將在未來提供大量增長，我們正在尋求增加更多項目。我們已經花費了 37% 並承諾了我們在這張幻燈片上顯示的更新容量的 17%。我們已經取得了長足的進步，並且仍有大量的投資能力可以投資於高回報項目。我們認為，投資這些高回報項目是為股東創造長期價值的最佳方式。我們繼續評估我們的資本配置方案，並確定使用股東委託給我們的可用現金的最佳方式。

Now to begin the review of our business segment results, I'll turn the call over to Dr. Serhan.

現在開始審查我們的業務部門結果，我將把電話轉給 Serhan 博士。

Thank you, Melissa. During the second quarter, we saw broad-based improvements across our businesses. Results improved in each of our regional segments versus last year, driven by strong price and volume. Our commercial teams around the world worked hard to make sure that realize the value of our offerings. And we successfully brought in new projects onstream to help drive our results. We saw elevated planned maintenance activity due to customer turnarounds in multiple regions, but our volumes again improved this quarter.

謝謝你，梅麗莎。在第二季度，我們看到了我們業務的廣泛改進。在強勁的價格和銷量的推動下，我們每個區域部門的業績都比去年有所改善。我們在世界各地的商業團隊努力工作，以確保實現我們產品的價值。我們成功地引入了新項目來幫助推動我們的成果。由於多個地區的客戶周轉，我們看到計劃維護活動有所增加，但本季度我們的數量再次增加。

In addition to energy transition-related investment, we see significant investment opportunities of various project sizes in our base business. We continue to win our fair share of traditional projects across the regions and in various industries. Our small to midsized project activities in Asia were particularly robust. We continue to see strength in our small to midsized on-site business globally.

除了與能源轉型相關的投資外，我們還在基礎業務中看到了各種項目規模的重要投資機會。我們繼續贏得跨地區和各行業的傳統項目的公平份額。我們在亞洲的中小型項目活動特別活躍。我們繼續看到全球中小型現場業務的實力。

Now please turn to Slide 13 for a review of our Americas segment results. Compared to last year, Americas EBITDA was up 14%, supported by higher price and volume. Merchant price improved 21%, the third quarter in a row that we exceeded a 20% increase. On-site volumes were up on a strong hydrogen demand. EBITDA margin of 37% was roughly flat as positive price offset higher costs largely driven by higher planned maintenance activity, inflation and other onetime items. Sequentially, EBITDA was flat as favorable price and equity affiliate income offset higher costs.

現在請轉到幻燈片 13 查看我們的美洲分部結果。與去年相比，美洲地區的 EBITDA 增長了 14%，這得益於更高的價格和銷量。商品價格上漲 21%，連續第三個季度漲幅超過 20%。由於對氫氣的強勁需求，現場產量有所增加。 37% 的 EBITDA 利潤率大致持平，因為積極的價格抵消了主要由更高的計劃維護活動、通貨膨脹和其他一次性項目驅動的更高成本。由於優惠的價格和股權附屬公司收入抵消了較高的成本，EBITDA 環比持平。

Additionally, we also enjoyed successes in larger traditional projects. Yesterday, we announced 2 new world-scale carbon monoxide projects in Texas with secured long-term off-take contracts from Eastman and LyondellBasell. This project will expand our world's largest carbon monoxide pipeline network in the U.S. Gulf Coast and enhance supplier reliability to our customers. We are committed to our base business while pursuing our growth strategy in low- and zero-carbon hydrogen.

此外，我們還在大型傳統項目中取得了成功。昨天，我們在德克薩斯州宣布了 2 個新的世界級一氧化碳項目，並與 Eastman 和 LyondellBasell 簽訂了長期承購合同。該項目將擴建我們位於美國墨西哥灣沿岸的世界上最大的一氧化碳管道網絡，並提高供應商對我們客戶的可靠性。我們致力於我們的基礎業務，同時追求我們在低碳和零碳氫方面的增長戰略。

Please turn to Slide 14 for a review of our Asia segment results. Our results in Asia improved despite the lingering effect of COVID-19 in certain parts of China and higher energy costs. Compared to last year, EBITDA was up almost 10% despite a 7% negative currency impact. Merchant price improved to 12%, which more than offset higher variable costs. Volume improved 7% driven by better on site, including the addition of over 13 new assets in the past year, mostly in electronics, glass and chemical applications. Sequentially, Volume was flat as the new assets offset the seasonal Lunar New Year slowdown.

請轉到幻燈片 14 查看我們的亞洲分部業績。儘管 COVID-19 在中國某些地區的影響揮之不去且能源成本更高，但我們在亞洲的業績有所改善。與去年相比，EBITDA 增長了近 10%，儘管受到 7% 的負面匯率影響。商家價格上漲至 12%，足以抵消較高的可變成本。在現場改善的推動下，銷量增長了 7%，包括在過去一年中增加了超過 13 項新資產，主要是在電子、玻璃和化學應用領域。由於新資產抵消了農曆新年的季節性放緩，因此成交量持平。

Now please turn to Slide 15 for a review of our Europe segment results. For Europe, compared to last year, the story is price. And nearly 20% gain in merchant pricing drove the region's profits and margins significantly higher. This is the sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit merchant price gain for the region. Additionally, on-site activities backed up as we saw a recovery in our hydrogen volumes. EBITDA increased more than 30%, while EBITDA margin was more than 750 basis points higher as energy costs continue to come down. Sequentially, EBITDA was higher driven by favorable volume and equity affiliate income. EBITDA margin also improved, driven by the higher volumes and equity affiliate income as well as the lower energy cost pass-through.

現在請轉到幻燈片 15 以查看我們歐洲部分的結果。對於歐洲，與去年相比，問題在於價格。商家定價近 20% 的漲幅顯著提高了該地區的利潤和利潤率。這是該地區連續第六個季度實現兩位數的商戶價格增長。此外，隨著我們看到氫氣量的恢復，現場活動得到了支持。 EBITDA 增長超過 30%，而隨著能源成本持續下降，EBITDA 利潤率高出 750 個基點以上。因此，EBITDA 較高的原因是有利的銷量和股權附屬公司收入。 EBITDA 利潤率也有所提高，這得益於銷量和股權附屬公司收入的增加以及較低的能源成本轉嫁。

Now please turn to Slide 16 for a review of our Middle East and India segment results. Stronger base volume increased sales but higher maintenance activity negatively impacted operating income. The second phase of Jazan project, which we closed in mid-January, added to our equity affiliate income and it drove EBITDA higher. Both the first and second phases of Jazan project have contributed as we expected, consistent with our commitment.

現在請轉到幻燈片 16，回顧我們的中東和印度分部業績。強勁的基礎銷量增加了銷售額，但較高的維護活動對營業收入產生了負面影響。我們於 1 月中旬關閉的 Jazan 項目二期增加了我們的股權附屬公司收入，並推高了 EBITDA。 Jazan項目一期和二期的貢獻都達到了我們的預期，符合我們的承諾。

Please turn to Slide 17 for our Corporate and Other segment results. This segment includes our sale of equipment businesses as well as our centrally managed functions and corporate costs. The sales and profit for our Corporate and Other segment were lower this quarter, driven by a lower contribution from our sale of equipment business, and higher cost as we continue to add resources to support our growth strategy. Customers are very interested in our LNG technology and equipment, and we are pleased to see that our work resulted in 4 project wins recently. We announced 2 significant LNG sale of equipment projects and we look forward to making additional announcements in the future.

請轉到幻燈片 17 了解我們的公司和其他部門的業績。該部門包括我們的設備業務銷售以及我們集中管理的職能和企業成本。本季度我們的公司和其他部門的銷售額和利潤較低，這是由於我們的設備銷售業務的貢獻減少以及我們繼續增加資源以支持我們的增長戰略而導致的成本增加所致。客戶對我們的液化天然氣技術和設備非常感興趣，我們很高興看到我們的工作最近贏得了4個項目。我們宣布了 2 個重要的 LNG 設備銷售項目，我們期待在未來發布更多公告。

As Seifi and Melissa have already mentioned, the outstanding results of this quarter are a testament of the resilience to our business and the hard work and commitment of our people around the world. I would like now to turn the call back over to Seifi to provide his closing remarks. Seifi?

正如 Seifi 和 Melissa 已經提到的那樣，本季度的出色業績證明了我們業務的韌性以及我們全球員工的辛勤工作和承諾。我現在想將電話轉回給 Seifi 以提供他的結束語。賽菲？

Thank you, Dr. Serhan. Now please turn to Slide #18. Our second quarter results exceeded our previous guidance. However, the outlook for the global economy as a whole remains uncertain. Therefore, we have modestly raised our fiscal year 2023 guidance to $11.30 to $11.50 per share versus $11.20 to $11.50 announced last quarter.

謝謝你，Serhan 博士。現在請轉到幻燈片#18。我們第二季度的業績超出了我們之前的指導。然而，全球經濟整體前景仍不明朗。因此，我們已將 2023 財年的指引小幅上調至每股 11.30 美元至 11.50 美元，而上一季度公佈的價格為 11.20 美元至 11.50 美元。

For the third quarter of fiscal year 2023, our earnings per share guidance is $2.85 to $2.95, up 10% to 14% over last year. We still see our CapEx at around $5 billion to $5.5 billion for this year, including the approximately $1 billion that we paid for the second phase of the Jazan project.

對於 2023 財年第三季度，我們的每股收益指引為 2.85 美元至 2.95 美元，比去年同期增長 10% 至 14%。我們今年的資本支出仍然在 50 億至 55 億美元左右，包括我們為 Jazan 項目第二階段支付的約 10 億美元。

Now please turn to Slide #19. Air Products was, 80 years ago, the pioneer of the on-site business model, and we were also the first to develop the on-site hydrogen business. Now we are again spearheading the development of large low-carbon intensity hydrogen projects to address the enormous opportunities provided by the energy transition. This drive to lead is part of our culture and shared by our people who have the courage to lead the charge. As I have mentioned many times, the long-term competitive advantage of an enterprise is rooted in the commitment and motivation of its people. This principle has been clearly demonstrated by our past and the leaders into the future. It is our people and their commitment and motivation.

現在請轉到幻燈片#19。 80 年前，Air Products 是現場商業模式的先驅，我們也是第一個開發現場氫氣業務的公司。現在，我們再次帶頭開發大型低碳氫能項目，以應對能源轉型帶來的巨大機遇。這種領導的動力是我們文化的一部分，並為我們勇於領導的員工所共有。正如我多次提到的，企業的長期競爭優勢植根於其員工的承諾和動力。我們的過去和未來的領導人都清楚地證明了這一原則。這是我們的員工以及他們的承諾和動力。

Now we are very pleased to answer your questions. Operator, we are ready for questions.

現在我們很高興回答您的問題。接線員，我們準備好提問了。

(Operator Instructions) We'll take our first question from David Begleiter with Deutsche Bank.

（操作員說明）我們將從德意志銀行的 David Begleiter 那裡回答我們的第一個問題。

This is David Huang here for Dave. First, can you talk about the merchant volume trends you're seeing high in April and May, maybe by region?

我是大衛·黃，為戴夫而來。首先，您能否談談您在 4 月和 5 月看到的高商戶交易量趨勢，也許是按地區劃分的？

Well, we usually don't comment about the quarter in the middle of the quarter. But in general, I would like to say that we are pleased with the improvement in the economy that we see in China after the Lunar New Year, the Chinese economy gained strength, and we are seeing the benefit of that as you have seen in the last quarter and we should continue to see that in the next quarter.

好吧，我們通常不會在季度中期對季度發表評論。但總的來說，我想說的是，我們對農曆新年後中國經濟的改善感到高興，中國經濟獲得了力量，我們正在看到這帶來的好處，正如你在上個季度，我們應該會在下個季度繼續看到這一點。

In Europe, the volumes remain flat and maybe a little bit down. But obviously, we are compensating that with the pricing action related to energy costs. And in the U.S., you know very well, David, it's just flat. They are not gaining significant amount of volumes, the economy is not growing that much, but at the same time, we are not going into a recession, at least we don't see that yet. Is that good enough?

在歐洲，銷量保持平穩，甚至可能略有下降。但顯然，我們正在通過與能源成本相關的定價行動來彌補這一點。在美國，你很清楚，大衛，它只是持平。他們沒有獲得大量的銷量，經濟沒有增長那麼多，但與此同時，我們不會陷入衰退，至少我們還沒有看到。夠好了嗎？

Yes. And I guess, second, the projects. Just going back to the Indonesia project cancellation, can you give us the background related to that decision? Is that related to the higher coal prices? Was that even a factor in your decision? And then I guess the 2-type project has been delayed for another 2 quarters. Can you discuss what's driving that delay?

是的。我想，第二，項目。回到印度尼西亞項目取消的話題，您能給我們介紹一下與該決定相關的背景嗎？這與煤炭價格上漲有關嗎？這甚至是你做出決定的一個因素嗎？然後我猜 2 型項目又被推遲了 2 個季度。你能討論一下是什麼導致了延遲嗎？

Sure. With respect to Indonesia, I mean, coal prices have nothing to do with these things. Coal price is going up and they increased the price of the final product. The main reason that we withdrew from Indonesia was that we had started the project about almost 5 years ago. The project had condition precedents that had to be met and we just were not getting those conditions approved at the different levels. And therefore, at some point in time, you kind of just can't continue waiting for approvals, and we decided that we have opportunities to deploy our cash at other places, and that was the basis of the decision to withdraw.

當然。關於印度尼西亞，我的意思是，煤炭價格與這些事情無關。煤炭價格上漲，他們提高了最終產品的價格。我們退出印度尼西亞的主要原因是我們大約在 5 年前就開始了這個項目。該項目有必須滿足的先決條件，而我們只是沒有在不同級別批准這些條件。因此，在某個時間點，你有點不能繼續等待批准，我們決定我們有機會在其他地方部署我們的現金，這是撤回決定的基礎。

I hope the investors give us the benefit of the fact that we are flexible. We are not -- we react to the circumstances. And we can't keep millions, billions of dollars of Air Products money sitting somewhere for a long time without getting an income for it. And therefore, we decided to deploy the capital at other places around the world, and you will hear about where we are deploying it in the future.

我希望投資者能從我們的靈活性中獲益。我們不是 - 我們對情況做出反應。我們不能將數百萬、數十億美元的 Air Products 資金長期擱置在某個地方而不從中獲得收入。因此，我們決定將資金部署在世界其他地方，你會聽到我們未來部署資金的地方。

The second comment with respect to Jiutai, we have completed the facility on time. But like any on-site business that you're very familiar with, the customer has to give us utilities and provide this raw material for us to get it started. The customer is having some issues with doing that, and that is why we are delaying [2] quarters.

關於九泰的第二個評論，我們按時完成了設施。但就像您非常熟悉的任何現場業務一樣，客戶必須為我們提供公用設施並提供原材料，以便我們啟動。客戶在這樣做時遇到了一些問題，這就是我們延遲 [2] 個季度的原因。

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

我們將轉到美國銀行史蒂夫伯恩的下一個問題。

Yes. Regarding the higher hydrogen volumes in the U.S., is that presumably driven by renewable diesel? And just wondering whether those customers would be willing to pay a premium for blue hydrogen to get a lower CI score? And if so, are you reconsidering whether to add carbon capture on your existing steam methane reformers?

是的。關於美國較高的氫氣量，這可能是由可再生柴油驅動的嗎？只是想知道這些客戶是否願意為藍氫支付溢價以獲得較低的 CI 分數？如果是這樣，您是否正在重新考慮是否在現有的蒸汽甲烷重整器上增加碳捕獲？

Steve, yes, you're absolutely right about the fact that if we can provide the customers that are making renewable diesel hydrogen with a lower carbon intensity, that increases the LCFS credits that they get for selling that renewable diesel in California. Therefore, our customers are asking for blue hydrogen, and we are considering converting some of our existing steam methane reformers, put carbon capture on them and provide blue hydrogen to our customers. In addition to that, as you know, our project -- our big project in Louisiana is all about producing blue hydrogen. So you're absolutely right. Those things will drive demand. We are very excited about that, and it will create a significant opportunity for anybody who can come up with blue hydrogen first. And that would be Air Products.

史蒂夫，是的，你是絕對正確的事實，如果我們能夠為製造可再生柴油氫氣的客戶提供較低的碳強度，那將增加他們在加利福尼亞銷售可再生柴油所獲得的 LCFS 信用。因此，我們的客戶需要藍氫，我們正在考慮改造我們現有的一些蒸汽甲烷重整裝置，在其上進行碳捕集，並為我們的客戶提供藍氫。除此之外，正如你所知，我們的項目——我們在路易斯安那州的大項目都是關於生產藍色氫的。所以你是絕對正確的。這些東西將推動需求。我們對此感到非常興奮，這將為任何能夠首先提出藍色氫的人創造一個重要的機會。那就是空氣產品公司。

And can you provide more granularity on what drove the $0.44 drag in other costs? It seems as if this was primarily in the Americas, it looks to be more than $100 million year-over-year. What is in that? And what is your outlook for it?

您能否更詳細地說明導致 0.44 美元拖累其他成本的原因？似乎這主要是在美洲，看起來年增長率超過 1 億美元。那是什麼？您對此有何看法？

First of all, it is really twice what it usually should be. And the main reason for it is that we had some onetime items in the quarter, which throw that. It has to do with incentive compensation. Obviously, if the businesses are doing better, the incentive comp that people will receive will go higher, we have to accrue for that. And there were some other onetime items that drove that cost. We expect that to come down to something more like $0.20, $0.22 that it has been in the past. And that is driven by the fact that we are investing in the future projects and a lot of the cost -- those development costs, we cannot capitalize and therefore, that number will be with us. We have to compensate a bit productivity and other measures.

首先，它確實是通常應有的兩倍。主要原因是我們在本季度有一些一次性物品，這些物品會扔掉它。這與激勵性薪酬有關。顯然，如果企業做得更好，人們將獲得的激勵補償會更高，我們必須為此積累。還有一些其他的一次性物品推動了這一成本。我們預計它會下降到更像過去的 0.20 美元，0.22 美元。這是因為我們正在投資未來的項目和大量成本——那些開發成本，我們無法資本化，因此，這個數字將與我們同在。我們必須補償一點生產力和其他措施。

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

我們將轉到 BMO Capital Markets 的 John McNulty 的下一個問題。

So Seifi, you guys had put out some really cheap green bonds. It looked like it was like 4% to 4.8%, so almost in line with treasuries. I guess when we think about the cost to borrow for green and blue hydrogen projects, is this kind of a reasonable baseline to be thinking about? And does it make you think about potentially putting some of these projects into more of a project finance mode in North America? How should we be thinking about that?

所以 Seifi，你們發行了一些非常便宜的綠色債券。看起來好像是 4% 到 4.8%，幾乎與美國國債持平。我想當我們考慮綠色和藍色氫項目的借貸成本時，這種合理的基準是否值得考慮？它是否讓您考慮可能將其中一些項目置於北美更多的項目融資模式中？我們應該如何思考？

Well, first of all, John, hope all is well. John, you are absolutely making very, very appropriate and correct statements. We were very pleased with the interest rate that we got for the green bonds. It took us only 1 day to raise the $1.1 billion, which means that there is a lot of demand for that. And it does encourage us to look for project finance on lot of our projects. And that will increase the firing power that Air Products in terms of doing more and more of these big projects. So we are very happy about that. And obviously, at the end of the day, the interest rate that we pay, that would depend on what the federal reserve does. But right now, as you said, we borrowed almost -- closest to treasuries, which is very good news for us, and we are very happy about that. And you are very right, it will help us significantly in financing the projects in the future and doing more of this.

嗯，首先，約翰，希望一切都好。約翰，你絕對是在做出非常、非常恰當和正確的陳述。我們對綠色債券的利率感到非常滿意。我們只用了 1 天就籌集了 11 億美元，這意味著對此有很多需求。它確實鼓勵我們為我們的許多項目尋找項目融資。這將增加 Air Products 在開展越來越多的大型項目方面的火力。所以我們對此感到非常高興。顯然，歸根結底，我們支付的利率將取決於美聯儲的行動。但現在，正如你所說，我們藉了幾乎——最接近國庫券，這對我們來說是個好消息，我們對此感到非常高興。你說得很對，這將極大地幫助我們為未來的項目融資，並做更多這樣的事情。

Got it. Okay. And then the first kind of big blue hydrogen project you have coming up is -- or at least net zero hydrogen project is the Alberta project. I guess can you give us an update on that as to how it's progressing? And also, I know you've got 1 customer that's taking more than half of the product or projects of product. Can you speak to the demand for the rest of the -- of that blue or net zero hydrogen demand or production and if you've largely allocated the bulk of that?

知道了。好的。然後你提出的第一個大型藍色氫項目是 - 或者至少淨零氫項目是艾伯塔省項目。我想你能給我們介紹一下它的進展情況嗎？而且，我知道您有 1 個客戶正在使用超過一半的產品或產品項目。你能談談對藍色或淨零氫需求或生產的其餘部分的需求嗎？如果你已經在很大程度上分配了其中的大部分？

John, that's a very good question. First of all, that project is moving well. We are seeing a significant amount of demand there. We clearly see that we will be sold out of that facility, and we are actually looking at the possibility of expanding that operation to include more. When we announced it, we did say that this is the first phase of a 3-phase operation and we expect to do more there. Considering all of the oil industry in that part of the world and the demand for -- obviously, in Canada, it's a little bit different than in the United States. Canada is moving towards the actual carbon tax. A lot of these refineries actually had to do something. And hydrogen is -- blue hydrogen is the solution. We are in a very good position with our pipeline there, with the land we have there. So we are very optimistic about that, John. Very optimistic.

約翰，這是一個很好的問題。首先，該項目進展順利。我們在那裡看到了大量的需求。我們清楚地看到我們將售罄該設施，我們實際上正在考慮擴大該業務以包括更多業務的可能性。當我們宣布它時，我們確實說過這是三階段行動的第一階段，我們希望在那裡做更多的事情。考慮到世界那個地區的所有石油工業和需求——顯然，在加拿大，它與美國有點不同。加拿大正在走向實際的碳稅。許多這些煉油廠實際上不得不做點什麼。氫是——藍色氫是解決方案。我們在那裡的管道和我們擁有的土地處於非常有利的位置。所以我們對此非常樂觀，約翰。很樂觀。

We'll move to our next question from Christopher Parkinson with Mizuho.

我們將轉到克里斯托弗帕金森和瑞穗的下一個問題。

So obviously, everyone's focusing on some of the aspects of the Indonesia project. But how much of your considerations for the next few years has to do with your increasing ability to bid on blue hydrogen projects and everything that's kind of being brought to the forefront from the U.S. IRA? I mean, from a relative basis, how are you thinking about that capital being used elsewhere for your backlog growth on a go-forward basis, once again, specifically geared towards the U.S.?

很明顯，每個人都在關注印度尼西亞項目的某些方面。但是，您對未來幾年的考慮有多少與您競標藍色氫項目的能力越來越強以及美國 IRA 將其帶到最前沿的一切有關？我的意思是，從相對的角度來看，您如何考慮將這些資金用於其他地方以在前進的基礎上用於您的積壓增長，再次特別針對美國？

Chris, thank you for your question because that gives me an opportunity to address it. When we look at projects, I've always said, we look at the specific project, the viability of the project and the profitability of the project. If there is a very, very profitable project that makes sense for us to do in another part of the world, we will look at it and we will do some of those things. But there is no question that the IRA has created a significant opportunity for hydrogen in the United States, especially blue and green hydrogen. Air Products is the leader on that. And therefore, I expect a significant part -- a significant part of our investments in the future will be in the U.S. because definitely we are building a green hydrogen facility in Northern Texas that we've announced. We definitely need to be -- there's another giga green hydrogen project in the United States because of the demand.

克里斯，謝謝你的問題，因為這給了我一個解決這個問題的機會。當我們看項目時，我總是說，我們看的是具體項目、項目的可行性和項目的盈利能力。如果有一個非常非常有利可圖的項目對我們來說在世界的另一個地方做是有意義的，我們就會研究它，我們會做一些這樣的事情。但毫無疑問，IRA 在美國為氫創造了一個重要的機會，尤其是藍氫和綠氫。 Air Products 是這方面的領導者。因此，我預計我們未來投資的很大一部分將在美國進行，因為我們肯定會在德克薩斯州北部建設我們已經宣布的綠色氫設施。我們絕對需要 - 由於需求，美國還有另一個千兆綠色氫氣項目。

There are significant opportunities for blue hydrogen in the United States that can be realized because there is possibility of sequestration of the Gulf Coast of the United States. So the -- and natural gas prices are cheap because for blue hydrogen production that we can easily make it and then export it. Therefore, we are very bullish about that. We are very excited about that. And IRA is designed to promote investment in the United States. That is going to happen, and we will be a big participant on that. So I mean, I can't give you exactly the book in the next 5 years, 80% of our investment will be in the U.S., but it will be a substantial part of it. But at the same time, if there are other interesting projects, as I was telling John McNulty a few minutes ago, with the increased ability to project finance some of these, we will do projects in other parts of the world if they are interesting and lead us to further growth in other parts of the world.

美國的藍氫有很大的機會可以實現，因為有可能封存美國的墨西哥灣沿岸。所以 - 天然氣價格便宜，因為我們可以很容易地生產藍色氫氣，然後將其出口。因此，我們對此非常看好。我們對此感到非常興奮。而 IRA 旨在促進對美國的投資。這將會發生，我們將成為其中的重要參與者。所以我的意思是，我不能在未來 5 年內給你確切的書，我們 80% 的投資將在美國，但這將是其中很大一部分。但與此同時，如果有其他有趣的項目，正如我幾分鐘前告訴 John McNulty 的那樣，隨著項目融資能力的增強，我們將在世界其他地方開展項目，如果它們有趣且引領我們在世界其他地區進一步發展。

That's very helpful. And just as a quick follow-up, just on Asia in particular, it seems like things were a little bit more flattish on volume when, I'd say, a lot of us were suspecting that things would improve on a sequential basis. Can you just give your latest and greatest update on how you're thinking about the macro specifically in Asia versus the rest of the world?

這很有幫助。作為快速跟進，尤其是在亞洲，當我想說的是，我們很多人都懷疑情況會在連續的基礎上有所改善時，情況似乎更加平淡。您能否就您如何看待亞洲與世界其他地區的宏觀經濟進行最新和最重要的更新？

Sure. Chris, we have seen significant growth in Asia because of our smaller projects. We did say we have executed about 30 smaller projects. They are not -- they used to be big projects by the old standards, but now we call them smaller projects, $100 million, $200 million, $300 million project. In semiconductors, we have significant additions, in glass we have significant additions and in other traditional nitrogen generators and all of that. So we are doing very well. We are gaining more than our fair market share in that part of the world, and we continue to be optimistic about that part of the world in terms of economic growth.

當然。克里斯，由於我們較小的項目，我們在亞洲看到了顯著的增長。我們確實說過我們已經執行了大約 30 個較小的項目。它們不是——按照舊標準，它們曾經是大項目，但現在我們稱它們為較小的項目，1 億美元、2 億美元、3 億美元的項目。在半導體方面，我們有重要的補充，在玻璃方面，我們有重要的補充，在其他傳統的氮氣發生器和所有這些方面。所以我們做得很好。我們在世界那個地區獲得的市場份額超過了我們的公平市場份額，我們繼續對世界那個地區的經濟增長持樂觀態度。

We'll move to our next question from Vincent Andrews with Morgan Stanley.

我們將轉到文森特安德魯斯與摩根士丹利的下一個問題。

Just wanted to follow up on your intentions to allocate more capital in the U.S. going forward post the IRA. Just curious if you have a thought or a preference towards the structure of those investments, whether they'll be akin to the big Louisiana mega projects or if they will be more sort of on-site at customer projects or perhaps a mix of both? Or if you have any thoughts or preference between those 2.

只是想跟進你在 IRA 之後在美國配置更多資金的意圖。只是好奇您是否對這些投資的結構有想法或偏好，它們是否類似於路易斯安那州的大型大型項目，或者它們是否更像是在客戶項目現場，或者兩者兼而有之？或者，如果您在這兩者之間有任何想法或偏好。

Vincent, it's always good to talk to you. It will be a mixture of those things. As you have seen from our announcements, Vincent, the announcement that we put out last night, those are on-site projects at customer sites. The Eastman project is on the site of Eastman and the other one is on the site of LyondellBasell. So we will do a mixture of both: stand-alone ones where we can feed our pipeline or dedicated ones or a combination of the 2 of them which has been our model and we will continue doing that. The interesting thing is that this increase in demand for green and blue hydrogen is across the board. It is not that one customer has decided they want to do that. Everybody has to do that. Every refinery in the United States has to decarbonize. Every steel plant has to decarbonize. Every cement plant has to decarbonize. Every glass plant has to decarbonize. Therefore -- every heavy transportation has to decarbonize. And the only way to do that is using hydrogen. So that demand will be there, and it will be a mixture of on-site, stand-alones and all of that. So we will be doing all of the above, as they say.

文森特，和你聊天總是很愉快。它將是這些東西的混合物。正如你從我們的公告中看到的那樣，文森特，我們昨晚發布的公告，這些是客戶現場的現場項目。 Eastman項目一個在Eastman的地盤，一個在LyondellBasell的地盤。因此，我們將兩者結合使用：獨立的，我們可以為我們的管道提供數據或專用的，或者兩者的組合，這一直是我們的模型，我們將繼續這樣做。有趣的是，對綠色和藍色氫的需求增長是全面的。並不是某個客戶決定要這樣做。每個人都必須這樣做。美國的每家煉油廠都必須脫碳。每個鋼鐵廠都必須脫碳。每個水泥廠都必須脫碳。每個玻璃廠都必須脫碳。因此——每一種重型運輸都必須脫碳。唯一的方法就是使用氫氣。這樣需求就會存在，而且它將是現場、獨立和所有這些的混合體。因此，正如他們所說，我們將執行上述所有操作。

Okay. And as a follow-up, with all of this activity post the IRA, there's obviously more competition for capital to invest in gas projects of all types. So in sort of the more traditional gas projects, sort of non-IRA-driven, are you seeing better project returns available because of the competition for capital? Or has that not happened yet?

好的。作為後續行動，隨著 IRA 之後的所有這些活動，投資各種類型的天然氣項目的資本競爭顯然更加激烈。因此，在某種更傳統的天然氣項目中，某種非 IRA 驅動的項目，您是否看到由於資本競爭而獲得更好的項目回報？或者這還沒有發生？

I think it will happen in time. Your assessment on that is very correct. It will happen in time, yes.

我認為它會及時發生。你對此的評價是非常正確的。它會及時發生，是的。

We'll move to our next question from Mike Leithead with Barclays.

我們將轉到下一個來自巴克萊銀行的 Mike Leithead 的問題。

First question on Europe. Can you just speak to the improvement in earnings sequentially? It looks like versus last quarter, volume was up 3%, price was down 1% and EBITDA was up 21%. So can you just talk to the big margin improvement there?

第一個關於歐洲的問題。你能談談收益的連續改善嗎？與上一季度相比，銷量增長了 3%，價格下降了 1%，EBITDA 增長了 21%。那麼你能談談那裡的大幅改善嗎？

Yes. The big margin improvement is driven by the fact that when energy prices were going up significantly, at the beginning we lagged it. As you recall, 1.5 years ago, we had a lot of issues with the investors about erosion of our margin because we couldn't keep up -- increase prices fast enough to keep up with energy prices. So now we have caught up with that. So now at the other end of the cycle, energy prices are decreasing and therefore, it gives us an opportunity to increase our margins and make more profit to the bottom line. It's kind of making up for what we lost before.

是的。利潤率大幅提高的原因是，當能源價格大幅上漲時，我們一開始就落後了。你還記得嗎，1.5 年前，我們與投資者就我們的利潤率受到侵蝕有很多問題，因為我們跟不上——提高價格的速度足以跟上能源價格。所以現在我們已經趕上了。因此，現在在周期的另一端，能源價格正在下降，因此，它為我們提供了增加利潤率並賺取更多利潤的機會。這有點彌補了我們之前失去的東西。

Great. That's helpful. And then second, John asked earlier about your next upcoming net zero hydrogen project. If I could maybe take that one step further and ask about the following project. Could you just update us on the current status of the World Energy SAS facility for 2025?

偉大的。這很有幫助。其次，約翰早些時候詢問了您下一個即將到來的淨零氫項目。如果我可以更進一步並詢問以下項目。您能否向我們介紹 2025 年世界能源 SAS 設施的最新狀況？

We are working on that project. We have gotten almost -- most of the permits that they need, and we are waiting for 1 or 2 of them to start actual construction. Engineering is going on. So that project is moving forward as planned, as of right now. Now we have to look at other opportunities and how we can enhance that project. But the project is moving forward, and the demand for sustainable airline fuel seems to be improving. And other people seem to be very interested in the product, so that they can decarbonize.

我們正在做那個項目。我們幾乎已經獲得了他們需要的大部分許可，我們正在等待其中的 1 或 2 個開始實際建設。工程正在進行中。因此，該項目目前正在按計劃推進。現在我們必須考慮其他機會以及我們如何加強該項目。但該項目正在向前推進，對可持續航空燃料的需求似乎正在改善。而其他人似乎對該產品很感興趣，因此他們可以脫碳。

We'll move the next question comes from Josh Spector with UBS.

我們將移動下一個問題來自瑞銀的 Josh Spector。

It's Chris Perrella on for Josh. I just wanted to follow up on the volume impact from all the customer maintenance in the quarter and potentially how that boost volumes sequentially as those customers begin to operate again.

克里斯·佩雷拉替喬希上場。我只是想跟進本季度所有客戶維護對數量的影響，以及隨著這些客戶再次開始運營，這些影響可能如何依次增加數量。

Chris well, we are hoping to see that. And that is why when you look at sequentially in terms of the earning per share guidance that we have given you, you'll notice that if you do the math, they you need to have a pretty decent and robust fourth quarter to meet our guidance of $11.30 to $11.50. So we do expect that exactly what you said.

克里斯，我們希望看到這一點。這就是為什麼當您按照我們給您的每股收益指導依次查看時，您會注意到，如果您進行數學計算，您需要有一個相當不錯且強勁的第四季度才能滿足我們的指導11.30 美元至 11.50 美元。所以我們確實期望你所說的。

Right. And then just a follow-up with the European volume. I know that the on-site had picked up in Europe. Just could you give some more color on what you're seeing both in the merchant and the on-site business in Europe?

正確的。然後是歐洲卷的跟進。我知道現場已經在歐洲回升。您能否就您在歐洲的商家和現場業務中看到的內容提供更多顏色？

Yes. Our on-site business compared to last year is doing better, and our mid-term volumes are kind of flat. Nothing significant to report.

是的。與去年相比，我們的現場業務做得更好，我們的中期銷量持平。沒有什麼重要的報告。

Our next question comes from John Roberts with Credit Suisse.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞士信貸的約翰羅伯茨。

I'll ask just one question here. Where is Air Products on its disassociation technology? And when do you think we'll see the first one of those major projects?

我在這裡只問一個問題。 Air Products 的離解技術在哪裡？您認為我們什麼時候會看到這些重大項目中的第一個？

John, excellent question. We have developed the technology in terms of how to crack the ammonia back to hydrogen. And we are going to -- we are in the process of designing and building one of these. And I expect that in about 2 years or 2.5 years, you will have one of these things at commercial scale operating even before we actually have blue or green of ammonia to put into it. We are going to build it and test it with ordinary ammonia. I'm very optimistic about that. We have the technology, it works. So that's competitive advantage that we have over people, John, as we have talked about before.

約翰，很好的問題。我們已經開發瞭如何將氨裂解回氫氣的技術。我們將 - 我們正在設計和建造其中之一。我預計在大約 2 年或 2.5 年內，您將在我們實際將藍色或綠色的氨放入其中之前，在商業規模上運行這些東西之一。我們將建造它並用普通氨水對其進行測試。我對此非常樂觀。我們有技術，它行得通。正如我們之前談到的那樣，約翰，這就是我們相對於人的競爭優勢。

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。

Maybe a follow-up on the question that John just asked about the dissociation technology. Is that something that you could potentially sell as a sale of equipment for others who are interested in cracking ammonia to get to the hydrogen?

也許是對 John 剛剛提出的關於解離技術的問題的後續行動。您是否有可能將其作為設備銷售給對裂解氨氣以獲取氫氣感興趣的其他人？

Mike, on that one, I think what we will probably do is that if anybody is interested in cracking ammonia, we will suggest to them that we build the plant for them and crack the ammonia back to hydrogen and sell it to them a sale of gas. Even if they have the molecules, the original nitrogen -- the ammonia comes from somebody else. I don't think we will be licensing that at this stage. But I don't want to predict the future. And if there is specific customer who wants huge quantities, we take a look at it. But it is a proprietary technology the same way that we don't license our LNG technology. I don't see us doing that.

邁克，關於那個，我想我們可能會做的是，如果有人對裂解氨感興趣，我們會建議他們為他們建造工廠，將氨裂解回氫氣，然後賣給他們，售價為氣體。即使他們有分子，原始的氮——氨來自其他人。我不認為我們會在這個階段獲得許可。但我不想預測未來。如果有特定客戶想要大量，我們會看一下。但它是一項專有技術，就像我們不許可我們的液化天然氣技術一樣。我不認為我們會那樣做。

All right. And then in terms of energy and power costs in Europe, obviously, they've come down quite a bit from where they were over the winter. But what are your expectations as you start to look at the fall and winter for this year? Are you expecting that we could see another increase or spike in energy and power costs there?

好的。然後就歐洲的能源和電力成本而言，很明顯，它們已經比冬天的水平下降了很多。但是，當您開始關註今年的秋冬時，您的期望是什麼？您是否認為我們會看到那裡的能源和電力成本再次增加或飆升？

If I make any comment on that, it would not be that credible because nobody knows how that will move, right? I don't know. I really cannot answer that question because it will be a very difficult thing to pretend to project what is going to happen to energy prices in the future in Europe, right? It depends on the world. It depends on what else will happen. So I just don't want to pretend as if I know something that I don't. I have no idea, Mike...

如果我對此發表任何評論，那將不會那麼可信，因為沒有人知道它將如何發展，對嗎？我不知道。我真的無法回答這個問題，因為假裝預測歐洲未來能源價格會發生什麼將是一件非常困難的事情，對嗎？這取決於世界。這取決於還會發生什麼。所以我只是不想假裝我知道一些我不知道的事情。我不知道，邁克...

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

我們將與 Vertical Research Partners 一起回答 Kevin McCarthy 的下一個問題。

Seifi, would you comment on the recent and future trajectory of your backlog? If I look at Slide 12, you show $11.3 billion as the amount remaining to be spent on the backlog. I think that's down about $4 billion sequentially. Presumably, some of that's Indonesia. But as you redeploy that capital, can you comment on how you would expect that number to trend maybe over the next year or so?

Seifi，你能評論一下你最近和未來積壓的軌跡嗎？如果我看幻燈片 12，您會顯示 113 億美元作為剩餘的金額用於積壓。我認為這比上一季度減少了大約 40 億美元。據推測，其中一些是印度尼西亞。但是當你重新部署這些資本時，你能評論一下你預計這個數字在未來一年左右的趨勢如何嗎？

Go up. It will continue to go up because we are working on a lot of projects, Kevin. And I fully expect that, that backlog will grow, because one of the things that is -- one of the things which is not in that backlog is that we have put 0 amount for the green hydrogen project that we are doing in Northern Texas. And obviously, we will not put it in our backlog until we get cleared -- get the permits and so on. But that by itself is a significant amount.

上。它會繼續上升，因為我們正在做很多項目，凱文。我完全預計積壓會增加，因為其中一件事 - 積壓中沒有的一件事是我們已經為我們在德克薩斯州北部進行的綠色氫項目投入了 0 數量。顯然，在我們獲得許可之前，我們不會將其放入我們的積壓工作中。但這本身就是一個很大的數目。

I see. And then secondly, if I may, with regard to your carbon monoxide projects and new contracts that you announced yesterday, I normally think of CO as a co-product of hydrogen. And so will you get additional hydrogen from the new plant in Texas City? And if so, maybe you can speak to what process and what color hydrogen and the fate of those molecules?

我懂了。其次，如果可以的話，關於你昨天宣布的一氧化碳項目和新合同，我通常認為 CO 是氫的副產品。那麼你會從得克薩斯城的新工廠獲得額外的氫氣嗎？如果是這樣，也許你可以談談什麼過程和什麼顏色的氫以及這些分子的命運？

Well, that is a very good question. We did put out the announcement because we are obviously transparent and we want you to know what we're doing. But the other end, there's a lot of constraint from the customers about the price and the volumes and all of that. They don't want us to disclose that. But here is actually a very good example of the competitive advantage that the Air Products has, is -- you're absolutely right. It can make CO and then by-product is hydrogen. But we do have our pipeline. Our pipeline is sold out. We do need additional hydrogen, and therefore, we will put the hydrogen in our pipeline and sell it. The demand is there. So that was one of the main reasons that we were able to get those projects. And basically on one of them, we displaced an incumbent who has been there for a long time because they didn't have the competitive advantage that we have.

嗯，這是一個很好的問題。我們確實發布了公告，因為我們顯然是透明的，我們希望您知道我們在做什麼。但另一方面，客戶在價格和數量等方面有很多限制。他們不希望我們透露這一點。但實際上，這是空氣產品公司具有的競爭優勢的一個很好的例子——你是絕對正確的。它可以製造一氧化碳，然後副產品是氫氣。但我們確實有我們的管道。我們的管道已售罄。我們確實需要額外的氫氣，因此，我們會將氫氣放入我們的管道中並出售。需求就在那裡。所以這是我們能夠獲得這些項目的主要原因之一。基本上在其中一個，我們取代了一個已經在那里工作了很長時間的現任者，因為他們沒有我們所擁有的競爭優勢。

Our next question comes from Marc Bianchi with TD Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 Marc Bianchi 和 TD Cowen。

Could you comment on the status of the NEOM project finance? I believe there was supposed to be a dry close shortly after the last earnings call.

您能評論一下 NEOM 項目融資的狀況嗎？我相信在上一次財報電話會議後不久應該會有一個乾燥的收盤。

The dry close has happened. And now we are waiting on what is called the wet close. The dry close is kind of the -- the banks make their commitments. And then the wet close, where we actually receive the money and the commitment, happens usually 2, 3 months after that, after all of the condition precedents has happened and the lawyers have spent enough time to make a lot of money. So that is -- that process is underway. So we have had the dry close, and the process is underway in order to get the wet close done. It's going to take some time until we get there. And when we get there, we'll obviously put out a press release immediately and let you know.

乾式關閉已經發生。現在我們正在等待所謂的濕收。乾燥的收盤有點——銀行做出承諾。然後濕收，我們實際收到錢和承諾的地方，通常在那之後的 2、3 個月發生，在所有先決條件都發生並且律師花了足夠的時間賺了很多錢之後。那就是——這個過程正在進行中。所以我們已經進行了乾式關閉，並且正在進行中以完成濕式關閉。我們到達那裡需要一些時間。當我們到達那裡時，我們顯然會立即發布新聞稿並通知您。

Okay. But still on track versus what your prior expectations were?

好的。但與您之前的預期相比仍處於正軌？

That is correct.

那是對的。

The other question I had is, first, a specific question, but also more broad around IRA, with the specific part relates to how the IRS is looking to handle tracking the carbon intensity of electricity that's going into making electrolysis hydrogen. I think there's some uncertainty as to how that's going to happen. And I'm wondering how that might apply to any of the projects you've got either in backlog or under consideration. I think perhaps, New York might have some exposure to that issue. And then more broadly, I think there's some question as to -- are there areas of IRA where there's uncertainty with how IRS will handle things. And then Republicans seem to be trying to dismantle IRA, and I'm wondering if that gives any pause to the project opportunities that you're looking at.

我遇到的另一個問題首先是一個具體問題，但也更廣泛地圍繞 IRA，具體部分涉及 IRS 如何處理跟踪用於製造電解氫的電力的碳強度。我認為這將如何發生存在一些不確定性。我想知道這如何適用於您積壓或正在考慮的任何項目。我想也許紐約可能會接觸到這個問題。然後更廣泛地說，我認為存在一些問題——IRA 的某些領域是否存在 IRS 將如何處理事情的不確定性。然後共和黨人似乎正試圖解散 IRA，我想知道這是否會暫停您正在尋找的項目機會。

Well, first of all, with IRA, you're absolutely right. It's a law. Now it has to be translated into rules in terms of how you apply it. I would just like to make comments. From what I see -- we think that IRA is a good legislation for the world because it promotes decarbonization and addresses global warming. It is focused on hydrogen, which is obviously our business spend. That was the right thing for them to do.

好吧，首先，對於 IRA，你是絕對正確的。這是一條法律。現在必鬚根據您如何應用它來將其轉化為規則。我只想發表評論。在我看來——我們認為 IRA 對世界來說是一項很好的立法，因為它促進了脫碳和解決全球變暖問題。它專注於氫，這顯然是我們的業務支出。他們這樣做是正確的。

Now in terms of what will happen to it and all of that, I cannot comment on the political situation. But specifically, I would like to say that Air Products position is very clear. First of all, with our project in New York, we are getting power from the Niagara Falls, it is continuous power, 24 hours a day, green. Therefore, we don't see any issue with that. But we have been very public that we believe that you can only make green hydrogen and call it green and not faking it is when you can prove that you are doing that every hour, not average over a year and so on because that doesn't make sense. That is the rule that Europe has adopted. And besides that, anything that you make in the United States has to be a product which is tradable.

現在就它會發生什麼以及所有這一切而言，我無法對政治局勢發表評論。但具體來說，我想說 Air Products 的立場非常明確。首先，通過我們在紐約的項目，我們從尼亞加拉大瀑布獲得電力，它是持續不斷的電力，一天 24 小時，綠色。因此，我們認為這沒有任何問題。但我們一直非常公開，我們相信你只能製造綠色氫並稱其為綠色而不是偽造它，因為你可以證明你每小時都在這樣做，而不是平均超過一年等等，因為那不會合理。這是歐洲採用的規則。除此之外，你在美國製造的任何東西都必須是可交易的產品。

So we need to follow the lead that Europe has had in terms of the audit production and measuring it on an hourly basis, prove that you are making green rather than saying, "Well, the sun is shining. I'm making green. But during the night, I'm using the dirty grid to make hydrogen, but we called it green because I made more -- I sold some power during the day to be green." So we have a position on that. We have expressed that position to the government, to the Department of Energy and all of that. So that, we are very public about where we stand on that.

因此，我們需要效仿歐洲在審計生產方面的領先優勢，並按小時進行衡量，證明你正在製造綠色而不是說，“好吧，陽光明媚。我正在製造綠色。但是晚上，我用骯髒的電網來製造氫氣，但我們稱它為綠色，因為我製造的更多——我在白天賣掉了一些電力以實現綠色。”所以我們對此有立場。我們已經向政府、能源部和所有相關部門表達了這一立場。因此，我們非常公開我們的立場。

But you are very right. All of these things do need to get translated into law. But I would like to stress that the projects that we announced, they were -- our project in Louisiana and so on, they're all pre-IRA. So IRA will help. But that wasn't the primary reason we did that. The primary reason that we did that is because we think there will be demand for these projects. If IRA doesn't exist, then the price of hydrogen will be higher. If there's -- IRA exists, the price of hydrogen will be lower because you have the incentive and the customer will benefit from someone.

但你說得很對。所有這些事情都需要轉化為法律。但我想強調的是，我們宣布的項目——我們在路易斯安那州的項目等等，都是 IRA 之前的項目。所以 IRA 會提供幫助。但這不是我們這樣做的主要原因。我們這樣做的主要原因是因為我們認為會有對這些項目的需求。如果 IRA 不存在，那麼氫的價格會更高。如果有——IRA 存在，氫氣的價格將會降低，因為你有動力，客戶將從某人那裡受益。

That concludes today's question-and-answer session. Mr. Ghasemi, I'd like to turn the floor back over to you for any additional or closing remarks.

今天的問答環節到此結束。 Ghasemi 先生，我想把發言權交還給你，讓你發表任何補充意見或結束髮言。

Thank you very much, I really do appreciate that. I would like to thank everyone for joining our call today. I know how busy everybody is. We appreciate your interest in Air Products, and we look forward to discussing our results with you again next quarter sometime in early August. Please stay safe and healthy, and all the best to everyone. Thank you.

非常感謝，我真的很感激。我要感謝大家今天加入我們的電話會議。我知道大家有多忙。感謝您對 Air Products 的關注，我們期待在下個季度八月初的某個時候再次與您討論我們的結果。請保持安全和健康，並祝大家一切順利。謝謝。

This concludes today's call. Thank you again for your participation. You may now disconnect, and have a great day.

今天的電話會議到此結束。再次感謝您的參與。你現在可以斷開連接，祝你有美好的一天。