Air Products and Chemicals Inc (APD) 2024 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.

早上好，歡迎參加空氣產品公司第一季財報發布電話會議。應空氣產品公司的要求，我們對今天的通話進行了錄音。請注意，本簡報和代表空氣產品公司發表的評論受空氣產品公司版權保護，並保留所有權利。

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

今天的電話會議由 Sid Manjeshwar 先生開始。請繼續。

Thank you, Jennifer. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Air Products' First Quarter 2024 Earnings Results Teleconference. This has said 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 Chief Financial Officer; and Sean Major, our Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary.

謝謝你，詹妮弗。大家，早安。歡迎參加空氣產品公司 2024 年第一季獲利結果電話會議。投資者關係副總裁兼公司財務主管 Sid Manjeshwar 表示。我很高興今天能與我們的董事長、總裁兼執行長 Seifi Ghasemi 一起出席會議。 Samir Serhan 博士，我們的營運長； Melissa Schaeffer，我們的財務長；以及我們的執行副總裁、總法律顧問兼秘書 Sean Major。

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. Today's discussion contains forward-looking statements, including those about earnings and 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.

在我們提出意見後，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 上取得。今天的討論包含前瞻性陳述，包括有關收益和資本支出指導、業務前景和投資機會的陳述。請參閱我們的收益報告和投影片 #2 中提供的有關前瞻性陳述的警示說明。

Additionally, throughout today's discussion we will refer to various financial measures, including earnings per share, operating income, operating margin, EBITDA, EBITDA margin, effective tax rate and ROCE both on our total company and segment basis.

此外，在今天的討論中，我們將提及各種財務指標，包括每股盈餘、營業收入、營業利潤率、EBITDA、EBITDA 利潤率、有效稅率和 ROCE（基於我們整個公司和部門）。

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.

除非我們另有明確說明，否則有關這些措施的聲明指的是我們調整後的非公認會計準則財務措施。這些指標與我們最直接可比較的 GAAP 財務指標的調整可以在我們網站的相關收益發布部分找到。

Now with that, 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.

謝謝你，席德，祝大家有美好的一天。感謝您今天在百忙之中抽空接聽我們的電話。

As always, I would like to begin with Slide #3, our safety performance, which is our #1 priority at Air Products. I'm very pleased to share that our employee recorded injury rate in first quarter was 78% than in 2014. And our employee lost time injury rate was at a record roll the best in the industry. Our ultimate goal will always be zero accidents and zero incidents.

像往常一樣，我想從幻燈片 #3 開始，即我們的安全性能，這是空氣產品公司的第一要務。我很高興地告訴大家，我們第一季的員工工傷率比 2014 年高出 78%。而且我們的員工誤工工傷率創下了業界最高紀錄。我們的最終目標始終是零事故和零事故。

Now please turn to Slide #4, which summarizes our management philosophy. These principles remain fundamental to how we manage and grow our company.

現在請看投影片#4，它總結了我們的管理理念。這些原則仍然是我們管理和發展公司的基礎。

Now please turn to Slide #5. I would like to take a few minutes to discuss the results for this quarter. Our first quarter adjusted earnings per share of $2.82 was 7% higher than last year. Our business performed well and we are moving forward. There were several positive contributions to this result that included: strong conversion margins, robust on-site activities in Americas and Europe and higher quality affiliate income globally.

現在請翻到投影片 #5。我想花幾分鐘時間討論本季的結果。第一季調整後每股收益為 2.82 美元，比去年增長 7%。我們的業務表現良好，我們正在向前邁進。這一結果有幾個積極的貢獻，包括：強勁的轉化利潤、美洲和歐洲強勁的現場活動以及全球更高品質的聯營收入。

Despite the year-to-year improvement that I just mentioned, our results diverged from the guidance we have given you due to several items that were not factored in our first quarter 2024 outlook. We have given you a forecast and we are delivering less than the forecast. But again, I'd like to stress that we are 7% higher than last year.

儘管我剛才提到了逐年改善，但由於我們的 2024 年第一季展望中沒有考慮到一些項目，我們的結果與我們給您的指導存在差異。我們已經向您提供了預測，但我們的交付量低於預測。但我想再次強調，我們比去年增長了 7%。

These factors that affected our guidance are, number 1, larger-than-anticipated volume headwinds from weak economic growth in China. We were too optimistic about the performance in China. Second one is lower helium demand in electronics, especially across the world. But I would like to mention that our pricing in helium stays very stable and very robust. But we have -- the volume was lower than we expected. There is a high -- we had experienced higher costs for a sale of equipment project and the impact of Argentine's currency devaluation.

影響我們指引的因素第一，中國經濟成長疲軟帶來的銷售阻力大於預期。我們對中國的表現過於樂觀。第二個是電子產品中的氦氣需求下降，尤其是在全球。但我想提一下，我們的氦氣定價保持非常穩定和強勁。但我們的數量低於我們的預期。我們經歷了設備銷售項目成本上升以及阿根廷貨幣貶值的影響。

With this, let me talk about our revised full year guidance range. Please turn to Slide #6. We now expect full year adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $12.20 to $12.50, which reflects the first quarter events I just discussed. It also reflects evolving geopolitical developments and uncertainties and continued weakness in Asia and helium volumes.

說到這裡，讓我談談我們修訂後的全年指引範圍。請翻到幻燈片#6。我們現在預計全年調整後每股收益將在 12.20 美元至 12.50 美元之間，這反映了我剛才討論的第一季事件。它也反映了不斷變化的地緣政治發展和不確定性以及亞洲和氦氣量的持續疲軟。

This new range is supported by expected positive volume contributions from several new on-site plants and improvement in our LNG sale of equipment business as well as continuing cost productivity that we always pursue. For the second quarter of fiscal year 2024, our adjusted earnings per share guidance is $2.60 to $2.75. We continue to expect our CapEx to be between $5 billion and $5.5 billion in fiscal year 2024.

這個新系列得到了幾家新現場工廠的預期積極銷售貢獻、我們液化天然氣銷售設備業務的改善以及我們始終追求的持續成本生產率的支持。對於 2024 財年第二季度，我們調整後的每股盈餘指引為 2.60 美元至 2.75 美元。我們仍預期 2024 財年的資本支出將在 50 億至 55 億美元之間。

Now please turn to Slide #7. We are proud of our adjusted earnings per share improvement since 2014, and we have delivered on a consecutive basis for the last 10 years more than 10% annual growth in our earnings. I would like to take the time to thank each and every one of our employees around the world for their hard work and dedication and commitment, which has made it possible for us to deliver these excellent results.

現在請翻到投影片 #7。我們對自 2014 年以來調整後每股收益的改善感到自豪，並且在過去 10 年中我們的收益年增長率連續超過 10%。我想花時間感謝我們在世界各地的每一位員工的辛勤工作、奉獻精神和承諾，使我們能夠取得這些出色的成果。

Now please turn to Slide #8. In addition to investing in high-return projects, we believe creating shareholder value includes returning cash to our investors by paying a healthy dividend directly to them. In January, we again raised our quarterly dividend to $1.77 per share per quarter, extending our record of 42 consecutive years of dividend increase.

現在請翻到投影片 #8。除了投資高回報項目外，我們相信創造股東價值還包括透過直接向投資者支付可觀的股息來向他們返還現金。一月份，我們再次將季度股息提高至每季每股 1.77 美元，延續了連續 42 年股息成長的記錄。

We expect to return approximately $1.6 billion to our shareholders in 2024 while continuing to execute hard return industrial gas and clean hydrogen projects that support our customers in their sustainability journey and drive the energy transition. This balanced approach to capital allocation will allow us to meet our capital needs while maintaining our A/A2 credit rating.

我們預計到 2024 年將向股東回報約 16 億美元，同時繼續執行硬回報工業氣體和清潔氫項目，為我們的客戶的可持續發展之旅提供支持並推動能源轉型。這種平衡的資本配置方法將使我們能夠滿足我們的資本需求，同時維持我們的 A/A2 信用評級。

Now please turn to Slide #9, which shows our EBITDA margin trend since 2014. Our margins have returned to roughly 40% since the second half of fiscal year 2023, going a 1,500 basis point improvement versus 2014. And our margins are leading industry margins and they reflect the continued strength of our business model.

現在請轉到幻燈片#9，它顯示了自2014 年以來我們的EBITDA 利潤率趨勢。自2023 財年下半年以來，我們的利潤率已恢復到大約40%，比2014 年提高了1,500 個基點。我們的利潤率處於行業領先地位它們反映了我們業務模式的持續優勢。

Now it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Melissa Schaeffer, our Chief Financial Officer, to give you a summary of our first quarter 2024 results. Melissa?

現在，我很高興將電話轉給我們的財務長 Melissa Schaeffer，向您總結我們 2024 年第一季的表現。梅麗莎？

Thank you, Seifi. Now please turn to Slide 10 for a review of our first quarter results. As Seifi stated, our business fundamentals are strong. In comparison to last year, we continue to show underlying sales growth with both positive volume and price. Overall, price for the quarter was up despite lower energy costs across most regions. Volume improved 3% driven by strong on-site volume, including higher demand for hydrogen and contributions from new assets, but partially offset by weaker demand for helium, particularly in Asia.

謝謝你，賽菲。現在請翻到投影片 10，回顧我們第一季的業績。正如 Seifi 所說，我們的業務基礎很強大。與去年相比，我們繼續顯示出潛在的銷售成長，銷售量和價格均呈正成長。總體而言，儘管大多數地區的能源成本較低，但本季的價格仍然上漲。由於現場成交量強勁，包括對氫氣的需求增加和新資產的貢獻，成交量增加了 3%，但部分被氦氣需求疲軟（尤其是在亞洲）所抵消。

Declining natural gas prices in Europe and North America resulted in 11% lower energy cost pass-through for the company overall. This had no impact on profit but contributed to higher margins. EBITDA improved 8% as favorable volume price net of power costs and equity affiliate income more than offset higher costs driven by higher planned maintenance activities and inflation.

歐洲和北美天然氣價格的下降使公司整體能源成本轉嫁降低了 11%。這對利潤沒有影響，但有助於提高利潤率。 EBITDA 成長了 8%，因為扣除電力成本和股權附屬公司收入後的有利銷售價格足以抵消計劃維護活動增加和通貨膨脹導致的成本上升。

EBITDA margin of 39.2% jumped more than 500 basis points with lower energy cost pass-through contributing to about 3/4 of this improvement. ROCE remained steady at about 12%. Adjusting for cash, our ROCE would have been about 13%. Sequentially, results were unfavorable primarily due to seasonality in the Americas and sale of equipment headwinds in our corporate segment.

EBITDA 利潤率為 39.2%，躍升超過 500 個基點，其中約 3/4 的改善歸因於較低的能源成本轉嫁。 ROCE 穩定在 12% 左右。調整現金後，我們的 ROCE 約為 13%。隨後，業績不佳主要是因為美洲的季節性以及我們企業部門的設備銷售不利因素。

Now please turn to Slide 11 for a discussion of our earnings per share. Our first quarter adjusted earnings was $2.82 per share, up $0.18 or 7% compared to last year due to favorable volume, pricing and higher equity affiliate income, partially offset by unfavorable costs.

現在請翻到投影片 11，討論我們的每股盈餘。我們第一季的調整後收益為每股 2.82 美元，比去年增長 0.18 美元或 7%，原因是有利的銷售、定價和較高的股權附屬收入，部分被不利的成本所抵消。

Volume was $0.11 due to improvements in Americas and Europe, which more than offset shortfalls in Asia and the corporate segment. Price, net of variable costs contributed $0.15 this quarter driven by both pricing actions and lower power costs. Costs at an unfavorable impact of $0.21, driven by higher planned maintenance costs, inflation and our efforts support our growth strategy.

由於美洲和歐洲的改善，成交量為 0.11 美元，足以抵消亞洲和企業部門的短缺。受定價行動和電力成本下降的推動，扣除可變成本後的價格本季貢獻了 0.15 美元。由於計劃維護成本上升、通貨膨脹以及我們為支持我們的成長策略而付出的努力，成本受到 0.21 美元的不利影響。

Equity affiliate income was $0.18 higher due to the contribution of the second phase of Jazan project and positive results from our unconsolidated joint ventures across most regions. The remaining items, including lower tax rate, higher interest expense and other nonoperating expense together had a modest negative 5% impact.

由於 Jazan 專案第二階段的貢獻以及我們在大多數地區的未合併合資企業的積極成果，股權附屬公司收入增加了 0.18 美元。其餘項目，包括較低的稅率、較高的利息支出和其他營業外支出，總共產生了 5% 的輕微負影響。

Before I turn the call to Dr. Serhan, I would also like to thank the people of Air Products for their commitment to the company. I am proud to be working alongside them as we continue to execute our strategy. Now to begin to review our business segment results, I'll turn the call to Dr. Serhan.

在打電話給 Serhan 博士之前，我還要感謝空氣產品公司的員工對公司的承諾。我很自豪能夠與他們一起工作，繼續執行我們的策略。現在，為了開始審查我們的業務部門業績，我將把電話轉給 Serhan 博士。

Thank you, Melissa. Please turn to Slide 12 for a review of our Americas segment results. Compared to last year, price and volume together were up 5%. Adverse merchant price increase of 6%, this represents a 2% price improvement for the region overall. This drove contribution margin improvement. Volume grew 3% due to strong demand for hydrogen. EBITDA was up 9%, driven by strong price as well as favorable volume and equity affiliates income, while partially offset by higher planned maintenance costs.

謝謝你，梅麗莎。請參閱投影片 12 查看我們的美洲分部業績。與去年相比，價格和數量總計上漲了 5%。逆向商家價格上漲 6%，這意味著該地區整體價格提高了 2%。這推動了貢獻率的提高。由於對氫氣的強勁需求，銷量成長了 3%。 EBITDA 成長了 9%，這得益於強勁的價格以及有利的銷售和股權附屬公司收入，但部分被計劃維護成本的增加所抵消。

EBITDA margin was up by almost 800 basis points, driven mostly by lower energy cost cash flow. Sequentially, EBITDA decreased 7% mainly due to seasonality as demand moderated and maintenance activities picked up during the winter.

EBITDA 利潤率成長了近 800 個基點，主要是因為能源成本現金流下降。隨後，EBITDA 下降了 7%，主要是由於季節性需求放緩和冬季維護活動增加所致。

Now please turn to Slide 13 for a review of our Asia segment results. The challenging economic conditions in China and the weak electronics market continued to put pressure on the region. Third to last year, our volumes were flat for the region as higher on-site activity offset lower helium demand. Price did jump 1% as we continued to focus on price over volume.

現在請參閱投影片 13，回顧我們的亞洲分部表現。中國充滿挑戰的經濟狀況和疲軟的電子市場繼續給該地區帶來壓力。與去年相比，我們的銷售量在該地區持平，因為現場活動的增加抵消了氦氣需求的下降。由於我們繼續關注價格而不是數量，價格確實上漲了 1%。

EBITDA and EBITDA margin were down primarily due to the unfavorable helium volumes and higher costs. Sequentially, results improved relative to the unfavorable business mix in the previous quarter.

EBITDA 和 EBITDA 利潤率下降主要是因為氦氣用量不利和成本上升。隨後，相對於上一季不利的業務組合，業績有所改善。

Please turn to Slide 14 for a review of our Europe segment results. Volumes were up 9%, benefiting from better on-site activities, including the new project in Uzbekistan. Compared to last year, merchant pricing remained stable relative to the decline in energy costs, contributing to margin improvement.

請參閱投影片 14 查看我們的歐洲部門業績。由於更好的現場活動（包括烏茲別克斯坦的新項目），銷量增長了 9%。與去年相比，相較於能源成本的下降，商家定價維持穩定，有助於提高利潤率。

EBITDA was up 28% driven by favorable volume, lower power costs and stronger currencies against the U.S. dollar, which more than compensated for increased costs due to inflation and planned maintenance activities. EBITDA margin was over 1,000 basis points higher, about half of which was due to the impact of lower energy cost pass-through. Sequentially, results improved driven by favorable price, volume and cost.

在有利的銷售、較低的電力成本和貨幣兌美元走強的推動下，EBITDA 成長了 28%，足以彌補因通貨膨脹和計畫維護活動而增加的成本。 EBITDA 利潤率提高了 1,000 個基點以上，其中約一半是由於能源成本轉嫁降低的影響。隨後，在有利的價格、數量和成本的推動下，業績有所改善。

Now please turn to Slide 15 for a review of our Middle East and India segment results. Compared to last year, sales decreased due to lower volume, EBITDA improved due to the completion of the second phase of the Jazan project in mid-January of last year.

現在請翻到投影片 15，回顧我們的中東和印度業務表現。與去年相比，銷量因銷量下降而下降，但由於去年 1 月中旬 Jazan 專案第二期竣工，EBITDA 有所改善。

Please now turn to Slide 16 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. Despite higher sales from LNG activity, EBITDA declined due to higher costs in our non-LNG sale of equipment business, as Seifi mentioned before.

現在請參閱投影片 16，以了解我們的公司和其他部門的表現。該部門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。正如 Seifi 先前所提到的，儘管液化天然氣活動的銷售額有所增加，但由於我們的非液化天然氣設備銷售業務的成本較高，息稅折舊攤銷前利潤 (EBITDA) 有所下降。

Our activities related to the LNG equipment and technology business are robust. We continue to have constructive conversations with customers who are interested in our offerings, and we expect our LNG-related projects to improve the corporate segment moving forward.

我們與液化天然氣設備和技術業務相關的活動非常活躍。我們繼續與對我們的產品感興趣的客戶進行建設性對話，我們期望我們的液化天然氣相關項目能夠改善企業部門的發展。

At this moment, I also would like to thank our teams around the world for their effort and demonstrating their determination to overcome the challenges we are facing. Now, I would like to turn the call back to Seifi to provide his closing remarks. Seifi?

此時此刻，我還要感謝我們世界各地的團隊所做的努力，並展示了他們克服我們面臨的挑戰的決心。現在，我想把電話轉回給 Seifi，讓他發表結束語。賽菲？

Thank you, Dr. Serhan. Now please turn to Slide #17. As I always say, our real competitive advantage is the commitment, dedication and motivation of our people. I am proud to see that commitment and motivation in action every day in our company, and I'm very proud of our people. The fundamentals of our existing business are strong and we are moving forward. The short-term issues we have discussed do not change the compelling long-term prospects of Air Products.

謝謝你，塞爾漢醫生。現在請翻到投影片#17。正如我常說的，我們真正的競爭優勢是員工的承諾、奉獻和動力。我很自豪地看到我們公司每天都在行動中表現出這種承諾和動力，我為我們的員工感到非常自豪。我們現有業務的基礎十分強勁，並且不斷向前發展。我們討論的短期問題不會改變空氣產品公司引人注目的長期前景。

Air Products is pursuing a first-mover growth strategy with our core industrial gases business as the first pillar and our blue and green hydrogen projects as the second pillar. Executing our strategy in these 2 pillars with sustainability underpinning both of them enables us to fulfill our higher purpose as a company, which is to help solve significant energy and environmental challenges in our world. That is our highest purpose.

空氣產品公司奉行先發式成長策略，以核心工業氣體業務為第一支柱，藍色和綠色氫氣專案為第二支柱。在這兩個支柱中執行我們的策略，並以永續發展為基礎，使我們能夠實現作為一家公司的更高目標，即幫助解決世界上重大的能源和環境挑戰。這是我們的最高目的。

First, our industrial gases business and technology solutions help customers across dozens of industries improve yield, increase production, reduce energy consumption and lower emissions, in other words, to make more with less, while reducing the impact on the environment.

首先，我們的工業氣體業務和技術解決方案幫助數十個行業的客戶提高產量、增加產量、降低能耗和降低排放，換句話說，即以更少的投入獲得更多的成果，同時減少對環境的影響。

Second, the world needs more energy and wants that energy delivered with a lower carbon footprint. At Air Products, we are demonstrating our leadership position, leveraging our decade-long experience, core competencies, core technologies and our ability to execute world-scale hydrogen projects.

其次，世界需要更多的能源，並希望以更低的碳足跡提供能源。在空氣產品公司，我們利用我們十年的經驗、核心能力、核心技術以及執行世界規模氫氣專案的能力，展示了我們的領導地位。

By producing and delivering low and zero carbon hydrogen at the scale for heavy UG transportation and industry, we can meaningfully contribute to the goal of decarbonizing the world. We believe that the first mover advantage will be substantial and deliver enduring long-term shareholder value, both in terms of return to Air Products and in generating a cleaner future for everybody.

透過為重型天然氣運輸和工業大規模生產和提供低碳和零碳氫，我們可以為世界脫碳的目標做出有意義的貢獻。我們相信，先發優勢將是巨大的，並能帶來持久的長期股東價值，無論是在空氣產品公司的回報方面，還是在為每個人創造更清潔的未來方面。

With that, we are now more than happy to take your questions.

因此，我們現在非常樂意回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) And we'll go first to Jeff Zekauskas from JPMorgan.

（操作員說明）我們先請來摩根大通的 Jeff Zekauskas。

When did the Gulf Coast ammonia projects come on? And is that a meaningful income stream for you?

墨西哥灣沿岸合成氨計畫是什麼時候開始的？這對你來說是一個有意義的收入來源嗎？

Gulf Coast ammonia consists of 2 different parts, one is the hydrogen plant and the other one is the actual ammonia plant. I can comment on the hydrogen plant because we own that and that is sale of gas that is on stream and it's producing revenue. And on the other part, I don't want to comment because we don't own that facility and allow the owners to make a statement on that, if it's necessary.

墨西哥灣沿岸合成氨由兩個不同的部分組成，一個是氫氣製造裝置，另一個是實際的合成氨裝置。我可以對氫氣製造廠發表評論，因為我們擁有該廠，並且正在銷售正在生產的天然氣並產生收入。另一方面，我不想發表評論，因為我們不擁有該設施，並允許業主在必要時對此發表聲明。

In the quarter, there was -- yes, thank you for that. In the quarter, the expense is materially higher year-over-year that your expectations for 2024, you have a large cost-cutting program, maybe losses on sale of equipment would be smaller, there was significant room for improvement, particular line. Is that the case or have things changed?

在本季度，有—是的，謝謝你。本季的費用年比大幅高於您對 2024 年的預期，您有一個大型的成本削減計劃，也許設備銷售的損失會更小，有很大的改進空間，特別是生產線。是這樣還是事情發生了變化？

Jeff, you are absolutely right. That is the case. In the first quarter, our costs were higher because of the sale of equipment issue that you mentioned. And we expect that in the -- as we go forward, that would not be repeated, and therefore, our year-to-year cost will be lower, as I had mentioned to you before.

傑夫，你說得完全正確。情況就是如此。第一季度，由於您提到的設備銷售問題，我們的成本較高。我們預計，隨著我們的前進，這種情況不會重演，因此，正如我之前向大家提到的那樣，我們的逐年成本將會更低。

We'll go next to Mike Harrison from Seaport Research Partners.

接下來我們將邀請來自 Seaport Research Partners 的 Mike Harrison。

I was hoping that you could give a little bit more detail on what's going on within the helium business. Is that a situation where demand is lower or a situation where you guys are struggling to get the volumes of helium that you need? And also which regions have the biggest exposure to helium? It seems like this is mostly an Asia issue, at least in the first quarter.

我希望您能更詳細地介紹一下氦氣產業的情況。這是需求較低的情況還是你們正在努力獲得所需的氦氣量的情況？哪些地區的氦氣暴露量最大？看來這主要是亞洲問題，至少在第一季是如此。

Thank you for the question and that's an excellent question. Number 1, we do not have any issues with having helium molecules for sale. We are actually the best -- we have always been the supplier that has delivered helium to people when they need it. We have a tavern, we have significant production facilities around the world. So we are a very reliable supplier and we have always been.

謝謝你的問題，這是一個很好的問題。第一，我們對出售氦分子沒有任何問題。我們實際上是最好的——我們一直是在人們需要時向他們提供氦氣的供應商。我們有一家小酒館，我們在世界各地擁有重要的生產設施。所以我們是一個非常可靠的供應商，而且一直都是。

The issue with helium is that, number 1, demand is lower especially in electronics across the board and particularly in China and in Asia. And the other thing is that, as I said, we operate on the basis that we want value for the product that we are selling. So we have held on the pricing and whether we might have lost some market share, that is possible.

氦氣的問題在於，第一，需求下降，尤其是在整個電子產業，特別是在中國和亞洲。另一件事是，正如我所說，我們的營運基礎是我們希望所銷售的產品有價值。因此，我們堅持定價，以及我們是否可能失去一些市場份額，這是有可能的。

But we have no issues delivering the product but we definitely see, as I said, a weakness in demand across the world. And in terms of Air Products, in terms of helium volumes, obviously, Asia is a significant part of that. It's not -- the other regions use a lot of helium, too, but Asia is the biggest one.

但我們在交付產品方面沒有任何問題，但正如我所說，我們確實看到了全球需求的疲軟。就空氣產品公司而言，就氦氣量而言，亞洲顯然是其中的重要組成部分。事實並非如此——其他地區也使用大量氦氣，但亞洲是最大的。

All right. That's very helpful. And then my second question is related to your guidance. It looks like the implied guidance for the first half of the year is around $5.50 in EPS and you're expecting maybe something closer to $7 in the second half. Can you talk about the visibility that you have that gives you confidence on a much better second half? And maybe help us bridge the improvement that you're expecting in the second half versus the first half, that $1.50 or so.

好的。這非常有幫助。我的第二個問題與您的指導有關。看起來今年上半年的隱含指引每股收益約為 5.50 美元，您預計下半年的每股盈餘可能接近 7 美元。可以談談你所擁有的知名度讓你對下半場更好的信心嗎？也許可以幫助我們彌補您所期望的下半年相對於上半年的改善，即 1.50 美元左右。

Well, that's an excellent question. Obviously, the guidance is what is our best estimate at this point, right? We can't foresee the world events. But fundamentally, when you look at Air Products, during the years we consistently delivered about 46%, 47% of the year results in the first half and we delivered around 53%, 54% in the second half. So the second half is usually our strongest quarter because of seasonality. So you should take that into account.

嗯，這是一個很好的問題。顯然，指導是我們目前最好的估計，對嗎？我們無法預見世界事件。但從根本上說，當你看看空氣產品公司時，這些年來我們一直在上半年交付了約 46%、47% 的年度業績，在下半年交付了約 53%、54% 的業績。因此，由於季節性原因，下半年通常是我們表現最強勁的季度。所以你應該考慮到這一點。

And then the other thing that we are right now, by giving you the guidance, is that we are expecting that in the second half of the year, some of the on-site projects that we have will be running very strongly, and therefore, we will have a higher income from those. That is our estimate as of today. But how the world will turn, we'll see. But that is how we bridge the gap of why we will be able to deliver the $7 versus the $5.50 in the first half.

然後，我們現在的另一件事是，透過給您指導，我們預計在今年下半年，我們擁有的一些現場項目將運行得非常強勁，因此，我們將從中獲得更高的收入。這是我們今天的估計。但世界將如何轉變，我們拭目以待。但這就是我們如何彌補上半年交付 7 美元與 5.50 美元之間差距的方法。

We'll go next to John Roberts from Mizuho.

接下來我們將請來自瑞穗的約翰羅伯茲。

Seifi, is the weakness in China also related to on-site operations? And maybe you could separate the gasifier business from other on-site.

Seifi，中國的疲軟是否也與現場營運有關？也許您可以將氣化爐業務與其他現場業務分開。

John, first of all, thank you for your question, and I hope all is well with you. There is no weakness in on-site in China. Our on-site business is take or pay across the world, therefore we don't see any issues there. The fundamental issue is on the merchant side and helium and that is related to the economic activity.

約翰，首先感謝您的提問，希望您一切順利。中國現場沒有弱點。我們的現場業務是全球範圍內的照付不議，因此我們沒有看到任何問題。根本問題在於商業方面和氦氣，這與經濟活動有關。

I'd just like to caution everybody on the call that the economic situation in China is not as robust as people might think. As you know, we make products that are used instantaneously. We are a great leading indicator. And things are not really that exciting in that part of the world.

我想提醒各位與會者，中國的經濟狀況並不像人們想像的那麼強勁。如您所知，我們生產可立即使用的產品。我們是一個偉大的領先指標。在世界的那個地方，事情並不是那麼令人興奮。

We'll go next to Steve Byrne from Bank of America.

接下來我們請美國銀行的史蒂夫·伯恩 (Steve Byrne) 發言。

I was just looking at the location of Jazan, and it seems to be within 100 miles of quite a few of these recent strikes in Yemen. And I just wanted to ask, is everything there okay at the plant? Or do you see any access to labor or risks of this issue going on right now?

我剛剛查看了吉讚的位置，它似乎距離也門最近發生的幾次襲擊都在 100 英里以內。我只是想問一下，工廠裡一切都好嗎？或者您認為目前存在任何獲得勞動力的機會或存在此問題的風險嗎？

Well, first of all, up to now, we have not seen any incidents. None of these missiles and so on have been directed at the facility. So I mean, I can't predict the future. But up to now, there has not been any issues. The refinery is running fully. Our investment -- I mean, our performance there is great. I'm very proud of our people.

嗯，首先，到目前為止，我們還沒有看到任何事件。這些導彈等都沒有瞄準該設施。所以我的意思是，我無法預測未來。但到目前為止，還沒有出現任何問題。煉油廠已全面運作。我們的投資——我的意思是，我們在那裡的表現很棒。我為我們的人民感到非常自豪。

We are operating 16 gasifiers, which are the largest in the world for gasifying the bottom of the refinery. And despite predictions for the worse, those things are actually working and we are producing syngas, we are supplying hydrogen to the refinery and we are making close to 4,000 megawatts of power that is delivered to the Saudi grid. So up to now, everything is fine.

我們正在運作 16 台氣化爐，它們是世界上最大的用於氣化煉油廠底部的氣化爐。儘管預測會變得更糟，但這些事情實際上正在發揮作用，我們正在生產合成氣，我們正在向煉油廠供應氫氣，我們正在向沙烏地阿拉伯電網輸送近 4,000 兆瓦的電力。所以到現在為止，一切都很好。

Very good. And can you provide any more detail on the CapEx target for the year, the $5 billion to $5.5 billion. Can you just highlight what are the largest projects within that list? I was just curious whether you're moving forward with the project in North Texas this year.

非常好。您能否提供有關今年 50 億至 55 億美元資本支出目標的更多詳細資訊？您能否強調一下該清單中最大的項目是什麼？我只是好奇你們今年是否會在北德州推進這個計畫。

Right now, in that $5 billion and $5.5 billion, there is not a significant amount of money for the project in Texas because we are in the process of getting the permit and doing the preliminary engineering. But we did spend a few hundred million, but it is not a significant part of the $5.5 billion.

目前，在這 50 億美元和 55 億美元中，用於德克薩斯州項目的資金並不多，因為我們正在獲得許可並進行初步工程。但我們確實花了幾億，但這並不是55億美元的重要組成部分。

The $5 billion to $5.5 billion is mainly going to be spent on our continuing operations in NEOM in Saudi Arabia for our green hydrogen facility, a substantial amount of it will go to our blue hydrogen facility and other substantial amount will be our blue hydrogen facility in Canada and then obviously, our expenditure on the sustainable airline fuel facility in Los Angeles.

50億至55億美元主要用於我們在沙烏地阿拉伯NEOM的綠氫設施的持續運營，其中很大一部分將用於我們的藍氫設施，其他大量資金將用於我們在沙烏地阿拉伯的藍氫設施。加拿大，然後顯然是我們在洛杉磯可持續航空燃油設施上的支出。

And then obviously, we have our maintenance CapEx and about $1 billion a year that we spend on our day-to-day investments, like any other industrial gas business that they don't usually talk about it and we don't put out press releases about how many small projects won because we do win small projects like everybody else. But that is about $1 billion, too. And our maintenance CapEx is around $500 million, $600 million. So $1.5 billion is those and then the rest of it is for the big projects.

顯然，我們有維護資本支出，每年大約 10 億美元用於日常投資，就像任何其他工業氣體業務一樣，他們通常不會談論它，我們也不會發布新聞發布有關有多少小項目獲勝的信息，因為我們確實像其他人一樣贏得了小型專案。但這也大約是 10 億美元。我們的維護資本支出約為 5 億美元、6 億美元。 15 億美元就是這些，其餘的則用於大型專案。

We'll go next to John McNulty from BMO Capital Markets.

接下來我們將邀請來自 BMO 資本市場的 John McNulty。

So we had a question on the dividend hike that you guys announced earlier. It strikes us as kind of smaller than, I guess, what we've seen in the past from Air Products. And I guess the question is, why is that? And is it -- is there any concern from, say, the rating agencies around the comfort with your capital spending? Or is there some change why that hike would be as kind of modest as it's been? I guess how should we think about that?

我們對你們早些時候宣布的股息上調有疑問。我想，它給我們的印像是比我們過去在空氣產品公司看到的要小。我想問題是，為什麼會這樣？評級機構等機構是否對您的資本支出感到擔憂？或者是否有一些變化導致這次升息會像以前一樣溫和？我想我們該如何思考這個問題？

Well, for the past 6 or 7 years, I have always been telling people that I personally believe that dividend should be a percentage of the stock price. And we had given people a guidance that we target, that we pay about 2.5% of our stock price as dividend and we were doing that. But now with the stock price, where it is, and you are talking about now more than $7, it's significantly higher than that. So I don't see why we should significantly increase the dividend when the stock price is where it is.

那麼，在過去的六、七年裡，我一直告訴人們，我個人認為股利應該是股價的一個百分比。我們已經向人們提供了我們的目標指導，即我們支付大約 2.5% 的股價作為股息，我們正在這樣做。但現在的股價，你現在談論的價格已經超過 7 美元，它明顯高於這個價格。所以我不明白為什麼當股價處於現在的水平時我們應該大幅增加股息。

Because the shareholders are getting more than 2.5% from the stock and then 10% growth, then it becomes at least almost a guaranteed 12.5% return if they buy the stock. There is no issue with respect to our cash or cash flow and so on, but -- we also have investors who believe we shouldn't pay any dividend but obviously, that will never happen and we are never going to reduce the dividend. But the rate of increase is very directly related to the stock price, my friend.

因為股東從股票中獲得了超過 2.5% 的回報，然後還有 10% 的成長，那麼如果他們購買股票，那麼至少幾乎可以保證 12.5% 的回報。我們的現金或現金流等方面沒有問題，但是 - 我們也有投資者認為我們不應該支付任何股息，但顯然，這種情況永遠不會發生，我們永遠不會減少股息。但上漲的幅度和股價有非常直接的關係，我的朋友。

Got it. Okay. So it's more about the yield, not necessarily the earnings growth or anything like that.

知道了。好的。因此，更多的是關於收益率，不一定是獲利成長或類似的東西。

Exactly.

確切地。

Okay. And then just as a follow-up question, it would just be on -- I know you mentioned earlier in kind of first half versus second half, there's a bunch of projects that should be running a little harder, running up more or coming on. I guess, can you remind us what projects aren't necessarily fully running in your first half of the year but will be in the second half of the year, just so we can kind of model that out or map that out a little bit better?

好的。然後，作為一個後續問題，它只是——我知道你之前提到過上半場與下半場的比較，有很多項目應該運行得更努力一些，運行得更多或繼續進行。我想，您能否提醒我們哪些項目不一定會在上半年全面運行，但會在下半年運行，這樣我們就可以更好地對其進行建模或繪製地圖？

Well, that one then I'm going to get into disclosing the operational details of our customers, and I'm not -- I don't have the privilege of doing that because of the confidentiality agreements we have. So if you give me a break, I cannot answer that question in detail. Sorry about that.

好吧，然後我將要披露我們客戶的營運細節，但由於我們簽署了保密協議，我沒有這樣做的特權。所以如果你讓我休息一下，我無法詳細回答這個問題。對於那個很抱歉。

We'll go next to Vincent Andrews from Morgan Stanley.

接下來我們請摩根士丹利的文森特安德魯斯 (Vincent Andrews)。

If I could just ask on the helium, what was sort of the surprise in the quarter on the electronic side of the equation? Like so what's really changing with those customers? Is it something in particular or is it just the economy there is decelerating? And are we at the point with it in the electronics piece that you're comfortable that, that aspect has flattened out at a level that you're comfortable with? Maybe we could start there.

如果我只問氦氣，那麼本季電子方面的驚喜是什麼？那麼這些客戶真正發生了什麼變化呢？是有什麼特別的原因還是只是那裡的經濟正在減速？我們在電子產品方面是否已經達到了讓您感到滿意的程度，這方面已經達到了您滿意的水平？也許我們可以從那裡開始。

Vincent, thanks for the good question. Usually, what happens with the electronics industry, and you know this better than I do, is that they run very strongly during the third quarter of the calendar year to make all of the chips and so on which are used for all the toys and everything that people are going to buy for Christmas. And then when that period is over, usually the fourth quarter of the year for the chip makers is slower. That is the general thing.

文森特，謝謝你提出的好問題。通常，電子行業會發生什麼，你比我更清楚這一點，他們在日曆年的第三季度運行非常強勁，以製造所有用於所有玩具和所有東西的芯片等人們會為聖誕節購買。然後，當該時期結束時，晶片製造商通常會在今年第四季放緩。這是一般情況。

And then in addition to that, you do have economic conditions and all of that. I am not an expert in terms of the dynamics of the electronics industry, but I would like to tell you that, that is what we are seeing, that a lot of these people are slowing down. And then the other thing that might be in play is that the helium prices being high, it significantly affects the operational people at the chip manufacturing facilities to try to conserve as much helium as they can or other users. So there might be a little bit of a demand disruption, too.

除此之外，你確實有經濟條件等等。我不是電子行業動態方面的專家，但我想告訴您，這就是我們所看到的，其中許多人正在放慢腳步。另一件可能起作用的事情是氦氣價格很高，它極大地影響了晶片製造工廠的操作人員盡可能節省氦氣或其他用戶。因此，需求也可能會受到一些幹擾。

Okay. And then as a follow-up, in the fiscal second quarter we obviously just had another winter storm or winter freeze in the Gulf Coast area. Are you anticipating that you're going to have some downtime associated with that or customers are going to have downtime from some plants being turned off in preparation for that weather event?

好的。作為後續行動，在第二財季，我們顯然在墨西哥灣沿岸地區又遭遇了另一場冬季風暴或冬季冰凍。您是否預計您會遇到一些與此相關的停機時間，或者客戶會因某些工廠被關閉以應對該天氣事件而導致停機？

That's a very difficult question to answer, quite honestly. That might be the case, but I don't want to predict that, Vincent. I don't know.

老實說，這是一個很難回答的問題。情況可能是這樣，但我不想預測這一點，文森特。我不知道。

Well, I just meant what has already happened, the storm that happened in January. Is that already baked in?

嗯，我只是指已經發生的事情，一月份發生的風暴。那是已經烤好的了嗎？

Yes. Dr. Serhan, do you have anything to add to that?

是的。 Serhan 博士，您還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Minor issues really that happened. We still see very strong hydrogen demand even during that phase.

小問題確實發生了。即使在這個階段，我們仍然看到非常強烈的氫氣需求。

We'll go next to David Begleiter from Deutsche Bank.

接下來我們請德意志銀行的 David Begleiter 發言。

Just staying on helium, Can you quantify the impact of the year-over-year helium profit decline in Q1 and your expectations for the full year in terms of helium profit decline?

只停留在氦氣方面，您能否量化第一季氦氣利潤年減的影響以及您對全年氦氣利潤下降的預期？

David, you're asking a question that we have never answered, that is, we have never really disclosed the details of the performance of our helium business for competitive reasons. And I'm sure you understand that. So I do not want to quantify that exactly. But if you look at the -- when you compare to last year, when we compare to last year, we are still ahead. What we are trying to explain is the difference between what we delivered versus guidance versus last year, we are still ahead.

大衛，你問的問題我們從未回答過，也就是說，出於競爭原因，我們從未真正揭露過我們氦氣業務的業績細節。我相信你明白這一點。所以我不想準確量化這一點。但如果你看一下——當你與去年相比時，當我們與去年相比時，我們仍然領先。我們試圖解釋的是我們提供的內容與去年的指導之間的差異，我們仍然領先。

But we expected -- we did not expect the weakness in helium the way it has materialized. Would it continue in the second quarter and the third -- I mean, in the second, third and fourth quarter of our fiscal year? Remains to be seen. And that is one of the reasons we lowered our guidance because we are allowing for the fact that it might continue. But we don't know for sure.

但我們預料到了——我們沒有預料到氦氣的疲軟會以這種方式出現。這種情況會在第二季和第三季繼續嗎？我的意思是，在我們財政年度的第二、第三和第四季？有待觀察。這就是我們降低指導的原因之一，因為我們考慮到這種情況可能會持續下去。但我們不確定。

Understood. And just on the Alberta project now that it's within 12 months hopefully of start-up, do you have timing of that project ramping up early next year? And how should we think about the earnings contribution throughout the calendar year '25 for Alberta?

明白了。就阿爾伯塔省計畫而言，現在預計在 12 個月內啟動，您是否知道該計畫明年初啟動的時間表？我們該如何看待艾伯塔省整個 25 年的營收貢獻？

David, you broke up. I didn't understand which project you were referring to.

大衛，你們分手了。我不明白你指的是哪個項目。

The Alberta project. When will it come on stream? And how should we think about the earnings cadence post the start-up early next year?

艾伯塔省項目。什麼時候會上線？我們該如何看待明年新創公司後的獲利節奏？

Sure. Excellent. I'll have Dr. Serhan answer that. Dr. Serhan?

當然。出色的。我會讓 Serhan 博士來回答這個問題。塞爾漢博士？

Thank you for the question. We remain incredibly excited about our first blue net zero hydrogen project that's in the construction phase right now. We look to bring it on stream in fiscal year '25, in line with our customary plans. There are no updates in regard to the deployed capital and also the government incentive, we provided that already. So again, we're really fully committed to this asset and things are going well and we're aligned with our customer, IOL.

感謝你的提問。我們對目前處於建設階段的第一個藍色淨零氫計畫仍然感到非常興奮。我們希望按照我們的慣例計劃在 25 財年投入使用。我們已經提供了有關部署資本和政府激勵措施的最新資訊。再說一遍，我們確實完全致力於這項資產，一切進展順利，我們與我們的客戶 IOL 保持一致。

Will it be online for this fiscal year?

本財年會上線嗎？

It's in fiscal year '25, I mean, in the second half. This is really in alignment with the planned renewable refinery.

我的意思是，現在是 25 財年下半年。這確實與規劃的可再生煉油廠相符。

So basically, everything is going well for that up to now.

所以基本上，到目前為止一切都很順利。

We'll go next to Josh Spector from UBS.

接下來我們請來自瑞銀的喬許‧斯佩克特 (Josh Spector)。

So I wanted to follow up just on the guidance and maybe ask specifically, when you talk about the challenges and uncertainty in China and helium demand, et cetera, I guess, to hit your second half, do markets need to improve? Or are you assuming any improvement there? Or is status quo plus what you see coming online enough to get to what your expectations are today for the second half?

因此，我想跟進指導意見，也許會具體問一下，當您談到中國和氦氣需求等方面的挑戰和不確定性時，我想，為了迎接下半年，市場是否需要改善？或者你認為那裡有任何改進嗎？或者現狀加上您所看到的線上內容是否足以達到您今天對下半年的期望？

No, we don't expect any improvement, we expect things to be the way they are. I just hope that things don't get worse because of the geopolitical developments. But we are not factoring any significant improvement in world economy. No, that's correct.

不，我們不期望任何改進，我們期望事情就這樣。我只是希望事情不會因為地緣政治的發展而變得更糟。但我們並未考慮世界經濟有任何重大改善。不，這是正確的。

Okay. That's helpful. And just on the sale of equipment. So when you talk about the increase in cost there, is that cost to execute, is that a material issue, a specific contract? Just thinking about how unique or one-off that is. And when you talk about your LNG wins and you've been talking about more projects coming online or sales in the next couple of years, is that a risk we need to think about with some of those contracts underwater or some other cost issue?

好的。這很有幫助。而且只是在賣設備。因此，當您談論那裡的成本增加時，執行成本是一個重大問題還是一個特定的合約？只是想想這是多麼獨特或一次性的。當您談論液化天然氣項目的勝利時，您一直在談論未來幾年將有更多項目上線或銷售，我們是否需要考慮其中一些合約的風險或其他一些成本問題？

If I may answer the second part, the LNG thing, we expect -- the projects that you're talking about are the projects which are already under execution and we have won. So the risk on that is low. With respect to the sale of equipment thing, what we are talking about is inflation and delays in execution and all of that, that is costing us money. Okay?

如果我可以回答第二部分，即液化天然氣問題，我們期望——您所談論的項目是已經在執行並且我們已經獲勝的項目。所以風險很低。關於設備銷售，我們談論的是通貨膨脹和執行延遲，所有這些都讓我們損失了金錢。好的？

We'll go over to Marc Bianchi from TD Cowen.

我們將邀請 TD Cowen 的 Marc Bianchi。

The question was asked earlier about the large components of CapEx, and you had mentioned NEOM, the 2 blue hydrogen projects and SAF. You provided an update on Alberta just now. I'm curious if you could update us on the status of the other 3.

之前有人問過關於資本支出的主要組成部分的問題，您提到了 NEOM、2 個藍色氫項目和 SAF。您剛才提供了艾伯塔省的最新情況。我很好奇您能否向我們介紹其他 3 個的最新狀態。

Well, on the other 3 we don't have anything substantial to report other than what we have told you before. So things are going okay with them as of right now. So we do not have anything material that has happened to report to you yet.

嗯，對於另外 3 個，除了我們之前告訴過您的內容之外，我們沒有任何實質性的報告。所以目前他們一切進展順利。所以我們還沒有任何材料可以向您報告。

Okay. Could you just remind us the start-up expectation for NEOM, Louisiana and SAF?

好的。您能否提醒我們對 NEOM、路易斯安那州和 SAF 的啟動期望？

NEOM, we are expecting -- I mean, December 31, 2026. With Louisiana, what we have said up to now has been fiscal year 2028. And with SAF, it is somewhere around fiscal year 2027, depending on us getting all of the permits that we need. So -- I'm sorry, with date, I'd like to correct that to 2027. I said -- I think I said '28 but it's '27. That's approximately the time line for those projects.

NEOM，我們預計 - 我的意思是 2026 年 12 月 31 日。對於路易斯安那州，我們到目前為止所說的是 2028 財年。而對於 SAF，則在 2027 財年左右，具體取決於我們獲得所有我們需要的許可。所以 - 抱歉，關於日期，我想將其更正為 2027 年。我說 - 我想我說的是“28”，但現在是“27”。這大約是這些項目的時間表。

Okay. The other question I had was there have been some reports and news stories lately about natural hydrogen, so naturally occurring hydrogen deposits that could be quite meaningful. I'm curious what your view of that is and if you have any involvement.

好的。我的另一個問題是最近有一些關於天然氫的報導和新聞報道，因此天然存在的氫沉積物可能非常有意義。我很好奇你對此有何看法以及你是否參與其中。

We do not have any involvement in that. And I don't want to give you a scientific answer, but that's a little bit of a pie in the sky that there's hydrogen sitting there that you need to (inaudible) and it will come out at zero cost. But we are not involved in any projects like that and we are not going to get involved in that because we just do not think that, that is a reality.

我們對此沒有任何參與。我不想給你一個科學的答案，但這有點天上掉餡餅，因為那裡有你需要的氫氣（聽不清楚），而且它將以零成本生產。但我們沒有參與任何這樣的項目，我們也不會參與其中，因為我們只是不認為這是現實。

We'll go next to Mike Leithead from Barclays.

接下來我們將請來自巴克萊銀行的 Mike Leithead。

Seifi, could you maybe update us on the state of your ongoing discussions for green and blue ammonia potential offtake? Should we expect some offtake announcements later this year? Or do you still believe it's better to wait until closer to project startup to formalize some of those?

Seifi，您能否向我們介紹一下您正在進行的綠色和藍色氨潛在採購討論的最新情況？我們是否應該期待今年稍後發布一些承購公告？或者您仍然認為最好等到接近專案啟動時再正式確定其中一些內容？

Well, on that, you're rising an excellent point. We have basically told people that do not expect any announcement about any offtake until about a year or 1.5 years before the plants come onstream. And the main reason for that is that we believe that as we get closer to the deadlines, that companies have to comply with the new environmental rules, they would certainly realize that there are not that many rear commercial facilities coming onstream that has the product, therefore, the value of our product will be higher than what people think it is today.

嗯，在這一點上，你已經取得了很好的進步。我們基本上已經告訴人們，在工廠投產前大約一年或 1.5 年之前，不會發布任何有關承購的公告。主要原因是我們相信，隨著最後期限的臨近，企業必須遵守新的環保規則，他們肯定會意識到，沒有那麼多後方商業設施投產，擁有該產品，因此，我們產品的價值將比人們今天想像的要高。

So we are not in a hurry to sign any agreements. We think the demand is there so we are going to take our time. But in the meantime, if somebody wants to act sooner and gives us a contract -- a long-term contract at the prices that we expect, we might announce that sooner. But I wouldn't want the investors to expect any announcements soon, okay?

所以我們並不急於簽署任何協議。我們認為需求是存在的，所以我們會慢慢來。但與此同時，如果有人想更快地採取行動並給我們一份合約——一份按我們預期價格的長期合同，我們可能會更早宣布。但我不希望投資人期待很快就會有任何公告，好嗎？

That makes sense. That's great. That makes sense. And then maybe on a similar note, I believe that the Treasury Department recently came out with guidance around the green hydrogen tax credit. I think most people viewed it as fairly strict, although I also believe Air Products' plans are pretty well aligned with this guidance. Bigger picture, do you have any concerns about the strict interpretation limiting the U.S. industry's ability to take off? Or do you actually see it as advantageous for Air Products?

這就說得通了。那太棒了。這就說得通了。然後也許類似的是，我相信財政部最近發布了有關綠色氫稅收抵免的指導。我認為大多數人認為它相當嚴格，儘管我也相信空氣產品公司的計劃與該指導非常一致。從更大的角度來看，您對嚴格的解釋限制美國產業起飛的能力是否有任何擔憂？或者您實際上認為這對空氣產品公司有利嗎？

No, we absolutely disagree with that point of view that this is limiting. I mean, how is it limiting? We are complying with every single part of what the Treasury Department has put out the 3 pillars and we are committing billions of dollars to build these facilities. Other people can do the same thing. Some people are trying to get money from the government by continuing to pollute the atmosphere and we don't believe that. We believe very strongly in the 3 pillars. That means that any electricity use for production of green hydrogen needs to be additional. Otherwise, you're just going to use coal to replace that power that you use. So it has to be additional.

不，我們絕對不同意這種限制的觀點。我的意思是，它是如何限制的？我們正在遵守財政部提出的三大支柱的每一個部分，並承諾投入數十億美元來建造這些設施。其他人也可以做同樣的事情。有些人試圖透過繼續污染大氣來從政府那裡獲得金錢，但我們不相信這一點。我們堅信三大支柱。這意味著用於生產綠氫的任何電力都需要額外增加。否則，您將只能使用煤炭來代替您使用的電力。所以必須是額外的。

The second thing, it has to be hourly. Because otherwise in the middle of the night when there is no sun, if somebody makes green hydrogen, then you're drawing power from the grid and that has to be replaced again from coal-fired plants and all of that. And so additionality, hourly and then the other thing is that it has to be on the same network.

第二件事，必須是每小時一次。因為否則在半夜沒有陽光的時候，如果有人製造綠色氫氣，那麼你就會從電網獲取電力，而這些電力必須再次從燃煤電廠等處更換。因此，每小時都有額外性，另一件事是它必須位於同一網路上。

We are fully supportive of what the Treasury Department has put out, I'd like to applaud them for sticking to their principles that the IRA was designed not to make companies rich, but IRA was designed to save the environment. And this should not allow people to get some subsidies if they are not doing something to reduce their pollution into the atmosphere.

我們完全支持財政部的舉措，我要讚揚他們堅持自己的原則，即 IRA 的設計目的不是為了讓公司致富，而是為了拯救環境。如果人們不採取措施減少對大氣的污染，就不應該讓他們獲得一些補貼。

The IRA is not a handout. The IRA is designed, that is why Congress approved it, to improve the environment, And we should all abide by that. Therefore, we are fully in line with the those rules that Treasury put out, and I really hope that they keep their nerve and execute those principles because those are the right principles, and we are fully supportive of that.

IRA 不是施捨。愛爾蘭共和軍的設計目的是改善環境，這就是國會批准它的原因，我們都應該遵守這一點。因此，我們完全符合財政部製定的這些規則，我真的希望他們保持勇氣並執行這些原則，因為這些是正確的原則，我們完全支持這一點。

And again, I'd like to stress that we are spending billions of dollars. We are -- and executing projects right now even before those rules come out, complying with those rules because we think they are the right rules, okay?

我想再次強調，我們正在花費數十億美元。我們甚至在這些規則出台之前就立即執行項目，遵守這些規則，因為我們認為它們是正確的規則，好嗎？

We'll go next to Duffy Fischer from Goldman Sachs.

接下來我們請高盛的達菲費雪 (Duffy Fischer) 發言。

Question on cash flow, if I could. At least in the first quarter, cash flow was down or operating cash flow was down double digits even though earnings was up. Will that invert throughout the year? Would you expect operating cash flow to grow roughly at the same level of EPS this year?

關於現金流的問題，如果可以的話。至少在第一季度，儘管獲利成長，但現金流量下降或營運現金流量下降了兩位數。全年情況會反轉嗎？您預計今年營運現金流的成長與每股盈餘的成長大致相同嗎？

Duffy, I'm glad you asked this question, but I'll have Melissa go through the details. But my friend, our EBITDA is going up. If our EBITDA is going up, the cash coming to the company is going up. What we are reporting is accounting and it's the timing of the cash. We report the number because we book it, but then we get the actual cash it's different because of our equity affiliates. But I think the best person to qualify to answer this, because I don't want to get into accounting details, Melissa, would you please explain that?

達菲，我很高興你問這個問題，但我會讓梅麗莎詳細介紹一下。但我的朋友，我們的 EBITDA 正在上升。如果我們的 EBITDA 上升，公司獲得的現金也會增加。我們報告的是會計，它是現金的時間。我們報告這個數字是因為我們預訂了它，但隨後我們得到了實際的現金，這是不同的，因為我們的股權附屬公司。但我認為最有資格回答這個問題的人，因為我不想討論會計細節，梅麗莎，你能解釋一下嗎？

Yes, absolutely. Thank you, Seifi. So first of all, Duffy, so our EBITDA cash eversion is stable and our distributable and investment cash flow are both positive. So that's in line with our year-over-year EBITDA improvement. Additionally, we have industry-leading DSO, so all very strong. We did see an incremental reduction in our operating cash flow to EBITDA this quarter.

是的，一點沒錯。謝謝你，賽菲。首先，達菲，我們的 EBITDA 現金外溢是穩定的，我們的可分配現金流量和投資現金流都是正值。因此，這與我們的 EBITDA 同比改善是一致的。此外，我們還擁有業界領先的 DSO，因此一切都非常強大。我們確實看到本季 EBITDA 的營運現金流逐漸減少。

There are a few items that attribute to this, namely it's really timing component related to our distributions of earnings for our large equity affiliate. Again, not an issue with profit, just timing. And the second one is we do manage and look to derisk our helium supply chain and then so we are building some of our helium inventory, which obviously has an offset to operating cash, but obviously, we'll attribute to process moving forward.

有幾個因素可以歸因於這一點，即它實際上是與我們大型股權附屬公司的收益分配相關的時間因素。再說一遍，這不是利潤的問題，只是時機的問題。第二個是我們確實管理並希望降低我們的氦供應鏈的風險，然後我們正在建立一些氦庫存，這顯然會抵消營運現金，但顯然，我們將歸因於流程的進展。

Okay, Duffy?

好吧，達菲？

You bet. And then just on the announcement that the EPA was given to the state of Louisiana the authority to deal with the CO2 sequestration there. Roughly, can you kind of explain how your relationship is with the state and how quickly you think that will speed up the process there and when we might get permits for Louisiana?

你打賭。然後就在宣布美國環保署被授予路易斯安那州處理該州二氧化碳封存的權力時。粗略地說，您能否解釋一下您與該州的關係如何，以及您認為這會以多快的速度加快該進程，以及我們何時可以獲得路易斯安那州的許可？

Duffy, I'm glad you asked that question. We are very excited about that. I think it was the right decision and that will cut about -- we think about a year on the time line of us getting the permit for the Class 6 well. And we do have an excellent relationship with the State of Louisiana, but it's not the relationship. We are going to do the right thing by having the State of Louisiana review that. We gain time because the State of Louisiana will have less Class 6 wells to deal with than EPA.

達菲，我很高興你問這個問題。我們對此感到非常興奮。我認為這是正確的決定，而且會縮短——我們考慮在獲得 6 級油井許可的時間上花一年時間。我們確實與路易斯安那州有著良好的關係，但這不是關係。我們將透過讓路易斯安那州對此進行審查來做正確的事情。我們贏得了時間，因為路易斯安那州需要處理的 6 級井數量少於 EPA。

So it's just a matter of the workload and they did the right thing by distributing the workload. Therefore, now the State of Louisiana will have fewer applications, and therefore, they can approve our project by about a year faster than the federal government would have done that. So that is why it is very helpful and very impactful and gives us a lot more confidence in terms of our ability to get the Class 6 permit if we need it.

所以這只是工作量的問題，他們透過分配工作量做了正確的事情。因此，現在路易斯安那州的申請將會減少，因此他們可以比聯邦政府快一年左右批准我們的計畫。這就是為什麼它非常有幫助且非常有影響力，並且讓我們對在需要時獲得 6 級許可證的能力更有信心。

We'll go to Kevin McCarthy from Vertical Research Partners.

我們將邀請來自 Vertical Research Partners 的 Kevin McCarthy。

Seifi, I wanted to come back to the helium market dynamics. I heard your comments on the demand side. My question is, have you witnessed any material changes on the supply side of the global market such as the operating status of Gazprom's Amur project in Russia? Or is it strictly a function of demand in terms of the volume shortfall that you cited in the quarter?

Seifi，我想回到氦氣市場動態。我聽到了您對需求方的評論。我的問題是，您是否見證了全球市場供給面發生重大變化，例如俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司的阿穆爾專案的營運狀況？或者，就您在本季提到的數量短缺而言，這是否完全是需求的函數？

Well, that is a very good question. Theoretically, whatever Amur produces in Russia, theoretically there is global sanctions on that. That, that is not supposed to be getting into the market. Is it getting into the market illegally and therefore increasing the supply of helium, and therefore that is why people are buying from other people?

嗯，這是一個非常好的問題。從理論上講，無論阿穆爾河在俄羅斯生產什麼，理論上都會受到全球製裁。那，那不應該進入市場。它是否非法進入市場並因此增加了氦氣的供應，因此這就是人們從其他人那裡購買的原因？

It could be the case. I am not sure. But the detailed dynamics on that are. And I don't want to be interpreting sanctions laws and all of that. But what you are suggesting is a possibility. We are looking into that. We haven't seen any significant factor from that yet, and at least we don't see it yet, but it might be the case.

可能是這樣。我不知道。但具體的動態是。我不想解釋制裁法之類的事情。但你所建議的是一種可能性。我們正在調查此事。我們還沒有看到任何重要因素，至少我們還沒有看到，但情況可能就是這樣。

Okay. That's helpful. And then secondly, I had a few sort of housekeeping questions possibly for Melissa. I think you mentioned devaluation of the Argentine peso and we talked about the cost overrun from the sale of equipment project. Can you quantify the impact of some of those issues in the quarter?

好的。這很有幫助。其次，我可能有一些可能要問梅麗莎的家政問題。我想你提到了阿根廷比索的貶值，我們談到了設備項目銷售的成本超支。您能否量化本季其中一些問題的影響？

I don't think we want to quantify the details of every one of them, but the Argentine currency is easy. I'll answer that, make it a lot easy for Melissa, is that effect was about $10 million on our bottom line, for the Argentine currency about $0.03.

我認為我們不想量化其中每一項的細節，但阿根廷貨幣很容易。我會回答這個問題，這對梅麗莎來說很容易，因為這對我們的利潤產生了約 1000 萬美元的影響，對於阿根廷貨幣來說，影響約為 0.03 美元。

Okay. And the SOE, no comment on that one?

好的。國企對此沒有評論嗎？

No, the rest of it, we don't want to break down how much was helium, how much was the sale of equipment and how much was the slowdown in China because then we will be giving you very too much competitive information, if you don't mind.

不，剩下的，我們不想詳細分析氦氣的用量、設備的銷售量以及中國經濟放緩的量，因為那樣的話，我們將為您提供太多的競爭信息，如果您沒關係。

We'll go next to Patrick Cunningham from Citi.

接下來我們將請花旗銀行的 Patrick Cunningham。

Could you maybe comment on the direction of price in Europe, how sustainable these margins are going forward?

您能否評論一下歐洲的價格走勢以及這些利潤未來的可持續性如何？

Well, quite frankly, we did -- that is one of the areas where we did better than we expected. Our results in Europe are excellent, the margins are up 1,000 basis points, and that is because people have done a good job hanging on to the price while energy prices are going down. How this will develop in the future obviously depends on what happens to energy prices and so on. But I'm very proud of our people in terms of their performance and in terms of making sure that they maintain the pricing and we have been successful. And as Dr. Serhan was saying, our European business did very well during the quarter.

嗯，坦白說，我們做到了——這是我們做得比預期更好的領域之一。我們在歐洲的表現非常出色，利潤率上升了 1,000 個基點，這是因為在能源價格下降的情況下，人們在堅持價格方面做得很好。未來如何發展顯然取決於能源價格等的變化。但我為我們的員工感到非常自豪，因為他們的表現以及確保他們維持定價，我們取得了成功。正如 Serhan 博士所說，我們的歐洲業務在本季表現非常好。

Great. And then maybe just a related follow-up on the Uzbekistan project. How much volume was up on Uzbekistan? And what sort of contribution should we have throughout the year? I know previously you talked about $0.35 per share. How is Uzbekistan performing relative to your expectations?

偉大的。然後也許只是烏茲別克計畫的相關後續行動。烏茲別克的交易量增加了多少？全年我們應該做出什麼樣的貢獻？我知道您之前談到過每股 0.35 美元。烏茲別克的表現與您的預期相比如何？

Dr. Serhan, would you like to answer that?

Serhan 博士，您願意回答這個問題嗎？

Yes. I just want to start by saying this project really has been a great fit for both Air Products and Uzbekistan. It leverages our core competencies and address the country's desire for energy independence and socioeconomic development.

是的。我首先想說的是，這個專案確實非常適合空氣產品公司和烏茲別克。它利用我們的核心能力，滿足國家對能源獨立和社會經濟發展的願望。

This project includes the world's largest ATRs, auto thermal reformer. And just to remind everybody, to produce blue hydrogen, you need to use auto-thermal reformers and those are the largest in the world, or you need to use (inaudible) units, which are the (inaudible), which is the technology we bought from GE gasification.

該項目包括世界上最大的ATR、汽車熱重整器。只是提醒大家，要生產藍色氫氣，您需要使用自熱重整器，這些是世界上最大的，或者您需要使用（聽不清楚）裝置，這是（聽不清楚），這是我們的技術從GE氣化購買。

We are excited about the operational and technological synergies by operating these large ATRs. The asset was brought onstream in October '23. We expect that to contribute around $0.35 for the full year.

我們對營運這些大型 ATR 所產生的營運和技術協同效應感到興奮。該資產於 2023 年 10 月投入運作。我們預計全年貢獻約 0.35 美元。

Okay?

好的？

We'll go to Mike Sison from Wells Fargo.

我們將邀請富國銀行的麥克·西森 (Mike Sison)。

I guess my first question on fiscal '24 EPS growth, the projects that's recently come onstream before that you've noted in the slide, Are those contributing what you thought they would contribute in 2024? And I guess sort of the follow-up is that the delta between the 13% growth to the 6% to 9% growth now has nothing to do with the projects, more of the other stuff that you talked about in terms of headwinds?

我想我的第一個問題是關於 24 財年每股收益成長，即您在幻燈片中提到的最近投入使用的項目，這些項目的貢獻是否達到您認為在 2024 年會貢獻的水平？我想後續的情況是，13% 的增長與 6% 至 9% 的增長之間的增量現在與項目無關，更多的是你在逆風方面談到的其他東西？

Well, the thing is that -- I don't like to give you a general answer in the sense that if you're up year-on-year and in the meantime China is going down, helium volumes are lower and we have had these headwinds, then the only reason that it's going up is because some of the other projects are contributing, of course. So that's the way I would like to leave it with you, okay? Because, (inaudible) negatives and they are still going up. Therefore, the other projects are contributing, yes.

嗯，問題是——我不想給你一個籠統的答案，如果你同比增長，而與此同時中國在下降，氦氣量會減少，我們已經有了這些逆風，那麼它上升的唯一原因當然是因為其他一些項目正在做出貢獻。所以我想把它留給你，好嗎？因為，（聽不清楚）負面影響，而且它們仍在上升。因此，其他項目也在做出貢獻，是的。

Yes, that's great. And then beyond 2024, when you think about '25, '26, '27, more of a longer-term sort of view, how do you think the growth algorithm changes or maybe doesn't change as we look out of those years in terms of EPS growth?

是的，那太好了。然後在2024 年之後，當你考慮「25」、「26」、「27」時，更多的是從更長期的角度考慮，你認為成長演算法會如何變化，或者也許不會改變，因為我們展望這些年每股收益成長方面？

I think Air Products will deliver on the average an EPS growth of the 10% that we have delivered before. That's our goal. And one year, we might be 9%, one year we might be 11%. But overall, we are going to continue on that trend. And we promised that 10 years ago, we have delivered, and I fully expect that we will continue to deliver that.

我認為空氣產品公司的每股收益平均成長將比我們之前實現的 10% 成長。這就是我們的目標。一年後，我們可能會達到 9%，一年後我們可能會達到 11%。但總體而言，我們將繼續這一趨勢。我們在 10 年前就承諾過，我們已經兌現了這項承諾，我完全期望我們將繼續兌現這項承諾。

We'll go to Laurence Alexander from Jefferies.

我們將請傑弗里斯的勞倫斯·亞歷山大 (Laurence Alexander) 致詞。

This is Dan Rizzo on for Laurence. I just want to make sure that of the projects under execution that's listed on Page 19, the next one that's going to come online is the one in Alberta, Canada, correct?

我是勞倫斯的丹·里佐。我只是想確保第 19 頁列出的正在執行的項目中，下一個上線的項目是加拿大艾伯塔省的項目，對嗎？

Yes. Alberta, Canada is the next one, which is going to come onstream. And as Dr. Serhan said, we expect that to be in fiscal year 2025.

是的。加拿大艾伯塔省是下一個，即將投產。正如 Serhan 博士所說，我們預計這將在 2025 財年實現。

Are there -- and this will be my second question, should the other projects come on right behind that? Or will there be, I don't know, year like delays? Or I'm just trying to think of the cadence as these are coming online.

有沒有——這將是我的第二個問題，其他項目是否應該緊隨其後？或者，我不知道，是否會出現類似一年的延誤？或者我只是想考慮一下這些內容上線時的節奏。

Well, after that, we will have in '26 -- by the end of fiscal year '26, we will have -- by the end of calendar '26, we will have our green hydrogen project in Saudi Arabia. The year after that, we will have our blue hydrogen project in Louisiana. And the year after that, we will have hopefully other projects that we will announce.

好吧，在那之後，我們將在 26 年 - 到 26 財年結束時，我們將 - 到 26 日曆年底，我們將在沙烏地阿拉伯擁有我們的綠氫計畫。後年，我們將在路易斯安那州開展藍色氫計畫。在那之後的一年，我們有望宣布其他項目。

We'll go next to Laurent Favre from BNP.

接下來我們將邀請法國巴黎銀行 (BNP) 的 Laurent Favre。

I'd like to go back to the SAF project, actually. I think you just mentioned that the start-up would be in 2027. In May last year, you had in, I guess, for startup in '25. And in August, it was still part of the group of projects that should be up and running by 2026. So I was wondering if you could talk about, I guess, what are the specific reasons for this more than 1 year delay. Is it the customer side? Or is it execution on your side?

事實上，我想回到 SAF 專案。我想你剛剛提到新創公司將在 2027 年。去年 5 月，我猜你已經在 25 年啟動了。到了 8 月份，它仍然是應該在 2026 年啟動並運行的專案組的一部分。所以我想知道你是否可以談談，我猜，延遲一年多的具體原因是什麼。是客戶方嗎？還是你這邊有執行力？

Well, it is related to the fact that we are building this plant in California. And you know in California, it usually takes a long time to get permits. So it is dependent on the timing of the permits for construction for that facility. Once we have a final, final ruling on the permit, then we will be able to give you a definite date about when that plant is going to come onstream.

嗯，這和我們在加州建這個工廠有關。你知道，在加州，獲得許可證通常需要很長時間。因此，這取決於該設施的施工許可的時間。一旦我們對許可證做出最終決定，我們將能夠為您提供該工廠投產的明確日期。

And could you size for us the potential cost of a run on top of the $2.5 billion that was initially slated? Are we talking about a material difference?

您能否為我們估算一下在最初預定的 25 億美元之外，擠兌的潛在成本？我們談論的是物質差異嗎？

I'm not sure I understood the question.

我不確定我是否理解了這個問題。

No. I think Laurent, on that one, the capital, we earn the return on the capital of the project. We won't anticipate any capital update there.

不，我認為勞倫特，在資本這一點上，我們賺取了專案資本的回報。我們預計不會有任何資本更新。

The return on the project is fixed. We are going to get a return on the capital that we spent, no matter what the capital is. Okay?

項目的回報是固定的。無論資本是多少，我們都會獲得所花費的資本的回報。好的？

And we'll take our last question from Sebastian Bray from Berenberg.

我們將回答來自貝倫貝格的塞巴斯蒂安·布雷的最後一個問題。

My first one is on merchant pricing as it stands today. Is this stable in Europe or the U.S.? Has it started to decline? Or has it started to go up? The answer seems to be stable, but I wanted to double check.

我的第一個問題是關於目前的商家定價。這在歐洲或美國穩定嗎？已經開始下降了嗎？還是已經開始漲了？答案似乎很穩定，但我想仔細檢查一下。

My second one is on guidance. Are we just assuming when setting the EPS growth rate guided for '24 the dollar rates as they stand today hold for the rest of the year?

我的第二個是關於指導。我們是否只是假設在設定 24 世紀每股盈餘成長率時，美元匯率在今年剩餘時間內保持不變？

My third one is a more philosophical question on pricing. Is the desire to wait longer for the clean ammonia and clean hydrogen project offtake agreements a reaction to try and hedge out for risk that IRA subsidies maybe changed from '25, i.e., if that industry shakes out and it turns out the projects need clean -- higher clean hydrogen pricing to be economic with fewer subsidies available? Is the APD approach to say, well, we'll wait for the industry to shake out and see what comes?

我的第三個問題是一個關於定價的更具哲學性的問題。等待更長時間獲得清潔氨和清潔氫項目承購協議的願望是否是一種反應，試圖對沖 IRA 補貼可能從 25 年開始改變的風險，即，如果該行業擺脫困境，結果發現項目需要清潔 - -更高的清潔氫定價是否經濟且補貼更少？ APD 的方法是說，好吧，我們將等待行業擺脫困境，看看會發生什麼？

Well, you're asking a very, very good question and I would like to tell you that we are the first mover in these projects. We are investing significant amount of money being the first mover. We -- obviously, my job is try to maximize return for the investors. And if we were the first mover and we took the risk, as they say, building these facilities before we had contracts, we should get rewarded by that and not just have projects which have the standard returns but be rewarded with a higher return. That's one thing.

嗯，你問了一個非常非常好的問題，我想告訴你，我們是這些項目的先驅。作為先行者，我們正在投入大量資金。顯然，我的工作是努力為投資者帶來最大回報。如果我們是先行者，並且像他們所說的那樣冒險，在簽訂合約之前建造這些設施，我們應該從中獲得回報，而不僅僅是擁有標準回報的項目，而且會獲得更高的回報。這是一回事。

And then the second thing is that we genuinely believe that where we are in these projects, we will have a product which will be in significant demand as we get closer to people trying to comply with the rules that are already in place, in Europe especially. By 2028, a lot of the industries have to use the products that we make, and we don't see that many people making the product. So in that case, we are not in a hurry to give it away. Obviously, our job is to maximize profit for the company, get the best that we can, and that is the philosophy that we are following.

第二件事是，我們真誠地相信，當我們在這些項目中所處的位置時，隨著我們越來越接近試圖遵守現有規則的人們，尤其是在歐洲，我們將擁有一種需求量很大的產品。到 2028 年，很多產業都必須使用我們生產的產品，但我們並沒有看到有很多人生產這種產品。所以在這種情況下，我們並不急於放棄它。顯然，我們的工作是使公司利潤最大化，盡我們所能，這就是我們所遵循的理念。

It is not because of concerns about the other things that you mentioned, no. I think that the subsidies and so on are going to get enacted. Every day that goes by. You see the governments taking action. Recently it was Japan, before it has been Europe, it's well established, U.S. with the IRA. So events as you go forward every day points in the direction that hopefully our strategy is the right strategy, and we want to take maximum advantage of that.

不是因為擔心你提到的其他事情，不是。我認為補貼等將會頒布。每一天都這樣過去。你看到政府正在採取行動。最近是日本，在歐洲之前，它已經很成熟，美國有愛爾蘭共和軍。因此，每天發生的事件都指明了方向，希望我們的策略是正確的策略，我們希望最大限度地利用這一點。

Actually Seifi, there has been report from the International Energy Agency that indicated that out of all of the projects announced for green hydrogen by 2030 to come onstream, only 7% will eventually come onstream by 2030.

實際上，國際能源總署的報告顯示，在所有宣布的2030年綠氫計畫中，只有7%最終會在2030年投產。

Okay. Sorry, we gave you a long answer, but I hope we addressed your issue.

好的。抱歉，我們給了您一個很長的答案，但我希望我們能解決您的問題。

No, it's appreciated, Seifi. And the merchant pricing and the question on FX assumption for the rest of the year on a more tactical or short-term basis.

不，很感激，Seifi。以及今年剩餘時間的商家定價和外匯假設問題，更具戰術性或短期性。

Yes. Well, that's again a very good question. We make our estimate -- Melissa, why don't you answer that?

是的。嗯，這又是一個非常好的問題。我們做出估計——梅麗莎，你為什麼不回答這個問題？

Yes. So let me give you an answer on the merchant. So merchant-on-merchant pricing was up slightly. So we had stronger merchant-merchant pricing in the Americas and Asia, which was partially offset by some small decrease in Europe. However, I do want to mention that in Europe, our conversion margin stayed strong because the power cost decreased at a faster rate than our (technical difficulty) so the conversion margin maintain strong in all 3 regions.

是的。那我就來跟大家解答一下商家的問題吧。因此，商家對商家的定價略有上漲。因此，我們在美洲和亞洲的商家定價更為強勁，但部分被歐洲的小幅下降所抵消。然而，我確實想提一下，在歐洲，我們的轉換利潤率保持強勁，因為電力成本下降的速度比我們（技術難度）更快，因此所有三個地區的轉換利潤率都保持強勁。

And with respect to FX, when we give you an estimate, we give you an estimate based on the exchange rates as of today. So that is -- we are not assuming any significant change in the exchange rate.

就外匯而言，當我們為您提供估算時，我們會根據今天的匯率為您提供估算。也就是說，我們不假設匯率有任何重大變化。

Okay. Thank you very much. I really appreciate that. Operator, since there are no other questions, I would like to thank everybody for joining our call today. We again appreciate your interest in Air Products, and we look forward to discussing our results with you in 3 months. All the very best, and thank you for listening.

好的。非常感謝。我真的很感激。接線員，既然沒有其他問題了，我要感謝大家今天加入我們的通話。我們再次感謝您對空氣產品公司的興趣，我們期待在 3 個月內與您討論我們的結果。祝一切順利，感謝您的聆聽。

That does conclude today's conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

今天的會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。