Ashland Inc. (ASH) 2018 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Ashland Global Holdings Inc. First Quarter Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded.

各位女士、先生，大家好，歡迎參加 Ashland Global Holdings Inc.第一季財報電話會議。(接線員指示) 提醒各位，本次電話會議將被錄音。

I would now like to turn the conference over to our host for today, Seth Mrozek, Director of Investor Relations. You may begin.

現在我想把會議交給今天的主持人——投資人關係總監 Seth Mrozek。您可以開始了。

Thank you, Sonya. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Ashland's First Quarter Fiscal 2018 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. My name is Seth Mrozek, Director, Ashland Investor Relations.

謝謝你，Sonya。各位早安，歡迎參加 Ashland 2018 會計年度第一季財報電話會議與網路直播。我叫 Seth Mrozek，Ashland 投資人關係總監。

Joining me on the call today are Bill Wulfsohn, Ashland's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Kevin Willis, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. We released preliminary results for the quarter ended December 31 2017, shortly after 5 p.m. Eastern Time yesterday, January 29. Additionally, we posted slides to our website, ashland.com, under the Investor Relations section and have furnished each of these documents to the SEC in a Form 8-K.

今天與我一同參與電話會議的有 Ashland 董事長兼執行長 Bill Wulfsohn，以及資深副總裁兼財務長 Kevin Willis。我們已於昨日 1 月 29 日美東時間下午 5 點過後不久，發布截至 2017 年 12 月 31 日季度的初步結果。此外，我們也已在網站 ashland.com 的投資人關係專區上傳簡報，並已以 Form 8-K 向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交上述各項文件。

As a reminder, some of the matters discussed today and included in our presentations may include forward-looking statements as such term is defined under U.S. securities law. We believe any such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, but cannot assure that such expectations will be achieved. Please also note that we will be discussing adjusted results during this call. We believe this enhances understanding of our performance by more accurately reflecting our ongoing business.

提醒各位，今天討論的部分事項以及我們簡報中所包含的內容，可能包含依美國證券法定義之「前瞻性陳述」。我們相信任何此類陳述係基於合理假設，但無法保證這些預期一定能達成。另請注意，我們將在本次電話會議中討論調整後（adjusted）結果。我們認為這有助於更準確反映我們持續性業務，從而增進對公司表現的理解。

With that, I will turn the call over to Bill. Bill?

接下來，我把電話交給 Bill。Bill？

Thank you, Seth, and good morning, everyone. In the first quarter, the Ashland team took important steps forward to build the momentum needed to deliver our fiscal year 2018 commitments as outlined during our November earnings call. Each of our 3 segments showed growth in sales and adjusted EBITDA even before including the positive impact of foreign exchange and acquisitions.

謝謝你，Seth，各位早安。在第一季，Ashland 團隊採取了重要的前進步伐，以建立達成我們在 11 月財報電話會議中所概述之 2018 會計年度承諾所需的動能。即使尚未納入匯率與併購帶來的正面影響，我們三個事業部門的銷售與調整後 EBITDA 皆呈現成長。

As a company, aggregate price exceeded raw material inflation, asset utilization had a positive impact on earnings and adjusted SG&A as a percentage of sales was down 110 basis points versus prior year. In addition, as expected, the integration of Pharmachem and the Etain composites facility, both made strong positive contributions to Ashland in the quarter. As a result, in total, Ashland increased its sales by 20%; improved gross margins -- gross profit margins by 50 basis points; increased adjusted EBITDA by 25% and adjusted EBITDA margin by 70 basis points; and delivered adjusted EPS of $0.42, which includes a $0.04 per share negative impact from our tax rate.

就公司整體而言，整體售價提升幅度超過原物料通膨；資產利用率對獲利帶來正面影響；且調整後 SG&A 佔銷售比重較去年下降 110 個基點。此外，如預期所示，Pharmachem 與 Etain 複合材料工廠的整合在本季皆對 Ashland 做出強勁的正向貢獻。因此，整體而言，Ashland 銷售成長 20%；毛利率——毛利率提升 50 個基點；調整後 EBITDA 成長 25%，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率提升 70 個基點；並達成調整後 EPS 為 0.42 美元，其中包含稅率對每股 0.04 美元的負面影響。

Within Specialty Ingredients, the team focused on driving volume/mix gains. As a result, we delivered solid top line growth across a number of our key end markets. We saw strong growth in the personal care segment with sales up 5%, driven by significant gains in the biofunctional ingredients area. New capacity has enabled us to begin meeting robust demand in pharma, where sales grew by 4% in the quarter. And after a slow fourth quarter, we drove 12% sales year-over-year growth in coatings. This growth was led by key customer wins and favorable order patterns.

在 Specialty Ingredients 方面，團隊專注於推動銷量/組合（volume/mix）提升。因此，我們在多個關鍵終端市場實現穩健的營收成長。我們在個人護理領域看到強勁成長，銷售成長 5%，主要由生物功能性成分（biofunctional ingredients）領域的顯著增長所帶動。新增產能使我們得以開始滿足製藥領域的強勁需求，本季該領域銷售成長 4%。而在第四季表現偏弱之後，我們在塗料（coatings）實現年增 12% 的銷售成長。此成長主要由關鍵客戶贏單與有利的訂單型態所帶動。

From a margin perspective, Specialty Ingredients experienced $8 million of year-over-year raw material inflation in Q1, and that's approximately $5 million more than what's anticipated at the start of the year. While this had a negative impact on margins in the quarter, we took additional pricing actions. We made great progress in personal care, pharma and adhesives. That said, pricing within the cellulosics portion of industrial specialty remains a challenge. In the first quarter, the team drove favorable volume/mix but did not fully offset raw material inflation.

從利潤率角度來看，Specialty Ingredients 在第一季承受了 800 萬美元的年對年原物料通膨，約比年初預期多出 500 萬美元。雖然這對本季利潤率造成負面影響，我們也採取了額外的漲價行動。我們在個人護理、製藥與黏著劑方面取得了很大進展。不過，工業特用產品中纖維素（cellulosics）部分的定價仍具挑戰。第一季團隊推動了有利的銷量/組合，但尚未完全抵銷原物料通膨。

Moving to asset utilization. In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2017, Specialty Ingredients drove an $8 million benefit from our asset utilization programs. This initiative had minimal impact in the first quarter of this fiscal year as we chose to complete multiple shutdowns during what is typically our slowest demand period. The good news is that with these shutdowns behind us, we expect ASI's asset utilization to be strongly positive in the second quarter and for the remainder of the year.

接著談資產利用率。在 2017 會計年度第四季，Specialty Ingredients 透過資產利用率計畫帶來 800 萬美元的效益。本會計年度第一季，由於我們選擇在通常為需求最淡的期間完成多項停機（shutdown），因此該計畫的影響有限。好消息是，隨著這些停機已告一段落，我們預期 ASI 的資產利用率在第二季以及今年剩餘期間將呈現強勁正向貢獻。

The ASI team did a good job in managing cost during the quarter as SG&A increases were driven primarily by acquisition and currency. Combining the base business and acquisitions, Specialty Ingredients revenue and EBITDA increased 14% and 11%, respectively. Also note that excluding the dilutive effect of acquisitions and divestitures, EBITDA margins in the base ASI business was up approximately 50 basis points year-over-year.

ASI 團隊在本季成本管理表現良好，SG&A 的增加主要由併購與匯率所驅動。合併基礎業務與併購後，Specialty Ingredients 的營收與 EBITDA 分別成長 14% 與 11%。另請注意，若排除併購與處分造成的稀釋效應，基礎 ASI 業務的 EBITDA 利潤率年對年約提升 50 個基點。

In addition to gains realized in the base ASI business, the integration of Pharmachem is going well. We have now identified approximately $15 million of annualized cost synergies to be realized by the end of year 2. And after owning Pharmachem for just over 7 months, its EBITDA contribution, excluding corporate allocations, is approximately $35 million.

除了基礎 ASI 業務所實現的增益外，Pharmachem 的整合進展順利。我們目前已辨識出約 1,500 萬美元的年化成本綜效，預計在第 2 年年底前實現。且在持有 Pharmachem 僅略超過 7 個月後，其 EBITDA 貢獻（不含公司分攤）約為 3,500 萬美元。

Moving to Composites. The team turned in another strong performance. Volume and mix was positive year-over-year. The team drove strong sales increases in all key end markets and saw strong growth in North America and Europe. The acquired Etain facility in France also made a positive contribution in the quarter and accounted for 10 percentage points of Composites' sales growth. More impressively, the Composites team fully priced through to offset approximately $16 million of raw material inflation versus prior year. Thus, net-net, the team did a great job of generating sales and earnings growth, with sales growing 32% and adjusted EBITDA increasing by 10%.

接著談 Composites。團隊再次交出強勁表現。銷量與組合年對年皆為正向。團隊在所有關鍵終端市場推動了強勁的銷售成長，並在北美與歐洲看到顯著增長。本季在法國收購的 Etain 工廠亦帶來正向貢獻，並占 Composites 銷售成長的 10 個百分點。更令人印象深刻的是，Composites 團隊已透過定價完全轉嫁，以抵銷相較去年約 1,600 萬美元的原物料通膨。因此，整體而言，團隊在創造營收與獲利成長方面表現出色，銷售成長 32%，調整後 EBITDA 成長 10%。

Moving to I&S. The team delivered a 30% increase in sales. Volume and mix improved sales revenue by 7%. Disciplined pricing drove a 16% increase in sales and contributed approximately $9 million to earnings. Asset utilization in the business was up substantially, and that was driven by focused network optimization activities and turnaround timing, which resulted in a positive year-over-year benefit in Q1 by $8 million, and this gain will be offset by approximately $5 million of increased year-over-year turnaround expense in our second fiscal year quarter. Together, I&S's adjusted EBITDA climbed to $16 million, up from near breakeven in the year-ago period.

接著談 I&S。團隊實現銷售成長 30%。銷量與組合使銷售收入提升 7%。嚴謹的定價推動銷售成長 16%，並對獲利貢獻約 900 萬美元。該業務的資產利用率大幅提升，主要由聚焦的網路最佳化活動與歲修（turnaround）時點所驅動，使第一季年對年帶來 800 萬美元的正向效益；而此增益將在本會計年度第二季被年對年增加約 500 萬美元的歲修費用所抵銷。綜合而言，I&S 的調整後 EBITDA 攀升至 1,600 萬美元，高於去年同期接近損益兩平的水準。

All in all, Ashland's total sales increased 20%, and adjusted EBITDA rose 25% to $136 million. Both sales and earnings were up year-over-year in all 3 reportable segments in the first quarter, setting the stage for us to reaffirm our full year outlook for each segment in fiscal year 2018.

總體而言，Ashland 總銷售成長 20%，調整後 EBITDA 成長 25% 至 1.36 億美元。第一季三個可報告部門的銷售與獲利皆較去年同期成長，為我們重申 2018 會計年度各部門全年展望奠定基礎。

I'll now turn the call over to Kevin, who will share some important financial details from the quarter.

我現在把電話交給 Kevin，由他分享本季度一些重要的財務細節。

Thank you, Bill, and good morning, everyone. Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter was $136 million compared to $109 million in the year-ago period. In the quarter, we reported a GAAP loss from continuing operations of $0.12 per diluted share. On an adjusted basis, we reported income from continuing operations of $0.42 per diluted share compared to $0.14 in the prior year.

謝謝你，Bill，各位早安。本季度調整後 EBITDA 為 1.36 億美元，較去年同期的 1.09 億美元增加。本季度，我們報告持續營運的 GAAP 虧損為每股稀釋後 0.12 美元。以調整後基礎計算，我們報告持續營運的每股稀釋後收益為 0.42 美元，較前一年的 0.14 美元增加。

Ashland's capital expenditures were $24 million during the quarter compared to $33 million in the prior year period. Free cash flow during the first quarter was negative $48 million compared to negative $93 million in the prior year. These amounts include $23 million in restructuring payments in the first quarter of fiscal '18 and $29 million of restructuring payments in the year-ago period.

Ashland 本季度資本支出為 2,400 萬美元，較去年同期的 3,300 萬美元下降。第一季自由現金流為負 4,800 萬美元，較去年同期的負 9,300 萬美元改善。上述金額包含 2018 財年第一季 2,300 萬美元的重組付款，以及去年同期 2,900 萬美元的重組付款。

There are several areas I would like to focus on this morning: First, the impact of the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on Ashland; second, an update on SG&A; and finally, our outlook for the second quarter and the remainder of our fiscal year.

今天早上我想聚焦幾個面向：第一，美國《減稅與就業法案》對 Ashland 的影響；第二，SG&A 的最新進展；最後，我們對第二季以及本財年剩餘期間的展望。

Our effective tax rate for the first quarter after adjusting for key items was 18%, which was 8 percentage points higher than we forecast last November. As Bill noted, this higher rate reduced EPS by $0.04 in the quarter. The increase in the tax rate is primarily attributable to U.S. tax reform enacted in late December. Furthermore, as a result of the new tax legislation, we have reset our expected effective tax rate for fiscal '18 to be in the range of 16% to 20%. The higher ETR for Ashland may seem counterintuitive to some as there has been so much discussion and focus on companies that would realize a tax benefit. However, the increase in Ashland's ETR reflects the global nature of our business. We have provided an overview of the impact of the Tax Act in the slide presentation posted to our website last night.

第一季在調整關鍵項目後，我們的有效稅率為 18%，比去年 11 月的預測高出 8 個百分點。如 Bill 所提，較高的稅率使本季度 EPS 減少 0.04 美元。稅率上升主要歸因於 12 月下旬通過的美國稅改。此外，受新稅法影響，我們已將 2018 財年的預期有效稅率重設為 16% 至 20% 的區間。對部分人士而言，Ashland 的 ETR 上升可能看似反直覺，因為市場一直在討論哪些公司將獲得稅務利益。然而，Ashland 的 ETR 上升反映了我們業務的全球化特性。我們已在昨晚上傳至官網的簡報投影片中，提供《稅改法案》影響的概述。

I won't go through all the details provided on that slide, but I do want to call out a few key provisions: First, we do not anticipate a material change to our cash tax rate, meaning the taxes we actually pay. That range is expected to remain at 20% to 25%. Second, Ashland will clearly benefit from the ability to repatriate cash that is held outside the U.S. Just this past week, we repatriated over $300 million and used it to repay debt. And while we will pay roughly $160 million of one-time repatriation taxes over 8 years beginning next year, these payments will be largely offset by lower deferred tax payments that were accrued prior to the new tax legislation at the old tax rate. As we have said before, our primary use of cash for the next couple of years will be debt reduction to reach our leverage target of gross debt at 3.5x EBITDA. Keep in mind that this does not preclude allocating capital to bolt-on acquisitions or share repurchases.

我不會逐一說明投影片上的所有細節，但我想點出幾項關鍵條款：第一，我們預期現金稅率（也就是我們實際支付的稅）不會出現重大變化。該區間預計仍維持在 20% 至 25%。第二，Ashland 將明顯受益於將持有於美國境外的現金匯回的能力。就在上週，我們已匯回超過 3 億美元並用於償還債務。雖然自明年起我們將在 8 年內支付約 1.6 億美元的一次性匯回稅，但這些付款將在很大程度上被較低的遞延所得稅付款所抵銷；該等遞延稅款是在新稅法生效前按舊稅率計提。如同我們先前所說，未來幾年我們現金的主要用途將是降低負債，以達成我們的槓桿目標：總負債為 EBITDA 的 3.5 倍。請記住，這並不排除將資本配置於補強型併購或庫藏股回購。

Regarding SG&A, we remain committed to offsetting inflation with productivity improvements. We have taken comprehensive actions in this area, including headcount reductions, shared service expansions, increased outsourcing and facility consolidation. For example, we continue to leverage and grow our global business centers in Hyderabad and Warsaw. In addition, we are consolidating our Columbus, Ohio campus footprint to be done in the June quarter, resulting in an annualized savings of approximately $6 million.

關於 SG&A，我們仍致力於以生產力提升來抵銷通膨。我們已在此領域採取全面性行動，包括人力精簡、共享服務擴張、提高外包比例以及據點整併。例如，我們持續運用並擴大位於海得拉巴與華沙的全球業務中心。此外，我們正整併俄亥俄州哥倫布園區的占地範圍，預計於 6 月季度完成，帶來約 600 萬美元的年化節省。

During the first quarter, for the corporation, adjusted SG&A year-over-year was up $20 million, almost entirely due to the impact of acquisitions and currency. The remainder was more timing issues. I will mention our full year outlook for each of the businesses in a moment. However, I think it's important to reiterate that managing SG&A costs is a critical component to meeting our full year commitments. Based upon our current full year forecast, less the impact of acquisitions, divestitures and currency, we expect full year SG&A for the corporation will be flat.

第一季就公司整體而言，調整後 SG&A 年增 2,000 萬美元，幾乎完全是併購與匯率影響所致。其餘則多為時點因素。稍後我會提到各事業的全年展望。不過，我認為重要的是再次強調：管理 SG&A 成本是達成我們全年承諾的關鍵要素。依據我們目前的全年預測，扣除併購、處分與匯率影響後，我們預期公司整體全年 SG&A 將持平。

Turning to the full business. As you saw in the updated outlook summary we released last night, we have reaffirmed our full year adjusted EBITDA outlooks for each of our operating segments for fiscal 2018. Based on the change in the effective tax rate to 18% for fiscal '18, we have updated our adjusted EPS outlook for the year to a range of $2.90 to $3.10 per share. This $0.30 change in the EPS range is due entirely to the new tax rate. For context, if the new tax legislation were applied to fiscal '17, the full year effective tax rate would have been 18% as opposed to the reported 7%.

接著談整體業務。如同你們在昨晚發布的更新展望摘要中所見，我們已重申 2018 財年各營運事業部的全年調整後 EBITDA 展望。基於 2018 財年有效稅率調整為 18%，我們已將全年調整後 EPS 展望更新為每股 2.90 至 3.10 美元。EPS 區間的這 0.30 美元變動完全是由新的稅率所致。作為參考，若將新稅法套用至 2017 財年，全年有效稅率將為 18%，而非當時報告的 7%。

For the second quarter, we expect adjusted earnings in the range of $0.80 to $0.90 per diluted share compared to $0.70 per share in the prior year period. This estimate assumes an effective tax rate of 18% based on the new U.S. tax legislation. Also note that our effective tax rate in the prior year quarter was 1%, reflecting income mix and certain discrete items. Based on where we are today, we remain confident that we can generate free cash flow north of $220 million during this fiscal year.

就第二季而言，我們預期調整後每股稀釋後盈餘介於 0.80 至 0.90 美元，相較去年同期為每股 0.70 美元。此估計假設依據新的美國稅法，有效稅率為 18%。也請注意，去年同期的有效稅率為 1%，反映了獲利組合以及若干一次性項目。以目前情況來看，我們仍有信心在本財年產生超過 2.2 億美元的自由現金流。

Lastly, we are currently evaluating possible changes to the way that we make operating decisions and assess performance within Specialty Ingredients. This process may result in additional changes to our management structure and how internal financial information is reported and used in making decisions about the business and certain of its components. Consequently, we will need to determine if these changes will result in the need for further segmentation of Specialty Ingredients results for external reporting purposes. We will provide an update on this evaluation once it is completed.

最後，我們目前正在評估在 Specialty Ingredients 內部做出營運決策與衡量績效方式的可能變更。此流程可能導致我們的管理架構，以及內部財務資訊的呈報方式與用於業務及其部分組成決策的方式，出現進一步調整。因此，我們需要判斷這些變更是否會使 Specialty Ingredients 的結果在對外報導目的上需要進一步分部揭露。待此評估完成後，我們將提供最新進度。

Now I will turn the call back over to Bill.

現在我把電話交回給 Bill。

Thank you, Kevin. As outlined at our Investor Day last year, Ashland has a clear strategy to drive strong sales and earnings growth in fiscal year 2018 and beyond. As a reminder, we established the following financial targets for fiscal year 2018 through fiscal 2021: We intend to grow adjusted EPS by at least 15% per year, improve Specialty Ingredients adjusted EBITDA margins to above 25% and generate more than $1 billion of free cash flow. Our performance in the first quarter reflects important progress we're making. While we have more work to do, we are working hard to accelerate our progress and increase our momentum.

謝謝你，Kevin。如同我們去年投資人日所說明，Ashland 有明確策略，在 2018 財年及之後推動強勁的銷售與獲利成長。提醒各位，我們為 2018 財年至 2021 財年設定了以下財務目標：我們計畫調整後 EPS 每年至少成長 15%，將 Specialty Ingredients 的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率提升至 25% 以上，並創造超過 10 億美元的自由現金流。我們第一季的表現反映了我們正在取得的重要進展。雖然仍有更多工作要做，但我們正努力加速進度並提升動能。

The second quarter is an important period for Specialty Ingredients. To that end, we expect to see sustained volume/mix improvements. In the second quarter, we also expect to realize the benefit of pricing actions taken, particularly in personal care, pharma and adhesives, and take additional pricing actions in the cellulosics portion of Industrial Specialties.

第二季對 Specialty Ingredients 而言是重要期間。為此，我們預期將看到持續的銷量／組合改善。在第二季，我們也預期將實現已採取的定價措施所帶來的效益，特別是在個人護理、製藥與黏著劑領域，並在 Industrial Specialties 的纖維素業務部分採取額外的定價行動。

Ashland margins in Q2 should also be positively impacted by our asset utilization programs as we begin to see the impact of previously announced closure of 4 operating facilities; our detolling efforts, which are gaining greater traction; and we lower turnaround expenses, as many of our plant shutdowns were completed in Q1.

Ashland 第二季的利潤率也應會因我們的資產利用計畫而受到正面影響，因為我們開始看到先前宣布關閉 4 座營運設施的影響；我們的去代工（detolling）努力正獲得更大的進展；同時我們也降低了檢修週期費用，因為許多工廠停機已於第一季完成。

And last, but not least, the ASH team is working aggressively to drive our Pharmachem synergy action plans. From a composites perspective, we continue to see healthy demand in the second quarter. Just last Friday, we announced another round of price increases to help offset raw material inflation, which resulted from reduced production from several styrene producers.

最後但同樣重要的是，ASH 團隊正積極推動我們的 Pharmachem 協同效應行動計畫。從複合材料的角度來看，我們在第二季仍持續看到健康的需求。就在上週五，我們宣布了新一輪的漲價，以協助抵銷原物料通膨；該通膨源自數家苯乙烯生產商減產。

I&S has again raised prices. The benefit of this action will be partially offsetting Q2 by the impact of the planned maintenance shutdown in Marl, Germany. We view this as just a timing impact as we saw the offsetting benefit with the turnaround in Q2 -- excuse me, Q1. In the aggregate, for the fiscal year, excluding acquisitions and currency, we expect Ashland's SG&A to be flat versus prior year as we continue to drive productivity programs. Combined, these actions make us confident that we can deliver on our previews EBITDA guidance. More specifically, we are reaffirming our guidance for Specialty Ingredients EBITDA, Composites EBITDA and I&S EBITDA.

I&S 再次調漲價格。此舉帶來的效益在第二季將部分被德國馬爾（Marl）計畫性維護停機的影響所抵銷。我們認為這只是時間點的影響，因為我們在第二季的檢修（抱歉，是第一季）已看到相對應的抵銷效益。整體而言，就本會計年度來看，排除併購與匯率因素，隨著我們持續推動生產力計畫，我們預期 Ashland 的 SG&A 將與前一年度持平。綜合而言，這些行動讓我們有信心能達成先前提供的 EBITDA 指引。更具體地說，我們重申 Specialty Ingredients EBITDA、Composites EBITDA 以及 I&S EBITDA 的指引。

As for our EPS guidance, we are adjusting our fiscal year outlook to reflect the new tax rate. This impact is estimated to be approximately $0.30 per diluted share. Thus, our adjusted EPS guidance for the year is $2.90 to $3.10. Fortunately, as Kevin described, while tax reform will have an impact on our book tax rate, we expect no material change to our expected cash tax rate of 20% to 25%. As a result, we believe we remain on track to drive more than $220 million of free cash flow in fiscal year 2018.

至於 EPS 指引，我們正在調整本會計年度展望，以反映新的稅率。估計影響約為每股稀釋後 0.30 美元。因此，我們今年的調整後 EPS 指引為 2.90 至 3.10 美元。幸運的是，如 Kevin 所述，雖然稅改將影響我們的帳面稅率，但我們預期對 20% 至 25% 的預估現金稅率不會有重大變化。因此，我們相信在 2018 會計年度仍可望推動超過 2.2 億美元的自由現金流。

So in summary, all 3 of our operating segments remain on track to deliver their key financial targets in fiscal year 2018. We have more work to do, but momentum is clearly building. Fiscal year is an important year for Ashland, and we remain committed to delivering on results.

總結來說，我們三個營運部門在 2018 會計年度皆仍按計畫達成其關鍵財務目標。我們還有更多工作要做，但動能顯然正在累積。本會計年度對 Ashland 而言是重要的一年，我們仍致力於交出成果。

With that, I say thank you for listening and your interest in Ashland. And I'll turn the call over to the operator to take your questions. Thank you.

最後，感謝各位收聽並關注 Ashland。接下來我把電話交給接線員，開始提問環節。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Christopher Parkinson of Crédit Suisse.

(接線員指示) 我們的第一個問題來自瑞士信貸（Crédit Suisse）的 Christopher Parkinson。

Given your comments and your Powerpoint, there was roughly a $4 million net EBITDA contribution from acquisitions and divestitures, which, I guess, includes Pharmachem and exiting the China JV. Can you just quickly parse out the various moving parts, including the corporate costs you mentioned? We're just trying to get a sense of where the Pharmachem came in versus expectations and the implied margin or EBITDA contribution for the remainder of the year.

根據你們的評論以及簡報，併購與處分對 EBITDA 的淨貢獻約為 400 萬美元，我想這包含 Pharmachem 以及退出中國合資企業。你能否快速拆解一下各項變動因素，包括你提到的公司層級成本？我們只是想了解 Pharmachem 的表現相較預期如何，以及今年剩餘期間所隱含的利潤率或 EBITDA 貢獻。

Sure, Chris. This is Kevin. If you look at Pharmachem, I'll first talk about the 7 months. So as Bill mentioned, approximately $35 million of what I'd call contribution EBITDA, so ex any corporate allocations that the business produced. Over that period, got $2 million, $3 million, probably, of JV EBITDA that was not there. The delta between that would be corporate allocations. With Pharmachem in the mix, we basically apply our methodology for allocating corporate costs to each of the businesses, and Pharmachem participates in that. So the way to think about it is, on average, $5 million, $6 million a quarter of corporate cost would be ultimately allocated to the Pharmachem number. If you want to apply that to the first quarter, that would imply, call it, $10 million, $11 million-or-so million of EBITDA ex corporate cost basis. Clearly, seasonality in the business during the December quarter, as we delved into it. And so thinking about it on a full year basis, it makes us -- on an overall basis, pretty confident that we're going to be able to meet our targets within that business from an economics perspective. And we very much remain committed to managing those SG&A costs. And as I indicated in my comments, on an overall basis, we expect the corporation to be flat for the year. So the movement of corporate costs is really just kind of pushing water around in the balloon if you want to think of it that way.

當然，Chris。我是 Kevin。如果看 Pharmachem，我先談 7 個月的情況。如 Bill 提到的，約 3,500 萬美元是我所稱的貢獻 EBITDA，也就是該業務本身產生的 EBITDA，不含任何公司層級分攤。在那段期間，還有約 200 萬到 300 萬美元左右的合資企業（JV）EBITDA 先前並不存在。兩者之間的差額就是公司層級分攤。在納入 Pharmachem 後，我們基本上依照將公司成本分攤至各事業的既定方法，Pharmachem 也會參與分攤。因此可以這樣理解：平均每季約有 500 萬到 600 萬美元的公司成本，最終會分攤到 Pharmachem 的數字上。若把這套用到第一季，意味著在不含公司成本的基礎上，EBITDA 約為 1,000 萬到 1,100 萬美元左右。顯然，當我們深入了解後，該業務在 12 月季度存在季節性。因此以全年來看，整體而言，從經濟效益角度，我們相當有信心能在該業務達成目標。我們也非常致力於管理這些 SG&A 成本。如我在評論中所說，整體而言，我們預期公司層級今年將與去年持平。所以公司成本的變動，其實只是如果你要這樣想的話，就像是在氣球裡推水一樣，移來移去而已。

Great. And just a quick follow-up. As it pertains to increasing your pharma capacity at Hopewell as well as some of the mix improvements you're targeting out of your Dalton facility, can you simply comment on what inning, you believe, you're in regarding your pharma initiatives now that you're no longer capacity-constrained as well as the consequent mix benefits on an annualized basis? And then also, just if you could very quickly touch on given the desire to place that new capacity in the market, can you confirm that you're comfortable doing this without any concern on pricing? I know that's the initiative, but just any confidence to that would be appreciated.

很好。再追問一個。關於你們在 Hopewell 提升製藥產能，以及你們在 Dalton 廠所鎖定的一些產品組合改善，你能否簡單評論一下：在不再受產能限制之後，你認為目前製藥相關計畫進行到哪一局（哪個階段），以及因此帶來的組合效益若以年化計算大概如何？另外，也請你很快談一下，鑑於你們希望把新增產能投放到市場，你能否確認你們在這麼做時對價格不會有任何疑慮、你們是有把握的？我知道這是你們的計畫，但若能提供一些信心說明，我們會很感謝。

Sure, Chris. Thank you, that's good questions. And in fact, it's -- we do see the momentum building from a demand standpoint in these key product areas that you mentioned out of Doel with Benecel and also out of our Hopewell expansions. And Klucel is one of the products. And these are some of our most differentiated products. And with that, really, the gains that you see in Q1 are the result of those activities. And we see demand building in those areas. Our customers who we weren't able to supply effectively or consistently now understands and have the confidence to have more of that business with us. And so I would say that a significant or a great amount of our current and targeted growth are in these more differentiated platforms. There really, in these areas, are very few competitors, and our products are differentiated even by the nature of how they perform. So we still have plenty of upside opportunity as it relates to utilizing that capacity. In fact, we're still in the process of qualifying our additional Klucel capacity with customers. So while we're able to use it today, we'll be able to use it more and even improve the mix running through those assets as we go forward. Basically, I think what it does is it has taken the cap off in terms of limitations, at least from a production standpoint, on our growth in the pharma market.

當然，Chris。謝謝，這些問題很好。事實上，就你提到的這些關鍵產品領域而言，我們確實看到需求面動能正在累積，包括來自 Doel 的 Benecel，以及我們 Hopewell 擴產所帶來的動能。Klucel 也是其中一項產品。這些都是我們差異化程度最高的一些產品。因此，你在第一季看到的成長，確實是這些活動的成果。而且我們看到這些領域的需求正在增強。過去我們無法有效或穩定供貨的客戶，現在已理解並且有信心把更多業務交給我們。所以我會說，我們目前以及目標中的成長，有相當大一部分來自這些更具差異化的平台。在這些領域，競爭者其實非常少，而我們的產品甚至在性能表現上就具有差異化。因此，就產能利用而言，我們仍有很大的上行機會。事實上，我們仍在與客戶進行新增 Klucel 產能的認證流程。所以雖然我們今天已能使用這些產能，但隨著時間推進，我們將能使用得更多，並進一步改善這些資產所產出的產品組合。基本上，我認為這等於從至少生產端的角度，解除我們在製藥市場成長上的產能上限。

Yes. We saw really good volume/mix out of that business in the quarter. Very strong performance. And we've been bullish on pharma. We remain bullish on pharma. And really, it just comes down to the team executing on the new capacity and continuing to drive that value through the system.

是的。我們在本季看到該業務的銷量/組合表現非常好。表現非常強勁。而且我們一直看好製藥領域。我們仍然看好製藥領域。而且實際上，這歸根結底就是團隊在新增產能上的執行，並持續透過整個系統推動並釋放該價值。

Our next question comes from John Roberts of UBS.

下一個問題來自瑞銀（UBS）的 John Roberts。

If the volume/mix benefit to the specialty segment was about 9.5% to EBITDA level, what was the volume/mix contribution at the sales level in specialties?

如果專業品（specialty）部門在 EBITDA 層面的銷量/組合效益約為 9.5%，那麼在專業品的銷售額層面，銷量/組合的貢獻是多少？

John, it's Seth. You've pointed out correctly. Volume/mix was a positive contribution, certainly. At the profitability level, it was also a 2% contributor to the top line for specialty.

John，我是 Seth。你指出得沒錯。銷量/組合確實是正向貢獻。在獲利能力層面，它對專業品的營收（top line）也貢獻了 2%。

Okay. And then should the tax rate in fiscal September '19 come down from a full year reform? Or not really since the U.S. taxable earnings are still going to be at a modest loss even after the debt reduction?

好的。那麼在 2019 會計年度 9 月（fiscal September '19），稅率是否會因為全年稅改而下降？還是其實不會，因為即使在減債之後，美國的應稅所得仍將是小幅虧損？

Yes. John, it's a great question, and its going to take us, I think, a good bit of the fiscal year to work through that. The new tax provisions really pile a lot of complexity on top of what was already there. The idea I think within '18 is really, in fact, not true, and so we have to work through that. Each provision -- each new provision of tax reform is going to drive, in some cases, a benefit and in some cases, not. A couple of small examples. There's interest deductibility. That's probably going to be something that we have to deal with because not all of our interest is likely to be deductible in the U.S. However, we have new provisions around CapEx deductibility as the capital is spent in the U.S. and so there's offsets to be had there. And those are just a couple of examples of really many that our internal team and our third-party advisers are working through as we try to figure this out. And I think a lot of companies are, frankly, in the same boat if they're as global as we are. And so what we'll commit to is certainly providing an update as soon as we have one. I think the way we think about it, based on where we are right now, I wouldn't expect the range to get worse. And I think it remains to be seen if the ETR range can, in fact, improve from the 16% to 20% that we're currently using. And again, we see no material impact on the overall cash tax rate absent the one-time repat cost that we'll be paying over 8 years, which is largely offset by a reduction in deferred tax liabilities due to the lower rate.

是的。John，這是個很好的問題，我想我們需要花上會計年度相當一段時間來釐清。新的稅務條款在原本就很複雜的基礎上又增加了許多複雜性。我認為在 '18 年內的那個想法其實並不正確，因此我們必須把它梳理清楚。每一項條款——稅改的每一項新條款——在某些情況下會帶來好處，在某些情況下則不會。舉幾個小例子。有利息可扣抵（interest deductibility）。這可能是我們必須面對的議題，因為我們在美國的利息不太可能全部都可扣抵。不過，我們也有關於資本支出（CapEx）在美國發生時可扣抵的新規定，因此在那裡也有可取得的抵銷效果。而這只是眾多例子中的幾個；我們的內部團隊與第三方顧問正在逐一研判，試圖把這件事弄清楚。坦白說，如果公司像我們一樣全球化，我想很多公司也都處於同樣的情況。因此我們承諾，一旦有更新就會盡快提供。以我們目前的狀況來看，我不預期這個區間會變得更差。而有效稅率（ETR）區間是否能從我們目前採用的 16% 到 20% 進一步改善，仍有待觀察。另外，除了我們將在 8 年內支付的一次性匯回稅成本（repat cost）之外，我們看不到整體現金稅率會有重大影響；而該成本在很大程度上會被因稅率降低而帶來的遞延所得稅負債減少所抵銷。

Our next question comes from Mike Sison of KeyBanc.

下一個問題來自 KeyBanc 的 Mike Sison。

In terms of ASI, your guidance had implied that you're going to need $150 million to $160 million in EBITDA per quarter after a seasonally slow first quarter. Can you maybe help us understand how you get that ramp, particularly in 2Q? And then is there any seasonality between that number for the rest of the other quarters?

就 ASI 而言，你們的指引意味著在季節性較疲弱的第一季之後，每季需要達到 1.5 億到 1.6 億美元的 EBITDA。你們能否協助我們理解這個爬坡（ramp）是如何達成的，特別是在第二季（2Q）？另外，對於其餘季度，這個數字是否存在任何季節性差異？

Kevin, why don't you speak to the seasonality, and I'll speak to the ramp, if you want.

Kevin，你要不要談談季節性，我來談談爬坡，如果你願意的話。

Yes, yes. I mean, really, what we should see is, frankly, positive seasonality coming out of Q2 and Q3, which basically gets at the ramp concept as well. Those are typically the strongest 2 quarters within ASI. And frankly, Q4 isn't typically far behind. If you look at it on an overall basis, Q2 to Q3 will be our strongest quarters. And so it really comes down to the team continuing to execute on an overall basis. I think manufacturing is stepping up and doing what they need to do. We've seen good benefits from that. We should see that accelerate through the course of the year. The volume/mix equation is very positive. And really, I think it comes down to executing fully on pricing initiatives and driving that through the system, and that's primarily in the industrial area.

是的，是的。我的意思是，坦白說，我們應該會在第二季和第三季看到正向的季節性，這基本上也呼應了爬坡的概念。那通常是 ASI 之中最強的兩個季度。而坦白說，第四季通常也不會差太多。如果從整體來看，第二季到第三季會是我們最強的季度。因此，這真的取決於團隊能否持續在整體上落實執行。我認為製造端正在加速並做他們需要做的事。我們已經看到因此帶來的良好效益。我們應該會看到這種效益在全年過程中加速。銷量/組合的方程式非常正向。而且我認為，歸根結底就是要把定價措施完整執行並推動到整個系統中，這主要是在工業領域。

Kevin stated it very well, so no need to repeat it all. I think the parts that we feel very good about, of course, is that we're seeing improvement in the volume/mix area with a particular focus on mix: good SG&A control; manufacturing, we see the momentum building there. And what's really going to be key for us is to make sure that, especially in the cellulosics portion of the Industrial Specialties business, that we drive the pricing needed to fully offset raw material inflation. By the way, they were the group that saw the biggest impact from the increase year-over-year.

Kevin 已經講得非常好，所以不需要我全部重複。我認為我們感覺非常良好的部分，當然是我們看到銷量/組合面有所改善，且特別聚焦在組合（mix）：良好的 SG&A 控制；在製造端，我們看到動能正在累積。而對我們來說真正關鍵的是，確保——特別是在工業專業品業務中的纖維素（cellulosics）部分——我們推動所需的定價，以完全抵銷原物料通膨。順帶一提，他們是年對年（year-over-year）受到漲幅影響最大的團隊。

Great. And then in terms of the raw material inflation for ASI, what is the basket of raw materials that go into ASI? What's the increase in cost that you need to offset, so like low single digits, mid-single digits? And then can you just remind us what the major inputs for the cellulosics are that you need to overcome?

很好。那麼就 ASI 的原物料通膨而言，ASI 所使用的原物料組合（basket）有哪些？你們需要抵銷的成本增幅是多少，例如低個位數百分比、中個位數百分比？另外，你們能否提醒我們，纖維素（cellulosics）的主要投入項有哪些是你們需要克服的？

So just in general, within ASI, some of the key raw materials are butane, which can go into BDO, of course; cotton linters, which -- of course; and wood pulp, which goes into cellulosics. You have other key materials. Polypropylene ultimately works its way through as well. So those are some of the key raw materials that have been impacted, if you will, in the, we'll say, last 6 months or so. And just to put it in perspective, we -- with the way things are right now, the raw materials that we've realized to date that -- versus prior year, raw material cost will be up about $26 million year-over-year. That's assuming that prices don't go down or they don't go up further. But that's the amount that we need to overcome with our pricing activities.

一般而言，在 ASI 之內，一些關鍵原物料包括丁烷（butane），當然可用於 BDO；棉短絨（cotton linters），這個——當然；以及木漿（wood pulp），用於纖維素。你還有其他關鍵材料。聚丙烯（polypropylene）最終也會傳導進來。所以，這些是一些關鍵原物料；可以說，在過去大約 6 個月左右受到影響。為了讓大家有個概念，依照目前的情況，我們迄今已實現的原物料——相較於去年——原物料成本年對年將增加約 2,600 萬美元。這是假設價格不會下降，也不會再進一步上升。但這就是我們需要透過定價活動來克服的金額。

Our next question comes from Laurence Alexander of Jefferies.

下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Laurence Alexander。

Two questions. Can you flesh out a little bit your thinking about the ASI asset utilization and how much of it -- how we should think about the benefit in the back half of this year compared to in next year? Is it a steady cadence? Or is it -- or a bit of a hockey stick effect? And secondly, can you give us some sense of the trends you're seeing in your construction and energy markets?

兩個問題。你能否更詳細說明一下你們對 ASI 資產利用率（asset utilization）的看法，以及其中有多少——我們應該如何看待今年下半年相較於明年的效益？它是穩定的節奏（steady cadence）嗎？還是——或是有點像曲棍球桿效應（hockey stick effect）？第二，你能否讓我們了解一下你們在建築與能源市場看到的趨勢？

Sure. I mean, from an asset utilization standpoint, we will see from quarter-to-quarter some variations just because when you do have a shutdown in a quarter, right, it depends on whether you had one in the prior year. But in general, we really break it out into several key buckets fairly straightforward: one is spend and the other is absorption. For better utilizing the assets, that lowers the cost across all units. And of course, if we can reduce the overall spend rate, that's another way to make improvements. Kind of numerator and denominator math there. And so we're focused on, for example, in the cost portion, being better, more precise with our shutdowns, making them shorter in duration and focusing on reducing their costs and also consolidating facilities in our footprint where possible. So we have Lean Six Sigma programs, which are also helping not only to drive productivity but to reduce the cost. And then you have the absorption effect, which really comes from selling incremental volume to the system. And in that regard, what you're seeing so far, you saw in Q4 and we expect to see in Q1, you will see really more of the impact of managing the cost side of that equation. Ultimately, we expect to and need to drive greater volume growth. While our focus is on mix over volume, we do expect to see our business grow. And with that, that will help on the absorption equation. So I would say overall, we anticipate it continuing through this fiscal year. Again, it may be a little lumpy from one quarter to another, and there's no reason why it shouldn't continue next year at a rate, I'll say, at least at this point, in the similar kind of fashion. And from a market standpoint, in the energy area, we saw demand increasing in the U.S., which, of course, is good news. In Europe, it was a little bit softer. And overall, we saw construction down versus the prior year.

當然。我的意思是，從資產利用的角度來看，我們會看到季度之間有一些波動，因為當你在某一季有停機時，對吧，這取決於前一年是否也有停機。但總體而言，我們其實相當直接地把它拆成幾個關鍵面向：一個是支出（spend），另一個是吸收（absorption）。更好地利用資產，會降低所有單位的成本。當然，如果我們能降低整體支出率，那也是另一種改善方式。這有點像分子與分母的數學。因此我們聚焦在，例如在成本這一塊，讓停機安排更好、更精準，縮短停機時間，並著重降低停機成本，同時在可行之處整併我們版圖內的設施。所以我們有精實六標準差（Lean Six Sigma）計畫，不僅有助於提升生產力，也能降低成本。接著是吸收效應，主要來自於向系統銷售增量的出貨量。在這方面，到目前為止你在第四季看到的，以及我們預期在第一季會看到的，會更偏向於管理這個等式中成本端的影響。最終，我們預期也需要推動更高的量的成長。雖然我們的重點是產品組合（mix）優先於數量（volume），但我們確實預期業務會成長。而隨著成長，這將有助於吸收這一端的等式。所以我會說整體而言，我們預期這種趨勢會在本財年持續。同樣地，它可能在不同季度之間會有些起伏，而且沒有理由不在明年以我會說至少在目前看來、以類似的方式持續。從市場角度看，在能源領域，我們看到美國需求增加，這當然是好消息。在歐洲則稍微疲弱一些。整體而言，我們看到建築相較於前一年下滑。

Our next question comes from David Begleiter of Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行（Deutsche Bank）的 David Begleiter。

Bill, just in cellulosics, any more details on what's causing the pricing issues? Is it competitor intensity? Is it excess supply? Any more color on that in cellulosics?

Bill，就纖維素（cellulosics）而言，能否再多提供一些造成定價問題的細節？是競爭對手的競爭強度嗎？是供給過剩嗎？在纖維素這塊能否再多補充一些背景？

Sure, sure. And this is how I would characterize it as. We have a lot of very differentiated products and a lot of contracts associated with those. And some of those contracts, we have cycles to them. So it takes a little time to pass those prices through -- or those raw material inflations through with some of our larger key customers with some of our more differentiated products because of that structure. But in general, I think it's fair to say that in the spaces, say, portions of the construction market, maybe the mid- to lower end of the coatings market, you do see a little bit more global competition, and we're trying to fight the right balance between having the right mix, the right volume but also offsetting the raw material inflation. And I would like to highlight, not in -- as an excuse or anything like that, but this is where we saw really significant increase in the quarter versus what we anticipated coming into the quarter in terms of raw material cost. The team is out there working the equation hard. And frankly, as Kevin alluded to, as we look forward on the business, we run a highly integrated ASI business today. We're going to increase our focus on the strategic imperatives in this part of the business, where, to the extent there is some greater cost sensitivity, we're going to be more aggressive, working to make sure that we are truly competitive on a global scale regardless of the segments that we're competing in.

當然，當然。我會這樣來描述。我們有很多高度差異化的產品，也有許多與之相關的合約。而其中一些合約是有週期性的。因此，基於這種結構，對於我們一些更差異化產品、以及一些更大型的關鍵客戶，要把這些價格——或原物料通膨——轉嫁出去，需要一點時間。但整體而言，我認為可以公平地說，在某些領域，例如建築市場的部分區塊、也許是塗料市場的中低端，你確實會看到更多全球競爭；我們正努力在取得適當的產品組合、適當的出貨量，同時也要抵銷原物料通膨之間，找到正確的平衡。我也想強調，並不是——不是作為藉口或任何理由——但這一季我們看到原物料成本的上升幅度，確實相較於我們在進入本季時的預期要大得多。團隊正在外面非常努力地解這道題。坦白說，正如 Kevin 提到的，展望未來的業務，我們目前營運的是高度整合的 ASI 業務。我們將提高對這部分業務策略要務的聚焦；在成本敏感度較高的地方，我們會更積極，確保無論我們競爭的細分市場為何，我們都能在全球尺度上真正具備競爭力。

Very good. And just on BDO, an ultra strong start in -- of the year. I know you have some turnaround cost in Q2, but can you give us your view of the BDO cycle? And is there some bias to the upside for I&S EBITDA guidance for the year given the BDO cycle?

很好。另外談到 BDO，今年一開始表現非常強勁。我知道你們在第二季有一些歲修成本，但你能否談談你們對 BDO 景氣循環的看法？鑑於 BDO 的循環，年度 I&S EBITDA 指引是否有偏上行的可能？

Sure. So -- and we really wanted to highlight the turnarounds mainly because given the timing, it could look, based upon Q1, like we should have a number that's much bigger for the year-end. But again, you do need to factor in now we'll have -- versus last year we'll have this turnaround in Q2. But overall, we have been able to consistently increase prices in the marketplace kind of step-by-step. Our last increase was in January and taking place -- or taking effect in February. Since then, actually, one of the other suppliers in the market is, out of force majeure, making the supply/demand dynamic even tighter. And so we want to make sure that we're appropriately and fairly evaluating our product, and we're working hard. We don't want to presume that there's upside at this point because we need to see how the dynamics play out, but the indications are now that pricing is holding. We've actually seen it now translate not just in BDO but into the derivatives, which is an important element of, if you will, that equation. And again, I just bring it up because it's a point to note. And your information is as good as mine. You all read about the tightening that's going on in terms of productions and emissions, standards in China and the impact that's having on, whether it be cost or excess energy and operations of facilities. And we've been studying that and looking at that, and it's going to take some more time. But that, I'll say, has had an impact up to this point because we haven't seen some capacity that we otherwise might have predicted would come back online at these prices. And it may mean that there's some further upside to the cycle just by nature of capacity limitations coming out of the region. I don't want to make too big of a deal out of that because that's uncertain. It's just something that we're watching very carefully.

當然。所以——我們之所以特別想強調歲修，主要是因為就時間點而言，若只看第一季，可能會讓人覺得我們全年年末的數字應該會大得多。但同樣地，你確實需要把因素納入：相較去年，我們會在第二季進行這次歲修。不過整體而言，我們已能在市場上一步一步、持續地調漲價格。我們上一次調漲是在一月，並在二月開始——或生效。自那之後，實際上，市場上另一家供應商因不可抗力（force majeure）而受影響，使得供需動態更加吃緊。因此我們希望確保對我們的產品做出適當且公平的定價評估，我們也在努力推進。我們目前不想預設有上行空間，因為我們需要觀察動態如何發展，但目前的跡象顯示價格正在守住。我們其實也看到這不僅反映在 BDO，也反映到其衍生產品上，這是——如果你願意這麼說——該等式中的重要一環。我再次提起只是因為這是一個值得注意的點。而你們掌握的資訊跟我一樣多。大家都讀到中國在生產與排放標準方面的收緊，以及這對成本或多餘能源、以及工廠營運所造成的影響。我們一直在研究並觀察這些情況，還需要一些時間。但我會說，到目前為止這確實產生了影響，因為我們沒有看到一些產能在這些價格水準下、如我們原本可能預期的那樣重新回到線上。而這可能意味著，由於該地區產能受限的本質，這一輪循環可能還有進一步上行空間。我不想把這件事說得太大，因為這仍不確定。這只是我們正在非常密切關注的事情。

Yes. And we'll -- obviously, we'll commit to. As we get through Q2 and we get more visibility into the rest of the year, clearly, we'll update our outlook for the business based on the most current knowledge that we have. And so you can expect to hear from us on the next call relative to that.

是的。而且我們——顯然，我們會承諾。當我們度過第二季、並對今年剩餘時間有更高能見度時，我們會基於我們掌握的最新資訊，明確更新對該業務的展望。因此你們可以期待在下一次電話會議上，聽到我們就此的更新。

Our next question comes from Mike Harrison of Seaport Global.

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

Just going back to the ASI business and some of the timing of turnarounds there. I think it was last year that you guys had made efforts to move all of your maintenance downtime into that seasonally weak Q1. Is that something that we saw all of that impact in this Q1? And can you comment on whether the maintenance cost or the downtime or how everyone will think about it, was that higher or lower or pretty much in line with where it was in the prior year?

回到 ASI 業務以及那邊歲修時點的一些問題。我記得是去年你們曾努力把所有維護停機都移到季節性較弱的第一季。這是否表示我們在這一季第一季已經看到全部影響？另外你能否評論一下維護成本或停機時間——或大家該如何看待——相較前一年是更高、更低，還是大致持平？

Yes. In the quarter, in Q1, the turnaround expenses were about $2 million higher versus prior year. And we do have turnarounds really throughout the year. The -- you have -- I'll put that in 3 buckets: You have the large planned turnarounds; you have kind of shorter maintenance shutdowns; and then, you do have, from time to time, unplanned outages. What I would say is that the great majority in ASI of our planned major maintenance outages have been completed here in Q1, and so that's why we see some upside associated with that going forward.

是的。本季，也就是第一季（Q1），相較去年同期，檢修（turnaround）費用約高出200萬美元。而且我們其實全年都有檢修。我會把它分成三類：大型的計畫性檢修；較短期的維護性停機；以及不時會發生的非計畫性停機。我要說的是，在ASI，我們絕大多數已規劃的重大維護停機已在第一季完成，因此我們才會看到未來有一些與此相關的上行空間。

Got it. And then just looking at the coatings business within ASI. Obviously, a really nice rebound there, and you referenced some wins with key customers. Just wondering if you can go into a little more detail about what you were seeing in terms of those wins and whether part of what we're seeing there in terms of the 12% growth was some restocking after a year that, obviously, was -- ended up being weaker than a lot of your customers may have anticipated.

了解。接著看ASI裡的塗料（coatings）業務。顯然那邊反彈得很漂亮，你也提到與關鍵客戶的一些得標/勝出。想請你再多談一點：你們在這些勝出上看到的是什麼？以及我們看到的12%成長，是否有一部分是因為在經歷了一年（顯然）比許多客戶原先預期更疲弱之後，出現了一些回補庫存（restocking）？

Right, and thanks for that question. There's 2, I'd say, important parts in answering that, and one is, I recall, as I'm sure you did, a lot of concern coming out of our last quarter because coatings was flat. And we had said that you shouldn't read too much into it because you do have some timing of different order patterns. And I'm willing to acknowledge that while we're on the positive side of that coin here today, some of the orders that maybe we didn't see in Q4, you see in Q1, and that helped to create a very robust growth rate. At the same time, this is an area where the team has been focusing extensively on trying to expand our position given our available capacity, frankly. And there's been a lot of work on the international front, a lot of work in the Middle East and in the rest of Asia to help drive new customer wins to improve our volume/mix equation and better utilize that capacity. So it's really, to me, a combination of the 2.

是的，謝謝這個問題。我認為回答這題有兩個重要面向。第一個是，我記得（我相信你也記得），上一季財報後外界有不少擔憂，因為塗料是持平的。而我們當時說過，不要過度解讀，因為不同訂單型態之間確實存在一些時間點的差異。我也願意承認，雖然今天我們站在這枚硬幣的正面，但可能有些我們在第四季（Q4）沒看到的訂單，在第一季（Q1）出現了，這有助於形成非常強勁的成長率。同時，坦白說，鑑於我們可用產能，這也是團隊一直非常專注、試圖擴大我們市場地位的領域。我們在國際市場做了很多工作，在中東以及亞洲其他地區也做了很多努力，來推動新客戶得標，改善我們的量/組合（volume/mix）結構，並更好地利用那部分產能。所以對我來說，這真的是兩者的結合。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from Jeff Zekauskas of JPMorgan.

（接線員指示）下一個問題來自摩根大通（JPMorgan）的Jeff Zekauskas。

Your Specialty Ingredients tonnage was flat year-over-year at 73,000 tons, and the tons from Pharmachem has to be larger than the exited tons from the China JV. So I think your volumes in the quarter were down. How much were they down? And in which areas were they down?

你們特用成分（Specialty Ingredients）的出貨噸數年增持平，為73,000噸，而Pharmachem帶來的噸數應該大於退出中國合資公司（JV）所減少的噸數。所以我認為你們本季的實際銷量是下滑的。下滑了多少？又是哪些領域下滑？

So Jeff, it was about an offset. You're right, the Pharmachem volumes were modestly larger, I would say, than the exited JV volumes. Keeping in mind, construction volumes tend to be pretty high for the value. On an overall basis, the base business was pretty flat. And just to provide a little more color around that -- and this is followed very closely and very logically with the mix impact we saw, the higher-value pieces of the business, care, Pharma & Nutrition and coatings, contributed strongly to the mix equation and also from a volume perspective. And to provide just a little bit more color to the overall equation, we think about the business oftentimes as a consumer business. And in an industrial business, we talk about it that way. Consumer volumes tend to be much lower in higher-value. The industrial volumes tend to be much, much higher and obviously, lower value. Roughly -- it's roughly a 30-70 split between consumer and industrial. So the point of that is increases on the consumer side really drive a lot of value to the overall equation, and the industrial is going to move around between the lower-value materials and the higher-value materials, coatings being typically the highest-value material we move on the industrial side. And that's really how the overall equation works.

Jeff，基本上是互相抵銷。你說得對，Pharmachem的量我會說略高於退出JV的量。要記得，建築相關的量通常以價值來看會偏高。整體而言，基礎業務大致持平。再補充一些細節——而且這也與我們看到的組合（mix）影響非常一致、也很合乎邏輯：業務中價值較高的部分，也就是個人護理（care）、醫藥與營養（Pharma & Nutrition）以及塗料，對組合結構貢獻很大，從量的角度也有強勁貢獻。再多補充一點整體的邏輯，我們常把這個業務視為偏消費端的業務。而在工業端業務，我們也會用那樣的方式來談。消費端的量通常較低，但價值較高。工業端的量通常大得多，且顯然價值較低。大致上，消費端與工業端約是30/70的分布。所以重點是：消費端的增加會為整體帶來很大的價值；而工業端則會在低價值材料與高價值材料之間移動，其中塗料通常是我們在工業端移動的最高價值材料。整體的運作方式大致就是如此。

So Jeff, just to add a little more color. And I think this, hopefully, will bridge with prior conversations that we've had about the business and some of the changes that we've been making. We've really expanded the focus by the market-facing commercial units to focus on their commercial contribution. And that is the combination of the impact of volume; the impact of mix; the impact of pricing versus raw material; and ultimately, the absorption effect versus what's planned in our budget. And the equation that we hold our team accountable to is the aggregate of that, and we've actually modified our sales incentive programs to mirror that. So we would rather drive a richer mix and earn more money than simply drive volume. And on the other hand, if we can drive volume and mix at the same time, all the better. And if we can do that while getting price, that's the best of all worlds. But it's a combination that we look at in the aggregate, and that's what we hold our commercial teams accountable for. And in the individual levers, there's some flexibility for them to determine with specific customers or in specific marketplaces what's the best formula to get there. So that's just how we're looking at it, and I think it may be reflective in -- and of your broader question.

Jeff，我再補充一些細節。我希望這能與我們先前談過的業務以及我們正在推動的一些變革銜接起來。我們確實擴大了由面向市場的商務單位（market-facing commercial units）所聚焦的重點，讓他們更專注於其商業貢獻。而這是以下因素的組合：量的影響；組合（mix）的影響；價格相對於原物料的影響；以及最終相對於我們預算規劃的吸收效果（absorption effect）。我們要求團隊負責的衡量式，就是上述因素的加總，而且我們也調整了銷售獎酬制度來對齊這個衡量式。因此，我們寧可推動更好的組合、賺更多錢，而不只是追求量。另一方面，如果我們能同時推動量與組合，那就更好。如果還能在此同時取得價格，那就是最理想的狀態。但我們看的是整體的組合結果，這也是我們要求商務團隊負責的內容。至於各個單一槓桿，團隊在面對特定客戶或特定市場時，會有一些彈性去判斷要用什麼最佳配方來達成。這就是我們的看法，我想也可能反映在——以及回應你更廣泛的問題。

Right, okay. And last year, your Intermediates and Solvents business I think produced 139,000 tons. When you look historically, what's the highest tonnage output you've ever had out of Intermediates and Solvents? And can you say sort of what a normal tonnage level is? But first, what's the highest tonnage you've ever produced?

好，了解。另外，去年你們的中間體與溶劑（Intermediates and Solvents）業務，我想產出是139,000噸。從歷史來看，中間體與溶劑的最高產量曾經是多少？你能否也談談所謂正常的產量水準大概是多少？但先問：你們曾經的最高產量是多少？

Don't know exactly what the highest tonnage is. Nameplate capacity on our 2 plants is 160,000 tons on a combined basis. It's 100,000 for the Marl, Germany facility. 60,000 for the Lima, Ohio facility. We have, in the past, produced in excess of that. You can think about it in terms of what's possible. 165,000, 100,000-or-so tons is probably about the number. But that's a generalization, but that's pretty close. The difference between what we sell and what we produce is really driven by the internal volume that we use as raw materials to produce the PVP and the VP polymers and changes in inventory, which can move around by 5,000, 10,000 tons depending on what demand is, where demand is and time of year and that sort of thing. That's -- those are really the 3 components. It's production, internal utilization and changes in inventory.

我不確定最高產量的確切數字。我們兩座工廠合計的名目產能（nameplate capacity）是160,000噸。德國Marl廠是100,000噸。美國俄亥俄州Lima廠是60,000噸。過去我們曾經生產超過這個數字。你可以把它想成可能達到的水準。165,000噸、或大約160,000噸左右，可能就是那個數字。這是概略說法，但相當接近。我們的銷售量與產量之間的差異，主要由三個因素驅動：我們內部用量（internal volume），也就是把它當作原料用來生產PVP與VP聚合物；以及庫存變動，依需求量、需求所在區域、季節等因素，可能上下波動5,000到10,000噸。大概就是——這三個構成要素。也就是：產量、內部使用量，以及庫存變動。

Do you expect to sell more tons this year than you did last year?

您預期今年的銷售噸數會比去年更多嗎？

It certainly would be our objective.

那當然會是我們的目標。

First priority is to serve our need internally; And then, obviously, the second priority is to make as much and sell as much as possible over and above that.

第一優先是先滿足我們內部的需求；然後，顯然，第二優先是在此之上盡可能多生產、盡可能多銷售。

And our next question comes from Dmitry Silversteyn of Longbow Research.

下一個問題來自 Longbow Research 的 Dmitry Silversteyn。

A couple of questions. First of all, just -- you've obviously had very good growth in coatings. I think you said something like 18% volume on some customer gains as well as, which, you mentioned, tabbing of orders. Obviously, last quarter, 0% was not a good number to you. This quarter's 18% is probably not a good number to you. So how should we think about the growth of that coatings business both for the rest of 2018? And have you sort of have some visibility on the sort of past 2018 as far as what this business can sustain.

有幾個問題。首先，您們在塗料業務上顯然有非常好的成長。我想您提到過類似 18% 的銷量成長，來自一些客戶斬獲，以及您提到的訂單遞延（tabbing）。顯然，上季的 0% 對您們來說不是個好數字。本季的 18% 可能也不是您們認為的好數字。那麼，我們應該如何看待 2018 年剩餘期間塗料業務的成長？以及就 2018 年之後而言，您們對這項業務可持續的水準是否有一定能見度？

Sure. I think from a revenue standpoint, it was around 12% in the quarter, just to make sure we're taking about the same numbers here. I would think that in the 3% to 4% range, on average, would be a reasonable number. I would say that there are opportunities in the coatings markets in regions that we don't support throughout the globe to help to use or leverage some of our excess capacity. So we could see some additional growth as a result of that. But if you look at our base business, the core customers on geographies that we serve, I think that 3% range -- maybe 3% to 4% would be the targeted range.

當然。我想就營收角度來看，本季大約是 12%，先確認我們談的是同一組數字。我認為平均而言，3% 到 4% 的區間會是合理的數字。我會說，在全球一些我們目前尚未覆蓋的地區之塗料市場，存在機會可協助我們運用或槓桿化部分閒置產能。因此，我們可能會因此看到一些額外成長。但如果看我們的基礎業務，也就是我們所服務地理區域內的核心客戶，我認為 3% 左右——大概 3% 到 4%——會是目標區間。

So with that in mind, for 2018, obviously, we're going to see something more than that because of the customer gains that you mentioned having. So can we look at sort of mid-single-digit growth for this year?

那在此基礎上，2018 年我們顯然會看到高於該水準的成長，因為您提到有客戶斬獲。所以我們是否可以把今年看作是中個位數成長？

We -- I wouldn't say that that's an unreasonable outlook. That being said, as we've seen, especially over the last few quarters, you do see some volatility that grows quarter-by-quarter. This is the time of the year where we're going to begin to get a much better read with what our -- if you will, many of our core coatings customers, is it going to be a good season for architectural coatings with our primary, if you will, main customers? Or will it be a slow one? I think last year, we felt that it was comparatively slower, didn't feel robust. Obviously, we're cautiously optimistic that, that will be more positive. But that will certainly help to determine what it will be really up towards the higher end of that range that you're thinking in your mind or more towards what we might consider to be kind of an industry average that I was describing just a minute ago. So we'll -- we should have a good read on that over the next quarter here, I would think.

我們——我不會說那是不合理的展望。不過，如同我們所見，特別是過去幾個季度，確實會看到逐季的波動。每年這個時候，我們會開始更清楚掌握——如果您願意這麼說——我們許多核心塗料客戶的情況：對我們主要客戶而言，建築塗料會是個好旺季嗎？還是會偏慢？我想去年我們覺得相對較慢，感覺不夠強勁。顯然，我們審慎樂觀地認為今年會更正面。但這將有助於判斷結果會更接近您心中所想區間的高端，還是更接近我剛才描述的、我們可能視為產業平均的水準。所以——我想在接下來這一季我們應該就能有更清楚的判讀。

Okay. As we get into the bidding season. It makes sense. And then just a quick follow-up on the BDO issue. BASF was out this morning with a force majeure on their BDO planned here in North America. You talked about Chinese capacity rationalization perhaps extending the pricing cycle for BDO. It's a regional market. Can you talk about sort of what you're seeing in the markets as far as tightness or availability of supply even before this BASF force majeure in North America? Is it going to help you with getting better pricing here? Or is it just going to relieve a little bit of an oversupply that may have been in the market?

好的。隨著我們進入投標季。這很合理。接著就 BDO 的議題再追問一下。BASF 今天早上宣布其在北美規劃中的 BDO 發生不可抗力（force majeure）。您提到中國產能理性化可能會延長 BDO 的價格循環。這是一個區域性市場。在這次 BASF 北美不可抗力之前，您能談談您們在市場上看到的供應緊俏程度或供給可得性嗎？這會幫助您們在這裡取得更好的定價嗎？還是只是稍微緩解市場上可能存在的供給過剩？

Well, certainly, the supply/demand dynamic has moved towards a, we'll say, tighter supply situation, which is good for the fundamentals. Just, if you will, kind of anecdote, we saw over the course of the last couple of months some customers who maybe they purchase from us a little less consistently than -- and were maybe a little more spot purchase in their nature, where we took a little bit more aggressive stance just because the demand for what we had available was such that it was okay if they did their stock spot purchases elsewhere. And we were positively surprised in the number of incidents to see those companies come and say, "Okay, that's -- we'll move forward on those terms." So this is one that can change with the supply/demand shift. But right now, there's nothing that makes us feel like the trend -- the positive trend and the tightening trend isn't continuing. And with that, we believe that -- I mean, you look at the pain that we took when there was an excess of supply back to just appropriate economics in the business. This is the time where we need to get the price back up to where we get good returns on the investments that have been made over -- so we're not shy about that. And we've been doing it consistently, and we'll continue to press forward.

嗯，供需動態確實已朝向——我們姑且說——供應更緊的狀況發展，這對基本面是好事。舉個例子，過去幾個月我們看到一些客戶，他們向我們採購的頻率可能沒那麼固定——而且更偏向現貨採購——在我們可供貨的需求如此強勁的情況下，我們採取了更強勢一些的立場，因為就算他們去別處做現貨補庫也沒關係。而我們正面地感到驚訝的是，有不少案例中這些公司回來說：「好，那就按這些條件往前走。」因此，這種情況會隨供需變化而改變。但就目前而言，沒有任何跡象讓我們覺得這個正向趨勢與緊俏趨勢不會延續。在此之下，我們相信——我的意思是，回頭看在供應過剩時我們承受的壓力，現在要把價格拉回到能讓這門生意回到合理經濟性的水準。現在正是我們需要把價格提高到能對過去所做投資取得良好報酬的時候——所以我們不會在這方面退縮。而且我們一直在持續推進，也會繼續往前推。

Yes. Dmitry, the team has been, I would say, pretty aggressive in the market and appropriately so as we've seen outages in various places and it's caused tightness. It is a regional business, as you've indicated. And clearly, those things have helped. The environmental restrictions around coal-fired plants in China are, we believe, helping that business and going to continue to help that business. I mean, one of the positive signs, and Bill mentioned this earlier, that we've seen is some pricing power in the derivatives side. The pricing around BDO has been steadily increasing for the last 4 to 6 months, let's say. And -- but we have not seen that until very recently in derivatives such as NMP and THF. We're now seeing pricing opportunities in those derivatives, which I think is -- it's a positive sign. So more to come as we work through the next few months of this business. But rest assured that the team is very attuned to what's going on in the marketplace. They're very experienced, and they do a great job managing this business and the customer base.

是的。Dmitry，我會說團隊在市場上一直相當積極，而且在我們看到各地出現停產、導致供應緊俏的情況下，這樣做是恰當的。如您所說，這是一門區域性業務。而且很明顯，這些因素都有所幫助。我們認為，中國燃煤電廠周邊的環保限制正在幫助這項業務，並且會持續帶來助益。我的意思是，其中一個正面訊號——Bill 先前也提到——是我們在下游衍生品端看到一些定價能力。BDO 的價格在過去 4 到 6 個月一直穩步上升。但是——直到最近——我們在 NMP、THF 等衍生品上並沒有看到同樣的情況。我們現在開始在這些衍生品上看到定價機會，我認為這是正面訊號。因此，接下來幾個月我們推進這項業務時，還會有更多進展可分享。但請放心，團隊對市場動態非常敏銳。他們經驗非常豐富，也把這項業務與客戶群管理得很好。

Our next question comes from Jim Sheehan of SunTrust.

下一個問題來自 SunTrust 的 Jim Sheehan。

A question on Pharmachem. I think that I was a little confused about the seasonality of that business last quarter, so I want to ask you about the cadence of earnings for the rest of the year and second quarter, third quarter. I mean, if we think about it as a $60 million EBITDA-type business and it did about $5 million in the December quarter, does that mean it should do about $20 million a quarter in the second and third quarters? And just if you could -- when you comment on that also, indicate what degree of EBITDA margin improvement should we expect sequentially in ASI overall.

有一個關於 Pharmachem 的問題。我想我對上季該業務的季節性有點困惑，所以想請教今年剩餘期間、以及第二季、第三季的獲利節奏會是如何。我的意思是，如果我們把它視為一個約 6,000 萬美元 EBITDA 規模的業務，而它在 12 月季度大約做了 500 萬美元，那是否意味著它在第二季與第三季每季應該大約做 2,000 萬美元？另外，如果您能——在評論這點時，也請說明 ASI 整體的 EBITDA 利潤率，按季（sequentially）我們應該預期改善到什麼程度。

So in terms of the $5 million, I think the thing to keep in mind is that is inclusive of $5 million, $6 million of corporate cost allocation. So on contribution basis, you should think of it as, call it, $10 million to $12 million for the quarter. And that's what gets us to the $35 million of contribution -- margin of contribution to EBITDA for the year. We would expect both the March quarter, June quarter to be stronger. So as we move into the warmer months of the year, we would expect that to improve.

因此，就這 500 萬美元而言，我認為需要記住的一點是，這個數字包含了 500 萬至 600 萬美元的公司成本分攤。所以以貢獻基礎來看，你應該把它視為本季約 1,000 萬至 1,200 萬美元。而這也使我們達到全年 3,500 萬美元的貢獻——也就是對 EBITDA 的貢獻毛利。我們預期 3 月季度與 6 月季度都會更強。因此，隨著我們進入一年中較溫暖的月份，我們預期這會有所改善。

Yes. I think the key, Jim, is like we said, if you're -- if you net out the (inaudible) and the role of the corporate allocations through 7 months, they're about $35 million. And if you just extrapolate that with -- as we mentioned, there was some seasonality in Q4, that puts you right at about the run rate that you're talking about there, more or less. So that's basically the math associated with it. And as we look at the results in what will be our Q2, what would be a run rate to get us to the $60 million from the $35 million will have the same dampened effect from the reallocation of the corporate expenses that we put on the business, just like we put on all businesses. And as I mentioned that, just want to emphasize again what Kevin has said in -- earlier in this call, which is it's important, as we talk about, we have a normal allocation methodology. But ultimately, our spend across a corporation is expected to be flat year-over-year. And so that's not incremental and increased. And I'm excluding FX and the direct cost of acquisitions. But we're not increasing our spending. We're -- it's just the way it gets allocated across the businesses, and Pharmachem is part of Ashland now.

是的。我認為關鍵在於，Jim，就像我們說的，如果你——如果把（聽不清）以及 7 個月期間公司分攤的影響扣除掉，它們大約是 3,500 萬美元。如果你只是把這個數字外推——如我們提到的，第四季有一些季節性因素——那就會大致落在你所說的那個運行率附近，或多或少。所以這基本上就是相關的計算方式。而當我們看接下來（將是我們第二季）的結果時，若要把 3,500 萬美元提升到 6,000 萬美元所需的運行率，仍會受到我們對該業務重新分攤公司費用所帶來的同樣抑制效果，就像我們對所有業務所做的一樣。另外我也想再次強調 Kevin 在本次電話會議較早時所說的重點：當我們討論這件事時，重要的是我們有一套正常的分攤方法。但最終，我們整個公司的支出預期將與去年同期持平。因此這並不是新增或增加的支出。我排除匯率（FX）以及併購的直接成本。但我們並沒有增加支出。我們——只是它在各業務之間的分攤方式不同，而 Pharmachem 現在是 Ashland 的一部分。

Great. And then quickly on interest expense, you're using some repatriated cash to pay down debt, I assume. Should we expect interest expense to be falling throughout the course of the year?

很好。那麼快速問一下利息費用，你們正在使用部分匯回的現金來償還債務，我想是這樣。我們是否應該預期利息費用在全年過程中會持續下降？

So we -- last week, we did repatriate a little over $300 million, and we reduced debt with that cash. As you will recall, we talked about, as we did the Pharmachem acquisition, the potential to move a large portion of that term loan A offshore and use non-U. S. cash to reduce that debt. That -- part of that was, in fact, included in our full year outlook from an interest expense perspective. So there are a couple other components. So we now have largely unfettered access to cash globally, although there are pockets where it's still difficult to get cash out of. China is an example. We should be able to more consistently repatriate cash that is generated outside the U.S., and it would be our intent, of course, to reduce debt with that cash as we bring it home. And so what I'll say, there's probably some upside in our overall interest rate range for the full year. Assuming availability to that cash, absolutely, there's upside in that. I think the caveat to that would be -- we have about, call it, around $700 million of floating rate debt. And the remainder is fixed rates bond. So obviously, the coupon doesn't move on that. But to the extent LIBOR were to put some pressure on rates, then that could obviously be -- go the other way for us. So we will continue to update throughout the rest of the year. We're pleased to have access to the cash. We've got another couple hundred million that we feel like we'll be able to repatriate over the course of the year. You should expect us to reduce debt with that, which not only reduces absolute interest rate expense. It also reduces interest rate risk, which is also a positive. So that's just -- that's where we are right now.

所以我們——上週我們確實匯回了略高於 3 億美元，並用那筆現金降低了債務。如你所記得的，我們在進行 Pharmachem 併購時曾談到，可能把相當大一部分 A 期定期貸款移到海外，並使用非美國的現金來降低該筆債務。那——其中一部分事實上已經納入我們對全年利息費用的展望之中。所以還有幾個其他組成部分。目前我們基本上已能不受限制地取得全球現金，儘管仍有一些地區把現金匯出仍然困難。中國就是一個例子。我們應該能更穩定地匯回在美國以外產生的現金，而我們的意圖當然是，在把現金匯回本土時用來降低債務。因此我要說的是，在全年整體利率區間方面，可能存在一些上行空間（對我們有利）。在假設能取得那些現金的前提下，絕對有上行空間。我認為需要注意的是——我們大約有約 7 億美元的浮動利率債務。其餘則是固定利率債券。所以很明顯，那部分的票息不會變動。但若 LIBOR 對利率造成一些上行壓力，那對我們而言顯然可能會——朝相反方向影響。因此我們會在今年剩餘時間持續更新。我們很高興能取得這些現金。我們還有另外幾億美元，我們認為在今年過程中也能匯回。你們應該預期我們會用那筆資金來降低債務，這不僅降低絕對的利息費用。也降低利率風險，這同樣是正面的。所以這就是——我們目前的狀況。

And ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's conference call. I would now like -- today's Q&A. I would now like to turn the call back over to Seth Mrozek for any closing remarks.

各位女士先生，今天的電話會議到此結束。我現在想——今天的問答到此結束。我現在想把電話交回給 Seth Mrozek，請他做任何結語。

Thank you, Sonya. Thank you all for your time and interest this morning and your interest in Ashland. I hope everyone has a great day. Take care. Bye-bye.

謝謝你，Sonya。也謝謝各位今天早上撥冗參與並對 Ashland 的關注與興趣。希望大家今天過得愉快。保重。再見。

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating in today's conference. This concludes today's program. You may all disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.

各位女士先生，感謝您參與今天的電話會議。今天的議程到此結束。各位可以掛線。祝大家今天愉快。