Ashland Inc. (ASH) 2018 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to your Ashland Global Holdings Inc. fourth quarter earnings call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, today's conference is being recorded.

各位女士、先生，大家好，歡迎參加 Ashland Global Holdings Inc.第四季財報電話會議。(接線員指示) 提醒各位，今天的會議將被錄音。

I would now like to turn the call over to Seth Mrozek. Sir, you may begin.

現在我想把電話交給 Seth Mrozek。先生，您可以開始了。

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

謝謝你，Sydney。各位早安，歡迎參加 Ashland 2018 會計年度第四季財報電話會議與網路直播。我叫 Seth Mrozek，Ashland 投資人關係總監。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。

We released preliminary results for the quarter ended September 30, 2018, shortly after 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time yesterday, November 6. Additionally, we've 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.

我們在昨天 11 月 6 日美東時間下午 5 點過後不久，發布了截至 2018 年 9 月 30 日季度的初步結果。此外，我們已將簡報投影片上傳至我們的網站 ashland.com 的投資人關係專區，並已以 8-K 表格將上述各項文件提交給美國證券交易委員會（SEC）。

As a reminder, during today's call, we will be making forward-looking statements on a number of matters, including our financial guidance for fiscal year 2019. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause future results or events to differ materially from today's projections. We believe any such statements are based on reasonable assumptions but cannot assure that such expectations will be achieved. Please refer to yesterday's slide presentation for a fuller explanation of those risks and uncertainties and the limits applicable to forward-looking statements.

提醒各位，在今天的電話會議中，我們將就多項事項發表前瞻性陳述，包括我們對 2019 會計年度的財務指引。這些前瞻性陳述存在風險與不確定性，可能導致未來結果或事件與今日的預測有重大差異。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。請參閱昨天的投影片簡報，以更完整了解相關風險與不確定性，以及前瞻性陳述所適用的限制。

Please also note that we will be referring to certain actual and projected financial metrics on Ashland on an adjusted basis, which are non-GAAP financial measures. We will refer to these measures as adjusted and present them in order to supplement your understanding and assessment of the financial performance of our ongoing business. Non-GAAP measures should not be considered a substitute for or superior to financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. The most directly comparable GAAP measures as well as reconciliations of the non-GAAP measures to those GAAP measures are available in and on our website and in the Appendix of yesterday's slide presentation.

另請注意，我們將以調整後基礎（adjusted basis）引用 Ashland 的若干實際與預估財務指標，這些屬於非 GAAP 財務衡量指標。我們將把這些衡量指標稱為「調整後」，並提出以補充各位對我們持續營運業務財務表現的理解與評估。非 GAAP 指標不應被視為依 GAAP 計算之財務指標的替代或更優指標。與之最直接可比的 GAAP 指標，以及非 GAAP 指標與該等 GAAP 指標之調節表，已刊載於我們網站並收錄於昨天投影片簡報的附錄中。

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

接下來，我把電話交給 Bill。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for calling in to Ashland's Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2018 Earnings Call. 18 months ago, having just completed the Valvoline separation, we presented our Investor Day thesis, which included 3 performance targets driven by 7 core operating levers. We have now completed our first full fiscal year, and I'm pleased to share clear evidence that our value-creation plan is working.

各位早安，感謝各位撥冗參加 Ashland 2018 會計年度第四季財報電話會議。18 個月前，在剛完成 Valvoline 分拆之後，我們提出了投資人日的核心論點，其中包含由 7 項核心營運槓桿所驅動的 3 項績效目標。我們現在已完成第一個完整會計年度，我很高興分享明確證據，顯示我們的價值創造計畫正在奏效。

The following are a few highlights as evidence of our progress towards our financial goals. Our first Investor Day financial objective was to grow EPS at a level greater than 15% per year. In fiscal year '18, we grew EPS by 47%. We also set the objective to increase ASI's adjusted EBITDA margins to 25% to 27%. In the fourth quarter, we achieved adjusted EBITDA margins of 25.2%, our highest in 6 years. And for the full fiscal year '18, margins rose 100 basis points to 23.2% when compared to fiscal year 2017.

以下是幾項重點，作為我們朝財務目標邁進的進展證明。我們投資人日的第一項財務目標，是讓每股盈餘（EPS）年成長率高於 15%。在 2018 會計年度，我們的 EPS 成長了 47%。我們也設定目標，將 ASI 的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率提升至 25% 至 27%。在第四季，我們達成 25.2% 的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率，為 6 年來最高。而就 2018 會計年度全年而言，相較 2017 會計年度，利潤率提升 100 個基點至 23.2%。

Finally, on an adjusted basis, we delivered free cash flow of $159 million, which includes $39 million of restructuring payments, which puts us well in line with our target to generate $1 billion or more of free cash flow over the planned period.

最後，以調整後基礎計算，我們實現自由現金流 1.59 億美元，其中包含 3,900 萬美元的重整付款，使我們與在規劃期間內產生 10 億美元或以上自由現金流的目標高度一致。

Now getting a bit more granular within ASI, revenue was up for the year 11%, or 4% excluding the impact of currency divestitures and acquisitions. Personal care sales rose 4% driven by a very strong year for innovative biofunctional skin and hair care technologies.

接著更細部來看 ASI，全年營收成長 11%；若排除匯率、處分與併購的影響，則成長 4%。個人護理銷售成長 4%，主要受惠於創新生物機能性皮膚與護髮技術表現非常強勁的一年。

Pharma was up 11% due to incremental sales from our new Klucel capacity and our successful CMC debottlenecking activities.

製藥業務成長 11%，主要來自我們新增的 Klucel 產能帶來的增量銷售，以及我們成功的 CMC 去瓶頸（debottlenecking）活動。

Adhesives sales rose 5% for the year largely driven by healthy pricing and strong product mix improvements.

黏著劑業務全年銷售成長 5%，主要由穩健的定價以及強勁的產品組合改善所帶動。

Coatings rose 5% as we sustain strong relationships with our key coatings customers and continue to drive innovation with the successful launch of Aquaflow XLS. And we also expanded our Nanjing capacity by roughly 30%.

塗料業務成長 5%，我們持續與主要塗料客戶維持強健關係，並透過成功推出 Aquaflow XLS 持續推動創新。同時，我們也將南京產能擴增約 30%。

Construction, energy and performance specialties was up 9% for the year driven by improving market conditions. And finally, nutrition and other climbed 8% due to focused asset utilization programs.

建築、能源與高性能特用化學品業務全年成長 9%，主要受惠於市場狀況改善。最後，營養與其他業務成長 8%，源於聚焦的資產利用率提升方案。

For the full fiscal year, ASI's adjusted EBITDA margin grew 100 basis points to 23.2% in the context of approximately $40 million of raw material inflation. This was achieved through aggressive pricing actions, multiple product launches to improve product mix and profitability, targeted volume initiatives to drive positive absorption and reduced spending leading to adjusted SG&A being approximately 130 basis points lower than prior year.

就全年而言，在約 4,000 萬美元原物料通膨的背景下，ASI 的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率提升 100 個基點至 23.2%。這是透過積極的定價行動、多項產品上市以改善產品組合與獲利能力、聚焦的銷量措施以帶動正向吸收，以及降低支出，使調整後 SG&A 約較前一年降低 130 個基點而達成。

Finally, we had great success integrating Pharmachem and upgrading the mix, allowing us to improve margins and free up capacity to grow sales from a more profitable base.

最後，我們在整合 Pharmachem 並提升產品組合方面取得很大成功，使我們得以改善利潤率並釋放產能，從更高獲利的基礎上推動銷售成長。

In Q3, you saw improved year-over-year Pharmachem EBITDA margins. Before corporate allocations, they were approximately 30%. In Q4, those margins, again, expanded up almost 1,000 basis points year-over-year to 33%, and Pharmachem sales rose 6% year-over-year. So for the full year, Pharmachem delivered $65 million in adjusted EBITDA, excluding corporate allocations. And this was in line with our expectations for the business for the year.

在第三季，各位已看到 Pharmachem EBITDA 利潤率的年對年改善。在扣除公司分攤前，約為 30%。在第四季，該利潤率再次年對年擴張近 1,000 個基點至 33%，而 Pharmachem 銷售年對年成長 6%。因此，全年 Pharmachem 交出 6,500 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA（不含公司分攤）。這與我們對該業務全年表現的預期一致。

Taken altogether, these actions delivered $574 million in adjusted EBITDA for ASI. This is a 16% increase over prior year and a 9% increase without FX, acquisitions and divestitures.

綜合而言，這些行動為 ASI 帶來 5.74 億美元的調整後 EBITDA。較前一年增加 16%；若不計匯率、併購與處分，則增加 9%。

Also noteworthy in fiscal year '18, composites and I&S reported very strong results. Within Composites, sales grew 21%, while adjusted EBITDA came in at $95 million, which was up 7%. Within I&S, sales climbed 25%, and adjusted EBITDA finished at $61 million, up 135% from prior year.

同樣值得一提的是，在 2018 會計年度，複合材料與 I&S 也繳出非常強勁的成果。在複合材料方面，銷售成長 21%，而調整後 EBITDA 為 9,500 萬美元，成長 7%。在 I&S 方面，銷售成長 25%，調整後 EBITDA 為 6,100 萬美元，較前一年大增 135%。

In addition, during the year, we kicked off a plan to sell our Composites and Marl I&S business with the objective of completing our path to becoming a pure specialty chemical company. This action remains on track as we work to complete a competitive process. We also took proactive actions to offset stranded costs related to Composites and Marl sale and to accelerate EBITDA margin improvement by 200 basis points in ASI. In total, we announced a $120 million cost take-up program.

此外，在年度期間，我們啟動出售複合材料與 Marl I&S 業務的計畫，目標是完成我們轉型為純特用化學品公司的路徑。在我們推進競爭性流程以完成交易的同時，這項行動仍按計畫進行。我們也採取前瞻性措施，以抵銷與複合材料及 Marl 出售相關的擱置成本（stranded costs），並加速 ASI 的 EBITDA 利潤率改善 200 個基點。總計而言，我們宣布了一項 1.2 億美元的成本提升（cost take-up）計畫。

This program, which is also intended to make us a more nimble, customer-focused, growth-oriented organization is fully on track. We met our first major milestone by capturing the targeted $20 million in annualized run rate savings by the end of the September quarter. Note that Specialty Ingredients adjusted SG&A spend in Q4 was down 5% versus prior year.

此計畫亦旨在使我們成為更敏捷、更以客戶為中心、以成長為導向的組織，目前完全按計畫推進。我們在 9 月季度末前達成第一個重要里程碑，取得目標的 2,000 萬美元年化執行率節省。請注意，特用成分（Specialty Ingredients）在第四季的調整後 SG&A 支出較前一年下降 5%。

We have now completed our organization redesign and are on track with all cost savings. We remain on track to be at a $50 million annualized run rate by the end of the calendar year and are on schedule to deliver the $120 million of run rate savings by the end of calendar 2019.

我們現已完成組織重整設計，並在所有成本節省方面按計畫推進。我們仍按計畫在本曆年年底前達到年化5,000萬美元的執行率，並按進度在2019曆年年底前實現1.2億美元的執行率節省。

So when you bring this altogether, Ashland delivered very strong results in fiscal year 2018. In the aggregate, sales rose 15% to $3.7 billion. Excluding currency and acquisitions, sales grew 7%. We offset significant raw material inflation through pricing actions, mix optimization and a successful focus on asset utilization absorption. Adjusted SG&A was down 130 basis points versus prior year.

因此，綜合來看，Ashland在2018財政年度交出非常強勁的成果。整體而言，銷售額成長15%至37億美元。若排除匯率與併購因素，銷售額成長7%。我們透過調價措施、產品組合最佳化，以及成功聚焦於資產利用率吸收，抵銷了顯著的原物料通膨。調整後SG&A較前一年下降130個基點。

All 3 segments met or exceeded the outlook ranges we presented at the beginning of the year. Adjusted EBITDA rose 20% to $683 million. And as I mentioned before, adjusted EPS climbed 47%, which is far above the 15% target we outlined at our Investor Day last year.

三大事業部門皆達到或超越我們在年初提出的展望區間。調整後EBITDA成長20%至6.83億美元。如我先前提到，調整後EPS攀升47%，遠高於我們在去年投資人日所提出的15%目標。

The results of these efforts can be seen in our stock performance versus the S&P 400 when you look at it on a 1-year basis, a 3-year basis or a 5-year basis.

若以1年、3年或5年的期間來看，我們相對於標普400指數的股價表現，已可看出這些努力的成果。

Finally, in referencing fiscal year '18, I'd like to finish with a key accomplishment achieved on our founding principle, which is safe and responsible operations. Now you may recall, during our last call, I shared that Ashland was recognized as the American Chemistry Council's Responsible Care of the Year. In addition, tonight, Ashland will be named one of America's Safest Companies for 2018 by EHS Today, the magazine for EHS leaders. While we will never be satisfied until we achieve our vision of zero incidents, we are proud of the important work being done by our global teams to promote a zero incident culture at Ashland, and we do appreciate this recognition.

最後，在回顧2018財政年度時，我想以一項在我們創立原則——安全且負責任的營運——上所達成的關鍵成就作結。各位或許記得，在上次電話會議中，我分享Ashland獲美國化學理事會（American Chemistry Council）評選為「年度責任關懷（Responsible Care of the Year）」。此外，今晚Ashland將獲EHS領導者雜誌《EHS Today》評選為2018年「美國最安全公司」之一。雖然在達成零事故願景之前我們永遠不會自滿，但我們為全球團隊在Ashland推動零事故文化所做的重要工作感到自豪，也非常感謝這項肯定。

So in conclusion, I believe that in fiscal year 2018, we demonstrated that, one, we have a strong plan for value creation; two, we are proactively taking aggressive action to accelerate results; three, the team is executing at a high level; and four, as a result, we are creating significant comparative value for our shareholders.

總結而言，我相信在2018財政年度，我們證明了：第一，我們有一個強而有力的價值創造計畫；第二，我們正主動採取積極行動以加速成果；第三，團隊以高水準執行；第四，因此我們正為股東創造顯著的相對價值。

I will now turn the call over to Kevin for a closer look at fiscal year 2018 financials and our fiscal year 2019 outlook.

接下來我將把電話會議交給Kevin，請他更深入說明2018財政年度的財務表現以及我們對2019財政年度的展望。

Thank you, Bill, and good morning, everyone. First, let's start with Ashland's results in the fourth quarter. Sales in the quarter were $956 million, up 9% from the year ago period. Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter was $179 million, up 11% year-over-year. In the quarter, we reported U.S. GAAP earnings from continuing operations of $0.17 per diluted share. On an adjusted basis, we reported income from continuing operations of $0.97 per diluted share compared to $0.78 in the prior year. This compares to our outlook at the beginning of the quarter of $0.90 to $1 per share.

謝謝你，Bill，各位早安。首先，讓我們從Ashland第四季的業績開始。本季銷售額為9.56億美元，較去年同期成長9%。本季調整後EBITDA為1.79億美元，年增11%。本季我們依美國GAAP認列持續營業業務每股稀釋盈餘0.17美元。以調整後基礎計算，我們認列持續營業業務每股稀釋盈餘0.97美元，較前一年0.78美元增加。這與我們在季初所給出的每股0.90至1.00美元展望相較。

Free cash flow during the fourth quarter was $131 million compared to $69 million in the prior year. These amounts include $2 million in restructuring costs in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018 and $3 million of restructuring in the year ago period. Our effective tax rate for the fourth quarter after adjusting for key items was 16% compared to 6% in the prior year period.

第四季自由現金流為1.31億美元，較前一年6,900萬美元增加。上述金額包含2018財政年度第四季2百萬美元的重整成本，以及去年同期3百萬美元的重整成本。第四季在就關鍵項目調整後的有效稅率為16%，相較於去年同期為6%。

Now for an update on the sale process for Composites and the Marl BDO facility. The process continues to be competitive and remains on track, and our expectations have not changed. We continue to expect to have a deal signed this quarter. There has been a strong interest from potential buyers throughout the process, and we look forward to sharing more information when a definitive agreement is finalized.

接著更新Composites與Marl BDO廠的出售流程。該流程仍具競爭性且持續按計畫推進，我們的預期沒有改變。我們仍預期將在本季簽署交易。在整個流程中，潛在買家展現出強烈興趣；待最終協議定案後，我們期待分享更多資訊。

Turning to the balance sheet. We've made excellent progress reducing our leverage since the Pharmachem acquisition in mid-2017. In fiscal 2018, we reduced our gross debt to adjusted EBITDA by over a turn to 3.7x. Our target for gross debt-to-EBITDA following the planned Composites and Marl divestiture remains about 2.5x EBITDA. We expect to achieve this during fiscal 2019 through a combination of EBITDA growth in the remaining business and debt reduction. Our thinking around use of proceeds from the Composites and Marl divestiture hasn't changed, primarily debt reduction.

接著談資產負債表。自2017年年中收購Pharmachem以來，我們在降低槓桿方面取得極佳進展。在2018財政年度，我們將總負債對調整後EBITDA的倍數降低超過一個turn，至3.7倍。在規劃中的Composites與Marl處分完成後，我們的總負債對EBITDA目標仍約為2.5倍。我們預期在2019財政年度透過剩餘業務的EBITDA成長與減債的組合來達成此目標。我們對Composites與Marl處分所得款項用途的想法沒有改變，主要用於減債。

Now I'd like to spend some time on our financial outlook for fiscal 2019, which we published in our release materials last night. Note that our outlook for fiscal 2019 is provided on a current operations basis. We plan to update the outlook following a Composites Marl transaction announcement.

接下來我想花一些時間說明我們對2019財政年度的財務展望，我們昨晚已在新聞稿資料中發布。請注意，我們對2019財政年度的展望是以目前營運基礎提供。在Composites與Marl交易公告後，我們計畫更新展望。

We expect the following fiscal 2019 adjusted EBITDA ranges for each of our current reportable segments: $610 million to $635 million for Specialty Ingredients; $95 million to $105 million for Composites; $55 million to $65 million for I&S; and we would expect to have around $40 million to $50 million of corporate and unallocated other costs. Consistent with fiscal 2018, we plan to update these outlook ranges throughout the year.

我們預期2019財政年度各現行可報導部門的調整後EBITDA區間如下：Specialty Ingredients為6.10億至6.35億美元；Composites為9,500萬至1.05億美元；I&S為5,500萬至6,500萬美元；此外，我們預期公司層級及未分攤的其他成本約為4,000萬至5,000萬美元。與2018財政年度一致，我們計畫在全年期間更新這些展望區間。

Within Specialty Ingredients, we expect continued growth in Pharma, our highest margin business, as well as our industrial businesses. In personal care, we expect continued growth in our skin and hair care end markets. However, we expect reduced demand in the oral care end market. Within oral care, Colgate is an important customer, and they are relaunching their Total toothpaste brand with a different antibacterial ingredient that does not require our Gantrez or any other bioadhesive. This relaunch could impact Specialty Ingredients annual sales by as much as 1%. In spite of this isolated item, we expect to grow Specialty Ingredients sales by 2% to 3% in fiscal 2019. This sales growth, combined with $20 million of cost savings from the restructuring program, is expected, at the midpoint of our range, to deliver approximately 8% EBITDA growth in fiscal 2019. We are very confident we can continue to leverage the playbook from fiscal 2018 to deliver solid execution, driving mixed improvements, a focused pipeline of new value-creating products, asset utilization and aggressive pricing actions.

在Specialty Ingredients內，我們預期Pharma（我們毛利率最高的業務）以及工業業務將持續成長。在個人護理方面，我們預期皮膚與護髮終端市場將持續成長。然而，我們預期口腔護理終端市場需求將下降。在口腔護理方面，高露潔（Colgate）是重要客戶，他們正以不同的抗菌成分重新推出Total牙膏品牌，該成分不需要使用我們的Gantrez或任何其他生物黏附劑。此次重新推出可能使Specialty Ingredients的年度銷售額受到最高約1%的影響。儘管有這項單一因素，我們仍預期2019財政年度Specialty Ingredients銷售額成長2%至3%。此銷售成長，加上重整計畫帶來的2,000萬美元成本節省，預期在區間中點可帶來約8%的2019財政年度EBITDA成長。我們非常有信心能持續運用2018財政年度的作戰手冊，交出穩健執行，推動產品組合改善、聚焦的新價值創造產品管線、資產利用率，以及積極的定價行動。

For the full year, we expect Ashland's adjusted EPS to be in the range of $4.20 to $4.40 per share. This assumes an effective tax rate of 15% to 17% and represents a roughly 20% year-over-year increase in adjusted EPS. For the first quarter, we expect adjusted earnings in the range of $0.55 to $0.65 per diluted share compared to $0.42 per diluted share in the prior year period. This assumes an effective tax rate of 16% in the first quarter.

就全年而言，我們預期Ashland的調整後EPS將落在每股4.20至4.40美元區間。此假設有效稅率為15%至17%，並代表調整後EPS約有20%的年增幅。就第一季而言，我們預期調整後盈餘為每股稀釋0.55至0.65美元，相較於去年同期每股稀釋0.42美元。此假設第一季有效稅率為16%。

Remember that the December quarter is our seasonally slowest from a commercial and manufacturing standpoint. We expect free cash flow of approximately $230 million in fiscal 2019, including an estimated $40 million of separation and restructuring-related costs. As we communicated at our May 2017 Investor Day, our free cash flow objectives are net of any separation or restructuring-related costs.

請記住，從商業與製造的角度來看，12 月季度一向是我們季節性最淡的季度。我們預期 2019 財年自由現金流約為 2.30 億美元，其中包含估計 4,000 萬美元的分拆與重整相關成本。如同我們在 2017 年 5 月投資人日所溝通的，我們的自由現金流目標已扣除任何分拆或重整相關成本。

Now I'll turn the call back over to Bill.

現在我把電話交回給 Bill。

Thank you, Kevin. So in summary, we defined a plan during our Investor Day in 2017. We have a strong team focused on disciplined execution. We're taking aggressive and proactive action. The plan was effectively implemented in fiscal year 2018 and led to significant value creation for shareholders.

謝謝你，Kevin。總結來說，我們在 2017 年投資人日制定了一項計畫。我們有一支強大的團隊，專注於有紀律的執行。我們正採取積極且主動的行動。該計畫已在 2018 財年有效落地，並為股東創造了顯著價值。

Looking to fiscal year 2019, for ASI, we expect to deliver 2% to 3% organic revenue growth. We expect to continue to improve EBITDA margins through innovation value selling and better asset utilization. And this, combined with $20 million of cost savings from the $50 million ASI restructuring program, is expected to deliver, at the midpoint of our range, approximately 8% EBITDA growth.

展望 2019 財年，就 ASI 而言，我們預期可達成 2% 至 3% 的有機營收成長。我們預期將透過創新價值銷售與更佳的資產利用率，持續改善 EBITDA 利潤率。再加上 ASI 5,000 萬美元重整計畫所帶來的 2,000 萬美元成本節省，預期在我們區間中點可帶來約 8% 的 EBITDA 成長。

In addition, we intend to complete the sale of the Composites business and the Marl BDO facility while implementing programs to eliminate roughly $70 million of related stranded costs.

此外，我們打算完成 Composites 業務與 Marl BDO 廠的出售，同時推動計畫以消除約 7,000 萬美元的相關擱置成本（stranded costs）。

In closing, the Ashland team delivered in fiscal year 2018, and we intend to deliver again in fiscal year 2019.

最後，Ashland 團隊在 2018 財年交出成果，我們也打算在 2019 財年再次交出成果。

And with that, we'll open the call up for questions. Thank you.

接下來，我們開放提問。謝謝。

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

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

Kevin, your guidance of $20 million in cost savings for ASI embedded in guidance for next year, can you just talk about the initial buckets of savings in that number and then break down ASI's benefit from 4Q? I think naturally, all the sell sides agree in terms of the cadence of the remaining $30 million for the total of $50 million over time. But can you just kind of just break down what's in your control over the intermediate term? The initial progress? And maybe just very quickly touch on the longer-term opportunities of procurement in SAP once ASI is a stand-alone entity.

Kevin，你們對明年的指引中，ASI 內含 2,000 萬美元的成本節省；你能談談這個數字中最初的節省來源（bucket）有哪些，並拆解一下 ASI 在第四季（4Q）的效益嗎？我想賣方分析師普遍同意，總計 5,000 萬美元中剩餘 3,000 萬美元的實現節奏會隨時間推進。但你能否大致拆解一下，在中期（intermediate term）哪些是你們可控的？目前的初步進展？另外也請很快帶到，當 ASI 成為獨立實體後，在 SAP 上的採購（procurement）有哪些較長期的機會。

Sure, sure. Thank you for the question. And we feel great about the progress that's been made. First of all, on delivering the initial milestone of $20 million run rate by the beginning of fiscal year, we have roughly about half of the savings within ASI would be headcount related, and half of that would be in indirect or manufacturing-related costs. We have defined the actions, which we intend and are in the process of implementing. And in fact, we have worked to communicate throughout the organization the changes that we are making. And with that, we feel like we are strongly on track for the $50 million run rate by 12/31/18. And then the remainder will be achieved throughout, if you will, the rest of the fiscal year with the benefit being fully realized, we'll say, in calendar 2019.

當然，當然。謝謝你的提問。我們對目前取得的進展感到非常振奮。首先，關於在財年開始時達成 2,000 萬美元的 run rate 初始里程碑，我們大約一半的節省會來自 ASI 的人力相關項目，另一半則來自間接成本或製造相關成本。我們已界定相關行動，並打算且正在推動落實。事實上，我們也已在整個組織內溝通我們正在進行的變更。因此，我們認為自己正穩健地朝 2018/12/31 達成 5,000 萬美元 run rate 的目標前進。其餘部分將在本財年剩餘期間逐步達成，而效益將在 2019 年曆年（calendar 2019）全面反映。

And Chris, the plans are done. We've communicated internally with the vast majority of our employees, whether they're impacted or not by the restructuring, so people know where they stand. And really, it's all about implementation at this point, and some will come sooner rather than later. In terms of what we saw in Q4 for the corporation, realized savings is probably in the range of, call it, $3 million, $4 million, again, across the corporation, and that's partly in corporate, partly in the ingredients business. But we're very confident about our ability to deliver on this. We've got solid plans. Everybody understands their accountabilities around those plans. And we're prepared to track and manage that very, very closely and carefully throughout the course of this fiscal year. This is not a new process for us. We've done this many times as we bought and sold businesses and have a high degree of confidence that we'll get this done.

Chris，計畫都已完成。我們已在內部與絕大多數員工溝通，不論他們是否受到重整影響，大家都清楚自己的狀況。目前重點其實就是執行，有些會較早發生，有些則稍後。就公司在第四季所看到的情況而言，已實現的節省大概在 300 萬到 400 萬美元的區間，這是全公司層面，部分在總部（corporate），部分在原料（ingredients）業務。但我們對達成目標的能力非常有信心。我們有扎實的計畫。每個人都了解自己在這些計畫上的責任。我們也準備在本財年期間非常、非常密切且謹慎地追蹤與管理。這對我們不是新流程。我們在收購與出售業務時已做過很多次，對於能把這件事完成有高度信心。

And one other point, just to add, and it's really to emphasize this. We've defined the actions, and we have set them up with, if you will, milestone dates. We have owners. And we have a process to track, not only the actions and the implementation but to track the effectiveness, if you will, going through the P&L.

另外再補充一點，主要是要強調這件事。我們已界定相關行動，並為其設定了里程碑日期。我們有負責人。我們也有一套流程來追蹤，不僅追蹤行動與落實進度，也追蹤其有效性如何反映在損益表（P&L）中。

Got it. And just a quick follow-up. On the Pharmachem front, there's a little bit of noise and maybe a little investors' skepticism over the last, let's say, 5-or-so quarters. But the precorporate expense margin is 33%. It's, quite frankly, surprising but a pleasant one at that. Can you walk us through just the quarter, the cost improvements, just what you were going through the implementation process there? And then just how we should think about the precorporate margins into '19? And just any update on how you're thinking about the N&H part of that versus the F&F or F&B?

了解。再追問一個很快的問題。在 Pharmachem 方面，過去大概 5 個左右季度有一些雜音，也許投資人也有些質疑。但重分類前（precorporate）的費用利潤率是 33%。坦白說，這令人意外，但也是令人愉快的意外。你能帶我們回顧一下這一季、成本改善，以及你們在那邊的落實過程做了哪些事嗎？另外，我們應該如何看待 2019 年的 precorporate 利潤率？以及你們對其中 N&H 部分相對於 F&F 或 F&B 的看法，有沒有更新？

You bet. You bet. And again, we're very pleased. We had a strategy with the business when we brought it onboard. It's a great business. It's a great complement to what it is we do in our core. I'd love to talk about some of the synergies that we're seeing on the commercial front and so forth. But more specifically, to your question, we did exit what we would consider to be some lower-margin, less-attractive business. We fundamentally lowered the SG&A. Part of that was within the business. Part of that was related to the synergies that are associated with bringing the business into Ashland. And then we focused on growing the business within more differentiated and a higher-margin mix. And again, while we don't include this in the numbers, we are using their assets now to help us produce products, which we otherwise have limited capacity and would have had tolled. So we've progressed on track. You see the margin improvement that's taken place throughout the year and the contribution. And so we saw a lot of momentum building as we finished the fiscal year, and we expect that strength to continue. In addition, from a synergy standpoint, we were able to move the local portion of the business on to our SAP, and we'll work on moving the remainder of Pharmachem on to SAP this year. And that's very important because that will help to unlock additional, if you will, cost-based synergies once we have that in place. So I'm happy to go into more detail about the respective synergies, but I hope that answers your question.

沒問題。沒問題。同樣地，我們非常滿意。我們在把該業務納入時就有一套策略。這是一門很棒的生意。它也非常能補強我們核心業務所做的事情。我也很樂意談談我們在商業端看到的一些協同效益等等。但更具體回到你的問題，我們確實退出了一些我們認為毛利較低、吸引力較弱的業務。我們從根本上降低了 SG&A。其中一部分是在該業務內部完成的。另一部分則與把該業務整合進 Ashland 所帶來的協同效益有關。接著我們聚焦於在更具差異化、且組合毛利更高的產品結構中成長。另外，再次強調，雖然我們沒有把這點納入數字中，但我們現在正使用他們的資產來協助我們生產產品；否則我們的產能有限，原本會需要委外代工（tolled）。因此我們的進展符合預期。你可以看到全年利潤率改善與貢獻的提升。我們在財年結束時看到動能持續累積，也預期這股強勢會延續。此外，從協同效益角度，我們已將該業務的在地部分移轉到我們的 SAP 上，今年也會把 Pharmachem 其餘部分移轉到 SAP。這非常重要，因為一旦到位，將有助於釋放更多以成本為基礎的協同效益。我很樂意再更深入說明各項協同效益，但希望這已回答你的問題。

Our next question comes from John McNulty with BMO Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自 BMO Capital Markets 的 John McNulty。

Look, the Pharma business was -- you had some capacity expansions. You had Klucel expanding. I guess, when you -- and you saw some really solid growth in that segment. I guess, like I'm wondering, how should -- we should think about what the normalized growth for that business is at this point? Or put another way, when you -- we get through kind of the annualizing of the capacity ramp, what should we be thinking about in terms of growth there? Because I think, there may have been some pent-up demand, and I guess, we're trying to think about what normal might be for that.

你看，製藥業務方面——你們做了一些產能擴張。你們擴增了 Klucel 的產能。我想，當你——而且你也看到該業務板塊有相當亮眼的成長。我想問的是，我們現在應該如何看待這項業務的常態化成長率？或者換個說法，當我們度過產能爬坡的年化影響之後，在那邊的成長應該怎麼看？因為我認為可能存在一些被壓抑的需求，我想我們正試著判斷那項業務的「正常」水準會是什麼。

You bet. And as we shared in our Investor Day, 5% growth would be a reasonable target for that business. You're right, there was pent-up demand for these products. And what we're seeing is that as we are able to produce the quantity, the quality on time with our customers, that there is significantly greater interest. So I would say 5% would be a good number to estimate. But at the same point, we're cautiously optimistic that there may be opportunities to grow that portion of the business at a more accelerated base or rate at a -- on a more sustained basis.

當然。正如我們在投資人日所分享的，5% 的成長會是該業務一個合理的目標。你說得對，這些產品確實存在被壓抑的需求。而我們看到的是，當我們能夠按時為客戶提供足量且品質達標的產品時，市場興趣會顯著提高。所以我會說，用 5% 作為估算是個不錯的數字。但同時，我們也審慎樂觀地認為，可能存在一些機會，讓這部分業務在更長期、更可持續的基礎上，以更快的速度成長。

And John, the other thing I would add to that is Klucel has been a really important capacity expansion for us. We've seen really, really solid uptick on that improved capacity. But I would also mention, our Benecel capacity at Doel, Belgium, our ability to produce those Pharma-grade products at Doel with incredibly high produced-as-intended rates have been very well accepted by customers. And that's also upped our Pharma growth this year, and we expect that to also contribute in the coming years as well.

John，我還想補充一點：Klucel 對我們而言是一項非常重要的產能擴張。我們已經看到這項新增產能帶來非常、非常強勁的上升動能。但我也要提到，我們在比利時 Doel 的 Benecel 產能——我們在 Doel 生產那些藥用級產品的能力，且「按設計生產」的達成率極高——已獲得客戶非常好的接受度。這也推升了我們今年的製藥業務成長，我們預期未來幾年也會持續貢獻。

And that's just one of those examples of the asset utilization programs where our focused effort has allowed us to take existing equipment and just get, not only a higher grade but a lot more productivity from it, given this opportunity to grow.

而這正是資產利用計畫的其中一個例子：我們的聚焦努力讓我們能夠運用既有設備，不僅做出更高等級的產品，也在這個成長機會下，從設備中取得更高的生產力。

Got it. No, that's helpful. And then, I guess, on the ASI side, I think there were some commentary in the deck around the price versus cost. And while you've got some pricing, cost inflation more than offset that, I guess, what were the major buckets in terms of the cost pressures? And I guess, how should we think about your ability to catch up with regard to price on that?

了解。不，這很有幫助。接著我想問 ASI 這邊，我記得簡報裡有一些關於價格相對成本的評論。雖然你們有一些提價，但成本通膨的影響超過了提價，我想問主要的成本壓力來源有哪些大項？以及，我們應該如何看待你們在價格端追趕（彌補）這部分的能力？

Yes. I'll answer your second question first. As you look at ASI, it depends on the end market. But generally, it's 1 to 2 quarters of lag to actually get caught up on price. And as you're well aware, we've been talking about it for quite a while. We've -- and we've seen continued raw material cost pressure. We do have a fair amount of crude-derived raws, and so that's something to watch. We have seen crude come off. We have to work through our higher cost inventories before we'll actually see the benefit of that. But over the course of the next quarter or 2, we'll get that done. And we should -- assuming crude stays at current levels, we should start to see some benefit from that. We've also seen cost pressure from a transportation perspective as at most companies. We see the cost of shipping not only in the U.S. but in other parts of the world increasing. As ironically, GDP has increased, there's been a bit of a shortage of over-the-road trucks and drivers. And so we've seen some cost inflation from that as well. I don't want to overplay that, but that's definitely been in there. And so that's kind of where we are. I would say that we've -- we have developed really strong processes internally with the sales force and with our ability to track what actually happens from a cost versus price perspective. And we're leveraging that to hold the team accountable for driving improved pricing, not only where we see the cost pressure but otherwise.

是的。我先回答你的第二個問題。就 ASI 而言，會取決於終端市場。但一般來說，價格真正追上成本大約會有 1 到 2 個季度的落後期。而且如你所知，我們談這件事已經談了一段時間。我們——也持續看到原物料成本壓力。我們確實有相當比例的原料是由原油衍生而來，因此這是需要關注的。我們看到原油價格已經回落。但在真正看到其帶來的好處之前，我們必須先消化較高成本的庫存。不過在接下來 1 到 2 個季度內，我們會把這件事處理完。而且——假設原油維持在目前水準——我們應該會開始看到一些正面效益。另外，和大多數公司一樣，我們也從運輸面看到成本壓力。我們看到運輸成本不僅在美國，在世界其他地區也在上升。諷刺的是，隨著 GDP 增長，公路貨運卡車與司機出現了一些短缺。因此我們也看到這方面的成本通膨。我不想過度渲染，但這確實是其中一部分。所以大致就是這樣。我會說，我們——我們已在內部與銷售團隊建立了非常強的流程，並具備追蹤成本相對價格實際變化的能力。我們正利用這些機制來要求團隊負責，推動更好的定價，不僅在看到成本壓力的地方，也包括其他情況。

And just to add, certainly, the price versus raw is an extremely important area that we are focusing a lot of energy on. We feel great about the progress that we have made as it relates to the raw material inflation we saw last year. More work to be done. But at the same time, I want to continue to emphasize the theme that we hold our commercial teams accountable for their commercial contribution, which includes the volume, the mix, the absorption, the price versus raws. And as a team, what we have done is focused on how do we deliver the results and the aggregate and not look for, for example, we had $40 million of raw material inflation last year, we're talking about that because of our unplanned -- we're talking about that because it comes up in the question. But we haven't been wearing that on our sleeve as a reason for not delivering or delivering at a different level. So we'll continue to work on price, but the team has an attitude that there are multiple avenues to improve our profit contribution. And in certain parts of a cycle, some will be more favorable; in other parts, we'll have to pull harder in other areas.

再補充一下，價格相對原料（成本）當然是我們投入大量精力聚焦的極其重要領域。對於去年看到的原物料通膨，我們對目前取得的進展感到非常滿意。仍有更多工作要做。但同時，我想持續強調一個主題：我們要求商務團隊對其商務貢獻負責，這包括銷量、組合、吸收（固定成本吸收）、價格相對原料等。而作為一個團隊，我們所做的是聚焦於如何在整體層面交付成果，而不是去找理由；例如，我們去年有 4,000 萬美元的原物料通膨——我們現在談它，是因為這個問題被問到。但我們並沒有把它掛在嘴邊，當作無法達標或只能以不同水準交付的理由。所以我們會持續在價格上努力，但團隊的態度是：提升獲利貢獻有多條路徑。在景氣循環的某些階段，有些路徑會更有利；在其他階段，我們就必須在其他領域更用力。

Our next question comes from David Begleiter with Deutsche Bank.

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

Bill and Kevin, on the ASI guidance of mid-single-digit growth for 2019, what would it be if you back out just for FX and a loss of the business at Colgate? Would it be upward? Would it be 10% growth? Or in that range?

Bill 和 Kevin，關於 ASI 在 2019 年指引為中個位數成長，如果把匯率（FX）以及 Colgate 那筆業務流失的影響剔除，會是多少？會更高嗎？會是 10% 成長嗎？或是在那個區間？

Kevin can speak to the FX portion in a moment. What I would say as it relates to the Colgate business is -- and in the personal care business is that it is a business that you have wins and losses. This one is noteworthy because it's important. At the same time, we intend to grow our hair and skin care. We expect to grow on other areas. We're working to manage our plant-related cost. So we built our plans with, if you will, or our forecast here as we communicate with you today, with a full integration of the Colgate dynamic as we see it. So it's a little bit hard for me to back that out because while it makes a contribution, it's -- it is -- or there are actions taking place. But to put it in perspective, the GP associated with that is roughly equal to 1 quarter of the raw material inflation that we've cited before. And so with that in mind, while it is an important dynamic, just as we were able to manage through the raw material inflation last year, this is something which we will manage through this year.

Kevin 等一下可以談匯率的部分。至於 Colgate 的業務——以及個人護理業務——我想說的是，這類業務本來就會有贏單與失單。這一筆之所以值得注意，是因為它很重要。同時，我們打算擴大我們的護髮與護膚業務。我們也預期其他領域會成長。我們正在努力管理與工廠相關的成本。因此，我們在制定計畫時——或者說，今天與各位溝通的預測——已將我們所看到的 Colgate 變動因素完整納入。所以要我把它剔除有點難，因為雖然它有貢獻，但——它確實——或者說，相關行動也正在進行中。不過為了提供一個量級概念，與此相關的毛利（GP）大約相當於我們先前提到的原物料通膨中「一個季度」的規模。因此，考量到這點，雖然這是一個重要的變動因素，但就像我們去年能夠管理並度過原物料通膨一樣，這也是我們今年會管理並度過的事項。

Yes. FX is probably about 1 point, would be my guess, based on where we are right now. And that's $1.19 versus $1.15 for the euro. And Bill kind of sized the Colgate piece already, so, call it, between the two, it's probably 1 point or 2 that might be accretive if that -- if those things were not in play.

是的。以我們目前所處的位置來看，我猜外匯（FX）大概影響約 1 個百分點。也就是歐元匯率 $1.19 對比 $1.15。而 Bill 先前已大致估算過高露潔（Colgate）那一塊，所以兩者合計來看，如果那些因素沒有發生，可能會有 1 到 2 個百分點的增益（accretive）。

And maybe just to finish up. In personal care in Q4, just to put in perspective, we saw a weakness in the oral care market, which offset the gains we had in the hair and skin care. And then while we don't report by market, if you will, we actually saw a significant margin improvement within the business because they focused on, if you will, a more premium mix with the biofunctionals and so forth. And so actually, while sales were flat, the business or that portion of the business actually earned more money in Q4 than prior year on flat sales.

另外也許把最後一點補充完。就第四季（Q4）的個人護理而言，為了提供一些背景，我們看到口腔護理市場走弱，抵銷了我們在護髮與護膚的成長。接著，雖然我們不按市場別揭露，但由於他們專注於更高端的產品組合（例如 biofunctionals 等），我們其實看到該業務的毛利率顯著改善。因此，雖然銷售持平，但該業務（或該部分業務）在第四季於銷售持平的情況下，實際上比去年同期賺了更多錢。

Got it. And just on the overall cost structure, Bill and Kevin, now that you're into maybe Wave 1 of the cost-reduction program, what's your thinking about maybe a Wave 2 of additional actions given the large amount of costs embedded in the company?

了解。另外就整體成本結構而言，Bill 和 Kevin，既然你們現在可能已進入成本削減計畫的第一波（Wave 1），考量公司內含成本規模很大，你們對於第二波（Wave 2）進一步行動有什麼想法？

You bet. And of course, we've looked with an open mind at the opportunities, both short-term and long-term. The $120 million is a big number for us to make sure that we successfully bring into the P&L over this, if you will, 18-month period. And it is related to a lot of change. We are in a growth mode, and we want to sustain the team's ability, actually, enhance our team's ability to grow. And so as we look to potentially more actions in the future, I would say that they'll be more structural in nature. And what I mean structural, I mean, for example, if we -- as we get everybody on one common SAP and potentially provide some enhancement to that system, that might free up the ability to do things in a more productive way. So we will talk down the road about additional thoughts on cost reduction. It will continue to be a major focus for the company. But frankly, delivering on this $120 million is the core focus right now. And so I'd like to say, if you will, the team -- what the team executed on a high level on that.

當然。而且我們一直以開放的心態檢視各種機會，包含短期與長期。對我們而言，1.2 億美元是個很大的數字，我們必須確保在這個（如果你願意這麼說）18 個月期間內，能成功把它反映到損益表（P&L）中。而這也牽涉到很多變革。我們正處於成長模式，我們希望維持團隊的能力，實際上是提升團隊的成長能力。因此，當我們展望未來可能採取更多行動時，我會說它們會更偏向結構性（structural）。我所謂的結構性是指，例如，當我們把所有人都整合到同一套 SAP 上，並可能對該系統做一些強化，這或許能釋放出以更高生產力方式做事的能力。所以我們之後會再談更多關於進一步降本的想法。這仍將是公司的一大重點。但坦白說，眼下的核心重點是把這 1.2 億美元交付落地。因此我想說的是，團隊在這方面已在高層次上推動並執行。

Yes. And just to -- I think just to maybe provide just a little more perspective. Ex restructuring, we're -- when we're done with this, presuming a Composites and Marl divestiture, we're going to be taking SG&A as a percent of sales down a fair bit. And the thing you got to keep in mind within the ingredients business is we've got approximately $90 million of deal-related D&A running through SG&A. And that doesn't go away. So if you think about that on $2.6 billion, $2.7 billion of revenue, that's 3.5-or-so percent of sales. So you really need to think about SG&A net of that when you look at the business and compare us to whatever peer group you want to compare us to.

是的。再補充一點背景。不含重組（ex restructuring），當我們完成這些（假設 Composites 與 Marl 的剝離），我們會把 SG&A 佔銷售比重明顯降下來。但你必須記住，在原料（ingredients）業務裡，我們約有 9,000 萬美元與交易相關的折舊與攤銷（D&A）會計入 SG&A。而那部分不會消失。所以如果以 26 億到 27 億美元的營收來看，那大約是銷售額的 3.5% 左右。因此，在看這個業務並與你想比較的同業群做比較時，你真的需要看扣除那部分後的 SG&A。

So just to put that in perspective, if you exclude that intangible amortization, SG&A is around -- well, we'll be able to move it more towards the peer index, which we would say is around the 14% to 15% rate after we're -- we take the $15 million of costs out. So we think we'll be very competitive, if you will.

為了把這點放在脈絡中，如果排除那項無形資產攤銷，SG&A 大約是——嗯，在我們把 1,500 萬美元成本移除之後，我們將能把它更往同業指標靠攏；我們認為同業大約是在 14% 到 15% 的水準。所以我們認為我們會非常有競爭力（如果你願意這麼說）。

Yes, presuming growth rates that we're projecting.

是的，前提是成長率如我們所預測。

That's right.

沒錯。

Our next question comes from the line of Mike Sison with KeyBanc.

下一個問題來自 KeyBanc 的 Mike Sison。

Bill, when you think about ASI, you've talked about getting to 25%. You got there. Congrats on that. Given the potential for a Phase 2 of cost savings that you just noted, any updated thoughts on where you think margins could be? And clearly, you want to grow the business. So you can't just cut your way to the next level. But any -- just current thoughts on where you think ASI EBITDA margins could go from here?

Bill，談到 ASI，你之前提到要達到 25%。你們已經做到了。恭喜。考量你剛提到可能會有第二階段（Phase 2）的成本節省，你對於毛利率可能到哪裡，有沒有更新的看法？而且很明顯，你們想要成長業務。所以你不能只靠削減成本來達到下一個層級。但就目前而言，你認為 ASI 的 EBITDA 利潤率接下來可能往哪裡走？

Yes, certainly. And as proud as we are of that 25%-plus, if you will, result in Q4, we do have some seasonality to the business. We're able to improve the business about 100 basis points year-over-year. And the actions that we defined, as we said, with the cost takeout, should be about 200 basis points right there. So that would put us well above 25%, if you will, for the business, and that's prior to any further mixed enhancements or, if you will, growth leverage on our, say, fixed asset core. So we think the 25% to 27% is an appropriate target, and we're comfortable that we can get there. Like the cost-out discussion, as we achieved that solidly, I think that begins to be the time where we may want to talk about the opportunities to go beyond it. But right now, we'd like to stay focused on executing on the plan to achieve the targets. And you're right. I mean, you can get to the point where you begin to give up business if you are strictly pursuing, if you will, a margin profile. What I would go back to that is, if you will, one of the beauties of associating our commercial team with this construct of volume as it impacts absorption mix and price versus raw is that we can make those trade-offs understanding how we can improve our GP percent without simply moving to business, which is of a higher GP percent. So for example, if we decided to exit a big slug of business because it was not at the most premium price in our spectrum, we would understand that, that could have a negative impact on our margins because we would lose absorption. So again, making the system healthy involves pricing, it involves mix and it involves growth and successful asset utilization. And I think we've got plenty of runway. But please understand, we're heads down focusing on executing our agenda, and we don't want to get too far out over our skis. Let's deliver these. And as we move along next year, I think we will be in a better position to talk about the additional steps we'll be taking to enhance the business.

是的，當然。雖然我們對第四季 25% 以上（如果你願意這麼說）的成果感到自豪，但這個業務確實有一些季節性。我們能讓業務的表現年對年改善約 100 個基點。而我們所定義的行動，如同我們所說的成本移除，單就這部分應該就有約 200 個基點。因此，這會讓我們的業務水準明顯高於 25%，而且這還未包含任何進一步的組合優化，或（如果你願意這麼說）在固定資產核心上的成長槓桿。所以我們認為 25% 到 27% 是合適的目標，而且我們有信心能達成。就像降本的討論一樣，當我們穩健達成之後，我認為那才是我們可能想談超越它的機會的時點。但目前我們希望專注於執行計畫以達成目標。你說得對。如果你一味追求（如果你願意這麼說）利潤率輪廓，確實可能到某個程度會開始犧牲業務。我想回到一點：把商務團隊與「量如何影響吸收、組合與價格相對於原料」這個架構連結起來的好處之一，是我們可以在理解如何提升毛利率（GP%）的前提下做取捨，而不只是單純轉向毛利率更高的業務。例如，如果我們決定退出一大塊業務，因為它在我們的價格帶中不是最高端的價格，我們會理解那可能反而對利潤率造成負面影響，因為我們會失去吸收（absorption）。所以，再次強調，讓系統健康涉及定價、涉及組合、也涉及成長與成功的資產利用。我認為我們還有很大的提升空間。但請理解，我們正埋頭專注於執行我們的議程，我們不想把目標訂得太超前。先把這些交付出來。隨著明年推進，我想我們會處於更好的位置，來談我們將採取哪些額外步驟以強化業務。

Mike, as you look at the outlook that we provided, if you just kind of center on the midpoint of the range in terms of revenue growth and the EBITDA for the business for fiscal '19, on a full year basis, we'll be -- we should be approaching that 25% EBITDA margin baseline that we've talked about for the full year. Keeping in mind that we're, call it, 23% and change this year, that would represent a pretty significant improvement and put us in a great spot to then move forward as we layer in the remaining cost out within ASI plus organic growth to really get into that 26%, 27% range within the next, call it, 1 to 2 years. And that's a really good place to be.

Mike，就我們提供的展望來看，如果你把焦點放在區間中點，也就是 2019 財年（fiscal '19）營收成長與該業務 EBITDA 的中位數，以全年基礎來看，我們應該會接近我們所談的 25% EBITDA 利潤率基準。請記住，今年我們大約是 23% 多一些，這將代表相當顯著的改善，並讓我們處於很好的位置，接著在 ASI 內把剩餘的降本再疊加上去，加上有機成長，真正把利潤率帶到 26%、27% 的區間，在接下來大約 1 到 2 年內。那會是一個非常好的位置。

Got it. And then quick follow-up on the sale of Composites and Marl, if you sign the agreement in this quarter, can you discontinue that business and then -- in the quarter? Or does that have to happen when you actually sell the business? And then, why -- do you have any -- with the proceeds, I understand you want to pay down debt. But are there other opportunities to continue to add businesses like Pharmachem to the portfolio, if you look at the M&A environment?

了解。接著針對 Composites 和 Marl 的出售快速追問一下：如果你們在本季簽署協議，是否可以在本季就將該業務停止並列為——在本季？還是必須等到實際完成出售該業務時才行？另外，關於出售所得，我理解你們想用來償還債務。但在 M&A 環境下，是否還有其他機會，像 Pharmachem 那樣把業務持續納入投資組合？

Yes. In terms of the accounting treatment, it's our expectation that when we do sign a definitive agreement, we would move -- we'd move the business to discontinued operations in the quarter that we sign that. And so obviously, we'd expect -- our current expectation is we're going to do that this quarter. And then we'll recast the business and results of the business as a result of that, and we'll provide updated guidance and all that, just as I mentioned a few minutes ago on the call. I'll let Bill address the acquisition piece, but the thing I would mention is that in addition to the proceeds from the sale of the business, which, again, primarily we will use to strengthen our balance sheet, which will give us a lot of optionality going forward, we're going to generate a lot of free cash flow that can be used for a variety of purposes, whether it's bolt-ons or share repurchases or what have you.

是的。就會計處理而言，我們的預期是，一旦簽署具約束力的最終協議，我們會在簽署當季將該業務——把該業務轉列為停業部門。因此很明顯，我們目前的預期是會在本季這麼做。接著我們會因此重編該業務及其業績，並提供更新後的指引等等，就像我在幾分鐘前在電話會議中提到的。我讓 Bill 來回應併購的部分，但我想補充的是，除了出售該業務的所得款項之外——再次強調，我們主要會用來強化資產負債表，這將在未來給我們很大的選擇彈性——我們也會產生大量自由現金流，可用於多種用途，不論是小型併購（bolt-ons）、庫藏股回購或其他用途。

I think Kevin captured it well. And Pharmachem, we're very excited about the opportunity. It was a point-in-time opportunity and a unique opportunity. As we go forward, as I'm trying to emphasize, our focus is on executing on our core agenda. And when we are down at 2.5x on leverage and we're producing cash in excess, we have optionality as to what we can do. We have a large share repurchase authorization as well. That's there. But I think, at that point, once we have shown the continued growth, delivered on our SG&A reductions, made the portfolio change, that'll be the time to think more about how we further augment the business and bolt on things that may have a good strategic fit. So that may be out there. But unless it's very opportunistic, we wouldn't be taking actions in the near term, at least, not sizable actions. We want to deliver on this agenda.

我認為 Kevin 已經說得很到位。而對於 Pharmachem，我們對這個機會非常興奮。那是一個特定時點出現的機會，也是獨特的機會。展望未來，正如我一直強調的，我們的重點是執行核心議程。當我們把槓桿降到 2.5 倍，且產生超額現金時，我們就有彈性決定要做什麼。我們也有一個相當大的股票回購授權。那是存在的。但我認為，到了那個時點，一旦我們展現持續成長、達成 SG&A 降本、完成投資組合調整，那才是更進一步思考如何擴增業務、以及併入具有良好策略契合度之標的（bolt on）的時機。所以那樣的機會可能存在。但除非是非常機會型的情況，至少在短期內我們不會採取行動，尤其是不會採取大規模行動。我們要把這個議程交付落地。

Our next question comes from Rosemarie Morbelli with Gabelli & Co.

下一個問題來自 Gabelli & Co. 的 Rosemarie Morbelli。

I was wondering, you did give us some details on personal care and particularly, the oral side, but I was wondering if you could talk about the trends you see between consumer and industrial businesses in the 2019 similar to 2018 increasing, declining. Could you talk about that?

我想請教一下，你們確實提供了一些個人護理、特別是口腔相關的細節，但我想知道你們能否談談 2019 年在消費性與工業性業務之間所看到的趨勢，是否與 2018 年類似——是增加、還是下降。可以談談嗎？

Certainly. In the Pharma area, we see continued growth. We talked about kind of the broad macro expectation would be around 5%, but we're still seeing the benefit of the new capacity and some new products, which we brought to the market. In personal care, we'll see, outside of oral, I think continued and similar growth to what we saw in fiscal year '18. We're having a lot of good success as it relates to delivering, the biofunctionals are being very well received in those marketplaces, and we have a number of launches, which we're very excited about. In adhesives, we've been able to grow the business with some new product introductions. We've been able to gain some share, and we've also been able to move price, and that would be our expectation for the future. And in coatings, I think we've shown the ability to grow. That's an area that we've had great success with. We've got new product launches. As you see and read from other companies around the globe, there are peaks and valleys, if you will, to some degree and from a demand standpoint within those businesses. So we'll have to see how strong the architectural market is before we, if you will, throw down the gauntlet related to the rate of growth within that business. We see, fundamentally, in the energy business, continued demand. And growth in the nutrition business, that's one where we have a strong focus from an asset utilization standpoint. And so we have a focused effort and would like to drive additional growth across that front. So there's nothing inherently in any of our markets that would give us pause other than in the oral care, which we've described specifically with a specific dynamic.

當然可以。在製藥領域，我們看到持續成長。我們提到整體宏觀預期大約在 5% 左右，但我們仍看到新產能與一些我們推向市場的新產品所帶來的效益。在個人護理方面，除了口腔之外，我認為會延續並維持與 2018 會計年度相近的成長。我們在交付方面取得了很多良好成果，biofunctionals 在那些市場的接受度非常高，而且我們有多項上市（launch）計畫，對此我們非常期待。在黏著劑方面，我們透過一些新產品導入讓業務成長。我們也取得了一些市占，並且也能夠調漲價格，這也是我們對未來的預期。至於塗料，我認為我們已展現成長能力。那是我們非常成功的一個領域。我們有新產品上市。如同你從全球其他公司所看到與讀到的，這些業務在需求面上或多或少會有高峰與低谷。因此，在我們——如果你願意這麼說——就該業務的成長率下定論之前，我們得先看看建築塗料市場有多強勁。在能源業務方面，從基本面來看，我們看到需求持續。而在營養業務方面的成長，我們在資產使用效率上有很強的聚焦。因此我們有一個聚焦的推動作法，並希望在那一端帶動更多成長。所以在我們任何市場中，沒有什麼本質性的因素會讓我們卻步，除了我們已具體描述、具有特定動態的口腔護理之外。

Yes. Something that I think is worth mentioning, around coatings, specifically, we get asked this question periodically. And we are all about architectural coatings, so think water-based paint. We have no exposure to automotive or other solvent-based coatings within our coatings business. And we get asked that question periodically, and there's no exposure there.

是的。我覺得有一點值得一提，特別是關於塗料，我們會不時被問到這個問題。我們專注於建築塗料，所以可以把它想成水性塗料。在我們的塗料業務中，我們沒有任何汽車或其他溶劑型塗料的曝險。我們會不時被問到這個問題，而我們在那方面沒有曝險。

Okay, great. And if -- you have given us $200 million worth of CapEx anticipated for 2019. How much is going to stay with you? Is this -- because I am assuming that some of that $200 million is dedicated to Composites and I&S.

好的，很好。另外，如果——你們給了我們 2019 年預計 2 億美元的資本支出（CapEx）。其中有多少會留在你們這邊？因為我假設那 2 億美元中有一部分是投入在 Composites 和 I&S。

Yes. Rosemarie, approximately $160 million of that would be remaining with the business; about $40 million would go with the divested businesses. So think of the kind of the go-forward as around $160 million, and probably $125 million to $140 million or so of that is maintenance, state of business, compliance-type capital. The remainder is profitability improvement and a bit of growth capital for some of our constrained assets, which, frankly, we don't have very many of right now given the new Pharma capacity. But that's the way to think about that.

是的。Rosemarie，其中約 1.6 億美元會留在本公司業務；約 4,000 萬美元會隨著被剝離的業務一起移轉。所以就未來持續經營的角度來看，大約是 1.6 億美元，其中約 1.25 億到 1.4 億美元左右屬於維持性、維持營運狀態、合規類型的資本支出。其餘則是獲利改善，以及針對部分產能受限資產的一點成長資本；坦白說，鑑於新的 Pharma 產能，我們目前這類受限資產其實不多。大致上可以這樣理解。

Okay. And quickly, if I may, you are giving us a target of 25% to 27% EBITDA margin for ASI. If we look at the company post the divestitures, what would be the consolidated margin?

好的。另外我可以快速問一下嗎？你們給了 ASI 25% 到 27% 的 EBITDA 利潤率目標。如果我們看剝離之後的公司，合併後的整體利潤率會是多少？

Well, I think we'll certainly, if you will, recast when we move to discontinued operations and have the profile of the transaction, if you will, clear. And so that may be the time to revisit your question. Kevin, unless you have anything else to add to that?

嗯，我想我們當然會——如果你願意這麼說——在我們轉列為停業部門、且交易輪廓明確之後，重新編製相關數字。因此那可能會是重新檢視你這個問題的時點。Kevin，除非你還有什麼要補充？

No, I think that's fair. I mean, the way to think about it is we have the ASI business, and you know what the EBITDA margin of that is on a trailing 12 basis and we expect that to do in fiscal '19. Within the I&S business, we'll be retaining the Lima facility. We use probably 2/3 of Lima for internal production within ASI, the remaining goes to the merchant market in the form of BDO and other derivatives. So you can look at the I&S segment and kind of see what the EBITDA margin is for that and get an idea of how that impacts the overall. And then the -- if you look at the assumption around the corporate unallocated then that would be the third piece of that puzzle. So you can pretty easily, I think, model around that.

沒有，我覺得這樣很合理。我的意思是，可以這樣思考：我們有 ASI 業務，你也知道它以過去 12 個月（trailing 12）為基礎的 EBITDA 利潤率，以及我們預期它在 2019 會計年度的表現。在 I&S 業務中，我們會保留 Lima 廠。我們大概有 2/3 的 Lima 產能用於 ASI 內部生產，其餘則以 BDO 與其他衍生品的形式供應給商業市場（merchant market）。所以你可以看 I&S 部門，概略了解其 EBITDA 利潤率，並推估它如何影響整體。然後——如果你再把公司層級未分攤（corporate unallocated）的假設納入，那就是拼圖的第三塊。所以我認為你可以很容易地據此建立模型。

(Operator Instructions) Our following question comes from Mike Harrison with Seaport Global Securities.

(接線員指示) 我們接下來的問題來自 Seaport Global Securities 的 Mike Harrison。

Just looking at the EBITDA guidance for the ASI business, keeping in mind that you've got $20 million worth of incremental cost savings in there, it really doesn't seem to imply a whole lot of the fixed cost leverage or the mix improvements or the price versus cost improvement that we might be expecting as we look at '19 versus '18. So is there just a little bit of conservatism in there? Or is this really the headwinds from Colgate and FX that you're sort of baking in there? Anything else we need to keep in mind for headwinds there?

我想就 ASI 業務的 EBITDA 指引來看，考量到你們其中包含了 2,000 萬美元的新增成本節省，這看起來並沒有反映出我們在比較 2019 年與 2018 年時可能預期的固定成本槓桿、產品組合改善，或是價格相對成本的改善幅度。所以這裡面是不是有一點保守？還是說這其實是你們把高露潔與匯率（FX）的不利因素納入考量了？還有其他我們需要留意的逆風嗎？

Yes, first of all, in the spirit of the leverage, we try to avoid the use of the word headwinds these days. There are things that come across our path, and we have to overcome them. But in the spirit of your question, if you will, the -- we put out a range, and obviously, that range is for a reason. There are quite a number of things that we feel very good about in terms of how we're developing the business and the pricing actions and the increased absorption, the mix improvements. What we also do see is the FX and raw materials. It is a bit of a volatile global environment. And just from a trade standpoint, we're not forecasting those as being significant problems, if you will, related to our earnings. So that's why I think we've put together what we think is an appropriate and achievable target as well as, if you will, a range that would give us an opportunity to -- and of course, we can overdeliver. We'd love to do that. We may also face some challenges, but we're focused on at least delivering the center of the range of our target.

是的，首先，從槓桿的精神來說，我們這些日子盡量避免使用「逆風」這個詞。有些事情會出現在我們的道路上，我們必須克服它們。但就你這個問題的精神而言——我們給出了一個區間，而這個區間顯然是有其原因的。就我們如何推進業務、定價行動、提高吸收率、組合改善等方面，有相當多的事情我們感覺非常良好。同時我們也確實看到匯率與原物料的影響。全球環境確實有些波動。而就貿易層面而言，我們並未預測這些會成為與我們獲利相關的重大問題。因此我認為我們提出了我們認為適當且可達成的目標，以及一個區間，讓我們有機會——當然，我們也可能超額達成。我們很希望能做到。我們也可能面臨一些挑戰，但我們至少專注於達成目標區間的中位數。

And if you look at the range, I mean, what we're implying is in spite of oral care, in spite of FX, midpoint of the range would imply 5% year-over-year EBITDA growth. And I think one of the things to keep in mind in the Specialty Ingredients business, the DA portion of EBITDA is about 40% or so. So that would imply double-digit EBIT growth to the business. And you layer the $20 million on top of that, you get EBITDA growth north of 8% at the midpoint of the range, which we feel quite comfortable is very strong.

而如果你看這個區間，我們所隱含的是：儘管有口腔護理的影響、儘管有匯率影響，區間中位數仍意味著 EBITDA 年增 5%。我認為在 Specialty Ingredients 業務中，EBITDA 裡的折舊與攤銷（D&A）部分大約占 40% 左右。因此這將意味著該業務的 EBIT 會有雙位數成長。再把那 2,000 萬美元疊加上去，在區間中位數下 EBITDA 成長會超過 8%，我們覺得這是非常強勁、也相當有把握的。

All right. And with regard to the Colgate business, did you have some exclusivity with them that you're now free to potentially go after some other customers for Gantrez in oral care? Just trying to think about the pace of overcoming that obstacle.

了解。那關於高露潔的業務，你們之前是否與他們有某種獨家安排，使得你們現在可以自由地去爭取其他口腔護理客戶的 Gantrez？我只是想了解克服這個障礙的速度會是如何。

Sure. Sure. It wasn't so much that it was exclusivity. It was a unique formulation that they've provided to the marketplace. And the material that is used for that formula is not used broadly -- or the material is used broadly, but not in the purpose, if you will, that Colgate used it. And so this is really, if you will, we believe, contained to this relaunch, which is significant, but this relaunch. And it's unlikely, and we don't see on the horizon that others will now, if you will, change their formulation, which would be a move to an older formulation that's being relaunched right now. So we view this as it. Again, the -- it's not being replaced by another material. It's just that the new formulation doesn't need the Gantrez as we go forward.

當然。當然。這與其說是獨家，不如說是他們提供給市場的一種獨特配方。而該配方所使用的材料並不是被廣泛用於——或者說，該材料本身被廣泛使用，但並非用在高露潔所使用的那個用途上。因此這其實——我們認為——主要侷限於這次重新上市（relaunch），這次重新上市很重要，但就是這次重新上市。而且不太可能、我們也沒有看到其他人會在可見的未來改變他們的配方，去採用一個較舊、目前正在重新上市的配方。所以我們把這視為一次性的影響。再說一次——它並不是被另一種材料取代。只是新的配方在未來不再需要使用 Gantrez。

All right. And just really quickly, you've mentioned the D&A component is pretty large within ASI. I was wondering, though, the D&A number for fiscal '18 was close to a $300 million, and you're guiding the $285 million for fiscal '19. What's driving that reduction?

了解。再很快問一下，你們提到在 ASI 裡 D&A 的占比相當大。不過我注意到 2018 財年的 D&A 接近 3 億美元，而你們對 2019 財年的指引是 2.85 億美元。是什麼原因導致這個下降？

It's really the I&S business, as much as anything. Composites has pretty low D&A. As we move through this, it's really more the I&S business.

主要是 I&S 業務，基本上就是這個原因。Composites 的 D&A 相當低。隨著我們推進，主要更多是 I&S 業務的影響。

Our next question comes from Laurence Alexander from Jefferies.

我們下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Laurence Alexander。

Can we flesh out the margin discussion from a slightly different angle? As you think about the end markets that ASI sells into and that you give the updates on the quarterly calls, how stable have the margins been in each of those channels? And then, I guess, the second related question is, as you think longer term, once you get the margin structured to have a stable run rate, do you see a chance to accelerate, structurally improve the growth rate for ASI by 100, 200 basis points while selling into higher-margin products? Or is there going to be a trade-off between faster growth and the margin profile?

我們能否從稍微不同的角度把毛利率的討論再具體化一些？當你們思考 ASI 所銷售的終端市場，以及你們在每季電話會議上更新的那些市場時，各個通路的毛利率有多穩定？然後我想第二個相關問題是，從更長期來看，一旦你們把毛利率結構調整到穩定的常態水準後，你們是否有機會在結構上把 ASI 的成長率加速 100、200 個基點，同時銷售更高毛利的產品？還是說更快的成長與毛利率輪廓之間會存在取捨？

Yes. So from a margin profile standpoint, we haven't seen, if you will, significant trends at least in the last fiscal year. There are some areas where we've seen it increased, some areas where we've seen a little bit of a falloff. But in general, when you look in the aggregate, it's been fairly constant. But that's been in the context of significant raw material inflation. And as we say, we have a quarter or 2 lag, typically, to recover that. And so we've been able to, if you will, overcome that on the basis of our mix improvements, along with our absorption and manufacturing benefits that we focus on. So that's been the formula for last year. As we move forward, it's always a challenge to predict what raw materials will do in the future. But as we push pricing through on our existing products, we still intend to drive a richer mix. We intend to drive better utilization of our assets. And so that would be an opportunity in the future for us to enhance our margins. We do still have raw material inflation that's -- that may abate over time but at this point is greater in fiscal year '19 over '18. But our -- we've included that in our outlook. So we -- I don't see a significant trade-off in terms of volume versus, if you will, profitability. We do have some places where we do things like purchase for resale and very low-margin activities where, frankly, it's better for us just to gracefully exit the segments. But in general, because of the variable economics on our system, even if it's not "at the system average GP percent", if we're basically running that off of an existing asset with available capacity, the variable economics allow us to maintain the GP percent in that context, and we look forward to the day when all of our assets are formed. We have to make good choices about whether to expand them. But frankly, in a number of our assets, it would be nice just to focus on upgrading the mix. And at that point, that would be the trade-off.

是的。就毛利率輪廓而言，至少在上一個財年我們沒有看到顯著的趨勢。有些領域我們看到提升，有些領域我們看到些微下滑。但整體加總來看，基本上相當穩定。不過這是在原物料顯著通膨的背景之下發生的。而如我們所說，通常我們回收這些成本會有 1 到 2 季的落後期。因此我們能夠——透過組合改善，再加上我們專注的吸收率與製造端效益——來克服這些影響。這就是去年的公式。展望未來，原物料走勢一向很難預測。但當我們在既有產品上推動漲價時，我們仍打算推動更優質的產品組合。我們打算提升資產使用率。因此未來這會是我們提升毛利率的機會。我們仍面臨原物料通膨——它可能隨時間趨緩，但就目前而言，2019 財年相較 2018 財年更高。不過我們已將其納入我們的展望之中。所以我不認為在銷量與——如果你願意這麼說——獲利能力之間會有顯著的取捨。我們確實有一些地方會做例如買進轉售（purchase for resale）這類非常低毛利的活動，坦白說，對我們而言更好的做法是有序地退出這些區隔。但整體而言，由於我們系統的變動經濟性，即使它不是「系統平均毛利率（GP percent）」水準，只要我們是在既有資產且仍有可用產能的情況下運作，變動經濟性仍允許我們在該情境下維持毛利率；我們也期待有一天我們所有資產都滿載。我們必須就是否擴產做出正確選擇。但坦白說，在我們不少資產上，更理想的是專注於提升產品組合。而在那個時點，這就會是取捨所在。

Yes. Laurence, if you look at it at a high level, today, we characterize the business as Consumer and Industrial Specialties. And we generally see a higher growth rate on the consumer side, which is also generally a higher margin part of the business. And with the strategy to continue to grow that faster, while obviously still growing the industrial business because that covers, frankly, the vast majority of fixed cost plus nice profitably on top of it, we see that as a strategy that will continue to work and should not see profitability trade-offs as a result of that.

是的。Laurence，如果你從高層次來看，今天我們將業務定位為消費品與工業特用化學品。一般而言，我們看到消費端的成長率較高，而這通常也是業務中毛利率較高的部分。因此，我們的策略是在持續加速成長該較快成長的部分的同時，當然也會持續成長工業業務，因為坦白說，那涵蓋了絕大多數的固定成本，並在其上帶來不錯的獲利能力；我們認為這是一項會持續奏效的策略，也不應因此出現獲利能力的取捨。

Our final question comes from Jim Sheehan with SunTrust.

我們的最後一個問題來自 SunTrust 的 Jim Sheehan。

Could you provide some more color on trends you're seeing in adhesives? It looks like you've had some pretty good demand year-to-date. Are you seeing any evidence of destocking in that area? And I presume your stronger growth rate is due to market share gain. If you could just provide more color on adhesives.

你能否就你們在黏著劑方面看到的趨勢提供更多說明？看起來你們今年迄今的需求表現相當不錯。你們是否看到該領域有任何去庫存的跡象？我推測你們較強的成長率是因為市占率提升。如果可以的話，請再多談一些黏著劑的情況。

Yes. So one of the things we've seen is a revenue increase. We've had significant raw material inflation in this area. The team has worked aggressively, selling the value equation to make sure to offset that, and they've done a very nice job. We have picked up some share in some new areas with some new technologies, and that's also helping to bolster the growth. So that's really been the formula of success for that business. And we'd love to see raw materials abate, so we could just focus more energy on driving the innovation and gaining share in that market as we go into fiscal year '19.

是的。我們看到的其中一件事是營收增加。在這個領域，我們面臨顯著的原物料通膨。團隊積極運作，向客戶傳達價值主張，確保能抵銷這些成本上升，而且他們做得非常好。我們也透過一些新技術在新的領域取得了一些市占，這同樣有助於支撐成長。因此，這確實就是該業務成功的公式。我們也希望原物料價格能趨緩，這樣我們就能把更多精力放在推動創新並在市場中持續提升市占，邁入 2019 會計年度。

Yes. Jim, if you look at our adhesives business, we've been in the adhesives business for quite some time. And over the course of history, if you level out some customer gains, customer losses that occasionally occur, that business has consistently grown in mid-single digits. It's very nichey. It plays in some very specialized end markets. And the technology we provide and the tech service that we provide really allows us to grow that business at that rate. There's virtually no commoditized adhesives in that business. We don't play in that space. And as such, yes, historically, that business has been nicely profitable and a good grower. And we'd expect that to continue.

是的。Jim，如果你看我們的黏著劑業務，我們從事黏著劑業務已經相當長一段時間。從歷史來看，若把偶爾發生的客戶新增與流失攤平，該業務一直以來都能維持中個位數的成長。這是一個非常利基的市場。它服務於一些非常專業的終端市場。我們提供的技術以及技術服務，確實讓我們能以這樣的速度成長該業務。該業務幾乎沒有商品化的黏著劑。我們不做那一塊。因此，是的，從歷史上看，該業務一直有不錯的獲利能力，也是良好的成長動能來源。我們預期這種情況會持續。

Terrific. And in your 2019 outlook, can you talk about what you're anticipating for trade and tariff impacts? Are you seeing any effects on your supply chains or end markets?

太好了。另外，在你們對 2019 年的展望中，能否談談你們對貿易與關稅影響的預期？你們是否看到對供應鏈或終端市場有任何影響？

There is some impact that we've seen from tariffs. I mean, I'm talking about the tariffs themselves as materials are moved. I think you can recognize that -- and we all recognize that the effect that it has on, if you will, GDP growth within specific regions can affect us like it could affect anybody else. But we're not having a tremendous amount of activity of moving materials from the U.S.A. to China and back. We do have some materials. We also have potential sources of those within our system, say, from a European perspective and so forth. So obviously, we're all interested in seeing how this plays out. But we're not calling that out as something that we see as problematic, unless it affects, really, the overall macro demand for products in general.

我們確實看到關稅帶來一些影響。我的意思是，當材料移動時，關稅本身所造成的影響。我想你可以理解——我們也都理解——它對特定區域的 GDP 成長所造成的影響，可能會像影響其他任何人一樣影響到我們。但我們並沒有大量把材料從美國運到中國再運回來的活動。我們確實有一些材料是如此。同時，在我們的體系內也有潛在的替代來源，例如從歐洲的角度等等。所以很顯然，我們都很關注事情將如何發展。但除非它真正影響到整體宏觀層面的產品總需求，否則我們不會把這點視為我們所看到的問題並特別提出。

I'm showing no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the call back to Seth Mrozek for closing remarks.

我目前沒有看到其他問題。現在我想把電話交回給 Seth Mrozek 作結語。

Thank you, Sydney. Thank you all for your time this morning, and thank you for your interest in Ashland. Have a great day.

謝謝你，Sydney。感謝各位今天早上的時間，也謝謝各位對 Ashland 的關注。祝各位有美好的一天。

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

各位女士、先生，感謝各位參與今天的會議。本次議程到此結束，各位可以掛線。各位，祝有美好的一天。