Ashland Inc. (ASH) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

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Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Ashland Inc. Third quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

各位好，感謝您稍候。歡迎參加 Ashland Inc. 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。(接線員指示) 請注意，今天的會議將被錄音。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, William Whitaker. Please go ahead.

現在我想把會議交給今天的講者 William Whitaker。請開始。

Thank you, Dede, and hello, everyone. Welcome to Ashland's third quarter fiscal year 2024 earnings conference call and webcast. My name is William Whitaker, Vice President of Finance and Director of Investor Relations.

謝謝你，Dede，各位好。歡迎參加 Ashland 2024 財政年度第三季財報電話會議與網路直播。我叫 William Whitaker，財務副總裁兼投資人關係總監。

Joining me on the call today are Guillermo Novo, Ashland Chair and Chief Executive Officer; and Kevin Willis, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Ashland released results for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, at approximately 5:00 PM. Eastern time yesterday, August 6. The news release issued last night was furnished 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 Guillermo Novo，以及資深副總裁兼財務長 Kevin Willis。Ashland 已於 2024 年 6 月 30 日止季度的業績於昨晚 8 月 6 日東部時間約下午 5:00 發布。昨晚發布的新聞稿已以 Form 8-K 形式提交給美國證券交易委員會（SEC）。

During today's call, we will reference slides that are currently being webcast on our website, ashland.com, under the investor relations section. We encourage you to follow along with the webcast during today's call. Please turn to slide two.

在今天的電話會議中，我們將引用目前於本公司網站 ashland.com「投資人關係」專區同步網路直播的簡報投影片。我們鼓勵您在今天的電話會議中一邊觀看網路直播一邊跟進。請翻到第二頁。

As a reminder, during today's call, we will be making forward-looking statements on several matters, including our financial outlook for our fourth quarter and full-year fiscal 2024. 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.

提醒各位，在今天的電話會議中，我們將就多項事項作出前瞻性陳述，包括我們對 2024 財政年度第四季及全年財務展望。這些前瞻性陳述受風險與不確定性影響，可能導致未來結果或事件與今日預測存在重大差異。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。

Please refer to slide two of the presentation for an explanation of those risks and uncertainties and the limits applicable to those forward-looking statements. You can also review our most recent Form 10-K under item 1A for a comprehensive discussion of the risk factors impacting our business.

請參閱簡報第二頁，以了解上述風險與不確定性的說明，以及適用於這些前瞻性陳述的限制。您也可以查閱我們最新的 Form 10-K 中第 1A 項，了解影響本公司業務之風險因素的完整討論。

Please also note that we will be referring to certain actual and projected financial metrics of Ashland on an adjusted basis, which are non-GAAP financial measures. We will refer to these measures as adjusted and present them 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 reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures to those GAAP measures, are available on our website and in the appendix of today's slide presentation.

另請注意，我們將以調整後（adjusted）基礎提及 Ashland 若干實際與預測財務指標，這些屬於非 GAAP 財務衡量指標。我們將這些衡量指標稱為調整後，並提供以補充您對我們持續經營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。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，可於我們網站及今日投影片簡報的附錄中取得。

Please turn to slide three. Guillermo will begin the call this morning with an overview of Ashland's performance and results in the third quarter. Next, Kevin will provide a more detailed review of the financial results for the quarter, followed by commentary related to Ashland's outlook for our fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2024. Guillermo will then provide an update related to Ashland's strategic priorities, and then we will open your line for questions. Please turn to slide five.

請翻到第三頁。Guillermo 將於今天早上先就 Ashland 第三季的表現與業績作概述。接著 Kevin 將更詳細檢視本季財務結果，並就 Ashland 2024 財政年度第四季與全年展望提供評論。之後 Guillermo 將更新 Ashland 的策略優先事項，然後我們將開放提問。請翻到第五頁。

I will now turn the call over to Guillermo for his opening comments. Guillermo?

現在我把電話會議交給 Guillermo，請他發表開場評論。Guillermo？

Thank you, William, and hello, everyone. Thank you for your interest in Ashland and for your participation today. Let me start with a few of the headlines driving our performance. We delivered continued progress on all our portfolio actions. We had strong Personal care sales growth across markets, and we saw improved specialty additives volumes, and we showed disciplined price management and high-quality margin performance.

謝謝你，William，各位好。感謝各位對 Ashland 的關注以及今天的參與。我先從幾個推動我們表現的重點摘要開始。我們在所有投資組合相關行動上持續取得進展。我們在個人護理（Personal care）各市場的銷售成長強勁；特用添加劑（specialty additives）銷量改善；並展現嚴謹的價格管理與高品質的毛利表現。

Headlines were driven by lower life science VP&D volumes, mostly in Europe, softening specialty additives volume momentum versus our expectations, and increased price pressure. Improving sales trends continued during most of the quarter June was weaker than expected, and this trend has continued into July.

不利因素主要來自生命科學 VP&D 銷量下滑（多數在歐洲）、特用添加劑銷量動能較我們預期疲弱，以及價格壓力增加。銷售趨勢在本季大部分時間持續改善，但 6 月弱於預期，且此趨勢延續至 7 月。

Our Q3 sales were roughly in line with our prior year at $544 million. Note that our portfolio improvement initiatives reduced sales by approximately $15 million, or 3% during the third quarter. Sales volumes improved 5%, led by 22% growth in personal care and 5% growth in specialty additives. Excluding the portfolio improvement actions, overall sales volume grew by 8%.

我們第三季銷售額約為 5.44 億美元，與去年同期大致持平。請注意，我們的投資組合改善措施在第三季使銷售額減少約 1,500 萬美元，約占 3%。銷售量成長 5%，其中個人護理成長 22%，特用添加劑成長 5%。若排除投資組合改善行動，整體銷售量成長 8%。

Looking at the businesses, personal care had one of the strongest quarters on record. The strong performance was broad-based across markets and regions, particularly in strategic markets such as biofunctionals, microbial protection, as well as the Asia region.

就各業務來看，個人護理創下歷來最強勁的季度之一。強勁表現遍及各市場與地區，尤其是在生物機能性（biofunctionals）、微生物防護（microbial protection）等策略市場，以及亞洲地區。

Specialty additives volumes continued to improve versus our prior year, and the business sustained its strong margin expansion, delivering 810 basis points on a sequential adjusted EBITDA margin improvement. Although volume demand improved, it was below our expectations. The regional recovery has been mixed with lower demand and increased competition in Asia, as well as the Middle East and Africa.

特用添加劑銷量相較去年同期持續改善，且該業務維持強勁的利潤率擴張，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率較前一季提升 810 個基點。儘管需求量改善，但仍低於我們的預期。各地區復甦表現不一：亞洲需求較低且競爭加劇；中東與非洲亦然。

In Life Sciences, the biggest headwind was VP&D. Overall, VP&D market demand was softer than expected in pharma and crop care, and we reduced exposure to the lower-margin nutrition business. However, the largest impact for the quarter was at VP&D pharma, where share loss and some demand weakness weighed on overall results.

在生命科學方面，最大的逆風來自 VP&D。整體而言，VP&D 在製藥與作物照護（crop care）的市場需求較預期疲弱，我們也降低了對低毛利營養業務的曝險。然而，本季影響最大的是 VP&D 製藥業務，市占流失與部分需求疲弱拖累整體結果。

Overall impact has been most acute in Europe. We will discuss actions we are taking to improve our results later in the call. Intermediates merchant business continues to see weak demand in EV battery and crop care markets. Pricing was down low single digits versus the prior year quarter, when excluding the impact of our intermediates business, which was down double digits. Pricing impact was partially offset by lower raw material costs. Production volumes were up mid-single digits versus last year, and generally in line with quarterly sales volumes, as inventories were sequentially stable.

整體影響在歐洲最為明顯。我們將在稍後的電話會議中討論為改善結果所採取的行動。中間體（Intermediates）對外銷售（merchant）業務在電動車電池與作物照護市場仍面臨疲弱需求。若排除中間體業務影響（其價格年減達雙位數），整體定價較去年同期下降低個位數百分比。定價影響部分被原物料成本下降所抵銷。產量較去年增加中個位數百分比，且大致與季度銷售量一致，因庫存較前一季維持穩定。

Ashland continues to prudently manage production and inventory levels to increase our future operating flexibility. Adjusted EBITDA margins sequentially increased 370 basis points to 25.6%, in line with our second-half target of mid-20s. Overall, adjusted EBITDA for the quarter increased to $139 million, which was at the lower end of our expectations. We continue to believe the current share price does not reflect our expectations for long-term profitable growth and enhanced capital return.

Ashland 持續審慎管理產量與庫存水位，以提升未來營運彈性。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率較前一季增加 370 個基點至 25.6%，符合我們下半年「20% 中段」的目標。整體而言，本季調整後 EBITDA 增至 1.39 億美元，位於我們預期區間的下緣。我們仍相信目前股價未反映我們對長期獲利成長與提升資本回饋的預期。

Following another quarter of strong free cash flow, we repurchased $130 million of shares. We also increased the dividend in the quarter, as we have done every calendar year since 2009. Our strong balance sheet and healthy free cash flow generation enables us to pursue a balanced capital allocation approach. Please turn to slide six.

在又一季強勁自由現金流之後，我們回購了 1.30 億美元的股票。我們也在本季提高股利，自 2009 年以來我們每個曆年皆有調升股利。我們強健的資產負債表與穩健的自由現金流創造能力，使我們得以採取均衡的資本配置策略。請翻到第六頁。

Year-over-year sales growth was very strong for personal care, but mixed overall for the company due to the factors I referenced earlier. These results reflect portfolio optimization in the quarter, including an 8% impact on specialty additives. Volume improvements were partially offset by lower pricing in some product lines.

個人護理的年對年銷售成長非常強勁，但由於我先前提到的因素，公司整體表現則呈現分歧。這些結果反映本季的投資組合優化，其中對特用添加劑的影響為 8%。銷量改善部分被部分產品線較低的定價所抵銷。

While sales growth was mixed, all businesses maintained discipline and delivered strong margin performance in line with our expectations. All business units were at or above adjusted EBITDA margins of 25%. Our portfolio optimization activities remain on track. Actions around right-sizing our MC and CMC businesses have been implemented.

儘管銷售成長表現不一，各事業仍維持紀律，並交出符合我們預期的強勁毛利率表現。所有事業單位的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率均達到或高於 25%。我們的投資組合優化活動仍按計畫推進。針對我們 MC 與 CMC 事業規模調整的相關行動已完成落實。

In May, we announced the signing of a purchase agreement for the Nutraceutical business and expect the transaction to close in fiscal Q4. We have already started to take initial actions on our Avoca business, which is also part of the Pharmachem acquisition.

5 月，我們宣布已簽署營養保健（Nutraceutical）事業的購買協議，並預期該交易將於會計年度第四季完成交割。我們也已開始對 Avoca 事業採取初步行動；該事業同樣屬於 Pharmachem 併購案的一部分。

Now, let me pass over the call to Kevin to review Q3 in more detail.

接下來，我把電話交給 Kevin，請他更詳細回顧第三季表現。

Thank you, Guillermo, and good morning, everyone. Please turn to slide eight. Total Ashland sales in the quarter, $544 million, or roughly in line compared to prior year. The previously announced CMC and MC portfolio optimization initiatives reduced overall sales by approximately $15 million, or 3% during the third quarter. Year-over-year quarterly volumes {5%} increased as demand recovered within the personal care and specialty additive segments. These volume gains were partially offset by unfavorable life sciences volumes.

謝謝你，Guillermo，各位早安。請翻到第 8 頁投影片。本季 Ashland 總銷售額為 5.44 億美元，與去年同期大致持平。先前已宣布的 CMC 與 MC 投資組合優化措施，使第三季整體銷售額約減少 1,500 萬美元，約 3%。隨著個人護理與特用添加劑（specialty additive）領域需求回升，季度銷量年增 {5%}。上述銷量成長部分被生命科學領域不利的銷量所抵銷。

Regionally, overall sales into our largest markets, North America, Europe, and Asia, were stable to improving. This was offset by weakness in Latin America and Middle East Africa. Gross profit margin increased 290 basis points to 36.2% in the quarter, which is one of our higher margin quarters over the last five years. Several factors contributed to this improvement, primarily sales and production volume increases, as well as product mix.

就區域而言，我們最大市場北美、歐洲與亞洲的整體銷售表現持平至改善。但拉丁美洲與中東非洲市場的疲弱抵銷了上述表現。本季毛利率提升 290 個基點至 36.2%，為過去五年中毛利率較高的季度之一。多項因素促成此改善，主要包括銷售與生產量增加，以及產品組合的影響。

This was partially offset by unfavorable pricing versus raw materials, approximately half of which is associated with intermediates. When excluding key items, SG&A, R&D, and intangible amortization costs were $110 million in the quarter, down from $113 million in the prior year. In total, Ashland's adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $139 million, up 5% from the prior year. Ashland's adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter was 25.6%, up from 24.4% in the prior year. Adjusted EPS, excluding acquisition amortization for the quarter, was $1.49 per share, up 21% from the prior year quarter.

上述改善部分被售價相對原物料的不利因素所抵銷，其中約一半與中間體（intermediates）相關。排除關鍵項目後，本季 SG&A、研發與無形資產攤銷費用合計為 1.10 億美元，較去年同期的 1.13 億美元下降。整體而言，Ashland 本季調整後 EBITDA 為 1.39 億美元，較去年同期成長 5%。本季 Ashland 調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 25.6%，高於去年同期的 24.4%。本季調整後 EPS（排除併購攤銷）為每股 1.49 美元，較去年同期成長 21%。

Now let's review the results of each of our four operating segments. Please turn to slide 10. As Guillermo mentioned, VP&D was the largest impact in the quarter for life sciences. Overall, VP&D demand was softer in pharma, as well as in crop care, and we also reduced our exposure to low-margin nutrition business.

接下來我們檢視四個營運事業部的表現。請翻到第 10 頁投影片。如 Guillermo 所提，VP&D 是本季生命科學中影響最大的項目。整體而言，VP&D 在製藥與作物照護（crop care）領域的需求較疲弱，同時我們也降低了對低毛利營養業務的曝險。

The largest impact was related to share loss and softer demand in PVP pharma, particularly in Europe. Pharma cellulosics has been stable year-to-date, offsetting a softer demand environment with share gain. Life sciences sales declined by 11% to $195 million. Adjusted EBITDA decreased by 18% to $59 million, primarily reflecting lower VP&D volumes, as well as lower pricing that was partially offset with favorable raw materials. Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased 260 basis points to 30.3%.

影響最大的是 PVP 製藥業務的市占流失與需求轉弱，尤其在歐洲。製藥用纖維素（pharma cellulosics）年初至今表現穩定，透過市占提升抵銷較疲弱的需求環境。生命科學銷售額下滑 11% 至 1.95 億美元。調整後 EBITDA 下滑 18% 至 5,900 萬美元，主要反映 VP&D 銷量下降，以及售價降低；部分由有利的原物料因素抵銷。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率下降 260 個基點至 30.3%。

Please turn to slide 11. Stronger demand positively impacted personal care volumes within all end markets. Skin and hair care demonstrated the greatest recoveries versus the prior year. Strong revenue growth was regionally broad-based across Asia, Europe, and North America. As expected, oral care sales were positively impacted by order timing with key customers.

請翻到第 11 頁投影片。需求轉強正面帶動個人護理在各終端市場的銷量。相較去年同期，肌膚與髮品護理的復甦最為明顯。營收強勁成長在區域上呈現廣泛分布，涵蓋亞洲、歐洲與北美。如預期，口腔護理銷售受主要客戶下單時點影響而呈現正面貢獻。

Avoca's continued weakness moderated on sequential improvement and a weaker prior year comparison, generating flat year-over-year revenue performance. Overall pricing versus raw material dynamics were balanced for personal care. Personal care sales increased by 20% to $175 million. The Portfolio Optimization Initiative reduced personal care sales by approximately $3 million or 2% during the third quarter.

Avoca 的持續疲弱在本季因環比改善及去年同期基期較低而有所緩和，使年對年營收表現持平。個人護理的整體售價相對原物料變動大致平衡。個人護理銷售額成長 20% 至 1.75 億美元。投資組合優化計畫使第三季個人護理銷售額約減少 300 萬美元，約 2%。

Adjusted EBITDA increased 46% to $51 million, primarily reflecting increased sales and production volume with favorable product mix, partially offset with variable compensation resets. Adjusted EBITDA margin increased 510 basis points to 29.1%. This marks one of the most profitable quarters for personal care over the last five years.

調整後 EBITDA 成長 46% 至 5,100 萬美元，主要反映銷售與生產量增加及有利的產品組合；部分被變動薪酬重設所抵銷。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率提升 510 個基點至 29.1%。這是個人護理過去五年中獲利能力最高的季度之一。

Please turn to slide 12. Specialty additives volumes improved within coatings and Performance specialties, partially offset by lower energy end market volumes. To unpack the demand trends a bit, regional sales growth was mixed. We generated revenue growth in Europe, rest of Asia, and Latin America, with weakness in China and Middle East Africa.

請翻到第 12 頁投影片。特用添加劑在塗料與高性能特種（Performance specialties）領域的銷量改善，但部分被能源終端市場銷量下降所抵銷。進一步拆解需求趨勢，區域銷售成長表現不一。我們在歐洲、亞洲其他地區與拉丁美洲實現營收成長，但在中國與中東非洲表現疲弱。

North America was stable in the quarter but has generated positive sequential momentum throughout the year. Overall pricing for specialty additives was lowered, primarily reflecting increased competition in Asia, but was partially offset by favorable raw materials. For the quarter, specialty additives sales declined by 1% to $150 million. The portfolio optimization initiative reduced specialty additives sales by $12 million or 8% during the third quarter.

北美本季表現持平，但全年持續展現正向的環比動能。特用添加劑整體售價下調，主要反映亞洲競爭加劇，但部分由有利的原物料因素抵銷。本季特用添加劑銷售額下滑 1% 至 1.50 億美元。投資組合優化計畫使第三季特用添加劑銷售額減少 1,200 萬美元，約 8%。

Adjusted for portfolio optimization, sales volumes were up 13% versus the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 31% to $38 million, reflecting higher sales and production volumes with favorable product mix, partially offset with unfavorable pricing versus raw material, and variable compensation reset. Adjusted EBITDA margin has recovered very well throughout the year, up approximately 2,000 basis points since Q1, to more typical profitability at 25.3%.

若調整投資組合優化影響，銷售量較去年同期成長 13%。調整後 EBITDA 成長 31% 至 3,800 萬美元，反映銷售與生產量提升及有利的產品組合；部分被售價相對原物料的不利因素與變動薪酬重設所抵銷。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率全年復甦良好，自第一季以來提升約 2,000 個基點，回到較典型的獲利水準 25.3%。

Please turn to slide 13. Total merchant and captive sales were $36 million, down 16% from the prior year quarter. Merchant sales totaled $24 million, down from $29 million in the prior year quarter, driven primarily by lower NMP pricing.

請翻到第 13 頁投影片。商售（merchant）與自用（captive）合計銷售額為 3,600 萬美元，較去年同期下降 16%。商售銷售額為 2,400 萬美元，低於去年同期的 2,900 萬美元，主要受 NMP 售價下降所致。

Lower NMP pricing is primarily a result of weaker demand in the EV battery and crop care end markets. Captive internal BDO sales were $12 million, down 14% compared to the prior year quarter due to lower volumes and pricing. Intermediates reported adjusted EBITDA of $9 million, or a 25% adjusted EBITDA margin, compared to $16 million in the prior year, primarily reflecting lower pricing.

NMP 售價下降主要是因電動車電池與作物照護終端市場需求轉弱。自用內部 BDO 銷售額為 1,200 萬美元，因銷量與售價下降，較去年同期下滑 14%。中間體事業調整後 EBITDA 為 900 萬美元，或調整後 EBITDA 利潤率 25%，相較去年同期的 1,600 萬美元，主要反映售價降低。

Please turn to slide 14. Ashland continues to have a strong financial position. As of the end of June, we had cash on hand of $399 million, with total available liquidity of roughly $1 billion. Our net debt was $926 million, which is about 2.3 turns of leverage. We have no floating rate debt outstanding, no long-term debt maturities for the next three years, and all of our outstanding debt is subject to investment-grade style credit terms.

請翻到第 14 頁投影片。Ashland 持續維持強健的財務狀況。截至 6 月底，我們手上現金為 3.99 億美元，可用總流動性約 10 億美元。我們的淨負債為 9.26 億美元，槓桿倍數約 2.3 倍。我們目前沒有任何浮動利率債務，未來三年也沒有長期債務到期，且所有未償債務均適用投資級風格的信用條款。

As Guillermo noted, we continue to believe Ashland stock is an attractive use of capital and deployed $130 million to repurchase 1.3 million shares during the quarter. Our balanced and disciplined capital allocation approach has deployed roughly $1.2 billion to share repurchases over the last three years. We have $770 million remaining under the current share repurchase authorization. We are continuing to invest in our existing businesses and technology platforms to grow organically while pursuing our strategy of targeted bolt-on M&A opportunities focused on pharma, personal care, and coatings.

如 Guillermo 所述，我們仍認為 Ashland 股票是具吸引力的資本運用方式，本季投入 1.30 億美元回購 130 萬股。我們平衡且具紀律的資本配置策略，在過去三年已累計投入約 12 億美元進行庫藏股回購。依現行股票回購授權額度，我們尚餘 7.70 億美元可用。我們將持續投資既有事業與技術平台以推動有機成長，同時依循策略尋求聚焦於製藥、個人護理與塗料領域的目標型補強式併購（bolt-on M&A）機會。

Please turn to slide 15. Ashland prudently managed production and inventory levels throughout the quarter. Inventory levels have decreased $156 million when compared to the prior year quarter, and increased modestly by $6 million sequentially. Our actions should better position us for more resilient performance going forward. Overall, ongoing free cash flow for the quarter was very healthy at $112 million, up 15% versus the prior year.

請翻到第15頁投影片。Ashland 在本季全程審慎管理生產與庫存水位。與去年同期相比，庫存水位減少了1.56億美元，較前一季則小幅增加600萬美元。我們的行動應能讓公司在未來具備更具韌性的表現。整體而言，本季持續性自由現金流非常健康，為1.12億美元，較去年同期成長15%。

For the fiscal year, we expect to generate a free cash flow conversion of 50% to 55%. Our progressive dividend policy remains an important part of our capital allocation strategy and is reflective of our confidence in the company's long-term profitable growth and cash flow generation outlook. The quarterly dividend increased to $40.5 per share this quarter and is reflective of our commitment to increase the dividend annually as we've communicated and demonstrated.

就整個會計年度而言，我們預期自由現金流轉換率為50%至55%。我們的漸進式股利政策仍是資本配置策略的重要一環，反映我們對公司長期獲利成長與現金流創造前景的信心。本季每股季度股利提高至40.5美元，反映我們如先前溝通並已展現的承諾：每年提高股利。

With that, I will now provide an update on the execute pillar of our strategic priorities in addition to an updated outlook. Please turn to slide 17. We have five primary portfolio actions underway. As Guillermo noted, our latest advancement is the May signing of a definitive agreement to sell our nutraceuticals business to Turnspire Capital Partners.

接下來，我將就我們策略優先事項中的「執行」支柱提供最新進展，並更新展望。請翻到第17頁投影片。我們目前有五項主要的投資組合行動正在推進。如 Guillermo 所提到，我們最新的進展是於5月簽署具約束力的最終協議，將我們的營養保健品（nutraceuticals）業務出售給 Turnspire Capital Partners。

Our teams are working diligently on the transaction closing process and expect to complete the transaction in the September quarter. I would like to acknowledge and thank the nutraceuticals team, which performed well while supporting the transaction process. In connection with the signing, we recognized a non-cash impairment as well as an offsetting tax benefit, which were key items in the quarter. The business will remain in continuing operations until the transaction is closed. The exact impact of the sales reduction in Q4 will be dependent on the specific closing date.

我們的團隊正努力推進交易交割流程，並預期在9月季度完成交易。我想特別肯定並感謝營養保健品團隊，在支援交易流程的同時仍維持良好表現。在簽約相關事項中，我們認列了一筆非現金減損，並有相對應的稅務利益抵銷，這些都是本季的重要項目。在交易完成交割前，該業務仍將列為持續營運。第四季（Q4）銷售減少的確切影響將取決於具體交割日期。

In addition, Ashland continues to reduce its CMC and MC volume exposure to several lower-value, more cyclical segments. As noted earlier, these efforts reduced overall sales by $15 million during the third quarter, primarily within specialty additives and personal care, to a lesser extent. We expect the quarterly sales impact to increase to approximately $20 million across the three core businesses during Q4. Ashland continues to advance its work to improve the productivity of its HEC business, and specific actions will be communicated in due course.

此外，Ashland 持續降低其在 CMC 與 MC 於若干低價值、景氣循環性較高之市場區隔的銷量曝險。如先前所述，這些努力在第三季使整體銷售減少1,500萬美元，主要發生在特用添加劑，個人護理亦有較小幅度影響。我們預期在第四季，對三大核心業務的季度銷售影響將增加至約2,000萬美元。Ashland 也持續推進提升其 HEC 業務生產力的工作，具體行動將於適當時機對外說明。

Looking ahead to fiscal year 2025, we expect these actions to reduce revenue $160 million to $170 million versus 2024. Most of the impact is within life sciences due to the expected nutraceutical sale and nutrition exits, which ramp up in Q4 of this year. We will act with appropriate urgency to deliver on our commitments, including the reduction of all stranded costs to drive an EBITDA neutral outcome and improve overall margins for the company.

展望2025會計年度，我們預期這些行動將使營收較2024年減少1.6億至1.7億美元。影響多數將落在生命科學，原因是預期的營養保健品出售以及營養相關業務退出，並將在今年第四季逐步放大。我們將以適當的緊迫感履行承諾，包括降低所有閒置成本（stranded costs），以達成 EBITDA 中性結果並提升公司整體毛利率/利潤率。

We continue to evaluate our strategic options with respect to our Avoca business line and recently started to take action. We recently closed one of Avoca's smaller facilities and are reducing personnel at a larger facility in response to lower demand.

我們持續評估 Avoca 產品線的策略選項，並近期已開始採取行動。我們最近已關閉 Avoca 的一座較小型廠房，並因應需求下滑，在一座較大型廠房進行人力縮減。

Please turn to slide 18. As noted in our press release last night, we have revised our sales adjusted EBITDA outlook for the fiscal year. There are two primary drivers, slower than expected VP&D recovery and softer than expected coatings demand growth. Guillermo will discuss our VP&D action plan in more detail later in the call.

請翻到第18頁投影片。如同我們昨晚新聞稿所述，我們已修正本會計年度的銷售與調整後 EBITDA 展望。主要有兩個驅動因素：VP&D 復甦速度低於預期，以及塗料需求成長低於預期。Guillermo 稍後將在電話會議中更詳細說明我們的 VP&D 行動計畫。

Recent market developments have increased uncertainty around demand trends in select markets and regions. Lower sales trends experienced in June have continued into July. Overall end market demand growth is estimated to be flat to low single digits. Personal care and specialty additives are expected to benefit from favorable Q4 comps on demand normalization.

近期市場發展提高了部分市場與地區需求趨勢的不確定性。6月所見的較低銷售趨勢延續至7月。整體終端市場需求成長估計為持平至低個位數。個人護理與特用添加劑預期將受惠於第四季需求正常化帶來的有利比較基期。

The continued demand recovery from personal care and specialty additives is expected to be partially offset by softer VP&D volumes within life sciences. While lower than expected, pharma sales are forecasted to be roughly stable with improving life sciences margins versus the prior year.

個人護理與特用添加劑需求持續復甦，預期將部分被生命科學中 VP&D 銷量較疲弱所抵銷。儘管低於預期，製藥（pharma）銷售預測大致持平，且生命科學利潤率較去年同期改善。

Overall year-over-year sales volume growth excluding portfolio optimization volumes is expected to be mid-single digit in the fiscal fourth quarter. We are expecting softer overall pricing which is forecast down low single digits versus the prior year, partially offset with raw material deflation. The CMC and MC portfolio optimization is expected to reduce sales approximately $20 million versus the prior year and drive margin expansion.

整體而言，排除投資組合優化相關銷量後，第四季年對年銷售量成長預期為中個位數。我們預期整體定價較疲弱，預測較去年同期下滑低個位數，部分將由原物料通縮所抵銷。CMC 與 MC 的投資組合優化預期將使銷售較去年同期減少約2,000萬美元，並帶動利潤率擴張。

We expect significant year-over-year absorption favorability as we continue to produce the demand and we compare against last year's inventory corrective actions. For the fiscal fourth quarter, the company expects sales in the range of $530 million to $540 million and adjusted EBITDA in the range of $130 million to $140 million.

隨著我們持續依需求進行生產，且比較去年庫存修正行動，我們預期年對年吸收差異（absorption）將顯著有利。就會計年度第四季而言，公司預期銷售額介於5.30億至5.40億美元，調整後 EBITDA 介於1.30億至1.40億美元。

This yields full year sales of approximately $2.1 billion and adjusted EBITDA in the range of $465 million to $475 million. Key risks and opportunities are listed on the slide. Demand, plant loading, and price versus raw material balance continue to be most critical for the Q4 financial results.

由此推算，全年銷售約為21億美元，調整後 EBITDA 介於4.65億至4.75億美元。投影片上列出了主要風險與機會。需求、工廠稼動（plant loading），以及價格相對原物料的平衡，仍是第四季財務結果最關鍵的因素。

And now let me turn the call back to Guillermo to provide an update on our strategic priorities. Guillermo?

接下來我把電話會議交回 Guillermo，請他更新我們的策略優先事項。Guillermo？

Thank you, Kevin. Please turn to slide 20. Our strategic priorities remain unchanged and continue to guide actions, investments, and profitable growth expectations. As we've discussed before, the priorities include initiatives to execute, globalize, innovate, and acquire. We're making good progress on our execute priorities and expect that momentum to continue in Q4. We're aiming to achieve our current portfolio optimization efforts by the end of the calendar year.

謝謝你，Kevin。請翻到第20頁投影片。我們的策略優先事項維持不變，並持續指引我們的行動、投資與獲利成長預期。如同先前討論，這些優先事項包含「執行」、「全球化」、「創新」與「併購」等倡議。我們在「執行」優先事項上進展良好，並預期這股動能將延續至第四季。我們目標是在年底前完成目前的投資組合優化工作。

In addition to CMC, MC, and Nutraceuticals, we are finalizing plans and actions to exit the Avoca business as the market dynamics for the sclarolide business has fundamentally changed and the tolling activities are not core to our strategies. We recognize that we continue to live in uncertain times.

除 CMC、MC 與營養保健品之外，我們也正在敲定退出 Avoca 業務的計畫與行動，因為 sclarolide 業務的市場動態已發生根本性改變，而代工（tolling）活動並非我們策略核心。我們也認知到，我們仍處於充滿不確定性的時期。

As such, we will continue to operate with discipline and prudence, focus on the things we can control, and drive near-term performance. To perform beyond market demand dynamics, Ashland needs to focus and advance its own growth catalyst. For us, this means demonstrating traction on our execute, globalize, and innovate strategy.

因此，我們將持續以紀律與審慎的方式營運，聚焦於我們可控的事項，並推動短期績效。若要在市場需求動態之外取得更佳表現，Ashland 需要聚焦並推進自身的成長催化劑。對我們而言，這意味著在「執行」、「全球化」與「創新」策略上展現具體進展。

As we look at fiscal year '25, within the execute initiatives, we will focus on strengthening the areas that are core to us. We have initiated a focused effort to strengthen and improve our competitive position in both VP&D and HEC. We're working to drive share gain activities in VP&D, particularly in pharma, and this means careful management of volumes and pricing. We're investing to globalize and innovate on innovative priorities, and we are strengthening our team and our ability to execute. I'm very pleased with Ashland's progress and investments which are laying the foundation for future profitable growth.

展望2025會計年度，在「執行」倡議方面，我們將聚焦強化對我們而言屬於核心的領域。我們已啟動一項聚焦的工作，以強化並提升我們在 VP&D 與 HEC 的競爭地位。我們正推動 VP&D 的市占提升活動，特別是在製藥領域，這也意味著需要審慎管理銷量與定價。我們持續投資於全球化與創新等優先事項，並強化團隊與執行能力。我對 Ashland 的進展與投資感到非常滿意，這些正在為未來的獲利成長奠定基礎。

Please turn to slide 21. Activities are underway to globalize four of our extremely attractive businesses, which currently represent 10% of Ashland's sales. The globalized business lines grew well in the quarter, with sales up double digits on share gains, new product introductions, and recovery. Gross profit margins for the business lines were also well above the company average for the quarter. Here are some of the highlights for our recent globalization progress.

請翻到第21頁投影片。我們正推動四項極具吸引力的業務全球化，這些業務目前約占 Ashland 銷售額的10%。本季全球化業務線表現強勁，受惠於市占提升、新產品導入與復甦，銷售年增達雙位數。這些業務線的毛利率也明顯高於公司本季平均水準。以下是我們近期全球化進展的一些重點。

In pharma, the injectables team was successful in advancing opportunities within long-lasting excipients, and new product launches are performing very well. To globalize injectables, we have built out our business development team in North America and Europe, with plans to expand our resources in Asia and Latin America.

在製藥領域，注射劑團隊成功推進了長效賦形劑方面的機會，而新產品上市表現也非常出色。為了推動注射劑業務全球化，我們已在北美與歐洲擴建商務開發團隊，並計畫在亞洲與拉丁美洲擴充資源。

In the OSD film coatings business, we're globalizing its manufacturing and technical footprint. We're also investing in our people, filling key roles to deliver our growth expectations. Our efforts are bringing us closer to the regions and customers, while strengthening local technical service and customer intimacy.

在口服固體劑型（OSD）薄膜包衣業務方面，我們正在推動其製造與技術佈局的全球化。我們也在投資人才，補足關鍵職位以達成我們的成長預期。這些努力讓我們更貼近各地區與客戶，同時強化在地技術服務與客戶黏著度。

In addition, our TBO technology has the potential to deliver disruptive productivity to our pharma customers. We're progressing through the early phases of our stage gate process, after a very positive customer feedback on our value proposition. Shifting to personal care, BioFunctionals is accelerating its commercialization of new product introductions, with product adoptions up 3x versus prior year.

此外，我們的 TBO 技術有潛力為製藥客戶帶來顛覆性的生產力提升。在客戶對我們價值主張給予非常正面的回饋後，我們正推進階段闖關（stage gate）流程的早期階段。轉到個人護理領域，BioFunctionals 正加速新產品導入的商業化，產品採用率較去年成長 3 倍。

Following the commissioning of our new facility in China, the team recently built a regional sourcing strategy. We're now innovating, sourcing, producing, and supplying locally. We continue to experience a strong recovery for sales into the region. Tailored products with local supply will be a source of differentiation to maintain our strong growth momentum in BioFunctionals.

在我們位於中國的新設施完成試車投產後，團隊近期建立了區域採購策略。我們現在正於當地進行創新、採購、生產與供應。我們持續看到對該地區的銷售強勁復甦。具在地供應的客製化產品，將成為差異化來源，以維持 BioFunctionals 強勁的成長動能。

The preservatives business is advancing several projects to enable local supply, which supports continued share gain. For example, we are in the last phases of development for local production in Brazil. We're planning to commission the expansion later this year, which improves our position in this growing market. In addition to the build-out of our regional commercial team=for preservatives is now complete (added by company after the call). We're investing in assets, people, and technology to accelerate growth for our globalization strategy. We're pleased with the recent momentum and remain hyper-focused on scaling these highly valuable business lines.

防腐劑業務正推進多個專案以實現本地供應，這有助於持續提升市占。例如，我們在巴西的本地生產已進入開發的最後階段。我們計畫於今年稍晚為擴建案進行試車投產，這將改善我們在此成長市場中的競爭地位。此外，防腐劑的區域商業團隊擴編現已完成（公司於電話會議後補充）。我們正投資於資產、人員與技術，以加速全球化策略下的成長。我們對近期動能感到滿意，並將高度聚焦於擴大這些高價值業務線的規模。

Please turn to slide 22. We continue to advance our new technology platforms with a growing list of new product launches supported by many development programs. At last year's Innovation Day, we noted our excitement about the scalable and tunable nature of these technologies. Since that time, we continue to discover disruptive opportunities across several market segments, as highlighted in the chart. This increases our overall growth opportunity and reduces the portfolio risk level profile.

請翻到第 22 頁投影片。我們持續推進新的技術平台，並在多項開發計畫支持下，推出愈來愈多的新產品。在去年的創新日，我們提到對這些技術具可擴展性與可調性（tunable）的特質感到振奮。自那時起，我們持續在多個市場區隔中發掘顛覆性機會，如圖表所示。這提升了我們整體的成長機會，並降低投資組合的風險水準。

We have held over 50 key customer meetings and technology scoping sessions, which continue to validate our enthusiasm. Of the new technology platforms, our Transformed Vegetable Oil or TVO technology is currently the most advanced. We just received local approval to sell one of our early launches into China, building on the robust global sales opportunity pipeline.

我們已舉行超過 50 場關鍵客戶會議與技術範疇界定（scoping）會議，持續驗證我們的熱忱。在新技術平台中，我們的轉化植物油（Transformed Vegetable Oil，TVO）技術目前最為成熟。我們剛取得在中國銷售其中一項早期上市產品的本地核准，並在此基礎上延伸強勁的全球銷售機會管線。

TVO has potential value propositions across attractive end market segments, including personal care, pharma tablet coatings, ag seed coatings, architectural coatings, industrial coating, adhesives, and other industrial markets. We see many desirable applications for our innovative superweather technology, and the next variant targets the crop care market.

TVO 在多個具吸引力的終端市場區隔中具備潛在價值主張，包括個人護理、製藥錠劑包衣、農業種子包衣、建築塗料、工業塗料、黏著劑及其他工業市場。我們看到創新的 superweather 技術有許多理想的應用，而下一個變體將鎖定作物保護市場。

We're planning an exciting launch at the end of the year, which will augment the existing coatings opportunities. We also have numerous new product development programs underway for our novel cellulosics and expect to launch several variants within coatings, personal care, and pharma over the next two years. Our total addressable market is expanding as we advance the pipeline of highly impactful and scalable platforms across markets.

我們計畫在年底推出一項令人振奮的新產品上市，將擴增既有的塗料機會。我們也正針對新型纖維素（cellulosics）推動多項新產品開發計畫，並預期在未來兩年於塗料、個人護理與製藥領域推出多個變體。隨著我們在各市場推進具高度影響力且可擴展的平台管線，我們的可服務總市場（TAM）正在擴大。

Collaboration opportunities and interest remains very high across the board. Our current focus is on developing several JDAs with key industry leaders to validate and de-risk commercialization. We're making progress and expect to memorialize our efforts with strategic customers soon. We recognize that innovation can be longer term in nature, but we look forward to sharing continued momentum and financial progress as the launches gain commercial traction.

各方面的合作機會與興趣仍然非常高。我們目前聚焦於與關鍵產業領導者制定多項聯合開發協議（JDA），以驗證並降低商業化風險。我們正取得進展，並預期很快能與策略客戶將相關成果正式化。我們理解創新本質上可能偏長期，但隨著產品上市取得商業牽引力，我們期待持續分享動能與財務進展。

Please turn to slide 23. In closing, I want to restate the key takeaways from the quarter. The global personal care business performed incredibly well. Our business units have returned to high quality margins, hauling another quarter of specialty out of this margin improvement. Portfolio optimization is on track and we're advancing our growth catalyst opportunities.

請翻到第 23 頁投影片。最後，我想重申本季的關鍵重點。全球個人護理業務表現極為出色。我們的各事業單位已回到高品質的利潤率水準，並在此利潤率改善中再度拉升一季的特用化學品占比。投資組合優化按計畫進行，我們也正推進成長催化劑的機會。

We were able to deliver adjusted EBITDA within the outlook range in a challenging sales environment. Adjusted EBITDA was largely converted to free cash flow and used to repurchase shares. Overall demand trends are improving, but there is a high level of uncertainty around specific industries and regional dynamics. We have adjusted our Q4 outlook to reflect challenges in our VP&D life science products, as well as the softening market demand and Specialty Additives, especially in Asia.

在具挑戰的銷售環境下，我們仍能將調整後 EBITDA 交付於展望區間內。調整後 EBITDA 大部分轉化為自由現金流，並用於回購股票。整體需求趨勢正在改善，但特定產業與區域動態仍存在高度不確定性。我們已調整第四季展望，以反映 VP&D 生命科學產品的挑戰，以及特用添加劑（Specialty Additives）市場需求轉弱，尤其是在亞洲。

The teams are leveraging commercial excellence, productivity activities, and tactical pricing actions to ensure that we appropriately position in the market for these core technologies where we have technical and market leadership.

各團隊正運用商業卓越、提升生產力的活動，以及戰術性定價措施，以確保我們在這些核心技術的市場中取得適當定位，而我們在技術與市場上具領導地位。

We are confident in our ability to deliver differentiated solutions and innovate in the core to drive share gains. We will prioritize our investments and manage margin in recognition of near-term challenges and will stay on strategy to maximize 2024 results and advance our long- term growth potential. I want to thank the Ashland team again for their leadership, proactive ownership of their businesses in a dynamic environment.

我們有信心能提供差異化解決方案，並在核心領域持續創新以推動市占提升。我們將在認知短期挑戰的前提下，優先排序投資並管理利潤率，同時堅守策略，以最大化 2024 年成果並推進我們的長期成長潛力。我也要再次感謝 Ashland 團隊的領導力，以及在動態環境中對各自業務的主動承擔。

Lastly, I'd like to share that Ashland is planning to host an investor day on December 10, in New York City. The event will showcase our financial and strategic objectives to deliver the long-term profitable growth for the company. Additional details and registration information will come, but for now, please save the date. We look forward to sharing more with you later this year.

最後，我想分享 Ashland 計畫於 12 月 10 日在紐約市舉辦投資人日。該活動將展示我們的財務與策略目標，以為公司帶來長期且具獲利性的成長。後續將提供更多細節與報名資訊，但目前請先預留日期。我們期待在今年稍晚與各位分享更多內容。

Thank you, and Dede, let's move over to Q&A

謝謝，Dede，我們進入問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) Christopher Parkinson, Wolfe Research.

（接線員指示）Wolfe Research 的 Christopher Parkinson。

Great, thank you so much. Guillermo, I feel like we're moving in the right direction, and yet there's still a little bit of complexity to the story. Can you just help us think about the 2025 bridge, just in terms of some of your previous quarterly commentary around the $40 million of total fixed cost absorption, the $20 million of fiscal first half destocking, Kevin's prior quarter comments about market growth off of lower levels.

很好，非常感謝。Guillermo，我覺得我們正朝正確方向前進，但這個故事似乎仍有一些複雜性。你能否協助我們思考 2025 年的橋接（bridge），就你先前各季評論提到的：總計 4,000 萬美元的固定成本吸收、會計年度上半年 2,000 萬美元的去庫存（destocking）、Kevin 上季提到市場在較低基期上的成長等因素。

That seems a little bit more muted now, perhaps, and as well as the new product intro outlook. I feel like those are the four main things, obviously, partially offset by portfolio optimization efforts. So, could you help us just simplify how the buy side should be thinking about the perceived EBITDA bridge as we enter fiscal year 2025? Thank you so much.

這些現在看起來可能更為溫和，另外還有新產品導入的展望。我覺得這是四個主要因素，當然部分會被投資組合優化的努力所抵銷。所以，你能否協助我們簡化一下，買方在進入 2025 會計年度時，應如何看待所認知的 EBITDA 橋接？非常感謝。

Thanks, Chris. Clearly, a critical question. As I hope everybody took, the key issue for us in the quarter is VP&D and pharma, and we're working on it. The biggest issue is about the share dynamics, which we have been talking in prior quarters. So, what's changed in terms of our outlook? If we look at two resets, what's the normalized 2024, and then what's going to happen in 2025?

謝謝你，Chris。這顯然是一個關鍵問題。如同我希望大家所理解的，本季對我們而言的關鍵議題是 VP&D 與製藥，我們正在處理。最大的問題在於市占動態，我們在前幾季一直有談到。那麼，我們的展望有哪些改變？如果我們看兩個重設點：什麼是常態化的 2024 年，以及 2025 年將會發生什麼？

I think in 2024, if we're giving a guidance of 465 to 475, the only thing that's changed is our VP&D market share outlook. Everything else remains unchanged. So, we're still working through, I think, on the VP&D side. What does that share regain mean? It's a balance of price and volume, and that's something that we're managing.

我認為在2024年，如果我們給出的指引是465到475，唯一改變的是我們對VP&D市占率展望的看法。其他一切都維持不變。所以，我想我們仍在VP&D這一端持續推進。那麼，市占率回升代表什麼？這是在價格與銷量之間取得平衡，而這也是我們正在管理的重點。

I want to be very clear. On the price, I think we've performed very well. Our margins are doing very well. We are market leaders here. We're in a transition point, just like when you have inflation, you have to move up prices, and it takes a while to work through. We're now on the transition to the other end of the equation, and we're managing through that.

我想講得非常清楚。在價格方面，我認為我們表現得非常好。我們的利潤率表現非常出色。我們在這裡是市場領導者。我們正處於一個轉換點，就像通膨時你必須調高價格，而這需要一段時間才能消化。我們現在正轉向方程式的另一端，而我們正在過程中加以管理。

As market leaders, we can't just go in and trash the prices and move too aggressively without thinking through the actions that we're taking. I own that. This has been a very conscious management of where we're going on some of these volumes. It is a balance of share price. If we get all the volume, but lose it all on price, we're not any better off.

作為市場領導者，我們不能不加思索就進場把價格砸爛，或在未充分考量我們採取的行動下過於激進地推進。這點我負責。對於其中一些銷量我們要走向何處，這一直是非常有意識的管理。這是在市占率與價格之間的平衡。如果我們拿到所有的量，但在價格上全都失去，那我們並不會更好。

There's a saying in commodities, you sell out and sell up. In specialties, we say we sell up and then sell out. They sound the same, but they're not. We do, as market leaders, need to manage the pricing or the positioning of our products, how we react with what products we react, and that's what we're working through. We're managing to the long term. We want to make sure that we maintain a healthy strategy here. So we're not managing for a quarter only. We're managing for the longer term, and we'll manage through this transition.

在大宗商品領域有句話：賣光再賣貴（sell out and sell up）。在特用化學品領域，我們說先賣貴再賣光（sell up and then sell out）。聽起來一樣，但其實不同。作為市場領導者，我們確實需要管理定價或產品定位、我們如何反應以及用哪些產品來反應，這正是我們正在梳理的部分。我們是在為長期做管理。我們希望確保在這裡維持健康的策略。所以我們不是只為了一個季度在管理。我們是在為更長期做管理，我們也會度過這段轉換期。

The team is on it. We're already getting share there. The part that we need to work through, Chris, for 2025 is the timing, because we need to deal with quarterly contracts, annual contracts with different customers, and that's probably the biggest change. Everything else, there's not a lot of change.

團隊正在處理。我們已經在那裡取得市占。Chris，我們需要在2025年梳理的是時點，因為我們必須處理與不同客戶的季度合約、年度合約，而這可能是最大的變化。其他方面，變化不大。

For 2025, the only other change I would say that we're looking at, and it's early on, so I would classify it as uncertainty. We don't have a definite view. It's in the Coatings space. The dynamics in China, we've seen things slow down a lot. That's something that we're trying to integrate into our planning. We don't have numbers for you for 2025 yet on that.

至於2025年，我會說我們正在關注的唯一另一個變化，而且目前還很早，所以我會把它歸類為不確定性。我們沒有明確的看法。這是在塗料（Coatings）領域。中國的動態方面，我們看到放緩得很多。這是我們正嘗試納入規劃的一部分。我們目前還沒有2025年在這方面可以提供給你們的數字。

For Europe and the US, it's about the growth rate, and frankly, this could change a lot depending on interest rates, what happens to the home resale market. There's a lot of dynamics, so a lot of moving parts that between now and our next call when we talk about 2025, we'll be able to clarify. But for everybody, the big issue, the only issue that really is changing right now is how we manage the VP&D pharma share transition.

至於歐洲和美國，重點在於成長率；坦白說，這可能會因利率、房屋轉售市場的走向而有很大變化。變數很多、牽動因素也很多，因此從現在到我們下次通話、談到2025年時，我們會更能釐清。但對所有人而言，目前真正正在改變的最大議題、也是唯一的議題，就是我們如何管理VP&D製藥市占的轉換。

Got it. And just as a quick follow-up -- sorry.

了解。另外很快追問一下——抱歉。

In terms of the Q1, Q2 recess that we've been talking about, there is no change to any of that. Those are still just as they have been. Internally, we don't view them any differently, and they shouldn't be viewed any differently by the buy side or the sell side. Normalized Q1 and Q2 are still right where we think they have been.

就我們一直在談的第一季、第二季衰退（recess）而言，這部分沒有任何改變。它們仍然和之前一樣。在內部，我們不會用不同方式看待它們；買方或賣方也不應以不同方式看待。常態化的第一季與第二季仍然正如我們一直以來所認為的那樣。

I appreciate that clarification. Very quickly on personal care.I don't want to focus too much on the pharma side given your detailed remarks, but on the PC side, you did see double-digit growth across skin, hair, oral, so on and so forth. Given the way that market's been trending over the last four to six quarters, is that just the normalization process of simply your customers no longer destocking just based on incredibly easy comps?

感謝你釐清。很快談一下個人護理。我不想在你已經詳細說明的情況下過度聚焦製藥端，但在PC端，你確實看到皮膚、頭髮、口腔等各領域都有雙位數成長。考量過去四到六個季度市場的走勢，這是否只是常態化的過程，也就是你的客戶不再去庫存，僅僅是因為比較基期非常容易？

Is that demand seems stable-ish from an end-user demand? How should we be thinking about that? Is there any restocking? Once again, just really trying to focus on the setup for fiscal year 2025 given the fact that that performance is, in fact, coming back. Thank you.

終端用戶需求看起來是否大致穩定？我們應該如何思考這件事？是否有任何補庫存？再次強調，我主要是想聚焦在2025財年的布局，因為這項表現確實正在回來。謝謝。

Chris, I'm trying to avoid the word normalization and destocking because that's behind us. If not, we just keep using this as a crutch moving forward. The only space that we know that customers still have elevated inventories and they're working them down a little bit, and that was really more about their own {ERM} risk management, was pharma.

Chris，我盡量避免使用「常態化」和「去庫存」這些詞，因為那已經是過去式了。不然我們只會在往後一直把它當作拐杖來用。我們唯一知道客戶仍有偏高庫存、且正在稍微去化的領域——而那其實更多是出於他們自身的{ERM}風險管理——是製藥。

We're seeing that a little bit in Europe, but everywhere else, I would say to the degree that we can measure the destocking is over. Now, it's really about demand and what's happening with core demand with our customers. When we talked last year about normalization, it was a normalization of destocking, not of the market.

我們在歐洲也看到一點，但在其他地方，我會說就我們能衡量的程度而言，去庫存已經結束了。現在真正關鍵的是需求，以及我們客戶的核心需求發生了什麼。我們去年談到的常態化，是去庫存的常態化，而不是市場的常態化。

The markets have been actually quite flat over the last few years in some of those segments. For many of our customers, personal care and coatings, growth has been around price versus volume. I think what we're starting to see now in personal care is volumes have picked up. I think that's probably an issue of consumer choices of where they're spending their money. They're not spending it in hard goods and spending it more on other activities, which benefits the personal care space.

在其中一些細分市場，過去幾年市場其實相當持平。對我們許多客戶而言，個人護理與塗料的成長更多來自價格而非銷量。我認為我們現在開始看到的是，個人護理的銷量已經回升。我想這可能與消費者選擇把錢花在哪裡有關。他們不把錢花在耐久財上，而是更多花在其他活動上，這對個人護理領域有利。

We'll see how the coatings, I think, has a different coatings construction. That area will have a different dynamic. But we feel good about personal care. We are monitoring China. For us right now, China has done very well. I think we're seeing two worlds in China. The multinationals are having a harder time. The local companies, we're doing very well with them. You have to take a focused look at the specific markets and customers.

至於塗料，我們再觀察；我認為塗料有不同的結構。那個領域會有不同的動態。但我們對個人護理感覺良好。我們正在監測中國。就我們而言，目前中國表現非常好。我認為我們在中國看到兩個世界。跨國公司面臨較大挑戰。本土公司方面，我們做得非常好。你必須針對特定市場與客戶做聚焦分析。

Thank you.

謝謝。

John McNulty, BMO Capital Markets.

John McNulty，BMO資本市場。

Yeah, good morning. Thanks for taking my question. Guillermo, in your prepared remarks, you spoke to June having softened and that actually carrying through July. What are the markets that are actually seeing that bit of a downtick? It seems like coatings been a little bit rough to start anyway. I'm not sure where that would necessarily be getting worse. Maybe you can just help us to think about what might be fading a bit.

是的，早安。謝謝讓我提問。Guillermo，在你事先準備的發言中，你提到6月走弱，而且這種走弱其實延續到7月。哪些市場實際上出現了那一點下滑？看起來塗料本來一開始就有點艱難。我不確定那會在哪裡進一步惡化。也許你可以幫我們思考一下，哪些地方可能正在稍微轉弱。

Yeah, it's mostly in specialty additives because I would say coatings is the biggest one. I would say we use the term in the prepared remarks, expectations versus prior year where we're growing. The market is recovering. Things are moving. That's why we're confident on the production. Some of the things that Kevin said around Q1 and Q2.

是的，主要是在特殊添加劑，因為我會說塗料是最大的一塊。我會說我們在事先準備的發言稿裡用到這個詞，指的是相較於去年、我們成長的預期。市場正在復甦。事情正在推進。這就是為什麼我們對產量有信心。以及 Kevin 提到的關於第一季和第二季的一些事情。

The issue is what's the rate of growth going to be? We are seeing North America and Europe. We expected it to be a little bit stronger. It has not materialized. It's growing, but not to the degree we thought of a market recovery. That could change depending on what happens with interest rates and the residential housing and those kinds of trends.

問題在於成長率會是多少？我們看到北美和歐洲。我們原本預期會強一些。但並沒有實現。它在成長，但沒有達到我們對市場復甦的預期程度。這可能會改變，取決於利率走勢以及住宅房市和這類趨勢的發展。

China, we've definitely seen a big change and things are slowing down there. We're trying to gain what are the repercussions of that in China. Also, as competitors in China, they'll have a place to put the products. We've seen that in other industries where they're moving aggressively in other areas. We're trying to manage. Those are the two biggest things that I would say we're looking at in terms of the downturn.

中國方面，我們確實看到很大的變化，那邊正在放緩。我們正在試著釐清這在中國會帶來哪些影響。另外，作為中國的競爭對手，他們也會有地方去消化這些產品。我們在其他產業也看過，他們會積極轉往其他區域。我們正在努力管理。就下行風險而言，我會說我們關注的兩個最大因素就是這些。

In pharma, the Europe that we said that's an area of destocking. We're not hearing anything directly from customers. I think everybody's very cautious about how they lay out their volumes and demand outlooks. For August, we're seeing a little bit of improvement, but we're not going to read too much into it at this point in time. I think 3 points make a trend. We don't want to react point to point.

在製藥方面，我們提到歐洲那邊是一個去庫存的區域。我們沒有直接從客戶那裡聽到任何訊息。我認為大家對於如何規劃出貨量與需求展望都非常謹慎。就 8 月而言，我們看到些微改善，但此時此刻我們不會過度解讀。我認為三個點才算趨勢。我們不想點對點地反應。

I do think we'll get a little bit more visibility on the macro economic dynamics in the coming quarter as the elections and all the actions from the Fed and others take place across multiple markets.

我確實認為，隨著選舉以及聯準會與其他機構在多個市場採取的各項行動在接下來的季度陸續發生，我們將能對總體經濟動態有更多能見度。

Got it. That makes sense. When looking at personal care and specialty additives, you spoke to at least a little bit of price weakness there. I guess maybe two questions on that. Is that primarily a reflection of the raw materials having faded? I think at least on the Asia part, it sounds like maybe a competitive issue as well.

了解。這很合理。在看個人護理與特殊添加劑時，你提到那邊至少有一些價格走弱。我想這裡可能有兩個問題。這主要是原物料價格回落的反映嗎？我想至少在亞洲部分，聽起來也可能是競爭問題。

Can you add some color to what's driving that? Then I guess the other question would just be, sequentially has the pricing got worse? I know last quarter you spoke to some pricing degradation across a couple of the businesses. Is it roughly the same as where we were a quarter ago? Has it gotten worse? How should we be thinking about the trajectory?

你能補充一些細節，說明是什麼在驅動這件事嗎？另外一個問題是，按季來看，定價是否變得更糟？我知道上季你提到有幾個業務出現一些價格下滑。它大致上和一季前差不多嗎？還是變得更糟？我們應該如何看待這個走勢？

I would comment pricing is in two dimensions. I think you alluded to it. One is deflation. The other one is competitive dynamics. On the deflationary side, raw materials are coming down. We're moving and we said that was probably going to happen. Inflation went up, we go up. We tend to maintain margins.

我會說定價有兩個面向。我想你也提到了。一個是通縮。另一個是競爭動態。在通縮面，原物料正在下跌。我們也在調整，而且我們說過這大概會發生。通膨上來，我們就上調。我們通常會維持毛利率。

Our issue here, if you remember in 2022, when we increased prices, we didn't increase margins. We maintained margins and our margin improvement was through productivity and mix improvement. I think what we're seeing now is that's going to come down. Our work is to do the same thing, make sure that we're managing margins down in a deflationary environment. It's not going to happen just at one time.

我們這裡的問題是，如果你記得在 2022 年，當我們調漲價格時，我們並沒有提高毛利率。我們是維持毛利率，而毛利率的改善來自生產力提升與產品組合改善。我想我們現在看到的是，這些將會回落。我們的工作就是做同樣的事，確保在通縮環境下我們能把毛利率管理好、跟著往下走。這不會只在某一個時間點一次發生。

Then you have the competitive dynamics, VP&D that I talked about. I do think we're looking very hard at Asia and especially China, what's going to happen there. I think those could be a little bit more disruptive. Intermediates already happened. Most of the big moves were in Q2, one so earlier in the year. Right now, we're still seeing more of that deflationary trends. They're more aligned with raw materials.

接著是我提到的 VP&D 的競爭動態。我確實認為我們正非常仔細地看亞洲、尤其是中國那邊會發生什麼。我認為那可能會更具破壞性。中間體那邊已經發生了。大部分的大動作是在第二季，還有一個更早在年初。目前我們仍然看到更多的是通縮趨勢。它們與原物料的走勢更一致。

We're still seeing some, but I would say it would be the normalized glide to a more deflationary environment. As I said, the competitive side, that's the one that we'll continue to monitor and we'll report out.

我們仍然看到一些，但我會說這是朝向更通縮環境的正常化滑行。如我所說，競爭那一面是我們會持續監控並對外更新的。

Got it. Thanks very much for the call.

了解。非常感謝這通電話。

In a quarter, John, for personal care, price and raws were perfectly in balance. There was no benefit, no pain. Just to be specific, we have not seen acceleration from a pricing decline perspective. It's basically stayed fairly flat in terms of what we've experienced earlier in the year.

就這一季而言，John，在個人護理方面，價格與原物料完全平衡。沒有好處，也沒有壓力。具體來說，從價格下滑的角度，我們沒有看到加速。基本上就我們在今年稍早所經歷的情況而言，維持得相當平穩。

Got it. Very helpful.

了解。非常有幫助。

David Begleiter, Deutsche Bank.

David Begleiter，德意志銀行。

Thank you. Good morning. Guillermo, on the VP&D format issue, can you actually size that for us? Is it in the $5 million to $10 million range? Is it higher or lower?

謝謝。早安。Guillermo，關於 VP&D 規格（format）問題，你能幫我們量化一下嗎？是在 500 萬到 1,000 萬美元的範圍嗎？是更高還是更低？

Okay. It was probably, if you look at versus prior year, in this quarter, it was the biggest delta, probably around $14 million versus Q4, it's probably more flattish. It was mostly in the Q3 in terms of a prior year comparison.

好的。如果你看相較於去年同期，在這一季它是最大的差異，可能大約是 1,400 萬美元；相較第四季，可能就比較持平。就與去年同期比較而言，主要是在第三季。

Very well. Just on that issue, I believe what happened was a competitor had an outage. You gained, you picked up business while they were out. They came back on stream, and I guess they're taking more than their fair share with pricing, even though historically, they're not really a big price competitor. They tend to keep value. Is that what's happened here? They're just being more aggressive than usual, and you're reacting to that? Thank you.

很好。就這個問題，我相信發生的是某個競爭對手停機。在他們停機期間，你們受惠、接到了一些生意。他們恢復投產後，我猜他們透過定價拿走了超過其合理份額的量，儘管從歷史上看，他們其實不是主要的價格競爭者。他們通常會維持價值。這就是這裡發生的事嗎？他們只是比平常更積極，而你們正在因應？謝謝。

Yeah. I think two comments. One, from the volume loss, it's probably about a third of the shortfall for us. It's the market, that recovery in Europe hasn't happened to where we want it, and probably two-thirds is this pricing dynamic that you're asking about. The competitive dynamics, we talked about it last time, we have an old competitor coming back in, production normalized. We have to be realistic to keep them out. The price cost would be too high, so we've been managing through that and the glide path.

是的。我想有兩點。第一，就量的流失而言，這大概占我們缺口的三分之一。那是市場因素：歐洲的復甦沒有發生到我們希望的程度；另外大約三分之二是你所問的這個定價動態。關於競爭動態，我們上次談過，有一個老對手回來了，產量恢復正常。我們必須務實，想把他們完全擋在外面，代價會太高，所以我們一直在管理這件事以及那個滑行路徑。

I will say the pricing question of what they do, you should ask in another earnings call, ask them. I can't really comment on what they're doing, but we are seeing very aggressive pricing. It's BSF, obviously, and your question in Europe, but then it's China supply.

我會說，關於他們在定價上做什麼的問題，你應該在另一場法說會上問他們，去問他們。我其實無法評論他們在做什麼，但我們確實看到非常激進的定價。很明顯是BSF，還有你提到的歐洲那邊，但同時也有中國供給的因素。

It's not just, we look at Asia, we look at Latin America. We're dealing with both of those issues because when BSF was out, that would open a door for them. We're managing through that, but it's been very aggressive. I think for different reasons. European companies having their own problems, VP&D is not the driver of their cost structures or whatever. Whatever they do for other businesses, I assume this is what happens downstream in some of these larger commodity companies.

不只是這樣，我們看亞洲，也看拉丁美洲。我們同時在處理這兩個問題，因為當BSF退出時，這會為他們打開一扇門。我們正在設法度過這段期間，但確實非常激進。我認為原因各不相同。歐洲公司有他們自己的問題，VP&D並不是他們成本結構的驅動因素之類的。他們在其他業務上怎麼做，我猜在某些大型大宗商品公司下游就會出現這種情況。

In China, I do think that export markets like we're hearing in other markets, we're seeing that. The issue for us is, remember, we're the market leader, so we're going to manage through that. To our customers, we didn't lose customers. We lost volume within customers, so we have to manage that price. We still have a lot of business with the same customers at a higher price, so we're managing through that. Customers want to do business with us. There's nothing wrong. There's nothing bad going on in the market.

在中國，我確實認為出口市場就像我們在其他市場聽到的那樣，我們也看到了。對我們而言的問題是，記住，我們是市場領導者，所以我們會設法應對。就客戶而言，我們沒有失去客戶。我們是在既有客戶內部流失了量，所以我們必須管理那個價格。我們仍然與同樣的客戶有很多業務，只是價格更高，所以我們正在設法應對。客戶想跟我們做生意。沒有任何問題。市場上沒有發生什麼不好的事情。

I think it's just our balance of how we position ourselves. From an ERM perspective, remember in pharma, the world is not going to shift to everything supplied from China, because that's going to be, from an ERM, going to be higher risky. We need to be prudent. We need to manage through this. This is a process. It's impacting us in this quarter. This is not the first time that us or anybody else has to go through this level of transition. It is a little bit more aggressive than we thought in terms of the dynamics.

我認為這只是我們如何定位自己的平衡。從ERM的角度來看，記住在製藥領域，世界不會轉向所有供應都來自中國，因為從ERM來看，那會是更高的風險。我們需要審慎。我們需要設法度過這段期間。這是一個過程。它在本季影響到我們。這不是我們或任何其他人第一次必須經歷這種程度的轉換。就動態而言，它比我們原先想的更激進一些。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Michael Sison, Wells Fargo.

Michael Sison，富國銀行。

Hey, guys. Good morning. I just wanted to understand the VP&D share loss from a guidance perspective. I think you said that the outlook has reduced to 465, 475. A prior outlook was 485 at the midpoint. Is the share loss, everything else is the same, costing you $10 million to $15 million EBITDA? If you decide not to go after that volume because of pricing, is that the fundamental lower EBITDA that you'll have to live with going forward?

嗨，各位。早安。我想了解一下，從指引的角度來看，VP&D市占流失的影響。我想你們說展望下修到465、475。先前的展望中位數是485。如果其他都不變，這個市占流失是否讓你們少了1,000萬到1,500萬美元的EBITDA？如果你們因為定價而決定不去追那個量，這是否就是你們未來必須接受的、較低的基本EBITDA水準？

So, Mike, thanks for the question. Two dynamics. One is how we're managing the transition. We made our choices on balancing pricing and volume gains. We've seen our margins. We're still in a very strong position. Part of the gap is that there was the share loss that we had. The other part, and more into Q4, is the recovery. What we're working through right now is negotiating with customers.

所以，Mike，謝謝你的問題。有兩個動態。一個是我們如何管理這個轉換。我們在平衡定價與量的取得上做了選擇。你也看到我們的毛利率/利潤率。我們仍然處於非常強勢的位置。差距的一部分來自我們確實有市占流失。另一部分、而且更偏向Q4的是回復。我們現在正在做的是與客戶談判。

Like I said, we're already gaining share in Asia and parts of Latin America. The issue is a lot of these customers have either quarterly contracts or annual contracts. All of that is happening now this quarter. The annual contracts is most likely next quarter. This quarter, our fiscal fourth quarter and our fiscal first quarter is when a lot of these negotiations are happening. Then the volume itself would come back in, I would say, more Q1, Q2 of next year depending on the contracts.

如我所說，我們已經在亞洲以及拉丁美洲的部分地區拿回市占。問題在於，很多這些客戶要嘛是季約，要嘛是年約。這些都正在本季發生。年約很可能是在下季。本季，也就是我們的會計年度第四季，以及我們的會計年度第一季，是許多談判進行的時間點。然後量本身會回來，我會說更可能是在明年的Q1、Q2，取決於合約。

What's changed also is our view of the timing. We were expecting to take some actions. As I said, the pricing was more aggressive than we thought when we gave our guidance in April. That's changed some of our calculus. It's a little bit of both sides. It's not just the loss. It's the rate of gain that we're also adjusting.

另外改變的是我們對時點的看法。我們原本預期會採取一些行動。如我所說，當我們在4月給出指引時，定價比我們想像的更激進。這改變了我們的一些盤算。兩邊都有一些因素。不只是流失。我們也在調整拿回來的速度。

We will recover parts of that. The issue that we need to look at and we're not ready to talk about right now is for 2025. What's that balance? We regain all the volume, but at what price? We remain half the volume at a better price. There's scenarios that we're working through. Obviously, we really cannot talk about that because we're in negotiations. It's competitive dynamics. I don't want to go into a lot of details there. That's the high-level issues.

我們會回復其中一部分。我們需要看的、而且現在還沒準備好談的是2025年。那個平衡是什麼？我們把所有量都拿回來，但價格是多少？或者我們保留一半的量、但以更好的價格？我們正在推演不同情境。顯然我們真的不能談太多，因為我們正在談判中。這牽涉到競爭動態。我不想在這裡深入太多細節。以上是高層次的議題。

Got it. If you do hit your fourth quarter outlook and I annualize the third and fourth quarter EBITDA, the run rate looks pretty good, close to that 550 level as you head into 2025. I know it's a little bit early to give us a thought on '25, but maybe anyway you can give us a couple bridges that might help us understand what the potential EBITDA run rate is for next year and going forward.

了解。如果你們達成第四季展望，而我把第三、第四季的EBITDA年化，這個運行率看起來相當不錯，接近你們邁向2025年的550水準。我知道現在談'25還有點早，但你們是否能提供幾個橋接因素，幫助我們理解明年以及往後可能的EBITDA運行率？

Mike, as you look at your model, it's the two issues to factor in. I won't give you specific numbers, but it's the VP&D share and how we manage that. That's a factor. We're saying that one's probably going to be net a little bit lower than what we thought about before. Then the other one is this whole dynamic in China and just the overall market rate of recovery that could change positive or negative for next year. We're not ready to talk about it.

Mike，你在看你的模型時，有兩個因素要納入。我不會給你具體數字，但一個是VP&D的市占以及我們如何管理它。這是一個因素。我們的說法是，這一項淨影響可能會比我們之前想的略低一些。另一個是中國的整個動態，以及整體市場復甦速度，這可能讓明年變得更正面或更負面。我們還沒準備好談。

Those are the only two things that have changed. I want to make it very clear. Everything is moving as we thought and as we planned and executed. We have one big issue. It's clear. It's transparent. We've been talking about it several quarters. It's how we manage the VP&D. We're managing it. You can see it in the margins. There are trade-offs that we make, and that's the biggest issue. Everything else, other than just macro market dynamics, nothing really has changed from what we said before.

改變的只有這兩件事。我想把這點講得非常清楚。其他一切都如我們所想、如我們所規劃並執行地在推進。我們有一個重大議題。很清楚。也很透明。我們已經談了好幾季。就是我們如何管理VP&D。我們正在管理它。你可以從利潤率看到。我們會做一些取捨，而這是最大的議題。除此之外，除了總體市場動態之外，基本上沒有任何事情跟我們之前說的相比有實質改變。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Mike Harrison, Seaport Research Partners.

Mike Harrison，Seaport Research Partners。

Good morning. I was hoping, Guillermo, that maybe you could talk a little bit about what you're seeing on the cellulosic side within life sciences. It sounds like that is performing a little bit better. What's driving the divergence, I guess, between what you're seeing there and what you're seeing on the PVP side?

早安。Guillermo，我希望你能談一下你在生命科學領域的纖維素（cellulosic）那一塊看到的情況。聽起來那邊表現稍微好一些。我想知道，驅動你在那邊看到的情況與你在PVP那邊看到的情況之間出現分歧的原因是什麼？

Mike, thanks for the question because I think that's an important one to remind everybody. This market is stable. It's growing. It's moving well. The life science business overall, the market is okay. Our cellulosic business has been growing.

Mike，謝謝你的提問，因為我認為這是一個重要的問題，需要提醒大家。這個市場很穩定。它在成長。運作良好。整體而言，生命科學業務的市場狀況還可以。我們的纖維素業務一直在成長。

It's been stable. I think probably the growth we would have liked a little bit more, especially in Europe, because the market recovery also impacts that a little bit, but it's been net positive overall. We have a very rich portfolio of innovations in Klucel and Benecel that are moving very well. I think that part of the portfolio is holding up in a very strong position.

一直很穩定。我想我們可能希望成長能再多一點，尤其是在歐洲，因為市場復甦也會對那邊有些影響，但整體而言仍是淨正向。我們在Klucel和Benecel方面有非常豐富的創新產品組合，推進得非常順利。我認為那一部分的產品組合仍維持在非常強勢的位置。

The issue in pharma is really about a reentrance and a rebalancing of supply within an industry that had a lot of change in 2021 and 2022. That's what we're working through. It's more of a competitive dynamic than really a market dynamic. As you see by the difference between cellulosics and VP&D.

製藥領域的問題，主要在於一個在2021年與2022年經歷大量變化的產業中，供應重新進入與重新平衡。這正是我們正在處理的事情。這更像是競爭態勢，而不是真正的市場態勢。從纖維素與VP&D之間的差異就能看出來。

I was hoping that we could also talk about the portfolio optimization, maybe just at a high level. How is that optimization progressing within CMC, MC, and HEC relative to your expectations? Have you seen any negative impacts or stranded costs that you weren't expecting relative to those initiatives?

我也希望我們能談談投資組合最佳化，或許先從高層次來看。在CMC、MC與HEC方面，相較於你們的預期，這項最佳化進展如何？相對於這些措施，你們是否看到任何未預期的負面影響或閒置成本（stranded costs）？

They're all moving very well. I think, as we said, we communicated and we've implemented most of the direct, not all the changes, but all the direct changes in the plans on CMC and to a degree on the MC, which we announced a little bit later. We're working through a little bit of things there. Those two are moving very well. We're not exiting the markets. We're just making sure that the size is proportional to our strategic intent.

它們都推進得很順利。我想，正如我們所說，我們已經溝通並且已實施大部分的直接變更——不是全部變更，但CMC計畫中的所有直接變更都已落地；MC方面也在一定程度上落地，我們稍晚才宣布。我們正在處理其中一些細節。這兩項進展都非常順利。我們並不是退出這些市場。我們只是確保規模與我們的策略意圖相匹配。

We want these volumes more to balance out our production, but these are not the core businesses that we'd want to grow it. That's going very well. We still need to do a little bit more after the nutraceutical sale to rebalance other costs outside of the plan. We're still working, but nothing has changed in our plan or our outlook. It's not going to be in day one, but through 2025, it should be all neutral in terms of the EBITDA impact of these areas.

我們希望這些量能更多是用來平衡我們的生產，但這些並不是我們想要去成長的核心業務。這進展得非常好。在營養保健品（nutraceutical）出售之後，我們仍需要再做一些工作，以重新平衡計畫之外的其他成本。我們仍在進行中，但我們的計畫或展望沒有任何改變。不會在第一天就完成，但到2025年，這些領域對EBITDA的影響應該都會是中性。

Hopefully, our intent is to make it positive, that now we can turn into allocating our resources to more positive activities. The part that I'm excited is really around the CMC assets in Hopewell specifically, that we can now at much lower capital intensity repurpose those assets to support the new novel cellulosics. Novel cellulosics are looking really good. We have a number of starch-based products, guar-based products, and cellulosic-based products.

我們的意圖是希望把它做成正向，這樣我們就能把資源轉而配置到更正向的活動上。我最興奮的部分其實是Hopewell的CMC資產，我們現在可以用更低的資本強度把這些資產重新用途化，用來支持新的新型纖維素（novel cellulosics）。新型纖維素看起來非常好。我們有多種以澱粉為基礎的產品、以瓜爾膠為基礎的產品，以及以纖維素為基礎的產品。

It's all the polysaccharide chain, but we have to have a place to make them. That's probably going to be the more exciting thing. I don't think we'll be able to convert it in 2025, but we'll report more. We're going to finalize our plan. That's a lot of upside and de-risk the technology development and the investment in that area in a big way. We're very excited about those technologies.

它們都屬於多醣鏈（polysaccharide chain），但我們必須有地方來生產它們。那可能會是更令人興奮的事情。我不認為我們能在2025年完成轉換，但我們會提供更多資訊。我們將敲定我們的計畫。這帶來很大的上行空間，並且能大幅降低該領域技術開發與投資的風險。我們對這些技術非常興奮。

I think the other side of it is that we're going to add is the Avoca. Today, that business, it's reduced a lot over what it was when it was bought in 2017, 2018. Probably, it's about $50 million in revenue, no EBITDA, so we're working through that.

我想另一個面向是我們將要加上的Avoca。目前那項業務相較於2017、2018年收購時的規模已縮小很多。大概約5,000萬美元營收，沒有EBITDA，所以我們正在處理這件事。

Initial steps is we've shut down one facility that's tolling. We don't want to be in the tolling business. We're working through now the two other bigger facilities, which do sclareolide, and they also do tolling, and we're managing through that. More to come there, but those should be things that we can do very cleanly. They're separate businesses, and then we focus our activities.

初步措施是我們已關閉一座從事代工（tolling）的工廠。我們不想做代工業務。我們現在正在處理另外兩座較大的工廠，它們生產sclareolide，也同時做代工，我們正在管理並推進相關工作。後續還會有更多資訊，但這些應該都是我們可以非常乾淨俐落完成的事情。它們是獨立的業務，然後我們再把活動聚焦。

The biggest issue for 2025 for me, and I'm putting a lot of personal attention on that, is on the execute, focusing on VP&D and HEC. We're market leaders. The market is what it is. We need to make sure that we're driving productivity, that we're doing a lot of things in-house, and that we already started in HEC for our communication and the portfolio optimization. We're also starting a similar initiative in the VP&D side.

對我而言，2025年最大的議題——我也投入很多個人精力在這上面——是執行面，聚焦在VP&D與HEC。我們是市場領導者。市場就是那樣。我們需要確保我們在推動生產力、在內部做很多事情；而且我們已經在HEC方面開始了溝通與投資組合最佳化。我們也正在VP&D端啟動類似的計畫。

On the HEC side, we're making progress. I will say our plan hopeful did not run as well. We could probably have done a little bit better in the quarter. It did not run as well as we expected. Part of it is because of all the exits that we've done. We're doing some CapEx of finishing the HEC expansion that we had, and we're running trials to see how we can improve productivity on the product. There's a lot of activities there, but very promising. So I think that'll position us well for 2025.

在HEC方面，我們正在取得進展。我會說，我們的計畫坦白講執行得沒有那麼順。這一季我們可能可以做得更好一些。它的運行沒有如我們預期那麼好。部分原因是因為我們做了很多退出（exits）。我們正在進行一些資本支出（CapEx），完成原本的HEC擴產，同時也在做試產（trials），看看如何提升該產品的生產力。那裡有很多活動，但非常有前景。所以我認為這會讓我們在2025年處於有利位置。

Thanks very much. Thank you

非常感謝。謝謝

Jeff Zekauskas, JPMorgan.

Jeff Zekauskas，摩根大通（JPMorgan）。

Thanks very much. In specialty additives and operating income, you were in $22 million in the third quarter, and you were in $10 million in the second, and your revenues were down $7 million sequentially. Can you just provide a bridge so that we can understand the improvement from $10 million to $22 million?

非常感謝。在特用添加劑（specialty additives）與營業利益方面，你們第三季是2,200萬美元，第二季是1,000萬美元，而你們的營收環比下降了700萬美元。你能否提供一個橋接分析（bridge），讓我們理解從1,000萬美元提升到2,200萬美元的改善來源？

That's going to be primarily in volume and the way the plants operated during Q3 versus Q2, Jeff. We produced more. We had higher absorption. We sold more volume. You have a price-cost dynamic in there as well, but it's primarily volume-related.

Jeff，這主要會來自於銷量，以及第三季相較第二季工廠的運作方式。我們產量更高。我們的固定成本吸收（absorption）更高。我們賣出了更多的量。其中也有價格—成本的互動因素，但主要是與量相關。

Remember, we've been running slower because of all the inventory actions, and now this year we're starting to pick up as we move forward.

記得，我們之前因為各種庫存行動而放慢了運轉速度，而今年隨著我們往前推進，開始回升。

In terms of the VP&D issue, the meaning of the $14 million hit in the third quarter versus your expectations, does that mean that you over-earned by $14 million also in the second quarter in VP&D?

就VP&D的問題而言，第三季相較於你們預期少了1,400萬美元的衝擊，這是否也意味著你們在第二季的VP&D其實也多賺了1,400萬美元？

The share didn't happen overnight on some of the things, so you got to look at, we took pricing actions. It's not just to defend what we had. Also, there was other puts and takes, so it's not just carry it back. Some of these things we talked about actually last quarter about share in VP&D. I think the issue is more the outlook now. It has been more aggressive than we had expected, and that's the part that we're taking action on.

有些事情的市占變化不是一夜之間發生的，所以你得這樣看：我們採取了定價行動。這不只是為了守住我們原有的部分。另外也有其他此消彼長的因素，所以不能只是簡單回推。我們上季其實也談到過VP&D的市占問題。我認為問題更多在於現在的展望。它比我們預期更具侵略性，而這正是我們正在採取行動的部分。

I think also, just for clarity, the $14 million is a sales number, not an EBITDA number for the quarter.

我也認為，為了釐清，這 1,400 萬美元是銷售額數字，不是本季的 EBITDA 數字。

Oh, it's not an EBITDA. I thought it was an EBITDA number because I think earlier you said your original guide was 470 to 500 and then 465 to 475, and so when you bridge that, there's a $15 million reduction in the midpoint of EBITDA, and I thought that you guys had ascribed that change to the--

喔，它不是 EBITDA。我以為那是 EBITDA 的數字，因為我記得你先前說你們原先的指引是 4.70 億到 5.00 億，後來是 4.65 億到 4.75 億，所以當你把它銜接起來時，EBITDA 的中點下調了 1,500 萬美元，而我以為你們把這個變動歸因於——

I think the $14 million is more of a Q3 comment. As we look at the full year, the impact of the $15 million EBITDA decline is related not only to pharma, but the fact that specialty additives, while still growing, isn't going to grow most likely as much as we expected it to, so it's really a combination of the impact of that in each of those businesses. That's where the $15 million comes from.

我認為那 1,400 萬美元比較像是對第三季（Q3）的評論。就全年來看，EBITDA 下滑 1,500 萬美元的影響不僅與製藥（pharma）有關，也與特用添加劑（specialty additives）有關；雖然仍在成長，但很可能不會如我們原先預期成長那麼多，所以其實是這兩個業務各自影響的綜合結果。這就是那 1,500 萬美元的來源。

Okay. Thanks so much.

好的。非常感謝。

John Roberts, Mizuho

John Roberts，瑞穗（Mizuho）

Thank you. I think you reported that internal BDO consumption volume is down 14%. The majority of that would be for VP&D, I think, and that would be down more than 14%. Is that another way to size it?

謝謝。我想你們提到內部 BDO 消耗量下滑 14%。其中大部分我認為是用於 VP&D，而那部分的下滑幅度應該會超過 14%。這是不是另一種估算方式？

So, the volumes are down. Yes, the internal consumption is mostly into the VP&D business. It goes into pharma, but also personal care and specialty additives, so we do sell products in other areas, but obviously pharma is the bigger volume.

所以，量確實是下滑的。是的，內部消耗主要流向 VP&D 業務。也會用到製藥，但也包括個人護理與特用添加劑，所以我們也會在其他領域銷售產品，但顯然製藥的量比較大。

Now, the actual volumes, it's an issue of both demand, but also of how we manage our inventories, so it's not a direct 14%. You can't put it just to the sales. There's also how we manage the inventories, and I do want to note; I mean, because we had this question of in the last call, we saw more risk on the revenue side than on the EBITDA side because of manufacturing, but I do want to point out, we have not built inventory to the level, that we're not, inventories are under control.

至於實際的量，問題同時在於需求，以及我們如何管理庫存，所以不是直接對應 14%。你不能只把它歸到銷售上。還有庫存管理的因素；我也想補充一下：因為上次電話會議有人問到，我們當時看到營收端的風險大於 EBITDA 端，原因在於製造端，但我想指出，我們並沒有把庫存堆到失控的程度，庫存是受控的。

We do not want to play, we're managing our balance sheet, and we're managing that prudently, so in BDO, specifically, that's something that's a big inventory area for us, so we've managed that, and we're trying to manage it prudently.

我們不想去玩那種（堆庫存的）遊戲；我們在管理資產負債表，而且是審慎地管理，所以在 BDO 這一塊，特別是對我們而言屬於庫存占比較大的領域，我們已經在管理它，並且努力以審慎方式管理。

And then, is the only action that you're taking in VP&D price, or is there going to be some cost-saving program or rationalization actions as well?

另外，你們在 VP&D 採取的行動只有價格方面嗎？還是也會有一些節省成本的計畫或產能/產品合理化的措施？

So, I would say there's different things we're doing. Price, obviously, is one mix, which products we position to, again, competitive because we don't try to match a premium product versus a commodity product, so we're managing the mix, but as I said, the big area is that we're taking actions on cost, productivity, we're looking across our entire chain around the two plants that we have in Calvert City and Texas City, so there's a lot of work that's going on there, more to come, but that's a big area. The environment's changed, and we need to take action also in-house to make sure that we strengthen our business as market leaders. We want to make sure that we're in that leadership position, both on quality, on reliability, but also on cost.

我會說我們正在做不同的事情。價格當然是一個面向；另外是產品組合，我們如何定位產品——再次強調，因為我們不會拿高端產品去對標大宗商品，所以我們在管理組合。但如我所說，重點領域是我們正在採取成本與生產力方面的行動；我們正針對位於 Calvert City 與 Texas City 的兩座工廠，檢視整個供應鏈，因此有很多工作正在進行中，後續還會有更多資訊，但這是一個重點領域。環境已經改變，我們也需要在內部採取行動，確保我們作為市場領導者能強化業務。我們要確保在品質、可靠性以及成本上都維持領先地位。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Joshua Spector, UBS Investment Bank,

Joshua Spector，瑞銀投資銀行（UBS Investment Bank）

Yeah, hi, good morning. I have a few questions on volumes that I'll kind of combine here in one, so if I understand your guidance correctly for fourth quarter, I think Kevin said mid-single digit percent volume growth, that obviously includes the headwind from VP&D. I think that excluded the volume exits, but correct me if I'm wrong, so that's 5% or so growth in profit-producing volumes.

是的，嗨，早安。我有幾個關於出貨量的問題，我會把它們合併成一個來問：如果我對你們第四季指引的理解正確，我想 Kevin 說的是出貨量中個位數百分比的成長（mid-single digit percent volume growth），而這顯然已包含 VP&D 的逆風。我認為這不包含退出的量（volume exits），但如果我理解錯請糾正，所以這大約是 5% 左右的獲利性出貨量（profit-producing volumes）成長。

I guess if we look over the next year, you have a couple quarters of that to go, so maybe no demand growth, your volumes grow 2% to 3% against profit-producing volumes. I guess, one, is that a reasonable starting point to think about? And then, two, some of these other things that you've talked about over the last couple of years, so specific new capacity investments, you talked about some new wins a couple of years ago. We haven't really seen that.

我想如果看接下來一年，你們還有幾個季度會是這樣，所以也許需求不成長的情況下，你們的出貨量相對於獲利性出貨量成長 2% 到 3%。第一，這是不是一個合理的起點來思考？第二，過去幾年你們談到的一些其他事項，例如特定的新產能投資，你們也提過幾年前拿到一些新案子（new wins）。我們其實沒有真正看到那反映出來。

And then, two, the new product pipeline you've talked about, do you expect that to be additive on top of that base rate, and will we see that next year, or would that take a lot longer to materialize?

另外第二點，你們談到的新產品管線（new product pipeline），你們預期它會在這個基礎成長率之上帶來額外增量嗎？我們明年就會看到嗎？還是需要更長時間才會顯現？

So, let me just make a point, and then I'll ask Kevin to comment on the volume and the guidance. We have not taken out the nutraceutical numbers yet, because we don't know exactly the closing. We believe it's before the end of the year, so that's the one that I would say has not been removed.

我先說明一點，然後我會請 Kevin 針對出貨量與指引做評論。我們還沒有把營養保健品（nutraceutical）相關數字剔除，因為我們還不確定確切的交割時間。我們認為會在年底前完成，所以我會說這一項尚未移除。

So, if we close a deal sooner, we'll let you know, and then we can adjust the guidance appropriately. So, and Kevin, you can answer for the other questions on innovation and growth. All the growth, if you look at our globalized, as we said, it's growing much higher than the rest of the portfolio.

所以如果我們更早完成交易，我們會告知你們，然後我們可以相應調整指引。Kevin，你也可以回答其他關於創新與成長的問題。所有的成長，如果你看我們的全球化業務（globalized），如我們所說，它的成長率遠高於投資組合的其他部分。

Those have much higher gross profit margins than our average different cost structures. Even there, we're trying to even optimize the margins and cost structure produced locally. These are asset-light type businesses. It's about being closer to the markets and adding more service and supply flexibility in region.

那些業務的毛利率遠高於我們的平均水準，成本結構也不同。即便如此，我們也在努力進一步優化在地生產所帶來的毛利與成本結構。這些屬於輕資產（asset-light）型業務。重點在於更貼近市場，並在區域內提供更多服務與供應彈性。

So, all those are growing, so, it's 10% of our portfolio. We want to grow it at double digits and at higher margins, and we're getting that momentum. On the innovation side, we've introduced a lot of products. I would say, if you look at the last few years of big innovations, the majority of things we've introduced is in personal care.

所以這些都在成長；它們占我們投資組合的 10%。我們希望以雙位數成長並維持較高的利潤率，而我們正在取得那樣的動能。在創新方面，我們推出了很多產品。我會說，如果你看過去幾年較大的創新，我們推出的大多數產品是在個人護理（personal care）領域。

The good news for us, some of the things we introduced, as I said in the prepared remarks, like the TV0, we're starting to get momentum. We'll show that when we do our investor day. But getting the registration, for example, in personal care to sell it in China is very important because even for the global houses, they require to be able to use their brands globally.

對我們而言的好消息是，我們推出的一些產品，如我在事先準備的發言中提到的，例如 TV0，開始取得動能。我們會在投資人日（investor day）時展示這些成果。但例如在個人護理領域取得註冊，才能在中國銷售，這非常重要，因為即使是全球品牌商，他們也要求能在全球範圍使用其品牌。

So, that opens the door for a lot of growth. So, I think in personal care, there's a lot of launches and a lot more things coming. I think the biggest change for us, not just now but for the future, is specialty additives. The portfolio of innovations were more around core construction. That team has pivoted a lot, and I'm really excited about some of the outlooks, some of the discussions we're having with customers, really going much beyond the rheology, which has been our core, and a lot of exciting opportunities.

所以，這為大量成長打開了大門。因此我認為在個人護理方面，有很多上市推出（launches），而且還會有更多項目。我認為對我們而言最大的改變，不只是現在而是未來，是特用添加劑（specialty additives）。過去的創新組合更多圍繞核心建築（core construction）。那個團隊已經做了很大的轉向，我對一些展望、以及我們與客戶正在進行的討論感到非常振奮，確實已遠遠超出流變（rheology）——那一直是我們的核心——而且有很多令人興奮的機會。

Again, we'll lay those out for the team. And in pharma, I would say the two biggest dynamics that I think are really exciting about growth, and they're happening now, is on the cellulosic side. There's a new band of cells and new host cells that we've introduced, very good traction.

再次，我們會把這些向團隊說明清楚。而在製藥方面，我會說我認為最令人振奮、且正在發生的兩個最大成長動能，是在纖維素相關領域。我們導入了一批新的細胞與新的宿主細胞，已獲得非常好的進展。

So, I think that'll still generate, for the next two years, some very good growth. And the injectables, I'm really excited about the progress we're making there. I will talk about, investor day, the pipeline and how that's looking, but that one, I think, really for the long term, very healthy portfolio, a lot of really premier customers working with us, so very exciting part of the portfolio.

所以，我認為這在未來兩年仍將帶來相當不錯的成長。至於注射劑，我對我們在那裡取得的進展感到非常振奮。我會在投資人日談到產品管線以及目前的狀況，但我認為就長期而言，這是一個非常健康的產品組合，有許多頂尖客戶與我們合作，因此是投資組合中非常令人期待的一部分。

And, Josh, on the volume growth, what we would expect for Q4, on an overall basis, is mid-single-digit organic volume growth, so setting the optimization work aside. And that's what's baked into the outlook that we've given. Again, I think originally our expectations would have been a bit higher than that, hence the change in the outlook.

另外，Josh，關於我們對第四季（Q4）整體的量成長預期，我們預期有機銷量成長為中個位數，因此先把最佳化工作放在一旁。這也已反映在我們所提供的展望之中。再次強調，我想我們原先的預期會比這個數字稍高一些，因此才會調整展望。

But as we look at fiscal '25, I mean, as Guillermo said, we're really not prepared to talk a lot about that. We'll say a lot more on the Q4 earnings call when that one happens. I think, just to reiterate, in terms of the Q1, Q2 piece of the equation, returning to more typical results in Q1 and Q2 versus what we saw in fiscal '24, that's a combination of two things.

但當我們看2025會計年度（fiscal '25）時，如Guillermo所說，我們目前確實還不準備就此多談。我們會在第四季財報電話會議時再多說一些。我想再重申一次，就第一季（Q1）、第二季（Q2）這部分而言，相較於我們在2024會計年度（fiscal '24）看到的情況，Q1與Q2回到較典型的結果，是由兩件事共同造成的。

Number one, and probably I'd say the larger item would be it's running our plants at more typical levels in Q1 and Q2, as opposed to what we did in Q1 and Q2 of fiscal '24. But there is also a volume impact to that, and that's probably a little more pronounced even in Q2 than it is in Q1. So, it's a mix of the two things. So, what I would say is that as part of that return to more typical Q1 and Q2 results, it's a combination of running the plants at more normal levels, and it's, let's call it primarily that, but there's also an expectation of normalized volume or more typical volume included in that without any expectations around year-over-year growth, per se, or market growth.

第一點，而且我會說可能是較大的因素，是在Q1與Q2以較典型的水準運轉我們的工廠，而不是像2024會計年度的Q1與Q2那樣。但這也會對出貨量造成影響，而且這個影響在Q2可能比在Q1更為明顯。所以，這是兩者的混合。因此我會說，作為回到較典型Q1與Q2結果的一部分，這是工廠以較正常水準運轉的組合——我們姑且稱主要是這一點——但其中也包含對正常化銷量或較典型銷量的預期，而不特別假設年對年成長或市場成長。

Again, as we get into the Q4 earnings call and we start to talk about fiscal '25 on that call, we'll give a lot more specificity, I would say, particularly around the impact of the exits. I think there is a fair bit of confusion around what that's going to mean for fiscal '25, and our plan is to provide more granularity around that when we do our Q4 earnings call just to help people level set around what we expect that to look like based on the actions that we've taken in fiscal '24 and the outcomes of those actions.

同樣地，等到我們進入第四季財報電話會議並開始在該會議上談2025會計年度時，我們會提供更具體的資訊，尤其是關於退出（exits）的影響。我認為大家對這將對2025會計年度意味著什麼有相當程度的困惑；我們的計畫是在第四季財報電話會議時提供更細的拆解，協助大家校準我們預期的樣貌，這是基於我們在2024會計年度採取的行動以及這些行動的結果。

So, I would say more to come on that, but that's the best way to think about at least Q1 and Q2 for the time being, and it's included in that overall reset number that we've been talking about.

所以，我會說後續還會有更多資訊；但就目前而言，這是至少在Q1與Q2該如何思考的最佳方式，而這也已包含在我們一直在談的整體重設數字之中。

Okay, thank you.

好的，謝謝。

Thank you. I'm showing no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn it back to Guillermo Nova for closing remarks.

謝謝。我目前顯示沒有進一步的提問。我想把時間交回給Guillermo Nova作結語。

I want to thank everybody for your participation and interest. I'm looking forward to connecting with all of you. I just want to reiterate, although a tough environment in the external, I think the team has been doing very well on the core things. We have a specific issue that had a big impact. We're working through that. I think it's manageable and it's specific rather than broad-based, so we'll be managing and updating you on those activities.

我要感謝各位的參與與關注。我期待與各位保持聯繫。我想再次強調，儘管外部環境艱難，我認為團隊在核心事項上做得非常好。我們有一個特定問題造成了很大的影響。我們正在處理中。我認為它是可控的，而且是特定事件而非全面性的，因此我們會持續管理並向各位更新相關進展。

But I look forward to also sending you more communication on our investor day in December, and we look forward to seeing you soon. Thank you so much.

此外，我也期待在12月的投資人日向各位提供更多溝通資訊，我們也期待很快與各位見面。非常感謝。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating and you may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位參與，您現在可以掛線。