Astec Industries Inc (ASTE) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome to Astec Industries Second Quarter Earnings Call. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded.

您好，歡迎參加 Astec Industries 第二季財報電話會議。謹此提醒，本次電話會議正在錄音中。

It’s my pleasure to introduce your host, Steve Anderson, Senior Vice President of Administration, and Investor Relations. Mr. Anderson, you may begin.

我很高興向您介紹主持人史蒂夫·安德森 (Steve Anderson)，他是行政和投資者關係高級副總裁。安德森先生，您可以開始了。

Thank you, and welcome to the Astec second quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Joining me on today’s call are President and Chief Executive Officer, Jaco van der Merwe; and our Interim Chief Financial Officer, Heinrich Jonker. In just a moment, I’ll turn the call over to Jaco to provide comments, and then Heinrich will summarize our financial results.

謝謝，歡迎參加雅達 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。與我一起參加今天電話會議的還有總裁兼執行長 Jaco van der Merwe；以及我們的臨時財務長 Heinrich Jonker。稍後，我會將電話轉給 Jaco 提供意見，然後 Heinrich 將總結我們的財務表現。

Before we begin, I’ll remind you that our discussion this morning may contain forward-looking statements that relate to the future performance of the company, and these statements are intended to qualify for the Safe Harbor liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act.

在我們開始之前，我要提醒您，我們今天早上的討論可能包含與公司未來業績相關的前瞻性陳述，這些陳述旨在符合私人證券訴訟改革確立的安全港責任行為。

Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Factors that could influence our results are highlighted in today’s earnings release and others are contained in our filings with the SEC. As usual, we ask that you familiarize yourself with those factors.

此類陳述並非對未來績效的保證，並受到某些風險、不確定性和假設的影響。今天的財報中強調了可能影響我們業績的因素，其他因素也包含在我們向 SEC 提交的文件中。像往常一樣，我們要求您熟悉這些因素。

I’ll also note that the company refers to various US GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures, which management believes provide useful information to investors. These non-GAAP financial measures have no standardized meaning prescribed by US GAAP and are, therefore, unlikely to be comparable to the calculation of similar measures for other companies.

我還要指出的是，該公司參考了各種美國公認會計原則和非公認會計原則財務指標，管理層認為這些指標為投資者提供了有用的信息。這些非公認會計原則財務指標沒有美國公認會計原則規定的標準化意義，因此不太可能與其他公司類似指標的計算進行比較。

The company does not intend these items to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the related US GAAP measures. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP results is included in our earnings release and the appendix of our presentation.

該公司並不打算將這些項目單獨考慮或作為相關美國公認會計準則措施的替代品。公認會計原則與非公認會計原則結果的調節包含在我們的收益發布和簡報的附錄中。

All related earnings materials are posted on our website at www.astecindustries.com under the Investor Relations and Presentations tabs.

所有相關收益資料均發佈在我們網站 www.astecindustries.com 的「投資者關係」和「演示」標籤下。

And now, I’ll turn the call over to Jaco.

現在，我將把電話轉給 Jaco。

Thank you, Steve. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Before I begin, I would like to thank our employees for their hard work and engagement. It is through their effort and dedication we stay focused on our customers and provide industry changing solutions.

謝謝你，史蒂夫。大家早安，感謝您加入我們。在開始之前，我要感謝我們的員工的辛勤工作和參與。正是透過他們的努力和奉獻，我們才能始終專注於客戶並提供改變產業的解決方案。

Our second quarter highlights are summarized on slide 4. While we continue to face some industry headwinds that impacted our results, we are encouraged by the trajectory of our second quarter performance.

我們的第二季亮點總結在投影片 4 中。雖然我們繼續面臨一些影響我們業績的行業阻力，但我們對第二季的業績軌跡感到鼓舞。

Our Infrastructure Solutions segment saw continued solid performance in the quarter with an increase in implied orders due to high demand for asphalt and concrete plants. Strength in the infrastructure construction market is anticipated through the beginning of 2025. We also saw improvement from the first quarter in Material Solutions with solid dealer quoting for future bookings and sales.

我們的基礎設施解決方案部門在本季度繼續保持穩健的業績，由於對瀝青和混凝土工廠的高需求，隱含訂單增加。預計到 2025 年初，基礎建設市場將保持強勁。我們也看到材料解決方案較第一季有所改善，經銷商對未來預訂和銷售的報價穩定。

With our backlog continuing to stabilize, we are confident in our ability to meet current and future demand for our products. We anticipate more conversions and solid performance in the latter half of the year. Additionally, we’ve been focusing on inventory management and reduced our inventory by 5.9%, or $28.7 million versus the first quarter of 2024.

隨著我們的積壓訂單持續穩定，我們對滿足當前和未來產品需求的能力充滿信心。我們預計下半年會有更多的轉換和穩健的業績。此外，我們一直專注於庫存管理，與 2024 年第一季相比，我們的庫存減少了 5.9%，即 2870 萬美元。

Moving to our headline results, in the second quarter, we delivered $345.5 million in net sales and gross margin of 23.5% with consolidated implied orders up 5.9% sequentially. As I mentioned, the healthy demand in Infrastructure Solutions for asphalt and concrete plant deliveries helped to drive positive results with implied orders up 3.4% sequentially.

轉向我們的整體業績，第二季我們實現了 3.455 億美元的淨銷售額和 23.5% 的毛利率，綜合隱含訂單環比增長 5.9%。正如我所提到的，基礎設施解決方案對瀝青和混凝土工廠交付的健康需求有助於推動積極的業績，隱含訂單環比增長 3.4%。

Material Solutions were impacted by longer product conversions from rental to buy and continued finance capacity constraints due to the current interest rate environment. Despite this, implied orders for Material Solutions were up 11.8%. Our backlog levels continue to stabilize at $531.1 million due to solid performance in Infrastructure Solutions and support our view for continued performance in the second half.

Material Solutions 受到產品從租賃到購買的轉換時間較長以及當前利率環境導致的持續融資能力限制的影響。儘管如此，Material Solutions 的隱含訂單仍成長了 11.8%。由於基礎設施解決方案的穩健表現，我們的積壓訂單水準持續穩定在 5.311 億美元，這支持了我們對下半年持續表現的看法。

Turning to slide 5. We give an update on our strategic roadmap. As you will recall, we introduced this new strategic framework last quarter as we aligned the organization’s focus on three core pillars, empowered, enabled, and engaged employees, customer focused and industry changing innovation.

轉到投影片 5。我們更新了我們的策略路線圖。您可能還記得，我們​​在上個季度推出了這個新的策略框架，當時我們將組織的重點放在三個核心支柱上：授權、支持和參與員工、以客戶為中心和改變行業的創新。

I’ve been pleased to see that this framework has been embraced by our employees across the company and we are all working together to execute across the three pillars. At the same time, we believe that achieving goals requires accountability, which is why we have taken the next step to define key metrics to track our progress towards our long-term goals.

我很高興看到整個公司的員工都接受了這個框架，我們都在共同努力執行三大支柱。同時，我們相信實現目標需要問責制，這就是為什麼我們採取下一步措施來定義關鍵指標來追蹤我們實現長期目標的進展。

The progress we’ve made on operational improvements over the past several quarters gives us confidence in our ability to execute on these three strategic pillars.

過去幾季我們在營運改善方面取得的進展讓我們對執行這三個策略支柱的能力充滿信心。

Turning now to slide 6 to look at current business dynamics. We start with Infrastructure Solutions. We are confident in the strength of the segment overall and are focused on driving efficiency, ensuring strong inventory control and cost reduction. We saw net sales of $221.4 million, an increase of 11% year-over-year.

現在轉到投影片 6，了解目前的業務動態。我們從基礎設施解決方案開始。我們對該部門的整體實力充滿信心，並專注於提高效率，確保強有力的庫存控制和降低成本。我們的淨銷售額為 2.214 億美元，年增 11%。

As I mentioned earlier, this increase was due to strong performance from equipment sales and pricing actions we’ve taken while the infrastructure construction market remained strong. We also saw segment operating adjusted EBITDA margin of 12.3%, which decreased 60 basis points primarily due to manufacturing inefficiencies and higher SG&A cost that were partially offset by positive net volume and mix and pricing net of inflation.

正如我之前提到的，這一增長是由於我們在基礎設施建設市場仍然強勁的情況下所採取的設備銷售和定價行動的強勁表現。我們也看到，調整後的部門營運EBITDA 利潤率為12.3%，下降了60 個基點，主要是由於製造效率低下和SG&A 成本上升，但部分被正的淨銷售和組合以及扣除通膨的定價所抵消。

On the Material Solutions side, we reported net sales of $124.1 million, which decreased 17.7% year-over-year. This reflects lower equipment sales due to longer product conversions and continued finance capacity constraints with contractors and dealers.

在材料解決方案方面，我們報告淨銷售額為 1.241 億美元，年減 17.7%。這反映出由於產品轉換時間較長以及承包商和經銷商的財務能力持續受到限製而導致設備銷售下降。

Our segment operating adjusted EBITDA margin of 8.2% decreased 390 basis points. Results were impacted by lower net volume and mix, manufacturing inefficiencies and higher SG&A costs, partially offset by pricing net of inflation and other period costs.

我們部門調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 8.2%，下降了 390 個基點。結果受到淨銷售量和產品組合下降、製造效率低下以及銷售、一般管理成本上升的影響，但部分被扣除通貨膨脹和其他期間成本的定價所抵消。

We also wanted to provide a brief update on domestic road building, a foundational element to our business. With total state budgets up 12% year-over-year, we are seeing increased activity in the domestic road building market. We expect continued strong demand for asphalt road building and concrete production equipment moving forward, supporting strength we are seeing in implied orders.

我們也想提供有關國內道路建設的簡要更新，這是我們業務的基礎要素。隨著國家預算總額年增 12%，我們看到國內道路建設市場的活動增加。我們預計未來對瀝青道路建設和混凝土生產設備的需求將持續強勁，從而支持我們在隱含訂單中看到的實力。

Looking at a macro level, total federal highway funding allocations totaled $350 billion through 2026 with committed funds to date achieving $133.7 billion and $73.4 billion in funding reimbursed to the states. We believe the continued allocation of this funding provides stability for our industry, and we are confident in our ability to capitalize on consistent spending.

從宏觀層面來看，到 2026 年，聯邦公路資金分配總額為 3,500 億美元，迄今承諾資金達到 1,337 億美元，向各州償還的資金為 734 億美元。我們相信，這筆資金的持續分配將為我們的行業提供穩定性，並且我們對利用持續支出的能力充滿信心。

On slide 7, you will see our implied orders are up 5.9% sequentially at $317 million in comparison to $299 million last quarter. We saw increases for both Infrastructure Solutions and Material Solutions. This aligns with our continued expectations for steady momentum for the rest of the year and into 2025.

在投影片 7 上，您將看到我們的隱含訂單較上季成長 5.9%，達到 3.17 億美元，而上季為 2.99 億美元。我們看到基礎設施解決方案和材料解決方案都有成長。這符合我們對今年剩餘時間和 2025 年保持穩定勢頭的持續預期。

Infrastructure Solutions saw an increase of 3.4% sequentially to $217 million in comparison to $210 million last quarter, and Material Solutions saw implied orders increased by 11.8% sequentially to $100 million versus $89 million last quarter. We are encouraged by solid dealer quoting for future bookings and sales.

基礎設施解決方案季增 3.4%，達到 2.17 億美元，而上季為 2.1 億美元；材料解決方案的隱含訂單環比成長 11.8%，達到 1 億美元，上季為 8,900 萬美元。我們對經銷商對未來預訂和銷售的可靠報價感到鼓舞。

Slide 8 shows our historical backlog range. We are seeing backlog stabilizing, supported by strong performance in Infrastructure Solutions. Total backlog of $531 million as of June 30, 2024, is returning to the historical range.

投影片 8 顯示了我們的歷史積壓範圍。在基礎設施解決方案的強勁表現的支持下，我們看到積壓工作趨於穩定。截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日，積壓總額為 5.31 億美元，正回到歷史範圍。

Our backlog for Infrastructure Solutions was $369 million, a decrease of 16% year-over-year, and our backlog for Material Solutions was $163 million, a decrease of 35.1% year-over-year, while net sales were strong at $345.5 million. As I stated earlier, consolidated implied orders were up in both segments. We remain focused on delivering for our customers and expect increased conversions in the back half of the year.

我們的基礎設施解決方案積壓訂單為 3.69 億美元，年減 16%，材料解決方案積壓訂單為 1.63 億美元，年減 35.1%，而淨銷售額強勁，達到 3.455 億美元。正如我之前所說，這兩個細分市場的合併隱含訂單均有所增加。我們仍然專注於為客戶提供服務，並預計今年下半年的轉換率將會增加。

Slide 9 showcases Astec’s presence at Hillhead 2024, the UK’s largest quarrying, construction and recycling exhibition. During the event, we had the opportunity to highlight new products and do live demonstrations to current and potential customers. On display, we showcased 16 products and unveiled three of our new Astec products.

幻燈片 9 展示了 Astec 在英國最大的採石、建築和回收展覽會 Hillhead 2024 上的亮相。活動期間，我們有機會向現有和潛在客戶展示新產品並向其進行現場演示。展會上，我們展示了 16 款產品，並推出了三款 Astec 新產品。

Visitors spend more time at the show than ever before with over 19,000 attendees, a record number across the exhibitions 42-year history. We were excited to present live in front of this audience and showcase how product development and innovation is a central component of our strategy.

參觀者在展會上停留的時間比以往任何時候都多，參觀人數超過 19,000 人，創下了展會 42 年曆史上的紀錄。我們很高興能夠在觀眾面前現場展示，並展示產品開發和創新如何成為我們策略的核心組成部分。

At the show, Astec made a meaningful statement to the market with our significant presence and new products on display. Just last week, I had the opportunity to visit our sites in Brazil and Chile. The new products being displayed at Hillhead will be instrumental for our success in these regions.

在展會上，雅達透過我們的重要亮相和展示的新產品向市場做出了有意義的聲明。就在上週，我有機會參觀了我們在巴西和智利的工廠。在 Hillhead 展示的新產品將有助於我們在這些地區取得成功。

To complement this, I am encouraged by the skill and enthusiasm of our employees and how they service and interact with our customers.

作為補充，我對我們員工的技能和熱情以及他們為客戶提供服務和互動的方式感到鼓舞。

With that, I will now turn the call over to Heinrich to discuss our detailed financial results.

現在，我將把電話轉給海因里希，討論我們詳細的財務表現。

Thank you, Jaco, and good morning, everyone. Diving into the numbers on slide 11, net sales decreased slightly by 1.3% to $345.5 million in the quarter after a record second quarter in 2023. As Jaco shared earlier, we continue to see strong demand for asphalt and concrete plants and an increase in implied orders for both infrastructure and material solutions.

謝謝你，哈科，大家早安。深入研究投影片 11 的數據，繼 2023 年第二季創紀錄之後，本季淨銷售額小幅下降 1.3% 至 3.455 億美元。正如 Jaco 早些時候分享的那樣，我們繼續看到對瀝青和混凝土工廠的強勁需求，以及基礎設施和材料解決方案的隱含訂單的增加。

By region, net domestic sales were down across our markets with a decrease of $14.3 million or 5%. As for international sales, we saw increase of $9.8 million or 15.4%, primarily due to increased activity in Canada, Mexico, Africa and Europe.

按地區劃分，我們各個市場的國內淨銷售額均下降，減少了 1,430 萬美元，即 5%。至於國際銷售額，我們看到成長了 980 萬美元，即 15.4%，這主要是由於加拿大、墨西哥、非洲和歐洲的活動增加。

As a reminder, the US represents about 80% of our consolidated sales. Additionally, while part sales decreased $3.4 million or 3.7% year-over-year, they are up $7.3 million or 3.7% in the first half of 2024 compared to the first half of 2023.

提醒一下，美國約占我們綜合銷售額的 80%。此外，雖然零件銷售額年減 340 萬美元或 3.7%，但與 2023 年上半年相比，2024 年上半年零件銷售額增加了 730 萬美元或 3.7%。

Finally, equipment sales increased $13.2 million, or 5.8% in the quarter. Both adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin declined in the quarter with a decrease of 14.3% to $27.6 million and a decrease of 120 basis points to 8%, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased due to lower manufacturing efficiencies at select sites and higher SG&A cost.

最後，本季設備銷售額增加了 1,320 萬美元，即 5.8%。本季調整後 EBITDA 和調整後 EBITDA 利潤率均下降，分別下降 14.3% 至 2,760 萬美元，下降 120 個基點至 8%。調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率下降是由於特定地點的製造效率較低以及 SG&A 成本較高。

Adjusted EPS was $0.61 compared to $0.87 in the prior year, a decrease of 29.9%. Adjusted EPS excludes transformation and other cost of $1.22 in the second quarter this year, $0.89 of which is related to goodwill impairment. Our adjusted effective tax rate was 23.9%.

調整後每股收益為 0.61 美元，較前一年的 0.87 美元下降 29.9%。今年第二季調整後每股盈餘不包括轉型和其他成本 1.22 美元，其中 0.89 美元與商譽減損相關。我們調整後的有效稅率為 23.9%。

On slide 12, I highlight specifics of infrastructure solutions. Net sales increased 11% to $221.4 million, which as I mentioned, was a result of strong performance from equipment sales and pricing actions. We saw strong performance in domestic sales, international sales and equipment sales, which increased 9.5%, 39.2% and 32.2%, respectively, while part sales were down 4.6%.

在投影片 12 中，我重點介紹了基礎設施解決方案的具體細節。淨銷售額成長 11%，達到 2.214 億美元，正如我所提到的，這是設備銷售和定價行動強勁表現的結果。國內銷售、國際銷售及設備銷售表現強勁，分別成長9.5%、39.2%及32.2%，而零件銷售則下降4.6%。

Segment operating adjusted EBITDA increased 5.8% to $27.2 million and segment operating adjusted EBITDA margin decreased 60 basis points to 12.3%, primarily due to manufacturing inefficiencies and higher SG&A cost which were partly offset by positive net volume and mix, pricing net of inflation and other period cost.

部門營運調整後EBITDA 成長5.8%，達到2,720 萬美元，部門營運調整後EBITDA 利潤率下降60 個基點，至12.3%，這主要是由於製造效率低下和SG&A 成本上升，但部分被正淨銷售和組合、扣除通貨膨脹的定價及其他因素所抵銷。

Moving to slide 13, material solutions net sales decreased 17.7% to $124.1 million, driven by lower equipment sales which were attributable to fewer product conversions and continued finance capacity constraints with contractors and dealers. Domestic, equipment and part sales were down 33.4%, 23.4% and 2.3%, respectively, while international sales were up 10.9%.

轉到投影片 13，材料解決方案淨銷售額下降 17.7%，至 1.241 億美元，原因是設備銷售額下降，這是由於產品轉換減少以及承包商和經銷商的財務能力持續受到限制。國內、設備和零件銷售額分別下降33.4%、23.4%和2.3%，而國際銷售額則成長10.9%。

Segment operating adjusted EBITDA decreased 44.3% to $10.2 million and segment operating adjusted EBITDA margin decreased 390 basis points to 8.2%, primarily due to lower net volume and mix, manufacturing inefficiencies from lower volumes and higher SG&A costs partly offset by pricing net of inflation and other period cost.

部門營運調整後EBITDA 下降44.3%，至1,020 萬美元，部門營運調整後EBITDA 利潤率下降390 個基點，至8.2%，這主要是由於淨銷售和產品組合下降、產量減少導致的製造效率低下以及SG&A成本上升，部分被扣除通貨膨脹和成本的定價所抵銷。

Turning to our adjusted EBITDA bridge, on slide 14, as I said before, we had a decline in adjusted EBITDA of 14.3% to $27.6 million and a decline in adjusted EBITDA margin of 120 basis points to 8%. We saw a benefit of $10.5 million from volume, pricing and mix with a $3.7 million impact from inflation, an impact of $7.6 million from manufacturing inefficiencies partly offset with other period cost, and 3.8 million impact from SG&A.

轉向我們調整後的EBITDA 橋，在幻燈片14 上，正如我之前所說，我們調整後的EBITDA 下降了14.3%，至2760 萬美元，調整後的EBITDA 利潤率下降了120 個基點，至8% 。我們看到產量、定價和組合帶來了1050 萬美元的收益，通貨膨脹帶來了370 萬美元的影響，製造效率低下帶來的760 萬美元的影響部分抵消了其他期間成本，SG&A 帶來了380 萬美元的影響。

The decrease in our adjusted EBITDA margin is due to lower volumes, which affected manufacturing efficiencies at select sites and higher SG&A partly offset with pricing net of inflation and other period cost.

我們調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率下降是由於銷售下降，影響了特定地點的製造效率，而較高的銷售及管理費用部分抵消了扣除通貨膨脹和其他期間成本的定價。

On slide 15, you can see we ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $60.6 million, available credit of $115.2 million and total available liquidity of $175.8 million, which decreased 25% as compared to December 31, 2023. Our operating activities were a $10.9 million source of cash for the second quarter.

在投影片15 上，您可以看到本季結束時我們的現金和現金等價物為6060 萬美元，可用信貸為1.152 億美元，可用流動性總額為1.758 億美元，與2023 年12 月31 日相比下降了25%。第二季我們的經營活動帶來了 1,090 萬美元的現金來源。

Slide 16 shows the execution of our balanced capital deployment framework. We returned cash to shareholders by issuing a dividend of $0.13 per share in the second quarter and we spent $7.6 million on capital expenditure to increase capacity and improve efficiency.

投影片 16 顯示了我們平衡資本部署框架的執行情況。我們在第二季度派發了每股 0.13 美元的股息，向股東返還現金，並花費了 760 萬美元的資本支出來增加產能和提高效率。

Our approach to M&A continues to closely align to our overall growth strategy and we have $116 million remaining in authorized share repurchase program.

我們的併購方式繼續與我們的整體成長策略緊密結合，我們的授權股票回購計畫還剩 1.16 億美元。

Turning to slide 17, I will turn the call back over to Jaco.

前往投影片 17，我會將電話轉回給 Jaco。

Thanks, Heinrich. While various market dynamics continue to present challenges, we are confident in the fundamentals of our business and our ability to capitalize on opportunities as market conditions improve. We are focused on delivering consistent results for our customers and are working to drive further cost efficiencies.

謝謝，海因里希。儘管各種市場動態繼續帶來挑戰，但我們對我們業務的基本面以及隨著市場狀況改善而利用機會的能力充滿信心。我們致力於為客戶提供一致的結果，並努力進一步提高成本效率。

In support of these efforts, we implemented a restructuring program across our segments during the quarter to address manufacturing inefficiencies across the organization. The Infrastructure Solutions segment remains strong, underscored by the healthy demand in the infrastructure construction markets that we highlighted today.

為了支持這些努力，我們在本季跨部門實施了重組計劃，以解決整個組織的製造效率低下問題。我們今天強調的基礎設施建設市場的健康需求凸顯了基礎設施解決方案領域仍然強勁。

As noted earlier, material solutions continue to face near-term headwinds. However, our long-term outlook is encouraging due to Q2 increased implied orders demonstrating solid dealer interest for future bookings and sales.

如前所述，材料解決方案近期仍面臨阻力。然而，我們的長期前景令人鼓舞，因為第二季隱含訂單的增加表明經銷商對未來預訂和銷售的濃厚興趣。

We will continue to drive margin improvements through cost efficiencies and pricing actions. As backlog further stabilized during Q2 and implied orders turned positive, we expect full year sales to be flat or grow low single digits versus 2023.

我們將繼續透過成本效率和定價行動來推動利潤率的提高。隨著第二季積壓進一步穩定且隱含訂單轉正，我們預計全年銷售額與 2023 年相比將持平或成長低個位數。

Concluding with slide 18, as I mentioned before, I am proud of the dedication and hard work of the employees of Astec. Their efforts enable us to be recognized as the trusted source for high quality solutions we provide to our customers.

以幻燈片 18 結束，正如我之前提到的，我為 Astec 員工的奉獻和辛勤工作感到自豪。他們的努力使我們被公認為為客戶提供高品質解決方案的值得信賴的來源。

As you know, domestic road construction is foundational to our business model, consistent federal government and state highway funding continues to provide strength and resilience for our company, customers and shareholders.

如您所知，國內道路建設是我們業務模式的基礎，聯邦政府和州高速公路的持續資助繼續為我們的公司、客戶和股東提供實力和彈性。

Over the past several months, I have spent a lot of time with customers by visiting their facilities and attending trade shows. They have strong backlog stretching into 2025 and remain positive about the future. Our improved rate of orders this quarter and year-to-date growth in our aftermarket parts business supports their sentiment.

在過去的幾個月裡，我花了很多時間與客戶相處，參觀他們的設施並參加貿易展。他們的積壓量很大，一直持續到 2025 年，並​​對未來保持樂觀。我們本季訂單率的提高以及售後零件業務今年迄今的成長支撐了他們的情緒。

I’m also encouraged by our major transformational efforts. We are changing the pace of deployment of future site conversions to add enhancements and reduce business disruptions at each manufacturing site. With these modifications, we now expect the annual expense to decrease after 2024 and any implementations after 2027 to be completed with internal resources.

我們的重大轉型努力也讓我深受鼓舞。我們正在改變未來站點轉換的部署節奏，以增加增強功能並減少每個製造站點的業務中斷。透過這些修改，我們現在預計 2024 年之後年度費用將會減少，並且 2027 年之後的任何實施都將透過內部資源完成。

I’m especially excited about the new product offerings initiated during my first 18 months in the role of CEO. We will celebrate the 52 anniversary of Astec this week, but I have no doubt the best is yet to come.

我對在擔任執行長的頭 18 個月內推出的新產品感到特別興奮。本週我們將慶祝 Astec 成立 52 週年，但我毫不懷疑最好的尚未到來。

With that, we are happy to take your questions.

因此，我們很樂意回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Mig Dobre, Baird.

米格·多布雷，貝爾德。

Yes, this is actually Mig Dobre with Baird. Good morning, everyone. How are you?

是的，這實際上是米格·多布雷和貝爾德。大家早安。你好嗎？

Hey, good morning, Mig.

嘿，早上好，米格。

Good morning. Quick question. Appreciate all the color in terms of how you’re viewing the back half, but if we’re looking at material solutions specifically, how do you think about revenue here relative to what you were able to put up in the second quarter, that $124 million figure?

早安.快問。欣賞所有關於您如何看待後半部分的顏色，但如果我們具體考慮材料解決方案，您如何看待這裡的收入相對於您在第二季度能夠提供的收入， 1.24 億美元這個數字？

Yes. Mig, I mean, for us to reach that level same to last year or the low single digit upside, we see the material solutions sales more or less in line with what we had in the beginning of the year. We still need some orders to convert in order for us to reach that level.

是的。Mig，我的意思是，為了讓我們達到與去年相同的水平或較低的個位數增長，我們看到材料解決方案的銷售或多或少與我們年初的情況一致。我們仍然需要一些訂單來轉換才能達到這個水平。

So we don’t have everything in backlog at the moment. But as we mentioned on the call, our activity and quoting activity is strong and supplemented by really good activity coming from our international sites. Keep in mind that we do about maybe about $35 million to $40 million in parts on the material solutions side as well per quarter.

所以我們目前沒有積壓所有的東西。但正如我們在電話中提到的，我們的活動和報價活動很強勁，並且來自我們國際網站的真正良好的活動對此進行了補充。請記住，我們每季在材料解決方案方面的零件銷售額約為 3,500 萬至 4,000 萬美元。

And we’ve seen some really nice activity on the parts side here so far this year and even into July already.

今年到目前為止，甚至到了 7 月份，我們已經看到了零件方面的一些非常好的活動。

So I’m sorry, just to make sure that I’m clear on this, are you saying that the second half revenues are going to be similar to the first half or similar to the second quarter?

所以我很抱歉，只是為了確保我清楚這一點，您是說下半年的收入將與上半年相似還是與第二季度相似？

And let’s see what did we have in the first – second quarter? We had $124 million in the second quarter, and for us to reach that level material solutions need to do about $260 million in H2. So Mig, we’re fairly comfortable that we will be in that range for the next couple of quarters.

讓我們看看第一季至第二季有什麼？我們第二季的營收為 1.24 億美元，要達到這一水平，材料解決方案需要在下半年投入約 2.6 億美元。所以，米格，我們對未來幾季將處於這個範圍內感到相當滿意。

Okay. And as we’re thinking about margins here, in the second quarter on the $124 million of revenue, you delivered a little north of 8% EBITDA margin in the segment. Is that a good run rate as we think about the second half if you achieve these levels of revenues? Or are there some specific inefficiency that you think you’re going to be able to wind down and have different looking margins in the back half?

好的。當我們考慮這裡的利潤率時，在第二季度 1.24 億美元的收入中，您在該領域的 EBITDA 利潤率略高於 8%。如果您實現了這些收入水平，那麼我們認為下半年的運作率是否良好？或者是否存在一些特定的低效率問題，您認為您能夠減少這種情況，並在後半部分獲得不同的利潤率？

Yes. Actually, if you look at our materials solutions side of the business, the guys have done a really good job actually to minimize our under-absorption in our factories. So we feel confident that the margin outlook for the rest of H2 will be in line with what we’ve seen in Q2.

是的。事實上，如果你看看我們業務的材料解決方案方面，這些傢伙實際上做得非常好，實際上最大限度地減少了我們工廠的吸收不足。因此，我們有信心下半年剩餘時間的利潤率前景將與我們在第二季度看到的一致。

We are also utilizing some of the facilities to manufacture components for our asphalt plant business, as we mentioned, that business is doing really well, and we using that capacity that we have available in certain of the material solutions sites.

我們也利用一些設施為我們的瀝青廠業務製造組件，正如我們所提到的，該業務做得非常好，並且我們利用了某些材料解決方案網站所擁有的產能。

Got it. And then last question on EBITDA bridge that you presented on slide 14. I’m sort of curious, when we’re thinking about this $7.6 million drag from inefficiencies and maybe also included in the drag on SG&A.

知道了。然後是您在幻燈片 14 中提出的關於 EBITDA 橋樑的最後一個問題。我有點好奇，當我們想到這 760 萬美元的低效率拖累可能也包括在 SG&A 拖累中。

Can you kind of give us a sense in terms of what are you doing to try to generate savings to offset some of these drags? And at what point in time should we start to see normalization? Is that a 2025 event? Does it stretch even beyond that? So yes, a little bit of hand holding here would be helpful.

您能否告訴我們您正在採取哪些措施來節省開支以抵消其中一些阻力？我們應該在什麼時間點開始看到正常化？那是 2025 年的活動嗎？它甚至超出了這個範圍嗎？所以，是的，在這裡提供一點幫助會有所幫助。

Yes. No, absolutely. And there’s two things here, Mig, that we can talk about. One, we talked about the restructuring efforts that we put in across the company. That will give us a run rate savings of about $1.5 million to $1.8 million a quarter.

是的。不，絕對是。米格，這裡有兩件事我們可以討論。第一，我們討論了我們在整個公司所做的重組工作。這將為我們每季節省約 150 萬至 180 萬美元的營運費用。

And then the majority of this is actually coming from one of our facilities that we are doing our major transformation in. So this is a facility where we combined two facilities, that was announced a couple of years ago. That execution is coming to a close now, although it’s been a real challenge for us.

其中大部分實際上來自我們正在進行重大改造的設施之一。這是我們幾年前宣布的將兩個設施合併在一起的設施。儘管這對我們來說是一個真正的挑戰，但執行現在已接近尾聲。

We’ve also invested quite a bit of money into new equipment there, manufacturing equipment. It’s been taking us a while to get the utilization up on that equipment. And when we combine these sites, obviously, we brought in manpower to overcome the inefficiencies by just bringing the lines together.

我們也在那裡投資了大量資金購買新設備，即製造設備。我們花了一段時間才提高該設備的使用率。顯然，當我們合併這些站點時，我們引入了人力，透過將生產線整合在一起來克服效率低下的問題。

We made some adjustments in our manpower here in the past quarter and we feel that by H2 of 2025, this will be something that will be contributing instead of detracting the way it does at the moment.

我們在上個季度對人力進行了一些調整，我們認為到 2025 年下半年，這將有所貢獻，而不是像目前那樣削弱。

Great. Thank you so much.

偉大的。太感謝了。

Thanks, Mig.

謝謝，米格。

Stephen Ferazani, Sidoti.

史蒂芬·費拉扎尼，西多蒂。

Good morning, Jaco, Heinrich. Thanks for all the detail on the call. I wanted to ask a follow-up on the margin – good morning. I wanted to follow-up on the margin question, because you had been indicating gross margin should be in the 24% to 25.5% range for the year.

早安，哈科，海因里希。感謝您在通話中提供的所有詳細資訊。我想問一個後續問題——早安。我想跟進利潤率問​​題，因為您一直表示今年的毛利率應在 24% 至 25.5% 的範圍內。

You’re in the middle of that range last year, but clearly you’re tracking lower through the first half of this year than last year. Do you want to adjust that target?

去年您處於該範圍的中間，但顯然今年上半年您的追蹤速度低於去年。您想調整該目標嗎？

Yes. We’ve actually done a really deep dive in that, Steve. And at this point in time, we feel comfortable to keep that range. We obviously had a big shift in the mix in capital and parts here in Q2. I mean in total, there was about a $90 million shift between capital and parts.

是的。史蒂夫，我們實際上已經對此進行了非常深入的研究。此時此刻，我們覺得保持這個範圍很舒服。顯然，第二季我們的資本和零件組合發生了重大轉變。我的意思是，資本和零件之間總共有大約 9000 萬美元的轉移。

And we feel that the teams have a lot of good work that will position us to still get to that 24% to 25% range or 25.5% range by year-end. So we still feel comfortable that we can get to that level.

我們認為，團隊做了很多出色的工作，這將使我們能夠在年底前達到 24% 至 25% 或 25.5% 的範圍。所以我們仍然對能夠達到這個水準感到滿意。

So it’s the lower-than-target margins mix primarily?

那麼主要是低於目標的利潤率組合呢？

Yes, yes. For Q2, definitely. I mean, if you – yes, if you look at it, we had about what was about $70 million – yes, $60 million higher capital sales in Q1, and we had about $25 million lower part sales in Q1.

是的，是的。對於第二季度，絕對是如此。我的意思是，如果你- 是的，如果你看一下，我們的銷售額約為7000 萬美元- 是的，第一季度的資本銷售額增加了6000 萬美元，而我們第一季度的零件銷售金額減少了約2500 萬美元。

Okay. How much of that was – I know when you reported Q1, there are a couple of, I believe it was either asphalt to concrete plants that pushed into Q2 because of some issues with electronic components. Was that resolved?

好的。其中有多少 - 我知道當您報告第一季時，有幾個，我相信由於電子元件的一些問題而進入第二季度的瀝青混凝土工廠。事情解決了嗎？

And at that time, you also indicated it could also push some orders into Q3 such that Q3 would not be as seasonally weak as maybe it traditionally is.

當時，您還表示，它也可以將一些訂單推遲到第三季度，這樣第三季度就不會像傳統上那樣季節性疲軟。

Yes. So I will say the electronic component issue we talked about in Q1 is largely resolved. We don’t think that it will affect any deliveries going forward. And we didn’t push much over to Q3 as we indicated in Q1.

是的。所以我想說，我們在第一季討論的電子元件問題已基本解決。我們認為這不會影響未來的任何交付。正如我們在第一季中所指出的那樣，我們並沒有過多地推進第三季。

So you would expect more of a traditionally seasonally soft Q3?

那麼您對第三季的預期會更加傳統的季節性疲軟嗎？

Yes. I mean, you can say that Q3 will be softer than the other two quarters so far this year. Although if you think about what we said, flat to low-single digit sales growth for the year, we do expect a fairly strong H2.

是的。我的意思是，你可以說第三季將比今年迄今為止的其他兩個季度更加疲軟。儘管如果你考慮我們所說的，今年銷售成長持平至低個位數，我們確實預計下半年會相當強勁。

Yes, because if Q3 is really seasonally soft, then you would have to get to that number, you would have to have a massive Q4.

是的，因為如果第三季真的季節性疲軟，那麼你必須達到這個數字，你就必須有一個巨大的第四季。

Yes. Yes, absolutely. So it just depends on exactly when customers will take deliveries. The one thing that is highly dependent is when our customer sites are ready to take plants, and right now, obviously, we see the outlook for H2.

是的。是的，絕對是。因此，這僅取決於客戶何時收貨。高度依賴的一件事是我們的客戶現場何時準備好建造工廠，而現在，顯然，我們看到了 H2 的前景。

One thing to remember is that we cannot bolt everything just in one quarter. So manufacturing will actually be pretty strong in the third quarter, even though, let’s say, sales might be seasonally soft because for us to deliver – the outlook, we will have pretty strong production in the third quarter as well.

要記住的一件事是，我們不可能在一個季度內把所有事情都固定好。因此，第三季的製造業實際上將相當強勁，儘管銷售可能會季節性疲軟，因為為了實現這一前景，我們第三季的生產也將相當強勁。

I’m assuming people don’t necessarily want deliveries of plants in Q3, right? Fair?

我假設人們不一定希望在第三季交付植物，對吧？公平的？

No. I mean that’s the peak season. Our customers are all running, and – but we obviously have some deliveries planned into Q3 because some customers will run right through the year depending on where they are in the country, and especially when it goes to greenfield sites, it doesn’t disrupt productions.

不。我的意思是那是旺季。我們的客戶都在運行，而且– 但我們顯然計劃在第三季度進行一些交付，因為有些客戶將在全年運行，具體取決於他們在國內的位置，特別是當它進入新建站點時，它不會–不要擾亂生產。

Right. Okay. Just you mentioned a couple of times on the call, and I just want to get a clear reference point. You talked about concrete and asphalt demand being really strong and expected into Q1 of 2025. Can you sort of break that down for us a little bit about how healthy demand for your sort of core business and your market leadership business, how strong that is, what backlog is like.

正確的。好的。剛才你在電話中提到了幾次，我只是想得到一個明確的參考點。您談到混凝土和瀝青需求非常強勁，預計到 2025 年第一季。您能否為我們詳細介紹一下您的核心業務和市場領先業務的健康需求，需求有多強勁，積壓情況如何。

Can you break out that business specifically, how that’s looking? And how far out you can have some visibility?

能具體介紹一下這項業務嗎？您可以在多遠的地方看到一些可見度？

Yes, absolutely. So that part of the business, we have the backlog at hand to deliver the sales that we have in our outlook for H2. So it’s full for what we included in our outlook view. On the concrete side, we have certain of our product lines that we well into 2025 already.

是的，絕對是。因此，在這部分業務中，我們手頭上有積壓的訂單，可以實現我們下半年展望中的銷售量。因此，它對於我們在展望視圖中包含的內容來說是完整的。具體而言，我們的某些產品線已經進入 2025 年。

On the asphalt side, the guys are busy filling up Q1 of next year. So it’s a really good position to be in. I will also say our guys in that part of the business from a manufacturing point of view has done a really good job to improve our capacity and output.

在瀝青方面，人們正忙著為明年第一季加油。所以這是一個非常好的位置。我還要說，從製造業的角度來看，我們這部分業務的人員在提高我們的產能和產量方面做得非常好。

And as we mentioned earlier, we’re also using some of our Material Solutions facilities to further improve our capabilities for that product lines or for those product lines.

正如我們之前提到的，我們也使用我們的一些材料解決方案設施來進一步提高我們針對該產品線或這些產品線的能力。

Because that was really the concern, Jaco, right, was that a lot of the asphalt and concrete plant demand was going to come in the early first couple of stages of the infrastructure spending bill? Would you say that you have clarity now that that’s just not the case?

因為這確實是令人擔憂的問題，哈科，對吧，大量瀝青和混凝土工廠的需求是否會出現在基礎設施支出法案的前幾個階段？您現在是否清楚事實並非如此？

Yes. So I will say, if you look at where we are on the bill, we’re right in the middle, basically and actually here two weeks ago, we were at the National Asphalt Paving Association where we get -- we’ve got some great updates on the status of funding and spending.

是的。所以我想說，如果你看看我們在賬單上的位置，我們就在中間，基本上，實際上兩週前，我們在國家瀝青鋪路協會，我們得到了——我們已經獲得了有關資金和支出狀況的一些重要更新。

And so from a federal point of view, funding is maybe in the third year from an actual flow of money, it’s probably maybe in the second year. And then the states are following with their matching. So we still believe that 2025 on the asphalt and concrete side should be relatively strong.

因此，從聯邦政府的角度來看，資金可能會在第三年從實際資金流中獲得，也可能在第二年。然後各州也緊接著進行配對。所以我們仍然認為2025年瀝青和混凝土方面應該會比較強。

Although we think that the spending next year will be in line with this year from a federal funding point of view.

儘管我們認為從聯邦資金的角度來看，明年的支出將與今年保持一致。

Okay. That’s helpful. Thanks, Jaco.

好的。這很有幫助。謝謝，雅科。

Okay.

好的。

There are no further questions in the queue at this time. I would like to hand the call back to Steve Anderson for closing remarks.

目前隊列中沒有其他問題。我想將電話轉回給史蒂夫·安德森（Steve Anderson），讓他發表結束語。

All right. Thank you, Tamika. We appreciate your participation on our conference call, and thank you for your interest in Astec. As today’s news release indicates, this conference call has been recorded. A replay of the conference call will be available through August 21, 2024, and an archived webcast will be available for 90 days.

好的。謝謝你，塔米卡。我們感謝您參加我們的電話會議，並感謝您對 Astec 的興趣。正如今天的新聞稿所示，本次電話會議已錄音。電話會議重播將持續至 2024 年 8 月 21 日，存檔網路廣播將持續 90 天。

The transcript will be available under the Investor Relations section of the Astec Industries website within the next seven days. All of that information is contained in the news release we distributed this morning. And so as we said, this concludes our call, I’m happy to connect with any of you later on.

該文字記錄將在未來 7 天內在 Astec Industries 網站的投資者關係部分提供。所有這些資訊都包含在我們今天早上發布的新聞稿中。正如我們所說，我們的通話到此結束，我很高興稍後與你們聯繫。

And thank you all for your time, and have a good day.

感謝大家抽出寶貴的時間，祝您有美好的一天。

Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today’s conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and have a wonderful day.

女士們先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。此時您可以斷開線路，度過美好的一天。