Axalta Coating Systems Ltd (AXTA) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to Axalta's First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Today's call is being recorded and a replay will be available till May 10. Those listening after today's call should please note that the information provided in the recording will not be updated and therefore, may no longer be current.

女士們先生們，感謝你們的支持。歡迎參加艾仕得 2023 年第一季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）今天的通話正在錄音，重播將持續到 5 月 10 日。今天通話後收聽的人請注意，錄音中提供的信息不會更新，因此可能不再是最新信息。

I will now turn the call over to Chris Evans. Please go ahead, sir.

我現在將把電話轉給克里斯·埃文斯。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, and good morning. This is Chris Evans, VP of Investor Relations. We appreciate your continued interest in Axalta, and welcome you to our first quarter 2023 financial results conference call.

謝謝你，早上好。我是投資者關係副總裁克里斯·埃文斯。我們感謝您對艾仕得的持續關注，並歡迎您參加我們的 2023 年第一季度財務業績電話會議。

Joining me today are Chris Villavarayan, CEO and President; and Sean Lannon, CFO.

今天加入我的是首席執行官兼總裁 Chris Villavarayan；和首席財務官肖恩·蘭農 (Sean Lannon)。

Yesterday afternoon, we released our quarterly financial results and posted a slide presentation along with commentary to the Investor Relations section of our website at axalta.com, which we'll be referencing during this call. Our prepared remarks, the slide presentation and our discussion today may contain forward-looking statements reflecting the company's current view of future events and their potential effect on Axalta's operating and financial performance.

昨天下午，我們發布了季度財務業績，並在 axalta.com 網站的投資者關係部分發布了幻燈片演示文稿和評論，我們將在本次電話會議中參考這些內容。我們準備好的發言、幻燈片演示和今天的討論可能包含前瞻性陳述，反映了公司當前對未來事件及其對艾仕得運營和財務業績的潛在影響的看法。

These statements involve uncertainties and risks and actual results may differ materially from those forward-looking statements. Please note that the company is under no obligation to provide updates to these forward-looking statements.

這些陳述涉及不確定性和風險，實際結果可能與這些前瞻性陳述存在重大差異。請注意，該公司沒有義務提供這些前瞻性陳述的更新。

Our remarks and the slide presentation also contains various non-GAAP financial measures. In the appendix to the slide presentation, we've included reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.

我們的評論和幻燈片演示還包含各種非公認會計準則財務指標。在幻燈片演示文稿的附錄中，我們將這些非 GAAP 財務指標與最直接可比的 GAAP 財務指標進行了調節。

For additional information regarding forward-looking statements and non-GAAP financial measures, please refer to our filings with the SEC.

有關前瞻性陳述和非 GAAP 財務指標的更多信息，請參閱我們向 SEC 提交的文件。

I will now turn the call over to Chris.

我現在將把電話轉給克里斯。

Thank you, Chris. I'd like to welcome everyone to our first quarter 2023 earnings call, and we'll start by discussing the key highlights on Slide 3.

謝謝你，克里斯。我歡迎大家參加我們的 2023 年第一季度財報電話會議，我們將首先討論幻燈片 3 上的主要亮點。

I'm very proud of our first quarter performance. Through the commendable efforts of our global teams, we're outpacing growth in most markets we serve, driving incremental pricing, accelerating margin recovery and improving execution across all our operations.

我對我們第一季度的表現感到非常自豪。通過我們全球團隊值得稱讚的努力，我們正在超越我們所服務的大多數市場的增長，推動增量定價，加速利潤率恢復並提高我們所有業務的執行力。

Our first quarter adjusted EBIT was $149 million, with adjusted diluted EPS of $0.35, both of which exceeded the top end of our guidance range.

我們第一季度調整後的息稅前利潤為 1.49 億美元，調整後的稀釋後每股收益為 0.35 美元，兩者都超出了我們指導範圍的上限。

Overall, I remain encouraged with the team's performance this quarter.

總的來說，我對團隊本季度的表現仍然感到鼓舞。

To that end, I'm pleased to report an impressive 25% year-over-year increase in adjusted EBIT and a 140 basis point year-over-year improvement in adjusted EBIT margins. This is Axalta's second consecutive quarter of margin growth as we begin to rebound from historically high cost inflation and post-COVID-19 impacts.

為此，我很高興地報告調整後息稅前利潤同比增長 25%，調整後息稅前利潤率同比提高 140 個基點。這是艾仕得連續第二個季度實現利潤增長，因為我們開始從歷史高位的成本通脹和後 COVID-19 的影響中反彈。

Mobility Coatings had the biggest increase in profitability growth with a 530 basis point year-over-year improvement in adjusted EBIT margins. Margin improvement was largely driven by over a 9% year-over-year price mix growth from new and carryover actions. This is our ninth consecutive quarter of price mix growth, which is up more than 18% over 2 years.

移動塗料業務的盈利增長幅度最大，調整後息稅前利潤率同比提高 530 個基點。利潤率的改善主要是由於新行動和結轉行動帶來的價格組合同比增長超過 9%。這是我們的價格組合連續第九個季度增長，兩年來增長超過 18%。

Volume was another bright spot in the quarter, improving 3% year-over-year despite a nearly 3% headwind from macro-driven volume declines in industrial and unfavorable impact from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Volume growth was led by a double-digit gain in light vehicle and commercial vehicle, along with modest growth in Refinish.

成交量是本季度的另一個亮點，儘管宏觀驅動的工業成交量下降以及俄羅斯-烏克蘭衝突的不利影響帶來了近 3% 的阻力，但成交量仍同比增長 3%。輕型汽車和商用車的兩位數增長以及修補漆的小幅增長帶動銷量增長。

We believe that most of our end markets are uniquely positioned to grow in the current macroeconomic environment. We have demonstrated this in the last 2 quarters. Today, we're seeing the benefits from market normalization in auto and truck production as well as an increase in body shop activity.

我們相信，我們的大多數終端市場都處於獨特的地位，可以在當前的宏觀經濟環境中實現增長。我們在過去兩個季度已經證明了這一點。今天，我們看到了汽車和卡車生產市場正常化以及車身修理廠活動增加所帶來的好處。

We believe considerable market upside still exists in the portfolio. I expect us to continue to outpace end-market growth in mobility and certain Refinish markets following the strategic investments we have made in people, technical capabilities and customer partnerships.

我們認為該投資組合仍存在相當大的市場上漲空間。我預計，在我們對人員、技術能力和客戶合作夥伴關係進行戰略投資之後，我們將繼續超越移動出行和某些修補漆市場的終端市場增長。

For example, in February, we announced that Axalta was the recipient of 3 prestigious 2023 Edison Awards, making this our fifth consecutive year to be honored with this achievement. We attribute this recognition to our outstanding technical leadership and talent base that is leading the industry in innovative solutions.

例如，2月份，我們宣布艾仕得榮獲三項著名的2023年愛迪生獎，這也是我們連續第五年獲此殊榮。我們將這一認可歸功於我們在創新解決方案方面引領行業的卓越技術領導力和人才基礎。

Our Refinish business is aligned with the needs of a labor constraint collision repair industry. Large multi-shop operators who are gaining share require incremental capabilities and productivity benefits, which I believe Axalta is uniquely positioned to offer.

我們的修補漆業務符合勞動力緊張的碰撞修復行業的需求。正在獲得份額的大型多店運營商需要增量能力和生產力優勢，我相信艾仕得具有獨特的優勢。

In Light Vehicle, we have deepened our relationships with many of the fastest-growing EV automakers and some of the most attractive ICE platforms. And in Industrial, our total solution offerings provide a breadth of capabilities to solve deeply technical and diverse challenges, creating market share growth opportunities for us.

在輕型汽車領域，我們加深了與許多發展最快的電動汽車製造商和一些最具吸引力的內燃機平台的關係。在工業領域，我們的整體解決方案提供了廣泛的功能來解決深度技術和多樣化的挑戰，為我們創造市場份額增長機會。

Please turn to Slide 4. My main focus since joining Axalta as CEO has been to drive improved execution across the company. We are prioritizing areas with the largest positive impact for shareholders, specifically price cost recovery, productivity initiatives in procurement and operations and better cash conversion. It is our intent to accelerate the margin recovery currently underway.

請參閱幻燈片 4。自從加入艾仕得擔任首席執行官以來，我的主要關注點是推動整個公司的執行力提高。我們優先考慮對股東產生最大積極影響的領域，特別是價格成本回收、採購和運營中的生產力計劃以及更好的現金轉換。我們的目的是加速目前正在進行的利潤率恢復。

Let me give you some specifics. First, there is significant opportunity to expand margin in our industrial and light vehicle businesses, where variable cost inflation has totaled more than $120 million cumulatively since 2021. I'm confident that carryover pricing contributions and targeted actions will drive steady margin recovery through the year.

讓我給你一些具體信息。首先，我們的工業和輕型汽車業務存在擴大利潤率的重大機會，自 2021 年以來，這些業務的可變成本通脹累計超過 1.2 億美元。我相信，結轉定價貢獻和有針對性的行動將推動全年利潤率穩步恢復。

On cost productivity, we have a lot of activity underway. On an annual basis, Axalta has roughly $1.5 billion in fixed costs, net of D&A and another $2.5 billion in variable costs. Given the large scale of spending, we anticipate even small improvements to yield a nice drop-through to earnings. Our goal is to structurally reduce costs, independent of market dynamics through productivity programs focused on procurement and operations.

在成本生產率方面，我們正在進行大量活動。艾仕得每年的固定成本約為 15 億美元，扣除 D&A 費用和另外 25 億美元的可變成本。鑑於支出規模巨大，我們預計即使是很小的改進也會帶來不錯的盈利下降。我們的目標是通過專注於採購和運營的生產力計劃，從結構上降低成本，不受市場動態的影響。

To date, we have launched market tests for most of our variable spend and are already seeing positive results. In addition, reduced freight rates and more dependable supply chains are creating a competitive marketplace.

迄今為止，我們已經對大部分可變支出啟動了市場測試，並且已經看到了積極的結果。此外，降低的運費和更可靠的供應鏈正在創造一個競爭激烈的市場。

We're qualifying new suppliers and in some cases, working with our technology organization to reformulate product formulas and spec in new suppliers to promote increased supply flexibility. We're removing bottlenecks and reinstituting best practices around our production planning process. We expect to drive improvements in labor productivity, expedited freight and low volume and inefficient production behaviors, which have been persistent issues for us in the recent years.

我們正在對新供應商進行資格審查，並在某些情況下與我們的技術組織合作，重新制定新供應商的產品配方和規格，以提高供應靈活性。我們正在消除瓶頸並重新制定生產計劃流程的最佳實踐。我們期望推動勞動生產率的提高、貨運加快以及低產量和低效率的生產行為，這些一直是我們近年來持續存在的問題。

We're doubling down on inventory management with promising early results. Despite 3% volume growth in Q1, we reduced our inventory level, leading to an atypical seasonal decline in the period. This is a good start to our inventory management for the year and supports our goal to unwind historically high inventory levels in order to drive better cash flow in 2023.

我們正在加倍努力進行庫存管理，並取得了有希望的早期成果。儘管第一季度銷量增長了 3%，但我們還是降低了庫存水平，導致這一時期出現非典型的季節性下降。這是我們今年庫存管理的良好開端，並支持我們降低歷史高庫存水平的目標，以在 2023 年推動更好的現金流。

I see significant opportunity to reduce fixed and variable costs as well as to improve free cash flow. To expedite our performance, we have enlisted the support of external expertise, which will drive a modest increase in expense midyear that we have included in our guidance. We expect that returns on these investments will start to be realized in the back half of this year.

我看到了降低固定成本和可變成本以及改善自由現金流的重大機會。為了加快我們的績效，我們已經獲得了外部專業人士的支持，這將推動我們已納入指導的年中費用適度增加。我們預計這些投資的回報將在今年下半年開始實現。

Like every company, we're mindful of the uncertain economic environment, and we're taking proactive actions to be prepared for whatever outcome may play out.

與每家公司一樣，我們關注不確定的經濟環境，並且正在採取積極行動，為可能出現的任何結果做好準備。

Moving back to the results on Slide 5. I will now give you more color on first quarter volume performance. Globally, volumes have improved by 3% year-over-year, driven by market recovery in mobility coatings and share gains within the portfolio.

回到幻燈片 5 上的結果。我現在將為您提供有關第一季度銷量表現的更多信息。在流動性塗料市場復甦和產品組合份額增長的推動下，全球銷量同比增長 3%。

While the economic climate remains difficult to forecast, the commercial environment across our end markets remains largely consistent. U.S. commercial and residential construction softened creating a larger headwind for our industrial business this quarter than we had forecasted.

儘管經濟形勢仍然難以預測，但我們終端市場的商業環境基本保持一致。美國商業和住宅建設疲軟，為本季度我們的工業業務帶來比我們預期更大的阻力。

Elsewhere, we see markets as largely favorable given the recovery in auto production, a robust environment for heavy- and medium-duty trucks and the strengthening of body shop activity in key Refinish markets that I've highlighted earlier.

在其他地方，鑑於汽車生​​產的複蘇、重型和中型卡車的強勁環境以及我之前強調的主要修補漆市場的車身修理廠活動的加強，我們認為市場在很大程度上是有利的。

Moving to Slide 6. I will now cover the Refinish business. Refinish is off to another strong start in 2023 as Q1 results were ahead of expectations. Price-mix improved by 10% year-over-year with contributions from every region.

轉到幻燈片 6。我現在將介紹修補漆業務。由於第一季度業績超出預期，修補漆在 2023 年迎來了另一個強勁的開局。在各個地區的貢獻下，價格組合同比改善了 10%。

In the quarter, we executed new pricing actions to offset pockets of incremental inflation. Market activity was largely consistent with the prior period. Parts and labor shortages continue to constrain our premium customer-mix while return to work dynamics are marginally better than we ended up in 2022.

在本季度，我們執行了新的定價行動，以抵消部分增量通脹。市場活動與前期基本一致。零部件和勞動力短缺繼續限制我們的優質客戶組合，而重返工作崗位的動態比 2022 年的情況略有好轉。

Volumes for Refinish were favorable, driven by continued execution of our growth initiatives, which target expansion of our MSO leadership positions.

在我們持續執行增長計劃的推動下，修補漆銷量良好，目標是擴大我們的 MSO 領導地位。

In the quarter, we added 400 new premium body shops and 140 new stock points locations for mainstream and economy customers. Refinish is also growing outside of our core products. Accessory sales in our company-owned stores exceeded budget targets in Q1, while the U-POL brands that we acquired in 2021 are driving growth in adjacent markets like body fillers and aerosols.

本季度，我們為主流和經濟客戶增加了 400 家新的優質車身維修店和 140 個新的庫存點。我們的核心產品之外的修補漆也在不斷增長。我們公司自營商店的配飾銷售在第一季度超出了預算目標，而我們在 2021 年收購的 U-POL 品牌正在推動身體填充劑和氣霧劑等鄰近市場的增長。

March was our record month for the U-POL team, and we believe that significant opportunity still lies ahead. U-POL brings to Axalta the ability to grow the existing Refinish business. It has also allowed us to pivot towards the highly attractive retail channel with market-leading solutions for the fast-growing automotive DIY consumer market.

三月份是 U-POL 團隊創紀錄的月份，我們相信未來仍然存在重大機遇。 U-POL 為艾仕得帶來了發展現有修補漆業務的能力。它還使我們能夠轉向極具吸引力的零售渠道，為快速增長的汽車 DIY 消費市場提供市場領先的解決方案。

Exciting new partnerships with AutoZone and O'Reilly position our aerosols and RAPTOR protective coatings in more than 16,000 U.S. retail locations. We believe this puts us on pace to nearly triple our aerosol volumes in 2023 versus 2019. It is really exciting to see the Refinish team execute across multiple horizons to drive growth and expand upon its record 2022 performance.

與 AutoZone 和 O'Reilly 建立令人興奮的新合作夥伴關係，使我們的氣霧劑和 RAPTOR 防護塗層在美國 16,000 多個零售點銷售。我們相信，這將使我們在 2023 年的氣霧劑產量比 2019 年增加近三倍。看到修補漆團隊在多個層面上執行任務，以推動增長並擴大其創紀錄的 2022 年業績，真是令人興奮。

Let's go to Slide 7 to look at our industrial performance. Constant currency net sales increased modestly in the quarter as very strong price-mix growth of 11% year-over-year more than offset a volume decline of 9%. Price-mix improved 3% sequentially as the team prioritized margin recovery. The industrial team also executed well on cost management, which helped to offset the volume decline.

讓我們通過幻燈片 7 來看看我們的工業表現。按固定匯率計算，本季度淨銷售額小幅增長，價格組合同比增長 11%，抵消了銷量下降 9% 的影響。由於團隊優先考慮利潤恢復，價格組合環比提高了 3%。工業團隊在成本管理方面也表現出色，這有助於抵消銷量下降的影響。

In EMEA, we believe that customer destocking over the past few quarters has slowed, but we are now feeling the impact from weak North American construction activity in our Building Products business.

在歐洲、中東和非洲地區，我們認為過去幾個季度客戶去庫存的速度已經放緩，但我們現在正感受到北美建築活動疲軟對我們建築產品業務的影響。

Until we see a shift in housing starts or building sentiment, we expect volumes will remain somewhat challenged.

在我們看到新屋開工或市場情緒出現轉變之前，我們預計成交量仍將面臨一定的挑戰。

In the meantime, we are focused on winning new business in attractive areas where our technology leadership is rewarded. Abcite 2060 and our Self-Priming Kitchen Cabinet coatings were both recently recognized with Edison Awards that I mentioned earlier.

與此同時，我們致力於在有吸引力的領域贏得新業務，在這些領域我們的技術領先地位將得到回報。 Abcite 2060 和我們的自吸廚櫃塗料最近均獲得了我之前提到的愛迪生獎。

Moving to Mobility Coatings on Slide 8. Mobility Coatings exceeded expectations as pricing, volume and margins were all slightly better than expected. We're on a good trajectory, and I expect to show margin improvement as we continue through the rest of the year.

轉向幻燈片 8 上的流動性塗料。流動性塗料超出預期，因為定價、銷量和利潤率均略好於預期。我們正處於良好的軌道上，我預計隨著今年剩餘時間的繼續，利潤率將有所改善。

Light Vehicle, 2023 production forecasts have modestly but steadily improved year-to-date. Industry forecasters now project more than 85 million global bills representing nearly 4% growth over 2022. This incremental volume growth is driving improved fixed cost performance in our business. In commercial vehicle, results have been consistent. We believe there is a robust multiyear outlook for the business.

輕型汽車 2023 年產量預測今年迄今略有但穩步提高。行業預測者目前預計全球賬單將超過 8500 萬張，比 2022 年增長近 4%。這種增量增長正在推動我們業務的固定成本績效改善。在商用車方面，結果是一致的。我們相信該業務的多年前景強勁。

For Class 8 OEM, backlogs remain elevated, especially in North America. I expect pent-up demand and backlogs to help drive another strong year in 2023. Elsewhere, there are mixed 2023 trends with better medium-duty expectations balanced by some softness in rail and the RV market.

對於 8 類 OEM，積壓訂單仍然很高，尤其是在北美。我預計被壓抑的需求和積壓將有助於推動 2023 年又一個強勁的一年。在其他地方，2023 年的趨勢好壞參半，中型預期較好，但鐵路和房車市場的疲軟平衡了這一點。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Sean for a review of our financial performance.

這樣，我會將電話轉給肖恩，以審查我們的財務業績。

Thank you, Chris, and good morning. Net sales in the quarter were $1.3 billion, an increase of 9% year-over-year. Constant currency net sales increased 12%, driven largely by strong pricing and volume growth in 3 of our 4 end markets. Adjusted EBIT improved to $149 million from $120 million in the prior year and exceeded our guidance targets.

謝謝你，克里斯，早上好。該季度淨銷售額為 13 億美元，同比增長 9%。按固定匯率計算，淨銷售額增長了 12%，這主要得益於我們 4 個終端市場中 3 個終端市場的強勁定價和銷量增長。調整後息稅前利潤從上一年的 1.2 億美元增至 1.49 億美元，超出了我們的指導目標。

The outperformance was driven by better price realization, largely in Performance Coatings and the higher-than-expected volume growth in Mobility Coatings. Both segments contributed meaningfully to year-over-year adjusted EBIT growth and margin improvement in the quarter.

業績優異的原因是價格實現更好，主要是高性能塗料的價格實現以及移動塗料的銷量增長高於預期。這兩個部門為本季度調整後息稅前利潤的同比增長和利潤率改善做出了重大貢獻。

The largest driver of our earnings performance this quarter was favorable price-cost. Our 9% year-over-year growth in price-mix more than offset variable cost inflation, which was roughly 6%.

我們本季度盈利表現的最大推動力是有利的價格成本。我們的價格組合同比增長 9%，足以抵消大約 6% 的可變成本通脹。

We hit a nice interim milestone this quarter as we have turned the corner on price cost, which is now positive on a cumulative basis from early 2021. This is an important benchmark in our EBIT recovery journey to normalized margins. However, as Chris detailed earlier, we still have a meaningful $120 million combined gap across 2 of our end markets, which we remain focused on addressing.

本季度我們達到了一個不錯的中期里程碑，因為我們已經扭轉了價格成本的困境，從 2021 年初開始累計，價格成本現在為正值。這是我們息稅前利潤恢復正常利潤率過程中的一個重要基準。然而，正如克里斯之前詳述的那樣，我們的兩個終端市場仍然存在 1.2 億美元的巨大缺口，我們仍將重點解決這一問題。

Variable cost inflation is moderating from historic levels. Raw material costs were up year-over-year, but were in line with our expectations sequentially. Softness in adjacent markets is loosening supply/demand balances across many commodity inputs and creating a more favorable procurement environment.

可變成本通脹正從歷史水平放緩。原材料成本同比上漲，但符合我們的預期。鄰近市場的疲軟正在放鬆許多商品投入的供需平衡，並創造一個更有利的採購環境。

Positive EBIT contributions from price cost and volume growth were partly offset by higher fixed costs. Operating expenses were driven higher versus the prior year by labor inflation, lower plant production rates and temporary external spending programs meant to accelerate achievement of our cost productivity goals.

價格成本和銷量增長帶來的積極息稅前利潤貢獻被較高的固定成本部分抵消。由於勞動力通脹、工廠生產率下降以及旨在加速實現成本生產率目標的臨時外部支出計劃，運營支出較上年有所上升。

Lastly, in the quarter, we took a roughly $7 million pretax charge associated with the anticipated exit from a non-core business within Mobility Coatings, which was not included in our adjusted operating performance metrics. This strategic decision meant to prioritize our focus in markets where we can leverage our strengths and generate attractive returns.

最後，在本季度，我們收取了大約 700 萬美元的稅前費用，該費用與預期退出移動塗料內的非核心業務相關，該費用未包含在我們調整後的運營績效指標中。這一戰略決策意味著我們將重點放在可以利用我們的優勢並產生有吸引力回報的市場上。

Turning to Slide 10. Performance Coatings Q1 net sales increased 4% year-over-year or 7% ex-FX, driven by double-digit price-mix growth in both end markets and stronger-than-anticipated volumes in Refinish. Performance Coatings Q1 adjusted EBIT was $109 million versus $95 million in the same period last year. Adjusted EBIT growth was driven by a favorable year-over-year Refinish contribution and stable industrial earnings. Refinish is starting the year on a good trajectory, and we believe it will deliver another record performance in 2023.

轉向幻燈片 10。 高性能塗料第一季度淨銷售額同比增長 4%，扣除外匯後增長 7%，這得益於兩個終端市場兩位數的價格組合增長以及修補漆銷量強於預期的推動。高性能塗料第一季度調整後息稅前利潤為 1.09 億美元，去年同期為 9500 萬美元。調整後息稅前利潤的增長是由良好的修補漆同比貢獻和穩定的工業收益推動的。修補漆今年伊始就走上了良好的軌道，我們相信它將在 2023 年再創紀錄的表現。

In Industrial, the team is driving targeted pricing actions to help reverse inflationary margin pressures and we are actively managing cost to offset weakening construction markets. Segment adjusted EBIT margins improved by 130 basis points to 12.9% in the quarter.

在工業領域，團隊正在推動有針對性的定價行動，以幫助扭轉通脹利潤壓力，我們正在積極管理成本，以抵消建築市場疲軟的影響。本季度，部門調整後息稅前利潤率提高了 130 個基點，達到 12.9%。

Moving to Slide 11. Mobility Coatings constant currency net sales increased by 24% in the first quarter, led by 17% better volumes. New customer wins and above-market performance with certain customers enabled us to deliver growth above market again this quarter.

轉向幻燈片 11。按固定匯率計算，第一季度移動塗料淨銷售額增長了 24%，銷量增長了 17%。新客戶的贏得以及某些客戶高於市場的表現使我們在本季度再次實現高於市場的增長。

Price-mix increased by 7%, inclusive of new targeted actions taken in Q1 to accelerate margin recovery. Segment adjusted EBIT improved considerably to $24 million from $1 million in the prior year period. Growth was driven by price and volume and a net favorable price-cost benefit being the largest driver of the year-over-year improvement.

價格組合增長了 7%，其中包括第一季度為加速利潤率恢復而採取的新的有針對性的行動。部門調整後息稅前利潤從去年同期的 100 萬美元大幅提高至 2400 萬美元。增長是由價格和數量推動的，淨有利的價格成本效益是同比改善的最大驅動力。

Offsetting variable cost inflation still represents the most significant opportunity for the mobility team, especially now that global auto production rates are approaching more normal levels. Segment adjusted EBIT margins improved by 530 basis points to 5.4% in the quarter.

對於移動團隊來說，抵消可變成本通脹仍然是最重要的機會，特別是現在全球汽車生產率正在接近正常水平。本季度，部門調整後息稅前利潤率提高了 530 個基點，達到 5.4%。

Now turning to our debt and liquidity summary on Slide 12. Axalta's balance sheet and liquidity profile remained very healthy. We ended the quarter with slightly over $1 billion in total liquidity, including a cash balance of $512 million. Our net leverage ratio was 3.7x at the end of the quarter, reflecting an improvement from 3.8x at December 31.

現在轉向幻燈片 12 上的債務和流動性摘要。艾仕得的資產負債表和流動性狀況仍然非常健康。本季度結束時，我們的流動資金總額略高於 10 億美元，其中現金餘額為 5.12 億美元。截至本季度末，我們的淨槓桿率為 3.7 倍，較 12 月 31 日的 3.8 倍有所改善。

We expect that the strong momentum in our operating performance should drive sequential deleveraging of our balance sheet throughout the year. Cash flow improvement should also begin to aid further deleveraging on both a net and gross basis.

我們預計，我們經營業績的強勁勢頭將推動全年資產負債表的連續去槓桿化。現金流的改善也應該開始有助於進一步去槓桿化（無論是淨值還是總量）。

We continue to target a long-term net leverage ratio between 2.5x and 3x and expect we will be close to the high end of the target by year-end, absent any meaningful capital allocation decisions outside of organic investments.

我們繼續將長期淨槓桿率目標定在 2.5 倍至 3 倍之間，並預計到年底，如果沒有有機投資之外的任何有意義的資本配置決策，我們將接近目標的上限。

Our strong quarterly performance gave us the confidence to pay down $75 million in principal on our term loan during the first quarter, and we paid another $25 million of principal in April as we continue to work to offset the impact of higher interest rates.

我們強勁的季度業績使我們有信心在第一季度償還 7500 萬美元的定期貸款本金，並且在 4 月份我們又支付了 2500 萬美元的本金，因為我們將繼續努力抵消利率上升的影響。

Gross debt reduction will continue to be a priority for our free cash flow in 2023 and will be balanced with the potential for bolt-on M&A with attractive opportunities as they present themselves.

2023 年，總債務削減將繼續成為我們自由現金流的優先事項，並將與補強併購的潛力相平衡，這些併購機會本身就具有吸引力。

On Slide 13, we will review our guidance framework and commentary. For Q2, we expect sales growth between 7% and 10% year-over-year, inclusive of an approximate 1% FX headwind. This framework assumes strong pricing in both segments to offset raw material and labor costs, modest overall volume growth led by stronger Mobility Coatings, but partly offset by softness in Performance Coatings given tough prior year comparisons in Refinish and continued macro pressures in Industrial.

在幻燈片 13 中，我們將回顧我們的指導框架和評論。對於第二季度，我們預計銷售額同比增長 7% 至 10%，其中包括約 1% 的外匯逆風。該框架假設這兩個領域的定價強勁，以抵消原材料和勞動力成本，移動塗料走強帶動整體銷量適度增長，但由於修補漆與上年的艱難比較以及工業領域持續的宏觀壓力，高性能塗料的疲軟部分抵消了這一增長。

We expect to generate adjusted EBIT of approximately $150 million to $170 million or $220 million to $240 million in adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter.

我們預計第二季度調整後 EBIT 約為 1.5 億至 1.7 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 約為 2.2 億至 2.4 億美元。

Sequentially, we expect profitability to continue to improve, led by strong pricing, modest raw material deflation and the typical seasonal step-up in volume, partly offset by increases in operating expenses. For adjusted earnings per share, we anticipate a range of $0.34 to $0.40 for the second quarter.

接下來，我們預計，在強勁的定價、溫和的原材料通貨緊縮和典型的季節性銷量增長的帶動下，盈利能力將繼續改善，但部分被運營費用的增加所抵消。對於調整後每股收益，我們預計第二季度的調整後每股收益將在 0.34 美元至 0.40 美元之間。

Note that our second quarter guidance framework includes approximately $15 million of temporary spending associated with our SAP S/4HANA ERP implementation in addition to certain costs for third-party consultants assisting with the productivity projects that Chris mentioned earlier. We have planned for elevated maintenance to support the business during the ERP transition to ensure there was no impact to operations or our customers.

請注意，我們的第二季度指導框架包括與我們的 SAP S/4HANA ERP 實施相關的大約 1500 萬美元的臨時支出，以及協助克里斯之前提到的生產力項目的第三方顧問的某些成本。我們計劃在 ERP 過渡期間加強維護以支持業務，以確保不會對運營或客戶造成影響。

On raws, we are expecting a shift from 2 years of hyperinflation to stable to lower costs year-over-year, which we size as low single-digit impact in the second quarter.

就原始數據而言，我們預計成本將從兩年的惡性通脹轉向穩定，並降低成本，我們認為第二季度的影響將是低個位數。

As we move further into 2023, we will be focused on improving working capital as a percentage of sales through the release of historically high inventory balances. This, along with profitability improvement represents a potential meaningful source of cash in 2023. We currently assume free cash flow for the year to be approximately $350 million, which is inclusive of $190 million of CapEx.

進入 2023 年，我們將致力於通過釋放歷史最高庫存餘額來提高營運資金佔銷售額的百分比。這與盈利能力的改善一起代表了 2023 年潛在的有意義的現金來源。我們目前假設該年度的自由現金流約為 3.5 億美元，其中包括 1.9 億美元的資本支出。

I would like to hand the call back over to Chris for closing remarks.

我想將電話轉回給克里斯進行結束語。

Thanks, Sean. Before we conclude our prepared remarks, I want to thank the team for their efforts this first quarter. We're getting traction for our actions, which is evident in our financial performance.

謝謝，肖恩。在我們結束準備好的發言之前，我要感謝團隊在第一季度所做的努力。我們的行動正在獲得牽引力，這在我們的財務業績中顯而易見。

Axalta has an excellent value proposition. Simply put, we have strong market leadership, many growth channels and the best talent and technology in the industry. Combined with the various productivity initiatives in play. I believe we have the formula that will yield strong gains well into the future.

艾仕得擁有卓越的價值主張。簡而言之，我們擁有強大的市場領導地位、眾多的增長渠道以及業內最優秀的人才和技術。結合正在發揮作用的各種生產力舉措。我相信我們的公式將在未來帶來強勁的收益。

With that, we're pleased to answer any questions. Operator, please open the lines for Q&A.

因此，我們很樂意回答任何問題。接線員，請開通問答線路。

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

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Mizuho 的 Christopher Parkinson。

Chris, I don't know if it's your favorite question, but I imagine it's Sean's. Can we discuss just given the health of your volume growth within mobility, specifically light vehicle. Could we just touch in and dig in a little bit more on the cadence of the mobility margin recovery process in terms of how you're thinking about the first half into the second half as well as any longer-term thoughts of essentially where you want to get back to over the intermediate to long term?

克里斯，我不知道這是否是你最喜歡的問題，但我想這是肖恩的。考慮到移動出行（特別是輕型車輛）銷量增長的健康狀況，我們可以討論一下嗎？我們能否進一步深入探討一下流動性利潤恢復過程的節奏，包括您如何看待上半年和下半年以及您想要的任何長期想法回到中長期？

Absolutely, Chris. So I'd love to start and I'll give a chance for Sean to cover anything that I've missed.

當然，克里斯。所以我很樂意開始，我會給肖恩一個機會來彌補我錯過的任何事情。

So first, as you can see through our cadence, we had a great Q4. And if you look into Q1, we have continued with a majority of the carryover pricing, but we also had incremental pricing on the mobility space.

首先，正如你可以通過我們的節奏看到的，我們第四季度表現出色。如果你看看第一季度，我們繼續採用大部分結轉定價，但我們也在移動領域進行了增量定價。

Where do we want to get to? Obviously, the cadence is that we will continue pricing as I see going through the back end of the year. And a lot of the factors that are driving this.

我們想去哪裡？顯然，我們將在今年年底繼續定價。推動這一現象的因素有很多。

Yes, we are seeing modest improvements in some of the raw material costs, but some of the baskets have headwinds. As you know, we have headwinds in labor. We have headwinds in energy. We have headwinds in certain TiO2 specialty raws. So certainly something that we are focused on.

是的，我們看到一些原材料成本略有改善，但一些籃子存在阻力。如您所知，我們在勞動力方面遇到了阻力。我們在能源方面遇到了阻力。我們在某些​​二氧化鈦特種原料方面遇到了阻力。所以這肯定是我們關注的重點。

And going back again to Q4, we had a gap of about $120 million of price cost across these 2 markets, whether it be mobility or industrial. So certainly, for us to continue to provide the level of service to our customers, we certainly intend to drive more pricing through the back end of the -- the back half of the year. So that's the focus. And the cadence is that we will continue pricing specific to those areas that I've addressed.

回到第四季度，這兩個市場（無論是移動市場還是工業市場）的價格成本差距約為 1.2 億美元。因此，為了繼續向客戶提供高水平的服務，我們當然打算在今年下半年提高定價。這就是重點。我們的節奏是，我們將繼續針對我已經討論過的那些領域進行定價。

Now I'll turn it over to Sean for anything more specific.

現在我將把它交給 Sean 以了解更多具體信息。

Yes. I mean, Chris, we're really happy with the progress. By no means we are declaring victory at this stage. We did $18 million in EBIT in the fourth quarter, which was inclusive of about $5 million of catch-up on pricing. So you back that out, it's actually pretty impressive as far as margin recovery and absolute EBIT growth from fourth quarter to the first quarter, just given the volume rebound as well as us outperforming the market, and we expect to continue to outperform the market for the rest of the year, we do expect sequentially, we'll continue to see margin increases as we move through the year.

是的。我的意思是，克里斯，我們對進展感到非常滿意。我們現階段絕不是宣布勝利。第四季度我們實現了 1800 萬美元的息稅前利潤，其中包括約 500 萬美元的定價追趕。因此，考慮到銷量反彈以及我們跑贏市場的表現，就第四季度到第一季度的利潤率恢復和絕對息稅前利潤增長而言，實際上相當令人印象深刻，我們預計將繼續跑贏市場在今年剩下的時間裡，我們確實預計，隨著今年的推移，我們將繼續看到利潤率的增長。

Great. That's helpful. And just as a quick follow-up, similar question for performance within Refinish. It seems like the markets are slowly but steadily getting back to 2019 levels. Obviously, the cadence of that is slightly debatable. But you've also been consistently discussing a lot of pent-up demand, a lot of conversion optionality.

偉大的。這很有幫助。正如快速跟進一樣，修補漆中的性能也有類似的問題。市場似乎正在緩慢但穩定地回到 2019 年的水平。顯然，其節奏存在一些爭議。但您也一直在討論大量被壓抑的需求和大量轉換選項。

There's been some advantageous, let's say, consolidation amongst some of your best customers in the top 10 U.S. MSOs. Can you speak to how we should think about your volume progression versus the market for '23? And then just any longer-term thought there as well. Once again, that would be helpful.

比如說，美國十大 MSO 中的一些最佳客戶之間進行了一些整合。您能否談談我們應該如何考慮您的銷量增長與 23 年市場的比較？然後還有任何長期的想法。再說一遍，這會有幫助的。

Sure. Absolutely, Chris. Again, great quality business that's stable even through some software sessions we have seen in our past. But -- what's really driving the business if you look from Q4 to Q1 and as we look through the rest of the year, I do believe there's more opportunity here on the growth side. And the team did a great job.

當然。當然，克里斯。同樣，即使通過我們過去看到的一些軟件會話，高質量的業務也能保持穩定。但是，如果你從第四季度到第一季度以及今年剩餘時間來看，真正推動業務發展的因素是什麼，我確實相信在增長方面存在更多機會。團隊做得很好。

If you think about Q1, we talked about the fact that they grew 400 body shops on top of the 140 distribution points. But beyond that, I think it's really the additional incremental opportunity when we see adjacencies with the U-POL acquisition, what we have been able to get into with body fillers and aerosol.

如果你想想第一季度，我們談到了這樣一個事實：他們在 140 個分銷點的基礎上又增加了 400 個車身維修店。但除此之外，我認為當我們看到與 U-POL 收購相鄰時，這確實是額外的增量機會，我們已經能夠通過身體填充劑和氣霧劑進入這些領域。

And the proof is also with what I've discussed in the -- in my comments, which is really pivoting towards the DIY space and the entry into AutoZone and O'Reilly's and the opportunity to put us on 16,000 retail shelves really gives us an opportunity to see that business growing through the back end. So I look forward to talking to you more about that over the next 2 quarters.

證據還在於我在評論中所討論的內容，這確實正在轉向 DIY 領域，進入 AutoZone 和 O'Reilly's 以及將我們擺上 16,000 個零售貨架的機會確實給了我們一個機會有機會看到業務通過後端增長。因此，我期待在接下來的兩個季度與您更多地討論這一問題。

The only other add to that, Chris, would be just around market recovery. North America is still down 5% to 7% opposite 2019, although we continue to sort of outperform the market, and Europe is still down about 3% to 4%. So we continue to expect market recovery. We're not calling exactly when it's going to get back to 2019 levels, but that should be some nice upside as you think about the growth algorithm.

克里斯，唯一的其他補充就是市場復甦。與 2019 年相比，北美仍下降 5% 至 7%，儘管我們繼續跑贏市場，歐洲仍下降約 3% 至 4%。因此我們繼續預期市場復甦。我們並沒有確切地預測它何時會回到 2019 年的水平，但當你考慮增長算法時，這應該是一些不錯的好處。

Our next question comes from Kevin McCarthy with Vertical Research Partners.

我們的下一個問題來自垂直研究合作夥伴的凱文·麥卡錫。

When you compare electric vehicles to ICE vehicles, have you observed any meaningful difference in collision rates? Or is it the case that collision rates are nearly identical for those 2 categories?

當您將電動汽車與內燃機汽車進行比較時，您是否觀察到碰撞率有任何有意義的差異？或者這兩個類別的碰撞率幾乎相同？

I think it's too -- Good morning Kevin -- thanks for the question. I think it's too early to make a call on that. I think with where the volumes are so far, what we have seen through what's coming through the body shops. I think it's a bit too early to make the call.

我想也是——早上好，凱文——謝謝你的提問。我認為現在對此做出決定還為時過早。我認為到目前為止的銷量是我們通過車身修理廠所看到的。我認為現在做出決定還為時過早。

What I am proud of is really how well the mobility teams have been winning on the EV side. And as you think about where the technology is going in the future, we've had some great new wins, whether it's in China or also in North America with some of the largest players on the EV space. So very proud of that. And I think in terms of how that market is transitioned at this point, I would call it a bit too early to call.

讓我感到自豪的是移動團隊在電動汽車方面取得的勝利。當你思考這項技術未來的發展方向時，我們已經取得了一些偉大的新勝利，無論是在中國還是在北美，都有電動汽車領域最大的參與者。對此感到非常自豪。我認為就目前市場如何轉變而言，我認為現在下結論還為時過早。

As a follow-up, if I may. I believe you took a charge to exit a business in Mobility. Can you speak to what you're exiting and why as well as the sales impact from that decision?

作為後續行動，如果可以的話。我相信您因退出移動業務而受到指控。您能談談您要退出的內容、原因以及該決定對銷售的影響嗎？

Absolutely. So this is our APC business, which is our automotive plastics components business. It's something that we had acquired in 2016. And from our perspective, this is not core. It was something that was small and something that we were not focused on and just did not scale appropriately.

絕對地。這就是我們的APC業務，也就是我們的汽車塑料零部件業務。這是我們在 2016 年收購的。從我們的角度來看，這不是核心。這是一些很小的事情，我們沒有關注，也沒有適當地擴展。

In terms of sales, it's between $1 million or $2 million. So it's nothing that's meaningful that will impact our business. But I do believe this is an opportunity for somebody else to really drive some growth, but it's certainly not an area of focus for us.

就銷售額而言，在100萬至200萬美元之間。因此，沒有任何有意義的事情會影響我們的業務。但我確實相信，這對其他人來說是一個真正推動增長的機會，但這肯定不是我們關注的領域。

Yes. And just -- Kevin, just to add $1 million to $2 million in a year from a sales perspective, it was about $8 million in 2022. This is a small segment within the APC segment. And to Chris' point, it just -- it wasn't high margin, but clearly not material and just not strategic for us.

是的。 Kevin，從銷售額的角度來看，一年內增加 100 萬至 200 萬美元，到 2022 年約為 800 萬美元。這是 APC 細分市場中的一小部分。就克里斯的觀點而言，這並不是高利潤，但顯然對我們來說並不重要，而且沒有戰略意義。

Our next question comes from Ghansham Panjabi with Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自 Ghansham Panjabi 和 Baird。

I guess, first off, on Slide 8, you have a nice chart with the projection of global light vehicle builds with a nice improvement estimated through 2025. How are you kind of thinking about the risk about a broader macroeconomic slowdown impacting the recovery cadence? I assume that in 2023, there's some sort of inventory replenishment that will still take hold, but I'm curious as to your thoughts as we look out to 2024 and beyond.

我想，首先，在幻燈片 8 上，您有一個很好的圖表，其中預測了全球輕型汽車產量，預計到 2025 年將有不錯的改善。您如何看待更廣泛的宏觀經濟放緩影響復甦節奏的風險？我認為 2023 年，某種庫存補充仍將佔據主導地位，但我很好奇您在展望 2024 年及以後時的想法。

So let me -- I'll start off and maybe Sean can jump in. But just to give you -- good morning again, just to give you a perspective, on the short-term view. I think as I think about our approach, we've been a bit conservative looking at '23. Our forecast is coming in at 83% to 84% with the markets or the external forecasters being just heading north of 85.5%.

那麼，讓我——我先開始，也許肖恩可以插話。但只是為了給你們——再次早上好，只是為了給你們一個關於短期觀點的視角。我認為，當我思考我們的方法時，我們對 23 年的看法有點保守。我們的預測為 83% 至 84%，而市場或外部預測者的預測僅為 85.5%。

So I do believe there's a bit more of a tailwind on the auto side. But to your question, more on the long term and as we think about where we're going through '25. I think there's more -- with where the channel is and where inventory levels are through the channel. I would say we are still at historic lows. So I do believe that there's more of an opportunity as this builds out.

所以我確實相信汽車方面有更多的推動力。但對於你的問題，更多的是從長遠來看，當我們思考我們將在 25 年經歷什麼時。我認為還有更多——渠道在哪里以及渠道中的庫存水平。我想說我們仍處於歷史低點。所以我確實相信，隨著這一步的發展，會有更多的機會。

In terms of recession, as we talked about in our prepared remarks, this is one of the primary drivers why we're ensuring that we have some -- we're investing in our operations and looking at our SG&A cost in the possibility of a soft recession so we can provide some cushion.

就經濟衰退而言，正如我們在準備好的發言中談到的那樣，這是我們確保我們有一些經濟衰退的主要驅動因素之一——我們正在投資於我們的運營，並考慮我們的 SG&A 成本是否有可能出現衰退。經濟衰退較軟，因此我們可以提供一些緩衝。

But all in all, from everything what we're seeing with, how well the auto OEMs are performing, you can see, whether it's GM's results and also on the heavy side, everything is driving to a strong year. But again, we're also cushioning with the possibility of a soft recession for the back end.

但總而言之，從我們所看到的一切來看，汽車原始設備製造商的表現如何，你可以看到，無論是通用汽車的業績還是在重型方面，一切都在推動強勁的一年。但同樣，我們也在緩衝後端出現軟衰退的可能性。

Yes. And Ghansham, just to add, I mean, we've always characterized the normal global auto build year of 88 million to 89 million builds. And given the fact we've essentially been in a recession for the last 3 years, every month, it goes by for 2023, we're gaining a little bit more confidence that this year will certainly be better in 2022 as far as global auto builds. But industry forecasters are expecting bullish outlook for the next 4 to 5 years. It's just a matter of the pace, but we feel pretty good that we're going to see recovery for the next few years.

是的。 Ghansham，補充一下，我的意思是，我們一直將全球汽車製造年的正常數量描述為 8800 萬至 8900 萬輛。考慮到過去 3 年我們基本上一直處於衰退之中，2023 年每個月都會過去，我們越來越有信心，就全球汽車而言，2022 年肯定會更好。構建。但行業預測人士預計未來 4 到 5 年前景樂觀。這只是速度問題，但我們感覺很好，我們將在未來幾年看到復蘇。

Okay. Perfect. And then for my second question, on the one-off cost, ERP, et cetera, $50 million for the second quarter. Will there be any material spillover into the third quarter? I'm just asking because your margin progression phase, well basically saw that after just 2 quarters given the cost implementation for the second quarter -- yes. And is there any spillover into the back half of the year?

好的。完美的。接下來是我的第二個問題，關於一次性成本、ERP 等，第二季度為 5000 萬美元。第三季度是否會有任何重大溢出效應？我只是問，因為考慮到第二季度的成本實施，你們的利潤增長階段基本上在兩個季度後就看到了——是的。下半年是否會有溢出效應？

Yes, we're not expecting any meaningful spillover in the third quarter in regards to the ERP implementation. We're actually going live this month. So it will carry over to June, but then it will be largely wrapped up as far as the support cost. We are really happy with the margin progression, looking at the midpoint of the range and adding back these $50 million, and we're jumping up from $16.5 million from a margin perspective, EBITDA margin up to over 18% at the midpoint. So we are really happy with the progression that we're seeing.

是的，我們預計第三季度 ERP 實施不會產生任何有意義的溢出效應。我們實際上這個月就要上線了。因此，它將延續到 6 月，但隨後支持成本將基本結束。我們對利潤率的進展非常滿意，看看該範圍的中點，再加上這 5000 萬美元，從利潤率的角度來看，我們從 1650 萬美元躍升，EBITDA 利潤率在中點上升到 18% 以上。因此，我們對所看到的進展感到非常滿意。

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

我們的下一個問題來自 BMO 資本市場的 John McNulty。

So with regard to free cash flow, so your $350 million target. I guess how much does that assume in terms of working capital release? Because I guess looking back over the last basically, since you guys went public, I think you've only come in below that $350 maybe once, and I would expect this year to be a big free cash flow kind of yielding year so -- from a working capital release. So can you help us to kind of connect the dots on that?

因此，就自由現金流而言，您的目標是 3.5 億美元。我猜想這在營運資金釋放方面是多少？因為我想基本上回顧過去，自從你們上市以來，我認為你們的股價可能只低於 350 美元一次，而且我預計今年將是自由現金流量大、收益豐厚的一年，所以——來自營運資金釋放。那麼你能幫助我們把這些點聯繫起來嗎？

Yes. So John, there's a few anomalies this year. CapEx creeping up to $190 million, which is in our guidance construct, and that's after 3 years of sort of under spending. If you go back to 2020, it was $80 million, jumped up to $120 million, we did $150 million last year.

是的。約翰，今年有一些異常情況。資本支出攀升至 1.9 億美元，這是我們的指導結構中的數字，而且是在經歷了 3 年的支出不足之後。如果你回到 2020 年，它是 8000 萬美元，躍升至 1.2 億美元，去年我們做了 1.5 億美元。

So we have a little bit of a catch-up this year as well as the S/4 implementation, which is driving CapEx up a bit higher than normal years. And then interest expense is the other big call out. We're seeing about $70 million of incremental interest expense.

因此，我們今年有一些追趕以及 S/4 的實施，這推動了資本支出比正常年份略高。利息支出是另一個大問題。我們看到利息支出增加了約 7000 萬美元。

Specific to working capital, the expectation is working capital as a percentage of net sales is going to come down. But working capital as far as contributions will be fairly minimal from an overall free cash flow perspective. And that's partly due to we're expecting growth for the full year, which you're going to see some level of cash outflow on accounts receivable.

具體到營運資本，預計營運資本占淨銷售額的百分比將會下降。但從整體自由現金流的角度來看，營運資金的貢獻將相當小。這部分是因為我們預計全年將出現增長，您將看到應收賬款出現一定程度的現金流出。

Got it. Okay. No, that's helpful. And then on the Refinish business in China, it sounds like it was kind of off to a slow start. Can you give us an update as to how that's progressing? I would think, with China opening up a bit, people going back to work, not being locked down, et cetera, like you should start to see a recovery there. Have you started -- has that started already? Or is that something more on the come for later on this year?

知道了。好的。不，這很有幫助。然後，在中國的修補漆業務方面，聽起來似乎起步緩慢。您能給我們介紹一下進展情況嗎？我認為，隨著中國稍微開放，人們會重返工作崗位，而不是被封鎖等等，就像你應該開始看到那裡的複蘇一樣。你開始了嗎——已經開始了嗎？或者今年晚些時候還會有更多的事情發生？

Yes, we're seeing some nice growth in China. I would say our -- as we start the first month, we're looking in plan to what we're giving as our Q2 guide. And again, remember, for us, China, John, is a small component. It's 10% of our overall revenue. So it is something that's meaningful, but something that it doesn't impact our overall business, meaning in a big way.

是的，我們在中國看到了一些不錯的增長。我想說的是，當我們開始第一個月時，我們正在製定計劃，以作為第二季度的指南。約翰，再次記住，對我們來說，中國祇是一個很小的組成部分。這是我們總收入的 10%。因此，這是一件有意義的事情，但不會對我們的整體業務產生重大影響。

We are -- the markets that I am focused on are obviously our largest markets when it comes to Refinish North America and Europe. And these 2 markets are -- if I look at Q4 to Q1, we saw a great jump and then also the incremental sales that we're getting on the adjacencies or in the medium as well as the economy markets are really driving through some good results, and that's what's driving the performance you see in Q1 as well as our guide for Q2.

就修補漆北美和歐洲而言，我關注的市場顯然是我們最大的市場。這兩個市場 - 如果我看看第四季度到第一季度，我們看到了巨大的跳躍，然後我們在鄰近地區或媒介以及經濟市場上獲得的增量銷售確實正在推動一些良好的發展結果，這就是您在第一季度以及我們的第二季度指南中看到的業績的推動因素。

Our next question comes from David Begleiter with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 David Begleiter。

Chris, you mentioned the opportunity in procurement and operations. Could you begin to quantify or talk about the potential opportunity in those 2 areas?

克里斯，您提到了採購和運營方面的機會。您能否開始量化或談論這兩個領域的潛在機會？

Sure. And maybe just jumping off where Sean left top, I think we talked about $15 million for the quarter as the onetime cost. A large majority of that is for the S/4 implementation, for which we have an excellent IS team that's doing a great job preparing us for the launch this month. But we have tremendous amount of work here because this is for our North American business, and it never hurts to have some backup.

當然。也許只是從 Sean 離開的頂部開始，我想我們討論了該季度 1500 萬美元的一次性成本。其中大部分用於 S/4 的實施，為此我們擁有一支出色的 IS 團隊，他們為我們本月的發布做好了出色的準備。但我們在這裡有大量的工作，因為這是為了我們的北美業務，擁有一些備份總沒有壞處。

So that's where most of the spend is, but we are looking at having another team look at the opportunities to accelerate our cost optimization in the plants, whether it be procurement, supply chain and the inventory management. But those groups are just starting out right now. And primarily what I'd like to do is take a quarter or so and see what comes out -- what is the outcome from those results. And I look forward to giving you a better perspective of that in the next quarter or certainly by 2 quarters from now?

因此，這就是大部分支出的所在，但我們正在考慮讓另一個團隊尋找加速工廠成本優化的機會，無論是採購、供應鏈還是庫存管理。但這些團體現在才剛剛起步。我主要想做的是花一個季度左右的時間看看結果如何——這些結果會產生什麼結果。我期待在下個季度或者從現在起的兩個季度內為您提供更好的視角？

Yes. And John, just qualitatively, we are expecting a quick payback, so the investment that we're doing in the spending in the second quarter, we expect to benefit in the back half of this year. But to Chris' point, we'll give some more elements as we get into the July, early August time period.

是的。約翰，就質量而言，我們期望快速回報，因此我們在第二季度的支出中所做的投資預計將在今年下半年受益。但就克里斯的觀點而言，當我們進入七月、八月初的時期時，我們將提供更多元素。

Understood. And Chris, just on the 400 buy shop wins. Could you provide some context, how many did you win last quarter or even last year?

明白了。而克里斯，剛剛在 400 家購買商店中獲勝。您能否提供一些背景信息，上個季度甚至去年您贏得了多少場比賽？

I mean last year it was 3x that, John, for perspective, and this is what's continuing to contribute to our market outperformance.

我的意思是去年是這個數字的 3 倍，約翰，從長遠來看，這就是我們繼續在市場上表現出色的原因。

Our next question comes from Aleksey Yefremov with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Aleksey Yefremov。

Chris, Axalta has been a stand-alone company for a long time, one history of productivity focus. Could you just expand on why procurement and operations have a lot of room for improvement?

克里斯，艾仕得長期以來一直是一家獨立的公司，歷史上一直注重生產力。您能否詳細說明為什麼採購和運營還有很大的改進空間？

Sure. Absolutely. And I think Aleksey if I think through not specific to Axalta, but more in the broader space starting from the COVID lockdowns as well as the supply chain disruptions that followed it as well as specifically in Europe with the Russia-Ukraine situation. I think from an operational element, there's been an enormous amount of strain and stress in the system. So what -- as we said a quarter ago, the absolute focus is on operations. And when you take that and you break it down and where we can really drive the performance in the organization.

當然。絕對地。我認為阿列克西不是專門針對艾仕得，而是更廣泛的領域，從新冠病毒封鎖以及隨之而來的供應鏈中斷，以及特別是在歐洲的俄羅斯-烏克蘭局勢。我認為從操作層面來看，系統中存在巨大的壓力。那又怎樣——正如我們一個季度前所說，絕對的重點是運營。當你了解這一點並將其分解時，你會發現我們可以在哪些方面真正提高組織的績效。

As I said in my prepared remarks, there are 2 buckets that have the most significant impact. Our variable costs are about $2.5 billion. Our fixed costs are about $1.5 billion. Anything that we do here, even small drives a meaningful drop down to our results. So these are the 2 areas I'm very, very focused on. We have strong operational teams here. But again, going through all the issues in terms of the supply chain as well as the S/4 launch. There is still opportunity here. And I would say that's simply put, in my first 90 days, there is more operational upside than I originally thought.

正如我在準備好的發言中所說，有兩個方面的影響最為重大。我們的可變成本約為 25 億美元。我們的固定成本約為 15 億美元。我們在這裡所做的任何事情，即使是很小的事情，都會導致我們的結果發生有意義的下降。所以這是我非常非常關注的兩個領域。我們這裡有強大的運營團隊。但再次強調一下供應鏈以及 S/4 發布方面的所有問題。這裡仍然有機會。我想說的是，簡單地說，在我的前 90 天裡，運營上的好處比我最初想像的要多。

And so here, the effort is to help those strong teams really get enablers by doubling down and putting focus teams to get that in the back end as we -- and which we -- I look forward to talking to you more about in a quarter from now.

因此，我們的努力是通過加倍努力並讓焦點團隊在後端實現這一目標，幫助這些強大的團隊真正獲得推動因素，因為我們——以及我們——我期待在一個季度內與您更多地討論這一點現在起。

Thanks for this, Chris. And turning to Refinish. You've over the past several quarters now, several wins in the U.K. and other MSO wins. And I think you also talked about potentially more wins. Could you update us on how those won contracts are ramping and how your growth strategy in European Refinish is progressing?

謝謝你，克里斯。並轉向修補。在過去的幾個季度裡，你們已經在英國取得了幾場胜利，並在其他 MSO 中取得了勝利。我想你也談到了潛在的更多勝利。您能否向我們介紹一下這些贏得的合同的進展情況以及您在歐洲修補漆業務的增長戰略進展如何？

Sure. Let me start off with just a perspective. So again, the U-POL acquisition was in Europe as well as on top of that. Just the fact that we have our retail stores in Europe is really helping us drive this business.

當然。讓我從一個角度開始。再說一遍，U-POL 的收購是在歐洲進行的。我們在歐洲擁有零售店這一事實確實幫助我們推動了這項業務。

On top of that, in terms of the growth, we are seeing a bit more growth in Europe. But I do plan to talk to you more about this in a quarter from now because I do believe there's even more opportunity on the European front.

最重要的是，就增長而言，我們看到歐洲有更多的增長。但我確實計劃在一個季度後與您更多地討論這個問題，因為我確實相信歐洲方面有更多的機會。

Again, just 4 months in the seat, and what I'm doing right now is really spending time going through the 3 business units and really breaking it down piece by piece and understanding where value is created. And to your point, obviously, Axalta does have an enormous performance opportunity through Refinish. So this is something that we're looking at how can we really augment this become a little bit more resilient, a little bit more responsive and also find opportunities to really grow this business in regions outside our strongest market, obviously, being North America.

再說一次，我就職僅 4 個月，而我現在所做的就是真正花時間瀏覽 3 個業務部門，並真正將其逐個分解，並了解價值的創造地點。就您而言，顯然，艾仕得確實通過修補漆獲得了巨大的業績機會。因此，我們正在研究如何才能真正增強這一點，變得更有彈性，反應更快，並找到機會在我們最強大的市場（顯然是北美）之外的地區真正發展這項業務。

Our next question comes from Vincent Andrews with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的文森特安德魯斯。

Chris, what's the message you've been giving internally, not just to your leadership team, but to the sort of the rank and file from a cultural perspective in terms of what you're trying to drive here, what buying you need from them? And obviously, we already talked about there's going to be little bit more restructuring and all that comes with that. But what's the message you've been providing? And have you been pleased with the uptake and the energy level that you're seeing in the organization? And is there anything else that you think you might have to do differently there?

克里斯，你在內部傳達的信息是什麼，不僅是向你的領導團隊傳達的信息，而且是從文化角度向普通員工傳達的信息，即你​​想在這裡推動什麼，你需要從他們那裡購買什麼？顯然，我們已經討論過將會有更多的重組以及隨之而來的一切。但你一直在提供什麼信息呢？您對組織中所看到的吸收率和活力水平感到滿意嗎？您認為還有哪些事情需要採取不同的做法嗎？

Yes, thank you very much for the question, Vincent. I love it. In this sense, my first quarter, going through the 120 days has reinforced my belief that Axalta has great products that our customers really want. And you can see that. Even if you take out the price equation, we are continuing to grow through Q1. And we have a lot of excellent people doing the right things.

是的，非常感謝你提出這個問題，文森特。我喜歡它。從這個意義上說，我的第一季度經歷的 120 天更加堅定了我的信念，即艾仕得擁有我們的客戶真正想要的優質產品。你可以看到這一點。即使去掉價格等式，我們在第一季度仍將繼續增長。我們有很多優秀的人在做正確的事情。

And what you learn about Axalta very, very quickly is that we're incredibly customer-centric, which is excellent as long as you're competitive and performing well financially. So here, the focus whether actually it started prior to my time with Rakesh is the focus on execution to ensure that we drive that profitability.

您很快就會了解到艾仕得，我們非常以客戶為中心，只要您具有競爭力並且財務狀況良好，這一點就非常好。因此，在這裡，重點是否實際上是在我加入 Rakesh 之前就開始的，重點是執行力，以確保我們推動盈利能力。

And if you look at Q1, certainly those results have come through, whether it's -- just take the 1 metric of price-mix, and we're up 9% as Sean pointed out And it's great to see that when you focus the organization and you focus them on execution, they certainly deliver.

如果你看看第一季度，當然這些結果已經實現，無論是 - 只要採用價格組合的第一個指標，正如 Sean 指出的那樣，我們增長了 9% 很高興看到當你專注於組織時如果你把他們的注意力集中在執行上，他們一定會兌現承諾。

And if I look at the short-term strategy, the short-term strategy is to continue to focus on execution. So we're going to drive the focus on price. We're going to drive the focus on cost. And on the cost side, it's purely execution around operations, around purchasing, around supply chain. And we have, obviously, tailwinds that are helping us, whether it's through our 3 of our 4 end markets on volume. And then to most of the questions here, the increasing share, whether it's Mobility and Refinish are helping.

如果我看一下短期策略，短期策略是繼續關注執行。因此，我們將把重點放在價格上。我們將把重點放在成本上。在成本方面，純粹是圍繞運營、採購、供應鏈執行。顯然，無論是通過我們 4 個終端市場中的 3 個的銷量，我們都有對我們有幫助的順風。對於這裡的大多數問題，不斷增加的份額，無論是移動性還是修補漆，都會有所幫助。

So if you focus on execution across operations as well as continue to drive the pricing across, certainly 2 of our end markets, we certainly will get back to the normalized profitability that we saw pre-pandemic. And that's the message I am driving. And as you can see from the Q1 results, it's certainly being bought up by the team.

因此，如果你專注於跨業務的執行，並繼續推動定價，當然是我們的兩個終端市場，我們肯定會恢復到大流行前的正常化盈利能力。這就是我要傳達的信息。正如您從第一季度的結果中看到的那樣，它肯定被團隊收購了。

And just as a follow-up, as we move through the year, Sean, how should we be thinking about incremental margins? Is what sort of implied in the 2Q guidance? Is that what we should be thinking about over the balance of the year? Or should it step-up as presumably raws become more favorable in the back half and obviously, different volume scenarios in the back half, but how should we be thinking about incremental?

作為後續行動，肖恩，當我們度過這一年時，我們應該如何考慮增量利潤？第二季度指引暗示了什麼？這是我們在今年剩下的時間裡應該考慮的問題嗎？或者它應該加強，因為大概原始數據在後半段變得更加有利，顯然，後半段的成交量情況不同，但我們應該如何考慮增量？

Yes. So I mean we're clearly not providing full year guidance here, but what I can signal is 2 things. You should continue to expect margin recovery sequentially as we move through the year in every end market. And the other sort of key data point is we are expecting in the second half of the year to be stronger than the first half from an overall EBITDA perspective.

是的。所以我的意思是，我們顯然不會在這裡提供全年指導，但我可以表明有兩件事。隨著我們在每個終端市場度過這一年，您應該繼續預期利潤率會連續恢復。另一個關鍵數據點是，從整體 EBITDA 角度來看，我們預計下半年將強於上半年。

Our next question comes from Mike Leithead with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的邁克·萊特黑德。

Just 1 for me on Mobility. Obviously, a couple of strong quarters in a row with volume well ahead of the auto growth. So when you drill into that internally, is it your specific customer-mix? Is there new platform wins? Just help us to range from the outside the difference there? And just broadly how we should think about your volumes to trend this year relative to, again, however, industry build rates shake out?

對於我來說，移動性方面只有 1 分。顯然，連續幾個季度表現強勁，銷量遠遠領先於汽車增長。那麼，當您在內部深入研究這個問題時，這是您特定的客戶組合嗎？有新的平台獲勝嗎？只是幫我們從外面看一下差別在那裡？然而，從廣義上講，我們應該如何考慮今年相對於行業建設率的變化趨勢？

Yes. So I think I'm going to start this, and then Sean can give a little bit more color on margins. But in terms of volumes and growth, as we've talked about in the prepared remarks, we certainly are seeing volume growth that is outpacing the market. And it's really going back to -- the team has done an excellent job starting last year of driving $200 million of incremental growth through 2024.

是的。所以我想我要開始這個，然後肖恩可以在頁邊空白處提供更多的顏色。但就數量和增長而言，正如我們在準備好的評論中所討論的那樣，我們確實看到了超過市場的數量增長。事實上，該團隊從去年開始就表現出色，到 2024 年實現了 2 億美元的增量增長。

And what you're seeing is that volume dropping down into our P&L already in Q1. And we expect that growth to continue to hit the run rate target of $200 million in '24. So the team has done a great job there. Now the wins, where are they across the board? We're seeing wins in China, specifically on some great EV platforms, but certainly growth also in Europe as well as North America and some traditional strong ICE platforms.

您看到的是，第一季度的交易量已經下降到我們的損益表中。我們預計 2024 年的增長將繼續達到 2 億美元的運行率目標。所以團隊在那裡做得很好。現在，勝利在哪裡？我們在中國看到了勝利，特別是在一些出色的電動汽車平台上，但在歐洲、北美和一些傳統的強大內燃機平台上也肯定有增長。

And with that...

隨之而來的是...

Yes. Just I mean, just to add, we have a lot of things going in our favor on the Mobility side. You have market recovery, you've got new share wins and then you actually have some of our key customers, their platforms are just clearly outperforming the market. And probably a case in point is China, we're up almost 19% and that market was down about 8%. And part of that -- a big part of that is just some of the platforms that we're on are outpacing the overall market there in China. On top of that, we have nice pricing tailwinds. So all that's yielding to better margin recovery over time.

是的。我只是想補充一點，在移動性方面我們有很多對我們有利的事情。你有市場復甦，你有新的份額贏得，然後你實際上擁有我們的一些關鍵客戶，他們的平台明顯優於市場。也許中國就是一個恰當的例子，我們上漲了近 19%，而該市場下跌了約 8%。其中一部分——很大一部分是我們所在的一些平台的發展速度超過了中國的整體市場。最重要的是，我們有很好的定價優勢。因此，隨著時間的推移，所有這些都會帶來更好的利潤恢復。

Our next question comes from Duffy Fischer with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的達菲·費舍爾。

First question is just around raw materials. I think you made a comment about single digits in the back half. but I didn't understand if that was your exit rate at the end of the year or if you expected to actually capture that much in the second half?

第一個問題與原材料有關。我認為您在後半部分對個位數發表了評論。但我不明白這是你們年底的退出率還是你們預計下半年能真正獲得這麼多？

Yes. So that was specific to the second quarter. We're expecting low single digits from a year-over-year perspective. We didn't give any guidance on the second half, but our expectation is raws will continue to moderate, but we're not actually calling any sort of data points in regards to Q3 and Q4.

是的。這是第二季度特有的情況。從同比角度來看，我們預計較低的個位數。我們沒有對下半年提供任何指導，但我們的預期是原始數據將繼續放緩，但我們實際上並沒有調用有關第三季度和第四季度的任何數據點。

Okay. And then when you look sequentially Q1 to Q2, if you take out the 2 COVID years, over the last 8 years, you basically averaged about a $0.12 improvement from Q1 to Q2. And only 2x has it been below a dime. So even if you adjust your $15 million for Q2, it's still seasonally, it looks like kind of a weak step-up relative to history. Is that because seasonality has changed? Or can you kind of walk through and maybe triangulate the historic move from Q1 to Q2 versus what you're looking at this year?

好的。然後，當你按順序查看第一季度到第二季度時，如果去掉 2 個新冠疫情年份，在過去 8 年中，從第一季度到第二季度，基本上平均改善了約 0.12 美元。而且只有 2 倍的價格低於一毛錢。因此，即使你調整第二季度的 1500 萬美元，它仍然是季節性的，相對於歷史記錄來說，這看起來像是一種微弱的提升。是因為季節性改變了嗎？或者您能否回顧一下從第一季度到第二季度的歷史性轉變與您今年的預期？

Yes. Duffy, the 2 anomalies that are really happening from first quarter to second quarter and when you compare quite frankly, in the prior years is interest expense is picking up quite a bit, gone from $48 million up to $56 million. And then you got taxes jumping. Historically, we've run around 22% to 23%. We're expecting closer to 25% effective tax rate this year. So there, you're probably 2 call-outs for why you're not apples-to-apples.

是的。達菲，從第一季度到第二季度確實發生了兩個異常情況，坦率地說，前幾年的利息支出大幅增加，從 4800 萬美元增加到 5600 萬美元。然後你的稅收就會跳漲。從歷史上看，我們的增長率約為 22% 至 23%。我們預計今年的有效稅率接近 25%。因此，您可能會被 2 次指出為什麼你們不一樣。

Our next question comes from Steve Byrne with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的史蒂夫·伯恩。

It looks like it's been 5 years since your Mobility segment posted a revenue that you had in this quarter. Back then, you had a 10% EBIT margin. Do you think you can get back to a double-digit EBIT margin in Mobility? And when do you think you can get there?

自從您的移動部門在本季度公佈收入以來，似乎已經過去 5 年了。那時，您的息稅前利潤率為 10%。您認為您可以在移動領域恢復兩位數的息稅前利潤嗎？你認為什麼時候可以到達那裡？

Well, I certainly believe that we can get to a double-digit Mobility margin. If you look at the actions that we're driving, certainly from a pricing standpoint, from a cost standpoint, that is certainly the focus of the team. And even in my first 120 days here, Steve, I absolutely believe that, that is an opportunity that we will be focused on and will be a go get.

嗯，我當然相信我們可以達到兩位數的流動性利潤。如果你看看我們正在推動的行動，當然從定價的角度來看，從成本的角度來看，這肯定是團隊的重點。即使在我來到這裡的頭 120 天裡，史蒂夫，我也絕對相信，這是一個我們將重點關注的機會，並且會努力抓住。

In terms of timing, I think this is -- that's the big question. I mean if you look at the volatility in the economy and just figuring out where -- what will happen with raw material deflation as a bid, how much of the pricing really will stick and how much more of the pricing that we have targeted will we get as well as the cost initiatives.

就時間安排而言，我認為這是一個大問題。我的意思是，如果你觀察經濟的波動性，然後弄清楚原材料通貨緊縮會發生什麼，定價的多少會真正保持不變，以及我們的目標定價會增加多少。獲得以及成本舉措。

A lot of the programs that we have talked about, whether it's on the procurement side as well as the lean opportunities that we have in our plants. There has to be a real focus here on productivity, which should be always part of the algorithm. So the question is, what is our timing to get that. So I hope to give you a better perspective. At this point, I can't give you an exact time of when we'll get there.

我們討論過很多計劃，無論是採購方面還是我們工廠的精益機會。這裡必須真正關註生產力，這應該始終是算法的一部分。所以問題是，我們實現這一目標的時機是什麼？所以我希望能給你一個更好的視角。目前，我無法告訴您我們到達那裡的確切時間。

And then, Chris, this initiative that you have to bring in some outside help and drill into productivity and operations and so forth. What has led you to this? Is this your experience? Is this looking at comps? Is this a benchmarking analysis? And what gives you the conviction that there is a meaningful opportunity here?

然後，克里斯，你必須引入一些外部幫助並深入研究生產力和運營等方面的舉措。是什麼導致你這麼做的？這是你的經歷嗎？這是在看比較嗎？這是基準分析嗎？是什麼讓您相信這裡有一個有意義的機會？

It's a bit of all of those. I think it's obviously a bit of my experience from the past. It's more importantly. I don't want there to be a view that something is broken in Axalta. It's purely the fact that just going back to the comps that we had pre-pandemic and the performance levels. We have an incredibly strong team that went through some challenging times through COVID and the supply chain disruptions as many of us did.

這是所有這些的一點。我認為這顯然是我過去的一些經驗。更重要的是。我不希望人們認為艾仕得有什麼東西壞了。這純粹是一個事實，回到我們在大流行前的比較和表現水平。我們擁有一支非常強大的團隊，與我們許多人一樣，他們經歷了新冠疫情和供應鏈中斷帶來的挑戰。

And I do believe that there are opportunities that just doubling down the efforts here will drive the performance requirements that we need in the back end. So that's where I'm getting the conviction that there's a focus here.

我確實相信，只要加倍努力，就有機會提高我們後端所需的性能要求。所以這就是我確信這裡有一個焦點的地方。

Steve, the one thing to add, being the old guy around the table here, the teams are welcoming the help, especially on the procurement side, doubling down on resources with analytics and helping drive RFP outcomes. The procurement team is all about driving value realization. Anything we can do to accelerate that is, quite frankly, welcome by the team. So it's been a nice teaming effort here to drive improvement.

Steve，需要補充的一件事是，作為這裡的老傢伙，團隊歡迎幫助，特別是在採購方面，通過分析加倍投入資源並幫助推動 RFP 結果。採購團隊致力於推動價值實現。坦率地說，我們可以採取任何措施來加速這一進程，這都受到團隊的歡迎。因此，這是一個很好的團隊合作來推動改進。

Our next question comes from Arun Viswanathan with RBC Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自加拿大皇家銀行資本市場的阿倫·維斯瓦納坦 (Arun Viswanathan)。

I guess first off, I just wanted to clarify your deleveraging targets for this year, maybe how much gross debt pay down you expect. And is there any kind of opportunities you can take advantage of to refi and maybe bring down your interest expense going forward?

我想首先，我只是想澄清一下你們今年的去槓桿化目標，也許是你們期望償還多少總債務。您是否可以利用任何機會進行再融資，並可能降低未來的利息支出？

Yes. So I mean over time, we're still targeting 2.5x to 3x. And as I covered in my remarks, we expect to be at the high end, barring we don't do anything sort of significant from a capital allocation perspective. We are actively looking at both the spot markets as well as looking at the refinancing market, just things are not open right now. But sort of the expectation is we'll be as far as excess free cash flow, the majority -- the vast majority will be used to actually pay down gross debt. But we are expected to be closer to 3.0x by the end of the year.

是的。所以我的意思是，隨著時間的推移，我們的目標仍然是 2.5 倍到 3 倍。正如我在發言中提到的，我們預計將處於高端，除非我們從資本配置的角度不做任何重大的事情。我們正在積極關注現貨市場以及再融資市場，只是目前還沒有開放。但某種程度上的預期是，我們將剩餘的自由現金流中的大部分——絕大多數將用於實際償還總債務。但我們預計到今年年底將接近 3.0 倍。

Okay. And just on the cost optimization side. Is there -- are these programs that you're implementing similar to some of the prior Axalta Way programs. Out of that, say, $2.5 billion of fixed costs. How much of that structurally do you think you can take out over the next couple of years. And does that depend on volume? Would you have to add back any as volume recovers?

好的。就成本優化而言。您正在實施的這些計劃是否與之前的一些艾仕得之路計劃類似？其中，例如 25 億美元的固定成本。您認為在接下來的幾年裡您可以從結構上拿出多少？這取決於數量嗎？當交易量恢復時，您是否需要重新添加任何內容？

Well, from not being here, I'm not sure how it aligns with the Axalta Way. But from what I've heard and also from listening to Sean, I would say it's not very similar. I think our focus -- first of all, the teams are just starting out. So defining exactly what is the opportunity is, I would say, a little bit too early to call, but all that said, as Sean alluded to in the last question, the teams are really looking forward to driving some of this opportunity, especially on the purchasing side again.

好吧，由於不在這裡，我不確定它如何與艾仕得方式保持一致。但從我所聽到的以及肖恩的講話來看，我想說這並不是很相似。我認為我們的重點是——首先，團隊才剛剛起步。因此，我想說，準確定義機會是什麼，現在下結論還為時過早，但正如肖恩在上一個問題中提到的那樣，各團隊確實期待著抓住這個機會，尤其是在再次是採購方。

If you think about the fact that we took $650 million of incremental cost or 46% variable cost increase over the last -- through '21 to '22. That is something that is historic and not in the 10 years of Axalta being in existence.

如果您考慮一下這樣一個事實，即從 21 年到 22 年，我們增加了 6.5 億美元的增量成本，即比去年增加了 46% 的可變成本。這是歷史性的事情，而且是艾仕得成立 10 年來所沒有的。

So again, that's the first focus of driving to ensure that we can pull some meaningful costs out of there that will drive to the bottom line.

再說一次，這是我們首要關注的焦點，以確保我們能夠從中提取一些有意義的成本，從而實現盈利。

Our next question comes from Mike Sison with Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題來自富國銀行的邁克·西森。

Nice start to the year. Sean, I just wanted to make sure I heard you right. In terms of the first half adjusted EBIT, did you say it was going to be better than the second half? And if that's the case, is it really just the demand environment in the second half could be more difficult than the first?

今年開局不錯。肖恩，我只是想確保我沒聽錯。就上半年調整後的息稅前利潤而言，您是否說會比下半年更好？如果真是這樣，是否真的只是下半年的需求環境可能比上半年更困難呢？

No, Mike, you have it flipped. The second half should be more favorable than the first half.

不，邁克，你把事情搞反了。下半場應該比上半場更有利。

Okay. And the drivers for the better second half would just the price raws and a little bit better demand?

好的。下半年好轉的推動因素僅僅是價格上漲和需求好轉嗎？

That's exactly right.

完全正確。

We have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. This concludes today's conference. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time.

我們的問答環節已經結束。今天的會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。此時您可以斷開線路。