AZZ Inc (AZZ) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the AZZ Inc. Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2022 Financial Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

美好的一天，歡迎參加 AZZ 公司第四季度和 2022 財年財務業績電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意正在記錄此事件。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Joe Dorame at Lytham Partners. Please go ahead, sir.

我現在想將會議轉交給 Lytham Partners 的 Joe Dorame。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, Matt. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today to review AZZ's financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2022 ended February 28, 2022. Joining the call today are Tom Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer; Philip Schlom, Chief Financial Officer; and David Nark, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Communications and IR. After the conclusion of today's prepared remarks, we'll open the call for questions.

謝謝你，馬特。早上好，感謝您今天加入我們，回顧 AZZ 截至 2022 年 2 月 28 日的第四季度和 2022 財年的財務業績。今天加入電話會議的有首席執行官 Tom Ferguson； Philip Schlom，首席財務官；市場營銷、傳播和 IR 高級副總裁 David Nark。在今天準備好的發言結束後，我們將開始提問。

Please note, there is a slide presentation for today's call, which can be found on AZZ's Investor Relations page under latest earnings release presentation at azz.com.

請注意，今天的電話會議有一個幻燈片演示，可以在 azz.com 的最新收益發布演示文稿下的 AZZ 投資者關係頁面上找到。

Before we begin with prepared remarks, I would like to remind everyone certain statements made by the management team of AZZ during this conference call constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Except for the statements of historical fact, this conference call may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, some of which are detailed from time to time in documents filed by AZZ with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 28, 2022.

在我們開始準備好的發言之前，我想提醒大家，AZZ 管理團隊在本次電話會議上所做的某些陳述構成了 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。歷史陳述除外事實上，本次電話會議可能包含涉及風險和不確定性的前瞻性陳述，其中一些在 AZZ 向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中不時詳述，包括財政年度 10-K 表格的年度報告截至 2022 年 2 月 28 日的年度。

Those risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, changes in customer demand and response to products and services offered by the company, including demand by the power generation markets, electrical transmission and distribution markets, the industrial markets and the metal coatings markets; prices in raw material costs, including zinc and natural gas, which are used in the galvanizing process; changes in political stability and economic conditions of the various markets that AZZ serves, foreign and domestic; customer requested delays of shipments, acquisition opportunities; currency exchange rates, adequate financing and availability of experienced management and employees to implement the company's growth strategies.

這些風險和不確定性包括但不限於客戶需求的變化以及對公司提供的產品和服務的響應，包括發電市場、輸配電市場、工業市場和金屬塗層市場的需求；原材料成本的價格，包括鍍鋅過程中使用的鋅和天然氣； AZZ 所服務的國內外各種市場的政治穩定性和經濟狀況的變化；客戶要求延遲發貨、收購機會；貨幣匯率、充足的融資以及經驗豐富的管理層和員工的可用性，以實施公司的增長戰略。

In addition, AZZ's customers and its operations could potentially be adversely impacted by ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The company can give no assurance that such forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. These statements are based on information as of the date hereof, and AZZ assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. With that out of the way, let me turn the call over to Tom Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer of AZZ. Tom?

此外，AZZ 的客戶及其運營可能會受到持續的 COVID-19大流行的不利影響。公司無法保證此類前瞻性陳述將被證明是正確的。這些陳述基於截至本協議日期的信息，AZZ 不承擔因新信息、未來事件或其他原因而更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。話雖如此，讓我把電話轉給 AZZ 的首席執行官湯姆弗格森。湯姆？

Thanks, Joe, and welcome to our fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2022 earnings call. Thank you for joining us this morning. Let me first express my great appreciation to our employees for their outstanding efforts during the past year. Despite the lingering effects of COVID, high inflation, supply chain disruptions, labor shortages and a war in Europe, I'm extremely proud of the way our folks stepped up to take care of their customers and each other while continuing to operate in a safe manner. For fiscal 2022, total sales grew 7.6% versus prior year, reaching a total of $903 million, primarily as a result of Metal Coatings exemplary efforts. Infrastructure Solutions total sales were relatively flat over the prior year, primarily due to experiencing a greater impact from the previously mentioned disruptions.

謝謝，喬，歡迎來到我們的第四季度和全年 2022 財年財報電話會議。感謝您今天早上加入我們。首先讓我對我們的員工在過去一年的出色努力表示衷心感謝。儘管 COVID、高通脹、供應鏈中斷、勞動力短缺和歐洲戰爭的影響揮之不去，但我為我們的員工在繼續安全運營的同時加緊照顧客戶和彼此的方式感到非常自豪方式。 2022 財年，總銷售額比上年增長 7.6%，達到 9.03 億美元，這主要歸功於 Metal Coatings 的模範努力。基礎設施解決方案的總銷售額與上一年相比持平，這主要是由於上述中斷帶來的影響更大。

Infrastructure Solutions did improve its backlog during the year with the electrical platform generating strong bookings, and they are well-positioned to convert these bookings into revenue in fiscal 2023.

Infrastructure Solutions 在這一年確實改善了其積壓訂單，電氣平台產生了強勁的預訂量，並且他們有能力在 2023 財年將這些預訂轉化為收入。

We are pleased to have completed our 35th consecutive year of profitability, while achieving strong growth in sales and operating income for the 2022 fiscal year. We continue to generate strong cash flow from operations in fiscal 2022, generating $86 million in net cash flow. For the fiscal year, excluding onetime expenses, we delivered adjusted EPS of $3.34 per diluted share, an increase of more than 58% as compared to the prior year. We were bolstered by a great finish to the year with fourth quarter EPS of $0.87. I give both Bryan Stovall and Gary Hill tremendous credit for keeping their teams focused while we pursued pre-coated metals and continued our strategic efforts for AIS.

我們很高興已經連續第 35 年實現盈利，同時在 2022 財年實現了銷售和營業收入的強勁增長。我們在 2022 財年繼續從運營中產生強勁的現金流，產生 8600 萬美元的淨現金流。在本財年，不包括一次性費用，我們交付的調整後每股攤薄每股收益為 3.34 美元，比上年增長 58% 以上。第四季度 EPS 為 0.87 美元，為這一年畫上了圓滿的句號。我非常感謝 Bryan Stovall 和 Gary Hill，他們在我們追求預塗層金屬並繼續我們的 AIS 戰略努力時讓他們的團隊保持專注。

We successfully completed 2 metal coatings acquisitions during our fiscal year in the fourth quarter. Our strategic review of Infrastructure Solutions business was completed. As a result of that review, we pursued a select set of strategic recommendations for the segment. These efforts have taken longer than expected and were affected by the precoat process that ramped up after Thanksgiving.

我們在第四季度的財政年度成功完成了 2 項金屬塗料收購。我們對基礎設施解決方案業務的戰略審查已經完成。作為審查的結果，我們為該部門尋求了一套精選的戰略建議。這些努力花費的時間比預期的要長，並且受到感恩節後加速的預塗層工藝的影響。

But we now have refocused resources towards continuing to work on these opportunities. Due to several confidentiality agreements, I cannot comment further at this time, but I would like to emphasize that I'm remaining increasingly hopeful that we will have more details to disclose to our shareholders in the upcoming weeks. Overall, sales growth was driven by increased volumes and higher selling prices in our Metal Coatings segment. Our Metal Coatings team grew operating income on an adjusted basis to $127 million, an increase of over 32% versus reported fiscal 2021. Our results within Infrastructure Solutions were driven by improved turnaround activity for our Welding Solutions business as well as improved bookings in our electrical platform.

但我們現在已將資源重新集中在繼續致力於這些機會上。由於幾項保密協議，我現在不能進一步評論，但我想強調的是，我越來越希望我們能在接下來的幾週內向股東披露更多細節。總體而言，銷售增長是由我們的金屬塗料部門銷量增加和售價上漲推動的。我們的金屬塗料團隊在調整後的基礎上將營業收入增長至 1.27 億美元，與報告的 2021 財年相比增長了 32% 以上。我們在基礎設施解決方案方面的業績受到焊接解決方案業務周轉活動改善以及電氣預訂量增加的推動平台。

Operating income grew as a result of increased operating leverage across both the Metal Coatings and Infrastructure Solutions segments, fully realizing the benefit of realignment actions taken in the prior year. We continue to execute on our commitment to return value to our shareholders through both quarterly cash dividends and purchasing almost 602,000 shares of company common stock throughout the year.

由於金屬塗料和基礎設施解決方案部門的經營槓桿增加，營業收入有所增長，充分實現了上一年採取的調整行動的好處。我們繼續履行我們的承諾，通過季度現金股息和全年購買近 602,000 股公司普通股來回報股東。

In Metal Coatings, we posted record sales of $519 million, and improved operating margins to 24.5%. Results were primarily due to higher volumes of steel process, growth in spin galvanizing and higher price realization as a result of product mix and price surcharges that were implemented to offset higher operating costs, including zinc, labor and energy. Growth in our Metal Coatings segment primarily resulted from continued organic growth in galvanizing, with only a slight contribution from the recent acquisition of Steel Creek at the end of the year.

在金屬塗料方面，我們的銷售額達到創紀錄的 5.19 億美元，營業利潤率提高到 24.5%。結果主要歸因於鋼鐵加工量增加、旋轉鍍鋅增長以及產品組合和價格附加費導致的更高價格實現，這些附加費是為抵消更高的運營成本而實施的，包括鋅、勞動力和能源。我們的金屬塗料部門的增長主要得益於鍍鋅業務的持續有機增長，最近在年底收購 Steel Creek 的貢獻很小。

Our Infrastructure Solutions segment for fiscal 2022 grew sales just slightly to $384 million, while increasing adjusted operating income by 115% and operating margins by 470 basis points over the previous year. Sales growth resulted from an improved turnaround season within the industrial platform as they completed more turnaround projects during the year, particularly in North America. Although our industrial business had a reasonably good year internationally, our crews still encountered COVID-related travel restrictions in several international markets.

我們的基礎設施解決方案部門在 2022 財年的銷售額略有增長，達到 3.84 億美元，同時調整後的營業收入比上一年增加了 115%，營業利潤率增加了 470 個基點。銷售額增長源於工業平台內周轉季節的改善，因為他們在這一年完成了更多的周轉項目，尤其是在北美。儘管我們的工業業務在國際上表現不錯，但我們的工作人員在多個國際市場仍然遇到與 COVID 相關的旅行限制。

Within our electrical platform, demand for our switchgear and e-house business was robust and the team booked our largest ever order for battery energy storage e-houses. This project is now in our backlog and will be delivered to one of North America's largest renewable energy sites next year. This order demonstrates that AZZ's electrical platform is well-positioned to capitalize upon the future growth within the renewable energy market and our commitment to deliver more products and services that support environmental sustainability.

在我們的電氣平台內，對我們的開關設備和 e-house 業務的需求強勁，該團隊訂購了我們有史以來最大的電池儲能 e-house 訂單。該項目現在正在我們的積壓工作中，並將於明年交付給北美最大的可再生能源站點之一。該訂單表明，AZZ 的電氣平台處於有利地位，可以利用可再生能源市場的未來增長以及我們提供更多支持環境可持續性的產品和服務的承諾。

Last month, we announced that we have entered into a definitive agreement whereby AZZ will acquire Sequa's Precoat Metals business for a purchase price of approximately $1.28 billion. When adjusted for the net present value of about $150 million of expected tax benefits, the net purchase price is approaching $1.13 billion, which represents about 8.2x Precoats adjusted EBITDA for the 12 months ended December 31, 2021.

上個月，我們宣布已達成最終協議，AZZ 將以約 12.8 億美元的收購價格收購 Sequa 的 Precoat Metals 業務。根據約 1.5 億美元的預期稅收優惠的淨現值進行調整後，淨購買價格接近 11.3 億美元，相當於截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日的 12 個月 Precoats 調整後 EBITDA 的約 8.2 倍。

We are pleased to acquire North America's largest independent provider of metal coil coatings and related services. Through this acquisition, AZZ will significantly broaden our Metal Coatings offerings create unrivaled scale and breadth of metal coating solutions in both the prefabricated and post fabricated coatings markets. We believe the coil coating market will provide sustainable future growth for AZZ and plan on providing Precoat with the appropriate financial resources to expand and grow its business and market share.

我們很高興收購北美最大的金屬卷材塗料及相關服務的獨立供應商。通過此次收購，AZZ 將顯著拓寬我們的金屬塗料產品線，在預製和後製塗料市場創造無與倫比的規模和廣度的金屬塗料解決方案。我們相信卷材塗料市場將為 AZZ 提供可持續的未來增長，併計劃為 Precoat 提供適當的財務資源以擴大和增長其業務和市場份額。

The Precoat acquisition is consistent with our previously communicated strategy to focus our M&A efforts on North American Coatings targets that have a strong strategic fit and are accretive within the first year of operation. It is also a testament to our commitment to drive profitable growth, and we are excited to have Kurt Russell and his team joining the AZZ family. This acquisition represents a continued transition of AZZ from a diverse holding company to a focused provider of galvanizing and coating solutions. As we previously stated, we expect the transaction to close in the first quarter of AZZ's fiscal year 2023, subject to customary closing conditions. I am pleased with the progress the team is making, and we have recently received regulatory approval to proceed to closing.

對 Precoat 的收購符合我們之前傳達的戰略，將我們的併購工作集中在具有強大戰略契合度並在運營的第一年內實現增值的北美塗料目標。這也證明了我們致力於推動盈利增長，我們很高興 Kurt Russell 和他的團隊加入 AZZ 大家庭。此次收購代表了 AZZ 從多元化的控股公司向專注於鍍鋅和塗層解決方案的供應商的持續轉變。正如我們之前所說，我們預計交易將在 AZZ 2023 財年第一季度完成，具體取決於慣例成交條件。我對團隊取得的進展感到滿意，我們最近獲得了監管部門的批准，可以繼續關閉。

Due to our recent announcement related to the acquisition of Precoat Metals, we will not issue fiscal year 2023 guidance at this time. However, based upon the evaluation of information currently available to management, we anticipate Metal Coatings will exceed $150 million in sales and exceed 30% EBITDA for the first quarter of fiscal year 2023. We anticipate Infrastructure Solutions for the first quarter will exceed their good results from the first quarter of fiscal 2022.

由於我們最近發布了有關收購 Precoat Metals 的公告，我們目前不會發布 2023 財年指引。然而，根據對管理層目前可獲得的信息的評估，我們預計 2023 財年第一季度金屬塗料的銷售額將超過 1.5 億美元，EBITDA 超過 30%。我們預計基礎設施解決方案第一季度的業績將超過他們的良好業績從 2022 財年第一季度開始。

This reflects our best estimates given current market conditions, existing execution on our current backlog and does not include the impact of any additional acquisitions or divestitures related to expenditures nor any federal regulatory changes that may emerge.

這反映了我們根據當前市場狀況、我們當前積壓的現有執行情況做出的最佳估計，不包括與支出相關的任何額外收購或資產剝離的影響，也不包括可能出現的任何联邦監管變化。

And I have to note that we currently have asked for better financial and operational strength during which to execute on a transformational acquisition. The businesses that make up AZZ today are tracking to generate over $1 EPS for the first quarter and well over $4 EPS for the full year. But naturally, we will not be completing the quarter or the year with our current mix of businesses. We have a lot of great people that remain focused on doing their jobs well and they have much to be proud of.

我必須指出，我們目前要求獲得更好的財務和運營實力，在此期間執行轉型收購。今天組成 AZZ 的企業正在追踪第一季度每股收益超過 1 美元，全年每股收益超過 4 美元。但自然地，我們不會用我們目前的業務組合來完成這個季度或這一年。我們有很多偉大的人，他們仍然專注於做好自己的工作，他們有很多值得驕傲的地方。

Within our Metal Coatings business, we continue to see strong demand from several end markets, including solar, transmission, utility, industrial and construction. We are also seeing continued growth from our spin galv operations. This first quarter will also include the full benefit of both Steel Creek and DAAM acquisitions. Uninterrupted manufacturing operations continue within our electrical platform despite seeing some supply chain delays for certain switchgear and e-house components. Bus deck business remains good with increasing service work from several utility customers and hazardous duty lighting and tubular products are seeing improved demand due to higher oil prices.

在我們的金屬塗料業務中，我們繼續看到來自幾個終端市場的強勁需求，包括太陽能、傳輸、公用事業、工業和建築。我們還看到我們的旋轉電鍍業務持續增長。第一季度還將包括 Steel Creek 和 DAAM 收購的全部收益。儘管某些開關設備和電子房屋組件出現了一些供應鏈延遲，但我們的電氣平台內的製造運營仍在繼續。公共汽車甲板業務保持良好，一些公用事業客戶的服務工作不斷增加，並且由於油價上漲，危險照明和管狀產品的需求有所增加。

Our Industrial Solutions platform is seeing improved demand as refiners schedule more turnarounds and with crews deployed during the normal spring season. With that said, I'll turn it over to Philip.

我們的工業解決方案平台看到需求增加，因為煉油廠安排了更多的周轉時間，並且在正常的春季季節部署了工作人員。話雖如此，我會把它交給菲利普。

Thanks, Tom. I'd like to thank you for joining our call today. And like Tom, thank each of our employees for executing so well in another year of existing uncertainty. As you can see, our results of operations reflect the accomplishments the hard work of our teams have had on our business.

謝謝，湯姆。我要感謝你今天加入我們的電話會議。和湯姆一樣，感謝我們每一位員工在充滿不確定性的又一年中表現出色。如您所見，我們的經營業績反映了我們團隊的辛勤工作對我們的業務所取得的成就。

Fiscal year fourth quarter reported sales were $224.7 million or $29 million or 15% above the $196 million reported in the same quarter last year. Sales within our Metal Coatings segment was up 20.8% to $128.3 million. And our Infrastructure Solutions segment sales were up 7.7% to $96.4 million on improved order volume, pricing and improving market conditions within the Infrastructure Solutions markets.

財年第四季度報告的銷售額為 2.247 億美元或 2900 萬美元，比去年同期報告的 1.96 億美元增長 15%。我們金屬塗料部門的銷售額增長了 20.8%，達到 1.283 億美元。我們的基礎設施解決方案部門的銷售額增長了 7.7%，達到 9640 萬美元，這得益於基礎設施解決方案市場中訂單量、定價和市場狀況的改善。

Fourth quarter costs -- I'm sorry, fourth quarter gross margin of $55.2 million exceeded prior year by $9.4 million or 20.6% of sales. Gross margin increased 120 basis points to 24.6% from 23.4% of sales in the prior year as margins in both segments expanded during the fourth quarter. Net income for the quarter was $21.6 million, $5.4 million or 34% above the prior year's fourth quarter as the business excelled in all facets given the market uncertainties that exist.

第四季度成本——抱歉，第四季度毛利率為 5520 萬美元，比去年同期高出 940 萬美元，佔銷售額的 20.6%。毛利率從去年同期銷售額的 23.4% 增長 120 個基點至 24.6%，因為這兩個部門的利潤率在第四季度均有所擴大。本季度的淨收入為 2160 萬美元，比去年第四季度增加 540 萬美元或 34%，這是因為在存在市場不確定性的情況下，該業務在各個方面都表現出色。

Reported diluted EPS for the fourth quarter was $0.87, $0.24 or 38% above the prior year. For the full fiscal year, sales of $903 million were up 7.6% or $63.7 million compared with the prior year sales of $838 million. Improved sales were driven by increased metal coatings, volumes and increased commodity pricing, while Infrastructure Solutions segment sales were flat versus the prior year. Year-over-year reported gross margins improved a very solid 250 basis points to 25% from 22.5% on continued strong Metal Coatings performance and improved market conditions and infrastructure, as a segment that is recovering from the pandemic era.

報告的第四季度攤薄每股收益為 0.87 美元、0.24 美元或比上年同期增長 38%。整個財年的銷售額為 9.03 億美元，較上年的 8.38 億美元銷售額增長 7.6% 或 6370 萬美元。金屬塗層、銷量和商品價格上漲推動了銷售額的增長，而基礎設施解決方案部門的銷售額與上一年持平。同比報告的毛利率從 22.5% 非常穩健地提高了 250 個基點至 25%，這得益於持續強勁的金屬塗料業績以及改善的市場條件和基礎設施，作為一個正在從大流行時代復甦的細分市場。

Reported operating profit in fiscal year 2022 was $113.3 million, 84.0% above the $61.6 million recorded in the prior year. Adjustments in the fourth quarter included a $1.8 million gain associated with returning assets previously held for sale to operating status. Partially offsetting this adjustment was $1.5 million related to the due diligence legal fees incurred as part of our recent acquisitions as well as our pending acquisition of Precoat Metals from Sequa, a Carlyle Company.

2022 財年報告的營業利潤為 1.133 億美元，比上年的 6160 萬美元增長 84.0%。第四季度的調整包括 180 萬美元的收益，與將之前持有的待售資產恢復到運營狀態相關。部分抵消了這一調整的 150 萬美元與盡職調查法律費用相關，這些費用是我們最近收購的一部分，以及我們即將從凱雷旗下公司 Sequa 收購 Precoat Metals。

On an adjusted basis, fiscal 2022 operating income of $113.1 million exceeded prior year adjusted operating income of $81.6 million by $31.5 million or 39%. EBITDA as adjusted for the year was $157.2 million compared with adjusted EBITDA of $125.2 million in the prior year on higher earnings and improved operational performance. The company reported diluted earnings per share for the year of $3.35, increases of 120% and 58% compared to $1.52 and $2.11 on a reported and adjusted basis in the prior year.

在調整後的基礎上，2022 財年的營業收入為 1.131 億美元，比上年調整後的營業收入 8160 萬美元高出 3150 萬美元或 39%。本年度調整後的 EBITDA 為 1.572 億美元，而上一年調整後的 EBITDA 為 1.252 億美元，原因是收益增加和經營業績改善。該公司報告本年度每股攤薄收益為 3.35 美元，與去年報告和調整後的每股收益 1.52 美元和 2.11 美元相比分別增長 120% 和 58%。

Cash flows from operations in the current year were $86 million compared with $92 million in the prior year. The $6 million decrease was primarily attributable to increases in inventories, timing of receipts on contracts and timing of payments to suppliers. The company continued to invest in the business over the year, having invested $28.4 million in capital expenditures for both growth and capital maintenance projects or $10.2 million below last year's CapEx spend. Part of that was related to delays in spending from supply chain.

本年度運營現金流為 8600 萬美元，上年為 9200 萬美元。 600 萬美元的減少主要歸因於庫存增加、合同收據時間以及向供應商付款的時間。該公司在過去一年繼續對該業務進行投資，為增長和資本維護項目投資了 2840 萬美元的資本支出，比去年的資本支出減少了 1020 萬美元。部分原因與供應鏈支出的延遲有關。

For fiscal '23, we expect to invest $25 million to $30 million in our base business. During the year, the company repurchased $30.8 million in outstanding shares compared to $48.3 million in the prior year. During the fourth quarter, the company reduced our purchase activity due to the acquisitions of Steel Creek Galvanizing, DAAM Galvanizing and our pending acquisition of Precoat Metals.

對於 23 財年，我們預計將向我們的基礎業務投資 2500 萬至 3000 萬美元。年內，公司回購了 3080 萬美元的流通股，而上一年為 4830 萬美元。在第四季度，由於收購了 Steel Creek Galvanizing、DAAM Galvanizing 以及我們即將收購的 Precoat Metals，公司減少了我們的採購活動。

During the year, we continued to return capital to our shareholders returning $16.9 million to shareholders through dividend payments.

年內，我們繼續通過股息支付向股東返還 1690 萬美元的資本。

As we progress forward with our acquisition of Precoat Metals, our leverage profile will change significantly as we incur higher borrowings to pay for this highly accretive acquisition. We expect our leverage following our equity raise to approximately 4.2x compared with our current leverage of approximately 1.4x. We have fully secured term loan financing for the acquisition financing through our bank group, and we'll begin marketing our term loan very shortly. We are under an NDA on the equity financing component, have finished due diligence and are well down a contractual path and expect to shortly have our capital allocation desire to effectively fund and close on the Precoat acquisition.

隨著我們對 Precoat Metals 的收購取得進展，我們的槓桿狀況將發生重大變化，因為我們會產生更高的借款來支付這一高度增值的收購。我們預計股權融資後的槓桿率約為 4.2 倍，而目前約為 1.4 倍。我們已經通過我們的銀行集團為收購融資提供了充分的定期貸款融資，我們將很快開始銷售我們的定期貸款。我們正處於股權融資部分的 NDA 之下，已經完成盡職調查並且正在按照合同路徑進行，預計我們的資本配置願望很快就會有效地為 Precoat 收購提供資金並完成收購。

We have just completed a very strong fourth quarter and have started our fiscal year 2023 with continued strength across our segments. Once we complete the Precoat acquisition, we will continue to focus strongly on utilizing our strong cash flow generation to repay newly established debt and deleverage quickly.

我們剛剛結束了非常強勁的第四季度，並以我們各部門的持續實力開始了 2023 財年。一旦我們完成對 Precoat 的收購，我們將繼續專注於利用我們強大的現金流生成來償還新建立的債務和快速去槓桿化。

With that, I'll turn it back over to you, Tom.

有了這個，我會把它還給你，湯姆。

Thanks, Phil. While we have discontinued our guidance, let me give you some key indicators that we are paying particular attention to. For the Metal Coatings segments, the Galvanizing business, we are carefully tracking input costs, especially the cost of zinc in our kettles, which we expect will continue to arise.

謝謝，菲爾。雖然我們已經停止了我們的指導，但讓我給你一些我們特別關注的關鍵指標。對於金屬塗料部門、鍍鋅業務，我們正在仔細跟踪投入成本，尤其是我們的水壺中的鋅成本，我們預計該成本將繼續上升。

We believe we will be able to continue to offset increasing costs with both price surcharges, general price increases and operating efficiencies. Within the Industrial Solutions platform, we are seeing improved spring turnaround activity and the outlook for the fall turnaround schedule is filling in nicely, including internationally. For the Electrical platform, we continue to track proposal activity and have strong backlogs for most of our business units, particularly switchgear and enclosures.

我們相信，我們將能夠繼續通過價格附加費、一般價格上漲和運營效率來抵消不斷增加的成本。在工業解決方案平台內，我們看到春季周轉活動有所改善，秋季周轉時間表的前景也很好，包括在國際上。對於電氣平台，我們繼續跟踪提案活動，並且我們的大多數業務部門都有大量積壓，尤其是開關設備和機櫃。

Finally, for corporate, we will work to complete the acquisition of Precoat Metals, continue our strong cash management processes and we'll focus on paying down debt associated with the recent -- or the pending acquisition of Precoat. We anticipate closing the Precoat Metals acquisition in May, and we are optimistic regarding the contribution we will soon begin to realize for the balance of fiscal year 2023.

最後，對於企業，我們將努力完成對 Precoat Metals 的收購，繼續我們強大的現金管理流程，我們將專注於償還與最近或即將收購 Precoat 相關的債務。我們預計將在 5 月完成對 Precoat Metals 的收購，我們對我們將很快開始實現 2023 財年餘額的貢獻持樂觀態度。

And while I do not want to distract from the great operating results and bright prospects for fiscal 2023, I will note that we should have an announcement out soon on the equity as Philip mentioned.

雖然我不想分散對 2023 財年出色經營業績和光明前景的注意力，但我會指出，正如菲利普提到的那樣，我們應該很快就股權發表公告。

We will remain committed to our growth strategy around Metal Coatings. We believe the acquisition of Precoat will allow AZZ's combined Metal Coatings businesses to support our 21% to 23% operating margin targets, even factoring in inflationary commodity pressures. For Infrastructure Solutions, we will continue to focus on improving profitability while finalizing strategic negotiations currently in process.

我們將繼續致力於圍繞金屬塗料的增長戰略。我們相信，收購 Precoat 將使 AZZ 合併後的金屬塗料業務能夠支持我們 21% 至 23% 的營業利潤率目標，即使考慮到通貨膨脹的商品壓力。對於基礎設施解決方案，我們將繼續專注於提高盈利能力，同時完成目前正在進行的戰略談判。

We survived the disruption of COVID in 2020, gained momentum in 2021 and have been able to hit fiscal year 2023 at a gallop. But we are on the cusp of fulfilling our commitment over a year ago of becoming predominantly a highly profitable, growth-oriented metal coatings company. We thank you for your patience as we take these significant next steps.

我們在 2020 年挺過了 COVID 的破壞，在 2021 年獲得了發展勢頭，並得以在 2023 財年飛速前進。但我們正處於履行一年多前承諾的風口浪尖，即成為一家高利潤、以增長為導向的金屬塗料公司。感謝您在我們採取這些重要的後續步驟時的耐心等待。

And with that, we'll open it up for questions.

有了這個，我們將打開它來提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question will come from John Franzreb with Sidoti & Company.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題將來自 Sidoti & Company 的 John Franzreb。

Tom, Phil and David, congratulations on a nice quarter. A quick question on zinc prices and other commodity prices. Tom, you mentioned that you're instituting surcharges and price increases. Can you talk a little bit about if you're ahead of the curve on this as far as the price increases, especially since zinc's at the highest level since 2005? And how much it's impacting your margin profile right now?

Tom、Phil 和 David，祝賀你度過了一個美好的季度。關於鋅價和其他商品價格的快速提問。湯姆，你提到你正在徵收附加費和漲價。您能否談談您是否在價格上漲方面領先於曲線，尤其是自從鋅處於 2005 年以來的最高水平以來？它現在對您的利潤率影響有多大？

Yes. We've been able to, I'd say, stay somewhat ahead of the curve. But yes, we're just looking at continually rising prices. So we track what we've got to do very carefully to stay even or abreast of and ahead of that curve. And so our -- Brian and his team are reacting to it, I'd say, on a daily, weekly basis. When it comes to our electrical businesses more project related and so those kind of things we have escalation clauses in most of our contracts, and we're taking advantage of that. But there, I'd say we've -- the cost curve and the price curves are pretty much in sync. Moving forward, we'll try to get more escalation in.

是的。我想說，我們已經能夠在一定程度上保持領先地位。但是，是的，我們只是在關注不斷上漲的價格。因此，我們非常仔細地跟踪我們必須做的事情，以保持平衡或與此曲線並駕齊驅。所以我們 - 布賴恩和他的團隊正在對此做出反應，我會說，每天，每週。當涉及到我們的電氣業務時，更多的是與項目相關的事情，所以我們在大多數合同中都有升級條款，我們正在利用這一點。但是，我想說我們已經 - 成本曲線和價格曲線幾乎是同步的。展望未來，我們將嘗試進行更多升級。

And then on the WSI or the Industrial Solutions, they're deploying to jobs and their escalations come on welding wire, but they had pretty good inventories of that in place. So I'd say they're even to or maybe even a little bit ahead of the curve.

然後在 WSI 或工業解決方案上，他們正在部署工作，他們的升級來自焊絲，但他們有相當好的庫存。所以我想說他們甚至可能甚至領先於曲線。

And any thoughts on how much the commodity costs impacted the gross margin in the fourth quarter?

關於商品成本對第四季度毛利率的影響有多大？

No, it didn't. I don't believe it had a significant impact on our margins in the fourth quarter.

不，它沒有。我認為這不會對我們第四季度的利潤率產生重大影響。

Got it. And on the reversal of the impairment charge, what asset is now not for sale?

知道了。在衝回減值費用後，什麼資產現在不能出售？

It was one of our electrical facilities in our electrical platform, then we had it up for sale under negotiations and that fell out. And with the expansion of a year's point of time, we looked at it and determined to return it back to operating status.

它是我們電氣平台中的電氣設施之一，然後我們在談判中將其出售，結果失敗了。並且隨著一年時間點的擴大，我們看了看，下定決心要把它恢復到運營狀態。

Got it. And regarding the $150 million revenue or exceed $150 million revenue outlook for Metal Coatings, how much of that contribution is coming from Steel Creek and then as far as the revenue profile in the quarter?

知道了。關於金屬塗料 1.5 億美元或超過 1.5 億美元的收入前景，其中有多少貢獻來自 Steel Creek，以及本季度的收入狀況？

It's still relatively small. I mean it's probably 3% or 4%.

它仍然相對較小。我的意思是它可能是 3% 或 4%。

Our next question will come from Noelle Dilts with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Stifel 的 Noelle Dilts。

Just following up on that last question from John, maybe a little bit more clarification. When you look at the Metal Coatings business for this past year and also looking forward into fiscal '23. Can you give us a sense of what you're seeing from a volume perspective? And if you're expecting the volume element of growth to pick up as you get into 2020 -- fiscal '23?

只是跟進 John 的最後一個問題，也許需要進一步說明。當您查看過去一年的金屬塗料業務並展望 23 財年時。你能從數量的角度告訴我們你所看到的嗎？而且，如果您預計在進入 2020 年時增長的數量因素會回升——23 財年？

Well, we're off to a good start in the first quarter. We would hope that, that pace continues. Obviously, if zinc costs continue to rise and we'll seek to keep our prices in line with that. So -- but I think first quarter is -- we would hope it's fairly indicative of at least the first half of the year -- second half of the year. Normally, our fourth quarter weakens a little bit as we may have winter storms and things like that.

好吧，我們在第一季度有了一個良好的開端。我們希望，這種步伐繼續下去。顯然，如果鋅成本繼續上漲，我們將設法使我們的價格與此保持一致。所以 - 但我認為第一季度是 - 我們希望它至少能說明今年上半年 - 下半年。通常情況下，我們的第四季度會有所減弱，因為我們可能會遇到冬季風暴之類的事情。

So we anticipate kind of the same cadence. But obviously, at what, 9% or 10% improvement over prior year, as you look at it, partly from the acquisitions, partly from the organic growth and continued expansion of things like spin galvanizing.

因此，我們預計會出現相同的節奏。但很明顯，正如你所看到的，與上一年相比有 9% 或 10% 的改善，部分來自收購，部分來自有機增長和旋轉鍍鋅等業務的持續擴張。

Okay. And then solar in the past has been kind of a key driver of growth, and I know you've talked about it a bit recently. Recently, we heard that the you're seeing a Department of Commerce investigation into solar panels and that, that may defer some work. Anything you're seeing on that front in terms of projects or deliveries getting delayed?

好的。然後太陽能在過去一直是增長的關鍵驅動力，我知道你最近談到過它。最近，我們聽說商務部正在對太陽能電池板進行調查，這可能會推遲一些工作。在項目或交付延遲方面，您在這方面看到了什麼？

Noelle, this is David. Yes. At this time, we're not seeing any delays in what we've got from our team that we're working at this point. But we're tracking that closely. We think that if anything shows up, it's going to be well out in the latter part of the second half of this year. But right now, we're not seeing any impact from that at all.

諾艾爾，這是大衛。是的。目前，我們從我們的團隊那裡得到的工作沒有任何延遲。但我們正在密切跟踪。我們認為，如果出現任何情況，它將在今年下半年下半年得到很好的解決。但是現在，我們根本看不到任何影響。

And then just last, I was hoping you could go back to Precoat and just discuss if you see any synergies either on the sales or the cost side that you expect to materialize over the next several years?

最後，我希望你能回到 Precoat 並討論一下你是否希望在未來幾年內在銷售或成本方面看到任何協同效應？

Absolutely. Yes. We've -- the sales side, particularly, it's interesting, we have a lot of similar -- well, same customers -- but we probably call on them in different parts of the process. So our -- particularly our galvanizing sales team and the precoat sales team, we have a really nice plan to explore opportunities across joint customers as well as into new opportunities with each other's customers. So we're pretty excited about that. We haven't quantified it yet. We actually have a meeting next week. We'll start to pin some of these things down a little tighter. But we think that's going to be a nice part of the synergies. It's just this opportunity across the fabrication line, both prefab and post-fab.

絕對地。是的。我們 - 銷售方面，特別是有趣的是，我們有很多相似 - 嗯，相同的客戶 - 但我們可能會在流程的不同部分拜訪他們。所以我們 - 特別是我們的鍍鋅銷售團隊和預塗層銷售團隊，我們有一個非常好的計劃來探索共同客戶的機會以及與彼此客戶的新機會。所以我們對此感到非常興奮。我們還沒有量化它。實際上我們下週要開會。我們將開始更嚴格地確定其中一些內容。但我們認為這將是協同作用的一個很好的部分。這正是整個生產線的機會，包括預製件和後製件。

Then on the cost side, we've got the standalone costs and things like that, we'll look to leverage some of these things, and we had teams engage this, well, this week. And we'll continue to have teams engaged from now until close and obviously, thereafter, looking for other opportunities, whether it be on the system side or process side. So while cost synergies are not a big part of this, we just think we're going to have some scale opportunities, and we've got some pretty good teams that hopefully, we can get some benefits from some of our contracts on insurance and things like that.

然後在成本方面，我們有獨立成本和類似的東西，我們將尋求利用其中的一些東西，並且我們讓團隊參與其中，好吧，本週。從現在到結束，我們將繼續讓團隊參與，顯然，此後，尋找其他機會，無論是在系統方面還是在流程方面。因此，雖然成本協同效應不是其中的重要組成部分，但我們只是認為我們將有一些規模化的機會，而且我們有一些非常優秀的團隊，希望我們可以從我們的一些保險合同和像這樣的東西。

Our next question will come from Jon Braatz with Kansas City Capital.

我們的下一個問題將來自堪薩斯城資本的 Jon Braatz。

Tom, you mentioned that you've seen some strong order flows and good backlog growth in the Electrical Products platform. What end markets are you seeing that business come from?

Tom，您提到您在 Electrical Products 平台上看到了一些強勁的訂單流和良好的積壓增長。您認為該業務來自哪些終端市場？

Yes. We booked this large battery energy storage system projects. We call that the big, best order. Unfortunately, we can't quantify it for confidentiality reasons. But we see more opportunities for that just because in the renewable space, you've got to have battery energy storage to be able to get -- store it and get the electricity to the grid. So those are large opportunities, they fit well with us because we've got 5 plants that build in closures, 3 of them which are pure e-house businesses. Data centers continues to be strong. And then transmission distribution is also solid, and we think that's going to stay that way for several years. There's just firming up our -- the grid is critical. David, I don't know if you want to answer adding to that.

是的。我們預定了這個大型電池儲能係統項目。我們稱之為大的、最好的訂單。不幸的是，出於保密原因，我們無法對其進行量化。但我們看到了更多的機會，因為在可再生能源領域，你必須有電池儲能才能獲得 - 儲存它並將電力輸送到電網。所以這些都是巨大的機會，它們非常適合我們，因為我們有 5 家工廠關閉，其中 3 家是純電子房屋業務。數據中心繼續保持強勁。然後傳輸分佈也很穩固，我們認為這種情況將持續數年。只是鞏固我們的 - 網格是至關重要的。大衛，我不知道你是否想回答補充問題。

I can add 1 point on there. I just think across our back our businesses in the electrical side, we're seeing increases in backlog, whether it's our lighting and tubing. Our switchgear is strong. So we're seeing improvements across the electrical platform.

我可以在那裡加1分。我只是想到我們在電氣方面的業務，我們看到積壓增加，無論是我們的照明和管道。我們的開關設備很強大。因此，我們看到了整個電氣平台的改進。

Okay. So it's more than just the battery energy storage contract?

好的。所以不僅僅是電池儲能合同？

Yes, if you take out the -- some of the reductions in China backlog and then you take out the battery energy storage, we're up about 28% on year-over-year on base business.

是的，如果你去掉 - 中國積壓的一些減少，然後你拿出電池儲能，我們的基礎業務同比增長約 28%。

Okay. Good. Okay. Okay. And then secondly, when you announced the acquisition of -- or acquisition of Precoat about a month ago or whenever it was. Subsequently, interest rates have risen considerably. And I guess, Philip, when you look at the economics of the acquisition. Has it changed at all during this past month because of the rise in rates?

好的。好的。好的。好的。其次，當你在大約一個月前或任何時候宣布收購或收購 Precoat 時。隨後，利率大幅上升。我想，菲利普，當你看一下收購的經濟效益時。在過去的一個月裡，它有沒有因為利率上升而發生變化？

I mean, not really, and we're going to have to pay a little more in interest, but we have a term loan facility that's got collars on it, and so we're proceeding down that financing path. We're working on the equity piece. So the capital allocation strategy that we're working to employ is moving along really nicely. So I don't see that -- this is a really accretive opportunity for us. So when you look at the cash flow generation for AZZ that we just discussed, and kind of how we're starting off our fiscal '23. We're not -- we don't know them yet, but we do have some communication going back and forth. It looks like they're still having some nice operations. And so we think this is a great opportunity, regardless of the current market to take advantage of that accretion and the tax base savings and everything to move this forward.

我的意思是，不是真的，我們將不得不支付更多的利息，但我們有一個有期限的貸款工具，所以我們正在沿著這條融資之路前進。我們正在研究股權部分。因此，我們正在努力採用的資本配置策略進展順利。所以我不認為 - 這對我們來說是一個真正的增值機會。因此，當您查看我們剛剛討論的 AZZ 的現金流生成時，以及我們如何開始我們的 23 財年。我們不是——我們還不了解他們，但我們確實有一些來回的交流。看起來他們仍在進行一些不錯的操作。因此，我們認為這是一個很好的機會，無論當前市場如何利用這種增長和稅基節省以及推動這一進程的一切。

Our next question will come from Brett Kearney with Gabelli Funds.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Gabelli Funds 的 Brett Kearney。

We touched on it some in your prepared remarks and the Q&A so far, but just any additional update you can provide around latest thinking in terms of the financing components and then, I guess, the timing of each of those to close the deal next month.

到目前為止，我們在你準備好的評論和問答中提到了一些，但你可以提供任何額外的更新，圍繞融資部分的最新想法，然後，我想，每個人下個月完成交易的時間.

Yes. We're headed into the market now. We've got the committed financing in place. And so I won't go too much further, but just to say that we will begin shortly a marketing campaign to push out our term loan B and finalize our equity transaction.

是的。我們現在正進入市場。我們已經獲得了承諾的融資。因此，我不會說得太多，只是說我們將很快開始一項營銷活動，以推出我們的定期貸款 B 並完成我們的股權交易。

Okay. Great. And then just a follow-up. Curious what the key inputs to Precoat Metals formulations are. I imagine resin some amount of zinc. If you could just help me think about the major inputs on that business?

好的。偉大的。然後只是跟進。想知道 Precoat Metals 配方的關鍵輸入是什麼。我想像樹脂中含有一定量的鋅。如果你能幫我想想那個業務的主要投入？

Yes. Brent, when you take a look at it, their major input is paint. And so that's really their big driver. It's definitely a high variable cost business and very similar just overall mechanics wise on how we operate on the tolling business on the galvanizing side. So it's really just paint and labor costs.

是的。布倫特，當你看一看時，他們的主要投入是油漆。所以這真的是他們的大驅動力。這絕對是一項高可變成本的業務，並且在我們如何在鍍鋅方面開展收費業務的整體機制方面非常相似。所以這實際上只是油漆和人工成本。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question will come from DeForest Hinman with Walthausen & Company.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題將來自 Walthausen & Company 的 DeForest Hinman。

Just another one on the Precoat transaction may close, it's within 40 days. Can you just help us with a little bit more color on the mix of the equity and the debt? Is there a range we should be thinking about in terms of how you're looking to fund this transaction?

Precoat 交易中的另一筆交易可能會在 40 天內完成。你能幫我們談談股權和債務的組合嗎？關於您希望如何為這筆交易提供資金，我們是否應該考慮一個範圍？

Yes. I think we disclosed that before, but we're looking at roughly a $1.5 billion borrowing facility with $400 million revolver and up to $240 million of that would be the equity component.

是的。我想我們之前已經披露過，但我們正在考慮大約 15 億美元的借貸機制和 4 億美元的循環貸款，其中高達 2.4 億美元將是股權部分。

Okay. And then can you talk a little bit more about the backlog to the extent that you can? I mean, just a really big number you make mention in the press release of the battery storage contract, then in your verbal comments you said you can't really talk a lot about it. But I mean just sequentially and even on a year-over-year basis, I mean, it's a really big dollar increase in your backlog and you said there are sizable opportunities. Simplistic question, is that over $100 million increase in backlog? Is that the battery order? Is that a fair statement, most of it or all of it?

好的。然後你能盡可能多談談積壓嗎？我的意思是，你在電池存儲合同的新聞稿中提到了一個非常大的數字，然後在你的口頭評論中你說你真的不能談論太多。但我的意思是，只是按順序，甚至是按年比，我的意思是，你的積壓訂單增加了很大的美元，你說有相當大的機會。簡單的問題，是否增加了超過 1 億美元的積壓？那是電池訂單嗎？這是一個公平的陳述，大部分還是全部？

I think when you look at that, it's -- I kind of explained the 20% when you take out the best order in the China backlog decreases that we had. So it's not over $100 million, it's a nice sizable order. It's 120-plus units. And then so it will come in and out of our backlog during -- as Tom was speaking to our fiscal '23. So it's already under construction, and it will ship or it's planned to ship during the fiscal year. We believe based on what we're seeing. This is a great opportunity for us to execute well and there's an expanded market potential for these battery energy storage facilities going forward.

我想當你看到它時，它是 - 當你拿出中國積壓訂單減少的最佳訂單時，我有點解釋了 20%。所以它不超過 1 億美元，這是一個相當大的訂單。它有 120 多個單元。然後它會在我們的積壓工作中進進出出——正如湯姆在我們的 23 財年所說的那樣。所以它已經在建設中，它將在財政年度內發貨或計劃發貨。我們相信基於我們所看到的。這對我們來說是一個很好的執行機會，並且這些電池儲能設施的市場潛力不斷擴大。

Yes. This is -- this was a design we've been working for the battery energy storage. It was a design we've been working on for a while. So we there's a need out there. And we see this over the next 2 or 3 years being $200 million, $300 million, $400 million of opportunities over that period. And yes, so we -- and we think we've got a great solution for it. So we're -- a significant portion of the increase is in the enclosures space, which is 3 facilities. And then we've got strong backlog in our switchgear as well. And we've got 2 of those facilities. And as Philip mentioned, then our bus businesses have been performing well. But reduced input on the international front, but more on domestic and service, and [oil patch] businesses have improved significantly. So it's a broad-based improvement in that backlog, not just from the battery energy storage.

是的。這是 - 這是我們一直致力於電池儲能的設計。這是我們已經研究了一段時間的設計。所以我們有需要。我們認為在接下來的 2 或 3 年內，這將是 2 億美元、3 億美元、4 億美元的機會。是的，所以我們 - 我們認為我們已經找到了一個很好的解決方案。所以我們 - 增加的很大一部分是在封閉空間，即 3 個設施。然後我們的開關設備也有大量積壓。我們有兩個這樣的設施。正如菲利普提到的那樣，我們的巴士業務一直表現良好。但在國際方面的投入減少了，但更多的是在國內和服務方面，[油田]業務有明顯改善。因此，這是對積壓工作的廣泛改進，而不僅僅是來自電池儲能。

Yes, that's helpful. And then when we think about some of the battery solution that you have won business on, is this -- I don't how to say it or ask about it, but I mean, is it in our wheelhouse? Is this something from an engineering perspective, we've done before? Or is this some new things where maybe we're buying batteries from a third party and that's part of the backlog in there? Or what is it exactly that we're doing? What's the new design?

是的，這很有幫助。然後當我們考慮一些你贏得業務的電池解決方案時，這是——我不知道怎麼說或問它，但我的意思是，它在我們的駕駛室裡嗎？這是我們以前做過的從工程角度來看的事情嗎？或者這是一些新東西，我們可能從第三方購買電池，這是那裡積壓的一部分？或者我們到底在做什麼？什麼是新設計？

Now this is our very traditional fabricate the enclosure, do the integration work and wiring and certain components supplied from the customer. So the backlog is -- represents very much our traditional backlog for the enclosure space because it's the heavy fabrication wiring integration relay panels, things like that. So very, very traditional. There's nuances in the design, but it's structurally and electrically, it's the same thing we do consistently year in, year out.

現在這是我們非常傳統的製造外殼，進行集成工作和佈線以及客戶提供的某些組件。所以積壓是 - 非常代表我們傳統的外殼空間積壓，因為它是重型製造佈線集成繼電器面板，諸如此類。非常非常傳統。設計中存在細微差別，但在結構和電氣方面，這是我們年復一年始終如一的做法。

Okay. And then just a follow-up, the last piece on the infrastructure side. I think going back, if we had seen backlog in the $300 million range in the past. And obviously, there's a mix component there as well, but that segment had generated 10% type operating margins with those type of backlog. Is that what you're seeing currently from a mix perspective as an opportunity for that business?

好的。然後只是跟進，基礎設施方面的最後一部分。我想回過頭來看，如果我們過去看到積壓在 3 億美元的範圍內。顯然，那裡也有一個混合組件，但該部分已經通過這些類型的積壓產生了 10% 的類型運營利潤率。從混合的角度來看，這是您目前看到的業務機會嗎？

Yes, it is. There's good -- when we get that kind of backlog, there's good scale leverage. And our focus is just on managing the supply chain, making sure we get components in time, keeping labor focused and productive and efficient, which -- there's a few more challenges these days, but still, yes, we get a nice margin pop when we get this kind of volume.

是的。有好處——當我們得到那種積壓時，就會有很好的規模槓桿作用。我們的重點只是管理供應鏈，確保我們及時獲得組件，保持勞動力集中、生產力和效率，這些天還有更多的挑戰，但是，是的，當我們得到一個不錯的利潤率時我們得到了這樣的音量。

Okay. And then the last question is just on a rundown of the labor situation within the 2 segments. Anything you're seeing there? Better, worse, same would be very helpful.

好的。然後最後一個問題只是關於 2 個部門內勞動力情況的概要。你在那裡看到了什麼？更好，更糟，相同會非常有幫助。

Yes. I think on the Metal Coatings side, the team has done a great job. We've -- we're doing better with retention and due to some programs we have. Hiring has improved. We did increase wages. So when we talk about inflation, that's part of it. But I think the team is doing a great job. We've got programs that help employees get onboarded and engaged and -- which is helping us with our retention.

是的。我認為在金屬塗料方面，團隊做得很好。我們已經 - 我們在保留方面做得更好，並且由於我們有一些計劃。招聘有所改善。我們確實增加了工資。因此，當我們談論通貨膨脹時，這是其中的一部分。但我認為團隊做得很好。我們有幫助員工入職和參與的計劃，這有助於我們留住員工。

When it comes to the Infrastructure Solutions, I think on the industrial side, the WSI side, they've -- in the U.S., we're using contract craft. And I'd say we've done a good job there. I don't know that it's improving or not, but it's at least stable. And on the electrical side, where we're trying to get -- it's more related to semi-skilled craft. I'd say it's improved a little bit. And part of this is our programs for recruiting and hiring have continued to mature and get engaged with new ways to recruit. So I'd say it's improving and moving from -- into more of a stable situation. So we actually feel pretty good, but I think it's a lot of what our teams have been able to do to get us to that point.

談到基礎設施解決方案，我認為在工業方面，WSI 方面，他們 - 在美國，我們正在使用合同工藝。我想說我們在這方面做得很好。我不知道它是否在改善，但它至少是穩定的。在電氣方面，我們正在努力達到的目標——它與半熟練工藝更相關。我會說它有所改善。部分原因是我們的招聘和招聘計劃不斷成熟，並開始採用新的招聘方式。所以我想說它正在改善並從 - 進入更穩定的情況。所以我們實際上感覺很好，但我認為這是我們的團隊能夠做的很多事情才能讓我們達到這一點。

Our next question will come from Bill Baldwin with Baldwin Anthony Securities.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Baldwin Anthony Securities 的 Bill Baldwin。

And good job folks on the job you've been doing over there. Been a long journey, but it's paying off. It's paying off. On the bus side of the business, can you remind me again of what the major market drivers are for your -- both your medium bus and high-voltage bus business products.

你們在那裡做的工作做得很好。這是一段漫長的旅程，但它正在得到回報。這是有回報的。在業務的總線方面，您能否再次提醒我您的主要市場驅動因素是什麼——您的中型總線和高壓總線業務產品。

Yes. Sure thing, Bill. The main drivers there are really transformer swap-outs. Also some of the work goes into connecting up to existing and new switchgear. So that's really it for medium voltage bus. Medium voltage bus also doing a fair amount of service work as well where they're going out into the field and helping folks retrofit and refurbish equipment. And then the high-voltage bus side, it's really about power gen. Again, we had the big project in China last year, and the group continues to work with a couple of very large customers here domestically on some power gen projects.

是的。當然可以，比爾。那裡的主要驅動因素實際上是變壓器換出。還有一些工作用於連接現有的和新的開關設備。這就是中壓總線的真正含義。中壓總線也做了大量的服務工作，以及他們進入現場並幫助人們改造和翻新設備的地方。然後是高壓總線側，它實際上是關於發電的。同樣，我們去年在中國有一個大項目，該集團繼續與國內的幾個非常大的客戶合作開展一些發電項目。

What would be the -- are those power gen products, natural gas power gen? Or would it be hydropower gen? Or does it make any real difference what the source of the power is?

那些發電產品，天然氣發電會是什麼？還是水力發電？還是權力的來源有什麼真正的區別？

It really doesn't make really doesn't make any difference for us. We see projects on both sides of those. So yes, really no different.

這對我們真的沒有任何影響。我們看到了雙方的項目。所以是的，真的沒有什麼不同。

When we see the manufacturing side of our economy, really spend a lot of money on upgrades, expansions and so forth. Does that -- is that a driver for what we're talking about here on the medium bus side of the business?

當我們看到經濟的製造業方面時，確實在升級、擴張等方面花費了大量資金。這是否 - 這是我們在業務的中型總線方面談論的驅動程序？

Yes, it can be. Where we really see it a lot is on the medium voltage switchgear. And then, again, to that extent, you'll have some medium-voltage bus coming off that to connect into some of these industrial plants and manufacturing plants as you just described.

是的，可以。我們真正經常看到它的地方是在中壓開關設備上。然後，再一次，在那種程度上，你會有一些中壓總線從那裡出來，連接到你剛才描述的這些工業廠房和製造廠中的一些。

Is that order flow looking pretty good, then on the medium bus side?

那麼在中型總線端，訂單流看起來不錯嗎？

They're kind of running at their normal rates, nothing.

他們有點以正常的速度運行，沒什麼。

Yes, but we've pivoted more towards services. So they're able to pursue more opportunities than just the project side.

是的，但我們更傾向於服務。因此，他們能夠尋求更多的機會，而不僅僅是項目方面。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Tom Ferguson for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回給湯姆·弗格森，聽取任何閉幕詞。

All right. Thank you. Well, thanks for joining us today. We look forward to continuing to get some announcements out there so that everybody gets confirmation on the things we've been planning and involved in. And so we're hopeful over the next few weeks, you'll see more of that and that you'll get a good announcement when we close on the Precoat Metals acquisition. We're looking forward to that and as well as continuing to make progress in our businesses and on our strategic initiatives. Thank you very much. Look forward to talking to you next time.

好的。謝謝。好吧，感謝您今天加入我們。我們期待著繼續發布一些公告，以便每個人都能確認我們一直在計劃和參與的事情。所以我們希望在接下來的幾週內，你會看到更多，而且你當我們完成對 Precoat Metals 的收購時，我們會得到一個好的公告。我們期待著這一點，並繼續在我們的業務和戰略舉措方面取得進展。非常感謝。期待下次與您交談。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連接。