Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc (BW) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon. Thank you for attending the Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises third-quarter 2024 conference call. (Operator Instructions)

午安.感謝您參加 Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises 2024 年第三季電話會議。（操作員指令）

I would like to turn the conference over to your host, Sharyn Brooks, B&W's Director of Communications. Thank you. You may proceed Ms. Brooks.

我想將會議交給主持人、B&W 的通訊總監 Sharyn Brooks。謝謝。您可以繼續，布魯克斯女士。

Thank you, Victoria, and thanks to everyone for joining us on Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises third quarter 2024 earnings conference call.

謝謝維多利亞，也謝謝大家參加 Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。

Joining the call today are Kenny Young, B&W's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Louis Salamone, Chief Financial Officer, to discuss our third quarter results. During this call, certain statements we make will be forward-looking. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including those set forth in our Safe Harbor provision for forward-looking statements that can be found at the end of our earnings press release.

今天參加電話會議的有 B&W 董事長兼執行長 Kenny Young；和財務長 Louis Salamone 討論我們的第三季業績。在本次電話會議中，我們發表的某些聲明將具有前瞻性。這些聲明受到風險和不確定性的影響，包括我們收益新聞稿末尾所述的前瞻性聲明安全港條款中規定的風險和不確定性。

And also in our Form 10-Q that was filed this afternoon and our Form 10-K that is on file with the SEC and provide further detail about the risks related to our business. Additionally, except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

此外，在我們今天下午提交的 10-Q 表和提交給美國證券交易委員會的 10-K 表中，我們還提供了與我們業務相關的風險的更多詳細資訊。此外，除非法律要求，我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務。

We also provide non-GAAP information regarding certain of our historical and targeted results to supplement the results provided in accordance with GAAP. This information should not be considered superior to or as a substitute for the comparable GAAP measures.

我們還提供關於某些歷史和目標結果的非 GAAP 信息，以補充根據 GAAP 提供的結果。此資訊不應被視為優於或替代可比較的 GAAP 指標。

A reconciliation of historical non-GAAP measures can be found in our third quarter earnings release published this afternoon and in our company overview presentation filed on Form 8-K this afternoon and posted on the Investor Relations section of our website at babcock.com.

歷史非公認會計準則指標的對帳表可在我們今天下午發布的第三季度收益報告和今天下午以 8-K 表形式提交的公司概況介紹中找到，並發佈在我們的網站 babcock.com 的投資者關係部分。

I will now turn the call over to Kenneth.

現在我將電話轉給肯尼斯。

Thanks, Sharyn. Well, good afternoon, everyone and thanks for joining us on our third quarter 2024 earnings call. We generated significant operating margin improvement on a year over year basis during the third quarter of 2024, reflecting our recent strategic actions of avoiding lower margin projects and improving project performance as well as reducing costs.

謝謝，莎琳。大家下午好，感謝您參加我們的 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。2024 年第三季度，我們的營業利潤率同比大幅提高，這反映了我們最近採取的策略行動，即避免利潤率較低的專案、提高專案績效以及降低成本。

This was highlighted by our strong increases in our adjusted EBITDA operating income and net income compared to the same period in 2023. When excluding revenue from BWRS, which was an asset we sold in the second quarter of this year.

與 2023 年同期相比，我們的調整後 EBITDA 營業收入和淨收入強勁成長，突顯了這一點。不包括 BWRS 的收入，這是我們在今年第二季出售的資產。

During the third quarter of 2024, we recorded two significant one time items. The first was a non-cash $5.8 million impairment related to the sale of our SPIG asset, which we just closed recently in the fourth quarter of this year.

在 2024 年第三季度，我們記錄了兩個重大的一次性項目。第一個是與出售我們的 SPIG 資產有關的 580 萬美元非現金減值，我們今年第四季剛完成出售。

And the second was a $4.9 million settlement to exit the last O&M multi year maintenance contract for a biomass plant in the UK, this historical contract associated with one of the biomass plants from 2018 and had over $15 million of losses over the last three years and we anticipated potential higher losses over the remaining 10 years.

第二項是達成 490 萬美元的和解協議，以退出英國一家生物質工廠的最後一份 O&M 多年期維護合同，這項歷史合約與 2018 年的一家生物質工廠有關，過去三年的損失超過 1500 萬美元，我們預計剩餘 10 年的損失可能會更高。

This was a remarkable settlement for us, excluding these one time provisions, we would have improved our operating income and net income by $10.3 million. Both of which would have been on track with expectation. This really demonstrates the company's improved overall margin performance.

對我們來說，這是一筆了不起的和解，除去這些一次性撥備，我們的營業收入和淨收入將增加 1,030 萬美元。兩者都符合預期。這確實顯示該公司整體利潤率表現有所改善。

We believe that we are in a unique position to leverage the significant increase in baseload generation demand in North America and around the world. The demand for energy from consumers and data centers and large businesses either from the grid or behind the meter along with increased energy needs from utility and large industrial clients are providing even greater opportunities for us to design and install our broad range of technology and contribute our considerable expertise to the areas of fossil fuels, natural gas, synthetic fuels and renewable energy to help meet that demand.

我們相信，我們處於獨特的地位，可以利用北美乃至全球基荷發電需求的大幅成長。消費者、資料中心和大型企業對電網或電錶能源的需求以及公用事業和大型工業客戶不斷增長的能源需求為我們設計和安裝廣泛的技術提供了更大的機會，並為化石燃料、天然氣、合成燃料和可再生能源領域貢獻我們豐富的專業知識，以幫助滿足這一需求。

We believe the increasing need for power and electricity fueled by demand from artificial intelligence, electric cars and expanding economies will be key drivers for growth across our broad range of technologies and we are seeing our utility and industrial clients, including in oil and gas sector continuing to increase capacity, utilizing our core technologies while evaluating further power generation augmentation through biomass, hydrogen and natural gas.

我們相信，人工智慧、電動車和不斷擴大的經濟所推動的對電力的日益增長的需求將成為我們廣泛技術領域增長的主要驅動力，我們看到我們的公用事業和工業客戶（包括石油和天然氣行業）繼續增加產能，利用我們的核心技術，同時評估透過生物質、氫氣和天然氣進一步增強發電量。

We expect these tailwinds to increase in the coming years as the amount of front end engineering design opportunities or FEED studies have grown. Today, we have roughly 12% to 15% or 12 to 15 active FEED studies that represent potential projects of over $1 billion in revenues in our pipeline. We believe that these expected industry tailwinds provide a strong foundation for B&W to grow in 2025 and beyond as we continue to reshape and rebuild this company and drive for higher margins and improve cash flows.

我們預計，隨著前端工程設計機會或 FEED 研究數量的增加，未來幾年這些順風將會增加。今天，我們有大約 12% 到 15% 或 12 到 15 個活躍的 FEED 研究，這些研究代表我們正在進行的專案潛在收入超過 10 億美元。我們相信，這些預期的行業順風為 B&W 在 2025 年及以後的成長奠定了堅實的基礎，因為我們將繼續重塑和重建這家公司，努力提高利潤率並改善現金流。

Overall, our results in the third quarter reflect the strong demand for our diverse portfolio of technologies that support the generation of efficient and sustainable energy regardless of fuel source. B&W has developed a strong foundation to capitalize on the continued growth in natural gas conversions, environmental solutions, carbon capture and clean energy opportunities globally with utility and industrial customers.

總體而言，我們第三季的業績反映了對我們多樣化技術支援高效和永續能源的生產（無論燃料來源為何）的多樣化技術支援的強勁需求。B&W 已建立了強大的基礎，以利用全球公用事業和工業客戶在天然氣轉換、環境解決方案、碳捕獲和清潔能源機會的持續成長。

Our investments across our ClimateBright suite of decarbonization technologies to support the world's energy transition are progressing well. And notably, we are continuing to move forward on our BrightLoop project in Massillon, Ohio with a target of producing hydrogen by early 2026.

我們對 ClimateBright 脫碳技術套件的投資進展順利，旨在支持世界能源轉型。值得注意的是，我們正在繼續推進位於俄亥俄州馬西隆的 BrightLoop 項目，目標是到 2026 年初生產氫氣。

We also are working on several carbon capture opportunities that utilize our SolveBright post combustion CO2 capture and our oxygen combustion as well. In addition, we recently announced a FEED study in Sweden that will utilize post combustion technology with a waste to energy facility.

我們也正在研究幾種碳捕獲機會，利用我們的 SolveBright 燃燒後二氧化碳捕獲和氧氣燃燒。此外，我們最近宣布了瑞典的一項 FEED 研究，該研究將利用後燃燒技術和廢物能源設施。

We are further developing BrightLoop project in Massillon, Ohio, Wyoming, Louisiana and are engaged in FEED studies for BrightLoop with various customers in Canada and around the globe. We continue to see strong customer demand for our technologies that help drive our implied backlog 48% higher at the end of third quarter, excluding divestitures, compared to the same period last year and increased our implied bookings to over $800 million at the end of the third quarter.

我們正在馬西隆、俄亥俄州、懷俄明州、路易斯安那州進一步開發 BrightLoop 項目，並與加拿大和全球各地的各類客戶合作進行 BrightLoop 的 FEED 研究。我們繼續看到客戶對我們技術的強勁需求，這有助於推動我們在第三季度末的隱含積壓訂單與去年同期相比增長 48%（不包括資產剝離），並在第三季度末將我們的隱含預訂額增加到 8 億美元以上。

We are pleased to announce that just recently, our $246 million natural gas conversion project in Indiana has received PUC approval, and we have obtained the full notice to proceed. This will be now in our backlog numbers in the fourth quarter of this year, we have a broad range of technology and expertise across all fuel sources.

我們很高興地宣布，就在最近，我們在印第安納州價值 2.46 億美元的天然氣轉換項目已經獲得了公共事業委員會的批准，並且我們已獲得繼續進行的全面通知。這將計入我們今年第四季的積壓訂單數量，我們在所有燃料來源方面擁有廣泛的技術和專業知識。

And we believe the positive trends and momentum in the industries we serve will continue in the year ahead as the amount of FEED opportunities grow. And we continue to see a solid pipeline of more than $9 billion of opportunities over the next three years, including $2.4 billion and BrightLoop and ClimateBright opportunities alone.

我們相信，隨著 FEED 機會數量的增長，我們所服務的行業的積極趨勢和勢頭將在未來一年繼續保持。我們繼續看到未來三年有超過 90 億美元的穩定機遇，其中僅 BrightLoop 和 ClimateBright 兩個領域的機會就高達 24 億美元。

With respect to our third quarter results. We made further progress on our stated strategy to continue to divest non strategic assets to improve our balance sheet. Specifically, we completed the sale of our SPIG and GMAB businesses for net proceeds of $33.7 million.

關於我們的第三季業績。我們在既定策略方面取得了進一步進展，繼續剝離非策略資產以改善我們的資產負債表。具體來說，我們完成了 SPIG 和 GMAB 業務的出售，淨收益為 3,370 萬美元。

To date, we have raised over $116 million from the divestiture of assets in 2024. And importantly, we remain in negotiations related to the sale of other non strategic assets and are evaluating further debt refinancing with proceeds expected to reduce or refinance our debt obligations, strengthen our balance sheet and support growth working capital or growth opportunities.

迄今為止，我們已透過 2024 年的資產剝離籌集了超過 1.16 億美元。重要的是，我們仍在進行有關出售其他非戰略資產的談判，並正在評估進一步的債務再融資，預計所得收益將減少或再融資我們的債務，加強我們的資產負債表，並支持增長營運資金或增長機會。

We continued to make progress on our cost reduction efforts during the third quarter, achieving $26.5 million in cost savings today as we work toward the target of over $30 million in annualized cost savings. We have significantly improved the income of our solar operations which produced $5.7 million of income in the third quarter and is now generating positive EBITDA results despite its current classification.

第三季度，我們在成本削減方面繼續取得進展，目前已實現 2,650 萬美元的成本節約，我們正努力實現年度成本節約超過 3,000 萬美元的目標。我們的太陽能業務收入大幅提高，第三季創造了 570 萬美元的收入，儘管目前的分類為正值，但目前仍產生了正的 EBITDA 結果。

In parallel, we continue to ramp our investment in BrightLoop and ClimateBright as we continue developing the pipeline of future opportunities. The expected growth and anticipated higher margins of our BrightLoop, low carbon hydrogen technology and our ClimateBright decarbonization technologies should lead to continued higher margins in the future.

同時，我們將繼續增加對 BrightLoop 和 ClimateBright 的投資，並繼續開發未來的機會。我們的 BrightLoop、低碳氫化合物技術和 ClimateBright 脫碳技術的預期成長和預期更高利潤率將在未來繼續帶來更高的利潤率。

Like to now discuss our strong third quarter operating performance and we saw a meaningful increase in our adjusted EBITDA, which came in at $22.3 million this quarter compared to $20 million in the third quarter of 2023.

現在討論我們強勁的第三季營運業績，我們的調整後 EBITDA 出現了顯著成長，本季為 2,230 萬美元，而 2023 年第三季為 2,000 萬美元。

This year-over-year improvement was even more significant after excluding the impact of our recently divested BWRS business from last year's results. Excluding BWRS adjusted EBITDA last year was $12.6 million in third quarter of 2023 and increased 78% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2024. Our margins are benefiting from strategic shift to reduce reliance on high interest, low margin new build projects.

在從去年的業績中剔除我們最近剝離的 BWRS 業務的影響後，這一同比增長更加顯著。不包括 BWRS，去年調整後的 EBITDA 在 2023 年第三季為 1,260 萬美元，在 2024 年第三季年增 78%。我們的利潤率因策略轉變而受益，減少了對高利息、低利潤的新建專案的依賴。

And looking ahead, we continue to expect strong operating momentum driven by our thermal and environmental segments. As fourth quarter is historically a strong period for B&W businesses. This strong operating performance has been achieved alongside the sale of our recent SPIG and GMAB businesses.

展望未來，我們預計熱能和環境部門將繼續推動強勁的營運動能。從歷史上看，第四季度是 B&W 業務的強勁時期。這一強勁的營運業績是在我們最近出售 SPIG 和 GMAB 業務的同時實現的。

And after taking into account, the recent divestitures, we have revised our full year 2024 EBITDA target to a range from $91 million to $95 million, excluding BrightLoop and ClimateBright expenses. Importantly, we continue to invest in our BrightLoop opportunities and continue to anticipate spending in the range of $10 million to $15 million in 2024 on our BrightLoop projects and technology advancement including CapEx.

考慮到最近的資產剝離後，我們將 2024 年全年 EBITDA 目標修改為 9,100 萬美元至 9,500 萬美元之間，不包括 BrightLoop 和 ClimateBright 費用。重要的是，我們將繼續投資我們的 BrightLoop 機會，並繼續預計到 2024 年我們將在 BrightLoop 項目和包括資本支出在內的技術進步上花費 1000 萬至 1500 萬美元。

Our efforts to progress BrightLoop moving forward as we further the commercial development of existing projects and continue working to improve the overall operational effectiveness of these technologies to produce low cost, low carbon intensity hydrogen. We are continuing to progress with engineering work for our previously announced BrightLoop projects in Gillette, Wyoming, Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Massillon, Ohio.

我們致力於推動 BrightLoop 的發展，進一步推動現有專案的商業開發，並持續努力提高這些技術的整體營運效率，以生產低成本、低碳強度的氫氣。我們將繼續推進先前宣布的位於懷俄明州吉列、路易斯安那州巴吞魯日和俄亥俄州馬西隆的 BrightLoop 項目的工程工作。

In regards to our Massillon projects, we have begun releasing purchase orders for long lead time items and we continue to finalize our negotiation for financing and potential government grants related to this project. We will be submitting our minor source air permits, and we will convert -- and plan to convert existing wells to support local CO2 sequestration. We're excited to officially launch this project and look forward to the implementation of our first commercial demonstration BrightLoop plan.

關於我們的馬西隆項目，我們已經開始發布長交貨期項目的採購訂單，並繼續完成與該項目相關的融資和潛在政府補助的談判。我們將提交我們的次要源空氣許可證，並且我們將轉換——併計劃轉換現有水井以支持當地的二氧化碳封存。我們很高興正式啟動這個項目，並期待我們的第一個商業演示 BrightLoop 計劃的實施。

Also, we would like to announce today that we have reached a tentative agreement that we expect will be signed in the coming days with the state of West Virginia to that will provide a $10 million forgivable loan to develop and construct a BrightLoop project in West Virginia utilizing local biomass and coal. This is an exciting development for us, and we greatly appreciate the support of [Governor Justice] and his staff as well as the support of the state of West Virginia.

此外，我們今天還想宣布，我們已與西維吉尼亞州達成初步協議，預計將在未來幾天簽署，該協議將提供 1000 萬美元的可免除貸款，用於利用當地生物質和煤炭在西維吉尼亞州開發和建設 BrightLoop 項目。這對我們來說是一個令人興奮的發展，我們非常感謝賈斯蒂斯州長及其工作人員的支持以及西維吉尼亞州的支持。

We remain excited about the prospects and outlook for the BrightLoop platform with visibility to reach $1 billion of bookings by 2028 driven by a combination of small medium and large BrightLoop projects that are in our current identified pipeline.

我們對 BrightLoop 平台的前景和發展前景感到興奮，預計到 2028 年，透過我們目前確定的中小型和大型 BrightLoop 項目的組合，其預訂額將達到 10 億美元。

As I mentioned earlier, this pipeline includes approximately $2.4 billion in BrightLoop and ClimateBright opportunities alone. We continue to believe this level of activity has the potential to lead to $1 billion in revenues by 2030, which would only -- which would still only represent roughly 1% of the market share for total global hydrogen spend by 2030.

正如我之前提到的，光是 BrightLoop 和 ClimateBright 機會就包含在這個頻道中，價值就約為 24 億美元。我們仍然相信，到 2030 年，這一水準的活動有可能帶來 10 億美元的收入，但這僅佔 2030 年全球氫能總支出市場份額的約 1%。

Within BrightLoop, it's been extremely exciting to watch our team advance the engineering process and the business towards deploying these technologies at scale and further expanding our suite of carbon capture solutions.

在 BrightLoop 內部，看到我們的團隊推進工程流程和業務以大規模部署這些技術並進一步擴展我們的碳捕獲解決方案套件，我們感到非常興奮。

I'll now turn the call over to Louis, who will discuss the financial details of the third quarter 2024. Lou?

現在我將電話轉給路易斯，他將討論 2024 年第三季的財務細節。婁？

Thanks Kenneth. I'm pleased to review our third quarter results. Further details on which can be found in the 10-Q that is on file with the SEC. Our third quarter consolidated revenues were $209.9 million, which is a decrease compared to the third quarter of 2023.

謝謝肯尼斯。我很高興回顧我們第三季的業績。更多詳細資訊請參閱美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 存檔的 10-Q 表。我們第三季的綜合收入為 2.099 億美元，與 2023 年第三季相比有所下降。

This decrease is primarily attributable to the inclusion in 2023 of $7.4 million of revenues of the BWRS asset that was vested in the second quarter of 2024. When BWRS is excluded from the 2023 revenues, they increased by -- our revenues increased in 2024 by $4.7 million, which is driven by growth in our domestic and European environmental businesses as well as the thermal segment benefits related to a large natural gas project and increased volume in parts during the year.

這一下降主要歸因於 2023 年納入了 2024 年第二季歸屬的 BWRS 資產的 740 萬美元收入。當 BWRS 被排除在 2023 年的收入之外時，它們增加了——我們的收入在 2024 年增加了 470 萬美元，這得益於我們國內和歐洲環境業務的增長以及與大型天然氣項目相關的熱力部門收益以及年內部分產量的增加。

We saw an operating loss in the third quarter of 2024 of $1.4 million compared to operating income of $5.5 million in the third quarter of 2023. This loss is primarily attributable to the previously mentioned divestiture of BWRS as well as two one-time charges of a $5.8 million non-cash impairment related to the sale of our SPIG subsidiary and a $4.9 million settlement to exit the loss generating long term maintenance contract which Kenneth mentioned earlier.

2024 年第三季的營業虧損為 140 萬美元，而 2023 年第三季的營業收入為 550 萬美元。該損失主要歸因於前面提到的 BWRS 資產剝離以及兩筆一次性費用，即與出售我們的 SPIG 子公司相關的 580 萬美元非現金減值費用，以及 Kenneth 前面提到的退出產生虧損的長期維護合約的 490 萬美元和解金。

Our adjusted EBITDA, excluding BrightLoop and ClimateBright expenses was $23.3 million, which is ahead of expectations for the quarter. Implied bookings in the third quarter of 2024 or $810.5 million and ending implied backlog was $628.2 million. In the third quarter of 2024 we had a loss per share of $0.10 as compared to a loss per share of $1.35 in the third quarter of 2023.

我們的調整後 EBITDA（不含 BrightLoop 和 ClimateBright 費用）為 2,330 萬美元，高於本季的預期。2024 年第三季的隱含預訂量為 8.105 億美元，期末隱含積壓訂單為 6.282 億美元。2024 年第三季度，我們的每股虧損為 0.10 美元，而 2023 年第三季的每股虧損為 1.35 美元。

I'll now turn to our third quarter segment results. Within our Babcock and Wilcox renewable segment, revenues were $38.2 million for the third quarter 2024, which is a decrease compared to the third quarter of 2023. This decrease in revenue is primarily due to the divestiture of BWRS, which we previously mentioned.

現在我來談談我們第三季的分部業績。在我們的 Babcock 和 Wilcox 再生能源部門，2024 年第三季的營收為 3,820 萬美元，與 2023 年第三季相比有所下降。收入的減少主要是由於我們之前提到的 BWRS 的剝離。

Adjusted EBITDA in the third quarter of 2024 was $5 million, a decrease of 51% compared to the $10.1 million in the third quarter of 2023. Again, the third quarter of 2023 included $7.4 million from BWRS and this was partially offset by favorable project closeouts in the current quarter.

2024 年第三季調整後 EBITDA 為 500 萬美元，較 2023 年第三季的 1,010 萬美元下降 51%。同樣，2023 年第三季包括 BWRS 的 740 萬美元，但這部分被本季有利的專案收尾所抵消。

Bookings during the third quarter of 2024 exceeded bookings in the same period of 2023 with total bookings increasing to $40.8 million in the third quarter of 2024 from $32.7 million in the third quarter of 2023. Within the Babcock and Wilcox environmental segment revenues were $56.6 million in the third quarter of 2024, which is an increase of 22% compared to the $46.4 million in the third quarter of 2023.

2024 年第三季的預訂量超過了 2023 年同期的預訂量，總預訂額從 2023 年第三季的 3,270 萬美元增加到 2024 年第三季的 4,080 萬美元。巴布科克和威爾科克斯環境部門 2024 年第三季的營收為 5,660 萬美元，較 2023 年第三季的 4,640 萬美元成長 22%。

This increase is primarily driven by growth of our domestic industrial and electrostatic precipitator business in addition to growth in our European environmental business. Adjusted EBITDA was $4.7 million for the quarter which is favorable to our forecast despite being a slight decrease compared to the $5 million in the same period last year.

這一成長主要得益於我們國內工業和靜電除塵器業務的成長以及歐洲環境業務的成長。本季調整後的 EBITDA 為 470 萬美元，儘管與去年同期的 500 萬美元相比略有下降，但仍符合我們的預測。

Turning to our Babcock and Wilcox thermal segment. Revenues are $119.9 million in the third quarter of 2024 which is an increase of 12% compared to the third quarter of 2023. The revenue increase is primarily the result of a large natural gas project which accounted for $4.2 million and an increased volume of parts which accounted for $4.8 million of the increase.

轉向我們的巴布科克和威爾科克斯熱力部分。2024 年第三季的營收為 1.199 億美元，與 2023 年第三季相比成長 12%。收入增加主要由於大型天然氣項目（佔 420 萬美元）和零件數量增加（佔 480 萬美元）。

Adjusted EBITDA in the third quarter of 2024 was $18.4 million, an increase of $11.3 million in the third quarter of 2023. This is primarily driven by revenue drivers previously mentioned and by favorable project margins in our construction business.

2024 年第三季調整後 EBITDA 為 1,840 萬美元，較 2023 年第三季增加 1,130 萬美元。這主要得益於前面提到的收入驅動因素以及我們建築業務中有利的專案利潤率。

I'll now turn to our balance sheet, cash flow and liquidity. Total debt at September 30, 2024, was $475.4 million. And the company had cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash balances of $127.9 million. As noted previously, we completed the sale of our SPIG and GMAB businesses for net proceeds of $33.7 million during the quarter which improved our balance sheet and demonstrated our ability to continue to execute against our stated strategy to sell certain non-strategic businesses.

現在我將談談我們的資產負債表、現金流和流動性。截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日的總債務為 4.754 億美元。該公司的現金、現金等價物和受限現金餘額為 1.279 億美元。如前所述，我們在本季完成了 SPIG 和 GMAB 業務的出售，淨收益為 3,370 萬美元，這改善了我們的資產負債表，並表明我們有能力繼續執行出售某些非策略性業務的既定策略。

Additionally, as previously announced, we are initiating processes to sell certain other non-strategic businesses and assets. The proceeds of these sales will be used primarily to pay down existing debt and for working capital.

此外，正如先前宣布的那樣，我們正在啟動出售某些其他非策略性業務和資產的流程。這些銷售所得將主要用於償還現有債務和作為營運資金。

I'll now turn the call back over to Kenneth.

我現在將電話轉回給肯尼斯。

Thanks, Lou. Well, in closing, we continue to execute against our strategic plan and remain intently focused on driving further improvements on our balance sheet. As we look ahead to the fourth quarter, we expect seasonal strong results and operating momentum driven by our thermal and environmental segments to continue with increased services and project schedules from our customers.

謝謝，盧。最後，我們將繼續執行我們的策略計劃，並專注於推動我們的資產負債表的進一步改善。展望第四季度，我們預計，隨著客戶服務和專案計畫的增加，熱能和環境部門將繼續保持季節性強勁業績和營運勢頭。

Our global pipeline of over $9 billion of identified project opportunities remains healthy across all our business segments. Despite our divestitures and we anticipate prospects for new bookings and stronger financial performance through the fourth quarter and heading into 2025.

我們已確定的全球專案機會價值超過 90 億美元，涵蓋所有業務部門，且進展順利。儘管我們進行了資產剝離，但我們預計第四季度以及 2025 年仍將有新的訂單和更強勁的財務業績。

We continue to believe our deep industry expertise with clean energy and carbon capture technologies coupled with their long history and traditional energy sources possessions us well to deliver environmentally conscious technology driven solutions to our global customers.

我們始終相信，我們在清潔能源和碳捕獲技術方面的深厚行業專業知識，加上其悠久的歷史和傳統能源，使我們能夠為全球客戶提供環保的技術驅動解決方案。

I would like to wrap up today by recognizing and thanking our customers as well as our employees who work hard every day in a safe way to meet the challenges of energy demand around the world. And looking forward, we remain excited about the unique position we hold to provide our diverse portfolio of technologies to meet the increasing baseload generation demand in North America and across the globe and support the world's need for proven clean energy solutions both now and in the future.

今天最後，我想表彰並感謝我們的客戶和員工，他們每天以安全的方式努力工作，應對世界各地能源需求的挑戰。展望未來，我們仍然對自己擁有的獨特地位感到興奮，我們將提供多樣化的技術組合，滿足北美和全球日益增長的基本負載發電需求，並支持世界現在和未來對成熟的清潔能源解決方案的需求。

With that, I'll turn the call back over to Victoria, who can help with our questions, Victoria?

說完這些，我將把電話轉回給維多利亞，她能幫我們解答問題嗎，維多利亞？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指令）

Alex Rygiel, B. Riley.

亞歷克斯·里吉爾 (Alex Rygiel)、B.萊利 (B. Riley)。

Thanks. Good evening, gentlemen. Nice quarter. A couple quick questions, Kenny. First as it relates to your EBITDA guidance $91 million to $95 million, recognizing that's adjusted to exclude some of these divestitures. Can you talk to that new guidance range relative to maybe past guidance and where your base business was adjusted, if at all?

謝謝。先生們，晚上好。不錯的季度。有幾個快速問題，肯尼。首先，與您的 EBITDA 指引 9,100 萬美元至 9,500 萬美元相關，我們認識到這已進行調整以排除其中一些資產剝離。您能否談談新的指導範圍相對於過去的指導範圍以及您的基礎業務在哪些方面進行了調整（如果有的話）？

Yeah, if you -- I mean, if you look past the guidance, I think we're at $105 million to $115 million. If we brigde the SPIG, GMAB results for the quarter and some various expenses associated with that particular piece, it takes you down to that $94 million, $95 million scenario.

是的，如果你—我的意思是，如果你看一下過去的指導，我認為我們的收入將達到 1.05 億至 1.15 億美元。如果我們將 SPIG、GMAB 本季的業績和與該特定部分相關的一些費用結合起來，就會出現 9,400 萬美元、9,500 萬美元的情況。

So we actually just reset based on this SPIG -- primarily based on the SPIG and GMAB divestitures that were just completed for the quarter in that area. And then that, I mean, that's the primary aspect around it. So the rest of it would be just noise but it bridges the GAAP between the new target and the old target.

因此，我們實際上只是根據這個 SPIG 進行了重置——主要基於該地區本季剛完成的 SPIG 和 GMAB 資產剝離。那麼，我的意思是，這是它的主要方面。因此，其餘部分可能只是噪音，但它在新的目標和舊的目標之間架起了 GAAP 橋樑。

Very helpful. And then of the 12 to 15 active FEED studies worth over $1 billion. What's your traditional conversion rate on these? And what portion of this is already in black backlog or implied backlog?

非常有幫助。然後是 12 到 15 個正在進行的 FEED 研究，價值超過 10 億美元。這些的傳統轉換率是多少？其中有多少部分已經是黑色積壓或隱含積壓？

So the most of the FEED studies would be -- those are smaller, right? So the typical revenue and FEED study can vary from $0.5 million to $2 million or $3 million depending on the size of the FEED study. So they're not material as rates to revenue or in a backlog standpoint on it. But once we're engaged in a FEED study, the conversion rate usually is pretty high.

所以大多數 FEED 研究的規模都比較小，對嗎？因此，典型的收入和 FEED 研究可能從 50 萬美元到 200 萬美元或 300 萬美元不等，具體取決於 FEED 研究的規模。因此，從收入率或積壓訂單的角度來看，它們並不重要。但一旦我們參與 FEED 研究，轉換率通常會非常高。

As you can imagine, right our customers are not necessarily hiring us to do a full range of FEED study and then, with no follow on. But roughly you could say probably on a 40% or 50% conversion rate on active FEED study at any given time, so would be converted. There could be a timing element could be inside a year. It could be a two or three years before they're converted into active projects from there.

你可以想像，我們的客戶不一定會僱用我們進行全方位的 FEED 研究，而且不進行任何後續工作。但粗略地說，在任何給定時間，主動 FEED 研究的轉換率可能達到 40% 或 50%，因此會被轉換。時間因素可能在一年之內。可能需要兩到三年的時間才能將它們轉化為活躍的專案。

But the exciting part for us and this is something that we changed a lot of our -- I mean, we've really driven to obtain more FEED study to leverage the strong engineering position we have for these clients to move into carbon capture and obviously BrightLoop and other areas around it.

但對我們來說令人興奮的是，我們改變了很多——我的意思是，我們真正推動更多的 FEED 研究，以利用我們強大的工程地位，幫助這些客戶進入碳捕獲領域，顯然還有 BrightLoop 及其周邊的其他領域。

So the number of FEED studies are exciting for us. And I think it's also reflective that we're obtaining FEED studies on a lot of these newer technologies including BrightLoop. And so we've got a couple active BrightLoop FEED studies right now with clients up in Canada, as I mentioned and elsewhere that are outside of the ones that we've been developing.

因此，FEED 研究的數量令我們興奮不已。我認為這也反映出我們正在對包括 BrightLoop 在內的許多新技術進行 FEED 研究。因此，正如我之前提到的，我們目前與加拿大和其他地方的客戶進行了一些活躍的 BrightLoop FEED 研究，這些研究不在我們正在開發的研究範圍內。

And so we think that's a pretty exciting development for us as the concept of utilizing a BrightLoop technology starting to really take hold, I would say in in some of these larger industrial clients, as they're looking at alternative ways to produce energy going forward.

因此，我們認為這對我們來說是一個非常令人興奮的發展，因為利用 BrightLoop 技術的概念開始真正紮根，我想說在一些較大的工業客戶中，他們正在尋找未來生產能源的替代方法。

That's great. I'll get back in the queue. Thank you.

那太棒了。我會回到隊列中。謝謝。

Thanks, Alex.

謝謝，亞歷克斯。

Aaron Spychalla, Craig Hallum.

亞倫·斯皮查拉、克雷格·哈勒姆。

Yeah. Hi, Kenneth and Louis. Thanks for taking the questions. First, good to see the coal to gas order, full notice to proceed. Can you just maybe give a little bit of detail on timing and just the cadence of that revenue over the next couple of years and then just talk about the pipeline there? I mean, are there FEED studies for that or is there a good amount of work behind that with other conversions?

是的。你好，肯尼斯和路易斯。感謝您回答這些問題。首先，很高興看到煤改氣的訂單，已經全面通知將按計劃進行。能否詳細介紹未來幾年的收入時間和節奏，然後談談其中的管道？我的意思是，是否有針對此的 FEED 研究，或者是否在其他轉換方面做了大量工作？

Let me answer the latter first. Yeah, there is -- we have several actually prospects in the pipeline on natural gas conversions. They're not all that big obviously, but -- out there, but we do have a number of those. I hate to give a number but let's just say greater than a dozen that we're looking at.

我先回答後者。是的，我們在天然氣轉換方面實際上有幾個前景。顯然，它們並不是那麼大，但是 - 在那裡，我們確實有其中的一些。我不想給出具體數字，但我們可以說我們正在考慮十幾個以上。

Again, those would vary in size on opportunities, but a lot of the utilities are looking long term around either natural gas or the continuity of using continue to use coal as it relates to baseload generation here in the US. And we're seeing that continue on.

同樣，這些機會的規模會有所不同，但許多公用事業公司都在長期關注天然氣或繼續使用煤炭，因為這與美國的基本負載發電有關。我們看到這種情況還在繼續。

As far as the revenue goes of the -- on the natural gas conversion project on that. Obviously we just received the full notice to proceed. That's why we're announcing it today on the call and excited about that. But revenues would really start to kick in '25 but also '26 and a little into '27 as well on that. So it will be spread over that longer period of time on it.

就天然氣轉換項目的收入而言。顯然，我們剛剛收到了繼續進行的完整通知。這就是我們今天在電話會議上宣布這一消息並感到興奮的原因。但收入真正開始增加要到 25 年，甚至 26 年和 27 年。因此它將在更長的時間內傳播。

But we're obviously excited to get the full notice to finally the full notice to proceed came in a little longer or late than we expected. But, we have it now, so it's going to move into full backlog here, I guess in November and we'll start the full work on it here this quarter.

但我們顯然很高興能收到完整的通知，完整的通知比我們預期的要晚一些或晚一些。但是，我們現在有了它，所以它會在這裡進入完全積壓狀態，我猜是在十一月，我們會在本季度開始全面工作。

All right, I appreciate the color there. And then just, maybe on the balance sheet, can you talk about where letters of credit stand today and the timeline for those rolling off and freeing up some liquidity and then just, on free cash flow, the outlook there as we head into 2025.

好的，我很欣賞那裡的色彩。然後，也許在資產負債表上，您能否談談目前信用證的情況，以及這些信用證的延期和釋放一些流動性的時間表，然後談談自由現金流，以及我們邁向 2025 年的前景。

Yeah. Letters of credit right now are in the $80 million range. They will roll off over the next year and a half. Now what will happen, not to the same extent, but new letters of credit will come in as we win new business. But we've been able to decrease the percentage of letter of credits that are required. And then on the second part of the question, Aaron was.

是的。目前信用證金額約 8,000 萬美元。它們將在未來一年半內陸續推出。現在會發生什麼事？但我們已經能夠降低所需信用證的百分比。然後關於問題的第二部分，Aaron 是。

Yeah, just thoughts on free cash flow conversion as we look towards -- thinking about what 2025 can look like.

是的，我們只是在展望 2025 年時思考自由現金流轉換會是什麼樣子。

Yeah, I think the free cash flow conversion, as we walked through the EBITDA, there's the interest expenses in the $50 million range including the dividends on the preferred stock. So you're probably talking of the 95 plus -- $100 million to $95 million of EBITDA, you're probably talking about a 40% conversion rate on that after the interest and the BrightLoop cost of about -- capitalized BrightLoop cost of about $10 million.

是的，我認為自由現金流轉換，正如我們所了解的 EBITDA，包括優先股股息在內的利息支出約為 5,000 萬美元。因此，您可能談論的是 95 加上——1 億美元到 9500 萬美元的 EBITDA，您可能談論的是扣除利息和 BrightLoop 成本後的 40% 的轉換率——資本化的 BrightLoop 成本約為 1000 萬美元。

And we should add that the -- so SPIG and GMAB, obviously that's a fourth quarter impact to the company, but there is probably roughly $10 million letters of credit that will go away over time. I mean, it'll take a few months to wind those off or convert those. But the new owner will take over those letter of credit. So we'll reduce the letters of credit by that amount over the next month or two.

我們應該補充一點——SPIG 和 GMAB 顯然會對公司在第四季度產生影響，但大約有 1000 萬美元的信用證會隨著時間的推移而消失。我的意思是，需要幾個月的時間來解決或轉換這些問題。但新主人將接手這些信用證。因此我們將在接下來的一兩個月內減少相應金額的信用證。

So the $80 million I quoted is really when you take into account the sales that and those, that $10 million that will roll off is really $70 million. And as I said, that'll decrease and some will come back as we win new business.

因此，我所說的 8000 萬美元實際上如果考慮到銷售額，那麼產生的 1000 萬美元實際上是 7000 萬美元。正如我所說的，這一數字將會減少，隨著我們贏得新業務，一些數字將會回來。

All right, that makes sense. I appreciate the color. I'll turn it over.

好吧，這很有道理。我很欣賞這個顏色。我把它翻過來。

Thanks, Aaron.

謝謝，亞倫。

Rob Brown, Lake Street Capital Market.

羅布布朗 (Rob Brown)，Lake Street 資本市場。

Hi, good afternoon.

嗨，下午好。

Hey, Rob.

嘿，羅布。

First question is on the Massillon project. I think you talked about some long lead items. When does that start to ramp in full and could you remind us again when you start to generate or operate that facility?

第一個問題是關於馬西隆計畫的。我認為您談論的是一些交付週期較長的項目。什麼時候開始全面投入生產，您能否再次提醒我們何時開始生產或營運設施？

So those items are in full order now. Obviously, some of that is in material long lead time orders like air compressors and other aspects. Some of that is with outside engineering firms on some of the requirements for the civil construction drawings, diagrams that we've got to submit as well too -- along with the permits on that piece.

所以這些項目現在都已井然有序。顯然，其中一些是諸如空氣壓縮機等材料的長交貨期訂單和其他方面。其中一些是與外部工程公司就土木工程圖、圖表的一些要求進行的，我們也必須提交這些圖紙和許可證。

The real ramp up will start to occur probably early Q2 next year. I mean, on the ramp up of the cost side of the construction element. And then in Q3, we'll move into a heavy period of Q4 and then the following quarter will wind it down. Right now we're, targeting to be able to produce hydrogen by early '26, in the early part of '26.

真正的成長可能將在明年第二季初開始出現。我的意思是，建築要素成本不斷增加。然後在第三季度，我們將進入第四季度的繁忙時期，然後下一季將逐漸結束。目前，我們的目標是在 26 年初，即 26 年初生產氫氣。

And then that would go into full commercial state somewhere in Q2 of 20 -- around Q2 of '26, and then we'll begin obviously selling the hydrogen as soon as it's ready in full commercial state. But the production plan of hydrogen, which is the critical part of this, it should be in the early part of the 2026. That's what we're targeting right now. (multiple speakers)

然後它將在 20 年第二季左右（大約 26 年第二季）進入全面商業化狀態，然後我們將在氫氣完全商業化後立即開始銷售它。但其中最關鍵的部分，氫氣的生產計劃，應該在2026年初完成。這就是我們現在的目標。（多位發言者）

I was going to talk a little bit about the West Virginia loan guarantee or loan. I guess forgivable loan. What project that would be for and maybe the other dependencies there to get that launched?

我本來想談一點有關西維吉尼亞州貸款擔保或貸款的事情。我認為是可免除貸款。這將是用於什麼專案以及可能需要其他依賴才能啟動該專案？

Yeah, so we should have that sign here in the next, coming day or two or three. On that, we've reached full agreement with the State Economic Group and they've been wonderful to work with and very supportive of that project.

是的，所以我們應該在接下來的一兩天或三天內在這裡看到這個標誌。在這一點上，我們已與國家經濟集團達成完全協議，他們非常樂意與我們合作，並且非常支持該項目。

So the plan is we will target a small to mid size BrightLoop facility that would ramp up by 2030 is when that has to be in operation. And there's -- tied to that forgivable loan is really the key caveat there is a limited number of on site jobs that will create that will obviously be part of the construction aspect of the project and then the ongoing operations of that particular site for that project.

因此，我們的計劃是，建立一個小型到中型的 BrightLoop 設施，並在 2030 年之前投入營運。與這筆可免除貸款相關的關鍵警告是，現場創造的就業機會數量有限，這顯然將成為項目建設方面的一部分，然後是該項目特定工地的持續運作。

So the target is to have that plant up and running by 2030 on that. So that's what we've got contemplated in the agreement.

因此我們的目標是到 2030 年讓工廠投入運作。這就是我們在協議中所考慮的。

Okay. Thank you. I'll turn it over.

好的。謝謝。我把它翻過來。

There are no additional questions at this time. That is the conclusion of today's call. Thank you for your participation, and enjoy the rest of your day.

目前沒有其他問題。這就是今天通話的結論。感謝您的參與，祝您今天過得愉快。