Crossamerica Partners LP (CAPL) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the CrossAmerica Partners second Quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) This call is being recorded on Friday, August 9, 2024.

早安，女士們、先生們，歡迎參加 CrossAmerica Partners 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）此通話錄音時間為 2024 年 8 月 9 日星期五。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Maura Topper, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給財務長莫拉·托珀 (Maura Topper)。請繼續。

Thank you, operator. Good morning and thank you for joining the CrossAmerica Partners second quarter 2024 earnings call. With me today is Charles Nifong, CEO and President. We'll start off the call today for Charles providing some opening comments and an overview of CrossAmerica's operational performance for the quarter, and then I will discuss the financial results. We will then open up the call to questions.

謝謝你，接線生。早安，感謝您參加 CrossAmerica Partners 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。今天和我在一起的是執行長兼總裁 Charles Nifong。我們將在今天開始電話會議時請 Charles 提供一些開場評論以及 CrossAmerica 本季營運表現的概述，然後我將討論財務表現。然後我們將開始提問。

Today's call will follow the presentation slides that are available as part of the webcast and are posted on the CrossAmerica website.

今天的電話會議將遵循網路廣播中的簡報幻燈片，並發佈在 CrossAmerica 網站上。

Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that today's call, including the question and answer session may include forward-looking statements regarding expected revenue, future plans, future operational metrics and opportunities and expectations of the organization. It can be no assurance that management's expectations, beliefs, and projections will be achieved for that actual results will not differ from expectations.

在開始之前，我想提醒大家，今天的電話會議，包括問答環節，可能包括有關預期收入、未來計劃、未來營運指標以及組織機會和期望的前瞻性陳述。不能保證管理階層的期望、信念和預測能夠實現，因為實際結果不會與期望不同。

Please see CrossAmerica filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including annual reports on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for a discussion of important factors that could affect our actual results. Forward-looking statements represent the judgment of CrossAmerica's management as of today's date, and the organization disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

請參閱 CrossAmerica 向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件，包括表格 10-K 中的年度報告和表格 10-Q 中的季度報告，以討論可能影響我們實際結果的重要因素。前瞻性陳述代表 CrossAmerica 管理階層截至今日的判斷，該組織不承擔任何更新任何前瞻性陳述的意圖或義務。

During today's call, we may also provide certain performance measures that do not conform to US generally accepted accounting principles or GAAP. We have provided schedules that reconcile these non-GAAP measures with our reported results on a GAAP basis as part of our earnings press release. Today's call is being webcast and a recording of this conference call will be available on the CrossAmerica website for a period of 60 days.

在今天的電話會議中，我們也可能提供某些不符合美國公認會計原則或公認會計原則的績效衡量標準。作為我們收益新聞稿的一部分，我們提供了時間表，將這些非公認會計準則指標與我們在公認會計準則基礎上報告的結果進行協調。今天的電話會議正在網路直播，本次電話會議的錄音將在 CrossAmerica 網站上保留 60 天。

With that I will now turn the call over to Charles.

現在我將把電話轉給查爾斯。

Thank you Maura. Maura and I appreciate everyone joining us this morning, and we thank you for listening in today and for your interest in the partnership.

謝謝莫拉。莫拉和我感謝大家今天早上加入我們，我們感謝你們今天的收聽以及你們對合作關係的興趣。

During today's call. I will go through some of the operating highlights for the second quarter 2024. I'll also provide commentary on the market and a few other updates as I've done on our prior calls. Maura will then review in more detail our financial results.

在今天的通話中。我將介紹 2024 年第二季的一些營運亮點。正如我在之前的電話會議中所做的那樣，我還將提供對市場的評論和其他一些更新。然後莫拉將更詳細地審查我們的財務業績。

Now if you turn to slide 4, I will briefly review some of our operating results. First, I'll point out if you compare the relative size of the segment operating income between the retail and wholesale segments. You can see that our retail segment is now larger than our wholesale segment. As a result of the strategic actions we have taken over the last 12 months to increase our exposure to retail.

現在，如果您翻到投影片 4，我將簡要回顧我們的一些營運結果。首先，我會指出是否比較零售和批發部門之間的部門營業收入的相對規模。您可以看到我們的零售部門現在比批發部門更大。由於我們在過去 12 個月中採取了策略行動來增加我們的零售業務。

We expect this to be the case going forward as we continue to execute on our strategic vision to increase our retail footprint. For our retail segment, we realized a 7% year-over-year increase in our operating income for the second quarter compared to the prior year, driven by our success in converting sites from the wholesale segment to retail.

我們預計未來情況會如此，因為我們將繼續執行我們的策略願景，以擴大我們的零售足跡。對於我們的零售部門，由於我們成功地將網站從批發部門轉變為零售部門，我們第二季的營業收入比去年同期成長了 7%。

We managed this achievement despite an industry environment that remained soft with decreased fuel demand and weak demand in certain store categories. Considering the industry environment backdrop, our performance for the second quarter was good, primarily driven by our merchandise growth. The retail segment generated $76.6 million in gross profit compared to $66 million for the same period in 2023, a 16% increase.

儘管產業環境依然疲軟，燃料需求下降且某些商店類別需求疲軟，但我們仍取得了這項成就。考慮到產業環境背景，我們第二季的業績良好，主要是受到商品成長的推動。零售業務產生了 7,660 萬美元的毛利，而 2023 年同期為 6,600 萬美元，成長了 16%。

Our merchandise gross profit increased 23% and our motor fuel gross profit increased 10% compared to the same period in 2023. On a fuel margin front, our retail fuel margin on a cents per gallon basis increased 1% year over year as our fuel margin was $0.373 per gallon in the second quarter of 2024 compared to $0.37 per gallon in the second quarter of 2023.

與 2023 年同期相比，我們的商品毛利成長了 23%，汽車燃料毛利增加了 10%。在燃油利潤方面，我們以每加侖美分計算的零售燃油利潤年增了 1%，2024 年第二季我們的燃油利潤為每加侖 0.373 美元，而 2023 年第二季為每加侖 0.37 美元。

Retail fuel margin for the second quarter was also up considerably over 21% from the first quarter of 2024 retail fuel margin of $0.308 per gallon. Retail fuel margins for the second quarter were generally strongest in the middle of the quarter and declined somewhat from mid-June on as crude oil price increases pushed up wholesale fuel costs, which resulted in lower retail fuel margins.

第二季的零售燃料利潤率也較 2024 年第一季每加侖 0.308 美元的零售燃料利潤率大幅增加 21% 以上。第二季零售燃料利潤率普遍在季度中期最為強勁，但從 6 月中旬開始有所下降，因為原油價格上漲推高了批發燃料成本，導致零售燃料利潤率下降。

For volume on a same-store basis, our retail volume declined 2% for the quarter year over year based on national demand data available to us. National gasoline demand was down approximately 4% for the quarter. So on a relative basis, our same-store retail volume outperformed even though it was lower than what we would like.

就同​​店銷售而言，根據我們掌握的全國需求數據，我們本季的零售量比去年同期下降了 2%。本季全國汽油需求下降約 4%。因此，相對而言，我們的同店零售量表現出色，儘管低於我們的預期。

In the period since the quarter end, retail same-store volume has remained down at approximately 1% to 2% year over year, so slightly better performance than during the second quarter, but again, still down relative to the prior year. National fuel demand has continued to be soft in the period since quarter end as well. Retail fuel margins have continued to be roughly in line with our second quarter results.

自本季末以來，同店零售額年減約 1% 至 2%，因此表現略好於第二季度，但仍較去年同期下降。自季末以來，全國燃料需求也持續疲軟。零售燃料利潤率持續與我們第二季的業績大致一致。

For inside sales on a same-site basis, our inside sales were relatively flat compared to last year for the second quarter. Inside sales, excluding cigarettes, were up approximately 2% year over year on a same-store basis for the quarter as with fuel demand based on national demand data available to us. Demand for inside store sales has been weak so far this year and for the second quarter without overall sales and unit count numbers for the second quarter down compared to the prior year.

對於同一地點的內部銷售，第二季我們的內部銷售與去年同期相比相對持平。根據我們掌握的全國需求數據，本季同店內部銷售額（不含捲菸）較去年同期成長約 2%。今年到目前為止，店內銷售的需求一直疲軟，第二季的整體銷售和單位數量與去年同期相比並沒有下降。

So again, on a relative basis, our retail segment inside sales outperformed the industry for the quarter. Across America, our store sales performance was primarily driven by the categories of salty snacks, tobacco, other than cigarettes and packaged beverages from the store merchandise margin front, our merchandise gross profit increased 23% to $29.8 million driven by increased sales from a higher store count.

因此，相對而言，本季我們的零售部門內部銷售表現再次優於同業。在整個美國，我們的商店銷售業績主要受到商店商品利潤率方面的鹹味零食、煙草、香煙和包裝飲料以外的類別的推動，由於更高商店的銷售額增加，我們的商品毛利潤增長了23 % 至2,980 萬美元數數。

The store merchandise margin declined slightly due to us implementing more consumer value product pricing in our stores as well as higher costs in certain of our categories that we haven't passed on customers. In the period since the quarter end, same-store sales have been down approximately 2% from the prior year, reflecting the ongoing soft demand environment.

商店商品利潤率略有下降，因為我們在商店中實施了更高的消費者價值產品定價，以及我們沒有轉嫁給客戶的某些類別的成本更高。自本季末以來，同店銷售額較去年同期下降了約 2%，反映出持續疲軟的需求環境。

In our retail segment if you look at our company-operated site count, we are up 80 company operated retail sites from the prior year and up 29 sites relative to the first quarter of 2024. The increase in company-operated site count relative to the first quarter was primarily driven by our completion of the conversion of the Applegreen leased locations to company operated retail sites in April during the quarter.

在我們的零售領域，如果您查看公司營運的站點數量，您會發現公司營運的零售站點比去年增加了 80 個，比 2024 年第一季增加了 29 個站點。公司營運的站點數量相對於第一季的增加主要是由於我們在本季於 4 月完成了 Applegreen 租賃站點向公司經營的零售站點的轉換。

We also converted certain other locations as well. The company operated retail sites during the quarter as part of our broader overall strategy to increase our retail operating exposure. Our commission agent site count increased by 27 sites relative to the second quarter of 2023 and increased 14 sites relative to the first quarter of 2024.

我們也改造了其他一些地點。該公司在本季度經營零售網站，作為我們增加零售業務敞口的更廣泛整體策略的一部分。與 2023 年第二季相比，我們的佣金代理站點數量增加了 27 個站點，與 2024 年第一季相比增加了 14 個站點。

And in many cases, converting an existing site to the commission class of trade involves retaining the existing dealer at a location we are simply changing the economic relationship with the dealer so that we CrossAmerica now own the fuel and control the retail fuel pricing at the location. We have been successful at doing these conversions in a manner that is mutually beneficial economically for both us and the dealer, creating a win-win situation that enables all of us to be better off and have a productive relationship with the dealer now commission agents going forward.

在許多情況下，將現有站點轉換為佣金貿易類別涉及將現有經銷商保留在某個地點，我們只是改變與經銷商的經濟關係，以便我們 CrossAmerica 現在擁有燃料並控制該地點的零售燃料定價。我們成功地以一種對我們和經銷商都經濟互利的方式進行了這些轉換，創造了雙贏的局面，使我們所有人都能夠過得更好，並與經銷商建立了富有成效的關係，現在委託代理正在繼續向前。

In total, we increased our overall retail site count by 43 sites during the second quarter compared to our retail site count at the end of the first quarter of this year. Based on those numbers, you can see that we were extremely active during the quarter of with site conversions and executing on our strategy to increase our exposure to retail fuel margins and the retail business overall.

總體而言，與今年第一季末的零售站點數量相比，第二季度我們的零售站點總數增加了 43 個。根據這些數字，您可以看到我們在本季度非常積極地進行網站轉換並執行我們的策略，以增加我們對零售燃料利潤和整體零售業務的曝險。

Moving onto the wholesale segment for the second quarter of 2024 our wholesale segment gross profit declined 11% to $28.1 million compared to $31.7 million in the second quarter of 2023. The decrease was driven by a decline in fuel volume, partially offset by an increase in fuel margin per gallon. The primary factor in the overall volume decline was the conversion of certain lessee dealer sites the company operated and commissioned eight sites which are now accounted for in the retail segment.

進入 2024 年第二季的批發業務，我們的批發業務毛利下降 11%，至 2,810 萬美元，而 2023 年第二季為 3,170 萬美元。下降的原因是燃油量下降，但每加侖燃油利潤的增加部分抵消了這一下降。整體銷售下降的主要因素是公司經營的某些承租經銷商站點的轉換，並委託了八個站點，這些站點現在屬於零售領域。

Our wholesale motor fuel gross profit decreased 7% to $16.6 million in the second quarter of 2024 from $17.9 million in the second quarter of 2023. Our fuel margin increased 6% from $0.082 per gallon in the second quarter of 2023 to $0.087 per gallon in the second quarter of 2024. The increase in our wholesale fuel margin per gallon was primarily driven by the relative level of crude oil prices within the two periods and its corresponding impact on the terms discounts we receive on certain gallons.

我們的批發汽車燃料毛利從 2023 年第二季的 1,790 萬美元下降 7%，至 2024 年第二季的 1,660 萬美元。我們的燃油利潤率從 2023 年第二季的每加侖 0.082 美元增加到 2024 年第二季的每加侖 0.087 美元，成長了 6%。每加侖批發燃料利潤的增加主要是由於兩個時期內原油價格的相對水平及其對我們在某些​​加侖上獲得的條款折扣的相應影響所致。

We also benefited this quarter from a reduction in our fuel sourcing costs based on better purchase terms and favorable market conditions for certain other gallons. Our wholesale volume was 192.1 million gallons for the second quarter of 2024 compared to 218.1 million gallons for the second quarter of 2023, reflecting a decline of 12%.

本季我們也受惠於燃料採購成本的降低，這是基於更好的採購條款和某些其他加侖的有利市場條件。2024 年第二季我們的批發量為 1.921 億加侖，而 2023 年第二季為 2.181 億加侖，下降了 12%。

The decline in volume when compared to the same period in 2023 was primarily due to the conversion of certain lessee dealer sites to our retail class of trade and lower same-site volume. For the quarter, our same-store volume in the wholesale segment was down approximately 3% year over year. So the additional 9% drop in volume the difference between the overall volume decline of 12% and our same-store volume decline of 3% was largely due to the conversion of sites to the retail segment. The gallons from these converted sites are now reflected in our retail segment results.

與 2023 年同期相比，銷售量下降的主要原因是某些承租經銷商站點轉換為我們的零售貿易類別以及同站點銷售下降。本季度，我們批發業務的同店銷量較去年同期下降約 3%。因此，銷售量額外下降 9%（整體銷售量下降 12% 與同店銷售量下降 3% 之間的差異）主要是由於網站向零售領域的轉變。這些改造後的站點產生的加侖數現已反映在我們的零售部門結果中。

As mentioned in my retail segment comments, national demand data available to us indicated fuel demand was down around 4% for the quarter. So our same-store wholesale volume performance for the second quarter was better than overall national demand. In the period since the quarter-end, same-store volume has been down around 1% year over year, so still negative year over year, but an improving trend similar to our retail segment results.

正如我在零售部門評論中提到的，我們獲得的全國需求數據表明，本季燃料需求下降了 4% 左右。所以我們第二季的同店批發量表現優於全國整體需求。自季末以來，同店銷量年減了約 1%，因此年比仍為負值，但與我們零售部門的業績類似，呈現改善趨勢。

Regarding our wholesale rent, our base rent for the quarter was $11.2 million compared to the prior year of $13.1 million, a decrease due to the conversion of certain lessee dealer sites to company-operated sites. These rent dollars while no longer in the form of rent are now in our retail segment results through our fuel and inside store sales margin at these locations, which due to their increase helped to drive our increase in retail operating income for the quarter.

關於我們的批發租金，本季的基本租金為 1,120 萬美元，而上年同期為 1,310 萬美元，由於某些承租經銷商場地轉變為公司營運場地，租金有所下降。這些租金雖然不再以租金的形式出現，但現在透過這些地點的燃料和店內銷售利潤率計入我們的零售部門業績中，由於租金的增加，有助於推動我們本季零售營業收入的成長。

As a result, the rent decline does not represent lost economics to our business, but simply reflects that these economics are now in the retail segment. During the quarter, we divested 10 properties for $11.9 million in proceeds, resulting in a net gain of $6.5 million. As we stated on prior calls, we have been busy building up a pipeline of divestiture properties and the results this quarter provide an initial indication of the work we have done in this area.

因此，租金下降並不代表我們業務的經濟損失，而只是反映了這些經濟現在存在於零售領域。本季度，我們剝離了 10 處房產，獲得了 1,190 萬美元的收益，淨收益為 650 萬美元。正如我們在先前的電話會議中所說，我們一直忙於建立資產剝離管道，本季的結果初步表明了我們在這一領域所做的工作。

We have a very active pipeline of opportunities and expect to build on the divestiture volume realized in the second quarter, second half of the year. Overall, it was a solid quarter for us. The second quarter was a material improvement from the first quarter. We were active in converting sites to retail, adding 43 sites to the retail segment during the quarter.

我們擁有非常活躍的機會管道，並期望在今年第二季和下半年實現的剝離量的基礎上再接再厲。總的來說，這對我們來說是一個堅實的季度。第二季較第一季有實質改善。我們積極將網站轉變為零售業務，本季增加了 43 個零售網站。

Benefits of the ongoing execution of this strategy is apparent in our current financial results, and we expect this benefit to grow over time as we get the converted sites operating at the level we expect of them. While the demand environment continues to be constrained, our relative volume and sales performance indicates consumers are finding value in our offering, and we remain a preferred destination for them.

持續執行該策略的好處在我們當前的財務業績中顯而易見，並且隨著我們使轉換後的站點按照我們期望的水平運行，我們預計這種好處會隨著時間的推移而增長。儘管需求環境持續受到限制，但我們的相對銷售和銷售業績表明消費者正在我們的產品中發現價值，並且我們仍然是他們的首選目的地。

With that, I will turn it over to Mauro for more detailed financial review.

這樣，我會將其交給毛羅進行更詳細的財務審查。

Thank you, Charles. If you would please turn to slide 6, I would like to review our second quarter results for the partnership. We reported net income of $12.4 million for the second quarter of 2024 compared to net income of $14.5 million in the second quarter of 2023. Adjusted EBITDA was $42.6 million for the second quarter of 2024, a slight increase of 1% from adjusted EBITDA of $42.2 million for the second quarter of 2023, though as Charles has reviewed with changes in the composition of that adjusted EBITDA as a result of our strategic initiatives. Our distributable cash flow for the second quarter of 2024 was $26.1 million compared to $30.4 million for the second quarter of 2023.

謝謝你，查爾斯。如果您願意，請翻到投影片 6，我想回顧一下我們合作關係的第二季業績。我們報告 2024 年第二季的淨利潤為 1,240 萬美元，而 2023 年第二季的淨利潤為 1,450 萬美元。2024 年第二季調整後 EBITDA 為 4,260 萬美元，比 2023 年第二季調整後 EBITDA 4,220 萬美元小幅成長 1%，儘管 Charles 已經審查了調整後 EBITDA 的組成變化，因為我們的策略舉措。2024 年第二季我們的可分配現金流量為 2,610 萬美元，而 2023 年第二季為 3,040 萬美元。

The declines in net income and distributable cash flow year-over-year were primarily due to an increase in interest expense as well as slightly higher sustaining capital spending as we have worked on our class of trade changes. Our distribution coverage for the current quarter was 1.3 times compared to 1.53times for the second quarter of 2023. Our distribution coverage for the trailing 12 months ended June 30, 2024, was 1.32 times compared to 1.68 times for the same period ended June 30, 2023. During the second quarter of 2024, the partnership paid a distribution of $0.525 per unit.

淨利潤和可分配現金流量較去年同期下降主要是由於利息支出增加以及我們在進行貿易變革時維持性資本支出略有增加。我們目前季度的分配覆蓋率為 1.3 倍，而 2023 年第二季為 1.53 倍。截至2024年6月30日的過去12個月，我們的分配覆蓋率為1.32倍，而截至2023年6月30日的同期為1.68倍。2024 年第二季度，該合夥企業支付了每單位 0.525 美元的分配。

Charles discussed some of the primary drivers of our top line and gross profit performance for the quarter in his comments. Turning to the expense portion of our operations. Operating expenses for the second quarter increased $6 million compared to the 2023 second quarter. This was comprised of a $2.7 million decrease in operating expenses in our wholesale segment, offset by an $8.8 million increase in operating expenses in our retail segment. Both changes were primarily driven by our conversion of sites from our wholesale segment to our retail segment.

查爾斯在評論中討論了我們本季營收和毛利表現的一些主要驅動因素。轉向我們營運的費用部分。與 2023 年第二季相比，第二季營運支出增加了 600 萬美元。其中批發部門營運費用減少了 270 萬美元，但零售部門營運費用增加了 880 萬美元，所抵銷。這兩項變化主要是由於我們將網站從批發部門轉換為零售部門而推動的。

The retail segment increase in operating expenses was 22% compared to our 21% overall increase in average site count in the segment during the quarter compared to the prior year. Within that 21% increase in total average site count, our company-operated average site count was up 28% year-over-year for the quarter.

零售部門的營運費用增加了 22%，而本季該部門的平均站點數量與去年同期相比總體成長了 21%。在平均網站總數增加 21% 的情況下，本季我們公司經營的平均網站數量年增了 28%。

Company-operated locations are our highest per site expense cost of trade. And so that site count increase drove the majority of the year-over-year increase in operating expenses in both the retail segment and overall. We are generally pleased with the operating leverage we have been able to achieve to date as we have added company-operated locations with further room for results in this realm.

公司營運的地點是我們每個地點的最高貿易費用。因此，站點數量的增加推動了零售領域和整體營運支出的大部分同比增長。我們總體上對迄今為止能夠實現的營運槓桿感到滿意，因為我們增加了公司營運的地點，在該領域有進一步的成果空間。

On a same-store basis, operating expenses for our company-operated locations were approximately flat year-over-year. Our team has continued to drive a strong focus on managing our store labor costs with total store employment costs down approximately 1% year-over-year as a result of a strong focus on staffing our locations with efficient hours and more moderated wage increases than experienced over the prior two to three years.

在同店基礎上，我們公司經營的門市的營運費用與去年同期基本持平。我們的團隊繼續大力關注管理門市勞動成本，由於我們大力注重為門市配備高效的工作時間和比以往更溫和的工資增長，門市總僱用成本同比下降了約 1%在過去的兩三年裡。

This strong performance in controlling our store employment costs, our largest expense across the organization, coupled with continued improvement performance in shrink and inventory management allowed us to offset cost increases in repairs and maintenance, including environmental maintenance and certain store level IT investments.

在控製商店僱用成本（我們整個組織中最大的開支）方面的強勁表現，再加上收縮和庫存管理方面的持續改進表現，使我們能夠抵消維修和維護方面的成本增加，包括環境維護和某些商店級IT 投資。

Our operations team is focused on providing our store employees with the right processes and technology to accomplish their activities effectively and efficiently and providing more time in their days to service customers. Our G&A expenses increased $0.4 million for the quarter year-over-year, primarily due to higher management fees as we have selectively added head count to support the organization's growth in the retail segment.

我們的營運團隊致力於為商店員工提供正確的流程和技術，以有效且有效率地完成他們的活動，並提供更多的時間來服務客戶。本季我們的一般管理費用年增了 40 萬美元，主要是由於我們有選擇地增加員工人數以支持組織在零售領域的成長，因此管理費增加。

Moving to the next slide. We spent a total of $5.3 million on capital expenditures during the second quarter with $3.4 million of that total being growth-related capital expenditures. During this past quarter, growth-related capital spending included investments in backward of our company-operated site portfolio to add additional food and product options at selected sites. As well as certain targeted site image and dispenser investments, which are often accompanied with incentives from our fuel suppliers.

轉到下一張投影片。第二季我們總共花了 530 萬美元的資本支出，其中 340 萬美元是與成長相關的資本支出。在過去的這個季度，與成長相關的資本支出包括對我們公司經營的網站投資組合進行投資，以在選定的網站上添加額外的食品和產品選擇。以及某些有針對性的場地形象和加油機投資，這些投資通常伴隨著我們的燃料供應商的激勵措施。

As of June 30, 2024, our total credit facility balance was $789.5 million, which was a $9 million decrease from our March 31, 2024, balance. Our strong operational performance in the second quarter, coupled with our success in divesting noncore assets that Charles reviewed allowed us to reinvest in our business, complete our quarterly distribution and deleverage during the course of the quarter.

截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日，我們的信貸額度總額為 7.895 億美元，比 2024 年 3 月 31 日的餘額減少 900 萬美元。我們第二季強勁的營運業績，加上查爾斯審查的我們成功剝離非核心資產，使我們能夠對我們的業務進行再投資，在本季度完成季度分配和去槓桿化。

Our credit facility defined leverage ratio was 4.39 times as of June 30, 2024, which was a decrease from 4.49 times as of March 31, 2024. We continue to remain focused on our cash flow generation from operations and the divestiture of noncore assets to manage our leverage ratio at approximately 4 times on a credit facility-defined basis. Our cash interest expense increased from $10.2 million in the second quarter of 2023 to $13.7 million in the second quarter of 2024.

截至2024年6月30日，我們的信貸額度定義槓桿率為4.39倍，較截至2024年3月31日的4.49倍下降。我們繼續專注於營運產生的現金流和非核心資產的剝離，以在信貸安排定義的基礎上將槓桿率控制在約 4 倍。我們的現金利息支出從 2023 年第二季的 1,020 萬美元增加到 2024 年第二季的 1,370 萬美元。

We had positive rate savings from the interest rate swaps we entered into during the second and fourth quarters of last year, we did have three highly valuable interest rate swaps from the first quarter of 2020 expire at the end of the first quarter of 2024, which increased our overall interest costs.

我們從去年第二季和第四季簽訂的利率掉期中獲得了正利率節省，我們確實從2020 年第一季開始進行了三筆高價值的利率掉期，這些利率掉期將於2024 年第一季末到期，這增加了我們的整體利息成本。

At this time, approximately 50% of our current credit facility balance is swapped to a fixed rate of approximately 3.4% blended, which is a very advantaged rate in the current rate environment. Our credit facility balance during the second quarter of 2024 was also higher than the prior year, primarily due to the Applegreen transaction that Charles reviewed earlier and which we completed during the second quarter.

目前，我們當前信貸額度餘額的約 50% 被轉換為約 3.4% 的混合固定利率，這在當前利率環境下是非常有利的利率。我們在 2024 年第二季的信貸額度餘額也高於去年同期，這主要是由於 Charles 早些時候審查的 Applegreen 交易以及我們在第二季完成的交易。

Our elevated credit facility balance also contributed to the increase in our interest expense year-over-year. Our effective interest rate on the total CAPL credit facility at the end of the second quarter was 6.7%. In conclusion, as Charles noted, the partnership performed well during the second quarter of 2024 in spite of the softer demand environment experienced in fuel and store sales.

我們的信貸額度餘額增加也導致利息支出較去年同期增加。第二季末，我們對 CAPL 信貸額度總額的實際利率為 6.7%。總之，正如 Charles 指出的那樣，儘管燃料和商店銷售的需求環境較為疲軟，但該合作夥伴關係在 2024 年第二季表現良好。

We remain focused as a team on executing in our base business as well as for the sites that have transitioned between segments over the past year to optimize their performance moving forward. We continue to focus on generating durable and consistent cash flows with a focus on maintaining a strong and flexible balance sheet and driving value for our unitholders.

作為一個團隊，我們仍然專注於執行我們的基礎業務以及過去一年中在各個細分市場之間過渡的網站，以優化其未來的績效。我們繼續專注於產生持久且一致的現金流，重點是維持強大而靈活的資產負債表並為我們的單位持有人創造價值。

With that, we will open it up for questions.

至此，我們將開放提問。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

It doesn't look like we have any questions today. Thank you for joining us on round two of our call. We apologize for the technical difficulties yesterday. There was a complete systems failure on our conference call provider, which is why we were unable to have the call and also communicate that to you when you were logged on yesterday. So thank you for joining us again today. Have a great day, and have a great weekend.

看起來我們今天沒有任何問題。感謝您參加我們的第二輪電話會議。對於昨天出現的技術困難，我們深表歉意。我們的電話會議提供者出現了完整的系統故障，這就是為什麼我們無法在您昨天登入時撥打電話並通知您。感謝您今天再次加入我們。祝你有美好的一天，祝你週末愉快。

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating and ask that you please disconnect your lines. Have a lovely day.

謝謝您，先生。女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝您的參與，並請您斷開線路。祝你有美好的一天。