Compass Minerals International Inc (CMP) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. My name is Tina, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Compass Minerals third quarter fiscal 2025 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Brent Collins, Treasurer. You may begin.

感謝您的耐心等待。我叫蒂娜，今天我將擔任你們的會議接線生。在此，我謹代表 Compass Minerals 公司歡迎各位參加 2025 財年第三季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）現在我很高興將電話交給財務主管布倫特柯林斯。你可以開始了。

Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome to the Compass Minerals fiscal third quarter earnings conference call. Today, we will discuss our most recent quarterly results and provide an update of our outlook for fiscal 2025.

謝謝接線生。早安，歡迎參加 Compass Minerals 第三財季業績電話會議。今天，我們將討論我們最新的季度業績，並更新我們對 2025 財年的展望。

We will begin with prepared remarks from our President and CEO, Edward Dowling; and our CFO, Peter Fjellman. Joining in for the question-and-answer portion of the call will be Pat Merrin, our Chief Operations Officer; and Ben Nichols, our Chief Commercial Officer.

首先，我們的總裁兼執行長 Edward Dowling 和財務長 Peter Fjellman 將發表準備好的演講。參與電話會議問答環節的有我們的營運長 Pat Merrin 和商務長 Ben Nichols。

Before we get started, I will remind everyone that the remarks we make today reflect financial and operational outlooks as of today's date, August 12, 2025. These outlooks entail assumptions and expectations that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the company's actual results to differ materially.

在正式開始之前，我要提醒大家，我們今天發表的演講反映了截至 2025 年 8 月 12 日的財務和營運前景。這些展望包含假設和預期，其中存在風險和不確定性，可能導致公司的實際業績與預期有重大差異。

A discussion of these risks can be found in our SEC filings, located online at investors.compassminerals.com. Our remarks today also includes certain non-GAAP financial measures. You can find reconciliations of these items in our earnings release or in our presentation, both of which are available online.

有關這些風險的討論，請參閱我們提交給美國證券交易委員會（SEC）的文件，這些文件可在 investors.compassminerals.com 網站上找到。我們今天的演講也包含一些非公認會計準則（non-GAAP）的財務指標。您可以在我們的獲利報告或簡報中找到這些項目的核對結果，這兩份文件都可以在網路上找到。

And with that, I will now turn the call over to Ed.

接下來，我將把電話交給艾德。

Thank you, Brent. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I'm pleased to report that we had a solid third quarter. I'll begin by commenting on the Plant Nutrition business. We talked in the past about needing to improve the cost structure at Ogden and a plan to do so. We're making good progress on that front.

謝謝你，布倫特。各位早安，感謝大家今天收看我們的節目。我很高興地報告，我們第三季業績穩健。我先來談談植物營養產業。我們之前討論過需要改善奧格登的成本結構，以及製定改善成本結構的計畫。我們在這方面取得了良好進展。

An added benefit of the work we've been doing in Utah is we're seeing a more consistent and higher productivity at the plant, allowing us to confidently serve businesses beyond our core market in the Western US. These efforts have resulted in strong sales volumes, complemented by lower production costs this quarter that more than offset lower pricing and higher per unit distribution costs.

我們在猶他州的工作還有一個額外的好處，那就是我們看到工廠的生產效率更加穩定和高，這使我們能夠自信地為美國西部核心市場以外的企業提供服務。這些努力帶來了強勁的銷售量，再加上本季生產成本的降低，足以抵銷價格降低和單位分銷成本上升的影響。

The net result is we saw improvements in the per unit operating earnings and adjusted EBITDA for the quarter. In the Salt business, on a per ton basis, we saw distribution costs hold flat and production costs decreased by 2%. This allowed us to realize improvements in both segment operating earnings and adjusted EBITDA on a per ton basis. Bid season is a big focus for the Salt business in the third quarter. Presently, approximately 70% of the company's North American highway deicing bid process has been completed. We expect contracted selling price for the coming season to be up 2% to 4% year-over-year and committed bid volumes to be up 3% to 5%.

最終結果是，本季每單位營業利潤和調整後 EBITDA 均有所改善。在鹽業業務中，以每噸計算，我們發現分銷成本保持不變，而生產成本下降了 2%。這使我們能夠在每噸基礎上實現部門營業利潤和調整後 EBITDA 的提高。第三季度，鹽業業務的重點工作是投標季。目前，該公司北美公路除冰招標流程已完成約 70%。我們預計下一季的合約售價將比去年同期上漲 2% 至 4%，承諾的投標量將比去年同期上漲 3% 至 5%。

As a reminder, bid volumes established service levels for certain customers and sales volumes will ultimately be driven by winter weather. Coming out of this year's deicing season, we expected to see increases in both price and commitments, so things are playing out generally and how we thought they would. An important step we completed in the third quarter was the refinancing that we've discussed over the last couple of quarters. That exercise improves our financial flexibility, enhances our liquidity, extends our maturity profile, all of which helps strengthen our ability to continue executing on our Back-to-Basic strategy.

提醒大家，投標數量決定了某些客戶的服務水平，而銷售量最終將受冬季天氣的影響。今年除冰季結束後，我們預計價格和訂單量都會增加，所以目前的情況總體上和我們預想的一樣。我們在第三季完成的一項重要舉措是過去幾季我們一直在討論的再融資事宜。這項措施提高了我們的財務靈活性，增強了我們的流動性，延長了我們的到期期限，所有這些都有助於增強我們繼續執行「回歸基本」策略的能力。

Our financial position was further augmented in the quarter with the sale of the majority of Fortress assets and intellectual property for net proceeds of approximately $20 million. It's worth reiterating what we're fundamentally working to achieve with our Back-to-Basic strategy.

本季度，我們出售了 Fortress 的大部分資產和智慧財產權，淨收益約為 2000 萬美元，進一步增強了我們的財務實力。值得重申的是，我們透過「回歸基礎」策略的根本目標是什麼。

Our focus is to improve cash flow generating capability of the company by optimizing business practices and structures, lowering capital intensity of our assets and improving the efficiency of our operations. I'm pleased with the progress we are making. With disciplined execution, we will continue to unlock intrinsic value of the company.

我們的重點是透過優化業務實踐和結構、降低資產的資本密集度以及提高營運效率來提高公司的現金流量產生能力。我對我們所取得的進展感到滿意。透過嚴謹的執行，我們將繼續釋放公司的內在價值。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Peter for a review of our third quarter results.

接下來，我將把電話交給彼得，讓他回顧我們第三季的業績。

Thanks, Ed. I'll make a few comments about the quarter, and then we'll turn the call over to Q&A. For the third quarter, consolidated revenue was $215 million, up approximately 6% year-over-year. Operating income for the quarter was $15.9 million, which is an improvement from operating income of $5.9 million last year. Consolidated net loss was $17 million compared to a net loss of $43.6 million in the prior year period.

謝謝，埃德。我將就本季度做一些簡要說明，然後我們將把電話會議交給問答環節。第三季綜合營收為 2.15 億美元，年增約 6%。本季營業收入為 1,590 萬美元，比去年同期的 590 萬美元有所提高。綜合淨虧損為 1,700 萬美元，而上年同期淨虧損為 4,360 萬美元。

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter increased by 25% to $41 million, which compares to $32.8 million a year ago. In the Salt business, revenue in the third quarter was $166 million compared to $160.6 million a year ago.

本季調整後 EBITDA 成長 25% 至 4,100 萬美元，去年同期為 3,280 萬美元。鹽業業務第三季營收為 1.66 億美元，去年同期為 1.606 億美元。

Pricing was down 1% year-over-year to approximately $108 per ton with volumes up 4% compared to the prior year period. Net revenue per ton, which accounts for distribution costs, decreased 1% to $75. On a per ton basis, operating earnings came in 4% higher year-over-year at $18.20 per ton, while adjusted EBITDA per ton increased by 6% to $29.66. The increase in per ton margins reflects the decrease in production costs compared to last year as price and distribution costs were more or less flat year-over-year.

價格年減 1% 至每噸約 108 美元，而銷量比上年同期增長 4%。扣除分銷成本後，每噸淨收入下降 1% 至 75 美元。以噸計算，營業利潤年增4%至每噸18.20美元，而調整後每噸EBITDA成長6%至29.66美元。每噸利潤率的成長反映了生產成本較去年有所下降，因為價格和分銷成本與去年基本持平。

In the Plant Nutrition business, revenue for the third quarter was $45 million, which is up 15% year-over-year from $39 million. Sales volume (technical difficulty) [21%] from prior year period, while pricing was down 5% for the same period. Distribution costs per ton increased 10% to around $98 per ton and all-in production cost per ton decreased approximately 23%.

在植物營養業務方面，第三季營收為 4,500 萬美元，比去年同期的 3,900 萬美元成長了 15%。銷售量（技術難度）比去年同期下降了 21%，而同期價格下降了 5%。每噸分銷成本上漲了 10%，達到每噸約 98 美元，而每噸總生產成本下降了約 23%。

Turning to the balance sheet. I'll comment on inventory in our financial position briefly. North American highway deicing inventory value and volumes increased sequentially by 28% and 27%, respectively. This is a normal seasonal build as we prepare for the coming deicing season. We remain mindful of past challenges with excess inventory and are committed to avoiding similar issues.

接下來看一下資產負債表。我將簡要地談談我們財務狀況中的庫存問題。北美公路除冰劑庫存價值和數量分別較上季增加了 28% 和 27%。這是我們為即將到來的除冰季節所做的正常季節性準備。我們始終銘記過去庫存過剩帶來的挑戰，並致力於避免類似問題再次發生。

As of the end of June, North American highway deicing inventory levels are approximately 50% lower than last year. We are taking a disciplined approach to production planning and inventory management, and we'll continue to refine our strategy as we complete the bid season.

截至6月底，北美公路除冰劑庫存水準比去年同期下降了約50%。我們採取了嚴謹的生產計劃和庫存管理方法，並將隨著投標季的結束不斷完善我們的策略。

Regarding our financial position. At quarter end, we had liquidity of $388 million, comprised of $79 million of cash and revolver capacity of around $309 million. These amounts reflect the cash from the Fortress asset sale and the refinancing activity that Ed referred to in his remarks. The amendment to our credit facility that occurred contemporaneously with the new note issuance had two important changes.

關於我們的財務狀況。截至季末，我們的流動資金為 3.88 億美元，其中包括 7,900 萬美元現金和約 3.09 億美元的循環信貸額度。這些金額反映了 Fortress 資產出售所得現金以及 Ed 在演講中提到的再融資活動。與新票據發行同時進行的信貸安排修訂有兩個重要變化。

First, it locked in the commitment level of the facility at $325 million through the life of the facility and eliminated the step-downs that were scheduled in the prior agreement. Second, it moved the leverage covenant from a total net debt calculation to a net first lien debt measure. These changes enhance our liquidity and provide additional financial flexibility.

首先，它將該設施的承諾出資額鎖定在 3.25 億美元，直至該設施關閉，並取消了先前協議中規定的逐步減少出資額的條款。其次，它將槓桿率契約從淨債務總額計算改為淨優先擔保債務衡量標準。這些變化增強了我們的流動性，並提供了更大的財務靈活性。

Total net debt as of June 30, 2025, was $746 million, which is down $116 million or 13% year-over-year. Reducing leverage is a key component to our Back-to-Basic strategy, and we're making solid progress towards that goal. It was a strong quarter for the company from a financial perspective. Despite increasing inventory levels, we were free cash flow positive, and that is before including the proceeds from the fortress Divestiture.

截至 2025 年 6 月 30 日，淨債務總額為 7.46 億美元，比去年同期減少了 1.16 億美元，降幅達 13%。降低槓桿率是我們回歸基本策略的關鍵組成部分，我們正朝著這個目標穩步前進。從財務角度來看，這是該公司表現強勁的一個季度。儘管庫存水準不斷上升，但我們的自由現金流為正，而且這還不包括從堡壘剝離中獲得的收益。

From a guidance perspective, we've increased our adjusted EBITDA guidance slightly for the year. At the midpoint, we are now showing $193 million for the year, which is an increase from a midpoint of $188 million coming out of 2Q '25. The increase is being driven by Plant Nutrition business where the stronger sales and effective cost management, Ed referred to are translating to better financial performance. We also have a slight uptick in our projection for Salt EBITDA. Our guidance for capital expenditures remains unchanged at a range of $75 million to $85 million.

從業績指引的角度來看，我們略微提高了今年的調整後 EBITDA 預期。截至目前，我們預計全年營收為 1.93 億美元，比 2025 年第二季末的 1.88 億美元中位數有所成長。艾德指出，植物營養業務的成長推動了這一成長，更強勁的銷售和有效的成本管理轉化為更好的財務表現。我們對Salt公司EBITDA的預測也略有調高。我們對資本支出的預期仍維持在 7,500 萬美元至 8,500 萬美元之間。

I'll now open the floor for questions. Operator?

現在我將開放提問環節。操作員？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Joel Jackson, BMO Capital Markets.

Joel Jackson，BMO資本市場。

Hi, good morning, everyone. I'm going to ask a few questions, maybe one by one, if that's okay. Can you help us understand if you get 2% to 4%, so a few percentage points of higher highway deicing pricing, gross pricing and when you factor in inflation, does that suggest your netbacks for next winter or the upcoming winter are going to be the same, higher or lower on this results out of bid season?

大家早安。如果可以的話，我想問幾個問題，也許一個一個地問。您能否幫我們理解一下，如果高速公路除冰價格上漲 2% 到 4%，也就是幾個百分點，再加上通貨膨脹因素，這是否意味著您在下個冬季或即將到來的冬季的淨收益會與投標季結束後的定價持平、上漲還是下跌？

Yeah, good morning, Joel. This is Ed. How are you? Look, I appreciate the question. Our focus on the sales side for the upcoming season is really consistent with our Back-to-Basic strategy where it's value over volume. What you're really asking is, does the net margin of the plan result in better or worse financial results.

早安，喬爾。我是艾德，你好嗎？我很感謝你的提問。在即將到來的銷售季，我們的重點將放在銷售方面，這與我們的「回歸基本」策略非常一致，即註重價值而非數量。你真正想問的是，該計劃的淨利潤率會帶來更好還是更差的財務結果。

And as you know, we're in the middle of our budgeting season working hard. You see that our costs are coming down. I think that's an important thing. But we're -- we do guidance once our budgets are done and through our Board and do that guidance generally on November call.

如您所知，我們正處於預算編制的關鍵時期，大家都在努力工作。您可以看到我們的成本正在下降。我認為這很重要。但是，我們會在預算完成後，透過董事會提供指導意見，通常會在 11 月的電話會議上提供這些指導意見。

Okay. And then maybe following up on that. I think there were a lot of people out there that thought that this could be a very strong bid season, results came in 2% to 4%, which, as you probably appreciate, a pretty average historical results of those never an average bid season in winter, but pretty average 2% to 4%.

好的。然後或許可以跟進此事。我認為很多人都認為今年的競標季會非常強勁，但結果只有 2% 到 4%，正如你可能意識到的那樣，這只是歷史上相當平均的結果。冬季的競標季從來都不是平庸的，但 2% 到 4% 的結果也相當平均了。

Can you talk about as the bid season has played out, what happened versus maybe what you might have thought, might you have thought you'd get higher prices? Did you think you might win more share from cargo or American Rock Salt because the issues they have? It seems like there wasn't that much volume shift between the major players. Can you talk about how the markets are playing out in deicing pricing, how it played out? Thanks

您能否談談隨著競標季的進行，實際發生的情況與您預想的有何不同？您是否曾想過會獲得更高的價格？你認為由於貨運公司或美國岩鹽公司目前面臨的問題，你可能會從他們那裡贏得更多市場份額嗎？主要參與者之間的銷售變化似乎不大。能談談除冰劑價格的市場趨勢嗎？走勢如何？謝謝

Well, the volumes are up across the board. The pricing, as you know, is transparent and so all these bids are public documents. So you can take a look at that. Our Back-to-Basic strategy is value over volume, in competing where we can drive value into the business. You can take a look at what some of the competitors are doing, but that's really not our business. That's their business in terms of what they're setting out to accomplish.

總體而言，銷量都在上升。如您所知，定價是透明的，因此所有這些投標都是公開文件。所以你可以看看。我們的「回歸本源」策略是價值重於數量，在競爭中，我們要在能夠為企業創造價值的領域中取得成功。你可以看看一些競爭對手在做什麼，但這真的不是我們的事。那是他們自己的事，取決於他們想要達成的目標。

But generally, coming into a season like this, it generally takes -- if you go back and look at history, two years to really clear the market to really see sort of the full impact of a year like we had last year. Ben, do you want to add anything to that?

但一般來說，進入這樣一個賽季，通常需要——如果你回顧歷史的話——兩年時間才能真正清理市場，才能真正看到像去年那樣的一年的全部影響。本，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Sure, yeah, good morning, Joel. I think what Ed was alluding to as well is the last season, while stronger than the prior two, which were quite light, was really just a return to more average weather. And so -- to the degree that, that impacted the overall supply and demand picture maybe wasn't as great as people had hoped moving into the bid season and that may have played out a bit in the dynamics with the competition. But again, we stayed focused to our strategy. I was proud of the way the team moved through a very dynamic situation. And I think we're delivering the type of value we committed to.

當然，早上好，喬爾。我認為艾德所暗示的也是，上個賽季雖然比前兩個賽季（前兩個賽季的天氣都比較溫和）要好，但實際上只是回歸了更普通的天氣而已。因此，在某種程度上，這影響了整體的供需情況，可能沒有人們在進入投標季時所希望的那樣好，這可能在競爭動態中起到了一定的作用。但我們始終堅持我們的策略。我為團隊在如此瞬息萬變的局勢中展現出的應對能力感到自豪。我認為我們正在兌現我們承諾的價值。

Okay. Final question. It looks like your Plant Nutrition costs on a per ton basis were very good. In Q3, you had some decent volumes, looks like maybe your best per quarter -- excuse me, per ton quarter -- per ton cost in years. When I look at your guidance, though, it looks like the costs go back to Q4 kind of where they've been, maybe even higher than the first half of the year.

好的。最後一個問題。看來你們的植物營養成本（以噸計算）非常划算。第三季銷量不錯，看起來可能是你們多年來最好的季度——抱歉，是每噸季度——每噸成本。不過，從你們的業績指引來看，成本似乎回到了第四季的水平，甚至可能比上半年還要高。

So were there some unique things -- and then volumes are similar in Q3 versus Q4. Were there some unique things going on in Q3 and or Q4. How should we think about it for Plant Nutrition?

所以，第三季和第四季的銷售量比較相似，這其中是否存在一些獨特之處？第三季或第四季是否發生了一些特殊情況？我們該如何看待植物營養學的問題？

No, not really. The -- Joel, look Plant Nutrition, and we've been talking about this for a year or so. It's a multiyear recovery plan, starting with the ponds and ultimately working our way through improvements in the dry plant. I think the good news here is that our recovery on the ponds is ahead of where we thought it would be. There's a number of things that are contributing to that. One is management of the solutions; and two, really having hot and dry weather out in Utah, we've been able to deposit more.

不，其實不是。喬爾，聽我說說植物營養，我們已經討論這個問題一年多了。這是一個多年恢復計劃，從池塘開始，最終透過改進旱地工廠來實現。我認為好消息是，我們池塘的恢復情況比我們預期的要好。造成這種情況的原因有很多。一是溶液的管理；二是猶他州天氣炎熱乾燥，我們得以沉積更多溶液。

So achieving our production and really at the right grade, remember, we talked about the harvest production ratio has worked out really quite well for us, and we're trying to take advantage of that sort of going forward. We're doing some things in the wet plant to improve overall recovery.

因此，我們實現了產量目標，並且達到了合適的等級。記住，我們之前討論過收穫產量比，這對我們來說效果非常好，我們正努力利用這一點繼續前進。我們正在濕式處理廠進行一些工作，以提高整體恢復率。

We'll talk about that at some point in the future. And ultimately, the capital project in the dry plant. I think the outlook is really just -- we had a good quarter. I think we would expect to see something similar in the fourth quarter.

我們以後會再討論這個問題。最終，是乾燥廠的資本項目。我認為前景其實就是——我們這個季度表現不錯。我認為第四季也會出現類似的情況。

Now we're -- the plant is down right now. So the volume -- that's planned and scheduled. So what you're probably seeing a little bit of is compression on that. I'll turn -- maybe Pat would have some comments on that as well.

現在——工廠暫時停工了。所以銷售——那是計劃好的，已經安排好了。所以你可能看到的是一些壓縮效果。我轉過身——也許帕特也會對此發表一些看法。

Joel, it's Pat. One other thing to keep in mind is KCl is a big input factor for us. And so our costs are driven by the cost of KCl in the open market. So that also can impact what our overall costs are going forward. So we're projecting into that as opposed to what we've seen in the past.

喬爾，我是帕特。另一點要注意的是，氯化鉀是我們重要的投入要素。因此，我們的成本取決於公開市場上氯化鉀的價格。所以這也會影響我們未來的整體成本。所以，我們現在是朝著這個方向展望，而不是按照我們過去所看到的情況來展望。

Could I be greedy and just sneak in a question on that. Does that mean that maybe in Q3, your mix was more straight harvest in Q4, the mix shifts a little more towards augmented with purchase KCl?

我可以貪心一點，偷偷問一個關於這個問題的問題嗎？這是否意味著，在第三季度，你們的配方更傾向於直接收割，而在第四季度，配方則更多地轉向購買氯化鉀進行補充？

No, I wouldn't say that. As Ed spoke about the improvement in health of the ponds, which then improves the input into the plant over time allows us to use less KCI. So there's going to be some impact of that. But the long-term trend, some of the cost is just what we have to purchase KCl at. And so I think we see leading into next year higher KCl prices based on what the market is telling us they expect those prices to be.

不，我不會這麼說。正如 Ed 所說，池塘健康狀況的改善，進而改善了工廠的投入，隨著時間的推移，使我們能夠減少氯化鉀的使用量。所以這肯定會產生一些影響。但從長遠來看，部分成本只是我們購買氯化鉀的價格。因此，我認為根據市場對我們價格的預期，明年氯化鉀的價格將會上漲。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Patrick Goff, JPMorgan.

Patrick Goff，摩根大通。

Hi guys, thanks for taking the question. I missed part of the prepared remarks, and I had a question or a clarification question on your comment regarding North American highway deicing inventories down 50% relative to last year. I assume that's your inventory levels or that's industry inventory levels?

大家好，感謝你們回答這個問題。我錯過了部分準備好的發言稿，對於您關於北美公路除冰庫存比去年下降 50% 的評論，我有一個問題或一個需要澄清的問題。我猜這是你們的庫存水平，還是行業平均庫存水準？

Yeah, Patrick, good morning. This is Ed. I mean that's our inventory levels. You -- Peter, you want to add more to that?

是的，派崔克，早安。這是艾德。我的意思是，這是我們的庫存水準。彼得，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

No. Again, back to basics is just managing those through.

不。歸根究底，最基本的就是應對這些問題。

Yeah, we'll be managing that our working capital very carefully going forward. It will flex up and down depending on what happens at any given year. We'll manage the business flexibly as we've talked about in the past, but we're not going to find ourselves in a circumstance like we did a year ago, where we're just way too much inventory coming into a season and just produce to make earnings look good, but basically putting cash in the inventory. We're not going to do that anymore.

是的，今後我們會非常謹慎地管理我們的營運資金。它會根據每年的具體情況上下波動。我們會像過去那樣靈活地管理業務，但我們不會再像一年前那樣，進入銷售季時庫存過多，只是為了讓收益看起來不錯而生產，實際上卻是把現金投入庫存。我們以後不會再那樣做了。

That makes sense. Can I follow on a couple of quick ones. Do you have a sense -- I guess I'll put them both in there. Do you have a sense as to where broader industry inventory levels are? And then I guess the other question would be just when you think about your balance sheet, where are you trying to get to with regard to leverage on maybe a normalized EBITDA basis going forward?

這很有道理。我可以接著問幾個簡單的問題嗎？你覺得——我想我會把它們兩個都放進去。您對整個產業的庫存水準有何看法？那麼，我想另一個問題是，當您考慮您的資產負債表時，您希望在未來以正常化的 EBITDA 為基礎實現怎樣的槓桿率目標？

Yeah, Patrick. I'll have Ben address the first thing in terms of industry-wide inventories, and I'll address sort of balance sheet targets.

是的，派崔克。我會先讓本談談產業整體庫存狀況，然後我會談談資產負債表目標。

Hey, good morning, Patrick, this is Ben. It would be a bit of speculation. I think it's prudent to say that industry inventories would be down year-over-year being that going into last season, we were coming off with two very light winters, and I think it was widely known that inventories were pretty heavy to the degree that they're down with our competitors, I would be speculating. So I won't speak to that.

嘿，早上好，派崔克，我是本。這有點像是猜測。我認為謹慎地說，行業庫存同比下降是合理的，因為上個季度我們經歷了兩個非常輕微的冬季，而且庫存量相當大，這在當時是眾所周知的事實，因此，與我們的競爭對手相比，庫存下降的程度，我只能這樣推測。所以我不打算對此發表評論。

In terms of our balance sheet, Patrick, ultimately, we'd like to work ourselves to be investment grade, which implies a debt-to-equity ratio or EBITDA ratio of between 2 and 3, kind of roughly 2.5, I've talked about that in the past.

派崔克，就我們的資產負債表而言，我們最終的目標是達到投資等級，這意味著債務權益比率或 EBITDA 比率在 2 到 3 之間，大約在 2.5 左右，我以前也談到過這一點。

How we manage cash and working our way down and pleased that our debt is coming down. That's the plan is make cash and retire debt. As we move our way through there, we'll start thinking more and more about the potential capital returns and things like that in the future. But no decision at this point. We need to get our debt down a bit more before we start thinking about that.

我們如何管理現金，逐步減少債務，很高興看到我們的債務正在減少。計劃就是賺點錢還債。隨著我們逐步深入，我們會開始越來越多地考慮未來潛在的資本回報等等問題。但目前尚未做出決定。我們需要先把債務再減少一些，才能開始考慮這件事。

And then -- and sorry, one last one. So would the thought with the stub of the '27s be to pay that down with cash flow or to refi that?

然後——抱歉，最後一個。那麼，對於那輛 27 年車的殘骸，您的想法是用現金流償還還是再融資呢？

That?

那？

100%, our -- we've announced our intention is to use cash flow to pay down the stub left over on the '27 bonds.

100%，我們—我們已經宣布，我們的意圖是利用現金流來償還 2027 年債券的剩餘部分。

Got it. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

知道了。太感謝了。謝謝。

You bet. Thanks, Patrick.

當然。謝謝你，派崔克。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

And with no further questions in queue, I will now hand the call back over to Ed Dowling for closing remarks.

由於沒有其他問題需要提問，我現在將電話交還給艾德·道林，請他作總結發言。

Okay. Thank you, operator. Really appreciate it, and thanks, everybody, for joining the call today. We've got some events coming up here over the next sort of two months and look forward to seeing you then.

好的。謝謝接線生。非常感謝，也感謝大家今天參加電話會議。接下來兩個月左右我們會有一些活動，期待屆時見到你們。

Thank you again for joining us today. This does conclude today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

再次感謝您今天蒞臨。今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線了。