Compass Minerals International, Inc. (CMP) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. My name is Kate and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Compass Minerals first-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Thank you.

感謝您的耐心等待。我叫凱特，今天將由我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 2026 財年第一季財報電話會議。（操作說明）謝謝。

I would now like to turn the call over to Brent Collins, VP Treasurer Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我將把電話交給投資人關係副總裁兼財務主管布倫特‧柯林斯。請繼續。

Thank you, operator. Good morning and welcome to the Compass Minerals fiscal first-quarter 2026 earnings conference call.

謝謝接線生。早安，歡迎參加 Compass Minerals 2026 財年第一季財報電話會議。

Today we will discuss our most recent quarterly results. We'll 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 Ben Nichols, our Chief Commercial Officer; and our Chief Operations Officer, Pat Marin.

今天我們將討論我們最新的季度業績。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商務長 Ben Nichols 和營運長 Pat Marin。

Before we get started, I'll remind everyone that the remarks we make today reflect financial and operational outlooks as of today's date, February 5, 2026. 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 2026 年 2 月 5 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 include 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 網站上查閱。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。

I'll now turn the call over to Ed.

現在我將把電話交給艾德。

Thank you, Brent. Compass Minerals had a strong start to the year. For the first time since 2023, we're reporting positive quarterly net income. For the first quarter of 2026, reported net income of $0.43 compared with a net loss of $0.57 a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA doubled to $65 million. We took leverage down year on year by nearly 2 times to 3.6 times, and we raised the midpoint of our full year adjusted EBITDA guidance range to $224 million based on solid results in the salt business and positive momentum in the plant nutrition, partly offset by the planned sale of our Wynyard SOP operation. (inaudible) sale, the midpoint of our revised guidance would have been up about 4%.

謝謝你，布倫特。Compass Minerals 今年開局強勁。自 2023 年以來，我們首次實現了季度淨利潤為正。2026 年第一季度，公司報告淨收入為 0.43 美元，而去年同期淨虧損為 0.57 美元。調整後 EBITDA 翻了一番，達到 6500 萬美元。我們將槓桿率年減近2倍至3.6倍，並將全年調整後EBITDA預期區間的中位數上調至2.24億美元，這主要得益於鹽業業務的穩健業績和植物營養業務的積極發展勢頭，但部分被計劃出售Wynyard SOP業務所抵消。 （聽不清楚）如果出售，我們修訂後的預期區間中位數將上調約4%。

And begin today where we are in the salt business. There's been steady winter weather this year across many of our North American markets we serve, excluding the western part of the US. Year over year, Compass Minerals saw sizable increases in sales volumes. We also benefited from price increases in both highway deicing and C&I parts of the business.

從我們鹽業業務的今天開始。今年，在我們服務的北美許多市場（美國西部除外）都出現了持續的冬季天氣。與前一年相比，Compass Minerals 的銷售額大幅成長。我們也受惠於公路除冰和工商業業務部分的價格上漲。

With a strong start to the winter, short-term market for the entire salt industry is really tight. Compass Minerals continues to focus on efficient and safe delivery of every ton of salt possible, understanding the critical role that we and others in the industry play in the communities we serve.

由於冬季開局強勁，整個鹽業產業的短期市場供應非常緊張。Compass Minerals 繼續致力於高效、安全地交付每一噸鹽，因為我們深知我們和業內其他公司在我們所服務的社區中扮演著至關重要的角色。

In any given season, our ability to service excess market demand in season can be limited by the compressed timing of regional winter weather and any associated demand surge. We forward deploy salt throughout the year across our depot network as there is meaningful lead time across our production and supply chain to reach many of the regions we serve, particularly mid-season.

在任何特定季節，由於區域冬季天氣持續時間短以及相關的需求激增，我們滿足當季市場過剩需求的能力可能會受到限制。由於我們的生產和供應鏈需要相當長的提前期才能將鹽運送到我們服務的許多地區，尤其是在旺季期間，因此我們全年都會透過我們的倉庫網路提前部署鹽。

For reasons I'll discuss more in a moment, our ability to meet excessive demand if it materialized in this specific season was always going to be limited. We do not plan our business assuming that we will have above average winners, and we've been very clear about our commitment to managing inventories, maintaining financial discipline, and focusing on value over volume.

稍後我會詳細討論原因，如果本季出現過量需求，我們滿足這種需求的能力始終是有限的。我們制定業務計劃時並沒有假設我們會有高於平均水平的暢銷產品，而且我們一直非常明確地致力於管理庫存、保持財務紀律以及注重價值而非數量。

I'll make a few comments on the changes to our outlook in the salt segment as we recognize that they may not be intuitive to the midst of a strong winter. What I want to make clear up front is that our guidance does not represent quote unquote, a new normal for this kind of winter.

鑑於我們意識到在嚴冬之中，這些變化可能並不直觀，因此我想就我們在鹽業領域的展望變化發表一些評論。我想首先明確指出的是，我們的指導意見並不代表所謂的「這種冬季的新常態」。

Our plans for the business are expected to allow for more flexible operations in the future, but we have more work to do to get there. Well, I first reiterate why we put our back to basic strategy in place beginning in '24.

我們制定的業務計劃預計在未來實現更靈活的運營，但要實現這一目標，我們還有更多工作要做。首先，我要重申為什麼我們從 2024 年開始實施回歸基本策略。

The company's prior approach was to operate so that it never missed a big winter. I won't bore you this morning with the details of how that ended, but suffice to say that it directly led to excess inventory over multiple years, a stress balance sheet with all the adverse impacts on market value you'd expect it to bring.

該公司之前的做法是確保不會錯過任何一個嚴冬。今天早上我就不贅述事情的結局了，總之，它直接導致了多年庫存過剩，資產負債表壓力巨大，對市場價值產生了你所預期的所有不利影響。

We're committed not to repeat the mistakes of the past, made the right decision to align the business more closely with anticipated market demand, and managed inventories accordingly. Over time as the balance sheet continues to improve and market dynamics adjust to historical norms, the optionality within our inventory management strategy will evolve.

我們承諾不再重蹈覆轍，做出了正確的決定，使業務更加緊密地與預期的市場需求保持一致，並相應地管理了庫存。隨著資產負債表的不斷改善和市場動態向歷史常態的調整，我們的庫存管理策略中的選擇餘地也將隨之演變。

We've been very open that our inventory management plan could preclude our ability to meet excessive demand in fiscal 2026. Our inventory and production planning are informed by three factors. The first two, I just discussed. First, the customer level commitments and the desire to keep inventory levels closely aligned to market demand. And second, effective placement of salt inventories VIA, our salt supply chain. The third factor is production rates and capabilities at the mines, which I'll now comment to.

我們一直坦誠地表示，我們的庫存管理計畫可能會使我們無法滿足 2026 財年的過剩需求。我們的庫存和生產計劃主要依據三個因素。前兩個問題我剛才已經討論過了。首先是客戶層面的承諾以及保持庫存水準與市場需求緊密一致的願望。其次，透過我們的鹽供應鏈，有效地部署鹽庫存。第三個因素是礦場的生產力和能力，我現在就來談談這一點。

Goderich's Mine is in a period of high development. The mine is currently developing a number of new mining panels which require the construction of new underground infrastructure and ground support. New development panels inherently have higher costs and lower production rates than panels that are in full production. This is not a new issue and was incorporated in our initial guidance for the year.

戈德里奇礦正處於高速發展期。該礦目前正在開發多個新的採礦工作面，這需要建造新的地下基礎設施和地面支撐設施。新開發的面板必然比已全面投產的面板成本更高、生產效率更低。這並非新問題，我們已將其納入年度初步指導方針中。

The development sequence is important as it governs our ability to produce at the higher end of historic production levels. Advancing these development panels will improve the optionality and flexibility within the production plan at Goderich Mine, but in the near term, the mine's ability to produce at the higher end of the historical rates will be limited.

發展順序很重要，因為它決定了我們能否達到歷史最高生產水準。推進這些開發方案將提高戈德里奇礦產生產計畫的選擇性和靈活性，但在短期內，該礦以歷史最高產量水準進行生產的能力將受到限制。

Within this context, the production ramp up at Goderich Mine in mid fiscal 2025 later than anticipated due to uncertainties around the applicability of the USMCA and subsequent hiring and qualifying of miners. Currently, Goderich is producing a significantly higher rates year on year, and we're generally pleased with the direction of travel regarding our production level. That being said, we have some more work to mitigate greater than anticipated unplanned downtime, as well as to further improve operating efficiencies.

在此背景下，由於美墨加協定的適用性以及隨後礦工的招聘和資格認定存在不確定性，戈德里奇礦在 2025 財年中期的生產提升速度比預期要慢。目前，戈德里奇的產量逐年大幅成長，我們對目前的產量水準發展方向整體感到滿意。儘管如此，我們仍需努力減少超出預期的非計劃性停機時間，並進一步提高營運效率。

These factors are somewhat limiting in our ability to service incremental in-season demand, creating headwinds for production costs per ton. Working our way through these issues, including improvements to preventive maintenance and overhaul programs, to name a few. Despite these challenges, we still have a solid quarter in salt.

這些因素在一定程度上限制了我們滿足季節性增量需求的能力，從而對每噸生產成本造成了不利影響。我們正在逐步解決這些問題，包括改善預防性維護和檢修計畫等等。儘管面臨這些挑戰，我們仍然擁有穩定的四分之一鹽庫存。

Moving over to plant nutrition business, we continue to see momentum in our story. Over the last year or so, we've talked a lot about improving the performance of the business which is largely premised on restoring the health of the pond complex at Ogden. This is succeeding.

再來看植物營養業務，我們看到公司的發展動能依然強勁。在過去一年左右的時間裡，我們一直在討論如何改善業務績效，而這主要取決於恢復奧格登池塘群的健康。這是成功之舉。

As the pond complex continues to improve, the quality of the feedstock that goes into Ogden also improves, provides benefits on how the plant operates, drive costs down. We've continued to make progress on this initiative, and we've seen product costs trend down.

隨著池塘綜合設施的不斷改進，奧格登工廠的原料品質也隨之提高，這有利於工廠的運營，並降低成本。我們在這項計劃上持續取得進展，我們看到產品成本呈下降趨勢。

On the pricing front, our team has done a good job of maintaining market value of our SOP portfolio. We're seeing a $20 improvement in price compared to our expectation. The decrease in anticipated sales volume releases to us prioritizing having SOP available to pursue additional domestic business over lower margin export opportunities.

在定價方面，我們的團隊在維持 SOP 產品組合的市場價值方面做得很好。價格比我們預期的低了 20 美元。預期銷售量的下降促使我們優先考慮提供標準作業程序 (SOP) 以擴大國內業務，而不是利潤較低的出口機會。

We announced in our press release yesterday that we have entered into an agreement to sell our Wynyard SOP operation in Canada for $30.8 million, subject to customary closing conditions. Considering the improvements we're seeing in our Ogden operation coupled with our read on future market conditions, we believe now is an opportune time to pursue this transaction, allowing us to further focus our efforts on North American leading producer of SOP.

我們在昨天的新聞稿中宣布，我們已達成協議，將以 3080 萬美元的價格出售我們在加拿大的 Wynyard SOP 業務，但需滿足慣例成交條件。考慮到我們在奧格登工廠的營運情況有所改善，以及我們對未來市場狀況的判斷，我們認為現在是進行這項交易的良機，使我們能夠進一步專注於北美領先的SOP生產商。

Improvements that we're seeing at Ogden are allowing us to increase our adjusted EBITDA guidance for the plant nutrition business by 8% in a midpoint of $37 million despite the sale of the Wynyard operation. We've talked before about the importance of returning this business to a level where it consistently carries a $40 million EBITDA handle, absent the [Whittier's] sale, we would have graded to this value in this quarter. We think that we have a line of sight of getting there in the coming quarters without (inaudible).

儘管出售了 Wynyard 工廠，但 Ogden 工廠的改善使我們能夠將植物營養業務的調整後 EBITDA 預期提高 8%，中位數為 3700 萬美元。我們之前討論過，要讓這項業務恢復到持續保持 4000 萬美元 EBITDA 的水平非常重要。如果沒有 [Whittier's] 的出售，我們本季就會將其評級為這個數值。我們認為，在接下來的幾個季度裡，我們有望實現這一目標。（聽不清楚）

The Next phase of improvement involves capital projects to upgrade to (inaudible), which we expect to boost both operational efficiency and financial performance. As we look to the remainder of the year, we are focused on people, processes, and systems and focused on executing our back to basics framework. This approach is anchored in five core priorities.

下一階段的改進包括資本項目，以升級到（聽不清楚），我們預計這將提高營運效率和財務表現。展望今年剩餘時間，我們將專注於人員、流程和系統，並致力於執行回歸基礎的框架。這種方法以五個核心優先事項為基礎。

Improving operational efficiencies and capabilities. To enhance performance and reliability across the organization. Reducing capital intensive by deploying resources in a disciplined manner. Simplifying processes, eliminating unnecessary complexity to accelerate decision making and improve accountability. Maximize cash flow generation to support long-term value creation and reducing levies to reinforce financial resiliency and provide capital allocation flexibility.

提高營運效率和能力。提高整個組織的性能和可靠性。透過有條不紊地部署資源來降低資本密集度。簡化流程，消除不必要的複雜性，以加快決策速度並提高問責制。最大限度地產生現金流，以支持長期價值創造，並減少稅費，以增強財務韌性並提供資本配置靈活性。

The balance sheet and financial health of the company continue to improve. As I mentioned at the beginning of my remarks, our leverage ratio has improved significantly over the last year. We've grown confidence in continuing improvement our leverage profile. We plan to begin conversations with the board about approaches around capital allocation. This is all consistent with the progression of our back to basics framework.

公司資產負債表和財務狀況持續改善。正如我在演講開始時提到的，過去一年我們的槓桿率有了顯著改善。我們對持續改善槓桿水平更有信心。我們計劃與董事會開始討論有關資本配置的方法。這一切都與我們回歸基礎的框架發展方向一致。

As the first quarter results demonstrate, we are clearly making positive strides in improving our operational, commercial, and financial performance. Some of these improvements are visible now, such as the strong results we're seeing in plant nutrition business and the continuing improvement in our leverage program. Some as fully optimized production in our salt mines will take more time to fully manifest themselves.

第一季業績表明，我們在改善營運、商業和財務表現方面取得了顯著的積極進展。有些改進現在已經顯現出來，例如我們在植物營養業務方面取得的顯著成果，以及我們的槓桿計劃的持續改進。我們鹽礦中一些完全優化的生產方式還需要更多時間才能完全顯現出來。

We're committed to becoming a top tier operator, grounded in financial strength and operational excellence. As a leadership team, we're focused on building a company with resiliency and flexibility to thrive over the long-term. Our responsibility is to deliver consistency against our back to basics framework. The journey isn't finished, but progress is unmistakable. We're moving confidently towards the organization we know we can be.

我們致力於成為一流的營運商，以雄厚的財務實力和卓越的營運能力為基礎。作為領導團隊，我們致力於打造一家具有韌性和靈活性的公司，以實現長期蓬勃發展。我們的責任是確保在回歸基本原則的框架下保持一致性。旅程尚未結束，但進步是顯而易見的。我們正充滿信心地朝著我們理想中的組織方向前進。

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

接下來，我將把電話交給彼得，讓他回顧我們第一季的表現。

Thanks, Ed. I'll begin by discussing our quarterly financial performance. As Ed noted earlier, this quarter marked the first time in several years that the company has reported quarterly net income and adjusted EBITDA to more than doubled from the year before.

謝謝，埃德。我先來談談我們本季的財務表現。正如 Ed 之前指出的那樣，本季度是該公司幾年來首次報告季度淨收入和調整後 EBITDA 比上年同期增長超過一倍。

In the salt segment, operating earnings improved year over year to $14.33 per ton, up $2.54 or 22%. And adjusted EBITDA per ton increased 2% to $19.61. Total salt volumes were up 37% compared to the prior year period. [Highway] deicing volumes increased 43% year over year, while C&I volumes increased 14% over the same period.

在鹽業領域，營業利潤年增至每噸 14.33 美元，成長 2.54 美元，增幅達 22%。經調整後的每噸 EBITDA 成長 2% 至 19.61 美元。鹽的總銷量較上年同期成長 37%。 [公路]除冰用量較去年同期成長 43%，而工商業用量較去年同期成長 14%。

A higher proportion of highway deicing sales volume in the current period resulted in overall salt segment pricing being relatively flat year over year, despite realizing higher highway deicing and C&I sales prices of 6% and 2% respectively year over year.

儘管公路除冰劑和工商業用鹽的銷售價格分別比上年同期增長了 6% 和 2%，但由於本期公路除冰劑的銷售量佔比較高，導致鹽類整體價格同比保持相對平穩。

Salt segment revenue in the first quarter was $332 million compared to $242 million a year ago. Product cost per ton declined 7% to $50.20, while distribution costs per ton increased 6%. SG&A attributable to the salt segment improved by $1 million.

第一季鹽業業務收入為 3.32 億美元，去年同期為 2.42 億美元。每噸產品成本下降 7% 至 50.20 美元，而每噸分銷成本上升 6%。鹽業業務的銷售、一般及行政費用減少了 100 萬美元。

Moving on to the plant nutrition segment, where we had a very positive business performance that is resulting in strong financial results. Year over year, operating earnings increased approximately $9 million, while adjusted EBITDA improved by $8 million. This is driven by improvements in both pricing and cost structure, despite the anticipated decrease in sales tons we saw year over year.

接下來談談植物營養領域，我們在該領域取得了非常積極的業務表現，並帶來了強勁的財務表現。與去年同期相比，營業利潤成長約 900 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 成長 800 萬美元。儘管我們預計銷售噸位將同比下降，但價格和成本結構的改善推動了這一成長。

In addition, the average SOP sales price was up 13% to $687 per ton. Product cost per ton declined 2% to $520, while distribution costs per ton increased 2% to $93. Corporate overhead year over year was down 24% to $19 million for the quarter and is a reflection of the momentum in our multi-year cost control and continuous improvement initiatives focusing on back to basic process optimization and system utilization.

此外，SOP 的平均銷售價格上漲了 13%，達到每噸 687 美元。每噸產品成本下降 2% 至 520 美元，而每噸分銷成本上升 2% 至 93 美元。本季公司管理費用年減 24% 至 1,900 萬美元，反映了我們多年來在成本控制和持續改進方面取得的進展，這些措施專注於回歸基本流程優化和系統利用。

Moving on to the balance sheet. The previous announced settlement related to Ontario mining tax dispute resulted in some meaningful changes on the balance sheet at the end of December. The increase in other current assets and the decrease in other non-current assets and other non-current liabilities are a result of that settlement. Those movements also impacted changes in working capital in the statement of cash flows.

接下來來看資產負債表。先前宣布的與安大略省礦業稅糾紛相關的和解協議，導致 12 月底的資產負債表發生了一些重大變化。此項結算導致其他流動資產增加，其他非流動資產和其他非流動負債減少。這些變動也影響了現金流量表中營運資本的變動。

With respect to the company's financial position, at quarter end, we have liquidity of $342 million comprised of $47 million of cash and revolver capacity of around $295 million. And mentioned our focus of delevering and we continue to make good progress there. The ratio of total net debt to trailing 12 month adjusted EBITDA at the end of the quarter was 3.6 times. It's down from 5.3 times from the comparable prior period.

就公司財務狀況而言，截至季末，我們擁有 3.42 億美元的流動資金，其中包括 4,700 萬美元的現金和約 2.95 億美元的循環信貸額度。並提到我們致力於去槓桿化，我們在這方面繼續取得良好進展。截至季末，總淨負債與過去 12 個月調整後 EBITDA 的比率為 3.6 倍。與去年同期相比，下降了 5.3 倍。

Looking ahead, I'll now make a few comments on the updated guidance for 2026. The range for a salt segment adjusted EBITDA in 2026 is now $230 million to $252 million. Ed previously commented on the operational dynamics within the salt segment.

展望未來，我現在將對 2026 年的更新指南發表一些評論。2026 年鹽業業務調整後 EBITDA 的範圍目前為 2.3 億美元至 2.52 億美元。Ed 之前曾對鹽業領域的營運動態發表過評論。

Our guidance reflects an increase in expected sales tons, the benefit of which is being muted by headwinds and production costs mentioned earlier. Additionally, severe winters tend to put pressure on distribution costs as surges in network demand create suboptimal logistical conditions. It's important to note that notwithstanding these factors, adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to increase by approximately 200 basis points year over year.

我們的預期反映了銷售噸數的增加，但前面提到的不利因素和生產成本削弱了這種成長的益處。此外，嚴寒的冬季往往會對配送成本造成壓力，因為網路需求的激增會造成物流條件欠佳。值得注意的是，儘管存在這些因素，但調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率預計將年增約 200 個基點。

For the plant nutrition segment, the range for adjusted EBITDA in 2026 is now up to $34 million to $39 million on stronger margins and an improved cost structure, partially offset by lower expected sales volume and the impact of the Wynyard sale.

就植物營養業務而言，由於利潤率提高和成本結構改善，2026 年調整後的 EBITDA 範圍目前已達到 3,400 萬美元至 3,900 萬美元，但部分被預期銷售量下降和 Wynyard 出售的影響所抵消。

At the midpoint of the guidance, we expect a more than 300 basis point improvement in the adjusted EBITDA margin year over year. The guidance range for adjusted EBITDA related to corporate overhead is unchanged, as is the arranged for our capital expenditures.

根據指引值的中點，我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率將比去年同期提高 300 多個基點。與公司管理費用相關的調整後 EBITDA 指引範圍維持不變，我們的資本支出安排也維持不變。

As a result of these changes, the range for guidance for total company adjusted EBITDA for 2026 is up to $208 million to $240 million or a 2% increase at the midpoint.

由於這些變化，公司 2026 年調整後 EBITDA 總額的預期範圍為 2.08 億美元至 2.4 億美元，中點數值成長 2%。

I'll now turn the call over for questions.

現在我將把通話交給提問者。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Evan McCall, BMO Capital Markets.

Evan McCall，BMO資本市場。

Hi, good morning, it's Evan on for Joel Jackson. Just wondering about the salt market and if the market is well supplied for the strong winter or are we seeing a rush for any imports. And is there a larger spot market than normal and does Compass have any excess tons to sell into it?

大家好，早安，我是Evan，代Joel Jackson為您報道。想了解食鹽市場的狀況，看看市場供應是否充足，足以應付嚴冬，還是會出現進口搶購潮。現貨市場規模是否比平常更大？ Compass公司是否有多餘的噸位可以出售？

Good morning. This is Ed. As we said in our release, in, our, just completed call, that the market is very tight as a result of the winter so far. When we do our planning, there's a variety of things that we consider in terms of our, how we manage that, which could include some imports from time to time.

早安.我是艾德。正如我們在新聞稿和剛結束的電話會議中所說，由於冬季的影響，市場目前非常緊張。我們在製定計劃時，會考慮許多因素，包括我們如何管理這些因素，其中可能包括不時進行一些進口。

Ben, do you want to pick that up?

本，你想把它撿起來嗎？

Yeah, good morning, Evan. I think the market is exactly what Ed said. It's become tight. Winter has certainly trended ahead in terms of a straight calendarization, so that's something that the market hasn't seen in quite a few seasons. The ability for imports and opportunistic supply to play a role. Mid-season is difficult just given the lead time of supply and transit. And so I think, our anticipation is if the winter continues as it has up to date, the market will remain tight.

早安，埃文。我認為市場情況正如艾德所說的。情況變得緊張了。冬季的賽程安排無疑已經走在了前列，這是市場上好幾個季度以來都沒有出現過的趨勢。進口和機會主義供應的能力可能會發揮作用。考慮到供應和運輸的提前期，季中銷售就比較困難。因此，我認為，如果冬季繼續像目前為止那樣持續下去，市場供應將保持緊張狀態。

Thanks. If I could sneak one more in. How are the plans progressing for the new mill at Goderich? And also when would you make a decision on this? And has the strong winter emboldened your decision to make the investment?

謝謝。如果我能再偷偷加一個就好了。戈德里奇新廠的建設計畫進度如何？另外，您打算何時就此事做出決定？嚴冬是否增強了您投資的決心？

Well, there's really three projects associated with the new mill at Goderich Mine. The first that we've been working on for some years is the, what we call the East Mine Drive, where we connect the current mining areas directly driving access directly to the east to tie into infrastructure. The second, and that's been going on for some period of time, some years.

其實，與戈德里奇礦的新選礦廠相關的項目有三個。我們多年來一直在努力的第一個項目是所謂的東礦區道路，它將現有的礦區直接連接起來，為東部地區提供直接通往基礎設施的道路。第二點，這種情況已經持續了一段時間，好幾年了。

Second is, what we call the 3B108 project, which is really connecting the shafts in the infrastructure itself to the East Main Drive. That project is really just getting underway, and, it'll take a little while to complete that, but that's moving ahead.

其次，我們稱之為 3B108 項目，它實際上是將基礎設施本身的豎井與東主幹道連接起來。那個專案才剛起步，還需要一段時間才能完成，但它正在向前推進。

In terms of the new mill itself, it's in engineering. We've got a project team coming together on that. We're currently in the value engineering stage of that, and we should have things that we could talk about here over the next quarters.

就新工廠本身而言，它屬於工程領域。我們已經組建了一個專案團隊來負責這個專案。我們目前正處於價值工程階段，在接下來的幾個季度裡，我們應該會有一些內容可以和大家討論。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

David Silver, Freedom Capital Markets.

David Silver，自由資本市場。

Yeah, hi, thank you. Good morning. I wanted to, maybe start with a question about the salt segment economics during the quarter, and in particular on the cost side. So, if I was to kind of lay things out on a per ton basis, I guess production costs and also shipping and handling or logistics were higher, I guess than a year earlier despite the higher volume.

是啊，你好，謝謝。早安.我想先問一個關於本季鹽業業務經濟狀況，特別是成本方面的問題。所以，如果我按噸計算的話，儘管產量更高，但生產成本以及運輸和處理或物流成本卻比一年前更高。

And I think you did in your prepared remarks that I think you talked about the development panels and whatnot. But I was curious, I mean, what would be driving up the logistics costs, the shipping and handling such that, it seemed to have kind of a meaningful impact on your per ton margins this quarter.

我認為你在事先準備好的發言稿中確實談到了發展小組等等。但我很好奇，究竟是什麼因素推高了物流成本、運輸和處理成本，以至於似乎對本季的每噸利潤率產生了某種實質的影響。

Was there anything going unusual there, or is that something that will improve, I guess, as we move through the balance of the winter? Thank you.

那裡發生了什麼異常狀況嗎？或者隨著冬季的過去，情況會有所改善嗎？謝謝。

Thanks, David. I appreciate that. As long as, let me just say, as long as we're in the development sequence, which, you measure in quarters, not years, and start improving the production to development ratio in the mine, this is normal course things for mining. And that the costs are always going to be a little bit higher just because of what we do to set up infrastructure, et cetera.

謝謝你，大衛。我很感激。只要，讓我說一下，只要我們處於發展階段（以季度而不是年來衡量），並且開始提高礦山的生產開發比率，這對於採礦來說就是正常的。而且，由於我們需要建造基礎設施等等，成本總是會稍微高一些。

But for the quarter itself, to answer your question directly, unit costs that were down about 6% in terms of production and distribution costs were up about 6%.

但就本季本身而言，直接回答你的問題，生產成本下降了約 6%，而分銷成本上升了約 6%。

I'll pass this over to Peter and Ben to see if they've got anything else they'd like to add.

我會把這個問題轉交給彼得和本，看看他們是否還有什麼要補充的。

Yeah, good morning, David. I think if you look at the distribution costs, there's two factors in play. One is just some basic inflationary pressures on rates, which was clearly identified in our guidance. The other big thing that's occurring is because Q1 of this year was so robust compared to prior year. We're shipping salt across a much wider network to service the business. And so, essentially we're pushing salt and shipping it to further away destinations to meet the demand, which results in a little higher rate, so that's what you're seeing come together.

早安，大衛。我認為，如果你看一下分銷成本，你會發現有兩個因素在起作用。一是利率面臨的一些基本通膨壓力，這一點我們在指引中已經明確指出。另一個重要原因是，今年第一季與去年同期相比表現非常強勁。我們正在透過更廣泛的網路運輸鹽，以服務業務發展。因此，本質上，我們正​​在加大鹽的產量，並將其運往更遠的地區以滿足需求，這導致價格略高，這就是你現在看到的情況。

And just to follow-up on that briefly, but, you don't have to scan news sources very long before you read about salt shortages in particular metropolitan areas in December and January in particular. And I'm just wondering if that had an unusual kind of impact in other words, where you forced. Did you find yourself without enough salt in the right locations or were you supporting maybe another supplier who was tapped out and maybe tapped into your supply or whatever in a pinch. Just anything unusual in the field that you would call out that might have impacted the margin profile this quarter, the per ton margin profile this quarter, but especially on the logistics side.

再簡單補充一下，你不需要瀏覽太久的新聞來源，就會看到關於12月和1月某些大都會地區出現食鹽短缺的報導。我只是想知道，換句話說，你強迫了別人，這是否產生了某種不尋常的影響。你是否發現某些地方鹽的供應不足？還是你在支援其他供應商，而該供應商的鹽供應告罄，所以你才臨時使用了你的鹽？任何您認為可能影響本季利潤率、每噸利潤率的異常情況，尤其是在物流方面，都應該指出來。

Well, Ben just spoke a little bit to the logistics side and really the delivery from further places away. We take a lot of pride in meeting our obligations as a company in terms of our serving our customer base, and we operate to meet the commitments that we've made, shortages, et cetera and we have a lot of people who, would be approaching us from for more salt. I think the net result of that is, we'll see how the rest of the winter shakes out, but looking forward, then, kind of, you might just say industry-wide, deicing inventories which are low is very constructive as we look forward, and start planning for '26, '27 winter.

嗯，本剛才稍微談到了物流方面，特別是從較遠的地方發貨的問題。我們為能夠履行公司在服務客戶方面的義務而感到非常自豪，我們努力履行我們所做的承諾，應對短缺等情況，並且有很多客戶會來找我們購買更多的鹽。我認為最終結果是，我們將看看這個冬天剩下的時間會如何發展，但展望未來，可以說，整個行業的除冰庫存都很低，這對我們展望未來並開始為 2026 年和 2027 年的冬天做準備是非常有建設性的。

Okay, if I could just ask a question, I guess about tax rates, and I guess that would be both nominal and also cash tax as well. So during the quarter, you did have the unusual situation where your tax rate was, I guess, negative in the first quarter, and I know you've got kind of an evolving tax situation from the point of view of you should be solidly profitable this year on a reported basis a little bit different than the last couple of years, but can you just speak to kind of how you see your tax positioning evolving this year. And I'm thinking about the valuation allowances, will you be able to claim some offset some profit with losses that maybe in the last couple of years you weren't able to do. And if you had an idea of what your cash tax situation looks like for a full year 2026. That would be great. Thank you.

好的，如果我可以問一個問題的話，我想問的是關於稅率的問題，包括名義稅和現金稅。所以，本季你們確實遇到了不尋常的情況，第一季的稅率是負的。我知道從你們今年的報告來看，你們的稅務狀況正在不斷變化，應該會實現穩健的盈利，這與過去幾年略有不同。您能否談談您如何看待今年的稅務狀況變化？我在考慮估值補貼，您是否可以申請一些補貼來抵消部分利潤和虧損，而這在過去幾年您可能無法做到。如果您對2026年全年的現金稅務狀況有所了解的話。那太好了。謝謝。

David, I think in part you're asking about the impact of the Ontario mining tax settlement that we met earlier this year. Recall that's been something hanging around the company for decades. We're very pleased to get that behind us, and that's of course had impact on some of the footnotes you'll see in the release.

戴維，我認為你部分是在詢問我們今年早些時候討論的安大略省礦業稅收和解協議的影響。請記住，這個問題已經困擾公司幾十年了。我們很高興這件事終於過去了，當然，這也對您將在新聞稿中看到的一些腳註產生了影響。

Let me pass it over to Peter to give you a bit more detail on that.

讓我把麥克風交給彼得，讓他詳細地跟你講講。

Sure. And on that Ontario mining, you'll see it in both the balance sheet and cash flow and cash tax, which is what a lot of what you're referring to. As to the full year, obviously we're still early in the year. We know that, the swings in the effective tax rate, it's a function of income in Canada losses in the US and it's relatively a small number for tax purposes, right?

當然。至於安大略省的採礦業，你會在資產負債表、現金流量表和現金稅中看到它，而這正是你所指的許多內容。至於全年情況，顯然現在還處於年初。我們知道，實際稅率的波動取決於加拿大的收入和美國的虧損，而就稅收而言，這是一個相對較小的數字，對吧？

And that's causing, obviously lots of swing. We have to look at that post valuation allowance as well. And then let that thing roll through, still early in the season as to utilization and also we're looking at that evaluation as well, so we'll, it's yet to be determined.

這顯然會導致很大的波動。我們還需要考慮估值後的補貼。然後就讓這件事順其自然吧，畢竟現在還是賽季初期，利用率如何，我們也在進行評估，所以，這還有待確定。

Okay, thank you very ,much.

好的，非常感謝。

I will turn the call back over to Edward Townley, CEO for closing remarks.

我將把電話轉回給執行長愛德華·湯利，請他作總結發言。

Thank you, Kate. Thank you again for your interest in Compass Minerals. It's, we're excited to see the advances that we're making under our back to basics framework. As I mentioned earlier, the company's had a solid quarter. We have positive net in a number of areas. We reported positive net income for the quarter, the first time in a long time, quarterly adjusted EBITDA more than doubled.

謝謝你，凱特。再次感謝您對 Compass Minerals 的關注。我們很高興看到在回歸基礎的框架下所取得的進展。正如我之前提到的，該公司本季業績表現穩健。我們在多個領域都取得了淨收益。本季我們實現了正淨利潤，這是多年來的首次，季度調整後 EBITDA 翻了一番以上。

Total net trailing 12-month debt decreased by almost [2 times], and lastly, we increased our guidance for the full year. The journey isn't finished, but we're making unmistakable progress in being the company we know we can be. Please don't hesitate to reach out to Brent if you have any follow-up questions. We look forward to speaking to you next quarter, if not before. Make it a safe day. Thank you.

過去 12 個月的總淨債務減少了近 2 倍，最後，我們提高了全年的業績預期。旅程尚未結束，但我們在成為我們理想中的公司方面取得了顯著進展。如有任何後續問題，請隨時聯繫布倫特。我們期待在下個季度，甚至更早的時候與您交流。祝您平安度過一天。謝謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位的參與。您現在可以斷開連線了。