Core Natural Resources Inc (CNR) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to CONSOL Energy's Fourth Quarter and Full Fiscal Year 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note that this event is being recorded today.

早上好，歡迎來到 CONSOL Energy 的第四季度和整個 2022 財年收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，今天正在記錄此事件。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Nathan Tucker, Director of Finance and Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

我現在想將會議轉交給財務和投資者關係總監 Nathan Tucker。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to CONSOL Energy's Fourth Quarter and Full Fiscal Year 2022 Earnings Conference Call. Any forward-looking statements or comments we make about future events are subject to risks, certain of which we have outlined in our press release and in our SEC filings, and are considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. We do not undertake any obligations of updating any forward-looking statements for future events or otherwise. We will also be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures, which are defined and reconciled to comparable GAAP financial measures in our press release and furnished to the SEC on Form 8-K, which is also posted on our website.

謝謝大家，早上好。歡迎來到 CONSOL Energy 的第四季度和 2022 財年全年收益電話會議。我們對未來事件所做的任何前瞻性陳述或評論都存在風險，我們在新聞稿和 SEC 文件中概述了其中的某些風險，並被視為證券交易所第 21E 條含義內的前瞻性陳述1934 年法案。我們不承擔為未來事件或其他情況更新任何前瞻性陳述的任何義務。我們還將討論某些非 GAAP 財務措施，這些措施在我們的新聞稿中已定義並與可比的 GAAP 財務措施進行了協調，並以 8-K 表格的形式提供給 SEC，該表格也發佈在我們的網站上。

Additionally, we expect to file our 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, with the SEC this Friday, February 10. You can find additional information regarding the company on our website, www.consolenergy.com, which also includes a supplemental slide deck that was posted this morning.

此外，我們預計將於 2 月 10 日星期五向美國證券交易委員會提交截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日止年度的 10-K。您可以在我們的網站 www.consolenergy.com 上找到有關該公司的更多信息，其中還包括今天早上發布的補充幻燈片。

On the call with me today are Jimmy Brock, our Chief Executive Officer; Mitesh Thakkar, our President and Chief Financial Officer; Dan Connell, our Senior Vice President of Strategy; and Bob Braithwaite, our Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales.

今天與我通電話的是我們的首席執行官吉米·布羅克 (Jimmy Brock)；我們的總裁兼首席財務官 Mitesh Thakkar；我們的戰略高級副總裁 Dan Connell；和 Bob Braithwaite，我們的營銷和銷售高級副總裁。

In his prepared remarks, Jimmy will provide a recap of our fourth quarter and full year 2022 achievements and a detailed discussion of our operations and sales. Mitesh will then provide an update on our balance sheet management, financial performance and 2023 outlook. In his closing comments, Jimmy will lay out our key priorities for 2023. After the prepared remarks, there will be a Q&A session, which Dan and Bob will also participate. With that, let me turn it over to Jimmy.

在準備好的發言中，吉米將回顧我們第四季度和 2022 年全年的成就，並詳細討論我們的運營和銷售。 Mitesh 隨後將提供有關我們資產負債表管理、財務業績和 2023 年展望的最新信息。在他的閉幕評論中，Jimmy 將列出我們 2023 年的主要優先事項。在準備好的評論之後，將有一個問答環節，Dan 和 Bob 也將參加。有了這個，讓我把它交給吉米。

Thank you, Nate, and good morning, everyone. Let me start by congratulating Mitesh on being named the new President of CONSOL Energy as part of our long-term succession planning. I have worked very closely with Mitesh since he joined us during the formation of CONSOL Coal Resources LP, and MLP, we took public in 2015. Since then, he has been an integral part of our team and I've had the opportunity to observe him grow and take on more responsibility. In addition to his continued role as our Chief Financial Officer, he will also oversee our marketing, business development, and environmental and sustainability efforts. I have the utmost confidence in his ability to take on an expanded role in the company and he is well suited for the task. Furthermore, the Board has asked and I have accepted to extend my employment term by an additional year through December 2024 to ensure our long-term succession plan.

謝謝你，內特，大家早上好。首先讓我祝賀 Mitesh 被任命為 CONSOL Energy 的新總裁，這是我們長期繼任計劃的一部分。自從 Mitesh 在 CONSOL Coal Resources LP 和 MLP（我們於 2015 年上市）成立期間加入我們以來，我一直與他密切合作。從那時起，他一直是我們團隊不可或缺的一部分，我有機會觀察他成長並承擔更多責任。除了繼續擔任我們的首席財務官外，他還將監督我們的營銷、業務發展以及環境和可持續發展工作。我對他在公司擔任更廣泛職務的能力充滿信心，他非常適合這項任務。此外，董事會已要求並且我已同意將我的任期延長一年至 2024 年 12 月，以確保我們的長期繼任計劃。

Moving on to our financial and operating performance. CONSOL Energy finished 2022 as a record year in its history as an independent public company on multiple fronts, including one of the key metrics we measure ourselves against free cash flow generation. As a result, we've advanced some of our key strategic initiatives during the year.

繼續我們的財務和經營業績。 CONSOL Energy 在 2022 年結束了其作為獨立上市公司在多個方面的歷史創紀錄的一年，其中包括我們根據自由現金流生成衡量自己的關鍵指標之一。因此，我們在這一年中推進了一些關鍵戰略舉措。

First, our strong free cash flow generation allowed us to meaningfully accelerate progress toward our debt reduction goal and we made debt payments of nearly $300 million in 2022. Second, our free cash flow in conjunction with our robust contract book bolstered our ability to initiate an enhanced shareholder return program during 2022, even while we were still at work, reducing our outstanding debt levels. We paid multiple dividends during 2022 and resumed share repurchases at the end of the year. Third, our strong free cash flow enhanced our ability to reinvest in our business. During the fourth quarter, we restarted the fifth longwall at the PMC and shipped the first train of low-vol metallurgical coal from our Itmann mining complex.

首先，我們強大的自由現金流產生使我們能夠顯著加快實現我們的債務削減目標的進程，我們在 2022 年支付了近 3 億美元的債務。其次，我們的自由現金流與我們穩健的合同書相結合，增強了我們啟動在 2022 年加強股東回報計劃，即使我們仍在工作，也降低了我們的未償債務水平。我們在 2022 年支付了多次股息，並在年底恢復了股票回購。第三，我們強勁的自由現金流增強了我們對業務進行再投資的能力。在第四季度，我們重新啟動了 PMC 的第五個長壁開採，並從我們的 Itmann 採礦聯合體運出了第一批低揮發性冶金煤。

Let's now discuss our operational performance. On the safety front, our Bailey preparation plant and CONSOL Marine terminal each had zero employee recordable incidents during the full year of 2022. The PMC finished the year with a total recordable incident rate of 1.72, which was approximately 63% below the national average for underground coal mines. Coal production at the Pennsylvania Mining Complex came in at 6.1 million tons in Q4 '22, an increase compared to 5.6 million tons in the prior year period.

現在讓我們討論一下我們的運營績效。在安全方面，我們的 Bailey 準備工廠和 CONSOL Marine 碼頭在 2022 年全年的員工可記錄事故均為零。PMC 以 1.72 的總可記錄事故率結束了這一年，比全國平均水平低約 63%地下煤礦。賓夕法尼亞礦業綜合體的煤炭產量在 22 年第四季度達到 610 萬噸，比去年同期的 560 萬噸有所增加。

Production improved this quarter compared to Q4 '21 due to the restart of the fifth longwall in mid-December 2022 and the absence of geological challenges, which we encountered in October of 2021. From a productivity standpoint, measured as tons per employee hour, the PAMC ended the year on a strong note and improved by 16% in Q4 '22 compared to Q3 '22 as we move past the geological challenges we faced in the third quarter. The complex ended the year with production of 23.9 million tons.

由於 2022 年 12 月中旬重啟第五條長壁開採，並且沒有我們在 2021 年 10 月遇到的地質挑戰，本季度的產量比 21 年第四季度有所提高。從生產力的角度來看，以每員工小時噸數衡量， PAMC 以強勁的勢頭結束了這一年，與 22 年第三季度相比，22 年第四季度增長了 16%，因為我們克服了第三季度面臨的地質挑戰。該綜合體年底產量為 2390 萬噸。

On the cost front, our PAMC average cash cost of coal sold per ton for Q4 '22 was $34.89 compared to $30.81 in Q4 '21, but this was a reduction of nearly $5 per ton compared to Q3 '22, when we saw increased costs due to operational and geological challenges. The delta compared to the prior year period was due to ongoing development costs associated with the fifth longwall and continued inflationary pressures on supplies, maintenance, contract labor and power cost at our operations.

在成本方面，我們的 PAMC 22 年第 4 季度每噸煤炭銷售平均現金成本為 34.89 美元，而 21 年第 4 季度為 30.81 美元，但與 22 年第 3 季度相比每噸減少了近 5 美元，當時我們看到成本增加由於運營和地質方面的挑戰。與去年同期相比的增量是由於與第五長壁相關的持續開發成本以及我們運營中供應、維護、合同工和電力成本的持續通脹壓力。

This brings our full year 2022 average cash cost of coal sold to $34.56 per ton. The CONSOL Marine Terminal had a throughput volume of 3.6 million tons during Q4 '22. Terminal revenues for the quarter came in at $20.9 million with CMT operating cash cost of $6.4 million. For 2022, the terminal had a very strong operational performance, finishing the year with 13.7 million throughput tons. Terminal revenue for 2022 came in at $78.9 million, which was by far the highest level in CONSOL marine terminal history. CMT finished the year with adjusted EBITDA of $52.3 million, marking its first year above $50 million and the fifth consecutive year above $40 million.

這使我們 2022 年全年的平均煤炭銷售現金成本達到每噸 34.56 美元。 22 年第四季度，CONSOL 海運碼頭的吞吐量為 360 萬噸。本季度終端收入為 2090 萬美元，CMT 運營現金成本為 640 萬美元。 2022 年，該碼頭的運營表現非常強勁，全年吞吐量為 1370 萬噸。 2022 年的碼頭收入為 7890 萬美元，這是迄今為止 CONSOL 海運碼頭歷史上的最高水平。 CMT 全年調整後 EBITDA 為 5230 萬美元，這是其第一年超過 5000 萬美元，也是連續第五年超過 4000 萬美元。

Now let's discuss our Itmann project. After accomplishing several milestones in the second half of 2022, the ramp-up to full run rate production at Itmann has been delayed due to multiple factors including supply chain bottlenecks, equipment delivery delays, geological inconsistencies and staffing challenges. We expect these issues to be transitory and we have recently made several changes that will help us achieve our goals.

現在讓我們討論我們的 Itmann 項目。在 2022 年下半年實現了幾個里程碑之後，由於供應鏈瓶頸、設備交付延遲、地質不一致和人員配置挑戰等多種因素，Itmann 的全速生產的提升被推遲。我們希望這些問題是暫時的，並且我們最近進行了多項更改以幫助我們實現目標。

In the immediate term, the mine is focusing on fully staffing and optimizing 2 CM super sections before focusing on the third CM super section. Moving further into 2023, we expect the ramp up to full run rate production to occur around midyear. The Itmann preparation plant was commissioned in the third quarter of 2022, having been purchased, disassembled, relocated and reconstruction on our site in just over a year's time. We shipped 9 trains of coal from the plant in Q4 '22 and sold slightly more than 200,000 tons of Itmann and third-party coal in aggregate during 2022. The Itmann product has been successfully marketed to both domestic and export customers. As we ramp up production and achieve consistency from our operations, our focus will shift to securing new business with strategic partners.

近期，該礦重點在2個CM超大段進行全面人員配置和優化，然後重點開發第3個CM超大段。進一步進入 2023 年，我們預計將在年中左右實現全速生產。 Itmann 製備工廠於 2022 年第三季度投入使用，僅用了一年多的時間就在我們的場地上進行了購買、拆卸、搬遷和重建。我們在 22 年第四季度從該工廠運出 9 列煤炭，並在 2022 年銷售了略超過 200,000 噸的 Itmann 和第三方煤炭。Itmann 產品已成功銷售給國內和出口客戶。隨著我們提高產量並實現運營的一致性，我們的重點將轉移到與戰略合作夥伴的新業務上。

On the marketing front, the demand for our PMC product remained robust in the fourth quarter of 2022. We sold 6.2 million tons of PMC coal at an average realized coal revenue per ton sold of $75.92 in Q4 of '22 compared to 5.6 million tons at $51.27 in the year ago period. This significant per ton increase was driven by the ongoing improvement in the coal markets over the past year, due to persistent coal supply shortages leading to increased commodity pricing. Henry Hub natural gas spot prices averaged $5.55 per million Btu in Q4 '22, a 17% increase compared to the prior year period.

在營銷方面，2022 年第四季度對我們的 PMC 產品的需求依然強勁。我們在 2022 年第四季度銷售了 620 萬噸 PMC 煤炭，平均每噸實現的煤炭收入為 75.92 美元，而 2022 年第四季度為 560 萬噸去年同期為 51.27 美元。由於持續的煤炭供應短缺導致商品價格上漲，煤炭市場在過去一年中的持續改善推動了這一顯著的每噸增長。 22 年第四季度，Henry Hub 天然氣現貨價格平均為每百萬英熱單位 5.55 美元，比去年同期增長 17%。

PJM West day-ahead power prices finished the quarter at $68.73 per megawatt hour versus $54.39 in Q4 of '21. Despite these quarter-over-quarter improvements, we have seen significant volatility in the energy markets beginning in late 2022 and continuing to the start of 2023. Natural gas spot prices were north of $6 per million Btu at the start of December, but retreated more than 40% by the end of the month. A very similar trend played out in the international API2 market, which retreated almost 30% throughout December of 2022.

PJM West 日前電價在本季度結束時為每兆瓦時 68.73 美元，而 2021 年第四季度為 54.39 美元。儘管出現了這些環比改善，但我們看到能源市場從 2022 年底開始並一直持續到 2023 年初出現顯著波動。天然氣現貨價格在 12 月初高於每百萬英熱單位 6 美元，但回落幅度更大到月底超過40%。國際 API2 市場也出現了非常相似的趨勢，該市場在整個 2022 年 12 月下跌了近 30%。

These markets each further declined by 20% and 29%, respectively, through the month of January 2023 as warmer than normal weather has grew up much of the U.S. and Europe, leading to increased gas storage levels and coal inventories. Fundamentally, we believe that the supply of high Btu coal is still constrained and the demand for our product remains strong for the foreseeable future. In fact, the International Energy Agency recently estimated that annual global coal demand eclipsed the 8 billion metric ton mark for the first time in 2022 and expect demand to remain around this level through 2025.

到 2023 年 1 月，這些市場分別進一步下降了 20% 和 29%，原因是美國和歐洲大部分地區的天氣比正常情況溫暖，導致天然氣儲存水平和煤炭庫存增加。從根本上說，我們認為高 Btu 煤的供應仍然受到限制，在可預見的未來對我們產品的需求依然強勁。事實上，國際能源署最近估計，2022 年全球煤炭年需求量首次超過 80 億公噸大關，並預計到 2025 年需求量將保持在這一水平附近。

In the shorter term, the majority of our sales books for 2023 is committed, and we have a very solid contracted position for 2024. This gives us the ability to be patient as we work to fill out our sales book and maximize value for 2024 and beyond. Despite some of the recent volatility, our sales team opportunistically increased our forward sale position by more than 8 million tons through 2025. We now have 23.9 million tons contracted for 2023 and 12.5 million tons contracted for 2024.

在短期內，我們 2023 年的大部分銷售賬目都已承諾，我們在 2024 年有非常穩固的合同頭寸。這使我們能夠在努力填寫銷售賬目並最大化 2024 年的價值時保持耐心，並且超過。儘管最近出現了一些波動，但我們的銷售團隊機會主義地將我們的遠期銷售頭寸增加了超過 800 萬噸，到 2025 年。我們現在有 2023 年的 2390 萬噸合同和 2024 年的 1250 萬噸合同。

With that, I will turn the call over to Mitesh to provide our financial update.

有了這個，我會把電話轉給 Mitesh 來提供我們的財務更新。

Thank you, Jimmy, and good morning, everyone. First, let me provide an update on our balance sheet management and capital allocation progress before discussing our financial results and 2023 outlook. We continue to make considerable progress on our stated financial priorities in the quarter. During 4Q '22, we generated $116 million of free cash flow, 70% of which was deployed towards continuing to reduce our gross debt levels. As such, we made total debt repayments of $292 million in 2022, and our gross debt level at year-end was $318 million.

謝謝你，吉米，大家早上好。首先，在討論我們的財務業績和 2023 年展望之前，讓我提供我們資產負債表管理和資本配置進展的最新情況。我們在本季度的既定財務優先事項上繼續取得重大進展。在 22 年第四季度，我們產生了 1.16 億美元的自由現金流，其中 70% 用於繼續降低我們的總債務水平。因此，我們在 2022 年償還的債務總額為 2.92 億美元，年底的總債務水平為 3.18 億美元。

In fact, since CEIX went public, we have reduced our net debt by 86% or $647 million, which translates to more than $18 per share of equity value creation based on our current shares outstanding. Since year-end, we reduced our gross debt by an additional $50 million by making discretionary payments in January 2023 of $25 million each towards our Term Loan B and second lien notes that were not included in our fourth quarter results.

事實上，自 CEIX 上市以來，我們的淨債務減少了 86% 或 6.47 億美元，這意味著根據我們當前的已發行股票計算，每股股權價值創造超過 18 美元。自年底以來，我們通過在 2023 年 1 月酌情支付 2500 萬美元的定期貸款 B 和未包含在我們第四季度業績中的第二留置權票據，將我們的總債務額外減少了 5000 萬美元。

Furthermore, at the beginning of February, we submitted an additional redemption notice for $25 million of our second lien notes, which will be redeemed during 1Q '23. These 3 paydowns, both an aggregate of $75 million will bring our gross debt level to approximately $300 million. We remain committed to the ongoing strengthening of our balance sheet and now expect to fully retire our term Loan B and second lien notes this year.

此外，在 2 月初，我們提交了 2500 萬美元第二留置權票據的額外贖回通知，這些票據將在 23 年第一季度贖回。這 3 筆總計 7500 萬美元的還款將使我們的總債務水平達到約 3 億美元。我們仍然致力於不斷加強我們的資產負債表，現在預計今年將完全取消我們的定期貸款 B 和第二留置權票據。

During 4Q '22, we slightly increased our unrestricted cash balance, finishing the year with $273 million, which led to a significant liquidity position of $572 million. On the shareholder return front, we are pleased to announce this morning that the Board of Directors elected to issue a dividend of $1.10 per share, which marks our third dividend since announcing our enhanced shareholder return program and the third consecutive quarter, increasing the per share amount. This payment will total roughly $39 million or approximately 34% of our 4Q '22 free cash flow and will be made on February 28th to all shareholders of record as of February 17th.

在 22 年第四季度，我們略微增加了不受限制的現金餘額，以 2.73 億美元結束了這一年，這導致了 5.72 億美元的重要流動性頭寸。在股東回報方面，我們今天上午很高興地宣布，董事會選擇派發每股 1.10 美元的股息，這是我們自宣布加強股東回報計劃以來的第三次股息，也是連續第三個季度增加每股股息數量。這筆付款總額約為 3900 萬美元，約占我們 22 年第四季度自由現金流的 34%，並將於 2 月 28 日支付給截至 2 月 17 日在冊的所有股東。

During the fourth quarter, we also restarted our share repurchase program after a hiatus of approximately 3 years as we work to improve our balance sheet and infused capital on our organic growth projects. Now with most of the capital spending complete on our Itmann project, the fifth longwall back up and running at the PAMC significant reduction in our outstanding debt and a strong contracted position, the management team and Board of Directors believe that share buybacks provide another attractive avenue to create additional value for our shareholders.

在第四季度，我們在中斷了大約 3 年之後還重啟了我們的股票回購計劃，因為我們致力於改善我們的資產負債表並為我們的有機增長項目注入資金。現在，我們的 Itmann 項目的大部分資本支出已完成，第五個長壁在 PAMC 恢復運行，我們的未償債務顯著減少，合同地位穩固，管理團隊和董事會認為，股票回購提供了另一個有吸引力的途徑為我們的股東創造額外價值。

So far, we have opportunistically repurchased 124,000 shares of our common stock in December for $8 million at a weighted average price of $64.18 per share. We are also happy to announce this morning an increase to our enhanced shareholder return program, which will become effective immediately in 1Q '23. We now plan to return a range of approximately 35% to 50% of quarterly free cash flows in the form of share repurchase and/or dividends, which are subject to the discretion of the Board of Directors.

到目前為止，我們已在 12 月以每股 64.18 美元的加權平均價格以 800 萬美元的價格機會主義地回購了 124,000 股普通股。我們今天早上也很高興地宣布增加我們增強的股東回報計劃，該計劃將在 23 年第一季度立即生效。我們現在計劃以股票回購和/或股息的形式返還大約 35% 至 50% 的季度自由現金流，具體取決於董事會的酌情決定權。

As mentioned previously, we also expect to continue to allocate a significant portion of our free cash flow toward additional debt reduction with the goal of retiring our Term Loan B and second lien notes this year. Once this goal is achieved, we will consider further increasing the percentage of free cash flow allocated towards shareholder returns.

如前所述，我們還希望繼續將很大一部分自由現金流分配給額外的債務減免，目標是今年償還我們的定期貸款 B 和第二留置權票據。一旦實現這一目標，我們將考慮進一步提高分配給股東回報的自由現金流的百分比。

Now let me recap our fourth quarter and full year 2022 financial results. This morning, we reported a strong fourth quarter '22 financial performance with net income of $193 million or $5.39 per diluted share; by far, our highest quarterly earnings per share level since becoming an independent public company in 2017. Additionally, we finished 4Q '22 with adjusted EBITDA of $240 million and generated $116 million of free cash flow.

現在讓我回顧一下我們第四季度和 2022 年全年的財務業績。今天早上，我們報告了 22 年第四季度的強勁財務業績，淨收入為 1.93 億美元或每股攤薄收益 5.39 美元；到目前為止，這是我們自 2017 年成為獨立上市公司以來的最高季度每股收益水平。此外，我們在 2022 年第四季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 2.4 億美元，產生了 1.16 億美元的自由現金流。

For the full year 2022, we reported net income of $467 million or $13.07 per diluted share, adjusted EBITDA of $807 million and incurred CapEx of $172 million. CEIX finished the year with free cash flow of $501 million, marking our highest annual free cash flow level in the last 5 years and the fifth consecutive year of positive free cash flow generation since becoming an independent public company. We finished 2022 with a net leverage ratio near to 0.

2022 年全年，我們報告的淨收入為 4.67 億美元或每股攤薄收益 13.07 美元，調整後的 EBITDA 為 8.07 億美元，資本支出為 1.72 億美元。 CEIX 以 5.01 億美元的自由現金流結束了這一年，這是我們過去 5 年的最高年度自由現金流水平，也是自成為獨立上市公司以來連續第五年產生正的自由現金流。到 2022 年，我們的淨槓桿率接近 0。

Now let me provide our outlook for 2023. On the guidance front, for the PAMC, we are expecting our 2023 sales volume to be improved by approximately 8% at the midpoint compared to a 2022 level due to the availability of our first longwall. As such, we are providing a 2023 PAMC coal sales volume range of 25 million to 27 million tonnes. The upper boundary reflects our past ability to produce at a 27-plus million tonne pace with 5 operational longwalls at the complex, which includes mining at a high-efficiency factor, effective coordination with our transportation partner and potentially strong spot market demand. The lower boundary considers the potential for unforeseen supply chain or operational challenges. The lower end also reflects our ability to run to the market if there is unexpected weakness due to weather or unforeseen events.

現在讓我提供我們對 2023 年的展望。在指導方面，對於 PAMC，由於我們的第一個長壁的可用性，我們預計我們 2023 年的銷量將比 2022 年的中點水平提高約 8%。因此，我們提供的 2023 年 PAMC 煤炭銷量範圍為 2500 萬噸至 2700 萬噸。上限反映了我們過去以 27 百萬噸以上的速度生產的能力，該綜合體有 5 個運營長壁，其中包括高效採礦、與我們的運輸合作夥伴的有效協調以及潛在的強勁現貨市場需求。下限考慮了不可預見的供應鍊或運營挑戰的可能性。如果天氣或不可預見的事件導致意外疲軟，下限也反映了我們進入市場的能力。

The good news is that all our longwall mines are currently running well, and we are 90-plus percent contracted at the midpoint of our guidance range. On the pricing front, we expect our average realized coal revenue per ton to be in the $78 to $84 range. Relative to 2022 levels, this range reflects our strong contracted position and allows for upward or downward movement in API2 and PJM West power prices as well as the potential to further optimize our sales portfolio.

好消息是，我們所有的長壁礦山目前都運行良好，而且我們的 90% 以上的合同都在我們指導範圍的中點。在定價方面，我們預計每噸煤炭的平均實現收入將在 78 美元至 84 美元之間。相對於 2022 年的水平，這一範圍反映了我們強大的合同地位，並允許 API2 和 PJM West 電力價格向上或向下移動，以及進一步優化我們的銷售組合的潛力。

Our guidance is based on [CAL 23] PJM West power price expectation of $49.58 per megawatt hour at the midpoint, and the sensitivity for every dollar per megawatt chain in PJM West power prices is approximately $0.10 per ton on our entire portfolio. For comparison, the average PJM West power price in 2022 was approximately $73 per megawatt hour. Additionally, the midpoint of our guidance assumes an API2 benchmark price of $165 per metric ton. We expect our 2023 PAMC average cash cost of coal sold to be $34 to $36 per ton.

我們的指導基於 [CAL 23] PJM West 電價預期中點每兆瓦時 49.58 美元，而 PJM West 電價中每一美元每兆瓦鏈的敏感性在我們整個投資組合中約為每噸 0.10 美元。相比之下，2022 年 PJM West 的平均電價約為每兆瓦時 73 美元。此外，我們指南的中點假定 API2 基準價格為每公噸 165 美元。我們預計 2023 年 PAMC 售出煤炭的平均現金成本為每噸 34 至 36 美元。

We are expecting our cash cost to be similar to 2022 on a per tonne basis at the midpoint despite incremental volume given the potential for ongoing inflationary pressures on certain goods and services. We begin to see some relief in cost pressures in the fourth quarter and our supply chain and operations team constantly focused on identifying ways to minimize our cash spend. The bottom end of our cost guidance captures the potential for deflation in key commodities, including power prices as well as fixed cost leverage at the higher end of the volume guidance.

我們預計我們的現金成本在中點時將與 2022 年每噸相似，儘管考慮到某些商品和服務可能存在持續的通脹壓力，產量有所增加。我們在第四季度開始看到成本壓力有所緩解，我們的供應鍊和運營團隊不斷專注於尋找最大限度減少現金支出的方法。我們的成本指導底端反映了主要商品通貨緊縮的可能性，包括電力價格以及數量指導高端的固定成本槓桿。

Conversely, the top end accounts for reduced tonnage on an improved commodity market, which would be a net benefit to our cash margins, but a headwind to our power and supply costs. At the Itmann complex for the time being, we are limiting our guidance until we get the mine fully staffed and ramped up to full run rate production. As such, we are currently providing a 2023 production guidance range of 400,000 to 600,000 tonnes from our Itmann mine, which is dependent on the timing of the ramp up. Once the Itmann mine achieve these milestone, we intend to provide more detailed Itmann complex guidance similar to what we provide for the Pennsylvania mining complex.

相反，在商品市場改善的情況下，高端導致噸位減少，這將對我們的現金利潤率產生淨收益，但對我們的電力和供應成本不利。目前，在 Itmann 綜合體，我們將限制我們的指導，直到我們讓礦山配備齊全的人員並提高到全速生產。因此，我們目前提供的 Itmann 礦 2023 年產量指導範圍為 400,000 至 600,000 噸，具體取決於增產時間。一旦 Itmann 礦山達到這些里程碑，我們打算提供更詳細的 Itmann 綜合體指導，類似於我們為賓夕法尼亞採礦綜合體提供的指導。

Lastly, on the capital expenditure front we are providing a range of $160 million to $185 million for 2023. This range reflects some 2022 capital spending moving into 2023. Keep in mind that we started 2022 with a top end CapEx expectation of nearly $200 million but only spent $172 million in the year. As we highlighted throughout last year supply chain bottlenecks have delayed equipment deliveries and extended lead times which has pushed certain planned expenditures from 2022 into 2023. Throughout last year and during our budget planning cycle we have been very diligent in adjusting our rebuild and life cycle management timing to better align with these longer lead times. We also expect to further our Greenhouse gas emissions reductions efforts and have approximately $10 million in the budget for this effort in 2023.

最後，在資本支出方面，我們為 2023 年提供了 1.6 億至 1.85 億美元的範圍。這個範圍反映了 2022 年到 2023 年的一些資本支出。請記住，我們從 2022 年開始的最高資本支出預期接近 2 億美元，但一年只花了1.72億美元。正如我們在去年全年強調的那樣，供應鏈瓶頸延遲了設備交付並延長了交貨時間，這將某些計劃支出從 2022 年推到了 2023 年。在整個去年和我們的預算規劃週期中，我們一直非常努力地調整我們的重建和生命週期管理時間以更好地與這些較長的交貨時間保持一致。我們還希望進一步推進我們的溫室氣體減排工作，並在 2023 年為這項工作提供大約 1000 萬美元的預算。

With that let me turn it back to Jimmy to touch on our key priorities for 2023.

有了這個，讓我把它轉回給吉米，談談我們 2023 年的主要優先事項。

Thank you, Mitesh. As we embark on 2023, we have a few key areas of focus that we believe will further strengthen our company. First, we are laser-focused on ramping up the Itmann Mine to full run rate production by midyear 2023. The Itmann complex has now moved from the project team to our operations team. We have our key operations and management personnel dedicated to supporting the Itmann team and their staffing and ramp-up efforts. We are very thankful for the hard work and persistence from our Itmann team members. Now that they have switched to operations mode, we expect them to diligently work through the recent challenges and delays to ultimately deliver operational consistency.

謝謝你，米特什。在我們踏上 2023 年之際，我們有幾個關鍵的重點領域，我們相信這些領域將進一步加強我們的公司。首先，我們專注於在 2023 年年中之前將 Itmann 礦山提高到滿負荷生產。Itmann 綜合體現已從項目團隊轉移到我們的運營團隊。我們的主要運營和管理人員致力於支持 Itmann 團隊及其人員配置和升級工作。我們非常感謝伊特曼團隊成員的辛勤工作和堅持不懈。現在他們已經切換到運營模式，我們希望他們能夠努力應對最近的挑戰和延誤，最終實現運營的一致性。

Second, our sales team remains opportunistic in its approach and remains focused on layering new business for 2023 and beyond as well as continuing to optimize our contract book. We believe that one of CONSOL's strategic advantages is our ability to lock in contract duration, which allows us to generate positive free cash flow in all parts of the cycle and provides us the ability to benefit from strong markets for years to come.

其次，我們的銷售團隊在其方法上仍然保持機會主義，並繼續專注於為 2023 年及以後的新業務分層，並繼續優化我們的合同簿。我們認為，CONSOL 的戰略優勢之一是我們能夠鎖定合同期限，這使我們能夠在周期的各個階段產生正的自由現金流，並使我們能夠在未來幾年從強勁的市場中獲益。

Third, reducing the debt on our balance sheet remains a major focus. We expect to hit our initial goal of a $300 million gross debt level in Q1 of '23 and then continue toward fully return our Term Loan B and second lien notes. We anticipate achieving these goals around mid-2023 as we simultaneously enhance shareholder returns, including dividends and share buybacks. This continued debt reduction sets the company up for long-term success and facilitates additional avenues for growth and diversification. Finally, we are committed to increasing our free cash flow allocation to shareholder returns as our debt levels decline.

第三，減少我們資產負債表上的債務仍然是一個主要重點。我們預計將在 23 年第一季度達到 3 億美元的總債務水平的初始目標，然後繼續完全歸還我們的定期貸款 B 和第二留置權票據。我們預計在 2023 年年中左右實現這些目標，因為我們會同時提高股東回報，包括股息和股票回購。這種持續的債務削減為公司的長期成功奠定了基礎，並為增長和多元化提供了更多途徑。最後，隨著我們的債務水平下降，我們致力於增加對股東回報的自由現金流分配。

As promised, we increased our shareholder return percentage due to our expectations of achieving our $300 million gross debt goal this quarter. Once our term loan B and second lien notes are retired, we expect to consider a further increase to our shareholder return allocation. We are very pleased with our results and execution in 2022, which was a record year for us in a lot of ways, and we will remain even more excited about the future. I want to personally thank all our employees for their dedication and hard work, which drove these exceptional results safely and compliantly. I am extremely proud of this team and CONSOL Energy.

正如承諾的那樣，由於我們預計本季度將實現 3 億美元的總債務目標，因此我們提高了股東回報率。一旦我們的定期貸款 B 和第二留置權票據退回，我們預計會考慮進一步增加我們的股東回報分配。我們對我們在 2022 年的結果和執行感到非常滿意，這在很多方面對我們來說都是創紀錄的一年，我們將對未來更加興奮。我要親自感謝我們所有員工的奉獻和辛勤工作，是他們安全、合規地取得了這些非凡的成果。我為這個團隊和 CONSOL Energy 感到無比自豪。

With that, I will hand the call back over to Nate.

有了這個，我會把電話轉回給內特。

Thank you, Jimmy. We will now move to the Q&A session of our call. At this time, I'd like to ask our operator to please provide the instructions to our callers.

謝謝你，吉米。我們現在將進入電話會議的問答環節。此時，我想請我們的接線員向我們的來電者提供說明。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question here will come from Lucas Pipes with B. Riley Securities.

（操作員說明）我們在這裡的第一個問題將來自 B. Riley Securities 的 Lucas Pipes。

Jimmy, I want to turn to -- Mitesh, I want to turn to the balance sheet for my first question. It sounds to me like you're looking at $190 million of gross debt as a kind of near-term target, a little bit more conservative from the $300 million gross debt target previously. What caused that? And is that the right interpretation $190 million? Or maybe did I miss anything?

吉米，我想轉向 - Mitesh，我想轉向資產負債表來回答我的第一個問題。在我看來，您正在將 1.9 億美元的總債務視為一種近期目標，比之前 3 億美元的總債務目標要保守一些。是什麼原因造成的？那是 1.9 億美元的正確解釋嗎？或者也許我錯過了什麼？

Thank you, Lucas. I think from a gross debt perspective, the way we think about it is we originally had a target of $300 million. We have today said we are going to retire all our term loan B and second lien. So if you look at the announcement that we made this morning about additional debt reduction for the month of January, we are sitting with about $39 million on Term Loan B and $74 million on the second lien. So combined, both of those is just over $100 million.

謝謝你，盧卡斯。我認為從總債務的角度來看，我們的想法是我們最初的目標是 3 億美元。我們今天說過，我們將取消所有定期貸款 B 和第二留置權。因此，如果你看看我們今天早上發布的關於 1 月份額外債務削減的公告，我們將有大約 3900 萬美元的定期貸款 B 和 7400 萬美元的第二留置權。所以加起來，這兩者剛剛超過 1 億美元。

I think when those 2 are retired, you're going to be just north of $200 million. So you are in the ballpark. And really, what makes up those just over $200 million is about $103 million of our Baltimore bonds and $75 million of our PEDFA bonds. Those -- both of them are tactical securities, as you know. And then the equipment leases, which at the end of the quarter, our forecast is going to be around $34 million.

我認為當這兩個人退休時，你的收入將超過 2 億美元。所以你在球場上。實際上，構成剛剛超過 2 億美元的是我們巴爾的摩債券的 1.03 億美元和我們 PEDFA 債券的 7500 萬美元。正如你所知，它們都是戰術證券。然後是設備租賃，到本季度末，我們的預測將達到 3400 萬美元左右。

That's helpful. And thought here is just to be a little bit more conservative given kind of broader capital market conditions.

這很有幫助。考慮到更廣泛的資本市場狀況，這裡的想法只是稍微保守一點。

Yes. So the Term Loan B and second lien both have near-term maturities, as you know. When I say near term second lien and a little bit further than the term loan B. Term Loan B is maturing next year. And the idea is we want to get away from more interest rate sensitive debt, but also right now, both of these securities at the end of Q1 are going to be under $50 million. So they're not what you would call like necessarily appropriately sized. I mean, this will allow us to create some bandwidth in future if we want to do something and raise some debt if capital market conditions or we can do just 1 ticket or something a little bit larger, if at all, we want to do it, but it's mostly cleanup stuff.

是的。因此，如您所知，定期貸款 B 和第二留置權都有短期到期。當我說短期第二留置權並且比期限貸款 B 稍遠一點時。定期貸款 B 將於明年到期。我們的想法是擺脫對利率更敏感的債務，但現在，第一季度末這兩種證券的價值都將低於 5000 萬美元。所以它們不是你所說的必須適當大小的東西。我的意思是，這將使我們能夠在未來創造一些帶寬，如果我們想做某事並在資本市場條件下籌集一些債務，或者我們可以只做一張票或更大一點的東西，如果有的話，我們想做，但它主要是清理的東西。

Okay. And then turning to the commercial side. Could you share some details as to the price of the tons that were sold incrementally during the quarter for both 2023 and 2024. And then specifically for 2024, you have 12-plus million tons contracted to date, roughly what's the split between domestic and export? And what would be the price of those 2024 commitments.

好的。然後轉向商業方面。您能否分享一些有關 2023 年和 2024 年本季度增量銷售噸數價格的詳細信息。然後具體到 2024 年，迄今為止您已經簽訂了超過 12 百萬噸的合同，國內和出口之間的差距大致是多少？ ？這些 2024 年承諾的價格是多少？

Sure, Lucas. I'll take that. We've increased our sold position, as you know, this morning by 2.1 million tons for 2023. Last quarter, if you recall, we said our pricing was in the upper 70s based on the power forwards of that date. If you go back and look, power was at 60 -- around $68, API2 prices were around $200. So fast forward today, we said our midpoint of the guidance is based on $49.58 and $165 for API2. That basically would imply that our portfolio dropped about $5 quarter-on-quarter just based on powered API2.

當然，盧卡斯。我會接受的。如您所知，我們已經將 2023 年的銷售頭寸增加了 210 萬噸。上個季度，如果您還記得的話，我們說我們的定價是基於當時的大前鋒而定的。如果你回頭看看，功率是 60——大約 68 美元，API2 價格大約是 200 美元。今天快進了，我們說我們的指導中點是基於 API2 的 49.58 美元和 165 美元。這基本上意味著我們的投資組合僅基於 powered API2 就環比下降了約 5 美元。

However, I can tell you that our pricing of the 23.9 has actually improved. So when you take a look at that and you model that, you'll notice that the pricing that we sold -- the tons that we sold incrementally the 2.1 is certainly north of $100 per ton. Then on your second question, on the 2024 volume of 12.5 million tons, about 2.5 million are linked to power, 3.2 million are currently sold into the export market and 6.6 million are domestic and fixed price.

但是，我可以告訴您，我們 23.9 的定價實際上有所提高。因此，當您查看它並對其進行建模時，您會注意到我們銷售的價格——我們增量銷售的噸數 2.1 肯定在每噸 100 美元以上。那麼關於你的第二個問題，在 2024 年的 1250 萬噸產量中，約有 250 萬噸與電力有關，320 萬噸目前銷往出口市場，660 萬噸為國內固定價格。

All right. Any sense on the average price for 2024, did I miss that?

好的。對 2024 年的平均價格有任何意義，我錯過了嗎？

We're not providing guidance today for 2024. However, I would tell you that it's sitting between our 2022 and 2023 pricing right now.

我們今天不提供 2024 年的指導。但是，我會告訴你，它現在位於我們 2022 年和 2023 年的定價之間。

Our next question will come from Nathan Martin with the Benchmark Group.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Benchmark Group 的 Nathan Martin。

Bob, could I actually get a similar breakdown for 2023 tons that you just gave Lucas for '24? In other words, how many tons are fixed versus how many tons are open to fluctuations in index pricing, whether that's PJM West or API2?

鮑勃，我真的可以得到你剛剛給盧卡斯 24 年的 2023 噸的類似分類嗎？換句話說，有多少噸是固定的，有多少噸對指數定價波動開放，無論是 PJM West 還是 API2？

Sure. We have -- again, we have 2.5 million in 2023. That's linked to power. We have 8.2 million right now slotted for export or contracted, I should say, for export. Of that 8.2 million, we have about 5 million that are linked to API2 prices. And then of that 5 million, 3 million of those have ceiling and floor prices incorporated in the contracts. And then the balance of 13.2 million is domestic and fixed price.

當然。到 2023 年，我們有 250 萬人。這與權力有關。我們現在有 820 萬個出口或合同，我應該說，出口。在這 820 萬個中，我們有大約 500 萬個與 API2 價格掛鉤。然後在這 500 萬中，其中 300 萬在合同中包含了上限和下限價格。然後剩下的1320萬是國產的，定價的。

Very helpful, Bob. I appreciate that. I guess sticking with API2 for a second, what -- with the pullback we've seen, what did netbacks look like at today's prices? Is that are still open for you guys, would also be helpful to get any kind of sensitivity there? I know you said you're assuming a $165 price in your pricing guidance of '23. And then you also mentioned your long-term export contract with the collars for the year. Any color on where the netbacks are relative to the floor and ceiling on those times?

非常有幫助，鮑勃。我很感激。我想再堅持一下 API2，什麼——我們看到的回調，今天的價格是什麼 netbacks 看起來像什麼？那是否仍然對你們開放，是否也有助於在那裡獲得任何敏感性？我知道您說過您在 23 年的定價指導中假設價格為 165 美元。然後您還提到了您與項圈的長期出口合同。在那個時候淨背相對於地板和天花板的位置有什麼顏色嗎？

Sure. I think we've mentioned in the past that the coal that we sell into Europe, when you look at an API2 price use somewhere around 65% to 70% of that price, and that gets you back to an FOB mine price, and that, again, takes into account discounts, quality adjustments along with freight. So when you're looking at a $140 API2 price, you're talking somewhere in that $90 range back to the mine. And again, that's really specific to coal that we're selling into Europe. As far as sensitivity is concerned, I will tell you, it's not linear because we do have different floors and ceilings across several contracts. But a good estimate is for every dollar change in API2 prices, our overall portfolio change is approximately $0.10. So it has a very similar sensitivity to our power price as well. But again, that depends on loading months of vessels, most of our contracts are priced based on the monthly average of the API2 price of the month of it loading. But as we do with our netback sensitivities, we'll continue to refine this as well every quarter.

當然。我想我們過去曾提到過，當你查看 API2 價格時，我們向歐洲銷售的煤炭使用了該價格的 65% 到 70% 左右，這讓你回到了 FOB 礦山價格，而且，再次考慮到折扣、質量調整和運費。因此，當您查看 140 美元的 API2 價格時，您說的是 90 美元範圍內的某個地方。再一次，這確實是針對我們向歐洲銷售的煤炭。就敏感性而言，我會告訴你，它不是線性的，因為我們在多個合同中確實有不同的下限和上限。但一個很好的估計是，API2 價格每變化一美元，我們的整體投資組合變化約為 0.10 美元。所以它對我們的電價也有非常相似的敏感性。但同樣，這取決於船舶的裝載月份，我們的大部分合同都是根據裝載月份的 API2 價格的月平均值定價的。但正如我們對淨回敏感度所做的那樣，我們也會在每個季度繼續改進這一點。

That's very helpful, Bob. I appreciate that. And then on the domestic side, we've also seen rather nat price weaken as well given the mild start to the winter season. How are utilities from a stockpile perspective at this point that you guys can see? Is there any possibility of deferrals as they move forward through the year? Or is it still a little early to think about that?

這很有幫助，鮑勃。我很感激。然後在國內方面，鑑於冬季開局溫和，我們也看到相當自然的價格走軟。你們現在可以看到，從庫存的角度來看，公用事業情況如何？隨著一年的推進，是否有可能推遲？還是現在考慮這個還為時過早？

Yes. I think it's early, Nate. There certainly has been an increase in natural gas production since the end of last year. But I really think the biggest issue here is really demand, right? I don't believe that there's that much of a supply response from the coal side right now. And I personally believe that coal supply remains tight, and I expect that to continue as we head into summer. Right now, inventories across domestic customers are at comfortable levels. However, that can change very quickly as we start seeing demand out of -- out of the U.S. and Europe for that matter. And I'll also tell you that many of our customers were sitting at less than 20 days of inventory heading into winter.

是的。我想現在還早，內特。自去年年底以來，天然氣產量肯定有所增加。但我真的認為這裡最大的問題是需求，對吧？我不相信煤炭方面現在有那麼多的供應反應。我個人認為煤炭供應仍然緊張，我預計隨著我們進入夏季，這種情況將持續下去。目前，國內客戶的庫存處於舒適水平。然而，隨著我們開始看到來自美國和歐洲的需求，這種情況可能會很快改變。而且我還要告訴你，我們的許多客戶在進入冬季時庫存不足 20 天。

As mentioned, this past month certainly afforded many to continue to build what I would call healthy levels. However, we do have several customers that are still telling us that they likely will have some spot needs in the back half of the year, so very positive there.

如前所述，過去一個月肯定讓許多人繼續建立我所謂的健康水平。然而，我們確實有幾個客戶仍然告訴我們，他們可能會在今年下半年有一些現貨需求，所以非常積極。

Yes. And to Bobby's point -- and to Bobby's point, most of these coal inventory deals that we've seen, they are certainly not due to oversupply. They are related more to demand and we expect that in the second half of the year, we can't do anything with the weather or predicted. But if that changes, we have a typical summer like we've had, those inventory levels allow us to become less than normal pretty quickly.

是的。對於 Bobby 的觀點——對於 Bobby 的觀點，我們所看到的大多數煤炭庫存交易肯定不是由於供過於求。它們更多地與需求相關，我們預計在今年下半年，我們無法對天氣或預測做任何事情。但如果這種情況發生變化，我們就會像過去一樣度過一個典型的夏天，那些庫存水平會讓我們很快變得低於正常水平。

Appreciate that. Got it. Any comments or thoughts on coal to gas switching -- occurring today with nat-gas around $2.50 or so.

感謝。知道了。關於煤改氣的任何評論或想法——今天發生的天然氣價格約為 2.50 美元左右。

I mean we're definitely seeing gas dispatch a little bit more now than it has in the past just based on this $2.50 range and where coal prices are. But Again, I would tell you that as soon as demand picks up, I think you're going to see more coal units come online.

我的意思是，僅基於 2.50 美元的區間和煤炭價格，我們現在肯定會看到比過去更多的天然氣調度。但我要再次告訴你，一旦需求回升，我認為你會看到更多的煤炭機組上線。

Perfect. And then just one final question, if I may. Any thoughts on cadence of shipments or even pricing as we move through the next 4 quarters, I think one of your peers noted that it was essentially sold out for the first half, expected pricing to improve in the second half as we see, hopefully, the expectations for Europe to be back in the market to shore up supplies for next winter.

完美的。然後是最後一個問題，如果可以的話。在接下來的 4 個季度中，關於出貨節奏甚至定價的任何想法，我想你們的一位同行指出，上半年基本上已經售罄，預計下半年定價會有所改善，希望如此，對歐洲重返市場以支撐明年冬季供應的預期。

I think you asked and nailed the question. We're not too concerned about the first half of the year. We are pretty much committed and sold through that. Back half is where we have some open tons and Bobby can go into more detail there, but we still feel really good about our ability to move coal into international markets and demand picking up second half of the year.

我想你問了這個問題並提出了問題。我們不太擔心上半年。我們非常投入並通過它出售。後半部分是我們有一些開噸的地方，Bobby 可以在那裡詳細介紹，但我們仍然對我們將煤炭轉移到國際市場和下半年需求回升的能力感到非常滿意。

Yes. Again, I think Europe, there's a potential opportunity there for the second half of the year. Right now, the gas that they have in storage today is Russian gas. And once that depletes, they're going to be relying fully on LNG. And then also, I think, is important message is that our fifth longwall at Enlow Fork is our low sulfur longwall. We've been talking about it. It's the best quality. It's certainly opening up new markets for us and also it gives us the ability to ship more into the crossover market. And based on where high above the prices are today, that's the best market out there that's yielding triple digits back to the mine. So we'll continue to focus on those opportunities and obviously sell our coal -- that took places to yield the best realization back to us.

是的。同樣，我認為歐洲在今年下半年有一個潛在的機會。現在，他們今天儲存的天然氣是俄羅斯的天然氣。一旦耗盡，他們將完全依賴液化天然氣。然後，我認為，重要的信息是我們在 Enlow Fork 的第五個長壁是我們的低硫長壁。我們一直在談論它。這是最好的品質。它無疑為我們開闢了新市場，也讓我們有能力向跨界市場推出更多產品。根據今天價格的高位，這是最好的市場，它能為礦山帶來三位數的收益。因此，我們繼續關注這些機會，顯然出售我們的煤炭——這些機會會給我們帶來最好的回報。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question here will come from Ryan Rahinsky with Blue Outlier Capital.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題將來自 Blue Outlier Capital 的 Ryan Rahinsky。

Congrats on the quarter. I'm just trying to get some more color on the shareholder returns going forward. I'm really happy to see that you guys have started buybacks this quarter. But any idea of the buybacks as a percentage of shareholder returns going forward. This quarter shareholder returns are much more source dividends. And I'm just wondering if that can be expected going forward or whether dividends and buybacks to be more balanced?

祝賀這個季度。我只是想對未來的股東回報有更多的了解。我很高興看到你們本季度開始回購。但任何關於回購佔股東回報的百分比的想法。本季度股東回報多為股息來源。我只是想知道未來是否可以預期這種情況，或者股息和回購是否會更加平衡？

Well, going forward, as we said, we had that goal of $300 million gross debt and we saw this happening in Q1 is while we started our share repurchases in Q4. We purchased 124,000 shares or about $8 million. And we expect to raise the return to shareholders 35% to 50% as we continue to get rid of debt. But if you look at it, we actually have paid down $647 million in debt since 2018. And sometimes, we lose sight of that, but that created equity value of $18 a share if you look at our 35 million shares outstanding.

好吧，正如我們所說，展望未來，我們的目標是總債務達到 3 億美元，我們在第一季度看到了這種情況，而我們在第四季度開始了股票回購。我們購買了 124,000 股股票或約 800 萬美元。隨著我們繼續擺脫債務，我們預計將股東回報率提高 35% 至 50%。但如果你看一下，我們實際上自 2018 年以來已經償還了 6.47 億美元的債務。有時，我們忽略了這一點，但如果你看一下我們 3500 萬股已發行股票，這創造了每股 18 美元的股本價值。

So what we'll do is we're lucky enough to have a great free cash flow generation. And if things hold, I think what you'll see us do is steadily increase that number, and we'll be able to do all 3 or if one provides a better return back to the shareholders. We could certainly pivot to that way. But currently, our plan is to stick with what Mitesh mentioned in his remarks, we want to retire the term loan B as well as the second lien and continue to pay back return to shareholders in forms of dividend or share back.

所以我們要做的是我們很幸運能夠產生大量的自由現金流。如果一切順利，我想你會看到我們做的是穩步增加這個數字，我們將能夠做到這三件事，或者如果一個能為股東提供更好的回報。我們當然可以轉向這種方式。但目前，我們的計劃是堅持 Mitesh 在他的發言中提到的，我們希望取消貸款 B 和第二留置權，並繼續以股息或股份的形式向股東回報。

And we really haven't thought too far about which way we lean on -- do we go heavier on dividends? Or do we do all share buybacks? And that will be a Board decision, and we'll have a discussion with them when the time comes. The good news is we believe that we're going to generate enough free cash flow to do all those things pretty quickly here in 2023.

我們真的沒有想太多我們依靠哪種方式 - 我們是否會增加股息？還是我們做所有的股票回購？這將是董事會的決定，我們會在適當的時候與他們進行討論。好消息是，我們相信我們將產生足夠的自由現金流，以在 2023 年在這裡很快完成所有這些事情。

And our next question will be a follow-up from Lucas Pipes with B. Riley Securities.

我們的下一個問題將是 Lucas Pipes 與 B. Riley Securities 的後續行動。

I just wanted to try to get a little bit more color on the domestic market. How much buying of coal is going on today, are utilities active today? And where would you place the domestic market for 2023 and 2024?

我只是想嘗試在國內市場上多一點顏色。今天有多少煤炭購買，公用事業今天活躍嗎？您會將 2023 年和 2024 年的國內市場置於何處？

Well, Lucas, of the 8.3 million tons that we contracted for through 2025, 5 million was to a domestic customer under a term deal through 2025. So again, I guess this just shows the fact that people are out there buying under term contracts, they are concerned about supply going forward. We're also in discussions with another domestic customer of our term deal as well. And then when you look at the export side, I can't say much more, but we are in discussions with several end users in both Europe and Asia on term deals, and I'm hopeful by our next earnings call, we'll have a little bit more to report there.

好吧，盧卡斯，在我們到 2025 年簽訂的 830 萬噸合同中，有 500 萬噸是根據到 2025 年的定期交易提供給國內客戶的。因此，我想這再次表明人們正在根據定期合同購買，他們擔心未來的供應。我們也在與我們的長期交易的另一個國內客戶進行討論。然後當你看出口方面時，我不能說更多，但我們正在與歐洲和亞洲的幾個最終用戶就定期交易進行討論，我希望在我們的下一次財報電話會議上，我們會還有一點要在那里報告。

The pricing is kind of in line with where markets are at the time we conclude those deals. I mean we look at power and gas every time at that present time, we're concluding. And basically coming up with what we feel is the right netback and I think the customers are doing the same. So that continues to fluctuate at $2.50 gas price, obviously, the mine prices aren't as attractive as they were when they were $6, but there's still certainly profits being made pretty much all cycles through the $2.50 to $7 gas price.

定價有點符合我們完成這些交易時的市場情況。我的意思是我們現在每次都在研究電力和天然氣，我們正在得出結論。基本上提出我們認為正確的淨回值，我認為客戶也在做同樣的事情。因此，這繼續以 2.50 美元的汽油價格波動，顯然，礦山價格不像 6 美元時那樣具有吸引力，但在 2.50 美元至 7 美元的汽油價格的幾乎所有周期中，仍然肯定有利潤。

I really appreciate that color, Bob. And you touched on it there, obviously, like domestic energy markets changed fairly dramatically since the beginning of December, more than a 50% drop. How much have attitudes changed? Is it too early to tell? Or is this having a real impact on now with your utility customers?

我真的很欣賞那種顏色，鮑勃。很明顯，你提到了這一點，就像自 12 月初以來國內能源市場發生了相當大的變化，跌幅超過 50%。態度改變了多少？現在說還為時過早嗎？或者這對您的公用事業客戶現在有真正的影響嗎？

I'd say it's too early to tell. I think you're going to see a lot of utilities, pretty much take a seat on the sidelines for the next couple of months, kind of see how this market evolves. As Jimmy mentioned, inventory levels are, I would say, comfortable, but these can change very, very quickly. And we saw that happen last year. And once we get into summer, if it is a game changer, I think you're going to see a lot of utilities come to the market to try to secure their supply for the long term.

我會說現在下結論還為時過早。我想你會看到很多公用事業公司，在接下來的幾個月裡幾乎都在觀望，看看這個市場是如何演變的。正如吉米所提到的，庫存水平，我會說，舒適，但這些變化非常非常快。我們去年看到了這種情況。一旦我們進入夏季，如果它改變了遊戲規則，我想你會看到很多公用事業公司進入市場，試圖確保他們的長期供應。

So I'd say, give it 2, 3, 4 months. And by the time we have our next earnings call, we probably -- we will have, I should say, more color and be able to give some more commentary on that.

所以我會說，給它 2、3、4 個月。到我們召開下一次財報電話會議時，我們可能——我應該說，我們會有更多的色彩，並能夠就此發表更多評論。

And Lucas, I'll add that I think we have significant flexibility, as you know, of moving into domestic and export market depending on where the best arbitrage is, right? And this is clearly visible in terms of the amount of exports that we are going to do this year versus last year despite having higher production numbers, right? So I think we are going to be market-driven. And as markets change, we'll just adapt to it. And our terminal at Baltimore allows us that flexibility.

盧卡斯，我要補充一點，我認為我們有很大的靈活性，如你所知，根據最佳套利地點進入國內和出口市場，對吧？儘管產量更高，但從我們今年與去年相比的出口量來看，這一點是顯而易見的，對吧？所以我認為我們將以市場為導向。隨著市場的變化，我們只會適應它。我們在巴爾的摩的航站樓為我們提供了這種靈活性。

Very helpful. Along this -- do you have a target or a rough target for 2024 split between domestic and exports?

很有幫助。在此基礎上——您對 2024 年國內和出口之間是否有一個目標或粗略目標？

Lucas, I would suggest to you, we could see exports climb to 14 million tons or thereabouts in 2024. I mean, obviously, we'll continue to watch the market and see where the best arbitrage is. But I think 14 million tons is a possibility for 2024.

盧卡斯，我建議你，到 2024 年我們的出口量可能會攀升至 1400 萬噸左右。我的意思是，顯然，我們將繼續觀察市場，看看最好的套利點在哪裡。但我認為 2024 年有可能達到 1400 萬噸。

And then back to the domestic market. Have you heard in the industry or have you experienced any requests from utilities to push out coal deliveries.

然後再回到國內市場。您是否在業內聽說過或遇到過公用事業公司要求推遲煤炭交付的任何要求。

Nothing as of late. I still think it's too early. I mean we're 1 month in. I'm not getting overly excited. Yes, January didn't come in as expected. But again, look what happened last year, really, the demand started hitting the Russia-Ukraine war was at the end of February, we started seeing an uptick in the export business. And then domestically, they were -- many utilities were burning gas because they didn't have coal in the summer months. So that could potentially repeat itself, and we're keeping a close eye on it. But the good news for us is we're well contracted throughout the entire first half of this year. Most of our open position or almost all of it is in the second half. And if that does come to fruition, we might move more into the domestic market. We'll just continue to watch and see what presents the best opportunity for us.

最近什麼都沒有。我仍然認為現在還為時過早。我的意思是我們已經 1 個月了。我並不過分興奮。是的，一月份沒有按預期出現。但是，再看看去年發生的事情，真的，需求開始衝擊俄羅斯-烏克蘭戰爭是在 2 月底，我們開始看到出口業務有所上升。然後在國內，他們是——許多公用事業公司都在燃燒天然氣，因為他們在夏季沒有煤炭。所以這可能會重演，我們正在密切關注它。但對我們來說，好消息是我們在今年上半年的合同都很好。我們的大部分未平倉頭寸或幾乎全部都在下半場。如果這真的實現了，我們可能會更多地進入國內市場。我們將繼續觀察，看看什麼對我們來說是最好的機會。

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

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想把會議轉回內森·塔克的閉幕詞。

Thanks, Joe. On behalf of CONSOL Energy, I'd like to thank everybody for their time and interest this morning, and we look forward to speaking with you on our next earnings call. Thank you.

謝謝，喬。我代表 CONSOL Energy，感謝大家今天早上的時間和興趣，我們期待在下一次財報電話會議上與您交談。謝謝。

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

會議現已結束。非常感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開線路。