Consolidated Water Co Ltd (CWCO) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today to discuss Consolidated Water Company's full year 2022 results. Hosting the call today is the Chief Executive Officer of Consolidated Water Company, Rick McTagger; and the company's Chief Financial Officer, David Sasnett. (Operator Instructions)

早上好，感謝您今天加入我們討論 Consolidated Water Company 的 2022 年全年業績。今天主持電話會議的是 Consolidated Water Company 的首席執行官 Rick McTagger；以及公司的首席財務官 David Sasnett。 （操作員說明）

Before we conclude today's call, I'll provide some important cautions regarding the forward-looking statements made by management during the call. I'd like to remind everyone that today's call is being recorded, and it will be made available for telecom replay for the instructions in yesterday's press release, which is available in the Investor Relations section of the company's website.

在我們結束今天的電話會議之前，我將針對管理層在電話會議期間所做的前瞻性陳述提供一些重要的警告。我想提醒大家，今天的電話正在錄音中，昨天的新聞稿中的說明將可以通過電信重播，該新聞稿可在公司網站的投資者關係部分獲得。

Now I'd like to turn the call over to Consolidated Water Company's CEO, Rick McTaggart. Sir, please go ahead.

現在我想把電話轉給 Consolidated Water Company 的首席執行官 Rick McTaggart。先生，請繼續。

Thank you, Joe, and good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us today. As you saw in our earnings release issued yesterday afternoon, we reported a 41% increase in our revenue to a record $94.1 million for the full year 2022. .

謝謝你，喬，大家早上好。感謝您今天加入我們。正如您在昨天下午發布的收益報告中看到的那樣，我們報告稱 2022 年全年收入增長了 41%，達到創紀錄的 9410 萬美元。。

We generated increased revenues across all 4 of our business segments last year. Our retail water revenues benefited from a 12.5% increase in the volume of water sold in Grand Cayman, and this large increase was due to the return of tourist activity to the Cayman Islands.

去年，我們所有 4 個業務部門的收入都有所增加。我們的零售水收入得益於大開曼島售水量增加 12.5%，這一大幅增長是由於旅遊活動重返開曼群島。

Our Services segment revenue increased by $15 million with most of this due to the progress of PERC Water on the construction of a new $82 million advanced water treatment plant in Goodyear, Arizona, we announced this contract in May of last year. The project is progressing as planned, and we anticipate recognizing significant additional revenue from this project this year and until the construction is completed in mid-2024.

我們的服務部門收入增加了 1500 萬美元，其中大部分是由於 PERC Water 在亞利桑那州固特異建造一座價值 8200 萬美元的新高級水處理廠的進展，我們於去年 5 月宣布了該合同。該項目正在按計劃進行，我們預計今年將從該項目中獲得可觀的額外收入，直至 2024 年年中完工。

Also in Q4, we broke ground on the new desalination plant that we designed and are presently constructing on Grand Cayman under a 10-year design build and operate contract with the Water Authority of the Cayman Islands. We also announced this project in May of last year. The revenue we recognize from this contract also contributed to the year-over-year increase in Service segment revenues.

同樣在第四季度，我們根據與開曼群島水務局簽訂的為期 10 年的設計建造和運營合同，在大開曼島設計並目前正在建造的新海水淡化廠破土動工。我們也在去年五月宣布了這個項目。我們從該合同中確認的收入也促進了服務部門收入的同比增長。

We expect the revenue generated over the approximate 11.5 year term of this contract to total about $20 million based on January 2022 values. (technical difficulty) this $20 million to be desalination plant during the first 18 months. with the rest earned from the operation of the plant over the following 10 years. So that's how we get to the 11.5 year term.

根據 2022 年 1 月的價值，我們預計在本合同約 11.5 年期限內產生的收入總額約為 2000 萬美元。 （技術難度）這個耗資 2000 萬美元的海水淡化廠將在前 18 個月建成。其餘的在接下來的 10 年裡從工廠的運營中賺取。這就是我們達到 11.5 年任期的方式。

In October, we announced a milestone win for PERC with the award of an expanded 10-year $49.2 million contract to operate and maintain 2 advanced water treatment facilities in Southern California. So this contract was the longest -- or is the longest term contract that PERC has ever signed. This win affirms the world-class services that PERC provides and supports our plans. We're growing this segment of our business in the Western U.S., a region that has experienced unprecedented drought conditions over the last 10 years, certainly. In all, we secured more than $150 million in major multiyear projects in 2022, which we expect to have a positive impact on earnings over the coming quarters.

10 月，我們宣布 PERC 獲得里程碑式的勝利，獲得一份為期 10 年、價值 4,920 萬美元的擴展合同，用於在南加州運營和維護 2 個先進的水處理設施。所以這份合同是最長的——或者是 PERC 簽訂的最長期限的合同。這一勝利肯定了 PERC 提供的世界級服務並支持我們的計劃。我們正在美國西部發展我們的這一部分業務，該地區在過去 10 年中經歷了前所未有的干旱條件，當然。總而言之，我們在 2022 年的大型多年項目中獲得了超過 1.5 億美元的資金，我們預計這將對未來幾個季度的收益產生積極影響。

Now before discussing more about these projects and our outlook for the rest of the year, I would like to turn the call over to our CFO, David Sasnett, who will take us through the financial details of the year.

現在，在更多地討論這些項目和我們對今年剩餘時間的展望之前，我想把電話轉給我們的首席財務官 David Sasnett，他將向我們介紹今年的財務細節。

Thanks, Rick, and good morning, everyone. Yesterday, we issued our full 2022 fiscal year results in a press release, and you can find that press release in the Investors section of our website. As Rick mentioned, revenue for 2022 totaled $94.1 million, which was up 41% compared to the $66.9 million we reported in 2021. This increase was driven by increases of the following amounts in all of our business segments, $3.8 million in our Retail segment, $6.2 million in our bulk segment, $15 million in our Services segment and an additional $2.3 million in manufacturing segment revenue. .

謝謝，里克，大家早上好。昨天，我們在新聞稿中發布了完整的 2022 財年業績，您可以在我們網站的投資者部分找到該新聞稿。正如 Rick 提到的那樣，2022 年的收入總計 9410 萬美元，比我們在 2021 年報告的 6690 萬美元增長了 41%。這一增長是由我們所有業務部門的以下金額增長推動的，即零售部門的 380 萬美元，我們的散貨部門收入為 620 萬美元，我們的服務部門收入為 1500 萬美元，另外還有 230 萬美元的製造部門收入。 .

As we discussed earlier, our retail revenue increased primarily due to 12.5% increase in the volume of the water we sold on Grand Cayman. Our retail revenue also increased due to higher energy costs that increased the energy pass-through component of our water rates, and it increased slightly as a result of the more favorable rate mix. The increase in our bulk segment revenue was due to an increase in energy costs for the Bahamas, this increasing the energy pass-through component of CW-Bahamas rates.

正如我們之前所討論的，我們的零售收入增長主要是由於我們在大開曼島售出的水量增加了 12.5%。由於更高的能源成本增加了我們水費的能源傳遞部分，我們的零售收入也有所增加，並且由於更有利的費率組合而略有增加。我們散貨業務收入的增加是由於巴哈馬能源成本的增加，這增加了 CW-Bahamas 費率的能源轉嫁部分。

The increase in our services segment revenue was due to increases in both plant design and construction revenue and operating and maintenance revenue, with most of the increase resulting from PERC's progress on the construction of the water prevent plant in good near Arizona. The increase in our Manufacturing segment revenue was due to increased production activity.

我們服務部門收入的增長是由於工廠設計和建設收入以及運營和維護收入的增加，其中大部分增長是由於 PERC 在亞利桑那州附近的防水工廠建設取得進展。我們製造部門收入的增加是由於生產活動增加。

Our gross profit for the full year of 2022 was $30.4 million or 32% of total revenue, which is up 29% from the $23.5 million or 35% of total revenue in 2021. Net income from continuing operations attributable to CEO of stockholders for 2022 was $8.2 million or $0.54 per basic and diluted share compared to net income of $3.4 million or $0.23 per basic and diluted share in 2021.

我們 2022 年全年的毛利潤為 3040 萬美元，佔總收入的 32%，比 2021 年的 2350 萬美元或總收入的 35% 增長了 29%。2022 年歸屬於股東 CEO 的持續經營淨收入為820 萬美元或每股基本股和稀釋股 0.54 美元，而 2021 年的淨收入為 340 萬美元或每股基本股和稀釋股 0.23 美元。

Net income attributable to Consolidated Water stockholders, which includes the results of discontinued operations was $5.9 million or $0.38 per basic and fully diluted share. This is up a net income of $876,000 or $0.06 per share in 2021.

Consolidated Water 股東應占淨收入（包括已終止經營的結果）為 590 萬美元，即基本和完全稀釋後每股 0.38 美元。這比 2021 年的淨收入增加了 876,000 美元或每股 0.06 美元。

Now turning to our balance sheet. Our cash and cash equivalents totaled $50.7 million as of the end of the year. This compares to $51.1 million as of the end of the September 30, 2022 quarter. As of December 31, 2022, our working capital totaled $69.9 million, our debt was only $300,000 and our stockholders' equity totaled $159.7 million.

現在轉向我們的資產負債表。截至年底，我們的現金和現金等價物總計 5070 萬美元。相比之下，截至 2022 年 9 月 30 日季度末為 5110 萬美元。截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日，我們的營運資金總計 6990 萬美元，債務僅為 30 萬美元，股東權益總計 1.597 億美元。

As of December 31, 2022, our projected liquidity requirements for 2023 include capital expenditures for existing operations of approximately $14.1 million. This includes $2.8 million that is expected to be incurred in 2023 for replacing our West Bay desalination plant and approximately $7.5 million for construction of the new desalination plant on Grand Cayman.

截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日，我們預計 2023 年的流動性需求包括約 1410 萬美元的現有業務資本支出。這包括預計在 2023 年用於更換我們的西灣海水淡化廠的 280 萬美元，以及用於在大開曼島建造新海水淡化廠的大約 750 萬美元。

In order to January this year, we exercised -- well, actually in October of 2022, we exercised our option to purchase the remaining 39% equity our subsidiary PERC water and we completed this transaction in January of 2023. We paid approximately $7.8 million. This was comprised of $2.44 million in cash and 368,383 shares of common stock valued at about $5.4 million. We paid approximately $1.4 million for dividends in January 2023 and of course, our future liquidity requirements. They also include any future dividends declared by our Board.

今年 1 月，我們行使了——好吧，實際上是在 2022 年 10 月，我們行使了購買子公司 PERC water 剩餘 39% 股權的選擇權，我們在 2023 年 1 月完成了這筆交易。我們支付了大約 780 萬美元。這包括 244 萬美元現金和 368,383 股價值約 540 萬美元的普通股。我們在 2023 年 1 月支付了大約 140 萬美元的股息，當然還有我們未來的流動性需求。它們還包括我們董事會宣布的任何未來股息。

In the third quarter of 2022, we obtained a $10 million revolving credit line with social Bank in the King Island to assist us with some of our short-term financing and working capital needs. However, to date, we have not been required to utilize any of the borrowings that are available under this line.

2022 年第三季度，我們在國王島的社會銀行獲得了 1000 萬美元的循環信貸額度，以幫助我們滿足一些短期融資和營運資金需求。然而，迄今為止，我們還沒有被要求使用該項目下可用的任何借款。

So that completes our financial summary for the quarter, and I'll turn the call back over to Rick.

這樣就完成了我們本季度的財務摘要，我會把電話轉回給里克。

Thanks, David. So looking at our retail operations in Grand Cayman, we've been pleasantly surprised by the rapid return of tourism to the island, which appears now back to normal levels early this year. Last August, all COVID-related restrictions for travel to the Cayman Islands were eliminated by the government and cruise ship visits returned. It has been reported that airlift capacity to the islands is still 10% to 15% less than early last year due to challenges in the aviation industry. .

謝謝，大衛。因此，看看我們在大開曼島的零售業務，我們對島上旅遊業的迅速恢復感到驚喜，今年年初似乎已恢復正常水平。去年八月，政府取消了所有與 COVID 相關的前往開曼群島的旅行限制，並恢復了遊輪訪問。據報導，由於航空業面臨挑戰，到這些島嶼的空運能力仍比去年初減少 10% 至 15%。 .

However, this seems to be driving up ticket costs more than limiting the number of visitors to the island. According to a recent local paper posted an article posted last week, rental cars are selling out, boat trips are being booked weeks in advance and hotel rooms are in demand across the islands. Overall, for 2022, visitor numbers to the Cayman Islands were still below pre-COVID levels. However, so far in 2023, it looks like the islands may see a full return to historical levels soon.

然而，這似乎比限制上島遊客的數量更能推高票價。根據最近當地一家報紙發表的一篇上週發表的文章，租車已經售罄，乘船旅行需要提前幾週預訂，島上的酒店房間也很搶手。總體而言，到 2022 年，開曼群島的遊客人數仍低於 COVID 之前的水平。然而，到 2023 年為止，這些島嶼似乎很快就會完全恢復到歷史水平。

As I mentioned earlier, during the fourth quarter, we broke ground for the new Red Gate Seawater Reverse Osmosis plant that we're building and Grand Cayman for the Water Authority. Construction is now well underway with the main structural parts of the building completed in February.

正如我之前提到的，在第四季度，我們為水務局建造的新紅門海水反滲透工廠和大開曼島破土動工。目前建設工作進展順利，大樓的主要結構部分已於 2 月完工。

So looking ahead at desal opportunities, we continue to follow some very interesting opportunities for desal projects in a more active Caribbean market, which we haven't actually seen for quite a few years. We're hopeful that our strong regional presence will give us a decisive advantage in what's becoming a crowded competitive landscape in this market.

因此，展望未來的脫鹽機會，我們將繼續關注更活躍的加勒比市場中脫鹽項目的一些非常有趣的機會，我們實際上已經好幾年沒見過了。我們希望我們強大的區域影響力將使我們在這個市場競爭激烈的環境中獲得決定性優勢。

We are also awaiting the official announcement of the contract award for the designing, building and operating of a new 1.7 million gallon per day seawater desalination plant in Honolulu, Hawaii. We did this project in June last year, and we've been extending our bid at the request of the client several times now. And we anticipate an award announcement to be made sometime soon. This project is -- in Hawaii is comparable to the types of projects that we've successfully completed in the Caribbean over the last 50 years. Just note in August, the company will celebrate its 50th anniversary.

我們還在等待正式宣佈在夏威夷火奴魯魯設計、建造和運營一個新的 170 萬加侖/天的海水淡化廠的合同授予。這個項目我們是去年六月做的，現在應客戶的要求，我們已經多次延期了。我們預計不久將發布獲獎公告。這個項目在夏威夷可以與過去 50 年來我們在加勒比地區成功完成的項目類型相媲美。請注意，8 月，公司將慶祝成立 50 週年。

We believe our extensive experience designing, building and operating seawater desalination plants coupled with PERC's deep knowledge and strong relationships in the U.S. design-build market puts us on the short list as a top company for this project and similar projects in the future. Looking at PERC, our California-based company, their performance continues to exceed our expectations. We have successfully integrated and are growing its operations by enabling it to capitalize on our financial strength and leverage our management expertise and other corporate resources.

我們相信，我們在設計、建造和運營海水淡化廠方面的豐富經驗，加上 PERC 在美國設計建造市場的深厚知識和強大關係，將使我們成為該項目和未來類似項目的頂級公司的候選名單。看看我們位於加州的公司 PERC，他們的表現繼續超出我們的預期。我們已經成功整合併通過使其能夠利用我們的財務實力並利用我們的管理專業知識和其他公司資源來發展其業務。

You can see from last year's result, PERC was a big factor in our improved financial performance. In May last year, PERC won the contract to design, construct and commission a 4 million-gallon per day wastewater treatment facility in Arizona for Liberty Utilities. We believe PERC was awarded this project from Liberty because of our unique project delivery model. Under this model, we provide our clients with a full turnkey solution, where they only deal with PERC as opposed to several engineering companies and contractors and this for all aspects of the project, including design, cost, schedule and plant performance.

從去年的結果可以看出，PERC 是我們改善財務業績的一個重要因素。去年 5 月，PERC 贏得了在亞利桑那州為 Liberty Utilities 設計、建造和調試每天 400 萬加侖廢水處理設施的合同。我們相信 PERC 由於我們獨特的項目交付模式而從 Liberty 獲得了這個項目。在這種模式下，我們為客戶提供完整的交鑰匙解決方案，他們只與 PERC 打交道，而不是與多家工程公司和承包商打交道，這涉及項目的所有方面，包括設計、成本、進度和工廠性能。

Our process enables us to design, construct and commission water treatment plants on an accelerated schedule and at a lower overall cost compared to traditional design to build project delivery models. This Arizona project is proceeding as planned and generated $9.5 million in revenue for us in 2022. Looking ahead, we are following one potential seawater desalination project and a couple of wastewater recycling opportunities in Southern California, all of which look very interesting.

與構建項目交付模型的傳統設計相比，我們的流程使我們能夠以更快的進度和更低的總體成本設計、建造和調試水處理廠。這個亞利桑那項目正在按計劃進行，並在 2022 年為我們創造了 950 萬美元的收入。展望未來，我們正在關註一個潛在的海水淡化項目和南加州的幾個廢水回收機會，所有這些看起來都非常有趣。

California much -- very much likes to recycle wastewater and we believe that we are a prime candidate with PERC for such projects given PERC's award-winning designs and long track record of high-quality operations and maintenance. Now looking at our manufacturing business. We were pleased to see continued quarterly and year-over-year growth in our Manufacturing segment. During the quarter, we began to see some relief in the last quarter. We began to see some relief from supply chain constraints and challenging economic conditions. This allowed us to advance more of our large order backlog through the manufacturing process.

加州非常喜歡回收廢水，我們相信，鑑於 PERC 屢獲殊榮的設計和高質量運營和維護的長期記錄，我們是此類項目的主要候選者。現在看看我們的製造業務。我們很高興看到我們的製造部門繼續實現季度和同比增長。在本季度，我們開始看到最後一個季度有所緩解。我們開始看到供應鏈限制和具有挑戰性的經濟狀況有所緩解。這使我們能夠在製造過程中推進更多的大訂單積壓。

We continue to leverage our manufacturing capabilities to enhance our competitiveness across our other business segments. For example, our manufacturing business is providing air piping, stainless steel piping for PERC's water project in Goodyear, Arizona. Similarly, our manufacturing operation provided all of the reverse osmosis equipment for the 2 seawater desalination plants we are currently building on Grand Cayman, so one for ourselves and one for the water authority. And we expect that Aerex will continue to provide piping and similar equipment for all future projects we might obtain.

我們繼續利用我們的製造能力來增強我們在其他業務領域的競爭力。例如，我們的製造業務正在為 PERC 在亞利桑那州固特異的水利項目提供空氣管道、不銹鋼管道。同樣，我們的製造業務為我們目前在大開曼島建造的 2 座海水淡化廠提供了所有反滲透設備，所以一台給我們自己，一台給水務局。我們預計 Aerex 將繼續為我們可能獲得的所有未來項目提供管道和類似設備。

So looking ahead, we expect improved results from our manufacturing business. On the acquisition front, we're presently evaluating 2 potential transactions. If completed, the first one would be complementary to PERC water. The second would involve a partnership for the development and introduction of membrane process technology to an industrial and mining application.

因此，展望未來，我們預計我們的製造業務會取得更好的成績。在收購方面，我們目前正在評估兩筆潛在交易。如果完成，第一個將與 PERC 水互補。第二個將涉及合作開發膜工藝技術並將其引入工業和採礦應用。

Our 2022 results reflected our successful acquisition and integration of PERC Water and how we effectively applied our financial and management expertise to grow exponentially. Also looking ahead, we see many positive factors driving continued growth for Consolidated Water. These include the continued recovery of tourism in Grand Cayman, the ongoing construction projects there in the U.S. as well as increased project bidding activity in the U.S. and the Caribbean. We expect that more than -- at the more than $150 million in major multiyear projects that we secured in 2022 will have a greater positive impact to our earnings in future quarters. And with this supporting our positive outlook for continued growth in our Services segment. We believe all of these activities and trends are strong indicators for continued growth and positive returns ahead.

我們 2022 年的業績反映了我們對 PERC Water 的成功收購和整合，以及我們如何有效地運用我們的財務和管理專業知識實現指數級增長。同樣展望未來，我們看到許多積極因素推動了 Consolidated Water 的持續增長。其中包括大開曼島旅遊業的持續復甦、美國正在進行的建設項目以及美國和加勒比地區項目招標活動的增加。我們預計，我們在 2022 年獲得的超過 1.5 億美元的大型多年期項目將對我們未來幾個季度的收益產生更大的積極影響。這支持了我們對服務部門持續增長的積極展望。我們相信所有這些活動和趨勢都是未來持續增長和正回報的有力指標。

So Joe, I'd like to now open up the call for questions.

喬，我現在想開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question here will come from Gerry Sweeney with ROTH Capital.

（操作員說明）我們在這裡的第一個問題將來自 ROTH Capital 的 Gerry Sweeney。

I wanted to add a few questions on PERC. Maybe at a macro level. Obviously, there's been a long-term drought in California. This year has been somewhat of an anomaly, lots of rain some of those drought conditions have been alleviated. No doubt, probably this is a short term probably positive for California. But curious if you're seeing any projects or project Palk around slippage or pushing back opportunities? Or how do we look at that?

我想補充幾個關於 PERC 的問題。也許在宏觀層面。很明顯，加州長期乾旱。今年有點反常，雨水充沛，部分乾旱狀況有所緩解。毫無疑問，這可能是短期內對加利福尼亞有利的。但好奇您是否看到任何項目或項目在拖延或推後機會？或者我們如何看待它？

The stuff that we're following, we haven't seen any indication that they're delaying it at this point.

我們正在關注的事情，我們目前還沒有看到任何跡象表明他們正在推遲。

Got it. And then secondarily, obviously, a big year last year for PERC, how much capacity or utilization do they have for projects and managing projects this year, next year, they certainly have a lot on their plate, but I just want to understand that a little bit further.

知道了。其次，很明顯，去年對 PERC 來說是重要的一年，他們今年、明年的項目和管理項目有多少產能或利用率，他們當然有很多事情要做，但我只想了解更進一步。

Well, I mean I think that -- we have a great management team there, Jerry, and it's all about finding the right talent and the right people to grow the business. And so far, the team we have out there has been very successful and finding the right people to expand the business. I mean we have several projects on our plate right now that we've had to identify and recruit additional staff engineers, project managers. And so far, it's all been working very well. From the standpoint of financial resources, I mean I can let David speak to that.

好吧，我的意思是我認為——傑瑞，我們在那裡有一支優秀的管理團隊，這一切都是為了找到合適的人才和合適的人來發展業務。到目前為止，我們的團隊非常成功，並且找到了合適的人來擴展業務。我的意思是我們現在有幾個項目在我們的盤子裡，我們必須確定並招聘更多的工程師、項目經理。到目前為止，一切都運作良好。從財務資源的角度來看，我的意思是我可以讓大衛發言。

Yes. It's important to remember, Jerry, that on a lot of these big design build contracts, we're subcontracting out a major portion of the work. What we really need is the management personnel to oversee the construction process, we've been very successful in hiring the right people so far. And Perks gained an external reputation in the industry. I think people are excited about the opportunity to work for us. The only true limiting factor we have at this point in time that I see is that we are a $250 million market cap company and we have limited bonding capacity. So that's the only thing that's sort of restricting us at this point in time. At some point in time, our growth will be slowed until we can gain more capacity, and that capacity comes with the completion of the projects once you finish a project, for example, when we finished the project in Goodyear, Arizona, that will fully have $80 million worth of bonding capacity right there. Plus it's a feather in our cap. We demonstrated to the to the surety that we can complete these projects without issue and so they're willing to raise our cap and take more risk with us. So that's the only thing that slows down at the moment.

是的。重要的是要記住，傑里，在許多這些大型設計建造合同中，我們將大部分工作分包出去。我們真正需要的是監督施工過程的管理人員，到目前為止，我們在聘請合適的人員方面非常成功。而 Perks 在業內獲得了外部聲譽。我認為人們很高興有機會為我們工作。在我看來，目前我們唯一真正的限制因素是我們是一家市值 2.5 億美元的公司，而且我們的綁定能力有限。所以這是目前唯一限制我們的事情。在某個時間點，我們的增長將放緩，直到我們能夠獲得更多產能，而一旦您完成一個項目，該產能就會隨著項目的完成而到來，例如，當我們在亞利桑那州固特異完成該項目時，這將完全那裡有價值 8000 萬美元的粘合能力。另外，這是我們的優勢。我們向擔保人證明我們可以毫無問題地完成這些項目，因此他們願意提高我們的上限並與我們一起承擔更多風險。所以這是目前唯一放慢速度的事情。

Okay. Perfect. And speaking of Liberty, I think $82 million project, $9.5 million was done in 2022. I know scheduled completion in first half of 2024, I believe. But isn't there a -- you had to have a majority of the project completed by the end of this year. Is that correct? And meaning there would be a big chunk of that remaining revenue coming through on the...

好的。完美的。說到 Liberty，我認為 8200 萬美元的項目在 2022 年完成了 950 萬美元。我知道計劃在 2024 年上半年完成，我相信。但不是有一個 - 你必須在今年年底之前完成大部分項目。那是對的嗎？這意味著剩下的收入中有很大一部分來自……

The majority of the $72 million will be recognized next year. When I say next year in 2023, we're into next year.

7200 萬美元中的大部分將在明年得到認可。當我說明年 2023 年時，我們就進入了明年。

Okay. Got you. Okay. In 2023, got it. And is that -- as much as you can say, is that consistently spread over 4 quarters? Or is that a lot of it back and load because...

好的。明白了好的。 2023年，明白了。那是——正如你所說的那樣，它是否一直分佈在 4 個季度內？或者是因為......

It's ever consistent ever consistent. Yes, it's ever consistent because based upon the inputs and some months, we'll have -- we'll put in more expensive equipment than we do the following months of the preceding months. So it will be somewhat sporadic. It won't be consistent.

它始終如一。是的，它一直是一致的，因為根據投入和幾個月，我們將擁有 - 我們將投入比前幾個月的接下來幾個月更昂貴的設備。所以會有些零星。它不會是一致的。

Got it. And then final question. It sounds like it came in to back coming along pretty good. But do you know what percent utilization or volume or towards levels were in the fourth quarter of '22 versus maybe pre-COVID. I'm assuming fourth quarter was a little bit slower and things really ramped up after the new year. I'm not sure if that's exactly right. But because I think the restrictions were lifted in October. So it took a little bit of time to get back to sort of full capacity. Just curious if you have any input on that?

知道了。然後是最後一個問題。聽起來它回來了很好。但是你知道 22 年第四季度與 COVID 之前的利用率或數量或水平的百分比是多少嗎？我假設第四季度有點慢，新年過後情況真的有所好轉。我不確定這是否完全正確。但是因為我認為限制在 10 月份就取消了。因此，需要一點時間才能恢復到滿負荷狀態。只是好奇您是否對此有任何意見？

Yes. I don't have those numbers in front of me, Jerry. I mean I can tell you, when we were there in February for our Board meeting, it was very busy. And I think most of the tourist growth has occurred after December 15 of last year. When you get into the colder months, but I don't have any figures to quote right.

是的。我面前沒有這些數字，傑里。我的意思是我可以告訴你，當我們 2 月份在那裡參加董事會會議時，會議非常繁忙。而且我認為大部分遊客增長都發生在去年 12 月 15 日之後。當你進入寒冷的月份時，但我沒有任何數據可以正確引用。

Yes. That's fine. I was just curious if it was available, it's great, if not, no big deal. Okay. I appreciate it, and congratulations. Great quarter, great backlog and look forward to 2023.

是的。沒關係。我只是好奇它是否可用，這很好，如果沒有，也沒什麼大不了的。好的。我很感激，並祝賀你。偉大的季度，大量積壓並期待 2023 年。

Our next question will come from Matt Suarez with Mays Investments.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Mays Investments 的 Matt Suarez。

Obviously, you have an extremely solid balance sheet, but I have a question about your idle Baja land in Rosarito purchase looks like about 10 years ago. Can you let me know what you paid for that land, what the value of it is today and what your current plans are for that asset?

顯然，您的資產負債表非常穩健，但我有一個問題，關於您在 Rosarito 購買的 Baja 閒置土地看起來大約 10 年前。你能告訴我你為那塊土地付出了什麼，它今天的價值是多少以及你目前對該資產的計劃是什麼？

Well, the land is reflected on our balance sheet, Matt. It's about $21.5 million. That's what we paid for it. We're presently marketing the land, tempting to sell it. I don't want to give you the -- what we have as the appraised value because I think that would infer that, that would be the price that we would sell the land for, but it's significantly higher than the amount that we have recorded on the balance sheet.

嗯，土地反映在我們的資產負債表上，馬特。大約是2150萬美元。這就是我們為此付出的代價。我們目前正在推銷這塊土地，很想賣掉它。我不想給你 - 我們所擁有的評估價值，因為我認為這會推斷出，這將是我們出售土地的價格，但它明顯高於我們記錄的金額在資產負債表上。

We continue to market this land. We'd like to sell it at the right price. We're certainly not going to sell it for the amount, we think, significantly below market value. but the land is indirectly involved in our claim against the Mexican government. If you read our financial statements, you know that we've initiated arbitration in international court gets the government of Mexico for the cancellation of there. contract with us to build a plant on that land in Baja, California. But we feel confident that when we do sell the land, we'll get more than what we have invested.

我們繼續推銷這塊土地。我們想以合適的價格出售它。我們當然不會以我們認為遠低於市場價值的價格出售它。但這塊土地間接涉及我們對墨西哥政府的索賠。如果你讀過我們的財務報表，你就會知道我們已經在國際法院發起仲裁，要求墨西哥政府取消那裡的仲裁。與我們簽訂合同，在加利福尼亞州巴哈的那塊土地上建廠。但我們有信心，當我們出售土地時，我們會獲得比我們投資更多的收益。

Okay. And if the land does get sold, then it just gets netted out of the current claim?

好的。如果土地確實被出售，那麼它就從當前的索賠中扣除了嗎？

That's correct. I mean whatever the court would award us the damages that we take out the value of the land that we received.

這是正確的。我的意思是，無論法院判給我們多少損害賠償，我們都會扣除我們收到的土地的價值。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question will come from John Bair with Ascend Wealth Advisors.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題將來自 John Bair 和 Ascend Wealth Advisors。

Nice quarter and good momentum. A couple of questions. On your M&A front, if those 2 were to go -- do you go forward, do you anticipate a similar type structure that you did with PERC and Aerex where it's not a full 100% acquisition? And would you consider -- would it be a cash deal or cash and stock? Or how do you look at that?

不錯的季度和良好的勢頭。幾個問題。在您的併購方面，如果這兩個要進行——您是否繼續進行，您是否預計會出現與您對 PERC 和 Aerex 所做的類似類型的結構，而不是完全 100% 的收購？你會考慮——是現金交易還是現金加股票？或者你怎麼看？

Well, I mean, it's a little early to say right now, but we look at a transaction that is in the best interest of the shareholders. I mean it depends on the size of it. It depends on the selling parties' willingness to continue in the business and that sort of thing. So I can tell you that the industrial deal is more of a joint venture-type arrangement the other acquisition, it's a little early to say how that's going to work out. But we'll do the best that we can for the shareholders, which includes making sure that there's a transition period for the business.

好吧，我的意思是，現在說還為時過早，但我們會考慮一項符合股東最佳利益的交易。我的意思是這取決於它的大小。這取決於銷售方是否願意繼續開展業務以及諸如此類的事情。所以我可以告訴你，工業交易更像是另一筆收購的合資企業類型的安排，現在說這將如何運作還為時過早。但我們會為股東竭盡所能，包括確保業務有一個過渡期。

John, when we bought the other 39% of PERC, we sold stock as part of the acquisition cost at the request to the on Nordic shareholders. Given the amount of cash we have on our balance sheet, I would presume that most of the acquisition costs or anything we did going forward unless it's a very large acquisition would be just paid in cash and not through the issuance of our stock.

約翰，當我們購買 PERC 的其他 39% 時，我們應北歐股東的要求出售了股票作為收購成本的一部分。鑑於我們資產負債表上的現金數量，我認為除非是非常大的收購，否則大部分收購成本或我們所做的任何事情都將以現金支付，而不是通過發行我們的股票。

That's good. Good. I wanted to also ask you in your press release and Rick touched on this in his prepared remarks about the supply chain constraints easing up a little bit. And so the question is I'm assuming this means that you were able to get the components that you needed to satisfy the orders that you had sooner than previously expected. Is that the way to look at it?

那挺好的。好的。我還想在你的新聞稿中問你，里克在他準備好的關於供應鏈限制稍微放鬆的評論中談到了這一點。所以問題是我假設這意味著您能夠比之前預期的更快地獲得滿足訂單所需的組件。這是看待它的方式嗎？

No, I think it's better to look at it as things were really quite terrible before John. And the supply chain has improved. It's not back to where it was before we had all this economic chaos that was touched off initially by COVID, but then is carried on due to other factors. Our supply chain still isn't human like it was 4 years ago. But it's improved to the point where now we can start getting materials and pushing production to the plant. But still, we've seen an increase in costs and a delay in delivery times. It still takes a long time to get some of this stuff. It's just gotten better. It would be the best description for it.

不，我認為最好看看它，因為在 John 之前事情真的很糟糕。供應鏈也有所改善。它並沒有回到我們擁有最初由 COVID 引發的所有這些經濟混亂之前的狀態，但隨後由於其他因素而繼續存在。我們的供應鏈仍然不像 4 年前那樣人性化。但它已經改進到現在我們可以開始獲取材料並將生產推向工廠的程度。但是，我們仍然看到成本增加和交貨時間延遲。得到一些這些東西仍然需要很長時間。它剛剛變得更好。這將是對它最好的描述。

So if your input costs have gone up, are you able to pass that along to previous orders that add that on to improve your margins and so forth?

因此，如果您的投入成本上升，您能否將其傳遞給之前的訂單以增加利潤等？

Some of the contracts we have, in particular, the Water Authority contract for the desal plant allowed for inflationary adjustments to the purchase cost of the plant, other orders that we may have through Aerex through manufacturing do not. So it's all about locking in the pricing with the suppliers as close for the PERC projects for that matter. I mean, locking in subcontractor and supplier costs as early as possible after you sign the contract. So -- and then any new orders we're getting through manufacturing, I mean those are all being priced at the new cost. So I don't think we've seen any range is sort of losses on any of these orders.

我們的一些合同，特別是海水淡化廠的水務局合同允許對工廠的採購成本進行通貨膨脹調整，而我們可能通過製造通過 Aerex 獲得的其他訂單則不允許。因此，這一切都是為了與供應商鎖定價格，盡可能接近 PERC 項目的價格。我的意思是，在簽訂合同後儘早鎖定分包商和供應商的成本。所以 - 然後我們通過製造獲得的任何新訂單，我的意思是這些都是以新成本定價的。所以我認為我們沒有看到任何範圍是這些訂單中的任何一個的損失。

No, there's not been a substantial amount of inflationary pressure on our margins yet, John.

不，約翰，我們的利潤率還沒有太大的通脹壓力。

Okay. That's good. Hopefully -- hopefully, the margins will continue to improve.

好的。那挺好的。希望 - 希望利潤率將繼續提高。

All right. At this time, this concludes our question-and-answer session. I'd now like to turn the call back over to Mr. McTaggart. Sir, please go ahead.

好的。至此，我們的問答環節到此結束。我現在想把電話轉回給 McTaggart 先生。先生，請繼續。

All right. Thank you, Joe. I just want to thank everybody for joining us today. Good questions, and we certainly look forward to hearing from you again in May when we release our first quarter results. So have a great day.

好的。謝謝你，喬。我只想感謝大家今天加入我們。好問題，我們當然期待在 5 月份發布第一季度業績時再次收到您的來信。祝你有美好的一天。

Ladies and gentlemen, before we conclude today's call, I would like to provide the company's safe harbor statement that includes cautions regarding forward-looking statements made during today's call. The information that we have provided in this conference call includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the company's future revenues, future plans, objectives, expectations and events, assumptions and estimates.

女士們，先生們，在我們結束今天的電話會議之前，我想提供公司的安全港聲明，其中包括對今天電話會議中所做的前瞻性陳述的警告。我們在本次電話會議中提供的信息包括 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述，包括但不限於有關公司未來收入、未來計劃、目標、預期和事件的陳述、假設和估計。

Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words or phrases usually containing the words believe, estimate, project, intend, expect, should, will or similar expressions. Statements that are not historical facts are based on the company's current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates, forecasts and projections for its business in the industry and markets related to its business. Any forward-looking statements made during this conference call are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which are difficult to predict.

前瞻性陳述可以通過使用通常包含“相信”、“估計”、“項目”、“打算”、“預期”、“應該”、“將”或類似表達的詞語或短語來識別。非歷史事實的陳述是基於公司當前對其在行業和與其業務相關的市場中的業務的預期、信念、假設、估計、預測和預測。在本次電話會議中做出的任何前瞻性陳述都不是對未來業績的保證，並且涉及某些難以預測的風險、不確定性和假設。

Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed in such forward-looking statements. Factors that would cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to tourism and weather conditions in the areas we serve. The impact of COVID-19 pandemic, particularly on our retail and manufacturing segments, the economic, political and social conditions of each country in which we conduct or plan to conduct business, our relationships with the government entities and other customers we serve, regulatory matters, including resolution of the negotiations for the renewal of our retail license on Grand Cayman, our ability to successfully enter new markets, and various other risks as detailed in the company's periodic report filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

實際結果和結果可能與此類前瞻性陳述中表達的內容存在重大差異。可能導致或促成此類差異的因素包括但不限於我們服務地區的旅遊和天氣狀況。 COVID-19 大流行的影響，特別是對我們的零售和製造部門的影響，我們開展或計劃開展業務的每個國家/地區的經濟、政治和社會狀況，我們與政府實體和我們服務的其他客戶的關係，監管事項，包括解決我們在大開曼島的零售許可證更新談判、我們成功進入新市場的能力，以及公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的定期報告中詳述的各種其他風險。

For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with the company's business, please refer to the management's discussion and analysis of financial discussions or Results of Operations and Risk Factors section of the company's SEC filings, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports for Form 10-Q. Any forward-looking statements made during the conference call speaks as of today's date. The company expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements made during the conference call to reflect any changes in its expectations with regard thereto or any changes in its events, conditions or circumstances of which any forward-looking statement is based, except as required by law.

有關與公司業務相關的風險和不確定性的更多信息，請參閱管理層對財務討論的討論和分析或公司提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中的經營業績和風險因素部分，包括但不限於其年報表格10-K 表格和 10-Q 表格的季度報告。電話會議期間作出的任何前瞻性陳述均以今天為準。公司明確表示不承擔更新或修改電話會議期間作出的任何前瞻性陳述的任何義務或承諾，以反映其對此預期的任何變化或任何前瞻性陳述所涉及的事件、條件或情況的任何變化。基於，除非法律要求。

Before we end today's conference call, I would now like to remind everyone that this call will be available for replay starting later this evening. Please refer to yesterday's earnings release for dial-in replay instructions available via the company's website at www.cwco.com. Thank you for attending today's presentation. This concludes the conference call. You may now disconnect your lines.

在我們結束今天的電話會議之前，我現在想提醒大家，從今晚晚些時候開始可以重播此電話會議。請參閱昨天的收益發布，了解可通過公司網站 www.cwco.com 獲得的撥入重播說明。感謝您參加今天的演講。電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開線路。