Cemex SAB de CV (CX) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the CEMEX Fourth Quarter 2023 Conference Call and Webcast. My name is Brika, and I will be your operator for today. (Operator Instructions)

早安，歡迎參加 CEMEX 2023 年第四季電話會議和網路廣播。我叫 Brika，今天我將擔任您的接線生。 （操作員說明）

And now I will turn the conference over to Lucy Rodriguez, Chief Communications Officer. Please proceed.

現在我將把會議交給首席通訊官露西·羅德里格斯 (Lucy Rodriguez)。請繼續。

Good morning. Thank you for joining us today for our Fourth Quarter 2023 Conference Call and Webcast. We hope this call finds you in good health. And even though it's already February, let us take this opportunity to give you our best wishes for 2024. While we are here to talk about 2023, we hit the ground running in January and are optimistic about the opportunities that 2024 presents. I am joined today by Fernando Gonzalez, our CEO; and Maher Al-Haffar, our CFO. As always, we will spend a few minutes reviewing the business, and then we'll be happy to take your questions.

早安.感謝您今天參加我們的 2023 年第四季電話會議和網路廣播。我們希望您在這次通話中身體健康。儘管現在已經是2 月，但讓我們藉此機會向您致以2024 年最美好的祝愿。雖然我們在這裡談論2023 年，但我們在1 月份就開始了工作，並對2024 年帶來的機遇感到樂觀。今天我們的執行長費爾南多·岡薩雷斯 (Fernando Gonzalez) 也加入了我的行列。以及我們的財務長 Maher Al-Haffar。像往常一樣，我們將花幾分鐘時間審查業務，然後我們將很樂意回答您的問題。

And now I will hand it over to Fernando.

現在我將把它交給費爾南多。

Thanks, Lucy, and good day to everyone. Thank you for joining our call today, and I would like to extend my best wishes for a healthy and successful 2024. I am pleased to present to you today the results of what was an exceptional year where we delivered not only record results but achieved our goal of recovering from the extraordinary inflationary pressures over the last few years. This performance is a testament to the focus and commitment of our employees around the world.

謝謝露西，祝大家有美好的一天。感謝您今天加入我們的電話會議，我謹向您致以最良好的祝愿，祝您2024 年健康、成功。我很高興今天向您介紹這一非凡的一年的成果，我們不僅取得了創紀錄的成果，而且實現了我們的目標從過去幾年的異常通膨壓力中恢復過來的目標。這一業績證明了我們世界各地員工的專注和承諾。

2023 results were achieved despite a challenging demand backdrop in most markets. Full year EBITDA grew 20%, reaching a record $3.35 billion. Growth investments contributed to 13% of incremental EBITDA, while Urbanization Solutions grew on the double-digit area. With margin expansion of 2 percentage points, driven by strong pricing and decelerating cost inflation, we reached our goal of recovering 2021 margins. Free cash flow after maintenance CapEx of $1.2 billion was a highlight, growing $655 million on the back of higher EBITDA and a turnaround in working capital investment. Our leverage ratio declined by 0.8x of a turn to 2.06x, already within investment-grade credit parameters.

儘管大多數市場的需求背景充滿挑戰，但 2023 年仍取得了成果。全年 EBITDA 成長 20%，達到創紀錄的 33.5 億美元。成長型投資貢獻了 EBITDA 增量的 13%，而城市化解決方案則實現了兩位數成長。在強勁的定價和減速的成本通膨的推動下，利潤率擴大了 2 個百分點，我們實現了恢復 2021 年利潤率的目標。維護後資本支出 12 億美元的自由現金流是一大亮點，在 EBITDA 提高和營運資本投資好轉的推動下，自由現金流增加了 6.55 億美元。我們的槓桿率下降了 0.8 倍，降至 2.06 倍，已經在投資等級信用參數範圍內。

And finally, our return on capital for the full year expanded by 1.5 percentage points to close to 14%, excluding goodwill. Importantly, our 2023 results add to several years of resiliency in EBITDA leverage and strength in free cash flow generation. This new foundation allow us more flexibility going forward for deleveraging, accelerating our existing bolt-on growth strategy as well as allowing us to propose the initiation of a sustainable shareholder return program.

最後，我們全年的資本報酬率成長了 1.5 個百分點，接近 14%（不包括商譽）。重要的是，我們 2023 年的業績增強了 EBITDA 槓桿多年來的彈性和自由現金流產生的實力。這個新的基礎使我們能夠更靈活地去槓桿化，加速我們現有的補充成長策略，並允許我們提議啟動可持續的股東回報計畫。

On the customer centricity front, we closed the year with an important improvement in our already high Net Promoter Score, a new record and a benchmark for the industry. In Climate Action, 2023 represents another year of important progress against our decarbonization road map with the achievement of another 4% reduction in CO2 emissions. Finally, CEMEX was once again recognized by CDP on its prestigious A List for transparency on climate change disclosure.

在以客戶為中心的方面，我們在本已很高的淨推薦值方面取得了重大進步，創造了新的記錄並成為行業的基準，從而結束了這一年。在氣候行動中，2023 年是我們的脫碳路線圖又取得重要進展的一年，二氧化碳排放量又減少了 4%。最後，CEMEX 再次被 CDP 列入其著名的氣候變遷揭露透明度 A 名單中。

Full year net sales increased 8%, while EBITDA grew 20%, reflecting not only the strong pricing momentum of our products and decelerating input cost inflation but also the success of our growth investment strategy. EBITDA margin expanded by 2 percentage points, driven by the U.S. and Europe. Free cash flow after maintenance CapEx increased $655 million, reflecting EBITDA growth and a strong working capital turnaround. The working capital improvement resulted from a management initiative launched in second quarter 2023 to realign our inventories and accounts payable to prepandemic levels as inflation and supply chains normalize. This initiative pay off in the second half, and we expect additional reductions in 2024.

全年淨銷售額成長 8%，而 EBITDA 成長 20%，這不僅反映出我們產品強勁的定價動能和投入成本通膨放緩，也反映出我們成長投資策略的成功。在美國和歐洲的推動下，EBITDA 利潤率擴大了 2 個百分點。維護資本支出後的自由現金流增加了 6.55 億美元，反映出 EBITDA 成長和強勁的營運資本週轉。營運資本的改善源於 2023 年第二季啟動的一項管理舉措，隨著通貨膨脹和供應鏈正常化，將我們的庫存和應付帳款調整到疫情前的水平。這項措施將在下半年取得成效，我們預計 2024 年將進一步削減。

Volumes were lower in a number of our markets in 2023. But despite this, capacity utilization in our key markets remains high. Mexico reported positive volumes with strong formal sector demand related to infrastructure and onshoring activity. Volume decline in the U.S. largely reflects bad weather, lower residential and commercial demand, completion of some large industrial projects as well as some market share loss due to our pricing strategy. The decline in EMEA volumes largely results from a slowdown in economic activity in Europe. Lucy will speak in more detail on regional dynamics.

2023 年，我們許多市場的銷售量較低。但儘管如此，我們主要市場的產能利用率仍然很高。墨西哥報告稱，由於與基礎設施和在岸活動相關的正規部門需求強勁，銷售量呈正成長。美國的銷售下降主要反映了惡劣的天氣、住宅和商業需求的下降、一些大型工業項目的完成以及我們的定價策略導致的一些市場份額的損失。歐洲、中東和非洲地區銷售下降主要是由於歐洲經濟活動放緩。露西將更詳細地談論區域動態。

Despite the backdrop of lower volumes in several regions, our pricing maintained strong momentum across our footprint. Consolidated prices across all products rose between 11% and 16% in 2023 and were stable sequentially. The pricing achievements of the last 2 years result from the extraordinary cost inflation our industry has faced and management's focus on reflecting this inflation in pricing. 2023 EBITDA growth was driven by the contribution of pricing over costs, growth investments as well as our rapidly expanding Urbanization Solutions business.

儘管多個地區的銷售量較低，但我們的定價在整個業務範圍內保持強勁勢頭。 2023 年，所有產品的綜合價格上漲 11% 至 16%，且較上季穩定。過去兩年的定價成就源於我們行業面臨的非同尋常的成本通膨，以及管理層專注於在定價中反映這種通膨。 2023 年 EBITDA 的成長是由成本定價、成長投資以及我們快速擴張的城市化解決方案業務的貢獻所推動的。

As our growth strategy continues to scale, growth investments now account for 10% of total EBITDA and 13% of incremental EBITDA. The margin recovery over the last year reflects the success of our pricing strategy as well as easing cost inflation and operational efficiencies. We saw a significant deceleration in cost in 2023 with COGS as a percent of sales dropping 2.7%, largely due to energy. After adjusting for volume and product mix effect, the resulting 2023 margin achieved our goal of recovering 2021 levels. Importantly, our pricing strategy has always been based on cost inflation for the business. With the recent cost deceleration, you should expect that our commercial strategy will incorporate this new level of inflation with a goal of gradually improving margin.

隨著我們的成長策略不斷擴大，成長投資目前佔 EBITDA 總額的 10%，佔 EBITDA 增量的 13%。去年的利潤率回升反映了我們定價策略的成功以及成本通膨的緩解和營運效率的提高。我們看到 2023 年成本顯著下降，銷貨成本佔銷售額的百分比下降了 2.7%，這主要是由於能源。在調整銷售量和產品組合效應後，2023 年的利潤率實現了恢復 2021 年水準的目標。重要的是，我們的定價策略始終基於業務成本通膨。隨著最近成本下降，您應該預期我們的商業策略將納入這一新的通膨水平，以逐步提高利潤率為目標。

2023 was another year of remarkable progress in decarbonization with a 4% decline in Scope 1 emissions, driven by another record low clinker factor and alternative fuel usage. Since the launch of our Future in Action program in 2020, we have accelerated the pace of our decarbonization, reducing Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 13% and 10%, respectively, a pace that previously would have taken us 15 years to achieve.

2023 年是脫碳方面又取得顯著進展的一年，在熟料係數再創新低和替代燃料使用的推動下，範圍 1 排放量下降了 4%。自 2020 年啟動「未來在行動」計畫以來，我們加快了脫碳步伐，將範圍 1 和範圍 2 的碳排放量分別減少了 13% 和 10%，這一速度以前需要 15 年才能實現。

However, while we lower our carbon footprint in our processes, we remain focused on creating demand for sustainable products and solutions, another pillar of Future in Action. In September, we became the first company in the industry to provide third-party validated environmental impact information globally. This transparency is an essential step in working alongside our clients as a sustainable construction partner to decarbonize the build environment.

然而，雖然我們降低了流程中的碳足跡，但我們仍然專注於創造對永續產品和解決方案的需求，這是「未來在行動」的另一個支柱。九月，我們成為業界第一家在全球提供經過第三方驗證的環境影響資訊的公司。這種透明度是作為永續建築合作夥伴與客戶合作實現建築環境脫碳的重要一步。

And these efforts are paying off. We have already achieved 2 years ahead of time our 2025 goal of 50% of our cement sales being Vertua products.

這些努力正在得到回報。我們已經提前 2 年實現了 2025 年水泥銷售額 50% 來自 Vertua 產品的目標。

Finally, I'm very pleased that CEMEX was once again recognized by CDP on its A List for climate change disclosure. This A rating represents an elite group of less than 350 companies recognized in 2023.

最後，我很高興 CEMEX 再次獲得 CDP 的氣候變遷揭露 A 名單的認可。該 A 評級代表了 2023 年認可的不到 350 家公司的精英群體。

Our Urbanization Solutions business has grown at a rapid pace since 2019, growing at a CAGR of 24%. The business now represents 9% of consolidated EBITDA and in 2023, contributed to 7% of incremental EBITDA. EBITDA margin has also been expanding, growing more than 3 percentage points since 2019. A key driver of growth is the circularity vertical housing our Regenera business focused on the repurposing of waste.

自 2019 年以來，我們的都市化解決方案業務快速成長，複合年增長率為 24%。該業務目前佔合併 EBITDA 的 9%，到 2023 年，將佔增量 EBITDA 的 7%。 EBITDA 利潤率也在擴大，自 2019 年以來成長了 3 個百分點以上。成長的一個關鍵驅動力是我們專注於廢棄物再利用的 Regenera 業務的循環垂直住房。

Urbanization Solutions is closely aligned to the mega trends rolling out in the global construction industry, including decarbonization, resiliency, circularity and urbanization. And it is an essential lever in our efforts to work with our clients in lowering the carbon footprint of the construction sector. We are excited about the growth prospects that Urbanization Solutions offers.

城市化解決方案與全球建築業的大趨勢密切相關，包括脫碳、彈性、循環性和城市化。這是我們與客戶合作降低建築業碳足跡的重要槓桿。我們對城市化解決方案提供的成長前景感到興奮。

In 2020, we introduced our growth strategy focused on small bolt-on and margin enhancement investments across our 4 core businesses and in markets in which we operate, largely developed markets. While small and generally less risky investments, these projects are extremely profitable with IRRs greater than 25%. We've been scaling this strategy, and today, we have a total approved project pipeline of $2.9 billion. The first investments from this strategy have been coming online, and associated EBITDA contribution is accelerating. 295 completed projects representing an investment of $1.3 billion generated $325 million of EBITDA and $86 million of incremental EBITDA in 2023. We continue to identify attractive investments in this space.

2020 年，我們推出了成長策略，重點是在我們的 4 項核心業務以及我們經營的市場（主要是已開發市場）中進行小型補充和利潤提升投資。雖然投資規模較小且通常風險較低，但這些項目利潤極高，IRR 超過 25%。我們一直在擴大這項策略，如今，我們已批准的項目總額達 29 億美元。該策略的第一筆投資已經上線，相關的 EBITDA 貢獻正在加速。 295 個已完成項目，投資額為 13 億美元，到 2023 年將產生 3.25 億美元的 EBITDA，並產生 8,600 萬美元的增量 EBITDA。我們將繼續在這一領域尋找有吸引力的投資。

Despite the significant macro challenges over the last 4 years, we have proven not only the resiliency of our business model but also our ability to pivot and adjust rapidly to changing global conditions. Our efforts and performance culminating in the strong 2023 results allow us to contemplate a new steady-state level of profitability and free cash flow generation. This foundation should give us additional flexibility in capital allocation, where we continue to focus on deleveraging and investment in our bolt-on growth strategy while allowing us to include a sustainable return to shareholders.

儘管過去四年面臨重大的宏觀挑戰，但我們不僅證明了我們業務模式的彈性，而且證明了我們快速調整和適應不斷變化的全球環境的能力。我們的努力和業績最終帶來了 2023 年的強勁業績，使我們能夠考慮新的穩態獲利水準和自由現金流產生。這項基礎應該為我們在資本配置方面提供額外的靈活性，我們將繼續專注於去槓桿化和投資於我們的補充成長策略，同時使我們能夠為股東提供可持續的回報。

In our proxy for our Annual Shareholders' Meeting in March, the Board intends to propose the initiation of a sustainable dividend program while continuing our existing share buyback program. The proposal will provide for a 2024 dividend of $120 million, payable quarterly commencing in second quarter. The proposal to initiate a progressive dividend program demonstrates the Board's confidence in the company's operating performance, free cash flow generation and balance sheet strength as well as underscores its commitment to create value for shareholders. The full agenda for our Annual Shareholders' Meeting will be published tomorrow. We look forward to a more robust discussion around capital allocation and shareholder return at our CEMEX Day on March 20.

在我們三月年度股東大會的委託書中，董事會打算提議啟動可持續股息計劃，同時繼續我們現有的股票回購計劃。該提案將規定 2024 年股息為 1.2 億美元，從第二季開始按季度支付。啟動漸進式股利計畫的提議表明了董事會對公司經營業績、自由現金流產生和資產負債表實力的信心，並強調了其為股東創造價值的承諾。我們年度股東大會的完整議程將於明天發布。我們期待在 3 月 20 日的 CEMEX Day 上就資本配置和股東回報進行更激烈的討論。

And now back to you, Lucy.

現在回到你身上，露西。

Thank you, Fernando. Our Mexican operations delivered strong results during 2023 with both sales and EBITDA growing in the mid-teen percentage area supported by strong volumes and price increases. The recovery in cement volumes was driven by the formal sector with bulk cement more than offsetting the decline in bagged, while ready-mix and aggregate volumes grew high single digits.

謝謝你，費爾南多。我們的墨西哥業務在 2023 年取得了強勁的業績，在強勁的銷售和價格上漲的支持下，銷售額和 EBITDA 都在中位數百分比範圍內增長。水泥銷量的復甦是由正規部門推動的，散裝水泥的銷量足以抵消袋裝水泥的下降，而預拌水泥和骨料銷量則出現高個位數增長。

Importantly, we have seen a pickup in bagged cement demand in the back half of the year, which we believe bodes well for 2024. Formal demand was supported by infrastructure and nearshoring with particular strength in the North and Southeast. While our prices rose double digits, the tight supply-demand conditions in the North and South put pressure on our supply chain.

重要的是，我們看到今年下半年袋裝水泥需求有所回升，我們認為這對 2024 年來說是個好兆頭。正式需求受到基礎設施和近岸外包的支持，尤其是北部和東南部地區。雖然我們的價格上漲了兩位數，但南北緊張的供需狀況給我們的供應鏈帶來了壓力。

As a result, EBITDA margin decreased slightly, mainly impacted by an unfavorable product mix and higher transportation costs. For 2024, we expect the strong momentum in formal demand to continue, while informal demand recovers gradually, supported by decelerating inflation, lower interest rates and government social programs ahead of the election. We are guiding to low single-digit volume increases across all products. We implemented price increases during January that reflect the ongoing input cost inflation, particularly in labor, transportation and electricity.

因此，EBITDA 利潤率略有下降，主要受到不利的產品結構和較高的運輸成本的影響。 2024年，我們預計正式需求將繼續保持強勁勢頭，而在通膨放緩、利率降低和大選前政府社會計畫的支持下，非正式需求將逐步恢復。我們正在指導所有產品的銷售量實現低個位數成長。我們在一月份實施了價格上漲，反映了持續的投入成本上漲，特別是在勞動力、運輸和電力方面。

The U.S. posted record full year EBITDA of over $1 billion in 2023, an important milestone for the business. Despite low volumes in cement and ready-mix, EBITDA grew 37% as a result of our pricing strategy, growth investments and decelerating costs. The material margin recovery of 4.4 percentage points reflects our success in recovering multiyear cost inflation through pricing. Cement, ready-mix and aggregate pricing rose 14%, 19% and 12%, respectively. The volume decline in cement and ready-mix relates to weather, winding down the few large industrial projects, a lower level of commercial construction activity as well as some loss of market share resulting from our pricing strategy. We expect to gradually recover the volume lost to market share over time.

美國公司 2023 年全年 EBITDA 創歷史新高，超過 10 億美元，這是該業務的一個重要里程碑。儘管水泥和預拌混凝土產量較低，但由於我們的定價策略、成長投資和成本下降，EBITDA 成長了 37%。材料利潤率恢復 4.4 個百分點，反映了我們透過定價成功恢復多年成本通膨。水泥、預拌混凝土和總價分別上漲 14%、19% 和 12%。水泥和預拌混凝土銷售的下降與天氣、少數大型工業項目的縮減、商業建築活動水平較低以及我們的定價策略導致的部分市場份額損失有關。我們預計隨著時間的推移，市場佔有率損失的銷售量將逐漸恢復。

Aggregate volumes grew 1%, benefiting from our recent acquisitions in Florida and Canada. In response to the slowdown in demand, we were once again able to reduce lower-margin cement imports to support profitability. Strong EBITDA margin growth continued in the fourth quarter with a 2.3 percentage point increase. Margin growth has slowed some in the first 3 quarters of the year as the prior year comps begin to reflect the margin recovery that began in late 2022. Last year, we announced price increases to be implemented during the first 4 months of this year.

由於我們最近在佛羅裡達州和加拿大的收購，總銷量成長了 1%。為了因應需求放緩，我們再次減少了利潤較低的水泥進口，以支持獲利能力。第四季 EBITDA 利潤率持續強勁成長，成長了 2.3 個百分點。由於去年比較開始反映 2022 年底開始的利潤率復甦，今年前 3 季的利潤率成長有所放緩。去年，我們宣布將在今年前 4 個月實施價格上漲。

For 2024, we expect low single-digit increases in volumes across all products. We remain optimistic on growth in the industrial and infrastructure sectors, underpinned by nearshoring trends along with funding available under the CHIPS Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. With declining interest rates and low housing inventory, we also expect improved performance in the residential sector.

到 2024 年，我們預計所有產品的銷售量將出現低個位數成長。我們對工業和基礎設施領域的成長保持樂觀態度，這得益於近岸趨勢以及《CHIPS 法案》、《通貨膨脹減少法案》和《基礎設施投資和就業法案》提供的資金。隨著利率下降和房屋庫存減少，我們也預期住宅領域的業績將會改善。

In EMEA, the EBITDA growth and margin expansion we experienced in the first 9 months of the year was interrupted in the fourth quarter with the slowdown in construction activity in the region as well as major maintenance in the Philippines. Despite the slowdown, full year EBITDA rose 7%, while EBITDA margin expanded by 0.3 percentage points. Despite a challenging demand backdrop, Europe's performance in 2023 was impressive. The region posted record EBITDA growing more than 20% as well as EBITDA margin expansion of 2 percentage points.

在歐洲、中東和非洲地區，今年前 9 個月的 EBITDA 成長和利潤率擴張在第四季度因該地區建築活動放緩以及菲律賓的重大維護工作而中斷。儘管經濟放緩，全年 EBITDA 仍成長 7%，而 EBITDA 利潤率則擴大 0.3 個百分點。儘管需求背景充滿挑戰，歐洲 2023 年的表現仍令人印象深刻。該地區 EBITDA 成長超過 20%，創歷史新高，EBITDA 利潤率擴大 2 個百分點。

These achievements are attributable to the success of our One Europe strategy implemented in 2019, which consolidated and integrated our footprint in the region, accelerated our Climate Action efforts while rationalizing costs and pursuing bolt-on growth investments in integrated urban micro markets.

這些成就歸功於我們在2019 年實施的「一個歐洲」策略的成功，該策略鞏固和整合了我們在該地區的足跡，加快了我們的氣候行動努力，同時合理化成本並在綜合城市微觀市場中尋求補充性成長投資。

Europe continues to post new records in Climate Action, reducing CO2 emissions by 16% since 2020 and is well on its way to match the EU's 55% 2030 carbon emissions reduction target. With unprecedented levels of input cost inflation over the last 2 years, cement prices in Europe rose significantly during the year and were stable sequentially in the fourth quarter. Although we remain optimistic over Europe's medium-term prospects as the region pivots decisively towards a more circular economy, we recognize that construction in certain countries in the region are facing challenges in 2024. Germany has slowed significantly in the past year, while construction in Paris will be halted in advance of the Olympics. We expect demand in these markets to pick up as we enter 2025.

歐洲在氣候行動方面繼續創下新紀錄，自 2020 年以來二氧化碳排放量減少了 16%，並且正在努力實現歐盟 2030 年 55% 碳減量目標。由於過去兩年投入成本通膨達到前所未有的水平，歐洲水泥價格年內大幅上漲，第四季較上季穩定。儘管我們對歐洲的中期前景保持樂觀，因為該地區果斷轉向更加循環的經濟，但我們認識到該地區某些國家的建設在2024 年面臨挑戰。德國的建設在過去一年顯著放緩，而巴黎的建設將在奧運前暫停。我們預計，進入 2025 年，這些市場的需求將會回升。

For Europe in 2024, we expect flat to low single-digit decline in volumes, reflecting a slight recovery in construction activity, albeit at a slow pace. Our EMEA region was negatively impacted throughout the year by adverse competitive dynamics in the Philippines as well as an overall slowdown of construction activity. For 2024, in EMEA, we expect flat to low single-digit increase in cement volumes and mid-single-digit declines for ready-mix and aggregates.

對於 2024 年的歐洲，我們預計成交量將出現持平或低個位數下降，反映出建築活動略有復甦，儘管速度緩慢。我們的歐洲、中東和非洲地區全年受到菲律賓不利競爭動態以及建築活動整體放緩的負面影響。到 2024 年，我們預計歐洲、中東和非洲地區的水泥產量將出現平穩或低個位數成長，預拌混凝土和骨材產量將出現中個位數下降。

In South Central America and the Caribbean, after a challenging 2022, where our pricing is struggling to keep up with cost inflation, sales and EBITDA rebounded in 2023. Pricing drove top line growth with our cement prices increasing 9%, but still not sufficient to fully cover input cost inflation.

在中南美洲和加勒比地區，經過充滿挑戰的2022 年（我們的定價難以跟上成本通膨），銷售額和EBITDA 於2023 年出現反彈。定價推動了收入成長，我們的水泥價格上漲了9%，但仍不足以完全覆蓋投入成本通膨。

In fourth quarter, net sales and EBITDA grew high single and double digits, respectively. While bagged cement demand remains under pressure, bulk volumes continue to grow, supported by infrastructure projects such as Bogota Metro, the fourth bridge over the canal in Panama and tourism-related projects in the Dominican Republic. Quarterly margin improved 0.7 percentage points year-over-year with a slight decrease in sequential margins, largely explained by lower volumes, partially offset by lower energy and maintenance costs. For 2024, we expect flat volumes across all products as formal construction continues to scale on the back of infrastructure projects and offset continued pressure on bagged cement volumes.

第四季度，淨銷售額和 EBITDA 分別實現高個位數和兩位數成長。儘管袋裝水泥需求仍面臨壓力，但在波哥大地鐵、巴拿馬運河第四座橋樑和多明尼加共和國旅遊相關項目等基礎建設項目的支持下，散裝水泥量仍持續成長。季度利潤率同比提高 0.7 個百分點，環比利潤率略有下降，這主要是由於銷量下降，部分被能源和維護成本下降所抵消。到 2024 年，我們預計所有產品的銷售將持平，因為在基礎設施項目的支持下，正式建設繼續擴大，並抵消了袋裝水泥銷售的持續壓力。

And now I will pass the call to Maher to review our financial developments.

現在我將把電話轉給馬赫，以審查我們的財務發展。

Thank you, Lucy, and good day to everyone. 2023 was an outstanding year, reaching a record EBITDA and achieving margins substantially in line with 2021. EBITDA for the year grew 25% on a reported basis, 2x the rate of growth in sales. This performance was achieved through the successful execution of our robust pricing strategy across our businesses and markets. In addition, we had a very healthy contribution from our growth investment strategy and Urbanization Solutions, which in total now represent close to 20% of our annual EBITDA, with the latter growing almost 30% in 2023.

謝謝你，露西，祝大家美好的一天。 2023 年是出色的一年，EBITDA 創歷史新高，利潤率與 2021 年基本持平。據報告，該年的 EBITDA 增長了 25%，是銷售額增長率的 2 倍。這一業績是透過我們在業務和市場中成功執行穩健的定價策略而實現的。此外，我們的成長投資策略和城市化解決方案也為我們做出了非常健康的貢獻，目前它們總共占我們年度 EBITDA 的近 20%，後者到 2023 年將成長近 30%。

Our results also benefited from a deceleration of input cost inflation coupled with cost efficiency measures across our businesses, such as our Working Smarter initiative and our Climate Action road map, among others. These efforts more than compensated for volume headwinds in some markets. Energy cost per tonne of cement grew 9% in 2023, slightly below our guidance and at a significantly slower pace than the prior year. The containment of energy cost was due to a combination of deceleration in market prices as well as proactive efforts to align our portfolio towards lower-cost alternative fuels.

我們的業績也得益於投入成本通膨的放緩以及我們各業務的成本效率措施，例如我們的「智慧工作」計畫和氣候行動路線圖等。這些努力足以彌補一些市場的銷售逆風。 2023 年，每噸水泥的能源成本成長 9%，略低於我們的指導，且成長明顯慢於前一年。能源成本的控制是由於市場價格減速以及積極努力使我們的產品組合轉向成本較低的替代燃料。

In 2023, we continued to increase alternative fuel usage, growing almost 2 percentage points and reaching 37% of total fuels. As we mentioned before, alternative fuels are significantly less expensive than nonrenewables, have different supply-demand dynamics and are critical in our decarbonization road map. We are particularly focused on alternative fuels with biomass, which currently account for approximately 1/3 of our alternative fuel mix.

2023 年，我們持續增加替代燃料的使用，成長了近 2 個百分點，達到燃料總量的 37%。正如我們之前提到的，替代燃料比不可再生能源便宜得多，具有不同的供需動態，並且在我們的脫碳路線圖中至關重要。我們特別關註生物質替代燃料，目前生物質替代燃料約占我們替代燃料結構的 1/3。

In 2023, we more than doubled our free cash flow after maintenance CapEx to $1.2 billion. The increase in free cash flow was driven primarily by significantly better operating performance, including working capital management, which more than offset higher taxes. The increase in cash taxes is a consequence of stronger results as well as the tax effect of foreign exchange on our U.S. dollar-denominated debt.

2023 年，我們的維護資本支出後的自由現金流增加了一倍多，達到 12 億美元。自由現金流的增加主要是由於營運績效顯著改善，包括營運資本管理，足以抵銷更高的稅收。現金稅的增加是業績強勁以及外匯對我們以美元計價的債務的稅收影響的結果。

This year, we had no incremental investment in working capital despite higher sales and continued inflationary and supply chain pressures. As Fernando mentioned, this is the consequence of targeted management actions to optimize working capital, which we will further deploy in 2024, seeking to maximize free cash flow generation.

今年，儘管銷售額增加且通膨和供應鏈壓力持續存在，但我們沒有增加營運資金投資。正如費爾南多所提到的，這是有針對性的管理行動優化營運資本的結果，我們將在 2024 年進一步部署這些行動，尋求最大限度地產生自由現金流。

Despite significantly better operating performance, net income for the year was lower due to an extraordinary gain in the prior year of $234 million as well as a tax provision in 2023 for a fine related to a case in Spain dating to 2006. We currently expect the majority of the tax provision to be paid in 2024. We ended the year with a stronger financial position, reflecting greater liquidity and average life of debt of close to 5 years, a flatter debt maturity profile with no outsized maturities in any year. We believe our expected free cash flow generation alone should be sufficient to meet our maturities in any given year.

儘管經營業績顯著改善，但由於上一年 2.34 億美元的非凡收益以及 2023 年與 2006 年西班牙案件相關的罰款的稅收撥備，今年的淨利潤較低。我們目前預計大部分稅款準備金將在2024 年支付。我們以更強勁的財務狀況結束了這一年，反映出更大的流動性和接近5 年的平均債務期限，債務到期日狀況更加平穩，任何一年都沒有超額到期。我們相信，僅我們預期的自由現金流產生就足以滿足我們在任何特定年份的到期要求。

Our leverage ratio stood at 2.06x, down 3/4 of a turn from last year's level, driven by strong operating performance, including working capital management and a reduction of over $700 million in our consolidated net debt. All of these accomplishments were driven by a series of transactions executed throughout the year. These include the issuance of $1 billion of green subordinated notes with an after-tax cost comparable to our senior debt, the refinancing of our bank credit agreement well ahead of schedule, the tapping of the Mexican debt capital markets for the first time in over 15 years and the redemption of our 7 3/8 notes. In addition, we achieved our goal of 50% of our debt stack being linked to sustainability KPIs 2 years ahead of plan.

我們的槓桿率為 2.06 倍，比去年水準下降 3/4，這得益於強勁的營運業績（包括營運資本管理）以及合併淨債務減少超過 7 億美元。所有這些成就都是由全年執行的一系列交易所推動的。其中包括發行 10 億美元的綠色次級票據，稅後成本與我們的優先債務相當，提前為我們的銀行信貸協議進行再融資，15 年來首次利用墨西哥債務資本市場年以及我們7 3/8 票據的贖回。此外，我們提前 2 年實現了 50% 的債務與永續發展 KPI 掛鉤的目標。

We will continue to undertake strategies that bolster our capital structure and remain focused on attaining an investment-grade rating in the short term. As a consequence of our strong performance, we reached a return on capital employed of 13.7%, 1.5 percentage points higher than last year. Bottom line, this was a terrific year.

我們將繼續採取加強資本結構的策略，並繼續專注於在短期內獲得投資等級評級。由於業績強勁，我們的資本回報率達到 13.7%，比去年高 1.5 個百分點。總而言之，這是很棒的一年。

And now back to you, Fernando.

現在回到你身上，費爾南多。

I'm optimistic for 2024, especially regarding our main markets of Mexico and the U.S. For 2024, based on December 31 FX rates and operations, we expect EBITDA to grow between low to mid-single digits. We expect cost inflation to continue to decelerate and our commercial strategy to continue to focus on recouping inflation in the business and will recalibrate to reflect current lower inflation.

我對 2024 年持樂觀態度，尤其是我們的墨西哥和美國等主要市場。根據 12 月 31 日的匯率和營運情況，我們預計 2024 年 EBITDA 將在低個位數到中個位數之間成長。我們預計成本通膨將繼續放緩，我們的商業策略將繼續專注於彌補業務通膨，並將重新調整以反映當前較低的通膨。

The ultimate goal is to maintain and increase margins. We also continue expecting important incremental contributions from our growth investments. Energy cost per tonne is expected to decline mid-single digit, primarily driven by lower fuel costs. For CapEx, we expect a total of $1.6 billion with $1 billion for maintenance and $600 million for strategic. For working capital, we expect a reduction of $300 million as we continue to execute on our working capital initiative. Cash taxes are expected to be approximately $1 billion, which includes the tax fine in Spain, the FX effect on our U.S. dollar-denominated debt and improved profitability in our main markets. Our cost of debt is expected to remain flat at $694 million, including the coupons from our subordinated perpetual notes.

最終目標是維持和增加利潤。我們也持續期待我們的成長投資帶來重要的增量貢獻。每噸能源成本預計將下降中個位數，這主要是由於燃料成本下降。對於資本支出，我們預計總額為 16 億美元，其中 10 億美元用於維護，6 億美元用於策略。對於營運資金，隨著我們繼續執行營運資金計劃，我們預計將減少 3 億美元。現金稅預計約為 10 億美元，其中包括西班牙的稅收罰款、匯率對我們美元計價債務的影響以及我們主要市場盈利能力的提高。我們的債務成本預計將保持在 6.94 億美元不變，其中包括我們的次級永續票據的票面利率。

And now back to you, Lucy.

現在回到你身上，露西。

Before we go into our Q&A session, I would like to remind you that any forward-looking statements we make today are based on our current knowledge of the markets in which we operate and could change in the future due to a variety of factors beyond our control. In addition, unless the context indicates otherwise, all references to pricing initiatives, price increases and decreases refer to prices for our products.

在我們進入問答環節之前，我想提醒您，我們今天做出的任何前瞻性陳述都是基於我們目前對我們經營所在市場的了解，並且由於我們無法預測的各種因素，未來可能會發生變化。控制。此外，除非上下文另有說明，所有提及的定價措施、價格上漲和下跌均指我們產品的價格。

And now we will be happy to take your questions.

現在我們很樂意回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) And the first question comes from Ben Theurer from Barclays.

（操作員說明）第一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Ben Theurer。

[Congrats on an] exceptional 2023. I wanted to pick up on the final comments and the outlook and particularly Fernando's comments around the strength and the outlook for Mexico and the U.S., your 2 key markets. Would it be possible to share with us where you see maybe upside risks to your current volume expectations but also the downside risk? So just about the puts and takes in those 2 regions as it relates to volume.

[恭喜]非凡的 2023 年。我想了解最後的評論和前景，特別是費爾南多關於墨西哥和美國這兩個關鍵市場的實力和前景的評論。您是否可以與我們分享您認為目前成交量預期可能存在上行風險以及下行風險的情況？這兩個區域的看跌期權和看跌期權與成交量有關。

Ben, well, that could be the case, but we are taking -- that builds our base case scenario. Remember, in both countries, this year is an election year. Earlier in Mexico than in the U.S., but anyhow, in both cases, there will be this election process. We will continue observing the dynamics.

Ben，嗯，情況可能是這樣，但我們正在建立我們的基本案例場景。請記住，在這兩個國家，今年都是選舉年。墨西哥比美國早，但無論如何，在這兩種情況下，都會有這個選舉過程。我們將繼續觀察動態。

There are positives. For instance, in the case of Mexico, demand coming from the strong activity because of nearshoring, particularly in the North of the country. And then the projects in the South -- Southeast, they are not finished yet, meaning there is activity still going on for the rest of the year. So again, it's -- there are reasons to believe that the way volumes are going to go is going to be positive. We would like to take this stance, which we believe is reasonable. We will monitor, and we will continue guiding according to the way we see the variables evolving.

有正面的一面。例如，就墨西哥而言，由於近岸外包，特別是在該國北部，需求來自強勁的活動。然後，南部、東南部的計畫尚未完成，這意味著今年剩餘時間仍有活動繼續進行。再說一遍，有理由相信銷量的成長趨勢將是正面的。我們願意採取這樣的立場，我們認為這是合理的。我們將進行監控，並根據我們看到的變數演變方式繼續提供指導。

And if I could add, Ben, also in the case of Mexico, I mean, we -- as you saw, I mean, volumes were actually accelerating in the second half of the year. And we expect that to continue, particularly with the large projects in the Southern part of the country and the demand for industrial in the northern part of the country. Also, bagged cement turned positive in the second half of the year last year, in the third quarter, and continued to proceed. And with a deceleration in inflation and an expectation of interest rate cuts, we do expect some improvement in housing going into the year.

Ben，如果我可以補充一下，就墨西哥而言，我的意思是，正如你所看到的，我的意思是，今年下半年的銷量實際上正在加速。我們預計這種情況將持續下去，特別是考慮到該國南部地區的大型計畫和該國北部地區的工業需求。另外，袋裝水泥在去年下半年、第三季轉正，並持續推進。隨著通貨膨脹的放緩和降息的預期，我們確實預計今年的住房狀況會有所改善。

So -- and again, I mean, you also have to take a look at historically, the dynamics around elections also translate to positive kind of dynamics for our business as well. So the outlook for Mexico in terms of volume should be fairly healthy. The market is pretty sold out. And so there should be also very interesting supply/demand dynamics as well and supporting recovery of inflation in our business in Mexico.

因此，我的意思是，你還必須回顧歷史，圍繞選舉的動態也轉化為我們業務的積極動態。因此，墨西哥的產量前景應該相當健康。市場上已經賣得差不多了。因此，我們在墨西哥的業務也應該存在非常有趣的供需動態，並支持通膨的復甦。

Now as far as the U.S. is concerned, we're quite optimistic about the U.S. Obviously, we're coming from a very challenging year from a volume perspective in the U.S. Volumes declined around 13%. A good portion of that -- 1/3 of that was due to weather last year that we were not able to recover during the course of the year. Another piece of that is really slowdown in demand and completion of some projects that we have in our portfolio. And 1/3 of that was due to competitive dynamics because of pricing, and as Lucy mentioned in her remarks, loss of market share that we expect to responsibly recover in the short term.

現在就美國而言，我們對美國相當樂觀。顯然，從美國的銷售角度來看，我們正經歷著充滿挑戰的一年。美國的銷量下降了 13% 左右。其中很大一部分——其中 1/3 是由於去年的天氣造成的，我們在這一年中無法恢復。另一部分是我們投資組合中的一些項目的需求和完成確實放緩。其中 1/3 是由於定價造成的競爭動態，正如露西在她的演講中提到的，我們預計市場份額的損失將在短期內負責任地恢復。

Now we're guiding towards low single-digit increases in cement, and we're pretty constructive about that. We think that we have been -- one of the biggest laggards in our business in the U.S. is the residential sector. And that is beginning to show some very strong signs of stabilization with some consecutive quarterly improvements, particularly in single-family residential starts and permits. And as inflation, again, continues to decelerate and the outlook for interest rates improves, we think there's an enormous amount of pent-up demand in residential. So that should help a lot. Infrastructure continues to be half of our business. And again, as mentioned in the remarks, there's a lot of fiscal projects supporting that and that are accelerating, particularly in an election period as well.

現在我們正在指導水泥的低個位數成長，我們對此非常有建設性。我們認為，我們在美國的業務中最大的落後者之一是住宅領域。隨著一些連續季度的改善，這種情況開始顯示出一些非常強烈的穩定跡象，特別是在單戶住宅開工和許可方面。隨著通膨再次繼續放緩且利率前景改善，我們認為住宅領域存在大量被壓抑的需求。所以這應該要有很大幫助。基礎設施仍然是我們業務的一半。再次，正如評論中提到的，有很多財政項目支持這一點，而且這些項目正在加速，特別是在選舉期間。

And if you take a look at construction put into place and infrastructure has been quite positive and -- the area that are headwinds, I would say, is on the commercial side, which we're seeing it pretty much everywhere. But it's somewhat being offset by what's happening on industrial. And that's -- most of industrial projects are being driven by supply chains, being reconfigured and redefined, energy issues, clean tech initiatives. So we are expecting after an important headwinds in volumes last year to be doing much, much better in terms of volumes coming into '24. I don't know if that answers your question, Ben.

如果你看一下已到位的建設和基礎設施，情況相當積極，我想說，逆風的領域是在商業方面，我們幾乎到處都能看到這一點。但這在某種程度上被工業領域發生的事情所抵消。大多數工業項目都是由供應鏈、重新配置和重新定義、能源問題和清潔技術舉措所驅動的。因此，我們預計，在經歷了去年銷量的重大逆風之後，進入 24 年銷量將會好得多。我不知道這是否能回答你的問題，本。

It does. Very complete.

確實如此。非常完整。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thanks, Ben. I think I would just add to what Maher said that we are seeing U.S. construction spending growing at the highest rate in decades, double-digit level. And that is very much supported by rollout of infrastructure, streets and highways, and we're also seeing very good turnaround in the residential sector when you look at single family in particular. So just to give you a little more backup to Maher's comments.

謝謝，本。我想我想補充一下馬赫所說的，我們看到美國的建築支出以幾十年來最高的速度增長，達到兩位數的水平。這在很大程度上得到了基礎設施、街道和高速公路的推出的支持，而且當你特別關注單戶住宅時，我們也看到住宅領域出現了非常好的轉變。所以只是為了給你更多支持馬赫的評論。

Moving on to the next question. It comes from Carlos Peyrelongue from Bank of America.

繼續下一個問題。它來自美國銀行的 Carlos Peyrelongue。

My question is related to your pricing strategy. The last 2 years, you've implemented an increase in prices in -- 2 times during the year, beginning of the year and then in the summer. Should we expect something similar? Or will you be going back to increasing prices once a year? That's primarily for Mexico and the U.S., the question.

我的問題與你們的定價策略有關。在過去的兩年裡，你們在一年中實施了兩次價格上漲，一次是年初，然後是夏季。我們應該期待類似的事情嗎？或者你會恢復每年一次漲價嗎？這主要是針對墨西哥和美國的問題。

Thank you, Carlos. Yes. I think the pricing strategy that we are going to be displaying this year, in essence, is the one that we defined in late '21, early '22 when we saw inflation going to much higher levels than whatever number of years before, meaning our pricing strategy should be designed or it is designed to recover input cost inflation, meaning protecting our margins.

謝謝你，卡洛斯。是的。我認為，我們今年將要展示的定價策略本質上是我們在 21 世紀末、22 年初定義的定價策略，當時我們看到通膨水平遠高於之前的任何幾年，這意味著我們的定價策略定價策略的設計應旨在恢復投入成本通膨，這意味著保護我們的利潤。

So what is it that you can expect in 2024? The same principle. Now '22 and '23 were very different, and '24 is going to be even more different, meaning in '22, inflation started going up at a higher rate than what we thought, and our prices didn't manage to recoup that inflation. The opposite happened in 2023 when our pricing strategy are already a tailwind, and we continue with the idea of recovering input cost inflation thinking that inflation was not going to drop as fast as it did, meaning a very material drop of inflation in the second quarter of last year.

那麼 2024 年您可以期待什麼呢？同樣的原理。現在“22”和“23”非常不同，“24”將更加不同，這意味著在“22”，通貨膨脹開始以比我們想像的更高的速度上升，而我們的價格未能彌補通貨膨脹。 2023 年情況恰恰相反，當時我們的定價策略已經順風順水，我們繼續堅持恢復投入成本通膨的想法，認為通膨不會像以前那樣快速下降，這意味著第二季度通膨將大幅下降去年的。

So starting 2024, our pricing strategy is designed to recover the levels of inflation that we are estimating to have during the year. Things might change. Scenarios might change. And we are prepared to make a number of additional increases if that's what it takes for us to cope with inflation. So the strategy is not defining how many price increases we're going to have in a year but how are we doing with the objective of recovering cost inflation.

因此，從 2024 年開始，我們的定價策略旨在恢復我們預期的年內通膨水準。事情可能會改變。情況可能會改變。如果我們需要應對通貨膨脹的話，我們準備好進行一些額外的升息。因此，該策略不是定義我們一年內將有多少價格上漲，而是定義我們如何實現恢復成本通膨的目標。

We are guiding for our cost, particularly energy, to decrease by mid-single digit. So you can expect a much lower inflation in our input cost structure, and because of that, a lower level of price increases. And again, if needed, we will do a number of price increases in different markets to assure that we at least maintain the margins we already recovered during 2023.

我們預計成本（尤其是能源成本）將下降中個位數。因此，您可以預期我們的投入成本結構中的通膨率會低得多，因此價格上漲水準也會較低。同樣，如果需要，我們將在不同市場進行多次漲價，以確保我們至少維持 2023 年已經恢復的利潤率。

Great. Very clear.

偉大的。非常清楚。

Thank you, Carlos.

謝謝你，卡洛斯。

The next question comes from the webcast from Paul Roger from Exane BNP Paribas. What drove the sequential price increase in EMEA? And could this become a trend, including in Europe where CO2 costs are down quite materially? Fernando, do you want me to take this? Okay.

下一個問題來自法國巴黎銀行 Exane 的 Paul Roger 的網路廣播。是什麼推動了歐洲、中東和非洲地區的價格連續上漲？這是否會成為一種趨勢，包括在二氧化碳成本大幅下降的歐洲？費爾南多，你想讓我拿這個嗎？好的。

We did have a slight decline sequentially in Europe, Middle East and Africa prices. I think what's important to remember here is that the bulk of EBITDA, the weight of Europe is very, very high. It's about 65% to 70% of EMEA. And what we saw happening was a decline in prices due to geographic mix, specifically Europe, which has the highest prices, had a much larger decline in volume than AMEA, Asia, Middle East and Africa, experienced in cement.

歐洲、中東和非洲的價格確實略有下降。我認為這裡要記住的重要一點是，EBITDA 的大部分（即歐洲的權重）非常非常高。約佔 EMEA 的 65% 到 70%。我們看到，由於地理結構的不同，價格下降，特別是價格最高的歐洲，其水泥銷量下降幅度遠大於 AMEA、亞洲、中東和非洲。

So this is the geographic mix issue. If you look at the disclosure, European prices were fairly stable from -- moving from third to fourth quarter. So no, we do not believe that CO2 prices and the decline in prices that we've seen in the CO2 markets are contributing to any type of price deterioration because we aren't experiencing it in Europe, okay?

所以這就是地理組合問題。如果你看一下披露的信息，歐洲價格從第三季到第四季相當穩定。所以不，我們不認為二氧化碳價格和我們在二氧化碳市場上看到的價格下跌會導致任何類型的價格惡化，因為我們在歐洲沒有經歷過這種情況，好嗎？

Thank you very much. And the next question comes from Alejandra Obregon from Morgan Stanley.

非常感謝。下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的亞歷杭德拉·奧布雷貢（Alejandra Obregon）。

Congratulations on the record numbers. I have a question on your strategic CapEx. It's going up a little bit in your guidance. So if you could perhaps elaborate a little bit on whether this CapEx is already earmarked, meaning if you have already identified the projects in which you will invest, and if you could elaborate a little bit on what spaces will be more interesting for you during the year. And what timing should we think of for these CapEx outflows for the year? That would be very helpful.

恭喜您創下了新紀錄。我對你們的策略資本支出有疑問。在你的指導下它會上升一點。因此，您是否可以詳細說明此資本支出是否已指定用途，即您是否已經確定了要投資的項目，以及您是否可以詳細說明在此期間哪些空間對您來說更有趣年。我們應該在什麼時間考慮今年的資本支出流出？這將非常有幫助。

Alejandra, thank you very much for your question. The process of our growth investments has been -- it's like a fine-tuned machine that has been kind of started for now the last 2 or 3 years. So the stream of projects that have been identified and earmarked are quite developed. All of these projects are quite clearly defined. And we feel very comfortable that the timing should be fairly even throughout the year.

亞歷杭德拉，非常感謝你的問題。我們的成長投資過程就像一台經過微調的機器，在過去的兩三年才啟動。因此，已確定和指定的項目流程已經相當成熟。所有這些項目都有非常明確的定義。我們感到非常放心的是，全年的時間安排應該相當均勻。

And -- however, I mean, I have to tell you that in some of the instances, you do have timing, very specific tactical execution timing for some of these projects being made. But we feel very, very reasonable that we would be able to execute on the guidance that we're giving, the strategic CapEx of $600 million, which is a big increase compared to last year. Last year, we wanted to do a little bit more. We underperformed our guidance, and we wanted to do a little bit more primarily because of some delays that took place because of supply chains because of negotiations or whatever.

而且 - 然而，我的意思是，我必須告訴你，在某些情況下，你確實有時間安排，對於其中一些正在製定的項目有非常具體的戰術執行時間安排。但我們感覺非常非常合理，我們將能夠執行我們給予的指導，即 6 億美元的戰略資本支出，這與去年相比大幅增加。去年，我們想做更多一點。我們的表現低於預期，我們想要多做一點，主要是因為供應鏈因談判或其他原因而發生了一些延誤。

So we do feel fairly strong that we should be able to execute that amount. And the additional contribution from our growth portfolio should be quite healthy. I mean we're expecting a similar contribution to this year. This year, the growth portfolio was close to about $86 million, $84 million. We're expecting a similar amount. And we did say that the total contribution of our growth portfolio to EBITDA last year in '23 was around $325 million.

因此，我們確實非常確信我們應該能夠執行這筆金額。我們的成長投資組合的額外貢獻應該是相當健康的。我的意思是，我們預計今年也會做出類似的貢獻。今年，成長投資組合接近約8,600萬美元、8,400萬美元。我們預計會有類似的金額。我們確實說過，去年 23 年我們的成長投資組合對 EBITDA 的總貢獻約為 3.25 億美元。

So if you add the incremental amount, you're talking about close to $400 million of contribution going into this year, which is a big percentage now of our total consolidated EBITDA. Now the investments are split into a number of types of activities, climate action, cement expansion and so forth and so on. So it's very well balanced, and it addresses key opportunities in our markets. Aggregates replenishment is another area that we are very focused on as well. I don't know if that answers all of your -- the question.

因此，如果加上增量，今年的貢獻將接近 4 億美元，目前占我們合併 EBITDA 總額的很大一部分。現在投資分為多種類型的活動，氣候行動、水泥擴建等等。因此它非常平衡，並且抓住了我們市場的關鍵機會。骨材補充也是我們非常關注的另一個領域。我不知道這是否能回答你所有的問題。

Yes, yes. That's very clear.

是的是的。這非常清楚。

Thank you.

謝謝。

And the next question comes from Francisco Suarez from Scotiabank.

下一個問題來自豐業銀行的弗朗西斯科·蘇亞雷斯。

It is actually a follow-up question on Alejandra's question, the question I had on your strategic CapEx. I mean it seems that you have reached a point, guys, in which you are flexible enough to provide more strategic CapEx, return money to investors, which is great. But can you walk us a little bit more on the rationale on how your dividend policy will evolve further? How -- what to expect on that? I mean much more on the dividend policy as such. And also, if you can elaborate a little bit more on your strategic CapEx, on how to allocate across Urban Solutions or if it's much more focused towards aggregates. If you can give us a little bit of granularity what to expect across regions and the rationale behind it, that would be very helpful.

這其實是亞歷杭德拉問題的後續問題，我對你們的策略資本支出的問題。我的意思是，夥計們，你們似乎已經達到了一個地步，你們足夠靈活，可以提供更具戰略性的資本支出，向投資者返還資金，這很棒。但您能否向我們詳細介紹一下您的股利政策將如何進一步發展的基本原理？對此有何期待？我的意思更多的是股利政策本身。另外，您是否可以詳細說明您的策略資本支出，如何在城市解決方案之間進行分配，或者是否更注重總量。如果您能給我們一些關於跨地區的期望及其背後的理由的詳細信息，那將非常有幫助。

Maybe I'll take that, Fernando, the question. And Paco, thank you very much for the question. I think in terms of -- maybe I'll start in terms of geographic allocation, right? Number one, this is in terms of the investments. We are -- we have been very consistent for the last 3 years saying that we are very biased in our investments towards the U.S., Europe, developed Europe and Mexico. And I think that as we see Mexico increasing stability, increasing integration into the U.S. market, we're evaluating the bias between U.S. and Mexico.

費爾南多，也許我會接受這個問題。帕科，非常感謝你提出這個問題。我認為，也許我會從地理分配方面開始，對嗎？第一，這是在投資方面。過去三年來，我們一直非常一致地表示，我們對美國、歐洲、已開發歐洲和墨西哥的投資非常偏向。我認為，當我們看到墨西哥日益穩定，日益融入美國市場時，我們正在評估美國和墨西哥之間的偏見。

But clearly, our focus is additional investment in the U.S. because the outlook on a risk-adjusted basis is the most attractive in all of our portfolio. And the growth prospects in the U.S. is probably one of the best in our portfolio. I mean we are seeing aggregate demand very positive. We're seeing GDP growing. Inflation is much more under control than other places. So in terms of geographic allocation, it's the U.S., Northern Europe, Mexico. And Mexico is kind of rising in its importance in terms of allocating investments there as there's further integration.

但顯然，我們的重點是在美國的額外投資，因為風險調整後的前景是我們所有投資組合中最具吸引力的。美國的成長前景可能是我們投資組合中最好的之一。我的意思是，我們看到總需求非常積極。我們看到 GDP 不斷成長。與其他地方相比，通貨膨脹得到了更好的控制。從地理分佈來看，是美國、北歐、墨西哥。隨著一體化的進一步深入，墨西哥在投資配置方面的重要性正在上升。

In terms of the areas that we're investing in, I mean, clearly, there is some completion of investments in cement in many of the right markets that are sold out that we're bringing capacity in. And the other, as I mentioned, is aggregate replenishment, particularly in the U.S. and Europe. In the U.S., we've made several investments. And that's an area that is very attractive, and that is going to continue to be an area of interest to us.

就我們正在投資的領域而言，我的意思是，顯然，許多合適的市場已經完成了一些水泥投資，這些市場已售罄，我們正在引入產能。另一個，正如我提到的，是總補充量，特別是在美國和歐洲。在美國，我們進行了多項投資。這是一個非常有吸引力的領域，並將繼續成為我們感興趣的領域。

And then investments that we believe are extremely important that have double materiality in our Future in Action area and climate agenda area, a lot of the use of alternative fuels, green types of products, whether it's cement or ready-mix, a lot of these investments are going into those areas. Those are highly accretive investments at the end of the day and have payback periods that are, on average, 4 to 5 years, 6 years. And so that's kind of the areas that we're looking to allocate into in terms of investments.

然後，我們認為極其重要的投資在我們的未來行動領域和氣候議程領域具有雙重重要性，大量使用替代燃料、綠色產品，無論是水泥還是預拌混凝土，其中許多投資正在進入這些領域。這些最終都是高度增值的投資，投資回收期平均為 4 至 5 年、6 年。這就是我們希望在投資方面進行分配的領域。

Now as far as the dividend concerned and the allocation of cash flow to dividends, we would not have announced the dividend payment unless we really were very confident that sometime this year, we would get our investment-grade rating. But also, it's a very important sign of our confidence of the outlook that we have in terms of the business, free cash flow generation and having sufficient operating free cash flow to continuously systematically provide the dividend payments that we have.

現在就股息以及現金流對股息的分配而言，我們不會宣布股息支付，除非我們真的非常有信心在今年的某個時候獲得投資級評級。而且，這也是我們對業務、自由現金流產生以及擁有足夠的營運自由現金流以持續系統地提供股息支付方面的前景充滿信心的一個非常重要的標誌。

Now we're starting -- compared to our peers, we're starting early. And we looked at about 10% of our operating free cash flow, and that's where we're starting. And of course, we're hoping that as our business grows, that our dividend on average will grow throughout time. So that's kind of the logic behind it, and we're very comfortable with it. I don't know if there was another part of the question that I -- because you had several parts of the question. I don't know if I missed not answering one of them, Paco.

現在我們開始了——與同行相比，我們開始得早。我們研究了大約 10% 的營運自由現金流，這就是我們的起點。當然，我們希望隨著我們業務的成長，我們的平均股息將隨著時間的推移而成長。這就是它背後的邏輯，我們對此感到非常滿意。我不知道問題的另一部分是否是我——因為你的問題有幾個部分。我不知道我是否錯過了沒有回答其中一個問題，帕科。

No, no, Maher. That is perfect and wonderful rationale. Totally.

不，不，馬赫。這是完美而美妙的理由。完全。

The next question comes from Adam Thalhimer from Thompson, Davis.

下一個問題來自湯普森戴維斯分校的 Adam Thalhimer。

Congrats on a good year. I wanted to ask quickly about the EBITDA guidance for 2024. I'm wondering if low to mid-single-digit growth is a touch conservative if we've got flat volumes, but pricing up, margins up some. I'm just curious if there's a little bit of upside to that in your view.

恭喜你度過了美好的一年。我想快速詢問 2024 年 EBITDA 指導。我想知道，如果我們的銷量持平，但定價上漲，利潤率有所提高，那麼低至中個位數的增長是否有點保守。我只是好奇你認為這是否有一點好處。

Adam, I mean, look, we're taking -- I don't want to say cautious, but the world is volatile. And we -- I don't want to say that we're taking the same approach that we did last year where we gave one guidance that turned out to be super exceeded, but we're definitely being cautious.

亞當，我的意思是，你看，我們正在採取——我不想說謹慎，但世界是不穩定的。我們——我不想說我們正在採取與去年相同的方法，去年我們給出了一個指導結果，結果被證明是超額的，但我們絕對是謹慎的。

As Fernando mentioned, the dynamics, both on pricing and on volumes, are quite different from where they were last year. And so navigating into a dynamic that's quite different requires prudence and caution on our part. I mean there's -- frankly, I mean, we're very optimistic about what's happening in Mexico. We're very optimistic about what's happening in the U.S. We're cautious, obviously, on EMEA and Europe, and we're expecting stability there. We're cautious on South Central America, Caribbean.

正如費爾南多所提到的，定價和銷售方面的動態與去年有很大不同。因此，要進入一個完全不同的動態，我們需要謹慎和謹慎。我的意思是——坦白說，我的意思是，我們對墨西哥正在發生的事情非常樂觀。我們對美國正在發生的事情非常樂觀。顯然，我們對歐洲、中東和非洲和歐洲持謹慎態度，我們預計那裡會保持穩定。我們對中南美洲和加勒比海地區持謹慎態度。

There are potentially upsides in energy. I mean I know, for instance, in the case of Mexico, we have been taking advantage of the drop in the price of natural gas, for instance. Mexico, typically, we've been using a big dose of alternatives and a big dose of pet coke. And of course, natural gas has dropped quite materially. And in Mexico, the differential between nat gas and pet coke is almost 1/3. And many of our plants in Mexico are located near and are able to use nat gas.

能源有潛在的好處。我的意思是，我知道，例如，就墨西哥而言，我們一直在利用天然氣價格下跌的機會。在墨西哥，我們通常使用大量替代品和石油可樂。當然，天然氣也大幅下降。在墨西哥，天然氣和石油焦之間的差異幾乎為 1/3。我們在墨西哥的許多工廠都位於附近並且能夠使用天然氣。

So there are potential input cost elements that may contribute to better performance than we had expected. We are locking in some of the lower cost of energy that we're doing. We're hedging some of our pet coke uses as well. We've already locked in a lot of the diesel cost. There may be some upside to that as well. So there are a number of things that they're -- on the cost side that may have some upside. But we need to be cautious. I mean honestly, we need to be cautious, and that's where we are on our guidance.

因此，存在潛在的投入成本要素，可能有助於實現比我們預期更好的績效。我們正在鎖定一些我們正在做的較低能源成本。我們也在對沖一些石油焦的用途。我們已經鎖定了大量柴油成本。這也可能有一些好處。因此，在成本方面，它們在許多方面可能有一些好處。但我們需要保持謹慎。我的意思是，老實說，我們需要保持謹慎，這就是我們的指導方針。

And the next question comes from Anne Milne from Bank of America.

下一個問題來自美國銀行的安妮·米爾恩。

Congratulations. It's very nice to see that EBITDA number for 2023. My question has to do with what the rating agencies still might be looking at for an IG rating? And I'm just thinking of other companies that I've seen that have been in positions where they were looking at upgrades. And there are 2 things that I see that when I look at your balance sheet, I -- that occurred to me. And I just wanted to get your comments on them.

恭喜。很高興看到 2023 年的 EBITDA 數字。我的問題是評級機構仍然可能會考慮什麼來獲得 IG 評級？我只是想到我所見過的其他公司，他們一直在尋求升級。當我查看你們的資產負債表時，我發現了兩件事。我只是想聽聽您對它們的評論。

One, it's large cash balances. You have a healthy cash balance, but some of these people have much larger. I think you have committed credit facility. So I was just wondering if you could comment on that. And the second one is a long runway in debt maturities. And you do have a relatively short debt maturity profile over the next few years. Have you thought about extending that?

第一，現金餘額龐大。你有一個健康的現金餘額，但其中一些人的現金餘額要多得多。我認為你已經承諾了信貸額度。所以我只是想知道你是否可以對此發表評論。第二個問題是債務到期日很長。未來幾年的債務期限確實相對較短。你有沒有想過要延長這個時間？

Yes. Thanks, Anne. I mean look, the -- we are probably right in the -- at the tip edge of being IG metrics from a leverage perspective. Of course, the rating agencies don't just look at that. They look liquidity. They look at stability of earnings. They look at the cycle. They look at management's behavior and so forth and so on. And I think that we're looking at that matrix as well. And we're making sure that we're ticking every one of those, and I believe we've ticked every one of them.

是的。謝謝，安妮。我的意思是，從槓桿的角度來看，我們可能正處於 IG 指標的最前沿。當然，評級機構不僅僅關注這一點。他們看起來有流動性。他們關注的是收入的穩定性。他們關注的是周期。他們關注管理階層的行為等等。我認為我們也在研究這個矩陣。我們正在確保我們勾選了每一項，我相信我們已經勾選了每一項。

Now specifically regarding cash balances. I mean we typically have $500 million to $600 million of cash balances on an ongoing basis. That number gets a little bit lower, gets a little bit higher depending on when we are seasonally during the year. But because of that and because of the -- we want to make sure that we don't have anything that keeps us awake overnight in terms of liquidity. As you know, last year, when we refinanced our bank facility, we increased our revolving credit facility by $0.25 billion. And there are opportunities to further increase our liquidity on the euro side, which we are pursuing as well.

現在特別是關於現金餘額。我的意思是，我們通常持續擁有 5 億至 6 億美元的現金餘額。這個數字會稍微低一點，也會高一點，這取決於一年中季節性的時間。但正因為如此，我們希望確保我們沒有任何東西讓我們在流動性方面徹夜難眠。如您所知，去年，當我們為銀行融資再融資時，我們將循環信貸融資增加了 2.5 億美元。我們也有機會進一步增加歐元方面的流動性，這也是我們所追求的。

So I think at the end of the day and last year, on average, we had, between cash on hand and availability under the revolver, probably an average of about $1.8 billion, $1.9 billion of available committed liquidity on hand. With the additional -- with the increase in the revolver and even potential expected increase, we are going to probably be increasing our revolving facility a little bit more. We're going to have more than sufficient liquidity for us to go through any really cyclical or seasonal change to take place. So I'm not -- I'm really not worried about that, and I think that, that should not be an issue.

因此，我認為去年年底，平均而言，我們手頭現金和左輪手槍可用資金之間可能平均約為 18 億美元，手頭可用承諾流動性約為 19 億美元。隨著額外的——隨著左輪手槍的增加，甚至潛在的預期增加，我們可能會增加我們的左輪手槍設施。我們將擁有足夠的流動性來應對任何真正的週期性或季節性變化。所以我不——我真的不擔心這一點，我認為這不應該是一個問題。

Now in terms of the maturity schedule, I mean, I think we're ending the year with a maturity schedule which is very comfortable and well within our free cash flow from operations generation that we have today. Now having said that, we're not -- we're never done in terms of liability management, and we are looking at a number of transactions. Some of them are already in the market. As you know, we're in the market with the reopening of the [Sabores], which should help us push funding out. We are in the bank market on the euro transaction, which would -- should help us push maturities out.

現在就到期時間表而言，我的意思是，我認為我們將以一個非常舒適的到期時間表結束今年，並且完全符合我們今天運營產生的自由現金流。話雖如此，我們在責任管理方面還沒有完成，我們正在研究一些交易。其中一些已經投放市場。如您所知，隨著 [Sabores] 的重新開放，我們進入了市場，這應該有助於我們推出資金。我們在銀行市場進行歐元交易，這應該會幫助我們推遲到期日。

I think after everything is said and done, we should be looking definitely at a much more smoothed out maturity schedule, which is well within what the rating agencies are expecting. Now of course, as rates drop, we're looking at potentially issuances, very long dated, that would materially change the average life of our portfolio. But given the fact that we're seeing -- we're expecting rates to drop in the back half of the year, given our improvement in creditworthiness and given the liquidity in the market for -- both in the bank market and in the bond market, frankly, having an average life of 5 years doesn't really concern me with the very long runway to any material maturities. I'm -- we're very comfortable with that.

我認為在一切都說完、做了之後，我們肯定應該考慮一個更平滑的到期時間表，這完全符合評級機構的預期。當然，現在隨著利率下降，我們正在考慮潛在的長期發行，這將極大地改變我們投資組合的平均壽命。但考慮到我們所看到的事實 - 我們預計利率將在今年下半年下降，考慮到我們的信用度的改善以及銀行市場和債券市場的流動性坦白說，市場平均壽命為5 年，我並不真正關心任何材料到期的漫長跑道。我——我們對此感到非常滿意。

Okay. And could you just tell me what is the current amount of your -- the total amount of your revolving credit facility?

好的。您能告訴我您目前的循環信用額度是多少嗎？

It's $2 billion, the committed revolving facility.

這是 20 億美元的承諾循環設施。

$2 billion, committed. Okay. No, I would agree that your numbers are most definitely comfortable. I'm just thinking sometimes the rating agencies don't like things excessive. So I just wanted to get an update, and that was a very good one.

20 億美元，已承諾。好的。不，我同意你的數字絕對是舒適的。我只是想有時評級機構不喜歡過度的事情。所以我只是想獲得更新，這是一個非常好的更新。

We have time for one last question. And the last question comes from Gordon Lee from BTG Pactual.

我們還有時間回答最後一個問題。最後一個問題來自 BTG Pactual 的 Gordon Lee。

Congratulations on the numbers. I just have a question sort of on the Urbanization Solutions business. I was wondering if you could just give us general color on maybe the geographic breakdown of where that EBITDA is coming from and whether you expect to provide more disclosure on that unit given how large it is now.

恭喜你的數字。我只是有一個關於城市化解決方案業務的問題。我想知道您是否可以向我們提供有關 EBITDA 來源的地理細分的一般信息，以及考慮到該部門現在的規模，您是否希望提供更多有關該部門的披露信息。

And I'm going to -- this is a clarification, not a question so Lucy doesn't get upset. But just wanted just to confirm that in your $1 billion cash tax guidance, you are including the full amount of the sort of one-off payment that you're expected to make in Spain.

我想要──這是一個澄清，而不是一個問題，這樣露西就不會感到不安。但我只是想確認一下，在您的 10 億美元現金稅收指導中，您包含了您預計在西班牙支付的一次性付款的全額。

Yes. Maybe I'll take the first -- the second part of your -- the second question first, Gordon, because that's very important. I mean we've never had a cash payment of $1 billion for taxes, I don't know, ever that I remember. So the answer to that is definitively yes. We are expecting that to happen.

是的。也許我會先回答第一個問題——第二部分——第二個問題，戈登，因為這非常重要。我的意思是，我不知道，我記得我們從來沒有用現金支付過 10 億美元的稅。所以答案是肯定的。我們期待這種情況發生。

Now having said that, it may be tranched out for a longer period of time. So it may be not as bad in terms of free cash flow draw this year. But yes, it is included. And I think it's very important, however, to take a look at if we adjust the cash taxes for the payment, assuming that we pay 100% of that this year, and you compare the cash taxes that we paid last year versus what is implied in our guidance, I think you would see that we're actually expecting cash taxes from operations excluding this one-off to actually be declining for 2024.

話雖如此，它可能會被分期更長的一段時間。因此，今年的自由現金流繪製可能沒有那麼糟。但是，是的，它包含在內。然而，我認為非常重要的是，看看我們是否調整付款的現金稅，假設我們今年支付了 100%，然後將我們去年支付的現金稅與隱含的現金稅進行比較在我們的指導中，我認為您會看到，我們實際上預計2024 年不包括這項一次性業務的現金稅實際上會下降。

Now the -- as you know, the cash taxes from '22 to '23 stepped up. The biggest 2 drivers of cash taxes stepping up between '22 to '23 are 2 things, maybe 3 things. Number one is that the Mexican business had a spectacular year, had a record year in terms of earnings. Second thing is that we've consumed all of our -- or most of our NOLs in '22. And so we did not have the benefit of that. And third, we have this incredible situation where the peso appreciated dramatically. Inflation did not go down. And so we had this kind of extraordinary income that is taxable that -- which was probably the biggest contributor to our increase in cash taxes.

現在，如您所知，從 22 世紀到 23 世紀，現金稅不斷增加。 22 年至 23 年間現金稅增加的最大推動因素有 2 件事，也許是 3 件事。第一，墨西哥企業度過了輝煌的一年，獲利創紀錄的一年。第二件事是，我們在 22 年消耗了所有的——或者說大部分的 NOL。所以我們沒有從中受益。第三，我們面臨比索大幅升值的令人難以置信的情況。通貨膨脹並沒有下降。因此，我們擁有這種需要納稅的非凡收入——這可能是我們現金稅增加的最大貢獻者。

That dynamic is not likely to happen in '24, '25. And if it did, the positive impact of that, meaning if we have another 15% appreciation of the Mexican peso, yes, that might imply a little bit more cash taxes. But guess what, that is probably going to be phenomenally positive to our EBITDA in terms of cash flow generation in Mexico.

這種動態不太可能在 24 年、25 年發生。如果確實如此，那麼其積極影響，意味著如果墨西哥比索再升值 15%，是的，這可能意味著更多的現金稅。但你猜怎麼著，就墨西哥現金流產生而言，這可能會對我們的 EBITDA 產生顯著的正面影響。

And when you take out the impact of the FX and the inflation in Mexico and adjust our tax rate, the tax rate is actually going down from '22 to '23. And the expectations -- the implication of our guidance is that it will go down as well in '24. So I don't know if that answers the tax question.

當你剔除匯率和墨西哥通貨膨脹的影響並調整我們的稅率時，稅率實際上從「22」下降到「23」。我們的指導的含義是，預期在 24 年也會下降。所以我不知道這是否能回答稅務問題。

Perfect. And it was a clarification, not a question. I don't want Lucy to get mad at me.

完美的。這是一個澄清，而不是一個問題。我不想讓露西生我的氣。

A second question, Urbanization Solutions, Gordon. We're very excited about that business, okay? I mean that business is growing high double digits, as you saw this year, EBITDA grew -- I mean '23, EBITDA grew 30%, almost twice as much as sales. Very high operating leverage. This business has become, definitely, without any doubt, a core business. It complements all of the value offerings and solutions that we have in cement, ready-mix and aggregates, highly integrated into those businesses.

第二個問題，都市化解決方案，戈登。我們對這項業務感到非常興奮，好嗎？我的意思是，業務正在以兩位數的速度增長，正如你今年看到的那樣，EBITDA 增長了—我的意思是23 年，EBITDA 增長了30%，幾乎是銷售額的兩倍。經營槓桿非常高。毫無疑問，這項業務已經成為一項核心業務。它補充了我們在水泥、預拌混凝土和骨材方面的所有價值產品和解決方案，並高度整合到這些業務中。

The areas -- the regions that are contributing the most and where our investments are the most are really Mexico and the U.S. And the areas that we're focusing on in the case of Mexico, for instance, is admixtures. We're certainly focusing on circularity. You know that we purchased -- we invested into that area. The multiproducts area is also another very important area of expanding. And then the U.S., the U.S. is also almost contributing 1/3 of the overall EBITDA. Now in '23, the contribution of our Urbanization Solutions is almost $300 million and with a double-digit EBITDA margin.

這些地區——貢獻最大、我們投資最多的地區實際上是墨西哥和美國。例如，就墨西哥而言，我們重點關注的領域是混合。我們當然關注循環性。你知道我們買了——我們投資了那個領域。多產品領域也是另一個非常重要的擴展領域。然後是美國，美國也幾乎貢獻了整體EBITDA的1/3。 2023 年，我們的都市化解決方案貢獻了近 3 億美元，EBITDA 利潤率達到兩位數。

And so we're very excited about that, and we're likely -- part of our investment strategy definitely is going to continue supporting this area. It's very broadly diversified. It's relatively low risk. Some of the investments are countercyclical to our -- the rest of our business. And very importantly, it complements our Future in Action and our Climate Action strategy as well because it enables us to accelerate the strategy in our product strategy in the virtual family of products, whether in cement or ready-mix. As you have seen, I mean, we've exceeded our targets in cement. We're about to get to our target in ready-mix. And so it's very complementary, and it's a very important part of our strategy.

因此，我們對此感到非常興奮，而我們的投資策略的一部分肯定會繼續支持這一領域。它非常廣泛多元化。其風險相對較低。有些投資對我們的其他業務來說是反週期的。非常重要的是，它也補充了我們的「行動未來」和「氣候行動」策略，因為它使我們能夠加快虛擬產品系列（無論是水泥還是預拌混凝土）的產品策略。正如您所看到的，我的意思是，我們已經超出了水泥目標。我們即將達到我們的預混目標。所以它是非常互補的，也是我們策略中非常重要的一部分。

And they're presumably also -- it's presumably a very ROIC-accretive business as well, right, to your overall mix?

他們大概也是──這大概也是一個非常能增加投資報酬率的業務，對吧，對你的整體組合來說？

Absolutely. I mean a lot of the -- I would say the return on capital employed in this business, it's very much in line with our growth investment parameters, I mean, which are very accretive. We're talking 25% plus IRRs, and we're talking about -- and particularly in the case of the admixtures, relatively speaking, shorter payback periods.

絕對地。我的意思是，我想說的是，這項業務所使用的資本回報率，與我們的成長投資參數非常一致，我的意思是，這些參數非常具有增值性。我們談論的是 25% 以上的 IRR，我們談論的是——特別是在外加劑的情況下，相對而言，更短的投資回收期。

Perfect. That's super helpful.

完美的。這非常有幫助。

Thank you. Thanks, Gordon.

謝謝。謝謝，戈登。

We appreciate you joining us today for our fourth quarter results. We hope you will join us again for CEMEX Day taking place on March 20 and then again for our first quarter 2024 webcast on April 25. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact Investor Relations. Many thanks for your time today.

感謝您今天加入我們，了解我們的第四季業績。我們希望您能再次參加 3 月 20 日舉行的 CEMEX Day，然後再次參加 4 月 25 日舉行的 2024 年第一季網路廣播。如果您有任何其他問題，請隨時聯絡投資者關係部。非常感謝您今天抽出時間。

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This concludes the presentation. You may now disconnect. Good day.

感謝您參加今天的會議。演示到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。再會。