Enerflex Ltd (EFXT) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Enerflex third quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Jeff Fetterly, Vice President, Corporate Development and Investor Relations.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Enerflex 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。（操作員指示）我現在想將會議交給今天的發言人，企業發展和投資者關係副總裁傑夫·費特利 (Jeff Fetterly)。

Thank you, Josh, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our third quarter of 2024 results call. With me today are Marc Rossiter, President and CEO; and Preet Dhindsa, SVP and CFO. During today's call, our prepared remarks will focus on three key areas, first, the strong operational performance of the business during Q3 and our outlook heading into 2025; second, capital allocation, including direct shareholder returns and capital spending; and third, our progress on near and long-term strategic priorities.

謝謝你，喬什，大家早安。歡迎參加我們的 2024 年第三季業績電話會議。今天與我同在的有總裁兼執行長 Marc Rossiter；以及資深副總裁兼財務長 Preet Dhindsa。在今天的電話會議中，我們準備好的發言將重點放在三個關鍵領域，首先是第三季業務強勁的營運業績以及我們對 2025 年的展望；第二，資本配置，包括直接股東回報和資本支出；第三，我們在近期和長期策略重點方面所取得的進展。

Before I turn it over to Marc, I'll remind everyone that today's discussion will include non-IFRS and other financial measures as well as forward-looking statements regarding Enerflex's expectations for future performance and business prospects.

在將其交給 Marc 之前，我要提醒大家，今天的討論將包括非 IFRS 和其他財務指標，以及有關 Enerflex 對未來業績和業務前景的預期的前瞻性陳述。

Forward-looking information involves risks and uncertainties, and the stated expectations could differ materially from actual results or performance. For more information, refer to the advisory statements within our news release, MD&A and other regulatory filings, all available on our website and under the SEDAR+ and EDGAR profiles.

前瞻性資訊涉及風險和不確定性，所陳述的預期可能與實際結果或表現有重大差異。欲了解更多信息，請參閱我們的新聞稿、MD&A 和其他監管文件中的諮詢聲明，所有這些都可以在我們的網站上以及 SEDAR+ 和 EDGAR 配置文件下找到。

As part of our prepared remarks, we will be referring to slides in our updated investor presentation, which is available as part of the conference call link and on our website under the Investor Relations section. I'll now turn it over to Marc.

作為我們準備好的發言的一部分，我們將參考更新後的投資者簡報中的幻燈片，該簡報可作為電話會議連結的一部分以及我們網站上的投資者關係部分提供。我現在把它交給馬克。

Thanks, Jeff, and thank you all for joining us on this morning's call. We are pleased to report another quarter of strong operational performance, with third quarter results reflecting solid execution across the company's business lines as well as our hard work over the last few years building a strong, resilient company positioned for sustainable growth and value creation.

謝謝傑夫，也謝謝大家參加今天早上的電話會議。我們很高興地報告又一個季度強勁的營運業績，第三季的業績反映了公司各業務線的紮實執行，以及我們在過去幾年中為打造一家強大、有彈性的公司以實現可持續增長和價值創造而付出的努力。

The energy infrastructure and aftermarket services business lines continue to deliver steady performance generating 65% of our gross margin before depreciation and amortization during the quarter.

能源基礎設施和售後服務業務線持續保持穩定的業績，佔本季折舊和攤銷前毛利率的 65%。

Slide 11 in our updated investor presentation highlights how Enerflex's business has shifted over the past five years and the increased stability we expect this will provide in our results over the coming years. Thus far in 2024, we have successfully reduced leverage to within our target range of 1.5x to 2.0x. We've been disciplined with growth capital and continued to reduce the cost per debt.

我們更新的投資者簡報中的幻燈片 11 重點介紹了 Enerflex 的業務在過去五年中的變化，以及我們預計這將為我們未來幾年的業績帶來的穩定性的提高。2024 年迄今為止，我們已成功將槓桿率降低至 1.5 倍至 2.0 倍的目標範圍內。我們一直嚴格控製成長資本，並繼續降低每筆債務的成本。

Visibility across the company's business lines remain solid, including approximately $1.6 billion of contracted revenue supporting our EIA assets and a $1.3 billion Engineered Systems backlog. As a result, Enerflex is able to increase direct shareholder returns with the Board approving a 50% increase to our quarterly dividend.

公司各業務線的可見度仍然穩固，包括支援我們的 EIA 資產的約 16 億美元的合約收入和 13 億美元的工程系統積壓訂單。因此，隨著董事會批准將我們的季度股息增加 50%，Enerflex 能夠增加直接股東回報。

I will now briefly touch on a few highlights for each of our business lines. Energy infrastructure continues to perform well across our three regions, the US, Latin America, and the Middle East. In the US, our contract compression fleet continues to benefit from the increasing natural gas production in the Permian Basin offering a 94% utilization during the quarter across 428,000 horsepower.

現在我將簡要介紹我們每個業務線的一些亮點。我們的三個地區（美國、拉丁美洲和中東）的能源基礎設施持續表現良好。在美國，我們的合約壓縮機隊繼續受益於二疊紀盆地不斷增長的天然氣產量，本季利用率達 94%，功率達 428,000 匹馬力。

The business generated revenue of $37 million and gross margin before depreciation, amortization of 70% during Q3 2024 compared to $33 million and 67% in the prior year. Slides 18 and 19 highlight our fleet composition and the strong relative operating performance of this business.

2024 年第三季度，該業務的收入為 3,700 萬美元，折舊、攤銷前毛利率為 70%，而前一年為 3,300 萬美元，攤銷前毛利率為 67%。幻燈片 18 和 19 重點介紹了我們的機隊組成以及該業務強勁的相對營運業績。

Demand for new contract compression equipment in the United States remain strong, and we are selectively expanding our fleet. New units are being deployed under multiyear contracts in core operating regions with the focus on large horsepower natural gas and electric drive applications.

美國對新合約壓縮設備的需求仍然強勁，我們正在選擇性地擴大我們的機隊。新機組正在根據多年合約在核心營運區域部署，重點是大馬力天然氣和電力驅動應用。

Slide 16 and 17 of the investor presentation highlight our international energy infrastructure business, which includes approximately 1.5 million horsepower of operated compression and 26 build, own, operate, and maintain or BOOM projects in the Middle East and Latin America.

投資者簡報的幻燈片16 和17 重點介紹了我們的國際能源基礎設施業務，其中包括約150 萬馬力的運行壓縮設備以及位於中東和拉丁美洲的26 個建造、擁有、運營和維護或BOOM 項目。

Our two produced water projects in Oman continue to perform very well, and we are in the process of expanding one of those sites. Our international energy infrastructure business is supported by approximately $1.5 billion of contracted revenue and an average contract term that exceeds five years.

我們在阿曼的兩個採出水項目繼續表現良好，我們正在擴建其中一個項目。我們的國際能源基礎設施業務由約 15 億美元的合約收入和超過五年的平均合約期限支撐。

Turning to aftermarket services. This business line benefited from strong activity levels and customer maintenance activities during the quarter. We expect these trends to continue into 2025.

轉向售後服務。該業務線受益於本季強勁的活動水平和客戶維護活動。我們預計這些趨勢將持續到 2025 年。

On the engineered systems side, we recorded bookings of $349 million in the quarter and maintained our backlog at $1.3 billion. The majority of this backlog is scheduled to be converted into revenue over the next 12 months. Facility throughput remains steady and margins for this business line have benefited from favorable product mix and strong project execution.

在工程系統方面，本季我們的訂單量為 3.49 億美元，積壓訂單維持在 13 億美元。大部分積壓訂單預計將在未來 12 個月內轉化為收入。設施吞吐量保持穩定，該業務線的利潤受益於有利的產品組合和強大的專案執行。

Demand for new engineered systems equipment and services in North America has been impacted by an extended weakness in domestic natural gas prices. This, combined with the anticipated overall mix of projects in Enerflex's engineered systems backlog is expected to result in gross margin before depreciation and amortization, more consistent with the long-term average for this business line.

北美對新工程系統設備和服務的需求受到國內天然氣價格持續疲軟的影響。再加上 Enerflex 工程系統積壓中預期的整體專案組合，預計折舊和攤銷前的毛利率將與該業務線的長期平均水準更加一致。

Notwithstanding the near-term revenue for this business line is expected to remain steady and the medium-term outlook for engineered systems products and services continues to be attractive, driven by increases in natural gas, oil and produced water volumes across Enerflex's global footprint and decarbonization activities.

儘管該業務線的近期收入預計將保持穩定，並且在 Enerflex 全球足跡和脫碳化的天然氣、石油和採出水量增加的推動下，工程系統產品和服務的中期前景仍然有吸引力活動。

Before I turn the call over to Preet, I want to emphasize that the underlying macro drivers for our business are very strong with the ongoing focus on global energy security and the growing need for low emissions natural gas resulting in a strong demand for Enerflex' energy infrastructure and energy transition solutions.

在將電話轉給 Preet 之前，我想強調，我們業務的潛在宏觀驅動力非常強勁，因為人們對全球能源安全的持續關注以及對低排放天然氣的需求不斷增長，導致對 Enerflex 能源的強勁需求基礎設施和能源轉型解決方案。

Against this backdrop, our business lines continue to deliver solid performance, and we are focused on enhancing the profitability of our core operations and Enerflex's ability to focus on growth and return of capital to shareholders. With that, I'll turn it over to Preet to speak to the financial highlights of the quarter.

在此背景下，我們的業務線繼續取得穩健的業績，我們致力於提高核心業務的盈利能力以及 Enerflex 專注於成長和股東資本回報的能力。接下來，我將把它交給普雷特來談談本季的財務亮點。

Thanks, Marc, and good morning, everyone. During the third quarter, we reported consolidated revenue of $601 million compared to $580 million in Q3 '23 and $614 million in Q2 '24 as we benefit from additional project volumes in our engineered systems business line. Gross margin before depreciation and amortization was $176 million or 29% of revenue compared to $150 million or 26% of revenue in Q3 '23 and $173 million or 28% of revenue during Q2 '24.

謝謝，馬克，大家早安。第三季度，我們報告的綜合收入為 6.01 億美元，而 23 年第三季為 5.8 億美元，24 年第二季為 6.14 億美元，因為我們受益於工程系統業務線的額外專案量。折舊和攤銷前的毛利率為1.76 億美元，佔營收的29%，而23 年第三季為1.5 億美元，佔營收的26%，24 年第二季為1.73 億美元，佔營收的28 %。

Adjusted EBITDA was $120 million compared to $90 million in Q3 '23 and $122 million during Q2 2024. Energy infrastructure gross margin before D&A of $91 million compared to $77 million in Q3 '23 and the same in Q2 '24, as we benefited from higher utilization and price increases on renewed contracts.

調整後 EBITDA 為 1.2 億美元，而 23 年第三季為 9,000 萬美元，2024 年第二季為 1.22 億美元。D&A 之前的能源基礎設施毛利率為 9,100 萬美元，而 23 年第三季的毛利率為 7,700 萬美元，24 年第二季也相同，因為我們受益於續約合約的利用率提高和價格上漲。

Aftermarket services gross margin before D&A was 19% in the quarter, benefiting from strong customer maintenance programs. Enerflex's SG&A of $82 million was $7 million higher year over year and on a sequential basis, mainly due to increased share-based compensation.

受益於強大的客戶維護計劃，本季 D&A 之前的售後服務毛利率為 19%。Enerflex 的銷售及管理費用為 8,200 萬美元，較去年同期增加了 700 萬美元，這主要是由於股權激勵的增加。

Foreign exchange losses and loss from associated instruments remained modest during Q3 '24, reflective of global cash management strategies and lower cash balances in Argentina. Cash provided by operating activities was $98 million in Q3 '24, which included a working capital recovery of $35 million. We are pleased with our ongoing global efforts to efficiently manage working capital.

2024 年第三季度，外匯損失和相關工具損失仍然不大，這反映了全球現金管理策略和阿根廷現金餘額較低的情況。2024 年第三季經營活動提供的現金為 9,800 萬美元，其中包括 3,500 萬美元的營運資本回收。我們對我們在全球範圍內持續努力有效管理營運資金感到滿意。

Free cash flow was $78 million compared to $29 million during Q3 '23, and a use of cash of $6 billion in Q2 '24. We invested $33 million in the business during the quarter, consisting of $16 million capital expenditures, primarily for maintenance and $17 million for expansion of an EIA project in the Eastern Hemisphere that will be accounted for as a finance lease. Enerflex also returned $2 million to shareholders in Q3 through dividends. We exited the quarter with a net debt of $692 million, which included $95 million of cash and had available liquidity of $588 million.

自由現金流為 7,800 萬美元，而 23 年第三季為 2,900 萬美元，24 年第二季的現金使用量為 60 億美元。本季我們在該業務上投資了 3300 萬美元，其中 1600 萬美元的資本支出主要用於維護，1700 萬美元用於東半球 EIA 項目的擴建，該項目將作為融資租賃進行會計處理。Enerflex 也在第三季透過股息向股東返還 200 萬美元。本季結束時，我們的淨債務為 6.92 億美元，其中包括 9,500 萬美元現金，可用流動資金為 5.88 億美元。

In October, Enerflex redeemed $62.5 million of its 9% notes due October 2027. The redemption was completed at a price of 103% and funded with available liquidity, which includes cash and cash equivalents and the undrawn portion of Enerflex's lower cost $800 million revolving credit facility. We expect the ongoing interest savings associated with the notes redeemed will materially exceed the redemption premium paid.

10 月，Enerflex 贖回了 2027 年 10 月到期的 9% 票據的 6,250 萬美元。此次贖回以 103% 的價格完成，並由可用流動資金提供資金，其中包括現金和現金等價物以及 Enerflex 成本較低的 8 億美元循環信貸額度中未提取的部分。我們預計與贖回票據相關的持續利息節省將大大超過支付的贖回溢價。

As a result of our continued focus on financial discipline and operational execution, we have repaid $268 million of debt since the beginning of 2023 and now reached our target leverage range of 1.5x to 2x. We expect to make further progress in coming quarters and remain committed to lowering net finance costs and optimizing the company's debt stack.

由於我們持續專注於財務紀律和營運執行，自 2023 年初以來，我們已償還了 2.68 億美元的債務，目前已達到 1.5 倍至 2 倍的目標槓桿範圍。我們預計在未來幾季取得進一步進展，並繼續致力於降低淨財務成本和優化公司的債務堆疊。

In line with our efforts to maintain a healthy balance sheet and optimize operations, we are revising our guidance for capital spending in 2024 to $80 million to $90 million compared to previous guidance of $90 million to $110 million. We continue to deploy selective growth capital to customer supported opportunities in the US and Middle East that are expected to generate attractive returns and deliver value to Enerflex shareholders. While Enerflex continues to develop its capital spending plans for 2025, the company expects growth capital will remain below its long-term historical average.

為了配合我們維持健康的資產負債表和優化營運的努力，我們正在將 2024 年資本支出指引修改為 8,000 萬至 9,000 萬美元，而先前的指引為 9,000 萬至 1.1 億美元。我們繼續將選擇性的成長資本部署到美國和中東客戶支持的機會上，這些機會預計將產生有吸引力的回報，並為 Enerflex 股東帶來價值。儘管 Enerflex 繼續制定 2025 年資本支出計劃，但該公司預計成長資本將仍低於其長期歷史平均值。

Similar to 2024, continued disciplined capital spending will focus on customer supported opportunities in the US and Middle East. Further details will be provided in conjunction with the release of the company's full year 2025 guidance in early January.

與 2024 年類似，持續嚴格的資本支出將重點放在美國和中東的客戶支援機會。更多細節將在公司 1 月初發布 2025 年全年指引時提供。

Providing meaningful returns to shareholders is a priority for Enerflex. With the company now operating within its target leverage range of bank adjusted net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 1.5x to 2x, Enerflex's position to expand its capital allocation priorities to include more direct returns to shareholders.

為股東提供有意義的回報是 Enerflex 的首要任務。由於該公司目前在銀行調整後的淨債務與 EBITDA 比率 1.5 倍至 2 倍的目標槓桿範圍內運營，Enerflex 有能力擴大其資本配置優先事項，包括為股東提供更多直接回報。

This is reflected in the Board of Directors' decision to increase the company's quarterly dividend by 50%. The increased quarterly dividend of CAD0.0375 per share is payable on January 16, 2025, to shareholders of record on November 26.

這反映在董事會決定將公司季度股息增加 50% 上。增加的季度股利每股 0.0375 加幣將於 2025 年 1 月 16 日支付給 11 月 26 日登記在冊的股東。

Going forward, capital allocation priorities could include further increase to the company's dividend, share purchases, disciplined growth capital spending, and/or further repayment of debt that would help lower net finance costs.

展望未來，資本配置優先事項可能包括進一步增加公司股利、股票購買、有紀律的成長資本支出和/或進一步償還債務，這將有助於降低淨財務成本。

Allocation decisions will be based on providing the most attractive shareholder returns and measured against Enerflex's ability to maintain balance sheet strength. I want to thank all Enerflex employees for their great efforts in delivering another strong quarter. I will now turn the call over to Marc for closing remarks.

分配決策將基於提供最具吸引力的股東回報，並根據 Enerflex 維持資產負債表實力的能力進行衡量。我要感謝所有 Enerflex 員工為實現又一個強勁的季度所做的巨大努力。現在我將把電話轉給馬克做總結發言。

Thanks, Preet. We're proud of the operational, financial and strategic progress made in recent quarters and remain focused on our key objectives, one, enhancing the profitability of core operations; two, simplifying our operational and geographic footprint; and three, maximizing free cash flow to strengthen our financial position and enhance shareholder returns. I look forward to building on our progress to create significant value for shareholders. I will now hand the call back to the operator for questions.

謝謝，普雷特。我們對最近幾季在營運、財務和策略方面的進展感到自豪，並繼續專注於我們的關鍵目標，一是提高核心業務的獲利能力；第二，簡化我們的營運和地理足跡；第三，最大限度地提高自由現金流，以增強我們的財務狀況並提高股東回報。我期待著在我們不斷進步的基礎上為股東創造巨大價值。我現在將把電話轉給接線員詢問問題。

(Operator Instructions) Aaron MacNeil, TD Cowen.

（操作員說明）Aaron MacNeil，TD Cowen。

Marc, I can appreciate that in Preet's comments you sort of highlighted that Enerflex could look at a whole host of different shareholder returns. But since you've started to make that pivot, I've got a couple of specific questions. I guess, one, how often do you think you'll evaluate the dividend? I know historically, it's been annually. What's your ultimate target shareholder return over time?

馬克，我可以理解，在普雷特的評論中，您強調了 Enerflex 可以考慮大量不同的股東回報。但自從你開始做出這個轉變以來，我有幾個具體問題。我想，第一，您認為您會多久評估一次股利？我知道從歷史上看，每年都是這樣。隨著時間的推移，您的最終目標股東回報是多少？

And is there the potential that we could see a change in the target leverage range? Or is it appropriate to just assume that shareholder returns are enhanced as you sort of trend towards the bottom end of that range?

我們是否有可能看到目標槓桿範圍改變？或者，當您趨向該範圍的底部時，假設股東回報會增加，是否合適？

Thanks for the question, Aaron. I wouldn't -- we're happy with our target leverage range of 1.5 to 2.0. It's our intention and indeed our priority to enhance those returns alongside further debt reduction in the coming quarters. But I think it would be premature to speculate or to provide any long-term guidance to that end.

謝謝你的提問，亞倫。我不會——我們對 1.5 至 2.0 的目標槓桿範圍感到滿意。我們的意圖，實際上也是我們的首要任務是在未來幾季進一步削減債務的同時提高這些回報。但我認為為此推測或提供任何長期指導還為時過早。

Fair enough. You mentioned that you're going to look at selectively expanding the US contract compression fleet. Could you just give us a bit more context in terms of the potential quantum in terms of total horsepower adds? And then to the extent possible, share what a hurdle rate might look like and as well as sort of minimum contract duration terms?

很公平。您提到您將考慮有選擇地擴大美國合約壓縮機隊。您能否為我們提供更多關於總馬力增加的潛在量的背景資訊？然後在可能的範圍內，分享最低門檻利率以及最短合約期限條款？

Yes, Aaron, we'll provide further guidance in the first week of 2025 as to our capital spending plans for that year. We would expect maintenance capital for the whole enterprise to be pretty -- 2025 will be pretty similar to 2024, and we'll provide further guidance on growth cap expenditures for 2025 in January.

是的，Aaron，我們將在 2025 年第一週就我們當年的資本支出計畫提供進一步的指導。我們預計整個企業的維護資本將相當可觀——2025 年將與 2024 年非常相似，我們將在 1 月份提供有關 2025 年增長上限支出的進一步指導。

And we don't have a certain horsepower we're looking to add. What we're really looking to do is make investments with our best customers and the best equipment that provide the best long-term returns for Enerflex.

而且我們還沒有想要增加的特定馬力。我們真正想做的是與我們最好的客戶和最好的設備進行投資，為 Enerflex 提供最佳的長期回報。

And in the prepared remarks, it was important for us to point out that any new growth capital that we've deployed in 2024, which has been modest and disciplined, they've been deployed under multiyear contracts.

在準備好的發言中，我們必須指出，我們在 2024 年部署的任何新增長資本都是根據多年期合約進行部署的，這些資本都是適度且嚴格的。

And indeed, the contracts that we're getting in the contract compression business and the last tranche of capital we spent have all been in excess of four years initial term which is 2 times or 3 times longer than what you would have seen a number of years ago. So the returns on that product is well in excess of what it was a number of years ago, primarily because the landscape for that asset class has gotten a lot better in the last number of years.

事實上，我們在合約壓縮業務中獲得的合約以及我們花費的最後一筆資本都超過了四年的初始期限，比您所看到的許多合約的期限長了 2 倍或 3 倍。 。因此，該產品的回報率遠遠超過了幾年前，主要是因為該資產類別的前景在過去幾年中變得更好。

Demand has gone up. Supply has been consolidated really amongst three big public companies. And we benefited from an improved revenue profile and contract term profile for those assets. But I think that's the really appealing parts of that asset class. And as far as the quantum and any long-term goals. We look forward to talking to the market a little bit more in the first week of January on that front.

需求上升了。供應實際上已經在三大上市公司之間進行了整合。我們受益於這些資產的收入狀況和合約期限狀況的改善。但我認為這是該資產類別真正有吸引力的部分。至於量子和任何長期目標。我們期待在一月份的第一周就這方面與市場進行更多的討論。

(Operator Instructions) Tim Monachello, ATB Capital Markets.

（操作員說明）Tim Monachello，ATB 資本市場。

I just wanted to understand a little bit around the capital return strategy and the decision to go with sort of token dividend increase versus an NCIB. Is that a reflection of just trying to preserve capital, considering, I mean, a significant entity would cost a lot of money? Or is there other considerations there?

我只是想了解一些關於資本回報策略以及與 NCIB 相比增加代幣股息的決定。我的意思是，考慮到一個重要的實體會花費很多錢，這是否反映了僅僅試圖保存資本？或是有其他考慮嗎？

Tim, it's Preet. I mean, now that we're in the target leverage range, our priority is to enhance shareholder returns alongside further debt repayment. We're at 1.9 times between 1.5 to 2. And the first good step we felt that with Board approval is an increase in the dividend to CAD0.0375 per quarter.

提姆，我是普利特。我的意思是，既然我們處於目標槓桿範圍內，我們的首要任務是在進一步償還債務的同時提高股東回報。我們的倍數是 1.9 倍，介於 1.5 到 2 之間。我們認為，獲得董事會批准後，邁出的第一步就是將每季股利增加至 0.0375 加幣。

So going forward, every quarter, we'll continue to look at our key financial priorities. We look at financial position, balance sheet, health and leverage, free cash flow and also visibility into our sustainable revenue streams going forward, both sides or all sides of the business and then look at the different levers, continued dividend versus share buybacks, growth CapEx, Marc already talked about, we'll put some messages out early January, very disciplined approach in growth CapEx and maintenance CapEx next year as we did this year. And also for the debt reduction, that's still a high priority.

因此，展望未來，每個季度我們都會繼續關注我們的關鍵財務優先事項。我們專注於財務狀況、資產負債表、健康狀況和槓桿、自由現金流以及對業務雙方或所有方面未來可持續收入流的可見性，然後關注不同的槓桿、持續股息與股票回購、增長資本支出，馬克已經談到，我們將在一月初發布一些消息，明年的成長資本支出和維護資本支出將採取非常嚴格的方法，就像我們今年所做的那樣。對於削減債務而言，這仍然是重中之重。

So every quarter, we'll look at the different levers, balance with where we are from a financial position, balance sheet, P&L and cash flow, and we'll make some calls on a quarter-by-quarter basis. So that's kind of the next little while. I mean January and end of February, we'll advise again, but we feel good about this initial step with the dividend, and we've got the other levers to consider every quarter as we move forward.

因此，每個季度，我們都會考慮不同的槓桿，與我們的財務狀況、資產負債表、損益表和現金流量進行平衡，並且我們會按季度做出一些決定。這就是接下來的一段時間。我的意思是一月和二月底，我們會再次提供建議，但我們對股息的第一步感到滿意，並且在我們前進的過程中，我們每個季度都會考慮其他槓桿。

Okay. That's helpful. On the energy infrastructure side of the business, we saw a nice uptick in gross margins in the quarter to the low-60s from the mid-50s on a year over year and quarter-over-quarter basis. Is there -- how should we think about that? Is that something we should expect going forward?

好的。這很有幫助。在能源基礎設施業務方面，我們看到本季的毛利率年比和季比大幅上升，從 50 左右上升到 60 左右。我們該如何思考這個問題？這是我們未來該期待的事嗎？

Hey Tim, it's Jeff. There's really three things to reference there. The first is we had some higher overhaul work, especially in the Middle East during the third quarter. The asset utilization across the EIA platform continued to be very strong in Q3. And we were also benefiting from some rate increases across a number of the asset bases as well.

嘿提姆，我是傑夫。這裡確實有三件事值得參考。首先是我們進行了一些更高的檢修工作，特別是第三季在中東。第三季度，EIA 平台的資產利用率持續保持強勁。我們也受益於一些資產基礎的利率上漲。

On a go-forward standpoint, the overhaul is more sporadic, and I wouldn't include that in your outlook going forward. Utilization should be fairly steady and normalized, and we do expect the rate increases to largely stay for us as well. So we were above sort of a more typical gross margin range in absolute in percentage terms in Q3, but I wouldn't take the Q3 number and normalize it going forward.

從未來的角度來看，改革更加零星，我不會將其納入您的未來展望。利用率應該相當穩定且正常化，我們確實預期利率的上漲也將在很大程度上維持在我們身上。因此，我們在第三季的絕對毛利率範圍高於更典型的毛利率範圍，但我不會採用第三季的數字並將其標準化。

How significant was the overall work?

整體工作有多重要？

We can't get into the specifics of it, but it certainly did benefit the margin in the quarter.

我們無法了解具體細節，但它確實有利於本季的利潤率。

So should we think about it somewhere between low-60s and mid-50s on a go-forward basis then?

那麼，我們是否應該在未來的基礎上考慮 60 年代低至 50 年代中期之間的某個位置呢？

We'll step back from providing formal guidance on that, but I think referencing the Q3 number relative to where we've been on a more typical basis in recent quarters is a good reference point.

我們將不再就此提供正式指導，但我認為參考第三季度的數據相對於我們最近幾季的更典型情況是一個很好的參考點。

Okay. And then in the engineered systems business. I'm just trying to better understanding of how the mix in the backlog looks. There's some commentary suggesting that production -- or sorry, processing equipment have seen strong demand, that would be a higher margin business line and sort of weakening demand on the compression side, but then you also mentioned and I guess, reaching margins on the compression side, but then you mentioned a mix shift, which is going to negatively impact margins. So I'm just trying to bridge the gap there.

好的。然後是工程系統業務。我只是想更了解待辦事項中的組合情況。有一些評論表明，生產——或者抱歉，加工設備需求強勁，這將是利潤率更高的業務線，並且壓縮方面的需求有所減弱，但你也提到了，我猜，達到了壓縮方面的利潤率一邊，但後來你提到了混合轉變，這將對利潤率產生負面影響。所以我只是想彌補那裡的差距。

Hey Tim, this is Marc. We're really happy with the bookings we got in the quarter, maintaining our backlog of $1.3 billion. Within that backlog, there is a significant breadth and depth of products and regions that we're supporting from cryo plants to LPG export terminals to RNG projects, CO2 compression. We delivered some CCS projects in Canada in the last quarter, so a really good mix.

嘿蒂姆，這是馬克。我們對本季獲得的訂單非常滿意，積壓訂單維持在 13 億美元。在這些積壓訂單中，我們支援的產品和地區具有廣泛的廣度和深度，從低溫工廠到液化石油氣出口終端，再到RNG項目和二氧化碳壓縮。上個季度我們在加拿大交付了一些 CCS 項目，這是一個非常好的組合。

And when we look at the embedded margin, we did indicate in the prepared remarks that the embedded margin as we look at it, is closer to our long-term averages. And that's despite our breadth of products and geographies, the weak natural gas price in North America combined a little bit with the effects of consolidation in the Permian Basin and the consolidator is taking a more long-term view of managing that resource. We'd like to point out that the great results are people delivered in Q3 on ES, that we see that sort of averaging back -- moving back closer to the average that you've seen over the last couple of years.

當我們查看嵌入利潤時，我們確實在準備好的評論中指出，我們所看到的嵌入利潤更接近我們的長期平均值。儘管我們的產品和地理範圍廣泛，但北美天然氣價格疲軟與二疊紀盆地整合的影響有些結合，整合者正在以更長遠的眼光來管理該資源。我們想指出的是，偉大的成果是人們在第三季度在 ES 上交付的，我們看到了這種平均水平的回歸——接近過去幾年的平均水平。

Okay. And then you've got some nice tailwinds in the US rental compression space, signing some extended length contracts. It looks like pricing is moving higher, but then that contrasts with sort of a weakening view of compression margins on sales. So how are your customers thinking about compression and the decision to own versus rent? Has that changed?

好的。然後，您在美國租賃壓縮領域獲得了一些不錯的順風，並簽署了一些延長期限的合約。看起來定價正在走高，但這與銷售利潤率壓縮的減弱觀點形成鮮明對比。那麼，您的客戶如何考慮壓縮以及購買與租賃的決定？那改變了嗎？

I don't think it's really changed, Tim. I think a dynamic that we have to pay really close attention to is how the consolidators, especially in the Permian Basin are thinking about infrastructure. I'd say a word I would use right now is purposeful.

我認為情況並沒有真正改變，蒂姆。我認為我們必須密切關注的一個動態是整合者，特別是二疊紀盆地的整合者如何考慮基礎設施。我想說我現在用的一個字是有目的的。

They're being quite purposeful and they're taking a very long-term view of how to manage that resource and how to best build up the infrastructure to get that resource to market. With several consolidators, we do service and new unit sales, and we provide contract compression services. So I'm happy that we've got the scale and the breadth of offerings to address them no matter where they and how they decide to execute on that infrastructure build.

他們的目標非常明確，並且從長遠角度考慮如何管理該資源以及如何最好地建立基礎設施以將該資源推向市場。我們與多家集運商一起提供服務和新產品銷售，並提供合約壓縮服務。因此，我很高興我們擁有規模和廣度的產品來解決這些問題，無論他們在哪裡以及他們決定如何執行基礎設施建置。

Thank you. I would now like to turn the call back over to Marc Rossiter for any closing remarks.

謝謝。我現在想將電話轉回給馬克·羅西特 (Marc Rossiter)，請他發表結束語。

Since there are no further questions, I'd like to thank everyone for joining today's call. We look forward to providing you with our year-end financial results in late February.

由於沒有其他問題，我要感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。我們期待在二月底向您提供我們的年終財務表現。

Thank you. This concludes the conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。