伊士曼化學 (EMN) 2016 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day everyone and welcome to the Eastman Chemical Company third-quarter 2016 conference call. Today's conference is being recorded. This call is being broadcast live on the Eastman website, www.eastman.com.

大家好，歡迎參加伊士曼化學公司2016年第三季電話會議。今天的會議正在錄製中。本次電話會議將在伊士曼網站www.eastman.com上進行現場直播。

We will now turn the call over to Mr. Greg Riddle of Eastman Chemical Company Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

現在我們將把電話轉交給伊士曼化學公司投資者關係部的Greg Riddle先生。先生，請講。

Thank you, Ron, and good morning everyone and thanks for joining us. On the call with me today are Mark Costa, Board Chair and CEO; Curt Espeland, Executive Vice President and CFO; and Louis Reavis, Manager, Investor Relations.

謝謝，Ron，大家早安，謝謝你們加入我們。今天與我一起參加電話會議的還有董事會主席兼執行長Mark Costa、執行副總裁兼財務長Curt Espeland以及投資者關係經理Louis Reavis。

Before we begin I will cover two items. First, during this presentation you will hear certain forward-looking statements concerning our plans and expectations. Actual events or results could differ materially. Certain factors related to future expectations are or will be detailed in the Company's third-quarter 2016 financial results news release and our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including the Form 10-Q filed for second-quarter 2016 and the Form 10-Q to be filed for third-quarter 2016.

在開始之前，我將介紹兩點。首先，在本次演講中，您將聽到一些關於我們計劃和預期的前瞻性陳述。實際事件或結果可能有重大差異。與未來預期相關的某些因素已在或將在本公司2016年第三季財務業績新聞稿以及我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件（包括已提交的2016年第二季10-Q表和即將提交的2016年第三季10-Q表）中詳細說明。

Second, earnings per share and operating earnings referenced in this presentation exclude certain non-core costs, charges and gains. A reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures and other associated disclosures including a description of the excluded items, are available in the third quarter 2016 financial results news release. You can find this on our website at www.Eastman.com in the investor section. Projection of future earnings also exclude any non-core unusual or nonrecurring items.

其次，本報告中提及的每股盈餘和營業收益均不包括某些非核心成本、費用和收益。與最直接可比較的 GAAP 財務指標的對帳表及其他相關揭露（包括排除項目的描述）可在 2016 年第三季財務業績新聞稿中找到。您可以在我們的網站 www.Eastman.com 的投資者專區找到這些內容。對未來收益的預測也不包括任何非核心的異常或非經常性項目。

With that, I will turn the call over to Mark.

說完這些，我會把電話轉給馬克。

Good morning, everyone. I will start on slide three. I will begin my comments by reviewing our strategic highlights for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2016.

大家早安。我從第三張投影片開始。首先，我將回顧我們2016年第三季和前九個月的策略亮點。

We continued to upgrade the quality of our product mix by growing high-margin specialty product lines, a key component of our winning strategy. And I have increasing confidence about the breadth and depth of our innovation portfolio which is significantly more compelling today than it was three years ago. One of our recent innovation successes is within our tire resins platform in the Additives and Functional Products segment.

我們持續提升產品組合的質量，拓展高利潤的特種產品線，這是我們致勝策略的關鍵組成部分。我對我們創新產品組合的廣度和深度越來越有信心，如今的創新產品組合比三年前更具吸引力。我們最近的創新成果之一就體現在添加劑和功能產品板塊的輪胎樹脂平台上。

Tire manufacturers face a significant challenge in improving fuel efficiency while maintaining traction safety. Eastman is uniquely qualified to meet this challenge. We are the world leader in resin technology chemistry. I'm pleased to report that we have gained commercial approval with a major tire producer for two new proprietary products and are in the process of sampling a full range of resins with selected innovation partners.

輪胎製造商面臨著在提高燃油效率的同時保持牽引安全性的重大挑戰。伊士曼擁有獨一無二的優勢，能夠應付這項挑戰。我們是樹脂技術化學領域的全球領導者。我很高興地告訴大家，我們已獲得一家大型輪胎生產商對兩款全新專有產品的商業批准，並且正在與選定的創新合作夥伴合作，對全系列樹脂進行樣品測試。

So far this year the tire resins platform has delivered approximately 20% volume growth over 2015 with margins above the corporate average. This is a great example of revenue synergy from the Solutia acquisition combining a strong market connect and application development capability with our resin technology platform.

今年迄今為止，輪胎樹脂平台的銷量較2015年成長了約20%，利潤率也高於公司平均。這是收購首諾帶來的收入協同效應的一個很好的例子，該效應將我們強大的市場聯繫和應用開發能力與我們的樹脂技術平台完美結合。

Moving next to our capital projects that support our specialty growth. We are leveraging our unique innovation capabilities and investing for long-term growth where it counts. From Tritan to interlayers to Crystex, we are the world leader in both process technology and product offerings and are winning through our innovation platforms. We are walking the talk with our investments in growth and specialty products and seeing the results.

接下來是支持我們特種產品業務成長的資本項目。我們正在利用我們獨特的創新能力，並在關鍵領域投資，以實現長期成長。從Tritan到中間膜再到Crystex，我們在製程技術和產品供應方面均處於全球領先地位，並憑藉我們的創新平台取得成功。我們正以實際行動實踐對成長和特種產品的投資，並取得了豐碩的成果。

We are therefore driving hard to complete these capital projects to support our growth. All three of these projects are on target to finish on or well below budget which demonstrates our competitive advantage through best-in-class engineering, construction and operational capabilities.

因此，我們正在全力推動這些資本項目，以支持我們的成長。這三個項目都有望以預算或遠低於預算完成，這體現了我們憑藉一流的工程、施工和營運能力所展現的競爭優勢。

In a slow growth world, we are creating our own growth and investing capital smartly. We also are proving that we can drive innovation while managing costs aggressively. We remain well on track with our cost reduction efforts to deliver $100 million to the bottom line in 2016 without sacrificing our investment in long-term growth initiatives.

在低成長的全球環境下，我們正在創造自身的成長，並明智地投資資本。我們也正在證明，我們能夠在積極管理成本的同時推動創新。我們仍在穩步推進成本削減計劃，力爭在2016年實現1億美元的淨利潤，同時不犧牲對長期成長計劃的投資。

These efforts include implementation of hundreds of projects across our global footprint. One example is the successful initiative recently completed by our process control team. We were able to utilize a plant loader program associated with our largest cracker in Longview, Texas. The initiative increased feed efficiency saving almost $2 million in cost. This is a great example of how our significant scale and integration at our two largest sites provide us a unique competitive advantage where we have dedicated experts in a wide range of specialized operational disciplines.

這些努力包括在我們全球業務範圍內實施數百個專案。其中一個例子是我們過程控制團隊最近成功完成的計劃。我們能夠利用與我們位於德克薩斯州朗維尤的最大裂解裝置相關的工廠裝載程序。該計劃提高了進料效率，節省了近200萬美元的成本。這是一個很好的例子，顯示我們在兩個最大工廠的大規模和一體化如何為我們帶來獨特的競爭優勢，我們擁有精通各種專業操作領域的專家。

We also leverage these experts across the globe to optimize performance in the smaller manufacturing sites from our acquisitions to our sites we have had for a long time.

我們也利用全球各地的專家來優化小型製造基地（從我們收購的基地到我們長期擁有的基地）的績效。

In addition, we remain on track to execute our second cost-reduction initiative this quarter which we expect will deliver an additional $100 million to the bottom line in 2017.

此外，我們仍將按計劃於本季實施第二項成本削減計劃，預計該計劃將為 2017 年帶來額外的 1 億美元利潤。

Productivity is a core capability at Eastman. Over the past five years, we removed almost $700 million in cost to offset inflation and deliver results to the bottom line while maintaining our commitment to quality, reliability and safety.

生產力是伊士曼的核心競爭力。過去五年，我們削減了近7億美元的成本，以抵消通貨膨脹，並在保持對品質、可靠性和安全承諾的同時，實現了盈利。

We are continuing to innovate throughout our enterprise in product development, in how we think about manufacturing, and our approach to productivity across all of our functions. All of these areas will contribute to our strong growth going forward.

我們正持續創新，涵蓋整個企業的產品開發、製造理念以及所有職能部門的生產力提升方法。所有這些領域都將幫助我們未來的強勁成長。

With that I will turn it over to Curt to discuss corporate and segment results.

接下來，我將把主題交給 Curt 來討論公司和部門的表現。

Thanks, Mark, and good morning, everyone. I will start with our third-quarter results on slide four.

謝謝馬克，大家早安。我先從第四張投影片開始介紹我們第三季的業績。

Overall sales revenue decreased primarily due to lower selling prices and lower fiber sales volumes more than offsetting higher sales volume in all other segments. Our operating earnings declined as an increase in advanced materials was more than offset by declines in the other segments. Despite the challenging business environment, our operating margin was above 18%. Adjusted earnings per share was $1.86 for the quarter as actions we took led to both operating earnings and taxes coming in better than expected.

整體銷售收入下降主要由於銷售價格下降和纖維銷售下降，這抵消了所有其他部門銷售的成長。我們的營業利潤下降是由於先進材料業務的成長被其他部門的下滑所抵消。儘管業務環境充滿挑戰，我們的營業利潤率仍超過18%。本季調整後每股收益為1.86美元，這得益於我們採取的措施，營業利潤和稅費均比預期好。

Moving next to the segment results and starting with Advanced Materials on slide five which delivered another quarter of impressive growth driven by our innovation platforms. Third-quarter sales revenue increased due to double-digit volume growth of premium products. Eastman Tritan copolyester once again had a record volume quarter as we continued to lead in consumer durables and housewares.

接下來是各部門的業績，首先是第五張投影片上的先進材料業務，該業務在創新平台的推動下，第三季再次實現了令人矚目的成長。得益於高端產品兩位數的銷售成長，第三季銷售收入有所成長。伊士曼Tritan共聚酯再次創下季度銷售新高，我們繼續在耐用消費品和家居用品領域保持領先地位。

Saflex acoustic interlayers continued their strong growth this year as applications have expanded from the windshield to the side windows and the sunroof as well as expand into more models. Performance Film volumes were strong this quarter due to an excellent new channel strategy in North America and China.

Saflex隔音中間膜今年持續保持強勁成長，應用範圍從擋風玻璃擴展至側窗和天窗，並擴展到更多車型。得益於北美和中國市場出色的新通路策略，本季高性能薄膜銷售強勁。

The volume and mix improvement was partially offset by lower selling prices primarily for core copolyesters attributed to lower raw material costs. Operating earnings were up 22% or $25 million primarily driven by higher sales volume and improved product mix of premium products as well as lower unit costs due to higher capacity utilization.

銷售量和產品組合的改善部分抵銷了核心共聚酯產品銷售價格的下降，這主要歸因於原物料成本的下降。營業利潤成長22%，即2,500萬美元，這主要得益於銷售成長、高階產品組合的最佳化，以及產能利用率提高帶來的單位成本下降。

Operating margins for the quarter increased by approximately 350 basis points to over 22%. As we look ahead to the fourth quarter, we are expecting normal seasonal decline in volume. With that said, we expect Advanced Materials will deliver low double-digit earnings growth for the full year of 2016 and anticipate this business can continue to deliver strong growth again in 2017. We are delivering compelling proof of our ability to drive growth through innovation even in a difficult macro environment.

本季營業利益率成長約350個基點，達22%以上。展望第四季度，我們預期銷售量將出現正常的季節性下降。即便如此，我們預計先進材料業務2016年全年獲利將實現低兩位數成長，並預計該業務在2017年將持續保持強勁成長。我們正在用令人信服的證據證明，即使在艱難的宏觀環境下，我們也能透過創新推動成長。

Now to Additives and Functional Products on slide six. Sales revenue declined primarily due to lower selling prices attributed to lower raw material costs partially offset by higher sales volume. Operating earnings decreased primarily due to lower selling prices more than offsetting lower raw material costs and higher sales volume. The operating margin remained solid at over 21%. For full-year 2016, we continue to expect higher volumes and expect prices have mostly stabilized.

現在就來看看第六張投影片上的添加劑和功能性產品。銷售收入下降的主要原因是原物料成本下降導致的銷售價格下降，但銷售增加部分抵銷了這種影響。營業利潤下降的主要原因是銷售價格下降，這超過了原物料成本下降和銷售增加的影響。營業利益率維持穩定，超過21%。對於2016年全年，我們持續預期銷售成長，價格也基本上趨於穩定。

One other item I thought would be useful as you analyze this segment this year, we have been operating under a new organizational structure for a couple of quarters now which if you recall put some major product moves between Additives and Functional Products and Chemical Intermediates. As we analyze how resources and costs are flowing, it is coming out a little different than we expected in our historical recast. As you consider year-over-year comps, about $20 million or more costs are flowing through Additives and Functional Products in 2016 than what was reflected in the $660 million recasted view for them in 2015 while approximately $20 million less is flowing to Chemical Intermediates.

在分析今年的這個部門時，我認為還有一點會很有幫助。我們已經在新的組織架構下運作了幾個季度，如果您還記得的話，這在添加劑和功能產品以及化學中間體之間進行了一些重大的產品調整。當我們分析資源和成本的流動時，發現結果與我們在歷史重算中預期的略有不同。考慮到同比數據，2016年流向添加劑和功能產品的成本比2015年重算後的6.6億美元高出約2000萬美元，而流向化學中間體的成本則減少了約2000萬美元。

Putting it all together, Additives and Functional Products remains on track with our previous expectations for full-year earnings to be somewhat down which would be a solid result in the current business climate. As pricing stabilizes, we expect solid earnings growth next year through market volume growth and our innovation effort.

綜合來看，添加劑和功能性產品業務的業績符合我們先前的預期，全年獲利將略有下降，但在當前的商業環境下，這已屬穩健。隨著價格趨於穩定，我們預計明年獲利將透過市場銷售成長和我們的創新努力實現穩健成長。

Now to Fibers on slide seven. Third-quarter revenue, volume and earnings were in line with our expectations. Sales revenue decreased primarily due to lower sales volume and lower selling prices particularly for acetate tow. Lower acetate tow sales volume was primarily due to reduced sales into China.

現在就來看看第七張投影片上的纖維業務。第三季的營收、銷售和獲利均符合我們的預期。銷售收入下降主要是因為銷售下降和售價下降，尤其是醋酸纖維絲束。醋酸纖維絲束銷售下降主要是中國市場銷售下降。

Operating earnings declined due to lower sales volume. The lower selling prices were offset by recent actions we took to reduce raw material costs and actions to reduce operating costs. As a result, operating margins held at approximately 32%.

由於銷量下降，營業利潤下降。近期我們採取的降低原料成本和營運成本的措施抵銷了較低的銷售價格。因此，營業利潤率維持在約32%。

Our full-year outlook has not changed as we continue to expect second half earnings to be similar to first half which includes tow volumes being down approximately 10% for the year.

我們的全年展望沒有改變，因為我們繼續預計下半年的收益將與上半年相似，其中包括全年拖車量下降約 10%。

I will also mention that we continued contract negotiations through 2017 and anticipate earnings for the segment to be down roughly 20% next year. We remain confident in our long-term position and strongly believe that Fibers will continue to be a valuable business for Eastman going forward.

我還要提一下，我們在2017年持續進行合約談判，預計明年該部門的獲利將下降約20%。我們對自身的長期發展前景充滿信心，並堅信纖維業務未來仍將是伊士曼的寶貴業務。

I will finish up the segment review with Chemical Intermediates on slide eight. Sales revenue decreased due to lower selling prices. We attributed these lower selling prices to continued competitive pressures due to lower oil prices and weak demand in Asia-Pacific.

我將在第八張投影片上以化學中間體業務作為分部回顧的結束。銷售收入因銷售價格下降而下降。我們將銷售價格下降歸因於油價下跌和亞太地區需求疲軟導致的持續競爭壓力。

Operating earnings declined primarily due to lower selling prices more than offsetting lower raw material and energy costs and lower hedge costs.

營業利潤下降的主要原因是銷售價格下降超過了原材料和能源成本下降以及對沖成本下降的影響。

During the quarter, we saw some modest improvement in the overall business environment impacting chemical intermediates and now expect earnings in the back half of the year to be slightly higher than the first half and we expect this improvement to continue into next year.

在本季度，我們看到影響化學中間體的整體商業環境有所改善，現在預計下半年的收益將略高於上半年，我們預計這種改善將持續到明年。

Lastly, I will give you a quick update on our process for divesting our excess ethylene capacity and potentially certain commodity olefin product lines. We continue our discussions with potential partners or parties and now anticipate this process will carry into next year though I will add that executing a transaction in this current environment remains challenging.

最後，我將簡單介紹我們剝離過剩乙烯產能以及部分商品烯烴產品線的進展。我們仍在與潛在合作夥伴或相關方進行洽談，預計該流程將持續到明年。不過，我想補充一點，在當前環境下執行交易仍然充滿挑戰。

On slide nine I will transition to an overview of our cash flows, our other financial highlights for the third quarter. We continue to do an excellent job of generating cash with third-quarter operating cash flow of $450 million. We contributed $50 million to our US pension plans in the quarter. Capital expenditures totaled $141 million. We continue to manage the pace of capital spending with the current economic environment while maintaining growth investments and continue to expect full-year capital expenditures to be between $600 million and $625 million.

在第九張投影片中，我將概述我們的現金流，以及我們第三季的其他財務亮點。我們繼續出色地創造現金，第三季的營運現金流達到4.5億美元。本季度，我們向美國退休金計畫注資5,000萬美元。資本支出總計1.41億美元。我們將繼續根據當前的經濟環境調整資本支出的節奏，同時保持成長型投資，並繼續預計全年資本支出將在6億美元至6.25億美元之間。

Free cash flow for the quarter was a strong $309 million and during the quarter, we reduced net debt by over $160 million, paid our third-quarter dividend of $68 million and repurchased $75 million of our shares. Through nine months of 2016, we have reduced debt by $400 million and returned almost $325 million to our stockholders.

本季自由現金流強勁，達3.09億美元。本季度，我們減少了超過1.6億美元的淨債務，支付了6,800萬美元的第三季股息，並回購了價值7,500萬美元的股票。 2016年前九個月，我們已減少4億美元的債務，並向股東返還了近3.25億美元。

Our effective tax rate for the quarter was just over 21% as we are benefiting from foreign tax credits and other positive tax attributes. We expect our full-year tax rate will be between 22% and 23% which is better than previous expectations reflecting the continued benefits of our improvement in business operations. We continue to look for every opportunity to reduce costs including taxes from both an earnings and cash flow standpoint. This quarter was another great example of our tax team finding such opportunities including amending previously filed tax returns.

本季我們的有效稅率略高於21%，這得益於我們受益於外國稅收抵免和其他積極的稅收政策。我們預計全年稅率將在22%至23%之間，高於先前的預期，反映了我們業務營運持續改善帶來的效益。我們將繼續從獲利和現金流的角度，尋找一切機會降低成本（包括稅費）。本季是我們稅務團隊尋找此類機會（包括修改先前提交的報稅表）的又一佳例。

Lastly, we remain on track to generate more than $900 million of free cash flow for this year which is a very strong performance in the current environment.

最後，我們今年仍有望產生超過 9 億美元的自由現金流，這在當前環境下是一個非常強勁的表現。

With that I will turn it back over to Mark.

說完這些，我會把話題交還給馬克。

Thanks, Curt. On page 10, we've talked a lot about the benefits of our portfolio transformation and how that contributes to more consistent earnings growth and strong free cash flow generation. You can see that our portfolio transformation has been a key element to delivering strong earnings for quite some time.

謝謝，Curt。在第10頁，我們詳細討論了投資組合轉型的益處，以及它如何促進更持續的獲利成長和強勁的自由現金流產生。您可以看到，長期以來，投資組合轉型一直是我們實現強勁獲利的關鍵因素。

Over the last six years, we have taken decisive actions to improve our portfolio through acquiring attractive specialty businesses and divesting underperforming businesses. We acquired these specialty companies at reasonable valuations with very attractive synergies that we have delivered.

過去六年，我們採取果斷行動，透過收購具有吸引力的特種業務並剝離表現不佳的業務來優化我們的投資組合。我們以合理的估值收購了這些特種業務公司，並實現了極具吸引力的綜效。

Organically, we have grown our volume and more importantly upgraded our mix. This is both within our heritage businesses and within the acquired businesses through great efforts in our innovation programs and through our commercial excellence.

我們實現了業務規模的有機成長，更重要的是，業務組合的升級。這不僅體現在我們的傳統業務上，也體現在我們透過大力推動創新項目和卓越商業表現而收購的業務上。

As a result of these efforts, you can see a very different story from who we were before versus today. We have improved the earnings mix across segments significantly. In 2010, Fibers and Chemical Intermediates were roughly 60% of the corporate earnings. Today that percentage is closer to 30%. For 2016, we expect that the combination of Advanced Materials and Additives and Functional Products will represent approximately 70% of our earnings and even in this environment, our EPS CAGR will still be roughly 11% from 2010 to 2016.

這些努力的成果，讓我們看到了與以往截然不同的景象。我們顯著改善了各業務部門的獲利結構。 2010年，纖維和化學中間體約占公司獲利的60%。如今，這一比例已接近30%。我們預計，2016年先進材料、添加劑和功能性產品的總獲利將占公司獲利的約70%。即使在這種環境下，2010年至2016年，我們的每股盈餘複合年增長率仍將維持在11%左右。

We also dramatically improved our free cash flow, almost tripling it from 2010 to 2016. With improvements in our core businesses and adding the strong free cash flow generation from our acquisitions has potentially upgraded the quality of our portfolio. And we are still investing capital to deliver long-term growth in our specialty businesses while we generate one of the strongest free cash flows in this industry.

我們的自由現金流也大幅提升，從2010年到2016年幾乎增加了兩倍。核心業務的改善，加上收購帶來的強勁自由現金流，潛在地提升了我們投資組合的品質。我們仍在持續投入資金，以實現特種業務的長期成長，同時我們擁有業內最強勁的自由現金流之一。

On slide 11, I will discuss our 2016 outlook. We are doing a great job of executing our strategy in a challenging global business environment. Strong growth of high-value innovative products continue as we benefit from leading positions in our attractive niche markets. We are seeing benefits of scale and integration translating to growth in earnings and we continue to invest in innovation and product development so we can sustain our momentum into the coming years.

在第11張投影片上，我將討論我們2016年的展望。在充滿挑戰的全球商業環境中，我們出色地執行了我們的策略。由於我們在極具吸引力的利基市場的領先地位，高價值創新產品持續保持強勁成長。我們看到規模化和整合的優勢正在轉化為獲利成長，我們將繼續投資於創新和產品開發，以確保在未來幾年保持這一成長勢頭。

We are also seeing be benefit of acquisition synergies in both cost and revenue. At the same time, we are achieving our cost reduction goals. I can't say enough about how our Eastman employees globally who made this possible.

我們也看到了收購帶來的成本和收入綜效。同時，我們正在實現成本削減目標。我對伊士曼全球員工的努力致以崇高的敬意，正是他們讓這一切成為可能。

As I mentioned earlier, productivity is in the DNA of Eastman and I remain very confident we will achieve our cost reduction targets for 2017.

正如我之前提到的，生產力是伊士曼的 DNA，我仍然非常有信心我們將實現 2017 年的成本削減目標。

In addition, we are using all lines of the income statement to support our performance this year including lower tax rates. All of these actions are helping to offset the challenges from low oil, sluggish global GDP growth and the challenges we face in fibers. Putting all of this together, our outlook for adjusted full-year 2016 earnings per share has improved to between $6.70 and $6.80 which I consider to be a solid result given our challenges.

此外，我們正在利用損益表的各項指標來支持今年的業績，包括降低稅率。所有這些措施都有助於抵消低油價、全球GDP成長疲軟以及我們在纖維領域面臨的挑戰。綜合考慮所有這些因素，我們對2016年全年調整後每股收益的預期已提升至6.70美元至6.80美元之間，考慮到我們面臨的挑戰，我認為這是一個穩健的業績。

We also continue to expect strong free cash flow this year above $900 million. We are creating value for our stakeholders with our balanced and disciplined allocation of this cash, increasing our dividend, increasing share repurchases and continued delevering.

我們預計今年的自由現金流將強勁成長，超過9億美元。我們透過均衡、規範的現金配置、增加股利、加大股票回購力道、持續去槓桿，為股東創造價值。

With this momentum in mind I will make a few comments about 2017. On the last call, I indicated we have confidence that we can get back on track for EPS growth in the 8% to 12% range in 2017 and we continue to be confident. As we look at it, we expect growth and innovation driven mix improvement in Advanced Materials and Functional Products. Cost reduction actions contribute about $0.50 per share.

鑑於此勢頭，我將就2017年發表一些評論。上次電話會議上，我表示我們有信心在2017年重回正軌，實現每股收益8%至12%的成長，我們將繼續保持這種信心。展望未來，我們預計先進材料和功能性產品業務將由成長和創新驅動，產品組合將得到改善。成本削減措施將貢獻每股收益約0.50美元。

The net of propane and currency hedges continue to roll off in 2017 to contribute about $0.30 per share. An increase in the level of share repurchases while maintaining a balanced approach with deleveraging. We continue to use all of the lines of the income statement to contribute to EPS growth. These would more than offset the roughly $0.30 per share headwind from Fibers and the preproduction expenses from our new specialty plants. The combination of these factors would get us to EPS growth in the 8% to 12% range.

2017年，扣除丙烷和貨幣避險後，每股盈餘持續遞減，貢獻約0.30美元。股票回購規模增加，同時保持去槓桿的平衡。我們將繼續利用損益表的所有項目來促進每股盈餘成長。這些將足以抵消纖維業務帶來的約0.30美元的每股收益逆差以及我們新特種工廠的試生產成本。這些因素的綜合作用將使我們的每股盈餘成長達到8%至12%之間。

I would also note that we don't need the world to get much better to achieve this growth and if things get better, there is upside.

我還要指出的是，我們不需要世界變得更好就能實現這種成長，如果情況變得更好，就有好處。

We will talk more about the outlook for 2017 in our fourth-quarter call in January. But I believe it is important now for you to understand why we are confident about delivering strong earnings growth and strong free cash flow in 2017. This has been a tough year and I'm proud of our employees around the world who have maintained focus and positioned us for growth going forward. I'm confident that 2017 will be a better year for Eastman.

我們將在明年1月的第四季電話會議上進一步探討2017年的前景。但我認為，現在重要的是，各位能夠理解我們為何對2017年實現強勁獲利成長和自由現金流充滿信心。這是艱難的一年，我為我們遍布全球的員工感到自豪，他們始終保持專注，並為未來的成長做好了準備。我相信，2017年對伊士曼來說將會是更美好的一年。

Most importantly, I believe that we are building one of the world's leading specialty companies to deliver long-term sustainable growth in a world where you need to create your own growth.

最重要的是，我相信我們正在打造世界領先的專業公司之一，在需要創造自身成長的世界中實現長期永續成長。

With that I will turn it back over to Greg.

說完這些，我會把話題交還給格雷格。

Thanks, Mark. We've got a lot of people on the line this morning this morning and we'd like to get to as many questions as possible so please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up.

謝謝，馬克。今天早上有很多人在線，我們希望盡可能多地回答問題，所以請您只提問一個問題，並進行一次後續跟進。

With that, Ron, we are ready for questions.

羅恩，我們已經準備好回答問題了。

(Operator Instructions). David Begleiter, Deutsche Bank.

（操作員說明）。大衛‧貝格萊特，德意志銀行。

Thank you. Good morning. Mark, thank you for the 2017 outlook, the early read. On 2017, can you talk a little bit about the free cash flow that 8% to 12% will generate and the uses of that free cash next year as well?

謝謝。早安.馬克，謝謝你對2017年的展望，提前讀。關於2017年，可以談談8%到12%的自由現金流，以及明年這些自由現金的用途嗎？

We will let Curt handle that question. I just want to add before he does that we are really excited about getting back to this path of earnings growth. We feel great about all the levers in front of us to get there and certainly expect it to improve our cash.

這個問題我們交給Curt來處理。我只想在他回答之前補充一點，我們對重回獲利成長軌道感到非常興奮。我們對實現這一目標的所有手段都感到很滿意，當然希望這能改善我們的現金狀況。

As Mark highlighted earlier and if I could, Eastman has one of the best portfolios I think that can generate cash in the industry and you are seeing that in the results and (inaudible) will see that next year. We do expect higher free cash flows next year as we see operating earnings grow as well as we will see a modest decline in our CapEx.

正如馬克之前強調的，如果可以的話，我認為伊士曼擁有業內最優秀的投資組合之一，能夠創造現金流，這一點您從業績中已經看到了，而且（聽不清）明年也能看到。我們預計明年自由現金流將會增加，因為我們的營業利潤將會成長，而且資本支出也將略有下降。

A couple of factors to think about when I am looking at 2017 cash flow is we will be watching what kind of raw material environment we are facing, if we expect higher raws, as you know that is going to give us some challenges in working capital that we will try to offset. I also am expecting some higher cash taxes next year as we have now fully utilized the NOLs as part of the Solutia transaction as well as you know there is a phaseout of bonus depreciation for manufacturers like Eastman.

在展望2017年的現金流時，我需要考慮幾個因素：我們會注意原料環境。如果預期原物料價格上漲，如你所知，這將為我們的營運資金帶來一些挑戰，我們會盡力彌補。此外，我預計明年的現金稅也會增加，因為我們現在已經充分利用了Solutia交易中的淨營運虧損（NOL），而且你知道，像Eastman這樣的製造商的獎金折舊正在逐步取消。

So putting it all together though, we are going to generate free cash flow over $900 million. With the earnings outlook that Mark talked about, I wouldn't be surprised if we see free cash flow approaching $1 billion.

所以，綜合起來，我們將產生超過9億美元的自由現金流。考慮到馬克談到的獲利前景，如果我們看到自由現金流接近10億美元，我一點也不會感到驚訝。

The allocation, what you will see is still a balance across the different buckets that we have. You know our disciplined and balanced approach to capital allocation but what you will see is some more balanced approach to deleveraging and share repurchases with that free cash flow. So if you think about deleveraging was the predominant use of cash flow this last couple of years that will moderate to be more balanced. And so you will see share repurchase probably in excess of $300 million.

您將看到的是，我們在各個項目之間的配置仍然保持平衡。您知道，我們在資本配置方面採取了嚴謹且均衡的策略，但您會看到，我們在去槓桿和利用自由現金流進行股票回購方面採取了更均衡的策略。因此，如果您認為去槓桿是過去幾年現金流的主要用途，那麼這種做法將會逐漸趨於平衡。因此，您會看到股票回購金額可能超過3億美元。

Excellent. Mark, you have seen some pricing increase announcements in oxos and plasticizers. Can you comment on the cadence of those price increases and how they could contribute to 2017 earnings growth?

非常好。馬克，您看到了一些含氧化合物和增塑劑的漲價公告。您能否評論一下這些漲價的節奏以及它們將如何促進2017年的獲利成長？

Sure, David. We are seeing traction in getting price increases in September and into October as the propylene and ethylene markets have strengthened, that has put pressure across the globe and played out as we expected in our second-quarter call. We saw that our competitors especially the Asians setting price on a lot of these products on a global basis. We are starting to hit their cost positions and as oil strengthened and their raw material cost, who often purchase propylene, ethylene was going up, they would face pressured increased prices and that is what we are seeing. So it is very encouraging to actually see prices go up for once. It has been a long time.

當然，David。隨著丙烯和乙烯市場走強，我們看到9月和10月價格上漲的勢頭，這給全球帶來了壓力，正如我們在第二季電話會議上所預期的那樣。我們發現，我們的競爭對手，尤其是亞洲競爭對手，在全球範圍內為許多此類產品定價。我們開始衝擊他們的成本優勢，而且隨著油價走強，以及他們（通常購買丙烯和乙烯的）原材料成本上漲，他們將面臨價格上漲的壓力，而這正是我們所看到的。因此，看到價格真的會上漲一次，非常令人鼓舞。這已經是很久以前的事了。

We do expect that momentum to continue as we go through the fourth quarter and carry into next year but obviously that will depend a bit on the raw material environment. So we will have to see where oil and olefin prices go. But we are happy to see the change in the direction and some traction right now.

我們確實預計這種勢頭將持續到第四季度，並延續到明年，但這顯然在一定程度上取決於原材料環境。因此，我們必須關注石油和烯烴價格的走勢。但我們很高興看到方向的轉變和目前的一些動力。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Robert Koort, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的羅伯特·庫爾特（Robert Koort）。

Thank you very much. Good morning. I was wondering if you could talk -- two items real quick, an update on how the Kuantan plants are progressing and when you might see some commissioning of those? And then secondly, can you speak a little bit about the volatility you have seen in Advanced Materials? Obviously you had a very nice showing again this quarter after a bit of a dip the prior. But what is sort of the path forward and the level of consistency or reduced volatility you might be able to deliver out of the business? Thanks.

非常感謝。早安.我想問您能否快速談兩點：關丹工廠的進度以及何時可以開始投產？其次，能否談談先進材料業務的波動性？在經歷了上一季的低迷之後，本季度您的業績再次表現良好。但是，您未來的發展方向是什麼？您認為該業務的穩定性或波動性達到何種程度？謝謝。

We are making great progress on both our Crystex and our PVB plants in Kuantan and driving hard to get those up in the back half of next year. And as I said, they are on track and we are excited. Customers around our new Crystex product that we are producing off of this new process technology are very excited and we are feeling pressure to get the plant up as quickly as we can to serve this new interest in the better performing product. The growth rates have largely been fantastic so we need to get the plant up to keep our growth.

我們在關丹的Crystex和PVB工廠都取得了長足進展，並正在全力以赴，爭取在明年下半年投產。正如我所說，一切進展順利，我們對此感到非常興奮。我們採用這項新製程技術生產的Crystex新產品的客戶都非常興奮，我們也感到壓力很大，必須盡快投產工廠，以滿足客戶對高性能產品的需求。目前，我們的成長率非常高，因此我們必須盡快投產工廠，以保持成長勢頭。

In regards to Advanced Materials, they are just having a phenomenal year like they had a phenomenal year last year and it is really proof of our strategy we have been talking about for the last five years. We said we we're going to drive growth through innovation and that is what we are doing. In Tritan, in heads-up display and acoustic interlayers and our performance films business all delivering double-digit growth and driving not just the sort of overall volume growth but the mix upgrade with all those products growing at such high rates with above segment and above Company average margins.

就先進材料業務而言，他們今年的表現與去年一樣出色，這充分證明了我們過去五年來一直在談論的策略。我們說過，我們將透過創新推動成長，而這正是我們正在做的事情。 Tritan、抬頭顯示器和聲學中間膜以及我們的高性能薄膜業務均實現了兩位數增長，不僅推動了整體銷量的增長，還推動了產品組合的升級，所有這些產品都實現了高速增長，利潤率也高於行業平均水平。

So it is just a good story, it is really very little of it is a raw material tailwind and what is driving the results which gives us confidence that it will sustain going forward.

所以這只是一個好故事，實際上很少是原料的順風，而推動結果的因素讓我們有信心它會持續下去。

And obviously third quarter was a quarter where everything just ran really well. We had good volume, good mix. The plants run incredibly well. One of the challenges in these kind of businesses where you are making such a physical product is you have yield and quality issues and we just had a really clean quarter in how we ran the plants.

顯然，第三季一切運作都非常順利。我們的產量不錯，產品組合也很好。工廠運作得非常好。這類生產實體產品的企業面臨的挑戰之一是產量和品質問題，而我們剛剛度過了一個非常順利的季度，工廠的運作情況非常良好。

Terrific, thank you.

太棒了，謝謝。

Mike Sison, KeyBanc.

KeyBanc 的 Mike Sison。

Nice quarter. Mark, could you help us out a little bit in terms of looking at Additive and Functional Products. It is sort of sitting in this specialty area in your bar chart so the earnings are going to be slightly down. Can you kind of parse out, there is a lot of business in there, what is growing? And maybe just kind of highlight the areas that the specialty business there that are showing earnings growth and maybe some of the headwinds, the hedges and stuff that is kind of impacting that?

季度表現不錯。馬克，您能否幫我們分析添加劑和功能性產品業務？它在您的條形圖中屬於專業領域，所以盈利會略有下降。您能否分析一下，這個領域有很多業務，哪些在成長？能否重點介紹哪些專業性業務領域獲利正在成長，以及一些不利因素、避險因素等等，這些因素可能會對獲利成長產生影響？

So first of all, this portfolio is a great set of specialty businesses, tremendous additives that add a lot of functionality across our customers in coatings, tires, adhesives and animal nutrition, crop, etc. It is just a great business of unique additives. So we view it as a business that will continue to grow.

首先，我們的產品組合涵蓋了一系列優秀的特種業務，包括種類繁多的添加劑，能夠為塗料、輪胎、黏合劑、動物營養、作物等領域的客戶帶來諸多功能。這本身就是一項由獨特添加劑組成的偉大業務。因此，我們認為這項業務將會持續成長。

As you look at the pricing which I think is the key question and how it has come off, prices have really stabilized since the second quarter so we did a great job of holding onto raw material value at the beginning of last year, started giving some of it back in the third quarter but really started giving it back in the fourth quarter and the first quarter of this year as we decided to share value with our customers. But those prices have stabilized. Really didn't have much sequential decline in prices at all from second-quarter into the third-quarter this year and we expect the same sort of stability as we go into the fourth quarter.

至於定價，我認為這是一個關鍵問題，而且價格走勢如何，自第二季以來，價格確實已經穩定下來。去年年初，我們在維持原物料價格方面做得很好，第三季開始回吐部分成本，但實際上，由於我們決定與客戶分享價值，第四季和今年第一季度，價格也開始回吐。不過，這些價格已經穩定下來。今年從第二季到第三季度，價格並沒有太大的環比下降，我們預計第四季價格也將保持相同的穩定。

You will see that even on a year-over-year basis, January as you see the trends in the fourth quarter. So that feels very stable to us an appropriate. We actually expect prices probably to start moving up in the coatings area especially on the olefin related products. The specialties are a little slower on prices on the way down. They are also slower on the way up. So Chemical Intermediates has already started to move on the pricing front and we expect as we go into next year, those prices on the specialty related products will also start to move up with these current market conditions. That all feels directionally correct to me.

即使與去年同期相比，1月份的價格也與第四季的趨勢一致。因此，我們認為這非常穩定且合理。實際上，我們預期塗料領域的價格可能會開始上漲，尤其是烯烴相關產品的價格。特種化學品的價格下跌速度略慢，上漲速度也較慢。因此，化學中間體的價格已經開始上漲，我們預計，隨著明年的到來，特種化學品相關產品的價格也將隨著當前的市場狀況開始上漲。我認為這一切都朝著正確的方向發展。

I think the important point is how you sustain these margins and continue to deliver growth over the long-term. It is easy to hold onto prices when raws drop but if you do that too aggressively and not share some of it with your customers you really create a problem with those customers being engaged and working with you on any future renovation.

我認為關鍵在於如何維持這些利潤率並持續實現長期成長。當原物料價格下跌時，維持價格很容易，但如果你過於激進地維持價格，而不與客戶分享部分利潤，那麼這些客戶就很難參與進來，無法與你合作進行未來的革新。

I think we have struck the right balance here and we are seeing that in the proof of our innovation successes. We are just having tremendous success throughout the AFP portfolio with innovation. Our Polyester Coatings is doing tremendously well, we talked to you about that in the first-quarter call and we have gone from three to 10 customers aggressively working with us on how to commercialize our product and take it to market.

我認為我們在這方面取得了正確的平衡，這一點從我們創新的成功中可見一斑。我們整個AFP產品組合的創新都取得了巨大的成功。我們的聚酯塗料業務表現非常出色，我們在第一季電話會議上也談到了這一點。目前，與我們積極合作的客戶從3家增加到了10家，致力於將我們的產品商業化並推向市場。

We are seeing great success in the tire resins that I just told you about. We're seeing great success in the Aerafin olefin products that I told you about in the second quarter call that go with the adhesive resins. We continue to see great traction in our low odor coalescence.

我剛才提到的輪胎樹脂產品取得了巨大成功。我在第二季電話會議上提到的與黏合劑樹脂配套的Aerafin烯烴產品也取得了巨大成功。我們的低氣味聚結劑產品也持續保持強勁成長動能。

So across the portfolio you are seeing a lot of innovation, a lot of traction. And as I said before, this is a little bit slower in getting started than Advanced Materials but as you look at the next three years, you are going to see all of these innovation programs driving growth and mix improvement here just like what we are doing at Advanced Materials.

所以，在整個產品組合中，你會看到大量的創新和發展。正如我之前所說，這比先進材料起步慢一些，但展望未來三年，你會看到所有這些創新項目都將推動成長和產品組合的最佳化，就像我們在先進材料所做的那樣。

What I love is we are proving across the board that we can deliver growth and innovation, we can create our own growth. We are not waiting for the economy to get better and that is the story you are going to see us deliver over the next three years.

我很高興看到，我們正在全面證明我們能夠實現成長和創新，我們能夠創造我們自己的成長。我們不會坐等經濟好轉，這就是你們未來三年會看到我們實現的故事。

Great. And I know you don't want to be too specific on 2017 yet per segment but if Additives and Functional Products grows volume next year, hedges come off, is there any reason why this segment wouldn't participate in showing some good earnings growth next year?

太好了。我知道您還不想對每個部門2017年的具體情況透露太多，但如果添加劑和功能性產品部門明年的銷量增長，套期保值業務也隨之減少，那麼這個部門明年的盈利增長還有什麼理由不體現出來呢？

We expect AFP to show good earnings growth next year as a combination of modest market volume growth. We are not assuming an improving economy next year just to be clear but we do assume there is an economy growing somewhat. So we will get some volume growth, we will get some mix improvement through the innovation. We will certainly see some benefits of the hedge but remember 80% of the hedge benefit flows to Chemical Intermediates so it is modest here. And of course the broader cost management programs, a certain amount of that benefit is going to flow into this segment.

我們預計AFP明年的獲利成長將良好，這得益於市場銷售的溫和成長。為了明確起見，我們不假設明年經濟會好轉，但我們假設經濟會有所成長。因此，我們的銷售量將有所成長，產品組合也將透過創新得到改善。我們肯定會看到對沖帶來的一些好處，但請記住，80%的對沖收益流向了化學中間體，因此對沖收益在這裡並不大。當然，更廣泛的成本管理項目，一定比例的收益將流入這一領域。

Great, thank you.

太好了，謝謝。

Frank Mitsch, Wells Fargo.

富國銀行的弗蘭克·米奇。

Good morning, gentlemen. A couple of questions. Curt, just a little bit of a clarification. I think you said that you are planning on doing at least $300 million of share buyback in 2017. Obviously you did $75 million this quarter, Q3. Should we assume that pace, that same $75 million plus pace in Q4 as well?

先生們，早安。有幾個問題。 Curt，我稍微澄清一下。我記得您說過計劃在2017年至少進行3億美元的股票回購。顯然，您在本季（第三季）已經回購了7,500萬美元。我們是否應該假設第四季也保持同樣的7,500萬美元以上的回購速度？

We will look at various uses of our cash in the fourth quarter. If we don't have more attractive uses of that cash, yes, some of that cash will be deployed for share repurchases.

我們將在第四季研究現金的各種用途。如果我們沒有更有吸引力的現金用途，那麼部分現金將用於股票回購。

I will take that as a yes, thank you.

我會將此視為同意，謝謝。

I am just saying, Frank, there is always competing uses of cash in the fourth quarter and we are going to look at all the options but in absence of others attractive options, yes, share repurchases will be one of the leading ideas for our deployment of our cash.

我只是說，弗蘭克，第四季度總是存在現金的競爭用途，我們將考慮所有的選擇，但在沒有其他有吸引力的選擇的情況下，是的，股票回購將是我們部署現金的主要想法之一。

Got you. Just kidding. I have to ask a question, Mark, with respect to fibers and the positioning the portfolio. 2015 very difficult year, 2016 very difficult year, 2017 you just changed guidance from 10% to 20% down to now down 20%. As I think about some of the shifting that is going on there, we used to kind of count on annual sort of contracts with your customers there but now we are hearing of multi-year contracts. So if you guys are structuring multi-year contracts, are we setting the stage where 2018 and 2019 are also going to be more difficult years? Can you talk a little bit about the prospects for that business post another difficult year?

明白了。開玩笑的。馬克，我想問一個關於纖維和產品組合定位的問題。 2015年非常艱難，2016年也同樣艱難，2017年你們剛剛把預期從10%到20%下修到現在的20%。我想到你們正在發生的一些變化，我們過去通常依賴與客戶簽訂年度合同，但現在我們聽說他們正在簽訂多年期合約。所以，如果你們正在建立多年期合同，我們是否為2018年和2019年也將更加艱難奠定了基礎？您能否談談在又一個艱難的年份之後，這項業務的前景如何？

Sure, Frank. We obviously spend an extensive amount of time talking about what is going on in the fibers business from demand trends to competitive behavior. And I think I provided quite a long soliloquy on this one in the second quarter call. So I will try and be sort of brief on it now.

當然，弗蘭克。我們顯然花了大量時間討論纖維業務的現狀，從需求趨勢到競爭行為。我記得我在第二季的電話會議上就這個問題發表了相當長的獨白。所以現在我會盡量簡短地講一下。

Bottom line is you've got a situation where demand situations weakened across the globe, specifically the imports in China and that has created pressure on pricing. And what we are seeing right now is that pricing pressure play out into the 2017 timeframe. Our objective is we can just keep the business stable. That has been our objective from the beginning. We took capacity out in the UK as we added capacity in China and we also exited some flake capacity as well.

歸根結底，全球需求疲軟，尤其是中國的進口，給價格帶來了壓力。目前我們看到的是，價格壓力將持續到2017年。我們的目標是維持業務穩定。這從一開始就是我們的目標。我們在英國削減了產能，同時在中國增加了產能，同時也退出了一些片狀產能。

On the pricing front, we have attempted to be as stable as we can be on the pricing. Unfortunately we got pushed pretty aggressively on some of our competitors trying to take share from us outside of China. And all we are trying to do is defend our share and keep it stable outside of China. We are not trying to recover lost imports in China by taking share outside of China. We think the best way to do that is to get multi-year contracts on volume and price in place with many of our large customers which will provide stability actually from 2017 into 2018 and 2019 as we provide security supply to our customers but also provide security demand to us.

在定價方面，我們一直努力保持盡可能的穩定。不幸的是，一些競爭對手試圖搶先我們在中國以外的市場份額，對我們施加了相當大的壓力。我們所做的就是捍衛我們的市場份額，並保持其在中國以外的穩定。我們並非試圖透過搶佔中國以外的市場份額來彌補在中國失去的進口量。我們認為，最好的方法是與許多大客戶簽訂多年期的量價合同，這將確保從2017年到2018年和2019年的穩定，因為我們不僅為客戶提供了穩定的供應，也為我們自己提供了穩定的需求。

So I think that those actions are actually going to put us in the right direction as far as the things we can do to control the outcome in this industry and our performance and we will just have to see how the rest of it plays out.

因此，我認為，就我們可以採取的措施而言，這些行動實際上將使我們朝著正確的方向前進，以控制這個行業的結果和我們的表現，我們只需要看看其餘部分如何發揮作用。

All right, great. That is helpful. Thank you.

好的，太好了。這很有幫助。謝謝。

Jeff Zekauskas, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的 Jeff Zekauskas。

Good morning. Do you have to take another restructuring charge in the fourth quarter of comparable size in order to accomplish your cost-cutting program next year?

早安.為了完成明年的成本削減計劃，你們是否需要在第四季再次承擔同等規模的重組費用？

No. The restructuring charge you saw in the third quarter pretty much covers the restructuring program we have underway.

不。您在第三季看到的重組費用基本上涵蓋了我們正在進行的重組計劃。

Okay. And in terms of taxes, are your cash taxes in books -- how different are your cash taxes and book taxes this year and your expectation for next year? And what do think your fibers volume growth rate is in 2017?

好的。說到稅收，你們的現金稅款是否計入帳面？今年的現金稅和帳面稅與明年的預期有何不同？您認為2017年纖維產量的成長率是多少？

I will talk about the taxes. Again as you know Jeff, you can see a lot of what is going on with our cash tax rate versus current, just what goes through our deferred tax line in the cash flow statement and so you see that has improved this year. And again, that is again a lot of great work that occurs with our tax finance and legal teams who are looking for ways to really how do we help reduce costs and how do we help cash flows within this Company? And so when I look at that going into next year, I do believe again we won't have the benefits of those NOLs from Solutia that we have enjoyed and in fact as mentioned earlier, we have utilized all the NOLs since the acquisition in 2012 and so that was at an accelerated pace because of that great work. And again the phaseout of bonus depreciation. So there is a pretty good opportunity for us to continue to look at our cash tax rate but it will be more challenging as we go for the next several years.

我會談談稅務問題。傑夫，正如你所知，你可以看到我們的現金稅率與當前稅率的對比情況，以及現金流量表中遞延所得稅項目的支出情況，所以你可以看到今年的稅率有所改善。這再次證明了我們的稅務、財務和法律團隊的出色工作，他們正在努力探索如何真正幫助我們降低成本，以及如何改善公司內部的現金流。因此，展望明年，我相信我們不會再像之前那樣享受到首諾公司帶來的淨營運虧損（NOL）帶來的效益。事實上，正如先前提到的，自2012年收購以來，我們已經利用了所有的淨營運虧損，而且由於這項出色的工作，這一進程正在加快。此外，獎金折舊也逐步取消。因此，我們有很大機會繼續關注我們的現金稅率，但未來幾年，這將更具挑戰性。

On the fibers demand, I will take that one, Jeff. Outside of China, we don't expect any changes in trends where the markets continue to decline 1% to 2% a year which has been true for a long time. Inside China, demand in China is a complicated and opaque question. Right now we have seen some changes in production rate, cigarette productions, where they've taken it down 6% to 7% which is great because I think they are just destocking primarily with those actions. You have to remember the production rates are not equal to primary consumption rates.

關於纖維需求，傑夫，我來回答這個問題。在中國以外，我們預期趨勢不會有任何變化，市場將繼續以每年1%到2%的速度下降，這種情況已經持續了很長時間。在中國國內，中國的需求是一個複雜且不透明的問題。目前，我們看到生產率發生了一些變化，捲菸產量下降了6%到7%，這很好，因為我認為他們主要透過這些措施來去庫存。你必須記住，生產力並不等於初級消費率。

We do expect that they had trouble destocking cigarettes in 2015 and 2016 -- I'm sorry, 2015 and 2014 so I think that we are actually encouraged to see them take the actions to finally address that issue like they are already addressing at the tow inventory level as well. So in some ways I think there is progress to put this behind us. Primary demand is (multiple speakers)

我們確實預計他們在2015年和2016年（抱歉，是2015年和2014年）去庫存香煙方面會遇到困難，所以我認為我們實際上很高興看到他們採取行動最終解決這個問題，就像他們已經在處理煙草庫存問題一樣。所以從某種程度上來說，我認為我們已經取得了進展，可以解決這個問題。主要需求是（多位發言者）

So roughly your volume growth is minus 10 next year?

那麼明年你們的銷售成長大概是-10？

No, no, no. That is not what I said. I said this year we are seeing cigarette production being reduced in China and I think that is destocking. As we look at next year, what we hope is they complete their destocking this year and demand at the production level is stable next year versus this year and that is sort of our assumption at this point.

不不不，我不是這個意思。我說的是今年我們看到中國捲菸產量下降，我認為這是去庫存。展望明年，我們希望他們今年能完成去庫存，明年的生產需求能與今年保持穩定，這是我們目前的假設。

So when you look at next year, I think imports are going to be somewhat stable, they could be a bit off as they finish out some destocking at the cigarette level and we will just have to see how it plays out.

因此，展望明年，我認為進口量將會比較穩定，隨著香菸庫存的減少，進口量可能會略有下降，我們只需要看看情況如何。

Okay, great. Thanks so much.

好的，太好了。非常感謝。

PJ Juvekar, Citi.

花旗銀行的 PJ Juvekar。

Good morning. A question on Crystex. You seem to be doing a good job on innovation but the OEM market -- the other OEM market is slowing, the classic drug market seems to be slowing as well. So can you talk about demand there and is there any generic competition from China coming in?

早安.關於Crystex的一個問題。你們在創新方面似乎做得很好，但OEM市場——其他OEM市場——正在放緩，經典藥物市場似乎也在放緩。您能談談那裡的需求嗎？以及是否存在來自中國的仿製藥競爭？

So in auto demand, it sort of impacts us in multiple places. So in Advanced Materials, which is very OEM driven, we are looking at that. What has been great about our success to date is we are creating a lot of our own earnings growth from mix upgrade in double digit growth in things like acoustics and head-up display as well as a new channel strategy in performance films where we are growing the whole size of the market and our share of it.

因此，汽車需求在多個方面對我們產生了影響。在先進材料領域，我們主要關注的是原始設備製造商 (OEM) 的驅動力。迄今為止，我們取得的巨大成功在於，我們自身的獲利成長主要源於產品組合升級，例如音響系統和平視顯示器等產品實現了兩位數的成長，以及高性能薄膜領域新的通路策略，這些策略正在擴大整個市場的規模和份額。

So even in a slow automotive growth world, we can still deliver growth, it may not be as high as this year but still deliver growth. So I feel good about where we are there. And we see tremendous innovation opportunities continuing out there to add more functionality to the windows as we work with our customers and next-generation of acoustics and head-up display as well as other functionality. So it is just a very robust opportunity for growth.

因此，即使在汽車行業成長放緩的背景下，我們仍然可以實現成長，雖然成長速度可能不如今年，但仍能實現成長。我對目前的狀況感到滿意。我們看到，隨著我們與客戶合作，車窗功能、下一代音響系統、抬頭顯示系統以及其他功能都將不斷湧現，巨大的創新機會仍在繼續。所以，這是一個非常強勁的成長機會。

On the Additives and Functional Products side when it comes to coatings and tires, we are more balanced, that is more of a balanced market from refinish or replacement tires than OEM. And so there we are less exposed to sort of OEM trend rates as we are in Advanced Materials. So I think that again we will have some solid growth there and I'm not really worried about the OEM trend rates being a material issue.

在塗料和輪胎添加劑和功能產品方面，我們的業務更加均衡，也就是說，輪胎修補或替換市場比原廠輪胎市場更均衡。因此，我們受原廠輪胎價格趨勢的影響不像先進材料領域那麼大。所以我認為我們在這方面仍將保持穩健成長，我並不擔心原廠輪胎價格趨勢會成為實質問題。

Okay. And then just (inaudible) and Curt, you mentioned that selling [that end] business has been difficult in this environment. I would imagine that as we get into the second half of 2017 and 2018 when the new olefin capacity starts up that it will get even more difficult. Can you give us your thoughts about the timing of the sale?

好的。然後（聽不清楚）Curt，您提到在這種環境下出售[該終端]業務很困難。我想，隨著2017年下半年和2018年新烯烴產能投產，出售會變得更加困難。您能談談您對出售時機的看法嗎？

The timing of the sale? Sorry, you just were breaking up there.

出售的時間？抱歉，你剛才說到了分手。

So if you are looking about the excess ethylene and the commodity olefins, we continue to have a number of parties actively engaged in the process. As I mentioned, it has continued to be a challenging environment right now to ensure we get fair value for those kind of assets and quite honestly it has been further compounded by having a competing asset coming into the marketplace.

所以，如果你關注過剩乙烯和商品烯烴的問題，我們仍然有很多相關方積極參與其中。正如我之前提到的，目前確保這類資產獲得公允價值的市場環境仍然充滿挑戰，坦白說，競爭資產的進入進一步加劇了這一挑戰。

So we will just be disciplined on valuation and patient on timing as needed. And so like I mentioned, this is going to go into next year. I can't give you a good sense of next year other than I would suspect the first half of the year feels about right that we will have better progress on different options that we have. And again, we are not just sitting idle. We will look at to see if an outright sale is possible but we will continue to evaluate other options or structures and pursue them as appropriate as well.

因此，我們將嚴格遵守估價原則，並根據需要耐心等待時機。正如我之前提到的，這將持續到明年。我無法給出明年的大致預期，但我估計上半年我們可能會在不同方案上取得更好的進展。再說一次，我們不會袖手旁觀。我們會研究是否有可能直接出售，但我們也會繼續評估其他方案或結構，並在適當的情況下進行探索。

The one thing you should take from us is we are committed to improving the quality of our portfolio and the stability of our earnings. Before it became a trend we were already divesting a lot of underperforming volatile businesses and have done a lot of portfolio transformation as we noted earlier. And we will continue to look at every way we can do it that is practical. But at the end of the day, we are going to focus on shareholder value creation and make sure what we do creates value.

您應該從我們這裡了解到的一點是，我們致力於提升投資組合的品質和獲利的穩定性。在這種趨勢成為趨勢之前，我們就已經剝離了大量表現不佳且波動較大的業務，正如我們之前提到的，進行了大量的投資組合轉型。我們將繼續研究一切切實可行的方法。但最終，我們將專注於為股東創造價值，並確保我們的工作能創造價值。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Kevin McCarthy, Vertical Research Partners.

凱文·麥卡錫（Kevin McCarthy），Vertical Research Partners。

Yes, good morning. Mark, your Advanced Materials operating margins were up 350 basis points year-over-year. It looks like they were up actually a little bit more than that versus the first quarter. How sustainable is the current level?

是的，早安。馬克，你們先進材料業務的營業利潤率年增了350個基點。看起來，與第一季相比，實際增幅略有增加。目前的水平能否持續？

Good morning, Kevin. We feel good about the margins we have in this business. As I said, we were running incredibly well through the third quarter and did this through volume and mix which in general we view as a very sustainable way to grow earnings over the long-term. It was a clean quarter so there is always some quarters where you are going to have some quality issues and things like that. But I think the margins are sustainable.

早安，凱文。我們對我們業務的利潤率感到滿意。正如我所說，我們在第三季的業績非常出色，這得益於銷售量和產品組合的提升，總的來說，我們認為這是一種非常可持續的長期獲利成長方式。這是一個乾淨的季度，所以總是會有一些季度會出現一些品質問題之類的。但我認為利潤率是可持續的。

I would note that the fourth-quarter always does have seasonal decline in volumes and so those margins are always going to be a little bit lower on the fourth quarter basis versus the third.

我要指出的是，第四季的銷售總是會出現季節性下降，因此第四季的利潤率總是會比第三季略低。

As a follow-up I think in your prepared remarks you mentioned Performance Films had a new channel strategy. I was wondering if you could elaborate on that?

接下來，我想您在準備好的演講中提到了Performance Films制定了新的通路策略。能否詳細說明一下？

Sure. One of the great things about this business is it is a consumer products business where we have direct access to consumers and deliver a wide range of products and we have the best products in the industry. But when we picked up Solutia, their strategy on how to go to market and how to even expand the market was not that sophisticated. So we spent a lot of time rethinking our channel strategies and figured out how to not just go through aftermarket retail shops but develop much more compelling programs through auto dealers in the US which allows us to access an entirely new set of customers that don't show up in an aftermarket tint shop and have been incredibly successful expanding the market and also improving the quality of how we go to market.

當然。這項業務的一大優勢在於，它屬於消費品業務，我們可以直接接觸消費者，提供種類繁多的產品，而且我們擁有業界最優秀的產品。但當我們收購首諾時，他們的行銷策略甚至市場拓展策略都不夠成熟。因此，我們花了很多時間重新思考我們的通路策略，並找到了不僅透過售後零售店，還能透過美國汽車經銷商開發更具吸引力的方案的方法。這使我們能夠接觸到一群全新的客戶，這些客戶通常不會出現在售後貼膜店。在拓展市場和提升市場拓展品質方面，首諾取得了巨大的成功。

The same thing true in China. We were doing quite well aftermarket, not as successful in the auto dealerships and have significantly improved our channel strategy to go through the auto dealerships which is a very important channel in China and we are seeing great success. And it is not just going to those channels but how we take the products to market, how we are positioning our value proposition versus our competitors in a more compelling way. It has just been a great story of determined improvement of our go-to-market strategy over the last three years.

在中國也是如此。我們在售後市場表現不錯，但在汽車經銷商方面則略遜一籌。我們已大幅改善了通路策略，透過汽車經銷商——中國非常重要的通路——來拓展業務，並取得了巨大的成功。這不僅是針對這些管道，還包括我們如何將產品推向市場，如何以更具吸引力的方式定位我們的價值主張，以對抗競爭對手。過去三年來，我們不斷改善市場策略，並取得了顯著成效。

Great. Thank you very much.

太好了。非常感謝。

Laurence Alexander, Jefferies.

勞倫斯‧亞歷山大，傑富瑞集團。

Good morning. Just two questions. One on the fibers market. Can you give a sense for how steep you think the underlying cost curve is? I'm thinking particularly where you see the smallest most marginal producers?

早安.我有兩個問題。一個是關於纖維市場的。您能說說您認為潛在的成本曲線有多陡峭嗎？我特別想到的是那些規模最小、邊際效益最高的生產商。

And secondly, as you look out over I would say the next three to five years, are there any large chunks of nonoperating expense that would affect the free cash flow bridge either maintenance turnarounds or facilities where you need to do another CapEx cycle or pension contributions or anything else that you see like on the three- to five-year horizon?

其次，展望未來三到五年，是否存在大量非營業性支出會影響自由現金流橋，無論是維護週轉還是需要進行另一個資本支出週期或退休金繳款的設施，或者您在三到五年內看到的任何其他事情？

So on the cost curve side there is certainly high and low cost assets in the integrated flake and tow components of the Fibers business. As I have said in the past, we are the lowest cost producer, we are backward integrated in coal, we have the largest scale and we are actually now down to our largest most integrated asset as our only asset here at Tennessee of flake which is matched to our tow capacity here in Tennessee combined with our Korean tow capacity and China.

因此，從成本曲線來看，纖維業務的整合片狀和絲束部分肯定存在高成本和低成本資產。正如我過去所說，我們是成本最低的生產商，我們在煤炭領域實現了後向整合，擁有最大的規模，實際上，我們現在最大的集成資產是我們在田納西州的唯一片狀資產，其產能與我們在田納西州的絲束產能、韓國的絲束產能以及中國的絲束產能相匹配。

So we are very happy about our cost position. Our competitors are based on either purchased methanol or in hydride in some cases. So some of these assets are certainly exposed to much higher cost position. They picked up some advantage with lower oil today versus where they were. As oil goes up, that cost position is going to become less competitive relative to where we are.

因此，我們對我們的成本狀況非常滿意。我們的競爭對手要麼依靠外購甲醇，要麼在某些情況下依靠氫化物。因此，其中一些資產的成本狀況肯定要高得多。目前油價較低，它們獲得了一些優勢。隨著油價上漲，相對於我們目前的狀況，它們的成本狀況將變得更具競爭力。

There are a number of high cost assets out there that can be shut down by competitors if they ever choose to do so to improve their cost position to serve their customers. And are going to have to see what they choose to do. As the market stabilizes, as we put in stability through these multi-year contracts, it becomes more challenging to figure out how you are going to grow earnings growth and hopefully they will look at those options.

市面上有許多高成本資產，如果競爭對手為了提高成本優勢、更好地服務客戶而選擇關閉這些資產，它們可能會關閉。我們必須看看他們的選擇。隨著市場趨於穩定，隨著我們透過這些多年期合約來穩定市場，如何提高獲利成長將變得更加困難，希望他們能夠考慮這些選擇。

On the operating cash flows and some of the things you mentioned, when I look at two or three areas, first of all on pension, we talked about contributing about $50 million to $75 million of pension this year. That is still what we are anticipating. Over the next couple of years I'm looking at maybe roughly $75 million of pension contributions over the next couple of years. After that point you kind of have to really look at what discount rates have done and how the returns have come into whether that number needs to increase to $100 million or maybe come down to $50 million. But that kind of gives you a band to what pension contributions could be like over the next three to five years.

關於經營現金流以及您提到的一些事情，我主要關注兩三個方面。首先是退休金，我們談到了今年繳納大約5000萬到7500萬美元的退休金。這仍然是我們的預期。未來幾年，我預計退休金繳交額大概在7,500萬美元左右。之後，你需要認真考慮折現率的變化以及報酬率，才能確定這個數字是需要增加到1億美元還是降至5,000萬美元。但這大致可以估算出未來三到五年退休金繳納額的區間。

On capital, when you've got the kind of assets we have, yes, every three five years, there is going to be turnarounds. What we do and we have a great team that does it, we try to manage the maintenance spend and capital spend we have each year. Part of it is not only cash flow, part of it is just resources.

關於資本，當你擁有我們這樣的資產時，是的，每三到五年就會出現轉機。我們所做的，以及我們擁有一支優秀的團隊，都是努力管理每年的維護支出和資本支出。這其中不僅有一部分是現金流，還有一部分是資源。

So yes, we are going to have some capital spend over these years. But some of the unique items that we have had these last few years like some of the assets that we had to build in Texas as well as the conversions from coal to natural gas, there is a little bit ahead of us yet. Most of it is done. So I would suspect our maintenance capital will be in that $300 million to $350 million range over that five-year time period. Then we will have growth capital on top of it to support all the attractive innovation programs that Mark talked about. So I think those are the main two things you are looking at there.

是的，我們這幾年會有一些資本支出。但過去幾年我們有一些獨特的項目，例如我們在德州建造的一些資產，以及煤炭到天然氣的轉換，還有一些時間需要我們投入。大部分已經完成了。所以我預計，在這五年期間，我們的維護資本將在3億到3.5億美元之間。此外，我們還會投入成長資本，以支持馬克提到的所有有吸引力的創新項目。所以我認為這是你主要關注的兩件事。

Thank you.

謝謝。

James Sheehan, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

詹姆斯希恩 (James Sheehan)，SunTrust Robinson Humphrey。

Good morning. Could you comment on what you are assuming for currency, any adverse impact from currency in 2017 in your assumptions right now?

早安.能否談談您對貨幣的假設？根據您目前的假設，2017 年的貨幣走勢會受到哪些不利影響？

No, right now I would say the currencies we are seeing today is kind of what we anticipate going into the next year.

不，現在我想說我們今天看到的貨幣就是我們對明年的預期。

Great. Some of your coatings customers are experiencing some headwinds now. Can you comment on what you are seeing in terms of downstream coatings demand and whether you are feeling the same pressures?

太好了。你們的一些塗料客戶現在遇到了一些阻力。能否談談下游塗料需求的情況？你們是否也感受到了同樣的壓力？

Since January, we have always assumed a very slow economic growth world and we never assumed that the economy was going to improve. So this sort of 1% to 2% volume range is sort of where we have been and what we have assumed and so there is no real change in our forecast. Based on some of the comments I have seen by a number of customers, it sounds like what they are talking about is they expected stronger growth and now they are sort of moderating back to this slower growth expectation. If that is the case, we are already there in our forecasting and there wouldn't be any challenges for us.

自一月以來，我們一直認為全球經濟成長非常緩慢，從未想過經濟會好轉。所以，1%到2%的成長區間，基本上就是我們一直以來的預期，也正是我們的假設，所以我們的預測並沒有實質的改變。根據我看到的一些客戶的評論，他們似乎在談論的是，他們原本預期成長會更強勁，但現在他們的預期又回到了成長放緩的水平。如果是這樣，那麼我們的預測已經達到了這個水平，我們不會面臨任何挑戰。

The risk though of course is if they have been planning and assuming higher growth, do they have some destocking issues that they have to address in the fourth quarter? We have no evidence from any of our customers that that is happening yet but that is something we will have to keep an eye on.

當然，風險在於，如果他們一直在規劃並假設更高的成長，那麼他們是否會面臨一些需要在第四季度解決的去庫存問題？我們目前還沒有從任何客戶那裡得到證據表明這種情況正在發生，但我們必須密切注意。

Thank you.

謝謝。

John Roberts, UBS.

瑞銀集團的約翰羅伯茲。

Thank you. How much of a lower tax rate in the quarter was adjustments from prior period tax returns and how much was just geographic mix in the current period?

謝謝。本季較低的稅率有多少是來自前期報稅表的調整，有多少是本期地理分佈的影響？

So if you look at the tax rate, let me just make one comment. In any particular tax year, you are going to have discrete items such as the one you are asking about specifically. It was a $16 million benefit from better utilizations of foreign tax credits from the Solutia acquisition that we recognized in the third quarter that was related to amended returns that we were able to put in place.

所以，如果你看稅率，我只想提一點。在任何一個納稅年度，你都會有一些單獨的項目，例如你具體問到的那個。我們在第三季確認了1600萬美元的收益，這筆收益源於收購Solutia後更好地利用了外國稅收抵免，這與我們能夠實施的修正申報表有關。

But I would add discrete items can vary each year for a variety of reasons, the results of audits, returns, etc. Again, I'm going to say this twice because they deserve it. We have a great tax, finance and legal team that knows how to manage these as best we can in any given year. It hasn't been asked yet but I know and anticipate it, is a little early for an effective tax rate for 2017 but let me go ahead and throw it out there.

但我想補充的是，由於各種原因，例如審計結果、申報表等等，單項稅每年都會有所不同。我再說兩遍，因為它們值得。我們擁有一支優秀的稅務、財務和法律團隊，他們知道如何在每一年都盡力管理這些稅項。目前還沒有人問起，但我知道並且預料到，現在就確定2017年的實際稅率還為時過早，但請允許我先提一下。

When I look at the things we put in place, there are some permanent improvements that we have seen for the actions that we have taken so I think our effective tax rate for next year will improve and I think it will be more in the 23% to 24% range.

當我回顧我們所採取的措施時，我們看到我們所採取的行動帶來了一些永久性的改善，因此我認為明年我們的有效稅率將會提高，我認為它將在 23% 到 24% 的範圍內。

That is good. I didn't have to use up my second question. Are there non-fiber applications for cellulosic resins that could use up some of the excess polymer capacity to help rebalance the cig tow market? Or should we think about the use of polymer for fiber as distinct from other applications?

很好。我的第二個問題不用問了。纖維素樹脂是否有非纖維應用，可以消耗一些過剩的聚合物產能，有助於重新平衡香菸絲束市場？或者我們應該考慮將聚合物用於纖維，並將其與其他應用區分開來？

Excellent question and I'm glad you asked it. There are other applications so as we saw in 2014 that the world was going to start slowing down and tow demand associated with cigarettes, we started up a team to aggressively look at how to develop new market applications around cellulosics. And we are making tremendous progress on how to reuse these assets into new market applications.

這個問題問得好，很高興你問了這個問題。纖維素還有其他應用，所以在2014年，我們看到全球經濟成長放緩，香菸相關需求也隨之下降，於是我們成立了一個團隊，積極研究如何圍繞纖維素開發新的市場應用。我們在如何將這些資產重新用於新的市場應用方面取得了巨大的進展。

Something to keep in mind about Eastman is that we have a 90 year history of innovating when it comes to cellulosics. We started out with film, then went into yarn, then we went into tow, then we went into plastics for things like tool handles and sunglass frames and then we took cellulosic technology into coating additives, then TVs and now into tires is another new emerging application. We know how to innovate in this space.

關於伊士曼，值得紀念的是，我們在纖維素材料領域擁有90年的創新歷史。我們從薄膜起步，然後是紗線，接著是絲束，之後我們進入塑膠領域，例如工具手柄和太陽眼鏡框架，之後我們將纖維素技術應用於塗料添加劑，然後是電視，現在又應用於輪胎——另一個新興應用領域。我們深諳如何在這個領域創新。

We have done a lot more of this innovation than anyone else has ever done in creating new markets. Just like we have done in polyester starting with polyester fiber to PET to a wide range of polyester applications so we know how to do this.

我們在開拓新市場所做的創新比任何人都多。就像我們在聚酯纖維領域所做的那樣，從聚酯纖維到PET，再到各種聚酯應用，我們深諳此道。

So we are making great progress, we are not going to get into the specific products right now because we are having great success in moving this forward and we are still locking up IP. But these assets can make other products that go into other applications and you will hear a lot more about that next year. It is what we do and are very good at doing.

所以我們正在取得巨大進展，目前我們不會討論具體的產品，因為我們在推進這項工作方面取得了巨大成功，而且我們仍在鎖定知識產權。但這些資產可以用於製造其他產品，應用於其他應用，明年你會聽到更多關於這方面的消息。這正是我們擅長的，而且我們非常擅長。

Great. Thank you.

太好了，謝謝。

Vincent Andrews, Morgan Stanley.

摩根士丹利的文森安德魯斯。

Thanks and good morning. In the past it has been referenced that perhaps there could be portfolio options, further divestitures not all that different than what you've done over the years. Any updated thoughts on that?

謝謝，早安。過去曾有人提到，或許可以進行投資組合選擇，進一步剝離資產，這與你們多年來的做法並無太大差異。對此有什麼最新的想法嗎？

Our focus right now has been the excess ethylene and the commodity olefin product lines. We continue to look at the rest of the portfolio to see if there is opportunities that maybe there is a more natural owner. We do that in due course with our Board and at this point there is nothing that we are talking about specifically but we will continue to evaluate different things in our portfolio. We like the portfolio as a whole so it is really stuff on the margin.

我們目前的重點是過剩乙烯和商品烯烴產品線。我們將繼續考察投資組合中的其他產品，看看是否有更合適的所有者。我們會適時與董事會討論此事，目前我們還沒有具體討論，但我們將繼續評估投資組合中的其他項目。我們看好整個投資組合，所以它確實具有邊際效益。

We have been on this journey of optimizing our portfolio for a long time. I mean we have sold off $3.5 billion of revenue underperforming businesses. We have done acquisitions adding $4.2 billion of revenue specialty businesses and by the way, we paid 9 times EBITDA for those specialty businesses with 7 times EBITDA multiples post synergies to provide attractive synergies as well as reasonable ROICs above cost of capital for our investors.

我們長期以來一直在優化投資組合。我們出售了35億美元的營收表現不佳的業務。我們也透過收購，新增了42億美元的專業業務。順便說一句，我們以9倍的EBITDA收購了這些專業業務，並在協同效應後以7倍的EBITDA倍數收購了這些業務，從而為我們的投資者提供了極具吸引力的協同效應以及高於資本成本的合理投資回報率。

I feel great about the actions we have taken in improving our portfolio and we are certainly committed to keeping that momentum going but I don't think there is any big large changes that we need to make both on the acquisition side or on significant divestiture side.

我對我們為改善投資組合所採取的行動感到非常滿意，我們當然致力於保持這種勢頭，但我認為我們不需要做出任何大的改變，無論是在收購方面還是在重大資產剝離方面。

But we are going to continue to look at these opportunities like the ethylene as ways to take out pockets of volatility. But our focus and our strategy is about innovation and growth. We are driving innovation growth, we are managing costs aggressively, we are going to continue to create value in a capital efficient way because we are doing mix upgrades of existing assets in how we drive this innovation. We are going to generate a lot of free cash flow and buy back stock and increase the dividend and improve our balance sheet. I think it is a compelling story as it is.

但我們將繼續關注乙烯等機會，將其視為消除波動性的方法。我們的重點和策略是創新和成長。我們正在推動創新成長，積極管理成本，並將繼續以資本高效的方式創造價值，因為我們在推動創新的過程中，正在對現有資產進行組合升級。我們將創造大量自由現金流，回購股票，增加股息，並改善我們的資產負債表。我認為這本身就很引人注目。

Okay. Just a follow-up on capacity utilization levels, you might have mentioned this earlier but I had to hop off for a second. In Advanced Materials, you talked about how part of the margin improvement was being able to run at a higher utilization level. Is there -- as volume grows into next year is that a benefit that we should continue to see or are you sort of now at a new traunch of profitability at this utilization level?

好的。關於產能利用率，您可能之前提到過，但我得先暫停一下。在先進材料業務中，您談到利潤率的提升部分歸功於更高的產能利用率。隨著明年產量的成長，這種優勢是否會持續下去？或者說，在目前的產能利用率水準下，你們的獲利能力是否已經達到了一個新的高峰？

I don't think we are going to dramatically improve our profitability from where we are at this stage. But I do think we are going to continue driving double-digit earnings growth going forward as we grow volume, mix and manage costs. But even here, we've got a Tritan expansion going on. We will have to bring on a new chunk of capacity next year to support this incredible growth we are having with Tritan with the existing products. And I should mention, we also have new products that we are making off of the same chemistry to access even more addressable market than where we are today with Tritan.

我認為我們的獲利能力不會在現階段大幅提升。但我確實認為，隨著產量、產品組合和成本管理的提升，我們未來將繼續保持兩位數的獲利成長。即便如此，我們的Tritan產能仍在擴張中。明年我們將不得不新增產能，以支持Tritan現有產品所取得的驚人成長。另外，我還想提一下，我們目前正在生產基於相同化學成分的新產品，以期進入比Tritan現有產品更廣泛的目標市場。

So you add new capacity, it add some chunks of cost you've got work your way through.

因此，您增加了新的容量，這會增加一些您必須努力解決的成本。

And Vince, if I could just add, as you add those chunks of capacity, as you transition to that, you will have some start-up cost next year and that will be some challenges for this business but again they will still deliver that double-digit earnings growth despite that and you need that capacity then to grow past 2018 and beyond.

文斯，我可以補充一下，隨著你增加這些產能，隨著你向這些產能過渡，明年你將會產生一些啟動成本，這對這項業務來說將是一個挑戰，但儘管如此，他們仍然會實現兩位數的盈利增長，你需要這種產能來度過 2018 年及以後。

Okay, great. Thanks very much, guys.

好的，太好了。非常感謝大家。

Aleksey Yefremov, Nomura Securities.

阿列克謝·葉夫列莫夫，野村證券。

Good morning. Thank you. Could you give us an estimate of a sales opportunity for the new tire products that you talked about today?

早安.謝謝。您能估算一下今天提到的新輪胎產品的銷售機會嗎？

For tire resins, it is a great opportunity. Tire resins has historically have just been used as a processing aid and now we have this whole new addressable market in the tread as a performance additive improving traction in the tire, seeing tremendous adoption and interest across tire companies across the globe. And we really seem to be the preferred innovation partner because we have the broadest set of chemistry. So we are still trying to understand the full potential of this market and we are not going to complain about the 20% growth rate. Obviously it is off of a relatively small number but we see it as a significant market that could easily be $100 million to $200 million of additional revenue.

對於輪胎樹脂來說，這是一個絕佳的機會。輪胎樹脂過去一直被用作加工助劑，而現在，我們擁有一個全新的潛在市場——胎面市場，將其作為性能添加劑，提升輪胎的抓地力，並在全球範圍內受到輪胎公司的廣泛採用和關注。我們似乎確實是首選的創新合作夥伴，因為我們擁有最廣泛的化學產品組合。因此，我們仍在努力了解這個市場的全部潛力，我們不會抱怨20%的成長率。當然，這個數字相對較小，但我們認為這是一個重要的市場，很容易就能帶來1億到2億美元的額外收入。

Great, thank you. And in the tow business, the 20% expected decline in profitability next year, how would you attribute it to volume versus price?

太好了，謝謝。拖車業務預計明年獲利將下降20%，您認為這是銷量下降還是價格下降造成的？

As I said earlier, we have a strategy defending our share outside of China so we are not expecting it to be a volume driven story outside of China. It is going to be a price driven story. In the China side of it, there's a lot of conflicting data about what is going on with demand and destocking in China so it is a little hard to know what the imports are going to be next year and so we're just going to have to see. Right now we are assuming a modest decline.

正如我之前所說，我們在中國以外的市場有維護市場份額的策略，因此我們預計中國以外的市場不會以銷售為主導，而是以價格為主導。在中國市場，關於中國需求和去庫存情況的數據相互矛盾，因此很難預測明年的進口量，我們只能拭目以待。目前，我們預計進口量將小幅下降。

Great, thanks a lot.

太好了，非常感謝。

Nils Wallin, CLSA.

里昂證券的尼爾斯·瓦林（Nils Wallin）。

Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. The first one is we haven't heard you guys talk about your deal with Enterprise and their PDH. Is there going to be any benefit next year as that comes online in terms of your propylene purchases?

早安.感謝您回答我的問題。首先，我們還沒有聽到你們談論與Enterprise及其PDH的交易。明年這些PDH上線後，對你們的丙烯採購有什麼好處嗎？

First of all, a good partner and we are looking forward to that capacity online. Yes, what that will ultimately do for those that aren't familiar with that is allow us to where we have been purchasing propylene we will now have additional propylene that is sourced through that propane and will be more sourced with propane than we are today. We used to talk about that benefit was going to be roughly $30 million a year but where the spreads are today it's much lower than that. But we are still going to like that contract and that relationship long-term.

首先，我們期待一個好的合作夥伴，並期待產能的上線。是的，對於那些不了解情況的人來說，這最終將使我們過去一直購買丙烯的地方，現在可以透過丙烷獲得更多的丙烯，而且比現在更多地使用丙烷。我們先前討論的收益大約是每年3000萬美元，但考慮到目前的價差，這個數字要低得多。但我們仍然會長期看好這份合約和這段合作關係。

Got it. And then in Chemical Intermediates obviously there was quite a significant ramp in spot ethylene prices during the quarter, yet there was you mentioned some other competitive pressures. So was the benefit from the spot ethylene margins going up offset by competitive pressures or are you just not quite as able to capitalize on that spot price ramp?

明白了。然後，在化學中間體業務方面，本季乙烯現貨價格顯然大幅上漲，但您提到了一些其他競爭壓力。那麼，乙烯現貨利潤率上升帶來的好處是否被競爭壓力所抵消了，還是說您只是沒有那麼好地利用現貨價格上漲的機會？

No, I think we did a nice job of capturing the ethylene benefits. But you also have to remember propane and ethane costs also went up considerably in the quarter so there wasn't a huge expansion in spreads but it certainly was better than last year and certainly carrying into the fourth quarter in a better shape than last year.

不，我認為我們很好地把握住了乙烯的利好。但你也要記住，丙烷和乙烷的成本在本季度也大幅上漲，所以價差並沒有大幅擴大，但肯定比去年好，而且肯定會延續到第四季度，並且比去年的狀況更好。

Got it. Thanks very much.

明白了。非常感謝。

Arun Viswanathan, RBC Capital Markets.

加拿大皇家銀行資本市場 (RBC Capital Markets) 的 Arun Viswanathan。

Great, thanks for squeezing me in here. Just a couple of quick questions on normalized margins. You have held up margins quite well in both Fibers and AM. So on AM, do you think that you would still be able to grow margins the next couple of years as you continue to grow volume? And similarly on Fibers, if you stabilize volume, would Fibers margins kind of hold at this level? Thank you.

太好了，謝謝你抽出時間。我只想問幾個關於標準化利潤率的快速問題。你們在纖維和積層製造（AM）兩個業務領域的利潤率都保持得相當好。那麼，在積層製造方面，隨著銷售量的持續成長，你認為未來幾年你們的利潤率還能繼續成長嗎？纖維業務方面也是一樣，如果銷售量穩定下來，纖維業務的利潤率還能維持在目前的水準嗎？謝謝。

On AM, the margins are likely to be more stable around these higher levels than further increase. As we mentioned, there is the preproduction expenses starting up new capacity and the focus on volume growth. So I think it will be stable.

在增材製造方面，利潤率可能會在這些較高水準附近保持穩定，而不是進一步上漲。正如我們所提到的，啟動新產能需要投入試生產，而且公司專注於產量成長。所以我認為利潤率會比較穩定。

When it comes to Fibers, the margins will come off from where we are today with the forecasted drop of earnings of around 20% into next year. It is important to keep in mind the altitude of these margins. This is an exceptionally profitable and attractive business and even some moderating margins here are still incredibly attractive for any business. So we are going to manage through that and continue to find a way to stabilize it into 2018.

說到纖維業務，利潤率將較目前水準下降，預計明年獲利將下降約20%。務必牢記這些利潤率的絕對高點。這是一個利潤率極高且極具吸引力的業務，即使利潤率下降，對任何企業來說仍然極具吸引力。因此，我們將克服這一困境，並繼續尋找方法，使其在2018年保持穩定。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Great. Thanks again for joining us this morning. A web replay and a replay in downloadable MP3 format will be available on our website later this morning. Have a great day.

太好了！再次感謝您今天早上的收看。今天上午晚些時候，我們的網站將提供網路重播和可下載的MP3格式重播。祝您擁有美好的一天。

Thank you, everyone.

謝謝大家。

That will conclude today's conference. We appreciate your participation. You may now disconnect.

今天的會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。現在您可以斷開連線了。