ESAB Corp (ESAB) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the ESAB Corporation's First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

感謝您的耐心等待，歡迎參加 ESAB 公司 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）

Mark Barbalato, ESAB's President of Investor Relations, you may begin your conference.

Mark Ba​​rbalato，ESAB 投資者關係總裁，您可以開始會議了。

Thanks, operator. Welcome to ESAB's First Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. This morning, I'm joined by our President and CEO, Shyam Kambeyanda; and CFO, Kevin Johnson. Please keep in mind that some of the statements we are making are forward-looking and are subject to risks, including those set forth in our SEC filings in today's earnings release. Actual results may differ, and we do not assume any obligation or intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

謝謝，接線生。歡迎參加 ESAB 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。今天早上，我們的總裁兼執行長 Shyam Kambeyanda 也加入了我的行列。和首席財務官凱文·約翰遜。請記住，我們所做的一些聲明是前瞻性的，並且存在風險，包括我們在今天的收益發布中向 SEC 提交的文件中列出的風險。實際結果可能有所不同，我們不承擔任何義務或打算更新這些前瞻性陳述，除非法律要求。

With respect to any non-GAAP financial measures mentioned during the call today, the accompanying reconciliation information related to those measures can be found in our earnings press release and today's slide presentation.

對於今天電話會議中提到的任何非公認會計準則財務措施，與這些措施相關的隨附調節資訊可以在我們的收益新聞稿和今天的幻燈片演示中找到。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to our President and CEO, Shyam Kambeyanda.

說到這裡，我想將電話轉給我們的總裁兼執行長 Shyam Kambeyanda。

Thank you, Mark, and good morning, everyone. Thank you all for joining us today. We continue to make excellent progress towards our long-term goal of becoming a premier industrial compounder that is less cyclical as higher margins and deliver stronger cash flow.

謝謝你，馬克，大家早安。感謝大家今天加入我們。我們繼續在實現成為一流工業複合製造商的長期目標方面取得了巨大進展，該目標的周期性較小，利潤率更高，現金流更強勁。

As you're aware, we exited 2023 with good momentum and have maintained it for the start of 2024. Throughout the quarter, our teams have continued to focus on their growth and margin expansion plans using EBX, and I'm very proud of the results we have achieved, that has allowed us to raise our full year adjusted EBITDA and EPS guidance.

如您所知，我們以良好的勢頭結束了 2023 年，並在 2024 年初保持了這種勢頭。所取得的成果使我們能夠提高全年調整後的EBITDA 和EPS 指引。

Before diving into the numbers, allow me to share a story illustrating how we're actively shaping a better world and how the passion and commitment of our team is making a profound impact within ESAB and the communities we're part of. We've always believed in training the next generation of welders.

在深入研究這些數字之前，請讓我分享一個故事，說明我們如何積極塑造一個更美好的世界，以及我們團隊的熱情和承諾如何對 ESAB 以及我們所屬的社區產生深遠的影響。我們始終相信培訓下一代焊工。

In March, ESAB, as part of our future fabricators program participated in the agricultural mechanics competition in Houston, Texas, where over 1,500 high school students from over 250 school districts took part. Many students were fabricating solutions for their farm while others were creating equipment to benefit their communities. This program aligns perfectly with our vision statement, Shaping The World We Imagine. Such events provide a fantastic opportunity to engage kids in engineering and problem-solving fostering their creativity. ESAB donated over $500,000 worth of equipment and accessories and prizes to empower these young innovators to continue creating new solutions and becoming the next generation of leaders in our industry. In the future, I plan on sharing more stories about how ESAB is shaping the world we imagine.

3 月，ESAB 作為我們未來製造商計畫的一部分，參加了在德州休士頓舉行的農業機械競賽，來自 250 多個學區的 1,500 多名高中生參加了比賽。許多學生正在為他們的農場製造解決方案，而其他學生則正在製造設備以造福他們的社區。該計劃與我們的願景宣言「塑造我們想像的世界」完美契合。此類活動為孩子們參與工程和解決問題提供了絕佳的機會，從而培養他們的創造力。 ESAB 捐贈了價值超過 50 萬美元的設備、配件和獎品，幫助這些年輕的創新者繼續創造新的解決方案，並成為我們行業的下一代領導者。未來，我計劃分享更多關於 ESAB 如何塑造我們想像的世界的故事。

Moving to Slide 3. Another solid quarter, another step forward in the direction of our 2028 goals. Sales of $656 million were a first quarter record as our team delivered 200 basis points of organic sales growth. Adjusted EBITDA improved by 140 basis points to a record 18.8%. Notably, what fueled our growth was our equipment and automation product lines, and within automation, our welding cobot expanded triple digits year-over-year and high double digits sequentially. We anticipate sustained demand for our automation products for the remainder of the year.

轉向投影片 3。我們的團隊實現了 200 個基點的自然銷售成長，銷售額達 6.56 億美元，創第一季紀錄。調整後 EBITDA 提高 140 個基點，達到創紀錄的 18.8%。值得注意的是，推動我們成長的是我們的設備和自動化產品線，在自動化領域，我們的焊接協作機器人年增了三位數，連續成長了兩位數。我們預計今年剩餘時間對我們的自動化產品的需求將持續成長。

Our gas control business also grew in the period with strong demand on the industrial side as a result of secular tailwinds associated with energy transition, while our specialty and medical gas business continues to execute well.

由於能源轉型的長期利好，我們的氣體控制業務在工業方面需求強勁的時期也有所增長，而我們的特殊和醫用氣體業務繼續表現良好。

Another standout aspect of the quarter was the strength of our global footprint. Our unmatched geographic strength continues to propel our growth buoyed by sustained high demand from pivotal markets like India and the Middle East. The completion of the Sager acquisition and today's announcement of our agreement to acquire SUMIG allows us to serve our customers better and continues to extend our portfolio to higher-margin products and into less cyclical end markets.

本季的另一個突出方面是我們全球足跡的實力。在印度和中東等關鍵市場持續高需求的推動下，我們無與倫比的地理優勢持續推動我們的成長。 Sager 收購的完成以及今天宣布的收購 SUMIG 的協議使我們能夠更好地為客戶服務，並繼續將我們的產品組合擴展到利潤率更高的產品和週期性較小的終端市場。

Our focus on EBX continues to uncover fresh avenues and opportunities for margin expansion. I was pleased to see the quality and the number of Kaizens rise within business.

我們對 EBX 的關注不斷發現利潤擴張的新途徑和機會。我很高興看到業務中 Kaizen 的品質和數量不斷提高。

Furthermore, to strengthen our balance sheet, we successfully executed our bond offering, positioning ESAB well to deliver as a premier industrial compounder.

此外，為了強化我們的資產負債表，我們成功發行了債券，使伊薩能夠成為一流的工業複合製造商。

None of these achievements would have been possible without the focus and hard work of our global associates. So let me take a moment to thank them for their dedication and commitment to our goals.

如果沒有我們全球員工的專注和辛勤工作，這些成就是不可能實現的。因此，請允許我花一點時間感謝他們對我們目標的奉獻和承諾。

Moving to Slide 4 to discuss the progress we've made in shifting our product mix. As I mentioned in the past, in 2016, we were primarily a filler metal business. And today, we have positioned ESAB for growth in both filler metal and equipment. This slide highlights the transformation of our equipment product line and how it's continuing to improve ESAB globally. Since 2016, our share in equipment as part of ESAB's total sales has grown by 500 basis points.

現在轉到投影片 4，討論我們在改變產品組合方面的進展。正如我過去提到的，2016 年，我們主要從事填充金屬業務。今天，我們將伊薩定位為填充金屬和設備的成長。這張投影片重點介紹了我們設備產品線的轉型以及它如何在全球範圍內持續改進 ESAB。自 2016 年以來，我們的設備佔 ESAB 總銷售額的份額成長了 500 個基點。

Now, I'm the first to acknowledge that this is a gradual journey. But we can see what is possible as we continue to move to a more favorable mix. To add, our new equipment products continue to receive accolades, most recently, our battery-powered Volt, our Rustler and Rogue equipment received the prestigious European Red Dot Award. This is on the back of accolades from popular mechanics and construction equipment top 100 new products. We continue to invest in new products and are excited about the rollout of several game-changing products this year, as well as the extension of our InduSuite offering with FlowCloud, which will continue to differentiate ESAB and add value to our value proposition to customers.

現在，我第一個承認這是一個漸進的旅程。但隨著我們繼續轉向更有利的組合，我們可以看到什麼是可能的。此外，我們的新設備產品不斷獲得讚譽，最近，我們的電池供電 Volt、Rustler 和 Rogue 設備榮獲了著名的歐洲紅點獎。這是在流行機械和建築設備 100 強新產品獲得讚譽的基礎上取得的。我們繼續投資新產品，並對今年推出的幾款改變遊戲規則的產品以及透過 FlowCloud 擴展我們的 InduSuite 產品感到興奮，這將繼續使 ESAB 脫穎而出，並為我們向客戶提供的價值主張增加價值。

Moving to Slide 5 to talk about our acquisitions. Sager extends our product line and helps us service our customers better in the less cyclical, higher-margin, repair and maintenance end market. SUMIG extends our product line into higher-growth light automation end market and improves our higher-margin equipment portfolio in the Americas. Both these acquisitions are margin accretive and were acquired at attractive multiples. These acquisitions underscore our commitment to our compounder strategy and our discipline to ensure acquisitions meet both our strategic and financial goals. And as a result, allows ESAB to create long-term value for our stakeholders.

前往投影片 5 討論我們的收購。 Sager 擴展了我們的產品線，幫助我們在週期性較小、利潤較高的維修和維護終端市場更好地為客戶提供服務。 SUMIG 將我們的產品線擴展到成長更快的輕型自動化終端市場，並改善了我們在美洲的更高利潤的設備組合。這兩項收購均能增加利潤，且收購本益比頗具吸引力。這些收購強調了我們對複合策略的承諾以及我們確保收購滿足我們的策略和財務目標的紀律。因此，伊薩能夠為我們的利害關係人創造長期價值。

Our M&A pipeline continues to strengthen with over $7 billion in prospective targets and supports our long-term growth objectives. With a strong balance sheet and free cash flow, we're well positioned to capitalize on these opportunities to achieve our 2028 goals.

我們的併購管道持續加強，預期目標超過 70 億美元，並支持我們的長期成長目標。憑藉著強勁的資產負債表和自由現金流，我們完全有能力利用這些機會來實現 2028 年的目標。

Turning to Slide 6 to talk about our first quarter financial performance. As mentioned, quarterly sales reached a first quarter record of $656 million with adjusted EBITDA also reaching a first quarter record of $123 million, expanding 140 basis points year-over-year to 18.8%. Our end markets continue to be resilient with strength in India and the Middle East. In addition, we continue to move ESAB into less cyclical, higher-margin end markets.

轉向投影片 6 來討論我們第一季的財務表現。如前所述，第一季銷售額達到 6.56 億美元，創下第一季紀錄，調整後 EBITDA 也達到 1.23 億美元，創第一季紀錄，年成長 140 個基點，達到 18.8%。我們的終端市場持續保持彈性，在印度和中東地區表現強勁。此外，我們持續將 ESAB 推向週期性較小、利潤率較高的終端市場。

Moving to Slide 7. In the Americas, organic sales grew by 300 basis points, driven by strong price performance of 500 basis points. Volumes declined, reflecting adverse weather conditions in January. FX was negative as a result of our year-over-year headwinds in South America. Our continued focus on EBX initiatives translated into an impressive 130 basis points expansion in adjusted EBITDA margins.

轉向幻燈片 7。成交量下降，反映出一月份惡劣的天氣條件。由於南美洲的同比逆風，外匯呈負值。我們對 EBX 計劃的持續關注轉化為調整後 EBITDA 利潤率令人印象深刻的 130 個基點擴張。

Our new equipment products continue to generate excitement with end customers and channel partners. We are seeing strength in oil and gas, renewables and defense. This is being offset by softness in the capital goods end markets. Product simplification initiatives are now focused on growth and we're actively increasing our exposure to less cyclical end markets.

我們的新設備產品持續令終端客戶和通路夥伴興奮不已。我們看到石油和天然氣、再生能源和國防領域的實力。這被資本貨物終端市場的疲軟所抵消。產品簡化計劃現在的重點是成長，我們正在積極增加對週期性較小的終端市場的投資。

Moving to Slide 8, which highlights the performance of our EMEA and APAC region. Another fantastic performance by our team in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, with total sales growing by 100 basis points, driven by strong volume that grew 500 basis points. The region's performance reflected great execution and strong demand in India and the Middle East markets. EBX initiatives, including net price management contributed to a significant 140 basis points expansion in adjusted EBITDA margins. Our strategic focus, coupled with operational excellence, positions ESAB for continued growth and value creation.

現在轉到幻燈片 8，其中重點介紹了歐洲、中東和非洲 (EMEA) 和亞太地區的表現。我們的團隊在歐洲、亞洲和中東再次取得了出色的業績，在增長 500 個基點的強勁銷量的推動下，總銷售額增長了 100 個基點。該地區的業績反映了印度和中東市場的出色執行力和強勁需求。包括淨價格管理在內的 EBX 措施使調整後 EBITDA 利潤率大幅增加了 140 個基點。我們的策略重點加上卓越的運營，使伊薩能夠持續成長和創造價值。

On that high note, let me hand it over to Kevin for further insights on our progress on Slide 9.

就這一點而言，讓我將其交給 Kevin，以進一步了解我們在幻燈片 9 上的進展。

Thanks, Shyam. Good morning. We had another good quarter of free cash flow. We use this to fund the Sager acquisition, and we continue to delever ending the quarter with net leverage of less than 1.8x. Since we last spoke, we launched a bond offering to replace our $600 million term loan A3, which was maturing next year. We received our first credit rating of Ba1/BB+. We had very strong interest in the bond and priced at an attractive 6.25% which was ahead of expectations. With our strong balance sheet and cash flow, we are positioned to accelerate investments to drive growth and support acquisitions. We continue to leverage EBX on AI to support delivering ever-improving cash flow and our 2028 goals.

謝謝，夏姆。早安.我們又迎來了一個好的自由現金流季度。我們用這筆資金為收購 Sager 提供資金，並在本季結束時繼續去槓桿化，淨槓桿率低於 1.8 倍。自上次談話以來，我們推出了債券發行，以取代將於明年到期的 6 億美元定期貸款 A3。我們獲得了 Ba1/BB+ 的第一個信用評級。我們對該債券抱持濃厚的興趣，定價為 6.25%，頗具吸引力，超出了預期。憑藉我們強勁的資產負債表和現金流，我們有能力加速投資以推動成長並支持收購。我們繼續利用人工智慧上的 EBX 來支援實現不斷改善的現金流和我們的 2028 年目標。

Moving to Slide #10. We are updating our 2024 guidance to reflect the strong Q1 performance and better margin outlook. Total sales growth reflects approximately $10 million from the Sager acquisition, which has been offset by 0.5 point of FX. We continue to expect organic growth of 2.5% to 4.5% with low single-digit price and volume.

轉到投影片 #10。我們正在更新 2024 年指引，以反映強勁的第一季業績和更好的利潤率前景。總銷售額成長反映了收購 Sager 帶來的約 1,000 萬美元的成長，但已被 0.5 個百分點的外匯抵銷。我們繼續預期有機成長率為 2.5% 至 4.5%，且價格和銷售量均較低。

EBX continues to improve our margins, and we have increased our adjusted EBITDA guidance to $500 million to $520 million and our year-over-year incrementals are now around 40%. This includes [$15] million of investment we are making in our business to support our product mix improving and the commercialization of our innovative new equipment portfolio.

EBX 繼續提高我們的利潤率，我們已將調整後的 EBITDA 指引提高至 5 億至 5.2 億美元，目前我們的年增量約為 40%。這包括我們在業務中進行的 1500 萬美元投資，以支持我們的產品組合改進和創新設備組合的商業化。

Our adjusted EPS guidance increased $0.10 to $4.75 to $4.95 reflecting improved profitability and a lower expected interest expense. Our cash flow conversion remains on track at 95%. Our guidance does not include the recently signed SUMIG acquisition, which is expected to close during the second half of 2024. SUMIG had sales of around $30 million during the last 12 months and is accretive to ESAB's adjusted EBITDA percentage.

我們調整後的每股盈餘指引增加了 0.10 美元至 4.75 美元至 4.95 美元，反映了獲利能力的提高和預期利息支出的降低。我們的現金流轉換率仍維持在 95% 的水平。我們的指引不包括最近簽署的 SUMIG 收購，該收購預計將於 2024 年下半年完成。

With that, let me hand back to Shyam on Slide 11 to wrap up.

接下來，讓我把投影片 11 交給 Shyam 來結束。

Thank you, Kevin. To summarize, we're off to a solid start to 2024. As a result, we've raised our adjusted EBITDA and EPS guidance for the year. EBX continues to raise the bar as we continue to find new opportunities to improve margins, generate strong cash flow. We've kicked off projects using AI to reduce operating expense and improve our cash flow.

謝謝你，凱文。總而言之，我們在 2024 年有了一個良好的開端。隨著我們不斷尋找新的機會來提高利潤率、產生強勁的現金流，EBX 不斷提高標準。我們已經啟動了使用人工智慧來降低營運費用並改善現金流的專案。

Our acquisition funnel is robust, and our balance sheet is strong, allowing us to execute on our strategy to become a premier industrial compounder. We are moving the ball forward on our 2028 goals of becoming a $4 billion enterprise, delivering 22% EBITDA in the process, creating significant value for all our stakeholders.

我們的收購管道穩健，資產負債表穩健，使我們能夠執行成為一流工業複合製造商的策略。我們正在努力實現 2028 年成為價值 40 億美元的企業的目標，在此過程中實現 22% 的 EBITDA，為所有利害關係人創造巨大價值。

With that, operator, let's open the line for questions.

那麼，接線員，讓我們打開提問線路。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Mig Dobre from Baird.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自 Baird 的 Mig Dobre。

I'm afraid I'm going to violate the one question and one follow-up this time around if you allow it. I guess what I'd like to start is with your comments on usage of AI. So you mentioned this several times, and when I'm thinking of your business, I'm not really thinking AI, but obviously, you're doing something internally operationally. And I'm curious as to what that is and what the tangible effects are going to be going forward?

如果您允許的話，我擔心這次我會違反一個問題和一個後續行動。我想我想先談談您對人工智慧使用的評論。所以你多次提到這一點，當我想到你的業務時，我並沒有真正想到人工智慧，但顯然，你正在內部營運上做一些事情。我很好奇這是什麼以及未來會產生什麼實質的影響？

Yes. Mig, always good to hear from you. So let me start by answering. Obviously, there are a few things we'd like to keep to ourselves around what we're doing with AI. But let me sort of give you a gist of how we think about that particular technology and how it helps companies like us and ESAB in particular.

是的。米格，很高興收到你的來信。那我先來回答一下吧。顯然，關於我們在人工智慧方面所做的事情，有一些事情我們希望保密。但讓我向您介紹我們如何看待該特定技術以及它如何幫助像我們這樣的公司，特別是伊薩公司。

We see it in sort of 2 buckets. One is commercial growth and the second side is on the operating excellence side of our business. Something that I've talked about quite a bit, whether it be on Investor Day, whether it be in several one-on-one discussions that I've had with other investors is around the fact that we think material planning, production planning can be significantly assisted by AI to help your planning processes, and as a result, create a significant amount of cost advantage over a long period of time. So that's one that I've actually spoken about.

我們將其分為兩個桶。一是商業成長，二是我們業務的卓越營運。我已經談過很多次了，無論是在投資者日，還是在我與其他投資者進行的幾次一對一討論中，都是圍繞這樣一個事實：我們認為物料計劃、生產計劃可以得到人工智能的大力協助，以幫助您的規劃流程，從而在很長一段時間內創造顯著的成本優勢。這就是我實際上談論過的一個。

And there's a couple of things that we can actually do as well on the commercial side that will help drive better efficiencies of our sales personnel. And those are the ones that we haven't spoken about openly, but things that we're working on.

在商業方面，我們實際上也可以做一些事情，這將有助於提高我們銷售人員的效率。這些是我們尚未公開談論的事情，但我們正在努力。

That's interesting. Is this a set of solutions that you've developed or customized yourself? Or are you using third-party providers?

那很有意思。這是您自己開發或客製化的一套解決方案嗎？還是您正在使用第三方提供者？

Yes. We're not developing it ourselves is the short answer. We are using providers outside and working on solutions for ESAB, yes.

是的。簡而言之，我們不是自己開發它。是的，我們正在使用外部供應商並為 ESAB 開發解決方案。

Okay. The thing that really stood out to me this quarter was your growth. And I know that I've asked this question in the past relative to your peers, how you're evaluating your performance and what's kind of driving some of this outgrowth. I believe this might be the fourth quarter in a row that you've been able to outgrow what I see from your publicly-traded peers. So I'm curious if you can talk a little bit about that and maybe differentiate between Americas and EMEA and APAC?

好的。這個季度對我來說真正突出的是你的成長。我知道我過去曾向您的同事提出過這個問題，您如何評估自己的績效以及是什麼推動了這種成長。我相信這可能是您連續第四個季度的成長超過了我從公開交易的同行中看到的水平。所以我很好奇您是否可以談談這一點，並區分美洲、歐洲、中東和非洲和亞太地區？

Yes. First of all, very happy with the team's performance, both in the Americas and the rest of the world. I thought our teams took the momentum that we had in Q4, engaged hard in Q1, executed some of the things that we talk about around policy deployment.

是的。首先，對團隊在美洲和世界其他地區的表現非常滿意。我認為我們的團隊抓住了第四季度的勢頭，在第一季度努力工作，執行了我們圍繞政策部署討論的一些事情。

The second piece is something that we've spoken about as well, which is back in 2016, ESAB was primarily a filler metals company. And we have been over these last 7 years building out our equipment portfolio. And today, as we get into the marketplace, there were several customers that bought our filler metal and our consumables, but not our equipment. Today, that has fundamentally changed. And so we see a tremendous amount of excitement. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, I was with our distributor members, and I can tell you that there's a significant amount of excitement on their side around our equipment portfolio. And what we hear is that they want us to do more, make it easier to do business with ESAB, to continue to put our products on their shelf and get it to their customers. And so that was an exciting reassurance for us on that particular front. So primarily #1 is the fact that we have a portfolio today that works, that our customers want and that our channel partners want.

第二件事我們也談過，早在 2016 年，ESAB 主要是一家填充金屬公司。在過去的 7 年裡，我們一直在建立我們的設備組合。今天，當我們進入市場時，有幾個客戶購買了我們的填充金屬和消耗品，但沒有購買我們的設備。今天，情況發生了根本性的改變。所以我們看到了巨大的興奮。事實上，幾週前，我和我們的經銷商成員在一起，我可以告訴您，他們對我們的設備組合感到非常興奮。我們聽到的是，他們希望我們做得更多，讓與 ESAB 開展業務變得更容易，繼續將我們的產品放在他們的貨架上並將其提供給他們的客戶。因此，這對我們在這一特定方面來說是一個令人興奮的保證。因此，第一個問題是，我們今天擁有一個有效的產品組合，是我們的客戶想要的，也是我們的通路夥伴想要的。

The second aspect of it has been down to execution. I'm really happy as to how we've standardized our EBX process around sales planning. We had a recent review with the North American region on their sales plan and how they were looking at their customers, the aspect of how we're using our product line simplification to identify key customers, determine what the share of wallet is and what exactly needs to be done to drive share gain has been extraordinary. We're seeing that in North America. We're seeing that in South America and Europe and the Middle East, we're a little bit ahead on that journey.

第二個方面就是執行。我對我們如何圍繞銷售規劃標準化 EBX 流程感到非常高興。我們最近對北美地區的銷售計劃以及他們如何看待客戶進行了審查，我們如何利用我們的產品線簡化來識別關鍵客戶，確定錢包的份額以及到底是什麼推動股票收益增長需要做的工作非常多。我們在北美看到了這一點。我們看到，在南美洲、歐洲和中東，我們在這過程中領先了一些。

Understood. And can you comment at all on how your gas control business has performed in the quarter and kind of what your expectations are for 2024?

明白了。您能否評論一下您的氣體控制業務在本季的表現以及您對 2024 年的預期？

Yes. We obviously love that part of the business. We believe that there is an opportunity sort of to begin to differentiate ESAB. The big portion of that business, as you know, is exposed to great secular trends in our view, the use of industrial gas. We saw some strong demand come out of all of our regions around industrial gas. Medical and spec gas continued to stay strong, but more reasonable off of some strong comparisons to last year. So we expect that business again to continue to perform somewhere in that mid-single digits this year. Margin expansion in that business was also strong. We've got a great funnel for acquisitions as well. So we continue to expect to compound on that business in 2024.

是的。我們顯然很喜歡這部分業務。我們相信，現在有機會讓 ESAB 脫穎而出。如您所知，該業務的很大一部分受到我們認為的長期趨勢的影響，即工業氣體的使用。我們看到所有地區對工業氣體都有強勁的需求。醫用和規格氣體繼續保持強勁，但與去年相比更加合理。因此，我們預計今年該業務將再次繼續保持在中個位數的水平。該業務的利潤率擴張也很強勁。我們也有一個很棒的收購管道。因此，我們繼續預期該業務將在 2024 年實現複合成長。

Last point. Just to clarify this, when we're looking at your performance relative to peers, gas control is something that's kind of unique to you. It's fair to say that the variance is not just the gas control business is, you have...

最後一點。為了澄清這一點，當我們查看您相對於同行的表現時，氣體控制對您來說是獨一無二的。公平地說，差異不僅在於氣體控制業務，還有…

No, no. We actually...

不，不。我們其實...

That's right. That's right. We actually saw very strong performance both o., the FABTECH side and gas control side. So I would fundamentally say and I think we mentioned it briefly in our commentary, Mig, is that we saw really good growth in equipment, and we saw strong growth in automation on the FABTECH side with filler metal kind of staying quite stable. And then on the gas control side, very similar strength on the industrial side of gas with med gas and spec gas saying sort of in that lower single-digit range.

這是正確的。這是正確的。實際上，我們在 FABTECH 方面和氣體控制方面都看到了非常強勁的性能。所以我從根本上說，我想我們在評論中簡要提到過，Mig，我們看到設備的增長非常好，我們看到 FABTECH 方面的自動化強勁增長，填充金屬保持相當穩定。然後在氣體控制方面，工業氣體方面的強度非常相似，醫用氣體和規格氣體都在較低的個位數範圍內。

And the other thing that I'd mentioned, we talked a bit about the weather, but otherwise, I really feel good about the team's performance in the first quarter.

我提到的另一件事是，我們討論了一些天氣問題，但除此之外，我對球隊第一季的表現真的感覺很好。

Your next question comes from the line of Nathan Jones from Stifel.

您的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Nathan Jones。

I'll start my 1 question and 7 follow-ups. I wanted to start on with some questions on pricing. Obviously, strong pricing in America plus 5% and that outside Americas was down 3%. Can you talk a little bit about the disparity in the pricing there? What's driving that, whether it's just differences in the cost base that's coming in? Just any details you can give us on the disparity in pricing amongst the regions.

我將開始我的 1 個問題和 7 個後續問題。我想從一些有關定價的問題開始。顯然，美國的定價強勁，上漲了 5%，而美洲以外的定價則下降了 3%。您能談談那裡的定價差異嗎？是什麼推動了這個趨勢，是否只是成本基礎的差異？您可以向我們提供有關各地區之間價格差異的任何詳細資訊。

Yes. Thank you for that question, Nathan, Always good to hear from you. So a couple of aspects. We've talked about 3 aspects around pricing, first, being around just value pricing and new products coming into the market. Second, we talked about our PLS-led initiative around pricing. And then the third one was inflation based. So the piece for us in North America, we're seeing a bit of both PLS and inflation-based pricing. And then in Europe, we are -- the rest of the world, we're focused on net price and so by that, our teams are focused on what's happening to our cost structure and what are we doing to determine a net price situation to be positive. And so what we loved about both of our regions is that margins expanded in both the Americas and in the rest of the world as a result of that activity and shows the robustness of our process around pricing and discipline that our teams have.

是的。謝謝你提出這個問題，內森，很高興收到你的來信。所以有幾個面向。我們討論了定價的三個方面，首先，圍繞價值定價和新產品進入市場。其次，我們討論了由 PLS 主導的定價措施。第三個是基於通貨膨脹的。因此，對於北美地區的我們來說，我們看到了 PLS 和基於通貨膨脹的定價。然後在歐洲，我們——世界其他地方，我們專注於淨價，因此，我們的團隊專注於我們的成本結構發生了什麼，以及我們正在做什麼來確定淨價情況要樂觀。因此，我們對這兩個地區的喜愛之處在於，由於這項活動，美洲和世界其他地區的利潤率都得到了擴大，並顯示了我們團隊在定價和紀律方面的流程的穩健性。

Could you then comment on what we should expect from pricing for the remainder of the year, whether it should stay nicely positive in Americas? And if you expect it to continue to be on the headline number negative for the rest of the world?

那麼您能否評論一下我們對今年剩餘時間的定價有何期望，美洲是否應該保持良好的積極勢頭？如果您預計世界其他地區的負面數字將繼續出現？

Yes, let me give that to Kevin. He can go...

是的，讓我把它交給凱文。他可以去...

Yes, Nathan. So we'll continue to monitor prices and our net price deal, as Shyam mentioned. At this point, our expectation is that we'll see low single-digit price for the overall business, but we'll react to anything that happens in the market as we've shown we're able to do. Our expectation would be that there will be a stronger price in the Americas as we go through the year unless price in the EMEA and APAC region.

是的，內森。因此，正如 Shyam 所提到的，我們將繼續監控價格和我們的淨價交易。目前，我們的預期是整個業務的價格將保持在個位數的低水平，但我們將對市場上發生的任何事情做出反應，正如我們已經表明的那樣。我們預計，今年美洲的價格將會走強，除非歐洲、中東和非洲和亞太地區的價格上漲。

Your next question comes from the line of Tami Zakaria from JPMorgan.

您的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Tami Zakaria。

I do want to see quite a good quarter with organic revenue growth, considering what some of the welding peers have reported so far. So congrats on that.

考慮到一些焊接同行迄今為止的報告，我確實希望看到一個相當好的季度有機收入成長。所以恭喜你。

So my questions are actually related to the acquisitions. So the first question is, you talked about incremental TAM. Can you size the total addressable market for maintenance and repair and also light automation? And how these new acquisitions would position you to penetrate in these end markets? And what's really the growth algo of these -- both MRO and light automation as you think about these markets over the next few years?

所以我的問題其實與收購有關。所以第一個問題是，您談到了增量 TAM。您能否估算維護和維修以及輕型自動化的整體潛在市場規模？這些新收購將如何幫助您打入這些終端市場？當您考慮未來幾年這些市場時，MRO 和輕型自動化的真正成長演算法是什麼？

Yes. Thank you, Tami. Yes. We are very pleased with the business performance and really thrilled for our teams as they sort of continue to execute in both the Americas and the rest of the world. In terms of the acquisition, you're spot on. I think the Sager acquisition in South America gives us greater exposure to the MRO market, which we find to be very stable, less cyclical and better margin profile. So it's not that you're sort of expanding into the space, our exposure into that space increases as a result of this. We expect the MRO space to be very stable and less cyclical through any cycle of the market. So that's the piece on Sager.

是的。謝謝你，塔米。是的。我們對業務表現非常滿意，並對我們的團隊感到非常興奮，因為他們繼續在美洲和世界其他地區執行任務。就收購而言，你是正確的。我認為在南美洲收購 Sager 讓我們更能接觸 MRO 市場，我們發現該市場非常穩定、週期性較小且利潤狀況較好。所以這並不是說你在向這個空間擴張，而是我們在這個空間中的暴露程度因此而增加。我們預期 MRO 空間在任何市場週期中都將非常穩定且週期性較小。這就是關於賽格的文章。

On the SUMIG acquisition, you're spot on, we love the aspect that it's light automation. By light automation, we put it in the categories of cobots, standardized robotics, nothing that sort of has large material handling as part of the solution set. And we think, if you remember our Investor Day deck, we had talked about that market equipment and automation being about $12 billion and growing to $17 billion. And our intention is that those are the segments, especially on the lighter side, where you're focused on the process solution, we think that that's a great growth market, less capital intensive. We'll have better market characteristics. And obviously, we love the margin profile of that particular side of the business. And that's what SUMIG gets us. Strong presence in the Americas with some beachheads also in the U.S.

關於 SUMIG 的收購，您說得很對，我們喜歡它的輕自動化方面。透過輕型自動化，我們將其歸類為協作機器人、標準化機器人類別，沒有任何一種將大型物料搬運作為解決方案集的一部分。我們認為，如果您還記得我們的投資者日套牌，我們曾討論過市場設備和自動化價值約為 120 億美元，並將增長至 170 億美元。我們的目的是這些細分市場，特別是在較輕的方面，您專注於流程解決方案，我們認為這是一個巨大的成長市場，資本密集度較低。我們會有更好的市場特徵。顯然，我們喜歡該業務特定方面的利潤狀況。這就是 SUMIG 為我們帶來的。在美洲擁有強大的影響力，在美國也有一些灘頭陣地

So that's helpful. And so my follow-up is, can you sort of size what type of sales and EPS accretions you expect from Sager and SUMIG in year 1? Basically, I'm trying to understand what kind of EBITDA are these 2 businesses making now? And what kind of accretion we can expect?

所以這很有幫助。所以我的後續問題是，您能否估算一下您對 Sager 和 SUMIG 第一年的銷售額和每股盈餘成長的預期類型？基本上，我想了解這兩家企業現在的 EBITDA 是多少？我們可以期待什麼樣的成長？

Yes. Go ahead, Kevin.

是的。繼續吧，凱文。

Yes. So Tami, Sager, we've built into the guidance already. It's around $10 million of revenue we're expecting for this year. SUMIG for the last 12 months, it generated around $30 million of revenue. Obviously, we haven't built it into the guidance because it hasn't closed yet. We expect it to close in the second half of 2024. Once it closes, we'll give some update in terms of what we build into the guidance for this year. The good news is that both of these acquisitions are both EBITDA accretive and both will be EPS accretive in their first year.

是的。 Tami、Sager，我們已經將其納入指南中。我們預計今年的收入約為 1000 萬美元。 SUMIG 在過去 12 個月內創造了約 3000 萬美元的收入。顯然，我們尚未將其納入指南，因為它尚未關閉。我們預計它將在 2024 年下半年結束。好消息是，這兩項收購都能增加 EBITDA，並且在第一年都會增加 EPS。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

If there are no more questions, thank you for dialing in today, and we look forward to talking to you on the next quarterly call.

如果沒有其他問題，感謝您今天撥打電話，我們期待在下一次季度電話會議上與您交談。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。