Eagle Materials Inc (EXP) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to Eagle Materials Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2023 Earnings Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Eagle's President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Michael Haack. Mr. Haack, please go ahead.

大家好，歡迎來到 Eagle Materials 第四季度和 2023 財年收益電話會議。今天的通話正在錄音中。此時，我想將電話轉給 Eagle 的總裁兼首席執行官 Michael Haack 先生。哈克先生，請繼續。

Thank you, Jamie. Good morning. Welcome to Eagle Materials conference call for our fourth quarter and fiscal year 2023. This is Michael Haack, joining me today are Craig Kesler, our Chief Financial Officer; and Bob Stewart, Executive Vice President of Strategy, Corporate Development and Communications. There will be a slide presentation made in connection with this call.

謝謝你，傑米。早上好。歡迎參加我們第四季度和 2023 財年的 Eagle Materials 電話會議。我是 Michael Haack，今天加入我的是我們的首席財務官 Craig Kesler；戰略、企業發展和傳播執行副總裁鮑勃·斯圖爾特 (Bob Stewart)。將進行與此次電話會議相關的幻燈片演示。

To access it, please go to eaglematerials.com and click on the link to the webcast. While you're accessing the slides, please note that the first slide covers our cautionary disclosure regarding forward-looking statements made during this call. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ from those discussed during the call. For further information, please refer to this disclosure, which is also included at the end of our press release.

要訪問它，請訪問 eaglematerials.com 並單擊網絡廣播鏈接。當您訪問幻燈片時，請注意第一張幻燈片涵蓋了我們在本次電話會議期間所做的前瞻性陳述的警告性披露。這些陳述存在風險和不確定性，可能導致結果與電話會議期間討論的結果不同。有關更多信息，請參閱本披露，該披露也包含在我們的新聞稿末尾。

Today, I am proud to announce record results for Eagle Materials across the board, safety, financial and operational. This is remarkable when you think about all the market uncertainties that have reared their head during these last 12 months. Eagle's success in these areas are simply from the fact that, first, we have the best people in the industry. Many of our personnel put in long hours to achieve the safe record operational results that led to our financial success this past year.

今天，我很自豪地宣布 Eagle Materials 在安全、財務和運營方面的全面創紀錄業績。當您考慮過去 12 個月中出現的所有市場不確定性時，這是非常了不起的。 Eagle 在這些領域的成功僅僅是因為，首先，我們擁有業內最優秀的人才。我們的許多人員投入了很長時間，以實現安全記錄的運營成果，這讓我們在過去一年取得了財務上的成功。

I want to thank each Eagle employee as you make Eagle what it is today. Second, at Eagle, we do not spend our time trying to control the uncontrollable, like the direction of the U.S. economy. We remain focused on what we could affect and that is maintaining our low-cost producer position that serves us well in any financial cycle. Third, we remain steadfast in our capital allocation priorities which gives us the flexibility to react in any market condition. Now let me talk about a few details regarding our results, starting with safety.

我要感謝每一位 Eagle 員工，是你們讓 Eagle 成為今天的樣子。其次，在 Eagle，我們不會花時間試圖控制無法控制的事物，例如美國經濟的方向。我們仍然專注於我們可以影響的事情，那就是保持我們在任何金融週期中都能很好地為我們服務的低成本生產商地位。第三，我們在資本配置優先事項上保持堅定不移，這使我們能夠靈活地應對任何市場狀況。現在讓我談談我們結果的一些細節，從安全性開始。

We had the lowest recordable injury rate in the company history and the highest employee participation in our near miss reporting program. Simply put, at Eagle, we care about fellow employees and look out for each other. Financially, Eagle Materials set records across the board for the fourth quarter and for our full fiscal year. To highlight a few of these records, Eagle generated annual revenue of $2.1 billion up 15% with $470 million of that coming in Q4.

我們的可記錄傷害率是公司歷史上最低的，並且員工參與我們的未遂事故報告計劃的人數最多。簡而言之，在 Eagle，我們關心同事並互相照顧。在財務方面，Eagle Materials 在第四季度和整個財政年度全面創下記錄。為了突出其中的一些記錄，Eagle 的年收入為 21 億美元，增長 15%，其中 4.7 億美元來自第四季度。

Eagle's annual EPS was up was $12.46, up 36%, with Q4 showing momentum at $2.79, up 47%. During the fiscal year, we also expanded gross margins by 190 basis points, up to 29.8%, while generating operating cash flow of $542 million.

Eagle 的年度每股收益為 12.46 美元，增長 36%，第四季度勢頭強勁，為 2.79 美元，增長 47%。在本財年，我們還將毛利率提高了 190 個基點，達到 29.8%，同時產生了 5.42 億美元的運營現金流。

These results reflect the culmination of decisions Eagle has been making for many decades, namely geography matters. We remain well positioned to capitalize on the conditions of this past year given our geographic footprint across the U.S. Heartland and fast-growing Sunbelt region. We control our raw materials with regards to proximity of our reserves to our plants, the quantity of the reserves and the quality of the reserves we own, which helps insulate us from supply chain pressures.

這些結果反映了 Eagle 幾十年來所做決定的最終結果，即地理問題。鑑於我們在美國腹地和快速發展的陽光地帶地區的地理足跡，我們仍然有能力利用過去一年的條件。我們根據儲量與工廠的接近程度、儲量的數量和我們擁有的儲量的質量來控制原材料，這有助於使我們免受供應鏈壓力。

Operationally, the strength of our business was also reflected in our pricing and cost control initiatives this year. In Wallboard, we were able to achieve a 260 basis point improvement in our operating margins. On the heavy side, we implemented 2 cement price increases in fiscal year 2023, including our recent January price increase. We continue to believe that we are in the early stages of a multiyear tailwind for our cement business.

在運營方面，我們的業務實力也反映在我們今年的定價和成本控制舉措中。在 Wallboard 中，我們的營業利潤率提高了 260 個基點。在沉重的一面，我們在 2023 財年實施了 2 次水泥價格上漲，包括我們最近的 1 月份價格上漲。我們仍然相信，我們正處於水泥業務多年順風的早期階段。

Looking beyond our financial results, I also want to highlight how well we executed on our strategic initiatives and priorities this year. In fiscal year 2023, Eagle was able to strengthen its network through several acquisitions totaling almost $160 million.

除了我們的財務業績外，我還想強調我們今年在戰略計劃和優先事項方面的執行情況。在 2023 財年，Eagle 能夠通過總計近 1.6 億美元的幾筆收購來加強其網絡。

While we are always looking for transformative acquisitions that meet our strategic and financial criteria, our acquisitions this year were bolt-on in nature extending our network of cement terminals, expanding our aggregate operations and improving our low-cost producer position.

雖然我們一直在尋找符合我們戰略和財務標準的變革性收購，但我們今年的收購本質上是補強的，以擴展我們的水泥碼頭網絡、擴大我們的綜合業務並改善我們的低成本生產商地位。

Because of our robust cash flow generation, these acts of [acquisitions] were also executed alongside our flexible share buyback program. We returned $426 million to our shareholders, maintained our quarterly dividend and bought back 3.1 million shares while simultaneously keeping leverage below 1.4x.

由於我們產生了強勁的現金流，這些 [收購] 行為也與我們靈活的股票回購計劃一起執行。我們向股東返還了 4.26 億美元，維持了季度股息並回購了 310 萬股股票，同時將槓桿率保持在 1.4 倍以下。

Finally, I want to close out the review of our year with an update on another top strategic priority for Eagle, environmental sustainability in our transition to Portland Limestone Cement or PLC.

最後，我想通過更新 Eagle 的另一個首要戰略重點，即我們向波特蘭石灰石水泥或 PLC 過渡過程中的環境可持續性來結束我們這一年的回顧。

First, I'm happy to highlight that we updated our environmental and social disclosure report in February, highlighting the work we have done to date and the path forward for Eagle. We have made significant progress, and we'll continue to work on the implementation of our strategy. As for PLC, at the beginning of the year, less than 10% of our cement was PLC and I'm pleased to report that we were able to transition to over 30% by the end of the fiscal year 2023.

首先，我很高興強調我們在 2 月份更新了我們的環境和社會披露報告，強調了我們迄今為止所做的工作以及 Eagle 的前進道路。我們已經取得了重大進展，我們將繼續努力實施我們的戰略。至於 PLC，今年年初，我們的水泥中只有不到 10% 是 PLC，我很高興地報告說，到 2023 財年末，我們能夠過渡到 30% 以上。

We are on track to achieve 100% conversion of all construction-grade cement by 2025 to PLC. In summary, while there is more work ahead, environmentally, operationally and strategically, I could not be prouder of what we were able to achieve this year.

我們有望到 2025 年將所有建築級水泥 100% 轉化為 PLC。總而言之，儘管在環境、運營和戰略方面還有更多工作要做，但我為我們今年取得的成就感到無比自豪。

That leads me into the next topic I'd like to spend some time on today, looking at our year ahead. I'll start with the demand picture for the heavy side. Public support for infrastructure improvements remains high as seen through the large percentage of infrastructure-related bill that passed following last November's midterm elections.

這讓我進入下一個主題，今天我想花一些時間來探討我們未來的一年。我將從重端的需求圖開始。從去年 11 月中期選舉後通過的大量基礎設施相關法案可以看出，公眾對改善基礎設施的支持仍然很高。

We are beginning to see a meaningful increase in funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which should last multiple years. This is in addition to the spending done at the state and local level which continues to benefit from healthy budgets and tax receipts, especially in the states Eagle operates in. As a case in point, infrastructure contract awards for highways, bridges and tunnels in states across Eagle's cement footprint have grown by over 35% in the last 12 months.

我們開始看到基礎設施投資和就業法案的資金顯著增加，這應該會持續多年。這是對州和地方一級支出的補充，這些支出繼續受益於健康的預算和稅收收入，尤其是在 Eagle 運營所在的州。舉個例子，各州高速公路、橋樑和隧道的基礎設施合同授予在過去 12 個月中，Eagle 的水泥足跡增長了 35% 以上。

Now let's talk about the supply side for heavy. As I've discussed in the past, even with the multiyear demand tailwinds for cement, supply capacity is unlikely to material increase due to permitting timelines, if you can get one, and investment requirements. In fact, even as cement consumption has increased over the last several years, clinker production has dropped.

現在讓我們談談重的供應方面。正如我過去所討論的那樣，即使有多年的水泥需求順風，供應能力也不太可能因為允許的時間表（如果可以的話）和投資要求而大幅增加。事實上，儘管過去幾年水泥消耗量有所增加，熟料產量卻有所下降。

These supply-demand dynamics reinforce our outlook in the mid- and long term for our heavy side businesses. To that end, as we previously announced, we recently closed on a cement import terminal acquisition in Northern California as part of our strategy to expand and strengthen the distribution reach of our cement network across our U.S. Heartland manufacturing system.

這些供需動態加強了我們對重型業務的中長期前景。為此，正如我們之前宣布的那樣，我們最近完成了對北加州水泥進口碼頭的收購，這是我們擴大和加強水泥網絡在美國中心地帶製造系統的分銷範圍的戰略的一部分。

This acquisition allows Eagle to participate in a robust market fulfilling customer needs in an area where cement manufacturing supply is challenged while increasing the optionality of our Nevada Cement Plant.

此次收購使 Eagle 能夠參與一個強大的市場，滿足水泥製造供應面臨挑戰的地區的客戶需求，同時增加我們內華達水泥廠的可選性。

Next, let me say a few words about the demand picture for Wallboard. There is no question that continued uncertainty around the U.S. economy strength or the Federal Reserve's policy setting makes next year's demand picture unclear. What does remain clear, however, is that certain areas of the U.S. housing construction activity have proven incredibly resilient. For example, data shows having units under construction to still be at near record levels with multifamily units under construction at the highest level since 1973.

接下來說一下Wallboard的需求圖。毫無疑問，圍繞美國經濟實力或美聯儲政策設置的持續不確定性使得明年的需求前景不明朗。然而，仍然清楚的是，美國住房建設活動的某些領域已證明具有令人難以置信的彈性。例如，數據顯示在建單元數量仍接近創紀錄水平，而在建多戶單元數量處於 1973 年以來的最高水平。

Southern states at the core of Eagle's footprint are seeing a continued rebound in housing starts hitting a 9-month high through March. Home inventory levels and months of supply are also still historically low sustaining homebuilding activity. Furthermore, the repair and remodel outlook seems stable with primary modeling years of home stock expected to grow over the next few years and homeowners sitting at all-time high levels of home equity.

位於 Eagle 足跡核心的南部各州的房屋開工率持續反彈，截至 3 月創下 9 個月新高。房屋庫存水平和供應月數也仍處於歷史低位，維持了房屋建築活動。此外，維修和改造前景似乎穩定，主要建模年份的房屋存量預計將在未來幾年增長，而且房主的房屋淨值處於歷史最高水平。

On the Gypsum Wallboard supply side, it is crucial to note that like cement, wallboard supply remains structurally challenged, albeit for different reasons. The difficulty in accessing natural gypsum as a raw material in the East and the reduction in synthetic gypsum is significantly impacting the cost curve and capacity utilization for the industry. As a result, nameplate capacity has remained essentially flat since 2017. This lack of new supply is unlike any prior cycle. It means that a dip in demand does not necessarily -- the same pricing pressure we've seen in past cycles.

在石膏牆板供應方面，值得注意的是，與水泥一樣，牆板供應在結構上仍然面臨挑戰，儘管原因不同。東部難以獲得天然石膏作為原材料，合成石膏的減少正在顯著影響該行業的成本曲線和產能利用率。因此，銘牌產能自 2017 年以來基本持平。這種新供應的缺乏不同於以往的任何週期。這意味著需求下降不一定 - 我們在過去的周期中看到的相同定價壓力。

With the supply-demand picture, we have reason to be cautiously optimistic as we have proven we can handle some volatility in the market if it were to materialize. Given the variable cost nature of the Gypsum Wallboard business, we have proven that we can flex production up and down appropriately. On the cost side, the stabilization in our input costs namely OCC recycle paper and natural gas should continue to provide a buffer. As our quarter and our year showed demand is strong today, and there are many reasons to be optimistic about the future.

鑑於供需情況，我們有理由保持謹慎樂觀，因為我們已經證明，如果市場波動成為現實，我們可以應對。鑑於石膏牆板業務的可變成本性質，我們已經證明我們可以適當地上下調整生產。在成本方面，我們投入成本（即 OCC 回收紙和天然氣）的穩定應會繼續提供緩衝。由於我們的季度和年度表明今天的需求強勁，並且有很多理由對未來感到樂觀。

In summary, in the year ahead, we will continue to focus on executing well and preparing for things within our control. For Eagle, that means, first, we'll keep investing in our core. Our core businesses are well positioned and well prepared to capitalize on opportunities ahead. We will continue to invest in maintaining our plants in like new condition, investing in our operational and technology capabilities and improving our sustainability for the long term.

總而言之，在未來的一年裡，我們將繼續專注於做好執行和為我們可控的事情做準備。對於 Eagle，這意味著，首先，我們將繼續投資於我們的核心。我們的核心業務已做好充分準備，可以充分利用未來的機遇。我們將繼續投資以將我們的工廠保持在新的狀態，投資於我們的運營和技術能力，並提高我們的長期可持續性。

Secondly, we will be prepared for any eventuality. This includes keeping a healthy balance sheet with leverage currently at 1.4x, allowing us to manage cycles, while ensuring we can capitalize on any organic or inorganic opportunities. And third, we will stay relentlessly focused on our priorities. Operationally, that means keeping our employees safe, executing at the highest levels and meeting the needs of our customers. Strategically, we will continue to seek to grow our businesses with an emphasis on heavy-side acquisitions that meet our strategic and financial criteria.

其次，我們會為任何可能發生的情況做好準備。這包括保持健康的資產負債表，槓桿率目前為 1.4 倍，使我們能夠管理週期，同時確保我們可以利用任何有機或無機機會。第三，我們將堅持不懈地專注於我們的優先事項。在運營上，這意味著要確保我們員工的安全，以最高水平執行並滿足客戶的需求。在戰略上，我們將繼續尋求發展我們的業務，重點是滿足我們的戰略和財務標準的重型收購。

It also means sticking to our capital allocation priorities, including prudently returning cash to our shareholders. And environmentally, we will drive our sustainability initiatives, important limestone cement and more broadly. With that, let me turn it over to Craig for the financial review of our quarter.

這也意味著堅持我們的資本配置重點，包括謹慎地向股東返還現金。在環境方面，我們將推動我們的可持續發展計劃、重要的石灰石水泥以及更廣泛的領域。有了這個，讓我把它轉交給克雷格對我們季度的財務審查。

Thank you, Michael. Fiscal year 2023 revenue was a record $2.1 billion, up 15% from the prior year. Excluding the acquired aggregates business in Northern Colorado, revenue was up 13%. The increase reflects higher cement and wallboard sales prices as well as increased wallboard sales volume.

謝謝你，邁克爾。 2023 財年收入達到創紀錄的 21 億美元，比上年增長 15%。不包括收購的北科羅拉多骨料業務，收入增長了 13%。這一增長反映了水泥和牆板銷售價格的上漲以及牆板銷量的增加。

Revenue for the fourth quarter was up 14% to $470 million, primarily reflecting increased wallboard and cement pricing. The strong fundamentals in both Cement and Wallboard contributed to record EPS during the year. Diluted earnings per share for the full year increased 36% to $12.46.

第四季度收入增長 14% 至 4.7 億美元，主要反映牆板和水泥價格上漲。水泥和牆板的強勁基本面為年內創紀錄的每股收益做出了貢獻。全年稀釋後每股收益增長 36% 至 12.46 美元。

This increase also reflects the reduced share count resulting from our share repurchase program. Fully diluted shares were down 9.5% from the prior year and are down nearly 30% from their peak in fiscal 2015. Fourth quarter EPS was up 47%.

這一增長也反映了我們的股票回購計劃導致的股票數量減少。完全稀釋後的股價較上年下降 9.5%，較 2015 財年的峰值下降近 30%。第四季度每股收益增長 47%。

Turning now to segment performance highlighted on the next slide. In our heavy materials sector, which includes our Cement and Concrete and Aggregates segments, annual revenue increased 11% to $1.3 billion. The increase reflects higher cement sales pricing and the contribution from the aggregates business we acquired early in the year, partially offset by lower sales volumes -- cement sales volume.

現在轉向下一張幻燈片中突出顯示的細分性能。在我們的重材料部門，包括我們的水泥和混凝土以及骨料部門，年收入增長 11% 至 13 億美元。這一增長反映了更高的水泥銷售價格和我們年初收購的骨料業務的貢獻，部分被較低的銷量——水泥銷量所抵消。

Cement sales volume was depressed because of record-setting snowfall in our Northern Nevada and Northern California markets in the fourth quarter. Operating earnings increased 7% to $297 million again, reflecting higher cement sales prices, partially offset by lower sales volume and higher operating costs.

由於第四季度北內華達州和北加州市場創紀錄的降雪，水泥銷量低迷。營業收入再次增長 7% 至 2.97 億美元，反映出水泥銷售價格上漲，部分被銷量下降和運營成本上升所抵消。

Our fourth quarter cement price increased 16%, reflecting the price increase we implemented recently in January, which demonstrates the very strong demand environment in the sold-out position in the U.S. cement industry.

我們第四季度的水泥價格上漲了 16%，反映了我們最近在 1 月份實施的價格上漲，這表明美國水泥行業已售罄的需求環境非常強勁。

Moving to the Light Materials sector on the next slide.

轉到下一張幻燈片的輕材料部門。

Annual revenue in our Light Materials sector increased 22% to $981 million, reflecting increased Wallboard sales volume and prices. Annual operating earnings increased 38% to $378 million, reflecting increased net sales prices, partially offset by higher input prices, namely recycled fiber and energy. However, both of these have recently declined.

我們輕質材料部門的年收入增長 22% 至 9.81 億美元，反映出牆板銷量和價格的增長。年度營業收入增長 38% 至 3.78 億美元，反映了淨銷售價格的上漲，部分被更高的投入價格所抵消，即再生纖維和能源。然而，這兩者最近都下降了。

Looking now at our cash flow. We continue to generate very strong cash flow and allocate capital in a disciplined way. During fiscal 2023, operating cash flow improved 5% to $542 million, while capital spending increased to $110 million as we continue to invest in and improve our operations.

現在看看我們的現金流。我們繼續產生非常強勁的現金流，並以有紀律的方式分配資本。在 2023 財年，運營現金流增加 5% 至 5.42 億美元，而隨著我們繼續投資和改善運營，資本支出增加至 1.1 億美元。

And as Michael described, we also completed multiple acquisitions during the year, with total acquisition spending of approximately $158 million.

正如邁克爾所描述的那樣，我們在這一年中還完成了多項收購，總收購支出約為 1.58 億美元。

In fiscal 2023, we paid $38 million in dividends and repurchased approximately 3.1 million shares of our common stock for $388 million, returning nearly $426 million to shareholders. We have 7.7 million shares remaining under our current repurchase authorization. In fiscal 2024, we expect capital spending to increase to a range of $145 million to $165 million, as we ramp up several projects to expand the production of Portland Limestone Cement and to improve our low-cost assets. And finally, a look at our capital structure.

在 2023 財年，我們支付了 3800 萬美元的股息，並以 3.88 億美元的價格回購了約 310 萬股普通股，向股東返還了近 4.26 億美元。根據我們目前的回購授權，我們還有 770 萬股股票。在 2024 財年，我們預計資本支出將增加到 1.45 億美元至 1.65 億美元，因為我們會增加幾個項目以擴大波特蘭石灰石水泥的生產並改善我們的低成本資產。最後，看看我們的資本結構。

At March 31, 2023, our net debt-to-cap ratio was 48% and our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio leverage was 1.4x. Total liquidity at the end of the fiscal year was approximately $602 million, and we have no meaningful near-term debt maturities, giving us substantial financial flexibility. Thank you for attending today's call. We'll now move to the question-and-answer session.

截至 2023 年 3 月 31 日，我們的淨債務與市值比率為 48%，我們的淨債務與 EBITDA 比率槓桿為 1.4 倍。本財年末的流動資金總額約為 6.02 億美元，我們沒有有意義的短期債務到期，這給了我們很大的財務靈活性。感謝您參加今天的電話會議。我們現在進入問答環節。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question today comes from Trey Grooms from Stephens.

我們今天的第一個問題來自 Stephens 的 Trey Grooms。

Michael, Craig and Bob. And nice work in fiscal '23. So first off, Wallboard volume held in pretty well here in the quarter, and you seem pretty constructive on the longer-term outlook there. And understanding the outlook for the year is tough to call, as you mentioned, Michael. But it seems that once the backlog of homes under construction is absorbed, we could see a volume dip here at some point.

邁克爾、克雷格和鮑勃。以及 23 財年的出色表現。所以首先，Wallboard 的銷量在本季度保持得很好，而且你似乎對那裡的長期前景很有建設性。正如你提到的，邁克爾，很難理解今年的前景。但似乎一旦積壓的在建房屋被吸收，我們可能會在某個時候看到這裡的成交量下降。

Can you talk a little bit more specifically about what you're seeing on the demand front for Wallboard as we've kind of moved a little bit further into the spring building season in your markets?

您能否更具體地談談您在 Wallboard 的需求方面看到的情況，因為我們已經進一步進入了您所在市場的春季建築季節？

Yes. Thanks, Trey. It's a good question. Look, I think, as Michael mentioned in his comments, look, I think we've been very pleasantly happy with the resiliency of our wallboard sales volume as we've entered the spring season. It looks like and again, some of that is based on our geography, where we sit generally in the southern part of the U.S. where demographic growth has continued to remain strong and construction activity has followed in kind.

是的。謝謝，特雷。這是個好問題。看，我認為，正如邁克爾在他的評論中提到的那樣，看，我認為我們在進入春季時對牆板銷量的彈性感到非常高興。看起來又一次，其中一些是基於我們的地理位置，我們通常位於美國南部，人口增長繼續保持強勁，建築活動也隨之而來。

So again, Brazilian volumes, and it looks like housing starts have stabilized at this level. with rates coming down here early in the first part of this year. So we've been, again, pleasantly surprised with our volumes in the first part of the year.

同樣，巴西的交易量和房屋開工率似乎已穩定在這一水平。隨著今年上半年利率下降。因此，我們再次對今年上半年的銷量感到驚喜。

Great. And then strong cement pricing in the quarter, so hats off there. And there's some mid-year increases out in some markets for cement, can you talk about maybe your overall cement pricing environment and maybe your outlook there for cement price?

偉大的。然後在本季度強勁的水泥定價，所以脫帽致敬。一些水泥市場在年中有所上漲，你能談談你的整體水泥定價環境以及你對水泥價格的展望嗎？

Yes. Trey, when we look across the network and everything, cement is as we've said in the past before, we're really sold out in a lot of areas with it. We've looked at different markets. We are coming out in certain markets with some cement price increases that will be mid-year and we're evaluating the other markets. As this year goes forward and we look at the supply-demand picture, we'll determine what we do in all those markets so we should be able to give you an update, hopefully, by the next quarter.

是的。特雷，當我們審視整個網絡和一切時，水泥就像我們過去所說的那樣，我們在很多地區都用它賣光了。我們研究了不同的市場。我們將在年中推出一些水泥價格上漲的某些市場，我們正在評估其他市場。隨著今年的推進，我們會審視供需情況，我們將確定我們在所有這些市場上的工作，因此我們應該能夠在下個季度之前向您提供更新。

Great. Have a good rest of the day. Good luck in the quarter, and I'll pass it on.

偉大的。好好休息一天。祝本季度好運，我會把它傳遞下去。

Our next question comes from Brent Thielman from D.A. Davidson.

我們的下一個問題來自 D.A. 的 Brent Thielman。戴維森。

Congrats on a great quarter, great year. I guess first question, just wondering if you could comment on the benefits of lower OCC and I guess, ultimately, paperboard costs on the wallboard profit margins this quarter or whether more of those benefits are still to come as higher average costs are kind of still flowing through.

祝賀一個偉大的季度，偉大的一年。我想是第一個問題，只是想知道您是否可以評論降低 OCC 的好處，我想最終，紙板成本對本季度牆板利潤率的影響，或者是否還會帶來更多這些好處，因為平均成本仍然較高流過。

And I guess a similar question on lower natural gas prices and I guess how or when that might be more impactful to the cost profile of the Wallboard business.

我猜想一個類似的問題是關於較低的天然氣價格，我想這可能如何或何時對牆板業務的成本狀況產生更大的影響。

Yes. Thanks. So the OCC prices, as you mentioned, have significantly declined from where we were a year ago. They really stabilized here over the last several months, almost flat during the March quarter, which benefits the paper mill pretty quickly. And as you've seen the profitability there, in the December quarter and here again in the March quarter recover very nicely.

是的。謝謝。因此，正如您所提到的，OCC 價格與一年前相比已大幅下降。在過去的幾個月裡，他們真的穩定下來，在三月份的季度幾乎持平，這很快使造紙廠受益。正如你所看到的那樣，12 月季度和 3 月季度的盈利能力恢復得非常好。

It takes a little bit of a lag, a quarter or 2 lag for that to flow through into the Wallboard business. So we saw a little bit of it here in the March quarter, but there will be a little bit more of a tailwind as we head into the June quarter as well, assuming prices remain at this level.

它需要一點點滯後，四分之一或 2 個滯後才能流入牆板業務。因此，我們在 3 月季度在這裡看到了一點點，但假設價格保持在這個水平，我們進入 6 月季度時也會有更多的順風。

And then from a natural gas perspective, yes, we've seen a significant decline as well there in that input cost. We were -- for the full fiscal year, 6.5, a little over [$6.5] a million, and gas is down at least the forward curve is around $3 a million. We've hedged a good amount of that almost half of our needs for the year at around $4. So yes, we've seen a nice tailwind change there, too.

然後從天然氣的角度來看，是的，我們也看到了投入成本的顯著下降。我們是 - 整個財政年度，6.5，略高於 [6.5] 百萬美元，而天然氣至少下降了遠期曲線，約為百萬美元 3 美元。我們已經以大約 4 美元的價格對沖了這一年幾乎一半的需求。所以是的，我們也看到了一個不錯的順風變化。

Okay. And then on Wallboard, I'm just wondering if the strong pricing you're continuing to report is consistent across the platform. Just curious if some of the markets are seeing a bigger impact from a shortage in synthetic gypsum over other markets where maybe more natural gas, natural gypsum available, maybe what you're seeing in terms of consistency in pricing across the platform.

好的。然後在 Wallboard 上，我只是想知道您繼續報告的強勁定價在整個平台上是否一致。只是好奇一些市場是否看到合成石膏短缺對其他市場的影響更大，其他市場可能有更多的天然氣、天然石膏可用，也許你在整個平台的定價一致性方面看到了什麼。

Yes. Look, there's no doubt, and we've talked about it for quite some time now. The issues and the lack and diminishing supply of synthetic gypsum in the Eastern half of the U.S. has tightened utilization rates there. But I would tell you that even the strong construction activity across the rest of our footprint, pricing has been pretty consistent throughout our network.

是的。看，毫無疑問，我們已經討論了很長時間了。美國東半部的問題以及合成石膏供應的缺乏和減少已經收緊了那裡的利用率。但我會告訴你，即使在我們其餘足蹟的強大建築活動中，整個網絡的定價也非常一致。

Okay. Just one last one. Just curious, the strategic rationale of the acquiring the Northern California cement terminal. I know you had recently divested the California Concrete and Aggregates operations. Just wondered how much overlap this would have with your Nevada operations, any more comments around that rationale.

好的。只是最後一個。只是好奇，收購北加州水泥碼頭的戰略依據。我知道你最近剝離了加州混凝土和骨料業務。只是想知道這與您的內華達州業務有多少重疊，還有關於該理由的更多評論。

Yes. When we look at that acquisition, it fit in well. And in my prepared comments, I had a little note in there about -- it's in a market that's fundamentally challenged on manufacturing of cement right now. So that market is heavily dependent on an import structure. We have our Nevada cement facility that does participate in that market. And so we saw this as a great opportunity to be able to maximize the value of our Nevada cement through the utilization of this asset and then support our customers in that market.

是的。當我們看那次收購時，它很適合。在我準備好的評論中，我在其中做了一點說明——它所在的市場目前在水泥製造方面面臨根本性挑戰。因此，該市場嚴重依賴進口結構。我們在內華達州的水泥廠確實參與了該市場。因此，我們認為這是一個很好的機會，可以通過利用這項資產來最大化我們內華達水泥的價值，然後支持我們在該市場的客戶。

Our next question comes from Anthony Pettinari from Citigroup.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗集團的 Anthony Pettinari。

This is Asher Sohnen on for Anthony. So it sounds like you're still pretty much sold out in cement. So I was just wondering if that's the case, wholly-owned cement volumes were down 5% for the year on a combination of weather, inventories, maybe some other headwinds. So just looking forward to fiscal 2024, should we think about maybe the potential for mid-single-digit organic vol growth as you sort of recover from those headwinds or maybe fiscal '23 is more the baseline of what you can produce?

這是安東尼的 Asher Sohnen。所以聽起來你的水泥仍然賣光了。所以我只是想知道是否是這種情況，由於天氣、庫存以及其他一些不利因素的綜合影響，今年全資水泥銷量下降了 5%。因此，展望 2024 財年，我們是否應該考慮在您從這些逆風中恢復過來時可能實現中等個位數有機增長的潛力，或者也許 23 財年更像是您可以生產的產品的基線？

No, it's a great point. The end of the fiscal year, especially in the Northern Nevada, Northern California area was dramatically impacted by their weather patterns. I think you've seen that across multiple industries here in the last several weeks. And so as we move into fiscal '24, the other opportunity for us to move the needle on volume, as Michael mentioned, is Portland-limestone cement, which should give us some incremental output from our facilities.

不，這是一個很好的觀點。財政年度結束時，尤其是在內華達州北部、加利福尼亞州北部地區受到天氣模式的顯著影響。我想你在過去幾週在這裡的多個行業都看到了這一點。因此，當我們進入 24 財年時，正如邁克爾提到的那樣，我們提高銷量的另一個機會是波特蘭石灰石水泥，這應該會給我們的設施帶來一些增量產量。

So we do actually have a little bit of volume growth that is potential as we head into fiscal '24 and the demand environment certainly is calling for it as we do remain sold out.

因此，當我們進入 24 財年時，我們確實有一點潛在的銷量增長，而且需求環境肯定需要它，因為我們仍然賣光了。

Okay. That's really helpful. And then just as a follow-up, you saw something like 600 basis points of EBIT margin expansion in 4Q for cement. Driven in large part by pricing. So just thinking about the margin trajectory in cadence into the next fiscal year, I mean, do you expect similar year-over-year gains or maybe that kind of slows down?

好的。這真的很有幫助。然後作為後續行動，您看到水泥在第四季度的息稅前利潤率增長了 600 個基點。很大程度上受定價驅動。因此，只要考慮下一個財政年度的節奏保證金軌跡，我的意思是，你是否預計會出現類似的同比增長，或者可能會放緩？

No. Look, we've seen strong price realization here in January. As Michael mentioned, we have price increases announced in half of our markets for midyear in July. Considering the other markets. And look, some of the cost pressures that we faced this year, especially around energy, which are fuel and the electricity have seemed to also be a reduced headwind this coming year.

不，看，我們在 1 月份看到了強勁的價格實現。正如邁克爾所提到的，我們在 7 月份的年中宣布了一半市場的價格上漲。考慮其他市場。看，我們今年面臨的一些成本壓力，尤其是圍繞能源，即燃料和電力，似乎也減少了來年的阻力。

And so we would expect to see margins continue to improve for our Cement business.

因此，我們預計水泥業務的利潤率將繼續提高。

Our next question comes from Jerry Revich from Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的 Jerry Revich。

I'm wondering if you could just talk about the cadence of demand that you've seen over the course of the quarter out of homebuilders, what we're hearing from the public builders is just really sharp earlier-than-expected inflection to essentially building their development pipeline. I'm wondering if is that consistent with what you're hearing and how we should be thinking about potential for wallboard volumes to accelerate versus normal seasonality if that plays out over the next couple of quarters?

我想知道你是否可以談談你在本季度的房屋建築商中看到的需求節奏，我們從公共建築商那裡聽到的是比預期更早的明顯變化建立他們的發展管道。我想知道這是否與您所聽到的一致，以及如果在接下來的幾個季度中出現這種情況，我們應該如何考慮牆板銷量相對於正常季節性加速增長的潛力？

Yes. Look, Jerry, I think all of the homebuilders are very surprised -- pleasantly surprised with the start of the construction season and the spring selling season as rates tick down. And look, it's been well chronicled, the lack of existing homes for sale in the U.S. And the only way to create an inventory of homes is to build new, a lot of facets to why there's a lack of existing homes, whether that's extremely low mortgage rates for a very long period of time and work remotely, those type of things.

是的。聽著，傑里，我認為所有的房屋建築商都非常驚訝——隨著利率下降，建築季節和春季銷售季節的開始令人驚喜。看，這已經被很好地記錄下來，美國缺乏現有的待售房屋，而創建房屋清單的唯一方法是建造新的，從很多方面解釋為什麼缺乏現有房屋，無論是極低的很長一段時間的抵押貸款利率和遠程工作，這些類型的事情。

But you're -- I think you're spot on. The builders have inflected much sooner than I think people had anticipated.

但你是——我認為你是正確的。建設者的變化比我認為人們預期的要早得多。

Very interesting. And then can we just talk about -- shift gears a little bit in cement, really good margin performance as you just spoke about a moment ago. When we look at the company's margin profile 15 years ago, you folks got a really healthy margin in cement, and I'm wondering based on the momentum that you're seeing in pricing actions could we return to the margin profile that the business delivered 15 years ago, recognizing that Obviously, the footprint is very different and the mix is different, but I'm wondering, given the momentum in price cost and pretty good demand.

很有意思。然後我們可以談談——在水泥中稍微換檔，就像你剛才談到的那樣，利潤率非常好。當我們查看 15 年前公司的利潤率時，你們在水泥領域獲得了非常健康的利潤率，我想知道基於你們在定價行動中看到的勢頭，我們能否回到業務交付的利潤率狀況15 年前，認識到顯然，足跡非常不同，組合也不同，但我想知道，鑑於價格成本的勢頭和相當好的需求。

Are we potentially going to revisit the margin profile that we had in that business 15 years ago, Craig?

克雷格，我們是否有可能重新審視 15 年前我們在該業務中的利潤率？

Yes, Jerry. Look, I would echo that sentiment that not only are we in a different environment from a demand and supply perspective in terms of, as Michael mentioned, the inability for supply to respond to these demand improvements, domestic manufacturing, but you look at Eagle just in total, and we're a different cement company than we were 15 years ago.

是的，傑瑞。看，我會回應這種觀點，即正如邁克爾提到的那樣，從需求和供應的角度來看，我們不僅處於不同的環境中，供應無法響應這些需求改善，國內製造業，但你看看 Eagle 只是總的來說，我們是一家與 15 年前不同的水泥公司。

We owned 4 cement plants that were operated somewhat individually given the geography of where they were located Today, we have a system of plants. And as Michael mentioned, this Northern California import terminal is just a further extension of that and a further strengthening of that network that we stretched from Northern California to Ohio and South Texas. But that overall network is stronger today than where we were 15 years ago was the plants we've acquired are generally lower cost plants than what our average was 15 years ago.

我們擁有 4 家水泥廠，考慮到它們所在的地理位置，它們在某種程度上是單獨運營的。今天，我們擁有一個工廠系統。正如邁克爾所提到的，這個北加州進口碼頭只是進一步延伸和進一步加強我們從北加州延伸到俄亥俄州和南德克薩斯州的網絡。但今天的整體網絡比我們 15 年前更強大，因為我們收購的工廠通常比我們 15 年前的平均成本更低。

Super. And then lastly, cement seasonality given your footprint, the June quarter tends to be about 70% to 80% sequentially for you folks. And if we apply that normal seasonality that gets us back to cement year-over-year volume growth in the June quarter.

極好的。最後，考慮到你的足跡，水泥季節性，對你們這些人來說，6 月季度往往是連續的 70% 到 80%。如果我們應用正常的季節性因素，我們將在 6 月季度恢復到同比銷量增長。

So I just want to make sure we're thinking about it consistent with the trends that you're seeing in April and there's been no seasonality shifts that we should keep in mind?

所以我只是想確保我們考慮的問題與您在 4 月份看到的趨勢一致，並且沒有我們應該記住的季節性變化？

I'm not aware of any seasonality shifts that are out there. Look, the June and September quarters are always the strongest quarters, and I would expect that to continue as those are the major construction months.

我不知道那裡有任何季節性變化。看，6 月和 9 月的季度始終是最強勁的季度，我預計這種情況會持續下去，因為那是主要的建設月份。

Outstanding. I appreciate the discussion.

傑出的。我感謝討論。

Our next question comes from Stanley Elliott from Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Stanley Elliott。

Congratulations. A quick question. You guys mentioned preparing for any eventuality leverage of 1.4x. Does that mean kind of maintaining leverage in a similar fashion into next year? Do you all think you want to be a little more opportunistic on either M&A or repurchases.

恭喜。一個快速的問題。你們提到為任何可能發生的 1.4 倍槓桿做準備。這是否意味著明年將以類似的方式保持槓桿作用？你們都認為你們想在併購或回購方面更加投機取巧嗎？

Because the way it looks like things are going to set up 2024 fiscal year should be another very good year of free cash flow even with the higher CapEx?

因為看起來事情的發展方式 2024 財年應該是自由現金流的又一個非常好的年份，即使資本支出更高？

Yes. And I'll point back to my opening comments with it. We're always looking for transformational opportunities for this company, whether it be that through an acquisition. But at the same time, we're going to keep to our strategic priorities. And that's where we've been very patient buyers, and we're going to invest in the right properties at the right time that fit in the right network for us. If one of those were to materialize, that would be a priority for us.

是的。我會用它來回顧我的開場白。我們一直在為這家公司尋找轉型機會，無論是通過收購。但與此同時，我們將堅持我們的戰略重點。這就是我們一直非常耐心的買家，我們將在合適的時間投資適合我們合適網絡的合適房產。如果其中之一成為現實，那將是我們的首要任務。

We're always going to keep our plants in like new conditions and have those operating the most efficiently in the low-cost producer position and then after then, our priority is to return cash to shareholders. That's where we're in the business for with it. We want to leave that financial flexibility that if it does a -- acquisition does come available, that fits our criteria we'd be participants in that. And if not, we'll return that cash to shareholders.

我們總是要讓我們的工廠保持在新的條件下，讓那些在低成本生產商位置上運行效率最高的工廠，然後，我們的首要任務是向股東返還現金。這就是我們開展業務的地方。我們希望保留財務靈活性，如果它確實可以進行收購，那符合我們的標準，我們將參與其中。如果沒有，我們會將現金返還給股東。

And how does the M&A market look like, especially for some of these transformation or larger sorts of assets that you guys are mentioning. I mean, just curious on that, if you could, please.

併購市場的情況如何，尤其是對於你們提到的一些轉型或更大規模的資產。我的意思是，只是對此感到好奇，如果可以的話，請。

Yes. So I won't comment specifically on what's out there with it. But when you look at in the past, cement plants do not come to the market very often and that meet our strategic criteria do not come to the market very often. I think we were able to have a very successful year with expanding our network this past year with some of the acquisitions we did.

是的。所以我不會具體評論它的內容。但是你看看過去，水泥廠不經常進入市場，符合我們戰略標準的水泥廠不經常進入市場。我認為我們在過去一年通過一些收購擴大了我們的網絡，從而度過了非常成功的一年。

Some of the capacity additions we were able to achieve through the PLC side and some of the aggregate growth we were able to get. So it's -- if we don't have those transformational acquisitions, we're consistently in the market looking for value-added acquisitions that makes sense for Eagle. And so if those don't materialize, we'll be actively in the market looking at items that are smaller of size that fit into our network and strengthen Eagle.

我們能夠通過 PLC 端實現一些容量增加，以及我們能夠獲得的一些總增長。所以它——如果我們沒有這些轉型收購，我們就會一直在市場上尋找對 Eagle 有意義的增值收購。因此，如果這些沒有實現，我們將在市場上積極尋找適合我們網絡並加強 Eagle 的較小尺寸的項目。

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

我們的下一個問題來自 Thompson, Davis 的 Adam Thalhimer。

Nice quarter. Just for modeling purposes, what tonnage should we be assuming from the California import terminal?

不錯的季度。僅出於建模目的，我們應該假設來自加利福尼亞進口碼頭的噸位是多少？

Yes. Look, I think it's a little too early. We've owned the asset. I think we closed May 3. So we've owned it for just a couple of weeks now, again, unique weather pattern in that market through the winter months. So I think we'll have better visibility for you as we own it for a little bit longer and can give you a little more guidance there down the road.

是的。看，我覺得有點太早了。我們擁有資產。我想我們在 5 月 3 日關閉。所以我們現在已經擁有它僅僅幾個星期了，在整個冬季，該市場的獨特天氣模式再次出現。所以我認為我們會為您提供更好的知名度，因為我們擁有它的時間更長一些，並且可以在未來為您提供更多指導。

Okay. And the annual cement price increase. Do you think this becomes the norm January versus April?

好的。以及每年的水泥價格上漲。你認為這會成為 1 月與 4 月的常態嗎？

Look, I think the pricing cadence and magnitude will evolve as the cycle evolves. That's kind of what we've seen across multiple industries. And given the environment and the high utilization rates, that's made sense but it will continue to evolve. And look, a second round of price increases has been unusual until you get to these type of demand levels. So I think it's too hard to predict exactly when and magnitude.

看，我認為定價節奏和幅度將隨著周期的演變而演變。這就是我們在多個行業看到的情況。考慮到環境和高利用率，這是有道理的，但它將繼續發展。看，在達到這些類型的需求水平之前，第二輪價格上漲是不尋常的。所以我認為很難準確預測時間和幅度。

Okay. And then lastly, on the M&A front, how high does aggregates acquisitions rank for your priorities?

好的。最後，在併購方面，綜合收購在您的優先事項中排名有多高？

Yes. So when we look at acquisitions, we've been pretty transparent that the heavy side of the business is something we want to invest in. If you look through this past year with it, we've done aggregate acquisitions this past year with our Northern Colorado acquisition we did. We've also done some things internally that increases our acquisition portfolio for our owned assets that we have today. We're constantly looking at that.

是的。因此，當我們考慮收購時，我們一直非常透明地表明，我們希望投資於業務的重方面。如果你回顧過去的一年，我們在過去一年與我們的北方公司進行了總體收購我們完成了對科羅拉多州的收購。我們還在內部做了一些事情，增加了我們今天擁有的自有資產的收購組合。我們一直在關注這一點。

We own aggregate operations in Texas, in Nevada and in Northern Colorado. So it's 1 of the key investment areas for us.

我們在德克薩斯州、內華達州和北科羅拉多州擁有聚合業務。所以這是我們的主要投資領域之一。

Our next question comes from Phil Ng from Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Phil Ng。

Congrats on another strong quarter. I was just curious, in terms of your ability to capitalize on some of these mega trends, certainly the infrastructure build is coming through. We got some momentum on the heavy commercial side on [IRA on the Centex] Help us think through that potential left. When should we expect that kind of flowing through from a volume standpoint? And have you started seeing some uptick in bidding and quoting activity?

祝賀又一個強勁的季度。我只是很好奇，就您利用其中一些大趨勢的能力而言，當然基礎設施建設正在通過。我們在 [Centex 上的 IRA] 的重商業方面獲得了一些動力幫助我們思考剩下的潛力。從交易量的角度來看，我們什麼時候應該期待這種流量？您是否開始看到出價和報價活動有所上升？

Yes. The -- it's interesting you've hit on a lot of the areas that we commented on as well, where we're seeing strength and the federal transportation bill monies are starting to impact the business and benefit projects. So that's been nice to see. We expected to see it here in calendar '23 and it's starting to flow into the business.

是的。有趣的是，您也談到了我們評論過的許多領域，我們看到了實力，聯邦交通法案資金開始影響業務和福利項目。所以很高興看到。我們希望在 23 年的日曆中看到它，並且它開始流入企業。

And as you mentioned, there's very large manufacturing facilities, especially in our markets that are underway. So the demand environment is very strong. As I mentioned, we are starting to roll out and over the past 12 months, rolled out our PLC product, you'll continue to see that ramp up here in fiscal '24, which should give us some opportunities for some incremental volume, and we're poised to do that as the market continues to grow.

正如你提到的，有非常大的製造設施，特別是在我們正在進行的市場中。所以需求環境非常強勁。正如我所提到的，我們開始推出並在過去的 12 個月中推出了我們的 PLC 產品，您將在 24 財年繼續看到這種增長，這應該會給我們一些增加銷量的機會，並且隨著市場的持續增長，我們準備這樣做。

Got you. And then perhaps, when we look out to 2024, certainly a lot of momentum on your heavy side with the pricing and some of these tailwinds on the heavy side of things. on the soft side, light materials side of things, some risk on housing. Craig, do you have a view whether or not you have enough levers to kind of offset potentially some weakness on light materials whether your earnings are going to be up in 2024? How should we think about that?

明白了然後，也許，當我們展望 2024 年時，定價方面肯定會有很多動力，而其中一些順風會帶來沉重的影響。在柔軟的一面，輕質材料方面，住房方面存在一些風險。克雷格，你是否認為你是否有足夠的槓桿來抵消輕質材料的潛在弱點，無論你的收入是否會在 2024 年增加？我們應該如何考慮？

Yes. Lots of opportunities across that business. We mentioned OCC prices are down, natural gas prices are down. So those are certainly items that have been cost headwinds in the prior year. And as we mentioned, the wallboard volumes have been more resilient than expected. I think, look, there'll be some tests this year. I don't think we're blind to that. Certainly, we sit in a good geography, but there will be some testing. But so far, the business has continued to remain very strong.

是的。該業務中有很多機會。我們提到 OCC 價格下降，天然氣價格下降。因此，這些肯定是前一年成本不利的項目。正如我們所提到的，牆板體積比預期更具彈性。我想，看，今年會有一些測試。我不認為我們對此視而不見。當然，我們坐在一個很好的地理位置，但會有一些測試。但到目前為止，該業務繼續保持非常強勁的勢頭。

Our next question comes from Keith Hughes from Truist.

我們的下一個問題來自 Truist 的 Keith Hughes。

You mentioned the weakness in California and the West, everyone has seen. Has that now cleared up or you back to regular shipping in the kind of Nevada, California area?

你提到加州和西部的弱點，大家都看到了。現在已經清理乾淨了嗎，或者您回到了加利福尼亞州內華達州那種地區的正常運輸？

Yes. The California area, we're back to regular production. We got a little bit of impact with some of the melt water and stuff, but pretty much it's business as normal out in those markets now.

是的。加州地區，我們恢復正常生產。我們對一些融水和其他東西產生了一些影響，但現在這些市場幾乎一切正常。

Okay. And I assume with that investment, you're open to cement type investments on the West Coast that would be an attractive market at the right price. Is that correct?

好的。我假設通過這項投資，您願意在西海岸進行水泥類型的投資，這將是一個價格合適的有吸引力的市場。那是對的嗎？

Keith, I think we heard your question, but we thought this was a pretty smart way to play the California construction market. And again, I can't reiterate the fact that this is very intertwined with our Northern Nevada cement operation. And so again, just a nice network expansion there.

基思，我想我們聽到了你的問題，但我們認為這是進入加州建築市場的一種非常聰明的方式。再一次，我不能重申這與我們內華達州北部的水泥業務密切相關。再次，那裡只是一個不錯的網絡擴展。

And I guess, final question, you made some positive comments on the (inaudible) Can you give us any clues on which states or faster moving into this right now?

我想，最後一個問題，你對（聽不清）做出了一些積極的評論，你能給我們任何關於哪些州或現在更快進入這個狀態的線索嗎？

Look, we're seeing it across our footprint with a really good, strong profile and projects are starting to bid. It's pretty widespread.

看，我們在我們的足跡中看到它具有非常好的、強大的形象，並且項目開始投標。它非常普遍。

And ladies and gentlemen, with that, we'll be concluding today's question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the floor back over to management for any closing remarks.

女士們先生們，我們將結束今天的問答環節。我想將發言權交還給管理層，聽取任何結束語。

Thanks, Jamie. Thanks, everybody, for calling in today to this call, and we look forward to talking to you at our next call in a couple of months.

謝謝，傑米。謝謝大家今天來參加這個電話會議，我們期待在幾個月後的下一次電話會議上與您交談。

And ladies and gentlemen, with that, we'll conclude today's conference call and presentation. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.

女士們，先生們，我們將結束今天的電話會議和演講。感謝您的加入。您現在可以斷開線路。