Eagle Materials Inc (EXP) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to Eagle Materials First Quarter of Fiscal 2024 Earnings Conference Call. This call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Eagle's President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Michael Haack. Mr. Haack, please go ahead, sir.

大家好，歡迎參加 Eagle Materials 2024 財年第一季度收益電話會議。此通話正在錄音。現在，我想將電話轉給 Eagle 總裁兼首席執行官 Michael Haack 先生。哈克先生，請繼續，先生。

Thank you. Good morning. Welcome to Eagle Materials conference call for our first quarter of fiscal year 2024. This is Michael Haack. Joining me today are Craig Kesler, our Chief Financial Officer; and Alex Haddock, Vice President of Investor Relations, Strategy and Corporate Development. There will be a slide presentation made in connection with this call. To access it, please go to eaglematerials.com and click on the link to the webcast.

謝謝。早上好。歡迎參加 Eagle Materials 2024 財年第一季度電話會議。我是 Michael Haack。今天加入我的是我們的首席財務官 Craig Kesler；以及投資者關係、戰略和企業發展副總裁 Alex Haddock。將進行與本次電話會議相關的幻燈片演示。要訪問它，請訪問 eaglematerials.com 並單擊網絡廣播的鏈接。

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 this call. For further information, please refer to this disclosure, which is also included at the end of our press release.

當您訪問幻燈片時，請注意，第一張幻燈片涵蓋了我們對本次電話會議期間做出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，可能導致結果與本次電話會議中討論的結果不同。欲了解更多信息，請參閱本披露，該披露也包含在我們的新聞稿末尾。

Let me start by saying how pleased I am to discuss another record quarter and a strong start to our fiscal year 2024. This quarter, we generated record revenue and net earnings expanded gross margin by 240 basis points, increased adjusted EPS by 26% and returned $83 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends.

首先我要說的是，我很高興討論另一個創紀錄的季度和 2024 財年的強勁開局。本季度，我們創造了創紀錄的收入和淨利潤，毛利率擴大了 240 個基點，調整後每股收益增加了 26%，並實現了回報通過股票回購和股息向股東提供 8300 萬美元。

Our performance in the current economic environment, where questions about the U.S. economy have dominated headlines for several quarters, demonstrates how our low-cost producer position benefits us across a variety of market conditions.

在當前的經濟環境中，有關美國經濟的問題連續幾個季度佔據頭條新聞，我們的表現表明我們的低成本生產商地位如何在各種市場條件下使我們受益。

You've heard me say many times that the ability to maintain our low-cost producer position ultimately relies on the industry-leading execution by our people. Therefore, I want to thank all of the Eagle employees for their time and dedication that went into achieving the results we have had not only this quarter but over the past years, you make a difference.

您已經多次聽我說過，維持我們低成本生產商地位的能力最終取決於我們員工行業領先的執行力。因此，我要感謝所有 Eagle 員工付出的時間和奉獻精神，使我們不僅在本季度而且在過去幾年中取得了成果，你們做出了改變。

Safety is a fundamental part of the Eagle culture. I could best summarize our safety culture as one where Eagle employees care for and watch out for each other. We have been successful in minimizing safety issues using our near miss reporting system that identifies leading indicators to address safety issues before they happen. I'm happy to report that Eagle continues to set the benchmark in industry safety maintaining a total reportable incident rate well below the industry average.

安全是 Eagle 文化的基本組成部分。我最能將我們的安全文化概括為 Eagle 員工互相關心、互相照顧的文化。我們使用未遂事故報告系統成功地最大限度地減少了安全問題，該系統可以識別領先指標，在安全問題發生之前予以解決。我很高興地向大家報告，Eagle 繼續樹立行業安全基準，保持總報告事故率遠低於行業平均水平。

Now let me turn to more specifics on our performance this past quarter, starting with the heavy side. Both our Cement and Concrete and Aggregates businesses performed well, growing revenue by 15% on a combined basis versus the prior year first quarter.

現在讓我談談上個季度我們表現的更多細節，從重型方面開始。我們的水泥、混凝土和骨料業務均表現良好，與去年第一季度相比，合併收入增長了 15%。

Our Cement business continues to benefit from robust demand that is outpacing industry supply and every plant in Eagle's network remains in a near sold-out position. It should be noted that our Western cement network did experience very wet weather over this fiscal quarter, which led to a slower start to the construction season in these states.

我們的水泥業務繼續受益於超過行業供應的強勁需求，Eagle 網絡中的每家工廠仍處於接近售罄的狀態。應該指出的是，我們的西部水泥網絡在本財季確實經歷了非常潮濕的天氣，這導致這些州的建築季節開始較慢。

As a reminder, wet weather means that the timing of a project is delayed or interrupted, it does not generally imply demand destruction. The supply-demand dynamics has proved favorable -- a favorable pricing backdrop for our cement business as well as we realized a 15% year-over-year price increase.

提醒一下，潮濕的天氣意味著項目的時間被推遲或中斷，但通常並不意味著需求被破壞。事實證明，供需動態是有利的——這為我們的水泥業務提供了有利的定價背景，並且我們實現了 15% 的同比價格上漲。

As we mentioned on our last call, we have announced a July 1 price increase in about half our cement markets. We continue to monitor market conditions over the coming quarters to determine if or when we implement additional price increases.

正如我們在上次電話會議中提到的，我們已宣布約一半的水泥市場將於 7 月 1 日提價。我們將繼續監測未來幾個季度的市場狀況，以確定是否或何時實施額外的價格上漲。

During the first quarter of fiscal 2024, our joint venture operation in Texas Lehigh, was negatively affected by an extended outage that addressed ongoing equipment issues at this facility over this past year. The extended outage resulted in increased maintenance costs and reduced production. Equipment reliability improved in July, but additional work will need to be completed during our planned maintenance outage in fiscal 2025, which will again increase the outage time line at the joint venture facility.

2024 財年第一季度，我們位於德克薩斯州利哈伊的合資企業受到長期停電的負面影響，該停電解決了該工廠去年持續存在的設備問題。停電時間延長導致維護成本增加和產量減少。 7 月，設備可靠性得到改善，但在 2025 財年計劃的維護停運期間，還需要完成額外的工作，這將再次延長合資工廠的停運時間。

Growing both our Cement and Aggregates businesses is a strategic priority for Eagle. As previously announced, we completed the purchase of our Cement import terminal in Northern California, strengthening our competitive position in this market.

發展水泥和骨料業務是 Eagle 的戰略重點。正如之前宣布的，我們完成了對北加州水泥進口碼頭的收購，增強了我們在該市場的競爭地位。

Environmental stewardship is another priority at Eagle Materials to help minimize our CO2 footprint. We are exploring the increased use of alternative fuels at our cement plants. We are laser-focused on transitioning our construction-grade cement production to Portland Limestone Cement or PLC.

環境管理是 Eagle Materials 的另一項優先事項，旨在幫助最大限度地減少二氧化碳足跡。我們正在探索在水泥廠增加使用替代燃料。我們專注於將建築級水泥生產轉變為波特蘭石灰石水泥或 PLC。

PLC reduces the carbon intensity of our cement footprint and makes our clinker production go further supporting our near sold-out position across our network. We are targeting to converting 100% of our manufactured construction-grade cement to PLC or blended cement by 2025. I'm extremely proud to say that this quarter, we passed the 50% mark for PLC for our cement plant network.

PLC 降低了我們水泥足蹟的碳強度，並使我們的熟料生產進一步支持我們在整個網絡中接近售罄的地位。我們的目標是到 2025 年將我們生產的建築級水泥 100% 轉化為 PLC 或混合水泥。我非常自豪地說，本季度，我們的水泥廠網絡已通過了 PLC 50% 的標準。

Now let me turn to the performance last quarter on the light side. Over this past year, the rapid rise in interest rates led many to believe housing demand would drop dramatically along with wallboard demand. However, Wallboard sales volume and pricing have remained resilient. This is from several factors. First, let's look at the demand side.

現在讓我談談上個季度的樂觀表現。在過去的一年裡，利率的快速上升使許多人相信住房需求將隨著牆板需求而急劇下降。然而，牆板銷量和價格仍然保持彈性。這是由幾個因素造成的。首先，我們看需求端。

Our plants are located in the Sunbelt, which is the largest, most stable residential construction region in the U.S. and continues to be strong. Inventory of existing homes for sale are at near all-time lows, which result in increased demand for new home construction. This has been reflected in an uptick in single-family permits recently.

我們的工廠位於陽光地帶，這是美國最大、最穩定的住宅建設地區，並且持續強勁。現有待售房屋庫存接近歷史最低水平，這導致對新房建設的需求增加。這反映在最近單戶住宅許可證的增加。

As for the supply side, the reduction of synthetic gypsum supply from the retirement of U.S. coal-fired power plants and the cost of accessing natural gypsum by importing it from abroad is having a significant effect on the industry by increasing the cost curve and capping effective supply for East Coast wallboard producers.

供應方面，美國燃煤電廠退役導致合成石膏供應減少，以及從國外進口天然石膏的成本增加，導致成本曲線上升，有效限制了石膏的生產成本，對行業產生了重大影響。為東海岸牆板生產商供應。

Looking at the cost structure of Eagle and our low-cost producer position, we are advantaged in several aspects. Eagle owns or controls many decades of reserves in close proximity of all of our wallboard plants, which means we can cost-effectively access our raw material. The one plant that we utilized synthetic gypsum has many decades contract for material supply. Our main costs, OCC, freight and energy came down sequentially, providing a tailwind.

從Eagle的成本結構和我們的低成本生產商地位來看，我們有幾個方面的優勢。 Eagle 擁有或控制著我們所有牆板工廠附近數十年的儲量，這意味著我們可以經濟高效地獲取原材料。我們使用合成石膏的一家工廠擁有數十年的材料供應合同。我們的主要成本、OCC、貨運和能源相繼下降，帶來了推動力。

Now let me turn to some thoughts on the balance of the year, starting on the heavy side. Demand fundamentals are in place to provide multiyear visibility in cement and concrete and aggregates. We expect demand for both businesses to remain steady driven by infrastructure spending and heavy industrial and manufacturing construction activity.

現在讓我談談對今年剩餘時間的一些想法，從沉重的一面開始。需求基本面已經到位，可以提供水泥、混凝土和骨料的多年可見性。我們預計，在基礎設施支出以及重工業和製造業建設活動的推動下，這兩項業務的需求將保持穩定。

Infrastructure awards are reaching multi-decade highs, and our cement business is poised to benefit from the federal overlay to robust state and local government spending. The States Eagle operates and are well ahead of the national average on growth in infrastructure contract awards proving that geography matters. Nonresidential spending is benefiting from elevated levels of activity as well as it is being sustained by unprecedented spending and manufacturing projects.

基礎設施獎勵達到了數十年來的最高水平，我們的水泥業務有望受益於聯邦補貼以及強勁的州和地方政府支出。 States Eagle 的運營並在基礎設施合同授予增長方面遠遠領先於全國平均水平，這證明了地理位置的重要性。非住宅支出受益於活動水平的提高，並且受到前所未有的支出和製造項目的維持。

On the wallboard side of the business, we stated in the past that the near-term outlook is more unclear than on the heavy side. But in some respects, that is still true. That being said, a few things have become clear over the past quarter and the first half of calendar year 2023.

在牆板業務方面，我們過去曾表示，近期前景比厚板業務更不清楚。但在某些方面，這仍然是事實。話雖如此，在過去的季度和 2023 年上半年，一些事情已經變得清晰起來。

First is the supply chain-driven backlogs and homebuilding construction continued to support activity. This is evidenced in the fact that multifamily units under construction in June had an all-time record and total units under construction is just 28,000 short of an all-time record.

首先是供應鏈驅動的積壓和住宅建設繼續支持活動。 6 月份在建多戶住宅創下歷史紀錄，而在建單位總數僅比歷史紀錄低 28,000 套，這一事實就證明了這一點。

The second factor that's becoming clear is the effect of housing supply shortages on new home building. The lack of existing inventory to support home buyer demand means new home construction is needed to prop up overall inventory levels. While the outlook here is still difficult to predict, we have increasing confidence in the supply-demand scenario for wallboard over the mid and long term.

第二個變得明顯的因素是住房供應短缺對新房建設的影響。缺乏現有庫存來支持購房者需求意味著需要新房建設來支撐總體庫存水平。儘管前景仍難以預測，但我們對中長期牆板的供需情況信心增強。

In summary, I am most encouraged about this year ahead because of Eagle's proven track record where it matters. First, we know how to manage through economic cycles. Our current results show that we can execute win and wear it counts across dynamic market conditions.

總而言之，我對未來的一年感到最鼓舞，因為 Eagle 在重要領域的良好記錄。首先，我們知道如何管理經濟周期。我們目前的結果表明，我們可以在動態的市場條件下取得勝利並發揮作用。

Second, our business generates impressive cash flows, and we are responsible stewards of that cash. Our focus has been and always will be on how to sustain the cash flow generation capability of our businesses and making the best use of that cash flow.

其次，我們的業務產生了可觀的現金流，而我們是這些現金的負責任的管理者。我們的重點始終是如何維持我們業務的現金流生成能力並充分利用該現金流。

Our capital allocation policies have been and will continue to be centralized around growing our core business. This includes investing in our plants to keep them in like new condition, growing through acquisitions when they meet our strategic and financial goals or returning cash to shareholders through stock purchases or dividends.

我們的資本配置政策一直並將繼續以核心業務的發展為中心。這包括投資我們的工廠，使它們保持新的狀態，當它們滿足我們的戰略和財務目標時通過收購實現增長，或者通過股票購買或股息向股東返還現金。

With that, I'll turn it over to Craig for the financial review of our quarter.

這樣，我會將其交給克雷格進行我們季度的財務審查。

Thank you, Michael. As mentioned, first quarter revenue was a record $602 million, an increase of 7% from the prior year. Excluding the recently acquired Cement terminal in Northern California, revenue was up 6%. The increase reflects higher Wallboard and Cement sales prices. The strong performance in both Cement and Wallboard contributed to record EPS during the quarter.

謝謝你，邁克爾。如前所述，第一季度收入達到創紀錄的 6.02 億美元，比上年增長 7%。不包括最近收購的北加州水泥碼頭，收入增長了 6%。這一增長反映了牆板和水泥銷售價格的上漲。水泥和牆板的強勁表現促成了本季度創紀錄的每股收益。

First quarter earnings per share was $3.40, a 24% increase from the prior year. The increase was driven by improved earnings and a 7% reduction in fully diluted shares due to our buyback program. Excluding the nonroutine items highlighted in the earnings release, first quarter adjusted EPS was up 26% to $3.55.

第一季度每股收益為 3.40 美元，較上年增長 24%。這一增長是由於我們的回購計劃帶來的盈利改善和完全稀釋股票減少 7% 推動的。排除收益發布中強調的非常規項目，第一季度調整後每股收益增長 26% 至 3.55 美元。

Turning now to segment performance, highlighted on the next slide. In our Heavy Materials sector, which includes our Cement and Concrete and Aggregates segments, revenue increased 15%, driven by the increase in cement sales prices implemented earlier this year and the contribution from the recently acquired terminal in Northern California.

現在轉向細分績效，下一張幻燈片重點介紹了這一點。在我們的重材料部門（包括水泥、混凝土和骨料部門），收入增長了 15%，這得益於今年早些時候實施的水泥銷售價格上漲以及最近收購的北加州碼頭的貢獻。

Operating earnings were up 19%, primarily because of increased cement prices, which were partially offset by higher maintenance costs during the quarter. The increase in maintenance costs was due to our decision to pull forward maintenance programs at 2 of our cement facilities. And as Michael mentioned, we also took an extended maintenance outage at our joint venture in Texas, which increased maintenance cost and reduced production.

營業利潤增長 19%，主要是由於水泥價格上漲，但本季度維護成本上漲部分抵消了這一影響。維護成本增加是由於我們決定推遲 2 個水泥設施的維護計劃。正如邁克爾提到的，我們在德克薩斯州的合資企業也進行了長時間的維護停電，這增加了維護成本並減少了產量。

Given the strong demand backdrop, we implemented a second round of cement price increases in early July and approximately half of our markets. And within the Concrete and Aggregates segment, revenue increased 9% and operating earnings improved 23% on higher pricing and higher aggregate sales volume. The prior year also included approximately $1.2 million of costs associated with the step-up in inventory values related to the acquisition of the Aggregates business in Northern Colorado.

鑑於強勁的需求背景，我們於 7 月初對大約一半的市場實施了第二輪水泥價格上漲。在混凝土和骨料領域，由於定價上漲和總銷量增加，收入增長了 9%，營業利潤增長了 23%。上一年還包括約 120 萬美元的成本，這些成本與收購科羅拉多州北部骨料業務相關的庫存價值增加有關。

Moving to the Light Materials sector on the next slide. Revenue decreased 2%, reflecting lower Wallboard sales volume, partially offset by higher Wallboard sales prices. Operating earnings in the sector increased 12% to $98 million, reflecting higher net sales prices and lower input costs for recycled fiber, freight and energy.

轉到下一張幻燈片的輕質材料部門。收入下降 2%，反映出牆板銷量下降，但部分被牆板銷售價格上漲所抵消。該行業的營業利潤增長了 12%，達到 9800 萬美元，反映出淨銷售價格的上漲以及再生纖維、貨運和能源投入成本的下降。

Looking now at our cash flow. We continue to generate very strong cash flow and allocate capital in a disciplined way. In the first quarter, operating cash flow increased 12% to $140 million reflecting improved earnings and working capital management and capital spending increased to $36 million.

現在看看我們的現金流。我們繼續產生非常強勁的現金流，並以嚴格的方式分配資本。第一季度，運營現金流增長 12%，達到 1.4 億美元，反映出盈利和營運資本管理的改善，資本支出增加到 3,600 萬美元。

During the quarter, we completed the acquisition of a cement import terminal in Stockton, California, with a purchase price of $55 million, and we also repurchased 484,000 shares of our common stock for $74 million and paid our quarterly dividend returning $83 million to shareholders. We have 7.3 million shares remaining under our current repurchase authorization.

本季度，我們完成了對加利福尼亞州斯托克頓水泥進口碼頭的收購，收購價格為 5500 萬美元，我們還以 7400 萬美元回購了 484,000 股普通股，並支付了季度股息，向股東返還 8300 萬美元。目前的回購授權還剩 730 萬股。

Finally, a look at our capital structure which continues to give us significant financial flexibility. At June 30, our net debt-to-cap ratio was 47% and our net debt-to-EBITDA leverage ratio remained at 1.4x. We ended the quarter with $53 million of cash on hand. Total committed liquidity at the end of the quarter was approximately $573 million, and we have no meaningful near-term debt maturities.

最後，看看我們的資本結構，它繼續為我們提供顯著的財務靈活性。截至 6 月 30 日，我們的淨債務與上限比率為 47%，淨債務與 EBITDA 槓桿比率保持在 1.4 倍。本季度結束時，我們手頭有 5300 萬美元現金。本季度末承諾的流動資金總額約為 5.73 億美元，我們沒有有意義的短期債務到期日。

Thank you for attending today's call. We'll now move to the question-and-answer session. Betsy, I'll turn it over to you.

感謝您參加今天的電話會議。我們現在進入問答環節。貝特西，我會把它交給你。

We will now begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions). The first question today comes from Trey Grooms with Stephens.

我們現在開始問答環節。 （操作員說明）。今天的第一個問題來自特雷·格魯姆斯和斯蒂芬斯。

First, I wanted to touch on Wallboard. So volume has held in there especially well, especially in this quarter, I mean, down 4%. Is there still some benefit from the backlog of maybe unfinished homes? Or what's kind of driving that outperformance in the quarter? And then maybe if you could kind of touch on how that Wallboard volume might have progressed through the quarter? I mean, was it fairly kind of stable at the quarter average? Or did you see it waver from that at all?

首先，我想談談牆板。因此，成交量保持得特別好，特別是在本季度，我的意思是，下降了 4%。未完工房屋的積壓是否仍然有一些好處？或者是什麼推動了本季度的優異表現？然後，您是否可以談談 Wallboard 銷量在本季度的進展情況？我的意思是，按季度平均水平計算是否相當穩定？或者你看到它根本就動搖了嗎？

And then, Michael understanding it's murky, given the uptick or maybe at least the bottoming, we've seen in starts and the optimism we're hearing from the homebuilders and given that lag there between a start and when Wallboard goes into the process. What are you thinking on kind of the timing as far as maybe a rebound we may see in Wallboard volume?

然後，邁克爾明白，考慮到上漲或至少觸底，我們已經看到了開工情況以及我們從房屋建築商那裡聽到的樂觀情緒，並且考慮到開工和 Wallboard 進入流程之間存在滯後。您認為牆板成交量可能出現反彈的時機是什麼？

Yes, Trey. Good questions. Look, as we've said in last quarter and into this quarter, volume -- sales volume have remained very resilient and a lot of that was the backlog of activity as the home construction cycle elongated. Look, I'd also point out geographically, where we're positioned is the most robust market in the U.S. in that Sunbelt area generally in the southern half of the U.S. So we benefit from our regional position.

是的，特雷。好問題。看，正如我們在上個季度和本季度所說的那樣，銷量仍然非常有彈性，其中很大一部分是隨著房屋建設週期延長而積壓的活動。我還想指出，從地理位置上看，我們所處的位置是美國陽光地帶最強勁的市場，通常位於美國南半部。因此，我們受益於我們的區域地位。

But as you pointed out, you've also started to see some really good order growth at the homebuilder level, and that does turn into wallboard consumption shortly thereafter. So resilient in the near term, with an improving outlook from the homebuilders on their order intake sets up for a pretty decent wallboard environment.

但正如您所指出的，您也開始看到房屋建築商層面的一些非常好的訂單增長，並且此後不久確實轉變為牆板消費。短期內如此有彈性，房屋建築商的訂單前景不斷改善，為牆板環境創造了相當不錯的環境。

Yes. Okay. Understood. And that I guess just as switching gears here to cement, just so we can get some understanding around the maintenance costs you pointed out, Craig. On wholly owned, you saw the costs were up there. And I think you talked about 2 plants there seeing more maintenance. Is there any way to quantify this? And is that going to continue kind of as we go into the next quarter? Or is that behind us?

是的。好的。明白了。我想就像在這里切換齒輪一樣，這樣我們就可以對你指出的維護成本有一些了解，克雷格。如果是全資擁有，你會發現成本很高。我想你談到了那裡的兩個工廠需要更多的維護。有什麼辦法可以量化這個嗎？當我們進入下一個季度時，這種情況會持續下去嗎？或者那是我們身後的事？

No, this is the quarter that we do the bulk of our maintenance across the network. So it's contained in this. Sometimes those maintenance outages fall between a quarter, March or April, and this quarter it all or this year, it all fell into the April, May time frame, so that you don't have those costs in subsequent quarters. And it's the right thing to do, maintaining these assets and keeping them -- they're at sold-out conditions, as Michael has highlighted, making sure that we can operate at full utilization levels through the construction season.

不，這是我們在網絡上進行大部分維護的季度。所以它包含在這個里面。有時，這些維護中斷發生在一個季度、三月或四月之間，而本季度或今年全部都落在四月、五月的時間範圍內，這樣您就不會在隨後的季度中產生這些成本。維護這些資產並保留它們是正確的做法——正如邁克爾強調的那樣，它們處於售空狀態，確保我們能夠在整個施工季節以充分利用水平運營。

The next question comes from Brent Thielman with D.A. Davidson.

下一個問題來自 D.A. 的 Brent Thielman。戴維森。

Just a question again on the JV, just to what degree we should be thinking about this impact in the future quarters. I think you mentioned you needed to do some more work in fiscal 2025. I guess my question is, is the ramp in that facility back up? Is there any reason to think that asset can't produce at levels it historically has until you can get more of this work done next fiscal year?

再次關於合資企業的問題是，我們應該在多大程度上考慮未來幾個季度的這種影響。我想你提到你需要在 2025 財年做更多的工作。我想我的問題是，該設施的坡道是否恢復了？有沒有理由認為，在下一財年完成更多這項工作之前，資產無法達到歷史水平？

Great question, and I appreciate it. I'll walk through a little bit on kind of Texas Lehigh and what we did. If you look at the past year, we kind of struggled a little bit with equipment reliability at Texas Lehigh. And what we have is we have the opportunity really once a year to go into some of our Killam areas and some of our other manufacturing areas because we don't take outages ad hoc. We usually do 1 outage once a year.

很好的問題，我很感激。我將簡單介紹一下德克薩斯州利哈伊大學以及我們所做的事情。如果你回顧一下過去的一年，我們在德克薩斯州利哈伊大學的設備可靠性方面遇到了一些困難。我們所擁有的是，我們每年都有機會進入基拉姆的一些地區和其他一些製造地區，因為我們不會臨時停電。我們通常每年停電一次。

So when we did that this -- the past year, we identified some equipment issues we had to take care of. And when we went into the outage this year, we knew we were going to have to address those. Those took a little longer to address than we were expecting. Also during that time, though, we look at what needs to happen in the next outage so we're prepared on planning with that. We have identified a few things we have to do in the next year. that will extend the outage. I don't have a specific timing on how long that outage will be extended until we really do all of our engineering work.

因此，當我們這樣做時——去年，我們發現了一些我們必須處理的設備問題。當我們今年發生停電時，我們知道我們必須解決這些問題。這些問題的解決時間比我們預期的要長一些。不過，在那段時間裡，我們也會考慮下次停電時需要發生什麼，以便我們做好相應的計劃。我們已經確定了明年必須做的一些事情。這將延長停電時間。在我們真正完成所有工程工作之前，我沒有具體的時間說明停電將延長多久。

But what I am very happy about is coming out of that outage, it took a little while for the new system because as you change the system, it takes a little while to get it operating exactly how we want to. So the first half of July was a little tougher. Second half of July, we've been producing at the levels we expect out of that facility. So while we know what we have to do in the coming outage planning, we feel very comfortable on where we stand with that facility for producing through this year.

但令我非常高興的是，從這次中斷中恢復過來，新系統花了一點時間，因為當您更改系統時，需要一點時間才能讓它按照我們想要的方式運行。所以七月上半月的日子比較艱難。七月下半月，我們的生產一直達到我們對該工廠的預期水平。因此，雖然我們知道在即將到來的停電計劃中必須做什麼，但我們對今年該設施的生產狀況感到非常滿意。

Okay. That's really helpful. Maybe just on Wallboard, if I compare kind of your reported price to the fourth quarter, I guess any sort of thoughts on the mix impacts or other variables to kind of consider? Is it apples-to-apples and just reflective of overall market pricing? Any color there would be helpful.

好的。這真的很有幫助。也許只是在 Wallboard 上，如果我將您報告的價格與第四季度進行比較，我想對混合影響或其他需要考慮的變量有什麼想法嗎？它是否是同類的並且僅反映整體市場定價？任何顏色都會有幫助。

Yes, Brent, our price is down just a -- so I think 1%, a couple of dollars. So again, very resilient Wallboard pricing environment for us this past quarter.

是的，布倫特，我們的價格只下降了——所以我認為是 1%，幾美元。再說一次，上個季度我們的牆板定價環境非常有彈性。

Okay. And then Craig or Michael, I guess, just lastly on Paperboard, I was thinking lower nat gas. So CC prices might be a bigger tailwind to the business or margins and that maybe you saw in the quarter? Anything else to consider as you think about the profitability of that business line kind of looking forward?

好的。然後克雷格或邁克爾，我想，最後在紙板上，我在考慮較低的天然氣。那麼 CC 價格可能會對業務或利潤產生更大的推動作用，也許您在本季度看到了這一點？當您考慮該業務線的盈利能力時，還有什麼需要考慮的嗎？

Yes. Profitability was up significantly year-over-year. And as you said, a lot of that was a contribution from lower OCC prices and lower energy. As you know, we pass, we adjust the price that we charge underneath those long-term supply agreements based on the input costs of raw materials and energy. And so that pricing will adjust quarterly, but happy with how that facility is operating, and we've got some nice tailwinds on the energy side.

是的。盈利能力同比大幅提升。正如您所說，其中很大一部分是 OCC 價格下降和能源下降的貢獻。如您所知，我們根據原材料和能源的投入成本調整長期供應協議下收取的價格。因此，定價將每季度調整一次，但對該設施的運營方式感到滿意，並且我們在能源方面獲得了一些良好的推動力。

The next question comes from Anthony Pettinari with Citigroup.

下一個問題來自花旗集團的安東尼·佩蒂納里。

This is Asher Sohnen on for Anthony. You talked about wet weather delaying but not destroying demand, but just -- how should we think about the cadence of those delayed shipments? Are they largely pushed into the next quarter or maybe they're spread out over the next couple of quarters?

我是阿舍爾·索南 (Asher Sohnen) 替補安東尼。您談到潮濕的天氣會延遲但不會破壞需求，但我們應該如何考慮這些延遲發貨的節奏？它們主要是被推到下個季度還是可能分散在接下來的幾個季度？

Yes. the -- and we're really talking about a lot of the Mountain region. Colorado, the month of June was either the wettest or second wettest month on record depending upon what you read. But yes, those jobs just get pushed. And it's hard to say is that in the next quarter is over a couple of quarters, but that market continues to be very robust.

是的。 - 我們實際上談論的是山區的很多地區。科羅拉多州，六月要么是有記錄以來最潮濕的月份，要么是第二個最潮濕的月份，具體取決於您讀到的內容。但是，是的，這些工作只是被推了。很難說下一個季度會持續幾個季度，但該市場仍然非常強勁。

Great. And then just switching gears, I think last quarter, you talked about some cost inflation maybe moderating in 2024. Are you able to roughly size the magnitude of cost inflation you're expecting in 2024 on both the Cement and the Wallboard side. and compare and contrast that with what you saw last year -- last fiscal year?

偉大的。然後換個角度，我想上個季度，您談到了 2024 年成本通脹可能會放緩。您是否能夠粗略估計 2024 年水泥和牆板方面預計的成本通脹幅度。並將其與您去年（上一財年）看到的情況進行比較和對比？

Yes. So on the Wallboard side, with OCC and natural gas coming down, that's -- and we said it in our prepared comments, sequentially, we saw a benefit on those input costs. and freight sequentially also came down and it was down year-over-year. So actually, somewhat cost lowers in the Wallboard business.

是的。因此，在牆板方面，隨著 OCC 和天然氣的下降，我們在準備好的評論中表示，我們連續看到了這些投入成本的好處。貨運量也隨之下降，而且同比下降。所以實際上，牆板業務的成本有所下降。

On the Cement side, as we've been saying, for our fiscal '24, those energy prices were largely locked into during the late fall, winter time frame, but certainly less inflationary, and we saw that and experienced that this quarter a little bit of an uptick, but nothing like what we saw in fiscal '23. As you start to look forward into fiscal '25, it wouldn't be unreasonable to start thinking about energy prices may be coming deflationary with some of the input costs for pet coke and other fuels that we burn, turning the other way and going down.

在水泥方面，正如我們一直所說的，對於我們的 24 財年來說，這些能源價格基本上鎖定在深秋、冬季的時間範圍內，但通脹肯定較小，我們在本季度看到並經歷了這一點略有上升，但與我們在 23 財年看到的情況完全不同。當你開始展望 25 財年時，開始考慮能源價格可能會出現通縮，因為我們燃燒的石油焦和其他燃料的一些投入成本會反過來並下降，這並不是沒有道理的。 。

The next question comes from Jerry Revich with Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自高盛的傑里·雷維奇（Jerry Revich）。

This is Jatin Khanna on behalf of Jerry Revich. Can you update us on your M&A pipeline? And at what point would you consider accelerating the buyback given your cash generation and leverage profile?

我是賈汀·卡納 (Jatin Khanna)，代表傑里·雷維奇 (Jerry Revich)。您能給我們介紹一下您的併購渠道的最新情況嗎？考慮到您的現金生成和槓桿狀況，您會在什麼時候考慮加速回購？

Great question. Again, that's what really matters at Eagle is we generate a significant amount of cash. Balance sheet is in a very good position and so how do we continue to allocate that capital in a disciplined way? The M&A pipeline remains robust. There's lots of opportunities. We do have very strict criteria around the financial return and strategic criteria for those investments.

很好的問題。同樣，對 Eagle 來說真正重要的是我們產生大量現金。資產負債表處於非常好的位置，那麼我們如何繼續以有紀律的方式分配資本呢？併購渠道依然強勁。有很多機會。我們確實對這些投資的財務回報和戰略標準有非常嚴格的標準。

We've been able to, over the last couple of years, find investments that have met those requirements and they've been very good return projects for us. Most recently, the import terminal in Northern California. So we continue to look for those opportunities, but we also know that we passed on a number of investments that didn't meet our hurdle rates. And so then we turn and give that cash back to shareholders. We generally do that through our share repurchase program, and we've been very active in our share repurchase program over the last several years.

在過去的幾年裡，我們已經能夠找到滿足這些要求的投資，並且它們對我們來說是非常好的回報項目。最近，北加州的進口碼頭。因此，我們繼續尋找這些機會，但我們也知道我們放棄了一些不符合最低門檻的投資。然後我們將現金返還給股東。我們通常通過股票回購計劃來做到這一點，並且在過去幾年中我們一直非常積極地實施股票回購計劃。

The next question comes from Stanley Elliott with Stifel.

下一個問題來自 Stanley Elliott 和 Stifel。

Michael, in the prepared remarks, you talked more about shifting some of the fuel sources to more of an alternate fuel source. Is that going to be a larger capital increase? Or is that kind of normal maintenance sort of capital? And then kind of along those lines, what would the expectations be in terms of the energy cost when we come out on the other side of all that?

邁克爾，在準備好的發言中，您更多地談到了將一些燃料來源轉向更多的替代燃料來源。是否會進行更大規模的增資？或者說這種正常的維護也是一種資本嗎？然後，沿著這些思路，當我們走出這一切的另一邊時，對能源成本的期望是什麼？

No, it's a great question. We've been looking at this for a long time. We run several of our plants with alternative fuels currently today. So what we're doing is looking at really adding a few to the system of alternative fuels and then tweaking what we do with -- to increase the use of alternative fuels.

不，這是一個很好的問題。我們已經研究這個問題很長時間了。目前，我們的幾家工廠都使用替代燃料。因此，我們正在做的是考慮在替代燃料系統中真正添加一些，然後調整我們的做法——增加替代燃料的使用。

How we look at the alternative fuels is really for some with a CO2 reduction, but also we look at it that at times, those alternative fuels are actually very good financially too, as a hedge against coal and coke at times. So these investments are not major investments with it. They're -- they're really just a minor investment that we've been working on over the past year, and we'll continue to maximize the use of alternative fuels where it makes sense for us.

我們如何看待替代燃料實際上是為了一些減少二氧化碳排放的人，但我們有時也認為，這些替代燃料實際上在財務上也非常好，有時可以作為煤炭和焦炭的對沖。所以這些投資都不是重大投資。它們實際上只是我們在過去一年中一直致力於的一項小投資，我們將繼續在對我們有意義的情況下最大限度地使用替代燃料。

Stanley, I'll follow up on that comment. Just we talked about it last quarter with capital spending. You saw it up at about $36 million this quarter. So we are anticipating capital spending up this year in the range of $145 million to $165 million. A lot of -- some of that is these alternative fuel investments. And then we continue to invest in the facilities around PLC and some of the investments there.

斯坦利，我會跟進這個評論。我們上個季度剛剛談到了資本支出。您看到本季度的價值約為 3600 萬美元。因此，我們預計今年的資本支出將在 1.45 億美元至 1.65 億美元之間。其中很多是替代燃料投資。然後我們繼續投資PLC周圍的設施以及那裡的一些投資。

As Michael pointed out in his opening remarks, we made significant progress this quarter to be over 50% PLC, and we'll make some more investments so that as we exit this year, we can continue to increase that.

正如邁克爾在開場白中指出的那樣，我們本季度取得了重大進展，已超過 50% PLC，我們將進行更多投資，以便在今年退出時，我們可以繼續增加投資。

That's very interesting -- with these investments not being kind of larger in nature over an extended period of time, then that probably you should help from the cash flow perspective, even beyond that. And that was kind of just the question. Second, on the cement price or the cement markets in general and heavy side as a whole have been very good about the second round of increases. It's hard to say if we're really kind of looking at a paradigm shift and kind of how the pricing comes to market. But with demand being sold out effectively, a lot of good demand drivers coming on, how do you think about the industry evolution to a second round increase as we think on a go-forward basis?

這非常有趣——這些投資在很長一段時間內本質上並沒有規模更大，那麼你可能應該從現金流的角度提供幫助，甚至超出這個範圍。這就是問題所在。其次，就水泥價格而言，水泥市場總體來說，重方整體都對第二輪上漲非常看好。很難說我們是否真的在考慮範式轉變以及定價如何進入市場。但隨著需求有效售罄，許多良好的需求驅動因素出現，您如何看待我們未來認為的行業向第二輪增長的演變？

Stanley, it's a good question. And we don't like to speculate too much on pricing. But you pointed out, demand continues to be strong with the federal highway build funding just starting to really benefit the business. It's really not quite even impacting the business. So that gives you a lot of confidence around multiyear visibility of this strong demand environment, as we said, around even the residential, you're starting to see some pickup in housing starts and the housing orders at the homebuilder level. So all of that points to a good strong demand environment.

斯坦利，這是個好問題。我們不喜歡對定價進行過多猜測。但您指出，隨著聯邦高速公路建設資金剛剛開始真正使企業受益，需求仍然強勁。這實際上並沒有對業務產生太大影響。因此，這讓您對這種強勁需求環境的多年可見性充滿信心，正如我們所說，甚至在住宅領域，您也開始看到房屋建築商層面的新屋開工和住房訂單有所回升。因此，所有這些都表明需求環境良好。

And that's against the backdrop of very limited supply response, whether that's because of alternative products, diminishing availability or just the inability to add meaningful new capacity, utilization rates should remain high for longer. And that's generally the formula for pricing. The exact cadence, we can't predict, but it would tell you a good pricing environment for quite a while.

在供應反應非常有限的背景下，無論是由於替代產品、供應量減少還是只是無法增加有意義的新產能，利用率應該會在更長時間內保持較高水平。這通常就是定價公式。確切的節奏，我們無法預測，但它會告訴你相當長一段時間內良好的定價環境。

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

下一個問題來自亞當·塔爾希默和湯普森·戴維斯。

So I'm curious on -- and I had to dial in late, so sorry if I missed this, but the cement volumes, it was the first growth in 5 or 6 quarters. Just curious kind of what drove that in your opinion and what the outlook is?

所以我很好奇——我不得不晚點打電話，很抱歉如果我錯過了這一點，但水泥量，這是五六個季度以來的首次增長。只是好奇您認為是什麼推動了這一點以及前景如何？

Look, as we just said, the outlook for demand continues to be robust in the cement market with infrastructure spending improving. I mentioned residential. But even on these large manufacturing industrial facilities that continues to be a meaningful part of the demand environment. And as we've said the last couple of quarters, we're sold out.

正如我們剛才所說，隨著基礎設施支出的改善，水泥市場的需求前景繼續強勁。我提到了住宅。但即使在這些大型製造工業設施上，這仍然是需求環境中有意義的一部分。正如我們在過去幾個季度所說的那樣，我們已經賣完了。

So some of those down quarters were simply either unusual weather events or just very difficult year-over-year comps because of inventory levels that existed a couple of years ago that simply just aren't there today. So I think you're kind of in this range for demand. PLC will give us some upside opportunity there. And then obviously, the new import terminal that we purchased in Northern California gives us some inorganic growth opportunities, but this isn't a surprise to us.

因此，其中一些下降的季度要么只是異常的天氣事件，要么只是非常困難的同比比較，因為幾年前存在的庫存水平今天根本不存在。所以我認為你的需求範圍就在這個範圍內。 PLC將給我們帶來一些上漲的機會。顯然，我們在北加州購買的新進口碼頭給我們帶來了一些無機增長機會，但這對我們來說並不意外。

Great. And then on the Wallboard side, you just talked about the pickup in starts and permits, which we've seen as well. June was the first down volume quarter. How long do you think the air pocket lasts for you guys?

偉大的。然後在牆板方面，您剛剛談到了啟動和許可的增加，我們也看到了這一點。六月是第一個成交量下降的季度。你們認為氣袋能持續多久？

Look, again, as we said, demand continues to be resilient. I don't know that I'd call it an air pocket as much as I might call it, a lull. But things -- and again, some of it is because of where we're located, in the southern half of the U.S. But things have been resilient. And with the orders are improving, that sets up for a better environment for wallboard down the road.

再次看，正如我們所說，需求繼續保持彈性。我不知道我會稱其為“氣穴”，還是稱其為“平靜”。但事情——再說一次，部分原因是我們位於美國南半部。但事情一直有彈性。隨著訂單的增加，這為未來的牆板創造了更好的環境。

Okay. And then Aggregates volumes lastly, were way above. And I'm just curious if that was a specific project? Or is that a good level to use going forward?

好的。最後，合計數量遠高於此。我只是好奇這是否是一個特定的項目？或者說這是一個適合未來使用的水平嗎？

Yes. We had a really unique opportunity. So some of that is inorganic. If I were -- we opened up or began operating our quarry in Kentucky and starting to sell construction-grade aggregates out of that. It historically was just feeding the cement plant in Kentucky, but we are now selling aggregates out of that pit. And -- but even if I were to kind of same-store sales were up 18%, but we had a really good opportunity there that -- the team has done a good job with.

是的。我們有一個非常獨特的機會。所以其中一些是無機的。如果我是——我們在肯塔基州開設或開始經營我們的採石場，並開始銷售建築級骨料。歷史上，它只是為肯塔基州的水泥廠提供原料，但我們現在正在從那個礦坑中出售骨料。而且 - 但即使我認為同店銷售額增長了 18%，但我們在那裡有一個非常好的機會 - 團隊做得很好。

The next question comes from Phil Ng with Jefferies.

下一個問題來自 Phil Ng 和 Jefferies。

This is actually Collin on for Phil. I just wanted to start on the cement business. You definitely made it clear that you're sold out, so volume growth might be a little bit difficult. But can you just talk about the additional volume opportunities from PLC and that new import terminal, kind of what the new MAX Cement shipment capacity could look like after you have both of those things fully ramped and sort of the timing of getting there?

這實際上是科林為菲爾代言的。我只是想開始做水泥生意。你明確表示你已經賣完了，所以銷量增長可能有點困難。但您能談談 PLC 和新進口碼頭帶來的額外銷量機會嗎？在這兩個方面全面啟動後，新的 MAX 水泥裝運能力會是什麼樣子，以及達到目標的時間？

Yes. PLC is one opportunity, kind of a mid-single-digit type of growth opportunity over the next year or two. As you've seen, we've made significant progress this year in improving and expanding the production of PLC. That will continue into '24 as well. As we make some of these investments that are necessary.

是的。 PLC 是一個機會，是未來一兩年中個位數增長的機會。正如您所看到的，今年我們在改進和擴大 PLC 生產方面取得了重大進展。這也將持續到 24 年。當我們進行一些必要的投資時。

And then on the import terminal, we've owned it for just a couple of months. Customers have been very happy as we've moved into that business, and it's fit very, very well, very strategic with our Northern Nevada cement manufacturing footprint. A little too early to give a whole lot of guidance on those volumes quite yet, but we've been very, very happy with the performance to date.

然後在進口碼頭，我們擁有它才幾個月。當我們進入該業務時，客戶非常高興，它與我們在內華達州北部的水泥製造業務非常非常契合，非常具有戰略意義。現在就這些卷提供大量指導還為時過早，但我們對迄今為止的表現非常非常滿意。

Great. That's helpful color. And then just on the July cement price increase. Can you just remind us the magnitude that you put the pricing letters out for? And maybe talk about how implementation is going to, I think it was for early July?

偉大的。這是有用的顏色。然後就是7月份水泥價格上漲。您能否提醒我們您發出的定價信函的大小？也許可以談談實施的情況，我想是七月初？

Yes. It was another double-digit increase. And as we said, it's about half of our markets. And not surprisingly, as you think and we talked a little bit about it today, some of our Western markets experienced a very unusual late winter, early spring snow and rain. That has continued in some of those markets. So just pushed the start of the construction season back a little bit. So those are the markets that generally didn't see the second round and again, not surprising there. But look, conditions remain sold out and happy with how the pricing is progressing.

是的。這又是兩位數的增長。正如我們所說，這大約占我們市場的一半。毫不奇怪，正如您所想的以及我們今天談到的那樣，我們的一些西方市場經歷了非常不尋常的冬末、早春的雪和雨。在其中一些市場中，這種情況仍在繼續。因此，只是將施工季節的開始時間推遲了一點。因此，這些市場通常不會出現第二輪融資，這並不奇怪。但看，情況仍然售罄，並且對定價進展感到滿意。

Great. And my last question is just on Wallboard pricing. I know you talked about minimal slippage from quarter-to-quarter, but any comment on how pricing trended within the quarter, maybe where you exited versus the average and just how you're thinking about pricing for the rest of the year?

偉大的。我的最後一個問題是關於牆板的定價。我知道您談到了季度與季度之間的最小滑點，但是您對本季度內的定價趨勢有何評論，也許您退出的位置與平均水平以及您如何考慮今年剩餘時間的定價？

Yes. The exit price is pretty close to the quarterly average, and we'll continue to monitor that, but we don't have any pricing actions for the rest of the year at this point.

是的。退出價格非常接近季度平均水平，我們將繼續監控這一情況，但目前我們在今年剩餘時間內沒有任何定價行動。

The next question comes from Jonathan Bettenhausen with Truist.

下一個問題來自 Truist 的 Jonathan Bettenhausen。

I am on for Keith Hughes this morning. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind going into a little bit more detail geographically about where exactly you see maybe the best infrastructure demand in the Eagle heavy markets?

今天早上我將替補基思·休斯。我想知道您是否不介意更詳細地了解一下您在 Eagle 重型市場中到底在哪裡看到的可能是最好的基礎設施需求？

Jonathan, I would tell you, it's pretty broad-based across our footprint. I don't know that I'd highlight 1 area or the other that's much stronger. They're all doing very well. And I would say our markets, in general, are outpacing the national average.

喬納森，我會告訴你，它在我們的足跡中基礎相當廣泛。我不知道我會突出顯示一個區域還是另一個更強大的區域。他們都做得很好。我想說的是，我們的市場總體而言超過了全國平均水平。

Great. And then in these states now that have been kind of quicker to pick up some of the spending, you're kind of expecting to see more demand growth as the infrastructure build funding continues to be realized, right? I'm reading that correctly?

偉大的。然後，在這些州，現在已經更快地獲得了一些支出，隨著基礎設施建設資金的繼續實現，您預計會看到更多的需求增長，對吧？我讀得正確嗎？

Yes. That's right.

是的。這是正確的。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Michael Haack for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回邁克爾·哈克（Michael Haack）發表閉幕詞。

Thank you. Thank you, Betsy. Thank you for joining us today, and we look forward to talking to you in the fall.

謝謝。謝謝你，貝特西。感謝您今天加入我們，我們期待在秋天與您交談。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連接。