Eagle Materials Inc (EXP) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to Eagle Materials' Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2024 Earnings Conference Call. This 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, sir.

大家好，歡迎參加 Eagle Materials 第四季和 2024 財年財報電話會議。此通話正在錄音。現在，我想將電話轉給 Eagle 總裁兼執行長 Michael Haack 先生。哈克先生，請繼續，先生。

Thank you, Jamie. Good morning. Welcome to Eagle Materials' Conference Call for our Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2024. This is Michael Haack. Joining me today are Craig Kesler, our Chief Financial Officer; and Alex Haddock, Senior 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. While you're accessing the slides, please note that the first slide covers our cautionary disclosure, regarding forward-looking statements made during this call.

謝謝你，傑米。早安.歡迎參加 Eagle Materials 2024 年第四季和財政年度電話會議。今天加入我的是我們的財務長 Craig Kesler；以及投資者關係、策略和企業發展資深副總裁 Alex Haddock。將進行與本次電話會議相關的投影片簡報。要存取它，請訪問 eaglematerials.com 並點擊網路廣播的連結。當您存取投影片時，請注意，第一張投影片涵蓋了我們關於本次電話會議期間所做的前瞻性陳述的警告性揭露。

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.

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。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 out today by simply saying thank you. More specifically, thank you to our employees who made fiscal year '24 a safe, productive year, working diligently to produce industry-leading quality products for our customers. Thank you to our customers who support our local operations daily and use the materials we produce to make America better. Thank you to our investors that believe in the value that Eagle brings -- Eagle Materials brings to society. Without each of you, I would not be able to report on yet another year of record financials, benchmark safety statistics and excellent operational performance at Eagle Materials.

讓我從今天開始簡單地說謝謝。更具體地說，感謝我們的員工，他們使 24 財年成為安全、高效的一年，他們辛勤工作，為我們的客戶生產行業領先的優質產品。感謝我們的客戶每天支持我們的當地業務，並使用我們生產的材料讓美國變得更好。感謝我們的投資者相信Eagle 所帶來的價值－Eagle Materials 為社會帶來的價值。如果沒有你們每個人，我將無法報告 Eagle Materials 又一年創紀錄的財務狀況、基準安全統計數據和出色的營運績效。

First, let me take a minute to comment on the most -- our most valuable asset, our people. Our results are dependent on our employees. At Eagle, we are dedicated to continuously developing our people and ensuring they understand their role with respect to health, safety and the environment. In this regard, I'm happy to report that we were able to sustain our below industry total recordable and lost time incident rates across all 4 of our businesses.

首先，讓我花一點時間來評論我們最寶貴的資產：我們的員工。我們的結果取決於我們的員工。在 Eagle，我們致力於不斷發展我們的員工，並確保他們了解自己在健康、安全和環境方面的角色。在這方面，我很高興地向大家報告，我們所有 4 個業務部門的總可記錄事故率和損失時間事故率均低於行業水平。

Our work on safety will not be complete until we achieve zero. We will continue to focus on leading indicators as highlighted by our 35% increase and near miss hazard observations since 2021 to drive change and create an even safer workplace.

只有實現零，我們的安全工作才算完成。我們將繼續關注領先指標，自 2021 年以來我們的 35% 成長和險些發生的危險觀察結果強調了這一點，以推動變革並創造更安全的工作場所。

With regards to environmental stewardship, we made meaningful headway this year and demonstrated -- as demonstrated in our updated corporate sustainability report, which we released earlier this quarter.

在環境管理方面，我們今年取得了有意義的進展，並在本季稍早發布的最新企業永續發展報告中證明了這一點。

I'd like to highlight a few items from this report. Our transition from traditional cement to Portland Limestone Cement and other blended products, products close to achieving our 2030 aspiration for reduced carbon intensity early.

我想強調本報告中的一些內容。我們從傳統水泥過渡到波特蘭石灰石水泥和其他混合產品，這些產品接近於早日實現我們 2030 年降低碳強度的願望。

We will continue to find ways to reduce this intensity level over the coming years to exceed our 2030 goal. We reduced our water consumption by 23% company-wide and will continue to find ways to be more water efficient. In terms of how we report our progress, we have incorporated new disclosures in our sustainability report, including data around our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions and we started to align with SASB and TCFD reporting frameworks.

我們將在未來幾年繼續尋找降低這種強度水平的方法，以超越我們的 2030 年目標。我們將全公司的用水量減少了 23%，並將繼續尋找提高用水效率的方法。在如何報告進度方面，我們在永續發展報告中納入了新的揭露內容，包括有關範圍 1 和範圍 2 排放的數據，並且我們開始與 SASB 和 TCFD 報告框架保持一致。

Turning now to our financial results for the year and the quarter. We achieved a third consecutive year of record financial results despite some weaknesses in the heavy businesses in Q4 due to adverse weather and increased cement maintenance costs. Let me mention just some of the financial highlights for the fiscal year.

現在轉向我們的年度和季度財務業績。儘管由於惡劣天氣和水泥維護成本增加，第四季度重型業務出現一些疲軟，但我們連續第三年實現了創紀錄的財務業績。讓我提一下本財年的一些財務亮點。

During fiscal 2024, we reported record revenue of $2.3 billion and record diluted EPS of $13.61. We expanded gross margins by 50 basis points to 30.3%, and we generated operating cash flow of $564 million. As always, these results are a testament to our soundness of our strategy, the consistency of our execution and the deep talent and commitment of our employees, each of whom contributes to this ongoing success of our company. Thank you, and congratulations to every one of you.

2024 財年，我們的營收達到創紀錄的 23 億美元，稀釋後每股盈餘創紀錄的 13.61 美元。我們的毛利率提高了 50 個基點，達到 30.3%，營運現金流達到 5.64 億美元。像往常一樣，這些結果證明了我們策略的健全性、執行的一致性以及員工的深厚才能和奉獻精神，他們每個人都為我們公司的持續成功做出了貢獻。謝謝你們，並祝賀你們每一個人。

I'd be remiss if I did not take a few minutes to discuss our fourth quarter results. The weather did affect the demand side picture and had a knock-on effect regarding costs due to several equipment failures and frozen feed systems. However, the larger part of the contract was driven from the fact that we chose to do some maintenance when we had an open window to do so.

如果我不花幾分鐘討論我們第四季的業績，那就是我的失職。天氣確實影響了需求方的情況，並且由於一些設備故障和冷凍飼料系統而對成本產生了連鎖反應。然而，合約的大部分是由於我們選擇在有開放窗口時進行一些維護這一事實而產生的。

Customer demand was reduced, and we have run these plants very hard over the past several years. It was a great time to do some work that normally would have happened later in the year during a heavy shipping window and completed early. We always want our production systems in like new condition, especially when we see the favorable demand picture in front of us for the coming years.

客戶需求減少了，過去幾年我們非常努力地營運這些工廠。現在是做一些工作的好時機，這些工作通常會在今年稍後在運輸高峰期進行並提前完成。我們總是希望我們的生產系統處於新的狀態，特別是當我們看到未來幾年良好的需求前景時。

Let me turn to the market environment that drove our financial performance this past year. Our markets mirror many of the dynamics in broader economy, dynamics that will continue to follow the overall U.S. macro conditions and the path of the U.S. monetary policy. This is the most true for the light side of our business. Last fiscal year, the strength of the U.S. consumer and the continued limited supply of existing home inventory supported the single-family market, while multifamily construction remain elevated.

讓我談談去年推動我們財務表現的市場環境。我們的市場反映了更廣泛經濟的許多動態，這些動態將繼續遵循美國整體宏觀狀況和美國貨幣政策的路徑。對於我們業務的光明面來說，這是最真實的。上一財年，美國消費者的強勁勢頭和現有住宅庫存供應的持續有限支撐了單戶住宅市場，而多戶住宅建設仍然保持高位。

As we move into our new fiscal year, even with the recent uptick in mortgage rates, there are positive signs for the single-family residential market while multifamily is likely to be a drag on the overall housing market. Because single-family units are 2 to 3x more wallboard intensive than multifamily units, the industry could see a net increase in consumption if this dynamic does indeed materialize.

隨著我們進入新的財政年度，即使最近抵押貸款利率有所上升，單戶住宅市場也出現了積極的跡象，而多戶住宅可能會拖累整個房地產市場。由於單戶單元的牆板密集度是多戶單元的 2 到 3 倍，因此如果這種動態確實實現，該行業可能會看到消費的淨增長。

Additionally, recent data suggests that the repair and remodel market could bottom out as we exit this calendar year possibly further increasing demand in our light side. The supply-demand picture for the heavy side of our business is more clearly defined and is less sensitive to the uncertainties around interest rates.

此外，最近的數據表明，隨著我們今年退出，維修和改造市場可能會觸底，這可能會進一步增加我們的輕量需求。我們重型業務的供需情況更加明確，對利率的不確定性較不敏感。

While volume in our heavy business was down in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, the underlying fundamentals in the sector remain positive. We expect federal infrastructure spending to increase this year and into 2025, adding to already healthy public spending at the state and local levels. Nonresidential construction, while moderating somewhat, should also continue to grow as the unprecedented manufacturing construction cycle offset some of the weaker pockets of nonresidential spending.

儘管我們的重工業業務量在 2024 財年第四季有所下降，但該行業的基本面仍然樂觀。我們預計今年和 2025 年聯邦基礎設施支出將增加，增加州和地方層級本已健康的公共支出。非住宅建設雖然有所放緩，但也應繼續成長，因為前所未有的製造業建設週期抵消了非住宅支出的一些疲軟部分。

As mentioned earlier, residential construction is also showing signs of recovery, although much of the picture there will likely not become clear until the back half of calendar 2024 and early 2025. In the face of our nation's demand needs, adding many full capacity to the overall cement and Wallboard industries will remain difficult, and we believe the constrained supply picture will not change meaningfully over the medium term.

如前所述，住宅建設也顯示出復甦的跡象，儘管大部分情況可能要到 2024 年下半年和 2025 年初才會變得清晰。牆板產業仍將困難重重，我們認為供應緊張的局面在中期內不會發生重大變化。

As we look to the year ahead, we remain optimistic about the midterm demand profile for all of our businesses and we believe all of our businesses will benefit from structural long-term demand trends as well.

展望未來一年，我們對所有業務的中期需求狀況保持樂觀，並相信我們所有業務也將受益於結構性長期需求趨勢。

Now let me spend a little time on capital allocation. As a reminder, our capital allocation priorities revolve around 3 main pillars: first, growth through acquisitions organically; second, keeping our facilities and like new condition and third, returning cash to shareholders, primarily through stock repurchases.

現在讓我花一點時間來談談資本配置。提醒一下，我們的資本配置重點圍繞著三個主要支柱：第一，透過收購實現有機成長；第二，保留我們的設施並保持新的狀態；第三，主要透過股票回購向股東返還現金。

Let me start off with our first priority of growth organically or through acquisition, where the growth meets our strict financial return criteria. This past quarter, we made 2 exciting announcements in this regard. First, the start-up of the new slag grinding facility through our Texas Lehigh Cement JV. Once fully operation ethos summer, the facility will have an annual manufacturing capacity of 500,000 tons of slag. This is incremental to manufacturing capacity of Texas Lehigh, Buda, Texas cement plant and our import terminal in Houston.

讓我從我們的首要任務開始，即有機成長或透過收購成長，只要成長符合我們嚴格的財務回報標準。上個季度，我們在這方面發布了兩個令人興奮的公告。首先，透過我們的德州利哈伊水泥合資企業啟動新的礦渣研磨設施。一旦夏季全面投產，該廠將具備年產50萬噸礦渣的能力。這對德克薩斯州利哈伊、布達、德克薩斯州水泥廠以及我們在休士頓的進口碼頭的生產能力來說是增量的。

Black cement will be crucial to meeting the needs of the fast-growing market like Texas, especially given the decreasing availability of other cementitious alternatives like Fly Ash. The facility is another step in transitioning our cement portfolio to less carbon-intensive lended products.

黑水泥對於滿足德州等快速成長市場的需求至關重要，特別是考慮到粉煤灰等其他水泥替代品的供應量不斷減少。這筆貸款是我們將水泥產品組合轉向碳強度較低的出借產品的另一步。

The second organic growth investment is a $430 million project to modernize and expand our Mountain cement plant in Laramie, Wyoming and includes an additional distribution facility in Northern Colorado.

第二項有機成長投資是一項價值 4.3 億美元的項目，旨在對我們位於懷俄明州拉勒米的 Mountain 水泥廠進行現代化改造和擴建，並包括在科羅拉多州北部的一個額外分銷設施。

Our investment in Mountain Cement checks all the boxes of Eagle's strategy. It increases capacity by approximately 50% in a high-growth market. It lowers manufacturing costs by approximately 25%, enhancing our low-cost position and it reduces the carbon intensity of that business by 20%.

我們對 Mountain Cement 的投資符合 Eagle 策略的所有要求。它在高成長市場中將產能提高了約 50%。它使製造成本降低了約 25%，增強了我們的低成本地位，並將該業務的碳強度降低了 20%。

These growth investments, the new Slack facility in Texas, the Laramie Wyoming cement plant expansion, combined with Stockton, California Cement Terminal acquisition completed at the beginning of the year meaningfully advance our strategy and should generate high returns.

這些成長投資、德州的新Slack 工廠、懷俄明州拉勒米水泥廠的擴建，加上今年年初完成的加州斯托克頓水泥碼頭收購，將有意義地推進我們的策略，並應產生高回報。

Moving on to our second pillar of keeping our assets in like new conditions, we were able to become more efficient, optimize our network and be prepared for any down cycle economic conditions by integrating our Battletown, Kentucky aggregates business, which we took full ownership of this year.

繼續我們的第二個支柱，即保持我們的資產處於新的條件下，透過整合我們完全擁有的肯塔基州巴特爾敦骨料業務，我們能夠提高效率，優化我們的網絡，並為任何下行週期的經濟條件做好準備。

Battletown extends our aggregate network at a sake complementary to our existing cement footprint. Our operating efficiency investments also include our decades-old decisions to ensure our raw materials are next to our plants in an abundant reserve, helping us control our own raw material supply and lower transportation costs. We are also dedicated to ongoing targeted maintenance to keep the plants and like new condition.

Battletown 擴展了我們的聚合網絡，以補充我們現有的水泥足跡。我們的營運效率投資還包括我們數十年來的決定，以確保我們的原材料在我們的工廠附近有充足的儲備，幫助我們控制自己的原材料供應並降低運輸成本。我們也致力於持續的有針對性的維護，以維持植物如新的狀態。

This leads me to the third pillar of capital management, returning excess cash flow to shareholders. Our consistent operational performance and financial discipline produced strong enterprise cash flows, putting us in an enviable position of returning excess capital to shareholders even as we capitalize on growth initiatives and invest in the sustainability of our businesses. This past fiscal year, we returned $343 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends. Over the last 5 years, our share buyback program has reduced the overall stock flows by nearly 30%.

這引出了資本管理的第三個支柱，即向股東返還多餘的現金流。我們一貫的營運績效和財務紀律產生了強勁的企業現金流，使我們處於令人羨慕的地位，可以將多餘的資本返還給股東，同時我們利用成長計畫並投資於我們業務的可持續性。上一財年，我們透過股票回購和股利向股東返還 3.43 億美元。在過去 5 年裡，我們的股票回購計畫使整體股票流量減少了近 30%。

Our balance sheet is healthy with our net leverage ratio staying at 1.3x giving us substantial financial flexibility to execute our disciplined capital allocation strategy in varying market conditions.

我們的資產負債表健康，淨槓桿率保持在 1.3 倍，這使我們具有巨大的財務靈活性，可以在不同的市場條件下執行嚴格的資本配置策略。

With that, I'll turn it over to Craig for more comments.

這樣，我會將其轉交給克雷格以獲取更多評論。

Thank you, Michael. Fiscal year 2024 revenue was a record $2.3 billion, up 5% from the prior year. The increase primarily reflects higher cement sales prices and contribution from the Stockton import terminal we acquired in our first fiscal quarter, partially offset by lower wallboard sales volume. Excluding the contribution from the Stockton import terminal, revenue was up 3%. As Michael mentioned, underlying fundamentals remain strong across our businesses, which supported our price increases, drove margin expansion and ultimately helped us achieve record annual EPS.

謝謝你，麥可。 2024 財年營收達到創紀錄的 23 億美元，比上年成長 5%。這一增長主要反映了水泥銷售價格的上漲以及我們在第一財季收購的斯托克頓進口碼頭的貢獻，但部分被牆板銷售的下降所抵消。剔除斯托克頓進口碼頭的貢獻，營收成長了 3%。正如邁克爾所提到的，我們業務的基本面仍然強勁，這支持了我們的價格上漲，推動了利潤率擴張，最終幫助我們實現了創紀錄的年度每股收益。

Revenue for the fourth quarter was up 1% to $477 million, primarily reflecting increased cement sales prices.

第四季營收成長 1%，達到 4.77 億美元，主要反映了水泥銷售價格的上漲。

Diluted earnings per share for the full fiscal year increased 9% to $13.61. In addition to margin expansion, the increase reflects the reduced share count resulting from our share repurchase program. Fully diluted shares were down 5% from the prior year and are down nearly 30% in the last 5.

整個財年稀釋後每股收益成長 9%，達到 13.61 美元。除了利潤率擴張之外，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前一年下降了 5%，並且在過去 5 年下降了近 30%。

Fourth quarter EPS was down 20%, largely because of heavy materials results in the quarter when the Cement and Concrete and Aggregates businesses were affected by adverse weather conditions and increased maintenance costs in the cement business.

第四季每股收益下降 20%，主要是由於本季水泥、混凝土和骨材業務受到不利天氣條件以及水泥業務維護成本增加的影響而導致重型材料業績。

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 12% to $1.5 billion. The increase reflects higher cement sales prices and the contribution from the Stockton import terminal.

現在轉向細分績效，下一張投影片重點介紹了這一點。在我們的重材料部門，包括水泥、混凝土和骨材部門，年收入成長了 12%，達到 15 億美元。這一增長反映了水泥銷售價格的上漲以及斯托克頓進口碼頭的貢獻。

As Michael mentioned, we faced adverse weather conditions during the fourth quarter across most of our markets, including the coldest January in 17 years in Austin with record rainfall and an extreme cold snap in Kansas City during January that caused disruption not only to sales, but also to operations.

正如麥可所提到的，我們的大部分市場在第四季度都面臨著不利的天氣條件，包括奧斯汀17 年來最冷的1 月份，降雨量創歷史新高，以及堪薩斯城1 月份的極端寒流，這不僅導致銷售中斷，也涉及營運。

We estimate the impact on earnings from lower sales volume due to weather delays was $3 million to $4 million, the operational impact from equipment downtime to be another $3 million to $4 million and increased maintenance cost was approximately $7 million.

我們估計，由於天氣延誤造成的銷售下降對獲利的影響為 300 萬至 400 萬美元，設備停機對營運的影響將再增加 300 萬至 400 萬美元，維護成本增加約 700 萬美元。

One last comment on the weather is the impact was also felt in our concrete businesses, which we largely operate in the same market as our cement plants. Annual operating earnings increased 18% to $351 million, again, reflecting higher cement prices, partially offset by our operating costs. Our fourth quarter cement price was up 5% as a result of price increases we implemented in January.

關於天氣的最後一個評論是，我們的混凝土業務也受到了影響，我們的混凝土業務主要與水泥廠在同一市場運作。年營業利潤再次成長 18% 至 3.51 億美元，反映出水泥價格上漲，但部分被我們的營運成本所抵銷。由於我們在一月份實施了漲價，我們第四季的水泥價格上漲了 5%。

Flipping to our Light Materials sector on the next slide. Annual revenue in our Light Materials sector declined 4% to $941 million, reflecting lower Wallboard sales volume. Annual operating earnings declined 3% to $366 million, also because of lower wallboard sales volume, partially offset by record paperboard shipments and lower recycled fiber costs.

翻到下一張投影片上的輕量材料部門。輕質材料部門的年收入下降 4% 至 9.41 億美元，反映出牆板銷量下降。年營業利潤下降 3%，至 3.66 億美元，也是由於牆板銷售下降，但部分被創紀錄的紙板出貨量和較低的再生纖維成本所抵消。

In the fourth quarter, industry wallboard shipments increased for the first time in 5 quarters. In response to the favorable outlook for residential construction, we implemented a Wallboard price increase during the fourth quarter, the full effect of which is not completely reflected in our quarterly average Wallboard price.

第四季度，產業牆板出貨量5季以來首度出現成長。為了應對住宅建設的良好前景，我們在第四季度實施了牆板價格上漲，其全部影響並未完全反映在我們的季度平均牆板價格中。

Looking now at our cash flow. We continue to generate very strong cash flow and allocate capital in a disciplined way throughout fiscal 2024. Operating cash flow was up 4% year-over-year to $564 million. Capital spending increased to $120 million as we continue to invest in and improve our operations.

現在看看我們的現金流。在整個 2024 財年，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。隨著我們繼續投資和改善我們的運營，資本支出增加到 1.2 億美元。

During the year, we also acquired the Stockton cement import terminal for approximately $55 million. We paid $35 million in dividends and repurchased approximately 1.9 million shares of our common stock or 5% of the outstanding for $343 million returning a total of $378 million to shareholders over the course of the year.

年內，我們也以約 5,500 萬美元收購了斯托克頓水泥進口碼頭。我們支付了 3,500 萬美元的股息，並以 3.43 億美元的價格回購了約 190 萬股普通股，即已發行股票的 5%，全年向股東返還了總計 3.78 億美元。

We have 5.9 million shares remaining under the current repurchase authorization. As we announced last week, and Michael discussed earlier, we are investing $430 million to modernize and expand our Mountain cement plant, which serves the growing Northern Colorado market.

目前的回購授權還剩 590 萬股。正如我們上周宣布的以及邁克爾之前討論的那樣，我們將投資 4.3 億美元來現代化和擴建我們的 Mountain 水泥廠，該廠為不斷增長的北科羅拉多州市場提供服務。

The plant will be upgraded from the existing 2 long dry kilns to a single modern precalciner kiln line, which will significantly improve energy efficiency and simplify maintenance programs. The existing plant will continue to operate until construction is complete in the latter half of calendar 2026.

該工廠將從現有的 2 條長幹窯升級為一條現代化預分解窯生產線，這將顯著提高能源效率並簡化維護計劃。現有工廠將繼續運營，直至 2026 年下半年竣工。

Construction is expected to begin this summer. And as a result, we expect total company capital spending in fiscal 2025 to increase to a range of $310 million to $340 million.

預計今年夏天開始施工。因此，我們預期 2025 財年公司資本支出總額將增加至 3.1 億至 3.4 億美元。

Finally, a look at our capital structure. At March 31, 2024, and our net debt-to-cap ratio was 45%, and our net debt-to-EBITDA leverage ratio was 1.3x.

最後，來看看我們的資本結構。截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日，我們的淨負債與上限比率為 45%，淨負債與 EBITDA 槓桿率為 1.3 倍。

We ended the year with $35 million of cash on hand and total liquidity at the end of the fiscal year was approximately $607 million, and we have no meaningful near-term debt maturity, giving us substantial financial flexibility.

截至年底，我們手頭現金為 3500 萬美元，財年末的流動資金總額約為 6.07 億美元，而且我們沒有有意義的近期債務到期日，這給我們帶來了巨大的財務靈活性。

Thank you for attending today's call. We'll now move to the question-and-answer session. Jamie, 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。傑米，我會把它交給你。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question today comes from Trey Grooms from Stephens.

（操作員說明）今天我們的第一個問題來自 Stephens 的 Trey Grooms。

Craig, you mentioned several things on the cement side, some maintenance, a few other things you called out there. And I'm sure the lower organic volume didn't help. Clearly, it's a seasonally slower quarter as well. So that can amplify things. But it sounds like a lot of these things are transitory.

克雷格，你提到了水泥方面的幾件事，一些維護，以及你在那裡提到的一些其他事情。我確信較低的有機體積沒有幫助。顯然，這也是一個季節性放緩的季度。這樣可以放大事情。但聽起來很多事情都是暫時的。

And if I did my math right, I think the margin would have been closer to 22.4% kind of range, which would have been up about 300 basis points. Is that -- am I in the neighborhood with that? And I guess, also as you kind of look at those things you called out or any of those going to be kind of trickling into the 1Q or anything like that?

如果我計算正確的話，我認為利潤率會接近 22.4% 的範圍，大約會上升 300 個基點。那是──我就在附近嗎？我想，當你看看你呼籲的那些事情或其中任何一個會慢慢進入第一季或類似的事情時？

Yes. No, I think you're on the right path, Trey. Look, January, I think it's been pretty well chronicled especially in this industry. The difficult weather conditions we faced in January, even a little bit into early February really impacted demand from a timing perspective.

是的。不，我認為你走在正確的道路上，特雷。看，一月，我認為它已經被很好地記錄下來，尤其是在這個行業。從時間角度來看，我們一月份甚至二月初的惡劣天氣條件確實對需求產生了影響。

The nice thing about weather is the projects are still there, they just get delayed and that's what we saw during the quarter. And as Michael mentioned, when you're dealing with that type of weather and already with a slower seasonal period, we took the opportunity to go out and perform some maintenance that we haven't had the chance to for many years as these facilities have been running at full steam.

天氣的好處是項目仍然存在，只是推遲了，這就是我們在本季度看到的情況。正如邁克爾所提到的，當你面對這種天氣並且已經經歷了較慢的季節性時期時，我們藉此機會出去進行一些維護，這是我們多年來沒有機會進行的，因為這些設施已經一直在全速運轉。

So take the opportunity, as I mentioned, and then you even had some of the weather that frankly impacted the facilities and their ability to operate, we had some frozen fuel bends. We had some frozen raw material bends that caused downtime at the plant. So it's not just the sales volume impact, there's actually an operational impact the $3 million to $4 million on the sales volume is similar to what we then had in terms of some operational downtime.

因此，正如我所提到的，抓住機會，然後你甚至遇到了一些坦率地影響設施及其運行能力的天氣，我們有一些凍結的燃料彎道。我們有一些冷凍原料彎曲導致工廠停工。因此，這不僅對銷售的影響，實際上還會對營運產生影響，銷量上的 300 萬至 400 萬美元的損失與我們當時在營運停機方面的影響類似。

And then we highlighted specifically the $7 million in maintenance costs, yes look the maintenance costs are kind of focused on the quarter and contained in the quarter. Yes, I will point out, we still have seen some rain here in April and May across most parts of the country. Again, it just pushes out the projects, but still feel really good about where the demand picture is for the heavy side. As we look forward, customers continue to tell us they expect to be very, very busy this year and into the next several years.

然後我們特別強調了 700 萬美元的維護成本，是的，維護成本有點集中在該季度並包含在該季度中。是的，我要指出的是，四月和五月全國大部分地區仍然有一些降雨。同樣，它只是推出了項目，但仍然對重方的需求感到非常滿意。展望未來，客戶繼續告訴我們，他們預計今年和未來幾年將非常非常忙碌。

Okay. And then kind of sticking with the cement margin here. I believe you guys are expecting some energy cost to kind of ease some in the cement business here for fiscal '25. Is that still the case? And I would guess that with any additional price realization in April, we should be probably looking for a rebound in the cement margins to some degree in fiscal 1Q, assuming weather doesn't just completely derail it?

好的。然後在這裡堅持水泥邊緣。我相信你們預計 25 財年的能源成本會有所緩解，以緩解這裡的水泥業務。現在還是這樣嗎？我猜想，隨著 4 月份任何額外的價格實現，我們可能應該期待第一財季水泥利潤率出現某種程度的反彈，假設天氣不會完全破壞它？

Yes. Look, as I always say, you've got to look at the Cement business on a trailing 12-month basis. And I know you know this, the June quarter is when we perform the majority of our kiln maintenance. So the June quarter is always our lowest margin quarter for the year.

是的。正如我常說的，您必須以過去 12 個月為基礎來審視水泥業務。我知道您知道這一點，六月季度是我們進行大部分窯爐維護的時間。因此，六月季度始終是我們今年利潤率最低的季度。

But as you said, you look at over the broader year for fiscal '25. We've got some benefits on the energy side, more specifically in the solid fuels that should help margins. And as we remain at full utilization and these price increases, we would expect to see margin improvement as we move forward.

但正如您所說，您著眼於 25 財年的更廣泛的一年​​。我們在能源方面獲得了一些好處，更具體地說是在固體燃料方面，這應該有助於提高利潤。隨著我們保持充分利用和價格上漲，我們預計隨著我們的前進，利潤率會有所改善。

Our next question comes from Stanley Elliott from Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Stanley Elliott。

I'd like to -- I guess if you could talk a little bit more about the Laramie expansion, very, I think, interesting and interesting timing, too. Should we read into it, one, I guess, the M&A markets, maybe what -- were a little too frothy compared to what you all were looking at? Or is it just more kind of confidence and opportunities that you saw in the Salt Lake and the Denver markets?

我想——我想你是否可以多談談拉勒米擴張，我認為，這也是非常有趣和有趣的時機。我們是否應該深入研究一下，我想，併購市場，也許是——與你們所看到的相比，泡沫有點太多了？或者這只是您在鹽湖城和丹佛市場看到的更多信心和機會？

Yes, Stanley, great question. And really, there's 2 parts to that. One is the project itself. Look, it's an older facility. I mentioned it operates 2 long dry kilns, which are a little older technology. We'll be modernizing that to a precalciner single kiln line for the cement head, that's important and that it reduces the energy consumption significantly, much more energy efficient and simplifies the maintenance program, you go 2 kilns down to one more modern technology.

是的，史丹利，好問題。事實上，這有兩個部分。一是項目本身。看看吧，設施比較老舊了。我有提到它有兩個長乾窯，技術有點舊。我們將對其進行現代化改造，將其改造為水泥頭的預分解爐單窯生產線，這很重要，它可以顯著降低能源消耗，提高能源效率並簡化維護計劃，您可以將2 個窯改造成一種較現代的技術。

So -- and it's in a growing market, right? So while the plant sits in Laramie, Wyoming, its primary market is south to Denver. And we've got some advantages into that market in terms of terminals that exist and terminals that we will be building, which are all included in that capital cost. And that market remains constrained, supply-constrained, especially given its location in the middle of the country.

那麼——它處於一個不斷增長的市場，對吧？因此，雖然該工廠位於懷俄明州拉勒米，但其主要市場位於丹佛以南。就現有的碼頭和我們將要建造的碼頭而言，我們在該市場上擁有一些優勢，這些都包含在資本成本中。該市場仍然受到限制，供應有限，特別是考慮到其位於該國中部。

So that project in and of itself, it reminds me very much of a project we completed years ago at our Illinois cement facility when we modernized that facility, it's very low cost today, very similar margin profile with these 2 facilities.

因此，這個項目本身讓我想起了我們幾年前在伊利諾伊州水泥工廠完成的一個項目，當時我們對該工廠進行了現代化改造，現在的成本非常低，與這兩個工廠的利潤率非常相似。

And that Illinois cement modernization had a high, high return more than that our internal hurdle rates. And that's what this project is about. Your other question more broadly about capital allocation, we're very fortunate that we've positioned the balance sheet at below 1.5x. We have good free cash flow.

伊利諾伊州水泥現代化的回報率比我們的內部最低門檻還要高。這就是這個項目的目的。你的另一個問題更廣泛地涉及資本配置，我們非常幸運，我們將資產負債表定位在 1.5 倍以下。我們有良好的自由現金流。

And so we've really positioned ourselves that while this is an important project, the Mountain Cement expansion and relatively large dollars, that does not preclude us from continuing to invest in inorganic or M&A opportunities that may come around. And frankly, if that doesn't happen, continuation of our share repurchase program. So I just think this is just one more opportunity to invest and we still have the ability to invest in other ways as well.

因此，我們確實對自己進行了定位，雖然這是一個重要的項目、Mountain Cement 的擴張和相對較大的資金，但這並不妨礙我們繼續投資可能出現的無機或併購機會。坦白說，如果這種情況沒有發生，我們的股票回購計畫將繼續。所以我認為這只是另一個投資機會，我們仍然有能力以其他方式進行投資。

Perfect. That's great color. I guess just one on the wallboard. You mentioned some of the pricing kind of not fully realized. Could you help us maybe with the exit rate on that wallboard pricing or where we think the pricing would be?

完美的。那顏色真棒。我猜牆上只有一張。您提到了一些尚未完全實現的定價。您能否幫助我們了解該牆板定價的退出率或我們認為的定價水準？

Yes. Our price was up about $5 sequentially in the quarter, as you saw from December to March. And there's about another $5 that wasn't in the quarterly average that still has yet to flow through.

是的。正如您從 12 月到 3 月看到的那樣，我們的價格在本季度連續上漲了約 5 美元。還有大約 5 美元未計入季度平均水平，但尚未支付。

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。

Craig, just as a follow-up to a previous question, it wasn't quite clear to me. Did you essentially pull forward most or all of that cement maintenance from June to the March quarter?

克雷格，作為上一個問題的後續，我不太清楚。您是否基本上將大部分或全部水泥維護工作從 6 月推遲到了 3 月季度？

Yes. Some of it certainly is that. But I'll tell you, and I think Michael said it well. These plants have been running at full utilization for several years now as we've discussed. And so some of this is maintenance that you just haven't had the time to perform over the last couple of years and you finally had the opportunity to this quarter.

是的。其中一些肯定是這樣的。但我會告訴你，我認為麥可說得很好。正如我們所討論的，這些工廠已經充分利用了幾年。因此，其中一些維護工作是您在過去幾年中沒有時間執行的，而本季您終於有機會執行了。

So I don't know that I would necessarily say it's pulling forward as much as it was the opportunity presented itself. And it pulled it forward in the sense that you were going to have to do it eventually, whether that was in fiscal '25 or fiscal '26, it was some point needed to be done, and we took the opportunity.

所以我不知道我是否一定會說它正在向前推進，就像它本身出現的機會一樣。它把它向前推進了，因為你最終必須這樣做，無論是在 25 財年還是 26 財年，都需要在某個時刻完成，我們抓住了這個機會。

Okay. And Craig, at Texas Lehigh, I think you had some ongoing repairs and plans around that facility. Could you just update us on that and maybe any sort of cadence we should expect that might create some downtime at that plant, in particular, through this year?

好的。德克薩斯州利哈伊大學的克雷格，我認為你們對該設施正在進行一些維修和計劃。您能否向我們介紹一下最新情況，以及我們應該預期的任何可能導致該工廠停工的節奏，特別是今年？

Yes. Yes. We've mentioned we've got a couple of larger projects. They're largely slated for this fall. They'll go through their normal maintenance program here in the June quarter, and then they'll have some more additional downtime in the fall. We'll dimensionalize that for everyone.

是的。是的。我們已經提到我們有幾個更大的項目。它們基本上定於今年秋天進行。他們將在六月季度執行正常的維護計劃，然後在秋季他們將有更多的額外停機時間。我們將為每個人進行維度化。

But I'm glad you mentioned the joint venture. Michael mentioned that the other organic investment that we announced during the quarter was a slag-cement facility down in Houston. It will be right there in the ship channel and that's an incremental 500,000 tons of cementitious product that we'll be able to sell above and beyond the cement manufacturing footprint. That is in the joint venture.

但我很高興你提到合資企業。麥可提到，我們在本季宣布的另一項有機投資是位於休士頓的礦渣水泥設施。它將就在船舶航道中，增量為 50 萬噸水泥產品，我們將能夠在水泥製造足跡之外銷售這些產品。那是在合資企業中。

So we pick up half of that opportunity. But good investment. We are carrying some costs associated with start-up of that facility call it, $700,000 to $800,000 in the quarter of incremental costs for that facility and as we're staffing that facility up. But that's an exciting opportunity for us later this summer.

所以我們抓住了一半的機會。但投資不錯。我們承擔了與該設施的啟動相關的一些成本，即該設施的季度增量成本以及我們為該設施配備人員的成本，即 700,000 至 800,000 美元。但這對我們今年夏天晚些時候來說是一個令人興奮的機會。

Okay. Just one more quick one. I appreciate all the color on the investment at the facility in Wyoming. Is it fair to say that you're evaluating sort of similar capacity improvement or opportunities across the broader portfolio? Was there -- this one somewhat unique, does it stand out relative to what you might be looking at relative to the other facilities? Just curious kind of how you're thinking about the broader portfolio here?

好的。只要再快一點就好了。我很欣賞懷俄明州工廠投資的所有色彩。可以公平地說，您正在評估更廣泛的投資組合中類似的能力改進或機會嗎？是否有——這個有點獨特，相對於您可能看到的其他設施而言，它是否脫穎而出？只是好奇您如何考慮這裡更廣泛的投資組合？

No, it's a great question, and I appreciate the question because when we look at our network of cement plants across the nation, we look at every single facility and what value those facilities bring in the age of those facilities, the maintenance cost of those facilities. So while we chose Mountain to upgrade on this one, we do a strategic analysis on every single one of the facilities and what value that brings to the company. So this is the one that we've chosen to do and there may be others if they meet our financial return criteria.

不，這是一個很好的問題，我很欣賞這個問題，因為當我們審視全國各地的水泥廠網絡時，我們會審視每一個設施，以及這些設施在這些設施的時代帶來的價值、這些設施的維護成本設施。因此，當我們選擇 Mountain 進行升級時，我們對每項設施及其為公司帶來的價值進行了策略分析。所以這是我們選擇做的一項，如果符合我們的財務回報標準，可能還有其他的。

Our next question comes from Anthony Pettinari from Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Anthony Pettinari。

I think you said that the CapEx for the year would be $310 million to $340 million. And if Laramie costs $430 million, I'm just wondering if you could help us understand kind of the phasing in of CapEx through '25 and maybe '26 and kind of breaking out sort of maintenance CapEx versus Laramie versus maybe sort of other growth projects?

我想你說過今年的資本支出將為 3.1 億美元至 3.4 億美元。如果 Laramie 的成本為 4.3 億美元，我只是想知道您是否可以幫助我們了解 25 年甚至 26 年資本支出的逐步實施以及維護資本支出與 Laramie 與其他增長項目的突破？

Yes, Anthony. So for the Mountain Cement project, the $430 million that phases in over fiscal '25, '26 and into fiscal '27 as we expect the project to complete late in 2026. So we're talking about $150 million for that project in fiscal '25 is what we budgeted.

是的，安東尼。因此，對於Mountain Cement 項目，我們預計該項目將在2026 年底完成，因此，我們將在25、26 財年和27 財年分階段投入4.3 億美元。 2026 財年投入1.5 億美元。

A little more than that in fiscal '26. And then the remainder in fiscal '27. So you'll be by that point, below $100 million for that project. So what -- you start to do the math, that puts kind of sustaining capital back closer to that $150 million, $160 million range, which is about typical. It's a little higher because we've got some projects. We've announced a couple of times now, alternative fuel projects out of 3 of our facilities. Those are underway. We're upgrading finished mill capacity at one of our facilities to facilitate full production of PLC.

比 26 財年多一點。然後是 27 財年的剩餘部分。因此，到那時，該項目的投入將低於 1 億美元。那又怎樣——你開始計算一下，這會讓維持資本回到接近 1.5 億美元、1.6 億美元的範圍，這大約是典型的。它有點高，因為我們有一些項目。我們已經多次宣佈在我們的 3 個設施中開展替代燃料項目。這些正在進行中。我們正在升級其中一處工廠的成品軋機產能，以促進 PLC 的全面生產。

So there's a couple of those projects, some other energy and cost-saving projects, one large one at our paper mill. So we've got some good projects underway in addition to the Mountain Cement expansion.

因此，有幾個這樣的項目，還有一些其他能源和成本節約項目，其中一個大型項目就在我們的造紙廠。因此，除了 Mountain Cement 擴建之外，我們還有一些不錯的項目正在進行中。

Got it. Got it. And then thinking about fiscal '25 and cement volumes, I guess, volumes in the fourth quarter were down 3% ex M&A on the weather. How should we think about cement volumes for the fiscal year or the upcoming -- or this current fiscal year? Is it may be flat year-over-year, not including the slag facility? Or are there some other sort of puts and takes that we should be thinking about as we kind of model out the full year?

知道了。知道了。然後考慮 25 財年和水泥銷量，我猜第四季度的銷量因天氣原因下降了 3%（扣除併購）。我們該如何考慮本財年或即將到來的財年或本財年的水泥產量？不包括爐渣設施，是否可能與去年同期持平？或者，在我們對全年進行建模時，我們是否應該考慮一些其他類型的看跌期權？

Yes. As I mentioned, Anthony, certainly, April and May, for most parts of the country have seen some -- again, some wet weather that's impacted the start of the construction season. So I do think you can see volume growth. I do think that will be in the second -- or in the second half of the year than the first half, just given how the first month or so has started. But again, feel good about fiscal '25 volumes.

是的。正如我所提到的，安東尼，當然，四月和五月，全國大部分地區都出現了一些潮濕的天氣，影響了施工季節的開始。所以我確實認為你可以看到銷量成長。我確實認為這將是在下半年——或者說是下半年而不是上半年，只是考慮到第一個月左右的開始情況。但同樣，我對 25 財年的銷售感到滿意。

And as you head into fiscal '26 and '27, I know the PCA came out with their forecasted estimates here recently. And they've continued to see growth in the out years. Anthony, the one last comment I would make on this, lots of data points. When you look at, let's say, for example, housing starts that came out last week, if you take one step down into those numbers, you'll see really good growth in our primary markets.

當你進入 26 財年和 27 財年時，我知道 PCA 最近在這裡發布了他們的預測。他們在過去幾年中繼續看到增長。安東尼，我對此發表的最後一個評論，有很多數據點。例如，當你查看上周公布的新屋開工情況時，如果你進一步了解這些數字，你會發現我們的主要市場確實出現了良好的成長。

So when you look at the south, you look at the Midwest, where our facilities, both Wallboard and cement are generally located, we saw really good growth in housing, single-family housing starts in those markets. The Northeast was down significantly, and that's just not a market that we really participate in. So it is also geographically, we've said many times, we think we're well positioned, and that continues to play out in the data.

因此，當你看看南方時，你看看中西部，我們的設施、牆板和水泥通常都位於那裡，我們看到這些市場的住房、單戶住宅開工確實有良好的成長。東北地區大幅下降，而這並不是我們真正參與的市場。

Our next question comes from Jerry Revich from Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的傑瑞·雷維奇。

In cement, even with the impact that you folks spoke to in the March quarter for the full year, profit per ton was up over 20%. The prior year, it was up 12%. I'm wondering how are you thinking about the potential for double-digit profit per ton growth? This fiscal year, you've got, I think, tailwinds from lower energy input cost based on contract timing. I'm wondering if you could just weigh on the puts and takes of potential for another double-digit profit per ton growth year in cement?

在水泥方面，即使受到你們提到的 3 月季度全年的影響，每噸利潤仍增加了 20% 以上。前一年增長了 12%。我想知道您如何看待每噸利潤兩位數成長的潛力？我認為，本財年，您將獲得基於合約時間的較低能源輸入成本的推動力。我想知道您是否可以權衡一下水泥行業每噸利潤再次實現兩位數增長的潛力的看跌期權和看跌期權？

Yes. Jerry, you point out the right way to look at the business. As I mentioned, you've really got to look at a business that is seasonal impacts on a trailing 12-month basis. And it's easy to do for the annual period. But very happy with the margin expansion that we've seen over the last several years in the face of some pretty significant inflation headwinds around energy.

是的。傑瑞，你指出了看待業務的正確方法。正如我所提到的，您確實必須關注過去 12 個月內受季節性影響的業務。而且在年度期間很容易做到。但我們對過去幾年在面對能源方面相當大的通膨阻力時所看到的利潤率擴張感到非常滿意。

And as we've talked, those headwinds have turned around, especially on the solid fuels, and that should be a benefit to the margin and we've continued to see some price appreciation here. So all in all, we would expect margins to continue to expand in the cement business. And I think it's very well positioned.

正如我們所說，這些不利因素已經扭轉，特別是在固體燃料方面，這應該對利潤率有利，而且我們繼續看到價格上漲。總而言之，我們預計水泥業務的利潤率將持續擴大。我認為它的定位非常好。

And then in terms of the alternative fuel upgrade projects and the expansion projects, as you look at your footprint today, how big is the dispersion in margins between your most efficient plants and your least efficient plants post these projects? How much does that gap narrow as you look at your portfolio?

然後就替代燃料升級項目和擴建項目而言，當您看看您今天的足跡時，您最高效的工廠和效率最低的工廠在這些項目之後的利潤差距有多大？當你檢視你的投資組合時，這個差距縮小了多少？

Yes. It's interesting, Jerry. On a margin basis, the separation isn't as dramatic as you might think. The difference is where those higher cost plants sit are normally a little higher margin -- or higher-priced markets given where they're located. And so in this case, we're taking the Mountain Cement facility, which is an older technology and modernizing it.

是的。這很有趣，傑瑞。從利潤率來看，這種分離並不像您想像的那麼劇烈。不同之處在於，那些成本較高的工廠所在的位置通常利潤率較高，或者考慮到它們的位置，市場價格較高。因此，在這種情況下，我們將採用 Mountain Cement 設施（這是一項較舊的技術）並將其現代化改造。

And so that's where we think we can continue to improve their margins or that plant's margins by lowering the cost of the operations. And that's what the biggest opportunity is for that project.

因此，我們認為我們可以透過降低營運成本來繼續提高他們的利潤率或該工廠的利潤率。這就是該項目最大的機會。

Okay. And lastly, it's been a really strong track record for you folks in cement profit for the growth over the past 10 years. Even before COVID, you folks were getting really good unit profitability growth. I'm wondering, looking at the market, what aspects of it, would you say have driven the really strong performance that's really been a big uptick versus the pre-financial crisis, how much of that is rising transportation costs versus other factors? How do you think about the sustainability of this level of unit profitability growth in Cement?

好的。最後，過去 10 年水泥利潤的成長記錄非常強勁。甚至在新冠疫情爆發之前，你們的單位獲利能力就取得了非常好的成長。我想知道，看看市場，您認為是哪些方面推動了真正強勁的表現，與金融危機前相比，確實出現了大幅上漲，其中有多少是運輸成本相對於其他因素的上漲？您如何看待水泥產業這種單位獲利成長水準的可持續性？

Yes. Look, we've acquired a significant amount of capacity. So 4 or 5 plants, if you include the slag facility we acquired back in 2015, and but we've acquired a couple of cement plants here recently. And you've heard us say many times, and I'd love to tell you, it's 1 or 2 things. It is an intense focus on operational improvement and recognizing there are some key metrics around utilization rates and throughput.

是的。看，我們已經獲得了大量的產能。如果算上我們在 2015 年收購的礦渣設施，那麼有 4 或 5 家工廠，但我們最近在這裡收購了幾家水泥廠。你已經聽我們說過很多次了，我很樂意告訴你，這是一兩件事。它非常關注營運改進，並認識到存在一些關於利用率和吞吐量的關鍵指標。

And that is an area that we spend an inordinate amount of time making sure the plants are up and running and when they are running, the amount of throughput is being maximized. And that's through maintenance programs, being very diligent with our maintenance. I know we spent a decent amount of money here in the fourth quarter, but it pays off in the future as you keep your kilns running, you keep the finished mills running at higher rates, which not only improves your overall operating cost, it also allows us to meet our customers' needs.

在這個領域，我們花費了大量的時間來確保工廠正常運行，並且當它們運行時，吞吐量會最大化。這是透過維護計劃，非常勤奮地進行維護。我知道我們在第四季度在這裡花了相當多的錢，但它在未來會得到回報，因為你保持窯爐運行，你保持成品磨機以更高的速度運行，這不僅提高了你的整體營運成本，也使我們能夠滿足客戶的需求。

And so where the opportunity and the growth has come from is making sure those kilns are running in some of these facilities that were running prior to our ownership, prior to the financial crisis in the mid- to low 80s, we've now got running well over 90%. And that is a meaningful change when you start thinking about cost on a per unit basis and they're ultimately on a margin basis. So it's a lot of the operational folks that have done a fantastic job of keeping those plants running and throughout the cycle.

因此，機會和成長的來源是確保這些窯爐在我們擁有之前運行的一些設施中運行，在 80 年代中後期金融危機之前，我們現在已經開始運行遠遠超過90%。當您開始考慮單位成本並且最終以利潤為基礎時，這是一個有意義的變化。因此，許多營運人員在保持這些工廠在整個週期內運作方面做得非常出色。

And in terms of the sustainability of that, we've actually improved the overall network of Eagle. When you think about -- I go back many years, when you think about the plants that we ran before the financial crisis and the plants we run today, the overall average is an improvement. And then you add in some of these projects like the Mountain Cement modernization, we're actually reinforcing that and keeping those margins sustainable through cycles.

就可持續性而言，我們實際上改進了 Eagle 的整體網絡。當你想想——我回想很多年前，當你想想我們在金融危機之前運營的工廠和我們今天運營的工廠時，整體平均水平有所改善。然後添加其中一些項目，例如山地水泥現代化，我們實際上正在加強這一點，並在整個週期中保持這些利潤的可持續性。

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

我們的下一個問題來自湯普森戴維斯分校的 Adam Thalhimer。

Craig, can you just comment on cement pricing a little bit? Was the weather and impact to cement pricing as well?

克雷格，您能稍微評論一下水泥定價嗎？天氣和水泥價格也會受到影響嗎？

It doesn't necessarily impact the price. It does certainly impact volumes, but we had price increases in about half of our markets in January, and they went through as they were planned.

它不一定會影響價格。這確實會影響銷量，但一月份我們大約一半的市場都提價了，而且按照計劃進行了。

Okay. Any for April?

好的。四月有嗎？

Yes, then we had some that were -- some of our markets have some in April and scattered throughout the early summertime depending on the markets. And some of that is exact timing, as I mentioned, the construction season has gotten off to a little slower start, given all the rain that we've seen. But for those markets, they'll be later here in the year.

是的，然後我們有一些——我們的一些市場在四月份有一些，並且根據市場的不同分散在整個夏初。正如我所提到的，其中一些是確切的時間，考慮到我們所看到的所有降雨，施工季節的開始速度有點慢。但對於這些市場來說，它們將在今年稍後出現。

Makes sense. And then how should we -- this slag plant, does that open up at capacity? Or how do you see that ramping up over time?

說得通。然後我們應該如何——這個礦渣廠，是否能夠滿載運轉？或者您如何看待這種情況隨著時間的推移而增加？

Yes. No. It's like most facilities. There will be a start-up time. So as that plan begins here late in the summer, it'll have a start-up associated with that and through the winter. As you get into 4Q, you'll start to see that become a more meaningful contributor to our overall profile. But really, the benefit will be seen in fiscal '26 from that facility.

是的。不，就像大多數設施一樣。會有一個啟動時間。因此，由於該計劃在夏末開始，因此將有一個與之相關的新創公司並持續整個冬天。當您進入第四季度時，您將開始發現它對我們的整體形像做出了更有意義的貢獻。但實際上，該設施的效益將在 26 財年顯現。

Fiscal '26. Perfect. And then what are you seeing from others, just kind of a bigger picture question on tightness in the cement market. I mean what are you seeing from others in terms of capacity additions or expansions?

26 財年。完美的。然後你從其他人那裡看到了什麼，只是關於水泥市場緊張的更大的問題。我的意思是，您從其他人那裡看到了產能增加或擴張方面的哪些情況？

I would say, look, I think as we've well documented that significant constraints on adding any significant new capacity across the country. There's a few modernizations, one that completed a year or so ago and aware of one other. But by and large, again, it's just difficult to add capacity U.S. cement capacity.

我想說，看，我認為我們已經充分記錄了在全國範圍內增加任何重要新產能的重大限制。有一些現代化改造，其中一項是在大約一年前完成的，並且彼此了解。但總的來說，增加美國水泥產能還是很困難的。

Our next question comes from Phil Ng from Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Phil Ng。

Can you provide a little more color where like your ASP was for cement as you exited quarter and what you kind of realized thus far in May? And a few of your competitors have talked about potentially, I think, mid-year price increases in cement. Have you announced anything? And do you plan on announcing any midyear increases in cement as well?

您能否提供更多信息，例如您退出季度時的水泥平均售價以及您在 5 月份迄今為止實現的情況？我認為，你們的一些競爭對手已經談到了年中水泥價格可能上漲的可能性。你有宣布什麼嗎？您是否計劃宣布年中水泥價格上漲？

Yes, Phil, in terms of the price for the quarter, cement is pretty much -- you put it in, in January, and that's the price for the quarter in the markets that we went forward in. And so I would say the average was pretty consistent throughout the quarter. We're in the process of implementing some price increases kind of post the quarter. And we'll certainly give you an update on that as we get into the next call. It's a little early to speculate on additional price increases for the remainder of calendar '24.

是的，菲爾，就本季的價格而言，水泥幾乎是 - 你把它放在一月份，這就是我們前進的市場的季度價格。我們正在本季後實施一些提價措施。當我們進入下一次電話會議時，我們肯定會向您提供最新情況。現在推測 24 日曆年剩餘時間的價格進一步上漲還為時過早。

And certainly, as we've said before, customers will be the first to know about that. But what we're interested -- when the sun shines here in April and May, business is good, but we have seen quite a bit of rain here in the first part of the year. And so we'll see about additional timing.

當然，正如我們之前所說，客戶將是第一個知道這一點的人。但我們感興趣的是——四月和五月這裡陽光明媚時，生意很好，但今年上半年我們看到這裡下了很多雨。所以我們會看到額外的時間安排。

So Craig, I guess the remaining 50% that was not part of January. It sounds like the cadence is a little throughout the quarter, maybe even late summer. Can you kind of give us a little more -- can you kind of help us quantify, I guess, those markets, how much you have? And does it all go into April? Does half of that going in June? Just give us a little more color so we're mindful how to model cement increases?

所以克雷格，我猜剩下的 50% 不是一月的一部分。聽起來節奏有點貫穿整個季度，甚至可能是夏末。你能給我們多一點嗎──你能幫我們量化一下，我想，這些市場，你有多少？這一切都會持續到四月嗎？六月有一半嗎？只需給我們多一點顏色，以便我們注意如何模擬水泥增加？

Sure. Yes. There's a couple of markets that did go in April and then some of them have been pushed into May or June. And that's kind of the cadence. So you'll see a little bit -- the full quarter average won't reflect the full price for what we've gone up in.

當然。是的。有幾個市場確實在四月開始，然後其中一些已被推遲到五月或六月。這就是節奏。所以你會看到一點——整個季度的平均價格並不能反映我們上漲的全部價格。

Okay. And then I guess pivoting to perhaps your wallboard business, Michael, you kind a pretty upbeat on single-family new construction. But certainly, the outlook is a little more mixed on multifamily and commercial. So I guess my question is, have you seen that inflection come through already in single family and have bidding and orders progressed nicely because we've seen, obviously, rates tick back up in the starts data more lately have been a little more choppy?

好的。然後我想也許轉向你的牆板業務，邁克爾，你對單戶新建築相當樂觀。但可以肯定的是，多戶型和商業型的前景更加複雜。所以我想我的問題是，您是否看到單戶家庭已經出現了拐點，並且投標和訂單進展順利，因為我們顯然看到，最近開工數據中的利率回升，但更加波動？

And do you expect volumes to be up this year given what your view is on single-family any mixed nuances that we need to be mindful from a margin standpoint as well just given how these different end markets are kind of progressing?

考慮到您對單戶住宅的看法，您預計今年的銷量會增加嗎？

Yes, Phil, I'll take that first. And as I mentioned earlier, you can look at the choppiness in some of the housing data. We do look at the next layer down. And when you start looking at it on a geographic basis, our markets are well outperforming the national average.

是的，菲爾，我先接受。正如我之前提到的，你可以看看一些住房數據的波動。我們確實會看看下一層。當你開始從地理角度來看時，我們的市場表現遠遠超過全國平均。

So the data from last week, you bifurcated in the Northeast saw a pretty negative number for housing starts, whereas, which is a market we really don't operate in or compete in, whereas in the South and the Midwest markets, which are our core markets, they continue to see very nice appreciation and growth.

因此，從上週的數據來看，東北地區的新屋開工數量相當為負，而這是一個我們實際上不參與經營或競爭的市場，而在南部和中西部市場，這是我們的市場。市場，他們繼續看到非常好的升值和成長。

And as Michael mentioned, the single-family construction activity is important -- significantly more important than multifamily, just given the size and the scale, single-family construction will consume 2 to 3x more wallboard than a multifamily unit. So that's why we spend most of our time talking about single-family construction activity.

正如邁克爾所提到的，單戶建築活動很重要——比多戶住宅更重要，僅考慮到大小和規模，單戶建築消耗的牆板將比多戶住宅多 2 到 3 倍。這就是為什麼我們大部分時間都在談論單戶建築活動。

And then in terms of private non-res and its impact on wallboard demand, it's clearly the smallest component of the entire demand picture for wallboard. And again, that also has varying adjustments geographically. Again, we don't operate much in the Northeast or in the Northwest, which are a little more challenged markets in the areas that we do operate in the southern half of the U.S. private non-res continues to be pretty strong.

然後就私人非資源及其對牆板需求的影響而言，它顯然是牆板整個需求圖中最小的組成部分。再說一遍，這在地理上也有不同的調整。同樣，我們在東北部或西北地區的業務不多，這些市場在我們在美國南半部開展業務的地區面臨的挑戰更大一些。

And Craig, just so I understand, there's no real mix margin nuances we need to be mindful of, multifamily versus single family or commercial. I know it sounds like it's a [good God, demand] is how we should think about it. And then given your end markets, you haven't seen a slowdown in bidding and order activity. It sounds like you're seeing momentum build. Is that the right thing?

克雷格，據我所知，我們不需要注意多戶住宅與單戶住宅或商業住宅之間真正的混合利潤細微差別。我知道這聽起來像是一個[上帝啊，需求]，這就是我們應該如何思考它。然後考慮到您的終端市場，您沒有看到投標和訂單活動放緩。聽起來你看到了勢頭的增強。這是正確的事嗎？

Yes, that's right in terms of the margin, and we've been very happy with our order intake here in the -- as the construction season has begun very nice growth there.

是的，就利潤而言，這是正確的，我們對這裡的訂單量非常滿意，因為那裡的建築季節已經開始了非常好的成長。

And ladies and gentlemen, with that, in showing no additional questions, I'd like to turn the floor back over to management for any closing remarks.

女士們、先生們，在沒有提出任何其他問題的情況下，我想將發言權交還給管理階層，讓他們發表結束語。

Thank you, Jamie. As we reflect on the third year of record performance across the board for Eagle, we are grateful for the dedication and hard work of our employees and the support of you, our shareholders, through multiple business cycles. We are proud of our team's superior execution at every point in the cycle, and we are committed to continuing to execute our strategy with rigorous discipline, the highest safety standards and respect for our communities, our environment, our employees, our shareholders and our -- all of our stakeholders. Thanks for joining us today. We're looking forward to a good year ahead.

謝謝你，傑米。當我們回顧 Eagle 連續第三年創紀錄的業績時，我們感謝員工的奉獻和辛勤工作，以及您（我們的股東）在多個業務週期中的支持。我們為我們團隊在周期中每個時刻的卓越執行力感到自豪，我們致力於繼續以嚴格的紀律、最高的安全標準和尊重我們的社區、我們的環境、我們的員工、我們的股東和我們的——來執行我們的策略。感謝您今天加入我們。我們期待著美好的一年。

Ladies and gentlemen, with that, we'll be concluding today's conference call and presentation. We thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.

女士們、先生們，我們今天的電話會議和演示就到此結束。我們感謝您的加入。現在您可以斷開線路。