Greenbrier Companies Inc (GBX) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome to the Greenbrier Company's Fourth Quarter of fiscal 2023 Earnings Conference Call. Following today's presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) At the request of the Greenbrier company, this conference call is being recorded for instant replay purposes.

您好，歡迎參加 Greenbrier 公司 2023 財年第四季財報電話會議。今天的演講結束後，我們將進行問答環節。 （操作員說明）應 Greenbrier 公司的要求，正在錄製本次電話會議以便即時重播。

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Justin Roberts, Vice President & Treasurer.

現在，我想將會議交給副總裁兼財務主管賈斯汀·羅伯茨先生。

Mr. Roberts, you may begin.

羅伯茨先生，您可以開始了。

Thank you, Sarah. Good morning everyone, and welcome to our fourth Quarter and fiscal 2023 conference call. Today I'm joined by Lorie Tekorius, Greenbrier's CEO & President; Brian Comstock, Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial & Leasing Officer; and Adrian Downes, Senior Vice President & CFO. Following our update on Greenbrier's performance in 2023 and our outlook for fiscal 2024, we will open up the call for questions. In addition to the press release issued this morning, additional financial information and key metrics can be found in a slide presentation posted today on the IR Section of our website.

謝謝你，莎拉。大家早安，歡迎參加我們的第四季和 2023 財年電話會議。今天，Greenbrier 執行長兼總裁 Lorie Tekorius 也加入了我的行列。 Brian Comstock，執行副總裁兼首席商務和租賃官；以及資深副總裁兼財務長 Adrian Downes。在我們更新 Greenbrier 2023 年業績和 2024 財年展望後，我們將開放提問。除了今天早上發布的新聞稿外，更多財務資訊和關鍵指標可以在我們網站的 IR 部分今天發布的幻燈片演示中找到。

Matters discussed on today's conference call include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Throughout our discussion today, we will describe some of the important factors that could cause Greenbrier's actual results in 2024 and beyond, to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement made by or on behalf of Greenbrier.

今天的電話會議討論的事項包括1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。在今天的討論中，我們將描述一些可能導致Greenbrier 2024 年及以後的實際結果與實際結果不同的重要因素。實質上來自 Greenbrier 或代表 Greenbrier 所做的任何前瞻性聲明中表達的內容。

And with that, I'll hand it over to Lorie. Good morning.

有了這個，我會把它交給洛里。早安.

Thank you, Justin. Good morning, everyone. It's hard to believe that we're nearly 2 months into our fiscal 2024, which we entered with significant momentum after a transitional period in 2023. I'm going to underscore several accomplishments beyond our strong financial performance, including record annual revenue. Execution of several key financial targets in 2023 was aided by the multi-year strategy we presented at our inaugural Investor Day in April. Internally, we've named our multi-year strategy, Better Together.

謝謝你，賈斯汀。大家，早安。令人難以置信的是，2024 財年已經過去近2 個月了，在2023 年的過渡期之後，我們以強勁的勢頭進入了這一財年。我將強調除我們強勁的財務業績之外的幾項成就，包括創紀錄的年收入。我們在 4 月的首屆投資者日上提出的多年策略有助於 2023 年多項關鍵財務目標的執行。在內部，我們將我們的多年策略命名為「Better Together」。

The plan sets 3 fundamental priorities. First is maintaining our manufacturing leadership position across geographies. Second, we will meet our customer's needs as we optimize our industrial footprint for efficiency and margin enhancement. And third and of equal importance, we will grow at scale in leasing and services to reduce the impact of manufacturing cyclicality on our overall enterprise. As part of our footprint optimization, we analyzed our global production capacity and the outcome of the analysis resulted in the sale of our Gunderson Marine operation and a small foundry in Texas, as well as our exit from a manufacturing joint venture in Turkey.

該計劃設定了 3 個基本優先事項。首先是保持我們在各個地區的製造領先地位。其次，我們將在優化工業佈局以提高效率和利潤的同時滿足客戶的需求。第三，同樣重要的是，我們將大規模發展租賃和服務，以減少製造業週期性對我們整個企業的影響。作為我們足跡優化的一部分，我們分析了我們的全球產能，分析結果導致我們出售了 Gunderson Marine 業務和德克薩斯州的一家小型鑄造廠，並退出了土耳其的一家製造合資企業。

Further, we acquired the minority stake of our leasing joint venture partner in North America to take full ownership of our lease fleet. Underlying these actions and others is our fundamental approach to make Greenbrier simpler and more profitable. And we're extremely pleased with our accomplishments and strategic progress in fiscal 2023, but we're really never fully satisfied, and in some cases, we're ahead of our internal schedules and others. We're laying the foundation to execute the plan. The recap of our results comes with a caveat. We don't expect our progress to be linear, and our goals target a 5-year completion window.

此外，我們收購了北美租賃合資夥伴的少數股權，以完全擁有我們的租賃機隊。這些行動和其他行動的基礎是我們讓 Greenbrier 更簡單、更有利可圖的基本方法。我們對 2023 財年的成就和策略進展感到非常滿意，但我們確實從未完全滿意，在某些情況下，我們超越了內部計畫和其他計畫。我們正在為執行該計劃奠定基礎。我們的結果回顧附帶了一個警告。我們並不期望我們的進展是線性的，我們的目標是 5 年完成窗口。

So now turning to our results. First, I have to commend our commercial team for their outstanding performance throughout fiscal 2023 and particularly this past quarter. In the face of muted demand for intermodal units, the breadth of our product offerings and our strong business origination abilities resulted in a very high share of North American railcar orders the last few quarters, culminating in a 40% share of the industry backlog as of June 30. This provides us with excellent visibility and confidence that we're on the right track.

現在轉向我們的結果。首先，我必須讚揚我們的商業團隊在整個 2023 財年，特別是上個季度的出色表現。面對多式聯運單位的需求疲軟，我們產品供應的廣度和強大的業務發起能力導致過去幾個季度北美鐵路車訂單的份額非常高，截至 2019 年，我們的積壓訂單佔行業積壓份額的 40% 6 月30 日。這為我們提供了良好的可見性和信心，表明我們走在正確的軌道上。

For the fourth quarter, we generated revenue of $1 billion unchanged from the prior quarter. As revenue remained durable, aggregate gross margins expanded to 12.5% from 12.3% in the third quarter. For the full year, aggregate gross margin was 11.2%, which is a 50 basis point improvement from the trailing 12-month aggregate gross margin. As of our Investor Day, when we established a mid-teen aggregate gross margin target by fiscal 2026. Fourth quarter manufacturing gross margin of 9.3% was relatively unchanged from the prior quarter. However, there was positive movement behind the static percentage.

第四季度，我們的營收為 10 億美元，與上一季持平。由於營收保持穩定，總毛利率從第三季的 12.3% 擴大至 12.5%。全年總毛利率為 11.2%，較過去 12 個月總毛利率提高 50 個基點。截至投資者日，我們制定了到 2026 財年的中位數總毛利率目標。第四季製造業毛利率為 9.3%，與上一季相比基本持平。然而，靜態百分比背後卻出現了正面的變化。

The negative margin impact of a strengthening peso was partially offset by achieving certain manufacturing footprint efficiencies. As I mentioned earlier, the evaluation of our manufacturing footprint resulted in the sale of Gunderson marine and our Texas foundry bringing approximately $20 million of permanent annual savings as we step into the next fiscal year.

比索走強對利潤率的負面影響被實現某些製造足跡效率所部分抵消。正如我之前提到的，對我們的製造足跡的評估導致 Gunderson Marine 和德克薩斯州鑄造廠的出售，為我們進入下一財年帶來了約 2000 萬美元的永久性年度節省。

Greenbrier's flexible manufacturing footprint allows us to create value and generate returns while solving our customer's problems. For example, we recently adapted production lines for new railcars to accommodate large railcar refurbishment programs for multiple customers in North America. And similar to the railcar conversions we've previously discussed, this business activity is accretive to earnings, but is not included in new railcar deliveries. Railcar refurbishments and conversions allow customers to extend the life of their railcar fleet while improving the overall operating efficiency of the North American fleet.

Greenbrier 靈活的製造足跡使我們能夠創造價值並產生回報，同時解決客戶的問題。例如，我們最近對新軌道車的生產線進行了改造，以適應北美多個客戶的大型軌道車翻新計劃。與我們之前討論的軌道車改裝類似，這項業務活動可以增加收入，但不包括在新軌道車交付中。軌道車翻新和改裝使客戶能夠延長軌道車車隊的使用壽命，同時提高北美車隊的整體營運效率。

Additionally, this work benefits the environment through the reuse or recycling of components like wheels, axles, and brakes, and significantly reduce steel consumption. For example, stretch conversions use approximately 65% less steel than newly built railcars with similar dimensions. Our insourcing initiative also occupies line space previously dedicated to new railcar production. The first phase of bringing fabrication in-house for basic primary parts and subassemblies as part of our make-versus-buy strategy was completed in the fourth quarter.

此外，這項工作透過重複使用或回收車輪、車軸和煞車等部件，有利於環境，並顯著減少鋼材消耗。例如，與新建類似尺寸的軌道車相比，拉伸改造使用的鋼材大約減少 65%。我們的內包計畫還佔用了以前專門用於新軌道車生產的生產線空間。作為我們自製與外購策略的一部分，第一階段的基本主要零件和子組件的內部製造已於第四季度完成。

We expect to achieve our full cost savings targets of $50 million to $55 million from this initiative in fiscal 2025. And moving across the business, maintenance services continued its positive momentum even though wheel volumes declined compared to the prior quarter due to seasonality. And while revenue and maintenance services decreased by about 23%, gross margin increased by 430 basis points resulting in earnings from operations that fully offset the reduced revenue. This was accomplished through improved pricing and the impact of the operating efficiencies we've been driving over the last 2 years in this business.

我們預計透過此舉措，將在2025 財年實現5,000 萬至5,500 萬美元的全部成本節約目標。在整個業務範圍內，儘管由於季節性原因車輪銷量較上一季有所下降，但維護服務仍繼續保持積極勢頭。雖然收入和維護服務下降了約 23%，但毛利率卻增加了 430 個基點，營運利潤完全抵消了收入的減少。這是透過改進定價以及我們過去兩年在該業務中推動的營運效率的影響來實現的。

And now, as Brian will explain shortly, we have a solid foundation in place our expanded leasing strategy and are advancing it thoughtfully. This is a critical component of our multi-year plan and is expected to result in the doubling of recurring revenue within the next 5 years. The market conditions for railcar leasing remain very positive and we're in a great position to execute our plan.

現在，正如布萊恩將很快解釋的那樣，我們已經為擴大的租賃策略奠定了堅實的基礎，並且正在深思熟慮地推進它。這是我們多年計劃的重要組成部分，預計將在未來 5 年內使經常性收入翻倍。軌道車租賃的市場狀況仍然非常樂觀，我們處於執行計劃的有利位置。

Returning capital to shareholders is integral to our approach to capital allocation. I'm pleased to report that our Board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share last week, and you may recall that the dividend increased 11% in Q3. Our dividend has doubled since its reinstatement in 2014, and the Q4 dividend represents Greenbrier's 38 consecutive quarterly dividend. We also repurchased shares during June at attractive levels. For the full year, we repurchased 1.9 million shares for $57 million at an average price of approximately $29 per share.

向股東返還資本是我們資本配置方法不可或缺的一部分。我很高興地報告，我們的董事會上周宣布季度股息為每股 0.30 美元，您可能還記得第三季的股息增加了 11%。自 2014 年恢復股息以來，我們的股息已翻倍，第四季度股息代表 Greenbrier 連續 38 個季度股息。我們還在六月以有吸引力的水平回購了股票。全年，我們以 5700 萬美元的價格回購了 190 萬股股票，平均價格約為每股 29 美元。

And the broader economy is dynamic and geopolitical strife again commands our attention and our concern. However, our outlook remains positive. We expect North America and Europe to continue to see strong demand across railcar types, underpinning both new bills and lease renewals. We have excellent near-term visibility for fiscal 2024 and are focused on maximizing our platform's potential as we progress towards our multi-year targets. We're confident in the long-term strategy we presented at the Investor Day because it's focused on the things we can control and not reliant on an overly optimistic demand scenario. I and the rest of the team look forward to sharing our progress on future calls.

更廣泛的經濟充滿活力，地緣政治衝突再次引起我們的注意和擔憂。然而，我們的前景仍然樂觀。我們預計北美和歐洲對各種鐵路車輛的需求將繼續強勁，從而支撐新帳單和續租。我們對 2024 財年擁有良好的近期能見度，並致力於在實現多年目標的過程中最大限度地發揮我們平台的潛力。我們對在投資者日上提出的長期策略充滿信心，因為它專注於我們可以控制的事情，而不是依賴過於樂觀的需求情境。我和團隊其他成員期待在未來的電話會議上分享我們的進度。

And now, I'll turn it over to Brian, who will elaborate on railcar demand and our leasing activity.

現在，我將把它交給布萊恩，他將詳細說明軌道車的需求和我們的租賃活動。

Thank you, Lorie. In Q4, Greenbrier secured new railcar orders of 15,300 units worth nearly $1.9 billion, marking a strong end to the year. Orders continue to be broad based and diverse across most railcar types, except for intermodal where market conditions have been soft. As of August 31, Greenbrier's global backlog was 30,900 units valued at $3.8 billion, our highest backlog value in nearly 8 years. Our commercial performance reflects our leading market position, strong lease origination capabilities and direct sale experience.

謝謝你，洛麗。第四季度，Greenbrier 獲得了 15,300 輛新的軌道車訂單，價值近 19 億美元，標誌著該年的強勁收官。大多數軌道車類型的訂單仍然基礎廣泛且多樣化，但市場狀況疲軟的多式聯運除外。截至 8 月 31 日，Greenbrier 的全球積壓訂單量為 30,900 台，價值 38 億美元，這是我們近 8 年來積壓訂單量的最高值。我們的商業表現反映了我們領先的市場地位、強大的租賃發起能力和直銷經驗。

Despite fears of recession and slowing traffic volumes, particularly in intermodal, we maintain a healthy backlog and robust deal pipeline largely due to our diverse portfolio of railcar designs. Our ability to originate and syndicate leases has also contributed meaningfully to our strong position in the market. Notably, international orders accounted for nearly 20% of the activity in the quarter. These orders came as we launched our leasing and syndication business in Europe. We successfully completed our first syndications in Europe, opening a new channel to the market. We're excited about our opportunity in Europe where the rail industry enjoys strong secular tailwinds as we discussed during our Investor Day.

儘管人們擔心經濟衰退和交通量放緩，特別是在多式聯運方面，但我們仍保持著健康的積壓和強勁的交易管道，這主要歸功於我們多樣化的軌道車設計組合。我們發起和聯合租賃的能力也為我們在市場上的強勢地位做出了重大貢獻。值得注意的是，國際訂單佔本季活動的近 20%。這些訂單是我們在歐洲推出租賃和銀團業務時發出的。我們成功地完成了在歐洲的首次聯合組織，開闢了進入市場的新管道。正如我們在投資者日討論的那樣，我們對歐洲的機會感到興奮，歐洲鐵路行業享有強大的長期順風車。

Likewise, we are pleased with the performance of leasing and management services in the quarter. Our lease rates on renewals continue to increase by double digits, and we are extending lease terms while maintaining a high fleet utilization. The market for leasing railcars continues to be strong with tight railcar supply and high fleet utilization among lessors. Lease rates continue to be compensatory considering rising interest rates, which translates into higher lease rates on new originations and renewals. Regarding the underlying leases, the durations are staggered to mitigate the impact of cyclicality and create upside potential through favorable renewals. As we described during Investor Day, we intend to grow our fleet more steadily over the coming years and have committed to invest up to $300 million per year for each of the next 5 years.

同樣，我們對本季租賃和管理服務的表現感到滿意。我們的續租率持續以兩位數的速度成長，我們在延長租賃期限的同時保持較高的機隊利用率。由於軌道車供應緊張且出租人的車隊利用率較高，軌道車租賃市場持續強勁。考慮到利率上升，租賃費率繼續具有補償性，這意味著新項目和續租的租賃費率更高。就相關租賃而言，期限是錯開的，以減輕週期性的影響，並透過有利的續約創造上行潛力。正如我們在投資者日期間所述，我們打算在未來幾年更加穩定地發展我們的機隊，並承諾在未來 5 年每年投資高達 3 億美元。

In 2023, we invested over $240 million on a net basis into our fleet after including asset sales from the fleet. As we shared in our press release this morning, we anticipate a gross investment of $335 million, which includes capital expenditures and transfers of railcars produced onto the balance sheet in 2023. As part of our regular fleet optimization, we expect to generate proceeds of about $80 million from asset sales. We remain focused on railcar types that will maintain a balance fleet profile and reduce concentration risk. I want to emphasize that we will only invest in the right assets with the right lease terms and counterparties.

2023 年，在包括機隊資產出售後，我們對機隊的淨投資超過 2.4 億美元。正如我們今天早上在新聞稿中分享的那樣，我們預計總投資為3.35 億美元，其中包括資本支出和2023 年將生產的軌道車轉移到資產負債表上。作為我們定期車隊優化的一部分，我們預計將產生約8000 萬美元來自資產出售。我們仍然專注於能夠保持平衡的車隊概況並降低集中風險的軌道車輛類型。我想強調的是，我們只會投資於具有正確租賃條款和交易對手的正確資產。

We are steadily progressing towards our stated goal of doubling recurring revenue from leasing and maintenance services. As of the end of fiscal year, our recurring revenue was about $125 million, which is a 10% increase from our Investor Day when we first shared our target. Recurring revenue is growing from various sources, including new railcars added to our lease fleet, lease extensions at more favorable terms and growth in the fee income of the management of third party railcars.

我們正在穩步朝著將租賃和維護服務的經常性收入翻倍的既定目標邁進。截至本財年末，我們的經常性收入約為 1.25 億美元，比我們首次分享目標時的投資者日增長了 10%。經常性收入來自各種來源的成長，包括我們租賃車隊中增加的新軌道車、以更優惠的條件延長租賃以及第三方軌道車管理費收入的增長。

We continue to fix rates on our non-recourse leasing debt and our average interest rate of 4.2% is significantly lower than current market interest rates. Given ongoing interest rate instability, we are regularly evaluating our financing strategies as we grow our lease fleet. At the end of Q4, our fleet leverage was 78% in line with our targeted fleet leverage framework. As a reminder, railcars on the balance sheet are shown at netbook value. While we leverage at an appraised fair market value, this results in leverage ratios appearing to be higher than they are in reality.

我們繼續固定無追索權租賃債務的利率，4.2%的平均利率明顯低於當前市場利率。鑑於利率持續不穩定，我們在擴大租賃機隊的同時定期評估我們的融資策略。截至第四季末，我們的機隊槓桿率為 78%，符合我們的目標機隊槓桿框架。提醒一下，資產負債表上的軌道車以淨帳面價值顯示。雖然我們以評估的公平市場價值進行槓桿操作，但這會導致槓桿率似乎高於實際情況。

In fiscal 2023, our capital markets team syndicated 4,200 railcars generating strong liquidity and margins. This includes 900 railcars syndicated in a quarter, a modest increase from Q3. This market remains liquid with a strong appetite for this asset class, and our team is preparing for another busy year in 2024. We expect railcar deliveries to be around industry replacement levels for the next few years with retirement keeping pace and driving better overall fleet utilization. We are confident we have the right strategy in place to execute against this backdrop. Entering the new fiscal year, we remain focused on optimizing our manufacturing capabilities and growing the leasing and management business.

2023 財年，我們的資本市場團隊聯合了 4,200 輛鐵路車，產生了強勁的流動性和利潤。其中包括一個季度內聯合運營的 900 輛鐵路車，較第三季略有增加。該市場仍然具有流動性，對該資產類別的需求旺盛，我們的團隊正在為2024 年又一個忙碌的一年做準備。我們預計未來幾年軌道車交付量將接近行業替代水平，退役將保持同步並提高整體車隊利用率。我們相信，在這種背景下，我們已經制定了正確的策略來執行。進入新財年，我們仍然專注於優化製造能力並發展租賃和管理業務。

With that said, I'll hand the call over to Adrian who will speak to the financial highlights in the quarter and year.

話雖如此，我會將電話轉交給阿德里安，他將談論本季和年度的財務亮點。

Thank you, Brian and good morning, everyone. As a reminder, quarterly and full year financial information is available in the press release and supplemental slides on our website. Greenbrier's Q4 performance continued the momentum from the third quarter with improved aggregate gross margin percent and higher operating margin. Following some highlights from the quarter and full year, I will also provide a general overview of our fiscal 2024 guidance.

謝謝你，布萊恩，大家早安。請注意，我們網站上的新聞稿和補充幻燈片中提供了季度和全年財務資訊。 Greenbrier 第四季的業績延續了第三季的勢頭，總毛利率有所提高，營業利潤率也有所提高。在介紹本季和全年的一些要點之後，我還將概述我們的 2024 財年指導。

Notable highlights for the fourth quarter include new railcar orders of 15,300 units, valued at $1.9 billion with a book-to-bill of 2.2x, highest in many years. Third consecutive quarter with revenues of $1 billion or higher, primarily driven by the continued strength in our manufacturing segment and solid performance in our other business units. Aggregate gross margins of 12.5% reflects sequential margin enhancement from improved operating efficiencies as a result of stronger pricing and profitability and wheel sets and components at maintenance services.

第四季的顯著亮點包括新軌道車訂單 15,300 輛，價值 19 億美元，訂單出貨比為 2.2 倍，為多年來最高水準。連續第三個季度的營收達到或超過 10 億美元，這主要得益於我們製造部門的持續強勁以及其他業務部門的穩健表現。 12.5% 的總毛利率反映了由於定價和盈利能力增強以及維護服務輪組和零件的營運效率提高而帶來的連續利潤率提高。

We also estimate the peso strengthening in the quarter negatively impacted manufacturing gross margin by 100 basis points. Selling and administrative expense of approximately $60 million is lower sequentially, reflecting a reduction to employee related costs attributable to lower incentive compensation and consulting expenses. Quarterly tax rate of 30.9% was higher than the third quarter due to the mix of foreign and domestic pretax earnings and discrete items.

我們也估計，本季比索走強對製造業毛利率產生了 100 個基點的負面影響。銷售和管理費用較上季減少約 6,000 萬美元，反映出由於激勵薪酬和諮詢費用減少而導致員工相關成本減少。由於國內外稅前收益和離散項目的綜合影響，季度稅率為 30.9%，高於第三季。

Adjusted net earnings attributable to Greenbrier of $30 million generated diluted EPS of $0.92 per share. Adjusted EBITDA of $97 million, or 9.5% of revenue. Notable highlights for the full year include deliveries of 26,000 units, an increase of over 30% from the prior year. Adjusted net earnings attributable to Greenbrier of $99 million, or $2.97 per diluted share and record revenue of $3.9 billion. This represents a year-over-year increase of over 110%. Adjusted EBITDA was $340 million or 8.6% of revenue and compared to fiscal year 2022, adjusted EBITDA increased by 47%. We had solid operating cash flow of $71 million.

調整後歸屬於 Greenbrier 的淨利潤為 3000 萬美元，稀釋後每股收益為 0.92 美元。調整後 EBITDA 為 9,700 萬美元，佔營收的 9.5%。全年顯著的亮點包括交付量 26,000 輛，較上年增長超過 30%。調整後歸屬於 Greenbrier 的淨利潤為 9,900 萬美元，或攤薄後每股收益 2.97 美元，營收創紀錄的 39 億美元。這意味著同比增長超過 110%。調整後 EBITDA 為 3.4 億美元，佔營收的 8.6%，與 2022 財年相比，調整後 EBITDA 成長了 47%。我們擁有 7,100 萬美元的穩健營運現金流。

Shifting our focus to liquidity, Greenbrier generated $70 million of operating cash flow in the fourth quarter due to strong operating momentum. Full year results of over $71 million represents the first year since 2020 that operating cash flow into the year positive. This was primarily due to an increase in net earnings and more efficient working capital usage. Greenbrier's Q4 liquidity remained solid at $646 million, consisting of cash of $282 million and available borrowings of $364 million.

將我們的重點轉向流動性，由於強勁的營運勢頭，Greenbrier 在第四季度產生了 7,000 萬美元的營運現金流。全年業績超過 7,100 萬美元，這是自 2020 年以來營運現金流首次出現正值。這主要是由於淨利潤的增加和營運資金使用效率的提高。 Greenbrier 在第四季的流動性保持穩定，為 6.46 億美元，其中包括 2.82 億美元現金和 3.64 億美元可用借款。

Throughout fiscal year 2023, there were a number of strategic steps we undertook as part of our disciplined approach to capital deployment announced at our inaugural Investor Day in April. The first was maintaining a strong balance sheet, healthy liquidity and structuring our debts to align with the business. During the year ended August 31, 2023, we repaid the North American credit facility borrowing of $160 million, we trued down the remaining $75 million on our leasing term loan facility and we upsized our non-recourse leasing debt warehouse in June from $350 million to $550 million. We continue to mitigate risk by fixing interest rates and our non-recourse debts, positioning us to continue investing in our long-term lease fleets and to drive true cycle earnings.

在整個 2023 財年，我們採取了許多策略步驟，作為我們在 4 月的首屆投資者日宣布的嚴格資本部署方法的一部分。首先是保持強勁的資產負債表、健康的流動性並調整我們的債務結構以適應業務。截至2023 年8 月31 日的年度，我們償還了1.6 億美元的北美信貸融資借款，我們調整了租賃定期貸款融資中剩餘的7,500 萬美元，並將6 月份的無追索權租賃債務倉庫從3.5億美元擴大到5.5 億美元。我們繼續透過固定利率和無追索權債務來降低風險，使我們能夠繼續投資於我們的長期租賃機隊並推動真正的週期收益。

Another integral part of this strategy is our commitment to returning capital to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Over the course of the year, we repurchase 1.9 million shares of stock for $57 million, leaving $46 million remaining of the authorization under our current share repurchase program, which extends through January of 2025. As highlighted by Lorie, on October 18, Greenbrier's Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.30 per share.

該策略的另一個組成部分是我們致力於透過股利和股票回購向股東返還資本。在這一年中，我們以5,700 萬美元的價格回購了190 萬股股票，目前的股票回購計劃授權還剩4,600 萬美元，該計劃將持續到2025 年1 月。正如Lorie 在10 月18日強調的那樣，Greenbrier 董事會董事宣布派發每股 0.30 美元的股息。

Based on yesterday's closing price, our annual dividend represents a dividend yield of approximately 2.9%. Throughout the year, we returned $36 million to shareholders through dividends, and since reinstating the dividend in 2014, Greenbrier has returned over $488 million of capital to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Our Board and management team remain committed to a balanced deployment of capital designed to create long-term shareholder value. We looked at fiscal 2024 Our outlook remains positive. Forecasted liquidity levels are expected to increase from improvements and operating results and from working capital efficiencies.

根據昨天的收盤價，我們的年度股息代表股息殖利率約為2.9%。全年，我們透過股息向股東返還了 3,600 萬美元，自 2014 年恢復股息以來，Greenbrier 已透過股息和股票回購向股東返還了超過 4.88 億美元的資本。我們的董事會和管理團隊仍然致力於平衡資本配置，以創造長期股東價值。我們展望了 2024 財年，我們的前景仍然樂觀。預計流動性水準將因經營績效的改善以及營運資本效率而增加。

Turning to our fiscal year 2024 guidance, based on current business trends and production schedules, our outlook reflects the following: Deliveries of 22,500 units to 25,000 units, which includes approximately 1,000 units from Greenbrier-Maxion in Brazil. We have devoted a portion of our flexible manufacturing footprint to large railcar refurbishment programs for multiple customers that are accretive to earnings but are not included in new railcar deliveries. Additionally, our insourcing initiative utilizes space previously used for new railcar production capacity.

談到我們的 2024 財年指導，根據當前的業務趨勢和生產計劃，我們的前景反映如下：交付量為 22,500 輛至 25,000 輛，其中包括巴西 Greenbrier-Maxion 的約 1,000 輛。我們將靈活製造足跡的一部分用於為多個客戶提供大型軌道車翻新計劃，這些計劃可以增加收入，但不包括在新軌道車交付中。此外，我們的內包計畫利用了先前用於新軌道車生產能力的空間。

Revenues between $3.4 billion and $3.7 billion, selling and administrative expenses are expected to be approximately $220 million to $230 million, gross investment of approximately $335 million in leasing and management services, which includes capital expenditures and transfers of railcars produced onto the balance sheet during 2023 into the lease fleet. Capital expenditures of $190 million in manufacturing and $15 million in maintenance services. Proceeds of equipment sales are expected to be approximately $80 million.

收入在34 億至37 億美元之間，銷售和管理費用預計約為2.2 億至2.3 億美元，租賃和管理服務總投資約為3.35 億美元，其中包括資本支出以及2023 年將生產的軌道車轉移到資產負債表上進入租賃車隊。製造資本支出為 1.9 億美元，維護服務資本支出為 1,500 萬美元。設備銷售收入預計約8000萬美元。

We expect full year consolidated gross margin to increase to the low teens. And taking all of this together, we expect to grow earnings this year from fiscal 2023. We're encouraged by robust backlog, the largest value in almost 8 years, which provides us with strong visibility and stability over the coming years, supported by a talented management team that has experience with a demonstrated track record of success, we're excited about fiscal 2024 as we continue to execute our strategic plan. Because of the strength and flexibility of our employees and business model, we are better together and continue to be well-positioned to drive shareholder value in 2024.

我們預計全年綜合毛利率將增加至十幾歲以下。綜合考慮所有這些因素，我們預計今年的利潤將從2023 財年開始增長。我們受到強勁的積壓訂單的鼓舞，這是近8 年來的最大價值，這為我們在未來幾年提供了強大的可見性和穩定性，並得到了我們擁有才華橫溢的管理團隊，擁有豐富的成功經驗，我們對 2024 財年繼續執行我們的策略計劃感到興奮。由於我們員工和業務模式的優勢和靈活性，我們能夠更好地團結起來，並繼續處於有利地位，在 2024 年推動股東價值。

And now we will open it up for questions.

現在我們將開放提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Justin Long with Stephens.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自賈斯汀朗和史蒂芬斯。

I wanted to start with a question on manufacturing margins. It was helpful to get the impact from the peso in the quarter but I was wondering if you could help us think through the cadence of manufacturing margins going forward as we move into fiscal '24? And then maybe you could address the Eagle Pass disruption that we saw in September and what type of impact that might have?

我想從製造利潤率的問題開始。了解本季比索的影響很有幫助，但我想知道您是否可以幫助我們思考隨著我們進入 24 財年，製造業利潤率的節奏？然後也許您可以解決我們在 9 月看到的 Eagle Pass 中斷問題以及可能產生哪種類型的影響？

I think I will get started with the margins and then we can kind of speak to the impact of Eagle Pass. We would expect based on our current backlog, production schedules, all the usual caveats that we would expect to see margin expansion in manufacturing kind of in Q1 and Q2 to intermittently throughout the year. So I think the way to think about this is we do see expansion in Q1, but then also given the volatility of some of our production timing when cars are going onto the balance sheet, overall, we do see expansion throughout the full year compared to fiscal 2023. But it's not going to be a stair step progression, if that makes sense.

我想我將從利潤開始，然後我們可以談談伊格爾帕斯的影響。我們預計，根據我們目前的積壓訂單、生產計劃以及所有常見的注意事項，我們預計第一季和第二季的製造業利潤率將在全年間歇性地擴大。因此，我認為思考這個問題的方法是，我們確實看到了第一季的擴張，但考慮到汽車進入資產負債表時我們的一些生產時間的波動性，總體而言，與去年相比，我們確實看到了全年的擴張2023 財年。但如果有意義的話，這不會是一個階梯式的進展。

Got it. That makes sense. And on the Eagle Pass component?

知道了。這就說得通了。那麼 Eagle Pass 組件呢？

Yes.

是的。

And I would say yes, the Eagle Pass situation is something that we're watching very closely. We're very engaged at our various facilities as we're making certain that we're getting the inbound material that we need to produce railcars as well as outbound. We have been working very closely with the railroads that service our facilities and at this point in time, we have not had significant disruptions or issues in getting railcars picked up from our facilities or getting them across the border. That being said, we are not resting on our laurels. Every day we're coming up with different ways that we can think about how we might mitigate any sort of disruption that we might encounter including whether it's different border crossings or different ways to move railcars into the United States.

我想說的是，我們正在密切關注伊格爾帕斯的情況。我們對各種設施非常投入，因為我們確保獲得生產軌道車所需的入庫材料以及出庫材料。我們一直與為我們的設施提供服務的鐵路部門密切合作，目前，我們在從我們的設施提取鐵路車或將其過境時沒有遇到重大中斷或問題。話雖這麼說，我們並沒有滿足於現狀。我們每天都會想出不同的方法來思考如何減輕我們可能遇到的任何類型的干擾，包括是否採用不同的過境點或將鐵路車運入美國的不同方式。

Okay, that's helpful. And then second question, I wanted to touch on the revenue guidance. I think it was a bit surprising to see the pressure that you're anticipating in fiscal '24. I think it's about 10% at the midpoint on a year-over-year basis, just given the recent order flow.

好的，這很有幫助。第二個問題，我想談談收入指引。我認為看到您預期在 24 財年面臨的壓力有點令人驚訝。考慮到最近的訂單流量，我認為同比中位數約為 10%。

So can you provide a little bit more color on why you expect to see the delivery pressure? I know you're reallocating some capacity for refurbishments, et cetera, but is there any opportunity to maybe produce at a level that's above this guidance you've provided? And when you take a step back and look at Street estimates that have kind of been hovering in that 370 range for this year, for EPS, is that something that seems reasonable when you balance the revenue pressure with the margin expansion you're forecasting?

那麼您能否提供更多資訊來解釋為什麼您期望看到交付壓力？我知道您正在重新分配一些產能用於翻新等，但是是否有機會以高於您提供的指導水平進行生產？當你退後一步，看看今年每股收益一直徘徊在 370 範圍內的華爾街預測時，當你平衡收入壓力和你預測的利潤率擴張時，這似乎是合理的嗎？

That was a lot, Justin. So we did think long and hard as we were giving our guidance around deliveries and revenue, acknowledging that there might be a little bit of a swallowing hard on, on what's going on. We and others in this space are being very disciplined about how we think about production, not just dialing up production so that we can put a big flash number out there and then see 12 or 18 months from now production needing to be dialed back. I think that the industry is responding in a very disciplined way.

太多了，賈斯汀。因此，在給出有關交付和收入的指導時，我們確實進行了長時間的思考，承認可能對正在發生的事情有一點難以接受。我們和這個領域的其他人對生產的看法非常嚴格，而不僅僅是提高生產，這樣我們就可以放一個大的閃存數字，然後看到從現在起 12 或 18 個月後需要回撥生產。我認為該行業正在以非常有紀律的方式做出反應。

I think the fact that we are dedicating some of our new car space into some of these other activities, this large program work, which is critical in our industry, particularly in the North American market, allows us to keep lines running as opposed to, again, ramping up, it's going to be accretive to earnings, but it doesn't show up in the delivery number and the revenue associated with that activity is going to be less.

我認為事實上，我們將一些新車空間專門用於其他一些活動，這項大型計劃工作對我們的行業至關重要，特別是在北美市場，使我們能夠保持生產線運行，而不是，再次，增加，它將增加收入，但它不會出現在交付數量中，並且與該活動相關的收入將會減少。

So when everyone likes to go through their process of taking manufacturing revenues and just dividing it by deliveries, you're going to probably start to see some headwinds to the ASP. And I would liken it to back when there used to be more intermodal activity going on, the intermodal cars have a lower ASP, which would kind of, that gets to that mixed shift. I would hope that as we continue to present the activities that we're doing, you and our shareholders will see that we're looking at our footprints and where we've made investments in our facilities and our operations, and we're making certain to deploy those in ways that are generating a good return.

因此，當每個人都喜歡完成將製造收入除以交付量的過程時，您可能會開始看到 ASP 面臨的一些阻力。我想把它比作以前有更多的聯運活動，聯運汽車的平均售價較低，這會導致混合班次。我希望，當我們繼續介紹我們正在進行的活動時，您和我們的股東會看到我們正在關注我們的足跡，以及我們在設施和運營方​​面進行的投資，以及我們正在做的事情。肯定會以產生良好回報的方式部署這些資源。

And the one thing I would add, Justin, I think before your follow-up question is even at these revenue guidance numbers, it still is our second highest level of revenue ever. So not every year can be a record. Not every year can be record deliveries, but this is still very strong activity, especially when you look at our past several, our overall history. And then I think you did have a question around consensus estimates, and I don't know if you want to take that, Lorie or I don't.

我要補充的一件事是，賈斯汀，我認為在你的後續問題是這些收入指導數字之前，它仍然是我們有史以來第二高的收入水平。所以並不是每年都能創紀錄。並非每年都能創造創紀錄的交付量，但這仍然是非常強勁的活動，特別是當您查看我們過去幾年的整體歷史時。然後我認為你確實對共識估計有疑問，我不知道你願不願意接受這個問題，洛里還是我不願意。

No. You go right ahead, Justin and --

不，你繼續吧，賈斯汀，然後——

So I think based on what we see, we do not have any heartburn around the consensus EPS number at this point.

因此，我認為，根據我們所看到的情況，目前我們對共識每股收益數字沒有任何擔憂。

Our next question comes from Bascome Majors with Susquehanna.

我們的下一個問題來自巴斯科姆梅傑斯和薩斯奎哈納。

Back to the delivery schedule, can you talk about how much open space you have on your North American lines for this year still, if orders were to be placed near term?

回到交貨計劃，您能談談如果近期下訂單的話，今年你們的北美航線還有多少可用空間嗎？

Yes. Bascome, this is Brian Comstock. Yes, we're looking at less than 10% of our capacity is available for the fiscal year.

是的。巴斯科姆，這是布萊恩‧康斯托克。是的，我們預計本財年的可用產能不足 10%。

So any major orders are really going to go into fiscal '25 visibility now. Can you talk about how much visibility you have into the fiscal '25 plan right now, whether it be thousands of cars or percent of capacity way you want to frame it?

因此，任何重大訂單現在都將真正進入 25 財年的可見度。您能否談談您目前對 25 財年計畫的了解程度，無論是數千輛汽車還是您想要的產能百分比？

Yes, I think if you look at our total backlog of roughly 31,000 cars and then calculate what we're anticipating to deliver, it gives you a pretty good idea of what we're looking at today. The pipeline continues to be very strong despite some of the other rhetoric about recession. The recession really is around intermodal, if you think about it in some of the truckload conversions in box cars but the other units are very strong. So we have really good visibility into 2025 at this point.

是的，我認為如果您查看我們大約 31,000 輛汽車的積壓總量，然後計算我們預計交付的數量，您就會對我們今天所關注的內容有一個很好的了解。儘管存在一些有關經濟衰退的其他言論，但管道仍然非常強勁。經濟衰退實際上是圍繞聯運的，如果你考慮棚車的一些卡車裝載轉換，但其他單位非常強勁。因此，我們現在對 2025 年有了很好的預見性。

Yes, and I would say speaking to intermodal, I think to me, well right now if there's not a lot of demands for intermodal and our delivery guidance doesn't include any intermodal activity, I think that could be a bright spot as consumer activity shifts from services more back to goods that there might be a bright spot of a need for intermodal equipment.

是的，我想說的是，就多式聯運而言，我認為，現在如果對多式聯運的需求不是很多，並且我們的交付指南不包括任何多式聯運活動，我認為這可能是消費者活動的一個亮點從服務更多地轉向貨物，可能存在對聯運設備的需求亮點。

Yes, I think the other thing we're pointing out, and it kind of goes a little bit to Justin Long's question and yours Bascome, is when you think about our delivery about 15% of our capacity is now dedicated to sustainable conversions and/or other large programs, which to Lorie's point do have a lower ASP, but they typically have a higher margin associated. So maybe that might be helpful as you guys think it through.

是的，我認為我們指出的另一件事，有點與 Justin Long 的問題和您的 Bascome 的問題有關，是當您考慮我們的交付時，我們大約 15% 的產能現在專用於可持續轉換和/或其他大型項目，洛里認為這些項目的平均售價確實較低，但它們通常具有較高的相關利潤。所以也許當你們仔細考慮時這可能會有所幫助。

And maybe just to call back to Justin's question one more time. I mean, it seems like you've been kind of flirting with this dollar per quarter run rate of earnings pretty closely for the last few quarters. And certainly you've been demonstrated in a much stronger margin market that you can do that consistently in a better part of the cycle, although this is a very different cycle than that one. Are we right to think that that's on the horizon as your production rate gets stable and your margins get to where you think they can be sustainably and some of this, your rationalization is behind you versus in front of you just trying to understand what the underlying P&L of the business can look like when you get the business to where you want it to be?

或許只是為了再回覆賈斯汀的問題。我的意思是，在過去的幾個季度中，您似乎一直在密切關注這一美元的每季收益運行率。當然，在一個更強勁的保證金市場中，您已經證明您可以在週期的更好部分中一致地做到這一點，儘管這是與上一個週期非常不同的週期。我們是否正確地認為，隨著您的生產力變得穩定，您的利潤率達到您認為可以可持續的水平，並且其中一些，您的合理化已經在您身後，而不是在您面前，只是試圖了解根本原因當您將業務發展到您想要的目標時，業務的損益會是什麼樣子？

Sure. And I do think that that is achievable. Right now one of the things that maybe we haven't highlighted as consistently is as we're building our owned fleet, that means that we're taking some of the production that would typically be sold or syndicated and keeping it on our balance sheet. And it takes a little time for the earnings associated with that recurring revenue to build up, to offset that immediate recognition of margin right away. So I absolutely see as we are continuing to focus on efficiency in our operating activities, so manufacturing as well as our maintenance services and aftermarket parts, I see that revenue and margin build when it comes to leasing. So It'd be great if we could just kind of say, yes, a dollar a quarter and then where do we go?

當然。我確實認為這是可以實現的。目前，我們可能沒有一貫強調的一件事是，我們正在建立自己的機隊，這意味著我們正在採取一些通常會出售或聯合的生產，並將其保留在我們的資產負債表上。與經常性收入相關的收益需要一點時間才能累積起來，才能立即抵消對利潤的立即認可。因此，我絕對認為，隨著我們繼續專注於營運活動、製造以及維護服務和售後零件的效率，我看到租賃方面的收入和利潤率會增加。因此，如果我們可以說，是的，每季一美元，然後我們去哪裡？

Our next question comes from Ken Hoexter with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Ken Hoexter。

Just to clarify Lorie, that last answer there, so if you're, it looks like you're getting more external orders, right? Or if I'm understanding you right. So does that mean we get more real time revenue recognition in terms of that eliminating maybe some of the lumpy delivery surprises because you get that as you build more for external? Or is that not what you're suggesting?

只是為了澄清洛里，最後一個答案，所以如果你是，看起來你會收到更多的外部訂單，對嗎？或者如果我理解正確的話。那麼，這是否意味著我們獲得了更多即時收入確認，從而消除了一些不穩定的交付意外，因為當您為外部建立更多產品時，您就會得到這一點？還是這不是你所建議的？

No, what I'm suggesting is, so we have, so if you think about it, someone needs a railcar, they may want to buy it, that's great. We're happy to build a railcar and sell it straight out. Oftentimes we have folks who don't want to buy a car, they want to lease the car. We have very strong lease origination capabilities to the extent that we are building our owned lease fleet to create this recurring revenue cash flow, tax advantage, cash flow stream predictable revenue. We're keeping some of those on our balance sheet. Meaning over time as we grow our portfolio, you are going to have more of this recurring revenue and stable earnings in the short term. That means that some of the immediate satisfaction you might get through the P&L by selling the car or syndicating them, that's going to get deferred.

不，我的建議是，我們有，所以如果你想一想，有人需要一輛軌道車，他們可能會想買它，這很好。我們很高興建造一輛軌道車並直接出售。通常我們有些人不想買車，他們想租車。我們擁有非常強大的租賃發起能力，我們正在建立自己的租賃車隊，以創造經常性收入現金流、稅收優勢、現金流可預測收入。我們將其中一些保留在我們的資產負債表上。這意味著隨著時間的推移，隨著我們投資組合的成長，您將在短期內獲得更多的經常性收入和穩定的收益。這意味著您可能透過出售汽車或聯合汽車來透過損益表獲得的一些直接滿足感將被推遲。

Yes. So no change, it's not like this new order is changing that, it's just, this is the whole concept of adding the leasing just creates that more stability. I thought there was a message you were maybe getting some more orders, which would've stalled some of this syndication.

是的。所以沒有變化，新訂單並沒有改變這一點，只是，這就是增加租賃的整個概念，只是創造了更多的穩定性。我以為有一條訊息說你可能會收到更多訂單，這會阻止一些聯合組織的活動。

No, I was just going to say, we are keeping more of what we originate on our balance sheet than we would've historically.

不，我只是想說，我們在資產負債表上保留的原始資產比歷史上更多。

And then I just want to revisit, I guess Justin Bascome's questions on the delivery to understand, I know you said you've got maybe 10% left and available, but yet this number being down. Lorie, is that you being conservative in terms of that build potential? Is there a potential where you create more spaces you threw an intermodal potential there? I just want to understand the, obviously the stock's taking a hit today given you had this great order number a month or so ago and now it seems like we're constrained on that build in that fiscal '24 outlook. I just want to understand the messaging just seems a little odd, if you can help me understand that a bit.

然後我想回顧一下，我想賈斯汀·巴斯科姆（Justin Bascome）關於交付的問題是為了理解，我知道你說過你可能還剩下 10% 的可用空間，但這個數字正在下降。洛里，您在建構潛力方面是否保守？您是否有潛力創造更多空間，並在那裡投入多式聯運潛力？我只是想了解，顯然，考慮到大約一個月前你有如此大的訂單數量，顯然該股今天受到了打擊，現在看來我們在 24 財年前景中的構建受到了限制。我只是想理解這則訊息似乎有點奇怪，如果你能幫我理解。

Sure. And I guess what I would say is we're trying to highlight the fact that some of our new car production space is being consumed. I think Brian indicated about 15% of our space is being consumed by activity that does not show up in just a delivery statistic. We can think about how we do a different job to identify how much of -- what's the revenue or the margin potential on that activity. But I would say that the OEMs in the North American space are being a bit more disciplined and as opposed to just trying to crank the dial up to juice out a bunch of deliveries in a particular period. But we're thinking about the longer term and when our customers need the railcars and what's that right steady pace of producing cars. So as we look at our footprint and make certain that we are utilizing the investments that we've made in that footprint to generate return, it is not as easy as in the past where it was just look at deliveries and convert it to revenue. There's other activity going on.

當然。我想我想說的是，我們試圖強調這樣一個事實，即我們的一些新車生產空間正在被消耗。我認為 Brian 指出，我們大約 15% 的空間被活動所消耗，而這些活動並不僅僅顯示在交付統計數據中。我們可以考慮如何做不同的工作來確定該活動的收入或利潤潛力有多少。但我想說的是，北美地區的原始設備製造商更加自律，而不是僅僅試圖在特定時期內提高產量。但我們正在考慮更長遠的問題，以及我們的客戶何時需要軌道車，以及什麼是正確的穩定生產汽車的速度。因此，當我們審視我們的足跡並確保我們正在利用我們在該足跡中所做的投資來產生回報時，這並不像過去那樣容易，過去只關注交付量並將其轉化為收入。還有其他活動正在進行。

And the one thing I would add, Ken, is that, I mean, this is part of our DNA is solving our customer's problems, and our customers don't always need a new railcar. Sometimes they need a large number of cars refurbished, converted, and this is where we step in and we work with our long-term core customers and take care of it from that perspective versus just trying to jam new cars down their throat.

肯，我要補充的一件事是，我的意思是，解決客戶的問題是我們 DNA 的一部分，而我們的客戶並不總是需要新的電車。有時他們需要大量的汽車進行翻新、改裝，這就是我們介入的地方，我們與我們的長期核心客戶合作，從這個角度來照顧它，而不是只是試圖把新車塞給他們。

Yes, it makes complete sense. So maybe there's a new statistic, I don't know whether you kind of give like, hey, that 1,000 car potential turns into x number of re-mods or something that can, I guess, somehow fill that revenue void or understanding that future revenue potential void.

是的，這是完全有道理的。所以也許有一個新的統計數據，我不知道你是否會說，嘿，1,000 輛汽車的潛力會變成 x 次改裝，或者我想，可以以某種方式填補收入空白或了解未來收入潛力無效。

Great suggestions Ken.

很好的建議，肯。

Yes, my last one, sorry, I'm just going to squeeze another one in quickly, but international, is there some discussion? I know in the release you talked about what was being done now, Brazil, in included in the number of your outlook. Is there may be an international versus domestic mix or in the backlog you can talk to?

是的，我的最後一個，抱歉，我只是要快速塞進另一個，但是國際化的，有討論嗎？我知道您在新聞稿中談到了巴西現在正在做的事情，包括在您的展望中。您是否可以與國際和國內的組合或積壓的訂單進行交談？

So I would say that our international activity is relatively stable. Our Brazil activity has been historically included in our deliveries and backlog. But overall it's about 20% of orders in the most recent quarter, about 20-ish% I think, in backlog. And it is predominantly waited towards European activity because it is much larger there and there is more just overall activity going on versus Brazil. But Brazil continues to be a very profitable operation for us just on a smaller scale.

所以我想說我們的國際活動是相對穩定的。我們的巴西活動歷來包含在我們的交貨和積壓訂單中。但總體而言，最近一個季度約有 20% 的訂單（我認為大約 20% 左右）處於積壓狀態。主要等待歐洲的活動，因為歐洲的活動規模要大得多，而且與巴西相比，整體活動也更多。但巴西對我們來說仍然是一個非常有利可圖的業務，只是規模較小。

And we come out Brazil separately it is small. We account for Brazil. We don't consolidate it. So it flows through the equity method of accounting. We do include the deliveries and backlog, but it doesn't flow through our revenue line over time, which is why we've historically called that out separately. It's not because it's changing that we're calling it out this quarter.

我們分別從巴西出來，它很小。我們考慮巴西。我們不整合它。因此它採用權益法核算。我們確實包括了交付和積壓訂單，但隨著時間的推移，它不會流經我們的收入線，這就是我們歷來單獨指出的原因。我們本季宣布這項舉措並不是因為情況發生了變化。

And then maybe the one last thing I would jump in on when it comes to international is we are getting some nice traction in Europe on originating leases. So this is where in the European market, we are taking those commercial capabilities that we have to originate a lease working directly with the shipper. The difference for now is that we're not holding those railcars on our balance sheet, but we are syndicating them through to a syndication partner. But it does give us more control of our production levels, our production schedule, and puts us right in touch with our customer which has served us well in the North American market.

當談到國際市場時，也許我要強調的最後一件事是，我們在歐洲的原始租賃方面獲得了一些不錯的吸引力。因此，在歐洲市場，我們正在利用我們必須直接與托運人合作發起租賃的商業能力。目前的區別在於，我們沒有將這些軌道車保留在我們的資產負債表上，但我們將它們透過聯合合作夥伴聯合起來。但它確實使我們能夠更好地控制生產水平和生產計劃，並使我們能夠與客戶保持良好的聯繫，這在北美市場為我們提供了良好的服務。

Our next question comes from Allison Poliniak with Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題來自富國銀行的艾莉森·波利尼亞克。

This is Ryan Deveikis on for Allison. Just I guess asked another way, I mean, you guys used to provide some level of detail on railcar refurbishments and I think last quarter it was a 1,000 railcar units at $85 million. Is there any like is -- can you -- well, I guess what I'm trying to say is can you give that level of detail now and then, like what's baked into the fiscal '24 guidance?

我是瑞安·德維基斯 (Ryan Deveikis) 代表艾利森 (Allison)。只是我想以另一種方式問，我的意思是，你們過去常常提供有關軌道車翻新的一定程度的細節，我認為上個季度是 1,000 輛軌道車，價值 8500 萬美元。是否有任何類似的資訊——你可以——好吧，我想我想說的是，你能時不時地提供那麼詳細的信息嗎？就像 24 財年指導方針中所包含的內容一樣？

So I think part of it is that the, what we used to provide were explicitly a very narrow definition of conversions. And what we've seen is that our production space is actually being utilized by more than just that narrow definition. And so we're not necessarily disclosing that because it's a little fungible because not all work is the same. And part of it is, I think we're seeing north of 2,000 cars are included in our manufacturing facilities for this refurbishment and conversion work in fiscal '24.

所以我認為部分原因是我們過去提供的轉換定義非常狹窄。我們所看到的是，我們的生產空間實際上不僅僅被這個狹隘的定義所利用。因此，我們不一定要披露這一點，因為它有點可替代，因為並非所有工作都是相同的。其中一部分是，我認為我們看到超過 2,000 輛汽車被納入我們的製造設施中，用於 24 財年的翻新和改裝工作。

Yes, this is Brian, Ryan, and maybe back to Ken's question a little bit too. I think if you take the number that I had kind of given, which is 12% to 15% of our production is sustainable conversions and/or some form of modification and you look at our delivery guidance, I think you'd come up with a pretty good idea of what we're anticipating to build or put into that grouping.

是的，這是布萊恩，瑞安，也許也回到了肯的問題。我認為，如果你採用我給出的數字，即我們生產的 12% 到 15% 是可持續轉換和/或某種形式的修改，並且你查看我們的交付指南，我想你會想​​出對我們期望建立或放入該分組中的內容有一個很好的了解。

And then I guess one last one. CN mentioned last night, they're starting to do lithium for EVs. First, was kind of wondering what kind of car type that perhaps goes in or if you guys have seen any inquiries or level orders that are servicing this market at this point?

然後我猜還有最後一個。 CN 昨晚提到，他們開始為電動車生產鋰。首先，我有點想知道可能會進入哪種類型的汽車，或者你們是否已經看到目前為這個市場提供服務的任何詢問或級別訂單？

Yes, I'd say it's a good question, Ryan. I can't speak too much. We're under several NDAs, but I can tell you that there is opportunity in the marketplace removing lithium batteries as the EV market ramps up.

是的，我想說這是一個好問題，瑞安。我不能說太多。我們簽署了多項保密協議，但我可以告訴您，隨著電動車市場的成長，市場上有機會淘汰鋰電池。

Our next question comes from Steve Barger with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Steve Barger。

Sorry, I missed some of the opening comments, but Lorie, early last year you talked about evaluating where you had value tied up on the balance sheet and a goal of driving better returns or exiting those assets. Did you talk about that already or can you update us on the evaluation process and what the action plan is?

抱歉，我錯過了一些開場白，但洛里，去年年初，您談到了評估資產負債表上的價值，以及推動更好回報或退出這些資產的目標。您是否已經談過這一點？或者您能否向我們介紹評估流程以及行動計劃的最新情況？

Sure, Steve. So yes, and this is not a -- it is a process that is not over yet. But the places that we have executed on in fiscal 2023 is we sold the Gunderson marine operation that's here in Portland, Oregon. So that concluded in May I believe. And then we also sold a small foundry that was part of the ARI acquisition. Foundry is located in Texas. We sold that in August. We also exited a joint venture that we had in Turkey where we were manufacturing some components to go into our Polish and Romanian operations.

當然，史蒂夫。所以是的，這不是一個——這是一個尚未結束的過程。但我們在 2023 財政年度執行的工作是出售位於俄勒岡州波特蘭的岡德森海洋業務。我相信這在五月就結束了。然後我們還出售了一家小型代工廠，這是 ARI 收購的一部分。 Foundry 位於德州。我們八月就把它賣了。我們也退出了在土耳其的一家合資企業，在那裡我們生產一些零件，用於波蘭和羅馬尼亞的業務。

We exited that joint venture in August and then all the way back to, I think it was January, which some points in time, I feel like this has been the never-ending year, but all the way back to January, we acquired the minority interest in our GBX leasing lease fleet, so that now that's wholly owned. And in my prepared remarks, we look to the fact that exiting some of those businesses should give us annual savings of about $20 million on a go-forward basis.

我們在八月退出了那家合資企業，然後一直回到一月份，在某些時間點，我覺得這是永無止境的一年，但一直回到一月份，我們收購了我們的GBX 租賃機隊擁有少數股權，因此現在是全資擁有的。在我準備好的發言中，我們預計退出其中一些業務將使我們每年節省約 2000 萬美元。

That's great. And do you feel like there's more on the balance sheet that, that can go through that fix or exit process and can you frame that or size it?

那太棒了。您是否覺得資產負債表上還有更多可以透過修復或退出流程的內容，您能否對其進行框架或調整？

I would say that we're constantly looking at it, which is where this conversation was going on with Brian around how we're utilizing our manufacturing footprint here in North America and saying, we've got this excise footprint that has been dedicated to primarily new railcar production. What are the needs of our customers in North America and to the extent that they have large refurbishment program needs or requalification, if we can utilize those investments in a manufacturing facility to be able to serve our customer and do it in a way that drops through equably to the bottom line, that's what we'll do.

我想說，我們一直在關注它，這就是與布萊恩進行對話的地方，討論我們如何利用我們在北美的製造足跡，並說，我們已經有了專門用於生產的消費稅足跡主要是新軌道車的生產。我們北美客戶的需求是什麼？他們有大量的翻新計劃需求或重新認證，如果我們可以利用這些對製造工廠的投資來為我們的客戶提供服務，並以一種直接的方式做到這一點同樣地，這就是我們要做的。

We've got that opportunity in Europe to also look at how we're utilizing our footprint there. We probably have, I think we have 5 facilities in Europe. And if we can get the right workforce in the right area, I think that we could increase our production throughput in those facilities. So that's, again, what we're looking at is how do we optimize the investments that we've made?

我們在歐洲也有機會了解我們如何利用我們在那裡的足跡。我們可能有，我認為我們在歐洲有 5 個設施。如果我們能夠在正確的區域找到合適的勞動力，我認為我們可以提高這些設施的生產量。因此，我們再次關注的是如何優化我們所做的投資？

Yes, that's great. And of course, the reason I ask is last year was a record revenue year, but free cash flow after net investment was a negative number for the third year in a row, first path through the assumptions this year looks like it could be another low or negative free cash flow year. So just can you talk about that specifically and how you prioritize or how you view cash generation and FY '24?

是的，那太好了。當然，我問的原因是去年是創紀錄的收入年，但淨投資後的自由現金流連續第三年為負數，今年的第一個假設路徑看起來可能是另一個低點或負自由現金流年份。那麼您能否具體談談這一點以及您如何優先考慮或如何看待現金生成和 24 財年？

And I'm not looking at all of those specific numbers, so Justin will realign if I step off in the wrong direction, but you're absolutely right when it comes to our operating facilities, looking long and hard at where we're making investments to make certain that we're those investments are generating the kind of return and sometimes it might take more than just a particular 12 months to get that sort of return or benefit. The other side of this is we are growing our lease fleet, so that means that there are cars that we have originated the transaction on the leasing transaction and we're choosing because of the quality of that transaction to hold that on our balance sheet. And that is allowing us to grow a very diverse portfolio of railcars that we're holding. It's about 13,600 at the end of August and give or take 200.

我不會考慮所有這些具體數字，所以如果我走錯了方向，賈斯汀會重新調整，但當談到我們的營運設施時，你是絕對正確的，你長期而努力地關注我們正在做的事情投資以確保我們的這些投資正在產生某種回報，有時可能需要超過特定的12 個月才能獲得這種回報或收益。另一方面是我們正在擴大我們的租賃車隊，這意味著我們在租賃交易中發起了一些汽車交易，並且由於該交易的質量，我們選擇將其保留在我們的資產負債表上。這使我們能夠發展我們所持有的非常多樣化的鐵路車輛組合。 8 月底約 13,600 人，上下浮動 200 人。

Yes.

是的。

But it's a diverse car type. It's diverse commodities that are being carried. It's diverse terms. It's diverse lessees, but that is consuming cash that is not being converted into or is not being monetized as we would've historically done it.

但這是一種多樣化的汽車類型。所運送的商品多種多樣。這是多種多樣的術語。這是不同的承租人，但所消耗的現金並沒有像我們歷史上那樣轉換成貨幣或貨幣化。

And Steve, one thing I would add onto that is as you look at our leasing investment activity, bear in mind that that's levered around 75%. So it's not just $335 million out the door, it's a much smaller piece of that is kind of our investment on that. What I would say from a capital deployment perspective is investing in leasing, investing in our make-versus-buy strategy in North American manufacturing continuing to pay the dividend and then opportunistic share repurchases and also de-levering on our short-term floating rate debt. So it's nothing that's rocket science, but it's a matter of kind of continuing to check those different boxes and seeing what makes sense at any given time. We do see increased earnings in fiscal 2024 and that will allow us to have some increased cash flow as well versus '23.

史蒂夫，我要補充的一件事是，當您查看我們的租賃投資活動時，請記住，槓桿率約為 75%。因此，這不僅僅是 3.35 億美元，我們對此的投資只是其中的一小部分。從資本部署的角度來看，我想說的是投資租賃，投資我們在北美製造業的自製與外購策略，繼續支付股息，然後機會主義的股票回購，以及去槓桿化我們的短期浮動利率債務。因此，這並不是什麼複雜的事情，而是繼續檢查這些不同的框架並看看在任何特定時間什麼是有意義的問題。我們確實看到 2024 財年的收入增加，這將使我們的現金流量比 2023 年增加。

And the one last thing that I would pitch in there is on growing the lease fleet, there's a lot of tax advantage cash flow. So if you look at the balance sheet, you'll see that our tax deferral has increased. So that is another benefit to growing this lease fleet is the tax benefit from those investments.

我要強調的最後一件事是擴大租賃機隊，有很多稅收優惠的現金流。因此，如果您查看資產負債表，您會發現我們的遞延稅款增加。因此，發展租賃機隊的另一個好處是這些投資的稅收優惠。

Very comprehensive answer. And I'll just sneak one last in, sorry if I missed it. Do you expect a similar earnings cadence first half to second half, or did you talk about how some of the sustainable refurbishments, does that level that out as that works into the capacity?

非常全面的答案。我會偷偷地放最後一張，如果我錯過了，抱歉。您是否預計上半年和下半年會出現類似的獲利節奏，或者您是否談到了一些可持續的翻新工程如何在產能發揮作用時達到平衡？

Yes, we, we didn't talk about that yet, but we would expect something like 45% first half, 55% second half.

是的，我們，我們還沒有討論過這個問題，但我們預計上半場的比例是 45%，下半場是 55%。

Our final question comes from Matt Elkott with TD Cowen.

我們的最後一個問題來自 Matt Elkott 和 TD Cowen。

Just one last one quick follow up. The 45-55 cadence Adrian, does that apply to everything, deliveries, margins, earnings?

只是最後一項快速跟進。 45-55 的節奏阿德里安，這適用於所有事情嗎：交付量、利潤率、收入？

Pretty much. Yes. I mean there's going to be some puts and takes in certain lines. But overall, yes, I think that's a reasonable assumption.

差不多了。是的。我的意思是在某些行中會有一些看跌期權和認沽期權。但總的來說，是的，我認為這是一個合理的假設。

And Matt, if you're going to do the math on that real quick, we do have more cars going onto the balance sheet kind of in the first half of the year than on the second half. So it is that normal kind of quarter-to-quarter production scheduling timing thing.

馬特，如果你要快速計算一下，我們上半年資產負債表上的汽車數量確實比下半年要多。所以這是正常的季度生產調度時間安排。

Got it. And Justin, does all the refurbishment revenue, does it all go into manufacturing or is it some of it in the maintenance of the repair business?

知道了。賈斯汀，所有的翻新收入是否全部投入製造，還是其中一部分用於維修業務的維護？

It does go in both places. It's more the way that we manage it is based on the primary activity that goes on in that facility. So to the extent, let's say in Arkansas that we're doing some of this program work, it would still show up in manufacturing revenue even though it's more refurbishment work. Because that's we're managing it as a manufacturing facility.

它確實適用於兩個地方。我們管理它的方式更多的是基於該設施中進行的主要活動。因此，在某種程度上，假設我們在阿肯色州正在進行一些該計劃工作，它仍然會出現在製造收入中，即使它是更多的翻新工作。因為我們將其作為製造工廠進行管理。

Okay. I was just trying to gauge, reconcile how deliveries are going to be down in '24. And revenues, I guess manufacturing revenue from deliveries, but manufacturing margins going to expand. Unless you guys were talking about consolidated margins, but I thought you said manufacturing margin might expand.

好的。我只是想衡量、協調 24 年交付量的下降。至於收入，我猜製造業收入來自交付，但製造業利潤率將會擴大。除非你們談論的是合併利潤率，但我認為你們說製造利潤率可能會擴大。

We do expect, I do expect manufacturing margins to grow. We are not satisfied with where they are. We do expect that to continue to grow. And that is part of, to the extent that you remember back when Bill Krueger was presenting at Investor Day and we were talking about our insourcing program, which we expect to reduce or create a benefit of somewhere in $50 million to $55 million by 2025. We are constant, we are not satisfied with where our margins are and we will continue to be a combination of investing to be in control of our own destiny as well as to think through how can we operate our facilities more efficiently, whether it's for program work or new railcar manufacturing.

我們確實預計，我確實預計製造利潤率會成長。我們對他們的現狀並不滿意。我們確實預計這一數字將繼續增長。這就是其中的一部分，你還記得 Bill Krueger 在投資者日上演講時，我們正在談論我們的內包計劃，我們預計到 2025 年該計劃將減少或創造 5000 萬至 5500 萬美元的效益。我們始終如一，我們對利潤率不滿意，我們將繼續進行投資以掌控自己的命運，並思考如何更有效地運營我們的設施，無論是為了專案工作或新的有軌車輛製造。

I was going to say, if I could just emphasize, so we are guiding to about a 200 basis point increase in aggregate margins with a good chunk of that is coming out of our manufacturing business just on a full year 2024 versus full year 2023 activity.

我想說的是，如果我可以強調的話，我們的目標是總利潤率增加約 200 個基點，其中很大一部分來自我們的製造業務，與 2023 年全年相比，2024 年全年的活動。

Got it. But just that, like theoretically just to help me understand it, the reason manufacturing margins would expand on down deliveries is because of the structural improvements you guys are making as part of the bigger plans as well as a higher portion of refurbishment revenue, which is higher margin.

知道了。但就是這樣，就像理論上只是為了幫助我理解它一樣，製造利潤率會因向下交付而擴大的原因是因為你們正在進行結構性改進，作為更大計劃的一部分，以及翻新收入的更高比例，這是更高的利潤。

Yes. In addition to, I mean if you remember back to this year we had some operating challenges earlier in the year. We are seeing more steady, stable activity and just better operating efficiencies as we kind of continue to recover from the pandemic.

是的。此外，我的意思是，如果您還記得今年早些時候，我們遇到了一些營運挑戰。隨著我們繼續從大流行中恢復，我們看到更穩定的活動和更好的營運效率。

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

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉交管理層發表閉幕詞。

Thank you Sarah. And thank you everyone for joining us today on our call to discuss our fiscal 2023 results as well as our outlook for 2024. We're excited to get after all of the opportunities that we laid out today as well as at our Investor Day back in April. Thank you very much.

謝謝莎拉。感謝大家今天參加我們的電話會議，討論我們 2023 財年的業績以及 2024 年的前景。我們很高興能抓住我們今天以及在投資者日回到的所有機會。四月。非常感謝。

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。您現在可以斷開連線。