Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp (GLDD) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Q3 2024 Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

您好，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加大湖疏浚與碼頭公司 2024 年第三季電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Tina Baginskis, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給今天的第一位發言者，投資者關係總監蒂娜·巴金斯基斯（Tina Baginskis）。請繼續。

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to our third quarter 2024 conference call. Joining me on the call this morning is our President and Chief Executive Officer, Lasse Petterson; and our Chief Financial Officer, Scott Kornblau. Lasse will provide an update on the events of the quarter, then Scott will continue with an update on our financial results for the quarter. Lasse will conclude with an update on the outlook for the business and market. Following their comments, there will be an opportunity for questions.

謝謝。早安，歡迎參加我們 2024 年第三季的電話會議。今天早上與我一起參加電話會議的還有我們的總裁兼執行長 Lasse Petterson；以及我們的財務長 Scott Kornblau。拉塞將提供本季活動的最新情況，然後斯科特將繼續介紹本季的財務業績。最後，拉塞將對業務和市場的前景進行更新。他們發表評論後，將有機會提問。

During this call, we will make certain forward-looking statements to help you understand our business. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations. Certain risk factors inherent in our business are set forth in our earnings release and in filings with the SEC, including our 2023 Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

在本次電話會議中，我們將做出一些前瞻性陳述，以幫助您了解我們的業務。這些聲明涉及許多風險、不確定性和其他因素，可能導致實際結果與我們的預期有重大差異。我們的收益報告和向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中列出了我們業務中固有的某些風險因素，包括我們的 2023 年 10-K 表格和後續文件。

During this call, we also refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA, which are explained in the net income to adjusted EBITDA reconciliation attached to our earnings release and posted on our Investor Relations website, along with certain other operating data.

在本次電話會議中，我們也提到了某些非 GAAP 財務指標，包括調整後的 EBITDA，這些指標在我們的收益報告隨附的淨收入與調整後的 EBITDA 對帳表中進行了解釋，並發佈在我們的投資者關係網站上，以及某些其他營運數據。

With that, I will turn the call over to Lasse.

說完這些，我會把電話轉給拉塞。

Thank you, Tina. Great Lakes had a strong third quarter, demonstrating excellent product performance and significant wins in the bid market. For the third quarter, we achieved net income of $8.9 million and adjusted EBITDA of $27 million.

謝謝你，蒂娜。大湖集團第三季​​表現強勁，產品性能優異，並在競標市場上取得重大勝利。第三季度，我們實現淨收入 890 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 2,700 萬美元。

During the quarter, Great Lakes secured $543 million in new contracts, including 6 beach renourishment projects that captured 79% of the coastal protection market and 3 port deepening projects that accounted for 81% of the capital project bid market and a significant win was the large hopper dredge project, Sabine-Neches Contract 6 Deepening project with a total value of $235 million. That included both the base scope and open options.

本季度，大湖集團獲得了價值 5.43 億美元的新合同，其中包括 6 個海灘補給項目，佔據了沿海保護市場的 79% 份額，3 個港口深化項目，佔據了資本項目投標市場的 81%，而一個重大勝利是大型挖泥船項目，即 Sabine-Neches Contract 6 深化項目，總價值為 2.35 億美元。其中包括基本範圍和開放選項。

By the end of the third quarter, we achieved a record backlog of $1.2 billion, along with an additional $465 million in pending award low bids and options, providing utilization and revenue visibility well into 2026. After the quarter closed, 2 projects totaling $90 million that were in low bids pending award at the end of the third quarter converted to awarded status.

截至第三季末，我們實現了創紀錄的 12 億美元積壓訂單，同時還有 4.65 億美元的待定中標低價投標和期權，從而為 2026 年提供了良好的利用率和收入可見性。本季結束後，第三季末處於低價競標待授狀態的 2 個項目總計 9,000 萬美元，已轉為已授標狀態。

In our backlog are 2 large port deepening projects related to LNG export facilities, the Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 project and the Brownsville Ship Channel project for NextDecade. Dredging operations started on both of these capital projects in the third quarter, slightly later than previously expected, but now progressing well. The Biden administration's temporary pause on approving new LNG export licenses have not impacted our 2 awarded projects.

我們積壓的項目包括兩個與液化天然氣出口設施相關的大型港口深化項目，即亞瑟港液化天然氣一期項目和 NextDecade 的布朗斯維爾航道項目。這兩個資本項目的疏浚作業均於第三季開始，比之前​​預期的稍晚，但目前進展順利。拜登政府暫停批准新的液化天然氣出口許可證並沒有影響我們得標的兩個項目。

Our newest hopper dredge, the Galveston Island, was delivered in January this year, and she has gotten off to a great start with solid project performance. We held the naming ceremony for her in the Galveston Harbor on October 25, and she is now back at work in Texas.

我們最新的挖泥船「加爾維斯頓島號」於今年一月交付，該項目開局良好，表現穩健。我們於10月25日在加爾維斯頓港為她舉行了命名儀式，現在她已經回到德克薩斯州工作。

Her sistership, the Amelia Island, is expected to be delivered in the second half of 2025 and will also go straight to work on projects already in backlog as the Galveston Island did. These dredges are specifically designed to be efficient on beach rebuild projects like the 6 projects we recently have been awarded.

其姊妹艦阿米莉亞島號預計於2025年下半年交付，也將像加爾維斯頓島號一樣直接投入已積壓的專案。這些疏浚船經過專門設計，可以有效地完成海灘重建項目，例如我們最近授予的 6 個項目。

We remain steadfast in our long-term strategy to enter the US offshore wind market. The Acadia, the first US-flagged Jones Act compliant vessel designed for subsea rock installation is currently under construction at the Philly Shipyard. As announced by Philly earlier this year, they have reached a deal to sell the yard to a Korean shipyard group with regulatory approvals expected later this year.

我們堅定不移地執行進軍美國離岸風電市場的長期策略。「阿卡迪亞號」是第一艘懸掛美國國旗、符合《瓊斯法案》、專為海底岩石安裝而設計的船隻，目前正在費城造船廠建造。正如費城今年稍早宣布的那樣，他們已達成協議，將船廠出售給韓國造船集團，預計今年稍後將獲得監管部門的批准。

We have met with the prospective new owner and are optimistic that the high priority and planned investments into the yard will have a positive impact on the next phases of the Acadia build should the transaction be completed.

我們已經與潛在的新主人會面，並樂觀地認為，一旦交易完成，對船廠的高優先級和有計劃的投資將對阿卡迪亞號建設的下一階段產生積極影響。

The Acadia is contracted to install rock foundations on Equinor's Empire Wind 1 scheduled for a 2025 start and to perform rock placement to protect subsea cables on the Orsted's Sunrise Wind project scheduled for 2026. At the end of the third quarter, our offshore wind backlog was $44.6 million with an additional $12.7 million in options pending award. Offshore wind is pivotal for the US to secure its long-term energy needs and objectives, and we expect this to lead to significant long-term growth opportunity for Great Lakes.

根據合同，Acadia 將為 Equinor 計劃於 2025 年開始的 Empire Wind 1 安裝岩石基礎，並為 Orsted 計劃於 2026 年開始的 Sunrise Wind 項目進行岩石放置以保護海底電纜。截至第三季末，我們的離岸風電積壓訂單為 4,460 萬美元，另有 1,270 萬美元的選擇權待定。離岸風電對於美國確保其長期能源需求和目標至關重要，我們預計這將為五大湖帶來巨大的長期成長機會。

Additionally, the Acadia is well suited for international offshore wind projects as well as rock protection of our pipelines in the oil and gas and carbon capture market and cable protection in the telecommunication and power cable sectors. We have prequalified and tendered on a number of rock placement projects for the Acadia for the remainder of the decade, both in the US and internationally.

此外，Acadia 非常適合國際離岸風電專案、石油和天然氣管道和碳捕獲市場的岩石保護以及電信和電力電纜領域的電纜保護。我們已經在美國和國際上對阿卡迪亞未來十年的多個岩石放置項目進行了資格預審和投標。

The very positive interest from the offshore wind developers for Acadia is manifested by post quarter end, we signed the first vessel reservation agreement and are currently negotiating a second with 2 different offshore wind developers for projects in the United States with planned rock installation through 2029.

離岸風電開發商對阿卡迪亞表現出了非常積極的興趣，這體現在季度末之後，我們簽署了第一份船舶預訂協議，目前正在與兩家不同的離岸風電開發商就美國項目進行第二份談判，計劃到 2029 年完成岩石安裝。

I'll now turn the call over to Scott to further discuss the results for the quarter, and then I'll provide further commentary around the market and our business.

現在我將把電話轉給斯科特，進一步討論本季的業績，然後我將對市場和我們的業務提供進一步的評論。

Thank you, Lasse, and good morning, everyone. I'll start by walking through the third quarter, which resulted in revenues of $191.2 million, net income of $8.9 million and adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin of $27 million and 14.1%, respectively.

謝謝你，拉塞，大家早安。我先介紹第三季的情況，該季度營收為 1.912 億美元，淨收入為 890 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 和調整後 EBITDA 利潤率分別為 2700 萬美元和 14.1%。

Revenues of $191.2 million in the third quarter increased $74 million from the prior year's third quarter, primarily due to the Galveston Island actively working on projects and higher capital and coastal protection project revenues, which together made up 80% of our total revenues.

第三季的收入為1.912億美元，比去年同期增加了7,400萬美元，主要原因是加爾維斯頓島積極開展項目，資本和海岸保護項目收入增加，這兩項加起來占我們總收入的80%。

For the trailing 12 months, revenues were $741.6 million, net income was $59.1 million and adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin were $136.5 million and 18.4%, respectively, demonstrating our strong project performance, high win rate in a robust bid market and the many successful initiatives we've implemented in recent years.

過去 12 個月，收入為 7.416 億美元，淨收入為 5910 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 和調整後 EBITDA 利潤率分別為 1.365 億美元和 18.4%，證明了我們強勁的項目表現、在強勁的投標市場中的高中標率以及我們近年來實施的許多成功舉措。

Current quarter gross profit and gross profit margin increased to $36.2 million and 19%, respectively, from $9 million and 7.7%, respectively, in the third quarter of 2023. The quarter-over-quarter increase in gross margin is primarily due to improved project performance and higher capital and coastal protection revenue, which typically yields higher margins, partially offset by an expedited dry docking of a dredge in preparation for several jobs she has recently won set to begin in the fourth quarter.

本季毛利和毛利率分別從 2023 年第三季的 900 萬美元和 7.7% 增至 3,620 萬美元和 19%。毛利率的環比增長主要歸因於項目績效的提高以及資本和海岸保護收入的增加，這些收入通常會產生更高的利潤，但為了準備最近贏得的幾項將於第四季度開始的工作，一艘疏浚船的快速幹塢運輸部分抵消了這一增長。

Third quarter 2024 G&A of $19.8 million is $5.6 million higher than the same quarter last year, primarily driven by higher incentive pay as a result of this year's strong financial results. Net interest expense of $4.9 million for the third quarter 2024 was up from $2.8 million in the third quarter of 2023, primarily due to interest related to the term loan, which closed earlier in the second quarter of this year.

2024 年第三季的 G&A 為 1,980 萬美元，比去年同期高出 560 萬美元，這主要得益於今年強勁的財務業績導致的獎勵性薪酬增加。2024 年第三季的淨利息支出為 490 萬美元，高於 2023 年第三季的 280 萬美元，主要原因是與今年第二季早些時候結束的定期貸款相關的利息。

Third quarter 2024 net income tax expense of $3.2 million increased $5 million compared to the same quarter of 2023, driven by the higher current quarter income. Rounding out the P&L, net income for the third quarter was $8.9 million compared to a $6.2 million net loss in the prior year quarter and adjusted EBITDA increased from $5.3 million to $27 million.

2024 年第三季淨所得稅費用為 320 萬美元，較 2023 年同期增加 500 萬美元，主要因本季營收增加。綜合損益表，第三季淨收入為 890 萬美元，而去年同期淨虧損為 620 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 從 530 萬美元增至 2,700 萬美元。

Turning to our balance sheet. We ended the third quarter with $12 million in cash and nothing drawn on our $300 million revolver, which doesn't mature until the third quarter of 2027. Total liquidity at the end of the quarter was just over $318 million, and we have no debt maturities until 2029, putting us in a great position to complete our new build program with ample liquidity.

轉向我們的資產負債表。截止第三季度，我們擁有現金 1,200 萬美元，3 億美元的循環信貸尚未動用，該循環信貸要到 2027 年第三季才到期。本季末的總流動資金略高於 3.18 億美元，並且我們的債務到期日為 2029 年之前，這使我們能夠以充足的流動資金完成我們的新建計劃。

During the quarter, S&P upgraded our corporate credit rating to B- from CCC+, which further demonstrates the improvements we have made this year to our balance sheet, cash flows and overall performance.

本季度，標準普爾將我們的企業信用評級從 CCC+ 上調至 B-，這進一步證明了我們今年在資產負債表、現金流和整體業績方面所取得的進步。

Total capital expenditures of $38.4 million in the third quarter of 2024 consisted of $19.4 million for the construction of the subsea rock installation vessel, the Acadia, $13.6 million for the Amelia Island and $5.4 million for maintenance and growth. Our full year CapEx guidance remains between $130 million and $150 million, though will likely come in towards the lower end of the range.

2024 年第三季的總資本支出為 3,840 萬美元，其中包括建造海底岩石安裝船 Acadia 的 1,940 萬美元、建造 Amelia Island 的 1,360 萬美元以及維護和增長的 540 萬美元。我們對全年資本支出的預期仍是在 1.3 億美元至 1.5 億美元之間，不過可能會接近該範圍的低端。

Looking forward to the fourth quarter, we expect utilization and revenues to increase from the third quarter as we have no regulatory dry dockings planned and every active dredge is working most, if not all of the quarter. We also expect to see margins increase in the fourth quarter, which has historically been the case due to certain environmental windows opening up.

展望第四季度，我們預計利用率和收入將比第三季度增加，因為我們沒有計劃進行監管乾船塢，並且每艘活躍的疏浚船都在本季度的大部分時間（如果不是全部的話）內工作。我們也預計第四季度利潤率將會上升，從歷史上看，這是由於某些環境窗口的開啟而實現的。

Finally, as has been the pattern this year, the majority of the work performed in the fourth quarter will be capital and coastal protection projects, which should cap off this very successful year with another strong quarter.

最後，按照今年的模式，第四季度的大部分工作將是資本和海岸保護項目，這些項目將以另一個強勁的季度為這個非常成功的一年畫下圓滿句號。

With that, I will turn the call back over to Lasse for his remarks on the outlook moving forward.

說完這些，我將把電話轉回給拉塞，請他對未來的前景發表評論。

Thank you, Scott. The dredging industry continues to see strong support from both the White House and Congress. And the 2024 Energy and Water Appropriation Bill provided a record $8.7 billion to the US Army Corps of Engineers.

謝謝你，斯科特。疏浚產業繼續得到白宮和國會的大力支持。2024年能源和水資源撥款法案為美國陸軍工程兵團提供了創紀錄的87億美元資金。

Additionally, the 2023 Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriation Act allocated $1.5 billion for infrastructure repairs and beach renourishment projects. The increased budget and additional funding have supported a very strong bid market in 2024 with a robust beach renourishment market and several port deepening capital projects.

此外，2023 年救災補充撥款法案撥款 15 億美元用於基礎設施修復和海灘補給計畫。增加的預算和額外的資金支持了 2024 年非常強勁的競標市場，其中包括強勁的海灘補給市場和多個港口深化資本項目。

The 2025 Corps' budget is set to be another record appropriation. On June 28, 2024, the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee passed a bill providing $9.96 billion for the Corps. $2.7 billion above the President's request. This includes $5.7 billion for operations and maintenance with $3.1 billion from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund.

2025 年軍團預算將再次創下撥款紀錄。2024 年 6 月 28 日，眾議院能源和水利撥款小組委員會通過了一項法案，為工程兵團提供 99.6 億美元。比總統的要求高出 27 億美元。其中包括 57 億美元用於營運和維護，其中 31 億美元來自港口維護信託基金。

On August 1, the Senate's Appropriation Committee approved its draft that allocates $10.3 billion in total funding for the Corps. On September 25, President Biden signed a continuing resolution for the Corps' fiscal '25 budget with lawmakers having until December 20 to finalize the full year spending. The passing of these appropriations will ensure solid funding for the US Army Corps of Engineer for 2025, and we anticipate that this funding will convert into firm projects and another good bid market for the US dredging industry in 2025.

8月1日，參議院撥款委員會批准了為該軍團撥款總計103億美元的草案。9 月 25 日，拜登總統簽署了工程兵團 25 年財政預算的繼續決議，立法者必須在 12 月 20 日之前確定全年支出。這些撥款的通過將確保美國陸軍工程兵團在2025年獲得穩固的資金，我們預計這筆資金將在2025年轉化為確定的項目，並為美國疏浚行業帶來另一個良好的投標市場。

Looking further ahead, the Water Resource Development Act, or WRDA, is on a 2-year renewal cycle and includes legislation that authorizes the financing of the Corps' projects in the next 2- to 5-year period. WRDA 2024 has seen strong bipartisan support, having been approved by key Senate and House committees. Currently, the 2 chambers are working to reconcile the differences in their respective versions of the bill. And once completed, the final version will be sent to the President to be signed into law.

放眼未來，《水資源開發法案》（WRDA）正處於兩年的更新周期，其中包括授權在未來兩到五年內為工程兵團計畫提供融資的立法。WRDA 2024 得到了兩黨的大力支持，並已獲得參議院和眾議院主要委員會的批准。目前，兩院正在努力協調各自版本法案之間的差異。一旦完成，最終版本將送交總統簽署成為法律。

The US offshore wind development and operational pipeline expanded by 53% over the past year, now boasting a potential generating capacity of approximately 80.5 gigawatts by 2025. On September 6, Massachusetts awarded 2.7 gigawatts in total PPAs, which included 1.1 gigawatt for the SouthCoast Wind project, 0.8 gigawatts on New England Wind 1 and up to 0.8 gigawatts on the Vineyard Wind 2 project, with Rhode Island awarding the remaining 0.2 gigawatts on the SouthCoast Wind project.

過去一年，美國離岸風電開發和營運管道擴大了 53%，到 2025 年潛在發電能力將達到約 80.5 吉瓦。9 月 6 日，馬薩諸塞州共授予了 2.7 千兆瓦的電力購買協議 (PPA)，其中包括南海岸風電項目的 1.1 千兆瓦、新英格蘭風電 1 號項目的 0.8 千兆瓦和葡萄園風電 2 號項目的 0.8 千兆瓦，而羅德島州則授予了南海岸風電 2 號項目的 0.8 千兆瓦，而羅德島州則授予了南海岸風千兆瓦。

This growth attributed to new leasing areas and heightened sector investment provides us with a very strong long-term market outlook, supporting our revenue growth opportunity in the offshore wind market.

這一成長歸因於新的租賃領域和行業投資的增加，為我們提供了非常強勁的長期市場前景，支持了我們在離岸風電市場的收入成長機會。

To conclude my remarks, the company has achieved strong operational improvements and results in 2024, driven by strong project performance and higher vessel utilization. Our record backlog gives us good visibility of fleet utilization through 2025 and well into '26. This strengthens our ability to deliver strong results, generating higher free cash flows supporting the modernization of our fleet with efficient dredges and our expansion into the growing offshore wind market and thereby generating value for shareholders.

最後，我要說的是，在強勁的專案績效和更高的船舶利用率的推動下，該公司在 2024 年實現了強勁的營運改善和業績。我們的創紀錄積壓訂單讓我們能夠很好地了解 2025 年甚至 2026 年的車隊利用率。這增強了我們提供強勁業績的能力，產生更高的自由現金流，支持我們透過高效疏浚船實現船隊現代化以及向不斷增長的離岸風電市場的擴張，從而為股東創造價值。

And with that, I'll turn the call over for questions.

說完這些，我會把電話轉交給大家提問。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指令）

Joe Gomes, NOBLE Capital.

NOBLE Capital 的 Joe Gomes。

Very nice quarter, gentlemen. I wanted to start off for the quarter that we're currently in. Obviously, you've got a significant amount of low bids and options pending at the end of the third quarter. But I just wanted to get your viewpoint of what you're seeing as kind of the award environment for the fourth quarter.

先生們，這真是一個美好的季度。我想從我們目前所處的季度開始說起。顯然，在第三季末，您有大量的低價投標和選擇權待決。但我只是想了解一下您對第四季獎項環境的看法。

Yes. So as Lasse mentioned, $90 million of the amount we had in low bid pending at the end of the quarter was already awarded. We are expecting a couple of more to happen for sure this quarter. Within that, Joe, there are also about $140 million of options and that we're just waiting. There's time that they have in order to exercise those options. Some could happen in the fourth quarter.

是的。正如拉塞所提到的那樣，本季末我們待決的最低投標金額中已有 9000 萬美元被授予。我們預計本季肯定會發生更多的事情。喬，在這其中還有大約 1.4 億美元的選擇，我們只是在等待。他們還有時間來行使這些選擇。有些情況可能會在第四季發生。

Some of those deadlines are not until the first quarter of next year. So we'll just have to wait and see. But again, $90 million in the bank and probably a couple of other projects, we feel pretty good should get awarded rather quickly.

其中一些截止日期要到明年第一季。所以我們只能拭目以待。但是，銀行裡的 9,000 萬美元和可能還有其他幾個項目，我們覺得應該很快就會獲得批准。

Yes. And I just want to add there, Joe, that normally, when we see our bidding cycle, the fourth quarter and first quarter of the year is normally the lower part of our bidding market and the Q2 and Q3 is really the strong bid market. So that's kind of the cycle we go through.

是的。喬，我只想補充一點，通常，當我們看到我們的競標週期時，第四季和第一季通常是我們競標市場的較低部分，而第二季和第三季才是強勁的競標市場。這就是我們所經歷的循環。

And I guess, Joe, if I could just add one more thing. And I know we've been talking about this project for a number of years right now. But in our low bid pending is an LNG project. And I'm sure you've seen the recent headlines of Woodside acquiring Tellurian, we feel that the prospects of that LNG project are much higher now than they have been. So the timing of that, I don't know, but that's something that's just been sitting in there for years that we feel better about now than we did at the beginning of the year.

喬，我想，我還可以補充一點。我知道我們已經討論這個專案好幾年了。但我們的低價出價中有一個液化天然氣項目。我相信您已經看到了伍德賽德收購 Tellurian 的最新頭條新聞，我們認為該液化天然氣項目的前景現在比以前好得多。所以我不知道這個時間點，但這個事情已經存在好幾年了，現在我們感覺比年初好多了。

And just the Philly Shipyard potential sale, are you seeing any delays or pushouts of work on the Acadia at this point? Or is everything still running up to date of where your expectations were?

就費城造船廠的潛在出售而言，您是否看到目前阿卡迪亞號的工程有任何延誤或延遲？或者一切仍符合您的期望？

Well, the sale of the shipyard has been announced and the new owner has been out in the press and really shown ambitions in the US shipbuilding market and announcing investments into the yard. So all that should be positive. The regulatory approvals has not been coming through yet. The new owner and Aker is saying that, that is expected to happen here in this quarter.

現在，該船廠的出售消息已經公佈，新主人已經在媒體上公開亮相，展示了對美國造船市場的雄心，並宣布對該船廠進行投資。所以這一切都應該是正面的。監管部門的批准尚未完成。新老闆和阿克爾表示，預計這一情況將在本季實現。

And then the transfer will happen. It's a share purchase agreement between the two. And so the responsibility for the project is then becoming the new owner's responsibility similar to what it has been for Aker.

然後轉移就會發生。這是兩者之間的股份購買協議。因此，該專案的責任變成了新主人的責任，類似於 Aker 的責任。

Okay. And then one more, if I may. Just trying to get a little update on the competitive environment, what you see in terms of new vessels being completed or existing vessels being taken out of the market. Any insight there as to whether the market has gotten more competitive or kind of stayed the same is appreciated.

好的。如果可以的話，我再說一個。我只是想了解一下競爭環境的最新情況，例如新船完工情況以及現有船舶退出市場的情況。如果您能提供任何關於市場是否變得更具競爭力或保持不變的見解，我們將不勝感激。

No, the bid market for 2024 has been very strong, as we have said on several calls, and that has supported the dredging fleet. We had idle dredges last year and also in the beginning of 2024. But now our fleet is fully occupied. One of our competitors have announced the retirement of two older dredges, and I think that has already been exercised. So that reduces some capacity. We have added the Galveston Island, and we took out one vessel last year. So the capacity in the market has not really increased substantially.

不，正如我們在多次電話會議中所說的那樣，2024 年的競標市場非常強勁，這為疏浚船隊提供了支援。去年和 2024 年初，我們的疏浚船處於閒置狀態。但現在我們的艦隊已經滿了。我們的一個競爭對手已經宣布退役兩艘老舊挖泥船，我認為這個決定已經實施了。因此這會減少一些容量。我們增加了加爾維斯頓島，去年我們取出了一艘船。因此，市場容量實際上並沒有大幅增加。

We also have the ability to reduce with some of our older hopper vessels, and that's why we're building both the Galveston and the Amelia Island to facilitate that transfer from older vessels to new and more modern equipment. And the competitive environment today is -- there's not a major change in that, really supported by the strong bid market. And that you can see in our really strong backlog.

我們還有能力減少一些老式漏斗船的用量，這就是我們建造加爾維斯頓號和阿米莉亞島號的原因，以便從老式船隻轉移到新的、更現代化的設備。而現今的競爭環境並沒有發生重大變化，真正受到強勁投標市場的支持。您可以從我們非常強勁的積壓訂單中看到這一點。

And again, congrats on the quarter.

再次恭喜本季取得佳績。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Julio Romero, Sidoti & Company.

胡里奧·羅梅羅，Sidoti & Company。

Lasse and Scott. Can you guys talk about dredging gross margins in the quarter? 19% came in very solid. Scott, you mentioned that you had an expedited dry docking in the third quarter. Any way to kind of quantify the impact to the third quarter margin?

拉塞和斯科特。你們能談談本季的毛利率嗎？19% 的表現非常穩健。史考特，您提到您在第三季進行了一次快速乾船塢作業。有什麼方法可以量化對第三季獲利的影響嗎？

And then secondly, can you kind of talk about the several jobs recently won that are expected to begin in the fourth quarter for that dry dock vessel?

其次，您能否談談最近贏得的預計在第四季度開始的幹船塢船的幾個工作？

Yes. So we had a vessel that we were unsure of the timing of the dry dock because we weren't going to invest in it until we had clear visibility to backlog. And then the explosion of the third quarter, we all of a sudden added 3 jobs for her, all beach jobs, so beach renourishment job.

是的。所以，我們有一艘船，但我們不確定它進入乾船塢的時間，因為在我們清楚了解積壓訂單之前，我們不會對其進行投資。然後第三季的爆發，我們突然為她增加了 3 項工作，全部都是海灘工作，也就是海灘補給工作。

So we went ahead and pulled that into the third quarter. It was about a $2 million to $2.5 million cost, Julio. So I'm not quick enough to do the math on the margin impact, but that's what it was. But now she's ready to go, and I said we'll commence these beach projects now. And again, we -- that will go well into 2025 for her.

因此我們繼續前進，並將其帶入第三季。成本約為 200 萬至 250 萬美元，胡里奧。因此，我無法快速計算利潤率的影響，但事實就是這樣。但現在她已經準備好出發了，我說我們現在就開始這些海灘計畫。再說一次，對她來說，這將持續到 2025 年。

Okay. Excellent. And then you expected -- you said margins expected to increase in the fourth quarter. Is that a year-over-year comp or sequential?

好的。出色的。然後您預計——您說利潤率預計第四季會增加。這是同比還是環比？

Yes. From the third quarter. As I mentioned, we've talked about this before. We historically see the fourth quarter being a very, very strong margin quarter. There are certain environmental windows that open up. There's jobs we cannot do until beginning in the fourth quarter, and we're able to typically get higher margins for that.

是的。從第三季開始。正如我所提到的，我們之前討論過這個問題。從歷史上看，我們認為第四季是一個利潤率非常非常強勁的季度。有一些環境視窗可以打開。有些工作我們要到第四季開始才能完成，這樣我們通常能夠獲得更高的利潤。

So if you just go back and look historically in normal years, you'll see fourth quarters typically have it. And there's going to be no exception here.

因此，如果你回顧一下正常年份的歷史，你會發現第四季通常都會出現這種情況。這裡也不例外。

So the work that we will start commencing is a lot of this environmental window work that comes with higher margins than the third quarter. You go back and look at last year's fourth quarter, the first 3 quarters of last year were somewhat marginal, and then we saw the explosion in the fourth quarter driven by a lot of the capital project wins and then this environmental work that we were doing in the fourth quarter.

因此，我們將開始進行的工作很多是此類環境窗口工作，其利潤率將高於第三季。回顧去年第四季度，去年前三個季度的成長有些微不足道，然後我們看到第四季度出現了爆發式成長，這得益於大量資本項目的勝利以及我們在第四季度開展的環境工作。

Got it. Very helpful. Last one for me is just the backlog growth in capital projects you saw in the third quarter was really outstanding there. How do we think about 2025 kind of margin potential and balancing getting excited about the mix of capital projects along with just kind of the puts and takes of the business?

知道了。非常有幫助。對我來說最後一個是，第三季資本項目的積壓成長確實非常出色。我們如何看待 2025 年的利潤潛力，以及如何在資本項目組合與業務投入和收益之間取得平衡？

Yes. Generally, the large backlog that we have in place gives us very good visibility of the utilization for next year. And most of that utilization is on capital projects and beach renourishment projects. So that is typically good margin activity for us. So that is a positive sign. And again, as I said, the budget for the Corps, once that gets approved, it's up to the Corps to convert those funds into projects. And if they are performing similarly in 2025 as they did in '24, it should be a good bid market. Scott, do you want to add?

是的。總體而言，我們積壓的大量訂單讓我們能夠很好地了解明年的利用率。大部分資金都用於資本項目和海灘補給項目。所以這對我們來說通常是好的利潤活動。這是一個正面的信號。再次，正如我所說，一旦工程兵團的預算獲得批准，就由工程兵團來將這些資金轉化為專案。如果他們在 2025 年的表現與 2024 年相似，那麼這應該是一個好的競標市場。斯科特，你想添加嗎？

Yes, Julio, I do want to add, and I'll give a lot more color on the year-end call because, as you know, we're still planning 2025. But the way the calendar is falling, 2025 will be a higher dry docking year than 2024. So we will have that, but the backlog is solid. The visibility we have to revenue for next year is extremely high, a number of vessels that are fully utilized for next year and well into 2026.

是的，胡里奧，我確實想補充一點，我會在年底電話會議上提供更多細節，因為如你所知，我們仍在規劃 2025 年。但從日曆的安排來看，2025 年的乾船塢年份將比 2024 年更高。所以我們會擁有它，但是積壓的工作仍然很艱鉅。我們對明年收入的預期非常高，明年乃至 2026 年許多船舶都將充分利用。

Adam Thalhimer, Thompson Davis.

亞當塔希默、湯普森戴維斯。

Nice quarter. Can you give additional color on the reservations for the Acadia? If you get both of the reservations -- you already have one, but if you get both, are you trying to say that your capacity would be booked into '29? Or are you just saying that the reservations are between now and '29?

不錯的季度。您能提供有關阿卡迪亞預訂的更多資訊嗎？如果您獲得了兩個預訂 - 您已經擁有一個，但如果您獲得了兩個，您是否想說您的容量將被預訂到'29？或者您只是說預訂時間是從現在到 29 年？

Yes. The reservations agreements come through as the offshore wind developers, they would like to secure the capacity of the vessel for when they're bidding for the new PPAs and developments. And that gives us the opportunity to secure backlog for the vessel once those contracts are being -- or those reservations are being converted into contracts.

是的。預訂協議的達成意味著離岸風電開發商希望在競標新的電力購買協議（PPA）和開發項目時確保船舶的容量。一旦這些合約或這些預訂被轉換成合同，這就使我們有機會確保船舶的積壓訂單。

And the execution of this work that these agreements cover is from '28 and onwards. And it gives a solid, let's say, utilization of the vessel here in the US market for that period. It's not giving us a full utilization, but it gives a solid foundation for utilization of the vessel.

這些協議涵蓋的工作將從'28年開始執行。並且它可以確保該船舶在這段時間內在美國市場上的利用率。雖然它沒有讓我們得到充分利用，但卻為船舶的利用奠定了堅實的基礎。

Got it. Okay. That's helpful. And then maybe it's just me, but it sounded like you're more bullish on additional LNG awards. I don't -- is that including like Tellurian flipping from low bid into...

知道了。好的。這很有幫助。也許這只是我的看法，但聽起來您對額外的液化天然氣獎勵更為看好。我不知道 - 這是否包括像 Tellurian 那樣從低價轉為...

Yes. Yes, so Tellurian has been sold to an Australian developer. And the opportunity there is now that it goes from being in our low bid, not awarded category and get into a contract for potentially next year or towards the end of next year. We just have to follow what Woodside decides to do on the project. But again, it's a very strong opportunity. They do have FERC approval for the project. So it's not affected by the Biden ban on new approvals. So that's good news for that project.

是的。是的，Tellurian 已被出售給澳洲開發商。現在的機會是，它不再處於我們的低價投標、未中標類別，而是可能在明年或明年年底簽訂合約。我們只需遵循伍德賽德對該項目的決定。但再次強調，這是一個非常好的機會。他們確實已獲得聯邦能源管理委員會 (FERC) 對該項目的支持。因此它不受拜登禁止新批准的影響。這對該項目來說是個好消息。

And then, Scott, do you also -- you commented on Q4 margins. What are your expectations on Q4 top line?

然後，斯科特，您是否也對第四季度的利潤率發表了評論。您對第四季的營收有何預期？

It's going to be -- as I mentioned, every active vessel will be working and some of them the entire quarter have really good visibility to it. The revenue will start with the 2. It's going to be a very, very strong quarter on revenue. And as I mentioned, with the mix of projects that we have, the margins should -- we'll see an increase from the third quarter.

正如我所提到的那樣，每艘活躍的船隻都將正常運行，其中一些船隻整個區域都具有良好的可視性。收入將從2開始。這將是一個收入非常非常強勁的季度。正如我所提到的，由於我們擁有多個項目，因此利潤率將從第三季開始增加。

I will tell you because it's going to come out in our Q in a little bit anyways, we always put how much of our backlog will be earned in the rest of this year. We'll be reporting it will be in the upper teen percent of the $1.2 billion backlog will be earned in the fourth quarter.

我會告訴你，因為無論如何它都會在我們的 Q 中出現，我們總是把今年剩餘時間內的積壓訂單量計算在內。我們將報告，第四季的訂單量將達到 12 億美元積壓訂單的百分之十幾。

And then just lastly on -- I guess I'm not asking for US capital revenue next year, but I'm just trying to think through the seasonality of capital next year? Because I feel like other than what you just mentioned about the dry docking, I feel like you're -- the revenue burn for capital should be pretty even next year. Is that a fair statement?

最後，我想我不是問明年美國的資本收入，而是只是想思考明年資本的季節性？因為我覺得除了你剛才提到的關於乾船塢的事情之外，我覺得明年的資本收入消耗應該相當均衡。這是一個公正的說法嗎？

Yes. I mean -- yes, the projects that we're going to be executing, especially on the capital side. And as you know, these capital projects are typically longer term in nature. They will be ongoing the same projects for a good part of next year. So yes, when I kind of look at the big projects that we have won, Freeport, we just mentioned Sabine, we won Mobile earlier. Those are all relatively long projects that should be executing for a good part of next year.

是的。我的意思是——是的，我們將要執行的項目，特別是在資本方面。如您所知，這些資本項目通常都是長期的。他們將在明年大部分時間繼續進行相同的專案。所以是的，當我回顧我們贏得的大項目時，自由港，我們剛才提到的薩賓，我們之前贏得了莫比爾。這些都是相對較長期的項目，應該會在明年大部分時間內完成。

Not sure what's happening with the moderator, but if -- I think Jon Tanwanteng is next in line from CJS.

不確定主持人發生了什麼事，但如果——我認為 Jon Tanwanteng 是 CJS 的下一任主持人。

Really congrats on the nice backlog and the wins in the quarter. My first question is, could you comment on the NextDecade project and if that will continue into '25? And if it doesn't, will you still be effectively fully utilized?

真的要恭喜本季的良好積壓和勝利。我的第一個問題是，您能否評論一下 NextDecade 專案以及它是否會持續到 25 年？如果沒有的話，你的能力還能充分發揮嗎？

Yes. We have no other information on that project other than what the -- what NextDecade has said and that is that they are continuing on the project until they hear otherwise. So we're in full blast on the project. We have a solid backlog. So should there be a delay, we can move the dredges over to other projects. So at this point in time, I don't have any other information.

是的。除了 NextDecade 所說的之外，我們沒有關於該項目的其他信息，他們表示，他們將繼續該項目，直到收到其他消息。因此我們全力投入該項目。我們有大量積壓訂單。所以如果有延誤，我們可以將疏浚船轉移到其他項目。所以目前我還沒有任何其他資訊。

Yes. And a couple of months ago, FERC came out and they said that they were going to do a supplemental statement on the project. FERC is definitely supporting this thing going forward. NextDecade has filed a petition against the hearing. And again, everything is moving full steam ahead and project is doing very, very well.

是的。幾個月前，聯邦能源管理委員會表示，他們將對該計畫做出補充聲明。聯邦能源管理委員會肯定會支持這項措施的進展。NextDecade 已提交反對該聽證會的請願書。現在，一切都在全速前進，專案進展非常非常順利。

Okay. Great. And then if you could, what is your expectation for a comp in the G&A going forward? You obviously earned a nice bonus there, but I was wondering what the run rate should be as we think about modeling?

好的。偉大的。那麼，如果可以的話，您對未來 G&A 的期望是什麼？你顯然在那裡獲得了不錯的獎金，但我想知道，當我們考慮建模時，運行率應該是多少？

Yes. Well, I mean, if you just -- obviously, most of the incentive is done a year at a time. So I'll talk about the fourth quarter. My expectation is G&A for the fourth quarter comes in between $18 million and $19 million, and then everything gets reset and we'll do a refresh for next year. So I'll give some more commentary on 2025 G&A on the next call. But I would imagine it to more normalize plus a little bit more for wind as we get much closer to getting on revenue with the Acadia.

是的。嗯，我的意思是，如果你只是——顯然，大部分激勵措施都是一年一次完成的。所以我想談談第四季。我預計第四季度的 G&A 費用將在 1800 萬美元至 1900 萬美元之間，然後一切都會重置，我們將為明年進行刷新。因此，我將在下次電話會議上對 2025 年 G&A 發表更多評論。但我可以想像，隨著我們越來越接近從阿卡迪亞獲得收入，風能將會更加正常化。

Okay. Great. And then it's great to see you getting the reservation agreements for '28 and beyond. But I was just wondering what the prospects were for utilization of Acadia in late '26 and into '27 at this point. Are you seeing any progress there?

好的。偉大的。很高興看到您獲得了 28 年及以後的預訂協議。但我只是想知道 26 年末至 27 年阿卡迪亞的利用前景如何。你看到那裡有任何進展嗎？

Well, the status is, as we said on the last call, we have the Empire Wind project, and we have the Orsted Sunrise project. There are new options being discussed on those projects. So we have partial utilization in '26 and '27 will be from firmed up later.

嗯，目前的狀況就像我們在上次電話會議上說的那樣，我們有 Empire Wind 項目，還有 Orsted Sunrise 項目。我們正在討論這些項目的新選擇。因此，我們在'26 年和'27 年的部分利用率將在稍後確定。

Thank you. This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn it back for Tina for closing remarks.

謝謝。問答環節到此結束。現在我想把話題交回給蒂娜，請她作最後發言。

Thank you. We appreciate the support of our shareholders, employees and business partners, and we thank you for joining us in this discussion about the important developments and initiatives in our business. We look forward to speaking with you during our next earnings discussion.

謝謝。我們感謝股東、員工和業務夥伴的支持，也感謝您與我們一起討論我們業務中的重要發展和舉措。我們期待在下次收益討論期間與您交談。

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

感謝您今天的參加—今天的電話會議。本節目到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。