Graphic Packaging Holding Co (GPK) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome to today's Graphic Packaging First Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. My name is Bailey, and I'll be the moderator for today's call.

您好，歡迎來到今天的 Graphic Packaging 2023 年第一季度收益電話會議。我叫 Bailey，我將擔任今天電話會議的主持人。

(Operator Instructions) I would now like to pass the call over to our host, Melanie Skijus, Head of Investor Relations. Melanie, please go ahead.

（操作員說明）我現在想將電話轉給我們的主持人，投資者關係主管梅蘭妮斯基尤斯。梅蘭妮，請繼續。

Good morning, and welcome to Graphic Packaging Holding Company's First Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. Joining us on our call today are Mike Doss, the company's President and CEO; and Steve Scherger, Executive Vice President and CFO. To help you follow along with today's call, we will be referencing our first quarter earnings presentation, which can be accessed through the webcast and also on the Investors section of our website at www.graphicpkg.com.

早上好，歡迎來到 Graphic Packaging Holding Company 2023 年第一季度財報電話會議。今天與我們一起參加電話會議的有公司總裁兼首席執行官 Mike Doss；執行副總裁兼首席財務官 Steve Scherger。為了幫助您跟進今天的電話會議，我們將引用我們的第一季度收益演示文稿，您可以通過網絡廣播以及我們網站 www.graphicpkg.com 的投資者部分訪問該演示文稿。

Before I turn the call over to Mike, let me remind you that today's press release and the presentations made by our executives include forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the factors identified in the release and in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

在我將電話轉給 Mike 之前，讓我提醒您，今天的新聞稿和我們的高管所做的介紹包括 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》中定義的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述受風險和不確定因素的影響可能導致實際結果與我們的預期和預測存在重大差異。這些風險和不確定性包括但不限於新聞稿和我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中確定的因素。

With that, let me turn the call over to Mike.

有了這個，讓我把電話轉給邁克。

Thank you, Melanie. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us on the call today. Graphic Packaging is off to a great start, 2023. We continue to advance our proven strategy centered around running a different race as we build our leadership in fiber-based consumer packaging.

謝謝你，梅蘭妮。大家早上好，感謝您今天加入我們的電話會議。 Graphic Packaging 在 2023 年有了一個良好的開端。隨著我們在基於纖維的消費品包裝領域建立領導地位，我們將繼續推進以開展不同競賽為中心的行之有效的戰略。

Our strategy is focused on driving growth by executing differentiated strategic capital investments and enhancing long-term partnerships with customers while expanding consumer packaging expertise and innovation capabilities. During the first quarter, strong execution by our global team enabled us to deliver on this strategy, create value for customers and shareholders while positioning the business for the future. Let's start with this quarter's key highlights on Slide 3.

我們的戰略重點是通過執行差異化的戰略資本投資和加強與客戶的長期合作夥伴關係來推動增長，同時擴大消費品包裝專業知識和創新能力。在第一季度，我們全球團隊的強大執行力使我們能夠實現這一戰略，為客戶和股東創造價值，同時為未來定位業務。讓我們從幻燈片 3 上本季度的主要亮點開始。

[A met a] challenging macroeconomic backdrop, we drove continued net organic sales growth and margin expansion during the first quarter. This performance is a testament to the resiliency of our business model as well as the strong and growing consumer demand for renewable, recyclable fiber-based packaging. As part of our differentiated strategy, we continue investing to capitalize on this clear consumer preference by building new capabilities and driving innovation.

[A 遇到了] 具有挑戰性的宏觀經濟背景，我們在第一季度推動了持續的淨有機銷售增長和利潤率擴張。這一業績證明了我們商業模式的彈性，以及消費者對可再生、可回收纖維包裝的強勁且不斷增長的需求。作為我們差異化戰略的一部分，我們繼續投資，通過構建新功能和推動創新來利用這種明確的消費者偏好。

As we will discuss in further detail, our recycled paperboard investment in Kalamazoo is exceeding expectations, and we are making progress to build upon our distinctive competitive advantage with new mill in Waco, Texas. Importantly, we're not the only ones investing in response to the consumer preference for more sustainable packaging, leading brands and manufacturers recognize this consumer trend and the solution our new capabilities and innovations can provide.

正如我們將進一步詳細討論的那樣，我們在卡拉馬祖的再生紙板投資超出了預期，我們正在取得進展，以在得克薩斯州韋科的新工廠建立我們獨特的競爭優勢。重要的是，我們並不是唯一一家為響應消費者對更可持續包裝的偏好而進行投資的公司，領先的品牌和製造商認識到這一消費趨勢以及我們的新功能和創新可以提供的解決方案。

We are pleased to announce today that Chick-fil-A is going to market later this month with our new highly insulated double-wall fiber-based cup as a potential long-term solution for their beverage program. This is the latest example of the significant opportunity for us within the foodservice space. Given our strong start to the year and confidence in the path ahead, we are raising our full year EBITDA guidance by $100 million to $1.9 billion at the midpoint of the range and updating other guidance metrics as a result. In 2019, we established our original Vision 2025 goals. With the increased outlook for 2023 we are providing today, we are on track to achieve those original targets 2 years early and have a clear path to meet the enhanced Vision 2025 financial goals we announced in February of 2022 at our Investor Day in New York.

我們今天很高興地宣布，Chick-fil-A 將於本月晚些時候上市，我們的新型高度隔熱雙壁纖維杯將作為其飲料計劃的潛在長期解決方案。這是我們在餐飲服務領域面臨重大機遇的最新例子。鑑於我們今年的強勁開局和對未來道路的信心，我們將全年 EBITDA 指引提高 1 億美元至 19 億美元，處於範圍的中點，並因此更新其他指引指標。 2019 年，我們制定了最初的 2025 年願景目標。隨著我們今天提供的 2023 年展望的增加，我們有望提前 2 年實現這些最初的目標，並有一條明確的道路來實現我們於 2022 年 2 月在紐約投資者日宣布的增強型 2025 年願景財務目標。

Slide 4 captures our key financial metrics for the first quarter. Sales increased 9% to over $2.4 billion driven primarily by positive pricing and organic sales growth. Adjusted EBITDA of $484 million grew at a faster pace and sales as our margin expanded by 430 basis points to 20%. This represents a new high for adjusted EBITDA margin and provides further confidence in achieving our Vision 2025 financial goals. Taken together, our strong sales and EBITDA performance led to adjusted earnings per share of $0.77, an increase of 60% versus the prior year quarter.

幻燈片 4 記錄了我們第一季度的關鍵財務指標。銷售額增長 9% 至超過 24 億美元，這主要得益於積極的定價和有機銷售增長。調整後的 EBITDA 為 4.84 億美元，銷售額增長更快，我們的利潤率增長了 430 個基點，達到 20%。這代表了調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率的新高，並為實現我們的 2025 年願景財務目標提供了進一步的信心。總而言之，我們強勁的銷售和 EBITDA 業績導致調整後每股收益為 0.77 美元，比去年同期增長 60%。

As we deliver on our near-term financial goals, we are continuing to invest in new capabilities to build on the strong performance in the future. Most notably, we are making considerable progress on our CRB platform optimization, which is detailed on Slide 5. Our new K2 machine in Kalamazoo results in Graphic Packaging operating the world's lowest production cost, highest quality coated recycled paperboard mill. The largest capital investment we have made to date, K2 came to life in early 2022, as we successfully ramped production on the machine.

在我們實現近期財務目標的過程中，我們將繼續投資於新的能力，以在未來的強勁表現的基礎上再接再厲。最值得注意的是，我們在 CRB 平台優化方面取得了相當大的進展，詳見幻燈片 5。我們在卡拉馬祖的新 K2 機器使 Graphic Packaging 成為世界上生產成本最低、質量最高的塗層再生紙板廠。 K2 是我們迄今為止進行的最大資本投資，隨著我們成功地提高了機器的產量，K2 於 2022 年初投入使用。

Now that we are fully ramped, the capability of K2 is exceeding our expectations in several ways. First is quality. We are now capable of producing a new innovative, higher-quality CRB grade that meaningfully expands opportunities for the substrate and our network overall. I will elaborate more on this exciting development in the moment. Second is yield. We now expect K2 to deliver 550,000 tons of annual production compared to the 500,000 tons we previously announced. And finally, financial benefits. We had previously announced the investment would drive approximately $130 million of incremental annual EBITDA improvement over 3 years. I'm pleased to report that we now expect to reach that target in only 2 years of full year ahead of schedule.

現在我們已經完全升級，K2 的能力在幾個方面超出了我們的預期。首先是質量。我們現在能夠生產出一種創新的、更高質量的 CRB 等級，這顯著地擴大了基材和我們整體網絡的機會。稍後我將詳細說明這一激動人心的進展。其次是收益率。我們現在預計 K2 的年產量為 550,000 噸，而我們之前宣布的為 500,000 噸。最後，經濟利益。我們之前曾宣布，這項投資將在 3 年內推動約 1.3 億美元的年度 EBITDA 改善。我很高興地向大家報告，我們現在預計僅比計劃提前 2 年就可以實現這一目標。

The outstanding execution of the K2 ramp is a testament to the great work and dedication of our Kalamazoo team. Additionally, the success of the investment provides us with the expertise and confidence to continue to strategically invest to redefine the fiber-based consumer packaging landscape as we are doing in Waco. We announced the Waco investment less than 3 months ago, and we have already made meaningful progress excavating the site, ordering equipment, completing the foundation and recruiting key employees.

K2 坡道的出色表現證明了我們 Kalamazoo 團隊的出色工作和奉獻精神。此外，投資的成功為我們提供了專業知識和信心，可以繼續進行戰略投資，以重新定義基於纖維的消費品包裝格局，就像我們在韋科所做的那樣。我們在不到 3 個月前宣布對 Waco 的投資，我們已經在挖掘場地、訂購設備、完成地基和招聘關鍵員工方面取得了有意義的進展。

We remain on track to meet our previously communicated time line, including the startup of the machine in the first quarter of 2026. Taken together, these investments help us meet the increased demand for CRB at an unmatched cost compared to our competitors. The investments in Kalamazoo and Waco will allow us to optimize our network further by closing higher-cost mills while still expanding capacity strategically over time.

我們將繼續按計劃滿足我們之前溝通的時間表，包括 2026 年第一季度機器的啟動。總的來說，這些投資幫助我們以競爭對手無法比擬的成本滿足對 CRB 不斷增長的需求。對 Kalamazoo 和 Waco 的投資將使我們能夠通過關閉成本較高的工廠進一步優化我們的網絡，同時隨著時間的推移仍然戰略性地擴大產能。

Due to the better-than-expected production from K2, we have decided to close our CRB mill in Tama, Iowa during the second quarter earlier than we had previously anticipated. Among every cycle paperboard mills, Tama has the smallest capacity and the highest cash production cost per ton. As closure advances our strategy to simplify our paperboard network while strategically expanding capacity and lowering cost.

由於 K2 的產量好於預期，我們決定在第二季度比我們之前預期的更早關閉位於愛荷華州多摩市的 CRB 工廠。在各循環紙板廠中，Tama 的產能最小，每噸現金生產成本最高。隨著關閉推進我們簡化紙板網絡的戰略，同時戰略性地擴大產能和降低成本。

Factoring in both Waco and planned mill closures, our optimized mill network will net approximately 5% more capacity than we currently have today with flexibility to adjust capacity in line with demand. As I mentioned a moment ago, our CRB investments don't simply deliver cost and production advantages. They enable us to make an entirely new grade to the highest quality coated recycled paperboard available.

考慮到 Waco 和計劃中的工廠關閉，我們優化的工廠網絡將淨產能比目前多 5%，並可根據需求靈活調整產能。正如我剛才提到的，我們的 CRB 投資不僅僅帶來成本和生產優勢。它們使我們能夠製造出全新等級的最高質量塗層再生紙板。

By utilizing K2 state-of-the-art technology, we can produce the new grade of recycled paperboard with enhanced appearance and performance characteristics as well as superior economics. The improved quality expands the breadth of our opportunities for CRB-based packaging to new consumer end markets that have historically only been served by virgin substrates such as FBB or SBS or other materials.

通過利用 K2 最先進的技術，我們可以生產具有增強的外觀和性能特徵以及卓越的經濟性的新型再生紙板。質量的提高將我們基於 CRB 的包裝的機會範圍擴大到新的消費終端市場，這些市場歷來僅由原始基材（如 FBB 或 SBS 或其他材料）提供服務。

Slide 6 illustrates a few examples of where we expect CRB to play over time. In short, we expect to see CRB and more products and consumer experiences. We're in the early innings and are currently conducting trials of our higher-quality CRB grades. We look forward to sharing more on these opportunities in the coming year as part of our ongoing innovation story.

幻燈片 6 展示了我們期望 CRB 隨著時間的推移發揮作用的幾個示例。總之，我們期待看到CRB以及更多的產品和消費者體驗。我們處於早期階段，目前正在對我們更高質量的 CRB 等級進行試驗。作為我們正在進行的創新故事的一部分，我們期待在來年分享更多關於這些機會的信息。

The adoption of CRB for certain packaging applications historically requiring virgin fiber will enable continued substrate optimization across our mill network. This is important as it brings up merging capacity in our other mills to capture growing global demand without the need for additional capital investments. Our CRB investments in paperboard great innovation are clear examples of what I mean by running a different race.

在過去需要原生纖維的某些包裝應用中採用 CRB 將使我們的工廠網絡能夠持續優化基材。這很重要，因為它提高了我們其他工廠的合併能力，無需額外的資本投資即可滿足不斷增長的全球需求。我們 CRB 對紙板偉大創新的投資是我所說的參加不同比賽的明確例子。

We are creating opportunities for ourselves and for our customers to deploy fiber-based consumer packaging options in places where that simply hasn't been possible in the past. This is a key factor in driving not only the depth of our customer relationships, but also our growth and performance.

我們正在為我們自己和我們的客戶創造機會，在過去根本不可能的地方部署基於纖維的消費品包裝選項。這不僅是推動我們客戶關係深度的關鍵因素，也是推動我們增長和績效的關鍵因素。

Slide 7 is a great example of innovation at our virgin substrates and the enormous opportunity to replace packaging created from nonrenewable resources, not as widely recycle as fiber-based packaging. Illustrated on this slide is our proprietary highly insulated double-wall fiber-based cup solution developed as an outstanding alternative to the foam cup. Our new cup boasts a number of features that centered apart from others available at quick service restaurants, providing consumers into Go Cup solution that sweats less is more durable and has enhanced insulation properties. Delivering added appeal to consumers are the improved sustainability features. The result is a better beverage experience for the consumer.

幻燈片 7 是我們原始基材創新的一個很好的例子，也是替代由不可再生資源製成的包裝的巨大機會，而不是像基於纖維的包裝那樣廣泛回收。這張幻燈片上展示的是我們專有的高度隔熱雙壁纖維杯解決方案，作為泡沫杯的出色替代品而開發。我們的新杯子擁有許多與快餐店提供的其他杯子不同的特點，為消費者提供出汗更少、更耐用且保溫性能增強的 Go Cup 解決方案。為消費者帶來更多吸引力的是改進的可持續性特徵。結果是為消費者提供了更好的飲料體驗。

Chick-fil-A is the largest quick service chicken restaurant chain in the United States and an existing graphic packaging customer. Today, we are announcing an expansion of that relationship with the launch of our proprietary cup innovation in Chick-fil-A locations from California to Maryland. Stage 1 of that launch is focused on approximately 10% of the customers' restaurant footprint. Over time, our innovation can be a potential long-term solution for Chick-fil-A's beverage program, including the ability to work in both cold and hot beverages. Driving innovation with industry leaders like Chick-fil-A is a great example of how leading brands are investing to transition towards more sustainable packaging solutions and how we are partnering with them to effectively manage that transition.

Chick-fil-A 是美國最大的快餐雞肉連鎖餐廳，也是現有的圖形包裝客戶。今天，我們宣布擴大這種關係，在從加利福尼亞到馬里蘭的 Chick-fil-A 地點推出我們專有的杯子創新。該發布的第一階段專注於大約 10% 的客戶餐廳足跡。隨著時間的推移，我們的創新可能成為 Chick-fil-A 飲料計劃的潛在長期解決方案，包括在冷飲和熱飲中工作的能力。與 Chick-fil-A 等行業領導者一起推動創新是一個很好的例子，說明領先品牌如何投資以過渡到更可持續的包裝解決方案，以及我們如何與他們合作以有效管理這一過渡。

While progress has been made to transition away from foam and plastic, Americans still use roughly 45 billion of these cups each year. Consumers are calling for a change in an environment with less waste. Our customers are looking for us to help. We believe our new insulated cup innovation has tremendous potential to win and what we estimate is a $2 billion addressable foam and plastic cup market in the U.S.

雖然在從泡沫和塑料過渡方面取得了進展，但美國人每年仍然使用大約 450 億個這樣的杯子。消費者呼籲改變環境，減少浪費。我們的客戶正在尋求我們的幫助。我們相信我們新的保溫杯創新具有巨大的獲勝潛力，我們估計美國的泡沫和塑料杯市場價值 20 億美元。

To put that in different terms, our $2 billion addressable market opportunity equates to roughly 600,000 tons of SBS paperboard demand. We are uniquely positioned to service this demand by leveraging our integrated platform as our customers meet the call from consumers. Our CRB mill project underway at Waco, with its enhanced cleaning and separation system will provide increased cup recycling capabilities. We look forward to partnering with QSR customers like Chick-fil-A on enhanced cup recycling programs in support of a move to a more circular economy.

換句話說，我們 20 億美元的潛在市場機會相當於大約 600,000 噸 SBS 紙板需求。當我們的客戶滿足消費者的需求時，我們具有獨特的優勢，可以通過利用我們的集成平台來滿足這一需求。我們在韋科正在進行的 CRB 磨機項目，其增強的清潔和分離系統將提供更高的杯子回收能力。我們期待與 Chick-fil-A 等 QSR 客戶合作，加強杯子回收計劃，以支持向更循環經濟的轉變。

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Steve to provide more detail on the quarter's financials.

有了這個，我將把電話轉給史蒂夫，以提供有關本季度財務狀況的更多細節。

Thanks, Mike, and good morning. Turning to Slide 8 and the key financial highlights for the first quarter. As Mike mentioned, it was a great start to the year. Net sales increased 9% year-over-year to over $2.4 billion, driven by positive pricing execution and 1% net organic sales growth partially offset by planned lower open market paperboard sales and foreign exchange impact.

謝謝，邁克，早上好。轉到幻燈片 8 和第一季度的主要財務亮點。正如邁克所說，這是今年的一個良好開端。淨銷售額同比增長 9% 至超過 24 億美元，這得益於積極的定價執行和 1% 的淨有機銷售額增長，部分被計劃的較低公開市場紙板銷售額和外匯影響所抵消。

As you can see on the right side of the slide, our sales performance benefited from the diversity of our portfolio. Our food, beverage and consumer markets, which together represent approximately 80% of our portfolio, increased sales 8% year-over-year. The food service market which represents approximately 20% of our portfolio, grew by 13% compared to the prior year period.

正如您在幻燈片右側看到的那樣，我們的銷售業績得益於我們產品組合的多樣性。我們的食品、飲料和消費品市場合計約占我們產品組合的 80%，銷售額同比增長 8%。食品服務市場約占我們投資組合的 20%，與去年同期相比增長了 13%。

Adjusted EBITDA was $484 million, of $134 million over Q1 last year. The 38% year-over-year increase was driven by price execution, organic sales growth and net performance. We're very pleased to see adjusted EBITDA margins at nearly 20% during the quarter, consistent with our goal for Vision 2025.

調整後的 EBITDA 為 4.84 億美元，比去年第一季度增加了 1.34 億美元。價格執行、有機銷售增長和淨業績推動了 38% 的同比增長。我們很高興看到本季度調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率接近 20%，這與我們 2025 年願景的目標一致。

Adjusted EPS continued to expand, growing 60% year-over-year to $0.77. As a reminder, our sales and EBITDA waterfalls are available for reference in the appendix of today's presentation. Liquidity remains very strong at over $1.2 billion. Our paperboard integration rate increased to 75% during the quarter up 200 basis points from the prior year period. Meanwhile, we are pleased that our backlog and operating rates remain healthy. Our backlogs were down slightly to 6 weeks across all substrates. This level is more in line with historic norms and supports our growth while allowing us to provide exceptional service to our customers.

調整後每股收益繼續擴大，同比增長 60% 至 0.77 美元。提醒一下，我們的銷售額和 EBITDA 瀑布可在今天的演示文稿的附錄中供參考。流動性仍然非常強勁，超過 12 億美元。我們的紙板整合率在本季度增加到 75%，比去年同期增加了 200 個基點。同時，我們很高興我們的積壓和開工率保持健康。我們所有基材的積壓訂單都略微縮短至 6 週。這一水平更符合歷史規範並支持我們的發展，同時使我們能夠為客戶提供卓越的服務。

Operating rates across the business remained high in the mid-90s in the first quarter. We continue to return cash to shareholders, consistent with our balanced capital allocation approach. During the quarter, we paid a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share totaling $31 million. We also repurchased $28 million of shares to offset dilution related to long-term incentive compensation.

第一季度整個業務的開工率在 90 年代中期仍然很高。我們繼續向股東返還現金，這與我們平衡的資本配置方法一致。本季度，我們支付了每股 0.10 美元的季度股息，總額為 3100 萬美元。我們還回購了 2800 萬美元的股票，以抵消與長期激勵薪酬相關的稀釋。

Slide 9 features our current guidance targets for 2023. Given our strong start and outlook for the balance of the year, we are pleased to be in a position to increase our 2023 guidance for adjusted EBITDA by $100 million to $1.9 billion at the midpoint of our guidance range. As a result, we have also increased expectations for adjusted EPS by $0.20 to a range of $2.70 to $3.10, and updated our year-end net leverage ratio target to be at or below 2.5x.

幻燈片 9 展示了我們目前 2023 年的指導目標。鑑於我們對今年餘下時間的良好開端和展望，我們很高興能夠在我們的中點將 2023 年調整後 EBITDA 指導增加 1 億美元至 19 億美元指導範圍。因此，我們還將調整後每股收益的預期上調了 0.20 美元至 2.70 美元至 3.10 美元的範圍，並將我們的年底淨槓桿率目標更新為等於或低於 2.5 倍。

We are also reiterating our guidance for sales and cash flow. Robust cash flow generated from our business this year will result in further pay down of debt while providing flexibility for continued investment in the business. Turning to Slide 10.

我們還重申了我們對銷售和現金流的指導。我們今年業務產生的強勁現金流將進一步償還債務，同時為繼續投資業務提供靈活性。轉到幻燈片 10。

You can see the substantial progress we have made since announcing our original Vision 2025 goals in 2019 and as Mike already noted, the improved 2023 guidance we are announcing today puts us on track to achieve our original Vision 2025 financial goals 2 years early. We remain confident in the path ahead and our ability to achieve our enhanced Vision 2025 financial goals provided last year.

您可以看到自 2019 年宣布最初的 2025 年願景目標以來我們取得的實質性進展，正如邁克已經指出的那樣，我們今天宣布的改進後的 2023 年指南使我們有望提前 2 年實現最初的 2025 年願景財務目標。我們對未來的道路以及我們實現去年提出的 2025 年願景財務目標的能力充滿信心。

Thank you for your time this morning. With that, let's turn the call back to the operator to begin the question-and-answer session. Operator?

謝謝你今天早上的時間。有了這個，讓我們把電話轉回接線員，開始問答環節。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Our first question today comes from the line of Ghansham Panjabi from Baird.

（操作員說明）我們今天的第一個問題來自 Baird 的 Ghansham Panjabi 系列。

Could you just start off by giving us more detail on what you exactly saw across the major verticals that you have exposure towards breakdown between foodservice, packaged food, beverage and also if there's any notable divergence across your 2 major geographies. I'm just asking because there's a lot going on with inventory destocking and so on.

您能否首先向我們提供更多詳細信息，說明您在食品服務、包裝食品、飲料之間的細分所面臨的主要垂直領域的確切觀察結果，以及您的 2 個主要地區之間是否存在任何顯著差異。我只是問，因為庫存去庫存等方面有很多事情要做。

It's Steve. Just to start that. I think if you look at our organic sales growth, the 1%, we saw continued organic sales growth in Europe, which was driven by the innovation engine that we have there. We saw growth again in our foodservice platform and all that was partially offset by a very slight decline in kind of the core food, beverage and consumer businesses in the Americas. So as we've seen in the past, the portfolio held up extremely well. Some positives. And then obviously, some of the places that destocking, as you mentioned, we're not immune to, but it's very small and a slight decline in the Americas for food, beverage and consumer.

是史蒂夫。只是為了開始。我想如果你看看我們的有機銷售增長，即 1%，我們會看到歐洲的有機銷售持續增長，這是由我們在那裡的創新引擎推動的。我們的餐飲服務平台再次出現增長，但所有這些都被美洲核心食品、飲料和消費業務的輕微下滑所部分抵消。因此，正如我們過去所看到的那樣，投資組合表現得非常好。一些積極因素。然後很明顯，正如你提到的，一些去庫存的地方我們也不能倖免，但它非常小，在美洲食品、飲料和消費者方面略有下降。

Got it. Perfect. And then for my second question, obviously, a very, very strong year in 2023 from an earnings standpoint. And I know it's incredibly early, but as we think about our earnings outlook for 2024, should we expect productivity to be in the vicinity of what you're projecting for this year? And at this point, do you foresee a path for earnings growth in 2024 despite -- to be up despite what will be a very difficult comparison.

知道了。完美的。然後是我的第二個問題，顯然，從收益的角度來看，2023 年是非常非常強勁的一年。而且我知道現在還早得令人難以置信，但是當我們考慮 2024 年的盈利前景時，我們是否應該期望生產率接近您今年的預測？在這一點上，你是否預見到 2024 年盈利增長的道路——儘管比較困難，但仍會上升。

Yes. No, Ghansham, I'll start, and then Mike can add some additional color. Obviously, you said it well, it's very early as we finished the first quarter. But as we look out to 2024, we would expect our model to continue to advance forward. We would expect to see 100 to 200 basis points of organic sales growth that we can earn on. And we would expect very strong productivity again in 2024. We'll have our normal $50 million to $70 million of productivity we would expect that we would always have line of sight to but it is noteworthy.

是的。不，Ghansham，我先開始，然後 Mike 可以添加一些額外的顏色。顯然，你說得很好，我們第一季度結束的時間還早。但展望 2024 年，我們預計我們的模型將繼續向前發展。我們希望看到 100 到 200 個基點的有機銷售增長，我們可以從中獲利。我們預計 2024 年將再次出現非常強勁的生產力。我們將擁有正常的 5000 萬至 7000 萬美元的生產力，我們希望我們始終能夠看到這一點，但值得注意的是。

We would expect to have less both planned and unplanned maintenance downtime next year as we look at it based upon some of the unplanned downtime that we've had here in the first quarter as well as less planned downtime next year. So to your question, yes, productivity should be on the high end of our historical norms. And then overall, the balance sheet will be in a great spot. Obviously, if we continue to take that down, interest costs would move down relative to EPS or the balance sheet will be in a place that drives strategic optionality. I don't know, Mike, do you want to add anything to that?

我們預計明年的計劃內和計劃外維護停機時間都會減少，因為我們根據第一季度的一些計劃外停機時間以及明年的計劃外停機時間來看待它。所以對於你的問題，是的，生產力應該處於我們歷史標準的高端。然後總體而言，資產負債表將處於一個很好的位置。顯然，如果我們繼續降低利率，利息成本將相對於每股收益下降，或者資產負債表將處於推動戰略選擇性的位置。我不知道，邁克，你想補充什麼嗎？

I think that's right. Ghansham, if you look at the fine point we put on guidance, having our debt-to-EBITDA ratio down at 2.5x or below during the end of the year while we're investing in Waco. We've got a tremendous amount of optionality as we go into 2024 to continue to deploy capital in a way that benefits shareholders and customers.

我認為這是對的。 Ghansham，如果你看看我們在指導中提出的要點，在我們投資 Waco 的同時，我們的債務與 EBITDA 比率在年底下降到 2.5 倍或以下。進入 2024 年，我們擁有大量的選擇權，可以繼續以有利於股東和客戶的方式部署資本。

Okay, fantastic. And congrats on the Chick-fil-A launch as well.

好的，太棒了。並祝賀 Chick-fil-A 的推出。

The next question today comes from the line of Cleve Rueckert from UBS.

今天的下一個問題來自瑞銀的 Cleve Rueckert。

Just a couple of brief ones for me because story is pretty clear at this point. I guess to start, can you maybe give us some more color on what's driving that $100 million increase in EBITDA at the midpoint of the guidance, you didn't take revenues up. So something on the margin. Is that really just the productivity you're getting out of K2, is there some input cost there? What's kind of driving that change?

對我來說只是幾個簡短的，因為此時故事已經很清楚了。我想首先，你能不能給我們一些更多的顏色，說明是什麼推動了 EBITDA 在指導的中點增加 1 億美元，你沒有增加收入。所以邊緣的東西。這真的只是您從 K2 中獲得的生產力嗎，那裡有一些投入成本嗎？是什麼推動了這種變化？

Yes, Cleve, it's Steve. I'll be glad to do that. If you kind of look through the guidance, the incremental $100 million is primarily driven by an improvement overall to our price execution. We took the midpoint of that up $50 million and we took the midpoint of our inflation guide down $50 million. So the net of that is the $100 million overall. The Kalamazoo positive is driving incremental productivity. It was offset by the first quarter unplanned downtime that we had at West Monroe. Those 2 negate out to roughly 0. So the net improvement is the improvement in overall price cost.

是的，克利夫，是史蒂夫。我很樂意這樣做。如果你看一下指南，增加的 1 億美元主要是由我們價格執行的整體改進推動的。我們將其中的中點提高了 5000 萬美元，並將通貨膨脹指南的中點降低了 5000 萬美元。因此，淨額是 1 億美元。 Kalamazoo 積極推動生產力的提高。它被我們在 West Monroe 的第一季度計劃外停機所抵消。那些 2 否定大約為 0。因此淨改善是整體價格成本的改善。

Got it. Okay. That's very clear. And then just quickly following up on the sort of the longer-term vision 2025. I guess the area that maybe you've got some work to do on is in the integration side. I'd just be curious if you can get to that 90% plus integration level with your existing platform or if the strategic options that you opened the door to discussing a second ago would be sort of an area of focus downstream in terms of integration.

知道了。好的。這很清楚。然後快速跟進 2025 年的長期願景。我猜你可能需要做一些工作的領域是在集成方面。我只是想知道您是否可以通過現有平台達到 90% 以上的集成水平，或者您剛才打開大門討論的戰略選擇是否會成為下游集成方面的重點領域。

Yes, Cleve, thanks for the question. I think if you go back to 2018 and really look at it on a combined basis when we acquired the Consumer Packaging business from International Paper. Our combined integration rate at that time was 62%. And we just announced this quarter that we increased 200 bps over where we finished last year. We're now at 75%. So we've made tremendous progress really over the last 5 years along those lines. And as you know, that's been a combination of both inorganic, some tuck-under acquisitions that we've done as well as our organic growth, which is 3-year stack coming into this year, it was roughly 10%, and we continue to grow here in the quarter. So it's going to be a combination of both of those things. But if you just kind of wind the clock forward is and supply agreements that we talked about at the end of the last year unwinds, we'll be pushing towards 80% by the end of this year as we head into 2024. So our confidence is high that we'll be in that range and be heading towards 90% over the next couple of years.

是的，克利夫，謝謝你的提問。我想如果你回到 2018 年，當我們從國際紙業收購消費品包裝業務時，真正綜合地看待它。我們當時的合併整合率為 62%。我們剛剛在本季度宣布，我們在去年完成的基礎上增加了 200 個基點。我們現在是 75%。因此，在過去的 5 年裡，我們沿著這些方向取得了巨大的進步。正如你所知，這是我們完成的一些無機收購和有機增長的結合，這是今年進入的 3 年堆棧，大約是 10%，我們繼續在本季度在這裡增長。所以這將是這兩件事的結合。但是，如果你只是把時間撥快一點，我們去年年底討論的供應協議解除，那麼我們將在今年年底邁向 80%，因為我們將進入 2024 年。所以我們有信心很高，我們將處於該範圍內，並在未來幾年內朝著 90% 的方向發展。

The next question today comes from the line of George Staphos from Bank of America.

今天的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 George Staphos。

Thanks for the details, and congratulations on the progress so far this year. I guess the first question on CRB and broadening the application that CRB can get into, including some food end markets. Can you explain how you're getting around the food contact issues with recycled material in the substrate? Is there anything that you need to add that would ultimately take away from the sustainability of that package? And I have a follow-on.

感謝您提供詳細信息，並祝賀今年迄今取得的進展。我想第一個問題是關於 CRB 和拓寬 CRB 可以進入的應用程序，包括一些食品終端市場。您能解釋一下您是如何使用基材中的回收材料來解決食品接觸問題的嗎？您是否需要添加任何最終會影響該軟件包可持續性的內容？我有一個後續。

Yes. Thanks, George. I appreciate the opportunity to talk a little bit about that new grade, which, by the way, we're going to call Rainier as we put in the materials there. And the reason for that is if you look at the appearance properties to that particular grade paper that we're going to manufacture. The brightness and the smoothness are substantially similar to SBS grade. So when we think about that grade and how we're going to position in the marketplace, it will compete for some food applications, for sure both here and Canada. But the real area that we believe we can push that is in some of the health and beauty, pharmaceuticals, anything that has a bottle or a blister pack that's kind of encapsulated with carton.

是的。謝謝，喬治。我很高興有機會談談這個新等級，順便說一句，我們將把它稱為雷尼爾，因為我們把材料放在那裡。其原因是，如果您查看我們將要生產的特定等級紙張的外觀特性。亮度和平滑度與SBS級基本相似。因此，當我們考慮該等級以及我們將如何在市場上定位時，它將在某些食品應用領域展開競爭，肯定會在加拿大和加拿大展開競爭。但我們相信我們可以推動的真正領域是一些健康和美容、藥品，任何有瓶子或用紙盒封裝的泡罩包裝的東西。

Historically, those have been upper end products. And so by definition, they were packaged in SBS, and we did some of that as well. But now that we've got a CRB that can compete with [CRB sheet] that can compete with the (inaudible) properties there, we see a lane there that's quite leveraged that over time that we're going to continue to find ways to penetrate. And so that's really where our focus is going to be with that particular grade.

從歷史上看，這些都是高端產品。所以根據定義，它們被打包在 SBS 中，我們也做了一些。但是現在我們已經有了可以與 [CRB 表] 競爭的 CRB，可以與那裡的（聽不清）屬性競爭，我們看到那裡有一條車道，隨著時間的推移，我們將繼續尋找方法來穿透。因此，這確實是我們關注該特定等級的地方。

We've got some other grades that we're able to make in Kalamazoo that have high sizing that can work well in Frasers. As you know, we've got the ability to make a grade that can package beverage. That's really what that slide was trying to point out is that you're going to see more CRB in more places. And it's a couple of hundred dollar a ton advantage over SBS, when you look at it, what it is. And so you can imagine customers if they can get the appearance capabilities, there's a lot of interest there. So we'll be in trials here in the second quarter, in a pretty heavy way.

我們在 Kalamazoo 生產的其他一些等級產品具有高漿度，可以在 Frasers 中很好地工作。如您所知，我們有能力製造可包裝飲料的等級。這正是該幻燈片試圖指出的，您將在更多地方看到更多 CRB。它比 SBS 每噸優勢幾百美元，當你看它時，它是什麼。所以你可以想像客戶如果能夠獲得外觀功能，就會有很大的興趣。因此，我們將在第二季度以非常沉重的方式在這裡進行試驗。

Our focus initially on Kalamazoo was to take the cost off. Now we committed that we would do that. As you heard Steve saying in his prepared remarks, we're on track to deliver the $130 million of EBITDA improvement 1 year early. So now our focus has turned to how do we take advantage of what is a very unique formation back end or front end of the machine, our calendar capabilities, our coding capabilities, which really no one else except for else have in North America here, and we've got in Kalamazoo and Waco as well. So that's what we're doing.

我們最初關注 Kalamazoo 的目的是降低成本。現在我們承諾我們會這樣做。正如您聽到史蒂夫在他準備好的發言中所說的那樣，我們有望提前 1 年實現 1.3 億美元的 EBITDA 改善。所以現在我們的重點已經轉向我們如何利用機器的非常獨特的編隊後端或前端，我們的日曆功能，我們的編碼功能，除了北美以外，其他人都沒有，我們還有 Kalamazoo 和 Waco。這就是我們正在做的。

I had a couple of other follow-ons on that, but I'll say it for the off-line. I guess the other question I had. So again, I think so far, not many companies that we track had organic revenue growth in this quarter. Having said that, the -- at least from our math, the organic revenue you put up was a little bit under 1%. 0.6%, 0.7%, nothing to sneeze at, but a little bit below what you've been targeting can you talk about whether there were any variances that were bit surprising to you in terms of your key end markets, maybe going back a little bit to Ghansham's question and kind of what the exit rate is into 2Q relative to that 100 to 200 basis points. And relatedly, whether or not we're in a recession, it's obviously a tougher environment out there. Is there anything else that you're rolling out of the playbook as we go through the next couple of years to prepare for this sort of volume uncertainty that a lot of companies are dealing with.

我還有其他一些後續內容，但我會在離線時說出來。我想我有另一個問題。因此，我認為到目前為止，我們追踪的公司中沒有多少公司在本季度實現了有機收入增長。話雖如此，至少從我們的數學來看，你提出的有機收入略低於 1%。 0.6%、0.7%，沒什麼好打噴嚏的，但略低於您的目標，您能談談在您的主要終端市場方面是否有任何讓您感到驚訝的差異，也許會回落一點關於 Ghansham 的問題以及相對於 100 到 200 個基點的第二季度退出率是多少。與此相關的是，無論我們是否處於衰退之中，顯然那裡的環境都更加艱難。在接下來的幾年中，您是否還有其他要推出的劇本來為許多公司正在處理的這種數量不確定性做準備。

Yes. So I'll start by saying, look, we were really pleased with our performance in Q1 as it relates to volume when you compare it against kind of the rest of the packaging world, we showed positive growth. And it's really a testament to our diversified end-use market participation strategies that we've rolled out, how we built the company. You heard Steve talk about both Europe and Foodservice Group. Foodservice was quite strong. And you'd expect it to be with unemployment at 3.6% and people wanting mobility and convenience. We expect that to continue to be the case. There was a little destocking in the Americas side of the business. As Steve said, we're not immune to that. But what you have to remember for most of the products that we package, they've got an expiration date, they've got a born on date. And so those things have to be used within a pretty defined period of time. So we're not as quite as exposed as maybe some industrial segments are along those lines.

是的。所以我首先要說，看，我們對我們在第一季度的表現非常滿意，因為當你將它與其他包裝領域進行比較時，它與銷量有關，我們顯示出正增長。這確實證明了我們推出的多元化最終用途市場參與戰略，以及我們如何建立公司。你聽史蒂夫談論過歐洲和食品服務集團。餐飲服務非常好。你會預計失業率為 3.6%，人們需要流動性和便利性。我們預計情況會繼續如此。美洲業務略有減少庫存。正如史蒂夫所說，我們不能倖免。但是對於我們包裝的大多數產品，您必須記住，它們有有效期，有出生日期。因此，這些東西必須在明確定義的時間段內使用。因此，我們並不像某些工業部門那樣暴露。

So that actually gives us confidence that we'll continue to find ways to find out 100 to 200 basis points over the medium to long term. And if you look at how we exited Q1 and into Q2, I'd say it's substantially similar to what we saw in Q1.

因此，這實際上讓我們有信心，我們將繼續尋找方法在中長期內找到 100 到 200 個基點。如果你看看我們如何退出第一季度並進入第二季度，我會說這與我們在第一季度看到的情況非常相似。

Our next question today comes from the line of Kieran De Brun from Mizuho. Please ensure you are unmuted locally.

我們今天的下一個問題來自 Mizuho 的 Kieran De Brun。請確保您在本地未靜音。

Sorry about that. I was on mute, I apologize. It seems like pricing is still trending better even though commodity prices are actually coming down. So, can you just talk a little bit more about how we think about that relationship into the back half of the year? And if we see raw subside further how -- and I know it's preliminary, but maybe how we should think about that into 2024.

對於那個很抱歉。我是靜音的，我道歉。儘管大宗商品價格實際上正在下降，但定價似乎仍趨於好轉。那麼，你能再多談談我們如何看待這種關係到今年下半年嗎？如果我們看到原始數據進一步消退，我知道這是初步的，但也許我們應該如何考慮到 2024 年。

Yes. Kieran, it's Steve, you touched on it. I mean price execution in Q1 was very good, very contractual as we've committed a lot of the changes in overall terms and conditions and the relationships that we've established with our customers short, medium and long term. Obviously, given that we haven't -- don't have any incremental new increases in the marketplace, you'll see some step down on the pricing, as you would expect, $230 million, we'll step down into the ones and then down into the under $100 million to kind of get that path towards $500 million, the roll-through obviously wouldn't be of substance as you kind of roll into 2024 because most of it would have been realized.

是的。 Kieran，是史蒂夫，你提到了它。我的意思是第一季度的價格執行非常好，非常合同化，因為我們已經承諾對整體條款和條件以及我們與客戶建立的短期、中期和長期關係進行大量更改。顯然，鑑於我們還沒有——市場上沒有任何增量的新增長，你會看到定價有所下降，正如你所期望的那樣，2.3 億美元，我們將降價到那些和然後下降到 1 億美元以下以實現通往 5 億美元的道路，當你進入 2024 年時，滾動顯然不會是實質性的，因為其中大部分已經實現了。

That being said, overall inflation, commodity input cost inflation while lower than the original expectations we established at the beginning of the year are still net inflationary. And so it's pretty neutral in terms of the pricing implications of that overall across the portfolio. And so to your question, as we kind of roll it in 2024, we'll continue to be extremely mindful of monitoring inflation and making price adjustments as needed to offset inflation if we continue to see it come through the business. So that part of the model wouldn't at all expect to be changed as we march through '23 and into '24.

話雖如此，總體通脹、商品投入成本通脹雖然低於我們年初制定的最初預期，但仍屬於淨通脹。因此，就整個投資組合的整體定價影響而言，它是相當中性的。所以對於你的問題，當我們在 2024 年推出它時，如果我們繼續看到它通過業務出現，我們將繼續非常注意監控通貨膨脹並根據需要進行價格調整以抵消通貨膨脹。因此，隨著我們從 23 世紀進入 24 世紀，模型的這一部分根本不會發生變化。

Great. And then maybe just one quick follow-up and this was discussed a little bit before, but clearly, you're generating strong cash. You have a very strong liquidity position. So how do we think about capital deployment priorities as we go into '24? I mean specifically, if you were to think about M&A or any investments along those lines. And I think it was discussed like is it focused on integration? Or are there any places where you want to see further growth or it's geographic or in terms of health and beauty or some other areas where you maybe have a little bit less exposure.

偉大的。然後可能只是一個快速跟進，之前已經討論過這個問題，但很明顯，你正在產生大量現金。您的流動性狀況非常強勁。那麼，當我們進入 24 世紀時，我們如何考慮資本部署的優先事項？我的意思是，如果你要考慮併購或任何類似的投資。我認為討論的重點是集成嗎？或者有沒有什麼地方你想看到進一步的增長，或者它是地理上的，或者在健康和美容方面，或者你可能接觸較少的其他一些領域。

Yes. Thanks Kieran. So look, our focus in '23 is really to make sure that we are at or below the 2.5x lever. And you heard Steve talked about that in his prepared remarks. So that's our focus this year. For '24, we'll continue to run a balanced capital allocation process like we've been doing for really the last 5 to 7 years that there's a variety of levers we can pull there. And we do those to maximize shareholder value. And the good news for us is we're going to have a lot of cash to be able to do that with in terms of what we're generating as debt balances continue to go down. And we're able to do that even with what we're doing in Waco. So we're quite excited about it.

是的。謝謝基蘭。所以看，我們在 23 年的重點是確保我們處於或低於 2.5 倍槓桿。你聽到史蒂夫在他準備好的發言中談到了這一點。所以這是我們今年的重點。對於 24 年，我們將繼續運行一個平衡的資本配置過程，就像我們在過去 5 到 7 年中一直在做的那樣，我們可以在那裡使用各種槓桿。我們這樣做是為了最大化股東價值。對我們來說，好消息是，隨著債務餘額繼續下降，我們將擁有大量現金來實現這一目標。即使我們在韋科所做的事情，我們也能夠做到這一點。所以我們對此感到非常興奮。

The next question today comes from the line of Mark Weintraub from Seaport Research.

今天的下一個問題來自 Seaport Research 的 Mark Weintraub。

One just quick clarification. So you've obviously raised EBITDA guidance by $100 million EPS, also nice raise there. You didn't make an adjustment to the adjusted cash flow, I apologize if I missed it, but why no adjustment there?

一個只是快速澄清。所以你顯然已經將 EBITDA 指引提高了 1 億美元 EPS，這也是不錯的提高。您沒有對調整後的現金流量進行調整，如果我錯過了，請原諒，但是為什麼那裡沒有調整？

Yes, Mark, it's Steve. We're really just providing ourselves with good flexibility primarily focused on Waco. The project is off to an outstanding start. We've got $1 billion to invest over the next 3 years. As Mike mentioned in his prepared remarks, we're off and running. So we're just giving ourselves some flexibility that if we keep that project on track and in steady state, there might be a little more CapEx that would take us to the high end of the range there. The more EBITDA we earn, we've got a little bit of cash taxes. So we're just really being appropriate around some flexibility. Obviously, debt paydown is job one this year. We're on that path into the mid-4s roughly on the debt balance, which will drive the leverage below 2.5x. But we're just trying to give ourselves some flexibility on Waco.

是的，馬克，是史蒂夫。我們真的只是為自己提供主要專注於 Waco 的良好靈活性。該項目有一個出色的開端。我們有 10 億美元用於未來 3 年的投資。正如邁克在他準備好的發言中提到的那樣，我們正在運行。因此，我們只是給自己一些靈活性，如果我們將該項目保持在軌道上並處於穩定狀態，可能會有更多的資本支出將我們帶到那裡的高端。我們賺取的 EBITDA 越多，我們就有一點現金稅。所以我們只是在一些靈活性方面真的很合適。顯然，償還債務是今年的首要任務。我們大致在債務餘額方面處於 4s 中期，這將使槓桿率低於 2.5 倍。但我們只是想在 Waco 上給自己一些靈活性。

We really like the start we're off to. We're investing. The weather has been good. And so we're just giving ourselves flexibility on the potential timing of the cash investment there. So nothing to change of substance other than a positive around off to a good start in Waco.

我們真的很喜歡我們的開始。我們在投資。天氣一直很好。因此，我們只是讓自己在現金投資的潛在時間上具有靈活性。因此，除了在 Waco 有一個良好的開端之外，沒有什麼可以改變的。

Got it. And so it's just you'd be moving the spend forward. It's not that the spend on Waco would be more.

知道了。所以這只是你會向前推進支出。並不是說在 Waco 上的花費會更多。

That's correct. As Mike mentioned, we're on track no change to the $1 billion. It's just about the timing of the spend.

這是正確的。正如邁克所提到的，我們有望對 10 億美元保持不變。這只是關於支出的時間。

Right. And I just wanted to just hone in a bit on the open market sales. And I realize that your strategy is really focusing on the organic volume growth, and you're doing a terrific job there. But maybe just give us a little bit more color on what's going on in that part of your business and how much of that is export versus domestic? And how you are tactically working through that part of your business in the environment that we currently are facing.

正確的。我只是想稍微了解一下公開市場的銷售情況。而且我意識到你的戰略真正關注的是有機銷量增長，而且你在這方面做得非常出色。但也許只是讓我們更多地了解一下您業務的那部分正在發生的事情以及其中有多少是出口與國內的？以及您如何在我們當前面臨的環境中從戰術上處理您的業務的這一部分。

Yes. Thanks, Mark, appreciate the question. From our standpoint, our export open market sales are very, very small. So we'll start with that. And really, as you seen us do over the last really 5 years is we're systematically doing a strategic retreat from certain parts of the open market, North American open market paperboard segments because we need those tons to run our own business as it continues to grow. And so you saw that on the waterfalls there in all likelihood, you'll see it again in quarter 2 because Q1 and Q2 last year were pretty strong quarters, basically anything that was available was sold. And so from our standpoint, we're being very thoughtful in terms of how we use those tons and they're really focused to help us grow our own -- converting a tough business and ultimately take care of long-term customers that we've got on the open market side. So that's what we're doing.

是的。謝謝，馬克，感謝這個問題。從我們的角度來看，我們的出口公開市場銷售額非常非常小。所以我們將從那裡開始。實際上，正如您在過去 5 年中看到我們所做的那樣，我們正在系統地從公開市場的某些部分進行戰略撤退，北美公開市場紙板細分市場，因為我們需要這些噸來經營我們自己的業務，因為它繼續成長。所以你很可能會在瀑布上看到它，你會在第二季度再次看到它，因為去年第一季度和第二季度是非常強勁的季度，基本上所有可用的東西都被賣掉了。因此，從我們的角度來看，我們在如何使用這些噸位方面非常周到，他們真正專注於幫助我們發展自己——轉變一項艱難的業務，並最終照顧我們的長期客戶。我們站在公開市場一邊。這就是我們正在做的。

The next question today comes from the line of Mike Roxland from Truist Securities.

今天的下一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 Mike Roxland。

Congrats on a very good quarter. Just on -- I want to get a sense, Mike, from you in terms of how do you think about your portfolio on a go-forward basis? So obviously, you built out Kalamazoo, it's ahead of expectations. You're building out Waco right now. Is this something that we should expect to be ongoing so that after you done with Waco, maybe we should expect another capital spend period where you build out -- there's another CRB mill low-cost efficient? And then basically, that's something you're going to keep doing on a go-forward basis. And similarly, are there any significant enhancements that we should expect from you with respect to both SBS and with CUK?

祝賀一個非常好的季度。只是 - 邁克，我想從你的角度了解你如何看待你的投資組合？很明顯，你建造了 Kalamazoo，它超出了預期。你現在正在建造 Waco。這是我們應該期望持續進行的事情嗎，以便在您完成 Waco 之後，也許我們應該期待您建立的另一個資本支出期 - 還有另一個低成本高效的 CRB 工廠？然後基本上，這是你要在前進的基礎上繼續做的事情。同樣，在 SBS 和 CUK 方面，我們是否應該期望您有任何重大改進？

Michael, can you repeat the last part of the question, I want to make sure I have it.

邁克爾，你能重複問題的最後一部分嗎，我想確保我有它。

Sure. So sorry about that, Mike. Just I want to know in addition to what you're doing in terms of CRB optimization, or are there any other significant enhancements we should expect from you guys on SBS and CUK.

當然。很抱歉，邁克。除了你們在 CRB 優化方面所做的工作之外，我只是想知道，或者我們是否希望你們在 SBS 和 CUK 上有任何其他重要的改進。

Got it. Thanks for the question. As I talked about in my prepared comments, and I appreciate you calling it out is what we're really excited about here and graphic is kind of when we exit the Waco startup, we're going to have 6 world-class mills to the make CRB to the make CUK and to make SBS.

知道了。謝謝你的問題。正如我在準備好的評論中所說的那樣，我很感激你指出這是我們在這裡真正興奮的事情，當我們退出 Waco 初創公司時，我們將擁有 6 個世界級的工廠製作 CRB 製作 CUK 和製作 SBS。

So we've got the redundancy. We've got the cost structure we like. They're very focused on what they do with the mill. Strong leadership teams and very large, well-capitalized complexes like we've got there. And the net on adding Waco, as I said in my comments, allows us to have roughly 5% additional tons, so call it, 200,000 tons across the 4 million, 4.5 million ton network. So if you think about that, what we're really excited about is we're going to be able to kind of shift substrates around within that 6 mill system within the substrates to really help us grow our business. And so we believe actually that CapEx requirements into those mills in the CUK and the SBS mills will actually be less because we're going to be able to open up additional tons in order to balance off the CRB side.

所以我們有冗餘。我們有我們喜歡的成本結構。他們非常專注於他們對工廠所做的事情。強大的領導團隊和非常大的、資本充足的綜合體就像我們已經擁有的那樣。正如我在評論中所說，添加 Waco 的淨額使我們能夠在 400 萬、450 萬噸的網絡中增加大約 5% 的噸數，所謂的 200,000 噸。因此，如果您考慮一下，我們真正感到興奮的是，我們將能夠在基板內的 6 磨機系統內移動基板，以真正幫助我們發展業務。因此，我們實際上相信，對 CUK 和 SBS 工廠的資本支出要求實際上會減少，因為我們將能夠開闢更多的噸位以平衡 CRB 方面。

So that's really one of the reasons why we did what we did in Waco too because it frees up those tons that we'll then be able to use. And so what we'll look to do at those mills is cost reduction projects that structure to take out carbon, take out input costs because we're going to have the tons already that we need to run and operate to grow our business.

所以這確實是我們在 Waco 所做的事情的原因之一，因為它釋放了我們隨後可以使用的噸位。因此，我們希望在這些工廠做的是降低成本的項目，這些項目的結構可以去除碳，去除投入成本，因為我們已經擁有了我們需要運行和運營以發展我們的業務的噸數。

Yes. Mike, it's Steve. Just to add to that, as we've talked from a modeling -- long-term modeling perspective, once we are in beyond Waco here over that 3-year period of time, we can see CapEx moving back down into that 5% sale type range similar to historical that allows us to maintain the assets at a very high level and support that 100 to 200 basis points of growth.

是的。邁克，是史蒂夫。補充一點，正如我們從建模——長期建模的角度所討論的那樣，一旦我們在這 3 年的時間裡超越韋科，我們可以看到資本支出回落到 5% 的銷售額類似於歷史的類型範圍使我們能夠將資產維持在非常高的水平並支持 100 到 200 個基點的增長。

And just one quick question on what you're seeing now with respect to demand in terms of April. And anything -- April trends, anything thus far? I know it's only 2nd day of May, but anything you can comment on in terms of trends post 1Q?

就 4 月份的需求而言，您現在看到的只是一個簡短的問題。還有什麼——四月的趨勢，到目前為止有什麼嗎？我知道現在才 5 月 2 日，但您可以就第一季度後的趨勢發表任何評論嗎？

So substantially similar to what we saw in Q1.

與我們在第一季度看到的非常相似。

The next question today comes from the line of Adam Samuelson from Goldman Sachs.

今天的下一個問題來自高盛的 Adam Samuelson。

So I guess the first question is actually -- it's a clarification. And if I just want to go back to where you were in mid-February at the time of fourth quarter results. It seemed like the price cost kind of benefit that you realized in the first quarter was considerably above what you'd frame back in February. And I just want to make sure that we're properly calibrated on kind of what the source of -- was it just natural gas that really fell and was weak through the first quarter. Help us think about the key moving pieces that drove that to be such a positive surprise in the quarter?

所以我想第一個問題實際上是——這是一個澄清。如果我只想回到 2 月中旬第四季度業績時的情況。您在第一季度實現的價格成本收益似乎大大高於您在 2 月份的預期。我只是想確保我們對某種來源進行了適當的校準——是不是天然氣在第一季度真正下跌並且疲軟。幫助我們思考推動該季度成為如此積極驚喜的關鍵因素？

Yes, Adam, it's Steve. Price execution exceeded our expectations by a bit just because of just good strong overall commercial performance and execution of our pricing commitments. And then yes, the overall inflation in the quarter was modestly below expectations since the move in the full year guidance range down. And so yes, you touched on the pieces of parts. We've got some things moving down on the commodity front that are well chronical, nat gas, some logistics costs, some OCC but it is being offset by items that are moving up still like the paperboard that we acquire and purchase like chemicals. And so we've moved the range down of inflation down to the $100 million to $300 million range, the current mark-to-market would be on the lower end of that range, consistent with the conversations that we've seen and that you just were asking about relative to kind of the mix of commodity cost movements.

是的，亞當，是史蒂夫。價格執行略微超出了我們的預期，這僅僅是因為良好的整體商業表現和我們定價承諾的執行。然後是的，自全年指導範圍下調以來，本季度的整體通脹率略低於預期。所以是的，你談到了零件的碎片。我們在商品方面有一些東西在長期下降，天然氣，一些物流成本，一些 OCC，但它被仍在上升的項目所抵消，比如我們像化學品一樣獲取和購買的紙板。因此，我們已將通貨膨脹範圍下調至 1 億美元至 3 億美元的範圍，當前按市值計價將處於該範圍的下限，這與我們所看到的對話以及您所看到的一致只是詢問相對於商品成本變動的組合。

Okay. No, that's really helpful. And then a second question on K2 and thinking about the implications for Waco. And this partially got addressed earlier, but as you think about K2 kind of exceeding design capacity in terms of output, it allowed you to make the actions of TAMA earlier. But how does that -- as you kind of get further along with K2 as it continues to kind of reach or exceed its investment case earlier than you thought. How is that informing Waco and how you plan for it and how you think about the potential returns in EBITDA, where I think some of the network optimization benefits that could come from Waco were still kind of upside to the investment case?

好的。不，這真的很有幫助。然後是關於 K2 的第二個問題，並思考對 Waco 的影響。這部分問題較早得到解決，但當您考慮到 K2 在輸出方面超出設計能力時，它允許您更早地執行 TAMA 操作。但這是怎麼回事——隨著 K2 繼續比你想像的更早達到或超過其投資案例，你會進一步了解它。這對 Waco 有何影響？你如何計劃它以及你如何看待 EBITDA 的潛在回報，我認為 Waco 可能帶來的一些網絡優化收益仍然對投資案例有好處？

Thanks for the question, Adam. I guess I'll start by saying the success we're seeing in Kalamazoo here in terms of overall productivity continues to give us increased confidence in our ability to execute the Waco project and do so in a way that delivers the $160 million of improved EBITDA that we announced when we announced the project. So that's really an important aspect of that. What Kalamazoo ramping up to 550,000 tons annually does, which is consistent with what we announced we would do on the Waco machine as well.

謝謝你的問題，亞當。我想我首先要說的是，我們在 Kalamazoo 看到的整體生產力方面的成功繼續讓我們對執行 Waco 項目的能力更有信心，並以實現 1.6 億美元改進 EBITDA 的方式執行我們在宣布該項目時宣布的。所以這真的是一個重要的方面。 Kalamazoo 每年增加到 550,000 噸，這與我們宣布我們將在 Waco 機器上做的事情一致。

It really just allows us to pull forward a closure that we had announced that we were going to do later on in the process and deliver the additional $30 million of EBITDA here in 2023, that Steve outlined in his prepared comments. So we're just a little ahead of the game. We're going to have the 5% of net tonnage that we talked about there, 200,000 tons still, that's our plan. Once it goes fully operational and ramped speed and as I said earlier, with one couple of questions we got, that gives us a lot of optionality to balance out across our existing 6 large mill system.

它真的只是讓我們能夠提前關閉我們已經宣布的關閉，我們將在稍後的過程中完成，並在 2023 年在這裡交付額外的 3000 萬美元的 EBITDA，史蒂夫在他準備好的評論中概述了這一點。所以我們只是領先了一點。我們將擁有我們在那裡談到的淨噸位的 5%，還有 200,000 噸，這是我們的計劃。一旦它全面運行並提高速度，正如我之前所說，我們得到了幾個問題，這給了我們很多選擇來平衡我們現有的 6 個大型工廠系統。

The next question today comes from the line of Arun Viswanathan from RBC Capital Markets.

今天的下一個問題來自 RBC Capital Markets 的 Arun Viswanathan。

Congrats on a really good quarter and progress so far. I guess I just wanted to drill down back on the price cost. So appreciating that you did bring down the cost side a little bit. Was that kind of chemicals and wood and energy as well? Or whaat were some of the -- maybe the bigger categories that drove that as well? And so I'll start with that.

祝賀一個非常好的季度和到目前為止的進步。我想我只是想深入了解價格成本。非常感謝您確實降低了成本方面的一點點。是那種化學品、木材和能源嗎？或者是什麼 - 也許更大的類別也推動了這一點？所以我將從那個開始。

Yes. Arun, it's Steve. It's just the [50] items that are pretty well known. I think the $100 million to $400 million of original guide for inflation. We took the top end down from $400 million to $300 million, and it's mostly because of a not necessarily seen yet a reinflationary environment, which is why we had the original range. And yes, some of the items that are down, nat gas pretty well chronicled, some logistics cause and OCC, which was kind of procuring when we put the original guide together. So those are the items. We look at it as a basket of commodities, what our expectations around it. And as I mentioned a moment ago, just repeating at the mark-to-market as we sit here today, would be on the lower end of the $100 million to $300 million of commodity input cost inflation.

是的。阿倫，是史蒂夫。這只是眾所周知的 [50] 項。我認為 1 億到 4 億美元的原始通貨膨脹指南。我們將最高值從 4 億美元下調至 3 億美元，這主要是因為還不一定看到再通脹環境，這就是我們擁有原始範圍的原因。是的，有些項目已經下降，天然氣記錄得很好，一些物流原因和 OCC，當我們把原始指南放在一起時，這是一種採購。所以這些就是項目。我們將其視為一籃子商品，我們對它的期望是什麼。正如我剛才提到的，就像我們今天坐在這裡重複按市值計算，將處於 1 億至 3 億美元商品投入成本通脹的低端。

Okay. Great. And then as a follow-up, it seems like the pricing environment is also holding up relatively well. Could you just maybe walk through the 3 grades and just tell us what you're seeing from a supply-demand perspective, it does appear that there may have been some looseness on the CRB side, but it doesn't appear that if it's affecting you and then is it also maybe because some of the consumer categories are doing better than industrial, and that's why Boxboard is holding up a little bit better than containerboard.

好的。偉大的。然後作為後續行動，定價環境似乎也相對良好。你能不能談談 3 個等級並告訴我們你從供需的角度看到了什麼，CRB 方面確實出現了一些鬆動，但似乎並沒有影響你然後它也可能是因為一些消費品類別比工業品做得更好，這就是為什麼 Boxboard 比 containerboard 好一點。

Arun, it's Mike. So just working off facts with what the AF&PA released here on Friday is probably the best way to answer your question. I mean look, instead at a high level, you saw that we talked about our backlog of roughly 6 weeks across all 3 substrates on average. That's a very healthy backlog, and it really allows us to service our customers extremely well. And as we talked about over a year ago now, I actually went back and looked at that transfer. And we said 9 to 10 weeks, we just don't have the ability to take care of our customers as well as we need to it. So now we do. And our customers are really pleased by that. It's important because many of them run just in time, manufacturing processes, and they need to be able to respond to the needs of the consumer, which changed pretty wildly, as you know. So that's solid.

阿倫，我是邁克。因此，僅根據 AF&PA 週五在這裡發布的內容來處理事實可能是回答您問題的最佳方式。我的意思是看，而不是在更高的層次上，你看到我們談論了我們在所有 3 個基板上平均大約 6 週的積壓。這是一個非常健康的積壓，它真的讓我們能夠非常好地為我們的客戶服務。正如我們一年多前談論的那樣，我實際上回過頭看了看那次轉會。我們說 9 到 10 週，我們只是沒有能力像我們需要的那樣照顧我們的客戶。所以現在我們這樣做了。我們的客戶對此非常滿意。這很重要，因為他們中的許多人都及時運行，製造過程，他們需要能夠響應消費者的需求，正如你所知，消費者的需求變化非常大。所以這是可靠的。

The actual operating rate for CRB was 94.7% for the quarter, which is very healthy. SBS was a little bit divergent in terms of liquid packaging, foodservice, we're up at 95%. General folding was down at 85% for a total of 90% but we also know because they publicly announced it that one of our competitors is removing a mill from the system and at 360,000 tons going away, that will be 5.5% of capacity that goes away. So if you kind of normalize for that, it's obviously in the mid-90s as well. And then on the other grade, which is combining with GIPSA and wall facing, clearly, we had some unplanned downtime that factored into it. Presumably, GIPSA and wall facing was also somewhat we've just given the housing markets. So that's how we're thinking about it.

本季度華潤銀行實際開工率為94.7%，非常健康。 SBS 在液體包裝、餐飲服務方面有點不同，我們達到了 95%。一般折疊率下降了 85%，總計下降了 90%，但我們也知道，因為他們公開宣布我們的一個競爭對手正在從系統中移除一家工廠，並減少 360,000 噸，這將是減少產能的 5.5%離開。因此，如果您對此進行標準化，那顯然也是在 90 年代中期。然後在與 GIPSA 和牆面相結合的另一個等級上，顯然，我們有一些計劃外的停機時間是其中的一個因素。據推測，GIPSA 和牆面也有點我們剛剛給住房市場。這就是我們考慮的方式。

I guess maybe since you opened the door for me to talk about it, I really want to spend a few minutes on this call, just saying that I think we're making a mistake as we kind of look at it just to try to define us, graphic packaging as backlogs and operating rates because at a high level, we're a packaging company that happens to make the raw material that we actually convert in our system. And we've got the ability, given the market that we've got and the high level of integration that we do have to run that system to demand. And that's in fact, what we will continue to do here going forward.

我想也許自從你打開門讓我談論它之後，我真的很想在這次電話會議上花幾分鐘時間，只是說我認為我們犯了一個錯誤，因為我們看它只是為了試圖定義我們，圖形包裝作為積壓和開工率，因為在高層次上，我們是一家包裝公司，恰好生產我們在系統中實際轉換的原材料。考慮到我們所擁有的市場以及我們必須運行該系統以滿足需求的高度集成，我們有能力。事實上，這就是我們今後將繼續在這裡做的事情。

So it's really more relevant for us and for you at least, Steve, in my opinion, to have you guys think about us in terms of how we're driving overall package growth and comp growth which was positive in the quarter. And then we happen to make the raw material that we make. So it's not that those statistics aren't relevant because they are. But sometimes I think they're just an over myopic focus on those 2 things. So I'd ask you guys to kind of consider that as you think about the company here going forward.

因此，在我看來，讓你們考慮我們如何推動整體包裝增長和 comp 增長這在本季度是積極的，這對我們和至少對你來說真的更重要，史蒂夫。然後我們碰巧製造了我們製造的原材料。所以並不是說這些統計數據不相關，因為它們是相關的。但有時我認為他們只是過度近視地關注這兩件事。所以我想請你們在考慮這裡的公司時考慮一下。

The next question today comes from the line of Gabe Hajde from Wells Fargo Securities.

今天的下一個問題來自 Wells Fargo Securities 的 Gabe Hajde。

Appreciating that I'm not a papermaker, and I think it's really great that you guys are, I guess, exceeding kind of nameplate capacity on K2. But I'm just curious, it seems pretty early for a project of that size to maybe extrapolate out the fact that, okay, maybe we exceeded productivity for a few months or 6 months or something like that. So why not keep that -- I guess the question is the strategy behind maybe why not keep that in your back pocket and take a little bit of EDT across your CRB system if and when things do, in fact, slow as opposed to take this more permanent adjustment to the system kind of shortly after buying that TAMA mill.

感謝我不是造紙商，我認為你們真的很棒，我猜，超過了 K2 上的銘牌容量。但我很好奇，對於一個如此規模的項目來說，推斷出這樣一個事實似乎還為時過早，好吧，也許我們的生產力超過了幾個月或 6 個月或類似的時間。那麼為什麼不保留它——我想問題是背後的策略也許為什麼不把它放在你的後兜里並在你的 CRB 系統中使用一點 EDT 如果事情確實發生了，事實上，慢而不是採取這個購買 TAMA 研磨機後不久，對系統進行了更永久性的調整。

Yes. I appreciate the question, Gabe. And look, we've had a lot of those discussions internally here. The bottom line is just the momentum we have is incredibly solid and our confidence level that we can service the business and the optionality we have within the existing assets that we still have is very, very high. We wouldn't do it.

是的。我很欣賞這個問題，Gabe。看，我們在內部進行了很多這樣的討論。最重要的是，我們擁有的勢頭非常強勁，我們對我們可以為業務提供服務的信心水平以及我們在現有資產中擁有的可選性非常非常高。我們不會這樣做。

The last thing we want to do is put our customers in a situation where they don't have the material that they need to run their business. So we just wouldn't do that. So look, I think relative to what we've done here, we do have a cautious lens on it, and we've got those contingencies covered. So we can make that announcement that we're making have a lot of confidence that we're going to be okay.

我們最不想做的就是讓我們的客戶處於沒有經營業務所需材料的境地。所以我們不會那樣做。所以看，我認為相對於我們在這裡所做的事情，我們確實對此持謹慎態度，並且我們已經涵蓋了這些突發事件。因此，我們可以很有信心地宣布我們會沒事的。

All right. And then I guess I appreciate you advised us kind of maybe not spend too much time focusing on these statistics. I'll just ask a question to the extent that we roll forward in the second quarter, and maybe you tell us backlogs are at 4.5 weeks. When do you kind of start to -- I don't want to say the alarm bells go up, but just make different decisions internally in terms of running the business when those backlogs start to compress? Or is that I'm assuming that's a determining factor, but not the end of deal.

好的。然後我想我很感激你建議我們不要花太多時間關注這些統計數據。我只想問一個問題，我們在第二季度向前推進的程度，也許你告訴我們積壓在 4.5 週。你什麼時候開始 - 我不想說警鐘響起，但當這些積壓工作開始壓縮時，只是在經營業務方面做出不同的內部決定？或者我假設這是一個決定因素，但不是交易的結束。

It is. And look, as I mentioned earlier, the great thing that we've got a graphic given our high integration rates is we got the ability to run the demand. So the last thing we're going to do is run a bunch of paperboard and stick it in into inventory and type a bunch of working capital. And look, that's all in our outlook, and it's all in how we're operating the business, and we do that as a matter of normal course. And you can expect us to be very thoughtful in terms of how we're operating the business here.

這是。看，正如我之前提到的，鑑於我們的高整合率，我們有一個圖形的偉大之處在於我們有能力滿足需求。所以我們要做的最後一件事是運行一堆紙板並將其放入庫存並輸入大量營運資金。看，這一切都在我們的展望中，這一切都在我們經營業務的方式中，我們這樣做是正常的。你可以期待我們在如何經營這裡的業務方面非常周到。

And that's why I think it's just so relevant for you to look at the top line growth of the business relative to cartons and cups in the markets where we participate in, which are holding up very, very well. And just understand that we happen to be a packager that makes our own material. And so yes, I think I've covered that topic as best as I can.

這就是為什麼我認為在我們參與的市場中查看與紙箱和杯子相關的業務的頂線增長非常非常重要，這些增長非常非常好。只需了解我們恰好是一個自己製作材料的包裝商。所以是的，我想我已經盡我所能地涵蓋了這個話題。

A question comes from the line of Kyle White from Deutsche Bank.

一個問題來自德意志銀行的凱爾·懷特。

I wanted to focus on the foodservice opportunity you highlighted in the 600-ton addressable market for foam and plastic cups that could convert to fiber-based in the U.S. Does your asset base capacity situation allow you to take advantage of this opportunity? Or would you need to shift the cup stock versus folding carton improved mix while holding capacity constant and maybe just what can you do to ensure that you maintain your market share here for this opportunity?

我想重點關注您在 600 噸可尋址市場中強調的餐飲服務機會，該市場可以在美國轉換為基於纖維的泡沫和塑料杯。您的資產基礎能力狀況是否允許您利用這個機會？或者您是否需要在保持容量不變的情況下改變杯子庫存與折疊紙盒改進組合，也許您可以做些什麼來確保在此機會中保持您的市場份額？

Yes. Kyle, it's Mike. Thanks for the question. The answer would be, maybe just take a step back to remind everybody, we made almost 400,000 tons of uncoated cupstock. And the vast majority of that runs through our existing system. It's a highly integrated machine that we have in Texarkana. We have the ability to make cupstock in Augusta, and we do, and we have here already this year in 2023 in order to kind of service our business take care of customers.

是的。凱爾，是邁克。謝謝你的問題。答案是，也許只是退一步提醒大家，我們生產了將近 400,000 噸未塗層的杯托。其中絕大多數通過我們現有的系統運行。這是我們在特克薩卡納擁有的高度集成的機器。我們有能力在奧古斯塔製作杯托，我們做到了，今年 2023 年我們已經在這裡，以便為我們的企業提供服務，照顧客戶。

So as we have opportunities to grow our cup business, which is a stated strategy, we will absolutely ship SBS General folding cartons into cupstock. It makes a lot of sense for us to do that and you continue to drive our integration rates up. And that's the platform we were talking about that we've got the ability to leverage, and we're kind of uniquely positioned to be able to do that because we already have those capabilities.

因此，當我們有機會發展我們的杯子業務時，這是一項既定的戰略，我們絕對會將 SBS General 折疊紙盒裝進杯子。這樣做對我們來說很有意義，您會繼續提高我們的整合率。這就是我們正在談論的平台，我們有能力利用它，我們在某種程度上處於獨特的位置，能夠做到這一點，因為我們已經擁有這些能力。

If Chick-fil-A launches beyond where we currently are with roughly 10% of their stores, there will be investment that's needed in our comp plans to make sure that we've got the capacity to take care of all their needs on a wide distribution, national profile that they operate in. But again, that's all within the 5% of sales CapEx number that Steve talked about, and we'll just deploy the CapEx there because were growing. So from a modeling standpoint, really no change. It just really supports the 100 to 200 bps of organic growth that we've got to feel a lot of confidence in here over the medium to long term.

如果 Chick-fil-A 推出超過我們目前大約 10% 的商店，我們的補償計劃將需要投資，以確保我們有能力在廣泛的範圍內滿足他們的所有需求分佈，他們經營的國家概況。但同樣，這都在史蒂夫談到的銷售資本支出數字的 5% 之內，我們將在那裡部署資本支出，因為我們正在增長。所以從建模的角度來看，真的沒有變化。它確實支持了 100 到 200 個基點的有機增長，從中長期來看，我們必須對此充滿信心。

Yes, Kyle, just to add to that, to Mike's point, we have the SBS capacity capability within 1.2 million tons to service those growing needs and the only capital requirements would be on the converting the cup making side, which we can do plant by plant. And so that's -- it's excellent optionality and it's really in support of 100 to 200 basis points of organic growth over the next several years.

是的，Kyle，補充一點，Mike 的觀點是，我們擁有 120 萬噸以內的 SBS 產能來滿足這些不斷增長的需求，唯一的資本需求是在製杯方面進行改造，我們可以通過植物。這就是 - 它具有極好的可選性，它確實支持未來幾年 100 到 200 個基點的有機增長。

And then on -- sorry, on labor, the labor and benefits inflation is running twice the headwind as it was 2 years ago. Now obviously, it's on a bigger base with the AR Packaging acquisition, but still a pretty sizable increase. Are there opportunities to kind of reduce this headwind, using automation? Or is this just kind of a new normal inflation on rate for labor going forward?

然後——抱歉，在勞動力方面，勞動力和福利通貨膨脹的逆風是 2 年前的兩倍。現在很明顯，通過收購 AR Packaging，它的基礎更大，但仍然是相當可觀的增長。是否有機會使用自動化來減少這種逆風？或者這只是一種新的正常勞動力通貨膨脹率？

Yes, Kyle, it's Steve. Just briefly, it's generally the new norm. However, a lot of our ongoing capital tends to be around automation. And so taking labor -- lower skilled labor out where it makes good sense to do. We've got a long-term multiyear strategy to do that within our capital spending expectations and the labor and benefits has also become a big other, so insurance and property taxes and other things that don't fall into the commodity category are fundamentally bump. And so that's -- we're obviously attacking all of that in terms of the overall footprint. But yes, AR Packaging came in, the numbers moved up. It's probably modestly escalated because of higher labor rate inflation, which might more stabilize over time. But I think about it more as the new norm, which means that our overall productivity commitments need to be at or above that same category as we talked at the beginning of the call.

是的，凱爾，是史蒂夫。簡而言之，這通常是新常態。然而，我們的許多持續資本往往都圍繞著自動化。因此，將勞動力——低技能勞動力轉移到有意義的地方。我們有一個長期的多年戰略，可以在我們的資本支出預期範圍內做到這一點，而且勞動力和福利也成為另一個重要因素，因此保險和財產稅以及其他不屬於商品類別的東西從根本上來說是顛簸的.所以這就是 - 我們顯然在整體足跡方面攻擊所有這些。但是，是的，AR Packaging 進來了，數字上升了。由於較高的勞動力通脹率可能會適度升級，隨著時間的推移可能會更加穩定。但我更多地將其視為新規範，這意味著我們的整體生產力承諾需要達到或高於我們在電話會議開始時談到的同一類別。

The next question today comes from the line of Phil Ng from Jefferies.

今天的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Phil Ng。

This is [John] on for Phil. Thank you for all details and congrats on a good quarter. I wanted to just go back quickly to the TAMA mill for a second. You talked about it closing in the second quarter here. Are there any cash costs associated with closing that mill?

這是 [約翰] 替菲爾。感謝您提供所有詳細信息，並祝賀您度過了一個愉快的季度。我只想快速回到 TAMA 磨坊一秒鐘。你在這裡談到它在第二季度結束。關閉該工廠是否有任何現金成本？

John, it's Steve. They're modest. We had incentive programs in place for the team there with the longer term in mind. But no, there's nothing that we characterize as of substance relative to the cash cost there.

約翰，是史蒂夫。他們很謙虛。我們為那裡的團隊制定了長期激勵計劃。但不，我們沒有描述任何與那裡的現金成本相關的實質內容。

And they're consistent we're going to shut the mill down as we announced. So it was just to move forward.

他們一致認為我們將按照我們宣布的那樣關閉工廠。所以只能往前走。

Right. Okay. And if I could just quickly jump to West Monroe in the second quarter. It's already back up and running, but are there any lingering impacts from that in the second quarter?

正確的。好的。如果我能在第二節快速跳到西門羅。它已經恢復運行，但第二季度是否有任何揮之不去的影響？

No.

不。

Great. And then if I could just squeeze one more in. During the quarter, it was reported that graphic had a new partnership with Fort print packaging in Bulgaria. But I didn't really understand from the press release, what exactly the nature of the partnership was? Can you help us understand the nature of that and maybe if there any financial implications from that partnership?

偉大的。然後，如果我能再擠一個進去的話。在本季度，據報導 Graphic 與保加利亞的 Fort 印刷包裝建立了新的合作夥伴關係。但我並沒有真正從新聞稿中了解到，合作夥伴關係的本質是什麼？您能否幫助我們了解其性質，以及該合作夥伴關係是否有任何財務影響？

No, just an opportunity to have a converting partner that can help us grow our business in Europe with some unique capabilities in an area that we don't have our own converting facility. So it's pretty small in terms of its overall, you impact on the corporation, John, but it's important for that growing segment of -- from Europe.

不，這只是一個擁有轉換合作夥伴的機會，它可以幫助我們在我們沒有自己的轉換設施的地區以一些獨特的能力發展我們在歐洲的業務。所以就其整體而言，它非常小，你對公司的影響，約翰，但這對於來自歐洲的不斷增長的部分很重要。

And John, it's Steve. No cash investment. That's just the relationship with the converting partner, as Mike said, who can help us grow in that marketplace with assets that we don't have on the ground, but there's no cash investment.

約翰，是史蒂夫。沒有現金投資。正如邁克所說，這只是與轉換合作夥伴的關係，他們可以幫助我們利用我們在當地沒有的資產在該市場中發展，但沒有現金投資。

Our final question today comes from the line of Anthony Pettinari from Citi.

我們今天的最後一個問題來自花旗的 Anthony Pettinari。

I just had a quick one. Understanding you don't give quarterly guidance, is there maybe a way to think about the cadence of how earnings might flow through over the course of the year in terms of maybe being a little second half weighted. And as we think about the remaining 3 quarters of the year, are there any particular tough comps from a volume perspective or outages that we should sort of keep in mind for modeling purposes?

我剛吃了一個。了解您不提供季度指導，是否有一種方法可以考慮下半年的收益如何在一年中流動的節奏。當我們考慮今年剩下的 3 個季度時，從數量的角度來看，我們是否應該出於建模目的牢記任何特別困難的比較或中斷？

Yes, Anthony, it's Steve. Just briefly, we're executed on about 80% of our maintenance downtime here in the first half of this year. So you're correct. From an earnings cadence perspective, it's slightly edging towards the second half, but it's all planned. Maintenance downtime implications, you'll see in the second half in the details of our guidance that we pick up about $30 million in reduced planned or maintenance downtime in the second half with some of those being headwinds in the first. And you're correct, we don't provide quarterly guidance. I think you can get a sense for last year's EBITDA in the $400 million range. You could kind of stare through price cost and a little bit of net maintenance downtime headwind that we chronicled in the details probably to give you a good sense for where Q2 would be heading.

是的，安東尼，是史蒂夫。簡而言之，今年上半年，我們在這裡執行了大約 80% 的維護停機時間。所以你是對的。從盈利節奏的角度來看，它略微接近下半年，但一切都在計劃之中。維護停機時間的影響，你會在下半年的指導細節中看到，我們在下半年減少了約 3000 萬美元的計劃或維護停機時間，其中一些在上半年是不利因素。你是對的，我們不提供季度指導。我認為您可以了解去年 4 億美元範圍內的 EBITDA。你可以通過價格成本和我們在細節中記錄的一點點淨維護停機逆風來觀察，這可能會讓你對第二季度的發展方向有一個很好的了解。

That concludes today's question-and-answer session. So I would like to pass the call over to Mike Doss for any closing remarks.

今天的問答環節到此結束。因此，我想將電話轉給 Mike Doss 以聽取任何結束語。

Thank you for joining us today and for your interest in Graphic Packaging. We look forward to talking to you again in August when we report our second quarter results. Thank you, and have a great day.

感謝您今天加入我們並對圖形包裝感興趣。我們期待在 8 月報告第二季度業績時再次與您交談。謝謝你，祝你有美好的一天。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you all for your participation. You may now disconnect your line.

今天的電話會議到此結束。謝謝大家的參與。您現在可以斷開線路。