Kirby Corp (KEX) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Kirby Corporation 2024 second quarter earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Mr. Kurt Niemietz, Kirby's Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer. Please go ahead.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Kirby Corporation 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。現在我想將會議交給今天的第一位發言者，Kirby 投資者關係副總裁兼財務主管 Kurt Niemietz 先生。請繼續。

Good morning, and thank you for joining the Kirby Corporation 2024 second quarter earnings call. With me today are David Grzebinski, Kirby's Chief Executive Officer, Christian O'Neil, Kirby's President and Chief Operating Officer, and Raj Kumar, Kirby's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

早安，感謝您參加 Kirby Corporation 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。今天與我在一起的有 Kirby 執行長 David Grzebinski、Kirby 總裁兼營運長 Christian O'Neil 以及 Kirby 執行副總裁兼財務長 Raj Kumar。

A slide presentation for today's conference call as well as the earnings release which was issued earlier today, can be found on our website. During this conference call, we may refer to certain non-GAAP or adjusted financial measures. Reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are included in our earnings press release and are also available on our website in the Investor Relations section under financials.

您可以在我們的網站上找到今天電話會議的幻燈片演示以及今天早些時候發布的收益報告。在本次電話會議中，我們可能會提及某些非公認會計原則或調整後的財務指標。非公認會計原則財務指標與最直接可比較的公認會計原則財務指標的調節表包含在我們的收益新聞稿中，也可以在我們網站的投資者關係部分的財務部分找到。

As a reminder, statements contained in this conference call with respect to the future are forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's reasonable judgment with respect to future events. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated as a result of various factors. A list of these factors can be found in Kirby's latest Form 10-K and in our other filings made with the SEC from time to time. So we'll now turn the call over to David.

提醒一下，本次電話會議中包含的有關未來的聲明均為前瞻性聲明。這些陳述反映了管理階層對未來事件的合理判斷。前瞻性陳述涉及風險和不確定性，由於各種因素，我們的實際結果可能與預期有重大差異。這些因素的清單可以在 Kirby 最新的 10-K 表格以及我們不時向 SEC 提交的其他文件中找到。現在我們將把電話轉給大衛。

Thank you, Kurt, and good morning, everyone. Before we begin, I'd like to recognize our employees, especially our Texas-based team members that were recently impacted by Hurricane Beryl. Their lives were disrupted and many were left without power for several days and actually up to a week or two, but they remain focused on and continued to meet the needs of our customers and business as well as support each other during this event. I want to thank them for their exceptional efforts and resilience during this challenge.

謝謝你，庫爾特，大家早安。在開始之前，我想向我們的員工表示感謝，特別是最近受到颶風貝裡爾影響的德州團隊成員。他們的生活被打亂，許多人幾天甚至一兩週都沒有電，但他們仍然專注並繼續滿足我們的客戶和業務的需求，並在這次活動期間互相支持。我要感謝他們在這項挑戰中所做的傑出努力和堅韌不拔的精神。

Now turning to the second quarter earnings, today we announced earnings per share of $1.43, which compares to 2023 second quarter earnings of $0.95 per share. Our second quarter results reflected steady market fundamentals in both marine transportation, and distribution and services. Even though we experienced some modest weather and navigation challenges for marine and continued supply challenges in distribution and services. These headwinds were mostly offset by good execution. Solid demand in both marine and distribution and services continued during the quarter and led to strong financial performance.

現在轉向第二季度收益，今天我們宣布每股收益為 1.43 美元，而 2023 年第二季度收益為每股 0.95 美元。我們第二季的業績反映了海運、分銷和服務領域穩定的市場基本面。儘管我們在海運方面遇到了一些溫和的天氣和航行挑戰，並且在分銷和服務方面持續面臨供應挑戰。這些不利因素大部分都被良好的執行力所抵消。本季度，船舶、分銷和服務領域的需求持續強勁，帶來了強勁的財務業績。

In inland marine transportation, our second quarter results reflected continued pricing momentum with a modest impact from core navigational conditions due to weather and lock delays. From a demand standpoint, customer activity was steady with barge utilizations rates running in the low-to-mid 90% range throughout the quarter. Spot prices increased in the low-to-mid single digits sequentially and in the mid-10s range year over year.

在內陸海運方面，我們第二季的業績反映了持續的定價勢頭，但天氣和船閘延誤造成的核心航行條件影響不大。從需求的角度來看，客戶活動穩定，駁船利用率整個季度保持在 90% 的中低範圍內。現貨價格連續上漲幅度為中低個位數，較去年同期上漲幅度為 10 多位數。

Term contract prices also renewed up higher with mid-single digit increase this year versus a year ago. Overall, second quarter inland revenues increased 11% year over year and margins were in the low 20% range. In coastal, market fundamentals remained steady with our barge utilization levels running in the mid-to-high 90% range.

今年定期合約價格也重新走高，與一年前相比，漲幅達到中個位數。整體而言，第二季內陸營收年增 11%，利潤率在 20% 左右。沿海地區，市場基本面保持穩定，駁船利用率維持在90%的中高水準。

During the quarter, we saw strong customer demand and limited availability of large-capacity vessels, which resulted in high-10s percentage increases on term contract renewals year over year. Average spot market rates increased in the high single digits sequentially and in the mid 20% range year over year. These increases helped off soften, continued inflationary pressures, particularly with shipyards and helped partially offset the capital expense from the addition of ballast water treatment systems.

本季度，我們看到強勁的客戶需求和大容量船舶的供應有限，這導致定期合約續約量年增了 10%。現貨市場平均利率較上月以高個位數成長，年增約 20%。這些增加有助於緩解持續的通膨壓力，尤其是造船廠，並有助於部分抵消增加壓載水處理系統的資本支出。

Overall, second quarter coastal revenues increased 24% year over year and had an operating margin in the low-10s range.

總體而言，第二季度沿海收入年增 24%，營業利潤率在 10 左右。

Turning to distribution and services, in total, demand was stable across our end markets with sequential growth in revenue and operating income in power generation, revenue grew 9% year over year and the pace of orders was strong with several large project wins from backup power and other industrial customers as power continues to become more critical.

就配電和服務而言，總體而言，我們的終端市場需求穩定，發電收入和營業收入環比增長，收入同比增長 9%，訂單步伐強勁，多個備用電源大型項目中標以及其他工業客戶，因為電力變得越來越重要。

In oil and gas revenues were down year on year, but up 22% sequentially, driven by some growth in our e-frac business. In our commercial and industrial market, revenues were up 9% year over year and 16% sequentially, driven by steady demand across our different businesses with growth coming from the Thermo King product deliveries.

石油和天然氣收入同比下降，但在我們的電子壓裂業務有所增長的推動下環比增長了 22%。在我們的商業和工業市場，營收年增 9%，環比成長 16%，這得益於我們不同業務的穩定需求以及冷王產品交付的成長。

In summary, our second-quarter results reflected ongoing strength in market fundamentals for both segments. The inland market is strong and we see continued pricing momentum. In coastal, industry-wide supply demand dynamics remain very favorable. Our barge utilization is strong and we are realizing real rate increases. Increased demand for power generation and distribution and services is mostly offsetting softness in oil and gas areas. I'll talk more about our outlook later, but first, I'll turn the call over to Raj to discuss the second quarter segment results and balance sheet in more detail.

總之，我們第二季的業績反映了兩個細分市場市場基本面的持續強勁。內陸市場強勁，我們看到定價勢頭持續。在沿海地區，全行業的供應需求動態仍然非常有利。我們的駁船利用率很高，我們正在實現實際費率的成長。發電、配電和服務需求的增加主要抵消了石油和天然氣領域的疲軟。稍後我將更多地討論我們的前景，但首先，我將把電話轉給 Raj，更詳細地討論第二季度的部門業績和資產負債表。

Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone. In the second quarter of 2024, for marine transportation segment, revenues were $485 million and operating income was $95 million with an operating margin around 20%. Compared to the second quarter of 2023, total marine revenues increased $58 million or 14%, and operating income increased $31 million or 48%.

謝謝大衛，大家早安。2024年第二季度，海運業務收入為4.85億美元，營業收入為9,500萬美元，營業利潤率約20%。與 2023 年第二季相比，海洋總收入增加了 5,800 萬美元，即 14%，營業收入增加了 3,100 萬美元，即 48%。

Compared to the first quarter of 2024, total marine revenues, inland and coastal combined increased 2% and operating income increased 14%. As David mentioned, weather and lock delays modestly impacted operations as heavy rains in the Houston area briefly closed the ship channel and two major locks on the lower Mississippi River were closed for repairs. This led to a 44% increase in delay days year-over-year, but these headwinds were offset by solid underlying customer demand, improved pricing, and most importantly, execution.

與 2024 年第一季相比，內陸和沿海海洋總收入成長 2%，營業收入成長 14%。正如戴維所提到的，天氣和船閘延誤對營運產生了一定程度的影響，因為休士頓地區的大雨短暫關閉了航道，密西西比河下游的兩個主要船閘也被關閉進行維修。這導致延誤天數年增 44%，但這些不利因素被堅實的潛在客戶需求、定價的改善以及最重要的執行力所抵消。

Looking at the inland business in more detail, the inland business contributed approximately 81% of segment revenue. Average barge utilization was in the low-to-mid 90% range for the quarter, which is similar to the first quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2023. Long-term inland marine transportation contracts or those contracts with a term of one year or longer contributed approximately 65% of revenue with 59% from time charters and 41% from contracts of affreightment.

更詳細地看內陸業務，內陸業務貢獻了分部收入的約81%。本季駁船平均利用率處於 90% 的中低水平，與 2024 年第一季和 2023 年第二季類似。長期內陸海運合約或期限為一年或以上的合約約佔收入的65%，其中59%來自期租合同，41%來自貨運合約。

As David mentioned, improved market conditions contributed to spot market rates increasing sequentially in the low-to-mid single digits and in the mid-10s range year-over-year Term contracts that renewed during the second quarter were up on average in the mid-single digits compared to the prior year. Compared to the second quarter of 2023, inland revenues increased 11%, primarily due to higher term and spot contract pricing.

正如 David 所提到的，市場狀況的改善導致現貨市場費率連續上漲，增幅為中低個位數，同比增幅為 10 倍以上。與前一年相比，為個位數。與 2023 年第二季相比，內陸收入成長了 11%，這主要是由於定期和現貨合約定價較高。

Inland revenues increased low-to-mid single digits compared to the first quarter of 2024. Inland operating margins improved by around 300 basis points year-over-year, driven by the impact of higher pricing and continued cost management, which helped stave off lingering inflationary pressures.

與 2024 年第一季相比，內陸收入成長了中低個位數。受定價上漲和持續成本管理的影響，內陸營業利潤率年增約 300 個基點，有助於緩解持續的通膨壓力。

Now moving to the coastal business, coastal revenues increased 24% year over year due to higher contract pricing and fewer shipyards. We had one large vessel conclude its planned shipyard and re-enter service during the quarter. Overall, coastal had an operating margin in the low-10s range resulting from higher pricing and shipyard timings, which will temporarily reverse in the fourth quarter. The coastal business represented 19% of revenues for the marine transportation segment.

現在轉向沿海業務，由於合約價格上漲和造船廠減少，沿海收入年增 24%。我們有一艘大型船舶在本季結束了其計劃的造船廠並重新投入使用。總體而言，由於較高的定價和造船廠時間安排，沿海公司的營業利潤率約為 10 左右，這種情況將在第四季度暫時逆轉。沿海業務佔海運業務收入的 19%。

Average coastal barge utilization was in the mid-to-high 90% range, which is in line with the second quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024. During the quarter, the percentage of coastal revenue under term contracts was approximately 100%, of which approximately 97% were time charters. Average spot market rates were up in the high single digits sequentially and in the mid 20% range year over year. Renewals of term contracts were higher in the high-10s range on average year-over-year.

沿海駁船平均利用率處於90%的中高水平，與2023年第二季和2024年第一季的情況一致。本季度，沿海定期合約收入比例約為100%，其中約97%為期租約。現貨市場平均利率季增個位數，年增 20% 左右。定期合約的續約數量同比平均在 10 左右左右。

With respect to our tank barge fleet for both the inland and coastal businesses, we have provided a reconciliation of the changes in the second quarter as well as projections for 2024. This is included in our earnings call presentation posted on our website. At the end of the second quarter, the inland fleet had 1,093 barges, representing 24.2 million barrels of capacity. On a net basis, we expect to end 2024 with a total of 1,096 inland barges, representing 24.3 million barrels of capacity. Coastal marine is expected to remain unchanged for the year.

對於我們內陸和沿海業務的油罐駁船隊，我們提供了第二季的變化調節表以及 2024 年的預測。這包含在我們網站上發布的財報電話會議簡報中。截至第二季末，內陸船隊擁有駁船1,093艘，運力2,420萬桶。以淨額計算，我們預計到 2024 年底，內陸駁船總數將達到 1,096 艘，運力達到 2,430 萬桶。預計今年沿海海洋將維持不變。

Now I'll move on to review the performance of the distribution and services segment. Revenues for the second quarter of 2024 were $340 million with operating income of $29 million and an operating margin of 8.7% compared to the second quarter of 2023, the distribution and services segment revenue decreased by $11 million or 3%, while operating income was flat year-over-year.

現在我將繼續回顧分銷和服務部門的表現。2024年第二季營收為3.4億美元，營業收入為2,900萬美元，營業利潤率為8.7%，與2023年第二季相比，分銷和服務部門收入減少1,100萬美元或3%，而營業收入持平同比。

When compared to the first quarter of 2024, segment revenues increased by $7 million or 2% and operating income increased by $7 million or 34%. In power generation, our revenues tied to non oil and gas end markets were up 16% sequentially and 87% year-over-year, driven by strong demand as we continue to see significant orders from backup power, data centers, and other industrial customers for power generation equipment and backup power availability.

與 2024 年第一季相比，部門收入增加了 700 萬美元，即 2%，營業收入增加了 700 萬美元，即 34%。在發電領域，由於我們繼續看到來自備用電源、資料中心和其他工業客戶的大量訂單，在強勁需求的推動下，我們與非石油和天然氣終端市場相關的收入環比增長了16%，同比增長了87%用於發電設備和備用電源的可用性。

Our power generation revenues tied to the oil and gas space were down sequentially and year over year as product delays continue to contribute to lumpiness. Altogether, power generation revenues were up 9% year over year, while operating income was up 16% year over year, with operating margins in the low double digits. Power generation represented 32% of total segment revenues.

由於產品延誤持續導致不穩定，我們與石油和天然氣領域相關的發電收入連續下降並同比下降。整體而言，發電收入年增 9%，營業收入較去年同期成長 16%，營業利潤率處於較低的兩位數。發電佔部門總收入的32%。

On the commercial and industrial side, steady activity in marine repair and growth in Thermo King product sales offset lower activity in other areas, particularly on-highway truck service. As a result, commercial and industrial revenues were up 9% year-over-year. Operating income increased 38% year over year, driven by favorable product mix and ongoing cost savings initiatives.

在商業和工業方面，船舶維修活動的穩定和冷王產品銷售的成長抵消了其他領域活動的下降，特別是公路卡車服務。工商業收入較去年同期成長9%。在有利的產品組合和持續的成本節約措施的推動下，營業收入較去年同期成長 38%。

CNI made up 49% of segment revenues with operating margins in the high single digits. Compared to the first quarter of 2024, commercial and industrial revenues increased by 16% as a result of stable demand in most areas and higher Thermo King product shipments. Operating income was up 45% over the same period, driven by favorable product mix.

CNI 佔該部門收入的 49%，營業利潤率高達個位數。與2024年第一季相比，由於大部分地區需求穩定以及冷王產品出貨量增加，商業和工業收入成長了16%。由於有利的產品組合，營業收入同期成長 45%。

In the oil and gas market, we continue to see softness in conventional frac related equipment as low rig counts and lower fracking demand, tempered demand for new engines transmissions and parts throughout the quarter. This softness is being partially offset by solid execution and backlog and new orders of e-frac equipment.

在石油和天然氣市場，我們繼續看到傳統壓裂相關設備的疲軟，因為鑽機數量減少和壓裂需求下降，整個季度對新引擎變速箱和零件的需求減弱。這種疲軟現像被可靠的執行、積壓訂單以及電子壓裂設備的新訂單部分抵消。

Revenues in oil and gas were down 33% year over year, but increased 22% sequentially. Oil and gas represented 19% of segment revenues in the second quarter and operating margins in the low-to-mid single digits.

石油和天然氣收入年減 33%，但較上季成長 22%。石油和天然氣佔第二季部門收入的 19%，營業利潤率為中低個位數。

Now I'll turn to the balance sheet. As of June 30, we had $54 million of cash with a total debt of around $1.05 billion and our debt to cap ratio was 24.3%. During the quarter, we had net cash flow from operating activities of close to $180 million. Second quarter cash flow from operations saw a working capital reduction of approximately $10 million. We continue to target unwinding more working capital as the year progresses and into 2025.

現在我將轉向資產負債表。截至 6 月 30 日，我們擁有 5,400 萬美元現金，總債務約 10.5 億美元，負債上限比率為 24.3%。本季度，我們經營活動產生的淨現金流量接近 1.8 億美元。第二季營運現金流減少了約 1,000 萬美元。我們的目標是隨著時間的推移和 2025 年繼續釋放更多的營運資金。

We used cash flow and cash on hand to fund $89 million of capital expenditures or CapEx, primarily related to maintenance of marine equipment. During the quarter, we also used $43.7 million to repurchase stock at an average price of $117. As of June 30, we had total available liquidity of approximately $488 million.

我們使用現金流量和手頭現金為 8,900 萬美元的資本支出或資本支出提供資金，主要與船舶設備的維護相關。本季度，我們也使用 4,370 萬美元以平均價格 117 美元回購股票。截至 6 月 30 日，我們可用的流動資金總額約為 4.88 億美元。

For 2024, we remain on track to generate cash flow from operations of $600 million to $700 million, driven by higher revenues and EBITDA. We still see some supply chain constraints posing some headwinds to managing working capital in the near term. Having said that, we are targeting to unwind this working capital as orders shipped in 2024 and beyond.

到 2024 年，在營收和 EBITDA 增加的推動下，我們仍有望從營運中產生 6 億至 7 億美元的現金流。我們仍然看到一些供應鏈限制對短期內的營運資金管理造成一些阻力。話雖如此，我們的目標是在 2024 年及以後發貨的訂單中釋放這筆營運資金。

With respect to CapEx, we expect capital spending to range between $300 million and $330 million for the year. Approximately $200 million to $240 million is associated with marine maintenance capital and improvements to existing inland and coastal marine equipment and facility improvements. Approximately $90 million is associated with growth capital spending in both of our businesses.

就資本支出而言，我們預計今年的資本支出將在 3 億至 3.3 億美元之間。大約 2 億至 2.4 億美元用於海洋維護資本以及現有內陸和沿海海洋設備和設施的改進。大約 9,000 萬美元用於我們兩項業務的成長資本支出。

The net result should provide approximately $300 million to $350 million of free cash flow for the year. As always, we are committed to a balanced capital allocation approach, and we'll use this cash flow to return capital to shareholders and continue to pursue long-term value-creating investment and acquisition opportunities.

最終結果應為本年度提供約 3 億至 3.5 億美元的自由現金流。一如既往，我們致力於平衡的資本配置方法，我們將利用這些現金流向股東返還資本，並繼續尋求長期創造價值的投資和收購機會。

I will now turn the call back to David to discuss the remainder of our 2024 outlook.

現在我將把電話轉回給 David，討論我們 2024 年展望的其餘部分。

Thank you, Raj. While we exited the quarter with continued momentum in our businesses, the beginning of the third quarter was challenged by hurricane Beryl. The hurricane impacted our marine operations and temporarily shut down some of our DNS locations due to power outages. Our teams worked hard despite the challenging environment, and we're pleased to have quickly returned to normal operating conditions. Despite these challenges, pricing in the marine market continues to improve and demand is strong and our DNS businesses continue to hold steady.

謝謝你，拉吉。雖然我們的業務在本季結束時保持了持續的成長勢頭，但第三季初卻受到了颶風貝裡爾的挑戰。颶風影響了我們的海上運營，並因停電而暫時關閉了我們的一些 DNS 站點。儘管環境充滿挑戰，我們的團隊仍然努力工作，我們很高興能夠迅速恢復正常的營運條件。儘管面臨這些挑戰，海洋市場的定價持續改善，需求強勁，我們的 DNS 業務仍持續穩定。

With favorable fundamentals in the second half of the year, we expect year-over-year earnings growth to be at the high end of our original guidance of 30% to 40% growth. For some more detail, on marine, our outlook remains strong for the remainder of the year, driven in large part by limited availability of equipment and continued high refinery activity and improving chemical plants utilization.

由於下半年基本面良好，我們預計獲利年增將達到我們最初預測的 30% 至 40% 成長的上限。就船舶而言，我們對今年剩餘時間的前景依然強勁，這在很大程度上是由於設備可用性有限、煉油廠活動持續高漲以及化工廠利用率提高。

Specifically in inland marine, we anticipate positive market dynamics due to strong customer demand and limited new barge construction. With these strong market fundamentals, we expect our barge utilization rates in inland to be in the low-to-mid 90% range throughout the remainder of the year. These favorable supply and demand dynamics are expected to drive further improvements in the spot market, which currently represents approximately 35% of inland revenues.

特別是在內陸海運領域，由於強勁的客戶需求和有限的新駁船建造，我們預計市場將出現積極的動態。憑藉這些強勁的市場基本面，我們預計今年剩餘時間內內陸駁船利用率將保持在 90% 的低至中水平範圍內。這些有利的供需動態預計將推動現貨市場進一步改善，目前現貨市場約佔內陸收入的 35%。

We also expect continued improvement in term contract pricing as renewals occur throughout the remainder of the year. These increases are necessary as we continue to see inflationary pressures, and there is an acute mariner shortage in the industry, driving up labor costs. Also for the third quarter although we expect an increase in required regulatory maintenance activity to be a headwind to margins, this should be offset by pricing gains.

我們也預計，隨著今年剩餘時間的續約，定期合約定價將持續改善。由於我們繼續面臨通膨壓力，而且該行業船員嚴重短缺，導致勞動力成本上升，因此這些增加是必要的。同樣，對於第三季度，儘管我們預計所需監管維護活動的增加將對利潤率構成不利影響，但這應該會被定價收益所抵消。

That said, we expect operating margins will gradually improve during the remainder of the year from the second quarter levels and average just over 20% for the full year. Overall, inland revenues are expected to grow in the high-single to low-double digit range on a full-year basis.

儘管如此，我們預計今年剩餘時間營運利潤率將在第二季水準的基礎上逐步提高，全年平均將略高於 20%。總體而言，全年內陸收入預計將在高個位數至低兩位數範圍內成長。

In coastal, market conditions remain very strong and supply and demand is favorable across the industry fleet. Strong customer demand is expected throughout the year with our barge utilization in the low-to-mid 90% range. With major shipyards and ballast water treatment installations behind us, revenues for the full year are expected to increase in the low-double digit to mid-10s range compared to full year 2023. We expect stable margins in the third quarter with a number of planned shipyards in the fourth quarter, adding together to have coastal operating margins to average in the low double digit range for the full year.

在沿海地區，市場狀況仍然非常強勁，整個行業的供需狀況良好。預計全年客戶需求強勁，我們的駁船利用率將在 90% 的中低水準範圍內。隨著主要造船廠和壓載水處理設施的建成，與 2023 年全年相比，預計全年收入將在低兩位數至 10 位數左右的範圍內增長。我們預計第三季的利潤率將穩定，第四季將有一些計劃建造的造船廠，加在一起，全年沿海運營利潤率平均將保持在較低的兩位數範圍內。

In distribution and services, we continue to see an uptick in demand for our power generation products and services and we continue to receive new orders in manufacturing, both of which are helping to soften the inherent volatility in our oil and gas markets.

在分銷和服務方面，我們繼續看到對發電產品和服務的需求上升，並且我們繼續收到製造業的新訂單，這兩者都有助於緩解我們石油和天然氣市場的固有波動。

On the demand side, despite the uncertainty from volatile commodity prices, we expect incremental demand for parts, products, and services in the segment. In commercial and industrial, the demand outlook in marine repair is strong, while on-highway impacted by a rather large trucking downturn is somewhat weak, with the exception of refrigeration products and services.

在需求方面，儘管大宗商品價格波動存在不確定性，但我們預計該領域對零件、產品和服務的需求將會增加。在商業和工業領域，船舶維修的需求前景強勁，而公路運輸受卡車運輸大幅下滑的影響，需求前景有些疲軟，但冷凍產品和服務除外。

In power generation, we anticipate continued growth as data center demand and the need for backup power is very strong. In oil and gas, activity levels are lower, but seem to be bottoming. We do anticipate extended lead times for certain OEM products to continue, and that will contribute to a volatile delivery schedule for new products in 2024 and into 2025. Overall, the company expect segment revenues to be flat to slightly down on a full-year basis when compared to 2023 and operating margins to be in the mid-to-high single digits, may be slightly lower year over year due to mix.

在發電方面，隨著資料中心需求和備用電源的需求非常強勁，我們預計將持續成長。石油和天然氣領域的活動水平較低，但似乎正在觸底。我們確實預計某些 OEM 產品的交貨時間將繼續延長，這將導致 2024 年和 2025 年新產品的交貨時間表不穩定。總體而言，該公司預計與 2023 年相比，全年分部收入將持平或略有下降，營業利潤率將處於中高個位數，但由於混合原因，同比可能略有下降。

To conclude, overall, solid execution and favorable market conditions led to a strong first half of the year for us, and we have a favorable outlook for the remainder of the year. We see growth coming in at the higher end of our previously guided range. And as Raj mentioned, our balance sheet is strong and we expect to generate significant free cash flow this year. We see favorable markets continuing and expect our businesses will produce strong financial results as we move through the remainder of this year. And as we look long term, we're confident in the strength of our core businesses and with our long-term strategy.

總而言之，總體而言，穩健的執行力和有利的市場條件為我們帶來了上半年的強勁表現，並且我們對今年剩餘時間的前景充滿信心。我們看到成長將達到我們之前指導範圍的高端。正如 Raj 所提到的，我們的資產負債表強勁，預計今年將產生大量自由現金流。我們看到有利的市場持續存在，並預計在今年剩餘時間內我們的業務將產生強勁的財務業績。著眼長遠，我們對核心業務的實力和長期策略充滿信心。

We intend to continue capitalizing on these fundamentals and will drive shareholder value creation. Operator, that concludes our prepared remarks. Christian, Raj and I are now ready to take your questions.

我們打算繼續利用這些基本面，推動股東價值創造。接線員，我們準備好的發言到此結束。克里斯蒂安、拉吉和我現在準備好回答你們的問題。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions) Greg Lewis, BTIG.

謝謝。（操作員說明）Greg Lewis，BTIG。

Yes, thank you and good morning, everybody, and thanks for taking my questions (multiple speakers). I was hoping if you could talk a little bit more about coastal. I mean, this has been a long time coming. And it feels like it's coming out of really a long extended multiyear down cycle. As you see what's happening in that market and I can appreciate no one's really ordering new equipment, how much of this strength in coastal is really being driven by just increasing demand? And if it is that, could you talk a little bit about that or is it really been a little bit of that in some fleet rationalization? And as you think about where we are, I know you always talk about inland in terms of economics around newbuilds. As you think about where we are in coastal, how far away are we from that also, those kind of new build economics that make sense?

是的，謝謝大家，早安，謝謝您回答我的問題（多個發言者）。我希望你能多談談沿海地區的事情。我的意思是，這已經是很長一段時間了。感覺它正在擺脫真正漫長的多年下降週期。當你看到該市場正在發生的事情時，我可以理解沒有人真正訂購新設備，沿海地區的這種實力有多少真正是由不斷增長的需求所驅動的？如果是這樣，您能否談談這一點，或者在某些機隊合理化中確實有這樣的一點嗎？當您思考我們所處的位置時，我知道您總是在圍繞新建船舶的經濟學方面談論內陸地區。當你思考我們在沿海的位置時，我們距離那種有意義的新經濟還有多遠？

Yeah, sure. Look, it's really tight on supply and demand standpoint to take the demand first, the demand is strong. It's up from where it where it used to be. I think part of that is just coming back out of COVID, you're seeing more refined products moving around the US.

是的，當然。從供需的角度來看，確實是緊張，以需求為先，需求旺盛。它從原來的位置上升了。我認為部分原因是新冠疫情剛結束，你會看到更多精緻的產品在美國流通。

Diesel gasoline, jet fuel demands up. You can look at some of the international flights now have picked up and all that helping the ecosystem from a demand standpoint. So we're moving around a lot of refined products. There's a little bit of renewable diesel moves that are emerging as well.

柴油汽油、航空燃油需求上漲。您可以查看一些現在已經增加的國際航班，以及從需求角度來看對生態系統有幫助的所有內容。因此，我們正在轉向許多精緻的產品。一些再生柴油的舉措也正在興起。

So demand is good on the supply side. That's where it's been really helpful. There's been a lot of rationalization as we and other industry participants looked at putting in ballast water treatment in the capital costs, there was a lot of equipment that got retired, which is good. It brought the market back into balanced. And actually, it's a very tight balance right now. So that's just on the existing supply. I think the most encouraging thing is nobody's really contemplating building now. Even if somebody would the cost of building has gone up considerably.

因此，供應方面的需求良好。這就是它真正有幫助的地方。當我們和其他行業參與者考慮將壓載水處理納入資本成本時，已經進行了很多合理化，有很多設備退役了，這很好。它使市場恢復平衡。事實上，現在的平衡非常緊張。所以這只是現有的供應。我認為最令人鼓舞的是現在沒有人真正考慮建造。即使有人願意，建築成本也大幅上漲。

I can just give you a reference point. We built a 185,000 barrel unit ATB unit, which is a tug and a barge. Back five years ago, when it was $80 million to $85 million. I think to build that unit today would be $130 million to $135 million, maybe. So the rates to build new equipment acquired are very high. So probably another 40% above where we're at right now, maybe even higher than 40%. So rates are going up.

我只能給你一個參考點。我們建造了一個185,000桶的ATB單元，它是一艘拖船和一艘駁船。五年前，當時的價格為 8,000 萬至 8,500 萬美元。我認為今天建造這個單位可能需要 1.3 億至 1.35 億美元。因此建造新設備的比率非常高。因此，可能比我們現在的水平還要高出 40%，甚至可能高於 40%。所以利率正在上漲。

Yes, that's a good thing. I mean, you saw in the quarter, comm's term pricing was up. Our offshore coastal pricing was up in the high-10s. Spot pricing was up in the mid-20s year over year. So it's good and part of that is we, as an industry, have to recover the cost of all the capital that went into ballast water treatment. So that's part of.

是的，這是一件好事。我的意思是，您在本季看到，通信的期限定價上漲了。我們的近海沿海價格上漲了 10 多美元。現貨價格年漲了 20 多歲。所以這是好事，其中一部分是我們作為一個產業必須收回壓載水處理的所有資本成本。所以這是一部分。

And there's inflation out there as we've talked about crew costs, there is an acute mariner shortage we're seeing in both inland and offshore. So labor costs are going up a lot, but the bottom line is supply and demand is very tight and we're getting real rate increases in coastal and that looks like it will go for another three to five years, at least because nobody's contemplating building anything right now.

正如我們談到的船員成本一樣，那裡存在通貨膨脹，我們在內陸和近海都看到嚴重的海員短缺。因此，勞動成本大幅上漲，但底線是供需非常緊張，沿海地區的實際利率正在上漲，看起來這種情況還將持續三到五年，至少因為沒有人考慮建造現在什麼都可以。

And building a new barge in the coastal space, Greg, it's going to take at least three years from where we are sitting right now.

格雷格，從我們現在的位置來看，在沿海地區建造一艘新駁船至少需要三年時間。

Yes, no doubt, if it's good to see. Looks like coastal definitely has a long runway. I did have one more question around the inland side on. Clearly that market is kind of playing out the way the company really expected maybe even a little bit ahead of that.

是的，毫無疑問，如果很高興看到的話。看來沿海肯定有很長的跑道。我確實還有一個關於內陸地區的問題。顯然，市場正在按照公司真正預期的方式發展，甚至可能提前一點。

Just I guess, one of the questions we're hearing about now, there's some talk now of expectations of the natural gas market may be tightening here in the medium term. As I think about the inland side, pricing has been great. And any way to kind of parcel out how much of that strength has been driven by refined products versus PET cans? Or is it kind of -- yes, I'm just kind of curious, we're seeing greater pricing everywhere, but is it more -- what's the real driver? What's driving that more?

我想，我們現在聽到的問題之一是，現在有人談論天然氣市場在中期可能會收緊的預期。就我而言，內陸地區的定價非常好。有什麼方法可以計算出這種強度有多少是由精煉產品與 PET 罐推動的嗎？或者是——是的，我只是有點好奇，我們到處都看到價格上漲，但更多的是——真正的驅動因素是什麼？是什麼推動了這一點？

Yeah, Christian, and I tag team that here. A big picture, it's coming out of COVID is like that refined products that's been strong. The refineries are running pretty much flat out. The cracked spreads have narrowed a little bit, but it's been pretty good and is really about demand. Chemicals has been a little weak. But let me turn it over to Christian. He's in the trenches every day with our product demand.

是的，克里斯蒂安，我在這裡標記團隊。從大局來看，新冠疫情帶來的產品就像是強勁的精緻產品。煉油廠幾乎在全力運作。裂差價差有所收窄，但情況相當不錯，而且確實與需求有關。化學品有點弱。但讓我把它交給克里斯蒂安。他每天都在努力滿足我們的產品需求。

Sure. Thanks. Good morning, Greg. I think on the refined product side, you really see the strength of the US Gulf refining infrastructure. We've got world-class refineries and you've seen trade patterns evolve a little bit post COVID and with the conflict in the Ukraine where our Gulf Coast refiners are supplying more refined products to markets in Europe, South America, Latin America. And so they've had a nice strong run here. Our chemical customers are very steady with maybe some upside here going to the back half of the year.

當然。謝謝。早安，格雷格。我認為在煉油產品方面，您確實看到了美國海灣煉油基礎設施的實力。我們擁有世界一流的煉油廠，您可以看到貿易模式在新冠疫情之後以及烏克蘭衝突後發生了一些變化，我們墨西哥灣沿岸的煉油廠正在向歐洲、南美和拉丁美洲市場供應更多的精煉產品。所以他們在這裡表現得很強勁。我們的化學品客戶非常穩定，下半年可能會出現一些上漲。

Super helpful. Thank you very much.

超有幫助。非常感謝。

Thanks, Greg. Take care.

謝謝，格雷格。小心。

Ben Nolan, Stifel.

本諾蘭，史蒂菲爾。

Thank you, operator. Appreciate it. I guess good quarter. So I had two questions. The first one, it relates a little bit to the power side or the power generation side. You talked to margins kind of now in the low-double digits. But I remember last quarter, David, you said that you thought it was going to be hard to really push margins there.

謝謝你，接線生。欣賞它。我想季度不錯。所以我有兩個問題。第一個，跟電力側或發電側有點關係。你談到的利潤率現在處於低兩位數。但我記得上個季度，大衛，你說你認為很難真正提高利潤率。

If that changed or are the bottlenecks enabling you to get a little bit better pricing or you found ways to be more efficient? What's the cause for the uplift in how you're thinking about margins?

如果情況發生了變化，或者瓶頸是否使您能夠獲得更好的定價，或者您是否找到了提高效率的方法？您對利潤率的看法提高的原因是什麼？

Part of it's mix. It depends on what segment we're doing in terms of power-gen, but look, good. Christian's got the team focused on kind of lean manufacturing. So we're getting a little run through on that. But it'll vary depending on the end market a little bit. But big picture is power-gen strong. You saw our growth in power-gen. Year-over-year revenue is only 9%. It seems weak, but the oil and gas part of power-gen was down a little bit this quarter. And it will vacillate quarter to quarter.

一部分是混合的。這取決於我們在發電方面所做的工作，但看起來，不錯。克里斯蒂安讓團隊專注於精益製造。我們正在對此進行一些討論。但它會根據終端市場的差異而略有不同。但大局是發電強勁。您看到了我們在發電方面的成長。年比收入僅9%。看起來很疲弱，但發電中的石油和天然氣部分本季略有下降。而且每季都會出現波動。

A lot of it is based on deliveries and when it comes out of our manufacturing facilities. But the bottom line is kind of like we said in our prepared remarks that the need for backup power and to have power in any business, 24/7 is just necessary. Obviously, it becomes acute during hurricanes. That's actually where we do pretty well in the rental fleet backup power. That's some of the higher margin pieces. When that's needed, the margins are pretty good in rental. Hopefully, that answers your question, Ben.

其中很大一部分取決於交貨情況以及產品從我們的製造工廠出來的時間。但底線有點像我們在準備好的發言中所說的那樣，任何業務都需要備用電源和擁有電源，24/7 是必要的。顯然，在颶風期間它會變得更加嚴重。這實際上是我們在租賃車隊備用電源方面做得很好的地方。這是一些利潤較高的產品。當需要時，租金利潤相當可觀。希望這能回答你的問題，本。

Yeah, that's helpful. Appreciate it. And then I guess for my second one, you guys are talking about labor availability among mariners, and it must be nice to be in a business that has wage inflation. But is that is that creating or is it simply inflationary or are there other bottleneck issues where maybe you're not able to deliver as much as you thought you could simply because you don't have the people to do it or we're not sort of at that level?

是的，這很有幫助。欣賞它。然後我想，對於我的第二個問題，你們正在談論海員中的勞動力可用性，在工資上漲的企業中工作一定很好。但這是造成的，還是僅僅是通貨膨脹，或者是否存在其他瓶頸問題，也許你無法提供你想像的那麼多，僅僅是因為你沒有人來做這件事，或者我們沒有大概在那個水平？

Christian and I'll tag team, this one because we've got lots of pieces into the story. Look, it's really tight. We talked about barge supply and demand. But And frankly, if we have more barges, it would be very difficult to move them because there's just not enough mariners in boat community and the horsepower situation is really tight. And we get Christian to talk about it.

克里斯蒂安和我將標記為團隊，這一組是因為我們的故事中有很多片段。你看，確實很緊。我們討論了駁船的供應和需求。但坦白說，如果我們有更多的駁船，那麼移動它們將非常困難，因為船界沒有足夠的水手，而且馬力情況非常緊張。我們讓克里斯蒂安來談論它。

Yeah, I mean, we're doing fine. We have our own school and we produce our own mariners, which is good, but it is tight across the entire ecosystem, whether it's coastal or inland. I'll let Christian add some more there. But obviously, we've had to give some really nice increases and it's well deserved by our mariners, no doubt. But it is it is it's just an acute type market. Go ahead and add some color, Chris.

是的，我的意思是，我們做得很好。我們有自己的學校，培養自己的水手，這很好，但整個生態系統都很緊張，無論是沿海還是內陸。我會讓克里斯蒂安在那裡添加更多內容。但顯然，我們必須給予一些非常好的加薪，毫無疑問，這是我們的水手應得的。但這只是一個尖銳的市場。克里斯，繼續添加一些顏色。

Yeah, thanks, David. Hey good morning, Ben. There's significant pressure around crewing across the industry as a whole, inland and offshore. We're competing against some pretty good paying shoreside jobs that are a challenge to kind of recruit some people back to the marine industry. I think we've been successful with our training center, and that's kind of one of our leverage points versus the industry, but it is a challenge.

是的，謝謝，大衛。嘿早安，本。整個行業，無論是內陸還是近海，船員工作都面臨著巨大的壓力。我們正在與一些薪資相當不錯的岸邊工作競爭，這些工作對於招募一些人回到海洋產業來說是一個挑戰。我認為我們的培訓中心取得了成功，這是我們與產業競爭的優勢之一，但這是一個挑戰。

Our merit cycle for the Mariners occurs in July. We just went through that and gave some healthy increases to our mariners. Happy to do that. But it's a challenge. It's just sort of the nature of attracting people to the marine life again. And we're having success. But no doubt, it's a challenge for Kirby and the industry.

我們的水手隊績效週期發生在七月。我們剛剛經歷了這一切，並為我們的水手帶來了一些健康的成長。很高興這樣做。但這是一個挑戰。這只是再次吸引人們來到海洋生物的本質。我們正在取得成功。但毫無疑問，這對柯比和整個產業來說都是一個挑戰。

But it's not yet at the point where you're like, man, we just we can't do, manage whatever XYZ business. It's not quite that level?

但現在還沒到你會說，夥計，我們只是無法管理任何 XYZ 業務。還沒達到這個水平吧？

No, it is not quite to that level, but it is a bit of a dance to everyday keep everything fully crewed and moving our challenges around holidays sometimes in different graduations. But we keep going. We've got people a little trip over. They can earn a premium to trip them. There are some levers we pull like that to keep everything moving. And we have not seen an instance where we've had to shut down any major operation.

不，還沒有達到那個水平，但每天讓一切都配備齊全，有時在不同的畢業典禮上圍繞假期轉移我們的挑戰，這有點像舞蹈。但我們繼續前進。我們已經有人過來了。他們可以賺取溢價來絆倒他們。我們像這樣拉動一些槓桿來保持一切運作。我們還沒有看到過不得不關閉任何主要業務的情況。

I'll add there. The industry is taking care of the customer base, but we're having to ask a lot of people to ride longer watches and on longer tours of duty. So to speak.

我會在那裡添加。這個行業正在照顧客戶群，但我們不得不要求很多人佩戴更長的手錶和更長的工作時間。這麼說吧。

Well, that does it for my two. Appreciate it. Thanks, guys.

嗯，這對我的兩個人來說就足夠了。欣賞它。謝謝，夥計們。

Thanks, Ben.

謝謝，本。

Daniel Imbro, Stephens.

丹尼爾·因布羅，史蒂芬斯。

Yes. Thanks, guys. This is Joe Enderlin on for Daniel. Thanks for taking my questions.

是的。謝謝，夥計們。我是丹尼爾的喬恩德林。感謝您回答我的問題。

Just given the move higher in spot pricing on the inland side, do you have any changes in expectations on the shipbuilding side for the industry? And then if spot prices continue to increase on the inland side, does this maybe change your thinking around the math for newbuilds? And how do you think this will change? How competitors are thinking about shipbuilding or adding capacity?

鑑於內陸現貨價格的走高，您對造船方面的預期是否有變動？然後，如果內陸地區的現貨價格繼續上漲，這是否可能會改變您對新船數學的看法？您認為這會如何改變？競爭對手如何考慮造船或增加產能？

The cost of new builds is still very high. And I think a newbuild [30,000] is twice what it was, 5. A newbuild 30,000 barrel barges, probably twice what it was five years ago. So the cost is up a lot in the pricing needed to justify new build is still 40% above where we are now. So that said, there's not a lot of new building. I think for the year we're hearing around 40-ish new barges.

新建的成本仍然非常高。我認為新建 [30,000] 是原來的兩倍，5。一艘新建的 3 萬桶駁船，可能是五年前的兩倍。因此，新建案所需的定價成本大幅上漲，仍比現在高出 40%。也就是說，沒有太多新建築。我想今年我們會聽到大約 40 艘左右的新駁船。

I think 11 have been delivered year to date. That's -- Christian could talk about shipyard capacity, but it gets around to -- rates don't justify new builds. People are still dealing with a big maintenance bubble, which we are. So that's chewing up a lot of companies free cash flow just to go through the maintenance bubble. And then as we've been talking about, the mariner side of things is pretty tight, too. You put all that together and nobody's really anxious to go build that.

我認為今年迄今已經交付了 11 艘。那就是——克里斯蒂安可以談論造船廠的產能，但它卻繞過去——費率並不能證明新建造的合理性。人們仍然面臨著巨大的維護泡沫，我們也是如此。因此，這消耗了許多公司的自由現金流，只是為了度過維護泡沫。正如我們一直在談論的，水手方面的事情也非常緊張。你把所有這些放在一起，沒有人真的急於去建造它。

Chris, you want to add some color to that?

克里斯，你想為此添加一些色彩嗎？

Yes. Thanks, David. Hey, Joe. Yeah, so plate steel remains stubbornly high, the cost of plate steel. That's certainly has created an environment where we're seeing tank barge construction being at all-time highs. As David outlined, the numbers, I think you're also seeing capacity constrained. A lot of the shipyards reduced their workforces during COVID. And by my unofficial count, I think if you looked at the inland tank barge construction shipyard market and said, hey, what's the capacity today, I would tell you it's probably down about a build of about 50 50 barges a year if it was running full flat out and I don't think you can get a new tank barges delivered right now until 2026. So that kind of gives you some context around newbuilds and what we're seeing.

是的。謝謝，大衛。嘿，喬。是的，所以鋼板的成本還是居高不下。這無疑創造了一種環境，我們看到油罐駁船的建造達到了歷史最高水準。正如大衛概述的那樣，我認為您也看到了容量受到限制的數字。在新冠疫情期間，許多造船廠減少了勞動力。根據我的非官方統計，我想如果你看看內陸油罐駁船建造造船廠市場並說，嘿，今天的產能是多少，我會告訴你，如果運行的話，每年建造約50 50 艘駁船可能會下降全力以赴，我認為在 2026 年之前您無法立即交付新的油罐駁船。因此，這為您提供了有關新建築和我們所看到的情況的一些背景資訊。

That's helpful. Thanks, guys. Just as a follow-up. Within marine transportations, I guess, what are the biggest factors as far as weather, maybe navigational delays that can maybe throw you off course for your revenue guidance? And then what steps operationally can you take to execute against any of those factors?

這很有幫助。謝謝，夥計們。只是作為後續。我想，在海上運輸中，就天氣而言，最大的因素是什麼，也許是導航延誤，可能會讓您偏離收入指引方向？那麼針對這些因素，您可以採取哪些操作步驟來執行呢？

So weather in Aberdare are the two things we contend with, it tends to be a mix as to which can be more impactful in any given quarter. I'll give you an example. You will come out of Q2 a quarter where we had some lock outages due to maintenance that were pretty significant. And then really something as basic as flooding in the Houston and Texas area caused a 2.5 day closure of the Houston Ship Channel, and that's something we haven't really seen. That as the water goes down the watershed in Texas, we get the broadest river flood gates experienced record delays.

因此，阿伯代爾的天氣是我們要應對的兩件事，在任何特定季度，這往往是一個混合因素，哪個因素影響更大。我給你舉個例子。您將在第二季結束後的一個季度中看到，由於維護的原因，我們發生了一些鎖定中斷，這是非常重要的。然後，像休士頓和德州地區的洪水這樣的基本事件導致休士頓船舶航道關閉 2.5 天，而這是我們真正沒有看到的情況。當水流過德州的分水嶺時，我們看到最寬的河流防洪閘門經歷了創紀錄的延誤。

Again, something I haven't seen in 25 years, another 80, 90 barge tows in the queue trying to get through the process from flood gates. So weather is a significant factor. And obviously, we're getting into that part of the year. We have hurricanes to worry about and with a lump money effect, we'll see what it looks like, but you've already had three named storms. So weather plays a big role. And then it's really the lock delays, lock outages, bridge repairs can impact navigation.

再一次，這是我 25 年來從未見過的情況，另外 80 到 90 艘駁船在排隊，試圖通過防洪閘門。所以天氣是重要因素。顯然，我們即將進入今年的這個階段。我們要擔心颶風，並且會產生一次性金錢效應，我們會看看它會是什麼樣子，但你已經經歷了三場命名的風暴。所以天氣起著很大的作用。然後，船閘延誤、船閘中斷、橋樑維修等都會影響航行。

And then obviously, the high water low water issues on the Mississippi River, which we've been pretty fortunate this year. There's been a short period of high water when we went into our high-water action phase on lower Mississippi River. But for the most part, the rivers behaved itself well this year. But you do see the maintenance and the locks and the bridges and other weather events helps give you some context.

顯然，密西西比河的高水位低水位問題，今年我們非常幸運。當我們進入密西西比河下游的高水位行動階段時，出現了短暫的高水位。但在大多數情況下，今年河流表現良好。但你確實看到了維護、船閘、橋樑以及其他天氣事件可以幫助你了解一些背景資訊。

Got it. That's all for us. Thank you, guys.

知道了。這就是我們的全部。謝謝你們，夥計們。

Thank you, Joe.

謝謝你，喬。

Greg Wasikowski, Webber Research and Advisory.

Greg Wasikowski，韋伯研究與諮詢。

Good morning. Thanks for taking the question. First one is just around some higher costs in your customers. Just curious, do you think there's more of an understanding across the industry now versus this time last year or maybe even two years ago? And overall, there's just a little bit less pushback nowadays around higher prices and things like cost escalators in your contracts?

早安.感謝您提出問題。第一個是關於客戶的一些更高的成本。只是好奇，您認為與去年這個時候甚至兩年前相比，現在整個產業的理解是否更加深入？總體而言，現在圍繞價格上漲以及合約中成本自動上升等問題的阻力有所減少？

Yes. We have a very sophisticated customer base. They're well aware of all the levers around cost there. There's now -- these are some of the biggest, most sophisticated companies in the world. They do understand the labor inflation piece for sure. Obviously, they're aware of steel prices being up. I think they deal with some of the same price inflation that we do know.

是的。我們擁有非常成熟的客戶群。他們非常清楚圍繞成本的所有槓桿。現在有一些世界上最大、最複雜的公司。他們確實理解勞動力通膨問題。顯然，他們意識到鋼材價格上漲。我認為他們所應對的價格通膨與我們所知道的相同。

That's a good thing. They understand it. They understand that capital costs have gone up. Things like ballast water treatment, which are regulatory driven. They fully understand that. So they're there. They're like any other company when business is good or a little less sensitive about price. When business is bad, they get hypersensitive about it. Fortunately, their businesses have been pretty good.

這是一件好事。他們明白。他們明白資本成本已經上升。像壓載水處理這樣的事情是由監管驅動的。他們完全理解這一點。所以他們就在那裡。當業務良好或對價格不那麼敏感時，他們就像任何其他公司一樣。當生意不好時，他們就會變得高度敏感。幸運的是，他們的生意還不錯。

What we care about, though, is their volumes. They can have bad pricing, but still have the same volume or good pricing. Now obviously, we're all in favor of them doing really well. It's good to have healthy, viable, strong earnings in our customer base.

不過，我們關心的是它們的數量。他們的定價可能很差，但仍然具有相同的數量或良好的定價。現在顯然，我們都支持他們做得很好。在我們的客戶群中擁有健康、可行、強勁的收入是件好事。

But, you know, the short answer to your question, Greg, is they do understand the cost structure and they acknowledge it.

但是，格雷格，你知道，對你的問題的簡短回答是，他們確實了解成本結構並承認這一點。

Got it. Okay, understood. And then I want to go back to newbuilds in rates in inland. And David, we've talked about this before. If we can just try to boil it down to talking about like a headline rate for 30,000 barrels to unit total spot rates and what that number needs to be to make the return, make economic sense for people to start building again less on spec and more for making an absolute economic sense?

知道了。好的，明白了。然後我想回到內陸新建築的費率。大衛，我們之前已經討論過這個問題。如果我們可以嘗試將其歸結為談論以 30,000 桶為單位的總即期利率的總體利率，以及這個數字需要多少才能獲得回報，那麼對於人們開始重新開始建造更少的規格和更多的經濟意義具有絕對的經濟意義嗎？

And I feel like I used to be -- we are talking about is probably like [10 or 11 or 11] infusing and then that number is inching up to maybe [12]. I think I've heard as high as [14] nowadays, if you could estimate where it boils down to just the number to watch that headline rate of where not that there'd be any cause for worry, given industry capacity but where you might see some orders start to trickle in, just purely based off of the economics? Where would you put that now? And then do you think there's risk that continues to slide higher as costs continue to rise with rates?

我覺得我曾經 - 我們正在談論的可能是[10或11或11]注入，然後這個數字可能會慢慢上升[12]。我想我現在聽說過高達 [14] 的消息，如果你能估計一下它歸結為觀看標題的數字，那麼考慮到行業容量，而不是有任何理由擔心，但你可能會看到一些訂單開始流入，純粹是基於經濟因素？現在你會把它放在哪裡？那麼，您是否認為隨著成本隨著利率的不斷上升而繼續下滑的風險會繼續上升？

Yeah. You're spot on. That breakeven rate, it's not even breakeven. We call it to get a double digit capital, return on capital like a 10% return on capital. Yes, it's just it's gone up. It keeps sliding up. It's probably close to $14,000 now, of $14,000 a day if you look at the capital cost of a two-barge tow, so it's probably $15 million depending on the horsepower towboat that you build forward. So that cost continues to rise, but the operating costs have gone up. We've talked about labor costs, but just regulatory compliance cost keeps going up as well.

是的。你說得對。這個損益平衡率，甚至還沒有達到損益平衡。我們稱之為獲得兩位數的資本，即資本報酬率，例如10%的資本報酬率。是的，只是漲了。它不斷向上滑動。現在可能接近 14,000 美元，如果你看看兩艘駁船拖船的資本成本，每天 14,000 美元，所以可能是 1500 萬美元，這取決於你未來建造的拖船馬力。所以成本持續上升，但營運成本也上升了。我們已經討論了勞動成本，但監管合規成本也在上升。

All the little things that you expect do have an impact. And if you think about our mariners and where we're moving around, call it 2,500 mariners every day, that's a lot of airline flights. So it's a lot of rental cars. There's a lot of cost in that and sure inflation's coming down. But there's still those costs continue to go up. So when you factor it all in, it's been creeping up that breakeven cost to build new construction. Now the larger point is when do people start building and that's -- it's always something to worry about.

您期望的所有小事確實都會產生影響。如果您考慮我們的水手以及我們的活動地點，每天有 2,500 名水手，這相當於大量的航空公司航班。所以租的車很多。這需要付出很大的代價，而且通貨膨脹肯定會下降。但這些成本仍在持續上升。因此，當你將所有因素納入考量時，建造新建築的損益平衡成本一直在攀升。現在更重要的一點是人們何時開始建造，這總是值得擔心的事情。

Some people trying to do things on spec and build in advance of what they think is necessary. But I'd go back to some earlier comments that both Christian and I made that one, the shipyards are tight. There's not a lot of capacity out there to build new. There's a maintenance bubble. So that's chewing up a lot of people's cash flow in the industry, including ours.

有些人試圖按照規範做事，並事先建立他們認為必要的東西。但我想回到之前的一些評論，克里斯蒂安和我都說過，造船廠很緊張。沒有太多的能力來建造新的。存在維護泡沫。因此，這消耗了該行業許多人的現金流，包括我們的現金流。

I mean, we've got a big third quarter maintenance bubble here that's going to hit us and everybody in the industry is experiencing that. And so then you roll in just the cost of borrowing money has changed considerably. Now we'll see if the Fed reduces rates later this year. But you put it all together and it's just is keeping building in check and we're still just for capital discipline we're ways away from that newbuild price.

我的意思是，第三季出現了一個巨大的維護泡沫，這將對我們造成打擊，行業中的每個人都在經歷這一點。然後你就可以看到借貸成本發生了很大變化。現在我們將看看聯準會是否會在今年稍後降息。但你把所有這些放在一起，只是不斷地控制建設，我們仍然只是為了資本紀律，我們距離新建價格還有很長的路要走。

Yes, I think David described that very well. And I would tell you what you are seeing being built his replacement capacity for the most part, there's very little speculative building. There's capital discipline, I think, in the industry coming out of COVID and the price money, and you've seen some of that and there's just not much construction going on right now.

是的，我認為大衛描述得很好。我想告訴你，你所看到的大部分是他的替代能力的建設，幾乎沒有投機性的建設。我認為，在新冠疫情和價格貨幣的影響下，這個行業存在著資本紀律，你已經看到了其中的一些，但現在沒有太多建設。

Got it. Okay. Appreciate the color, guys. And David, appreciate you swinging into an actual number there. It's really helpful.

知道了。好的。欣賞一下這個顏色，夥計們。大衛，感謝你說出一個實際的數字。這真的很有幫助。

Thanks, Greg.

謝謝，格雷格。

Ken Hoexter, BOA.

肯·霍克斯特，BOA。

Hey, Greg, good morning. Just to follow up on that. I know you gave the breakeven number, but where are rates trending now? And then ton-miles were down about 5%. It seemed a little extreme. Is that, Christian, is that because of the fall-off shutdowns that you're talking about, or is there something shifting within the business? Thanks.

嘿，格雷格，早安。只是為了跟進此事。我知道您給了一個盈虧平衡數字，但現在利率趨勢如何？然後噸英里下降了約 5%。這似乎有點極端。克里斯蒂安，這是因為你所說的停工率下降，還是業務內部發生了一些變化？謝謝。

No. It is exactly, I think what you saw in ton-miles in the quarter is we were impacted heavily by some repairs at ton-miles and some of the weather events are referenced. There was definitely delays at lock and weather can be explained by those two factors I can given the hurricane at the start of the season.

不。正是如此，我認為您在本季度看到的噸英里數是我們受到一些噸英里數維修的嚴重影響，並且參考了一些天氣事件。船閘肯定有延誤，考慮到季節開始時的颶風，天氣可以用這兩個因素來解釋。

But just let me just wrap that up. Given the hurricane at the start of the quarter is or what should we expect kind of flow through into 3Q?

但讓我總結一下。鑑於本季初的颶風，或者我們應該預期第三季的流量會怎麼樣？

Yes. I mean, that was a Q3 event for us and barrel so there will be some impact from Beryl. We weathered it pretty well as a whole, both in both companies, but it did have an impact and closed Houston down for a few days in the month of July.

是的。我的意思是，這對我們和桶子來說是第三季的事件，所以 Beryl 會產生一些影響。兩家公司整體都很好地應對了這次疫情，但它確實產生了影響，導致休士頓在 7 月關閉了幾天。

Can I just said? Ton-miles are also about the length of some trips too. We used to do a lot of moving crude and condensate out of that, the upper Midwest. And those are long voyages. Looking at ton-miles, you're going to be a little careful because it ebbs and flows. I think revenue per ton mile is also I think you've got to factor in as you look at things. So that's good. In terms of your question about where our current rates at, our general counsel would probably shoot me if I gave you a current rate on a call. So it's -- you can do some channel checks and get it. Sorry. I wish we could be more specific, but we're probably not advising.

我可以直接說嗎？噸英里也與某些行程的長度有關。我們過去常常從中西部上游地區輸送大量原油和凝析油。這些都是長途旅行。考慮噸英里，你需要小心一點，因為它會起起落落。我認為每噸英里的收入也是你在看待事物時必須考慮的因素。所以這樣很好。就您關於我們當前費率的問題而言，如果我在電話中向您提供當前費率，我們的總法律顧問可能會向我開槍。因此，您可以進行一些頻道檢查並獲取它。對不起。我希望我們能更具體，但我們可能不會提供建議。

I understood on that. I guess let's go continue. I guess, can we talk about the magnitude of increase sequentially? Can I presume that they continued to declined sequentially?

我明白了。我想我們繼續吧。我想，我們可以依序談談增加的幅度嗎？我可以假設它們繼續連續下降嗎？

To decline sequentially?

依序下降？

Ton-miles.

噸英里。

They will not decline sequentially. They will increase.

它們不會依次下降。他們會增加。

No I said, can we presume they've increased sequentially?

不，我說，我們可以假設它們是連續增加的嗎？

Oh. I heard declines.

哦。我聽說拒絕。

No. Those will increase sequentially. We're -- I'll talk and it really gets back to margins. I talk big picture and then let Christian give you some more quarterly type color, big picture because of the seasonality we did, this can -- winter quarters are lower margin then the summer quarters in. So that's why early last year or early this year, we gave guidance. I said, look at full year margin 2023 to 2024, and we said margins would be up around 300 basis points. I think we're on track to be 400 basis points or better. I think big picture, we'll see something similar barring a recession or something unforeseen. We'll see that level of increase in margins next year.

不。這些將依次增加。我們——我會談談，它真的回到了邊緣。我談論大局，然後讓克里斯蒂安給你一些更多的季度類型的顏色，大局，因為我們所做的季節性，這可以——冬季季度的利潤率低於夏季季度。這就是為什麼去年初或今年年初，我們給了指導。我說，看看 2023 年至 2024 年全年利潤率，我們說利潤率將上漲約 300 個基點。我認為我們有望達到 400 個基點或更好。我認為從大局來看，除非出現經濟衰退或不可預見的情況，否則我們會看到類似的情況。明年我們將看到利潤率的成長水準。

And that comes from basically rate increases, both real and nominal. And I'll let Christian talk about the quarterly progression a bit.

這基本上來自實際和名目利率的上漲。我會讓克里斯蒂安談談季度進展。

Yes, we're still seeing strong pricing momentum. We'll have an opportunity to continue to reset the portfolio as the year goes on.

是的，我們仍然看到強勁的定價勢頭。隨著時間的推移，我們將有機會繼續重置投資組合。

Q4 is one of our larger opportunities to reset the portfolio. But you're still seeing spot rates outpace term by 10% to 15%. So we still got still got room to go and things feel pretty good, Ken.

第四季是我們重置投資組合的更大機會之一。但您仍然會看到即期利率比期限利率高出 10% 到 15%。所以我們還有空間，感覺很好，肯。

Great. Great. And then just a follow-up on the D&S segment. And I know Greg was asking about it before, but I might have missed some of that. Your power generation fell from 41% of revenues to 32%. Is that a seasonal impact? I mean, I see margins went up from maybe about 7% to 11%. So again, a margin, maybe you could just talk through that a little bit more?

偉大的。偉大的。然後是 D&S 部分的後續行動。我知道格雷格之前問過這個問題，但我可能錯過了其中一些。您的發電量佔收入的比例從 41% 下降到 32%。這是季節性影響嗎？我的意思是，我看到利潤率從 7% 左右上升到 11%。再說一遍，也許你可以再談這個問題？

It's really nothing more than timing of shipments when certain power generation packaging gets shipped, it's not more than that. I guess it's almost like what we talked about with margins, you kind of got to look at it year over year for the full year. The good news is where the demand is growing, not even shrinking right now and you'll see that revenue number move around based on shipments, particularly out of our larger manufacturing facilities.

其實無非就是某些發電包裝出貨時的出貨時間，僅此而已。我想這幾乎就像我們談論的利潤率一樣，你必須逐年審視全年的情況。好消息是需求正在成長，目前甚至沒有萎縮，您會看到收入數字根據出貨量而變化，特別是在我們較大的製造工廠之外。

It's helpful just because it's newly broken. I appreciate the time guys. Thanks for the thoughts.

它很有用，只是因為它是新壞的。我很感激你們的時間。謝謝你的想法。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Operator Instructions). Scott Group, Wolfe Research.

（操作員說明）。斯科特集團，沃爾夫研究。

Hey, thanks. Morning, guys. So I just wanted to make sure I'm hearing right in the margin should improve sequentially Q2 to Q3. And then with the pricing opportunity, sounds like Q4 is a heavier pricing opportunity. Should we expect another sort of uptick in margin in Q4? And then did I hear right that you're saying that inland could improve maybe another 400 basis points next year?

嘿，謝謝。早安，夥計們。所以我只是想確保我聽到的邊緣應該會連續改善第二季到第三季。然後是定價機會，聽起來第四季是一個更大的定價機會。我們是否應該期待第四季利潤率再次上升？然後我沒聽錯吧，你是說明年內陸地區的房價可能會再提高 400 個基點？

Good morning, Scott. That would be the higher of and what we would expect next year is kind of the 300 basis points, maybe we get to 400 basis points, but in terms of sequential, yes, I think third quarter will be up versus second quarter. Fourth quarter starts to get dicey and we don't like to the two, I guess, guide to a higher margin than fourth quarter is just that's one weather start, Scott, and we can get fog.

早安，史考特。這將是更高的，我們明年預計會達到 300 個基點，也許我們會達到 400 個基點，但就順序而言，是的，我認為第三季將比第二季有所上升。第四季開始變得危險，我們不喜歡這兩個，我想，比第四季更高的利潤率只是一個天氣開始，史考特，我們可能會迷霧。

Fog is actually believe it or not worse than a hurricane, not in terms of personal impact, but in terms of being able to move our equipment around. We just basically stop moving in fog and we can have weeks of fall that just shut down our moves in the fourth quarter. So we're very cautious about Q4 margins they usually dip down a little bit versus third quarter.

不管你信不信，霧其實比颶風更糟糕，不是就個人影響而言，而是就能夠移動我們的設備而言。我們基本上停止在霧中行動，我們可能會經歷數週的下跌，從而在第四季度停止我們的行動。因此，我們對第四季的利潤率非常謹慎，它們通常比第三季略有下降。

(multiple speakers). I think you covered that well. And then maybe can we do the same discussion around coastal rate. Obviously, there's some really good pricing there. It sounds like we're going to get like a 1,000 basis points of margin improvement this year, like where it is a low double digit margin go to, assuming that there's continued pricing momentum there?

（多個發言者）。我認為你講得很好。然後也許我們可以圍繞沿海稅率進行同樣的討論。顯然，那裡有一些非常好的定價。聽起來今年我們的利潤率將提高 1,000 個基點，假設那裡有持續的定價勢頭，那麼低兩位數的利潤率會達到什麼水平？

We haven't put pencil to paper, but we were in 2023 to your point, we were bouncing around breakeven. We had a lot of shipyards in 2023. A lot of it was driven by ballast water treatment. We've come out of that, we got through that through the first quarter, with first quarter, I think we finished our last ballast water treatment in the second quarter.

我們還沒有把鉛筆寫在紙上，但我們在 2023 年就達到了你的觀點，我們在收支平衡附近反彈。2023 年我們有許多造船廠。其中很大一部分是由壓載水處理驅動的。我們已經走出了困境，我們在第一季完成了這項任務，我認為我們在第二季完成了最後一次壓載水處理。

And so we've had a lot more uptime, the margins have popped. You will see the margin in the fourth quarter probably get cut in half just because we've, as Christian alluded to, we've got six or seven big shipyards on some of the bigger units, but big picture year over year and going into 2025, we're not really giving guidance to 2025 yet, but you should see a nice pickup. It won't be 1,000 basis points, but it could be 3 to 500 basis points next year. We haven't put pencil to paper but we've given the price rises we're getting and we need. You should see in a very nice uptick in margins in coastal next year.

因此，我們的正常運作時間增加了很多，利潤也隨之增加。你會看到第四季度的利潤率可能會減少一半，因為正如克里斯蒂安所提到的，我們有六七個大型造船廠建造一些較大的船廠，但總體情況逐年下降，並進入2025 年，我們還沒有真正給出2025 年的指導，但你應該會看到一個不錯的回升。不會是1000個基點，但明年可能會是3到500個基點。我們還沒有動筆，但我們已經給出了我們所需的價格上漲。明年你應該會看到沿海地區的利潤率大幅上升。

Yes, we're feeling really good about coastal the rate environment operating executing at a very high level. Our uptime is about as good as it's ever been and fleet's in great shape, and it's in high demand with our customers.

是的，我們對沿海利率環境在非常高的水平上運行感覺非常好。我們的正常運作時間與以往一樣好，機隊狀況良好，而且我們的客戶需求量很大。

And then just lastly, just quickly, I totally hear you like all the questions about build activity. Do you have visibility? Are the orders starting to pick up though either inland or coastal, but just to start the clock, but I don't know that I have got visibility, but any color you guys have?

最後，很快，我完全聽到您喜歡有關構建活動的所有問題。你有能見度嗎？內陸或沿海的訂單是否開始增加，但只是為了開始計時，但我不知道我是否有能見度，但你們有什麼顏色嗎？

I think in the context of the last three years, you're talking about 20 some odd barges built in 2022, 20 some-odd barges built in 2023. And so you know, at 40 this year in 2024 year over year is an increase. But I will tell you those three years represents lowest destruction in decades in this business. So even at 40 barges or even 50 barges a year, you're still not going to outpace the retirements. You still have 500 some-odd barges that are 30 to 40 years old and are candidates for retirement. So I think what you see is that some of that construction now is being done out of necessity to replace bars that are retiring.

我認為在過去三年的背景下，您談論的是 2022 年建造的 20 艘奇怪的駁船，2023 年建造的 20 艘奇怪的駁船。所以你知道，到2024年今年40歲是年成長的。但我會告訴你，這三年是該行業幾十年來最低的破壞。因此，即使每年有 40 艘甚至 50 艘駁船，您仍然不會超過退役的速度。您還有 500 多艘船齡 30 至 40 年的駁船，正在等待退役。因此，我認為您所看到的是，現在正在進行一些建設，以取代即將退役的酒吧。

And so I think contextually these three years back to back to back represent by every measure the least amount of inland tank barge construction we've seen in decades.

因此，我認為從各個方面來看，這三年背靠背的內陸油罐駁船建造量都是幾十年來最少的。

Yeah, I would want to say on UP Offshore is even more acute, right? As Christian said earlier, Raj said that you can. If you wanted to build an offshore unit right now in offshore ATP, you wouldn't see it until the end of 2027. But nobody's even contemplating building right now.

是的，我想說 UP Offshore 更尖銳，對吧？正如克里斯蒂安之前所說，拉吉說你可以。如果您現在想在海上 ATP 中建造一個海上裝置，那麼要到 2027 年底才能看到。但現在還沒有人考慮建造。

Go ahead. I cut you off, Scott.

前進。我打斷你了，史考特。

I totally get I guess I'm wondering like do you see orders so like picking up so like the 40 this year could become, could that be a 100 or whatever more next year? I don't know if there's if you can see orders.

我完全明白，我想我想知道你是否看到訂單，例如今年的 40 份訂單可能會變成 40 份，明年可能會是 100 份或更多嗎？不知道你能不能看到訂單。

Yes. I mean, we don't have clear visibility into every exact order book, but it's actually the capacity of the yards themselves. The space that they're available to sell and market that is constrained by the reduction in some of the shipyards that historically weren't existence pre-COVID, compounded with the labor issues that the shipyards are facing themselves. And so as of today, we don't may not have exact visibility into the order book, but I can tell you with some level of confidence that the actual ability to build barges is diminished.

是的。我的意思是，我們無法清楚地了解每個確切的訂單簿，但這實際上是船廠本身的容量。他們可用於銷售和行銷的空間受到一些造船廠數量減少的限制，而這些造船廠在疫情之前並不存在，再加上造船廠本身面臨的勞動力問題。因此，截至今天，我們可能無法準確了解訂單簿，但我可以有一定程度的信心地告訴您，建造駁船的實際能力已經減弱。

Helpful. Thank you, guys.

有幫助。謝謝你們，夥計們。

Thanks, Scott (multiple speakers).

謝謝，斯科特（多個發言者）。

Thank you for your questions. This concludes the question and answer session. I would now like to turn it back to Mr. Kurt Niemietz for closing remarks.

謝謝您的提問。問答環節到此結束。現在我想請庫爾特·尼米茨先生致閉幕詞。

Thank you, Gerald, and thank you, everyone, for joining our call today. If there's any follow-ups, please feel free to reach out to me.

謝謝傑拉爾德，也謝謝大家今天加入我們的電話會議。如果有任何後續情況，請隨時與我聯繫。

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.

感謝您參加今天的會議。這確實結束了該程式。您現在可以斷開連線。