Koppers Holdings Inc (KOP) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Koppers' Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. (Operator Instructions) Please also note, today's event is being recorded.

早安，女士們先生們。謝謝你的支持。歡迎參加 Koppers 2024 年第三季財報電話會議和網路廣播。（操作員說明）也請注意，今天的活動正在錄製中。

At this time, I'd like to turn the floor over to Quynh McGuire, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在，我想請投資者關係部門的 Quynh McGuire 發言。請繼續。

Thanks and good morning. I'm Quynh McGuire, Vice President of Investor Relations. Welcome to our Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call.

謝謝，早安。我是 Quynh McGuire，投資者關係副總裁。歡迎參加我們的 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。

We issued our press release earlier today. You may access it via our website at www.koppers.com. As indicated in our announcement, we've also posted materials to the Investor Relations page of our website that will be referenced in today's call. Consistent with our practice in prior quarterly conference calls, this is being broadcast live on our website, and a recording of this call will be available on our website for replay through February 8, 2025.

我們今天早些時候發布了新聞稿。您可以透過我們的網站 www.koppers.com 存取它。正如我們的公告所示，我們還在我們網站的投資者關係頁面上發布了材料，這些材料將在今天的電話會議中引用。與我們先前季度電話會議的做法一致，本次電話會議將在我們的網站上進行現場直播，並且本次電話會議的錄音將在我們的網站上提供，以便在 2025 年 2 月 8 日之前重播。

At this time, I would like to direct your attention to our forward-looking disclosure statement seen on slide 2. Certain comments made on this conference call may be characterized as forward-looking statements as defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements involve a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including risks described in the cautionary statement included in our press release and in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements included in the company's comments, you should not regard the inclusion of such information as a representation that its objectives, plans and projected results will be achieved. The company's actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. The company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made during this call.

目前，我想請您注意投影片 2 中的前瞻性揭露聲明。根據 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》的定義，本次電話會議中發表的某些評論可能被視為前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述涉及許多假設、風險和不確定性，包括我們的新聞稿和公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中的警告聲明中所述的風險。鑑於公司評論中包含的前瞻性陳述固有的重大不確定性，您不應將包含此類資訊視為其目標、計劃和預計結果將會實現的表示。本公司的實際結果、業績或成就可能與此類前瞻性陳述中明示或暗示的結果、業績或成就有重大差異。本公司不承擔更新本次電話會議期間所做的任何前瞻性陳述的義務。

References may also be made today to certain non-GAAP financial measures. The press release, which is available on our website, also contains reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.

今天也可能會提到某些非公認會計準則財務指標。我們網站上提供的新聞稿還包含非 GAAP 財務指標與最直接可比較的 GAAP 財務指標的調整表。

Joining me for our call today are Leroy Ball, Chief Executive Officer of Koppers; and Jimmi Sue Smith, Chief Financial Officer. I'll now turn the discussion over to Leroy.

今天與我一起參加電話會議的是 Koppers 執行長 Leroy Ball；和財務長吉米·蘇·史密斯。我現在將討論轉交給勒羅伊。

Thank you, Quynh. Good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to share the details of another strong performance delivered by our Global Koppers team in the third quarter, which includes record third quarter sales and record third quarter profitability and better safety performance. We generated improved sequential profitability in our railroad and carbon materials businesses, helped by cost reduction initiatives undertaken earlier this year.

謝謝你，瓊。大家早安。我很高興與大家分享我們的Global Koppers 團隊在第三季度取得的另一項強勁業績的詳細信息，其中包括創紀錄的第三季度銷售額、創紀錄的第三季度盈利能力以及更好的安全性能。由於今年稍早採取的成本削減舉措，我們的鐵路和碳材料業務的連續獲利能力有所提高。

On the other hand, we continue to experience reduced year-over-year volumes in our legacy utility pole business and lower sequential profitability in our performance chemicals business due to higher raw material costs. Now as always, we believe that our balanced and diversified business portfolio as well as our team's ongoing commitment to solving everyday challenges will keep us on track to meet our 2024 goals.

另一方面，由於原料成本上升，我們傳統電線桿業務的銷售量持續年減，高性能化學品業務的連續獲利能力也下降。現在，我們一如既往地相信，我們平衡且多元化的業務組合以及我們團隊對解決日常挑戰的持續承諾將使我們走上實現 2024 年目標的軌道。

So let's begin on slide 4 by looking at some of our key metrics from the quarter. Consolidated sales of $554.3 million represented a record third quarter compared with sales of $550.4 million in the prior year quarter. Our railroad and utility products and services segment reported record third quarter sales, while performance chemicals sales slightly declined due to Brown Wood sales now being reported as intercompany and carbon material and chemicals still seeing some demand weakness.

讓我們從第四張投影片開始，看看本季的一些關鍵指標。第三季綜合銷售額為 5.543 億美元，創歷史新高，去年同期銷售額為 5.504 億美元。我們的鐵路和公用事業產品及服務部門報告了創紀錄的第三季度銷售額，而高性能化學品銷售額略有下降，原因是布朗伍德銷售額現在被報告為公司間以及碳材料和化學品仍然存在一些需求疲軟。

We generated adjusted EBITDA of $77.4 million, a new third quarter record compared with $70.70 million in the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 14% versus 12.8% in the prior year. Third quarter diluted earnings per share was $1.09 compared with $1.22 in the prior year quarter, while adjusted earnings per share for the quarter were $1.37 compared with $1.32 in the prior year quarter.

我們的調整後 EBITDA 為 7,740 萬美元，創下第三季新紀錄，而去年同期為 7,070 萬美元。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 14%，上一年為 12.8%。第三季稀釋後每股收益為 1.09 美元，去年同期為 1.22 美元；調整後每股收益為 1.37 美元，去年同期為 1.32 美元。

Operating cash flow was $29.8 million for the third quarter and $44.7 million for the year-to-date period through September of 2024. That's versus $81.6 million and $79.5 million in 2023, respectively.

第三季營運現金流為 2,980 萬美元，截至 2024 年 9 月的年初至今營運現金流為 4,470 萬美元。相較之下，2023 年這一數字將分別為 8,160 萬美元和 7,950 萬美元。

Let's now review our continuing Zero Harm efforts on slide 6. In early October, we held our Zero Harm Safety Coordinators Conference in Florence, South Carolina, attended by Zero Harm representatives throughout our North American locations. The key focus was on looking for ways to identify environmental hazards and incorporating it into our existing process for physical hazard identification, which allows employees to identify and report hazards that may lead to an injury at their facilities. As a result, our employees are encouraged to identify and report environmental and/or safety concerns in order to help overall with compliance and safety efforts at Koppers.

現在讓我們在投影片 6 上回顧我們持續進行的零傷害工作。十月初，我們在南卡羅來納州佛羅倫薩舉行了零傷害安全協調員會議，北美各地的零傷害代表出席了會議。重點是尋找識別環境危害的方法並將其納入我們現有的物理危害識別流程中，使員工能夠識別並報告可能導致其設施受傷的危害。因此，我們鼓勵員工識別並報告環境和/或安全問題，以幫助 Koppers 整體進行合規和安全工作。

Now, to date, in 2024, 25 of our 47 facilities have operated accident-free with Europe CM&C and Europe performance chemicals notably having zero recordable incidents. Our leading activities have increased by 5%. Our recordable injury rate has gone down 8.5%, and our rate of serious safety incidents has decreased by an impressive 42%.

到目前為止，到 2024 年，我們的 47 家工廠中有 25 家已實現無事故運行，其中歐洲 CM&C 和歐洲高性能化學品的可記錄事故為零。我們的主導活動增加了 5%。我們的可記錄傷害率下降了 8.5%，嚴重安全事故率下降了 42%，令人印象深刻。

Zero Harm 2.0 remains our priority, re-energizing engagement at the front line of operations to accelerate our progress towards zero incidents. We're encouraged by these results with kudos to our team members worldwide. Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our people.

零傷害 2.0 仍然是我們的首要任務，重新激發第一線營運人員的參與，加速我們實現零事故的進程。我們對這些結果感到鼓舞，並向我們全球的團隊成員表示敬意。沒有什麼比我們人民的健康和安全更重要。

As shown on slide 7, we recently held our 2024 Truck Driving Championship in September. The competition consisted of the safest Koppers truck drivers based on traffic citations, service violations, speeding and inspections. The three winners were William Bailey from our recovery resources division, David Dunn from utility and industrial products, and Dennis Roberts from railroad structures. Each of these drivers earned a cash prize and visited Koppers headquarters in Pittsburgh, where they were honored at a special dinner with Koppers leadership. Bill, David, and Dennis represent the best of Koppers in the way they approach their work with passion and pride, and we and our customers are lucky to have them driving for us.

如幻燈片 7 所示，我們最近在 9 月舉辦了 2024 年卡車駕駛錦標賽。比賽由根據交通罰單、服務違規、超速和檢查得出的最安全的 Koppers 卡車司機組成。三位獲獎者是來自我們回收資源部門的 William Bailey、來自公用事業和工業產品部門的 David Dunn 以及來自鐵路結構部門的 Dennis Roberts。這些車手中的每一位都獲得了現金獎勵，並參觀了位於匹茲堡的 Koppers 總部，並與 Koppers 領導層共進了一場特別晚宴。比爾、大衛和丹尼斯代表了 Koppers 中最優秀的人，他們充滿熱情和自豪地開展工作，我們和我們的客戶很幸運有他們為我們駕駛。

Now, I'd like to turn it over to our Chief Financial Officer, Jimmi Sue Smith, who will provide an overview of our third quarter financial results. Jimmi Sue?

現在，我想將其交給我們的財務長吉米·蘇·史密斯，他將概述我們第三季的財務表現。吉米·蘇？

Thanks, Leroy. We issued a press release this morning detailing our third quarter 2024 results. My comments today are based on that information.

謝謝，勒羅伊。我們今天早上發布了一份新聞稿，詳細介紹了 2024 年第三季的業績。我今天的評論就是基於這些資訊。

Starting on slide 9, third quarter sales rose by $4 million or 0.7% from the prior year, a record for third quarter sales. By segment, RUPS sales increased $14 million or 6%, also a third quarter record. PC sales decreased $3 million or 1.5% and CM&C sales decreased $7 million or 5.5% from the prior year quarter.

從投影片 9 開始，第三季銷售額較前一年成長 400 萬美元，即 0.7%，創第三季銷售額紀錄。以細分市場劃分，RUPS 銷售額成長了 1,400 萬美元，即 6%，同樣創下第三季最高紀錄。與去年同期相比，PC 銷售額下降 300 萬美元，或 1.5%，CM&C 銷售額下降 700 萬美元，即 5.5%。

On slide 10, adjusted EBITDA was $77 million, which was a third quarter record, resulting in a 14% margin. By segment, RUPS generated adjusted EBITDA of $25 million with a 10% margin. PC delivered adjusted EBITDA of $40 million with a 22.6% margin, and CM&C reported adjusted EBITDA of $13 million with a 9.8% margin.

在投影片 10 上，調整後的 EBITDA 為 7,700 萬美元，創第三季紀錄，利潤率為 14%。依部門劃分，RUPS 調整後 EBITDA 為 2,500 萬美元，利潤率為 10%。PC 的調整後 EBITDA 為 4,000 萬美元，利潤率為 22.6%；CM&C 報告調整後 EBITDA 為 1,300 萬美元，利潤率為 9.8%。

On slide 11, our RUPS business achieved record third quarter sales of $248 million compared to $234 million in the prior year quarter as we realized $10 million of price increases, mainly for domestic crossties and utility poles in Australia. Volumes in our domestic utility pole business were up 11%, primarily attributable to Brown Wood volumes and our railroad bridge services business saw increased activity.

在投影片11 上，我們的RUPS 業務第三季銷售額達到創紀錄的2.48 億美元，而去年同期為2.34 億美元，因為我們實現了1000 萬美元的價格上漲，主要針對澳洲國內的枕木和電線桿。我們的國內電線桿業務的銷量增長了 11%，這主要歸功於 Brown Wood 的銷量，而我們的鐵路橋樑服務業務的活動有所增加。

These increases were partly offset by lower activity in our crosstie recovery business. From a market trend perspective, prices for untreated crossties remain relatively stable. Compared to the prior year quarter, crosstie procurement declined by 11% and crosstie treatment was lower by 8%.

這些成長部分被我們的枕木回收業務活動減少所抵消。從市場走勢來看，未經處理的枕木價格保持相對穩定。與去年同期相比，枕木採購量下降了 11%，枕木處理量下降了 8%。

Adjusted EBITDA for RUPS remained consistent with the prior year quarter at $25 million. Profitability was flat year-over-year even with a net sales increase and $3.4 million from improved plant utilization as these gains were offset by $14.1 million of higher raw material, operating and SG&A costs.

RUPS 的調整後 EBITDA 與去年同期保持一致，為 2,500 萬美元。儘管淨銷售額增加，工廠利用率提高 340 萬美元，但盈利能力同比持平，因為這些收益被原材料、營運和 SG&A 成本增加 1,410 萬美元所抵消。

On slide 12, our performance chemicals business generated third quarter sales of $177 million compared to $179 million in the prior year quarter. The sales decline can be attributed to preservative sales to Brown Wood now being treated as intercompany sales. Excluding Brown Wood, volumes were slightly higher, but offset by lower sales prices.

在投影片 12 中，我們的高效能化學品業務第三季銷售額為 1.77 億美元，而去年同期為 1.79 億美元。銷售額下降可歸因於對 Brown Wood 的防腐劑銷售現在被視為公司間銷售。不包括棕木，銷售量略有增加，但被較低的銷售價格所抵消。

Adjusted EBITDA for PC was $40 million compared with $35 million in the prior year quarter. Profitability was higher despite the net decrease in sales driven by lower raw material and logistics costs, which were favorably impacted by timing.

PC 調整後 EBITDA 為 4,000 萬美元，去年同期為 3,500 萬美元。儘管原材料和物流成本下降導致銷售額淨下降，但獲利能力仍較高，這受到時機的有利影響。

On slide 13, our carbon materials and chemicals business reported third quarter sales of $130 million compared to $137 million in the prior year quarter. We had $16.6 million of lower sales prices across most products, particularly for carbon pitch, where prices decreased 20% globally, driven by market dynamics, especially in Europe, as well as lower volumes of carbon black feedstock. These factors were partly offset by volume increases for carbon pitch and phthalic anhydride.

在投影片 13 上，我們的碳材料和化學品業務報告第三季銷售額為 1.3 億美元，去年同期為 1.37 億美元。我們的大多數產品的銷售價格下降了 1,660 萬美元，尤其是碳瀝青，受市場動態（尤其是歐洲市場動態）以及炭黑原料量減少的推動，全球價格下降了 20%。這些因素被碳瀝青和鄰苯二甲酸酐的體積增加部分抵消。

Adjusted EBITDA for CM&C in the third quarter was $13 million compared with $10 million in the prior year quarter. Profitability was higher due to $9.2 million of lower raw material costs, mainly in Europe, as well as lower SG&A costs and a higher volume of carbon pitch and phthalic anhydride, partly offset by price decreases and higher operating expenses.

CM&C 第三季調整後 EBITDA 為 1,300 萬美元，去年同期為 1,000 萬美元。由於原材料成本降低了 920 萬美元（主要是在歐洲），以及 SG&A 成本降低以及碳瀝青和鄰苯二甲酸酐產量增加，盈利能力有所提高，但部分被價格下降和營運費用增加所抵消。

Compared with the second quarter of this year, the average pricing of major products was 1% lower and the average cost of coal tar decreased by 4%. Compared to the prior year quarter, the average pricing of major products and the average coal tar cost both decreased by 8%.

與今年第二季相比，主要產品平均價格下降1%，煤焦油平均成本下降4%。與去年同期相比，主要產品平均價格和平均煤焦油成本均下降8%。

Slide 15 outlines our capital allocation approach. Net capital expenditures were $55 million through September 30. Total CapEx is forecast to be $80 million for 2024 compared with $116 million in the prior year.

投影片 15 概述了我們的資本配置方法。截至 9 月 30 日，淨資本支出為 5,500 萬美元。預計 2024 年資本支出總額為 8,000 萬美元，而前一年為 1.16 億美元。

We spent $42 million on share repurchases year-to-date, including $10.4 million in the third quarter. Further buybacks for the remainder of this year, if any, will depend on cash flow and stock performance during our open window period. We have approximately $12 million remaining on our existing authorization.

年初至今，我們在股票回購上花費了 4,200 萬美元，其中第三季花費了 1,040 萬美元。今年剩餘時間的進一步回購（如果有）將取決於開放窗口期內的現金流量和股票表現。我們現有的授權還剩約 1200 萬美元。

We also returned capital to shareholders through a quarterly dividend of $0.07 per share this quarter. And we continue to focus on reducing our net leverage.

本季我們也透過每股 0.07 美元的季度股利向股東返還資本。我們繼續專注於降低淨槓桿率。

We ended the quarter with $936.4 million in net debt and $332 million of liquidity, reflecting the $100 million we borrowed to purchase Brown Wood. Our net leverage ratio was 3.6 times. We continue to be confident in our ability to grow earnings and generate cash and remain committed to our long-term target of 2 to 3 times net-debt-to-EBITDA with the expectation that it will be in the low 3s at year-end.

本季結束時，我們的淨債務為 9.364 億美元，流動資金為 3.32 億美元，這反映了我們為購買 Brown Wood 借入的 1 億美元。我們的淨槓桿率為3.6倍。我們對增加獲利和產生現金的能力仍然充滿信心，並繼續致力於實現淨債務與 EBITDA 2 至 3 倍的長期目標，預計年底將降至 3 倍以下。

Slide 16 shows the details of our capital expenditures through the third quarter. We spent $55 million net or $59 million gross. By category, $38 million was for maintenance, $4 million for Zero Harm, and $17 million for growth and productivity initiatives. By business segment, we spent $27.5 million on RUPS, $9 million on PC, $19 million on CM&C, and $2.5 million on corporate projects.

投影片 16 顯示了我們第三季資本支出的詳細資訊。我們淨支出 5,500 萬美元，總支出 5,900 萬美元。按類別劃分，3800 萬美元用於維護，400 萬美元用於零傷害，1700 萬美元用於成長和生產力計劃。按業務部門劃分，我們在 RUPS 上花費了 2750 萬美元，在 PC 上花費了 900 萬美元，在 CM&C 上花費了 1900 萬美元，在企業項目上花費了 250 萬美元。

On slide 18, as previously announced, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.07 per share of Koppers common stock on November 7. This dividend will be payable on December 16 to shareholders of record as of the close of trading on November 29. At this planned quarterly dividend, which is subject to review by the Board of Directors, the annual dividend will be $0.28 per share for 2024, a 17% increase over 2023.

在幻燈片 18 上，正如先前宣布的那樣，我們的董事會宣佈於 11 月 7 日派發 Koppers 普通股每股 0.07 美元的季度現金股息。該股將於 12 月 16 日支付給截至 11 月 29 日收盤時在冊的股東。根據本計畫的季度股息（尚待董事會審核），2024 年年度股息將為每股 0.28 美元，比 2023 年增加 17%。

And with that, I'll turn it back over to Leroy.

有了這個，我會把它轉回給勒羅伊。

Thank you, Jimmi Sue. Now let's take a look at the notable happenings from the third quarter. Our utility and industrial products team members stepped up to help communities devastated by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, which impacted 48 of our utility customers across eight states. As pictured on slide 20, our people responded in a huge way to meet the demand for new poles as utilities rebuild their networks and restore power to affected residents. Despite dealing with their own personal losses from the storms, UIP employees shipped nearly 40,000 utility poles to affected areas across the Southeastern US with more to come.

謝謝你，吉米蘇。現在讓我們來看看第三季發生的重大事件。我們的公用事業和工業產品團隊成員挺身而出，為遭受颶風海倫和颶風米爾頓破壞的社區提供幫助，這兩個颶風影響了我們遍布八個州的 48 家公用事業客戶。如幻燈片 20 所示，隨著公用事業公司重建網路並為受影響的居民恢復供電，我們的人民做出了巨大的反應，以滿足對新電線桿的需求。儘管UIP員工面臨著風暴造成的個人損失，但他們還是向美國東南部受影響的地區運送了近40,000根電線桿，並且還將運送更多電線桿。

Storm response is where our team shines, showing up for our customers and their communities to help them through the toughest of times. It's been a truly heroic effort by many individuals and Koppers is proud to play a key role in the recovery efforts.

風暴響應是我們團隊的亮點，他們為我們的客戶及其社區提供幫助，幫助他們度過最艱難的時期。這是許多人做出的真正英勇的努力，科珀斯很自豪能夠在恢復工作中發揮關鍵作用。

Now on to a review of each of the businesses. I'll start with performance chemicals on page 23. The third quarter continued to be solid from a volume standpoint as our legacy MicroPro ground contact volumes were slightly ahead of Q3 2023, which is similar to the sales volume comparison of this product category for the year-to-date September period.

現在對每項業務進行審查。我將從第 23 頁的高性能化學品開始。從銷售的角度來看，第三季度繼續保持穩健，因為我們傳統的 MicroPro 接地銷量略高於 2023 年第三季度，這與今年迄今 9 月份該產品類別的銷量比較類似。

Our above-ground residential volumes were weaker in Q3 and through three quarters were down about 4% compared to prior year due primarily to geographic and customer mix. The trends are expected to persist through the fourth quarter, with slightly more softness in our ground contact product line, as some recent market share losses will begin to take effect during Q4.

我們的地上住宅成交量在第三季較弱，整個三個季度與去年同期相比下降了約 4%，這主要是由於地理和客戶組合的原因。預計這一趨勢將持續到第四季度，我們的地面接觸產品線將略有疲軟，因為最近的一些市場份額損失將在第四季度開始生效。

The data on existing home sales continues to be disappointing, while new home construction has picked up some of the slack in available housing stock. Remodeling spending should begin to come out of the trough that hit in Q3 and move back to positive comps beginning in Q2 of 2025, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard's Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity.

成屋銷售數據繼續令人失望，而新屋建設彌補了部分可用房屋庫存的不足。根據哈佛大學住房研究聯合中心的改造活動領先指標，改造支出應開始走出第三季的低谷，並從 2025 年第二季開始恢復正值。

It is difficult to pinpoint exactly why treated wood has continued to fare okay through what has been a generally tougher building products market, however, two logical factors behind this trend are the normalization of lumber prices to pre-pandemic levels and people being priced out of moving up in home value and instead investing in their current home, figuring that they're going to be there longer.

很難確切地指出為什麼經過處理的木材在普遍較為艱難的建築產品市場中繼續表現良好，然而，這一趨勢背後的兩個邏輯因素是木材價格正常化到大流行前的水平，以及人們被高價排除在外。

Industrial volumes were down in Q3 compared to prior year, but normalized for the acquisition of Brown Wood in April of this year, volumes remained flat. Year-to-date, industrial volumes were up a couple of percent, but adjusting for Brown, the increase is more like 5% to 10%.

與去年相比，第三季工業銷售量下降，但由於今年 4 月收購 Brown Wood，工業銷售正常化，銷售量仍持平。今年迄今為止，工業產量增加了幾個百分點，但根據布朗的數據進行調整後，增幅更像是 5% 到 10%。

Now this will likely expand further in the fourth quarter due to the heavier demand we saw coming from storm response after Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The storm response has also had a positive impact on residential product demand in early Q4 as lumber yards and home improvement stores needed to stock up for the repair and rebuild process. Pricing for non-contracted business has been under some pressure throughout the year as costs other than copper have begun to moderate.

現在，由於我們看到颶風海倫和米爾頓之後的風暴響應帶來了更大的需求，這種情況可能會在第四季度進一步擴大。風暴應對措施也對第四季初的住宅產品需求產生了積極影響，因為木材場和家居裝修商店需要為維修和重建過程儲備庫存。由於銅以外的成本開始放緩，非合約業務的定價全年都面臨一定壓力。

We've also continued to pull back on discretionary spending, which has helped push profitability to new heights. As a result of all that, we are upping our estimate of full year EBITDA for our PC segment to $140 million at the midpoint of our range increase.

我們也繼續削減可自由支配支出，這有助於將獲利能力推向新的高度。因此，我們將 PC 部門的全年 EBITDA 預估上調至 1.4 億美元，即上調幅度的中點。

Moving on to our utility and industrial products business, shown on page 24. Demand in Q3 continued to be softer than prior year when we exclude sales from the Brown Wood acquisition. A combination of needing to work down higher inventories, a higher interest rate environment causing utilities to reassess project scope and timing while they seek rate increases and a shifting of constrained budgets to more critical power generation projects have all contributed to what we view as a short-term constraint on pole demand. Now that included the Brown business and our entry into the Texas market, which are both running behind early expectations, but remain poised to make significant contributions when normal demand picks back up.

接下來是我們的公用事業和工業產品業務，如第 24 頁所示。當我們排除收購 Brown Wood 的銷售額後，第三季的需求持續低於去年同期。需要降低更高的庫存、更高的利率環境導致公用事業公司在尋求加息時重新評估項目範圍和時間安排，以及將有限的預算轉移到更關鍵的發電項目，這些因素都導致了我們認為的短期短缺。現在，這包括布朗業務和我們進入德克薩斯州市場，這兩個業務的運作都落後於早期預期，但當正常需求回升時，仍將做出重大貢獻。

As mentioned earlier when I highlighted the work by our UIP team in late September and early October, Hurricanes Helene and Milton devastated various parts of the Southeast US, causing death and destruction not seen in many years. To serve affected customers and communities, our team came together to ship approximately 40,000 poles which is 3 to 4 times our typical storm response. Now the vast majority of that volume was shipped in October, which was a record sales month for UIP.

正如我之前在強調 UIP 團隊在 9 月底和 10 月初的工作時所提到的，颶風海倫和米爾頓摧毀了美國東南部的多個地區，造成了多年未見的死亡和破壞。為了服務受影響的客戶和社區，我們的團隊齊心協力運送了大約 40,000 個電線桿，這是我們典型風暴響應的 3 到 4 倍。現在，其中絕大多數是在 10 月發貨的，這是 UIP 創紀錄的月份。

We were thankful to have the Brown Wood plant as a part of Koppers as it enabled us to do more than we could have otherwise. Responding to those storms has enabled Koppers and certain of our customers to work down inventories, improving the chances that 2025 sales will get off to a positive start.

我們很感激 Brown Wood 工廠成為 Koppers 的一部分，因為它使我們能夠做得比其他工廠更多。應對這些風暴使 Koppers 和我們的某些客戶減少了庫存，從而提高了 2025 年銷售取得良好開局的機會。

On a final note, our Australian pole business had another strong quarter, and with one quarter left this year, finds itself in a position to have its best financial performance since 2014.

最後一點，我們的澳洲桿業務又經歷了一個強勁的季度，今年還剩一個季度，我們發現自己有望實現 2014 年以來最好的財務業績。

Our railroad products and services business is summarized on page 25. Through nine months, we've recognized $20 million in higher price, which has helped us chip away at covering the increased costs we've experienced over the past couple of years.

第 25 頁總結了我們的鐵路產品和服務業務。經過九個月的時間，我們已經意識到價格上漲了 2000 萬美元，這幫助我們彌補了過去幾年增加的成本。

Also through September, we've realized $4 million of cost savings that we targeted for the year, which is at the low end of our previously stated range. Now that gives me confidence that we'll finish the year closer to the high end of our target. And also providing help on the cost front is reducing our need for boltonizing and having the healthiest air stacked inventory levels we've seen in years.

同樣到 9 月份，我們已經實現了今年目標的 400 萬美元成本節約，這處於我們之前規定的範圍的低端。現在，這讓我有信心，我們將在今年結束時更接近目標的高端。在成本方面提供的幫助也減少了我們對螺栓化的需求，並擁有多年來我們所見過的最健康的空氣堆積庫存水準。

Switching issues and inconsistent car flow in and out of our plants, something that we don't control, continues to be an issue at several of our facilities. Now we're addressing those issues as best we can as they arise, but they've contributed to inefficiencies that we have had a limited ability to recoup.

開關問題和進出工廠的車流量不一致（這是我們無法控制的）仍然是我們幾個工廠的問題。現在，我們正在盡最大努力解決這些出現的問題，但它們導致效率低下，而我們彌補的能力有限。

We still expect to finish the year flat from an overall crosstie demand standpoint, while our commercial business remains a bright spot as backlog and profitability remains strong. With volumes in both utility and rail customers muted and less price recovery than what was expected coming into the year, we're expecting an increase in EBITDA from our RUPS business of $9 million to $10 million, which is at the lower end of the range of our expectations that we communicated last quarter.

從整體枕木需求的角度來看，我們仍然預計今年將持平，而我們的商業業務仍然是一個亮點，因為積壓訂單和盈利能力仍然強勁。由於公用事業和鐵路客戶的銷售疲軟，而且價格復甦幅度低於今年的預期，我們預計 RUPS 業務的 EBITDA 將增長 900 萬美元至 1000 萬美元，這是該範圍的下限我們上季度傳達的預期。

Finally, on to the CM&C business, which is summarized on page 26. As expected, we saw both sequential and year-over-year improvement in profitability for our Global CM&C business. Pitch markets appear to be at or close to bottom as pricing continues to be weak, comparatively speaking, but we did experience a small boost in volumes during the quarter. While pricing was down, we didn't lose any ground as coal tar reductions kept pace with finished goods price declines.

最後，關於 CM&C 業務，第 26 頁對此進行了總結。正如預期的那樣，我們的全球 CM&C 業務的盈利能力環比和同比均有所改善。相對而言，由於定價持續疲軟，瀝青市場似乎已觸底或接近底部，但我們在本季度確實經歷了銷量的小幅增長。雖然價格下降，但我們沒有失去任何份額，因為煤焦油的減少與成品價格的下降保持同步。

We continue to work on raw material contract extensions, the result of which will be key to our success beyond this year. We have agreed on the important terms for our coal tar supply in Australia, while discussions in Europe and the US continue. Like RPS, cost is a big issue in CM&C, particularly in North America, where we have been focused on finding cost savings, capturing $7 million through September.

我們將繼續致力於延長原材料合同，其結果將是我們今年以後取得成功的關鍵。我們已就澳洲煤焦油供應的重要條款達成一致，而歐洲和美國的討論仍在繼續。與 RPS 一樣，成本也是 CM&C 的一個大問題，尤其是在北美，我們一直致力於尋求成本節約，截至 9 月已實現 700 萬美元。

Somewhat specific to CM&C, we have also cut back planned capital expenditures for this year and are tracking to a capital number for CM&C this year that is $24 million less than last year. Moving forward, this represents an annual run rate that we plan to stick to and potentially reduce even further. For CM&C, we now expect a decline in EBITDA for this year between $9 million and $11 million, which is in the middle of our previously communicated range.

具體到 CM&C，我們也削減了今年的計畫資本支出，並追蹤 CM&C 今年的資本數字比去年減少了 2,400 萬美元。展望未來，這代表了我們計劃堅持並可能進一步降低的年運行率。對於 CM&C，我們現在預計今年 EBITDA 將下降 900 萬美元至 1100 萬美元，這是我們之前通報的範圍的中間值。

On slide 28, we continue to expect consolidated sales to be flat year-over-year. RUPS sales are projected to see $50 million in top line increase, including contributions from Brown Wood. PC sales are forecasted to decrease slightly by $15 million from the prior year. And CM&C sales are estimated to decrease by $75 million due primarily to price and volume declines in carbon pitch, much of which we've already experienced, partially offset by volume increases in phthalic anhydride. As a result, our consolidated sales forecast for 2024 is approximately $2.1 billion, which would be similar to 2023.

在投影片 28 中，我們繼續預期合併銷售額將比去年同期持平。RUPS 銷售額預計將增加 5,000 萬美元，其中包括 Brown Wood 的貢獻。個人電腦銷售額預計將比前一年小幅下降 1,500 萬美元。CM&C 銷售額預計將減少 7,500 萬美元，主要是由於碳瀝青的價格和銷售下降，其中大部分我們已經經歷過，但部分被鄰苯二甲酸酐銷量的增加所抵消。因此，我們對 2024 年的綜合銷售額預測約為 21 億美元，與 2023 年相似。

On slide 29, we're tightening our forecast for adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $270 million to $275 million due to the various reasons already explained.

在投影片 29 中，由於已經解釋的各種原因，我們將調整後 EBITDA 的預測收緊至 2.7 億美元至 2.75 億美元之間。

On slide 30, we provide our adjusted earnings per share bridge, where we continue to expect a strong contribution from operations, offset somewhat by depreciation and amortization and interest expenses. For 2024, we're tightening our EPS range to be $4.25 to $4.45, with the upper end representing a new high for Koppers.

在幻燈片 30 中，我們提供了調整後的每股盈餘橋樑，我們繼續預期營運將做出強勁貢獻，但將被折舊、攤提和利息支出在一定程度上抵消。對於 2024 年，我們將每股盈餘範圍收緊至 4.25 美元至 4.45 美元，上限代表 Koppers 的新高。

On slide 31, we are projecting capital spending to be $80 million in 2024, $73 million net of cash proceeds. This is $5 million better than the low end of our previous range and $43 million better than the net $116 million that was spent in 2023. That has enabled us to devote $42 million this year to repurchasing shares at levels well below our stock price highs experienced early this year.

在投影片 31 中，我們預計 2024 年資本支出為 8,000 萬美元，扣除現金收益後為 7,300 萬美元。這比我們之前範圍的低端高出 500 萬美元，比 2023 年的淨支出 1.16 億美元高出 4,300 萬美元。這使得我們今年能夠投入 4,200 萬美元用於回購股票，回購價格遠低於今年初的股價高點。

Moving on to slide 32, I'd like to spend a few minutes providing a high-level rundown of our early expectations for 2025. In performance chemicals, we've already seen a more competitive environment in the residential preservative market and thus, we'll be experiencing some market share loss and margin erosion as we compete to minimize our net share loss for next year. However, lower mortgage rates are expected to support an improved housing market and that, in combination with improved repair and remodeling expenditures, should support healthier market conditions.

轉到投影片 32，我想花幾分鐘概述我們對 2025 年的早期預期。在高性能化學品方面，我們已經看到了住宅防腐劑市場競爭更加激烈的環境，因此，當我們競爭以盡量減少明年的淨份額損失時，我們將經歷一些市場份額損失和利潤侵蝕。然而，較低的抵押貸款利率預計將支持房屋市場的改善，再加上維修和改造支出的改善，應支持更健康的市場狀況。

For our industrial products, we're projecting demand growth due to net market share gains and an improved industry backdrop. In terms of raw materials, copper prices will rise, but they are hedged and most other product costs should not experience any measurable change.

對於我們的工業產品，我們預計由於淨市場份額的成長和行業背景的改善，需求將會成長。就原材料而言，銅價將會上漲，但它們是對沖的，大多數其他產品成本應該不會出現任何可衡量的變化。

It's fair to say that our PC business probably outperformed in 2024 and is due for a step back. And while that will happen in 2025, it will be somewhat mitigated by stronger industrial demand and aggressive cost reduction measures. All told, we can still see a path for performance chemicals to have its second or third best year ever, which would make me happy.

可以公平地說，我們的 PC 業務在 2024 年可能會表現出色，並且會有所回落。雖然這種情況將在 2025 年發生，但強勁的工業需求和積極的成本削減措施將在一定程度上緩解這種情況。總而言之，我們仍然可以看到高性能化學品將迎來有史以來第二或第三最好的一年，這會讓我感到高興。

In our utility and industrial products business, a healthier utility market is expected to support modestly higher volumes, and we will have a full year of benefits from the Brown Wood acquisition. We're also expecting to further expand our presence in Texas and Midwest regions to realize additional market share growth. Market drivers continue to remain positive, supporting long-term growth, driven by continued infrastructure build-out, grid hardening and broadband expansion.

在我們的公用事業和工業產品業務中，更健康的公用事業市場預計將支持適度成長的銷售量，我們將從布朗伍德收購中獲得一整年的收益。我們還期望進一步擴大我們在德克薩斯州和中西部地區的業務，以實現額外的市場份額成長。在持續的基礎設施建設、電網強化和寬頻擴張的推動下，市場驅動因素持續保持積極的勢頭，支持長期成長。

In addition, we will continue to evaluate opportunities to further grow our business, whether it'd be through further consolidation or entering new fiber markets. The recent storm activity that led to much-needed destocking already sets up the 2025 demand backdrop to skew more positive than just a quarter ago. There is little question in my mind that 2025 will represent a new high in profitability for our UIP business. The only question is where does it end up? And we'll have a much better idea of that when we talk in more detail about how we see 2025 on our call in February of next year.

此外，我們將繼續評估進一步發展業務的機會，無論是透過進一步整合還是進入新的纖維市場。最近的風暴活動導致了急需的去庫存，已經使 2025 年的需求背景比一個季度前更加積極。在我看來，毫無疑問，2025 年我們的 UIP 業務的獲利能力將創下新高。唯一的問題是它最終會去哪裡？當我們在明年 2 月的電話會議上更詳細地討論我們如何看待 2025 年時，我們會對這一點有更好的了解。

In railroad products and services, we're expecting slightly higher sales volumes in 2025, which will come from market share gains, although overall demand from the Class 1 market is projected to be flat to slightly down. We anticipate higher contract pricing with operating costs staying in check or going lower due to cost reduction activities.

在鐵路產品和服務方面，我們預計 2025 年銷售量將略有增加，這將來自市場份額的成長，儘管 1 類市場的總體需求預計將持平或略有下降。我們預計合約定價會更高，而營運成本將受到控製或由於成本削減活動而降低。

For the commercial crosstie market, demand should remain in line with '24 levels. And I don't expect our maintenance-of-way business to have an appreciable impact on our year-over-year results.

對於商業枕木市場，需求應保持在 24 世紀的水準。我預計我們的道路維護業務不會對我們的年比業績產生明顯影響。

Slightly higher volumes combined with higher pricing and lower cost is a favorable equation. In combination with our expectations for UIP, this should push our RUPS segment to a new all-time high in profitability and finally bring our segment EBITDA margins back above the 10% mark for the first time since 2016.

略高的銷售量加上更高的定價和更低的成本是一個有利的方程式。結合我們對 UIP 的預期，這應該會將我們的 RUPS 部門的盈利能力推向歷史新高，並最終使我們的部門 EBITDA 利潤率自 2016 年以來首次回到 10% 以上。

In carbon materials and chemicals, improved volumes in our RPS business will help drive higher creosote sales. We expect Europe and Australia to maintain similar levels of profitability as in 2024, some of which is expected to come from enhanced carbon product sales. In North America, if we're unable to reach sustainable cost improvement, we'll seriously consider rationalizing capacity. For capital expenditures, we plan to reduce spending across CM&C for the second straight year as we work to improve the free cash flow yield in this business segment.

在碳材料和化學品方面，RPS 業務銷售的提高將有助於推動雜酚油銷量的成長。我們預計歐洲和澳洲將保持與 2024 年類似的盈利水平，其中部分盈利預計將來自碳產品銷售的增加。在北美，如果我們無法實現可持續的成本改善，我們將認真考慮產能合理化。對於資本支出，我們計劃連續第二年減少 CM&C 的支出，並努力提高該業務部門的自由現金流收益率。

I expect that 2025 will see improvement from our global CM&C business if for no other reason than cost reductions. Any benefit from improvement in market conditions will only be additive to our expectations. And like UIP, we will have a better view of that come February.

我預計，如果除了成本降低之外沒有其他原因，我們的全球 CM&C 業務將在 2025 年有所改善。市場狀況改善帶來的任何好處只會增加我們的預期。和 UIP 一樣，我們將在 2 月對此有更好的看法。

Further to what we see on the horizon in our business segments, if you turn to slide 33, you can see the other actions we're taking to ensure that we reach an 11th straight year of improved performance. The termination of our US pension plan will result in an estimated $4 million of annual cost savings with $3 million being realized in 2025, excluding an estimated $40 million in special charges to GAAP earnings that will be incurred over the next two quarters with most of it in early next year. Also, we will be resizing our workforce over the next two quarters through a combination of voluntary and involuntary actions.

除了我們在業務部門中看到的前景之外，如果您翻到投影片 33，您可以看到我們正在採取的其他行動，以確保我們連續 11 年實現績效改善。終止我們的美國退休金計畫將導致每年節省約400 萬美元的成本，其中300 萬美元將在2025 年實現，其中不包括預計在未來兩個季度產生的4000 萬美元的GAAP 收益特別費用，其中大部分是明年初。此外，我們將在未來兩個季度透過自願和非自願行動相結合的方式調整我們的員工規模。

These actions will enable us to align our spending levels more closely to commodity chemical cost metrics and allow us to compete more effectively. Also, we expect to realize interest expense and cash savings from a combination of lower average borrowings and lower rates.

這些行動將使我們的支出水準更接近商品化學品成本指標，並使我們能夠更有效地競爭。此外，我們預計透過較低的平均借款和較低的利率可以實現利息支出和現金節省。

Regarding capital deployment, we anticipate there will be a final contribution of $25 million as part of terminating our US pension plan. And we're forecasting a normal capital investment year of $65 million to $75 million as we take a breather to allow the significant internal investments made over the past four years to begin generating greater returns.

關於資本部署，我們預計最終將繳納 2,500 萬美元，作為終止我們美國退休金計畫的一部分。我們預計每年的正常資本投資為 6,500 萬至 7,500 萬美元，因為我們暫時喘口氣，讓過去四年進行的重大內部投資開始產生更大的回報。

We're planning to consider our normal annual dividend increase in February of '25, as well as to allocate capital to share repurchases to offset dilution and to support our stock price during periods of market overreaction as we have experienced this year. Our remaining free cash flow will be allocated to reduce debt.

我們計劃考慮在 2025 年 2 月增加正常的年度股息，並分配資本用於股票回購，以抵消稀釋，並在市場過度反應期間支撐我們的股價，就像我們今年經歷的那樣。我們剩餘的自由現金流將用於減少債務。

In summary, our top line in 2025 is not expected to differ markedly from 2024 as market share erosion in PC is expected to be offset by top-line growth in our other two business segments. In terms of profitability, we believe that 2025 will result in new highs in adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, and adjusted earnings per share. And while we're still working through the details and there is much yet to be determined, including the ultimate amount of cost savings, we are confident we will exceed the current consensus estimates of $285 million for adjusted EBITDA for 2025. And we are still targeting to achieve $300 million or better next year. At the same time, we anticipate that our net leverage will drop to below 3 times adjusted EBITDA from a combination of higher adjusted EBITDA and lower net debt.

總而言之，我們 2025 年的營收預計與 2024 年不會有顯著差異，因為 PC 市場份額的侵蝕預計將被我們其他兩個業務部門的營收成長所抵消。獲利能力方面，我們認為2025年調整後EBITDA、調整後EBITDA利潤率和調整後每股盈餘將再創新高。雖然我們仍在研究細節，還有很多事情有待確定，包括最終節省的成本金額，但我們有信心 2025 年調整後 EBITDA 將超過目前一致估計的 2.85 億美元。我們的目標仍然是明年實現 3 億美元或更多。同時，由於較高的調整後 EBITDA 和較低的淨債務，我們預期我們的淨槓桿率將降至調整後 EBITDA 的 3 倍以下。

The final details supporting our 2025 targets will be shared during our fourth quarter earnings call in February of 2025. Also, we're in the process of finalizing our 2030 strategy and look forward to unveiling the details of our next five-year plan to the financial community during our next Investor Day, which will take place in September of 2025.

支持我們 2025 年目標的最終細節將在 2025 年 2 月的第四季財報電話會議上分享。此外，我們正在最終確定 2030 年策略，並期待在 2025 年 9 月舉行的下一個投資者日期間向金融界公佈下一個五年計劃的細節。

At this time, I would like to open it up to questions.

這時候我想提出一些問題。

(Operator Instructions) Gary Prestopino, Barrington Research.

（操作員說明）Gary Prestopino，Barrington Research。

Leroy, you mentioned some competitive issues and share losses in PC. Could you go into that a little bit more, please? What's going on?

Leroy，您提到了 PC 領域的一些競爭問題和份額損失。能再詳細說明一下嗎？這是怎麼回事？

Sure. Yeah, yeah, Gary. So we've -- traditionally, I think, since we've owned the business, have had anywhere from two- to three-year agreements with our major customers in performance chemicals. And you might remember going back, I think, to the end of 2022 when we were experiencing a lot of inflationary pressures on the cost side and some erosion margin, we were actually going through a renewal of agreements with our customer base that went out two years. And we were able to get significant price increases pushed through to enable us to recapture a lot of the cost increases that we were eating at that point in time.

當然。是的，是的，加里。因此，我認為，傳統上，自從我們擁有這項業務以來，我們就與高性能化學品的主要客戶簽訂了兩到三年的協議。我想，你可能還記得，回到2022 年底，當時我們在成本方面經歷了很大的通膨壓力，利潤率也受到了一些侵蝕，我們實際上正在與客戶群續簽協議，該協議已到期兩年年。我們能夠大幅提高價格，使我們能夠及時收回當時所承受的大量成本增加。

And we're in that phase right now where renewals are happening for the next two to three years. And as we're going through that process with the significant price increases that we had to push through the last time, it's just created an opportunity, I think, for others, if you will, to make a case as to why some of these customers should shift some volume over. So we've seen some erosion from that standpoint, and we will see some erosion from that standpoint in terms of our customer base.

我們現在正處於未來兩到三年內進行更新的階段。當我們經歷上次必須推動的價格大幅上漲的過程時，我認為，這只是為其他人創造了一個機會，如果你願意的話，可以證明為什麼其中一些客戶應該轉移一些音量。因此，從這個角度來看，我們已經看到了一些侵蝕，從這個角度來看，我們的客戶群也將看到一些侵蝕。

But I'd say from an overall standpoint, it was -- (technical difficulty) some of that was probably due to happen at some point in time given the amount of significant share gains that we have picked up over the last five, six years. And so this is -- I look at this as sort of normal competitive actions and reactions.

但我想說，從整體角度來看，（技術難度）考慮到我們在過去五、六年中獲得的巨大份額收益，其中一些可能會在某個時間點發生。所以這就是——我認為這是一種正常的競爭行為和反應。

We've been on quite a run where it's been us who has been taking a lot of share over the last few years. And there's -- in this particular case, I think on a net overall basis, there will be a little bit shifting back the other way. We are picking up some share from some other customers and things like that. So it's not all going one way. But from an overall net standpoint, this will be -- '25 will be a year where we lose a little share, which is the first time that's probably happened in a long time for us.

我們的業績一直不錯，在過去幾年我們佔據了許多份額。在這種特殊情況下，我認為從整體來看，會有一點相反的轉變。我們正在從其他一些客戶和類似的事情中獲得一些份額。因此，事情並非都是單向發展的。但從整體淨角度來看，25 年我們將失去一點份額，這對我們來說可能是很長一段時間以來第一次發生這種情況。

Okay. And then just on your overall summary, you said contemplating sale or shutdown of various operations. Can we assume that, that would just be some manufacturing capacity or could that even be assumed a significant restructuring within your business segments?

好的。然後，在您的總體總結中，您提到考慮出售或關閉各種業務。我們是否可以假設這只是一些製造能力，或者甚至可以假設您的業務部門進行了重大重組？

I wouldn't go that far. I mean, so we have -- we still have some smaller businesses that, again, some align maybe a little better with the overall core of the business, others maybe not as much. And so if there's an opportunity to, again, move any of those smaller businesses, we might look to do that if the price was right.

我不會走那麼遠。我的意思是，我們仍然有一些規模較小的業務，其中一些業務可能與業務的整體核心更加契合，而另一些業務可能沒有那麼好。因此，如果有機會再次遷移這些較小的企業，如果價格合適的話，我們可能會考慮這樣做。

As it relates to capacity, look, we've shuttered a lot of capacity over time, went through a major restructuring when we went from 11 facilities in carbon materials and chemicals down to three. There's not a whole lot much more we can do there, but there are some things that certainly we believe we can do that might be short-term in nature. Some could be long term in nature depending upon our view of where the markets are at and where they're going. So we're evaluating to make the right decision for Koppers and our shareholders.

就產能而言，隨著時間的推移，我們關閉了許多產能，並進行了重大重組，碳材料和化學品工廠從 11 個減少到 3 個。我們在那裡能做的事情並不多，但我們當然相信我們可以做一些事情，但本質上可能是短期的。有些可能是長期的，這取決於我們對市場現狀和走向的看法。因此，我們正在評估，以便為 Koppers 和我們的股東做出正確的決定。

And that market has been -- has seen a little bit of tough times over the past 18 months, and in particular, in North America. So those are things that I think we have to look at. And again, the shareholders would expect us to look at. And so we will look at that. And our communication in terms of putting that out there is really more or less just to let everyone know that we -- everything is on the table for us and continues to be.

在過去 18 個月中，該市場經歷了一些困難時期，尤其是在北美。所以我認為這些是我們必須考慮的事情。再一次，股東希望我們關注。所以我們會看看這個。我們的溝通實際上或多或少只是為了讓每個人都知道我們——一切都擺在桌面上，並且將繼續如此。

Yeah. And then just lastly, how does the acquisition pipeline look? And after Brown Wood, would you have an appetite for doing something in 2025?

是的。最後，收購管道如何？在 Brown Wood 之後，您是否有興趣在 2025 年做一些事情？

I think -- yeah, so we continue to try and keep up relationships and ensure that folks know that we have an interest in continuing to grow in that business. And it's really about when the time is right on the other side of things, which you can -- you can never quite tell. So we're certainly open to opportunities that might arise, and we'll continue to keep that pipeline going. You know how that goes.

我認為 - 是的，所以我們繼續努力保持關係，並確保人們知道我們有興趣繼續發展這項業務。這實際上是關於事情的另一面何時是正確的，你可以 - 你永遠無法完全判斷。因此，我們當然對可能出現的機會持開放態度，我們將繼續保持此管道的運作。你知道那是怎麼回事。

Again, you can't always choose when the other party is ready to make the move. So it's hard to say about whether anything would materialize in 2025 or not. But we certainly -- that is an interest of ours, and we believe it creates a good opportunity for us. So we do remain open to that.

同樣，你不能總是選擇對方何時準備採取行動。因此很難說 2025 年是否會實現任何事情。但我們當然——這是我們的利益，我們相信這為我們創造了一個很好的機會。所以我們對此保持開放態度。

David Marsh, Singular Research.

大衛馬什，奇異研究。

Congrats on the quarter. Just wanted to start, I noticed that your SG&A sequentially was down a couple of million dollars in the current quarter, which was actually a very positive surprise. Can you talk about the sustainability of that in light of your comments around the potential reduction?

恭喜本季。我只是想開始，我注意到你們本季的 SG&A 連續下降了幾百萬美元，這實際上是一個非常積極的驚喜。您能否根據您對潛在減少的評論來談談其可持續性？

Yeah. I mean, yeah, I think we're -- as always, we're looking at ways that we can improve the business, improve our profitability, react and respond to things that are happening around us. We've had, for us, I think, a fairly aggressive growth plan over the last four years, leading through this 2025 strategy that had some significant -- again, for us that are in low-growth markets, growth associated with it, right? And so a lot of capital that we've invested and we had sized up for that as well. And so those investments have been made.

是的。我的意思是，是的，我認為我們——一如既往，我們正在尋找改善業務、提高盈利能力、對周圍發生的事情做出反應和反應的方法。我認為，對我們來說，過去四年我們制定了相當積極的成長計劃，並通過了2025 年策略，該策略具有一些重大意義——同樣，對於處於低成長市場的我們來說，與之相關的成長，正確的？我們投入了大量資金，並為此進行了規模調整。這些投資已經完成。

We've seen a couple of the markets that we're in end up kind of coming down into what we would consider trough periods and we have some net market share losses heading into '25 in our performance chemicals business. So we're looking at what we can do to resize, streamline the organization to sort of fit a year where, again, these -- (technical difficulty) the flat overall sales in '25, and so we think there are some opportunities to do that within our SG&A category and as well as on the operating side. So it's not just exclusive to that.

我們已經看到一些市場最終陷入了我們所認為的低谷期，並且我們的高性能化學品業務在進入 25 年時出現了一些淨市場份額損失。因此，我們正在考慮如何調整規模、精簡組織，以適應 25 年整體銷售額持平（技術難度）的一年，因此我們認為有一些機會在我們的 SG&A 類別以及營運方面做到這一點。所以它不僅限於此。

But what you saw there in terms of the quarter, there's an expectation that that will continue for us moving forward. And again, we're not prepared at this point in time to talk about how much or how much the savings could be. We'll do that in February. But we're working through that right now. But I would say certainly that the expectation is that, that is a focus of ours, and you'll see that sort of performance, I think, continuing moving forward.

但從本季的情況來看，我們預計這種情況將持續下去。再說一次，我們目前還沒有準備好談論可以節省多少或多少。我們將在二月這樣做。但我們現在正在解決這個問題。但我肯定會說，我們的期望是，這是我們的重點，我認為，你會看到這種表現，並繼續向前發展。

That's great. And then just looking at your interest expense was up, obviously, due to the debt related to the acquisition. But since the quarter, we've had a couple of interest rate cuts. Could you kind of help quantify the impact on interest expense of the 75 basis points in rate cuts that we've seen so far by the Fed?

那太棒了。然後，只要看看你的利息支出，顯然是由於與收購相關的債務而增加的。但自本季以來，我們已經進行了幾次降息。您能否協助量化我們迄今為止所看到的聯準會降息 75 個基點對利息支出的影響？

Yeah. I think Jimmi Sue would be perfect to respond to that.

是的。我認為吉米·蘇（Jimmi Sue）非常適合對此做出回應。

Yeah. Thanks, Leroy. I would say that you would want to apply that to about $500 million of our debt because we are hedged for a big portion of what's out there. So you can kind of think about it that way.

是的。謝謝，勒羅伊。我想說的是，您可能希望將其應用於我們約 5 億美元的債務，因為我們對其中很大一部分債務進行了對沖。所以你可以這樣想。

Yeah. Perfect. Got it. And then just kind of following on the first question with regard to acquisitions. Is there -- in terms of -- you guys have different business lines. And obviously, there's a lot of different factors in each one of them. But could you kind of help prioritize like in your mind right now, like the order of priority where you would look to acquire something in terms of the different business lines?

是的。完美的。知道了。接下來是關於收購的第一個問題。你們有不同的業務線嗎？顯然，其中每一個因素都有很多不同的因素。但是，您能否幫助您按照您現在的想法確定優先順序，例如您希望根據不同業務線購買某些東西的優先順序？

I think -- yeah, it's actually pretty easy. I mean, for us, we see most of the opportunity on the utility side of the business. It's the area that we are smallest in. It's the areas where we cover less geography. It's the area where, quite frankly, there's the most opportunity. So that would be high on our list.

我想——是的，這其實很簡單。我的意思是，對於我們來說，我們看到了業務公用事業的大部分機會。這是我們最小的區域。這是我們覆蓋較少的地理區域。坦白說，這是機會最多的領域。所以這將在我們的名單上名列前茅。

Secondary to that would be anything that might make sense around our performance chemicals business that would help us -- (technical difficulty) will add around the preservative business that we have in place there today.

其次是任何可能對我們的高性能化學品業務有意義的事情，這將有助於我們——（技術難度）將增加我們今天在那裡開展的防腐劑業務。

Outside of that, there's -- we already hold a significant share in the rail side of the business. So there's really nothing much to do there, and we're not looking to really grow outside of that in -- (technical difficulty) in any way.

除此之外，我們已經在鐵路業務方面佔有重要份額。因此，那裡確實沒什麼可做的，而且我們不希望以任何方式在（技術難度）方面真正實現成長。

And then CM&C, again, it's -- that is a business that has been in some tough straits for a number of years. And so we think being one of the last few remaining distillation companies provides some level of advantage moving forward, but we're not looking to build around that other than, again, if things happen to take off in some of our new products that we're trying to get into starting out in our European location.

CM&C 的業務多年來一直陷入困境。因此，我們認為，作為最後幾家剩下的蒸餾公司之一，可以提供一定程度的前進優勢，但我們並不打算圍繞這一點進行構建，除非我們的一些新產品碰巧取得成功。我們的歐洲基地開始。

Ladies and gentlemen, with that, we'll be concluding today's question-and-answer session. At this time, I'd like to turn the floor back over to CEO, Leroy Ball, for closing remarks.

女士們、先生們，今天的問答環節就到此結束。現在，我想請執行長 Leroy Ball 致閉幕詞。

Thank you. Yeah. No, look, we appreciate the interest in Koppers. We still think that we have a lot of runway to continue to show improvement. We're expecting, again, a continued improvement in '25 and strong performance.

謝謝。是的。不，你看，我們很欣賞人們對 Koppers 的興趣。我們仍然認為我們還有很多空間可以繼續表現出改進。我們再次期待 25 年的持續改善和強勁表現。

And beyond that as well, we look forward to sharing, again, the details of how we see '25 shaping up in early next year when we do our fourth quarter earnings call. And we certainly look forward to unveiling more details around our 2030 strategy in September of next year. So thank you again for all your support.

除此之外，我們期待在明年初舉行第四季度財報電話會議時再次分享我們對「25」的看法的細節。我們當然期待明年 9 月公佈有關 2030 年策略的更多細節。再次感謝大家的支持。

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

女士們、先生們，我們今天的電話會議就到此結束。我們非常感謝您參加今天的演講。現在您可以斷開線路。