Quaker Chemical Corp (KWR) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings. Welcome to the Quaker Houghton first-quarter 2025 earnings conference call.

問候。歡迎參加桂格好富頓 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

提醒一下，本次會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to turn the call over to Jeffrey Schnell, Vice President of Investor Relations.

現在我想將電話轉交給投資人關係副總裁 Jeffrey Schnell。

Mr. Schnell, you may begin.

施內爾先生，你可以開始了。

Thank you. Good morning and welcome to our first-quarter 2025 earnings conference call.

謝謝。早上好，歡迎參加我們的 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。

On the call today are Joe Berquist, our President and Chief Executive Officer; Tom Coler, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Robert Traub, our General Counsel.

今天參加電話會議的有我們的總裁兼執行長喬‧伯奎斯特 (Joe Berquist)；我們的執行副總裁兼財務長湯姆‧科勒 (Tom Coler)；以及我們的總法律顧問羅伯特‧特勞布 (Robert Traub)。

Our comments relate to the financial information released after the close of the US markets yesterday, May 1, 2025. Our press release and accompanying slides can be found on our Investor Relations website. Both the prepared commentary and discussion during this call may contain forward-looking statements reflecting the company's current view of future events and their potential effect on Quaker Houghton's operating and financial performance. These statements involve uncertainties and risks, which may cause actual results to differ. The company is under no obligation to provide subsequent updates to these forward-looking statements. This presentation also contains certains non-GAAP financial measures, and the company has provided reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures in the appendix of the presentation materials which are available on our website. For additional information, please refer to our filings with the SEC.

我們的評論涉及昨天（2025 年 5 月 1 日）美國市場收盤後發布的財務資訊。我們的新聞稿和隨附幻燈片可以在我們的投資者關係網站上找到。本次電話會議中準備好的評論和討論可能包含前瞻性陳述，反映公司當前對未來事件的看法及其對奎克好富頓營運和財務業績的潛在影響。這些聲明涉及不確定性和風險，可能導致實際結果有所不同。本公司沒有義務對這些前瞻性陳述提供後續更新。本簡報也包含某些非 GAAP 財務指標，本公司已在簡報資料附錄中提供了這些非 GAAP 財務指標與最直接可比較的 GAAP 財務指標的對帳表，這些資料可在我們的網站上找到。欲了解更多信息，請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件。

Now it's my pleasure to hand the call over to Joe.

現在我很高興將電話交給喬。

Thank you, Jeff.

謝謝你，傑夫。

And I'd like to welcome everyone to Quaker Houghton's first quarter 2025 earnings call.

歡迎大家參加桂格好富頓 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。

First quarter results were directionally in line with our expectations, despite end market demand being softer than we had anticipated. While our volumes declined 1.5%, we estimate our markets were down in aggregate, a low to mid single digit percentage compared to the prior year due to a continuation of soft industrial activity and uncertainty regarding tariffs which impacted customer decision making and order patterns.

儘管終端市場需求低於我們的預期，但第一季的業績大致上符合我們的預期。雖然我們的銷售量下降了 1.5%，但我們估計我們的市場總體下降，與上年相比下降了低到中等個位數百分比，原因是工業活動持續疲軟，關稅的不確定性影響了客戶的決策和訂單模式。

The team performed well, successfully gaining additional market share across all segments, despite the challenging global macroeconomic environment. Our results once again displayed the resilience in our business that comes from operating across diverse geographic end markets with a robust and advantaged portfolio.

儘管全球宏觀經濟環境充滿挑戰，但該團隊表現出色，成功在所有領域獲得了額外的市場份額。我們的業績再次展現了我們業務的韌性，這種韌性源於我們透過強大而有優勢的產品組合在不同的地理終端市場開展業務。

We continue to maintain our focus on delivering the best outcomes for our customers and affirm a steadfast commitment to managing items within our control. We are advancing our previously announced $20 million cost program, which will be substantially complete in the first half of 2025.

我們將繼續致力於為客戶提供最佳成果，並堅定不移地致力於管理我們控制範圍內的專案。我們正在推進先前宣布的 2000 萬美元成本計劃，該計劃將於 2025 年上半年基本完成。

We also made important strategic investments including acquiring three companies which further enhance our portfolio and will expand our addressable market while providing more avenues to serve our customers and accelerate our growth.

我們也進行了重要的策略性投資，包括收購三家公司，這進一步增強了我們的產品組合，擴大了我們的潛在市場，同時提供了更多途徑來服務我們的客戶並加速我們的成長。

Quaker Houghton is in a strong financial position. While tariffs have caused volatility, we are confident that we are well situated within our markets due to our local for local strategy and our position to mitigate most of the potential direct impacts to our supply chain.

桂格好富頓的財務狀況十分穩健。儘管關稅造成了波動，但我們相信，由於我們採取本地化策略，並且能夠減輕對供應鏈的大部分潛在直接影響，我們在市場中佔據有利地位。

We continue to take steps to minimize impacts to our customers that may arise from tariffs as we work together to navigate adverse conditions in the global supply chain.

我們將繼續採取措施，盡量減少關稅可能對客戶造成的影響，同時我們共同努力應對全球供應鏈中的不利條件。

I will say a few words about the quarter. Then provide some comments on the outlook for 2025. Then I will hand the call over to Tom to discuss our financials in more detail. First quarter net sales were $443 million, 6% below the prior year, or 3% lower on a constant currency basis.

我將在本季講幾句話。然後對2025年的展望提出一些評論。然後我會把電話交給湯姆，讓他更詳細地討論我們的財務狀況。第一季淨銷售額為 4.43 億美元，較上年下降 6%，以固定匯率計算下降 3%。

We continue to outperform the aggregate of the end markets in which we operate, which we estimate declined by a low to mid single digit percentage compared to the prior year. Our total volumes, inclusive of acquisitions, declined approximately 1.5% compared to the prior year.

我們繼續超越我們經營的終端市場總體，我們估計與上一年相比，終端市場總體的業績下降了低至中等個位數百分比。我們的總交易量（包括收購）與前一年相比下降了約 1.5%。

This was a positive result, as a continuation of growth in the Asia Pacific segment and new business wins globally, mostly offset softer market conditions, primarily in the Americas and EMEA regions. I am pleased with our ability to gain new business despite the challenging market conditions.

這是一個積極的結果，因為亞太地區持續成長和全球新業務的成功，在很大程度上抵消了市場疲軟的影響，主要是在美洲和歐洲、中東和非洲地區。儘管市場環境充滿挑戰，我仍對我們能夠獲得新業務感到高興。

This is especially evident in our metals business, which is contributing to the relative outperformance compared to market rates. Our net new business wins are trending at the high end of our targeted annual range of 2% to 4%.

這在我們的金屬業務中尤其明顯，這有助於我們實現相對於市場價格的相對優異表現。我們的淨新業務成長趨勢處於我們目標年度範圍 2% 至 4% 的高端。

And we are encouraged by a strong pipeline of ongoing trials and business development opportunities. These gains are made possible by our diversified portfolio of products and services, our cross selling capabilities and our service model.

我們對正在進行的一系列試驗和業務發展機會感到鼓舞。這些收益得益於我們多樣化的產品和服務組合、我們的交叉銷售能力和服務模式。

Gross margins improved 120 basis points to 36.4% compared to the lows in the fourth quarter of 2024. Gross margins are within our long-term range, but are below the prior year due to the timing of raw material cost increases and product and geographic mix.

與 2024 年第四季的低點相比，毛利率提高了 120 個基點，達到 36.4%。毛利率在我們的長期範圍內，但由於原物料成本上漲以及產品和地理組合的原因，低於上年。

As a result of the team's operational performance, we generated $69 million of adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter, an increase of $4 million sequentially and adjusted EBITDA margins of 15.6%, reflecting our disciplined cost management.

由於團隊的營運表現，我們在第一季實現了 6,900 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA，比上一季增加了 400 萬美元，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 15.6%，反映了我們嚴格的成本管理。

Our company's growth strategy is aligned with industries, customers, and businesses that despite near term challenges, have positive long term growth characteristics. We aim to enhance our customer intimacy model and build on our leadership position in our chosen markets.

我們公司的成長策略與產業、客戶和企業保持一致，儘管面臨短期挑戰，但仍具有積極的長期成長特徵。我們的目標是增強我們的客戶親密度模型並鞏固我們在所選市場中的領導地位。

We serve many industries, each with unique, often niche applications and needs, and believe our ability to provide the best value to our customers is one of our key competitive advantages. Last quarter, I highlighted our top priorities, which are one, returning to growth. Two, reducing complexity, and three, effectively deploying capital.

我們服務於許多行業，每個行業都有其獨特、通常為利基的應用和需求，我們相信為客戶提供最佳價值的能力是我們的主要競爭優勢之一。上個季度，我強調了我們的首要任務，其中之一就是恢復成長。二是降低複雜性，三是有效部署資本。

We have a lot of work to do, but we have made progress advancing our strategy. For example, we have taken actions to re-center and strengthen leadership around our portfolio of advanced and operating solutions.

我們還有很多工作要做，但我們在推進策略方面已經取得了進展。例如，我們已採取行動重新集中並加強圍繞先進營運解決方案組合的領導地位。

We are improving the visibility of these and other technologies throughout our regions to accelerate our cross selling and globalize the full suite of Quaker Houghton products and services. I recently spent time traveling across our sites and customer operations in Asia.

我們正在提高這些技術和其他技術在我們整個地區的知名度，以加速我們的交叉銷售，並使桂格好富頓全套產品和服務全球化。最近我花了一些時間走訪我們在亞洲的站點和客戶營運部門。

I am confident in the potential and believe we are taking the right steps to continue to build our teams, product capabilities, and pipeline, to capitalize on higher growth geographies like Asia Pacific, where we continue to show volume expansion in a highly competitive region.

我對潛力充滿信心，並相信我們正在採取正確的步驟，繼續建立我們的團隊、產品能力和管道，以利用亞太地區等高成長地區，我們將繼續在競爭激烈的地區實現銷售擴張。

We have launched several cross-functional, commercial, strategic supply chain, and operations initiatives. These initiatives empower us to capitalize on opportunities to gain share in the white space in our addressable markets.

我們已經啟動了多項跨職能、商業、策略供應鏈和營運計劃。這些舉措使我們能夠利用機會在我們可尋址市場的空白領域中獲得份額。

We are taking steps to improve customer satisfaction. For instance, through reducing lead times and improving our cost competitiveness as we help our customers navigate the market turbulence. These initiatives have stirred a lot of excitement in the organization, harnessing the energy to leverage our technical expertise, industry knowledge, financial strength, and global scale.

我們正在採取措施提高客戶滿意度。例如，透過縮短交貨時間和提高成本競爭力，我們幫助客戶應對市場動盪。這些舉措在組織內激起了極大的熱情，充分利用了我們的技術專長、產業知識、財務實力和全球規模。

Our FLUID INTELLIGENCE platform is another way we will provide a step change in automation efficiency for customers. We have reprioritized R&D resources to accelerate this and other development initiatives that have performance advantages compared to current technology.

我們的 FLUID INTELLIGENCE 平台是我們為客戶提供自動化效率階躍變化的另一種方式。我們重新調整了研發資源的優先順序，以加速此計劃以及其他與現有技術相比具有性能優勢的開發計劃。

The interest in these efficiency plays and customers' acceptance is strong and growing. The $20 million of cost actions announced is progressing. And we continue to expect this will deliver approximately $15 million of in-year benefit primarily in SG&A.

人們對這些高效遊戲的興趣和客戶的接受度越來越高。已宣布的 2000 萬美元成本行動正在取得進展。我們繼續預計這將帶來約 1500 萬美元的年度收益，主要體現在銷售、一般及行政費用方面。

We are also encouraging our teams to increase their focus on customer needs, streamlining decision-making processes, and improving our reaction time. Meanwhile, we are continuing to invest in our future. Our facility in China is under construction and will enable us to supply the region with our full portfolio of solutions and further enhance our ability to be local for local.

我們也鼓勵我們的團隊更加關注客戶需求，簡化決策流程，並提高我們的反應時間。同時，我們也在繼續投資我們的未來。我們在中國的工廠正在建設中，這將使我們能夠為該地區提供全套解決方案，並進一步增強我們在地化服務的能力。

We have also continued to invest in our multi-channel approach with the intention of making it easier to do business with Quaker Houghton. We're making investments to improve our overall customer interface through e-commerce, building our inside sales channels, leveraging our distribution network and partnerships, and strengthening our direct sales model.

我們也繼續投資多通路方法，旨在使與桂格好富頓的業務往來變得更加容易。我們正在進行投資，透過電子商務改善我們的整體客戶介面，建立我們的內部銷售管道，利用我們的分銷網絡和合作夥伴關係，並加強我們的直銷模式。

And we are initiating another phase of product simplification program, harmonizing our business processes and organizing our brands to reduce complexity and raise brand awareness. These actions are bringing a sharper focus to our customer intimacy model.

我們正在啟動另一階段的產品簡化計劃，協調我們的業務流程並組織我們的品牌，以降低複雜性並提高品牌知名度。這些措施使我們更加關注客戶親密度模型。

They will take time to fully develop, but we are making progress putting more rigor around these processes which is also informing how we can better develop talent and enhance our customers' operations. Our business model and execution has resulted in our strong financial profile, delivering predictable cash flows.

它們需要時間來完全開發，但我們正在取得進展，使這些流程更加嚴格，這也為我們如何更好地培養人才和增強客戶的營運提供了指導。我們的商業模式和執行力造就了我們強大的財務狀況，並帶來了可預測的現金流。

We look to deploy capital in a disciplined and prudent manner based on a long-term framework of value creation which considers all factors, including organic investments, debt reduction, M&A, and shareholder returns through dividend growth and share repurchases.

我們希望以嚴謹審慎的方式，在長期價值創造框架的基礎上部署資本，該框架考慮所有因素，包括有機投資、債務削減、併購以及透過股息成長和股票回購實現的股東回報。

The three strategic acquisitions we made so far this year are the exact definitions of what we look for when deploying capital. For instance, Dipsol. Dipsol is a leading provider of surface treatment solutions, primarily electroplating to the automotive and other industrial segments.

我們今年迄今進行的三次策略性收購正是我們在部署資本時所尋求的目標。例如，Dipsol。Dipsol 是表面處理解決方案的領先供應商，主要為汽車和其他工業領域提供電鍍服務。

Dipsol has market leading positions, long term customer relationships, strong margins, and cash flows and have consistently demonstrated above market organic growth. Importantly, Dipsol has a strong cultural fit with our company and is a great addition to Quaker Houghton.

Dipsol 擁有市場領先地位、長期的客戶關係、強勁的利潤率和現金流，並持續表現出高於市場的有機成長。重要的是，Dipsol 與我們公司的文化高度契合，對桂格好富頓來說是一個很好的補充。

This transaction was valued at approximately 10.5 times its trailing 12 months adjusted EBITDA and below 9 times on a post-synergy basis. We are pleased to make the attractive acquisition of Dipsol, a strong company with solid underlying growth and strong cash flow.

該交易的價值約為其過去 12 個月調整後 EBITDA 的 10.5 倍，以協同效應後計算則低於 9 倍。我們很高興對 Dipsol 做出有吸引力的收購，這是一家實力雄厚的公司，擁有穩健的潛在成長和強勁的現金流。

Through innovation and acquisitions, our portfolio has become much more diverse. Expanding our basket of solutions, we can provide our customers in elevating our ability to be a full solution provider. They also provide opportunities to increase our addressable markets and are accretive to margins.

透過創新和收購，我們的產品組合變得更加多樣化。透過擴大我們的解決方案範圍，我們可以為客戶提供提升我們作為完整解決方案提供者的能力。它們也為我們擴大目標市場提供了機會，並增加了利潤。

Quaker Houghton has a long tradition of outpacing its end markets by deploying its differentiated customer intimate model and building trust with customers through our best in class products, services, people, and expertise.

桂格好富頓長期以來一直透過部署差異化的客戶親密模式，並透過我們一流的產品、服務、人員和專業知識與客戶建立信任，從而超越其終端市場。

During this period of heightened uncertainty, we believe it is even more critical that we reemphasize our commitment to our customers' success. The actions we are taking all support our ability to respond to customer needs and advance our strategy.

在這個充滿不確定性的時期，我們認為，再次強調我們對客戶成功的承諾顯得更加重要。我們正在採取的所有行動都支持我們回應客戶需求和推進策略的能力。

Turning to our outlook. Quaker Houghton is well positioned. We have a pipeline of trials underway to gain new business with customers, which we expect will support our ability to drive above market growth in 2025, in line with our long-term annual expectation of 2% to 4%.

轉向我們的展望。桂格好富頓 (Quaker Houghton) 的定位十分有利。我們正在進行一系列試驗，以與客戶開展新業務，我們預計這將支持我們在 2025 年實現高於市場的成長，符合我們 2% 至 4% 的長期年增長率預期。

Quaker Houghton is a global company. And the uncertainty around trade and tariffs has impacted the end markets we serve. Absent additional information or clarity and taking into account some tariff impacts, we now expect our underlying market growth rates will decline a low single digit percentage in 2025 compared to 2024 levels.

桂格好富頓是一家全球性公司。貿易和關稅的不確定性影響了我們所服務的終端市場。由於缺乏更多資訊或明確訊息，並考慮到一些關稅的影響，我們現在預計，與 2024 年的水平相比，2025 年我們的基礎市場成長率將下降一個較低的個位數百分比。

We are excited by our recent acquisitions, including Dipsol, which should add a few percentage points of growth in 2025, helping to offset the expected countervailing trends in automotive, transportation, and industrial markets.

我們對最近的收購感到興奮，包括 Dipsol，這將在 2025 年增加幾個百分點的成長，有助於抵消汽車、運輸和工業市場預期的抵消趨勢。

Based on our current visibility and despite the increased uncertainty caused by tariffs and trade dynamics, we expect revenue and earnings will be in line with 2024 levels. This view considers the current state of uncertainty and reduced sentiment across our end markets.

根據我們目前的可見性，儘管關稅和貿易動態造成的不確定性增加，我們預計收入和收益將與 2024 年的水平保持一致。這種觀點考慮了我們終端市場目前的不確定性和情緒低落。

Because we operate locally with sourcing, manufacturing, and our technical expertise close to the customer and due to the criticality of our products and services to our customers' operations, we believe we can offset most of the direct impact of tariffs on our cost structure.

由於我們在當地開展業務，採購、製造和技術專長都靠近客戶，而且我們的產品和服務對客戶的營運至關重要，因此我們相信我們可以抵消關稅對我們成本結構的大部分直接影響。

It is more difficult to assess the implications of the tariffs on end market demand. However, we are in close communication with our customers and will remain nimble and use our scale as an advantage. We are also prepared to take additional cost actions should it be warranted.

評估關稅對終端市場需求的影響更加困難。然而，我們與客戶保持密切溝通，並將保持靈活並利用我們的規模優勢。如果有必要，我們也準備採取額外的成本措施。

The long term fundamentals of our industry are positive. We are effectively managing what we can control, improving our capabilities and strengthening our business. We have demonstrated our ability to manage through other periods of volatility, generate cash flow and become stronger.

我們行業的長期基本面是正面的。我們正在有效地管理我們能夠控制的事情，提高我們的能力並加強我們的業務。我們已經證明了我們有能力度過其他波動時期、產生現金流並變得更強大。

Switching to the second quarter. We expect a modest seasonal improvement in demand across all our segments and a benefit from recent acquisitions while potential uncertainty related to tariffs remains.

切換到第二季。我們預計所有部門的需求都會出現季節性溫和改善，且近期收購將帶來好處，但與關稅相關的潛在不確定性仍然存在。

With that, I'd like to pass it to Tom to discuss the financials in more detail.

有了這些，我想把它交給湯姆，讓他更詳細地討論財務問題。

Thank you, Joe, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝你，喬，大家早安。

First quarter net sales were $443 million, a decline of approximately 6% from the prior year or 3% on a constant currency basis. Sales volumes declined approximately 1.5% as new business wins and a contribution from acquisitions of approximately 1% were more than offset by a continuation of the soft macroeconomic environment primarily in the Americas and EMEA segments which persisted throughout 2024 and weakened further in the first quarter of 2025.

第一季淨銷售額為 4.43 億美元，較上年下降約 6%，以固定匯率計算下降 3%。銷售額下降了約 1.5%，因為新業務的贏得和約 1% 的收購貢獻被主要在美洲和歐洲、中東和非洲地區持續疲軟的宏觀經濟環境所抵消，這種環境持續了整個 2024 年，並在 2025 年第一季進一步減弱。

Selling price and product mix was approximately 1% lower and foreign exchange was a 3% unfavorable impact to net sales in the quarter. As expected, gross margins improved 120 basis points to 36.4% compared to the lows experienced in the fourth quarter of 2024 driven by positive mix.

銷售價格和產品組合下降約 1%，外匯對本季淨銷售額造成 3% 的不利影響。正如預期的那樣，在積極的組合推動下，毛利率較 2024 年第四季的低點提高了 120 個基點，達到 36.4%。

Gross margins declined year over year when compared to the record levels in the first quarter of 2024 due to the timing and impact of higher raw material costs, geographic and product mix, and manufacturing absorption on lower volumes.

由於原物料成本上升、地理和產品組合以及製造業吸收量下降導致產量下降等因素的影響，與 2024 年第一季的創紀錄水平相比，毛利率同比下降。

Excluding one-time items, SG&A declined $7 million or 6% compared to the prior year. The decrease primarily reflects our disciplined cost management and reduction actions. We are progressing with the actions related to the additional annualized $20 million cost program announced last quarter and expect approximately $15 million of benefit in 2025 compared to the 2024 base.

不包括一次性項目，銷售、一般及行政費用與前一年相比下降了 700 萬美元，即 6%。這一下降主要反映了我們嚴格的成本管理和削減措施。我們正在推進上個季度宣布的額外年度 2000 萬美元成本計劃的相關行動，預計 2025 年的收益將比 2024 年的基準收益高出約 1500 萬美元。

We delivered $69 million of adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter compared to $83 million and $65 million in the first and fourth quarters of 2024. Foreign exchange was a $4 million headwind year over year and a $1 million headwind sequentially.

我們第一季的調整後 EBITDA 為 6,900 萬美元，而 2024 年第一季和第四季分別為 8,300 萬美元和 6,500 萬美元。外匯交易年減 400 萬美元，季減 100 萬美元。

Adjusted EBITDA margins were 15.6%, reflecting the sequential improvement in gross margins and our cost actions taken in the quarter.

調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 15.6%，反映了毛利率的連續提高以及我們在本季採取的成本行動。

Switching to our segment results. Net sales on our Asia Pacific segment declined 2% compared to the prior year, but we're in line with the prior year on a constant currency basis. Organic volumes increased approximately 1% and the Sutai acquisition added another 2%.

切換到我們的分部結果。我們亞太地區的淨銷售額與上年相比下降了 2%，但以固定匯率計算與上年持平。有機產量成長約 1%，而收購 Sutai 又增加了 2%。

Selling price and product mix was 3% lower. The Asia Pacific market is highly competitive, but we have continued to outperform driven by new business wins, especially in our metals business as the team is successfully cross-selling and winning trials.

銷售價格和產品組合下降了3%。亞太市場競爭激烈，但我們在贏得新業務的推動下繼續表現出色，尤其是在金屬業務方面，團隊成功地進行了交叉銷售並贏得了試驗。

Selling price and products mix reflected some selective incentives, first fills, and geographic mix. Segment sales decreased on a sequential basis as expected due to the seasonality related to the Lunar New Year. Segment earnings and margins in Asia Pacific declined compared to the prior year.

銷售價格和產品組合反映了一些選擇性激勵、首次填充和地理組合。由於農曆新年相關的季節性影響，分部銷售額如預期環比下降。亞太地區的分部收益和利潤率與前一年相比有所下降。

This reflects the impact of lower sales, higher raw material costs, and product and geographic mix. We will begin to implement some targeted pricing actions to improve the profitability of the segment. Net sales in the EMEA segment were 7% lower year over year or 4% on a constant currency basis.

這反映了銷售額下降、原材料成本上升以及產品和地理組合的影響。我們將開始實施一些有針對性的定價措施，以提高該部門的獲利能力。歐洲、中東和非洲地區淨銷售額年減 7%，以固定匯率計算下降 4%。

Total sales volumes declined 3%, and selling price and product mix decreased 1%. Segment sales increased on a sequential basis, driven by higher sales volumes, including acquisitions and positive selling price and product mix.

總銷售量下降 3%，銷售價格和產品組合下降 1%。由於銷售量增加（包括收購以及積極的銷售價格和產品組合），部門銷售額環比增長。

Segment earnings in EMEA decreased by approximately $6 million compared to the prior year. This was due to the lower sales and a decline in segment margins. Despite higher raw material costs, the EMEA segment earnings and margins improved compared to the fourth quarter as expected.

與去年相比，歐洲、中東和非洲地區的分部收益減少了約 600 萬美元。這是由於銷售額下降和部門利潤率下降造成的。儘管原物料成本較高，但歐洲、中東和非洲地區的獲利和利潤率與第四季度相比有所改善，符合預期。

Net sales in the Americas declined 7% year over year or 3% on a constant currency basis. Volumes declined 3% due to a continuation of soft industrial activity, low steel utilization rates, which remain below five-year averages, and soft automotive transportation, and heavy machinery production.

美洲地區的淨銷售額年減 7%，以固定匯率計算下降 3%。由於工業活動持續疲軟、鋼鐵利用率低（仍低於五年平均）、汽車運輸和重型機械生產疲軟，銷量下降了 3%。

Selling price and product mix was consistent with the prior year. Our net sales, volumes, and selling price and product mix increased sequentially as new business wins and mix offset a softer market. Segment earnings in the Americas declined by $8 million compared to the prior year, driven by lower sales and segment margins.

銷售價格及產品組合與前一年一致。由於新業務的成功和產品組合抵消了市場疲軟的影響，我們的淨銷售額、銷售、銷售價格和產品組合均連續成長。由於銷售額和部門利潤率下降，美洲部門收益與前一年相比下降了 800 萬美元。

As expected, Americas segment earnings and margins increased compared to the fourth quarter, driven by the higher volumes and mix. Overall, the team performed well in the first quarter, managing through a very dynamic operating environment with a high degree of uncertainty and volatility.

如預期，受銷售和產品組合增加的推動，美洲分部的收益和利潤率較第四季度有所增加。總體而言，該團隊在第一季表現良好，在充滿高度不確定性和波動性的非常動態的營運環境中取得了成功。

Turning to non-operating costs. Our interest expense was $10 million in the first quarter, a decline of $1 million compared to the prior year. This reflects the reduction in our variable cost debt and lower rates which are currently yielding approximately 5%.

轉向非營業成本。我們第一季的利息支出為 1000 萬美元，比上年減少 100 萬美元。這反映了我們的變動成本債務的減少和利率的降低，目前收益率約為 5%。

Our effective tax rate, excluding non-recurring and non-core items was approximately 29% in the first quarter, in line with our expectations for our full year rate. And in the first quarter, our GAAP diluted earnings per share were $0.73. Our non-GAAP diluted earnings per share were $1.58.

我們第一季的有效稅率（不包括非經常性和非核心項目）約為 29%，與我們對全年稅率的預期一致。第一季度，我們的 GAAP 稀釋每股收益為 0.73 美元。我們的非公認會計準則每股攤薄收益為 1.58 美元。

Cash from operations was a use of $3 million in the first quarter, which is typically our lowest from a cash generation perspective due to incentive payments and working capital investments and the seasonality of our business.

第一季的營運現金流為 300 萬美元，由於獎勵性支付和營運資本投資以及業務的季節性，從現金產生的角度來看，這通常是我們的最低水準。

We also paid $9 million of cash for our restructuring activities in the quarter. We will align our working capital levels with the macro environment while maintaining the flexibility to be responsive to our customers' production needs while delivering another strong year of cash flow in 2025.

我們還在本季為重組活動支付了 900 萬美元現金。我們將使我們的營運資本水準與宏觀環境保持一致，同時保持靈活性以響應客戶的生產需求，並在 2025 年實現另一個強勁的現金流。

Capital expenditures in the first quarter were approximately $12 million, reflecting the construction of our new facility in China. For 2025, our expectation for capital expenditures remains at 2.5% to 3.5% of sales. In the first quarter, we closed on our acquisition of Chemical Solutions & Innovations, or CSI for approximately $4 million.

第一季的資本支出約為 1200 萬美元，反映了我們在中國新工廠的建設。對於 2025 年，我們預計資本支出仍將佔銷售額的 2.5% 至 3.5%。第一季度，我們以約 400 萬美元的價格完成了對 Chemical Solutions & Innovations（CSI）的收購。

Subsequent to the quarter, we acquired Natech for approximately $6 million and Dipsol Chemicals for approximately $155 million, which was funded through our existing credit facility. Our net debt at quarter end was $551 million and our net leverage ratio was 1.9 times our trailing 12 months adjusted EBITDA.

本季之後，我們以約 600 萬美元收購了 Natech，以約 1.55 億美元收購了 Dipsol Chemicals，資金來自我們現有的信貸安排。我們季末的淨負債為 5.51 億美元，淨槓桿比率為過去 12 個月調整後 EBITDA 的 1.9 倍。

The interest on our variable rate debt is approximately 5%, and we have no maturities until 2027. As we close on the first quarter, we are well positioned, aligned with end markets that have attractive long-term characteristics and focused on increasing our share.

我們的浮動利率債務的利息約為 5%，直到 2027 年才到期。隨著第一季的結束，我們已做好充分準備，與具有長期吸引力的終端市場保持一致，並專注於增加我們的份額。

We have more opportunities to drive efficiencies for our company and our customers' operations, and we will continue to manage our costs. Our financial profile, balance sheet, and liquidity are strong and provide opportunities to execute on our disciplined capital allocation strategy to accelerate our growth and create shareholder value.

我們有更多的機會提高公司和客戶的營運效率，我們將繼續管理成本。我們的財務狀況、資產負債表和流動性都很強勁，為我們執行嚴謹的資本配置策略提供了機會，以加速我們的成長並創造股東價值。

With that, I'll turn it back to Joe.

說完這些，我就把話題轉回給喬。

Thank you, Tom.

謝謝你，湯姆。

We are making progress refocusing the organization, streamlining our business processes, and executing on our strategic pillars to drive growth.

我們正在重新調整組織重點、簡化業務流程並執行策略支柱以推動成長，從而取得進展。

With that, we'd be happy to take your questions.

我們很樂意回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Mike Harrison, Seaport Research Partners.

麥克·哈里森，海港研究夥伴。

Want to congratulate the Browns on all the quarterbacks they collected during the draft, Joe.

喬，我要祝賀布朗隊在選秀中選了所有四分衛。

Maybe start out with the tariff situation. Are there some input cost or cross border finished goods selling concerns that we need to keep in mind for Quaker or is the main issue the impact on kind of overall demand and just the uncertainty that's out there as it's impacting your customers?

也許可以從關稅情況開始。對於桂格來說，我們是否需要注意一些投入成本或跨國成品銷售問題，或者主要問題是它對整體需求的影響以及對客戶的不確定性？

Yeah. Good question, Mike.

是的。問得好，麥克。

I'll hold off commenting on the Browns for another time.

我將暫時不評論布朗一家，留到下次再說。

But I would say we look at this in really three buckets, right? Raw material purchases which come in, some are single source, some are coming from China. We buy about 3,000 raw materials globally. There are raw materials that go out from the US that would have some impact.

但我想說我們實際上從三個角度來看這個問題，對嗎？所採購的原料有些是單一來源，有些來自中國。我們在全球範圍內購買約 3,000 種原材料。美國出口的原料會產生一定的影響。

But largely, as we look at this, because we are buying and producing locally and we have dual sources of supply and ability to sort of qualify as needed, we think that we can largely mitigate those impacts. There's also -- some of these raw materials are on index based.

但總體而言，由於我們在當地採購和生產，並且擁有雙重供應來源和根據需要進行認證的能力，我們認為我們可以在很大程度上減輕這些影響。其中一些原材料也是基於指數的。

So we have levers in place I guess to delay and push some of these things back. But from a raw material purchase standpoint, pretty good shape overall. Finished goods, similarly, I think in this business, it's hard to put water-based products on a boat and be competitive shipping them around the world.

因此我想我們已經採取了一些措施來延緩和推遲一些事情。但從原料採購的角度來看，整體狀況相當不錯。同樣，我認為在這個行業中，成品很難將水基產品裝上船並在世界各地運輸時具有競爭力。

So we do manufacture locally. We do buy raw materials locally. And we've got a lot of flexibility in our footprint. For instance, we put a reactor in Thailand last year. That gives us more capacity for other Asia and even China.

所以我們確實是在本地生產。我們確實在當地購買原料。我們的足跡具有很大的靈活性。例如，我們去年在泰國安裝了一座反應爐。這為我們其他亞洲國家甚至中國提供了更大的產能。

So some products that might have been coming from the US in the past are now more locally sourced. I think you hit on it. The bigger thing that's maybe harder to assess, I guess, is what's the impact on demand going to be. We did see some impact in the first quarter.

因此，一些過去可能來自美國的產品現在更多地來自當地。我想你已經猜到了。我想，更重要、可能更難評估的是，這將對需求產生什麼影響。我們確實在第一季看到了一些影響。

I think people are waiting to see how this unfolds. There's a little bit of uncertainty as we look into the second quarter and it's early. I am happy to say it's sort of normal seasonal pick up that you would see heading from Q1 into Q2.

我認為人們正在等待看事情將如何發展。當我們展望第二季度時，還存在一些不確定性，而且現在還為時過早。我很高興地說，這是一種正常的季節性回升，從第一季到第二季你會看到這種回升。

But we're keeping a close eye on it. I think we all wish we knew where this was going. It's kind of a lot of uncertainty around will all these tariffs stick or not. But from an overall standpoint on margin and cost and really the impact to our customers, I think we're pretty well mitigated.

但我們正密切關注此事。我想我們都希望知道事情會如何發展。這些關稅是否會持續存在許多不確定性。但從利潤和成本的整體角度以及對客戶的實際影響來看，我認為我們已經得到了相當好的緩解。

And then Joe, during your prepared remarks there, when you were talking about strategy, you mentioned some recentering of leadership. You mentioned the multi-channel approach. You mentioned some work you're doing to kind of simplify the portfolio and improve brand awareness.

然後喬，在你準備好的發言中，當你談論策略時，你提到了領導力的重新定位。您提到了多渠道方法。您提到了您正在做的一些工作，以簡化產品組合併提高品牌知名度。

It sounds like there is a lot going on behind the scenes right now to kind of make it easier to do business with Quaker Houghton. Can you maybe pick on a couple of those initiatives and give us a little more detail on the steps that you're taking and what it's going to lead to?

聽起來現在幕後正在發生很多事情，以便更容易與桂格好富頓做生意。您能否挑選其中的幾個舉措，並向我們詳細介紹您正在採取的步驟以及它們將帶來什麼結果？

Sure, Mike.

當然，麥克。

Yeah, good question. I think as I mentioned on the last call, I think one of the things we're trying to drive at is reducing complexity in the company. I looked at how we were organized and there was a good bit of complexity around some of our product lines and not necessarily strategically aligning with how we go to market.

是的，好問題。我想，正如我在上次電話會議上提到的那樣，我們正在努力推動的事情之一就是降低公司的複雜性。我研究了我們的組織方式，發現我們的一些產品線相當複雜，而且不一定與我們的行銷方式在策略上保持一致。

So we have restructured the alignment of our strategy organization and product management with our business segments, sort of metals, metal working, advanced solutions, operating solutions. The advanced solutions and the operating solutions, those are probably 15%, 20% of our revenues.

因此，我們重組了我們的策略組織和產品管理與業務部門（包括金屬、金屬加工、先進解決方案、營運解決方案）的協調。先進的解決方案和營運解決方案大概占我們收入的 15% 到 20%。

But these are newer technologies where we've got opportunity to cross-sell it at an accelerated rate. And some of these products are new to our sales force, right? So we're looking at putting business development teams in to really help our regular sales force grow those things more quickly and increase the knowledge of the organization, bring that expertise to the interface with the customer brands is something that's ongoing.

但這些都是較新的技術，我們有機會以更快的速度進行交叉銷售。其中一些產品對我們的銷售人員來說是新產品，對嗎？因此，我們正在考慮組建業務開發團隊，真正幫助我們的常規銷售人員更快地發展這些業務，提高組織的知識，將這些專業知識帶到與客戶品牌的介面上，這是正在進行的工作。

We have a history of acquisitions. We've got a lot of brands and a lot of products. And we're spending time creating some more clarity around that. We still have legacy Houghton brands, legacy Quaker brands, and many others.

我們有著收購的歷史。我們有很多品牌和產品。我們正在花時間進一步澄清這一點。我們仍然擁有傳統的霍頓品牌、傳統的桂格品牌以及許多其他品牌。

We want to have a Quaker Houghton brand family aligned with good, better, best positioning. And so that work continues. And we're making progress there. And I think the other one you hit on which is really good is channel.

我們希望桂格好富頓品牌家族能夠符合「好、更好、最好」的定位。這項工作仍在繼續。我們正在取得進展。我認為您提到的另一個非常好的點是管道。

Also I think just as I look at our business, a lot of complexity around, there's a long tail of small customers, right? And all of our customers are important. But when you think about how we serve all these customers, we want everyone to have a good experience, a customer intimate experience with us.

而且我認為，當我審視我們的業務時，會發現周圍有很多複雜因素，並且存在大量小客戶，對嗎？我們所有的客戶都很重要。但是當你考慮我們如何服務所有這些客戶時，我們希望每個人都能擁有良好的體驗，與我們擁有親密的客戶體驗。

So we're using technology. We created an inside sales channel or even implementing some e-commerce things where people can get on and get information and chat. And that gives us a more scalable approach to service.

所以我們正在使用科技。我們創建了一個內部銷售管道，甚至實施了一些電子商務項目，人們可以登入並獲取資訊和聊天。這為我們提供了更具可擴展性的服務方法。

And then it frees up our people to go after big game, to go hunt the bigger target. So you hit on it. There's a lot going on. There always is. But we feel really good about those things and a lot of energy in the company right now about these changes.

然後它就可以讓我們的人員自由地去追捕大型獵物，去獵捕更大的目標。所以你成功了。有很多事情發生。總是有的。但我們對這些事情感到非常滿意，而且公司目前對這些變化投入了大量精力。

And then last question for me. You were pretty clear with the full year sales and earnings outlook. I was hoping that maybe you could give us a little bit more color on the puts and takes as we're thinking about the second quarter EBITDA.

這是我的最後一個問題。您對全年銷售和盈利前景非常清楚。當我們考慮第二季的 EBITDA 時，我希望您能給我們更多關於收益和利弊的資訊。

It sounds like maybe you're expecting some sequential improvement in volumes, which would be seasonal, some contribution from Dipsol. But maybe just help us understand maybe on the cost side of the equation, how we should be thinking about that sequential growth and how that should contribute to EBITDA growth in the second quarter.

聽起來也許你期望銷量會有一些連續的改善，這可能是季節性的，Dipsol 會做出一些貢獻。但也許只是幫助我們理解在成本方面，我們應該如何看待連續成長以及這應該如何促進第二季的 EBITDA 成長。

Yeah. It's Tom.

是的。是湯姆。

I'll share a little bit on Q2. So I think as you mentioned, Joe hit kind of our outlook in the prepared remarks. As we look at Q2, I think net-net, we expect EBITDA to be modestly higher versus Q1. Joe mentioned directionally, we expect normal seasonality across our regions and we are seeing that here in the first month in April for Q2.

我將分享一些有關 Q2 的內容。所以我認為，正如你所提到的，喬在準備好的發言中表達了我們的觀點。當我們展望第二季時，我認為淨值方面，我們預計 EBITDA 將略高於第一季。喬提到，從方向上看，我們預計我們所在地區的季節性將正常，而我們在第二季的第一個月（四月）就看到了這種情況。

We anticipate that our share gains will continue, which will help to supplement the continued soft market environments that we're seeing. And then as you think about SG&A -- core SG&A, we're anticipating it to be around Q1 levels.

我們預計我們的份額將持續成長，這將有助於補充我們所看到的持續疲軟的市場環境。然後，當您考慮銷售、一般和行政費用（SG&A）—核心銷售、一般和行政費用時，我們預計它將達到第一季的水平左右。

And then as you mentioned, then you add in Dipsol here starting in Q2. So I think hopefully, that gives you a little bit more color on how we're thinking about Q2.

然後正如您所提到的，從第二季度開始您將在這裡添加 Dipsol。所以我希望這能讓您更了解我們對第二季的看法。

Laurence Alexander, Jefferies.

勞倫斯‧亞歷山大，傑富瑞集團。

This is Kevin Estok on for Laurence.

凱文·埃斯托克 (Kevin Estok) 代替勞倫斯 (Laurence)。

So you guys mentioned some order volatility. And I was just curious, I guess how much has volatility increased and maybe where have they increased the most and like if there's a regional skew there. And I guess what have customers been saying that I guess they would need to see a return to more stable order patterns.

所以你們提到了一些訂單波動。我只是很好奇，我猜波動性增加了多少，哪裡的波動性增加最多，是否有地區偏差。我想客戶會說，他們需要看到訂單模式恢復到更穩定的狀態。

Yeah. I mean I think that volatility has really been in place for a few years now. And probably accelerated here in the first quarter because of tariffs. But the areas that have been most impacted and at least in the first quarter were really Europe and the Americas.

是的。我的意思是，我認為這種波動性確實已經存在了好幾年。由於關稅的影響，第一季的成長速度可能會加快。但至少在第一季度，受影響最嚴重的地區實際上是歐洲和美洲。

We saw things decline in the second half of last year. They declined further in the first quarter and that was a little bit unexpected. But also I think people are managing their inventories down. They got stuck with some higher inventories toward the end of the year.

我們看到去年下半年情況惡化。第一季度，它們進一步下滑，這有點出乎意料。但我也認為人們正在減少庫存。臨近年底，他們的庫存量增加。

And they're really being prudent about their own operating plans, looking out ahead, right? . I can't -- I wouldn't put a pin on any particular product line or area. I think it's just around lumpiness and the order pattern.

他們確實對自己的營運計劃非常謹慎，著眼於未來，對嗎？。我不能——我不會對任何特定的產品線或領域進行歸類。我認為這只是與腫塊和秩序模式有關。

Asia, they had the Lunar holiday. Again and sometimes, that's a non-event, sometimes it's a little bit more impactful. I think this year, it was a little bit more impactful as again, their markets overall are tepid, but we were able to show some growth there really coming from share gains.

亞洲，他們有農曆假期。再說，有時候這只是一件無關緊要的事情，但有時它的影響卻更大一些。我認為今年的影響更大一些，因為他們的市場整體不溫不火，但我們能夠展示出一些來自份額成長的成長。

And then just my second question. So there's been talk out of the administration on deregulation. And I guess I was just wondering whether I guess you saw that there could be any direct impacts on your business from broader deregulation or if you've heard from any of your US based customers that you service that basically deregulation could have a material impact.

這是我的第二個問題。因此，政府一直在談論放鬆管制。我只是想知道，您是否認為更廣泛的放鬆管制會對您的業務產生直接影響，或者您是否從您服務的任何美國客戶那裡聽說，放鬆管制可能會產生重大影響。

Most people we've been hearing have said that essentially, the impact would be minor. So I'm just curious what your thoughts are there.

我們聽到的大多數人都說，影響基本上很小。所以我只是好奇你的想法是什麼。

Yeah. I think similar thoughts there. Anything that stirs business growth we're supportive of, I think, for us, regardless, if regulations are in place, actually, that sometimes requires innovation and different solutions from us as a supplier to help our customers get through it.

是的。我也有類似的想法。我認為，對於我們來說，任何能夠促進業務成長的事情我們都支持，無論是否有法規，實際上，這有時需要我們作為供應商進行創新和提供不同的解決方案來幫助我們的客戶度過難關。

So either way, we're not really -- we have never really been impacted by regulation and don't expect that will be a material headwind going forward or tailwind.

所以無論如何，我們實際上並沒有——我們從未真正受到監管的影響，也不認為這會成為未來的重大逆風或順風。

Jon Tanwanteng, CJS Securities.

Jon Tanwanteng，CJS 證券。

The first one is could you talk about the approximate contribution from acquisitions and the outlook for this year? And maybe beyond that, talk about the growth and synergy potential of Dipsol, especially as auto markets are likely to be one of the harder hit markets in the current environment and kind of what the expectations are there underlying it?

第一個問題，您能否談談收購的大致貢獻以及今年的前景？除此之外，或許還可以談談 Dipsol 的成長和協同潛力，特別是在汽車市場可能是當前環境下受打擊最嚴重的市場之一的情況下，其背後的預期是什麼？

So in terms of contribution from Dipsol, they did approximately $80 million of sales in 2024. Approximately $15 million worth of EBITDA in 2024. So if you think about the business, for us, we acquired them in April. So you get roughly three quarters of that here in 2025.

因此，就 Dipsol 的貢獻而言，他們在 2024 年的銷售額約為 8,000 萬美元。2024 年的 EBITDA 價值約為 1500 萬美元。因此，如果你考慮一下業務，對我們來說，我們在四月收購了他們。因此，到 2025 年，這一數字將達到約四分之三。

Yeah. I'll just add, really excited about Dipsol. It's a great fit for our business. It brings some new technology. It expands our addressable market. And from a strategic perspective, right down, the fairway, it fits similar customer base.

是的。我只想補充一點，我對 Dipsol 真的很興奮。這非常適合我們的業務。它帶來了一些新技術。它擴大了我們的潛在市場。從策略角度來看，從整個球道來看，它適合類似的客戶群。

So and it gives us a bigger footprint in Japan and in with some of those customers which are really important globally. You mentioned automotive. We kind of baked that into our outlook. There is uncertainty in automotive.

因此，它使我們在日本以及一些在全球範圍內非常重要的客戶中擁有了更大的影響力。您提到了汽車。我們已將其融入我們的展望中。汽車領域存在不確定性。

That's probably the area that we've seen most of the impact so far this year. It doesn't really change our overall guide where we expect to come in. Similar to 2024 -- very similar to 2024 with all the puts and takes we mentioned, but automotive is question mark right now with tariffs.

這可能是今年迄今為止我們看到的影響最大的地區。它實際上並沒有改變我們預期進入的整體指導。與 2024 年類似——與我們提到的所有利弊都非常相似，但汽車行業目前因關稅問題仍是一個問號。

And then maybe if I could get just a little bit more color on the underlying tariff assumption that you have. Is that assuming that the full boat, April 2 plus China tariffs or are you expecting something less as you build to that flat year over year expectation?

然後，也許我可以更詳細地解釋您所提出的基本關稅假設。這是假設滿載的船隻、4 月 2 日加上中國關稅，還是您在構建與去年同期持平的預期時預期會有所減少？

Yeah. I mean our base assumption is as of today, what we know today. And yeah, I don't really know. There's this 90 day kind of cliff that everyone's looking at. It would be hard to say what's going to happen. Will that really go through or not go through. We've not assumed anything different from kind of current status.

是的。我的意思是，我們的基本假設是截至今天為止我們所知的。是的，我確實不知道。每個人都在關注這種為期 90 天的懸崖。很難說接下來會發生什麼事。這真的會成功還是不會成功？我們沒有假設任何與當前狀態不同的情況。

Yeah. And I would say that as we came into the year, we were thinking our markets would grow sort of 1% to 2%. Now as we've observed sort of markets here, Q4 into Q1, our markets are down low single digit percent. So it's hard to predict where the ultimate output or outcome of the tariff discussions go.

是的。我想說，隨著今年的到來，我們認為我們的市場將成長 1% 到 2%。現在，正如我們觀察到的市場情況，從第四季度到第一季度，我們的市場下降了個位數的百分比。因此很難預測關稅談判的最終結果。

But what we're observing today is it feels like our markets continue to be soft and have weakened here in Q1.

但我們今天觀察到的是，我們的市場似乎持續疲軟，並且在第一季減弱。

If I could slip one more in there. Just any thoughts on capital allocation? I know you obviously bought these companies, but your stock is trading a little bit lower than acquisitions. And obviously, as you keep an eye on leverage and kind of how high leverage companies are treated in the market these days, any color there would be helpful.

如果我可以再放一個進去的話。對於資本配置有什麼想法嗎？我知道你顯然收購了這些公司，但你的股票交易價格比收購時略低。顯然，當你專注於槓桿率以及當今市場上高槓桿公司的待遇時，任何顏色都會有所幫助。

Good question.

好問題。

So as we said in the past, we're going to continue to use all the tools in our toolkit when it comes to capital allocation. First and foremost, we're focused on investing for growth whether that's M&A or organic growth. I'm really pleased with how the team executed in 2024.

因此，正如我們過去所說的那樣，在資本​​配置方面，我們將繼續使用我們工具包中的所有工具。首先，我們專注於投資成長，無論是併購還是有機成長。我對球隊在 2024 年的表現非常滿意。

We acquired Sutai and IKV. We're building a plant in China. We paid down debt. We have a long-standing tradition of Quaker Houghton of paying a dividends. And then we repurchased shares. As you think about 2025, we've already acquired three strategic and very attractive acquisitions here in 2025.

我們收購了Sutai和IKV。我們正在中國建造一座工廠。我們還清了債務。桂格好富頓派發股息的傳統由來已久。然後我們回購了股票。展望 2025 年，我們在 2025 年完成了三項具有戰略意義且非常有吸引力的收購。

And we're continuing to build out of our plant in China. So I think options still remain for us. We've got a very healthy balance sheet. We generate a healthy amount of cash flow. So we'll be opportunistic as we think about the levers associated with how we deploy capital, but feel really good about how we're positioned.

我們正在繼續在中國建設工廠。所以我認為我們仍然有選擇。我們的資產負債表非常健康。我們產生了健康的現金流。因此，當我們思考如何部署資本時，我們會抓住機會，但對我們的定位感到非常滿意。

Arun Viswanathan, RBC.

阿倫·維斯瓦納坦（RBC）。

Yeah. I guess first off, the volumes, if you look at the volume slide, they actually kind of look a little bit consistent sequentially, and even over the last few quarters. But I know that the end market weakness has continued.

是的。我想首先，如果您看一下交易量幻燈片，您會發現它們實際上看起來在連續性上是有點一致的，甚至在過去幾個季度也是如此。但我知道終端市場疲軟的勢頭仍在持續。

So I guess what are you hearing from your customers? Have they started to -- are they pulling back even more? And so we expect kind of a further drop off sequentially in Q2, or is there some seasonal help that that should offset that? Yeah. Maybe we'll start there.

那我猜您從客戶那裡聽到了什麼？他們是否已經開始——他們是否進一步撤退了？因此，我們預計第二季的銷售額將進一步下降，或者是否有一些季節性因素可以抵消這種下降趨勢？是的。也許我們可以從那裡開始。

Yeah. I mean there is seasonal help, right? The first quarter -- we said this on the Q4 call. We expected the first quarter to be probably our toughest quarter. Asia Pac generally has a stronger second half of the year. Their fourth quarter is really strong, and then they have the Lunar holiday.

是的。我的意思是有季節性的幫助，對嗎？第一季－我們在第四季電話會議上說過這一點。我們預計第一季可能是我們最艱難的一個季度。亞太地區下半年整體表現更為強勁。他們的第四季度表現非常強勁，然後他們迎來了農曆假期。

So that falls off Q1 into Q2. I think again, just kind of normal seasonal pattern. There should be some help there for the overall business. The other thing is just visibility to our pipeline and our business acquisitions. I mentioned we target to acquire net share gains in this kind of 2% to 4% range and had a pretty good first quarter overall as we looked at new SKUs, new badges coming online into our business.

因此，第一季下降到了第二季。我再次思考，這只是一種正常的季節性模式。這對於整體業務應該會有一定的幫助。另一件事就是我們的通路和業務收購的可見性。我提到，我們的目標是獲得 2% 到 4% 範圍內的淨份額收益，並且隨著新 SKU 和新徽章進入我們的業務，我們第一季的整體表現相當不錯。

And a full pipeline outlook for the remainder of the year. So as far as uncertainty or any signals from the customer that we're going to see a differential change or something materially different than today, we're not getting that right now.

並對今年剩餘時間的前景進行了全面展望。因此，就不確定性或來自客戶的任何訊號而言，我們將看到差異變化或與今天有實質不同的變化，我們現在還沒有得到這些資訊。

We're very close to the customers. We're in the plants. But it's a dynamic situation and we'll just -- we'll react to what happens.

我們與客戶的關係非常密切。我們在工廠裡。但這是一個動態的情況，我們將對所發生的事情做出反應。

And then apologies if I missed this, but on the margin side, you're down in the 15.6% range on EBITDA this quarter. Do you still have a line of sight to 17%, 18% EBITDA margins or 18%? And I know appreciating that you guys upped your productivity targets.

然後，如果我錯過了這一點，請原諒，但在利潤率方面，本季的 EBITDA 下降了 15.6%。您是否仍能將 EBITDA 利潤率定為 17%、18% 或 18%？我很感激你們提高了生產力目標。

But what's kind of a rough bridge on how we get there? Is it mostly demand recovery or there's some other things on the price or cost side that we can -- that you guys can do to push those margins back up?

但是，我們到達那裡需要克服什麼樣的困難呢？主要是需求復甦嗎？還是價格或成本方面還有其他一些我們可以做的事情——你們可以做哪些事情來提高利潤率？

Good question.

好問題。

I think there's multiple things there. We do have some select price increases that we'll have to take action on where we're seeing very specific raw material increases. And we've shown the ability to go and do that in the past and we'll do that as needed.

我認為那裡有多種東西。我們確實有一些選擇性的價格上漲，我們必須採取行動，因為我們看到非常特定的原物料價格上漲。我們過去已經展現出這樣做的能力，並且我們會根據需要這樣做。

Most of the cost actions that were taken really aren't going to roll in to the business until kind of second quarter. Of course, there's an offset there with regular merit and incentive rebuilds and things like that. But there could be a little bit of favorability on the SG&A side going forward.

所採取的大多數成本措施實際上要到第二季才會對業務產生影響。當然，透過定期的績效和激勵重建等方式可以起到抵消作用。但未來銷售、一般及行政費用方面可能會稍微有利一些。

We are looking at our manufacturing footprint and we've made some changes. We closed the plant in the first quarter in the US. We're looking at optimizing the assets that we have to be more efficient and making reductions to -- where we need to.

我們正在審視我們的製造足跡，並做出了一些改變。我們在第一季關閉了美國的工廠。我們正在考慮優化資產，以提高效率，並根據需要進行削減。

And I'd say final thing, we feel really good now is kind of five years out from the Houghton combination, we've got a -- we buy a lot of stuff, a lot of raw materials on the market. And we've made some changes in the last year to put in place a global procurement kind of category management approach where it was more regional in the past.

最後我想說的是，我們現在感覺非常好，距離霍頓合併已經過了五年，我們在市場上購買了很多東西、很多原料。去年我們做了一些改變，實施了全球採購類型的品類管理方法，而過去這種方法更具區域性。

And we're looking at ways to source things at a better, more cost-effective way than we had in the past. So many different things there that we're working on. But you're right to focus on kind of this EBITDA margin. I think we get hung up sometimes on gross margins.

我們正在尋找比過去更好、更具成本效益的採購方式。我們正在做很多不同的事情。但你關注 EBITDA 利潤率是正確的。我認為我們有時會糾結於毛利率。

For us, we are targeting high teens, 18%, 19%. Ultimately, we want to get to EBITDA margins at 20% or above.

對我們來說，我們的目標是十幾歲的高齡人群，即18%、19%。最終，我們希望 EBITDA 利潤率達到 20% 或更高。

At this time, there are no further questions. And I would like to turn the floor back to Joe Berquist for closing comments.

目前，沒有其他問題。最後，我想請喬·伯奎斯特 (Joe Berquist) 發表最後評論。

Yeah. Thank you. We appreciate your continued interest in Quaker Houghton. And I just want to thank all of our colleagues around the world for their dedication to our customers and our company.

是的。謝謝。感謝您對桂格好富頓的持續關注。我只想感謝我們在世界各地的所有同事對我們的客戶和公司的奉獻。

If you have any questions, please reach out to Jeff and we'll be happy to talk with you.

如果您有任何疑問，請聯絡 Jeff，我們很樂意與您交談。

Thanks.

謝謝。

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束。現在您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。