林德集團 (LIN) 2021 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Linde plc Fourth Quarter 2021 Earnings Teleconference. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

各位好，感謝您稍候。歡迎參加林德（Linde plc）2021 年第四季財報電話會議。（接線員指示）請注意，今天的會議將被錄音。

(Operator Instructions) I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Juan Pelaez, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

（接線員指示）現在我想將會議交給投資人關係主管 Juan Pelaez 先生。請開始。

Thanks, Christina. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for attending our 2021 fourth quarter earnings call and webcast. I am Juan Pelaez, Head of Investor Relations. And I'm joined this morning by Sanjiv Lamba, Chief Operating Officer; and Matt White, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，Christina。各位早安，感謝各位參加我們 2021 年第四季財報電話會議與網路直播。我是投資人關係主管 Juan Pelaez。今天早上與我一同出席的還有營運長 Sanjiv Lamba，以及財務長 Matt White。

Today's presentation materials are available on our website at linde.com in the Investors section. Please read the forward-looking statement disclosure on Page 2 of the slides and note that it applies to all statements made during this teleconference. The reconciliations of the adjusted numbers are in the appendix to this presentation.

今天的簡報資料可於我們網站 linde.com 的「投資人」專區取得。請閱讀投影片第 2 頁的前瞻性陳述揭露，並注意其適用於本次電話會議期間所作的所有陳述。調整後數字的調節表列於本簡報的附錄。

Sanjiv will provide some opening remarks, and then Matt will give an update on Linde's fourth quarter financial performance and outlook, after which, we will wrap up with Q&A. Let me turn the call over to Sanjiv.

Sanjiv 將先做開場致詞，接著 Matt 會更新林德第四季的財務表現與展望，之後我們將進行問答。接下來把電話交給 Sanjiv。

Thanks, Juan, and good morning, everyone. By all measures, 2021 was another successful year for Linde. Our employees around the world delivered strong financial results while exemplifying Linde's core values every day. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank them for their tireless efforts to ensure safe, reliable and cost-effective supply of critical products and services to our customers.

謝謝你，Juan，各位早安。以各項衡量標準來看，2021 年對林德而言又是成功的一年。我們全球員工在每天實踐林德核心價值的同時，也交出了強勁的財務成果。我想藉此機會感謝他們不懈的努力，確保為客戶安全、可靠且具成本效益地供應關鍵產品與服務。

Slide 3 provides full year highlights by 4 key areas of focus. Of course, this list is not exhaustive. There are many more we manage every day. However, these represent the overarching priorities that I view is important to our continuing success. So let me begin with our shareholders.

投影片第 3 頁以 4 個關鍵聚焦領域呈現全年亮點。當然，這份清單並非涵蓋全部；我們每天管理的事項還有很多。然而，這些代表我認為對我們持續成功至關重要的整體優先事項。那麼我先從股東談起。

This year, we once again delivered industry-leading performance. That makes it the third year in a row since our merger. EPS grew 30%. Operating cash flows expanded 31% and ROC increased to 17.7%, with all three metrics reaching record levels. And it's important to remember, we achieved these numbers from a very strong 2020 base, which also grew double-digit percent from 2019. We clearly demonstrated the resilience of our business in 2020 and the ability to leverage the economic recovery in 2021.

今年，我們再次交出業界領先的表現。這是自合併以來連續第三年。每股盈餘（EPS）成長 30%。營運現金流量擴增 31%，投資資本報酬率（ROC）提升至 17.7%，三項指標皆創下新高。重要的是要記得，我們是在 2020 年非常強勁的基期上達成這些數字；而 2020 年相較 2019 年也有雙位數百分比的成長。我們清楚展現了 2020 年業務的韌性，以及 2021 年把握經濟復甦、放大成果的能力。

We shared the success with our owners by distributing $7 billion in the form of dividends and stock repurchases, and I fully expect this trend to continue. This was all done while implementing an orderly CEO and Board chair transition to ensure future performance without any disruption. In fact, we have positioned ourselves quite well for the future by winning high-quality opportunities that meet our disciplined investment criteria. 2021 ended with a record $13 billion of contractually secured backlog projects, including more than $1 billion for new semiconductor fabs with leading customers in the electronics end market.

我們以股利與庫藏股回購的形式向股東分配了 70 億美元，且我完全預期這一趨勢將持續。同時，我們也有序地完成執行長與董事會主席的交接，確保未來績效不受任何干擾。事實上，透過贏得符合我們嚴謹投資標準的高品質機會，我們已為未來做好相當好的布局。2021 年以創紀錄的 130 億美元合約保障在手訂單（backlog）專案作結，其中包含超過 10 億美元、與電子終端市場領先客戶合作的新半導體晶圓廠（fab）專案。

In addition to that, we made $2 billion of base CapEx investments, including a record 43 small on-site plants also with long-term contracts. And we have also committed close to $500 million in clean energy initiatives. Currently, we are reviewing roughly 300 decarbonization projects globally with probability adjusted add to more than $4 billion of potential investment opportunities. Of course, none of this is possible without the thousands of talented employees that run our businesses each day. We achieved best-in-class safety performance while improving gender diversity to 28%, well on track for our 30 by 30 goal.

此外，我們也進行了 20 億美元的基礎資本支出（base CapEx）投資，其中包括創紀錄的 43 座小型現場供氣（small on-site）工廠，且同樣配有長期合約。我們也承諾投入接近 5 億美元於潔淨能源倡議。目前，我們正在全球審視約 300 個去碳化專案，按機率調整後合計超過 40 億美元的潛在投資機會。當然，若沒有每天營運我們業務的數千名優秀員工，這一切都不可能實現。我們達成同級最佳的安全績效，同時將女性比例提升至 28%，朝「30 by 30」目標（2030 年達到 30%）穩步前進。

In addition, we improved on several other country-specific diversity goals to ensure we run and manage our businesses in a way that best reflects and supports the communities we live in. We are a very local business, and it's critical that we always strive to give back. In further support of that commitment, every Linde business contributed to the 400 community engagement projects executed around the world. And all these actions were undertaken in another year of the pandemic, with our teams providing reliable and uninterrupted supply of gases and services to our customers, including critical oxygen to millions of patients in hospitals and at their homes.

此外，我們也在多項各國特定的多元化目標上有所改善，確保我們經營與管理業務的方式能更貼近並支持我們所生活的社區。我們是一個非常在地化的企業，持續回饋社會至關重要。為了進一步支持這項承諾，每一個林德事業單位都參與了全球約 400 個社區參與專案。而這些行動都是在疫情持續的一年中完成的；我們的團隊仍為客戶提供可靠且不中斷的氣體與服務供應，包括向醫院及居家數以百萬計的病患提供關鍵氧氣。

Finally, we maintained a strong commitment towards sustainability, by doubling down on our existing carbon intensity goals and announcing more ambitious, absolute emission reduction goals for 2035 and also a road map for climate neutrality by 2050. And while it's heartening to see independent recognition of our employees' efforts in this area, including a few listed here from Dow Jones Sustainability and CDP, I know we can further improve.

最後，我們維持對永續發展的堅定承諾，進一步強化既有的碳強度目標，並宣布更具企圖心的 2035 年絕對排放量減量目標，以及 2050 年達成氣候中和的路線圖。雖然看到外部機構對員工在此領域努力的肯定令人振奮（例如此處列出的道瓊永續指數與 CDP），但我知道我們仍能做得更好。

Overall, I'm proud of how the Linde team came together against several headwinds and delivered industry-leading performance once again. So as I sit here today, I'm more confident now than ever on our ability to deliver another record year in 2022. I'll now hand over the call to Matt to walk you through the financial numbers. Matt?

整體而言，我為林德團隊在多重逆風下仍能凝聚一致、再次交出業界領先表現而感到自豪。因此，坐在這裡的此刻，我比以往任何時候都更有信心，我們有能力在 2022 年再創紀錄。接下來我把電話交給 Matt，請他帶各位看財務數字。Matt？

Thanks, Sanjiv. Please turn to Slide 4 for an overview of the fourth quarter results. Sales of $8.3 billion were up 14% versus prior year and 8% sequentially. You can see the effects of cost pass-through at 6% and 3% versus last year and the third quarter. While this is the highest quarterly number we've seen in over a decade, it demonstrates the strength of our contracts by protecting returns from higher energy costs. And remember, this has no impact to operating profit dollars, but will negatively affect operating margins since we gross up both sales and costs.

謝謝你，Sanjiv。請看投影片第 4 頁，了解第四季業績概覽。銷售額 83 億美元，較去年同期成長 14%，較前一季成長 8%。各位可以看到成本轉嫁（cost pass-through）的影響：相較去年與第三季分別為 6% 與 3%。雖然這是我們十多年來最高的單季數字，但也顯示我們合約的強韌性，能在能源成本上升時保護報酬。請記得，這對營業利益金額沒有影響，但由於我們同時把銷售與成本都放大入帳，將對營業利益率造成負面影響。

As anticipated, engineering contributed a solid 3% growth on the strength of their record project backlog. This trend should continue in the foreseeable future as they work through their multiyear $10 billion sale of plant backlog.

如先前預期，工程事業部受惠於創紀錄的專案在手訂單，貢獻了穩健的 3% 成長。隨著其持續消化多年期、總額 100 億美元的售廠（sale of plant）在手訂單，這一趨勢在可預見的未來應會延續。

Excluding these items, organic sales increased 9% over last year and 2% sequentially from a combination of higher volume and price. The volume increase over 2020 was broad-based with 1/3 coming from project start-ups and the remainder from base volume improvement across all end markets.

排除上述項目後，有機銷售額（organic sales）較去年增加 9%，較前一季增加 2%，主要來自更高的銷量與價格。相較 2020 年的銷量成長相當廣泛，其中三分之一來自專案啟動（project start-ups），其餘則來自所有終端市場的基礎銷量改善。

Sequentially, volumes were flat as growth in food and beverage and energy and chemicals were offset by lower metals and seasonal reductions in our southern hemisphere LPG business. Price increased 3% over prior year and 2% sequentially across all geographic segments, with the largest increase coming from EMEA due to greater inflationary pressures.

就季比而言，銷量持平；食品與飲料以及能源與化工的成長，被金屬需求下降以及南半球 LPG 業務的季節性下滑所抵銷。價格較去年增加 3%，較前一季增加 2%，涵蓋所有地理區隔；其中最大增幅來自 EMEA，因通膨壓力較大。

We continue to experience some pricing lag for the merchant and packaged business. So we fully expect strong pricing in Q1 and throughout 2022 to recover inflation. Note, actual merchant and packaged price increases are mid-single to low double-digit percent across all segments.

我們在散裝（merchant）與瓶裝（packaged）業務仍持續面臨部分定價落後（pricing lag）。因此，我們完全預期第一季以及 2022 年全年將有強勁的價格表現，以回收通膨影響。請注意，實際的散裝與瓶裝價格調漲在各區隔約為中個位數到低雙位數百分比。

Operating profit of $1.8 billion is up 14% from last year and 2% sequentially. Operating margins of 22.2% are flat with prior year, but down 140 basis points sequentially. There are three drivers currently having a negative effect on operating margins, of which two have a neutral to positive effect on operating profit dollars and the third is a temporary lag that will correct over the next few quarters.

營業利益 18 億美元，較去年成長 14%，較前一季成長 2%。營業利益率 22.2%，與去年同期持平，但較前一季下降 140 個基點。目前有三項因素對營業利益率造成負面影響，其中兩項對營業利益金額的影響為中性至正面，第三項則是暫時性的落後，將在未來幾季內修正。

The first factor is, of course, cost pass-through. And as mentioned earlier, a 6% increase is the highest we've seen. This is a standard part of our contracts that has no effect on profit dollars, but had an unfavorable impact to operating margins of 120 and 70 basis points versus prior year and third quarter, respectively.

第一個因素當然是成本轉嫁。如前所述，6% 的增幅是我們所見過最高的。這是我們合約中的標準條款，對利益金額沒有影響，但對營業利益率造成不利影響：相較去年與第三季分別為 120 與 70 個基點。

The second factor relates to the engineering segment becoming a larger part of the growth. This will improve profit dollars and cash growth, but has a negative effect on mix since this business has a different margin profile due to the lack of capital intensity. Finally, the last factor is because energy prices have increased faster than price actions in the merchant and packaged business.

第二個因素與工程事業部在成長中占比提高有關。這將提升利益金額與現金成長，但由於該業務因資本密集度較低而具有不同的利潤率結構，會在組合（mix）上對整體造成負面影響。最後一個因素則是能源價格上升速度快於散裝與瓶裝業務的價格行動。

This pricing normally lags 1 to 2 quarters and the higher inflation in Q4 caused this to push out another quarter. You can see in the table what the gas segment margin trends look like, excluding cost pass-through impact, up quite nicely year-over-year and down slightly on a sequential basis from this lag effect. I fully expect we'll recover this inflation with underlying margins expanding in 2022.

這類定價通常會落後 1 到 2 季，而第四季較高的通膨使其再延後一季。各位可以在表格中看到，若排除成本轉嫁影響，氣體事業部的利潤率趨勢年增表現相當不錯，但因這個落後效應而在季比上略有下滑。我完全預期我們將透過 2022 年的基礎利潤率擴張來回收這些通膨影響。

EPS of $2.77 was 20% above last year and 1% above the third quarter. We also included a full year summary on appendix Slide 8, showing sales and EPS growth of 13% and 30%. To Sanjiv's point, this growth rate comes off a 2020 base, which also performed quite well. Full year and Q4 2021 EPS increased from 2019 by 46% and 47%, respectively, which emphasizes the continued growth of our business through any scenario. In fact, the business is well positioned to outperform in all economic cycles.

每股盈餘（EPS）為 2.77 美元，較去年高 20%，較第三季高 1%。我們也在附錄投影片第 8 頁提供全年摘要，顯示銷售額與 EPS 分別成長 13% 與 30%。呼應 Sanjiv 的觀點，這個成長率是建立在 2020 年的基期之上，而 2020 年本身的表現也相當不錯。2021 年全年與第四季的 EPS 相較 2019 年分別增加 46% 與 47%，凸顯我們的業務在任何情境下都能持續成長。事實上，本公司已具備在各種經濟循環中都能優於大盤的良好定位。

Our portfolio has ample resilient market exposure for recessions like 2020. High-quality cyclical customers across all supply modes for expansion periods like 2021. Significant sale of plant capabilities to immediately benefit from capital cycles like we're seeing today. And sale of gas expertise, which has delayed capital cycle benefits 2 to 3 years down the road. Simply stated, the Linde model can deliver leading performance regardless of the macroeconomic climate.

我們的投資組合在如 2020 年這樣的衰退環境中，具備充足且具韌性的市場曝險；在如 2021 年這樣的擴張期，則擁有遍及所有供應模式的高品質循環型客戶；並且透過大量的售廠（sale of plant）能力銷售，能立即受惠於如我們今日所見的資本循環；同時也透過售氣（sale of gas）專業能力的銷售，在未來 2 到 3 年後的資本循環中帶來延後的效益。簡而言之，無論總體經濟氣候如何，林德（Linde）模式都能交出領先的表現。

The last point I'd like to make on this slide relates to capital management. You can see that ROC, which we view as the single most important metric for this industry, reached a new record of 17.7%. This doesn't just happen overnight. It takes considerable effort from thousands of our employees to continuously deliver industry-leading profit and cash growth underpinned by a disciplined and consistent capital allocation process. And a big part of that effort went toward delivering the record operating cash flow of $3.2 billion, which is covered in more detail on Slide 5.

我想在這張投影片上提出的最後一點與資本管理有關。你可以看到，我們視為本產業最重要單一指標的 ROC，創下 17.7% 的新高紀錄。這不是一夕之間就能達成的；需要我們數千名員工付出相當大的努力，透過嚴謹且一致的資本配置流程作為支撐，持續交出產業領先的獲利與現金成長。而這些努力中很大一部分，促成了 32 億美元的創紀錄營運現金流，相關細節會在第 5 張投影片更深入說明。

The left side shows our quarterly operating cash flow trend. You can see that cash has increased each quarter for 3 straight years, and that 2021 was a record by growing 31% over prior year. The operating cash flow to EBITDA ratio reached 96% for full year 2021, well above historical levels. Part of this is driven by project prepayments in the $1.3 billion inflow of contract assets and liabilities, which is the accounting term to describe working capital for the engineering business.

左側顯示我們季度營運現金流的趨勢。你可以看到，現金已連續 3 年每一季都增加，而 2021 年更是較前一年成長 31%，創下新高。全年營運現金流對 EBITDA 比率達到 96%，遠高於歷史水準。其中一部分是由專案預收款所驅動，反映在合約資產與負債 13 億美元的流入；這是會計上用來描述工程業務營運資金的用語。

As stated before, engineering is a strong cash-generating business that delivers returns well within our investment criteria. These prepayments are from the record project backlog, which will benefit the income statement over the next 3 to 4 years. Due to timing effects, I expect 2022 contract assets and liabilities to be substantially lower than the 2021 level, but we still anticipate strong cash performance across the rest of the business units. Overall, I expect ongoing operating cash flow to EBITDA ratios in the low to mid-80% range.

如先前所述，工程業務是一項強勁的現金創造型業務，其報酬率完全符合我們的投資標準。這些預收款來自創紀錄的專案訂單積壓（backlog），將在未來 3 到 4 年對損益表帶來貢獻。由於時點因素，我預期 2022 年的合約資產與負債將顯著低於 2021 年水準，但我們仍預期其餘事業單位的現金表現將維持強勁。整體而言，我預期持續性的營運現金流對 EBITDA 比率將落在 80% 出頭到 80% 中段的區間。

The right side shows how we deploy the $10 billion of full year cash flow. 1/3 was invested back into the business in the form of contractually secured growth projects and base CapEx, which represents both growth and maintenance investments. Recall that a substantial portion of our business including packaged gases, health care services and engineering don't require much CapEx to grow, so this only represents a portion of the future growth potential.

右側顯示我們如何運用全年 100 億美元的現金流。其中三分之一再投資回到業務中，形式包括具合約保障的成長專案與基礎資本支出（base CapEx），涵蓋成長與維護性投資。請記得，我們相當大一部分的業務（包括瓶裝氣體、醫療保健服務與工程）成長所需的 CapEx 並不高，因此這僅代表未來成長潛力的一部分。

In addition, we returned 2/3 or $7 billion back to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases. Our January 2021 share repurchase program of $5 billion is substantially complete, and we will review the future capital allocation in our upcoming Board meeting in 2 weeks. Overall, strong cash contribution from all business units enabled Linde to invest for future growth, while rewarding shareholders.

此外，我們以股利與庫藏股回購的形式，將三分之二、亦即 70 億美元回饋給股東。我們於 2021 年 1 月啟動的 50 億美元股票回購計畫已接近完成，而我們將在兩週後即將召開的董事會會議中檢視未來的資本配置。整體而言，所有事業單位強勁的現金貢獻，使林德得以投資未來成長，同時回饋股東。

I'll wrap up with guidance on Slide 6. First quarter guidance is in the range of $2.70 to $2.80, up 8% to 12% from prior year or 11% to 15% when adjusting for the assumed 3% currency headwind. Sequentially versus Q4, this range assumes flat economic conditions with seasonally lower volumes, offset by higher inflation recovery. Q1 is traditionally the weakest quarter of the year, including for cash flow due to payment timing.

我將以第 6 張投影片的財測作結。第一季財測區間為 2.70 至 2.80 美元，較前一年成長 8% 至 12%；若調整假設的 3% 匯率逆風，則為 11% 至 15%。與第四季相比，該區間假設經濟狀況持平、季節性出貨量較低，但由較高的通膨回收所抵銷。第一季傳統上是一年中最弱的一季，現金流亦然，主要因付款時點所致。

Full year 2022 guidance is $11.55 to $11.85, representing an 8% to 11% increase versus 2021 or 10% to 13% when adjusting for the 2% FX headwind. The midpoint of this range assumes flat economic conditions and thus, no base volume improvement. Consistent with our prior approach, this is not our economic forecast, rather, it merely represents the underlying assumption in the guidance range. You can insert your own view of the 2022 economy. And if it does better, I'd expect it to be at the top end or above this range. And if we experience a recession, we'll take actions to meet this commitment as we did in 2020.

2022 全年財測為 11.55 至 11.85 美元，較 2021 年增加 8% 至 11%；若調整 2% 的外匯逆風，則為 10% 至 13%。此區間的中點假設經濟狀況持平，因此不包含基礎出貨量改善。與我們以往的做法一致，這並非我們的經濟預測，而僅是財測區間所採用的基本假設。你可以自行代入你對 2022 年經濟的看法；若表現更好，我預期結果會落在區間上緣或高於此區間；若我們遭遇衰退，我們也會如同 2020 年一樣採取行動以達成此承諾。

There remains a lot of uncertainty heading into 2022. And despite all the expert forecasts, nobody knows what will happen. However, we have an industry-leading business portfolio and contractually secured project backlog. So regardless of the economic challenges, we remain quite confident in our ability to continue delivering shareholder value. I'd now like to turn the call over to Q&A.

展望 2022 年仍存在許多不確定性。即使有各種專家預測，也沒有人知道會發生什麼事。然而，我們擁有產業領先的業務組合與具合約保障的專案訂單積壓。因此，無論經濟挑戰如何，我們對於持續為股東創造價值的能力仍相當有信心。接下來我想把電話交給問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) We'll take our first question from Steve Byrne with Bank of America.

（接線員指示）我們的第一個問題來自美國銀行（Bank of America）的 Steve Byrne。

I'd like to drill in a little bit on your engineering business. You had this kind of pop in revenue in the fourth quarter, and you have had this sale of plant chunk, the $6 billion project recently. But when you look over the last 4 years, revenue hasn't changed much, backlog hasn't changed much, but your margins have doubled. Can you comment on what have you done to do that? Is that just productivity or is this a mix shift? And how has your view of the value of this business and the benefit to the broader operating units changed since the last few years?

我想更深入了解一下你們的工程業務。你們第四季營收有一波跳升，且近期也有這筆 60 億美元的售廠（sale of plant）大型專案。但若回頭看過去 4 年，營收變化不大、訂單積壓（backlog）變化也不大，但你們的利潤率卻翻倍。你能評論一下你們做了什麼才達成這點嗎？這只是生產力提升，還是產品/業務組合的轉變（mix shift）？另外，過去幾年以來，你們對這項業務的價值，以及它對更廣泛營運單位的助益之看法，有什麼改變？

Steve, I'll let Matt take that question, and then I'll add on to that.

Steve，我先請 Matt 回答這個問題，之後我再補充。

Sure. Hello, Steve. So first, on your question on the history, the backlog on the third party actually has declined if you go back a couple of years or the last year or so. But the margins have been able to maintain quite well because recall, we show the segment of the third-party business. In addition, the engineering organization also works on our intercompany sale of gas backlog. They have the ability to gain absorption of the labor and build that, and our sale of gas backlog that they support and perform will be part of the CapEx of the organization and the sale of plant backlog that they perform and execute become third-party sales and profits for the organization.

好的。你好，Steve。首先，關於你提到的歷史情況，如果你回溯到幾年前或過去一年左右，第三方的訂單積壓其實是下降的。但利潤率仍能維持得相當不錯，因為請記得，我們揭露的是第三方業務的分部。此外，工程組織也會支援我們公司內部的售氣（sale of gas）訂單積壓。他們能夠透過人力吸收（absorption）來提升稼動並建立能力；而他們所支援與執行的售氣訂單積壓，會成為該組織的資本支出（CapEx）的一部分；他們所執行的售廠（sale of plant）訂單積壓，則會成為該組織的第三方銷售與利潤。

So this was what something, as you probably know, we talked about even at the merger time, this combination of the companies bringing all of the opportunities, both sale of plant and sale of gas not only give our engineering organization a good backlog to work with, but also really helps with their very strong technical capabilities across growing in both areas.

因此，這也是你可能知道的，我們甚至在合併時就談過的事情：兩家公司結合後帶來的各種機會，無論是售廠或售氣，不僅為我們的工程組織提供良好的訂單積壓可供執行，也確實有助於他們在兩個領域的成長中，發揮非常強的技術能力。

Now when you think about looking forward, I think the simple way to think about how to model this business, the sale of plant third-party backlog is translated dollar for dollar. So our sale of plant backlog is $1 backlog equals $1 of sales in the future. And as you probably know, the sale of gas backlog is $1 of CapEx. So it has a different ratio to sales.

接著談到未來，我認為用最簡單的方式來理解如何建模這項業務：售廠（sale of plant）的第三方訂單積壓是以一比一轉換的。也就是說，我們的售廠 backlog 每 1 美元，未來就對應 1 美元的銷售額。而如你所知，售氣（sale of gas）的 backlog 每 1 美元，對應的是 1 美元的 CapEx，因此它與銷售額之間的比例不同。

So for the engineering business, about a $10 billion backlog means we will get about $10 billion of future sales, and it's usually over 3 to 4 years on how that's recognized. And from a margin perspective, as long as they continue to have a good backlog of both third-party and sale of gas, it will allow them to efficiently manage their costs and obviously leveraging our global footprint in terms of what the hourly rates are. So hopefully, that answers your question.

因此就工程業務而言，大約 100 億美元的訂單積壓意味著我們將取得約 100 億美元的未來銷售額，通常會在 3 到 4 年間認列。從利潤率角度來看，只要他們能持續同時擁有良好的第三方與售氣訂單積壓，就能有效率地管理成本，並且顯然也能利用我們全球據點在工時費率上的差異來提升效益。希望這能回答你的問題。

Let me just add on to that a little bit, Steve, in terms of how we see that business. So there are a couple of things that the engineering business allows us to do on the gases side as well, which make it quite unique and important for us. One is early insight into projects. So when one of our customers is looking at a large project, they will reach out to the engineering team and get some inputs. We get very early insight into that and obviously are able to leverage that.

Steve，我再補充一點我們如何看待這項業務。工程業務也讓我們在氣體端能做幾件事，使其對我們而言相當獨特且重要。其一是能更早洞察專案。當客戶在評估大型專案時，往往會先聯繫工程團隊取得一些意見。我們因此能非常早期地掌握資訊，並且當然能加以運用。

Now the next step from that is our ability then to be able to say whether we want a particular project to go down a sale of gas or a sale of plant option. And again, that optionality is something that comes intrinsically by having the engineering in-house.

接下來的一步，是我們能夠判斷某個特定專案要採售氣（sale of gas）或售廠（sale of plant）的模式。而這種選擇權（optionality）正是因為我們將工程能力內建（in-house）而自然具備的。

And last but not least, it is really a competitive advantage as we look at the transition that's going to happen with clean energy. There is a whole new market opening up. And of course, right in the heart of that is technology, which is owned and proprietary to Linde Engineering and their ability to take other technologies and build them into solutions that will hold us in good stead as we look ahead.

最後但同樣重要的是，當我們著眼於潔淨能源將帶來的轉型時，這確實是一項競爭優勢。全新的市場正在開啟，而其中的核心當然是技術；這些技術由林德工程（Linde Engineering）所擁有並具專有性，他們也能將其他技術整合進解決方案中，讓我們在展望未來時能保持良好態勢。

And one -- quick one on your European business. Can you provide the split on revenue between on-site and merchants and (inaudible)? And the sequential price/mix increase of 4%, were you aggressive about pushing through price early in the quarter in order to achieve the results you did?

還有一個——很快的一個，關於你們的歐洲業務。你能否提供營收在現場供氣（on-site）與商戶（merchant）以及（聽不清）之間的拆分？另外，4%的環比價格／組合（price/mix）提升，你們是否在本季初就積極推動提價，以達成你們所取得的結果？

Right, Steve. So the split roughly around the EMEA Business, which kind of spans about 40 countries, but that split is roughly about 1/3, 2/3. 1/3 of on-site whereas you know well, the pass-through kind of goes automatically from the contractual structures we have and about 2/3 of merchant and packaged, where, again, a lot of hard work goes in. And to your point, we've been -- you might recall, Steve, that for about 4 quarters now, we've been talking about inflation. It isn't new. And while it's not well recognized, I thought it's worthy of just a quick reminder, we operate in about 100 countries. Some of the best businesses that we have in many parts of the world, including Latin America, Asia and Europe, have been actively managing inflation over decades. It is not new to us. It's a muscle that we flex from time to time, and it's part of our performance culture, kind of getting into the detail, digging in, ensuring they're executing on pricing and productivity actions day in, day out. So that's what the guys have been doing over there. We kind of treat it as part of our ongoing business process, and they run that every day in that quarter. It isn't something that we do at the end of the quarter or at the beginning of the quarter.

沒錯，Steve。就EMEA業務的拆分而言，我們覆蓋大約40個國家，拆分大致約為1/3、2/3。約1/3是現場供氣（on-site）；如你所熟知，這部分的轉嫁（pass-through）基本會依據我們的合約架構自動發生；約2/3是商戶與包裝（merchant and packaged），這部分同樣需要投入大量努力。至於你提到的點——你可能還記得，Steve，過去大約4個季度我們一直在談通膨。這不是新鮮事。而且雖然外界未必充分認知，但我覺得值得快速提醒一下：我們在約100個國家營運。我們在世界許多地區（包括拉丁美洲、亞洲與歐洲）的一些最佳業務，數十年來一直在積極管理通膨。這對我們並不陌生。這是一項我們不時會運用的能力，也是我們績效文化的一部分——深入細節、鑽研問題、確保他們日復一日執行定價與生產力行動。這就是那邊團隊一直在做的事。我們把它視為日常營運流程的一部分，他們在那個季度每天都在跑這套流程。這不是我們在季度末或季度初才做的事情。

Our next question from P.J. Juvekar with Citi.

下一個問題來自花旗（Citi）的P.J. Juvekar。

Can you talked about your 300 decarbonization projects? You said potential of $4 billion in pipeline. How advanced are these projects? And when do they -- when are they likely to get added to the backlog?

能否談談你們的300個去碳化（decarbonization）專案？你提到管線（pipeline）潛在規模為40億美元。這些專案目前進展到什麼程度？以及它們何時——何時可能會被納入在手訂單（backlog）？

Right, P.J. Thanks for that question. So obviously, we are very excited seeing the number of projects, the momentum that's building up around that. Very important to always remind ourselves that these projects have long lead time and development. And we are seeing that on any major project, of course, even more so on some of these clean energy projects. Typically, these projects are divided into three -- we kind of categorize them into three headings, if you will. There are a number of projects around mobility. You read about them every day. And many of these projects, of course, they are smaller in size relative to the other two segments, but many of these progressing at different paces. Large number of them in green, but a number of blue projects linked to mobility as well.

好的，P.J.，謝謝你的問題。顯然，我們對看到專案數量以及由此累積的動能感到非常振奮。也很重要的是要時刻提醒自己，這些專案的前置期與開發期都很長。任何大型專案都是如此，當然在某些潔淨能源專案上更是如此。通常我們把這些專案分成三類——可以說分成三個範疇。第一類是與移動（mobility）相關的專案，你每天都會看到相關報導。這些專案相較於另外兩個區塊，規模通常較小，但進展速度各不相同。其中有大量屬於綠色（green）的專案，也有一些與移動相關的藍色（blue）專案。

The second bucket is really around industrial applications. This is where we are seeing either incumbent customers or new customers, look at blue hydrogen, green hydrogen, look at how they convert and decarbonize their own processes, whether it's steel, chemicals, refining. It's a long list. So all of those activities. Now being at the heart of that, and in most cases, incumbent in there, we are working actively with our customers to be able to help them understand their decarbonization strategy. And as a consequence of that, provide the input needed from our perspective to support that.

第二個區塊主要是工業應用。我們看到既有客戶或新客戶在評估藍氫（blue hydrogen）、綠氫（green hydrogen），並思考如何轉型、如何讓自身流程去碳化，不論是鋼鐵、化工、煉油等，清單很長，涵蓋所有這些活動。我們身處其中的核心位置，而且多數情況下我們本來就是既有供應商，因此我們正積極與客戶合作，協助他們理解其去碳化策略。也因此，從我們的角度提供所需的投入，以支持該策略。

The last segment is really where we are looking at the energy transition. So use of hydrogen in particular as an energy source, either through a carrier, so ammonia gets talked about a lot, or hydrogen by itself. And that's a large segment, as you would expect, but is complex because it kind of has its own dynamic around [law]. So ease you're dealing with kind of political structures and of course, a need for a global trade structure that allows for that distribution levels to happen.

最後一個區塊是我們所關注的能源轉型。也就是把氫，特別是作為能源來源來使用，可能透過載體（carrier）——例如常被提到的氨（ammonia）——或是直接使用氫本身。這一塊如你所料規模很大，但也很複雜，因為它有其自身圍繞著[law]的動態。因此你會面對政治架構，當然也需要一個全球貿易架構，讓那樣的分配／配送規模得以發生。

So we see development in all of these three. I think those 300 projects kind of fall neatly into there. And again, I have to say that while momentum is building up, and of course, you're reading lots of announcements every other day, I know. I do, too. But I don't really see many of those announcements translate into projects immediately. There is a lead time to that development.

所以我們在這三個領域都看到發展。我認為那300個專案大致都能很清楚地歸入這三類。再次強調，雖然動能正在累積，而且你也知道，你幾乎每隔一天就會看到很多公告——我知道，我也在看——但我並沒有看到很多公告會立刻轉化為專案。這些開發需要時間。

Do I see that, the $4 billion that you referenced? Now remember, that $4 billion is probability adjusted. I mean if I was to open up the Pandora's box and tell you what the absolute value is, we are talking $20-plus billion in terms of absolute value of those projects, but probability adjusted on a reasonably conservative Linde basis, as you would expect, we think about $4 billion will come into kind of decisions, FID decisions for us in the next 3 years.

至於你提到的40億美元，我是否看得到？請記得，那40億美元是經過機率調整（probability adjusted）的。我的意思是，如果我打開潘朵拉盒子，告訴你其絕對值（absolute value）是多少，我們談的是200億美元以上的專案絕對金額；但在相當保守、以林德（Linde）標準進行機率調整後——如你所預期——我們認為大約40億美元會在未來3年內進入某種決策階段，也就是對我們而言的FID（最終投資決策）決策。

And P.J., this is Matt. I may just add to that as well. Recall it that our definition of project backlog is really the most stringent in the industry. So we have been executing right now some of those green projects as part of our base CapEx. If you noticed sequentially, it even -- it popped up here about $130 million, $140 million.

P.J.，我是Matt。我也補充一下。請回想一下，我們對「專案在手訂單（project backlog）」的定義，基本上是業界最嚴格的。因此，我們目前正把其中一些綠色專案作為基礎資本支出（base CapEx）的一部分在執行。如果你注意到，按季（sequentially）來看，這裡甚至增加了大約1.3億到1.4億美元。

So these are ones where we're building density. These are ones where we're converting to, say, blue or green on some existing hydrogen networks. So they are happening. But to make our project backlog definition, it requires a very stringent approach, but we fully expect to see some there in the future, to Sanjiv's point.

這些是我們在建立密度（building density）的專案；這些是我們在既有氫氣網路上，將其轉換為例如藍色或綠色的專案。所以它們確實正在發生。但要符合我們對專案在手訂單的定義，需要非常嚴格的標準；不過正如Sanjiv所說，我們完全預期未來會有一些專案納入其中。

Great. And just a question on the flip side of these energy prices. So these high energy prices, does that accelerate your green, blue hydrogen projects? And just with higher power costs, what is the cost of green hydrogen today?

很好。再問一個關於能源價格另一面的問題：這些高能源價格是否會加速你們的綠氫、藍氫專案？另外，在電力成本更高的情況下，今天綠氫的成本是多少？

So P.J., that's a fairly broad question. Let me just take a step back and mention something to you, which I think is important to remind everyone, which is that one of the areas around energy transition, and we are seeing a bit of pragmatism in Europe, as you know now, because the [taxonomy] is now describing both natural gas and nuclear as being in the green kind of zone, if you will. But one of the things to just remind ourselves, natural gas will continue to be very important as we look ahead.

P.J.，這是一個相當廣泛的問題。我先退一步，提一件我認為重要、也值得提醒大家的事：在能源轉型的議題上，你也知道，我們在歐洲看到了一些務實作法，因為[分類法]（taxonomy）現在把天然氣與核能都描述為某種「綠色」範疇的一部分。但要提醒自己的一點是，展望未來，天然氣仍將非常重要。

So I see certainly momentum building up on natural gas, more investments, the capital cycle that Matt referenced in his comments earlier on, we see some of that playing out. And the projects that we are talking about in Linde Engineering as well, a lot of them serving that natural gas, growing natural gas business and development linked to that now. So that is important just to recognize because we see that as part of the energy transition. You'll see a role -- a very important role that natural gas will play.

因此我確實看到天然氣的動能在累積、投資增加，以及Matt先前評論中提到的資本循環（capital cycle），其中一些正在上演。我們在林德工程（Linde Engineering）所談到的專案也有很多是在服務天然氣——也就是成長中的天然氣業務，以及與其相關的開發。因此，認知到這一點很重要，因為我們把它視為能源轉型的一部分。你會看到——天然氣將扮演一個非常重要的角色。

Let me move on and talk about whether the energy costs are actually supporting this transition. And my view is, there are two transitions happening. I believe in the next decade or so, you will see scalable technology for blue hydrogen pickup now, get applied now and actually create a transition to that ultimate greener energy transition that is often talked about.

接著我談談能源成本是否真的在支持這個轉型。我的看法是，有兩個轉型同時在發生。我相信在未來十年左右，你會看到可規模化（scalable）的藍氫技術開始被採用、現在就被應用，並且實際上形成通往最終、更綠的能源轉型（大家常談到的那個）的過渡。

So I really see blue playing a big role. And really, the kind of power pricing that you referenced earlier on, doesn't have a direct impact on that. And therefore, that momentum is on its own. On the green side, yes, as you see energy prices move up. There is a bit of a challenge around that. And that will get factored in. Of course, all of this will normalize. The reality is what you see today isn't what's going to be for the next 5 years.

所以我確實認為藍氫會扮演很大的角色。而你先前提到的那種電力定價，對藍氫並沒有直接影響，因此其動能是獨立存在的。至於綠氫方面，是的，當你看到能源價格上升，確實會帶來一些挑戰，而這會被納入考量。當然，這一切都會回歸常態。現實是，你今天看到的情況不會是未來5年的樣子。

So we should look at green hydrogen with that perspective. There is a lens of maybe a 5- to 7-year development cycle, I've said this before. Our technology road map suggests that there's a 5- to 7-year cycle for that scale up to happen and for green hydrogen to start then, still be at a premium, but a more acceptable premium to maybe blue as we look ahead.

因此我們應以這樣的視角看待綠氫。我之前說過，這裡有一個大約5到7年的開發週期視角。我們的技術路線圖（technology road map）顯示，規模化需要5到7年的週期；之後綠氫才會開始——仍然會有溢價（premium），但相對於藍氫，展望未來會是更可接受的溢價。

We'll take our next question from Nicola Tang with BNP Paribas.

下一個問題來自法國巴黎銀行（BNP Paribas）的Nicola Tang。

First, I wanted to dig in a little bit more on the pricing dynamics. I think you mentioned that in your opening remarks that the cost inflationary pressure was bigger in Europe. So I was wondering why the sequential change in -- or the sequential margin squeeze was actually larger in Americas than it was in Europe on an ex-cost pass-through basis. Is that to do with, I don't know, Americas not being as effective at pricing? Or is it perhaps to do with pricing dynamics in Lincare? And I guess, linked to that, could you talk a little bit about how the pricing dynamics in health care versus other industrial exposures and how the contract structures work? That's the first one.

首先，我想更深入探討一下定價動態。我記得你在開場談到，成本通膨壓力在歐洲更大。所以我想知道，為什麼在扣除成本轉嫁（ex-cost pass-through）的基礎上，美洲的環比變化——或環比利潤率擠壓（margin squeeze）——反而比歐洲更大？這是因為美洲在定價上沒有那麼有效嗎？還是可能與Lincare的定價動態有關？另外，延伸這點，你能否談談醫療保健（health care）相較於其他工業曝險（industrial exposures）的定價動態，以及合約架構如何運作？這是第一個問題。

Nicola, it's Matt. So first, we'll start with saying there's no structural concerns. I just want to make sure we're aware of that and we understand that. And I think it's important also to realize that, as you may recall in our last quarter, Europe right now is in the middle of some, we'll call it larger cost actions that they're taking as well. And you remember, Americas and APAC had done those earlier. And we always said that EMEA would be a little later, and so they're in the midst of those.

Nicola，我是 Matt。首先，我們先說明沒有結構性的疑慮。我只是想確保我們都清楚這一點並且理解這一點。我也認為很重要的是要意識到，如你可能還記得我們上一季提到的，歐洲目前正處於一些（我們稱之為）較大規模的成本行動之中，他們也正在採取這些措施。你也記得，美洲與亞太地區先前已經做過這些。我們一直說 EMEA 會稍晚一些，所以他們現在正處於這些行動的進行中。

So what you're seeing in EMEA is a combination of, yes, higher inflation and pricing actions, but also in the middle of some cost actions that they're taking, which will help the margin profile. In the Americas, I would not say there's anything concerning or different. To your point, the health care profile on pricing will be different, right? That won't price as fast to inflation. It tends to be a little more structured.

所以你在 EMEA 看到的是幾個因素的組合：是的，較高的通膨與定價行動，但同時他們也正在推動一些成本行動，這將有助於毛利率/利潤率的表現。在美洲，我不會說有任何令人擔憂或不同之處。正如你所說，醫療保健在定價上的特性會不同，對吧？它不會像通膨那樣快速反映在價格上，通常會更有制度與結構。

Now that being said, at least in the U.S., they are getting a large inflationary price increase that will be effective here January 1. So that's a normal part of the process. But I would say it's more a function of how the cost actions are being taken in EMEA right now on a delayed basis, which is causing that.

話雖如此，至少在美國，他們將會有一個幅度較大的通膨性漲價，並將於 1 月 1 日生效。所以那是流程中的正常一環。但我會說，這更多是因為 EMEA 目前以延後的方式在採取成本行動，才造成你看到的情況。

All right. And then just a quick one around volumes. It looks like all end markets were up sequentially apart from metals and mining. And I know it's still a bit early in the year, but could you maybe give us a whistle-stop tour of what you're seeing so far across some of your key end markets? And I guess specifically comment on the metals and mining points.

好的。接著快速問一個關於銷量的問題。看起來除了金屬與礦業之外，所有終端市場的環比表現都有所上升。我知道現在仍是年初、可能還有點早，但你能否快速帶我們巡禮一下，到目前為止你在一些主要終端市場看到的情況？我想特別請你評論一下金屬與礦業的部分。

Sure, Nicola. Why don't I do that? And what I'll do is I'll walk you through Q4 just to kind of build the base and then quickly talk about the outlook that we're looking at. And I'll talk specifically about metals and mining in China, as you know, that's quite intrinsically linked. So let me start off with Americas as maybe the starting point.

當然，Nicola。不如我來說明。我會先帶你回顧一下第四季，先把基礎建立起來，然後再快速談談我們正在看的展望。我也會特別談到中國的金屬與礦業，因為如你所知，這兩者的連動性相當高。那我先從美洲開始，作為起點。

Overall, in Q4, you saw a strong growth, about 7% up. It was pretty broad-based when I look at the market breakdown, metals, manufacturing, chemicals and refining, all cyclical end markets strongest. Followed, of course, by electronics and food and beverage, which also did quite well. And just very quickly, I'm going to cover refinery because I know a number of you are interested in that. Our refinery volumes are up higher than pre-COVID levels. Excluding start-ups, we are at about 15% up. Including startups, about 24% up when I look and compare the fourth quarter of 2019.

整體而言，在第四季你看到強勁成長，約成長 7%。當我看市場拆分時，成長相當廣泛：金屬、製造、化工與煉油等所有循環性終端市場表現最強。接著當然是電子與食品飲料，也表現得相當不錯。我很快補充一下煉油，因為我知道在座不少人對此有興趣。我們的煉油銷量已高於 COVID 之前的水準。若不含新開車（start-ups），約高出 15%；若包含新開車，與 2019 年第四季相比約高出 24%。

Now sequentially, we saw chemicals and energy continue to be strong. Metals lagged a little bit in the Americas as well, largely as a result of customer turnarounds that happened in the last quarter. Manufacturing slightly weaker, but that's kind of what we typically expect in the third and fourth quarter. So nothing unexpected over there.

就環比而言，我們看到化工與能源持續強勁。金屬在美洲也稍微落後一些，主要是因為上一季客戶進行了停機檢修（turnarounds）。製造略弱，但這大致是我們在第三與第四季通常會預期的情況，所以沒有什麼意外。

The other way to look at the economy is what happens on the package side of the business. And again, in the U.S. we saw good growth across all end markets, so which is really good to see. Both gases and hard goods saw double-digit year-on-year growth, pretty strong growth there. Sequentially, gases might have been about flat. Hard goods continue to grow. So again, that is good to see that.

從另一個角度看經濟，是看業務中「包裝（package）」端的表現。同樣地，在美國我們看到所有終端市場都有不錯的成長，這點很令人欣慰。氣體與硬貨（hard goods）都出現雙位數的年增率，成長相當強勁。環比來看，氣體大概持平；硬貨則持續成長。所以再次強調，看到這樣的表現是好事。

As I look ahead into the current quarter, I can tell you that we are seeing that fundamental demand stay strong. There are the supply chain challenges. And obviously, the inflation number that came out this morning will worry people, but we still see the underlying demand being pretty strong around the Americas and nothing that I can point out to that suggests any shift from what we've seen.

展望目前這一季，我可以告訴你，我們看到基本需求仍然強勁。確實存在供應鏈挑戰。而且今天早上公布的通膨數據會讓人擔心，但我們仍看到美洲的底層需求相當強，沒有任何跡象顯示會偏離我們先前所看到的趨勢。

Let me move on to EMEA talk briefly. So again, broad-based growth in EMEA really led by industrials recovering, metals, manufacturing, high single digit in Q4. We saw a nice recovery in food and beverage. I'll thank everyone on the call who went out and bought a beer at pub because we were up 20% in the overall and in the U.K. in particular. So that is kind of good news. Sequentially, volumes are more or less flat, even though we had less work days in the quarter. And again, in EMEA, I see that trend holding for now. I can't see anything other than some marginal adjustments on health care, where we had a bit of a spurt in a few countries around medical oxygen, but we're seeing elective surgeries pick up. So I see a bit of offset in that coming into the Q1 as well.

我接著簡要談一下 EMEA。同樣地，EMEA 的成長相當廣泛，主要由工業端復甦帶動；金屬、製造在第四季呈現高個位數成長。我們也看到食品飲料有不錯的復甦。我也要感謝電話會議上的各位去酒吧買了杯啤酒，因為我們整體成長了 20%，尤其英國特別明顯。所以這算是好消息。環比來看，儘管本季工作天數較少，銷量大致持平。而且在 EMEA，我目前看到這個趨勢仍會維持。我看不到除了醫療保健有些邊際調整之外的其他變化；我們在少數國家醫用氧氣曾短暫衝高，但我們也看到選擇性手術回升。因此我也看到在第一季會有一些抵銷效果。

APAC, volumes up 7%, about what I'd expect, led really by electronics, chemicals and energy and manufacturing. This is where metals and minerals or mining for us was lower than last year. And as you've heard the story before, curtailments in China, really the root cause of that. And again, sequentially, in APAC in Q4 as well, we saw they were about 2% down largely linked to metals and mining in China. Some customer turnarounds in chemicals as well. And then there was some seasonal adjustment for LNG -- LPG volumes in South Pacific that kind of tends to happen every year.

亞太方面，銷量成長 7%，大致符合我的預期，主要由電子、化工與能源以及製造帶動。對我們而言，金屬與礦物或礦業在這裡比去年低。正如你之前聽過的故事，中國的限產是根本原因。同樣地，在亞太第四季的環比表現也約下降 2%，主要與中國的金屬與礦業相關。化工也有一些客戶停機檢修。另外，南太平洋的 LNG -- LPG 銷量有一些季節性調整，這幾乎每年都會發生。

Just on China, again, recognizing that people are tracking this quite closely. If I look at January in particular and look at some data that we're kind of tracking, I see steel a little bit -- holding back a little bit. I think in the first 3 weeks of January, it is down about 10% to 11%. The key production cuts and some constraints and curtailments that are in place, likely to be there until early March in provinces like Hubei, Tianjin, Beijing, Shandong, et cetera. After that, I expect that we'll get back to last year levels, 2021 levels. And overall, for the year, I'd expect that we'd probably see something which is flat or slightly up.

再談中國，考量到大家都在密切追蹤。如果我特別看 1 月並看我們追蹤的一些數據，我看到鋼鐵有點——稍微受到抑制。我認為 1 月前三週大約下降 10% 到 11%。關鍵的減產以及現行的一些限制與限產措施，可能會持續到 3 月初，涵蓋湖北、天津、北京、山東等省市。之後，我預期會回到去年的水準，也就是 2021 年的水準。整體而言，就全年來看，我預期大概持平或小幅成長。

Also looking at, obviously, some of these Q1 numbers get adjusted for the Chinese New Year kind of impact. So once we look at that, we find the other segments, electronics holding its own pretty solid so far. Automobile production up a little bit, up about 6% for the first 3 weeks of January. Again, that's a good signal. The last week of January, you have to ignore because that's the week before Chinese New Year. So things start kind of shutting down, and that's just a normal course of events. So we're watching closely to see what happens in China on the recovery next week onwards, that's when the recovery post-CNY or post-Chinese New Year will happen. So we'll kind of figure out how that plays out as we look ahead into the rest of the quarter.

另外也要看，顯然第一季的一些數字會因為農曆新年（Chinese New Year）的影響而被調整。所以在我們把這個因素納入後，我們看到其他板塊目前為止表現穩健，例如電子維持得相當不錯。汽車產量略有上升，1 月前三週約成長 6%。這是個好訊號。1 月最後一週你必須忽略，因為那是農曆新年前一週，事情開始逐步停擺，這是正常現象。所以我們會密切觀察中國從下週開始的復甦情況，也就是農曆新年後（post-CNY 或 post-Chinese New Year）的復甦將會發生。我們會在展望本季剩餘時間時，判斷這將如何發展。

And we'll take our next question from Bob Koort with Goldman Sachs.

接下來我們將接聽來自高盛（Goldman Sachs）的 Bob Koort 的提問。

Sanjiv, I want to go a little deeper on the pricing and the electricity and power costs in Europe. It seemed like there was quite a bit of investor consternation. Some market players were talking about four and fivefold increases in those costs. So you guys did a remarkable job in the quarter. Do we have more to come? Is there a peak pinch point coming up in the first or second quarter? And then if you could, could you just talk about how you specifically introduce price through your three primary distribution methods?

Sanjiv，我想更深入談談歐洲的定價以及電力與能源成本。看起來投資人相當憂心。一些市場參與者談到這些成本可能上升到四倍、五倍。你們本季的表現非常出色。接下來還會有更多壓力嗎？第一季或第二季是否會出現一個高峰的擠壓點？另外，如果可以的話，你能否談談你們如何透過三種主要的配送/供應方式來具體導入價格？

So let me -- maybe what I might do, Bob, is just take a step back and talk about inflation in general because it seems to be on everyone's mind. Talk about how we address inflation more broadly and then talk about the different supply modes and how we kind of work our way through that.

那我——Bob，也許我先退一步，先談談通膨整體，因為這似乎是大家都在關注的焦點。談談我們更廣泛地如何應對通膨，然後再談不同的供應模式，以及我們如何逐步處理這些問題。

So in gases, about 70% of our costs are really in three buckets: Power or natural gas the first, wages and distribution, the other two. Now really, energy cost increases are a part and parcel of the industrial gases business. I mean it's something we manage every day. If power or natural gas costs go up, we make sure all our on-site contracts are passing that energy cost through. You can see that in our pass-through line, you see 6% year-on-year for the quarter, 3% sequential. And Matt said this earlier, it's one of the highest in the decade. So that's pretty high. But again, it's part of kind of the norm of the business that we just run that we manage that on a day-to-day basis and pass it through.

在氣體業務中，我們大約 70% 的成本主要落在三個類別：第一是電力或天然氣；另外兩個是薪資與配送。其實，能源成本上升是工業氣體業務不可分割的一部分。我的意思是，這是我們每天都在管理的事情。如果電力或天然氣成本上升，我們會確保所有現場供氣（on-site）合約都能把能源成本轉嫁出去。你可以在我們的轉嫁（pass-through）項目中看到，本季年增 6%、環比 3%。Matt 先前也提到，這是十年來最高之一，所以相當高。但同樣地，這就是我們日常營運的一部分：我們每天管理並把它轉嫁出去。

In parallel, our merchant and package businesses know what needs to be done. They're out there in the field, pricing our products to cover these cost increases every day. There's price escalation clauses, there are charges, surcharges, et cetera. So when you see that overall pricing line 3% year-on-year, 2% sequential, that kind of means merchant and package pricing is about double of that amount. I could tell you that across segments, I see a range somewhere from mid-single digits to low double digit.

同時，我們的商用氣體與瓶裝氣體業務也很清楚需要做什麼。他們每天都在第一線，調整我們產品的定價以涵蓋這些成本上升。我們有價格調整條款，也有各種費用、附加費等。因此，當你看到整體定價年增3%、季增2%時，這大致意味著商用氣體與瓶裝氣體的定價幅度大約是那個數字的兩倍。我可以告訴你，跨各個事業部門，我看到的範圍大約介於中個位數到低雙位數。

Now clearly, not enough to cover the power inflation in the quarter itself, and we both referenced this in our remarks earlier. But we tend to have a lag of maybe 1 to 2 quarters to recover the full cost inflation. But you should know, we will continue to see pricing going forward, and we will recover that cost inflation as we've done over decades. So again, not something new. That's kind of how we think about it.

現在很明顯，這還不足以在該季度本身完全覆蓋電力通膨，我們也都在先前的發言中提到過。不過，我們通常會有大約1到2個季度的落後期，才能回收全部的成本通膨。但你應該知道，我們未來仍會持續看到定價動作，而且我們會像過去幾十年一樣回收這些成本通膨。所以再次強調，這不是新鮮事；這就是我們看待此事的方式。

Wages is the other cost bucket I talked about. Something that we -- I particularly keep a very close eye on and our team knows that productivity needs to offset cost inflation. I'm really pleased, and I've said this before with how we've embraced that productivity culture across this new merged organization, and I see progress in all fronts there. We will have our productive review in the next few weeks. I'm confident that the Linde employees across segments will have several hundred projects focused on efficiency, focus on automation, leveraging technology to make our work streams even more efficient. So it's an ongoing piece. It's kind of in our DNA. It's what we do and work through and wage inflation gets offset through a lot of activity that happens on the productivity side.

薪資是我談到的另一個成本項目。這是我們——尤其是我——會非常密切關注的事情，而我們的團隊也知道，生產力必須抵銷成本通膨。我非常高興，而且我之前也說過，我們在這個新合併的組織中全面擁抱生產力文化，我也看到各方面都有進展。我們將在接下來幾週進行生產力檢討。我有信心，林德（Linde）各事業部門的員工會提出數百個聚焦效率的專案，聚焦自動化，運用科技讓我們的工作流程更有效率。所以這是一個持續進行的工作，這幾乎是刻在我們DNA裡的。我們就是這樣做事、這樣推進；而薪資通膨也會透過大量生產力端的活動被抵銷。

Finally, distribution costs, I can't say that we're not seeing driver shortages and costs related to that. But I can also tell you that we have charges and surcharges in place today to mitigate that cost. Now more work needs to be done, clearly, particularly in hiring drivers, which is a bit of a challenge in the business but also in ensuring that each business is passing that cost inflation through.

最後是配送成本。我不能說我們沒有看到司機短缺以及相關成本。但我也可以告訴你，我們目前已經有費用與附加費機制來緩解這些成本。當然，還需要做更多工作，特別是在招募司機方面，這在我們的業務中是一項挑戰；同時也要確保各項業務都能把這些成本通膨轉嫁出去。

So again, all in, team is working to pass the cost inflation through. We currently see every element of that cost inflation is looked at by those teams, we review it at our GbRs every month. And they kind of do -- have done a fairly good job, but there's more needed to offset the cost inflation in its entirety. And you should expect continued pricing and productivity to reflect that as we go forward.

所以總的來說，團隊正在努力把成本通膨轉嫁出去。我們目前看到成本通膨的每一個要素都由這些團隊逐項檢視，我們每個月在GbR會議上都會審查。他們整體做得相當不錯，但要完全抵銷全部成本通膨，還需要更多作為。你也應該預期，未來我們會持續透過定價與生產力來反映這點。

For the three different segments, I hope Bob I've given you enough color, but the on-site piece pass through it's kind of direct action. On the merchant piece, there is a lot of work that happens on both the merchant and the package side, and we kind of leverage that on an ongoing basis. And again, going back into our history, if you go back, I don't know, 20 years maybe, there's never been negative pricing. We've always been pricing positive. And that's just the way we run the business. And as I said earlier, managing this cost inflation, energy cost increases in particular, part and parcel of an industrial gas business.

針對三個不同的事業部門，我希望我已經給了你足夠的背景說明，Bob。現場供氣（on-site）這一塊的轉嫁基本上是比較直接的動作。商用氣體這一塊，商用與瓶裝兩端都有大量工作在進行，我們也持續運用這些機制。再回到我們的歷史，如果你回溯，我不知道，大概20年吧，從來沒有出現過負的定價；我們一直都是正向定價。這就是我們經營業務的方式。正如我先前所說，管理這種成本通膨，尤其是能源成本上升，是工業氣體業務不可分割的一部分。

We'll take our next question from Duffy Fischer with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自Barclays的Duffy Fischer。

First question, just around the guide. So $275 million, if you annualize that it get you to 11%, your midpoint is $0.70 higher than that. So can you just talk about as we go from Q1 through the next 3 quarters where that $0.70 comes from?

第一個問題，關於指引。275百萬美元，如果把它年化，大概是11%，而你們的中位數比那個高出0.70美元。你能談談從第一季到接下來三個季度，這0.70美元是從哪裡來的嗎？

As I mentioned in the pre-remarks, as you well know, Q1 is always our seasonally weakest just given some of the seasonality we see, whether it's Chinese New Year, Brazilian Carnival, a lot of the events that happened in the first quarter. So you always have that component. Furthermore, our backlog is starting up. Our projects are contributing. They will continue to ramp forward and bring value. And we mentioned we still expect strong pricing throughout.

如我在事前發言中提到的，你也很清楚，第一季一向是我們季節性最弱的一季，因為我們會看到一些季節性因素，不論是農曆新年、巴西嘉年華，或是第一季發生的許多事件。所以你總是會有那一部分影響。此外，我們的在手訂單（backlog）正在啟動，我們的專案正在貢獻，並將持續爬坡、帶來價值。我們也提到，我們仍預期定價會維持強勁。

So we fully feel good about that full year guide. We're obviously giving our first quarter based on how we see the seasonality. I mean if you go back traditionally, Q4 to Q1, it's usually flattish or even slightly down when you exclude things like FX. So I think you are seeing a little bit of improvement there. But as I mentioned, we're taking a very neutral assumption on the macro. And if we see some growth in the macro, that will be some upside to how we're thinking about this. But right now, we feel quite good about that full year, and we should see some ramping and improvements in the EPS, just given project contribution, pricing actions, cost actions, et cetera, as you normally see in a business like this.

因此，我們對全年指引非常有信心。我們當然是依據我們對季節性的判斷來給出第一季的展望。我的意思是，如果你回頭看傳統情況，從第四季到第一季，通常在排除匯率（FX）等因素後，大多是持平，甚至略為下滑。所以我認為你看到的是一些改善。但如我所說，我們對總體環境採取非常中性的假設；如果總體環境出現一些成長，那會是我們目前思考的上行空間。但就目前而言，我們對全年感覺相當良好；隨著專案貢獻、定價行動、成本行動等（就像這類業務通常會看到的那樣），我們應該會看到EPS逐步爬坡與改善。

Great. And then could you talk a little bit more in depth about the health care business. How has it grown over the last year relative to the overall business? And more importantly, particularly like the home health care delivery business, how does it price? Because as I recall, its mechanism is a little bit different with bids and stuff like that. So how does it price in a situation like this where you've got a lot of inflation?

很好。接著你能更深入談談醫療保健業務嗎？過去一年它相對於整體業務的成長如何？更重要的是，特別是像居家醫療配送業務，它的定價方式是怎麼運作的？因為我記得它的機制有點不同，會有投標之類的。所以在像現在這種通膨很高的情況下，它是怎麼定價的？

Duffy, I'll kind of cover that as you kind of made the question in two parts, right? Let's talk about the business that deals with the hospitals and where we supply products. And as you know, our teams did a fantastic job in the course of the year, making sure that very, very critical medical oxygen needs were met across the world. And that business -- we said this before, we've seen those medical oxygen volumes start to trend down. We've seen normal elective surgeries trend back up, and we're seeing that kind of offset each other and see our view of kind of long -- mid- to long-term growth in health care, mid-single digit. And we are seeing that business trend to that, over that kind of horizon. You see about 3% growth year-on-year in the first quarter. So I don't expect anything exceptional over there more broadly, but we do see that kind of trending to that mid-single-digit number.

Duffy，我會依你把問題分成兩部分來回答，對吧？先談與醫院合作、我們供應產品的那塊業務。如你所知，我們的團隊在過去一年做得非常出色，確保全球各地非常、非常關鍵的醫療用氧需求都能被滿足。而那塊業務——我們之前也說過——我們看到醫療用氧的用量開始呈下降趨勢；同時我們也看到一般選擇性手術量回升，兩者大致互相抵銷。我們對醫療保健中長期成長的看法是中個位數成長，而我們也看到該業務在那個時間軸上朝那個方向發展。第一季年增大約3%。所以我不預期那邊會有更廣泛的特別表現，但我們確實看到它朝中個位數的成長率趨勢前進。

As far as home care is concerned, we, again, saw some peaks happen. And with the COVID infections going up, we saw oxygen pick up. There is a -- when you think about volumes on the home care side, that tends to get offset then because some of the other businesses that we have tend to kind of not get prescribed as much, and therefore, you see that offset in volume. We kind of saw that. We saw nothing unusual. We've kind of seen that for the pandemic right through, and we saw that right happen through this period as well. Again, just as a reminder, I think that business dealt with maybe about 150,000 patients, Juan, if I'm not wrong? 150,000 patients that we supported through the pandemic, ensuring that home oxygen was available to them as they came out of critical care and so on and so forth. So again, a good way of just contributing to that -- to the fight against pandemic, if you will.

至於居家照護（home care），我們同樣看到一些高峰出現。當COVID感染上升時，我們看到氧氣需求回升。就居家照護端的量來看，通常會被抵銷，因為我們的其他一些業務往往不會被開立處方那麼多，因此你會看到量的抵銷。我們確實看到這種情況。我們沒有看到任何不尋常的狀況；在整個疫情期間我們一直看到這種模式，而在這段期間也同樣如此。再提醒一下，我想那項業務在疫情期間服務了大約150,000名病患，Juan，如果我沒記錯的話？我們支持了150,000名病患，確保他們從重症照護出院後等情況下，居家氧氣都能供應無虞。所以再次強調，這是一種對——如果你願意這麼說——對抗疫情的貢獻方式。

Pricing on that, there is some history there, Duffy. But essentially, the CMS and a lot of the -- basically, the -- in the U.S., in particular, the agency that recognize the critical need of that. And if you haven't seen that competitive bid piece play out in the last 2 or 3 years, more than that now -- actually, 3 years plus. And I think there is some degree of stability on pricing in there at the moment. They do get an inflation adjustment that Matt pointed out earlier, Duffy, in case I have missed that.

至於那部分的定價，Duffy，這裡有一些歷史背景。但基本上，CMS以及許多——基本上在美國，特別是——相關機構認知到其關鍵需求。如果你沒有看到，過去2到3年——其實現在已經超過了，應該是3年以上——那個競爭性投標（competitive bid）的部分並沒有再上演。我認為目前那裡的定價有一定程度的穩定性。他們也會有通膨調整，正如Matt先前指出的，Duffy，如果我沒有漏掉那點的話。

We'll take our next question from Jeff Zekauskas with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自JPMorgan的Jeff Zekauskas。

In one of your slides, you say that you've sourced more than 1/3 of your global electricity from low-carbon sources. Do your customers want you to do that? Do they want to pay a premium for electricity from low-carbon sources? And how do you manage the issue of passing through raw material costs if you're accessing more from low carbon sources and that electricity is more expensive? How does that negotiation work with your customers? Can you expand on this?

在你們其中一張投影片上，你們提到已經從低碳來源採購了超過1/3的全球電力。你們的客戶希望你們這麼做嗎？他們願意為低碳來源的電力支付溢價嗎？如果你們更多地從低碳來源取得電力，而那種電力更昂貴，你們要如何管理原物料成本轉嫁的問題？你們與客戶的協商是如何進行的？你能就此再多展開說明嗎？

Sure, Jeff. So this is something that we've been doing for some time, Jeff. So it's not new. And there are various parts of the world where we have the ability to source renewable and low carbon energy and power, in particular, and we've been kind of doing that and passing those costs through. You're right. In some markets, we are more advanced than others. The U.K. is a good example, parts of Europe, a good example, where these are well understood by the customers, and that pass-through mechanism has been built in around that, and they accept that.

當然，Jeff。所以這是我們已經做了一段時間的事情，Jeff。所以這不是新事。世界上有多個地區，我們具備採購可再生與低碳能源與電力（尤其是電力）的能力，我們一直在做，並將這些成本轉嫁出去。你說得對，在某些市場，我們比其他市場更成熟。英國就是一個很好的例子，歐洲部分地區也是很好的例子，客戶對這些機制非常理解，相關的轉嫁機制也已經內建，他們也接受。

There's a separate stream of green products that are now coming out. And again, we're getting premium for that. This is a very small nascent market. So I'm not going to stress too much on it, other than to just tell you that there is a growing demand, small at the moment, but growing where our customers for their own requirements because they want to be able to certify their products -- end products as being having a green component are seeking green products from us, which we are able to provide because of some of the sourcing that we do. And there, you do get some premium. Again, it's not exorbitant, but there is some premium over a normal product that we'd be able to provide.

另外還有一條獨立的綠色產品線正在推出。同樣地，我們也能因此取得溢價。這是一個非常小、剛萌芽的市場，所以我不會過度強調；只是想告訴你，需求正在增加——目前規模不大，但在成長——因為客戶基於自身需求，希望能夠將其產品（終端產品）認證為含有綠色成分，因此向我們尋求綠色產品。我們之所以能提供，是因為我們進行了部分相關的採購。在那裡，你確實能拿到一些溢價。再次強調，溢價不算誇張，但相較於我們能提供的一般產品，確實有一定溢價。

Now as we go forward, a large number of customers across the world, in fact, are speaking to us about how green are we going to be longer term in terms of our power sourcing. And again, there are two components to that, Jeff, that we need to always remember. One is that the grid itself is greening and we do see that. And the other is how actively will we go and get renewable or low carbon power. And I think that's -- those are the two elements that actually bring up that number that you talked about, the third that we have today and growing. And again, as the grid greens, there is a broader momentum around that. So that gets picked up and that's kind of reflected in the grid pricing that comes through. And where we do [active] there, I think, clearly, we have a blended rate that goes to the customer and gets recovered. The only thing I can tell you is that today, we're recovering fully on our energy costs and our power costs, even with this blend of 35% renewable and low carbon.

接下來往前看，事實上，全球有大量客戶都在跟我們討論，從長期來看，我們在電力採購方面會有多「綠」。同樣地，Jeff，這裡有兩個組成部分我們必須一直記住。第一是電網本身正在變得更綠，我們確實看到這一點。第二是我們會多積極地去取得可再生或低碳電力。我認為——你提到的那個數字，也就是我們目前約三分之一且仍在成長的比例——其實就是由這兩個要素所推動。再者，隨著電網變綠，整體也有更廣泛的動能，因此會被反映出來，並且體現在電網電價的傳導上。而在我們進行[主動]採購的部分，我認為很清楚，我們會以一個混合費率提供給客戶並回收。唯一我能告訴你的是，目前即使在35%可再生與低碳的混合結構下，我們仍然能把能源成本與電力成本完全回收。

And Jeff, I would just add, when you think about low carbon, you have to think holistically. So while I know the first thing that comes to mind is always solar and wind, which clearly can be a little more expensive. You also have to think of hydro, right? In hydro power, we use extensively where we can. It tends to be lower cost power. And so by blending some of that hydro in and especially with some of the other new green opportunities, it can still give us a very attractive average cost of power.

另外，Jeff，我想補充的是，談到低碳，你必須用更整體的角度來看。所以雖然我知道第一個浮現的通常是太陽能和風能，而它們確實可能稍微貴一些，但你也必須想到水力，對吧？在可行的地方，我們大量使用水力發電。它往往是成本較低的電力。因此，透過混合一些水力，尤其再搭配其他新的綠色機會，仍然可以讓我們取得非常有吸引力的平均用電成本。

And then secondly, in the quarter, was there maybe $75 million or $100 million of increased energy costs that you weren't able to recover from pricing that you expect to recover in the future? What's your gap right now?

第二個問題，在本季，是否有大約7,500萬美元或1億美元的能源成本上升，你沒能透過定價回收，但預期未來會回收？你目前的缺口是多少？

Jeff, without getting to the numbers, the principle that I want to tell you is that we absolutely expect to recover the lag that we have from the previous quarters' inflation that we've seen. And as a principle, you should expect that our pricing will ensure that, that lag is covered.

Jeff，不談具體數字，我想告訴你的原則是：我們絕對預期能回收我們因前幾季所見通膨而產生的滯後。作為一項原則，你應該預期我們的定價會確保把這個滯後補回來。

We'll take our next question from Peter Clark with Societe Generale.

我們下一個問題來自法國興業銀行（Societe Generale）的Peter Clark。

Yes. The first one is on productivity actually. It never ends, of course. I saw on the APAC slide, it's being stepped up, if I remember rightly, obviously, APAC started quite early after when the merger started. So just wondering what's going on there? And then within Europe, you alluded to the fact, productivity, of course, was a help in the fourth quarter. Am I right in thinking there's still a bit of productivity momentum in Europe? So when we go maybe Q2, Q3, as you get over the lag, you're expecting a little bit of a margin bump coming through in EMEA? That's the first one.

是的。第一個其實是關於生產力。當然，這永遠沒有終點。我在亞太（APAC）的投影片上看到，這方面正在加速；如果我沒記錯的話，亞太在併購開始後不久就很早啟動了。所以想請問那邊發生了什麼？另外在歐洲，你提到生產力在第四季當然有所幫助。我理解為歐洲仍然有一些生產力動能，對嗎？所以當我們進入第二季、第三季，隨著你把滯後消化掉，你預期在EMEA會有一些利潤率的上升動能？這是第一個問題。

Why don't I start with Europe first. So the answer is, yes, there is a lot of activity going -- ongoing on productivity generally, but more importantly, in Europe, specifically in a number of high-cost countries. There is a specific cost program that the European business is pursuing. You saw us take a restructure charge. I think it was the quarter before, and that is going through. So that will have consequences, of course, positively so on the margin that you've just referenced.

我先從歐洲開始。答案是：是的，整體在生產力上有很多活動正在進行中，但更重要的是，在歐洲，特別是在一些高成本國家，有非常具體的行動。歐洲業務正在推動一項特定的成本計畫。你看到我們提列了重組費用，我想是在前一季，那項計畫正在推進中。因此，這當然會對你剛提到的利潤率帶來正面影響。

And as far as APAC is concerned, you've heard me say this before, a lot of the businesses in APAC kind of embraced that productivity piece and have built a lot of momentum around that. There is an active activity at the moment globally, but APAC kind of trying to take a bit of leadership on this around seeing that a significant portion of that productivity comes from digitalization effort. We believe digitalization provides the right booster for our productivity at the moment. And again, I've set some internal goals that they are pursuing quite aggressively, and I'm pleased to see the progress they're making on that.

至於亞太，你之前也聽我說過，亞太的許多業務單位某種程度上很早就擁抱了生產力這一塊，並在此建立了很強的動能。目前全球都有積極的活動，但亞太在這方面有點想扮演領導角色，因為他們看到相當大一部分的生產力來自數位化的努力。我們相信數位化在當下能為我們的生產力提供正確的加速器。同樣地，我也設定了一些內部目標，他們正相當積極地推進，我很高興看到他們在這方面的進展。

Okay. And then Matt, you alluded to the fact the backlog is ramping up this year. I think you have the target now for the backlog providing mid-single digit to EPS. Just wondering if '22 is going to be one of those years or the first years of that and then potentially what that might mean for the topline [CAGR] from that because 2%, I think in the fourth quarter you alluded to. So presumably, it's going over 3 towards 4, I don't know.

好的。接著，Matt，你提到今年積壓訂單（backlog）正在加速。我想你現在的目標是讓積壓訂單對EPS貢獻中個位數成長。想請問2022年會不會就是那樣的一年，或是那個趨勢的第一年？以及這對營收端的[複合年成長率（CAGR）]可能意味著什麼，因為你在第四季提到大概2%。所以推測應該會超過3%往4%走，我不確定。

Sure, Peter. And to your point, the 2% I alluded to would be specifically on the sale of gas because we were talking about the base volume. So when you think about the total backlog in totality of sale of plant plus sale of gas, you're absolutely right, mid-single digit is how we think about it. That's clearly through 2022, and we can see that in several years out, just given the size of the backlog and the time to work it through. So we feel very good about that, and that's something we reinforce and will be part of our continued performance and outlook.

當然，Peter。就你提到的點，我所說的2%是特指氣體銷售，因為我們當時在談基礎量（base volume）。所以當你把整體積壓訂單——也就是設備銷售加上氣體銷售——放在一起看，你說得完全正確，我們的看法是中個位數成長。這很明確會貫穿2022年，而且考量積壓訂單的規模以及消化所需時間，我們也能看到未來好幾年都是如此。因此我們對此感覺非常好，這也是我們再次強調的重點，並將成為我們持續表現與展望的一部分。

And we'll take our next question from John McNulty with BMO Capital Markets.

我們下一個問題來自BMO資本市場（BMO Capital Markets）的John McNulty。

Matt, this is Bhavesh Lodaya on behalf of John. Thanks for all the color on the pricing and the inflation side. A quick follow-up on the volume side of things. Are you seeing any impact from the ongoing higher pricing, either through demand disruption or just delays in the volume recovery in the economy? And is that something that could come back once prices moderate?

Matt，我是代表John的Bhavesh Lodaya。感謝你在定價與通膨方面提供的所有細節。我想就量（volume）這一端快速追問一下。你是否看到持續較高的價格帶來任何影響，例如需求被擾動，或只是經濟中的量回升被延後？而這是否可能在價格回落後再回來？

So the simple answer to that, Bhavesh, is no. We are seeing underlying demand growth continue to be there. You saw that in the Americas, up 7%. You saw it in APAC, up 7%. EMEA plus 2% and growing. So I can't see -- I can't reference any demand disruption. I think we are on a solid kind of demand pattern at the moment. Impact really comes from supply chain issues and logistics and things like that.

Bhavesh，對這個問題最簡單的答案是：沒有。我們看到基礎需求成長仍然存在。你在美洲看到成長7%。你在亞太看到成長7%。EMEA成長2%且仍在增加。所以我看不到——我無法指出任何需求擾動。我認為目前我們的需求型態相當穩健。真正的影響主要來自供應鏈問題、物流等等。

Understood. Fair enough. And then looking at your backlog, so you're clearly being very active in the semiconductors, electronics space. Those customers are investing a lot in the capacity for multiple years now. Can you add some color as to how the electronics part of your backlog looks like now? And then how do you see the share of electronics as a percentage of your sales go from the 18% that you show right now?

了解。合理。接著看你的積壓訂單，你顯然在半導體、電子領域非常積極。那些客戶現在正進行多年期的產能投資。你能否補充一些細節，說明你們目前積壓訂單中的電子相關部分看起來如何？另外，從你現在展示的18%來看，你如何看待電子業務占你們銷售的比例變化？

Absolutely. So it's my favorite topic, so I'm glad you asked. So from a market perspective, I'd say it's one of those end markets that I referenced earlier on saying that we won $1 billion of projects in the last year to serve top end customers, the top 1, 2, 3 in electronics to end markets with those wins. I'm also very pleased to say that I am confident that electronics will probably be the strongest growth contributor to our sale of gas backlog for the next couple of years at least, this year and maybe another two.

當然可以。這是我最喜歡的主題，所以很高興你問到。從市場角度來看，我會說這是我先前提到的終端市場之一：我們在去年贏得了10億美元的專案，用以服務頂級客戶——電子終端市場排名前1、前2、前3的客戶——並取得了這些勝利。我也非常高興地說，我有信心電子業務很可能會在未來至少幾年——今年以及可能再接下來兩年——成為我們氣體銷售積壓訂單最強的成長貢獻者。

So again, it's an area that our technology and operating expertise carries a lot of weight. We have customer relationships that are very critical. It's currently only 8% of our sales, Bhavesh, so not 18%, but 8%, and I expect that to continue to grow, and I certainly see that at double digit.

所以再說一次，這是一個我們的技術與營運專業能發揮很大影響力的領域。我們擁有非常關鍵的客戶關係。目前它只占我們銷售額的 8%，Bhavesh，所以不是 18%，而是 8%，我預期它會持續成長，而且我確實認為會達到兩位數的占比。

We'll take our next question from David Begleiter with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行（Deutsche Bank）的 David Begleiter。

On the sales gas backlog at a high level, do you see this increasing over time? Or do you think it will stay in this roughly $3.5 billion plus range?

就銷售氣體（SOG）在手訂單（backlog）從高層次來看，您是否看到它會隨時間增加？還是您認為它會大致維持在約 35 億美元以上的區間？

David. So the way I'm looking at the backlog, and I kind of referenced a little bit around what we saw on the electronics side and what we see happening there. I'll talk a little more about proposal activity because that feeds into that question, but this is my view. We've got a backlog of about $3.5 billion at the moment. We have about $1 billion of start-ups this year, mostly at the back end second half of the year, if you will. So $1 billion of that is going to come out of the backlog, and I'm glad it does because that starts generating revenue and profits for us.

David。就我看待在手訂單的方式而言，我也稍微提到我們在電子業務端看到的情況以及那裡正在發生的事。我會再多談一點提案活動，因為那會影響到這個問題，但這是我的看法：我們目前的在手訂單大約是 35 億美元。今年我們大約有 10 億美元的啟動（start-ups），多數會在今年下半年、也就是偏後段發生。因此，其中約 10 億美元會從在手訂單中釋出；我也很高興如此，因為那會開始為我們帶來營收與利潤。

I'm seeing a fair amount of proposal activity as we speak. And that really gives me some encouragement to say, I expect that we'll fill that backlog either be at this level or maybe a little bit higher by the end of the year. Just where is that coming from? So we're seeing strong electronics opportunity pipeline. And I fully expect, as I said a minute ago, that electronics will continue to be a strong contributor to our SOG backlog for this year and a couple more. So that's kind of a good starting point.

我現在看到相當多的提案活動。這確實讓我更有信心，認為到年底我們會把在手訂單補回來，可能維持在這個水準，或甚至略高一些。那麼這些來源是什麼？我們看到電子領域的機會管線很強。我也完全預期，正如我剛才提到的，電子業務將在今年以及接下來一兩年持續成為我們 SOG 在手訂單的重要貢獻者。所以這是一個很好的起點。

Chemicals demand also remains reasonably strong. We kind of see some projects coming up in that space that are -- in addition to our more traditional projects, we're also seeing methanol and ammonia projects come up in that space. So again, seeing a number of companies evaluate the investments in those segments. So I'm happy to see that progressing as well.

化學品需求也仍然相當強勁。我們在該領域看到一些即將啟動的專案——除了我們較傳統的專案之外，我們也看到甲醇與氨的專案在該領域浮現。因此，我們再次看到有多家公司正在評估在這些細分領域的投資。我也很高興看到這方面同樣在推進。

On refining, we're seeing requests for blue and green hydrogen studies ramping up significantly. Customers are also reaching, obviously, how we can help them kind of capture carbon. And if we can provide some services around that. So again, we see some opening up there as well. And then I mentioned to you the 300-odd kind of decarbonization projects overall, if you will, all of which kind of look like they're moving forward. Some of them will come for decisions into the backlog this year. But of course, they have their own lead times that kind of have to be worked through.

在煉油方面，我們看到對藍氫與綠氫研究的需求（requests）顯著升溫。客戶也在尋求——很明顯地——我們如何協助他們進行碳捕捉，以及我們是否能在這方面提供一些服務。因此，我們也看到那裡出現一些機會。此外，我也向你提到大約 300 個左右的整體減碳專案；這些看起來都在往前推進。其中一些今年會進入決策並納入在手訂單。但當然，它們各自也有需要逐步消化的前置期（lead times）。

Very great. And just back on health care, Sanjiv, anyway to parse out the benefits from COVID this year that might not repeat next year or in 2022?

非常好。再回到醫療保健這塊，Sanjiv，今年是否有辦法拆分出來哪些是來自 COVID 的效益，而這些效益明年或 2022 年可能不會重複？

David, the way I'm thinking about this is I am seeing that trend down for sure and we are seeing normal health care volumes. So what happened was in hospitals, in particular, all surgeries came to a stop and the hospitals got dedicated or really primarily served COVID patients. As COVID infections and hospitalizations in particular, are going down, there are a number of very critical elective surgeries that have been postponed, which are now coming back and which need oxygen for their procedures. So we're seeing that ramp back up. And that's probably the best way to think about that, where we're seeing that offset intrinsically in the health care volumes by itself.

David，我的看法是：我確實看到那個趨勢在下降，而且我們也看到醫療保健回到正常的用量水準。先前在醫院，尤其是，所有手術都停擺，醫院被調整為專門或主要服務 COVID 病患。隨著 COVID 感染與（尤其是）住院人數下降，先前延後的許多非常重要的選擇性手術現在正在回來，而這些手術在流程中需要氧氣。因此我們看到需求回升。這大概是最好的理解方式：醫療保健的用量本身就內生性地出現了這種抵消與回補。

And our last question comes from Laurence Alexander with Jefferies.

我們最後一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Laurence Alexander。

Two quick ones. Some of the questions assumed or implied that the pricing would catch up to the cost gap in -- within a quarter or 2. I just want to clarify, is that true? Or do you think it would take longer than that? And secondly, as you look at the longer term with the energy transition and the uncertainty around the industrial architecture and how that might be rearranged, does that affect at all your interest in doing larger kind of portfolio optimization, streamlining the number of countries you're operating in?

兩個簡短問題。有些問題假設或暗示，定價會在一到兩個季度內追上成本差距。我想確認一下，這是真的嗎？還是您認為會需要更久？第二，從更長期來看，隨著能源轉型以及對工業架構的不確定性、以及它可能如何被重新配置，這是否會影響您對進行較大規模的投資組合優化（portfolio optimization）、精簡您營運所在國家數量的興趣？

Laurence. So the simple answer to pricing is that whatever gap there is, we will recover that. So that's kind of how we operate and look at this, and there is no gap at the end of that process. And hopefully, that helps. Talking about energy transition and industrial architect, it's a great question. It merits a longer discussion. But in a nutshell, the way I'll describe it to you is, we think of the energy transition, and we see opportunity arise as a result of that, and we're seeing that either through the blue ammonia, blue hydrogen route in due course, developments around green hydrogen, green ammonia as well. And we're seeing different industries open up and different opportunities open up as a consequence of that transition.

Laurence。關於定價，簡單的答案是：不論存在什麼差距，我們都會把它收回來。這就是我們的運作方式與看待此事的方法，而在那個過程結束時不會留下差距。希望這能有所幫助。至於能源轉型與工業架構，這是個很好的問題，值得更長的討論。但簡而言之，我會這樣描述：我們看待能源轉型，並看到因此而產生的機會；我們看到的機會包括藍氨、藍氫路徑在適當時點的發展，以及圍繞綠氫、綠氨的發展。我們也看到因為這個轉型，不同產業正在打開、不同機會也隨之出現。

Coming to the portfolio rationalization piece, we kind of look at that anyway, irrespective of the energy transition. If there is some overlap there, obviously, that will get factored in. But irrespective of that, we kind of constantly look at our portfolio to try and understand positions that we feel give us the leverage that we want and look at. And you've seen that strategy being executed over the last year where we've exited a number of businesses, but also we've bought out minority shareholders in others where we know that we are able to do a better job and we can focus the team to kind of deliver on what it needs to deliver rather than get distracted by listing requirements. So all of that kind of plays in every day as our kind of strategy gets executed on that.

談到投資組合精簡（portfolio rationalization）這一塊，我們其實不論是否有能源轉型都會這樣看待。如果兩者之間有一些重疊，當然也會納入考量。但即便不考慮這點，我們也會持續檢視我們的投資組合，試著理解哪些布局能帶給我們想要的槓桿與優勢。你也看到過去一年我們在執行這個策略：我們退出了若干業務，同時在其他業務中也買下少數股東的持股，因為我們知道我們能做得更好，並且能讓團隊更聚焦於交付其需要交付的成果，而不是被上市要求分散注意力。所有這些每天都在發生，作為我們策略執行的一部分。

That concludes today's question-and-answer session. Mr. Pelaez, at this time, I will turn the conference back to you for any additional or closing remarks.

以上為今日的問答環節。Pelaez 先生，此時我將把會議交回給您，請您做任何補充或結語。

We're seeing a nice job, and thank you, everyone, for participating in today's call. If you have any further questions, you know where to reach me. Take care.

我們看到進展良好，也謝謝各位參與今天的電話會議。如果你們還有任何進一步的問題，你們知道可以在哪裡聯絡到我。保重。

This concludes today's teleconference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

今日電話會議到此結束。感謝各位的參與。您現在可以掛線。