林德集團 (LIN) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Linde second quarter 2024 earnings teleconference and webcast. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded and after the speakers' presentation, there will be a question and answer session. I'd now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Juan Pelaez, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持，歡迎參加林德 2024 年第二季財報電話會議和網路廣播。此時，所有參與者都處於只聽模式。請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中，在演講者演講後，將有一個問答環節。現在我想將會議交給投資者關係主管胡安·佩萊斯先生。請繼續，先生。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for attending our 2024 second quarter earnings call and webcast. Juan Pelaez, Head of Investor Relations, and I'm joined this morning by Sanjiv Lamba, Chief Executive Officer; and Matt White, Chief Financial Officer. Today's presentation materials are available on our website at linde.com in the Investors section.

謝謝。大家早安，感謝您參加我們的 2024 年第二季財報電話會議和網路廣播。今天早上，投資者關係主管胡安·佩萊斯 (Juan Pelaez) 和首席執行官桑吉夫·蘭巴 (Sanjiv Lamba) 也加入了我的行列。和首席財務長馬特懷特。今天的簡報資料可在我們網站 linde.com 的投資者部分取得。

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 of this presentation.

請閱讀投影片第 2 頁的前瞻性聲明揭露，並注意它適用於本次電話會議期間所發表的所有聲明。調整後的數字的調節表請見本簡報的附錄。

Sanjiv will provide some opening remarks, and then Matt will give an update on Linde's second quarter financial performance and outlook, after which we will wrap up with Q&A.

Sanjiv 將發表一些開場白，然後 Matt 將介紹林德第二季度財務業績和前景的最新情況，之後我們將以問答形式結束。

Let me now turn the call over to Sanjiv.

現在讓我把電話轉給 Sanjiv。

Thanks, Jaun, and a very good morning, everyone.

謝謝，Jaun，大家早安。

Linde employees once again deliver high-quality growth, despite the stagnant trends of global industrial activity, second quarter EPS of $3.85, operating margins of 29.3% and return on capital of 25.7%. All reached new highs driven by the unwavering efforts of our 66,000 employees will actively manage what we can control.

儘管全球工業活動趨勢停滯，林德員工再次實現高品質成長，第二季每股收益為3.85美元，營業利潤率為29.3%，資本回報率為25.7%。在我們 66,000 名員工堅定不移的努力推動下，一切都達到了新的高度，我們將積極管理我們可以控制的事情。

Turning to volume trends, you'll notice we were flat year-on-year. Last quarter. We described potential challenges in the industrial macro and for the most part, it has played out as expected. This is why we initiated the self-help actions, which enable us to create shareholder value in any environment. That being said, the current quarter experienced a 3% sequential volume growth. And while some of this relates to seasonality, certain regions had organic volume improvements.

談到成交量趨勢，您會注意到我們與去年同期持平。上個季度。我們描述了工業宏觀的潛在挑戰，並且在很大程度上，它已經按照預期發生了。這就是我們發起自助行動的原因，這使我們能夠在任何環境下創造股東價值。話雖如此，本季銷量較上月成長 3%。雖然其中一些與季節性有關，但某些地區的銷量有所改善。

While this is a positive sign, we're still not assuming any meaningful economic recovery in the guidance. Some may view this as overly cautious, but given the uncertain environment, I believe it's prudent to take this approach.

雖然這是一個積極的跡象，但我們仍然沒有在指導中假設任何有意義的經濟復甦。有些人可能認為這過於謹慎，但考慮到不確定的環境，我認為採取這種做法是謹慎的。

As you know, when industrial activity recovers on network density will enable us to supply that additional volume to our existing and new customers. Until then, we will continue with disciplined pricing and proactive actions to ensure earnings growth in this environment. Slide 3 provides more color on end market growth trends, starting with consumer related end markets.

如您所知，當工業活動恢復時，網路密度將使我們能夠向現有和新客戶提供額外的容量。在此之前，我們將繼續採取嚴格的定價和積極主動的行動，以確保在此環境下的獲利成長。幻燈片 3 提供了有關終端市場成長趨勢的更多信息，從與消費者相關的終端市場開始。

Food and beverage continues the strong resilient growth trend at 8% over prior year in part attributed Linde's total systems approach. This includes growing demand for higher quality and more innovative frozen foods, food packaging safety and dry ice for meal delivery services as consumers opt for convenience meals.

食品和飲料持續保持強勁的彈性成長趨勢，比上年增長 8%，部分歸功於林德的整體系統方法。隨著消費者選擇方便餐，這包括對更高品質和更具創新性的冷凍食品、食品包裝安全和送餐服務乾冰的需求不斷增長。

In addition, beverage, carbonation and associated services continue to grow as consumers dine out. Our electronic sales represent 9% of our consolidated sales, but there's a substantial portion of our 50% non-consolidated JVs that supply to this end market and are not included in this number, primarily in Taiwan.

此外，隨著消費者外出用餐，飲料、碳酸飲料和相關服務持續成長。我們的電子產品銷售額占我們合併銷售額的 9%，但我們 50% 的非合併合資企業中有很大一部分供應給這個終端市場，但不包括在這個數字中，主要是在台灣。

The 7% growth sequentially and year-over-year was driven by a combination of project backlog startups and base growth in the US and Asia. In the US, we started up our phase one supply system in Phoenix, Arizona for TSMC. Due to this, more than half of this project CapEx has now been removed from the backlog driving the slight decline versus prior quarter.

7% 的環比增長和同比增長是由項目積壓新創公司以及美國和亞洲的基礎增長共同推動的。在美國，我們在亞利桑那州鳳凰城為台積電啟動了第一階段供應系統。因此，該項目一半以上的資本支出現已從積壓訂單中刪除，導致與上一季相比略有下降。

I've always said that a healthy project backlog is one that turns over frequently with projects starting on time contributed to earnings as per contract. In addition, base volumes improved moderately in the US, China and Korea. As you know, from the last quarter, we signaled this was possible, so I'm encouraged to see volume level starting to recover now.

我總是說，健康的專案積壓是指經常週轉、按時啟動的專案按合約貢品收益的專案。此外，美國、中國和韓國的基本銷量略有改善。如您所知，從上個季度開始，我們就表示這是可能的，因此我很高興看到成交量水準現在開始恢復。

Healthcare is down 1% from prior year and flat sequentially. Consistent with last quarter, this is primarily due to our efforts to continue rationalizing homecare product and service offerings that don't meet the business criteria, especially in the United States.

醫療保健業務較前一年下降 1%，與上一季持平。與上季一致，這主要是由於我們努力繼續合理化不符合業務標準的家庭護理產品和服務，尤其是在美國。

We still anticipate the underlying demographic trend to drive mid-single digit percent growth for some of the ongoing portfolio pruning was partially offset that. Turning down to the industrial end markets, chemicals and energy grew 5% from North American activity primarily in the US Gulf Coast hydrogen as well as Mexican energy services.

我們仍然預計，潛在的人口趨勢將推動一些正在進行的投資組合修剪部分抵消中個位數百分比的成長。轉向工業終端市場，北美地區的化學品和能源活動增加了 5%，主要是美國墨西哥灣沿岸的氫氣以及墨西哥能源服務。

We supply some of the most cost competitive customers in the world, and they're higher production rates reflect their share of the global market. Looking forward to this end market will likely be the largest beneficiary of the project backlog, especially around clean energy projects.

我們為世界上一些最具成本競爭力的客戶提供服務，他們較高的生產力反映了他們在全球市場中的份額。預計這一終端市場將可能成為專案積壓的最大受益者，尤其是圍繞清潔能源專案。

While OCI represents just one example. There are several more that comprise the $8 billion to $10 billion of near-term pipeline opportunities which we are pursuing and making good progress. Metals and mining is slightly down year over year, mainly from North American steel volumes, which have decreased. Primarily serving the automotive and construction markets.

而 OCI 只是一個例子。還有其他一些包括我們正在尋求並取得良好進展的 80 億至 100 億美元的近期管道機會。金屬和採礦業較去年同期略有下降，主要是因為北美鋼鐵產量下降。主要服務汽車和建築市場。

This is a normal cycle we've seen over the years, not unexpected, although there could be some future growth opportunities as more infrastructure and energy projects, break ground. Finally, the manufacturing end market is trending up 4%, primarily on pricing actions as volumes are fairly steady across most geographies.

這是我們多年來看到的正常週期，並不意外，儘管隨著更多基礎設施和能源項目的破土動工，未來可能會出現一些成長機會。最後，製造業終端市場呈現成長 4% 的趨勢，主要是由於定價行為，因為大多數地區的銷售相當穩定。

Aside from some specific manufacturing sectors like aerospace of battery production, this end market mostly coincides with global industrial production which remains flat. Overall, Linde employers and continue to do what they do best, manage an industrial gas business with leading results that create value for our shareholders regardless of the economic climate.

除了一些特定的製造業（例如電池生產的航空航太）外，該終端市場大部分與全球工業生產保持平穩的情況一致。整體而言，林德雇主並持續盡其所能，管理工業氣體業務，取得領先的成果，無論經濟環境如何，都能為股東創造價值。

Despite the challenging conditions, Linde deliver high-quality growth, executed on $8 billion project backlog and further position the company for future growth. I remain confident in Linde's ability to successfully navigate the near-term uncertainty while ensuring longer-term leading performance that our owners expect. I'll now turn the call over to Matt to walk through our financial results.

儘管面臨充滿挑戰的條件，林德仍實現了高品質成長，執行了價值 80 億美元的未完成項目，並進一步為公司未來的成長奠定了基礎。我仍然對林德成功應對近期不確定性的能力充滿信心，同時確保我們的所有者期望的長期領先業績。現在我將把電話轉給馬特，讓他詳細介紹我們的財務表現。

Thanks, Andrew. Slide 4 provides consolidated results for the second quarter. Sales of $8.3 billion were up 1% from last year and 2% sequentially. Foreign currency and cost pass through both continued to present headwinds at minus 3% year over year and minus 2% from the first quarter.

謝謝，安德魯。幻燈片 4 提供了第二季的綜合業績。銷售額為 83 億美元，比去年成長 1%，比上一季成長 2%。外匯和成本轉嫁均持續帶來不利影響，年減 3%，較第一季下降 2%。

As a reminder, contractual cost pass through is simply the energy cost variance we bill to on-site customers, and that has no impact to operating profit dollars. Furthermore, FX translation likely will remain a headwind as a US dollar continues to strengthen against the majority of foreign currencies. Excluding these items for organic sales are up 3% over last year and 4% sequentially.

提醒一下，合約成本轉嫁只是我們向現場客戶收取的能源成本差異，這對營業利潤沒有影響。此外，隨著美元兌大多數外幣繼續走強，外匯換算可能仍將是阻力。剔除這些商品後，有機銷售額比去年成長 3%，比上一季成長 4%。

Pricing trends continue to follow globally weighted inflation with the strongest contribution from Americas and EMEA. APAC levels are more stable, as lower helium prices mostly offset increases from the remaining countries with no contribution from China due to deflationary conditions.

定價趨勢持續遵循全球加權通膨，其中美洲和歐洲、中東和非洲地區的貢獻最為強勁。亞太地區的水平更加穩定，因為較低的氦氣價格大部分抵消了其餘國家的成長，而中國因通貨緊縮狀況而沒有貢獻。

Volume was flat from 2023 as growth from the project backlog was offset by weaker based volumes. As Sanjiv mentioned, we did experience a sequential volume improvement of 3% from a combination of project startups, organic growth and seasonality. Time will tell if the organic growth trend persists.

數量自 2023 年起持平，因為專案積壓的成長被基礎數量的疲軟所抵消。正如 Sanjiv 所提到的，由於專案啟動、有機成長和季節性因素的結合，我們的銷售確實實現了 3% 的環比成長。時間會證明有機成長趨勢是否持續。

But for now, we are excluding any further improvement in the earnings guidance. Operating profit of $2.4 billion grew 6%, resulting in an operating margin of 29.3%. All gas segments expanded margins year-over-year and sequentially with EMEA leading at 33.7%. As we've stated many times, each segment has opportunities to improve margins, and there are no structural reasons why laggards cannot converge to the current leader over time.

但目前，我們排除了盈利指引的任何進一步改善。營業利益達 24 億美元，成長 6%，營業利益率為 29.3%。所有天然氣細分市場的利潤率均逐年擴大，其中歐洲、中東和非洲地區領先，達 33.7%。正如我們多次指出的那樣，每個細分市場都有機會提高利潤率，並且不存在結構性原因導致落後者無法隨著時間的推移向當前領先者靠攏。

EPS of $3.85 increased 8% for 10% when excluding the 2% FX headwind. Further details of cash flow and capital allocation can be found on slide 5, you can see the operating cash flow trend to the left, including this quarter's $1.9 billion, which is 10% below last year. The primary driver relates to unfavorable timing of our engineering project prepayments.

剔除 2% 的外匯逆風因素後，每股收益為 3.85 美元，成長 8%，增幅為 10%。現金流量和資本配置的更多詳細資訊可以在幻燈片 5 上找到，您可以在左側看到營運現金流趨勢，包括本季的 19 億美元，比去年同期減少 10%。主要驅動因素與我們的工程項目預付款的不利時機有關。

When you look at the face of the cash flow statement, you can see that contract assets and liabilities, which represents these project prepayments are unfavorable more than $300 million. This quarter to quarter volatility is a normal part of the engineering project cycle. Aside from the engineering projects, we are seeing more seasonal effects on interest and tax payments.

當你看現金流量表的表面時，你可以看到代表這些項目預付款的合約資產和負債超過3億美元。這種季度間的波動是工程專案週期的正常組成部分。除了工程項目之外，我們還看到利息和納稅受到更多季節性影響。

We have significantly more euro bond cash payments, which are once per year as well as cash tax payments in the first half of the year. This will result in more back end loaded operating cash flow similar to last year. Overall, I remain quite confident on cash generation of the gas business, but I do expect continued volatility regarding timing of customer prepayments for engineering projects.

我們每年一次的歐元債券現金支付以及上半年的現金稅支付明顯增加。這將導致後端營運現金流量增加，與去年類似。總體而言，我對天然氣業務的現金產生仍然充滿信心，但我確實預計客戶預付款時間的工程項目將持續波動。

As far as capital allocation, year to date, we returned $3.8 billion to shareholders and invested $2.3 billion into the business. Regardless of the economic climate will continue to adhere to our time tested capital policy of and underlying mandate to maintain a single A credit rating while raising the dividend every year, a priority to invest back into the business, subject to our long term investment criteria and a commitment to suite remaining funds towards stock repurchases.

就資本配置而言，今年迄今為止，我們向股東返還了 38 億美元，並向業務投資了 23 億美元。無論經承諾將剩餘資金用於股票回購。

I'll wrap up with guidance on slide 6. For the third [quarter], we're providing and EPS guidance range of $3.82 to $3.92 for 6% to 9% growth when excluding a 1% FX headwind. Consistent with prior quarters, this assumes no economic improvement at the midpoint.

我將在幻燈片 6 中提供指導作為結束。對於第三季度，我們提供的 EPS 指導範圍為 3.82 美元至 3.92 美元，在排除 1% 的外匯逆風的情況下，成長率為 6% 至 9%。與前幾季一致，這假設經濟中點沒有改善。

The updated full year range is now $15.40 to $15.60 or 9% to 11% growth when excluding a 1% FX headwind. For the full year, we simply raised the prior guidance range by $0.1 on the bottom end, while leaving the top end as is.

更新後的全年區間目前為 15.40 美元至 15.60 美元，若排除 1% 的外匯逆風，即成長 9% 至 11%。對於全年而言，我們只是將先前指導區間的下限提高了 0.1 美元，同時保持上限不變。

Consistent with statements last quarter, we have not seen enough encouraging signs to be bullish on the second half economic activity. So we are essentially leading the guide intact while raising the bottom end for our recent Q2 performance. Rest assured, if the economy does better, we'll capture that incremental benefit.

與上季的聲明一致，我們沒有看到足夠的令人鼓舞的跡象來看好下半年的經濟活動。因此，我們基本上完好無損地領先於指南，同時提高了我們最近第二季業績的底線。請放心，如果經濟表現較好，我們將獲得增量收益。

And if it does worse, we will take actions to mitigate the impact to earnings. Here at Linde, we have a culture to plan for the worst, but hope for the best. Employees around the world have been taking proactive measures to ensure we can deliver on our commitments regardless of the economy. This disciplined operating rhythm, coupled with our relentless focus to create shareholder value, gives us confidence to once again whether the uncertainty and maintain industry leading results. I'll now turn the call over to Q&A.

如果情況更糟，我們將採取行動減輕對收益的影響。在林德，我們有一種文化，做最壞的打算，但也抱持最好的希望。世界各地的員工一直在採取積極主動的措施，以確保無論經濟狀況如何，我們都能兌現我們的承諾。這種有紀律的營運節奏，加上我們對創造股東價值的不懈關注，讓我們有信心再次面對不確定性並保持業界領先的績效。我現在將把電話轉到問答環節。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Mike Leithead, Barclays.

麥克萊特黑德，巴克萊銀行。

Great. Thanks. Good morning, guys. Big picture question is just when we look at your results and your peers, it doesn't seem like there's much industrial gas demand out there right now. And Linde has done a great job over the past few years of continuing to grow earnings double digits, despite that, in large part, some of the self-help actions you've taken, I guess it was documents no growth environment for a bit here near term, and we're already at a pretty efficient baseline.

偉大的。謝謝。早上好傢伙。大局問題是，當我們查看您的結果和您的同行時，目前似乎沒有太多工業氣體需求。林德在過去幾年裡做得很好，盈利持續兩位數增長，儘管如此，在很大程度上，你採取的一些自助行動，我想這證明了暫時沒有增長環境短期內，我們已經處於相當有效的基線。

Can you just talk through your confidence in how you expect to continue driving 10 plus percent earnings growth just in this macro backdrop?

您能否談談您對如何在這種宏觀背景下繼續推動 10% 以上的獲利成長的信心？

Thanks, Mike. You're right. I think the macro isn't really very supportive of this point in time. What I'd like to suggest as you go back maybe four, five quarters now, we've seen the macro-environment reflect that. In fact, over that period, we have seen what I call industrial recession, while people debate around what the GDP does or doesn't we are very focused on what the industrial production index is doing.

謝謝，麥克。你說得對。我認為目前宏觀經濟並不太支持這一點。我想建議的是，當你回顧過去四、五個季度時，我們已經看到宏觀環境反映了這一點。事實上，在那段時期，我們看到了我所謂的工業衰退，而人們爭論GDP的作用或不起作用，而我們非常關注工業生產指數的作用。

And we've seen industrial recession over that period. And we've managed right through that to not only deliver that EPS growth that you just referenced, but also consistently and show that our organization is ready to take the actions ahead of it goes in most cases as we see these indices.

在那段時期我們看到了工業衰退。我們成功地做到了這一點，不僅實現了您剛才提到的每股收益成長，而且始終如一地表明我們的組織已準備好在大多數情況下採取行動，正如我們看到這些指數一樣。

One of the good things we have is our ability to see across different end markets and geographies at stake action quickly. So I think that in part is the reason we are where we are today. Delivering on that EPS growth consistently over an extended period of time.

我們擁有的好處之一是我們能夠快速了解不同終端市場和地區的關鍵行動。所以我認為這在某種程度上是我們取得今天成就的原因。在較長一段時間內持續實現每股收益成長。

My view is that is exactly the MO that you would expect from us going forward as well. It's something that we have understood well, we have a good -- it's a muscle that we know our flex well, and I think you'll see that play out. I'll take it right to the EPS algorithm that we've spoken about a lot in the past Mike.

我的觀點是，這也正是您對我們未來的期望。我們已經很好地理解了這一點，我們擁有很好的肌肉，我們很了解我們的靈活性，我想你會看到它的發揮。我將直接討論我們過去多次討論過的 EPS 演算法，麥克。

And I think that's what gives us confidence that we will be able to continue to provide that 10%-plus EPS growth, several most economic environments at all. So I'll recap that for you, there also contributors to how we get to that 10%-plus EPS growth.

我認為這讓我們有信心，在幾個最經濟的環境下，我們將能夠繼續提供 10% 以上的每股盈餘成長。因此，我將為您回顧一下，我們如何實現 10% 以上的每股盈餘成長也有一些貢獻。

The first backlog. That backlog and the startups that are happening and you know, we've been consistent and starting up the backlog at both startups contribute anywhere between 1% to 2% of Idea's growth. Backlog is trending up, and I expect to see that 1% to 2% contribution to trend up alongside that. The next factor is what we are utilizing practice everyday this as pricing and productivity.

第一個積壓。這些積壓訂單和正在發生的新創公司，你知道，我們一直保持一致，兩家新創公司的積壓訂單對 Idea 的成長貢獻了 1% 到 2% 之間。待辦事項呈上升趨勢，我預計會看到 1% 到 2% 的貢獻率隨之上升。下一個因素是我們每天使用的定價和生產力實踐。

We've explained this in a lot of detail to you guys are one kind of recap all of it, but I say that we expect about more than half of that EPS growth to come from proactive management actions related to pricing and productivity. So about 4% to 6% of that EPS growth comes that contributed from pricing and productivity.

我們已經向你們詳細解釋了這一點，這是對所有內容的一種回顧，但我說，我們預計每股盈餘成長的一半以上將來自與定價和生產力相關的主動管理行動。因此，每股收益成長的約 4% 到 6% 來自定價和生產力。

Next volume, obviously at this point in time you've heard us say that our guidance at zero volume assumed at the midpoint. So if there is a volume uptick, even a little bit of a tailwind on industrial activity, obviously we will pick that up and as a multiplier effect that you've seen, we've demonstrated that in 2021 because they remind people that even but a little bit of a rebound in the industrial side, we were able to deliver 30% EPS growth in that year.

下一卷，顯然此時您已經聽到我們說我們的零交易量指導假設為中點。因此，如果產量有所增加，即使工業活動有一點點順風，顯然我們也會採取這種措施，並且作為您所看到的乘數效應，我們已經在2021 年證明了這一點，因為它們提醒人們，即使但是隨著工業方面的一點點反彈，我們當年的每股收益增長了30%。

But at the absence of that, our algorithm still suggest with zero contribution that we will continue to deliver that 10%- plus EPS growth.

但如果沒有這種情況，我們的演算法仍然表明，在貢獻為零的情況下，我們將繼續實現 10% 以上的 EPS 成長。

And last but not least, we have a lot of cash that we generate, surplus cash off the investing in the business is swept into share buybacks and they contribute about 2%-plus EPS growth. I can say with a high degree of confidence is where we stand in terms of our business for this year and going forward.

最後但並非最不重要的一點是，我們擁有大量現金，業務投資產生的剩餘現金被用於股票回購，它們貢獻了約 2% 以上的每股盈餘成長。我可以充滿信心地說，這是我們今年和未來業務的立場。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

David Begleiter, Deutsche Bank.

大衛‧貝格萊特，德意志銀行。

Thank you. Good morning. Sanjiv and Matt, the sequential volume growth of 3% in the quarter was positive for volume comparison in Q3 is not hard, maybe even easy at minus 2%. So why wouldn't we see volume growth through Linde in Q3 year over year?

謝謝。早安.Sanjiv 和 Matt 表示，本季 3% 的銷量環比增長對於第三季度的銷量比較來說是積極的，這並不難，甚至可能很容易達到負 2%。那麼，為什麼我們在第三季看不到林德的銷售量較去年同期成長呢？

So David, it's Matt. I think your exact point, we absolutely see the comps getting easier in the back half. So on a year-over-year basis, you might see in neutral to positive just because of the prior year comps, it's a little easier, but our view of no macro improvement that we're laying out as more on a sequential basis.

大衛，是馬特。我認為你的確切觀點是，我們絕對看到下半場的比賽變得更容易。因此，與去年同期相比，您可能會看到中性到積極，只是因為上一年的比較，這有點容易，但我們認為宏觀經濟沒有改善，我們在連續的基礎上進行了更多的調整。

So to your exact point, even if you see little to no macro improvement sequentially, it still could result in potentially neutral to positive year on year just because of the comps that you're up against. So the comps do get easier in the back half. That's absolutely correct on a year-over-year basis.

因此，就您的確切觀點而言，即使您連續看到很少或沒有宏觀改善，由於您所面臨的比較，它仍然可能導致同比潛在的中性到積極的結果。所以下半場的比賽確實變得更容易了。與去年同期相比，這是絕對正確的。

But we're taking our standard approach, which is on a forward look on a sequential basis, assume no economic pickup and then we'll just need to manage to the reality of whatever happens, good or bad.

但我們正在採取我們的標準方法，即按順序進行前瞻性分析，假設經濟不會好轉，然後我們只需要應對發生的現實，無論好壞。

And just one more question. The order intake was the lowest, I think, since Q2 2020 at $300 million. I know it's lumpy, but it is bidding activity lower were less than it was 6 or 12 months ago.

還有一個問題。我認為訂單量為 3 億美元，是 2020 年第二季以來的最低水準。我知道情況不穩定，但競價活動比 6 或 12 個月前少。

David, our folks in engineering are very busy. And there was a lot of front-end was currently that is happening around study is feeds and so on and so forth. So we're seeing activity at the front-end being very, very busy. What we are seeing at the moment and the delay tends to be moving from that front-end activity, which is -- whether it's a feed or a study to actually getting to FID.

大衛，我們的工程人員非常忙碌。目前有許多前端正在圍繞著研究、提要等進行。所以我們看到前端的活動非常非常忙碌。我們目前所看到的情況以及延遲往往是從前端活動開始的，無論是回饋還是研究，最終都發生在實際進行 FID 的過程中。

And we certainly see customers taking a little bit longer to getting to that FID piece. So a lot of activity isn't translating just yet to FIDs. We've said this before the last call as well as we are seeing people taking a little more time before they get to an FID decision on some of these large projects.

我們當然看到客戶需要更長的時間才能獲得 FID。因此，許多活動還沒有轉化為 FID。我們在上次電話會議之前就已經說過了這一點，我們看到人們在對其中一些大型專案做出 FID 決定之前需要花費更多時間。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Duffy Fischer, Goldman Sachs.

達菲費雪，高盛。

Good morning, guys. Can we dig in a little bit on health care on again, traditionally think about health care kind of growing year-in and year-out a little bit, how much pruning do you have left roughly how much of the portfolio needs to go away? When do you think that's done?

早上好傢伙。我們能否再次深入研究醫療保健問題，傳統上考慮醫療保健逐年增長一點，您還剩下多少修剪，大約有多少投資組合需要消失？你認為什麼時候完成？

And then when you get to that mid-single digits, what's the breakdown of that price versus volume? And can you recoup inflation in that business, I think you can in your other businesses.

然後，當你達到中間個位數時，價格與數量的細分是多少？您能否在該業務中收回通貨膨脹，我認為您可以在其他業務中彌補通貨膨脹。

All right. Okay. So let me first explain what's happening. The pruning the new talk a little bit about how the growth around healthcare happens. So as far as pruning is concerned, we have been looking at that portfolio, we've been acting on it, you have heard us think about it the last quarter, those actions continue.

好的。好的。首先讓我解釋一下發生了什麼事。新的修剪談論了一些關於醫療保健的增長是如何發生的。因此，就修剪而言，我們一直在研究該投資組合，我們一直在採取行動，你已經聽到我們上個季度對此進行了思考，這些行動仍在繼續。

My expectation is by the end of the year, you will see some of those actions getting logged-out. So that's what you should be thinking about. Long-term -- mid to long term, I'd say demographics will support that mid -single-digit expectation of healthcare growth.

我的期望是到今年年底，您將看到其中一些操作被註銷。所以這就是你應該考慮的。從中長期來看，我認為人口統計數據將支持醫療保健成長的中位數預期。

We see that currently on par, and that demographics obviously drive both, the hospital care, which is obviously a large part of our big business as well as the home care business, which is in some selected geographies where we operate. As far as inflation is concerned, yeah, this is a business that relies enormously on productivity actions.

我們認為目前兩者處於同等水平，人口統計顯然推動了醫院護理（這顯然是我們大業務的很大一部分）以及家庭護理業務（在我們經營的一些選定地區）。就通貨膨脹而言，是的，這是一個極大依賴生產力行動的行業。

And therefore, we always find that inflation and productivity will have to go hand in hand for us to get the pricing that we need and keep that business at an attractive margin level.

因此，我們總是發現，通膨和生產力必須齊頭並進，才能獲得所需的定價，並使業務保持在有吸引力的利潤水平。

Great. Thank you, guys.

偉大的。感謝你們。

Peter Clark, Bernstein.

彼得·克拉克，伯恩斯坦。

Yeah, good morning, everyone. Two questions, but was sort of one related, but it's on the ExxonMobil contract that Air Liquide announced. Obviously, one of the things that they're getting to the return hurdle is the big ramp in argon merchant, where they're claiming 50% increase in the merchant availability. I know it's not quite fit. I know it could be four years plus away, but what sort of impact could that have just seen the market?

是的，大家早安。有兩個問題，但其中一個是相關的，但這是液化空氣集團宣布的埃克森美孚合約上的問題。顯然，他們遇到的退貨障礙之一是氬氣商人的大幅成長，他們聲稱商人的可用性增加了 50%。我知道這不太合適。我知道這可能需要四年以上的時間，但這會對市場產生什麼樣的影響呢？

I know argon has been tight, but it's quite a slug of capacity that would come pretty quickly and related to that, obviously part of that deal, they're allowing access to the pipelines. They've probably got capability to do that. I think you probably sold out a bit more than them on your Gulf Coast pipelines, but that is that something you would consider in some regions, access to pipeline for the right holders contract? Those are the two questions? Thank you.

我知道氬氣一直很緊張，但這是一個相當大的容量，很快就會出現，與此相關，顯然是該交易的一部分，他們允許進入管道。他們可能有能力做到這一點。我認為你們的墨西哥灣沿岸管道的銷售量可能比他們多一點，但這是你們在某些地區會考慮的事情，為權利持有者合約提供管道使用權？就這兩個問題？謝謝。

Thank you, Peter. And so as you know, the US market is one of our largest merchant markets and therefore, there is current growth in demand on the demand side. In fact, we are actually putting in some capacity as well. And we see the market remaining shorter log and four for an extended period of time. So from my perspective, it obviously what allocate has done with their economics is something you need to ask them. But from our perspective, it's a stable market.

謝謝你，彼得。如您所知，美國市場是我們最大的商業市場之一，因此，目前需求方面的需求正在成長。事實上，我們其實也在投入一些能力。我們看到市場在較長一段時間內保持較短的對數和四。因此，從我的角度來看，顯然你需要問他們分配對他們的經濟所做的事情。但從我們的角度來看，這是一個穩定的市場。

There is growth in the market. The molecules get absorbed fairly quickly. Our view of the market continues to be fairly bullish. And I expect the product as it comes on, we'll get placed in the market at a reasonable base. And as far as pipeline access is concerned, I'll just give you all view. I'm not going to trial comment on what the strategy of the view from like it might be. From our perspective.

市場有成長。分子很快就會被吸收。我們對市場的看法仍然相當樂觀。我預計產品上市後，我們將以合理的基礎推出市場。就管道訪問而言，我將向您提供所有視圖。我不會嘗試評論視圖的策略可能是什麼樣的。從我們的角度來看。

We have over a period of maybe three or four decades now developed a very significant pipeline network that underpins significantly the kind of business and grow that we've developed in the US Gulf Coast. We see that pipeline network as be critical to continue to deliver growth through that very network in that very exciting part of the part of the world where we see growth, particularly as it is driven in the future with low-carbon hydrogen developments as well.

我們已經在大約三、四十年的時間裡開發了一個非常重要的管道網絡，該網絡極大地支撐了我們在美國墨西哥灣沿岸開發的業務和成長。我們認為，在世界上我們看到成長的非常令人興奮的地區，管道網路對於透過該網路繼續實現成長至關重要，特別是因為它在未來也受到低碳氫發展的推動。

So for us, in many ways, our competitive advantage lies in the infrastructure that we've invested in and developed over three decades. And we want to fully leverage that infrastructure, as we did with the OCI project to make sure that we continue to win and actually grow that business significantly.

因此，對我們來說，在很多方面，我們的競爭優勢在於我們三十年來投資和開發的基礎設施。我們希望充分利用該基礎設施，就像我們對 OCI 專案所做的那樣，以確保我們繼續獲勝並真正顯著成長該業務。

I remain very bullish on the opportunities I see in the US Gulf Coast. And I see us developing and actually developing that infrastructure for the building for the caverns as an example of something that we are progressing with and using that for future growth.

我仍然非常看好在美國墨西哥灣沿岸看到的機會。我看到我們正在開發並實際開發用於建造洞穴的基礎設施，作為我們正在取得進展並利用它來實現未來成長的一個例子。

Thank you. You didn't surprise me with your answers.

謝謝。你的回答並沒有讓我感到驚訝。

That's good to be. The consistency is what we strive for.

那很好。一致性是我們努力的目標。

Vincent Andrews, Morgan Stanley.

文森安德魯斯，摩根士丹利。

Thank you and good morning. I don't ordinarily think of your businesses is being interest rate sensitive, but we have had an unprecedented increase in rates in the short period of time. And now it seems like we're pivoting to would be to a decrease in rates.

謝謝你，早安。我通常不認為你們的企業對利率敏感，但我們的利率在短時間內出現了前所未有的成長。現在看來我們正在轉向降低利率。

So I'm wondering just what your thoughts are on if we assume rates come down over the balance this year and through next year. Will that change your macro outlook at all? And do you think it will change your customers' behavior in terms of their ability or desire to move forward and FID projects that they would work with you on?

因此，我想知道如果我們假設今年和明年的利率會下降，您的想法是什麼。這會改變你的宏觀前景嗎？您認為這會改變客戶的行為嗎？ 他們的行為有能力或希望繼續前進，以及他們願意與您合作的 FID 專案嗎？

Vince, I'm going to let Matt talk to you about this. It's a topic he's very passionate about, and then I'll may be add to that. Go ahead, Matt.

文斯，我會讓馬特和你談談這件事。這是他非常熱衷的話題，然後我可能會對此進行補充。繼續吧，馬特。

Hey, Vince. Thanks, Sanjiv. Obviously, as you know, Vince, it's speculation at this point. Nobody knows for certain, but obviously, we have an opinion like everyone else.

嘿，文斯。謝謝，桑吉夫。顯然，正如你所知，文斯，目前這只是猜測。沒有人確切知道，但顯然，我們和其他人一樣有自己的觀點。

And to your point, I mean, my personal opinion on this is as interest rates rose rapidly, the area that was affected most or larger durable goods, large capital deployments. So our customers that may enter into that area, even when you think about something like the consumer home loans, auto loans, those in some cases effectively doubled and changed the dynamic on that purchasing power of those more durable goods, which tend to have more plastics and then more metals, more glass, cement, the kind of more industrial infrastructure, you tend to see.

就你的觀點而言，我的意思是，我個人對此的看法是，隨著利率迅速上升，受影響最大或規模更大的耐用品、大規模資本部署的領域。因此，我們的客戶可能會進入該領域，即使您考慮消費者房屋貸款、汽車貸款等，在某些情況下，這些貸款實際上會翻倍，並改變了那些更耐用的商品的購買力動態，這些商品往往擁有更多的耐用品。

And therefore, I think this, in my opinion, was a driver of the very weak industrial production PMI numbers you've seen over the last 18 plus months, as Sanjiv mentioned to some extent in many countries in the world. We've been in an industrial recession.

因此，在我看來，這是過去 18 個多月工業生產 PMI 數據非常疲軟的一個驅動因素，正如 Sanjiv 在某種程度上提到的那樣，世界上許多國家都是如此。我們一直處於工業衰退之中。

And I believe those customers that were affected by that where the more interest rate sensitive, I think on top of that, you add, I would argue probably a little bit less government infrastructure spend and what you normally see because a lot of it was tied up more in various incentive packages that need and a lot of clarity. And so that clarity, lack of clarity stretch this out.

我相信那些受到利率更敏感影響的客戶，我認為最重要的是，你補充說，我認為政府基礎設施支出可能會少一點，你通常會看到，因為其中很多都是捆綁在一起的在需要的各種激勵方案中增加更多，而且非常明確。因此，清晰度和缺乏清晰度都會延長這一點。

Conversely, the consumer was stronger throughout that time and non-interest sensitive areas of consumption, services, but at least based on what I'm seeing now, it seems like that aspect of the consumer is starting to slow. So in theory, it what's possible may you start to see GDP contract, which then would actually define a real recession.

相反，在那段時間裡，消費者在非利益敏感的消費、服務領域表現強勁，但至少根據我現在所看到的情況，消費者的這方面似乎開始放緩。因此，從理論上講，你可能會開始看到 GDP 收縮，這實際上將定義真正的衰退。

And at that point, to your exact point, if interest rates decline, hopefully what that could do is thaw out, some of the durables, some of the larger capital intensive purchases and start to help that environment because what we're seeing today on some of these projects, the customers are committed, they want to do it, but the CapEx costs are high.

到那時，就你的確切觀點而言，如果利率下降，希望可以做的是解凍一些耐用品，一些較大的資本密集型採購，並開始幫助這種環境，因為我們今天所看到的其中一些項目，客戶已經承諾，他們想做，但資本支出成本很高。

And I think that's a function of the inflation, that's a function of the rates working their way through. If that were to reverse, it could probably bring a little more stability and a little more reasonable pricing, which I think could cause some projects to finally clear, the FID and sign the contract.

我認為這是通貨膨脹的函數，是利率發揮作用的函數。如果這種情況發生逆轉，它可能會帶來更多的穩定性和更合理的定價，我認為這可能會導致一些項目最終通過最終投資決定並簽署合約。

So it's speculative, right? Nobody knows for certain, but that's how I would at least we would at this state. And I would view it is positive with a lower rates to try move some of these projects over the final signature hurdle.

所以這是推測性的，對吧？沒有人確切知道，但這就是我的意願，至少我們在這種情況下會這麼做。我認為，以較低的利率嘗試讓其中一些項目跨越最終的簽名障礙是積極的。

Laurent Favre, BNP Paribas.

洛朗法夫爾，法國巴黎銀行。

Thank you. Good morning, all. My question is around electronics, Sanjiv, you mentioned the TSMC startup. And I was thinking that we haven't seen any announcements of new projects in electronics in a while. As I was wondering if you could talk about the opportunity from here, I think the project, so if there's anything you can see or say on the incremental opportunity from AI and data centers. Thank you.

謝謝。大家早安。我的問題是關於電子產品的，Sanjiv，你提到了台積電新創公司。我想我們已經有一段時間沒有看到任何電子領域新項目的公告了。我想知道您是否可以談論這裡的機會，我想是這個項目，所以您是否可以看到或說出有關人工智慧和資料中心的增量機會的任何內容。謝謝。

Thanks, Laurent. And so both of those questions are excellent and something that we kind of referenced in the last call, just saying that, look, we were seeing a buildup of some early signals are all the recovery in electronics updating that we have seen that in because of the quarter, but these are only signals there is still more to happen in the course of the balance of this year.

謝謝，洛朗。因此，這兩個問題都非常好，我們在上次電話會議中提到了一些問題，只是說，看，我們看到一些早期信號的積累，這些信號都是電子設備更新的恢復，我們已經看到了這一點，因為季度，但這些只是訊號，今年餘下的時間裡還會發生更多事情。

Let's talk a little bit about projects now. So, we started a Phase 1 of TSMC in Phoenix. We are very advanced and I'll build on the Samsung project in Taylor, Texus, and we're building a number of other plans, some for Intel around the world and as well. We also see growth going back in terms of the Asian demand. We are also seeing growth in the Asian demand starting to pick up in new projects getting announced there as well.

現在讓我們談談項目。因此，我們在鳳凰城啟動了台積電的第一階段。我們非常先進，我將以位於德克薩斯州泰勒的三星​​專案為基礎，我們正在製定許多其他計劃，其中一些是為全球的英特爾制定的。我們也看到亞洲需求的成長有所回升。我們也看到亞洲需求的成長也開始回升，在那裡宣布的新項目也開始回升。

So over time as these projects get signed up and contracted, as you know, we have a very high level of discipline around what we will announce when you will see announcements reflecting a number of these investments that we would make as those contracts get signed up.

因此，隨著時間的推移，隨著這些項目的簽署和簽約，如您所知，我們對我們將宣布的內容有非常高的紀律，當您看到反映我們在簽署這些合約時將進行的許多投資的公告時。

I expect electronics will continue to see momentum in terms of new investments, new fab capacity. And to your point, this will be driven in part by large data requirements, also driven by AI requirements.

我預計電子產品將繼續在新投資和新晶圓廠產能方面看到動力。就您而言，這部分是由大數據需求驅動的，也是由人工智慧需求驅動。

I know, AI have the high shines off a little bit at the moment, but the reality it is a I will prove to be a tool that will be significantly -- and in some cases, transformative for industries and markets and you will see investment underpinning that coming through data centers helped and supported then by chip production that happens out of the fabs.

我知道，人工智慧目前有點光彩奪目，但現實是，我將證明它是一個對產業和市場產生重大變革的工具，在某些情況下，你會看到投資透過資料中心實現這一點的基礎是晶圓廠進行的晶片生產的幫助和支持。

So I still expect that momentum will be there expect the large major semiconductor manufacturers to continue to make that investment. Obviously there are some that are kind of seeing some short-term challenges in putting some news today that you would have seen for the long-term outlook remains very robust and we continue to be very well positioned to win more than our fair share in that space.

因此，我仍然預計這種勢頭將會存在，預計大型半導體製造商將繼續進行投資。顯然，有些人在今天發布一些新聞時看到了一些短期挑戰，因為長期前景仍然非常強勁，我們仍然處於有利位置，可以在這方面贏得比我們公平份額更多的份額。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Steve Byrne, Bank of America.

史蒂夫伯恩，美國銀行。

Yeah, thank you. Matt, you mentioned in your remarks about some challenges in helium in your home Asia-Pac business. Just curious whether we'll do that is stabilizing or do you see further erosion in either pricing or volumes there?

是的，謝謝。馬特，您在演講中提到了您所在的亞太地區業務中氦氣面臨的一些挑戰。只是好奇我們是否會這樣做以穩定局勢，或者您是否認為那裡的定價或銷售會進一步受到侵蝕？

And perhaps it would -- more broadly, can you talk about your helium fundamentals in the other regions? Are they quite different from the impact from this Russian supply? And what exactly is the portion that is in your corporate segment? I assume that's some kind of export volume. Perhaps you can highlight what exactly is the driver there?

也許更廣泛地說，您能談談您在其他地區的氦氣基礎知識嗎？它們與俄羅斯供應的影響有很大不同嗎？您的企業部門到底有哪些部分？我認為這是某種出口量。也許您可以強調一下那裡的司機到底是什麼？

Sure, Steve. I think on a couple of things, just for some baseline data. So helium is low single-digit percent of our global sales, just to put in perspective the component that it makes up for us. Furthermore, to your point, helium is one of the very, very few molecules that is truly global pricing supply demand driven. As you know, the vast majority of our project, our products price to inflation contractually, but helium is a difference as it has more supply demand-driven, given the nature of that molecule.

當然，史蒂夫。我想了一些事情，只是為了一些基線數據。因此，氦氣在我們全球銷售額中所佔的比例很低，只有個位數，只是為了正確地看待它構成我們的組成部分。此外，就您的觀點而言，氦氣是極少數真正由全球定價供需驅動的分子之一。如您所知，我們的絕大多數項目，我們的產品價格都按照合約規定的通膨率計算，但氦氣是不同的，因為考慮到該分子的性質，它更多地由供應需求驅動。

So with that as the backdrop, I think to your point, you are seeing different regional aspects of pricing with APAC seeing the most pressure from this Russian supply. Now we have no participation in that Russian supply. We are not using Russian supply. We cancel that contract as per our allowance a couple of years ago.

因此，以此為背景，我認為就您的觀點而言，您會看到定價的不同區域方面，亞太地區面臨來自俄羅斯供應的最大壓力。現在我們沒有參與俄羅斯的供應。我們不使用俄羅斯供應。幾年前，我們根據津貼取消了該合約。

So from that perspective, it is finding its way primarily into China. But as you can imagine, APAC is a larger consumer of helium primarily because of the electronics sector. So, given the electronics sector in certain parts, especially like Korea, maybe a little slower coupled with the Russian supply, it definitely created some pricing pressure.

因此從這個角度來看，它主要是在尋找進入中國的途徑。但正如您可以想像的那樣，亞太地區是氦氣的較大消費國，主要是因為電子產業。因此，考慮到某些地區的電子產業，尤其是韓國的電子產業，加上俄羅斯的供應可能會放緩一些，這肯定會造成一些定價壓力。

I would say now it is stabilizing, but it's something you still got to keep an eye on. But the way we always think about this and it's been true in this business going back decades is you have to have a significant diversity of supply. You have to have all supply modes to move the molecules. And you have to have a very robust global business across all end markets.

我想說現在它正在穩定，但你仍然需要密切注意。但我們一直思考這個問題的方式是，你必須擁有顯著的供應多樣性，這在幾十年前的行業中都是如此。你必須擁有所有供應模式來移動分子。而且您必須在所有終端市場擁有非常強勁的全球業務。

And when you have all those things, it gives you much more stability and the healthy business. And that always has been the case for us. And I expect it will always continue to be the case. As far as the helium, our component of the other segment, just to clarify what that is.

當你擁有所有這些東西時，它會為你帶來更多的穩定性和健康的業務。我們一直都是這樣。我預計情況將永遠如此。至於氦氣，我們另一部分的組成部分，只是為了澄清它是什麼。

So given helium is more of a global business, we sell it inter-company to all of the gas segments are since we operated as a single global business. So the inter-company transfer pricing aspect is what we show and the other segment.

因此，鑑於氦氣更多是一項全球業務，我們將其出售給所有天然氣領域，因為我們是作為單一全球業務運營的。因此，公司間轉讓定價方面是我們展示的內容和其他部分。

So that will just be at a cost plus transfer price that's eliminated and the actual majority of the helium profit will be represented in each of the gas segments. So it tends to be somewhat stable with the one exception that as you see swings in the cost of helium up or down, that will reflect more in the other segment, whereas pricing dynamics tend to reflect more in the gas segments are the geographic gas segments for the end market pricing. So that's I think about that on just as a in terms of how we structured our segments.

因此，這只是成本加轉移價格的消除，而氦氣利潤的實際大部分將體現在每個天然氣領域。因此，它往往比較穩定，但有一個例外，即當您看到氦氣成本上下波動時，這將更多地反映在其他細分市場中，而定價動態往往更多地反映在天然氣細分市場中，即地理天然氣細分市場為最終市場定價。這就是我對這個問題的思考，就像我們如何建立我們的細分市場一樣。

Very helpful. Thank you.

很有幫助。謝謝。

Mike Sison, Wells Fargo.

麥克西森，富國銀行。

Hey. Good morning, guys. Just curious, Sanjiv, if you think about the ISM and stuff, it didn't look really great the last couple of days. What if things get worse sequentially into the third and fourth, how do you think your portfolio will for our strategy will change? And how does that sort of change the maybe you did that order backlogs and stuff banks?

嘿。早上好傢伙。只是好奇，Sanjiv，如果你想想 ISM 之類的東西，過去幾天看起來不太好。如果情況在第三個和第四個階段依序變得更糟，您認為您的投資組合對我們策略的影響會如何改變？這會如何改變你可能積壓的訂單和銀行的庫存？

All right, Mike. So maybe I'll break that up into a couple of different conversations. Let's talk about the business itself. And I think you will recall, Mike, we had a conversation a few quarters ago when we describe the profile of our business as being defensive.

好吧，麥克。所以也許我會把它分成幾個不同的對話。我們來談談業務本身。我想你會記得，麥克，幾個季度前我們進行過一次談話，當時我們將我們的業務描述為防禦性的。

And I think in that in doing that, we have explained that a combination of factors and shows that we have the robustness and resilience that sits in the business portfolio that we have. So part of that we said was obviously our contracted on-site business.

我認為，在這樣做的過程中，我們已經解釋了多種因素的結合，並表明我們擁有業務組合中的穩健性和彈性。所以我們所說的一部分顯然是我們簽約的現場業務。

And as we've seen through some difficult period of energy crisis in Europe, as an example, that's held really well contracts have been honored, and I think that defensiveness of that of the resilience as shown through in many ways. So that's one part of that defensive nature of business.

舉例來說，正如我們在歐洲能源危機的一段困難時期所看到的那樣，合約的履行情況非常好，我認為韌性的防禦性體現在許多方面。所以這是企業防禦性的一部分。

The other is the resilient end markets that we supply, which are not prone to in our manufacturing PMIs and so on and so forth, being food and beverage, again, you saw that a percent year on year growth in food and beverage, and I expect to see continued growth in that segment as well. In addition to that healthcare, which we are now in a kind of sorting out some of the portfolio issues, but underlying health care, mid-single digit growth expectations going forward, that resilient. This will continue to be there.

另一個是我們提供的有彈性的終端市場，這在我們的製造業採購經理人指數等中不容易出現，食品和飲料，你再次看到食品和飲料的同比增長，我預計該領域也將持續增長。除了醫療保健之外，我們現在正在解決一些投資組合問題，但潛在的醫療保健，未來中個位數的成長預期，具有彈性。這將繼續存在。

Again, secular in many ways of what happens to manufacturing and industrial activity. So that portion of supplies to the resilient business. Add to that, we have contracted rental streams that come in, in respect, again of activity levels for all of that together, you've got a business where nearly three-fourths of our business is contracted and are locked in through these various mechanisms, giving that defensive nature.

同樣，製造業和工業活動中發生的事情在許多方面都是世俗的。所以這部分有供應給有彈性的企業。除此之外，我們還簽訂了合約租賃流，再次考慮到所有這些活動的活動水平，我們近四分之三的業務都是透過這些不同的機制簽訂合約並鎖定的。

In respect to what happens to the industrial activity and manufacturing PMI that everyone's referencing at the moment. The reality is that defensive nature will continue to be very resilient as we move forward.

關於目前大家都在參考的工業活動和製造業採購經理人指數（PMI）的變化。現實是，隨著我們的前進，防禦性將繼續具有強烈的彈性。

The other part of your question was what happens to backlog, right? And again, I just wanted to say backlog of $7.9 billion, we're working our way through that. We're starting up this year between $1.5 billion to $2 billion worth of projects in the first half itself, more than about half of that's already been done.

您問題的另一部分是積壓會發生什麼，對嗎？再說一次，我只想說積壓了 79 億美元，我們正在努力解決這個問題。今年上半年，我們啟動了價值 15 億至 20 億美元的項目，其中超過一半已經完成。

So that backlog is contracted growth. Usually, it's date certain. So, irrespective of what is happening with the customers project, we get a stream of revenues through that project coming through. And we see that as a very robust part of our future growth plans, which are locked in and contract and feel really good about the quality of that backlog that we're currently executing.

因此，積壓是收縮性成長。通常，日期是確定的。因此，無論客戶專案發生什麼，我們都會透過該專案獲得源源不絕的收入。我們認為這是我們未來成長計劃中非常強大的一部分，這些計劃已被鎖定並收縮，並且對我們目前正在執行的積壓訂單的品質感到非常滿意。

And I said before, backlog is as an example, this quarter itself, we started off the TSMC Phase 1 project, and that's going to start contributing to earnings based on the contracts that we have. So again, very resilient in a part of that. So I think look at that, I think that kind of gives you a flavor of what we're looking ahead to in terms of how we think about the resilience underpinning the business.

我之前說過，以積壓為例，本季度我們開始了台積電一期項目，這將開始根據我們擁有的合約為盈利做出貢獻。再說一遍，其中一部分非常有彈性。因此，我認為看看這一點，我認為這可以讓您了解我們對支撐業務的彈性的看法。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Joshua Spector, UBS.

約書亞‧斯佩克特，瑞銀集團。

If you could talk pricing specifically in the Americas, I think it's been a source of strength for you guys and some of your competitors have reported. So just curious, one, if that's more of a US phenomenon or if that's more South and Central America where you're getting more pricing, and to, I guess with energy prices semi-stable, demand kind of semi-stable, what's driving some of that sequential acceleration in pricing within the region? Thanks.

如果你能具體談談美洲的定價，我認為這對你們來說是力量的源泉，你們的一些競爭對手也已經報道過。所以只是好奇，一，如果這更多的是美國現象，或者如果這是更多的南美洲和中美洲，在那裡你會得到更多的定價，我想在能源價格半穩定、需求半穩定的情況下，是什麼在推動該地區定價的連續加速？謝謝。

Thanks, Josh. So getting pricing is and we've said that the number of times before, Josh, I'm just going to maybe go back and recap that very briefly. We have said, if you go back and look at the long-term pricing trend, we track or slightly ahead of globally weighted CPI for us. That trend's been consistent over an extended period, I go back 15, 20 years. We've demonstrated positive pricing across that period, aligned with what we think global CBI has done. And that is actually a great proxy to think about how we continue see pricing going forward.

謝謝，喬許。因此，定價是我們之前說過的次數，喬什，我可能會回去並非常簡短地回顧一下。我們說過，如果你回顧長期定價趨勢，我們會追蹤或略微領先全球加權消費者物價指數。這種趨勢在很長一段時間內一直是一致的，我可以追溯到 15、20 年前。在此期間，我們展示了積極的定價，這與我們認為全球 CBI 所做的一致。這實際上是思考我們如何繼續看待未來定價的一個很好的指標。

So I want to just -- as you're thinking about pricing and is it looking ahead? I wanted to just keep that in mind because that I think in truth is really where our pricing efforts will continue to yield results going forward. The pricing continues to be robust in the Americas. I think we are seeing positive pricing both in the US as well as in our Latin American businesses.

所以我想——當你考慮定價時，它是否具有前瞻性？我想牢記這一點，因為我認為事實上我們的定價工作將繼續取得成果。美洲的定價持續強勁。我認為我們在美國和拉丁美洲業務中都看到了積極的定價。

And this again, the trend itself is not inconsistent that the trend that we've been able to we have seen through the course of the last many quarters, in fact, consistently proven over the last five years as well. So again, there's nothing happening over there.

同樣，趨勢本身與我們在過去幾季中看到的趨勢並不矛盾，事實上，在過去五年中也得到了一致證明。再說一次，那裡什麼事也沒發生。

That's exceptional. All we're doing is management action drives. Pricing is how we think about it. And I think management action is driving the pricing efforts that we see in the Americas at the moment. Both Americas and EMEA are tracking globally rated or rated CPI for their respective regions.

這很特別。我們所做的只是管理行動驅動。定價是我們的想法。我認為管理行動正在推動我們目前在美洲看到的定價工作。美洲和歐洲、中東和非洲地區都在追蹤全球評級或各自地區的 CPI。

In APAC, I would say to you that I think we've been finding pricing a little bit shorter at this point in time, and that's where we are currently the pushes to make sure that we get that over the line. Obviously, China is in deflation, so that doesn't help. But again, we've got pricing efforts continuing in that space as well.

在亞太地區，我想對你們說，我認為我們目前發現定價有點短，這就是我們目前正在努力確保我們能夠實現這一目標的地方。顯然，中國正處於通貨緊縮之中，所以這無濟於事。但同樣，我們也在該領域繼續進行定價工作。

Okay. That's helpful. I guess maybe one more follow-up around that is just when I think about CPI and that being something to look towards again, I guess focusing on the Americas, I mean, with your mix, your pricing is up, call it mid-single-digit year over year in America that maybe it's up, I don't know, 3% to 4% on a merger agent level sequentially. I guess what CPI indicator is going up at that rate on a quarter-over-quarter basis?

好的。這很有幫助。我想也許還有一個後續行動，就是當我考慮消費物價指數時，這是值得再次關注的事情，我想重點關注美洲，我的意思是，透過你的組合，你的定價上漲了，稱之為中路在美國，我不知道，在美國，併購代理水準可能逐年上升 3% 到 4%。我猜是什麼 CPI 指標會以這個速度較上季上漲？

Yes, sure, Josh. It's Matt. I think you have to remember when you think about Americas, you have all of South America to your point, which we have leading positions in just about every country there. So whether it's Brazil or Central America like Mexico, other countries in South America, Argentina, you've got Chile, Colombia, you are continuing to see inflation rates that are much higher than what you would see in a US scenario. So that is all aligned. And relative to that and something we do track consistently.

是的，當然，喬許。是馬特。我認為你必須記住，當你想到美洲時，整個南美洲都符合你的觀點，我們在那裡的幾乎每個國家都處於領先地位。因此，無論是巴西還是中美洲（如墨西哥）、南美洲其他國家、阿根廷、智利、哥倫比亞，您都會繼續看到比美國情景高得多的通貨膨脹率。這樣就全部對齊了。相對於此，我們一直在追蹤一些事情。

I mean, as you well know, just look at recently that devaluations, you've seen across a wide basket of LATAM currencies, and that is being offset through higher inflation local in these countries. So it is driving that. It is part of that.

我的意思是，正如你們所知，只要看看最近拉美一籃子貨幣的貶值，這些國家的當地通膨上升就抵消了這種貶值。所以它正在推動這一點。這是其中的一部分。

Now at times, yes, you may see some different quarter-to-quarter sequential variances just because on the timing, the pricing goes through due to inflation that could create a little bit of a noise.

現在，是的，有時您可能會看到一些不同的季度間連續差異，只是因為在時間上，由於通貨膨脹而導致定價，這可能會產生一點噪音。

But when we look at the CPI tracking, we tend to look at it in an annualized basis because that's a little bit cleaner on timing. But as Sanjiv said, it continues to track quite closely, something that we look at country by country. And when you look at the balance of inflation levels you're seeing, especially in LATAM, are they continue to be elevated, especially vis-a-vis a country like US or a region like Europe.

但當我們查看 CPI 追蹤時，我們傾向於以年化形式查看它，因為這樣在時間上更清晰一些。但正如桑吉夫所說，它繼續密切跟踪，我們逐個國家進行觀察。當你觀察通貨膨脹水準的平衡時，你會看到，特別是在拉丁美洲，通貨膨脹水準是否持續升高，特別是相對於美國這樣的國家或歐洲這樣的地區。

Got it. Thank you, both.

知道了。謝謝你們倆。

Jeff Zekauskas, JPMorgan.

傑夫‧澤考斯卡斯，摩根大通。

Thanks very much. I think a couple of years ago, you talked about a $3 billion investment opportunity to decarbonize, Linde, and I think the direction was to produce more blue hydrogen to change over to ATRs or change your SMRs. Have you -- how much have you invested? And does that $3 billion number still look good? Have things been stretched out in time? Are they according to plan?

非常感謝。我想幾年前，林德，你談到了一個 30 億美元的脫碳投資機會，我認為方向是生產更多的藍氫以轉換為 ATR 或改變你的 SMR。你投資了多少錢？30 億美元這個數字看起來還不錯嗎？事情是否被及時拖延了？它們是否按計劃進行？

Thank you, Jeff. So yes, we had laid out our decarbonization strategy and roadmap if you will. And as part of that, we said there were three levers. The first level was -- and this was out of a $50 billion investment over 10 years, we had said in the past. First lever was decarbonizing our own operations with that $3 billion estimate at that point in time. We said a bulk of our deployment would be in enabling our customers to decarbonize, which is the second pillar.

謝謝你，傑夫。所以，是的，如果你願意的話，我們已經制定了我們的脫碳策略和路線圖。作為其中的一部分，我們說有三個槓桿。第一個等級是──我們過去曾說過，這是 10 年內投資 500 億美元的結果。第一個槓桿是我們自己的營運脫碳，當時預計耗資 30 億美元。我們表示，我們的大部分部署將用於幫助我們的客戶脫碳，這是第二個支柱。

And then third pillar was just some new opportunities for hydrogen to act as an energy vector and for export purposes, et cetera. And the first pillar, which is what you're referring to at the moment is we have a lot of our work at the mall amount of steam methane reformers are SMRs in the US Gulf Coast. They are part of that network that connects that 500 miles of pipeline that we have.

第三個支柱只是氫氣作為能源載體和出口目的等的一些新機會。第一個支柱，也就是您目前所指的，我們在美國墨西哥灣沿岸的蒸汽甲烷重整器市場上做了很多工作。它們是連接我們 500 英里管道的網路的一部分。

And serves between 60 to 80 very large customers for the hydrogen requirements. And we are currently in various stages of feed studies of those SMRs to understand the best opportunity for us to do to decarbonization on the SMRs. Technically speaking, they're all in all different ways to do that. We can do post-combustion capture, we can do some gas capture. The feed studies are ongoing at this point in time.

為 60 至 80 個大型客戶提供氫氣需求。我們目前正處於這些 SMR 進料研究的各個階段，以了解我們在 SMR 上進行脫碳的最佳機會。從技術上講，他們都以不同的方式來做到這一點。我們可以進行燃燒後捕獲，我們可以進行一些氣體捕獲。目前飼料研究正在進行中。

My view is that we will actually progressed with those probably in over the next few years. They are in line and on track with our 2035 targets that we set for ourselves. And I expect to see those business cases be developed as we get to a more technical conclusion as far as the feed study is concerned. Whether that's 3 billion or more, I think the feed will tell us that. So I think we'll wait for the feeds to come through.

我的觀點是，我們實際上將在未來幾年內取得進展。它們符合我們為自己設定的 2035 年目標。我希望看到這些業務案例隨著我們在飼料研究方面得出更具技術性的結論而發展。無論是 30 億還是更多，我認為 feed 都會告訴我們這一點。所以我想我們會等待提要通過。

But order of magnitude at say to you, that's about the right ballpark.

但對你來說，這個數量級是正確的。

Okay. And then quickly, I realize that your volumes in the United States year-over-year or flat, but if you had or I'm sorry in the Americas, but if you had to break it up into package, merchant and on-site, and compare the volume changes, what would they look like for the second quarter?

好的。然後很快，我意識到你們在美國的銷量同比或持平，但如果你們有的話，或者我很抱歉在美洲，但如果你們必須將其分成包裝、商家和現場，並比較數量變化，第二季度會是什麼樣子？

So, Jeff, why don't I just talk a little bit about what we are seeing in Americas. I think this is a good lead into that because I think it will give you a flavor of where the volumes are adding, hopefully answer your question as well. So I'll start off by just saying that the US market has been incredibly resilient, right?

那麼，傑夫，我為什麼不簡單談談我們在美洲所看到的情況呢？我認為這是一個很好的引導，因為我認為它會讓您了解卷的增加，希望也能回答您的問題。因此，我首先要說的是，美國市場具有令人難以置信的彈性，對吧？

I mean, it surprised most people, but we are now seeing industrial activity being more sluggish. It is reflecting the softer demand growth that is there in the marketplace. And the obviously everyone's getting the PMI, et cetera. The last quarter itself, the reference that we will stay at started to see that sluggishness in the market. So an exception to that, a notable exception to that as hydrogen demand, hydrogen volumes are in a very high levels, and I expect them to remain strong for the rest of the year. So again, that is a reflection of what's happening in the chemicals and energy space.

我的意思是，這讓大多數人感到驚訝，但我們現在看到工業活動更加低迷。這反映出市場需求成長疲軟。顯然每個人都在取得 PMI 等等。上個季度本身，我們將停留的參考開始看到市場的低迷。因此，這是一個例外，作為氫氣需求的一個顯著例外，氫氣產量處於非常高的水平，我預計它們在今年剩餘時間內將保持強勁。再說一遍，這反映了化學品和能源領域正在發生的事情。

And again, the on-site piece, which I think you are acquiring is what are the key elements of that comes out of those high call volumes that we've seen. The other indicated that I've that I watch carefully to the hard goods out of the US packaged business. You've heard me say before, I consider hard goods, a leading indicator of what is happening and modified in industrial activity.

再說一遍，我認為您正在獲取的現場部分是我們所看到的大量呼叫量中產生的關鍵要素。對方表示，我一直密切關注美國包裝業務中的耐用品。你以前聽過我說過，我認為耐用品是工業活動中正在發生和變化的領先指標。

Again during this quarter, we saw hardgoods sales decline year over year in the low single digits. A clear indicator that you are seeing softer manufacturing environment. I expect that to continue over the next couple of quarters, at least. Now, hard goods were sequentially flat, though.

在本季度，我們再次看到耐用品銷售額年減了較低的個位數。一個明顯的跡象表明您正在看到製造環境變得更加疲軟。我預計這種情況至少會在接下來的幾個季度持續下去。不過現在，耐久財價格季平。

So I think it wasn't that you were seeing sequential worsening, but you weren't seeing softer year on year movements as far as how because we're concerned, again, that gives you an indication what's happening there around our packaged business. I would say that between those two that I mean that's a fair view of where we are seeing that volumes plays out in terms of what we see between on-site merchant and package.

因此，我認為並不是您看到了連續惡化，而是您沒有看到逐年疲軟的走勢，因為我們再次擔心，這可以讓您了解我們的包裝業務周圍發生了什麼。我想說的是，在這兩者之間，我的意思是，根據我們在現場商家和包裹之間看到的情況，我們可以公平地看到銷售的表現。

Great. Thank you very much.

偉大的。非常感謝。

Patrick Cunningham, Citigroup.

派崔克‧坎寧安，花旗集團。

Hi, good morning. This is Eric on for Patrick. On inflationary conditions in China continued to be an issue. Can you talk about the cost actions you're taking in that region? And how has pricing trended?

早安.這是埃里克替帕特里克發言。中國的通膨狀況仍然是一個問題。您能談談您在該地區採取的成本行動嗎？定價趨勢如何？

Sure. So I will begin by just kind of reminding you that in China, we saw some of the Tier one customers and it will tend to have the best cost position in their fields and have been quite stable through this downturn. So I think it's just as a starting point, having a high quality customer in China actually is very well important for the stability and performance of that business.

當然。因此，我首先要提醒大家，在中國，我們看到了一些一級客戶，它們往往在其領域擁有最佳的成本地位，並且在這次經濟低迷時期一直相當穩定。所以我認為這只是一個起點，在中國擁有高品質的客戶實際上對於該業務的穩定性和績效非常重要。

If I talk specifically about cost actions, I'll say to you could probably go back, I'd say about 18 months now when we first talked about concerns around growth in China and the fact that we were treating China business as a mature business and ramping up activities, both on cost management around the fixed cost base and enhancing productivity actions as well.

如果我具體談論成本行動，我會對你說，我想說大約 18 個月前，當我們第一次談論對中國增長的擔憂以及我們將中國業務視為成熟業務的事實時加強圍繞固定成本基礎的成本管理和提高生產力行動的活動。

And that's been ongoing for about 18 months. It is a new we're not acting on it now. We have been undertaking this and using this as an opportunity to reset the cost base in China. Much of that actions already been completed. I feel pretty good about where we stand with the cost base. There is obviously more we can do and the productivity programs we are running in China, leveraging AI and so on and so forth are good examples of how we are managing that. I'll give you one very simple example.

這種情況已經持續了大約 18 個月。這是一個新的問題，我們現在還沒有採取行動。我們一直在這樣做，並以此為契機重新調整中國的成本基礎。其中大部分行動已經完成。我對我們的成本基礎狀況感覺很好。顯然我們可以做更多的事情，我們在中國運行的生產力計劃、利用人工智慧等都是我們如何管理這一點的好例子。我給你舉一個很簡單的例子。

So both most companies in China, most operations in China, for instance, fallen in recent regulatory requirements had to recruit between one to five safety officers to go and walk around the plant and take screenings and record them so that the authorities can come and audit them. Now both the companies have done that, as you would expect in the ballpark, how long and hard about how best to accomplish that.

因此，中國的大多數公司，例如中國的大多數業務，都未能滿足最近的監管要求，必須招募一到五名安全官員在工廠周圍走動，進行檢查並記錄下來，以便當局可以過來進行審計他們。現在兩家公司都做到了這一點，正如你所期望的那樣，如何最好地實現這一目標需要花費多長時間和艱辛。

And at the moment, we are rolling out a program, both smart loans where we're using a combination of drones and robots to do much of this reading of gauges and pressure points within the plant to make sure that they are then automatically recorded. But that's the productivity project, revenue technology, creative digital solution and applied that broadly across our fleet of plants in China, a clear productivity benefits.

目前，我們正在推出一項計劃，這兩項計劃都是智慧貸款，我們使用無人機和機器人的組合來讀取工廠內的儀表和壓力點，以確保它們隨後被自動記錄。但這就是生產力項目、收入技術、創造性的數位解決方案，並將其廣泛應用於我們在中國的工廠，這是一個明顯的生產力優勢。

You obviously don't increase your FTEs or your employee cost as a result of doing that. That's just one example of many that have given you in terms of the actions that are being taken, which are both spot, but also addressing the cost base itself quite significantly.

顯然，這樣做不會增加您的 FTE 或員工成本。這只是向您提供的許多正在採取的行動的例子之一，這些行動都是現場的，但也相當顯著地解決了成本基礎本身的問題。

On pricing, China is in deflation. So pricing, if we say we want to kind of be keep ourselves or that 2% markup that we'd like to see happen, that's where the team is currently pushing decline, get pricing to continue to move up.

在定價方面，中國正處於通貨緊縮之中。因此，如果我們說我們想要保持自己的定價，或者我​​們希望看到 2% 的加價發生，那麼這就是團隊目前正在推動下降的地方，讓定價繼續上漲。

There are two elements of the pricing, on the industrials, merchant and packaged in particular, we are seeing positive pricing movement there. It is, however, being offset by lower pricing on helium and rare gases, partly driven by lower demand from the Electronics segment. And partly because we are obviously seeing pressure of helium coming in from Russia and China, which has made China long and helium and has had an impact on pricing there.

定價有兩個要素，特別是工業品、商業品和包裝品，我們看到了積極的定價趨勢。然而，氦氣和稀有氣體價格的下降抵消了這一影響，部分原因是電子產業需求下降。部分原因是我們明顯看到來自俄羅斯和中國的氦氣壓力，這使得中國做多氦氣，並對那裡的價格產生了影響。

But beyond that, industrial pricing action continues to be strong, and I feel good about the momentum of the team has got over there, and we'll continue to see that move forward.

但除此之外，工業定價行動持續強勁，我對團隊的勢頭感到滿意，我們將繼續看到這一進展。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

Kevin McCarthy, Vertical Research Partners.

凱文·麥卡錫，垂直研究夥伴。

Thank you and good morning. A few questions on capital deployment for Matt. Your pace of repurchases accelerated a bit in the quarter in the prepared remarks, you talked about potential harvest of some project prepays in the back half of the year.

謝謝你，早安。關於馬特資本部署的幾個問題。您在準備好的發言中，本季回購節奏有所加快，談到了下半年一些專案預付款的潛在收穫。

So could you comment on the likely glide path of repurchases that you would foresee in coming quarters orders and maybe contrast that with potential for bolt-on deal activity within the guardrails of your single A rating?

那麼，您能否評論一下您在未來幾季的訂單中預計回購的可能下滑路徑，並可能將其與您的單一 A 評級護欄內的補強交易活動的潛力進行對比？

Kevin, I think in our obviously, I stated our capital allocation policy, which you know well on the prepared remarks, and that's been consistent going back many, many years. And we expected to remain consistent. And within that repurchases are absolutely an integral part of that. And it's something that we expect to be every day in the market. Come to your point, we have a significant amount of room on the single A rating.

凱文，我想，我顯然已經闡述了我們的資本配置政策，您在準備好的發言中對此很了解，而且這可以追溯到很多很多年前。我們希望保持一致。其中回購絕對是其中不可或缺的一部分。這是我們每天都希望在市場上出現的東西。言歸正傳，我們在單一 A 評級上還有很大的空間。

That's obvious, given our metrics where they stand right now. And I do expect, as I mentioned, to see a fairly nice pick up and operating cash flow in the back half of this year, just given some of the timing of things that are going to be better in the back half than they were in the first half.

考慮到我們目前的指標，這是顯而易見的。正如我所提到的，我確實預計今年下半年會看到相當不錯的回升和營運現金流，因為下半年的一些事情會比去年更好上半場。

But that all being said, our repurchase plan will look out generally for four quarters forward. We will determine a number that we want to deploy and cash based on the capital allocation policy, and then we'll execute inside the quarter and sometimes we'll accelerate when we see opportunities in the stock.

但話雖如此，我們的回購計畫總體上會展望未來四個季度。我們將根據資本配置政策確定我們想要部署和兌現的數量，然後我們將在季度內執行，有時當我們看到股票中的機會時我們會加速。

And we definitely saw that this last quarter. So we did accelerate and we repurchased $1.4 billion recently, and we've got good execution and we felt good pricing. So the overall plan will be continued to be part of the equation and our cash and our capital allocation.

我們在上個季度確實看到了這一點。所以我們確實加快了步伐，最近回購了 14 億美元，我們的執行力很好，定價也很好。因此，總體計劃將繼續成為我們現金和資本配置等式的一部分。

But day-to-day, we will accelerate or change our patterns based on what we see in the market. And as you know, we did that back during COVID times we did that back during the great financial crisis where we saw some significant opportunities to come in. And if we see anything like that, again, we absolutely will take advantage of it going forward.

但每天，我們都會根據我們在市場上看到的情況來加速或改變我們的模式。如您所知，我們在新冠疫情期間就這樣做了，在金融危機期間我們也這樣做了，當時我們看到了一些重要的機會。如果我們再次看到類似的情況，我們絕對會繼續利用它。

And any thought on bolt-on deal potential?

對補強交易的潛力有什麼想法嗎？

For M&A. I mean that's something we're always going to be evaluated for tuck-ins. If you could see here in our recent E&O cash flow statement that we had out here that we did do a continued more M&A activity. It will mostly be probably North America may be some in our A-Pac packaged gas business. These are great tuck-ins.

對於併購。我的意思是，這是我們總是要評估的事情。如果您可以在我們最近的 E&O 現金流量表中看到，我們確實進行了更多的併購活動。大部分可能是北美地區，可能是我們 A-Pac 包裝天然氣業務的一部分。這些都是很棒的折邊。

They are justified on synergies. So they have a very low risk threshold. And I think that's something in between that. And Dick apps, we are seeing more Deka opportunities by our investment criteria for them remains the same. So we'll see if opportunities present themselves with our Tier one customers.

它們在協同作用上是合理的。所以他們的風險閾值非常低。我認為這介於兩者之間。和迪克應用程序，我們看到更多的 Deka 機會，我們對它們的投資標準保持不變。因此，我們將看看我們的一級客戶是否會遇到機會。

But that's a consistent aspect of our capital allocation policy to invest back in the bill business with our investment criteria. And M&A is absolutely part of that.

但這是我們資本配置政策的一個一貫的方面，即按照我們的投資標準投資於票據業務。併購絕對是其中的一部分。

Great. Thank you very much.

偉大的。非常感謝。

John Roberts, Masimo.

約翰·羅伯茨，馬西莫。

Thanks, Matt. And I think you've talked before about return on invested capital plateauing here. It stay high or maybe even drift a little higher as long as earnings were driven by productivity in the consumer based markets. And then when the cyclical markets start to recover in the energy transition, investments come in, it starts to come down? Or do you think of state it plateaus high here even when cyclicals do start to come back and the energy transition investments coming?

謝謝，馬特。我想您之前已經談到過投資資本報酬率趨於穩定的問題。只要獲利是由消費者市場的生產力所驅動的，它就會保持在高位，甚至可能會稍微走高。然後，當週期性市場在能源轉型中開始復甦、投資時，它就開始下降嗎？或者您認為即使週期性因素確實開始回歸並且能源轉型投資即將到來，它仍會保持在高位？

Yeah, sure, John. I think your point of when you look at both our margins and our return on capital, we have industry-leading, in the case of return on capital, probably 2x or more to the next competitor.

是的，當然，約翰。我認為你的觀點是，當你考慮我們的利潤率和資本回報率時，我們處於行業領先地位，就資本回報率而言，可能是下一個競爭對手的兩倍或更多。

So the way we view that is we want to continue to grow and grow quality, which means maintain or potentially improve some of the margins in ROC, while growing and growing in high quality. Obviously, margins, as I mentioned, we have more room. We have room in each segment.

因此，我們認為，我們希望繼續成長並提高質量，這意味著保持或可能提高 ROC 的部分利潤，同時實現高品質成長。顯然，正如我所提到的，我們有更多的利潤空間。我們在每個部分都有空間。

We view them eventually converging and South Africa, that opportunity will continue to take advantage of. On the ROC, you're actually right. It's just a metric of a numerator with no path and a denominator of the capital base. For my earlier comments in our with Kevin, I mean, our capital allocation policy is very consistent, that won't change. And so I feel quite good about the denominator, which is the long range of that equation.

我們認為它們最終會融合在一起，而南非將繼續利用這一機會。關於中華民國，你其實是對的。它只是一個沒有路徑的分子和資本基礎的分母的度量。對於我之前與凱文的評論，我的意思是，我們的資本配置政策非常一致，不會改變。所以我對分母感覺很好，它是方程式的長範圍。

On the numerator, it's just going to be a function of our growth rate. Obviously, the higher we grow, you're going to see acceleration and that number and if your growth is a little lower than it may be a little more stagnant. So we feel good to maintain these levels. Time will tell if we increase some, we did increase it here another 10 bps or 20 bps, just given our growth rate on.

在分子上，它只是我們成長率的函數。顯然，我們成長得越高，你就會看到加速和這個數字，如果你的成長略低於它可能會更加停滯。因此，我們對維持這些水平感覺良好。時間會證明我們是否增加一些，我們確實在這裡又增加了 10 個基點或 20 個基點，只是考慮到我們的成長率。

So we'll see. But I am happy at these levels. But to be clear, by no means does ROC drive our investment criteria. We look at cash IRR unlevered after tax. That's how we make decisions on incremental investments, whether it's M&A, whether it's projects and that is more driven a function is getting a premium to our Rack and risk adjusting accordingly. But this will not affect our growth in any capacity, but it is a backward-looking accounting metric.

所以我們拭目以待。但我對這些水平感到滿意。但要明確說明的是，ROC 絕不驅動我們的投資標準。我們研究的是稅後無槓桿現金內部報酬率。這就是我們對增量投資做出決策的方式，無論是併購，還是項目，更受驅動的功能是對我們的機架和風險進行相應的調整。但這不會影響我們任何能力的成長，但這是一個向後看的會計指標。

And it's important for us because we view returns return on capital as a key investor measure for our owners. And it's something that we're going to continue to lead the industry on.

這對我們來說很重要，因為我們將資本回報率視為衡量我們所有者的關鍵投資者指標。我們將在這方面繼續引領業界。

Thank you.

謝謝。

I would now like to turn the call back over to Juan Pelaez for any additional closing remarks.

現在，我想將電話轉回給胡安·佩萊斯 (Juan Pelaez)，請其發表任何補充的結束語。

Thanks. Nice job. Thank you, everyone, for participating in today's call. If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out, stay safe.

謝謝。不錯的工作。謝謝大家參加今天的電話會議。如果您還有任何其他問題，請隨時與我們聯繫，並注意安全。

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. You may now disconnect. Thank you.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。謝謝。