林德集團 (LIN) 2026 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Linde second-quarter 2026 earnings call and webcast. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

各位女士、先生，大家好，感謝各位撥冗等候。歡迎參加林德（Linde）2026 年第二季財報電話會議與網路直播。(接線員指示) 請注意，今天的會議將被錄音。(接線員指示)

And I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Juan Pelaez, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

現在我想把會議交給投資人關係主管 Juan Pelaez 先生。先生，請開始。

Abby, thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for attending our 2026 second quarter earnings call and webcast. I'm Juan Pelaez, Head of Investor Relations, and I'm joined this morning by Sanjiv Lamba, Chief Executive Officer; and Matt White, Chief Financial Officer.

Abby，謝謝你。各位早安，感謝各位參加我們 2026 年第二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有執行長 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. Reconciliations of the adjusted numbers are in the appendix of this presentation. 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.

今天的簡報資料已上傳至我們網站 linde.com 的「投資人」專區。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位於本簡報的附錄。Sanjiv 將先做開場致詞，接著 Matt 將更新林德第二季財務表現與展望，之後我們將進行問答。

Let me turn the call over to Sanjiv.

接下來把電話交給 Sanjiv。

Thanks, Juan. And good morning, everyone.

謝謝你，Juan。各位早安。

During the second quarter, we achieved record sales and EPS levels with both growing at near double-digit percent, while increasing the backlog by $1 billion to a record $8.1 billion, after securing a new electronic spin in the US.

在第二季，我們達成創紀錄的營收與每股盈餘（EPS）水準，兩者皆接近雙位數百分比成長；同時在美國取得一項新的電子業現場供氣（on-site）專案後，積壓訂單增加 10 億美元至創紀錄的 81 億美元。

In addition, the backlog project pipeline remains healthy, but still new project opportunities under development. For the remainder of the year, we are expecting to start up more than 20 projects that add up to approximately $1.3 billion in investments. Even after accounting for these start-ups and based on the opportunities we see to date, I expect our sale of gas backlog to finish the year with an 8 handle, underscoring the continued strength of our long-term growth outlook.

此外，積壓訂單的專案管線仍然健康，仍有新的專案機會在開發中。在今年剩餘期間，我們預期將啟動超過 20 個專案，合計投資約 13 億美元。即使將這些啟動案納入考量，並基於目前所見的機會，我預期我們的售氣（sale of gas）積壓訂單在年底仍將以「8」開頭，凸顯我們長期成長展望的持續強勁。

While these results demonstrate the strength of core business and the future growth prospects, we are not satisfied with our margin performance for this quarter. Operating margins, excluding cost pass-through, declined approximately 30 basis points year-over-year, primarily driven by the Americas segment. Some of this is due to higher equipment and had good sales in our package business. which actually, I view as a good sign of US manufacturing recovery, but the majority is driven by the US home care business.

雖然這些結果展現核心業務的韌性與未來成長前景，但我們對本季的利潤率表現並不滿意。在排除成本轉嫁（cost pass-through）後，營業利潤率年減約 30 個基點，主要由美洲事業部所致。其中一部分原因是設備較多，且我們的瓶裝氣（package）業務銷售表現良好；其實我將其視為美國製造業復甦的正面訊號，但主要因素仍來自美國居家照護（home care）業務。

Even though we have been actively pruning this portfolio, it simply has not been enough to overcome the continued headwinds led by higher cost inflation and policy changes. We have a series of actions underway, and I fully expect sequential improvement into the third quarter. At the same time, we continue to evaluate the strategic fit of this US home care business within Linde, both in part and as a whole, while remaining focused on improving its performance and ensuring it earns its place in the portfolio. Matt will speak more to the numbers, but I remain confident in our long-term margin expansion story.

儘管我們一直在積極精簡這個投資組合，但仍不足以抵消持續的逆風，主要來自更高的成本通膨與政策變動。我們已在推動一系列行動，我完全預期第三季將出現環比改善。同時，我們也持續評估這項美國居家照護業務在林德內的策略契合度，無論是部分或整體，同時仍專注於改善其表現，並確保它能在投資組合中「名副其實」。Matt 會進一步說明相關數字，但我對我們長期的利潤率擴張故事仍然有信心。

Now I'd like to touch on some growth trends, which can be found on slide 3. Consumer-related markets grew versus prior year and sequentially. Health care and food and beverage grew with demographic trends and consumption with stronger sequential growth related to beverage seasonality. As expected, Electronics is the fastest-growing end market with the combination of project startups and higher demand tied to hardware associated with AR.

接下來我想談談一些成長趨勢，請見投影片第 3 頁。與消費者相關的終端市場相較去年同期與上一季皆成長。醫療保健以及食品與飲料受人口結構趨勢與消費帶動而成長，且因飲料季節性因素，環比成長更為強勁。如預期，電子是成長最快的終端市場，受惠於專案啟動以及與 AR 相關硬體帶動的需求提升。

As I mentioned earlier, we added $1 billion of new Electronics wins to the backlog and to support the expansion of advanced node fabs in West and US. Consistent with other backlog projects, we have already begun constructing the plants under reimbursable LOIs while the supply contracts were finalized. I'm pleased to see this addition to our existing network of plants in Arizona and look forward to winning a few more large opportunities that we're currently pursuing. Not included in the backlog are a couple of electronics wins by our Taiwan JV, which will invest approximately $800 million to build, own and operate ASUs and hydrogen production units to supply to new semiconductor fab and advanced packaging facilities there.

如我先前提到，我們新增了 10 億美元的電子業新案，納入積壓訂單，以支援西部與美國先進製程晶圓廠的擴產。與其他積壓訂單專案一致，在供應合約定案期間，我們已在可償付的意向書（reimbursable LOIs）架構下開始建廠。我很高興看到這項新增案加入我們在亞利桑那州既有的工廠網絡，也期待在目前正積極爭取的幾個大型機會中再下一城。未納入積壓訂單的還有我們台灣合資企業的幾項電子業得標案，該合資企業將投資約 8 億美元，興建、持有並營運空氣分離裝置（ASUs）與氫氣生產裝置，供應當地新的半導體晶圓廠與先進封裝設施。

Overall, I expect Electronics to remain our largest backlog contributor and one of the fastest-growing markets for the foreseeable future. Moving to industrial-related markets. Manufacturing remains the fastest-growing market. We experienced volume growth across APAC and the Americas although the US is still the primary driver with both aerospace and construction activity related to data centers.

整體而言，我預期在可預見的未來，電子業仍將是我們積壓訂單的最大貢獻來源，也是成長最快的市場之一。接著談工業相關終端市場。製造業仍是成長最快的市場。我們在亞太與美洲皆出現量的成長，儘管美國仍是主要驅動力，航空航太與與資料中心相關的建築活動皆帶動需求。

In fact, aerospace accounted for more than 1/3 of the manufacturing growth during the quarter. Both Metals and Mining and Chemicals Energy markets grew low single digits. Metals and mining activity was solid in the US and Brazil, and most of the chemicals growth relates to project backlog contributions in APAC.

事實上，航空航太在本季製造業成長中占比超過三分之一。金屬與採礦，以及化學與能源市場皆呈現低個位數成長。金屬與採礦在美國與巴西的活動穩健，而化學品的成長多與亞太地區積壓訂單專案的貢獻相關。

Aside from these regions, both end markets remained flattish across other geographies. In summary, we've lapped the more difficult comps and are starting to see green shoots of growth across certain geographies and end markets. For the ball, the project backlog reached a new record from the large-scale electronics wins, and we anticipate some further base CapEx investments to support our commercial space customers. Regardless of the current challenges, you can be assured that the entire Linde team is focused on being the best-performing industrial gas business globally.

除上述地區外，這兩個終端市場在其他地理區域大致持平。總結來說，我們已度過較具挑戰的比較基期，並開始在部分地區與終端市場看到成長的萌芽。整體而言，受大型電子業得標案帶動，專案積壓訂單創下新高；我們也預期將有更多基礎資本支出（base CapEx）投資，以支援我們的商業航太客戶。無論當前挑戰為何，請各位放心，林德全體團隊都專注於成為全球表現最佳的工業氣體企業。

I'll now turn the call over to Matt to walk through our financial results.

接下來我把電話交給 Matt，請他帶各位回顧我們的財務結果。

Thanks, Sanjiv. Please turn to slide 4 for the consolidated results. Sales of $9.3 billion rose 9% from prior year and 6% sequentially. Versus prior year, FX was a 2% tailwind while acquisitions and engineering each contributed 1%. Cost pass-through rose 1% on higher power in all segments but was partially offset by lower natural gas for US hydrogen. Excluding these items, underlying sales rose 4%, split between higher volume and price.

謝謝你，Sanjiv。請翻到投影片第 4 頁查看合併結果。營收 93 億美元，較去年同期成長 9%，較上一季成長 6%。相較去年同期，匯率帶來 2% 的順風，而併購與工程業務各貢獻 1%。成本轉嫁因各事業部電力成本上升而增加 1%，但部分被美國氫氣業務天然氣成本下降所抵銷。排除上述項目後，基礎營收（underlying sales）成長 4%，由更高的銷量與價格共同帶動。

Almost half volume increase relates to project start-ups in APAC and Americas. The remaining is driven by organic growth in the US, China, Korea, India, and the Advanced Materials business. While aerospace and electronics continue to lead, industrial end markets are improving in select geographies, especially the US. The price increase of 2% was broad-based across all geographies and generally tracked with local inflation. Sequentially, underlying sales increased 4% from 3% volume and 1% pricing.

銷量增加中，近一半與亞太與美洲的專案啟動相關。其餘則由美國、中國、韓國、印度，以及先進材料（Advanced Materials）業務的有機成長所帶動。在航空航太與電子持續領先之際，工業終端市場在部分地區也正在改善，尤其是美國。2% 的價格上漲遍及所有地區，整體上與當地通膨走勢一致。就環比而言，基礎營收較上一季增加 4%，其中 3% 來自銷量、1% 來自價格。

More than half of the volume increase relates to seasonal factors with the remainder being organic.

超過一半的銷量增長與季節性因素有關，其餘則為有機成長。

Operating margins of 29.5% decreased 60 basis points from prior year or 30 basis points when excluding the impact of cost pass-through. As Sanjiv mentioned, the US home care business negatively impacted the Americas. Excluding this, margins would have increased. But regardless, actions are underway to improve.

營業利益率為29.5%，較去年同期下降60個基點；若排除成本轉嫁（cost pass-through）的影響，則下降30個基點。如Sanjiv所提到，美國居家照護業務對美洲區表現造成負面影響。若排除此因素，利潤率本可上升。但無論如何，我們已在推動改善行動。

Separately, US hardgoods sales are up double-digit percent from prior year. And while this mix is dilutive to margins, it could bode well for US manufacturing recovery.

另外，美國硬商品（hardgoods）銷售較去年同期呈現兩位數成長。雖然此產品組合對利潤率具有稀釋效果，但可能有利於美國製造業復甦。

Finally, the APAC erosion is mostly due to lower margin equipment sales for electronic customers. Overall, we expect many of these margin headwinds to be temporary and thus recover in the coming quarters. Operating profit rolled down to an EPS of $4.50 or 10% over prior year from a combination of net income and lower share count.

最後，亞太區（APAC）利潤率下滑主要是因為對電子客戶的低利潤設備銷售增加。整體而言，我們預期其中許多利潤率逆風屬於暫時性，並將在未來幾季回升。營業利益換算後的每股盈餘（EPS）為4.50美元，較去年同期成長10%，主要來自淨利增加與流通股數下降的綜合影響。

Slide 5 provides an overview of capital management. The operating cash flow trend shows moderate year-over-year growth as higher earnings are partially offset by unfavorable timing in the Engineering business. Recall that the first half results are seasonally lower. So we expect the second half to step up like prior years. Available cash flow, which we define as operating cash flow less base CapEx remains at healthy levels, enabling significant excess cash for secured growth and shareholder distributions, which could be seen in the pie chart.

投影片5概述資本管理。營運現金流趨勢顯示年增溫和，較高的獲利部分被工程（Engineering）業務不利的時點因素所抵銷。請記得，上半年結果在季節性上較弱。因此我們預期下半年將如往年一樣走強。可用現金流（我們定義為營運現金流扣除基礎資本支出Base CapEx）仍維持在健康水準，使我們能產生可觀的超額現金，用於確保成長與股東分配，這在圓餅圖中可見。

Year-to-date, we've deployed $6 billion of capital, split evenly between business investments, and shareholder returns. $1.9 billion of secured growth represents capital deployed for acquisitions and the project backlog. When considering the record $8.1 billion sale of gas backlog continued roll-up acquisition targets and project pipeline opportunities, we expect this number to remain a significant use of capital for the foreseeable future.

年初至今，我們已投入60億美元資本，平均分配於業務投資與股東回饋。19億美元的「確保成長」（secured growth）代表用於併購與專案訂單積壓（project backlog）的資本投入。考量到創紀錄的81億美元氣體（gas）訂單積壓出售、持續的併購整合（roll-up）標的，以及專案管線機會，我們預期在可預見的未來，這仍將是資本的重要用途。

I'll wrap up with guidance on slide 6. Third quarter guidance range is $4.45 to $4.55 or 6% to 8% growth. This assumes no currency impact from prior year but does assume a 1% FX headwind sequentially. Consistent with prior approach, the range assumes no economic improvement at the midpoint. The updated full year range is $17.70 to $17.90 or 8% to 9% growth, excluding a 1% FX tailwind assumption.

我將以投影片6的財測作結。第三季財測區間為每股盈餘4.45至4.55美元，或年增6%至8%。此假設相較去年不受匯率影響，但假設匯率（FX）對季比帶來1%的逆風。延續先前作法，該區間在中點假設下不包含任何經濟改善。更新後的全年區間為17.70至17.90美元，或年增8%至9%，並排除1%匯率順風（FX tailwind）的假設。

This range raises the prior bottom end by $0.10 but leaves the top unchanged. While base volumes showed some recovery in the second quarter, we'd like a few more quarters under our belt before incorporating this trend into future guidance.

此區間將先前下緣上調0.10美元，但上緣維持不變。雖然第二季基礎銷量（base volumes）出現一些復甦，但在將此趨勢納入未來財測之前，我們希望再觀察幾季。

Therefore, we're leaving the back half guidance assumption the same as before. The Q2 to Q3 sequential EPS trend is projected to increase $0.05 at the midpoint when excluding FX, which reflects some of the actions being undertaken. Of course, this is merely a guide. How we perform is what matters most. We know our owners expect more, and the organization is committed to delivering on those expectations.

因此，我們維持下半年財測假設與先前相同。若排除匯率影響，預估第二季到第三季每股盈餘（EPS）季比在中點將增加0.05美元，反映部分正在推動的行動成效。當然，這僅是指引。最重要的是我們實際的表現。我們知道股東對我們有更高期待，而組織也承諾將達成這些期待。

I'll now turn the call over to Q&A.

接下來把電話交給問答（Q&A）環節。

(Operator Instructions) Laurent Favre, BNP Paribas.

(接線員指示) Laurent Favre，法國巴黎銀行（BNP Paribas）。

Sanjiv, I think you said it all within the first five minutes. But can I dig a little bit deeper in that health care comments. Can you give us a sense of how much of a headwind it has been over the last year is the business in the US currently profitable at all? Or how much of the margin drag it has been on the business, please?

Sanjiv，我想你在前五分鐘已經把重點都說完了。不過我能否再深入一點談談你對醫療保健的評論。你能否讓我們了解，過去一年這項業務帶來了多大的逆風？目前在美國的該業務是否仍有獲利？或者它對整體業務造成了多大的利潤率拖累，麻煩說明一下？

Thanks, Laurent. So I think we -- in the slide itself, we've laid out the fact that the Americas business ex the US home care or Lincare business would be up 20 basis points on margin, ex pass through as we normally do. So that is a reflection of the gases business is doing well. As we said in the remarks as well that there is a bit of a mix effect, which actually, to be honest, I see the gases business doing well.

謝謝你，Laurent。我想我們——在投影片中已經說明，美洲業務若排除美國居家照護或Lincare業務，在我們一貫排除轉嫁（pass-through）的口徑下，利潤率將提高20個基點。這反映出氣體（gases）業務表現良好。我們在致詞中也提到，確實存在一些組合效應；坦白說，我看到的是氣體業務表現不錯。

I will take the hardgoods -- double-digit hardgoods sales that we're seeing in the business. It's a good signal of manufacturing recovery in the US. Yes, it has a small dilutive impact on margin, which is temporary.

至於硬商品（hardgoods）——我們看到該業務硬商品銷售呈兩位數成長。這是美國製造業復甦的良好訊號。是的，它對利潤率有些微稀釋影響，但屬於暫時性。

And then of course, we talked briefly about sale of equipment elsewhere, particularly APAC, where there was that impact as well. But from our perspective, not happy with where the margins are. Actions are aggressively underway to essentially attack the issues that we've identified in the Lincare business. And I expect that we will continue to see sequential improvement as we move forward.

當然，我們也簡要談到其他地區的設備銷售，特別是亞太區（APAC），那裡也有相同影響。但就我們的角度而言，我們對目前的利潤率水準並不滿意。我們正積極推動行動，實質上是針對我們在Lincare業務中識別出的問題進行改善。我預期隨著時間推進，我們將持續看到逐季改善。

And just as a follow-up on the Electronics side, I think the contract that you announced have been, I guess, in the pipeline for a while. I was wondering in terms of geographies or maybe some of the key customers, where do you see the biggest opportunities on the Electronic side? Is it still in the US or elsewhere in Asia, maybe in Korea and Taiwan, et cetera?

另外追問電子（Electronics）業務，我想你宣布的合約應該已在管線中一段時間了。我想請問就地理區域或一些關鍵客戶而言，你認為電子業務端最大的機會在哪裡？仍然是在美國，還是亞洲其他地區，例如韓國、台灣等等？

Absolutely, the Electronics pipeline, as I said in my remarks as well, is looking healthy at this point in time. And you certainly heard from me say that I expect that we'll end this year on the backlog with the 8 handle despite bringing on investments of up to $1.3 billion.

完全同意。正如我在致詞中提到的，電子業務的管線目前看起來相當健康。你也確實聽到我說，我預期即使新增最高達13億美元的投資，我們仍將在今年年底把訂單積壓（backlog）維持在「8字頭」。

So we will -- the backlog will go down from the current sale of gas backlog of 8.1%, by about 1.3%, and we will add back into that backlog. So it has to be supported by a robust pipeline. Those projects stand a wall, to your point, I see bulk of those projects out of the US but see strong pipelines in Taiwan and Korea as well and some in China.

因此我們——訂單積壓將因目前81億美元氣體（gas）訂單積壓的出售而下降約8.1%，再因新增投資約下降1.3%，而我們也會把新的專案補回到訂單積壓中。所以這必須由強勁的專案管線來支撐。就這些專案而言，如你所說，我認為大部分來自美國；但在台灣與韓國也有強勁的管線，另外在中國也有一些。

Patrick Cunningham, Citi.

Patrick Cunningham，花旗（Citi）。

I guess just talking about some of the manufacturing growth assumptions, particularly in North America, it doesn't seem like you have some of this base volume assumption trend sort of baked into the outlook. But is the bulk of that inflection that you see in coming from commercial space. I was hoping maybe you could dig into the health of some of the other end markets and what you're sort of anticipating for the second half.

我想談談一些製造業成長的假設，特別是在北美；看起來你並未把這些基礎銷量（base volume）假設趨勢完全納入展望之中。但你所看到的那個轉折點，主要是否來自商業領域（commercial space）？我希望你能談談其他終端市場的健康狀況，以及你對下半年的預期。

Sure. So why don't I start off with a quick view. I think I provided a broad overview in my prepared remarks, Patrick there.

好的。那我先從一個快速的概覽開始。我想我在事先準備的發言中已經提供了相當全面的概述了，Patrick。

Let me just kind of give you a sense of what we think the outlook for the second half looks like. So traditionally, our resilient markets, health care and food and beverage have been consistent, and we continue to expect the same outlook for the rest of the year there. Nothing significant to change. Electronics, as you saw year-on-year had 18% growth in the second quarter, we expect Electronics momentum to carry on for the rest of the year as well.

我簡單讓你了解一下我們認為下半年展望會是什麼樣子。傳統上，我們具韌性的市場——醫療保健以及食品與飲料——一直都很穩健，我們也預期今年剩餘時間會維持相同的展望。沒有什麼重大變化。電子業方面，如你所見，第二季年增18%，我們也預期電子業的動能會延續到今年剩餘時間。

So again, pretty positive in terms of that. And of course, adding to the backlog helps us get the future growth prospects locked in as well. A point on Electronics worth noting, and I think in APAC, in particular, sale of equipment that we provide to many of our electronics customers is very important for us because while from a margin point of view, not that exciting, the reality is the pull-through on gas sales that happened in the future, I think this kind of ensures that. So feel good about that as well as we look at the second half.

所以整體而言相當正面。當然，增加在手訂單也有助於我們鎖定未來的成長前景。關於電子業有一點值得注意：我認為在亞太地區尤其如此，我們提供給許多電子客戶的設備銷售對我們非常重要，因為從毛利角度來看雖然不算特別亮眼，但實際上，未來氣體銷售的帶動效應（pull-through）會隨之發生，我認為這能確保那一點。因此展望下半年，我們對此也感到樂觀。

On the industrial markets, and I'd say to you, manufacturing, which you kind of specifically mentioned, looks robust. Signals from the US market, in particular, where the recovery is most prominent looks good. The feedback from the customers suggest that they see that outlook for the rest of the year as things stand today. Now within that, the indicators that we look for, and I referenced this again in my remarks briefly, the sale in the US package business is a good leading indicator. Here, the gases side has been growing mid- to high single digit with the hardgoods themselves growing double digit.

在工業市場方面，我會說製造業——也就是你特別提到的——看起來很強勁。尤其是美國市場的訊號，復甦最為明顯，看起來不錯。客戶的回饋顯示，以目前情況來看，他們對今年剩餘時間的展望也是如此。在這之中，我們關注的指標之一——我在發言中也簡要提到——是美國包裝業務的銷售，這是一個很好的領先指標。在這裡，氣體業務成長為中到高個位數，而硬體（hardgoods）本身則是雙位數成長。

And I think that's where the confidence that the manufacturing recovery that we're expecting, not just recovery, I think the momentum that we're expecting in manufacturing in the US is likely to continue. We see that -- also elsewhere, Asia Pacific saw manufacturing momentum pick up as well, despite the fact that there are some Middle East related challenges in Asia, in particular, but the manufacturing underlying seem to continue to perform well. So again, the outlook for that continues to be reasonably robust.

我認為這也是我們對製造業復甦的信心來源——不只是復甦，我想是我們預期美國製造業的動能很可能會持續。我們在其他地區也看到這點——亞太地區的製造動能也有所回升，儘管亞洲特別是仍有一些與中東相關的挑戰，但製造業的基本面似乎仍持續表現良好。因此，這部分的展望仍然相當穩健。

Aerospace did provide for more than 1/3 of that growth for manufacturing. So to your point, I expect that momentum to carry on into the second half as well. Chemicals Energy has been a little bit spot here. I think low single-digit growth. We obviously have the benefit of some good backlog contributions coming in, in Asia.

航太為製造業成長貢獻了超過三分之一。所以如你所說，我也預期這股動能會延續到下半年。化學與能源這塊則有點零星。我想是低個位數成長。我們在亞洲也明顯受惠於一些良好的在手訂單貢獻逐步進來。

So I think that's looked good. But I do not see a fundamental shift in the chemicals energy piece. Obviously, there's a lot of volatility in the market at the moment. There are lots of geopolitical events that could impact one way or the other. And in part, you would see from our guidance that we have taken a neutral stand in terms of what's going to happen to the economy, we are happy for our investors to take a view on that because at this point, it's a speculation.

所以我認為那看起來不錯。但我不認為化學與能源這一塊會出現根本性的轉變。顯然，目前市場波動很大。有許多地緣政治事件可能以某種方式造成影響。也因此，你會從我們的指引中看到，我們對經濟走向採取中性的立場；我們也樂於讓投資人自行判斷，因為在這個時間點，這仍屬於推測。

Metals and Mining, again, pretty robust in the US and in Brazil. I expect that trend to be about steady. Obviously, in the US with all the build-out that's happening with data centers, et cetera, metals are getting a little bit of a fill-up.

金屬與礦業方面，美國與巴西同樣相當強勁。我預期這個趨勢大致會維持穩定。顯然，在美國，隨著資料中心等各種建設擴張，金屬需求也有些被帶動起來。

So that's good. Listening to some of our customers' calls over the last few weeks have seen slightly more -- slightly higher degree of optimism as well on steel. So it will be good to see that flow through into the next half as well. So I think that kind of broadly gives you a sense of where we are seeing momentum and what the outlook for second half looks like at this point.

所以這是好事。過去幾週聽了一些客戶的電話會議，也看到他們對鋼鐵的樂觀程度略有提升——稍微更樂觀一些。因此也很期待這能在下半年反映出來。我想以上大致讓你了解我們目前看到的動能所在，以及此刻對下半年的展望。

Duffy Fischer, Goldman Sachs.

Duffy Fischer，高盛。

Question just around the impact that you've seen on your business and on your customers from what's happening with the Strait of Hormuz and kind of the greater Persian Gulf area obviously, particularly with helium, but then just with the general business. And then if that issue resolves itself this year, what do you think the impact will be a year out as that starts to normalize?

問題是關於你們在荷姆茲海峽以及更廣泛的波斯灣地區所發生的事情，對你們業務與客戶所造成的影響——顯然特別是氦氣，但也包括整體業務。另外，如果這個問題今年內得到解決，你認為在一年後、當情況開始正常化時，影響會是什麼？

So that will be the Middle East impact, as you know, and I'll start with Helium, just to begin with because I think that's a good place to kind of give a sense of how we've managed and navigated that fairly complex set of issues. But -- and then talk a little bit about what happens elsewhere.

所以這會是中東的影響，如你所知。我先從氦氣談起，因為我認為這是一個很好的切入點，可以讓大家了解我們如何管理並因應這一整套相當複雜的議題。然後——再談談其他地方會發生什麼。

So starting with helium. I think as far as helium is concerned, I'm really pleased with how our team has navigated this whole set of developments over the last many months, largely because we've done what we need to do in ensuring that reliable and safe supplies until our existing contracted customers, and we've had a lot of positive feedback coming from them because that's what they would expect from Linde.

先從氦氣開始。就氦氣而言，我對團隊在過去許多個月中如何因應這一連串發展感到非常滿意，主要是因為我們做了該做的事，確保對既有合約客戶提供可靠且安全的供應；我們也從他們那裡收到很多正面回饋，因為這正是他們對林德（Linde）的期待。

But more importantly, our teams have also gone out and they've signed up new customers with long-term contracts as well, leveraging the fact that we have the confidence in our supply chain due to the diverse sources that we have supplying into the helium supply chain, the cabin that we maintain, and of course, quite importantly, the capability around supply chain logistics, in terms of tanks, et cetera, all of that's played well into positioning this for new business growth that we've seen. We have had the pricing move along as well, which has been a good thing.

但更重要的是，我們的團隊也積極拓展，利用我們對供應鏈的信心——來自多元的氦氣供應來源、我們維持的緩衝（cabin），以及非常關鍵的供應鏈物流能力（例如槽罐等）——去簽下新的客戶並簽訂長期合約；這些都很好地協助我們定位並推動我們所看到的新業務成長。我們的價格也有所上調，這是件好事。

Obviously, (inaudible) costs related to helium, the overall recovery probably doesn't quite show through in the margins just yet, but I fully expect that as well over the next couple of quarters. I think equally important to just underscore on the helium is the fact that looking ahead, we continue to be confident in our ability to maintain that supply chain despite the more recent developments in the Strait of Hormuz.

顯然，（聽不清）與氦氣相關的成本，整體的回收可能還沒有完全反映在利潤率上，但我完全預期在接下來幾個季度會逐步體現。同樣重要的是要強調，就氦氣而言，展望未來，即便荷姆茲海峽近期出現更多發展，我們仍對維持該供應鏈的能力充滿信心。

Any change in the Strait of Hormuz and the fact that we restart helium production back in Qatar and get the alignment of all the supply chain elements that each come together between tanks and shipping and so on and so forth, I think will have a lasting impact for the rest of the year. I don't think you will see normalization.

荷姆茲海峽的任何變化，以及我們在卡達重啟氦氣生產，並讓所有供應鏈要素——包括槽罐、航運等等——重新對齊並整合到位，我認為都會在今年剩餘時間產生持續性的影響。我不認為你會看到情況正常化。

This year, it will -- once those issues are resolved, which, of course, itself remains a little bit of a question mark today, once the issues are resolved, we will see normalization progress at a slower pace than most of us would like and will kind of probably take us into the early part of next year. As things normalize, yes, next year, we should see a more normalized year market. But at this point in time, seeing the resolution of what happens in the Strait of Hormuz is probably more important than speculating what next year is going to look like.

今年，一旦那些問題獲得解決——當然，就連這件事本身在今天仍帶有一些問號——一旦問題解決，我們將看到正常化以比我們大多數人希望的更慢速度推進，並且可能會延續到明年年初。隨著情況正常化，是的，明年我們應該會看到一個更正常化的市場年度。但就目前而言，荷姆茲海峽會發生什麼並獲得解決，可能比推測明年會是什麼樣子更重要。

Let me talk about some of the other markets. So where we have seen an impact on the Middle East crisis is the fact that in Asia country is highly dependent on hydrocarbons coming out of the Middle East have had to scale back industrial activity. And I think markets like India, (inaudible), Australia and, to a lesser extent, China have seen that.

我再談談其他一些市場。我們看到中東危機帶來影響的地方在於，亞洲有些國家高度依賴來自中東的碳氫化合物，因此不得不縮減工業活動。我認為像印度、（聽不清）、澳洲，以及在較小程度上中國，都看到了這種情況。

And I think that's where the impact over this second quarter, as we've kind of mentioned to you, it's probably a little bit more visible. Everybody is hoping for resolution. Once that happens, you will see that normalization happen fairly quickly. But each of those countries has been looking at different strategies to manage these issues that they currently continue.

我認為這就是我們在第二季所看到的影響——正如我們先前提到的——可能更為明顯。大家都希望能夠解決。一旦發生，你會看到正常化相當快地出現。但這些國家各自都在採取不同策略，以管理他們目前仍在持續面對的這些問題。

Vincent Andrews, Morgan Stanley.

Vincent Andrews，摩根士丹利。

Maybe just a two-part one. First on Helium, just to clarify, did you all change anything in your guidance assumptions relative to what you had assumed back at the start of the year? And then secondly, in Americas, the kind of year-on-year price step down, I think it was flat sequentially. Was that the hardgoods mix issue? Or is underlying sequential price leveling off?

也許是兩個部分的問題。第一個關於氦氣，只是想確認一下，你們是否相較於年初的假設，調整了任何指引假設？第二個，在美洲地區，同期相比的價格下滑，我記得環比是持平。那是硬貨（hardgoods）組合的問題嗎？還是基礎的環比價格正在趨於持平？

Vincent, it's Matt. I could probably answer those. So I think first on helium, yes, so we left the guidance intact. So by default, that kind of means no material change and helium would also be part of that. So to your first point, we didn't change it.

Vincent，我是Matt。我應該可以回答這些。先談氦氣，是的，我們維持指引不變。所以按定義來說，這表示沒有重大變動，氦氣也包含在其中。因此就你第一點而言，我們沒有改。

And just kind of building off what Sanjiv said, when you think about the helium business right now, what we're seeing, we are seeing strong price improvement, but we're also seeing higher costs for dislocation, as Sanjiv mentioned. So the contribution on a dollar basis, it is positive. It's not as large as we'd like it, but it's positive.

再延伸Sanjiv剛才說的，當你看目前的氦氣業務，我們看到的是價格改善強勁，但同時也看到因供應錯位（dislocation）而帶來的更高成本，如Sanjiv所提。所以以美元貢獻來看，是正面的。沒有我們希望的那麼大，但確實是正的。

But on a margin basis, that grossing-up effect right now is a little bit dilutive. That should stay (inaudible) as it normally does. But as you can imagine, right now, meeting our customers and getting new contracts signed is the priority.

但以毛利率來看，目前那種「墊高」（grossing-up）的效果有點稀釋。這應該會（聽不清）回到正常狀態，就像通常那樣。但如你所想像，眼下與客戶對接並簽下新合約是優先事項。

And doing it a positive dollar contribution is happening. It's just the margin gross-up effect right now is a little bit dilutive on that front. On the Americas, just to make sure I understand, I mean, price is up 2% year-over-year. Sequentially, were flat. As you know, when we talk about sequential, I tend not to send a lot of time on sequential just given the different timings of some of the escalations that are done and the pricing actions.

而且以正的美元貢獻來做這件事正在發生。只是目前在那一端，毛利「墊高」效應對利潤率有些稀釋。至於美洲地區，為了確保我理解正確，我是說，價格同比上升2%。環比持平。如你所知，談到環比，我通常不會在環比上花太多時間，因為有些調價（escalations）與定價行動的時間點不同。

Year-over-year always is a more important metric for me. So when I think about that, it is, I'd say, for Americas delivering on our expectations, Obviously, you're going to have -- again, we talked about Lincare, there's not pricing in that business right now, a significant amount. It is probably not keeping up with what it needs to be.

對我而言，同比永遠是更重要的指標。所以我看這件事時，我會說，美洲地區的定價表現符合我們的預期；當然，你會有——我們談過Lincare，那個業務目前沒有太多定價，它可能跟不上它需要的水準。可能跟不上它需要的水準。

So that will be a little bit of a drag. That's been the case, though, for many years now. So I would say pricing in Americas on the year-over-year is tracking where we'd expect and what we want to see. I hope that answers your question, but just to make sure -- I don't know if you have a follow-up on that.

所以那會帶來一些拖累。不過，多年來一直都是如此。因此我會說，美洲地區的同比定價走勢符合我們的預期，也符合我們希望看到的情況。希望這回答了你的問題；但為了確認——我不確定你是否還有追問。

David Begleiter, Deutsche Bank.

David Begleiter，德意志銀行。

Sanjiv, I know it's early, but if you look at next year 2027, given project start-ups, helium maybe being [Helen] next year, Helium, growth in space, pricing productivity. Do you need much of any macro improvement to get to double-digit 10% EPS growth next year?

Sanjiv，我知道現在還早，但如果看明年2027年，考量專案啟動、氦氣可能在明年成為[Helen]，氦氣、航太領域的成長、定價與生產力。要在明年達到兩位數、10%的EPS成長，你需要多少（如果需要的話）總體環境改善？

Thanks, David. As you know, our EPS algorithm lays out the fact that between [manufactions] and capital allocation combined, we should be delivering 8% to 12%. We're not looking for macro as long as macro is not taking away from that, you should expect us to look at that 8% to 12% range. And I think we will be consistent on that as we look out to next year as well. Obviously, any tailwind that we get will be factored straight in and you will see that improvement come through at the EPS line.

謝謝，David。如你所知，我們的EPS演算法指出，製造（[manufactions]）與資本配置合計，我們應該能交付8%到12%。只要總體環境不會把這些拿走，我們並不指望宏觀環境；你應該預期我們會以8%到12%的區間為目標。我想在展望明年時，我們也會在這方面保持一致。當然，任何我們獲得的順風都會直接反映進來，你會看到改善在EPS那一行呈現。

Now as you know, this is very early. We've talked about 2027. So later in the year, we'll have -- and early next year is when our guidance will be more clear on that. The late in the year, we'll obviously be doing a lot of work planning for next year to make sure that we have a good handle on how the business is going to play out.

如你所知，現在還非常早。我們談的是2027年。所以在今年稍晚，以及明年年初，我們的指引才會在這方面更清楚。今年稍晚我們顯然會做大量工作來規劃明年，確保我們能很好掌握業務將如何發展。

And to be clear, Helium should be a tailwind next year. Is that fair?

再確認一下，氦氣明年應該會是順風。這樣說公平嗎？

Helium will be normalized next year. I think we'll have to wait and see what that means. The complexity of volume and price mix, I think, will play a role in what Helium does next year.

氦氣明年會回歸正常化。我想我們得再等等看那代表什麼。我認為，量與價的組合複雜性，會在氦氣明年的表現上扮演一定角色。

Josh Spector, UBS.

Josh Spector，瑞銀。

I wanted to ask on the CapEx rate for this year. I think you addressed it in the prepared remarks briefly, but did you indicate that a lot of that increase was linked with commercial space? And I guess if you can give maybe any other breakdown of that $500 million increase, that would be helpful. And I'm just curious with that, if you are building more for that market through your merchant pipeline, what does that mean for space customers approach in your view to make versus buy in terms of oxygen, nitrogen and the gases for that market?

我想問一下今年的資本支出（CapEx）比率。我想你在事先準備的講稿中有簡短提到，但你是否表示那個增加的很大一部分與商業太空有關？另外，如果你能對那增加的5億美元做一些其他拆分，會很有幫助。我也好奇，在此之下，如果你正透過你們的商用（merchant）管線為那個市場建更多產能，這在你看來，對太空客戶在氧氣、氮氣以及該市場用氣體的「自製」與「外購」（make versus buy）取捨上意味著什麼？

Josh, it's Matt. I can probably handle those. So starting on the CapEx. Yes, you are correct. The CapEx number on the estimate was bumped up.

Josh，我是Matt。那些我應該可以處理。那就從資本支出（CapEx）開始。是的，你說得沒錯。估算中的CapEx數字已被上調。

Clearly, with the backlog wins that will drive that. So by adding the new project that Sanjiv mentioned in the prepared remarks, that is contributing to that. And yes, there are going to be more commercial space activities and the base CapEx that also are contributing to that as well. So the combination of those two, both the project backlog and some of the base CapEx will drive that.

很明顯，隨著積壓訂單（backlog）的得標，會推動這個數字。因此，加入Sanjiv在事先準備的發言中提到的新專案，也對此有所貢獻。而且是的，商業太空活動會增加，基礎CapEx也同樣在貢獻。所以這兩者的組合——專案積壓訂單以及部分基礎CapEx——將會推動這個數字。

As far as the make versus buy, that -- when you think about our traditional on-site customers, that always is something that has been something we manage for many, many decades, right? The traditional on-site customer would look to buy a plant versus outsourcing the sale of gas model. And that's something we had always managed through actually a hybrid approach because we have the capability to do both. I would say with commercial space, given the quantities of propellant they acquire. You're seeing a similar dynamic at least with certain players that have comfort and the access of capital to have a desire to vertically integrate.

至於自製（make）與外購（buy）的取捨——當你想到我們傳統的現場（on-site）客戶時，這一直是我們數十年來都在管理的事情，對吧？傳統的現場客戶會考慮買一座工廠，或是採用外包的售氣（sale of gas）模式。而我們一直透過某種混合式做法來管理，因為我們兩種能力都具備。我會說，在商業太空領域，考量他們採購的推進劑（propellant）數量，你會看到類似的動態，至少在某些具備信心且能取得資本、並希望進行垂直整合的業者身上。

Now this right now is primarily only with certain players and atmospheric. We are not seeing it in the hydrogen side, which is a very, very different dynamic for any Hydrolock-based engines. So it's a normal occurrence, I'd say, when you start seeing these kind of quantities. It's something that's very akin to how we have navigated the on-site business for many days, and we're very comfortable with it. So absolutely, I expect you'll see a blend of sale of gas and some sale of plant.

目前這主要只出現在某些業者以及大氣氣體（atmospheric）方面。我們在氫氣端並沒有看到這種情況；對任何以Hydrolock為基礎的引擎而言，那是非常、非常不同的動態。所以我會說，當你開始看到這類數量規模時，這是很正常的現象。這很類似我們多年來在現場業務中所採取的應對方式，我們也非常熟悉。所以絕對地，我預期你會看到售氣與部分售廠（sale of plant）的混合。

Generally, those sale of plants can come with what's called an operated maintain. So you tend to run it all as a system. You may run customer-owned plants with your own plants on sale of gas. And that gives the customer kind of the best of both and it also helps manage our both capital and management of products. So I would anticipate that for certain customers, not all customers, and it also would probably only be on certain atmospheric I don't anticipate it at this stage at hydrogen. So that's how I see that develop.

一般而言，這些售廠交易會搭配所謂的代營運維護（operated maintain）。因此你往往會把它當作一個系統來運作。你可能會同時運行客戶自有的工廠，以及你自有、採售氣模式的工廠。這讓客戶有點像兩者兼得，也有助於我們同時管理資本投入與產品管理。所以我預期這會適用於某些客戶，但不是所有客戶；而且大概只會在某些大氣氣體上發生，現階段我不預期會在氫氣上出現。這就是我看待其發展的方式。

The only thing I'd reiterate there, Matt, would be the fact that we will play for both sale of gas as well sale of block. So we do participate in the opportunity, even if it is a sale of plant in case people want to vertically integrate them.

我在這裡唯一想再強調一次的，Matt，是我們會同時參與售氣以及售廠。所以即便有人想做垂直整合、選擇售廠，我們也會參與那個機會。

Matthew DeYoe, Bank of America.

Matthew DeYoe，美國銀行（Bank of America）。

Congratulations for getting the (inaudible), the large electronics customers over the line. What -- and can you share maybe some revenue intensity of the CapEx or give some guidance? Your European competitors kind of flagged like a 25% CapEx to revenue conversion on some of these projects. Is that a reasonable ballpark for you?

恭喜你們把（聽不清）以及大型電子客戶談成。那麼——你們能否分享一下CapEx的營收強度，或提供一些指引？你們的歐洲競爭對手在某些專案上提到CapEx轉換為營收約25%。對你們來說，這是合理的概略區間嗎？

Matt, this is Matt. So the revenue to CapEx is always going to be a function of whether it's atmospheric or whether it's process gas like hydrogen. So as you can imagine, if you have a more process hydrogen based that has energy pass-through that might be higher.

Matt，我是Matt。所以營收對CapEx的比率，永遠取決於是大氣氣體，還是像氫氣這樣的製程氣體（process gas）。因此你可以想像，如果是更偏製程、以氫氣為主且包含能源轉嫁（energy pass-through）的，可能會更高。

But traditionally, for us, revenue has ranged anywhere from 20% to 50% depending upon energy pass-through or -- and I would just say, of the ones we've won, they're very, very similar to the structure and ones we've already had in place on the first few phases, there's no real difference from that perspective because those contracts follow a very similar construct on both the molecules and how energy is managed.

但傳統上，對我們而言，營收大約落在20%到50%之間，取決於是否有能源轉嫁等因素——我只想說，我們贏得的那些案子，在結構上與我們在前幾個階段已經在執行的案子非常、非常相似；從這個角度看沒有真正的差異，因為那些合約在分子（molecules）供應以及能源管理方式上，都遵循非常相近的架構。

And if I could, the other business, typically a bit all over the place, but it was kind of maybe not immaterial this quarter. If I -- my memory is serving me right, that's where Linde AMT is in some of the sputtering targets and that stuff. So is that the semi cycle build here and this should be kind of like an indication of the direction of profits? Or am I -- or is this kind of a little bit of a one-off positive quarter?

另外如果我可以問一下，其他業務通常波動比較大，但這一季似乎也不是無關緊要。如果我記得沒錯，那裡面有Linde AMT在做一些濺鍍靶材（sputtering targets）之類的東西。所以這是半導體循環（semi cycle）的建置在這裡發酵，並且可以視為獲利走向的指標嗎？還是我——或者這只是某種一次性的正面季度？

Matt, I'd say that the Materials business overall has been doing well. Sitting within that our coating services, atomizers and some sputtering, et cetera. I think all in that portfolio is performing reasonably well under these conditions, driven by aerospace, a little bit of the commercial build out as well. And I think you would put that together. I think it's looking -- the outlook seems pretty robust for the second half as well.

Matt，我會說材料（Materials）業務整體表現一直不錯。其中包含我們的塗層服務、霧化器（atomizers）以及一些濺鍍相關等。我認為在目前環境下，該投資組合整體表現相當不錯，主要受航太帶動，也有一點商業建置擴張的貢獻。把這些因素合在一起看，我認為下半年展望也相當強勁。

Jeff Zekauskas, JPMorgan.

Jeff Zekauskas，摩根大通（JPMorgan）。

If I did the math correctly, the home care penalty was $30 million in the second quarter. So order of magnitude is at a $100 million NLT for this year? And is Lincare all of your 23% of health care revenues for the Americas?

如果我算得沒錯，居家照護（home care）的罰款在第二季是3,000萬美元。所以今年的量級大概是1億美元的NLT？另外，Lincare是否占你們美洲地區醫療保健營收的23%？

Jeff, it's Matt. So I think the number is a little higher than what you have. So close, but I'd say it's probably higher though. But you could probably say 30% higher than that number, give or take. But -- so that is the headwind we have.

Jeff，我是Matt。我認為那個數字比你算的稍微高一些。所以很接近，但我會說可能更高。不過你大概可以說比那個數字高30%左右，上下浮動一些。但——所以那就是我們面臨的逆風。

That's what we're facing. I think when you think about the Americas, it is clearly the largest piece. Now it does not glue the institutional portion which is actually run through our traditional gas business because of the nature of the contracts and the structure. But it is, by far, the lion's share of the Americas home care just given the size of the revenue of that business.

這就是我們正在面對的情況。我想當你看美洲地區時，它顯然是最大的一塊。不過它不包含機構端（institutional）的部分；那部分其實是透過我們傳統氣體業務來運作，因為合約性質與結構不同。但就居家照護而言，考量該業務的營收規模，它無疑占了美洲地區居家照護的絕大部分。

Okay. And when we look at your health care revenues, they look pretty flat year-over-year. So can you talk about the dynamic that's pressuring profitability? And if you're -- have you come to a decision as to whether you want to divest this business or is this going to be contemplated over the next quarter? Does it take longer? Can you help us with those issues?

好的。那當我們看你們的醫療保健營收時，年對年看起來相當持平。所以你能談談正在壓抑獲利能力的動態嗎？以及你們——你們是否已經決定是否要出售（divest）這項業務，還是會在下一季再評估？是否需要更久？你能就這些問題給我們一些說明嗎？

Sure, Jeff. Look, the challenges at Lincare are not new, right? The business has served us well through the COVID period and the immediate kind of a couple of years after that. But over the last couple of years, in particular, you heard us reference it as well. It has faced persistent headwinds, right, from labor cost inflation and changes in reimbursement environments. And I think those have contributed to these penalties that you referenced earlier on.

當然可以，Jeff。你看，Lincare 面臨的挑戰並不是新的，對吧？在 COVID 期間以及之後緊接著的兩三年裡，這項業務一直為我們帶來不錯的貢獻。但在過去幾年，尤其是你也聽到我們提到過，它一直面臨持續的逆風，對吧，包括勞動成本通膨以及報銷環境的變化。我認為這些因素促成了你先前提到的那些罰款。

Now we put a new management team in place. Their focus is on improving the quality of that business. We've been pruning the portfolio. Again, you've heard us say that in a couple of the calls over the last couple of years as well. There are aggressive actions currently in place to look at operational improvements and productivity.

現在我們已經安排了一個新的管理團隊。他們的重點是提升這項業務的品質。我們一直在修剪投資組合。同樣地，你也在過去幾年的幾次電話會議中聽到我們這麼說。目前已採取積極行動，著眼於營運改善與生產力提升。

Those actions will create the impact that we're looking for, which is why I expect as we move forward, we will see improvements in that business. Now in parallel to those aggressive set of actions that we put in place, we're also evaluating what the strategic options for this business are, and I want to make sure that we do that exercise with diligence and determine one way or the other, this business is going to have a meaningful positive impact on our portfolio.

這些行動將帶來我們所期待的影響，因此我預期隨著我們往前推進，將會看到這項業務的改善。同時，在我們推動這一系列積極行動的並行之下，我們也在評估這項業務的策略選項；我想確保我們以審慎的態度完成這項工作，並做出判斷：無論結果如何，這項業務都必須對我們的投資組合帶來有意義的正面影響。

James Hooper, Bernstein.

James Hooper，Bernstein。

Just in terms of the backlog projects, can you give a little bit more indication of the margins of these projects? Are these going to be some of the drivers of an uplift from this point in future years?

就積壓訂單（backlog）專案而言，你能否再多提供一些這些專案的利潤率指標？這些會不會成為未來幾年自此之後利潤率上升的驅動因素之一？

Thanks, James. As you know, the backlog projects take typically between two to three years in terms of execution, by the time they come on, we then typically expect a ramp-up to happen across the board. Now the projects that we have in our backlog at the moment all met our investment criteria. We tend to look at them from a post-tax double-digit IRR -- unleveled IRR perspective. So they kind of hit the investment criteria and therefore, are an attractive part of the future business growth that we're likely to see.

謝謝，James。如你所知，積壓訂單專案在執行上通常需要兩到三年；等到它們上線之後，我們一般也預期會出現全面性的爬坡（ramp-up）。目前我們積壓訂單中的專案都符合我們的投資標準。我們通常從稅後雙位數 IRR——以未槓桿 IRR 的角度來看（unlevered IRR）——來評估。因此它們符合投資標準，也就成為我們未來可能看到的業務成長中相當具吸引力的一部分。

But they do have a ramp that they go through before they actually hit their final kind of margin contributions that they make. So you should expect that cycle of backlog projects coming up, starting up -- starting to deliver on margin contribution and then through the ramp process, ensuring that, that moves up. So I always expect backlog projects to continue to improve on their margin until they reach their full capacity utilization.

不過，在它們真正達到最終的利潤率貢獻之前，確實會經歷一段爬坡期。因此你應該預期，這一輪積壓訂單專案會陸續啟動——開始帶來利潤率貢獻，並在爬坡過程中推動其逐步提升。所以我一向預期，積壓訂單專案的利潤率會持續改善，直到達到滿載產能利用率為止。

Kevin McCarthy, Brickell Research Partners.

Kevin McCarthy，Brickell Research Partners。

Sanjiv, if I look at your volume trend in Asia, it was up 6% for a second consecutive quarter versus, call it, either side of flat throughout 2025. Can you unpack that a little bit for us? My sense is you've had project start-ups there and maybe some sale of equipment. Just trying to get a better sense of whether the baseline demand is improving in APAC.

Sanjiv，如果我看你們在亞洲的量（volume）趨勢，已連續第二個季度成長 6%，相較之下，2025 年整體大致是持平上下。你能幫我們拆解一下嗎？我的感覺是你們那邊有專案啟動，可能也有一些設備銷售。我只是想更清楚了解，亞太（APAC）的基礎需求是否正在改善。

Kevin, I think in part, you've already answered your question. There are three components to what is happening in the Asia volumes, right? There is obviously base volume, which is positive. There are sale of equipment, significant sale of equipment elements sitting within there for the Electronics customers that has had a somewhat disproportionate impact in this last quarter that we're talking about. And last but not least, there are some ramp-ups.

Kevin，我想你某種程度上已經回答了你的問題。亞洲的量目前發生的事情有三個組成部分，對吧？第一當然是基礎量（base volume），這是正向的。第二是設備銷售——其中包含相當可觀的設備銷售給電子客戶，對我們正在討論的這一季造成了某種程度上不成比例的影響。最後但同樣重要的是，還有一些爬坡（ramp-ups）。

I was just referencing to James earlier on how we expect projects to ramp up. We're seeing a ramp-up of our backlog projects that were started up and are ramping up in ASEAN, in particular, also contributing to that. You put those three together, I think you see that healthy 6% sitting over there.

我剛才也向 James 提到我們如何預期專案爬坡。我們看到在東協（ASEAN）啟動並正在爬坡的積壓訂單專案，特別是在東協，亦對此有所貢獻。把這三項加在一起，我認為你就會看到那邊健康的 6% 成長。

Okay. And then I wanted to ask maybe a general question on your backlog. I mean it seems that the Electronics space, in particular, is quite vibrant and you're winning a fair amount of business there. Does that create a positive mix effect at all? In other words, if you look at your returns, let's say, over the last decade.

了解。接著我想問一個關於你們積壓訂單的較一般性問題。看起來電子領域（Electronics），尤其是，相當活躍，而你們也在那裡拿下不少業務。這是否會帶來正向的組合效應（mix effect）？換句話說，如果你看你們的報酬率，例如過去十年。

Are they any better in the Electronics space relative to all of the other end-user markets combined? Or would you say that they're similar?

在電子領域的報酬率是否相較於其他所有終端用戶市場的合計更好？還是你會說其實差不多？

Kevin, it's Matt. I can take that. So as you probably know, as we said, we make our decisions on IRR, right? That's how we make our backlog and our capital decisions. So it's not really a revenue or a margin kind of view more of an IRR undiscounted -- or discounted unlevered view.

Kevin，我是 Matt。我來回答。如你可能知道的，正如我們所說，我們是以 IRR 來做決策，對吧？這就是我們如何做積壓訂單與資本決策。所以這並不是從營收或利潤率的角度來看，而更偏向 IRR 的未折現——或折現的未槓桿（unlevered）視角。

So from that perspective, I would say all of our projects, whether it's in any end market, electronics, energy, they tend to all fall within a certain consistent range because it's based on the risk and the terms and the conditions and what we're undertaking. And of course, in Electronics, you're going to have more purity requirements and you're going to have probably more redundancy, which generally means more capital, but your return profiles tend to be consistent nonetheless. So we don't really see much disparity in on-site returns by end market. That tends not to happen.

因此從這個角度來看，我會說我們所有專案，不論在哪個終端市場——電子、能源——通常都落在一個相對一致的區間，因為它是基於風險、條款與條件，以及我們所承擔的工作內容。當然，在電子領域，你會有更高的純度要求，也可能需要更多備援，這通常意味著更多資本投入，但即便如此，你的報酬輪廓（return profiles）仍然傾向一致。所以我們並不太看到不同終端市場之間的現場供氣（on-site）報酬率有明顯差異。通常不會發生那樣的情況。

Where you can see different margin profiles is when you get the incremental process gases, rare gases, specialty gases that tend to come with large electronic clusters because those are more specialized, require a lot more effort on purity and manufacturing. And so that bolt-on on the after fact you can create some incremental margin opportunities, but the on-sites themselves are very similar across all end markets. And again, IRR is what drives those decisions.

你可能會看到不同利潤率輪廓的地方，是在你取得增量的製程氣體、稀有氣體、特用氣體時；這些往往會伴隨大型電子聚落而來，因為它們更專業，對純度與製造的要求也高得多。因此，事後加掛（bolt-on）的這一塊可以創造一些增量利潤機會，但 on-site 本身在各終端市場之間非常相近。同樣地，驅動這些決策的是 IRR。

John McNulty, BMO Capital.

John McNulty，BMO Capital。

Sanjiv, maybe can you speak to what you're seeing, in particular, out of APAC on the industrial side in terms of longer-term investment? I know you spoke to -- right now, there's kind of a mix of things going on just given what's going on in the Strait and the Iran conflict. But is that having any slowdown effect or pausing effect on future projects, future growth in the industrial markets looking out over, say, the next two to three years? Or is it business as usual and things are going to keep kind of coming on over time and adding to your growth as well?

Sanjiv，也許你能談談你在亞太（APAC）工業端（industrial side）看到的情況，特別是就較長期投資而言。我知道你提到——目前因為海峽局勢以及伊朗衝突，事情有點混雜。但這是否對未來專案、未來成長造成任何放緩或暫停的影響？以未來兩到三年工業市場的展望來看。還是說一切照常，事情會隨時間持續落地並為你們的成長增添動能？

So John, I'd say the headline over there would be business as usual, reflected in a bit of a change in the mix. It's a clearly strong Electronics growth. We talked about the backlog development. We expect the project pipeline for electronics growth in Asia Pac to remain fairly robust. And I think that helps with some of that long-term investment profile that you're thinking about. Where we do see a little bit of a mix effect is where the traditional end markets, for instance, I do not expect to see significant steel investments happen in China as an example.

所以，John，我會說那邊的重點標題會是照常運作，只是產品組合有些微變化。電子業務成長明顯強勁。我們也談過訂單積壓的發展。我們預期亞太地區電子業務成長的專案管線將維持相當穩健。我認為這有助於你所思考的部分長期投資輪廓。我們確實看到一些組合效應的地方在於傳統終端市場；例如，以中國為例，我不預期會看到顯著的鋼鐵投資發生。

Now if you go back a decade, clearly, that was the case. But going forward, that's unlikely to be the area where you see. On the other hand, the flip side to that is in India, you're seeing traditional end market investments happen, which results in us seeing an investment cycle as well over there. And those are in the more traditional end spaces like steel and like refining and other elements of manufacturing as well. So I think I'd say to you, business as usual, broadly the mix is changing a little bit, getting more positively impacted by Electronics and then the rest being made up of the more traditional end markets.

如果你回到十年前，顯然當時是那樣。但往後看，那不太可能會是你看到的重點領域。另一方面，相對的一面是，在印度，你正看到傳統終端市場的投資正在發生，這也使我們在那邊看到一個投資循環。而這些投資是在較傳統的終端領域，例如鋼鐵、煉油，以及製造業的其他環節。所以我會對你說，整體而言仍是照常運作，只是組合正在稍微改變，更多受到電子業務的正面帶動，其餘則由較傳統的終端市場構成。

Arun Viswanathan, RBC Capital Markets.

Arun Viswanathan，RBC 資本市場。

Apologies if this has already been asked, but maybe you could just elaborate a little bit more on some of the actions you're taking to drive a little bit of the margin recovery. I know that you did have some of that within the Americas, some compression.

如果這個問題已經有人問過先說聲抱歉，但你是否可以再多說明一下，你們正在採取哪些行動來推動毛利率（利潤率）回升？我知道你們在美洲地區確實出現了一些壓縮。

And then if you could look into maybe the back half or next year, do you expect that negative operating leverage to be resolved? And what would drive that? Is it increased management actions and in pricing or productivity? Or how do you see that?

另外，如果看下半年或明年，你是否預期那種負向營運槓桿會被解決？而會由什麼來驅動？是更多的管理行動、定價或生產力提升嗎？或者你怎麼看？

Arun, this is Matt. So I think a couple of things. Yes, first, let's just talk about the comps in year-over-year. So if you may recall, 2025, we had strong front half margins, weaker back half margins. So when you think about the whole year in the context, I'm fully expecting us to see better year-over-year just given how last year played out. So that's just a bit of a comp scenario. But as mentioned in the prepared remarks, and as we've stated, we have a series of actions underway that we need to undertake to improve margins.

Arun，我是 Matt。我想有幾點。是的，首先我們先談一下年對年的比較基期。如果你還記得，2025 年我們上半年利潤率很強、下半年利潤率較弱。所以把全年放在脈絡中來看，考量到去年走勢，我完全預期我們年對年會更好。這就是一個比較基期的因素。但如同在事先準備的發言中提到、也如我們所說，我們正在推進一系列必須採取的行動來改善利潤率。

And Lincare is going to be the focus, given that's the biggest driver. I do think some of the other aspects, like higher hardgoods sales and some of the sale of equipment, as Sanjiv mentioned, we view that as actually positive. That's something we will continue to do that will get us greater wallet share and greater connection to future gas sales. So those are an integral part of our model, always have been and will continue to be. And you do tend to see those grow stronger in certain recoveries and as markets start to expand.

而 Lincare 會是重點，因為它是最大的驅動因素。我確實認為其他一些面向，例如更高的硬體（hardgoods）銷售以及部分設備銷售，如 Sanjiv 所提到的，我們其實視之為正面。這是我們會持續做的事情，能讓我們取得更高的客戶錢包份額，並與未來的氣體銷售建立更緊密的連結。所以這些一直都是我們商業模式不可或缺的一部分，過去如此、未來也會持續。而你確實會看到在某些復甦階段、以及市場開始擴張時，這些業務往往會成長得更強。

But we will likely look to take some cost actions this quarter, depending on the size, that's something we want to get ahead of. I mean it is clear you're seeing more inflation around the world, and that's something that we have to manage through our productivity and our actions. And in some regions, you're seeing growth, which supports it in other regions, you're seeing inflation without the growth. And that's an area we're going to focus on specifically for this quarter.

但我們很可能會在本季採取一些成本行動；視規模而定，這是我們希望提前因應的事情。我的意思是，很明顯你正看到全球通膨升溫，而這是我們必須透過生產力與各項行動來管理的。在某些地區，你看到成長，這能提供支撐；但在其他地區，你看到的是沒有成長的通膨。而這是我們本季會特別聚焦的領域。

Above and beyond our normal productivity initiatives we normally take as part of our everyday DNA. So more to come on that. It's something we'll probably give a little more color on and what we've done in the October call. But I can tell you right now, these actions are already underway, and we're accumulating all of them to get ahead of the next several quarters.

此外，超出我們日常 DNA 中一貫採取的正常生產力提升計畫之外。所以後續還會有更多資訊。這是我們可能會在 10 月電話會議中提供更多細節與我們已做事項的部分。但我現在可以告訴你，這些行動已經在進行中，我們正在把所有措施累積起來，以便提前因應接下來幾個季度。

Abigail Eberts, Wells Fargo.

Abigail Eberts，富國銀行。

In the past, you called out space being a $1 billion opportunity. I'm just wondering if you have any update on that number.

過去你們提到太空是一個 10 億美元的機會。我想請問你們對這個數字是否有任何更新？

A sector, Abigail, continues to grow well. We consider that the -- and we talked briefly about some of the options around space earlier on in the call, but we are on track for that $1 billion opportunity that we laid out over the next few years. I think 2030 was the timeline billion plus is what our expectation around the space markets was. Once it reaches a certain size, you'll see us split that out in our end markets and have more visibility around this.

這個領域，Abigail，持續成長良好。我們認為——我們在本次電話會議稍早也簡要談到一些與太空相關的選項——但我們正按計畫推進，朝我們在未來幾年所提出的 10 億美元機會邁進。我想我們對太空市場的預期時間點是 2030 年，預期會達到 10 億美元以上。一旦它達到一定規模，你會看到我們在終端市場分類中把它拆分出來，讓外界對此有更高的可見度。

That concludes our question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the call back to Juan Pelaez for additional or closing remarks.

問答環節到此結束。我現在想把電話會議交回給 Juan Pelaez，請他做補充或結語。

Avi, thank you. Thanks, everyone, for participating in today's call. If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out. Have a great day.

Avi，謝謝你。也謝謝各位參與今天的電話會議。如果你有任何進一步問題，歡迎隨時與我們聯繫。祝各位有美好的一天。

And ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's call, and we thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

各位女士、先生，今天的電話會議到此結束，感謝各位的參與。您現在可以掛線。