Lindsay Corp (LNN) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is Joe, and I will be your conference operator for today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Lindsay Corporation Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2022 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) Do please note that this event is being recorded.

早上好。我叫喬，今天我將擔任您的會議接線員。在這個時候，我想歡迎大家參加 Lindsay Corporation 2022 財年第三季度財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，此事件正在記錄中。

During this call, management may make forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, which reflect management's current beliefs, estimates of future economic circumstances, industry conditions, company performance and financial results. Forward-looking statements include the information concerning possible or assumed future results of operations of the company and those statements preceded by, followed by or including the words expectation, outlook, could, may, should or similar expressions. For these statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

在本次電話會議期間，管理層可能會做出受風險和不確定性影響的前瞻性陳述，這些陳述反映了管理層當前的信念、對未來經濟環境、行業狀況、公司業績和財務業績的估計。前瞻性陳述包括有關公司可能或假設的未來運營結果的信息，以及前面、後面或包括預期、展望、可能、可能、應該或類似表達的那些陳述。對於這些陳述，我們要求保護 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》中包含的前瞻性陳述的安全港。

I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Randy Wood, President and Chief Executive Officer.

我現在想將電話轉給總裁兼首席執行官 Randy Wood 先生。

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Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our Third Quarter Earnings Call. With me today is Brian Ketcham, our Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝大家，大家早上好。歡迎來到我們的第三季度財報電話會議。今天和我在一起的是我們的首席財務官 Brian Ketcham。

Our third quarter results reflect the ongoing commitment of our employees around the world to support our customers and dealers in a very dynamic environment. Our entire organization continues to effectively manage through supply chain challenges, logistics constraints and inflationary pressures, while our commercial teams have effectively managed pricing to preserve business quality. This teamwork, focus and one Lindsay approach is evident in our results.

我們第三季度的業績反映了我們全球員工的持續承諾，即在充滿活力的環境中支持我們的客戶和經銷商。我們的整個組織繼續有效地管理供應鏈挑戰、物流限制和通貨膨脹壓力，而我們的商業團隊有效地管理定價以保持業務質量。這種團隊合作、專注和一種 Lindsay 方法在我們的結果中顯而易見。

Our third quarter revenue and operating income was the second highest in our company history, rivaling the highest quarter ever during the peak of the ag cycle in 2013. We thank our teams around the world for all they're doing to contribute to the success of our customers and our company.

我們第三季度的收入和營業收入是我們公司歷史上第二高的季度，可與 2013 年農業周期高峰期的最高季度相媲美。我們感謝我們在世界各地的團隊為成功做出的一切貢獻我們的客戶和我們的公司。

In the area of innovation, our Smart Pivot program continues to progress forward, and we're getting great customer reviews from our new FieldNET user experience that will be released later this fall. We're also seeing strong market acceptance for our new RoadConnect telemetry platform in the infrastructure business, and our relationship with Blyncsy continues to showcase the power of innovation that's possible with strong industry partnerships. To date, we have devices deployed in 27 states across the U.S. with several international sites ready to deploy before the end of the fiscal year.

在創新領域，我們的 Smart Pivot 計劃繼續向前推進，我們將從將於今年秋季晚些時候發布的全新 FieldNET 用戶體驗中獲得好評。我們還看到我們的新 RoadConnect 遙測平台在基礎設施業務中的市場接受度很高，我們與 Blyncsy 的關係繼續展示強大的行業合作夥伴關係可能帶來的創新力量。迄今為止，我們已在美國 27 個州部署了設備，並準備在本財年結束前部署多個國際站點。

Turning to irrigation market conditions. The market continues to see a combination of factors impacting customer sentiment and business growth. Global commodity prices remain high, which is positive. However, this is somewhat tampered by increased input costs, which will keep U.S. net farm income relatively flat on a year-over-year basis. This year's crop will be one of the most expensive our customers have ever planted so the positive yield and revenue benefit attained with irrigation through a center pivot should support market stability.

轉向灌溉市場狀況。市場繼續看到影響客戶情緒和業務增長的多種因素。全球大宗商品價格居高不下，這是積極的。然而，這在一定程度上受到了投入成本增加的影響，這將使美國農業淨收入同比保持相對平穩。今年的作物將是我們的客戶有史以來種植的最昂貴的作物之一，因此通過中心樞紐進行灌溉所獲得的正產量和收入收益應該會支持市場穩定。

Order demand in the quarter was consistent with prior year. We did see an increase in orders beginning in mid-May due to large storms in the Midwest. Some of this demand did ship in the quarter and some carried over into the fourth quarter.

本季度的訂單需求與去年同期一致。由於中西部的大風暴，我們確實看到從 5 月中旬開始的訂單有所增加。其中一些需求確實在本季度發貨，有些則延續到了第四季度。

In International Irrigation, we see continued strength across most regions. In the mature markets, this is supported by high commodity prices. And in the project-oriented or developing markets, this is supported by more secular drivers.

在國際灌溉方面，我們看到大多數地區的持續增長。在成熟市場，這受到高商品價格的支持。而在以項目為導向或發展中的市場中，這得到了更長期的驅動因素的支持。

Brazil continues to be a bright spot, where a combination of volume and price realization more than doubled the business versus the prior year. The 2022-2023 crop plan was also released this week. Government financing incentives for irrigation investments were set at BRL 1.95 billion, a 44% increase over the prior plan. This was the largest increase in resources amongst all investment programs, highlighting the focus on expanding efficient irrigation in the region.

巴西仍然是一個亮點，其業務量和價格實現比上一年翻了一番還多。本週還發布了2022-2023年作物計劃。政府為灌溉投資提供的融資獎勵為 19.5 億雷亞爾，比之前的計劃增加了 44%。這是所有投資計劃中資源增幅最大的一次，突出了該地區擴大高效灌溉的重點。

We also see continued inquiries for project business across the Europe, Africa and Middle East as concerns over food security and global grain supplies have been tightened by the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. We were pleased to attend the inauguration of The Future of Egypt project site with President El-Sisi in May. This farm includes the 1,200 Zimmatic pivots that shipped earlier this fiscal year.

我們還看到歐洲、非洲和中東對項目業務的持續詢問，因為俄羅斯和烏克蘭之間持續的衝突加劇了對糧食安全和全球糧食供應的擔憂。我們很高興與塞西總統一起參加了 5 月埃及未來項目現場的落成典禮。該農場包括本財年早些時候發貨的 1,200 個 Zimmatic 樞軸。

There was also news this week that Egypt will receive $500 million from the World Bank to boost food security, and a portion of this funding will go towards wheat storage, which will support more localized grain production and a strong irrigation market.

本週還有消息稱，埃及將從世界銀行獲得 5 億美元用於加強糧食安全，其中一部分資金將用於小麥儲存，這將支持更多的本地化糧食生產和強大的灌溉市場。

Moving to infrastructure. Our commercial teams have been able to return to near pre-pandemic travel schedules, and this has helped to stimulate movement in our Road Zipper sales funnel. Their diligence and perseverance has paid off and the 2 projects we have been anticipating in the second half of the year are now moving forward. Brian will provide additional details regarding each project in his financial update.

轉向基礎設施。我們的商業團隊已經能夠恢復到接近大流行前的旅行時間表，這有助於刺激我們的 Road Zipper 銷售漏斗。他們的勤奮和堅持得到了回報，我們在下半年期待的兩個項目現在正在向前推進。 Brian 將在他的財務更新中提供有關每個項目的更多詳細信息。

In the road safety business, we're also seeing signs of a restart and normalized design and procurement processes at the state DOT level. The funding support provided by the infrastructure bill has been positive, but we do see some headwinds in this segment caused by inflation and labor availability. A number of project bids submitted months ago are being impacted by cost increases that have resulted in project delays or scope reduction.

在道路安全業務中，我們還看到州交通運輸部重新啟動和規範設計和採購流程的跡象。基礎設施法案提供的資金支持是積極的，但我們確實看到通脹和勞動力供應在這一領域出現了一些不利因素。幾個月前提交的一些項目投標受到成本增加的影響，導致項目延誤或範圍縮小。

Overall, we remain optimistic regarding growth opportunities for this business based on the quality of our sales funnel and increasing commercial activity.

總體而言，基於我們銷售渠道的質量和不斷增加的商業活動，我們對該業務的增長機會保持樂觀。

I'll now turn the call over to Brian to review our third quarter financial results. Brian?

我現在將把電話轉給布賴恩，以審查我們第三季度的財務業績。布賴恩？

Thank you, Randy, and good morning, everyone. Total revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2022 increased 32% to $214.3 million compared to $161.9 million in the prior year quarter. Net earnings for the quarter increased 41% to $25.1 million or $2.28 per diluted share compared to net earnings of $17.8 million or $1.61 per diluted share in the prior year quarter.

謝謝蘭迪，大家早上好。 2022 財年第三季度的總收入增長 32% 至 2.143 億美元，而去年同期為 1.619 億美元。本季度淨收益增長 41% 至 2510 萬美元或每股攤薄收益 2.28 美元，而去年同期的淨收益為 1780 萬美元或每股攤薄收益 1.61 美元。

Irrigation segment revenues for the third quarter increased 35% to $188.7 million compared to $140.2 million in the prior year quarter. North America irrigation revenues of $96.2 million increased 10% compared to the prior year quarter. The increase in North America irrigation revenues resulted from higher average selling prices, while unit sales volume was lower year-over-year.

第三季度灌溉部門收入增長 35% 至 1.887 億美元，而去年同期為 1.402 億美元。北美灌溉收入為 9620 萬美元，與去年同期相比增長了 10%。北美灌溉收入的增加是由於平均售價較高，而單位銷量同比下降。

As Randy indicated, order rates during the third quarter were similar to last year. However, we entered last year's third quarter with a larger backlog of orders as frequent and significant price increases at the time pulled orders forward. While an increase in storm damage replacement orders beginning late in the quarter provided some additional volume for this year's third quarter, most of this increased volume from storm damage replacement will be realized in our fourth quarter.

正如蘭迪所說，第三季度的訂單率與去年相似。然而，由於當時頻繁且顯著的價格上漲拉動了訂單，我們進入了去年第三季度的訂單積壓較多。雖然從本季度末開始增加的風暴損壞更換訂單為今年第三季度提供了一些額外的數量，但風暴損壞更換的大部分增加量將在我們的第四季度實現。

In the international irrigation markets, revenues of $92.5 million increased 75% compared to the prior year quarter. This increase resulted from a combination of higher average selling prices and higher unit sales volumes in most international markets, with the most significant increase in Brazil.

在國際灌溉市場，收入為 9250 萬美元，與去年同期相比增長了 75%。這一增長是由於大多數國際市場的平均售價較高和單位銷量增加所致，其中巴西的增長最為顯著。

Also contributing to the revenue increase was the favorable effect of a net foreign currency translation gain of approximately $2.5 million compared to the prior year quarter.

與去年同期相比，淨外幣折算收益約為 250 萬美元，這也促成了收入的增長。

Total irrigation segment operating income for the third quarter was $39.6 million, an increase of 65% compared to the prior year quarter and operating margin was 21% of sales compared to 17.1% of sales in the prior year. Improved operating margin resulted from improved price realization and additional volume leverage, which more than offset the impact of inflationary cost increases.

第三季度灌溉部門總營業收入為 3960 萬美元，與去年同期相比增長 65%，營業利潤率為銷售額的 21%，而去年同期為 17.1%。營業利潤率的提高源於價格實現的提高和額外的銷量槓桿，這足以抵消通脹成本增加的影響。

Infrastructure segment revenues for the third quarter were $25.6 million, an increase of 17% compared to the prior year quarter. The increase resulted from higher sales of road safety products and Road Zipper System project sales, which were partially offset by lower Road Zipper System lease revenue. Lower lease revenue resulted from the completion of certain lease projects along with delays in the start-up of new lease projects.

第三季度基礎設施部門收入為 2560 萬美元，與去年同期相比增長 17%。增長的原因是道路安全產品和 Road Zipper System 項目銷售額的增加，這部分被 Road Zipper System 租賃收入的減少所抵消。由於某些租賃項目的完成以及新租賃項目的啟動延遲，租賃收入減少。

During the quarter, we began delivery of a Road Zipper project in Australia. The total value of this project is approximately $9 million, with about half of the value representing the sale of barriers and the other half representing the lease of 2 machines over a 30-month period. We delivered about half of the barrier in the third quarter and expect to deliver the remainder of the barrier in our fourth quarter. This is our first lease project in Australia, and we are optimistic about the future project potential in this market.

在本季度，我們開始在澳大利亞交付 Road Zipper 項目。該項目的總價值約為 900 萬美元，其中約一半的價值為障礙物的銷售，另一半為 30 個月的 2 台機器的租賃。我們在第三季度交付了大約一半的障礙，並預計在第四季度交付剩餘的障礙。這是我們在澳大利亞的第一個租賃項目，我們看好這個市場未來的項目潛力。

Infrastructure segment operating income for the third quarter was $3.8 million, which was comparable to the prior year quarter. Current year results reflect a less favorable margin mix of revenues compared to the prior year as well as certain under-absorbed fixed overhead costs.

第三季度基礎設施部門營業收入為 380 萬美元，與去年同期相當。與上一年相比，本年度的結果反映了收入的利潤率組合不太有利，以及某些吸收不足的固定間接費用。

Another one of the projects that we have been expecting in the second half of our year is a barrier replacement project in Massachusetts. This project has now been approved and is expected to be awarded in our fourth quarter. The value of our portion of this project is approximately $24 million, and we anticipate being able to deliver about 2/3 of this project in the fourth quarter and the remainder delivering in the first quarter of fiscal 2023.

我們在下半年期待的另一個項目是馬薩諸塞州的屏障更換項目。該項目現已獲得批准，預計將在我們的第四季度中標。我們部分項目的價值約為 2400 萬美元，我們預計能夠在第四季度交付該項目的約 2/3，其餘部分在 2023 財年第一季度交付。

Turning to the balance sheet and liquidity. Our total available liquidity at the end of the third quarter was $145.7 million with $95.7 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities and $50 million available under our revolving credit facility. Our total debt was $116 million, almost all of which matures in 2030. And at the end of the third quarter, we were well within the financial covenants of our borrowing facilities, including a gross funded debt-to-EBITDA leverage ratio of 1.2 compared to a covenant limit of 3.0.

轉向資產負債表和流動性。截至第三季度末，我們的總可用流動資金為 1.457 億美元，其中包括 9570 萬美元的現金、現金等價物和有價證券，以及我們的循環信貸額度下可用的 5000 萬美元。我們的總債務為 1.16 億美元，幾乎所有債務都將在 2030 年到期。截至第三季度末，我們完全符合我們藉貸便利的財務契約，包括融資債務總額與 EBITDA 槓桿比率為 1.2限制為 3.0。

At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to the operator to take your questions.

在這個時候，我想把電話轉給接線員來回答你的問題。

We will now begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) Our first question will come from Nathan Jones with Stifel.

我們現在開始問答環節。 （操作員說明）我們的第一個問題將來自 Stifel 的 Nathan Jones。

Maybe starting on some of these barrier projects, I mean, you guys have been talking for the last couple of quarters about 2 going -- 2 of these projects going in the back half of the year and have been spot on with the guidance there. Maybe you can talk a little bit about what that pipeline looks like for '23 and '24 and confidence in conversion of those growth we should be expecting in that business, the impact of the infrastructure bill stimulus, just any kind of outlook you can give us on the project environment there.

也許從這些障礙項目中的一些開始，我的意思是，你們在過去的幾個季度裡一直在談論 2 個項目——其中 2 個項目在今年下半年進行，並且在那裡得到了指導。也許你可以談談 23 年和 24 年的管道是什麼樣子，以及對我們應該在該業務中預期的那些增長的轉換的信心，基礎設施法案刺激的影響，以及任何你可以給出的前景我們在那裡的項目環境。

Yes. Nathan, this is Brian. Yes, we've been saying all along, we have pretty good confidence in our sales funnel. We've talked about that. And the challenge has been in the last couple of years in the COVID environment with travel restrictions and things like that, moving some of these projects through the funnel. But we had these 2 projects that we had line of sight earlier, really late last year already that we felt would be coming through the funnel this year, and we're seeing that realize now.

是的。內森，這是布賴恩。是的，我們一直在說，我們對我們的銷售渠道非常有信心。我們已經談過了。在過去的幾年裡，挑戰一直是在 COVID 環境中旅行限制之類的事情，使其中一些項目通過渠道。但是我們有這兩個項目，我們早先已經在去年年底就已經看到了，我們認為今年會通過漏斗，我們現在看到了這一點。

Looking forward, I would say, with being able to engage with the customers and as things kind of return to normal, we would anticipate continuing to see some of these projects move through the funnel. I also mentioned on the leasing side of the business, we're seeing good interest in -- including Road Zipper as part of the overall construction programs in a number of states. And the one that we started to deliver in Australia is actually a construction-related program that I mentioned a 30-month lease there. And we -- and once we prove what Road Zipper can do, I think we've demonstrated add-on business as a result of some of that.

展望未來，我想說的是，隨著能夠與客戶互動，隨著事情恢復正常，我們預計會繼續看到其中一些項目通過渠道。我還提到了業務的租賃方面，我們看到了很好的興趣——包括將 Road Zipper 作為許多州整體建設計劃的一部分。我們開始在澳大利亞交付的項目實際上是一個與建築相關的項目，我提到了在那裡的 30 個月租約。我們——一旦我們證明了 Road Zipper 可以做什麼，我認為我們已經展示了附加業務。

So again, pretty -- we remain optimistic on where we're at and the growth potential of that business.

再說一次，漂亮 - 我們對我們所處的位置和該業務的增長潛力保持樂觀。

I'm going to ask a question on inflation/potential deflation, just to see what kind of thoughts you can get on that or we can get from you on that. You've obviously had big revenue tailwinds over the last couple of years from inflation, which has been negative for margins but probably positive for earnings. We've seen hot-rolled coil prices in the U.S. come down quite a bit. The Fed is clearly focused on inflation.

我要問一個關於通貨膨脹/潛在通縮的問題，只是想看看你能得到什麼樣的想法，或者我們能從你那裡得到什麼樣的想法。在過去的幾年裡，你顯然從通貨膨脹中獲得了巨大的收入順風，這對利潤率不利，但可能對收益有利。我們已經看到美國的熱軋卷材價格大幅下跌。美聯儲顯然關注通脹。

I'd just like to get any thoughts you have on the potential reversal here and how that could impact your business. If we saw steel prices revert back to where they were a few years ago, have you guys done the math to figure out, I guess, how much earnings you would lose from pricing going back to where it was? Do you think you could maintain some of that pricing? Just any thoughts you can give us as investors are clearly focused on what might happen here with the Fed continuing to turn policy?

我只是想了解您對這裡的潛在逆轉以及這將如何影響您的業務的任何想法。如果我們看到鋼鐵價格回到幾年前的水平，你們有沒有做過數學計算，我猜，如果定價回到原來的水平，你會損失多少收益？你認為你可以維持一些定價嗎？當投資者顯然關注美聯儲繼續轉向政策時可能發生的事情時，您能給我們一些想法嗎？

Yes. Again, this is Brian. Just to put things in perspective, I mean we do see the hot-rolled coil prices softening. It's roughly 15-or-so percent of our cost of goods sold, but we still see structural steel, which is another 15% or so of our cost of goods sold. That continues to actually increase slightly. We see zinc, some other input costs, logistics more recently increasing.

是的。再次，這是布賴恩。換個角度來看，我的意思是我們確實看到熱軋卷材價格走軟。它大約占我們銷售商品成本的 15% 左右，但我們仍然看到結構鋼，這是我們銷售商品成本的另外 15% 左右。這實際上繼續略有增加。我們看到鋅、其他一些投入成本、物流最近都在增加。

So the overall inflationary environment, I would say, is still there. I'd say it's moderated, obviously, from what it had been, let's say, a year ago. So again, depending on what steel does going forward, if there's a recession and demand falls off, we would expect it to continue to soften. In that case, we're always, just as we were on the way up, focused on protecting our margins. And as prices begin to come down, if that happens, we would tend to lag as much as we can to retain the value that we kind of sacrifice on the way up. But at some point, obviously, we'd have to respond to competitive movements in price, but our objective would be to maintain margins.

所以我想說，總體通脹環境仍然存在。我想說的是，很明顯，從一年前的情況來看，它已經有所緩和。同樣，根據鋼鐵未來的走勢，如果出現經濟衰退並且需求下降，我們預計它會繼續走軟。在這種情況下，我們總是，就像我們在上升的過程中一樣，專注於保護我們的利潤。隨著價格開始下降，如果發生這種情況，我們往往會盡可能地落後，以保留我們在上漲過程中犧牲的價值。但在某些時候，顯然，我們必須對價格的競爭性變動做出反應，但我們的目標是保持利潤率。

Our next question will come from Brian Drab with William Blair.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Brian Drab 和 William Blair。

I wanted to start just by asking about drought conditions and how that's either positively or negatively impacting demand at the moment in the U.S. and abroad?

我想首先詢問乾旱情況，以及目前對美國和國外的需求有何積極或消極影響？

Yes. Brian, this is Randy. I'll cover that one. We obviously watch the drought monitor and you see some significant drought, particularly in the West. We've seen that now creep into Western Texas and Panhandle, Texas and getting a lot closer to some of the core pivot irrigation market. So it does a couple of things. It probably provide some price support in the market, if the market feels that there's going to be some diminished yield potential in those areas and that will impact certain commodities differently.

是的。布萊恩，這是蘭迪。我會覆蓋那個。我們顯然會觀察乾旱監測，你會看到一些嚴重的干旱，尤其是在西部。我們已經看到，現在它已經蔓延到德克薩斯州西部和德克薩斯州潘漢德爾，並且越來越接近一些核心樞紐灌溉市場。所以它做了幾件事。如果市場認為這些地區的收益潛力會有所下降，並且會對某些商品產生不同的影響，它可能會為市場提供一些價格支撐。

It certainly could promote more efficient use of water. If somebody's irrigating was something that's not a center pivot and they want to stretch their water application out than switching to a center pivot, which would be more efficient could be an option for them. But you also get to a point where there's not enough water to finish your crop. And unfortunately, there are some regions and they may not be in the core pivot irrigation markets, but some of the regions might be reaching a point now where they don't have enough water to finish a crop and that's a very difficult situation for those customers. But again, I don't know if there's going to be a significant impact for us.

它當然可以促進更有效地利用水資源。如果某人的灌溉不是中心樞軸，並且他們希望將水應用延伸而不是切換到中心樞軸，那麼這對他們來說可能是一種更有效的選擇。但是你也會達到沒有足夠的水來完成你的莊稼的地步。不幸的是，有些地區可能不在核心樞紐灌溉市場，但有些地區現在可能已經到了沒有足夠水來完成作物的地步，這對那些人來說是一個非常困難的情況顧客。但同樣，我不知道是否會對我們產生重大影響。

And if you look globally, it really depends where you are. I saw something about Australia getting too much water right now, really the opposite of a drought impact in several regions. But this time of year is a weather market. So whether it rains doesn't have the drought improves or gets worse, I think it does have an impact on commodity prices, in particular, and customer sentiment. So it is something we watch, but I wouldn't say there's a significant impact on our demand up or down right now.

如果你放眼全球，這真的取決於你在哪裡。我看到澳大利亞現在的水太多了，這與幾個地區的干旱影響正好相反。但每年的這個時候是天氣市場。因此，無論下雨是乾旱沒有改善還是惡化，我認為它確實會對商品價格產生影響，尤其是對客戶情緒產生影響。所以這是我們關注的事情，但我不會說現在對我們的需求上升或下降有重大影響。

Okay. And then gross margin impacts from the barrier projects is my next question. How should we think about maybe even just roughly directionally gross margin for the company overall, given the significant barrier revenue that you're going to recognize in just Road Zipper revenue in general in the fourth quarter?

好的。然後障礙項目對毛利率的影響是我的下一個問題。鑑於您將在第四季度的 Road Zipper 總體收入中認識到可觀的障礙收入，我們應該如何考慮甚至可能只是大致定向的公司整體毛利率？

Yes. Brian, as we've spoken before, higher margins on barriers versus machines. And so in this case, the project in Massachusetts is all barriers, so that would tend to be a higher-than-average margin. So I would say it's going to be similar to what we've realized in the past on some of the larger projects. Japan being a good example of a year or 2 ago when we had barrier sales there.

是的。布賴恩，正如我們之前所說，障礙比機器的利潤率更高。所以在這種情況下，馬薩諸塞州的項目都是障礙，所以這往往會高於平均水平。所以我想說這將類似於我們過去在一些更大的項目中所實現的。日本是一兩年前我們在那裡進行障礙銷售的一個很好的例子。

You may have said it, but what was the total for barrier revenue -- or I should say, Road Zipper revenue in the third quarter?

您可能已經說過，但是第三季度的障礙收入總額是多少——或者我應該說，Road Zipper 的收入是多少？

Our total Road Zipper revenue -- and this is just the sale, not necessarily the leasing, would have been -- it was really the Australia project. So roughly $2.5 million of sale and lease. I don't have that number broken out, but relatively light in the third quarter for Road Zipper.

我們的 Road Zipper 總收入——這只是銷售，不一定是租賃——這實際上是澳大利亞的項目。因此，大約有 250 萬美元的銷售和租賃。我沒有公佈這個數字，但在第三季度，Road Zipper 相對較輕。

Okay. Got it. And so that -- that wasn't a major contributor then to the significant increase that you saw sequentially in gross margin, the Road Zipper or infrastructure in general?

好的。知道了。所以——這不是你看到的毛利率、Road Zipper 或一般基礎設施連續顯著增長的主要貢獻者嗎？

No, I would say -- infrastructure side, it was actually a negative gross margin just because of the lease revenue, which is generally higher than even the barrier and the machine sales. So not having a reduction in lease revenue, offset by an increase in the Road Zipper sales and Road Safety products, we were flat in operating income year-over-year.

不，我會說 - 基礎設施方面，這實際上是一個負毛利率，僅僅是因為租賃收入，這通常高於障礙和機器銷售。因此，在沒有減少租賃收入的情況下，被 Road Zipper 銷售和道路安全產品的增加所抵消，我們的營業收入同比持平。

Okay. And then the main driver of the 700 basis point increase in gross margin sequentially in the third quarter was what?

好的。那麼第三季度毛利率環比增長 700 個基點的主要驅動力是什麼？

It's going to be irrigation, and it's going to be both North America and international.

這將是灌溉，這將是北美和國際。

Just volume leverage and...

只是交易量槓桿和...

Yes, I would say its price realization is probably the single biggest factor and then the volume. And we're seeing that in both the price and volume impacts in international to wear that. I think historically, we've talked about international being lower overall operating margin compared to North America. What we saw in the third quarter is that it's become similar to what we have in North America. So that was a real positive for us as well.

是的，我會說它的價格實現可能是最大的因素，然後是數量。而且我們在國際上看到了價格和數量的影響。我認為從歷史上看，與北美相比，我們曾談到國際整體營業利潤率較低。我們在第三季度看到的是它與我們在北美的情況相似。所以這對我們來說也是一個真正的積極因素。

Our next question will come from Brett Kearney with Gabelli Funds.

我們的下一個問題將來自加貝利基金的布雷特·科爾尼。

Curious what kind of internal investments and CapEx projects you've lined up, either capacity or productivity side with the balance sheet in great shape? Anything you've lined up kind of internal investments and thoughts on potentially any other uses of capital?

想知道您安排了哪些內部投資和資本支出項目，無論是產能還是生產力方面，資產負債表狀況良好？您對可能的任何其他資本用途有什麼內部投資和想法嗎？

Yes. I would say, Brett, we're currently more in an evaluation phase in terms of looking at our international business and where we need to add capacity. And I think 2 areas would be Brazil and Turkey. As we see the growth in that project market increase, which is primarily serviced out of Turkey and then the Brazil market.

是的。我想說，布雷特，就我們的國際業務以及我們需要在哪些方面增加容量而言，我們目前正處於評估階段。我認為兩個地區是巴西和土耳其。正如我們看到的那樣，該項目市場的增長主要來自土耳其，然後是巴西市場。

We've done a lot of things to increase capacity without a whole lot of CapEx up to this point, but that would be an area that we would consider spending some money from a CapEx standpoint. I would say the other area is adding to our lease fleet on the infrastructure side. With some of the delays that we've seen in some of the lease projects, we've kind of delayed the CapEx associated with that as well. But going forward, that would be another source where we see good returns from additional CapEx.

到目前為止，我們已經做了很多事情來增加容量而沒有大量的資本支出，但從資本支出的角度來看，這將是我們考慮花一些錢的領域。我會說另一個領域是在基礎設施方面增加我們的租賃車隊。由於我們在一些租賃項目中看到了一些延遲，我們也推遲了與此相關的資本支出。但展望未來，這將是我們從額外資本支出中看到良好回報的另一個來源。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question will come from Jon Braatz with KCCA.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題將來自 KCCA 的 Jon Braatz。

Brian, in the first 2 quarters, you had some significant LIFO charges. And you've talked about recovering those charges, "recovering". Are we actually seeing that in the third quarter results?

布賴恩，在前兩個季度，你有一些重要的 LIFO 費用。你已經談到了收回這些費用，“收回”。我們真的在第三季度的業績中看到了這一點嗎？

No, Jon. We really haven't. I would say there was even a slight LIFO impact -- negative impact in the quarter. I'd say maybe around $1 million. I think the big thing there is if you look at where our inventory levels were at the end of the quarter is similar to where they were at the end of the second quarter. And so really no benefit from LIFO in the quarter. I think where we see the benefit is just the impact of the price realization starting to really take hold. So we, again, expect to see some of that LIFO benefit as we see inventory levels come down.

不，喬恩。我們真的沒有。我想說甚至有輕微的後進先出影響——本季度的負面影響。我會說可能大約100萬美元。我認為，如果您查看我們在本季度末的庫存水平與第二季度末的庫存水平相似，那麼重要的是。因此，本季度的 LIFO 確實沒有任何好處。我認為我們看到的好處只是價格實現的影響開始真正佔據主導地位。因此，當我們看到庫存水平下降時，我們再次期望看到一些 LIFO 的好處。

Okay. Brian, also the Turkish lira has been very, very weak. Does that -- what kind of role does that have on your margins and your profitability in your Turkish facility?

好的。布賴恩，土耳其里拉也非常非常疲軟。這對您在土耳其工廠的利潤和盈利能力有何影響？

Yes. Jon, the functional currency for our Turkey business is U.S. dollar because it's really exporting to a lot of those markets. And a lot of the input costs are based in U.S. dollars as well. I'd say the one area that we've seen the impact is obviously on our employee compensation and some of the local expenses there. We've seen the impact of the devaluation and inflation where we've had to adjust some of the compensation of our employees. But overall, I would say, not a significant -- not much of an impact on our overall profitability there.

是的。喬恩，我們土耳其業務的功能貨幣是美元，因為它確實出口到很多這些市場。許多投入成本也以美元為單位。我想說的是，我們看到影響的一個領域顯然是我們的員工薪酬和那裡的一些當地開支。我們已經看到了貶值和通貨膨脹的影響，我們不得不調整一些員工的薪酬。但總的來說，我想說，對我們那裡的整體盈利能力影響不大。

Okay. Good. And then lastly, obviously, there's been a sizable working capital build this year. Of course, now you're entering the seasonally strong period in Brazil in the southern hemisphere, but how do you see that working capital maybe disinvestment in the next few quarters? Should we see that investment coming down?

好的。好的。最後，顯然，今年有相當大的營運資金積累。當然，現在您正在進入南半球巴西的季節性旺盛時期，但您如何看待未來幾個季度的營運資金可能會撤資？我們應該看到投資下降嗎？

I would say, I would expect a reduction in North America, particularly in receivables as some of those get collected in the fourth quarter. On the international side, I think what we're seeing is we're supporting the growth in Brazil, also in Turkey, South Africa, where we have active project activity going on. We're carrying more inventory than we normally would just so that we can respond. These projects, we talk about them for quite a while. We've got line of sight to them. And then when they actually happen, they expect delivery pretty quickly. So I would say that's the one area that's a little bit of an uncertainty is. We're maintaining the inventory in the international business to be able to respond to that project business.

我會說，我預計北美會減少，尤其是應收賬款，因為其中一些會在第四季度收回。在國際方面，我認為我們正在支持巴西、土耳其、南非的增長，我們在那裡開展了積極的項目活動。我們攜帶比平時更多的庫存，以便我們能夠做出回應。這些項目，我們談論了很長一段時間。我們有他們的視線。然後當它們真正發生時，他們期望很快交付。所以我想說這是一個有點不確定的領域。我們正在維護國際業務中的庫存，以便能夠響應該項目業務。

There are no further questions at this time. This will conclude our question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Randy Wood for any closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題。我們的問答環節到此結束。我現在想把會議轉回給 Randy Wood 先生做任何閉幕詞。

Thank you for your interest and participation today. Our Infrastructure segment continues to be supported by the incremental funding provided by the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act and a return to more traditional travel capabilities that improve funnel managements and Road Zipper project sales. This is tempered slightly by the impact of inflation and potential project delays caused by rising costs and labor availability.

感謝您今天的關注和參與。我們的基礎設施部門繼續得到基礎設施投資和就業法案提供的增量資金的支持，以及回歸更傳統的旅行能力，從而改善漏斗管理和 Road Zipper 項目銷售。通貨膨脹的影響以及成本和勞動力可用性上升導致的潛在項目延遲的影響略微緩和了這一點。

The irrigation segment of our business continues to see strong drivers connected to high commodity prices and international project demand, offset slightly by rising input costs that affect net farm income. We do believe the positive ROI provided by an investment in irrigated agriculture will continue to support a stable market. Both segments benefit from ongoing investments in technology and innovation that allow our customers to operate more sustainably and more profitably.

我們業務的灌溉部門繼續看到與高商品價格和國際項目需求相關的強大驅動力，但被影響農場淨收入的投入成本上升略微抵消。我們相信投資灌溉農業帶來的正投資回報率將繼續支持穩定的市場。這兩個部門都受益於對技術和創新的持續投資，使我們的客戶能夠以更可持續的方式運營並獲得更高的利潤。

This concludes our third quarter earnings call. We look forward to updating you on our continued progress following the close of our fiscal 2023 fourth quarter. Thanks for joining us.

我們的第三季度財報電話會議到此結束。我們期待在 2023 財年第四季度結束後向您通報我們的持續進展。感謝您加入我們。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開線路。