Lindsay Corp (LNN) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the Lindsay Corporation fiscal fourth quarter, 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) .

美好的一天，歡迎參加 Lindsay Corporation 2024 年第四季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）。

Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Randy Wood, President and CEO. Please go ahead.

請注意此事件正在被記錄。我現在想將會議交給總裁兼執行長蘭迪伍德 (Randy Wood)。請繼續。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings call. With me today is Brian Ketcham, our Chief Financial Officer. We are pleased with our fourth quarter and full year performance as our teams executed extremely well during the fiscal year.

謝謝大家，大家早安。歡迎參加我們的 2024 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。今天和我在一起的是我們的財務長 Brian Ketcham。我們對第四季度和全年的表現感到滿意，因為我們的團隊在本財年執行得非常好。

This allowed us to deliver profitable operating performance amidst challenging market fundamentals, particularly in our irrigation business. In North America in Irrigation, we were pleased to see volume up slightly in the quarter versus last year, driven by carryover storm damage that shipped early in the quarter.

這使我們能夠在充滿挑戰的市場基本面中實現盈利的經營業績，特別是在我們的灌溉業務方面。在北美的灌溉領域，我們很高興看到本季度的銷量與去年相比略有增加，這是由於本季度初發貨的風暴損害造成的。

In international irrigation, market softness in Brazil due to lower grower profitability and poor customer sentiment continues to persist. This headwind has been partially offset by the large project in the MENA region that started shipping in the fourth quarter.

在國際灌溉領域，由於種植者獲利能力下降和客戶情緒低迷，巴西市場持續疲軟。這一不利因素已被第四季度開始發貨的中東和北非地區大型專案部分抵消。

Turning to our irrigation market outlook. While net farm income projections in North America have improved slightly versus earlier forecast, much of that good news impacted the livestock sector, and we still see major headwinds for the cropping segment more closely associated with our irrigation solutions.

轉向我們的灌溉市場前景。儘管北美的農場淨收入預測與先前的預測相比略有改善，但大部分好消息影響了畜牧業，我們仍然認為種植業的主要阻力與我們的灌溉解決方案密切相關。

And recent customer sentiment surveys indicate some of the lowest ratings ever recorded. While we have tougher year-over-year comparisons in the first half of the year, we would expect to see a slightly down market overall, unless there is a significant improvement in net farm income in 2025. These projections won't be visible until we get into the next growing season.

最近的客戶情緒調查顯示，一些評級是有史以來最低的。雖然我們在上半年進行了更嚴格的同比比較，但我們預計市場總體會略有下降，除非 2025 年農業淨收入有顯著改善。季節。

We are seeing some storm damage replacement demand in the Southeast connected to the tragic hurricane activity, but it's too early to quantify that volume and most growers have a window between now and next spring to make those decisions.

我們看到東南部的一些風暴損壞更換需求與悲慘的颶風活動有關，但現在量化這一數量還為時過早，大多數種植者從現在到明年春天都有一個窗口來做出這些決定。

We are working closely with our dealers to ensure that we support recovery in the region. We expect temper demand to continue in Brazil and Latin America until farm profitability and credit availability improved. Historic droughts in parts of the country may support stronger grain prices, but it's also delayed soybean planting, which could carry forward to delays in the safrinha or second crop corn planting.

我們正在與經銷商密切合作，以確保支持該地區的復甦。我們預計巴西和拉丁美洲的需求將持續溫和，直到農場獲利能力和信貸可用性改善。該國部分地區的歷史性乾旱可能會支撐穀物價格上漲，但也推遲了大豆播種，這可能會導致第二季玉米播種的延遲。

We will continue shipping the large MENA project through fiscal year 2025. The project funnel remains active, and we continue to advance other projects forward that support food security and other developing international irrigation markets. We look forward to sharing more on these projects in the future.

我們將在 2025 財政年度繼續運送大型中東和北非項目。我們期待將來分享更多有關這些項目的資訊。

Moving to infrastructure. In June, we installed our first TAU XR express repair cushion in Nevada. This new innovative crash cushion is differentiated by its ability to provide robust protection yet can be installed and repaired when impacted in under 30 minutes.

轉向基礎設施。 6 月，我們在內華達州安裝了第一個 TAU XR 快速維修墊。這種新型創新防撞緩衝墊的特點是能夠提供強大的保護，並且在受到撞擊時可以在 30 分鐘內完成安裝和修復。

We've seen a positive response in the market and have received state approvals in some of our key markets as we await federal highway administration approval. We do anticipate an increase in US infrastructure spending in fiscal 2025 and continue to see positive near-term market opportunities driven by the increased federal funding provided by the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act.

我們在市場上看到了積極的反應，並在等待聯邦公路管理局批准的過程中，在一些主要市場獲得了州政府的批准。我們確實預計 2025 財年美國基礎設施支出將會增加，並繼續看到《基礎設施投資和就業法案》提供的聯邦資金增加所帶來的積極的近期市場機會。

We maintain the expectation that demand for our Road Zipper lease and project sales will grow in turn, positively impacting revenues and margins.

我們仍然預計 Road Zipper 租賃和項目銷售的需求將依次增長，從而對收入和利潤產生積極影響。

We continue to actively manage projects in our sales funnel and have line of sight to additional projects moving through the funnel in fiscal 2025. In the area of technology and innovation, we are extremely encouraged to see continued growth in both the Field Net and field-wise irrigation management platforms in addition to realizing the first commercial sale of our Impact Alert product in the Infrastructure segment.

我們繼續積極管理銷售漏斗中的項目，並著眼於 2025 財年透過該漏斗的其他項目。影響警報產品的首次商業銷售外，我們還提供了明智的灌溉管理平台。

We now have more than 140,000 connected devices, and we achieved a 28% growth rate in annual recurring revenue from device subscriptions in fiscal 2024.

我們現在擁有超過 140,000 台連網設備，2024 財年設備訂閱的年度經常性收入實​​現了 28% 的成長率。

Growth in this recurring revenue stream is supportive of our overall margin profile, and we expect to drive continued momentum in this area while supporting investments that allow us to differentiate and extend our leadership position in technology.

這種經常性收入流的成長支持了我們的整體利潤狀況，我們預計將推動這一領域的持續發展勢頭，同時支持投資，使我們能夠實現差異化並擴大我們在技術領域的領導地位。

Moving to our operational footprint. We've continued to progress on the $50 million investment at our Lindsay, Nebraska facility, which will allow us to better manage our variable costs as the cycle fluctuates. These long-term investments will support the business as the cycle returns to growth providing for increased responsiveness to demand fluctuations, improved efficiencies and margin stability.

轉向我們的營運足跡。我們在內布拉斯加州林賽工廠的 5000 萬美元投資繼續取得進展，這將使我們能夠在周期波動時更好地管理可變成本。隨著經濟週期恢復成長，這些長期投資將支持業務，提高對需求波動的反應能力，提高效率和利潤穩定性。

Now I'll turn the call over to Brian to discuss our financial results. Brian?

現在我將把電話轉給布萊恩，討論我們的財務表現。布萊恩？

Thank you, Randy, and good morning, everyone. Total revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 were $155 million, a decrease of 7% compared to the fourth quarter last year. Net earnings for the quarter were $12.7 million or $1.17 per diluted share compared to net earnings of $19.2 million or $1.74 per diluted share in the fourth quarter last year.

謝謝你，蘭迪，大家早安。 2024財年第四季總營收為1.55億美元，較去年第四季下降7%。本季淨利為 1,270 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 1.17 美元，而去年第四季淨利潤為 1,920 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 1.74 美元。

Total revenues for the full year of $607.1 million decreased 10% compared to the prior fiscal year. And net earnings for fiscal 2024 were $66.3 million or $6.01 per diluted share, a decrease of 8% compared to record net earnings of $72.4 million and $6.54 per diluted share in the prior year.

全年總收入為 6.071 億美元，比上一財年下降 10%。 2024 財年淨利為 6,630 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 6.01 美元，與上一年創紀錄的淨利潤 7,240 萬美元和稀釋後每股收益 6.54 美元相比，下降了 8%。

Turning to our segment results. Irrigation segment revenues for the fourth quarter were $125.9 million, a decrease of 12% compared to the prior year. North America irrigation revenues of $61.7 million increased 2% compared to the prior year.

轉向我們的部門業績。第四季灌溉部門營收為 1.259 億美元，較上年同期下降 12%。北美灌溉收入為 6,170 萬美元，比上年增長 2%。

The increase in revenues resulted primarily from higher unit sales volumes while average selling prices were comparable with the prior year. Increased irrigation equipment sales were driven by a higher level of storm damage replacement demand compared to the prior year.

收入的成長主要是由於單位銷售的增加，而平均售價與前一年相當。與前一年相比，風暴損壞更換需求的增加推動了灌溉設備銷售的成長。

The impact of higher equipment sales was partially offset by lower sales of replacement parts due to wet field conditions in certain parts of the country that limited equipment run times.

由於該國某些地區的濕地條件限制了設備的運行時間，更換零件的銷售下降部分抵消了設備銷售增加的影響。

In international irrigation markets, revenues of $64.2 million decreased 23% compared to last year. The decrease resulted primarily from lower revenues in Brazil compared to record revenues in the prior year fourth quarter. Revenues were also lower in other parts of Latin America, while demand in other developed markets remained relatively stable.

國際灌溉市場收入為 6,420 萬美元，比去年下降 23%。下降的主要原因是巴西的收入低於去年第四季創紀錄的收入。拉丁美洲其他地區的收入也較低，而其他已開發市場的需求則保持相對穩定。

These decreases were partially offset by higher project sales in developing markets. As Randy mentioned in his remarks, we began delivery on the previously announced project in the MENA region during the quarter. Revenues in the current year quarter were also impacted by the unfavorable effects of foreign currency translation of approximately $3.1 million compared to the prior year quarter. Total irrigation segment operating income for the fourth quarter was $17.1 million, a decrease of 43% compared to last year, and operating margin was 13.6% of sales compared to 20.7% of sales last year.

這些下降被發展中市場項目銷售的增加部分抵消。正如蘭迪在演講中提到的，我們在本季度開始交付之前宣布的中東和北非地區項目。與去年同期相比，本季的營收也受到外幣換算不利影響約 310 萬美元的影響。第四季灌溉部門總營業收入為1,710萬美元，較去年下降43%，營業利益率為銷售額的13.6%，而去年為銷售額的20.7%。

Lower operating income and operating margin resulted primarily from lower international irrigation revenues and the impact from the deleveraging of fixed operating expenses compared to the prior year. For the full fiscal year, total irrigation segment revenues of $513.9 million decreased 12% compared to the prior year.

與前一年相比，營業收入和營業利潤率下降主要是由於國際灌溉收入下降以及固定營業費用去槓桿化的影響。整個財年，灌溉部門總收入為 5.139 億美元，比上年下降 12%。

North America irrigation revenues of $302.1 million decreased 2% as higher unit sales volumes were more than offset by lower sales of replacement parts and slightly lower average selling prices compared to the prior year. International Irrigation revenues of $211.7 million decreased 23% compared to prior year, primarily the result of lower revenues in Brazil and other Latin American markets.

北美灌溉收入為 3.021 億美元，下降 2%，原因是單位銷量的增加被替換零件銷售的減少和平均售價與上年相比略有下降所抵消。國際灌溉收入為 2.117 億美元，比前一年下降 23%，主要是由於巴西和其他拉丁美洲市場收入下降。

This decrease was partially offset by higher revenues from project sales in developing markets compared to the prior year.

與前一年相比，發展中市場項目銷售收入的增加部分抵消了這一下降。

Operating income in the Irrigation segment for the full fiscal year of $87.6 million was a decrease of 28% compared to the prior year. And operating margin was 17% of sales compared to 20.8% of sales in the prior year. Lower operating income and operating margin resulted primarily from lower international irrigation revenues and from the impact of deleveraging of fixed operating expenses. Infrastructure segment revenues for the fourth quarter of $29.1 million increased 24% compared to the prior year.

整個財年灌溉部門的營業收入為 8,760 萬美元，比上年下降 28%。營業利益率為銷售額的 17%，而前一年為銷售額的 20.8%。營業收入和營業利潤率下降主要是由於國際灌溉收入下降以及固定營業費用去槓桿化的影響。第四季基礎設施部門營收為 2,910 萬美元，比去年同期成長 24%。

The increase in revenues resulted from higher Road Zipper System sales and lease revenues compared to the prior year fourth quarter, while the impact of higher sales of road safety products in the US was offset by lower sales in international markets compared to the prior year.

營收成長的原因是 Road Zipper System 銷售和租賃收入與去年同期相比有所增加，而美國道路安全產品銷售增加的影響被國際市場與去年同期相比有所下降所抵消。

Infrastructure segment operating income for the fourth quarter of $5.6 million increased 79% compared to the prior year. Infrastructure operating margin for the quarter was 19.2% of sales compared to 13.3% of sales in the fourth quarter last year.

基礎建設部門第四季營業收入為 560 萬美元，較上年同期成長 79%。本季基礎設施營運利潤率的 19.2%，而去年第四季為銷售額的 13.3%。

Increased operating income and operating margin resulted from higher revenues and from a more favorable margin mix of revenues with higher Road Zipper System sales and lease revenues compared to the prior year. For the full fiscal year, infrastructure segment revenues of $93.2 million increased 6% compared to the prior year.

與前一年相比，營業收入和營業利潤率的增加得益於更高的收入以及更有利的收入利潤組合以及更高的 Road Zipper System 銷售和租賃收入。整個財年，基礎建設部門營收為 9,320 萬美元，比上年成長 6%。

The increase was primarily attributable to higher Road Zipper system lease revenues, which were partially offset by lower Road Zipper sales and lower sales of road safety products compared to the prior year.

這一增長主要歸因於 Road Zipper 系統租賃收入的增加，但與前一年相比，Road Zipper 銷售的下降和道路安全產品銷售的下降部分抵消了這一增長。

Infrastructure operating income for the full fiscal year was $19 million and decreased or increased 57% compared to the prior year. Operating margin for the year was 20.4% of sales compared to 13.7% of sales in the prior year. Turning to the balance sheet and liquidity.

整個財年基礎設施營運收入為1,900萬美元，與前一年相比減少或增加了57%。本年度營業利益率為銷售額的 20.4%，而前一年為銷售額的 13.7%。轉向資產負債表和流動性。

Our total available liquidity at the end of the fourth quarter was $240.9 million, which includes $190.9 million in cash and cash equivalents and $50 million available under our revolving credit facility. Our operating performance for the year, along with diligent working capital management, resulted in free cash flow of $66.8 million or 101% of net earnings.

截至第四季末，我們的可用流動資金總額為 2.409 億美元，其中包括 1.909 億美元的現金和現金等價物以及循環信貸額度下的 5000 萬美元。我們今年的經營業績以及勤奮的營運資金管理導致自由現金流達到 6,680 萬美元，佔淨利潤的 101%。

Our demonstrated cash flow generation further strengthens our balance sheet and positions us well to continue executing on our capital allocation priorities, balancing organic and inorganic investments, along with returning capital to our shareholders.

我們所展示的現金流量產生進一步加強了我們的資產負債表，並使我們能夠繼續執行我們的資本配置優先事項，平衡有機和無機投資，以及向股東返還資本。

During the quarter, we completed additional share repurchases of $4.6 million, bringing the total share repurchases to $22.5 million for the year.

本季度，我們額外完成了 460 萬美元的股票回購，使全年股票回購總額達到 2,250 萬美元。

This concludes my remarks. And at this time, I'll turn the call over to the operator to take your questions.

我的發言到此結束。此時，我會將電話轉接給接線生回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

The first question comes from Nathan Jones with Stifel. Please go ahead.

第一個問題來自 Nathan Jones 和 Stifel。請繼續。

Good morning, everyone. I want to start off with a question about the decremental margins, both in the quarter and the year. I think for the year, it was almost 50%, for the quarter it was above 70%. So just some commentary on what led to that, I guess, over deleveraging that you've seen in the quarter and the year.

大家早安。我想從一個關於季度和年度利潤遞減的問題開始。我認為今年這一比例接近 50%，本季則超過 70%。我想，只是對導致這一情況的一些評論，即你們在本季和今年看到的過度去槓桿化。

I think maybe it has something to do with Brazil being more profitable than I thought it was potentially. But just any color you can provide us around the mix impacts that are contributing to that deleveraging.

我認為這可能與巴西比我想像的更有利可圖有關。但是，您可以為我們提供有關導致去槓桿化的混合影響的任何顏色。

Yeah, , Nathan, this is Brian. Yes, when you look at the year-over-year decremental margins, it's entirely related to the international irrigation business. When you look at North America, and we don't break this out, but I would say North America margins have maintained and even slightly improved this year. And when you look at last year, especially in the fourth quarter, it was record fourth quarter for Brazil and the amount of leverage we got on that additional volume and price, obviously, was very strong last year.

是的，內森，這是布萊恩。是的，當你看到同比利潤下降時，你會發現這完全與國際灌溉業務有關。當你看看北美時，我們沒有透露這一點，但我想說北美的利潤率今年保持不變，甚至略有改善。當你看看去年，特別是第四季時，巴西第四季創歷史新高，我們在額外數量和價格上獲得的槓桿量顯然去年非常強勁。

So very strong year last year in Brazil this year off quite a bit. So that deleverage there is pretty significant. And then a little bit of the mix and the shift of less Brazil volume this year, and we got the additional volume from the project business, which is slightly dilutive to overall margins as well. But the biggest single impact was the year-over-year Brazil change.

去年巴西非常強勁，今年則下滑了不少。因此，去槓桿化的效果相當顯著。然後，今年巴西業務量發生了一些變化，我們從專案業務中獲得了額外的業務量，這也略微稀釋了整體利潤率。但最大的單一影響是巴西的同比變化。

Makes sense. Can you talk about the Middle East project that started shipping in the fourth quarter? Like how much revenue shipped in the fourth quarter, how much ships in 2025? And I guess given that you're going to have growth in these international projects next year, and it's probably fairly likely that Brazil is going to be one of the weaker markets for you again in 2025, should we think that there's some mix headwinds and additional deleveraging that would get in Brazil that create headwinds for margins in 2025?

有道理。能否談談四季開始出貨的中東計畫？例如第四季的營收出貨量是多少，2025年的出貨量是多少？我想，考慮到明年這些國際項目將會成長，而且 2025 年巴西很可能會再次成為較弱的市場之一，我們是否應該認為存在一些混合阻力和巴西是否會採取額外的去槓桿化措施，從而對2025 年的利潤率造成不利影響？

Yeah. We, first of all, in the fourth quarter, we shipped roughly $14 million of the project. And next year, we anticipate roughly $80 million, which would be spread throughout each of the four quarters. So there is a dilutive effect because the margins on the large projects like that are generally going to be below our normal margins.

是的。首先，我們在第四季度交付了大約 1400 萬美元的專案資金。明年，我們預計大約 8000 萬美元，將分攤到四個季度的每個季度。因此，存在稀釋效應，因為此類大型專案的利潤通常會低於我們的正常利潤。

But if you look at it in context of the entire segment, for the full year, I mean, there's clearly more deleverage on the gross margin line, but you get leverage on SG&A. So when you get down to operating margin for the full year, it's probably in the neighborhood of about 100 basis points of dilution.

但如果你從整個細分市場的角度來看，我的意思是，就全年而言，毛利率線顯然有更多的去槓桿化，但你可以在銷售、管理和行政費用上獲得槓桿作用。因此，當你計算全年營業利潤率時，稀釋度可能約為 100 個基點左右。

And we should expect some additional headwinds from, from Brazil, probably being one of the, of the worst markets in in 2025. Or is that not your expectation that it will be one of the worst markets?

我們應該預期巴西會帶來一些額外的阻力，巴西可能是 2025 年最糟糕的市場之一。

No, we, we expect especially in the first two quarters of the year to still see, you know, the year over year, another leg down in Brazil. But as we look at the, the full year, I think the, you know, in third and fourth quarters, we would expect to get at least, you know, more flattish compared to this year. You know, so overall, yeah, we would expect Brazil to be down, you know, probably in that double digit, you know, low, low double digit area for the full year next year.

不，我們，我們預計，尤其是在今年前兩個季度，巴西的經濟仍將比去年同期下滑。但當我們審視全年時，我認為，你知道，在第三和第四季度，我們預計至少會比今年更加平坦。你知道，所以總的來說，是的，我們預計巴西明年全年的經濟成長率可能會下降到兩位數。

Great. I'll pass it on and get back in the queue. Thanks.

偉大的。我會把它傳遞出去並回到隊列中。謝謝。

Ryan Connors with Northcoast Research Partners.

瑞安康納斯 (Ryan Connors) 與北海岸研究合作夥伴。

Hey, good morning. So I wanted to actually push on the margins a little bit because if you cite the negative volume leverage, but if I look at the gross margin, actually, we held up pretty well close to 30%, but SG&A actually ramped pretty significantly year-over-year, 20% up in selling about 10% up in G&A. So it seems like there's certainly some upward creep in cost in addition to the negative leverage. So just want to try to reconcile that and if you can provide any color around the SG&A drivers as well.

嘿，早安。所以我想實際上稍微提高利潤率，因為如果你引用負銷量槓桿，但如果我看一下毛利率，實際上，我們保持在接近 30% 的水平，但 SG&A 實際上在今年大幅增長 -與去年同期相比，銷售額成長了20%，一般管理費用成長了約10%。因此，除了負槓桿之外，成本肯定還會上升。因此，我只想嘗試協調這一點，以及您是否也可以提供 SG&A 驅動程式周圍的任何顏色。

Yeah, this is Brian. I would say on the SG&A side, one of the components is on these project businesses both in infrastructure and in irrigation. There's going to be sales commissions that are going to accompany those. So some of that increase is just related to sales commissions. We also continue to invest in some of our R&D and technology development.

是的，這是布萊恩。我想說，在SG&A方面，其中一個組成部分是基礎設施和灌溉領域的這些專案業務。隨之而來的是銷售佣金。因此，部分成長僅與銷售佣金有關。我們也持續投資於一些研發和技術開發。

And when you look at the project activity that we're seeing in the MENA region, there's some additional resources that we've deployed to address that. But to offset that, we have taken action to reduce costs in some other areas where we can.

當您查看我們在中東和北非地區看到的專案活動時，您會發現我們部署了一些額外的資源來解決這個問題。但為了抵消這項影響，我們已採取行動，盡可能在其他一些領域降低成本。

But we'll probably see more of an impact in 2025. I would say just the other thing on the gross margin side that we talked about, not just the deleveraging of fixed costs, but we did we have spoken before about Brazil and how pricing has been under pressure in Brazil. And so that's also contributing to the bit of the margin compression.

但我們可能會在2025 年看到更大的影響。以及如何定價巴西隊一直面臨壓力。因此，這也導致了利潤率壓縮。

Got it. Yeah. Okay. That price wouldn't be what I would. Okay. Got it. And then in terms of these other large projects in Middle East, is there anything I know you can't discuss too much there that you're working on new business? But are we talking anything of order of magnitude as large as the current big Mina project or, or is a bunch of smaller ones? Just any, any color on kind of the, what that pipeline looks like? Anything that's quite that large?

知道了。是的。好的。這個價格不會是我想要的。好的。知道了。然後，就中東的其他大型專案而言，我知道有什麼是你們不能在那裡過多討論的，你們正在進行新業務嗎？但我們談論的是像目前大型 Mina 專案一樣大的數量級，還是一堆較小的專案？只是任何顏色，管道看起來是什麼樣子？有那麼大的東西嗎？

Yeah. Good morning Ryan, this is Randy, and I'll take that one. And I'd say there's a mix of projects and being able to identify and pull another $100 million plus through in fiscal year not highly probable, but do we have a handful of smaller projects that add up to that sum. That's more than likely. But there is a strong mix here several small ones, a couple of big ones. We like the funnel we see, and these aren't highly speculative. These are specific customers, specific pieces of ground as we've said before, and you hear from others in the industry, these are incredibly complex, time-consuming both on the deal itself.

是的。早安，瑞安，我是蘭迪，我接那個。我想說的是，項目是混合的，能夠在財政年度確定並再籌集 1 億多美元的可能性不大，但我們是否有一些較小的項目加起來就達到了這個數額。這很有可能。但這裡有幾個小問題和幾個大問題的強烈混合。我們喜歡我們看到的漏斗，而且這些並不是高度推測性的。正如我們之前所說，這些是特定的客戶，特定的領域，而且您從業內其他人那裡聽到，這些交易本身非常複雜且耗時。

And sometimes we'll have a deal signed, and it could take several weeks, several months to work through credit approvals, terms and conditions. So we'll generally talk about the funnel being robust and it remains that way, but we won't talk about specific projects until we know we've got terms and conditions agreed, credit secured and we're ready to start building and shipping those units. But we do see an opportunity to cover a lot of that volume in the coming years.

有時我們會簽署協議，但可能需要幾週甚至幾個月的時間來完成信貸批准、條款和條件。因此，我們通常會談論管道的穩健性，並且仍然如此，但我們不會談論具體項目，直到我們知道我們已經商定了條款和條件，獲得了信貸並且我們準備好開始建造和運輸那些單位。但我們確實看到了在未來幾年內涵蓋大部分內容的機會。

Got it. Okay. And then just one last one for me, a bit of a housekeeping, Brian. The tax rate has been sort of jumping around all over the place. I assume that has to do with the volatility in the different tax jurisdictions and the earnings contribution. But any help you can give us on kind of where we think about that coming in for fiscal '25?

知道了。好的。然後，對我來說，還有最後一件事，一點家務活，布萊恩。稅率到處都有跳動。我認為這與不同稅收管轄區的波動性和盈利貢獻有關。但是您能給我們提供關於我們對 25 財年的看法的任何幫助嗎？

Yeah, I think in the most recent quarter, just the shift in income from Brazil being down and then the project business, which we ship out of our Turkey facilities, which is in a tax-free zone. So that had an impact. But as we look in early in the year, we had the tax credits that also had a pretty significant impact. As we look forward to next year, given the anticipated blend in our earnings, I would say we're probably in that 25% range, absent any other onetime kind of things.

是的，我認為在最近一個季度，來自巴西的收入下降，然後是項目業務，我們從位於免稅區的土耳其工廠發貨。所以這產生了影響。但正如我們在今年年初所看到的，我們的稅收抵免也產生了相當大的影響。當我們展望明年時，考慮到我們預期的收入混合情況，我想說，如果沒有其他一次性的事情，我們可能會處於 25% 的範圍內。

But I would say 25% would be where we'd expect to be next year

但我想說 25% 是我們明年的預期

Got it very helpful. Thanks for your time.

得到它非常有幫助。感謝您抽出時間。

Brian Drab with William Blair.

布萊恩·德拉布和威廉·布萊爾。

Hey, good morning. Tyler here filling in for Brian. Starting off, could you elaborate on the progress of the Road Zipper funnel? Is this a tailwind from the IJA funds flowing through? Or is this other federal funds? And how is the pipeline looking quarter-over-quarter? And then I'll have a follow-up.

嘿，早安。泰勒代替布萊恩。首先，您能否詳細介紹一下 Road Zipper 漏斗的進展？這是 IJA 資金流經的順風車嗎？還是這是其他聯邦基金？各季度的管道情況如何？然後我會跟進。

Sure, You bet, Tyler. Yes, the Road upper funnel from our perspective continues to build, and this is really a couple of things, momentum coming out of COVID when we really had to shut down some of those face-to-face meetings. And this really is a person-to-person sales process.

當然，你打賭，泰勒。是的，從我們的角度來看，道路上漏斗仍在繼續建立，這確實是幾件事，當我們確實不得不關閉一些面對面會議時，新冠疫情帶來的動力。這確實是一個人對人的銷售過程。

So I think time now is on our side. We do see when the infrastructure investment and Jobs Act money goes to the market we can see some increases in Road Zipper business as they start to deploy the projects as they use the Road Zipper to manage through the construction period.

所以我認為現在時間站在我們這邊。我們確實看到，當基礎設施投資和就業法案資金進入市場時，我們可以看到 Road Zipper 業務有所成長，因為他們開始部署項目，因為他們使用 Road Zipper 來管理整個施工期。

So I think there are a couple of different factors providing some tailwind for us there. We continue to see new projects and new interest enter the funnel, and it's really a global funnel at this point as well. We've had a lot of success in Japan. We've had a lot of success in Italy that we've talked about, and this business is getting some of that momentum, which we love to see.

所以我認為有幾個不同的因素為我們提供了一些推動力。我們繼續看到新的項目和新的興趣進入漏斗，此時它也確實是一個全球漏斗。我們在日本取得了巨大的成功。正如我們所談論的，我們在義大利取得了許多成功，而且這項業務正在獲得一些勢頭，這是我們樂於看到的。

Great. That was helpful. And then I understand that large projects are dilutive, but can you kind of unpack how that all works? Is there anything new to the dynamics since the last time you had some strong project orders and how do you expect that mix to look going forward between project sales and lease revenue.

偉大的。這很有幫助。然後我知道大型專案會稀釋，但你能解釋一下這一切是如何運作的嗎？自上次您獲得一些強勁的項目訂單以來，動態方面有什麼新的變化嗎？

Yeah. No. On the, if you're talking about the infrastructure side, Tyler, the project sales there are going to be accretive to margins versus international irrigation projects. So as we see projects moving through the sales funnel and expect to see some growth in 2025, we would expect that to be accretive to overall margins.

是的。不。因此，當我們看到專案進入銷售管道並預計在 2025 年會出現一些成長時，我們預計這將增加整體利潤。

Okay. Got thanks Brian. That's all I have. I'll pass it on.

好的。謝謝布萊恩。這就是我所擁有的一切。我會把它傳遞下去。

Brett Kearney with American Rebirth Opportunities

布雷特·科爾尼與美國重生機會

Hi guys. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. Have a Great morning. You kind of addressed part of it already in the previous question. But I was curious with the momentum in the infrastructure side of the business, is the outsized opportunity you see really, I guess, state side? Or I know there have been some similar kind of physical infrastructure support packages passed and some of your other international markets, I guess both for road safety products as well as Road Zipper opportunities, how you're thinking about the opportunity set in fiscal '25 and beyond, international versus domestic?

嗨，大家好。早安.感謝您提出我的問題。祝你早上愉快。您在上一個問題中已經解決了部分問題。但我對基礎設施方面業務的勢頭很好奇，我猜你看到的巨大機會真的是在國家方面嗎？或者我知道已經通過了一些類似的實體基礎設施支援計劃，以及你們的一些其他國際市場，我想無論是道路安全產品還是 Road Zipper 機會，你們如何看待 25 財年設定的機會以及其他方面，國際還是國內？

Yeah, Brett, this is Brian. I think as we look at 2025, the growth that we're expecting next year is going to be primarily US. And again, a lot of that supported by just the additional funding that's in the sector. But as Randy mentioned, the funnel includes global opportunities as well.

是的，布雷特，這是布萊恩。我認為，展望 2025 年，我們預計明年的成長將主要來自美國。再說一次，其中很多都是由該行業的額外資金支持的。但正如蘭迪所提到的，該漏斗也包括全球機會。

But just the near-term growth that we expect would be primarily in the US And on the Road Zipper project sales side, there's potential outside the US as well. But the near line of sight that we have is primarily US based.

但我們預計近期成長將主要在美國。但我們擁有的近視距主要是在美國。

Excellent. If I could ask one more. Terrific to see the adoption on some of your new products, both the TAU XR as well as our connected offerings across both segments. I guess, as you think about how your markets are evolving, anything you can share in terms of product innovation, both internal at Lindsay as well as potential external solutions that would make sense, bringing into the Lindsay portfolio based on how you see the markets developing from here?

出色的。如果我能再問一個的話。很高興看到您的一些新產品被採用，包括 TAU XR 以及我們跨兩個細分市場的互聯產品。我想，當您思考您的市場如何發展時，您可以在產品創新方面分享任何內容，包括 Lindsay 內部的內容以及有意義的潛在外部解決方案，並根據您對市場的看法將其納入 Lindsay 產品組合從這裡發展？

Of course, Brett, this is an area and a key area of differentiation for us. Our investments in technology, those are the ones that we want to protect in the down cycle and certainly want to enhance when we can in the up cycle. We've made strategic investments in companies like Field wise that are now integrated in the business and producing some outstanding results in the partnership and innovation that we see. We've announced minority investments working through peso instruments that brings weather and environmental monitoring into the mix.

當然，布雷特，這對我們來說是一個領域，也是一個差異化的關鍵領域。我們對科技的投資是我們希望在下行週期中保護的投資，當然也希望在上行週期中盡可能加強投資。我們對像 Fieldwise 這樣的公司進行了策略性投資，這些公司現在已經融入我們的業務中，並在我們所看到的合作和創新方面取得了一些出色的成果。我們已經宣布透過比索工具進行少數股權投資，將天氣和環境監測納入其中。

And when we talk to customers, this is an area that I think they really are counting on us to differentiate, to drive innovation, to improve their ability to conserve resources to conserve energy and really turn this technology into a profit maker for them. So when we see the types of growth that we see there, even in a down market, it really validates the strategy and that's an area that we'll continue to invest in and hopefully continue to differentiate Lindsay.

當我們與客戶交談時，我認為他們確實指望我們在這個領域實現差異化、推動創新、提高他們節約資源、節省能源的能力，並真正將這項技術轉化為他們的利潤來源。因此，當我們看到那裡的成長類型時，即使在低迷的市場中，它也確實驗證了我們的策略，這是我們將繼續投資的領域，並希望繼續讓 Lindsay 脫穎而出。

Great. Thanks so much Randy.

偉大的。非常感謝蘭迪。

Jon Braatz with Kansas City Capital.

堪薩斯市資本公司的喬恩‧布拉茨 (Jon Braatz)。

Good morning, Randy. And Brian, Randy or Ryan, can you talk a little bit about the level of maybe storm revenues that you saw this year? And then maybe the impact the hurricanes might have over the next couple of months. Are you going to see some storm-related revenue from the hurricanes?

早安，蘭迪。 Brian、Randy 或 Ryan，您能談談今年您所看到的風暴收入水平嗎？然後也許是颶風在未來幾個月可能產生的影響。您會從颶風中看到一些與風暴相關的收入嗎？

Yeah, , Jon, I'll take the first part of that. This is Brian, and then Randy can speak about the second part of your question. But I would characterize this year, our fourth quarter storm damage activity being slightly above average.

是的，喬恩，我會講第一部分。我是布萊恩，然後蘭迪可以談談你問題的第二部分。但我認為今年第四季的風暴破壞活動略高於平均值。

If you recall, last year, we were below average in storm damage replacement following 2022, which was probably an all-time record for storm damage replacement. So relatively speaking, over a longer period, this was, I would say, above average.

如果你還記得的話，去年我們在 2022 年之後的風暴損壞更換率低於平均水平，這可能是風暴損壞更換的歷史記錄。因此，相對而言，在較長一段時間內，我認為這高於平均水平。

We look at our unit volumes for the quarter being up without the storm damage, we were probably been down low single digits. So it did have an impact on the quarter. But when you put it in perspective of what has been in other years. It's, I would say, again, slightly above average.

我們看看本季的單位銷售量在沒有風暴破壞的情況下增加，我們可能會下降低個位數。所以它確實對本季產生了影響。但當你把它放在其他年份的角度來看時。我想再說一遍，略高於平均。

And I'll cover kind of the most recent activity in the Southeast and talking with our dealers, with our field representatives, some of the insurance companies, we estimate there's several hundred machines down across all brands in that part of the world. And a lot of those customers, as we mentioned in our opening remarks, there's not a rush to get a machine put back in there. We're at the end of the season. We're getting through harvest.

我將介紹東南部最近的活動，並與我們的經銷商、現場代表、一些保險公司交談，我們估計該地區所有品牌的數百台機器都出現故障。正如我們在開場白中提到的，許多客戶並不急於將機器放回那裡。我們正處於賽季末。我們正在經歷收穫。

So that volume is really going to start now and run right through spring planting. So we don't expect a huge spike in one month. It's not like a summer storm in the Midwest where they want to get the machines back on quickly. They're going to be replaced on a much longer time line.

因此，該卷實際上將從現在開始並一直持續到春季播種。因此，我們預計一個月內不會大幅上漲。這不像中西部的夏季風暴，他們希望機器能夠快速恢復運作。它們將在更長的時間內被替換。

We're also hearing from a lot of customers mainly due to insurance that there might be more repayers than replacement this time around there. There's a big gap between kind of the insured price and the cost of the new machine.

我們也從許多客戶那裡聽到，主要是因為保險，這次的償還者可能比更換者多。保險價格與新機器的成本之間存在很大差距。

So this might be a replacement cycle where we see maybe more pipeline structural parts purchases as opposed to completely new machines. But as I mentioned again in the comments, we're working very closely with our regional teams, our dealers and helping those customers as best we can as quickly as we can.

因此，這可能是一個更換週期，我們可能會看到更多的管道結構部件採購，而不是全新的機器。但正如我在評論中再次提到的，我們正在與我們的區域團隊、經銷商密切合作，並儘可能快地為這些客戶提供幫助。

Okay, Randy, secondly, you seem to be very positive on the EMEA region in terms of activity. And I sense maybe it's picked up a little bit maybe from last year or whatever. But is there something maybe changing in the EMEA region that supports that's supporting the additional activity, irrigation activity?

好的，蘭迪，其次，您似乎對 EMEA 地區的活動非常積極。我感覺可能比去年或其他時候有所回升。但歐洲、中東和非洲地區是否可能發生一些變化來支持額外的活動、灌溉活動？

I would say that the interest in investing in irrigation connected to population growth, connected to food security, the motivation this year is consistent with last year and even the year before. Maybe some shifts in credit availability access to capital. There's been some funding into that region that has now maybe given a more ability to invest and purchase than they've had historically.

我想說的是，對灌溉的投資興趣與人口成長、糧食安全有關，今年的動機與去年甚至前年是一致的。也許信貸取得資本的管道會發生一些變化。該地區獲得了一些資金，現在可能比歷史上有更多的投資和購買能力。

But I think those long-term secular drivers and motivators, they're as strong and as positive as they've ever been. Just maybe more ability now to execute those because the funds are available to them. But that is going to continue to be, as we've said, as others have said, a pretty significant growth opportunity for the industry. And we like the way that we're positioned.

但我認為那些長期的世俗驅動因素和激勵因素，它們一如既往地強大和積極。現在可能更有能力執行這些任務，因為他們可以獲得資金。但正如我們和其他人所說，這將繼續成為該行業的相當重要的成長機會。我們喜歡我們的定位方式。

We like our competitiveness, our ability to identify, compete and win and then execute those projects very well.

我們喜歡我們的競爭力，喜歡我們識別、競爭和獲勝的能力，然後好好地執行這些項目。

Okay. Thank you, Randy. This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Randy Wood for any closing remarks.

好的。謝謝你，蘭迪。我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回蘭迪·伍德發表閉幕詞。

Thank you all for joining us on today's call. I'm proud of our performance in the quarter and full fiscal year and pleased with the continued operational execution demonstrated by our teams around the world. Our focus on price and cost management have supported our underlying results in a cyclically challenging market.

感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。我對我們本季和整個財年的業績感到自豪，並對我們世界各地的團隊所表現出的持續營運執行力感到滿意。我們對價格和成本管理的關注支持了我們在週期性挑戰市場的基本表現。

While we're managing costs, we continue to invest in innovation to grow our installed base and annual recurring revenue in both the irrigation and infrastructure segments, we'll continue to leverage our strong balance sheet to invest capital in our facilities around the world to improve safety, productivity and efficiency. We look forward to updating you on our progress at the end of our fiscal 2025 first quarter. Thank you.

在管理成本的同時，我們繼續投資創新，以擴大灌溉和基礎設施領域的裝機基礎和年度經常性收入，我們將繼續利用我們強大的資產負債表，在世界各地的設施上投資資本，以實現提高安全性、生產力和效率。我們期待在 2025 財年第一季末向您通報我們的最新進展。謝謝。

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

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。