Mativ Holdings Inc (MATV) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to Mativ's second quarter 2024 earnings conference call.

歡迎參加 Mativ 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。

On the call today from Mativ are Julie Schertell, Chief Executive Officer; Greg Weitzel, Chief Financial Officer; and Chris Kuepper, Director, Investor Relations.

今天，Mativ 執行長 Julie Schertell 接聽了電話；格雷格‧韋策爾，財務長；克里斯庫柏 (Chris Kuepper)，投資者關係總監。

Today's call is being recorded and will be available for replay later this afternoon.

今天的通話正在錄音中，將於今天下午晚些時候重播。

(Operator Instructions) It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Mr. Chris Kuepper.

（接線生指示）現在我很高興將電話轉給 Chris Kuepper 先生。

Sir, you may begin.

先生，您可以開始了。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for matter of second quarter 2024 earnings call.

大家早安，感謝您參加我們的 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that comments included in today's conference call include forward-looking statements.

在開始之前，我想提醒您，今天電話會議中的評論包含前瞻性陳述。

Actual results may differ materially from these comments for reasons shown in detail and our SEC filings, including our annual report on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.

由於詳細原因和我們向 SEC 提交的文件（包括我們的 10-K 表年度報告和 10-Q 表季度報告）中顯示的原因，實際結果可能與這些評論有重大差異。

Some financial measures discussed during this call are non-GAAP financial measures.

本次電話會議中討論的一些財務指標屬於非公認會計準則財務指標。

Reconciliations of these measures to the closest GAAP measures are included in the appendix of the earnings release.

這些指標與最接近的公認會計原則指標的對帳包含在收益發布的附錄中。

Unless stated otherwise, financial and operational metric comparisons are to the prior year period and relate to continuing operations.

除非另有說明，財務和營運指標與去年同期進行比較，並與持續營運相關。

The earnings release issued yesterday afternoon is available on our website at ir.mativ.com. With that, I'll turn the call over to Julie.

昨天下午發布的收益報告可在我們的網站 ir.mativ.com 上取得。這樣，我就把電話轉給茱莉。

Thanks, Chris.

謝謝，克里斯。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our call.

大家早安，感謝您加入我們的通話。

I'm pleased to report that Q2 results showed strong adjusted EBITDA improvement as well as being the second consecutive quarter of volume growth.

我很高興地報告，第二季的業績顯示調整後的 EBITDA 強勁改善，並且銷售連續第二季成長。

We generated adjusted EBITDA of $67 million, which was up 45% from the previous quarter and up 13% year over year.

我們的調整後 EBITDA 為 6,700 萬美元，較上季成長 45%，較去年同期成長 13%。

Additionally, adjusted EBITDA margin was up 350 basis points sequentially and 150 basis points year over year.

此外，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率較上季成長 350 個基點，較去年同期成長 150 個基點。

Results came in ahead of expectations due to a strong spread between selling price and input costs as well as operational improvements that came in earlier than expected.

由於銷售價格和投入成本之間存在巨大差距，且營運改善早於預期，因此業績超出預期。

While both segments performed well, our SaaS segment was the biggest driver this quarter, delivering over $10 million of incremental EBITDA and over 300 basis points of margin improvement year over year.

雖然這兩個部門都表現良好，但我們的 SaaS 部門是本季最大的推動力，帶來了超過 1000 萬美元的增量 EBITDA，利潤率比去年同期提高了超過 300 個基點。

On a consolidated basis, the primary driver of this quarter's adjusted EBITDA performance was our commercial team's pricing discipline and their ability to maintain a favorable net selling price versus input cost spread.

綜合來看，本季調整後 EBITDA 業績的主要驅動力是我們商業團隊的定價紀律以及他們維持有利的淨售價與投入成本價差的能力。

Throughout the most recent period of supply challenges and extraordinary inflation over the past two years, our commercial team has done an excellent job of driving pricing to offset the impact of material inflation.

在過去兩年的供應挑戰和異常通貨膨脹時期，我們的商業團隊在推動定價以抵消物質通膨的影響方面做得非常出色。

While we experienced some deflation on input cost in Q2, maintaining a positive net selling price versus input cost spread historically has been and continues to be a key success factor in primary performance metric for our team.

雖然我們在第二季度經歷了投入成本的一些通貨緊縮，但從歷史上看，保持正的淨售價與投入成本價差一直是並將繼續成為我們團隊主要績效指標的關鍵成功因素。

We also implemented new tools last year to ensure we minimize leakage and continue to drive value with our pricing decisions.

去年我們也實施了新工具，以確保最大限度地減少洩漏，並繼續透過定價決策推動價值。

Sequentially, consolidated sales were up almost 5% this quarter after being up more than 10% in Q1, mainly due to volume growth.

隨後，綜合銷售額在第一季成長超過 10% 後，本季成長了近 5%，主要是由於銷量成長。

Volume gains were most pronounced in our staff segment, which is also where we felt the most volume pressure last year, and which therefore, presented the greater recovery opportunity this year.

我們的員工部門的銷售成長最為明顯，這也是我們去年感受到銷售壓力最大的部分，因此，今年提供了更大的復甦機會。

Across both segments, the categories with our highest volume growth year over year were tapes and labels up 11%, filtration up 8% and release liners up 5%.

在這兩個細分市場中，銷量較去年同期成長最高的類別是膠帶和標籤，成長 11%，過濾成長 8%，離型紙成長 5%。

While volume is improving, there continues to be headwinds.

儘管成交量正在改善，但仍存在阻力。

In discussions with our customers, we know that a number of them remain cautious about building inventory due to the general instability of the market.

在與客戶的討論中，我們了解到，由於市場普遍不穩定，許多客戶對建立庫存仍持謹慎態度。

While we have seen modest demand improvement, it remains tempered.

儘管我們看到需求略有改善，但仍處於溫和狀態。

This is consistent with the continuing contraction of the global PMI metric and leads to another top priority of ours, aggressive cost management.

這與全球 PMI 指標的持續收縮是一致的，並導致我們的另一個首要任務，即積極的成本管理。

Our teams are relentless in their pursuit to transform Mativ into a more agile and flexible entity.

我們的團隊不懈地追求將 Mativ 轉變為更敏捷和更靈活的實體。

We focused on making more of our cost variable, and we're seeing these results in our operational cost performance.

我們專注於提高成本變量，並且我們在營運成本績效中看到了這些結果。

Additionally, we restructured the organization in Q1 with expected savings of $20 million this year.

此外，我們在第一季重組了組織，預計今年可節省 2,000 萬美元。

These actions have been executed and we are seeing the benefits.

這些行動已經執行，我們正在看到好處。

In addition to these efforts, we've optimized our manufacturing footprint from 48 manufacturing plants at the time of the merger two years ago to 38 manufacturing plants today and implemented the majority of our original $65 million synergy commitment.

除了這些努力之外，我們還優化了我們的製造足跡，從兩年前合併時的 48 家製造工廠增加到如今的 38 家製造工廠，並履行了我們最初 6500 萬美元協同承諾的大部分。

We've structured our commercial teams and operational functions to align to our customers and market, making us more responsive and customer centric.

我們建立了我們的商業團隊和營運職能，以適應我們的客戶和市場，使我們更具回應性並以客戶為中心。

And we've integrated our systems and harmonized our technology for better, faster decision-making.

我們整合了我們的系統並協調了我們的技術，以實現更好、更快的決策。

As a result, our operational efficiency and customer satisfaction levels have continued to increase.

因此，我們的營運效率和客戶滿意度持續提高。

Let me give you a few examples.

讓我舉幾個例子。

We've always been known for the quality of our products, but that doesn't stop us from continuing to invest in and grow our quality performance.

我們一直以產品品質而聞名，但這並不能阻止我們繼續投資並提高我們的品質績效。

Year to date, we have improved our quality to customers by over 30%.

今年迄今為止，我們為客戶提供的品質提高了 30% 以上。

And at the same time, we've improved our already high service levels by over 5%.

同時，我們將本已較高的服務水準提高了 5% 以上。

We've done this while reducing year-over-year inventory levels by $50 million and with improved performance and manufacturing costs driven by increased operating efficiencies as evidenced in Q2.

我們做到了這一點，同時將庫存水準年減了 5,000 萬美元，並透過提高營運效率推動了性能和製造成本的提高，如第二季所證明的那樣。

Our purpose-built assets are ideal for quick changeovers and provide a flexible supply chain that our customers value.

我們的專用資產非常適合快速轉換，並提供客戶重視的靈活供應鏈。

As you can see from these examples, our team is focused on execution, and that means in our plants as well as in the marketplace.

正如您從這些示例中看到的，我們的團隊專注於執行，這意味著在我們的工廠和市場中。

So let me spend a few minutes updating you on our demand generation activities.

讓我花幾分鐘時間向您介紹我們的需求產生活動的最新情況。

As I mentioned earlier, sequential volume has grown nicely over the past two quarters after the significant destocking and slowdown in 2023.

正如我之前提到的，在 2023 年大幅去庫存和放緩之後，過去兩個季度的環比銷量增長良好。

And while demand is expected to stabilize versus Q2, we also expect significant improvement versus prior year, providing ample opportunity for us to grow and execute in the marketplace.

雖然需求預計比第二季穩定，但我們也預計比去年有顯著改善，為我們在市場上發展和執行提供充足的機會。

Let me give you a few examples.

讓我舉幾個例子。

In Q2, we finalized long-term customer agreements in our film, filtration, and healthcare categories with the potential to increase volume by more than 10% with some of our largest customers.

第二季度，我們在薄膜、過濾和醫療保健類別方面敲定了長期客戶協議，有可能將與一些最大客戶的銷售增加 10% 以上。

This is driven by the continuous improvement in quality, reliable and flexible supply chains, and co-development of new products.

這是由品質的持續改進、可靠和靈活的供應鏈以及新產品的共同開發所推動的。

Secondly, we continue to launch new products that improve our customers' performance and environment footprint.

其次，我們不斷推出新產品，以改善客戶的績效和環境足跡。

This quarter, we've launched a new high-efficiency water filtration product in alignment with our largest global water filtration customer and also earned a new commitment from one of the largest automotive technology companies to provide wire tape solutions for their EV and ICE platforms.

本季度，我們根據全球最大的水過濾客戶推出了一款新型高效水過濾產品，並贏得了最大的汽車技術公司之一的新承諾，為其電動車和內燃機平台提供線帶解決方案。

Lastly, we also recently approved new investments to provide netting capacity for our filtration business as well as a new technology in our automotive tape business.

最後，我們最近也批准了新的投資，為我們的過濾業務提供淨容量，並為我們的汽車膠帶業務提供新技術。

Together, these investments will enable additional revenue of up to $30 million and are expected to start-up in late 2025.

這些投資總共將帶來高達 3,000 萬美元的額外收入，預計將於 2025 年底啟動。

In the past, I've mentioned the recent investments in our filtration business in Germany and in our release liner business in Mexico.

過去，我曾提到最近對德國過濾業務和墨西哥離型膜業務的投資。

Both of these assets have come online as expected, and the incremental capacity in Mexico has exceeded our volume forecast for the second

這兩項資產都已如預期上線，墨西哥新增產能已連續第二年超越我們的預測

month in a row.

連續一個月。

With that I'll turn it over to Greg for a more detailed discussion of our financial performance, and then I'll provide some closing thoughts on our path forward.

接下來，我將把它交給格雷格，讓他更詳細地討論我們的財務業績，然後我將對我們的前進道路提供一些總結性的想法。

Thanks, Julie, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝朱莉，大家早安。

Consolidated net sales for the quarter were $523 million compared to $526 million in the prior year, with volume up almost 2% and selling prices down 2% due to input cost deflation as well as unfavorable currency.

該季度的綜合淨銷售額為 5.23 億美元，而去年同期為 5.26 億美元，銷量增長近 2%，而由於投入成本通貨緊縮以及不利的貨幣，售價下降 2%。

While sales were almost flat on a year-over-year basis, we saw a roughly 5% step up on a sequential basis.

雖然銷售額比去年同期幾乎持平，但環比增長了約 5%。

Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations was $66.6 million, up 13% from $59.1 million in the prior year and up more than 45% sequentially.

來自持續經營業務的調整後 EBITDA 為 6,660 萬美元，比上一年的 5,910 萬美元增長 13%，比上一季增長超過 45%。

Favorable net selling price versus input cost, higher volumes, and improved distribution and manufacturing costs represented a combined $17 million favorable impact, which was partially offset by $6 million of lower mix contribution and $4 million of unfavorable SG&A expense.

相對於投入成本而言，有利的淨售價、更高的銷量以及改善的分銷和製造成本總共產生了1700 萬美元的有利影響，但部分被600 萬美元的較低組合貢獻和400 萬美元的不利SG&A 費用所抵銷。

Adjusted EBITDA margin increased 350 basis points sequentially and 150 basis points year over year.

調整後 EBITDA 利潤率季增 350 個基點，年增 150 個基點。

Turning to each of our segments, net sales in our filtration and advanced materials segment of $206 million were up 2% sequentially and down 3% versus Q2 of 2023.

就我們的每個細分市場而言，過濾和先進材料細分市場的淨銷售額為 2.06 億美元，比上一季成長 2%，與 2023 年第二季相比下降 3%。

The year-over-year decrease reflected lower volumes in our advanced films category and lower selling price due to input cost deflation, partially offset by higher volumes in our filtration categories.

年比下降反映了我們的先進薄膜類別的銷量下降以及由於投入成本通貨緊縮而導致的銷售價格下降，但部分被我們的過濾類別的銷售增加所抵消。

FAM adjusted EBITDA of $42 million was up 27% sequentially and down 5% year over year, reflecting the effects of lower volumes in our advanced films and higher SG&A expenses, partially offset by higher volumes in filtration, positive net selling price versus input cost, and improved manufacturing efficiencies.

FAM 調整後EBITDA 為4,200 萬美元，比上一季成長27%，年減5%，反映了我們先進薄膜銷售下降和SG&A 費用增加的影響，但部分被過濾銷售增加、淨售價與投入成本相比呈正數所抵消，並提高了製造效率。

FAM adjusted EBITDA margin of 20.5% was up 410 basis points sequentially.

FAM 調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 20.5%，較上一季成長 410 個基點。

And our sustainable and adhesive solutions segment net sales of $317 million were up 1% from last year and up 7% sequentially.

我們的永續和黏合劑解決方案部門淨銷售額為 3.17 億美元，比去年成長 1%，比上一季成長 7%。

The year-over-year increase reflected higher volumes across all of our end markets, partially offset by lower selling prices due to input cost deflation.

年比成長反映出我們所有終端市場的銷售增加，但部分被投入成本通貨緊縮導致的售價下降所抵銷。

SaaS generated strong adjusted EBITDA performance of $46 million, which was up 28% year over year and up 43% sequentially.

SaaS 產生了 4,600 萬美元的強勁調整後 EBITDA 業績，年增 28%，環比成長 43%。

Adjusted EBITDA margin increased 310 basis points versus the prior year and 370 basis points sequentially.

調整後 EBITDA 利潤率較前一年增加 310 個基點，較上年增加 370 個基點。

The year-over-year performance reflected favorable net selling price versus input cost performance, higher volumes, and improved distribution costs, partially offset by unfavorable mix and higher SG&A expense.

同比業績反映了與投入成本績效相比有利的淨售價、更高的銷售以及改善的分銷成本，但部分被不利的組合和更高的銷售管理費用所抵消。

Turning to a few of the corporate items, unallocated corporate adjusted EBITDA expense of around $22 million was in line with the prior year.

談到一些公司項目，未分配的公司調整後 EBITDA 費用約為 2,200 萬美元，與前一年持平。

As a reminder, we expect unallocated to be around $80 million for the full year.

提醒一下，我們預計全年未分配資金約 8,000 萬美元。

Interest expense of $18 million increased 12% from the prior year, primarily due to a higher revolver balance, coupled with higher interest rates on our floating rate debt in 2024.

利息支出為 1,800 萬美元，較前一年增加 12%，主要是由於循環餘額增加，加上 2024 年浮動利率債務利率上升。

When taking hedges into account, approximately 75% of our debt is at a fixed rate and matures on a staggered basis between 2026 and 2028.

考慮到對沖，我們約 75% 的債務採用固定利率，並在 2026 年至 2028 年之間分期到期。

With that said, one of our priorities is proactively addressing the upcoming maturity of our 2026 senior unsecured notes, which will be redeemable at par starting on October 1, 2024.

話雖如此，我們的首要任務之一是積極應對 2026 年高級無抵押票據即將到期的問題，該票據將從 2024 年 10 月 1 日起按面值贖回。

We are currently evaluating capital structure strategies to refinance those notes in the debt capital markets given current market conditions.

鑑於當前的市場狀況，我們目前正在評估資本結構策略，以便在債務資本市場上為這些票據再融資。

While it's premature to provide specifics, the refinancing process is underway and is focused on balancing capital structure's stability and optimizing our overall cost of capital.

雖然現在提供具體細節還為時過早，但再融資過程正在進行中，重點是平衡資本結構的穩定性和優化我們的整體資本成本。

Other expenses of $1.1 million decreased $1.5 million compared with the prior year period, largely due to losses on foreign exchange.

其他費用為 110 萬美元，比去年同期減少 150 萬美元，主要是由於外匯損失。

Our tax rate was 84% in the quarter.

本季我們的稅率為 84%。

This unusually high tax rate was driven by onetime tax adjustments, which if excluded, would yield an effective tax rate of 14%.

這一異常高的稅率是由一次性稅收調整推動的，如果排除這項調整，實際稅率將達到 14%。

For modeling purposes, however, we suggest using a normalized tax rate of 24%.

然而，出於建模目的，我們建議使用 24% 的標準化稅率。

At the end of the quarter, net debt was $1 billion and available liquidity was $436 million.

截至本季末，淨負債為 10 億美元，可用流動資金為 4.36 億美元。

Our net leverage ratio as defined in our credit agreement was 4.1 times, down from 4.2 times in the prior quarter, mainly due to a lower revolver balance at the end of the quarter.

我們的信貸協議中定義的淨槓桿率為 4.1 倍，低於上一季的 4.2 倍，主要是因為季末循環餘額較低。

We will continue to prioritize debt paydown with free cash flow and realize improving quarterly EBITDA on a year-over-year basis.

我們將繼續優先考慮透過自由現金流償還債務，並實現季度 EBITDA 同比改善。

We did not repurchase any shares during the quarter.

本季我們沒有回購任何股票。

Our intent continues to be to opportunistically repurchase shares to offset dilution and the priority of cash flow remains on paying down debt.

我們的目的仍然是機會性地回購股票以抵消稀釋，現金流的優先事項仍然是償還債務。

Turning to our outlook for the back half of 2024, we expect net sales to be roughly in line with our Q2 levels, subject to our normal year-end seasonality.

談到我們對 2024 年下半年的展望，我們預計淨銷售額將大致與第二季的水平一致，但受正常的年終季節性影響。

With a greater net selling price versus input cost benefit and operational improvements realized earlier than forecast, Q2 has exceeded expectations and Q3 should now come in roughly in line with Q2 except for approximately $2 million of additional expense associated with annual site outages.

由於淨銷售價格與投入成本效益相比有所提高，且營運改善早於預期實現，第二季度超出了預期，第三季度現在應該與第二季度大致持平，除了與年度站點中斷相關的約200萬美元的額外費用。

Q4 adjusted EBITDA is expected to reflect normal seasonality, and as mentioned previously, both sales and EBITDA will represent significant step-ups on a year-over-year basis for the remainder of 2024.

第四季度調整後的 EBITDA 預計將反映正常的季節性，並且如前所述，在 2024 年剩餘時間內，銷售額和 EBITDA 都將同比大幅增長。

For modeling purposes, we are now planning for 2024 full-year capital expenditures of approximately $60 million.

出於建模目的，我們現在計劃 2024 年全年資本支出約為 6000 萬美元。

We expect our 2024 full-year interest expense to be around $75 million and our depreciation and amortization expense to be around $100 million.

我們預計 2024 年全年利息支出約為 7,500 萬美元，折舊和攤提費用約為 1 億美元。

With that said, Julie, I'll hand it back over to you for closing remarks.

朱莉，話雖如此，我會將其交回給您進行結束語。

Thanks, Greg.

謝謝，格雷格。

What you should take away from this call is that while demand has improved, there are still headwinds and we're focused on those elements we can control -- quality, service, costs, new products, and share gains.

從這個電話中你應該明白的是，雖然需求有所改善，但仍然存在阻力，我們專注於我們可以控制的那些要素——品質、服務、成本、新產品和份額收益。

This quarter demonstrated the impacts of our actions over the past two years, creating improved operating leverage and a more agile company.

本季展示了我們過去兩年行動的影響，創造了更好的營運槓桿和更敏捷的公司。

I also provide concrete examples of the results of the team's efforts this quarter to highlight some of our recent wins that will serve us well into the future.

我還提供了團隊本季努力成果的具體範例，以強調我們最近取得的一些勝利，這些勝利將為我們的未來帶來良好的幫助。

I'm encouraged by our performance and excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.

我對我們的表現感到鼓舞，並對未來的機會感到興奮。

Thank you for joining us this morning, and please open the line for questions.

感謝您今天早上加入我們，請撥打電話提問。

(Operator Instructions) Daniel Harriman, Sidoti.

（操作員說明）Daniel Harriman，Sidoti。

Good morning, Julie, Greg, and Chris.

早上好，朱莉、格雷格和克里斯。

Thanks so much for the details.

非常感謝您提供詳細資訊。

And I know Greg touched on this a little bit, but Julie, just if you look back at Q1, you mentioned that Q3 may be your best chance to approach that $70 million in quarterly EBITDA.

我知道格雷格（Greg）談到了這一點，但是朱莉（Julie），如果您回顧第一季度，您提到第三季度可能是您實現季度 EBITDA 達到 7000 萬美元的最佳機會。

You obviously got really close to that in Q2.

顯然你在第二季已經非常接近了。

So could you go a little bit deeper and provide some more details related to your expectations for profitability in the second half of the year?

那麼您能否更深入地提供一些與您對下半年獲利能力的預期相關的更多細節？

Sure.

當然。

I would tell you that our message remains the same in the sense that Q2, Q3 we expect to be our strongest quarter.

我想告訴您，我們的訊息保持不變，因為我們預計第二季和第三季將是我們最強勁的季度。

Q2 did exceed expectations, but I would expect Q3 to be similar with the exception of what Greg mentioned, which is some annual outages in Q3, one of which moved from Q2 to Q3.

第二季確實超出了預期，但我預計第三季會與格雷格提到的情況類似，即第三季出現一些年度停電，其中一次從第二季轉移到第三季。

So there was a little bit of a timing shift.

所以時間上有一點轉變。

The exceedance in Q2 was really driven by some price and input timing advantage as well as some upside on consumer shipments that were really strong this quarter.

第二季度的超越實際上是由一些價格和投入時間優勢以及本季非常強勁的消費者出貨量的一些上漲所推動的。

So some of that's just timing.

所以有些只是時間問題。

I'm pleased to have it in the bank, but the shape just moved a little bit more towards Q2.

我很高興把它存入銀行，但形狀只是向第二季度移動了一點。

The combination of the two combined will be exactly as we've communicated in the past.

兩者的結合將與我們過去所傳達的完全一樣。

Okay, great.

好的，太好了。

Thanks so much.

非常感謝。

And just one more quick one for me from a demand generation perspective and these investments that you're making, how should we think about that in terms of like a payback period?

對我來說，從需求生成的角度來看，以及您正在進行的這些投資，我們應該如何從投資回收期的角度來考慮這一點？

Sure.

當然。

So there's a number of investments we've talked about from a growth standpoint, and we bias towards our growth platform.

因此，我們從成長的角度討論了許多投資，並且我們偏向於我們的成長平台。

So that's infiltration, release liners, and some of our specialty tapes areas, where we have the greatest right to win and the strongest market conditions.

這就是滲透、離型紙和我們的一些特殊膠帶領域，我們在這些領域擁有最大的獲勝權和最強勁的市場條件。

The two we've talked about in the past, the first one is a fine fiber meltblown line in Germany.

我們過去講過兩條，第一條是德國的細纖維熔噴線。

It's a sister line to three other meltblown assets, so it's known technologies.

它是其他三種熔噴資產的姊妹系列，因此它是已知的技術。

It supports our filtration growth, which was up 8% in this most recent quarter.

它支持我們的過濾增長，最近一個季度增長了 8%。

And the second one that we've talked about in the past is the release liner coater in Mexico.

我們過去討論過的第二個是墨西哥的離型紙塗佈機。

Both of these assets have started up or qualifying customers.

這兩項資產均已啟動或符合資格的客戶。

The Mexico asset is really about geographic expansion into North America and South America and release liner continues to grow nicely for us as well.

墨西哥資產實際上是向北美和南美的地理擴張，離型紙對我們來說也持續良好成長。

It was up 5% in Q2, and longer term, it has been up about 10%.

第二季上漲了 5%，長期來看，上漲了約 10%。

Combined, those two investments represent about $50 million of revenue and the continued growth in these categories, which is built into our long-term outlook.

這兩項投資合計帶來了約 5000 萬美元的收入以及這些類別的持續成長，這是我們的長期前景的一部分。

The most recent two investments, I mentioned on this call, the first one is a tape investment in Italy.

我在這次電話會議上提到了最近的兩項投資，第一項是在義大利的磁帶投資。

It's a different technology that replaces solvent-based adhesive technology.

這是一種替代溶劑型黏合劑技術的不同技術。

It creates an environment for higher temperature insulation for greater abrasion resistance and sound dampening performance, which is extremely important in electric cars.

它創造了一個更高溫度的絕緣環境，以提高耐磨性和隔音性能，這對於電動車來說極為重要。

It also supports our ESG efforts and work by eliminating volatile organic compounds, which is critical for the automotive industry.

它還透過消除揮發性有機化合物來支持我們的 ESG 努力和工作，這對汽車行業至關重要。

The project is pretty low cost, under $5 million.

該項目成本相當低，不到 500 萬美元。

It has about a three-year payback and it's new technology that will qualify, then expect to fill it within about five years after startup, which is at a pretty normal pace for that business.

它的投資回收期大約為三年，而且它的新技術將符合資格，然後預計在啟動後大約五年內完成投資，這對該業務來說是相當正常的速度。

The fourth investment I mentioned was expansion of our now tech filtration media.

我提到的第四項投資是擴大我們現在的技術過濾介質。

And this is following a similar investment that we made in China of the same technology, an asset in 2023, so again, sister assets that are complementary to our current installed base.

在此之前，我們在中國對相同技術進行了類似投資，這是 2023 年的一項資產，因此，姐妹資產對我們目前的安裝基礎起到了補充作用。

This is driven by increased demand and reverse osmosis water filtration demand.

這是由需求增加和逆滲透水過濾需求所推動的。

It starts up in late 2025 as well, has a similar payback period about three years.

它也於 2025 年底啟動，投資回收期類似，約三年。

I'm really pleased to have these kind of growth investments.

我真的很高興能夠進行此類成長投資。

I think they set us up extremely well for the future.

我認為他們為我們的未來做好了非常好的準備。

And the teams do this well.

團隊在這方面做得很好。

We have strong engineering.

我們有強大的工程技術。

We have strong commercial excellence.

我們擁有強大的商業優勢。

We have customer engagement and commitment prior to making the investments.

在進行投資之前，我們有客戶的參與和承諾。

And these most recent investments are fairly small.

而且這些最近的投資規模相當小。

They fit into our capital plans and they provide continued momentum for those businesses and for our teams internally.

它們符合我們的資本計劃，並為這些業務和我們的內部團隊提供持續的動力。

So strong paybacks.

如此強勁的回報。

Fairly minimal investments in the most recent two.

最近兩次的投資相當少。

The first two were much larger.

前兩個大很多。

Those have started up and are performing well and actually ahead of plan, particularly in expansion in North America and release liners.

這些項目已經啟動，並且表現良好，並且實際上提前於計劃，特別是在北美和離型紙的擴張方面。

Jon Tanwanteng, CJS Securities.

Jon Tanwanteng，CJS 證券。

Good morning.

早安.

This is Justin on for Jon.

這是賈斯汀為喬恩代言的。

We're just hoping for some more color on the prepared remarks.

我們只是希望在準備好的評論上能有更多的色彩。

Are you seeing weakness or hesitation from customers in any area, given recent market consternation and some higher uncertainty?

鑑於最近的市場恐慌和更高的不確定性，您是否發現任何領域的客戶表現疲軟或猶豫？

I mean, we're definitely seeing caution from our customers.

我的意思是，我們確實看到了客戶的謹慎態度。

I'd say we have greater strength in North America than we see right now in Europe, and we see caution from our customers, a caution around building too much inventory, which was part of the challenge last year that created some of the destocking challenges.

我想說，我們在北美的實力比現在在歐洲的實力更大，而且我們看到客戶持謹慎態度，對建立過多庫存持謹慎態度，這是去年挑戰的一部分，導致了一些去庫存挑戰。

Second quarter was sequential volume improvement and basically flat year over year.

第二季銷售量較上季改善，年比基本持平。

Growth in almost all of our end markets, and that was led by filtration release liners, tapes, and also healthcare.

我們幾乎所有終端市場的成長都是由過濾隔離襯裡、膠帶和醫療保健帶動的。

We are continuing, as I just talked about, to invest for the future in those markets that provide the greatest opportunity.

正如我剛才所說，我們將繼續在那些提供最大機會的市場中為未來進行投資。

And I would say that is in filtration release liners and some of our automotive tapes as well as optical films.

我想說的是，這是在過濾隔離襯裡和我們的一些汽車膠帶以及光學薄膜中。

Our softest categories are going to be in areas like dye sublimation and some of our paper subcategories.

我們最軟的類別將是染料昇華和一些紙張子類別等領域。

And that's not surprising, just given the historical performance of those markets.

考慮到這些市場的歷史表現，這並不奇怪。

I think the really good news there is that we know how to manage that business.

我認為真正的好消息是我們知道如何管理該業務。

We have the leading share in the premium space in paper.

我們在優質紙張領域擁有領先的份額。

We continue to grow in different channels, in the teacher tools, crafting, journals, and organizational tools that have upside potential, even greater than traditional paper market.

我們繼續在不同的管道上發展，包括教師工具、手工、期刊和組織工具，這些工具具有上升潛力，甚至比傳統的紙張市場更大。

That's helpful.

這很有幫助。

Thanks.

謝謝。

And then one more if I could.

如果可以的話，然後再來一張。

Can you just talk if there's any changes to cash flow expectations for the year?

能否談談今年的現金流預期是否有變動？

No, really, no significant changes.

不，真的，沒有重大變化。

And this quarter was a very good quarter for cash flow with free cash flow of about $37 million for the quarter.

本季的現金流非常好，該季度的自由現金流約為 3700 萬美元。

And as far as the full year, really, no significant changes.

就全年而言，確實沒有重大變化。

Our capital is a little bit more.

我們的資本多一點。

Our CapEx is a little more back-end loaded than front-end loaded.

我們的資本支出後端負載比前端負載多一些。

So we'll see that pick up some.

所以我們會看到一些。

We did also have a benefit in Q2 from accrued liabilities and accounts payable that would not continue in Q3 and Q4.

我們在第二季也確實從應計負債和應付帳款中獲得了收益，而這些收益在第三季和第四季不會持續下去。

So I expect Q3 and Q4 to be positive cash, free cash flow month but not to the same extent as Q2.

因此，我預計第三季和第四季將是正現金、自由現金流月，但程度不如第二季。

Thank you.

謝謝。

We currently have no further questions, so I'll hand back to Julie for closing remarks.

目前我們沒有其他問題了，所以我將請朱莉做結束語。

Yes.

是的。

Thank you for joining us this morning.

感謝您今天早上加入我們。

We look forward to connecting with you throughout the quarter and on our next earnings call in November.

我們期待在整個季度以及 11 月的下一次財報電話會議上與您聯繫。

Hope you all a wonderful day.

希望大家有美好的一天。

Thank you again, Julie.

再次感謝你，朱莉。

This concludes today's call.

今天的電話會議到此結束。

Thank you all for joining, and you may now disconnect your lines.

感謝大家的加入，現在您可以斷開線路了。