Mistras Group Inc (MG) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for joining Mistras Group's conference call for its second quarter ended June 30, 2024. My name is Brianna, and I'll be your event manager today. (Operator Instructions) Participating on the call for Mistras will be Manny Stamatakis, the company’s Chairman of the Board, an Interim President, and Chief Executive Officer; and Ed Prajzner, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

感謝您參加 Mistras Group 截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的第二季電話會議。我叫布麗安娜，今天我將擔任你們的活動經理。（操作員指示）參加米斯特拉斯號召的將是公司董事會主席、臨時總裁兼首席執行官曼尼·斯塔馬塔基斯 (Manny Stamatakis)；以及資深執行副總裁兼財務長 Ed Prajzner。

I'd like to remind everyone that remarks made during this conference call will include forward-looking statements. The company's actual results could differ materially from those projected. Some of those factors that can cause actual results to differ are discussed in the company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other reports filed with the SEC.

我想提醒大家，本次電話會議的言論將包含前瞻性陳述。公司的實際結果可能與預測有重大差異。該公司最新的 10-K 表格年度報告以及向 SEC 提交的其他報告中討論了一些可能導致實際結果出現差異的因素。

The discussion in this conference call will also include certain financial measures that were not prepared in accordance with the US GAAP. Reconciliation of these non-US GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable US GAAP financial measures can be found in the tables contained in yesterday's press release and in the company's related current report on Form 8-K. These reports are available at the company's website in the Investors section on the SEC's web.

本次電話會議的討論也將包括某些未依照美國公認會計準則制定的財務措施。這些非美國公認會計原則財務指標與最直接可比較的美國公認會計原則財務指標的調節可以在昨天的新聞稿中包含的表格以及公司當前相關的表格 8-K 報告中找到。這些報告可在該公司網站的 SEC 網站投資者部分取得。

I will now turn the conference over to Manny's Stamatakis.

我現在將會議交給曼尼·斯塔馬塔基斯。

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. Mistras reported strong top and bottom line growth for the third consecutive quarter and remains on pace for fiscal 2024 adjusted EBITDA that will be one of our all-time high performances years. This coincides with the formal implementation of the initiatives identified by Project Phoenix, which continues to guide us forward. Results continue to reflect the improved discipline and the overall benefits of our key financial, operational, and strategic initiatives with the goal of continuing to improve overall profitability.

大家早安。感謝您今天加入我們。米斯特拉斯報告連續第三個季度實現強勁的營收和利潤成長，並保持 2024 財年調整後 EBITDA 的成長速度，這將是我們歷史上業績最高的年份之一。這恰逢鳳凰計劃確定的舉措正式實施，該計劃將繼續指導我們前進。結果繼續反映了紀律的改進以及我們以繼續提高整體盈利能力為目標的關鍵財務、營運和策略舉措的整體效益。

Consequently, you can understand why I am very pleased with the significant improvement in our operating leverage, which enabled us to increase the adjusted EBITDA by nearly 45%, on revenue that was up nearly 8% in the second quarter. Adjusted EBITDA growth this quarter is sequentially in line with the first quarter and demonstrates the consistency and predictability of our performance, which we believe is a key to creating shareholder's value.

因此，您可以理解為什麼我對我們營運槓桿的顯著改善感到非常高興，這使我們能夠將調整後的 EBITDA 增加近 45%，而第二季度的收入增長了近 8%。本季調整後 EBITDA 成長與第一季連續一致，證明了我們業績的一致性和可預測性，我們認為這是創造股東價值的關鍵。

Revenue in the second quarter reflected growth across all industries with a double-digit increase in aerospace and defense of 17.5%, and oil and gas up 3% on the strength of an anticipated robust spring turnaround cycle. We grew in revenue in each of our segments, North America, International, and products, for the first time since Q1 of '23, I am particularly enthused with the continued progress achieved by our enhanced commercial function, led by our Chief Commercial Officer, Jerry D’Alterio, which was implemented late in 2023.

第二季的營收反映了所有產業的成長，航空航太和國防領域實現了兩位數成長 17.5%，石油和天然氣領域由於預期強勁的春季週轉週期成長了 3%。自 23 年第一季以來，我們在北美、國際和產品等各個領域的收入均實現了首次增長，我對我們在首席商務官領導下增強的商業職能所取得的持續進展感到特別興奮， Jerry DâAlterio ，於2023 年底實施。

Our enhanced commercial function has helped refine our go to market approach, pricing strategies, contract management and other key initiatives, which have provided a meaningful benefit to our operations. And we'll continue to do so.

我們增強的商業功能幫助完善了我們的市場策略、定價策略、合約管理和其他關鍵舉措，這為我們的營運帶來了有意義的效益。我們將繼續這樣做。

On the top line, our focus on enhancing our commercial function is contributing to our success. We are achieving better sales cycle conversion and efficiency. Pricing discipline, in particular, is gaining significant traction and is making a meaningful contribution to the improvement in our gross profit margin. About one-quarter of the revenue increase in the second quarter of 2024 was attributable to price increases realized as an outcome of successful negotiations with our customers.

總而言之，我們對增強商業功能的關注為我們的成功做出了貢獻。我們正在實現更好的銷售週期轉換和效率。尤其是定價紀律，正在獲得巨大的關注，並為我們毛利率的提高做出了有意義的貢獻。2024 年第二季約四分之一的營收成長歸因於與客戶成功談判後實現的價格上漲。

Gross profit dollars and gross profit margin was also up in the second quarter across all segments, as was operating income. On a consolidated basis, operating income was $12 million for the second quarter of 2024, which was an increase of over 200%.

第二季所有部門的毛利和毛利率以及營業收入也有所上升。合併後，2024年第二季營業收入為1,200萬美元，成長超過200%。

Selling, general, and administrative expenses were down compared to both the year-ago quarter and year-to-date periods. For the second quarter, SG&A was 21.6% of revenue, which is down sequentially from the first quarter and directionally oriented to our overall 21% of revenue goal for the year. However, I will note we have not yet achieved the total reduction in overhead which I anticipate for the full year.

與去年同期和今年迄今相比，銷售、一般和管理費用均有所下降。第二季度，SG&A 佔營收的 21.6%，比第一季連續下降，並朝著我們全年 21% 的整體收入目標邁進。然而，我要指出的是，我們尚未實現我預計全年管理費用的整體削減。

I am excited for the renewed level of cost discipline under the direction of our Chief Transformation Officer, Hani Hammad, who was hired late in the first quarter of 2024 and who is creating strategies for an ongoing cost monitoring to further improved our operating leverage.

我對我們的首席轉型官 Hani Hammad 的指導下成本紀律的新水平感到興奮，他於 2024 年第一季末受聘，正在製定持續成本監控策略，以進一步提高我們的營運槓桿。

Despite the significant achievements in most financial measures during the quarter, I would like to note that cash from operations and free cash flow performance for the quarter and year-to-date period significantly lagged that of prior year and the company's expectation. Management is intently focused on improving this performance during the remainder of the year through various actions, which Ed will cover later.

儘管本季大多數財務指標取得了重大成就，但我想指出，本季和年初至今的營運現金和自由現金流表現明顯落後於去年和公司的預期。管理層將在今年剩餘時間內集中精力透過各種行動來提高業績，埃德將在稍後介紹。

A few additional comments on the second quarter are as follows. Our aerospace and defense business returned double-digit revenue growth with North America back to pre-pandemic levels and international quickly headed in that direction. For that reason, we will continue to increase our investment in this industry where we are extending our service offerings to include more additive manufacturing and mechanical work beyond just inspection testing.

關於第二季的一些補充評論如下。我們的航空航太和國防業務實現了兩位數的收入成長，北美地區恢復到了疫情前的水平，國際市場也迅速朝這個方向發展。因此，我們將繼續增加對該行業的投資，我們將服務範圍擴展到包括更多的積層製造和機械工作，而不僅僅是檢查測試。

We are also expanding our scope of work in the private space industry. We expect continued strong performance in this industry over the balance of the year.

我們也正在擴大私人航太產業的工作範圍。我們預計該行業在今年餘下時間將繼續保持強勁表現。

Data analytical solutions revenue for the quarter was $18.3 million. While this is a slight increase over the prior-year quarter, it did not meet our growth expectations, as some scheduled jobs pushed out beyond the second quarter and there were some anticipated delays due to new customer implementations. We anticipate the second half to be much stronger than the first half.

該季度數據分析解決方案收入為 1830 萬美元。雖然這比去年同期略有增長，但沒有達到我們的成長預期，因為一些預定的工作推遲到第二季度之後，並且由於新客戶的實施而出現了一些預期的延遲。我們預計下半年會比上半年強勁得多。

As support for this, PCMS was just awarded significant new contracts of nearly $7 million scheduled to kick off in the fourth quarter of this year and to run through 2025. The PCMS contract awarded was bundled with inspection services as well. The most exciting part of this award is the PCMS acted as the architect of this customer's mechanical integrity program and the Mistras services not only include a full data service components posted in our SaaS environment, but also include consulting, engineering, field baseline inspections, and most importantly, Mistras will be collecting all test and inspection data electronically through our PCMS mobile solution.

作為對此的支持，PCMS 剛剛獲得了價值近 700 萬美元的重要新合同，計劃於今年第四季度開始，一直持續到 2025 年。授予的 PCMS 合約也與檢驗服務捆綁在一起。該獎項最令人興奮的部分是 PCMS 擔任該客戶機械完整性計劃的架構師，Mistras 服務不僅包括在我們的 SaaS 環境中發布的完整數據服務組件，還包括諮詢、工程、現場基線檢查和最重要的是，米斯特拉斯將透過我們的PCMS 行動解決方案以電子方式收集所有測試和檢驗數據。

This bundled software and service solution is something that none of our competitors can offer as a complete package. In addition, we were recently awarded multiple PCMS contracts with international customers in geographic regions in which we previously had little presence. In addition to PCMS, we are expanding our global footprint with a series of new contract awards, which utilize our state-of-the-art automatic RT crawlers to inspect pipelines around the world outside of North America. We expect this geographic expansion to continue.

這種捆綁軟體和服務解決方案是我們的競爭對手無法提供的完整軟體包。此外，我們最近還與國際客戶簽訂了多項 PCMS 合同，這些客戶位於我們以前幾乎沒有涉足的地理區域。除了 PCMS 之外，我們還透過一系列新合約授予來擴大我們的全球足跡，這些合約利用我們最先進的自動 RT 爬行器來檢查北美以外世界各地的管道。我們預計這種地域擴張將持續下去。

The search for a permanent CEO remains on track and my goal is to have our next CEO identified by the end of the third quarter. Once in place, I will remain active as the Chairman of the Board and look forward to working closely with the CEO, not just during a transition period, but also on a recurring basis, going forward.

尋找永久執行長的工作仍在進行中，我的目標是在第三季末確定下一任執行長。一旦就任，我將繼續積極擔任董事會主席，並期待與執行長密切合作，不僅是在過渡期間，而且是今後經常性的合作。

Last quarter, I noted we were still early in the Project Phoenix process and there was still work to do. Although we have taken great strides, I still see tremendous opportunity for additional growth and profitability.

上個季度，我注意到我們仍處於鳳凰計劃的早期階段，仍有工作要做。儘管我們已經取得了長足的進步，但我仍然看到了額外成長和獲利的巨大機會。

And lastly, once again, I want to note the renewed sense of commitment and dedication being demonstrated throughout the entire organization.

最後，我想再次指出整個組織所展現的新的承諾和奉獻精神。

Now I would like to turn the call over to Ed for a more detailed update on our recent results.

現在我想將電話轉給 Ed，以獲取有關我們最近結果的更詳細的更新資訊。

Thank you, Manny, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝你，曼尼，大家早安。

The second quarter of 2024 was our third consecutive quarter of strong top and bottom-line results, coinciding with the formal institution of the various Project Phoenix initiatives as our new standard operating procedure. Given this new focus and enhanced processes, we once again met or exceeded our outlook in the second quarter. And as such, we remain on target to achieve one of our all-time high performance adjusted EBITDA years. This was the ultimate objective of Project Phoenix, leveraging our core competencies to unlock our inherent value.

2024 年第二季是我們連續第三個季度實現強勁的營收和淨利潤業績，恰逢各種鳳凰項目計劃正式確立為我們的新標準營運程序。鑑於這一新的重點和改進的流程，我們在第二季度再次達到或超越了我們的預期。因此，我們仍然致力於實現調整後 EBITDA 歷史最高績效年份之一。這是鳳凰計畫的最終目標，利用我們的核心能力來釋放我們的內在價值。

Revenue in the second quarter was up meaningfully for the third consecutive quarter, increasing nearly 8%. Consistent with the first quarter, about one-quarter of our overall growth was attributable to price increases where we have taken pricing actions starting primarily with smaller or midsized customers. In addition, growth was net of certain work that we vacated because it did not meet the new profitability benchmarks established by our commercial functions.

第二季營收連續第三個季度大幅成長，成長近 8%。與第一季一致，我們整體成長的約四分之一歸因於價格上漲，我們主要從中小型客戶開始採取定價行動。此外，成長扣除了我們所騰出的某些工作，因為它不符合我們商業職能部門制定的新獲利基準。

Aerospace and defense continued its strong growth trajectory, with revenue being up 17.5% in the second quarter on the heels of having been up 18.9% in the first quarter, making this its third consecutive quarter of favorable results. Commercial aerospace continues to be extremely strong, and we are also generating significant growth in the private space industry as well as a result of the increase in number of launches. We are channeling incremental capital into our aerospace and defense business in order to capitalize on what we see as a unique window in the market to accelerate growth.

航空航太和國防持續保持強勁成長勢頭，在第一季營收成長 18.9% 後，第二季營收成長 17.5%，已是連續第三個季度取得良好業績。商業航空航太仍然非常強勁，而且由於發射次數的增加，我們的私人航太工業也取得了顯著成長。我們正在將增量資本引入我們的航空航太和國防業務，以便利用我們認為的市場獨特窗口來加速成長。

Capital funds are going primarily to our shop laboratories where we are expanding the services that we offer to help de-bottleneck our customers' supply chain constraints. As Manny indicated, we expect strong performance from a higher-margin aerospace and defense industry throughout the year.

資本資金主要流向我們的車間實驗室，我們正在擴大我們提供的服務，以幫助消除客戶的供應鏈限制。正如曼尼指出的那樣，我們預計利潤率較高的航空航太和國防工業將全年表現強勁。

Our oil and gas industry revenue has also continued to be very resilient in the second quarter of 2024, up 3% over the prior year quarter after having been up 14.7% in the first quarter on the strength of a robust spring turnaround season. Actually, all of our end markets were up in the second quarter compared to the prior year quarter, demonstrating the diversity of the industries that we serve.

由於強勁的春季週轉季節，我們的石油和天然氣行業收入在第一季增長 14.7% 後，在 2024 年第二季度繼續保持強勁彈性，比去年同期增長 3%。事實上，與去年同期相比，我們所有的終端市場在第二季度都出現了成長，這表明我們所服務的行業具有多樣性。

Both gross profit and margin expanded again in the second quarter, primarily attributable to a favorable sales mix change and lower healthcare claims expense as well as due to the favorable impact of Project Phoenix actions realized in 2024, including pricing increases achieved.

第二季毛利和利潤率再次擴大，主要歸因於有利的銷售組合變化和較低的醫療索賠費用，以及 2024 年實現的鳳凰計劃行動的有利影響，包括實現的定價上漲。

Selling, general, and administrative expenses were down both sequentially and year over year, although admittedly, somewhat modestly and less than expected in light of our cost reduction plan. For the quarter, our SG&A was 21.6% of revenue and was 22% of revenue for the six months ended June 30. As Manny mentioned earlier, we remain committed to achieving our goal of reducing SG&A to approximately 21% of full-year 2024 revenue.

銷售費用、一般費用和管理費用均連續下降和同比下降，但不可否認的是，根據我們的成本削減計劃，下降幅度有些小，且低於預期。本季度，我們的 SG&A 佔營收的 21.6%，截至 6 月 30 日的六個月佔營收的 22%。正如 Manny 先前所提到的，我們仍然致力於實現將 SG&A 減少至 2024 年全年收入約 21% 的目標。

Note that our original EBITDA outlook for 2024 anticipated an incremental year-over-year gross profit benefit of $3 million and SG&A benefit of $12 million due to Project Phoenix initiatives. Based upon our implementation of Project Phoenix, we have validated this cost savings of $15 million in aggregate. However, this benefit is now revised to be $7 million of cost of revenue reduction and $8 million of SG&A reduction savings in fiscal '24. Therefore, although we will still realize a $15 million aggregate improvement to adjusted EBITDA in 2024 attributable to these items, there will be a change in the distribution of savings between the cost of revenue and SG&A line, respectively. However, this change has no net impact on our outlook for adjusted EBITDA for fiscal '24.

請注意，我們最初對 2024 年 EBITDA 的展望預計，由於鳳凰項目計劃，毛利將同比增長 300 萬美元，銷售管理及行政管理 (SG&A) 收益將增長 1200 萬美元。根據鳳凰計畫的實施，我們已經驗證了總共節省了 1500 萬美元的成本。然而，該效益現已修訂為 24 財年收入成本削減 700 萬美元和 SG&A 削減節省 800 萬美元。因此，儘管由於這些項目，我們仍將在 2024 年實現調整後 EBITDA 總計 1500 萬美元的改善，但收入成本和 SG&A 項目之間的節省分配將分別發生變化。然而，這項變更對我們對 24 財年調整後 EBITDA 的展望並沒有淨影響。

Nevertheless, the company's primary objective is to create shareholder value by improving our bottom line profitability. And in the second quarter, we made significant progress on this front with GAAP net income of $6.4 million or $0.20 per diluted share, up from $0.3 million or $0.01 per share a year ago. And after rising 55% in the first quarter, adjusted EBITDA was up 44% to $22 million in the second quarter and stands at $38.3 million for the first half of '24.

儘管如此，公司的首要目標是透過提高獲利能力來創造股東價值。第二季度，我們在這方面取得了重大進展，GAAP 淨利潤為 640 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.20 美元，高於一年前的 30 萬美元，即每股 0.01 美元。在第一季成長 55% 後，第二季調整後的 EBITDA 成長了 44%，達到 2,200 萬美元，24 年上半年達到 3,830 萬美元。

With regard to cash flows, net cash provided by operating activities was $5.2 million and free cash flow was negative $6.9 million for the first half of '24. Each of these metrics were well below the prior year comparable metrics. And both were adversely impacted by an increase in receivables and unbilled receivables in progress. This was primarily due to a lack of prioritization and focus by management, along with the timing of invoicing associated with customer projects and the nature of some of the work that was completed in the second quarter.

在現金流方面，2024 年上半年營運活動提供的淨現金為 520 萬美元，自由現金流為負 690 萬美元。這些指標均遠低於前一年的可比較指標。兩者都受到應收帳款和未開立發票在建應收帳款增加的不利影響。這主要是由於管理層缺乏優先順序和重點，以及與客戶專案相關的發票時間以及第二季完成的一些工作的性質。

As Manny mentioned earlier, cash from operations and free cash flow performance for the year and year-to-date periods did not meet the company's expectations. The company is intently focused on improving this performance over the remainder of the year. Specifically, we will work with operations management via additional oversight and attention by senior management to drive down both accounts receivable and unbilled work in process.

正如曼尼之前提到的，今年和年初至今的營運現金和自由現金流表現未達到公司的預期。該公司致力於在今年剩餘時間內提高這項業績。具體來說，我們將透過高階管理層的額外監督和關注與營運管理層合作，以減少應收帳款和未開票在製品。

Our goal is that together with earnings over the second half of the year to generate over $40 million of free cash flow, which will enable us to meet our reaffirmed free cash flow outlook of $34 million to $38 million for the full year. Interest expense was $4.4 million for the quarter, up from a year ago, but essentially unchanged from the first quarter.

我們的目標是，連同下半年的盈利，產生超過 4000 萬美元的自由現金流，這將使我們能夠實現我們重申的全年 3400 萬至 3800 萬美元的自由現金流前景。本季利息支出為 440 萬美元，高於去年同期，但與第一季基本持平。

We expect to reduce interest expense for the remaining quarters of 2024 in two ways, first, by reducing leverage, which will lead to the lower interest rate; and second, by decreasing the amount of outstanding borrowings. This should lead to a gradual decrease in interest expense over the second half of 2024.

我們預計將透過兩種方式減少2024年剩餘季度的利息支出，一是降低槓桿，這將導致利率下降；二是透過降低槓桿率來降低利率。其次，減少未償還借款金額。這應該會導致 2024 年下半年利息支出逐漸下降。

Our trailing 12-month bank-defined leverage ratio on our credit facility dropped to below 3 times during the second quarter of '24 and was 2.78 as of June 30t. This is the lowest ratio -- lowest this ratio has been since the third quarter of 2018. Based on our current projections, we anticipate further reductions to our leverage ratio throughout 2024 due to the anticipated increase in our trailing 12-month EBITDA and debt reductions.

我們的信貸安排的過去 12 個月銀行定義槓桿率在 2024 年第二季降至 3 倍以下，截至 6 月 30 日為 2.78。這是自 2018 年第三季以來的最低比率。根據我們目前的預測，由於我們預計過去 12 個月的 EBITDA 和債務減少，我們預計 2024 年槓桿率將進一步降低。

Over the past few years, we have primarily used our free cash flow to pay down over $90 million of outstanding borrowings as we approach year end -- our year-end 2.5 times leverage ratio goal, we now believe that capital expenditures that support organic growth and supply superior returns at times may be a superior use of our free cash flow. Again, each of these uses will be considered as we move forward.

在過去的幾年裡，隨著年底的臨近，我們主要利用自由現金流來償還超過 9000 萬美元的未償還借款——我們的年底槓桿率目標為 2.5 倍，我們現在相信支持有機增長的資本支出有時提供卓越的回報可能是對我們自由現金流的更好利用。同樣，隨著我們的前進，這些用途中的每一個都會被考慮。

Our overall effective income tax rate was 15.5% in the second quarter, which benefited from a discrete benefit recognized during the second quarter. We expect our full-year effective income tax rate to be in the low-20% range for the full year.

第二季我們的整體有效所得稅率為 15.5%，這得益於第二季確認的離散收益。我們預計全年有效所得稅率將在 20% 的低水準範圍內。

There is a true sense of pride at Mistras like never before, and it has led to the rigor with which teams have attacked the various Project Phoenix initiatives and market opportunities. These efforts are being rewarded with tremendous results. I'm extremely optimistic not only about this year, but about 2025 and beyond as we continue to implement initiatives that leverage the unparalleled talent, experience and capabilities, and knowledge that has Mistras a leader in the industry for over 40 years.

米斯特拉斯有一種前所未有的真正自豪感，這導致團隊以嚴謹的態度對待各種鳳凰計劃計劃和市場機會。這些努力正在獲得巨大成果。我不僅對今年，而且對2025 年及以後都非常樂觀，因為我們將繼續實施利用無與倫比的人才、經驗、能力和知識的舉措，這些舉措使米斯特拉斯在40 多年來一直處於行業領先地位。

We sincerely appreciate your continued support and expect to reward your patience with significantly improved results over the remainder of 2024 and for the longer term.

我們衷心感謝您的持續支持，並期望在 2024 年剩餘時間和更長期內以顯著改善的結果來回報您的耐心。

At this time, I'd like to turn the call back over to Manny for his closing remarks before we move on to take your questions.

現在，在我們繼續回答你們的問題之前，我想將電話轉回給曼尼，讓他作結語。

Thanks, Ed. The second quarter represented another sequential strong top and bottom line-quarter for Mistras, providing evidence and confidence for our future performance, given our newfound disciplined processes and approach.

謝謝，艾德。第二季度代表了米斯特拉斯的另一個連續強勁的營收和利潤季度，鑑於我們新發現的嚴格流程和方法，為我們未來的業績提供了證據和信心。

While we have optimism in our outlook, we know that there is nevertheless still work to be done to achieve our long-term aspirations and goals, and we are confident in our model heading into the second half of the year. Accordingly, for 2024, we are reaffirming our previously announced guidance of full-year revenue between $725 million and $750 million, adjusted EBITDA between $84 million and $89 million, and free cash flow generation of between $34 million and $38 million. This is an exciting time to be leading Mistras, and I am confident in the execution of the company's long-term vision.

儘管我們對前景持樂觀態度，但我們知道，要實現我們的長期願望和目標，仍有許多工作要做，我們對進入今年下半年的模式充滿信心。因此，對於2024 年，我們重申先前宣布的全年營收指引為7.25 億美元至7.5 億美元之間，調整後EBITDA 為8,400 萬美元至8,900 萬美元之間，自由現金流生成為3,400 萬美元至3,800萬美元之間。這是領導米斯特拉斯的激動人心的時刻，我對公司長期願景的執行充滿信心。

I believe that achieving both our short- and longer-term goals is attainable due to our strategic investments being made to improve our sales and commercial functions and other strategic investments within data analytical solutions and the aerospace industry. Since my time as interim CEO, the company has approved improved its strategic visions via an energized and motivated senior leadership team working towards the common goal of rewarding shareholders with meaningful returns.

我相信，由於我們為改善銷售和商業功能而進行的策略性投資以及數據分析解決方案和航空航太業的其他策略投資，我們可以實現短期和長期目標。自從我擔任臨時執行長以來，公司透過一個充滿活力和積極進取的高階領導團隊，批准改善其策略願景，努力實現以有意義的回報回報股東的共同目標。

I am extremely proud of our nearly 5,000 employees that believe in our plan and are working hard every day to achieve our goals and objectives. You can feel that level of energy throughout the organization and our customers are responding in-kind as well with increasing levels of ROI recognition for the value that Mistras employees bring to the equation in delivering our mission to maximize safety and operational uptime for our customers' vital assets.

我為我們近 5,000 名員工感到非常自豪，他們相信我們的計劃，每天都在努力實現我們的目標和目的。您可以感受到整個組織和我們的客戶的精力水平正在做出同樣的反應，並且隨著米斯特拉斯員工為實現我們的使命而帶來的價值的投資回報率認可度不斷提高，以最大限度地提高客戶的安全性和正常運作時間。

At this time, I'd like to ask the operator to open the call to your questions in queue.

此時，我想請接線員打開您在隊列中的問題的呼叫。

(Operator Instructions) Mitchell Pinheiro, Sturdivant & Co.

（操作員說明）Mitchell Pinheiro, Sturdivant & Co.

Hey, good morning. I had a couple of questions for you. So first, congrats on stringing together three quarters here of solid results. It’s a nice change of pace.

嘿，早安。我有幾個問題想問你。首先，恭喜您在這裡取得了四分之三的紮實成果。這是一個很好的節奏變化。

The question that I have -- my first question is on revenue and your guidance. I was not honestly surprised, but I’m just curious, at the bottom end of your revenue range for your outlook, would suggest the second half decline in the low single-digits, maybe minus 3%. And I’m curious, is that a realistic possibility of that happening, and why would that happen? Or why wouldn’t you have raised the bottom end of your guidance to reflect a more, or whatever you expect in the second half?

我的第一個問題是關於收入和你們的指導。老實說，我並不感到驚訝，但我只是好奇，在你的前景收入範圍的底端，會建議下半年下降低個位數，可能是-3%。我很好奇，這種情況真的有可能發生嗎？或者為什麼你不提高指導的下限來反映更多的情況，或者你對下半年的預期？

A great question, Mitch. Really simply, that's -- as we've been saying all year, the spring turnaround season was extremely robust. The downstream sector is up 18% in the first six months of the year. As we've said all year, the fall turnaround season is going to moderate back to a more normal level. So that pace is not continue going to in the second half.

這是一個很好的問題，米奇。很簡單，正如我們一整年都在說的那樣，春季扭虧為盈的季節非常強勁。今年前六個月下游產業成長了18%。正如我們全年所說，秋季週轉季將恢復到更正常的水平。因此，這種節奏不會在下半場繼續下去。

So yeah, what you're observing is correct. That's been our position from the beginning of the year that second half fall all turnaround would moderate somewhat down from the extremely high first-quarter level of activity. All the other sectors are good. Everything else is growing. But that one sector will moderate in the second half. So that is what we anticipated and what we're seeing happening as the year develops.

所以是的，你所觀察到的是正確的。從今年年初開始，我們的立場就是，下半年的所有扭虧為盈將比第一季極高的活動水準有所放緩。所有其他部門都很好。其他一切都在增長。但這一行業將在下半年放緩。這就是我們的預期，也是我們在今年的發展中看到的情況。

Does it moderate to the extent that what we saw in the first half was sort of pent-up demand and not a true sort of run rate? Or is there conservatism in that number? And I’m just picking on the bottom end of the range. I realize the top end of the range is a different story. But is there anything -- was it really robust in the spring, where maybe it was sort of just well above the average? Is that --?

它是否會緩和到我們在上半年看到的某種被壓抑的需求而不是真正的運行率的程度？或者說這個數字有保守傾向嗎？我只是選擇了該範圍的最低端。我意識到該範圍的高端是一個不同的故事。但有什麼問題嗎——春季的情況真的很強勁嗎？是那個——？

I would say, Mitch, the way to look at it is the two halves make our average, maybe the fall and the spring combined. This schedule was set by our customer well in advance, so we expected that. Some of the work in the fall got pulled into the spring that was their design to have a heavier testing cycle into spring, more moderate in the fall cycle. Again, that was their plans and we plan around that accordingly.

我想說，米奇，看待這個問題的方法是，兩半是我們的平均值，也許是秋季和春季的總和。這個時間表是我們的客戶提前設定的，所以我們預料到了。秋季的一些工作被拉到了春季，這是他們的設計，以便在春季進行更繁重的測試週期，在秋季週期中進行更溫和的測試。再說一次，這就是他們的計劃，我們也相應地圍繞這個計劃進行計劃。

So yeah, I would say if you averaged out the two halves of the year on the downstream side, where turnarounds hit, would be a good growth year, but ordinary cycle combined the two. But again, this spring was stronger than average, the fall being weaker than average, blended the two together.

所以，是的，我想說，如果你把今年下半年的下游平均，即扭虧為盈，那將是一個良好的增長年，但普通週期將兩者結合在一起。但同樣，今年春天比平均強，秋天比平均弱，將兩者融合在一起。

Year on year, the turnaround activity would be as expected in a normal steady state where it is now. It's just that you had much more work done by design in the first half of the year in the spring versus what's planned in the fall turnaround.

與去年同期相比，在目前的正常穩定狀態下，扭虧為盈的活動將符合預期。只是今年上半年春季的設計工作比秋季週轉時計劃的工作要多得多。

Got it. Helpful. And then when I look at the only thing that I saw in the oil and gas side was, I noticed midstream was down year over year. It wasn’t particularly strong in the first quarter. And I was wondering if you could just speak to that.

知道了。有幫助。然後，當我觀察石油和天然氣方面唯一看到的情況時，我注意到中游逐年下降。第一季的表現並不是特別強勁。我想知道你是否可以談談這一點。

Sure. That's really some smaller accounts. That's where on-stream falls in the midstream, primarily. They're very solid. They had good performance year over year. We have some other midstream activity in the central region and elsewhere that was not on pace with last year. So that's not a trend there. We like that sector. On stream is very solid, but we just had some other smaller accounts that weren't in the right direction year over year that led to that softness in the midstream, but we do like that sector and we see that having a better second half than it did in the first half, but always well in that sector, but onstream is doing very well.

當然。這實際上是一些較小的帳戶。這主要是在流中落在中游的地方。它們非常堅固。他們逐年取得了良好的表現。我們在中部地區和其他地方還有其他一些中游活動，但與去年的進度不符。所以這不是那裡的趨勢。我們喜歡這個領域。上線非常穩定，但我們只是有一些其他較小的客戶，這些客戶逐年沒有朝著正確的方向發展，導致中游疲軟，但我們確實喜歡這個行業，我們看到下半年的表現比去年更好它在上半年表現出色，但在該領域始終表現出色，但在生產線上表現也非常好。

Okay. And then, I mean, aerospace and defense had some terrific performance. And I presume its sort of running at sort of -- when you’re running at 18%, 19% year-over-year growth, some of that is some pent-up demand. I guess, in the past, you had always spoke to that business being, I guess, what high-single-digit, low-double-digit kind of growth rate, and is that still what you see? Or is the recent results reflecting maybe an uptick in the growth in aerospace and defense, above and beyond the historical rates.

好的。然後，我的意思是，航空航太和國防領域取得了一些出色的表現。我認為，當年成長 18%、19% 時，其中一些是被壓抑的需求。我想，過去，您總是談到該業務的成長率，我想，是高個位數、低兩位數的成長率，這仍然是您所看到的嗎？或者最近的結果可能反映出航空航天和國防領域的成長有所上升，超出了歷史水平。

A great question, Mitch. I mean, it's not really pent-up demand. It was for my customer. They had supply chain challenges, delivering final componentry assemble parts for final assembly. We're helping them catch back up by this additional additive manufacturing. We're doing mechanical steps in our shop labs, helping them get parts faster through the supply chain.

這是一個很好的問題，米奇。我的意思是，這並不是真正被壓抑的需求。這是給我的客戶的。他們面臨供應鏈挑戰，需要交付最終的零件進行最終組裝。我們正在透過這種額外的積層製造來幫助他們迎頭趕上。我們正在車間實驗室進行機械步驟，幫助他們透過供應鏈更快獲得零件。

But we believe it's real. Commercial aerospace is extremely strong right now. Private space is also worked very well, a very strong year over year. Defense is in there, too, and that's a solid business as well. But we keep investing in our shop labs. We did open up a new facility last year. That's really ramping up nicely this year. So there's more we can do there.

但我們相信這是真的。商業航空航天現在非常強大。私人空間也運作得很好，比去年同期非常強勁。國防也在那裡，這也是一項可靠的業務。但我們繼續投資我們的車間實驗室。去年我們確實開設了一家新工廠。今年確實成長得很好。所以我們可以在那裡做更多的事情。

If anything, we can move faster there because there is more and more steps our customers want us to do for them. We're going to keep partnering with them and lean into our investment to really grow this piece of our business.

如果有什麼不同的話，那就是我們可以更快地採取行動，因為我們的客戶希望我們為他們做越來越多的步驟。我們將繼續與他們合作，並依靠我們的投資來真正發展我們的這一部分業務。

So yeah, we think that growth will continue here. We're very optimistic because all sectors are doing very well, the commercial side, the private side, and the defense side. So we like this sector and we see it's an area where we continue to grow and by doing more for the customer, taking more market share, and taking on more capabilities for our customers to help them through their supply chain constraints. We're more than happy to do it. It's nice long-term relationships, and we're dealing with the principles in many cases. So that's a sector.

所以，是的，我們認為這裡的成長將持續下去。我們非常樂觀，因為所有部門都表現得很好，商業方面、私人方面和國防方面。因此，我們喜歡這個領域，我們認為這是一個我們不斷成長的領域，我們可以為客戶做更多的事情，佔據更多的市場份額，並為我們的客戶提供更多的能力，幫助他們克服供應鏈的限制。我們非常樂意這樣做。這是良好的長期關係，而且我們在許多情況下都遵循這些原則。這就是一個部門。

With that, so do you think like aerospace and defense, if you look longer-term is more of a double-digit type of grower for you? Is that a fair statement or not to put words in your mouth but is that something that you think you can achieve with reasonable confidence?

那麼，您是否認為航空航太和國防等行業，如果您從長遠來看，對您來說更像是兩位數的成長者？這是一個公平的說法還是不要把話放在嘴裡，但你認為你可以有合理的信心實現這一目標嗎？

Mitch, we've identified in that sector as one that we want to continue to grow. We'll be investing in that sector. We have some strategic plans to increase our business in that sector. So that's an area that we believe we're going to be creating much better growth than we have in the past. So our goal is to continue to grow that in double digits.

米奇，我們已經確定該領域是我們希望繼續發展的領域。我們將投資該領域。我們有一些戰略計劃來增加我們在該領域的業務。因此，我們相信在這個領域我們將創造比過去更好的成長。因此，我們的目標是繼續以兩位數的速度成長。

Okay. And then, Manny, actually a question for you on the CEO search. So you -- I think, I missed what you fully said about it. Do you think you’ll have someone identified by the end of the third quarter and then onboard fourth quarter? Is that what I heard or --?

好的。然後，曼尼，實際上是一個關於執行長搜尋的問題。所以你——我想，我錯過了你對此的全部說法。您認為您會在第三季末確定某人，然後在第四季度加入嗎？這是我聽到的還是——？

Yes, it could we could have them onboard sooner. But once you identify a candidate, you got to deal with what they have to clean up before they can make a move. So we're confident we'll identify somebody by the end of the third quarter and we'll have -- should have them on board before the end of the year. That's been the goal all along. We do have some good candidates that we have identified. We just need to go through the process and make sure we get the right person.

是的，我們可以讓他們早點上船。但一旦你確定了候選人，你就必須處理他們在採取行動之前必須清理的問題。因此，我們有信心在第三季末之前確定合適人選，並且應該在年底前讓他們加入。這一直是我們的目標。我們確實已經確定了一些好的候選人。我們只需要完成整個流程並確保找到合適的人選。

Okay. And then, moving back sort of to the numbers a little bit. On the gross margin, and I’m sort of curious, the detail that you put in around the different of mix between gross profit benefits and the SG&A benefits. What was driving that? Could you get a little more detailed as to your revisions there?

好的。然後，稍微回到數字上。關於毛利率，我有點好奇，你在毛利收益和銷售管理費用收益之間的不同組合方面所提供的細節。是什麼推動了這一點？您能否更詳細地介紹一下您的修改情況？

Well, first of all, you have the Phoenix benefits, obviously. There's overheads up in cost of goods sold just as much as down in SG&A. So that's a part year over year that we're definitely benefiting from. The pricing is helping us too, as we mentioned, a significant amount about one quarter, 2% of our pricing, of our revenue increase was due to pricing. So that's certainly helping margins as well, the uplift there from the pricing side, coupled with the overhead of Project Phoenix going even further there. And the mix of business is also starting to work in our favor as well. So they all kind of combined there for that in a significant improvement you saw in on margins, you know, in the quarter, 140 basis points.

嗯，首先，顯然，你有鳳凰城的好處。銷售商品成本的管理費用上升與銷售、一般管理費用 (SG&A) 的下降一樣多。因此，我們肯定會從中受益。正如我們所提到的，定價也對我們有幫助，我們收入成長的大約四分之一（佔定價的 2%）很大一部分來自於定價。因此，這肯定也有助於提高利潤率，定價方面的提升，再加上鳳凰計畫的管理費用進一步提高。業務組合也開始對我們有利。因此，他們綜合起來，在本季的利潤率上看到了 140 個基點的顯著改善。

So combination of all activities there really starts with the pricing. Lift goes a long way and then locking down the on the overheads is the other big piece of that but you also have a little bit of a favorable mix of business. I think the diversification where all end markets, all industries were up helps as well, where everybody’s contributing. Aerospace -- certainly, aerospace and defense has a nice margin profile to it. The fact that it was the highest flyer part in the pun in the quarter goes a long way as well. That helps drive up the favorable mix comment that we made. So it’s a combination of each of those factors leading to that gross margin improvement.

因此，所有活動的結合實際上是從定價開始的。電梯有很長的路要走，然後鎖定管理費用是其中的另一個重要部分，但你也有一些有利的業務組合。我認為，所有終端市場、所有產業都在成長的多元化也有幫助，因為每個人都做出了貢獻。航空航太－當然，航空航太和國防有很好的利潤率。事實上，這是本季雙關語中飛得最高的部分，這一事實也有很長的路要走。這有助於提高我們所做的有利的混合評論。因此，這些因素的綜合作用導致了毛利率的增加。

Okay. And then, but as you based on your guidance, what was going to be like a gross profit benefit of $3 million now, I forget what you said, it’s going to be maybe $8 million. Is that -- and SG&A a little lower, is that just -- is that a mix, business mix based on what you see for the rest of the year or was there less available in like SG&A savings? I just didn’t quite understand that.

好的。然後，但根據您的指導，現在的毛利效益將達到 300 萬美元，我忘記了您所說的，可能是 800 萬美元。這是——SG&A 稍微低一點，是不是——這是一個組合，是基於你在今年剩餘時間裡看到的業務組合，還是像 SG&A 節省的可用資金減少了？我只是不太明白這一點。

Oh, sorry, I probably said that rapidly on the script, but yeah, it’s a re-class, essentially -- not a re-class. It's a re-categorization. The $15 million of EBITDA benefit that we expected full year is being realized. And that's been it's been confirmed. It's just where it's going to materialize on the P&L is a little different than our outlook assumes.

哦，抱歉，我可能在劇本上很快就這麼說了，但是，是的，本質上是重新分級，而不是重新分級。這是重新分類。我們預計全年 1500 萬美元的 EBITDA 效益正在實現。這已經被證實了。只是在損益表上實現的情況與我們的前景假設略有不同。

So there's about a $4 million benefit now that we see coming through the cost of goods sold line, not through the SG&A line. So we had -- the aggregate number is correct. EBITDA is not affected by any of that, but some of that savings that we initially anticipated coming through the SG&A line is actually going to be up in the cost of goods sold lines. There's about a $4 million or $1 million a quarter benefit. Now that's going to be up in COGS, not down in SG&A is what it comes down to. The aggregate number is whole, been confirmed, and being realized, but it will just be off a line as to where it is. Again, no effect on EBITDA.

因此，現在我們看到大約 400 萬美元的收益來自於銷售成本行，而不是來自 SG&A 行。所以我們得到的——總數是正確的。EBITDA 不會受到任何影響，但我們最初預計透過 SG&A 線節省的一些費用實際上會增加銷售成本線。每個季度大約有 400 萬或 100 萬美元的福利。歸根究底，銷貨成本 (COGS) 將會上升，銷售管理費用 (SG&A) 不會下降。總數是完整的，已被確認並正在實現，但它只是偏離了它的位置。同樣，對 EBITDA 沒有影響。

Just a couple of more questions and then I didn’t quite -- I noticed as you had talked about maybe the conversion to free cash flow this quarter wasn’t what you wanted. And you see the accounts receivable up about whatever $17 million from year end. I don’t have the first-quarter level. But what specifically was sort of missed or not followed up on to cause the rise in accounts receivable? And is it any one segment or is it broadly across the business?

還有幾個問題，然後我不太明白——我注意到，正如您所說，也許本季度向自由現金流的轉換並不是您想要的。您會發現應收帳款較年底增加了約 1700 萬美元。我沒有第一季的水平。但究竟是哪些因素被遺漏或沒有跟進導致應收帳款增加呢？是某一細分市場還是整個業務的廣泛領域？

Yeah, great question, Mitch. It's just our lack of intensity, lack of focus on it. It is the blunt answer there. Unfortunately, that's on management. And we will put more focus or putting more focus on that. To give you a -- and it is sort of universal, but it is largely concentrated in our field business. To give you a scale of that, accounts receivable in all open trade AR and WIP was almost $150 million to (technical difficulty), it was barely over $130 million the end of the year.

是的，很好的問題，米奇。只是我們缺乏強度，缺乏專注力。這是直率的答案。不幸的是，這取決於管理。我們將更加關注或更關注這一點。給你一個——這有點普遍，但它主要集中在我們的現場業務中。為了給你一個規模，所有開放貿易 AR 和 WIP 中的應收帳款幾乎為 1.5 億美元（技術難度），到年底僅略高於 1.3 億美元。

So you have a significant buildup in that number. That's on us and we need to run that back down. And we are going to refocus on that. I'm just putting more intensity on it, but it's not a collectability concern. It's simply -- we didn't invoice timely enough. Now some of that's the nature of the work.

所以這個數字已經顯著增加了。這是我們的責任，我們需要把它降下來。我們將重新關注這一點。我只是更注重它，但這並不是收藏性問題。原因很簡單——我們沒有及時開立發票。其中一些就是工作的性質。

Turnaround work is, which is that was a big piece of the growth in Q2, is a little slower to get collected than other work. So a little bit the nature of the work led to the delay, but it's more on the management ability to just double down on our focus there with better discipline. And we will and we expect to make a meaningful impact on that in Q3 and in Q4 to work that back down. So it's not a concern from the customer side. It’s just our lack of making that the top priority is what it came down to. So we own that and we will refocus on that.

週轉工作是第二季成長的很大一部分，但收集工作比其他工作慢。因此，工作的性質導致了延遲，但更多的是管理能力，我們可以透過更好的紀律加倍關注那裡。我們將並且預計將在第三季和第四季對此產生有意義的影響，以解決這一問題。所以這不是客戶方面關心的問題。只是我們沒有做到最重要的是歸根究底。所以我們擁有這一點，我們將重新關注這一點。

Okay. And then on the data analytics side, I understand that you’re going to have a stronger second half, you have a new PCMS contract coming online. So is the outlook -- are you still confident that the data analytics with further investments is going to be a meaningful driver of not only that revenue, but also just driving other revenue, other maintenance and upkeep type of revenue that goes along with the PCMS?

好的。然後在數據分析方面，我知道下半年將會更加強勁，新的 PCMS 合約即將上線。前景也是如此——您是否仍然相信，透過進一步投資的數據分析不僅會成為該收入的有意義的驅動力，而且還會推動與 PCMS 相關的其他收入、其他維護和保養類型的收入？

We still believe that data analytics is going to really be a major driver moving forward and are developing strategic plans to ensure that happens. We will be investing in that sector even more. The fact that we have a platform that is capable of collecting data digitally is really important and meaningful. This is something a lot of our customers want to see that they can get their testing and integrity data electronically. And we have that with large PCMS mobile. So this is a big part of our future. You'll be hearing more about that. We're in the building process now and we'll be enhancing that entire segment of our business.

我們仍然相信數據分析將真正成為向前發展的主要驅動力，並正在製定戰略計劃以確保實現這一目標。我們將加大對該領域的投資。我們擁有一個能夠以數位方式收集數據的平台這一事實非常重要且有意義。這是我們的許多客戶希望看到的，他們可以透過電子方式取得測試和完整性資料。我們擁有大型 PCMS 行動裝置。所以這是我們未來的重要組成部分。您將會聽到更多有關此的資訊。我們現在正處於建設過程中，我們將加強我們整個業務領域。

Chris Sakai, Singular Research.

克里斯·酒井，奇異研究公司。

Hi, good morning. What were the main drivers there in North American aerospace and defense revenue growth, and can we anticipate those to continue on into the remainder of the year and in the future?

嗨，早安。北美航空航太和國防收入成長的主要驅動力是什麼？

Yes, Chris. Yeah, the aerospace and defense business, as you're pointing out, are up significantly in the quarter in the first half. It's really two factors. It's North America back to pre-pandemic levels. International quickly heading there. It's really our expansion in the commercial aerospace side.

是的，克里斯。是的，正如您所指出的，航空航天和國防業務在上半季度顯著增長。這確實是兩個因素。北美回到了大流行前的水平。國際迅速前往那裡。這實際上是我們在商業航空航天方面的擴張。

Taking on more steps, again, we have a new facility online. We're doing more mechanical work, more additive manufacturing for our customers. Private spaces also doing very, very well. And defense is also very stable as well. So all sectors of aerospace and defense are doing well.

我們再次採取更多措施，在網路上建立了一個新設施。我們正在為客戶做更多的機械工作和積層製造。私人空間也做得非常非常好。而且防守也非常穩定。因此，航空航太和國防的所有領域都表現良好。

North America, primarily the strength. International is up, not quite to the level of North America. But yeah, it’s a very strong market. There's lots of growth there. We believe there's lots of upside there. We're still not back to pre-pandemic levels overall for aerospace and defense. So we believe there's more upside there.

北美，主要是實力。國際上升了，但還沒有達到北美的水準。但是，是的，這是一個非常強勁的市場。那裡有很多增長。我們相信那裡有很多好處。航空航天和國防的整體水平仍然沒有回到大流行前的水平。所以我們相信還有更多的好處。

As Manny said earlier that we do believe we can grow double digit there by continuing to do more work for our customer, taking on more share, doing more steps for the customer. There's a real need there. And we'll continue to invest our CapEx to fuel that piece of our of our growth in aerospace and defense. So as Manny said, it's one of our high-growth sectors that we've identified. And yeah, we believe that will be a recurring theme here where that's one of our high growth opportunities.

正如曼尼早些時候所說，我們確實相信，透過繼續為客戶做更多的工作、承擔更多的份額、為客戶採取更多的措施，我們可以實現兩位數的成長。那裡確實有需要。我們將繼續投資我們的資本支出，以推動我們在航空航太和國防領域的成長。正如曼尼所說，這是我們確定的高成長產業之一。是的，我們相信這將是這裡反覆出現的主題，這是我們的高成長機會之一。

Okay. Thanks. Then for international oil and gas, it looks like there was a pretty sizable increase year over year. What was the main drivers there and can we anticipate something like that in the future?

好的。謝謝。然後對於國際石油和天然氣來說，看起來比去年同期成長相當大。那裡的主要驅動因素是什麼？

Great question, Chris. Yeah, international definitely had some great oil and gas business, a few large extended turnarounds were happening for them just as it was in North America. So yeah, that was again, they had a very good spring, robust spring turnaround season. That will moderate for them in the fall. But I will say that they've got other very balanced -- it's a very balanced portfolio in international. They have a very strong aerospace business, which is growing.

好問題，克里斯。是的，國際上確實有一些很棒的石油和天然氣業務，就像在北美一樣，他們正在發生一些大規模的長期週轉。所以，是的，這又是，他們度過了一個非常好的春季，強勁的春季週轉季節。這將在秋季對他們有所緩解。但我想說的是，他們還有其他非常平衡的投資組合——這是一個非常平衡的國際投資組合。他們擁有非常強大的航空航太業務，而且還在不斷成長。

So yes, net-net, we think international will stay strong. That one sector, oil and gas was particularly strong in the first half. So that may moderate for them in the second half. But international is doing very well and lots of good growth and profitability. So we do expect that to continue, but they had an extraordinarily good performance there with some good turnaround work in the first half.

所以，是的，網絡，我們認為國際將保持強勁。石油和天然氣這一行業在上半年尤其強勁。因此，下半場的情況可能會有所緩和。但國際業務表現非常好，成長和獲利能力良好。所以我們確實希望這種情況能夠持續下去，但他們在那裡表現得非常出色，在上半場取得了一些不錯的扭轉局面。

Okay. Thanks. And last one for me. As far as accounts receivables are concerned and unbilled services, can we expect those to decline next quarter?

好的。謝謝。最後一張給我。就應收帳款和未開立發票服務而言，我們是否可以預期下個季度它們會下降？

Absolutely, yeah. Key intent focus we're putting there to drive that back down. And we do expect favorable changes with significant free cash flow into Q3. We're putting a lot of focus and attention on that. So absolutely, we do believe -- Q3 and Q4, for that matter, to come back to our initial outlook for the year for free cash flow. We do reaffirm that. And we are going to focus very hard on improving that metric in Q3.

絕對是的。我們將重點放在那裡以推動這種情況的發生。我們確實預計第三季將出現有利的變化，自由現金流將顯著增加。我們對此給予了很多關注和關注。因此，我們絕對相信第三季和第四季將回到我們對今年自由現金流的最初展望。我們確實重申這一點。我們將在第三季非常努力地提高該指標。

John Franzreb, Sidoti & Co.

約翰‧弗蘭茲雷布 (John Franzreb)，西多蒂公司

Good morning, guys, and thanks for taking the questions. I’d like to start with the pricing initiatives. Can you give me a sense of how far along you are in that process, and how long do you think it will take to fully recognize the pricing strategy that you want to realize?

早上好，夥計們，感謝您提出問題。我想從定價舉措開始。您能否讓我了解您在這個過程中走了多遠，以及您認為需要多長時間才能完全認識到您想要實現的定價策略？

Sure, John. Thanks for the question. I can start and Manny can maybe add to that.

當然，約翰。謝謝你的提問。我可以開始，曼尼也許可以補充。

But what we really did was we've -- we were challenged historically, I think, on pricing with customers. So Project Phoenix kicked off this whole commercial function, which is very vital to how we go about pricing and scale going forward.

但我們真正所做的是——我認為，我們在歷史上曾在與客戶定價方面面臨過挑戰。因此，鳳凰計畫啟動了整個商業功能，這對於我們未來如何定價和擴大規模非常重要。

We started really John in the lower size, smaller customers, call-out work, the one-time purchase here and there of our services. Started there. Have made very good traction. What we're doing now is moving up sort of the tree to larger customer sizes. Many of our customer pricing agreements and whatnot are governed by multiyear MSAs that only gets reset every two, three, four years. So as they come up, we're taking a hard look now at what is the pricing, what is the ROI and negotiating as we go, We didn't have the ability to sort of feather this in across the board upfront, but we are, as contracts renew, having good discussions -- good, healthy discussions on the ROI, the value we add, and what the pricing should be.

我們開始真正約翰在較小的規模，較小的客戶，呼叫工作，一次性購買我們的服務。從那裡開始。取得了很好的牽引力。我們現在正在做的是將樹向上移動到更大的客戶規模。我們的許多客戶定價協議等均受多年 MSA 管轄，這些協議每兩年、三年、四年才會重置一次。因此，當它們出現時，我們現在正在仔細研究定價是多少，投資回報率是多少，並在談判過程中進行談判，我們沒有能力預先全面考慮這一點，但我們隨著合約的續簽，我們進行了良好的討論——關於投資回報率、我們增加的價值以及定價應該是多少的良好、健康的討論。

So we've always gotten pricing before. Now it’s much more of a methodical way of going about it with a commercial function, with the deal desk, with things that have us think through the cost structure and getting in mechanical ways and contractual ways of making sure there’s goal is built in there with customers, where we’re getting value for all the great investment we’re doing and value add we offer to the customer.

所以我們以前總是得到定價。現在，它更多是一種有條不紊的方式，透過商業功能、交易台、讓我們思考成本結構並採用機械方式和合約方式來確保有目標是與客戶一起建立的，我們正在做的所有巨大投資以及我們為客戶提供的附加價值都在其中獲得價值。

So in a baseball analogy, we're probably in the third fourth, fifth inning. We've got many, many through now, but there is still some upside here. We expect that to continue to come into the mix as the next renewal comes up for that multiyear contract. We’ll have that healthy negotiation with the customer and negotiate a better strategy going forward on the pricing side. So that’s our approach there. So much of it has been achieved now. And as we said, a good portion of our revenue growth right now is coming from pricing. That’s a change over the last year or so from our recent history. We believe there is still more upside to come.

因此，以棒球為例，我們可能處於第三、第四、第五局。到目前為止，我們已經有很多很多了，但這裡仍然有一些好處。我們預計，隨著該多年合約的下一次續約，這一點將繼續納入其中。我們將與客戶進行健康的談判，並在定價方面協商更好的策略。這就是我們的方法。現在已經取得了許多成就。正如我們所說，我們目前收入成長的很大一部分來自定價。這是我們最近一年左右的歷史中發生的變化。我們相信還有更多的上漲空間。

Great.

偉大的。

Let me add to that. It's not just about revenue growth. It's about margins. And our focus is to improve our margins. There are some revenue that is very low margin. We need to change that. As Ed talked about, some of the MSA agreements are multiple year, two, three, and up to five years. Historically, those contracts, they needed improvement. We are now reviewing every single MSA that comes up to make sure that we have the ability to pass through cost increases, force majeure issues, and so forth. So I think over time, you're going to see our profitability increasing on the lower-margin business with a focus on revenue, but profitable revenue.

讓我補充一下。這不僅僅是收入成長的問題。這是關於利潤的。我們的重點是提高利潤率。有些收入的利潤率非常低。我們需要改變這一點。正如 Ed 所說，一些 MSA 協議是多年、兩年、三年甚至五年。從歷史上看，這些合約需要改進。我們現在正在審查每一份 MSA，以確保我們有能力解決成本增加、不可抗力問題等問題。因此，我認為隨著時間的推移，你會看到我們的利潤率較低的業務的盈利能力有所提高，重點是收入，但盈利收入。

Okay. So these contracts at the low end of the price spectrum, they are still profitable. They are not unprofitable contracts. Is that correct?

好的。因此，這些合約處於價格範圍的低端，它們仍然有利可圖。它們並不是無利可圖的合約。這是正確的嗎？

Yes. Yes. Any unprofitable contracts, we'll be looking at whether we even want to renew those.

是的。是的。任何無利可圖的合同，我們都會考慮是否要續約。

Fair enough. Fair enough.

很公平。很公平。

And regarding the deferred revenue in data, I may have missed this, but can you tell me, put it in context, how much has been deferred from the first half into the second half, and will it be an equal split between Q3 and Q4, or is it back-end weighted?

關於數據中的遞延收入，我可能錯過了這一點，但是你能告訴我，結合上下文，從上半年推遲到下半年有多少，以及第三季度和第四季度之間是否均分，或者是後端加權？

Yeah, I’ll take that, Manny. Sure. It's a combination, John, of a couple of things here. There's some work that did get pushed out and some work that didn't quite ramp up as fast as we wanted to, so there's a mix of that. So some of that got pushed out into Q3 and 4. Some of that could have gotten pushed into '25 at this point. It's a question of when you can get back the implementation plan done. So there is growth coming from that overall retail group in the second half. How much how much of it exactly gets recaptured in the second half from the first half, yet to be determined. But as Manny elaborated on the call, there is some new work. We're winning there, some new contracts that weren't in our forecast. Those are going to start to recover some of that deferral we had. And then, we are trying to ramp up that piece of the business with new resources, new implementers to expand there.

是的，我會接受的，曼尼。當然。約翰，這是幾件事的結合。有些工作確實被推遲了，有些工作並沒有像我們想要的那樣快地完成，所以這是混合的。因此，其中一些被推遲到第三季和第四季。其中一些可能會被推遲到 25 年。問題是什麼時候才能完成實施計劃。因此，下半年整個零售集團將會成長。下半年到底能從上半場奪回多少，還有待確定。但正如曼尼在通話中詳細闡述的那樣，還有一些新的工作要做。我們在那裡贏得了一些不在我們預測之內的新合約。這些將開始恢復我們的部分延期。然後，我們正在嘗試利用新資源和新實施者來擴大業務，以便在那裡擴展。

So I can’t give an exact answer there. We do expect to recover much of that list that we had in the first half, but some of it could slip into the following quarter and might be early '25. But they’re back online. They are growing and those projects will be implemented. They weren’t canceled. They just simply got pushed out in time. Can’t quite control when we’ll be able to reset and get that work done. But we have every expectation of having growth in the data solutions group in the second half.

所以我無法給出確切的答案。我們確實希望恢復上半年的大部分清單，但其中一些可能會滑到下個季度，甚至可能是 25 年初。但他們又重新上線了。它們正在成長，這些項目將會被實施。它們並沒有被取消。他們只是被及時趕了出來。我們無法完全控制何時能夠重置並完成工作。但我們完全期望數據解決方案部門在下半年有所成長。

I was just considering the margin benefit of the business. I was just curious if it’s just a couple of million or is it in excess of that that kind of a threshold?

我只是在考慮業務的邊際效益。我只是好奇這個數字是只有幾百萬還是超過了這個門檻？

Oh, yeah, no, we're talking about millions of dollars of deferral. It's not bigger than that. So yeah, it was not an outsized kind of deferral. It was fairly modest in terms of revenue. Again, they were up very -- they dug the hole in Q1. Q2, they actually had some modest growth. So they're on the right trajectory now though. They just have to kind of grow even greater in the second half and they will. They kind of just got back to even here in Q2 with modest growth. Now, they're going to lean in and kind of recover that year to date deficit they have right now from six months. They will recover that in the second half.

哦，是的，不，我們談論的是數百萬美元的延期。它並不比那大。所以，是的，這並不是一種特大的延期。就收入而言，這是相當有限的。再一次，他們的表現非常好——他們在第一季挖了一個洞。第二季度，他們實際上有一些溫和的成長。所以他們現在正走在正確的軌道上。他們只需要在下半場變得更強，他們就會的。他們在第二季以溫和的成長回到了平衡。現在，他們將採取措施，彌補今年迄今六個月的赤字。他們將在下半場恢復這一點。

Fair enough. And not to beat the dead horse on this receivable issue, but is it something to do with like change orders to like some of the projects that took a while to be captured or to invoice, is it something as simple as that or is there something more to it?

很公平。不是要在這個應收帳款問題上擊敗對手，而是與喜歡一些需要一段時間才能捕獲或開具發票的項目的變更訂單有關，是不是這麼簡單，或者有什麼東西嗎？

It is that kind of thing John, it’s very -- we are building a lot of labor hours. So when, where, and how they were approved and the customer approving all of that, there's a lot of time to be amazed at the level of documentation to get our invoice through to the customer. So that's an excuse though. We have to be better than that and persevere and get the approvals timely. So that it is queued up an invoice and then collected for terms. So that's on us.

約翰，就是這樣的事情──我們正在增加大量的勞動時間。因此，他們何時、何地、如何獲得批准以及客戶批准所有這些，我們有很多時間對將發票發送給客戶的文件水平感到驚訝。所以這只是一個藉口。我們必須做得更好並堅持下去並及時獲得批准。這樣它就可以將發票排隊，然後按條款收集。所以這是我們的責任。

It is a little more complicated than it needs to be. So we're in the process now of working on the low hanging-fruit to improve that metric in Q3 and 4 period and then think about longer term, how can we sort of simplify the process where it's not such an extended delayed processing time with the customer. Find ways to improve that cycle time is what we're also looking at. Job one is to simply improve that metric.

它比需要的稍微複雜一些。因此，我們現在正在努力解決容易實現的問題，以改善第三季度和第四季度的指標，然後考慮更長期的情況，我們如何簡化流程，而不需要如此長時間的延遲處理時間客戶。我們也在尋找改善週期時間的方法。第一項工作就是簡單地改進該指標。

But yes, it is that type of thing where staying in front of it, don't go over the customer's PO limit, get an amendment. Sooner than later, you see that happening. It is a lot of those kind of basics and blocking and tackling that we have to make front and center as a bigger priority to avoid kind of this sort of delay and underperformance that we experienced in the first half.

但是，是的，這種事情需要保持在前面，不要超過客戶的採購訂單限制，並進行修改。遲早你會看到這種情況發生。我們必須把很多這樣的基礎動作、攔網和抄截作為更重要的優先事項，以避免我們在上半場經歷的這種延遲和表現不佳。

Thank you. This does now conclude the question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn it back to Manuel Stamatakis for closing remarks.

謝謝。現在問答環節就結束了。現在我想請曼努埃爾·斯塔馬塔基斯發表閉幕詞。

Thank you, operator, and thank you, everyone, for joining this call today and also for your continued interest in Mistras. I look forward to providing you with an update on our business and progress achieved towards our ongoing initiatives on our next call. Everyone, please have a safe and prosperous day.

謝謝接線員，也謝謝大家今天參加這次電話會議，也謝謝大家對米斯特拉斯的持續關注。我期待在下次電話會議上向您提供有關我們業務的最新資訊以及我們正在進行的舉措所取得的進展。祝大家有個安全、繁榮的一天。

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.

感謝您參加今天的會議。這確實結束了該程式。您現在可以斷開連線。