MSA Safety Inc (MSA) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Thanks, Good day. Welcome to the MSA Safety Third Quarter 2024 earnings conference call. All participants will be in a listen only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question. You may press star then one on your touch-tone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Larry De Maria, Executive Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

謝謝，美好的一天。歡迎參加 MSA 安全 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。所有參與者將處於只聽模式。如果您需要協助，請按星號鍵，然後按零，向會議專家發出訊號。今天的演講結束後，將有機會提問。來問一個問題。您可以按按鍵式電話上的星號，然後按一個。若要撤回您的問題，請按星號然後按兩顆。請注意，此事件正在被記錄。我現在想將會議交給投資者關係執行董事拉里·德·瑪麗亞 (Larry De Maria)。請繼續。

Thank you. Good morning and welcome to MSA Safety’s third quarter 2024 earnings conference call. This is Larry De Maria, Executive Director of Investor Relations. I'm joined by Steve Blanco, President and CEO, Lee McChesney, Senior Vice President and CFO and Stephanie Sciullo, President of our Americas Segment. During today's call, we will discuss MSA's third quarter financial results and provide an update on our full year 2024 outlook.

謝謝。早上好，歡迎參加 MSA Safety 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。我是拉里·德·瑪麗亞，投資者關係執行董事。總裁兼執行長 Steve Blanco、資深副總裁兼財務長 Lee McChesney 以及美洲分部總裁 Stephanie Sciullo 也與我一同出席。在今天的電話會議中，我們將討論 MSA 第三季的財務業績，並提供 2024 年全年展望的最新資訊。

On slide two, I'd like to remind everyone that the matters discussed during this call may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to projections and anticipated levels of future performance. Forward looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those discussed today. These risks, uncertainties and other factors are detailed in our SEC filings. MSA safety undertakes no duty to publicly update any forward-looking statements made on this call, except as required by law.

在第二張投影片上，我想提醒大家，本次電話會議中討論的事項可能包括 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。前瞻性陳述包括但不限於未來績效的預測和預期水準。前瞻性陳述涉及許多風險、不確定性和其他因素，可能導致我們的實際結果與今天討論的結果有重大差異。這些風險、不確定性和其他因素在我們向 SEC 提交的文件中有詳細說明。除法律要求外，MSA 安全部門不承擔公開更新本次電話會議中所做的任何前瞻性聲明的義務。

Turning to slide three, we've included certain non-GAAP financial measures as part of our discussion this morning and non-GAAP reconciliations are available in the appendix of today's presentation. Presentation and press release are available on our Investor Relations website at investors.msasafety.com. I'd now like to turn the call over to Steve Blanco, Steve?

轉向第三張投影片，我們在今天早上的討論中納入了某些非公認會計原則財務指標，並且非公認會計原則調節表可在今天簡報的附錄中找到。簡報和新聞稿可在我們的投資者關係網站 Investors.msasafety.com 上取得。我現在想把電話轉給史蒂夫布蘭科，史蒂夫？

Thanks, Larry, and good morning, everyone. I'm on slide four. Thanks to our team's dedication and hard work. Our ability to serve our customers and advance our mission has never been stronger. We continue to be guided by the strategy we outlined earlier this year at our Investor Day to drive profitable growth while judiciously deploying our capital as we work towards our 2028 financial goals. We remain focused on bringing industry-leading safety solutions to our customers around the world.

謝謝拉里，大家早安。我在第四張投影片上。感謝我們團隊的奉獻和辛勤工作。我們服務客戶和推進使命的能力從未如此強大。我們繼續遵循今年稍早在投資者日概述的策略，推動獲利成長，同時明智地部署我們的資本，努力實現 2028 年財務目標。我們始終致力於為世界各地的客戶提供業界領先的安全解決方案。

I'll touch on some of our mission driven innovation accomplishments in a few minutes, but let's first look at some of the third quarter highlights. Overall, we once again demonstrated operational resilience with our quarterly results. For the third quarter, net sales decreased 3% year over year on both a reported and organic constant currency basis and adjusted earnings increased 3%. As we noted in our press release, the decline in sales was largely due to the previously mentioned delivery timing with Fire Service, and some specific customer delays.

我將在幾分鐘內討論我們的一些使命驅動的創新成就，但讓我們先看看第三季的一些亮點。整體而言，我們的季度業績再次展現了營運彈性。第三季度，以報告和有機固定貨幣計算，淨銷售額年減 3%，調整後收益成長 3%。正如我們在新聞稿中指出的那樣，銷售額下降主要是由於之前提到的消防部門的交貨時間以及一些特定客戶的延誤。

With that said, we continue to see positive order momentum and our backlog grew sequentially during the quarter. Orders increased year over year by high single digits, excluding the impact of the U.S. Air Force order in each period. During our earnings call in July, we discuss some aspects of order and delivery timing that could impact the cadence of the second half, including the Assistance to Firefighter Grants or AFG funding. This was released later this year than in 2023 and specifically around the U.S. Air Force SCBA order delivery timing. In final form, the U.S. Air Force schedule has shifted towards the end of the year, but we still expect to deliver most of that order in 2024. While our top line sales number came in below what we planned.

話雖如此，我們繼續看到積極的訂單勢頭，並且我們的積壓訂單在本季度連續增長。剔除各時期美國空軍訂單的影響，訂單年增高個位數。在 7 月的財報電話會議上，我們討論了可能影響下半年節奏的​​訂單和交付時間的一些方面，包括消防員補助金或 AFG 資金援助。該報告於今年晚間於 2023 年發布，特別是在美國空軍 SCBA 訂單交付時間前後發布。美國空軍的最終計劃已移至年底，但我們仍預計在 2024 年交付大部分訂單。雖然我們的營收數字低於我們的計劃。

The team performed exceptionally well from an operational standpoint, as evidenced by our overall earnings growth and margin performance. The overall demand environment remains healthy, albeit with some choppiness, and we continue to see a strong business pipeline. Moving to our product categories. Sales in Fire Service were down high single digits in the quarter, primarily due to the U.S. Air Force shipping delay and also a decline in breathing apparatus sales versus a strong prior year comp that included several large departments, such as LA County. As you know, Fire Service SCBA order timing can be lumpy. While orders were up year-over-year, some customer orders have been delayed. At the same time, we retain a solid pipeline in North America.

從營運的角度來看，該團隊的表現非常出色，我們的整體獲利成長和利潤率表現就證明了這一點。儘管存在一些波動，但整體需求環境仍然健康，我們繼續看到強勁的業務管道。轉向我們的產品類別。本季消防部門的銷售額出現高個位數下降，這主要是由於美國空軍的運輸延誤以及呼吸器銷售額的下降，而去年同期的銷售額強勁，其中包括洛杉磯縣等幾個大型部門。如您所知，消防局 SCBA 的訂購時間可能很不穩定。雖然訂單年增，但一些客戶訂單被推遲。同時，我們在北美保留了堅實的管道。

We continue to have excellent international momentum with our M1 SCBA and in the third quarter experienced continued momentum in fire helmets with growth of our new Cairns 1836 and our F1XF, as well as turnout gear. Sales in Detection were up mid-single-digits. Fixed Gas and Flame Detection had a solid quarter moderately declining compared to last year's robust third quarter growth, with good contribution from our FL5000 Flame Detector. Portable Detection sales continued to perform strongly in both traditional and connected devices. We also continue to see solid margin improvement in our Detection business. Industrial PPE sales were down mid-single digits year over year as international markets slowed. Head Protection was up modestly, while Fall Protection declined mid-single digits. And we saw continued customer delays in ballistic helmets.

我們的 M1 SCBA 繼續保持良好的國際勢頭，第三季度，隨著我們的新型 Cairns 1836 和 F1XF 以及消防裝備的增長，我們在消防頭盔方面也經歷了持續的勢頭。檢測領域的銷售額成長了中個位數。與去年第三季的強勁成長相比，固定式氣體和火焰偵測業務的季度表現穩健，略有下降，這得益於我們的 FL5000 火焰偵測器的良好貢獻。傳統設備和互聯設備中的便攜式檢測銷售持續表現強勁。我們也繼續看到檢測業務的利潤率穩定提高。由於國際市場放緩，工業個人防護裝備銷售量較去年同期下降中個位數。頭部保護略有上升，而墜落保護則下降了中個位數。我們看到客戶對防彈頭盔的購買持續延遲。

Turning to slide five, I'd like to share some innovation highlights from the third quarter. First, I'm proud to note that the Product Development and Management Association named MSA a 2024 Outstanding Corporate Innovator, making us one of only two companies to achieve this distinction twice in the 37 year history of the award. It recognizes companies consistently generating long-term value through exceptional product and service innovation. We were honored, in part, for our transformation from a safety equipment manufacturer to the global leader in developing and manufacturing advanced safety technologies and solutions.

轉到第五張投影片，我想分享第三季的一些創新亮點。首先，我很自豪地註意到，產品開發和管理協會將 MSA 評為 2024 年傑出企業創新者，這使我們成為該獎項 37 年曆史中僅有的兩家兩次獲得此殊榮的公司之一。它認可透過卓越的產品和服務創新持續創造長期價值的公司。我們之所以感到榮幸，部分原因在於我們從安全設備製造商轉型為開發和製造先進安全技術和解決方案的全球領導者。

Second, I'd like to briefly highlight our Portable Detection business. We continue to grow across our diverse Detection product category through innovation. Portable sales have grown by nearly 40% over the last two years. While we continue to see strong growth in traditional portable devices, our fastest growing category is connected portables, now including a complete solution set sold through MSA+ subscriptions. We're signing up new customers and are converting our existing installed base of customers to connected solutions, with most customers selecting durable multi-year contracts.

其次，我想簡單介紹一下我們的便攜式檢測業務。我們透過創新持續發展多元化的檢測產品類別。過去兩年，便攜式設備的銷量成長了近 40%。雖然我們繼續看到傳統便攜式設備的強勁成長，但我們成長最快的類別是連網便攜式設備，現在包括透過 MSA+ 訂閱銷售的完整解決方案集。我們正在簽約新客戶，並將現有客戶群轉換為互聯解決方案，大多數客戶選擇持久的多年合約。

In addition, there are opportunities for service contract add-ons and backend contract renewals. We expect to see strong profitability from this business that will scale even more over time. Most of these contracts are incremental, with many new customers. We'll discuss connected portables more in the future, but we wanted to highlight the success and strength we've had so far, we're in the early innings of this journey, led by our [Altair] io 4 device, which is the heart of our industrial technology strategy.

此外，還有服務合約附加和後端合約續約的機會。我們預計該業務將獲得強勁的獲利能力，隨著時間的推移，其規模將進一步擴大。這些合約大多都是增量的，有許多新客戶。我們將在未來更多地討論連接便攜式設備，但我們想強調我們迄今為止所取得的成功和優勢，我們正處於這一旅程的早期階段，由我們的 [Altair] io 4 設備引領，該設備是我們工業技術戰略的核心。

Finally, MSA is proud of our products and solutions protecting more than 40 million workers annually, demonstrating our team's impact in safety. In the third quarter, we were made aware of to specific cases where MSA’s end users were saved from significant injury or death. One case was related to our io 4 Gas Detector and the other was related to our LUNAR device in the Fire Service. These remind us each and every day of our purpose and the importance of our mission that the entire team at MSA is committed to.

最後，MSA 為我們的產品和解決方案每年保護超過 4,000 萬名工人而感到自豪，這展示了我們團隊在安全方面的影響力。第三季度，我們了解到 MSA 最終用戶免於重大傷害或死亡的具體案例。一個案例與我們的 io 4 氣體探測器​​有關，另一個案例與我們消防部門的 LUNAR 設備有關。這些每天都提醒我們我們的目標以及 MSA 整個團隊致力於實現的使命的重要性。

I want to thank our team for working hard with these customers and our more than 5,000 associates around the world for their dedication to delivering innovative products and solutions that enable us to continue advancing the MSA mission of helping men and women working safely throughout the world. With that, I'll turn the call over to Lee, who will discuss our financial results for the third quarter, Lee?

我要感謝我們的團隊與這些客戶的辛勤合作，以及我們在世界各地的5,000 多名員工的努力，他們致力於提供創新的產品和解決方案，使我們能夠繼續推進MSA 的使命，幫助世界各地的男性和女性安全工作。接下來，我會將電話轉給 Lee，他將討論我們第三季的財務業績，Lee？

Thank you, Steve, and good day, everyone. We appreciate you joining the call. Let’s now review our third quarter performance and provide an update on our full year outlook. Let's get started on slide six with the quarterly results. Sales were $433 million, down 3% year over year on an organic constant currency and reported basis. With lower volumes offsetting positive price contributions. Currency translation was relatively neutral in the quarter across our product categories. Mid-single-digit growth in Detection was offset by contractions in Fire Service and Industrial PPE. Though growth was challenged by a strong year over year comparable period and the shipment timing change Steve mentioned, double digit sales growth on a two-year stack reflects the health of our underlying business.

謝謝你，史蒂夫，大家好。我們感謝您加入此通話。現在讓我們回顧一下我們第三季的業績，並提供我們全年展望的最新資訊。讓我們從第六張投影片開始看季度業績。銷售額為 4.33 億美元，以有機固定貨幣和報告基礎計算，年減 3%。銷量下降抵消了價格的正面貢獻。本季我們產品類別的貨幣換算相對中性。檢測業務的中個位數成長被消防服務和工業個人防護裝備的收縮所抵消。儘管成長受到了同比強勁增長和史蒂夫提到的發貨時間變化的挑戰，但兩年的兩位數銷售增長反映了我們基礎業務的健康狀況。

Overall, orders in the quarter were robust and have been high single digits over the past six months, with growth in all of our markets. Our commercial pipeline remains encouraging across our product categories and in most of our regions. We have seen a nice continuation of activity so far in October. In the third quarter, our book-to-bill ratio was above 1.1 times and exceeds one times on a year-to-date basis. As a result, our backlog increased sequentially due to these favorable trends, and the normal third quarter seasonality but remains below the unusually elevated levels of the past couple of years.

總體而言，本季度的訂單強勁，並且在過去六個月中一直處於高個位數，我們所有市場都在成長。我們的商業管道在我們的產品類別和大多數地區仍然令人鼓舞。十月到目前為止，我們看到活動的良好延續。第三季度，我們的訂單出貨比超過1.1倍，較年初至今超過一倍。因此，由於這些有利的趨勢以及正常的第三季季節性因素，我們的積壓訂單連續增加，但仍低於過去幾年異常升高的水平。

Our margin performance continues to be resilient. The team's commitment to the MSA Business System’s processes and behaviors are evident in our results. Gross profit margins were 47.9% in the quarter, 110 basis points below the strong levels of the prior year. Operating margin on a GAAP basis was 21.1% in the quarter, including the benefits of lower SG&A. Adjusted operating margin was 22.6%, down 10 basis points over the prior year. And decremental operating margin was 24%, within our target range of 20% to 30%. Operating margin performance was largely driven by mix, productivity, cost/price management and lower SG&A levels.

我們的利潤率表現持續保持彈性。該團隊對 MSA 業務系統流程和行為的承諾在我們的結果中顯而易見。本季毛利率為 47.9%，較上年同期低 110 個基點。本季以 GAAP 計算的營業利潤率為 21.1%，其中包括較低的 SG&A 帶來的好處。調整後營業利益率為22.6%，較上年下降10個基點。營業利潤率下降了 24%，在我們 20% 至 30% 的目標範圍內。營業利潤率表現主要是由產品組合、生產力、成本/價格管理和較低的銷售及行政管理水準所推動的。

GAAP net income in the quarter was $67 million or $1.69 per diluted share. On an adjusted basis, diluted earnings per share were $1.83, up 3% over the prior year. The increase was a combination of positive mix, productivity, lower SG&A, lower interest expense and a lower year over year adjusted tax rate. Now moving on to our segment performance. In our Americas Segment, sales decreased 5% on a reported basis year-over-year with mid-single-digit growth in Detection, offset by a shipment impacted decline in Fire Service and a slight contraction in Industrial PPE.

本季 GAAP 淨利潤為 6,700 萬美元，或攤薄後每股收益 1.69 美元。調整後每股攤薄收益為 1.83 美元，比上年增長 3%。這一增長是積極的組合、生產力、較低的銷售管理費用、較低的利息支出和較低的同比調整稅率的組合。現在轉向我們的細分市場表現。在我們的美洲業務部門，銷售額年減 5%，其中檢測業務實現中個位數成長，但被消防業務出貨量下降和工業個人防護裝備小幅收縮所抵消。

Currency was a 2% headwind in the quarter. The adjusted operating margin was 30.7%, up 80 basis points compared to the prior year. Margin expansion was driven by positive mix, productivity, cost/price actions and a lower SG&A. In our International Segment, sales increased 1% on a reported basis year over year. Healthy growth in Fire Service and Detection was mostly offset by a decline in Industrial PPE. On a geographic basis, growth in APAC was partially offset by a decline in EMEA. Currency translation was a 2% tailwind in the quarter.

本季貨幣匯率出現 2% 的逆風。調整後營業利益率為30.7%，較上年成長80個基點。利潤率擴張是由積極的組合、生產力、成本/價格行為和較低的銷售管理費用所推動的。在我們的國際部門，銷售額年增 1%。消防和探測領域的健康成長大部分被工業個人防護裝備的下降所抵消。從地理來看，亞太地區的成長被歐洲、中東和非洲地區的下滑部分抵銷。本季貨幣換算帶來了 2% 的順風順水。

Adjusted operating margin was 13.6%, a decrease of 340 basis points year-over-year, and profitability was challenged by lower volumes, a robust comparison period and partially offset by productivity and price. Now turning to slide seven. Free cash flow of the quarter was $70 million, representing a conversion rate of 97% of adjusted earnings. Third quarter cash flow reflected healthy earnings and solid working capital execution. Consistent with the capital allocation strategy outlined at our Investor Day, capital deployment in the third quarter was balanced.

調整後營業利潤率為 13.6%，年減 340 個基點，獲利能力受到銷售下降、比較期強勁以及生產力和價格部分抵銷的挑戰。現在轉到第七張投影片。該季度自由現金流為 7,000 萬美元，相當於調整後收益的 97%。第三季現金流反映出健康的獲利和穩健的營運資金執行。與投資者日概述的資本配置策略一致，第三季的資本配置是平衡的。

Capital expenditures were $14 million, up modestly compared to the prior year. We returned $20 million in dividends to our shareholders, and we repurchased $10 million in common stock. Debt payments totaled $38 million. Our net debt at in the quarter was $400 million with a cash balance of $154 million. Our net leverage ratio at quarter end was 0.9 times, consistent with the second quarter levels. Adjusted EBITDA for the trailing 12 months ended September 30 was $464 million or 25.7% of net sales.

資本支出為 1,400 萬美元，與前一年相比略有增加。我們向股東返還了 2,000 萬美元的股息，並回購了 1,000 萬美元的普通股。債務支付總額為 3800 萬美元。本季我們的淨債務為 4 億美元，現金餘額為 1.54 億美元。季末我們的淨槓桿率為0.9倍，與第二季水準一致。截至 9 月 30 日的過去 12 個月調整後 EBITDA 為 4.64 億美元，佔淨銷售額的 25.7%。

Now, let's move on to our full-year outlook on slide eight. Although the operating environment in the second half of the year has been incrementally more dynamic, our broad diversification across products, geographic regions and markets, as well as the attractive underlying market trends in the safety industry continue to position us to deliver resilient results.

現在，讓我們繼續看第八張幻燈片的全年展望。儘管下半年的營運環境逐漸變得更加活躍，但我們在產品、地理區域和市場上的廣泛多元化，以及安全產業有吸引力的潛在市場趨勢繼續使我們能夠提供有彈性的業績。

As we look ahead to the fourth quarter, we expect to finish the year favorably with mid-single digit revenue growth in the quarter, implying low single-digit growth for the full year 2024. The expected mid-single-digit growth in the fourth quarter is supported by our orders and backlog, including the U.S. Air Force business and compounds on top of that 12% reported growth we delivered in the fourth quarter of last year. Compared to our July sales outlook, we have adjusted our view in line with the order and shipment dynamics that we're seeing with specific customers.

展望第四季度，我們預計該季度的營收將實現中個位數成長，這意味著 2024 年全年將實現低個位數成長。我們的訂單和積壓訂單（包括美國空軍業務和化合物）支持了第四季度的預期中個位數成長，而我們在去年第四季實現了 12% 的報告成長。與我們 7 月的銷售前景相比，我們根據特定客戶的訂單和出貨動態調整了我們的觀點。

Looking forward, we're also well positioned to deliver at or above the high end of our 30% to 40% incremental margin objectives and we remain on track to deliver a healthy cash flow conversion. Finally, I want to extend my thanks to our associates worldwide, who are so focused on passionately supporting our customers each and every day and supporting the mission Steve highlighted earlier. Now I'll turn the call back to Steve for concluding remarks.

展望未來，我們也有能力實現或高於 30% 至 40% 增量利潤目標的上限，並且我們仍有望實現健康的現金流轉換。最後，我要向我們世界各地的員工表示感謝，他們每天都熱忱地為我們的客戶提供支持，並支持史蒂夫先前強調的使命。現在我將把電話轉回給史蒂夫，讓他做總結發言。

Thank you, Lee. As we look forward, I want to reiterate the resiliency of our business driven by strong underlying industry fundamentals, our proven innovation process and leading positions across our markets. I believe we have the best team in the industry, and with our mindset around continuous improvement and commitment to the MSA Business System, we're well positioned to create value over the long term for our stakeholders. With that, I'll turn the call back to the operator for questions.

謝謝你，李。展望未來，我想重申，我們業務的彈性是由強大的產業基本面、經過驗證的創新流程以及在市場中的領先地位所推動的。我相信我們擁有業內最好的團隊，並且憑藉我們持續改進的理念和對 MSA 業務系統的承諾，我們有能力為利害關係人創造長期價值。這樣，我會將電話轉回給接線生詢問問題。

We will now begin the question-and-answer session. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your touch-tone phone. If you're using a speakerphone, please pickup your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. And our first question today comes from Rob Mason with Baird. Please go ahead.

我們現在開始問答環節。要提問，您可以按按鍵式電話上的星號，然後再按一個。如果您使用免持電話，請在按鍵前拿起聽筒。若要撤回您的問題，請按星號然後按兩顆。此時，我們將暫停片刻以集合我們的名單。今天我們的第一個問題來自 Rob Mason 和 Baird。請繼續。

Good morning. I just wanted to start with, you noted you were able to deliver the decrementals within your guided range and it looked like SG&A was a lever within that dynamic. Can you just speak to -- we don't -- we saw a sequential decline there, perhaps some seasonality around that, but just how should we be thinking about SG&A as we go into the fourth quarter and your ability to manage that number specifically?

早安.我只是想首先，您注意到您能夠在指導範圍內提供遞減量，並且看起來 SG&A 是該動態中的一個槓桿。您能否談談——我們沒有——我們看到了連續下降，也許是一些季節性因素，但是當我們進入第四季度時，我們應該如何考慮銷售管理及行政費用以及您具體管理該數字的能力？

Yes. Certainly, Rob, I'll give it to Lee to take that.

是的。當然，羅布，我會把它交給李來接受。

Sure, good morning, Rob, the decremental certainly in the range we've talked about in the past. Certainly, gross margin was a continued nice resilient level. And to your point, SG&A is in a good place. Certainly, we are focused on prioritization of SG&A and we certainly flex when we need to. There's a benefit in the third quarter from just a bit lower volume that comes through as well. But as we go forward, mean, versus from what you've seen the past, you're going to see continued momentum. It won’t be quite what it was in the third quarter – it will certainly go up dollar-wise just because of the higher volume, but you'll still see a pretty healthy ratio there. But again, we're focused on driving incrementals, not decrementals, but good to see that when it happens.

當然，早上好，羅布，遞減肯定在我們過去討論過的範圍內。當然，毛利率仍然處於一個良好的彈性水準。就您而言，SG&A 處於一個很好的位置。當然，我們專注於 SG&A 的優先順序，當然我們會在需要時進行調整。第三季的銷售量也略有下降，也帶來了好處。但隨著我們前進，與你過去所看到的相比，你將看到持續的動力。它不會像第三季那樣——因為交易量增加，美元肯定會上漲，但你仍然會看到一個相當健康的比率。但同樣，我們專注於推動增量，而不是減量，但很高興看到它發生時。

Okay. I wanted to see again some of the customer timing. It's not a complete surprise there, but I am curious, as you're thinking about your fourth quarter levels, sounds like Air Force you are counting on shipping some of that. But just can you parse through some of the other specific customer delays? Are you expecting those to abate in the fourth quarter? Do those carry through year end? And where would we see those, if it's AFG related? You mentioned ballistic helmets, also, but just provide a little more color around where you're seeing those delays.

好的。我想再看到一些客戶的時間安排。這並不完全令人驚訝，但我很好奇，當你考慮到第四季度的水平時，聽起來空軍你指望運送其中的一些。但您能分析一下其他一些特定的客戶延遲嗎？您預計第四季這種情況會減弱嗎？這些會持續到年底嗎？如果與 AFG 相關，我們會在哪裡看到它們？您還提到了防彈頭盔，但只是在您看到這些延遲的地方提供更多的顏色。

Yes, sure. Rob, if you think about the Air Force, first to answer that question, we expect pretty much, I'd say 90%-plus of that to ship in the fourth quarter. So that will ship. And again, that's based on customer timing and what they would do, what they want to accept at what time. So that's really how that pushed. So, we are prepared and expecting to do that. So, I'd say most of that ships in the fourth quarter. And then the other things, you talked about ballistics, this happened in Q2 actually, but in Q3, the European government customer pushed this back to 2025.

是的，當然。羅布，如果你想到空軍，首先回答這個問題，我們預計 90% 以上將在第四季度交付。這樣就可以出貨了。再說一遍，這取決於客戶的時間表以及他們會做什麼，以及他們想在什麼時間接受什麼。這就是真正的推動力。因此，我們已做好準備並期待這樣做。所以，我想說大部分都在第四季出貨。然後其他事情，你談到彈道學，這實際上發生在第二季度，但在第三季度，歐洲政府客戶將其推遲到 2025 年。

So, that, obviously, comes out of the 2024 story from a revenue perspective. We've got that business. We have the contract here, but it's a push from them on timing to take that order. So that's what we see. And we've seen a couple of others like that. For those that are going to affect the fourth quarter, we’ve got one in the Americas. In Latin America, a large government order, the same thing.

因此，顯然，從收入角度來看，這來自 2024 年的故事。我們有這項業務。我們這裡有合同，但接受訂單的時間是他們的推動。這就是我們所看到的。我們也見過其他一些類似的情況。對於那些將影響第四季度的因素，我們在美洲有一個。在拉丁美洲，大型政府訂單也是如此。

Again, we have the business, we are the incumbent and they've told us we have the business, they just pushed it back because of the election change they had with their government.

再說一遍，我們有生意，我們是現任者，他們告訴我們我們有生意，但他們只是因為政府的選舉變化而推遲。

So ,everything's intact there. You know, in the Fire Service, it's not inconsistent, as you know, our story pretty well. So, we've seen this lumpiness before. The pipelines really good, business is resilient. The AFG funding is now released, which is good, but the order timing can be lumpy as we've seen in past years. And that's what we've seen this time. They haven't gone to competitive accounts, but they're slower to close than we expected. So, that's really where we're at on why we called out some of these orders taking a little bit more time than we hoped.

所以，那裡一切都完好無損。你知道，在消防部門，這並不矛盾，正如你所知，我們的故事很好。所以，我們以前看過這種塊狀現象。管道非常好，業務有彈性。AFG 資金現已發放，這很好，但訂單時間可能會像我們過去幾年看到的那樣不穩定。這就是我們這次所看到的。他們沒有進入競爭性客戶，但他們關閉的速度比我們預期的要慢。所以，這就是我們真正要解決的問題，為什麼我們發出其中一些訂單的時間比我們希望的要多一點。

Just one last follow up. Could you go through, you called out Portable Gas strength in the quarter, both on the traditional in the connected side, just the kind of the underlying market drivers there, do you think this is some strength or do you think that there is some share gain mixed into that? What kind of underpins the double-digit growth there?

只是最後一次跟進。您能否講一下，您指出了本季便攜式天然氣的實力，無論是在傳統的連接方面，還是那裡的潛在市場驅動因素，您認為這是某種實力還是您認為有一些份額增益混入其中？是什麼支撐著那裡兩位數的成長？

I think it's both. I think you're correct on your thesis on share gain, we're certainly seeing that occur. We're also seeing expansion of wallet share, right? As we're providing more value through these connected solutions to our customer base. And, really, we're expanding the customer base overall itself. So, if you think about the portable portfolio, we really got a diverse set of options for the markets, right? So, our customers can choose whether they want that traditional platform, or they want to have this connected platform, which we go to market through MSA+.

我認為兩者都是。我認為你關於份額增益的論點是正確的，我們肯定會看到這種情況的發生。我們還看到錢包份額的擴大，對嗎？我們透過這些互聯解決方案為我們的客戶群提供更多價值。事實上，我們正​​在擴大整體客戶群。因此，如果您考慮便攜式產品組合，我們確實為市場提供了多種選擇，對嗎？因此，我們的客戶可以選擇是否需要傳統平台，或想要擁有這個互聯平台，我們透過 MSA+ 將其推向市場。

And it's a tremendous combination for that customers to choose from. So, the growth was both. So, we saw some mid to upper single digit, depending on the market, for the traditional. But really, by and large, the high acceleration of growth is the connected platforms we're seeing. So, that's what we expect to kind of continue to see. It fits really well with what we talked about earlier this year as we walk through the strategy at Investor Day. And that's playing out really nicely.

這是一個可供客戶選擇的巨大組合。所以，成長是兩者兼具。因此，根據市場情況，我們看到傳統的一些中上個位數。但實際上，總的來說，高速成長是我們所看到的互聯平台。所以，這就是我們期望繼續看到的情況。這與我們今年稍早在投資者日討論該策略時所討論的內容非常吻合。效果非常好。

Again, if you have a question, please press star then one. And our next question today comes from Ross Sparenblek with William Blair. Please go ahead.

再次強調，如果您有疑問，請先按星號，然後再按一個。今天我們的下一個問題來自羅斯·斯帕倫布萊克和威廉·布萊爾。請繼續。

Hey, good morning, guys. Maybe just starting with broader end market demand. Backlog is difficult to track, can you just give us a sense of the high single-digit growth in the quarter? Is that seasonal or maybe more just the push out of the orders in the third quarter, and what expectations are for broader demand? I mean, would it appear you guys are taking share across most of these segments?

嘿，早上好，夥計們。也許只是從更廣泛的終端市場需求開始。積壓訂單很難追踪，您能否讓我們了解本季的高個位數成長？這是季節性的，還是只是第三季訂單的增加，以及對更廣泛需求的預期是什麼？我的意思是，你們似乎在這些細分市場的大部分領域都佔據了份額嗎？

Thanks, Ross. So, if we think demand, it was healthy, to your point, with orders up high single digits. And I'll turn it over to Lee to talk a little bit more about what it does on the backlog story and a bit on the book to bill. But when we look at the markets, I would kind of think of it this way. We do feel like we're in a really good position from a share perspective. Detection, we just talked a little bit about as I answered, Rob's question on Portables. We've seen some nice performance in Fixed as well. Last year was a tough comp because we had such great growth. But really solid performance.

謝謝，羅斯。因此，如果我們認為需求是健康的，那麼就您的觀點而言，訂單量增加了高個位數。我將把它交給 Lee，讓他更多地討論它對積壓工作的作用以及要計費的書的作用。但當我們觀察市場時，我會這樣想。從股票的角度來看，我們確實覺得自己處於非常有利的位置。檢測，我們只是在我回答時討論了羅布關於便攜式設備的問題。我們在Fixed 中也看到了一些不錯的性能。去年是一個艱難的一年，因為我們取得瞭如此巨大的成長。但性能確實很紮實。

Industrial is still mixed. We see some really good market performance in some categories and some we don't, some that are a little softer. Europe's a little softer than most right now. But overall, it's been consistent throughout the year. We haven't seen an uptick as we've come into the second half of the year, but we haven't seen much degradation either, and we can expect it to remain fairly constant through the rest of the year.

工業仍然喜憂參半。我們在某些​​類別中看到了一些非常好的市場表現，而有些類別則沒有，有些類別則稍微疲軟。歐洲現在比大多數國家都要軟。但總體而言，全年表現保持一致。進入今年下半年，我們還沒有看到成長，但也沒有看到太大的下降，我們可以預期它在今年剩餘時間內將保持相當穩定。

And in Fire Service, as you know, we're really doing well with international growth in the Fire Service, the team is taking a ton of share, which we're really pleased with. They're performing well. They're competing extremely well with customers across the international markets, which is a real strength for us. And then we expect the Fire Service in North America, as we said, we've got the pipeline. It's just a matter of getting some of those orders to close. But overall, we feel like, in totality, our position in the markets are really strong, probably as strong as they've ever been. But maybe, Lee, you can parse out a little bit about the backlog.

在消防服務方面，如您所知，我們在消防服務的國際成長方面確實做得很好，該團隊正在佔據大量份額，我們對此感到非常滿意。他們表現得很好。他們與國際市場上的客戶競爭非常激烈，這對我們來說是真正的優勢。然後我們預計北美的消防部門，正如我們所說，我們已經有了管道。只需要完成其中一些訂單即可。但總的來說，我們覺得，總的來說，我們在市場中的地位非常強大，可能和以往一樣強大。但李，也許你可以分析一下積壓的情況。

Sure. So good morning, Ross. As we noted on the call, and I remind everyone, never overreact to one quarter, but certainly a nice quarter year-over-year, but we also gave you the full year year-to-date number as well, which is slightly above one. And that really speaks to where Steve was going. We're still seeing generally good markets. It can be lumpy from quarter to quarter. We're talking about, for orders, a nice high single-digit number here in the third quarter with a similar performance in the second quarter. So, I think that does speak to everything Steve was walking through there as you look forward as well.

當然。早安，羅斯。正如我們在電話會議上指出的那樣，我提醒大家，永遠不要對一個季度反應過度，但肯定是一個同比不錯的季度，但我們也向您提供了全年迄今為止的數字，該數字略高於一。這確實說明了史蒂夫的去向。我們仍然看到整體良好的市場。每個季度的情況可能會很不穩定。我們談論的是，就訂單而言，第三季的訂單量達到了一個不錯的個位數，第二季的表現也類似。所以，我認為這確實說明了史蒂夫在那裡走過的一切，正如你所期望的那樣。

Just giving some insight, too, across the markets, we say orders were high single-digit was very consistent, frankly, across all three categories of our business. Good performance around the globe as well. There are spots in the world that are not as healthy, but overall, it's a good place. And I clarify as well, that in the third quarter, the orders we saw did not include Air Force. We booked Air Force in the second quarter. So this just speaks the order dynamics.

只是提供一些關於整個市場的見解，坦率地說，我們業務的所有三個類別的訂單都非常一致，個位數。在全球範圍內也有良好的表現。世界上有些地方不太健康，但總的來說，這是一個好地方。我還澄清，在第三季度，我們看到的訂單不包括空軍。我們在第二季度預訂了空軍。所以這只是說明了訂單動態。

That’s very helpful. Maybe just follow-up on Rob's question. I mean, can you maybe help us size that third quarter impact? And I know, I'm not trying to pin you guys down on 2025, but it would be good to get a sense of the comp impact we should expect as we think about the $23 million Air Force order and also the backlog conversion in the first half of the year.

這非常有幫助。也許只是跟進羅布的問題。我的意思是，您能否幫助我們衡量第三季的影響？我知道，我並不是想給你們確定 2025 年的時間，但當我們考慮 2300 萬美元的空軍訂單以及積壓的訂單轉換時，了解我們應該預期的補償影響將是一件好事。

So, Ross, let me clarify, too, because we had Air Force orders in the first half of the year for the first tranche. And, obviously, that went through the business and a good portion of Air Force also fell into 3Q, which is really what you're going to see here predominantly in 4Q as we talked to earlier. Just wanted to clarify that for you. So beyond that, I know you'll have healthy growth in the categories I mentioned.

所以，羅斯，讓我也澄清一下，因為我們在今年上半年收到了空軍的第一批訂單。顯然，這經歷了整個業務，空軍的很大一部分也落入了第三季度，這實際上是您將在第四季度看到的，正如我們之前談到的。只是想為你澄清一下。除此之外，我知道您將在我提到的類別中健康成長。

Yes. I would say, Ross, you're right. We're going to be comping two straight years of Air Force, right? For 2025, to your point,, but we'll plan to talk more about 2025 as we wrap 2024. What I would suggest is that you think about, and what we stay centered on and we're very comfortable with, is we're fully committed to our 2028 targets we identified during Investor Day. And as we noted, the 2025 comp challenges are there with Air Force. But we're fully committed to what we laid out there for the Investor Day – the margin expansion, certainly the growth and the compounding on EPS.

是的。我想說，羅斯，你是對的。我們將連續兩年在空軍服役，對吧？對於 2025 年，按照您的觀點，但我們計劃在 2024 年結束時更多地討論 2025 年。我建議您考慮的是，我們始終關注並且感到非常滿意的是，我們完全致力於實現我們在投資者日期間確定的 2028 年目標。正如我們所指出的，2025 年的競爭挑戰來自於空軍。但我們完全致力於投資人日所訂定的目標——利潤率擴張，當然是每股盈餘的成長和複利。

Yes. Okay. And then maybe just for International Fire, do you get the sense that competitors have become more price rational there? Or should we think about that more as volume in the quarter?

是的。好的。然後，也許就國際消防而言，您是否感覺到競爭對手的價格變得更加理性？或者我們應該更多地將其視為本季的交易量？

That's a really interesting question. It's really different by market. China and Asia Pacific are a bit different. So, we've introduced a different product category for SCBAs in the Asian market this year. That's doing really well, but it's matching the needs of the customer base in that area. So, it's a little lower price point, but the M1 is competing really well. A lot of what we're seeing, there's still some of this price-based customer needs, I guess I'd call it, out there, and certainly we understand that. But a lot of the customers really looking to functionality, fit and performance. And when they do an evaluation, it's really nice to see them weigh that a lot more than they do price. So they're looking at total value, which I think we compete very well with.

這是一個非常有趣的問題。這確實因市場而異。中國和亞太地區有些不同。因此，我們今年在亞洲市場推出了不同的 SCBA 產品類別。這確實做得很好，但它滿足了該領域客戶群的需求。所以，它的價格有點低，但 M1 的競爭非常好。在我們所看到的許多情況中，仍然存在一些基於價格的客戶需求，我想我會稱之為，我們當然理解這一點。但許多客戶真正關注的是功能、合身性和性能。當他們進行評估時，很高興看到他們更重視這一點而不是價格。所以他們關注的是總價值，我認為我們在這方面的競爭非常好。

Perfect. And then just one more on Portables. Third quarter is a seasonal low, historically, and double-digit growth, that's obviously showing some signs of acceleration. By our math, there is 5,000-6,000 incremental units, so is the expectation that we're kind of ramping to, maybe, a 20,000 unit run rate?

完美的。然後還有一個關於便攜式設備的內容。第三季是季節性低點，歷史上的兩位數成長，這顯然顯示出一些加速的跡象。根據我們的數學計算，有 5,000-6,000 個增量單位，那麼我們是否期望逐漸達到 20,000 個單位的運行率？

You mean on Portable instruments? Is that what your question is?

您是指便攜式儀器嗎？這就是你的問題嗎？

Yes, Portable Gas Detection.

是的，便攜式氣體檢測。

Okay. So yes, so if you look at Fixed Gas Detection, I think the unit run rate continues to be pretty consistent. Portable gas detection, I think on orders, you may be closer on the order count, but on unit count, it’s a magnitude higher than that. What's really nice is what we're seeing on this traditional business, the customer continues to really look at our value prop. So, we talk about accuracy of sensors, durability of the product, reliability across our portfolio and certainly our service. So, we're winning there and converting business. It's probably a higher rate than we expected on the traditional.

好的。所以是的，如果你看看固定氣體檢測，我認為單位運行率仍然非常一致。便攜式氣體檢測，我認為在訂單數量上，您可能會更接近訂單數量，但在單位數量上，它要高出一個數量級。真正好的事情是我們在這個傳統業務中看到的，客戶繼續真正專注於我們的價值支柱。因此，我們談論感測器的準確性、產品的耐用性、我們產品組合的可靠性，當然還有我們的服務。所以，我們正在那裡獲勝並轉換業務。這可能比我們對傳統方式的預期還要高。

And then, what's happening on the connected portable side is playing out how we thought it would. You think of the growth there more like you would think of a software platform and that's the kind of growth we're actually seeing there. So, we do expect that to continue. Now it is on a low base. It's still under 10% of our overall Portables revenue. And I think that's important to note, which is why we keep these combined, and we'll continue to track that and keep you updated on the progress.

然後，連接的便攜式設備上發生的事情正在按照我們的預期進行。你認為那裡的成長更像是軟體平台，這就是我們實際看到的那種成長。因此，我們確實希望這種情況能夠持續下去。現在它的基礎較低。它仍低於我們便攜式設備總收入的 10%。我認為這一點值得注意，這就是我們將這些內容合併在一起的原因，我們將繼續追蹤這一點並讓您了解最新進展。

That is great, thank you guys.

太好了，謝謝你們。

Thank you.

謝謝。

This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Larry De Maria for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回拉里·德·瑪麗亞（Larry De Maria）發表閉幕詞。

Thank you. We appreciate you joining the call this morning and for your continued interest in MSA Safety. If you missed a portion of today's call, an audio replay will be made available later today on our Investor Relations website and will be available for the next 90 days. We look forward to updating you on our continued progress again next quarter. The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation.

謝謝。我們感謝您今天早上加入電話會議並感謝您對 MSA Safety 的持續關注。如果您錯過了今天電話會議的部分內容，我們的投資者關係網站將在今天晚些時候提供音訊重播，並將在接下來的 90 天內提供。我們期待在下個季度再次向您通報我們的持續進展。會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。