Metallus Inc (MTUS) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is [Audra] and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the third quarter, 2024 Metallus Inc earnings call.

早安.我的名字是 [Audra]，今天我將擔任您的會議主持人。現在，我歡迎大家參加 Metallus Inc 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。

Today's conference is being recorded. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press the star key followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question. Press star one again at this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Jennifer Beeman, Director of Communications and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

今天的會議正在錄製。所有線路均已靜音以防止任何背景噪音。演講者發言後，將有問答環節。如果您想在此期間提問，只需按下電話鍵盤上的星號鍵，然後按數字鍵 1 即可。如果您想撤回您的問題。現在再次按下「開始」按鈕，我想將發布會交給傳播和投資者關係總監 Jennifer Beeman。請繼續。

Good morning and welcome to Metallus Third quarter, 2024 conference call. I'm Jennifer Beeman, Director of Communications and Investor Relations for meals. Joining me today is Mike Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer, Kris Westbrooks, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and Kevin Raketich, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. You all should have received a copy of our press release which was issued last night during today's conference call. We may make forward-looking statements as defined by the SEC. Our actual results may differ materially from those projected or implied due to a variety of factors which we describe in greater detail in yesterday's release. Please refer to our SEC filings including the most recent form 10-K and form 10-Q and the list of factors included in our earnings release, all of which are available on the Metallus website where Non-GAAP financial information is referenced, additional details and reconciliations to its GAAP equivalent are also included in the earnings release. With that. I'd like to turn the call over to Mike, Mike?

早安，歡迎來到 Metallus2024 年第三季電話會議。我是珍妮佛·比曼 (Jennifer Beeman)，負責餐飲傳播和投資者關係的總監。今天與我一起出席的有總裁兼首席執行官邁克·威廉姆斯(Mike Williams)、執行副總裁兼首席財務官克里斯·韋斯特布魯克斯(Kris Westbrooks) 和執行副總裁兼首席商務官凱文·拉克蒂奇(Kevin Raketich)。大家應該已經收到了我們昨晚在今天的電話會議上發布的新聞稿的副本。我們可能會做出美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 定義的前瞻性陳述。由於我們在昨天的發布中更詳細描述的各種因素，我們的實際結果可能與預測或暗示的結果有重大差異。請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件，包括最新的10-K 表格和10-Q 表格，以及我們收益報告中包含的因素列表，所有這些文件均可在Metallus 網站上找到，其中引用了非公認會計準則財務資訊、其他詳細資訊收益報告中也包含與 GAAP 對應資料的對帳表。就這樣。我想把電話轉給麥克，麥克？

Good morning and thank you for joining us today.

早安，感謝您今天加入我們。

Throughout the quarter, we continue to navigate challenging market conditions demonstrating the resilience of our business model and the strength of our team.

整個季度，我們繼續應對充滿挑戰的市場環境，展現了我們業務模式的韌性和團隊的實力。

Our third quarter net sales saw a sequential decrease of 23% primarily due to lower shipments across our markets.

我們第三季的淨銷售額較上季下降 23%，主要原因是整個市場的出貨量下降。

During the third quarter, we continued to maintain and invest in our world class assets aimed at improving safety efficiency and quality.

第三季度，我們繼續維護和投資我們的世界級資產，旨在提高安全效率和品質。

Additionally, we continue to offer training and development opportunities for our employees.

此外，我們繼續為員工提供培訓和發展機會。

I believe these two focus areas are the key to our near term success allowing us to better serve our customers and quickly capitalize on future demand recovery.

我相信這兩個重點領域是我們近期成功的關鍵，使我們能夠更好地服務客戶，並迅速利用未來的需求復甦。

Speaking of customers, we recently completed our annual customer survey and I'm pleased to report that our customers rank us highly in both service and quality.

說到客戶，我們最近完成了年度客戶調查，我很高興地報告，我們的客戶對我們的服務和品質都給予了高度評價。

I'm proud of our team's outstanding performance on both fronts.

我為我們團隊在這兩個方面的出色表現感到自豪。

This is also the time of the year when we initiate our annual contract negotiations with our customers. Generally, we target around 70% of our business to be linked to annual contracts. Currently, we are still early in this process, but discussions are going well.

這也是我們與客戶開始年度合約談判的時候。一般來說，我們的目標是將約 70% 的業務與年度合約掛鉤。目前，我們仍處於這一進程的早期階段，但討論進展順利。

Turning to safety in late October and early November, we completed our annual maintenance shutdown at the faircrest facility.

在 10 月底和 11 月初談到安全問題時，我們完成了 Faircrest 工廠的年度維護停工。

Shutdowns are complex operations that depend on the coordinated efforts of additional contractors and vendors working alongside our teams.

停工是一項複雜的操作，需要與我們的團隊一起合作的其他承包商和供應商的協調努力。

The required maintenance which took us 12.5 days as scheduled is critical for ensuring the reliability of our assets.

我們按計劃花了 12.5 天的時間完成所需的維護，這對於確保我們資產的可靠性至關重要。

Most importantly, I'm pleased to report that we completed the shutdown without any serious safety incidents during the shutdown periods, we take time to further train our people in important safety measures.

最重要的是，我很高興地報告，我們完成了停產，在停產期間沒有發生任何嚴重的安全事故，我們花時間進一步培訓我們的員工了解重要的安全措施。

Starting in October. We begin our safety standard program. We put an even sharper focus on preventing serious injuries and fatalities.

從十月開始。我們開始我們的安全標準計劃。我們更加重視預防嚴重傷害和死亡。

This is about identifying potential hazards and stopping them immediately.

這是為了識別潛在危險並立即阻止它們。

This program consists of a series of hands on stations where we provide our employees with real equipment tools and situations to ensure they are just not hearing about safety but feeling and practicing it too, working with operations. Our safety team, union leadership representatives and company leadership. We are demonstrating that safety is a shared responsibility and continues to be our top priority.

該計劃由一系列實踐站組成，我們為員工提供真實的設備工具和情況，以確保他們不僅僅是聽到安全知識，還能感受到和實踐安全，參與操作。我們的安全團隊、工會領導代表和公司領導。我們正在證明安全是共同的責任，並且仍然是我們的首要任務。

Our commitment to safety is evident in our investment of $6 million year-to-date as a result, we see the 29% year over year reduction in our OSHA recordable rate for the third quarter, our investments are paying off and we look forward to continuing this trend into 2025.

我們對安全的承諾體現在我們今年迄今已投資的 600 萬美元中，因此，我們看到第三季度的 OSHA 記錄率同比下降了 29%，我們的投資正在獲得回報，我們期待這一趨勢將持續到2025 年。

Moving to our end markets, shipments decreased by 20% compared with the second quarter.

轉向我們的終端市場，出貨量與第二季相比下降了 20%。

Shipments to our industrial customers declined 6% sequentially, primarily driven by weaker mining and agricultural markets as well as continued softness and distribution.

我們對工業客戶的出貨量較上季下降 6%，主要原因是採礦業和農業市場疲軟以及持續的疲軟和分銷。

On the other hand, we see a slight uptick in sales from our rail customers, although not enough to offset other declines in the sector.

另一方面，我們看到鐵路客戶的銷售額略有上升，但不足以抵消該行業其他領域的下滑。

As expected, energy customer demand remains weak as drilling activity is expected to remain flat in the near future.

正如預期的那樣，由於預計鑽井活動在不久的將來將保持平穩，能源客戶需求仍然疲軟。

Despite the market being down, we anticipate some additional volume in the energy space going forward as inventory levels will need replenishing at some point. And that is expected to drive demand for our highly engineered steels.

儘管市場低迷，但我們預計未來能源領域的交易量仍會有一些增加，因為庫存水準在某個時候需要補充。預計這將推動對我們高性能鋼材的需求。

Automotive shipments declined by 16%. Sequentially.

汽車出貨量下降了16%。依次。

Our customers have faced several issues including ongoing equipment issues, recalls and unexpected downtime.

我們的客戶面臨一些問題，包括持續的設備問題、召回和意外停機。

Additionally, the third quarter tends to be seasonally weaker in terms of demand as expected. We saw a sequential decline in aerospace and defense third quarter shipments due to customer order patterns.

此外，正如預期的那樣，第三季的需求呈現季節性疲軟趨勢。由於客戶訂單模式，我們看到第三季航空航太和國防出貨量較上季下降。

However, based on our defense customers needs, we anticipate an increase in aerospace and defense shipment in the fourth quarter as well as in 2025 with ongoing investments by our customers to increase capacity and targeted growth in new programs, we expect to grow aerospace and defense sales to over $250 million by 2026 overall. We are confident in the long term growth prospects for aerospace and defense driven by strong customer demand and strategic investments in the current market landscape.

然而，根據國防客戶的需求，我們預計第四季度以及2025 年航空航太和國防出貨量將會增加，隨著客戶持續投資以增加產能和新項目的目標增長，我們預計航空航太和國防出貨量將成長到 2026 年，總銷售額將超過 2.5 億美元。在當前市場環境下，強勁的客戶需求和策略性投資推動下，我們對航空航太和國防領域的長期成長前景充滿信心。

The influx of SBQ and seamless mechanical tubing imports continues to exert pricing pressure especially within the industrial and energy sectors.

SBQ和無縫機械管進口的大量湧入繼續對價格造成壓力，尤其是在工業和能源領域。

China holds the largest share of seamless mechanical tubing imports to the US and therefore increase section 301 Ts may help us moving forward as background. China's share of the US, seamless mechanical tubing market has grown significantly rising from approximately 6% in 2021 to 16% in 2024.

中國占美國無縫機械管進口量的最大份額，因此增加301Ts條款可能有助於我們向前邁進。中國在美國無縫機械管市場的份額大幅成長，從 2021 年的約 6% 上升至 2024 年的 16%。

Regarding our capital investments, we are actively progressing with investments and assets that not only promote growth but enhance safety, product quality, improve asset reliability, elevate customer service and optimize our cost structure.

關於我們的資本投資，我們正在積極推動投資和資產，這不僅促進成長，而且提高安全性和產品質量，提高資產可靠性，提升客戶服務水準並優化我們的成本結構。

During the quarter. We invested over 17 million in capital expenditures.

在本季度。我們的資本支出已超過1700萬美元。

Investments include the installation and automated grinding line in our Harrison facility which is designed to improve safety quality and efficiency.

投資包括我們哈里森工廠的安裝和自動研磨線，旨在提高安全品質和效率。

This should be operational by the end of this year at Harrison. We are also targeting the installation of two inline saws in the first quarter of 2025.

該項目將於今年年底在哈里森投入營運。我們還計劃在 2025 年第一季安裝兩台直列鋸。

They are connected to the new grinding line. These new assets will enhance safety and efficiency while also eliminating the need to outsource cutting of certain bar sizes as you know, we're in the process of installing a bloom rect furnace at our fir craft facility intended to significantly increase the ability to serve needs of the Department of Defense as well as support our broader customer base.

它們與新的研磨線相連。這些新資產將提高安全性和效率，同時也消除了外包切割某些棒材尺寸的需要，正如您所知，我們正在我們的冷杉工藝工廠安裝大方坯直角爐，旨在顯著提高滿足需求的能力國防部並支援我們更廣泛的客戶群。

Lastly, we recently approved a thermal treatment roller furnace at our Gambrinus facility.

最後，我們最近批准在Gambrinus 工廠安裝熱處理輥道爐。

This investment is another example of our commitment to investing in state of the art technologies but also doubling our heat treating capacity for specialty grade, primarily used in defense related products.

這項投資是我們致力於投資最先進技術的另一個例證，同時也使我們的特種級熱處理能力翻了一番，主要用於國防相關產品。

We have received funds from the Department of Defense for both the bloom reheat and the roller furnace.

我們已經從國防部獲得了用於鋼坯再加熱和輥道爐的資金。

Kris will cover the details of our government funding in a moment.

克里斯稍後將介紹我們政府資助的詳細資訊。

These efforts align with our overall objectives to drive cost reductions, increase free cash flow and boost our profitability.

這些努力符合我們的整體目標，即降低成本、增加自由現金流並提高獲利能力。

Despite challenges in the current market demand environment, we remain committed to our capital allocation strategy, balancing investments in growth with returning capital to shareholders.

儘管當前市場需求環境面臨挑戰，我們仍然致力於我們的資本配置策略，平衡成長投資與股東回報。

Looking ahead, we're cautiously optimistic as we see our order book picking up in the fourth quarter and into early 2025 with a strong balance sheet, an active share repurchase program and a positive long term outlook. We remain well positioned for future growth.

展望未來，我們持謹慎樂觀的態度，因為我們看到我們的訂單量在第四季度和 2025 年初有所回升，並且擁有強勁的資產負債表、積極的股票回購計劃和積極的長期前景。我們仍為未來成長做好了準備。

Now I'll turn the call over to Chris who will provide more details on our financial performance.

現在我將電話轉給克里斯，他將提供有關我們財務表現的更多詳細資訊。

Thanks Mike, good morning and thank you for joining me talis' third quarter of 2024 earnings call during the quarter, we continued to navigate challenging market conditions while ensuring the company is well positioned to capitalize on future demand recovery.

謝謝麥克，早安，感謝您參加我的塔利斯 2024 年第三季財報電話會議，在本季度，我們繼續應對充滿挑戰的市場條件，同時確保公司能夠利用未來的需求復甦。

Additionally, we've taken advantage of market conditions and our strong balance sheet to purchase 4.2% of our shares outstanding to date this year.

此外，我們利用市場條件和強勁的資產負債表，今年迄今已購買了 4.2% 的流通股。

From a top line perspective, third quarter, net sales totaled $227.2 million. A sequential decrease of 23%.

從營收角度來看，第三季淨銷售額總計 2.272 億美元。季減23%。

The decline in net sales was primarily due to lower shipments, unfavorable product mix and a 5% market driven decline in the average raw material surcharge revenue per ton. As a result of lower scrap prices, the company reported a net loss in the third quarter of $5.9 million or a loss of $0.13 per diluted share on an adjusted basis. The third quarter, net loss was $4.4 million or a loss of $0.09 per diluted share adjusted EBITDA was $6.1 million in the third quarter. The sequential decline primarily driven by lower shipments and unfavorable product mix partially offset by an increase in melt utilization.

淨銷售額下降主要由於出貨量下降、產品結構不利以及市場驅動的每噸平均原材料附加費收入下降 5%。由於廢料價格下跌，該公司報告第三季淨虧損 590 萬美元，調整後每股虧損 0.13 美元。第三季度，淨虧損為 440 萬美元，或每股攤薄虧損 0.09 美元，第三季調整後 EBITDA 為 610 萬美元。連續下降主要由於出貨量下降和產品結構不利，但熔體利用率提高部分抵消了這一下降。

These drivers of sequentially lower adjusted EBITDA are consistent with our third quarter earnings guidance on a year-to-date basis. Through September, the company reported net sales of $843.5 million. A decline of 18% from the prior year driven by softer market demand.

這些導致調整後 EBITDA 連續下降的驅動因素與我們年初至今的第三季獲利預期一致。截至 9 月份，該公司報告淨銷售額為 8.435 億美元。由於市場需求疲軟，較前一年下降了 18%。

The benefits of our strategic imperatives and cost reduction actions are proving out in this challenging demand environment, as evidenced by year-to-date net income of $22.7 million on a GAAP basis and $28.4 million on an adjusted basis. Additionally, year-to-date addressed with though was $69.4 million and the company has generated $26.4 million of operating cash flow.

在這種充滿挑戰的需求環境中，我們的戰略要務和成本削減行動的好處得到了證明，這一點從今年迄今為止按GAAP 計算的淨收入2,270 萬美元和按調整後計算的淨收入2,840 萬美元可以看出。此外，今年迄今為止，該公司已實現 6,940 萬美元的現金流，並產生了 2,640 萬美元的營運現金流。

Our previously communicated objective was to deliver sustainable profitability and cash flow in all business cycles. In 2024 is proving out the business model in a challenging market environment.

我們先前傳達的目標是在所有業務週期中實現可持續的獲利能力和現金流。2024 年將在充滿挑戰的市場環境中證明該商業模式。

The company remains well positioned for profitability improvement in the future and we remain on track to achieve our through cycle adjusted at the margin and return on capital employed targets.

公司在未來獲利能力提升方面仍處於有利地位，我們仍有望實現整個週期調整後的利潤率和資本使用回報率目標。

Turning now to the details of the financial results. In the third quarter, shipments were 119,900 tons in the quarter. A decrease of 30,200 tons or 20% compared with the second quarter might cover the drivers of third quarter shipments by end market. In his comments, elaborating further on the aerospace and defense end market or A&D for short fourth quarter A&D shipments are expected to increase from third quarter levels but not quite to the level of the first half quarterly average as the first half of 2024 was positively impacted by an acceleration of customer orders.

現在來談談財務結果的細節。第三季度，當季出貨量為11.99萬噸。與第二季相比，減少 30,200 噸（即 20%），這可能掩蓋了終端市場第三季出貨量的驅動因素。他在評論中進一步闡述了航空航天和國防終端市場（簡稱A&D），預計第四季度A&D 出貨量將較第三季度水平有所增加，但不會達到上半年季度平均水平，因為2024 年上半年受到了積極影響透過加速客戶訂單。

In 2025 A&D customer shipments are expected to increase from 2024 as defense industry capacity and demand continues to ramp up.

隨著國防工業產能和需求的不斷增加，預計 2025 年 A&D 客戶出貨量將比 2024 年增加。

Turning now to manufacturing as expected manufacturing costs decreased sequentially by $13.9 million in the third quarter.

現在轉向製造業，預計第三季製造成本將季減 1,390 萬美元。

The sequential decrease in manufacturing costs was a result of improved fixed cost absorption from higher production levels as well as a continued focus on process improvement to reduce variable costs partially offsetting. These decreases were $6 million of annual shutdown maintenance costs. In the third quarter, the melt utilization rate improved to 60% in the third quarter compared to 53% in the second quarter. While the company continued to balance production with demand.

製造成本連續下降是由於生產水準提高，固定成本吸收改善，以及持續注重流程改進，以降低部分抵銷的變動成本。每年的停工維護成本減少 600 萬美元。第三季度，熔體利用率由第二季度的53%提高至60%。同時公司持續保持生產與需求的平衡。

As mentioned earlier, the company's manufacturing assets and operations team are well positioned to run at a higher rate of utilization as the demand recovers.

如前所述，隨著需求的復甦，該公司的製造資產和營運團隊已準備好以更高的利用率運作。

Now switching gears to pensions in the third quarter, the company made $3.2 million of required contributions to the bargaining pension plan.

該公司第三季已將業務重點轉向退休金，並向談判退休金計畫繳納了 320 萬美元的強制性繳款。

The company also made an additional required contribution of $5.3 million to the plan during October resulting in total pension contributions of approximately $43 million this year.

該公司 10 月也向該計畫額外繳納了 530 萬美元，導致今年的退休金總繳納額達到約 4,300 萬美元。

No additional required pension contributions are expected for the remainder of 2024 with the benefit of the previous annuitization activities, as well as asset returns and cash contributions. The total pension and retiree medical benefit liability has declined by approximately $800 million since the end of 2021 as of September 30th 2024 the underfunded position of the company's pension and retiree medical plans totaled $168 million.

由於先前的年金化活動以及資產回報和現金貢獻，預計 2024 年剩餘時間無需額外繳納退休金。自 2021 年底以來，退休金和退休人員醫療福利總負債減少了約 8 億美元，截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日，該公司退休金和退休人員醫療計畫的資金不足總額為 1.68 億美元。

The current estimate for required pension contributions in 2025 is similar to 2024 levels.

目前 2025 年所需退休金繳款的估計與 2024 年的水準相似。

This estimate will be firmed up following the close of the calendar year. We'll provide an update to the next quarter's report.

此估計數字將在日曆年結束後確定。我們將提供下一季報告的更新。

Moving to cash flow and liquidity. The primary uses of cash during the third quarter included sherry purchases of $20.1 million capital expenditures of $17.6 million and an increase in working capital of $15.1 million primarily driven by higher inventory to support customer requirements in the fourth quarter. Given the melt shops annual shutdown maintenance in October as it relates to government funding. Earlier this year, the company received a funding commitment of $99.75 million from the US government to support the army's ramp up of munitions production as well as a grant of $3.5 million from jobs Ohio to support the related capacity expansion and employee training.

轉向現金流和流動性。第三季現金的主要用途包括購買 2,010 萬美元的雪莉酒、1,760 萬美元的資本支出以及增加 1,510 萬美元的營運資本，這主要由於第四季庫存增加以滿足客戶需求。鑑於熔煉車間每年十月都要進行停工維護，因為這與政府資金有關。今年早些時候，該公司獲得美國政府9,975萬美元的資金承諾，以支持陸軍擴大彈藥產量，同時獲得俄亥俄州就業組織350萬美元的補助，以支持相關的產能擴張和員工培訓。

During the third quarter, the company received $35.5 million of cash funding from the government.

第三季度，該公司從政府獲得3,550萬美元的現金資助。

When combined with $10 million of initial funding received in the second quarter and $7.5 million received. In October, the company has received a total of $53 million year-to-date through the end of October of the approximately $103 million of total committed funding.

與第二季收到的 1000 萬美元初始資金和實際收到的 750 萬美元相結合。截至 10 月底，該公司今年迄今已收到總計 5,300 萬美元的承諾資金，而總承諾資金約 1.03 億美元。

Receipt of the remaining $50 million of committed funding is expected throughout 2025 and into 2026 as mutually agreed upon milestones are achieved.

隨著雙方商定的里程碑的實現，預計將在 2025 年至 2026 年收到剩餘的 5,000 萬美元承諾資金。

As Mike mentioned, this funding will substantially pay for both the new bloomer heat furnace at the company's faircrest facility, as well as the new roller furnace at the gamish facility.

正如麥克所提到的，這筆資金將主要用於支付該公司費爾克雷斯特工廠的新布盧默加熱爐以及加米甚工廠的新滾筒爐的費用。

Once commissioned, these investments will support the company's targeted growth in aerospace and defense product sales as well as support all customers with more efficient and modern assets.

一旦投入使用，這些投資將支持該公司在航空航太和國防產品銷售方面的目標成長，並為所有客戶提供更有效率、更現代化的資產。

As previously mentioned, capital expenditures totaled $17.6 million in the third quarter of which $5.8 million was related to spending on projects supported by the government funding in total. We estimate full year CapEx to be approximately $65 million in 2024 inclusive of approximately $15 million of CapEx supported by government funding.

如前所述，第三季的資本支出總計 1,760 萬美元，其中 580 萬美元與政府資助的專案支出有關。我們預計 2024 年全年資本支出約為 6,500 萬美元，其中包括政府資金支持的約 1,500 萬美元資本支出。

The base CapEx forecast of $50 million in 2024 net of investment supported by government funding is a $5 million reduction from our previous guidance.

2024 年基本資本支出預測為 5,000 萬美元，扣除政府資金支持的投資，比我們先前預期的減少了 500 萬美元。

As we look towards 2025 we anticipate base CapEx to be below 2024 levels. However, CapEx spending on investments supported by government funding will ramp up in 2025.

展望 2025 年，我們預期基準資本支出將低於 2024 年的水準。然而，到 2025 年，政府資金支持的投資的資本支出將會增加。

We've included a slide in the third quarter investor presentation available on our website to show the timing of anticipated government funding in advance of related CapEx spending.

我們在網站上發布的第三季投資者簡報中加入了一張投影片，顯示了在相關資本支出之前預期政府資金到位的時間。

Switching gears to shareholder return activities. During the third quarter, the company repurchased 1.2 million shares at a cost of $20.1 million to date in 2024. Through the end of September, 1.8 million shares were repurchased at a cost of $34.1 million in total. As of September 30th, the company had $106.3 million remaining under its authorized share repurchase program and we remain committed to exhausting this authorization as we progress forward at the end of the third quarter, the company's cash and cash equivalents were $254.6 million and total liquidity was $496.8 million. We expect the strength of the balance sheet combined with expected through cycle profitability and cash flow to enable the company to continue to execute its capital allocation strategy. This includes investing in profitable growth, maintaining a strong balance sheet and returning capital to shareholders through continued share purchases.

轉向股東回報活動。2024 年第三季度，該公司回購了 120 萬股，迄今為止的成本為 2,010 萬美元。截至九月底，已回購180萬股，總成本為3,410萬美元。截至 9 月 30 日，公司根據授權股票回購計畫剩餘 1.063 億美元，我們仍致力於在第三季末用盡這項授權，公司的現金和現金等價物為 2.546 億美元，總流動資金為4.968 億美元。我們預計，資產負債表的強勁加上預期的周期獲利能力和現金流將使公司能夠繼續執行其資本配置策略。這包括投資於獲利性成長、維持強勁的資產負債表以及透過持續購買股票向股東返還資本。

Turning now to the outlook fourth quarter, shipments are expected to increase slightly on a sequential basis driven by higher A&D shipments.

現在展望第四季度，由於 A&D 出貨量的增加，預計出貨量將比上季略有增加。

The order book support shipment levels between 2nd and 3rd quarter levels. However, we are awaiting input on customer operating schedules in December around the holidays which may impact the timing of shipments leading up to year end.

訂單支援第二季和第三季之間的出貨水準。然而，我們正在等待客戶 12 月假期前後的營運時間表，這可能會影響年底前的出貨時間。

Lead times have extended in recent months with bar product lead times in late December and two product lead times. In January operationally planned annual shutdown maintenance was recently completed in the fourth quarter at a cost of approximately $6 million. Consistent with the level of annual shutdown maintenance completed in the third quarter.

近幾個月交貨時間有所延長，棒材產品交貨時間為 12 月底，另兩種產品交貨時間為。今年 1 月，按營運計畫進行的年度停工維護工作於第四季剛完成，耗資約 600 萬美元。與第三季完成的年度停產維護水準一致。

Additionally, the fourth quarter melt utilization rate is expected to be similar to the third quarter given the impact of the recently completed annual melt shop shutdown maintenance combined with continued balancing of production with demand.

此外，考慮到最近完成的年度熔煉車間停工維護以及持續的產需平衡的影響，預計第四季度的熔煉利用率將與第三季度相似。

Fourth quarter, CapEx is expected to be approximately $16 million inclusive of approximately $9 million of CapEx supported by previous funding from the government.

第四季度，資本支出預計約為 1,600 萬美元，其中包括政府先前資助的約 900 萬美元的資本支出。

Given these elements, the company anticipates fourth quarter adjusted even to to modestly increase compared to the third quarter to wrap up. Thanks to our employees for their daily collaboration. While focusing on finishing each and every day incident and injury free, we remain committed to controlling what we can control in a challenging market environment, ensuring our assets and teams are prepared when market dynamics shift and continuing to invest in the business while we're returning capital to shareholders.

考慮到上述因素，該公司預計第四季的調整後利潤將較第三季略有成長。感謝我們的員工的日常協作。在專注於每天無事故、無傷害地完成工作的同時，我們仍致力於在充滿挑戰的市場環境中控制我們能夠控制的事情，確保我們的資產和團隊在市場動態變化時做好準備，並在我們向股東返還資本。

Thanks for your interest in Metallus. You would now like to open the call for questions.

感謝您對 Metallus 的關注。現在您可以開始提問了。

Thank you. You will. Now we will now begin the question and answer session. If you have dialed in and would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad to raise your hand and join the queue. If you would like to withdraw your question, simply press star one again.

謝謝。你會。現在我們開始問答環節。如果您已經撥入電話並想提問，請按下電話鍵盤上的星號「1」來舉手並加入排隊。如果您想撤回您的問題，只需再次按星號即可。

We'll go first to John Franzreb at Sidoti & Company.

我們先去找 Sidoti & Company 的 John Franzreb。

Good morning, everyone. And thanks for taking the questions.

大家早安。感謝您回答這些問題。

I'd like to start with the sales profile in the quarter and the shipments certainly, we had some unexpected weakness in the auto motorcycle. It seems like it's continuing to the fourth quarter. But I guess like the drop in the aerospace and defense business was, more considerable than I was looking for. Has that mix played out or that demand played out as you expected? I know you certainly signaled that it was going to drop. It was it to that magnitude.

我想先介紹一下本季的銷售情況和出貨量，當然，汽車摩托車市場出現了一些意想不到的疲軟。看起來這種情況會持續到第四季。但我想航空航太和國防業務的下滑幅度比我預期的要大得多。這種組合或需求是否已經達到了您預期的效果？我知道你肯定已經暗示它會下降。就是這麼嚴重。

I think that yeah, we've been expecting this because of the significant ramp up in demand in the first half and some of the delays in their capacity expansion, John from our, from the downstream customers.

我認為是的，我們一直在期待這一點，因為上半年需求大幅增加，而他們的產能擴張有所延遲，我們的下游客戶的約翰說。

So as that capacity continues to ramp up, demand is going to increase slightly in the in Q4.

因此，隨著產能不斷提升，第四季的需求將會略有增加。

You know, we already have those orders on hand and we expect to continue to ramp up in demand in 2025. But I think we've been saying for two quarters, we've been expecting a decline in ad and A&D shipments because of the accelerated ordering that happened in the first half of 2024.

你知道，我們手上已經有這些訂單，我們預期 2025 年需求將持續增加。但我認為我們已經說了兩個季度了，由於 2024 年上半年訂購加速，我們預計廣告和 A&D 出貨量會下降。

Okay. And on the flip side of that, the, the target that you put out there for 250 million in 2026.

好的。另一方面，你設定的目標是 2026 年達到 2.5 億。

Could we just speak to the, the cadence of that ramp? What does it kind of look like? And that 2026 number, is that a full year number? Is that a run rate that we're thinking about?

我們能不能談談那條斜坡的節奏？它看起來像什麼？那麼 2026 年這個數字是全年數字嗎？這就是我們正在考慮的運行率嗎？

No, that's a run rate number. You know what's driving that is not only the known demand for the munitions, contracts that we have going into 2025 but we are working on new defense programs with some current customers and existing customers into other aspects of defense products. Not necessarily focused on munitions. I don't want to get into the details of those right now because we're in the negotiations on those potential future programs, but that's what's going to drive the increasing demand over what's already been publicly stated about the munitions demand required over the next several years by the Department of Defense, particularly the US Army.

不，這是一個運行率數字。您知道推動這一進程的因素不僅是已知的彈藥需求、我們將在2025 年簽訂的合同，而且我們正在與一些現有客戶和現有客戶合作開展新的國防計劃，涉足國防產品的其他方面。不一定專注於彈藥。我現在不想談論這些細節，因為我們正在就這些潛在的未來計劃進行談判，但這將推動需求的增長，超過已經公開聲明的未來彈藥需求國防部，特別是美國陸軍已經為此付出了數年的努力。

Makes sense. Plus we don't want the bad guys to know.

有道理。此外，我們也不想讓壞人知道。

John and Mike, sorry to interrupt you.

約翰和麥克，很抱歉打擾你們。

Sorry to interrupt. This is Kris Westbrooks. I just wanted to clarify on that 2026 target. We do expect a steady increase in the 26. But Mike, that was a full year estimated total sales number for 2026. It wasn't a run rate as you get to the fourth, for example, it's a full year. Expect to realize that in 2026.

抱歉打擾了。這是克里斯·韋斯特布魯克斯。我只是想澄清一下 2026 年的目標。我們確實預計 26 個會穩定成長。但是麥克，這是 2026 年全年預計的總銷售數字。例如，這不是第四年的運行率，而是整整一年的運行率。預計在 2026 年實現。

Thanks for the clarification.

感謝您的澄清。

Thank you. Also, Chris. I appreciate that one last question back in the queue. I was, I'm just curious given the, the downtime we've had in the third quarter and we're seeing again in the fourth quarter. Have you pulled forward any maintenance or cost saving actions that you might have been considering in the first quarter of 2025 into the 2024 calendar year.

謝謝。還有克里斯。我很感謝大家提出最後一個問題。我只是很好奇，因為我們在第三季度遇到了停機時間，並且在第四季度我們再次看到了這種情況。您是否將 2025 年第一季考慮的任何維護或成本節約措施提前到 2024 日曆年。

I would not say no because where we are significant cost saving opportunities are kind of these investments. We commented in our earlier presentation about the automatic grinding line that's going to provide significant safety cost reduction, efficiencies, improvements as well as quality. We didn't really pull anything forward from Q1.

我不會拒絕，因為我們在這些投資中擁有顯著的成本節約機會。我們在先前的介紹中評論過自動磨削線將顯著降低安全成本、提高效率、改進和提高品質。我們實際上並沒有從第一季取得任何進展。

We're pretty, you know, with the market demand as soft as it's been. We're just very focused on cash flow, conserving it, taking opportunities to reduce our cost by reducing our outside spend, kind of bring everything inside as much as possible where our cost structure is lower than outside suppliers we may be using. So, you know, we're very focused on what we can control. Right now, the big focus or outside of safety is really delivering on the significant investments we're making to improve our safety quality, enhance efficiencies, reduce cost and improve reliability.

您知道，市場需求一直比較疲軟。我們只是非常關注現金流，節約現金流，抓住機會透過減少外部支出來降低成本，盡可能將所有東西帶到內部，這樣我們的成本結構就會低於我們可能使用的外部供應商。所以，你知道，我們非常關注我們能夠控制的事情。目前，我們除了關注安全之外，還重點關注為改善安全品質、提高效率、降低成本和提高可靠性而進行的重大投資。

Okay. Thank you, Mike. I'll go back to the Q.

好的。謝謝你，麥克。我將回到 Q。

Thanks John.

謝謝約翰。

We'll move next to Marco Rodriguez at Stonegate Capital Partners.

接下來我們參觀 Stonegate Capital Partners 的 Marco Rodriguez。

Hey, good morning guys. I appreciate you taking my questions today. Here at you could provide me some more details on the current bidding environment, the aerospace and defense sectors and like any significant trends you are being in the macro space.

嘿，大家早安。感謝您今天回答我的問題。您可以在這裡向我提供有關當前招標環境、航空航天和國防部門的更多詳細信息，以及宏觀領域的任何重要趨勢。

Well, I think as I said to John earlier is you know, we expect the munitions demand to continue to improve because of the capacity investments downstream to manufacture our steel into munitions is increasing and will continue to increase and it will ramp up throughout the rest of this year and in 2025. So we expect that demand to continue. We are also negotiating longer term agreements with certain defense customers because they want to guarantee that stability of long term supply.

嗯，我想就像我之前對約翰說的那樣，我們預計軍火需求將繼續改善，因為將我們的鋼鐵製造成軍火的下游產能投資正在增加，並將繼續增加，並將在整個今年和2025 年。因此我們預計這種需求將會持續下去。我們也正在與某些國防客戶協商長期協議，因為他們希望確保長期供應的穩定性。

And as I said, we are pursuing new programs and other area within the defense end market to continue to improve our participation in those markets which we see strong growing demand over the next several years.

正如我所說的，我們正在國防終端市場中尋求新的項目和其他領域，以繼續提高我們在未來幾年內看到強勁成長需求的市場的參與度。

Got you. No, I appreciate the color there. Second is there any other green shoes other than A&D? And lead times moving out a little bit thinking downstream in terms of inventory.

明白了。不，我很欣賞那裡的色彩。第二，除了 A&D 之外，還有其他綠色鞋子嗎？從庫存角度來看，交貨時間會稍微延長一些。

Levels.

層次。

Well, again, you know, the biggest softness we see is really in the distribution that serves energy and and or the industrial end markets. You know, the month of supply has slightly ticked up. Even though from a tonnage perspective, the inventories are reducing but not as fast as the demand has softened. So, our lead times have gone out because we we've seen a better order book development over the last, you know, five out of six weeks.

嗯，您再說一遍，我們看到的最大的疲軟實際上是在服務能源和/或工業終端市場的分銷方面。您知道，供應月份略有上升。儘管從噸位角度來看，庫存正在減少，但減少的速度卻不如需求減弱的速度。所以，我們的交貨時間已經縮短，因為我們看到過去六週中有五週的訂單情況有所改善。

And that gives us a view that demand is increasing in Q4 slightly or modestly. And then we also, as we are negotiating our annual contracts, we expect higher demand in 2025. But again, you know, there's a lot of moving parts here.

這使我們認為第四季度的需求將略有或適度增長。而且，我們在協商年度合約時，預計 2025 年的需求會更高。但您再說一遍，這裡有很多活動部件。

We've talked about trade, we've seen, you know, a lot of trade in import increases in some of our end markets, particularly around our tubing markets. And we expect with this administration that's coming in, that may be, we expect them to be tougher on trade. We'll wait and see who they put in these specific positions in administration. But, you know, we think that's a positive thing for how our market will develop in 2025 and beyond.

我們已經討論過貿易，你知道，我們看到一些終端市場的進口貿易大幅增加，特別是管材市場。我們預計，新政府上台後可能會對貿易採取更嚴厲的措施。我們將拭目以待，看看他們會把誰安排在政府的這些特定職位上。但是，你知道，我們認為這對我們的市場在 2025 年及以後的發展來說是一件積極的事情。

Okay, great. I appreciate the color again. I think that's it for me and good luck in Q4.

好的，太好了。我再次欣賞了色彩。我想這對我來說就是這樣了，祝我在第四季好運。

Thanks, Robert.

謝謝，羅伯特。

And that concludes our Q&A session. I apologize. We do have a follow up from Robert Lynch at Stonegate Capital Partners apologize. Guys.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我很抱歉。我們確實收到了 Stonegate Capital Partners 的 Robert Lynch 的後續回复，對此我們深表歉意。夥計們。

that was a mistake.

那是一個錯誤。

Thank you.

謝謝。

And a follow up from John F friends rep at Sedonia company.

這是來自 Sedonia 公司的 John F 朋友代表的後續報導。

Yeah, I guess relative to the change in mix as we start to look to 2026 and assume and assume a normalized automotive market and a recovery in the energy market. With a change of administration. How does that kind of an outlook, reconcile with some of your long term targets that you've kind of outlined, you know, being, you know, you know, utilization rates or adjusted EBITDA margins, you know, return on capital. Do you think you'll be able to hit those kind of targets by the 2026 time frame in that kind of environment? And on top of that, I guess the A&D mix.

是的，我想相對於組合的變化，當我們開始展望 2026 年並假設汽車市場正常化和能源市場復甦時。隨著政府的改變。這種觀點如何與您所概述的一些長期目標相協調，例如利用率或調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率，即資本回報率。您認為在那樣的環境下，您能在 2026 年之前實現這些目標嗎？除此之外，我猜是 A&D 組合。

Well, again, if you look at the investments we're making, particularly in the roller furnace and the bloom reheat furnace, that's all targeted to provide that in increased capacity that we pretty much are working to get under contract right now. So we're pretty positive about being able to deliver those kinds of higher levels of demand because those investments are going to drive that capability.

嗯，再說一次，如果你看看我們所做的投資，特別是在輥道爐和大塊鋼加熱爐方面的投資，這些都是為了提高產能，我們現在正在努力簽訂合約。因此，我們對於滿足此類更高水準的需求非常有信心，因為這些投資將推動這種能力。

Now, if you assume other markets go back to their historical demand patterns for, you know, whatever cycle period of time, that's very positive for us.

現在，如果你假設其他市場回到其歷史需求模式，無論哪個週期時期，這對我們來說都是非常積極的。

Okay. Just wanted to check that out. Thank you, Mike. Appreciate.

好的。只是想檢查一下。謝謝你，麥克。欣賞。

It. Sure, thanks John.

它。當然，謝謝約翰。

And that concludes our Q&A session. I will now turn the conference back over to Jennifer for closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。現在我將會議交還給詹妮弗，請她作結束語。

Thanks all for joining us today and that concludes our call.

感謝大家今天的參與，我們的通話到此結束。

And this does conclude today's conference call. Thank you for your participation.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。