Murphy USA Inc (MUSA) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Murphy USA first quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded.

早安，歡迎參加 Murphy USA 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）提醒一下，本次電話會議正在錄音。

I would now like to turn the call over to Christian Pikul, Vice President of Investor Relations. Thank you. Please go ahead.

現在我想將電話轉給投資者關係副總裁 Christian Pikul。謝謝。請繼續。

Yes. Great. Thank you, Julian. Good morning, everyone, and thanks again for joining us today. With me are Andrew Clyde, Chief Executive Officer; Mindy West, Chief Operating Officer; Galagher Jeff, Chief Financial Officer; and Donnie Smith, Chief Accounting Officer. After some opening remarks from Andrew, Galagher will provide some commentary on first quarter and financial results. And then following some closing comments from Andrew, we will open up the call to Q&A.

是的。偉大的。謝謝你，朱利安。大家早安，再次感謝大家今天的參與。和我一起的是執行長安德魯·克萊德 (Andrew Clyde)； Mindy West，首席營運長； Jeff Galagher，財務長；以及首席會計官唐尼·史密斯（Donnie Smith）。在安德魯致開場白之後，加拉格爾將對第一季和財務業績發表一些評論。然後，在安德魯發表一些結束語之後，我們將開始問答環節。

Please keep in mind that some of the comments made during this call, including the Q&A portion, will be considered forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. As such, no assurances can be given that these events will occur or that the projections will be attained. A variety of factors exist that may cause actual results to differ. For further discussion of risk factors, please see the latest Murphy USA Forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K and other recent SEC filings.

請記住，本次電話會議中的一些評論（包括問答部分）將被視為 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》中定義的前瞻性陳述。因此，我們無法保證這些事件一定會發生或預測一定會實現。存在多種因素，可能導致實際結果有所不同。有關風險因素的進一步討論，請參閱最新的 Murphy USA 表格 10-K、10-Q、8-K 和其他最近的 SEC 文件。

Murphy USA takes no duty to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. During today's call, we may also provide certain performance measures that do not conform to generally accepted accounting principles or GAAP. We have provided schedules to reconcile these non-GAAP measures with the reported results on a GAAP basis as part of our earnings press release, which can be found on the Investors section of our website.

Murphy USA 不承擔公開更新或修改任何前瞻性聲明的義務。在今天的電話會議中，我們也可能提供某些不符合公認會計原則或 GAAP 的績效指標。作為我們收益新聞稿的一部分，我們提供了時間表來協調這些非 GAAP 指標與 GAAP 基礎上的報告結果，您可以在我們網站的「投資者」部分找到該新聞稿。

With that, I will turn the call over to Andrew.

說完這些，我會把電話轉給安德魯。

Thank you, Christian, and good morning, everyone. We've always said the Murphy USA business model is somewhat inflation proof, recession resistant and relatively immune to other periods of consumer weakness. We can now add tariff resistance to our lexicon. Our business model has proven durable and resilient against a wide-ranging variety of challenges over the last 12 years as a public company, speaks to serving value-oriented customers, products that are largely nondiscretionary with an EDLP offer to a relatively simple but always evolving business model.

謝謝你，克里斯蒂安，大家早安。我們一直說，墨菲美國的商業模式具有一定的抗通膨和抗經濟衰退能力，相對不受其他消費疲軟時期的影響。我們現在可以將「關稅抵制」加入我們的詞彙中。作為一家上市公司，我們的商業模式在過去 12 年中已被證明能夠持久且有韌性地應對各種各樣的挑戰，致力於服務價值導向的客戶，透過 EDLP 提供基本上非自由支配的產品，實現相對簡單但不斷發展的商業模式。

Our focus on making the business better has allowed us to deliver results and value to shareholders in almost any environment. If there's one thing that has stood out over the past decade is that every quarter is just a little bit different. Like a saying, we had here in South Arkansas, if you don't like the weather right now, just wait a few minutes. Murphy USA's first quarter results reflect a number of factors that when distinctly broken out, provide a clear view of the core business and trends, especially when overlaid with a deep understanding of the underlying consumer behavior.

我們專注於改善業務，這使我們能夠在幾乎任何環境下為股東帶來成果和價值。如果說過去十年有一件事情特別突出，那就是每季都有一點不同。就像我們在南阿肯色州說過的一句話，如果你不喜歡現在的天氣，就等幾分鐘。Murphy USA 第一季的業績反映了多種因素，這些因素如果具體分解開來，可以清楚地展現核心業務和趨勢，尤其是在深入了解了潛在的消費者行為之後。

When we look back at any quarter and consider what is important for the next 12 months and beyond, we typically organize these factors under three headings: temporal factors that were one-off and are not expected to repeat in the next few years. Some of these are well known in advance and included in our annual plan.

當我們回顧任何一個季度並思考未來 12 個月及以後的重要事項時，我們通常會將這些因素歸結為三類：一次性的、預計在未來幾年不會重複出現的時間因素。其中一些是提前知道的，並包含在我們的年度計劃中。

Others, while not anticipated should not be a big surprise to investors, as they have already been widely discussed by other firms. Cyclical factors that fluctuate up and down due to various conditions were value drivers shift both to the positive and the negative for a period of time outside of balanced and stable equilibrium. And finally, and most importantly, structural factors, which tend to shift based on an industry's fundamental structure and each competitor's relative positioning and how that relative positioning is evolving.

其他一些因素雖然沒有預料到，但對投資者來說應該不會太意外，因為它們已經被其他公司廣泛討論過了。受各種條件影響而上下波動的週期性因素是價值驅動因素在一段時間內偏離平衡和穩定均衡點而發生正向和負向轉變。最後，最重要的是結構性因素，它往往會根據行業的基本結構和每個競爭對手的相對定位以及相對定位的演變方式而改變。

On today's call, I'd like to review Murphy USA's Q1 results under these headings and then overlay the results and trends with what we are seeing from our customers real time. I believe this will provide greater insights into what we believe remains a more enduring and resilient business and what was a relatively more challenging quarter.

在今天的電話會議上，我想回顧一下 Murphy USA 在這些標題下的 Q1 業績，然後將這些結果和趨勢與我們即時從客戶那裡看到的情況結合起來。我相信這將讓我們更深入地了解我們認為仍然更持久、更有彈性的業務以及相對更具挑戰性的季度。

So let's start with the fuel category and the temporal factors. The first two are calendar effects, which are always fully embedded in our plan. This quarter, it was not repeating leap year and not repeating Easter in March, which together had a 1.5% impact on same-store gallons, not planned, but clearly extreme and widely noted was the number location and magnitude of storms impacting same-store gallons by another 50 basis points as the number of store days closed almost doubled versus a year ago.

那麼讓我們從燃料類別和時間因素開始。前兩個是日曆效應，它們始終完全嵌入在我們的計劃中。本季度，三月既不是閏年，也不是復活節，因此對同店汽油銷量產生了 1.5% 的影響，雖然不是計劃內的，但顯然非常嚴重，而且人們普遍注意到，由於商店關門天數與去年同期相比幾乎翻了一番，影響同店汽油銷量的風暴數量、位置和強度又增加了 50 個基點。

While impactful in the moment, these temporal factors are less relevant as they pertain to the long-term performance potential of the business. And taken together, these temporal factors account for almost half of the Q1 same-store gallon decline of 4.2%. More cyclical in nature is the lower absolute price level in the quarter.

這些時間因素雖然在目前具有影響力，但它們與企業的長期績效潛力關係不大。綜合起來，這些時間因素幾乎佔了第一季同店加侖銷售量 4.2% 下降的一半。本季絕對價格水平較低，這更具週期性。

As we noted back in 2022, we see greater switching and share gains in high price periods, and we get some of that back when price levels subside and moved significantly lower as some subset of consumers trade off price for locational convenience. Retail prices over the past six months have averaged between $2.75 and $2.80 a gallon, down meaningfully from the past few years and at a level we haven't seen since the onset of COVID.

正如我們在 2022 年指出的那樣，在高價時期，我們看到了更大的轉換和份額增長，而當價格水平下降並大幅下降時，我們會收回部分損失，因為一部分消費者會為了地理位​​置的便利而犧牲價格。過去六個月的零售價格平均在每加侖 2.75 美元至 2.80 美元之間，與過去幾年相比大幅下降，並且達到了自 COVID 爆發以來從未見過的水平。

Fortunately, with our loyalty programs, we see greater stickiness than in similar comparable periods without the same capability. In the current low-price environment, we are seeing loyal customers come a little less, buy a little more even as overall volumes declined slightly due to some customer switching. Structurally, we believe return to office mandates a more sensible fuel economy regulations will enhance the longer-term outlook on fuel demand. That said, it is too early to pinpoint any benefit in the current quarter.

幸運的是，透過我們的忠誠度計劃，我們看到了比沒有相同能力的類似時期更高的黏性。在目前的低價環境下，我們發現忠實顧客的造訪次數有所減少，但購買量有所增加，儘管由於一些顧客的轉換，整體銷量略有下降。從結構上看，我們認為重返職場要求制定更合理的燃油經濟法規將增強燃料需求的長期前景。儘管如此，現在判斷本季是否會帶來任何好處還為時過早。

Turning to fuel margins. Retail margins were $0.02 per gallon higher in the first quarter versus the prior year. In part, these higher margins reflect a flatter price environment versus the prior year period for gasoline prices increased about $0.50 fairly steadily from January through March of 2024. As a result, margins were not compressed during the normal cycle of rising Q1 prices to the same extent. Also, retail margins were up about $0.045 in the Northeast region, reflecting a more stable competitive dynamic.

轉向燃料利潤。第一季零售利潤比去年同期高出每加侖 0.02 美元。在某種程度上，這些更高的利潤率反映了與去年同期相比更為平穩的價格環境，因為汽油價格從 2024 年 1 月到 3 月相當穩定地上漲了約 0.50 美元。因此，在第一季價格正常上漲的周期中，利潤率並沒有受到同等程度的壓縮。此外，東北地區的零售利潤率上漲了約 0.045 美元，反映出競爭態勢更加穩定。

Structurally, we believe the more enduring source of higher retail margins in Q1 reflects higher breakeven economics being passed through by retailers who are experiencing more significant volume declines, greater merchandise share losses and higher operating costs, requiring higher fuel margins to maintain profitability.

從結構上看，我們認為，第一季零售利潤率上升的更持久來源反映了零售商更高的盈虧平衡經濟效益，這些零售商正經歷著更顯著的銷量下降、更大的商品份額損失和更高的營運成本，需要更高的燃料利潤率來維持獲利能力。

Opus volume data points to the challenges these retailers continue to face. Additionally, we note that lower payment fees, which are typically passed through to customers in the retail price did not appear to impact Q1 industry pricing and margins further suggesting retailers continue to support structurally higher margins.

Opus 銷售數據顯示這些零售商持續面臨挑戰。此外，我們注意到，較低的支付費用（通常以零售價轉嫁給客戶）似乎並未影響第一季的行業定價和利潤率，這進一步表明零售商繼續支持結構性更高的利潤率。

Turning to the product supply margin net of RINs, we continue to operate in an oversupplied environment. masking the value and optionality of our supply chain assets and resulting in lower PS&W contribution year over year. As the cycle moves from short and tight in 2022 and 2023 to long and loose in 2024 and year to date, the long environment will likely keep PS&W performance compressed until the supply-demand balance returns to equilibrium.

談到扣除 RIN 後的產品供應利潤率，我們繼續在供應過剩的環境中運作。掩蓋了我們供應鏈資產的價值和可選性，導致 PS&W 貢獻逐年下降。隨著週期從 2022 年和 2023 年的短而緊轉變為 2024 年及今年迄今的長而寬鬆，長期環境可能會使 PS&W 性能保持壓縮狀態，直到供需平衡恢復平衡。

One of the benefits of the fuel product supply chain is that it does not stay out of equilibrium for long. Between recently announced refinery closures on the West Coast, the impact of tariffs on imported crude oil and products, we can expect the oversupplied environment to cycle back to a more balanced state in due course.

燃料產品供應鏈的優點之一是它不會長期處於失衡狀態。結合最近宣布的西海岸煉油廠關閉以及進口原油和成品油關稅的影響，我們可以預期，供應過剩的環境將在適當的時候恢復到更平衡的狀態。

Our plan calls for supply margins to normalize in the second half of 2025. Ultimately, the retail margin is the largest component of our fuel margin and our structural advantage continues to benefit our results. As we have noted before, our total fuel margin is primarily driven by structural factors, which accrue to Murphy's relative advantage. In the short term, temporal and cyclical factors can impact it both to the positive as we saw in 2022 and to the negative as in this Q1.

我們的計劃要求供應利潤率在 2025 年下半年恢復正常。最終，零售利潤是我們燃料利潤的最大組成部分，而我們的結構優勢繼續使我們的業績受益。正如我們之前所指出的，我們的總燃料利潤率主要受結構性因素驅動，這形成了墨菲的相對優勢。短期內，時間和週期性因素既可能對其產生積極影響（如我們在 2022 年看到的那樣），也可能產生消極影響（如今年第一季）。

Turning to inside the store. The same temporal factors had an impact on traffic, coupled with the 30 basis point headwind in merchandise sales attributable to not repeating a $1 billion jackpot that occurred in the first quarter of 2024. However, we did outperform in several store categories including candy, where sales were up 15% against the year-on-year comp that included the Easter holiday in Q1 in 2024.

轉向商店內部。同樣的時間因素也對客流量產生了影響，再加上由於未能重複 2024 年第一季出現的 10 億美元大獎，商品銷售遭遇了 30 個基點的逆風。不過，我們確實在包括糖果在內的幾個商店類別中表現出色，與包括 2024 年第一季復活節假期在內的同比銷售額相比，糖果銷售額增長了 15%。

Starting with our nicotine categories, we continue to gain share in cigarettes, smokeless and other nicotine products when compared to the market. When looking at first quarter results, it's extremely important to remember how much share we've taken since 2021 and how much we've outperformed the industry. Over the last four years, from 2021 through 2024, cigarette volume in the Murphy network has been about flat, while the market has lost roughly 20%. This translates to sales growth from manufacturer price increases of 11% over that same time period for Murphy versus industry sales declines of 9%.

從我們的尼古丁類別開始，與市場相比，我們在香菸、無菸和其他尼古丁產品的份額持續成長。在回顧第一季業績時，務必記住自 2021 年以來我們佔據了多少份額，以及我們的表現超越了行業多少。在過去四年中，從 2021 年到 2024 年，墨菲網路中的香菸銷量基本上持平，而市場卻損失了約 20%。這意味著，在同一時期內，製造商價格上漲導致墨菲的銷售額成長了 11%，而產業銷售額則下降了 9%。

Q1 year-over-year cigarette sales comps are slightly negative, reflecting the same temporal challenges we saw in fuels as well as some of the timing changes in the promotional cycle. That said, same-store sales is not the best metric to compare cigarette performance given that the category is so heavily promoted and supported by the manufacturers.

第一季捲菸銷售額較去年同期略有下降，反映了我們在燃料領域看到的相同的時間挑戰以及促銷週期中的一些時間變化。儘管如此，由於香菸類別受到製造商的大力推廣和支持，同店銷售額並不是比較香菸業績的最佳指標。

Our goal is to continue growing share profitably noting total nicotine contribution margin up -- was up a very healthy 2.8% on a same-store basis in the first quarter. On the non-combustible side of nicotine, we continue to see strong sales and margin contributions out of reduced risk products. Same-store sales were up over 7% for the quarter and same-store margin grew double digits -- same-store margin grew double digits, up 15%.

我們的目標是繼續提高獲利份額，注意到尼古丁總貢獻利潤率的上升——第一季同店銷售額成長了 2.8%，非常健康。在尼古丁的非可燃性方面，我們繼續看到低風險產品的強勁銷售和利潤貢獻。本季同店銷售額成長超過 7%，同店利潤率成長兩位數——同店利潤率成長兩位數，達到 15%。

We remain highly confident and incredibly excited about our ability to deliver differentiated results in the nicotine space going forward through our talented team of dedicated category specialists, ongoing investments in digital capabilities and the second half weighted promotional calendar.

我們仍然充滿信心，並且對我們透過我們優秀的專業類別專家團隊、對數位能力的持續投資以及下半年加權促銷日程表在尼古丁領域取得差異化成果的能力感到無比興奮。

We're also cautiously optimistic that ongoing industry advocacy will have an effect on providing regulatory clarity and enforcement around elicit vapor products. We're also taking share profitably in many of the center store categories, including packaged beverage, candy and general merchandise, where total sales were up high single digits against flat to declining Nielsen sales data in our footprint.

我們也謹慎樂觀地認為，持續的行業倡議將對提供有關引誘性蒸汽產品的監管清晰度和執行力產生影響。我們還在許多中心商店類別中獲得了盈利，包括包裝飲料、糖果和日用百貨，這些類別的總銷售額增長了高個位數，而尼爾森的銷售數據則持平或下降。

These gains reflect in part the structural advantage we have created through some of our new digital capabilities as well as strategic shifts in pricing and promotional effectiveness, leveraging many of the learnings and tactics from our differentiated nicotine capabilities and performance.

這些收益在一定程度上反映了我們透過一些新的數位能力以及定價和促銷效果的策略轉變所創造的結構性優勢，利用了我們從差異化的尼古丁能力和表現中獲得的許多經驗和策略。

Another bright spot in the quarter is the traction we are experiencing in Food and Beverage at QuickCheck, where menu innovation, the relaunch QuickCheck Rewards and targeted promotions is driving sandwich unit growth up 8% and increasing breakfast traffic. As a result, total food and beverage sales were up nearly 1% in the quarter. We still have work to do, and while tariffs and margins remain challenged as the Qs or value or cycle persists, we are really excited about our upcoming summer sales plan featuring innovative new products and more attractive bundled offers.

本季的另一個亮點是 QuickCheck 食品和飲料業務的成長勢頭，菜單創新、重新推出的 QuickCheck 獎勵計劃和有針對性的促銷活動推動三明治單位增長 8%，並增加了早餐流量。因此，本季食品和飲料總銷售額成長了近 1%。我們仍有工作要做，雖然隨著 Q 或價值或週期的持續，關稅和利潤率仍然面臨挑戰，但我們對即將到來的夏季銷售計劃感到非常興奮，該計劃將推出創新的新產品和更具吸引力的捆綁優惠。

We remain highly intentional with our investment in G&A, showing a $2 million benefit year over year. From an OpEx perspective, the addition of larger and more productive stores to our network, especially with a higher number of Q4 2024 and early Q1 openings is skewing per store expenses higher as communicated in our guidance.

我們仍然非常注重對 G&A 的投資，年復一年，收益達到 200 萬美元。從營運支出的角度來看，正如我們在指南中所傳達的那樣，在我們的網路中增加更大、更有效率的商店，特別是 2024 年第四季和第一季初開設的商店數量增加，導致每家商店的支出增加。

That said, we are performing better than our internal plan year to date. With record applicants easing inflation pressures, we are tightly controlling our labor hours and moderating planned wage adjustments accordingly. As a result, stores are operating closer to fully staffed levels providing better service to customers, favorably impacting shrink costs and reducing overtime hours. Despite all the noise in the press and changes in consumer sentiment in the soft data,

也就是說，今年迄今為止我們的表現比我們的內部計畫要好。由於創紀錄的申請人數緩解了通膨壓力，我們正在嚴格控制工時，並相應地調整計畫薪資調整。因此，商店的營運更接近滿員水平，為顧客提供更好的服務，對損耗成本產生有利影響，並減少加班時間。儘管媒體充斥著各種噪音，軟數據也顯示出消費者信心的變化，

One thing remains clear to us. The hard data is telling us that our customer is resilient and continues to seek value for Murphy USA. This hard data derived from nearly 50 million loyalty customer transactions just in the first quarter of this year speaks to a pressured yet durable Murphy USA customer. We continue to see more and more people seeking value and trading down into Murphy USA for their non-discretionary needs as evidenced by growing membership in our Murphy Drive Rewards and QuickCheck Rewards loyalty programs, up 11% and 30%, respectively, in the first quarter.

有一件事我們很清楚。硬數據告訴我們，我們的客戶具有韌性，並將繼續為 Murphy USA 尋求價值。光是今年第一季度，從近 5,000 萬忠誠客戶交易中獲得的硬數據就可以看出 Murphy USA 的客戶雖然壓力很大，但卻很忠誠。我們持續看到越來越多的人尋求價值，並選擇 Murphy USA 來滿足他們的非必需消費需求，這一點從我們 Murphy Drive Rewards 和 QuickCheck Rewards 忠誠度計劃的會員人數不斷增長就可以看出，第一季度分別增長了 11% 和 30%。

Interestingly, we are seeing growth in the middle to high-income customers, defined as over $55,000 and $100,000 in reported income, respectively, as a percent of total customers. This has gone from just under 40% at program launch to almost half the current membership base, meaning more and more customer segments are becoming value seeking.

有趣的是，我們看到中高收入客戶（分別定義為報告收入超過 55,000 美元和 100,000 美元）佔總客戶的百分比正在成長。這一比例已從計劃啟動時的不到 40% 上升至目前的近一半會員基礎，這意味著越來越多的客戶群開始尋求價值。

As noted earlier, loyal customers come a little bit less often as their fill rate increases due to lower prices, but by a little bit more each trip in terms of gallons and in the store with their savings even as overall volumes declined slightly due to the modest level of switching for convenience. Last, on the consumer, we are seeing purchase behavior remain fairly static across income cohorts, meaning we are not seeing any incremental weakness from our lower-income consumer. This is especially important as we compare the headlines with the hard data.

如前所述，由於價格降低，忠誠顧客的加油頻率提高了，但加油量卻減少了，儘管為了方便而適度轉換，總體加油量略有下降，但忠誠顧客每次加油的加侖數和在店內節省的錢卻增加了。最後，就消費者而言，我們看到不同收入群體的購買行為仍然相當穩定，這意味著我們沒有看到低收入消費者出現任何漸進式疲軟。當我們將標題與硬數據進行比較時，這一點尤其重要。

Lower income earners are still spending that they remain nimble with their decisions and choices, focusing on their fundamental daily needs where they balance inflation in other areas of their household budget with the largely non-discretionary products, they rely on Murphy to deliver at the lowest prices. We continue to focus on these customers with targeted offers and promotions, which did drive higher pump to store conversion despite the fewer trips.

低收入者仍然在消費，他們保持靈活的決策和選擇，專注於他們的基本日常需求，他們平衡家庭預算其他領域的通貨膨脹與大部分非自由支配的產品，他們依靠墨菲以最低的價格提供服務。我們繼續關注這些客戶，為他們提供有針對性的優惠和促銷，儘管加油次數減少，但確實提高了加油站到商店的轉換率。

I'll now turn it over to Galagher to provide some details on our capital spending and recent balance sheet activity.

現在我將把話題轉到加拉格爾，讓他提供有關我們的資本支出和近期資產負債表活動的一些詳細資訊。

Hello, everyone, and thank you, Andrew. In addition to the performance areas Andrew covered, there are several more actions taken in Q1 that are better positioning the company for the future. First, starting with store growth. We added eight new stores to the Murphy network in the first quarter. And with 18 new stores and 20 raise and rebuilds currently underway, construction activity remains robust.

大家好，謝謝你，安德魯。除了安德魯提到的績效領域之外，該公司在第一季還採取了其他一些行動，為公司的未來做好了更好的定位。首先，從門市成長開始。我們在第一季為墨菲網絡增加了 8 家新店。目前，已有 18 家新店和 20 家商店正在建設中，建築活動仍然強勁。

Our new stores continue to perform well. With our 2022 and 2023 build classes outperforming the fleet average by nearly 20% in gallons and nearly 40% in merchandising margin while producing EBITDA 18% higher than the chain on a per store basis in Q1. These new stores are driving value and winning new customers, which is why we're aggressively working on our new store pipeline to deliver more high-quality stores in 2025 and 2026.

我們的新店繼續表現良好。我們的 2022 年和 2023 年建造車型的表現比車隊平均高出近 20%（加侖數），商品銷售利潤率高出近 40%，同時第一季每家門市的 EBITDA 比連鎖店高出 18%。這些新店正在提升價值並贏得新客戶，這就是我們積極建立新店通路以在 2025 年和 2026 年推出更多優質門市的原因。

Second, it has been over four years since we put into place our current capital structure. And both the company and our resulting EBITDA have grown significantly over that time. So in early April, we increased our revolving credit facility from $350 million to $750 million and upsized our term loan from March 31 balance of $386 million to $600 million.

第二，我們建立目前的資本結構已經四年多了。在此期間，公司和我們的 EBITDA 都實現了大幅成長。因此，在 4 月初，我們將循環信貸額度從 3.5 億美元增加到 7.5 億美元，並將定期貸款餘額從 3 月 31 日的 3.86 億美元增加到 6 億美元。

Our objective in this is to manage our balance sheet to ensure we have flexibility to execute our long-term strategy in any environment, maintain low leverage while also lowering our fees and carrying costs. Despite a tumultuous time in equity and debt markets, demand for Murphy USA credit was extremely strong throughout the process, and we are very happy with the outcome of the refinancing. Both offers were oversubscribed and Murphy received tighter spreads and a favorable fee structure, undertaking both of these actions at the same time.

我們的目標是管理我們的資產負債表，以確保我們能夠靈活地在任何環境下執行我們的長期策略，保持低槓桿率，同時降低我們的費用和持有成本。儘管股票和債務市場動盪不安，但整個過程中對 Murphy USA 信貸的需求仍然非常強勁，我們對再融資的結果非常滿意。兩項報價均獲得超額認購，墨菲同時採取了這兩項行動，獲得了更小的價差和更優惠的費用結構。

With these additions, our debt-to-EBITDA ratio remains at 2.0 and is comfortably within our target range. Third, I want to run through some additional financial highlights. Cash flow from operations was $129 million in Q1, with total cash capital expenditure of $88 million, primarily for new store construction, resulting in free cash flow of $41 million. Additionally, we repurchased 321,000 shares for $151 million and paid $9.8 million in dividends in Q1.

加上這些附加價值，我們的債務與 EBITDA 比率仍保持在 2.0，並且在我們的目標範圍內。第三，我想介紹一些額外的財務亮點。第一季經營活動現金流為 1.29 億美元，總現金資本支出為 8,800 萬美元，主要用於新店建設，產生 4,100 萬美元的自由現金流。此外，我們在第一季以 1.51 億美元回購了 321,000 股，並支付了 980 萬美元的股息。

Lastly, I did want to point out the first quarter effective income tax rate was 14.1% compared to 19.4% in Q1 of 2024. The rate for the quarter is lower due to recognition of energy tax credits and tax benefits related to share-based compensation. We do expect our all-in tax to remain within our guided range of 23% to 25% going forward.

最後，我想指出的是，第一季的有效所得稅率為 14.1%，而 2024 年第一季的有效所得稅率為 19.4%。由於確認了能源稅收抵免和與股權激勵相關的稅收優惠，本季的稅率較低。我們確實預計，未來我們的全額稅率將保持在 23% 至 25% 的指導範圍內。

With that, I'll turn it back over to Andrew.

說完這些，我會把話題還給安德魯。

Thank you, Galagher. Let me close out with some comments on performance since March 31. In April, per-store fuel volumes approximated 100% of prior year levels as traffic patterns normalize and weather has played less of a factor. In the first week of May, although it's still early, we are seeing volumes trend about 1% to 2% higher than the prior year.

謝謝你，加拉格爾。最後，我想就 3 月 31 日以來的表現發表一些評論。由於交通狀況恢復正常且天氣因素的影響減弱，4 月每家門市的燃油消耗量接近去年同期水準的 100%。五月的第一周，雖然還為時過早，但我們看到交易量比去年同期高出約 1% 至 2%。

Retail margins in April were a little over $0.28 per gallon or about $0.03 higher than April last year. And May retail-only margins are also averaging about $0.28. We expect April merchandise results to look more like the first quarter while strengthening throughout the second quarter and into the second half with the promotional cycle.

四月零售利潤略高於每加侖 0.28 美元，比去年四月高出約 0.03 美元。五月零售利潤率平均也約為 0.28 美元。我們預計 4 月份商品銷售業績將與第一季更加相似，同時隨著促銷週期的推移，第二季和下半年的銷售業績將更加強勁。

Before we open up the call to questions, I just want to emphasize that our business remains resilient and well positioned to outperform in a variety of environments over time. I think it's just as important to point out what we didn't say on this call that so many other firms are rightly concerned about. We're not pulling our second half guidance due to tariffs or supply chain uncertainty. We're not seeing the increased risk around consumer weakness or demand uncertainty. And we're not seeing other forms of inflation impacting our business.

在我們開始提問之前，我只想強調一下，我們的業務仍然具有彈性，並且能夠在各種環境中長期保持優異的表現。我認為，同樣重要的是要指出我們在這次電話會議上沒有提到的是許多其他公司所擔心的問題。我們不會因為關稅或供應鏈的不確定性而撤回下半年的預期。我們並未看到消費者疲軟或需求不確定性帶來的風險增加。我們並沒有看到其他形式的通貨膨脹影響我們的業務。

And that is because our EDLP model, coupled with our low-cost position is a powerful combination to appeal to an ever-growing pool of value-seeking customers. Things will move up and down in the short term, but our focus remains on making the business better over the long term, and we are pulling all the right levers with investments in both store productivity and growth through new stores, raise and rebuilds and remodeling activity, coupled with meaningful share buyback that we think will richly reward long-term investors.

這是因為我們的 EDLP 模式與我們的低成本地位相結合，形成了強大的組合，可以吸引越來越多追求價值的客戶。短期內情況會有起伏，但我們的重點仍然是長期改善業務，我們正在利用所有正確的槓桿，透過新店投資於門市生產力和成長，提升和重建和改造活動，再加上有意義的股票回購，我們認為這將為長期投資者帶來豐厚的回報。

So with that commentary, I'll turn the call back to the operator, and we'll open up the call for questions.

因此，聽完這篇評論後，我會將電話轉回給接線員，然後我們就可以開始回答問題了。

(Operator Instructions) Anthony Bonadio, Wells Fargo.

（操作員指示）安東尼·博納迪奧，富國銀行。

So I wanted to start with inside sales. Can you just help us better understand trends there? I know you flagged the 200 bps from temporal factors. But can you talk more about the level of improvement you saw in periods where those factors eased how much of a benefit you think Easter might be to Q2? And to the extent you're still seeing fundamental underlying weakness, the different factors driving that?

所以我想從內部銷售開始。您能幫助我們更了解那裡的趨勢嗎？我知道您從時間因素中標記了 200 個基點。但是，您能否詳細談談在這些因素緩解的時期您所看到的改善程度，您認為復活節對第二季度有多大的好處？在您看來，根本性的潛在弱點仍然存在，有哪些不同的因素導致了這種弱點？

Sure. Thank you. Look, I think when you look at the non-nicotine categories, the performance we saw in Q4 and again in Q1, really speaks to the capabilities that we've put in place around digital pricing, promotional effectiveness, et cetera. And certainly, the customer has a little bit more to spend inside the store and so we're seeing that despite the reduction in trips due to the average fill rate going up.

當然。謝謝。看，我認為當你查看非尼古丁類別時，我們在第四季度和第一季度看到的表現確實說明了我們在數位定價、促銷效果等方面所具備的能力。當然，顧客在店內消費的金額會增加一點，因此我們看到，儘管顧客光顧的次數減少了，但平均填充率卻上升了。

On the nicotine side, very impressive results on the noncombustible products as we continue to see customers engage in those products. And because of our large share of combustible products, we just hold a larger share of consumers that are starting to try those products and adopt those products.

在尼古丁方面，我們繼續看到客戶使用這些不燃產品，並且取得了非常令人印象深刻的成果。由於我們的可燃產品佔有很大的份額，因此我們擁有更多的消費者開始嘗試和採用這些產品。

On the combustible products, the promotional cycle, as we noted, was lighter in Q1 versus a year ago, and we would expect that to pick up in the second half of the year. So unlike where we stood last year, Anthony, at the end of Q1 with concerns about the guidance for the remainder of the year, we're not in that situation this year.

對於可燃產品，正如我們所指出的，第一季的促銷週期與去年同期相比較輕，我們預計下半年這一情況將會好轉。因此，安東尼，與去年第一季末我們對今年剩餘時間的業績預期感到擔憂的情況不同，今年我們不會再遇到這種情況。

Got it. And then just -- maybe just an update on retail margins. Can you just talk a little bit more about breakeven, what you think the marginal operator is seeing right now versus last year? And whether there's been any change competitively? Or is it still fair to say industry participants are behaving in a rational way?

知道了。然後——也許只是關於零售利潤的更新。您能否再多談一下損益平衡點，您認為目前邊際業者的獲利情況與去年相比如何？競爭力是否有所改變？或者說產業參與者的行為是理性的，這樣說是否公平？

Yes. So as I noted, the retail-only margins in April were $0.28 a gallon. It's largely what we've seen in May as well. Look, in terms of the marginal retailer, they're not in a position to claw back gallons. They're not in a position to call back tobacco market share. They're facing the same type of cost headwinds that anyone is.

是的。正如我所指出的，4 月份零售利潤為每加侖 0.28 美元。這基本上也是我們在五月看到的情況。瞧，就邊際零售商而言，他們沒有能力拿回加侖數。他們沒有能力奪回菸草市場份額。他們和其他人一樣面臨同樣的成本阻力。

So this debate about whether their outlook significantly improves that puts a dent into the structural increase in margins that we've seen, I think most people have gotten their heads around the fact that, that structural advantage margin is here to stay, it's likely to continue to increase over time. And I think you can just look to the commentary from a number of folks and what we see in some of the Opus data as well is that they continue to trade off volume for margin to be able to meet their profit needs.

因此，關於他們的前景是否顯著改善，是否會對我們所看到的利潤率的結構性增長產生影響的爭論，我認為大多數人已經意識到這樣一個事實，即結構性優勢利潤率將會持續存在，並且可能會隨著時間的推移而繼續增加。我認為您可以看看許多人的評論，我們在一些 Opus 數據中也看到，他們繼續以數量換取利潤，以滿足他們的利潤需求。

Corey Tarlowe, Jefferies.

科里‧塔洛 (Corey Tarlowe)，傑富瑞 (Jefferies)。

Great. Andrew, you provided some interesting color around what you're seeing in your hard data specifically as it relates to growth in middle and high-income customers as a percentage of the total. Could you speak a little bit more about what you think is driving that and what that means for your business going forward?

偉大的。安德魯，您對您在硬數據中看到的內容提供了一些有趣的解釋，特別是關於中等收入和高收入客戶佔總數的百分比的增長。您能否進一步談談您認為推動這一趨勢的因素以及這對您未來的業務意味著什麼？

Yes. So look, when we launched Murphy Drive Rewards at the end of 2019, you could imagine that we had a large customer base of value-seeking customers. And the first ones to glom onto this loyalty program where those making less than $55,000 a year. What we've seen -- but there are still plenty of folks that were coming to our stores and often on a trip to Walmart making between 55 and 100 or over 100,000. But they represented only about 40% of the consumers.

是的。所以，當我們在 2019 年底推出 Murphy Drive Rewards 時，你可以想像我們擁有龐大的追求價值的客戶群。第一個加入這個忠誠度計畫的人是那些年收入低於 55,000 美元的人。我們看到的是——但仍有許多人來到我們的商店，並且經常去沃爾瑪購物，消費金額在 55 到 100 美元之間，甚至超過 100,000 美元。但他們僅佔消費者的40%左右。

That mix has been increasing about 1% a year even as the program grows. And so I think our view is, look, more and more people are living paycheck to paycheck. The data we get from PayActiv, one of our providers has shown us that from about that time, people -- about 50% are living paycheck to paycheck, that number is over 60% Certainly, Walmart is seeing more higher income consumers in their mix as well. And while not a direct shadow of their customer, it's pretty close.

隨著專案的發展，這一比例每年也成長約 1%。所以我認為我們的觀點是，看，越來越多的人靠薪水過活。我們從供應商之一 PayActiv 獲得的數據顯示，從那時起，大約有 50% 的人靠薪水過活，現在這個數字超過了 60%。當然，沃爾瑪也看到他們的客戶群中出現了越來越多的高收入消費者。雖然它不是客戶的直接影子，但已經很接近了。

And so I just think we're seeing more and more consumers across segments recognizing the need for value in the current environment. And so that's generally what we're seeing. I think importantly, though, is the behavior across our lower middle and higher income consumers is roughly the same in terms of their movement. So the notion that our lower income consumer is weaker, they're behaving the same. Positively though, the higher income consumer purchases more gallons from us every month and also purchases more inside the store as they trade down to Murphy USA as a retailer.

因此，我認為我們看到越來越多的各個領域的消費者認識到當前環境下價值的必要性。這就是我們所看到的大致情況。但我認為重要的是，就流動情況而言，中低收入和高收入消費者的行為大致相同。因此，我們的低收入消費者較弱，他們的行為是一樣的。但積極的一面是，收入較高的消費者每月從我們這裡購買的加侖數更多，而且隨著他們轉向零售商 Murphy USA，在店內購買的加侖數也更多。

That's very helpful. And just to follow up on that last comment about in-store sales. You had mentioned in your prepared remarks that food and beverages are performing quite well. I think QuickCheck has sandwich units up about high single digits. I think it was 8%, was the number that you cited.

這非常有幫助。我只是想跟進一下關於店內銷售的最後一條評論。您在準備好的演講中提到，食品和飲料的表現相當不錯。我認為 QuickCheck 的夾層單元數量大約是個位數。我認為是 8%，這是您引用的數字。

How would you describe the overall momentum that you've seen in in-store sales? How do you expect that trajectory to change throughout the course of the year? And then I did just want to ask about the recent volatility that we've seen in the fuel price. How would you characterize that volatility in terms of pricing action that we've seen versus history and the associated impact on margin?

您如何描述店內銷售的整體動能？您預計這一軌跡在全年將如何變化？然後我確實想問一下最近我們看到的燃油價格波動的情況。就我們所見的定價行為與歷史相比的波動性以及對保證金的相關影響而言，您如何描述這種波動性？

Sure. So let's start with QuickCheck. I mean there are a number of investments we've made up there that are now kind of, if you will, stacking on top of each other. Some of the digital capabilities that we put in place around demand forecasting and production planning, it led to higher sales and margins. The barbell strategy approach that we took around our sandwiches with the value on certain six-inch subs along with the premium sub lineup that now makes up over 16% of our sandwiches is helping on both units, sales dollars and margins.

當然。那麼就讓我們從 QuickCheck 開始。我的意思是，我們在那裡進行了許多投資，如果你願意的話，這些投資現在可以說是相互疊加的。我們在需求預測和生產計劃方面實施的一些數位化能力帶來了更高的銷售額和利潤率。我們在三明治產品中採取了槓鈴策略，特別注重某些六英寸潛艇堡的價值，以及目前占我們三明治 16% 以上的優質潛艇堡產品線，這對銷量、銷售額和利潤率都有幫助。

The relaunch of QuickCheck Rewards, where we're up 30% on membership year over year is adding to that. So I think there's a number of factors there that continue to have momentum, and they'll be cycling every quarter for the remainder of this year. I think one of the big unknowns is what is the broader promotional intensity look like across the industry. And as we've signaled before, our current plan assumes that it remains fairly competitive throughout the rest of the year if that subsides earlier that could be a positive tailwind for us as well.

QuickCheck Rewards 的重新推出進一步促進了這一增長，我們的會員數量同比增長了 30%。因此，我認為有許多因素將繼續保持勢頭，並且在今年剩餘時間內，它們將每個季度循環往復。我認為最大的未知數之一是整個行業的更廣泛的促銷強度是什麼樣的。正如我們之前所暗示的那樣，我們目前的計劃假設它在今年剩餘時間內仍保持相當的競爭力，如果這種競爭力提前消退，這對我們來說也可能是一個積極的順風。

In terms of fuel volatility, we like volatility. I mean we do better and earn more when prices run up and then fall sharply and what we've seen in terms of competitive behavior is when prices run up, our margin doesn't get compressed as much on the way up. So we hold more volume on the way up. So we would prefer an environment that has greater levels of price volatility versus lower levels of volatility.

就燃料波動性而言，我們喜歡波動性。我的意思是，當價格上漲然後急劇下跌時，我們的業績會更好，利潤也會更高，而就競爭行為而言，我們看到當價格上漲時，我們的利潤率並不會受到太大的壓縮。因此，我們在上漲過程中保持更大的成交量。因此，我們更喜歡價格波動性較大的環境，而不是波動性較小的環境。

Bonnie Herzog, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的邦妮·赫爾佐格。

All right. Andrew, I actually wanted to ask you about the environment. And I guess the cycle we're in right now as well as the risk there might be to continued EBITDA pressures despite the still elevated fuel margins. I recognize Q1 is a smaller quarter, but your EBITDA seems to be reverting to pre-COVID levels as it's now below the elevated EBITDA you generated in Q1 of 2020. So hoping you could help us understand your ability to, I guess, retain EBITDA dollars, in fact, fuel margins don't move higher for the rest of the year? And then I guess what other levers do you have to pull to maybe offset that?

好的。安德魯，我實際上想問你有關環境的問題。我認為，儘管燃料利潤率仍然較高，但我們目前所處的周期以及 EBITDA 壓力可能持續存在的風險。我知道第一季的營收規模較小，但您的 EBITDA 似乎正在恢復到疫情之前的水平，因為它現在低於您在 2020 年第一季產生的較高 EBITDA。所以希望您能幫助我們了解您保留 EBITDA 美元的能力，事實上，燃料利潤率在今年剩餘時間內不會走高？然後我想你還需要採取什麼其他措施來抵銷這項影響呢？

Yes. So just remember, in Q1 of 2020, there was a pretty incredible March, if we recall, from a large margin standpoint. Look, this is -- if you look at 2022 and the outsized fuel margins from the volatility in Q3 and some of the halo effect on that in 2023, we talked very clearly that the product supply environment during that period was at least a $0.02 benefit on the upside, right?

是的。所以請記住，如果我們還記得的話，從大幅度利潤的角度來看，2020 年第一季的 3 月表現相當出色。看，這是——如果你看看 2022 年和第三季度波動帶來的超額燃料利潤率，以及 2023 年的一些光環效應，我們非常清楚地說過，那段時期的產品供應環境至少有 0.02 美元的上行收益，對吧？

And then we spoke in this call and last year, how the product supply component was a little bit more of a headwind. And a lot of that's just fundamentally moving from a very short, tight, volatile market where our supply assets provide a real distinct value, not just in terms of ratability, flexibility, security of supply, but also just an advantaged supply margin from a contribution standpoint.

我們在這次電話會議和去年的會議上都談到，產品供應部分是如何成為一種阻力的。其中許多只是從根本上從一個非常短暫、緊張、動蕩的市場轉變而來，在這個市場中，我們的供應資產提供了真正獨特的價值，不僅在可評估性、靈活性、供應安全性方面，而且從貢獻的角度來看，也具有優勢的供應利潤率。

When that cycle gets longer and looser, there's just more product out there. We see more discounting at the rack. And so the spot-to-rack margin net of RINs is less. And so it's down about $0.01 or so. And that plus or minus $0.01 or $0.02 is honestly the biggest driver from the fuel contribution standpoint.

當這個週期變得更長、更寬鬆時，就會有更多的產品出現。我們看到貨架上的折扣越來越多。因此，RIN 的現貨到貨架淨利潤較少。因此它下降了約 0.01 美元左右。從燃料貢獻的角度來看，正負 0.01 美元或 0.02 美元確實是最大的驅動力。

If you go back and look at the structural margin, the retail component of it, that continues to grow. And so what I would say is we've got a lot of transparency in this industry around retail margins. You can see them structurally growing from pre-COVID 2019 throughout the COVID volatility period 2023, 2024 and 2025. And those are steadily moving up, and there's frankly, nothing that we see that would cause those to revert because of the fundamental industry structure kind of dictated by the marginal players.

如果你回頭看看結構性利潤，其中的零售部分還在持續成長。所以我想說的是，我們這個行業的零售利潤率非常透明。您可以看到它們從 2019 年新冠疫情之前開始，在整個 2023 年、2024 年和 2025 年新冠疫情波動期間呈現結構性增長。這些都在穩步上升，坦白說，由於邊緣參與者決定了基本的行業結構，我們沒有看到任何會導致它們倒退的跡象。

Cyclically, we will see the product supply margin work to our advantage up $0.01 or $0.02 in really short tight markets and work to our disadvantage, right, in a very long and loose environment. But all we had to do is remember those few times when a backhoe stopped product on Colonial Pipeline. And we had product in almost 100 terminals and that was our inventory and everyone else got caught up, that advantage over the long term is going to be a strong benefit.

從週期性來看，我們會看到，在非常短暫而緊張的市場中，產品供應利潤率上漲 0.01 美元或 0.02 美元對我們有利，而在非常漫長而寬鬆的環境中，產品供應利潤率則對我們不利。但我們要做的只是記住幾次挖土機在殖民地管道上停止產品輸送的情況。我們的產品分佈在近 100 個終端，這就是我們的庫存，其他所有人都跟上了，從長遠來看，這一優勢將成為巨大的利益。

So I would say we, as a company, certainly the largest buyers of our shares every year look more at that long-term structural dynamic, recognizing there's going to be some cyclical factors that move up and down $0.01 or $0.02 from the norm as well as some temporal factors that are built into our plans, and I'm assuming built in your models as well.

因此我想說，作為一家公司，我們股票每年最大的買家肯定會更加關注長期的結構性動態，認識到會有一些週期性因素導致股價在正常水平上下波動 0.01 美元或 0.02 美元，以及一些內建在我們計劃中的時間因素，我假設也內建在你們的模型中。

Yes, I know it's difficult.

是的，我知道這很難。

Really quickly, I was just going to add, in addition to what Andrew mentioned of operating in our environment, we are doing a lot of other things to drive EBITDA. Obviously, we're confident in our new stores. and we're accelerating the new stores. The initiatives we're doing inside the store, both for the loyalty programs, targeted promotions. We'll see traction. We'll continue to grow margin there. And then finally, expense management. We manage expenses well. We're going to continue to grow the top line while managing expenses tightly, which will also add to the fuel contribution that we're going to see going forward.

真的很快，我只是想補充一下，除了安德魯提到的在我們的環境中運作之外，我們還在做很多其他事情來推動 EBITDA。顯然，我們對我們的新店充滿信心。我們正在加速開設新店。我們在店內實施的措施包括忠誠度計劃和有針對性的促銷活動。我們將會看到牽引力。我們將繼續增加那裡的利潤。最後是費用管理。我們很好地管理了開支。我們將繼續增加營業收入，同時嚴格管理開支，這也將增加我們未來看到的燃料貢獻。

Okay. That's all super helpful. I appreciate it. If I may just ask a second question on the pressure that you're seeing on traffic, which you highlighted. And I honestly don't think it coming as a big surprise given the environment. So maybe hoping to hear a little bit more color on how traffic trended maybe monthly through the quarter. And changes you're seeing in consumer behavior, especially considering the pressures you saw in your business across the board. And I'm curious to hear more color on what you might be doing maybe to even sharpen your value proposition further, ultimately to drive faster traffic and same-store sales growth.

好的。這一切都非常有幫助。我很感激。我可以問第二個問題，關於您所強調的交通壓力。說實話，考慮到當時的環境，我並不認為這會是太大的意外。因此，也許希望能聽到更多關於本季每月流量趨勢的詳細資訊。您也看到了消費者行為的變化，尤其是考慮到您在整個業務中看到的壓力。我很好奇想聽聽你們正在做什麼，也許可以進一步提升你們的價值主張，最終推動更快的客流量和同店銷售成長。

Sure. Bonnie, I wish there was a nice steady trend line that we could say, here was January trending, February trending, March trending. There were some episodic events. And we talked about the metric store days closed, the number of days we had stores closed due to weather. And it just provided, what I would call just kind of a discontinuity in the trend lines. And unlike hurricanes where we see a lot of stocking up for these storms, we didn't see some of that same behavior.

當然。邦妮，我希望有一條穩定的趨勢線，我們可以說，這是一月份的趨勢、二月的趨勢、三月的趨勢。有一些偶發事件。我們討論了商店關閉天數，即由於天氣原因商店關閉的天數。它只是提供了我所說的趨勢線的一種不連續性。與颶風不同，我們看到大量的儲備來應對這些風暴，但我們沒有看到同樣的行為。

One thing we will note is that when we look at kind of our pricing relative to kind of top of the market, we were a little more aggressive in the quarter in the lower price environment and yet still earned retail margins $0.02 higher, right? And so that is one of the things that we'll continue to do is put value on the street for the consumer in the form of our street price to be able to maintain that level of traffic. On the tobacco side, as we noted, expect more promotional activity in the second half versus what we saw in Q1.

我們要注意到的一件事是，當我們查看相對於市場最高價的定價時，我們會發現，在價格較低的環境下，我們在本季度採取了更積極的態度，但零售利潤率仍然高出 0.02 美元，對嗎？因此，我們將繼續做的事情之一就是以街道價格的形式為消費者提供街道價值，以便能夠維持這種流量水準。在菸草方面，正如我們所指出的，預計下半年的促銷活動將比第一季更多。

Pooran Sharma, Stephens.

普蘭夏爾馬，史蒂芬斯。

Just wanted to ask about store build. I know in the past, we've talked about getting that kind of at a more even pace for the year, given you've historically had it more back-end loaded given the commentary, we've had eight new so far, but just wanted to get a sense I know you have 18 under construction, but I wanted to get a sense if you think you're going to see a little bit more even pace build this year as opposed to last year.

只是想詢問有關商店建設的問題。我知道在過去，我們曾討論過在今年以更均勻的速度實現這一目標，鑑於你們歷史上在後端加載的更多，根據評論，到目前為止我們已經有 8 個新項目，但我只是想了解一下，我知道你們有 18 個正在建設中，但我想知道你是否認為今年的建設速度會比去年更均勻一些。

I would say with the Q1 of eight, some of those also kind of reflect the carryover from last year. We're still going to be significantly second half weighted. I think the goal is for next year to have the more -- much more ratable and continue with some of the processes we've put in place under new leadership, a more ratable plan. But I think the reality is we will be more second half weighted again this year.

我想說，在八個季度中的第一季度，其中一些也反映了去年的延續。我們仍將高度重視下半年。我認為明年的目標是製定更可評估的計劃，並繼續推行我們在新領導下實施的一些流程，制定一個更可評估的計劃。但我認為現實情況是，今年我們將更加重視下半年。

Okay. I just wanted to ask about kind of the consumer behavior trends too. I know you mentioned you're seeing stable behavior among the lower income cohorts. And I wanted to ask about your confidence in your ability to lean in on promotional spend kind of in the back half? I know you said it already with nicotine, but just overall, I would like to get your thoughts on that.

好的。我也想問消費者行為趨勢。我知道您曾提到您看到低收入群體的行為比較穩定。我想問一下，您對在後半段依靠促銷支出的能力是否有信心？我知道您已經談到了尼古丁，但總的來說，我想聽聽您對此的看法。

Well, I think certainly, across categories, the effectiveness is working. I mean if you look at Candy, for example, up 15%, that's a -- not only a benefit to us and the consumers, but the manufacturers as well. So promotional effectiveness has to be a win-win for all parties. So to the extent we can be the most effective deliverer of that resource for the consumer-packaged goods companies, we have confidence that they will want to continue to invest sometimes differentially with us.

嗯，我認為，無論何種類別，其效果都是肯定的。我的意思是，如果你看看糖果，例如，上漲了 15%，這不僅對我們和消費者有利，對製造商也有利。因此促銷效果必須是各方共贏的。因此，只要我們能夠成為消費品公司最有效的資源提供者，我們就有信心，他們會願意繼續與我們進行有時差異化的投資。

And that's the basis of the confidence. It's a win-win-win for all the parties.

這就是信心的基礎。這對各方而言都是一個三贏的局面。

One quick thing to add to that. As we've mentioned in prior calls, our ability to get specific with unique customer offers has changed over the last 12 months. So now we can target individuals versus broader promotions, measure that impact and then lean in more where it works. So both on the QuickCheck side and across the Murphy stores, we're seeing a lot of targeted promotions that are paying off, and that drives margin for us without the broader based discounting. So it's early for some of that, especially QuickCheck, but we're seeing good, targeted promotions that are paying off.

還有一件事要補充。正如我們在之前的電話會議中提到的那樣，在過去的 12 個月中，我們向客戶提供獨特優惠的能力已經發生了變化。因此，現在我們可以針對個人而不是更廣泛的促銷活動，衡量其影響，然後在其發揮作用的地方更多地關注它。因此，無論是在 QuickCheck 還是在 Murphy 商店，我們都看到許多有針對性的促銷活動正在產生效果，這為我們帶來了利潤，而無需進行更廣泛的折扣。因此，對於其中一些產品來說，現在還為時過早，尤其是 QuickCheck，但我們看到，有針對性的促銷活動正在產生回報。

And one last point. We continue to see innovation in some of the categories as well. And so when manufacturers introducing a new product, that's where we often see some of the most aggressive promotional activity. And if it's in the nicotine space, we're going to be advantaged significantly there as well due to our promotional effectiveness upselling in our large installed base.

最後一點。我們也繼續看到某些類別的創新。因此，當製造商推出新產品時，我們常常會看到一些最積極的促銷活動。如果是在尼古丁領域，由於我們在龐大的安裝基礎上具有促銷效果，我們也將獲得顯著優勢。

Brad Thomas, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

KeyBanc 資本市場公司的 Brad Thomas。

I wanted to start just asking about operating expenses, and I'm wondering if you can give a little bit of color around what you're seeing in terms of running the stores and how you're thinking about that moving through the year given the ramp in store openings?

我想先詢問一下營運費用，我想知道您是否可以稍微介紹一下您在經營商店方面的情況，以及考慮到商店開業數量的增加，您對全年營運費用有何看法？

Great. First thing I'd say is we're seeing a record number of applications from staff positions at the store. I mean it's almost 2x versus where it was last year and that had already exceeded kind of pre-COVID levels on a per store basis. So really feel good about that -- stores that were previously at risk from not having a full complement of staff or had reduced opening hours has largely subsided. This is having an impact both on the wage rate as well as over time.

偉大的。首先我想說的是，我們看到商店員工職位的申請人數創下了歷史新高。我的意思是，與去年相比，這幾乎增長了 2 倍，並且按每家商店計算，已經超過了疫情之前的水平。所以真的感覺很好——以前因人手不足或營業時間縮短而面臨風險的商店已經基本減少。這不僅對工資率產生了影響，而且會持續產生影響。

And that's having a corresponding result in categories like shrink, where we're seeing benefits there. We are seeing some slightly higher maintenance costs, but we have some initiatives underway that we expect to bring those costs down in the second half of the year. But as Galagher says, we remain extremely diligent on our operating expenses.

這在收縮等類別中也產生了相應的結果，我們看到了其中的好處。我們發現維護成本略有上升，但我們正在採取一些舉措，預計這些成本將在下半年下降。但正如加拉格爾所說，我們對營運費用仍然非常謹慎。

One thing that we don't break out separately, but in this lower price environment, payment fees are substantially lower, and that represents a significant cost to the business. And so one of the benefits of not only being up $0.02 on our retail margin being slightly more aggressive on pricing, we also had the benefit of lower payment fees. And I know some folks include that in their margin net of payment fees, where we don't break that out.

有一件事我們不會單獨列出，但在這種較低的價格環境下，支付費用大幅降低，這對企業來說是一筆不小的成本。因此，我們的零售利潤率不僅提高了 0.02 美元，定價也略有優勢，我們還享受了支付費用降低的好處。我知道有些人把這部分費用計入了扣除支付費用後的保證金中，但我們並沒有將其單獨列出。

And Brad, I would say that we are also making meaningful progress. Andrew alluded to uncovering opportunities within our store productivity excellence dispenser uptime, wedge where we are going to have benefits that will be a mix of revenue generation with higher dispenser uptime allowing us to sell more product, but also in terms of cost savings as well as we are uncovering opportunities, particularly with regard to self-maintenance and other things, which will help us to continue to control our costs.

布拉德，我想說我們也取得了有意義的進展。安德魯提到，在我們的商店生產力卓越分配器正常運行時間中發現機會，我們將獲得的好處是，既能創造收入，又能提高分配器正常運行時間，使我們能夠銷售更多的產品，而且在成本節約方面，我們正在發現機會，特別是在自我維護和其他方面，這將有助於我們繼續控製成本。

That's helpful. And if I could ask a follow-up question on the NTIs. By our count, you've got about 34 that you've opened over the past year. Just wondering if you could comment about new store performance, how they've been doing? And then I guess maybe as you cut the data, how larger stores have been new in late versus the kiosks?

這很有幫助。我是否可以就 NTI 提出一個後續問題。根據我們的統計，你們在過去一年中開設了大約 34 家門市。只是想知道您是否可以評論一下新店的表現，他們的表現如何？然後我想也許當你剪切數據時，大型商店與自助服務終端相比最近新增了多少？

Yes, I was going to say Galagher highlighted the level of performance new stores in both gallons and merchandise. So we're very pleased with those. One of the challenges is certainly the merchants merchandise side does take about three years to fully ramp up, and you've got the full complement of operating expenses during that process. So that creates kind of a headwind as we keep building more and more new stores until you get to that steady level, you'll see some of that.

是的，我想說加拉格爾強調了新店在加侖和商品方面的表現水準。所以我們對此非常滿意。其中一個挑戰無疑是商家的商品方面確實需要大約三年的時間才能完全提升，並且在此過程中需要承擔全部營運費用。因此，這會形成一種阻力，因為我們會不斷建立越來越多的新店，直到達到穩定的水平，你會看到其中的一些阻力。

The reality is our kiosk and our small stores perform extremely well. They always have. We continue to build the bigger stores away from the Walmart supercenters because we can sell a much broader offer, especially around package beverage beer larger center store and a fit-for-purpose food and beverage offerings. So we continue to see returns from those stores at levels that are very attractive, and we'll continue to invest in those.

實際情況是，我們的售貨亭和小商店表現非常好。他們一直都是這樣的。我們繼續在沃爾瑪超級購物中心以外的地方建造更大的商店，因為我們可以銷售更廣泛的產品，特別是圍繞包裝飲料啤酒的大型中心商店以及適合用途的食品和飲料產品。因此，我們繼續看到這些商店的回報水平非常有吸引力，我們將繼續對這些商店進行投資。

Certainly, on the QuickCheck side, the new stores there, the food and beverage side ramps up very quickly, very much like a quick-serve restaurant and you've got the ramp there on the the centra store, but we're achieving record sales within the first few months from some of our new openings there. It just had a longer lead time to build up the pipeline given that the acquisition, we started with a pretty bare covered in terms of stores in the pipeline.

當然，在 QuickCheck 方面，那裡的新店、食品和飲料方面的增長非常快，非常像快餐店，而且你在中心商店也有增長，但我們在那裡開設的一些新店在頭幾個月內就實現了創紀錄的銷售額。由於收購，我們建立了更長的籌備時間，而我們一開始的籌備商店數量相當少。

Jacob Aiken-Phillips, Melius.

雅各艾肯-菲利普斯，梅利厄斯。

So first, I wanted to ask about -- so the OpEx from the bigger stores. I understand the dynamic of you take three years to ramp up the merchandise, but you still have to staff it, but I'm curious how we should think about in relation to like your breakeven? Like are you not zero breakeven or will that change going forward until they're fully ramped up in the pipelines like running?

所以首先，我想問一下——大型商店的營運支出。我理解您花三年時間來增加商品數量，但您仍然需要配備人員，但我很好奇我們應該如何考慮您的盈虧平衡？例如，您的損益平衡點是不是為零？或者這種情況會一直改變，直到管道完全投入運作？

Yes. I mean the calc is really simple. It's the merch margin minus the OpEx over the gallons. So when those stores get to ramp, the merch contribution exceeds the OpEx. And so you've got the 100% coverage ratio were better or the zero breakeven. So while the merch margin is ramping up, you've got the full operating cost. So you'll move from 60% coverage to a 70% to an 80% to 90% and then get to 100%, and we've honored that closely every month, every quarter by store, make sure they're ramping up appropriately.

是的。我的意思是計算真的很簡單。它是商品利潤減去每加侖的營運支出。因此，當這些商店開始擴張時，商品貢獻就會超過營運支出。因此，您獲得的覆蓋率最好是 100%，或零損益平衡。因此，雖然商品利潤正在增加，但您仍需承擔全部營運成本。因此，覆蓋率將從 60% 提高到 70%、80%、90%，然後達到 100%，我們每個月、每季都會嚴格遵守這項規定，確保各家商店的覆蓋率得到適當的提升。

One of the other things about the new stores is when they open, we're going to do a lot to let customers know that we're there in the market and there to deliver value. So not surprisingly, the fuel margin of those new stores is a lot lower as we establish that everyday low-price positioning. And so again, as we start building more and more new stores, with that aggressive opening price that has a weighting effect as well. But we do everything we can to appropriately get those stores up to ramp as quickly as we can.

關於新店的另一件事是，當它們開業時，我們會做很多事情讓顧客知道我們存在於市場中並且會提供價值。因此，當我們確立日常低價定位時，這些新店的燃油利潤率要低得多，這並不奇怪。因此，當我們開始建造越來越多的新店時​​，激進的開價也會產生加權效應。但我們會盡一切努力讓這些商店盡快恢復正常營業。

Got it. And then you made a comment earlier about how there's like some new processes with the new real estate team. Could you just give more color or at least some of the things you think will be a bigger driver? And then any update on like construction costs, especially in the like tariffs and everything.

知道了。然後您之前評論過新房地產團隊的一些新流程。您能否提供更多細節，或至少介紹一些您認為會成為更大驅動力的因素？然後有任何關於建築成本的更新，特別是關稅和其他方面。

Yes. I think part of it may just be a mindset around risk. I'll just give you one tangible example. We have a lot of permitting requirements when you build a new store. And some of the core markets we're in, the municipalities may have some restrictions they place where they may have some additional requirements. When you think about the modular building that we use for both the 1,400 square foot store and the 2,800 square foot store, that may require some modest changes to that building.

是的。我認為部分原因可能只是一種對風險的心態。我僅給你一個具體的例子。當您建造一家新店時，我們有很多許可要求。在我們所處的一些核心市場中，市政當局可能會施加一些限制，並可能提出一些額外的要求。當您考慮我們用於 1,400 平方英尺商店和 2,800 平方英尺商店的模組化建築時，這可能需要對建築物進行一些適度的改變。

And where in the past, we may have wanted to get all the permitting requirements fully identified before that modular building was started, we recognize -- maybe we should just go ahead and get that particular module we're building started knowing that we may have a few thousand dollars' worth of adjustments to make in the field. But if it carves six months out of the cycle time because of the permitting, that's a risk that we feel comfortable taking. So that's a very tangible example. There are many others where the teams identified some approach to risk and trade-offs that we feel are appropriate to make.

過去，我們可能希望在開始建造模組化建築之前充分了解所有許可要求，但我們認識到——也許我們應該直接開始建造特定的模組，因為我們知道可能需要在現場進行價值數千美元的調整。但如果因為許可而將週期時間縮短了六個月，我們願意承擔這個風險。這是一個非常明顯的例子。在許多其他專案中，團隊確定了一些我們認為適合的風險和權衡方法。

And one other example I would mention just with the NTI openings, we have begun enacting a fuel dispenser stress test procedure with all our NTIs to try to discover and correct fuel flow issues before the store opens because we have had in the past several instances of dispensers failing at open or shortly after.

我想提到的另一個例子是，在 NTI 開業時，我們已經開始對所有 NTI 實施加油機壓力測試程序，試圖在商店開業前發現並糾正燃油流量問題，因為過去我們曾多次遇到加油機在開業時或開業後不久出現故障的情況。

And when you think about that, that's going to impact fuel sales that will likely impact inside store sales because customers will get frustrated and leave. We're obviously not making a great impression on that customer. So it does impact that overall ramp at the store. So with this new process, we will catch those things before the stores open and set those stores up for greater success from the beginning.

考慮到這一點，這將影響燃料銷售，進而可能影響店內銷售，因為顧客會感到沮喪並離開。我們顯然沒有給那位顧客留下很好的印象。所以它確實會影響商店的整體成長。因此，透過這個新流程，我們將在商店開業之前發現這些問題，並從一開始就為這些商店取得更大的成功做好準備。

Jacob, one last point on that. And then as Mindy and Andrew mentioned, our new stores are working. We're doing a lot of work to drive that 18% improvement in EBITDA versus the chain. But the team is maniacal about building the pipeline. It's really a math issue. To have good stores, you have to have good stores in the pipeline.

雅各布，關於這一點還有最後一點。正如 Mindy 和 Andrew 所提到的，我們的新店正在運作。我們正在做大量工作來推動 EBITDA 較連鎖店提高 18%。但該團隊對於建設管道非常熱衷。這確實是一個數學問題。想要擁有好的商店，就必須擁有好的商店通路。

And our pipeline now across the enterprise is around 250 stores, everything from site selection and negotiation, but it's a funnel. So we're actively building that funnel. So more great stores can pop out on the other side. So that work is underway. We feel great about the outcomes once they're launched, and we're working to make sure they do ramp up fast. We just got to continue to build that pipeline.

現在我們整個企業的管道大約有 250 家商店，從選址到談判，一切都像一個漏斗。因此我們正在積極建構這個管道。這樣，另一邊就會出現更多優秀的商店。這項工作正在進行中。一旦推出，我們對結果感到非常滿意，我們正在努力確保它們能夠快速發展。我們只需要繼續建造這條管道。

(Operator Instructions) Bobby Griffin, Raymond James.

（操作員指示）Bobby Griffin，Raymond James。

I guess, Andrew, my first question is more kind of a high-level Murphy's position with an industry question. Our administration that we have now, particularly the President has been pretty firm on wanting low oil, low gas environment. And let's just say he gets that and we are in kind of a longer-term low gas price, low oil price environment. What does that do for Murphy's and how Murphy's is positioned in that? Does that change the long-term dynamics of this product, PS&W supply margin? Like anything around that, I'd be curious just some thoughts.

安德魯，我想，我的第一個問題更像是墨菲高層的行業問題。我們目前的政府，特別是總統，一直堅定地希望實現低石油、低天然氣的環境。假設他明白這一點，我們正處於長期低油價、低氣價的環境。這對墨菲有何影響？墨菲在其中的定位如何？這會改變該產品 PS&W 供應利潤的長期動態嗎？就像任何與此有關的事情一樣，我只是好奇一些想法。

Yes. Look, I mean it's easy for any leader to say this is what they want and then what do you get and then certainly, there's leaders in other countries that depend on very high oil prices to sustain their social economy as well and countries in the Middle East that have a pretty significant impact on what the price of crude will be. So let's just set that aside and say what happens in a low-price environment.

是的。你看，我的意思是，任何領導人都很容易說出這是他們想要的，然後你得到了什麼，當然，其他國家的領導人也依賴高油價來維持他們的社會經濟，中東國家對原油價格有相當大的影響。因此，我們先把這個問題放在一邊，看看在低價環境下會發生什麼事。

It's what we've always said happens, right? Customers have a little bit more in their pocketbook. It's still a non-discretionary product. They have more money left over to spend in other categories. We're building bigger stores and raising and rebuilding stores that have more offers that cater to those customers. And so as you continue to see the center store is an area of growth for us. But customers do make trade-off on the margin.

這就是我們一直說會發生的事，對吧？顧客的錢包裡多了一點錢。它仍然是一種非自由支配的產品。他們有更多的剩餘資金可以用於其他類別的消費。我們正在建造更大的商店，並擴大和重建能夠提供更多服務來滿足這些顧客需求的商店。因此，正如您所看到的，中心商店是我們的一個成長領域。但顧客確實會在利潤上做出權衡。

The other thing is that you've got to say, okay, is it a low oil price environment in a booming economy or is it a low oil price economy, and we're in a recession, right? Or you're continuing to see high inflation in nonfuel categories where the consumer is pinched? So I think you really have to think about the totality of the environment, the condition of the consumer, the other trade-offs that they're making.

另一件事是，你必須說，好吧，這是繁榮經濟中的低油價環境，還是低油價經濟，而我們正處於經濟衰退中，對嗎？或者您繼續看到非燃料類別的高通膨，而消費者卻陷入困境？所以我認為你真的必須考慮整個環境、消費者的狀況以及他們所做的其他權衡。

But as we've always said, in a lower price environment, there will be some consumers on the margin that are going to pick convenience over absolute price. As we've also said, our loyalty program provides stickiness that we didn't have, say, in 2015, '16 and '17. And as we've continued to demonstrate, we are getting back to the customer some portion of the higher margins that we continue to see. And that additional price benefit continues to make our offer extremely relevant to all those consumers.

但正如我們一直所說的那樣，在低價環境下，有些邊緣消費者會選擇便利性而不是絕對價格。正如我們所說，我們的忠誠度計畫提供了我們在 2015 年、2016 年和 2017 年所沒有的黏性。正如我們不斷證明的那樣，我們正在將不斷看到的更高利潤的一部分返還給客戶。而且額外的價格優勢使我們的報價對所有消費者來說都極具吸引力。

Unfortunately, as we've noted, there are more customers that continue to live paycheck to paycheck that trade down into Murphy USA. So versus some past low-price environments, I think some of the conditions are a little bit different, and we're certainly better positioned to compete in that environment versus, say, 10 years ago or 20 years ago.

不幸的是，正如我們所注意到的，越來越多的顧客繼續靠薪水過活，轉而選擇 Murphy USA。因此，與過去的一些低價環境相比，我認為一些條件略有不同，與 10 年前或 20 年前相比，我們在這種環境中的競爭地位肯定更高。

Okay. That's helpful. And then secondly for me, just back to inside the store, we saw that based on your April commentary, you saw gallons get a lot better than what some of the impacts probably took away from gallons in 1Q, but you did mention not as much of improvement yet in the in-store side, the merchandise, nicotine and non-nicotine. Why do you think that's the case? I mean, gallons bounce back implies the traffic kind of came back pretty heavily once we got by the weather impact and the leap day, what do you think was the delay that we're seeing on the recovery inside the store?

好的。這很有幫助。其次，對我來說，回到商店內部，我們看到，根據您 4 月份的評論，加侖數比第一季度的一些影響可能帶來的加侖數要好得多，但您確實提到了店內商品、尼古丁和非尼古丁方面還沒有太大的改善。您認為為什麼會這樣？我的意思是，加侖數反彈意味著一旦我們擺脫了天氣影響和閏日，客流量就會大幅回升，您認為我們在商店內部恢復過程中看到的延遲是什麼？

Some is just the promotional cycle, especially on the nicotine side. I think that's a driver there that we're a destination when you ask consumers what's your one main reason for coming to Murphy USA is going to be value on fuels, is going to be value on tobacco and sometimes on the margin, the promotional activities in that space, it is a traffic driver into the store. I think the categories that are performing well continue to perform well, and we're seeing higher year-over-year results in those categories.

有些只是促銷週期，特別是在尼古丁方面。我認為這就是我們成為目的地的一個驅動力，當你問消費者來到 Murphy USA 的主要原因是什麼時，他們會說燃料的價值、煙草的價值，有時還有利潤，那個領域的促銷活動，這些都是吸引顧客進入商店的流量驅動力。我認為表現良好的類別將繼續表現良好，並且我們看到這些類別的同比業績有所提高。

We have no further questions. I'll turn the call back over to Andrew Clyde for closing remarks.

我們沒有其他問題了。我將把電話轉回給安德魯·克萊德，請他做最後發言。

Great. Look, we appreciate everyone joining today and as we kind of laid out the factors to our business and some of the temporal and cyclical drivers, we remain focused on the structural advantages, both as a function of what the industry is doing, but also the structural capabilities that we're putting in place to allow us to differentiate ourselves in this environment. So we'll look forward to follow-up questions later today, tomorrow, next week, and we'll stay tuned. Thank you.

偉大的。瞧，我們感謝今天加入的每個人，當我們列出影響我們業務的因素以及一些時間和周期性的驅動因素時，我們仍然專注於結構性優勢，這既是行業現狀的函數，也是我們正在實施的結構性能力，這使我們能夠在這種環境中脫穎而出。因此，我們期待今天晚些時候、明天、下週的後續問題，我們將保持關注。謝謝。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。