NACCO Industries Inc (NC) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to NACCO Industries Inc. First quarter 2025 earnings conference call.

女士們、先生們，早安，歡迎參加 NACCO Industries Inc. 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。

At this time, all lines are in listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press 0 for the operator.

此時，所有線路都處於只聽模式。演講結束後，我們將進行問答環節。如果您在通話過程中的任何時間需要立即協助，請按 0 聯絡接線員。

This call is being recorded on Thursday, May 1st, 2025.

本次通話於 2025 年 5 月 1 日星期四錄製。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Christina Kmetko, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給投資人關係部的 Christina Kmetko。請繼續。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our 2025 1st quarter earnings call and webcast.

謝謝。大家早安，歡迎參加我們的 2025 年第一季財報電話會議和網路廣播。

Thank you for joining us this morning. I'm Christina Kmetko, and I'm responsible for investor relations at NACCO. Joining me today are JC Butler, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Elizabeth Loveman, senior Vice President and controller. Yesterday we published our 2025 1st quarter results and followed our 10.

感謝您今天上午加入我們。我是 Christina Kmetko，負責 NACCO 的投資人關係。今天與我一起的還有總裁兼執行長 JC Butler 和高級副總裁兼財務主管 Elizabeth Loveman。昨天，我們發布了 2025 年第一季業績，並遵循了我們的 10。

This information is available on our website.

這些資訊可在我們的網站上找到。

Our remarks that follow, including answers to your questions contain forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to several risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements made here today. These risks include, among others, matters that we've described in our earnings release 10Q and other SEC filings.

我們接下來的評論（包括對您的問題的回答）包含前瞻性陳述。這些聲明受多種風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與今天在此做出的前瞻性聲明中表達的結果有重大差異。這些風險包括我們在 10Q 財報和其他 SEC 文件中所述的事項。

We may not update these forward-looking statements until our next quarterly earnings conference call. We'll also be discussing non-gap information that we believe is useful in evaluating the company's operating performance. Reconciliations for these non-gap measures can be found in our earnings release and on our website. Now I'll turn the call over to JC for some opening remarks. JC.

我們可能不會在下一次季度財報電話會議之前更新這些前瞻性聲明。我們也將討論我們認為有助於評估公司經營績效的非差距資訊。這些非差距指標的對帳可以在我們的收益報告和網站上找到。現在我將把電話交給 JC 來致一些開場白。JC。

Thank you, Christy, and good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to report another quarter of strong financial results. Consolidated operating profit increased over 60%. While this improvement was partly offset by higher net interest expense and a reduction in other income, we still delivered a 7% increase in net income and a 14% increase in [EUA].

謝謝你，克里斯蒂，大家早安。我很高興地報告本季又取得強勁的財務表現。綜合營業利潤成長60%以上。雖然這項改善被更高的淨利息支出和其他收入的減少部分抵消，但我們的淨收入仍然增加了 7%，而[美國授權使用權]。

Christie will provide more detail about these financial results in a minute, but first, let me talk about our operations. The significant improvement in operating profit was driven by our coal mining segment where segment adjusted even more than tripled over the prior year.

克里斯蒂將在一分鐘內提供有關這些財務結果的更多細節，但首先，讓我談談我們的營運情況。營業利潤的大幅提升得益於煤礦部門的貢獻，該部門的調整額比前一年增加了兩倍多。

There were two primary reasons for this improvement.

造成這種改善的主要原因有二。

First, we had an increase in earnings at our unconsolidated operations led by higher pricing at Falkirk and a moderate increase in customer demand at Keteau.

首先，由於福爾柯克（Falkirk）的價格上漲以及凱托（Keteau）客戶需求的適度增長，我們的非合併業務盈利有所增加。

Second, Mississippi Lignite Mining Company operated more efficiently on improved customer demand compared to 2024 when the Red Hills Power Plant was operating with only one of its two boilers.

其次，與 2024 年紅山發電廠僅使用兩台鍋爐中的一台運行時相比，密西西比褐煤礦業公司的營運效率更高，因為客戶需求有所改善。

I'm thrilled to see these improvements in our coal mining segment. We are also encouraged by the current administration's actions which are fostering a more favorable regulatory environment for the fossil fuel industry.

我很高興看到我們的煤炭開採領域取得這些進展。我們也對現任政府為化石燃料產業創造更有利的監管環境的行動感到鼓舞。

Mitigation resources also contributed positively to the improvement in consolidated operating profit and EBITDA. This business reported its 2nd consecutive quarter of profitability and anticipates generating profit for the full year.

緩解資源也對合併營業利潤和 EBITDA 的提高做出了積極貢獻。該業務連續第二個季度實現盈利，並預計全年將實現盈利。

North American mining is operating well, but its results were affected by reduced customer demand, some of which is due to temporary one-off situations, while some customers are experiencing a softer market. Operating profit decreased on a significant reduction in year over year tons sold, as well as an increase in operating expenses. This decline was partly offset by an increase in part sales.

北美礦業運作良好，但其業績受到客戶需求減少的影響，部分原因是由於暫時的一次性情況，而部分客戶則正經歷市場疲軟。由於銷售噸數較去年同期大幅減少以及營業費用增加，營業利潤下降。這一下降被零件銷售額的成長部分抵消。

While this quarter didn't provide a favorable year over year comparison at North American mining, results improved compared with the 4th quarter of 2024. We expect North American mining to generate increasing levels of operating profit in EBITDA over time as benefits from new and extended contracts add to the profitability of existing contracts.

雖然本季北美採礦業的年比表現並不理想，但與 2024 年第四季相比有所改善。我們預計，隨著新合約和續約合約帶來的好處增加現有合約的獲利能力，北美採礦業的 EBITDA 營業利潤水準將隨著時間的推移而不斷提高。

Let me shift to Sawtooth mining, which is the exclusive contract miner for the Thacker Pass lithium project in northern Nevada.

讓我來談談 Sawtooth 礦業公司，它是內華達州北部 Thacker Pass 鋰專案的獨家合約採礦商。

Lithium Americas continues to make progress on the Thacker Pass project. Lithium Americas and General Motors recently announced their final investment decision for construction of phase one of the project. We view this as a positive step toward development of a US produced lithium supply chain that will reduce American dependence on foreign suppliers for critical minerals.

Lithium Americas 在 Thacker Pass 專案上繼續取得進展。Lithium Americas 和通用汽車最近宣布了該項目第一階段建設的最終投資決定。我們認為這是朝著發展美國生產的鋰供應鏈邁出的積極一步，這將減少美國對外國關鍵礦產供應商的依賴。

We continue to support the project by assisting with certain construction services as they ramp up work to build the lithium processing plant. Phase one production continues to be estimated to begin in late 2027.

在他們加緊興建鋰加工廠的過程中，我們將繼續透過協助提供某些建設服務來支持該計畫。第一階段的生產預計將於 2027 年底開始。

At minerals management, segment adjusted EBITDA increased 10% over the prior year. As we mentioned in our year-end earnings release during the fourth quarter of 2024, Minerals management increased their investment in a company that holds non-operating non-operated working interests in oil and natural gas assets in the Hugoton Basin.

在礦產管理方面，部門調整後的 EBITDA 比前一年增加了 10%。正如我們在 2024 年第四季的年終收益報告中提到的那樣，礦產管理部門增加了對一家持有 Hugoton 盆地石油和天然氣資產非經營性工作權益的公司的投資。

This investment drove the improvement in segment EBITDA and is expected to continue to be a creative to future earnings. We are very pleased with the work done by the Catapult Mineral Partners team, which manages this segment.

此項投資推動了分部 EBITDA 的提高，預計將繼續對未來獲利產生積極影響。我們對負責管理此部門的 Catapult Mineral Partners 團隊所做的工作感到非常滿意。

While we continue to budget up to $20 million annually to expand our portfolio and provide long-term stable cash flow generation, our business model allows flexibility regarding the cadence and type of investments we make. Based on available opportunities that we believe will result in significant long-term value and increasing profitability.

雖然我們每年繼續預算高達 2000 萬美元來擴大我們的投資組合併提供長期穩定的現金流，但我們的商業模式允許我們在投資節奏和類型方面具有靈活性。根據現有機會，我們相信這將帶來重大的長期價值並提高獲利能力。

We believe that this expansion and diversification program has us well positioned to generate increasing levels of operating profit and EBITDA well into the future.

我們相信，這項擴張和多元化計劃使我們在未來能夠創造更高的營業利潤和 EBITDA。

The current quarter's results support my belief that 2025 is a pivotal transition year for our company, which is described in more detail in our most recent annual report. Overall, I'm pleased with the way all of our businesses continue to advance their strategies, and I continue to be very optimistic about the future. With that, I'll turn the call back over to Christy to cover our quarterly details and outlook in more detail.

本季的業績支持了我的信念，即 2025 年是我們公司的關鍵轉型年，這在我們最近的年度報告中有更詳細的描述。總的來說，我對我們所有業務繼續推進其策略的方式感到滿意，我對未來仍然非常樂觀。說完這些，我將把電話轉回給克里斯蒂，讓她更詳細地介紹我們的季度細節和展望。

Christy.

克里斯蒂。

Thank you, JC.

謝謝你，JC。

At the consolidated level, we reported operating profit of $7.7 million and net income of $4.9 million or $0.66 per share. This compared to a 2024 1st quarter operating profit of $4.8 million and net income of $4.6 million or $0.61 per share. Adjusted EBITDA increased to $12.8 million from $11.2 million in 2024.

在合併層面，我們報告的營業利潤為 770 萬美元，淨收入為 490 萬美元或每股 0.66 美元。相比之下，2024 年第一季的營業利潤為 480 萬美元，淨收入為 460 萬美元或每股 0.61 美元。調整後的 EBITDA 從 2024 年的 1,120 萬美元增至 1,280 萬美元。

As JC mentioned, the significant improvement in operating profit was primarily driven by a substantial increase in the coal mining segment, operating profit, and improved results at mitigation resources. These improvements were partly offset by lower North American mining segment results and an increase in unallocated operating expenses, principally employee-related and outside service costs.

正如 JC 所提到的，營業利潤的大幅提高主要得益於煤炭開採部門的營業利潤大幅增加以及緩解資源的成果改善。這些改善部分被北美採礦部門業績的下降和未分配營運費用的增加（主要是與員工相關的費用和外部服務成本）所抵銷。

The improvement in operating profit was offset by a $3.3 million unfavourable change in other income expense moving from prior year other income to current year other expense. This decrease was due to lower investment income and higher net interest expense and resulted in a moderate decrease in income before taxes.

營業利潤的成長被其他收入支出的 330 萬美元不利變化（從上一年的其他收入轉為本年度的其他支出）所抵消。這一下降是由於投資收益減少和淨利息支出增加，導致稅前收入適度下降。

Lower income tax expense in 25 compared with 2024 led to the moderate increase in our consolidated net income.

2025 年的所得稅費用較 2024 年降低，導致我們的合併淨收入適度增加。

Moving to the individual segments, our coal mining segment reported operating profit of $3.8 million and generated segment adjusted EBITDA of $5.8 million in the 2025 1st quarter. In 2024, this segment had an operating loss of $400,000 in segment adjusted EBITDA of $1.8 million.

具體到各部門，我們的煤炭開採部門報告稱，2025 年第一季的營業利潤為 380 萬美元，部門調整後 EBITDA 為 580 萬美元。2024 年，該部門的營運虧損為 40 萬美元，部門調整後 EBITDA 為 180 萬美元。

As JC already discussed, year over year improvements of both our consolidated and unconsolidated minds led to these favourable favorable results.

正如 JC 已經討論過的，我們鞏固和未鞏固的想法逐年改善，帶來了這些有利的結果。

JC already provided explanations of the North American mining and mineral minerals management segments for results, so I'll discuss the financials. At North American Mining, operating profit decreased to $2 million from $2.4 million in the prior year first quarter. Segment adjusted EBITDA of $4.7 million was comparable to the prior year.

JC 已經對北美採礦和礦物管理部門的表現做出了解釋，因此我將討論財務狀況。北美礦業公司的營業利潤從去年同期的 240 萬美元下降至 200 萬美元。該部門調整後的 EBITDA 為 470 萬美元，與前一年持平。

Minerals Management's first quarter of 2025 operating profit of $7.9 million was comparable year over year, while segment adjusted EBITDA increased to $9.8 million from $8.9 million a year ago.

礦產管理公司 2025 年第一季的營業利潤為 790 萬美元，與去年同期持平，而分部調整後的 EBITDA 從去年同期的 890 萬美元增至 980 萬美元。

Looking forward, in 2025, we expect to generate a moderate year over year increase in consolidated operating profit.

展望未來，我們預期 2025 年合併營業利潤將較去年同期溫和成長。

In the coal mining segment, 2025 customer demand is expected to lead to a modest increase in deliveries compared with 2024. In addition, the coal mining segment expects to benefit from the absence of temporary price concessions at Falkirk. Mississippi Lignite Mining Company continues to recover from inefficiencies experienced while its customers, Breadhill's Power Plant operated on one of two boilers for more than half of 2024.

在煤炭開採領域，預計 2025 年的客戶需求將導致交付量與 2024 年相比略有增加。此外，煤炭開採部門預計將受益於法爾科克沒有臨時價格優惠。密西西比褐煤礦業公司繼續從其客戶布雷德希爾發電廠在 2024 年超過一半的時間裡使用兩台鍋爐中的一台運行的低效率中恢復過來。

With the power plant now anticipated to operate at a level consistent with historical averages, coal deliveries are expected to return to more normal levels, resulting in modestly improved cost efficiencies. However, an anticipated reduction in the 2025 contractually determined per ton sales price compared with 2024 is expected to offset these improvements, leading to lower results at Mississippi Lignate Mining Company.

目前預計發電廠的運作水平與歷史平均水平一致，煤炭交付量預計將恢復到更正常的水平，從而略微提高成本效率。然而，預計 2025 年合約確定的每噸銷售價格與 2024 年相比有所下降，這將抵消這些改善，導緻密西西比木質素礦業公司的業績下降。

This combined with an anticipated increase in operating expenses in the coal segment overall, is expected to result in a modest year over year decrease in coal mining segment operating profit.

再加上煤炭部門整體營運費用的預期增加，預計煤炭開採部門的營運利潤將比去年小幅下降。

North American mining is expected to deliver improved results in 2025 with anticipated lower first half results offset by expected performance gains in the second half of the year. While customer demand is projected to remain relatively stable year by year, profitability improvements will be driven by operational efficiencies and an increased focus on parts sales.

預計北美採礦業將在 2025 年取得更好的業績，預計上半年業績較低，但下半年業績可望成長。雖然預計客戶需求將逐年保持相對穩定，但獲利能力的提高將受到營運效率和對零件銷售的更多關注的推動。

Minerals management's high quality diversified portfolio of oil and gas mineral interest provides a strong foundation of well positioned assets that are expected to continue to deliver solid financial results. As JC mentioned, Minerals Management's 2024 investment in the company operating in the Huattong Basin is expected to continue to contribute to the anticipated improvement in 2025 operating profit over 2024.

礦產管理的高品質多元化石油和天然氣礦產權益組合提供了良好的資產基礎，預計將繼續帶來穩健的財務表現。正如 JC 所提到的，礦產管理公司對在華通盆地運營的公司 2024 年的投資預計將繼續為 2025 年營業利潤相對於 2024 年的預期改善做出貢獻。

First half earnings are expected to be comparable to prior year results with an anticipated significant improvement in the second half, given anticipated trends in oil and natural gas prices and projected volumes.

考慮到石油和天然氣價格的預期趨勢和預計產量，預計上半年收益將與去年同期持平，下半年收益將顯著改善。

We expect to complete the termination of our defined benefit pension plan this year. Once complete, obligations under the terminated plan will be transferred to a third party insurance provider, eliminating future earnings volatility from changes in our pension obligation.

我們預計今年將完成我們的固定收益退休金計劃的終止。一旦完成，終止計畫下的義務將轉移給第三方保險提供者，從而消除退休金義務變化帶來的未來收益波動。

Although the plan is currently overfunded, a significant non-cash settlement charge is anticipated upon termination that will result in a substantial decrease in net income compared with 2024.

儘管該計劃目前資金過剩，但終止時預計將產生大量非現金結算費用，這將導致淨收入與 2024 年相比大幅下降。

Excluding the anticipated settlement charge, net income is expected to decrease moderately from 2024.

不計預期的結算費用，淨收入預計從 2024 年開始將略有下降。

Before I discuss our liquidity and cash flow, I wanted to point out that we have added total assets by segment to our segment disclosures in the 10Q. We believe this information will help our investors better understand the value of each of our segments.

在我討論我們的流動性和現金流之前，我想指出，我們已經將按部門劃分的總資產添加到第十季度的部門披露中。我們相信這些資訊將幫助我們的投資者更好地了解我們每個部門的價值。

Looking at other balance sheets and cash flow information, we have consolidated cash of approximately $62 million in debt of $96 million at March 31, 2025. The availability under our revolver was $90.5 million.

查看其他資產負債表和現金流量信息，截至 2025 年 3 月 31 日，我們的合併現金約為 6,200 萬美元，債務為 9,600 萬美元。我們的循環信貸可用餘額為 9,050 萬美元。

During the first quarter, we paid $1.7 million in dividends and repurchased approximately 22,000 shares of our Class A common stock at prevailing market prices for an aggregate purchase price of $700,000.

在第一季度，我們支付了 170 萬美元的股息，並以現行市場價格回購了約 22,000 股 A 類普通股，總購買價為 70 萬美元。

As of March 31, 2025, we have $7.8 million remaining under our $20 million share repurchase program that expires at the end of this year. Based on our current business plan, we project a steady increase in annual cash flow generation beginning in 2025. We will now turn to any questions you may have.

截至 2025 年 3 月 31 日，我們的 2,000 萬美元股票回購計畫還剩餘 780 萬美元，該計畫將於今年底到期。根據我們目前的業務計劃，我們預計從 2025 年開始年度現金流將穩定成長。我們現在將回答您可能提出的任何問題。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. We will now begin the question and answer session. Should you have a question, please press the start followed by the one on your attached tone phone. You will hear a prompt that your hand has been raised.

謝謝各位，女士們、先生們。我們現在開始問答環節。如果您有疑問，請按下“開始”，然後按下所連接的音訊電話上的按鈕。您將聽到提示，提示您已舉手。

Should you wish to decline from the polling process, please press start followed by the 2.

如果您不想參與投票，請按“開始”，然後按“2”。

You are using a speakerphone, please lift the handset before pressing any keys.

您正在使用免持電話，按任何按鍵之前請先拿起聽筒。

Our first question comes from the line of Douglas Weiss with DSW Investment, LLC.

我們的第一個問題來自 DSW Investment, LLC 的 Douglas Weiss。

Hey, good morning.

嘿，早安。

I guess just starting with the call segment.

我想只是從通話部分開始。

So, and, focusing on Mississippi Legite.

所以，並且，關注密西西比州合法。

That I guess that continues to show gross profit losses although I think there was a $3 million inventory charge in the quarter.

我猜這將繼續顯示毛利損失，儘管我認為本季有 300 萬美元的庫存費用。

Can you just say, can you just explain a little bit what leads to those recurring inventory charges?

您能否稍微解釋一下導致這些經常性庫存費用的原因？

Well, I just want to make sure you're asking about the inventory impairment, is that correct?

嗯，我只是想確保您詢問的是庫存減值，對嗎？

Yeah.

是的。

So you know it's basically, what is the cost of the coal on the pile, which is determined, by regular sort of inventory accounting compared to the sales price.

所以你知道，這基本上就是，煤炭堆上的成本是多少，這是透過常規的庫存會計與銷售價格相比確定的。

So there's a couple of things going on with respect to that. One is, last year was a pretty inefficient year because, for part of the year, we operated really With Reduced costs, but you can't really cut it in half, even though the power plant for the first part of the year was only taking half, load, because one of the boilers was out. So that ended up, with a situation where we're putting pretty high cost coal into the inventory.

因此，與此相關的有幾件事正在發生。一是，去年是相當低效的一年，因為在一年中的部分時間裡，我們的營運成本確實降低了，但你無法真正將其削減一半，儘管發電廠在上半年只承擔了一半的負荷，因為其中一個鍋爐壞了。所以最終的結果是，我們將成本相當高的煤炭放入庫存中。

That, we continue to work our way out of that.

我們會繼續努力解決這個問題。

The other side of it is on the price side, we've got a lower adjustment in the price right now, which I know we've talked about this before, is determined by a formula that's in the contract. It's the same formula that's been there since the contract was signed in the, mid late 1990s.

另一方面是在價格方面，我們現在對價格進行了較低的調整，我知道我們之前已經討論過這個問題，這是由合約中的公式決定的。自從 20 世紀 90 年代中後期簽約以來，這一模式就一直存在。

That formula price looks at in a basket of indices that, anybody can pull off, government data sites.

該公式價格參考一籃子指數，任何人都可以從政府數據網站取得。

And they are partly based on a 1 year change in those industries and partly based on a five-year change in those indices.

它們部分基於這些行業一年的變化，部分基於這些指數五年的變化。

Well, one year, it's pretty.

嗯，一年了，很漂亮。

Normal. There's nothing odd happening there.

普通的。那裡沒有發生什麼奇怪的事情。

If you think about 5 years ago, right now, right? We were May 1st of 2020, and if you think about indices for various, commodities and factors in the US economy, they were all over the place. So, for the next, I'd say, year or so, we're going to go through a period where the price is going to get It is going to be influenced by this 5 year change in prices. It's looking at what it was 5 years ago versus now.

如果你回想一下 5 年前，那現在呢？現在是 2020 年 5 月 1 日，如果你想想美國經濟中各種商品和因素的指數，它們到處都是。因此，我想說，在接下來的一年左右的時間裡，我們將經歷一個價格將受到這五年價格變動影響的時期。它正在比較五年前與現在的情況。

So we've got some noise in all of this, on the pricing side related to the fact that we just had very odd movement in the indices from 5 years ago. So, it's really a combination of higher priced coal on the pile because of inefficiencies last year and some strange things going through what should otherwise be pretty normal movement in index, adjusted price.

因此，我們在定價方面聽到了一些噪音，這與五年前指數的異常變動有關。因此，這實際上是由於去年效率低下導致煤炭價格上漲，以及一些奇怪的事情導致指數和調整後價格的變動原本應該是非常正常的。

I think when we get through this, period when the price is behaving in strange ways and we get, more normal operating costs flowing through the inventory, this is all going to return to a more normal pace.

我認為，當我們度過這個價格表現異常的時期，並且我們得到更多正常的營運成本流向庫存時，這一切都將恢復到更正常的速度。

And is that probably next year?

那可能是明年嗎？

Well, I would say yes, but barring any other thing happening in the future, that, it's a comparison from current indices to past indices, whether that's 1 year in the past or 5 years in the past.

嗯，我會說是的，但除非將來發生任何其他事情，否則這是當前指數與過去指數的比較，無論是過去 1 年還是過去 5 年。

So I can't tell you what I expect to happen with those indices over the next year or two.

所以我無法告訴你我預計未來一兩年這些指數會發生什麼變化。

But my understanding is they would be based on price increases right so if we got into a.

但我的理解是，它們將基於價格上漲，所以如果我們進入的話。

I guess you haven't, I don't think you've given too much detail on what the individual components are. I think you might have mentioned labor was one of them, but.

我想你還沒有，我認為你沒有給出關於各個組件的太多細節。我想你可能提到勞動力是其中之一，但是。

Well, one of the larger, indices in all of this is diesel.

嗯，所有這些中較大的一個指數是柴油。

Diesel. Okay, interesting.

柴油引擎。好的，有趣。

[I see. So working right you know 5 years.]

[我懂了。所以你知道工作五年。 ]

I see, yeah, so it's really, so oil prices have a, influence on this.

我明白，是的，所以油價確實對此有影響。

Yeah.

是的。

Okay.

好的。

But I guess it just kind of conceptually.

但我想這只是一種概念而已。

You know that's the price that's the revenue component, but on the cost side.

你知道這是價格，是收入組成部分，但卻是成本方面。

That would sort of flow through I mean that that to normalize over the next year is that the right way to think about that?

我的意思是，這將在明年逐漸正常化，這是正確的思考方式嗎？

Yes, I mean, assuming that the plant operates as we think it will, the cost side should normalize.

是的，我的意思是，假設工廠按照我們想像的那樣運行，成本方面應該會恢復正常。

Yeah, okay.

嗯，好的。

Including, the cost of inventory that are on the stockpile.

包括庫存的庫存成本。

Right, okay.

好的，好的。

A coal mine, as a coal mine is an operation that has a lot of fixed costs. So, it, you get your best efficiencies like any kind of factory when it's operating, at its designed level. When you have periods when you're operating at a lower level, it just increases your unit cost. It's really no different than a factory.

煤礦，因為煤礦是一個具有大量固定成本的營運。因此，當任何類型的工廠按照其設計水平運行時，您都可以獲得最佳效率。當你的營運水準較低時，你的單位成本就會增加。它實際上與工廠沒有什麼不同。

Right, okay.

好的，好的。

In terms of regulatory, a more favourable regulatory environment, what are there practical implications there? I know you had some pending EPA issues, so I assume that those are, less of a concern, but are there other practical implications?

從監管角度來看，更有利的監管環境有哪些實際意義？我知道您有一些未決的 EPA 問題，所以我認為這些問題並不是什麼大問題，但還有其他實際影響嗎？

Well, I mean, the EPA, I mean, it's not just the EPA, it's the, Department of Energy, it's Department of Interior. I mean, you've got a An administration that is very focused on developing, United States resources which include incredibly abundant, coal, oil, and natural gas, fossil fuels.

嗯，我的意思是，環保局，我的意思是，它不僅僅是環保局，它是能源部，它是內政部。我的意思是，你們的政府非常注重開發美國資源，其中包括極其豐富的煤炭、石油、天然氣和化石燃料。

2 weeks ago, was it 2 weeks ago, 3 weeks ago, Liz, the President, we sort of are referring it internally as coal day, but the President signed 4 executive orders, that were really focused on coal, but it included things that dealt with, making sure that people are looking at the stability of the grid for any coal-fired power plants are retired.

兩週前，或者說是兩週前，還是三週前，總統利茲，我們在內部將其稱為煤炭日，但總統簽署了 4 項行政命令，這些命令確實側重於煤炭，但其中包括處理相關事宜，確保人們關注電網的穩定性，因為任何燃煤發電廠都會退役。

One of them made coal a critical mineral in the government context, he asked agencies to look at any sort of regulatory, biases against fossil fuels, including coal, and get those out of the process, and also, encouraging people to look at, developing coal resources, particularly when it can support. The 24/7, energy needs in data and AI.

其中一位官員將煤炭列為政府背景下的關鍵礦產，他要求各機構審查任何形式的監管以及針對化石燃料（包括煤炭）的偏見，並將其從監管過程中剔除，同時鼓勵人們關注開發煤炭資源，特別是在煤炭能夠提供支持的情況下。數據和人工智慧需要全天候的能源。

I, you ought to just, I'm not going to describe it as well as you can find on the internet. I'd encourage just to Google, Presidential executive orders on coal, and you can read through the form, but it's pretty good stuff.

我，你應該只是，我不會像你在網路上找到的那樣詳細地描述它。我鼓勵你去谷歌搜尋總統關於煤炭的行政命令，然後你就可以閱讀表格，但這是相當不錯的東西。

Sure. Let's see.

當然。讓我們來看看。

On North American mining, is backer going to be consolidated or unconsolidated?

對於北美採礦業，支持者是否會合併或不合併？

It's consolidated.

它已合併。

Okay.

好的。

And then in terms of normal seasonality there, what is the first quarter typically a soft quarter anyway? I mean, what would be the cadence of earnings for that?

那麼，就正常的季節性而言，第一季通常是一個疲軟的季度嗎？我的意思是，這樣的獲利節奏是怎麼樣的呢？

That segment.

那一段。

And North American mining, I mean, I don't think there really is much seasonality to that, but largely because of where we operate.

至於北美採礦業，我的意思是，我認為這並沒有太大的季節性，而主要是因為我們的經營地點。

The majority of our operations are in Florida, although, we are expanding across the country, but it's most, mostly in southern states. So, you don't really get any seasonality unless from time to time you get a hurricane that goes across Florida, and that can disrupt operations in varying degrees.

我們的大部分業務都在佛羅裡達州，儘管我們正在全國擴張，但大部分業務主要在南部各州。因此，除非偶爾遇到橫跨佛羅裡達的颶風，否則你實際上不會感受到任何季節性，而颶風會在不同程度上擾亂運作。

It depends on Where the hurricane hits and, what the damage is and things like that. But that's really the only kind of seasonality that I think of in that business. Otherwise, it's sort of just, marches along, quarter by quarter.

這取決於颶風襲擊的地點、造成的損失等等。但這確實是我在這個行業中想到的唯一一種季節性。否則，它就只是按季度、按季度地前進。

And was weather a factor again this in the in the first quarter?

在第一季度，天氣是否又成為一個因素？

Not really. I think what we saw in the first quarter is, there were a few one-off, Situations, although, situations sort of implies something negative. It's just, Periodic outages on drag lines and, customer, pauses in their operations while they do things on their side of the fence.

並不真地。我認為我們在第一季看到的是，出現了一些一次性的情況，儘管這些情況暗示著一些負面的東西。這只是拖纜線定期中斷，以及客戶在圍欄那邊做事時暫停操作的情況。

So we had some of that going on in the 1st quarter and then we have had some customers that are just seeing, a modest decline in demand, nothing dramatic, but they're seeing some softening demand and that, causes because we're feeding their operations, we're fully integrated into their quarries.

因此，我們在第一季遇到了一些這樣的情況，然後我們的一些客戶發現需求略有下降，雖然沒有明顯的下降，但他們看到需求有所減弱，這是因為我們為他們的業務提供動力，我們完全融入了他們的採石場。

And you know we're operating at specific quarries for them, it's really.what demand are they seeing at their quarries and what sort of production they need out of us.

你知道，我們正在為他們在特定的採石場進行運營，這實際上是他們在採石場看到了什麼需求，以及他們需要我們提供什麼樣的生產。

So it's a little bit of one off one off stuff and it's a little bit of some just economic softness with some customers.

所以，這只是一次性的事情，也是一些客戶所面臨的經濟疲軟現象。

Yeah makes sense. I guess then on free cash flow.

是的，有道理。我想這取決於自由現金流。

It looked like there were a number of puts and takes on working capital. I guess the biggest is you had.

看起來，營運資金方面存在著許多投入和產出。我想最大的就是你擁有的。

A large item for mining supplies inventory.

採礦用品庫存的大型物品。

Which you have a non-current assets so I assume that's more than a year.

由於您擁有非流動資產，因此我認為期限超過一年。

Do you still expect working capital to be a source of cash this year and I guess why that large step up in that mining supplies inventory.

您是否仍預期營運資金將成為今年的現金來源？我猜為什麼採礦供應庫存會大幅增加？

So it really wasn't a step up. If you look, we just reclassed a portion from current to long term, we really dug into our Inventory and a lot of that is just critical spares and we don't necessarily have a plan to use them in the next 12 months so we reclassified a portion of that. But if you add up the total, it's $94.3 million of inventory which com compares to $94.6 million last year.

所以這其實不算是進步。如果你看一下，我們只是將一部分從當前庫存重新歸類為長期庫存，我們真正深入研究了我們的庫存，其中很多只是關鍵備件，我們不一定計劃在未來 12 個月內使用它們，所以我們對其中的一部分進行了重新分類。但如果將總額加起來，庫存總額為 9,430 萬美元，而去年同期為 9,460 萬美元。

So it's it was just a reclassification within the balance sheet to better, differentiate what we expect to turn in 12 months versus not.

因此，這只是資產負債表內的重新分類，以便更好地區分我們預計 12 個月內會發生的變化和不會發生的變化。

Like if you think about the fact that we operate, on the North American mining side of the business, in particular, we operate 30, something like 35 draglines plus or minus.

如果你考慮我們的經營情況，特別是在北美採礦業務方面，我們經營著 30 台，大約 35 台左右的挖土機。

They're single, it's a single machine that's an important part of the customer's factory, right? We've got a dragline on site that's producing the aggregates that our customer will.

它們是單一的，是單一機器，是客戶工廠的重要組成部分，對嗎？我們在現場有一台挖土機，可以生產客戶所需的骨材。

Wash, crush, size, and sell to its customers. If we have an unexpected outage, because of a component failure on a dragline, that can be a very serious issue because some of these components on these draglines can take months, to acquire, which is why we keep components, critical components on hand. In our inventory and as Eliz described, we took a deep dive into that and decided that some of those things may get used.

清洗、粉碎、定型，然後出售給客戶。如果由於拖纜上的部件故障而導致意外停電，這可能是一個非常嚴重的問題，因為這些拖纜上的某些部件可能需要幾個月的時間才能獲得，這就是我們保留部件，關鍵部件的原因。在我們的庫存中，正如 Eliz 所描述的，我們對此進行了深入研究，並決定其中一些東西可能會被使用。

I mean, look, you never know when you're going to have an unplanned outage, but we looked at a number of these parts and said we're holding these for the long term. It's really think of this as an insurance, holding the part is really like an insurance policy on the operation of that machine. And so that's why we reclassified them from short term to long term.

我的意思是，你看，你永遠不知道什麼時候會發生意外停電，但我們研究了其中的許多部分，並表示我們將長期保留這些部分。這實際上就像是一種保險，持有該零件實際上就像是該機器運行的保險單。這就是我們將其從短期重新分類為長期的原因。

Okay, makes sense.

好的，有道理。

Your overall question about working capital though, we're not really a working capital-driven business. When we have a dragline outage coming up, particularly in our North American mining part of the business, or it could be a Mississippi Lignite Mining Company, we will increase our inventory because you want to have all the parts on hand when you take your dragline down in order to do the work.

不過，您關於營運資本的整體問題，我們實際上並不是一家由營運資本驅動的企業。當我們的拉鏟即將發生故障時，特別是在我們的北美採礦業務部分，或者可能是密西西比褐煤採礦公司，我們將增加庫存，因為您希望在拆卸拉鏟進行工作時手頭有所有的零件。

So from time to time we'll increase our inventory and then we'll get consumed while we're while we're doing an outage so you will see some of those fluctuations as far as customer receivables or payables there's.

因此，我們會不時增加庫存，然後在停機期間會被消耗，因此您會看到客戶應收帳款或應付帳款的一些波動。

It's really just kind of a steady cadence, that doesn't fluctuate that much over time.

這其實只是一種穩定的節奏，不會隨著時間的推移而發生太大的波動。

Okay.

好的。

We do have a deposit. We have a line on our balance sheet deposit with vendors. You can see that it's $14.5 million at the end of March, and we expect that to turn this year. So that will be a pick up this year, but we've been increasing that if it went up $5 million in the quarter, so that kind of offset some of the improvements and we also talked about we had a change in the timing of our insurance.

我們確實有押金。我們的資產負債表上有一項是與供應商存款。您可以看到，三月底的金額為 1450 萬美元，我們預計今年將會實現這一目標。因此，今年這將是一個回升，但我們一直在增加，如果本季增加了 500 萬美元，那麼這將抵消一些改進，我們也談到了我們的保險時間發生了變化。

Renewal and so we pre-pay that and then expense it throughout the year. We move that out of Q1 so that's part of what was driving some of the changes that working capital.

續約，所以我們預付，然後全年支出。我們將其從第一季移出，這是推動營運資本部分變化的部分原因。

Again, if you have any questions, please press star one on your touchtone phone.

再次強調，如果您有任何疑問，請按按鍵電話上的星號鍵。

No, me too.

不，我也是。

Looks like we lost Doug somehow.

看起來我們不知怎麼地失去了道格。

Sorry.

對不起。

He raised his hand again.

他又舉起了手。

No, okay.

不，好吧。

We have Doug on the line again.

我們再次聯繫到了 Doug。

Sorry, so, I guess on the, also on the balance sheet you have that assets sell for sale line. What's in that?

抱歉，我想在資產負債表上您也有資產待售行。那裡面有什麼？

It consists of, some drag lines and a building in North Dakota that we got as part of the, termination settlement with the Great River Energy.

它包括一些拖纜和位於北達科他州的一棟建築，這是我們與 Great River Energy 達成的終止協議的一部分。

And you expect to sell those this year?

您預計今年就能賣出這些嗎？

And they're all being actively marketed.

並且它們都在積極地進行行銷。

I see. Okay. .

我懂了。好的。。

And then I guess the last question would just be on the, oh sorry, 2 more on the remediation.

然後我想最後一個問題是關於補救措施的，喔抱歉，還有兩個問題。

That makes sense is kind of lumpy as you get credits and realize proceeds on those is that right? Is that not a Steady quarter to quarter business.

這很有道理，因為你獲得信用並實現收益，對嗎？這不是一個穩定的季度業務嗎？

And then you're talking about Mitigation.

然後你談到緩解。

Yeah.

是的。

Mitigation resources, yeah, that, that's lumpy.

緩解資源，是的，那，那很不平衡。

It's sort of lumpy by design, right you.

從設計上來說，它有點粗糙，對吧。

You get a, the life cycle of a mitigation bank is, we identify an area where we want to be, we ultimately identify a watershed, and these are going to be in high growth areas, high growth states, high growth areas in those states. We acquire a piece of property, we work with the Army Corps of Engineers to develop the plan for Restoring, the streams and wetlands to a healthy state.

你得到的是，緩解銀行的生命週期是，我們確定我們想要的區域，我們最終確定一個分水嶺，這些將位於高成長地區，高成長州，這些州的高成長地區。我們獲得了一塊土地，並與陸軍工程兵團合作制定了恢復溪流和濕地健康狀態的計劃。

And they, we and they, the Army Corps of Engineers agree on something that's called a mitigation banking instrument. It specifies the work that we need to do, and then it provides the timeline with which credits will be made available for sale.

他們，我們和他們，陸軍工程兵團就所謂的緩解銀行工具達成了一致。它指定了我們需要做的工作，然後提供了信用可供出售的時間表。

And as those and that. Can be over a 10 year timeline, and it might be that you get some credits available right away because you're putting a conservation easement on the property. You may then take 2 years, I'm making up to 2 years, but it might be 2 years to get the next lump of credits that are available.

就像那些和那個。時間跨度可能超過 10 年，而且由於您在該財產上設立了保護地役權，您可能會立即獲得一些信用。然後你可能需要 2 年的時間，我假設是 2 年，但可能也需要 2 年的時間才能獲得下一筆可用的學分。

Once we've done some physical work on the streams or wetlands, and then, as we demonstrate, the health of the stream or we get, grass and trees and natural, plants established, you might get more credits over time. And so the life of the credit of the mitigation bank will have periodic credit releases that, will turn into credit sales, we'll make money on those.

一旦我們對溪流或濕地進行了一些實際工作，然後，正如我們所證明的，溪流的健康狀況，或者我們得到的草、樹和自然植物的建立，你可能會隨著時間的推移獲得更多的積分。因此，緩解銀行的信貸期限內將定期釋放信貸，這些信貸將轉化為信貸銷售，我們將從中賺錢。

Now, this is a, this is business is still pretty young in its life, as we get more and more mitigation banks. Just the law of averages in large numbers will start to smooth this out, because you're not just dealing with a handful of mitigation banks that have credits. You've got lots of mitigation banks with credits.

現在，這是一個還很年輕的行業，因為我們獲得了越來越多的緩解銀行。只要運用大數平均法則就能開始解決這個問題，因為你所要處理的不僅僅是少數擁有信貸的緩解銀行。你們有很多提供信貸的緩解銀行。

We're also supplementing that income with smaller, shorter term reclamation and restoration projects that are largely done on behalf of state and local municipal, state governments, local municipalities. Including the abandoned mine land work, all those projects tend to be on average less than a year, and they're sort of a steady, source of recurring income.

我們也透過規模較小、期限較短的複墾和修復計畫來補充這筆收入，這些計畫主要代表州和地方市政當局、州政府和地方市政當局進行。包括廢棄礦山土地工作在內，所有這些項目的平均持續時間通常不到一年，而且它們是穩定的經常性收入來源。

Same deal as we get more and more of that flowing through this business, it will start to smooth out, the overall results, but certainly for a while, we're going to continue to see pretty lumpy earnings in that piece of the business, but it is. I don't want you to think that that doesn't make it a great business.

同樣，隨著我們在這個業務中投入的資金越來越多，整體業績將開始趨於平穩，但肯定在一段時間內，我們將繼續看到該業務的收益相當不穩定，但事實確實如此。我不想讓你認為這並不能使其成為一門偉大的生意。

This is a great business. Really like the business model, really like the opportunity for returns that it provides with us. And it's really just a story of scaling the business, and that's why we're excited in the last two quarters, we've reported profitability and we expect them to be profitable for the year.

這是一樁偉大的事業。真的很喜歡這個商業模式，真的很喜歡它為我們提供的回報機會。這實際上只是一個擴大業務的故事，這就是為什麼我們對過去兩個季度感到興奮，我們已經報告了盈利，並且我們預計今年也將實現盈利。

Is there a way to right your expansion in that business in terms of you know the number, the acreage or some other metric.

有沒有辦法根據數量、面積或其他指標來正確衡量您在該業務中的擴張？

Eliz and I are looking at each other trying to figure out what the metric would be. I mean, it's a number of mitigation banks, it's.

伊麗茲和我面面相覷，試圖弄清楚這個指標是什麼。我的意思是，有很多緩解銀行。

Even then the credits within each bank.

即使如此，各家銀行內部的信用也是如此。

Differ.

不同。

Yeah, and pricing differs and.

是的，而且定價也不同。

Is it a stream credit and a wetland credit, like so that there's, yeah.

它是溪流信用和濕地信用嗎？是的。

We don't have a good answer for that right now other than I can assure you that the business is growing pretty rapidly and we're pretty excited about the trajectory that we're on, but we haven't figured out a good metric to describe that and look, it'd be easy to say number of mitigation banks, but some of these mitigation banks are very small and some of them are very large. So. Right. Hm.

目前我們對此還沒有很好的答案，但我可以向你保證，業務正在快速增長，我們對目前的發展軌跡感到非常興奮，但我們還沒有找到一個很好的指標來描述這一點，看看，很容易說出緩解銀行的數量，但其中一些緩解銀行非常小，而有些則非常大。所以。正確的。嗯。

And it could be acreage, but.

它可能是面積，但是。

That varies tremendously. If you're that, if you've got, let's just say you've got 100 acres in a place that has competitive banks, that can be, and it's moderate, an area of moderate growth, that can be very different than a mitigation bank with not a lot of competition in an area with extremely rapid growth. And, we run these banks over a number of years and we TRY to get in when, Land has not yet become astronomically expensive.

這差別很大。如果你是那樣，如果你有，假設你在一個有競爭性銀行的地方有 100 英畝的土地，那可以是一個中等增長的地區，這與在一個增長極快的地區沒有太多競爭的緩解性銀行有很大不同。而且，我們經營這些銀行已經很多年了，我們試圖在土地價格還沒有變得天文數字般昂貴的時候進入這些銀行。

And so what we tend to see is, in the early days we can buy the land and we can do the work and then you just see the area explode. Think about the highest growth areas in the country, the value of those credits can go up pretty substantially even if it's a small bank, it can suddenly turn into a really valuable, asset.

因此，我們通常看到的是，在早期我們可以購買土地，我們可以開展工作，然後你會看到該地區蓬勃發展。想想這個國家成長最快的地區，這些信貸的價值可能會大幅上升，即使是一家小銀行，它也可能突然變成真正有價值的資產。

So you actually own the land on those areas?

那麼您實際上擁有這些地區的土地嗎？

In some instances we own the land. In other instances, we will partner with the landowner, and we've got a contractual relationship that we will enter into with them, whereby they provide the land and we do the work. We manage the conservation easement, and then there's a compensation mechanism that rewards the landowner for the landowner's participation in the mitigation bank. And there's several models.

在某些情況下，我們擁有土地。在其他情況下，我們會與土地所有者合作，並與他們建立合約關係，他們提供土地，我們負責工作。我們管理保護地役權，然後有一個補償機制，獎勵土地所有者參與緩解銀行。並且有幾種模型。

For how we might reward them.

看看我們如何獎勵他們。

Interesting. Okay, and I guess last question would just be on the, you mentioned in the release, it sounds like you're making some progress on the solar initiatives, any, more color you might have on that.

有趣的。好的，我想最後一個問題是您在新聞稿中提到的，聽起來您在太陽能計劃上取得了一些進展，您對此有什麼進一步的了解嗎？

So the, that's our region resources business. We're looking at solar, solar needs back up, as they just learned in Spain.

這就是我們地區的資源業務。我們正在研究太陽能，太陽能需求復甦，正如西班牙剛剛了解的那樣。

The so we're looking at solar on its own. We're looking at solar with, various types of backup for solar, that continues to develop, there's a little bit of uncertainty in that business, because, there's some uncertainty about how tax credits are going to really play out in the future. But the projects that we're working on, we still feel pretty good about.

因此我們正在單獨研究太陽能。我們正在研究太陽能，各種類型的太陽能備用電源正在不斷發展，但該業務存在一些不確定性，因為對於未來稅收抵免將如何真正發揮作用存在一些不確定性。但我們對正在進行的項目仍然感覺非常滿意。

As they move forward, and, the other piece of this, is, you can read in the Wall Street Journal almost every day, is there's a lot of folks doing data, whether it's regular data or AI or, other, supporting functions, and they're looking for behind the meter solutions. And so, that's what, that's another opportunity where you can develop.

隨著他們不斷前進，另一方面，你幾乎每天都可以在《華爾街日報》上看到，有很多人在處理數據，無論是常規數據還是人工智慧或其他支援功能，他們都在尋找電錶背後的解決方案。所以，這就是您可以發展的另一個機會。

A package of generation could be solar, probably solar with back up, put it behind the meter. You don't have to deal with interconnect into the transmission grid and things like that. So, there's a lot of opportunity here. We're in this business because we've got a lot of land close to generation, assets and transmission if that's the route we choose to go.

發電設備可能是太陽能，也可能是備用電源的太陽能，將其放置在電錶後面。您不必處理輸電網互連之類的事情。所以，這裡有很多機會。我們從事這項業務是因為如果我們選擇這條路線的話，我們擁有大量靠近發電、資產和輸電的土地。

We're also in it because, we've operated adjacent to the energy space for a long time, and, we feel like we can leverage, to really capitalize on that knowledge and skills, in order to, add another piece of our business.

我們之所以參與其中，也因為我們長期在能源領域開展業務，我們覺得我們可以充分利用這些知識和技能，從而拓展我們的另一塊業務。

What, where, which part of your land are you likely to do that work on?

您可能在什麼地方、哪塊土地上進行這項工作？

Well, it's you said which part of the land?

那麼，您說的是哪一片土地呢？

Yeah, I mean, is it the Pennsylvania region or?

是的，我的意思是，它是賓州地區嗎？

So it's, I mean, it's largely on reclaimed mine land. So, think about where we have reclaimed, where we have mines, right? And as we mine, we're always reclaiming behind our mining. And so we've got reclaimed mine land that actually is in many instances, pretty darn good place to put projects like this.

所以，我的意思是，它主要位於開墾的礦區。那麼，想想我們在哪些地方開墾了土地，哪些地方有礦山，對嗎？當我們進行開採時，我們總是在開採後進行回收。因此，我們已經開墾了礦區，實際上在許多情況下，那裡是開展此類計畫的好地方。

We noted in our release Mississippi and Texas.

我們在新聞稿中指出了密西西比州和德克薩斯州。

Sorry, say again.

抱歉，再說一次。

Noted in the release in Mississippi and Texas.

密西西比州和德克薩斯州的新聞稿中提到。

Okay, got it. All right, well, as always, appreciate the time and talk to you next quarter.

好的，明白了。好的，一如既往，感謝您的時間，下個季度再聊。

Yeah, thank you, doctor. I appreciate the call. Thanks Doug.

是的，謝謝您，醫生。我很感謝你的來電。謝謝道格。

There are no Further questions please continue.

沒有其他問題，請繼續。

Okay. With that, we'll conclude our Q&A session. Before we conclude, I'd like to provide a few reminders. A replay of our call will be available later this morning. We'll also post a transcript on the investor relations website when it becomes available. If you have any questions, please reach out to me. My phone number is in the release. Other than that, I hope you all enjoy the rest of your day, and I'll turn it back to Vincent to conclude the call.

好的。我們的問答環節就此結束。在我們結束之前，我想提出幾點提醒。我們的通話重播將於今天上午晚些時候提供。當報告可用時，我們也會在投資者關係網站上發布一份報告。如果您有任何疑問，請與我聯絡。我的電話號碼在新聞稿裡。除此之外，我希望大家享受剩下的時間，我會把電話轉回給文森特來結束通話。

Ladies and gentlemen, this is because today's conference call.

女士們、先生們，這是因為今天的電話會議。

Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。