NACCO Industries Inc (NC) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. My name is Tina, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to NACCO Industries second quarter 2025 earnings call.

感謝您的支持。我叫蒂娜，今天我將擔任您的會議主持人。現在，我歡迎大家參加 NACCO Industries 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Christina Kmetko, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我很高興將電話轉給投資者關係部的 Christina Kmetko。請繼續。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us on today's second quarter 2025 earnings call. I'm Christina Kmetko, and I oversee Investor Relations here at NACCO. I'm joined by our President and CEO, J.C. Butler, and our Senior Vice President and Controller, Elizabeth Loveman. Yesterday evening, we released our second quarter results and filed our 10-Q with the SEC, both are available on the website if you haven't had a chance to review them.

大家早安，感謝您參加今天的 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。我是 Christina Kmetko，負責 NACCO 的投資人關係。與我一起出席的還有我們的總裁兼執行長 J.C. Butler 和高級副總裁兼財務總監 Elizabeth Loveman。昨天晚上，我們發布了第二季度業績並向美國證券交易委員會提交了 10-Q 報表，如果您還沒有機會查看，可以在網站上查閱。

Before we dive in, let me remind you that today's discussion will include forward-looking statements. As always, actual outcomes could differ materially due to various risks and uncertainties, which are outlined in our earnings release, 10-Q, and other filings.

在我們深入探討之前，請容我提醒您，今天的討論將包括前瞻性陳述。與往常一樣，由於各種風險和不確定性，實際結果可能存在重大差異，這些風險和不確定性在我們的收益報告、10-Q 和其他文件中都有概述。

We don't plan to update these statements until our next call. We'll also be referencing some non-GAAP metrics to give you a clear picture of how we think about our businesses. Reconciliations to GAAP can be found in the materials we posted online.

我們不打算在下次通話之前更新這些聲明。我們也會參考一些非公認會計準則指標，讓您清楚了解我們對業務的看法。在我們在線上發布的資料中可以找到與 GAAP 的對帳。

Lastly, we mentioned in our earnings release, during the quarter, we changed our reportable segment names to make it easier for our stakeholders to associate the business activities with each segment. Coal Mining was renamed Utility Coal Mining. North American Mining is now referred to as Contract Mining, and Minerals Management was renamed Minerals and Royalties. The composition and historical reporting of each segment remained the same. With the housekeeping out of the way, I'll hand things over to J.C. for his opening comments. J.C.?

最後，我們在收益報告中提到，在本季度，我們更改了可報告的分部名稱，以便我們的利害關係人更容易將業務活動與每個分部連結起來。煤礦開採更名為公用事業煤礦開採。北美採礦現在被稱為合約採礦，礦產管理更名為礦產和特許權使用費。每個部分的組成和歷史報告保持不變。處理完內部事務後，我會把時間交給 J.C. 來發表開場白。J.C.？

Thank you, Christy, and good morning, everyone. I want to open today by giving you a sense of how we see our business developing where our momentum is most visible and how we're navigating what we believe, are temporary challenges.

謝謝你，克里斯蒂，大家早安。今天，我想先向大家介紹我們如何看待我們的業務發展，我們的勢頭最明顯的地方，以及我們如何應對我們認為的暫時挑戰。

The operational challenges we mentioned occurred primarily at our utility coal mining and contract mining segments. These temporary disruptions affected our second quarter results, but my confidence at our business remains strong. We're also comparing these results against a particularly strong prior year quarter, where earnings a year ago were boosted by a sizable gain on the sale of legacy land.

我們提到的營運挑戰主要發生在我們的公用事業煤炭開採和合約採礦部門。這些暫時的中斷影響了我們第二季的業績，但我對我們的業務依然充滿信心。我們也將這些結果與特別強勁的去年同期業績進行了比較，去年同期的利潤受到出售遺留土地的巨額收益的推動。

We experienced strong revenue growth, specifically in the Utility Coal Mining segment, but it wasn't enough to overcome operational disruptions in the utility coal and contract mining segments as well as higher unallocated costs. Within the Utility Coal Mining segment, challenges at Mississippi Lignite Mining Company primarily drove the lower segment results.

我們的收入成長強勁，特別是在公用事業煤炭開採領域，但這不足以克服公用事業煤炭和合約採礦領域的營運中斷以及更高的未分配成本。在公用事業煤炭開採部門，密西西比褐煤礦業公司面臨的挑戰是導致該部門業績下滑的主要原因。

MLMC's customer has and continues to experience inefficiencies at its power plant. This, in turn, affects our ability to efficiently mine coal. Our team continues to respond to these unfavorable conditions with agility, but the operating inefficiencies tied to the power plant and lower pricing did weigh on our results.

MLMC 的客戶一直經歷著其發電廠效率低下的問題。這反過來又影響了我們高效開採煤炭的能力。我們的團隊繼續靈活應對這些不利條件，但與發電廠相關的營運效率低和較低的價格確實對我們的業績造成了影響。

Disruptions at the Contract Mining segment due to temporary mechanical issues at certain quarries resulted in fewer trends delivered and higher operating costs. That said, parts sales helped offset some of this, and we expect stronger results in the back half of the year as benefits from additional parts sales and several new and extended contracts kick in.

由於某些採石場出現臨時機械故障，合約採礦部門的業務中斷，導致交付的趨勢減少，營運成本增加。儘管如此，零件銷售有助於抵消其中的部分影響，我們預計，隨著額外零件銷售和幾份新合約和延長合約的生效，下半年的業績將更加強勁。

The second new MTECK dragline was commissioned early in the third quarter at an existing customer quarry, joining on commissioned at the end of the first quarter at a different quarry. These new MTECK draglines are great additions to the fleet. Their design simplifies maintenance, which allows increased uptime and greater efficiency.

第二台新的 MTECK 拉鏟於第三季初在現有客戶採石場投入使用，並於第一季末在另一個採石場投入使用。這些新型 MTECK 挖土機對車隊來說是一個很好的補充。它們的設計簡化了維護，從而增加了正常運行時間並提高了效率。

Amid these temporary bumps, our underlying growth drivers are performing well. Within Contract Mining, soft tooth mining is continuing to provide support for the Thacker Pass Project in Nevada, which is now under construction.

儘管面臨這些暫時的困難，我們的潛在成長動力仍然表現良好。在合約採礦領域，軟齒採礦繼續為目前正在建設中的內華達州 Thacker Pass 專案提供支援。

This operation generates stable income today and is expected to provide enhanced income and lasting cash flow as the project transitions to full-scale lithium production in late 2027. We are now providing contract mining services for several of the top 10 US producers of aggregates and our expanding pipeline of potential new deals is strong.

目前，該業務可產生穩定的收入，隨著專案在 2027 年底過渡到全面鋰生產，預計將提供更高的收入和持久的現金流。我們目前為美國十大骨材生產商中的幾家提供合約採礦服務，我們的潛在新交易管道正在不斷擴大。

We believe that our continued engagement with current and potential customers positions North American Mining and the Contract Mining segment is a key pillar for future growth.

我們相信，我們與現有和潛在客戶的持續合作將成為北美採礦和合約採礦部門未來成長的重要支柱。

Turning to our Minerals and Royalties segment. In July, Catapult completed a $4.2 million strategic acquisition that expanded our minerals interest within the Midland Basin. This deal included 10,500 gross acres and approximately 400 net royalty acres and includes a mix of producing wells as well as additional upside opportunities through future development with existing operators in the area.

轉向我們的礦產和特許權使用費部門。7 月，Catapult 完成了一項價值 420 萬美元的策略性收購，擴大了我們在米德蘭盆地的礦產權益。該交易涉及總面積 10,500 英畝和約 400 英畝淨特許權使用費土地，包括多種生產井以及透過與該地區現有營運商進行未來開發而獲得的額外上行機會。

Switching gears, we are also seeing growth of mitigation resources. We had expected Mitigation Resources to achieve full year profitability in 2025. However, temporary delays in federal permitting have pushed out that expectation.

換個角度來看，我們也看到緩解資源的成長。我們曾預計 Mitigation Resources 將在 2025 年實現全年獲利。然而，聯邦許可的暫時延遲推遲了這項預期。

Mitigation Resources is now expected to achieve full year profitability in 2026 and move toward more consistent results over time. The pace of growth that Mitigation Resources is building as this key team continues to secure new projects, which build on results from projects that are currently under lag.

Mitigation Resources 預計在 2026 年全年獲利，並隨著時間的推移取得更穩定的業績。隨著這個關鍵團隊繼續獲得新項目，緩解資源公司的成長速度正在加快，而新項目則是建立在目前落後的專案成果之上。

Despite the current quarter challenges, we're well positioned to achieve meaningful growth going forward. Our fundamental business model is built on a strong collection of long-term contracts and investments that produce relatively strong and steady earnings and cash flows over time. Each year, we add to this business model by securing more long-term projects and making investments that will contribute to future results, creating a compounding effect.

儘管本季面臨挑戰，但我們仍有能力實現未來有意義的成長。我們的基本商業模式建立在強大的長期合約和投資之上，這些合約和投資可以隨著時間的推移產生相對強勁和穩定的收益和現金流。每年，我們都會透過獲得更多長期項目和進行有助於未來績效的投資來擴展這一商業模式，從而產生複合效應。

Many of these opportunities are built on a fee-for-service model where we have little or no capital exposure, while others might require us to invest capital upfront. Regardless of the model, very few of our businesses require significant amounts of maintenance CapEx.

其中許多機會都是建立在收費服務模式上的，在這種模式下，我們幾乎沒有或根本沒有資本風險，而其他機會可能要求我們預先投入資本。無論採用何種模式，我們的業務中很少有需要大量的維護資本支出。

Our goal is to keep adding layers that will provide something approaching annuity-like returns and cash generation over time. All of this is underpinned by a business model purposely built for durability and compounding growth. We've been pursuing this approach for 10 years, and it's really gaining momentum.

我們的目標是不斷增加層次，以便隨著時間的推移提供接近年金般的回報和現金產生。所有這一切都以專為持久性和複合增長而構建的商業模式為基礎。我們已經推行這種方法十年了，而且它確實正在獲得發展勢頭。

This is why I remain confident in our ability to deliver what we believe will be improving results in the second half of the year and continuing in the future years.

這就是為什麼我仍然相信我們有能力在今年下半年取得更好的業績，並在未來幾年繼續保持這種業績。

Before wrapping up my comments, I'd like to note that I believe our new segment names do a much better job at describing what we do in each of our businesses. We made this change as part of a larger effort to enhance our communications with shareholders and others who might be interested in our company. With that, I'll turn the call over to Liz for a closer look at the financials. Liz?

在結束我的評論之前，我想指出，我相信我們的新部門名稱能夠更好地描述我們在每項業務中所做的事情。我們做出這項改變是為了加強與股東和其他可能對我們公司感興趣的人的溝通。說完這些，我會把電話轉給 Liz，讓她仔細看看財務狀況。莉茲？

Thank you, J.C. Let's get into the results for the quarter, and I'll try to keep it as straightforward as possible. Consolidated revenues were $68 million, up 30% year over year. That's really being driven by the Utility Coal Mining segment as Mississippi Lignite Mining Company's customer returned to more normal operations after running at reduced capacity from much of last year. Both an increase in other income and a favorable change in income taxes helped to partly counterbalance the impact from operational disruptions.

謝謝，J.C。讓我們來談談本季的業績，我會盡量保持簡單明了。合併收入為 6,800 萬美元，年增 30%。這實際上是由公用事業煤炭開採部門推動的，因為密西西比褐煤礦業公司的客戶在去年大部分時間產能降低後恢復了更正常的營運。其他收入的增加和所得稅的有利變化有助於部分抵消營運中斷的影響。

This combination resulted in consolidated net income of $3.3 million, down from $6 million in the prior year. Diluted earnings per share decreased 40% -- 46% year on year, again, reflecting those operational headwinds and last year's unusually strong comparison. EBITDA was $9.3 million versus $13.5 million in the same period last year.

此次合併導致合併淨收入為 330 萬美元，低於前一年的 600 萬美元。每股攤薄收益年減 40% - 46%，這再次反映了營運方面的不利因素以及去年異常強勁的業績表現。EBITDA 為 930 萬美元，而去年同期為 1,350 萬美元。

There's a little more color at the segment level. At the Utility Coal Mining segment, the decline in operating profit and segment adjusted EBITDA was primarily driven by unfavorable results at Mississippi Lignite Mining Company, although the cost per ton of coal delivered improved, the lower contract pricing more than offset that improvement.

在片段層級上有更多的顏色。在公用事業煤炭開採部門，營業利潤和部門調整後 EBITDA 的下降主要受到密西西比褐煤礦業公司業績不佳的影響，儘管每噸煤炭的交付成本有所改善，但較低的合約價格抵消了這一改善。

Looking ahead, we expect improvement in the second half of 2025 compared with the first half of the year. Still, the current formula-based contract pricing remains a headwind compared to the second half of last year, which also benefited from business interruption insurance income.

展望未來，我們預計 2025 年下半年的情況將比上半年有所改善。儘管如此，與去年下半年相比，目前基於公式的合約定價仍面臨阻力，去年下半年也受益於業務中斷保險收入。

Anticipated improvements in both sales price and cost per ton delivered are expected to result in a return to profitability at Mississippi Lignite Mining Company in 2026 assuming the customer power plant operations and demand stabilize and formula-based pricing improves as expected.

假設客戶發電廠的營運和需求穩定，並且基於公式的定價如預期的那樣改善，預計銷售價格和每噸交付成本的改善將使密西西比褐煤礦業公司在 2026 年恢復盈利。

At North American Mining, revenues net of reimbursed costs rose 3%, driven by increased part sales. However, this upside was offset by fewer tons delivered due to customer operational delays plus higher operating costs, including unexpected repairs and maintenance expenses.

在北美礦業，由於零件銷售額增加，扣除補償成本後的淨收入增加了 3%。然而，由於客戶營運延誤導致交付噸數減少，加上營運成本上升（包括意外維修和維護費用），抵消了這一增長。

This resulted in a decrease in the current quarter profit and segment adjusted EBITDA. With operational efficiencies expected to improve and a growing focus on parts sales, we expect the Contract Mining segment profits to strengthen in the back half of the year with the momentum continuing into 2026.

這導致本季利潤和分部調整後EBITDA下降。隨著營運效率的提高和對零件銷售的日益關注，我們預計合約採礦部門的利潤將在下半年增強，並且這種勢頭將持續到 2026 年。

At the Minerals and Royalties segment, last year's results included a large onetime gain. Excluding that, this year's operating profit and EBITDA actually increased, thanks primarily to a 30% rise in revenues, largely due to higher natural gas prices.

在礦產和特許權使用費部門，去年的業績包括一筆巨大的一次性收益。除此之外，今年的營業利潤和 EBITDA 實際上有所增加，這主要歸功於營收成長 30%，而營收成長主要得益於天然氣價格上漲。

As J.C. mentioned, Catapult completed a new acquisition in July, expanding our mineral interest portfolio. Both this new acquisition and Catapult's equity investment should contribute more meaningfully to results starting in the second half of 2022.

正如 J.C. 所提到的，Catapult 於 7 月完成了一項新的收購，擴大了我們的礦產權益組合。此次新收購和 Catapult 的股權投資都將對 2022 年下半年開始的業績做出更有意義的貢獻。

Adding everything together for the remainder of the year, we anticipate a substantial increase in consolidated 2025 operating profit over the first half, but full year operating profit will still fall short of last year, which included a large gain on sale. We will complete the termination of our pension plan by the end of this year. While this will trigger a noncash settlement charge, the plan is overfunded and the move will simplify our financial structure going forward.

綜合考慮今年剩餘時間的所有因素，我們預計 2025 年合併營業利潤將比上半年大幅增加，但全年營業利潤仍將低於去年，其中包括大幅銷售收益。我們將在今年年底前完成退休金計畫的終止。雖然這將引發非現金結算費用，但該計劃資金過剩，此舉將簡化我們未來的財務結構。

Nonetheless, the pension settlement charge and lower operating profit are expected to lead to a substantial year-over-year decrease in net income and EBITDA compared with the 2024 second half and full year. From a liquidity standpoint, at June 30, we had total debt outstanding of $95.5 million.

儘管如此，退休金結算費用和較低的營業利潤預計將導致淨收入和 EBITDA 與 2024 年下半年和全年相比大幅同比下降。從流動性角度來看，截至 6 月 30 日，我們的未償債務總額為 9,550 萬美元。

Our total liquidity was $139.9 million, which consisted of $49.4 million of cash and $90.5 million of availability under our revolving credit facility. During the quarter, we paid $1.9 million in dividends, and as of June 30, 2025, we had $7.8 million remaining under our $20 million share repurchase program that expires at the end of this year. We are forecasting up to $86 million in capital spending this year, which is higher than we projected at the end of last quarter.

我們的總流動資金為 1.399 億美元，其中包括 4,940 萬美元的現金和 9,050 萬美元的循環信貸額度下的可用資金。在本季度，我們支付了 190 萬美元的股息，截至 2025 年 6 月 30 日，根據今年年底到期的 2,000 萬美元股票回購計劃，我們還剩下 780 萬美元。我們預測今年的資本支出將高達 8,600 萬美元，高於我們上個季度末的預測。

Most of this is earmarked for new business development. As our returns from previous investments start to materialize, we expect cash flow to improve over the prior year and continue to increase steadily next year. With that, I'll hand it back to J.C. for closing remarks.

其中大部分資金將專門用於新業務開發。隨著我們先前投資的回報開始實現，我們預計現金流將比前一年有所改善，並在明年繼續穩步成長。說完這些，我將把發言交還給 J.C. 進行總結發言。

To wrap up, I am confident in our future. We are operating in a very favorable environment. There is strong growing demand for the products and services that we provide and rapidly growing demand for energy. Recent government support is also further boosting all of our businesses. Short-term disruptions aside, I believe the building box for durable compounding growth at NACCO are firmly in place.

總而言之，我對我們的未來充滿信心。我們正處於非常有利的環境。我們提供的產品和服務的需求強勁成長，能源需求也快速成長。最近的政府支持也進一步促進了我們所有業務的發展。拋開短期中斷不談，我相信 NACCO 持久複合成長的基礎已經牢固建立。

Our team remains focused on execution, operational discipline and driving long-term returns for shareholders. We're optimistic about what the rest of the year holds and even more so about our prospects for 2026 and beyond.

我們的團隊始終專注於執行、營運紀律和為股東帶來長期回報。我們對今年剩餘時間的前景充滿樂觀，對 2026 年及以後的前景更加樂觀。

With that, we will now turn to any questions you may have.

好了，我們現在來回答你們可能提出的任何問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Douglas Weiss, DSW Investment.

道格拉斯·韋斯，DSW 投資公司。

Starting with the coal segment. So on your unconsolidated businesses, volumes were a little bit lighter than they've been over the last couple of years. Could you say why that happened?

從煤炭領域開始。因此，就您的非合併業務而言，交易量比過去幾年略少一些。你能解釋為什麼會發生這種情況嗎？

It was really a collection of minor things in a number of places. There's nothing there that I would specifically call out, and there's nothing that I really think is a problem going forward. It's really just kind of single quarter noise going on that has been the main problem.

它實際上是許多地方的小東西的集合。我沒有什麼特別要指出的，而且我認為也沒有什麼會成為未來的問題。事實上，主要問題只是單一季度的噪音。

Okay. So you would see that -- I mean, it dropped from --

好的。所以你會看到——我的意思是，它從--

Yeah, there's nothing in there that's reason for concern.

是的，裡面沒有什麼值得擔心的事。

Okay. You'd see kind of returning to trend line there.

好的。您會看到趨勢線有所回歸。

Yeah.

是的。

Yeah. And then when you say MLMC will return or you expect it to return to profit next year, are you talking about gross profit?

是的。然後，當您說 MLMC 將會獲利或您預計它明年將會獲利時，您指的是毛利嗎？

Yeah. It's not a combination. We think the formula pricing is going to improve based on what we know about the formula and now we can look at where we think inflation will go in the future as well as we're expecting that the plant is going to operate more consistently, which allows us to operate more consistently and drive down our cost.

是的。這不是一個組合。我們認為，根據我們對公式的了解，公式定價將會有所改善，現在我們可以看看未來通貨膨脹的走向，同時我們預計工廠將更加穩定地運營，這使我們能夠更加穩定地運作並降低成本。

Right. And that formula, is it redetermined based on year-end pricing?

正確的。那個公式是根據年終定價重新決定的嗎？

No. It's reset. It is monthly or quarterly?

不。已重置。是月度還是季度？

Monthly. That includes when we look back a monthly and the five year.

每月。這包括我們回顧每月和五年的情況。

And so it's a contractually great formula that came up with back in the mid-1990s that takes a one year look back as well as a five-year look back published -- nationally published indices that reflect general inputs in mining and power production.

因此，這是 20 世紀 90 年代中期提出的一個具有合約意義的公式，它回顧了一年以及五年的歷史，並發布了全國性的指數，反映了採礦和電力生產的一般投入。

I see. But is it resetting every quarter? Did I understand you?

我懂了。但它每季都會重置嗎？我理解你的意思了嗎？

Yes.

是的。

Okay. So you could actually see better pricing over the next couple of quarters if depending on inputs.

好的。因此，如果依賴投入，你實際上可以在接下來的幾個季度看到更好的定價。

Yeah. Well, based on the way we're forecasting the coming quarters, yes.

是的。嗯，根據我們對未來幾季的預測，是的。

It's really in 2026 that we see the substantial improvement in the sales price.

真正到了2026年，我們才能看到銷售價格的大幅改善。

Okay.

好的。

There's going to be some noise going through the pricing formula, which isn't surprising. I mentioned earlier that it's a one year look back. So what is what is a stated index for something today versus a year ago but also today versus 5 years ago. When you think about five years ago, the economy was going through the roller coaster of COVID when things, prices and lots of things dropped a lot early on and then spiked up. So as you do in a one year look back, I mean there's not a lot of noise there.

定價公式中肯定會出現一些噪音，這並不奇怪。我之前提到過，這是一年的回顧。那麼，今天與一年前相比，以及今天與五年前相比，某一事物的既定指數是多少呢？回想五年前，經濟正經歷新冠疫情的雲霄飛車式波動，物價等很多東西一開始都大幅下跌，然後又飆升。所以當你回顧這一年時，你會發現那裡並沒有太多的噪音。

But as you do on a five year look back, there is some noise five years ago, and that's messing with the formula right now. And we expect that's going to stabilize as we move into 2026.

但回顧五年前的情況，你會發現五年前存在一些噪音，而這些噪音正在擾亂現在的公式。我們預計，到 2026 年，這種情況將會趨於穩定。

Okay. And MLMC has the boiler problem, and it sounds like they're having some more operational problems. Is that coincidental? Or is it just a really old facility that you think may have ongoing issues?

好的。MLMC 的鍋爐出了問題，而且聽起來他們也遇到了一些其他的營運問題。這是巧合嗎？或者您認為這只是一個可能存在持續問題的非常老舊的設施？

Well, I mean it's not a terribly old facility. This thing started up in 2020, which in the scheme of US power plants is pretty -- coal-fired power plants, it's pretty new. Obviously, the boiler issue a year ago, more than a year ago was a very substantial onetime issue that took out half the plant for half of the year. That's clearly a very -- you would only expect that to happen at most once in the life of a power plant over many decades.

嗯，我的意思是它並不是一個非常古老的設施。這個計畫於 2020 年啟動，在美國發電廠的規劃中，它是相當新的——燃煤發電廠。顯然，一年前、一年多前的鍋爐問題是一個非常嚴重的一次性問題，導致一半的工廠在半年內停工。這顯然是一個非常——你只會期望在發電廠數十年的壽命中最多發生一次這種情況。

The things that are going on now are more sort of minor things that power plants are big, complicated machines. They do, from time to time, have things like tube leaks and other mechanical issues. The ones they're going through right now are not extraordinary in any way. They just happen to be happening at a period of time to affect the second quarter results.

現在發生的事情更多是一些小事，而發電廠則是大型、複雜的機器。它們確實不時會出現管道洩漏和其他機械問題。他們現在所經歷的事情無論如何都不算​​特別。它們只是恰好發生在影響第二季業績的時期。

Okay. For North American mining volume was -- I haven't remembered your new headings by the way, but I will for next quarter. But the volume was light, why was that?

好的。對於北美採礦量來說——順便說一句，我還沒有記住你的新標題，但我會記住下個季度的。但是音量卻很小，這是為什麼呢？

Did you say, why was that?

你說這是為什麼呢？

Yeah. Why did volume drop off?

是的。音量為何下降？

Yeah. So it was a combination of some customer -- reduction in customer demand, which might be some general softness in their customer demand. But I don't think any of it is really significant. There were some minor issues with, I think, with some of their facilities, although nothing major. And we had some mechanical issues with some of our equipment, primarily draglines that made it able for us to deliver.

是的。因此，這是一些客戶需求減少的結果，這可能是客戶需求整體疲軟的表現。但我並不認為這些真的有什麼重要意義。我認為他們的一些設施存在一些小問題，但並不是什麼大問題。我們的一些設備出現了一些機械問題，主要是拖纜，導致我們無法運輸。

It's one of the reasons that customers keep inventory stockpiles on site, it creates a buffer for them and for us with respect to deliveries. The repairs that we have made have been successful, and we don't see a problem with any of that going forward.

這是客戶在現場保留庫存的原因之一，它為他們和我們提供了交貨的緩衝。我們所做的修復工作非常成功，我們認為未來不會有任何問題。

Okay. In terms of the CapEx, it's back-end weighted. Is most of that -- how is that allocated at this point? Is a lot of that for the contract mining or --

好的。就資本支出而言，它是後端加權的。其中大部分——目前是如何分配的？其中很大一部分是用於合約挖礦還是--

So a vast majority of it is related to growth initiatives. It's money that we're spending in order to secure new contracts, new projects. And you'll remember that our business model is -- and where we can, we like to have a service model.

因此，其中絕大多數與成長計劃有關。我們花這些錢是為了獲得新合約、新專案。你會記得我們的商業模式是──只要有可能，我們喜歡採用服務模式。

We don't have any capital upfront, and we just collect a fee going forward. But in some instances, particularly at North American Mining, but also at Catapult, we'll invest capital upfront that will in Catapult's case by mineral and royalty interest to make other investments that will then have very long-term returns with no further investment on our part or at -- when you look at contract mining in North American Mining, it might be a dragline that will buy upfront and the maintenance CapEx on those things is a fraction of the depreciation over time.

我們沒有任何前期資本，我們只是收取一定的費用。但在某些情況下，特別是在北美礦業公司，但也包括在 Catapult 公司，我們會預先投入資本，在 Catapult 公司的案例中，我們會透過礦產和特許權使用費權益進行其他投資，然後這些投資將獲得非常長期的回報，而我們無需進一步投資，或者當你拖船的財富

So a majority of that CapEx, which is later in the year is tied to growth tied to new contracts and new investments.

因此，今年稍後的大部分資本支出都與新合約和新投資相關的成長掛鉤。

And which --

並且哪個--

To me -- sorry to interrupt, but to me, the really attractive thing about that in our business model, is we don't really have a lot of ongoing CapEx unless we see opportunities for growth that meets very well developed, and I think, robust and proven set of investment criteria that we have for new projects. So we got low CapEx unless we see opportunities to grow in these long-term multiyear contracts. And in that case, we're going to increase our CapEx spend because it's an opportunity to grow the business.

對我來說——抱歉打斷一下，但對我來說，我們的商業模式真正吸引人的地方在於，我們實際上並沒有大量的持續資本支出，除非我們看到符合非常完善的成長機會，而且我認為，我們為新項目制定了一套穩健且經過驗證的投資標準。因此，除非我們在這些長期多年合約中看到成長機會，否則我們的資本支出就會很低。在這種情況下，我們將增加資本支出，因為這是一個發展業務的機會。

Right. And I -- it sounds like you continue to sign new projects in the contract mining segment?

正確的。我——聽起來您在合約採礦領域繼續簽署新項目？

Yeah. Certainly, in the contract mining segment, but I would say that's true across the entire company. We, over the last number of years, have built an incredibly effective business development machine that is continuing to add new long-term multiyear projects and contracts and investments on top of those that are already in place, kind of the fundamental base of our business is the long-term contracts at our Coal Mining segment -- Utility Coal Mining segment as well as the income that we generate out of our natural gas reserves in Appalachia that we've owned for decades.

是的。當然，在合約採礦領域是這樣，但我想說整個公司都是如此。在過去的幾年裡，我們建立了一個非常有效的業務發展機器，在現有項目、合約和投資的基礎上繼續增加新的長期多年期項目、合約和投資，我們業務的基礎是我們煤炭開採部門的長期合約——公用事業煤炭開採部門，以及我們幾十年來從阿巴拉契亞天然氣儲備中產生的收入。

Those long-term platforms have really fueled the success over the last 10 years that we've added more and more long-term contracts. And as we continue to exercise that business development muscle, we're getting better and better at it.

這些長期平台確實推動了我們過去十年的成功，我們增加了越來越多的長期合約。隨著我們不斷鍛鍊業務發展能力，我們在這方面做得越來越好。

I'd say in the beginning, we were hitting a lot of singles, which I was very happy with. We've more recently started hitting more doubles and triples and even some home runs with respect to these long-term projects, contracts and investments.

我想說，一開始我們打出了很多單打，對此我感到非常高興。最近，我們在這些長期項目、合約和投資方面開始取得更多雙倍、三倍甚至全壘打。

And as we have those, we're fortunate that we've got a balance sheet and stable cash flows that allow us to keep adding those to the portfolio that we already have. So it really has a very much a compounding effect as we think about the growth trajectory that we're on.

有了這些，我們很幸運，我們擁有資產負債表和穩定的現金流，這使我們能夠繼續將這些添加到我們已有的投資組合中。因此，當我們考慮我們所處的成長軌跡時，它確實具有很大的複合效應。

When you say triples and home runs, are you thinking -- can you give some specific examples? Are you thinking within the Contract Mining segment or Catapult?

當您說三壘安打和本壘打時，您是否在想——您能舉一些具體的例子嗎？您是在考慮合約採礦領域還是 Catapult？

It's really kind of across the board. We've found some opportunities in each of our businesses to find projects that are increasingly attractive to us, both in terms of their size, in terms of the profit opportunities that they offer us in terms of the length of the contract. And I would also say we're finding ways to branch out really just kind of on the edges of what we do. A great example of that, I would point out is our lithium project. We signed that in 2019.

這確實是一種全面的現象。我們在每項業務中都發現了一些機會，可以找到對我們越來越有吸引力的項目，無論是從規模來看，還是從它們為我們提供的盈利機會來看，還是從合約期限來看。而且我還想說，我們正在尋找方法來擴展我們所做工作的邊緣領域。我想指出的一個很好的例子就是我們的鋰專案。我們於 2019 年簽署了該協議。

We've been working with the customer to develop that project ever since. And we're making a modest amount of money right now and we're supporting them in development. But as we get to 2027 and beyond, when we start delivering lithium to them, that thing is very substantial, meaningful project for us. So it's one example of something that we've already signed. We have others in other parts of our business that I have similar feelings about those. And we've got a number in the pipeline that I think are equally as excited.

從那時起我們就一直與客戶合作開發該專案。我們現在賺了一筆不小的錢，我們正在支持他們的發展。但到了 2027 年及以後，當我們開始向他們提供鋰時，這對我們來說是一個非常重大、有意義的項目。這是我們已經簽署的協議的一個例子。我們業務其他部門的其他人也和我有著類似的感受。我認為，我們還有一些計劃正在籌備中，他們也同樣興奮。

Okay. Great. In terms of the cash flow statement, it looks like you still haven't realized the -- you still haven't received the cash from your investments in working capital over the last couple of years. Do you expect that later in the year?

好的。偉大的。從現金流量表來看，您似乎還沒有意識到——過去幾年您還沒有收到營運資金投資的現金。您預計今年晚些時候會這樣嗎？

So we did say we expect more favorable cash flows this year than last year. If you look at our balance sheet, you can see we have the positive with vendors of $16.3 million as current. So we anticipate the collection of that. Last year, we did '23 and '24, we were building up inventory in the contract mining business that we don't anticipate significant increases in that going forward. So that's I guess a little bit of color around that.

所以我們確實說過，我們預計今年的現金流將比去年更有利。如果您查看我們的資產負債表，您會發現我們目前與供應商的往來為正值 1630 萬美元。因此我們期待收集這些資訊。去年，我們做了 23 和 24 年的工作，我們在合約採礦業務中累積了庫存，我們預計未來庫存不會大幅增加。所以我想這裡面就有點色彩了。

Okay. Yeah, you said you expected to generate cash this year. I think on a net basis, is that right? Net of CapEx. That's just what I recall the guidance being earlier in the year could be off on that.

好的。是的，您說過您預計今年會產生現金。我認為從淨基礎來看，對嗎？扣除資本支出。我記得今年早些時候的指導意見可能與此有關。

This quarter, we said it would be an improvement in cash flow, but it was still a use of cash. But yeah, you're correct. We had previously initially said we thought it was going to be an increase in cash flow, yes.

本季度，我們表示現金流將會改善，但這仍然是現金的使用。但是的，你是對的。是的，我們之前曾初步表示，我們認為現金流會增加。

The change is partly related to these additional CapEx opportunities. I really -- I very much think of this CapEx opportunities to secure some new projects.

這一變化部分與這些額外的資本支出機會有關。我真的——我非常認為這個資本支出機會可以確保一些新項目。

I see. So has your expectation for operating cash flow changed? Or are you just -- or is it just you're spending more?

我懂了。那麼，您對經營現金流的預期有改變嗎？或者你只是——或者只是你花了更多錢？

Well, I'd say that they have changed to the extent that the second quarter didn't play out like we thought it would. If you neutralize the second quarter, we still feel pretty good around where we're heading. The second quarter is really the driver in the slight change in sentiment. It's not an ongoing change of the -- it's really second quarter in that.

嗯，我想說他們已經發生了很大變化，以至於第二季的表現並不像我們想像的那樣。如果你將第二季的情況中和，我們仍然對我們的前進方向感到十分滿意。第二季確實是情緒發生輕微變化的驅動因素。這不是一個持續的變化——這實際上是第二季的變化。

And going into 2026 is when we really anticipate a more steady increase in annual cash flow generation.

進入 2026 年，我們真正預期年度現金流將更穩定成長。

Look, remember if we find some great opportunities to enter into some great new projects that do require some CapEx upfront, we're probably going to pursue those. But I would think as an investor, that's a good sight.

看，記住，如果我們發現一些很好的機會進入一些確實需要一些前期資本支出的偉大的新項目，我們可能會追求這些項目。但我認為，作為一個投資者，這是一個好景象。

Yeah. No, absolutely. On the pension settlement, it sounds like that's non-cash. And correct me if I'm wrong on that. But in terms of the overfunding, what happens to the overfunding there?

是的。不，絕對不是。關於退休金結算，聽起來像是非現金的。如果我錯了，請糾正我。但就資金過剩而言，那裡的資金過剩會發生什麼情況？

Similar to what happened with -- if you see we have a prepaid profit sharing amount on our balance sheet at the end of the quarter, we can use that to fund other qualified planned funding requirements.

與發生的情況類似——如果您看到我們在季度末的資產負債表上有預付的利潤分享金額，我們可以用它來滿足其他合格的計劃資金需求。

It's money that's sitting on the balance sheet that we -- look, we can't use it for CapEx, but we can certainly use that money that's sitting in that account to fund qualified plan contributions, the 401(k) kind of stuff. So if you think of money is fungible, that's sitting in an account that can be used for a specific purpose, we otherwise would have been using general funds for that.

這些錢是放在資產負債表上的，我們不能用它們來支付資本支出，但是我們可以用放在帳戶裡的錢來支付合格的計劃供款，比如 401(k) 之類的東西。因此，如果你認為錢是可替代的，那就是放在一個可以用於特定目的的帳戶中，否則我們就會使用普通資金來實現這一目的。

Correct.

正確的。

And you're correct that the pension charge is a noncash change. It's going to -- look, it's going to hit the income statement. It's going to make it look bad, but it's -- I view it as a good fact. We're going to get out of the pension business. We've been out of pensions for a long, long time. This is finally terminating it and getting it out of our financial statements. Pension is frozen for 25 years.

您說得對，退休金費用是一種非現金變動。它會——你看，它會衝擊損益表。這會讓事情看起來很糟糕，但我認為這是一件好事。我們將退出退休金業務。我們已經很久很久沒有領退休金了。這最終將終止它並將其從我們的財務報表中刪除。退休金凍結25年。

Maybe not 25, but substantial --

也許不是 25，但相當可觀--

Substantial amount of time.

相當多的時間。

Yeah. Right. Okay. Last question for me is there's been a fair amount of press coverage about activity in the Appalachia region with data centers and of the grid natural gas contracts. Does that -- I mean, presumably, that could be beneficial for gas prices, but does it have any other implications for your reserves in that region?

是的。正確的。好的。對我來說，最後一個問題是，媒體對阿巴拉契亞地區的資料中心活動和電網天然氣合約進行了大量的報告。這是否——我的意思是，這可能對天然氣價格有利，但它對您在該地區的儲備還有其他影響嗎？

I would say indirectly, yes. Directly, we just own the minerals. We really can't enter into a contract for our minerals to go into a power plant with serving a data farm. But I would say, when you think about basis, if you're familiar with basis, it's really the team transportation cost to get somewhere something is produced to the central markets. I'd say it's helpful for natural gas pricing in the Appalachian region, the closer you bring demand to the product, that's always a good sight.

我想間接地說，是的。直接而言，我們只擁有礦產。我們確實不能簽訂合同，將我們的礦物運往發電廠並為數據農場提供服務。但我想說，當你考慮基礎時，如果你熟悉基礎，它實際上就是將生產的東西運送到中央市場的團隊運輸成本。我想說這對阿巴拉契亞地區的天然氣定價很有幫助，產品越接近需求，就越有利。

Okay. All right. Great. We'll always appreciate the answers and look forward to talking to you next quarter.

好的。好的。偉大的。我們將始終感謝您的答复，並期待下個季度與您交談。

Just one other thing on your last question. The other thing you can do is any -- as you try to move oil and gas around the country, people are always looking at pipeline capacity. And to the extent that you bring demand nearby, it probably expands the offtake ability out of that basin, which helps, right? It encourages more production and encourages people to come in and focus more on a given basin because you're not trying to put every bit of production through the existing pipelines.

關於你的最後一個問題，還有一件事。您可以做的另一件事是——當您嘗試在全國範圍內運輸石油和天然氣時，人們總是關注管道容量。並且，只要您將需求帶到附近，它可能會擴大該盆地的承購能力，這會有所幫助，對嗎？它鼓勵更多的生產，並鼓勵人們進入並更加關注特定的盆地，因為你不會試圖將所有的生產都通過現有的管道進行。

Just one -- a point of clarification, real quick. The pension plan was frozen in 2020, you were right it was 25 years ago. And MLMC actually started deliveries in 2020 -- or 2002, not 2000, just clarifying.

只需快速澄清一點。退休金計畫在 2020 年被凍結，你說得對，那是 25 年前的事了。MLMC 實際上是在 2020 年開始交付的——或者說是 2002 年，而不是 2000 年，只是為了澄清。

It's a long time ago.

那是很久以前的事了。

Yes. Both of them are a long time ago.

是的。兩者都是很久以前的事了。

[Daniel Bore, AWCL].

[丹尼爾·博爾，AWCL]。

We have moved from, I don't know, $80 million or $100 million in net cash to $46 million in net debt. Can you talk about kind of philosophically where you want to be? After this large CapEx cycle, cash flow cycle changes, is there a period of deleveraging you see what -- where are we going?

我們的淨現金已從 8,000 萬美元或 1 億美元轉變為 4,600 萬美元的淨債務。能從哲學角度談談你想要達到的目標嗎？在這個大的資本支出週期、現金流週期變化之後，是否會有一個去槓桿時期，您看到了什麼——我們將走向何方？

Yeah. We are headed towards less leverage rather than more. I'm not saying that's going to be happening in the next quarter. But our objective is to have less leverage than we do. Although we operate in an incredibly attractive political environment right now, I do recognize -- we recognize that there is political risk, particularly on our coal business.

是的。我們正朝著減少槓桿的方向發展，而不是增加槓桿。我並不是說這會在下個季度發生。但我們的目標是降低槓桿。儘管我們目前處於極具吸引力的政治環境中，但我確實認識到——我們認識到存在政治風險，特別是對我們的煤炭業務而言。

And we have some entrepreneurial startup risk, although today, I think our businesses are much more mature than they were a few years ago. So my philosophy and our philosophy is -- if we've got political risk on a core part of our business, and we have entrepreneurial start-up risk in other parts of our business, we should have no risk on our balance sheet.

儘管我認為今天我們的業務比幾年前成熟得多，但我們仍面臨一些創業風險。所以我的理念和我們的理念是──如果我們業務的核心部分有政治風險，而我們業務的其他部分有創業風險，那麼我們的資產負債表上就不應該有風險。

And that's why internally, we talk about maintaining a bulletproof balance sheet, and that's what we strive to have -- and what we mean by bulletproof balance sheet is very low levels of debt and a substantial amount of cash.

這就是為什麼我們在內部談論維持堅不可摧的資產負債表，這也是我們努力實現的目標——我們所說的堅不可摧的資產負債表是指非常低的債務水平和大量的現金。

And look, I described to you the philosophies from assessing risk -- the other reason, I think, very, very conservative balance sheet is important because as we meet with customers, potential customers and represent to them that we're going to start a set of services for them that are completely integrated into their business, whether that's running the coal mine that supplies to power plants, 100% of the fuel for power plant or if we're doing all of the binding with respect to an aggregates quarry or a cement plant.

你看，我向你描述了評估風險的理念——另一個原因，我認為，非常非常保守的資產負債表很重要，因為當我們與客戶、潛在客戶會面並向他們表示我們將為他們啟動一套完全融入他們業務的服務時，無論是運營向發電廠供應燃料的煤礦，還是為發電廠提供 100% 的燃料綁定，或者我們是否負責或與水泥礦場有關水泥場的所有水泥中心工作。

If we're going to sit down with them and we sign a 20-year contract, we need to be able to look them in the eye and assure them that we're going to be here.

如果我們要與他們坐下來簽署一份 20 年的合同，我們需要能夠直視他們的眼睛並向他們保證我們會在這裡。

If we are taking financial risk, the one thing that can get in the way of that long-term approach is a balance sheet that starts making decisions for the business. As long as the balance sheet is bulletproof, we will never get that situation that we can assure our partners that we're going to be an integrated important part of their business for decades to come.

如果我們承擔財務風險，那麼唯一可能阻礙我們長期行動的因素就是開始為企業做出決策的資產負債表。只要資產負債表是無懈可擊的，我們就永遠無法向合作夥伴保證，在未來幾十年內，我們將成為他們業務的重要組成部分。

Our largest -- our longest customer relationship is 46, I think, going on 47 years in North Dakota at one of our coal mines. That's the kind of relationship we want to have with many of our customers. So in order to do that, we need to make sure that we can tell them that we're going to be here. We've been here 111 years right now. And 112 years, and we're shooting for the next 100.

我們與最大、最長久的客戶關係是 46 年，我想，其中我們在北達科他州的一個煤礦已經合作了 47 年。這就是我們希望與許多客戶建立的關係。因此，為了做到這一點，我們需要確保能夠告訴他們我們會在這裡。我們已經在這裡111年了。我們已經 112 年了，我們的目標是接下來的 100 年。

It's a remarkable run. This parts business at Contract Mining, is it a new business model? Are you trying to run down inventory? Is that part of the change in contracts there? Can you talk more about what the changes from the past? It seems over the last couple of quarters, we've started talking much more about the parts business.

這是一次非凡的歷程。合約採礦的這個零件業務是一種新的商業模式嗎？您是否想減少庫存？這是合約變更的一部分嗎？您能否詳細談談與過去相比有哪些改變？似乎在過去的幾個季度裡，我們開始更多地談論零件業務。

Yeah, I mean I would say it's an evolution in the business model. We have stocked parts in inventory for a very long time, servicing our draglines that we operate, the equipment that we operate in these integrated operations with our customers.

是的，我的意思是我認為這是商業模式的演變。我們長期儲存庫存零件，為我們營運的拖纜以及我們與客戶在綜合營運中運作的設備提供服務。

As that business, the fundamental contract mining business really led by North American Mining has grown over time. We have expanded the range of equipment that we operate, which has caused us to expand the inventory that we carry.

隨著該業務的開展，北美礦業真正主導的基礎合約採礦業務也隨著時間的推移而成長。我們擴大了所經營的設備範圍，這導致我們擴大了庫存。

And as we have looked at that business, what we see is that one, we've been incurring costs to carry those and manage those and we had a minimum -- should get reimbursed for those. But we also find their instances where many of these pieces of equipment, some of these draglines haven't been manufactured for decades. And the parts are getting -- parts and components are getting harder and harder to find.

當我們審視這項業務時，我們發現，我們一直在承擔這些成本並管理這些成本，而我們有最低限度的成本——應該得到補償。但我們也發現，許多這樣的設備，包括一些拉鏟，已經幾十年沒有生產過了。而且零件和零件也越來越難找。

So we've concluded that really the right decision for us and for our customers is for us to stock those, particularly those more difficult to find components and parts on site.

因此，我們得出結論，對我們和我們的客戶來說，真正正確的決定是儲存這些產品，特別是那些在現場更難找到的零件。

And it essentially rather than searching a country for those when we might need them, we're going to stock them ourselves and then really operate as a parts distributor, both internally and externally. So it's really kind of an evolution of the business as we think about how we can best serve our customers in this space.

本質上，我們不會在需要的時候去一個國家尋找這些產品，而是自己儲存，然後真正作為零件分銷商在內部和外部開展業務。因此，當我們思考如何在這個領域為客戶提供最好的服務時，這實際上是一種業務的演變。

That helps a lot. Thank you. And on North American mining or the Contract business, when we start up a new -- add a new quarry, are we moving draglines from closed North American coal mines over? Is that a major portion of this business? And if so, is that a kind of limiting factor on the growth of contract mining? Or are those completely separate?

這很有幫助。謝謝。在北美採礦或合約業務方面，當我們啟動一個新的採石場時，我們是否會將已關閉的北美煤礦的拖纜移過來？這是該業務的主要部分嗎？如果是這樣，這是否會成為合約挖礦成長的限制因素？還是它們是完全獨立的？

It's a great question. They're completely separate. A majority of the draglines that we operate in our Coal Mining business are absolutely huge machines much larger than you would ever operate at any kind of a quarry.

這是一個很好的問題。它們是完全分開的。我們在煤礦開採業務中使用的大多數挖土機都是巨型機器，比在任何採石場操作的機器要大得多。

When we start up a new -- so you don't have to worry about that being a limiting factor. The process for starting up a new quarry and for aggregates customer, I guess I would start with saying in some instances, we'll go in and take over operation of the equipment that they already have on site.

當我們開始一個新的——所以你不必擔心這是一個限制。對於啟動新採石場和骨材客戶的過程，我想我首先要說的是，在某些情況下，我們會進入並接管他們現場已有的設備的操作。

So there's really not a transition or there's not a concern about where the equipment is coming from. In other instances, it's an operating quarry, we may move in a dragline that is more efficient or that we think is better suited for the operating quarry that would all have been part of the negotiations with that customer, with respect to the equipment we're going to use and how we're going to serve them.

因此實際上不存在過渡，也不存在對設備來自哪裡的擔憂。在其他情況下，如果是正在運作的採石場，我們可能會使用效率更高或我們認為更適合該採石場的挖掘機，這些都將成為與客戶談判的一部分，涉及我們將要使用的設備以及我們將如何為他們提供服務。

If it's a greenfield quarry then we and the customer are going to work together to determine what equipment, what draglines would be needed for that particular operation. And we will either source it out of draglines that we already have in our contract mining fleet that might be available.

如果是新建採石場，那麼我們將與客戶一起確定該特定作業需要什麼設備、什麼拉鏟。我們將從合約採礦車隊中現有的可用拖纜中獲取所需資源。

Or given that we operate more draglines than anybody in the country by a substantial amount, we've got tremendous knowledge about where draglines are and what might be available and what repairs they might need. And so if it's a greenfield, we'll either take one that we already own or we will get one from somebody else and we move it into that facility and put it to work. So it's really a whole combination of things, but we are not moving them out of our coal mining operation. Hopefully, that's helpful.

或者考慮到我們操作的拖纜數量比全國任何人都多，我們對拖纜的位置、可用的設備以及它們可能需要的維修有著豐富的了解。因此，如果這是一塊綠地，我們要么選擇我們已經擁有的一塊，要么從別人那裡獲得一塊，然後將其轉移到該設施並投入使用。所以這實際上是多種因素的綜合作用，但我們不會將它們從我們的煤礦開採作業中移除。希望這會有所幫助。

That's very helpful.

這非常有幫助。

Okay. I guess I would just add one other piece to that. I talked a lot about old draglines. In the last few years, we have developed a relationship with a company in the Netherlands called Mteck Cranes. And their primary -- a vast majority of their business is manufacturing cranes, which are similar technology, but not identical to a dragline.

好的。我想我只需要再添加一點。我談了很多有關舊式拖纜的事情。在過去的幾年裡，我們與荷蘭一家名為 Mteck Cranes 的公司建立了合作關係。他們的主要業務——絕大部分業務是製造起重機，其技術類似，但與拉鏟並不完全相同。

And we have worked with them so that they are now manufacturing in electric dragline, the older drag lines tend to be driven by diesel, their mechanical machines, whereas the MTECK machines are much more modern technology. We've been deploying those drag lines.

我們與他們合作，使他們現在能夠生產電動拖纜，舊的拖纜往往由柴油驅動，他們的機械機器，而 MTECK 機器則採用了更現代的技術。我們一直在部署這些拖纜。

In fact, we're the only operator of MTECK draglines in the United States, and we are the exclusive dealer for MTECK draglines in 48 of 50 states. We're an exclusive dealer for MTECK dragline parts in the United States. So this kind of fits with your earlier question about parts.

事實上，我們是美國唯一的 MTECK 拖纜營運商，並且是美國 50 個州中 48 個州的 MTECK 拖纜獨家經銷商。我們是美國 MTECK 吊鏟零件的獨家經銷商。所以這與您之前關於零件的問題相符。

It also fits with the question that you had about where do we get our drag lines from. These new electric drag lines for the right operations, rightsize operations are incredibly effective machines in terms of their operating efficiencies, their maintenance, their uptime. We're really excited about the opportunities that we think lie ahead because of this relationship we have with Mteck.

這也符合您關於“我們從哪裡獲得拖纜”的問題。這些適合正確操作和合適規模操作的新型電動拖纜在運作效率、維護和正常運作時間方面都是非常有效的機器。由於與 Mteck 建立了合作關係，我們對未來的機會感到非常興奮。

Thanks for that. The last one, I think, Eiger is a business we've invested somewhere around $20 million then. Are they themselves fully invested? Or is this kind of $300,000 of sort of run rate earnings from them? And then could you talk about what their capital allocation plan is? Is that a growth business? Is it kind of a yield thing? What are we doing there?

謝謝。最後一個，我想，Eiger 是我們當時投資了大約 2000 萬美元的企業。他們自己是否已全心投入？或者說，這種 30 萬美元的運行收益是來自他們的嗎？那你能談談他們的資本配置計畫是什麼嗎？這是一項成長型業務嗎？這是一種收益嗎？我們在那裡做什麼？

So Eiger is a -- I mean to begin with, Eiger’s got its own website. It's a very modest website, but it sort of derive to what they do. It's a private business. We made an investment in them because we think that they have a very interesting business model with respect to the -- both the basin where they're invested, and the way they are investing for us, we look at it as a non-op investment. We are not operating any of the mine -- any of the mine, sorry, any of the wells.

所以艾格峰是－我的意思是首先，艾格峰有自己的網站。這是一個非常樸素的網站，但它在某種程度上體現了他們所做的事情。這是私人生意。我們對他們進行了投資，因為我們認為他們有一個非常有趣的商業模式——無論是他們投資的盆地，還是他們為我們投資的方式，我們都將其視為非營運投資。我們沒有運作任何礦井——任何礦井，對不起，任何油井。

And quite honestly, right now, they aren't either. But their business model is very focused on expanding the productivity of wells that they have in their control. And we think that it is a business model that is very similar to ours, very complementary two hours, which is why we made the investment. But to us, it's simply a non-op working interest, meaning we're not operating -- we're not responsible for operating. Somebody else is taking care of all that.

坦白說，目前他們也不是。但他們的商業模式非常注重擴大他們控制的油井的生產力。我們認為這是一種與我們非常相似的商業模式，非常互補，這就是我們進行投資的原因。但對我們來說，這只是一個非營運工作權益，這意味著我們不運作——我們不負責營運。其他人正在處理這一切。

So for us, it's another investment in the portfolio. As to what's the run rate for income, I think we are optimistic about their business model. Our investments are relatively recent. And I would say they're -- I think they're building momentum in what they are doing. But I'm not going to make any specific outlook comments about where we think they're headed. But we do think, overall, obviously is going to be an attractive investment for us.

所以對我們來說，這是投資組合中的另一項投資。至於收入的運作率是多少，我認為我們對他們的商業模式持樂觀態度。我們的投資相對較新。我想說的是——我認為他們正在為他們所做的事情積聚動力。但我不會對他們的未來走向做出任何具體的展望評論。但我們確實認為，總體而言，這對我們來說顯然是一項有吸引力的投資。

All right. I appreciate you taking my questions.

好的。感謝您回答我的問題。

No, we really appreciate your interest, and we appreciate your call.

不，我們非常感謝您的關注，也感謝您的來電。

With no further questions in queue, I will hand the call back to Christina for closing remarks.

由於沒有其他問題，我將把電話交還給克里斯蒂娜，請她做最後發言。

Okay. Thank you so much. Before we conclude, I'd like to provide a few reminders. A replay of our call will be available online later this morning. We'll also post a transcript on the Investor Relations website when it becomes available.

好的。太感謝了。在我們結束之前，我想提醒幾點。我們的通話重播將於今天上午晚些時候在網上提供。當報告可用時，我們也會在投資者關係網站上發布一份記錄。

If you have any follow-up questions, please reach out to me. You can reach me at the phone number in the release. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day, and I'll turn it back to Tina to conclude the call.

如果您有任何後續問題，請與我聯絡。您可以透過新聞稿中的電話號碼與我聯絡。我希望您今天過得愉快，然後我將把電話轉回給蒂娜來結束這通通話。

To access the replay of today's call, dial toll free (800) 770-2030, playback ID is 6790172 followed by the pound key. This does conclude today's conference call, you may now disconnect.

若要收聽今天電話會議的重播，請撥打免費電話 (800) 770-2030，重播 ID 為 6790172，後接井號鍵。今天的電話會議到此結束，您可以斷開連線了。