NewMarket Corp (NEU) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the NewMarket Corporation's scheduled conference call and webcast to review the fourth-quarter 2024 financial results. At this time, all participants have been placed on a listen-only mode.

大家好，歡迎參加 NewMarket Corporation 的預定電話會議和網路廣播，以回顧 2024 年第四季的財務業績。目前，所有參與者都處於只聽模式。

It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, Tim Fitzgerald. Sir, the floor is yours.

現在我很高興將發言權交給主持人蒂姆·菲茨杰拉德。先生，現在請您發言。

Thank you, Matthew, and thanks to everyone for joining me this afternoon.

謝謝你，馬修，也謝謝大家今天下午與我一起。

As a reminder, some of the statements made during this conference call may be forward-looking. Relevant factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those forward-looking statements are contained in our earnings release and in our SEC filings, including our most recent Form 10-K. During this call, we will also discuss the non-GAAP financial measures included in our earnings release. The earnings release, which can be found on our website, includes a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable GAAP financial measures. We intend to file our 2024 10-K in the middle of February. It will contain significantly more details on the operations and performance of our company. Today, I will be referring to the data that was included in last night's release.

需要提醒的是，本次電話會議中的一些言論可能是前瞻性的。可能導致實際結果與這些前瞻性陳述有重大差異的相關因素包含在我們的收益報告和 SEC 文件中，包括我們最新的 10-K 表格。在本次電話會議中，我們還將討論收益報告中包含的非 GAAP 財務指標。您可以在我們的網站上找到收益報告，其中包括非公認會計準則財務指標與可比較公認會計準則財務指標的對帳。我們打算在二月中旬提交 2024 年 10-K 報表。它將包含有關我們公司營運和業績的更多詳細資訊。今天，我將參考昨晚發布的數據。

Net income for the fourth quarter of 2024 was $111 million or $11.56 per share compared to net income of $80 million or $8.38 per share for the fourth quarter of 2023. Net income for the full-year 2024 was $462 million or $48.22 per share compared to net income of $389 million or $40.44 per share for 2023. Petroleum additive sales for the fourth quarter of 2024 were $626 million compared to $642 million for the same period in 2023. Petroleum additives operating profit for the fourth quarter of 2024 was $136 million compared to $110 million for the fourth quarter of 2023.

2024 年第四季淨收入為 1.11 億美元或每股 11.56 美元，而 2023 年第四季淨收入為 8,000 萬美元或每股 8.38 美元。2024 年全年淨收入為 4.62 億美元或每股 48.22 美元，而 2023 年淨收入為 3.89 億美元或每股 40.44 美元。2024 年第四季石油添加劑銷售額為 6.26 億美元，而 2023 年同期為 6.42 億美元。2024 年第四季石油添加劑營業利潤為 1.36 億美元，而 2023 年第四季為 1.1 億美元。

The increase in operating profit was mainly due to lower operating costs. We continue to focus on operational efficiency while still making investments in technology to support our customers. These gains were partially offset by a decrease in shipments as customers managed year-end inventory levels.

營業利潤的增加主要由於營業成本的降低。我們繼續專注於營運效率，同時仍在投資技術來支援我們的客戶。由於客戶管理年終庫存水平，這些收益被出貨量的下降部分抵銷。

For the full-year 2024, sales for the petroleum additive segment were $2.6 billion compared to $2.7 billion in 2023. Petroleum additives operating profit for 2024 was $592 million compared to $514 million for 2023. The increase in operating profit was a result of lower operating costs driven by our efficiency efforts as well as lower raw material costs offset by lower selling prices. Shipments were flat when comparing 2024 to 2023 with a small increase in lubricant additives offset by a decline in fuel additives.

2024 年全年石油添加劑部門的銷售額為 26 億美元，而 2023 年為 27 億美元。2024 年石油添加劑營業利潤為 5.92 億美元，而 2023 年為 5.14 億美元。營業利潤的成長是由於我們努力提高效率而降低了營業成本，以及原材料成本的降低被銷售價格的降低所抵消。2024 年與 2023 年相比，出貨量持平，潤滑油添加劑略有增加，但燃料添加劑的出貨量下降。

We are very pleased with the performance of our petroleum additives business during 2024 and the work done by our team to achieve four quarters of strong operating profit. However, we remain challenged by the ongoing inflationary environment despite our efforts to improve efficiency and manage our operating costs. We continue to focus on investing in technology to meet customer needs, optimizing our inventory levels, and improving our portfolio profitability.

我們對2024年石油添加劑業務的表現以及團隊為實現四個季度的強勁營業利潤所做的工作感到非常滿意。然而，儘管我們努力提高效率和管理營運成本，但持續的通膨環境仍然給我們帶來挑戰。我們繼續專注於投資技術以滿足客戶需求、優化我們的庫存水準並提高我們的投資組合獲利能力。

On January 16, 2024, we completed the acquisition of American Pacific Corporation. AMPAC is the leading North American manufacturer of critical performance additives used in solid rocket motors for space launch and military defense applications. We report the financial results of our AMPAC business in our specialty materials segment.

2024年1月16日，我們完成對美國太平洋公司的收購。AMPAC 是北美領先的關鍵性能添加劑製造商，其產品用於航太發射和軍事防禦用途的固體火箭發動機。我們報告了特種材料部門中 AMPAC 業務的財務表現。

Specialty materials sales were $27 million for the fourth quarter of 2024 and $141 million for the full year, surpassing our pre-acquisition expectations. Specialty materials operating profit was $1.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2024 and $17.5 million for the full year. The specialty materials full-year results include the sale of AMPAC finished goods inventory that we acquired at closing, and it was recorded at fair value and sold during the year at no margin.

2024 年第四季特種材料銷售額為 2,700 萬美元，全年特種材料銷售額為 1.41 億美元，超過了我們收購前的預期。2024 年第四季特種材料營業利潤為 150 萬美元，全年特種材料營業利潤為 1,750 萬美元。特種材料全年業績包括我們在交易結束時收購的 AMPAC 成品庫存的銷售，該庫存以公允價值入賬，並在年內以零利潤出售。

We generated solid cash flows throughout the year and made payments of $373 million on our revolving credit facility since the AMPAC acquisition. We've turned $128 million to our shareholders through dividends of $96 million and share repurchases of $32 million. As of December 31, 2024, our net debt to EBITDA ratio was 1.2 which was a significant improvement over the 1.9 times we reported at the end of Q1.

我們全年產生了穩健的現金流，自收購 AMPAC 以來，我們的循環信貸額度已支付了 3.73 億美元。我們透過 9,600 萬美元的股息和 3,200 萬美元的股票回購向股東返還了 1.28 億美元。截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日，我們的淨負債與 EBITDA 比率為 1.2，較第一季末報告的 1.9 倍有顯著改善。

As we look ahead to 2025 and beyond, we anticipate continued strength in our petroleum additives and specialty materials segments. We are committed to making decisions that promote long-term value for our shareholders and customers while staying focused on our long-term objectives. We believe that the core principles guiding our business, a long-term perspective, a safety-first culture, customer-focused solutions, technology-driven products, and a world-class supply chain will continue to benefit all our stakeholders.

展望 2025 年及以後，我們預期石油添加劑和特種材料領域將持續保持強勁勢頭。我們致力於做出有利於股東和客戶長期價值的決策，同時專注於我們的長期目標。我們相信，指導我們業務的核心原則、長遠眼光、安全第一的文化、以客戶為中心的解決方案、技術驅動的產品和世界一流的供應鏈將繼續使我們所有的利害關係人受益。

Matthew, that concludes our planned comments. We are available for questions via email or by phone, so please feel free to contact me directly. Thank you all again, and we will talk to you next quarter.

馬修，我們的計劃評論到此結束。我們可以透過電子郵件或電話回答您的問題，因此請隨時直接與我聯繫。再次感謝大家，我們將在下個季度繼續與大家交流。

Thank you. Everyone, this concludes today's event. You may disconnect at this time and have a wonderful day. Thank you for your participation.

謝謝。各位，今天的活動就到此結束了。現在您可以斷開連接並享受美好的一天。感謝您的參與。