North American Construction Group Ltd (NOA) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the North American Construction Group conference call regarding the third quarter ended September 30, 2025. (Operator Instructions)

女士們、先生們，早安，歡迎參加北美建築集團關於截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日的第三季度的電話會議。（操作說明）

They are free to quote any member of the management, but they are asked not to quote remarks from any other participant without that participant's permission. The company wishes to confirm that today's comments contain forward-looking information and that actual results could differ materially from a conclusion, forecast or projection contained in that forward-looking information.

他們可以自由引用任何管理層成員的話，但未經其他參與者許可，不得引用該參與者的發言。公司特此確認，今天的評論包含前瞻性訊息，實際結果可能與該前瞻性資訊中包含的結論、預測或展望有重大差異。

Certain material factors or assumptions were applied in drawing conclusions or in making forecasts or projections that are reflected in the forward-looking information. Additional information about those material factors is contained in the company's most recent management's discussion and analysis, which is available on SEDAR and EDGAR as well as on the company's website at nacg.ca.

在得出結論或做出預測或展望時，應用了一些實質因素或假設，這些因素或假設反映在前瞻性資訊中。有關這些重要因素的更多信息，請參閱公司最新的管理層討論與分析，該分析可在 SEDAR 和 EDGAR 以及公司網站 nacg.ca 上查閱。

I will now turn the conference over to Jason Veenstra, CFO. Please go ahead.

現在我將把會議交給財務長傑森·維恩斯特拉。請繼續。

Thanks, Joanna, and good morning, everyone. As we did last quarter, I'll start off with the financials and pass the call to Joe for the operational and forward-looking commentary.

謝謝喬安娜，大家早安。和上個季度一樣，我會先介紹財務數據，然後把電話交給喬，讓他對營運和未來展望進行評論。

Starting on Slide 4. The headline EBITDA numbers of $99 million and 14.6% gross margin were generated by a strong operational quarter and were much improved from the second quarter of 2025. We will discuss the specifics of the margin performance later, but in general, the operational teams were able to execute their plans effectively given steady weather conditions and consistent customer demand.

從第4張投影片開始。本季強勁的營運業績帶來了 9,900 萬美元的 EBITDA 和 14.6% 的毛利率，與 2025 年第二季相比有了很大的改善。我們稍後會討論利潤率的具體表現，但總的來說，在天氣狀況穩定和客戶需求持續的情況下，營運團隊能夠有效地執行他們的計劃。

You can see from the graph that we continue to post continuous revenue growth as we posted $390 million of combined revenue, a 6% sequential increase from the second quarter, despite the seasonally lowest demand during the third quarter in the oil sands region.

從圖表中可以看出，儘管第三季油砂地區的需求處於季節性最低水平，但我們仍然實現了持續的收入成長，總收入達到 3.9 億美元，比第二季度環比增長 6%。

Australia continued its consistent growth trajectory with a 12% sequential increase and an impressive growth of 26% compared to Q3 of 2024. To put our top line performance in perspective, this quarter's $188 million in revenue we generated in Australia is nearly 2.5 times the 2022 run rate, an increase achieved in just three years.

澳洲持續保持穩定的成長勢頭，季增 12%，與 2024 年第三季相比，成長幅度高達 26%。為了更清楚地了解我們的總業績，本季我們在澳洲創造的 1.88 億美元收入幾乎是 2022 年運行率的 2.5 倍，這一增長僅用了三年時間就實現了。

The MacKellar Group generated over $65 million in September alone and set another company record for monthly revenue as they continue to grow. September's strong top line bodes well heading into the fourth quarter, and this growth profile is indicative of the demand we see in Australia. The 26% year-over-year increase reflects two significant contracts secured in 2024, one expansion at an existing site; and one new project, as well as the growing production profile of our largest customer in Australia. Enabling and bolstering these increases are the units of fleet we transferred from Canada and are now operating in the region.

麥凱勒集團僅在 9 月就創造了超過 6,500 萬美元的收入，並創下了公司月收入新紀錄，繼續保持成長勢頭。9 月強勁的營收表現預示著第四季度將取得良好業績，這種成長動能也反映了我們在澳洲看到的需求。26% 的同比增長反映了 2024 年簽訂的兩項重要合同，一項是現有工廠的擴建；另一項是新項目，以及我們在澳大利亞最大客戶不斷增長的生產規模。我們從加拿大轉移過來並在該地區運營的機隊，為這些增長提供了支持和保障。

Moving to Slide 5 and our combined revenue and gross profit. As mentioned, Australia's margin of 19.6% benefited from both productive weather conditions, but also strong operational performances across the sites. And specific to last quarter, we actively increased maintenance headcount in early Q3 and subsequently were able to rely less on higher cost external maintenance service providers.

接下來是第 5 張投影片，展示了我們的合併收入和毛利。如前所述，澳洲 19.6% 的利潤率得益於有利的天氣條件，以及各個生產基地強勁的營運表現。具體到上個季度，我們在第三季度初積極增加了維護人員數量，因此能夠減少對成本較高的外部維護服務提供者的依賴。

The oil sands region posted a solid quarter at 9.2%, up significantly from the challenging second quarter of 2025. Demand for our equipment was consistent through the quarter, which allowed our operators to properly plan and execute the scopes of work. Our share of revenue generated in the third quarter by the Fargo, Nuna and other joint ventures was $74 million in the quarter. Our Fargo team completed a strong quarter of work and progressed the project from 70% to approximately 80% at the end of the quarter.

油砂地區本季表現穩健，成長率為 9.2%，較 2025 年第二季充滿挑戰的業績有了顯著提升。本季對我們設備的需求一直保持穩定，這使得我們的操作人員能夠妥善規劃和執行工作範圍。第三季度，Fargo、Nuna 和其他合資企業為我們創造了 7,400 萬美元的收入。我們的法戈團隊出色地完成了本季的工作，並在季度末將專案進度從 70% 推進到大約 80%。

Stepping back, combined gross profit margin of 14.6% reflected steady weather conditions, consistent demand, increased internal maintenance headcount and reduced reliance on third-party heavy-duty mechanics. Of note, the 8.9% posted in Q2 was restated from the 10.6% reported as certain expenses in the Fargo joint ventures had been classified as administrative when, in fact, should be included in the determination of gross margin.

從整體來看，14.6% 的綜合毛利率反映了穩定的天氣狀況、持續的需求、內部維護人員數量的增加以及對第三方重型機械維修人員依賴性的降低。值得注意的是，第二季公佈的 8.9% 的毛利率是從先前報告的 10.6% 重新調整的，原因是 Fargo 合資企業的某些費用被歸類為管理費用，而實際上這些費用應該計入毛利率的計算中。

Moving to Slide 6. Q3 EBITDA and EBIT were down from their 2024 comparables, as already indicated in our discussion, but importantly, in line with our guidance for the second half of 2025. The 25.3% margin we achieved is indicative of the commentary thus far and a significant improvement from the 21.6% posted in Q2.

切換到第6張投影片。正如我們在討論中已經指出的那樣，第三季 EBITDA 和 EBIT 均低於 2024 年的同期水平，但重要的是，這與我們對 2025 年下半年的預期一致。我們實現的 25.3% 的利潤率與目前的預測相符，並且比第二季的 21.6% 有了顯著提高。

Included in EBITDA is direct general and administrative expenses of $13 million in the quarter and equivalent to 4.1% of reported revenue, which is essentially at the target we've set for ourselves. Going from EBITDA to EBIT, we again expensed depreciation equivalent to approximately 14% of combined revenue, which is consistent with the 14% posted in 2024 Q3, consistent with our expected run rate moving forward, given historically we've been between 13% and 15%.

EBITDA 中包含了本季 1,300 萬美元的直接一般及行政費用，相當於報告收入的 4.1%，這基本上達到了我們為自己設定的目標。從 EBITDA 到 EBIT，我們再次提列了相當於合併收入約 14% 的折舊費用，這與 2024 年第三季公佈的 14% 一致，也與我們預期的未來運行率一致，因為從歷史上看，我們的運行率一直在 13% 到 15% 之間。

Adjusted earnings per share for the quarter of $0.67 reflects EBIT generated by the business, net of the expected interest and taxes. The average interest rate for Q3 remained consistent at 6.4%.

本季度調整後每股收益為 0.67 美元，反映了公司產生的息稅前利潤，並扣除了預期利息和稅款。第三季平均利率維持在 6.4% 不變。

Moving to Slide 7. I'll briefly summarize our cash flow. Net cash provided by operations prior to working capital of $72 million was generated by the business, reflecting EBITDA performance net of cash interest paid. Free cash flow of $46 million for the quarter was based on EBITDA and the disciplined sustaining capital maintenance spend in the quarter.

切換到第7張投影片。我將簡要概述一下我們的現金流狀況。該業務產生的經營活動淨現金（扣除營運資金前）為 7,200 萬美元，反映了扣除已付現金利息後的 EBITDA 業績。本季自由現金流為 4,600 萬美元，基於 EBITDA 和本季嚴格的維持性資本維護支出。

Moving to Slide 8. Net debt levels ended the quarter at $904 million, a slight increase of $7 million in the quarter as free cash flow generation was used on growth capital, share purchases and dividends. Net debt and senior secured debt leverage ended at 2.3 times and 1.6 times, respectively. When taking into account the $125 million reopener we completed in October, senior secured leverage decreases to 1.3 times with no change to net debt.

切換到第 8 張投影片。本季末淨負債水準為 9.04 億美元，較上季略微增加 700 萬美元，原因是自由現金流用於成長資本、股票購買和股息。淨債務和優先擔保債務槓桿率分別為 2.3 倍和 1.6 倍。考慮到我們在 10 月完成的 1.25 億美元的重新融資，優先擔保槓桿率降至 1.3 倍，淨債務沒有變化。

Senior unsecured debt now accounts for approximately 40% of our overall net debt, and we've been pleased with the demand for that source of financing as it provides the ability to confidently grow our Australian and infrastructure businesses.

優先無擔保債務目前約占我們淨債務總額的 40%，我們對這種融資來源的需求感到滿意，因為它使我們能夠自信地發展我們在澳洲和基礎設施領域的業務。

With those comments, I'll pass the call to Joe.

談完這些，我就把電話轉給喬了。

Thanks, Jason, and good morning, everyone. I'll start on Slide 10, where our Q3 trailing 12-month recordable rate of 0.45 continues our almost decade-long trend of bettering our industry-leading target frequency of 0.50.

謝謝傑森，大家早安。我將從第 10 張投影片開始，其中我們第三季度過去 12 個月的可記錄率達到 0.45，延續了我們近十年來不斷提高行業領先的目標頻率 0.50 的趨勢。

It has been particularly pleasing to see our safety management systems and processes remain successful as we have expanded and diversified our business across multiple commodities and into the US and Australia. The exposure hours now exceeding 7 million is about 7 times our 2016 low and demonstrates the scalability of our safety systems and consistency of our safety culture regardless of the country or the commodity.

尤其令人欣慰的是，隨著我們業務拓展和多元化，涵蓋多種商品，並進入美國和澳洲市場，我們的安全管理系統和流程仍然保持成功。目前暴露小時數已超過 700 萬小時，約為 2016 年最低水準的 7 倍，這表明無論在哪個國家或商品，我們的安全系統都具有可擴展性，我們的安全文化也具有一致性。

On Slide 11, I'd like to highlight the strong operational quarter and gross margin achieved about 15%. The continued high demand driven predominantly from the 30% year-over-year growth over three years in Australia and the result of $1.5 billion record top line over the last 12 months.

在第 11 張投影片中，我想重點介紹本季強勁的營運業績和約 15% 的毛利率。持續高需求主要源自於澳洲過去三年每年 30% 的成長，以及過去 12 個月創紀錄的 15 億美元營收。

The 100% renewal rate, average five-year contract terms and scope expansion opportunities continue in Australia and the $2 billion add to our backlog, provides the stability and visibility for several years to come. We also added another $125 million in liquidity from senior unsecured notes and believe we are well set up for growth opportunities we see in Australia and in infrastructure.

澳洲的續約率達到 100%，平均合約期限為五年，業務範圍不斷擴大，新增的 20 億美元訂單為我們未來的幾年提供了穩定性和可觀性。我們還透過發行優先無擔保票據增加了 1.25 億美元的流動資金，相信我們已經為在澳洲和基礎設施領域看到的成長機會做好了充分準備。

On Slide 12, we believe our H1 issues are truly behind us. We have a strong Q3 in the books, are in line with expectations and have a keen focus on delivering a safe and efficient end to the year.

在第 12 張投影片中，我們認為我們上半年的問題已經真正解決了。第三季業績表現強勁，符合預期，我們將全力以赴，確保年底工作安全且有效率地完成。

On Slide 13, our equipment utilization, which jumped in late 2023 with the MacKellar acquisition, is expected to lift into the target zone in Q4 as our rapidly growing Australian demand is offsetting reductions in our Canadian demand. Fleet utilization drives our return on capital and our asset management team is keenly focused on a clear execution plan for putting assets back to work, transferring assets to higher demand markets and extracting the highest value from the consumption and sale of excess assets.

在第 13 張投影片中，隨著麥凱勒收購案的完成，我們的設備利用率在 2023 年底大幅提升，預計在第四季度將達到目標水平，因為我們快速增長的澳洲需求抵消了加拿大需求的減少。車隊利用率決定了我們的資本回報率，我們的資產管理團隊非常注重製定明確的執行計劃，讓資產重新投入使用，將資產轉移到需求更高的市場，並從過剩資產的消耗和出售中榨取最大價值。

As we start to look forward, I would like to reiterate that similar to last year, we have a large amount of predominantly oil sands work scopes that remain in tender process, and we will await those results before providing our 2026 outlook, which we expect to provide in early to mid-December.

展望未來，我想重申，與去年類似，我們還有大量主要涉及油砂的工作項目仍在招標過程中，我們將等待這些結果，然後再提供我們的 2026 年展望，我們預計將在 12 月初至中旬提供該展望。

On Slide 15, we move into looking at the macro tailwinds that we believe will be driving all of the markets we operate in for the next few years. In Australia, we expect to see the continued growth in demand driven by the resource richness of the country and the speed at which new projects are built or existing mines are expanded.

在第 15 張投影片中，我們將探討我們認為將在未來幾年推動我們所經營的所有市場的宏觀利多因素。在澳大利亞，我們預計需求將持續增長，這得益於該國豐富的資源以及新項目建設或現有礦山擴建的速度。

We believe Queensland thermal metallurgical coal demand will remain strong with 5% to 10% annual growth potential and the biggest opportunities in Australia coming from gold and iron ore in Western Australia and copper opportunities in New South Wales. We likewise see growing civil opportunities in Australia with increasing new mine site development and expansions driving civil earthworks constructions, such as site access roads, tailing storage construction and facility expansions.

我們認為昆士蘭州動力冶金煤的需求將保持強勁，年增長潛力為 5% 至 10%，而澳洲最大的機會來自西澳大利亞州的黃金和鐵礦石，以及新南威爾斯州的銅礦機會。同樣，隨著澳洲新礦場開發和擴建的增加，土木工程建設（如場地通道道路、尾礦庫建設和設施擴建）的需求也日益增長，我們看到澳洲的土木工程機會也在增加。

Western Australia is also rich in resources like nickel and lithium and has many mines on care and maintenance status due to current commodity pricing. Should those prices increase, Western Australia will be booming even more. Altogether, Australia has become the strategic hub for Western allies seeking to secure their critical mineral supply chains with demand for large-scale moving -- earthmoving ever increasing.

西澳大利亞也蘊藏豐富的鎳、鋰等資源，但由於目前的商品價格，許多礦場處於維護和保養狀態。如果這些價格上漲，西澳的經濟將會更加繁榮。總而言之，隨著大規模土方工程需求的不斷增長，澳洲已成為西方盟友尋求保障其關鍵礦產供應鏈的戰略樞紐。

In the US, we see the biggest opportunities in the infrastructure markets with federal investments being streamlined for prompt construction of climate resiliency projects, like our Fargo-Moorhead flood diversion project. Energy transition projects like pump hydro and other major earthworks construction required for Western US water conservation and transportation. Although mine development in the US does not advance nearly as quickly as in Australia, we do expect to see increasing demand in US mining and civil contracting, predominantly supporting the Western US gold and copper markets.

在美國，我們看到基礎設施市場蘊藏最大的機遇，聯邦政府正在簡化投資流程，以便快速建立氣候適應性項目，例如我們的法哥-穆爾黑德防洪工程。美國西部水資源保護和運輸所需的抽水蓄能等能源轉型項目以及其他大型土方工程建設。儘管美國的礦業開發速度遠不及澳大利亞，但我們預計美國採礦和土木工程承包的需求將會增加，這將主要支撐美國西部的黃金和銅市場。

In Canada, we see increasing resource development, defense projects and infrastructure work with major works planned in the far north, providing what we think will be a competitive advantage to our Nuna partnership with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association. As mentioned in my letter to shareholders, we believe these type of nation-building project opportunities will come to market quickly with the support of government leadership, and we are positioned to execute at scale.

在加拿大，我們看到資源開發、國防項目和基礎設施建設不斷增加，尤其是在北部地區，計劃開展重大工程，我們認為這將為我們與基蒂克梅奧特因紐特人協會的努納合作關係帶來競爭優勢。正如我在給股東的信中提到的，我們相信，在政府領導的支持下，這類國家建設項目機會很快就會進入市場，而我們已經做好大規模執行的準備。

Moving into Slide 16. We highlight our strategic priorities for closing out the year and heading into 2026. These priorities simply feed into the market assessments and opportunities we see by region, as discussed on the previous slide.

進入第16張投影片。我們重點介紹今年剩餘時間和邁向 2026 年的戰略重點。這些優先事項直接影響我們對各個地區的市場評估和機遇，正如上一張投影片中所討論的。

In summary, these priorities are growth in Australia led by Western Australia opportunities, advancing teaming agreements and subcontracting opportunities in our infrastructure business, targeting the 25% revenue contribution by 2028, leveraging our Nuna experience and indigenous ownership for expected increases in Arctic opportunities, rightsizing our Canadian equipment fleet to meet current run rate and increasing development and application of low-cost purpose-built technology to provide better data for asset and project management. We believe executing on our priorities will drive revenue diversification and margins.

總而言之，這些優先事項包括：以西澳大利亞的機會為主導，推動澳洲的成長；推進基礎設施業務的合作協議和分包機會，目標是到 2028 年實現 25% 的收入貢獻；利用我們在 Nuna 的經驗和原住民所有權，抓住預期增長的北極機遇；調整我們在加拿大的設備規模，以滿足當前的運行速度；以及成本我們相信，落實各項優先事項將推動收入多元化和利潤率提升。

Slide 17 simply provides more data and detail into what we see as fantastic opportunities for organic growth over the next couple of years, and Slide 18 identifies our top 10 infrastructure projects by name, location and proponent so we can track progress more specifically in what we believe will be an exciting next couple of years in the infrastructure market.

第 17 頁幻燈片提供了更多數據和細節，說明我們認為未來幾年有機增長的絕佳機會；第 18 頁幻燈片按名稱、地點和發起人列出了我們的十大基礎設施項目，以便我們能夠更具體地跟踪進展，我們相信未來幾年基礎設施市場將迎來激動人心的發展。

Slide 19 shows our bid pipeline of over $12 billion, which is a $2 billion increase since Q2 and includes increases in both the active tenders and 2026 opportunities. This record bid pipeline puts the revenue numbers to the opportunities previously identified and positions us well for growth and stability with material expected wins over the next couple of years.

第 19 張投影片顯示，我們的投標儲備超過 120 億美元，比第二季增加了 20 億美元，其中包括正在進行的投標和 2026 年機會的增加。這項創紀錄的投標項目儲備將收入與先前確定的機會相匹配，並使我們在未來幾年內有望取得重大勝利，從而實現成長和穩定。

Lastly, on Slide 20, we reiterate our H2 2025 outlook with nearly all metrics unchanged and strong free cash flow consistent with our historical profile.

最後，在第 20 頁，我們重申了我們對 2025 年下半年的展望，幾乎所有指標都保持不變，強勁的自由現金流與我們的歷史情況一致。

That ends the Q3 presentation. We'd be happy to take any questions you may have.

第三季報告到此結束。我們很樂意回答您可能提出的任何問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Aaron MacNeil, TD Cowen.

Aaron MacNeil，TD Cowen。

Hey, morning all. Thanks for taking my questions. In the prior quarter, you had said that you were confident in securing two memorandums of understanding by the end of this year. How should we think about the progress there? I know you mentioned on Slide 19 that you had prequalified for a mining infrastructure project in Arizona. I assume that's one of the two, but maybe you could just give us an update there?

大家早安。謝謝您回答我的問題。上一季度，您曾表示有信心在今年底前達成兩份諒解備忘錄。我們該如何看待那裡的進展？我知道你在第 19 張投影片中提到，你已經獲得了亞利桑那州一個礦業基礎設施計畫的預審資格。我猜是其中之一，但您能否給我們更新一下情況？

Yes. We -- there's different levels of agreements we seek with different partners. Obviously, some of these that, we may be looking at doing on our own, we won't have that. But I think our progress has gone well. I think our discussions with other potential partners we target for, especially some of the projects up north, have gone well.

是的。我們－我們與不同的合作夥伴尋求不同層次的協議。顯然，其中一些事情，我們可能打算自己去做，但我們不會擁有那種能力。但我認為我們的進展很順利。我認為我們與其他潛在合作夥伴的討論，特別是與北部一些計畫的討論，進展順利。

I'll probably provide that with our year-end exactly where we sit on those. It's really a first state step in the infrastructure side. And we're having the discussions with general contractors who have existing contracts to see if we can bring in some subcontracting opportunities sooner and hopefully in 2026, but certainly nothing inked on that right now.

我可能會在年終報告中詳細說明我們在這方面的進展。這確實是基礎建設的第一步。我們正在與現有合約的總承包商進行討論，看看能否更快地引入一些分包機會，希望能在 2026 年實現，但目前肯定還沒有簽署任何協議。

Fair enough. And then, can you just remind us of the timing of when Fargo-Moorhead will wind down? And how should we think about the sequencing of sort of other infrastructure projects backfilling that revenue?

很公平。那麼，您能否提醒我們法哥-穆爾黑德計畫何時結束？那麼，我們應該如何考慮其他基礎設施項目（例如用於彌補收入缺口的項目）的先後順序呢？

We see it reaching substantial completion next fall.

我們預計該項目將於明年秋季基本完工。

Okay. All right, well, that was it for me. I'll turn it over.

好的。好了，我的故事就到此為止了。我把它翻過來。

Thanks, Aaron.

謝謝你，亞倫。

Thanks, Aaron.

謝謝你，亞倫。

Adam Thalhimer, Thompson, Davis.

亞當·塔爾海默、湯普森、戴維斯。

Hey, good morning guys. Congrats on putting the Q2 issues behind you so quickly. I wanted to ask first on the US infrastructure opportunity. Does that potentially include work for private sector customers as well, such as data centers? Or are you just looking at large civil projects?

嘿，各位早安。恭喜你們這麼快就解決了第二季的問題。我想先問一下美國基礎建設的機會。這是否也可能包括為私部門客戶（例如資料中心）提供服務？或者您只關注大型土木工程項目？

The ones we have targeted in the deck are all public projects. We certainly look at private ones. It's just a matter of getting on those bid lists and spending more time with the customers there.

我們在簡報中重點提及的都是公共專案。我們當然會關注私人機構。關鍵在於如何進入那些投標名單，並花更多時間與客戶溝通。

And how near term -- you said you were positioning to support major GCs across North America who are at capacity. Just curious how near term that particular opportunity could be --

至於近期計畫——您曾表示，您正在調整策略，為北美各大總承包商提供支持，這些承包商目前都已達到產能極限。只是好奇這個機會何時才能到來。--

That's pretty much the stuff we see in 2026 potentially being subcontracting work where there's -- yes, we -- there's -- the general contracting community is pretty full, and there's projects still rolling out. So we think that's going to open up some opportunities to support projects that are already in progress or soon to be.

這就是我們預計在 2026 年可能會看到的，分包工作將會增多——是的，我們——總承包行業已經相當飽和，而且還有一些項目正在進行中。所以我們認為這將為支持正在進行或即將開展的項目創造一些機會。

All right. And the last one for me on Australia, the mechanics situation, are you where you need to be on that now? Or do you still need to hire more folks to fill those slots?

好的。最後一個問題是關於澳洲的機械化情況，你們現在是否已經達到預期目標？或者你們還需要招募更多人來填補這些空缺？

We're where we need to be. We'd still like to keep bringing on more. I mean we kind of budget a certain level of subcontractors in the business, and we do the same thing here. But we're certainly looking at opportunities to reduce costs further, but we're at our -- what I would call our historical levels. It's just upside potential or improvements that we can continue to make.

我們已經到達了我們應該到達的地方。我們仍然希望繼續招募。我的意思是，我們在業務中會預留一定數量的分包商預算，我們在這裡也這樣做。但我們當然在尋找進一步降低成本的機會，但我們目前的成本處於——我稱之為歷史水平。這只是我們能夠持續提升的潛力或改進方向。

I'll turn it over. Thanks, Joe.

我把它翻過來。謝謝你，喬。

Thank you, Adam.

謝謝你，亞當。

Maxim Sytchev, National Bank Capital Markets.

Maxim Sytchev，國家銀行資本市場。

Hi, good morning, gentlemen. I was wondering if we can circle back to Australia just for a second. I mean, obviously, you're highlighting coal and iron ore opportunities. But I was wondering in terms of precious metals, I mean it seems to be like a very active space right now. Is there anything brewing on that front? Anything you can share with us in terms of potential pipeline there? Thank you.

各位先生，早安。我想問一下，我們能不能稍微回到澳洲的話題上來一下。我的意思是，很明顯，你們重點關注的是煤炭和鐵礦石方面的機會。但我很好奇貴金屬市場的情況，我的意思是，它現在似乎是一個非常活躍的領域。這方面有進展嗎？關於該地區的潛在項目儲備，您有什麼可以和我們分享的嗎？謝謝。

Yes. There's actually a massive pipeline in the Western Australia gold market as well, Max. That's a big area. The lithium is actually still being mined in Western Australia. It's probably the higher grade stuff. But certainly, with the lift of lithium and nickel, we'd see those commodity markets open up.

是的。馬克斯，西澳大利亞黃金市場其實也有一個巨大的潛在需求。那可是很大的區域。事實上，西澳大利亞仍在開採鋰礦。這大概是比較高級的那種。但可以肯定的是，隨著鋰和鎳價格的上漲，這些大宗商品市場將會開放。

The biggest driver in Australia right now on the precious metal side is gold. And as you would expect with these gold prices, there's quite a few people that are doing expansions and opening up new mines there, which moves a lot faster than it does in North America.

目前澳洲貴金屬市場最大的驅動力是黃金。正如你所預料的那樣，在這樣的金價下，有不少人在那裡進行擴張和開設新礦，其速度比北美快得多。

Right. And I guess, I mean, like in terms of equipment, et cetera, like I mean, it's still the same process, similar contractual structure, et cetera, for those brownfields, right?

正確的。我想，我的意思是，就設備等方面而言，對於這些棕地改造專案來說，流程、合約結構等仍然是一樣的，對吧？

Yes. I would say that what we find slightly different in Western Australia is that there's a lot more unit rate work, very little rental, a lot more unit rate work down there. And that's really where we brought our systems and processes over and been able to -- we won the first one last year with that copper project and taking that unit rate model into Western Australia is what we would look to be doing.

是的。我認為西澳大利亞的情況略有不同，那裡的單元房租賃業務要多得多，單元房租賃業務則少得多。而這正是我們將我們的系統和流程引入西澳大利亞並取得成功的地方——去年我們憑藉那個銅礦項目贏得了第一個中標項目，而將這種單位價格模式引入西澳大利亞正是我們希望做的事情。

Okay, that's good to hear. Thank you so much. And then in terms of Canada, when we look at some of the critical mineral opportunity, the budget that just was released, I mean, it seems to be pretty constructive. I was wondering how do you think about potential timing of the inflection point here? And I don't know if you want to maybe attribute some stuff to Nuna, some to the core business, whichever way you think is -- makes the most sense?

好的，聽到這個消息很高興。太感謝了。就加拿大而言，當我們審視一些關鍵的礦產機會時，剛剛發布的預算，我的意思是，它似乎相當具有建設性。我想知道您如何看待這裡可能出現的轉折點時間？我不知道你是否想把一些功勞歸於努娜，一些歸於核心業務，無論你認為哪種方式最合理？

I'd say we're a bit unclear on the timing. We've seen a lot of projects and there's a lot of talk of support. But yes, we're looking for once the shovel is going to be in the ground date. And I don't think we're expecting anything in 2026. I think it's probably more 2027, but I'd love to be wrong about that, and certainlyif they can speed these up and give us opportunity sooner.

我覺得我們對時間安排還不太清楚。我們看到了很多項目，也聽到了很多關於支持的討論。是的，我們想知道什麼時候才能正式動工。我認為我們對 2026 年不會有任何期待。我覺得可能要到 2027 年，但我很希望我的判斷是錯的，當然，如果他們能加快進度，讓我們早點有機會就更好了。

But right now, we don't -- we haven't heard a lot of definitive dates. And so we're -- I'd say, we're being a bit more conservative in believing they're going to kick off in 2027.

但目前我們還沒有——我們還沒有聽到很多確切的日期。所以，我認為，我們比較保守地認為他們會在 2027 年啟動。

Okay, makes sense. Thank you. And then lastly, in terms of Canada, in terms of the right sizing of the fleet, I mean, where are we in terms of that process? Are we kind of done or you're still waiting depending on the allocations on equipment for 2026 that you still have to make some adjustments? Or how do you feel from that perspective? Thank you.

嗯，有道理。謝謝。最後，就加拿大而言，就艦隊規模的合理性而言，我的意思是，我們在這個過程中處於什麼階段？我們是不是差不多完成了，還是你們還在等待，這取決於 2026 年的設備分配狀況，你們還需要做一些調整？或者從這個角度來看，你有什麼感覺？謝謝。

There's some of that fleet we know what we have to do with it. We're building strategies by each individual fleet. But yes, we're waiting to find out these last bids to figure out what the consumption of the remainder of the fleet is. And we'll have a much better idea of that come mid-December.

我們知道該如何處理那支艦隊中的一些船艦。我們正在針對每個艦隊制定單獨的策略。是的，我們正在等待最終的競標結果，以確定剩餘船隊的能耗情況。到12月中旬，我們就會對此有更清晰的了解。

But we're executing -- I can tell you that there's -- we've got three more dozers we're looking to send over to Australia because they haven't been in high demand here, and they've been crazy demand down there. So that kind of stuff is going on every day. And we'll have more of a, again, a wholesome picture of the whole -- of the fleet probably in that mid-December discussion.

但我們正在執行——我可以告訴你——我們還有三台推土機正計劃運往澳大利亞，因為在這裡它們的需求並不高，而在那裡它們的需求卻非常旺盛。所以這類事情每天都在發生。我們可能會在 12 月中旬的討論中，再次全面了解整個艦隊的情況。

Okay, that's great. That's it from me. Thank you so much.

好的，太好了。我的內容就到這裡。太感謝了。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Sean Jack, Raymond James.

Sean Jack，Raymond James。

Hey guys, good morning.

嘿，各位，早安。

Morning, Sean

早安，肖恩

So just thinking about how Canada and Australia, are both seeing their own macro tailwinds split between nation building and critical minerals. Can you touch on the priorities for NOA and how we should expect the company to invest across either geography to get the best, most visible return?

所以想想加拿大和澳大利亞，它們各自都面臨宏觀經濟上的利多因素，這些因素分別體現在國家建設和關鍵礦產資源上。您能否談談NOA的優先事項，以及我們應該如何預期該公司在不同地區進行投資才能獲得最佳、最顯著的回報？

Yes. For me, it's getting -- especially in the mining sector, it's getting the maximum out of the assets we have and creating the highest return. We think there's a lot of growth potential we can do in Western Australia, in particular, with very little growth capital. And that creates the highest returns for us. Those are our target markets.

是的。對我來說，尤其是在採礦業，就是要最大限度地利用我們擁有的資產，創造最高的回報。我們認為，在西澳大利亞，尤其是在成長資本非常有限的情況下，我們有很多成長潛力可以發揮。這樣就能為我們帶來最高的回報。這些都是我們的目標市場。

I think we can walk and chew gum at the same time, too, is there's -- these infrastructure jobs tend to be very low capital intensity and they free cash flow very quickly. So certainly, we'll be pursuing all aspects of those along with the critical minerals and the commodity opportunities we see in Western Australia.

我認為我們也可以同時做這兩件事，因為──這些基礎建設項目往往資本密集度很低，而且能很快產生現金流。因此，我們肯定會關注西澳大利亞的關鍵礦產和商品機遇，以及所有這些方面。

Right. Perfect. And flipping to Australia, I know it's already been asked, but just thinking about the contractor usage in the period. There's been two quarters now where they've impacted margins. It sounds like they were actually on two different functions. Wondering what the strategy is going forward to mitigate just overall impact from contractor usage going forward?

正確的。完美的。再說說澳大利亞，我知道這個問題已經被問過了，但我只是在思考這段時間承包商的使用情況。已經有兩個季度他們的表現影響了利潤率。聽起來他們當時好像在參加兩個不同的活動。想知道未來將採取什麼策略來減輕承包商使用的整體影響？

We've been through this more than once in -- both in Canada and down there. It's just building up your skilled trades workforce through apprentice programs and bench hands. We've done this. We're at the levels we budget to be, but certainly, we see more opportunities for continuing to increase the skilled trades in areas that have high demand, which Australia has been the biggest one right now. So it's following our HR programs and bringing in apprentices and building them up quicker.

我們已經不只一次經歷過這種情況了——無論是在加拿大還是在那邊。這只是透過學徒計劃和第一線工人來培養你的技術工人隊伍。我們已經完成了這件事。我們目前達到了預算目標水平，但當然，我們看到了在需求量大的領域繼續增加技術工人的機會，而澳洲目前就是需求量最大的地區。所以，這是在遵循我們的人力資源計劃，引進學徒，並更快地培養他們。

Thanks guys, that's all for me.

謝謝大家，我今天就到這裡。

Thank you, Sean.

謝謝你，肖恩。

This concludes the Q&A section of the call, and I will pass the call over to Joe Lambert, President and CEO, for closing comments.

問答環節到此結束，接下來我將把電話交給總裁兼執行長喬·蘭伯特，請他作總結發言。

Thanks, Joanna. Thanks again, everyone, for joining us today. We look forward to providing next update upon closing of our fourth quarter results.

謝謝你，喬安娜。再次感謝各位今天蒞臨。我們期待在第四季度業績公佈後提供下一份更新報告。

Thank you. This concludes the North American Construction Group conference call regarding the third quarter ended September 30, 2025. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。北美建築集團關於截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日的第三季的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線了。