Natural Resource Partners LP (NRP) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome to the Natural Resource Partners L.P. first-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to hand the call over to Tiffany Sammis, Investor Relations. You may begin.

您好，歡迎參加 Natural Resource Partners L.P. 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）現在我想將電話交給投資者關係部門的 Tiffany Sammis。你可以開始了。

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to the Natural Resource Partners first-quarter 2025 conference call. Today's call is being webcast, and a replay will be available on our website. Joining me today are Craig Nunez, President and Chief Operating Officer; Chris Zolas, Chief Financial Officer; and Kevin Craig, Executive Vice President.

謝謝。早上好，歡迎參加自然資源合作夥伴 2025 年第一季電話會議。今天的電話會議正在進行網路直播，重播將在我們的網站上提供。今天與我一起出席的還有總裁兼營運長 Craig Nunez；財務長 Chris Zolas；以及執行副總裁凱文·克雷格 (Kevin Craig)。

Some of our comments today may include forward-looking statements reflecting NRP's views about future events. These matters involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to materially differ from our forward-looking statements. These risks are discussed in NRP's Form 10-K and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings. We undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason.

我們今天的一些評論可能包括反映 NRP 對未來事件的看法的前瞻性陳述。這些事項涉及風險和不確定性，可能導致我們的實際結果與我們的前瞻性陳述有重大差異。這些風險在 NRP 的 10-K 表格和其他證券交易委員會文件中進行了討論。我們不承擔因任何原因修改或公開更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務。

Our comments today also include non-GAAP financial measures. Additional details and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in our first-quarter press release, which can be found on our website. I would like to remind everyone that we do not intend to discuss the operations or outlook for any particular coal lessee or detailed market fundamentals.

我們今天的評論還包括非公認會計準則財務指標。我們的第一季新聞稿中包含了更多詳細資訊以及與最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標的對賬，您可以在我們的網站上找到。我想提醒大家，我們無意討論任何特定煤炭租賃商的營運或前景或詳細的市場基本面。

Now, I would like to turn the call over to Craig Nunez, our President and Chief Operating Officer.

現在，我想將電話轉給我們的總裁兼營運長克雷格·努涅斯 (Craig Nunez)。

Thank you, Tiffany, and good morning, everyone. NRP generated $35 million of free cash flow in the first quarter of 2025 and $214 million of free cash flow over the last 12 months. Prices for metallurgical coal, thermal coal, and soda ash declined precipitously over the last year and negatively impacted our results.

謝謝你，蒂芙尼，大家早安。NRP 在 2025 年第一季產生了 3,500 萬美元的自由現金流，在過去 12 個月中產生了 2.14 億美元的自由現金流。去年，冶金煤、動力煤和純鹼的價格急劇下跌，對我們的表現產生了負面影響。

As you've heard us say for over a year now, we expect weak prices for all three of our key commodities to persist for the foreseeable future and provide a drag on our performance. Despite this, we expect to continue generating robust free cash flow, which we will use to pay off remaining debt, which stands at $118 million today.

正如您一年多來聽到我們所說的那樣，我們預計所有三種主要商品的價格疲軟將在可預見的未來持續下去，並拖累我們的業績。儘管如此，我們預計將繼續產生強勁的自由現金流，我們將用這些現金流償還剩餘債務，目前債務總額為 1.18 億美元。

We are now reaping the rewards of the capital allocation decisions made over the last decade. Our capital structure is solid, and our financial outlook is bright. We look forward to the prospect of significant increases in unit holder distributions as debt is paid off next year.

我們現在正在收穫過去十年資本配置決策的回報。我們的資本結構穩健，財務前景光明。我們期待隨著明年債務償還，單位持有人分配將大幅增加。

Our Mineral Rights business generated $44 million of free cash flow in the first quarter of 2025. Sluggish demand for steel, relatively high inventories at power plants, and an uncertain geopolitical environment have pressured metallurgical and thermal coal prices to levels that, we believe, are at or near the cost of production for many producers. And there are no clear catalysts in sight to push prices materially higher in the near term.

我們的礦產權業務在 2025 年第一季產生了 4,400 萬美元的自由現金流。鋼鐵需求低迷、發電廠庫存相對較高以及地緣政治環境不確定，已使冶金煤和動力煤價格受到壓力，我們認為，這些價格已達到或接近許多生產商的生產成本。目前還沒有任何明顯的催化劑能夠在短期內推動價格大幅上漲。

With that being said, operator cost inflation has increased the breakeven coal sales prices for our lessees. As a royalty owner, we benefit from higher sales prices without having to bear the burden of our operators' higher costs of production. As a result, we believe the royalty revenue we receive at our operators' breakeven levels is higher today than in the past.

話雖如此，營運商成本的膨脹已經提高了我們承租人的損益兩平煤炭銷售價格。作為特許權使用費所有者，我們可以享受更高的銷售價格，而不必承擔業者更高的生產成本負擔。因此，我們相信，我們在營運商盈虧平衡水準上獲得的特許權使用費收入比過去要高。

Turning to Soda Ash, we received $3 million in cash distribution from Sisecam Wyoming in the first quarter of 2025, an 80% drop from the previous-year quarter. Soda ash prices remain at the lowest levels in decades, with sales prices trading below the cost of production for many producers.

談到蘇打灰，我們在 2025 年第一季從 Sisecam Wyoming 獲得了 300 萬美元的現金分配，比去年同期下降了 80%。純鹼價格仍處於數十年來的最低水平，許多生產商的銷售價格低於生產成本。

We believe we are in the early innings of this soda ash bear market, given the current supply-demand imbalance and that it will take multiple years for global markets to fully absorb excess supply and stabilize at materially higher price levels.

我們認為，鑑於目前的供需失衡，我們正處於純鹼熊市的初期，全球市場需要數年時間才能完全吸收過剩的供應並穩定在較高的價格水平。

While we have seen some high-cost production shut down globally, most notably in the United Kingdom, Poland, and Argentina, the scale has been too small to materially benefit the market so far. We take comfort that Sisecam Wyoming is one of the world's lowest-cost producers. While distributions will likely remain at these lower levels in the near term, our positive long-term view of our soda ash investment has not changed.

雖然我們已經看到全球範圍內一些高成本生產設施關閉，最明顯的是英國、波蘭和阿根廷，但規模太小，迄今為止還無法為市場帶來實質利益。令我們感到欣慰的是，懷俄明州西斯凱姆是世界上成本最低的生產商之一。儘管短期內分銷可能仍將保持在較低水平，但我們對純鹼投資的長期樂觀看法並未改變。

Regarding carbon neutral initiatives or CNI, the slowdown that we expected for the general market for most CNI activities has materialized. Leasing interest for underground carbon sequestration remains lackluster, as political, regulatory, and market uncertainties pose significant hurdles for developers contemplating large capital investments for these types of projects.

關於碳中和計劃或 CNI，我們預期大多數 CNI 活動的一般市場將出現放緩。地下碳封存的租賃興趣仍然低迷，因為政治、監管和市場不確定性對考慮對此類項目進行大量資本投資的開發商構成了重大障礙。

We are, however, continuing to see activity in the geothermal, solar, and lithium space, and are making small-scale progress on several initiatives. While the timing and likelihood of future free cash flow from CNI activities is uncertain, we still believe our vast ownership footprint provides opportunities for carbon-neutral cash flow while requiring minimal capital investment by us.

然而，我們繼續看到地熱、太陽能和鋰領域的活動，並在多項舉措上取得了小規模進展。儘管 CNI 活動未來產生自由現金流的時間和可能性尚不確定，但我們仍然相信，我們廣泛的所有權足跡為碳中和現金流提供了機會，同時只需要我們進行最少的資本投資。

And with that, I will turn the call over to Chris.

說完這些，我會把電話轉給克里斯。

Great. Thank you, Craig. In the first quarter of 2025, NRP generated $40 million of net income, $34 million of operating cash flow, and $35 million of free cash flow.

偉大的。謝謝你，克雷格。2025 年第一季度，NRP 創造了 4,000 萬美元的淨收入、3,400 萬美元的營運現金流和 3,500 萬美元的自由現金流。

Our Mineral Rights segment in Q1 2025 generated $45 million of net income, $43 million of operating cash flow, and $44 million of free cash flow. When compared to the prior year's first quarter, our Mineral Rights segment net income decreased $15 million, and operating and free cash flow decreased $27 million and $26 million, respectively.

我們的礦產權部門在 2025 年第一季創造了 4,500 萬美元的淨收入、4,300 萬美元的營運現金流和 4,400 萬美元的自由現金流。與去年同期第一季相比，我們的礦產權部門淨收入減少了 1,500 萬美元，營運和自由現金流分別減少了 2,700 萬美元和 2,600 萬美元。

These decreases were primarily due to weaker steel demand that resulted in lower metallurgical coal sales prices and volumes. Met coal made up approximately 55% of our coal royalty revenues and 40% of our coal royalty sales volumes in Q1 2025, compared to 75% of our coal royalty revenues and 50% of our coal sales volumes in the prior-year first quarter.

下降的主要原因是鋼鐵需求減弱，導致冶金煤銷售價格和銷售量下降。2025 年第一季度，冶金煤約占我們煤炭特許權使用費收入的 55% 和煤炭特許權使用費銷售量的 40%，而去年同期該比例分別為 75% 和 50%。

Shifting to our Soda Ash business segment, net income in the first quarter of 2025 decreased $1 million. And both operating and free cash flow decreased $11 million as compared to the prior-year period. These decreases were primarily due to a lower-weighted average net sales price, resulting from an increased percentage of sales into a lower-priced international market in 2025.

轉向我們的純鹼業務部門，2025 年第一季的淨收入減少了 100 萬美元。與去年同期相比，營業現金流和自由現金流均減少了 1,100 萬美元。這些下降主要是由於 2025 年銷往低價國際市場的銷售比例增加，導致加權平均淨銷售價格較低。

International soda ash pricing has declined significantly from the record highs seen in 2023, primarily due to weakened demand for flat glass from the construction and automobile markets, and additional soda ash supply from China. We expect prices in our distributions received from Sisecam to remain muted until demand rebounds and the soda ash market is able to absorb this additional supply.

國際純鹼價格已較2023年的歷史高點大幅下跌，主要原因是建築和汽車市場對平板玻璃的需求減弱，以及中國增加純鹼供應。我們預計，從 Sisecam 收到的分銷價格將保持低位，直到需求反彈並且純鹼市場能夠吸收這些額外的供應。

In wrapping up with our corporate and financing segment, Q1 2025 segment performance was relatively flat as compared to the prior-year period. Q1 operating cash flow and free cash flow each improved $1 million as compared to the prior-year period due to lower interest payments from less debt outstanding.

總結我們的企業和融資部門，2025 年第一季部門業績與去年同期相比相對持平。由於未償債務減少導致利息支付減少，第一季營運現金流和自由現金流較去年同期分別增加 100 萬美元。

Regarding our quarterly distributions, in February of 2025, we paid a fourth-quarter 2024 distribution of $0.75 per common unit. And in March of 2025, we've made a special distribution of $1.21 per common unit to help cover the tax liability associated with owning NRP common units in 2024. Today, we announced the first-quarter 2025 distribution of $0.75 per common unit to be paid later this month.

關於我們的季度分配，2025 年 2 月，我們支付了 2024 年第四季每股普通股 0.75 美元的分配。2025 年 3 月，我們對每股普通股進行了 1.21 美元的特別分配，以幫助支付 2024 年擁有 NRP 普通股所帶來的稅務責任。今天，我們宣布將於本月稍後支付 2025 年第一季每股普通股 0.75 美元的分配。

And with that, I'll turn the call back over to Mark, our operator, for questions.

說完這些，我將把電話轉回給我們的接線生馬克，以便回答問題。

(Operator Instructions) [Philip Bremer, PLC Marketing].

（操作員指示）[Philip Bremer，PLC 行銷]。

Yes. Do you have any anticipation of what the dividend may be one year from this quarter?

是的。您對本季一年後的股利有何預測？

Good morning. No, we don't at this point have an anticipation of that one year from now. I will say that we do anticipate that distributions will be high on our list of cash flow priorities, and to the extent that we don't need cash internally to bolster the balance sheet to do anything else that you're going to see distributions going back to unit holders.

早安.不，我們目前還沒有對一年後的情況做出預測。我想說的是，我們確實預計分配將在我們的現金流優先事項中名列前茅，並且只要我們不需要內部現金來支撐資產負債表來做任何其他事情，您就會看到分配回到單位持有人手中。

Okay. Well, congratulations on your strategy of debt reduction and the execution of it. I was just curious whether you were going to prioritize share buybacks or dividends.

好的。好吧，恭喜你制定了減債策略並成功實施。我只是好奇您是否會優先考慮股票回購或股息。

I would suggest that in order of prioritization, I think of it this way. For our uses of cash, number one is liquidity, balance sheet strength. We have to make sure that we don't find ourselves in a position that we've found ourselves in in the past because of poor capital structure.

我建議按照優先順序來考慮。對於現金的用途，最重要的是流動性和資產負債表實力。我們必須確保我們不會因為資本結構不佳而陷入過去那樣的境地。

And then to the extent we've satisfied that, next on the list of priorities would be the distribution; then unit repurchases if it was possible to repurchase units at what we would think would be material discounts to intrinsic value. And then last would be opportunistic-type acquisitions that if we're able to purchase things at prices that provided a margin of safety.

當我們對此感到滿意時，下一個優先事項就是分配；然後進行單位回購（如果有可能以我們認為對內在價值有重大折扣的價格回購單位）。最後是機會型收購，即我們能夠以提供安全邊際的價格購買東西。

Thank you.

謝謝。

You bet.

當然。

[David Spear, Nature Capital].

[大衛·斯皮爾，自然資本]。

Hi, how are you guys?

嗨，大家好嗎？

Good morning.

早安.

Just as a way -- as a possibility of speeding up the capital returns process, is there any opportunities to either sell assets or monetize assets, take advantage of the disconnect maybe between the market value of the company and essentially the private asset value of some of your assets, as just a way of then using those proceeds to pay down the debt to then speed up capital returns?

作為一種加速資本回報過程的可能性，是否有機會出售資產或將資產貨幣化，利用公司市場價值與部分資產的私人資產價值之間的脫節，然後使用這些收益來償還債務，從而加速資本回報？

Just, candidly, we do not have plans to sell any of our assets. We tend to be -- as a royalty owner and mineral owner, we tend to be an acquirer and a long-term holder of those assets. We find that over time, that tends to be the best way to maximize value.

只是，坦白說，我們沒有出售任何資產的計劃。我們傾向於—作為特許權所有者和礦產所有者，我們傾向於成為這些資產的收購者和長期持有者。我們發現，隨著時間的推移，這往往是實現價值最大化的最佳方式。

I will say, however, that if we felt an opportunity existed to monetize an asset at some value that was in excess of what we believed the asset was inherently worth, its intrinsic value to us, we would certainly consider that. But I think those will be not frequent opportunities.

然而，我要說的是，如果我們覺得有機會將一項資產以某種價值貨幣化，而這種價值超過了我們認為的資產的內在價值，即它對我們來說的內在價值，我們肯定會考慮這一點。但我認為這樣的機會並不多見。

Got it. And longer term, I mean, are there any other mineral right packages, let's say, even on coal, given the sentiment towards the coal industry overall, where there would be opportunities to pick up other packages over time, and you can really scale your existing corporate infrastructure where you get some benefits, some accretive benefits and acquisitions?

知道了。從長遠來看，我的意思是，是否有其他礦產權方案，比如說，即使是煤炭，考慮到對整個煤炭行業的看法，隨著時間的推移，是否有機會獲得其他方案，並且您可以真正擴大現有的企業基礎設施，從而獲得一些好處、一些增值利益和收購？

Well, we really don't want to talk much from a competitive perspective about our desires for growth and investing and that type of thing. I would say, though, that we're still at a point where we're executing to finish the strategy we've put in place to de-lever the business.

嗯，我們真的不想從競爭的角度談論我們對成長和投資的渴望以及諸如此類的事情。不過，我想說的是，我們仍在執行已經制定的降低業務槓桿率的策略。

And as you could tell from the prioritization I gave you a few moments ago on our cash uses, acquisitions is the bottom of that list of four different uses of cash. So I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves on that right now.

從我剛才給出的現金用途優先順序可以看出，收購是現金四種用途中排在最後一項的。所以我現在不想在這個問題上走得太遠。

Okay, I appreciate it. Thanks so much.

好的，我很感激。非常感謝。

Yeah, sure thing.

是的，當然可以。

[John Mason, Aegis Companies].

[約翰梅森，安吉斯公司]。

Hey, guys, thanks for taking my question.

嘿，夥計們，謝謝你們回答我的問題。

Sure.

當然。

Just looking at your volumes across for this quarter, I noticed that you guys saw a real uptick in the Illinois Basin. And so I guess just a couple questions. One, do you expect that uptick in volume to persist?

僅查看本季度的銷量，我注意到伊利諾伊盆地的銷量確實出現了上升。所以我想只問幾個問題。第一，您預期交易量的上升趨勢會持續下去嗎？

And then two, I think at these net index prices, it's pretty economical for, I think, a lot of producers on the cost curve. Do you anticipate any of your lessees on the met side to reduce production at these levels over time, or do you think that will persist? So I guess, the question on sort of Illinois Basin specifically and then the impact of the met index pricing on the volumes for your met producers.

其次，我認為，以這些淨指數價格，對於成本曲線上的許多生產者來說，這是相當經濟的。您是否預計，隨著時間的推移，您的任何氣象承租人都會減少產量，或者您認為這種情況會持續下去？所以我想，這個問題具體是關於伊利諾盆地的，然後是氣象指數定價對氣像生產商產量的影響。

Right. So, first of all, let me say that, as Tiffany mentioned at the outset, remember, we do not comment on specific operators. And so Illinois Basin is, in fact, one operator for us.

正確的。因此，首先，我要說的是，正如蒂芙尼一開始提到的，請記住，我們不會對特定的運營商發表評論。因此，伊利諾伊盆地實際上是我們的一個運營商。

But I think, generally, we could answer your question this way. The volumes you've seen for Illinois Basin for us in the quarter are within the range of what we would expect to see going forward. So it's nothing unusual, and so hopefully that helps your question there with that. And what was your second question again?

但我認為，一般來說，我們可以這樣回答你的問題。本季伊利諾伊盆地的產量在我們預期的範圍內。所以這沒什麼不尋常的，希望這能幫助你解答這個問題。您的第二個問題是什麼？

So I think Illinois is primarily thermal. But on the met side, the index pricing obviously in the Q1 -- so Q1 is sort of the first quarter that you're seeing fully reflected. Do you expect any of your met coal producers to reduce production given that, I think, this pricing is pretty uneconomic for a lot of producers across the cost curve?

所以我認為伊利諾州主要是熱力型的。但從大都會方面來看，指數定價顯然在第一季——因此第一季是您看到全面反映的第一季。您是否預期您的冶金煤生產商會減少產量，因為我認為這種定價對於成本曲線上的許多生產商來說都是相當不經濟的？

We think you're right. We do believe that -- you're correct in that prices today are at or below marginal cost of production for many operators. And we do have operators we believe -- although we're not necessarily privy to their cost structure. We don't have the right to see that, so to speak.

我們認為你是對的。我們確實相信—您說得對，目前的價格對於許多業者來說都處於或低於邊際生產成本。我們相信我們確實有運營商——儘管我們不一定了解他們的成本結構。可以這麼說，我們沒有權利看到這一點。

But we do believe that we do have operators that are right there at that breakeven, maybe right before. It would not surprise us if there were idlings of production. But we have nothing we can point to right now that says we're going to have a material change in our volumes as a result of that.

但我們確實相信，我們確實有一些營運商已經達到了損益平衡點，甚至可能提前達到了損益平衡點。如果出現生產停工的情況，我們並不會感到驚訝。但目前我們還沒有任何證據顯示我們的產量將因此發生重大變化。

But it's -- as you could tell from our prepared remarks, that's what we want to make sure everybody -- all of you are aware of is that we're sensitive to the price levels that exist in the space right now.

但是——正如你們從我們準備好的發言中看到的那樣，我們想要確保每個人都知道——我們對目前該領域的價格水平很敏感。

Yeah, sounds good. Thanks so much.

是的，聽起來不錯。非常感謝。

You bet. I will just say this. One of the things that we spend a lot of time doing around here and have for a number of years, is trying to think of bad things that can happen to our business. And you've identified one of them that we regularly consider and we run stress tests on. And it's a wise question that you asked.

當然。我只想說這一點。我們在這裡花了很多時間並且已經堅持了很多年的一件事就是試圖思考可能發生在我們業務上的壞事。您已經確定了其中一個我們會定期考慮並進行壓力測試的因素。你問的這個問題很明智。

[Umang Kamarya].

[烏芒‧卡瑪裡亞]。

Hi, thanks for taking my question. So basically, my question is supposed to be a bit similar to what the previous one asked, but just a couple of things. So the first thing is that, previously, M&A has been pretty strong for NRP. But I just wanted to get a sense of whether or not this is going to be a theme.

你好，謝謝你回答我的問題。所以基本上，我的問題應該與前一個問題有點類似，但只有幾件事。首先，此前，NRP 的併購業務表現相當強勁。但我只是想了解這是否會成為一個主題。

And also, with regards to the new administration, there seems to be more support for met coal going forward. And I was just wondering that, have you heard of any talk with regards to that with your other partners, whether they're actually looking for more met coal sourcing with regards to further up the supply chain? Yeah, pretty much those two things.

此外，就新政府而言，未來似乎會對冶金煤提供更多支持。我只是想知道，您是否聽說過與其他合作夥伴就此進行的任何談話，他們是否實際上正在尋求更多的冶金煤採購以進一步提升供應鏈？是的，差不多就是這兩件事。

Could you repeat your first question again, please?

您能再重複一下您的第一個問題嗎？

You can disregard the first question. It was about M&A, but I think you covered it all right. So could you just answer the second question, please?

你可以忽略第一個問題。這是關於併購的，但我認為你已經涵蓋了所有內容。那你能回答第二個問題嗎？

I would say that we do monitor legislative and executive orders -- legislative developments and executive orders fairly closely to the extent they impact our space. And we have not identified anything that we think will materially impact our business per se.

我想說的是，我們確實密切關注立法和行政命令——立法發展和行政命令，以了解它們對我們的空間的影響。我們尚未發現任何我們認為會對我們的業務本身產生重大影響的因素。

We can't make forecasts as far as what's going to happen on the regulatory front. But we've seen various administrations come and go over the life of NRP. And we frankly haven't seen a dramatic impact, just for example, over the last decade through two-plus administrations that we've weathered. We don't know exactly what impact that's going to have on us. We're not changing our business plans because of it.

我們無法預測監管方面將會發生什麼。但在 NRP 的整個生命週期中，我們已經看到多屆政府的更迭。坦白說，我們並沒有看到顯著的影響，例如，在過去十年中，我們經歷了兩屆以上的政府執政。我們不知道這究竟會對我們產生什麼影響。我們不會因此改變我們的商業計劃。

Got it. Thank you so much.

知道了。太感謝了。

Yeah, you bet.

是的，沒錯。

There are no further questions at this time. That concludes our question-and-answer session. I will now hand it back over to Craig Nunez for closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題。我們的問答環節到此結束。現在我將把發言權交還給克雷格·努涅斯，請他作最後發言。

Thank you, operator. And thank you, everyone, for joining us today and for your support of us. We're nearing the end of a very long journey to conclude the strategy that we put in place back in 2015. And we couldn't have done what we've done so far without your support.

謝謝您，接線生。感謝大家今天的參與和對我們的支持。我們即將結束一段漫長的旅程，完成我們在 2015 年制定的策略。如果沒有你們的支持，我們就不可能有目前所取得的成就。

The headwinds of the market are certainly headwinds at the moment. But I can honestly say that despite the outlook for our three key commodities being, probably, the worst it's been in my tenure at NRP, the outlook from the perspective of an equity holder is certainly brighter than it's been over the last decade.

目前市場的逆風肯定是逆風。但我可以誠實地說，儘管我們三種主要商品的前景可能是我在 NRP 任職以來最糟糕的，但從股東的角度來看，前景肯定比過去十年更加光明。

So with that, thank you again, and I look forward to speaking to you soon. Good day.

因此，再次感謝您，並期待很快與您交談。再會。

That concludes today's call. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。