NWPX Infrastructure Inc (NWPX) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to Northwest Pipe Company's second-quarter 2024 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Please also note, today's event is being recorded.

早安，歡迎參加西北管道公司 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）也請注意，今天的活動正在錄製中。

At this time, I'd like to turn the floor over to Scott Montross, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.

現在，我想請執行長 Scott Montross 發言。請繼續。

Good morning, and welcome to Northwest Pipe Company's second-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. My name is Scott Montross, and I'm President and CEO of the company. I'm joined today by Aaron Wilkins, our Chief Financial Officer.

早安，歡迎參加西北管道公司 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。我叫史考特‧蒙特羅斯，是公司的總裁兼執行長。今天我們的財務長亞倫威爾金斯 (Aaron Wilkins) 也加入了我的行列。

By now, all of you should have access to our earnings press release, which was issued yesterday, July 31, 2024, at approximately 4:00 PM Eastern Time. This call is being webcast, and it is available for replay. As we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that statements made on this call regarding our expectations for the future are forward-looking statements, and actual results could differ materially.

到目前為止，大家都應該可以訪問我們的收益新聞稿，該新聞稿於昨天（2024 年 7 月 31 日）東部時間下午 4 點左右發布。該電話會議正在網路上直播，並且可以重播。在我們開始之前，我想提醒大家，本次電話會議中有關我們對未來的期望的聲明均為前瞻性聲明，實際結果可能存在重大差異。

Please refer to our most recent Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and in our other SEC filings for a discussion of such risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

請參閱我們截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日的最新年度 10-K 表格以及我們向 SEC 提交的其他文件，以了解可能導致實際結果與我們的預期存在重大差異的此類風險因素的討論。我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。

Thank you all for joining us today. I'll begin with a review of our second-quarter performance and outlook for 2024. Aaron will then walk you through our financials in greater detail.

感謝大家今天加入我們。我將首先回顧我們第二季度的業績和 2024 年的展望。然後，亞倫將向您詳細介紹我們的財務狀況。

We delivered strong second-quarter results, led by growth in our steel pressure pipe business and the residential side of our precast business. Our consolidated net sales increased 11.3% year over year to $129.5 million, the strongest quarterly level we have seen since early 2013. Our profitability significantly improved, and when coupled with the effective working capital management, helped drive strong cash flow during the quarter.

在鋼壓力管業務和預製件住宅業務的成長帶動下，我們第二季業績強勁。我們的綜合淨銷售額年增 11.3%，達到 1.295 億美元，這是自 2013 年初以來最強勁的季度水準。我們的獲利能力顯著提高，再加上有效的營運資金管理，有助於推動本季強勁的現金流。

To further break down our segment level results, revenue from our SPP segment totaled $89.5 million, an increase of 15.9% year over year and the highest quarterly revenue reported in our history. Our performance primarily reflected higher production levels due to changes in project timing, which were reflective of the strong pipeline of bidding opportunities that we saw in the first half of the year.

進一步細分我們的分部層級業績，SPP 分部的收入總計 8,950 萬美元，年增 15.9%，是我們歷史上最高的季度收入。我們的業績主要反映了由於專案時間變化而提高的產量水平，這反映了我們在上半年看到的大量投標機會。

Our SPP team has continued to do an excellent job executing on bids and projects, securing a number of new project wins in the second quarter and improving our backlog, while at the same time, generating record revenue and strong free cash flow. Our SPP backlog, including confirmed orders as of June 30 was $348 million, an improvement from $337 million as of March 31, 2024, and up from $343 million at June 30, 2023.

我們的 SPP 團隊繼續出色地執行投標和項目，在第二季度贏得了多個新項目並改善了我們的積壓工作，同時創造了創紀錄的收入和強勁的自由現金流。截至6 月30 日，我們的SPP 積壓訂單（包括已確認訂單）為3.48 億美元，較截至2024 年3 月31 日的3.3​​7 億美元有所改善，也較截至2023 年6 月30 日的3.43 億美元有所增加。

Our second-quarter performance was partially offset by lower realized selling prices due to production mix in the quarter. Steel prices steadily declined throughout the course of the second quarter but appear to be reaching the bottom and are stabilizing in the $650 a ton range. Lead times stand at about three to four weeks.

我們第二季的業績被本季生產組合導致的實際銷售價格降低部分抵銷。鋼材價格在第二季度穩步下降，但似乎已觸底並穩定在每噸 650 美元的範圍內。交貨時間約三到四週。

Now turning to our precast segment. Precast revenue increased by 2.2% year over year to $40 million, primarily due to continued strength on the residential side of our business at Geneva, which resulted in strong production and shipment levels and further improvement to our order book.

現在轉向我們的預製部分。預製件營收年增 2.2%，達到 4,000 萬美元，這主要是由於我們在日內瓦住宅業務方面的持續強勁，導致生產和發貨水平強勁，以及我們的訂單進一步改善。

However, reduced shipments on the nonresidential construction related portion of our precast business at Park offset much of this strength, primarily due to various severe weather events we experienced in Texas throughout the quarter.

然而，公園預製件業務中非住宅建築相關部分的發貨量減少在很大程度上抵消了這一優勢，這主要是由於我們整個季度在德克薩斯州經歷的各種惡劣天氣事件。

These events led to significant disruptions in our production, shipping, and order intake at all three Park facilities, which we estimate had an approximate $4.3 million negative impact on our precast sales during the quarter. In addition, the current interest rate environment continues to create persistent headwinds on the commercial, nonresidential side of our business.

這些事件導致我們所有三個園區設施的生產、運輸和訂單接收受到嚴重干擾，我們估計這對我們本季的預製件銷售產生了約 430 萬美元的負面影響。此外，目前的利率環境持續為我們的商業、非住宅業務帶來持續的阻力。

On the pricing side, both the residential and nonresidential precast businesses saw better pricing dynamics in the second quarter following the implementation of multiple price increases. As of June 30, our order book improved to $62 million from $52 million as of March 31, 2024, and $58 million as of June 30, 2023.

在定價方面，住宅和非住宅預製件業務在實施多次漲價後，第二季的定價動態有所改善。截至 6 月 30 日，我們的訂單從 2024 年 3 月 31 日的 5,200 萬美元和截至 2023 年 6 月 30 日的 5,800 萬美元增至 6,200 萬美元。

Our consolidated gross profit for the second quarter increased 14.8% year over year to $25.8 million, a new consolidated gross profit record for the company, resulting in gross margins of 19.9%, up from 19.3% in the second quarter of 2023.

我們第二季的綜合毛利年增 14.8%，達到 2,580 萬美元，創下公司綜合毛利新紀錄，毛利率為 19.9%，高於 2023 年第二季的 19.3%。

Our SPP gross margin of 19% was strong, increasing by approximately 270 basis points over the prior year period and 120 basis points over the prior quarter, primarily due to higher production volume, which improved our overhead absorption as well as changes in product mix and significant strength that we saw in the second quarter bidding activity.

我們的SPP 毛利率為19%，較上年同期成長約270 個基點，較上一季成長約120 個基點，這主要是由於產量增加，這改善了我們的間接費用吸收以及產品結構和產品結構的變化。

Our precast gross margin of 22.1% was down compared to the 25.3% in the second quarter of 2023, primarily as a result of the severe weather-related impacts on our production and shipping days, which reduced our second-quarter revenue at the Park facilities and resulted in reduced overhead absorption. However, the margins on the residential construction side at Geneva strengthened versus the year ago period.

我們的預製件毛利率為 22.1%，較 2023 年第二季的 25.3% 有所下降，主要是由於惡劣天氣對我們的生產和運輸天數的影響，導致我們第二季園區設施的收入減少並導致塔頂吸收減少。然而，日內瓦住宅建設方面的利潤率與去年同期相比有所增強。

Next, I would like to provide an update on our capital allocation priorities. Our primary strategic focus remains on growing the business through a combination of organic precast product spread strategy and future M&A opportunities. Beginning with product spread, traction has continued on Level 1 of this strategy by building out capacity utilization at our Texas-based precast plants to maximize overall efficiencies and production volume.

接下來，我想介紹一下我們的資本配置優先事項的最新情況。我們的主要策略重點仍然是透過有機預製產品傳播策略和未來併購機會的結合來發展業務。從產品推廣開始，透過提高德州預製工廠的產能利用率，最大限度地提高整體效率和產量，這項策略的第一級繼續受到牽引。

Year-to-date, we have continued to make solid progress despite the weather-related headwinds at Park by bidding on $30 million worth of projects outside of Texas and booking approximately $5 million worth of orders outside of Texas.

今年迄今為止，儘管Park 面臨與天氣相關的不利因素，我們仍繼續取得紮實進展，投標了德克薩斯州以外價值3000 萬美元的項目，並在德克薩斯州以外預訂了價值約500 萬美元的訂單。

In regard to Level 2 of our strategy, to produce Park products at our existing Northwest Pipe plants, year-to-date at Geneva, we have completed production on 15 projects, and we are currently in production on six more projects, with an additional 10 projects pending. Once the Park precast products are more comfortably established at the Utah locations, we plan to expand our Level 2 product spread to additional geographic locations over the next couple of years.

關於我們策略的第二級，即在日內瓦現有的西北管道工廠生產 Park 產品，今年迄今為止，我們已經完成了 15 個項目的生產，目前我們正在另外 6 個項目的生產中，另外還有10個項目待定。一旦公園預製產品在猶他州的地點更加舒適地建立起來，我們計劃在未來幾年內將我們的 2 級產品擴展到其他地理位置。

Following organic growth, repaying the debt we incurred to finance the 2021 acquisition of ParkUSA, as well as financing the current growth of the SPP business and related working capital, remains very high on our list of priorities to ensure that we are well positioned to pursue further precast-related growth opportunities.

在實現有機成長之後，償還我們為 2021 年收購 ParkUSA 提供資金而產生的債務，以及為 SPP 業務和相關營運資金的當前增長提供資金，仍然是我們的首要任務，以確保我們有能力實現預製件相關的進一步成長機會。

In regard to our M&A strategy, we are actively evaluating various opportunities in the precast-related space that would help increase our manufacturing capabilities and product portfolio, maximize production efficiencies, and expand our geographic reach. The precast space continues to be an attractive area of expansion for us despite the near-term headwinds we've encountered resulting from the current interest rate environment.

在我們的併購策略方面，我們正在積極評估預製件相關領域的各種機會，這將有助於提高我們的製造能力和產品組合、最大限度地提高生產效率並擴大我們的地理覆蓋範圍。儘管我們近期遇到了當前利率環境帶來的不利因素，但預製空間仍然是對我們有吸引力的擴張領域。

As previously noted, we are looking for high-quality, well-run businesses that are accretive to our earnings and that possess a strong potential for organic growth, enhanced margins, and consistent positive cash flow generation.

如前所述，我們正在尋找高品質、經營良好的企業，這些企業能夠增加我們的收入，並具有強大的有機成長潛力、更高的利潤率和持續產生正現金流的潛力。

Next, we may opt to be opportunistic in repurchasing shares of our common stock while we continue to evaluate accretive M&A opportunities. During the second quarter, we repurchased approximately 18,000 shares of our common stock for a total of $0.6 million. And since the initial authorization of our share repurchase in November of 2023, we bought back a total of 174,000 shares for $5.1 million as of July 31.

接下來，我們可能會選擇機會主義地回購普通股，同時繼續評估增值併購機會。第二季度，我們回購了約 18,000 股普通股，總價值 60 萬美元。自 2023 年 11 月首次授權回購股票以來，截至 7 月 31 日，我們總共以 510 萬美元回購了 174,000 股股票。

Before I conclude, I'd like to summarize our outlook for the third quarter of 2024. In our steel pressure pipe business, we anticipate both our revenue and gross margins to be relatively in line to down modestly from the record second quarter we just delivered, primarily related to a mix of projects that we have booked and their overall impact on production volume.

在結束之前，我想總結一下我們對 2024 年第三季的展望。在我們的鋼製壓力管業務中，我們預計我們的收入和毛利率將相對於我們剛剛交付的創紀錄的第二季度小幅下降，這主要與我們已預訂的項目及其對產量的總體影響有關。

We also expect backlog to remain high by historical standards, given the volume of expected SPP bidding in the second half of 2024 that is currently expected to be slightly larger than the first half. We remain encouraged by the amount of activity we are seeing on our current and upcoming water transmission projects, which can be found detailed in our investor presentation on the Investor Relations portion of our website.

鑑於 2024 年下半年預計 SPP 招標量目前預計略大於上半年，我們預期積壓訂單仍將維持在歷史高點。我們對當前和即將到來的輸水項目的大量活動感到鼓舞，這些活動的詳細資訊可以在我們網站投資者關係部分的投資者介紹中找到。

In our precast business, following a slow first half of the year, we are expecting a stronger third quarter with improvements in both revenue and margins, positioning us for a strong second half of the year. We continue to believe in the strength of the precast business in the mid to long term given the significant amount of pent-up demand, specifically for residential housing, a growing need for infrastructure spending in the US, and our growing market position.

在我們的預製件業務中，繼上半年的緩慢成長之後，我們預計第三季將更加強勁，收入和利潤率都會有所改善，為我們下半年的強勁發展做好準備。鑑於大量被壓抑的需求（特別是住宅需求）、美國基礎設施支出的需求不斷增長以及我們不斷增長的市場地位，我們仍然相信預製件業務在中長期的實力。

In summary, we are very pleased with our results, which reflect the attainment of two new quarterly records despite the various challenges we encountered. Our performance continues to be supported by a significantly stronger bidding environment in 2024 that is anticipated to remain elevated throughout the balance of the year. I'd like to express my gratitude to our teams in the field for their continued strong execution and for prioritizing safety in everything that they do.

總而言之，我們對我們的業績感到非常滿意，這反映出儘管我們遇到了各種挑戰，但仍創下了兩項新的季度記錄。我們的業績將繼續受到 2024 年明顯強勁的投標環境的支持，預計這一環境將在今年餘下時間保持在較高水平。我要對我們的現場團隊表示感謝，感謝他們持續強有力的執行力以及他們所做的一切都將安全放在首位。

Additionally, our results continue to be bolstered by the diversification strategy we began deploying in 2020 with our entry into the precast space. In comparison to the SPP business, the precast businesses are more transactional in nature, which creates an overall faster cash conversion cycle and helps balance out our business, especially during periods of variability in the SPP market.

此外，我們在 2020 年進入預製領域時開始部署的多元化策略持續支撐著我們的表現。與 SPP 業務相比，預製業務本質上更具交易性，這創造了整體更快的現金週轉週期，並有助於平衡我們的業務，特別是在 SPP 市場波動時期。

Looking ahead, our priorities remain on: one, maintaining a safe workplace where our employees are proud to work; two, persistently focusing on margin over volume; three, continuing to implement cost reductions and efficiencies at all levels of the company; four, continuing to identify strategic opportunities to grow the company; and five, in the absence of M&A opportunities, returning values to our shareholders through opportunistic share repurchases.

展望未來，我們的首要任務仍然是：第一，維持一個安全的工作場所，讓我們的員工能夠自豪地工作；二、持續關注利潤而非數量；三、持續在公司各個層面實施降本增效；四、持續尋找公司發展的策略機會；五是在沒有併購機會的情況下，透過機會性股票回購為股東回報價值。

I will now turn the call over to Aaron, who will walk through our financial results in greater detail.

我現在將把電話轉給亞倫，他將更詳細地介紹我們的財務表現。

Thank you, Scott, and good morning, everyone. I'll begin with an overview of our second quarter profitability. Consolidated net income for the second quarter was $8.6 million or $0.86 per diluted share, compared to $7.4 million or $0.74 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2023.

謝謝你，斯科特，大家早安。我將首先概述我們第二季的獲利能力。第二季合併淨利為 860 萬美元，即稀釋後每股 0.86 美元，而 2023 年第二季為 740 萬美元，即稀釋後每股 0.74 美元。

Consolidated net sales increased 11.3% to $129.5 million, compared to $116.4 million in the year ago quarter. Steel pressure pipe segment sales increased 15.9% to a record $89.5 million, compared to $77.3 million in the second quarter of 2023.

綜合淨銷售額成長 11.3%，達到 1.295 億美元，去年同期為 1.164 億美元。鋼製壓力管部門銷售額成長 15.9%，達到創紀錄的 8,950 萬美元，而 2023 年第二季為 7,730 萬美元。

As Scott highlighted, SPP sales exceeded our expectations, driven by a 56% increase in tons produced, resulting primarily from improved market demand and changes in project timing, which was partially offset by a 26% decrease in selling price per ton, primarily due to lower raw material costs, coupled with changes in product mix.

正如Scott 所強調的那樣，SPP 的銷量超出了我們的預期，主要是由於市場需求改善和項目時間變化導致產量增加56%，但每噸售價下降26% 部分抵消了這一增長，這主要是由於原料成本降低，加上產品結構的變化。

Precast segment sales increased 2.2% to $40 million, compared to $39.1 million in the second quarter of 2023 due to a 30% increase in volume shipped, partially offset by a 22% decrease in selling prices stemming from changes in product mix.

預製件細分市場銷售額成長2.2%，達到4,000 萬美元，而2023 年第二季為3,910 萬美元，原因是出貨量成長了30%，但部分被產品組合變動導致的售價下降22%所抵消。

Our Geneva business continued to benefit from higher shipment volumes in the second quarter on strong demand, while our Park business was slower due to headwinds in the commercial construction market in Texas as a result of the interest rate environment as well as weather delays.

我們的日內瓦業務繼續受益於第二季強勁需求帶來的出貨量增加，而我們的公園業務則因利率環境和天氣延誤導致德州商業建築市場的不利因素而放緩。

As a reminder, the products we manufacture are unique, therefore, shipment volumes in the case of precast, production volumes in the case of steel pressure pipe, and the corresponding average sales prices for both segments do not always provide comparable metrics between periods as they are highly dependent on the composition of each segment's product mix.

提醒一下，我們生產的產品是獨一無二的，因此，預製件的出貨量、鋼壓力管的產量以及兩個細分市場相應的平均銷售價格並不總是提供不同時期之間的可比較指標，因為它們高度依賴每個細分市場的產品組合的構成。

Consolidated gross profit increased 14.8% to $25.8 million or 19.9% of sales, compared to $22.5 million or 19.3% of sales in the second quarter of 2023. Our second quarter represented a record consolidated gross profit for the company. Steel pressure pipe gross profit increased 35.1% to $17 million or 19% of segment sales, compared to gross profit of $12.6 million or 16.3% of segment sales in the second quarter of 2023, primarily due to higher volume and changes in product mix.

綜合毛利成長 14.8%，達到 2,580 萬美元，佔銷售額的 19.9%，而 2023 年第二季為 2,250 萬美元，佔銷售額的 19.3%。我們第二季的公司綜合毛利創歷史新高。鋼製壓力管毛利潤成長35.1%，達到1,700 萬美元，佔部門銷售額的19%，而2023 年第二季毛利為1,260 萬美元，佔部門銷售額的16.3%，主要是由於銷量增加和產品結構變化。

Precast gross profit decreased 10.9% to $8.8 million or 22.1% of precast sales from $9.9 million or 25.3% of segment sales in the second quarter of 2023, primarily due to changes in product mix. Despite strengthening residential infrastructure demand, particularly in Utah, we saw continued margin compression for the precast segment during the second quarter due to continued headwinds in the commercial infrastructure markets, coupled with shipment delays at Park.

預製件毛利潤從2023 年第二季的990 萬美元（佔分部銷售額的25.3%）下降10.9% 至880 萬美元（佔預製件銷售額的22.1%），這主要是由於產品結構的變化。儘管住宅基礎設施需求增強，特別是在猶他州，但由於商業基礎設施市場的持續不利因素以及 Park 的發貨延誤，我們看到第二季度預製件領域的利潤率持續壓縮。

Selling, general, and administrative expenses increased 10.7% to $12.2 million or 9.4% of sales, compared to $11 million in the second quarter of 2023 or 9.5% of sales. The increase was primarily due to higher incentive compensation expense. Our noncash incentive compensation expense in the second quarter of 2024 was $1.6 million, compared to $1.3 million in the year-ago quarter.

銷售、一般和管理費用成長 10.7%，達到 1,220 萬美元，佔銷售額的 9.4%，而 2023 年第二季為 1,100 萬美元，佔銷售額的 9.5%。這一增長主要是由於激勵補償費用增加。2024 年第二季我們的非現金激勵補償費用為 160 萬美元，去年同期為 130 萬美元。

For the full year of 2024, we now expect our consolidated selling, general, and administrative expenses to be in the range of approximately $46 million to $48 million. Depreciation and amortization expense in the second quarter of 2024 was $4.7 million, compared to $3.9 million in the year-ago quarter. We expect depreciation and amortization expense to be between $19 million and $20 million for the full year 2024.

對於 2024 年全年，我們目前預計合併銷售、一般和管理費用將在約 4,600 萬美元至 4,800 萬美元之間。2024 年第二季的折舊和攤提費用為 470 萬美元，去年同期為 390 萬美元。我們預計 2024 年全年的折舊和攤提費用將在 1,900 萬美元至 2,000 萬美元之間。

Interest expense increased to $1.8 million from $1.2 million in the second quarter of 2023, due primarily to the increase in average daily borrowings and, to a lesser extent, a higher average interest rate. For the full year of 2024, we expect interest expense to be approximately $6 million.

利息支出從 2023 年第二季的 120 萬美元增加到 180 萬美元，主要是由於平均每日借款增加，以及較小程度上平均利率上升。2024 年全年，我們預計利息支出約為 600 萬美元。

Our second-quarter income tax expense was $2.9 million, resulting in an effective income tax rate of 25.5%, compared to $2.7 million in the prior year quarter or an effective income tax rate of 26.5%. Our tax rate for the second quarters of 2024 and 2023 were impacted by nondeductible permanent differences. We continue to expect our tax rate for the full year of 2024 to be within the range of 25% to 27%.

我們第二季的所得稅費用為 290 萬美元，有效所得稅率為 25.5%，而去年同期為 270 萬美元，有效所得稅率為 26.5%。我們 2024 年和 2023 年第二季的稅率受到不可抵扣永久差異的影響。我們繼續預計 2024 年全年的稅率將在 25% 至 27% 的範圍內。

Now I will transition to our financial condition. Net cash provided by operating activities was $22.3 million in the second quarter of 2024, compared to $1.2 million in the second quarter of 2023, primarily due to changes in working capital and higher profitability. Enhanced cash flow generation remains a key focus of our business as it is critical to the execution of our growth strategy and delivering greater value to our shareholders.

現在我將過渡到我們的財務狀況。2024 年第二季營運活動提供的淨現金為 2,230 萬美元，而 2023 年第二季為 120 萬美元，主要是由於營運資本的變化和獲利能力的提高。增強現金流產生仍然是我們業務的重點，因為它對於執行我們的成長策略和為股東提供更大的價值至關重要。

While we had anticipated working capital pressures for the steel pressure pipe business in the first half of the year, the actual working capital position at June 30 was less than expected attributable to an increase in contract liabilities stemming from our ability to build early for certain large projects.

雖然我們預計上半年鋼壓管業務將面臨營運資金壓力，但截至 6 月 30 日的實際營運資金狀況低於預期，原因是我們有能力提前建造某些大型項目，導致合約負債增加。

This more than offset the higher-than-anticipated SPP production levels achieved during the quarter. We continue to expect our cash flows to improve in the second half of the year, with free cash flow anticipated to range between $19 million and $25 million for the full year 2024. Our capital expenditures totaled $6.1 million in the second quarter of 2024, compared to $4 million in the prior year quarter.

這足以抵消本季實現的高於預期的 SPP 產量水準。我們繼續預計下半年現金流將有所改善，2024 年全年自由現金流預計將在 1,900 萬美元至 2,500 萬美元之間。2024 年第二季我們的資本支出總計 610 萬美元，而去年同期為 400 萬美元。

We anticipate completion of the new concrete pipe project in Salt Lake City in the next three months, which, after successful commissioning, is expected to improve production yields and efficiencies on the reinforced concrete pipe and manholes we produce and sell out of that facility.

我們預計鹽湖城的新混凝土管道項目將在未來三個月內完成，在成功調試後，預計將提高我們從該設施生產和銷售的鋼筋混凝土管道和沙井的產量和效率。

We continue to anticipate our total CapEx to be in the range of $19 million to $22 million for the full year 2024. As of June 30, 2024, and we had $75.9 million of outstanding borrowings on our credit facility, leaving approximately $47 million in additional borrowing capacity on our credit line.

我們仍預期 2024 年全年的資本支出總額將在 1,900 萬美元至 2,200 萬美元之間。截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日，我們的信貸額度上有 7,590 萬美元的未償還借款，我們的信貸額度上還剩下約 4,700 萬美元的額外借款能力。

In summary, we are extremely pleased with our record quarterly gross profit and overall improved financial performance, including our cash flows, which are all a testament to our team's focus, dedication, and execution. Our ability to adapt to market conditions is evident in our financial achievements, and our strategic initiatives have positioned us well for future growth and continued success through the balance of this year and beyond.

總而言之，我們對創紀錄的季度毛利和整體改善的財務表現（包括現金流）感到非常滿意，這些都證明了我們團隊的專注、奉獻和執行力。我們適應市場條件的能力在我們的財務成就中得到了體現，我們的策略舉措為我們未來的成長和今年及以後的持續成功奠定了良好的基礎。

Thank you to all of our employees for their continued commitment to safety and exemplary execution, as well as to our shareholders for their continued support and confidence in Northwest Pipe Company.

感謝我們所有員工對安全的持續承諾和模範執行，感謝我們的股東對西北管道公司的持續支持和信心。

I will now turn it over to the operator to begin the question-and-answer session.

我現在將把它交給接線員以開始問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) Julio Romero, Sidoti.

（操作員說明）Julio Romero，Sidoti。

(technical difficulty) environment for the second half for fuel pressure pipe is expected to be slightly better than the first half. Can you maybe talk to your confidence that, that steel pressure pipe segment strength can be sustained? And then secondly, how long can we expect that strength to sustain itself?

（技術難度）預計下半年燃油壓力管環境將略好於上半年。您能否談談您對鋼製壓力管段實力能否持續的信心？其次，我們可以期望這種力量能夠維持多久？

Hey, Julio, you were cut out at the beginning. I don't know if we missed the first part of your question. But as to the question on the second half, I mean, obviously, we've looked at these things, and we know what's bidding in the second half of this year, and it's slightly larger than what's bid in the first half of this year. So obviously, the steel pressure pipe market continues to be very strong.

嘿，胡里奧，你一開始就被淘汰了。我不知道我們是否錯過了你問題的第一部分。但至於下半年的問題，我的意思是，顯然，我們已經研究過這些事情，我們知道今年下半年的出價是什麼，而且比今年上半年的出價略大一些。顯然，鋼製壓力管市場持續非常強勁。

And we're just now starting to see the IIJA money start to trickle in a little bit and start to bolster some of these things. Like there's an Eastern New Mexico Rural Water District project that's got a bunch of the IIJA funding on it.

我們現在剛開始看到 IIJA 的資金開始一點點流入並開始支持其中一些事情。例如新墨西哥州東部農村水區計畫獲得了 IIJA 的大量資金。

And we don't really expect the mass of the IIJA funding really to hit until like late 2025 or '26. So this is quite a period in front of us of strength that we're seeing in the steel pressure pipe side. So I'm going to let you -- I'm going to pause there for a second and let you ask another question because we missed the first part of what you said.

我們並不真正預期 IIJA 的大量資金要到 2025 年末或 26 年才會真正到位。因此，這是我們在鋼製壓力管道方面看到的一段相當強勁的時期。所以我要讓你——我要暫停一下，讓你問另一個問題，因為我們錯過了你所說的第一部分。

Yeah. I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry if I'm coming in and out. My question was just really focused, and you hit on it, it's just -- it sounds like second half '24 for steel pressure is expected to be better. And it sounds like the long-term IIJA drivers are certainly in place.

是的。對此我很抱歉。如果我進出的話，我很抱歉。我的問題非常集中，你突然想到了，這只是 - 聽起來 24 年下半年鋼鐵壓力預計會更好。聽起來 IIJA 的長期驅動因素肯定已經就位。

I'm just trying to think about like the medium term, like 2025 sustainability of SPP. Because I know, in the past, it's been a volatile segment from a profit standpoint. Just help us think about like the medium-term sustainability of this segment.

我只是想考慮中期，例如 2025 年 SPP 的可持續性。因為我知道，在過去，從利潤的角度來看，這是一個不穩定的部分。請幫助我們思考該細分市場的中期永續性。

Yeah. One of the things that's different about this business now that we've seen longer term is there was a significant amount of consolidation in the business. And even when you look at how 2023 turned out, 2023 was a relatively, I guess, small year, bidding-wise and production-wise, in the steel pressure pipe business.

是的。我們從長遠來看，這項業務的不同之處之一是，該業務進行了大量的整合。即使你看看 2023 年的結果，我猜，2023 年對於鋼壓力管業務來說，無論是投標方面還是生產方面，都是相對較小的一年。

And even with that, we were still able to generate a halfway decent gross margin level and profitability level. Well, we're seeing a market that's over 40% larger in 2024. And you're starting to see what the results of a market that's that big has on steel pressure pipe: one overhead absorption; two, the bidding pressure on every job because there's so much more bidding is not as great. So it also allows the pricing and margins to continue to elevate up.

即便如此，我們仍然能夠實現一半不錯的毛利率水準和獲利水準。嗯，我們預計 2024 年市場規模將擴大 40% 以上。您將開始看到如此大的市場對鋼製壓力管道的影響：一是塔頂吸收；二是吸收。第二，由於投標太多，每項工作的投標壓力都沒有那麼大。因此，這也使得定價和利潤率持續上升。

And we don't expect that to change in the midterm. We expect to go into 2025 with a strong backlog, the way we have the last few years, and glide rate into that time frame where the IIJA funding really starts to push up the demand in the business. So we're not really concerned at this point of any violent fluctuations in steel pressure pipe.

我們預計這種情況在中期不會改變。我們預計到 2025 年，訂單積壓量將會很大，就像過去幾年一樣，而 IIJA 資金將在這個時間範圍內真正開始推高業務需求。因此，目前我們並不真正擔心鋼製壓力管道的任何劇烈波動。

But even with that, with the consolidation that's happened in the business, even when we have small markets like we had in 2023, it's still not nearly as volatile as what we saw back in 2015, '16 and '17 when there were five major players in the market. Now there's three major players in the market and it's consolidated down to a decent level. So I think that's changed the landscape for probably the longer term, Julio.

但即便如此，隨著業務中發生的整合，即使我們擁有像 2023 年那樣的小市場，它仍然不像我們在 2015 年、'16 和 '17 年看到的那樣波動，當時有五個主要市場市場中的參與者。現在市場上有三個主要參與者，並且已經整合到了一個不錯的水平。所以我認為從長遠來看，這可能改變了格局，胡里奧。

Understood. I appreciate you guys providing the context there. Last one if I could. You called out that $4.3 million negative impact from sales on the precast side due to the weather impact, I believe. Does that get realized in 3Q? Is that incremental? Just how should we think about that?

明白了。我很感謝你們提供的背景資訊。如果可以的話最後一張我相信，您指出由於天氣影響，預製件銷售產生了 430 萬美元的負面影響。這會在第三季實現嗎？這是增量的嗎？我們該如何思考這個問題呢？

I think you're going to see the pickup in Q3 with precast. Although what I will say about Q3, if you remember, the Hurricane Beryl hit the Houston area, which are -- which has our largest ParkUSA plant in it in the beginning of July, and that Park plant was down for about a week because there was no power in Houston. 2.5 million people were out of power.

我想你會在第三季看到預製的皮卡。雖然我要說的是第三季度，如果你還記得的話，颶風貝裡爾襲擊了休士頓地區，那裡有我們最大的 ParkUSA 工廠，在 7 月初，該工廠停產了大約一周，因為那裡休斯頓沒有權力。 250 萬人斷電。

But I think that you'll see the third quarter coming in stronger, the weather is still iffy, though. They're getting so much rain, but the order book is starting to grow. I think the confidence in the nonresidential business is starting to come back, especially when you look at the Dodge Momentum Index, which is something that we follow. If you look at that, I mean, the index is up -- it's 7% higher in June of '24 than it was in 2023 and the commercial piece is up about 25% from year ago levels.

但我認為你會看到第三季的表現會更好，儘管天氣仍然不穩定。雨下得很大，但訂單開始增加。我認為對非住宅業務的信心正在開始恢復，特別是當你看看我們所關注的道奇動量指數時。如果你看一下，我的意思是，該指數上漲了——24 年 6 月比 2023 年上漲了 7%，商業板塊比去年同期上漲了約 25%。

The institutional is off a little bit, that's mainly schools, hospitals and things like that, forward-facing or public-facing things, which we don't see a significant amount of impact on that with our public-facing stuff, which is the steel pressure pipe side because of the IIJA funding.

機構有點偏離，主要是學校、醫院和類似的東西，面向前方或面向公眾的東西，我們沒有看到我們面向公眾的東西對此產生重大影響，這就是鋼製壓力管方因為有IIJA的資助。

So I think there's a lot of good things going on. And I think that the precast business, after what we would consider to be a slow start in the first half of the year picks up steam as we get into the second part of the year.

所以我認為有很多好事正在發生。我認為，預製件業務在經歷了我們認為的上半年緩慢起步後，在進入今年下半年時開始加速成長。

And what I would say is -- about our precast business is that the business is the residential piece, which was what everyone was worried about, right, because of the interest rate environment and those things is really booming. The business in Geneva, the Geneva locations is very, very strong. The order book is very, very strong, similar to what we saw in 2022 on the precast side, but with higher revenues.

我要說的是，關於我們的預製件業務，該業務是住宅部分，這是每個人都擔心的，對吧，因為利率環境和這些事情確實正在蓬勃發展。日內瓦的業務非常非常強勁。訂單量非常非常強勁，與 2022 年預製件方面的情況類似，但收入更高。

So I think we're expecting a really big year on the precast side and a much better second half of the year than what we saw in the first because along with the residential piece that's still booming, especially in the Utah market, we're seeing the commercial side starting to come back. We just had some bumps in the road because of the weather issues in Texas.

因此，我認為我們預計預製件方面將迎來非常重要的一年，下半年的情況將比上半年好得多，因為隨著住宅項目仍在蓬勃發展，特別是在猶他州市場，我們看到商業方面開始回歸。由於德克薩斯州的天氣問題，我們在路上遇到了一些顛簸。

Very helpful. I'll pass along. Thanks very much.

非常有幫助。我就過去吧非常感謝。

Thanks, Julio.

謝謝，胡里奧。

Brent Thielman, D.A. Davidson.

布倫特·蒂爾曼，D.A.戴維森。

Thanks and good morning, Scott, Aaron.

謝謝，早上好，斯科特，亞倫。

Good morning.

早安.

Hey, Scott. It sounds like precast visibility much improved into the second half of the year. And it sounds like you think margins should improve from here. Is that principally just because of increased contributions from Park? And if that's the case, can you help us recall what the differential in margins is at Park versus Geneva?

嘿，斯科特。聽起來預製件的可見度在今年下半年有了很大改善。聽起來您認為利潤率應該從現在開始提高。這主要是因為帕克的貢獻增加了嗎？如果是這樣的話，您能幫我們回想一下公園球場和日內瓦球場的利潤差異有多大嗎？

Yeah, I think the -- it will be, to some extent, from increased contribution from Park. But we've had -- we've already had several price increases on the Geneva side of the business with the precast infrastructure stuff. And the amount of order book continues to go up. The Geneva margins are improving and the Park margins are improving. So it's on both sides of it.

是的，我認為，在某種程度上，這將來自帕克貢獻的增加。但我們已經在日內瓦方面對預製基礎設施業務進行了幾次提價。且訂單量持續上升。日內瓦的利潤率正在提高，公園的利潤率也在提高。所以它是在它的兩側。

And then when you get to the Park piece, that's going to be a bigger piece of the picture as we go -- as we start moving forward when they get back on level ground from the weather stuff and from some of the earlier interest rate impact on the environment.

然後當你到達公園部分時，這將是我們前進的更大的一部分——當他們從天氣因素和一些早期的利率影響中回到平地時，我們開始前進關於環境。

I think that's what pushes them up, but it's both of it. It's increases in both of their margins and the Park side is becoming a bigger piece of it. And ultimately, when you look at the precast for earlier in the year, the first part of the year, you see that the selling price was down, but that's because you're looking at Geneva being a much larger piece of the business, and you're looking at products that are shipping into the market that have good margins, but aren't as high as cost or revenue as what the Park products are. So all that mixed together, Brent, I think you're going to see a strong second half of the year in precast.

我認為這就是推動他們進步的原因，但兩者都是。他們雙方的利潤都在增加，而公園隊正在成為其中更大的一部分。最終，當你查看今年早些時候、今年上半年的預製件時，你會發現售價下降了，但那是因為你看到日內瓦是業務中更大的一部分，並且您正在尋找進入市場的產品，它們具有良好的利潤率，但成本或收入不如園區產品那麼高。因此，布倫特，所有這些混合在一起，我認為您將看到今年下半年預製件的強勁表現。

Okay. And then, Scott, the RCP plant at Geneva, I think it's close to the finish line.

好的。然後，斯科特，日內瓦的 RCP 工廠，我認為它已經接近終點線了。

Yeah.

是的。

Is that a structural change potentially to their margins? Or is that more of a capacity add play?

這是否可能對他們的利潤造成結構性變化？或者這更像是一種容量增加遊戲？

It's both. I think the biggest thing about the exact 2,500 that we're putting in Salt Lake City is versus the current facility that we have there, which takes about 12 or 13 people to run it. The exact 2,500 is going to take about five or six people to run it. So you're going to have a better conversion cost profile on that and it should very well lead to higher margins on that and higher level of production capability.

兩者都是。我認為，我們在鹽湖城投入的 2,500 人的最大特點是與我們現有的設施相比，後者需要大約 12 或 13 個人來運作。確切的 2,500 個需要大約五到六個人來管理。因此，您將獲得更好的轉換成本概況，並且很可能會帶來更高的利潤和更高水準的生產能力。

So that's a double-edge sword, right? You got higher margins because you've got a better cost, and then you got better overhead absorption because you have more production capabilities there. So I think it's both of those things.

所以這是一把雙面刃，對嗎？你獲得了更高的利潤，因為你有更好的成本，然後你得到了更好的管理費用吸收，因為你在那裡擁有更多的生產能力。所以我認為這兩件事都是如此。

It's going to create an upward movement in those margins as long as the market stays like it is. And certainly, we're not seeing really any change that we're expecting in the near future in the precast market.

只要市場維持現狀，這些利潤率就會上升。當然，我們在不久的將來並沒有看到預製市場真正發生任何變化。

Okay. And understanding on SPP, you're going to have quarter-to-quarter variability in margin for mix or whatever. But with this environment that you're characterizing, Scott, I mean it sounds pretty healthy here for at least the next couple of years.

好的。了解 SPP 後，混合或其他方面的利潤率將出現季度與季度的變化。但就你所描述的這種環境而言，史考特，我的意思是，至少在接下來的幾年裡，這裡聽起來相當健康。

Yeah.

是的。

As you think of the margins from an annual trajectory, do you think there's obviously some opportunity to continue to improve on them in the forthcoming years? I'm not asking for quarter to quarter, but this market tightens up, presumably there's a trajectory higher over the next few years. Is that fair?

當您考慮年度軌蹟的利潤時，您是否認為在未來幾年顯然有機會繼續改進它們？我並不是要求每季都這樣，但這個市場正在收緊，大概在未來幾年會有一個更高的軌跡。這樣公平嗎？

Absolutely. And Brent, as we've talked about in the past, I think one of the keys in the steel pressure pipe business is backlog, which we've had historically high backlog now for the last few years and multiple strong years of bidding in a row. And I would characterize 2024 as a pretty decent sized bidding year. But I think what we see going forward with IIJA funding are even bigger years.

絕對地。布倫特，正如我們過去談到的那樣，我認為鋼製壓力管道業務的關鍵之一是積壓，過去幾年我們的積壓量一直處於歷史最高水平，並且在過去幾年中一直處於強勁的投標狀態。我認為 2024 年是個規模相當大的投標年。但我認為，我們預計 IIJA 的資助將帶來更輝煌的歲月。

So ultimately, when you start getting to those things multiple years in a row, you start seeing gross margin levels that start with a two on the steel pressure pipe side versus 16%, 17%, 18%, and where we are now is 19% in the second quarter. So we're starting to get into that territory at this point.

所以最終，當你開始連續多年接觸這些事情時，你開始看到鋼壓力管的毛利率水準從 2 開始，而不是 16%、17%、18%，而我們現在的毛利率水準是 19%第二季的%。所以我們現在開始進入這個領域。

But then like you said, you have fluctuations within quarters, and one of the things about the third quarter is that it's -- I don't -- it's hard for me to sit here and predict two record quarters in a row, but we do expect the third quarter to be a pretty strong quarter for steel pressure pipe.

但就像你說的，季度內會出現波動，關於第三季度的事情之一是——我不——我很難坐在這裡連續預測兩個創紀錄的季度，但我們預計第三季度將是鋼製壓力管的一個相當強勁的季度。

So I think we've got a strong backlog, and we've got upward momentum on the gross margins as we move forward just because of the strength of the market over the next few years.

因此，我認為我們有大量的積壓，並且由於未來幾年市場的強勁，我們在前進的過程中毛利率有上升勢頭。

Okay. Very good. Thanks, Scott and Aaron.

好的。非常好。謝謝，斯科特和亞倫。

Absolutely.

絕對地。

Ted Jackson, Northland Securities.

特德傑克遜，北國證券。

Thank you very much. And I want to begin with not just congratulating you on the quarter, which was fabulous, but also the execution in terms of the work on controlling working capital and cash flow, it's something you set forth as a strategy for the management team, and you can see it in the results, and it's great to see. So congrats on that, too.

非常感謝。首先，我不僅要祝賀您這個季度表現出色，而且還要祝賀您在控制營運資本和現金流方面的工作執行情況，這是您為管理團隊制定的戰略，而且您可以在結果中看到它，很高興看到。所以也要恭喜你。

Thanks, Ted.

謝謝，泰德。

In terms of my questions, a lot of them have been hit, but I'm going to circle around to a few. And one is just regarding precast and ParkUSA. If I'm understanding what you're saying is the business that did not happen during the second quarter because of weather, we should see in the third quarter. And so we should see a good uptick in your precast sales in third quarter.

就我的問題而言，許多問題都已解決，但我將圍繞幾個問題進行討論。其中之一就是關於預製和 ParkUSA。如果我理解你所說的是由於天氣原因第二季沒有發生的業務，我們應該會在第三季看到。因此，我們應該會看到第三季預製件銷售量大幅上升。

Is that a little bit -- because it's a timing issue, a pig in the python when we should see a, say, not that fourth quarter is weak, but a stronger third quarter than fourth quarter because you're picking up volume that really should have happened in the second quarter?

是不是有點——因為這是一個時機問題，當我們看到不是第四季度疲軟，而是第三季度比第四季度更強時，我們應該看到蟒蛇中的一頭豬，因為你的銷量確實增加了應該發生在第二季嗎？

Yeah. I would say, Ted, that we are expecting a stronger third quarter. And like I said, the Geneva business is really, really strong. But the Park business just is starting to begin to pick up. I mean the -- we lost like, for example, in Houston, nine production days in the second quarter; in Ferris, we lost four production days; and we lost one in San Antonio. But we also lost shipping days. We lost probably half of the shipping days in the month at Houston and Ferris because of how bad the weather was.

是的。特德，我想說，我們預計第三季會更加強勁。正如我所說，日內瓦的業務非常非常強勁。但公園業務才剛開始好轉。我的意思是——例如，在休士頓，我們在第二季度損失了 9 個生產天；在費里斯，我們損失了四個生產天；我們在聖安東尼奧失去了一位。但我們也損失了運輸天數。由於天氣惡劣，我們在休士頓和費里斯的這個月損失了大約一半的運輸天數。

But it also affected order placement because people couldn't get into work because of the flooding and people -- the power was out. So it may be a little bit more back-end loaded this year, like you said, just because the orders are now starting to get placed and filling up the order books.

但這也影響了訂單安排，因為洪水和停電導致人們無法上班。因此，正如您所說，今年的後端負載可能會增加一些，只是因為現在開始下訂單並填滿訂單簿。

And you can see some of that in our order book for the end of the second quarter because we were at just over $60 million in orders for the order book in precast again. And that's both sides of the business starting to pick up. But it's really -- Park is just now starting to pick back up again.

您可以在我們第二季末的訂單簿中看到其中的一些內容，因為我們的預製訂單簿訂單再次超過 6000 萬美元。雙方的業務都開始好轉。但事實上，帕克現在才開始重新振作。

So some of this -- these weather issues, it might not -- you might not clear it all in the third quarter, we could see some trail into the fourth quarter as well?

所以其中一些——這些天氣問題，可能不會——你可能不會在第三季度全部清除，我們也可以看到一些進入第四季度的線索？

Yeah, maybe not. If I were to guess at this point, Ted, I would say that the fourth quarter as far as like Geneva, because all of a sudden, it starts to get cold in Utah and starts to snow. So it slows down the contractors getting in the field and doing the installs and things like that.

是的，也許不是。特德，如果讓我猜的話，我會說第四季就像日內瓦一樣，因為突然間，猶他州開始變冷並開始下雪。因此，這會減慢承包商進入現場並進行安裝等類似工作的速度。

But in Texas, I think you're going to have -- the issues from this weather stuff, you're going to have a little bit of pent-up demand on orders that didn't get placed. So we may end up seeing a fourth quarter that's a little bit larger than we normally do.

但在德州，我認為你會遇到天氣問題，你會對未下單的訂單產生一些被壓抑的需求。因此，我們最終可能會看到第四季的規模比平時要大一些。

Okay. Shifting over to the SPP business, and you did bring it up. I mean, steel pricing has come down quite a bit. And you're -- just the fact that you're putting up the revenue numbers that you're putting up says how strong your business is.

好的。轉向 SPP 業務，您確實提到了這一點。我的意思是，鋼材價格已經下降了不少。事實上，你所公佈的收入數字就顯示了你的業務有多強大。

And the fact that you're looking for third quarter, let's call it, second half of the year to remain strong, and given how your business works, my sense would be that the average price of steel for you in the second half of '24 would be lower than the first half of '24, again, begets to the strength.

事實上，您正在尋找第三季度，讓我們稱之為下半年保持強勁，考慮到您的業務運作方式，我的感覺是，下半年鋼材的平均價格' 24將低於24上半年，再次產生力量。

When I think about steel pressure -- steel pricing, where do you think this is going to -- it's going to play out as we roll through '25? Do you think we're going to stay in that $600 to $700 per ton range? And I'm saying that, I mean, because it's not really about the bottom line.

當我想到鋼鐵壓力時——鋼鐵價格，你認為這會走向何方——當我們進入“25”時，它會發揮作用嗎？您認為我們會保持在每噸 600 至 700 美元的範圍內嗎？我這麼說是因為這不是真正的底線。

It's really just about the top line with you guys because it's a pass-through for you anyway. But what -- I mean, like when I think about my model and such, what's in your pricing deck for the -- as you guys manage your business?

這實際上只是關於你們的頂線，因為無論如何這對你們來說都是一個傳遞。但是，我的意思是，當我考慮我的模型等時，你們管理業務時的定價方案是什麼？

Well, over the last, I'd say, three or four years, the steel price fluctuate a lot, and we've continued to be on an upward trajectory on revenue for steel pressure pipe. So we've seen it back in 2020 down in the below $500 a ton. And back in 2022, it was $1,200 a ton and then dropped to $690 a ton by the end of the year. And so it's the same thing. It's just fluctuating around.

嗯，在過去的三、四年裡，鋼材價格波動很大，而我們的鋼製壓力管收入持續呈現上升趨勢。因此，我們看到 2020 年價格已跌至每噸 500 美元以下。早在 2022 年，價格為每噸 1,200 美元，然後到年底跌至每噸 690 美元。所以這是同樣的事情。它只是在左右波動。

The one thing I would say, our expectations are as we go forward that it's going to probably revolve around a mean that's probably between $800 and $850 a ton as we go forward. But you're going to see highs and lows.

我要說的一件事是，我們的預期是，隨著我們的前進，價格可能會圍繞每噸 800 美元到 850 美元之間的平均值。但你會看到高潮和低潮。

And like, for example, now, we've seen the steel price go down for the last several weeks, and it seems to have bottomed out at about $650 a ton. And this week in the market, the price has started to move back up a little bit again. So it's an interesting way that this thing cycles now.

比如說，現在，我們看到鋼材價格在過去幾週一直在下跌，似乎已經觸底，大約每噸 650 美元。而本週市場上，價格又開始小幅回升。所以現在這件事以一種有趣的方式循環。

Because once the steel guys start getting below about $700 a ton, they start having a little bit more difficult time making money. And ultimately, they start taking off production capacity, and so on and so forth. So I think you're going to still see it revolving around that $800 to $850 a ton number, Ted, as we go forward into the future.

因為一旦鋼鐵廠商的價格開始低於每噸 700 美元左右，他們賺錢的日子就會變得更加困難。最終，他們開始削減產能，等等。所以我認為，當我們展望未來時，Ted，你仍然會看到它圍繞著每噸 800 至 850 美元的數字旋轉。

Okay. And then sticking on steel, I mean, I know you're not going to give me the exact, but can you give me a sense of what percentage of your COGS was steel for the quarter?

好的。然後堅持鋼鐵，我的意思是，我知道您不會給我確切的信息，但您能否告訴我本季度鋼鐵佔銷貨成本的百分比是多少？

I think, right now, we're probably around 30%-ish.

我想，現在我們可能在 30% 左右。

Okay. And then just keeping over on this side of the world, and you did actually say it, that you're having a better bidding environment, better bidding environment means better margins. So it's fair to assume that implicit within the guidance that you're bringing for the second half of the year, we should expect to see the margin structure for SPP to be similar to what we just saw in the second quarter if everything --

好的。然後就留在世界的這一邊，你確實說過，你有更好的投標環境，更好的投標環境意味著更好的利潤。因此，可以公平地假設，在您為下半年提供的指導中隱含的內容是，如果一切順利的話，我們應該期望看到 SPP 的利潤結構與我們剛剛在第二季度看到的類似。--

Well, this I think it's going to -- yeah, I think it will line up like similar to that, Ted. The one thing is, is you have differences in production on the number of jobs you've taken. We've gotten -- I mean, the steel pressure pipe guys have done a great job of getting a lot of work in and these jobs fluctuate and ultimately, a little bit of it now comes to what are the jobs.

嗯，我認為它會——是的，我認為它會像那樣排列，泰德。有一件事是，你所從事的工作數量在生產上有差異。我們已經——我的意思是，鋼製壓力管道人員在獲得大量工作方面做得很好，這些工作會波動，最終，現在有一點涉及工作是什麼。

And based on the jobs that you're running in a specific time frame, what is your overall production level? And how does that fit into your overhead absorption profile? And that's what will probably cause things to fluctuate a little bit in the quarter. So I do think, though, that we're going to remain on an upward trajectory as we go through this year.

根據您在特定時間範圍內執行的作業，您的整體生產水準是多少？這如何適合您的頂部吸收曲線？這可能會導致本季度的情況略有波動。因此，我確實認為，今年我們將保持上升軌道。

But remember, the fourth quarter is always a little bit rough on the steel pressure pipe side, too, simply because you have -- you start having weather issues, where we have our steel pressure pipe plants, and then you have the quarters that have two major holidays of the year in them. So ultimately, it will fluctuate around.

但請記住，第四季度鋼壓力管道方面也總是有點困難，僅僅是因為你開始遇到天氣問題，我們在那裡有我們的鋼壓力管道工廠，然後你的季度有一年中的兩個重要節日都在其中。所以最終還是會左右波動。

But I think you look at it on a longer-term basis from where we've come from, I think that you see a year last year where you had a steel pressure pipe margin that was 14%, 15% for the average in 2023. You're going to see a year, this year, that probably averages out probably a couple of hundred or a few hundred basis points higher than that.

但我認為，從我們的出發點來看，你會從更長期的角度來看，去年的鋼壓力管利潤率為 14%，2023 年的平均利潤率為 15% 。今年，你會看到平均利率可能比這個高出幾百或幾百個基點。

And if the demand continues to move like we think it's going to continue to move in the future, as you get out into '25 and the IIJA funding really starts to kick in, I think you're going to see higher production levels, and ultimately, margins that start with a two in steel pressure pipe.

如果需求繼續像我們認為的那樣在未來繼續變化，當你進入 25 年並且 IIJA 資金真正開始發揮作用時，我認為你會看到更高的生產水平，並且最終，利潤從兩英寸鋼製壓力管開始。

That is exciting. I got two more questions --

這很令人興奮。我還有兩個問題--

Sure.

當然。

And then I'm done with you. M&A pipeline, no one's really brought this up yet. I know it's an important thing. I know you guys are shaking the bushes, looking at opportunity. Can you give me a sense in terms of what's the activity there?

然後我就跟你結束了。併購管道，目前還沒有人真正提出這個問題。我知道這是一件重要的事情。我知道你們正在尋找機會。您能告訴我那裡有什麼活動嗎？

Is there anything that you think is -- you know what I'm saying? Like is there anything that's we could -- is there something? Could we expect some action here before the end -- if not the end of this year, maybe at the end of next year is probably a better way to think about it?

有什麼你認為是的——你知道我在說什麼嗎？就像我們可以做些什麼——有什麼嗎？我們能否期望在年底前採取一些行動——如果不是今年年底，也許明年年底可能是更好的考慮方式？

Yeah. We're always looking. I mean we've got a couple of things that we're interested in right now that we're doing a deeper dive into. So we are -- it's hard to get them done real quickly, right? So especially when you're dealing with companies that aren't public companies and you could be dealing with family businesses and things like that, so those have a tendency to drag on a little bit longer.

是的。我們一直在尋找。我的意思是，我們現在有一些感興趣的事情正在深入研究。所以我們——很難真正快速地完成它們，對嗎？因此，特別是當您與非上市公司打交道時，並且您可能會與家族企業或類似的事情打交道時，因此這些事情往往會拖延更長的時間。

So I would say that it is a pretty good chance that you'll see some action from us by 2025 because it's -- we're going on three years since we did the last acquisition. And there's been a lot of integration going on and getting Park up to speed and cultural stuff. And we're getting to the point now where we're getting ready to do that.

所以我想說，到 2025 年，您很有可能會看到我們採取一些行動，因為距離我們上次收購已經過了三年。正在進行大量的整合工作，讓帕克能夠跟上速度和文化。現在我們已經準備好這樣做了。

And you can tell that just by the focus on cash flow and getting the credit facility paid down where we dropped it from about $90 million down to about $75 million in the end of the second quarter. So we expect that trend to continue through the end of this year and position us well to get this next thing done. But we -- I would say that there are things that are out there, and I expect something to be imminent by 2025.

僅透過專注於現金流和償還信貸額度就可以看出這一點，我們將其從第二季末的約 9,000 萬美元降至約 7,500 萬美元。因此，我們預計這種趨勢將持續到今年年底，並使我們能夠很好地完成下一步工作。但我想說，有些事情已經存在，我預計到 2025 年就會發生一些事情。

Okay. Actually, you know what? I'm not -- my last question's not even worth asking. Again, congrats on the quarter, super, super job very, very -- I hope you're proud of it, too. Thanks.

好的。事實上，你知道嗎？我不——我的最後一個問題甚至不值得問。再次恭喜本季度，非常非常非常出色的工作，我希望您也為此感到自豪。謝謝。

Yeah, Ted.

是的，泰德。

(Operator Instructions) David Wright, Henry Investment Trust.

（操作員說明）大衛·賴特，亨利投資信託公司。

Scott and Aaron, good morning.

史考特和亞倫，早安。

Good morning.

早安.

Good morning.

早安.

Hey. Great report, and I'm glad to see SPP firing on all cylinders, so a lot of great questions from the analysts here previously in the call. I want to ask a little larger question, looking at your slide deck, where you have this chart of the EPA pie chart. And would you consider water transmission pipe to fall in the category of source or distribution transmission?

嘿。很棒的報告，我很高興看到 SPP 全速運轉，因此分析師在之前的電話會議中提出了很多很好的問題。我想問一個更大的問題，看看你的幻燈片，其中有 EPA 餅圖。您是否認為輸水管是屬於水源輸送還是配水輸送？

It would be more distribution transmission.

這將是更多的分散式傳輸。

Yeah. Okay. So that's two-thirds of the pie, and they've got the 20-year needs -- they've got the near 20-near year -- 20-year need, excuse me, at $420 billion. And then I'm looking at the funnel that you have for appropriations and not very much of it has actually made it out into the market.

是的。好的。所以這是三分之二的餡餅，他們有 20 年的需求——他們有近 20 年的需求——對不起，20 年的需求為 4200 億美元。然後我正在查看撥款的管道，但實際上並沒有太多資金進入市場。

And you've said in the call a couple of years out, okay, that you'll start to see it more in your business. And when you talk about Northwest Pipe's market share in water transmission, you put that market at $450 million to $600 million and you put your share at around half.

您在幾年後的電話會議中說過，好吧，您將開始在您的業務中看到更多這種情況。當您談論西北管道公司在輸水領域的市場份額時，您認為該市場為 4.5 億至 6 億美元，而您的份額約為一半。

So isn't it reasonable to think that, particularly since you don't use all of your capacity and your two competitors, I don't know how much of their capacity they use, but isn't it reasonable to think that the overall market for steel pressure pipe should be larger a few years down the road than $450 million to $600 million a year?

因此，這樣的想法不是合理的嗎？制壓力管市場規模應該會超過每年4.5 億至6 億美元？

Especially with the IIJA-funded stuff, David, for sure. That's what our expectation is. Yeah. So ultimately, we had a pretty good capacity utilization in the second quarter. I think we're about 74% of practical capacity at steel pressure pipe. So we still have a lot more that we can do, right? So ultimately, if that market is there, and it's going to boom like we think it's going to boom, I think you'll see some pretty good results on the steel pressure pipe side.

大衛，尤其是 IIJA 資助的計畫。這就是我們的期望。是的。因此，最終，我們在第二季的產能利用率相當高。我認為我們的鋼製壓力管產能利用率約為 74%。所以我們還有很多事情要做，對吧？因此，最終，如果這個市場存在，並且它會像我們認為的那樣蓬勃發展，我認為您會在鋼製壓力管道方面看到一些相當不錯的結果。

Right, right, right. So I mean, you can talk about good bidding years and average bidding years. But it seems to me that the bidding years should just get better and better --

對，對，對。所以我的意思是，你可以談論好的投標年份和平均投標年份。但在我看來，投標年應該會變得越來越好--

Yes.

是的。

And larger, right? So even though -- and your margins are better. So even though you're pursuing precast, if this growth in water transmission pipe happens, it's still going to be a big part of the company in the years ahead.

而且更大，對吧？所以儘管如此——而且你的利潤率更好。因此，即使您正在追求預製件，如果輸水管的成長發生，它在未來幾年仍將成為公司的重要組成部分。

Oh, yeah.

哦，是的。

And so I think it's great. You've got the footprint. You've got the capacity. You've got the reputation in the market and just keep on doing a great job.

所以我認為這很棒。你已經有了足跡。你有這個能力。您已經在市場上享有盛譽，並且繼續做好工作。

Thanks, David. Appreciate that. Yes, we've got some big years in front of us. And as you mentioned, and we have the funnel up on the screen, really not much of that IIJA money has come to the market at this point. And we're just starting to see it in some of the jobs. I mean, there's some -- the job in California, the site's reservoir job, which is the source -- will be sourced, but there's other big reservoir jobs that are going on.

謝謝，大衛。很欣賞這一點。是的，我們前面還有一些重要的年份。正如您所提到的，我們在螢幕上顯示了漏斗，目前 IIJA 的資金實際上並沒有太多進入市場。我們剛開始在一些工作中看到這一點。我的意思是，有一些——加利福尼亞州的工作，該地點的水庫工作，這是來源——將被採購，但還有其他大型水庫工作正在進行中。

We just saw a thing come out in -- about the State of Texas, where the SWIFT fund and the State Water Infrastructure Fund in Texas just allocated $3 billion to some additional projects. And one of those projects was a Brazosport water supply project, which is a -- that project alone is going to get about $750 million. But that's an off-channel reservoir project to basically triple the capacity of storage down there, and they're going to have to transmit that.

我們剛剛看到有關德克薩斯州的一件事，SWIFT 基金和德克薩斯州水基礎設施基金剛剛為一些額外項目撥款 30 億美元。其中一個項目是 Brazosport 供水項目，僅該項目就將獲得約 7.5 億美元。但這是一個河道外水庫項目，基本上可以使那裡的儲存容量增加兩倍，他們將不得不傳輸這些容量。

Then there's another big project going on down there in Corpus Christi that's a seawater desalinization project plant that's going in for just over $0.5 billion. So there's all kinds of stuff out there on the horizon right now that really makes some of the pain that we've gone through in the past years like '15, '16 and '17, it starts to relieve some of those memories a little bit.

科珀斯克里斯蒂還有另一個大型項目正在進行，那就是一座海水淡化工廠，耗資略高於 5 億美元。So there's all kinds of stuff out there on the horizon right now that really makes some of the pain that we've gone through in the past years like '15, '16 and '17, it starts to relieve some of those memories a little位元.

So -- and I'd say really since 2019, steel pressure pipe business has been on a relatively decent pace. Even with a slow year in 2023 in bidding and production, we still managed to put together a pretty good year based on us being one of the big consolidators in the market.

所以，我想說，自 2019 年以來，鋼製壓力管業務一直保持著相對良好的發展勢頭。儘管 2023 年招標和生產進展緩慢，但作為市場上的大型整合商之一，我們仍然取得了相當不錯的成績。

So I think that's changed the dynamics here and big years are going to get really big. And -- but you'll have periods of time it'll slow down. It's just how the projects are sequenced and bid and when they get produced. But we see a pretty good upward trend over the next -- really through about 2028 right now on projects in steel pressure pipe because of this IIJA funding.

所以我認為這改變了這裡的動態，重要的年份將會變得非常重要。而且 - 但你會有一段時間它會放慢速度。這只是項目的排序方式、投標方式以及何時生產。但由於 IIJA 的資助，我們看到鋼製壓力管計畫在未來 2028 年左右將出現相當好的上升趨勢。

Well, you're pretty close to $0.5 billion in revenue. I mean maybe you will not quite make it this year, but I mean that's really significant. So again, congratulations. Great work.

嗯，你的收入已經非常接近 5 億美元了。我的意思是，也許你今年不會成功，但這真的很重要。再次恭喜。很棒的工作。

Thanks, David. Appreciate it.

謝謝，大衛。欣賞它。

Thanks, David.

謝謝，大衛。

And ladies and gentlemen, at this time, I'm showing no additional questions. I'd like to turn the floor back over to Scott Montross for any closing remarks.

女士們先生們，此時我沒有提出其他問題。我想請斯科特·蒙特羅斯發言結束。

Just a few key takeaways before closing. One, I think the expectations for the bidding in 2024 are pretty much coming to pass and the second half is still very strong. So we're expecting the steel pressure pipe business to have a very strong year this year.

結束前僅介紹一些要點。第一，我認為對 2024 年申辦的預期已經基本實現，下半年仍然非常強勁。因此，我們預計今年鋼製壓力管道業務將會非常強勁。

Same thing with the precast. I mean after a slow first quarter because of the -- some of headwinds with weather and some of the issues related to the interest rate environment, we're expecting the second half to be significantly stronger.

預製件也是如此。我的意思是，由於天氣的一些不利因素以及與利率環境相關的一些問題，第一季表現緩慢，我們預計下半年將明顯強勁。

And the -- a couple of things to mention. It's in our growth strategy. Part of that was centered around stabilizing our steel pressure pipe business. And when you look at where we are now versus where we were in 2017, our revenues have more than doubled. And with adding the precast side of the business to this, the company has more than tripled over the last time frame.

還有一些事情要提。這是我們的成長策略。其中一部分是圍繞穩定我們的鋼壓力管道業務。當你比較我們現在的情況和 2017 年的情況時，我們的收入增加了一倍以上。再加上預製件業務，該公司的業務規模在過去一段時間內增加了兩倍多。

So ultimately, the things that we're doing on the growth of the company are working. And we continue to be on the track for acquisitions and organic growth on the precast side, not only from product spread, but potentially doing precast at some of our different plants. And I think longer term, we're in a great spot to be well positioned from these infrastructure projects that are due to the increasing population, and we're in a great spot going well into the future.

所以最終，我們為公司發展所做的事情正在發揮作用。我們繼續走在預製件方面的收購和有機成長的軌道，不僅來自產品傳播，而且可能在我們的一些不同工廠進行預製件。我認為從長遠來看，由於人口不斷增加，我們在這些基礎設施項目中處於有利地位，而且我們在未來的發展中處於有利地位。

I think the biggest takeaway is the business diversification strategy that we've implemented is working. Even with a big part of our business being severely impacted by weather in the second quarter, we were able to put together a fairly decent quarter from our perspective. And imagine, you can do the numbers and see what it would have looked like without the weather impact and what it should look like going forward.

我認為最大的收穫是我們實施的業務多元化策略正在發揮作用。儘管第二季我們的大部分業務受到天氣的嚴重影響，但從我們的角度來看，我們仍然能夠度過一個相當不錯的季度。想像一下，您可以計算一下數字，看看沒有天氣影響情況下會是什麼樣子，以及未來會是什麼樣子。

So ultimately, these things are working, and we really appreciate today your attention and the time you take to be on our call and look forward again to speaking with you in the November time frame. So thank you.

所以最終，這些事情正在發揮作用，我們非常感謝您今天的關注和您花時間接受我們的電話，並期待在 11 月的時間範圍內再次與您交談。所以謝謝你。

And ladies and gentlemen, with that, we'll be concluding today's conference call and presentation. We do thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.

女士們、先生們，我們今天的電話會議和演示就到此結束。我們非常感謝您的加入。現在您可以斷開線路。