Proficient Auto Logistics Inc (PAL) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Proficient Auto Logistics first-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions)

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Proficient Auto Logistics 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）

Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Brad Wright, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。現在我想將會議交給今天的發言人、財務長布拉德·賴特 (Brad Wright)。請繼續。

Thank you, Shannon, and good morning, everybody. I'm Brad Wright, Chief Financial Officer of Proficient Auto Logistics. Thank you for joining us on Proficient's first quarter 2024 earnings call.

謝謝香農，大家早安。我是 Brad Wright，Proficient Auto Logistics 財務長。感謝您參加 Proficient 的 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。

As you probably know, on May 13, 2024, we completed our initial public offering and the combination of our five founding companies. Under SEC rules, we are required to file first quarter financial statements for Proficient Auto Logistics, the designated accounting acquirer of each of the founding companies, and Proficient Auto Transport, the designated accounting predecessor to the company.

如您所知，2024 年 5 月 13 日，我們完成了首次公開募股以及五家創始公司的合併。根據 SEC 規則，我們需要向各創始公司指定的會計收購方 Proficient Auto Logistics 和該公司指定的會計前身 Proficient Auto Transport 提交第一季財務報表。

These financial statements will be filed on a Form 10-Q later this week. We are not required to provide, and the Form 10-Q will not contain pro forma financial data for the first quarter. However, our earnings release provided summary unaudited combined financial information for the first quarter for the five founding companies.

這些財務報表將於本週稍後以 10-Q 表格形式提交。我們不需要提供，且 10-Q 表不會包含第一季的預計財務資料。然而，我們的收益發布提供了五家創始公司第一季未經審計的綜合財務資訊。

Our earnings release can be found under the Investor Relations section of our website at proficientautologistics.com. Our 10-Q, when filed, can also be found under the Investor Relations section of our website.

我們的收益發布可以在我們網站 Proficientauto Logistics.com 的投資者關係部分找到。我們的 10-Q 提交後也可以在我們網站的投資者關係部分找到。

During this call, we will be discussing certain forward-looking information. This information is based on our current expectations and is not a guarantee of future performance. I encourage you to review the cautionary statement in our earnings release describing factors that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed by the forward-looking statements. Further information can be found in our SEC filings.

在這次電話會議中，我們將討論某些前瞻性資訊。這些資訊是基於我們目前的預期，並非未來業績的保證。我鼓勵您查看我們收益報告中的警告聲明，其中描述了可能導致實際結果與前瞻性聲明所表達的結果不同的因素。更多資訊可以在我們向 SEC 提交的文件中找到。

During this call, we may also be referring to EBITDA. Please refer to the portions of our earnings release that provide a reconciliation of EBITDA to GAAP measures such as earnings before income taxes or net income. Joining me on today's call are Rick O'Dell, Proficient's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Randy Beggs, our President and Chief Operating Officer. We will provide a company update as well as an overview of the company's combined results for the first quarter.

在本次電話會議中，我們也可能提到 EBITDA。請參閱我們的收益發布中提供 EBITDA 與 GAAP 指標（例如所得稅前收益或淨利潤）的調整表的部分。參加今天電話會議的還有 Proficient 董事長兼執行長 Rick O'Dell；以及我們的總裁兼營運長蘭迪貝格斯 (Randy Beggs)。我們將提供公司最新情況以及公司第一季綜合業績概述。

After our prepared remarks, we'll open the call to questions. (Operator Instructions)

在我們準備好的發言之後，我們將開始提問。（操作員說明）

Now, I would like to introduce Rick O'Dell, who will provide the company update.

現在，我想介紹Rick O'Dell，他將介紹公司的最新情況。

Thank you, Brad, and good morning, everyone. The closing of our IPO and the founding company acquisitions on May 13, represented the culmination of significant efforts over the past year by everyone from the transaction organizers to the management teams of Proficient Auto Logistics and each of the five founding companies, our legal and investment banking teams, and of course the investors who did the analysis and showed their interest and confidence in our story to become the holders of equity in our new combined enterprise.

謝謝布拉德，大家早安。我們的 IPO 和創始公司收購於 5 月 13 日完成，這是過去一年中從交易組織者到 Proficient Auto Logistics 的管理團隊以及五家創始公司、我們的法律和投資團隊的巨大努力的結晶。團隊，當然還有進行分析並對我們的故事表現出興趣和信心的投資者，他們成為我們新合併企業的股權持有人。

While we were pleased with the accomplishment of completing those transactions, it merely marks the beginning of the real work in front of us to execute against the plan that we described to investors in the lead-up to our IPO.

雖然我們對完成這些交易感到高興，但這僅僅標誌著我們面前實際工作的開始，即根據我們在首次公開募股之前向投資者描述的計劃來執行。

There are many initiatives requiring execution over the near-to-intermediate term, but we are particularly focused on five. Cost synergies. The enhanced national scale afforded by our combination provides leverage in our procurement efforts that is expected to reap immediate benefits in our operating ratio. Within 10 days of closing our transactions, we had implemented an improved fuel contract with a national provider. We expect the savings to equal or exceed $3 million on an annualized basis.

有許多舉措需要在中短期內執行，但我們特別關注其中五個。成本協同效應。我們的合併所帶來的全國規模的擴大為我們的採購工作提供了槓桿作用，預計這將為我們的營運比率帶來即時的好處。在交易結束後 10 天內，我們與國家供應商實施了改進的燃料合約。我們預計每年節省的費用將等於或超過 300 萬美元。

Increased utilization. The reduction of empty miles across our network may well be the highest impact initiative on our operating ratios over time. To that end, we are currently in the process of implementing our common transportation management system at the fourth of our five founding companies. We expect all five companies to be active on this system during the third quarter.

提高利用率。隨著時間的推移，減少我們網路上的空駛里程很可能是對我們的營運比率影響最大的舉措。為此，我們目前正在五家創始公司中的第四家實施我們的共同運輸管理系統。我們預計所有五家公司將在第三季積極​​使用該系統。

In the meantime, our management teams are evaluating high-volume lanes with typically empty backhaul and sharing loads to fill these miles as often as possible. This will be an ongoing effort and will become increasingly efficient as the TMS systems get integrated.

同時，我們的管理團隊正在評估通常是空回程的大容量車道，並共享負載以盡可能頻繁地填充這些里程。這將是一項持續的工作，並且隨著 TMS 系統的整合將變得越來越有效。

Increasing company deliveries. Improving our operating ratio by shifting more units and revenue to company trucks versus subhaulers is an initiative that not only improves the profitability of existing lanes, it also provides more opportunities to increase our utilization efforts as described previously. We've developed a fleet plan for the remainder of 2024 that will result in an increase of approximately 10% in company-owned asset. These new units will be put immediately to use covering newly contracted business and also to reduce the subhaul activity in select lanes where we can improve our efficiency and profitability.

增加公司交付量。透過將更多單位和收入轉移到公司卡車而不是轉運輸車來提高我們的營運比率，這項舉措不僅提高了現有車道的盈利能力，而且還提供了更多機會來提高我們的利用率，如前所述。我們制定了 2024 年剩餘時間的機隊計劃，這將使公司自有資產增加約 10%。這些新裝置將立即投入使用，涵蓋新簽約業務，並減少選定車道的轉運活動，從而提高我們的效率和盈利能力。

Activity-based cost analysis. We have initiated implementation of a third-party software that is transportation-specific and provides profitability by customer, delivery, lane, and even down to the truck level. Full implementation will take six to nine months but will allow for much higher precision in our profit analysis and our contract bidding process.

基於活動的成本分析。我們已經開始實施一款特定於運輸的第三方軟體，並根據客戶、交付、車道甚至卡車層級提供獲利能力。全面實施將需要六到九個月的時間，但將使我們的利潤分析和合約招標過程更加精確。

Used car and fleet marketing. Our marketing team is in place nationally and has begun building the relationships in each geographic market that will allow us to grow this largely untapped revenue potential. From an operating perspective, we've been in active communication with our OEM customers describing the impact of our recent combination on our ability to deliver increased geographic coverage and the availability of increased and enhanced service capability that the new structure provide.

二手車和車隊行銷。我們的行銷團隊已在全國範圍內就位，並已開始在每個地理市場建立關係，這將使我們能夠擴大這項尚未開發的收入潛力。從營運角度來看，我們一直在與 OEM 客戶積極溝通，描述我們最近的合併對我們提供更大地理覆蓋範圍的能力以及新結構提供的增加和增強的服務能力的可用性的影響。

As we noted in our earnings release earlier this morning, we experienced reduced demand early in the first quarter. However, volumes began showing improvement around the middle of February and have continued to strengthen since then. In addition, our companies continue to add new contract business with nine net new contracts between the beginning of 2024 and the end of May. There were also 13 renewals of existing contracts during that time span.

正如我們在今天早上早些時候發布的財報中指出的那樣，我們在第一季初經歷了需求減少。然而，成交量在二月中旬左右開始出現改善，並自此持續走強。此外，本公司持續增加新合約業務，2024年初至5月底淨新增合約9份。在此期間，也續簽了 13 份現有合約。

While our primary focus is the integration and growth of the founding companies, we also continue to see a number of interesting strategic opportunities, and in each case, we'll evaluate their potential for accelerating the achievement of our coverage and profitability goals. We are encouraged about the prospects for continued growth over the coming months and look forward to providing you with another update when we report the second quarter results.

雖然我們的主要重點是創始公司的整合和發展，但我們也繼續看到許多有趣的策略機會，在每種情況下，我們都會評估它們加速實現我們的覆蓋範圍和盈利目標的潛力。我們對未來幾個月持續成長的前景感到鼓舞，並期待在報告第二季業績時向您提供另一項最新資訊。

I will now turn it back to Brad to cover key financial highlights.

現在我將把它轉回布拉德，以介紹主要的財務亮點。

Thank you, Rick. I'll start by reiterating some of the highlights that we called out in the earnings press release early this morning. All financial references are for the combined founding companies. Operating income of $6.5 million in the first quarter was an increase of 7.9% over the same period in 2023. Operating ratio improved from 94.1% in the first quarter of '23 to 93.2% in 2024. Income before taxes of $5.4 million in the first quarter was an increase of 12.1%. These profitability measures are up in spite of an approximately 5% decline in revenue before fuel surcharge.

謝謝你，瑞克。首先，我將重申我們今天早上在財報新聞稿中提到的一些要點。所有財務參考均針對合併後的創始公司。第一季營業收入為 650 萬美元，較 2023 年同期成長 7.9%。營運比率從 2023 年第一季的 94.1% 提高到 2024 年的 93.2%。第一季稅前收入為 540 萬美元，成長 12.1%。儘管燃油附加費前的收入下降了約 5%，但這些獲利能力指標仍有所上升。

As we also noted, the lower customer demand during the first quarter fell disproportionately to the dedicated fleet business, which is geared for resolution of excess inventory hotspots. While that portion of our business represented approximately 15% of total revenue before fuel surcharge in 2023, it comprised approximately 7% of total revenue in the first quarter of this year.

正如我們還指出的那樣，第一季客戶需求的下降與專用車隊業務的下降不成比例，該業務旨在解決過剩庫存熱點問題。雖然這部分業務約佔 2023 年燃油附加費前總收入的 15%，但今年第一季約佔總收入的 7%。

On units delivered basis, the dedicated fleet business comprised 3.7% of total units in 2023 and 2.1% of all units delivered in 2024. The disparity in these two measures reflects the fact that this business is built by the hour rather than by units.

以交付量計算，專用車隊業務佔 2023 年交付總量的 3.7%，佔 2024 年交付總量的 2.1%。這兩項指標的差異反映了這樣一個事實：該業務是按小時而不是按單位建立的。

Removing the impact of the dedicated fleet business, total units delivered increased by 3.7% year-over-year, and revenue per unit delivered increased from $180 per unit to $184 per unit, or approximately 2%. As it relates to the balance sheet, on May 13, we closed on the initial public offering of 14,333,333 shares of our common stock at $15 per share.

除去專用車隊業務的影響，總交付量年增 3.7%，每交車量收入從每台 180 美元增至每台 184 美元，增幅約 2%。由於與資產負債表相關，5 月 13 日，我們以每股 15 美元的價格完成了 14,333,333 股普通股的首次公開發行。

On June 4, the company sold an additional 1,435,000 shares of our common stock through a partial exercise of the underwriter's range new option, also at a price of $15 per share. As we've previously disclosed, a significant portion of the IPO proceeds were used in the purchase of the five founding companies.

6 月 4 日，公司透過部分行使承銷商的一系列新選擇權，額外出售了 1,435,000 股普通股，價格也為每股 15 美元。正如我們之前所揭露的，IPO 收益的很大一部分用於收購五家創始公司。

Net of underwriter's fees and other transaction expenses, and the cash portion of the combination purchase price, the combined company had approximately $40 million of remaining cash and equivalents available for future operations and other strategic opportunities.

扣除承銷商費用和其他交易費用以及合併購買價格的現金部分，合併後的公司擁有約 4000 萬美元的剩餘現金和等價物，可用於未來營運和其他策略機會。

Aggregate long-term debt, predominantly for the financing of revenue-generated equipment, totaled approximately $56 million following the combinations, for a net debt position of approximately $16 million. Total common shares outstanding are $26.1 million.

合併後的長期債務總額（主要用於創收設備的融資）總計約為 5,600 萬美元，淨債務部位約為 1,600 萬美元。已發行普通股總額為 2,610 萬美元。

Operator, we're now ready to take questions.

接線員，我們現在準備好回答問題。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。（操作員說明）

Bruce Chan, Stifel

陳布魯斯、史蒂菲爾

Thank you, operator, and good morning, gentlemen. Great to get some confirmation here with these results that the predecessor business is in good shape, but obviously, investors are going to be a little bit more focused on the post-deal results.

謝謝您，接線員，早安，先生們。很高興透過這些結果得到一些確認，表明前身業務狀況良好，但顯然，投資者將更加關注交易後的結果。

And, Rick, you already gave us some great color on that process so far, but it sounds like there may be a couple of, I'd say, new developments here, and I just want to make sure that I have those right. So, first of all, you've got that fuel savings program and the $3 million in annual savings. I know, you talked about that possibility around the IPO, but it was not in our model. Is it safe to say that those savings are now in the bag at this point?

而且，里克，到目前為止，您已經為我們提供了有關該過程的一些精彩信息，但我想說，這裡可能有一些新的進展，我只是想確保我的這些都是正確的。因此，首先，您已經制定了燃油節省計劃並每年節省 300 萬美元。我知道，您談到了 IPO 的可能性，但它不在我們的模型中。現在可以肯定地說，這些節省下來的錢現在已經收入囊中了嗎？

Yes, that's under contract, and it's progressing.

是的，這是根據合約進行的，並且正在進行中。

That's great to hear. And then, it sounds like that activity-based cost analysis program, maybe a little bit faster to inure and maybe more meaningful than we'd initially thought. Is there a good way to think about, how that benefits the model, whether it's on the pricing side or the cost side?

很高興聽到這個消息。然後，這聽起來像是基於活動的成本分析程序，可能比我們最初想像的要快一點，而且可能更有意義。是否有一個好的方法來思考這對模型有何好處，無論是在定價方面還是在成本方面？

I think it's a little bit of both, on the analytics are very good on the pricing side with the new system, and, we're lacking a little bit of sophistication in some of the founding companies with our pricing analytics, so it'll be a really nice enhancement. And then, furthermore, once you have the profitability by lane, then you can kind of target market and know what you're going after business that operates well.

我認為兩者都有一點，新系統的定價方面的分析非常好，而且，我們的一些創始公司的定價分析缺乏一點複雜性，所以它會是一個非常好的增強。此外，一旦你獲得了按車道的盈利能力，那麼你就可以確定目標市場，並知道在運作良好的業務之後你要做什麼。

Okay, great. That's good to hear. And then, maybe just for my follow up and then I'll turn it over and get back to you on the units delivered, you know, you had 460,000 in the first quarter. You know, Brad maybe, you know, if you have a monthly ramp on, on that number, just give and, you know, some of the disruption earlier in the quarter. And I know you're still dealing with some of that residual strike drag.

好的，太好了。很高興聽到這個消息。然後，也許只是為了我的後續行動，然後我會將其移交並回复您交付的單位，您知道，您在第一季有 460,000 個單位。你知道，布拉德，也許，你知道，如果你有每月的成長，就這個數字而言，只需在本季度早些時候給予一些中斷。我知道你們仍在應對一些殘餘的罷工阻力。

And then, you know, when you think about that results, how do those compare to your model? And just, you know, given some of the news around, you know, recent star numbers, how are you feeling about current volume trends?

然後，你知道，當你考慮這些結果時，這些結果與你的模型相比如何？只是，你知道，考慮到一些新聞，你知道，最近的明星數據，你對當前的成交量趨勢有何看法？

Yes. The trends in the second quarter today have been very positive. We're trending up about 10% quarter to date in the second quarter, which is obviously a lot of a big step up from the first quarter.

是的。今天第二季的趨勢非常積極。到目前為止，第二季度我們的成長率約為 10%，這顯然比第一季有了很大的進步。

Okay, perfect. That's good to hear. Appreciate it, and I'll hop back into queue.

好的，完美。很高興聽到這個消息。感謝它，我會跳回隊列。

And I would just comment, too, on the volume side. So, I think it's encouraging to see we've actually signed nine new contracts since the combination was announced. So, we continue to see good reception from customers to the combined entity.

我也想就成交量方面發表評論。因此，自從宣布合併以來，我們實際上簽署了九份新合同，我認為這是令人鼓舞的。因此，我們繼續看到客戶對合併後的實體的良好反應。

Ryan Merkel, William Blair.

瑞恩·梅克爾、威廉·布萊爾。

Hey, good morning, everyone. I just wanted to follow up on the quarter-to-date revenue up 10%. How did things look sort of February, March, April?

嘿，大家早安。我只是想跟進本季迄今營收成長 10% 的情況。二月、三月、四月的情況如何？

That was just for clarity, that was units, not revenue.

這只是為了清楚起見，那是單位，而不是收入。

Got it. Can you just talk about how the volumes improved since February and sort of where we're at, sort of May, June timeframe, if we've seen a lift?

知道了。您能否談談自 2 月以來銷量如何改善，以及我們在 5 月、6 月的時間範圍內所處的位置（如果我們看到了增長）？

Yes. So Ryan, this is Brad. So, I think Bruce asked the question, too, in terms of January versus the remainder of the month. So, in January, or I should say, let's just say in February versus January, we were up about 15% month over month and then kind of maintained that same pace in March.

是的。瑞安，這是布拉德。因此，我認為布魯斯也針對一月與該月剩餘時間提出了這個問題。因此，在 1 月份，或者我應該說，2 月份與 1 月份相比，我們環比增長了約 15%，然後在 3 月份保持了相同的速度。

As we get into April, much more strength, up probably, I think Rick mentioned 11% and we've maintained that through the end of May. So, really good strength, once you get to basically mid-February, year-over-year increases have been in the low double digits.

當我們進入 4 月時，力量會更大，可能會上升，我認為 Rick 提到了 11%，我們一直保持到 5 月底。所以，真正強勁的實力，一旦到了二月中旬，年比增幅就一直在低兩位數。

Okay. Got it. And then can we talk about price? I think it was 2% in the quarter. Should we expect that to be trending up through the rest of the year as some of the new contracts come on?

好的。知道了。然後我們可以談談價格嗎？我認為該季度的成長率為 2%。隨著一些新合約的簽訂，我們是否應該預期這一數字在今年剩餘時間內會呈上升趨勢？

Yes. Well, you're going to -- you'll see it even in the second quarter that price is up and that's not necessarily all, new contracts. It's some, renewals and I think Rick mentioned that we've got net new contracts that added to the business mix in the form of about nine net new. But yes, you'll see the overall price and revenue numbers moving north even in the second quarter.

是的。好吧，即使在第二季度，你也會看到價格上漲，而且這不一定是全部新合約。這是一些續約，我想里克提到我們已經獲得了淨新合同，這些合約以大約九份淨新合約的形式添加到了業務組合中。但是，是的，即使在第二季度，您也會看到整體價格和收入數字向北移動。

Bruce Chan, Stifel.

布魯斯·陳，斯蒂菲爾。

Appreciate the double dip here. Just, maybe a follow-up on some of that line of questioning. Just want to know if there have been any customer concerns expressed post-deal as a result of the consolidation? It sounds like from the nine new contracts and the 13 renewals that the answer is that it actually may have been a boon for you, but just want to hear if there's been any pushback on the combination here.

欣賞這裡的雙底。只是，也許是對某些問題的後續行動。只是想知道交易後是否有客戶因合併而表達任何擔憂？聽起來，從 9 份新合約和 13 份續約來看，答案是，這實際上可能對你來說是一個福音，但只是想聽聽這個組合是否有任何阻力。

No, it's been well received by the customer base. They like the commitment to capacity, company trucks, the coverage area that we have, and the service that the five founding companies have been providing continues to be enhanced by some of our technology implementations. So, it's been well received. We haven't really had any negative feedback.

不，它受到了客戶群的好評。他們喜歡我們對容量、公司卡車、覆蓋範圍的承諾，以及我們的一些技術實施繼續增強五家創始公司提供的服務。所以，它受到了好評。我們還沒有真正收到任何負面回饋。

Okay, great. That's good to hear. And then just maybe one final one here that's sort of a prospective question. But, just given the upcoming election, I'm wondering if any customers have discussed their expectations around what potential tariffs could look like and how that would impact the business. I know, again, that's somewhat of a hypothetical, but if you had any thoughts there, that would be helpful.

好的，太好了。很高興聽到這個消息。也許最後一個問題是一個前瞻性問題。但是，考慮到即將到來的選舉，我想知道是否有客戶討論過他們對潛在關稅的期望以及這將如何影響業務。我知道，這在某種程度上是一個假設，但如果您有任何想法，那將會有所幫助。

No, it hasn't really been a topic.

不，這並不是一個真正的話題。

Okay. Hopefully, we don't have to worry about that.

好的。希望我們不必擔心這一點。

Yes, right.

是的，沒錯。

Thank you. And I'm currently show no further questions at this time. This does conclude today's conference call. Thank you all for your participation. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。目前我沒有提出任何進一步的問題。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝大家的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。