Construction Partners Inc (ROAD) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings. Welcome to Construction Partners' third quarter earnings conference call. At this time, all lines are in a listen-only mode. A brief question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

問候。歡迎參加 Construction Partners 第三季財報電話會議。此時，所有線路都處於只聽模式。正式演講後將舉行簡短的問答環節。（操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。

It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Rick Black with Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

現在我很高興向您介紹主持人，投資者關係部門的里克·布萊克（Rick Black）。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us for the Construction Partners conference call to review third quarter results for fiscal 2024.

謝謝接線員，大家早安。我們感謝您參加建築合作夥伴電話會議，審查 2024 財年第三季業績。

This call is also being webcast and can be accessed through the audio link on the Events and Presentations page of the Investor Relations section of constructionpartners.net. Information recorded on this call speaks only as of today, August 9, 2024. Please be advised that any time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate as of the date of any replay listening or transcript reading.

此次電話會議也正在進行網路直播，可以透過 Constructionpartners.net 投資者關係部分的活動和演示頁面上的音訊連結進行收聽。本次電話會議記錄的資訊僅截至今天（2024 年 8 月 9 日）。請注意，自重播聆聽或文字記錄閱讀之日起，任何時間敏感的資訊可能不再準確。

I would also like to remind you that the statements made in today's discussion that are not historical facts, including statements of expectations or future events or future financial performance are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor's provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

我還想提醒您，今天討論中所做的非歷史事實的陳述，包括預期或未來事件或未來財務業績的陳述，都是根據《私人證券訴訟改革法案》安全港條款做出的前瞻性陳述1995年。

We will be making forward-looking statements as part of today's call that by their nature are uncertain and outside of the company's control. Actual results may differ materially. Please refer to our earnings press release for our disclosures on forward-looking statements. These factors and other risks and uncertainties are described in detail in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

作為今天電話會議的一部分，我們將做出前瞻性聲明，這些聲明本質上是不確定的，並且不在公司的控制範圍內。實際結果可能存在重大差異。請參閱我們的收益新聞稿，以了解我們對前瞻性聲明的揭露。這些因素以及其他風險和不確定性在公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中進行了詳細描述。

Management will also refer to non-GAAP measures, including adjusted EBITDA. Reconciliations to the nearest GAAP measures can be found at the end of our earnings press release. Construction Partners assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.

管理階層也將參考非公認會計準則衡量標準，包括調整後的 EBITDA。您可以在我們的收益新聞稿末尾找到與最接近的公認會計原則（GAAP）衡量標準的調節表。Construction Partners 不承擔公開更新或修改任何前瞻性聲明的義務。

And now I would like to turn the call over to Construction Partners' CEO, Jule Smith. Jule?

現在我想將電話轉給 Construction Partners 的執行長 Jule Smith。朱爾？

Thank you, Rick, and good morning, everyone. Joining me on the call today are Greg Hoffman, our Chief Financial Officer; and Ned Fleming, our Executive Chairman.

謝謝你，瑞克，大家早安。今天和我一起參加電話會議的是我們的財務長 Greg Hoffman；和我們的執行主席內德·弗萊明。

I want to start by directly thanking the more than 4,800 men and women across the CPI family of companies for their hard work this quarter. The story of this quarter was operational excellence across the Southeast on hundreds of projects under construction and many days and nights operating asphalt plants, quarries, and terminals.

首先，我想直接感謝 CPI 公司大家庭中 4,800 多名員工本季的辛勤工作。本季度的故事是整個東南部數百個在建項目以及日日夜夜運營瀝青廠、採石場和碼頭的卓越運營。

CPI's success has always been driven by our talented dedicated construction professionals. And as our work season shifted this quarter into high gear and long hours, our team delivered.

CPI 的成功始終是由我們才華橫溢、敬業的建築專業人員推動的。隨著本季我們的工作季節進入高速運轉和長時間工作，我們的團隊交付了。

Q3 was a strong quarter for CPI. Compared to a year ago, we grew revenue 23%, adjusted EBITDA 31%, and our margins increased to 14.1% for the quarter. It's also important to note that of the 23% revenue growth in the quarter, 13% was organic growth.

第三季消費者物價指數表現強勁。與去年同期相比，本季我們的營收成長了 23%，調整後 EBITDA 成長了 31%，利潤率增加至 14.1%。還需要注意的是，在本季 23% 的營收成長中，13% 是有機成長。

Year-to-date organic growth represents 9.3% of our total 18% revenue growth. This is consistent with our outlook on organic growth for the year to account for approximately half of our total growth. On a daily basis, we focus on organic growth in our current and adjacent markets, which is a critical component of our strategy to achieve our roadmap 2027 goals.

今年迄今的有機成長占我們總收入成長 18% 的 9.3%。這與我們對今年有機成長約佔總成長一半的預期一致。我們每天都專注於當前和鄰近市場的有機成長，這是我們實現 2027 年路線圖目標的策略的重要組成部分。

During the quarter, the economic conditions were stable for our industry, and demand for the type of construction projects we performed remains high. Public project lettings continue to be strong, supported by the healthy funding programs at the state, local, and federal levels throughout our southeastern states.

本季度，我們行業的經濟狀況穩定，對我們所執行的建築項目類型的需求仍然很高。在整個東南部各州的州、地方和聯邦層面的健康資助計劃的支持下，公共計畫租賃繼續強勁。

These public investments include a variety of infrastructure projects ranging from highways and bridges to airports, railroads, and military bases. We also continue to see steady demand for commercial projects with many fast-growing economic centers within our local markets.

這些公共投資包括各種基礎設施項目，從高速公路、橋樑到機場、鐵路和軍事基地。我們也持續看到當地市場內許多快速成長的經濟中心對商業項目的穩定需求。

In particular, we continue to see areas of strength in the private market for manufacturing, corporate site development, large economic development projects, and residential. This sustained demand continues to drive project backlog growth, which again increased during the quarter. As of June 30, our backlog was $1.86 billion.

特別是，我們繼續看到製造業、企業場地開發、大型經濟開發項目和住宅等私人市場的優勢領域。這種持續的需求繼續推動專案積壓的成長，該數量在本季再次增加。截至 6 月 30 日，我們的積壓訂單為 18.6 億美元。

Turning now to our strategic growth model, we have acquired seven companies this fiscal year beginning in October. Two of these acquisitions were made since our last earnings calls. In June, we acquired Hudson Paving in Rockingham, North Carolina. Hudson extends our reach into the Sandhills region of North Carolina.

現在談談我們的策略成長模式，從 10 月開始的本財年，我們收購了 7 家公司。其中兩項收購是自我們上次財報電話會議以來進行的。六月，我們收購了位於北卡羅來納州羅金厄姆的 Hudson Paving。哈德遜將我們的業務範圍擴展至北卡羅來納州的沙丘地區。

Now as part of our Fred Smith Company platform this new plant and construction operation in Rockingham allows us to fully serve the rapidly growing Pinehurst and Southern Pines market area. And last week, we announced acquisition of Robinson Paving Company in Columbus, Georgia.

現在，作為 Fred Smith 公司平台的一部分，位於羅金厄姆的新工廠和建築業務使我們能夠全面服務快速成長的 Pinehurst 和 Southern Pines 市場區域。上週，我們宣布收購喬治亞州哥倫布市的 Robinson Paving Company。

This expansion of three new hot mix asphalt plants and construction operations in Columbus and the surrounding area positions CPI in a strategic location adjacent to our existing operations in both Georgia and Alabama. As a growing economic market supported by Fort Moore in Columbus, this represents an important market for us and a natural next step for our growth in the state of Georgia.

哥倫布及週邊地區三個新的熱拌瀝青廠和施工作業的擴建使 CPI 處於毗鄰我們在喬治亞州和阿拉巴馬州現有作業的戰略位置。作為哥倫布摩爾堡支持的不斷增長的經濟市場，這對我們來說是一個重要的市場，也是我們在喬治亞州發展的自然下一步。

Robinson Paving has long been a highly respected contractor in Georgia and will continue to operate as a branded division of our Georgia platform company, The Scruggs Company. We are excited to have added these high-quality companies with excellent reputations into our organization and we want to welcome both the Hudson Paving and Robinson Paving employees as teammates within the CPI family of companies.

Robinson Paving 長期以來一直是喬治亞州備受推崇的承包商，並將繼續作為我們喬治亞州平台公司 The Scruggs Company 的品牌部門運營。我們很高興將這些享有盛譽的優質公司加入我們的組織中，並歡迎 Hudson Paving 和 Robinson Paving 的員工成為 CPI 公司大家庭中的隊友。

Acquisitions have always been a part of our growth model as we enter new areas, expand market share, and add capacity services and talented new team members. Importantly, our acquisition strategy also fuels our future organic growth, helping keep us on the path to achieve our ROAD-Map 2027 goals with our annual revenue growth of 15% to 20% with approximately half of the growth being acquisitive and half organic and expanding our EBITDA margins in the range of 13% to 14% by 2027.

隨著我們進入新領域、擴大市場份額、增加產能服務和培養才華橫溢的新團隊成員，收購一直是我們成長模式的一部分。重要的是，我們的收購策略也推動了我們未來的有機成長，幫助我們繼續實現 2027 年路線圖目標，年收入成長 15% 至 20%，其中大約一半成長來自收購，一半來自有機成長和擴張到2027 年，我們的EBITDA 利潤率將達到13% 至14%。

Currently, we continue to see a very active environment for acquisition opportunities as our industry is going through a generational transition. And we believe we're the leader in building a scalable business by acquiring great privately held construction companies.

目前，隨著我們的行業正在經歷代際過渡，我們繼續看到非常活躍的收購機會環境。我們相信，透過收購優秀的私人建築公司，我們是打造可擴展業務的領導者。

While we continue to have conversations with potential sellers both inside and outside of our current states. It's important for us to remain patient and focused on finding the best strategic acquisitions that will bring operational excellence and add to the great culture of the CPI family of companies.

同時我們繼續與目前州內外的潛在賣家進行對話。對我們來說，保持耐心並專注於尋找最佳的策略性收購非常重要，這些收購將帶來卓越的營運並增強 CPI 公司家族的偉大文化。

In summary, we had a record third quarter and consequently are raising our fiscal 2024 outlook. Our record backlog provides visibility for the remainder of fiscal 2024 and allows us to enter fiscal 2025 with momentum and growth.

總之，我們的第三季業績創歷史新高，因此我們上調了 2024 財年的展望。我們創紀錄的積壓訂單為 2024 財年剩餘時間提供了可見性，並使我們能夠以動力和成長進入 2025 財年。

Finally, we remain optimistic about the future based upon our healthy local markets across the southeast, the numerous opportunities available as we continue to execute on our growth strategy, and most importantly, the continued development of our talented workforce to lead and manage a larger and more profitable CPI into the future.

最後，我們對未來保持樂觀，基於我們在東南部健康的當地市場，我們繼續執行我們的成長策略所提供的眾多機會，最重要的是，我們有才華的員工隊伍的持續發展，以領導和管理一個更大的和更廣泛的團隊。

I'd now like to turn the call over to Greg.

我現在想把電話轉給格雷格。

Thank you, Jule, and good morning, everyone. I'll begin with a review of our key performance metrics for the fiscal third quarter compared to the fiscal third quarter in 2023.

謝謝朱爾，大家早安。我將先回顧我們第三財季的關鍵績效指標與 2023 年第三財季的比較。

Revenue was $517.8 million, up 22.7%. The increase included $40.9 million of revenue from acquisitions completed during and subsequent to the three months ended June 30, 2023, and an increase of approximately $55 million of revenue in our existing markets.

營收為 5.178 億美元，成長 22.7%。這一成長包括截至 2023 年 6 月 30 日的三個月期間及之後完成的收購帶來的 4,090 萬美元收入，以及我們現有市場約 5,500 萬美元的收入成長。

The mix of total revenue growth for the quarter was approximately 13% organic revenue and approximately 9.7% from these recent acquisitions. And as Jule mentioned, for the nine months year-to-date, our organic to acquisitive mix is half and half, with organic growth through three-quarters of 9.3% out of our total growth of 18%.

本季總營收成長的有機收入約為 13%，近期收購帶來的營收成長約為 9.7%。正如 Jule 所提到的，在今年迄今的 9 個月裡，我們的有機成長與收購組合各佔一半，四分之三的有機成長為 9.3%，總成長為 18%。

Gross profit was $83.5 million, an increase of 30% compared to the same quarter last year. General and administrative expenses were $38.9 million, or 7.5% of total revenue compared to $32.2 million or 7.6% of total revenue in the same quarter last year. We remain on pace for G&A expenses to end the fiscal year at approximately 8% of revenue.

毛利為8,350萬美元，比去年同期成長30%。一般及管理費用為 3,890 萬美元，佔總收入的 7.5%，而去年同期為 3,220 萬美元，佔總收入的 7.6%。我們將繼續保持 G&A 費用在本財年結束時佔收入的 8% 左右的步伐。

Net income for the quarter was $30.9 million, up 42.4% compared to net income of $21.7 million in the same quarter last year. Adjusted EBITDA was $73.2 million, an increase of 30.5%. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter was 14.1% compared to 13.3% in the third quarter last year.

該季度淨利潤為 3,090 萬美元，比去年同期的淨利潤 2,170 萬美元成長 42.4%。調整後 EBITDA 為 7,320 萬美元，成長 30.5%。本季調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 14.1%，而去年第三季為 13.3%。

You can find a reconciliation of net income to adjusted EBITDA in today's earnings release. In addition, we grew project backlog to $1.86 billion at June 30, up from $1.79 billion at the end of last quarter. We now estimate that we have 80% to 85% of the next 12 months contract revenue booked in backlog, which is up from 70% to 75% at this time last year.

您可以在今天的收益報告中找到淨利潤與調整後 EBITDA 的調整表。此外，截至 6 月 30 日，我們的專案積壓已從上季末的 17.9 億美元增至 18.6 億美元。我們現在估計，未來 12 個月的合約收入中有 80% 至 85% 已積壓，這一比例高於去年同期的 70% 至 75%。

Turning now to the balance sheet, we had $58.4 million of cash and cash equivalents. As it relates to our credit availability, during the quarter we converted our $200 million accordion for the terms of the credit agreement into an additional $75 million of revolving credit facility availability, as well as converting $125 million under the revolving credit facility to term debt. As a result, we now have $309.7 million available under the credit facility, net of a reduction for outstanding letters of credit.

現在看看資產負債表，我們有 5,840 萬美元的現金和現金等價物。由於這與我們的信貸可用性有關，在本季度，我們將信貸協議條款的 2 億美元手風琴轉換為額外的 7500 萬美元循環信貸額度，並將循環信貸額度下的 1.25 億美元轉換為定期債務。因此，在扣除未結信用證的減少後，我們現在的信貸安排下有 3.097 億美元的可用資金。

We have $397.5 million of principal outstanding under the term loan and $81.9 million outstanding under the revolving credit facility. The additional availability on our credit facility and cash generation will continue to provide flexibility and capacity to allow for potential near-term acquisitions and high-value growth opportunities.

我們在定期貸款項下未償還本金 3.975 億美元，在循環信貸安排下未償還本金 8,190 萬美元。我們的信貸安排和現金產生的額外可用性將繼續提供靈活性和能力，以實現潛在的近期收購和高價值成長機會。

As of the end of the quarter, our debt to trailing 12 months EBITDA ratio was 1.81 times. Our expectation is the leverage ratio will maintain a range of 1.5 to 2.5 times while continuing to add sustained profitable growth.

截至本季末，我們的債務與過去 12 個月 EBITDA 的比率為 1.81 倍。我們的預期是槓桿率將維持在1.5至2.5倍的範圍，同時繼續增加持續的獲利成長。

Cash provided by operating activities was $35 million. Year-to-date cash provided by operating activities for Fiscal 2024 and 2023 was $113.2 million and $94.5 million, respectively. Trailing 12 months return on capital employed was 11.4% as of June 30.

經營活動提供的現金為3500萬美元。今年迄今2024 財年及 2023 財年經營活動提供的現金分別為 1.132 億美元及 9,450 萬美元。截至 6 月 30 日，過去 12 個月已動用資本報酬率為 11.4%。

Net capital expenditures year-to-date were $62.4 million. We expect net capital expenditures for Fiscal 2024 to be in the range of $90 million to $95 million. This includes maintenance CapEx of approximately 3.25% of revenue with the remaining amount invested in high-return growth initiatives.

年初至今的淨資本支出為 6,240 萬美元。我們預計 2024 財年的淨資本支出將在 9,000 萬美元至 9,500 萬美元之間。這包括約佔收入 3.25% 的維護資本支出，其餘金額則投資於高回報成長計劃。

Based on our performance to date and our visibility through the remainder of the year, we are raising our FY24 outlook ranges as follows. Revenue in the range of $1.835 billion to $1.860 billion. Net income in the range of $73.5 million to $76 million. Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $219 million to $228 million. This indicates an adjusted EBITDA margin for Fiscal '24 in the range of 11.9% to 12.3%.

根據我們迄今為止的業績以及今年剩餘時間的能見度，我們將 2024 財年的展望範圍上調如下。收入在18.35億美元至18.60億美元之間。淨利潤在 7350 萬美元至 7600 萬美元之間。調整後 EBITDA 在 2.19 億美元至 2.28 億美元之間。這顯示 24 財年調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率在 11.9% 至 12.3% 之間。

And with that, we are now ready to take your questions. Operator?

至此，我們現在準備好回答您的問題了。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Kathryn Thompson, Thompson Research Group.

（操作員說明）Kathryn Thompson，湯普森研究小組。

Hi, thank you for taking my questions today. Good morning. First, want to focus on backlogs and parsing out a little bit more detail in terms of what is driving this. You've seen 15 quarters in a row of sequential backlog growth but still are on that path to 13% to 14% EBITDA margins, which is a difficult thing to do, to have both hand-in-hand. Could you give a little bit more clarity on public end market included in the backlog versus private and market understanding that the public has a greater percentage of more ongoing repair and maintenance, and private being more new construction. Thank you.

你好，謝謝你今天回答我的問題。早安.首先，想要關注積壓的情況，並解析出更多關於推動這種情況的細節。您已經看到積壓訂單已連續 15 個季度連續增長，但 EBITDA 利潤率仍有望達到 13% 至 14%，要兩者齊頭並進，這是一件很難做到的事情。您能否更清楚地說明積壓的公共終端市場與私人市場的情況，以及市場的理解，即公共建築在正在進行的維修和維護中所佔比例更大，而私人建築則更多是新建建築。謝謝。

Yeah, Katherine, thank you. It has been 15 quarters now of the backlog increasing and I've said for two or three years now that that's abnormal. The CPI through its history in the summer work season backlog went down sequentially. So I'll say it again, I'm starting to wonder myself, but really it just is a reflection of our demand. Markets continuing to be strong.

是的，凱瑟琳，謝謝你。積壓訂單增加已經有 15 個季度了，我已經說過兩三年了，這是不正常的。CPI史上夏季工季積壓季減。所以我再說一遍，我開始懷疑自己，但其實這只是我們需求的反映。市場持續強勁。

Let's just take them, each one, private. The private market continues to be steady. We continue to see a lot of opportunities to bid there. And in the public markets, each of our states is now getting the IIJA money. We're in our second year of really them using that money. And so we're seeing plenty of opportunities to bid there. And four of our states have passed supplemental funding and so that's just creating a continued good market to bid in. So we're seeing good work on both added to our backlog.

讓我們把它們每一個都私有化。私人市場持續穩定。我們繼續看到那裡有很多投標機會。在公開市場上，我們每個州現在都獲得了 IIJA 的資金。我們已經進入他們真正使用這筆錢的第二年了。因此，我們看到了很多在那裡競標的機會。我們的四個州已經通過了補充資金，因此這只是創造了一個持續良好的競標市場。因此，我們看到這兩個方面的出色工作都已添加到我們的積壓工作中。

Greg and I noticed in our backlog this quarter that the percent of public backlog maybe went up a couple of percent from 65% to 67% or 68%, which you would expect as the IIJA is really now in full gear. So I wouldn't be surprised to see that come through on the P&L in the next 12 months. But it's nothing, it's no big change. It's just, you know, just a slight tick-up in public. So, we're excited about just the visibility the backlog gives us going into 2025. And you know, we're going to continue to be patient. That's what a good backlog gives you. You talked about the margins. Part of our margins getting to 13% to 14% is being able to be patient at the bid table.

Greg 和我注意到，在本季度的積壓工作中，公共積壓工作的百分比可能上升了幾個百分點，從65% 上升到67% 或68%，這正是您所期望的，因為IIJA 現在確實已全面啟動。因此，如果看到這一點在未來 12 個月內出現在損益表中，我不會感到驚訝。不過也沒什麼，沒什麼大的變化。你知道，這只是在公共場合的輕微反應。因此，我們對 2025 年積壓工作所帶來的可見度感到興奮。你知道，我們將繼續保持耐心。這就是良好的積壓工作帶給你的好處。你談到了利潤率。我們的利潤達到 13% 到 14% 的部分原因是能夠在投標桌上保持耐心。

Okay, thanks. And just to follow up in particular on the private end market, what types of projects are you seeing and have you seen any change as the years progressed with the residential end market? Thanks very much.

好的，謝謝。特別是在私人終端市場上，您看到了哪些類型的項目？非常感謝。

Yes, as we said in the prepared remarks, it's really more of what we've been talking about, which is just a lot of the projects that you would expect come with the reshoring of businesses moving to the southeast. We've seen corporate manufacturing facilities, corporate headquarters, industrial parks that can service -- give businesses a place to operate. Residential has been steady. We really haven't seen any huge uptick or shrinking of that market. It's been pretty steady for the developers building subdivisions.

是的，正如我們在準備好的演講中所說，這實際上更多的是我們一直在談論的內容，這只是您期望隨著企業遷往東南部而出現的許多項目。我們已經看到了可以為企業提供營運場所的企業製造設施、企業總部、工業園區。住宅一直保持穩定。我們確實沒有看到該市場有任何大幅上漲或萎縮。對開發商來說，建造細分市場的情況相當穩定。

And just a clarification, have you seen any change in the residential cadence? Because it is a little different than what we have heard from other markets. It could be just your geographic focus, but any sequential change with residential?

澄清一下，您是否看到住宿節奏有任何變化？因為它與我們從其他市場聽到的有點不同。這可能只是您的地理重點，但住宅方面有任何連續的變化嗎？

We really haven't seen much change at all. I mean, residential is not a big part of what we do, but in the places where we do it, in the panhandle of Florida and Raleigh and other places that we're really involved with residential developers, they've been pretty steady.

我們確實沒有看到太大的變化。我的意思是，住宅並不是我們工作的重要組成部分，但在我們做這件事的地方，在佛羅裡達州和羅利的狹長地帶以及我們真正與住宅開發商合作的其他地方，他們一直相當穩定。

Okay, great. Thanks very much. Best of luck.

好的，太好了。非常感謝。祝你好運。

Tyler Brown, Raymond James.

泰勒布朗，雷蒙德詹姆斯。

Hey, good morning. Hey, Greg, appreciate all the guidance. You guys have been quite active on the M&A front. And I appreciate that maybe half the growth here in '24 will be from M&A. But as you look at it right now, how much from acquisitions that you have already completed here in '24 should roll into '25? I guess, my point is, do you already have two or three points of growth kind of in the bag from the rollover benefit of deals you've already done?

嘿，早安。嘿，格雷格，感謝所有的指導。你們在併購方面一直非常活躍。我很高興 24 年的成長可能有一半來自併購。但正如您現在所看到的，您在 24 年已經完成的收購中，有多少應該滾動到 25 年？我想，我的觀點是，您是否已經從已經完成的交易的展期收益中獲得了兩到三個點的增長？

Yeah, Tyler, we do. We would estimate that to be in the 90 to 110 range right now, rolling into '25.

是的，泰勒，我們知道。我們估計現在會在 90 到 110 之間，進入 25 年。

Okay. Okay. An incremental benefit in '25. Right. Okay. Wow. That's pretty good. Okay. So I want to talk about this really quickly because I think this year you put some unannounced M&A into your guide, given the mechanics around the Analyst Day. But as we start to think about how you guys think about your fiscal '25 guidance, what is your philosophy going to be around M&A? Should we expect you to put some unannounced M&A in that guidance or will you only include the M&A that has been announced? And I don't mean to split a lot of of air here, but I do think this is going to be really important on how we think about your guide into '25.

好的。好的。25 年的增量效益。正確的。好的。哇。那很好。好的。所以我想很快地討論這個問題，因為我認為，考慮到分析師日的機制，今年你們在指南中加入了一些未宣布的併購。但當我們開始思考你們如何看待你們的 25 財年指導時，你們圍繞併購的理念是什麼？我們是否應該期望您在該指南中納入一些未宣布的併購，還是只包括已宣布的併購？我並不是想在這裡多說幾句，但我確實認為這對我們如何看待你的 25 年指南非常重要。

Yeah, Tyler, great question. As you know, typically we don't put unannounced or aspirational acquisitions into our guide. We did last year just simply for it to be -- to make sense at our Analyst Day. But we envision just getting back to our normal guidance methodology of just putting in what we've announced so far and so should be easier to move forward into '25.

是的，泰勒，好問題。如您所知，我們通常不會將未經宣布的或理想的收購納入我們的指南中。我們去年這樣做只是為了讓它在我們的分析師日上有意義。但我們設想只是回到我們的正常指導方法，將我們迄今為止宣布的內容納入其中，因此應該更容易進入 25 年。

Excellent. Very helpful. And just let me squeeze one last one on margins. So obviously great improvement there. You know, I'm a pretty simple guy here, so when I think about margin improvement, that's either a function of you bidding better with maybe more sophisticated tools, or are you seeing more cost disinflation than you had been expecting? Or maybe I'm missing it altogether, maybe public mix is helping. But just any big picture thoughts that really got you to that 14% plus margin this quarter? Thanks.

出色的。非常有幫助。讓我在邊緣擠最後一張。顯然那裡有很大的進步。你知道，我是一個非常簡單的人，所以當我考慮利潤率提高時，這要么是你使用更複雜的工具更好地出價的函數，要么是你看到的成本通膨比你預期的要多？或者也許我完全錯過了它，也許公共混合有幫助。但是否有任何大局想法真正讓您在本季度實現 14% 的利潤率成長？謝謝。

Yeah. Tyler, we talked about three levers of margin expansion, one being just building better markets and being able to be -- able to put more money on the bids. And so that's certainly one. The other is vertical integration. And so our terminals and aggregate facilities are contributing a little more each year. And then the third is scale. And so I feel like all three of those are contributing and working together. And so that's really, that continues to be the story on the margins.

是的。泰勒，我們討論了利潤擴張的三個槓桿，其中之一就是建立更好的市場，並且能夠在投標上投入更多資金。所以這肯定是其中之一。另一個是垂直整合。因此，我們的碼頭和綜合設施每年都會做出更多貢獻。第三是規模。所以我覺得這三個人都在做出貢獻並且共同努力。確實如此，這仍然是邊緣的故事。

Yeah. Excellent. Thanks. Good job.

是的。出色的。謝謝。好工作。

Tyler, this is Ned. I would tell you one thing, the people in the -- as we look at the statistics, the people that are laying asphalt, that are working hard every day in the hot weather and the cold weather, they're doing a fantastic job. Their productivity continues to increase, their team orientation continues to increase. Jule and the management team are leading well in that area. So I think one of the things I would say with margin is you got to go to work every single day in this business and those people are doing an absolutely fabulous job led by people that respect them, that trust them, and then encourage them. And Jule and Greg and really this whole team all the way down. And that's you're not going to put a number to it, but I'm just telling you, watching how hard those folks work and we want to treat them well is a huge benefit to the margins as we move forward.

泰勒，這是內德。我想告訴你一件事，當我們查看統計數據時，那些鋪設瀝青的人們，每天在炎熱的天氣和寒冷的天氣中努力工作，他們做得非常出色。他們的生產力不斷提高，團隊意識不斷增強。Jule 和管理團隊在該領域處於領先地位。因此，我認為我要說的一件事是，在這個行業裡，你每天都必須去上班，而這些人在尊重他們、信任他們、然後鼓勵他們的人的領導下，做得非常出色。朱爾和格雷格以及整個團隊一直在努力。這就是說，你不會給出一個數字，但我只是告訴你，看看這些人有多努力工作，我們想善待他們，這對我們前進的利潤率來說是一個巨大的好處。

Yes. Thanks, Ned. That's great. Thank you.

是的。謝謝，內德。那太棒了。謝謝。

Andrew Whitman, Baird.

安德魯·惠特曼，貝爾德。

Yeah. Great. I guess, maybe I'll launch off of the last series of questions there. And ask you, Jule, a little bit to be -- expand a little bit about the -- that first thing about building better markets and how if at all, your bidding process is allowing you to compare your current backlog, your new win margins, to what you've done maybe over the last year. Are you still seeing as bid margin growth? Maybe you could comment on that, please.

是的。偉大的。我想，也許我會開始提出最後一系列問題。Jule，請您稍微擴展一下關於建立更好的市場的第一件事，以及如果有的話，您的投標流程如何允許您比較當前的積壓訂單和新的獲勝利潤，你可能在過去的一年裡做了什麼。您仍然看到出價利潤成長嗎？也許你可以對此發表評論。

Yeah, Andy, it's a good question. It's one that we can't ever take our eye off of. Our industry's competitive and that's not going to ever change. And so we have to be the low bid. But what we're trying to do is be patient at the bid table and use our good backlog to be disciplined and patient. But also if we continue to work on costs and keep your costs down, as Ned said, if we can be more productive in the field, that gains margin as well. But one of the things CPI has always done and we're seeing the return to that is the guys in the field find ways to win and beat production and so of more jobs and not we finish at a higher end margin than we bid. And so that's one of the things that really helped this quarter, was just the ability to write up projects as they're getting built.

是的，安迪，這是個好問題。這是我們永遠無法移開目光的一件事。我們的行業競爭激烈，這一點永遠不會改變。所以我們必須低價出價。但我們正在努力做的是在投標表上保持耐心，並利用我們良好的積壓來保持紀律和耐心。但正如內德所說，如果我們繼續努力降低成本並降低成本，如果我們能夠提高現場生產力，那麼利潤也會增加。但CPI 一直在做的事情之一，我們看到的回報是，該領域的人們找到了贏得和擊敗生產的方法，因此獲得了更多的就業機會，而不是我們以比我們出價更高的最終利潤完成了任務。因此，這就是本季真正有幫助的事情之一，就是能夠在專案建置時編寫專案。

Yep. That's helpful. And then maybe just a comment here, guys. We had hurricane season start a little bit earlier than normal here in your fiscal fourth quarter. And I was just wondering how through -- today the quarter is unfolding. Has it slowed you down and you need to make it up in the back end of the quarter? Maybe just some comments around where you are with the weather.

是的。這很有幫助。夥計們，也許只是在這裡發表評論。在第四財季，我們的颶風季節比正常情況提早了一點。我只是想知道今天這個季度的進展如何。它是否減慢了你的速度，你需要在季度末彌補？也許只是一些關於你所在位置和天氣的評論。

Well, we've had two quarters in a row now, Andy, where weather is really balanced out. A wetter-than-normal month is balanced out with a drier-than-normal month. So -- and that's what we try to communicate to the market is over time, weather evens out. July so far, this quarter has been wetter than normal. And then first week of August, we had a hurricane march through four of our states and just left Raleigh this morning. But we'll just have to see how the rest of the quarter goes. We could have really good weather the rest of August and September and be just fine. So we don't try to get ahead of ourselves there.

好吧，安迪，我們現在已經連續兩個季度了，天氣真的很平衡。比正常濕潤的月份與比正常乾燥的月份相平衡。所以——這就是我們試圖向市場傳達的訊息：隨著時間的推移，天氣會趨於平穩。七月至今，本季比正常情況多雨。然後八月的第一周，我們經歷了一場颶風穿越我們的四個州，並在今天早上離開羅利。但我們只需要看看本季剩餘時間的進展如何。八月和九月剩下的時間我們可能會遇到非常好的天氣，一切都很好。所以我們不會試著在這方面超前。

But as it relates to that fourth quarter guidance, you feel like you've discounted what you've seen so far through the quarter so far.

但由於它與第四季度的指導相關，你感覺你已經低估了本季迄今所看到的情況。

I'm going to let Greg answer that as to what he is factored in and put him on the hot seat. Greg?

我將讓格雷格回答這個問題，並讓他陷入困境。格雷格？

Yeah. No, I think we've just tried to think about this quarter the same way we've realized the earlier two, that the quarter balances out. We always talk a lot about the first half of the year and the second half of the year kind of balance, and oftentimes that occurs within the quarter and that's kind of what we're anticipating happening this quarter.

是的。不，我認為我們只是嘗試以我們認識到前兩個季度的方式來思考本季度，即本季度達到平衡。我們總是談論很多關於上半年和下半年的平衡，並且通常發生在本季度內，這就是我們預計本季會發生的情況。

All right. Fair enough, guys. Have a good weekend. Thank you.

好的。很公平，夥計們。有一個美好的周末。謝謝。

Adam Thalhimer, Thompson Davis & Company.

亞當·塔爾希默，湯普森·戴維斯公司。

Hey, good morning, guys. Congrats on a nice beat. Wanted to ask about sequential backlog growth. How much of that was organic and how much of that was acquired?

嘿，早上好，夥計們。恭喜你打出了漂亮的節奏。想詢問積壓訂單的連續成長。其中有多少是有機的，有多少是收購的？

Well, we had about $40 million come in through acquisitions this quarter. So as our acquisitions come in over the year they have different impact to the quarter, but this quarter was about 40, so the rest was organic.

嗯，本季我們透過收購獲得了約 4,000 萬美元的收入。因此，隨著我們全年的收購對本季產生不同的影響，但本季大約有 40 項，所以其餘的都是有機的。

Sounds like a similar mix to revenue.

聽起來與收入類似。

That's right.

這是正確的。

And then what would be your thoughts on some potential? You talked about M&A, but on the growth CapEx side, growth projects, maybe a new asphalt terminal. Any thoughts there?

那麼您對某些潛力有何看法？您談到了併購，但在成長資本支出方面，成長項目，也許是一個新的瀝青碼頭。有什麼想法嗎？

Adam, we're always thinking about vertical integration and things like that. I will tell you, I want to use this question to just really brag on Greg. He has really instituted a very disciplined growth CapEx process with all of our operating companies and evaluating where to invest our growth CapEx money on the projects that are going to make the most impact. And I think you're seeing that come through in the organic growth this quarter and this year. There is a lot of good opportunities and we can't invest in them all. And I think he's done a really good job of putting the investments where it's going to make the most difference.

Adam，我們一直在考慮垂直整合之類的事情。我告訴你，我想用這個問題來真正向格雷格吹噓。他確實與我們所有的營運公司建立了非常嚴格的成長資本支出流程，並評估將我們的成長資本支出資金投資到將產生最大影響的項目上。我認為您會在本季度和今年的有機成長中看到這一點。好的機會有很多，但我們無法全部投資。我認為他在將投資投入到能夠產生最大影響的方面做得非常好。

Sounds good. Thanks guys.

聽起來不錯。謝謝你們。

Stanley Elliott, Stifel.

史丹利·艾利奧特，史蒂菲爾。

Hey, good morning, everybody. Thank you for the question. Could you talk a little bit about, I mean, we were pretty much through the earnings season. The numbers you guys are putting up on the organic side, 13% is vastly different than a lot of your, the folks that are supplying rock to you guys. Can you talk about some of the disconnect on how you guys are so positive and a lot of those other businesses were kind of flat to likely down on an organic volume basis?

嘿，大家早安。謝謝你的提問。你能談談，我的意思是，我們幾乎已經度過了財報季節。你們在有機方面提出的數字，13％，與你們中的許多人（為你們提供搖滾樂的人）有很大不同。您能否談談你們為何如此積極，而許多其他業務在有機銷量的基礎上持平甚至可能下降的一些脫節？

Yes, Stanley, I can only speak to what we're doing. We're continuing in the markets we're working in to grow market share and to work in adjacent markets on greenfields and we've got a great demand environment. So that's really driving our ability to grow organically. And where we have the opportunities we're adding crews and able to do more work.

是的，史丹利，我只能談談我們正在做的事情。我們將繼續在我們正在努力的市場上擴大市場份額，並在鄰近的未開發市場上開展工作，我們擁有良好的需求環境。所以這確實推動了我們有機成長的能力。只要有機會，我們就會增加人員並且能夠做更多的工作。

And as I said in the remarks, the acquisitions we did a year ago and a year and a half and two years ago, they're creating opportunities for us to grow organically. And I think Hudson Paving and Robinson a year from now are going to give us the opportunity to grow organically in 2025 and 2026. So, we're continuing to just execute on our strategy. We've always been a growth company of 15% to 20%. We see that continuing in about half organic and that's really what we see moving forward.

正如我在演講中所說，我們一年前、一年半和兩年前進行的收購，為我們的有機成長創造了機會。我認為一年後的 Hudson Paving 和 Robinson 將為我們提供 2025 年和 2026 年有機增長的機會。因此，我們將繼續執行我們的策略。我們一直是一家成長率為 15% 到 20% 的公司。我們看到這種情況在大約一半的有機食品中繼續存在，這確實是我們所看到的方向。

Yeah, it's kind of what I had thought, and nice to hear. And then Jule, you mentioned the crew productivity increasing, do you think that's a function of you'll have more people and more crews to be able to put to work and so you can flex to various locations? If weather is an issue, move to another location or the ability to flex or work longer hours because of the number of people, or even maybe it's you have more machines to help with the laydown. Just curious if you could parse out a little bit about what you're doing on the productivity side to drive this outsized growth.

是的，這就是我的想法，很高興聽到。然後朱爾，您提到了工作人員生產力的提高，您認為這是因為您將有更多的人和更多的工作人員能夠投入工作，這樣您就可以靈活地適應不同的地點嗎？如果天氣是一個問題，請搬到另一個地點，或者由於人數較多而能夠靈活工作或延長工作時間，甚至可能是您有更多的機器來幫助鋪設。只是好奇您是否可以分析一下您在生產力方面所做的工作以推動這種巨大的成長。

Yeah, great question. I'm glad you asked that, Stanley, because what Ned said is so important and it really isn't a function of having more machines. What it is, is just great leadership and great people throughout our organization. And we talked a lot over the last three years about workforce development and focusing on building people, training them. And Robert Baugnon, our VP of Personnel, has worked with the operating companies on attracting, retaining the best workforce because it just really comes down to the people. The equipment doesn't make a big difference at all in our business, it all comes down to the people. And the greater team we have, that's when you start to see the results come through. We're building thousands of projects at one time. And so if you have great people, they're going to find ways to win more often than not on those projects.

是的，很好的問題。我很高興你問這個問題，史丹利，因為內德所說的非常重要，而且它確實不是擁有更多機器的功能。它就是我們整個組織中偉大的領導力和優秀的員工。在過去的三年裡，我們談論了很多關於勞動力發展的問題，並專注於人才培養和培訓。我們的人事副總裁 Robert Baugnon 一直與營運公司合作，吸引、留住最優秀的勞動力，因為這實際上取決於人。設備對我們的業務根本沒有太大影響，一切都取決於人。我們擁有的團隊越強大，您就越能看到成果。我們同時建設數千個項目。因此，如果你有優秀的人才，他們會找到更多的方法在這些項目上獲勝。

Perfect guys. Thanks so much and best of luck.

完美的傢伙。非常感謝，祝你好運。

Brent Thielman, D.A. Davidson.

布倫特·蒂爾曼，D.A.戴維森。

Thanks. Good morning, guys. I had a few questions here. First, Jule, any initiatives to try to increase the penetration into some of these sort of non-DOT public areas. I heard you called out airports and military bases. My understanding is that those sorts of opportunities can be margin accretive since you may not have as many people that are expect to get into those types of facilities. So just thoughts on if you've got more initiatives around that and I guess, if those are margin accretive to you.

謝謝。早安，夥計們。我在這裡有幾個問題。首先，Jule，任何嘗試增加對某些非交通部公共區域的滲透的舉措。我聽說你叫了機場和軍事基地。我的理解是，這類機會可以增加利潤，因為可能沒有那麼多人希望進入這些類型的設施。因此，請考慮您是否對此有更多舉措，我想這些舉措是否能為您帶來利潤成長。

Yeah. Yeah, Brent, you're exactly right. You know, some projects are very difficult, require a lot of pre-qualification and skill expertise, and those are going to have less people bidding on them. Military bases and airports are certainly two, just like you said. And so where we can work on those type of projects, we absolutely are. Our new acquisition, our newest teammate, Robinson Paving in Columbus, they literally are right outside the gates of Fort Moore, one of the largest bases in the southeast. They have spent decades working at Fort Moore. And so that's a very attractive addition to our team and universe.

是的。是的，布倫特，你說得完全正確。你知道，有些項目非常困難，需要大量的資格預審和技能專業知識，而這些項目的競標人數將會減少。正如你所說，軍事基地和機場當然是兩個。因此，我們絕對可以從事此類項目。我們的新收購者，我們最新的隊友，哥倫布的羅賓遜鋪路，他們實際上就在摩爾堡的大門外，摩爾堡是東南部最大的基地之一。他們在摩爾堡工作了幾十年。因此，這對我們的團隊和宇宙來說是一個非常有吸引力的補充。

Got it. Thanks, Jule. And then I've heard a little bit about it, some shift in the competitive landscape, just where some of the slowing in these private sectors, obviously influenced to some degree by interest rates, shifted some contractors towards public work. Obviously, there is great funding and visibility there. I suspect this is pretty regional, but just wondering if you're experiencing any of that.

知道了。謝謝，朱爾。然後我聽說了一些有關競爭格局的變化，這些私營部門的一些放緩顯然在某種程度上受到利率的影響，使一些承包商轉向公共工程。顯然，那裡有大量的資金和知名度。我懷疑這是相當地區性的，但只是想知道你是否遇到過這種情況。

Brent, we've addressed that for a few quarters, and we keep looking to see if the commercial private market is slowing down. And the reality is we just don't see that, it's staying steady. If anything, it's a little better this year than it was last year. We're bidding both types of projects, public and private, but we really haven't seen a big slowdown in our commercial opportunities. But it's something we watch closely. But even if it did slow down, our crews would simply switch to doing more public work. And so it's not something that we worry about a lot. We just -- we have a certain amount of capacity to make asphalt, lay down asphalt, move dirt. And our crews can work either on public jobs or private jobs.

布倫特，我們已經解決這個問題好幾個季度了，我們一直在關注商業私人市場是否正在放緩。現實是我們只是沒有看到這一點，它保持穩定。如果有什麼不同的話，那就是今年比去年好一點。我們正在競標公共和私人兩種類型的項目，但我們確實沒有看到商業機會大幅放緩。但這是我們密切關注的事情。但即使速度確實放緩，我們的工作人員也會轉而從事更多的公共工作。所以這不是我們太擔心的事情。我們只是──我們有一定的能力來製造瀝青、鋪設瀝青、搬運泥土。我們的工作人員可以從事公共工作或私人工作。

Yep. Jule, maybe just one more. I mean, one of the things that seems noticeable to me is there is been a propensity for some larger projects getting released out there. And I know you guys manage that and try to focus on the smaller stuff, but has there been any shift to maybe try to work a little more with some of those general contractors as a subcontractor, to try and get more of a piece of that pie again? I understand you want to manage the size of stuff that you're approaching, but it seems like there is opportunity there. So, just curious how you're approaching that.

是的。朱爾，也許還有一個。我的意思是，對我來說值得注意的一件事是，傾向於發布一些較大的項目。我知道你們管理著這一點，並嘗試專注於較小的事情，但是是否有任何轉變，也許可以嘗試與一些總承包商作為分包商進行更多合作，嘗試從中獲得更多份額又餡餅了？我知道你想要管理你正在接近的東西的大小，但似乎那裡有機會。所以，只是好奇你是如何實現這一目標的。

Yeah. No, Brent, you're right. There are larger projects coming out now with IIJA, and we're participating in those as subcontractors. When they're letting our markets, we're very active with those, either as a dedicated subcontractor or is it subcontractor is a JV partner. So while we don't want to build mega projects and take that risk as the prime contractor, that's just not something we see as the best use of our resources, where we can participate in the projects as a subcontractor, that's very good work for us.

是的。不，布倫特，你是對的。現在 IIJA 正在推出更大的項目，我們作為分包商參與這些項目。當他們出租我們的市場時，我們非常積極參與其中，無論是作為專門的分包商還是分包商是合資夥伴。因此，雖然我們不想建造大型項目並作為主承包商承擔這種風險，但這並不是我們認為對我們資源的最佳利用，我們可以作為分包商參與這些項目，這對我們來說是非常好的工作我們。

Okay, great. Thanks, guys. Appreciate you taking the questions.

好的，太好了。謝謝，夥計們。感謝您提出問題。

We have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn it back over to management for closing remarks.

我們的問答環節已經結束。我想將其轉回管理層以供結束語。

We appreciate everyone joining us today, and we look forward to speaking with you again soon.

我們感謝今天加入我們的每個人，我們期待很快再次與您交談。

Thank you. This will conclude today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time and thank you for your participation.

謝謝。今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路，感謝您的參與。