Reliance Inc (RS) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Reliance Steel & Aluminum Company's Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

您好，歡迎來到信實鋼鐵鋁業公司 2022 年第四季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）提醒一下，正在錄製此會議。

I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Kim Orlando, with ADDO Investor Relations.

我現在想將會議轉交給您的主持人 Kim Orlando，他是 ADDO 投資者關係部的負責人。

Thank you, operator. Good morning, and thanks to all of you for joining our conference call to discuss Reliance's Fourth quarter and full year 2022 financial results. I am joined by Karla Lewis, President and Chief Executive Officer; Steve Koch, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; and Arthur Ajemyan, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，運營商。早上好，感謝大家參加我們的電話會議，討論 Reliance 的第四季度和 2022 年全年財務業績。總裁兼首席執行官 Karla Lewis 加入了我的行列； Steve Koch，執行副總裁兼首席運營官；高級副總裁兼首席財務官 Arthur Ajemyan。

A recording of this call will be posted on the Investors section of our website at investor.rsac.com. The press release and the information on this call may contain certain forward-looking statements, which are based on a number of assumptions that are subject to change and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties or other factors, including the impacts of inflation, geopolitics and the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic conditions on our future operations, which may not be under the company's control and may cause the actual results, performance or achievement of the company to be materially different from the results, performance or other expectations implied by these forward-looking statements.

此次通話的錄音將發佈在我們網站 investor.rsac.com 的“投資者”部分。新聞稿和本次電話會議的信息可能包含某些前瞻性陳述，這些陳述基於許多可能發生變化的假設，並涉及已知和未知的風險、不確定性或其他因素，包括通貨膨脹、地緣政治和COVID-19 大流行和我們未來運營的相關經濟狀況，這可能不受公司控制，並可能導致公司的實際結果、業績或成就與這些暗示的結果、業績或其他預期存在重大差異前瞻性陳述。

These factors include, but are not limited to, those factors disclosed in the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, and updated on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2022, under the caption Risk Factors, disclosure in our press release this morning, and other documents, Reliance files or furnishes with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

這些因素包括但不限於公司截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日止年度的 10-K 表年度報告中披露的以及截至 2022 年 9 月 30 日止季度的 10-Q 表更新的那些因素，根據標題風險因素、我們今天上午在新聞稿中披露的信息，以及其他文件、信實文件或向美國證券交易委員會提供的文件。

The press release and the information on this call speak only as of today's date, and the company disclaims any duty to update the information provided therein inherent.

本次電話會議的新聞稿和信息僅在今天發表，公司不承擔更新其中所提供信息的任何義務。

I will now turn the call over to Karla Lewis, President and CEO of Reliance.

我現在將電話轉給 Reliance 總裁兼首席執行官 Karla Lewis。

Thanks, Kim. Good morning, everyone, and thank you all for joining us today to discuss our fourth quarter and full year 2022 financial results. Before I begin, I'd like to say that I'm honored to have the privilege to serve as CEO of this wonderful family of companies. I look forward to continuing our long-standing track record of industry-leading financial, operational and safety performance, growing our company and increasing stockholder value in the years ahead.

謝謝，金。大家早上好，感謝大家今天加入我們討論我們的第四季度和 2022 年全年財務業績。在開始之前，我想說，我很榮幸有幸擔任這個優秀公司家族的首席執行官。我期待著在未來的歲月裡延續我們在行業領先的財務、運營和安全績效方面的長期記錄，發展我們的公司並增加股東價值。

I would also like to acknowledge Jim Hoffman for his significant contributions to Reliance, both during his tenure as CEO and throughout his many years of service to the company. On behalf of the management team here at Reliance, we wish him all the best in his upcoming retirement at the end of the year.

我還要感謝吉姆·霍夫曼 (Jim Hoffman) 在擔任 CEO 期間以及為公司服務多年期間對 Reliance 做出的重大貢獻。我們代表 Reliance 的管理團隊，祝愿他在即將到來的年底退休生活中一切順利。

I will begin today with an overview of our 2022 performance and capital allocation strategy. Steve will then speak to our operating results and demand trends by end market, and Arthur will conclude with a review of our fourth quarter 2022 financial results as well as our outlook for the first quarter of 2023.

今天，我將概述我們 2022 年的業績和資本配置戰略。然後，Steve 將按終端市場介紹我們的經營業績和需求趨勢，Arthur 將回顧我們 2022 年第四季度的財務業績以及我們對 2023 年第一季度的展望。

Turning to our results. We're very pleased to have achieved record financial performance in 2022 across nearly every metric during a period of continued metal price volatility and broader economic uncertainty. Our unique business model is designed to position Reliance as the customer and supplier of choice throughout industry cycles. We are differentiated by the diversity of our operations, superior customer service, and ability to generate significant cash to fuel our long-standing commitment to both growth and stockholder returns.

轉向我們的結果。在金屬價格持續波動和更廣泛的經濟不確定性時期，我們很高興在 2022 年幾乎所有指標都取得了創紀錄的財務業績。我們獨特的商業模式旨在將 Reliance 定位為整個行業周期的首選客戶和供應商。我們因運營的多樣性、卓越的客戶服務以及產生大量現金的能力而與眾不同，以推動我們對增長和股東回報的長期承諾。

Our full year 2022 net sales were a record $17 billion, driven by solid demand in the majority of our end markets, along with favorable metals pricing. In 2022, more than half of our orders included value-added processing, which when combined with our product and end market diversification and focus on small orders with quick turnaround drove our strong gross profit margin of 30.8% for the year, which was at the high end of our estimated sustainable annual range despite declining prices for most products in the second half of the year.

我們 2022 年全年的淨銷售額達到創紀錄的 170 億美元，這主要得益於我們大多數終端市場的強勁需求以及有利的金屬定價。 2022 年，我們一半以上的訂單包括增值加工，這與我們的產品和終端市場多元化以及專注於快速周轉的小訂單相結合，推動了我們當年 30.8% 的強勁毛利率，處於儘管大多數產品的價格在下半年下降，但仍處於我們估計的可持續年度範圍的高端。

Effective expense management, coupled with our strong gross profit margin supported record annual non-GAAP pretax income of $2.44 billion and record non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $30.03. And let me say that again, record non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $30.03. We generated record annual cash flow from operations of $2.12 billion in 2022, far surpassing our prior record of $1.3 billion in 2019, made possible by our record profitability and working capital management.

有效的費用管理，加上我們強勁的毛利率，支持了創紀錄的年度非 GAAP 稅前收入 24.4 億美元和創紀錄的非 GAAP 攤薄每股收益 30.03 美元。讓我再說一遍，創下 30.03 美元的非 GAAP 稀釋每股收益記錄。 2022 年，我們從運營中產生了創紀錄的年度現金流量 21.2 億美元，遠遠超過了我們之前在 2019 年創下的 13 億美元的記錄，這得益於我們創紀錄的盈利能力和營運資本管理。

I applaud and thank our team on achieving these outstanding results and for doing so safely with 2022 marking an all-time low for our total recordable incident rate.

我讚賞並感謝我們的團隊取得了這些出色的成績，並感謝他們在 2022 年安全地取得了這些成績，這標誌著我們可記錄的總事故率創下歷史新低。

Our strong cash generation and liquidity enables us to continue executing our disciplined capital allocation strategy with particular emphasis on both growth and stockholder returns. We invested nearly $342 million in capital expenditures in 2022, setting a new annual record with the majority of funding growth opportunities.

我們強大的現金生成和流動性使我們能夠繼續執行我們嚴格的資本配置戰略，特別強調增長和股東回報。我們在 2022 年投入了近 3.42 億美元的資本支出，創下了大部分資金增長機會的年度新紀錄。

Our full year 2023 capital expenditure budget is another new record at $500 million, with an expected total cash outlay of approximately $400 million to $450 million in 2023, which includes some carryover from 2022 and prior year projects due to ongoing extended lead times throughout the supply chain.

我們的 2023 年全年資本支出預算再創紀錄，達到 5 億美元，預計 2023 年的總現金支出約為 4 億至 4.5 億美元，其中包括由於整個供應週期持續延長的交貨期而從 2022 年和上一年項目結轉的部分資金鏈。

We anticipate about 2/3 of our budget will be focused on growth initiatives in areas such as facility upgrades and expansions into new markets, new equipment to expand, automate and improve the efficiency of our value-added processing capabilities along with creating safer and improved working environments for our valued employees.

我們預計大約 2/3 的預算將集中在設施升級和新市場擴張、新設備擴展、自動化和提高我們增值加工能力的效率以及創造更安全和改進的領域等領域的增長計劃為我們尊貴的員工提供工作環境。

Although we did not complete any acquisitions in 2022, the pipeline remains healthy, and we continue to evaluate many opportunities with the goal of pursuing those that meet our disciplined criteria.

儘管我們在 2022 年沒有完成任何收購，但渠道仍然健康，我們將繼續評估許多機會，目標是追求那些符合我們嚴格標準的機會。

We returned over $847 million to our stockholders in 2022 through dividends and share repurchases. Furthermore, as announced in our earnings release this morning, we were pleased to increase our quarterly cash dividend by 14.3% to $1 per share or $4 on an annualized basis, underscoring our confidence in our long-term strategy and outlook.

2022 年，我們通過股息和股票回購向股東返還了超過 8.47 億美元。此外，正如我們在今天上午發布的收益報告中所宣布的那樣，我們很高興將季度現金股息提高 14.3% 至每股 1 美元或年化 4 美元，這凸顯了我們對長期戰略和前景的信心。

Over the last 5 years, we have allocated nearly $2 billion of capital towards organic growth and acquisitions and nearly $2.7 billion towards stockholder returns in the form of dividends and share repurchases.

在過去 5 年中，我們已分配近 20 億美元的資本用於有機增長和收購，並以股息和股票回購的形式分配近 27 億美元用於股東回報。

Looking ahead, we believe our strong balance sheet and liquidity will enable us to continue executing our capital allocation priorities, no matter the operating environment.

展望未來，我們相信無論經營環境如何，我們強大的資產負債表和流動性將使我們能夠繼續執行我們的資本配置優先事項。

In closing, I'm extremely pleased with our record-setting 2022 performance. These results were achieved in a highly challenging environment with ongoing inflationary headwinds, recessionary concerns, supply chain disruptions, labor shortages and overall declining metal prices in the second half of the year.

最後，我對我們創紀錄的 2022 年業績感到非常滿意。這些成果是在極具挑戰性的環境中取得的，該環境存在持續的通脹逆風、經濟衰退擔憂、供應鏈中斷、勞動力短缺以及下半年金屬價格整體下跌。

Our managers in the field have done a tremendous job navigating these challenges, supporting our confidence and our ability to deliver strong performance in the year ahead. As we moved into 2023, we are optimistic the infrastructure bill, the CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act should serve as tailwinds for growth in an environment of sustained higher metal pricing compared to historical levels.

我們在該領域的管理人員在應對這些挑戰方面做得非常出色，支持了我們在來年實現強勁業績的信心和能力。隨著我們進入 2023 年，我們樂觀地認為基礎設施法案、CHIPS 法案和通貨膨脹減少法案將在金屬價格持續高於歷史水平的環境中成為增長的順風。

I would like to thank everyone at Reliance for their continuing and steadfast commitment to operational excellence and safety. Thank you all for your time today. I'll now turn the call over to Steve, who will review our fourth quarter operating results and demand trends. Steve?

我要感謝 Reliance 的每一個人，感謝他們對卓越運營和安全的持續堅定承諾。謝謝大家今天的時間。我現在將電話轉給史蒂夫，他將審查我們第四季度的經營業績和需求趨勢。史蒂夫？

Thanks, Karla, and good morning, everyone. First, I'd like to congratulate Karla on assuming the role of CEO at Reliance. Karla and I have worked together since 2005 when Chapel Steel was acquired by Reliance and joined the family of companies. Karla is extremely well respected within our organization and throughout the industry, and I look forward to working more closely with her going forward.

謝謝，卡拉，大家早上好。首先，我要祝賀 Karla 擔任 Reliance 的首席執行官。 Karla 和我自 2005 年開始合作，當時 Chapel Steel 被 Reliance 收購併加入了公司大家庭。 Karla 在我們的組織和整個行業內都非常受尊敬，我期待著與她在未來更緊密地合作。

I'd also like to extend a sincere thank you to each member of our team of over 15,000 employees for showing up each day and working diligently and safely to ensure we exceed our customers' expectations.

我還要衷心感謝我們 15,000 多名員工團隊中的每一位成員，感謝他們每天都出現並勤奮安全地工作，以確保我們超越客戶的期望。

Our record-setting performance in 2022 is also made possible by our customers who count on us for quick deliveries of high-quality products at competitive prices as well as our suppliers have continued to support us through challenging times and supply chain disruptions.

我們在 2022 年創紀錄的業績也得益於我們的客戶，他們依靠我們以具有競爭力的價格快速交付高質量的產品，以及我們的供應商在充滿挑戰的時期和供應鏈中斷期間繼續支持我們。

Now I'll turn to our fourth quarter pricing and demand trends. Our fourth quarter tons sold declined 8.2% compared to the third quarter of 2022 due to anticipated seasonal declines in line with our expectations of down 6.5% to 8.5% and improved 0.8% from the prior year quarter.

現在我將談談我們第四季度的定價和需求趨勢。與 2022 年第三季度相比，我們第四季度的銷量下降了 8.2%，原因是預期的季節性下降符合我們對下降 6.5% 至 8.5% 的預期，並且比去年同期提高了 0.8%。

Our performance was primarily driven by strong demand in broader manufacturing and nonresidential construction as well as robust aerospace and semiconductor shipments. Similar to the last several quarters, we believe our fourth quarter shipments could have been even stronger had not been for a persistent supply chain-related disruptions, including labor shortages at our customer's facilities.

我們的業績主要受到更廣泛的製造業和非住宅建築的強勁需求以及強勁的航空航天和半導體出貨量的推動。與過去幾個季度類似，我們認為，如果不是持續的供應鏈相關中斷，包括我們客戶設施的勞動力短缺，我們第四季度的出貨量可能會更強勁。

Our fourth quarter average selling price per ton sold of $2,799 declined 7.9% compared to the third quarter of 2022, consistent with our expectation of down 6% to 8%, that remained elevated by historical standards. Prices for the vast majority of the carbon steel products sold, along with the stainless and aluminum products continued to decline throughout the fourth quarter. However, continued strong demand for higher-value products, both at the aerospace, semiconductor and energy markets helped offset some of the downward pricing pressure on our average selling price.

與 2022 年第三季度相比，我們第四季度的每噸平均售價為 2,799 美元，下降了 7.9%，與我們預期的下降 6% 至 8% 的預期一致，與歷史標準相比仍處於較高水平。整個第四季度，絕大多數碳鋼產品以及不銹鋼和鋁產品的價格繼續下降。然而，航空航天、半導體和能源市場對高價值產品的持續強勁需求幫助抵消了我們平均售價的一些下行定價壓力。

We have been seeing signs of stabilization on certain products to date in 2023 as our average selling price per ton overall remained relatively flat in January compared to December. Arthur will cover our first quarter 2023 outlook in more detail.

到目前為止，我們已經看到某些產品在 2023 年出現穩定跡象，因為與 12 月相比，1 月份我們的每噸平均售價整體保持相對平穩。 Arthur 將更詳細地介紹我們 2023 年第一季度的展望。

On a non-GAAP FIFO basis, which is how we monitor our day-to-day operating performance, our gross profit margin remained consistent with the prior quarter at 28.6%. Although the quarter-over-quarter trend was flat, it's important to note that our monthly FIFO gross profit margins improved throughout the fourth quarter in contrast to decreasing monthly FIFO gross profit margins in the third quarter of 2022. We are pleased to see continued FIFO gross profit margin improvement so far in 2023.

在非 GAAP FIFO 的基礎上，這是我們監控日常經營業績的方式，我們的毛利率與上一季度保持一致，為 28.6%。儘管環比趨勢持平，但值得注意的是，與 2022 年第三季度月度 FIFO 毛利率下降形成鮮明對比的是，我們的月度 FIFO 毛利率在整個第四季度有所提高。我們很高興看到 FIFO 持續增長到 2023 年為止，毛利率有所改善。

The metals price volatility of 2022 tested our model with our sales and gross profit margins, once again, improving the resiliency. I'll now turn to a higher level overview of the trends we saw within our key end markets.

2022 年的金屬價格波動再次用我們的銷售額和毛利率測試了我們的模型，提高了彈性。我現在將對我們在關鍵終端市場中看到的趨勢進行更高層次的概述。

Demand for nonresidential construction, which includes infrastructure and is the largest end-market we serve was at healthy levels and trended slightly above the fourth quarter of 2021. We're continuing to experience a healthy backlog of new projects, including renewable energy and remain optimistic that we will see improved activity in Q1 2023.

對非住宅建築的需求，包括基礎設施，是我們服務的最大終端市場，處於健康水平，趨勢略高於 2021 年第四季度。我們繼續經歷新項目的健康積壓，包括可再生能源，並保持樂觀我們將在 2023 年第一季度看到活動有所改善。

Although not included in our tons sold, demand for the toll processing services we provide to the automotive market improved from both the third quarter of 2022 in the prior year quarter due to increased production rates by certain automotive manufacturers despite lingering supply chain challenges.

儘管不包括在我們的銷售噸數中，但由於某些汽車製造商的生產率提高，儘管供應鏈挑戰揮之不去，但我們向汽車市場提供的來料加工服務的需求從 2022 年第三季度和上一季度都有所提高。

Demand across the broader manufacturing sectors we serve, including our industrial machinery, consumer products and heavy equipment was consistent with last year's levels in the aggregate. Semiconductor demand trended well above the fourth quarter of 2021, despite some short-term headwinds coming into 2023, demand remains elevated. Our long-term outlook for this market remains strong, and we're continuing to invest in increased capacity to service the significant expansion of semiconductor fabrication in the United States. Aerospace demand remained solid with our exposure split roughly 50-50 between commercial and defense. Commercial Aerospace made a strong recovery in 2022, with all of our quarterly shipments increasing year-over-year. Demand in military, defense and space also remained healthy.

我們所服務的更廣泛的製造行業的需求，包括我們的工業機械、消費品和重型設備，總體上與去年的水平一致。半導體需求趨勢遠高於 2021 年第四季度，儘管進入 2023 年會出現一些短期逆風，但需求仍然很高。我們對這個市場的長期前景依然看好，我們將繼續投資增加產能，以服務於美國半導體製造的顯著擴張。航空航天需求保持穩健，我們的風險敞口在商業和國防之間的比例大約為 50-50。商業航空航天在 2022 年實現了強勁復甦，我們所有的季度出貨量都同比增長。軍事、國防和太空領域的需求也保持健康。

Finally, demand in the energy sector remained relatively stable compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. Overall, we are optimistic underlying demand will remain healthy across the majority of the end markets we serve throughout the first quarter of 2023.

最後，與 2021 年第四季度相比，能源行業的需求保持相對穩定。總體而言，我們樂觀地認為，在整個 2023 年第一季度，我們服務的大多數終端市場的基本需求將保持健康。

I will now turn the call over to Arthur to review our financial results and outlook.

我現在將把電話轉給亞瑟來審查我們的財務業績和前景。

Thanks, Steve. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. My remarks this morning will mainly focus on the factors that drove our fourth quarter performance. Despite significant declines in metal pricing continuing from the third quarter of 2022, we experienced solid overall demand trends consistent with typical seasonal patterns. We achieved fourth quarter earnings per diluted share of $5.88, which when combined with effective working capital management resulted in record quarterly cash flow from operations of $808.7 million.

謝謝，史蒂夫。大家早上好，感謝您今天加入我們。我今天上午的發言將主要集中在推動我們第四季度業績的因素上。儘管金屬價格從 2022 年第三季度開始持續大幅下跌，但我們經歷了與典型季節性模式一致的穩健整體需求趨勢。我們在第四季度實現了 5.88 美元的攤薄後每股收益，再加上有效的營運資本管理，創造了創紀錄的季度運營現金流 8.087 億美元。

While metal pricing continued to decline through the end of the year, the third quarter of 2022 represented the trough for our gross profit margin. And as Karla highlighted, value-added processing continue to provide stability to our gross profit margin. In addition, our use of the LIFO inventory valuation method benefited our gross profit margin and earnings in the quarter. We recorded LIFO income of $99.1 million in the fourth quarter compared to $27.5 million of income in the third quarter of 2022, which drove a 210 basis point improvement in our gross profit margin for the prior quarter.

雖然金屬價格在年底前持續下降，但 2022 年第三季度是我們毛利率的低谷。正如 Karla 強調的那樣，增值加工繼續為我們的毛利率提供穩定性。此外，我們使用 LIFO 庫存估值方法有利於我們本季度的毛利率和收益。我們在第四季度錄得 LIFO 收入 9910 萬美元，而 2022 年第三季度的收入為 2750 萬美元，這推動我們上一季度的毛利率提高了 210 個基點。

We ended 2022 with a LIFO reserve of $744 million, as our inventory cost on hand continue to catch up with lower replacement costs, or should metal prices trend lower in fiscal 2023, this reserve will generate LIFO income and continue to support our gross profit margins and reduce the volatility of our earnings.

到 2022 年底，我們的 LIFO 儲備為 7.44 億美元，因為我們手頭的庫存成本繼續趕上較低的重置成本，或者如果金屬價格在 2023 財年呈下降趨勢，該儲備將產生 LIFO 收入並繼續支持我們的毛利率並減少我們收入的波動性。

Our current estimate of LIFO income for 2023 is $60 million. As always, we will update our expectations quarterly to account for actual inventory cost and metal pricing trends.

我們目前對 2023 年 LIFO 收入的估計為 6000 萬美元。一如既往，我們將每季度更新一次預期，以考慮實際庫存成本和金屬價格趨勢。

Moving on to expenses. Our fourth quarter non-GAAP SG&A expenses decreased $17 million or 2.7% compared to the third quarter of 2022, mainly due to moderation in inflationary pressures, lower incentive-based compensation resulting from lower profitability and lower variable warehousing and delivery expenses associated with lower tons shipped.

繼續討論費用。與 2022 年第三季度相比，我們第四季度的非 GAAP SG&A 費用減少了 1700 萬美元或 2.7%，這主要是由於通脹壓力緩和、盈利能力下降導致基於激勵的薪酬減少以及與噸位減少相關的可變倉儲和交付費用減少發貨。

On a year-over-year basis, our fourth quarter same-store non-GAAP SG&A expenses decreased $9 million or 1.5% as lower incentive-based compensation from lower FIFO pretax profits offset moderating inflationary factors, including higher wages, freight, steel and plant supply costs.

與去年同期相比，我們第四季度的同店非 GAAP SG&A 費用減少了 900 萬美元或 1.5%，這是因為較低的 FIFO 稅前利潤導致基於激勵的薪酬減少抵消了緩和的通脹因素，包括較高的工資、運費、鋼鐵和工廠供應成本。

Our fourth quarter 2022 diluted earnings per share of $5.88 benefited from the combination of a LIFO income impact of $1.25 per share compared to anticipated LIFO expense of $0.09 per share and lower-than-anticipated tax rate of $0.24 per share. Excluding the benefits of both higher-than-expected LIFO income and lower-than-expected tax rate, our diluted earnings per share would have been $4.30 in line with our guidance of $4.30 to $4.50 per share.

我們 2022 年第四季度的攤薄後每股收益為 5.88 美元，這得益於 LIFO 每股收益影響 1.25 美元，而預期的 LIFO 費用為每股 0.09 美元，以及低於預期的每股 0.24 美元的稅率。排除高於預期的 LIFO 收入和低於預期的稅率的好處，我們的每股攤薄收益為 4.30 美元，符合我們每股 4.30 美元至 4.50 美元的指導。

Turning to cash flow. Our strong profitability and working capital release generated record quarterly cash flow from operations of $808.7 million in Q4. Our 2022 record annual operating cash flow of $2.12 billion funded a record $341.8 million in capital expenditures and the return of $847.4 million to our stockholders comprised of $217 million of cash dividends and $630 million of share repurchases, resulting in nearly 6% reduction in common shares outstanding.

轉向現金流。我們強勁的盈利能力和營運資金釋放在第四季度產生了創紀錄的季度運營現金流 8.087 億美元。我們 2022 年創紀錄的 21.2 億美元的年度運營現金流為創紀錄的 3.418 億美元資本支出提供了資金，並向我們的股東返還了 8.474 億美元，其中包括 2.17 億美元的現金股息和 6.3 億美元的股票回購，導致普通股減少近 6%傑出的。

We are very proud that our strong financial position enabled us to reinvest a record amount back into our business to support continuing organic growth and to return approximately 46% of our full year net income to our stockholders.

我們感到非常自豪的是，我們強大的財務狀況使我們能夠將創紀錄的金額再投資回我們的業務，以支持持續的有機增長，並將我們全年淨收入的大約 46% 返還給我們的股東。

As previously announced, on January 15, we redeemed our $500 million, 4.5% senior notes due April 15, 2023.

正如之前宣布的那樣，我們在 1 月 15 日贖回了將於 2023 年 4 月 15 日到期的 5 億美元、利率為 4.5% 的優先票據。

I'll now turn to our first quarter outlook. We expect healthy demand trends to continue in the first quarter of 2023, which includes the normal seasonal increase in shipping volume compared to the fourth quarter. We estimate our tons sold will be up 11% to 13% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the fourth quarter of 2022, which is better than a typical seasonal recovery.

我現在談談我們的第一季度展望。我們預計 2023 年第一季度將繼續保持健康的需求趨勢，其中包括與第四季度相比正常的季節性航運量增長。我們估計，與 2022 年第四季度相比，2023 年第一季度我們的銷量將增長 11% 至 13%，這好於典型的季節性複蘇。

To date, pricing for many of our products has started to stabilize compared to December, which was the low point in the fourth quarter. And as a result, we estimate our average selling price per ton sold in the first quarter of 2023 will be down 3% to 5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.

迄今為止，與去年第四季度的最低點 12 月相比，我們許多產品的定價已開始趨於穩定。因此，我們估計 2023 年第一季度的每噸平均售價將比 2022 年第四季度下降 3% 至 5%。

Based on these expectations, we anticipate non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $5.40 to $5.60 for the first quarter of 2023. In closing, I'd also like to acknowledge and thank everyone at Reliance for their contributions to our phenomenal performance in 2022. This concludes our prepared remarks. Thank you for your attention. At this time, we'd like to open the call up to questions. Operator?

基於這些預期，我們預計 2023 年第一季度的非 GAAP 每股攤薄收益在 5.40 美元至 5.60 美元之間。最後，我還要感謝 Reliance 的每一個人，感謝他們為我們出色的業績做出的貢獻2022 年。我們準備好的發言到此結束。感謝您的關注。在這個時候，我們想打開問題的電話。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Emily Chieng with Goldman Sachs.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自高盛的 Emily Chieng。

Karla, Steve and Arthur, congratulations on a strong quarter. My first question is just around the M&A front. You mentioned that you hadn't done anything there in 2022, but curious what you are seeing there in the market that led to that sort of dry spell? Was it the bid-ask spread being too high at that point in time? Or just the options available, not as interesting to you at that point?

卡拉、史蒂夫和亞瑟，祝賀一個強勁的季度。我的第一個問題是關於併購方面的。你提到你在 2022 年沒有在那裡做過任何事情，但你很好奇你在市場上看到了什麼導致了那種干旱期？是不是當時的買賣價差太高了？或者只是可用的選項，在這一點上對您來說並不那麼有趣？

Emily, thank you very much for joining the call today. So in 2022, we did continue to see a lot of opportunities in the market. We try to be selective on which companies we look to acquire. We don't want to compete with our customers, so that pushes out a lot of potential opportunities, but we did see some good interesting opportunities in 2022. We did do work on some companies. And there were some, in our opinion, elevated bid-ask prices. I think we're seeing some of those opportunities come back around at what are more reasonable levels to us.

艾米麗，非常感謝你今天加入電話會議。所以在2022年，我們確實繼續看到市場上有很多機會。我們盡量選擇要收購的公司。我們不想與客戶競爭，因此推出了很多潛在機會，但我們確實在 2022 年看到了一些有趣的好機會。我們確實在一些公司做過工作。在我們看來，還有一些提高了買賣價格。我認為我們看到其中一些機會以對我們來說更合理的水平回歸。

And we think the market is going to be pretty attractive this year for continued potential opportunities for us to look at. And we didn't -- not do acquisitions for any reason other than we didn't reach agreement, but we want to continue to grow the company both organically and through acquisitions. And we look to 2023 to potentially be a fairly active year.

我們認為今年市場將非常有吸引力，因為我們可以繼續尋找潛在機會。我們沒有 - 除了我們沒有達成協議之外，我們沒有因為任何原因進行收購，但我們希望通過有機和收購繼續發展公司。我們預計 2023 年可能是相當活躍的一年。

Understood. And maybe as a follow-up on that pace related to growth and can you remind us how much spend related to the semiconductor plants that you're constructing is still perhaps to flow into the 2024 period? And are there any other projects of this group that you would consider executing given the demand outlook ahead?

明白了。也許作為與增長相關的步伐的後續行動，你能否提醒我們與你正在建設的半導體工廠相關的支出有多少可能仍會流入 2024 年期間？鑑於未來的需求前景，您是否會考慮執行該小組的任何其他項目？

Yes. So we're always looking at opportunities. Our people working out in the field do a great job of staying close to their customers and identifying opportunities for us to do more. We do have a couple of greenfields that we're working on currently at some of our companies. One of those is our company Valex that is really dialed into providing kind of the plumbing of the semiconductor fabrication companies. And so we're expanding in Texas. They have their first phase of their expansion into Texas that will be coming online anytime, but that's the smaller part of it. And then their larger expansion with increased capacity will come online. We're anticipating in the first quarter of 2024.

是的。所以我們一直在尋找機會。我們在現場工作的員工在與客戶保持密切聯繫方面做得很好，並為我們找到了做更多事情的機會。我們確實有幾個我們目前正在我們的一些公司工作的綠地。其中之一是我們的公司 Valex，它真正致力於為半導體製造公司提供某種管道。所以我們正在德克薩斯州擴張。他們在德克薩斯州擴張的第一階段將隨時上線，但這只是其中的一小部分。然後，隨著容量的增加，他們的更大擴展將上線。我們預計在 2024 年第一季度。

Our next question comes from the line of Phil Gibbs with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Phil Gibbs。

So you have a pretty hearty cash CapEx budget this year. I think you said about 4.25% at the midpoint, relative to maybe what you all were thinking 6 months ago, 12 months ago, what may have been added to that as you've seen the needs internally change in terms of your own capabilities and/or what your clients or customers rather asking of you?

因此，您今年的現金資本支出預算相當可觀。我想你說的中點大約是 4.25%，相對於你們 6 個月前、12 個月前的想法，可能已經添加了什麼，因為你已經看到需求在你自己的能力方面發生了內部變化， / 或者您的客戶或顧客更願意向您提出什麼要求？

Yes. I think Phil, so we do an annual CapEx budget. Last year, we were at a record budget of $455 million. We only spent $342 million last year, mainly just because of supply chain constraints. But we have to -- we have really long lead times on some of the opportunities we see now. This year, our budget is $500 million. We think the actual cash spend, which will include some carryover from prior years is probably only going to be like $400 million to $450 million this year. But we -- like I said, our folks stay close to their customers, they go out in their warehouses. They look for opportunities for us to do more for our customers with the labor shortages, a lot of our customers have struggled with that. And if they have to invest money in newer machines, which have become more expensive, maybe they decide not to do that, and they ask Reliance to do that for them.

是的。我想菲爾，所以我們做年度資本支出預算。去年，我們的預算達到創紀錄的 4.55 億美元。去年我們只花了 3.42 億美元，主要是因為供應鏈的限制。但我們必須——我們現在看到的一些機會的準備時間真的很長。今年，我們的預算是 5 億美元。我們認為，今年的實際現金支出（包括前幾年的一些結轉）可能只會達到 4 億至 4.5 億美元。但是我們 - 就像我說的那樣，我們的員工與他們的客戶保持密切聯繫，他們在他們的倉庫裡出去。他們尋找機會讓我們為勞動力短缺的客戶做更多的事情，我們的很多客戶都為此苦苦掙扎。如果他們不得不投資購買更新的機器，而這些機器已經變得更貴了，也許他們決定不這樣做，而他們會要求 Reliance 為他們做這件事。

So we have a couple of hundred different types of processing equipment in the budget for this year, same as last year. So we've got over 300 locations, and we're trying to grow all of them and give them more resources to be able to serve our customers better.

所以我們今年的預算中有幾百種不同類型的加工設備，和去年一樣。所以我們有 300 多個地點，我們正在努力發展所有這些地點並為他們提供更多資源，以便能夠更好地為我們的客戶服務。

So Karla, this is a rough math. So there's -- it seems like there's over $300 million of growth CapEx in your cash guidance this year of about 4.25%. Do you see returns on those immediately? Or is there a gestation period in terms of when you would realize a return because I know you all are good at adding capabilities and value-add and they end up being very accretive to your business and margins. But how long does that typically take for those to bear out?

所以卡拉，這是一個粗略的數學。因此，您今年的現金指引中似乎有超過 3 億美元的增長資本支出，約為 4.25%。你能立即看到這些回報嗎？或者是否有一個關於你何時會實現回報的醞釀期，因為我知道你們都擅長增加能力和增值，它們最終會非常增加你的業務和利潤。但這通常需要多長時間才能得到證實？

Well, for all the Reliance people listening, we expect it immediately. And we do have a pretty short runway with the equipment we put in. We have good well trained people out there. We're able to leverage people through our family -- so it's not a long lead time. We're putting a lot of CapEx items in place all the time. And it's a pretty short lead time, but it is hard to measure exactly what the return is on each individual piece of equipment.

好吧，對於所有傾聽的 Reliance 人來說，我們期待它立即出現。而且我們投入的設備確實有很短的跑道。我們有訓練有素的好人。我們能夠通過我們的家庭來影響人們——所以準備時間不長。我們一直在實施大量資本支出項目。這是一個非常短的交貨時間，但很難準確衡量每台設備的回報率。

Yes. And Phil, it's Steve. I'd just like to add regarding CapEx, the CapEx budget that we're spending for 2023 is a good sign because the past spendings in 2021 and 2022, our customers have asked us for more capabilities. And we -- whether it's plate burning machines or new [sales] or new cut-to-length lines. They're filling up pretty quickly almost as soon as we install them. So lead times are extended. So we're just trying to get out in front and try to make sure we continue to exceed our customers' expectations.

是的。菲爾，是史蒂夫。關於資本支出，我想補充一點，我們為 2023 年支出的資本支出預算是一個好兆頭，因為在 2021 年和 2022 年的過去支出中，我們的客戶要求我們提供更多功能。而我們——無論是燒版機還是新的[銷售]或新的定長切割線。幾乎我們一安裝它們，它們就很快就裝滿了。所以交貨時間延長了。所以我們只是想走在前面，並努力確保我們繼續超越客戶的期望。

Understood on that. And then you mentioned on automotive improvement year-on-year and sequentially. And I know the end market itself has been very choppy since the pandemic recovery. So what are you seeing now looking ahead? Are you expecting business levels to improve? Or with this a little bit of improvement you saw in the back part of this year, do you basically just expect those levels to sustain?

明白這一點。然後你提到了汽車的同比和連續改進。而且我知道自大流行複蘇以來，終端市場本身一直非常動盪。那麼你現在看到了什麼？您期望業務水平提高嗎？或者你在今年下半年看到了一點點改善，你基本上只是希望這些水平能夠維持下去嗎？

We have to give our companies to do the toll processing for automotive, a lot of credit for working through the automakers' supply chain issues probably the last, at least 2 years. Whenever we think that things are kind of smooth, there's a step backward, but we think going into 2023, they're much better shape from their component point of view, their labor point of view, and we're looking for a healthy 2023 from an auto toll point of view.

我們必須給我們的公司做汽車的收費處理，很多功勞可能是過去至少 2 年解決汽車製造商供應鏈問題的功勞。每當我們認為事情有點順利時，就會倒退一步，但我們認為進入 2023 年，從組成部分和勞動力的角度來看，它們的形狀要好得多，我們正在尋找一個健康的 2023 年從汽車收費的角度來看。

Our next question comes from the line of Katja Jancic with BMO Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 BMO Capital Markets 的 Katja Jancic。

Just maybe going on the first Q guide. Can you talk a bit more about what is driving the above seasonal pickup in volumes? Maybe what markets or how are you looking at it, please?

也許只是在第一個 Q 指南上。您能否多談談推動上述季節性銷量回升的原因？請問是什麼市場或您如何看待它？

Katja, we've been pleased to see the way that we've rebounded in Q1. We're used to the normal seasonal downturn in Q4. And certainly, Q4 shipments were at the low end of our guidance. And so we're seeing a little bit better than typical bounce back in Q1. We have our -- we think we have our people excited to pick up some market share and to be out there selling. We're just out there to service our customers well and overall all, there are a couple of markets down potentially down a little bit. But overall, our customers are busy. We've been telling you guys this for a while. And our customers truly do still have backlogs. They just need people and all their components and underlying demand remains pretty healthy.

Katja，我們很高興看到我們在第一季度反彈的方式。我們已經習慣了第四季度正常的季節性低迷。當然，第四季度的出貨量處於我們指導的低端。因此，我們看到第一季度的反彈比典型的反彈要好一些。我們有我們 - 我們認為我們的員工很高興獲得一些市場份額並在那裡銷售。我們只是在那里為我們的客戶提供良好的服務，總的來說，有幾個市場可能會下跌一些。但總的來說，我們的客戶很忙。我們已經告訴你們這一段時間了。我們的客戶確實仍然有積壓的訂單。他們只需要人及其所有組成部分和潛在需求仍然非常健康。

So we're seeing generally across most of the markets we serve with our small customers, quick turnaround. We see continued strong demand coming from them.

因此，我們普遍看到，在我們為小客戶服務的大多數市場中，周轉速度很快。我們看到他們的需求持續強勁。

Okay. And maybe just on the tolling business. Can you remind us how much is auto? I think there is also other business in that outside of auto?

好的。也許只是在收費業務上。你能提醒我們汽車多少錢嗎？我認為在汽車之外還有其他業務嗎？

Yes. So our tolling businesses, we have a company in the U.S. with about 13 locations. They're very good at what they do. And then we have another company down in Mexico with 4 locations. We've expanded their operations, continue to expand them for both of our companies. They see a lot of opportunity out there because they're really good at what they do and their customers keep asking them to do more.

是的。所以我們的收費業務，我們在美國有一家公司，大約有 13 個地點。他們非常擅長他們的工作。然後我們在墨西哥有另一家公司，有 4 個地點。我們已經擴大了他們的業務，並繼續為我們兩家公司擴大業務。他們看到了很多機會，因為他們真的很擅長他們所做的事情，而且他們的客戶一直要求他們做更多的事情。

About 65% of our tolling business is automotive related. And remember, on tolling, we don't own the metal, so we have no price risk on there. We don't have to deal with the volatility from metal prices. We charge a fee for processing, delivery, storage, which has been in high demand in the last couple of years through all the supply chain disruptions. And then the next biggest market in our tolling business behind automotive is appliance. And we have seen some weakness on some of the residential appliance recently. But we're able to make that up with increased business with automotive and also some beverage can and other applications.

我們大約 65% 的收費業務與汽車相關。請記住，在收費方面，我們不擁有金屬，因此我們沒有價格風險。我們不必應對金屬價格的波動。我們對加工、交付、存儲收取費用，在過去幾年中，由於所有供應鏈中斷，這些費用需求量很大。然後，我們的收費業務僅次於汽車的下一個最大市場是家電。我們最近看到一些家用電器出現了一些疲軟。但我們能夠通過增加汽車業務以及一些飲料罐和其他應用來彌補這一點。

Our next question comes from the line of Lawson Winder with Bank of America Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行證券公司的 Lawson Winder。

Karla, Steve and Arthur, nice to hear from you all. I wanted to ask about the capital deployment in another way. So net debt is very low, which you've referred to several times on this call. How should we think about capital deployment in terms of the buyback versus the now higher dividend and the CapEx that you've discussed?

Karla、Steve 和 Arthur，很高興收到你們的來信。我想換一種方式問一下資金部署。所以淨債務非常低，你在這次電話會議上多次提到了這一點。我們應該如何根據回購與現在更高的股息和您討論的資本支出來考慮資本部署？

Yes. Lawson, -- so as we've said before, we're very aware of where we are from a balance sheet perspective. And then as Karla alluded to earlier, we've been pretty active on the M&A front, looking for potential deals and just because we didn't close any, it doesn't mean we're not active on that front. So -- our capital allocation is largely opportunistic on both fronts, right, whether that's growth or returns. And we ask that we kind of measure capital allocation for us with a 5-year look back, and there's going to be some periods where there's a [low], and that doesn't mean we're not deploying capital. We're just being very patient and disciplined with our deployment. And we're kind of very proud of where we are with our balance sheet and how we navigated the last couple of years and positioned the company today in an environment where there's going to be some opportunities, both on the growth side and on the shareholder return side.

是的。勞森，正如我們之前所說，我們非常清楚我們從資產負債表的角度來看所處的位置。然後正如 Karla 早些時候提到的那樣，我們在併購方面一直非常活躍，尋找潛在的交易，只是因為我們沒有完成任何交易，並不意味著我們在這方面不活躍。所以——我們的資本配置在兩個方面都基本上是機會主義的，對，無論是增長還是回報。我們要求我們用 5 年的回顧來衡量我們的資本配置，並且會有一些時期[低]，這並不意味著我們沒有部署資本。我們只是對我們的部署非常耐心和紀律。我們為我們的資產負債表所處的位置以及我們如何在過去幾年中導航以及今天將公司定位在一個將有一些機會的環境中感到自豪，無論是在增長方面還是在股東方面返回側。

And we've been pretty consistent with our returns or balanced capital allocation. When you do a 5-year look back, it's pretty balanced, Lawson, with about 50% of capital being dedicated towards growth and the other 50% towards returns.

我們的回報或平衡的資本配置一直非常一致。當你回顧 5 年時，它是相當平衡的，勞森，大約 50% 的資本用於增長，另外 50% 用於回報。

Okay. That's helpful context. And then can I also ask about the year-over-year stainless volumes being down 10% and carbon was up 2%, alloy was off a bit. Any color on the weakness in those volumes in Q4?

好的。這是有用的上下文。然後我還可以問一下不銹鋼銷量同比下降 10% 而碳銷量增長 2%，合金銷量略有下降。第四季度這些數量的疲軟有什麼顏色嗎？

Steve can fill in maybe a little more specifically, but we don't think it was weak. We had a really strong 2021 on the stainless front. It's been a good strong market for us over the years. And I think the fluctuation you see is probably based on dollars. So obviously, pricing impacts that. But our stainless business demand, there continues to remain pretty strong. Steve, anything to add?

Steve 可以更具體地補充一點，但我們認為它並不薄弱。我們在不銹鋼方面的 2021 年表現非常強勁。多年來，這對我們來說是一個很好的強勁市場。我認為你看到的波動可能是基於美元。很明顯，定價會影響這一點。但我們的不銹鋼業務需求仍然非常強勁。史蒂夫，有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yes. I would just say that as far as the stainless prices dropped a little bit, but our people in the field did a great job of cycling through their inventory. There were some imports that came into the market towards the second half of the year, which we did not participate in. So we got a little bit of -- just a little bit of a correction in the market, but we're going into 2023 with good inventories at good cost and ready for business.

是的。我只想說，就不銹鋼價格而言，價格略有下降，但我們的現場人員在庫存循環方面做得很好。今年下半年有一些進口商品進入市場，我們沒有參與。所以我們得到了一點 - 只是市場的一點點調整，但我們正在進入2023 年以良好的成本獲得良好的庫存，並為業務做好準備。

And okay, maybe just to drill down a little bit on that last point, when you say ready for business, could you maybe elaborate on kind of the outlet look for full year in terms of sort of volumes directionally, maybe even some sort of range of growth?

好吧，也許只是在最後一點上深入一點，當你說準備好開展業務時，你能否詳細說明全年的直銷店外觀，方向性的數量，甚至可能是某種範圍增長？

Yes, I wouldn't say we'd give (inaudible) for the rest of the year, but I would say that we think that a lot of the import has worked its way through the system and that the market is normalizing a little bit more.

是的，我不會說我們會在今年剩下的時間裡（聽不清），但我會說我們認為很多進口已經通過系統發揮作用，市場正在一點點正常化更多的。

Yes. and Lawson, just as a reminder, Reliance is really kind of a spot business and our customers call us and we ship them what they need. So we're pretty dependent on our customers' needs and we're ready to do that for them continuing throughout 2023, and we see our customers continuing to be busy.

是的。和 Lawson，提醒一下，Reliance 確實是一種現貨業務，我們的客戶打電話給我們，我們向他們運送他們需要的東西。因此，我們非常依賴客戶的需求，我們準備在整個 2023 年繼續為他們這樣做，我們看到我們的客戶繼續忙碌。

In the stainless market, with pricing, they oftentimes have a little more visibility of where prices are heading. So you see a little more fluctuation in our customer buying patterns than in some of the other products we sell, but we're bullish as our customers on demand in 2023.

在不銹鋼市場，通過定價，他們通常對價格走勢有更多的了解。因此，與我們銷售的其他一些產品相比，您會發現我們的客戶購買模式波動更大，但我們看好 2023 年的客戶需求。

Our next question is a follow-up from the line of Phil Gibbs with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題是來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Phil Gibbs 的跟進。

I was curious on net working capital as you look out to '23 versus maybe '22. I think we're looking for it to be a pretty decent source, but you did bleed down a lot of net working capital in the fourth quarter. So I'm just looking for some thoughts there.

當你關注 23 年與 22 年的對比時，我對淨營運資本感到好奇。我認為我們正在尋找一個相當不錯的來源，但你在第四季度確實流失了大量淨營運資金。所以我只是在那裡尋找一些想法。

Sure. And I'll speak to the first quarter guide, Phil. So based on our pricing and volume assumptions, the billed working capital billed in the first quarter should be seasonal and kind of an absolute number, it should come in below the levels of the release that we had in the fourth quarter.

當然。我會和第一季度的嚮導菲爾談談。因此，根據我們的定價和數量假設，第一季度的計費營運資金應該是季節性的，並且是一個絕對數字，它應該低於我們在第四季度發布的水平。

Okay. That's helpful. And I think the rest of the year obviously will depend on, for the most part, on pricing as things progress. And then Karla, just on the Infrastructure bill, are you seeing anything -- are you seeing anything in terms of asks or requirements for some of the stuff? Or is it largely still in bidding and design?

好的。這很有幫助。而且我認為今年餘下時間顯然將在很大程度上取決於事情進展時的定價。然後 Karla，就基礎設施法案而言，您是否看到任何東西 - 您是否看到某些東西的要求或要求？還是主要還在招標和設計階段？

Yes. So Phil, the majority, we think, is still in bidding and design. With our customer base, which is so diversified and we're going to get some of those projects. We're not always going to [beat] the main supplier of those, but we get a lot of good activity of infrastructure projects. We haven't seen them really start to flow through the books yet. We're hearing more on the bidding and design phase right now. So we think that's probably a little later in 2023 when we and others really start to see the benefit of those actions.

是的。所以我們認為，大多數人 Phil 仍在投標和設計中。憑藉我們如此多元化的客戶群，我們將獲得其中一些項目。我們並不總是會 [擊敗] 這些的主要供應商，但我們得到了很多基礎設施項目的良好活動。我們還沒有看到它們真正開始在書中流動。我們現在聽到更多關於投標和設計階段的信息。因此，我們認為這可能會在 2023 年晚些時候，屆時我們和其他人將真正開始看到這些行動的好處。

And then -- I appreciate that. And then lastly, can you just remind us where you all are on the buyback? And if you were to increase the amount under authorization, when would you typically do that?

然後——我很感激。最後，你能提醒我們你們在回購中的位置嗎？如果你要增加授權的數量，你通常會在什麼時候這樣做？

Yes. So we just did that a few months ago, reset the authorization of $1 billion, and we have $680 million or so remaining under our program. So I mean that authorization, the $1 billion that we had was roughly about 10%. So -- and we've been active since then. So -- and as you know, we don't necessarily provide forward-looking guidance. But in 2022, we were pretty active on that front. So in the last 12 months, we reduced our share count by about 6%.

是的。所以我們幾個月前就這樣做了，重置了 10 億美元的授權，我們的計劃還剩下 6.8 億美元左右。所以我的意思是授權，我們擁有的 10 億美元大約是 10%。所以 - 從那時起我們一直很活躍。所以——正如你所知，我們不一定提供前瞻性指導。但在 2022 年，我們在這方面非常活躍。因此，在過去 12 個月中，我們將股票數量減少了約 6%。

And we, as management and our Board, [bank] Reliance is a pretty good buy. And so our Board is very supportive. If we do it opportunistically, increase our activity under that, we'll certainly look to refresh as needed.

而我們，作為管理層和我們的董事會，[銀行] Reliance 是一筆不錯的收購。因此，我們的董事會非常支持。如果我們機會主義地這樣做，增加我們的活動，我們當然會根據需要進行更新。

Our next question comes from the line of John Tumazos with John Tumazos Very Independent Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 John Tumazos 與 John Tumazos Very Independent Research 的合作。

Congratulations on everything, Karla. I'm trying to understand the tremendous performance were adjusted for LIFO, the margins were the same in a falling steel price environment where average distributors have holding losses, which you managed to avoid. Did your inventory turnovers rise materially in the third or fourth quarters first? And for the 8% of your sales that were hot-rolled are 15%, total flat-rolled steel, are those differentiated flat-rolled tons in particular ways?

祝賀一切，卡拉。我試圖了解後進先出法調整後的巨大業績，在鋼鐵價格下跌的環境中，利潤率是相同的，在這種情況下，普通經銷商有持有損失，而你設法避免了這種情況。您的庫存周轉率是否首先在第三季度或第四季度大幅上升？對於您銷售的 8% 的熱軋產品佔 15%，總的平軋鋼材，這些差異化的平軋噸數是否有特定的方式？

So john, Reliance, I think one of the things we try to do is be pretty consistent with our expectations of how we perform out in the field, and we try to give our leadership teams out there, consistent guidance. So we always push for strong inventory turns. We do have different expectations based upon the product mix of each of our companies. For our flat-rolled companies, we do expect them to turn their inventories faster just because of the lead times with the mills and them servicing their customers. So we do have higher expectations for them.

所以約翰，Reliance，我認為我們嘗試做的一件事是與我們對我們在該領域的表現的期望非常一致，我們試圖為我們的領導團隊提供一致的指導。所以我們總是推動強勁的庫存周轉。根據我們每個公司的產品組合，我們確實有不同的期望。對於我們的扁材公司，我們確實希望他們能夠更快地周轉庫存，因為工廠的交貨時間和他們為客戶提供的服務。所以我們確實對他們抱有更高的期望。

Steve and his team really worked with our FOCs. When prices are down, we will see some of our customers somewhat adjust their buying patterns. But overall, I think we are trying to be pretty consistent and have been with the way we manage our inventories. Our companies are working better together now. We call it [FSC] collaboration and they're able to offload inventory to each other if one of them is a little heavier than others. So we also have the benefit of our large network of companies where they can step in and help each other out. I don't know, Steve, anything to add?

Steve 和他的團隊確實與我們的 FOC 合作。當價格下降時，我們會看到一些客戶會稍微調整他們的購買模式。但總的來說，我認為我們正在努力保持一致，並且一直採用我們管理庫存的方式。我們的公司現在合作得更好。我們稱之為 [FSC] 協作，如果其中一個比其他的重一點，他們可以將庫存卸載給彼此。因此，我們也受益於我們龐大的公司網絡，他們可以介入並互相幫助。我不知道，史蒂夫，有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yes, I would just add to being a domestic buyer for the most part. Our domestic mills have done a great job, and we understand that they're working through supply chain issues, and they've been really good partners, making sure that we have enough steel, not too much steel, very flexible with the order books. And I think that overall, our business model has worked by buying close to our locations.

是的，我只想補充說大部分是國內買家。我們國內的鋼廠做得很好，我們知道他們正在解決供應鏈問題，他們是非常好的合作夥伴，確保我們有足夠的鋼材，而不是太多的鋼材，訂單非常靈活.我認為，總的來說，我們的商業模式通過在我們所在地附近購買而奏效。

And John, the only thing I would add is our value-added processing capabilities, the margin volatility on that part of the business is much lower than the stock pool business. So that's another dimension to the story. The smaller order sizes, quick turnaround, transactional nature of the business. That also contributes to the relatively stable margin profile. So it's not one thing. It's a combination of multiple factors that contribute to that relatively stable margin profile.

約翰，我唯一要補充的是我們的增值處理能力，這部分業務的利潤率波動遠低於股票池業務。所以這是故事的另一個維度。訂單量較小，周轉速度快，業務的交易性質。這也有助於保持相對穩定的利潤率。所以這不是一回事。這是導致相對穩定的利潤率狀況的多種因素的組合。

Congratulations. I'm in [awe] of the great results.

恭喜。我對偉大的結果感到 [敬畏]。

Thanks, John.

謝謝，約翰。

There are no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the call back to Karla Lewis for any closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題。我想將電話轉回給 Karla Lewis 以聽取任何結束語。

Thank you, operator. And thanks again to all of you for your time and attention today. Before we close out the call, I'd like to remind everyone that we will be in Hollywood, Florida, in early March presenting at the BMO Global Metals, Mining and Critical Minerals Conference, and we hope to see many of you there. And to our Reliance family, thank you again to everyone throughout the Reliance family of companies for your record-setting 2022 performance. And thank you all for your continued support of and commitment to Reliance. Thank you.

謝謝你，運營商。再次感謝大家今天的時間和關注。在我們結束電話會議之前，我想提醒大家，我們將於 3 月初在佛羅里達州好萊塢出席 BMO 全球金屬、採礦和關鍵礦物會議，我們希望能在那裡見到你們中的許多人。對於我們的 Reliance 家族，再次感謝整個 Reliance 家族公司的每一個人，感謝你們在 2022 年創下的業績記錄。感謝大家一直以來對 Reliance 的支持和承諾。謝謝。

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。