Reliance Inc (RS) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Reliance Inc. first-quarter 2025 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

大家好，歡迎參加 Reliance Inc. 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）提醒一下，本次會議正在錄音。

It is now my pleasure to introduce Kim Orlando with ADDO Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我很高興向大家介紹 ADDO 投資者關係部門的 Kim Orlando。請繼續。

Thank you, operator. Good morning, and thanks to all of you for joining our conference call to discuss Reliance's first-quarter 2025 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.

謝謝您，接線生。早安，感謝大家參加我們的電話會議，討論 Reliance 2025 年第一季的財務表現。與我一同出席的還有總裁兼首席執行官卡拉·劉易斯 (Karla Lewis)；史蒂夫·科赫 (Steve Koch)，執行副總裁兼首席營運官；以及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.reliance.com. Please read the forward-looking statement disclosures included in our earnings release issued yesterday and note that it applies to all statements made during this teleconference. The reconciliations of the adjusted numbers are included in the non-GAAP reconciliation part of our earnings release.

本次電話會議的錄音將發佈在我們網站 investor.reliance.com 的投資者部分。請閱讀我們昨天發布的收益報告中包含的前瞻性聲明披露，並注意它適用於本次電話會議期間發表的所有聲明。調整後數字的對帳包含在我們的收益報告的非 GAAP 對帳部分。

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

現在我將電話轉給 Reliance 總裁兼執行長 Karla Lewis。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you all for joining us today to discuss our first-quarter 2025 performance. We delivered stronger-than-expected results once again demonstrating the resilience of our proven business model and the ability of our teams to provide solutions to our customers in a backdrop of broad market uncertainty.

大家早安，感謝大家今天加入我們，討論我們 2025 年第一季的業績。我們取得了強於預期的業績，再次證明了我們成熟的商業模式的韌性以及我們的團隊在廣泛的市場不確定性背景下為客戶提供解決方案的能力。

By maintaining our commitment to growth and profitability, we shipped record tons while industry shipments declined and increased our gross profit margin by 140 basis points quarter over quarter, which drove non-GAAP earnings per share of $3.77, well ahead of our expectations.

透過堅持對成長和獲利的承諾，我們在行業出貨量下降的情況下，出貨量創下了紀錄，並使毛利率環比增長了 140 個基點，推動非 GAAP 每股收益達到 3.77 美元，遠超出我們的預期。

We generated cash flow from operations during the first quarter despite a working capital investment to support our successful growth efforts. Our 2025 capital expenditure budget remains $325 million with an expected total cash outlay of approximately $375 million to $400 million, which includes carryover projects from prior years that will be completed this year.

儘管進行了營運資本投資以支持我們成功的成長努力，但我們在第一季仍產生了營運現金流。我們的 2025 年資本支出預算仍為 3.25 億美元，預計總現金支出約為 3.75 億至 4 億美元，其中包括今年完成的前幾年的結轉項目。

Our first quarter results also benefited from our four 2024 acquisitions, and we remain in a position of financial strength to execute additional acquisitions that align with our disciplined and strategic criteria. While we continue to see new opportunities in the pipeline, the pace has slowed recently due to overall macroeconomic uncertainty. And we also funded stockholder return activities of $318 million.

我們第一季的業績也受益於我們在 2024 年進行的四次收購，並且我們仍然擁有雄厚的財務實力來執行符合我們嚴謹的戰略標準的其他收購。雖然我們繼續看到新的機遇，但由於整體宏觀經濟的不確定性，近期步伐有所放緩。我們也為股東回報活動提供了 3.18 億美元的資助。

In summary, despite ongoing uncertainty in both domestic and international economic policy, we are encouraged by positive pricing momentum and continued solid demand conditions, most notably in the non-residential construction market. We applaud our team for their ability to execute on our strategic profitable growth efforts in a disruptive market.

總而言之，儘管國內和國際經濟政策仍存在不確定性，但我們對積極的定價動能和持續穩固的需求狀況感到鼓舞，尤其是在非住宅建築市場。我們讚揚我們的團隊能夠在顛覆性的市場中執行我們的策略性獲利成長努力。

We believe our long-standing model of both buying and selling metal primarily in the US market is positive for Reliance as well as our employees, customers and suppliers. We remain confident in our ability to maximize earnings power while maintaining our consistent focus on increasing value for our stockholders.

我們相信，我們長期以來主要在美國市場買賣金屬的模式對 Reliance 以及我們的員工、客戶和供應商都有好處。我們對自己最大化獲利能力的能力充滿信心，同時始終致力於為股東增加價值。

Thank you for your time today. And I'll now turn the call over to Steve, who will review our demand and pricing trends.

感謝您今天抽出時間。現在我將電話轉給史蒂夫，他將回顧我們的需求和定價趨勢。

Thanks, Karla, and good morning, everyone. I'd like to open by commending our dedicated team for upholding the highest standards of safety and driving operational success across the board. I'll now turn to our demand and pricing trends. Our first quarter tons sold were a record and increased 12.8% compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, surpassing our outlook of up 6% to 8%.

謝謝，卡拉，大家早安。首先，我要讚揚我們敬業的團隊堅持最高的安全標準並推動全面營運成功。現在我將談談我們的需求和定價趨勢。我們第一季的銷量創下了紀錄，與 2024 年第四季相比成長了 12.8%，超過了我們預期的 6% 至 8% 的成長。

Our tons sold increased 9% or 5.6% on a same-store basis compared to the first quarter of 2024, significantly outperforming the service center industry's year-over-year decline of 0.5% as reported by the MSCI. Our record shipments reflect market share gains across nearly every product group attributable to solid organic growth and contributions from our 2024 acquisitions. We believe shipments during the first quarter may have also benefited somewhat from certain customers' acceleration of metal purchases in anticipation of carbon steel and aluminum product price increases.

與 2024 年第一季相比，我們的銷售噸位成長了 9%，以同店計算成長了 5.6%，明顯優於 MSCI 報告的服務中心產業 0.5% 的年減。我們的創紀錄出貨量反映了幾乎所有產品組的市場份額的成長，這歸功於穩健的有機成長和我們 2024 年收購的貢獻。我們認為，第一季的出貨量可能也一定程度受益於某些顧客因預期碳鋼和鋁產品價格上漲而加速金屬採購。

Our first quarter average selling price per ton sold declined 1.2% compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, which was consistent with our expected range of down 1% to up 1%. Despite rising metal prices our modest average selling price decrease was mainly due to product mix with strong tons growth and lower carbon steel products.

我們第一季每噸平均售價與 2024 年第四季相比下降了 1.2%，與我們預期的下降 1% 至上漲 1% 的範圍一致。儘管金屬價格上漲，我們的平均售價仍小幅下降，主要是因為產品結構中噸位成長強勁以及碳鋼產品較低。

Next, I will review notable trends within our key end markets and products, beginning with non-residential construction. Carbon steel tubing, plate and structural products, which we mainly sell into the non-residential construction market, represented roughly a third of our Q1 2025 sales. All three products had significant year over year and sequential quarter shipment growth and substantially outperformed year over year industry shipments as measured by the MSCI.

接下來，我將回顧我們主要終端市場和產品中的顯著趨勢，從非住宅建築開始。我們主要向非住宅建築市場銷售的碳鋼管、板材和結構產品約占我們 2025 年第一季銷售額的三分之一。這三種產品的出貨量年比和季比均有顯著成長，且以 MSCI 指數衡量，年比產業出貨量大幅超過前三名。

Our diversified exposure to the non-residential construction market, including heightened data, center construction and related energy infrastructure as well as publicly funded infrastructure projects supported solid underlying demand for our products. as did contributions from our recent acquisitions. This healthy demand and a dynamic trade environment supported pricing improvements in March that continued into April.

我們對非住宅建築市場的多元化投資，包括加強資料中心建設和相關能源基礎設施以及公共資助的基礎設施項目，支持了我們產品的強勁潛在需求。我們最近的收購也做出了貢獻。健康的需求和活躍的貿易環境支持了 3 月的價格改善，並持續到 4 月。

Our general manufacturing business, which also represented roughly a third of our total sales in Q1 2025 is highly diversified across geographies, products and industries. Shipments increased both year over year and sequentially compared to the fourth quarter of 2024. Industrial Machinery, military, shipbuilding and heavy construction equipment demand remained strong in the first quarter.

我們的一般製造業務在 2025 年第一季占我們總銷售額的約三分之一，在地域、產品和產業方面高度多樣化。與 2024 年第四季相比，出貨量年增且季增。第一季工業機械、軍事、造船和重型建築設備需求依然強勁。

Demand in consumer products and heavy agricultural equipment was up also year over year, that was comparably weaker than in the other manufacturing sectors. We believe that component of realized demand was attributable to demand pull forward ahead of anticipated price increases and trade actions. Our industry outperformance across key product group shipping to general manufacturing applications highlights the strength and advantage of our diversified business model in a dynamic and uncertain demand environment.

消費品和重型農業設備的需求也較去年同期成長，但與其他製造業相比相對較弱。我們認為，已實現需求的這一部分歸因於預期價格上漲和貿易行動之前的需求拉動。我們在關鍵產品組運輸到一般製造應用領域的產業優異表現凸顯了我們多元化業務模式在動態和不確定的需求環境中的優勢。

Aerospace products comprised approximately 10% of our Q1 2025 sales. Demand for commercial aerospace increased sequentially from the fourth quarter and was stable compared to the first quarter of 2024 despite continued supply chain challenges. Demand for defense-related aerospace and space programs remained consistent at strong levels.

航空航太產品約占我們 2025 年第一季銷售額的 10%。儘管供應鏈挑戰持續存在，但商用航空需求自第四季度起環比增長，與 2024 年第一季相比保持穩定。對國防相關航空航太計畫的需求保持強勁。

We primarily service the automotive market through our toll processing operations, which are not included in our tons sold. Our tolling business, which represented approximately 4% of our Q1 2025 sales saw process tons stay relatively consistent with the first quarter of 2024. Semiconductor industry shipments remained under pressure in the fourth -- in the first quarter with excess inventories in the supply chain.

我們主要透過收費加工業務為汽車市場提供服務，但這不包括在我們的銷售噸位中。我們的來料加工業務約占我們 2025 年第一季銷售額的 4%，其加工噸位與 2024 年第一季保持相對一致。由於供應鏈庫存過剩，半導體產業出貨量在第四季——第一季依然面臨壓力。

We're very proud of our team's extraordinary execution, which delivered another quarter of industry-leading financial performance. Reliance unrivaled scale and strong balance sheet make us a highly attractive partner to our mill suppliers in all market conditions, and we continue to win new business from new and existing customers, to value the breadth and depth of our product offerings and value-added processing capabilities have recognized the quality and reliability of our service.

我們為團隊的出色執行力感到非常自豪，這又使我們本季的財務表現達到了行業領先水平。Reliance無與倫比的規模和強大的資產負債表使我們在任何市場條件下都成為工廠供應商極具吸引力的合作夥伴，我們不斷贏得新舊客戶的新業務，重視我們產品的廣度和深度以及增值加工能力，認可我們服務的品質和可靠性。

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

現在我將把電話轉給亞瑟來回顧我們的財務表現和前景。

Thanks, Steve, and thanks, everyone, for joining today's call. Our underlying operating performance for the first quarter was stronger than anticipated due to better-than-expected shipment levels and improved gross profit margin. Our first quarter non-GAAP earnings per diluted share of $3.77 was above our guidance range despite higher-than-anticipated increases in carbon steel and aluminum product costs that resulted in LIFO expense of $25 million or $0.35 per share compared to the $15 million of LIFO income or $0.21 per share credit included in our guidance.

謝謝史蒂夫，也謝謝大家參加今天的電話會議。由於出貨量優於預期且毛利率提高，我們第一季的基本經營績效強於預期。我們第一季的非 GAAP 每股攤薄收益為 3.77 美元，高於我們的指導範圍，儘管碳鋼和鋁產品成本的增幅高於預期，導致後進先出法費用為 2,500 萬美元或每股 0.35 美元，而我們的指導中包含的後進先出法收入為 1,500 萬美元或每股 0.21 美元。

As Steve mentioned, our tons sold were higher than we anticipated, driven by improvements in shipments in the latter part of the first quarter. We experienced a slight sequential decline in our average selling price in the first quarter, mainly as a result of strong carbon steel product shipments, which are generally priced lower in our nonferrous products. Pricing for most carbon steel products increased in March and entered the second quarter at higher levels.

正如史蒂夫所提到的，我們的銷售量高於預期，這得益於第一季後半段出貨量的改善。我們第一季的平均售價較上季略有下降，主要原因是碳鋼產品出貨量強勁，而碳鋼產品的價格通常低於我們的有色金屬產品。3月份大多數碳鋼產品價格上漲，並以較高水準進入第二季。

On a non-GAAP FIFO basis, which is how we measure our day-to-day operating performance, our gross profit margin improved sequentially from 28.8% in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 30.4% in the first quarter of 2025. Continued alignment of replacement costs with our inventory cost on hand coupled with the rising selling price environment contributed to the improvement in our gross profit margin.

依照非 GAAP FIFO 基礎（即我們衡量日常經營績效的方法），我們的毛利率從 2024 年第四季的 28.8% 連續提高到 2025 年第一季的 30.4%。重置成本與庫存成本的持續調整，加上銷售價格上漲的環境，促進了我們毛利率的提高。

For the full year 2025, we revised our LIFO estimate to reflect LIFO expense of $100 million from our prior estimate of $60 million of income due to higher-than-anticipated carbon steel and aluminum product costs. As of the end of the first quarter, the LIFO reserve on our balance sheet was approximately $460 million which remains available to benefit future period operating results and mitigate the impact of potential decline in metal prices.

對於 2025 年全年，我們修改了後進先出法 (LIFO) 估計值，以反映 1 億美元的後進先出法費用，而之前我們估計的收入為 6000 萬美元，原因是碳鋼和鋁產品成本高於預期。截至第一季末，我們資產負債表上的後進先出儲備約為 4.6 億美元，這些儲備仍可用於改善未來期間的經營業績，並減輕金屬價格潛在下跌的影響。

Turning to expenses. Our first quarter same-store non-GAAP SG&A expense was down slightly from the first quarter of 2024 despite a 5.6% increase in same-store tons shipped, which contributed to a meaningful improvement in our operating leverage with same-store non-GAAP SG&A expense per ton declining approximately 5%. We will continue to maintain our focus on smart profitable growth throughout 2025.

談到費用。儘管同店出貨噸數增加了 5.6%，但我們第一季的同店非 GAAP 銷售、一般及行政費用較 2024 年第一季略有下降，這有助於我們的經營槓桿率顯著提高，同店非 GAAP 每噸銷售、一般及行政費用下降約 5%。2025年，我們將持續關注智慧獲利成長。

I'll now address our balance sheet and cash flow. We generated $64.5 million of cash flow from operations in the first quarter of 2025. Seasonally, the first quarter typically requires the largest working capital investment and increasing metal costs and selling prices further contributed to our working capital investment in the first quarter.

我現在來談談我們的資產負債表和現金流。2025 年第一季度，我們的營運現金流為 6,450 萬美元。從季節性來看，第一季通常需要最大的營運資本投資，而金屬成本和銷售價格的上漲進一步增加了我們第一季的營運資本投資。

We put our capital to work in the first quarter, utilizing cash flow from operations, borrowing on our revolving credit facility and cash on hand to finance approximately $87 million in capital expenditures, $65 million in dividends paid to our stockholders and $253 million in share repurchases and at an average cost of approximately $274 per share.

我們在第一季投入了資本，利用經營活動產生的現金流、循環信貸額度和庫存現金，為約 8,700 萬美元的資本支出、向股東支付的 6,500 萬美元的股息和 2.53 億美元的股票回購提供資金，平均成本約為每股 274 美元。

As a reminder, we were pleased to increase our quarterly dividend by 9.1% in February 2025 to $1.20 per share of common stock, marking our 32nd dividend increase in the 30 years since our 1994 IPO. We have also repurchased approximately $80 million worth of our shares since April 1 at an average cost of approximately $265 per share. Year-to-date in 2025, a share repurchases have resulted in a cumulative 2.3% reduction in our total shares outstanding since December 31, 2024. We have $1 billion remaining for additional share repurchases under existing $1.5 billion share repurchase plan that we refreshed in October 2024.

提醒一下，我們很高興在 2025 年 2 月將季度股息提高 9.1% 至每股普通股 1.20 美元，這是我們自 1994 年 IPO 以來 30 年來第 32 次增加股息。自 4 月 1 日以來，我們也以平均每股約 265 美元的價格回購了價值約 8,000 萬美元的股票。截至 2025 年年初，股票回購已導致我們自 2024 年 12 月 31 日以來的總流通股數累積減少 2.3%。根據我們於 2024 年 10 月更新的現有 15 億美元股票回購計劃，我們還剩下 10 億美元可用於額外股票回購。

At March 31, 2025, our total debt outstanding was approximately $1.5 billion, an increase of $330 million from December 31 due to borrowings on our revolving credit facility. Our leverage position remains favorable with a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of less than 1, providing significant liquidity to continue executing our capital allocation priorities.

截至 2025 年 3 月 31 日，我們的未償還債務總額約為 15 億美元，由於我們的循環信貸額度借款，比 12 月 31 日增加了 3.3 億美元。我們的槓桿狀況依然良好，淨債務與 EBITDA 比率低於 1，為繼續執行我們的資本配置優先事項提供了充足的流動性。

Moving on to outlook for the second quarter of 2025. We anticipate demand across our diversified end markets to remain stable in the second quarter despite ongoing uncertainty regarding domestic and international economic policy. Accordingly, we estimate our tons sold will be down 1% to up 1% compared to the first quarter of 2025 consistent with seasonal trends, supported by healthy demand in the non-residential construction market and continued targeted efforts to regain market share, and up 3% to 5% compared to the second quarter of 2024.

展望 2025 年第二季。儘管國內和國際經濟政策仍存在不確定性，但我們預期第二季多元化終端市場的需求將保持穩定。因此，我們估計，與季節性趨勢一致，在非住宅建築市場健康需求和持續有針對性地努力重新奪回市場份額的支持下，我們的銷售噸位將比 2025 年第一季度下降 1% 至上升 1%，與 2024 年第二季度相比，將增長 3% 至 5%。

On the pricing side, we anticipate pricing will stay relatively consistent with current levels throughout the second quarter which will result in our average selling price per ton sold to be up 1% to 3% compared to the first quarter. We anticipate our FIFO gross profit margin will expand in the second quarter of 2025 following pricing improvements in March for certain products that have continued into April. Based on these expectations, we anticipate non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in a range of $4.50 to $4.70 for the second quarter of 2025, which is inclusive of LIFO expense of $25 million or $0.35 per share.

在定價方面，我們預計第二季定價將與當前水準保持相對一致，這將導致我們每噸的平均售價比第一季上漲 1% 至 3%。我們預計，隨著 3 月某些產品的價格上漲（並持續到 4 月），我們的 FIFO 毛利率將在 2025 年第二季擴大。基於這些預期，我們預計 2025 年第二季非 GAAP 每股攤薄收益將在 4.50 美元至 4.70 美元之間，其中包括 2,500 萬美元或每股 0.35 美元的後進先出費用。

This concludes our prepared remarks. Thank you again for your time and participation, and we'll open the call for your questions. Operator?

我們的準備好的演講到此結束。再次感謝您的時間和參與，我們將開始回答您的問題。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Martin Englert, Seaport Research Partners.

（操作員指示）Martin Englert，海港研究合作夥伴。

Hello. Good morning, everyone. I wanted to ask about if you can maybe discuss your exposure within COGS as well as CapEx to imports that might be impacted by tariffs. I know you buy the vast majority of our products domestically, but I just want to understand if maybe you can size it up with some goalposts on percentages for both COGS and CapEx maybe for the budget this year?

你好。大家早安。我想問您是否可以討論一下您在 COGS 以及資本支出方面對可能受到關稅影響的進口產品的風險敞口。我知道您在國內購買我們的絕大多數產品，但我只是想了解您是否可以對今年的預算中的 COGS 和 CapEx 的百分比進行一些估算？

Hi Martin, from the cost of sales standpoint, as you mentioned in your question, we do buy the majority of our metal from the US or domestic producers, which we've done for many, many years. We think that's a good strategy and it certainly benefits us in times like we're in currently where metal is a little tight in many areas, but we have those long-time relationships to continue to be able to source the product over 95% of what we buy is from domestic producers. So very limited exposure to direct imports of metal into our cost of sales.

你好，馬丁，從銷售成本的角度來看，正如你在問題中提到的，我們確實從美國或國內生產商那裡購買了大部分金屬，我們已經這樣做了很多年。我們認為這是一個很好的策略，在當前許多地區金屬供應略顯緊張的時期，這無疑對我們有利，但我們擁有長期的合作關係，可以繼續採購產品，我們購買的 95% 以上的產品都來自國內生產商。因此，直接進口金屬對我們的銷售成本的影響非常有限。

From a CapEx perspective, again, most of what we source does come from companies based in the United States. However, we do have some pieces of equipment that are on order from foreign companies where they've got certain expertise in certain types of equipment. I don't know the percentage, but a small percentage that would be coming in. And we are actively in conversations with those suppliers to figure out how to best mitigate any impact of tariffs.

從資本支出的角度來看，我們大部分的採購確實來自美國的公司。然而，我們確實有一些從外國公司訂購的設備，這些公司在某些類型的設備上擁有一定的專業知識。我不知道具體百分比，但肯定會有一小部分人加入。我們正在積極與這些供應商進行對話，以找出如何最好地減輕關稅的影響。

I guess, thinking longer term, have the tariffs and proposed tariffs influence your thoughts around longer-term CapEx? Looking out beyond this year, I'd just be curious to hear how you're thinking about both positives and negatives.

我想，從長遠來看，關稅和擬議關稅是否會影響您對長期資本支出的想法？展望今年以後，我很好奇想聽聽您對正面和負面方面的看法。

Certainly, tariffs can be a factor. But given predominantly most of what we buy is in the US we would continue to source consistently if there was equivalent equipment and one was produced in the US and one had a high tariff on it, that may sway our decision. But we're going to continue to invest in CapEx in a manner to support our customers and provide them the services that they want from us. So no big major shift in how we're going to think about that.

當然，關稅可能是一個因素。但考慮到我們購買的大部分產品都在美國，如果有同等設備，並且其中一種是在美國生產的，並且對其徵收高額關稅，我們將繼續持續採購，這可能會影響我們的決定。但我們將繼續投資資本支出，以支持我們的客戶並為他們提供他們想要的服務。因此，我們對此的看法不會有重大轉變。

What's the conversation been like with your customers and reassuring activity or improved opportunities that since some of these tariffs have been rolled out?

自從部分關稅出台以來，您與客戶的溝通狀況如何？您是否開展了令人放心的活動或獲得了哪些改進的機會？

We've had examples of some of our customers picking up business over the last couple of years. From reshoring activity you've seen in the non-residential construction data, a lot of build of manufacturing space in the US for companies to be able to come here. So when we talk to our Reliance companies, we hear them talking about certain customers who are already experienced -- experiencing increased volume, a lot of the machine shops and people we sell to.

過去幾年裡，我們的一些客戶的業務有所成長。從非住宅建築數據的回流活動來看，美國建造了大量製造空間，以便企業能夠來到這裡。因此，當我們與 Reliance 公司交談時，我們聽到他們談論某些已經有經驗的客戶——他們經歷了業務量的增加，許多機械車間和我們的銷售對像都是他們。

But larger customers and customers in general, there are a lot of conversations going on right now where they're talking about bringing more business, bringing their supply chains back closer to their operations here. But I think there's still a lot more of that to come that we haven't seen actually in production mode yet in the US.

但對於較大的客戶和一般客戶來說，現在有許多對話正在進行，他們正在談論帶來更多的業務，讓他們的供應鏈更接近他們在這裡的營運。但我認為，未來還會有更多我們尚未在美國實際生產中看到的產品。

Okay. I appreciate that. I guess, conversely, have you noticed any red flags or cautious signs within the markets you serve, either across demand, pricing or within supply chains?

好的。我很感激。我想，相反，您是否注意到您所服務的市場中存在任何危險信號或謹慎跡象，無論是在需求、定價還是供應鏈方面？

Certainly, there's always questions. There's a lot of uncertainty on all the areas you just mentioned. So probably a little more uncertainty in the market now that is typical in a more normal environment. I think we're -- we had really strong shipments in Q1. I think part of that is because our customers are confident in Reliance's ability to be able to source the metal that they need and provide the services that they also need. So I think we're in a favorable position and that we do see some customers coming to us because they know that we're -- have strong relationships with the US producers and that we'll be able to service them.

當然，總是存在疑問。您剛才提到的所有領域都存在著許多不確定性。因此，現在市場可能會出現一些不確定性，這在更正常​​的環境中很常見。我認為我們第一季的出貨量非常強勁。我認為部分原因是我們的客戶相信 Reliance 有能力採購他們所需的金屬並提供他們所需的服務。因此，我認為我們處於有利地位，而且我們確實看到一些客戶來找我們，因為他們知道我們與美國生產商有著牢固的關係，我們能夠為他們提供服務。

Okay. Appreciate color and congratulations on the results in the guidance.

好的。欣賞色彩，祝賀指引取得的成果。

Phil Gibbs, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

KeyBanc 資本市場公司的 Phil Gibbs。

Hey, good morning. So the LIFO calculation was changed to a quarterly expense from some modest income. I think you did a good job explaining that a lot of that clearly was due to higher costs starting to flow through the system, notably in carbon products. But I wanted to get back actually to the baseline initial assumption that you were going to have some LIFO income flow through the aerospace specific silo. Has that assumption changed at all? Are you more or less optimistic about that piece of it? Or is that baseline assumption unchanged?

嘿，早安。因此，後進先出法的計算方式改為從一些適度收入計算季度支出。我認為你很好地解釋了這一點，其中很大一部分顯然是由於系統中成本開始增加，尤其是碳產品的成本增加。但我實際上想回到最初的基線假設，即您將透過航空航天專用筒倉獲得一些後進先出收入流。這個假設有改變嗎？您對這部分內容是否更樂觀或更不樂觀？或者說這個基線假設沒有改變？

Relatively unchanged. We're still income mid-February. We wanted to see what's going to happen with Paris in March. And as the price increases, the cold certainly requires a reassessment of our estimates. And we'll continue to look at the payroll-based side of the business to see different if it remains solid, the assumption for shareholders for the remainder of the year.

相對沒有變化。二月中旬我們仍有收入。我們想看看三月巴黎會發生什麼事。而隨著價格上漲，寒冷肯定要求我們重新評估估算。我們將繼續關注基於工資的業務方面，看看它是否保持穩固，這是股東在今年剩餘時間內的假設。

And just as a reminder, it's actually positive that we have LIFO expense because it means prices are going up, which is a good environment for us.

提醒一下，後進先出費用實際上是積極的，因為這意味著價格正在上漲，這對我們來說是一個良好的環境。

Yes, absolutely. Going going back off of Martin's question on the reshoring or customers coming to you to make more first-stage investments for them. I guess my sense from your answer was that since the kind of initiation of the tariff environment. I don't think incremental, I guess, were more meaningful to that discussion and that whole discussion with or without tariffs, I guess, has continued to evolve for you to do more for your customers. And so on the tariff piece, specifically, it's kind of more of a wait and see. Is that fair?

是的，絕對是。回到馬丁關於回流或客戶來找你為他們進行更多第一階段投資的問題。我想從您的回答中我感覺到，自從這種關稅環境開始出現以來。我認為，增量對於該討論來說並不是更有意義，而且，無論有沒有關稅，整個討論都在不斷發展，以便您為客戶做更多的事情。至於關稅問題，具體來說，我們還需要再等等看。這樣公平嗎？

Yes. I think for the most part, Phil, but even prior to the tariff announcements, we had been customers it was more, I guess, North America than just the US focus. We had been seeing some looking to bring supply chains closer to their US operations. And I think that has -- those discussions, I think, have accelerated a bit. And again, customers talking more specifically US instead of North America a little more broadly.

是的。菲爾，我認為在大多數情況下，但即使在關稅公告之前，我們就已經是客戶了，我想，我們更多的關注的是北美，而不僅僅是美國。我們看到一些人希望將供應鏈拉近到更靠近美國業務的地方。我認為這些討論已經有所加速。再次強調，客戶談論的是美國，而不是更廣義的北美。

And then lastly, I missed your comments earlier in the call about cash-related capital spending for this year, but can you just reiterate that or provide us an update on that.

最後，我錯過了您在電話會議中關於今年現金相關資本支出的評論，但您能否重申一下或向我們提供最新進展？

Yes, it stayed consistent. We think probably $375 million to $400 million cash spend for -- in 2025 for CapEx.

是的，保持一致。我們預計 2025 年資本支出的現金金額可能為 3.75 億至 4 億美元。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Katja Jancic, BMO Capital Markets.

Katja Jancic，BMO 資本市場。

Hi. Thank you for taking my questions. Maybe starting on the onshoring theme. Is there an opportunity for you to potentially do more than just first-stage value-added processing? In other words, would you be willing to do some more fabricated type of processing? Is there an opportunity there?

你好。感謝您回答我的問題。也許從在岸化主題開始。您是否有機會做更多的事情，而不僅僅是第一階段的加值加工？換句話說，你願意做一些比較人為的加工嗎？那裡有機會嗎？

Hi, Katja. There could be -- we will look at those opportunities selectively. We do have a few smaller fabrication operations. Currently, they will go a little further downstream, but we're very selective in where we choose to do that because we don't want to compete with our existing customer base.

你好，卡佳。可能會有－我們會選擇性地考慮這些機會。我們確實有一些規模較小的製造業務。目前，他們會向下游走得更遠一些，但我們對這樣做的地方非常謹慎，因為我們不想與現有的客戶群競爭。

A lot of times, existing customers might ask us to do overflow for them, and that's where we get a lot of the increased value out of assessing what we're doing. We will continue to look at those opportunities. Our customers are asking us to do more for them. With our financial strength and with the capabilities we have in our people and their knowledge of our companies to support our customers. As our customers ask us to do that, we will be open to opportunities to do that.

很多時候，現有客戶可能會要求我們為他們做溢出，這就是我們從評估我們正在做的事情中獲得大量價值的地方。我們將繼續尋找這些機會。我們的客戶要求我們為他們做更多的事情。憑藉我們的財務實力、員工的能力以及他們對我們公司的了解來支持我們的客戶。當我們的客戶要求我們這樣做時，我們就會抓住機會去做。

Okay. And maybe can you also talk a little bit about the current M&A environment? Are there any opportunity? What are the kind of the size of the potential deals and how you're thinking about it?

好的。您能否談談目前的併購環境？有機會嗎？潛在交易的規模有多大？您對此有何看法？

Yes. So as far as kind of the acquisition pipeline, a lot of that comes to us when owners of businesses are thinking about selling, whether it comes through bankers or it comes directly to us. That activity has been a little slower Q4, Q1 of this year, which is normal of what we typically see when there's uncertainty in the market a lot of the owners hold off until they feel a little more confident. I think buyers would feel a little more confident in the outlook. And so we did see a little -- we have seen a little slowness over the last two quarters, we're starting to see a little more activity generally smaller to midsized companies, consistent with what we've seen in the last few years.

是的。因此，就收購管道而言，當企業主考慮出售時，許多收購都會來找我們，無論是透過銀行還是直接來找我們。今年第四季和第一季度，這類活動有所放緩，這很正常，當市場出現不確定性時，許多業主都會推遲行動，直到他們感覺更有信心為止。我認為買家會對前景更有信心。因此，我們確實看到了一些——過去兩個季度我們看到了一點放緩，我們開始看到一般是中小型公司的活動有所增加，這與我們過去幾年看到的情況一致。

Perfect. Thank you so much.

完美的。太感謝了。

Mike Harris, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的麥克·哈里斯。

Hi. On the same-store sales, I mean, it looks like the Q1 times sold outpaced the industry by roughly 2 percentage points, I think as you pointed out earlier. I guess of that a record amount, how much would you attribute to market share gains versus contributions from the 2024 acquisitions?

你好。就同​​店銷售額而言，我的意思是，第一季的銷售量似乎比行業平均水平高出約 2 個百分點，我想正如您之前指出的那樣。我想，在這個創紀錄的數字中，您會將其中多少歸因於市場佔有率的成長，以及 2024 年收購帶來的貢獻？

So of our consolidated tons increase so we were up 9% in total, about 3.5% of that was due to our -- the four acquisitions we completed last year. And then the other 5.5% roughly was same-store. So Michael, we saw strength in certain of our end markets, most notably construction, non-residential construction related. There's a lot of activity out there. We think in general manufacturing, there may have been a little demand pull forward by certain customers.

因此，我們的綜合噸位成長總計 9%，其中約 3.5% 歸功於我們去年完成的四次收購。其餘 5.5% 約為同店銷售額。邁克爾，我們看到了某些終端市場的實力，尤其是建築業和非住宅建築相關市場。那裡有很多活動。我們認為，在一般製造業中，某些客戶可能會稍微提前提出需求。

We really can't quantify that and the strength we had part of that, we think, is taking some share back from the market where our people are motivated to grow their tons profitably. And so we were really excited with how our teams performed to drive that industry growth while maintaining our gross profit margin in our 29% to 31% gross profit margin range.

我們確實無法量化這一點，我們認為，我們的部分優勢是從市場中奪回一些份額，我們的員工有動力以盈利的方式增加產量。因此，我們對團隊的表現感到非常興奮，他們推動了產業成長，同時將我們的毛利率保持在 29% 至 31% 的範圍內。

Okay. That's helpful. And it kind of sounds like the market share gain could be sticky versus more of an opportunistic sale.

好的。這很有幫助。這聽起來像是市場佔有率的成長可能會很持久，而不是更多的機會性銷售。

Yes, we believe so.

是的，我們相信如此。

Okay. And a follow up, just on the current inventory levels, can you speak to kind of where they are versus target and maybe share any thoughts on the need to restock.

好的。接下來，就目前的庫存水平而言，您能否談談與目標水平相比的水平，並分享一下對補貨需求的看法。

Yes. So we manage and monitor our inventory levels at Reliance based on inventory turns. We try to buy based upon our shipment levels and maintain a consistent turn ratio. We don't try to go into the restocking, destocking that a lot of people like to talk about, that's not our strategy. But with the strong shipments, our inventory terms are actually slightly above our inventory turn goal. But with our strong relationships with the domestic mills, we have access to the inventory, which is a real positive in markets where there's a little tightness as we were experiencing in Q1. But we're very happy with where our inventory turn -- where our inventory levels are.

是的。因此，我們根據庫存週轉率來管理和監控 Reliance 的庫存水準。我們嘗試根據我們的出貨量進行採購並保持一致的周轉率。我們不會嘗試進行很多人喜歡談論的補貨、去庫存，這不是我們的策略。但由於出貨量強勁，我們的庫存條件實際上略高於庫存週轉目標。但由於我們與國內鋼廠建立了牢固的關係，我們可以獲得庫存，這對於我們在第一季度經歷的供應略顯緊張的市場來說是一個真正的利好。但我們對我們的庫存週轉情況、即我們的庫存水準感到非常滿意。

Okay, perfect. Thanks for the insight.

好的，完美。謝謝你的見解。

John Tumazos, John Tumazos Very Independent.

約翰·圖馬佐斯，約翰·圖馬佐斯非常獨立。

Thank you very much and congratulations on your great results in the context of the steel market. If I may, I'd like to ask just some general questions about the steel market. Domestic output is down 1.3% year-to-date, imports are up 7.8 million tons or 7.8 million tons up year-to-date, apparent demand had fallen five out of the last six years, only rising in '21.

非常感謝，並祝賀你們在鋼鐵市場的優異成績。如果可以的話，我想問一些關於鋼鐵市場的一般性問題。今年迄今，國內產量下降 1.3%，進口量增加 780 萬噸，年初至今增加 780 萬噸，表觀需求在過去六年中有五年下降，僅在 2021 年有所上升。

In the AISI Annual Statistical Report published in the middle of last year for '23, AISI shipments to distributors at 20.2 million tons were the lowest in 32 years even though your company, Reliance, et cetera, say they're doing better, and I'm sure you're doing better. Please understand -- please explain how the total steel market is so lethargic when the government reports positive GDP, et cetera.

在去年年中發布的 23 年度 AISI 統計報告中，AISI 向分銷商的出貨量為 2020 萬噸，是 32 年來的最低水平，儘管貴公司、Reliance 等都表示他們的表現有所好轉，而且我相信你們的表現也會更好。請理解——請解釋一下，當政府報告 GDP 為正數時，為什麼整個鋼鐵市場卻如此低迷。

That's a good question, John. Certainly, a lot of macro statistics and factors there. And yes, the shipments overall consumption in the US shipments through service centers, we have seen that trend decline from a macro level. But at Reliance, we really focus on our business and you don't -- obviously, we're aware of those trends. But we just look at how we can continue to grow Reliance, how we can do more to serve our customers gain new customers. And I think it makes the performance of our teams, even that much more positive, the fact that they've been able to do that in a backdrop that you talked about.

這是個好問題，約翰。當然，這其中有很多宏觀統計數據和因素。是的，從宏觀層面來看，美國透過服務中心出貨的整體消耗量呈現下降趨勢。但在 Reliance，我們真正專注於我們的業務，而你不會——顯然，我們意識到了這些趨勢。但我們只考慮如何繼續發展 Reliance，如何為客戶提供更多服務並贏得新客戶。我認為，在您談到的背景下，我們的團隊能夠做到這一點，這使得他們的表現更加積極。

Do you think the small ones you choose the customer is important to your company are getting hurt by imported goods, even if we don't take things from China by substitution, they drive European, Latin America and other Asian companies to export more into the US because China hits them in their home markets? Or are the auto companies outsourcing more of the components or other US manufacturers outsourcing more of the components to account for the lower reported shipments to distributors in the AISI data.

您是否認為，您選擇的客戶對您的公司來說很重要的小公司會受到進口商品的傷害，即使我們不透過替代從中國進口商品，它們也會推動歐洲、拉丁美洲和其他亞洲公司向美國出口更多產品，因為中國在它們的本土市場造成了衝擊？或者是汽車公司外包了更多的零件，或者其他美國製造商外包了更多的零件，以解釋 AISI 數據中報告的分銷商出貨量較低。

Yes. I mean, John, again, we can really only comment to Reliance and specific to our company. But certainly, if any incremental US manufacturing of metals is positive potentially for us and for our customers. So to the extent reshoring is happening there's more manufacturing being done in the US or in North America, that is positive for us.

是的。我的意思是，約翰，我們實際上只能對 Reliance 進行評論，並且具體針對我們的公司。但可以肯定的是，如果美國金屬產量有任何增加，那麼對我們和我們的客戶來說都可能是有利的。因此，就製造業回流的程度而言，美國或北美將有更多的製造業進行，這對我們來說是有利的。

As far as your question on auto and is that part of the reason mills aren't sending as much to distribution. As you may recall, we don't generally sell metal direct to the automotive industry. We do process quite a bit of metal for the automakers on -- and our customers in that space are generally the mills, carbon and aluminum. And we've continued to invest in those businesses, and we've picked up more and more processing with our increased capacity. So we're continuing to see the mills rely on us to support them in their shipments to automotive the way that we always have.

至於您關於汽車的問題，這是否是工廠沒有向分銷商發送太多產品的部分原因？您可能還記得，我們​​通常不會直接向汽車行業銷售金屬。我們確實為汽車製造商加工了相當多的金屬——我們在該領域的客戶通常是鋼廠、碳廠和鋁廠。我們持續對這些業務進行投資，隨著產能的增加，我們的處理能力也不斷增強。因此，我們繼續看到工廠像往常一樣依靠我們來支持他們向汽車行業發貨。

Just to share with you, Karla, I think inflation has been 3% more than reported for the last generation every year. and the US GDP hasn't grown in 20 years. And the government data is just a bunch of lies. And witness housing starts last year were 32% below peak and auto sales about 10% below all-time peaks. So I'm just sharing my perspective. And you guys are doing great in the context of tough markets. And if markets were good, just think how much better you'd do. Thank you.

卡拉，我只是想和你分享一下，我認為通貨膨脹率每年都比上一代報告的數字高出 3%。而美國GDP已經20年沒有成長了。而政府的數據只是一堆謊言。去年新屋開工量比史上最高值低 32%，汽車銷售量比史上最高值低 10% 左右。所以我只是分享我的觀點。在如此艱難的市場環境下，你們的表現非常出色。如果市場良好，想想你的業績會有多好。謝謝。

Yes, absolutely. Thanks, John.

是的，絕對是。謝謝，約翰。

There are no further questions at this time. I would like to hand the floor back over to Karla Lewis for any closing comments.

目前沒有其他問題。我想將發言權交還給卡拉·劉易斯 (Karla Lewis)，請他發表最後評論。

All right. Thanks again to all of you for joining our call today and for your continued support of Reliance and to all of our teams making up the Reliance family for safe and strong performance through uncertain market conditions. We're excited by the energy of our people to continuously improve as we service our customers and partner with our suppliers.

好的。再次感謝大家今天參加我們的電話會議，感謝你們對 Reliance 的持續支持，也感謝我們所有組成 Reliance 團隊的人在充滿不確定性的市場條件下保持安全和強勁的表現。我們很高興看到我們的員工在為客戶提供服務和與供應商合作的過程中不斷進步。

And before we close out the call, I'd like to remind everyone that later next month, we'll be presenting at the KeyBank Industrials and Basic Materials Conference in Boston, and we hope to meet with many of you there. Thank you.

在我們結束通話之前，我想提醒大家，下個月晚些時候，我們將在波士頓的 KeyBank 工業和基礎材料會議上發表演講，我們希望在那裡與大家見面。謝謝。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference. Thank you again for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines.

謝謝。今天的會議到此結束。再次感謝您的參與。現在您可以斷開線路了。