Ryerson Holding Corp (RYI) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Ryerson Holding Corporation's Fourth Quarter 2022 Conference Call. Today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

美好的一天，歡迎來到瑞爾森控股公司 2022 年第四季度電話會議。今天的會議正在錄製中。 （操作員說明）

I would like to turn the conference over to Jorge Beristain, Vice President of the Finance at Ryerson. Please go ahead, sir.

我想將會議轉交給 Ryerson 財務副總裁 Jorge Beristain。請繼續，先生。

Good morning. Thank you for joining Ryerson Holding Corporation's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Earnings Call. On our call, we have Eddie Lehner, Ryerson's President and Chief Executive Officer; Mike Burbach, our Chief Operating Officer; Jim Claussen, our Chief Financial Officer; and Molly Kannan, our Chief Accounting Officer and Corporate Controller. John Orth, our Executive Vice President of Operations; and Mike Hamilton, our Vice President of Corporate Supply Chain, will be joining us for Q&A.

早上好。感謝您參加瑞爾森控股公司 2022 年第四季度和全年收益電話會議。瑞爾森總裁兼首席執行官埃迪·萊納 (Eddie Lehner) 正在接聽我們的電話；我們的首席運營官 Mike Burbach；我們的首席財務官 Jim Claussen；以及我們的首席會計官兼公司財務總監 Molly Kannan。 John Orth，我們的運營執行副總裁；我們的企業供應鏈副總裁 Mike Hamilton 將加入我們的問答環節。

Certain comments on this call contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those implied by the forward-looking statements and are not limited to those set forth under Risk Factors in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

對此次電話會議的某些評論包含聯邦證券法含義內的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述涉及許多風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述所暗示的結果大不相同，並且不限於我們在 10-K 表格的年度報告中截至年度的風險因素中規定的那些2022 年 12 月 31 日，以及我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件。

You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made and are not guarantees of future performance. In addition, our remarks today refer to several non-GAAP financial measures that are intended to supplement but not substitute for the most directly comparable GAAP measures. A reconciliation of non-GAAP to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures is provided in our earnings release filed on Form 8-K yesterday, also available on the Investor Relations section of our website. I'll now turn the call over to Eddie.

請注意不要過分依賴這些前瞻性陳述，這些陳述僅代表截至發表之日的情況，並非對未來業績的保證。此外，我們今天的評論提到了一些非 GAAP 財務措施，這些措施旨在補充但不能替代最直接可比的 GAAP 措施。我們昨天在 8-K 表格上提交的收益報告中提供了非 GAAP 與最直接可比的 GAAP 財務指標的對賬，也可在我們網站的投資者關係部分獲得。我現在將電話轉給 Eddie。

Thank you, Jorge, and thank you all for joining us this morning. As we reflect on the fourth quarter and full year 2022 results, I want to start by expressing my heartfelt appreciation to our 4,200-plus strong Ryerson team for their hard work and continued dedication, which now includes new businesses added to Ryerson's family of companies in Ford Tool Steels, Apogee Fabrication, Howard Precision Metals and Excelsior Metals as well as our first additive manufacturing investment in Freeform technologies.

謝謝你，豪爾赫，感謝大家今天早上加入我們。在我們回顧第四季度和 2022 年全年業績時，我首先要對我們 4,200 多名強大的瑞爾森團隊的辛勤工作和持續奉獻表示衷心的感謝，其中包括現在加入瑞爾森公司家族的新業務Ford Tool Steels、Apogee Fabrication、Howard Precision Metals 和 Excelsior Metals，以及我們對 Freeform 技術的首次增材製造投資。

Our team is integral to our mission to deliver great customer experiences, which we provide through our network of intelligently connected industrial metal service centers. Industrial metals are the recyclable, reusable and sustainable enablers essential to shaping the world around us and paving the way for the required advances in the human experience, living conditions and well-being.

我們的團隊是我們通過智能連接的工業金屬服務中心網絡提供卓越客戶體驗的使命不可或缺的一部分。工業金屬是可回收、可重複使用和可持續發展的推動因素，對於塑造我們周圍的世界並為人類體驗、生活條件和福祉所需的進步鋪平道路至關重要。

The fourth quarter was a period of rolling headwinds and reemergent tailwinds as we saw a continuation of the countercyclical environment for most of the quarter. However, prices for the metals commodities in our product mix started to find support in November and have continued to see steady increases into the first quarter of 2023. Domestically, we saw volumes experience familiar seasonality via slowdowns in industrial purchasing as well as distortions requiring rebalancing that had accumulated earlier in the year, particularly with respect to stainless steel and carbon steel.

第四季度是逆風和順風捲土重來的時期，因為我們看到本季度大部分時間的反週期環境仍在延續。然而，我們產品組合中金屬商品的價格在 11 月開始獲得支撐，並在 2023 年第一季度繼續穩步上漲。在國內，我們看到由於工業採購放緩以及需要重新平衡的扭曲，銷量經歷了熟悉的季節性這是今年早些時候積累的，特別是在不銹鋼和碳鋼方面。

While the pricing and demand landscape still obeys the laws of general cyclicality, I would note the more important changes in Ryerson's atmospherics as well as those pertaining to industrial metals, which support our optimism about our company and industry.

雖然定價和需求格局仍然遵循一般週期性規律，但我會注意到瑞爾森大氣以及與工業金屬有關的更重要的變化，這些變化支持我們對我們公司和行業的樂觀態度。

During 2022, we set the stage for Ryerson's future and displayed that we are a much stronger company through the cycle as we saw higher highs as well as higher lows during a period of heightened volatility catalyzed by ongoing pandemic and geopolitical distortions. While this was another transformational year for our business to employ an overused, but in our case, true descriptor of our progress, our accomplishments have come from years of intentional efforts to eliminate our high-yield debt, improve our capital structure and invest in the next stage and phases of our strategic business plan.

在 2022 年期間，我們為瑞爾森的未來奠定了基礎，並表明我們在整個週期中是一家更強大的公司，因為在持續的流行病和地緣政治扭曲導致的波動加劇期間，我們看到了更高的高點和更高的低點。雖然今年又是我們業務轉型的一年，我們僱用了一位過度使用但對我們來說是我們進步的真實描述，我們的成就來自多年來為消除我們的高收益債務、改善我們的資本結構和投資於我們戰略業務計劃的下一階段和階段。

I can't fully express to you in the script how great it feels to be high-yield debt free and better yet, how it feels to see the onset of countercyclical conditions knowing we can continue investing in our business through the cycle while confidently returning capital to shareholders. Ryerson has come a long way over the past decade, but the opportunities within our sites to innovate and bring forward an industry-leading operating model for all stakeholders is now front and center free of legacy burdens.

我無法在劇本中向您完全表達無高收益債務的感覺有多好，甚至更好，看到反週期條件的出現是什麼感覺知道我們可以在周期中繼續投資我們的業務，同時自信地返回給股東的資本。瑞爾森在過去十年中取得了長足的進步，但我們網站內為所有利益相關者創新和提出行業領先的運營模式的機會現在已經擺脫了遺留負擔。

On September 9, we shipped our first customer order from our new state-of-the-art service center in Centralia, Washington and expect our new CS&W University Park Service Center to be operational in the third quarter of 2023. On November 8, we celebrated 180 years operating under the Ryerson brand at our Investor Day in the New York Stock Exchange, where we showcased our operational, financial and digital initiatives and unveiled our next phase financial targets.

9 月 9 日，我們從我們位於華盛頓森特勒利亞的最先進的新服務中心發出了第一筆客戶訂單，預計我們新的 CS&W 大學公園服務中心將於 2023 年第三季度投入運營。11 月 8 日，我們在紐約證券交易所舉辦的投資者日慶祝瑞爾森品牌運營 180 週年，我們在會上展示了我們的運營、財務和數字計劃，並公佈了下一階段的財務目標。

In December, we were proud to publish our inaugural ESG report, which showcases the integrity with which Ryerson operates and outlined important sustainability initiatives we have underway for a cooler and cooler future, including our target of reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 80% by 2040 as well as the release of our proprietary emissions illuminator application.

12 月，我們很自豪地發布了我們的首份 ESG 報告，該報告展示了瑞爾森的誠信經營，並概述了我們為實現更涼爽的未來而正在進行的重要可持續發展舉措，包括我們將範圍 1 和範圍 2 排放量減少 80% 的目標2040 以及我們專有的發射照明器應用程序的發布。

Our team efforts over the past few years and especially in 2022 have culminated in modernizing our service center network transforming our balance sheet and making material down payments toward Ryerson's next stage of growth. Emerging trends in onshoring, shifting trade paradigm and fiscal investments in infrastructure, climate transitioning and semiconductor manufacturing will likely mean the beginning of an imperative metals-intensive overhaul of our society and economy.

在過去幾年，尤其是在 2022 年，我們團隊的努力最終實現了服務中心網絡的現代化，改變了我們的資產負債表，並為 Ryerson 的下一階段增長支付了重要的首付款。在岸外包、貿易模式轉變以及基礎設施、氣候轉型和半導體製造方面的財政投資的新趨勢可能意味著對我們的社會和經濟進行勢在必行的金屬密集型改革的開始。

In this new paradigm, Ryerson's investments in value-added manufacturing, customer-centric connected distribution networks and modernized operations position us for a bright future for all of our stakeholders. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Mike to further discuss the pricing and demand environment.

在這種新模式下，瑞爾森在增值製造、以客戶為中心的互聯分銷網絡和現代化運營方面的投資使我們為所有利益相關者創造了光明的未來。有了這個，我現在將電話轉給邁克，進一步討論定價和需求環境。

Thank you, Eddie, and good morning, everyone. I want to start by thanking our team for continuing to prioritize a safe and productive working environment as well as creating a culture of partnership with our customers and suppliers to address their needs throughout the business cycle as well as anticipate where our services, equipment and capabilities can add value.

謝謝你，艾迪，大家早上好。首先，我要感謝我們的團隊繼續優先考慮安全和高效的工作環境，以及與我們的客戶和供應商建立合作夥伴關係的文化，以滿足他們在整個業務週期中的需求，並預測我們的服務、設備和能力可以增加價值。

In the fourth quarter, we saw a shifting trends in pricing for the metals commodity prices underlying our product mix. While decreasing through October, stainless and aluminum pricing increased in November amidst firming international demand, increased energy and input costs as well as tighter supply at LME warehouse inventory levels.

在第四季度，我們看到我們產品組合所依據的金屬商品價格的定價趨勢發生了變化。不銹鋼和鋁的價格在 10 月份有所下降，但由於國際需求堅挺、能源和投入成本增加以及 LME 倉庫庫存水平供應趨緊，11 月份價格有所上漲。

Closer to home, domestic hot-rolled coil or HRC continued its decline for most of the quarter, finding support in December. Since that time, HRC prices have steadily risen headlined by 6 price hikes from mills and longer lead times, also helped along by falling import levels and increases in iron ore and scrap pricing. Despite the late quarter price increases due to fourth quarter U.S. Midwest HRC declined 4%.

言歸正傳，國內熱軋卷或熱軋卷在本季度的大部分時間裡繼續下滑，並在 12 月獲得支撐。自那時以來，受鋼廠 6 次提價和交貨期延長的影響，熱軋卷價格穩步上漲，這也得益於進口水平下降以及鐵礦石和廢鋼價格上漲。儘管第四季度末價格上漲，但美國中西部熱軋卷價格下降了 4%。

On the other hand, due to the sharp price increases starting in November, LME Aluminum increased by 8% and LME Nickel prices rose by 36%. These price changes translated to our metals mix, meeting our guidance expectations with an 8% sequential decrease in average sell price to $2,770 per ton.

另一方面，由於價格從 11 月開始大幅上漲，LME 鋁價上漲 8%，LME 鎳價上漲 36%。這些價格變化轉化為我們的金屬組合，達到我們的指導預期，平均售價環比下降 8% 至每噸 2,770 美元。

Looking to the future, we see supportive demand factors influencing pricing, including the resurgence of demand for industrial metals internationally, particularly from China's economy reopening and the end to their zero coved policy. However, domestically, the fourth quarter saw a holiday seasonal slowdown in manufacturing, combined with the effects of higher interest rates and high inflation continued to impact the demand for industrial goods. The slowdown in demand in the U.S. was reflected in key macroeconomic indicators.

展望未來，我們看到影響定價的支持性需求因素，包括國際上對工業金屬的需求復蘇，尤其是中國經濟重新開放和零排放政策結束。然而，在國內，第四季度製造業出現假期季節性放緩，加上利率上升和高通脹的影響繼續影響對工業品的需求。美國需求放緩反映在主要宏觀經濟指標中。

United States industrial production continued to decelerate through the fourth quarter. Additionally, the U.S. Purchasing Managers' Index or PMI, after continuing to indicate slowing growth since the second quarter, declined below the growth threshold of 50 in November. In the fourth quarter, North American industry shipments as measured by the Metals Service Center Institute or MSCI, contracted 8.3% quarter-over-quarter compared to Ryerson North American volume declines of 9%.

美國工業生產在第四季度繼續減速。此外，美國採購經理人指數 (PMI) 自第二季度以來繼續顯示增長放緩後，在 11 月跌破了 50 的增長門檻。第四季度，根據金屬服務中心研究所或 MSCI 衡量，北美工業出貨量環比下降 8.3%，而瑞爾森北美出貨量下降 9%。

However, on an annual basis, North American MSCI shipments contracted by 2.3% compared to Ryerson's shipments contracting by 1.9%, implying a slight market share gain. Early first quarter indicators point to improve demand trends from the fourth quarter of '22. In addition to typical sequential seasonal trends, factors influence in our sales volume and pricing include incrementally normalizing supply chains, interest rate policy and inventory restocking as metal pricing appears to have inflected from a mid-quarter reference file. Similarly, our industrial customers, while still evaluating lag effects from current and future Federal Reserve interest rate increases are still working through durable order backlogs.

然而，按年計算，北美 MSCI 出貨量收縮 2.3%，而 Ryerson 的出貨量收縮 1.9%，這意味著市場份額略有增加。第一季度初期的指標表明，自 22 年第四季度以來需求趨勢有所改善。除了典型的連續季節性趨勢外，影響我們銷量和定價的因素還包括供應鏈逐步正常化、利率政策和庫存補貨，因為金屬定價似乎已從季度中期參考文件中發生變化。同樣，我們的工業客戶雖然仍在評估當前和未來美聯儲加息的滯後效應，但仍在處理長期積壓的訂單。

Turning to our end markets. End market performance saw normal seasonal softness. As such, Ryerson noted sequential shipment decreases across all of our end markets in the fourth quarter of 2022. On a full year basis, commercial ground transportation, oil and gas, HVAC and construction equipment increased sales volumes, while consumer durables and food processing and agricultural equipment saw slight volume declines.

轉向我們的終端市場。終端市場表現出現正常的季節性疲軟。因此，瑞爾森指出，到 2022 年第四季度，我們所有終端市場的出貨量連續下降。從全年來看，商業地面運輸、石油和天然氣、暖通空調和建築設備的銷量增加，而耐用消費品和食品加工以及農業設備銷量略有下降。

Finally, I would like to echo Eddie's earlier statement. The investments we have made in our technological capabilities and distribution network, including the new emissions illuminator app and service center in Centralia are geared for the current and future needs of our customers. As our customers have experienced over the past few years, changes in supply chains can have large impact on our business. While upcoming changes in decarbonization are fluid and the evolution of product needs present the changing landscape, Ryerson can serve as an important one-stop shop business partner that can help navigate change through solutions based on our interconnected network and advanced service capabilities.

最後，我想附和 Eddie 之前的發言。我們在技術能力和分銷網絡方面所做的投資，包括森特勒利亞的新排放照明器應用程序和服務中心，都是為了滿足客戶當前和未來的需求。正如我們的客戶在過去幾年中所經歷的那樣，供應鏈的變化會對我們的業務產生重大影響。雖然即將到來的脫碳變化是不穩定的，產品需求的演變呈現出不斷變化的格局，但瑞爾森可以作為重要的一站式業務合作夥伴，通過基於我們互聯網絡和先進服務能力的解決方案幫助駕馭變革。

As we look forward to 2023 and beyond, we are excited about the work we can do with our customers in the future that we can build together. With that, I'll turn the call over to Jim for our fourth quarter results and first quarter outlook.

展望 2023 年及以後，我們對未來可以與客戶共同建設的工作感到興奮。有了這個，我會把電話轉給吉姆，了解我們的第四季度業績和第一季度展望。

Thanks, Mike, and good morning everyone. I'll start by addressing the LIFO charge we took in the fourth quarter. We had previously expected LIFO income in Q4 based upon trends in carbon steel, aluminum and stainless steel-related indexes from March through November and carbon and for aluminum and nickel from June through October. We note that carbon steel disinflationary trends and resulted LIFO credit impacts behaved as modeled and were consistent with broader manufacturing leading indicators.

謝謝，邁克，大家早上好。我將從解決我們在第四季度收取的後進先出費用開始。我們之前曾根據 3 月至 11 月碳鋼、鋁和不銹鋼相關指數的趨勢，以及 6 月至 10 月碳、鋁和鎳的趨勢，預計第四季度的 LIFO 收入。我們注意到，碳鋼通貨緊縮趨勢和由此產生的後進先出信用影響表現與模型一致，並且與更廣泛的製造業領先指標一致。

For aluminum, spot index and futures pricing stabilized in October and moved higher through year-end. For nickel, the inflection was more dramatic as the price of nickel increased by 50% from trough to peak during the September through December of 2022 interval. Although this caused an unexpected LIFO expense for stainless on higher stainless inventory levels, let us say we weren't disappointed at all in the positive shift in stainless price fundamentals but had to appropriately recognize the Q4 2022 GAAP estimation methodology impacts on this welcome change in the nickel and molybdenum markets relative to how it looked through Q2 through Q3 forecasting lens.

對於鋁，現貨指數和期貨價格在 10 月份趨於穩定，並在年底走高。對於鎳，隨著鎳價在 2022 年 9 月至 12 月期間從谷底到峰值上漲了 50%，這種變化更為劇烈。儘管這導致不銹鋼因較高的不銹鋼庫存水平而出現意外的後進先出費用，但可以說我們對不銹鋼價格基本面的積極轉變一點也不失望，但必須適當地認識到 2022 年第四季度 GAAP 估計方法對這一可喜變化的影響鎳和鉬市場相對於從第二季度到第三季度的預測鏡頭。

These factors then led to average inventory costs, ending the year higher than we had projected, and our annual LIFO credit was lower than previously anticipated. This led to LIFO expense of $34.6 million being recognized in the fourth quarter. Inventory days of supply in the fourth quarter ended at 90 days. This, coupled with commodity cost inflections upward in the back half of the quarter led to the average cost in inventory remaining elevated.

這些因素隨後導致平均庫存成本，年末高於我們的預期，我們的年度後進先出信用低於之前的預期。這導致第四季度確認了 3460 萬美元的後進先出費用。第四季度的供應庫存天數為 90 天。這一點，再加上本季度後半段大宗商品成本的上漲，導致庫存的平均成本仍然居高不下。

Although this had a onetime negative impact to margins in the quarter for the annual true-up, increased commodities future prices into the first quarter for our products provide a more promising outlook for the start of 2023 than previously expected. Looking to the first quarter of 2023, we expect volumes to sequentially increase slightly more than typical seasonality. As such, we expect first quarter revenues to be in the range of $1.37 billion to $1.43 billion, with sales volumes expected to be up 10% to 12% sequentially and average selling price to be down 1% to 3%.

儘管這對年度調整的季度利潤率產生了一次性的負面影響，但我們產品進入第一季度的大宗商品期貨價格上漲為 2023 年初提供了比先前預期更有希望的前景。展望 2023 年第一季度，我們預計銷量的環比增長略高於典型的季節性。因此，我們預計第一季度收入將在 13.7 億美元至 14.3 億美元之間，銷量預計環比增長 10% 至 12%，平均售價將下降 1% 至 3%。

Based on these expectations, we forecast adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter of 2023, excluding LIFO, in the range of $78 million to $82 million and earnings in the range of $0.98 to $1.06 per diluted share. In the first quarter, we expect the LIFO expense of approximately $5 million. In the fourth quarter, we generated a $182 million of operating cash and ended the period with $367 million of total debt and $328 million of net debt, a decrease in net debt of $98 million compared to the third quarter.

基於這些預期，我們預測 2023 年第一季度調整後的 EBITDA（不包括後進先出法）在 7800 萬美元至 8200 萬美元之間，攤薄後每股收益在 0.98 美元至 1.06 美元之間。在第一季度，我們預計 LIFO 費用約為 500 萬美元。第四季度，我們產生了 1.82 億美元的運營現金，並以 3.67 億美元的總債務和 3.28 億美元的淨債務結束了這一時期，與第三季度相比，淨債務減少了 9800 萬美元。

Ryerson's leverage ratio increased slightly quarter-over-quarter to 0.6x, but remains low historically and at the low end of our leverage target range. While the company's available global liquidity is at historic highs and increased slightly quarter-over-quarter to $909 million. For the full year, we generated $501 million of operating cash and decreased net debt by $260 million. In the past year, we transformed the capital structure of our business by redeeming $300 million of our 8.5% senior secured notes, which retired all our existing high-yield debt and is expected to save Ryerson over $25 million in annualized pretax interest.

瑞爾森的槓桿率環比略有上升至 0.6 倍，但仍處於歷史低位且處於我們槓桿目標範圍的低端。雖然該公司的可用全球流動性處於歷史高位，並且環比略有增長，達到 9.09 億美元。全年，我們產生了 5.01 億美元的運營現金，淨債務減少了 2.6 億美元。在過去的一年裡，我們通過贖回 3 億美元的 8.5% 優先擔保票據，改變了我們業務的資本結構，這償還了我們所有現有的高收益債務，預計將為瑞爾森節省超過 2500 萬美元的年化稅前利息。

Going forward, as we continue our focus on operational and financial efficiency, we will use our $1.3 billion revolving credit facility strategically to fit the nature and needs of our business. In terms of shareholder returns, Ryerson returned approximately $7 million in the form of share repurchases and dividends in the fourth quarter. Specifically, we repurchased close to 33,000 shares of our common stock, returning approximately $1 million to shareholders and paid a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share, amounting to a cash return of approximately $6 million.

展望未來，隨著我們繼續關注運營和財務效率，我們將戰略性地使用我們的 13 億美元循環信貸額度，以適應我們業務的性質和需求。股東回報方面，第四季度瑞爾森以股票回購和派息的形式回報了約700萬美元。具體而言，我們回購了近 33,000 股普通股，向股東返還了約 100 萬美元，並支付了每股 0.16 美元的季度股息，相當於約 600 萬美元的現金返還。

On a full year basis, Ryerson returned approximately $70 million to shareholders, which represents $1.7 million of shares repurchased and $0.54 of dividends declared per share. Finally, we announced a first quarter of 2023 cash dividend of $0.17 per share, which is the sixth consecutive increase in our quarterly dividend. With this, I'll turn the call over to Molly to provide further detail on our fourth quarter financial results and our CapEx plans for 2023.

按全年計算，Ryerson 向股東返還了約 7,000 萬美元，相當於回購了 170 萬美元的股票和宣派的每股股息 0.54 美元。最後，我們宣布了 2023 年第一季度每股 0.17 美元的現金股息，這是我們連續第六次增加季度股息。有了這個，我將把電話轉給莫莉，以提供有關我們第四季度財務業績和 2023 年資本支出計劃的更多詳細信息。

Thank you, Jim, and good morning, everyone. In the fourth quarter of 2022, Ryerson reported net sales of $1.3 billion, which was at the high end of our guidance range. In the same period, gross margin of 12.7% was impacted by a LIFO expense of $35 million as average inventory costs came in higher than forecasted on better-than-expected commodity price inflection later in Q4. Excluding LIFO expense, gross margin was 15.3% as cost of goods sold reflected consumption of higher cost of materials through our metals mix, while our average selling price declined in line with guidance.

謝謝你，吉姆，大家早上好。 2022 年第四季度，瑞爾森報告的淨銷售額為 13 億美元，處於我們指導範圍的高端。同期，12.7% 的毛利率受到 3500 萬美元的 LIFO 費用的影響，因為平均庫存成本高於預期，這是因為第四季度晚些時候商品價格的變化好於預期。不包括後進先出費用，毛利率為 15.3%，因為銷售成本反映了通過我們的金屬組合消耗更高的材料成本，而我們的平均售價下降符合指導。

On the expense side, warehousing, delivery, selling, general and administrative expenses increased 2.1% to a $190 million, primarily driven by operating costs related to newly acquired companies. For the fourth quarter, net loss attributable to Ryerson was $24.1 million or $0.65 per diluted share. This includes reorganization expenses of $5.3 million, primarily related to ERP system conversion costs as well as relocation expenses for our new state-of-the-art facility in Centralia, Washington. For the full year, net income attributable to Ryerson was a record $391 million or $10.21 per diluted share.

在費用方面，倉儲、交付、銷售、一般和行政費用增長 2.1% 至 1.9 億美元，這主要是由於與新收購公司相關的運營成本。第四季度，瑞爾森應占淨虧損為 2410 萬美元或每股攤薄虧損 0.65 美元。這包括 530 萬美元的重組費用，主要與 ERP 系統轉換成本以及我們位於華盛頓森特勒利亞的最先進新設施的搬遷費用有關。全年，瑞爾森應占淨收入達到創紀錄的 3.91 億美元或每股攤薄收益 10.21 美元。

This includes a loss on the retirement of debt of $21.3 million gain on sale of assets of $3.8 million and a bargain purchase gain of $0.6 million. Excluding these onetime items and the associated income taxes, adjusted net income attributable to Ryerson was $403.6 million for $10.54 per diluted share.

這包括 2130 萬美元的債務清償損失、380 萬美元的資產出售收益和 60 萬美元的議價收購收益。排除這些一次性項目和相關所得稅，調整後歸屬於瑞爾森的淨收入為 4.036 億美元，攤薄後每股收益為 10.54 美元。

In the fourth quarter, Ryerson achieved adjusted EBITDA, excluding LIFO, of $28.7 million and generated a $148 million in free cash flow. For the full year 2022, Ryerson achieved adjusted EBITDA, excluding LIFO, of $582 million and generated $404 million in free cash flow. Capital expenditures were $34 million in the fourth quarter. And for the full year, we invested excluding acquisitions, approximately a $105 million in our business in line with our budget.

在第四季度，瑞爾森實現了調整後的 EBITDA（不包括後進先出法）2870 萬美元，並產生了 1.48 億美元的自由現金流。在 2022 年全年，瑞爾森實現了 5.82 億美元的調整後 EBITDA（不包括後進先出法），並產生了 4.04 億美元的自由現金流。第四季度的資本支出為 3400 萬美元。全年，我們根據預算對我們的業務進行了大約 1.05 億美元的投資（不包括收購）。

This amount comprises both maintenance and growth projects, including service center modernizations in Centralia, Washington and University Park, Illinois. As we look forward to 2023, we anticipate full year capital expenditures to be around $95 million. This is comprised primarily of our base maintenance and growth CapEx spend as well as spending on the completion of our state-of-the-art facility and University Park, which replaces the previously sold CS&W facility in Chicago. We look forward to the opening of this facility in the second half of 2023. And with this, I'll turn the call back to Eddie.

這一數額包括維護和增長項目，包括華盛頓森特勒利亞和伊利諾伊州大學公園的服務中心現代化改造。展望 2023 年，我們預計全年資本支出約為 9500 萬美元。這主要包括我們的基礎維護和增長資本支出以及完成我們最先進的設施和大學公園的支出，它取代了之前在芝加哥出售的 CS&W 設施。我們期待這個設施在 2023 年下半年開放。有了這個，我會把電話轉回給 Eddie。

Thank you, Molly. As we look forward to 2023 and the next stage of Ryerson's advancement, we would like to emphasize that our efforts are underpinned by our mission, which is to create great experiences for our customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers and communities. Our ongoing development of an investment in an intelligent network of value-added metals service centers, delivering industrial metal solutions with joy, speed, value-add, scale and consistency is the core of these efforts. Who doesn't want and need better experiences in every facet of life and work.

謝謝你，莫莉。當我們期待 2023 年和瑞爾森下一階段的發展時，我們想強調的是，我們的努力以我們的使命為基礎，即為我們的客戶、員工、股東、供應商和社區創造美好的體驗。我們持續投資於增值金屬服務中心的智能網絡，以愉悅、快速、增值、規模化和一致的方式提供工業金屬解決方案，這是這些努力的核心。誰不想也不需要在生活和工作的各個方面獲得更好的體驗。

The world of today and tomorrow that provides for a better quality of life and broader-based prosperity will be largely created and built with recyclable and sustainable industrial metals. That is why metal matters, agile experience when visiting us at Ryerson.com, and why the build now move in at MSCI.org are so vital and imperative, let's all passionately advocate for manufacturing and all the good that it creates and let's keep progressing together. With that, we look forward to your questions. Operator?

提供更好生活質量和更廣泛繁榮的今天和明天的世界將主要由可回收和可持續的工業金屬創建和建造。這就是為什麼在 Ryerson.com 上訪問我們時金屬很重要，敏捷體驗，以及為什麼現在進入 MSCI.org 的構建如此重要和勢在必行，讓我們都熱情地倡導製造業及其創造的所有好處，讓我們不斷進步一起。有了這個，我們期待您的提問。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) And our first question is going to come from Phil Gibbs, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題將來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Phil Gibbs。

Fourth quarter operating expenses, I think, a $190 million plus from what I remember. I think Molly called out $5 million of ERP but still probably would have been a little bit higher than we thought relative to where you were in the third quarter with the lower volume. So what's the level of operating expense that we should expect for the first quarter relative to the fourth? Because I know that there can be some volatility in that based on true-ups.

根據我的記憶，我認為第四季度運營費用超過 1.9 億美元。我認為 Molly 調用了 500 萬美元的 ERP，但相對於第三季度銷量較低的情況，仍然可能比我們想像的要高一點。那麼，相對於第四季度，我們應該預期第一季度的運營費用水平是多少？因為我知道基於調整的結果可能會有一些波動。

Yes, of course. I mean, we have to account for the businesses that we acquired and sort of some of the lagging effects those expenses post acquisition, even though we're really happy with the synergy cases that we're seeing early in the post-acquisition period. And I would also say that we lost a little bit of expense leverage in the fourth quarter just given a dip in revenue, but we still feel that we're operating within our best operating traditions of being able to realize expense leverage, particularly with some rebound in price. And then some of the initiatives that we have underway to take cost out, especially non-value-added costs and variabilization of our cost structure. So we expect expense leverage certainly in Q1.

是的當然。我的意思是，我們必須考慮我們收購的業務以及收購後這些費用的一些滯後影響，儘管我們對收購後早期看到的協同案例非常滿意。而且我還要說，由於收入下降，我們在第四季度失去了一點費用槓桿，但我們仍然認為我們正在按照我們能夠實現費用槓桿的最佳運營傳統運營，特別是一些價格反彈。然後是我們正在進行的一些降低成本的舉措，尤其是非增值成本和成本結構的變化。因此，我們預計第一季度肯定會有費用槓桿。

What about just the absolute level of operating expense versus the fourth quarter baseline.

與第四季度基線相比，運營費用的絕對水平如何？

Yes. I mean we're seeing some OpEx costs come down a little bit in transportation, a little bit in energy. There are some, what I'll call, remaining inflationary cost impacts that are coming through the OpEx P&L. But I really think our management of those expenses is going to be strong as it's been historically.

是的。我的意思是我們看到一些 OpEx 成本在運輸方面有所下降，在能源方面有所下降。通過 OpEx P&L，還有一些我稱之為剩餘的通貨膨脹成本影響。但我真的認為我們對這些費用的管理會像歷史上一樣強大。

I can ask John Orth to provide a little bit more color on that.

我可以請 John Orth 對此提供更多顏色。

Thanks, Eddie. Hi, Phil. From an expense perspective, when we look back at 2022, first off, our teams did an outstanding job of managing through the supply chain challenges and making sure that we had all manufacturing supplies, operating supplies to provide service to our customers.

謝謝，艾迪。嗨，菲爾。從支出的角度來看，當我們回顧 2022 年時，首先，我們的團隊在應對供應鏈挑戰方面做得非常出色，並確保我們擁有所有製造用品、運營用品來為我們的客戶提供服務。

With that said, the area where we saw the greatest inflation was around fuel with diesel being up substantially in 2022. That is forecast to come down from a high of over $5 a gallon to about $4.50 a gallon this year. So that's an area that we do expect to see benefit. And additionally, our team in Central Dispatch continues to use our digital tools, looking across the network to combine loads and to maximize utilization of our fleet.

話雖如此，我們看到通脹最嚴重的領域是燃料，柴油將在 2022 年大幅上漲。預計今年將從每加侖 5 美元以上的高位回落至每加侖 4.50 美元左右。因此，這是我們確實希望看到收益的領域。此外，我們在 Central Dispatch 的團隊繼續使用我們的數字工具，在整個網絡中尋找組合負載並最大限度地利用我們的車隊。

And just a couple of other data points. Certainly, we certainly look to capture the [ER] or the restructuring impacts of ERP conversions and also facility conversions as we moved from right into Centralia and even some, what I'll call, very early pre-operating and start-up costs in University Park. And as those things transition through our steady-state operating cost environment for those modern and new facilities should help bring our overall cost curve down as well.

還有一些其他數據點。當然，我們當然希望捕捉 [ER] 或 ERP 轉換和設施轉換的重組影響，因為我們從右移到 Centralia 甚至一些，我稱之為，非常早期的運營前和啟動成本大學公園。隨著這些事情通過我們對那些現代和新設施的穩態運營成本環境的轉變，也應該有助於降低我們的整體成本曲線。

Perfect. And then looking into the first quarter from the fourth, what type of margin improvement are you expecting on a LIFO or FIFO basis or however you're looking at or you're thinking about it. And I also know that typically, when hot rolled prices rise, particularly as much as they have, that can be a good thing for you all, but it does take a little bit of time to filter through, given the quarterly lag. So I would have thought you would have actually seen some margin pressure given you're probably still selling at some old prices in the sheet side. So just maybe kind of dissect all that.

完美的。然後從第四季度開始查看第一季度，您在 LIFO 或 FIFO 的基礎上期望什麼樣的利潤率改善，或者您正在考慮或考慮的方式。而且我也知道，通常情況下，當熱軋價格上漲時，特別是漲幅如此之大，這對你們所有人來說都是一件好事，但考慮到季度滯後，確實需要一點時間來過濾。所以我原以為你實際上會看到一些利潤壓力，因為你可能仍在以一些舊的價格出售紙張。所以也許只是剖析所有這些。

Sure. I'll take a first cut at it. So you're right, Phil. I mean we've -- certainly, you and I have known each other for a long time have talked about sort of the phases, the oscillations in the industry, especially when you have a program book of business and you've got a spot transactional book of business. Spot transactional business is usually more responsive as replacement cost changes relative to the average cost of inventory that you have. So you see more positive effects at that inflection in turn of that spot book.

當然。我將首先削減它。所以你是對的，菲爾。我的意思是我們 - 當然，你和我已經認識很長時間了，我們已經討論過行業中的一些階段和波動，尤其是當你有一本商業計劃書並且你有一個位置時交易業務簿。當重置成本相對於您擁有的平均庫存成本發生變化時，現貨交易業務通常會更加敏感。因此，您會看到該現貨賬簿在該拐點處產生的更多積極影響。

And then, of course, your program book takes longer to adjust. So for us, it's probably -- it looks like a tailwind really from mid-Q2 right now if you project through, you would see contract price improve on that lag while transactional margins continue to improve. So based on our 50-50 split book of business, it's a good tailwind for us, assuming that this mini-cycle extends and prices continue to move higher or at least maintain their present levels.

然後，當然，你的程序書需要更長的時間來調整。所以對我們來說，這可能是——如果你預測的話，現在看起來真的是從第二季度中期開始的順風，你會看到合同價格在這一滯後時間有所改善，而交易利潤率繼續提高。因此，根據我們 50-50 的拆分業務，假設這個迷你周期延長並且價格繼續走高或至少保持目前的水平，這對我們來說是一個很好的順風。

(Operator Instructions) And our next question comes from Katja Jancic from BMO Capital Markets.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 BMO Capital Markets 的 Katja Jancic。

Can you talk a little bit about the stainless side, specifically, I know the prices are increasing, but how are the inventories and what are you seeing right now?

你能談談不銹鋼方面嗎，具體來說，我知道價格在上漲，但庫存情況如何，你現在看到了什麼？

Yes, I'm going to have Mike Burbach give me a healthy assist here in just a moment. What I would tell you about stainless and it was really -- it was puzzling in this way. And stainless market was so tight for really, I'd say, 12 to 15 months was extraordinarily tight. It was very much an availability market if you really track through the first quarter of 2021 probably through April and May of 2022.

是的，我會讓 Mike Burbach 馬上給我一個健康的助攻。我要告訴你的關於不銹鋼的事情，它真的——以這種方式令人費解。不銹鋼市場真的非常緊張，我想說，12 到 15 個月非常緊張。如果你真的追踪到 2021 年第一季度，可能一直到 2022 年 4 月和 5 月，這在很大程度上是一個可用性市場。

And then you started to see inventories accumulate and imports were very, very high, particularly from Taiwan, for example. And the channel got glutted. The channel really got glutted, I mean we haven't seen stainless industry inventories above 5 months. As a matter of fact, in all my time in the industry, I haven't seen industry stainless inventories above 5 months. And so there was certainly a glut and you had import prices that were firmly in the market.

然後你開始看到庫存積累，進口量非常非常高，尤其是來自台灣的進口量。頻道人滿為患。渠道確實供不應求，我的意思是我們還沒有看到超過 5 個月的不銹鋼行業庫存。事實上，在我從事該行業的所有時間裡，我從未見過超過 5 個月的行業不銹鋼庫存。因此，肯定存在供過於求的情況，而且你的進口價格在市場上是穩固的。

So even as stainless inflected, even as nickel inflected and molybdenum is tight, even though the underlying cost drivers of the product were improving, you still had to clear this major inventory overhang against demand that was falling, particularly on the consumer side, where now we've started to see some rebounds and some positive inflections in the market, both on the price side and on the demand side, Q4 certainly saw all those things come home to roost at one time until you could kind of clear that and rebalance the market for stainless, which is still in progress, but showing signs for turning to some reasonable help. Mike?

因此，即使不銹鋼價格出現變化，鎳價格出現變化，鉬供應緊張，產品的潛在成本驅動因素正在改善，您仍然必須清除這一主要庫存過剩以應對不斷下降的需求，尤其是在消費者方面，現在我們已經開始看到市場出現一些反彈和一些積極的變化，無論是在價格方面還是在需求方面，第四季度肯定會看到所有這些事情同時回歸，直到你可以清除並重新平衡不銹鋼市場仍在進行中，但有轉向一些合理幫助的跡象。麥克風？

Thanks, Ed. Yes, I think you hit it pretty good. Although the biggest issue that hit us really, really in Q3, Q4, second half of the year was that import piece. There was a pretty decent bubble that came in after months and months so a very tight supply. So we went from the situation of very little channel inventory too far too much. And so fast forward to today, the import piece seems to have normalized considerably and the amount of imports coming in are back to historical levels, if not lower than normal as things have been correcting themselves. So we're seeing overall inventories in the industry start to tick back down activity so far in Q1 and the stainless side is ticking back up. And so that normalization is starting, but it still has a few months to go.

謝謝，埃德。是的，我覺得你打得很好。儘管在今年下半年的第三季度、第四季度真正打擊我們的最大問題是那個進口產品。幾個月後出現了相當不錯的泡沫，因此供應非常緊張。所以我們從渠道庫存很少的情況走得太遠了。快進到今天，進口件似乎已經相當正常化，進口量恢復到歷史水平，如果不低於正常水平，因為事情一直在自我糾正。因此，我們看到該行業的整體庫存在第一季度迄今開始回落，不銹鋼方面正在回升。因此正常化開始了，但還有幾個月的時間。

Okay. And maybe just on your cash conversion cycle, it has been ticking up. Can you talk a little bit about that? And how should we look at it going forward?

好的。也許只是在您的現金轉換週期中，它一直在上升。你能談談嗎？我們應該如何看待它的發展？

Yes, I'm going to have Jim Claussen chime in here in just a moment. Let me just say this. I mean, we could have done a better job when it came to our cash conversion cycle, and we have higher expectations for ourselves when it comes to managing that component of our business. However, I would say this, given the pandemic hangovers and the extreme oscillations and gyrations in that working capital environment in terms of past due deliveries of metal and then certainly trying to manage on the customer side, what I would call a difficult flow through the value chain really for the entire industry.

是的，我馬上讓吉姆·克勞森插話。我就這麼說吧。我的意思是，在我們的現金轉換週期方面，我們本可以做得更好，而且在管理我們業務的這一部分時，我們對自己有更高的期望。然而，我要說的是，考慮到大流行病的後遺症以及在金屬逾期交貨方面營運資金環境中的極端波動和迴轉，然後肯定會嘗試在客戶方面進行管理，我稱之為困難的流動通過價值鏈真正適用於整個行業。

And I think you're even seeing it now and do some of the dynamics that exist relative to price and demand. Just there's a lack of flow. I heard a humorous metaphor that if everybody had to report out, like the NFL report found on their injury reports, you have all these different companies that would be telling you what their injuries are. And so I just think there's a lack of flow throughout the supply chain, and that certainly showed up in working capital management in the second half of the year. But we expect to get back to our historical and really our own performance expectations when it comes to net working capital management and where that cash conversion cycle should be. Jim?

而且我認為您現在甚至可以看到它並進行一些與價格和需求相關的動態分析。只是缺乏流量。我聽到一個幽默的比喻，如果每個人都必須報告，就像 NFL 報告在他們的受傷報告中發現的那樣，那麼所有這些不同的公司都會告訴你他們的受傷情況。所以我認為整個供應鏈都缺乏流動性，這肯定會在今年下半年的營運資本管理中出現。但我們希望在淨營運資本管理以及現金轉換週期應該在哪裡時回到我們的歷史和真正我們自己的業績預期。吉姆？

Yes. Thanks, Eddie. I think really, Eddie said it really well there. I think on the cash conversion cycle uptick, we really saw it on the days of supply on the inventory front. As noted, as we moved up a little bit outside of our target range of 70 to 75 days and would expect that to moderate. On the AR side, we expect that to perform seasonally. That's been very consistent across the board. So it was really an inventory-driven event.

是的。謝謝，艾迪。我認為真的，Eddie 在那裡說得非常好。我認為在現金轉換週期上升的情況下，我們確實在庫存方面的供應日看到了這一點。如前所述，由於我們稍微超出了 70 到 75 天的目標範圍，因此預計會有所緩和。在 AR 方面，我們預計它會季節性表現。這在所有方面都非常一致。所以這真的是一個庫存驅動的事件。

Yes. The AR performance has been outstanding and continues to be outstanding. On the inventory side, we can -- we believe we can do a better job just in terms of managing through some of these distortions that have turned out to be pretty protracted.

是的。 AR 的表現一直很出色，並將繼續保持出色。在庫存方面，我們可以——我們相信我們可以做得更好，只是在管理這些已經被證明相當曠日持久的扭曲方面。

I have no further questions in the queue. I'll turn it back over to you.

隊列中沒有其他問題。我會把它還給你。

Thank you for your continued support of and interest in Ryerson and please stay safe and be well, and we look forward to being with you all in May for our first quarter 2023 earnings release and conference call. Take care.

感謝您一直以來對瑞爾森的支持和關注，請保持安全和健康，我們期待在 5 月與大家一起參加 2023 年第一季度的收益發布和電話會議。小心。

And this concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。