宣偉 (SHW) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. Thank you for joining The Sherwin-Williams Company's review of first quarter 2024 results and our outlook for the second quarter and full year of 2024.

早安.感謝您參與宣偉公司對 2024 年第一季業績的回顧以及我們對 2024 年第二季和全年的展望。

With us on today's call are Heidi Petz, President and CEO; Allen Mistysyn, Chief Financial Officer; Jane Cronin, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Finance; and Jim Jaye, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Communications.

與我們一起參加今天電話會議的有總裁兼執行長 Heidi Petz；艾倫‧米斯蒂森 (Allen Mistysyn)，財務長； Jane Cronin，企業財務資深副總裁；吉姆‧傑伊 (Jim Jaye)，投資者關係與溝通部資深副總裁。

This conference call is being webcast simultaneously in listen-only mode by Issuer Direct via the Internet at www.sherwin.com. An archived replay of this webcast will be available at www.sherwin.com, beginning approximately 2 hours after this conference call concludes.

本次電話會議由 Issuer Direct 透過網路 www.sherwin.com 以僅聽模式同時進行網路直播。本次電話會議結束後約 2 小時後，將在 www.sherwin.com 上提供該網路廣播的存檔重播。

This conference call will include certain forward-looking statements as defined under the U.S. Federal Securities Laws with respect to sales, earnings and other matters. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. A full declaration regarding forward-looking statements is provided in the company's earnings release transmitted earlier this morning.

本次電話會議將包括美國聯邦證券法定義的有關銷售、收益和其他事項的某些前瞻性聲明。任何前瞻性聲明僅代表截至該聲明作出之日的情況，本公司不承擔更新或修改任何前瞻性聲明的義務，無論是由於新資訊、未來事件或其他原因。今天早上早些時候發布的公司財報中提供了有關前瞻性陳述的完整聲明。

After the company's prepared remarks, we will open the session to questions. I will now turn the call over to Jim Jaye.

在公司準備好發言後，我們將開始提問。我現在將把電話轉給吉姆·傑伊。

Thank you, and good morning. In what is a seasonally smaller first quarter and with continued demand choppiness in several end markets, Sherwin-Williams delivered consolidated sales within our guided range, gross margin expansion and diluted earnings per share and EBITDA growth. Throughout the quarter, we continued to execute on our strategy, demonstrated our value proposition with current and prospective customers and positioned ourselves to take advantage of disruptions in the market.

謝謝你，早安。在季節性較小的第一季以及多個終端市場需求持續波動的情況下，宣偉公司實現了我們指導範圍內的綜合銷售額、毛利率擴張以及稀釋每股收益和 EBITDA 成長。在整個季度中，我們繼續執行我們的策略，向當前和潛在客戶展示我們的價值主張，並定位自己以利用市場的混亂。

While our results were at the lower end of our sales expectations, we remain confident in our full year outlook, and there is no change from the guidance we provided in January. We also remain highly confident in our differentiated business model and we are well positioned as the painting season begins. While uncertainties persist in the macroeconomic environment, we see opportunity. We are encouraged by pro-architectural sentiment in April and customers in several end markets are optimistic about an improving demand environment as the year progresses.

雖然我們的業績處於銷售預期的下限，但我們對全年前景仍然充滿信心，並且我們一月份提供的指導沒有變化。我們對我們的差異化業務模式仍然充滿信心，並且隨著塗裝季節的開始，我們處於有利地位。儘管宏觀經濟環境仍存在不確定性，但我們看到了機會。我們對四月份的支援建築情緒感到鼓舞，並且幾個終端市場的客戶對隨著時間的推移需求環境的改善持樂觀態度。

Competitor decisions, coupled with our recent growth investments are enabling us to continue penetrating our targeted end markets at multiple levels. We expect share gains and returns to become more and more evident as the year progresses. Consolidated sales in the quarter were at the low end of our range, driven by lower-than-anticipated volumes, primarily in Paint Stores Group against the strongest comparison we will face this year, followed by Consumer Brands Group in North America.

競爭對手的決策，加上我們最近的成長投資，使我們能夠繼續在多個層面上滲透我們的目標終端市場。我們預計隨著時間的推移，股票收益和回報將變得越來越明顯。本季的綜合銷售額處於我們範圍的低端，主要是由於油漆店集團的銷量低於預期，而我們今年將面臨最強勁的比較，其次是北美的消費品牌集團。

Contributions from price were modest as expected, and we are now seeing our recently announced increases in Paint Stores beginning to ramp more fully in our second quarter. Gross margin expanded 270 basis points year-over-year to 47.2%. Higher SG&A in the quarter reflects the deliberate and accelerated investments in growth we made in the second half of last year and which have not yet annualized.

正如預期的那樣，價格的貢獻不大，我們現在看到我們最近宣布的油漆店成長在第二季度開始更加全面地成長。毛利率年增 270 個基點至 47.2%。本季較高的銷售及管理費用反映了我們在去年下半年進行的審慎且加速的成長投資，但尚未進行年度化。

EBITDA margin improved by 60 basis points to 16.7%, and adjusted diluted net income per share increased 6.4%. We also maintained our disciplined capital allocation approach and returned $728 million to our shareholders through dividends and share repurchases during the quarter. an increase of 59% year-over-year. Let me now turn it over to Heidi, who will provide some commentary on our first quarter results by segment before moving on to our outlook and your questions.

EBITDA 利潤率提高了 60 個基點，達到 16.7%，調整後稀釋每股淨利潤成長 6.4%。我們也保持了嚴格的資本配置方法，並在本季度透過股息和股票回購向股東返還了 7.28 億美元。較去年同期成長59%。現在讓我將其交給海蒂，她將按部門對我們第一季的業績進行一些評論，然後再討論我們的展望和您的問題。

Thank you, Jim. We are successfully implementing our strategy, which, at Sherwin-Williams, we do with a very forward-looking and aggressive approach. While market conditions are choppy and may give others in our industry a moment of pause, let me be clear, we are not pausing. So this morning, I'm going to talk as much about our results as I am about what we're doing to ensure the momentum of our company not only continues, but accelerates our ability to widen the gap between us and our competition.

謝謝你，吉姆。我們正在成功實施我們的策略，在宣偉，我們採取了非常前瞻性和進取性的方法。雖然市場狀況波動很大，可能會讓我們行業的其他人暫停一下，但我要明確的是，我們不會暫停。因此，今天早上，我將不僅談論我們的業績，還談論我們正在做的事情，以確保我們公司的勢頭不僅持續下去，而且加快了我們擴大與競爭對手之間差距的能力。

So let me start with the results of the first quarter. As Jim mentioned, our first quarter is a seasonally smaller one, and our results do not necessarily dictate how our full year will unfold. While our sales came in within our guidance, it was at the lower end of our range. Going forward, I believe in our differentiated strategy, our deeply experienced leadership and our team's ability to execute and lockstep with our customers to deliver above-market growth.

讓我從第一季的結果開始。正如吉姆所提到的，我們的第一季是一個季節性較小的季度，我們的業績並不一定決定我們全年的發展。雖然我們的銷售額在我們的指導範圍內，但仍處於我們範圍的下限。展望未來，我相信我們的差異化策略、經驗豐富的領導層以及我們的團隊執行和與客戶保持同步的能力，以實現高於市場的成長。

Here are several of the leading indicators that give me great confidence that we continue to strengthen our position. For example, we increased the number of exclusive national contracts we have with homebuilders and property management customers in the quarter. New accounts and active purchasing accounts in our stores are up significantly from a year ago. Paint Stores Group rep call activity and unique accounts calls are also up in the quarter. Foot traffic in our stores is up and our Net Promoter Score is at an all-time high, and we're seeing multiple share of wallet and meaningful new customer wins across our industrial businesses. These are just some of the factors we expect will translate into strong performance as the year unfolds.

以下幾個領先指標讓我對我們繼續鞏固我們的地位充滿信心。例如，本季我們增加了與住宅建築商和物業管理客戶簽訂的獨家全國合約數量。我們商店的新帳戶和活躍購買帳戶比一年前大幅增加。本季度，Paint Stores Group 代表電話活動和獨特客戶電話活動也有所增加。我們商店的人流量增加了，我們的淨推薦值達到了歷史最高水平，我們在整個工業業務中看到了錢包的多重份額和有意義的新客戶贏得。這些只是我們預計隨著今年的發展將轉化為強勁業績的一些因素。

As far as specifics on the first quarter, I'll begin with the Paint Stores Group, where sales increased by 0.5% against a mid-teens comparison. We are not satisfied with this level of performance as volume was basically flat in the quarter. Exterior paint sales were pressured by challenging outdoor painting conditions in some geographies. As we've demonstrated in the past, we expect to see the benefit of our focused investments unfold throughout the balance of the year. A few strong weeks in June can more than offset first quarter challenges.

至於第一季的具體情況，我將從 Paint Stores Group 開始，該集團的銷售額與十幾歲左右的比較相比增長了 0.5%。我們對這種業績水準並不滿意，因為本季銷售量基本上持平。由於某些地區戶外塗裝條件的挑戰，外牆塗料銷售受到壓力。正如我們過去所證明的那樣，我們預計我們的重點投資的效益將在今年餘下時間中顯現出來。六月的幾週強勁表現足以抵消第一季的挑戰。

Price was up modestly related to our February 1 announced increase. We are now seeing a ramp to typical effectiveness as our second quarter moved forward. Segment margin decreased to 17.2%, reflecting flat volume and the higher year-over-year planned growth investments. As a reminder, paint store sales were up by a double-digit percentage in every customer segment in the first quarter a year ago. In this year's first quarter, Pro sales were led by residential repaint, where gallons were up mid-single digits. We see this above-market growth as evidence that our increased investment in this segment are already beginning to deliver a return.

與我們 2 月 1 日宣布的漲價相關，價格小幅上漲。隨著第二季的推進，我們現在看到了典型有效性的提升。部門利潤率下降至 17.2%，反映出銷量持平以及年比計畫成長投資的增加。提醒一下，去年第一季度，油漆店的每個客戶群的銷售額都成長了兩位數。今年第一季度，Pro 銷售以住宅重新油漆為主，加侖數增加了中個位數。我們認為這種高於市場的成長證明我們在這一領域增加的投資已經開始帶來回報。

Commercial and Protective & Marine grew modestly in the quarter. New residential was down as expected, but there is momentum in single-family starts that will increasingly turn to completions as the year progresses. Property management was also down, driven by delays in CapEx projects even as apartment terms remained steady. From a product perspective, interior paint sales increased by a low single-digit percentage while exterior sales decreased modestly. Encouragingly, spray equipment sales were up mid-single digits in the quarter. We opened 7 net new stores in the quarter and expect to open 80 to 100 for the full year. Our doors are open. We are laser-focused on the momentum we have created serving both existing and new customers. We'll continue to win business and take share based on our differentiated solutions.

商業、防護與海事在本季略有成長。新住宅的下降符合預期，但單戶住宅的開工勢頭強勁，隨著時間的推移，將越來越多地轉向竣工。儘管公寓條款保持穩定，但由於資本支出項目的延遲，物業管理也有所下降。從產品角度來看，內牆塗料銷售量出現低個位數成長，而外牆塗料銷售量則小幅下降。令人鼓舞的是，本季噴塗設備銷售額成長了中個位數。我們本季淨開設 7 家新店，預計全年將開設 80 至 100 家。我們的大門是敞開的。我們專注於為現有和新客戶提供服務所創造的動力。我們將繼續以差異化的解決方案贏得業務、佔領市場份額。

Moving on to our Consumer Brands Group. Sales decreased by 7.1% in the quarter. Lower volume and the impact of divestitures were partially offset by selling price increases, primarily in Latin America. Sales in North America decreased by a high single-digit percentage as our strategic partners managed the timing of their seasonal inventory build. Outside of North America, sales increased by a double-digit percentage in Europe and a low single-digit percentage in Latin America.

延續我們的消費品牌集團。該季度銷售額下降 7.1%。銷售下降和資產剝離的影響被銷售價格上漲部分抵消，主要是在拉丁美洲。由於我們的策略夥伴管理了季節性庫存建設的時間，北美的銷售額出現了較高的個位數百分比下降。在北美以外，歐洲的銷售額成長了兩位數，拉丁美洲的銷售額成長了個位數。

Adjusted segment margin, which excludes acquisition-related amortization expense, expanded to 20.9%. This was primarily driven by improved manufacturing and distribution fixed cost absorption moderating raw material costs and improved results in Latin America and Europe, partially offset by lower North America sales volume.

調整後的分部利潤率（不包括收購相關攤銷費用）擴大至 20.9%。這主要是由於製造和分銷固定成本吸收的改善、原材料成本的緩和以及拉丁美洲和歐洲業績的改善，部分被北美銷售的下降所抵消。

Sales in the Performance Coatings Group were in the range we expected with continued choppiness across each of our businesses and regions. Lower volume was partially offset by growth from acquisitions. Sales growth in Europe and Asia was offset by decreases in North America and Latin America. Adjusted segment margin, which excludes acquisition-related amortization expense, improved to 17.1%. This is the fifth straight quarter this team has delivered year-over-year segment margin improvement and again, reflects the disciplined strategy to growing operating margin in the Industrial business to mirror that of our architectural business.

高性能塗料集團的銷售額在我們預期的範圍內，但我們每個業務和地區的銷售額持續波動。銷售下降被收購成長部分抵銷。歐洲和亞洲的銷售成長被北美和拉丁美洲的銷售下降所抵消。調整後的分部利潤率（不包括收購相關攤銷費用）提高至 17.1%。這是該團隊連續第五個季度實現部門利潤率同比增長，再次體現了工業業務運營利潤率增長的嚴格策略，以反映我們建築業務的營運利潤率。

Industrial Wood led the growth, including the impact of recent acquisitions. Coil also delivered solid growth. Auto Refinish was flat against a mid-teens comparison. We are confident recent share wins driven by our differentiated service and technology will begin to show up more meaningfully as the year progresses. Packaging was down as expected, with improvement expected in the back half of the year. General industrial was impacted by lower demand in all regions.

工業木材引領了成長，包括最近收購的影響。卷材也實現了穩健成長。汽車修補漆與十幾歲左右的比較持平。我們相信，隨著時間的推移，我們的差異化服務和技術推動的最近的份額勝利將開始變得更有意義。包裝如預期下降，預計下半年會有所改善。一般工業受到所有地區需求下降的影響。

Moving on to our guidance for the second quarter and full year. First, I want to talk about our global team. It always comes down to our people. Our team is highly engaged, aggressive and acting with determination and urgency. They're focused on the right priorities, and this will become more and more visible in our results. I would bet on this team all day, every day.

接下來是我們對第二季和全年的指導。首先，我想談談我們的全球團隊。這始終取決於我們的員工。我們的團隊高度投入、積極進取，行動果斷、緊迫。他們專注於正確的優先事項，這將在我們的結果中變得越來越明顯。我會整天、每一天都在這支球隊上下注。

Second, on our January call, we acknowledged there are uncertainties in the economy. We don't expect to get material help from the macro environment this year but a few bright spots are emerging. Single-family housing starts have improved, and this will increasingly turn to completions as the year progresses. Existing home sales are unlikely to get much softer. Last week's LIRA report from Harvard indicates that the remodeling outlook continues to improve with declines easing and momentum building later in the year. On the industrial side, the manufacturing PMI has stabilized or improved in several regions.

其次，在 1 月的電話會議上，我們承認經濟存在不確定性。我們預計今年不會從宏觀環境中獲得實質幫助，但一些亮點正在出現。單戶住宅的開工量有所改善，隨著時間的推移，這將越來越多地轉向竣工。成屋銷售不太可能大幅放緩。哈佛大學上週發布的 LIRA 報告表明，隨著今年稍後跌勢的緩解和勢頭的增強，改造前景繼續改善。工業方面，部分地區製造業PMI企穩或改善。

Third, we are tilting the table in our favor by controlling what we can control. Year-to-date, we have signed 56 new exclusive national account agreements in Paint Stores Group, primarily in new residential and property maintenance. We also have increased sales rep call activity and unique accounts called significantly. We have a robust plan and aggressive field activity to engage customers of competitors who have recently closed their doors or are otherwise distracted. As I said earlier, our doors are open. We are not distracted. You can expect us to be very aggressive here.

第三，我們透過控制我們能控制的事情來扭轉局面。今年迄今為止，我們已在 Paint Stores Group 簽署了 56 份新的獨家國民帳戶協議，主要涉及新住宅和物業維護。我們也增加了銷售代表的通話活動和顯著的獨特客戶通話。我們有一個強有力的計劃和積極的現場活動來吸引最近關門或因其他原因而分心的競爭對手的客戶。正如我之前所說，我們的大門是敞開的。我們沒有分心。你可以預期我們在這裡會非常積極。

In addition to our stores platform and team of experienced reps and store managers, we're driving customer stickiness through our digital initiatives. In March, we had the highest number of Pros Plus users ever, engaging with our platform, along with a near-record number of new registrations. We have opened our Tour De France packaging plant, which will support customers converting to non-BPA coatings to meet the European Commission's 2026 mandate. We are specked on multiple new infrastructure and mega projects that are gaining momentum, and we're introducing multiple new products in both the architectural and industrial businesses to drive our customers' success.

除了我們的商店平台以及經驗豐富的代表和商店經理團隊之外，我們還透過數位計畫來提高客戶黏著度。 3 月份，我們的 Pros Plus 用戶數量達到了歷史最高水平，新註冊數量也接近創紀錄。我們開設了環法自行車賽包裝工廠，該工廠將支援客戶改用不含 BPA 塗料，以滿足歐盟委員會 2026 年的要求。我們參與了多個正在蓬勃發展的新基礎設施和大型項目，並且我們正在建築和工業業務中推出多種新產品，以推動客戶的成功。

Obviously, we're not going to share everything that we're doing for competitive reasons, but you can be certain that there's a long list of actions that we are taking in addition to these items. The key takeaway is this: At some point, the demand log jam in multiple end markets is going to break. We will be there to capitalize. We're very confident it's a matter of when, not if. As for our specific outlook, the slide deck issued with this morning's press release includes our expectations for consolidated and segment sales for the second quarter of 2024.

顯然，出於競爭原因，我們不會分享我們正在做的所有事情，但可以肯定的是，除了這些項目之外，我們還採取了一長串行動。關鍵要點是：在某個時刻，多個終端市場的需求堵塞將會被打破。我們將在那裡利用。我們非常有信心這只是時間問題，而不是是否有問題。至於我們的具體前景，今天早上新聞稿中發布的幻燈片包括我們對 2024 年第二季合併和分部銷售的預期。

The deck also contains our full year sales and earnings per share outlook, which, again, is unchanged from what we provided in January. We expect to provide an update on our 2024 full year outlook when we report our second quarter results in July. Our slide deck also provides guidance on our expectations for raw material costs and other items helpful for modeling purposes. All of these remain unchanged from our January call as well. As you can see, we have high expectations of ourselves. Our team is aggressive determined and focused on the right priorities. I want to be clear, we are playing to win. We know our strategy is the right one, and we have demonstrated for decades that it works. We expect to outperform the market, and we are confident our differentiated solutions will continue to drive our customers' success while also rewarding our shareholders. This concludes our prepared remarks. And with that, I'd like to thank you all for joining us this morning. We'll be happy to take your questions.

該甲板還包含我們的全年銷售額和每股收益展望，這與我們一月份提供的展望相同。我們預計在 7 月報告第二季業績時將提供 2024 年全年展望的最新資訊。我們的幻燈片還提供了有關我們對原材料成本的預期以及有助於建模的其他項目的指導。所有這些與我們一月份的電話會議相比也保持不變。正如您所看到的，我們對自己抱有很高的期望。我們的團隊意志堅定，專注於正確的優先事項。我想澄清的是，我們是為了勝利而戰。我們知道我們的策略是正確的，而且幾十年來我們已經證明它是有效的。我們期望跑贏市場，並相信我們的差異化解決方案將繼續推動客戶的成功，同時回報我們的股東。我們準備好的演講到此結束。在此，我要感謝大家今天早上加入我們。我們很樂意回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question is coming from Vincent Andrews from Morgan Stanley.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自摩根士丹利的文森特·安德魯斯。

Heidi, I know historically, the company doesn't like to talk about weather and use it as an excuse. But maybe you could comment on it a little bit since it was in your deck and you brought it up. Just curious how much you think you may be lost from an exterior day's perspective? And how much you think you might make up in 2Q? And related to that, you did mention that you were disappointed with results in the quarter and PSG did come at the low end of your range. So I just want to clarify whether that was all weather related or whether you felt like the execution could have been better in the quarter and you're looking to course correct as you move into 2Q?

海蒂，我知道從歷史上看，公司不喜歡談論天氣並以此為藉口。但也許你可以對它發表一點評論，因為它在你的套牌中並且是你提出來的。只是好奇你認為從外在角度來看你可能會迷失多少？您認為第二季可以賺多少錢？與此相關的是，您確實提到您對本季度的業績感到失望，而巴黎聖日爾曼確實處於您的範圍的低端。所以我只是想澄清這是否與所有天氣有關，或者您是否認為本季度的執行情況可以更好，並且您希望在進入第二季度時保持正確的方向？

I would tell you weather is a part of it, but certainly, there's no excuse. The last thing we're going to do is sit back and point to weather. We're trying to create our own weather here at Sherwin-Williams. So I would say not so much with relative execution. But I think in some regards, a lot of this is delayed activity. It may just take a minute here. If you look broadly at stores, and I'm spending, as you would imagine, a lot of time out in the market right now with our team and with existing customers also with potential and newly acquired customers and the theme that we're hearing over and over that I'm getting a lot of validation is that our differentiated strategy of distribution, certainly with our paint store, unique specialty paint store model.

我會告訴你天氣是其中的一部分，但當然，沒有任何藉口。我們要做的最後一件事就是坐下來指出天氣。我們正在努力在宣偉創造自己的天氣。所以我不會對相對執行力說太多。但我認為從某些方面來說，這很大程度上是活動的延遲。這裡可能只需要一分鐘。如果你廣泛地觀察商店，正如你想像的那樣，我現在在市場上花費了大量時間與我們的團隊、現有客戶以及潛在和新獲得的客戶以及我們聽到的主題我一遍又一遍地得到很多驗證，那就是我們的差異化分銷策略，當然是我們的油漆店，獨特的專業油漆店模式。

Our quality of people, the availability of our products, the list goes on. That is really critical right now in this environment. And I'll point to a few areas that gives me a lot of confidence as we head into the balance of the year. The ability to be accessible to be dependable, the consistent execution that our contractors are experiencing store to store with us certainly is really critical going forward and an important launch pad. I'd point to a few areas relative to the quarter, weather certainly is part of it. The choppiness in the market, you're going to see that ranging by segment. I'm going to ask Allen to jump in here and give you a little bit of color, and then I'll come back with some additional points.

我們的人員素質，我們產品的可用性，這樣的例子不勝枚舉。在目前的環境下，這確實至關重要。我將指出一些在我們進入今年餘下時間時給我很大信心的領域。我們的承包商在我們的店與店之間體驗到的可訪問性和可靠性的能力以及一致的執行力無疑對於未來的發展至關重要，也是一個重要的發射台。我想指出與本季相關的幾個領域，天氣當然是​​其中的一部分。市場的波動性，你會看到各個細分市場的波動。我將請艾倫跳到這裡並給你一點顏色，然後我會回來提供一些額外的觀點。

Yes, Vincent. This is Allen Mistysyn. We did talk about in the opening about softer-than-anticipated exterior sales, which were pressured by that challenging outdoor painting conditions. And we saw it, if you looked at our slide deck, Southeastern division, which is our largest sales division in the first quarter was a laggard, which is typically not the case. Commercial, we saw a slower exterior sales, property maintenance. And then Protective & Marine got off to a slower start than we were expecting. All of these 3 segments, we have confidence that these jobs and projects have just been moved. And not all of them will get done in the second quarter, some will be pushed into the balance of the year, but certainly have a high level of confidence there.

是的，文森。這是艾倫·米斯蒂森。我們在開場時確實談到了外部銷售比預期疲軟，這是受到具有挑戰性的戶外塗裝條件的壓力。如果你看一下我們的投影片，我們會發現，東南部門（我們第一季最大的銷售部門）是落後的，但通常情況並非如此。商業方面，我們看到外部銷售和物業維護放緩。然後，Protective & Marine 的起步比我們預期的要慢。所有這三個部分，我們相信這些工作和專案剛剛轉移。並非所有這些都將在第二季完成，有些將被推遲到今年剩餘時間，但肯定對此抱有很高的信心。

One highlight that I think is worth mentioning, and Heidi mentioned it in her opening remarks, we talked about Res Repaint market being flat for the year, but with the investments we've made we were up mid-single digits in the fourth quarter. We're up mid-single digits in the first quarter. And I think if you look at how the quarter unfolded on a same-day basis, March was the strongest month for Paint Stores Group In the first quarter, and we see that continued momentum in April.

我認為值得一提的一個亮點是，Heidi 在她的開場白中提到了這一點，我們談到今年Res Repaint 市場表現平平，但隨著我們所做的投資，我們在第四季度實現了中個位數的增長。第一季我們的業績成長了中個位數。我認為，如果你看看該季度在同一天的表現，你會發現 3 月份是 Paint Stores Group 第一季表現最強勁的月份，我們看到 4 月份的勢頭仍在持續。

One piece I would add just on the residential repaint side, I said this, but remind all of us, obviously, that not only say would be flat, and we had mid- to high in the range. But we're looking at our comparisons here not only (inaudible) now, but also the previous year, we had a pretty aggressive comp last year. And I do think it's evidence that we're making the right investments here, delivering this above-market growth we expect to continue to do so here. We're taking this segment very seriously as you can think about the value proposition that we have designed specific for this segment, not just the products but certainly the services, everything that we're doing to try to continue to help this contractor be as successful as possible. I think that's what you're seeing now in this above-market growth relative to Res Repaint.

我想在住宅重新粉刷方面添加一件，我這麼說，但顯然提醒我們所有人，這不僅說會是平坦的，而且我們的範圍是中高的。但我們不僅現在（聽不清楚）在這裡查看我們的比較，而且還查看前一年的比較，去年我們有一個相當激進的比較。我確實認為這證明我們在這裡進行了正確的投資，實現了高於市場的成長，我們希望在這裡繼續這樣做。我們非常認真地對待這個細分市場，因為您可以考慮我們專門為這個細分市場設計的價值主張，不僅僅是產品，當然還有服務，我們正在做的一切都是為了繼續幫助這個承包商盡可能成功。我認為這就是您現在所看到的相對於 Res Repaint 的高於市場增長的情況。

Your next question is coming from Greg Melich from Evercore ISI.

您的下一個問題來自 Evercore ISI 的 Greg Melich。

I wanted to follow up on the margin, specifically gross margin. I think you mentioned that there were some operating leverage in the Consumer Brands Group, but volume was flat or disappointed. So just like could you put that together? And maybe help us understand was there any benefit to gross margin from manufacturing? Or was it all price versus raws in 1Q?

我想跟進利潤率，特別是毛利率。我想您提到消費品牌集團有一些營運槓桿，但銷售持平或令人失望。就像你能把它們放在一起嗎？也許可以幫助我們了解製造業的毛利率是否有任何好處？還是都是第一季的價格與原料的比較？

Yes, Greg. It's primarily the moderating raw material costs and modest price increases in Paint Stores Group. And also as another tailwind is that paint Stores Group volumes were higher than the other segments, which has a higher gross margin in the company. So those were the primary drivers of the year-over-year improvement. The call out on the higher fixed cost manufacturing affected the Consumer Brands operating margin including the gross margin, but that was offset by other segments. And if you recall, I did talk about this on our year-end call that I expected our global supply chain to improve performance throughout the year in 2024. I also, if you recall, I talked about it on our financial community presentation last August that our consumer operating margin was under pressure and underperformed due to the supply chain inefficiencies. We experienced choppy production swings that negatively impacted our costs plus higher wages, energy and other costs.

是的，格雷格。這主要是由於Paint Stores Group 的原物料成本放緩和價格小幅上漲。另一個有利因素是塗料商店集團的銷售量高於其他部門，該部門的毛利率更高。因此，這些是同比改善的主要驅動力。對較高固定成本製造的呼籲影響了消費品牌的營業利潤率（包括毛利率），但這被其他部門抵消了。如果您還記得的話，我確實在年終電話會議上談到了這一點，我預計我們的全球供應鏈將在2024 年全年改善績效。也談到這一點由於供應鏈效率低下，我們的消費者營運利潤率面臨壓力且表現不佳。我們經歷了生產波動，這對我們的成本以及更高的工資、能源和其他成本產生了負面影響。

And so as we typically do annually, we update our product costs as -- we do expect to continue to see improvements in incremental cost per gallon with our global supply chain continuous improvement and simplification efforts. There is an impact on Paint Stores Group in PCG. I talked about not getting into the detail of that on our year-end call. And it's really not a material impact in the quarter. It is on consumer because it's a small quarter for consumers. But if you look at paint stores, as we talked about, that's volume driven and the incremental investments in SG&A. On PCG, we're still in the high teens performance, nice improvement year-over-year, and we'd expect that kind of performance as the year goes out.

因此，正如我們通常每年所做的那樣，我們更新我們的產品成本，因為我們確實希望透過我們全球供應鏈的不斷改進和簡化工作，每加侖的增量成本將繼續得到改善。這對 PCG 旗下的 Paint Stores Group 產生了影響。我在年終電話會議上談到了沒有詳細討論這一點。這對本季確實沒有產生實質影響。它是針對消費者的，因為這對消費者來說只是一小部分。但如果你看看油漆店，正如我們所討論的那樣，這是銷量驅動的以及銷售、管理和管理 (SG&A) 的增量投資。在 PCG 上，我們的表現仍處於十幾歲左右，同比有不錯的進步，我們預計隨著時間的推移也會有這樣的表現。

Your next question is coming from Jeff Zekauskas from JPMorgan.

您的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Jeff Zekauskas。

In the first quarter in Consumer Brands, you earned roughly $170 million in EBIT adjusted. And normally, the Consumer Brands business is seasonally weak in the first quarter. That is your sales, whether they grow a little bit or whether they shrink a little bit, or higher in the second and third quarter. So from a logical standpoint, should it be the case that you earn at least as much in the Consumer Brands Group in the second and third quarter as you did in the first?

在消費品牌第一季，調整後的息稅前利潤約為 1.7 億美元。通常情況下，消費品牌業務在第一季會出現季節性疲軟。這就是你的銷售額，無論是成長一點還是收縮一點，或者在第二季和第三季更高。因此，從邏輯角度來看，您在第二季和第三季在消費品牌集團的收入是否應該至少與第一季一樣多？

Yes, Jeff. Even though we don't give operating margin guidance by segment, I will add color that, yes, we would expect sequential margin improvement in the second and third quarter because of the seasonality -- seasonally higher architectural sales in 2Q and 3Q. I do expect North America sales volume to be less of a headwind in our second quarter compared to our first quarter with our guidance being -- our second quarter guidance for consumer sales being down low single digits. I do expect that the higher fixed cost absorption and manufacturing and distribution operations will continue in our second -- in the remaining quarters of the year. But I agree with that. We should be back to our more typical bell curve with the seasonality of architectural going into 2Q and 3Q and then dropping as it typically does in our fourth quarter.

是的，傑夫。儘管我們沒有按細分市場提供營業利潤率指導，但我會補充一點，是的，由於季節性因素，我們預計第二季和第三季的利潤率會連續改善——第二季和第三季度的建築銷售季節性較高。我確實預計，與第一季相比，第二季北美銷售的阻力將減少，我們的指導是——我們第二季的消費者銷售指引將下降到低個位數。我確實預計，較高的固定成本吸收以及製造和分銷業務將在第二季（今年剩餘的幾季）繼續下去。但我同意這一點。我們應該回到更典型的鐘形曲線，建築的季節性進入第二季度和第三季度，然後像第四季度通常那樣下降。

Your next question is coming from David Begleiter from Deutsche Bank.

您的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 David Begleiter。

Had you mentioned you won 56 new exclusive national account wins. Is that a big number? Is that a small number? What was it last year or maybe the average of the last 3 years? And is there a dollar amount associated with that 56 win number?

您是否提到您贏得了 56 個新的獨家全國帳戶勝利。這是一個很大的數字嗎？這是一個小數字嗎？去年是多少，或過去 3 年的平均值是多少？ 56 場勝利的數字有相關的金額嗎？

I won't share the numbers, but I appreciate your question. What I would tell you is it's material. And I would also tell you that also it's evidence of our ability to put on display what it is that only Sherwin-Williams can do relative to servicing these contractors, certainly, both from a new residential and property maintenance standpoint in a way that only a specialty paint store can do. And so a function of our footprint of our team, of the expertise that we have, not just on a broad base nationally leveraging that platform, but our ability to be nimble and local and support the needs of these local contractors. So I think what you're seeing, it's a material pickup but it's evidence of our value proposition and what we're able to do uniquely in the market.

我不會分享這些數字，但我很高興你提出這個問題。我要告訴你的是，它是物質的。我還要告訴您，這也證明了我們有能力展示只有宣偉才能為這些承包商提供服務，當然，無論是從新的住宅還是物業維護的角度來看，只有宣偉才能做到這一點。油漆店可以做。因此，我們團隊的足跡和我們擁有的專業知識不僅是在全國範圍內利用該平台的廣泛基礎，而且是我們靈活和本地化並支持這些當地承包商需求的能力。所以我認為你所看到的，這是一種材料的提升，但它證明了我們的價值主張以及我們能夠在市場上做出獨特的事情。

Your next question is coming from John McNulty from BMO Capital Markets.

您的下一個問題來自 BMO 資本市場的 John McNulty。

Maybe we can speak to the raw material environment. You've left the outlook for the year unchanged. It does seem like we've kind of got a mixed bag out there with oil having run up, but a lot of the derivative is not really moving. TiO2 is kind of a little bit of a question mark. But -- so I guess, can you give us color on how you're seeing your raw material basket at this point if there are -- if everything is kind of stable if you're starting to see things from an inflationary perspective, go higher? Or are some still falling lower, I guess, maybe you can just give us a little bit more color behind the raw material basket.

也許我們可以談談原材料環境。您對今年的前景保持不變。看起來我們的情況確實有點像石油價格上漲，但許多衍生性商品並沒有真正發揮作用。 TiO2 有點像問號。但是 - 所以我想，你能否告訴我們你目前如何看待你的原材料籃子（如果有的話） - 如果一切都穩定，如果你開始從通貨膨脹的角度看待事情，那就去更高？或者有些仍在下跌，我想，也許你可以在原料籃子後面給我們多一點顏色。

Yes, sure. This is Jim. Yes. Maybe I'll just start with the first quarter, our basket was down year-over-year, a mid-single-digit percentage, and that's likely the biggest benefit of the year, also down slightly sequentially. Where we saw the biggest benefit in the first quarter was monomer, resin, solvents and TiO2, I would say, was flattish year-over-year. You look out for the rest of the year, 2Q, raw still down probably low single digits year-over-year, a little bit less benefit than what we saw in 1Q. And then in the back half of the year, I think it's just down slightly flattish in the back half year-over-year. So the full year right now, we're still looking at down low single digits for the year. We'll see if there's some upside as the year progresses. But right now, we're still in that down-low single digit.

是的，當然。這是吉姆。是的。也許我會從第一季開始，我們的籃子同比下降，百分比為中個位數，這可能是今年最大的收益，也比去年同期略有下降。我們看到第一季最大的收益是單體、樹脂、溶劑和二氧化鈦，我想說，與去年同期相比持平。你會留意今年剩下的時間，即第二季度，原始數據同比仍可能下降到較低的個位數，比我們在第一季看到的收益要少一些。然後在今年下半年，我認為下半年的情況與去年同期相比略有下降。因此，就目前全年而言，我們仍然認為今年的成長率會下降到較低的個位數。隨著時間的推移，我們將看看是否有一些好處。但目前，我們仍處於較低的個位數。

Your question about some of the commodities specifically, John, crude right now $80, $81 a barrel. That's up year-over-year and since December, but it's still down from where we were in the fall when it ran up into the $90s. Propylene has picked up sequentially here. Now it's sort of flattish year-over-year. And then I'd say on TiO2, we're seeing some of the producers do a little bit of restocking, but the true end demand in some of these markets is still choppy. Their utilization rates are picking up a little bit. They're seeing some lower input costs. I'd say for us, we expect to still see a little bit of moderation in TiO2 and the other thing that's out there always is China. And with their domestic demand and China being softer, they're exporting a lot of that, and I think that's going to continue to put some pressure on the demand environment for TiO2. So summarize it still down low single digits for the year, a bit in 2Q and then flattening out.

約翰，你具體問的是一些商品，原油現在每桶 80 美元、81 美元。自去年 12 月以來，這一數字逐年上升，但仍低於秋季升至 90 美元的水平。丙烯在這裡相繼回升。現在與去年同期相比有些持平。然後我想說，在鈦白粉方面，我們看到一些生產商進行了一些補貨，但其中一些市場的真正最終需求仍然不穩定。他們的利用率正在略有上升。他們發現投入成本降低。我想說的是，對我們來說，我們預計 TiO2 的銷量仍會有所放緩，而另一個始終存在的因素是中國。隨著他們的國內需求和中國的疲軟，他們正在出口大量的鈦白粉，我認為這將繼續對鈦白粉的需求環境帶來一些壓力。因此，總結一下，今年的成長率仍然較低，在第二季略有下降，然後趨於平緩。

Your next question is coming from Chris Parkinson from Wolfe Research.

您的下一個問題來自沃爾夫研究中心的克里斯·帕金森。

So can you just give a little more highlights on your projected market share gain, obviously, have a thesis across the sales as the community as well as the biotech community, but since 3 things are going on, you have the inflection of historically low single-family inventories potentially. Obviously, rates will have to do with that. You have a demographic, geographic advantage in many ways. And then also you have the underlying share gain narrative versus not one, but now two of your competitors. So as your spending plans actually evolved or changed over the last 6 to 12 months? Or is this something where you're kind of further positioning and further thinking about things as it relates to an interventional inflection in your outlook for '25 or '26 and onwards?

那麼，您能否就您預計的市場份額增益提供更多的亮點，顯然，在銷售社區以及生物技術社區上有一篇論文，但由於正在發生三件事，您將面臨歷史低單的拐點- 潛在的家庭庫存。顯然，利率與此有關。你們在很多方面都擁有人口、地理優勢。然後，你還可以了解與不是一個，而是現在兩個競爭對手的潛在份額增益敘述。那麼，您的支出計劃在過去 6 到 12 個月內實際上發生了演變或變化嗎？或者這是否是您進一步定位和進一步思考事物的地方，因為它與您對“25”或“26”及以後的前景的干預性變化有關？

Yes, Chris, I don't think our spending thesis has changed yet. I think that what we talked about on our second half and our year-end call, leaning in with additional investments or accelerated investments to influence the share gains and accelerate the share gains that we expect to see, and we saw that with res repaint. I think as we get through the second quarter, as we've typically done, we'll look at the indicators, market indicators and what we see happening not only in the second half of 2024. But to your point, looking at the first half of 2025, looking the trends in volumes, the trends in our gross margin.

是的，克里斯，我認為我們的支出論點還沒有改變。我認為我們在下半年和年終電話會議上談到的，是透過額外投資或加速投資來影響股票收益並加速我們期望看到的股票收益，我們透過 res repaint 看到了這一點。我認為，正如我們通常所做的那樣，當我們度過第二季度時，我們將不僅關注 2024 年下半年的指標、市場指標以及我們看到的情況。和毛利率趨勢。

And as we have done, not just in '23, but in the past, if we believe that we have upside in our volumes, upside in our gross margin, we will lean in and add more investments than we would normally do or typically do because of the confidence we have in our strategy, because of the confidence we have in long-term new single-family construction and the need for housing in this country. And as interest rates -- and we talked about this on our first quarter call, interest rates moderate, we would expect to see existing home sales improve. We'd expect to see an acceleration in new single-family starts and in property maintenance, improved CapEx and we will be better positioned as those turn to get a greater share of that market.

正如我們所做的那樣，不僅是在 23 年，而且在過去，如果我們相信我們的銷量有上升空間，毛利率有上升空間，我們將傾斜並增加比通常或通常情況下更多的投資因為我們對我們的策略有信心，因為我們對長期的新單戶建設和這個國家的住房需求有信心。隨著利率的上升——我們在第一季的電話會議上談到了這一點，利率適度，我們預計現有房屋銷售將會改善。我們預計新單戶住宅的開工和物業維護會加速，資本支出也會改善，隨著這些因素轉向獲得更大的市場份額，我們將處於更好的位置。

Chris, I would add to that as well, just to reiterate what we said earlier, it's not a matter of if, it's when. And we're spending a lot of time strengthening our position in the market, we pointed to a few examples. I shared some of the indicators that give me a lot of confidence. So I'll just give you a bit more color here. If you think about the short term executing some actions here. You mentioned increased call activity. But the other way to think about this is because of our controlled distribution model, as you well know, we own that data, we're unleashing our selling team right now on the world's largest database of painting contractors. So the team is out hunting in a very surgical, in a very targeted fashion. We're not guessing where to spend time or energy. We're being very prescriptive in terms of where we want the team focused. So I think in terms of my confidence relative to how the team is hunting. Our new account activation and mentioned earlier on the unique accounts, but also a significant increase in our active accounts.

克里斯，我還要補充一點，只是重申我們之前所說的，這不是是否的問題，而是何時的問題。我們花了大量時間來加強我們在市場中的地位，我們舉了幾個例子。我分享了一些給我很大信心的指標。所以我在這裡給你更多的色彩。如果您考慮短期執行一些行動。您提到通話活動增加。但另一種思考方式是因為我們的受控分銷模式，正如您所知，我們擁有這些數據，我們現在正在世界上最大的油漆承包商資料庫上釋放我們的銷售團隊。因此，團隊正在以一種非常外科手術式、非常有針對性的方式進行狩獵。我們不會猜測在哪裡花費時間或精力。我們對於團隊關注的重點有非常明確的規定。所以我認為就我對團隊狩獵方式的信心而言。我們的新帳戶啟動和前面提到的獨特帳戶一樣，而且我們的活躍帳戶也大幅增加。

We're also working hard in the store and with our reps and our managers getting paint out of the bucket, getting products into the hands of these painters and the pro paint. So in the short term, making sure we're very clear and deliberate about how we want to go into the painting season. And when you think about some of these actions that are going to impact the long term that give us a lot of confidence in market share is investing a lot in the activities such as specifications, applications and then working with owners to make sure that the projects are meeting their expectations, so lot of factors here that we're making sure that we're continuing to control what we can control, which is strengthening our position coming out of this. We will be in a position to take out our growth share.

我們還在商店裡努力工作，與我們的代表和經理一起從桶中取出油漆，將產品送到這些油漆工和專業油漆人員手中。因此，從短期來看，確保我們非常清楚並深思熟慮地了解我們想要如何進入繪畫季節。當你想到其中一些將影響長期的行動時，這些行動讓我們對市場份額充滿信心，那就是在規範、應用程式等活動上投入大量資金，然後與業主合作以確保項目正在滿足他們的期望，所以這裡有很多因素，我們要確保我們繼續控制我們可以控制的事情，這正在加強我們的地位。我們將能夠獲得我們的成長份額。

Your next question is coming from Josh Spector from UBS.

你們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團 (UBS) 的 Josh Spector。

I wanted to ask a question on pricing. And first, I guess, what was the realized price in the Paint Store Group, specifically in first quarter? And how do you expect that to roll into the coming quarters? So it sounds a little bit more phased than your description of that. So do we see in 2Q or 3Q kind of the full impact of that pricing rollout?

我想問一個關於定價的問題。首先，我想，Paint Store Group 的實際價格是多少，特別是第一季？您預計未來幾季會如何發展？所以這聽起來比你的描述更有階段性。那麼我們是否會在第二季或第三季看到定價推出的全面影響？

Yes, Josh. As we talked about on our first year-end call, we went out -- just as a reminder, we went out with 5% February 1, and we said we would realize the full price increase over the next couple of quarters as we typically have done, I would say, pre-COVID, so it's more typical. As we talked about, we had a 0.5% increase in our first quarter split pretty evenly between price and volume, and we'd expect that price to ramp up and get fully realized as we exit the second quarter.

是的，喬許。正如我們在第一次年終電話會議上談到的那樣，我們出去了——只是為了提醒一下，我們在2 月1 日就以5% 的價格出去了，我們說我們將在接下來的幾個季度實現全面的價格上漲，就像我們通常所做的那樣我想說，這是在新冠疫情之前發生的，所以這更典型。正如我們所討論的，我們第一季的成長為 0.5%，價格和銷量的成長相當均勻，我們預計價格會上漲，並在第二季結束時得到充分實現。

Your next question is coming from Mike Harrison from Seaport Global.

您的下一個問題來自 Seaport Global 的 Mike Harrison。

One of your competitors announced a strategic review of their architectural business. I think you guys have alluded to their challenges, helping to drive some customer wins. But I'm just curious, are there parts of this business that you will consider looking at and have you ever acquired paint stores as part of your store expansion efforts? Where are you always new builds or kind of new stores rather than acquiring?

您的一位競爭對手宣布對其建築業務進行策略性審查。我想你們已經提到了他們面臨的挑戰，幫助贏得了一些客戶。但我只是很好奇，您是否會考慮考慮該業務的哪些部分？您總是在哪裡新建或新建商店而不是收購？

The answer is no. And I would tell you the way that we're looking at this is this is an acquisition without the cash outlay. We got a lot of excitement in terms of the opportunity to distract our value proposition in the market. I think there's a lot of confusion out there as a result of some of these decisions. But frankly, this -- again, this is our opportunity to reinforce the consistency and the reliability of Sherwin-Williams. So when customers want to partner with us and choose to partner with us, they know and they trust that we're going to be there with them every step of the way, whether it's product or project or planning or bidding, helping them with leads, we're going to help make sure that without a doubt that they are successful. So there's the stability and the continuity of our strategy, I think, is on display here, and it's our opportunity to go out and continue to demonstrate that.

答案是不行。我想告訴你，我們看待這個問題的方式是，這是沒有現金支出的收購。我們對有機會分散我們在市場上的價值主張感到非常興奮。我認為其中一些決定導致了很多混亂。但坦白說，這又是我們加強宣偉一致性和可靠性的機會。因此，當客戶想要與我們合作並選擇與我們合作時，他們知道並相信我們將在每一步中陪伴他們，無論是產品、專案、規劃還是投標，幫助他們獲得潛在客戶，我們將幫助確保他們毫無疑問地取得成功。因此，我認為，我們策略的穩定性和連續性在這裡得到了展示，這是我們走出去並繼續證明這一點的機會。

Yes, Mike, we have purchased store chains before. The last 5, I want to say was PPI, which was a part of COMEX, and that was back in 2010. I think as Heidi mentioned, we're confident in our strategy, and opening 80 to 100 stores is like acquiring a small store chain in the U.S. as it is. So we're happy with that strategy, and we'll continue to executing against that.

是的，麥克，我們以前買過連鎖店。最後5個，我想說的是PPI，它是COMEX的一部分，那是在2010年。 我認為正如Heidi所提到的，我們對我們的策略充滿信心，開設80到100家商店就像收購一個小商店一樣。因此，我們對這項策略感到滿意，並將繼續執行這項策略。

Your next question is coming from Patrick Cunningham from Citi Investment Research.

您的下一個問題來自花旗投資研究部的 Patrick Cunningham。

There still seems to be quite a bit of choppiness in general industrial and packaging. What are your expectations for market volumes for the year? And how much do you expect to outperform from share gains? And then maybe just across Performance Coatings broadly, what are your expectations for pricing for the year, given there might be some indices rolling off, but maybe some targeted price increases as well?

一般工業和包裝領域似乎仍然存在相當大的波動。您對今年的市場容量有何預期？您預期股票收益能跑贏大盤多少？然後，也許就整個高性能塗料而言，考慮到可能會有一些指數下降，但也可能會有一些目標價格上漲，您對今年的定價有何預期？

Yes. I'll take the first piece of that relative to the segments and some of the outlook, and then I'll hand over to Allen on some of the pricing. I think if you look across the board, packaging, auto refinish, industrial wood, coil and P&M. I would say there's upside to all of that, there's absolutely choppiness. If you look at this a bit more by geography. I would say that that's true. GI certainly continues to be, as we said last quarter, the most under pressure segment. But if I just start with packaging, we said this in our prepared remarks, while the sales were down in the quarter as we expected.

是的。我將討論與細分市場和一些前景相關的第一部分，然後我將把一些定價交給艾倫。我認為，如果你全面審視包裝、汽車修補漆、工業木材、捲材和粉末冶金。我想說這一切都有好處，絕對是不穩定的。如果你從地理角度看這個問題。我想說那是真的。正如我們上季度所說，GI 無疑仍然是壓力最大的部分。但如果我只是從包裝開始，我們在準備好的評論中說了這一點，而本季的銷售額正如我們預期的那樣下降了。

There were some customers, some of our customers out there that were required to make a short term commitment and we are really proud to expect that our plant in Texas is back up and running. As mentioned earlier, plant in Europe is now producing. So we do expect to regain these customers for the use of our non-BPA coating, which is a superior technology allows our customers not only to be faster, more efficient, more profitable but also to be more sustainable as a result of this advanced technology that we have in the market.

有一些客戶，我們的一些客戶需要做出短期承諾，我們非常自豪地期望我們在德克薩斯州的工廠能夠恢復並運作。如前所述，歐洲工廠現在正在生產。因此，我們確實希望重新獲得這些客戶使用我們的非BPA 塗層，這是一項卓越的技術，使我們的客戶不僅能夠更快、更有效率、更有利可圖，而且由於這種先進技術而更加永續我們在市場上有。

So there's a lot of excitement in terms of what we can do to take this technology at a more global basis to support our customers and their sustainability agendas.

因此，我們可以在更全球化的基礎上利用這項技術來支持我們的客戶及其永續發展議程，這讓我們感到非常興奮。

Automotive Refinish, we've talked about this, our installs continue to be up double digits in North America. We are taking share. There's a unique technology and service that we're offering together. So it's the package along with our ability to leverage our automotive branches, much like our Paint Stores Group to provide that consistent and reliable service. So another point of differentiation is something that we're really proud of.

汽車修補漆，我們已經討論過這一點，我們在北美的安裝量繼續以兩位數增長。我們正在分享。我們共同提供獨特的技術和服務。因此，這就是我們利用我們的汽車分店（就像我們的油漆店集團一樣）提供一致且可靠的服務的能力。因此，另一個差異化點是我們真正引以為傲的。

And I don't think everyone can say that they're taking share here. We know the customers that we're winning, we know the competitors we're taking business from. And we certainly know the volume we're gaining. So these numbers will be clearly evident as the year unfolds. We've got a lot more work ahead, but we're winning with small customers. We're winning with medium type customers, and we're finally winning with large customers here.

我不認為每個人都可以說他們在這裡分享了份額。我們了解我們正在贏得的客戶，我們了解我們正在從哪些競爭對手那裡獲取業務。我們當然知道我們正在獲得的數量。因此，隨著時間的推移，這些數字將變得顯而易見。我們還有很多工作要做，但我們正在贏得小客戶。我們贏得了中型客戶的青睞，最終也贏得了大客戶的青睞。

Just briefly on Coil. I mentioned this earlier, but North America is holding up a bit better than other regions. We have had some significant new business wins in North America. There's some positive tailwind as it relates to nearshoring. Mexico is helping to create some demand here. Industrial Wood, another positive story here for us. We believe that the market has bottomed out in all regions. But to your point, demand does continue to be choppy going into the second quarter. Some of the recent acquisitions, ICA and Oskar Nolte, EBITDA, dollars and percent continue to be ahead of plan. So we're same. This is very accretive to the industrial wood program, and we're chasing new accounts pretty aggressively, and we expect a lot more as, again, as the year unfolds. And I won't go into much detail on general industrial, that's choppy and down in all regions, and we're continuing to fight hard to make sure that we best position ourselves as we recover there.

簡單介紹一下線圈。我之前提到過這一點，但北美的表現比其他地區好一些。我們在北美贏得了一些重大的新業務。近岸外包有一些正面的推動作用。墨西哥正在幫助創造一些需求。工業木材，對我們來說是另一個積極的故事。我們認為所有地區的市場都已經觸底。但就您而言，進入第二季需求確實持續波動。最近的一些收購、ICA 和 Oskar Nolte、EBITDA、美元和百分比繼續領先於計劃。所以我們是一樣的。這對工業木材計劃非常有幫助，我們正在非常積極地追逐新客戶，隨著今年的展開，我們再次期望更多。我不會詳細介紹一般工業，所有地區的工業都不穩定，我們將繼續努力奮鬥，以確保我們在當地復甦時處於最佳位置。

Yes, Patrick, on the volumes with our second quarter guidance to be upper down low single digits. That would tell you our first half volumes will be down low single digits. Full year guidance is flat to up low single digits. There was no change to that, which tells you that our volume in the second half has to be up -- flat to up low single digits.

是的，派崔克，我們第二季指導的銷售量將達到上下個位數。這將告訴您我們上半年的銷售量將下降低個位數。全年指引持平或上漲低個位數。情況沒有變化，這告訴你下半年我們的成交量必須上升——持平到低個位數的上升。

Your next question is coming from Aleksey Yefremov from KeyBanc Capital Markets.

您的下一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Aleksey Yefremov。

You mentioned momentum in homebuilding, was homebuilding customer is a new residential. To what extent have you sensed any change among this set of customers was latest volatility in rates? Has the optimism basically maintained the same level? Or has it moderated perhaps?

您提到住宅建築的勢頭，住宅建築的客戶是新住宅。您在多大程度上感覺到這群客戶中最近的費率波動有任何變化？樂觀情緒是否基本上保持在同一水平？或者它可能已經緩和了嗎？

Yes, I'll take that, Aleksey. I think the sentiment among our homebuilder customers continues to be very positive. Matter of fact, I was in Texas traveling with our national accounts team earlier in the quarter and spoke to several of our customers down there. And they remain optimistic about where things are heading. The rate environment, we'll see how that plays out. It seems to change month-to-month of what's going to happen there. But I think Allen started to hit some of the demographics that are there driving people to need a place to live are intact. And I think also what you're seeing a little bit is people may be adjusting some of their expectations around what type of a home they might be able to afford or buy and the homebuilders are working to drive affordability and we're part of that as well.

是的，我會接受的，阿列克謝。我認為我們的住宅建築商客戶的情緒仍然非常積極。事實上，本季度早些時候，我與我們的國民帳戶團隊一起在德克薩斯州旅行，並與那裡的幾位客戶進行了交談。他們對事情的發展方向保持樂觀。利率環境，我們將看看結果如何。那裡發生的事情似乎每個月都在變化。但我認為艾倫開始觸及一些驅使人們需要居住地的人口統計。我認為你也看到，人們可能正在調整他們對自己能夠負擔或購買哪種類型的房屋的期望，而房屋建築商正在努力提高可負擔性，而我們也是其中的一部分以及。

Your next question is coming from Ghansham Panjabi from Baird.

您的下一個問題來自 Baird 的 Ghansham Panjabi。

Heidi, just followed up on the last question. You gave us a fair amount of color on how Sherwin is positioned based on your various internal initiatives, but has your outlook for any of the various PSG verticals changed in any meaningful way versus your initial view coming into the year? And then just a second question, maybe for Allen in terms of free cash flow allocation in context of a fair amount of debt coming due between this year and next year and how are you kind of balancing buybacks versus debt paydown?

海蒂，剛剛回答了最後一個問題。你給了我們很多關於宣威如何根據你的各種內部計劃進行定位的信息，但是你對巴黎聖日耳曼各個垂直領域的展望與你今年的最初觀點相比是否發生了任何有意義的變化？然後是第二個問題，也許對於艾倫來說，在今年和明年之間將有相當數量的債務到期的情況下，就自由現金流分配而言，您如何平衡回購與債務償還？

No, I don't think anything has materially changed. Again, as you look segment by segment, I'd point to Protective & Marine was a segment certainly that we see upside. And I think I'll use them as an example because there continues to be demand strength in all markets. Some of the projects have been delayed, so there's been some timing issues here. But think when you look at the visibility that we're gaining relative to some of these mega projects, we're launching some pretty significant new technology into the market this year, in fire and flooring and protective coatings, which is an indicator, not just of our incremental investment, but I think some good upside. Having said that, I want to go back to where I started, which is there's nothing that's materially different from where we came in last quarter. But again, as rates fluctuate as some of these jobs pick back up, then we'll be back out in July if there's any more upside than what we're at today.

不，我認為沒有任何實質改變。再次，當你逐一細分市場查看時，我會指出防護和海洋是我們肯定看到的一個細分市場。我想我會用它們作為例子，因為所有市場的需求仍然強勁。一些項目已被推遲，因此存在一些時間安排問題。但想想看，當你看看我們相對於其中一些大型項目所獲得的知名度時，我們今年將在防火、地板和防護塗料領域向市場推出一些相當重要的新技術，這是一個指標，而不是一個指標。話雖如此，我想回到我開始的地方，即與上個季度的情況沒有任何實質不同。但同樣，隨著其中一些工作回升，利率也會波動，如果有比今天更多的上漲空間，我們將在 7 月退出。

Yes, Ghansham, I would say that I feel very good about our strong net operating cash flow generation for the year. You saw us return a big increase in shareholder cash and dividends and buybacks in our first quarter. I think when you look at our debt, I do expect our total debt to remain flat in 2024, and we'll refinance to your point, the $1.1 billion of debt maturing, albeit they'll be at higher rates, likely will take out short-term debt and then mature it out as we see fit. But just to reiterate, I mean, we're going to stick to our capital allocation philosophy. We've been very disciplined on that. We invest in CapEx. We paid the dividend, which was a nice increase of over 18% in our first quarter. We expect that to continue. And then absent acquisitions, we're going to buy our stock back. And I do expect to be in that 2 to 2.5 debt-to-EBITDA target range by end of the year.

是的，Ghansham，我想說，我對今年我們強勁的淨營運現金流產生感到非常滿意。您看到我們在第一季大幅增加了股東現金、股利和回購。我認為，當你看看我們的債務時，我確實預計我們的總債務在2024 年將保持不變，我們將按照你的觀點進行再融資，即11 億美元的債務到期，儘管利率會更高，但很可能會消失短期債務，然後在我們認為合適的情況下到期。但我想重申一下，我們將堅持我們的資本配置理念。我們在這方面一直都非常自律。我們投資於資本支出。我們支付了股息，第一季股息成長了 18% 以上。我們預計這種情況會持續下去。如果沒有收購，我們將回購我們的股票。我確實預計到今年年底債務與 EBITDA 的比率將達到 2 至 2.5 的目標範圍。

Your next question is coming from Michael Leithead from Barclays.

你們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的麥可‧萊特黑德。

On SG&A, I think first quarter was up about 6% year-on-year. Is that roughly in line with the rate of wage inflation you're incurring? Or how should we think about wage inflation relative to other growth investment drivers in that year-over-year increase?

在 SG&A 方面，我認為第一季同比增長約 6%。這與您所承受的薪資通膨率大致相符嗎？或者我們應該如何看待薪資通膨相對於其他成長投資驅動因素的年增率？

Yes, Mike, I think about it this way. The wage inflation for 2024 is more typical to prior years. So think about a low single-digit impact. I think what you're seeing in our first quarter, the start of the annualization of the accelerated long-term growth investments we made in the second half of last year. As you recall, on our year-end call, I said I thought SG&A would be up a mid-single-digit percentage for the full year with the first half being above that range because we're annualizing the investments that we made in the second half and then that will level out in the second half of this year.

是的，麥克，我是這樣想的。 2024 年的薪資通膨比往年更為典型。因此，考慮一下低個位數的影響。我認為你在第一季看到的是，我們去年下半年進行的加速長期成長投資的年化開始。正如您所記得的，在我們的年終電話會議上，我說過我認為全年的 SG&A 將增長中個位數百分比，上半年高於該範圍，因為我們正在將我們在下半年，然後這一情況將在今年下半年趨於平穩。

Your next question is coming from Adam Baumgarten from Zelman.

您的下一個問題來自 Zelman 的 Adam Baumgarten。

I just say I don't know if you mentioned this, but could you give us an update on how the Pros Paint business did in the quarter? I know you mentioned DIY was soft, but maybe some color on Pros Paint?

我只是說，我不知道您是否提到過這一點，但您能否向我們介紹 Pros Paint 業務本季的最新情況？我知道你提到 DIY 很軟，但也許 Pros Paint 上有一些顏色？

Yes. I think certainly, there's bit of a challenged quarter, I would say, is maybe the best way to characterize Pro Paints in the first quarter, which was below our expectations. But we have a lot of confidence in our investments, and I would also say a lot of confidence in our strong alignment with our retail partners. I don't know that the alignment has never been in a better place, gives us a lot of confidence that we are going to continue to grow share in this space for the balance of the year. But no doubt, we've got some work to do here.

是的。我認為，當然，我想說，這個季度充滿挑戰，這可能是描述 Pro Paints 第一季的最佳方式，該季度低於我們的預期。但我們對我們的投資充滿信心，我也對我們與零售合作夥伴的緊密合作充滿信心。我不知道這種調整從未達到如此好的水平，這給了我們很大的信心，我們將在今年餘下的時間裡繼續增加在這一領域的份額。但毫無疑問，我們還有一些工作要做。

Your next question is coming from Duffy Fischer from Goldman Sachs.

你們的下一個問題來自高盛的達菲費雪。

Can we drill down our margins in PSG, I would assume you got a little price, raw material was a meaningful benefit. So I have a hard time attributing to decline from those increases to the negative margin wholly to your growth investments. So were there other things besides the growth investments that were negative in that segment, maybe the transfer from segment to segment on the paint, which was basically the benefit you in consumer? Or anything else that's pulling down the margin other than the growth investments?

我們可以深入了解巴黎聖日耳曼的利潤嗎？因此，我很難將這些成長的下降完全歸因於你們的成長投資。那麼，除了成長投資之外，是否還有其他對該細分市場產生負面影響的事情，也許是油漆領域從一個細分市場到另一個細分市場的轉移，這基本上是您對消費者的好處？或者除了成長投資之外還有什麼因素會拉低利潤率？

Yes, Duffy, it's primarily volume. As we have talked about in the past, volume is the single biggest driver of operating margin leverage, I'd say, all of our segments, but for sure, in our Paint Stores Group. So that's going to be the majority of it. And then -- yes, we also have an impact from the investments we made, but we do expect to continue to get a return for those investments as the year progresses.

是的，達菲，主要是數量。正如我們過去所討論的，銷售量是營業利潤槓桿的最大驅動因素，我想說，是我們所有的部門，但可以肯定的是，在我們的油漆店集團。所以這將是其中的大部分。然後，是的，我們所做的投資也產生了影響，但我們確實期望隨著時間的推移，這些投資將繼續獲得回報。

Your next question is coming from Michael Sison from Wells Fargo.

你們的下一個問題來自富國銀行的麥可‧西森。

I guess sort of a follow-up on that is as you get into 2Q, 3Q, 4Q for PSG, do you expect segment profit to turn positive? And for the full year, will segment profit grow?

我想，當你進入巴黎聖日耳曼第二季、第三季、第四季時，你是否預期部門利潤會轉正？全年來看，該部門的利潤會成長嗎？

Yes, on all of that.

是的，關於所有這些。

Your next question is coming from Kevin McCarthy from Vertical Research Partners.

您的下一個問題來自 Vertical Research Partners 的 Kevin McCarthy。

Maybe a two-part question, if I may, on Paint Stores Group. First, with a few more months in the rearview mirror, would you comment on where you think U.S. architectural industry gallonage came in for 2023 and where you think it might track for this year? And then the second part would be to do with Protective & Marine Coatings. Crafting your segment guidance for PSG, do you think Protective & Marine is likely to grow faster than your paint stores sales or slower or on par? How would you characterize that given the commentary around timing and slower start and so forth?

如果可以的話，也許是關於油漆商店集團的兩部分問題。首先，還有幾個月的時間，您能否評論一下您認為 2023 年美國建築業加侖數的情況以及您認為今年可能會出現的情況？第二部分與防護和海洋塗料有關。在為 PSG 制定細分市場指南時，您認為防護與海洋產品的成長速度可能會快於油漆店的銷售成長還是放緩或持平？鑑於有關時間安排和較慢啟動等方面的評論，您如何描述這一點？

Yes. I'll start with the P&M piece, and then I'll hand it over to Al. We look at some of the gallons year-over-year. I think you said it in your question, it is timing. And I think with some of these project delays we don't believe in any regard that they have gone away, it's simply timing. And as I mentioned earlier, what gives us confidence is our increased visibility into some of this project work. So again, the team is working hard to make sure that with some of these launches, we are best positioned in the industry. So when the timing does recover, we're at the front of that line. And then I'll hand it over to Al to talk about your question related to...

是的。我將從 P&M 部分開始，然後將其交給 Al。我們逐年查看一些加侖數。我想你在問題中已經說過了，這是時機。我認為，對於其中一些項目的延誤，我們無論如何都不相信它們已經消失，這只是時間問題。正如我之前提到的，給我們信心的是我們對某些專案工作的可見性的提升。因此，我們的團隊正在努力確保透過其中一些產品的發布，我們能夠在行業中處於最佳位置。因此，當時機恢復時，我們就站在前面了。然後我會把它交給 Al 來討論你的問題…

Yes. Kevin, I think the P&M, we do expect to grow faster than Architectural just because as we talked about new res, we expect it to be softer in the first half and stronger in the second half. We commented that commercial. We had a better line of sight to the first half being strong and then likely softening, I think that maybe has changed a little bit with the first quarter project delays that we're experiencing. So some of that will probably find its way into our third quarter this year. So -- but we have a lot of confidence in P&M and the strength in that. I think that when you talk about industry volume, I think 2023 is likely down maybe low single. And I think '24, we talked about because the new res was down so much. But I think in '24, with better indicators coming into the year, we talked about it probably being flattish.

是的。凱文，我認為 P&M 確實期望比建築增長更快，因為當我們談論新資源時，我們預計它在上半年會更軟，在下半年會更強。我們評論了廣告。我們對上半年表現強勁，然後可能會疲軟有一個更好的看法，我認為隨著我們正在經歷的第一季專案延遲，情況可能已經發生了一些變化。因此，其中一些可能會進入今年第三季。所以，我們對 P&M 及其實力充滿信心。我認為，當你談論行業數量時，我認為 2023 年可能會下降，也許是低單。我認為'24，我們談論過是因為新的資源下降了很多。但我認為在 24 年，隨著今年出現更好的指標，我們談到它可能會持平。

Your next question is coming from John Roberts from Mizuho.

你們的下一個問題來自瑞穗銀行的約翰‧羅伯茲。

Is the delayed property maintenance activity delayed into the June quarter, so that that's in your guidance for the June quarter? Or are there more significant delays going on because of the mortgage issues with some apartment buildings and commercial properties?

推遲的物業維護活動是否會推遲到六月季度，這是否在您對六月季度的指導中？或者是否會因為一些公寓大樓和商業房地產的抵押貸款問題而出現更嚴重的延誤？

Yes. I think from project delay relative to what we saw from weather in the first quarter, we'll see those pick up in the second quarter and into the third quarter. As far as CapEx projects, we talked about this on our first quarter call. As rates moderate, we do expect to start seeing CapEx projects improve both rates and lending gets easier, lending standards ease up a little bit. John, we don't have material growth impact in our forecast for property maintenance, CapEx growing a significant amount in our second half. So turns are going to continue to improve. And then as CapEx returns will benefit with that as a slight tailwind.

是的。我認為，從專案延遲相對於第一季天氣情況來看，我們將看到這些延遲在第二季和第三季有所回升。至於資本支出項目，我們在第一季的電話會議上討論了這一點。隨著利率放緩，我們確實預期資本支出項目會提高利率，貸款變得更容易，貸款標準會稍微放寬。約翰，我們對財產維護的預測不會產生實質的成長影響，下半年資本支出將大幅成長。因此，轉彎將繼續改善。然後，隨著資本支出的回報，這將帶來輕微的推動作用。

Your next question is coming from Garik Shmois from Loop Capital.

您的下一個問題來自 Loop Capital 的 Garik Shmois。

You mentioned there was some impact in Consumer Brands in the quarter due to limited inventory build. Is there any way to size if that was material to the quarter or would you expect any restocking in 2Q and maybe speak broadly to any opportunities for restocking across your network?

您提到，由於庫存建設有限，本季消費品牌受到了一些影響。如果這對本季很重要，是否有任何方法可以確定規模，或者您是否預計在第二季度進行補貨，並可能廣泛談論整個網路補貨的任何機會？

I'll start with that and I got to jump in. I would say we're not going to obviously comment on materiality because that's certainly something we would ask our customers to comment on. But I think it goes without saying that as we've all come through the last few years, wanting to come into the season in a very strong position is a signal that there's opportunity ahead. And Allen, anything you'd want to add to that?

我將從這一點開始，然後我必須介入。但我認為不言而喻，由於我們都經歷了過去幾年，希望以非常有利的位置進入本賽季是一個信號，表明前方有機會。艾倫，您還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yes, I mean, think about our first quarter is a small quarter for consumer in North America, and it ramps up as the architectural season ramps up. So we have seen this in the past, and it's not overly material. You think about a couple of percent on $800 million, it's not huge.

是的，我的意思是，想想我們的第一季對北美消費者來說是一個小季度，並且隨著建築季節的增加而增長。所以我們過去已經看過這一點，而且這並不是太重要。你想想八億美元的幾個百分點，這並不大。

Your next question is coming from Steve Byrne from Bank of America.

您的下一個問題來自美國銀行的史蒂夫·伯恩。

You made the comment about your sales force is out there hunting for new accounts. And clearly, that's been the model. My question for you is, how are you incentivizing that or driving that with your investments? Is it headcount related? Or are you doing something to drive more servicing to existing accounts? And is this really to drive share gains? Or can this also drive mix shift to higher-performing products?

您曾評論您的銷售人員正在尋找新客戶。顯然，這就是模型。我的問題是，您如何透過投資來激勵或推動這一目標？與人數有關嗎？或者您正在做一些事情來為現有帳戶提供更多服務？這真的是為了推動股價上漲嗎？或者這也能推動產品組合轉向更高效能的產品嗎？

Well, Steve, that's a great question. I would say a few things. I think if you look at -- we use the word ecosystem a lot to talk about what it is that we're trying to bring to our contractors. So it's basically everything you said. When you look at the reps and certainly our suite of digital tools, the goal here is, regardless of where these contractors are at in their business maturity, their selling cycle, their growth plans, we are going to intercept them exactly where they are in that cycle. And so it differs by segment. The needs, obviously, of those contractors are different by segment, if it's residential repaint versus new res versus commercial. So the readiness of our team and the digital tools to support them to intercept these contractors is where we're investing. We obviously won't go into a lot of details on that for obvious reasons. But when we're out hunting, and I mentioned the word surgical, it is just that. We've got the data. We've got the team prepared. We've got the right set of tools to help make our team more efficient to help make our customers more successful.

嗯，史蒂夫，這是一個很好的問題。我想說幾句話。我想如果你看一下——我們經常使用生態系統這個詞來談論我們試圖為承包商帶來什麼。所以這基本上就是你所說的一切。當您查看代表以及我們的數位工具套件時，我們的目標是，無論這些承包商的業務成熟度、銷售週期、成長計劃處於什麼位置，我們都會準確地攔截他們那個循環。因此，它因細分市場而異。顯然，這些承包商的需求因細分市場而異，無論是住宅重新粉刷、新房屋或商業。因此，我們團隊的準備情況以及支持他們攔截這些承包商的數位工具是我們投資的地方。出於顯而易見的原因，我們顯然不會詳細討論這一點。但當我們出去打獵時，我提到了「外科手術」這個詞，那就是這樣。我們已經拿到數據了。我們已經準備好了團隊。我們擁有一套合適的工具來幫助我們的團隊提高效率，幫助我們的客戶取得更大的成功。

Steve, the only thing I would add to that is we often talk about surveys, painting contractors and the #1 driver of their loyalty is who helps them make the most money. So the more reps we have in the field and our ability to spend more time with those painting contractors and doing demos with higher-quality products we can show them the efficiencies that they can gain so that they can grow their top line and their bottom line with the same number of painters because the labor markets haven't improved dramatically. So that's a value add that I think we can provide.

史蒂夫，我唯一要補充的是，我們經常談論調查、油漆承包商，而他們忠誠度的第一個推動力是誰幫助他們賺最多的錢。因此，我們在現場擁有的代表越多，並且我們有能力花更多的時間與那些塗裝承包商一起使用更高品質的產品進行演示，我們就可以向他們展示可以獲得的效率，從而提高他們的收入和利潤因為勞動市場沒有顯著改善，所以畫家的數量是相同的。所以我認為這是我們可以提供的加值服務。

Your next question is coming from Arun Viswanathan from RBC Capital Markets.

您的下一個問題來自 RBC 資本市場的 Arun Viswanathan。

Just maybe two questions on Paint Stores Group. So first of all, historically, I think you've been underpenetrated on the West Coast. And given one of your competitors now there has shut their stores. Is that something that you could maybe pivot and increase your store openings towards? And then my second question was basically on growth and margins. So it looks like you faced your easiest comps in the second half in Paint Stores Group. Last year, you were up 2% to 4% or so in those quarters. So would you expect to be up kind of mid-single digits in Paint Stores Group in the second half of this year towards the upper end of your full year guide for sales?

也許只是關於 Paint Stores Group 的兩個問題。首先，從歷史上看，我認為西海岸的滲透率還不夠。鑑於您的競爭對手之一現在已經關閉了他們的商店。這是您可以轉向並增加商店開業的目標嗎？然後我的第二個問題基本上是關於成長和利潤率。所以看起來你們在下半場面對的是 Paint Stores Group 中最簡單的比賽。去年，這些季度的股價上漲了 2% 到 4% 左右。那麼，您是否預計今年下半年 Paint Stores Group 的業績將達到中個位數，接近全年銷售指南的上限？

Yes, Arun, I'll start with the first one, and then I'll hand it over to Al to cover your second one. And by the way, nice job getting two questions into the one question. You did that really gracefully. So on the first one, yes, I think your point on what was happening in the West, we've recognized the Kelly-Moore closure. And I would tell you that we have long and aggressively competed against Kelly-Moore with a lot of respect for them as a competitor. We are well positioned and are already beginning to serve some of their former customers. We expect to gain continued share here. We're not going to comment on the potential size of the gains. But as I said earlier, you can expect us to be very aggressive. And I wouldn't look at this through the lens of opening new stores necessarily there. I think when something like this happens in our industry, we want to make sure that we're very thoughtful about where real estate makes sense for us, a talent that we've taken the steps and the actions to take the best of and we're ready to go.

是的，阿倫，我將從第一個開始，然後我將把它交給阿爾來涵蓋你的第二個。順便說一句，將兩個問題合併到一個問題中，做得很好。你做得非常優雅。因此，關於第一個問題，是的，我認為你對西方正在發生的事情的觀點是，我們已經認識到凱利-摩爾關閉。我想告訴你，我們長期以來一直與凱利摩爾進行激烈的競爭，並且非常尊重他們作為競爭對手。我們處於有利位置，並且已經開始為他們的一些以前的客戶提供服務。我們期望在這裡獲得持續的份額。我們不會評論潛在的收益規模。但正如我之前所說，我們會非常積極進取。我不會從一定要在那裡開設新店的角度來看這個問題。我認為，當我們的行業發生類似的事情時，我們希望確保我們非常深思熟慮房地產對我們來說有意義，我們已經採取步驟和行動來充分利用人才，我們準備出發了。

Yes, Arun. I think you're right. We would expect that our second half would be in that mid-single digit range. Of course, as we see the summer selling season unfold, we'll look at those trends, look at indicators and certainly give an update to the Street on our July call as appropriate.

是的，阿倫。我想你是對的。我們預計下半年的業績將在中個位數範圍內。當然，當我們看到夏季銷售季節展開時，我們將關注這些趨勢、指標，並在適當的情況下向華爾街提供 7 月電話會議的最新情況。

Your next question is coming from Laurence Alexander from Jefferies.

您的下一個問題來自傑富瑞 (Jefferies) 的勞倫斯‧亞歷山大 (Laurence Alexander)。

Just a quick one on Industrial Coatings. Can you just characterize the landscape for bolt-on M&A, how appealing it is currently and our multiples in discussions starting to drift down?

簡單介紹一下工業塗料。您能否描述一下補強併購的前景，它目前的吸引力有多大，以及我們在討論中的倍數開始下降？

Yes. Laurence, as you said, I think in this type of uncertain environment, you do see multiples start to decline. You also see maybe a smaller pipeline than you would typically see in a growing market. That being said, I think we're out -- we know our -- we're confident in our strategy in industrial. We are actively pursuing bolt-ons that fit that strategy and accelerate that strategy. And as the markets turn and as there's better line of sight to growth and that will be certainly well positioned with our balance sheet to make any acquisitions that we want to make and that fit our strategy.

是的。勞倫斯，正如你所說，我認為在這種不確定的環境中，你確實會看到市盈率開始下降。您還可能會看到比在不斷增長的市場中通常看到的管道更小的管道。話雖這麼說，我認為我們已經出局了——我們知道我們的——我們對我們的工業戰略充滿信心。我們正在積極尋求適合該戰略並加速該戰略的補充。隨著市場的轉變以及更好的成長視野，我們的資產負債表肯定會處於有利位置，可以進行任何我們想要進行的且符合我們策略的收購。

Your next question is coming from Eric Bosshard from Cleveland Research Company.

您的下一個問題來自克利夫蘭研究公司的 Eric Bosshard。

I wanted to ask about SG&A -- that you're making to gain share. Al, you talked as rates moderated and there were some conversation earlier about improving remodel in the second half. And obviously, I think Heidi you said it, the question is when. In a scenario where perhaps rates don't go down and the remodel doesn't improve. Do you sustain the investment? Is there a point where you tap the brakes a little bit on the investment that you're being made and what is -- in that scenario, a bit of a slower environment. And then the second piece of this is once we cycle this incremental investment, do we get back to where SG&A grows slower than sales?

我想問SG&A——你們為了獲得份額而做的事情。艾爾，您在利率放緩時發表了講話，並且早些時候有一些關於改善下半年改造的討論。顯然，我認為海蒂你說過，問題是何時。在利率可能不會下降且改造不會改善的情況下。你能維持投資嗎？是否會在某個時刻你對正在進行的投資稍微踩一下煞車，在這種情況下，環境會稍微放緩一些。第二個問題是，一旦我們循環增量投資，我們是否會回到 SG&A 成長慢於銷售額的情況？

So Eric, no, we don't see a situation or an environment where we pull back. We're confident again in our strategy. The comment we made earlier these are very focused investments. And so we're not trying to be all things to all people, water all the trees. But where we know we've got points of differentiation that are meaningful in the market, you can expect that we'll continue to be very bullish there. So no, I don't see us pulling back in any regard there. And Al, I'll let you speak to...

所以埃里克，不，我們沒有看到我們退縮的情況或環境。我們對我們的策略再次充滿信心。我們之前發表的評論是這些都是非常有針對性的投資。因此，我們並不是試圖滿足所有人的需求，給所有的樹木澆水。但如果我們知道我們擁有對市場有意義的差異化點，那麼您可以預期我們將繼續非常看好這一點。所以不，我不認為我們有任何方面的退縮。艾爾，我會讓你跟著...

Yes. Eric, as you know, I mean, we're focused on growing operating margin and sometimes that's through gross margin expansion. Sometimes that's in SG&A leverage. Whenever we see outsized gross margin expansion, we take that opportunity to accelerate the investments, again, because it's the confidence you have -- we have in our strategy. But yes, as rates start to come down, existing home sales improve, new single-family starts improvement in the CapEx that I talked about with property maintenance. And we see those volumes improving. I would expect to start seeing leverage on our SG&A into '25, into '26, then go forward.

是的。艾瑞克，如你所知，我的意思是，我們專注於提高營業利潤率，有時這是透過毛利率擴張來實現的。有時這是SG&A槓桿。每當我們看到毛利率大幅成長時，我們都會利用這個機會再次加速投資，因為這是您對我們的策略的信心。但是，是的，隨著利率開始下降，現有房屋銷售改善，新的單戶住宅的資本支出開始改善，我在物業維護方面談到了這一點。我們看到這些數量有所改善。我希望在 25 年、26 年開始看到我們的 SG&A 槓桿作用，然後繼續前進。

Your next question is coming from Aron Ceccarelli from Berenberg.

您的下一個問題來自貝倫貝格的 Aron Ceccarelli。

If I understood correctly, you mentioned that traffic in your PSG was all-time high in March. What part of your retail network in your view, has the largest upside in terms of sales density or traffic? I mean, is there any part of your stores, retail stores that is not running yet as you would like to? Where is the opportunity, I would like to understand.

如果我沒理解錯的話，您提到您的 PSG 的流量在 3 月創下了歷史新高。您認為零售網路的哪一部分在銷售密度或客流量方面具有最大的上升空間？我的意思是，您的商店、零售店是否有任何部分尚未按照您的意願運作？機會在哪裡，我想了解一下。

It's a great question. I would say the opportunity continues to be first and foremost. While there's opportunity in every segment, the biggest opportunity for us, as we've said historically, is Res Repaint where we've got more share there. And I would say that it's on top of already very healthy growth. So I don't think in any way this incremental traffic is going to help correct, think this incremental traffic is going to continue to help us to outperform kind of the flat environment that Res Repaint sits in today. So it will be accretive, and it's something that we're confident that this is an opportunity, as you mentioned or as I mentioned earlier, an increased call activity and increased unique accounts rather and active accounts, so this is evidence that we're taking share.

這是一個很好的問題。我想說，機會仍然是首要的。雖然每個細分市場都有機會，但正如我們過去所說，對我們來說最大的機會是 Res Repaint，我們在那裡獲得了更多份額。我想說的是，這是在已經非常健康的成長之上的。所以我不認為這種增量流量會以任何方式幫助糾正，認為這種增量流量將繼續幫助我們超越 Res Repaint 今天所處的扁平環境。因此，這將是增值的，我們相信這是一個機會，正如您提到的或我之前提到的，呼叫活動增加，獨特帳戶而不是活躍帳戶增加，所以這證明我們正在獲取份額。

That concludes our Q&A session. I will now hand the conference back to Jim Jaye for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

我們的問答環節到此結束。現在我將把會議交還給吉姆·傑耶致閉幕詞。請繼續。

Yes. Thank you, everybody, for joining our call today. I think you heard that the team is very aligned, very confident in our strategy and what we're doing. We've made the right investments, and we're driving those solutions for our customers. And we're pretty confident that you're going to see as the year unfolds, those share gains and those returns become more and more evident. The other thing I would do is just remind you, we will have our annual financial community presentation this year in Boston. That's on August 29. And in addition to Heidi and Al, you'll hear commentary from our group presidents as well. So additional information on that will be coming out sometime soon. So look for that, please. And as always, thanks for your interest, and we'll be available for your follow-up calls over the next several days. Have a great day.

是的。謝謝大家今天加入我們的電話會議。我想你聽說我們的團隊非常一致，對我們的策略和我們正在做的事情非常有信心。我們做出了正確的投資，並且正在為客戶推動這些解決方案。我們非常有信心，隨著時間的推移，您將看到這些份額收益和回報變得越來越明顯。我要做的另一件事就是提醒您，今年我們將在波士頓舉行年度金融界演講。那是 8 月 29 日。因此，有關這方面的更多資訊很快就會發布。所以請尋找那個。一如既往，感謝您的關注，我們將在接下來的幾天內接聽您的後續電話。祝你有美好的一天。

Thank you, everyone. This concludes today's event. You may disconnect at this time, and have a wonderful day. Thank you for your participation.

謝謝大家。今天的活動到此結束。此時您可能會斷開連接，並度過美好的一天。感謝您的參與。