Sprott Inc (SII) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Sports Incorporated 2024 fourth quarter results conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded today, February 26, 2025.

女士們、先生們，早安。感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Sports Incorporated 2024 年第四季業績電話會議。（操作員指示）提醒一下，本次會議將於今天（2025 年 2 月 26 日）進行錄製。

On behalf of the speakers that follow, listeners are cautioned that today's presentation and the responses to questions may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor provision of the Canadian Provincial Securities Law.

代表以下發言者，請聽眾注意，今天的演講和對問題的回答可能包含加拿大省證券法安全港條款所定義的前瞻性陳述。

Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and under reliance should not be placed on such statements. Certain material factors or assumptions are implied in making forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. For additional information about factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations and about material factors or assumptions applied and making forward-looking statements, please consult the MD&A for the quarter and spot other filings with the Canadian and US Securities regulators.

前瞻性陳述涉及風險和不確定性，不應依賴此類陳述。前瞻性陳述中隱含了某些重要因素或假設，實際結果可能與此類陳述中表達或暗示的結果有重大差異。有關可能導致實際結果與預期存在重大差異的因素以及所應用的重要因素或假設以及前瞻性陳述的更多信息，請查閱本季度的 MD&A 並查看向加拿大和美國證券監管機構提交的其他文件。

I will now send a conference over to Mr. Whitney George. Please go ahead, Mr. George.

我現在將向惠特尼·喬治先生發送會議通知。請繼續，喬治先生。

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝接線員，大家早安。

Thank you for joining us today. On the call with me today is our CFO, Kevin Hibbert; and John Ciampaglia, CEO of Sprott Asset Management. Our 2024 fourth quarter and year-end results were released this morning and are available on our website where you can also find the financial statements and MD&A.

感謝您今天加入我們。今天與我一起通話的是我們的財務長 Kevin Hibbert；以及 Sprott Asset Management 執行長 John Ciampaglia。我們的 2024 年第四季和年終業績已於今天上午發布，可在我們的網站上查閱，您也可以在該網站上找到財務報表和 MD&A。

I'll start on slide 4 with a review of 2024 highlights. We will discuss in more detail later in the call. But a lot has happened since we last spoke, and we hope you're all managing well in this rapidly evolving environment.

我將從第 4 張幻燈片開始回顧 2024 年的亮點。我們將在稍後的通話中更詳細地討論。但自從我們上次談話以來發生了很多事情，我們希望你們都能在這個快速變化的環境中很好地應對。

It's very difficult to give you a current outlook because the letter I wrote two weeks ago has already become dated with things moving so quickly.

很難給你一個當前的觀點，因為事情發展得太快，我兩週前寫的信已經過時了。

Turning now to our results, I'm pleased to report that in 2024 was Sprott's seventh consecutive year of double-digit AUM growth. Despite a pullback in the fourth quarter, our AUM increased by $2.8 billion during the year to $31.5 billion as of December 31, 2024.

現在談談我們的業績，我很高興地報告，2024 年是 Sprott 連續第七年實現兩位數的 AUM 成長。儘管第四季有所回落，但截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日，我們的 AUM 在年內增加了 28 億美元，達到 315 億美元。

Importantly, we have carried that momentum into 2025 with assets increasing by $2 billion year-to-date to $33.5 billion. Our AUM growth in 2024 was driven by rising precious metal prices, as well as almost $700 million in net sales, mostly in our exchange listed products. Our managed equity strategies also performed well in 2024 with certain funds gene generating performance fees.

重要的是，我們將這一勢頭延續到了 2025 年，年初至今資產增加了 20 億美元，達到 335 億美元。2024 年我們的 AUM 成長得益於貴金屬價格上漲以及近 7 億美元的淨銷售額（主要來自我們的交易所上市產品）。我們管理的股票策略在 2024 年也表現良好，某些基金產生了績效費。

During the year, we continued to expand our critical materials offerings with the launch of two new ETFs and one physical trust. At the corporate level, we paid down our line of credit during the fourth quarter resulting in a debt-free balance sheet.

今年，我們繼續擴大關鍵材料產品範圍，推出了兩筆新的 ETF 和一個實體信託。在公司層面，我們在第四季度償還了信用額度，從而實現了無債務資產負債表。

In November, we increased our quarterly dividend by 20%. We were also in the market at the end of the year for modest repurchases of our shares through our normal course issuer bid. With that, I'll pass it over to Kevin for a look at our financial results. Kevin.

11月份，我們將季度股息提高了20%。年底，我們也透過正常的發行人競標在市場上適度回購了我們的股票。說完這些，我會把它交給凱文來查看我們的財務結果。凱文。

Thanks, Whitney, and good morning everyone. I'll start on slide 5 which provides a summary of our historical AUM. AUM finished the year at $31.5 billion, down 6% from $33.4 billion last quarter but was up 10% from $28.7 billion at the end of 2023.

謝謝，惠特尼，大家早安。我將從第 5 張投影片開始，它提供了我們歷史 AUM 的摘要。截至 2020 年底，資產管理規模為 315 億美元，較上一季的 334 億美元下降 6%，但較 2023 年底的 287 億美元成長 10%。

To Whitney's point, although fourth quarter AUM was negatively impacted by market value depreciation across most of our funds. And the termination of certain sub-advised fund contracts, 2024 was nevertheless our seventh consecutive year of double digit AUM growth as we benefited from strong full year market value appreciation in our precious metals physical trusts. And net inflows to our exchange listed products more broadly.

正如惠特尼所說，儘管第四季度的 AUM 受到我們大多數基金的市場價值貶值的負面影響。儘管終止了某些分項顧問基金合同，但由於我們受益於貴金屬實物信託全年強勁的市場價值升值，2024 年仍是我們連續第七年實現兩位數的 AUM 增長。以及更廣泛地流入我們交易所上市產品的淨流入。

Subsequent to year end on February 21, our AUM increased by $2 billion to $33.5 billion. Slide 6 provides a brief look at our 3- and 12-month earnings. Net income this quarter was $11.7 million up 21% from $9.7 million for the same three-month period last year.

截至 2 月 21 日財政年度結束，我們的 AUM 增加了 20 億美元，達到 335 億美元。投影片 6 簡要介紹了我們的 3 個月和 12 個月的收益。本季淨收入為 1,170 萬美元，較去年同期的 970 萬美元成長 21%。

On a full year basis, net income was $49.3 million, up 18% from $41.8 million last year. Our 3 and 12 month ended results benefited from higher average AUM on strong market value appreciation in our precious metals physical trusts and inflows to the majority of our exchange-listed products.

全年淨收入為 4,930 萬美元，較去年的 4,180 萬美元成長 18%。我們的 3 個月和 12 個月期末業績受益於貴金屬實物信託的強勁市場價值升值和大多數交易所上市產品的資金流入導致的平均 AUM 增加。

We also benefited from carried interest and performance fee crystallization in certain funds in our managed equities and private strategies segments.

我們也受惠於我們管理的股票和私募策略部門中某些基金的附帶權益和績效費結晶。

Adjusted base EBITDA was $22.4 million in the quarter, up 19% from $18.8 million earned over the same three-month period last year. And was $85.2 million on a full year basis, up 18% from $71.9 million earned last year.

本季調整後基本 EBITDA 為 2,240 萬美元，較去年同期的 1,880 萬美元成長 19%。全年營收為 8,520 萬美元，比去年的 7,190 萬美元成長 18%。

Similar to our net income performance, our 3 and 12 month ended results benefited from a higher average AUM on both strong market value appreciation and flows to our precious metals physical trust.

與我們的淨收入表現類似，我們的 3 個月和 12 個月期末業績受益於更高的平均 AUM，這得益於強勁的市場價值升值和流入我們貴金屬實物信託的資金。

Finally, slide 7 provides a few treasury and balance sheet management highlights. And as you can see, due to our improved earnings, our cash and liquidity profile strengthened this year. We raised our dividend by 20% in November to Whitney's point and became debt-free in the fourth quarter.

最後，投影片 7 提供了一些財務和資產負債表管理重點。如您所見，由於我們的利潤增加，今年我們的現金和流動性狀況得到增強。我們在 11 月將股息提高了 20%，達到了惠特尼的要求，並在第四季度實現了無債務。

For more information on our revenues, expenses, net income, EBITDA , and balance sheet metrics, you can refer to the supplemental information section of this presentation, as well as our annual MD&A and financial statements filed earlier this morning.

有關我們的收入、支出、淨收入、EBITDA 和資產負債表指標的更多信息，您可以參考本簡報的補充資訊部分，以及我們今天早上提交的年度 MD&A 和財務報表。

With that said, I'll pass things over to John.

話雖如此，我會把事情交給約翰。

Thank you Kevin, and good morning to everybody. I'll start on, slide 8 and with our AUM growth. Despite softness in gold, silver, and uranium prices in the fourth quarter, we experienced very strong AUM growth for the overall year.

謝謝凱文，大家早安。我將從第 8 張投影片開始介紹我們的 AUM 成長情況。儘管第四季黃金、白銀和鈾價格疲軟，但我們全年的資產管理規模成長非常強勁。

This product category continues to be our primary growth engine as we see growing investor interest in physical metals right across the world and across multiple investor segments.

由於我們看到全球各地和多個投資者群體對實體金屬的興趣日益濃厚，該產品類別繼續成為我們的主要成長引擎。

Year-to-date, our AUM has experienced a sharp recovery lifted primarily by precious metals prices. I think it's also important to note that AUM in the segment stands at an all-time high and that this product category is highly scalable.

今年迄今為止，我們的資產管理規模經歷了大幅回升，主要受貴金屬價格的推動。我認為還需要注意的是，該領域的 AUM 處於歷史最高水平，且該產品類別具有高度的可擴展性。

Moving to the next slide please. On slide 9, our sales, we generated $126 million of net flows in Q4, despite softer metal prices. For the full year, we achieved $957 million in net flows, including the proceeds from the Sprott physical copper Trust IPO. While we're pleased with these results on both an absolute and relative basis, many investors were focused on other high flying market segments like tech stocks.

請翻到下一張投影片。在第 9 張幻燈片中，我們展示了我們的銷售額，儘管金屬價格走軟，但我們在第四季度仍產生了 1.26 億美元的淨流量。全年我們實現了 9.57 億美元的淨流量，其中包括 Sprott 實物銅信託 IPO 的收益。雖然我們對這些絕對和相對結果都感到滿意，但許多投資者仍將注意力集中在科技股等其他高飛的市場領域。

However, we see the early stages of rotation underway as investors are becoming increasingly cautious about growing market and political risks. And are once again adding gold to their portfolios after an extended period of indifference. And in the last few days we're starting to see inflows into the silver ETF segment as well after a period of net outflows.

然而，隨著投資者對不斷增長的市場和政治風險越來越謹慎，我們看到輪換的早期階段正在進行中。在經過一段較長時間的冷漠之後，他們再次將黃金添加到自己的投資組合中。在過去的幾天裡，在經歷了一段時間的淨流出之後，我們也開始看到資金流入白銀 ETF 領域。

The spot uranium price has experienced a material correction over the last 12 months, which we believe has largely run its course. The spot price at $65 now sits $15 below the term price of $80, which increased 20% last year.

過去 12 個月，現貨鈾價格經歷了大幅調整，我們認為這項調整已基本結束。目前現貨價格為 65 美元，比去年上漲 20% 的 80 美元期限價格低 15 美元。

Webelieve the sell off over the past few months was exacerbated by year-end selling and the liquidation of the Kazakh-based ANU energy fund. Which held over 2 million pounds of uranium which came into the spot market.

我們認為，過去幾個月的拋售因年底拋售和哈薩克 ANU 能源基金的清算而加劇。其中有超過 200 萬磅的鈾進入現貨市場。

At one point in 2024, the spot price traded more than $30 over the term price, which acted as a strong disincentive for producers and utilities to buy in the spot market to top up their inventories, which they do from time to time historically. The current $15 price differential seems unsustainable to us in a market that is projected to have a 35 million pound production deficit in 2025. And is only forecast to widen over the next few years.

2024 年的某個時候，現貨價格比定期價格高出 30 多美元，這嚴重阻礙了生產商和公用事業公司在現貨市場上購買以補充庫存，而從歷史上看，他們有時會這樣做。對我們來說，在預計 2025 年將出現 3,500 萬磅產量缺口的市場中，目前 15 美元的價差似乎是不可持續的。預計未來幾年這一比例還會進一步擴大。

On the next slide, shifting to our ETFs, AUM growth was largely flat in 2024, primarily on weakness in uranium equities. Changes in this, segment, tends to be more volatile given the smaller cap nature of many of the holdings held by these ETFs.

在下一張投影片中，轉向我們的 ETF，2024 年的 AUM 成長基本上持平，主要原因是鈾股票疲軟。由於這些 ETF 持有的許多股票的市值較小，因此該部分的變化往往更加不穩定。

On slide 11. We generated sales of $17 million in the fourth quarter despite softer equity values. And for the full year we achieved $297 million in net flows.

在第 11 張投影片上。儘管股權價值走弱，但我們在第四季仍實現了 1700 萬美元的銷售額。全年我們的淨流量達到 2.97 億美元。

It's important to note our growing suite of ETFs covering multiple market segments and trading across various stock exchanges positions us well to capture investor flows when interest returns to these thematics.

值得注意的是，我們不斷成長的 ETF 套件涵蓋多個細分市場並在各個證券交易所進行交易，當投資者興趣重新回到這些主題時，我們能夠很好地捕捉投資者的流動。

During the slide 12, as Whitney mentioned, we're very pleased to report two new additions to our ETF lineup. Firstly, the sprouts silver miners and physical silver ETF, the ticker is SLVR on the Nasdaq, is a natural extension and complement to our Sprott physical silver Trust. This is a passively managed ETF that tracks an index that we co-developed with our partners at Nasdaq.

正如惠特尼所提到的，在第 12 張幻燈片中，我們非常高興地報告我們的 ETF 產品線新增了兩個成員。首先，Sprouts 銀礦和實體白銀 ETF（納斯達克股票代碼為 SLVR）是我們的 Sprott 實體白銀信託的自然延伸和補充。這是一隻被動管理的 ETF，追蹤我們與納斯達克合作夥伴共同開發的指數。

And we were very fixated on designing an index that provided investors with a significantly higher exposure to silver than some of the existing competitors in the marketplace. When we dissected competitors silver mining indexes, we were shocked to learn that the underlying exposure to silver ranged from only 26% to 31%. Just because of silver, a company may have silver in its name doesn't mean it's a silver focused company. SLVR currently provides approximately 70% exposure to silver, which provides a highly differentiated and thoughtful approach.

我們非常專注於設計一個指數，為投資者提供比市場上一些現有競爭對手更高的白銀投資機會。當我們分析競爭對手的白銀礦業指數時，我們震驚地發現，白銀的潛在曝險僅為 26% 至 31%。一家公司的名稱中可能含有白銀，但這並不意味著它是一家專注於白銀的公司。SLVR 目前提供約 70% 的白銀敞口，這提供了一種高度差異化和周到的方法。

The fund is receiving very good traction and interest in the in its first few weeks of life. And we're very excited about adding this to our lineup.

該基金在成立後的頭幾週就獲得了很好的關注和關注。我們非常高興將其添加到我們的產品線中。

Secondly, we'd like to highlight our Sprott active gold and silver miners ETF with the nice ticker GBUG. This ETF represents a number of firsts for us. It's our first actively-managed ETF and it's also the world's first actively-managed gold and silver miners ETF.

其次，我們想重點介紹我們的 Sprott 活躍黃金和白銀礦業 ETF，其股票代號為 GBUG。這只 ETF 對我們來說代表著多項第一。這是我們的第一隻主動式管理 ETF，也是全球第一隻主動式管理型黃金和白銀礦業 ETF。

Our active investment team, which has over 100 years of collective experience, manages over $1 billion and similar strategies via our flagship mutual fund, separate accounts, sub advisory relationships, and limited partnerships.

我們的活躍投資團隊擁有超過 100 年的集體經驗，透過我們的旗艦共同基金、獨立帳戶、次級諮詢關係和有限合夥企業管理超過 10 億美元的資金和類似的策略。

Offering our active capabilities within an ETF wrapper will allow us to target investors that have migrated to ETFs, which has quickly become the go-to product structure for many. ETF will offer intraday trading, lower fees, as well as greater transparency and tax efficiency relative to our mutual fund. I should also note that this ETF will not be an exact clone of our flagship gold equity fund, as it will not own physical gold, but it will be highly similar in nature.

在 ETF 包裝中提供我們的主動功能將使我們能夠瞄準已遷移到 ETF 的投資者，ETF 已迅速成為許多人的首選產品結構。與我們的共同基金相比，ETF 將提供日內交易、更低的費用以及更高的透明度和稅收效率。我還應該指出，這只 ETF 不會是我們旗艦黃金股票基金的完全克隆，因為它不會擁有實體黃金，但本質上非常相似。

And with that, I'll pass it over to Whitney.

說完這些，我就把它交給惠特妮。

Thank you, John. Turning to slide 14, our managed equity strategies delivered strong full-year performance in 2024, notwithstanding weaker gold and silver prices during the fourth quarter.

謝謝你，約翰。轉到投影片 14，儘管第四季黃金和白銀價格走弱，但我們的管理股票策略在 2024 年全年仍表現強勁。

Our flagship gold equity fund was down 9.3% in the fourth quarter, but posted full year full year gain of 20.6%. Despite good performance, investors have not yet taken advantage of the opportunities in precious metals equities. We reported $182 million in net redemptions in the fourth quarter and $349 million on a full-year basis.

我們的旗艦黃金股票基金在第四季度下跌了 9.3%，但全年卻上漲了 20.6%。儘管表現良好，但投資者尚未利用貴金屬股票的機會。我們報告第四季淨贖回額為 1.82 億美元，全年淨贖回額為 3.49 億美元。

I should note that $127 million of those redemptions were related to the cancellation of certain sub-advisory agreements during December. We remain optimistic that investor flows will eventually return to mining equities.

我應該指出，其中 1.27 億美元的贖回與 12 月取消某些次級諮詢協議有關。我們仍然樂觀地認為，投資人最終將重回礦業股票市場。

I'll now turn to slide 15 for a look at our private strategies. Combined lending and streaming strategies AUM was $2.3 billion as of December 31, 2024. The team is continuing to monitor and harvest investments on our second private lending fund and is actively assessing new investment opportunities for lending fund 3, and the streaming team is also monitoring and managing its portfolio of investments.

現在我將翻到第 15 張投影片來了解我們的私人策略。截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日，綜合貸款和串流策略 AUM 為 23 億美元。團隊正在持續監控和收穫我們第二支私募借貸基金的投資，並正在積極評估借貸基金3的新投資機會，串流媒體團隊也在監控和管理其投資組合。

Slide 16 in summary. Rising precious metal prices were the main driver of our asset growth in 2024, and this trend has continued into the early months of 2025. Shortly after the US election, a new dynamic emerged in the gold market that has made its way into the headlines as prices are making all time highs on a nearly daily basis.

摘要投影片 16。貴金屬價格上漲是我們 2024 年資產成長的主要驅動力，這一趨勢一直持續到 2025 年初。美國大選後不久，黃金市場出現了新的動態，金價幾乎每天都創下歷史新高，成為各大媒體的頭條新聞。

Concerns over potential tariffs on precious metals have caused premium prices in the US market relative to others, especially London.

對貴金屬潛在關稅的擔憂，導緻美國市場相對於其他市場（尤其是倫敦）出現溢價。

Although there have never been tariffs on gold except during the Nixon administration when the rate was set at 0%, the ongoing arbitrage is putting enormous pressure on physical markets. Beginning in January, record amounts of physical gold were shipped from London to New York. Lead times for delivery became extended, and lease rates rose significantly.

儘管除了尼克森政府時期設定為 0% 的關稅外，黃金從未被徵收過關稅，但持續的套利活動給實體市場帶來了巨大壓力。從一月開始，創紀錄數量的實體黃金從倫敦運往紐約。交貨週期延長，租賃費率大幅增加。

There are additional logistical delays due to the fact that [Comex] vaults will only take delivery of 100 ounces go bars while the London Bullion Market Association vaults hold 400 ounce bars. While this is all short term activity, it does demonstrate the fragility of the old system and the need for it to adapt to gold's larger role as a global reserve asset.

由於 [Comex] 金庫僅接收 100 盎司金條，而倫敦金銀市場協會金庫則可容納 400 盎司金條，因此造成了額外的物流延誤。雖然這都是短期活動，但它確實表明了舊體系的脆弱性以及它需要適應黃金作為全球儲備資產的更大作用。

For many critical materials, 2024 was a challenging year as investors struggled to gauge the impact of the Fed's interest rate pack, geopolitical tensions, and slowing demand from China. Spot uranium prices, as John mentioned, declined by 10.7% during the fourth quarter and closed the year down 19.7%.

對於許多關鍵材料而言，2024 年是充滿挑戰的一年，因為投資者難以評估聯準會利率方案、地緣政治緊張局勢以及中國需求放緩的影響。正如約翰所提到的，鈾現貨價格在第四季下跌了 10.7%，全年下跌了 19.7%。

After reaching record highs during the second quarter of 2024, copper bore the brunt of weakening Chinese demand, falling 20% from its peak close and to close the year up just 2.2%. Obviously, today's news is got made increased interest in copper as it becomes subject to potential tariffs as well.

銅價在 2024 年第二季達到歷史高點後，首當其沖地受到中國需求減弱的衝擊，較高峰下跌了 20%，年底僅上漲 2.2%。顯然，今天的新聞引起了人們對銅的興趣，因為銅也可能受到關稅的影響。

We expect further volatility in 2025. This evolving trade alliance. Appliances forced many countries to focus on security, of supply, and incentivizing domestic production to guard against an increasingly fragile global supply chain. Despite the near-term turbulence, we remain confident in our critical materials thesis, which is rooted in the growing global electrification.

我們預計 2025 年將出現進一步波動。這個不斷發展的貿易聯盟。家電迫使許多國家關注供應安全，並激勵國內生產以防範日益脆弱的全球供應鏈。儘管近期存在動盪，但我們仍然對關鍵材料理論充滿信心，該理論根植於日益增長的全球電氣化。

Western electricity demand is outpacing power production capacity. And aging grids must be upgraded to accommodate power intensive technologies like artificial intelligence. Massive amounts of critical materials will be required to achieve these goals. We continue to expand our exchange listed product offerings, launching three critical mineral strategies in 2024 and two new precious metals ETFs so far in 2025.

西部的電力需求超過了電力生產能力。老化的電網必須升級，以適應人工智慧等高耗能技術。要實現這些目標，需要大量關鍵材料。我們將繼續擴大交易所上市產品範圍，於 2024 年推出三種關鍵礦產策略，並於 2025 年推出兩款新的貴金屬 ETF。

Looking ahead, Sprott is well positioned for an uncertain future. Global central banks are clearly focused on reducing their reliance on US treasuries and have turned to gold instead. We expect this trend to accelerate and broaden with investor participation increasing. The recent turmoil in the metals markets has highlighted the importance of physical ownership, an area where Sprott offers best in class solutions to individual and institutional investors.

展望未來，斯普羅特已做好充分準備應對不確定的未來。全球各國央行顯然致力於減少對美國國債的依賴，轉而投資黃金。我們預計，隨著投資者參與度的提高，這一趨勢將會加速並擴大。近期金屬市場的動盪凸顯了實體所有權的重要性，Sprott 在這一領域為個人和機構投資者提供了一流的解決方案。

The realignment of global trade and the focus on energy security will create demand for critical materials produced in friendly jurisdictions. We are pleased to offer investors a range of unique strategies to capitalize on this powerful long-term trend.

全球貿易的重新調整和對能源安全的關注將產生對友善司法管轄區生產的關鍵材料的需求。我們很高興為投資者提供一系列獨特的策略來利用這一強勁的長期趨勢。

We have continued to invest in our sales and marketing capabilities to deliver our clients to the highest levels of client service while building our position as thought leaders in our core teams. We remain contrarian, innovative, and aligned, and that concludes our remarks for today's call. I'll now turn it back to the operator for Q&A. Operator?

我們持續投資於我們的銷售和行銷能力，為客戶提供最高水準的客戶服務，同時在核心團隊中建立思想領袖的地位。我們依然堅持逆向思維、創新精神和一致立場，這就是我們今天電話會議的演講。我現在將問題交還給接線員進行問答。操作員？

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝各位，女士們、先生們。（操作員指示）

Matthew Lee, Concord.

馬修李，康科德。

Hey, good morning, guys, answering my question. There's been a considerable pullback in uranium spot prices the last quarter. The trust continues to trade a bit of a discount to Nav. Can you talk about what your expectations are for the uranium market and spot prices in the next couple quarters?

嘿，大家早安，回答我的問題。上個季度鈾現貨價格大幅回落。該信託的交易價格繼續比資產淨值略有折扣。您能談談對未來幾季鈾市場和現貨價格的預期嗎？

Yeah, hey, good morning. I've just finished over 40 meetings with institutional investors down at the Bank of Montreal mining conference. So this has been a hot topic.

是的，嘿，早安。我剛剛在蒙特利爾銀行礦業會議上與機構投資者進行了 40 多次會議。因此這一直是個熱門話題。

What we think is really going on right now, if you want to break it into two parts is if you think about the term market, where utilities by uranium. It was kind of a mediocre year last year in terms of pounds contracted and if you think about what utilities are facing right now. It's a whole lot of uncertainty coming from multiple angles.

我們認為現在真正發生的事情是，如果你想把它分成兩部分，那就是如果你考慮術語市場，其中鈾的公用事業。如果你考慮一下公用事業公司目前面臨的情況，那麼從合約簽訂金額來看，去年是平庸的一年。有很多不確定性來自多個角度。

Potential changes to the Inflation Reduction Act is obviously a concern even though the current administration is very pro-nuclear. But we know all kinds of things are being tinkered with. Obviously, tariffs on uranium could become a meaningful cost increase for them. Remember the US requires about 47 million pounds of uranium each year. The US produces less than 1 million domestically. So they're hugely dependent on countries like Canada.

儘管現任政府非常支持核能，但《通膨削減法案》的潛在變化顯然令人擔憂。但我們知道各種各樣的事情都在被修改。顯然，對鈾徵收關稅可能會對他們的成本造成重大增加。請記住，美國每年需要約 4700 萬磅鈾。美國國內產量不到100萬輛。因此他們嚴重依賴加拿大等國家。

There could be retaliatory export taxes. And then finally, President Trump's recent coziness with President Putin is clearly creating some anxiety around what does this mean for the ban against Russian enriched uranium, how could that change the fuel cycle.

可能會徵收報復性出口稅。最後，川普總統最近與普丁總統的親密關係顯然引起了一些人的擔憂，這對俄羅斯濃縮鈾禁令意味著什麼，將如何改變燃料循環。

And with all of these uncertainties, I think it's fair to say that market participants are frozen waiting for some clarity. That is clearly creating downward pressure in the spot price where a lack of sellers where there's regular sellers. And one large seller that I mentioned. The buyers have really stepped to the sidelines until they get some more clarity. So unfortunately, the theme of the day, and it's not just uranium, it's obviously happening with physical markets across many different commodities. There's just a lot of uncertainty right now.

由於存在所有這些不確定性，我認為可以公平地說，市場參與者都在等待一些明確的消息。這顯然對現貨價格造成了下行壓力，因為有固定賣家，但賣家卻很少。還有我提到的一個大賣家。買家實際上已經退出市場，直到他們得到更清晰的訊息。因此不幸的是，今天的主題不僅僅是鈾，顯然它還發生在許多不同商品的實體市場上。目前存在著許多不確定性。

I would note that the price of uranium that is sitting in the United States right now is trading at a $2.50 premium over uranium sitting in Canada. So while there are no tariffs officially announced, the market is starting to build in some expectation. So until we get some clarity I think we're going to chop away here for the next quarter two.

我要指出的是，目前美國的鈾價比加拿大的鈾價高出 2.50 美元。因此，儘管尚未正式宣布關稅，但市場已開始形成一些預期。因此，在我們得到一些明確的訊息之前，我認為我們將在下個季度削減這些工作。

That's a great color. And then you mentioned the friendly jurisdictions a couple of times. Does that imply maybe a demand for an ETF that focuses on material producers and particular geographies?

顏色真棒。然後你幾次提到了友善管轄區。這是否意味著對專注於材料生產商和特定地區的 ETF 的需求？

Yeah, I mean, that's a good question. So I mean we used the when you use the term-friendly geography, I used to -- we obviously thought Canada was a friendly geography at one point to the US. But that's obviously changing with the threat of tariffs on all our commodities that the US buys. But putting that aside for a moment. Obviously what's happening is the tariffs are designed to try to incentivize reshoring or restarting of lost industries.

是的，我的意思是，這是一個好問題。所以我的意思是，當你使用友好地理這個術語時，我曾經——我們顯然認為加拿大曾經對美國來說是一個友好的地理。但隨著美國威脅對所有購買的我國商品徵收關稅，這種情況顯然正在改變。但暫時把這個放在一邊。顯然，徵收關稅的目的是為了激勵企業回流或重啟失去的產業。

Many lost industries include things like uranium mining, copper mining, et cetera the United States or processing of materials. And so if you can give your local producers a cost advantage and like I mentioned just a minute ago, that $2.50 spread for US domiciled uranium right now. It could go to a $5 or $6 premium. Could that give producers with higher cost structures in the United States, which they currently do relative to their counterpart mines in places like Canada, and Australia, and Kazakhstan.

許多消失的行業包括美國鈾礦開採、銅礦開採等或材料加工。因此，如果你能為當地生產商提供成本優勢，就像我剛才提到的那樣，現在美國鈾的價差為 2.50 美元。溢價可能會達到 5 美元或 6 美元。這是否會為美國生產商帶來更高的成本結構，目前美國生產商的成本結構相對於加拿大、澳洲和哈薩克等地的同業礦山而言更高。

Could that give them an advantage? Sure it could. Again, tariffs are unpredictable and tariffs can change. So that's the obviously the economic rationale around the tariffs.

這能給他們帶來優勢嗎？當然可以。再次強調，關稅是不可預測的，而且可能會改變。這顯然是關稅的經濟理由。

We'll see what happens right now. I think my message to investors is we're in a cloud of uncertainty and uncertainty is always worse than bad news. So it's almost like you need to rip the band-aid and move forward and to understand what the new rules of the game are going to be.

我們將看看現在會發生什麼。我想向投資者傳達的訊息是，我們正處於不確定性之中，不確定性總是比壞消息更糟。所以這幾乎就像你需要撕掉創可貼並繼續前進並了解新的遊戲規則是什麼。

Okay, I understand that's helpful. Then maybe just last one from me on comp ratio, obviously there's some points and takes there regarding fee levels. But it's pretty nice step down in Q4 for the year. Can you just talk about how that's trending for 2025 and how you see that going forward?

好的，我明白這很有幫助。那麼也許我最後要說的是關於補償比率，顯然在費用水平方面有一些要點和看法。但就今年第四季而言，這是一個相當不錯的降幅。您能否談談 2025 年的趨勢以及您如何看待未來的發展？

Hey Matt, Kevin here. So I would say it's fair to assume that we'd probably be in the somewhere ebbing and flowing in the mid- to high-40s range, through 2025.

嘿，馬特，我是凱文。因此，我可以合理地假設，到 2025 年，我們的經濟可能會處於 40 多度左右的波動範圍內。

All right, that's all for me. Thanks.

好的，我的就這些了。謝謝。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Mike Cusack, [Cann] FitzGerald.

麥克庫薩克、[坎恩]菲茨傑拉德。

Yeah. Good morning, everybody. Thanks for hosting the call. Just two questions from me. First one, so Bloomberg ran an article two days ago, I think it was two days ago, saying that physical gold ETFs. They posted their biggest week of net inflows in over two years last week, and I see that in the data that you guys post every day on the on the website on [Upper PHYS]. So I see you're seeing those inflows as well.

是的。大家早安。感謝您主持此次電話會議。我只問兩個問題。首先，彭博社兩天前發表了一篇文章，我想是兩天前，說的是實體黃金 ETF。他們上周公布了兩年多來最大的單週淨流入量，我從你們每天在網站上發布的數據中看到了這一點[上層物理]。所以我發現你也看到了這些流入。

My first question is do you have any way to gauge kind of geographically where and maybe by what type of investor that demand is coming from? Like, is it, are you seeing most inflows from US buyers or Europe and to your best estimation. Is it mostly retail at this stage or are you seeing some real chunky institutions?

我的第一個問題是，您是否有辦法從地理位置判斷這種需求來自哪裡以及來自哪種類型的投資者？例如，您是否看到大部分資金流入來自美國買家還是歐洲買家，以及您對此的最佳估計。目前這個階段主要是零售業還是您看到一些真正的大型機構？

Yeah, hi Mike. It's John. Yeah, I mean getting ETF data is not the easiest in terms of, the transparency of where the flows are coming from. And you raised some really good points that gold ETFs have finally gone into net inflows.

是的，嗨，麥克。是約翰。是的，我的意思是，從資金流來源的透明度來看，取得 ETF 數據並不是最容易的。您提出的一些非常好的觀點是，黃金 ETF 最終已實現淨流入。

They were largely in net outflows for most of last year as people were really not paying attention and nd chasing things like Mag-seven stocks. That has clearly changed the sentiments changed, the price actions changed, and we're starting to see some trend building in the gold ETFs back into net sales.

去年大部分時間，它們基本上處於淨流出狀態，因為人們真的沒有關注它們，而是追逐諸如 Mag-seven 股票之類的股票。這顯然改變了人們的情緒，改變了價格行為，我們開始看到黃金 ETF 重回淨銷售額的趨勢。

US institutions last year were the biggest sellers of gold ETS. Because quite frankly everything else was working for them, so why bother with gold? Obviously, the mindset right now given all the uncertainty politically, geopolitically, trade wars and tariffs, et cetera, et cetera. Are now causing people to rethink potential risks and whether they need to have some physical goals in their portfolio has bounced.

美國機構是去年黃金 ETS 的最大賣家。因為坦白說，其他一切都對他們有用，所以為什麼還要費心去追求黃金呢？顯然，考慮到政治、地緣政治、貿易戰和關稅等方面的種種不確定性，目前的心態就是如此。現在正在促使人們重新考慮潛在的風險以及他們是否需要在他們的投資組合中設定一些實體目標。

And I think it's a very good sign we're clearly at Sprott seeing renewed interest in our gold products. We had a very good capital raising day the other day and on the silver side again it's a hybrid metal, so it's not going to have the exact attributes. But you know we're starting to see some inflows and on the silver side as well across the industry which up until recently has been just steady net outflow so. Price action and ETF flows don't always correlate the way you would think.

我認為這是一個非常好的跡象，我們顯然看到 Sprott 對我們的黃金產品重新產生了興趣。前幾天我們有一個非常好的融資日，而白銀又是一種混合金屬，因此它不會具有完全相同的屬性。但你知道，我們開始看到一些資金流入，而且整個產業的白銀方面也是如此，直到最近，一直都是穩定的淨流出。價格行為和 ETF 流動並不總是像您想像的那樣相關。

But we think it's the start of a rotation, as these risks and all these uncertainties. And things that we've highlighted, investors are starting to think very differently about risks in the portfolio and gold. Historically in these periods of market dislocation or calamity, again, not promising anything. But historically, gold has done very well on a relative basis.

但我們認為這是一個輪換的開始，因為有這些風險和不確定性。正如我們所強調的，投資者開始以不同的方式看待投資組合和黃金的風險。從歷史上看，在市場混亂或災難時期，同樣不會有任何希望。但從歷史上看，黃金的表現相對良好。

Okay, that's helpful. And then maybe as a follow up on that just because you brought it up earlier in the call, you're down at [Vemo]. It sounds like most of the investors you were chatting with are still talking to you about the uranium side as opposed to the precious side that fair assessment at this stage?

好的，這很有幫助。然後也許作為後續，因為你在通話中早些時候提到了這一點，你[Vair]。聽起來，與您交談的大多數投資者仍在與您談論鈾方面，而不是現階段公平評估的貴金屬方面？

Yeah. I think I'm here specifically to talk about uranium. But naturally the discussion is cascaded into precious metals and copper as well and what's going on in the world. It's interesting because last year, I would say the focal point of the conference was uranium, the year before that it was lithium, and for two years gold was kind of in the in the shadows.

是的。我想我來這裡是為了專門談鈾。但討論自然也涉及到貴金屬和銅以及世界上正在發生的事情。這很有趣，因為去年，我想說會議的焦點是鈾，前年是鋰，兩年來黃金一直處於陰影之中。

Clearly, there's a lot more interest right now going on in the gold market given it's at all-time highs and. And that many of these gold companies are well positioned here to capture that operating leverage. So the tone is definitely more buoyant on the gold side, but uranium remains a very intriguing long term investment for any of these institutions. Because they do believe that a nuclear renaissance is underway. It is a slow moving, as we know, glacial kind of target.

顯然，鑑於黃金市場目前處於歷史最高水平，人們對其的興趣大大增加。許多黃金公司都已做好充分準備，可以利用這種經營槓桿。因此，黃金的基調肯定更加樂觀，但對於任何一家機構來說，鈾仍然是一項非常有趣的長期投資。因為他們確實相信核復興正在進行中。我們知道，這是一個緩慢移動的冰川式目標。

But they firmly believe that the supply demand. Imbalance that we're dealing with has to be solved through higher prices and that's why I think many institutions remain very well positioned in in the Iranian space.

但他們堅信供給大於需求。我們所面臨的不平衡問題必須透過提高價格來解決，這就是為什麼我認為許多機構在伊朗市場仍然佔據著非常有利的地位。

Okay, and then last one for me. And you kind of front ran this one a little bit because you mentioned $2.50 per pound premium for uranium sitting at [Converdine]. I know you guys store a lot of material there.

好的，這是我的最後一個問題。你有點領先了，因為你提到鈾的溢價是每磅 2.50 美元，[康弗丁]。我知道你們在那裡存放了很多材料。

So my final question is, could you, would you, and to what extent would you feel comfortable putting location swaps on to raise some capital in the trust that way.

所以我的最後一個問題是，您是否願意，以及在多大程度上願意透過地點互換來以這種方式為信託籌集一些資金。

Yeah, that's a really great question. And obviously we're contingency planning for all kinds of outcomes. And one of them that we've been thinking very seriously about is the strategic value of our stockpile of uranium held in the US, which is about 25% of the trust or about 16 million pounds. That is obviously has the potential to trade theoretically at a $5 or $6 premium over the rest of the market. And we would absolutely look to optimize that value through location swaps which we've done historically in the past that could be a very nice kind of win and bump to our Nav if we could do that.

是的，這是一個非常好的問題。顯然，我們正在為各種結果制定應急計劃。其中我們一直在認真考慮的是我們在美國持有的鈾儲備的戰略價值，這約佔信託的 25%，約 1,600 萬磅。從理論上講，這顯然有可能比市場上其他產品高出 5 美元或 6 美元。我們絕對會尋求透過位置交換來優化該價值，我們過去曾這樣做過，如果我們能做到這一點，這可能是一種非常好的勝利，並會提升我們的導航價值。

Okay, that's it for me, very helpful. I'll turn it over.

好的，對我來說就是這樣，非常有幫助。我把它翻過來。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Michael McHugh, B Securities.

邁克爾·麥克休，B 證券。

Hi, good morning. Just it looks like your base I but the margins came up almost just over 100 basis points in 2024. And just wondering what you think, if that level of expansion is doable again in '25 or '26? And what your forecast might be for those margins for the next two years?

嗨，早安。看起來就像您的基準 I，但到 2024 年利潤率幾乎上升了 100 個基點。我只是想知道您認為在 25 年或 26 年是否還能再次實現這種程度的擴張？您對未來兩年的利潤率有何預測？

Mike, thanks for that. We don't provide forecasts of earnings or margins. But what I can say is there's definitely ample operating leverage in the model to see this number continue to rise at least for the remainder of this year.

麥克，謝謝你。我們不提供收益或利潤的預測。但我可以說的是，該模型中肯定有足夠的營運槓桿，至少在今年剩餘時間內，這個數字將繼續上升。

Okay, great, thanks. And just also now that you're debt-free plans for excess cash flow through 2025.

好的，太好了，謝謝。而且現在您已經無債務，並計劃在 2025 年實現超額現金流。

So we've been a dividend payer for a long time and plan to continue that. So that's one source. As I've said, we've been opportunistic from time to time to buy our own shares back and we'll continue to do that and we have a couple of smallish opportunities that might come to fruition along the way.

因此，我們長期以來一直是股息支付者，並計劃繼續這樣做。這是一個來源。正如我所說的，我們時不時地抓住機會回購自己的股票，我們將繼續這樣做，而且我們有幾個小機會可能會在過程中實現。

And we'll continue to see new products. Nothing on the private side, in the first part of the year. But the team has a very good record. And we might have an opportunity down the road to do our next .

我們將繼續看到新產品。今年上半年，私人方面沒有任何進展。但這支球隊的戰績非常出色。我們可能有機會做下一個。

So lots of uses we're not a money market fund so we're not going to sit on a pile of cash. But we're going to return it as shareholders as prudently as we see fit and try and continue to grow our business.

因此，在許多用途上，我們不是貨幣市場基金，所以我們不會坐擁大量現金。但我們將以股東身份謹慎地返還股份，並努力繼續發展我們的業務。

Great, thanks. And just one final quick one if I may. Just how flows are looking Q1 '25 to date. Obviously, we're 2/3 of the way through the quarter now. And, just sort of what the overall flows picture looks like and then maybe if any particular products are standing out on that front? And that'll be all for me thanks.

太好了，謝謝。如果可以的話，我最後再快速問一句。截至目前，2025 年第一季的流量狀況如何。顯然，我們現在已經完成了本季的 2/3。那麼，整體流程圖是什麼樣的呢？是否有任何特定的產品在這方面脫穎而出？非常感謝！

Yeah, hi, it's John. Obviously the physical gold trusts, given the price action we're seeing in gold and in its role as a portfolio diversifier. I think is where we're seeing the most traction and the most global flows across the whole suite of funds. So the way it's trading right now very tight to its net asset value is a very strong signal in terms of investor interest, which positions us very well to raise capital when we get these intraday moves. So I would say that that's going to be our go-to fund it would be nice to get silver kind of going as well. They usually work together in tandem.

是的，嗨，我是約翰。顯然，鑑於我們所看到的黃金價格走勢以及其作為投資組合多元化工具的作用，實體黃金信託是值得信賴的。我認為這是我們在整個基金系列中看到的最具吸引力和最全球化的流動。因此，目前的交易方式與其淨資產價值非常接近，這對投資者的興趣來說是一個非常強烈的信號，當我們獲得這些盤中波動時，這使我們能夠很好地籌集資金。所以我想說，這將是我們的首選基金，如果能獲得白銀的支持那就太好了。他們通常齊心協力地工作。

It's been a little quieter, but it feels as though it's positioning itself to join the party. Unfortunately, uranium, given the very different market dynamics and all the geopolitical risks that it's dealing with right now seems to be a little bit on the sidelines. So gold and silver would be my guess in terms of where we're going to see the most interest.

現在它稍微安靜了一些，但感覺好像它正在為加入派對做準備。不幸的是，鑑於截然不同的市場動態以及目前面臨的所有地緣政治風險，鈾似乎有點處於邊緣地位。因此，我猜測，黃金和白銀是我們最感興趣的。

Great, thanks very much guys.

太好了，非常感謝大家。

Thank you. I'm not showing any further questions in the queue. I will not send a call back over to Mr. George for any closing remarks.

謝謝。我不會在隊列中顯示任何其他問題。我不會再打電話給喬治先生讓他做任何結束語。

Thank you, and thank you everyone for participating in this call. We appreciate your interest in Sprott and look forward to speaking to you again after our first quarter year on results. Have a great day. Thanks.

謝謝大家，也感謝大家參加這次電話會議。我們感謝您對 Sprott 的關注，並期待在第一季業績公佈後再次與您交談。祝你有美好的一天。謝謝。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating, and 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了。