Timken Co (TKR) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning all. My name is Lydia, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to Timken's First Quarter Earnings Release Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Ms. Elmblad, you may begin your conference.

大家早安。我叫莉迪亞，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。此時此刻，我謹歡迎大家參加鐵姆肯公司第一季財報發布電話會議。 （操作員指示）Elmblad 女士，您可以開始會議了。

Thanks, Lydia, and welcome, everyone, to our first quarter 2024 earnings conference call. This is Meghan Elmblad, Interim Manager of Investor Relations for The Timken Company. We appreciate you joining us today.

謝謝 Lydia，歡迎大家參加我們的 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。我是梅根·埃爾姆布拉德 (Meghan Elmblad)，鐵姆肯公司投資者關係臨時經理。我們感謝您今天加入我們。

Before we begin our remarks this morning, I want to point out that we have posted presentation materials on the company's website that we will reference as part of today's review of the quarterly results. You can also access this material through the download feature on the earnings call webcast link. With me today are The Timken Company's President and CEO, Rich Kyle; and Phil Fracassa, our Chief Financial Officer. We will have opening comments this morning from both Rich and Phil before we open up the call for your questions. During the Q&A, I would ask that you please limit your questions to one question and one follow-up at a time to allow everyone a chance to participate.

在我們今天早上開始發言之前，我想指出，我們已經在公司網站上發布了演示材料，我們將在今天的季度業績審查中引用這些材料。您也可以透過財報電話會議網路廣播連結上的下載功能存取此資料。今天與我在一起的有鐵姆肯公司總裁兼執行長 Rich Kyle；和我們的財務長 Phil Fracassa。今天早上，在我們開始詢問您的問題之前，我們將聽取里奇和菲爾的開場評論。在問答過程中，我想請大家將問題限制在一個問題和一個後續問題上，以便讓每個人都有機會參與。

During today's call, you may hear forward-looking statements related to our future financial results, plans and business operations. Our actual results may differ materially from those projected or implied due to a variety of factors, which we describe in greater detail in today's press release and in our reports filed with the SEC, which are available on the timken.com website. We have included reconciliations between non-GAAP financial information and its GAAP equivalent in the press release and presentation materials.

在今天的電話會議中，您可能會聽到與我們未來財務表現、計劃和業務運營相關的前瞻性聲明。由於多種因素，我們的實際結果可能與預測或暗示的結果有重大差異，我們在今天的新聞稿和向SEC 提交的報告（可在timken.com 網站上取得）中對此進行了更詳細的描述。我們在新聞稿和簡報資料中納入了非 GAAP 財務資訊與其 GAAP 同等財務資訊之間的調整表。

Today's call is copyrighted by The Timken Company and without expressed written consent, we prohibit any use, recording or transmission of any portion of the call.

現今的通話版權歸鐵姆肯公司所有，未經明確書面同意，我們禁止使用、錄製或傳輸通話的任何部分。

With that, I would like to thank you for your interest in The Timken Company, and I will now turn the call over to Rich.

在此，我要感謝您對鐵姆肯公司的興趣，現在我將把電話轉給 Rich。

Thanks, Meghan. Good morning, and thank you for joining our call. Timken delivered a solid first quarter with organic revenue in line with the industrial market conditions and strong margin performance. Our results continue to demonstrate the strength and diversity of Timken's portfolio and the successful execution of our strategy. Revenue was down 9% organically from last year's record first quarter, driven by the significant decline in wind energy in China that began mid last year.

謝謝，梅根。早安，感謝您加入我們的通話。鐵姆肯公司第一季業績穩健，有機收入符合工業市場狀況，利潤率表現強勁。我們的業績繼續證明了鐵姆肯公司產品組合的實力和多樣性以及我們策略的成功執行。由於去年年中開始的中國風能大幅下滑，營收較去年創紀錄的第一季有機下降了 9%。

To frame up the impact of wind, organic revenue would have been down less than 4%, excluding wind. I'll talk more about wind in a moment. While organic revenue increased around 8% sequentially from the fourth quarter. We attribute that to normal seasonality. In aggregate, we didn't see any significant strengthening of markets or orders to start the year. Across that 4%, most other markets were down as the softness that started in the second half of last year continued through the first quarter. Notable exceptions included aerospace, rail services in India, all of which were up from prior year. Including acquisitions and currency, revenue was down less than 6%.

為了反映風能的影響，不包括風能在內，有機收入將下降不到 4%。稍後我將詳細討論風。而有機收入較第四季連續成長約 8%。我們將其歸因於正常的季節性。總的來說，我們沒有看到年初市場或訂單出現任何顯著走強。在這 4% 中，大多數其他市場都出現下滑，因為去年下半年開始的疲軟狀態一直持續到第一季。值得注意的例外包括印度的航空航天和鐵路服務，所有這些服務都比上年有所增長。包括收購和貨幣在內，收入下降了不到 6%。

First quarter cash flow was seasonably weak, but this will increase through the year, and we remain confident in the cash generation of the business. EBITDA margins of 20.7% were down just 30 basis points from last year despite the organic revenue decline. There were several contributing factors to margins that I'd like to highlight. First, we have made significant progress over the last decade to diversify and steadily improve The Timken portfolio, which continues to result in greater performance in both the top and bottom lines. This includes the 6 acquisitions we completed last year, which contributed positively to the results in the quarter.

第一季現金流季節性疲軟，但全年都會增加，我們對業務的現金產生能力仍然充滿信心。儘管有機收入下降，但 EBITDA 利潤率為 20.7%，僅比去年下降了 30 個基點。我想強調幾個影響利潤率的因素。首先，過去十年來，我們在多元化和穩步改進鐵姆肯公司產品組合方面取得了重大進展，這將繼續在營收和利潤方面帶來更高的業績。這包括我們去年完成的 6 項收購，這些收購為本季的業績做出了積極貢獻。

Second, we are benefiting from our investments in operational excellence and other self-help initiatives. Our Mexico operation is one example. The bearing plant ramped up through last year is now performing well and contributing to year-over-year results. Acquisition synergies are also helping margins. Margins are up at several of our recent acquisitions, including Spinea, American Roller Bearing, and GGB as we have successfully delivered cost synergies across the portfolio. Mix and price are also contributing to margins. We came into the year expecting price to be modestly positive for the full year, less than 1%.

其次，我們受惠於對卓越營運和其他自助措施的投資。我們的墨西哥業務就是一個例子。去年擴建的軸承工廠目前表現良好，並為同比業績做出了貢獻。收購綜效也有助於提高利潤率。我們最近收購的幾家公司（包括 Spinea、American Roller Bearing 和 GGB）的利潤率有所上升，因為我們成功地在整個投資組合中實現了成本協同效應。組合和價格也對利潤率有所貢獻。進入今年，我們預計全年價格將小幅上漲，不到 1%。

We started the year well, and we still expect full year price to be positive. We also expect price cost to be modestly positive for the full year as the pace of inflation, particularly in raw material and logistics has eased.

我們今年開局良好，我們仍然預計全年價格將為正值。我們也預計，隨著通膨步伐（尤其是原物料和物流通膨）放緩，全年價格成本將小幅上漲。

And finally, we've been steadily improving operating performance the last 2 years as we've come out of COVID, supply chain and inflation issues. We sequentially improved each quarter last year, and we continued to improve into the start of 2024. We're operating much better today than we were a year ago. And when I would say that our supply chains are back to pre-COVID levels.

最後，隨著我們擺脫了新冠疫情、供應鏈和通膨問題，過去兩年我們的營運表現一直在穩步提高。去年我們每個季度都取得了連續改進，並且到 2024 年初我們繼續改進。當我想說我們的供應鏈回到了新冠疫情之前的水平。

We also have great focus on continuing this momentum through our CapEx spend and our operational excellence initiatives. We are also continuing to adjust our cost levels to the realities of the demand. We lowered our headcount by about 8% through the course of last year, and we lowered another 2% during the first quarter. Earnings per share of $1.77 was down 15% from last year's record quarter. $1.77 marks the fourth highest quarter in company history, both the earnings as well as the 20.7% EBITDA margins in the face of a 9% decline in organic volume reflect the strength and diversity of the portfolio, excellent execution and the impact of years of consistent and effective capital allocation.

我們也非常注重透過資本支出和卓越營運計劃來延續這一勢頭。我們也將繼續根據需求的實際情況調整成本水準。去年我們減少了約 8% 的員工人數，第一季又減少了 2%。每股收益 1.77 美元，比去年創紀錄的季度下降 15%。 1.77 美元標誌著公司歷史上第四高的季度，在有機銷量下降9% 的情況下，盈利以及20.7% 的EBITDA 利潤率反映了投資組合的實力和多樣性、出色的執行力以及多年來一致的影響和有效的資本配置。

The first quarter was a good start to the year in a challenging market environment. To add more color to the biggest challenge in our markets, I'll expand on our wind energy results. We signaled mid last year that after several years of very strong growth, we saw a significant decline in forward demand. While I won't share the specific figure, our wind revenue was down over 50% in the quarter from last year's record level. The demand situation has stabilized at this level, but we do not see any imminent catalyst to return to growth, and our full year guidance doesn't reflect any improvement in the market through the course of the year.

在充滿挑戰的市場環境中，第一季是今年的良好開局。為了讓我們市場中最大的挑戰增添更多色彩，我將詳細介紹我們的風能成果。我們去年年中表示，經過幾年的強勁成長，我們看到遠期需求大幅下降。雖然我不會透露具體數字，但本季我們的風電收入比去年的創紀錄水準下降了 50% 以上。需求情況已穩定在這一水平，但我們沒有看到任何迫在眉睫的恢復成長的催化劑，而且我們的全年指引並未反映出市場在這一年中出現任何改善。

Again, the market appears to have stabilized. We don't expect further erosion in the market and the comps get significantly easier in the third quarter, but we do not expect the remainder of the year to sequentially improve. Longer term, we still believe in the growth of the global wind energy market, the value of our technology in making wind a reliable and cost-effective source of energy, the aftermarket potential of servicing our installed base and our ability to profitably win in the wind market long term.

市場似乎再次穩定下來。我們預計市場不會進一步受到侵蝕，第三季的競爭將變得更加容易，但我們預計今年剩餘時間不會持續改善。從長遠來看，我們仍然相信全球風能市場的成長、我們的技術在使風能成為可靠且具有成本效益的能源方面的價值、為我們的裝機基礎提供服務的售後市場潛力以及我們在風能領域獲利的能力。

I'd also like to point out that we absorbed a steep decline in wind revenue and the associated cost issues in the first quarter and still delivered 20.7% EBITDA margins.

我還想指出的是，我們在第一季吸收了風電收入急劇下降和相關成本問題的影響，但仍實現了 20.7% 的 EBITDA 利潤率。

Turning to the rest of the outlook. We are modestly increasing the outlook for the remainder of the year for revenue, margins and earnings per share, but we are continuing to take a cautious outlook on second half revenue. Sequentially, off the first quarter, we're planning for flattish revenue in Q2 and then seasonal declines in the second half of the year. From a year-over-year perspective, the comps get significantly easier in the third and fourth quarters.

轉向其餘的展望。我們適度提高了今年剩餘時間的收入、利潤率和每股盈餘的前景，但我們繼續對下半年的收入持謹慎態度。接下來，我們計劃在第一季之後實現第二季收入持平，然後在下半年出現季節性下降。從同比的角度來看，第三季和第四季的比較變得更加容易。

We will continue to adjust our operating costs and inventory levels down with the revenue. We expect to deliver good margins for the year despite the general market softness and we expect to deliver a step-up in cash flow through the rest of the year. If markets are stronger than we're expecting, we will be able to pivot and capitalize as we've done before.

我們將繼續根據收入調整營運成本和庫存水準。儘管市場總體疲軟，但我們預計今年仍將實現良好的利潤率，並且預計今年剩餘時間內現金流將增加。如果市場強於我們的預期，我們將能夠像以前一樣進行調整和資本化。

Looking at the longer-term outlook, we remain confident in the growth potential for our portfolio, and we will continue to invest in our growth and margin initiatives. For example, we're advancing our digital capabilities. We completed 2 ERP upgrades in the first quarter and introduce new digital selling tools for distributors. We also recently announced the expansion of our Mexico operation and the consolidation of several smaller manufacturing facilities to optimize our footprint. Six acquisitions completed last year are performing well, and we continue to drive both revenue and cost synergies across all of the recent acquisitions.

著眼於長期前景，我們對投資組合的成長潛力仍然充滿信心，我們將繼續投資於我們的成長和利潤計劃。例如，我們正在提升我們的數位能力。我們在第一季完成了兩次 ERP 升級，並為經銷商引入了新的數位銷售工具。我們最近也宣布擴大墨西哥業務並整合幾個較小的製造工廠，以優化我們的足跡。去年完成的六項收購表現良好，我們將繼續推動最近所有收購的營收和成本綜效。

Our application engineering pipeline remains active as customers continue to invest in their next generation of equipment. Customers turn to Timken as a development partner in advancing and differentiating their equipment designs and as further support of that, Timken was recently recognized as being one of the World's Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company.

隨著客戶繼續投資下一代設備，我們的應用工程管道仍然活躍。客戶將鐵姆肯公司作為開發合作夥伴，以推進其設備設計並實現差異化，作為對此的進一步支持，鐵姆肯公司最近被 Fast Company 評為全球最具創新力的公司之一。

Additionally, our portfolio is well positioned today to capitalize on several secular growth trends, including infrastructure spend, reshoring, defense, automation and sustainability. We will also continue to create value through strong cash generation and the disciplined allocation of capital to CapEx, the dividend, M&A and share repurchases. Our debt levels are about at the midpoint of our targeted leverage range and when 2024 and '25 cash flow are factored in, we have ample capacity to continue to add value through capital allocation with a bias to M&A.

此外，我們的投資組合目前處於有利位置，可以利用多種長期成長趨勢，包括基礎設施支出、回流、國防、自動化和永續性。我們也將繼續透過強勁的現金產生和嚴格的資本支出、股利、併購和股票回購資本分配來創造價值。我們的債務水準約為目標槓桿範圍的中點，當考慮到 2024 年和 25 年現金流時，我們有足夠的能力繼續透過偏向併購的資本配置增加價值。

Before I turn it over to Phil, I also want to comment on the upcoming CEO transition. The Board is excited to welcome to Tarak Mehta as Timken's next CEO in September. Tarak brings significant experience in global industrial markets, strong leadership skills and a proven track record of creating value for all stakeholders. He will inherit a market-leading franchise that is both delivering results today and is poised for further growth in the future. He will also assume leadership of an executive team with a proven track record that is supported by 19,000 committed Timken employees around the world. We'll provide more information about Tarak, and the leadership transition as we near September. Until then, we remain focused on delivering for our shareholders through the current market softness, while positioning for a return to growth.

在將其交給菲爾之前，我還想對即將到來的執行長換屆發表評論。董事會很高興歡迎塔拉克梅塔 (Tarak Mehta) 於 9 月擔任鐵姆肯公司的下一任執行長。塔拉克帶來了全球工業市場的豐富經驗、強大的領導能力以及為所有利益相關者創造價值的良好記錄。他將繼承市場領先的特許經營權，該特許經營權既在今天取得了成果，又在未來取得了進一步的成長。他還將領導一支擁有良好業績記錄的執行團隊，並得到全球 19,000 名忠誠的鐵姆肯員工的支持。臨近 9 月，我們將提供有關塔拉克以及領導層換屆的更多資訊。在此之前，我們將繼續專注於在當前市場疲軟的情況下為股東提供服務，同時為恢復成長做好準備。

We remain committed to achieving the company's long-term financial targets and in scaling Timken as a diversified global industrial leader. Phil?

我們始終致力於實現公司的長期財務目標，並將鐵姆肯公司打造成多元化的全球產業領導者。菲爾？

Okay. Thanks, Rich, and good morning, everyone. For the financial review, I'm going to start on Slide 10 of the presentation materials, with a summary of our solid first quarter results, which further demonstrate the strength of Timken's business model and earnings power through dynamic environments. We posted revenue of just under $1.2 billion in the quarter, down 5.7% from last year.

好的。謝謝里奇，大家早安。對於財務審查，我將從簡報資料的第 10 張投影片開始，概述我們第一季的穩健業績，這進一步證明了鐵姆肯公司業務模式的實力以及在動態環境中的獲利能力。我們本季的營收略低於 12 億美元，比去年下降 5.7%。

First quarter adjusted EBITDA margin came in at 20.7%, down only 30 basis points year-over-year. We delivered adjusted earnings per share of $1.77 in the quarter.

第一季調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 20.7%，年比僅下降 30 個基點。本季調整後每股收益為 1.77 美元。

Turning to Slide 11. Let's take a closer look at our first quarter sales performance. Organically, sales were down 9.2% from last year as continued positive pricing was more than offset by lower demand across multiple sectors, with wind energy experiencing the most significant decline in the quarter. If we exclude the decline in wind energy, our organic revenue would have been down less than 4%.

轉向投影片 11。從有機角度來看，銷售額比去年下降了 9.2%，因為持續的積極定價被多個行業的需求下降所抵消，其中風能在本季度經歷了最顯著的下降。如果排除風能的下降，我們的有機收入將下降不到 4%。

Looking at the rest of the revenue walk. The impact from the 6 acquisitions we completed last year, net of the one divestiture contributed 4 percentage points of growth to the top line while foreign currency translation was a slight negative in the quarter.

看看其餘的收入狀況。扣除一項資產剝離後，我們去年完成的 6 項收購的影響為營收成長貢獻了 4 個百分點，而本季的外幣換算略有下降。

On the right-hand side of the slide, you can see organic growth by region, which excludes both currency and net acquisition impact. Let me comment briefly on each region.

在幻燈片的右側，您可以看到按地區劃分的有機成長，其中排除了貨幣和淨收購的影響。讓我簡要評論一下每個地區。

In the Americas, our largest region, we were down 4% against last year's strong first quarter. Most sectors were lower year-over-year, led by off-highway, while services and aerospace were both notably up. In Asia Pacific, we were down 21%, driven by China, which saw the significant decline in wind energy that Rich talked about earlier. This was partially offset by double-digit growth in India, on strong rail and industrial demand.

在我們最大的地區美洲，我們的業績比去年強勁的第一季下降了 4%。大多數產業較去年同期下降，其中非公路業領漲，而服務業和航空航太產業則顯著上漲。在亞太地區，受中國風能大幅下降的推動，我們下降了 21%。印度強勁的鐵路和工業需求帶來了兩位數的成長，部分抵消了這一影響。

And finally, we were down 9% in EMEA as most sectors were lower, particularly in Western Europe, with off-highway and general industrial posting the largest declines while services was up.

最後，歐洲、中東和非洲地區的股價下跌了 9%，因為大多數產業都走低，尤其是西歐，非公路和一般工業跌幅最大，而服務業則上漲。

Turning to Slide 12. Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter was $246 million or 20.7% of sales, compared to $266 million or 21% of sales last year. Our strong margin performance reflects positive price/cost and strong execution, which mitigated the impact of lower organic volume in the quarter. Looking at the decrease in adjusted EBITDA dollars, You can see that it was driven by lower volume, offset in large part by favorable price mix, lower material and logistics costs, favorable manufacturing and SG&A and the benefit of acquisitions.

轉向投影片 12。我們強勁的利潤率表現反映了積極的價格/成本和強勁的執行力，減輕了本季有機銷售下降的影響。看看調整後EBITDA 美元的下降，您可以看到這是由於銷售下降造成的，但在很大程度上被有利的價格組合、較低的材料和物流成本、有利的製造和銷售、一般管理費用以及收購的好處所抵銷。

Let me comment a little further on some of the key profitability drivers in the quarter. With respect to price mix, net pricing exceeded 100 basis points in the quarter and was positive in both segments. This was in line with our expectations. Mix was also positive as several of our higher-margin businesses outperformed others on the top line in the quarter.

讓我進一步評論本季的一些關鍵獲利驅動因素。就價格組合而言，本季淨定價超過 100 個基點，且兩個細分市場均呈正值。這符合我們的預期。混合也很積極，因為我們的幾項利潤率較高的業務在本季的營收表現優於其他業務。

Moving to material and logistics costs. Material was lower year-over-year, while logistics was slightly higher due in part to the shipping situation in the Suez Canal.

轉向材料和物流成本。材料較去年同期下降，而物流略有上升，部分原因是蘇伊士運河的運輸情況。

In manufacturing, you can see that we delivered a modest year-over-year benefit in the quarter despite continued labor inflation. This was driven by improved productivity, targeted cost actions, lower utility costs and a favorable inventory change impact.

在製造業中，您可以看到，儘管勞動力通膨持續存在，但我們在本季度實現了適度的同比效益。這是由於生產力提高、有針對性的成本行動、公用事業成本降低以及有利的庫存變化影響而推動的。

Looking at the SG&A other line. Costs were down from last year, driven by lower incentive compensation accruals and reduced spending to align with the lower demand. This more than offset the impact of continued labor inflation.

看看 SG&A 其他線。由於應計激勵薪酬下降以及為調適需求下降而減少的支出，成本較去年下降。這足以抵消持續勞動力通膨的影響。

And finally, on acquisitions, I would point out that acquisitions net of divestitures contributed $13 million of adjusted EBITDA in the quarter or a 26% margin on the net acquisition revenue, as our recent acquisitions performed well on both the top and bottom lines.

最後，關於收購，我要指出的是，扣除資產剝離後的收購在本季度貢獻了1300 萬美元的調整後EBITDA，即淨收購收入的26% 利潤率，因為我們最近的收購在營收和利潤方面均表現良好。

On Slide 13, you can see that we posted net income of $104 million or $1.46 per diluted share for the first quarter on a GAAP basis compared to $1.67 last year. The current period includes $0.31 of net expense from special items, which is comprised mainly of deal amortization expense.

在投影片 13 上，您可以看到我們發布的第一季淨利潤為 1.04 億美元，即按照 GAAP 計算每股攤薄收益 1.46 美元，而去年為 1.67 美元。本期包括 0.31 美元的特殊項目淨費用，主要由交易攤銷費用組成。

On an adjusted basis, we earned $1.77 per share compared to $2.09 per share last year.

調整後的每股收益為 1.77 美元，而去年為每股 2.09 美元。

Let me touch on some of the below-the-line items, if you will. Interest expense in the first quarter was $7 million higher year-over-year as we expected, while our diluted share count was over 3% lower, reflecting our net buyback activity over the past 12 months. Our adjusted tax rate for the quarter came in at 27%, up from last year, driven by the net unfavorable impact of our geographic mix of earnings and other items.

如果您願意的話，讓我談談一些線下的項目。正如我們預期的那樣，第一季的利息支出比去年同期增加了 700 萬美元，而稀釋後的股票數量減少了 3% 以上，這反映了我們過去 12 個月的淨回購活動。我們本季調整後的稅率為 27%，高於去年，這是由於我們的收入和其他項目的地理組合的淨不利影響所致。

And finally, depreciation expense was up slightly in the quarter versus last year as well as noncontrolling interest.

最後，本季折舊費用以及非控股利息與去年相比略有上升。

Now let's move to our business segment results, starting with Engineered Bearings on Slide 14. In the first quarter, Engineered Bearing sales were $803 million, down 10.9% from last year. Organically, sales were down 10.3%, driven by lower demand across most sectors, offset by higher pricing.

現在讓我們看看我們的業務部門業績，從幻燈片 14 上的工程軸承開始。整體而言，銷售額下降了 10.3%，原因是大多數行業的需求下降，但被較高的定價所抵消。

With respect to performance by sector, renewable energy saw the largest decline in the quarter against a difficult comp last year. Other sectors were mixed. Off-highway, distribution and general and heavy industrial were lower, while on the positive side, rail, aerospace and on-highway auto and truck were all up versus last year.

就各產業的表現而言，再生能源在本季的跌幅最大，而去年則表現不佳。其他板塊漲跌互現。非公路、分銷以及一般和重工業的銷量較低，而從積極的一面來看，鐵路、航空航天和公路汽車和卡車的銷量均較去年有所上升。

Currency was a headwind to revenue of almost 1%, all acquisitions, net of the TWB divestiture was just slightly favorable.

匯率對收入造成了近 1% 的阻力，所有收購（扣除 TWB 剝離後）都只是略微有利。

Engineered Bearings adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter was $181 million compared to $204 million last year, with margins of 22.6% in both periods. We delivered very strong margin performance in the quarter as favorable price/cost and strong execution fully offset the impact of lower organic volume from a margin perspective.

Engineered Bearings 在第一季調整後 EBITDA 為 1.81 億美元，去年同期為 2.04 億美元，兩個時期的利潤率為 22.6%。我們在本季度實現了非常強勁的利潤率表現，因為從利潤率角度來看，有利的價格/成本和強大的執行力完全抵消了有機銷售下降的影響。

Now let's turn to Industrial Motion on Slide 15. In the first quarter, Industrial Motion segment sales were $388 million, up 7.1% from last year. Organically, sales declined 6.5% as lower demand was partially offset by higher pricing. Most of our platforms were lower year-over-year, with Belts & Chain seeing the largest decline given its exposure to the off-highway market. While services, on the other hand, was notably up on higher MRO, aerospace and other project revenue.

現在讓我們轉向幻燈片 15 上的工業運動。整體而言，銷售額下降了 6.5%，因為需求下降被定價上漲部分抵消。我們的大多數平台均同比下降，其中 Belts & Chain 跌幅最大，因為它涉足非公路市場。另一方面，服務業因 MRO、航空航太和其他項目收入增加而顯著成長。

Acquisitions contributed over 13% to the top line, while foreign currency translation was relatively flat. Industrial Motion adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter was $82 million, up from $77 million last year, with margins of 21.2% in both periods. Similar to Bearings, we delivered flat segment margins in Industrial Motion as lower organic volume was fully offset by favorable price/cost, improved execution and the benefit of acquisitions from a margin perspective.

收購對營收的貢獻超過 13%，而外幣換算則相對持平。 Industrial Motion 在第一季調整後 EBITDA 為 8,200 萬美元，高於去年的 7,700 萬美元，兩期的利潤率為 21.2%。與軸承類似，我們在工業運動領域實現了持平的部門利潤率，因為較低的有機銷售被有利的價格/成本、改進的執行以及從利潤角度來看的收購效益所完全抵消。

Turning to Slide 16. You can see that we generated operating cash flow of $49 million in the quarter. And after CapEx, free cash flow was $5 million. This was below last year due to lower earnings, higher working capital, a pension contribution and other items, offset partially by lower cash taxes. The first quarter is typically our seasonally low quarter for free cash flow. We expect cash flow to step up significantly as we move through the rest of the year. And as you'll see later, we are maintaining our free cash flow guidance for the full year.

轉向投影片 16。扣除資本支出後，自由現金流為 500 萬美元。這一數字低於去年，原因是收入下降、營運資本增加、退休金繳款和其他項目增加，但現金稅下降部分抵消了這一影響。第一季通常是自由現金流的季節性低季。我們預計隨著今年剩餘時間的推移，現金流將顯著增加。正如您稍後將看到的，我們將維持全年的自由現金流指引。

Looking at the balance sheet. We ended the first quarter with net debt of just under $2 billion and net debt to adjusted EBITDA at 2.1x, both relatively unchanged from the end of last year. Our net leverage remains well within our 1.5 to 2.5x targeted range. Speaking of capital allocation, we spent $44 million on CapEx in the quarter, which includes significant footprint expansions in Mexico and India. We also paid our 407th consecutive quarterly dividend, and we continue to integrate the 6 acquisitions we completed in 2023. All are contributing well, reflecting both operating performance and synergy capture.

看資產負債表。第一季結束時，我們的淨債務略低於 20 億美元，淨債務與調整後 EBITDA 比率為 2.1 倍，兩者與去年年底相比基本沒有變化。我們的淨槓桿率仍遠在 1.5 至 2.5 倍的目標範圍內。說到資本配置，本季我們在資本支出上花費了 4,400 萬美元，其中包括在墨西哥和印度的大幅擴張。我們也連續第 407 次支付季度股息，並繼續整合 2023 年完成的 6 項收購。

For the rest of 2024, we intend to deploy capital towards acquisitions and/or share buybacks depending on the opportunity set. With our strong balance sheet and free cash flow, Timken remains in a great position to continue to execute our profitable growth strategy through smart and disciplined capital allocation.

在 2024 年剩餘時間裡，我們打算根據機會集部署資金進行收購和/或股票回購。憑藉我們強大的資產負債表和自由現金流，鐵姆肯公司仍然處於有利地位，可以透過明智和嚴格的資本配置繼續執行我們的獲利成長策略。

Now let's turn to our updated outlook for the full year with a summary on Slide 17. Given our first quarter performance and forecast for the rest of the year, we are increasing our outlook for revenue, margins and earnings per share as compared to our initial outlook from back in February. Starting on the sales outlook, we're now planning for full year revenue to be down in the range of 2% to 4% in total versus 2023. This is a net improvement of 50 basis points compared to our previous outlook and reflects a positive change to the organic outlook and a negative change related to foreign currency.

現在讓我們轉向我們更新的全年展望，並在幻燈片17 上進行總結。利潤率和每股收益的展望。從銷售前景開始，我們現在計劃全年收入與 2023 年相比下降 2% 至 4%。外幣相關的負面變化。

There is no change to the outlook for M&A as we still expect last year's acquisitions, net of divestitures, to contribute around 2.5% to the top line for the year. With respect to currency, we're now planning on a headwind to revenue of around 50 basis points for the full year based on current rates, which is down 100 basis points from February. So organically, we now expect revenue to be down 5% at the midpoint. This is up 150 basis points from our prior guidance, reflecting improvement across several industrial sectors, offset partially by a lower outlook for renewable energy in China and a slightly lower outlook for automation in Europe.

併購前景沒有變化，因為我們仍然預計去年的收購（扣除資產剝離）將為今年的營收貢獻約 2.5%。就貨幣而言，我們現在計劃根據當前匯率，全年收入將出現約 50 個基點的逆風，較 2 月下降 100 個基點。因此，我們現在預計收入中點將下降 5%。這比我們先前的指引上升了 150 個基點，反映出多個工業部門的改善，但部分被中國再生能源前景較低和歐洲自動化前景略低所抵消。

The organic outlook implies a range of down 4% to 6% for the year. This assumes no recovery or inflection in the second half as we continue to take a relatively cautious view given macro uncertainty and our limited visibility.

有機前景意味著今年將下降 4% 至 6%。鑑於宏觀不確定性和我們有限的能見度，我們繼續採取相對謹慎的看法，因此假設下半年不會出現復甦或拐點。

On the bottom line, we now expect adjusted earnings per share in the range of $6 to $6.30, up $0.15 at the midpoint from our previous outlook. Our revised outlook implies that our full year 2024 consolidated adjusted EBITDA margin will be in the high 18s percent range at the midpoint, still down from last year, but margins are up from our prior guidance on the improved revenue outlook and related mix and expected strong execution.

總而言之，我們現在預計調整後每股收益將在 6 美元至 6.30 美元之間，比我們之前的預期中位數上漲 0.15 美元。我們修訂後的展望意味著，我們2024 年全年綜合調整後EBITDA 利潤率將處於18% 的高位區間，仍低於去年，但利潤率高於我們之前對收入前景和相關組合改善的指導，並且預期強勁執行。

Moving to free cash flow. We are reaffirming our full year outlook of approximately $425 million. This represents over 110% conversion on GAAP net income at the midpoint and an increase of $70 million versus last year. The year-over-year increase reflects improved working capital performance and lower cash taxes, which should more than offset the impact of lower earnings.

轉向自由現金流。我們重申全年預期約為 4.25 億美元。這意味著 GAAP 淨利潤中點轉換超過 110%，比去年增加了 7,000 萬美元。年比成長反映了營運資本績效的改善和現金稅的降低，這應該足以抵消收益下降的影響。

We are still planning for CapEx at around 4% of sales, with most of the spend targeted at manufacturing footprint expansions in Mexico and India, as well as other growth and operational excellence initiatives.

我們仍計劃將資本支出佔銷售額的 4% 左右，其中大部分支出旨在擴大墨西哥和印度的製造足跡，以及其他成長和卓越營運計劃。

And finally, we anticipate core net interest expense in the range of $105 million and an adjusted tax rate of 27% for the full year.

最後，我們預計全年核心淨利息支出為 1.05 億美元，調整後稅率為 27%。

To summarize, Timken delivered solid results in the first quarter, with revenues that modestly exceeded our expectations and strong margin performance. Our team continues to execute well, and we remain focused on driving operational excellence to deliver resilient performance this year, while advancing our profitable growth strategy to benefit 2024 and beyond. This concludes our formal remarks.

總而言之，鐵姆肯公司第一季取得了穩健的業績，營收略高於我們的預期，利潤率表現強勁。我們的團隊繼續表現良好，我們仍然專注於推動卓越運營，以在今年實現有彈性的業績，同時推進我們的盈利增長戰略，以使 2024 年及以後受益。我們的正式發言到此結束。

And we'll now open the line for questions. Operator?

現在我們將開通提問熱線。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Bryan Blair of Oppenheimer.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自奧本海默的布萊恩布萊爾。

Solid start to the year, certainly better than many feared. I'd like to start off, if we can, on industrial distribution trends and outlook, just given the needle moving influence of those exposures? And how did the orders stay through Q1 versus typical seasonality? What's the current view of channel inventory relative to demand? And how does that influence Q2 expectations and the potential range of outcomes in the back half.

今年開局良好，肯定比許多人擔心的要好。如果可以的話，我想從工業分佈趨勢和前景開始，考慮到這些風險敞口的巨大影響？與典型的季節性相比，第一季的訂單狀況如何？目前通路庫存相對於需求的看法如何？這如何影響第二季的預期以及下半年的潛在結果範圍。

Yes. I think, I would say, distribution in the markets that maybe played out slightly stronger than we would have expected, but pretty close to in line, a nice step-up from Q4 to Q1, which is pretty normal seasonality and down modestly year-on-year. Inventory in the channel where we have visibility, flattish to down a little bit. So doing what we would hope is generally much less cyclical than the OEM side of it and the MRO side stays stronger, although we do get hit with inventory. So I think played out modestly down would be the way to phrase it, and as you look forward, we're largely looking for that trend to continue through the course of the year.

是的。我認為，我想說的是，市場的分佈可能比我們預期的稍強一些，但非常接近，從第四季度到第一季度的一個不錯的提升，這是相當正常的季節性，並且全年略有下降-同年。庫存在我們能見度範圍內的通道中，持平甚至略有下降。因此，我們希望做的事情通常比 OEM 方面的周期性要小得多，並且 MRO 方面保持強勁，儘管我們確實受到庫存的打擊。因此，我認為適度下調將是表達它的方式，正如你所期望的那樣，我們很大程度上希望這種趨勢在今年持續下去。

Yes. Maybe just a couple of other comments, Bryan. So we did -- on the back of a modestly down performance in Q1, we did take up the outlook for distribution, as you'll note in the market share to relatively neutral for the full year now, and that's again off the back to Q1 and the order book as it exists today, as well as probably, as Rich said, still expecting a little bit of destock, but less than what we were anticipating back in February. So that was certainly a driver of the improved outlook as well.

是的。也許只是一些其他評論，布萊恩。因此，我們做到了——在第一季業績小幅下滑的背景下，我們確實對分配前景進行了展望，正如您在全年市場份額中註意到的那樣，現在全年的市場份額相對中性，這又回到了第一季和現有的訂單簿，正如里奇所說，可能仍然預計會有一點庫存減少，但低於我們在 2 月的預期。因此，這無疑也是前景改善的一個推動因素。

Yes. And first quarter was the toughest comp and Q2 is also a fairly difficult comp and then the full year comps get easier in the second half.

是的。第一季是最艱難的比較，第二季也是相當困難的比較，然後全年比較在下半年變得更容易。

Understood. Appreciate the color. And then 2023 was obviously an active year for your M&A strategy and clearly quite successful in the margin performance that was cited is impressive. I'm not going to ask for an update on all 6 deals, but it would be great to hear quick updates on integration and performance first deal model for your relatively larger bolt-ons of Nadella, Des-Case and Lagersmit, and as a natural follow-up, how is your team feeling about the current pipeline and the potential to sustain deal momentum this year?

明白了。欣賞顏色。 2023 年顯然是你們的併購策略活躍的一年，並且在所提到的利潤率表現方面顯然相當成功，令人印象深刻。我不會要求更新所有 6 筆交易，但很高興聽到有關納德拉、德斯凱斯和拉格斯密特等相對較大的附加產品的集成和性能優先交易模型的快速更新，並且作為自然的後續行動，您的團隊對當前的管道以及今年維持交易勢頭的潛力有何看法？

Yes. Maybe I'll split them into 2 groups. There was the heavier integration, which would be ARB into the bearing business, Nadella and Rosa Sistemi into the linear business. So a lot of integration there. You look -- unless a year later, sales teams are fully integrated management teams, largely integrated, margins up significantly in ARB, some of the cost -- a lot of cost improvement with Nadella and a little less with (inaudible) was later in the year, but -- there as well, but being more offset by the negative impact of volume within that space, but those that had a heavy cost element have gone very well, and I'd say probably ahead of the curve on cost.

是的。也許我會把他們分成兩組。還有更大規模的整合，ARB 進入軸承業務，Nadella 和 Rosa Sistemi 進入線性業務。所以有很多整合。你看——除非一年後，銷售團隊是完全整合的管理團隊，很大程度上整合了，ARB 的利潤率顯著上升，一些成本——納德拉的成本大幅改善，而後來（聽不見清）的成本改善了一點。於曲線。

Those that have more of a revenue play, which will be Lagersmit, Des-Case and iMECH and a little lighter on the operational integration, some market headwinds, but again, diversification of markets, Lagersmit, very different market mix for us with marine OEM as well as aftermarket and had a really good first quarter and Des-Case as well on the revenue side held up. Again, I'll say better than where we serve the large capital equipment markets that tend to be shorter cycle.

那些有更多收入的公司，將是 Lagersmit、Des-Case 和 iMECH，在營運整合上稍輕一些，存在一些市場阻力，但同樣，市場多元化，Lagersmit，我們與船舶 OEM 的市場組合非常不同以及售後市場，第一季的業績非常好，Des-Case 的營收也維持了成長。再說一次，我會說比我們為週期較短的大型資本設備市場提供更好的服務。

The second part of the question was outlook. And as I said in my comments, we have a bias to M&A. We certainly have the capacity to do it. We still are primarily focused on somewhere between bolt-ons and tuck-ins. And nothing to report, but an active pipeline. We've completed an acquisition every year, I think, for 14 or 15 years and no reason as we sit here in May that we would think that we wouldn't be able to extend that street, but nothing to commit to at this point.

問題的第二部分是展望。正如我在評論中所說，我們對併購有偏見。我們當然有能力做到這一點。我們仍然主要關注螺栓固定和折疊之間的某個位置。沒有什麼可報告的，但有一個活躍的管道。我想，14 或 15 年來，我們每年都會完成一項收購，當我們五月坐在這裡時，我們沒有理由認為我們無法擴展那條街道，但目前沒有什麼可承諾的。

Our next question comes from Steve Barger of KeyBanc.

我們的下一個問題來自 KeyBanc 的 Steve Barger。

Rich, congratulations. You'll finally have time to explore all that Northeast Ohio has to offer.

有錢，恭喜。您終於有時間探索俄亥俄州東北部的一切。

Thanks, Steve. I look forward to you hosting me.

謝謝，史蒂夫。我期待著您接待我。

Anytime. You talked about how the current diversification helped maintain margin despite revenue being down. If we end up in a low growth environment next year, what percentage of the portfolio is facing secular growth drivers like renewable, automation, reshoring or however you define secular? I'm just trying to get a sense of sustainability of revenue in a low growth environment.

任何時候。您談到了當前的多元化如何在收入下降的情況下幫助維持利潤率。如果明年我們最終處於低成長環境中，那麼投資組合中有多少比例面臨著長期成長驅動因素，例如再生能源、自動化、回流或您對長期的定義？我只是想了解低成長環境下收入的可持續性。

Yes. I think I don't have the pie chart in front of me, but modest renewable as of last year was still our largest market, automation, pretty close behind. The infrastructure spend covers a lot of markets in off-highway. And I think I wouldn't say there's enough of a secular trend there to offset the cyclicality as we've seen from our large global off-highway customers. There are -- we are experiencing a down market in that space, but I think they're all very confident on the long-term trend there.

是的。我想我面前沒有圓餅圖，但截至去年，適度的再生能源仍然是我們最大的市場，自動化緊隨其後。基礎設施支出涵蓋了許多非公路市場。我認為我不會說有足夠的長期趨勢來抵消週期性，正如我們從全球大型非公路客戶那裡看到的那樣。我們正在經歷該領域的市場低迷，但我認為他們都對那裡的長期趨勢非常有信心。

And then the dispense side for us typically is not particularly high growth, but holds up really well. It was a really good contributor in 2020 during COVID when the market (inaudible), I guess that one [shot] we had out on the newer markets was north of 30%, I believe, yes, do you have in front of you, Phil.

對我們來說，分配方面的成長通常不是特別高，但保持得很好。在2020 年新冠疫情期間，它確實是一個非常好的貢獻者，當時市場（聽不清楚），我猜我們在新市場上的一個[鏡頭] 超過了30%，我相信，是的，你面前有嗎？

Yes, it's about 29%.

是的，大約是29%。

29%.

29%。

Yes, I was just going to add, Steve, just the work we've done to diversify the markets across renewable, automation, industrial services that we talked about marine, food and beverage, passenger rail, the infrastructure activity from a direct and indirect standpoint, quite frankly, the green energy, we feel really -- and not to mention aerospace, which isn't a newer market, but it's certainly a positive momentum market right now, and we think long term will be a really strong market for us. So we do feel like the diversification is improving probably with each deal we do, quite frankly, and is helping us this year and I think will help us next year as well.

是的，我只是想補充一點，史蒂夫，我們為實現再生能源、自動化、工業服務市場多元化所做的工作，我們談到了海洋、食品和飲料、客運鐵路、直接和間接的基礎設施活動坦率地說，綠色能源，我們確實感受到了——更不用說航空航天了，這不是一個較新的市場，但它目前肯定是一個積極的動力市場，我們認為從長遠來看，這將是一個非常強勁的市場我們。因此，坦白說，我們確實覺得多元化可能會隨著我們所做的每筆交易而有所改善，並且今年對我們有幫助，我認為明年也會對我們有所幫助。

So just to clarify, if we step back from China wind and just think about the portfolio going forward without trying to predict industrial production, you think you're in a position to outgrow IP.

因此，需要澄清的是，如果我們從中國風能退一步，只考慮未來的投資組合，而不試圖預測工業生產，那麼您認為您的成長能力將超過智慧財產權。

Yes. It's certainly been our objective would be to outgrow at 100-plus basis points. And I think if you look over from 2016 forward and strip it out to organic, I think we've been pretty close to that.

是的。我們的目標當然是成長超過 100 個基點。我認為，如果你回顧 2016 年的未來，並將其剝離為有機的，我認為我們已經非常接近這個目標了。

And last one, sitting here basically in May, can you talk about your confidence level that 3Q is up year-over-year on an organic basis? I mean is that basically a lock in your mind given the easier comp and how you see end markets? Or is there a risk that we see flat or down growth in 3Q or the back half?

最後一個問題，基本上是在五月份，您能談談您對第三季度同比有機增長的信心嗎？我的意思是，考慮到更容易的競爭以及您如何看待終端市場，這基本上是您心中的鎖定嗎？或者是否有第三季或下半年成長持平或下降的風險？

Yes. I would say the outlook, Steve, would really be for -- if you look at second quarter, we're likely to be down high single digits again from an organic perspective and then look for revenue to start to flatten out organically in the back half of the year, just given the easier comps in several sectors.

是的。我想說，史蒂夫，前景確實是——如果你看看第二季度，從有機角度來看，我們可能會再次下降高個位數，然後尋找收入開始有機地趨於平緩今年上半年，只是考慮到幾個行業的比較容易。

So we're not going to probably sit here today and say we're going to be up or still down in Q3, but I think the general trend would be of our negative 5% organic for the full year, kind of very much first half weighted, down high single digits in the first half and then flattening out or maybe up a little bit overall in the second half. But I probably won't comment on Q3 specifically at this point, but that's kind of what we're planning on.

因此，我們今天可能不會坐在這裡說第三季度我們將上漲或仍然下跌，但我認為總體趨勢將是全年有機增長率為負 5％，這首先是半權重，上半場下降了高個位數，然後趨於平緩，或在下半場整體上可能略有上升。但我現在可能不會具體評論第三季度，但這就是我們的計劃。

Our next question comes from Angel Castillo of Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的安吉爾·卡斯蒂略。

This is [Grace] on for Angel. I think on Slide 6, you changed your outlook for a number of end markets. So heavy industries were down from high single digits to down mid-single digit and automation from neutral to down mid-single digits. So can you help us unpack that more like what are the underlying drivers that those things might be?

這是天使的[格蕾絲]。我認為在投影片 6 上，您改變了對許多終端市場的看法。因此，重工業從高個位數下降到中個位數，自動化從中性下降到中個位數。那麼你能幫助我們解開這些東西可能的潛在驅動因素嗎？

Sure. With respect -- thanks for the question. With respect to heavy industries, we were down just modestly in Q1. And we did continue to see pretty good project spending in Q1 in markets like metals and oil and gas. And so given the first quarter performance and probably a slightly improved outlook for the rest of the year, we did move it from down high to down mid. Keep in mind, heavy industries tend to be late cycle. So then as we stand right now, we do see backlog coming down there. So we're not anticipating an inflection there for the rest of the year. So we'd still expect it to be down for the full year, kind of more or less in line with what it was down in Q1.

當然。恕我直言，謝謝你的提問。就重工業而言，第一季略有下降。我們確實繼續看到第一季金屬、石油和天然氣等市場的項目支出相當不錯。因此，考慮到第一季的業績以及今年剩餘時間的前景可能略有改善，我們確實將其從高點下調至中位數。請記住，重工業往往處於週期後期。因此，就我們現在而言，我們確實看到積壓情況正在減少。因此，我們預計今年剩餘時間不會出現拐點。因此，我們仍然預計全年會下降，或多或少與第一季的下降情況一致。

Relative to automation, I would say a very slight move there, just a couple of hundred basis points just enough for it to move from one column to the other, and that was mainly driven off of Western Europe. A big chunk of the business that we have in automation is serving Western European OEMs. And the situation in Western Europe remains pretty soft, pretty weak overall. So we took it down just slightly, but the main drivers to the 150 basis points of improvement were probably on the positive side, the industrial markets with distribution moving over, aerospace moving over, rail services and then probably the biggest negative would have been renewable energy. It was on the far left to begin with, but it moved even further left, if you will, just given the lower outlook we have for wind today versus back in February.

相對於自動化，我想說的是，那裡的變動非常小，只有幾百個基點就足以讓它從一個欄移動到另一欄，而這主要是從西歐推動的。我們在自動化領域的很大一部分業務是為西歐原始設備製造商提供服務。西歐的局勢仍然相當疲軟，整體相當疲軟。因此，我們稍微降低了它，但 150 個基點改善的主要驅動因素可能是積極的一面，工業市場的分銷轉移，航空航天轉移，鐵路服務，然後最大的負面因素可能是可再生能源活力。一開始它位於最左邊，但如果你願意的話，它會進一步向左移動，因為我們今天對風能的展望與二月相比較低。

And then industrial distribution moved up a little bit, and we talked about that one earlier.

然後產業分佈又往上移了一點，我們之前也講過這個。

Yes. That's very helpful. And also on free cash flow, I think you raised the earnings outlook, but why free cash flow was kept unchanged?

是的。這非常有幫助。關於自由現金流，我認為您提高了獲利前景，但為什麼自由現金流保持不變？

Yes. I think it was just really a view on our part, let's hold the guide typically when we don't take -- we took the outlook up on slightly higher revenue. And as you know, slightly higher revenue carries with it a little bit higher working capital, you may have slightly higher receivables or may need to take out a little less inventory as a result. So it was really more of the puts and takes of the sales, working capital dynamic. And so while we talk about roughly $425 million, a range plus or minus and just felt very confident holding it, like I said, the first quarter was seasonally low, but would expect a meaningful step up Q1 to Q2, frankly, and then a nice improvement even in the back half of the year.

是的。我認為這只是我們的一個觀點，當我們不接受時，我們通常會持有指南——我們對收入略有增加的前景持樂觀態度。如您所知，收入略高會帶來營運資本略高，您的應收帳款可能略高，或者可能需要減少庫存。因此，這實際上更多的是銷售和營運資金動態的看跌期權和索取。因此，雖然我們談論大約4.25 億美元，有一個正負範圍，並且對持有它感到非常有信心，就像我說的，第一季度處於季節性低位，但坦率地說，預計第一季度到第二季會出現有意義的提升，然後即使在下半年也有不錯的進步。

And at that level, north of 100% of GAAP net income -- actually north of 110% of GAAP net income, which is what we would typically target at this type of market environment.

在這個水平上，超出了 GAAP 淨利潤的 100%——實際上超出了 GAAP 淨利潤的 110%，這正是我們在這種市場環境下通常的目標。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from Chris Dankert of Loop Capital.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Loop Capital 的 Chris Dankert。

I guess, really nice start to the year here on the SG&A front. Maybe you could just kind of go into a little bit more detail what leverage you kind of pulled there, what is still available to you? And maybe just any kind of comments on what we should be expecting for SG&A as we go forward here on a quarterly basis?

我想，SG&A 方面今年的開局非常好。也許你可以更詳細地介紹一下你在那裡發揮了什麼槓桿作用，你仍然可以使用什麼？也許只是關於我們在每季度推進時應該對 SG&A 有何期望的任何評論？

Yes, I'd say certainly some self-help there from a year ago or so starting to capture some attrition, and we really outside of targeted things haven't done any significant reduction. But then on the targeted areas, again, I would say, acquisition integration, our multiyear digital campaign continues to yield benefits of us getting more efficient, taking out overhead, reducing complexity, reducing the number of systems that we have, et cetera.

是的，我肯定會說，從一年前左右開始，那裡的一些自助就開始減少一些人員流失，而我們確實在有針對性的事情之外並沒有做任何顯著的減少。但在目標領域，我想說的是，收購整合，我們多年的數位活動繼續為我們帶來效益，提高效率，減少開銷，降低複雜性，減少我們擁有的系統數量等等。

So I would say the combination of those 2 partially offset generally the Industrial Motion segment and most of the acquisitions we look at run a higher SG&A level structurally than the bearings business. So we've generally been mixing towards a higher SG&A, higher gross margin as well structure, but we've done a pretty good job the last year more than offsetting that.

因此，我想說，這兩者的結合通常部分抵消了工業運動領域的影響，而且我們關注的大多數收購在結構上都比軸承業務具有更高的銷售、管理和行政費用水平。因此，我們總體上一直在追求更高的銷售管理費用、更高的毛利率以及結構，但我們去年做得很好，不僅僅是抵消了這些。

Got it. And then again, similarly on gross margin, obviously, mix played a pretty huge driver from the outperformance perspective there. But just any comments on how to think about gross margin in 2Q, I assume, given that we're still seeing some volume declines that should be down year-over-year just given some of that mix fall off?

知道了。然後，同樣在毛利率方面，顯然，從表現優異的角度來看，混合發揮了相當大的推動力。但我認為，考慮到我們仍然看到一些銷量下降，考慮到其中一些組合的下降，銷量應該會比去年同期下降，我想對如何考慮第二季的毛利率有任何評論嗎？

Yes. Certainly, from -- as I said, we're looking for revenue to be flattish Q1 to Q2, and we built a little bit of inventory in Q1, and we'd be looking to hold or lower inventory in Q2 and then lower inventory through -- certainly through the course of the year, it takes some inventory out. So from a pure volume standpoint, Q1 and our guide would have been the peak for the year.

是的。當然，正如我所說，我們希望第一季到第二季的收入持平，我們在第一季度建立了一些庫存，我們希望在第二季度保持或降低庫存，然後降低庫存當然，在這一年中，它會減少一些庫存。因此，從純粹的銷售角度來看，第一季和我們的指南將是今年的高峰。

I think the other thing as you look at the gross margins, and I mentioned this in my comments, starting back in early '20 through at least the first part of '22, very difficult operating conditions from the early days of COVID to a lot of supply chain challenges and a lot of labor challenges, both from COVID and tight labor markets. We've been getting steadily better through all of last year and then into this quarter.

我認為，當你看毛利率時，我在評論中提到了這一點，從 20 年初開始到至少 22 年初，從新冠疫情初期到很多年，營運條件非常困難來自新冠疫情和勞動力市場緊張的供應鏈挑戰和勞動力挑戰。從去年全年到本季度，我們一直在穩步進步。

The downside of that is our cost comps actually get tougher as the year goes on because we were better in the fourth quarter of last year than we were in the first quarter of last year, but we're still advancing. So I think the pace probably levels off a little bit, but we've got a really good focus on it. So we've got some of that built in. But most of it would be a volume story -- seasonality.

不利的一面是，隨著時間的推移，我們的成本比較實際上變得更加艱難，因為我們去年第四季的表現比去年第一季的表現更好，但我們仍在進步。因此，我認為步伐可能會趨於平穩，但我們對此非常關注。所以我們已經內建了其中的一些內容。

Yes. And the only other thing I'd mention on gross margins, Chris, would be, the acquisitions will tend to mix us up from a gross margin standpoint. So we'll have some nice acquisition benefit again in Q2, which typically mixes us up from a gross margin standpoint. Those businesses tend to be a little more fragmented. They may run a little higher SG&A because they're fragmented, but still accretive on the EBITDA line. But everything else, Rich said, I would agree with.

是的。關於毛利率，我要提到的唯一一件事是，克里斯，從毛利率的角度來看，收購往往會使我們混淆。因此，我們將在第二季再次獲得一些不錯的收購收益，從毛利率的角度來看，這通常會讓我們感到困惑。這些業務往往更加分散。他們的 SG&A 可能會更高一些，因為他們比較分散，但 EBITDA 線仍然會增加。但里奇說，其他一切我都會同意。

And then as he said, relative to Q2, we would expect sales flattish sequentially. That would imply down all in mid- to high single digits. Organic would be down high single digits on the top line. And then margins and EPS would be expected to be down year-over-year just on the revenue decline and the other factors, Rich talked about, relative to inventory and other things.

然後，正如他所說，相對於第二季度，我們預計銷售額將持平。這意味著一切都將下降到中高個位數。有機收入將下降高個位數。里奇談到，由於收入下降和其他因素（相對於庫存和其他因素），預計利潤率和每股收益將同比下降。

There are no remaining questions at this time. So I'll turn the call back to Ms. Meghan Elmblad for any closing remarks.

目前沒有剩餘問題。因此，我將把電話轉回給梅根·埃爾姆布拉德女士，讓其結束語。

Thanks, Lydia, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today. If you have any further questions after today's call, please contact me. Thank you, and this concludes our call.

謝謝莉迪亞，也謝謝大家今天加入我們。如果您在今天的通話後還有任何疑問，請與我聯絡。謝謝您，我們的通話到此結束。

Thank you for participating in Timken's First Quarter Earnings Release Conference Call. You may now disconnect.

感謝您參加鐵姆肯公司第一季財報發布電話會議。您現在可以斷開連線。