Universal Logistics Holdings Inc (ULH) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome to Universal Logistics Holdings First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) A brief question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. During the course of this call, management may make forward-looking statements based on their best view of the business as seems today. Statements that are forward-looking relate to Universal's business objectives or expectations and can be identified by the use of words such as believe, expect, anticipate and project. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those expectations. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Mr. Tim Phillips, Chief Executive Officer; Mr. Jude Beres, Chief Financial Officer; and Mr. Steven Fitzpatrick, Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations. Thank you. Mr. Phillips, you may begin.

您好，歡迎來到環球物流控股 2023 年第一季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）正式演示後將進行簡短的問答環節。在此次電話會議期間，管理層可能會根據他們目前對業務的最佳看法做出前瞻性陳述。前瞻性陳述與 Universal 的業務目標或預期相關，可以通過使用諸如相信、期望、預期和項目等詞語來識別。此類陳述存在風險和不確定性，實際結果可能與這些預期存在重大差異。提醒一下，這次會議正在錄製中。現在我很高興向您介紹主持人，首席執行官蒂姆·菲利普斯先生； Jude Beres 先生，首席財務官；財務和投資者關係副總裁 Steven Fitzpatrick 先生。謝謝。 Phillips 先生，您可以開始了。

Thank you, Kyle. Good morning, and welcome to Universal Logistics Holdings 2023 First Quarter Earnings Call. I'd like to start off by recognizing the incredible efforts of Universal's over 10,000 associates who worked so hard to make our organization best-in-class provider of customized transportation and logistics solution. Although a challenging comparison to 2022, the first quarter of 2023 was Universal's next best first quarter financial performance on record. Anchored by the results of our Contract Logistics segment, I'm pleased with our overall performance despite the significant headwinds we faced in our transactional transportation services. The transportation and logistics community saw a first quarter ramp in inventory destocking, excess truck capacity and low demand for consumer goods. While we felt significant price and volume pressure on our transportation services, our teams did an excellent job managing our controllable costs, while delivering excellent customer service and capitalizing on continuous improvement initiatives across the organization.

謝謝你，凱爾。早上好，歡迎來到環球物流控股 2023 年第一季度財報電話會議。首先，我要感謝 Universal 超過 10,000 名員工所付出的巨大努力，他們辛勤工作，使我們的組織成為一流的定制運輸和物流解決方案提供商。儘管與 2022 年相比具有挑戰性，但 2023 年第一季度是環球影業有史以來最好的第一季度財務業績。以我們合同物流部門的業績為基礎，儘管我們在交易運輸服務方面面臨重大阻力，但我對我們的整體表現感到滿意。運輸和物流界在第一季度出現了庫存去庫存、卡車運力過剩和消費品需求低迷的情況。雖然我們感到運輸服務面臨巨大的價格和數量壓力，但我們的團隊在管理可控成本方面做得非常出色，同時提供出色的客戶服務並利用整個組織的持續改進計劃。

Each segment is focused on operational excellence, increasing the productivity of our assets and rationalizing head count. The start of 2023 confirmed that we have built a solid foundation for sustainable success in a variety of market conditions. The model has proven to be resilient, and we continue to look for additional opportunities to scale. The pipeline has continued to blossom in our Contract Logistics space. And I feel our talent, technology and customer-centric business approach makes us a front runner in several of our large bid opportunities across many different verticals. Our transportation pipeline also remains full of opportunity, but the scale of business wins is influenced by the current market conditions and price reduction exercises by our customers.

每個部門都專注於卓越運營，提高我們資產的生產力和合理化員工人數。 2023 年的開始證實，我們已經為在各種市場條件下取得持續成功奠定了堅實的基礎。該模型已被證明具有彈性，我們將繼續尋找其他擴展機會。管道在我們的合同物流領域繼續蓬勃發展。我覺得我們的人才、技術和以客戶為中心的業務方法使我們在許多不同垂直領域的幾個大型投標機會中處於領先地位。我們的運輸管道也仍然充滿機會，但業務獲勝的規模受到當前市場狀況和客戶降價活動的影響。

Market share will continue to be our drumbeat. As long as the margin profile is conducive to our overall business goals, we still remain optimistic on the autos and Class 8 truck space and have a very positive -- have had very positive conversations on the order books for agriculture, heavy machinery and aerospace. While the retail market and its overall inventory below remain concerning, we continue to rationalize our pricing to remain competitive while earning a fair return in exchange for our services.

市場份額將繼續成為我們的鼓點。只要利潤率狀況有利於我們的總體業務目標，我們仍然對汽車和 8 級卡車空間保持樂觀，並且非常積極 - 在農業、重型機械和航空航天領域的訂單簿上進行了非常積極的對話。雖然零售市場及其下方的整體庫存仍然令人擔憂，但我們繼續合理化我們的定價以保持競爭力，同時獲得公平的回報以換取我們的服務。

Now for the quarter. In yesterday's release, Universal reported 2023 first quarter earnings of $0.95 per share on total operating revenue of $437.4 million. While we fell short of last year's record-setting performance, the first quarter of 2023 was Universal's next best financial performance Q1 on record. Demand for our contract logistics segments held firm throughout the quarter, and our diversification strategy is paying dividends in a depressed transportation environment.

現在是本季度。在昨天的新聞稿中，環球公司公佈 2023 年第一季度每股收益為 0.95 美元，總營業收入為 4.374 億美元。雖然我們沒有達到去年創紀錄的業績，但 2023 年第一季度是環球公司有記錄以來次佳的第一季度財務業績。整個季度對我們的合同物流部門的需求保持堅挺，我們的多元化戰略在低迷的運輸環境中產生了紅利。

Now for some color on each of the service lines. In our Contract Logistics segment, the number of active programs grew to 65, which was a 3.2% increase over active programs in Q1 of 2022. There continues to be strong demand for outsourced logistics services in a variety of spaces. We feel there's real opportunity to showcase our existing operations to potential customers, which offer a combination of experienced human assets, efficient processes and our proprietary technology. Auto production sustained a relatively consistent work cadence during the quarter associated with a more normalized supply chain fluency. Although periodic 6-day production was reserved for plants with high demand vehicles, the SAAR was elevated over 2022 while tracking near 15 million units as the demand for vehicles remains strong. We are very pleased with the performance that our auto sector platforms and expect continued consistency for the remainder of the year.

現在為每條服務線添加一些顏色。在我們的合同物流部門，活躍項目的數量增加到 65 個，比 2022 年第一季度的活躍項目增加了 3.2%。各種空間對外包物流服務的需求持續強勁。我們認為這是向潛在客戶展示我們現有業務的真正機會，這些業務結合了經驗豐富的人力資源、高效的流程和我們的專有技術。汽車生產在本季度保持了相對一致的工作節奏，與更規範的供應鏈流暢性相關。儘管為車輛需求量大的工廠保留了 6 天的周期性生產，但由於對車輛的需求依然強勁，SAAR 在 2022 年有所提高，跟踪接近 1500 萬輛。我們對我們的汽車行業平台的表現感到非常滿意，並希望在今年餘下的時間裡繼續保持一致。

2023 Class A production picked up the year where 2022 left off. Estimates are for another year that looks very similar to 2022, with North American production forecasted to be in excess of 300,000 units. While production is still elevated, we have heard of some supplier issues that may challenge these projections levels of production over the next several quarters. We are extremely excited about 8 new programs that are launching or beginning to launch in Q2. The medium-sized programs in a variety of verticals and are expected to add $17 million in annual revenue at full run rate. Our launch teams continue to execute in a timely and effective manner, delivering seamless transitional business continuity to our customers.

2023 年 A 級生產在 2022 年停止的那一年開始。對另一年的估計與 2022 年非常相似，預計北美產量將超過 300,000 輛。雖然產量仍在增加，但我們聽說一些供應商問題可能會挑戰未來幾個季度的這些預測生產水平。我們對在第二季度啟動或開始啟動的 8 個新程序感到非常興奮。各種垂直領域的中型項目預計將以全速運行增加 1700 萬美元的年收入。我們的發布團隊繼續及時有效地執行，為我們的客戶提供無縫過渡的業務連續性。

As mentioned, we have encountered a number of new outsourcing opportunities not only from our sales efforts but from effect of delivering of logistics solutions in the marketplace. Our value-added service pipeline continues to grow, reaching the largest dollar value of potential projects ever approaching $600 million. We approach each opportunity with a collaborative and highly engineered solution. We are eager for our current and potential customers to see a real working study of our execution and believe we remain in the hunt well into the later innings of the procurement process on most opportunities.

如前所述，我們遇到了許多新的外包機會，不僅來自我們的銷售努力，還來自在市場上提供物流解決方案的效果。我們的增值服務管道繼續增長，潛在項目的最大美元價值接近 6 億美元。我們通過協作和高度設計的解決方案來處理每一個機會。我們渴望我們的現有和潛在客戶看到我們執行的真實工作研究，並相信我們仍然在尋找大多數機會的採購過程的後期階段。

The Dedicated Transportation group continues to experience opportunity and growth. Our high velocity model allows us to move large amounts of freight with an incredible accuracy rate for customers who demand high level of execution like the autos. Our success in these environments continues to be on display, which is a great lead into additional opportunity for existing customers and a great case study for new customers looking for the next level of execution and service. Revenue for the quarter was up 12.9%, driven by increased volumes and solid pricing with our strategic partners. We continue to secure and allocate new equipment for our dedicated fleet, both for replacement and growth. We are committed to keep the average age of our truck fleet around 3 years, which helps elevate our uptime to continue to deliver velocity service. Newer equipment also enhances the driver experience and safety profile, which has proven positive with our recruiting and our retention efforts.

專用運輸集團繼續體驗機遇和增長。我們的高速模型使我們能夠以令人難以置信的準確率為需要高水平執行力的客戶（如汽車）運送大量貨物。我們在這些環境中的成功繼續展示，這對於現有客戶來說是一個很好的線索，可以帶來更多機會，對於尋求更高水平的執行和服務的新客戶來說，這是一個很好的案例研究。本季度的收入增長了 12.9%，這得益於我們戰略合作夥伴的銷量增加和穩定定價。我們繼續為我們的專用機隊獲取和分配新設備，用於更換和增長。我們致力於將卡車車隊的平均年齡保持在 3 年左右，這有助於延長我們的正常運行時間，以繼續提供快速服務。更新的設備還增強了駕駛員體驗和安全狀況，這在我們的招聘和留住工作中被證明是積極的。

We exited the quarter launching a new large automotive account in the Southeast, which requires 80 drivers, over 2 shifts and 5 to 6 days a week. We expect the run rate on this account to be over $13 million annually. As mentioned before, this launch accompanied several other smaller launches and new wins with a combined run rate of over $24 million in revenue annually. We continue to see quality dedicated opportunities in the pipeline, and feel extremely strong on the talented bench of employees with industry experience to support our long-term growth objectives to bring velocity to multiple service sectors.

我們在本季度結束時在東南部推出了一個新的大型汽車客戶，這需要 80 名司機，超過 2 個班次，每週工作 5 到 6 天。我們預計該帳戶的年運行率將超過 1300 萬美元。如前所述，此次發布伴隨著其他幾項較小的發布和新的勝利，每年的總收入超過 2400 萬美元。我們繼續看到優質的專門機會，並在具有行業經驗的人才隊伍中感到非常強大，以支持我們的長期增長目標，為多個服務部門帶來速度。

Our intermodal drayage group continues to experience both volume and pricing headwinds. Important volumes -- import volumes at North American ports were down nearly 30%, influenced by continued inventory destocking and low consumers demand for products. The average revenue per load ex fuel was down 18.7% to $567 per load as customers continue to evaluate their pricing models and capitalize on very loose capacity. The lack of import volumes had direct effect on the number of loads hauled in the quarter, which fell 20.7% and contributed to a 29.6% decline in top line revenue over the same period of 2022. Receiving assessorial charges also remained a theme and were proportional to supply chain disruption in 2022. In particular, a reduction in port and rail congestion, resulting in a more fluid supply chain, which reduced per diem, storage and demurrage billings over 25% or $10.2 million.

我們的多式聯運拖運集團繼續面臨數量和價格方面的不利因素。重要數量——受庫存持續去庫存和消費者對產品需求低迷的影響，北美港口的進口量下降了近 30%。由於客戶繼續評估他們的定價模型並利用非常寬鬆的容量，每負載（不包括燃料）的平均收入下降 18.7% 至每負載 567 美元。進口量不足直接影響了本季度的貨運量，該季度貨運量下降了 20.7%，導致總收入比 2022 年同期下降了 29.6%。收取評估費也仍然是一個主題，並且與 2022 年同期成正比到 2022 年供應鏈中斷。特別是減少港口和鐵路擁堵，使供應鏈更加流暢，從而將每日津貼、倉儲和滯期費減少超過 25% 或 1020 萬美元。

Our Southern California operations continue to have strong influence on intermodal numbers, driven by import volumes declining over 30% over Q1 2022. Reduced volumes, coupled with callbacks and pricing, eroded top line revenue, which was down 56% over Q1 2022 due to our heavy retail-focused customer base. We have had great success recruiting company drivers since moving to an employee driver model in California but lower volumes have negatively impacted our ability to optimize and ultimately scale our company truck operation. But I'm very happy with how quick we were able to find assets and recruit drivers, which puts us in a compliant position for our customers when volumes do normalize in the market.

在進口量較 2022 年第一季度下降超過 30% 的推動下，我們的南加州業務繼續對多式聯運數量產生重大影響。數量減少，再加上回調和定價，侵蝕了收入，由於我們的原因，收入較 2022 年第一季度下降了 56%大量以零售為中心的客戶群。自從在加利福尼亞州轉向員工司機模式以來，我們在招聘公司司機方面取得了巨大成功，但數量減少對我們優化和最終擴大公司卡車運營的能力產生了負面影響。但我對我們能夠如此快速地找到資產和招募司機感到非常高興，這使我們在市場銷量正常化時能夠為我們的客戶提供合規的服務。

We've experienced several nice customer wins in recent months, and our pipeline remains robust with opportunity. Our sales team has been extremely aggressive mining new customer opportunities, and we continue to demonstrate our ability to create value for our customers by supplying company-owned, long-term lease chassis, which now number over 3,500 units and storage solutions around the vast national terminal network. Volume headwinds were also the storyline in the Trucking segment. Overall, load count was down 11.8%, coupled with an 8.8% decrease in revenue per load. Our open deck load count was down 10%, but steel and metal volumes were relatively flat year-over-year and pricing still in positive territory. On the van side, load count was down 15%, with retail and consumer goods off over 30%. Top line revenue of $79.7 million was down 18.2% for the quarter, while operating income of $3.8 million was a decrease of $3.6 million over the prior year period.

最近幾個月，我們贏得了幾個不錯的客戶，我們的渠道仍然充滿機遇。我們的銷售團隊一直非常積極地挖掘新的客戶機會，我們繼續展示我們通過提供公司擁有的長期租賃底盤為客戶創造價值的能力，這些底盤現在數量超過 3,500 台，並在全國范圍內提供存儲解決方案終端網絡。貨運量的逆風也是卡車運輸領域的故事情節。總體而言，載客量下降了 11.8%，同時每載客收入下降了 8.8%。我們的露天甲板載貨量下降了 10%，但鋼鐵和金屬銷量同比相對持平，價格仍處於正值區域。在麵包車方面，裝載量下降了 15%，零售和消費品下降了 30% 以上。本季度收入為 7970 萬美元，下降 18.2%，營業收入為 380 萬美元，比去年同期減少 360 萬美元。

Our agent-based truckload model is well positioned to ride out a freight downturn with its variable cost structure, while continuing to produce consistent margins. Interest in our agent model continues to grow. Our pipeline shows the results of our business development efforts. In fact, we added 12 new agent representatives in Q1 of 2023. I believe our agent model anchored by a team of experienced employees, coupled with more competitive environment, makes UACL quality decision to assist in carrier conversions and agents demanding additional support.

我們基於代理的整車運輸模式能夠憑藉其可變成本結構安然度過貨運低迷期，同時繼續產生穩定的利潤率。對我們的代理模型的興趣持續增長。我們的管道顯示了我們業務發展努力的結果。事實上，我們在 2023 年第一季度增加了 12 名新的代理代表。我相信我們的代理模式以經驗豐富的員工團隊為基礎，再加上更具競爭性的環境，使 UACL 做出質量決定，以協助承運人轉換和需要額外支持的代理。

Company-managed brokerage saw top line revenue drop 47.9% in the quarter to $34 million as inflation and consumer spending created competitive pricing and less tender opportunities. We continued our disciplined approach in regard to operating margin, which put additional strain on spot market opportunities as our contractual freight remains over 80% of our top line revenue. As mentioned in our release, earnings in this segment were negatively impacted by a $1.2 million pretax settlement for auto liability claims in excess of policy limits, which equated to 350 basis point reduction. Operating revenue per load decreased 22.1% to $1,696 per load, and the low count was down 18.9%. Gross margins were better than Q1 2022 margins as we experienced a continued reduction in purchase transportation while remaining disciplined on rates.

公司管理的經紀業務本季度收入下降 47.9% 至 3400 萬美元，原因是通貨膨脹和消費者支出創造了具有競爭力的定價和更少的投標機會。我們在營業利潤率方面繼續採取嚴格的方法，這給現貨市場機會帶來了額外的壓力，因為我們的合同運費仍然占我們收入的 80% 以上。正如我們在新聞稿中提到的，該部門的收益受到 120 萬美元的汽車責任索賠稅前結算的負面影響，超過保單限額，相當於減少 350 個基點。每負載營業收入下降 22.1% 至每負載 1,696 美元，最低計數下降 18.9%。毛利率好於 2022 年第一季度的利潤率，因為我們經歷了採購運輸的持續減少，同時保持對費率的約束。

There's been no shortage of bid opportunities, but pricing has been hypercompetitive. We will remain disciplined on pricing and look for returns that fall within our expectations given the current environment.

投標機會並不缺乏，但定價一直極具競爭力。我們將在定價方面保持紀律，並在當前環境下尋求符合我們預期的回報。

We continue to remain cautious on the economic environment entering Q2 of 2023. Inflation, customer destocking and the general mood of the consumer continues to evolve. We believe transportation will remain under pressure with an abundance of available capacity and leading indicators like imports showing no near-term signs of improvement. We look for optimization opportunities to take costs out of our intermodal and brokerage segments while adding density to our variable cost structure agent truckload segment. We remain extremely optimistic on the continued growth of our high-margin contract logistics segment and are encouraged by the optimistic conversations we are having with autos, Class 8, agriculture, heavy equipment and aerospace customers.

我們繼續對進入 2023 年第二季度的經濟環境保持謹慎。通貨膨脹、客戶去庫存和消費者的總體情緒繼續演變。我們認為，由於可用運力充足且進口等領先指標未顯示近期改善跡象，交通運輸仍將面臨壓力。我們尋找優化機會，以從我們的多式聯運和經紀部門中降低成本，同時增加我們可變成本結構代理卡車運輸部門的密度。我們對高利潤合同物流部門的持續增長保持極其樂觀，並為我們與汽車、8 類、農業、重型設備和航空航天客戶進行的樂觀對話感到鼓舞。

Finally, as I had mentioned in our earnings release, I'm impressed with the performance of the Universal team in this challenging environment. While it appears we continue to face inventory destocking, inflation and rising interest rates, I'm convinced that our diversification of services continues to provide opportunity and stability in the current environment. We continue to focus on quality service versus for our customer and continued value for our shareholder.

最後，正如我在我們的收益發布中提到的那樣，我對環球團隊在這個充滿挑戰的環境中的表現印象深刻。雖然我們似乎繼續面臨庫存減少、通貨膨脹和利率上升的問題，但我相信我們的服務多元化將繼續在當前環境中提供機會和穩定性。我們繼續專注於為我們的客戶提供優質服務，並為我們的股東創造持續的價值。

With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Jude for a detailed view of our financial performance.

有了這個，我現在想把電話轉給裘德，詳細了解我們的財務業績。

Great. Thanks, Tim. Good morning, everybody. Yesterday, Universal Logistics Holdings reported consolidated net income of $24.9 million or $0.95 per share on total operating revenues of $437.4 million in the first quarter of 2023. This compares to net income of $42 million or $1.56 per share on total operating revenues of $523.9 million during the same period last year. Consolidated income from operations was $38.2 million for the quarter compared to $57.8 million 1 year earlier. EBITDA decreased $18.3 million to $56.7 million, which compares to $75 million during the same period last year. Our operating margin and EBITDA margin for the first quarter of 2023 are 8.7% and 13% of total operating revenues. These metrics compare to 11% and 14.3%, respectively, in the first quarter of 2022.

偉大的。謝謝，蒂姆。大家早上好。昨天，Universal Logistics Holdings 報告稱，2023 年第一季度總營業收入為 4.374 億美元，綜合淨收入為 2490 萬美元或每股 0.95 美元。相比之下，2023 年第一季度的總營業收入為 5.239 億美元，淨收入為 4200 萬美元或每股 1.56 美元。去年同期。本季度綜合運營收入為 3820 萬美元，而一年前為 5780 萬美元。 EBITDA 減少 1830 萬美元至 5670 萬美元，而去年同期為 7500 萬美元。我們 2023 年第一季度的營業利潤率和 EBITDA 利潤率分別佔營業總收入的 8.7% 和 13%。這些指標與 2022 年第一季度分別為 11% 和 14.3% 相比。

Additionally, during the first quarter, we recorded a settlement charge in our company-managed brokerage segment of $1.2 million. This charge impacted our EPS by $0.03 in the quarter.

此外，在第一季度，我們在公司管理的經紀部門記錄了 120 萬美元的結算費用。這筆費用使我們本季度的每股收益減少了 0.03 美元。

Looking at our segment performance for the first quarter of 2023, in our Contract Logistics segment, which includes our value-add dedicated -- and dedicated transportation businesses, income from operations increased $4.3 million to $27.8 million on $211.3 million of total operating revenues. This compares to operating income of $23.5 million on $201.6 million of total operating revenue in the first quarter of 2022. Operating margins for the quarter were 13.1% versus 11.6% last year.

看看我們 2023 年第一季度的部門業績，在我們的合同物流部門，其中包括我們的增值專用和專用運輸業務，運營收入增加 430 萬美元至 2780 萬美元，總營業收入為 2.113 億美元。相比之下，2022 年第一季度總營業收入為 2.016 億美元，營業收入為 2350 萬美元。本季度營業利潤率為 13.1%，而去年同期為 11.6%。

In our Intermodal segment, operating revenues decreased $46.6 million to $111 million compared to $157.6 million in the same period last year. And income from operations decreased $16.2 million to $6.8 million. This compares to operating income of $23 million in the first quarter of 2022. Operating margins for the quarter were 6.1% versus 14.6% last year.

在我們的多式聯運部門，營業收入減少 4660 萬美元至 1.11 億美元，而去年同期為 1.576 億美元。運營收入減少 1620 萬美元至 680 萬美元。相比之下，2022 年第一季度的營業收入為 2300 萬美元。本季度營業利潤率為 6.1%，而去年同期為 14.6%。

In our Trucking segment, operating revenues for the quarter decreased $17.8 million to $79.7 million compared to $97.5 million in the same quarter last year, and income from operations decreased $3.6 million to $3.8 million. This compares to operating income of $7.4 million in the first quarter of 2022. Operating margins for the quarter were 4.8% versus 7.6% last year.

在我們的貨運部門，本季度營業收入減少 1780 萬美元至 7970 萬美元，而去年同期為 9750 萬美元，營業收入減少 360 萬美元至 380 萬美元。相比之下，2022 年第一季度的營業收入為 740 萬美元。本季度營業利潤率為 4.8%，而去年同期為 7.6%。

In our company-managed brokerage segment, operating revenues for the quarter decreased $31.2 million to $34 million compared to $65.2 million in the same quarter last year, while income from operations decreased $4.3 million to an operating loss of $400,000. This compared to operating income of $3.9 million in the first quarter of 2022. Operating margins for the quarter were a negative 1.1% versus 5.9% last year. Excluding the previously mentioned legal settlement in the quarter, our company-managed brokerage segment's operating margin would have been 2.4%.

在我們公司管理的經紀部門，本季度營業收入減少 3120 萬美元至 3400 萬美元，而去年同期為 6520 萬美元，而營業收入減少 430 萬美元至營業虧損 40 萬美元。相比之下，2022 年第一季度的營業收入為 390 萬美元。本季度營業利潤率為負 1.1%，而去年同期為 5.9%。不包括本季度之前提到的法律和解，我們公司管理的經紀部門的營業利潤率為 2.4%。

On our balance sheet, we held cash and cash equivalents totaling $76.8 million and $10 million of marketable securities. Outstanding interest-bearing debt net of 1.2 -- of $4.2 million of debt issuance costs totaled $377.7 million at the end of the period. Excluding lease liabilities related to ASC 842, our net interest-bearing debt to reported trailing 12-month EBITDA was 1.25x. Capital expenditures for the quarter were $31.3 million. For the full year of 2023, we expect capital expenditures to be in the $160 million range, excluding the acquisition of any strategic real estate. Interest expense for the year is expected to come in between $20 million and $25 million.

在我們的資產負債表上，我們持有總計 7680 萬美元的現金和現金等價物以及 1000 萬美元的有價證券。未償付息債務減去 420 萬美元債務發行成本的 1.2 倍，期末總計 3.777 億美元。不包括與 ASC 842 相關的租賃負債，我們的淨帶息債務佔報告的過去 12 個月 EBITDA 的比率為 1.25 倍。本季度的資本支出為 3130 萬美元。對於 2023 年全年，我們預計資本支出將在 1.6 億美元左右，不包括收購任何戰略性房地產。今年的利息支出預計在 2000 萬至 2500 萬美元之間。

Based on the current operating environment for the second quarter of 2023, we are expecting top line revenues between $420 million and $440 million and operating margins in the 8% to 10% range. We expect continued softness in both volumes and rates across our Transactional Transportation businesses, but a stable operating environment for our Contract Logistics business.

根據 2023 年第二季度的當前運營環境，我們預計收入在 4.2 億美元至 4.4 億美元之間，營業利潤率在 8% 至 10% 之間。我們預計我們的交易運輸業務的數量和費率將持續疲軟，但我們的合同物流業務的運營環境將保持穩定。

Finally, Wednesday, our Board of Directors declared Universal's $0.105 per share regular quarterly dividend. This quarter's dividend is payable to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 5, 2023, and is expected to be paid on July 3, 2023.

最後，週三，我們的董事會宣布了 Universal 每股 0.105 美元的定期季度股息。本季度的股息將支付給 2023 年 6 月 5 日營業結束時登記在冊的股東，預計將於 2023 年 7 月 3 日支付。

With that, Kyle, we're ready to take some questions.

有了這個，凱爾，我們準備好回答一些問題了。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Chris Wetherbee with Citi.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Chris Wetherbee。

This is Matt on for Chris. I appreciate the detail on the quarter. Wanted to just touch a little bit more on intermodal here. Obviously, the space has been under some pretty serious pressure, which has been a theme this earnings season. We were just wondering if there's any additional color you might be able to provide. As we think about the second quarter and into the back half of the year, this also sort of intertwines with your guide, the guide details that you guys just put out. And are customers giving you feedback as to when volumes could begin rebounding? I mean, how exactly are you thinking about the situation? What do you see where we're at, at this point in time working through the bloated inventories? I know during the last call, Tim mentioned some rebounds after the Chinese New Year. I just didn't know if there's any update in general, sort of drilling a little bit deeper into the intermodal side of things on that front. Any detail on that front would be great.

這是克里斯的馬特。我很欣賞本季度的細節。想在這裡多談一點多式聯運。顯然，該領域一直承受著相當大的壓力，這一直是本財報季的主題。我們只是想知道您是否可以提供任何其他顏色。當我們考慮第二季度和今年下半年時，這也與你們的指南交織在一起，你們剛剛發布的指南細節。客戶是否就銷量何時開始反彈向您提供反饋？我的意思是，你到底是怎麼看待這種情況的？在這個時間點，你如何看待我們在處理臃腫的庫存方面所處的位置？我知道在上次通話中，蒂姆提到了春節後的一些反彈。我只是不知道一般情況下是否有任何更新，在這方面對多式聯運方面進行更深入的鑽探。在這方面的任何細節都會很棒。

Yes, sure. I appreciate the question, Matt. Everything we have seen from a first quarter look back is import volumes were down significantly just about everywhere except for maybe the Gulf, which saw a slight bit of increase. As you know, we're situated around the country, all the major ports. We have significant density in Southern California, significant density in the Southeast and the Northeast. So what we're hearing from our customers, especially on the retail space, is a lot of wait and see. They think there will be some normal seasonality to what's going to be in the future, but they're not willing to say that the second half of the year is going to be a big rebound.

是的，當然。我很欣賞這個問題，馬特。從第一季度回顧來看，我們所看到的一切都是進口量在幾乎所有地方都顯著下降，除了可能略有增加的海灣地區。如您所知，我們位於全國各地，所有主要港口。我們在南加州有顯著的密度，在東南部和東北部也有顯著的密度。因此，我們從客戶那裡聽到的，尤其是在零售領域，是很多觀望態度。他們認為未來會出現一些正常的季節性，但他們不願意說下半年會出現大幅反彈。

Nobody, to this point, has committed to saying that the second half of the year as we see walking to the back-to-school and the holiday season is going to see any kind of large uptick. They expect that, at least at this current state, to be somewhat muted. Even some of our customers saying that if you have other customers saying that you're going to have a rebound in the second half of the year, that it's going to be real strong, you may want to really rationalize that because some are just not believing it.

到目前為止，沒有人承諾說今年下半年我們看到步行返校和假期將會出現任何大幅上漲。他們希望，至少在目前的狀態下，會有所緩和。甚至我們的一些客戶說，如果你有其他客戶說你將在下半年出現反彈，它會非常強勁，你可能想要真正合理化，因為有些人並沒有相信它。

So it's not just the retail space, we deal with some other retailers in chemical. We deal in raw materials. We deal in office furniture. Really, there hasn't been anybody that's come forward and said that we expect a real big increase on our imports even going and talking to some of the ocean liners, which there's that information out there in the news. There's no real expected quick rebound. There's optimism on the second half of the year turning more normal, but with a muted peak season. And I did say we were hoping for a rebound after the Chinese New Year. And to this point, we really have not seen any rebound. I think as we exited the first quarter on the Intermodal side, I would even say that maybe April is a slight bit short of where we were in March. So it's still pretty soft out there, Matt.

因此，不僅僅是零售空間，我們還與其他一些化學品零售商打交道。我們經營原材料。我們經營辦公家具。真的，沒有人站出來說我們預計我們的進口量會大幅增加，即使是去和一些遠洋班輪交談，新聞中也有這樣的信息。沒有真正預期的快速反彈。人們樂觀地認為今年下半年將變得更加正常，但旺季將有所減弱。我確實說過我們希望在農曆新年後出現反彈。到目前為止，我們真的沒有看到任何反彈。我認為當我們在多式聯運方面退出第一季度時，我什至會說 4 月份可能比 3 月份略有下降。所以外面還是很軟，馬特。

Awesome. Great. Yes. No, I really appreciate that incremental detail. And then just a quick follow-up. So you touched on some -- on a couple of different retail versus industrial. Are you not seeing any specific sort of trends in general on that side of things? I don't know if there's just any additional detail that you could provide on the areas of your business, retail versus industrial? And sort of if there's any specific themes or trends that you're seeing on that side of things?

驚人的。偉大的。是的。不，我真的很欣賞這些漸進的細節。然後只是快速跟進。所以你談到了一些——關於一些不同的零售業和工業業。在這方面，您是否沒有看到任何特定類型的總體趨勢？我不知道您是否可以提供有關您的業務領域（零售與工業）的任何其他詳細信息？在這方面是否有任何特定的主題或趨勢？

Yes. I would say definitely on the retail, at least what we service, there is no real indication of any quick rebound. Like I said, they're down, as we had said in the California conversation, double digits. As it comes to more of the raw material or chemicals, chemicals, that the customers we deal with seem to be flat to down. The raw materials on the customers we deal with are definitely down. So it's telling me that they're bringing in less and probably going to be producing less.

是的。我肯定會說零售業，至少我們所服務的，沒有任何快速反彈的真正跡象。就像我說的那樣，正如我們在加利福尼亞的談話中所說的那樣，他們下降了兩位數。當涉及到更多的原材料或化學品、化學品時，我們處理的客戶似乎持平。跟我們打交道的客戶上的原材料肯定是降了。所以這告訴我，他們的進口量減少了，而且產量可能會減少。

As far as any other color on consumer goods, it's just kind of a wait and see. Nobody has given us any real clear indication. The one thing that's a resounding theme, as I said, from the overall customer sentiment, is that volumes would increase but very slightly based on seasonality, and nobody expects a huge uptick or peak season at this particular point.

至於消費品上的任何其他顏色，這只是一種觀望。沒有人給我們任何真正明確的指示。正如我所說，從整體客戶情緒來看，有一個響亮的主題是銷量會增加，但會根據季節性略有增加，而且沒有人預計在這個特定時間點會出現大幅上漲或旺季。

Our next question comes from Bruce Chan with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Bruce Chan。

This is Andrew on for Bruce. I kind of wanted to dig into the manufacturing inventories a little bit. We're looking just at the government data, the IS data, they seem to be carrying the most excess inventories. I just kind of wanted -- but we're not really hearing a lot of conversations about destocking on that side of the economy. So I wanted to get your sense of conversations with customers regarding industrial inventories. Do they kind of expect the destocking theme to help drive inflection like the consumer focus are at some point? We know kind of getting pushed out here, but are they expecting similar theme?

這是布魯斯的安德魯。我有點想深入了解製造庫存。我們只看政府數據，即 IS 數據，它們似乎擁有最多的過剩庫存。我只是有點想要 - 但我們並沒有真正聽到很多關於經濟那方面去庫存的對話。所以我想了解您與客戶就工業庫存進行對話的感受。他們是否有點期望去庫存主題在某個時候像消費者關注的那樣幫助推動拐點？我們知道有點被排斥在這裡，但他們是否期待類似的主題？

Well, from a -- what we deal with from an import standpoint that leads into manufacturing, the companies we're dealing with, there really has been no prediction of a climb out of the trough that they're in right now. Now I will tell you this, from a manufacturing side or an agricultural heavy equipment in aerospace, we feel really good about that in our conversations with customers. Not only is that there seems to be a good demand for the product, there's also a back order. It seems like the order books are still full. So we expect to be able to stretch our legs, hopefully, the remainder of the year. I mean it's hard to predict third and fourth quarter. We're pretty bullish on that segment continuing to support active growth in our portfolio.

好吧，從一個 - 我們從導致製造業的進口角度處理的問題，我們正在處理的公司，確實沒有預測到他們現在所處的低谷。現在我會告訴你這個，從製造方面或航空航天中的農業重型設備，我們在與客戶的對話中對此感覺非常好。不僅對產品的需求似乎很好，而且還有延期交貨。訂單簿似乎仍然滿滿的。因此，我們希望能夠在今年餘下的時間裡舒展筋骨。我的意思是很難預測第三和第四季度。我們非常看好該細分市場繼續支持我們投資組合的積極增長。

That's helpful. I was kind of -- it kind of leads me into my next question about -- you discussed how aggressive the sales team is being in sourcing new customer opportunities, especially in intermodal here. I was hoping to kind of lift the hood a little further there. Are you guys going after new end markets given the retail exposure there and the retail weakness? Or just kind of be helpful to understand where you're finding success and difficulties. Is it -- are you guys finding success in those verticals you just mentioned?

這很有幫助。我有點——這讓我想到了下一個問題——你討論了銷售團隊在尋找新客戶機會方面的積極性，尤其是在這裡的多式聯運。我希望能把引擎蓋再抬高一點。鑑於那裡的零售風險和零售疲軟，你們是否正在尋找新的終端市場？或者只是有助於了解您在哪裡找到成功和困難。是嗎 - 你們在剛才提到的那些垂直領域取得了成功嗎？

Yes. In the intermodal marketplace, like I said, we deal a lot in retail. We're going to do a lot of freight of all kinds, too, because of the way that the import structure works in the state. But yes, we're looking to diversify -- we're always looking to diversify our customer base. And it's a direct effort of the sales team, and it's a good collaborative effort that we communicate, right? We're cross-pollinating customers across service lines that could be different verticals that we maybe not have experienced in intermodal standpoint.

是的。在多式聯運市場，就像我說的，我們在零售方面進行了大量交易。由於進口結構在該州的運作方式，我們也將進行各種貨運。但是，是的，我們正在尋求多樣化——我們一直在尋求使我們的客戶群多樣化。這是銷售團隊的直接努力，也是我們溝通的良好協作，對吧？我們正在跨服務線交叉授粉客戶，這些服務線可能是我們在多式聯運的角度上可能沒有經歷過的不同垂直領域。

At the end of the day, I see good and I have seen good bid volumes flowing through. Really what it's come down to, Andrew, is pricing, right? The customer is hyper-focused on pricing and gaining back some of what they potentially had lost over the last year, 18 months, 2 years, and we just have to be exceptionally competitive no matter what the vertical is that we're going after to try -- because really what we're doing is attempting to take market share from somebody else. So it's been hypercompetitive. But yes, we will continue our diversification not just on intermodal, but we're looking for diversification on multiple operating segments.

在一天結束的時候，我看到了好的，我看到了很好的出價量。歸根結底，安德魯，是定價，對吧？客戶非常關注定價並重新獲得他們在過去一年、18 個月、2 年中可能失去的一些東西，而無論我們要追求的垂直領域是什麼，我們都必須具有非凡的競爭力嘗試——因為實際上我們正在做的是試圖從其他人那里奪取市場份額。所以它的競爭非常激烈。但是，是的，我們將繼續我們的多元化，不僅僅是多式聯運，而且我們正在尋求多個運營部門的多元化。

Great. That's helpful as well. If I can just squeeze in one more on the pricing front. You guys discussed assessorial has been down 25%, kind of rolling off faster than you had expected. I just kind of wanted to get your -- how that did compare to your expectations? I mean how quickly are -- were you expecting assessorial to roll off? Or rather how quick did you get to that point? How -- when were you expecting assessorial to roll off this -- to this point? Sorry.

偉大的。這也很有幫助。如果我能在定價方面再多擠一點。你們討論過評估下降了 25%，下降速度比你們預期的要快。我只是想了解您的 - 與您的期望相比如何？我的意思是有多快 - 您是否期望評估會結束？或者更確切地說，您達到這一點的速度有多快？如何 - 你期望評估何時推出這個 - 到這一點？對不起。

Well, that's a loaded question to unpack because it's hard to forecast, but some of your assessorial run in conjunction with just your general load volume, right? We're billing certain assessorial that accompany a movement of a piece of intermodal freight. So number one, the volumes are lighter. And number two, just like on the base dray pricing, the customer is expecting some reductions in some of the assessorial basis.

好吧，這是一個需要解決的問題，因為很難預測，但是你的一些評估與你的一般負載量一起運行，對吧？我們正在對伴隨多式聯運貨運移動的某些評估進行計費。所以第一，體積更輕。第二，就像基本的干貨定價一樣，客戶期望某些評估基礎會有所減少。

Now how did we get to the point last year where assessorial were so elevated was a direct result of the supply chain and the supply chain congestion. So we offered our customers distinct solutions, whether it be storage solutions, whether it be helping them manage what they had at the ports and rails. So there was a lot of flow of funds, but it was because of the congestion and the environment. So we expected some of that to peel off as fluency found itself. And for the most part, if you read anything in the news, fluency has found itself at most port operations. Doesn't mean they're fluent within the port in all cases, but the amount of imports coming into the country has definitely normalized.

現在我們是如何達到去年評估如此高的程度是供應鍊和供應鏈擁堵的直接結果。因此，我們為客戶提供了不同的解決方案，無論是存儲解決方案，還是幫助他們管理他們在港口和鐵路上擁有的東西。所以有很多資金流出，但這是因為擁堵和環境。因此，我們預計隨著流利度的提高，其中的一些會消失。在大多數情況下，如果您在新聞中閱讀任何內容，就會發現大多數港口操作都非常流暢。並不意味著他們在所有情況下都能在港口內暢通無阻，但進入該國的進口量肯定已經正常化。

So we expected that there would be some falloff in some of those assessorial. And I think if you go back, and I think Jude would agree with it, that's why we took a deep look, an honest look, in the fourth quarter because we saw some of these leading indicators that's saying, hey, wait a minute, you have to pay attention because we -- this supply chain is starting to become a little more fluent, and things are slowing down. So that's one of the reasons we guided the way we guided in the fourth quarter because of what we saw. So that's a long extended answer, but that's what we're seeing.

因此，我們預計其中一些評估會有所下降。我想如果你回過頭來看，我想 Jude 會同意，這就是為什麼我們在第四季度進行了深入、誠實的審視，因為我們看到了一些領先指標，它們在說，嘿，等一下，你必須注意，因為我們 - 這個供應鏈開始變得更加流暢，而且事情正在放緩。因此，這就是我們根據所見所聞指導第四季度指導方式的原因之一。所以這是一個很長的答案，但這就是我們所看到的。

No, that's extremely helpful. I appreciate that. And I guess I can -- I promise this will be the last one. But I just wanted to just kind of ask where the optimism that's coming from that's driving -- where you're getting your optimism that's driving behind the expectation for autos to continue doing well. That's been really a bright spot of the economy so far. Just any anecdotes from customers on especially the consumer auto front. We've seen the Class 8 data, but we'd like a little bit more -- just a little bit more content on consumer in autos.

不，這非常有幫助。我很感激。我想我可以——我保證這將是最後一次。但我只是想問一下，這種樂觀情緒是從哪裡來的——你的樂觀情緒是在什麼地方推動汽車繼續表現良好的預期。到目前為止，這確實是經濟的一個亮點。只是來自客戶的任何軼事，尤其是消費者汽車方面的軼事。我們已經看到了 8 級數據，但我們想要更多——只是更多關於汽車消費者的內容。

You probably -- and many people on the call probably have listened to some of the autos and Class 8s because some of them were reported already. We're getting our realistic outlook from some of the numbers we're seeing from a production standpoint. And I do know inflation is there. I know that interest rates are rising, but there's still optimism within the auto and Class 8 group that there'll be continued sales throughout the year that should be at a good cadence.

你可能 - 電話中的許多人可能已經聽過一些汽車和 8 級汽車，因為其中一些已經被報導過。從生產的角度來看，我們從一些數字中得到了現實的展望。我知道通貨膨脹是存在的。我知道利率正在上升，但汽車和 Class 8 集團仍然樂觀地認為，全年銷售將以良好的節奏進行。

And we're seeing nothing different at this point. We're still bullish on Class 8 because we know there's a lot of pent-up demand. If you remember, last year and in '21, it's very, very difficult to get a new vehicle, a new Class 8 truck. So those order books are still out there. Will some peel off? Sure, they will as the economy goes. But we're -- everything aligns itself that they're optimistic for the rest of the year. And the autos, they still feel that they're selling the vehicles that are out there that -- and especially from what we deal with. We deal with plants that produce high-demand vehicles. And that's where we centered ourselves around. So we're comfortably and optimistic that we'll continue to see this cadence through the next several quarters.

在這一點上我們沒有看到任何不同。我們仍然看好 Class 8，因為我們知道有很多被壓抑的需求。如果你還記得，去年和 21 年，很難買到一輛新車，一輛新的 8 級卡車。所以那些訂單簿仍然在那裡。有的會脫皮？當然，隨著經濟的發展，他們會這樣做。但我們 - 一切都表明他們對今年剩餘時間持樂觀態度。而汽車，他們仍然覺得他們正在銷售那裡的車輛 - 特別是我們所處理的車輛。我們與生產高需求車輛的工廠打交道。這就是我們以自己為中心的地方。因此，我們對在接下來的幾個季度中將繼續看到這種節奏感到欣慰和樂觀。

(Operator Instructions) There being no further questions, this concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Tim Phillips for any closing remarks.

（操作員說明）沒有進一步的問題，我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回給 Tim Phillips 先生作閉幕詞。

Thank you, Kyle, and thank you for spending time with us this morning to cover our Q1 performance. As mentioned, I'm extremely pleased with our contract logistics road map moving forward this year. While the transactional transportation segment may be experiencing some headwinds, we will remain committed to productivity improvements and rationalizing our human assets in the various segments. We continue to look for opportunities to diversify our portfolio by cross-pollinating our customer base among our various service segments.

謝謝你，凱爾，感謝你今天早上花時間和我們一起報導我們第一季度的表現。如前所述，我對我們今年推進的合同物流路線圖感到非常滿意。雖然交易運輸部門可能會遇到一些不利因素，但我們將繼續致力於提高生產力並合理化我們在各個部門的人力資產。我們繼續尋找機會，通過在我們的各個服務部門之間交叉授粉我們的客戶群，使我們的產品組合多樣化。

With that said, I look forward to continued conversation on our Q2 earnings call slated for July 28. Have a great day. Thank you.

話雖如此，我期待著繼續討論定於 7 月 28 日舉行的第二季度財報電話會議。祝你有美好的一天。謝謝。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連接。