Valmont Industries Inc (VMI) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Valmont Industries First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note that this conference is being recorded.

您好，歡迎來到 Valmont Industries 2023 年第一季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，正在錄製此會議。

I will now turn the conference over to your host, Renee Campbell, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Treasurer. Ms. Campbell, you may begin.

我現在將會議轉交給您的主持人，投資者關係高級副總裁兼財務主管 Renee Campbell。坎貝爾女士，您可以開始了。

Thank you, and good morning. Welcome to Valmont Industries First Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. With me today are Steve Kaniewski, President and Chief Executive Officer; Avner Applbaum, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Gene Padgett, Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer.

謝謝，早上好。歡迎來到 Valmont Industries 2023 年第一季度財報電話會議。今天和我在一起的是總裁兼首席執行官 Steve Kaniewski； Avner Applbaum，執行副總裁兼首席財務官；高級副總裁兼首席會計官 Gene Padgett。

This morning, Steve will provide a brief summary of our first quarter results, commenting on our market and long-term business strategy. Avner will review our financial performance and provide our current outlook and indications for 2023, with closing remarks from Steve. This will be followed by Q&A.

今天早上，史蒂夫將簡要總結我們第一季度的業績，評論我們的市場和長期業務戰略。 Avner 將審查我們的財務業績，並提供我們對 2023 年的當前展望和指示，以及史蒂夫的結束語。隨後將進行問答。

A live webcast of the presentation will accompany today's call and is available for download from the webcast or on the Investors site at valmont.com. A replay will be available on our website later this morning.

演示文稿的網絡直播將伴隨今天的電話會議進行，可從網絡廣播或投資者網站 valmont.com 上下載。今天上午晚些時候將在我們的網站上提供重播。

Please note that this call is subject to our disclosure on forward-looking statements, which applies to today's discussion, is outlined on Slide 2 of the presentation and will be read in full at the end of today's call. Finally, if you would like to be notified when Valmont publishes news releases and other information, please sign up for e-mail alerts through our Investors site. We also encourage investors and others interested in our company to follow Valmont and our brand on the social media channels listed on our website.

請注意，本次電話會議以我們披露的適用於今天討論的前瞻性陳述為準，在演示文稿的幻燈片 2 中進行了概述，並將在今天的電話會議結束時完整閱讀。最後，如果您想在 Valmont 發布新聞稿和其他信息時收到通知，請通過我們的投資者網站註冊電子郵件提醒。我們還鼓勵投資者和其他對我們公司感興趣的人在我們網站上列出的社交媒體渠道上關注 Valmont 和我們的品牌。

I will now turn the call over to our President and Chief Executive Officer, Steve Kaniewski.

我現在將電話轉交給我們的總裁兼首席執行官 Steve Kaniewski。

Thank you, Renee. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. We delivered another quarter of great results despite an economic environment that continue to be challenged.

謝謝你，芮妮。大家早上好，感謝您加入我們。儘管經濟環境繼續受到挑戰，但我們又取得了四分之一的好成績。

Our performance reflects the effective execution of our growth strategies and our deliberate actions to increase profitability. We have a great team, and we are positioned to achieve another year of great results.

我們的業績反映了我們增長戰略的有效執行以及我們為提高盈利能力而採取的有意行動。我們有一支優秀的團隊，我們有能力再創佳績。

Turning to Slide 4. There are a few highlights we want to share with you today. First, we've had a tremendous start to the year with record first quarter sales, operating income and earnings per share. Net sales increased 8.3%, with solid growth in both Infrastructure and Agriculture.

轉到幻燈片 4。今天我們想與您分享一些亮點。首先，我們今年開局良好，第一季度銷售額、營業收入和每股收益都創下歷史新高。淨銷售額增長 8.3%，基礎設施和農業均實現穩健增長。

Adjusted operating margin improved to 11.5%, reflecting benefits from strategic pricing, our ability to manage costs and improved operational efficiencies that led to better factory performance. Adjusted earnings per share grew to $3.61.

調整後的營業利潤率提高到 11.5%，反映了戰略定價帶來的好處、我們管理成本的能力以及提高的運營效率，從而提高了工廠績效。調整後每股收益增長至 3.61 美元。

Avner will provide more details in a few moments, but I am extremely pleased with our results and proud of the entire Valmont team for these accomplishments. Demand for our products remains robust, and we are in markets and sectors that tend to be independent of the general economy and less correlated to macroeconomic cycles.

Avner 將在稍後提供更多詳細信息，但我對我們的結果感到非常滿意，並為整個 Valmont 團隊取得這些成就感到自豪。對我們產品的需求依然強勁，我們所處的市場和行業往往獨立於整體經濟，與宏觀經濟周期的相關性較低。

Our participation in these markets is not by chance but the result of a deliberate investment strategy. We have targeted expanding niche markets where we can add the greatest value through our recognized product leadership, flexible global footprint and innovative technology to help solve customers' challenges.

我們參與這些市場並非偶然，而是深思熟慮的投資策略的結果。我們的目標是擴大利基市場，通過我們公認的產品領先地位、靈活的全球足跡和創新技術，我們可以在這些市場中增加最大的價值，以幫助解決客戶的挑戰。

In both segments, our disciplined approach to strategic pricing helps ensure that we are capturing the value we deliver to our customers while expanding margins. This helps offset inflationary pressures that are still present in our supply chain, notably the recent increases in steel costs. We remain vigilant in monitoring and responding to cost increases, and we'll take actions when necessary to maintain the margins we have worked hard to achieve.

在這兩個細分市場中，我們嚴格的戰略定價方法有助於確保我們在擴大利潤的同時獲取我們為客戶提供的價值。這有助於抵消我們供應鏈中仍然存在的通脹壓力，尤其是近期鋼鐵成本的上漲。我們在監控和應對成本增加方面保持警惕，我們將在必要時採取行動以維持我們努力實現的利潤率。

In a few minutes, Avner will speak to our capital deployment framework and update you on the latest actions to drive shareholder value. This is an important part of our strategy and enhances our value creation initiatives.

幾分鐘後，Avner 將介紹我們的資本部署框架，並向您介紹推動股東價值的最新行動。這是我們戰略的重要組成部分，並增強了我們的價值創造計劃。

Turning to a market update on Slide 5 and starting with Infrastructure. Our markets are benefiting from several secular long-term growth drivers, including the global energy transition. The infrastructure investment required to support the transition is in its early innings, and utilities are increasing their spending to support grid hardening initiatives and an evolving generation portfolio.

轉向幻燈片 5 上的市場更新並從基礎設施開始。我們的市場受益於幾個長期的長期增長動力，包括全球能源轉型。支持轉型所需的基礎設施投資處於早期階段，公用事業公司正在增加支出以支持電網強化計劃和不斷發展的發電組合。

Recent reports from utilities indicate 2023 CapEx spending is expected to increase 10% over last year, and total spending over the next 3 years is expected to continue growing. Overall, utility spending initiatives continue to show resilience to a higher cost of capital environment, inflation and general economic concerns.

公用事業公司最近的報告顯示，2023 年的資本支出預計將比去年增長 10%，未來 3 年的總支出預計將繼續增長。總體而言，公用事業支出計劃繼續顯示出對資本環境成本上升、通貨膨脹和總體經濟問題的彈性。

Our solar business is benefiting from the renewable energy transition and order rates have been increasing, leading to a record global backlog that is 3x higher than 1 year ago. We expect further demand to come from U.S. markets once the industry receives more clarity on how critical elements of the Inflation Reduction Act will be implemented.

我們的太陽能業務正受益於可再生能源轉型，訂單率一直在增加，導致全球積壓訂單創下歷史新高，比一年前高出 3 倍。我們預計，一旦該行業對如何實施《降低通脹法案》的關鍵要素有了更明確的了解，美國市場將產生更多需求。

During the quarter, we continued to see solid order flow from transportation markets and additional quoting activity related to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. As a reminder, our lighting and transportation products are typically purchased 9 to 12 months after funding appropriations are completed, so we expect to benefit from this incremental demand beginning in 2024.

本季度，我們繼續看到來自運輸市場的穩定訂單流以及與基礎設施投資和就業法案相關的額外報價活動。提醒一下，我們的照明和交通產品通常在資金撥款完成後 9 到 12 個月內購買，因此我們預計將從 2024 年開始的這種增量需求中受益。

In telecom markets, underlying multiyear demand for 5G deployment remains strong. We have seen some pullback in carriers' CapEx this year to more normalized levels. These spending patterns are typical within the industry as we've seen with previous generation rollouts. We remain well positioned to help carriers achieve their 5G and densification goals. Across the Infrastructure segment, we continue to make strategic investments in capacity and technology solutions to meet strong multiyear demand.

在電信市場，對 5G 部署的潛在多年需求依然強勁。我們已經看到今年運營商的資本支出有所回落至更正常的水平。正如我們在上一代產品中看到的那樣，這些支出模式在行業內很典型。我們仍然處於有利地位，可以幫助運營商實現其 5G 和緻密化目標。在整個基礎設施領域，我們繼續對容量和技術解決方案進行戰略投資，以滿足強勁的多年需求。

Turning to Agriculture. Underlying global market fundamentals remain positive, providing stability to overall demand trends. International ag markets remain very strong, led by Brazil and a robust project pipeline elsewhere. The Brazil market has continued to strengthen as the value of agricultural exports have expanded approximately 10% annually for the past 20 years, most recently to support lower expected yields in the EU and the Ukraine. Irrigated land acres in Brazil have increased over 40% annually over just the past 3 years. And this year, a second consecutive year of record corn output is expected there.

轉向農業。全球市場基本面依然積極，為整體需求趨勢提供了穩定性。國際農業市場仍然非常強勁，由巴西和其他地方的強大項目管道引領。巴西市場持續走強，過去 20 年農產品出口價值每年增長約 10%，最近支持歐盟和烏克蘭較低的預期產量。在過去的 3 年裡，巴西的灌溉土地面積每年增加 40% 以上。今年，那裡的玉米產量有望連續第二年創紀錄。

Last year, we began investing in additional factory capacity within the country, which we fully expect to come online this year, allowing us to meet the increased market demand while enhancing customer service levels. Additionally, our robust project pipeline is providing a multiyear line of sight, and we are well positioned to benefit from these opportunities in 2023 and beyond.

去年，我們開始在國內投資增加工廠產能，我們完全有希望在今年投產，使我們能夠滿足不斷增長的市場需求，同時提高客戶服務水平。此外，我們強大的項目管道提供了多年的視線，我們有能力在 2023 年及以後從這些機會中受益。

Turning to North America. As the first quarter progressed, we recognized some changes to typical order patterns as growers took a wait-and-see approach to buying decisions amid general economic uncertainty and a late planting season due to abnormal weather conditions. We also recognized the difficult comparison to first quarter 2022 when we delivered against an exceptionally elevated backlog. We expect the second half of the year to return to a more normalized order flow as commodity prices have remained resilient and projected 2023 net farm income levels are expected to remain above historical averages.

轉向北美。隨著第一季度的進展，我們認識到典型的訂單模式發生了一些變化，因為在普遍的經濟不確定性和異常天氣條件導致播種季節推遲的情況下，種植者對購買決定採取了觀望態度。我們還認識到與 2022 年第一季度的困難比較，當時我們在積壓量異常高的情況下交付。我們預計今年下半年訂單流將恢復正常，因為大宗商品價格保持彈性，預計 2023 年的淨農場收入水平預計仍將高於歷史平均水平。

Moving to Slide 6. Earlier this month, we were excited to host a Media Day event at our global headquarters to celebrate the commencement of our 2023 AgTech Tour. The half-day event included networking for media, community leaders and our expert Valley and Prospera staff, a fireside chat with Daniel Koppel, President of AgTech, and myself, as well as a roundtable of customer and dealer panelists that have experienced a tremendous return on investment from our technology solutions. We were honored to have Nebraska Governor, Jim Pillen, speak at the event.

轉到幻燈片 6。本月早些時候，我們很高興在我們的全球總部舉辦媒體日活動，以慶祝我們 2023 年農業科技之旅的開始。為期半天的活動包括媒體、社區領袖和我們的 Valley 和 Prospera 專家工作人員的交流，與 AgTech 總裁 Daniel Koppel 和我本人的爐邊談話，以及獲得巨大回報的客戶和經銷商小組成員的圓桌會議來自我們技術解決方案的投資。我們很榮幸邀請到內布拉斯加州州長 Jim Pillen 在活動中發言。

Over the next 6 months, our team will travel the country, showcasing our suite of technology offerings, including remote control solutions, machine health diagnostics and our featured release of plant insights to monitor crop health. With more than 60 plant stops across 20 states, growers are invited to have open discussions to learn how our technology solutions can provide unparalleled farm agronomy data and insights to maximize land productivity. Adoption rates of our AgTech solutions have been increasing, and our investments in technology have uniquely positioned us in the market while setting our agriculture business up for success through the cycles.

在接下來的 6 個月裡，我們的團隊將走訪全國，展示我們的技術產品套件，包括遠程控制解決方案、機器健康診斷以及我們發布的植物洞察力監測農作物健康狀況。我們在 20 個州設有 60 多個工廠站點，邀請種植者進行公開討論，了解我們的技術解決方案如何提供無與倫比的農場農學數據和見解，以最大限度地提高土地生產力。我們的 AgTech 解決方案的採用率一直在增加，我們在技術上的投資使我們在市場上處於獨特的地位，同時使我們的農業業務在周期中取得成功。

Turning to Slide 7. Next week, we will publish our 2023 Sustainability Report. For Valmont, sustainability is embedded in everything we do. Our tagline "Conserving Resources. Improving Life." is a testament to the work we do to help our customers do more with less. In the report, you will see an update on our ESG progress and commitment and multiple examples demonstrating that ESG is a part of our strategy, operations and a competitive advantage.

轉到幻燈片 7。下週，我們將發布 2023 年可持續發展報告。對於 Valmont，可持續發展植根於我們所做的一切。我們的口號是“保護資源，改善生活”。證明了我們為幫助客戶事半功倍所做的工作。在報告中，您將看到我們 ESG 進展和承諾的最新情況，以及證明 ESG 是我們戰略、運營和競爭優勢的一部分的多個示例。

On the slide, we highlight our Champion Green Teams in Acacia Ridge, Australia. This team was selected from our more than 80 global green teams for the annual award to recognize the work they have done towards our ESG philosophy. I was proud to be able to acknowledge the achievements of this team and appreciate everything our global team does every day to demonstrate our commitment to sustainability. I encourage you to take the time to read the report when it is published. We also plan to host a dedicated ESG conference call later this year to expand on the key elements of the report and respond to your questions.

在幻燈片上，我們重點介紹了我們在澳大利亞 Acacia Ridge 的 Champion Green Teams。該團隊是從我們 80 多個全球綠色團隊中選出的年度獎項，以表彰他們為實現我們的 ESG 理念所做的工作。我很自豪能夠承認這個團隊的成就，並感謝我們的全球團隊每天為展示我們對可持續發展的承諾所做的一切。我鼓勵您在報告發布後花時間閱讀該報告。我們還計劃在今年晚些時候舉辦專門的 ESG 電話會議，以擴展報告的關鍵要素並回答您的問題。

With that, I will now turn the call over to Avner for our first quarter financial review and updated outlook.

有了這個，我現在將把電話轉給 Avner 進行我們的第一季度財務審查和更新的展望。

Thank you, Steve, and good morning, everyone. Turning to Slide 9 and first quarter results, my comments will focus on the adjusted results as outlined in the press release and in the Reg G disclosure in the presentation appendix. As mentioned last quarter, the divested offshore wind business is now being reported separately in Other. My comments today will focus primarily on our 2 reportable segments: Infrastructure and Agriculture.

謝謝你，史蒂夫，大家早上好。轉向幻燈片 9 和第一季度業績，我的評論將集中在新聞稿和演示文稿附錄中 Reg G 披露中概述的調整後業績。正如上個季度所述，剝離的海上風電業務現在在“其他”中單獨報告。我今天的評論將主要集中在我們的 2 個可報告部分：基礎設施和農業。

First quarter total net sales of $1.1 billion grew 8.3%, driven by sustainable pricing and volume growth in both segments. Excluding the Other segment, sales grew 10.4% year-over-year.

第一季度的總淨銷售額為 11 億美元，增長 8.3%，這主要得益於這兩個細分市場的可持續定價和銷量增長。不包括其他部門，銷售額同比增長 10.4%。

Operating income grew 23.4% to $122.1 million, with operating margins increasing to 11.5%, approaching our long-term goal of 12% and reflecting execution of our disciplined pricing strategy, higher volumes and improved fixed cost leverage. Diluted earnings per share grew 17.6% to $3.61, attributable to higher operating income, partially offset by a higher tax expense due to a change in the geographic mix of earnings compared to last year.

營業收入增長 23.4% 至 1.221 億美元，營業利潤率增至 11.5%，接近我們 12% 的長期目標，這反映了我們執行嚴格的定價策略、更高的銷量和改進的固定成本槓桿。每股攤薄收益增長 17.6% 至 3.61 美元，這歸因於營業收入的增加，部分被由於收益的地域組合與去年相比發生變化而導致的更高稅收支出所抵消。

Turning to Slide 10. Infrastructure net sales of $736.1 million grew 11.2% year-over-year, with sales growth across all product lines, including a record quarter for TD&S and double-digit growth in solar, which is the renamed renewable energy product line. Segment sales growth was led by higher pricing and strong underlying market demand.

轉到幻燈片 10。基礎設施淨銷售額為 7.361 億美元，同比增長 11.2%，所有產品線的銷售額均有增長，包括 TD&S 創紀錄的季度增長和太陽能的兩位數增長，這是更名的可再生能源產品線.較高的定價和強勁的潛在市場需求帶動了部門銷售額的增長。

We continue to realize the benefits of our strategic capacity expansion and have responded to this demand through new product innovation and footprint optimization to drive volume increases across the segment. Operating income increased to $94.4 million or 12.9% of sales, driven by sustained pricing and volume growth.

我們繼續意識到戰略產能擴張的好處，並通過新產品創新和足跡優化來響應這一需求，以推動整個細分市場的銷量增長。在持續定價和銷量增長的推動下，營業收入增至 9440 萬美元，佔銷售額的 12.9%。

Moving to Slide 11. In Agriculture, net sales of $332.2 million grew 8.3% year-over-year, led by sustained pricing, volume growth and higher sales of technology solutions. Strong growth in international markets, including another record sales quarter in Brazil, where volumes grew nearly 50% year-over-year, and higher Middle East sales, more than offset lower volumes in North America as first quarter 2022 benefited from the delivery of record year-end backlog.

轉到幻燈片 11。在農業方面，淨銷售額為 3.322 億美元，同比增長 8.3%，這主要得益於持續的定價、銷量增長和技術解決方案銷售額的增加。國際市場的強勁增長，包括巴西的另一個創紀錄的銷售季度，銷量同比增長近 50%，以及中東銷量的增加抵消了北美銷量的下降，因為 2022 年第一季度受益於創紀錄的交付年終積壓。

Operating income increased to $57 million or 17.2% of sales. The benefit of higher average selling prices and additional volume leverage were partially offset by higher SG&A, including incremental R&D expense for technology investment.

營業收入增至 5700 萬美元，佔銷售額的 17.2%。更高的平均售價和額外的銷量槓桿的好處被更高的 SG&A 部分抵消，包括技術投資的增量研發費用。

Turning to cash flow on Slide 12. First quarter operating cash flow of $21 million was driven by diligent working capital management and a more stable price/cost environment. We will continue to focus on effective working capital management as we look to move free cash flow equal to or greater than net earnings.

轉向幻燈片 12 的現金流。第一季度 2100 萬美元的運營現金流是由勤奮的營運資本管理和更穩定的價格/成本環境推動的。我們將繼續專注於有效的營運資本管理，因為我們希望移動等於或大於淨收益的自由現金流。

Turning to Slide 13 for a summary of first quarter capital deployment. CapEx was $22 million as we continue to invest in capacity to support sales growth. We further demonstrated our commitment to return cash to shareholders with an increase to our quarterly dividend and continued share repurchases. The additional $400 million repurchase authorization announced in February gives us additional capacity to repurchase shares while the increase in our dividend is reflective of our confidence in sustained earnings growth and strong cash flow generation.

轉到幻燈片 13，了解第一季度資本部署的摘要。資本支出為 2200 萬美元，因為我們繼續投資於產能以支持銷售增長。我們進一步證明了我們通過增加季度股息和持續回購股票來向股東返還現金的承諾。 2 月份宣布的額外 4 億美元回購授權使我們有更多能力回購股票，而股息的增加反映了我們對持續盈利增長和強勁現金流產生的信心。

Through our balanced capital deployment framework, we are focused on enhancing shareholder value as the strength of our business continues. In the first quarter, we returned approximately $123 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, ending the quarter with $173 million in cash. Going forward, we will continue our balanced capital allocation approach, although we expect a slower pace of repurchases for the remainder of the year.

通過我們平衡的資本配置框架，隨著我們業務的持續發展，我們專注於提升股東價值。第一季度，我們通過股息和股票回購向股東返還了約 1.23 億美元，本季度末現金為 1.73 億美元。展望未來，我們將繼續採用平衡的資本配置方法，儘管我們預計今年剩餘時間的回購步伐會放緩。

Moving to Slide 14. Total debt to adjusted EBITDA of 1.7x remains within our desired range of 1.5 to 2.5x. Our cash balance, available credit and flexible balance sheet provides us with ample liquidity to execute our capital allocation strategy. During the quarter, Moody's reaffirmed our Baa3 stable credit rating.

轉到幻燈片 14。總債務與調整後 EBITDA 之比為 1.7 倍，仍處於我們期望的 1.5 至 2.5 倍範圍內。我們的現金餘額、可用信貸和靈活的資產負債表為我們提供了充足的流動性來執行我們的資本配置策略。本季度，穆迪重申了我們的 Baa3 穩定信用評級。

I would now like to review our 2023 outlook as shown on Slide 15. We expect sales growth to remain at 4% to 7%, which accounts for the divestiture of the offshore wind structure business and assumes mid- to high single-digit volume growth, approximately 1% price growth and no material foreign currency impact. We expect operating margin expansion this year given strong market demand, our pricing strategy and ongoing continuous improvement initiatives.

我現在想回顧一下我們的 2023 年展望，如幻燈片 15 所示。我們預計銷售額增長將保持在 4% 至 7%，這與海上風電結構業務的剝離有關，並假設中高個位數的銷量增長, 大約 1% 的價格增長並且沒有實質性的外匯影響。鑑於強勁的市場需求、我們的定價策略和持續不斷的改進舉措，我們預計今年的營業利潤率將有所增長。

We also assume steady market demand, a more stabilized labor environment and continued growth in R&D investments. We expect continued strength across Infrastructure markets this year as our healthy global backlog is providing good visibility. In Agriculture, as Steve mentioned earlier, underlying ag market fundamentals globally remain positive.

我們還假設市場需求穩定、勞動力環境更加穩定以及研發投資持續增長。我們預計今年基礎設施市場將繼續走強，因為我們健康的全球積壓訂單提供了良好的知名度。在農業方面，正如史蒂夫之前提到的，全球農業市場的基本面仍然積極。

International growth this year is expected to be very strong, driven by project sales and a robust Brazil market, where our backlog visibility extends into the second half of the year. Agrishow, the largest farm show in the region, will begin in a couple of weeks, giving us further confirmation of our full year expectations. We expect North America agriculture volumes in the second quarter to be similar to the first quarter due to difficult comparison to unusually high volumes in the second quarter of 2022 as we delivered an elevated backlog. We expect international sales in the second quarter to be up approximately 10% compared to the first quarter.

在項目銷售和強勁的巴西市場的推動下，預計今年的國際增長將非常強勁，我們在該市場的積壓訂單可見度會延續到下半年。該地區最大的農場展 Agrishow 將在幾週後開始，進一步證實了我們對全年的預期。我們預計第二季度北美農業產量將與第一季度相似，因為與 2022 年第二季度異常高的產量相比很難，因為我們交付了大量積壓。我們預計第二季度的國際銷售額將比第一季度增長約 10%。

Finally, a reminder that the third quarter is typically a lower sales quarter compared to the rest of the year. However, strong international sales, led by our growth in Brazil, where they can produce 2 or 3 crops per year, and higher project sales are likely to mitigate seasonality impacts. We now expect adjusted diluted earnings per share growth of 12% to 16% or a range of $15.45 to $16.

最後，提醒一下，與一年中的其他時間相比，第三季度通常是一個較低的銷售季度。然而，由我們在巴西每年可生產 2 或 3 季作物的增長帶動的強勁國際銷售以及更高的項目銷售可能會減輕季節性影響。我們現在預計調整後的攤薄每股收益將增長 12% 至 16%，或介於 15.45 美元至 16 美元之間。

While our previous outlook assume a more stabilized inflation environment, we are seeing recent increases in raw material costs, notably steel. We expect these costs to align with current price projections for the remainder of the year.

雖然我們之前的展望假設通脹環境更加穩定，但我們看到近期原材料成本上漲，尤其是鋼鐵。我們預計這些成本將與今年剩餘時間的當前價格預測保持一致。

Our total backlog of $1.6 billion at the end of the quarter remains near-record levels and at solid margin levels, attributable to continued market strength across the portfolio and multiple new projects awards. As a reminder, our backlog is firm with committed projects and typically experiences few cancellations. We believe our backlog is an indicator of the strength of our core markets and the steady growing demand for products and solutions.

我們在本季度末的總積壓訂單為 16 億美元，仍接近歷史最高水平並保持穩健的利潤率水平，這歸因於整個產品組合的市場持續走強和多個新項目的授予。提醒一下，我們的積壓工作中有大量已承諾的項目，通常很少有取消的情況。我們相信我們的積壓訂單是我們核心市場實力以及對產品和解決方案需求穩步增長的指標。

To summarize, we are confident in our outlook and believe that it demonstrates the strength of our portfolio, favorable end-market trends and strong competitive position in the marketplace. We are leveraging our global scale to improve margins and drive strong cash generation, enabling us to support our growth strategy and achieve our long-term financial targets, driving sustainable shareholder value.

總而言之，我們對我們的前景充滿信心，並相信它展示了我們產品組合的實力、有利的終端市場趨勢和強大的市場競爭地位。我們正在利用我們的全球規模來提高利潤率並推動強勁的現金產生，使我們能夠支持我們的增長戰略並實現我們的長期財務目標，從而推動可持續的股東價值。

With that, I will now turn the call back over to Steve.

有了這個，我現在將把電話轉回給史蒂夫。

Thank you, Avner. Turning to Slide 16 and expanding on Avner's summary, the fundamental long-term drivers of our markets remain resilient. Our end markets have true multiyear and, in some cases, multi-decade tailwinds that set us up for a long runway of growth. .

謝謝你，阿夫納。轉到幻燈片 16 並擴展 Avner 的總結，我們市場的基本長期驅動因素仍然具有彈性。我們的終端市場擁有真正的多年，在某些情況下，數十年的順風，為我們的長期增長奠定了基礎。 .

Our Infrastructure business is supporting the global energy transition, critical infrastructure to support transportation markets and mobile network upgrades. In the Agriculture market, the combination of land productivity and resource conservation needs are driving investment globally. Additionally, both segments are experiencing technological transitions, and we are solving customer pain points by integrating value-added innovation that will continue to deepen our competitive advantage.

我們的基礎設施業務正在支持全球能源轉型、支持運輸市場和移動網絡升級的關鍵基礎設施。在農業市場，土地生產力和資源保護需求的結合正在推動全球投資。此外，這兩個細分市場都在經歷技術轉型，我們正在通過整合增值創新來解決客戶痛點，這將繼續深化我們的競爭優勢。

In summary, on Slide 17, I am extremely proud of our team's strategic execution and ability to deliver sustained outperformance through challenging market dynamics. Our growing sales and strong backlog demonstrate our market leadership, and we will continue to develop capabilities and centers of excellence across the organization to build on our momentum.

總而言之，在幻燈片 17 上，我為我們團隊的戰略執行力和通過具有挑戰性的市場動態提供持續卓越表現的能力感到非常自豪。我們不斷增長的銷售額和強勁的積壓證明了我們的市場領導地位，我們將繼續在整個組織內發展能力和卓越中心，以鞏固我們的勢頭。

We are investing in innovation, technology and digitization that will accelerate our growth beyond market rates. Our focus remains on controlling the things we can control to achieve our financial targets and deliver shareholder value. This is enabled by a strategic framework that positions Valmont for success now and in the future.

我們正在投資於創新、技術和數字化，這將加速我們超越市場速度的增長。我們的重點仍然是控制我們可以控制的事物，以實現我們的財務目標並為股東創造價值。這是由一個戰略框架實現的，該框架使 Valmont 定位於現在和未來的成功。

Finally, I look forward to meeting with you next month at our Investor Day on May 23 as we provide a more in-depth review of the company and business segments, including growth strategies, capital allocation priorities and financial objectives. I will now turn the call back over to Renee.

最後，我期待在下個月 5 月 23 日的投資者日與您會面，屆時我們將對公司和業務部門進行更深入的審查，包括增長戰略、資本分配優先事項和財務目標。我現在將把電話轉回給 Renee。

Thank you, Steve. At this time, the operator will open up the call for questions.

謝謝你，史蒂夫。這時候，接線員就會打開提問電話。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Chris Moore with CJS Securities.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 CJS 證券公司的 Chris Moore。

Yes, maybe we can just -- you talked a lot about Brazil. Obviously, your remarks are very bullish. Kind of I've been hearing mixed messages about the strength of demand, things like election-related risks, things like that. Can you maybe just talk to it a little bit further, kind of the Valmont business model within Brazil? Are you doing anything unique or just taking advantage of what you're seeing as to be kind of really strong growth there?

是的，也許我們可以——你談了很多關於巴西的事情。顯然，你的言論非常樂觀。我一直聽到關於需求強度的混合信息，比如與選舉相關的風險，諸如此類。你能不能更進一步談談巴西的 Valmont 商業模式？你是在做一些獨特的事情，還是只是利用你所看到的那種真正強勁的增長？

Chris, there has been a real deliberate effort over the past 5 years to increase our dealer network throughout the country of Brazil, to add more local capacity so that we're not as subject to some of the import issues with inventory, to create aftermarket parts strategy. We're testing a lot of our technology down there even as a leading technology proof-of-concept. So I think when you look at that in its totality, our efforts are paying off for us.

克里斯，在過去的 5 年裡，我們一直在努力增加我們在巴西全國的經銷商網絡，增加更多的本地產能，這樣我們就不會受到一些庫存進口問題的影響，創建售後市場零件策略。我們正在那裡測試我們的很多技術，甚至作為領先的技術概念驗證。所以我認為當你從整體上看時，我們的努力正在為我們帶來回報。

I think the other big thing as compared to, let's say, North America or Europe is just the fact that you get 2 to 3 growth seasons. And you have corn really opening up in the West. And -- so because they're on a replenishing aquifer in the West, corn -- because they now have a really robust cattle industry, the byproducts of some of the ethanol production from corn can be used to feed cattle. That's helping to drive business as well.

我認為與北美或歐洲相比，另一件大事就是你有 2 到 3 個生長季節。你的玉米真的在西方開放。而且——因為他們在西部的一個補充含水層，玉米——因為他們現在有一個非常強大的養牛業，一些玉米乙醇生產的副產品可以用來餵養牛。這也有助於推動業務發展。

And then, obviously, FINAME has been very supportive in all growers participating in the market, which is why we see that if someone puts land in production, 40% of the time, they're going to put a pivot right on it right away. And that is significantly higher than you see in other parts of the world, including the North America market. So Brazil is the market of the future and will really surpass our North American market in the not-so-distant future.

然後，很明顯，FINAME 一直非常支持所有參與市場的種植者，這就是為什麼我們看到，如果有人將土地投入生產，40% 的時間，他們會立即在其上放置一個支點.這明顯高於您在世界其他地區看到的，包括北美市場。所以巴西是未來的市場，在不遠的將來真的會超過我們的北美市場。

That is incredibly helpful. Maybe just one more on a bigger picture on agriculture. Over the next 12 to 18 months, is there -- when you look at the potential challenges, is there any difference by geography? I mean do you have more or less confidence in North America than international moving forward? And I guess, obviously, you ended by just saying how strong Brazil was. So...

這非常有幫助。也許只是關於農業大局的一個。在接下來的 12 到 18 個月裡，當你審視潛在的挑戰時，是否存在因地域而異的問題？我的意思是你對北美的信心比對國際前進的信心更大還是更小？我想，很明顯，你最後只是說巴西有多強大。所以...

Yes. I mean, Brazil, obviously, over the last 3 years, has doubled for us each of those last 3 years. So we have a lot of confidence in Brazil even despite some of the government -- change of government and other things. Ag brings in, I think, 23% of GDP down there, so it is a significant piece that they're not going to mess with.

是的。我的意思是，很明顯，在過去 3 年中，巴西在過去 3 年中每年都翻了一番。所以我們對巴西很有信心，儘管有一些政府 - 政府更迭和其他事情。我認為，Ag 帶來了 GDP 的 23%，因此這是一個重要的部分，他們不會惹上麻煩。

The Middle East, we've talked about, Eastern Europe is also strong regions for us and will remain so, both food security and just pure population growth. Australia and New Zealand has been a market that, for the last couple of years, was affected by some pretty severe weather events. But overall ag fundamentals, when you have soy at $14.60 or north, corn above $6, well above $6 most of the time.

中東，我們已經談到，東歐對我們來說也是強大的地區，並將繼續如此，無論是糧食安全還是純粹的人口增長。在過去的幾年裡，澳大利亞和新西蘭一直是一個受到一些相當惡劣的天氣事件影響的市場。但整體農業基本面，當大豆價格在 14.60 美元或北部時，玉米價格在 6 美元以上，大部分時間遠高於 6 美元。

I think as farmers have kind of settled in after a record net farm income, just human psychology, what it is, you come off of the best earnings you've ever had, you want to stop and take a look before you start to reinvest. And I think as people now get emergence, they can lock in some of their forward contracting at very favorable rates, the soy markets of the world, obviously, Brazil being one of the biggest, with these kinds of soy prices, I think we'll go get back into the game very quickly because of the old "I don't like tax and I need my land productivity to keep my cost low".

我認為農民在獲得創紀錄的農場淨收入後已經安頓下來，這只是人類心理，它是什麼，你已經獲得了有史以來最好的收入，你想在開始再投資之前停下來看看.而且我認為隨著人們現在的崛起，他們可以以非常優惠的價格鎖定一些遠期合同，世界大豆市場，顯然，巴西是最大的市場之一，在這樣的大豆價格下，我認為我們'我會很快回到遊戲中，因為老話“我不喜歡稅收，我需要我的土地生產力來保持我的低成本”。

So the fundamentals are there, but the past 3 seasons were not really indicative of what we would call a traditional ag market. It was COVID, then it was kind of hyperinflation in metals and supply chain issues, labor issues last year. So I think we're really starting to finally get back to a more normalized kind of ag market.

所以基本面是存在的，但過去 3 個季節並沒有真正表明我們所謂的傳統農業市場。這是 COVID，然後是金屬和供應鏈問題的惡性通貨膨脹，去年是勞工問題。所以我認為我們真的開始最終回到一個更加規範化的農業市場。

Our next question comes from the line of Nathan Jones with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Nathan Jones 與 Stifel 的對話。

I'll go on the domestic ag market. You guys said the revenue in the quarter was similar to last year. I'd assume you have a few points of pricing there so volume was probably down a few points. Can you talk about the difference just in the seasonality? I know there was demand pulled forward earlier in the season last year. Does that account for all of the volume decline? Or is there a farmer sentiment in there? And how do you expect that to normalize as we go through the year? Should we expect maybe a better second quarter than you had last year, demand just shifting from one quarter to the other?

我會去國內農業市場。你們說這個季度的收入和去年差不多。我假設你在那裡有幾個定價點，所以銷量可能下降了幾個點。你能談談季節性的區別嗎？我知道去年這個季節早些時候有需求提前。這是否解釋了所有的交易量下降？還是有農家情懷？隨著我們度過這一年，您如何期望這種情況正常化？我們是否應該期待第二季度比去年更好，需求只是從一個季度轉移到另一個季度？

Nathan, it's -- there was definitely some pull forward and some negative farmer sentiment as we came into the year. I think that, plus the fact that much of the, let's say, West of the Mississippi was abnormal weather conditions, and people really late to get out to the fields, we expect that really the second half of the year will be more normalized. .

內森，它是——當我們進入這一年時，肯定有一些推動力和一些負面的農民情緒。我認為，再加上密西西比河以西的大部分地區天氣狀況異常，人們下田到田裡的時間真的很晚，我們預計今年下半年會更加正常化。 .

And that second quarter, we'll still have some pressures on it from the fact that, particularly in the April time frame, it is still -- we're just starting to see now a pickup of order rates, an increase in farmer sentiment literally week by week. We can talk to our dealers and growers. And so the confidence is just starting to build. And so that's why we've talked about the quarter kind of being the way it is.

而第二季度，我們仍然會面臨一些壓力，特別是在 4 月份的時間框架內，它仍然 - 我們現在才剛剛開始看到訂單率回升，農民情緒上升從字面上看一周又一周。我們可以與我們的經銷商和種植者交談。因此，信心才剛剛開始建立。因此，這就是為什麼我們談到了季度的現狀。

Avner, do you want to add in, just kind of the way we're thinking about it?

Avner，你想加入我們正在考慮的方式嗎？

Yes. So when we kind of look at -- thank you, Steve. So when you look at the actual quarters, we're kind of looking sequentially and really looking at kind of the North America volumes being pretty much flat Q1 -- Q2 to Q1, similar kind of sequential pricing as well. And then we do see the impact of the international markets kind of sequentially being 10% up, driven by kind of the comps year-over-year.

是的。所以當我們看 - 謝謝你，史蒂夫。因此，當您查看實際季度時，我們會按順序查看，並且實際上會查看北美第一季度-第二季度至第一季度的銷量幾乎持平，以及類似的順序定價。然後我們確實看到國際市場的影響在某種程度上同比增長了 10%。

Okay. I know you guys have talked about and, obviously, cost of steel has gone up very rapidly again. And you've talked about having -- needing to raise prices to cover those increased costs. Are farmers continuing to be able to bear those cost increases? Is that kind of having any impact on their outlook for irrigation spending? There's still a drought moving across the Midwest. How does that impact farmers' need to go out by irrigation? Just any more color you can give us around that.

好的。我知道你們已經談過，而且很明顯，鋼鐵成本再次快速上漲。你已經談到了——需要提高價格來彌補這些增加的成本。農民是否繼續能夠承受這些成本增加？這對他們的灌溉支出前景有什麼影響嗎？中西部地區仍在發生乾旱。這對農民通過灌溉外出的需求有何影響？你可以給我們更多的顏色。

Yes. I'd say, Nathan, this is probably -- well, the price increase we're talking about now is probably our smallest price increase that we've gone out with over the last couple of years. It really is just to take some of the edge off as it pertains to steel, some of the labor inflation and some of the other freight and oil and some other things like that. So it's really just to kind of put it back to what I would say is a normal price increase representative of the market and our continued investments in technology that we're supporting.

是的。我想說，內森，這可能是——好吧，我們現在談論的價格上漲可能是我們在過去幾年中進行的最小的價格上漲。這真的只是為了消除一些優勢，因為它與鋼鐵、一些勞動力通脹以及一些其他貨運和石油以及其他一些類似的東西有關。所以這真的只是回到我所說的正常價格上漲代表市場和我們對我們支持的技術的持續投資。

The pivot still has an incredible payback. And as you mentioned, some of the conditions that are out there, the need to get data off the field, to conserve water and to really ensure that there's a crop. And particularly the large-scale farms, as we've mentioned before, if they have the rights, they're going to put a pivot in almost immediately. So we don't think that this is going to push the market to any kind of elasticity problem. And we're just really getting ourselves back to a price/cost ratio that we believe is indicative of where we would have been even back in, let's say, 2013 or 2014.

樞軸仍然有令人難以置信的回報。正如您所提到的，存在一些條件，需要從現場獲取數據、節約用水並真正確保有作物。特別是大型農場，正如我們之前提到的，如果他們擁有權利，他們幾乎會立即投入其中。所以我們認為這不會將市場推向任何類型的彈性問題。我們只是真正讓自己回到我們認為可以指示我們甚至可以回到的價格/成本比率，比方說，2013 年或 2014 年。

Our next question comes from the line of Brian Drab with William Blair.

我們的下一個問題來自 Brian Drab 和 William Blair 的台詞。

Maybe I could just start by building on that last question around steel prices and just ask it more broadly. I mean steel has just been on a roller coaster ride. And from last summer until where we are today, I mean, it's gone down dramatically and then it's up like 80% year-to-date. So what are you seeing in terms of the price change in your different segments over that time period, kind of if you look at this latest big dip in steel price from last summer to now, like, where are we?

也許我可以從關於鋼鐵價格的最後一個問題開始，然後更廣泛地問這個問題。我的意思是鋼鐵剛剛坐上了過山車。從去年夏天到今天，我的意思是，它急劇下降，然後今年迄今上漲了 80%。那麼，在這段時間裡，你看到不同細分市場的價格變化是什麼，如果你看看從去年夏天到現在鋼鐵價格的最新大幅下跌，比如，我們在哪裡？

And then also, how is that maybe that big swing -- recent swing affected businesses like irrigation? There was some thought that maybe some customers might be -- have been waiting for a price decrease and that paused the market somewhat. I don't know if that comment on -- is that dynamic real? And did you see that?

然後，這可能是怎麼回事 - 最近的波動影響了灌溉等企業？有人認為，也許有些客戶可能一直在等待降價，這在某種程度上暫停了市場。我不知道那條評論是不是——這種動態是真實的嗎？你看到了嗎？

Yes. Thanks, Brian. So our steel price and irrigation as a percentage of the cost of goods sold is not as significant as it would be in this area of utility business. That said, it uses more of the coil, which has been more volatile than the other forms of steel, which we use like plate and bar and angle. And so it can have a more dramatic impact to your cost of goods sold in a quicker time period.

是的。謝謝，布萊恩。因此，我們的鋼鐵價格和灌溉佔銷售商品成本的百分比並不像在公用事業領域那麼重要。也就是說，它使用了更多的捲材，這比我們使用的其他形式的鋼材更易揮發，比如板材、棒材和角鋼。因此，它可以在更快的時間內對您的商品銷售成本產生更大的影響。

We've done a good job of protecting our customers and ourselves through hedging programs, through some physical hedging as well as some inventory management programs that we've kicked in place. And so it was really tough for a while to kind of figure out where steel was from the price/cost perspective. And that's why I think we've seen it -- enough stability even with the movements down and up, where this can be just a nominal tweak, so to speak, to the pricing that we need to make sure we're capturing what we are.

我們通過對沖計劃、一些實物對沖以及我們已經實施的一些庫存管理計劃，在保護我們的客戶和我們自己方面做得很好。因此，有一段時間很難從價格/成本的角度弄清楚鋼鐵的位置。這就是為什麼我認為我們已經看到了它——即使上下移動也有足夠的穩定性，這可能只是名義上的調整，可以這麼說，我們需要確保我們獲得我們所需要的定價是。

Recall that, in particular, our utility business, we have pass-throughs. And so in the second half of the year, we know that some of our revenue and utility will go down, not the margin, but the revenue because we give that back through the form of steel pricing. Now that uptick with a 40-week lead time won't show up until next year in terms of some revenue increases that will then come through the mechanisms.

回想一下，特別是我們的公用事業業務，我們有傳遞。所以在今年下半年，我們知道我們的一些收入和公用事業會下降，不是利潤率，而是收入，因為我們通過鋼鐵定價的形式回饋它。現在，這種提前 40 週的增長要到明年才會出現，屆時將通過這些機制實現一些收入增長。

Plate steel has been pretty resilient through all of this, and that's because a lot of plate goes into infrastructure. And infrastructure, whether it's bridge and highway or like our own utility business, has remained pretty strong. And so the dichotomy of coil to plate is still there, albeit not as significant as it was during the peak. But that normalized kind of $100 a ton difference is not something we've seen for a long time.

在這一切過程中，鋼板一直非常有彈性，這是因為大量鋼板用於基礎設施。基礎設施，無論是橋樑和公路，還是像我們自己的公用事業業務，都一直非常強勁。因此，線圈與板的二分法仍然存在，儘管不像高峰期那樣明顯。但是這種標準化的每噸 100 美元的差異並不是我們很長時間以來看到的。

So long-winded answer, but I would say to you that steel and the recent movement we've accounted for well, and I think we've done a good job of being able to protect both ourselves and the customers and really has not dampened demand. Yes, there's some people that wait on the sidelines. That always happens. But I think in today's inflationary environment, there's other points of inflation that, really, no one should be expecting a price decrease anytime soon, or anything that's got steel or aluminum or zinc or metals involved with it.

如此冗長的回答，但我想告訴你的是，鋼鐵和最近的走勢我們已經很好地解釋了，我認為我們在保護我們自己和客戶方面做得很好並且確實沒有減弱要求。是的，有些人在場邊等著。那總是會發生。但我認為在當今的通貨膨脹環境中，還有其他通貨膨脹點，真的，沒有人應該期望價格會很快下降，或者任何涉及鋼鐵、鋁、鋅或金屬的東西。

Great. Yes. That's really helpful. And then can you, Steve, just comment on any big international projects that might be out there, just that dynamic? Is the pipeline still as strong as it's been? In the past, you mentioned that even in Egypt, you're seeing the potential for maybe some add-on projects there. I know you announced some like $85 million in opportunity in Africa. Can you just comment on that pipeline?

偉大的。是的。這真的很有幫助。然後，史蒂夫，你能否評論一下可能存在的任何大型國際項目，只是那種動態？管道是否仍然像以前一樣堅固？過去，您曾提到，即使在埃及，您也看到了一些附加項目的潛力。我知道你在非洲宣布了大約 8500 萬美元的機會。你能評論一下那條管道嗎？

Yes. I'd say that the pipeline over the last couple of years has been that there's one very significant order per year, like the $85 million award we've received. And there is a good number of projects that are, say, $30 million and below that are coming through that we don't announce, but that we're being awarded, and they're from those regions, whether it's Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe or Central Asia.

是的。我想說的是，在過去的幾年裡，每年都有一個非常重要的訂單，比如我們收到的 8500 萬美元的訂單。還有很多項目，比如說，3000 萬美元及以下的項目，我們沒有宣布，但我們正在獲得獎勵，它們來自這些地區，無論是中東、非洲、東歐或中亞。

And so the pipeline is still very good. Again, the market fundamentals around food and food production, food security, all the interruption with Ukraine, Russia still placed favorably to that pipeline. The long-term pipeline is Africa. They will definitely have development money that will flow into that area. And just the pure need for political stability is foremost on government's minds.

所以管道仍然非常好。同樣，圍繞糧食和糧食生產、糧食安全的市場基本面，烏克蘭的所有中斷，俄羅斯仍然對該管道有利。長期管道是非洲。他們肯定會有流入該地區的開發資金。政府最關心的只是政治穩定的純粹需要。

Our next question comes from the line of Ryan Connors with Northcoast Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Northcoast Research 的 Ryan Connors。

So I wanted to come at the ag side from a bit of a different angle, Steve, and you talked a lot about the top line, the revenue outlook, demand outlook international versus North America. But in terms of the margin and the mix outlook, if we go under the assumption, as it seems like it's the tone that international is going to, at least in the short run, be more of the growth driver. That was the case in the quarter, balance of the year, probably. How does that impact the margin story and the mix in terms of the margin story in irrigation?

所以我想從一個不同的角度來看農業方面，史蒂夫，你談了很多關於頂線、收入前景、國際與北美的需求前景。但就利潤率和混合前景而言，如果我們按照假設進行，因為這似乎是國際化的基調，至少在短期內，將成為更多的增長動力。這可能是本季度的情況，也可能是今年的餘額。這如何影響利潤率故事以及灌溉利潤率故事的組合？

And then -- and obviously, underlying that is what does the bidding environment looked like on some of those big projects you talked about? Has it gotten more competitive, less competitive, stable? Any color you can add there would be helpful.

然後 - 顯然，在您談到的一些大型項目中，投標環境的基礎是什麼？它變得更有競爭力、更弱、更穩定了嗎？您可以添加的任何顏色都會有所幫助。

I can start off with the mix. As we look at the international ag businesses for us, actually, the margin has consistently been improving in our international businesses. Brazil, specifically, has a very strong margin profile. As we mentioned earlier, there are 2 to 3 growing seasons. The farmer there has ability to make some good profits. And so Brazil has a really good margin profile.

我可以從混音開始。實際上，當我們為我們審視國際農業業務時，我們的國際業務的利潤率一直在提高。具體來說，巴西的利潤率非常高。正如我們之前提到的，有 2 到 3 個生長季節。那裡的農民有能力賺取一些不錯的利潤。因此，巴西的利潤率非常好。

And then when you look internationally, as we embed technology into our solutions, that increases the margins as you get more into the aftermarket business. So as that business continues to grow and the margins continue to improve, the fact that, that grows versus North America will have a less prominent impact on our margins going forward. It's not quite yet at the North America level, some of these projects. Just to the magnitude of those projects will have some lower margin profile.

然後當你放眼國際時，當我們將技術嵌入到我們的解決方案中時，隨著你更多地進入售後市場業務，利潤會增加。因此，隨著該業務的持續增長和利潤率的不斷提高，與北美相比增長的事實將對我們未來的利潤率產生不那麼顯著的影響。其中一些項目還沒有達到北美水平。只是這些項目的規模將有一些較低的利潤率。

But overall, we shouldn't expect a significant change in margins. As we've seen in our first quarter, we had a very strong margin of 11.5%, which we're really proud of, and on our way to our 12%. And we expect our kind of margins to continue to stay at those higher levels and improve throughout the year.

但總的來說，我們不應該期望利潤率發生重大變化。正如我們在第一季度看到的那樣，我們的利潤率非常強勁，達到了 11.5%，我們對此感到非常自豪，而且我們正在努力達到 12%。我們預計我們的利潤率將繼續保持在較高水平，並在全年有所改善。

And relative to your question about bidding, obviously, when there's an award like an $85 million award, that's going to be very competitive. It brings in players from Saudi Arabia, from Europe. It's not just our U.S. competitor base at that point. So they have the ability to "utilizing" a global supply team. And thankfully, we've built a very strong global supply chain, where we can source things throughout the world and bring it together in the project location and still make money that is favorable to the company at that point.

相對於你關於投標的問題，顯然，當有像 8500 萬美元這樣的獎項時，這將是非常有競爭力的。它從沙特阿拉伯和歐洲引進了球員。那時不僅僅是我們的美國競爭對手基地。所以他們有能力“利用”全球供應團隊。值得慶幸的是，我們已經建立了一個非常強大的全球供應鏈，我們可以在世界各地採購東西並將其集中在項目所在地，並且仍然可以賺到對公司有利的利潤。

But any time you're going to see a large project, it's going to be very competitive. But the projects that are more in that $30 million range, I'll say the midsized-type projects not nearly as competitive. Usually, there's a lot more cultivation that went on with the deal, specification, maybe some land use work that was done ahead of time, pumping solution type of things. And I think you need to be able to bring together the entire package if you want to be able to do these projects that have favorable margins to the company.

但任何時候你要看到一個大項目，它都會非常有競爭力。但是在 3000 萬美元範圍內的項目，我會說中型項目幾乎沒有競爭力。通常，交易、規格、可能還有一些提前完成的土地使用工作、泵送解決方案類型的事情會進行更多的耕種。而且我認為，如果您想能夠開展這些對公司有利的項目，就需要能夠整合整個項目。

And we've deliberately, over the years, set up a pumping solutions, engineering group. We've worked on land use. We helped bring development money to our customers. And all of that together is why we can pull off the projects, whether they're small scale or large scale, and make good money.

多年來，我們特意成立了一個泵送解決方案工程組。我們研究過土地使用。我們幫助為我們的客戶帶來開發資金。所有這些加在一起就是為什麼我們可以完成這些項目，無論是小規模還是大規模，並賺到很多錢。

Got it. Okay. And then my other one just was on the transmission side. Speaking of the supply chain, you mentioned, Steve, any lead time update there? I know you had been at constraint at one point. You'd indicated that lead times have started to get better. We're holding around 40 weeks, I think, is what you had mentioned. Any update there on lead times in transmission, particularly?

知道了。好的。然後我的另一個就在傳輸端。說到供應鏈，你提到過，史蒂夫，那裡有任何交貨時間更新嗎？我知道你曾一度受到約束。您表示交貨時間已經開始變得更好。我想，我們將舉行大約 40 週的會議，正如您提到的那樣。有沒有關於傳輸提前期的更新，特別是？

We're still around and the market is still around that same 40-week lead time. There's a few competitors that may be slightly below that. But as an industry, 36 weeks to 40 weeks, depending on the construction, is kind of holding at this moment. And that's with, as we mentioned earlier, the CapEx budgets being up a little bit more than we originally anticipated, where we were thinking maybe 7%, 8%, more like 10% now.

我們還在附近，市場仍然在同樣的 40 週交貨時間附近。有一些競爭對手可能略低於該水平。但作為一個行業，36 周到 40 週，這取決於建設，在這一刻是一種持有。正如我們之前提到的，資本支出預算比我們最初預期的要多一點，我們現在認為可能是 7%、8%，更像是 10%。

And so we've been able to keep our ship complete on time, pretty strong at that level, but obviously looking for areas of growth from our operations team in hours. And if we can create the hours, we know that we'll be able to start to pull some of those lead times down, which should be viewed favorably by the customer.

因此，我們能夠按時保持我們的飛船完工，在那個水平上相當強大，但顯然在數小時內從我們的運營團隊中尋找增長領域。如果我們可以創造時間，我們知道我們將能夠開始縮短其中一些交貨時間，這應該受到客戶的歡迎。

Our next question comes from the line of Brent Thielman with D.A. Davidson.

我們的下一個問題來自 Brent Thielman 和 D.A.戴維森。

Steve or Avner, again, really impressive margin that this quarter -- the best we've seen in years. I guess my questions, look, I mean, with the run-up in steel prices you've seen so far this year, to what degree were those costs reflected in the first quarter? And then, I mean, shouldn't that have a more material impact on 2Q and 3Q margin, just given the natural lag in pricing? I guess, where I'm confused, because it sounds like you think your margins can sustain at these higher levels even in the face of that.

Steve 或 Avner，本季度的利潤率真的令人印象深刻——這是我們多年來看到的最好的。我想我的問題是，看，我的意思是，隨著今年迄今為止鋼鐵價格的上漲，這些成本在多大程度上反映在第一季度？然後，我的意思是，考慮到定價的自然滯後，這不應該對第二季度和第三季度的利潤率產生更大的影響嗎？我想，我很困惑，因為聽起來你認為即使面對這種情況，你的利潤率也能維持在這些更高的水平。

Yes, thanks. I'll take that one. So overall, as you mentioned, we had strong margins in Q1, and we do expect those margins to continue throughout the year. Now there is lagging between the steel increases and how that impacts our P&L as we buy inventory. It does impact our pricing. Although, eventually, they kind of net, there is some fluctuations you'll see throughout the year. So the higher steel costs, we're not seeing it yet on our P&L. We're not seeing it yet in our backlog. That's going to lag definitely for several quarters.

對了謝謝。我會拿那個。所以總的來說，正如你提到的，我們在第一季度的利潤率很高，我們確實預計這些利潤率將在全年持續。現在，鋼鐵價格上漲與我們購買庫存時對損益的影響之間存在滯後。它確實會影響我們的定價。儘管最終它們有點像淨值，但您會在全年看到一些波動。因此，更高的鋼鐵成本，我們還沒有在我們的損益表中看到它。我們還沒有在積壓工作中看到它。這肯定會滯後幾個季度。

So overall, we might see there is some lumpiness you might see throughout a certain quarter based on the increased steel. But we -- as Steve mentioned, we do a very really good job on managing those increases through some financial hedges, physical hedges, pricing. So overall, it's not a concern for us. We just kind of manage it closely. And it can create some movements within quarters, but nothing that should impact our overall performance and margin profile.

因此，總的來說，我們可能會看到，根據鋼材的增加，你可能會在某個季度看到一些塊狀物。但是我們——正如史蒂夫提到的那樣，我們在通過一些金融對沖、實物對沖和定價來管理這些增長方面做得非常好。所以總的來說，這不是我們關心的問題。我們只是密切管理它。它可以在幾個季度內產生一些變化，但不會影響我們的整體業績和利潤率。

Okay. Okay. I guess the follow-up would be on the Agriculture segment. I'd just be curious your sort of high-level thoughts how we ought to think about for this evolving lending agreement or the access to capital, liquidity for farmers. Is that a concern as the lenders sort of across the country tighten credit here? How do we think about that in the context of that business?

好的。好的。我想後續將在農業領域。我只是想知道你的高層想法，我們應該如何考慮這個不斷發展的貸款協議或農民獲得資本和流動性的途徑。全國各地的貸方都在這裡收緊信貸，這是否令人擔憂？我們如何在該業務的背景下考慮這一點？

Brent, it's a good question. We've seen it out there quite a bit. Farmers have one of the best abilities to pay back because they have an asset base that's there to back up the loan. So I think there's a lot of programs out there that have discounted or bought down points as it relates to machinery and equipment. As we've talked about many times, pivot is the second best payback on the farm compared to the tractor, and that 3 to 4 years is a typical payback.

布倫特，這是個好問題。我們已經在那裡看到了很多。農民擁有最好的償還能力之一，因為他們擁有可以支持貸款的資產基礎。所以我認為有很多計劃在與機械和設備相關時打折或購買折扣點。正如我們多次談到的那樣，與拖拉機相比，Pivot 是農場第二好的回報期，3 到 4 年是典型的回報期。

So even with some of the elevated rates, probably in the 400, 500 basis point increases from the same time last year, that still works financially, particularly given the elevated crop prices. Soy being at $14.60, anytime you're close to $15 is an unbelievable soy type price. Yes, their inputs are up. But I think that those inputs, as they look out going further, have come down and stabilized. So maybe they locked last year at a high rate this year. That's what has been kind of the -- as we went through the kind of first quarter that the farmer just really needed to sit down with their account and they kind of figure this all out. And -- because it's a new environment for them, it's a little uncertain. I think they're getting a lot more certain as things progress.

因此，即使利率有所提高，可能比去年同期提高 400、500 個基點，這在財務上仍然有效，特別是考慮到農作物價格上漲。大豆價格為 14.60 美元，任何時候接近 15 美元都是令人難以置信的大豆類價格。是的，他們的投入增加了。但我認為，隨著他們進一步展望，這些投入已經下降並趨於穩定。所以也許他們去年鎖定率很高，今年。這就是那種 - 當我們經歷了第一季度時，農民真的需要坐下來處理他們的賬戶，他們有點把這一切都弄清楚了。而且——因為這對他們來說是一個新環境，所以有點不確定。我認為隨著事情的進展，他們變得更加確定。

And we've not seen it affect land at this point too heavily, more on the small grower side, but not the big grower side. They're actually out hunting for land. And on the machinery equipment perspective, as I mentioned earlier, if it's a large-scale farm, they're going to put a pivot in, and they're typically buying it in cash anyway. So I think the overall environment, if it's kind of this is where it is, then the grower will digest it and make their decisions. And the answers are not very, very much different. It's still the tractor, it's still land, it's still a pivot are all good investments for the grower. So that's -- I think they should remain fairly positive even despite the rates.

而且我們目前還沒有看到它對土地的影響太大，更多的是在小種植者方面，而不是大種植者方面。他們實際上是在尋找土地。從機械設備的角度來看，正如我之前提到的，如果它是一個大型農場，他們就會投入其中，而且他們通常會以現金購買。所以我認為整體環境，如果它是這樣的，那麼種植者就會消化它並做出他們的決定。答案也不是非常非常不同。它仍然是拖拉機，它仍然是土地，它仍然是一個支點，對種植者來說都是很好的投資。所以那是——我認為即使有利率，他們也應該保持相當積極的態度。

Our next question comes from the line of Jon Braatz with Kansas City Capital.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jon Braatz 與 Kansas City Capital 的對話。

Steve, in your commentary, you talked a little bit about the increased R&D spending in the agricultural area. And I'm wondering if you could tell us how much maybe you're spending and what the trend is like going forward? And maybe some of the things that you're working on, give us an idea of what the opportunities are.

史蒂夫，在您的評論中，您談到了農業領域研發支出的增加。我想知道你是否可以告訴我們你可能花了多少錢以及未來的趨勢是什麼？也許你正在做的一些事情讓我們了解了機會是什麼。

Yes. We have been increasing R&D spend to the tune of, let's say, $4 million to $6 million per year kind of year-over-year. And that has gone to -- a big portion of that is to AgTech, Prospera and the Insights product being one of it. That's something that we're seeing very strong adoption rates, real good paybacks for the growers that are utilizing it.

是的。我們一直在增加研發支出，比方說，每年增加 400 萬至 600 萬美元。這已經到了 - 其中很大一部分是 AgTech，Prospera 和 Insights 產品就是其中之一。這是我們看到非常高的採用率，對使用它的種植者來說真正好的回報。

But we're not just working on pure AgTech, we've also been investing over the years. If you think about our X-Tec drive, X-Tec is a continuous-drive machine. So there's only one other app in the marketplace that does it hydraulically. We can do it electrically. And so we can get around the field in 2 hours with that product. That took some significant investment to do that.

但我們不僅致力於純粹的 AgTech，多年來我們也一直在投資。如果您想到我們的 X-Tec 驅動器，就會發現 X-Tec 是一種連續驅動機器。因此，市場上只有一款應用程序可以通過液壓方式完成這項工作。我們可以用電來做。因此，我們可以使用該產品在 2 小時內完成現場工作。為此，需要進行大量投資。

We've now put ICON panels on to our linear machines. That was something that we've been wanting to do for a number of years. So it's a combination of upgrading both the pivot and the electronics around the pivot and the functionality of the pivot and also these newer agronomy type of services that we've done out there.

我們現在已經將 ICON 面板放在線性機器上。這是我們多年來一直想做的事情。因此，它結合了升級樞軸和圍繞樞軸的電子設備以及樞軸的功能以及我們在那裡完成的這些更新的農學類型的服務。

And I'll just jump in. Specifically to research and development, kind of the overall dollars that we spent last year, we're approaching $50 million, and that's specifically R&D. Of course, we spend more on innovation and such, and we continue to increase. But just as a reference point, it was $46 million last year.

我會直接跳進去。特別是在研發方面，我們去年花費的總美元，我們接近 5000 萬美元，特別是研發。當然，我們在創新等方面投入更多，而且還在不斷增加。但僅作為參考點，去年是 4600 萬美元。

Okay. And Steve, last thing, last week, you announced this partnership with Control Module. And I did some reading on the technology and what's happening in that area, and it sounded very interesting. But can you tell us a little bit more about what you see for that technology and that market opportunity and maybe how your partnership with Control Module might work? Now I understand it's small at this point, but this -- kind of move the needle down the road?

好的。 Steve，最後一件事，上週，你宣布了與 Control Module 的合作夥伴關係。我閱讀了一些有關該技術以及該領域正在發生的事情的資料，這聽起來非常有趣。但是你能告訴我們更多關於你對這項技術和市場機會的看法，以及你與 Control Module 的合作可能如何運作嗎？現在我知道它在這一點上很小，但是這——有點像在路上移動針頭？

Yes. I think when you look at our data acquisition and the way that we get that in and process the data, we're looking at a series of technologies that are there to try and bring that forth. And that company gives us an element of that, that we wouldn't have otherwise. We've always said that we want to look at the ecosystem and decide where to invest and kind of own the technology versus where we want to partner with a company that already has done significant R&D and probably too big of a head start for us to get into there.

是的。我認為，當您查看我們的數據採集以及我們獲取和處理數據的方式時，我們正在研究一系列旨在嘗試實現這一點的技術。那家公司給了我們一個我們不會有的元素。我們一直說我們要審視生態系統並決定在哪裡投資和擁有技術，而不是我們想與一家已經進行了大量研發並且可能對我們來說領先優勢太大的公司合作的地方進入那裡。

So it's -- our ecosystem of the way we're going to grow technology will be done through a lot of these kinds of partnerships. And so we're excited about them. It is something that, down the line, our infrastructure technology, which we're going to talk a lot more about at our May 23 Investor Day, so we'll be able to give you a lot of good color as to how that ultimately fits in with the growth strategy and the transformation of our business into some more recurring revenue.

所以它 - 我們發展技術的方式的生態系統將通過許多此類合作夥伴關係來完成。所以我們對他們感到興奮。這就是我們的基礎設施技術，我們將在 5 月 23 日的投資者日上更多地討論它，因此我們將能夠為您提供很多關於最終如何實現的良好色彩符合增長戰略和將我們的業務轉變為更多經常性收入。

Our final question comes from the line of Brian Wright with ROTH MKM.

我們的最後一個問題來自 Brian Wright 與 ROTH MKM 的對話。

Just was wondering, with the Farm Bill going through its processes, are there any things that we should be watching for or that you're hearing about that could have an impact on the ag part of the business?

只是想知道，隨著農業法案的審理，是否有任何我們應該關注的事情，或者您聽說過的事情可能會對業務的 ag 部分產生影響？

Brian, the Farm Bill always goes through a lot of maturations and political wrangling. Usually, the food stamp issue can kind of blend into there to some degree. But it's typically very bipartisan. The ag minister [from the state] that is very ag based. We don't expect any significant kinds of changes to that. There is sometimes -- and now is bleeding in more some of the environmental considerations that go with it. And so those are things that we're watching.

布賴恩，農業法案總是要經歷很多成熟和政治爭論。通常，食品券問題可以在某種程度上融入其中。但它通常是非常兩黨的。 [來自州]的農業部長非常重視農業。我們不希望對此有任何重大的改變。有時 - 現在正在更多地考慮隨之而來的一些環境因素。所以這些就是我們正在關注的事情。

If there is more of a regulated kind of data to be provided, that actually is good for our business because it's where our technology solutions are helping the growers today to meet their ESG needs. So I think that's something we're watching, but we don't expect anything overly significant.

如果要提供更多受監管的數據，那實際上對我們的業務有利，因為我們的技術解決方案正在幫助當今的種植者滿足他們的 ESG 需求。所以我認為這是我們正在關注的事情，但我們預計不會有任何過於重要的事情。

The EQUIP program, just to make a note of it, was re-upped for $850 million, and -- but it actually had expired. And so it's forced our growers -- and this is a little bit about first quarter, forced a lot of our growers to go back into the queue and restart the process. They didn't grandfather any of the applications. And that's a program that had been around since, I think, the mid-'90s. So that was a major interruption. So if they don't approve things, that's what we look at more as impacting our business than some of the little changes that you may see through the actual Farm Bill.

EQUIP 計劃，只是為了記下它，重新增加了 8.5 億美元，而且——但它實際上已經過期了。因此，它迫使我們的種植者——這與第一季度有關，迫使我們的許多種植者重新排隊並重新開始這個過程。他們沒有申請任何申請。我認為這是自 90 年代中期以來就存在的計劃。所以這是一個重大的中斷。因此，如果他們不批准某些事情，那是我們認為影響我們業務的因素，而不是您可能通過實際農業法案看到的一些小變化。

We have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I'll now turn the call back over to Renee Campbell for any closing comments.

我們的問答環節已經結束。我現在將電話轉回蕾妮坎貝爾，徵求任何結束意見。

Thank you for joining us today. As mentioned, today's call will be available later this morning for playback on our website or by phone for the next 7 days. We look forward to speaking with you again next quarter.

感謝您今天加入我們。如前所述，今天的電話會議將於今天上午晚些時候在我們的網站上播放，或在接下來的 7 天內通過電話播放。我們期待下個季度再次與您交談。

Included in this discussion are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that management has made in light of experience in the industries in which Valmont operates as well as management's perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors believed to be appropriate under these circumstances.

本討論中包含 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述基於管理層根據 Valmont 經營所在行業的經驗以及管理層的假設做出的假設對歷史趨勢、當前條件、預期未來發展和其他在這些情況下被認為適當的因素的看法。

As you listen to and consider these comments, you should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results. They involve risks, uncertainties, some of which are beyond Valmont's control, and assumptions. Although management believes that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could affect Valmont's actual financial results and cause them to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements.

當您聆聽和考慮這些評論時，您應該明白這些陳述並不是對業績或結果的保證。它們涉及風險、不確定性和假設，其中一些超出了 Valmont 的控制範圍。儘管管理層認為這些前瞻性陳述是基於合理的假設，但您應該意識到，許多因素可能會影響 Valmont 的實際財務結果，並導致它們與前瞻性陳述中的預期產生重大差異。

These factors include, among other things, risk factors described from time to time in Valmont's reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as future economic and market circumstances, industry conditions, company performance and financial results, operating efficiencies, availability and price of raw material, availability and market acceptance of new products, product pricing, domestic and international competitive environments and actions and policy changes of domestic and foreign governments. The company cautions that any forward-looking statement included in this discussion is made as of the date of this discussion, and the company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement.

這些因素包括但不限於 Valmont 向美國證券交易委員會提交的報告中不時描述的風險因素，以及未來的經濟和市場環境、行業狀況、公司業績和財務業績、運營效率、原材料的可用性和價格材料、新產品的可用性和市場接受度、產品定價、國內和國際競爭環境以及國內外政府的行動和政策變化。公司提醒，本次討論中包含的任何前瞻性陳述均截至本次討論之日作出，公司不承諾更新任何前瞻性陳述。

This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。