Valmont Industries Inc (VMI) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to Valmont Industries' Q2 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

您好，歡迎參加 Valmont Industries 的 2023 年第二季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）

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

請注意，本次會議正在錄製中。現在我將會議交給東道主、投資者關係高級副總裁兼財務主管蕾妮·坎貝爾 (Renee Campbell)。坎貝爾女士，您可以開始了。

Thank you, and good morning. Welcome to Valmont Industries Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. With me today are Avner Applbaum, President and Chief Executive Officer; Tim Francis, Interim Chief Financial Officer; and Gene Padgett, Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer. This morning, Avner will provide a brief summary of our second quarter results, commenting on our markets and long-term business strategy. Following that, Tim will review our financial performance and provide our current outlook and indications for 2023, with closing remarks from Avner. This will be followed by Q&A.

謝謝你，早上好。歡迎參加 Valmont Industries 2023 年第二季度財報電話會議。今天與我在一起的有總裁兼首席執行官 Avner Applbaum；蒂姆·弗朗西斯，臨時首席財務官；以及高級副總裁兼首席會計官 Gene Padgett。今天早上，阿夫納將簡要總結我們第二季度的業績，並對我們的市場和長期業務戰略發表評論。隨後，Tim 將回顧我們的財務業績，並提供我們當前的 2023 年展望和指示，並由 Avner 致結束語。接下來將進行問答。

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. 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 brands on the social media channels listed on our website. With that, I would now like to turn the call over to our President and Chief Executive Officer, Avner Applbaum.

今天的電話會議將進行現場網絡直播，可從網絡直播或投資者網站 valmont.com 下載。今天上午晚些時候，我們的網站上將提供重播。請注意，本次電話會議取決於我們對前瞻性陳述的披露，這些陳述適用於今天的討論，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全文閱讀。最後，如果您希望在 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法爾曼和我們的品牌。現在，我想將電話轉給我們的總裁兼首席執行官阿夫納·阿普爾鮑姆 (Avner Applbaum)。

Thank you, Renee. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Before discussing the results of the quarter and current market dynamics, I would like to spend a few minutes on my recent CEO appointment. First, I'm extremely humbled and honored to be addressing you today as the CEO of Valmont. This is a great company that delivers products and solutions our customers need to solve their most pressing challenges. Our global team is dedicated to our purpose and united by our core values to achieve our goals.

謝謝你，蕾妮。大家早上好，感謝您加入我們。在討論本季度業績和當前市場動態之前，我想花幾分鐘時間談談我最近的首席執行官任命。首先，今天能夠以 Valmont 首席執行官的身份向大家發表講話，我感到非常謙卑和榮幸。這是一家偉大的公司，為客戶提供解決最緊迫挑戰所需的產品和解決方案。我們的全球團隊致力於實現我們的目標，並通過我們的核心價值觀團結起來，以實現我們的目標。

The people at Valmont are one of the primary reasons I joined the company in 2020, and I could not be more proud to be part of this outstanding team. Having worked closely with the entire leadership team to develop and implement our strategy over the past 3-plus years, I understand what is required of this role. The executive team and Board of Directors are aligned around our long-term strategy to accelerate our journey towards becoming a leading industrial technology company.

Valmont 的員工是我在 2020 年加入該公司的主要原因之一，能夠成為這個優秀團隊的一員，我感到非常自豪。在過去三年多的時間裡，我與整個領導團隊密切合作制定和實施了我們的戰略，我了解這個角色的要求。執行團隊和董事會圍繞我們的長期戰略保持一致，以加快我們成為領先工業技術公司的步伐。

This strategic framework, which I will discuss in a few minutes, is the right approach to continuing the momentum we have built and provides a clear path to achieving our long-term financial targets. As CFO, I led the transformation of the finance organization using data, advanced technology and processes to drive better business decisions and value. This focus has led to a more disciplined approach across the organization in using data and analytics to achieve our financial goals with an emphasis on ROIC.

我將在幾分鐘內討論的這一戰略框架是繼續我們已經建立的勢頭的正確方法，並為實現我們的長期財務目標提供了明確的道路。作為首席財務官，我利用數據、先進技術和流程領導了財務組織的轉型，以推動更好的業務決策和價值。這種關注導致整個組織在使用數據和分析來實現我們的財務目標（重點是投資回報率）方面採取了更加嚴格的方法。

As CEO, I look forward to leading Valmont along the strategic path we have been on over the past several years, driving strong financial performance for the company and our shareholders, while remaining committed to our sustainability journey.

作為首席執行官，我期待帶領 Valmont 沿著過去幾年的戰略道路前進，為公司和股東帶來強勁的財務業績，同時繼續致力於我們的可持續發展之旅。

Finally, I want to thank Tim Francis for stepping into the role of interim CFO. I am confident in his ability to lead our finance organization and contribute to the executive leadership team until we are prepared to name a permanent CFO.

最後，我要感謝蒂姆·弗朗西斯 (Tim Francis) 擔任臨時首席財務官。我對他領導我們的財務組織並為執行領導團隊做出貢獻的能力充滿信心，直到我們準備好任命永久首席財務官為止。

Turning to Slide 5 for a review of second quarter financials and key messages. Our results in this quarter were strong, achieving adjusted operating margin of 13.2%. Adjusted diluted earnings per share grew to a record $4.37, building on the momentum from 2022 and the first quarter of this year. I am very pleased with our growth and profitability and proud of the entire Valmont team for what we have accomplished.

請參閱幻燈片 5，回顧第二季度的財務狀況和關鍵信息。我們本季度的業績強勁，調整後營業利潤率為 13.2%。調整後稀釋每股收益在 2022 年和今年第一季度的勢頭基礎上增長至創紀錄的 4.37 美元。我對我們的增長和盈利能力感到非常滿意，並為整個 Valmont 團隊所取得的成就感到自豪。

Infrastructure demand globally remains robust, benefiting from several secular long-term growth drivers, including the global energy transition and ongoing investment in grid hardening. We are seeing strong demand across nearly all our markets. Global agriculture market fundamentals are being influenced by uncertainty in North America as farmer sentiment is muted pending the outcome of this year's harvest, which I will expand on shortly.

全球基礎設施需求依然強勁，受益於多個長期增長驅動因素，包括全球能源轉型和對電網強化的持續投資。我們看到幾乎所有市場都有強勁的需求。全球農業市場基本面正受到北美不確定性的影響，因為等待今年收成結果的農民情緒低迷，我將很快對此進行闡述。

We continue to be excited about the long-term growth potential of agriculture and our ability to transform the industry with disruptive technology that improves land productivity and enables growers to do more with less.

我們仍然對農業的長期增長潛力感到興奮，也對我們利用顛覆性技術改造行業的能力感到興奮，這些技術提高了土地生產力，使種植者能夠用更少的資源做更多的事情。

In both segments, our discipline and strategic pricing has ensured we are capturing the value we add to our customers, which has driven margin expansion amid lower sales and ongoing inflation.

在這兩個領域，我們的紀律和戰略定價確保了我們能夠為客戶增加價值，這在銷售額下降和持續通貨膨脹的情況下推動了利潤率的擴張。

Wrapping up our key messages. We are executing our run, growth, transform strategic framework that we outlined at our recent Investor Day. Earlier this month, we announced an agreement to acquire HR Products, a strategic bolt-on that expands our irrigation aftermarket part capabilities and drive international expansion. This is an excellent example of harnessing our strong balance sheet to further our strategic initiatives.

總結我們的關鍵信息。我們正在執行我們在最近的投資者日概述的運營、增長、轉型戰略框架。本月早些時候，我們宣布達成收購 HR Products 的協議，這是一項戰略補充，旨在擴大我們的灌溉售後零件能力並推動國際擴張。這是利用我們強大的資產負債表來推進我們的戰略舉措的一個很好的例子。

Moving to Slide 6 for an update on current market conditions, starting with infrastructure and utility markets. Utilities have increased their CapEx spending to support grid hardening initiatives and an evolving electricity generation portfolio. Transmission demand is outpacing market capacity as indicated by industry lead times that exceed 40 weeks. We are strategically adding capacity to meet the strong multiyear demand. In lighting and transportation, transportation market demand is being supported by increasing investment in road construction and we continue to see some increased quoting activity related to IIJA funding. Commercial street lighting product demand globally is muted due to impacts of inflation, and higher interest rates leading to softness in single-family housing and commercial construction markets. In telecom markets, we are seeing CapEx spending by wireless carriers more aligned with historical trends following record level of investment. At the onset of 5G, the industry predicted this rollout to be more rapid than previous generations. In reality, the buildout timing is proving to be similar to past experiences, as pauses in CapEx spending are common during network expansions. Major carriers will continue to invest in wireless networks to meet nationwide coverage and capacity commitments after having spent over $120 billion on 5G spectrum. Our wireless communication structures and components business remains well positioned to meet this demand. Our Coatings business tracks industrial production levels and have seen near-term strength from utility and transportation markets. Turning to solar. Domestic guidelines related to the inflation reduction Act have been released. Even though the industry is awaiting clarity on the manufacturing tax credit details, IRA support is expected to provide strong market tailwinds for the next several years. Globally, renewable energy investments in markets such as Italy and Brazil are supporting demand in those regions. Valmont has a competitive advantage in the distributed generation solar market, and we prioritized that niche market due to its attractive growth rates and accretive quality of earnings. Turning to agriculture. -- and starting with North America. Demand this quarter was less robust than we and the industry originally anticipated. While U.S. net farm income is projected to decline year-over-year, it will still represent the third highest income level over the past 10 years. Additionally, recent USDA data suggests improving drought conditions for much needed rain across key growing regions. However, many areas of the country remain at severe or extreme drought levels. We view these market tailwinds as positive, but growers have maintained a wait-and-see approach in purchasing decisions. This is supported by recent Purdue University reports, which highlight farmer uncertainties around higher interest rates and volatile commodity prices. We believe these uncertainties may continue to weigh on sentiment through this year's growing season and expect the outcome of this year's harvest to provide more clarity on order patterns for the remainder of the year. Moving to international markets. We continue to see strength in Brazil, supported by the financing program that was announced in late June. The Brazilian government demonstrated their strong support of agriculture markets with an increase in irrigation funding of nearly 25% over last year, with approximately BRL 2.4 billion available to growers. The terms of these loans are extremely favorable, making this program an attractive option to support continued irrigation investment. In other international markets, our project pipeline remains robust, not only driven by ongoing food security concerns, but also the ability to produce goods for export, which can help reduce trade imbalances and currency fluctuations. In more developed regions, the demand for increased resource conservation to further enhance land productivity has been a demand catalyst for our products and technology solutions. Project sales in the EMEA region this quarter were lower compared to last year. We expected shipments of the previously announced $85 million [AJA] project to begin in second quarter. However, there was a slight delay and the project began shipping this month. We anticipate shipments will continue into 2024. We have intentionally and strategically built exposure to diverse infrastructure end markets and a growing pipeline of international agriculture projects. This helps us to better manage softness in any 1 end market across the portfolio, delivering more consistent financial results. I am pleased with our second quarter performance and proud of our entire team's achievement. Moving to Slide 7. In May, many of you joined us either virtually or in person at the New York Stock Exchange for our Investor Day. I would like to take a few minutes to elaborate on our new Run Grow Transform strategic framework I mentioned earlier. This framework will move us forward as we evolve into a higher quality and more dynamic organization, delivering shareholder value that is less dependent on cycle of any 1 end market. It guides our allocation, our resources, capital, time and effort. Our framework begins with the run, which is the idea that we are built for sustainable outperformance. This solid foundation allows us to operate well, confirmed by a proven ability to deliver results and drive profitable growth even when economic cycles are volatile and uncertain. Our commitment to operational excellence, development business model and the continuous improvement mindset are critical to maintaining the run. With an established run foundation, we can drive growth across our businesses that exceed expected market growth rates.

請轉到幻燈片 6，了解當前市場狀況的最新情況，從基礎設施和公用事業市場開始。公用事業公司增加了資本支出，以支持電網強化計劃和不斷發展的發電組合。超過 40 週的行業交貨時間表明，輸電需求正在超過市場容量。我們正在戰略性地增加產能，以滿足強勁的多年需求。在照明和交通方面，道路建設投資的增加正在支撐交通市場需求，我們繼續看到與 IIJA 資金相關的報價活動有所增加。由於通貨膨脹的影響以及利率上升導致單戶住宅和商業建築市場疲軟，全球商業街照明產品需求疲軟。在電信市場，我們看到無線運營商的資本支出在創紀錄的投資水平之後更加符合歷史趨勢。在 5G 興起之際，業界預測其推出速度將比前幾代更快。事實上，事實證明，建設時間與過去的經歷相似，因為在網絡擴張期間資本支出暫停很常見。在花費超過 1200 億美元購買 5G 頻譜後，主要運營商將繼續投資無線網絡，以滿足全國范圍的覆蓋和容量承諾。我們的無線通信結構和組件業務仍然能夠很好地滿足這一需求。我們的塗料業務跟踪工業生產水平，並看到公用事業和運輸市場的近期強勁勢頭。轉向太陽能。國內與抑制通貨膨脹法相關的指導方針已經發布。儘管業界正在等待製造業稅收抵免細節的明確，但愛爾蘭共和軍的支持預計將在未來幾年提供強勁的市場推動力。在全球範圍內，意大利和巴西等市場的可再生能源投資正在支撐這些地區的需求。法爾曼在分佈式發電太陽能市場具有競爭優勢，我們優先考慮這一利基市場，因為它具有有吸引力的增長率和盈利質量。轉向農業。 ——從北美開始。本季度的需求沒有我們和行業最初預期的強勁。儘管美國農業淨收入預計將同比下降，但仍將是過去十年中第三高的收入水平。此外，美國農業部最近的數據表明，乾旱條件有所改善，主要種植地區急需降雨。然而，該國許多地區仍處於嚴重或極端乾旱水平。我們認為這些市場順風是積極的，但種植者在購買決策中保持觀望態度。普渡大學最近的報告也支持了這一點，該報告強調了農民對利率上升和大宗商品價格波動的不確定性。我們認為，這些不確定性可能會在今年的生長季節繼續影響市場情緒，並預計今年的收成結果將使今年剩餘時間的訂單模式更加清晰。轉向國際市場。在六月底宣布的融資計劃的支持下，我們繼續看到巴西的實力。巴西政府展示了對農業市場的大力支持，灌溉資金比去年增加了近 25%，為種植者提供了約 24 億雷亞爾。這些貸款的條件極其優惠，使該計劃成為支持持續灌溉投資的有吸引力的選擇。在其他國際市場，我們的項目儲備仍然強勁，這不僅是由於持續的糧食安全問題，也是由於生產出口商品的能力，這有助於減少貿易失衡和貨幣波動。在較發達地區，加強資源節約以進一步提高土地生產力的需求一直是我們產品和技術解決方案的需求催化劑。本季度歐洲、中東和非洲地區的項目銷售量低於去年。我們預計先前宣布的 8500 萬美元 [AJA] 項目將於第二季度開始發貨。然而，略有延遲，該項目於本月開始發貨。我們預計出貨量將持續到 2024 年。我們有意識地、戰略性地建立了對多元化基礎設施終端市場和不斷增長的國際農業項目的接觸。這有助於我們更好地管理整個投資組合中任何一個終端市場的疲軟狀況，從而提供更一致的財務業績。我對我們第二季度的表現感到滿意，並為我們整個團隊的成就感到自豪。轉到幻燈片 7。五月，你們中的許多人以虛擬方式或親自參加了紐約證券交易所的投資者日活動。我想花幾分鐘來詳細闡述我之前提到的我們新的 Run Grow Transform 戰略框架。隨著我們發展成為一個更高質量、更有活力的組織，該框架將推動我們不斷前進，提供更少依賴於任何終端市場週期的股東價值。它指導我們的資源、資本、時間和精力的分配。我們的框架從運行開始，這是我們為可持續卓越表現而構建的理念。這一堅實的基礎使我們能夠良好運營，即使在經濟周期波動和不確定的情況下，我們也有能力交付成果並推動盈利增長。我們對卓越運營、開發業務模式和持續改進心態的承諾對於維持運營至關重要。憑藉已建立的運營基礎，我們可以推動我們的業務增長超過預期的市場增長率。

This can be achieved through geographic expansion, such as our robust pipeline of international irrigation projects or through optimizing our best-in-class distribution channel by creating additional touch points to serve our global customer base. When we speak to transform, it's making sure that we are being great stewards of the company long term. It is a mindset where we look to be a disruptor in our markets. We operate in capital good markets where high barriers to entry are common. Leveraging our industry-leading position, including extensive distribution networks and trusted reputation, we bring innovative technologies to our customers and are focused on creating more stable and high-value revenue through a recurring revenue stream while delivering proven ROI to our customers. Earlier this month, we demonstrated our commitment to making investments that align with our growth strategy with an announcement to acquire HR Products, summarized on Slide 8. This Australian-based wholesale supplier of irrigation products provides geographic footprint expansion in this key agriculture market while enabling us to better serve our customers through expanded irrigation parts offering. With our large installed machine base in the region, we have a path to grow recurring, stable, high-value revenue streams, perfectly aligned with our grow and transform objectives. We expect the transaction to close in the third quarter and look forward to this great business joining our portfolio. With that, I will now turn the call over to Tim for our second quarter financial review and updated outlook.

這可以通過地域擴張來實現，例如我們強大的國際灌溉項目管道，或者通過創建額外的接觸點來服務我們的全球客戶群來優化我們一流的分銷渠道。當我們談論轉型時，是為了確保我們能夠長期成為公司的優秀管理者。在這種心態下，我們希望成為市場的顛覆者。我們在資本良好市場開展業務，進入壁壘普遍很高。憑藉我們的行業領先地位，包括廣泛的分銷網絡和值得信賴的聲譽，我們為客戶帶來創新技術，並專注於通過經常性收入流創造更穩定和高價值的收入，同時為客戶提供經過驗證的投資回報率。本月早些時候，我們宣布收購HR Products，展示了我們對進行符合我們增長戰略的投資的承諾，如幻燈片8 所示。這家總部位於澳大利亞的灌溉產品批發供應商在這一關鍵農業市場提供地理足跡擴張，同時使我們通過擴大灌溉零件供應來更好地為客戶服務。憑藉我們在該地區的大型已安裝機器基地，我們有一條增長經常性、穩定、高價值收入流的道路，完全符合我們的增長和轉型目標。我們預計交易將在第三季度完成，並期待這一偉大的業務加入我們的投資組合。現在，我將把電話轉給蒂姆，以進行我們第二季度的財務審查和最新的展望。

Thank you, Avner, and good morning, everyone. Before I begin, I would like to express my appreciation and excitement to be working with Avner and the rest of the Valmont team. By way of background, I have been with Valmont for over 9 years. First as the Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller; and most recently as the Finance Business Partner Global Operations. During that time, I worked closely with all of our lines of business, segment leadership and our Audit Committee. We have an excellent global finance team, and I'm honored to serve in this role during this transition period.

謝謝你，阿夫納，大家早上好。在開始之前，我想對與 Avner 和 Valmont 團隊的其他成員合作表示讚賞和興奮。就背景而言，我在 Valmont 工作了 9 年多。首先擔任高級副總裁兼公司財務總監；最近擔任財務業務合作夥伴全球運營。在此期間，我與我們所有的業務部門、部門領導和審計委員會密切合作。我們擁有一支優秀的全球財務團隊，我很榮幸能夠在這個過渡時期擔任這一職務。

Turning to Slide 10 and the second 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. Second quarter net sales of $1 billion decreased 7.9% as sales growth in infrastructure was more than offset by lower agriculture sales. Accounting for the 2022 divestiture of the Offshore One business reported in the other segments, sales decreased 5.7% year-over-year. Despite lower sales, operating income grew 12% to $137.6 million, with operating margin increasing to 13.2%, surpassing our previous long-term goal of 12% and on the path to our new long-term target of 14%. Operating margin improvement reflects continued benefits from value-based pricing, cost optimization and operational efficiencies in both segments. Diluted earnings per share grew 18.1% to a record $4.37. Turning to the segments on Slide 11. Infrastructure sales of $770.6 million grew 4.2% year-over-year due to favorable pricing, globally higher volumes in the solar and TD & S product lines and sales from the ConcealFab acquisition, partially offset by lower volumes in telecommunications.

轉向幻燈片 10 和第二季度的業績。我的評論將集中於新聞稿和演示文稿附錄中的 Reg G 披露中概述的調整結果。第二季度淨銷售額為 10 億美元，下降 7.9%，原因是基礎設施銷售增長被農產品銷售下降所抵消。考慮到 2022 年剝離其他部門報告的 Offshore One 業務，銷售額同比下降 5.7%。儘管銷售額下降，營業收入仍增長 12%，達到 1.376 億美元，營業利潤率增至 13.2%，超過了我們之前 12% 的長期目標，並正在朝著 14% 的新長期目標邁進。營業利潤率的提高反映了兩個部門基於價值的定價、成本優化和運營效率的持續收益。稀釋後每股收益增長 18.1%，達到創紀錄的 4.37 美元。轉向幻燈片11 中的細分市場。基礎設施銷售額為7.706 億美元，同比增長4.2%，原因是有利的定價、全球太陽能和TD & S 產品線銷量的增加以及ConcealFab 收購帶來的銷售額，但部分被銷量下降所抵消在電信領域。

Operating income increased to $116 million, resulting in strong operating margin of 15.1% of net sales. Deliberate actions to improve cost of goods sold and a favorable sales mix drove the margin improvement. Moving to Slide 12. Agriculture sales of $279.9 million decreased 25.9% year-over-year. The benefit of higher average selling prices of irrigation equipment globally was more than offset by lower volumes.

營業收入增至 1.16 億美元，營業利潤率高達淨銷售額的 15.1%。旨在降低銷售成本的刻意行動和有利的銷售組合推動了利潤率的提高。轉到幻燈片 12。農業銷售額為 2.799 億美元，同比下降 25.9%。全球灌溉設備平均售價較高的好處被銷量下降所抵消。

In North America, sales were lower as the second quarter of 2022 benefited from the ongoing delivery of record year-end backlog and growers delayed capital investment decisions in the spring of 2023. International sales were lower as sales growth in Brazil was more than offset by project delays in the EMEA region. The lower volume of irrigation equipment affected sales of agriculture technology products and services, leading to a decline year-over-year.

在北美，銷售額較低，因為2022 年第二季度受益於創紀錄的年終積壓訂單的持續交付，以及種植者推遲了2023 年春季的資本投資決策。國際銷售額較低，因為巴西的銷售額增長被巴西的銷售額增長所抵消。歐洲、中東和非洲地區的項目延遲。灌溉設備銷量下降影響了農業技術產品和服務的銷售，導致同比下降。

Operating income decreased to $53.2 million or 19.1% of net sales. Higher average selling prices and focused activities to improve cost of goods sold drove operating margin expansion despite lower sales.

營業收入下降至 5,320 萬美元，占淨銷售額的 19.1%。儘管銷售額下降，但平均銷售價格的上升和旨在改善銷售成本的集中活動推動了營業利潤率的增長。

Turning to the cash flows on Slide 13. Second quarter operating cash flows of $88.3 million were driven by strong earnings and diligent working capital management. Turning to Slide 14 for a summary of second quarter capital deployment, CapEx was $23 million as we continue to invest in strategic capacity expansions. Through our balanced capital deployment framework, we are focused on enhancing shareholder value. In the second quarter, we returned approximately $37 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, ending the quarter with $167 million in cash.

轉向幻燈片 13 上的現金流。第二季度運營現金流為 8,830 萬美元，這得益於強勁的盈利和勤奮的營運資本管理。轉向幻燈片 14，了解第二季度資本部署的摘要，隨著我們繼續投資於戰略產能擴張，資本支出為 2,300 萬美元。通過平衡的資本配置框架，我們專注於提高股東價值。第二季度，我們通過股息和股票回購向股東返還約 3700 萬美元，本季度末現金為 1.67 億美元。

Moving to Slide 15. Total debt to adjusted EBITDA of 1.6x was within our desired range of 1.5 to 2.5x. Our cash balance, available credit and flexible balance sheet provide us with ample liquidity to execute our capital allocation strategy.

轉向幻燈片 15。總債務與調整後 EBITDA 之比為 1.6 倍，在我們期望的 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。

I would now like to review our updated 2023 outlook, as shown on Slide 16. Given our second quarter results and continued near-term softness in North America agriculture and telecommunication markets, we now expect sales growth of 0% to 2%. We expect improved year-over-year operating margin in 2023, given our pricing strategies, strength in certain markets and our ongoing continuous improvement initiatives.

我現在想回顧一下我們更新的 2023 年展望，如幻燈片 16 所示。鑑於我們第二季度的業績以及北美農業和電信市場的近期持續疲軟，我們現在預計銷售增長為 0% 至 2%。鑑於我們的定價策略、某些市場的實力以及我們正在進行的持續改進舉措，我們預計 2023 年營業利潤率將同比有所改善。

Strong second quarter results, combined with an improved operating margin, supports maintaining the full year earnings per share range while updating the sales outlook.

強勁的第二季度業績，加上營業利潤率的提高，支持維持全年每股收益範圍，同時更新銷售前景。

Turning to the segments, continued strength across infrastructure markets supports our expectation for higher sales this year. We expect telecommunications sales to be lower, more than offset by higher sales across the rest of the segment portfolio. The spike in steel costs during the first 4 months of the year is expected to slightly reduce our infrastructure operating income margin for the second half of the year compared to the strong second quarter results.

就細分市場而言，基礎設施市場的持續強勁支持了我們對今年銷售額增長的預期。我們預計電信銷售額將下降，但該銷售額將被該細分市場其他部門銷售額的增長所抵消。與強勁的第二季度業績相比，今年前 4 個月鋼鐵成本的飆升預計將略微降低我們下半年的基礎設施運營利潤率。

Turning to agriculture. We expect North America sales to be modestly lower in the second half of the year as compared to the first half. Our assumption is that growers continue to delay capital investment decisions until they have more clarity on their crop yields and overall commodity prices. A reminder that the third quarter is typically a lower North America sales quarter compared to the rest of the year. However, we expect much stronger international sales led by higher project sales and sales growth in Brazil to more than offset the North America seasonality impact.

轉向農業。我們預計下半年北美銷售額將比上半年小幅下降。我們的假設是，種植者繼續推遲資本投資決策，直到他們更清楚地了解作物產量和總體商品價格。提醒您的是，與今年剩餘時間相比，第三季度的北美銷售季度通常較低。然而，我們預計，在巴西項目銷售和銷售增長的帶動下，國際銷售將更加強勁，這將足以抵消北美季節性的影響。

A higher mix of international projects will reduce agriculture segment profitability in third quarter as compared to last year.

與去年相比，更多的國際項目組合將降低第三季度農業部門的盈利能力。

To summarize, our expectation for diluted earnings per share growth has not changed. We are confident in our outlook and believe that it demonstrates the strength of our portfolio, favorable trends across most of our end markets and our 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 strategies and achieve our long-term financial targets driving sustainable shareholder value.

綜上所述，我們對稀釋後每股收益增長的預期沒有改變。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、我們大多數終端市場的有利趨勢以及我們在市場中強大的競爭地位。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 Avner.

現在，我將把電話轉回給阿夫納。

Thank you, Tim. Continuing my comments on Slide 17. We have built on the competitive advantages that uniquely position us to win in infrastructure and agriculture. We have a flexible and broad global footprint that allows us to efficiently manufacture products that our customers need while optimizing our supply chain to avoid unnecessary disruptions. And our breadth of product offering, which is always expanding, enables us to solve the various challenges our customers face. Together, these factors contribute to making Valmont the trusted partner of choice. Not only do we have strong competitive advantages, we are also in great markets with multiyear demand drivers. Infrastructure and agriculture both have megatrends that will extend well into the future. We are in a great position to proactively capitalize on these trends and exceed market growth expectations.

謝謝你，蒂姆。繼續我對幻燈片 17 的評論。我們建立了獨特的競爭優勢，使我們能夠在基礎設施和農業領域獲勝。我們擁有靈活而廣泛的全球足跡，使我們能夠高效地製造客戶所需的產品，同時優化我們的供應鏈以避免不必要的中斷。我們的產品範圍不斷擴大，使我們能夠解決客戶面臨的各種挑戰。這些因素共同使 Valmont 成為值得信賴的合作夥伴。我們不僅擁有強大的競爭優勢，而且還處於具有多年需求驅動力的廣闊市場。基礎設施和農業都有大趨勢，並將持續延伸到未來。我們處於有利位置，可以積極利用這些趨勢並超越市場增長預期。

Turning to Slide 18. As announced during our Investor Day, we established new 5-year financial targets based on a positive end market outlook and our ability to execute on the Run Grow Transform framework. Today, we remain committed to achieving these financial goals.

轉向幻燈片 18。正如我們在投資者日期間宣布的那樣，我們根據積極的最終市場前景和我們執行 Run Grow Transform 框架的能力製定了新的 5 年財務目標。今天，我們仍然致力於實現這些財務目標。

In summary, I'm extremely proud of our team's ability to execute our strategy and drive strong results while navigating near-term softness in some markets. While recognizing broad macroeconomic challenges, we are encouraged by ongoing demand strength across our end markets and remain focused on the things we can control. I'm confident that we are positioned for success, and we continue to accelerate growth through investments in innovation and technology with a focus on disciplined capital allocation. We have acted decisively to position our business for growth, building momentum to drive long-term stakeholder value through the second half of 2023 and beyond. I will now turn the call back over to Renee.

總而言之，我對我們的團隊執行戰略並取得強勁成果的能力感到非常自豪，同時應對一些市場近期的疲軟局面。在認識到廣泛的宏觀經濟挑戰的同時，我們對終端市場持續強勁的需求感到鼓舞，並繼續專注於我們可以控制的事情。我相信我們已經做好了成功的準備，我們將繼續通過創新和技術投資加速增長，重點是嚴格的資本配置。我們採取果斷行動，為業務增長做好準備，積蓄動力，在 2023 年下半年及以後推動長期利益相關者價值。我現在將把電話轉回給蕾妮。

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

謝謝你，阿夫納。這時，接線員就會開通提問電話。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question comes from Brian Drab with William Blair.

我們的第一個問題來自布萊恩·德拉布和威廉·布萊爾。

The first question is the minor one, I think. But on Slide 16, is this a cut and paste error with the EPS guidance that says 15.90 is the high end. I think there's no change to the guidance, right, for EPS?

我認為第一個問題是次要問題。但在幻燈片 16 上，這是否是 EPS 指導中所說的 15.90 是高端的剪切和粘貼錯誤。我認為 EPS 的指引沒有變化，對嗎？

That's correct, Brian. No change to the guidance.

沒錯，布萊恩。指南沒有變化。

Okay. So that's just an error on the slide, right?

好的。所以這只是幻燈片上的一個錯誤，對嗎？

Yes, it must be.

是的，一定是的。

Yes. Okay. So the gross margin, I feel like, should be discussed a little more, just given it was about like 400 basis points above what the Street was expecting. I know a lot of that is pricing coming through and other actions that you're taking. But can you talk about why we were above 31% in gross margin? And how sustainable is that going into the back half of the year?

是的。好的。因此，我認為，應該對毛利率進行更多討論，因為它比華爾街的預期高出約 400 個基點。我知道其中很多是定價以及您正在採取的其他行動。但您能談談為什麼我們的毛利率高於 31% 嗎？下半年這種情況的可持續性如何？

Brian, this is Tim, and I'll take that question. First off, we are very pleased with the third quarter margins. It was a result of the actions taken by our teams for value-based pricing and operational excellent activities. Over the long term, these activities will drive an improvement to our average historical gross profit margins. Some of these activities were professionalizing our sourcing group, which has been really focused on leveraging the size and spend of consolidated Valmont, as well as operational efficiencies, starting with the activities on our plant floors, such as getting those cost benefits we expect from our automation investments as well as better labor and overhead management.

布萊恩，我是蒂姆，我來回答這個問題。首先，我們對第三季度的利潤率感到非常滿意。這是我們團隊為基於價值的定價和卓越運營活動所採取行動的結果。從長遠來看，這些活動將推動我們平均歷史毛利率的改善。其中一些活動使我們的採購團隊專業化，該團隊真正專注於利用合併後的 Valmont 的規模和支出以及運營效率，從我們工廠車間的活動開始，例如獲得我們期望從我們的工廠獲得的成本效益。自動化投資以及更好的勞動力和管理費用管理。

With that said, we do not expect to sustain a 30% gross profit margin into the second half of the year, and it's really for 2 primary reasons. One, as we talked about in our prepared remarks, we're going to see a sales mix more towards international projects in the agriculture segment. That is typically at a lower profitability profile to the overall segment. And then secondarily, in the first 4 months of the year, we saw a meaningful increase in the cost of steel, specifically hot-rolled coil. With the timing lag, meaning how that cost of steel goes through our income statement, our average cost of steel will be higher during the second half of the year than what we saw in the second quarter.

話雖如此，我們預計下半年毛利率不會維持在 30%，這主要有兩個原因。第一，正如我們在準備好的發言中談到的那樣，我們將看到農業領域的國際項目的銷售組合更多。與整個細分市場相比，這通常是較低的盈利能力。其次，在今年的前 4 個月，我們看到鋼材（特別是熱軋卷）的成本大幅上漲。由於時間滯後，意味著鋼鐵成本如何反映在我們的損益表中，下半年我們的平均鋼鐵成本將高於第二季度的水平。

And Brian, this is Avner. I'll just add to that. We're really pleased with what's happening with our gross profit. The improvement in Q1 and too in Q2, it's never going to be a linear line up but we are on the track to 12%, really happy about that. And from that, we'll get to our stated goal right now of 14%. So overall, it's never going to be linear, but really excited about that improvement we're seeing in our margin.

布萊恩，這是阿夫納。我就補充一下。我們對毛利潤的變化感到非常滿意。第一季度和第二季度的改進，永遠不會是線性的，但我們正朝著 12% 的方向前進，對此感到非常高興。從那時起，我們將達到我們現在設定的 14% 的目標。因此，總的來說，它永遠不會是線性的，但我們對利潤率的改善感到非常興奮。

Yes. I mean, obviously, you guys have -- we've talked a lot about this, and you've done an incredible job of managing through the volatility in steel prices over the last few years and gross margin has been really stable and moving up. And can you comment, Avner at all? Like is like the second half, should we expect gross margin more like the first quarter? Or was the first quarter unusually high also? Is 29% possible?

是的。我的意思是，顯然，你們已經--我們已經對此進行了很多討論，並且你們在過去幾年中在應對鋼材價格波動方面做了令人難以置信的工作，並且毛利率一直非常穩定並且在上升。艾夫納，你能評論一下嗎？就像下半年一樣，我們是否應該預期毛利率更像第一季度？或者第一季度也異常高？ 29%可能嗎？

Yes, approaching 29%, Brian. That's how I'd answer it.

是的，接近 29%，布萊恩。我就是這樣回答的。

For the second half.

對於下半場來說。

For the second half, correct.

下半場，正確。

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

我們的下一個問題來自 D.A. 的 Brent Thielman。戴維森。

Great. I guess, Avner, maybe just a question for you as you move into the new role, just your perspectives on M&A, any different view from you on what Valmont should be focused on relative to some of the things the company has pursued and completed over the last few years. And I think just sort of similarly with that, do you take a different focus in terms of investing internally in the business maybe relative to what the company has done over the last few years? Just love to get any broader view on capital allocation philosophy from you.

偉大的。我想，Avner，當您進入新職位時，也許只是問您一個問題，您對併購的看法，以及您對 Valmont 應該關注的內容（相對於公司已經追求和完成的一些事情）的不同看法過去幾年。我認為與此類似，與公司過去幾年所做的事情相比，您在業務內部投資方面是否採取了不同的重點？只是想從您那裡獲得對資本配置理念的更廣泛的看法。

Sure. Well, thank you for that. Well, over the last 3 years, I've been an integral part of the leadership team and working really closely with the Board of Directors on establishing the capital allocation philosophy and our strategy. And that really has not changed. That will remain the same with really how could we drive the highest ROIC and value to our shareholders. Still the #1 is to invest in the business. And with the strong markets that we're seeing across our portfolio, we have significant opportunities to invest in the business as we shared during Investor Day, some of our large pole operations where we shared was 1 example. So we will continue to invest in the business.

當然。嗯，謝謝你。在過去的三年裡，我一直是領導團隊不可或缺的一部分，並與董事會密切合作，制定資本配置理念和我們的戰略。這確實沒有改變。這將與我們如何為股東帶來最高的投資回報率和價值保持不變。仍然第一是投資業務。由於我們在整個投資組合中看到了強勁的市場，我們有很大的機會投資該業務，正如我們在投資者日期間分享的那樣，我們分享的一些大型桿業務就是一個例子。因此，我們將繼續投資該業務。

Now as it relates to M&A, we will continue with the same approach. Actually, we have a very strong pipeline. I do bring a lot of experience to that area from my background in prior areas that I worked with in public companies and private equity. So there will be, continue to be a strong emphasis on acquisitions, which can really help propel our growth. There will be cost of capital within 3 years and will support our overall strategic goals. So short answer is not expecting any changes but continued focus on driving value through acquisitions as well.

現在涉及併購，我們將繼續採用相同的方法。事實上，我們有一個非常強大的管道。我確實從我之前在上市公司和私募股權領域工作過的背景中為該領域帶來了很多經驗。因此，我們將繼續高度重視收購，這確實有助於推動我們的增長。三年內將產生資本成本，並將支持我們的總體戰略目標。因此，簡短的回答是預計不會發生任何變化，而是繼續專注於通過收購來推動價值。

Okay. Avner. Maybe just, I guess, my second question, I understand the implications of steel costs flowing through in the second half of the year. It seems like within the infrastructure segment, it sort of feels like you're experiencing kind of some mixed demand trends in some respects, at least on a short-term basis, telecommunications, lighting and transportation, a little bit softer relative to utility solar, et cetera. What are the implications to margins for that business segment just as you're seeing a little bit of a -- maybe a shift in kind of contributions from these subverticals?

好的。阿夫納。我想，也許我的第二個問題是，我了解下半年鋼鐵成本的影響。似乎在基礎設施領域，至少在短期內，在某些方面，電信、照明和交通方面，你正在經歷一些混合的需求趨勢，相對於公用事業太陽能來說，需求趨勢有點疲軟等等。正如您所看到的，這些垂直行業的貢獻可能發生了一些轉變，這對該業務部門的利潤率有何影響？

Yes, I'll take that one. This is Tim. The -- you are correct. Our sales forecast expects a reduction in telecommunications. And as Avner said in his prepared remarks, commercial lighting is a bit muted. But with that said, still good margins for the Infrastructure segment. We expect them to be closer to what we saw in the first quarter versus the near record results we saw in the second quarter.

是的，我會接受那個。這是蒂姆。 - 你是對的。我們的銷售預測預計電信業務將會減少。正如阿夫納在他準備好的講話中所說，商業照明有點安靜。但話雖如此，基礎設施領域的利潤率仍然不錯。我們預計它們將更接近我們在第一季度看到的結果，而不是我們在第二季度看到的接近創紀錄的結果。

And I'll add to that is, overall, the strength of our portfolio. So while you might see some softness in 1 area, like we mentioned the commercial lighting, we have very strong demand on -- in the TD&S business. So we're able to use our plants and our capacity to support that business, which helps us continue keeping our plants busy, driving business that's had very strong margins. As we mentioned, the -- a lot of our businesses had backlog of over 40 weeks. So we're able to proactively manage our portfolio to make sure we both support our customers, but drive high-margin business as well. So overall, we will continue to see strength in those businesses and keep on driving margin improvement.

總體而言，我要補充的是我們投資組合的實力。因此，雖然您可能會在某個領域看到一些疲軟，就像我們提到的商業照明一樣，但我們對 TD&S 業務的需求非常強勁。因此，我們能夠利用我們的工廠和能力來支持該業務，這有助於我們繼續保持工廠繁忙，推動利潤率非常高的業務。正如我們提到的，我們的許多企業的積壓時間已超過 40 週。因此，我們能夠主動管理我們的產品組合，以確保我們既支持客戶，又推動高利潤業務。因此，總體而言，我們將繼續看到這些業務的實力，並繼續推動利潤率的提高。

Our next question comes from Brian Wright with Roth MKM.

我們的下一個問題來自 Roth MKM 的 Brian Wright。

First of all, congratulations Avner. Secondly, just wanted to think about -- are there -- coming from the CFO position, right, not having the final say in things, but being a value member, but are there any areas of like cost improvement opportunities that coming from your vantage point that might be on the table that have kind of been held off up until now?

首先，祝賀艾夫納。其次，只是想考慮一下——是否有——來自首席財務官的職位，對吧，對事情沒有最終決定權，而是成為一名價值成員，但是否有任何領域，比如來自你的優勢的成本改進機會到目前為止可能一直被擱置的問題？

Thanks for your question. So over the last several years, we've been on lockstep here as a leadership team, with the Board, really moving towards our strategy, which we presented during Investor Day with those financial goals. So we put together the strategy together, the framework, and it's coming from the CFO role, I'm very -- I use a lot of data, analytics, technology to really drive value. Focused a lot as a finance and the finance area. I'll bring that larger to the organization so we can both drive improvements internally and drive additional revenue to our customers.

謝謝你的提問。因此，在過去的幾年裡，我們作為領導團隊和董事會一直步調一致，真正朝著我們的戰略邁進，我們在投資者日期間提出了這些財務目標。因此，我們將戰略、框架放在一起，它來自首席財務官的角色，我非常——我使用大量數據、分析和技術來真正推動價值。重點關注金融和金融領域。我將為組織帶來更大的影響，這樣我們既可以推動內部改進，又可以為客戶帶來額外收入。

So overall, we continue working on quality of earnings. And as we've seen the improvement in these couple of quarters, continuing in this year and driving to our goal of 14%. So quality of earnings is something that is highly important for us and for our shareholders, and we'll continue looking at every opportunity to streamline processes, improve the profitability of the company and overall ultimately drive shareholder value. So the answer is, yes, they'll continue to be focused on driving profitability for the company.

因此總體而言，我們將繼續致力於盈利質量。正如我們在這幾個季度看到的那樣，今年將繼續取得進步，並朝著我們 14% 的目標邁進。因此，盈利質量對我們和我們的股東來說非常重要，我們將繼續尋找一切機會來簡化流程，提高公司的盈利能力，並最終推動股東價值。所以答案是，是的，他們將繼續專注於提高公司的盈利能力。

Great. And then I just wanted to get a little more color on the EMEA. Is that, the rebound that you're kind of expecting there, is that pretty much the reference to the [AJA] project coming on [agreed] in July? Or was there anything else beyond that?

偉大的。然後我只是想對歐洲、中東和非洲地區有更多的了解。這是您所期待的反彈嗎？這很大程度上是指 7 月份[商定]即將進行的 [AJA] 項目嗎？或者除此之外還有其他什麼嗎？

That is the vast majority of -- not different than any other projects. It's typical projects have movements and -- so it wasn't surprising necessarily. It just moved out from June to July. We have started shipping already. And our pipeline is very strong in that region. So we're going to expect to see continued strength in that region based on all the long-term market drivers that support that region specifically.

這是絕大多數——與任何其他項目沒有什麼不同。典型的項目都會有變化——所以這並不奇怪。它剛剛從六月搬到七月。我們已經開始發貨了。我們的管道在該地區非常強大。因此，基於專門支持該地區的所有長期市場驅動因素，我們預計該地區將持續走強。

Great. And just 1 last one, if I could. One of your peers has kind of postulated, kind of similar to on the irrigation side in North America, that if the harvest comes out as expected here that the fourth quarter could be a strong quarter. And I know given what we've seen, it doesn't make sense to forecast that. But just conceptually with the tax advantages of ordering in the fourth quarter, just how would you kind of view that?

偉大的。如果可以的話，就只有最後一張。你們的一位同行有一種類似於北美灌溉方面的假設，如果這裡的收成按預期進行，那麼第四季度可能會是一個強勁的季度。我知道，鑑於我們所看到的情況，預測這一點是沒有意義的。但僅從概念上講，考慮到第四季度訂購的稅收優勢，您對此有何看法？

Yes. So that is actually our expectation. And a lot of it will depend on the actual harvest, which is always the case, and we will have a lot more visibility as we get closer to September to see the yields, et cetera. The market drivers are strong. If you kind of look at the net farm income, as we mentioned, it will be the third highest we've seen in the last 10 years. Corn prices at 6, 5.5 do support high ROI, and at the end of the year, the growers are trying to going to look at their financials and as they do their tax planning, they will look at opportunities to invest in capital. and our pivots have 1 of the highest ROIs. So the expectation is that in the Q4, there will be a typical ordering patterns as we've seen in prior cycles. But again, we'll just have to wait on the -- for the yields and see how that plays out. And as you know, that's very difficult or impossible to predict. So we're just going to, seeing how that all plays out.

是的。這實際上是我們的期望。其中很大一部分將取決於實際收成，情況總是如此，隨著接近九月，我們將有更多的可見性來查看產量等。市場驅動力強勁。如果你看一下農場淨收入，正如我們提到的，這將是過去 10 年來第三高的收入。 6、5.5 的玉米價格確實支持高投資回報率，在年底，種植者會嘗試查看其財務狀況，並在進行稅務規劃時，他們將尋找資本投資的機會。我們的樞紐擁有最高的投資回報率之一。因此，預計第四季度將出現我們在之前週期中看到的典型訂購模式。但同樣，我們只需要等待收益率，看看結果如何。如您所知，這很難或不可能預測。所以我們只是要看看這一切會如何進行。

Our next question comes from Nathan Jones with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Nathan Jones 和 Stifel。

This is Adam Farley on for Nathan Jones. I wanted to start on the agricultural margins. You showed really strong margin expansion despite the revenue headwind. So how are these margins possible given the volume declines? Is it mainly just lower steel prices running through the P&L?

我是亞當·法利 (Adam Farley) 替補內森·瓊斯 (Nathan Jones)。我想從農業邊緣開始。儘管收入逆風，但你們的利潤率增長確實強勁。那麼，在銷量下降的情況下，如何才能實現這些利潤呢？損益表中主要是鋼材價格下跌嗎？

This is Tim. I'll take that question. I would tell you, it's multifaceted, right? As we continue to talk about, we're doing a good job on pricing. I talked about how we are really focused on operational efficiency. That is contributing to the stronger margins in second quarter. And then thirdly, you see in our deck that the change in international sales. And in our prepared remarks, we talked about less projects in the second quarter. Less projects helped us see an overall better operating income margin.

這是蒂姆。我來回答這個問題。我告訴你，它是多方面的，對嗎？正如我們繼續談論的那樣，我們在定價方面做得很好。我談到了我們如何真正關注運營效率。這有助於第二季度更高的利潤率。第三，您可以在我們的演示文稿中看到國際銷售額的變化。在我們準備好的發言中，我們談到了第二季度的項目減少。更少的項目幫助我們看到了整體更好的營業利潤率。

I'll just add, all the initiatives that we've been taking over the last several years, right were masked by COVID. But as we came out, we're just getting much better productivity through our plants, better labor utilization, a lot of the operational excellence that we've done. So as I mentioned, it's multifaceted with the pricing, the operational excellence where we'll continue to drive stronger margin.

我想補充一點，過去幾年我們採取的所有舉措都被新冠疫情掩蓋了。但當我們出來的時候，我們只是通過我們的工廠獲得了更好的生產力，更好的勞動力利用率，以及我們所做的許多卓越運營。正如我所提到的，定價和卓越運營是多方面的，我們將繼續提高利潤率。

Okay. And then following up on pricing within agriculture, mainly within the North American market. Is there any risk to pricing given the lower demand? Have you seen any evidence of aggressive pricing in the industry? And if there is, how would Valmont react to that?

好的。然後跟進農業內部的定價，主要是北美市場的定價。鑑於需求下降，定價是否存在風險？您是否看到過該行業激進定價的證據？如果有的話，瓦爾蒙特會如何反應？

Well, I think by now you kind of know our philosophy around pricing. And we continue to take pricing leadership. And it's all based on the value we provide to the growers. And it has a very strong value proposition. And there's really no intention on reducing pricing. There's no reason to reduce pricing when we provide a very strong value in ROI, and the industry is kind of following the same path. So there should not be an expectation on reducing pricing.

好吧，我想現在您已經了解我們的定價理念了。我們繼續保持定價領先地位。這一切都基於我們為種植者提供的價值。它具有非常強大的價值主張。而且確實無意降低價格。當我們提供非常高的投資回報率價值時，就沒有理由降低價格，而且整個行業也在遵循同樣的道路。因此，不應期望降低價格。

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

我們的下一個問題來自堪薩斯城資本公司的喬恩·布拉茨 (Jon Braatz)。

Avner, could you characterize the Brazilian market in the second quarter? You said there was sales growth in Brazil, but there was a period of slowness as the farmers awaited financing. Was it -- was it sort of weak in the first half of the quarter and the volume has picked up in the second quarter -- I mean, second half of the quarter?

Avner，您能描述一下第二季度巴西市場的特點嗎？您說巴西的銷售有所增長，但由於農民等待融資，有一段時間增長緩慢。是不是——上半季度有點疲軟，而第二季度銷量有所回升——我是說，下半季度？

Yes. So thanks for that question. Going into the quarter, going into the year, we also -- additional factor that we had is we had backlog going into the year, which supported a lot of our sales throughout the first half. But as the financing comes through, that provides significant tailwinds for the business. As we mentioned, the interest rate is very favorable compared to what other options are. And there are some other benefits of some of these -- this program, for instance, a couple of years before you actually repay back the loan. So it will provide strong tailwinds. And again, I would really focus on the long term, right? The Brazilian market is very strong. It is a very important part of the overall GDP and economy of Brazil. And all those strong market demands with growth population and land productivity, et cetera. So we're really excited about our Brazil market, and we do expect to see continued strength to support our long-term goals.

是的。謝謝你提出這個問題。進入本季度，進入今年，我們還有一個額外因素是我們今年有積壓訂單，這支持了我們整個上半年的大量銷售。但隨著融資的完成，這將為業務提供巨大的推動力。正如我們提到的，與其他選擇相比，利率非常優惠。其中一些還有其他一些好處 - 例如，該計劃可以在您實際償還貸款之前幾年。因此它將提供強勁的順風。再說一次，我真的會關注長期，對嗎？巴西市場非常強勁。它是巴西整體GDP和經濟的一個非常重要的組成部分。以及人口增長和土地生產力增長等帶來的強勁市場需求。因此，我們對巴西市場感到非常興奮，並且我們確實希望看到持續的實力來支持我們的長期目標。

Do the sales in Brazil typically come with all the technology bells and whistles? Or are they more plain vanilla?

巴西的銷售通常都附帶所有技術附加功能嗎？或者它們更普通？

When I look at -- overall, we're in the journey of adding technology to our overall irrigation sales. Actually, if you look at the growers in Brazil, they're actually -- for the most part, they're actually -- their age profile, they're younger. They're really more open to adopting technology, and the adoption rate is actually pretty high. So as we continue our journey of really adding productivity to the grower with remote monitor and control, irrigation optimization, agronomic insights. When you kind of look at the suite that we're providing, there's a pretty good level of adoption. And the Brazil market, I'm pretty excited about the level of adoption we're expecting to see there. So we're at the beginning of our journey, and I do expect that we'll continue to add the technology suites to our other irrigation products.

當我觀察時，總的來說，我們正在為整體灌溉銷售增加技術。事實上，如果你看看巴西的種植者，他們實際上——在很大程度上，他們實際上——他們的年齡概況，他們更年輕。他們確實更願意採用技術，而且採用率實際上相當高。因此，當我們繼續通過遠程監控、灌溉優化和農藝見解真正提高種植者生產力的旅程時。當您查看我們提供的套件時，您會發現採用率相當高。至於巴西市場，我對我們期望在那裡看到的採用水平感到非常興奮。因此，我們正處於旅程的開始，我確實希望我們將繼續將技術套件添加到我們的其他灌溉產品中。

Okay. One last question. The acquisition HR in Australia, is that type of business that they're in, is that something that you can -- that you're looking for elsewhere globally, whether it be domestically or other countries, is that similar type of business?

好的。最後一個問題。澳大利亞的人力資源收購，是他們從事的那種類型的業務，是你可以在全球其他地方尋找的東西，無論是國內還是其他國家，是類似的業務類型嗎？

Overall, aftermarket is a big part of our overall strategy for Valmont. And we shared some information on that during the Investor Day. What we like about the aftermarket part is it's complementary to our other irrigation business, where we could provide more to our dealers and the growers overall. It has more of a recurring base nature, which we like as well. It offsets some cyclicality and it actually also has a high margin profile. So we're really excited about aftermarket opportunities across actually both of our segments. We have a very strong part business in telecom as well. So overall, I would say we're really excited about this acquisition, and we'll continue kind of focusing on aftermarket as part of our overall strategy.

總體而言，售後市場是我們 Valmont 整體戰略的重要組成部分。我們在投資者日分享了一些相關信息。我們喜歡售後市場的部分是它與我們其他灌溉業務的補充，我們可以為我們的經銷商和種植者提供更多服務。它具有更多的重複性基礎性質，我們也喜歡這一點。它抵消了一些週期性，而且實際上也具有較高的利潤率。因此，我們對我們兩個細分市場的售後市場機會感到非常興奮。我們在電信領域也擁有非常強大的部分業務。總的來說，我想說我們對這次收購感到非常興奮，我們將繼續關注售後市場，作為我們整體戰略的一部分。

Our next question is from Chris Moore with CJS Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 CJS 證券的 Chris Moore。

I know you don't always give backlog on a quarterly basis, you did after Q1. And maybe just directionally, can you talk about where it was at the end of the second quarter?

我知道您並不總是按季度提供積壓訂單，而是在第一季度之後進行的。也許只是方向性的，你能談談第二季度末的情況嗎？

Yes. So our backlog was at $1.5 billion. Actually, we did put it on the -- in the [real release].

是的。所以我們的積壓金額為 15 億美元。事實上，我們確實把它放在了[真實版本]中。

I missed it -- got it.

我錯過了——明白了。

No problem. So strong backlog overall, right, really supporting kind of what we're seeing in our businesses. Majority of that is in the infrastructure part of the business. And say what we're seeing kind of mostly in the TD&S part of our portfolio, which has very strong market drivers and strong market demand.

沒問題。總體而言，積壓的訂單量非常強勁，這確實支持了我們在業務中所看到的情況。其中大部分是業務的基礎設施部分。並說說我們主要在我們投資組合的 TD&S 部分看到的情況，該部分具有非常強大的市場驅動力和強勁的市場需求。

Got it. Helpful. And maybe my second, just -- on the telecom, obviously, the growth that you're looking for now, previously talked in that 20% range. Now the carriers are slowing down. Just a little bit longer-term thoughts there. You expect it to be flat, slightly down perhaps over the next 12 to 18 months, just kind of get a feel for what you're thinking there.

知道了。有幫助。也許我的第二個目標是——在電信領域，顯然，您現在正在尋找的增長，之前談到過 20% 的範圍。現在，運營商正在放慢速度。只是有一點長遠的想法。您預計在接下來的 12 到 18 個月內它會持平，甚至略有下降，只是感受一下您的想法。

Yes. Well, the long-term drivers really didn't change, right? If you kind of look at the real macro level, we see -- continue to see increased data consumption, and when you look at specifically the 5G network and you look at it at a global basis, we're expecting 85% of the world population to be covered by 5G over the next 5, 6 years or so. So yes, there is they're pausing. We didn't -- initially, we thought this network rollout would be a little different. It turns out to be the same and always after the spectrum they're going to take a pause. They're going to look at the consumer, how much they adopt the network, they'll look at their ROI, and how it was impacted as well by inflation and interest rate, which had a pretty large impact on some of the carriers. And when you actually look at the AT&T and Verizon earnings, which they just reported earlier this week, it kind of supports exactly that, that we will continue to build out.

是的。嗯，長期驅動因素確實沒有改變，對吧？如果你看一下真正的宏觀層面，我們會看到——數據消耗繼續增加，當你特別關注 5G 網絡並在全球範圍內觀察時，我們預計全球 85% 的地區都會使用 5G 網絡。未來5年、 6年左右5G將覆蓋人口。所以是的，他們正在暫停。我們沒有——最初，我們認為這個網絡的推出會有點不同。事實證明是一樣的，並且總是在頻譜之後他們會暫停。他們將關註消費者、他們採用網絡的程度、投資回報率，以及通貨膨脹和利率對投資回報率的影響，這對一些運營商產生了相當大的影響。當你實際查看 AT&T 和 Verizon 本週早些時候剛剛公佈的財報時，你會發現這恰恰支持了這一點，即我們將繼續擴大業務。

They spend money on the spectrum, now they need to get their ROI. So they will continue to invest on densification. So a little slower than we thought. Expecting it will kind of go back to a more of a normal cadence, and we'll start seeing more of that double-digit growth over the next several years. So overall, very positive, just a little bit of a hiccup there on kind of how they slow down a little bit, but really excited about telecom and the fact that it will continue growing.

他們在頻譜上花錢，現在他們需要獲得投資回報率。因此他們將繼續投資於緻密化。所以比我們想像的要慢一點。預計它會回到更正常的節奏，並且我們將在未來幾年開始看到更多的兩位數增長。總的來說，非常積極，只是有點小問題，他們的速度有所放緩，但對電信及其將繼續增長的事實感到非常興奮。

We have reached the end of the question-and-answer session. I will now turn the call over to Renee Campbell for closing remarks.

我們的問答環節已經結束。現在我將把電話轉給蕾妮·坎貝爾（Renee Campbell）做總結髮言。

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

感謝大家今天加入我們。如前所述，今天的通話將在接下來的 7 天內在我們的網站上或通過電話播放。我們期待下個季度再次與您交談。