Olympic Steel Inc (ZEUS) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Olympic Steel 2020 Third Quarter Financial Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, please, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to Rich Manson, Chief Financial Officer, at Olympic Steel. Please go ahead, sir.

早上好，歡迎來到奧鋼2020年第三季度財務業績電話會議。此時，所有參與者都處於只聽模式。正式介紹後將進行簡短的問答環節。 （操作員說明）請注意，正在錄製此會議。我現在想將會議交給 Olympic Steel 的首席財務官 Rich Manson。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, operator. Welcome to Olympic Steel's earnings call for the third quarter of 2022. Our call this morning will be hosted by our Chief Executive Officer, Rick Marabito; and we will also be joined by our President and Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Greiff. Before we begin, I have a few reminders. Some statements made on today's call will be predictive and are intended to be made as forward-looking within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and may not reflect actual results. The company does not undertake to update such statements, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting such forward-looking statements. Important assumptions, risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are set forth in the company's reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q and the press releases filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

謝謝你，運營商。歡迎來到 Olympic Steel 2022 年第三季度財報電話會議。今天上午的電話會議將由我們的首席執行官 Rick Marabito 主持；我們的總裁兼首席運營官 Andrew Greiff 也將加入。在我們開始之前，我有幾點提醒。在今天的電話會議上發表的一些聲明將是預測性的，旨在根據 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》的安全港條款作為前瞻性聲明，可能不會反映實際結果。公司不承諾更新此類陳述、假設的變化或影響此類前瞻性陳述的其他因素的變化。公司關於 10-K 和 10-Q 表格的報告以及向美國證券交易委員會提交的新聞稿中列出了可能導致實際結果出現重大差異的重要假設、風險、不確定性和其他因素。

During today's discussion, we may refer to adjusted net income per diluted share, EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, which are all non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures is provided in the press release that was issued yesterday and can be found on our website. Today's live broadcast will be archived and available for replay on Olympic Steel's website. At this time, I'll turn the call over to Rick.

在今天的討論中，我們可能會提到調整後的稀釋後每股淨收益、EBITDA 和調整後的 EBITDA，這些都是非 GAAP 財務指標。昨天發布的新聞稿中提供了這些非 GAAP 措施與最直接可比的 GAAP 財務措施的對賬，可以在我們的網站上找到。今天的現場直播將在奧林匹克鋼鐵公司的網站上進行存檔和重播。這時候，我會把電話轉給里克。

Thank you, Rich, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today to discuss Olympic Steel's results for the third quarter of 2022. I'll begin with some overall comments on our business and our third quarter performance. And then I'll turn the call over to Andrew, who will review highlights for each of our segments and provide some comments on our market outlook. Following that, Rich will discuss our financial results in more detail. And then, as always, we'll take your questions. Market dynamics in the steel industry have certainly shifted dramatically since this time last year. We have seen metals pricing significantly decline across the board, hot-rolled pricing has fallen by more than 50% since its peak in April.

謝謝你，里奇，大家早上好。感謝您今天加入我們討論 Olympic Steel 2022 年第三季度的業績。我將首先對我們的業務和第三季度的業績進行一些總體評論。然後我會把電話轉給安德魯，他將審查我們每個細分市場的亮點，並對我們的市場前景發表一些評論。之後，里奇將更詳細地討論我們的財務業績。然後，一如既往，我們將回答您的問題。自去年這個時候以來，鋼鐵行業的市場動態肯定發生了巨大變化。我們看到金屬價格全線大幅下跌，熱軋價格自 4 月份的峰值以來下跌了 50% 以上。

Our overall market demand has been consistent. It remains impacted by macroeconomic concerns, such as inflation, rising interest rates, the overall speculation of a recession and persistent non-steel related supply chain and labor issues. Despite this remarkable shift, Olympic Steel continues to perform well. We delivered sales of $634 million and adjusted EBITDA of $25.3 million for the third quarter of 2022, while simultaneously strengthening our balance sheet. Strong cash flows have resulted in an $84 million or 26% reduction in our outstanding debt so far this year. Our performance in the face of tough market conditions is further evidence that our diversification strategy has better positioned Olympic to succeed in all market cycles. 

我們的整體市場需求是一致的。它仍然受到宏觀經濟問題的影響，例如通貨膨脹、利率上升、對經濟衰退的整體猜測以及持續存在的非鋼鐵相關供應鍊和勞工問題。儘管發生了這一顯著轉變，奧林匹克鋼鐵公司的表現依然出色。我們在 2022 年第三季度實現了 6.34 億美元的銷售額和 2530 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA，同時加強了我們的資產負債表。今年迄今為止，強勁的現金流使我們的未償債務減少了 8400 萬美元或 26%。我們在艱難的市場條件下的表現進一步證明了我們的多元化戰略使奧林匹克在所有市場週期中都取得了成功。

We are a stronger and less cyclical organization today as compared to past declining price markets. Our growth in higher return, value-add products and services, coupled with our sustained operational disciplines around inventory, cost and investment criteria has allowed our business to thrive despite historic price declines and market challenges. Our team has worked diligently to execute on the strategy and strengthen our business. We have completed 5 successful acquisitions and made targeted organic investments in all 3 of our business segments to increase our capacity and enhance our efficiency. At the same time, we evaluated our portfolio and identified areas that no longer aligned with our vision for the company, including the decision to divest of our Detroit division in September 2021.

與過去下跌的價格市場相比，我們今天是一個更強大、週期性更小的組織。我們在高回報、增值產品和服務方面的增長，加上我們在庫存、成本和投資標準方面的持續運營紀律，使我們的業務在歷史性的價格下跌和市場挑戰中蓬勃發展。我們的團隊一直在努力執行戰略並加強我們的業務。我們已經完成了 5 次成功的收購，並對我們所有 3 個業務部門進行了有針對性的有機投資，以提高我們的能力和效率。與此同時，我們評估了我們的投資組合併確定了不再符合我們公司願景的領域，包括 2021 年 9 月剝離底特律部門的決定。

We also took a hard look at our operations and implemented measures to improve inventory turnover and permanently rightsize our cost profile, and we would not have made this progress without the right team and leadership in place. And our work is not done. We anticipate continued strong cash flows and further debt reduction in the fourth quarter with significant liquidity and continue to actively pursue acquisitions and invest in new equipment and efficiencies through automation, which Andrew will highlight in a moment. While we expect the macroeconomic challenges and declining metal pricing will remain a short-term headwind, we are well positioned as a company, and we are confident in the future of Olympic Steel to deliver value to our shareholders. 

我們還認真審視了我們的運營並實施了措施來提高庫存周轉率並永久調整我們的成本狀況，如果沒有合適的團隊和領導，我們就不會取得這一進展。我們的工作還沒有完成。我們預計第四季度現金流將持續強勁，債務將進一步減少，流動性顯著，並將繼續積極進行收購，並通過自動化投資於新設備和效率，安德魯稍後將強調這一點。雖然我們預計宏觀經濟挑戰和金屬價格下降仍將是短期不利因素，但我們作為一家公司處於有利地位，我們對奧林匹克鋼鐵公司為股東創造價值的未來充滿信心。

Finally, our Board of Directors approved a regular quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share that's payable on December 15, 2022, to shareholders of record on December 1, 2022. Olympic has now paid a regular quarterly dividend for 17 consecutive years, -- and as a reminder, we increased our dividend from $0.02 per share to $0.09 per share this past March. With that, I'll turn the call over to Andrew to provide an overview of our segments and what we're seeing in the market as we approach year-end.

最後，我們的董事會批准了每股 0.09 美元的定期季度股息，該股息將於 2022 年 12 月 15 日支付給 2022 年 12 月 1 日登記在冊的股東。Olympic 現已連續 17 年定期支付季度股息，並且作為提醒一下，今年 3 月，我們將股息從每股 0.02 美元增加到每股 0.09 美元。有了這個，我將把電話轉給安德魯，以概述我們的細分市場以及我們在接近年底時在市場上看到的情況。

Thank you, Rick, and good morning, everybody. Each of our business segments reported solid third quarter results. This was due in large part to the hard work of our people and the continued follow-through on our strategy and operational initiatives. The Specialty Metals segment, led by Andy Markowitz remained very profitable with EBITDA of $16.1 million for the quarter. The Specialty Metals team achieved these results while navigating challenges from stainless flat roll imports and falling surcharges, which led to lower spot sales and compressed margins. The team's outstanding efforts to manage inventory levels while maintaining solid profitability with the primary driver of this segment's strong performance. Our pipe and tube segment led by Bill Zolinsky continued to deliver exceptional results. Third quarter EBITDA was $9.7 million for the segment, and year-to-date EBITDA was $34.1 million, equating equaling the full year record set in 2021. The pipe and tube team continues to focus on controlling inventories and expanding its business to offer additional value-added products and services to meet customer demand. 

謝謝你，里克，大家早上好。我們的每個業務部門都報告了穩健的第三季度業績。這在很大程度上歸功於我們員工的辛勤工作以及對我們戰略和運營計劃的持續貫徹。由 Andy Markowitz 領導的特種金屬部門仍然非常有利可圖，本季度的 EBITDA 為 1610 萬美元。 Specialty Metals 團隊取得了這些成果，同時應對了不銹鋼扁捲進口和附加費下降帶來的挑戰，這些挑戰導致現貨銷售下降和利潤率壓縮。該團隊在管理庫存水平的同時保持穩健盈利能力的出色努力是該部門強勁業績的主要驅動力。由 Bill Zolinsky 領導的我們的管道和管材部門繼續取得卓越成果。該部門第三季度的 EBITDA 為 970 萬美元，年初至今的 EBITDA 為 3410 萬美元，相當於 2021 年創下的全年紀錄。管材團隊繼續專注於控制庫存和擴大業務以提供額外價值-增加產品和服務以滿足客戶需求。

The performance of our Carbon segment, led by David Gia, may be the most gratifying of all, considering the dramatic fluctuation of the hot-rolled CRU index, which, as discussed earlier, climbed from $935 per ton in March of 2022 to a peak of 14.926 weeks later and then dropped to $791 per ton by the end of September. The carbon team was able to navigate the extremely challenging market conditions to contribute quarterly EBITDA of $4.3 million. As Rick mentioned, we are continuing to invest in our business, and we are excited about the opportunities this is creating for us. Most notably, we made significant progress on expanding our capabilities in the South. We are pleased to share that our latest expansion in this region is officially up and running. With our second automotive stamping press, including an automated packaging line now fully operational in Winder, Georgia. And in Buford, Georgia, 2 new Mitsubishi 10-K lasers plus 2 new robotic welders have been installed. 

考慮到熱軋 CRU 指數的劇烈波動（如前所述，該指數從 2022 年 3 月的每噸 935 美元攀升至峰值14.926 週後，9 月底跌至每噸 791 美元。碳團隊能夠應對極具挑戰性的市場條件，貢獻了 430 萬美元的季度 EBITDA。正如里克所說，我們將繼續投資於我們的業務，我們對這為我們創造的機會感到興奮。最值得注意的是，我們在擴大我們在南方的能力方面取得了重大進展。我們很高興地告訴大家，我們在該地區的最新擴張已正式啟動並運行。我們的第二台汽車沖壓機，包括一條自動化包裝線，現已在佐治亞州溫德全面投入運營。在佐治亞州的佈福德，安裝了 2 台新的三菱 10-K 激光器和 2 台新的機器人焊機。

This will begin our entry into welded parts for several key customers and the investment in automation will help alleviate the need for additional labor. We are also seeing strong interest from other industrial OEMs to have fabrication work outsourced to our Buford facility. As we mentioned last quarter, based on the success of this model at Buford and Winder, we are taking a similar approach to the Chicago area, where our chamber distribution facility had no room for expansion. We are making good progress on our build-out of a new white metals facility in Bartlett, Illinois to house Schaumburg current fabrication work to serve the growing needs of our customers. We expect this new facility to be fully operational in early 2023. Looking at the balance of the year, we expect current market dynamics to continue.

這將開始我們為幾個主要客戶提供焊接部件，自動化投資將有助於減少對額外勞動力的需求。我們還看到其他工業原始設備製造商對將製造工作外包給我們的佈福德工廠表現出濃厚的興趣。正如我們上個季度提到的，基於這種模式在 Buford 和 Winder 的成功，我們正在對芝加哥地區採取類似的方法，我們的腔室分配設施沒有擴展空間。我們在伊利諾伊州巴特利特建設新的白色金屬工廠方面取得了良好進展，以容納 Schaumburg 當前的製造工作，以滿足客戶不斷增長的需求。我們預計這個新設施將在 2023 年初全面投入運營。展望今年的餘額，我們預計當前的市場動態將繼續下去。

Contract customers will likely continue to be challenged by labor and supply chain issues and have prevented most of our OEMs from increasing their production to reduce backlogs. In addition, we expect margins will remain under pressure due to declines in carbon, stainless and aluminum pricing. And while demand from our large industrial customers has remained steady, we expect some further impact on volumes as spot sales remain challenging in this environment. As always, we'll continue to focus on what we can control, mainly disciplined management of inventory and expenses. We are confident that these changes we have made to the business in the past few years, along with our continued initiatives, put the company in a strong position to weather any potential market downturn. And now I'll turn the call over to Rich.

合同客戶可能會繼續受到勞動力和供應鏈問題的挑戰，並阻止我們的大多數原始設備製造商增加產量以減少積壓。此外，由於碳、不銹鋼和鋁的價格下降，我們預計利潤率將繼續承壓。雖然我們的大型工業客戶的需求保持穩定，但我們預計在這種環境下現貨銷售仍然充滿挑戰，因此銷量會受到進一步影響。一如既往，我們繼續專注於我們可以控制的事情，主要是對庫存和費用的嚴格管理。我們相信，過去幾年我們對業務所做的這些改變，以及我們持續的舉措，將使公司處於有利地位，以抵禦任何潛在的市場低迷。現在我會把電話轉給 Rich。

Thank you, Andrew, and good morning, everyone. Before I discuss our third quarter results, please keep in mind that we completed the disposition of our Detroit operations during the third quarter of 2021, and we acquired Shaw stainless and alloy in the fourth quarter of 2021. Those transactions impact our year-over-year comparisons. As Rick and Andrew have noted, our third quarter performance reflects the actions we have taken over the past 3-plus years to better position the company for success in all market cycles. Net income totaled $12 million compared with $44.5 million in the third quarter of 2021. Adjusted EBITDA was $25.3 million compared with $70.5 million a year ago. Our third quarter 2022 results include $1.5 million of LIFO pretax expense. Our total debt decreased in 2022 by $84 million to $244 million at September 30, including a $44 million reduction in debt during the third quarter. We expect additional debt reduction in the fourth quarter. At quarter end, credit availability was approximately $227 million. Additionally, at quarter end, we had an additional $153 million of collateral above our $475 million asset-based revolver as well as an untapped $75 million credit line on our unencumbered real estate portfolio. 

謝謝安德魯，大家早上好。在我討論我們的第三季度業績之前，請記住我們在 2021 年第三季度完成了對底特律業務的處置，並在第四季度收購了 Shaw 不銹鋼和合金2021 年季度。這些交易會影響我們的同比比較。正如 Rick 和 Andrew 指出的那樣，我們第三季度的業績反映了我們在過去 3 年多的時間里為更好地定位公司在所有市場週期中取得成功而採取的行動。淨收入總計 1200 萬美元，而 2021 年第三季度為 4450 萬美元。調整後的 EBITDA 為 2530 萬美元，而一年前為 7050 萬美元。我們 2022 年第三季度的業績包括 150 萬美元的 LIFO 稅前費用。截至 9 月 30 日，我們的總債務在 2022 年減少了 8400 萬美元，降至 2.44 億美元，其中包括第三季度債務減少 4400 萬美元。我們預計第四季度將進一步削減債務。截至季度末，信貸可用性約為 2.27 億美元。此外，在季度末，我們在 4.75 億美元的基於資產的左輪手槍之上還有 1.53 億美元的抵押品，以及我們未支配的房地產投資組合中未動用的 7500 萬美元信貸額度。

We have significant capital to deploy for both additional acquisitions and organic growth opportunities. Consolidated operating expenses totaled $87.9 million, an increase of $2.4 million or 2.9% compared with $85.4 million in the third quarter of last year. Consolidated operating expenses for the third quarter this year included $2.1 million of operating expenses and $6.3 million of lower performance-based incentive expenses when compared to the third quarter of last year. Also, third quarter 2021 operating expenses were shown net of a $3.5 million gain on the sale of our Detroit operation. Capital expenditures totaled $14 million compared with depreciation of $13.6 million. We anticipate cash utilization for approximately $20 million for capital expenditures for the full year of 2022.

我們有大量資金可用於額外收購和有機增長機會。綜合運營費用總計 8790 萬美元，與去年第三季度的 8540 萬美元相比增加了 240 萬美元或 2.9%。與去年第三季度相比，今年第三季度的綜合運營費用包括 210 萬美元的運營費用和 630 萬美元的基於績效的激勵費用。此外，2021 年第三季度的運營支出扣除了出售底特律業務的 350 萬美元收益。資本支出總計 1400 萬美元，而折舊為 1360 萬美元。我們預計 2022 年全年資本支出的現金使用量約為 2000 萬美元。

As we have shared on previous calls, we have approved over $36 million of capital expenditures thus far in 2022, but long lead times are slowing the utilization of cash. Our effective tax rate for the third quarter was 25% compared to 26% in the third quarter of 2021. We expect our effective tax rate to approximate 27% to 28% for the full year. Also during the quarter, we paid a dividend of $0.09 per share, and we've now paid dividends for 7 consecutive quarters. In closing, I want to reiterate the significance of the results we achieved in the face of some very challenging market conditions. We performed well despite declining metals prices, macroeconomic headwinds and supply chain issues. We believe we have built a stronger, more resilient Olympics deal that positions us for success in all market cycles. Now operator, let's open the call for questions.

正如我們在之前的電話會議上分享的那樣，到 2022 年為止，我們已經批准了超過 3600 萬美元的資本支出，但較長的交付週期正在減緩現金的使用。我們第三季度的有效稅率為 25%，而 2021 年第三季度為 26%。我們預計全年的有效稅率約為 27% 至 28%。同樣在本季度，我們支付了每股 0.09 美元的股息，我們現在已經連續 7 個季度支付股息。最後，我想重申我們在面臨一些非常具有挑戰性的市場條件下取得的成果的重要性。儘管金屬價格下跌、宏觀經濟逆風和供應鏈問題，我們仍然表現良好。我們相信我們已經建立了更強大、更有彈性的奧運會協議，使我們能夠在所有市場週期中取得成功。現在接線員，讓我們打開問題電話。

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) One moment, please, we will call for questions. The first question comes from Samuel McNee with KeyBanc.

謝謝你。我們現在將進行問答環節。 （操作員說明）請稍等，我們會打電話提問。第一個問題來自 KeyBanc 的 Samuel McNee。

When we look in the third quarter, it was continued inflation in operating expenses versus sales. Into the fourth quarter, what's your outlook for this? If you could tell us what the profit sharing was year-to-date versus 2021, so we can distill the magnitude of increases in the other line items?

當我們看第三季度時，營業費用相對於銷售額的持續上漲。進入第四季度，您對此有何看法？如果您能告訴我們年初至今的利潤分享與 2021 年相比是多少，那麼我們可以提煉出其他項目的增長幅度嗎？

Yes, Sam. So when we look at operating expenses, what we have been seeing for the first and second quarter was between 5% and 5.4% inflation. We saw about 5.2% inflation in the third quarter when you adjust out for kind of to be on a same-store basis. I think the one big difference we saw in the third quarter, and we had highlighted in the second quarter was there was about a $3 million increase in transportation expense in the second quarter following the Ukraine invasion. That was about a $1 million effect in the third quarter. In general, I don't see inflation going up on all items other than transportation in the fourth quarter. As we've all read, there's a national diesel shortage, and that remains the wildcard kind of going into the fourth quarter.

是的，山姆。因此，當我們查看運營支出時，我們看到的第一季度和第二季度的通貨膨脹率在 5% 至 5.4% 之間。當你調整為同店基礎時，我們在第三季度看到了大約 5.2% 的通貨膨脹率。我認為我們在第三季度看到的一個重大差異是，我們在第二季度強調了這一點，即烏克蘭入侵後第二季度的運輸費用增加了約 300 萬美元。這在第三季度產生了大約 100 萬美元的影響。總的來說，我認為第四季度除運輸以外的所有項目的通貨膨脹率都不會上升。正如我們都讀到的那樣，全國柴油短缺，這仍然是進入第四季度的通配符。

And then the third quarter was another really strong quarter of reducing debt for you guys, over $20 million. Is the goal for the fourth quarter to be another period of that magnitude?

然後第三季度是另一個非常強勁的季度，為你們減少了超過 2000 萬美元的債務。第四季度的目標是另一個如此重要的時期嗎？

Yes, Sam, it's Rich again. And so yes, I do anticipate that the debt reduction will be at least as good as it was in the third quarter. I think there's a decent chance that we end up sub-$200 million by year-end.

是的，Sam，又是 Rich。所以是的，我確實預計債務削減至少會和第三季度一樣好。我認為到年底我們很有可能最終收入低於 2 億美元。

Then Andrew touched on it earlier, the fourth quarter outlook for demand, but there was a sequential step down, obviously, in volumes in both carbon flat and specialty in the third quarter. From a demand perspective, if you could just get into a little more detail what you're seeing from your major industrial OEMs as we're through October now?

然後安德魯早些時候談到了第四季度的需求前景，但顯然，第三季度碳纖維和特種碳纖維的銷量連續下降。從需求的角度來看，您是否可以更詳細地了解我們從現在到 10 月份從您的主要工業原始設備製造商那裡看到的情況？

Yes, Sam, I'd be happy to do that. So I think from a macro picture, we see fourth quarter down probably 6% to 9% in overall volume. The industrial OEMs have remained pretty steady into the fourth quarter and are cautiously optimistic as we take a look going into the first quarter. In the carbon side of it, certainly, where you have the large industrials, again, pretty steady, not able really to progress because of some of the supply chain issues, predominantly labor. It's not a metal issue. Now you may have some components coming in from offshore that are still an issue, but doing very well. Challenges there are going to be more on the transactional side of the business as we've seen index pricing fall off since the end of the third quarter. On the specialty metals side, again, our a couple of the key areas. We do some automotive still that are done outside of Detroit, obviously, is we diversified and got out of Detroit but we're still doing some automotive in some of our other areas. Truck trailer, we think, is going to continue to be strong in the food equipment industry, we're starting to see some pickup in that side of it. And so we're pretty optimistic that there'll be a little bit of an increase heading into next year. And then our pipe and tube division where pricing lags a little bit, but the volume has been very steady, and we think that's going to continue heading into first quarter, probably first half of next year.

是的，山姆，我很樂意這樣做。因此，我認為從宏觀角度來看，我們認為第四季度的整體銷量可能下降 6% 至 9%。工業原始設備製造商在第四季度保持相當穩定，並且在我們進入第一季度時持謹慎樂觀態度。在它的碳方面，當然，你有大型工業，同樣，非常穩定，由於一些供應鏈問題，主要是勞動力問題，無法真正取得進展。不是金屬的問題。現在你可能有一些來自海外的組件仍然是一個問題，但做得很好。由於我們已經看到自第三季度末以來指數定價下降，因此業務的交易方面將面臨更多挑戰。同樣，在特種金屬方面，我們的幾個關鍵領域。我們仍然在底特律以外的地方做一些汽車，顯然，我們多元化並離開了底特律，但我們仍在其他一些領域做一些汽車。我們認為，卡車拖車將在食品設備行業繼續保持強勁勢頭，我們開始看到它在這方面有所回升。因此，我們非常樂觀地認為明年會有一點增長。然後是我們的管道和管材部門，定價有點滯後，但銷量一直非常穩定，我們認為這將繼續進入第一季度，可能是明年上半年。

And then lastly for me, as you continue this diversification strategy that you cited in the release, could you talk us through your appetite for any more incremental acquisitions, any more areas or geographies where you might like to grow?

最後對我來說，當你繼續你在新聞稿中引用的多元化戰略時，你能否告訴我們你對更多增量收購的興趣，以及你可能希望發展的更多領域或地區？

Yes, sure. Sam, this is Rick. And I think you hit it. It's really looking at acquisitions to continue our growth, both geographically. So like Action Steel, you saw us action stainless, you saw us migrate into some geographies like the South and Southwest, where we weren't. So that's certainly very interesting to us. In terms of some of the products, we've talked on prior calls about aluminum being an area that we'd like to grow in in the white metals segment. So that would certainly be of interest. And then really, across all 3 segments, it's continuing to look for great fits, where there's a high value add, high return component to our business. So that's certainly high on the list. And I guess I'd end with we're still actively pursuing several opportunities. So we certainly see acquisitions being an avenue for continued growth in the near term.

是的，當然。山姆，這是里克。我想你成功了。它真的在尋找收購以繼續我們在地理上的增長。因此，就像 Action Steel 一樣，您看到我們行動不銹，您看到我們遷移到一些我們沒有的地區，例如南部和西南部。所以這對我們來說當然非常有趣。就某些產品而言，我們在之前的電話會議上談到了鋁是我們希望在白色金屬領域發展的一個領域。所以這肯定會引起人們的興趣。然後，實際上，在所有 3 個細分市場中，它都在繼續尋找合適的人選，為我們的業務提供高附加值、高回報的組成部分。所以這肯定在名單上名列前茅。我想我會以我們仍在積極尋求幾個機會結束。因此，我們當然認為收購是近期持續增長的途徑。

Next question comes from Dave Storms with Stonegate.

下一個問題來自 Stonegate 的 Dave Storms。

Just touching on the CapEx and the slowdown that you're seeing in 2022, how much of that is expected to bleed into 2023 for next year?

僅談及資本支出和您在 2022 年看到的經濟放緩，預計其中有多少將流入明年的 2023 年？

Dave, I think what we alluded to is $36 million of total POs issued so far this year. And we think there's about $20 million of actual cash utilization. So I would expect $10 million to $15 million of that bleeding over into next year. I think we have a robust CapEx budget for next year. We're kind of finalizing that right now. But similarly, what we're seeing is that lead times are going to bleed out past 2023 for the things we order in 2023. So I think that $20 million is still a good cash utilization number for this year. And by the time we do this call in February, we'll have some better guidance for the cash utilization in 2023.

戴夫，我認為我們提到的是今年迄今為止發布的採購訂單總額為 3600 萬美元。我們認為實際現金使用量約為 2000 萬美元。所以我預計明年會有 1000 萬到 1500 萬美元的流血。我認為我們明年的資本支出預算強勁。我們現在正在敲定它。但同樣，我們所看到的是，我們在 2023 年訂購的東西的交貨時間將在 2023 年之後消失。所以我認為 2000 萬美元仍然是今年的一個很好的現金利用率數字。到 2 月我們進行此電話會議時，我們將對 2023 年的現金利用率有一些更好的指導。

And then just looking at your strong cash position, your strong debt position. Obviously, you're able to bring on the Georgia plants while still growing our cash. Should we expect to see the same kind of growth while you make that expansion into the Chicago area? Or now that you kind of have a road map on how to bring these lines up to speed? Is that going to start even into your cash position?

然後看看你強大的現金狀況，你強大的債務狀況。顯然，您可以在增加現金的同時引進佐治亞州的工廠。當您向芝加哥地區擴張時，我們是否應該期望看到同樣的增長？或者現在您已經有了關於如何使這些生產線加快速度的路線圖？這是否會從您的現金頭寸開始？

Yes. So Dave, we are a net borrower and everything is reflected on our asset-based loan. And when we talk about the Chicago expansion, that's just taking the existing facility we have in Schaumberg and basically splitting it between distribution and fabrication. The new facility of Bartlett, which I believe Andrew is 80,000 square feet. That's right. That is a rented facility. And essentially, we're moving existing equipment from the Schaumburg facility into that, although we will be adding some lasers and some automation equipment to it. But I do not expect it to be a significant draw on debt to get any of that up and running.

是的。所以戴夫，我們是一個淨借款人，一切都反映在我們基於資產的貸款上。當我們談論芝加哥擴張時，這只是利用我們在 Schaumberg 的現有設施，基本上將其分為分銷和製造。巴特利特的新設施，我相信安德魯是 80,000 平方英尺。那就對了。那是租用的設施。從本質上講，我們正在將現有設備從紹姆堡工廠轉移到那裡，儘管我們將向其中添加一些激光器和一些自動化設備。但我不認為要啟動和運行它會大量借債。

Next question comes from Alan Weber with Robotti Advisors.

下一個問題來自 Robotti Advisors 的 Alan Weber。

So could you talk about -- I may have missed, what was cash flow in the third quarter? I didn't... Maybe I missed the cash flow statement?

那麼你能談談 - 我可能錯過了，第三季度的現金流量是多少？我沒有……也許我漏掉了現金流量表？

Yes. No, the cash flow statement will be in the -- I don't think it's in the earnings release, but it will be in the full 10-Q, which will be issued later today or -- and what you'll have there, Alan, is that we paid down debt, $44 million during the third quarter. Total debt reduction in the first half -- or for the full year has been $88 million. And based on the call you heard earlier from Sam, we expect that to be sub $200 million by year-end. And actually, the cash statement is in the earnings release.

是的。不，現金流量表將在——我不認為它在收益發布中，但它會在完整的 10-Q 中，它將在今天晚些時候發布，或者——你會在那裡看到什麼，艾倫，我們在第三季度還清了 4400 萬美元的債務。上半年或全年的債務削減總額為 8800 萬美元。根據您之前從 Sam 那裡聽到的電話，我們預計到年底將低於 2 億美元。實際上，現金報表在收益發布中。

And then when you look out over the next few years, can you just talk about some of the macro trends that you're seeing, whether anything's changed and infrastructure, et cetera, pricing...

然後當你展望未來幾年時，你能否談談你所看到的一些宏觀趨勢，是否有任何變化以及基礎設施等等，定價......

Well, Alan, this is Andrew. Here's what I would tell you. I think what we've learned in the last couple of years is that the large industrial OEMs, while some of the supply chain issues are going to resolve themselves over the course of the next 6 to 12 months, labor issues are still going to be a challenge. And so what we hear most from our customer is how can we help them get to market faster. It's going to be a big part of, as we look to increase our fabrication to be able to help them be able to get to market faster. The discussions that we've had certainly over the last 12 to 18 months have been different than probably what we saw before because there's a real partnership taking place today in real back-and-forth conversation about areas that we should be investing in to help these large customers do a better job in mitigating their costs. And again, how do they get to market faster?

嗯，艾倫，這是安德魯。這就是我要告訴你的。我認為我們在過去幾年中學到的是，大型工業原始設備製造商，雖然一些供應鏈問題將在未來 6 到 12 個月內自行解決，但勞工問題仍將是一個挑戰。因此，我們從客戶那裡聽到最多的是我們如何幫助他們更快地進入市場。這將是其中的重要組成部分，因為我們希望增加我們的製造能力以幫助他們能夠更快地進入市場。在過去的 12 到 18 個月裡，我們進行的討論肯定與我們以前看到的有所不同，因為今天在關於我們應該投資的領域的真正來回對話中建立了真正的伙伴關係以提供幫助這些大客戶在降低成本方面做得更好。同樣，他們如何更快地進入市場？

Yes. And Alan, it's Rick. I think some of the other dynamics as we look forward, that, quite frankly, we get excited about for Olympic. You mentioned infrastructure. So certainly, we've talked a lot about that. And while we are not a large direct construction, long product company. We do sell a lot of metal and steel that goes into construction equipment and all the things you'd see at the construction site. So that's one thing that's, I think, very positive. The other thing that I get excited about is I do believe that we will see a resurgence of manufacturing in the United States based upon all the supply chain shortages that we saw during COVID. I think specifically, things that were globally sourced and not sourced here. You can go through the long laundry list of OEMs who had trouble sourcing individual parts. So -- and we've already seen a lot of that with chips and other items.

是的。艾倫，是瑞克。我認為我們期待的其他一些動態，坦率地說，我們為奧運會感到興奮。你提到了基礎設施。當然，我們已經談了很多。雖然我們不是大型直接建築、長產品公司。我們確實出售了大量用於建築設備的金屬和鋼材，以及您在建築工地看到的所有東西。所以我認為這是非常積極的一件事。令我興奮的另一件事是，我確實相信，基於我們在 COVID 期間看到的所有供應鏈短缺，我們將看到美國製造業的複蘇。我特別認為，全球採購的東西而不是這裡採購的。您可以瀏覽一長串在採購單個零件時遇到困難的原始設備製造商名單。所以——我們已經在薯片和其他物品上看到了很多。

So I think as we move forward, we'll see more of that, I think, also probably a little bit more inventory held in the supply chain. So the whole just-in-time concept will continue. But actually, a friend in the business told me a great line. He said it's going to be instead of just in time, it's going to be just in case. And I think that says it well, a little bit extra in the supply chain to make sure that we don't experience what we've gone through. So those are a couple of other dynamics in the industry over the coming quarters that at least we get excited about on the demand side. And hopefully, we see U.S. metal consumption increase based upon some of those factors.

所以我認為隨著我們的前進，我們會看到更多，我認為，供應鏈中的庫存也可能會增加一點。因此，整個準時制概念將繼續存在。但實際上，一位業內朋友告訴我一句很棒的台詞。他說這不是及時，而是以防萬一。而且我認為這說得很好，在供應鏈中有一點額外，以確保我們不會經歷我們經歷過的事情。因此，這些是未來幾個季度行業中的其他一些動態，至少我們對需求方面感到興奮。希望我們看到美國金屬消費量基於其中一些因素而增加。

And any thoughts about long-term pricing?

對長期定價有什麼想法嗎？

Well, that's a great question. I think there is -- certainly, challenges today as new capacity is coming online. The expectation is that demand will, in the long term, certainly catch up to where the capacity is in the U.S. And on a short-term basis, you've got a strong dollar, so you'll probably see imports a little bit stronger. And if you listen to the prognosticators, the dollar will weaken over time. But I think what you'll see is demand start to catch up, Rick talked about the infrastructure bill certainly going to bode well for the industrial OEMs and I think where you're seeing some more reshoring will lend itself very well to manufacturing. And these mills are looking far out. Otherwise, they're not going to be adding capacity and building new facilities.

嗯，這是一個很好的問題。我認為，隨著新產能的上線，今天當然存在挑戰。預計從長遠來看，需求肯定會趕上美國的產能。在短期內，美元走強，所以你可能會看到進口略微走強.如果你聽從預言家的話，美元會隨著時間的推移而走弱。但我認為你會看到需求開始迎頭趕上，里克談到基礎設施法案肯定對工業原始設備製造商來說是個好兆頭，我認為你會看到更多的回流將非常適合製造業。這些工廠放眼長遠。否則，他們不會增加產能和建造新設施。

And I also... Alan, just from the price standpoint, the other thing that I think as you look at history and then looking forward, certainly, with the inflation we've seen, there's a couple of areas that probably you will not see costs go back down to where they were, certainly, labor. Labor never goes in reverse. And I think energy and transportation costs going forward are going to remain elevated. So I think some of the input costs in terms of metal pricing are going to be permanently higher and that may -- as you really look long term, may point to higher metal pricing than what traditionally we've seen prior to the last cycle of the last couple of years.

而且我也......艾倫，從價格的角度來看，我認為另一件事是你回顧歷史然後展望未來，當然，隨著我們看到的通貨膨脹，有幾個領域你可能不會看到成本下降到原來的水平，當然是勞動力。勞動永遠不會倒退。而且我認為未來的能源和運輸成本將繼續上升。因此，我認為金屬定價方面的一些投入成本將永遠更高，而且這可能——從長遠來看，可能表明金屬定價高於我們在上一個週期之前看到的傳統價格。最近幾年。

(Operator Instructions) Next question comes from Chris Sakai with Singular Research.

（操作員說明）下一個問題來自奇異研究公司的 Chris Sakai。

Just wanted to talk about inventory levels. How do you guys feel about them currently in the pricing environment today?

只想談談庫存水平。你們如何看待他們目前在今天的定價環境中？

Yes. Great question, Chris. We've worked hard to maintain appropriate inventory levels. And I think as we come through the fourth quarter, we're going to be right where we want to be. We've spent a lot of time on inventory turns, doing a much better job in all of our reporting segments. And I'm really pleased with the effort that our individual divisions have done. And so, I think will be appropriate by the end of the fourth quarter.

是的。好問題，克里斯。我們一直努力保持適當的庫存水平。而且我認為，當我們度過第四季度時，我們將到達我們想要的位置。我們在庫存周轉上花了很多時間，在我們所有的報告部分都做得更好。我對我們各個部門所做的努力感到非常滿意。因此，我認為在第四季度末將是合適的。

And then next quarter and beyond, what's in your plan for debt reduction? Is that still going to be consistent?

然後下個季度及以後，您的債務削減計劃是什麼？這仍然會保持一致嗎？

Yes, Chris, I think as we've answered on a couple of the calls that we do expect to be sub 200 by the end of the year. I think that what you typically see in most cycles is that first quarter is generally a rebuild of the working capital kind of coming off year-end lows. And so I don't know that you'd see a lot of debt reduction in the first quarter beyond that, but we certainly will see it here in the fourth quarter.

是的，克里斯，我認為我們已經回答了幾個我們確實預計到今年年底將低於 200 的電話。我認為你在大多數週期中通常看到的是，第一季度通常是營運資本的重建，有點脫離年終低點。所以我不知道你會在第一季度看到大量債務減少，但我們肯定會在第四季度看到它。

Yes. And I think if you just look broad-based, probably have a little bit more pricing impact that will continue into the first quarter as there's a lag on inventory and receivables. But I think Rich is right, I think the bulk of the debt paydown and cash flow, we'll continue to see in the fourth quarter, and then it will probably level off.

是的。而且我認為，如果你只是看基礎廣泛，可能會有更多的定價影響，這種影響將持續到第一季度，因為庫存和應收賬款存在滯後。但我認為里奇是對的，我認為大部分債務償還和現金流，我們將在第四季度繼續看到，然後可能會趨於平穩。

And lastly, what are the conditions? What would it be for a dividend increase?

最後，條件是什麼？增加股息會是什麼？

So we look at -- so great question. And I obviously commented that we increased our dividend from $0.02 to $0.09 at the beginning of this year, so our March dividend. That's certainly a topic that our board looks at. We want to ensure that we've got a competitive dividend in terms of the yield. And I think from an availability standpoint on cash, we're in a very strong position with a strong balance sheet and plenty of liquidity. So I certainly think that will be something that the Board looks at for 2023 to make sure that our dividend is competitive from a yield standpoint.

所以我們看看 - 這麼好的問題。我顯然評論說，我們在今年年初將股息從 0.02 美元增加到 0.09 美元，所以我們的 3 月份股息。這當然是我們董事會關注的一個話題。我們希望確保我們在收益率方面獲得有競爭力的股息。而且我認為從現金可用性的角度來看，我們處於非常有利的地位，擁有強大的資產負債表和充足的流動性。因此，我當然認為這將是董事會在 2023 年關注的事情，以確保我們的股息從收益率的角度來看具有競爭力。

There are no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the floor over back to Richard Marabito for closing comments.

目前沒有其他問題。我想將發言權轉回 Richard Marabito 以徵求結束意見。

Thank you, operator, and thank all of you for joining us on our call today. We certainly appreciate your continued interest in Olympic Steel. And we look forward to speaking with you again next quarter. Thank you, and have a good day.

謝謝接線員，也感謝大家今天加入我們的電話會議。我們非常感謝您對奧林匹克鋼鐵的持續關注。我們期待下個季度再次與您交談。謝謝你，有一個美好的一天。

This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines, and have a great day.

今天的電話會議到此結束。您可以斷開線路，祝您度過愉快的一天。