以星航運 (ZIM) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Hello. My name is Krista, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

你好。我叫克里斯塔，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。在此，我歡迎大家參加以星綜合航運服務2023年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）

I would now like to turn the conference over to Elana Holzman, Head of Investor Relations. Elana, you may begin your conference.

我現在想將會議交給投資者關係主管 Elana Holzman。埃拉娜，你可以開始你的會議了。

Thank you, operator, and welcome everyone to ZIM's third quarter 2023 financial results conference call. Joining me on the call today are Eli Glickman, ZIM's President and CEO; and Xavier Destriau, ZIM's CFO.

謝謝業者，並歡迎大家參加以星 2023 年第三季財務業績電話會議。今天和我一起參加電話會議的是以星 (ZIM) 總裁兼執行長 Eli Glickman；以及以星集團財務長 Xavier Destriau。

Before we begin, I would like to remind you that during the course of this call, we will make forward-looking statements regarding expectations, predictions, projections of future events or results. We believe that our expectations and assumptions are reasonable. We wish to caution you that such statements reflect only the company's current expectations and that actual events or results may differ, including materially. You are kindly referred to consider the risk factors and cautionary language described in the documents that company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our 2022 annual report filed on Form 20-F in March 2023. We undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，在本次電話會議期間，我們將就未來事件或結果的預期、預測、預測做出前瞻性聲明。我們相信我們的期望和假設是合理的。我們希望提醒您，此類陳述僅反映公司目前的預期，實際事件或結果可能有所不同，包括重大差異。請您考慮本公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中所述的風險因素和警示性語言，包括我們於2023 年3 月以20-F 表格形式提交的2022 年年度報告。我們不承擔更新這些前瞻性陳述的義務。尋找陳述。

At this time, I would like to turn the call over to ZIM's CEO, Eli Glickman. Eli?

此時，我想將電話轉給 ZIM 執行長 Eli Glickman。伊萊？

Thank you, Elana, and welcome everyone to today's call.

謝謝 Elana，歡迎大家參加今天的電話會議。

Before we turn to our call today, I would like to address the ongoing war situation in Israel. During these trying times, our thoughts are with the children, parents, husband and wives and grandparents who lost their lives, their loved ones and their owns in terrific and tragic events of October 7. We stand support of families and communities who are affected by this terrorist attack. And we pray for the safe and immediate return of our people held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. Our priority is assisting our employees in Israel and ensuring their well-being, while continuing to meet the needs of our customers, delivering the highest level customer care and maintaining strict operational standards to drive our business forward.

在我們今天開始通話之前，我想談談以色列當前的戰爭局勢。在這些艱難的時刻，我們的心與在10 月7 日的可怕和悲慘事件中喪生的孩子、父母、丈夫、妻子和祖父母、他們的親人和他們自己的人同在。我們堅定地支持那些受到影響的家庭和社區。這次恐怖攻擊。我們祈禱加薩被哈馬斯扣為人質的人民立即安全返回。我們的首要任務是協助我們在以色列的員工並確保他們的福祉，同時繼續滿足客戶的需求，提供最高水準的客戶服務並維持嚴格的營運標準以推動我們的業務向前發展。

Despite war-related challenges, ZIM operation and services everywhere, including to and from Israel, are continuing result interruptions. As a global company, our employees, over 4,500 around the world, serve more than 34,000 customers worldwide, shipping to over 200 ports in 19 countries with only about 10% of our volumes imported or exported for Israel.

儘管面臨與戰爭相關的挑戰，以星航空在世界各地的運作和服務，包括往返以色列的運作和服務，仍持續中斷。作為一家全球性公司，我們在全球擁有 4,500 多名員工，為全球 34,000 多家客戶提供服務，貨物運往 19 個國家的 200 多個港口，其中只有約 10% 的貨物運往以色列。

Turning to our financial results. I will discuss ZIM's third quarter and our path forward. ZIM strategic transformation launched back in 2017, which involves every aspect of our company and the way we do business, delivered 2.5 years of historic financial results from mid-2020 through 2022, including net income of nearly $10 billion. This period of exceptional profitability has today led to a significant cash balance, which at quarter end stood at over $3 billion. While market weakness has extended longer than we had originally anticipated, it is important to note that our strong liquidity will allow ZIM to weather this downturn. We believe ZIM is well positioned to emerge stronger than ever with a fleet that provides us a competitive advantage in core trades.

轉向我們的財務表現。我將討論以星第三季度的情況和我們的前進道路。以星早在2017 年就啟動了策略轉型，涉及我們公司的各個方面以及我們開展業務的方式，從2020 年中期到2022 年，在2.5 年間實現了歷史性的財務業績，其中淨利潤近100 億美元。這段期間的卓越獲利能力如今帶來了巨大的現金餘額，截至季度末，現金餘額超過 30 億美元。雖然市場疲軟的持續時間比我們最初預期的要長，但值得注意的是，我們強大的流動性將使以星能夠渡過這次低迷期。我們相信，以星已做好準備，憑藉一支為我們在核心產業提供競爭優勢的船隊，變得比以往任何時候都更加強大。

Specifically, we leveraged our successful IPO and capitalized on the extended period of historic profitability to best prepare ZIM for the years to come. First, we executed our fleet renewal program and secured through a series of charter agreements, a total of 46 newbuild container ships, of which 28 are LNG power. In 2025, ZIM's flat profile will be dramatically different. Our fleet will be much younger, more fuel and cost-efficient. Our average vessel size will be bigger and better suited to the trade in which we operate. We expect approximately 1/3 of our operated capacity in 2025 to be LNG power, making ZIM one of the lowest carbon intensity operators in the industry.

具體來說，我們利用成功的 IPO 並利用長期的歷史盈利能力，為以星未來幾年做好最佳準備。首先，我們執行了船隊更新計劃，並透過一系列租船協議獲得了總共46艘新建貨櫃船，其中28艘是液化天然氣動力船。 2025年，以星的扁平化輪廓將有巨大變化。我們的機隊將更年輕、更省油且更具成本效益。我們的平均船舶尺寸將更大，更適合我們經營的行業。我們預計到 2025 年，我們營運產能的約 1/3 將來自液化天然氣發電，這使得以星成為業內碳強度最低的營運商之一。

As such, we will be well positioned to support our customers in reducing their carbon footprint. But even already today, ZIM is the only carrier to operate LNG vessels from Asia to the U.S. East Coast. By the end of 2024, we will have 2 different services operating with only LNG vessels as we plan to deploy our 7,000 TEU LNG vessels on our Baltimore service. In addition with the 15,000 TEU LNG vessels deployed on ZCP service, our premier Asia to U.S. East Coast service. Second, to complement our fleet renewal program, we purchased almost $1 billion worth of containers with a particular focus on investing in our [reefer] propositions. Today, we own and operate the youngest reefer fleet in the industry, which serves us well as we compete for this high-value cargo. Third, we entered into a strategic supply agreement with Shell to secure LNG supply at competitive pricing. And last, we invested in customer-facing and back-end digital tools and applications to propel profitability and improve customer experience.

因此，我們將有能力支援客戶減少碳足跡。但即使在今天，以星集團也是唯一一家經營從亞洲到美國東海岸的液化天然氣船的承運商。到 2024 年底，我們將擁有 2 條僅使用液化天然氣船舶營運的不同服務，因為我們計劃在巴爾的摩航線上部署 7,000 TEU 液化天然氣船舶。此外，我們還在 ZCP 服務上部署了 15,000 TEU 液化天然氣船，這是我們亞洲至美國東海岸的首要服務。其次，為了補充我們的船隊更新計劃，我們購買了價值近 10 億美元的貨櫃，特別注重投資我們的[冷藏]主張。如今，我們擁有並經營著業內最年輕的冷藏船隊，這在我們爭奪高價值貨物的過程中為我們提供了良好的服務。第三，我們與殼牌簽訂了策略供應協議，以具競爭力的價格確保液化天然氣供應。最後，我們投資於面向客戶和後端的數位工具和應用程序，以提高盈利能力並改善客戶體驗。

We view it as the core strength to leverage technology to promote operational and commercial excellence. We continue to invest in technology and are currently in the process of planning an extensive project to install on our entire dry van container fleet, the cutting-edge tracking devices developed by Hoopo Systems, which is also one of our portfolio companies. ZIM will be one of the first carriers in the container shipping industry to have its entire fleet equipped with tracking device. This will enable us to better manage our fleet, but also offer customer value-added services such as geofence alerts and open and closed door notifications.

我們將其視為利用科技促進卓越營運和商業的核心優勢。我們繼續投資技術，目前正在規劃一個廣泛的項目，在我們的整個乾貨貨櫃車隊上安裝由Hoopo Systems（也是我們的投資組合公司之一）開發的尖端追蹤設備。以星將成為貨櫃運輸業首批為其整個船隊配備追蹤設備的承運商之一。這將使我們能夠更好地管理我們的車隊，同時也為客戶提供增值服務，例如地理圍欄警報以及開門和關門通知。

As we considered ZIM strategic direction back in 2021, we anticipated that the subsequent years, 2023 and 2024, were going to be a transition period. The goal was to ship ZIM's reliance on older less fuel efficient and less environmentally friendly capacity to a core cost and fuel efficient LNG-powered newbuild fleet. We understood that steps were needed to make ZIM a more resilient company. And this new fleet will effectively position us to both address the carbonization agenda of the shipping industry and drive long-term profitable growth.

當我們在 2021 年考慮以星的戰略方向時，我們預計接下來的幾年，即 2023 年和 2024 年，將是一個過渡期。其目標是將 ZIM 對燃油效率較低且環境友善的舊產能的依賴轉變成核心成本高、燃油效率高的液化天然氣動力新建船隊。我們知道需要採取措施使以星成為更具彈性的公司。這支新船隊將有效幫助我們解決航運業的碳化議程並推動長期獲利成長。

During these 2 years' transition period, ZIM's cost base will gradually improve as we continue to make -- to take delivery of the cost-effective newbuild tonnage and redeliver the expensive COVID-era charters. Our cost per TEU is declining. And we expect further improvement moving forward. At the remaining 33 of the 46 newbuilds we secured are added to our fleet this year and throughout 2024. I would highlight that the 6 15,000 TEU LNG vessels we have already deployed on our strategic Asia to U.S. East Coast ZCP service are meeting and even exceeding our cost saving expectations.

在這兩年的過渡期內，以星的成本基礎將隨著我們繼續交付具有成本效益的新船噸位並重新交付昂貴的新冠疫情時期的租船而逐漸改善。我們的每 TEU 成本正在下降。我們預計未來會有進一步的改進。我們今年和整個2024 年獲得的46 艘新船中的其餘33 艘將添加到我們的船隊中。我要強調的是，我們已經在亞洲至美國東海岸ZCP 戰略航線上部署的6 艘15,000 TEU液化天然氣船正在達到甚至超過我們節省成本的期望。

During this transition period, our entire organization is focused on returning ZIM to long-term sustainable profitability. We expect the initiative we began to undertake 2 years ago will deliver that result in 2025 and beyond. At the same time, as we navigate near-term market challenges, we have taken steps to rationalize our existing capacity whenever possible to minimize cash burn. In 2023, we have already redelivered 20 charter vessels and expect to redeliver another 5 vessels back to owner by year end.

在此過渡期間，我們整個組織的重點是讓以星重回長期可持續獲利能力。我們預計 2 年前開始實施的措施將在 2025 年及以後取得這項成果。同時，在應對近期市場挑戰時，我們已採取措施盡可能合理化現有產能，以最大程度地減少現金消耗。 2023年，我們已重新交付20艘包租船舶，預計年底前將另外5艘船舶重新交付給船東。

We also have another 34 vessels up for renewal in 2024. This will allow us to better align our fleet with current demand levels. We also continue to review our services and reallocate resources to adapt our network. We are attentive to our customers' evolving needs and focused on taking advantage of new commercial opportunities with growth and profitability potential. For example, we recently decided to reinstate our ZEX service, targeting the e-commerce market from South China to L.A. Today, we are hearing from customers that they are again looking for an expedited ocean service that offers slightly longer transit time compared to the air freight but at a fraction of the cost.

我們還有另外 34 艘船舶準備在 2024 年進行更新。這將使我們能夠更好地調整我們的船隊以滿足當前的需求水準。我們也繼續審查我們的服務並重新分配資源以適應我們的網路。我們專注於客戶不斷變化的需求，並專注於利用具有成長和獲利潛力的新商業機會。例如，我們最近決定恢復我們的 ZEX 服務，目標是從華南到洛杉磯的電子商務市場。今天，我們收到客戶的回饋，他們再次尋求一種加急的海運服務，其運輸時間比空運稍長運費但成本的一小部分。

We also expanded our presence in Latin America this year. In early 2023, we opened our Colibri service, connecting the West Coast of South America to U.S. East Coast. Since its launch, we have consistently grown our carried volume and we are now one of the top 5 carriers on this trade. More recently, we announced the launch of 2 additional lines in Latin America. While market conditions remain challenging in this region, as elsewhere, we believe no South trades have significant growth potential as U.S. importers seek to diversify their supply chain.

今年我們也擴大了在拉丁美洲的業務。 2023 年初，我們開通了 Colibri 服務，連接南美洲西海岸和美國東海岸。自推出以來，我們的運載量持續成長，現已成為該行業排名前 5 名的承運商之一。最近，我們宣佈在拉丁美洲增設 2 條線路。儘管與其他地區一樣，該地區的市場狀況仍然充滿挑戰，但我們認為，隨著美國進口商尋求供應鏈多元化，南方貿易沒有顯著的成長潛力。

During this third quarter, we also announced a new collaboration with MSC, the industry's largest carrier, that is already delivering cost savings. These agreements include vessel sharing, slot purchases and swap arrangements across services, connecting the Indian Subcontinent with the Eastern Mediterranean, the Eastern Mediterranean with Northern Europe and services connecting East Asia with Oceania. This latest collaboration is consistent with our approach to leveraging partnerships that improve efficiencies and enhance our network, particularly during this period of continued headwinds in our market. Furthermore, we believe that our new cost and fuel-efficient newbuild fleet will better position us to reach similar operational arrangements in the future.

在第三季度，我們也宣布了與業界最大的營運商 MSC 的新合作，該合作已經帶來了成本節約。這些協議包括船舶共享、艙等購買和跨服務互換安排，連接印度次大陸與東地中海、東地中海與北歐以及連接東亞與大洋洲的服務。這項最新的合作符合我們利用合作關係來提高效率和增強我們的網絡的方法，特別是在我們市場持續不利的時期。此外，我們相信，我們新的成本低、燃油效率高的新建機隊將使我們能夠更好地在未來達成類似的營運安排。

In parallel, we are constantly pursuing operative steps in a wide range of cost control, optimization and cost avoidance initiatives in order to achieve improvements in our cost structure. These cost control initiatives include, among others, a strict HR hiring program to ensure our workforce is aligned with industry dynamics; lower variable costs, such as terminal-related, cargo handling and port storage costs; bunker cost, leveraging our agreement with Shell to use more LNG versus low sulfur fuel; and of course, actively seeking opportunities to redeliver charter capacity early. We expect these initiatives to continue generating measurable and sustainable savings. Moving forward, we will continue to seek opportunities to capitalize on our strengths and capabilities in order to create long-term value for our customers and investors alike. Although market conditions for the near future are uncertain, our ample cash enable us to maintain a long-term view.

同時，我們不斷在各種成本控制、優化和成本避免措施中採取有效措施，以改善我們的成本結構。這些成本控制措施包括嚴格的人力資源招募計劃，以確保我們的員工隊伍符合產業動態；降低變動成本，例如碼頭相關成本、貨物裝卸和港口倉儲成本；燃油成本，利用我們與殼牌的協議，使用更多的液化天然氣而不是低硫燃料；當然，積極尋找機會儘早重新提供包機運力。我們預計這些舉措將繼續產生可衡量且可持續的節約。展望未來，我們將繼續尋找機會利用我們的優勢和能力，為我們的客戶和投資者創造長期價值。儘管近期的市場狀況存在不確定性，但我們充足的現金使我們能夠保持長遠的眼光。

Turning to our third quarter results. Our results -- the third quarter performance reflect the persistent weakness of the current trading environment with soft demand and continued freight rate deterioration. The rate increases we saw in August in Transpacific were showed. In Q3 2023, we generated adjusted EBITDA of $211 million and adjusted EBIT loss of $213 million. Cash flow from operation was $338 million. As already mentioned, we maintained strong total liquidity with a cash position of approximately $3.1 billion at the quarter end.

轉向我們第三季的業績。我們的業績－第三季的業績反映了當前貿易環境的持續疲軟，需求疲軟和運費持續惡化。我們在 8 月看到的跨太平洋航線的費率上漲已得到證實。 2023 年第三季度，我們的調整後 EBITDA 為 2.11 億美元，調整後 EBIT 虧損為 2.13 億美元。經營現金流量為 3.38 億美元。正如已經提到的，我們保持強勁的總流動性，季度末現金部位約為 31 億美元。

Based on our 9 months results, an expectation of no material improvement in freight rates, during this remainder of the year, we have lowered our full year '23 forecast. We now expect to generate adjusted EBITDA of $900 million to $1.1 billion and adjusted EBIT loss of $600 million to $400 million. Given this negative outlook in the near-term, we recorded a non-cash impairment of $2.1 billion this quarter. Despite the losses incurred in '23, ZIM is a resilient company. Our strong cash balance will help us withstand this prolonged downturn. And as I already indicated, we believe that '25 will mark a turning point for ZIM and return to profitability.

根據我們 9 個月的業績，預計今年剩餘時間內運價不會出現實質改善，我們下調了 23 年全年預測。我們現在預計調整後 EBITDA 為 9 億至 11 億美元，調整後 EBIT 損失為 6 億至 4 億美元。鑑於近期的負面前景，本季我們記錄了 21 億美元的非現金減損。儘管在 23 年遭受了損失，以星仍是一家有韌性的公司。我們強勁的現金餘額將幫助我們抵禦這場長期的低迷。正如我已經指出的那樣，我們相信 25 年將標誌著以星航運並恢復盈利的轉折點。

On this note, I will turn the call over to Xavier, our CFO, for a more detailed discussion of our financial results, the impairment and our revised guidance as well as additional comments on the market environment. Xavier, please.

在這一點上，我將把電話轉給我們的財務長澤維爾，以更詳細地討論我們的財務表現、減損和修訂後的指導，以及對市場環境的其他評論。澤維爾，請。

Thank you, Eli, and again, welcome everyone.

謝謝你，伊萊，再次歡迎大家。

On Slide 5, we present key financial and operational results. As Eli mentioned, our third quarter financial performance reflected the ongoing weakness of the current market. Our third quarter average freight rate per TEU was $1,139. That is a 66% decline year-over-year. And during the first 9 months of the year, our average freight rate of $1,235 was similarly 66% lower than the comparable period last year. Our carried volume of 867,000 TEUs is 3% higher versus last year's third quarter, and this compared to market growth of approximately 5%. And looking sequentially, our carried volume also increased slightly.

在投影片 5 中，我們展示了主要的財務和營運績效。正如 Eli 所提到的，我們第三季的財務表現反映了當前市場的持續疲軟。我們第三季每 TEU 的平均運費為 1,139 美元。年減 66%。今年前 9 個月，我們的平均運費為 1,235 美元，同樣比去年同期低 66%。我們的運載量為 867,000 TEU，比去年第三季增加了 3%，而市場成長率約為 5%。而且從順序來看，我們的攜帶量也略有增加。

Revenues for the third quarter were again adversely impacted by the continued decline in freight rates. Q3 revenues were $1.3 billion. Our revenues for the first 9 months of 2023 of $4 billion were 62% lower than in the first 9 months of last year. Free cash flow in the third quarter totaled $328 million compared to $1.6 billion in the third quarter of 2022.

第三季的收入再次受到運費持續下降的不利影響。第三季營收為 13 億美元。我們 2023 年前 9 個月的營收為 40 億美元，比去年前 9 個月下降了 62%。第三季自由現金流總計 3.28 億美元，而 2022 年第三季為 16 億美元。

Turning now to the balance sheet. Total debt increased by $401 million since prior year end, mainly due to the net effect of the incoming vessels with longer term charter durations. As previously mentioned, we also recorded a non-cash impairment of $2.1 billion this quarter, mainly driven by our negative outlook for container shipping in the near-term, namely the deterioration in freight rate observed in recent weeks with little expectations for meaningful recovery into 2024.

現在轉向資產負債表。自去年年底以來，總債務增加了 4.01 億美元，主要是由於租期較長的新船的淨效應。如前所述，本季我們也錄得21 億美元的非現金減值，主要是由於我們對近期貨櫃運輸的負面前景造成的，即最近幾週觀察到的運費惡化，幾乎沒有預期會出現有意義的復甦。 2024 年。

In addition, we also needed to consider the increase in interest rates, which in turn increased our average cost of capital. As a result, the expected discounted cash flow the company may generate going forward are lower than previously projected, resulting in the recognition of this impairment charge. This non-cash impairment has been allocated to our container shipping-related assets, primarily container vessels, but also equipment, boxes and other related assets. You can find additional information on the impairment test in the Note 7 of our Q3 2023 Interim Financial Statements. And I would note that this non-cash impairment is excluded from our adjusted EBIT and also from our adjusted EBITDA results. Our net loss of $2.3 billion this quarter includes the impairment charge for $2.1 billion.

此外，我們還需要考慮利率的上升，這反過來又增加了我們的平均資金成本。因此，公司未來可能產生的預期折現現金流量低於先前預計，導致確認該減損費用。這種非現金減損已分配給我們的貨櫃運輸相關資產，主要是貨櫃船，但也包括設備、箱子和其他相關資產。您可以在 2023 年第三季中期財務報表附註 7 中找到更多有關減損測試的資訊。我想指出的是，這種非現金減損不包括在我們調整後的息稅前利潤和調整後的息稅折舊攤銷前利潤結果。本季我們的淨虧損為 23 億美元，其中包括 21 億美元的減損費用。

Regarding our fleet, we currently operate 145 vessels, 129 containerships and 16 car carriers. Excluding the newbuild capacity, the average remaining duration of our current chartered tonnage continues to trend down and is now 22.7 months compared to 24.6 months in mid-August. Of the 46 newbuild vessels ZIM committed to, 13 have been delivered to-date, including 6 LNG-powered 15,000 TEU vessels and also the first 7,000 TEU LNG ship.

關於我們的船隊，我們目前營運 145 艘船舶、129 艘貨櫃船和 16 艘汽車運輸船。不包括新建運力，我們目前租船噸位的平均剩餘期限繼續呈下降趨勢，目前為 22.7 個月，而 8 月中旬為 24.6 個月。以星號承諾建造的 46 艘新建船舶中，迄今已交付 13 艘，其中包括 6 艘 LNG 動力 15,000 TEU 船舶以及第一艘 7,000 TEU LNG 船。

Year-to-date, we redelivered 20 chartered vessels and we have another 5 vessels who charter periods end before the end of the year. And in addition, 34 vessels have charter periods concluding next year in 2024. So in total, these 39 vessels, which we could be delivered to the owners or renew at lower rates compared to 33 newbuilds that we expect to be delivered to us during the same period. Again, I would like to reiterate here the delivery of these modern, cost-efficient vessels will replace smaller, less cost-effective tonnage, therefore, contributing to lowering our current unit cost base.

今年迄今，我們重新交付了 20 艘包租船舶，另有 5 艘船舶的租期在年底前結束。此外，還有34 艘船舶的租期將於明年2024 年結束。因此，與我們預計在2024 年交付給我們的33 艘新造船相比，我們總共可以將這39 艘船舶交付給船東或以較低的價格續租。同一時期。我想再次重申，這些現代化、具有成本效益的船舶的交付將取代較小、成本效益較低的噸位，因此有助於降低我們目前的單位成本基礎。

On Slide 7, we present ZIM's Q3 and 9 months 2023 financial results compared to Q3 and the first 9 months of last year. The decline in revenue based on the lower freight rate environment impacted all of our metrics. Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter was $211 million and the adjusted EBIT loss was $213 million. Adjusted EBITDA and EBIT margins for the third quarter were 17% and minus 17% respectively to 60% and 48% in the third quarter of last year. For the first 9 months of 2023, adjusted EBITDA margin was 22% and adjusted EBIT margin was minus 9%. This is compared to 63% and 54% in the comparable period in 2022. This quarter, net loss was $2.3 billion; and as already mentioned, includes the impairment charge of $2.1 billion.

在投影片 7 中，我們展示了 ZIM 2023 年第三季和前 9 個月的財務業績，與去年第三季和前 9 個月的財務表現進行了比較。較低的運費環境導致的收入下降影響了我們的所有指標。本季調整後 EBITDA 為 2.11 億美元，調整後 EBIT 虧損為 2.13 億美元。第三季調整後的 EBITDA 和 EBIT 利潤率分別為 17% 和負 17%，去年第三季為 60% 和 48%。 2023 年前 9 個月，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 22%，調整後 EBIT 利潤率為 -9%。相較之下，2022 年同期為 63% 及 54%。本季淨虧損為 23 億美元；正如已經提到的，其中包括 21 億美元的減損費用。

Moving on to Slide 8. As I mentioned, we saw a slight uptick in our carried volume compared to the third quarter of last year. The increase was driven by growth in Transpacific and Latin America. We also saw a small increase in carried volume versus the prior quarter with the growth again driven primarily by Transpacific and Latin America trades.

轉到幻燈片 8。正如我所提到的，與去年第三季相比，我們的持倉量略有上升。這一增長是由跨太平洋和拉丁美洲的成長所推動的。我們還發現，與上一季相比，持倉量略有增加，成長再次主要由跨太平洋和拉丁美洲貿易推動。

Turning now to the next couple of slides, I'll review our cash flow bridge for the quarter and 9 months period. We ended the third quarter with a total liquidity position of $3.1 billion, which includes cash, cash equivalents and also investments in bank deposits and other investment instruments. During the third quarter of 2023, our adjusted EBITDA of $211 million, coupled with a positive effect from change in our working capital, converted into $338 million of cash flow generated from operating activities. For the 9 months period, adjusted EBITDA of $859 million converted into $858 million of cash flow generated from operating activities. Other cash flow items for the 9 months period included dividend payments of $769 million and $1.5 billion of debt service, mostly related to our lease liability repayments.

現在轉向接下來的幾張投影片，我將回顧本季和 9 個月期間的現金流橋。截至第三季末，我們的流動性部位總額為 31 億美元，其中包括現金、現金等價物以及銀行存款和其他投資工具的投資。 2023 年第三季度，我們調整後的 EBITDA 為 2.11 億美元，加上營運資本變動的正面影響，轉化為經營活動產生的 3.38 億美元現金流。在這 9 個月期間，調整後的 EBITDA 為 8.59 億美元，轉換為經營活動產生的 8.58 億美元現金流。這 9 個月期間的其他現金流項目包括 7.69 億美元的股息支付和 15 億美元的償債，主要與我們的租賃負債償還有關。

Moving now to our revised guidance. In light of the continued deterioration in freight rates across all our trades, we are revising our guidance and now do expect to generate in 2023 adjusted EBITDA of $900 million to $1.1 billion and adjusted EBIT loss of $600 million to $400 million. This revised forecast is based on our assumption that freight rates will not recover from the current levels with overall volume for the year to be slightly lower compared to prior year. Our assumptions also include inflation in bunker prices for the remainder of 2023. I would highlight that our adjusted EBIT forecast is positively impacted by the impairment that we recorded in the quarter as our depreciation expenses going forward are going to be lower.

現在轉向我們修訂後的指南。鑑於我們所有行業的運費持續惡化，我們正在修改我們的指導，目前預計 2023 年調整後 EBITDA 為 9 億至 11 億美元，調整後 EBIT 損失為 6 億至 4 億美元。這項修訂後的預測是基於我們的假設，即運價不會從目前的水平恢復，今年的總體運量將略低於上年。我們的假設還包括2023 年剩餘時間的燃油價格通膨。我要強調的是，我們調整後的息稅前利潤預測受到我們在本季度記錄的減損的正面影響，因為我們未來的折舊費用將會降低。

Moving to our market section. I believe it is clear that our current view of the market for the remainder of 2023 and into 2024 is one of continued headwinds, oversupply meeting weak demand with limited impact from capacity management actions taken by the carriers. Alphaliner's supply-demand outlook for 2023 and 2024, which you can see on the left, remains unchanged, pointing to clear oversupply in the market. At the same time, freight rates remain depressed, as you can see on the right. Here, we show the SCFI for the U.S. East Coast, a key trade for us, which accounted for approximately 40% of our volume in the 9 months period.

轉到我們的市場部分。我相信，很明顯，我們目前對 2023 年剩餘時間和 2024 年市場的看法是持續的阻力之一，供應過剩滿足疲軟的需求，而營運商採取的運力管理行動的影響有限。 Alphaliner 對 2023 年和 2024 年的供需前景（如左側所示）保持不變，顯示市場明顯供過於求。與此同時，運費仍然低迷，如右圖所示。在這裡，我們顯示了美國東海岸的 SCFI，這是我們的一個關鍵貿易，在 9 個月期間約占我們交易量的 40%。

We also excluded here 2021 and 2022 rates from the graph to provide better granularity as to where rates are compared to other years pre-COVID since 2016. You can see the decline in rates from August when we saw a short-lived improvement in freight rates following broader blanking and that rates today are lower as compared to 2019 when costs today are clearly significantly higher versus that same year 2019.

我們也從圖表中排除了2021 年和2022 年的費率，以便更詳細地了解自2016 年以來與新冠疫情爆發前其他年份的費率比較。您可以看到自8 月以來費率的下降，當時我們看到運費出現了短暫的改善在更廣泛的消隱之後，與 2019 年相比，今天的費率較低，而今天的成本明顯高於 2019 年同年。

On the demand side, while retailers are working through high levels of inventories, and we have seen some market growth in the third quarter, inventory levels are not declining and there are no clear data points that the restocking cycle will begin anytime soon. As such, it does not seem that the recovery in our industry will result from near-term growth in demand. At the same time, while the carriers have employed some management capacity, these have not been sufficient to sustain higher rates.

在需求方面，雖然零售商正在應對高庫存水平，並且我們看到第三季度市場有所增長，但庫存水平並未下降，並且沒有明確的數據表明補貨週期將很快開始。因此，我們行業的復甦似乎不是來自短期需求成長。同時，雖然營運商已經採用了一些管理能力，但這些不足以維持更高的費率。

Slow steaming remains the only continued meaningful action taken by carriers. Blanking has also been employed, but for limited periods of time with limited lasting impact on rates. Scrapping on the other hand, has remained negligible with approximately only 107,000 TEU worth of capacity scrapped from January to September compared to deliveries totaling 1.6 million TEUs during the same period. Alphaliner's scrapping projection for 2024 and 2025 are for 450,000 TEU each -- in each of the next 2 coming years compared to expected delivery of almost 5 million TEUs of capacity in 2024 and 2025 combined.

慢速航行仍然是承運人採取的唯一持續有意義的行動。消隱也已被採用，但時間有限，對利率的持久影響有限。另一方面，報廢量仍然微不足道，1 月至 9 月僅報廢約 107,000 TEU 運力，而同期交付總量為 160 萬標準箱。 Alphaliner 預計 2024 年和 2025 年的報廢量分別為 45 萬個標準箱，未來兩年每年的報廢量預計為 2024 年和 2025 年合計近 500 萬個標準箱。

Finally, idling has also remained limited with inactive capacity in September, standing at 1% in terms of volume or 2% by vessel count. While idled tonnage has increased over the course of 2023, it is currently lower when compared to the 2023 peak of 3.3% that was achieved in February. And just as a reference point, idle capacity in mid-2020 when COVID hit and the demand failed also dramatically was over the 10% mark.

最後，9 月閒置運力也仍然有限，以運量計算佔 1%，以船舶數量計算佔 2%。雖然閒置噸位在 2023 年有所增加，但與 2 月達到的 2023 年高峰 3.3% 相比，目前較低。作為參考，2020 年中期新冠疫情襲來、需求大幅下滑時，閒置產能也超過了 10%。

On that note, we will now open the call to your questions. Thank you.

就此而言，我們現在將開始回答您的問題。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Omar Nokta from Jefferies.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Omar Nokta。

Thanks for the update. Got some good detail here. Just wanted to ask, perhaps I had a couple of questions, but you've got the $3 billion of cash on the balance sheet. You've got the liquidity there. Just regarding the $2 billion write-down, obviously, it's non-cash. And Xavier, you just mentioned how on an ongoing basis depreciation is going to come down. But just in general, how should we think about what this now means for actual running costs on a cash basis?

感謝更新。這裡有一些很好的細節。只是想問一下，也許我有幾個問題，但資產負債表上有 30 億美元的現金。你那裡有流動性。僅就 20 億美元的減記而言，顯然它是非現金的。澤維爾，您剛剛提到折舊將如何持續下降。但總的來說，我們該如何思考這對於現金基礎上的實際運作成本意味著什麼？

Look, as far as the cost is concerned, on a cash basis, like you said, rightly, the impairment has no effect. So in terms of lease liability, repayment profile that is being unaffected by the impairment that we are booking now in the third quarter. What will be affected is indeed our depreciation and amortization. So our P&L and our EBIT will go up as a result of us incurring less depreciation on a quarterly basis. And to quantify that, in the quarter, in Q4, and this is also what we reflected in our guidance, now if you look the difference between EBIT and EBITDA, the impact for the quarter is going to be in excess of $150 million.

你看，就成本而言，以現金為基礎，就像你說的那樣，減損沒有影響。因此，就租賃負債而言，還款情況不受我們現在在第三季登記的減損的影響。受影響的確實是我們的折舊和攤提。因此，由於我們按季度減少折舊，我們的損益表和息稅前利潤將會上升。為了量化這一點，在第四季度，這也是我們在指引中所反映的，現在如果你看看 EBIT 和 EBITDA 之間的差異，對本季的影響將超過 1.5 億美元。

Okay. And then, I guess, just in general, as I think about or we look on the balance sheets and we see kind of a bit of a mismatch between the book value of the ships and then the remaining lease liability, I guess, how should we think about that in the long-term or medium-term? Perhaps you mentioned the 5 ships rolling off charter here before year end and another 34 next year, that's 39. I guess, can we think perhaps that -- is ZIM maybe telegraphing an approach to shipowners for an amendment or early termination of the charters for beyond just these 39 ships, but the additional perhaps maybe 70, 80 that are -- that remain on charter beyond next year? Is that what this means, this write-down?

好的。然後，我想，一般來說，當我想到或我們查看資產負債表時，我們發現船舶的帳面價值與剩餘租賃負債之間有點不匹配，我想，我們應該如何從長期還是中期考慮？也許你提到了年底前有5 艘船舶退出包租，明年還有34 艘，即39 艘。我想，我們是否可以認為——ZIM 是否可能會向船東發出電報，要求修改或提前終止租船合同？除了這 39 艘船之外，還有 70 艘、80 艘船在明年之後仍保留在租約中？這就是這篇寫下來的意思嗎？

Look, I think we need to disconnect a little bit what we did for the purpose of the impairment test that we needed to run at the end of the quarter from a -- at the end of the day, the overall impact vis-a-vis our commitment with the vessel owner. We are committed to honoring our charter commitment vis-a-vis the owner, and we are and we are not hiding from that, looking at potentially redelivering early some of the vessels for which we have potentially not an employment going forward. So that is still happening and is to be looked at in a decorrelation from the impairment that we booked today.

聽著，我認為我們需要將我們在季度末需要進行的減值測試所做的工作與一天結束時的整體影響分開。這是我們對船東的承諾。我們致力於履行我們對船東的包機承諾，而且我們不會隱瞞這一點，正在考慮儘早重新交付一些我們未來可能沒有工作的船舶。因此，這種情況仍在發生，並且需要從我們今天預訂的減損的去相關性來看待。

What I would say, is critical to us, is as I think Eli mentioned, we are clearly today in a transition phase. When it comes to the profiling of the fleet that we will end up operating once we have taken delivery of all this new cost-efficient tonnage, fuel-efficient tonnage that we've ordered back in 2020, 2021, these vessels are going to come and are going to replace the existing charter. So the message, if there was one, is that it is very likely from ZIM perspective that we will redeliver all the vessels as they come up for renewal in terms of their charter period to make room for the brand new ships more efficient that we've ordered between now and the end of next year.

我想說的是，對我們來說至關重要的是，正如我認為 Eli 提到的那樣，我們今天顯然處於過渡階段。當我們收到我們在 2020 年和 2021 年訂購的所有這些新的具有成本效益、燃油效率的噸位後，我們將最終運營的船隊概況，這些船舶將會到來並將取代現有的章程。因此，如果有的話，那麼從以星集團的角度來看，我們很可能會在所有船舶的租期到期時重新交付它們，以便為全新船舶騰出空間，從而比我們更有效率。從現在到明年年底已經訂購了。

So yes, we have 5 vessels up for redelivery between now and the end of the year. We have another 34 vessels that we've covered for redelivery between 1st of January '24 to the end of December 2024. And it is very likely that the vast majority of this capacity would be redelivered.

所以，是的，從現在到今年年底，我們有 5 艘船等待重新交付。從 2024 年 1 月 1 日到 2024 年 12 月底，我們還有另外 34 艘船舶需要重新交付。而且這些運力中的絕大多數很可能會被重新交付。

Got it. And then maybe just one final one, just kind of on the revised guidance. It makes sense. Clearly, I wouldn't necessarily say there's a surprise there, but just in general, as we think about the fourth quarter relative to the third quarter, it looks like the updated range is for 4Q to be similar to 3Q. I guess, just in general, I guess from, say, an EBITDA perspective, if we just think about on the margin as we look here into the next quarter, marginally, do you think 4Q is going to be better than 3Q or kind of your -- on the margin, is it going to be worse? Anything you're willing to share on that front?

知道了。然後也許只是最後一項，只是修訂後的指導方針。這說得通。顯然，我不一定會說這令人驚訝，但總的來說，當我們考慮到第四季相對於第三季的情況時，第四季的更新範圍看起來與第三季相似。我想，總的來說，我想從 EBITDA 的角度來看，如果我們在展望下個季度時只考慮邊際，邊際上，你認為第四季度會比第三季度更好還是有點好？你的——在邊緣，情況會更糟嗎？您願意在這方面分享什麼嗎？

Look, really our outlook for the remainder of the year, and also I think as we try to convey today is going into 2024, is that maybe very little will change in the sense that the freight rates today are at very low level and very challenging for the industry. We don't see many catalysts for that to change in the immediate future. There is clearly the looming threat of overcapacity that is still ahead of us. We've seen that very little retirement of old tonnage. Scrapping is very limited. Even idling is very limited. So the excess supply seems to be here to stay for a while, therefore, reducing the optimism for the rates to meaningfully recover.

看，我們對今年剩餘時間的展望，而且我認為，正如我們今天試圖傳達的那樣，進入2024 年，從今天的運費處於非常低的水平且非常具有挑戰性的意義上來說，可能不會有什麼變化對於產業來說。我們認為在不久的將來沒有太多催化劑可以改變這種情況。顯然，產能過剩的威脅仍然迫在眉睫。我們看到舊噸位的退役非常少。報廢的情況非常有限。即使是空轉也非常有限。因此，供應過剩似乎會持續一段時間，從而降低了利率大幅回升的樂觀情緒。

So that's the perception that we have up until things hopefully will turn out better after maybe 2024 has elapsed. The future years may see the recovery in our industry, but clearly for us today, we're taking a very cautious view of the coming quarter, and should I say the coming quarters, including the full year of 2024. We will obviously guide in more detail our view for 2024 in a few calls from now. It's a little bit early for us to guide the market. But by and large, we expect that the industry will be under severe pressure and challenged for the foreseeable future.

這就是我們的看法，直到 2024 年過去之後情況有望變得更好。未來幾年我們的行業可能會復甦，但顯然對我們今天來說，我們對下一個季度持非常謹慎的態度，我應該說未來幾個季度，包括 2024 年全年。我們顯然會指導從現在起，我們將透過幾次電話更詳細地闡述我們對2024 年的看法。我們現在引導市場還為時過早。但總體而言，我們預計在可預見的未來，該行業將面臨嚴峻的壓力和挑戰。

Your next question comes from the line of Sam Bland from JPMorgan.

您的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Sam Bland。

I have 2, please. The first one is sort of the same point on the sort of timing of the charter renewals. I guess, we've done 25 more this year, 34 next. It's similar to the last question. Does that sort of mean that there's, I don't know, 50, 60 or something in 2025? Are those also at sort of high COVID-era prices? And is there anything you can do to maybe bring them forward? Obviously, you got to do that with agreement from the tonnage provider.

我有2個，拜託。第一個問題與包機續約的時間安排有些相同。我想，今年我們又做了 25 個，明年又做了 34 個。這與上一個問題類似。我不知道，這是否意味著 2025 年會有 50、60 之類的？這些在新冠疫情期間的價格是否也很高？你能做些什麼來推動他們前進嗎？顯然，你必須得到噸位提供者的同意才能這樣做。

And the second question is, if you look at the -- where rates are today, you said, they're obviously low, but the newbuilds are quite cost competitive. How would you sort of characterize whether sort of current spot rates are profitable or not for the newbuild ships with their cost base?

第二個問題是，如果你看看現在的利率，你說，它們顯然很低，但新建的船具有相當的成本競爭力。您如何描述目前的即期匯率對於具有成本基礎的新建船舶是否有利可圖？

So to your first question, in terms of -- you're right in saying that we have 34 vessels that come up for renewal in 2024. We have close to 40, not 50, but close to 40 that will come up for renewal in 2025 as well. And those could be characterized potentially as well as higher chartered capacity in terms of daily rate. So that will continue to unwind in the year subsequent to 2024. But we will already have redelivered in combination 59 vessels by the end of 2024.

因此，對於你的第一個問題，你說得對，我們有 34 艘船舶將在 2024 年進行更新。我們有接近 40 艘，而不是 50 艘，但接近 40 艘將在 2024 年進行更新。2025年也是如此。這些可能具有潛在的特徵，以及日費率方面較高的包租能力。因此，這種情況將在 2024 年之後繼續減少。但到 2024 年底，我們已經重新交付了 59 艘船。

When you asked the second question in terms of do the rates today would cover the cost of the new capacity that we are bringing in, that's a difficult question to answer because it is also very much a function of our ability to fill the ships, obviously. So if we are in a situation where the ship do sail because the capacity -- the filling factor is satisfactory, then we are in a better -- in a much better position with the new capacity.

當你問第二個問題時，今天的費率是否能涵蓋我們引進的新產能的成本，這是一個很難回答的問題，因為這在很大程度上取決於我們填充船舶的能力，顯然。因此，如果我們處於這樣一種情況，即船舶確實航行是因為容量——填充係數令人滿意，那麼我們就處於一個更好的位置——在新容量的情況下處於更好的位置。

To give an indication, I think I already used this illustration on a couple of occasions, but the 15,000 TEU LNG ships that we are now gradually deploying on our Asia to the U.S. East Coast trade lane, it will cost the same to operate the 10,000 TEU ship that they come and replace. So we get a 50% additional intake at the same -- more or less the same cost of a given voyage. So that illustrates the magnitude of the benefit that we expect to get from those vessels that come in, in terms of charter at competitive price. But on top of it, we expect to get additional savings by running them on LNG, which today is a source of fuel, which is more cost effective than even heavy fuel oil.

為了說明這一點，我想我已經在幾個場合使用過這個例子，但是我們現在正在亞洲至美國東海岸貿易航線上逐步部署的 15,000 TEU 液化天然氣船，運營 10,000 TEU 的成本是相同的他們來更換的TEU 船。因此，我們在相同的情況下獲得了 50% 的額外攝取量——與給定航次的成本大致相同。因此，這說明了我們期望從這些進來的船舶中以具有競爭力的價格租船獲得的好處的大小。但最重要的是，我們希望透過使用液化天然氣來運行它們，從而獲得額外的節省，液化天然氣現在是一種燃料來源，甚至比重質燃油更具成本效益。

Your next question comes from the line of Alexia Dogani from Barclays.

您的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Alexia Dogani。

Yes. I had three as well. Just firstly, obviously, I appreciate the $3 billion liquidity you currently have on your balance sheet. What do you think is the minimum liquidity you are able or want to operate the company at? That would be helpful. And secondly, can you remind us the down payments for the new vessels in '23 and '24 as part of these long-term agreements? I think you mentioned the number in Q1. It would be great if we can just double-check that. And then finally, in terms of the depreciation run rate in Q4, I mean, if I annualize the number, I think it's around $1 billion now. Should we still assume though the kind of rough annual charter costs in terms of cash to be around $1.4 billion?

是的。我也有三個。首先，顯然，我很欣賞你們目前資產負債表上擁有 30 億美元的流動性。您認為您能夠或希望經營公司的最低流動性是多少？那會有幫助的。其次，作為這些長期協議的一部分，您能否提醒我們 23 和 24 年新船的首付款？我想你在第一季提到了這個數字。如果我們能仔細檢查一下那就太好了。最後，就第四季的折舊率而言，我的意思是，如果我將這個數字按年化，我認為現在約為 10 億美元。我們是否仍應該假設這種粗略的年度包機現金成本約為 14 億美元？

Thank you for the question. So the -- your first question, which is in relation to what is the minimum cash that we would want to be keeping, it's difficult to answer that question today, because clearly, we are and the industry is in a transition phase, has not stabilized yet. And clearly, on some of the trades, the rates are unsustainable for the longer term. So we wish to be very cautious here. And I don't think we have a right amount for us to provide at this stage. We want to make sure that we navigate the current turmoil in our industry with a strong balance sheet. And I think this is the case today with the $3 billion that we have sitting on our balance sheet. But with clouds on the horizon, we need to be very mindful of our liquidity position.

感謝你的提問。所以，你的第一個問題與我們希望保留的最低現金量有關，今天很難回答這個問題，因為顯然，我們和這個行業正處於過渡階段，還沒有尚未穩定。顯然，從長遠來看，某些交易的利率是不可持續的。所以我們希望在這裡非常謹慎。我認為現階段我們無法提供適當的金額。我們希望確保以強大的資產負債表應對當前行業的動盪。我認為今天的情況就是如此，我們的資產負債表上有 30 億美元。但鑑於地平線上烏雲密布，我們需要非常注意我們的流動性狀況。

With respect to the down payment that we intend to make per delivery of the vessels, we will be making $350 million worth of down payments in 2024 when we take the deliveries of 15 7,000 TEU ship for which we agreed to pay $20 million per ship upfront and the remainder of the 15,000 TEU ships for which we are committed to paying $13 million. So precisely, it's $300 million plus $39 million, $339 million of upfront payments that we will be making in 2024, after having been -- having made, sorry, in 2023 close to $140 million.

關於我們打算為每艘船舶交付的預付款，我們將在 2024 年接收 15 艘 7,000 TEU 船舶時支付價值 3.5 億美元的預付款，我們同意為每艘船舶預付 2,000 萬美元以及我們承諾支付1300 萬美元的其餘15,000 TEU 船舶。確切地說，我們將在 2024 年支付 3 億美元，加上 3,900 萬美元、3.39 億美元的預付款，抱歉，我們在 2023 年支付了接近 1.4 億美元。

Depreciation going forward is going to be impacted by the impairment, as I mentioned earlier on. So the situation or the model that you had pre-impairment, I did guide that the fourth quarter, the effect of the impairment would be a little bit in excess of $150 million. So you should assume that for the full year of next year, it will be slightly above $600 million in terms of overall impact versus the prior model, without impairment being registered in the third quarter. And in terms of cash payment or lease liability repayment, there should be no difference between the situation before impairment or after impairment, as this is a non-cash item and the lease liability that we have on balance sheet is today unchanged as a result of the impairment, that only reduced our fixed asset base.

正如我之前提到的，未來的折舊將受到減損的影響。因此，根據減損前的情況或模型，我確實預測第四季減損的影響將略高於 1.5 億美元。因此，您應該假設明年全年的整體影響與先前的模型相比將略高於 6 億美元，並且第三季不會出現減損。就現金支付或租賃負債償還而言，減值前和減值後的情況應該沒有區別，因為這是非現金項目，而我們資產負債表上的租賃負債今天沒有變化，因為減值，只會減少我們的固定資產基礎。

Your next question comes from the line of Patrick Creuset from Goldman Sachs.

您的下一個問題來自高盛的 Patrick Creuset。

It looks like you managed to limit the cash burn somewhat in the third quarter. And as we just start with the lease payments, looks like they're down $100 million quarter-on-quarter. Just trying to understand what's driving that. I mean, how much of that is coming from the redelivery of about 20 vessels? How much of it is maybe down to sort of one-off timing effects and perhaps also some costs flowing back above EBITDA? I remember with the extension of the duration of some of these charters has been just transferred from above EBITDA to below EBITDA in some of these payments. And then related to that, net-net between redeliveries and new vessels next year, what do you think is the right quarterly run rate on these charter payments, I mean, from this sort of $350 million level in the third quarter?

看起來你們在第三季設法在某種程度上限制了現金消耗。由於我們剛開始計算租賃付款，看起來季度環比減少了 1 億美元。只是想了解是什麼推動了這一點。我的意思是，其中有多少來自大約 20 艘船的重新交付？其中有多少可能歸因於某種一次性時間效應，或許還有一些成本回流至 EBITDA 之上？我記得隨著其中一些包機期限的延長，其中一些付款剛剛從高於 EBITDA 的金額轉為低於 EBITDA 的金額。與此相關的是，明年重新交付和新船之間的淨淨額，我的意思是，從第三季度的 3.5 億美元水平來看，您認為這些租船付款的正確季度運行率是多少？

So you're right that there's been some of a timing effect in the third quarter that I will explain. Nothing has changed in terms of the reallocation of cost between above EBITDA or below. Note, all of our vessel costs today or 99% of our vessel costs today still are being registered in -- again, with a slightly effect of the impairment in depreciation and amortization.

所以你是對的，我將解釋第三季存在一些時間效應。成本在高於 EBITDA 或低於 EBITDA 之間的重新分配沒有任何變化。請注意，我們今天所有的船舶成本，或者說我們今天 99% 的船舶成本仍然登記在——同樣，折舊和攤銷減值略有影響。

From a cash perspective, if we look at the third quarter, what happened in our lease liability timing repayment, what are our lease liabilities is mainly the charter that we pay back to the vessel owner. The payments are made every 2 weeks, that's the way it works in the chartering market, the 1st of the month and the 15th of the month. And if the 1st of the month is or isn't a banking day, then the payments are being pushed or delayed. So we had one payment run less in Q3 compared to Q2. So we had 5 out of 6 that contributed to $100 million less payments versus the prior quarter. So that's just one timing effect.

從現金角度來看，如果我們看第三季度，我們的租賃負債定時償還發生了什麼，我們的租賃負債主要是我們償還給船東的租船費用。每兩週付款一次，這就是租船市場的運作方式，即每月 1 日和每月 15 日。如果該月的 1 號是或不是銀行工作日，那麼付款就會被推遲或延遲。因此，與第二季相比，第三季我們的一筆付款減少了。因此，與上一季相比，六分之五的付款減少了 1 億美元。所以這只是一種時間效應。

We also had a positive impact in our third quarter of working capital improvement, mainly driven by less receivable on the balance sheet. That also contributed to increasing our cash flow from operation. This is going to be most probably a one-off, hopefully, because this is the result of the lower freight rates that we are able to [sell] to our customer.

我們對第三季的營運資本改善也產生了正面影響，這主要是由於資產負債表上的應收帳款減少所致。這也有助於增加我們的營運現金流。希望這很可能是一次性的，因為這是我們能夠[銷售]給客戶的較低運費的結果。

Okay. I mean, you've preempted my follow-up question there on the working capital. So sounds like you don't see more opportunities to optimize working capital. Do you think that's the (inaudible) at the 9 months?

好的。我的意思是，你已經搶先了我關於營運資金的後續問題。聽起來您沒有看到更多優化營運資本的機會。您認為這是 9 個月時的（聽不清楚）嗎？

I think we've made some very good progress here. I mean, leave aside the fact that the value of the receivables are less, which is something that we are not too happy about. But in terms of collection efforts and past due, we are at a very low level. So our DSO is quite good. So we are pleased on that front. So this is why I'm saying that we should not expect unless there is a continued deterioration in the freight rate environment of a significant working capital improvement. On the AP side, we are maintaining pretty much the payment terms that we have agreed with our supplier base.

我認為我們在這裡取得了一些非常好的進展。我的意思是，撇開應收帳款價值較低的事實不談，這是我們不太高興的事情。但就催收工作和逾期情況而言，我們處於非常低的水平。所以我們的DSO是相當不錯的。所以我們在這方面很高興。因此，這就是為什麼我說，除非運價環境持續惡化，否則我們不應該指望營運資本顯著改善。在美聯社方面，我們幾乎維持與供應商基礎商定的付款條件。

Got it. And then last one. Can you just give a quick update on how you see the Panama Canal situation evolving and how you are adapting your operations to it? I mean, I guess, you run probably slightly lower utilization, maybe get slightly higher rates. But any color on how you're rerouting and then adapting be interesting.

知道了。然後是最後一張。您能否快速介紹一下您對巴拿馬運河局勢演變的看法以及您如何調整營運以適應這種情況？我的意思是，我猜，你的利用率可能會稍低一些，但費率可能會稍微高一些。但任何關於如何重新規劃路線然後適應的顏色都是有趣的。

It is true that the Panama Canal is a worrisome situation and evolving day-after-day with the draft limitation that is being imposed on the industry. So we do operate a few, a number of services that go through the Panama Canal, namely our Asia U.S. East Cost Service, ZCP, and also our new service to Baltimore, ZXB service.

確實，巴拿馬運河的情況令人擔憂，並且隨著行業受到的吃水限製而日復一日地變化。因此，我們確實經營著一些經過巴拿馬運河的服務，即我們的亞洲美國東海岸服務（ZCP），以及我們到巴爾的摩的新服務（ZXB 服務）。

So we are trying to optimize the utilization of the ship given the draft limitation and the draft limitation imposed mainly on the weight of the cargo that we're carrying. And we're also taking actions to utilize our feedering service in Latin America to discharge some cargo before the Panama Canal and so that the vessel can run full across the Pacific before it has to cross the canal. Obviously, we are monitoring the situation day-after-day and we will evaluate if there are decisions that need to be made in terms of potential rerouting or this type of alternative.

因此，考慮到吃水限制和主要針對我們所運載貨物重量的吃水限制，我們正在努力優化船舶的利用率。我們也採取行動，利用我們在拉丁美洲的支線服務，在巴拿馬運河之前卸掉一些貨物，以便船舶在穿越運河之前能夠滿載穿越太平洋。顯然，我們正在日復一日地監控情況，我們將評估是否需要就潛在的重新路由或此類替代方案做出決定。

Also, I think maybe this is linked. This is maybe driving one of the reasons -- this is one of the reason why we are now reopening the services between South China and L.A., which we suspended a few months back. And as we also see some of the cargo being redirected now back from the East Coast to the West Coast, and we see an opportunity here for us to resume service, the ZEX line, that was -- that had been quite successful for the company in the past.

另外，我認為這可能是有聯繫的。這可能是推動原因之一——這也是我們現在重新開放華南和洛杉磯之間的服務的原因之一，幾個月前我們暫停了該服務。我們也看到一些貨物現在從東海岸重新運回西海岸，我們在這裡看到了恢復服務的機會，ZEX 線路，這對該公司來說非常成功在過去。

Your next question comes from the line of Alexia Dogani from Barclays.

您的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Alexia Dogani。

I just had a question on the size of your fleet for next year. Obviously, the size has gone down to 145 vessels. How should we think about the size of the company in '24? And then given your more fuel-efficient vessels entering the fleet, how quickly do you think you can regain unit costs at par with 2019 levels?

我只是想問你們明年的機隊規模。顯然，規模已減少至 145 艘。我們該如何看待24世紀公司的規模？然後，鑑於您的燃油效率更高的船舶進入船隊，您認為您多久可以將單位成本恢復到 2019 年的水平？

With regards to the fleet size, if we look at or if we anticipate the vessel count, it might not be that very different from what we currently operate today. But you're right, we will operate larger ship on average as the ships that are coming in are replacing smaller vessel. So today, give or take, we operate an equivalent capacity of 600,000 TEUs for the 129 container vessels that we operate. And this should go near or closer to the 700,000 TEU mark by the end of 2024 when we have taken delivery of all of our fleet. So this is clearly something that is important for us when we look into 2024 and the volume that we also need to capture in terms of filling those vessels.

就船隊規模而言，如果我們查看或預測船舶數量，它可能與我們目前運營的船隊沒有太大不同。但你是對的，我們平均將運營較大的船舶，因為即將到來的船舶正在取代較小的船舶。因此，今天，我們營運的 129 艘貨櫃船的運力相當於 600,000 TEU。到 2024 年底，當我們接收所有船隊時，這一數字應該會接近或接近 700,000 TEU 大關。因此，當我們展望 2024 年以及我們在填充這些容器方面還需要捕獲的體積時，這顯然對我們很重要。

In terms of the fuel efficiency, transitioning clearly towards energy for the 28 vessels that are coming our way today and up until the end of next year, this is allowing us to get significant savings. We also get savings from the chartering cost. When will we get back or if we will get back to 2019 is a difficult determination to make. There are a lot of moving parameters, as you know. So we will provide again more guidance in 2024 when we address you and the market early next year. Today, clearly, whatever the market is doing, we are focusing on extracting costs in our organization. So these cost actions obviously relate to taking those new, more efficient vessels.

就燃油效率而言，從今天到明年年底，我們將有 28 艘船舶明確轉向能源，這使我們能夠節省大量成本。我們還可以節省租船成本。我們什麼時候回來或是否回到2019年是一個很難做出的決定。如您所知，有很多移動參數。因此，當我們明年初向您和市場發表演講時，我們將在 2024 年再次提供更多指導。今天，顯然，無論市場在做什麼，我們都專注於在我們的組織中提取成本。因此，這些成本行動顯然與採用那些新的、更有效率的船隻有關。

It also relates to us redeploying our capacity the best way we think is the case. I mentioned the ZEX line, the new service that we reopened, the 2 new lines that we've also announced in opening -- addressing Latin America trade lanes. Us partnering with MSC not so long ago on some of the key trades where we, by partnering with them, did manage to lower our cost of operation. So maximizing and optimizing our network is clearly #1 priority for the company. And then, next year, we will need to capture additional volume. And we intend to do that with a stable workforce as well, therefore, generating productivity savings as well in this respect.

它還涉及我們以我們認為最好的方式重新部署我們的能力。我提到了 ZEX 線路，我們重新開放的新服務，我們也宣布開通的 2 條新線路——針對拉丁美洲貿易航線。不久前，我們與 MSC 在一些關鍵產業進行了合作，透過與他們合作，我們確實設法降低了營運成本。因此，最大化和優化我們的網路顯然是公司的第一要務。然後，明年，我們將需要獲得更多的銷售量。我們也打算透過穩定的勞動力來做到這一點，因此，在這方面也能節省生產力。

This concludes the Q&A session. I will now turn the call back over to Eli Glickman for closing remarks.

問答環節到此結束。現在我將把電話轉回伊萊·格利克曼 (Eli Glickman) 作結束語。

Thank you. 2023 and 2024 are transition periods for ZIM. While these are challenging times, we expect the deliberate steps we have taken to enhance our operation on a commercial resilience to deliver positive outcomes. Our fleet renewal program will improve our cost structure and drive long-term profitable growth.

謝謝。 2023年和2024年是以星的過渡期。儘管現在是充滿挑戰的時期，但我們期望我們為增強商業彈性而採取的深思熟慮的措施能夠帶來積極的成果。我們的機隊更新計劃將改善我們的成本結構並推動長期獲利成長。

In the immediate trend, we are pursuing cost control initiatives and commercial opportunities that will best position us to weather this downturn. Strong total cash position of $3.1 billion will maintain a long-term view and believe ZIM is well positioned to emerge stronger than ever, highlighted by a few -- a new core cost and fuel efficiency that provide us a competitive advantage in key trades. We remain committed to leveraging technology and digitalization to promote operational and commercial excellence, while further implementing our differentiated strategy to best serve our customers and generate sustainable value for shareholders.

在當前趨勢中，我們正在尋求成本控制措施和商業機會，這將使我們能夠最好地度過這次低迷期。 31億美元的強勁總現金狀況將保持長期觀點，並相信以星已處於有利地位，將變得比以往任何時候都更強大，一些人強調了這一點——新的核心成本和燃油效率為我們在關鍵產業提供了競爭優勢。我們仍然致力於利用技術和數位化來促進卓越營運和商業，同時進一步實施我們的差異化策略，以最好地服務客戶並為股東創造永續價值。

Thank you all for joining us today and your interest in ZIM. Hope everyone stays safe. Thank you.

感謝大家今天加入我們以及對以星的興趣。希望每個人都保持安全。謝謝。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. And you may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。