Ampco-Pittsburgh Q2 2024 Earnings Report

Ampco-Pittsburgh EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $0.10
• Consensus EPS: $0.08
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$0.02
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

Ampco-Pittsburgh Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $110.99 million
• Expected Revenue: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Ampco-Pittsburgh Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q2 2024
• Date: 8/12/2024
• Time: N/A
• Conference Call Date: Tuesday, August 13, 2024
• Conference Call Time: 10:30AM ET

Ampco-Pittsburgh (NYSE:AP) is a U.S.-based specialty metals manufacturer that produces cast and forged components for a range of industrial markets. The company’s primary offerings include custom-designed forged rolls, grinding rolls and specialty bars for the steel and metal processing industries. In addition, Ampco-Pittsburgh supplies precision couplings, gears and die components for original equipment manufacturers in sectors such as mining, power generation and heavy machinery.

The company operates multiple production facilities in North America, where it employs advanced melting, heat-treating and machining processes to deliver components with tight tolerances and enhanced wear resistance. Ampco-Pittsburgh’s product portfolio also features high-performance alloys formulated for demanding applications in petrochemical processing and pulp and paper industries. By combining proprietary metallurgical expertise with vertically integrated manufacturing, the firm supports customers requiring components that withstand extreme temperatures, pressure and abrasive environments.

Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Ampco-Pittsburgh serves a global customer base across Europe, Asia and the Americas. Its sales and technical support teams work closely with clients from design engineering through production to ensure optimized component performance and lifecycle value. The company’s long-standing relationships with leading OEMs and end users underscore its reputation for quality, reliability and specialized metalworking capabilities.

Ampco-Pittsburgh Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Income from operations jumped 3.5-fold to $5.0 M in Q2 2024 versus $1.4 M a year ago, driving net income to $2.0 M or $0.10 per diluted share.
• Air and Liquid Systems posted a record quarterly revenue with a 19% year-over-year increase driven by custom air handling units for pharmaceutical and U.S. Navy markets, lifting operating income by 7%.
• Forged and Cast Engineered Products segment saw operating income rise to $5.4 M on improved pricing, productivity and new equipment utilization, though net sales dipped slightly and backlog fell $16.1 M since December 31.
• Selling and administrative expenses declined to 12.2% of net sales from 13.1% last year, and liquidity strengthened with approximately $27 M of undrawn revolving credit availability.
• Management expects further productivity gains from recently installed U.S. capital assets and Navy-funded equipment, but Q3 volumes will be impacted by scheduled shutdowns in the Forged and Cast segment.

Presentation

[Operator]

...Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation second quarter 2024 earnings results conference call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the Star key, followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, please press Star and then one on a telephone keypad. To withdraw your questions, you may press Star and two. Please also note today's event is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the floor over to Kim Knox, Corporate Secretary. Please go ahead.

[Kim Knox, Corporate Secretary at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Thank you, Jamie, and good morning to everyone joining us on today's second quarter 2024 conference call. Joining me today are Brett McBrayer, our Chief Executive Officer, and Mike McAuley, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer. Also joining us on the call today are Sam Lyon, President of Union Electric Steel Corporation, and Dave Anderson, President of Air and Liquid Systems Corporation. Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that participants on this call may make statements or comments that are forward-looking and may include financial projections or other statements of the Corporation's plans, objectives, expectations, or intentions. These matters involve certain risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside the Corporation's control.

[Kim Knox, Corporate Secretary at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

The Corporation's actual results may differ significantly from those projected or suggested in any forward-looking statements due to various risk factors, including those discussed in the Corporation's most recently filed Form 10-K and in subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not undertake any obligation to update or otherwise release publicly any revision to our forward-looking statements. A replay of this call will be posted on our website. To access the earnings release or the webcast replay, please consult the investor section of our website at ampcopgh.com. With that, I would like to now turn the call over to Brett McBrayer, Ampco-Pittsburgh CEO. Brett?

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Thank you, Kim. Good morning, and thank you for joining our call. As mentioned in our 10-Q, filed yesterday in our press release, we had strong sequential earnings improvement in the second quarter of 2024. Income from operations was $5 million for the second quarter, compared to $1.4 million in adjusted income from operations for the second quarter of the prior year, when excluding the one-time foreign energy credit. This 3.5-fold improvement reflects a full quarter of utilizing all our new equipment in our Forged and Cast Engineered Products segment and record order intake for Air and Liquid Systems. Net income for the quarter was $2 million, or $0.10 per diluted share.

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

At this time, I'll turn the call over to Sam Lyon, President of our Forged and Cast Engineered Products segment, to share more details about his group's performance in the quarter. Sam?

[Sam Lyon, President of Forged and Cast Engineered Products at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Thank you, Brett, and good morning. In our FCEP segment, market conditions have shown signs of stabilization. The roll market remained flat in Q2 due to consistent end customer demand. While stable, due to ongoing economic uncertainties and increased imports of flat-rolled steel, European steel producers continued to operate at lower utilization levels, resulting in pricing and volume pressures. Based on customer sentiment, we anticipate an improvement in order intake in the second half of the year for deliveries in 2025. Our backlog decreased by approximately $16.1 million from December 31, 2023, due to the timing of 2025 orders from some of our roll customers, which are expected in Q3. We are optimistic about order intake for delivery in 2025, based on volumes received from several large customers to date and indications from others.

[Sam Lyon, President of Forged and Cast Engineered Products at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Primary focus remains on maintaining our position in the roll market and enhancing operational efficiencies through our recently completed capital program in the U.S. This equipment investment increases the capacity of FEP manufacturing and improves productivity and operational reliability of our forge business. For the three months ended June 30, 2024, net sales for the FCEP segment were $75.7 million, a slight decrease from $77.6 million in the same period last year. This decrease is primarily due to lower cast roll shipments, offset by higher forged roll sales and improved pricing. Income from operations for Q2 2024 increased to $5.4 million from $3.9 million in Q2 of 2023. Q2 of 2023 included a $1.9 million one-time energy credit in Europe.

[Sam Lyon, President of Forged and Cast Engineered Products at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

This significant performance improvement resulted from improved pricing, improved quality and productivity, and lower selling and administrative expenses. In conclusion, while 2024 presents challenges in shipment volumes and market conditions, our strategic pricing actions and operational improvements have mitigated these challenges. We remain committed to maintaining market leadership and delivering value to our stakeholders.

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Thank you, Sam. David Anderson, President of Air and Liquid Processing segment, will now share more detail regarding his group's performance. Dave?

[David Anderson, President of Air and Liquid Processing at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Thank you, Brett. Good morning. Air and Liquid Q2 revenue increased 19% versus prior year to achieve a record high for any quarter in Air and Liquid's history. The increase was primarily due to increased shipments of custom air handling units. This increase was driven by the additional manufacturing capacity achieved by opening the new Virginia facility in mid-2023. Bookings for Q2 were also at a record high as we continue to see strong demand for our products.

[David Anderson, President of Air and Liquid Processing at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Backlog increased in the quarter as the result of strong bookings in the pharmaceutical and US Navy markets. Operating income for Air and Liquid increased 7% in the second quarter versus prior year, primarily due to the higher revenue. The impact from the higher revenue was partially offset by unfavorable product mix as we worked through some older, low-margin orders in our backlog. Compared to the prior quarter, operating income increased 60% due to higher revenue and a more favorable product mix. Production equipment arrived at our Buffalo Pumps facility in Q2. This is the equipment that was purchased with the funding provided by the US Navy. Installation of the equipment was completed in early Q3. This equipment will raise our manufacturing capacity and increase efficiencies in the quarters ahead. Q2 saw both record bookings and record revenue, as demand for our products continues to be extremely strong.

[David Anderson, President of Air and Liquid Processing at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

We continue to take steps to increase our manufacturing capacity to meet this demand. The manufacturing facility we opened last year in Virginia was the primary driver for air handling sales, being up 58% in Q2 versus prior year. The new equipment in our Buffalo facility will raise our manufacturing capabilities to meet the increasing demand from the US Navy markets. In the quarters ahead, we expect to continue to increase our manufacturing capacity as we expect strong demand in the second half of 2024 and continuing in 2025.

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Thank you, David. I'll now turn the call over to Mike McAuley, our Chief Financial Officer, for more detail regarding our financial performance for the quarter. Mike?

[Mike McAuley, SVP, President, CFO, and Treasurer at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

As indicated in our Form 10-Q filed yesterday, and in our press release issued last night, Ampco's net sales for the second quarter of 2024 were $111 million, an increase of 3.5% compared to net sales for the second quarter of 2023. The Air and Liquid Processing segment accounted for the sales growth over prior year. Forged and Cast Engineered Products segment sales were down slightly versus prior year, as higher shipment volumes of forged rolls and higher net pricing were offset by lower shipment volumes of cast rolls and FEP products. Income from operations for the second quarter of 2024 was $5 million, slightly higher than the top end of our previous guidance range. The main driver for the improvement versus Q2 of 2023 was higher net roll pricing.

[Mike McAuley, SVP, President, CFO, and Treasurer at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

In addition, it should be noted that the prior year quarter had the benefit of a foreign energy credit of $1.9 million. So the underlying year-over-year step-up in profitability for the quarter was more sizable than the as-reported change. Corporation's total selling administrative expenses were approximately 12.2% of net sales for Q2 2024, compared to 13.1% for Q2 2023, primarily due to lower commissions and professional services in the Forged and Cast Engineered Products segment.

[Mike McAuley, SVP, President, CFO, and Treasurer at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Interest expense of $3 million for the quarter increased by $0.8 million compared to prior year, primarily due to higher equipment financing debt balance for the new machinery in the U.S. forged business, which has now been completed and converted to term notes, as well as higher average revolving credit facility borrowings to support working capital growth and higher average interest rates on our floating rate instruments due to interest rate market movements. Other income net improved, primarily due to foreign exchange translation losses recorded in Q2 2023 versus gains recorded in Q2 2024. The income tax provision for Q2 2024 increased compared to the prior year, principally due to higher income of the corporation's profitable entities, which have no valuation allowances recorded against their deferred tax assets.

[Mike McAuley, SVP, President, CFO, and Treasurer at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

As a result, net income attributable to Ampco-Pittsburgh for the three months ended June 30, 2024, was $2 million, or $0.10 per share. This compares to the net income of $1 million, or $0.02 per share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2023, which included $0.10 per share benefit for the foreign energy credit. Total backlog at June 30, 2024, of $360.4 million, declined approximately 5% from December 31.

[Mike McAuley, SVP, President, CFO, and Treasurer at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

The Forged and Cast Engineered Products segment backlog decreased from December 31, 2023, by approximately $12.5 million, due primarily to the timing of 2025 mill roll orders for large customers, as Sam described, as well as lower foreign exchange rates, which reduced the translated value of backlog by another $3.5 million. However, Forged and Cast backlog increased by $7.3 million compared to its backlog recorded at March 31, as roll order intake moved up in Q2. The Air and Liquid segment backlog declined by $2.4 million from December 31, but increased by $4.2 million from March 31, as Dave described.

[Mike McAuley, SVP, President, CFO, and Treasurer at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Net cash flows used in operating activities was $5.3 million for Q2 2024, in support of higher trade working capital, principally higher accounts receivable, given the elevated sales and pension contributions. Capital expenditures for the second quarter of 2024 were $2.7 million, primarily for the Forged and Cast Engineered Products segment. We expect CapEx for the remainder of the year to be approximately stable with the Q2 run rate.

[Mike McAuley, SVP, President, CFO, and Treasurer at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

At June 30, 2024, the corporation's liquidity position included cash on hand of $7.9 million, and undrawn availability on a revolving credit facility of $20.5 million. However, as we reported in our press release of July 10, the corporation's liquidity position increased since June 30. Operator, at this time, we would now like to open the line for questions.

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we will open the line for questions. To join the question queue, you may press Star and then One using a touchtone telephone. To withdraw your questions, you may press Star and Two. If you are using a speakerphone, we do ask that you please pick up your handset prior to pressing the keys to ensure the best sound quality. Again, that is Star and then One to join the question queue. We'll pause momentarily to assemble the roster. Our first question today comes from David Wright from Henry Investment Trust. Please go ahead with your question.

[David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust]

Good morning, everyone.

[David Anderson, President of Air and Liquid Processing at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Morning, David.

[David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust]

Hey, Brett. Listen, congratulations to you and the team for a clean and solid quarter.

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Thank you.

[David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust]

You mentioned... Yes, and you mentioned strong sequential improvement in Q2, and it's really clear. We're halfway through the third quarter. How do you feel about this quarter and continuing the good results of the second quarter?

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Well, as you remember, Dave, the third quarter is a shutdown period for the Forged and Cast Engineered Products segment, and we had a smaller shutdown period at the beginning of the quarter for our U.S. operations. So it tends to be a little weaker overall, but, you know, the underlying fundamentals of the business, the efficiency improvements, we expect to continue as we move throughout the course of the year.

[David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust]

The will offset some of that shutdown, slowdown?

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

It will.

[David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust]

Yeah, things are going well in Air and Liquid. So, you know, this is really great results, and it's nice to see a clean quarter with, you know, like, no extraordinaries. And have you had any extraordinaries so far this quarter?

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

No. None to date.

[David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust]

That's great. I want to ask Sam, that's a really good result in your segment, $5+ million of operating income, kind of a 7% margin. You haven't had a quarter like that in quite a while. Was there anything extraordinary there, or is it just more reflective of where you've gotten the business to with the new equipment and the new layouts and such?

[Sam Lyon, President of Forged and Cast Engineered Products at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

It's a combination, David, of the efficiency from the new equipment, and then also, we had a relatively strong order book in Q2, ran the operations at a higher utilization level, and so our results in the U.S. were strong, as a result of that. So, you know, just having, and also, the pricing levels are better than they had been in the past.

[David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust]

Would you ultimately see being able to get to something better than 7% operating margin, or is that a level that's pretty good and that you're happy with?

[Sam Lyon, President of Forged and Cast Engineered Products at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

You know, as volumes would increase, then the operating margin will increase. As our in my side of the business, the fixed costs are relatively stable and a pretty high percentage of our total cost, so we get a lot of drop-through from incremental volume. So I would expect-

[David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust]

That's great.

[Sam Lyon, President of Forged and Cast Engineered Products at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Yeah. You know, infrastructure bill and things, and steel demand goes up over the next, you know, quarters and years, you know, we anticipate, and we should see it improve.

[David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust]

Okay. Well, great. Hey, Dave, you got your margin back this quarter, and so that's great to see. I wonder, though, how much longer is it gonna take to get these older, lower-margin orders to fully roll off?

[David Anderson, President of Air and Liquid Processing at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

David, we expect the majority of that to happen in the second half of this year, and then they should be behind us.

[David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust]

Do you have more, you know, volume-wise, do you have more of that type of business in the second half, quantity-wise or volume-wise, than you did in the first half?

[David Anderson, President of Air and Liquid Processing at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

No, it's similar. It would be similar to the first half.

[David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust]

Okay. And you-

[David Anderson, President of Air and Liquid Processing at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

It'll be with us a little while longer, and then that goes away.

[David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust]

Okay. You had super order intake in the second quarter. How, how has it been so far in the third quarter?

[David Anderson, President of Air and Liquid Processing at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Good. We're still seeing really strong markets, pharmaceutical, US Navy, as I pointed out in Q2, and those continue to look good in Q3 at this point. So we're-

[David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust]

Okay.

[David Anderson, President of Air and Liquid Processing at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

There's a lot of good demand out there for us.

[David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust]

Okay, great. Well, that's super. Two quick ones from Mike. On the availability, you alluded to it in your remarks, $20.5 million on June 30th and $27.2 million on July 9th, when you put out your guidance, that's about $6.6 million of change. Was that an actual pay down, or was it change in the availability formula, a combination? That just seems quite a lot in a short period.

[David Anderson, President of Air and Liquid Processing at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Yeah, it's just, it's just movements in working capital, David. You know, receipts, receipts have been better-

[David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust]

Mm-hmm.

[David Anderson, President of Air and Liquid Processing at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Catching up on some past dues. And, you know, that availability number is gonna fluctuate over time, but, yeah, we are at the moment, as our press release on July tenth indicated, we are stronger liquidity-wise than we were at June thirtieth, just from a, you know, the flows of ins and outs of net working capital, and we continue to be that way approximately right now.

[David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust]

So, is the availability very much different today from the July 9 number?

[David Anderson, President of Air and Liquid Processing at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Not very much, no.

[David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust]

Okay. And then lastly, you know, the SG&A has gone up quite a lot over the last few years, and I just wonder, are there any opportunities to check that and maybe slow or reverse the growth in it?

[Sam Lyon, President of Forged and Cast Engineered Products at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Well, this is Sam. The one thing that we have done is gone out to our agent network, and we have reduced the fees there, so it's not huge, but you know, in the neighborhood of $300,000-$400,000 a year. So. And then, you know, we're always looking at what we can do there. And in the past, you know, as our sales shift away from frac blocks to more distribution kind of bar, we don't have sales commission on that either, so that would bring that number down relative to the sales number.

[David Anderson, President of Air and Liquid Processing at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Yeah, and I think, David, for the air and liquid side, the investments we made in the last couple of years to strengthen our sales group, we've largely done. So the only thing that really would increase is the commissions we pay if there's higher revenue to the independent rep network that we have. But our sales group is pretty strong now where we sit.

[David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust]

Okay. Well, Mike, did you have a comment on the G&A?

[Mike McAuley, SVP, President, CFO, and Treasurer at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

No, only that I was going to reiterate probably what Dave indicated, that we've intentionally invested in growth on air and liquid, and that we knew that cost money, that cost SG&A dollars. But it's basically in place now, and it's basically there to leverage to grow the sales, grow the top line, and bring more, you know, bottom line drop through, going forward. So, yeah, we know it's up higher, but, you know, we're it's part of the, what it takes to get the higher sales. Plus, we, you know, we brought a new facility online, and there's more, you know, lease costs in the new facility, but, you know, we're loading that up as well.

[David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust]

Well, listen, everyone, a great report, nice and clean and well done, and thanks for taking all my questions.

[Sam Lyon, President of Forged and Cast Engineered Products at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Thank you, David.

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Thanks, David.

[Operator]

Once again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star and then one. To withdraw your questions, you may press star and two. Our next question comes from John Bair from Ascend Wealth Advisors. Please go ahead with your question.

[John Bair, President at Ascend Wealth Advisors]

Thank you. Good morning, gentlemen.

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Good morning.

[John Bair, President at Ascend Wealth Advisors]

Some of my question was answered there with regards to margins. And it sounds like by the end of this year, the lower margin backlogs is gonna be pretty well rolled off. Is that the way to look at it?

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Yes, that's correct.

[John Bair, President at Ascend Wealth Advisors]

And it's more of the lower margin stuff being moved out first, so that sequentially, the fourth quarter margins might be better than the current third quarter? Is that a way to look at it as well?

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

No, it really depends on the timing of when the orders would be going out. It'll be spread through the third and fourth quarter, along with more recent orders. So it doesn't necessarily go out in sequence to when they were booked.

[John Bair, President at Ascend Wealth Advisors]

Okay, so it's a kind of a balanced mix. Okay.

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Correct.

[John Bair, President at Ascend Wealth Advisors]

Okay, that's, that's good. Then I'd like you... Could you, can you, outline what your game plan is on, on your debt reduction going forward?

[Mike McAuley, SVP, President, CFO, and Treasurer at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Yeah, when you look at our I mean, if you look at the, the 10-K and you look at the debt footnote, we have a few industrial revenue bonds that have a maturity. Those, those are lower rate instruments, and so we, we prefer to keep them in rather than refinance them, but we, we will have, them maturing over the next couple of years. They come out, there's about $9 million there. The next opportunity is just revolving credit facility balance to support the working capital, and as our profitability, grows over time, we'll be able to, finance more working capital and CapEx internally, and that should help bring the debt balance down.

[John Bair, President at Ascend Wealth Advisors]

Okay. And then, does the new equipment that you've installed enable you to enter any new markets?

[Sam Lyon, President of Forged and Cast Engineered Products at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

On my side, Sam, FCP, it allows us to expand in the non-roll market, but not necessarily enter any market. But you have-

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

For the stuff that we've put in Buffalo Pumps, the new equipment, really that's supporting the Navy. The Navy's continuing to show more and more activity in their ship growth plan, so our focus is really supporting that.

[John Bair, President at Ascend Wealth Advisors]

... Okay, and that was going to be my next question, is on the Navy business. Is that something that you foresee? It sounds like something you foresee is got a longer runway to it.

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Yes, most definitely. They have a long-term plan to increase the size of the Navy fleet.

[John Bair, President at Ascend Wealth Advisors]

And is that focused on the subs or carriers or cruisers or what, what area?

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

All, all of the above.

[John Bair, President at Ascend Wealth Advisors]

Okay.

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

In essence, they're chasing China.

[John Bair, President at Ascend Wealth Advisors]

Yeah.

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

China's building ships very fast.

[John Bair, President at Ascend Wealth Advisors]

Right. Okay. Are those contracts, are those orders, are those longer term? Or they're... In other words, do you get backlogs with them that go out two, three years, or is it a shorter time frame?

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

If you look at the business in two pieces, the backlog related to new ship builds tends to be longer, like you just described. It can be two or three years out. Then there's also the aftermarket, which is replacements and parts. That's shorter. That moves quicker.

[John Bair, President at Ascend Wealth Advisors]

Okay. Very good. All right. That's pretty much all I have. Thanks very much for taking the questions.

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Thanks.

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, and showing no additional questions, I'd like to turn the floor back over to Brett McBrayer for closing remarks.

[Brett McBrayer, CEO at Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation]

Thank you. I'm proud of the work that our team members across the globe have achieved. Despite significant headwinds we are still experiencing in Europe, our underlying operations continue to improve. As our new capital assets ramp up to their full capabilities, we expect further improvements in our productivity and very excited about the demand and growth in the air and liquid system segment. Thank you, everyone, for joining our call this morning.

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, with that, we'll conclude today's conference call and presentation. We do thank you for joining.

Participants

Executives

• Brett McBrayer, CEO
• David Anderson, President of Air and Liquid Processing
• Kim Knox, Corporate Secretary
• Mike McAuley, SVP, President, CFO, and Treasurer
• Sam Lyon, President of Forged and Cast Engineered Products

Analysts

• David Wright, Analyst at Henry Investment Trust
• John Bair, President at Ascend Wealth Advisors