Darling Ingredients Inc.

Ingredients Incorporated conference call to discuss the company's fourth quarter 2024 and fiscal year 2024 financial results. After the speaker's prepared remarks, there will be a question and answer period. To ask a question, press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press the star followed by two on your telephone keypad. Today's call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Ms. Sue Ann Guthrie. Please go ahead.

Thank you for joining the Darling Ingredients fourth quarter 2024 and fiscal year 2024 earnings call. Here with me today are Mr. Randall C. Stewie, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Brad Phillips, Retiring Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Bob Day, our new Chief Financial Officer, and Mr. Matt Jansen, Chief Operating Officer, North America. Our fourth quarter 2024 and fiscal year 2024 earnings news release and slide presentation are available on the investor page of our corporate website and will be joined by a transcript of this call once it is available. During this call, we will be making forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could materially differ because of factors discussed in today's press release and the comments made during this conference call and in the risk factor section of our Form 10-K, 10-Q, and other reported filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements. Now, I will hand the call over to Randy.

Thanks, Sue Ann. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us for our fourth quarter 2024 and fiscal year 2024 earnings call. As previously announced, Brad Phillips will be retiring after 36 incredible years at Darling Ingredients. After the 10-K is filed, at the end of this month, Bob Day will assume the CFO position. As this will be Brad's last earnings call, I want to thank Brad for his many years of service. The memories are numerous, as Brad and I have done many of these calls with you. And I think I speak for everyone in this room and on the call that we will truly miss you. As you proceed to the next chapter of your life, congratulations and best wishes to you and your family. Stay healthy, my friend. You will be dearly missed, but it's time for the next chapter of our history, and we welcome Bob Day into that exciting role. Now turning to the quarter and the year, Darling Ingredients delivered its strongest quarter of the year in 2024 and one of its top years in its 142 year history. While global markets were incredibly volatile, We focused on what we could truly control. Through effective margin management and CapEx stewardship, we paid down $353 million in debt, reducing our financial leverage ratio to 3.68 times. We received $179.8 million in dividends from Diamond Green Diesel and successfully started up the largest sustainable aviation fuel unit in the world under budget and ahead of schedule. For the fourth quarter, our combined adjusted EBITDA was $289.5 million, which was net of a $59 million lower cost-to-market adjustment noted in last week's press release for our share of the joint venture ownership in Diamond Green Diesel. The company continued its focus on operational excellence, which resulted in gross margin improvement in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to the third quarter of 2024, despite lower FAT prices. We also want to point out that we delivered a significantly improved global safety record, frankly, an all-time record for our global team. Turning to the feed ingredients segment, global rendering volumes remained as expected and continue strong. The regulatory environment is improving and clarity has arrived. With the recent notice from the U.S. Department of Treasury on the 45Z Clean Fuel Production Tax Credit and the updated GREET model, We believe what we have and what we need to begin calculating and monetizing the credit. As noted in our press release, waste fats have been steadily improving and should provide a nice tailwind for Darling Ingredients into 2025. Once again, our focus on spread management, smart CapEx deployment, and operational excellence resulted in nice gross margin improvement in the feed segments. We went from 21.5% in third quarter to 22.6% in the fourth quarter. I want to thank our global operations teams for the bold and aggressive execution they delivered. Now, turning to our food segment. We saw a slight improvement in sales in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter as industry conditions improved. The company is continuing to focus on margin management, which resulted in a nice improvement in gross margins from 23.9% in third quarter to 25.7% in fourth quarter. Our first sales of Nextida, our revolutionary natural glucose moderation collagen peptide, have hit the market and demand is beginning to accelerate. We're excited to have several more of these products now in the pipeline. Okay, turning to our fuel segment, Darling Ingredients received a cash dividend from Diamond Green Diesel of $68.6 million in the fourth quarter of 24. and $179.8 million in cash dividends for the full fiscal year. Subsequent to the quarter close, we have now received another cash dividend of $86.4 million in January of 2025. DGD continues to outperform its peers on many metrics and continues to be the best in class producer. We have thoroughly reviewed the 45Z clean fuels production credit guidance with third party auditors and are aligned in determining that it provides a clear, safe harbor for the company's accounting treatment of the tax credit. As a result, we are confident in our ability to book the credit and fully realize its value. While there are a few details to iron out regarding feedstock options and certification by product and destination, CGD's strategic locations, logistical flexibility, and capability to process a diverse range of feedstocks positions us well to maximize the value of this credit. With that, I'd like to turn it over to Brad to take us through some financials, then I'll come back with my thoughts on 2025. Brad?

Okay. Thanks, Randy. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2024 totaled 101.9 million, or 63 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of 84.5 million, or 52 cents per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2023. Total net sales were $1.4 billion for the fourth quarter of 2024 as compared to $1.6 billion for the fourth quarter of 2023. Operating income decreased $36.4 million to $122.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to $158.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2023, primarily due to a lower gross margin from significantly lower fat prices, which was substantially offset by lower SG&A higher earnings from DGD, lower restructuring and asset impairment charges, a favorable change in fair value of contingent consideration, and lower depreciation and amortization expense. Total other expenses decreased $18.7 million in the fourth quarter 2024 as compared to the same period in 2023, primarily due to lower interest expense as well as increased property insurance recoveries related to prior property casualty losses. For fiscal year 2024, net income was $278.9 million or $1.73 per diluted share as compared to net income of $647.7 million or $3.99 per diluted share for fiscal 2023. Net sales for fiscal year 2024 were $5.7 billion compared to net sales of $6.8 billion for the same period of 2023. Operating income decreased $481.5 million to $468.2 million for fiscal 2024 compared to $949.7 million for fiscal year 2023. The decrease was primarily the result of a lower gross margin in global ingredients and lower earnings from DGD somewhat offset by lower SG&A, lower restructuring and asset impairment charges, and a favorable change in fair value of contingent consideration. Total other expenses decreased $2.1 million for fiscal year 2024 from $234.8 million to $232.7 million as compared to fiscal year 2023, primarily due to lower interest expense and increased property insurance recoveries related to prior property casualty losses that were substantially offset by foreign currency losses. For the three months ended December 28, 2024, the company recorded an income tax benefit of $25.5 million, primarily due to the biofuel tax incentives. The company also paid $20.3 million of income taxes during the quarter. For the 12 months ended December 28, 2024, the company recorded an income tax benefit of $38.3 million. The company's effective tax rate for the year is a negative 15.5%. Excluding the biofuel tax incentives and a change in valuation allowance related to deferred tax assets, the effective tax rate is 23.6%. The company paid $102.7 million of income taxes in 2024. As you know, the clean fuel production tax credit is a transferable income tax credit replacing the blender's tax credit beginning in 2025. As previously indicated, we believe the guidance released by Treasury last month provides the line of sight to realize and monetize these credits. We are rigorously working through the details with our business partners. We look forward to providing an update soon. In the fourth quarter 2024, we paid down approximately $162.9 million of debt. And as Randy previously said, $353.4 million of debt was paid down for fiscal year 2024 the combination of effective working capital management capex stewardship and solid receipts of dividends from the diamond green diesel joint venture assisted in the company's ability to deliver while also purchasing about 34.3 million dollars or about 1 million shares of our common stock the company's total debt outstanding as of december 28 2024 was 4 billion compared to 4.4 billion at year end 2023 Our bank covenant preliminary leverage ratio at Q4 2024 was 3.93 times, and we had approximately $1.2 billion available to borrow under our revolving credit facility. Capital expenditures totaled $73.3 million in the fourth quarter and $332.5 million for fiscal year 2024. As Randy mentioned earlier, we received $68.6 million in cash dividends from DGD during the quarter and $179.8 million for fiscal year 2024, with an additional $86.4 million that was distributed in January 2025. While the 2025 operating plan calls for a slight increase of capital expenditures to approximately $400 million, it will be judiciously managed based on market conditions. Now I'll turn the call back over to you, Randy.

Thanks, Brad. Well done. We're optimistic about 2025. We have begun the year with strong momentum and expect that to continue to build throughout the year. Global raw material volumes remain robust, and stronger fat prices in the first quarter should provide a lift as pending tariffs and clean fuel production credit provide even greater certainty to the value of domestic feedstocks. This is very advantageous for our core ingredients business as Darnley Ingredients is the largest producer of waste fats in the world and the only truly vertically integrated renewable producer. With regulatory clarity on U.S. biofuel policies such as 45Z and California's low carbon fuel standard, we believe the market is stabilizing. A sharp decline in foreign biofuel imports and early signs of capacity rationalization in the domestic biodiesel and renewable diesel production indicate a more balanced supply and demand environment for 2025. These dynamics, combined with our strategic positioning and operational expertise, uniquely position us to capitalize on the market and drive growth. As the market continues to work through the details on the Clean Fuel Production Tax Credit, I expect our ingredient prices and RIMS to adjust and solidified throughout the year. Our priorities for 2025 are very clear. We're staying focused on disciplined capital deployment, efficient working capital management, operational excellence, and margin management. Our goal is to maintain a strong financial policy with a focus on deleveraging, aiming for a two and a half times bank leverage ratio in the future. We'll continue to drive robust research and development in the collagen peptide space, Delivering a powerful portfolio of natural collagen solutions with holistic and targeted health benefits. We'll also continue to explore expansion opportunities in the renewable natural gas as those markets evolve in the United States and Europe. And as our SAF sales book continues to build nicely, we are looking at ways to convert more renewable diesel into SAF. We expect 2025 to be stronger than 2024. gaining momentum throughout the year as DGD turnarounds are completed and SAF sales command a larger percentage of our mix. Given the fourth quarter 2024 run rates and with only one period into the new year, I am providing guidance of 1.25 to 1.3 billion combined adjusted EBITDA for 2025 and will provide updates as the year progresses. With that, I'd like to go back to Q&A now.

We will now begin the question and answer session. At this time, I would like to remind everyone in order to ask a question, press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. Please limit yourself to one question and one follow up question. We'll pause for just a moment to compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from the line of Manav Gupta of UBS. Go ahead, please.

Oh good morning Randy and Congrats Brad. You've been very helpful over the years. My question relates to 45 Z. Like when we look at 45 Z, it feels like it was custom created for DAR, almost like one of the senior management members broke into the room where it was being written and wrote it for them. There is no credit for imported RD, no credit for RD from imported UCO. waste soil is getting a much bigger credit than bean oil, no credit for canola. All these things should help DAR. So help us understand all the ways in which, you know, 45Z makes DAR a relative winner in the space.

Yeah, look, this is Bob. Thanks, Manav. I'll go first. I think Randy stated very clearly in his opening remarks about how we feel about 45Z, but I'll just reiterate and say that 45Z is law. The due diligence and advice that we've gotten make us confident that the current notice provides Safe Harbor the ability to realize the credit value unless or until a new notice is provided. So we're very pleased with what's out there today and what we're able to do with that. You pointed out in your question, This is a CI score adjusted tax credit, and it's only eligible to U.S. biofuel producers. That's for reasons that have nothing to do with Darling's influence, but it has more to do with just the environment that we're in and what's good for policy. It is very positive for Darling. The primary reason for that is being a CI adjusted tax credit, Darling produces the lowest CI score feedstocks That are eligible for this credit global animal fats and us use cooking oil We are the largest producer of those two things and then it's also extremely positive for diamond green diesel They also are able to benefit from low CI score feedstocks and if those feedstocks earn a higher margin in producing biofuel Diamond green diesel is well placed to process to pretreat and process those feedstocks better than than anyone else has proven to be able to do and eliminating foreign biofuels from eligibility to the PCC, it certainly plays to DGD's strengths, given the amount of U.S. production that they have.

Perfect. Guys, I'll ask a very quick follow-up. Randy, in your opening comments, you did say looking to make more SAP versus RD. Can you just elaborate on that a little?

Hey, good morning, Matt. Good morning, Manav. This is Matt. Yeah, so we've mentioned in the past how, you know, once we uh, got the, uh, our first SAF line up and up and running that we would be looking to, uh, for other opportunities next to visual steps in, um, adding additional SAF capacity. And that's, that's exactly what we're doing. And so, uh, as you know, only about half of our production at DGD three is channeled towards the, the SAF line. And so whether, whether we actually go in and invest to, uh, add the capacity there in Port Arthur, or if we do something in, uh, in Norco, but, uh, These are all things that I think will transpire over the coming months. And, you know, looking at, you know, now that we have, you know, one of the big hurdles was, okay, this is new for us. So we want to get in, be able to, A, build the plant, B, process and make spec, and C, sell it. And so we've accomplished all of those at this point. And so that's what's giving us the confidence to work towards our next SAF plant.

Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Dushant Elani with Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Morning, guys. Thank you for taking my question. Brad, it was a pleasure working with you and Bob. Congrats on the new role. Thank you. My first question is on the LCM adjustment. Maybe could you share more about what the actual adjustment is? Is it truly non-cash? And then maybe thinking about 2025, the guide that you've given, the 1.25 to 1.3, does that, as of today, does that exclude any impact from LCM adjustments?

Jeff, do you want to take the guide question? Yeah.

Deshaun, this is Randy. I'll take the guide question. Obviously, the... core ingredient business in q4 has set a much higher run rate than 2024. we're coming out conservative at dgd but they basically equivalent to the per gallon run rate that we had last year at this time and no it doesn't include any lcm pickup it's not hard to see dgd doing much better than the combination of 900 or a billion in the core ingredients and 250 or 350 within the combined adjusted there. We're just trying to take a conservative view at this moment. Clearly, there's been a lot of questions on what you can monetize. You know, I think Bob did a really nice job. I mean, one more time to reiterate it, and so we don't have to answer it another six times today, is 45Z is law. We know how to calculate it. Our advisors and tax councils are comfortable with how we're calculating and we believe it can be monetized and will be recognized. So we're operating the business with that view right now. We fundamentally view that and we'll talk about this and maybe Bob can comment a little bit on it. We'll talk about the tightening of the RIN S&D and the curtailing of capacity.

Um, and, and so Bob, you want to go to LCM and that, and yeah, Brad, feel free to jump in, but, um, you know, trying to explain LCM it'd be in how it works. It'd be impossible on this call, but it is a non-cash expense. Um, you know, we, we recognize that it's, you know, for those that want to pull it out, it's relatively easy to do so. Um, and it's, and it's part of a, of an accounting system that is pretty typical for, uh, for the oil and gas industry.

The only thing I would add on LCM to Sean is obviously, you know, DGDs, financials, which will be attached, audited financials, which will be attached as an exhibit to our 10K in a couple of weeks. You know, in that audit, the LCM is called out. That's the way it is audited, recorded, and we follow that. Our partner has different opportunities there, and we understand the analysts. For the most part, back it out, but we'll continue to record it as the audited number, our share of that LCM. Back to you, Bob, or anything else. That's perfect.

Perfect. Thank you, guys. I appreciate that. And then maybe just the next one on next data, could you share kind of more details on what the ramp looks like in 2025, and then maybe If possible, could you quantify how much of the food sales was Nextida in 4Q?

Well, I think we don't disclose what sales were in the fourth quarter, but what we can say is that we are working with a number of CPG companies to help them determine what they can say about the product, its efficacy. and really support the rollout of different brands of getting this as an ingredient in there. And what we're seeing is some interesting traction there. This is the kind of product that requires consumer education. And so our CPG customers are investing a lot to educate customers on how to use the product. And we're just really confident that we're going to continue to see traction. This is a hot topic in our environment today. And a lot of people are trying to figure out What do they do after they're done using the pharmaceutical products? And this is a great solution to that problem.

Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Derek Whitfield with Texas Capital. Go ahead, please.

Good morning, all, and thanks for taking my questions. Also, congrats to both Brad and Bob on your respective announcements. Thanks. Welcome back. Welcome back, Derek. Happy to be back, guys. Happy to be back. With my first question, I wanted to lean in on 45Z from a macro perspective, as I know you guys are consistently calculating real-time spreads for the sector. While I agree 45Z was exceptionally positive for your business for both the upstream and downstream segments, the marginal SBO RD operator has taken a near 80 cent per gallon hit. And that has been partially offset with lower SBO costs. But from here, it seems to us that either the RIN has to improve or SBO has to go lower to further offset that loss, assuming we still need those volumes after backing out RD and biodiesel imports. To you guys, what does your crystal ball say on how this market will firm?

Yeah, look, this is Bob. I think, so what I would add to your question is not only just 45Z kind of lay these things out and make it challenging from a CI score standpoint for some others, but there's a lot of complexity inside 45Z in terms of how to comply, certifications required, different mix of feedstocks for different products. Diamond Green is really well positioned to understand that upfront and and prepare for that and be agile as it works through that. We think that a lot of companies are going to struggle with that in addition to just general eligibility. And so all of that really points towards lower production of biofuels, fewer imports of biofuels, which decreases RIN production and increases the value of RINs and LCFS credits. And so we're seeing it already. It's just that RINs don't trade like a like a mature futures market would trade where you've got a lot of speculative liquidity in the market and it's valuing products in the forward book. You know, we need to see the tightness in the near-term supply and demand before we see price reaction, but we're starting to see that. And, you know, our crystal ball says that we're going to continue to see more of that as the year goes on.

Terrific. And maybe focusing on the upstream aspect of 45Z, as you guys commented on, backing out UCO imports and removing canola costs, certainly increases the value of SBO, and it should also increase the relative value of your domestic sacks. Are you guys seeing greater non-DGD demand to start the year, meaning are your competitors getting better at running waste sacks?

Good morning. This is Matt again. I would say that, yes, we are, although I would say it's still early in the game. There's been just so much time and energy spent on digesting the 45Z and what that means and how that all plays And there was also a lot of call it logistical preparation going into the transition from 24 to 25. So yes, we have. But it's a little bit slower to play out than what you might imagine. But we fully expect that to continue.

Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Lauren Sharma with Stevens. Please go ahead.

Great. Thanks for the question. I wanted to start off and just kind of dig into the dividend. On the release, you mentioned the JV's debt-free, so an uplift to the distributions. And then the January figure was pretty large. So just want to get your thoughts on how to think about that dividend for the year. Is January, is there something in there that made that number larger? Just any color on that would be helpful.

Yeah, this is Brad. You know, we've mentioned before, but I'll repeat, it's a monthly distribution calculation on a given day. So why do I say that? It's a good question. I mean, the 86 million obviously was a calculation off the very end of 2024. there is a third-party revolver, as you mentioned. The JV is debt-free when a distribution is made, but because it's on a given day with some forward-looking forecasting involved, it'll be kind of up and down, but as we look at 25 and moving into the PTC, you saw what the number was for the full year 24. What I would say out there is where we see things right now, we see distributions, and obviously with a with a solid start there, being greater than 24, is there going to be a distribution every month? You never know. It just depends on that day. But we see, obviously, great momentum going into 25 and probably see larger distributions in total. And the way that works is going to be, as you may recall, PTC coming back through the JV outside the distribution policy, the PTC credit that are sold, as we monetize them, those will come back to Darling via Diamond, and then that combined with dividends that we would foresee out of there, the combination of those two, we would see being somewhat larger than this past year.

I would just add on to that that other than our two ongoing catalyst turnarounds in Q1, looking forward, do not see anything in terms of significant capex

beyond what would be just normal run rate capex got it appreciate that color and i guess just as a follow-up here wanted to dig into the staff opportunity a little bit more from the operational side i think you guys mentioned that the uh production incremental production costs are are lower for lower cost operators like yourselves i just wanted to um get some color around that. And then secondly, if you could maybe just talk about maybe the progress you've been making on the commercial side. You've made some announcements within the past month, but just wondering if you could kind of give us a state of the union on that.

Sure. This is Matt again. I would say that from a cost standpoint, yes, we believe that we are favored or in a strong position in terms of our cost to operate the sap production. And then you're right, we have made some announcements on some of the commercial contracts that we've made. Just point out that not all of these contracts come on to a public release for competitive reasons. In many cases, our customer chooses not to make a public release, but we see strong demand continued through 25 and 26. not only in the U.S., but also in Europe.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Heather Jones of Heather Jones Research. Please go ahead.

Good morning and congratulations on the retirement, Brad. It's been great working with you for many, many years. So my question was, on fats pricing. So, I think, Matt, you mentioned that the catalyst change is still ongoing at Diamond Green, but we've seen very strong moves in fat pricing over the past few weeks here in the U.S., and then European fats have just taken off. In the U.S. market, is that just simply a function of just the shutoff of feedstock imports? Is it the commissioning of guys for expansion? Just what do you see driving that, given y'all are in the catalyst change and, you know, the uncertainty around 45Z? There's been some pullback in producer demand. So I just would love to hear what y'all are seeing in that market.

Sure, Heather. First of all, keep in mind that our catalyst change is not across all of DGD3. So while we have had in the month of January a catalyst change in DGD2 and then DGD1 through the course of this month, but we still have been able to run at, let's say, an expected rate on the plants that we have not had the changes on. So in other words, DGD1 ran in January and DGD3 is running continuously. So we have continued to procure and originate fats on an ongoing basis. I would say that starting probably in early December, we saw a slowdown of imports. And that was, I think, largely related to just the transition from the BTC to the PTC. People were managing the inventories around that. And so that's picking up. And so we're trying to get back to what the market is trying to get back to a standard run rate. And that's refilling the pipeline, I think, in many cases. And you're right. We have seen a significant bump in fat prices, but it's something that, you know, it's obviously market driven. And, you know, not only is DTD continue to buy, but the other the other producers in the market are also buying as well.

Yeah, I would just add, Heather, this is Bob. 2025 is, you know, let's say it's kind of the first year where we've got substantial SAF demand from a volume standpoint. And, you know, what we're seeing is as we sort of move into 2025, the availability broadly in the market of SAF is, you know, it's not quite where a lot of others suggested it would be. And so we're just seeing a tightness of the S&D and prices are falling.

And following up on that in the European markets, piece i mean yuko have been getting stronger you know all through late 24 and continues to be strong but the animal fats have taken off and is that is that related to the new staff mandates there and having to you can't use vegetable oil for those um i mean what's what do y'all see driving that business you know i think first of all uh

animal if you look at 45 z um that's very supportive to global animal fat um so that that's that's probably where you know drive it's what's driving a lot of that um staff european staff demand as well is going to support that so i think really it's all those things combined that uh it's moving us in that direction thank you

Our next question is from the line of Andrew Strzelczyk with BMO Capital Markets. Go ahead, please.

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking the questions. My first one, I wanted to ask about the focus on operational excellence, which obviously you've talked about in prior quarters as well, but can you talk about anything incremental that happened on that front in the fourth quarter, maybe even into 2025, given kind of the decoupling of the trends in fats and your margins, is there a way to frame the contribution from that in the quarter?

I don't know that I would call something out specifically other than just what I would say is this is an ongoing effort and we're starting to see the dividends that we've done over the last two years. especially in the U.S. and the Eastern Shore, where we've done a lot of work to streamline and to add capacity, add reliability, and decrease costs to the system. And that's showing now through the numbers.

Yeah, and I would say, Andrew, I mean, globally, you know, when you get into a deflationary market, which we were in since, you know, really the winter of 23 and most of 24, It just takes a while to make a lot of adjustments out there on the procurement side. Each contract, each supplier, you know, each geography is a little bit different. Same goes for the Russolo business. And, you know, we're now starting to see the fruits of our labor of that starting to flow through the P&Ls here. You know, there's been a lot of, you know, we've always tried to operate as a low-cost operator out there, not mounting giant cost-cutting initiatives. because you shouldn't be in that position anyway. Our biggest piece is simply in the procurement side and making sure that we get compensated for the risk we're taking. Kind of the replacement cost of equipment out there has skyrocketed. And ultimately, you know, it just takes a little while. I don't know that we made a lot of friends and a lot of abattoirs and slaughterhouses and integrated providers around the world, but they also recognize that our reliability has to be

incented and paid for and i think i'm very proud of what the team did okay that's helpful color and then i wanted to ask about also the food segment where you know the episode had a nice sequential step up uh quarter over quarter is there seasonality in that business that would have helped that are you seeing kind of underlying improvements maybe you could talk about what you're seeing in terms of destocking and demand and competitive dynamics that you've addressed in the past couple quarters thanks

I don't think there's a tremendous amount of seasonality in the business, but I think you touched on something that's important. And we had been in a market that was relatively high in inventories, has been destocking, and we're starting to see kind of nearing the end of that and some improvement. So sales are good and margins are stable.

Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Matthew Blair with TPH. Please go ahead.

Thank you and good morning. And Brad, congrats on your long and successful tenure and wishing you the best on your future endeavors.

Thank you.

Circling back to the 2025 guide, if I heard correctly, it sounds like the core business would be around 900 to a billion that's included in that guide. If we annualize Q4, I think we're looking around 840, but Q4 does tend to have some seasonal tailwinds in feed. So could you talk about what's the incremental upside into 2025? Is that simply higher fats pricing from 45Z that's boosting feed? And are there any other growth initiatives or what else is helping push the numbers up for your core business in 2025?

Oh, this is Randy, Matt. I mean, when, when I take two 33 and multiply times four, I get nine 32. Um, that's before fat prices started to go up here. We've seen that prices were relatively flat in the January results as we saw. Uh, but they've accelerated, um, you know, four to 5 cents a pound in the, in the February period here, and that'll start to flow through. So clearly procurement improvements that we referenced in the, in the last question, improving fat prices and demand for low CIP stocks, both from DGD and other processors. Protein demand around the world feels pretty darn strong. I think that's been referenced by the soybean guys. There's strong demand for protein out there. So we feel pretty good about what's going on there. The Russo business is doing quite well. And Bob, anything you want to add?

You know, I think we covered on the last question, demand is has been solid and margins are stable and, uh, you know, we've got some new products on the market, so.

Sounds good. And then you were aiming to pay down about 400 million of debt in 2024. It looks like you, you almost hit that target. Could you discuss any targets for debt reduction in 2025 or 2026? Yeah.

Uh, Matthew, this breath in 2025, you know, where we see things right now, And the guys have been talking about kind of the environment right now. That's, you know, recently shown some move up. We we see debt reduction outside anything abnormal, anywhere from 350 to 500 million this coming year. Randy said earlier, you know, obviously our where we're headed is two and a half times on leverage. I think, you know, by the end of this year, we're going to be very far along that path with that debt reduction. Yes, we're about a year behind, but, you know, due to market conditions, you know, that hit us about 15 months ago. But that's kind of the outlook that we see right now.

Yeah, and I mean, it's not hard to do the math. You're at $4 billion now. If you pay down $400 to $500 million next year, you take it to $3.6. You know, you get to $1.350 to $1.40, and you're at the two and a half times. Right. Great, thank you.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Tom Palmer with Citigroup. Please go ahead. Tom, please ensure your line is unmuted. Tom, please ensure your line is unmuted to ask your question. Hearing no response, we will take the next question from the line of Davis Sunderland with Baird. Please go ahead.

Hey, good morning, guys. Thank you for the time. Appreciate you taking the question. I just want to start by adding my congratulations to Brad and Bob. Thank you for all the help, Brad. Most of my questions have already been answered. If I could just circle back to one about SAF. Randy, I think you talked earlier in 2024 about contracting and the process for these SAF contracts taking longer than you guys had initially planned just due to many different suppliers in the supply chain and moving pieces in the market and obviously just being a new product. And I just wondered, is there any sense of now that some deals are out there and there's a template for how to do these deals, maybe any kind of acceleration with new deals that you're seeing now having moved into 2025? Or how do we think about that market developing from your guys' contracting perspective?

This is Matt. I'll take that one. I would say that we continue to contract on SAF for one, two, and three years going forward, mostly front-end loaded. And I think there was just a, call it a digestibility or an acceptability to can DGD actually come to market with this staff in a reliable way. And we now have the, we've proven that we can and the confidence. So we're actually seeing a pickup in interest going forward, but despite the fact that we'd already had a pretty healthy sales book already developed.

Great. I'll take the rest offline. Thanks, guys.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Betty Jang with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.

Hi, thanks. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. For my first question, I wanted to ask about R&G. What kinds of opportunities are you guys looking at? And, you know, specifically what types of feedstocks? And how do you see your competitive advantage translating into the R&G space?

Yeah, this is Bob. I'll take that one, Betty. So first, I'll just start by saying that we have a large, you know, call it R&G to electricity business in Europe today. So it is a capability that Darling has and understands quite well. What we've seen more recently is a lot of interest in, voluntary demand for renewable natural gas that would support investments in the United States. Um, we started by forming an agreement with, uh, with a group called green gas, where we are covering our wastewater treatment ponds, um, And, and converting biomethane into renewable natural gas that way. Um, we are looking at opportunities to scale that up and darling, you know, with our position in the United States, our access to freight, um animal waste streams and and food waste streams we're really well positioned to pull that together and take advantage of you know what we see as an improved market and so we're continuing to evaluate that opportunity and and we really you know think the united states is a very interesting region to see that develop that's helpful thank you um for my second question i wanted to ask about capex

I think for 2024 it came in a bit lower than what we were expecting at kind of the beginning of the year. And also you're seeing maybe a small step up to around 400 for 2025. If you could maybe just walk us through the moving pieces there.

Yeah, Betty, this is Randy. Yeah, 333 was the number for 2024. And right now, 400 has a little bit of growth capex and de-bottlenecking of different factories and also some greenfield construction of some new assets that we're working on out there right now. As we've explained to our team, as we build momentum during the year, that number will move around. But right now, 400 feels like a good number. I think the thing that's most important for me and the team is that the number that we delivered last year did not capital deprive the assets out there. And so I don't want it to be thought of as makeup capital because it wasn't. We just delayed some growth projects a year while we delivered a little bit here. So 400 is a good number. As Brad said in his comments, judiciously manage it if we're wrong with something here. continue to put the company in good position for the future.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Jason Gabelman with TD Cowen. Go ahead, please.

Yeah. Hey, thanks for taking my questions. And Brad, congrats on retirement. It was great working with you. Yeah, thank you. The first question is kind of a broad policy one. You know, right now you're selling SAF into Europe, and Europe obviously has anti-dumping duties for renewable diesel and biodiesel, not for SAF then. Do you see that as a potential risk for your SAF sales into the region? If that happens, are you either able to get grandfathered in because of your contracts, or move volumes while retaining the margin? And then kind of a broader part of that, do you see any other regulatory risk out there besides, of course, the 45Z?

This is Matt. I would say there's a lot of hypothetical in that question in terms of the way that we would deal with that would be, you know, if and when there is something that comes down the pipe. But, you know, today we don't see that on the horizon. Regulatory.

Yeah, I just say, you know, look, I think with with respect to sales to Europe, you know, we're we're we're selling based on, you know, we sell a price that is, you know, we offer a price and our customers are going to deal with certain regulatory hurdles if they need to get through those. We're not only selling to Europe, we're selling a lot in the United States as well. And so I think, you know, Diamond Green is well balanced as far as the regulatory environment in 45Z. I think, you know, it's a good point because, you know, we've gotten this notice and we're working with this notice. And, you know, could that notice change or could a new notice be put out? That's certainly possible. But what we see is really broad bipartisan support for U.S. biofuel policy, maybe not all environmental policy, but biofuel policy. And so, you know, however that shakes out, we're confident given sort of the global network that we have and the integration between Darling and Diamond Green Diesel and Valero that we'd be able to adapt to whatever regulation unfolds.

Yeah, and I think just following up on Matt, I thought he did a nice job of explaining. At the end of the day, our customers don't feel that or share that risk right now as You know, it's optional origin when they pick up out of the Gulf where they're going with the product, whether it's the West Coast, whether it's up north or whether it's on to Europe.

Got it. Great. Thanks for that color. And my follow up is on the LCFS program. I think there was some hope with the new amendment that that LCFS prices would start to move higher. They've clearly come off lows, but maybe not at the triple digit levels. that Summit Hope does, hoping you can reflect on kind of why you think LCFS prices have not rebounded maybe to the expectations that some have had and your assumption for LCFS prices for 2025 within your guidance.

Yeah, so I think, and this is Bob, the amendments that CARB passed, would be effective April 1st. And we're just continuing to wait for confirmation of those amendments. I think if the market sees that, we'll start to see that change. But similar to RINs, LCFS credits, they don't trade like a mature futures market does. And so we are coming into this year with a lot of credits, a big bank. The market really needs to eat through that bank before we start to see credit values increase. And so specifically with LCFS credits, that's probably something that happens slowly throughout the course of the year.

Thank you. This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Randall Stewie for any closing comments.

Thanks, everybody. Great questions today. Really appreciate it. Well done by our team describing the situation. Brad, we want to just say thank you for everything you've done for 36 years. You'll truly be missed. And as always, if you have additional questions, feel free to follow up with Sue Ann. Stay safe. We'll see many of you in the conferences over the next coming couple months here. Thank you.

The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.