Stella-Jones Inc.

Good morning and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Stella Jones's second quarter of 2024 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will hold a question and answer session. To queue up for questions by phone, please press star 1 and a moderator will contact you. If anyone experiences difficulties hearing the conference call, please press star 1 for operator assistance at any time. I would like to remind everyone that this conference call is being recorded on Wednesday, August 7th, 2024. Please note that comments made on today's call may contain forward-looking information, and this information, by its nature, is subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the views expressed today. For further information on these risks and uncertainties, please consult the company's relevant filings on CDAR+. These documents are also available in the Investor Relations section of Stella Jones' website at www.stella-jones.com. Additionally, during this conference call, the company may refer to non-GAAP measures, which have no standardized meaning under GAAP and are not likely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. For more information, please refer to the company's latest MD&A, available on Stella Jones' website and on CDAR+. Lastly, we have prepared a corresponding presentation, which we encourage you to follow along with during this call. I'll now hand the call over to Éric Vachon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Stella Jones. Éric?

Thank you, Matthew. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I'm here with Silvana Travolini, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Stella Jones. Earlier this morning, we issued a press release reporting our results for the second quarter of 2024. Along with our MD&A, it can be found in the Investor Relations section of our website at www.stella-jones.com, as well as on CDAR+. As a reminder, all figures expressed on today's call are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated. Our financial and operating performance during the second quarter was characterized by the continued strong organic growth in sales and increase in profitability. Our Q2 results reflect our proven strategy to consistently meet customer demand and leverage the breadth of our operations to solidify our long-term propositions. Standing at the halfway mark of our three-year financial plan, we are well positioned to meet or exceed the targets we set out last year. As part of our growth strategy, we undertook a significant CapEx program over two years ago, focused on increasing our utility poles capacity. This additional capacity allowed us to solidify our existing customer relationships as well as secure new commitments. Though we continue to note a slower pace of incremental purchases from some of our customers, their ongoing focus on strengthening the electrical grid to support heavier loads instills confidence in our long-term prospects. Their projected increase in the use of electric vehicles and data centers for artificial intelligence and sustained demand for broadband projects are all catalysts for our business growth. Our utility pole CapEx program, which will be largely completed later this year, represents the culmination of our approach to plan for long-term demand. Much of our success in recent years is a direct result of our operational expertise, solid customer relationships, and acute industry intelligence, and I'm very pleased with what we continue to accomplish as a business. Turning to an update on each of our product categories, Utility polls continued on its growth trajectory in the second quarter, with sales benefiting from both favorable pricing and improved volumes. With the second quarter marking the start of a more active maintenance season, we were pleased to see the expected uptick in utility poll volumes, including the addition of new contractual customer businesses. For the non-contractual business, we have started to see some pricing normalization, but it is sparse and localized to regional markets. As a result, it is now our expectation it will not significantly impact our results in the second half of the year. With the utility pole product category being anchored in strong fundamentals, we remain confident in the outlook for this category heading into the second half of 2024. While we are still witnessing some conservatism from utilities in terms of project spending, Teladult has benefited from volume gains thanks to our expansive network and established customer base. We continue to see a growing shift with both new and existing customers towards longer-term sales agreements, which aligns with our business philosophy of ensuring that we can cater to long-term needs. Sales from our railway-type product category increased from last year largely due to higher volumes, a trend that has persisted since the beginning of 2024. We are better able to service our non-Class 1 client base given the ample supply and financial resources available to replenish our inventory levels. While sales growth of our non-Class I business is a positive catalyst for the railway-type product category, we also continue to focus on servicing our Class I customers with whom we maintain strong relationships. These railway operators provide a stable source of revenue for the company, and this contributes to the inherent consistency in terms of growth and results of this product category. Turning now to residential lumber, Sales were down relatively to the second quarter of last year, driven largely by lower consumer demand. The price of lumber has also remained lower than expected due to several factors impacting market demand, including a slowdown in housing and construction projects, as well as reduced activity from sawmills. Our focus for the residential lumber product category remains to ensure our customers stay stocked in premium quality products, so that when retail customers decide to move ahead with their decking and fencing projects, we will be there for them as a supplier of choice. In line with our ongoing focus to be a partner of choice to all stakeholders, CelloZones prioritizes meaningful action across all facets of its organization and value chain to ensure its long-term sustainability. As part of this commitment, on August 1st, we publish our annual Environmental, Social and Governance Report, which articulates our ESG performance against our strategy and achievements over the past year. For the first time in our company's history, we have completed a company-wide climate transition risk and opportunities assessment, aligning with the TCFD and ISSB, and including scope three emissions amongst our overall greenhouse gas reporting. These were significant undertaking in an industry and business such as ours, and I'm very proud of our collective accomplishments over the last year. I encourage you to refer to our website to review our 2023 ESG report and learn more about our sustainability approach. I will now hand it over to Silvana, who will provide a more detailed overview of our second quarter financial results.

Thank you, Eric, and good morning, everyone. We are very pleased with our strong second quarter financial performance, which translated into notable increases across all of our key metrics. Sales for the quarter increased by 8% to over $1 billion. This increase was largely attributed to higher utility poles, railway ties, and industrial product sales, which grew by 17%. These infrastructure-supporting product categories benefited from volume gains and favorable pricing compared to the same period last year, as well as from the contribution of the Baldwin acquisition. On the heels of our strong sales growth, operating income increased to $168 million from $149 million in Q2 last year. Similarly, EBITDA grew by 14% to $200 million this quarter, following a similar 14% increase in Q2 last year. We expanded the EBITDA margin from 18% in 2023 to 19.1% in the second quarter of this year. Compared to the first quarter, all product categories generated similar margins as a percentage of sales. The sequential decrease in EBITDA margin was largely a result of the product mix, given that residential lumber typically represents a higher relative proportion of sales in the seasonally strong second quarter. We ended the quarter with net income of $110 million or $1.94 per share versus $100 million or $1.72 per share in the second quarter of last year. Now let's take a closer look at the performance of our product category. Sales of utility poles increased to $470 million compared to $388 million for the same period in 2023, a robust growth of over 20%. Utility pole sales benefited from our accretive Baldwin acquisition and a strong organic increase of 16%. This ongoing growth was driven by price adjustments and additional volume stemming from existing and new sales commitments. The volume gains this quarter represented about 40% of the total increase. Sales of utility poles accounted for 45% of total sales for the quarter and almost 50% on a year-to-date basis. Sales of railway ties grew by $27 million for a total of $265 million compared to the second quarter of 2023. This increase was largely attributed to higher volumes for non-Class 1 customers, which as Eric noted, is a trend that has persisted since the first quarter. Better pricing also contributed to the sales growth. Railway tie sales accounted for 25% of overall sales for the quarter. Residential lumber sales were $243 million, a decrease of $28 million compared to sales of $271 million during the comparable period last year. While the market price of lumber has remained weak, most of the decrease quarter over quarter came from lower sales volume due to slower consumer demand. Given the seasonally strong second quarter volumes for residential lumber, this product category accounted for 23% of total sales in the second quarter. Our company is highly cash generative, which enables us to finance our growth plans and maintain a strong financial position. In the second quarter, we generated cash from operating activities of $177 million and used this cash to invest in our network reduced leverage following the typical build in working capital in Q1, as well as returned capital to shareholders. We ended the quarter with a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 2.5 times, which is within our target range. As part of our normal course issuer bid, we purchased $20 million of shares and paid $32 million of dividends in the second quarter. As of the end of June, we were on track on our commitment to returning capital to shareholders, having returned over $260 million out of the $500 million committed for the 2023 to 2025 period. And yesterday, our Board of Directors approved a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share. We ended the quarter with inventories of $1.7 billion, relatively in line with the $1.6 billion of inventory as of December 31, 2023. We continue to expect inventory at year-end to be in line with levels at the beginning of the year. This investment in inventory places the company in a good position to continue to service its customers on a timely basis. In the second half of 2024, we are focused on continuing to deliver strong performance and growth while returning capital to shareholders. In summary, with the financial strength of the business and the solid market fundamentals of our product categories, we remain well positioned for continued success. With that, I will now pass it on to Eric for his concluding remarks.

Thank you, Silvana. Our results from the first half of the year position us favorably to end 2024 on a high note. And we remain on track to meet or exceed our financial objectives for the 2023 to 2025 period. Our positive outlook is rooted in the strong industry trends underpinning our product categories, particularly for utility poles, our largest product category. We continue to expect utility pole sales to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 15% for 2024 and 2025, now fueled by a mix of both volume and pricing. Though we have recorded strong rail rate high performance in the first half of the year, volume gains realized so far are expected to taper off in the second half of 2024 on account of changes made by a Class 1 customer to its maintenance program this year. We remain confident in the product category's stable source of revenue and its ability to deliver low single-digit sales growth, as stated in our three-year outlook. Looking forward, we expect that weaker pricing and the demand observed for residential lumber in Q2 will place the product category's sales at the lower end of the $600 to $650 million range target set in our objectives. Based on our strong EBITDA margin performance in the first half of the year, we expect to surpass our targets for this year, despite the lower sales activity anticipated for railway ties and residential lumber in the second half of the year. As a result, we are forecasting to end 2024 with a margin closer to 18%. I started this call by mentioning how our strong customer relationships help contribute to our great financial performance for the second quarter. But there's more than that. All of our employees are significant contributors to our company's success, and I want to thank everyone for your ongoing dedication and commitment to Stella Jones. With that, I will now open the line to questions.

Thank you, Eric. The line is now open for questions. I would like to remind you that if you're on the phone and wish to ask a question, please press star one. Our first question is from Jonathan Goldman from Scotia Capital. Please go ahead. Hi, good morning.

Hi, good morning. Good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. I wanted to start off with a housekeeping question, Eric. In terms of the organic sales growth and polls, can you give us a breakdown of how much of that was volume-driven versus price?

Yeah, so for the quarter volume was approximately 40% growth, and obviously 60% is the pricing piece.

Perfect. Thanks for that. And then I guess the second one is, if you can elaborate on the factors underlying the change in view from previously expecting pricing pressure in the second half to now not expecting it, specifically significantly impacting results. And I guess the follow-up would be is, why would we not assume that the current margin levels are the new normal?

Yes. So we started out the year cautioning with extra capacity and some potential softness in the spot market. There is some softness in the spot market, actually, but we are seeing pricing hold relatively well. So with that, after six months under our belts, our observation is that we feel quite confident that we will not feel a significant headwind from those dynamics for the balance of the year. With regards to your question on EBITDA margin, well, a few comments. First, a reminder, our Q4 is always a softer quarter. You know, it's a lower maintenance season. You know, there's, you know, a bit less activity. So typically, if you look at our cycle, Q4 is typically a bit lower. So that would average us down slightly. And then, obviously, you know, I commented on... less railway tie sales in the second half of the year, you know, our fixed costs don't necessarily go away. So it would impact margin to some extent, but still confident that, you know, we can achieve, as I stated, closer to 18% margin for the year.

And the current market dynamics that you're observing in polls, do you see those dynamics changing in 2025, whether it's increasing competitive intensity, more capacity?

Yeah, it's... It's a bit early to speculate on 25. We still need to sit down as a management team and take a harder look at it. But I still feel very optimistic about what the next 12, 18 months will bring. We're currently being asked to quote several significant projects, very attractive projects that are looking for very unique size and length profile of inventory, which we do have to sell. So obviously we do hold a strong inventory position. So I feel very confident that we are well positioned to serve as the market needs as they're evolving to larger size products and that we'll keep seeing that growth in volume going forward as we have it in our guidance up until the end of 2025.

Okay, thanks for taking my question. My pleasure.

Thank you. Our next question is from James McGarrickle from RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Hey, congrats on the good quarter, and I appreciate you having me on. Thank you, James. And just one for me on infrastructure spending. You know, we heard during U.S. reporting from a company, you know, they flagged that only 15% of infrastructure funds you know, from the U.S. IRA spending has been spent. And, you know, that kind of points to a very long runway for growth that, you know, is obviously going to be essentially pretty positive for your company. You know, so is that consistent with the long-term conversations you're having with your customers? You know, and I'm not asking for guidance post-2025, but just kind of any call you can provide to help frame that type of longer-term opportunity.

Yeah, good question. And I think the key word there is long-term. So I think it is most likely a post-2025 impact. So our customers are indicating that projects are getting structured and that the funding is available. It is surprisingly taking a long time between the time the bill was passed and actually seeing the impact of those funds supporting new projects. But yeah, you're completely right. We, from what I understand, we could see some of those effects, you know, post-25, but it is still there as a tailwind, if you want, for demand for our products.

Hey, thanks for the caller. And then, on M&A, can you just comment on the pipeline right now? And, you know... Any additional call you can provide on, you know, potentially expanding into adjacent type of areas of business, you know, something like cross ties, opposite poles, you know, any updates at the flight there and I can turn the line over after. Thank you.

Yeah, certainly. So thank you for that. So, you know, I'm happy to report, I have mentioned this, I believe, in individual meetings that we do now have a vice president responsible for business development. He also has Treasury reporting into him. And we've been actually very structured now and very active in investigating different avenues. Obviously, we started at the core. We remain focused on seizing good opportunities, quality assets in the wood-treating business, but we have been exploring and getting ourselves very well-educated on complementary products or other types of products, maybe steel or composites in both railway ties and utility poles. In the last six months, we've grown significantly internally as far as knowledge goes. We've We are exploring certain avenues and obviously looking for that right stepping stone to start expanding our offering to our customers, which, by the way, is something that our customers keep indicating that they would be happy to see us venture into. So I guess that's the update for now. Stay tuned for future updates.

Thank you. Our next question is from Hamir Patel from CIBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Good morning. Eric, it looks like in Q2, your poll prices, I guess, were up 10%. I think in Q1, they're up 12%. The quarter before that, 18%. So clearly, the comps are decelerating, but still positive comps. So just given your commentary earlier about you are seeing some signs of softness in spot, how do we think about maybe for the next couple of quarters, your overall price gain and polls, because clearly you've still got some contractual business that's continuing to get repriced positively.

Yeah. So, you know, going forward, so you're right. My comment was that the spot market has shown some softness. It's not necessarily generalized price. So let's call it stable for the balance of the year, you know, but going forward, you know, do believe that our pricing gains will continue to your point to be a bit lesser call it. called it 20% to 30%, and the balance would actually come from volumes. As I mentioned earlier, we are looking at a lot of opportunities, obviously year-over-year gains with new customers, which is obviously very positive for us, and also new projects that were being shown that will extend over several years that we're presently coding. Could start later in the year, but definitely into early next year, and as I said, well-positioned with our inventory profile to service those new projects.

Okay, great. And Eric, how do you think about when the company would look to update the multi-year guidance? Because if you're pointing to 18% this year, right now that 16% three-year average basically implies margins kind of plunge to like 11% next year, which clearly doesn't appear to be the case. So when should we expect an update to the multi-year guide?

Yeah. So thank you for the question. You know, I think that question came up actually last quarter. So I had a few criterias when I wanted to see how we work through our half of this year and better understand the pricing pressures in the second half of the year. I think we're sitting there at this point. I want to sit down with my management team and better understand our five-year plan and our budget for next year. But I think you're completely right. We're very optimistic of how we're going to finish the year. We should be very close to several of the metrics we put out in our financial guidance. So we're actually studying that possibility if you want early in the year to meet with the investment community to discuss about our next three years and what that could look like for Stella Jones.

Fair enough. Eric, is it fair to say right now, if you're tracking towards 18% for the year, based on what you're seeing in the pull market, does that look sustainable into 2025?

Hard to tell at this point. You know, I guess I won't commit to that at this point, but obviously, you know, if our utility pool business continues to be, you know, that strong product category and obviously has, you know, the healthier margin profile, I, you know, want to think our 16% now seems an easy target to achieve. So I wouldn't disagree with what you said, but before committing to a number, I think we really need to sit down and come up with our new guidance.

Fair enough. And just a last question for Sylvana. It looks like the commentary on CapEx with respect to the investment in the poll category, maybe 10 million higher and now 35 million and 24, 25. Is that just maybe some capital cost inflation or does that reflect maybe additional capacity expansion?

No additional capacity. It's all related to higher capital inflationary costs that I guess we had not all factored in when we started or when we put out the program in 2022.

Okay, fair enough. Thanks. That's all I had. I'll turn it over. Thank you, Amir.

Thank you. Our next question is from Benoit Poirier from Desjardins Securities. Please go ahead.

Good morning, Eric. Good morning, Benoit. Just to come back Yeah, just to come back on the utilities, when you discuss with customers, what's the overall mood when it comes to CapEx, especially as we are heading into a lower interest rate environment in the U.S.? Are they looking to beef up CapEx for utility people?

Yeah. Well, two parts to the answer. One is when we talk to customers in general, they're really upbeat about their projects, their needs, and, you know, what they want to realize and accomplish, you know, in the next, you know, two to five, six years. So, you know, that's why we remain very confident in the fundamentals of our pole business and believe in continued success. sustained demand for products and even volume growth. But definitely to your point, a lower interest rate environment would definitely be a positive. So I can't, you know, I do think some of our customers, especially for project-driven initiatives, you know, lower interest rates obviously make the returns more attractive for our customers. So I do believe that that would be very positive.

Okay. And just on the railway ties, obviously a very strong first half that's coming from non-Class 1 customers. You mentioned in the opening remarks there will be some taper-off coming from Class 1 customers in the back half. But just curious, on 2025, if you could provide any color about the demand from Class 1 customers but also the non-class one, it seems that the outlook is still robust. So could we see, let's say, a double-digit organic growth for railway ties in 2025, given the earlier comments you made about both subsegments?

Yeah. So we're holding our views of the low single-digit growth, probably more in volume than pricing, because I think we're seeing pricing gains this year compared to last year as we were adjusting pricing. I do see that stabilizing now going forward, and I do think the growth is coming from volume. So to your point, there are some projects that are out there for bid, which we're obviously actively seeking to win. I believe our Class 1 customers remain dedicated to maintaining their networks and that demand keeps flowing through. And we do have a few conversations with some of our Class 1 customers on certain projects which seem very appealing to us. So there is very healthy dynamics in the discussions. I'd be very surprised to see demand taper off, in this case as an overall industry comment. But I guess we still remain with our views of that low single-digit growth.

Okay. And the last one for me, you mentioned the 18% target in terms of EBITDA margin for 2024. But given what you've delivered in the first half and given the positive comments about pricing, demand, the overall mix coming more on the utility side, less exposed to residential and also favorable mix on the railway ties. Could we see even EBITDA margins to expand in the second half versus last year and finish upward to the 18% target that you mentioned earlier on the call?

So typically, Benoit, H2 has a lower average of a down margin than the first happened. Q4 is always a bit of an unknown. It's always a softer quarter. It's always hard to predict if certain class ones will pre-order for 2025. So obviously lower volumes with the current network just increases that average cost just on the fixed cost rate if you want. So, you know, I think we're very comfortable and happy to, you know, up our views on our margin this quarter. But, you know, I think it would be reasonable to achieve the number we put forward.

Okay. Thank you very much for the caller. My pleasure.

Thank you. Our next question is from Michael Topholm from TD Securities. Please go ahead. Thank you.

Good morning.

Morning, Mike.

Morning. Just to clarify, Eric, for the second half of this year, as far as the mix of the drivers to organic growth for utility poles, you're saying sort of 20% to 30% of the expected organic growth should come from pricing? Is that how you're now thinking about it?

Yes, correct.

And as we look out to 2025, you reiterated earlier on the call your expectation for utility poles organic growth of 15% for both this year and 2025. Just in terms of that mix of volume versus price in 2025, would it be similar to what you're thinking about for the second half of this year, where there's sort of a 20% to 30% price component, or is it something different as we think about 2025's mix?

We think pricing could actually be a bit stronger, so it's probably half and half or at least 40% on pricing.

And then you've talked about and have been asked about the previous risk of pricing pressure by utility poles market. Is it fair to say then, I mean, I think the comments were mainly around not expecting really to see those pressures materialize in the second half of this year, but as we look out to 2025, is it fair to say you're not really, like that risk is sort of off the table at this point? You're not seeing that as a risk into next year for the spot market? Is that fair to say?

It's fair to say. We're taking it off the table because the pricing is holding and part of the driver is those requests that are coming out are asking for specific size and length and species of wood and it's It's a product that we maintain in inventory on an ongoing basis, and it seems that we are able to cater to those needs, I guess, more easily. So we're still commanding some healthy pricing there versus, you know, I guess some of these customers not finding exactly the whole profile of what they're looking for elsewhere in the market.

Okay. And then just as we think about next year, again, you've reiterated the proposed 15% organic growth expectation. It sounds to me, maybe you can just confirm, like you haven't really started to see lower rates begin to drive additional volumes in polls, notwithstanding a couple of cuts by the Bank of Canada, and I guess bond yields moving down in the U.S., notwithstanding the Fed's cut. But as you think about 2025, is that 15% organic growth guidance for polls in 2025? Is that assuming benefits from lower rates, or would lower rates be incremental if that drove some further volumes?

So, you know, I don't like to speculate on economic dynamics. So, yes, next year's growth is not assuming significant change in interest rate. You know, to your earlier comment, you know, the rates have dropped in Canada, but the biggest driver for utility spend related to the rate is heavily weighted to the U.S., which we haven't seen drop yet. But, you know, I guess back to... What I was saying is that our guidance does not take into account tailwinds from lower rates and seeing more activity.

Okay, perfect. And just lastly, I think you've sort of touched on it a little bit here in a couple of your comments, but can you just provide an update on You know, any details on new client wins and how you're thinking about the potential growth that could come from that side of things beyond just the existing customers ramping up?

Right. Well, if I, you know, specifically look at 2024, so we did, you know, sign on a few new customers and it took a while for them to sort of, you know, start picking up inventory and building the relationship. So I think we saw some positive effects of that in Q2, and I continue believing that we'll see even more positive effects of that with these same customers for the back half of the year. So obviously that sort of supports our views on volume. And going into next year or future years, we're always courting new customers and bidding on projects and looking for long-term agreements. As I said in my comments, more and more customers or potential customers are seeking a long-term relationship with a supplier that has the proper profile and the proper network in North America to support their needs. So, you know, we keep opening those doors if you want and, you know, looking for new business. But I'm not ready to comment yet for 2025. Okay.

That's helpful. I'll leave it there. Thank you. Thank you, Mikey.

Thank you. Our next question is from Martin Prattier from Veritas Investments. Please go ahead.

Thank you for taking my question. In terms of railway ties, we see very, very strong volumes, and the guidance is like 3% for the year. So are we going to see negative numbers in the second half? I know you said that they will be lower, but will they be negative? Or will we have more than 3% for the year? No.

So, yes, it would be year over year negative. As one class one reduced their program this year, they took most of their volume in the first half of the year. You know, if I look at class one demand, we know what their expectation is for, let's say, 2024. Then they'll use up, I guess, their requirements at different paces. Some of them will do it in the first six months of the year. A lot of them are done usually by the end of September as far as buying ties and finishing up the install process. you know, in early Q4. So in this particular case, yeah, we have seen a bit of a switch or front-loaded for one or two class ones earlier in the year, which does mean that we'll have a bit lesser in the second half. So you really need to look at it on an annual basis just because, you know, depending on the availability of cars, the availability of the crew, the class ones will shift around their demand, and that's where, you know, we need to be on our game to service them well, have the product ready when they need them. That would be, you know, part of... the features that we need to put forward in order to maintain the relationships with our customers and hopefully get larger pieces of their maintenance programs going forward.

Great. And in terms of residential real estate, We've seen a decline that was perhaps a little bit stronger than I expected. Can you comment on how much was volume versus price and how does that look going forward for the second half?

Yeah, it was like all volume. I would say like, you know, 90-90% volume. So pricing has been relatively stable. If you look at lumber prices, so we tracked the 2x6 on random lengths. It's been hovering between 600, 650, 1,000 more foot. So our sales price has been relatively stable to the market. So it's really all about volume. discussions with our customers, they believe that, you know, we could still catch up part of that in the second half of the year that our customers view. We've been a bit more conservative and said, look, we'll look at the lower end of our guidance for now. And, you know, if they do manage to wrap up some volume, it'll be a pleasant surprise for us that, you know, going to the end of the year. But I think our guidance right now is reasonable.

Great. Thank you very much.

My pleasure.

Thank you. Before taking the next question, we'd just like to remind you that if you're on the phone and you wish to ask a question, please press star 1. Our next question is from Benoit Poirier from Desjardins Securities. Please go ahead. Thank you.

There was some very unfortunate events that took place, obviously, in Florida. We've seen Jasper not too long ago, California. So any thoughts about whether it has been an Ed win, a tail win, and the potential implication going forward for you?

Well, you know, every year we have unfortunate fire events, wind storms, different events that impact different regions in North America. So we take a lot of pride in our emergency response and servicing our customers and making sure that we get the power back into communities and supporting obviously emergency services. It's never been a big tailwind. We've never seen a big uptick. I think I've explained a few times in the past that when one region suffers and more efforts are put into changing out some poles and putting some infrastructure, a lot of nearby communities, their utilities will go out and help out. So if there's an event in Texas, you'll see, you know, utilities from Louisiana, for example, go and help out. So when that happens, there's less work happening in Louisiana. So, you know, there could be small upticks. It's never... significant enough for us to call out, if at all sometimes. But I guess, again, the value that we bring is being able to service our customers because they don't have to worry about, are we going to get poles? They know they're going to get them. We have the fleet of trucks, we have the employees, we have the service, we have the inventory, and we have 24-hour availability when storm response is concerned. So I think that's where we show the strength of our network and the strength of our inventory position to support our customers.

Okay, that's great. And maybe just a quick one for Sylvain. Given all the comments made on the call-out, how should we be looking at the working capital movements in Q3 and Q4 and maybe for the full year ahead?

Yes, so we do expect in the second half of the year with the volumes picking up, as we mentioned, for polls, we do expect a drawdown there. So year over year, we are, as we have said, still expecting the inventory levels to be flat. So a drawdown in the second half in order to end up with that flat year over year working capital movement.

Okay, thank you very much. Thank you, Benoit.

We have no further questions in the queue. Thank you.

Thank you, Matthew. And thank you, everyone, for joining us today. We look forward to updating you on our third quarter call in November. Until then, have an enjoyable end of summer and be safe. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect your lines.