Constellium SE (NYSE:CSTM) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Jack Guo: Yes, Curt, maybe I’ll take this one. So I think – I mean, first of all, a tremendous achievement in the fourth quarter, as you’ve noted. And with a margin profile that’s over €300 per ton. I would say when we look at 2024, it will continue to be a year transition in terms of costs. Yes, inflation has moderated, has eased but the absolute cost level remained substantial in terms of labor energy. We do have a slower start in some of the end markets that Jean-Marc talked about they have the weather event Muscle Shoals that’s impacting first quarter results. And the aluminum market aluminum price remains low, which obviously impacts our scrap profit in the business unit. So I think 2024 expected to be a year in transition, probably some for modeling perspective similar to 2023, but we’ll look – we’re confident in getting the margin profile to over €300 per ton over time.

Curt Woodworth: Okay. And then in terms of the aerospace, can you talk a little bit about volume expectations for this year in terms of how your nominations have come in? And then you noted Airware continues to be strong. So should we expect that your mix profile will be similar or better in 2024 relative to 2023?

Jack Guo: Yes. It will continue to be favorable. We had favorable micro mix within aerospace within A&T, and within aerospace portfolio. So continue to expect that going forward into 2024. And then in terms of volume, we do expect volume to be higher in 2024 versus 2023.

Jean-Marc Germain: But not yet at pre-COVID levels.

Curt Woodworth: Okay. And then maybe just lastly, in terms of the guidance, what is the expectation for the net price realization this year?

Jean-Marc Germain: What do you mean by net price realization cut? Sorry.

Curt Woodworth: Do you expect net price to be favorable, so your price and mix will offset inflationary pressures in the business? And if so, to what extent?

Jean-Marc Germain: I see. Well, I don’t think we want to go into that level of detail, Curt. I think we are very comfortable with our guidance of €740 million to €770 million. There’s many moving parts to it. So clearly, with less inflation, there will be less of a price mix benefit with less cost pressure, exactly how it pans out. It’s a bit too early to tell.

Curt Woodworth: All right. Thanks very much.

Jean-Marc Germain: Thank you.

Jack Guo: Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from Josh Sullivan with The Benchmark Company. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Joshua Sullivan: Good morning.

Jean-Marc Germain: Good morning, Josh.

Joshua Sullivan: Just within the Aerospace segment, you mentioned good visibility. But just given the potential moving production timelines from one of the aero OEMs here, are there any noticeable changes in either min/maxes or contract prices in different geographies at this point?

Jean-Marc Germain: Not really, Josh. I mean as you know, we are more exposed to Airbus than we are to Boeing. That was the case before the 737 MAX issues and all the tail of issues that Boeing has had to deal with. So we are even less exposed to Boeing today than we were at the time. It continues to be an important, a very important customer of ours. But in the grand scheme of things because we are on so many platforms, with so many OEMs. If one aircraft doesn’t sell, another one sells, and we are also in that aircraft. So all-in-all, we are not seeing an impact for us, and the demand continues to be very strong. Our pricing is essentially set through our multiyear contracts. So we got very good visibility.

Joshua Sullivan: And then maybe just on Airware. As wide-body production increases, where are you on Airware capacity? Are you positioned with enough to meet end of decade kind of A350, A220 production plans here?

Jean-Marc Germain: So we are starting to be quite tight on capacity, and we will be looking at ways to expand our capacity in that segment.

Joshua Sullivan: Got it. And then just one more, just given some delays in some of these proposed new packaging capacity projects throughout the industry, have you seen any customer response for Constellium engagement, I guess, just looking at your capacity is more stable?

Jean-Marc Germain: Yes. So Josh, yes, there’s a little bit of a shift to the right in terms of how the market is developing. What it means for us is some of the investments we are planning to make, we will push them out to later in time, which means that you should expect our CapEx to be in 2025 and onwards, a little bit lower than what we communicated at the time of the Investor Day two years ago. And that’s just reflecting the realities of the market and back to the capital allocation discussion, making sure that we put our dollars to the best return possible.

Joshua Sullivan: Okay. Thank you for the time.

Jean-Marc Germain: Sure.

Operator: [Operator Instructions] We now turn to Sean Wondrack with Deutsche Bank. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Sean Wondrack: Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my questions, today. The first one housekeeping here. The UAW strike, was there any impact in Q4? I don’t think so, but just wanted to check there?

Jean-Marc Germain: Yes. So it did have a bit of an impact, Sean. But the few million dollars of EBITDA in Q4.

Sean Wondrack: Okay. Great. And then what you think….

Jean-Marc Germain: Sean, and essentially in AS&I.