Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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So, basically the suppliers have been running through inventory and drawing down inventories as they transition. I would say, by the time we get through this year, I can’t imagine there’s going to be a whole lot left that’s out there. So, I would say, the vast majority of the shift, I would expect, would have been completed by the time we get through the end of this year. And again, we’re seeing it reflected in the significant volume increases that we’re seeing year-over-year in our CCA and now our new DCOI category. So, once we get into 2024, I would think things would start to, if you will, flatten out in terms of replacement of Penta and it will be more along the lines of whatever the organic growth rates might be.

Laurence Alexander: Okay. Great. And then, with the steel and aluminum exposure in CMC, can you talk a little bit about how the supply dynamics are different this cycle? If there is a recessionary slowdown, how much less cyclicality you might see compared to the last two downturns?

Leroy Ball: Yes. Well, I think with where we’re at right now, and obviously it depends on how deep things could get. There’s — with what we’re dealing with now, there’s such a, if you will, a backlog of demand that everybody has been trying to work through that I think helps to absorb the blow, if you will, as things pull back. And that’s really, I think, our expectations for this year is that whatever happens, if you will, from a global macro standpoint that essentially the backlog may diminish there may be projects that get shelved and things like that. But it’s not eating into — we’re not essentially working to new orders at this point. So we feel pretty confident that at least through this year, we should be in pretty decent shape.

We’ll see as the year goes on how projects get added or not and where we might stand going into ’24. But at least as it stands for the current year, we think we’re not totally insulated but in pretty decent shape to provide an even softer demand profile as the year goes on.

Laurence Alexander: Okay. Great. And then, just one last one just on the capital profile. Can you give your current thinking around potentially refinancing debt earlier? It seems like every couple of weeks, people on the credit side flip flop as to whether we’re heading to higher rates for longer or sort of it’s better to wait to see how rates contract sort of over the next 18, 24 months. But just can you give us a sense for how you’re thinking about managing sort of the risk on the refi side?

Jimmi Sue Smith: Thanks, Laurence. This is Jimmi Sue. We are constantly monitoring the market, and certainly we’ll be looking for a productive window here in 2023 to avoid the bonds going current in early ’24.

Laurence Alexander: Okay, great. Okay. Thank you.

Operator: Showing no further questions, this concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to President and CEO, Leroy Ball, for any closing remarks.

Leroy Ball: Thank you. And I just, again, want to thank the employees of Koppers for a great performance in 2022. A lot of hard work went into achieving the results that we were able to post for this past year. We feel great about the next couple of years coming and, again, look forward to delivering upon the plan that we have presented. And thanks, everybody, for your support.

Operator: The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect.

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