SECURE Waste Infrastructure Corp. (TSX:SES)
Canada flag Canada · Delayed Price · Currency is CAD
22.94
-0.36 (-1.55%)
Apr 27, 2026, 4:00 PM EST
← View all transcripts

Earnings Call: Q1 2025

May 2, 2025

Operator

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Secure Waste Infrastructure Corp Q1 2025 results conference call. At this time, all lines are in listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. This call is being recorded on Friday, May 2, 2025. I would now like to turn the conference over to Alison Prokop. Please go ahead.

Alison Prokop
Director and Corporate Finance, Secure

Thank you, and good morning to everyone who is listening to the call. Welcome to Secure's Conference Call for the First Quarter of 2025. Joining me on the call today is Allen Gransch, our President and Chief Executive Officer, Chad Magus, our Chief Financial Officer, and Corey Higham, our Chief Operating Officer.

During the call today, we will make forward-looking statements related to future performance, and we will refer to certain financial measures and ratios that do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and may not be comparable to similar financial measures or ratios disclosed by other companies. The forward-looking statements reflect the current views of Secure with respect to future events and are based on certain key expectations and assumptions considered reasonable by Secure.

This forward-looking information addresses future events and conditions by their very nature. They involve inherent assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to numerous factors and risks. Please refer to our continuous disclosure documents available on SEDAR+ as they identify risk factors applicable to Secure, factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements, and identify and define our non-GAAP measures.

Today, we will review our financial and operational results for the three months ended March 31, 2025. I will now turn the call over to Allen.

Allen Gransch
CEO, Secure Energy

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining today's call. We are pleased to report a solid start to 2025, reflecting the consistency of our infrastructure-backed business model. Amid recessionary concerns and lower commodity prices, our operations continue to generate high-quality earnings and stable cash flow, underpinned by our recurring waste volumes tied to production and industrial activity.

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was CAD 121 million, representing a 33% EBITDA margin and stable performance on a pro forma basis after removing the CAD 13 million of adjusted EBITDA from the facilities that we sold to Waste Connections on February 1, 2024. Extreme cold weather in February temporarily softened some activity levels, but our base business and strategic investments continued to deliver.

On a per-share basis, adjusted EBITDA increased 24% from the first quarter of 2024 pro forma, reinforcing the value of our capital return strategy. This increase is driven by an 18% reduction in our weighted average shares outstanding year over year, along with strong infrastructure utilization and contributions from recent growth projects and acquisitions.

In the first quarter of 2025, we continued our buyback strategy, reflecting our strong conviction in the intrinsic value of the business and our commitment to returning capital to shareholders. In total, we repurchased 5.3 million common shares, or approximately 2% of our total outstanding shares, for a total cost of CAD 79 million. In April, we launched a CAD 200 million substantial issuer bid, accelerating our share buybacks plan for 2025.

Together with our dividend, we are on track to return nearly CAD 400 million to shareholders in the year while continuing to invest in growth and maintain our financial strength. This morning, we announced an increase to our 2025 organic growth capital program to CAD 125 million, up from CAD 85 million, supported by a 10-year commercial agreement with senior Montney producer.

Key projects planned for 2025 include constructing two greenfield water disposal facilities with integrated pipelines in the Montney region of Alberta to accommodate growing producer volumes. These new facilities are both backed by 10-year produced water contracts with large reputable counterparties. One of the new facilities will be operational in the fourth quarter, while the second facility is scheduled to come online in the first quarter of 2026.

In March, we completed phase three expansion of our Clearwater terminal, adding treating capabilities for trucked-in emulsion volumes and increasing capacities to 75,000 barrels per day. This expansion, as I mentioned, came into service this first quarter. Reopening and upgrading an industrial waste facility in Alberta's industrial heartland is expected to be operational in the third quarter.

Purchasing incremental rail cars to bring Secure's fleet to approximately 200 cars, increasing the efficiency of our metal recycling logistics and distribution operations. Finally, ongoing optimization efforts across our network to increase volume throughput and drive same-store sales adjusted EBITDA growth. We also closed the acquisition of an Edmonton-based metal recycling business on January 31 for CAD 162 million, including certain working capital.

This acquisition strengthens our processing capabilities, adds scale and supply diversification, and improves logistics through our investment in rail cars. We have also determined not to proceed with the previously announced CAD 18 million acquisition in our metal recycling business due to final due diligence outcomes. We are maintaining our 2025 full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance ` of CAD 510 million-CAD 540 million.

Our outlook reflects a more cautious stance in light of ongoing macroeconomic volatility, including uncertainty surrounding tariffs, recessionary concerns, and the recent decline in commodity prices. Now, while these factors have contributed to a weaker economic outlook and increased uncertainty for our customers, they assess potential impacts on their businesses, and we believe our guidance range has sufficient flexibility to accommodate these conditions, along with the impact of our decision not to proceed with the CAD 18 million acquisition in the metals recycling business.

The long-term fundamentals for our business remain intact: consistent energy demand, mandated liability reduction, and steady industrial activity. Our infrastructure supports reoccurring waste streams and is built to perform across cycles. We provide critical regulatory-driven services through our infrastructure, helping our customers meet environmental obligations while ensuring safe, compliant waste handling.

With a strong balance sheet and robust cash flows, we remain well-positioned to fund growth, return capital, and maintain a leverage ratio below our target range of 2-2.5 times debt to EBITDA. I'll now turn the call over to Chad to walk through our Q1 financial results in more detail.

Chad Magus
CFO, Secure

Thanks, Allen, and good morning, everyone. Our first quarter performance highlights the strength and stability of our core business, with per-share metrics underscoring the positive impact of our strategic buybacks over the past year. Financial highlights for the first quarter include net revenue of CAD 371 million, up 3% year over year.

Growth was driven by our metals recycling acquisition, higher pricing at our waste processing facilities and landfills, and increased volumes at our Clearwater facility following the phase two expansion, which came into service in the second quarter of 2024. These gains were partially offset by the divestiture of 29 facilities on February 1 last year, lower processing volumes during a period of extreme cold in February, and reduced arbitrage opportunities in our storage and trading business.

Net income was CAD 38 million, or CAD 0.16 per share.

The prior year included a significant gain on the asset divestitures, and as a result, net income this quarter appears lower but reflects more typical operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA was CAD 121 million, up 2% year over year pro forma. On a per-share basis, adjusted EBITDA of CAD 0.52 was up 24% year over year pro forma, reflecting the impact of a lower share count from buybacks. Our adjusted EBITDA margin was 33% of net revenue, consistent with full-year expectations post-acquisition of the metals recycling business. Discretionary free cash flow was CAD 67 million, reflecting a 55% conversion of adjusted EBITDA. This was driven by low sustaining capital, minimal debt servicing, and a favorable tax position. We continue to expect to spend CAD 85 million of sustaining capital in 2025, CAD 15 million associated with our asset retirement obligations, and record CAD 60-65 million of current taxes.

29 million in growth capital was deployed in the quarter. This included the completion of the phase three expansion of Clearwater, which increased its capacity and adds processing capabilities. We also advanced the upgrades on an industrial waste facility, continued construction on our previously announced Montney water disposal facility, as well as added rail cars for our metals recycling operations. We paid a quarterly dividend of CAD 0.10 per share, representing an attractive 3% yield. We intend to maintain the CAD 0.40 per share annualized dividend, which equates to approximately CAD 92 million annualized based on our shares outstanding as of quarter end. As Allen noted, we repurchased over 5.3 million shares for CAD 79 million under the normal course issuer bid, or NCIB, in the quarter. On April 8, we launched a substantial issuer bid, or SIB, to repurchase up to CAD 200 million of common shares.

The offer is being conducted through a modified Dutch auction with a price range of CAD 12 to CAD 14.50 per share and an option for proportionate tender. The high end of the offer reflects a premium of approximately 10% on our closing share price yesterday. The offer remains open until May 14th. Further NCIB activity following the SIB will be at the discretion of management and board. CAD 13.6 million shares remain available for repurchase under the NCIB, which expires on December 17th, 2025. As of the end of the first quarter, we had CAD 300 million in fixed debt and CAD 255 million drawn on our CAD 800 million revolver, leaving us with significant liquidity to execute our capital plans. Our total debt-to-EBITDA ratio was 1.6 times, or 1.3 times excluding leases, well below our long-term target range of 2-2.5 times.

With that, I'll pass over to Corey to discuss our Q1 operational highlights.

Corey Higham
COO, Secure Waste Infrastructure Corp

Thanks, Chad. Operationally, our teams delivered solid results despite challenging conditions in February, including extreme cold that impacted field activity. In the waste management segment, at our waste processing facilities, we safely processed on average 99,000 barrels per day of produced water and 40,000 barrels per day of slurry and emulsion. We also recovered 289,000 barrels of oil from waste streams, reinforcing the value we create. Landfill disposal volumes remained strong, with 846,000 tons safely contained across our network. The newly acquired Edmonton-based metals recycling business adds significant scale to our operations, approximately doubling the scrap metal we expect to handle across our network.

We now have 12 facilities across western Canada and are seeking to drive volumes from our secondary yard to the Edmonton hub to increase utilization of the shredder, reducing processing costs and driving higher margins. Integration of the acquired staff and infrastructure is going extremely well, and we expect to achieve the full run rate of synergies from the acquisition in 2026. Our specialty chemicals business continued to perform well, with strong demand, increasing market share, and a favorable mix of higher margin products contributing to the segment's results. In the energy infrastructure segment, first quarter terminaling and pipeline volumes averaged 128,000 barrels per day, an increase of 16% pro forma, due primarily to the phase two expansion of the Clearwater terminal, which came into service in June 2024. Secure continues to benefit from stable, recurring production-related volumes across our infrastructure network.

Approximately 80% of our adjusted EBITDA is tied to ongoing production industrial activity, while the remaining 20% is linked to drilling and completions. While we may see some slowdown in capital spending as our customers approach the current environment with caution, emphasizing discipline and operational efficiency, production-driven waste volumes are expected to remain steady, highlighting the resilience of our business model. To support long-term growth, we increased our 2025 capital program by CAD 40 million, bringing the total expected spend in 2025 to CAD 125 million. The increase reflects a second new Montney water infrastructure facility and pipeline connection, backed by a 10-year commercial agreement signed during the quarter. One of the new facilities will be operational in Q4, while the second new facility is scheduled to come online in early 2026. We continue to optimize throughput, increase efficiency, and align capacity with long-term demand across industrial, energy, and metals waste streams.

All 2025 growth projects are advancing safely and on schedule, and we're seeing strong interest from our customers for additional capacity. I'll now pass it back to Allen for closing remarks. Thanks, Corey. In summary, Secure's performance in the first quarter reflects our strength as a waste and energy infrastructure business. Our capital allocation priorities continue to focus on stock buybacks, as both management and the board continue to maintain the shares of the company are undervalued, and these repurchases under the NCIB and now SIB support that conviction. We are also excited to increase our 2025 organic capital spend to CAD 125 million, where 73% or over CAD 90 million of our capital spend is backed by long-term contracts. Organic growth opportunities and M&A are key elements of our strategy.

We were also pleased to close the Edmonton acquisition in the quarter as the mega shredder provides significant operational efficiencies key to our hub and spoke strategy of driving volumes to this central location. With our leverage ratio of 1.3 times at quarter end, the corporation remains underlevered following the Waste Connections asset sale last year and our continued strong cash flow generation. This provides us significant flexibility to execute on our strategy, scale the business for the future, and create value for shareholders through buybacks, dividends, and disciplined investment. We look forward to updating you on our progress throughout the year. With that, I'll turn it over to the operator for questions.

Operator

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll now begin the question and answer session. Should you have a question, please press the star followed by the number one on your touchstone phone. You will hear a prompt that your hand has been raised. Should you wish to decline from the polling process, please press the star followed by the number two. If you are using a speakerphone, please lift the handset before pressing any keys. One moment, please, for your first question. Your first question is from Konark Gupta from Scotiabank. Please go ahead.

Konark Gupta
Equity Research Analyst, Scotiabank

Thanks, Alberto. Good morning, everyone. Allen, you're sounding on the guidance side of things. You're sounding cautioned on macro and commodity prices, yet the guidance is still the same without any incremental amenity that you announced today or contribution from the new contract that you just disclosed. Just wondering, are there any areas in your business where things are stronger than you expected back in December, and that's offsetting any of the market weakness you might be baking into guidance?

Allen Gransch
CEO, Secure Energy

Morning, Konark. Yeah, thanks for your question. Yeah, I think when we look at our guidance range, we look at it and say there's room on the range based on what we're seeing today. I mean, obviously, there's been lots of uncertainty in the first quarter with tariffs and the tariffs impacting overall global markets and do we head into a recession. Not saying that those don't factor in, but I think when we look at our guidance and we look at what we're seeing into Q2, I mean, activity still remains relatively robust. I mean, our customers are generally looking at the impact that they're going to have to their own business on what their operating cash flow is, with the biggest one being the price of WTI coming off $10. How does that impact their cash flows? Do they make any adjustments accordingly?

So far through our conversations, I think there's a cautious approach from our customers, but they don't seem to be moving in a direction that we think would result in significantly lower activity at this time. We're going to maintain, and each quarter we'll update if the range is still appropriate. I mean, obviously, it comes off a little bit with us not going ahead with the acquisition on the metal recycling business. I mean, that will pull down a little bit on our numbers, but so far we're confident that the activity levels are strong enough to continue on this guidance range through 2025.

Konark Gupta
Equity Research Analyst, Scotiabank

Okay, that makes sense. Just to be clear, when you talk about the customers who are kind of saying they're not looking to significantly reduce activity, is that because you're more skewed to production and drilling guys would be impacted somewhat incrementally?

Allen Gransch
CEO, Secure Energy

That's correct. Yeah, that's correct. I think when we look at the amount that we're exposed to drilling and completion, it's relatively small, call it in that 20% range. If they make small adjustments, we're talking very small percentages in terms of volumes that are coming into our facility. When I look at production and production being maintained and stable, that's where I get a lot of confidence on the stability of the cash flow. That's correct.

Konark Gupta
Equity Research Analyst, Scotiabank

Okay, that's great. If I can follow up on the new contract you got, congrats on that. It seems like the big 10-year contract. Any sense on how much return on capital you expect from this over the 10-year time frame? Is there room to expand beyond the anchor customer you have?

Allen Gransch
CEO, Secure Energy

Yeah, when we look at any of our business development opportunities, our goal is to ultimately target a 20% after-tax IRR. When we look at these specific projects, part of the project is guaranteed and backed by our customer, call it in that 75% range. And we're typically targeting IRRs that are in that, call it 15, 16 percentage points where we're getting additional IRR points would be area dedications from that customer as well as third-party volumes that we can take to make sure we get the utilization of that facility wrapped up. There is this level of confidence that you can go and execute on the project knowing that you got a base level of guaranteed returns, but you also have upside to hit our targeted thresholds. We're just seeing a lot of water volumes in the Montney.

The water cuts are high and they're continuing to grow. I think our customers recognize we have so much expertise in water management and specifically the chemistries involved in filtration and mechanically separating out some potential solids and then ultimately disposing of it. They're leveraging off that expertise and saying, "We'll outsource. Outsource to Secure." I do think this is the second now kind of Montney water disposal project that we're executing in 2025. These projects have further opportunities to expand because I think as these customers of ours continue to expand their activity in these areas, they're going to need more water offtake. Once you have that base level of infrastructure, you're really just bolting on what I would call brownfield expansions where the returns look better.

That's the whole point of utilizing existing infrastructure, adding to that infrastructure, and making the waste aspect of what producers deal with every day. We handle that for them on their behalf.

Konark Gupta
Equity Research Analyst, Scotiabank

Okay, that's great to hear that. Thank you so much for the time.

Allen Gransch
CEO, Secure Energy

Thanks, Konark.

Operator

The next question is from Patrick Kenney from National Bank Financial. Please go ahead.

Patrick Kenney
Managing Director and Research Analyst, National Bank Financial

Thank you. Good morning. I guess just on the upsized growth CapEx budget, just wanted to check in to see if you're still pursuing other commercial opportunities from here that, if successful, might push the growth budget for the year even higher. Are you looking to take a bit of a pause now on adding more organic growth projects until, say, next year or at least until things settle out on the macro front?

Allen Gransch
CEO, Secure Energy

Morning, Patrick. Yeah, I think we're at 125, which is above what we typically have done if you look at last year. This type of range, CAD 100 million-CAD 125 million, when I look at our engineering and construction team and our business development team and being able to execute on that project, on these type of projects, we definitely have the team and the capabilities to do it. Right now, a lot of our focus and our hopper for 2026 and 2027 is where we're driving a lot more of our thoughts around where does that organic capital look like for 2026. I would say right now, if I were to look at the various areas, so we've got we completed that treater expansion at Nipisi, so that's complete. These two facilities will be ongoing construction in Q3 and Q4.

We've got our Redwater facility, which is a class 1A hazardous facility where we can take hazardous waste. That facility will be under construction as well. We're pretty excited about that. It really allows an opportunity for us to go after some of the specialty waste in markets where we're seeing the volumes exit the province. We think we have a pretty strategic asset to get that complete. We have conviction in completing these capital programs because we understand the market or we're contract back. The uncertainty that we're all facing from businesses right now is supported by the fact that we've got these longer-term arrangements with great counterparties. To answer your question, I don't foresee in the rest of the year that we're going to increase this organic capital program.

We're already thinking about 2026, but what we do have right now, we're willing and able to execute on. We continue to add to our hopper of opportunities, which is great because we want to handle more and more waste from our customers.

Patrick Kenney
Managing Director and Research Analyst, National Bank Financial

Okay, that's helpful. I guess on the buybacks, assuming there's full take-up of the SIB, it sounds like you might take a bit of a pause on the NCIB afterwards. Is that more a function of just wanting to maintain a bit more liquidity and cushion on the balance sheet in this environment, or is there some other technicality that might be holding you back from fully executing the NCIB for the remainder of the year?

Chad Magus
CFO, Secure

Good morning, Patrick. It's Chad. I'm not sure we'll take a pause. I think we'll see how much uptake we get on this SIB. Obviously, we still got quite a bit of room under the NCIB. Ultimately, it'll depend on where we're trading and where we think our EBITDA is going to be and where the valuation is and whether we think it's a good move for shareholders to be allocating that capital to buying back shares. I'd say it'll be a little bit of a wait and see, but we still got lots of capacity on our balance sheet to continue to buy back shares. I anticipate at these current levels that we would continue to support the NCIB throughout the remainder of the year.

Patrick Kenney
Managing Director and Research Analyst, National Bank Financial

Okay, great. Last one for me, if I could, just the decision not to proceed with the ABC Recycling out of Kentucky in there. Was that just a function of getting in under the hood and seeing the quality of the inventory, or was it something with the operations? I guess how does this maybe change your due diligence process and the way you might be thinking about pursuing other tuck-in opportunities in the space going forward?

Chad Magus
CFO, Secure

Yeah, I think when we look at acquisitions, we go through a number of things in terms of we want to make sure that we're doing our own due diligence on what's happening in terms of volumes that come into the facility, how they're processed, where they're sold, reviewing our own economics associated with how the business is operating. We look at whether there's environmental liabilities. We look at the people. We look at the equipment. All of these have to meet our expectations. You're right. As you do due diligence and work through these areas, you do uncover some things. Unfortunately, at those points in time, you have to have a question of, "Okay, do we want to adjust our model?

Do we want to adjust our returns and have those frank conversations with the sellers? If you can't meet on where you agree, we're happy to walk away. I mean, we don't need to do these deals. We do deals that we think are going to be accretive to our operations, accretive to overall shareholder value. We're happy to walk away if it doesn't meet our expectations. I would say every business deal is different. We have over CAD 100 million of other metal recycling opportunities in the hopper that, from an M&A perspective, I think having our strategic hub here in Edmonton, they make a lot of sense when we think about transportation and operational synergies with running the shredder and just having more scale. We want to continue to vet through those. I don't think we're in any rush.

We're right in the midst of integrating that General acquisition. As Corey noted, it's going very, very well. We want to make sure everything's running very, very smooth as we continue to bolt on other M&A opportunities here throughout the year or into 2026. As I said, yeah, you get through deals and sometimes they don't work out, and we're happy to exit that and continue on.

Patrick Kenney
Managing Director and Research Analyst, National Bank Financial

Okay, that's great. I'll leave it there. Appreciate all the comments.

Operator

Your next question is from Arthur Nagorny from RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Arthur Nagorny
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets

Hey, good morning. Just wanted to follow up on the earlier question around tariffs, but focusing on the metals recycling business. Are you seeing any meaningful impacts on demand or prices so far across your US and Canadian customers?

Corey Higham
COO, Secure Waste Infrastructure Corp

Hey, good morning, Arthur. It's Corey. Certainly around tariffs, between the CUSMA approach with President Trump, we've got a lot of clarity around tariffs with respect to our business today. Under the Canadian-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, there's no tariffs impacting our revenue line items today around our metals recycling business. It's not really any different than what Allen has commented about. We're continually talking with our downstream buyers. There will be some uncertainty as we move through the China and U.S. fight. Most of our downstream markets are in Canada, so we're not seeing a major impact yet, but we'll continue to engage and monitor the situation.

Arthur Nagorny
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets

That's helpful. Just on the new Montney project, specifically the one that's coming online in Q4 here, do you expect any meaningful contribution in 2025, or is that going to be kind of coming online closer to the end of the quarter?

Corey Higham
COO, Secure Waste Infrastructure Corp

Yeah, you'll see more impact in that into Q1 2026.

Arthur Nagorny
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets

Okay. I guess just sticking on that too, I think you mentioned the contracts are more area dedication. Just wondering if you can maybe detail that out a little bit and maybe help us with whether there's more kind of take-or-pay elements to those contracts as well.

Allen Gransch
CEO, Secure Energy

Hey, Arthur, it's Allen. Yeah, no, the contract terms on the area dedication would be above the 75% that is committed into these facilities. We look to lock down at least a few IRR points above our cost of capital. When we think about area dedication, it would really be taking on some level of risk. When we're talking about 20% after-tax IRR, you have to have risk associated with those returns. We always look at risk and returns on an adjusted basis and how much risk we're taking and what we're willing to accept. When we talk about area dedication, area dedication means you're in the future, you're going to develop the acreage and continue to produce more volumes, which if you're thinking about commitments, no one wants to overcommit until they actually start getting into it.

The probability of them going ahead and developing the acreage with all the infrastructure that they have and how we support that on the waste side, you get a high level of confidence that the area dedication volumes are going to come to fruition. On top of that, this area is so busy right now. A lot of the volumes are migrating two, three hours on a truck ride. You got more conviction that if you had a transportation differential that is closer so your producer or your customer can deliver without having to truck it two hours away, that obviously plays into your utilization and your economics. Time value of money is really important in driving this kind of 90%-95% utilization at these facilities.

Part of it, I'd say 25% is more on your adjusted rate of return based on risk and what we share with our customers and to be able to progress forward. And then part of it is we have to have some level of conviction that there's a guarantee based on our own cost of capital.

Arthur Nagorny
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets

All right. That's perfect. Thank you. I guess just one last question for me. Just wanted to follow up on the metals recycling acquisition. I think Corey, you touched on it a little bit, but just wondering how integration is going so far and if there's anything that's kind of surprised you. I know it's still early days, but are things generally going along according to plan, or is there anything that I guess, yeah, has surprised you so far? Thank you.

Allen Gransch
CEO, Secure Energy

In a nutshell, it's going fantastic. We've had the keys to the car here for about three months now. When you do a large acquisition like this, we put a lot of time and energy internally on integration and whether that's operational procedures, the people, our customers, etc. It's going fantastic. We've spent a lot of time dealing with the staff. As most of you know, none of these businesses work without people. The people that we've acquired have been fantastic, and things are going great.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, should you have any questions, please press the star key followed by the number one. I am showing we do have one more question from Konark Gupta from Scotiabank. Please go ahead.

Konark Gupta
Equity Research Analyst, Scotiabank

Thanks. Sorry, just getting back here on a quick follow-up for pricing. In these kind of environments, Allen, did you expect pricing? I know you took some pricing increase over the last few years, but did you expect pricing as we head into 2026 to soften down a bit as commodity prices are being volatile? Obviously, the macro is not pretty clear at this point. Do you see the infrastructure that you have provides enough value to your customers that you can still push some pricing increases regardless of the environment?

Allen Gransch
CEO, Secure Energy

Thanks, Konark. Yeah, I think when you look at the overall environment today, what tariffs do is they raise the cost of everything. They're a sales tax. Your cost of goods or services are going to go up because of these tariffs that are going to be in place in Canada and in the United States. We are going to have inflationary effects. We have seen that continuation from 2024 into 2025 as part of our cost structure. We are looking at it in terms of how it is impacting our business, whether it is chemical cost, power cost, labor cost, and looking at the impact to the margin. Our customers see the same thing. We want to make sure that we are managing those inflationary costs through price increases. A bit of that is dialogue with our customers.

We just raised prices here in the start of 2025. Obviously, I want a lot more things to play out through the remainder of 2025 and see what the recessionary backdrop looks like and what the economic outlook looks like. We will re-enter into those discussions. I think there are some areas where there's a justification for pricing increases. It's probably some areas where we got to be a bit more thoughtful on how we want to approach it. I think we can have that open dialogue with our customers because these are impacts that we're seeing to our business, to their business, and we have those conversations. The answer is potentially, yes.

Konark Gupta
Equity Research Analyst, Scotiabank

Right. That makes sense. To be sure, the inflationary effects that you might be seeing with the tariffs, to what magnitude are these incrementally or above the base inflation that we are seeing? Are we talking a few percentage points, or these are mid to high single impacts?

Allen Gransch
CEO, Secure Energy

Right now, we're seeing pretty low. I'd say it in the one to two points as you've described, but that could change, right? I mean, I've never seen so many changes and flip-flops on tariffs in two months. That uncertainty and what it looks like going forward could impact it. Your 1%-2% comment's fair. I'm not seeing the higher single digits for sure.

Okay. That's great. Appreciate the time again. Thank you.

Thank you.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, once again, as a reminder, should you have any questions, please press the star key followed by the number one. We will pause for further questions. There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call over to Allen Gransch for closing remarks.

Allen Gransch
CEO, Secure Energy

Thanks, everyone, for being on the conference call today. A taped broadcast of the call will be available on Secure's website. I invite you all to attend today's annual and special meeting of shareholders. At this meeting, among other things, shareholders have the opportunity to vote on our board of directors, our incentive plan, and Secure's approach to executive compensation. The meeting will be conducted via live audio conference call, and the details on how to dial in can be found on our website. Finally, we look forward to providing you with updates on Secure's second quarter results on July 29th. Thank you.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating and ask that you please disconnect your lines.

Powered by