William C. Griffiths
Analyst
Thanks, Brent. As you just heard, while our total EPG sales were up a healthy 17% year-over-year, much of this was due to the addition of Aluminite. Excluding this, our North American fenestration sales for the last 12 months were up only 3.4% compared to 10% of window shipments in the same period according to Ducker Worldwide. The 10% increase in window shipments is driven by 3 elements: a 26% increase in multi-family starts; a 20% increase in single family starts; and a 1.3% increase in repair and remodeling. As you know, our product offering is the strongest in highly energy-efficient window components, which are typically found in higher price point windows. These components are particularly suited to the repair and remodeling segment, which unfortunately is still recovering at a sluggish pace. The high-growth new construction markets, both single and multifamily, are generally using lower price point windows, where our current offerings are more limited. Some of the growth opportunities requiring capital, that I talked about earlier, revolve around providing lower-cost components to some of our key customers to satisfy this increase in demand. There is no doubt that the housing recovery is well underway, but it will continue to be led by tight construction costs and, therefore, lower price point windows. We will be accelerating our efforts to participate more fully in this segment, which is growing the fastest. Repair and remodeling, which is our sweet spot, is expected to recover last and at a slower pace. We are already well-positioned in this segment. Internationally, despite tough economic conditions in Europe, we continue to see good growth prospects for our warm edge spacer, and the third IG line in our German facility is now fully operational to help us meet that demand. At Nichols, I continue to be encouraged by the progress the team is making. We continue to see improvements in productivity, on-time deliveries and overall customer satisfaction. Notwithstanding this, however, we continue to be challenged by severe headwinds in the global aluminum markets. Low LME prices, coupled with high scrap prices, continue to pressure net spreads. While a minor improvement from near-record lows is possible in the next few quarters, a meaningful, material recovery in net spreads does not appear likely in the foreseeable future. And finally, a comment on corporate costs. Much of the increase in corporate costs over the past 3 years has been driven by our centralization efforts, and much of that, driven by Project Quest. Accordingly, these costs will decrease next year. We are currently deep into our 2014 budgeting process and major revisions are underway in light of the Project Quest decision. Until this body of work is complete, we do not plan on commenting on future projections. We will, however, provide clarity as soon as our 2014 operating plans are finalized. But in any case, no later than our December earnings call. And with that, we'd be happy to take your questions.