Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc (ARCO) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our second quarter 2023 earnings webcast. With us today are Marcelo Rabach, our Chief Executive Officer; Luis Raganato, our Chief Operating Officer; and Mariano Tannenbaum, our Chief Financial Officer.

大家早上好，感謝您參加我們的 2023 年第二季度收益網絡廣播。今天與我們在一起的有我們的首席執行官馬塞洛·拉巴赫 (Marcelo Rabach)； Luis Raganato，我們的首席運營官；以及我們的首席財務官馬里亞諾·坦南鮑姆 (Mariano Tannenbaum)。

Today's webcast, which is being recorded, will consist of prepared remarks from our leadership team, which will be accompanied by a slide presentation, also available in the Investors section of our website, www.arcosdorados.com/ir.

今天正在錄製的網絡廣播將包括我們領導團隊準備好的言論，並附有幻燈片演示，也可以在我們網站 www.arcosdorados.com/ir 的投資者部分中查看。

As a reminder, to better review the presentation on the webcast platform, please scroll over the upper left-hand part of the screen and click on the arrows to maximize the slides. After we conclude our opening remarks, we will answer your questions, which you can submit using the chat function on the left-hand side of the screen. You will need to minimize the slides to access the chat function.

提醒一下，為了更好地查看網絡直播平台上的演示文稿，請滾動屏幕的左上方部分，然後單擊箭頭以最大化幻燈片。在我們結束開場白後，我們將回答您的問題，您可以使用屏幕左側的聊天功能提交這些問題。您需要最小化幻燈片才能訪問聊天功能。

Today's call will contain forward-looking statements, and I refer you to the forward-looking statements section of our earnings release and recent filings with the SEC. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new or changed events or circumstances. In addition to reporting financial results in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, we report certain non-GAAP financial results.

今天的電話會議將包含前瞻性聲明，我建議您參閱我們的收益發布和最近向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中的前瞻性聲明部分。我們不承擔更新或修改任何前瞻性陳述以反映新的或變化的事件或情況的義務。除了根據公認會計原則報告財務業績外，我們還報告某些非公認會計準則財務業績。

Investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial results as compared with GAAP results, which can be found in the press release and unaudited financial statements filed today with the SEC on Form 6-K. Marcelo, over to you.

我們鼓勵投資者審查這些非 GAAP 財務業績與 GAAP 業績的對比情況，這可以在今天向 SEC 提交的新聞稿和未經審計的財務報表（表格 6-K）中找到。馬塞洛，交給你了。

Thank you, Dan. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. For the last several years, Arcos Dorados has capitalized on its unique position in the Latin American QSR industry. We operate the industry's favorite brand and benefit from structural competitive advantages that position us to sustain recent trends for years to come as we capture the McDonald's Brand's full growth potential. By consistently executing our "Three D's" strategy Digital, Delivery and Drive-thru, we are generating strong sales growth. Restaurant volumes continue to increase largely because we offer guests an unmatched combination of quality, value and convenience. This has led to sales growth well above inflation. That, in turn, helps us leverage our fixed costs and sustainably grow our EBITDA in U.S. dollars. We are also deploying capital better than ever, generating above average returns on restaurant openings.

謝謝你，丹。大家早上好，感謝您今天加入我們。過去幾年，Arcos Dorados 充分利用了其在拉丁美洲 QSR 行業的獨特地位。我們經營著業界最受歡迎的品牌，並受益於結構性競爭優勢，這些優勢使我們能夠在未來幾年保持最新趨勢，同時抓住麥當勞品牌的全部增長潛力。通過始終如一地執行我們的“3D”戰略（數字化、交付和得來速），我們實現了強勁的銷售增長。餐廳數量持續增長，很大程度上是因為我們為客人提供無與倫比的質量、價值和便利。這導致銷售增長遠高於通貨膨脹。反過來，這有助於我們利用固定成本並持續增長以美元計算的 EBITDA。我們還比以往更好地部署資本，在開設餐廳方面產生高於平均水平的回報。

Importantly, these investments provide more than just financial returns. They also make us the largest generators of first-time job opportunities for young people in the region. These first-time jobs can lead to long-term opportunities as they did for me and for so many other people across Arcos Dorados who began their careers in one of our restaurants. I hope we can inspire even more young people to join the Arcos Dorados family and build a better future for their families, communities and the planet.

重要的是，這些投資提供的不僅僅是財務回報。它們還使我們成為該地區年輕人首次就業機會的最大創造者。這些第一次工作可以帶來長期的機會，就像他們為我和阿科斯多拉多斯的許多其他在我們的一家餐廳開始職業生涯的人所做的那樣。我希望我們能夠激勵更多的年輕人加入 Arcos Dorados 大家庭，為他們的家庭、社區和地球建設更美好的未來。

Let's take a look at the consolidated results for the second quarter of 2023. You will see that the strong trends of the last several quarters continued into the second quarter of this year. Total revenue surpassed $1 billion for the first time in the second quarter, rising 17.2% in U.S. dollars versus the prior year period. This included guest traffic growth in the mid-single digits in all 3 divisions, even though last year's numbers were also very strong, consistent with recent quarters, above inflation, top line growth drove operating leverage and improve profitability. Adjusted EBITDA was up 20.5% in the quarter with 30 basis points of margin expansion.

讓我們看一下 2023 年第二季度的合併業績。您會發現過去幾個季度的強勁趨勢延續到了今年第二季度。第二季度總收入首次突破 10 億美元，按美元計算較去年同期增長 17.2%。這包括所有 3 個部門的客流量增長均達到中個位數，儘管去年的數字也非常強勁，與最近幾個季度一致，高於通貨膨脹，頂線增長推動了運營槓桿並提高了盈利能力。本季度調整後 EBITDA 增長 20.5%，利潤率擴大 30 個基點。

Net income was also strong, nearly doubling last year's result. Systemwide comparable sales grew 31.5% or about 1.3x blended inflation across the company, With traffic continuing to grow, we increased the visit share gap versus our closest competitors in our main markets. This is among our core goals continue to grow comparable sales above inflation in each market, gain market share and leverage fixed cost to drive sustainable cash flow generation. Perhaps the most important key to our success has been the Three D’'s strategy.

淨利潤也很強勁，幾乎是去年的兩倍。全系統可比銷售額增長了 31.5%，即整個公司混合通貨膨脹率的約 1.3 倍。隨著流量的持續增長，我們與主要市場中最接近的競爭對手相比，增加了訪問份額差距。這是我們的核心目標之一，即繼續將每個市場的可比銷售額增長至高於通脹水平、獲得市場份額並利用固定成本來推動可持續的現金流生成。也許我們成功的最重要的關鍵是“三德”的戰略。

Digital sales accounted for 49% of systemwide sales. with 20% identified sales across the business. Delivery continues to be an important sales driver as it captures a bigger and bigger share of the overall market. And Drive-thru sales have established a new baseline, even though growth has moderated with guests returning to restaurant and dining rooms. Finally, as we mentioned on our last call, we expect restaurant openings and modernizations to be back-end weighted in 2023.

數字銷售額佔全系統銷售額的 49%。整個業務中 20% 的確定銷售額。交付仍然是重要的銷售驅動力，因為它在整個市場中佔據越來越大的份額。儘管隨著客人返回餐廳和餐廳，增長有所放緩，但得來速銷售已經建立了新的基準。最後，正如我們在上次電話會議中提到的那樣，我們預計 2023 年餐廳的開業和現代化改造將以後端為重點。

For the year-to-date through June, we opened 18 restaurants, including 16 freestanding units. Openings are beginning to accelerate. In fact, since the beginning of July, we have opened an additional 12 restaurants, and we have already made all the ground breaks required to meet our opening guidance for the full year 2023. We are expanding our footprint in a vastly underpenetrated region, which gives us confidence in our pipeline, and we expect these new locations to continue generating above average first year returns on investment. I will turn it over to Luis now for an overview of sales performance in each division.

今年截至 6 月，我們開設了 18 家餐廳，其中包括 16 家獨立餐廳。開放速度開始加快。事實上，自 7 月初以來，我們又開設了 12 家餐廳，並且已經完成了滿足 2023 年全年開業指導方針所需的所有破土動工工作。我們正在一個滲透率嚴重不足的地區擴大我們的足跡，讓我們對我們的管道充滿信心，我們預計這些新地點將繼續產生高於平均水平的第一年投資回報。我現在將其交給 Luis，了解每個部門的銷售業績概覽。

Thanks, Marcelo, and good morning, everyone. Systemwide comparable sales growth remained strong across the board in the second quarter, with all divisions growing well above inflation. Over the last few years, we pursued a competitive marketing strategy, avoiding the temptation to use price increases as the main tool to offset higher costs. We have learned from experience that while aggressive price increases can bring short-term margin benefit, they can also have a long-lasting negative impact on growth volumes. Instead, by offering compelling value and match quality and great service, we have sustained value growth and driven guest frequency. Soon, we will further boost guest loyalty with a nationwide rollout of our loyalty program in Brazil and all other markets in the next couple of years.

謝謝馬塞洛，大家早上好。第二季度全系統可比銷售額增長依然強勁，所有部門的增長均遠高於通脹水平。在過去幾年中，我們奉行有競爭力的營銷策略，避免使用提價作為抵消更高成本的主要工具的誘惑。我們從經驗中了解到，雖然大幅提價可以帶來短期利潤收益，但也可能對銷量增長產生長期的負面影響。相反，通過提供引人注目的價值、匹配的質量和優質服務，我們實現了持續的價值增長並提高了客人頻率。很快，我們將在未來幾年內在巴西和所有其他市場全國范圍內推出我們的忠誠度計劃，進一步提高賓客忠誠度。

Taking a closer look at each division, Brazil's comparable sales rose 2.5x inflation in the quarter. Guest volume was up in the mid-single digits, despite a very strong performance in the prior year quarter. Digital penetration continues to rise in Brazil. The Méqui Fest campaign that provided guests with a festival of offers, helped drive 26% growth in digital sales by encouraging consumers to download and use the mobile app. Digital sales are now responsible for 61% of total sales in the country, including 25% identified sales the highest penetration for both indicators across all markets. McDonald's brand market share remained very strong in the Brazilian QSR market during the second quarter, and is more than 2x the share of the nearest competitor.

仔細觀察每個部門，巴西本季度的可比銷售額增長了通貨膨脹率的 2.5 倍。儘管上一季度的表現非常強勁，但賓客數量仍以中個位數增長。巴西的數字滲透率持續上升。 Méqui Fest 活動為客人提供了節日般的優惠，鼓勵消費者下載和使用移動應用，推動數字銷售額增長 26%。目前，數字銷售佔該國總銷售額的 61%，其中 25% 的銷售額是所有市場中這兩項指標滲透率最高的。第二季度，麥當勞品牌在巴西快餐市場的市場份額仍然非常強勁，是最接近競爭對手的兩倍多。

According to our internal research, Brand health is at an all-time high with a top of mind score 3x higher than the closest competitor. We also had some exciting news during the quarter with the addition of the “Big Tasty Bacon Barbecue to the premium beef segment. Chicken sales are growing strongly across the region, adding even more relevance to this important category with great menu offerings and dedicated marketing campaigns, such as the celebration of the Chicken McNuggets 40th anniversary in all Arcos Dorados markets. NOLAD's comparable sales grew 2.8x the division's blended inflation in the quarter. Volume growth was robust across NOLAD with particularly strong volume growth in Mexico, where almost double-digit volume growth helped drive 16% higher comparable sales.

根據我們的內部研究，品牌健康度處於歷史最高水平，其心智得分比最接近的競爭對手高出 3 倍。本季度我們還收到了一些令人興奮的消息，即在優質牛肉細分市場中增加了“大美味培根燒烤”。該地區的雞肉銷售強勁增長，通過提供優質菜單和專門的營銷活動（例如在所有 Arcos Dorados 市場慶祝麥樂雞 40 週年），進一步增強了這一重要類別的相關性。本季度，NOLAD 的可比銷售額增長了該部門綜合通脹率的 2.8 倍。 NOLAD 的銷量增長強勁，墨西哥的銷量增長尤其強勁，幾乎兩位數的銷量增長推動可比銷售額增長 16%。

NOLAD's markets also capture market share in the quarter and have seen consistent positive momentum in brand attributes across the division. We expect to boost this momentum with the continued rollout of the Best Burger platform. In April, Puerto Rico became the latest Arcos Dorados market to implement Best Burger with sales responding strongly in May and June. Digital sales are growing in NOLAD and we believe it is a matter of time before the division increases digital sales penetration to be more in line with the company average. SLAD's comparable sales grew 1.2x the division's blended inflation rate.

NOLAD 的市場在本季度也佔據了市場份額，並且整個部門的品牌屬性呈現出持續的積極勢頭。我們期望通過 Best Burger 平台的持續推出來推動這一勢頭。 4 月，波多黎各成為最新實施 Best Burger 的 Arcos Dorados 市場，5 月和 6 月的銷售反應強勁。 NOLAD 的數字銷售正在增長，我們相信該部門提高數字銷售滲透率以使其更符合公司平均水平只是時間問題。 SLAD 的可比銷售額增長是該部門綜合通貨膨脹率的 1.2 倍。

Inflation aided growth in Argentina was complemented by comp sales growth of 19% and 25% in Colombia and Chile, respectively, thanks to strong volume performance in both markets. SLAD story in the second quarter was similar to the other 2 divisions, touching record market shares division and continuing very positive brand attribute trends. Innovation in the beef and chicken platforms helped drive sales with introduction of new sandwiches in Chile, Argentina and Colombia. SLAD's digital sales penetration and identified sales were the highest ever in the quarter supported by strong performance in key digital channels like Mobile Order and Pay, which is generating robust growth across the entire region.

阿根廷的通貨膨脹推動了增長，哥倫比亞和智利的同業銷售增長分別為 19% 和 25%，這得益於兩個市場的強勁銷量表現。 SLAD 第二季度的故事與其他兩個部門類似，觸及創紀錄的市場份額部門並持續非常積極的品牌屬性趨勢。牛肉和雞肉平台的創新幫助推動了智利、阿根廷和哥倫比亞新​​三明治的銷售。 SLAD 的數字銷售滲透率和已確定銷售額均創本季度歷史最高水平，這得益於移動訂單和支付等關鍵數字渠道的強勁表現，移動訂單和支付在整個地區帶來了強勁增長。

Looking ahead, economists are calling for softer consumption in some of our main markets, and we are keeping an eye on macroeconomic pressures as well as political developments across the region. While this could cause consumption to soften and sales growth to moderate in the second half of 2023, we remain confident in our strategy. All restaurant formats are generating strong sales growth, and we are laser focused on growing sales above inflation, increasing operational efficiency and delivering the best guest experience in the industry. This has always been the most successful combination, and we expect to keep it up for many more years. Before I turn it over to Mariano, I'd like to share some great news. Our prime marketing campaigns recently received recognition on the world's biggest stage. In June, McDonald's earned an impressive 18 Lions across 10 markets at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. We're very proud to say that this included 5 Lions from 3 Arcos Dorados markets. Over to you, Mariano.

展望未來，經濟學家呼籲我們一些主要市場的消費疲軟，我們正在密切關注宏觀經濟壓力以及整個地區的政治發展。雖然這可能導致 2023 年下半年消費疲軟和銷售增長放緩，但我們對我們的戰略仍然充滿信心。所有餐廳業態都產生了強勁的銷售增長，我們專注於將銷售額增長到高於通貨膨脹的水平，提高運營效率並提供業內最佳的賓客體驗。這一直是最成功的組合，我們希望能保持這種狀態很多年。在我把它交給馬里亞諾之前，我想分享一些好消息。我們的主要營銷活動最近在世界最大的舞台上獲得了認可。 6 月，麥當勞在戛納國際創意節上榮獲 10 個市場的 18 枚獅子獎，令人印象深刻。我們非常自豪地說，其中包括來自 3 個 Arcos Dorados 市場的 5 只獅子。交給你了，馬里亞諾。

Thanks, Luis. Good morning, everyone. Adjusted EBITDA grew 20.5% in U.S. dollars in the quarter or 16.1%, excluding the $4 million gain from the sale of restaurants to sub-franchisees in Chile. This is a testament to the strength of our strategy to sustainably improve profitability through top line growth. Consolidated margin improved by 30 basis points versus the second quarter of last year, with efficiencies in all restaurant level expense items, except royalties. This is the last full quarter to be impacted by the final step-up of our royalty rate, which became effective on August 3, 2022.

謝謝，路易斯。大家，早安。按美元計算，本季度調整後 EBITDA 增長 20.5%，即 16.1%，不包括向智利子特許經營商出售餐廳所獲得的 400 萬美元收益。這證明了我們通過營收增長持續提高盈利能力的戰略的實力。與去年第二季度相比，綜合利潤率提高了 30 個基點，除特許權使用費外，所有餐廳級別的費用項目都提高了效率。這是受我們最終提高特許權使用費率影響的最後一個完整季度，該費率於 2022 年 8 月 3 日生效。

Food and paper costs were relatively flat as a percentage of revenues versus 2022 as we use reduced input costs to our advantage in a softer consumer environment. As Luis mentioned, this helped sustain guest traffic growth in our restaurants. G&A was higher as a percentage of revenue primarily due to higher stock-based compensation expenses, given the strong performance of our stock price. With that said, we expect G&A to remain relatively flat as a percentage of revenue for the full year 2023.

與 2022 年相比，食品和紙張成本佔收入的百分比相對持平，因為我們在消費環境疲軟的情況下利用降低的投入成本來發揮優勢。正如路易斯提到的，這有助於維持我們餐廳的客流量增長。鑑於我們股價的強勁表現，一般行政費用佔收入的百分比較高，主要是由於基於股票的補償費用較高。話雖如此，我們預計 2023 年全年一般行政費用佔收入的比例將保持相對平穩。

Strong operating results in the second quarter contributed to net income and earnings per share growth, which almost doubled versus last year. Second quarter adjusted EBITDA grew by double digits in all 3 divisions with especially strong performances in Brazil and NOLAD, where top line growth drove operational leverage. Margin expansion was robust in Brazil, rising 230 basis points versus the prior year with significant operational efficiencies more than offsetting a minor food and paper cost increase. NOLAD and SLAD managed to offset most of the royalty pressure with margin contraction of just 20 and 40 basis points, respectively. NOLAD also continues to benefit from the strong Mexican peso on both its cost structure and translation into U.S. dollars.

第二季度強勁的經營業績推動了淨利潤和每股收益的增長，與去年同期相比幾乎翻了一番。第二季度所有 3 個部門的調整後 EBITDA 均實現兩位數增長，其中巴西和 NOLAD 的表現尤其強勁，這兩個部門的營收增長推動了運營槓桿。巴西的利潤率擴張強勁，比上一年增長了 230 個基點，顯著的運營效率足以抵消食品和紙張成本的小幅增長。 NOLAD 和 SLAD 成功抵消了大部分特許權使用費壓力，利潤率分別僅收縮了 20 和 40 個基點。 NOLAD 在成本結構和美元換算方面也繼續受益於墨西哥比索的堅挺。

Marcelo already mentioned that a key element of our success over the last few years has been the Three D’'s” strategy of Digital, Delivery and Drive-thru. Digital, which includes sales from delivery, the mobile app and self-order kiosks increased its penetration to nearly half of all McDonald's brand sales in our footprint. Identified sales are increasing consistently as we make progress toward the goal of identifying at least 40% of sales by the end of 2025.

馬塞洛已經提到，我們過去幾年取得成功的一個關鍵因素是數字化、交付和得來速的“三德”戰略。數字化（包括送貨、移動應用程序和自助點餐機的銷售額）的滲透率已增加到我們足跡中所有麥當勞品牌銷售額的近一半。隨著我們在 2025 年底確定至少 40% 銷售額的目標不斷取得進展，已確定銷售額持續增長。

We reached other important milestones in the quarter as well. Our mobile app has now been downloaded over 100 million times. We have well over 70 million unique registered users in our database and more than 16 million average monthly users of our main app. According to public sources of information in Brazil, we have around 3x as many active users as our nearest competitor.

我們在本季度還實現了其他重要里程碑。我們的移動應用程序現已下載超過 1 億次。我們的數據庫中有超過 7000 萬的獨立註冊用戶，我們的主應用程序的平均每月用戶超過 1600 萬。根據巴西的公開信息來源，我們的活躍用戶數量是最接近的競爭對手的三倍左右。

Brazil's results also demonstrate the potential of the experience of the future modernizations with EOTF locations accounting for about 3/4 of its restaurants, self-order kiosks, we generate a higher average check and better profit margins are now the largest sales channel in the country. We continue to leverage the industry's largest freestanding restaurant portfolio in the second quarter with sustained growth in both Delivery and Drive-thru sales even with constant currency increases of 37% and 31% in front counter and dessert centers, respectively. In fact, thanks to an outstanding strategic decision to expand the brand with a balanced restaurant portfolio, we now have Latin America's largest delivery sales and account for more than half the region's total Drive-thru industry. Strong execution is an important reason we are successfully capitalizing on changed consumer behavior and meeting guest desire for convenience and choice when it comes to enjoying their McDonald's experience.

巴西的結果也證明了未來現代化的潛力，EOTF地點約佔其餐廳的3/4，自助點餐亭，我們產生更高的平均支票和更好的利潤率，現在是該國最大的銷售渠道。第二季度，我們繼續利用業內最大的獨立餐廳組合，儘管前台和甜點中心的匯率分別持續增長 37% 和 31%，但外賣和得來速銷售額仍持續增長。事實上，由於通過平衡的餐廳組合擴展品牌的傑出戰略決策，我們現在擁有拉丁美洲最大的外賣銷售額，並佔該地區得來速行業總額的一半以上。強大的執行力是我們成功利用消費者行為變化並滿足客人在享受麥當勞體驗時對便利和選擇的渴望的重要原因。

We know there is still a long runway in terms of restaurant growth potential. To support that growth, we are maximizing our EBITDA generation while maintaining a strong balance sheet. The net leverage ratio at the end of June was a very healthy 1.1x as EBITDA growth is helping offset the planned deployment of balance sheet cash to fund our expansion plan this year. The modest increase in total debt so far this year relates to the appreciation of the Brazilian real, which reduced the value of our currency hedges. In line with my comments on our last call, Cash flow from operations was relatively low during the first half of the year due to the seasonality of our working capital needs. We expect cash flow from operations to increase sequentially in the second half of the year with seasonally higher EBITDA and an improvement in working capital performance, especially during the fourth quarter. Almost half of all of Arcos Dorados' restaurants have been modernized to EOTF, and we expect to exceed 90% modernized by year-end 2027. We opened 10 restaurants, including 8 freestanding units in the second quarter. Capital expenditures were $76 million in the second quarter as we ramped up openings, modernizations and other investments to meet our full year targets. Marcelo, back to you.

我們知道，就餐廳的增長潛力而言，還有很長的路要走。為了支持這一增長，我們正在最大限度地提高 EBITDA 的產生，同時保持強勁的資產負債表。 6 月底的淨槓桿率為非常健康的 1.1 倍，因為 EBITDA 增長有助於抵消計劃部署的資產負債表現金，為我們今年的擴張計劃提供資金。今年迄今為止總債務的小幅增長與巴西雷亞爾升值有關，這降低了我們的貨幣對沖價值。根據我對上次電話會議的評論，由於我們營運資金需求的季節性，上半年運營現金流相對較低。我們預計下半年運營現金流將環比增加，EBITDA 季節性上升，營運資本績效改善，尤其是在第四季度。 Arcos Dorados 幾乎一半的餐廳已實現 EOTF 現代化，我們預計到 2027 年底現代化程度將超過 90%。我們在第二季度開設了 10 家餐廳，其中包括 8 家獨立餐廳。第二季度的資本支出為 7600 萬美元，因為我們加大了開業、現代化和其他投資的力度，以實現全年目標。馬塞洛，回到你身邊。

Thanks, Mariano. Let's take a look at some of the recent milestones from our Recipe for the Future ESG platform. A consistent theme across all our investments in ESG initiatives is diverse and inclusion. We foster a diverse workplace where 58% of employees identified as women. And including young people in the formal workforce is part of what we do, which is why we began offering 3 online certificate courses to help young people improve their personal and professional lives. I am proud to announce we recently surpassed 110,000 people enrolled in these 3 MCampus courses. Perhaps this is one of the reasons Merco recently named Arcos Dorados the most socially responsible restaurant company in Brazil. We are also making progress on some of our other commitments, such as selling 100% cage-free eggs across our entire operation by the end of 2025. We have already completed the transition in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica and Peru. Our investments support growth opportunities for our employees. Economic and social development in our communities and initiatives to protect the planet for future generations. As our business grows, we will continue to make these investments to benefit all our stakeholders.

謝謝，馬里亞諾。讓我們看一下未來 ESG 平台的一些近期里程碑。我們所有 ESG 舉措投資的一致主題是多元化和包容性。我們營造多元化的工作場所，其中 58% 的員工為女性。讓年輕人加入正式勞動力隊伍是我們工作的一部分，這就是為什麼我們開始提供 3 個在線證書課程來幫助年輕人改善個人和職業生活。我很自豪地宣布，最近參加這 3 個 MCampus 課程的人數已超過 110,000 人。也許這就是 Merco 最近將 Arcos Dorados 評為巴西最具社會責任感的餐廳公司的原因之一。我們在其他一些承諾方面也取得了進展，例如到 2025 年底在整個業務範圍內銷售 100% 散養雞蛋。我們已經在巴西、哥倫比亞、哥斯達黎加和秘魯完成了轉型。我們的投資為員工提供成長機會。我們社區的經濟和社會發展以及為子孫後代保護地球的舉措。隨著我們業務的增長，我們將繼續進行這些投資，以使所有利益相關者受益。

To wrap up our prepared remarks, I would like to share a few final thoughts with you. We are very pleased with our performance so far in 2023, given how resilient sales growth has been even with signs of a softening consumer environment. This is a testament to the long-term strategic approach we have always taken to growing the McDonald's brand in Latin America and the Caribbean. We believe the strategy is sound, and our execution is second to none, which is why we are confident in our ability to keep growing profitably in the long term. The business is benefiting from the diversification of our geographic footprint like never before.

作為我們準備好的發言的總結，我想與大家分享一些最後的想法。我們對 2023 年迄今為止的業績感到非常滿意，因為即使有跡象表明消費環境疲軟，銷售增長仍具有彈性。這證明了我們一直採取的在拉丁美洲和加勒比地區發展麥當勞品牌的長期戰略方針。我們相信該戰略是合理的，並且我們的執行力是首屈一指的，這就是為什麼我們對我們長期保持盈利增長的能力充滿信心。該業務正從我們的地理足蹟的多元化中受益，這是前所未有的。

Brazil remains our largest market, but the gap that once existed between our top and bottom performers is shrinking. NOLAD's results are improving steadily generating significant hard currency cash flows that improve the company's overall financial strength. And SLAB has been resilient despite all the macroeconomic changes that have impacted the division for more than a decade. We are working across all markets and business segments with long-term objectives designed to create value for all stakeholders for many years to come. Thank you all for your continuing support. Dan, over to you to start the Q&A session.

巴西仍然是我們最大的市場，但我們表現最好和表現最差的國家之間曾經存在的差距正在縮小。 NOLAD 的業績正在穩步改善，產生了大量的硬通貨現金流，從而提高了公司的整體財務實力。儘管十多年來宏觀經濟變化對該部門產生了影響，但 SLAB 一直保持著彈性。我們正在所有市場和業務領域開展工作，其長期目標旨在在未來許多年為所有利益相關者創造價值。感謝大家一直以來的支持。丹，你開始問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) So our first question or actually set of questions come from Bob Ford of Bank of America. And I'm going to take them sort of 1 at a time. Bob says congratulations on the quarter. And the first one is, can you provide some additional detail on the refranchising in Chile? So Marcelo start with you.

（操作員說明）因此，我們的第一個問題或實際上的一組問題來自美國銀行的鮑勃·福特。我會一次拿一個。鮑勃說祝賀這個季度。第一個問題是，您能否提供有關智利重新特許經營的更多細節？所以馬塞洛從你開始。

Thanks for the questions. Well, the $4 million gain in the period relates to the sale of 2 restaurants to a sub-franchisee in the northern part of Chile, in exchange for cash and one restaurant that at the time he was operating in Santiago, the capital of the country. Selling or buying some restaurants to sub franchisees is a normal part of our business that we are highlighting in this quarter because it has a material impact in the period's results. Importantly, and from a strategic standpoint, these transactions -- this transaction, particularly allows us to continue concentrating our own operation, the Arcos cooperation in larger cities with our sub-franchisees operating in a smaller or more remote geographies, which is the case of this transaction.

感謝您的提問。嗯，這一期間的 400 萬美元收益與向智利北部的一名次級特許經營商出售 2 家餐廳以換取現金以及當時他在該國首都聖地亞哥經營的一家餐廳有關。向子特許經營商出售或購買一些餐廳是我們業務的正常組成部分，我們在本季度強調這一點，因為它對該期間的業績產生了重大影響。重要的是，從戰略角度來看，這些交易——這項交易特別使我們能夠繼續集中我們自己的運營，Arcos 在大城市的合作與我們在較小或更偏遠地區運營的子特許經營商的合作，這就是本次交易。

And Bob's a follow-up to that question, Marcelo is, how many units were sold and were there any other closures or other disposals in SLAD?

鮑勃是這個問題的後續問題，馬塞洛是，售出了多少單位，SLAD 中是否有任何其他關閉或其他處置？

Okay. As I mentioned before, this transaction involved 2 restaurants that were sold and one that was buying. And we only closed 3 restaurants in SLAD during this quarter, and those 3 restaurants were in Venezuela.

好的。正如我之前提到的，這筆交易涉及 2 家出售的餐廳和 1 家正在購買的餐廳。本季度我們只關閉了 SLAD 的 3 家餐廳，這 3 家餐廳都在委內瑞拉。

Great. He continues then with -- also, can you touch on the underlying margin pressure and operating challenges in the region, which I assume, Bob, you're talking about SLAD, and I'll give that one to you Mariano.

偉大的。然後他繼續說道——另外，您能否談談該地區潛在的利潤壓力和運營挑戰，我認為鮑勃，您正在談論 SLAD，我將把這個問題交給您，馬里亞諾。

Perfect. Thank you very much. Good morning, everybody, and thanks, Bob, for the question. Even though we see some challenging macro environment in some countries in SLAD systemwide sales comps grew 1.2x inflation, which is aligned with our strategy of growing sales above inflation to gain margin leverage. The EBITDA grew 12% in dollar terms. And in the different lines of the P&L, what we are seeing is, first of all, we're very happy with the leverage we are seeing in gross margin, which in SLAD is improving and take into account that SLAD is taking the full impact of the increase in royalties compared with last year of 100 basis points. So even though there is a margin contraction of 40 basis points, we are comparing with 100 basis points of the increase in the royalty rate.

完美的。非常感謝。大家早上好，謝謝鮑勃提出的問題。儘管我們看到某些國家/地區具有挑戰性的宏觀環境，但SLAD 系統範圍內的銷售業績增長了1.2 倍通貨膨脹率，這與我們的銷售增長高於通貨膨脹率以獲得利潤槓桿的戰略是一致的。以美元計算，EBITDA 增長了 12%。在損益表的不同行中，我們首先看到的是，我們對毛利率中看到的槓桿率感到非常滿意，SLAD 中的槓桿率正在改善，並考慮到 SLAD 正在全面影響特許權使用費較去年增加100個基點。因此，儘管利潤率收縮了 40 個基點，但我們還是將特許權使用費率增加了 100 個基點進行比較。

Perfect. And then Bob wraps up with a question related to the effective tax rate. Similar questions, by the way, from Antonio Hernández from Barclays, Ulises Argote from JPMorgan, Joaquín Ley from Itau. Bob's question, which is repeated, as I mentioned, there was a spike in the effective tax rate. What was behind that? And how should we think about taxes over the balance of this year and into 2024.

完美的。然後鮑勃提出了一個與有效稅率相關的問題。順便說一句，巴克萊銀行的安東尼奧·埃爾南德斯、摩根大通的烏利塞斯·阿爾戈特、伊塔烏的華金·萊伊也提出了類似的問題。正如我提到的，鮑勃的問題重複了，有效稅率出現了飆升。這背後到底是什麼？我們應該如何考慮今年剩餘時間和 2024 年的稅收。

Perfect. I think that one. Well, on a quarterly basis, as we already mentioned, the effective tax rate, sorry, is somewhat volatile. Given the various rules governing the calculation of this liability in each of our markets, we are operating in 20 markets with different -- 20 different tax rules as well as within our holding company structure. So while the second quarter is correct of 2023, we had a higher tax rate than last year. If you consider the first half of 2023, compared with the first half of 2022, the tax -- the effective tax rates are quite similar, 47.5% versus 45.6% in 2022. For the full year in 2023, we expect the effective tax rate to be slightly higher than normal than the previous years because of several impacts, higher withholding taxes in our corporate structure, also lower usage of net operating losses from prior periods that is aligned with the EBITDA growth that we are seeing in several of our markets.

完美的。我認為就是那個。嗯，正如我們已經提到的，按季度計算，有效稅率，抱歉，有些波動。鑑於我們每個市場都有不同的規則來管理該負債的計算，我們在 20 個市場中運營，有 20 種不同的稅務規則，並且在我們的控股公司結構內。因此，雖然 2023 年第二季度是正確的，但我們的稅率比去年更高。如果考慮 2023 年上半年，與 2022 年上半年相比，稅收——有效稅率非常相似，2022 年為 47.5%，而 2022 年為 45.6%。對於 2023 年全年，我們預計有效稅率由於多種影響，我們的公司結構中的預扣稅較高，前期淨營業虧損的使用率也較低，這與我們在幾個市場看到的EBITDA 增長一致，因此略高於前幾年的正常水平。

Somehow greater nondeductible expenses in certain markets compared to previous year, and additionally, inflation and other adjustments related to the macro environment in Argentina. Finally, we are not seeing at this moment, an impact from the tax reforms, but we are hearing about different projects in different markets that we cannot measure yet but could have an impact going forward. So looking ahead, we believe that 35% to 40% is a reasonable level to expect on a full year basis, same for 2024.

與去年相比，某些市場的不可扣除費用有所增加，此外，通貨膨脹和與阿根廷宏觀環境相關的其他調整。最後，我們目前還沒有看到稅收改革的影響，但我們聽到了不同市場的不同項目，我們尚無法衡量這些項目，但可能會對未來產生影響。因此，展望未來，我們認為全年增長 35% 至 40% 是一個合理的預期水平，2024 年也是如此。

The next question comes from Thiago Bortoluci of Goldman Sachs. Congrats on another solid print. And Thiago send us 4 questions, so we're going to work through these as well. Brazil same-store sales, is it possible to comment on traffic versus price and how the performance evolved monthly over the course of the quarter and how do we see our prices versus competition. I think all 3 of those, I'll start with you, Luis.

下一個問題來自高盛的蒂亞戈·博爾托魯奇。恭喜您又獲得了一張純色印刷品。蒂亞戈向我們發送了 4 個問題，所以我們也將解決這些問題。巴西同店銷售，是否可以評論流量與價格以及該季度每月業績的變化情況以及我們如何看待我們的價格與競爭。我想所有這三個，我都會從你開始，路易斯。

Thank you, Thiago, for the question. Brazil's traffic was up mid-single digits and the rest of the growth came from a higher average check. And about the monthly evolution of the performance of the country, we have challenging comps in April of last year and strong in May and June. And in general, Competition remained rational during the second quarter. Although in some markets like in Brazil, Thiago, we have seen increased promotional activity. With that said, our volume and sales trends remain strong, and we continue shielding or gaining even market share and our strategy will continue to be focusing in responsible pricing policy, offering compelling value and to deliver the best experience to our guests.

謝謝蒂亞戈的提問。巴西的交通量增長了中個位數，其餘增長來自於更高的平均檢查。關於該國表現的每月演變，我們在去年 4 月的比較具有挑戰性，在 5 月和 6 月的比較強勁。總體而言，第二季度競爭仍保持理性。儘管在巴西、蒂亞戈等一些市場，我們看到促銷活動有所增加。儘管如此，我們的銷量和銷售趨勢仍然強勁，我們將繼續保護甚至獲得市場份額，我們的戰略將繼續專注於負責任的定價政策，提供引人注目的價值，並為我們的客人提供最佳體驗。

Great. Thiago's, second question relates to market share visits and will be for you as well. Can you elaborate on where is the average market share in Brazil and how it compares to our market share within Delivery?

偉大的。蒂亞戈的第二個問題與市場份額訪問有關，也適合您。您能否詳細說明巴西的平均市場份額以及與我們在配送領域的市場份額相比如何？

All right. I will start with the general context. Our comparable sales grew 31.5% or above 1.3x blended inflation across the company in this second quarter. Only in Brazil, this growth was 2.5x inflation. And this strong comparable sales growth in many of our markets supported positive market share trends. So according to CREST in Brazil, we increased visit share by 1.6 percentage points in the last 12 months.

好的。我將從一般背景開始。第二季度，我們的可比銷售額增長了 31.5%，或超過公司綜合通脹率的 1.3 倍。僅在巴西，這一增長是通貨膨脹率的 2.5 倍。我們許多市場的可比銷售強勁增長支持了積極的市場份額趨勢。因此，根據巴西 CREST 的數據，過去 12 個月我們的訪問份額增加了 1.6 個百分點。

Today, in this country, our share more than doubles the share of our main competitor. And according to internal research, the visit share gap remained very strong across the region. For example, the visit share was 3x higher than our nearest competitor in Argentina and Chile, 2x higher in Mexico and Colombia. And specifically about Delivery in Brazil, and this is based on public information also our gap in sales is 3.5x compared with our main competitor.

今天，在這個國家，我們的份額是主要競爭對手的兩倍多。根據內部研究，該地區的訪問份額差距仍然很大。例如，在阿根廷和智利，訪問份額比最接近的競爭對手高出 3 倍，在墨西哥和哥倫比亞高出 2 倍。特別是關於巴西的交付，這是基於公開信息，我們的銷售額差距是我們主要競爭對手的 3.5 倍。

Thiago's third question. He says that some of our competitors called on a challenging industry, mentioning short-term growth will likely be driven by efficiency rather than demand and he asks if we're seeing the same. And we'll pass that one to you Marcelo.

蒂亞戈的第三個問題。他說，我們的一些競爭對手呼籲行業充滿挑戰，並提到短期增長可能由效率而不是需求驅動，他問我們是否也看到了同樣的情況。我們會把這個交給你，馬塞洛。

No, absolutely not. We are very pleased with how the year is developing. We've seen strong sales growth in the first half in all 3 divisions, particularly in Brazil with 2.5x our systemwide comparable sales on top of inflation. And importantly, we continue to see solid sales trends in the third quarter as well, with systemwide comparable sales growing well above inflation in all the 3 divisions. I think that the McDonald's brand in our region in Brazil and the rest of the markets is now positioned in a way that it should perform well in good macroeconomic times and in more challenging environments.

不，絕對不是。我們對這一年的發展感到非常滿意。我們看到上半年所有 3 個部門的銷售額均強勁增長，特別是在巴西，扣除通貨膨脹因素後，整個系統的可比銷售額增長了 2.5 倍。重要的是，我們在第三季度也繼續看到穩健的銷售趨勢，所有 3 個部門的全系統可比銷售額增長遠高於通貨膨脹。我認為，麥當勞品牌在巴西地區和其他市場的定位應該在良好的宏觀經濟時期和更具挑戰性的環境中表現良好。

Unfortunately, the structural advantages of our freestanding footprint, freestanding restaurants, the strong performance, our growth of Three D’'s, and a prudent competitive pricing strategy are driving sustained sales growth all across the region, even in the current environment. So we still see -- we are very confident on our ability to continue to grow sales above inflation and having growth in our profitability coming from volumes, additional traffic and additional average check.

不幸的是，我們的獨立經營足跡、獨立餐廳、強勁的業績、三德的增長以及審慎的競爭性定價策略的結構優勢正在推動整個地區的持續銷售增長，即使在當前環境下也是如此。因此，我們仍然看到，我們對繼續以高於通貨膨脹的速度增長銷售額的能力以及通過銷量、額外流量和額外平均支票來實現盈利能力的增長非常有信心。

Perfect. And Thiago's last question. This will be for you, Mariano. If we can have any quantification on how the Argentine peso devaluation could impact our EBITDA, and he says gracias.

完美的。蒂亞戈的最後一個問題。這是給你的，馬里亞諾。如果我們能夠量化阿根廷比索貶值如何影響我們的 EBITDA，他表示非常感謝。

Perfect. Thanks, Thiago, for the question. Devaluation of the Argentine peso reduces the country's U.S. dollar contribution to consolidated revenue and EBITDA, but the impact on EBITDA as well is partially offset by a reduction of corporate G&A expenses also denominated in Argentine pesos.

完美的。謝謝蒂亞戈的提問。阿根廷比索貶值減少了該國的美元對合併收入和 EBITDA 的貢獻，但對 EBITDA 的影響也被同樣以阿根廷比索計價的企業一般管理費用的減少部分抵消。

With what we know today with the announcement made so far, this week's devaluation of the Argentine peso will not significantly impact consolidated EBITDA in the second half of the year from a pure FX perspective. Having said that, we need to be prudent to see how these measures will affect consumption in the remaining part of the year. But from a pure FX and devaluation perspective that, that was the question, we are not seeing a significant impact on consolidated EBITDA.

據我們今天所知，從純粹的外匯角度來看，本週阿根廷比索的貶值不會對今年下半年的綜合 EBITDA 產生重大影響。儘管如此，我們仍需謹慎看待這些措施對今年剩餘時間的消費有何影響。但從純粹的外彙和貶值的角度來看，這就是問題所在，我們沒有看到對綜合 EBITDA 的重大影響。

Great. Thanks, Mariano. And by the way, before I continue, I just wanted to recognize Jeronimo de Guzman also submitted a couple of questions. Jeronimo, I think we've answered your questions on Brazil and SLAD, but if not, please feel free to resubmit. We have the next question from (inaudible) from JPMorgan. And she asked what's the level of cash we feel comfortable operating. Again, back to you, Mariano.

偉大的。謝謝，馬里亞諾。順便說一句，在我繼續之前，我只想知道 Jeronimo de Guzman 也提交了幾個問題。 Jeronimo，我想我們已經回答了您關於巴西和 SLAD 的問題，但如果沒有，請隨時重新提交。我們有來自摩根大通的下一個問題（聽不清）。她詢問我們可以放心運營的現金水平是多少。再次回到你身上，馬里亞諾。

Perfect. Thanks, (inaudible) for the question. First, we ended June with cash and equivalents plus short-term investments in our balance sheet of a total of $222 million with no material short-term debt with a very healthy net leverage ratio. So we are very confident with that figure. To operate in our markets in the 20 markets, we estimate that between $60 million and $80 million in cash is more than enough to run the business from a working capital perspective.

完美的。謝謝（聽不清）提出問題。首先，截至 6 月底，我們的資產負債表中現金和等價物加上短期投資總計 2.22 億美元，沒有重大短期債務，淨槓桿率非常健康。所以我們對這個數字非常有信心。為了在 20 個市場開展業務，從營運資金的角度來看，我們估計 6000 萬至 8000 萬美元的現金足以運營業務。

Okay. Well, since you touched on working capital, Mariano, it's actually a perfect timing because the next question is from again, from Thiago Bortoluci at Goldman Sachs. If I may, one more, could you please give us more color on your working capital dynamics. The consumption of suppliers in the first quarter from all lines in the second quarter, should we expect it to be net in the full year?

好的。好吧，既然你談到了營運資本，馬里亞諾，這實際上是一個完美的時機，因為下一個問題又來自高盛的蒂亞戈·博爾托魯奇。如果可以的話，請您向我們提供有關您的營運資金動態的更多信息。一季度各線供應商的消耗，二季度是否應該預計全年為淨值？

Perfect. Well, first, I would like to clarify that if we compare last year with 2022. In 2023, the first half, we have different dynamics going on because both figures are comparing, one, the 2022 with December 2021 numbers this year is comparing with December '22 figures. So what happened last year is that we were increasing our cash flow because we were comparing to December '21 when the business was still normalizing coming out of the pandemic. So the first half of last year activity was much higher than prior year-end, and that's what is why we saw the increase in cash flow in 2022.

完美的。好吧，首先，我想澄清一下，如果我們將去年與2022 年進行比較。在2023 年上半年，我們會出現不同的動態，因為這兩個數字都在進行比較，一是2022 年與2021 年12 月的數字今年是與22 年 12 月數據。所以去年發生的事情是我們增加了現金流，因為我們與 21 月 21 日進行比較，當時業務仍在從大流行中恢復正常。因此，去年上半年的活動遠高於去年年底，這就是我們看到 2022 年現金流增加的原因。

So significant increases in sales, they generate more working capital. So in 2023, what we are seeing is that we're still generating more sales. And also, we have made some payments to suppliers in June 2023 that allowed us to lock in better prices from some ingredients and better manage our gross margin that you can see in our gross margin results, but at the same time, consumed a bit more cash than normal in the period as well. For the rest of the year and with more activity, what we will see is an increase in cash flow for the second half of the year that will more than compensate from an operational cash flow perspective, the decrease that you saw in the first half of this year.

銷售額顯著增加，他們產生了更多的營運資金。因此，到 2023 年，我們看到的銷售額仍在增加。此外，我們已在2023 年6 月向供應商支付了一些款項，這使我們能夠鎖定某些原料的更好價格，並更好地管理我們的毛利率，您可以在我們的毛利率結果中看到這一點，但與此同時，消耗更多現金也比同期正常情況多。在今年剩餘時間裡，隨著活動的增多，我們將看到下半年現金流量的增加，從運營現金流的角度來看，這將足以彌補上半年的減少。今年。

Great. The next questions come from Ulises Argote at JPMorgan. As I mentioned, he had a couple of questions that I think we've already answered. So he says, congrats on the results. Thanks for the space for the questions. And the ones from this side, one is the tax rate, which I think Mariano has already answered in detail, the second has to do with the divestment of restaurants and so on. And is this a specific situation or there is something ongoing? I think Marcelo left to that as a specific situation. And the third question he has is focus on remodeling remains, what's the trend for sales lifts on the remodeled restaurants and I'll give that one to you Marcelo.

偉大的。接下來的問題來自摩根大通的 Ulises Argote。正如我提到的，他提出了幾個問題，我認為我們已經回答了。所以他說，祝賀結果。感謝您提供提問的空間。這方面的，一是稅率，我想馬里亞諾已經詳細回答了，第二就是餐館撤資等等。這是特定情況還是正在發生什麼？我認為馬塞洛將其作為一種具體情況。他提出的第三個問題是，重點仍然是改造，改造後的餐廳的銷售增長趨勢是什麼，我將把這個問題交給你，馬塞洛。

Excellent. And thank you, Ulises for the question. Yes, we said that we are planning to modernize to the EOTF format approximately 250 restaurants this year. And we are doing this because we are experiencing a very good impact on these investments in terms of the sales lifts that they generate. Since the very beginning when we started with this initiative, 4 or 5 years ago in the south part of the region, we saw that every single restaurant that was converted to EOTF had a sales lift of mid- to high single digits when compared with the other restaurants in the market.

出色的。謝謝尤利塞斯提出的問題。是的，我們說過，我們計劃今年將大約 250 家餐廳現代化為 EOTF 格式。我們這樣做是因為我們正在經歷這些投資在其產生的銷售提升方面產生的非常好的影響。自從四五年前我們在該地區南部開始實施這一舉措以來，我們發現每家轉換為 EOTF 的餐廳與其他餐廳相比，銷售額都有中到高個位數的提升。市場上的其他餐館。

So we continue to experience those kind of figures, for example, in countries like Mexico, where we still have a lot of room to deploy the EOTF format. And we are very pleased with this because this will be a huge source of growth going forward because we still have approximately 50% of our restaurant base to be converted to be modernized and converted to EOTF. So we will have that boost in sales coming from those investments, coming from those restaurants, which is very good to sustain the kind of results we are delivering in recent quarters.

因此，我們繼續經歷此類數字，例如在墨西哥等國家，我們仍然有很大的空間來部署 EOTF 格式。我們對此感到非常高興，因為這將成為未來增長的巨大來源，因為我們仍有大約 50% 的餐廳基地需要進行現代化改造並轉換為 EOTF。因此，我們的銷售額將來自這些投資、這些餐廳，這對於維持我們最近幾個季度取得的業績非常有幫助。

Great. Thanks, Marcelo. We have a couple of questions from Christopher (inaudible). The first one is related to profitability margin, but the second one has to do with target share price. Christopher, we're not going to comment on target shares. I think that's something you can get from the sell side. With respect to your other question, what do we expect in terms of profitability margins to be in the future with the opening of the new restaurants. And I'll give that one to you, Mariano.

偉大的。謝謝，馬塞洛。克里斯托弗（Christopher）向我們提出了幾個問題（聽不清）。第一個與盈利能力有關，第二個與目標股價有關。克里斯托弗，我們不會對目標股票發表評論。我認為這是你可以從賣方那裡得到的東西。關於你的另一個問題，隨著新餐廳的開業，我們預計未來的利潤率會是多少。我會把那個給你，馬里亞諾。

Perfect. And thanks, Chris, for the question. In terms of general margin outlook, our plan is clear, and we are delivering. We remain focused on driving top line with sustainable volume growth in all channels to deliver EBITDA growth in U.S. dollars with a healthy margin profile. And we are delivering that in this quarter with a more than 20% increase in our EBITDA in dollar terms. And you can see the results in second quarter figures. We are seeing improvements in all restaurant level expense items as a percentage of sales with the exception of royalties. In terms of openings, we are seeing a very good ROI on the openings. As Marcelo mentioned, we are opening mainly for standings, and we are seeing very attractive ROI on those openings.

完美的。謝謝克里斯提出的問題。就總體利潤率前景而言，我們的計劃很明確，而且我們正在兌現。我們仍然專注於通過所有渠道的可持續銷量增長來推動營收，以實現以美元計的 EBITDA 增長和健康的利潤率。我們在本季度實現了這一目標，以美元計算的 EBITDA 增長了 20% 以上。您可以在第二季度的數據中看到結果。我們發現，除特許權使用費外，所有餐廳級別的費用項目佔銷售額的百分比均有所改善。就空缺而言，我們看到空缺的投資回報率非常高。正如馬塞洛提到的，我們主要是為了排名而開設，我們看到這些空缺的投資回報率非常有吸引力。

Great. Thanks, Mariano. And we have another one here from (inaudible) from Morgan Stanley. Her question is, will your expansion strategy or operations will be impacted in Argentina with the impending change in leadership towards the end of the year? And that one is for you, Marcelo.

偉大的。謝謝，馬里亞諾。我們還有另一份來自摩根士丹利（聽不清）的信息。她的問題是，隨著年底領導層即將發生的變化，您在阿根廷的擴張戰略或業務是否會受到影響？那是給你的，馬塞洛。

Okay. Thank you [Gladys] for the question. Last Sunday, there were primary presidential elections in Argentina, but there is still at least one more round of elections in October, and it will be inappropriate, I think, to speculate on the outcome, especially because there are 3 different candidates within 3 percentage points in terms of the votes that they received in the primary. So I think that anything can happen in Argentina, and we cannot speculate around that.

好的。謝謝[格拉迪斯]的提問。上週日，阿根廷舉行了總統初選，但10月至少還有一輪選舉，我認為猜測結果是不合適的，特別是因為3個百分點內有3個不同的候選人分數以他們在初選中獲得的選票計算。所以我認為在阿根廷任何事情都有可能發生，我們不能對此進行猜測。

But having said that, it's important to notice that the business itself remains very strong in Argentina even these days with systemwide comparable sales still growing well above inflation. In fact, our business in Argentina is operating with one of the highest levels of guest traffic in the region. And we continue to execute our strategy in the market to shield our market share, which is very high in the country and to continue to produce excellent results like it was a case in Argentina for the recent quarters. It's important to mention that this kind of volatility in Argentina is not new. I've been in the business for more than 30 years, and a big part of those years, I spent my professional life in Argentina. We've been dealing with these kind of situations for many years. And I think that we have the right knowledge and the right tools to make the best with the initiatives that we are executing in terms of generating the best possible results in Argentina.

但話雖如此，值得注意的是，即使現在，阿根廷的業務本身仍然非常強勁，全系統可比銷售額的增長仍遠高於通貨膨脹。事實上，我們在阿根廷的業務是該地區客流量最高的業務之一。我們繼續在市場上執行我們的戰略，以保護我們在該國非常高的市場份額，並繼續取得優異的業績，就像最近幾個季度在阿根廷的情況一樣。值得一提的是，阿根廷的這種波動並不新鮮。我從事這個行業已有 30 多年，其中很大一部分時間是在阿根廷度過了我的職業生涯。多年來我們一直在處理此類情況。我認為我們擁有正確的知識和正確的工具，可以充分利用我們正在執行的舉措，在阿根廷產生盡可能最好的結果。

Great. Thanks, Marcelo. And we actually don't have any more questions in the queue. So we've reached the end of the Q&A session today. Thank you, once again, all of you for your interest in Arcos Dorados and for joining today's webcast. We look forward to speaking with you again in the middle of November on our third quarter 2023 earnings webcast. Until then, stay safe, and have a great day.

偉大的。謝謝，馬塞洛。事實上，我們隊列中已經沒有更多問題了。今天的問答環節就到此結束了。再次感謝大家對 Arcos Dorados 的關注並參加今天的網絡廣播。我們期待在 11 月中旬在 2023 年第三季度收益網絡廣播中再次與您交談。在那之前，請保持安全，祝你有美好的一天。