Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc (ARCO) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

(audio in progress) during the presentation using the Q&A function on the bottom of the screen. After we conclude our opening remarks, we will answer your questions.

（音訊播放中）示範過程中，請使用螢幕底部的問答功能。開幕致詞結束後，我們將回答各位的問題。

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.

今天的電話會議將包含前瞻性陳述，請您參閱我們的獲利報告和最近向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中的前瞻性陳述部分。我們不承擔因新的或變更的事件或情況而更新或修改任何前瞻性聲明的義務。

In addition to reporting financial results in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, we report certain non-GAAP financial results. Investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial results as compared with GAAP results, which can be found in today's earnings press release and conference call presentation, as well as the unaudited financial statements filed today with the SEC on Form 6-K.

除了依照公認會計原則報告財務績效外，我們還報告某些非公認會計原則的財務表現。我們鼓勵投資者查看這些非GAAP財務結果與GAAP結果的調節表，該調節表可在今天的盈利新聞稿和電話會議演示文稿中找到，也可在今天以6-K表格形式向美國證券交易委員會提交的未經審計的財務報表中找到。

With that, I'll now turn the call over to our CEO Louis Raganato.

接下來，我將把電話交給我們的執行長路易斯·拉加納托。

Thank you, Dan. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Before getting into the quarter's results, let me take a moment to thank our Executive Chairman, Woods Staton, and the entire Board of Directors for their confidence in appointing me CEO of Arcos Dorados. I am honored to continue the work of my predecessors, each of whom took the company to new operational and customer experience heights by working collaboratively with all stakeholders of the Arcos Dorados and McDonald's Systems.

謝謝你，丹。各位早安，感謝各位的參與。在介紹本季業績之前，請允許我花一點時間感謝我們的執行董事長伍茲·斯塔頓以及全體董事會成員，感謝他們對我的信任，任命我為 Arcos Dorados 的首席執行官。我很榮幸能夠繼續我的前任們的工作，他們每一位都與 Arcos Dorados 和麥當勞系統的所有利益相關者通力合作，將公司帶到了營運和客戶體驗的新高度。

I would also like to congratulate all members of the team who are taking on new roles as part of this management change. We always said that Arcos Dorados has a deep bench of talented executives. This includes Carlos Gonzalez, who is taking on the role of Chief Operating Officer, bringing very significant management experience and a demonstrated ability to bridge cultural and generational gaps to drive strong performance. I look forward to working with him and the entire team to exceed our against expectations and generate value for all stakeholders.

我還要祝賀所有在此次管理層變動中承擔新角色的團隊成員。我們一直都說，Arcos Dorados 擁有一群才華洋溢的主管人才。其中包括卡洛斯·岡薩雷斯，他將擔任首席營運長一職，他擁有非常豐富的管理經驗，並展現出彌合文化和代際差距以推動強勁業績的能力。我期待與他以及整個團隊合作，超越預期，為所有利害關係人創造價值。

Moving now to the key highlights of the quarter. We generated solid results in very dynamic macroeconomic and operating environments. Total revenue reached $1.1 billion. Constant currency revenue remained solid, built on 12.1% higher system-wide comparable sales, which was above blended inflation for the period. Comp sales growth was particularly strong in NOLAD and SLAD, growing well above blended inflation in each division. The same calendar effect that impacted NOLAD's results in the first quarter helped boost the division's results in the second quarter.

接下來是本季的主要亮點。我們在瞬息萬變的宏觀經濟和經營環境下取得了穩健的表現。總收入達11億美元。以固定匯率計算，營收維持穩健，這得益於系統內同店銷售額成長 12.1%，高於同期綜合通膨率。NOLAD 和 SLAD 的同店銷售成長尤為強勁，兩個部門的成長均遠超綜合通貨膨脹率。第一季影響 NOLAD 業績的日曆效應，也幫助提升了該部門第二季的業績。

Marketing and digital initiatives focused on value and brand strength across sales channels and product categories. Additionally, the loyalty program continued to drive an increasing percentage of sales by bringing members back to our restaurants more often. These efforts helped support robust market share gains in many markets. More on that later.

行銷和數位化措施著重於在銷售管道和產品類別中提升價值和品牌實力。此外，會員忠誠度計劃透過讓會員更頻繁地光顧我們的餐廳，持續推動銷售額佔比不斷提高。這些努力有助於在許多市場中獲得強勁的市場份額。稍後會詳細說明。

We generated $110.1 million in adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter. Excluding last year's labor contingency reduction in Brazil, adjusted EBITDA grew by more than 7% and margin expanded by about 40 basis points. The growth plan for 2025 remains on target, and we opened 20 new Experience of the Future restaurants in the second quarter. This brings total openings for the first half of the year to 32 sites, and the plan remains to deliver 90 to 100 this year.

第二季度，我們實現了1.101億美元的調整後EBITDA。剔除去年巴西勞動力緊急削減的影響，調整後的 EBITDA 成長超過 7%，利潤率成長約 40 個基點。2025 年的成長計劃仍然按計劃進行，我們在第二季度開設了 20 家新的「未來體驗」餐廳。這使得今年上半年新店開幕總數達到 32 家，而今年的計畫仍是開設 90 至 100 家。

In addition to adding new restaurants through openings, we are excited to announce that last month we added a 21st market to the Arcos Dorados family. We acquired three existing restaurants and the exclusive franchise rights to Saint Martin in the Caribbean. The choice of Arcos Dorados as the new operator in Saint Martin is a testament to our operational excellence and commitment to growth in the region.

除了透過新店開業增加餐廳外，我們很高興地宣布，上個月我們為 Arcos Dorados 家族新增了第 21 家市場。我們收購了三家現有餐廳以及在加勒比海聖馬丁島的獨家特許經營權。選擇 Arcos Dorados 作為聖馬丁島的新營運商，證明了我們在該地區的卓越營運和發展承諾。

Marketing and digital campaigns drove strong comparable sales growth in NOLAD and SLAD during the quarter, while also helping to protect market share within a challenging consumer environment in Brazil. The digital ecosystem that accounted for about 60% of sales in the quarter supported campaigns designed to stay close to guests and adapt to changing consumer preferences.

本季度，行銷和數位行銷活動推動了 NOLAD 和 SLAD 地區的同店銷售額強勁成長，同時也幫助公司在充滿挑戰的巴西消費環境中維持了市場份額。該季度約 60% 的銷售額來自數位生態系統，該生態系統支援旨在與顧客保持密切聯繫並適應不斷變化的消費者偏好的行銷活動。

This included the Big Fest, which celebrated car favorites at a compelling value. The results were clear. Brand preference rose to almost twice that of the nearest competitor across the region. Brand attributes related to value, taste, and trust saw significantly higher favorable gaps versus the near competitor as well. And app downloads and loyalty program membership increased strongly during the campaign.

其中包括大型嘉年華，該嘉年華以極具吸引力的價格慶祝了眾多熱門汽車。結果很明確。該品牌在整個地區的受歡迎程度幾乎是排名第二或第三的競爭對手的兩倍。與價值、口味和信任相關的品牌屬性與最接近的競爭對手相比，優勢差距也明顯更大。活動期間，應用程式下載量和會員忠誠度計畫會員數均大幅增加。

The digital loyalty program is now available in six countries with a seventh market currently in its prelaunch phase. The program already covers 2/3 of the restaurant portfolio, and we expect it to be available in 90% of all restaurants by the end of this year. Loyalty program members visit us at a much higher rate than non-loyalty guests and they represented almost 23% of total sales in the six available markets during the second quarter.

該數位會員忠誠度計畫目前已在六個國家推出，第七個市場目前正處於預發布階段。該計劃目前已涵蓋 2/3 的餐廳，我們預計到今年年底，該計劃將涵蓋 90% 的餐廳。會員計畫的顧客光顧頻率遠高於非會員顧客，在第二季度，會員在六個可用市場的總銷售額中佔比接近 23%。

In Brazil, where the consumer environment has been challenging this year, we took steps to remain close to guests. For example, the Mequi do Dia campaign offered one menu favorite per day at a compelling value. Across the operating footprint, the Minecraft Happy Meal also strengthened ties with our guests. The game has significant crossover appeal to both kids and adults, which we optimized by offering a unique adult Happy Meal with chicken McNuggets.

今年巴西的消費環境充滿挑戰，我們採取了措施與顧客保持密切聯繫。例如，「每日特惠」活動每天以極具吸引力的價格提供一款菜單上的熱門菜餚。在整個營運區域內，《我的世界》開心樂園餐也加強了與顧客之間的連結。這款遊戲對兒童和成人都有很強的跨界吸引力，我們透過提供獨特的成人開心樂園餐（含麥樂雞）來優化這一點。

We also used the regional Formula 1 sponsorship to strengthen ties with families and guests of all ages. Capitalizing on the appeal of Formula 1, the movie, we introduced a limited-edition sandwich and a collectible race car exclusive to McDonald's restaurants. The campaign was extremely successful, selling out in just a matter of days or weeks, depending on the market.

我們也利用區域一級方程式贊助來加強與各個年齡層的家庭和賓客之間的聯繫。我們利用一級方程式賽車電影的吸引力，推出了麥當勞餐廳獨家銷售的限量版三明治和收藏版賽車模型。這項活動非常成功，產品在短短幾天或幾週內就售罄，具體時間取決於市場狀況。

Finally, the dessert category has become increasingly competitive, so we kept the entry level comp price at an attractive price point. We also innovated by leveraging a favorite McDonald's character with the Grimace Shake and by adding more local flavors to the McFlurry platform.

最後，甜點類別競爭日益激烈，因此我們將入門級競品價格保持在一個有吸引力的價格水平。我們還進行了創新，利用麥當勞最受歡迎的卡通人物推出了奶昔，並在麥旋風平台上添加了更多當地口味。

Over to you, Mariano.

接下來就交給你了，馬裡亞諾。

Thanks, Luis, and good morning, everyone. Brazil's total revenue in constant currency grew 2% in the second quarter, including positive comp sales despite operating within a context of negative industry volumes. We were able to offset volume pressure with higher average check with a combination of targeted pricing and product mix.

謝謝你，路易斯，大家早安。巴西第二季以固定匯率計算的總收入成長了 2%，其中包括正的同店銷售額，儘管當時行業銷量處於負成長狀態。我們透過有針對性的定價和產品組合，提高了平均客單價，從而抵消了銷售壓力。

Importantly, market share remained steady versus the prior year and the brand attributes we track are as strong as we have ever seen. This undoubtedly positions us well for when consumer trends improve in the country. More than 70% of system-wide sales were generated by digital channels and the Meu Mequi loyalty program surpassed 18 million members who accounted for 26% of the division's total sales.

重要的是，市場佔有率與前一年相比保持穩定，我們追蹤的品牌屬性也達到了前所未有的強勁水平。毫無疑問，這使我們能夠在國內消費趨勢好轉時佔據有利地位。系統內超過 70% 的銷售額來自數位管道，Meu Mequi 會員忠誠度計畫的會員人數超過 1,800 萬，佔該部門總銷售額的 26%。

NOLAD's total revenue rose 6.9% in constant currency. US dollar revenue growth was impacted mainly by the year-over-year depreciation of the Mexican peso. Comparable sales rose 1.8 times blended inflation in the period. This included 12.4% comp sales growth in Mexico, much higher than all main competitor brands. Digital sales penetration remained steady in NOLAD, where we offer the loyalty program in Costa Rica, and we are in the test phase in Puerto Rico. We believe digital sales performance will ramp up in the division as we expand the loyalty program to additional markets by the end of this year. SLAD's revenue rose 37.8% in constant currency with comparable sales up 1.4 times net inflation in the period.

NOLAD的總收入以固定匯率計算成長了6.9%。美元收入成長主要受到墨西哥比索年減的影響。同期同店銷售額成長了1.8倍綜合通膨率。其中包括墨西哥市場 12.4% 的同店銷售成長，遠高於所有主要競爭對手品牌。在 NOLAD，數位銷售滲透率保持穩定；在哥斯達黎加，我們推出了忠誠度計劃；在波多黎各，我們正處於測試階段。我們相信，隨著我們在今年年底前將忠誠度計畫擴展到更多市場，該部門的數位銷售業績將會提升。SLAD 的收入按固定匯率計算增長了 37.8%，同期可比銷售額增長了 1.4 倍淨通貨膨脹率。

Market share expanded strongly in several markets, including Argentina and Chile. Argentina built on last year's market share gains to boost its continued rebound from 2024. Digital sales penetration in SLAD surpassed 60% and loyalty generated 17% of total sales from the 4 SLAD markets currently offering the program.

在包括阿根廷和智利在內的多個市場，市佔率大幅成長。阿根廷鞏固了去年市場份額的成長，以推動其從2024年開始的持續反彈。在 SLAD 地區，數位銷售滲透率超過 60%，忠誠度計劃在目前提供該計劃的 4 個 SLAD 市場中創造了 17% 的總銷售額。

Let's shift now to profitability and capital allocation during the second quarter. Adjusted for last year's labor contingency reduction in Brazil, second quarter consolidated EBITDA grew very solidly in US dollars despite currency headwinds. While food and paper remained pressured due to higher beef prices in Brazil, improvements in all other restaurant expense lines supported a solid EBITDA performance. Similar to the first quarter, Brazil's margin contraction was mainly due to higher food and paper costs from rising beef prices in the market. As you already know, the royalty fee this year is higher in Brazil due to the normalization of the royalty rate across the three divisions.

現在我們來談談第二季的獲利能力和資本配置。經過調整以彌補去年巴西勞動力短缺造成的損失後，儘管面臨匯率不利因素，第二季合併 EBITDA 以美元計價仍實現了非常穩健的成長。儘管由於巴西牛肉價格上漲，食品和紙張價格仍然承壓，但餐廳其他所有支出項目的改善支撐了穩健的 EBITDA 表現。與第一季類似，巴西利潤率下降主要是因為市場上牛肉價格上漲導致食品和紙張成本上升。如您所知，由於三個部門的版稅率統一化，今年巴西的版稅費用較高。

Excluding last year's labor contingency reduction, the net result of the remaining expense lines had a positive margin impact in Brazil. NOLAD's margin included improved performance in all restaurants' expense lines, except food and paper, which rose modestly versus last year as a percentage of revenue.

剔除去年的勞動緊急支出削減，剩餘費用項目的淨結果對巴西的利潤率產生了正面影響。NOLAD 的利潤率包括所有餐廳支出項目的業績改善，但食品和紙張除外，這兩項支出佔收入的百分比與去年相比略有上升。

Royalties were lower due to the normalization of rates across the three divisions and the result also included a gain from a sub-franchisee restaurant transaction in Mexico during the quarter. Margin performance was strong in nearly all the divisions market in the period. SLAD delivered another strong quarter of margin expansion with lower costs and expenses in nearly all line items.

由於三個部門的費率趨於正常化，特許經營費有所下降；此外，該季度還獲得了墨西哥一家二級特許經營餐廳交易的收益。該期間，幾乎所有業務部門的利潤率表現都很強勁。SLAD在幾乎所有成本和費用方面均有所下降，同時又實現了強勁的季度利潤率成長。

Notably, last year's EBITDA included a positive impact from a sub-franchised restaurant transaction. Adjusting for that impact, SLAD's margin expanded by about 260 basis points versus the second quarter of 2024.

值得注意的是，去年的 EBITDA 包含了來自一家特許經營餐廳交易的正面影響。考慮到這一影響，SLAD 的利潤率比 2024 年第二季度增長了約 260 個基點。

With these results, the company's balance sheet remains strong, and we continue making investments in future cash flow growth. As of the end of the second quarter, our debt was concentrated in two long-term bonds, the 2029 and 2032 notes with an average US dollar cost of 6.28% and an average duration of almost 6 years. After receiving an upgrade to investment grade from Fitch in January, last month, S&P assigned an initial rating of BBB- to our debt.

憑藉這些業績，公司資產負債表依然穩健，我們將繼續投資以促進未來的現金流成長。截至第二季末，我們的債務集中在兩隻長期債券上，分別是 2029 年和 2032 年到期的債券，平均美元成本為 6.28%，平均久期接近 6 年。繼今年 1 月獲得惠譽評級提升至投資等級後，上個月，標普給予我們的債務 BBB- 的初始評級。

As a result, Arcos Dorados' debt is now considered to be full investment grade, which should help support future capital market transactions. At the end of the second quarter, net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio was a comfortable 1.4 times, and we expect it to remain near this level for the remainder of the year.

因此，Arcos Dorados 的債務現在被認為是完全投資等級的，這應該有助於支持未來的資本市場交易。在第二季末，淨債務與調整後 EBITDA 的比率為 1.4 倍，處於較為合理的水平，我們預計今年剩餘時間該比率將保持在接近這一水平。

Our growth strategy remains intact. And during the second quarter, we added 20 EOTF restaurants to the portfolio. As has been the case for the last 5 years, most openings were freestanding units and the majority were opened in Brazil. We invested $55.3 million in capital expenditures, including more than $26.8 million in growth CapEx associated with new restaurant builds. We expect to continue making prudent investments in growth as we remain convinced this is the best way to increase free cash flow generation in the long- term.

我們的成長策略保持不變。第二季度，我們又在投資組合中增加了 20 家 EOTF 餐廳。與過去 5 年的情況一樣，大多數新店都是獨立式店鋪，而且大部分新店都在巴西開業。我們在資本支出方面投資了 5,530 萬美元，其中包括與新建餐廳相關的超過 2,680 萬美元的增長性資本支出。我們將繼續謹慎地投資於成長，因為我們仍然堅信這是長期增加自由現金流的最佳途徑。

As Luis already mentioned, after the quarter ended, we acquired the three existing restaurants in Saint Martin and the exclusive franchise rights for that market, which will be subject to the same terms as our existing master franchise agreement with McDonald's. Saint Martin will be managed by NOLAD and will be included in the division's results beginning in the third quarter of 2025. We do not expect a material change in consolidated results from this acquisition.

正如路易斯已經提到的，季度結束後，我們收購了聖馬丁現有的三家餐廳以及該市場的獨家特許經營權，這些權利將受與我們與麥當勞現有的總特許經營協議相同的條款約束。聖馬丁將由 NOLAD 管理，並將於 2025 年第三季開始計入該聯賽的成績。我們預期此次收購不會對合併業績產生重大影響。

Back to you, Luis.

路易斯，該你了。

I would like to touch on a topic that remains at the core of everything we do at Arcos Dorados. We recently published the 2024 social impact and sustainable development report for Arcos Dorados. In it, you can learn more about the initiatives we advanced within the Recipe for the Future framework.

我想談談一個始終貫穿我們在 Arcos Dorados 所做的一切的核心主題。我們最近發布了 Arcos Dorados 2024 年社會影響和永續發展報告。其中，您可以了解更多我們在「未來藍圖」框架內所推動的各項措施。

This ESG platform is built on 6 pillars: Climate change, which saw us reach 50% renewable energy, allowing us to reduce energy costs while also meeting our targeted Scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction. Circular economy, which includes recycling of both packaging and used cooking oil. Sustainable sourcing, which supports local economies through local sourcing.

這個 ESG 平台建立在 6 個支柱之上：氣候變化，我們實現了 50% 的可再生能源，這使我們能夠在降低能源成本的同時，也實現了我們設定的範圍 1 和範圍 2 減排目標。循環經濟包括包裝和廢棄食用油的回收。永續採購，即透過本地採購支持當地經濟。

Youth opportunity, which includes over 60,000 employees younger than 24 years. Family and well-being, which supports young people in partnership with local NGOs. And diversity and inclusion, which ensures a welcoming work environment and restaurant experience for collaborators and guests from all backgrounds. You can access the full report at recipeforthefuture.com.

為年輕人提供機會，其中包括超過 6 萬名 24 歲以下的員工。家庭與福祉，與當地非政府組織合作，為年輕人提供支持。多元化和包容性，確保為來自各種背景的合作者和顧客提供熱情友好的工作環境和用餐體驗。您可以在 recipeforthefuture.com 查看完整報告。

Before we open the call up for questions, let me tell you about my priorities as CEO. To begin with, I have designed and implemented current strategy, so I do not expect to change the big picture. With that in mind, I would say that I have 3 main strategic priorities or pillars of focus.

在正式開始提問環節之前，我想先談談我作為執行長的工作重點。首先，我已經設計並實施了當前的策略，所以我不指望改變大局。基於以上考慮，我認為我有三大策略重點或關注支柱。

First, today's business, the organic business. In other words, everything that goes into exceeding customer expectations today. That means the experience we offer through menu, quality, service, and cleanliness inside our restaurants, in customers' homes, and in the digital ecosystem.

首先，今天的主題是有機食品產業。換句話說，就是如今超越客戶期望的一切要素。這意味著我們在餐廳內部、顧客家中以及數位生態系統中，透過菜單、品質、服務和清潔度所提供的體驗。

Second, growing the business, our development strategy. I am challenging the entire team to revisit every element of our development process to further modernize and improve the way we grow. To increase our cash flow generation and create more value for our shareholders, we need to ensure that every dollar invested brings the best possible return.

其次，發展業務，這是我們的發展策略。我要求整個團隊重新審視我們開發流程的每一個環節，以進一步實現我們發展方式的現代化和改進。為了增加現金流並為股東創造更多價值，我們需要確保每一美元的投資都能帶來盡可能好的回報。

And third, tomorrow's business. We will work to answer the question of where Arcos Dorados will be in 10 years. We need to begin preparing now to meet future customer expectations, and we'll do whatever it takes to maintain our leadership position beyond 2035. Needless to say, this will be a collaborative effort within Arcos Dorados, with McDonald's, with our suppliers, and with our sub franchisees. As we often say, there is nothing we can't accomplish if we work together. I look forward to speaking with all of you over the coming months and years as I am certain the best is yet to come for Arcos Dorados.

第三，明天的生意。我們將努力解答「10年後阿爾科斯多拉多斯會是什麼樣子」這個問題。我們現在就需要開始準備，以滿足未來客戶的期望，我們將竭盡全力在 2035 年以後保持我們的領先地位。毋庸置疑，這將是 Arcos Dorados 內部、與麥當勞、我們的供應商以及我們的二級加盟商共同努力的結果。正如我們常說的，只要齊心協力，就沒有什麼做不到的事。我期待在未來的幾個月和幾年裡與大家交流，因為我確信 Arcos Dorados 最好的時光還在後頭。

Thank you for joining today's call. Dan, back to you.

感謝您參加今天的電話會議。丹，把機會交還給你。

Thanks, Luis. We will now begin the Q&A session. You can send in your questions using the Q&A function at the bottom of the screen. Please limit yourselves to one or two questions so that I can read, understand, and convey them to our speakers. We will now pause briefly to compile your questions.

謝謝你，路易斯。現在開始問答環節。您可以使用螢幕底部的問答功能提交您的問題。請將問題限制在一到兩個以內，以便我能閱讀、理解並轉達給演講嘉賓。現在我們稍作停頓，整理一下大家的問題。

Okay. Great. So we have actually quite a few questions already in the queue and a number that are related to the same topic or similar topics. So bear with me as I go through a few of these, and then we'll start with you, Luis, actually on this first set of questions.

好的。偉大的。所以，我們實際上已經有很多問題在排隊等待處理，其中一些問題與同一主題或類似主題相關。所以請容許我先解答其中的一些問題，然後我們先從你開始，路易斯，回答第一組問題。

First, Thiago Bortoluci from Goldman Sachs.Good morning, everyone. It's always a pleasure to engage with the team. Before we begin, we would like to once again express our gratitude to Marcelo for his openness and constructive dialogue during his tenure, and we wish Luis, Francisco, and Carlos continued success in their extended responsibilities.

首先是來自高盛的蒂亞戈·博托盧奇。大家早安。與團隊合作總是令人愉快。在開始之前，我們想再次感謝馬塞洛在任期間的坦誠和建設性對話，並祝路易斯、弗朗西斯科和卡洛斯在他們新的職責中繼續取得成功。

Regarding the results, they have three questions. The first -- 2 of the first 3, I'll combine here. And this is number 1, how do you assess the balance between foot traffic, pricing, product mix, and profitability in Brazil? Additionally, what internal initiatives should we anticipate from you to potentially reignite same-store sales growth in the back end of the year? Continuing with that concept, they also asked, do you have any preliminary insights on demand trends in July for Brazil and Mexico?

關於結果，他們有三個問題。第一個——前三個中的兩個，我將在這裡合併。這是第一點，在巴西，如何評估客流量、定價、產品組合和獲利能力之間的平衡？此外，我們應該期待貴公司在年底前採取哪些內部措施來重新提振同店銷售成長？延續這個概念，他們也問道：您對巴西和墨西哥 7 月的需求趨勢有任何初步見解嗎？

Related to Thiago's question, we have a question from Eric Huang from Santander. And he asks, Brazil's sales remain quite subdued in the second quarter of '25. How is the company perceiving the consumer environment as we turn into the second half of '25? And how are the revenue management initiatives expected to help in sales momentum ahead?

與 Thiago 的問題相關，我們還有來自桑坦德銀行的 Eric Huang 的問題。他問道，2025 年第二季巴西的銷售額仍然相當低迷。隨著我們進入 2025 年下半年，公司如何看待消費環境？那麼，這些收益管理措施預計將如何協助未來的銷售成長？

And finally, Melissa and Bob Ford from Bank of America asked, with respect to Brazil also, can you discuss consumption dynamics during the second quarter and in July/August? Was weather a factor in the second quarter deceleration?

最後，美國銀行的梅莉莎和鮑伯福特也問，關於巴西的情況，您能否談談第二季和七、八月的消費動態？天氣是否是導致第二季經濟成長放緩的因素之一？

So with all of that as background, Luis, I'll turn it over to you.

路易斯，了解了這些背景之後，接下來就交給你了。

Thank you, Dan, and thank you, David, Eric, and Melissa. Let me -- I'll try to cover everything. First, about the context, the market continues to face a challenging macroeconomic environment, uncertainty, and weakening consumer confidence. But given this context, even though various sources point to a drop in the flow of visits in the QSR market, we managed to deliver positive comp sales. We offset a drop in traffic with a combination of targeted price increases and product mix. So the contribution to sales came more from average check than volume. What we're trying to do here is to balance between the sales growth and profitability, right? We are trying to increase our margins.

謝謝你，丹；也謝謝你，大衛、艾瑞克和梅麗莎。讓我來——我會盡量涵蓋所有內容。首先，就市場背景而言，市場持續面臨充滿挑戰的宏觀經濟環境、不確定性和消費者信心減弱等問題。但鑑於此，儘管各種消息都指出快餐店市場的客流量有所下降，但我們仍然實現了正的同店銷售額。我們透過有針對性的價格上漲和產品組合調整來彌補流量下降的影響。因此，銷售額的成長更多來自於平均客單價，而不是銷售量。我們現在要做的就是在銷售成長和獲利能力之間取得平衡，對吧？我們正在努力提高利潤率。

And regarding channels, Melissa, the impact on weather was mainly in the dessert center. But -- and we do have a more aggressive competition mainly in Brazil. We are addressing that with the plan. But the good news is that the strongest performance was through our front counter. And this is very good news for us because it is a proof that our brand and our on-premise is aspirational and it's going to be -- that on-premise experience is going to be very important.

至於頻道方面，梅麗莎，天氣受到的影響主要集中在沙漠中心。但是——而且我們在巴西確實面臨更激烈的競爭。我們正在透過該計劃解決這個問題。但好消息是，表現最出色的是我們的前台。這對我們來說是個非常好的消息，因為它證明了我們的品牌和我們的店內體驗是令人嚮往的，而且店內體驗將會非常重要。

About the most important marketing actions that we had in the market was, first, Mequi do Dia, it is a value campaign and the Mequi Fest digital campaign. Those were very successful and helped increase visit frequency and drive a 15% increase in identified sales. You know that for us, identified sales are very important. We had 26% in the region, but in Brazil, in particular, 32%, which is that share in June specifically. So even though we're trying to shield our market share by being prudent with pricing, we do have a comprehensive plan, which includes those short-term initiatives more transactional, but we complement that with long-term focus because we want to build on the brand's aspirational aspect.

我們在市場上最重要的行銷活動是，首先是「Mequi do Dia」活動，這是一項價值行銷活動，其次是「Mequi Fest」數位行銷活動。這些措施非常成功，有助於提高訪問頻率，並推動已確定的銷售額成長 15%。您知道，對我們來說，已確定的銷售額非常重要。我們在該地區的市佔率為 26%，但在巴西，尤其是在 6 月份，市佔率達到了 32%。因此，儘管我們努力透過謹慎定價來保護我們的市場份額，但我們確實有一個全面的計劃，其中包括那些更注重交易的短期舉措，但我們也注重長期發展，因為我們希望鞏固品牌的抱負。

And that's why we have, for example, the license of Minecraft in the Happy Meal or for example, the launch of the Grimace Shake or even the Formula 1 action that reaches all socioeconomic groups and builds on the coolness of the brand. As a result and very important, our market share in the market remains steady. We're leading our nearest competitor by a factor of 2.2 and attributes like favorite brand and brand awareness are at the highest scores according to internal research. So we are today in a position of strength.

因此，例如，我們在開心樂園餐中加入了 Minecraft 的授權，或者推出了 Grimace 奶昔，甚至是 F1 方程式賽車活動，這些活動覆蓋了所有社會經濟群體，並提升了品牌的酷炫度。因此，非常重要的一點是，我們在市場上的份額保持穩定。我們領先最接近的競爭對手 2.2 倍，根據內部研究，最受歡迎品牌和品牌知名度等屬性得分最高。所以，我們今天處於優勢地位。

And despite we see that the challenging macroeconomic environment will remain during the third quarter and maybe during the second semester, we are confident because we have a solid marketing plan. We're going to keep on working with our affordability platform to drive traffic, to shield our market share, like I said, and we remain close to our customers, building on the love of the brand because we're going to be having cool launches, too.

儘管我們認為充滿挑戰的宏觀經濟環境將在第三季甚至下半年持續存在，但我們充滿信心，因為我們擁有一個穩健的行銷計劃。我們將繼續利用我們的價格實惠平台來吸引流量，保護我們的市場份額，就像我之前說的那樣，我們將與客戶保持密切聯繫，鞏固他們對品牌的喜愛，因為我們也會推出一些很棒的新品。

Regarding Mexico, Mexico had a very strong quarter with plus 12% in sales. And it was the highest in the market. And not only the market, the QSR and the entire industry, the good news is that it was driven by dessert centers, by delivery and by -- from counter. We are seeing a similar trend in the beginning of the third quarter. Daniel?

墨西哥方面，墨西哥本季表現非常強勁，銷售額成長了 12%。而且它是市場上最高的。好消息是，不僅是市場、快餐店和整個行業，甜點中心、外賣和櫃檯銷售也推動了這一趨勢。第三季初也出現了類似的趨勢。丹尼爾？

Thanks, Luis. So now over to you, Mariano. And again, this will be a combination of questions. Actually, to be fair, we received questions from Jack Gater, JO Hambro asking for more detail on the Brazil division and consumer demand and also Julia Rizzo from Morgan Stanley asked about same-store sales trends in Brazil, which I think you just answered, Luis. So I'm not going to come back to those. I just want to recognize both Jack and Julia.

謝謝你，路易斯。現在輪到你了，馬裡亞諾。而且，這將是一系列問題的組合。事實上，公平地說，我們收到了來自 Jack Gater 和 JO Hambro 的提問，他們要求提供更多關於巴西分部和消費者需求的細節，摩根士丹利的 Julia Rizzo 也詢問了巴西的同店銷售趨勢，我想你剛才已經回答了這個問題，Luis。所以我不會再談那些事了。我只是想向傑克和茱莉亞表示感謝。

So now I'll move to Mariano and start with one of the questions that came in from Thiago from Goldman Sachs, combined with a question from Melissa and Bob at Bank of America and also Froylan at JPMorgan. So bear with me again, Mariano, please. From Thiago, could you elaborate on which regions and specific actions contributed most significantly to top line and margin performance in NOLAD? I think associated with that is Froylan's question from JPMorgan.

現在我將轉到 Mariano 的環節，首先回答高盛的 Thiago 提出的問題，以及美國銀行的 Melissa 和 Bob 以及摩根大通的 Froylan 提出的問題。所以，馬裡亞諾，請你再耐心等等我。Thiago，您能否詳細說明一下，哪些地區和具體措施對 NOLAD 的營收和利潤率表現貢獻最大？我認為與此相關的是摩根大通的弗羅伊蘭提出的問題。

Can you give us some sense on -- sorry, I think I'm confusing myself here. Yes, I am confusing myself. And then Froylan asked, can you -- how much of the 12% same-store sales growth in Mexico was driven by positive calendar effect? How sustainable is this going into the second half? And Melissa and Bob from Bank of America asked, additionally, can you comment on the underlying sales and margin performance of Mexico, specifically excluding the Holy Week impact? So this is kind of a general NOLAD/Mexico question for you, Mariano.

你可以跟我們解釋一下嗎——抱歉，我覺得我把自己搞糊塗了。是的，我把自己搞糊塗了。然後弗羅伊蘭問道，你能告訴我——墨西哥 12% 的同店銷售成長中有多少是由積極的日曆效應推動的嗎？這種模式能否持續到下半年？此外，美國銀行的梅莉莎和鮑伯也問道，您能否就墨西哥的基本銷售和利潤率表現發表評論，特別是排除聖週的影響？所以，Mariano，這個問題算是關於北美防空司令部/墨西哥的普遍性問題。

Perfect. Good morning, everyone, and thanks, Thiago, Melissa, and Froy for the question. We are very pleased with the performance of NOLAD during the second quarter of this year and, of course, on the first half of this year. First, we have seen in NOLAD, sales increasing at 1.8 times inflation. So -- and as Luis already mentioned, Mexico stands out in this performance.

完美的。大家早安，謝謝 Thiago、Melissa 和 Froy 的提問。我們對 NOLAD 今年第二季以及上半年的表現非常滿意。首先，我們看到在紐奧良，銷售額成長速度是通貨膨脹率的 1.8 倍。所以——正如路易斯已經提到的那樣——墨西哥在這場表演中表現突出。

So it is true, and we mentioned in the first Q that Holy Week has an impact in Mexico, strong impact and that we were expecting good results for the second Q. But if you consider the first half of the year, Mexico is performing much better and is growing above inflation compared with the first half of 2024.

確實如此，我們在第一季就提到過，聖週對墨西哥經濟有顯著影響，我們也預期第二季會取得良好業績。但如果只看今年上半年，墨西哥的經濟表現要好得多，其成長速度超過了2024年上半年的通膨水準。

In terms of impacts in margins, NOLAD is showing in this quarter an improvement of 450 bps compared to the same quarter of last year. And this -- the good news here is that this is due, first, despite a deterioration of the FX because the Mexican peso in the quarter averaged this quarter 19.5 versus 17.3 last year. So despite the devaluation of the Mexican peso, we are seeing a much better margin in Mexico and in the division.

就利潤率的影響而言，NOLAD 本季的利潤率比去年同期提高了 450 個基點。好消息是，儘管外匯市場惡化，但墨西哥比索本季平均匯率仍為 19.5，而去年同期為 17.3，因此這一消息是合理的。因此，儘管墨西哥比索貶值，但我們在墨西哥和該部門的利潤率卻要好得多。

And this is due to a better payroll, a better service fee, as we already explained, the new MFA, better occupancy, and other expenses with better margins in delivery. And in this particular quarter, we are seeing as well a better operating -- other operating income given the transaction on the new -- the restaurants acquired in Mexico. So all that together is improving the margin in NOLAD in 450 bps.

這要歸功於更好的工資、更好的服務費（正如我們已經解釋過的）、新的 MFA、更好的入住率以及其他利潤更高的交付支出。在本季度，由於收購了墨西哥的新餐廳，我們也看到了更好的營運收入——其他營運收入。因此，所有這些因素加在一起，使 NOLAD 的利潤率提高了 450 個基點。

Of course, when we see sales in the division growing at almost 2 times inflation, we see leverage in all the fixed cost lines, and that's also reflecting, of course, in the results.

當然，當我們看到該部門的銷售額以接近通貨膨脹率兩倍的速度成長時，我們看到所有固定成本項目都得到了槓桿作用，當然也反映在了業績中。

Great. Thanks, Mariano. The next question comes from Froylan Mendez from JPMorgan.

偉大的。謝謝你，馬裡亞諾。下一個問題來自摩根大通的弗羅伊蘭·門德斯。

And although we've talked about ticket and traffic trends with Brazil specifically, he asks for a view on a regional basis. And this question will be for you, Luis.

雖然我們已經專門針對巴西討論了票務和交通趨勢，但他希望從區域角度來看待這個問題。路易斯，這個問題要問你。

All right. Thank you, Froylan, for the question. In general, what we saw in the region was volatility and challenging marketing conditions. But despite that, we believe we have the best position to face this current situation or any that may arise. The sales performance was solid in local currency and consolidated comparable sales were in line with the company's blended inflation within the context of each division.

好的。謝謝Froylan的提問。整體而言，該地區市場波動較大，市場環境充滿挑戰。儘管如此，我們相信我們擁有應對當前情況或未來可能出現的任何情況的最佳優勢。以當地貨幣計算，銷售業績表現穩健，合併後的同店銷售額與公司各部門的綜合通膨率相符。

I already talked about Brazil. You know that our comps were up 1.8 times blended inflation with a low single-digit contribution from traffic. So the contribution to sales, if you do the math, were 2/3 from average check. Like I said, Mexico stood out and is keeping that performance in this third quarter. And by channel, in NOLAD, the sales strength was driven by front counter, dessert centers, and delivery in local currency with positive volume growth in all three segments.

我之前已經談過巴西了。你知道，我們的同店銷售額比綜合通貨膨脹率高出 1.8 倍，而客流量的貢獻只有個位數。因此，如果你計算一下，你會發現平均客單價的 2/3 對銷售額的貢獻。正如我所說，墨西哥隊表現出色，並且在第三季度保持了這種狀態。按通路劃分，在新奧爾良，銷售強勁成長主要來自前台、甜點中心和以當地貨幣結算的送貨服務，這三個細分市場的銷售量均實現了正成長。

In SLAD, comps were -- they were up 1.4 times than inflation with a mid-single-digit contribution from traffic and average check in line with inflation. So in general, all markets had a very good quarter, and we're seeing a similar performance in the beginning of this third one. By channel, the sales growth was strong across all the channels in the quarter.

在SLAD中，同店銷售額比通貨膨脹率高出1.4倍，其中客流量貢獻了中等個位數的成長，平均客單價與通貨膨脹率持平。總的來說，所有市場都度過了一個非常好的季度，而且我們在第三季度的開始階段也看到了類似的表現。本季各通路的銷售成長均表現強勁。

For the remainder of the year, we're going to keep on focusing on the factors that we control, of course, the brand, the 4G strategy and taking advantage of the footprint and geographic diversification.

今年剩餘時間裡，我們將繼續專注於我們可控的因素，當然包括品牌、4G策略以及利用我們的網路覆蓋範圍和地理多元化優勢。

Thanks, Luis. Okay. The next one for Mariano again. This will be a series of questions, all of them related to the beef cost trends in Brazil. So Froy from JPMorgan. Can you please give us color as to the beef trend in Brazil? Eric from Santander, could you please elaborate on your expectations for margins, especially in Brazil? And how are you seeing beef prices impacting margins in the upcoming quarters?

謝謝你，路易斯。好的。下一個還是馬裡亞諾。這將是一系列問題，所有問題都與巴西牛肉價格趨勢有關。摩根大通的弗羅伊。請問您能介紹一下巴西牛肉市場的趨勢嗎？來自桑坦德的埃里克，您能否詳細說明您對利潤率的預期，尤其是在巴西？您認為未來幾季牛肉價格將如何影響利潤率？

Alvaro Garcia from BTG Pactual asks, how does management see beef prices evolving in the second half of the year in Brazil? And Jeronimo de Guzman from INCA Investments asks about, can you comment more on the beef cost pressures you're seeing in Brazil? Are you seeing any changes? And do you still think you can maintain margins stable ex one-offs on a consolidated basis for full year 2025? So multipart question that I'll turn over to you, Mariano.

來自 BTG Pactual 的 Alvaro Garcia 問道：管理層如何看待巴西牛肉價格在今年下半年的走勢？INCA Investments 的 Jeronimo de Guzman 問道，您能否就您在巴西看到的牛肉成本壓力發表更多評論？你發現有什麼改變嗎？您仍然認為在不計一次性項目的情況下，2025 年全年合併利潤率能夠保持穩定嗎？這是一個多部分的問題，現在交給你來回答，馬裡亞諾。

Perfect. And thanks, everybody, for the question related to the beef prices in Brazil. Beef prices in Brazil, as I mentioned, impacted our results during the first half of the year. We have seen price increases of around 30% in the last 12 months.

完美的。感謝大家提出的巴西牛肉價格的問題。正如我之前提到的，巴西牛肉價格對我們上半年的業績產生了影響。過去12個月裡，我們看到價格上漲了約30%。

Here, we have good news and that is that we do not expect further significant cost pressures versus current levels in the second half of this year. On top of that, for the other items in the food and paper line in Brazil, we have seen so far a devaluation of the Brazilian real that, of course, impacted the costs on imported goods.

好消息是，我們預計今年下半年成本壓力不會比目前水準進一步大幅上升。此外，就巴西的食品和紙製品而言，我們已經看到巴西雷亞爾貶值，這當然會影響進口商品的成本。

What we have seen or what we are expecting now in July, we have seen an appreciation of the Brazilian real to below BRL5.4 to the dollar. Actually, today, last time I checked was at BRL5.39. And this could have, if this FX trend persists, a positive impact on the gross margin for the rest of the year. So of course, we -- the outlook and what we know so far is that we are not expecting significant cost pressures from beef from the current levels.

我們已經看到或預計在 7 月份，巴西雷亞爾將升值至低於 5.4 雷亞爾兌 1 美元。事實上，我上次查看時，今天的匯率是 5.39 巴西雷亞爾。如果這種匯率趨勢持續下去，可能會對今年剩餘時間的毛利率產生正面影響。所以，當然，就目前的情況來看，我們預計牛肉價格不會從目前的水平上帶來顯著的成本壓力。

Thanks, Mariano. Actually, I think you addressed it, but Eric also had asked if the tariffs on Brazil exports have prompted an improvement in commercial terms in prices of beef on the company side. We've already sort of addressed the beef trends. So I just wanted to mention that.

謝謝你，馬裡亞諾。實際上，我認為你已經回答過這個問題了，但艾瑞克也問過，對巴西出口徵收的關稅是否促使公司方面的牛肉價格商業條件有所改善。我們已經大致討論過牛肉的消費趨勢了。我只是想提一下這件事。

So the next question will be for Luis. So I'll let you catch your breath, Mariano, because the next one will be for you. And the next one is from Jack Gater with JO Hambro. And he asked if we can expand on the changing competitive landscape in desserts? What's the margin of dessert centers and what percentage of sales does this contribute to the total? And we'll give that one to you, Luis.

那麼下一個問題將問路易斯。那麼，馬裡亞諾，我就讓你喘口氣吧，因為下一個就輪到你了。接下來是 Jack Gater 和 JO Hambro 的作品。他問我們能否進一步探討甜點產業競爭格局的變化？甜點中心的利潤率是多少？其銷售額佔總銷售額的百分比是多少？路易斯，我們就把這個獎頒給你。

All right. Thank you for the question. Dessert centers as of the end of 2024 represented almost 10% of total sales. The segment has significantly higher margins in percentage, in relative numbers. And what we are seeing in the landscape is that we're seeing an increasing competition in general in the region, mainly in Brazil. But we have already implemented a solid plan regarding aggressive pricing and with innovations, like, for example, as I said, the Grimace Shake. Dan, back to you.

好的。謝謝你的提問。截至 2024 年底，甜點中心的銷售額佔總銷售額的近 10%。該細分市場的利潤率（按百分比和相對數量計算）明顯較高。我們看到，該地區，特別是巴西，競爭總體上日益加劇。但我們已經實施了一項穩健的計劃，包括積極的定價策略和創新，例如，正如我所說，奶昔奶昔。丹，把機會交還給你。

Okay. Thanks, Luis. And now another multiparter for you, Mariano. Starting with Melissa from Bank of America. How are you thinking about pricing and your ability to offset higher costs in the context of softer demand? I presume that's mostly a Brazil question, but in general. And then Jeronimo de Guzman from INCA asks a similar question. Given your focus on affordability and prudent pricing to drive traffic and protect market share, what does this mean for margins? And do you still think you can maintain margins stable ex one-offs on a consolidated basis? So that second part I had already said, but the piece about pricing versus margins, I think, is the crux here, and I'll give that to you, Mariano.

好的。謝謝你，路易斯。馬裡亞諾，接下來是另一個多集節目。首先是來自美國銀行的梅麗莎。在需求疲軟的情況下，您如何看待定價以及如何抵銷成本上漲？我猜這主要是一個關於巴西的問題，但總體而言也是如此。然後，INCA 的 Jeronimo de Guzman 也提出了類似的問題。鑑於您注重價格實惠和謹慎定價以吸引客流和保護市場份額，這對利潤率意味著什麼？您是否仍然認為，在剔除一次性項目後，您能夠保持合併後的利潤率穩定？第二部分我已經說過了，但是關於定價與利潤率的部分，我認為是問題的關鍵，這一點我同意你的看法，馬裡亞諾。

Perfect. Thanks, Melissa and Jeronimo, for the question. Related to pricing to offset costs, as we have seen in the first half of the year, a deterioration of margins in Brazil. In fact, we will continue with our strategy to increase prices in line with inflation. We are not going to -- in order to pursue a quick gains in margin gains to increase prices well above inflation because this will be maybe something that will have an impact -- positive impact in the short-term, but it's not going to be sustainable in the mid to long-term.

完美的。謝謝梅麗莎和傑羅尼莫的提問。與價格調整以抵消成本有關，正如我們在今年上半年所看到的，巴西的利潤率有所下降。事實上，我們將繼續執行與通貨膨脹率同步漲價的策略。我們不會為了追求快速的利潤成長而將價格提高到遠高於通貨膨脹率的水平，因為這或許會在短期內產生正面影響，但在中長期內是不可持續的。

As an example, we have done that in Argentina last year. Argentina in 2024 experienced an important devaluation of the currency and impact in the whole economy. We have been very prudent with pricing in Argentina, and we are seeing the results this year with very, very good results in terms of sales, traffic, and margin recovery. And Argentina is going to be one of the key contributors to EBITDA growth during 2025.

例如，我們去年在阿根廷就這樣做過。2024年阿根廷經歷了貨幣大幅貶值，對整個經濟產生了影響。我們在阿根廷的定價策略一直非常謹慎，今年我們在銷售、客流量和利潤率恢復方面都取得了非常好的成果。阿根廷將成為 2025 年 EBITDA 成長的主要貢獻者之一。

In Brazil, we are not expecting to do anything different from our strategy. We will continue increasing prices in line with inflation. And when the consumer environment starts recovering, we are confident that our margins will start recovering, and we will see much better margins than what we have seen in the first half of the year.

在巴西，我們預計不會採取與以往不同的策略。我們將繼續根據通貨膨脹率上調價格。當消費環境開始復甦時，我們有信心我們的利潤率也會開始復甦，我們將看到比今年上半年更好的利潤率。

And going to the second part of Jeronimo's question and how do we see the EBITDA margin for this year, excluding one-offs? First, during this quarter, we're very pleased with the EBITDA margin. We have seen that excluding labor contingencies from last year, we increased EBITDA margin by 40 basis points during the quarter compared, of course, to the same quarter of last year. For the full year 2025, we expect to have an EBITDA margin close to 2024, excluding, of course, the one-offs related to labor contingencies in Brazil.

接下來回答 Jeronimo 問題的第二部分，即，如果不計入一次性項目，我們如何看待今年的 EBITDA 利潤率？首先，本季 EBITDA 利潤率非常令人滿意。我們看到，如果排除去年同期勞動力方面的意外情況，本季我們的 EBITDA 利潤率比去年同期提高了 40 個基點。我們預計 2025 年全年 EBITDA 利潤率將接近 2024 年的水平，當然，不包括與巴西勞動力短缺相關的一次性支出。

As I explained, we are not expecting further deterioration on the gross margin line. And for example, during this quarter, we have seen gains in the payroll line with excluding one-off, 50 bps better than last year. We have also seen improvements in the occupancy and other expense line of 70 bps during this quarter. And if we continue focusing on cost efficiencies and trying to look at all the cost structure and trying to minimize those increases, we are confident that we will be able to maintain or to be very close to the EBITDA margin that we achieved in 2024, that was record for the company.

正如我解釋的那樣，我們預計毛利率不會進一步惡化。例如，本季我們看到薪資支出（不包括一次性支出）比去年同期成長了 50 個基點。本季入住率和其他費用也改善了 70 個基點。如果我們繼續專注於成本效益，努力審視所有成本結構，並努力最大限度地減少這些增長，我們有信心能夠保持或非常接近我們在 2024 年實現的 EBITDA 利潤率，那是公司創紀錄的水平。

Thanks, Mariano. We have one more from Alvaro Garcia from BTG Pactual. And this one is going to be for you, Luis. And he asks about Argentina traffic trends in the quarter relative to the 2023 baseline?

謝謝你，馬裡亞諾。我們還有來自 BTG Pactual 的 Alvaro Garcia 的一條訊息。這首歌是獻給你的，路易斯。他詢問了本季阿根廷的交通流量趨勢與 2023 年基準相比的情況？

All right. Thank you, Alvaro, for the question. What is happening in Argentina this year, since the second semester of last year is that it is showing a more stabilized macroeconomic environment. The inflation is dropping and the recovery of the economy is happening, but showing mixed behavior across different sectors.

好的。謝謝你的提問，阿爾瓦羅。今年阿根廷的情況是，自去年下半年以來，其宏觀經濟環境趨於穩定。通貨膨脹正在下降，經濟正在復甦，但不同行業的表現不一。

If we compare with 2023, we are mostly in line with that performance. But what I want to highlight here is that in this context, in the context of that recuperation of the economy, our business is very solid with a strong evolution. And we have a local team that is doing a great job harvesting the investments that they did last year. Last year, they stayed close to the customers, the increased market share, and those gains that we had during 2024 are driving strong results this year. That's why it's so important that we keep and we are focusing on keeping that strategy in another market that have this similar challenging environment.

如果與 2023 年相比，我們目前的表現基本上符合預期。但我想強調的是，在當前經濟復甦的背景下，我們的業務非常穩健，並實現了強勁發展。我們有一個本地團隊，他們在去年投資的回報方面做得非常出色。去年，他們與客戶保持密切聯繫，市場份額不斷增長，而我們在 2024 年取得的這些成果正在推動今年取得強勁的業績。正因如此，我們才如此重視並致力於在另一個具有類似挑戰性環境的市場中繼續保持這項策略。

And so in Argentina, today, we continue to be very prudent with pricing. We're trying to take like across the region, all the opportunities possible to improve margins. And we have, for example, the Tasty Feat Cuarto as a highlight of marketing action or the Formula 1 action that is important in the market too. According to internal research, these actions helped us further increase our market share.

因此，在阿根廷，我們今天仍然在定價方面非常謹慎。我們正努力像整個地區一樣，抓住一切可能的機會來提高利潤率。例如，我們有 Tasty Feat Cuarto 作為行銷活動的亮點，或者一級方程式賽車活動在市場上也很重要。根據內部調查，這些措施幫助我們進一步提高了市場佔有率。

We are outgaining all players in the market. And in Argentina, the difference is of 3 times the size when we compare with our main competitors. And another great news is that we are improving strongly the brand attributes. And we are seeing a similar trend in -- now in the third quarter of the year. Dan, back to you.

我們在市場上領先所有其他參與者。在阿根廷，與主要競爭對手相比，差距是其 3 倍。另一個好消息是，我們的品牌屬性正在大幅提升。我們現在在今年第三季也看到了類似的趨勢。丹，把機會交還給你。

Okay. Thanks, Luis. The next one will be for you, Mariano, and this question comes from Julia Rizzo from Morgan Stanley. She says that CapEx was well below expectations. And could the company end the year with CapEx below initial expectations? What are the gains and improvements we're noticing, if any?

好的。謝謝你，路易斯。下一個問題就問你了，馬裡亞諾，這個問題來自摩根士丹利的朱莉婭·里佐。她表示，資本支出遠低於預期。公司今年的資本支出能否低於預期？我們觀察到了哪些效益和改進？

Perfect. Thanks, Julia, for the question. We actually maintained our 2025 openings guidance of between 90 to 100 EOTF restaurants with a CapEx guidance of between $300 million to $350 million. The CapEx this year, as usual, is a bit more back-ended. So we expect for the full year to keep on and maintain our -- we maintain our guidance.

完美的。謝謝茱莉亞的提問。我們實際上維持了 2025 年開設 90 至 100 家 EOTF 餐廳的預期，資本支出預期為 3 億至 3.5 億美元。今年的資本支出和往年一樣，更集中在後半段。因此，我們預計全年將繼續保持並維持我們的指導方針——我們維持我們的指導方針。

In terms of improvement, we are always looking at improvements and ways to reduce the cost of each opening, and we are doing that all the time. We are looking at efficiencies. We are looking at reducing costs, localizing the core packages to reduce the impact of currency movements. So my team and the development team is continuing focusing on these improvements and cost reductions to make our investments more profitable.

在改進方面，我們一直在尋找改進方法，並努力降低每次開業的成本，我們一直在這樣做。我們正在研究如何提高效率。我們正在考慮降低成本，將核心軟體包本地化，以減少匯率波動的影響。因此，我的團隊和開發團隊將繼續專注於這些改進和成本降低，以使我們的投資更有獲利能力。

Great. Thanks, Mariano. The next question comes from Max Joseph. This one will be for you, Luis. He goes, congratulations on the promotions and the strong results. Luis, could you share more about how you're challenging the team to ensure that every dollar in growth generates the best possible return? Where do you see the biggest opportunities to further maximize those results? And I think maybe you can get started. And of course, Mariano, if you have anything to add there, please feel free.

偉大的。謝謝你，馬裡亞諾。下一個問題來自馬克斯·約瑟夫。這首歌是獻給你的，路易斯。他走上前去，祝賀你們升職加薪，並取得了優異的成績。路易斯，你能否詳細介紹一下你是如何激勵團隊，確保每一美元的成長都能產生最佳的回報？您認為在哪些方面最有機會進一步提升這些成果？我覺得或許你可以開始了。當然，馬裡亞諾，如果你還有什麼要補充的，請隨時說。

Yes. Thank you. Thank you very much for the message, Max, and for the question. Yes. Well, as I said, I'm going to have those three priorities, today's business, tomorrow's business, and the development strategy. As I said in the opening remarks, what we are doing is revisiting the whole process, starting with people, the teams, and how we look in the field for the sites and how we build the sites and working as a team with Mariano, how we measure those returns.

是的。謝謝。非常感謝你的留言和提問，Max。是的。正如我所說，我將優先考慮三個面向：眼下的業務、明天的業務以及發展策略。正如我在開場白中所說，我們正在重新審視整個流程，從人員、團隊開始，以及我們如何在現場尋找場地、如何建立場地，如何與馬裡亞諾團隊合作，以及我們如何衡量這些回報。

I would say that we would like to focus on the modernization of the process and implementing innovative and more sophisticated tools like artificial intelligence. So we better estimate our sales. We better manage the whole construction and measuring the process afterwards with finance when we already have the outcome of the performance. I don't know, Mariano, if you want to add.

我認為，我們希望專注於流程現代化，並實施人工智慧等創新且更先進的工具。這樣我們就能更好地估算銷售額。我們最好在獲得績效結果後，再對整個建設過程進行財務管理並進行衡量。馬裡亞諾，我不知道你是否想補充。

No, what Luis just mentioned, and I also mentioned in the previous question from Julia. Return on investments is one of our top priorities, and we are, as a team, looking ways always to reduce costs and make our investments more profitable, driving a better and a higher shareholder return in terms of investments. So we are focused. This is one of our top priorities. And yes, that would be my add to this answer.

不，就是路易斯剛才提到的，也是我在茱莉亞之前的問題中提到的。投資報酬率是我們的首要任務之一，我們團隊一直在尋找降低成本、提高投資獲利能力的方法，為股東帶來更高更好的投資回報。所以我們現在很專注。這是我們的首要任務之一。是的，這就是我對這個答案的補充。

Great. Thanks, Mariano. We have a question from Lorena Reich from Lucror Analytics. And actually, it's let's call it a 4-parter. I'll take the first one, which is why did we stop releasing detail by region.

偉大的。謝謝你，馬裡亞諾。我們收到來自 Lucror Analytics 的 Lorena Reich 的提問。實際上，我們不妨稱之為四部分的故事。我選第一個，這也是我們停止按地區發布詳細資訊的原因。

Actually, Lorena, I think if you take a look at our earnings release, what you'll find is that what we eliminated was redundancies from the previous version. The information by region or by division is still in the release, toward the end, you'll find all of the sales, EBITDA, operating income, same-store sales information that has always been in the release. What we did is just eliminate that redundancy that was in the document previously.

實際上，洛雷娜，如果你看我們的收益報告，你會發現我們刪除的是先前版本中的冗餘部分。按地區或部門劃分的資訊仍包含在新聞稿中，在新聞稿的最後部分，您會找到所有銷售額、EBITDA、營業收入、同店銷售等信息，這些資訊一直都包含在新聞稿中。我們所做的只是刪除了先前文檔中存在的冗餘內容。

And our discussion of both sales growth as well as EBITDA performance at the consolidated level includes commentary on the divisional performance. And as I'm sure you saw in today's presentation, we further explained some of those details. So I think that the information is still there. It's just a little bit different format.

我們對合併層面的銷售成長和 EBITDA 績效的討論包括對各部門績效的評論。正如你們在今天的演示中看到的那樣，我們進一步解釋了其中的一些細節。所以我認為資訊仍然存在。只是格式略有不同。

The second question from Lorena has also, I think, already been answered, which is related to Julia's question around CapEx and store openings, which is, do you expect to reach the annual guidance for store openings? Mariano, you just answered that. So we're good.

我認為 Lorena 的第二個問題也已經得到了解答，這個問題與 Julia 關於資本支出和門市開業的問題有關，那就是，你們預計能否達到年度門市開幕目標？馬裡亞諾，你剛才已經回答過了。一切都好。

And then we have two more from her. These are a little bit sort of quick fire and they'll be for you, Mariano. The first one is what's the amount paid for Saint Martin acquisition?

然後我們還有她寄來的兩封信。這些問題有點快節奏，是專門為你準備的，馬裡亞諾。第一個問題是，收購聖馬丁島支付了多少金額？

Yes. Thanks, Lorena, for the question. The cash payment for the rights to Saint Martin was not a material sum within the context of our consolidated cash flow. And this payment will be reflected within the investing activities in our statement of cash flows by the end of September 2025.

是的。謝謝洛雷娜的提問。從我們合併現金流的角度來看，為獲得聖馬丁島的版權而支付的現金金額並不重大。這項付款將在 2025 年 9 月底之前反映在我們的現金流量表中的投資活動中。

Great. And then another question that relates, I guess, to our cash flow statement. Can you provide more detail on the acquisition of short-term investments of $106 million in the investment cash flow? That's again for you, Mariano.

偉大的。還有一個問題，我想這應該與我們的現金流量表有關。能否提供更多關於投資現金流中1.06億美元短期投資收購的詳細資訊？這又是給你的，馬裡亞諾。

Yes. This is simply time deposits executed with relationship top-tier banks and was done in order to minimize the current cost of the new money funds raised on our latest bond issuance in January of this year.

是的。這只是與頂級合作銀行進行的定期存款，目的是為了最大限度地降低今年 1 月最新債券發行所籌集的新資金的當前成本。

Okay. And then we have -- thank you, Mariano. We have a question for you, Luis. This one comes from Jeronimo de Guzman from INCA Investments. Can you please give us an update on the competitive environment in Brazil? Are you seeing any significant changes given the softer consumer environment?

好的。然後我們還有──謝謝你，馬裡亞諾。路易斯，我們有個問題想問你。這則訊息來自 INCA Investments 的 Jeronimo de Guzman。請問能否介紹一下巴西目前的競爭環境？鑑於消費環境趨於疲軟，您是否觀察到任何顯著變化？

Yes. Thank you, Jeronimo, for the question. What we are seeing in Brazil is that there is reducing guest traffic in the sector. We saw that in the second quarter. For this reason is that for us, it's very important to remain focused on offering a compelling value proposition with competitive pricing and delivering a great experience through all the channels.

是的。傑羅尼莫，謝謝你的提問。我們在巴西看到的現像是，該行業的遊客數量正在減少。我們在第二季就看到了這一點。因此，對我們來說，非常重要的一點是，要始終專注於提供具有競爭力的價格和極具吸引力的價值主張，並透過所有管道提供卓越的體驗。

In general, in the industry, the competition continue to focus on promotional activities. We have a comprehensive plan that complements actions targeted to increase traffic and gain or shield our market share like Combo del Dia with aspirational aspects like Minecraft and the Formula 1 menu. So that's why you're seeing as a result of that regarding to CREST, we are being able to maintain our market share and keeping the difference -- the distance that we have in market share when we compare with our nearest competitor, that difference is of 2.2 times.

整體而言，業內競爭仍側重於促銷活動。我們制定了一項全面的計劃，旨在透過諸如 Combo del Dia 等旨在增加流量和獲得或保護市場份額的行動，以及諸如 Minecraft 和一級方程式菜單等具有抱負的元素，來補充我們的行動。所以，正因如此，您才能看到，就 CREST 而言，我們能夠保持市場份額，並保持與最接近的競爭對手之間的差距——我們與最接近的競爭對手之間的市場份額差距是 2.2 倍。

So what we are trying to do is combine that healthy comp sales, new restaurant openings with a much healthier margin. And we are convinced that we are in a position of strength here in Brazil to face the current situation and any situation that may arise.

因此，我們正在努力將健康的同店銷售額、新餐廳開業與更高的利潤率結合起來。我們堅信，巴西擁有強大的實力來應對當前情況以及未來可能出現的任何情況。

Thanks, Luis. We have -- we actually had a question from Max Joseph, a follow-up question. I think we've already answered it. Just to recognize you, Max. I know you asked about our perspective on pricing strategy and how we think about raising prices in line with inflation versus keeping them below inflation to drive traffic. I think we touched on that.

謝謝你，路易斯。我們確實收到了 Max Joseph 的一個後續問題。我認為我們已經回答過這個問題了。只是想向你表示敬意，Max。我知道您問到了我們對定價策略的看法，以及我們如何考慮根據通貨膨脹率提高價格，還是為了吸引客流而將價格保持在通貨膨脹率以下。我想我們已經談到這一點了。

We have one more question here, and it's from Alvaro Garcia from BTG Pactual. This one will be for you, Luis. And he says, I'm not sure if this has been asked or answered already, but I'd like to ask about Francisco Staton's new role as Chief Strategy Officer. What's the nature of his new role?

我們還有一個問題，這個問題來自 BTG Pactual 的 Alvaro Garcia。這首歌是獻給你的，路易斯。他說：“我不確定這個問題是否有人問過或回答過，但我很想問弗朗西斯科·斯塔頓擔任首席戰略官的新角色。”他的新角色性質是什麼？

All right. Thank you, Alvaro, for the question. Francis has been with us for more than 10 years now in increasingly senior leadership positions. We believe he's uniquely qualified to help develop a long-term strategy for every aspect of the business.

好的。謝謝你的提問，阿爾瓦羅。法蘭西斯在我們公司工作已經超過 10 年了，擔任過越來越高階的領導職務。我們相信他具備獨特的資質，能夠幫助制定公司各方面的長期策略。

He has supported brand building and sales generation in Brazil and Mexico, and he gained experience leading operations in Colombia as Managing Director, not only in Colombia, but Colombia, Curacao, Aruba, and Trinidad at the time. And he gained experience as Divisional President for SLAD also. So I can tell you that I am already working with Francis very close in the pillar of especially tomorrow's business. Dan?

他曾支持巴西和墨西哥的品牌建立和銷售成長，並作為總經理在哥倫比亞積累了豐富的營運經驗，當時他的業務範圍不僅限於哥倫比亞，還包括哥倫比亞、庫拉索、阿魯巴和特立尼達。他也擔任SLAD的分區主席，累積了相關經驗。因此我可以告訴大家，我已經和法蘭西斯在特別是未來業務的關鍵領域密切合作。擔？

Thanks, Luis, and thanks, everyone, for participating today, a longer than usual Q&A session, but very happy to see all the engagement. This is the end of the Q&A session. And I'd like to thank you for your interest for joining the call today. We look forward to speaking with you again in the middle of November on our third quarter 2025 earnings webcast. Until then, stay safe, and have a great day.

謝謝路易斯，也謝謝大家今天的參與，雖然問答環節比平常長，但很高興看到大家的積極參與。問答環節到此結束。感謝您今天抽空參加本次電話會議。我們期待在 11 月中旬與您再次交流，屆時我們將舉行 2025 年第三季財報網路直播。在此之前，請注意安全，祝您有美好的一天。