Sendas Distribuidora SA (ASAI) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

(interpreted) Good morning, everyone, and thank you for waiting. Welcome to our earnings call for the second quarter of '24 at Assai Atacadista. (Operator Instructions)

（翻譯）大家早安，感謝大家的等待。歡迎參加我們在 Assai Atacadista 舉行的 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）

We'd like to let you know that this earnings call is being recorded and will be provided on the IR website of the company at ri.assai.com.br, where you can already find our release as well. (Operator Instructions)

我們想讓您知道，本次財報電話會議正在錄製中，並將在該公司的 IR 網站 ri.assai.com.br 上提供，您也可以在該網站上找到我們的新聞稿。（操作員說明）

The information presented in this presentation and possible statements that could be made during the earnings call related to business perspectives, forecasts, and operational targets and financial targets at Assai represent beliefs and assumptions of the company's management, as well as information that is currently available.

本簡報中提供的資訊以及在財報電話會議期間可能做出的有關 Assai 的業務前景、預測、營運目標和財務目標的陳述代表了公司管理層的信念和假設以及當前可獲得的資訊。

Future statements are not a guarantee of performance. They involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions as they refer to future events and thus, rely on circumstances that could or not occur. Investors must comprehend that overall general market conditions and economic conditions and other operational factors can affect the future performance at Assai and lead to results that differ materially from those listed in such statements.

未來的陳述並不能保證業績。它們涉及風險、不確定性和假設，因為它們涉及未來事件，因此依賴可能或不會發生的情況。投資者必須了解，整體市場狀況、經濟狀況以及其他營運因素可能會影響 Assai 的未來業績，並導致結果與此類聲明中列出的結果有重大差異。

Now, we'll pass the floor on to Gabrielle Helu, the Investor Relations Director.

現在，我們將請投資者關係總監 Gabrielle Helu 發言。

(interpreted) Hello, good morning, everyone. Once again, I want to thank you all for participating in our earnings call for the second quarter of '24. And I want to present the main executives present here. Our CEO, Belmiro Gomes; our VP of IR and Finances; and Anderson Castilho, the Operations VP; and Sandra Vicari, Sustainability and HR VP.

（翻譯）哈嘍，大家早安。我要再次感謝大家參加我們 2024 年第二季的財報電話會議。我想介紹一下在座的主要管理人員。我們的執行長貝爾米羅·戈麥斯；我們的投資者關係和財務副總裁；和安德森‧卡斯蒂略 (Anderson Castilho)，營運副總裁；以及永續發展和人力資源副總裁 Sandra Vicari。

So in this presentation, before we start the presentation, I'm going to show you a quick video. It's like less than two minutes, because we're experiencing a very special moment, which is our 50th anniversary at Assai.

因此，在本次演示中，在開始演示之前，我將向您展示一個簡短的影片。好像不到兩分鐘，因為我們正在經歷一個非常特殊的時刻，這是我們在 Assai 成立 50 週年。

This video that's narrated by Belmiro, tells a bit of our story, strengthens our partnerships, and also talks about how the company has evolved and the impact in the lives of Brazilian. So let's move on to the movie. This video has subtitles, so we will not be translating.

這段影片由 Belmiro 擔任旁白，講述了我們的一些故事，加強了我們的合作夥伴關係，也討論了公司的發展歷程以及對巴西人生活的影響。那麼就讓我們繼續看電影吧。該影片有字幕，所以我們不會翻譯。

(video playing)

（影片播放）

(interpreted) Thank you, all, so much, and good morning, everyone. First of all, I want to thank you for your presence and welcome you all to our earnings call for the second quarter of '24. This is a quarter where we had opportunities to welcome over 2,000 new employees, which we hired now in the second quarter, and especially another 2 million new monthly customers with an increase in the tickets.

（翻譯）非常感謝大家，大家早安。首先，我要感謝大家的光臨，並歡迎大家參加我們 2024 年第二季的財報電話會議。在這個季度，我們有機會歡迎超過 2,000 名新員工（我們在第二季度聘用了這些員工），尤其是每月新增 200 萬客戶（門票增加）。

As you've seen in our presentation, over the years, Assai was able to reach a milestone of 79 million customers, an increase of 7 million compared to what we achieved last year in the second quarter.

正如您在我們的演示中所看到的，多年來，Assai 實現了 7900 萬客戶的里程碑，與我們去年第二季度實現的目標相比增加了 700 萬。

So 7-plus million, represents over 2 million customers, almost 3 million people visiting our stores, whether the new stores or the existing stores in the company. The 50th anniversary campaign we showed a video about, and we plan to provide more details about, because Assai traditionally has spectacular campaigns, not only when it comes to awards and activation, but also to keep loyalty active.

7 多萬意味著超過 200 萬客戶，近 300 萬人造訪我們的商店，無論是新商店還是公司現有商店。我們展示了有關 50 週年紀念活動的視頻，我們計劃提供更多詳細信息，因為 Assai 傳統上有精彩的活動，不僅涉及獎勵和激活，而且還保持忠誠度活躍。

And we're the company that's most present in Brazilian households. We're the company that has physical stores with the biggest amount of traffic and people visiting year over year. We have been overcoming expectations, so the company can continue to innovate and be a reference in the market.

我們是巴西家庭中最常出現的公司。我們是擁有實體店、客流量和年訪問人數最多的公司。我們一直在超越預期，因此公司能夠持續創新並成為市場的標竿。

Before we move on to the numbers, I want to talk about the environment in the market. We still feel consumers and the overall B2B customers' quite pressured by debt, interest rates, some changes also in consumer habits that make us have a environment with the level of debt and purchase power that's below expectations for this moment in the year.

在我們繼續討論數字之前，我想先談談市場環境。我們仍然感覺到消費者和整體 B2B 客戶受到債務、利率和消費者習慣的一些變化的巨大壓力，這些變化使我們的債務水平和購買力水平低於今年此時的預期。

The inflation in our perspective is in line with what's expected by us and the government with a variation level up or down, which is not maybe that relevant. Not such a big change from an inflation and deflation perspective.

我們認為通膨符合我們和政府的預期，只是有上下波動，這可能沒那麼相關。從通貨膨脹和通貨緊縮的角度來看，變化並不大。

We also see a significant reduction in trade down that we had in the first two years of the pandemic. But also, we've been seeing that what's impacting the market as a whole is a movement with a reduction of the sizes of the packaging in certain categories of products.

我們也看到疫情爆發前兩年的貿易下降顯著減少。而且，我們也看到，影響整個市場的是某些類別產品的包裝尺寸縮小的趨勢。

Since we came from an inflation period that was really high, where income didn't keep up and a lot of the movements that industries and suppliers had to keep their volumes of sales, were really related to changing the size of packages. So within the strategy for the second quarter, was really above all to preserve our cash position, keep up with our level of competitiveness and keep focus on store maturity, promoting a sequential increase of our gross profits and keeping up coherence and consistency, especially in our results. And we'll see this when I show you the slides.

由於我們來自一個非常高的通貨膨脹時期，收入跟不上，行業和供應商必須保持銷售的許多變化實際上與改變包裝尺寸有關。因此，在第二季度的策略中，最重要的是保持我們的現金狀況，跟上我們的競爭力水平並繼續關注商店成熟度，促進我們毛利的連續增長並保持連貫性和一致性，特別是在我們的結果。當我向您展示幻燈片時我們就會看到這一點。

The evolution of the gross profit throughout the three years and keeping up coherence and keeping up the deadline periods as well. And so, this could, of course, lead to something that maybe is not that healthy for the companies.

三年來毛利的演變以及保持一致性和截止期限。因此，這當然可能會導致對公司來說可能不太健康的結果。

So of course, discipline and expense controls, maintaining the level of services in stores, the company continues to expand with over 10 stores. Now, we had already mentioned previously (technical difficulty)

當然，在紀律和費用控制、維持商店服務水準的情況下，公司繼續擴張，開設了 10 多家商店。現在，我們之前已經提到過（技術難度）

(interpreted) Sorry, guys. We had a small technical issue, but we'll be coming back in just a few seconds.

（解釋）對不起，夥計們。我們遇到了一個小技術問題，但我們會在幾秒鐘內回來。

Okay, we're back now. Could you repeat the last phrase, Belmiro?

好的，我們現在回來了。貝爾米羅，你能重複最後一句話嗎？

(interpreted) Okay. Can you share the screen of the presentation? Sorry about that. We had a shutdown here for some reason. Now everyone fell off and will be joining back in just a second. Can you share the screen again, please?

（解釋）好的。可以分享一下示範的螢幕嗎？對此感到抱歉。由於某種原因，我們在這裡被關閉了。現在每個人都掉下來了，很快就會回來。能再次分享螢幕嗎？

And the team has already talked about the expansion traditionally, which is the focus in Assai when it comes to growth, the team has been, ever since April. Anderson, of course, can give you some more info. We had 80 new services deployed in the existing stores, which includes new services, butchery, bakery, and cold cuts. And this makes the 2 million new customers come from other formats in the food sector also attracted by not only the location and execution in the stores, but also the new services.

團隊已經按照傳統方式討論了擴張，這是 Assai 團隊自 4 月以來一直關注的成長重點。安德森當然可以為您提供更多資訊。我們在現有商店部署了 80 項新服務，其中包括新服務、屠宰、麵包店和冷盤。這使得來自食品業其他業態的 200 萬新顧客不僅被商店的位置和執行力所吸引，而且還被新服務所吸引。

So I think that's the main highlight when we look at the second quarter. And same stores was close to 3%, with the balance in the growth of the same stores and also the growth of the expansion. So we had a growth of 11% compared to last year, 34% in two years, which represents in the last 2 years, 24 months, we've been anchoring this since Vitor will talk about the cash generation as well in these 24 months.

所以我認為這是我們看待第二季時的主要亮點。同店成長接近3%，同店成長與擴張成長平衡。因此，與去年相比，我們成長了11%，兩年內成長了34%，這代表在過去2 年24 個月內，我們一直在錨定這一點，因為Vitor 也會談論這24 個月內的現金生成。

But we had over BRL5 billion in additional amount. So the company is still working on its investments, growing and expansion. And we have important store openings in the second semester, Guaruja, which is something we could highlight; the new unit in Guarulhos; Sao Jose do Rio Preto we're trying to open this year, beginning of next year; and some markets and regions where Assai is not present with major opportunities. And we should also go over the milestone of 300 stores this year, probably by the end of the campaign when we are at the end of our anniversary campaign.

但我們還有超過 50 億雷亞爾的額外資金。因此，該公司仍在致力於投資、發展和擴張。我們在第二學期在瓜魯雅開設了重要的商店，這是我們可以強調的；瓜魯柳斯的新單位；我們試圖在今年、明年初開業普雷圖河畔聖若澤；以及 Assai 不存在重大機會的一些市場和地區。今年我們也應該回顧一下 300 家商店的里程碑，可能是在活動結束時，也就是我們的周年紀念活動結束時。

So the EBITDA and the pre-IFRS vision, as we all know, we have this trend with the purchase in the Extra stores, which increased the levels of rent in these locations. And we're really highlighting this. And the best way to view this pre-EBITDA is BRL965 million and a growth of 18% compared to the previous year, higher than the sales. And that highlights that Assai has 100% of the EBITDA, which is cash.

因此，眾所周知，EBITDA 和《國際財務報告準則》實施前的願景，我們在 Extra 商店購買時出現了這種趨勢，這增加了這些地點的租金水平。我們確實強調了這一點。查看此預 EBITDA 的最佳方式是 9.65 億雷亞爾，與前一年相比增長 18%，高於銷售額。這凸顯出 Assai 擁有 100% 的 EBITDA，即現金。

And in the pre-IFRS vision, we have a margin that's 7.2% and LAIR evolution or profits before income tax. And we also had the impact from the subvention that we had last year, we don't have this year. And then you see this ratio between the profits and the net income.

在 IFRS 之前的願景中，我們的利潤率為 7.2%，LAIR 的演變或所得稅前利潤。我們也受到了去年補貼的影響，但今年沒有了。然後你會看到利潤與淨利潤之間的比率。

But you can see the sufficiency operation in the company. And we have a financial expense that is due to a level of leverage that's pretty high due to the interest rates, but the company has been very focused on deleveraging.

但你可以看到公司的充足運作。我們的財務費用是由於利率造成的槓桿水平相當高，但該公司一直非常注重去槓桿化。

I'm not going to get into too much of the details here, because Vitor will cover this later on. But we really know the power of the cash generation in this business. So our leverage continues to be reduced. And we have an EBITDA that is more robust when you split this by the 12 months. And our focus is really this leverage projection.

我不會在這裡討論太多細節，因為 Vitor 稍後會介紹這一點。但我們確實知道這項業務產生現金的力量。所以我們的槓桿繼續減少。當你將其按 12 個月劃分時，我們的 EBITDA 會更加強勁。我們的重點實際上是槓桿預測。

And so it's important to highlight that this level does not consider possible discounts on receivables, which are -- whether they're discounted or not and the company has its projection for our net debt to EBITDA of 3.2 till the end of the year.

因此，需要強調的是，這一水平並未考慮應收帳款可能的折扣，無論是否折扣，公司預計到年底我們的淨債務與 EBITDA 比率為 3.2。

But anyways, on the second slide, you can see how things have been evolving in stores and with the Extra conversions that we already have sales of over 25% of the average in the company. And from the 10 main stores, when it comes to customer flows, 9 are conversions, the stores that are very well located. We're talking about the project. And you can see the evolution of the EBITDA, especially.

但無論如何，在第二張投影片上，您可以看到商店中的情況如何演變，以及透過額外轉化，我們的銷售額已經超過公司平均值的 25%。從客流來看，這10家主力店中，有9家是轉化店，而且地點非常好。我們正在談論該項目。您尤其可以看到 EBITDA 的演進。

Of course, these stores are not mature. So you can have an idea that maybe the first store, which like two years ever since the opening. So most of the stores are going to continue with the second year full of work and then after, we'll be completing the 24-month cycle. And we've been working on some initiatives to balance our sales and EBITDA margin maturity. So the sales should reach BRL26 million and the EBITDA margin pre-IFRS without the impact of the leases.

當然，這些商店還不成熟。所以你可以有一個想法，也許是第一家商店，距離開業已有兩年了。因此，大多數商店將在第二年繼續充滿工作，然後，我們將完成 24 個月的周期。我們一直在採取一些措施來平衡我們的銷售額和 EBITDA 利潤率成熟度。因此，在不受租賃影響的情況下，銷售額應達到 2,600 萬雷亞爾，且 IFRS 之前的 EBITDA 利潤率應達到。

Of course, you have the property tax impact, but it's about 5.4%, which means an EBITDA margin evolution of 1 percentage point, if you already look at this from December onwards, so six months, December '23 to the end of June '24.

當然，你會受到財產稅的影響，但大約是5.4%，這意味著EBITDA 利潤率變化了1 個百分點，如果你已經從12 月開始看這個，那麼六個月，即12 月23 日到6月底24.

The company has been really focused on improving the store network and the maturity ramp-up when it comes to sales and margins, trying to balance out both of these points. And with this, we advanced about 140 bps in margin compared to last year. And a growth in our revenue in the first semester, when we compare with December, which, as we all know is a very typical month with a growth of revenue of about 5%.

該公司一直專注於改善商店網路以及提高銷售額和利潤率的成熟度，試圖平衡這兩點。由此，我們的利潤率比去年提高了約 140 個基點。與 12 月相比，我們第一學期的收入有所增長，眾所周知，這是一個非常典型的月份，收入增長了約 5%。

We can move on to the next slide now. As the process of conversions, as we all know, as they went through a very intense project for the expansion of the conversions.

我們現在可以轉到下一張投影片。眾所周知，在轉換過程中，他們經歷了一個非常緊張的擴展轉換項目。

And in this slide, we brought in an evolution of the gross profit. So when you look at the amount of tickets, you can see the company more than doubled or tripled during this year and the last periods, actually. And the gross profit keeps up with the same proportion.

在這張投影片中，我們引入了毛利的演變。因此，當您查看門票數量時，您會發現該公司實際上在今年和過去幾個時期增加了一倍或三倍以上。毛利也維持了同樣的比例。

So if we take a look at this from our perspective, the positive results is that even when you go through such a big process with the conversion of the hypermarket and the closings. And during this period, we really evolved in this store format.

因此，如果我們從我們的角度來看，積極的結果是，即使你經歷了大賣場轉型和關閉這樣一個大的過程。而在這個時期，我們真正進化了這種商店形式。

We had two things that took place. Concurrently, we had the conversion and opening of a hypermarket plus also the inclusion of the new services with butchery and other projects. So the first butchery we opened was in the end of 2019 in Sinop, Mato Grosso. So these are different occurrences. But when you look at this due to our commercial dynamic and even with this evolution, we had a gross profit that was very stable, 16.7% to 16.5% now in the second quarter of '24.

我們發生了兩件事。同時，我們改造並開設了一家大賣場，並納入了屠宰和其他項目的新服務。因此，我們於 2019 年底在馬托格羅索州錫諾普開設了第一家屠宰場。所以這些是不同的情況。但是，當你考慮到我們的商業動態時，即使有了這種演變，我們的毛利也非常穩定，24 年第二季的毛利為 16.7% 至 16.5%。

So 2021, we didn't start the conversions yet. But you can see gradually that the levels of gross profit get back to normality, even with all of these changes as we enter new centers and include new services. We can advance.

所以到了2021年，我們還沒開始轉換。但你可以逐漸看到，即使隨著我們進入新的中心並提供新的服務而發生所有這些變化，毛利水準也會恢復正常。我們可以前進。

When we look at the expense perspective, the changes in the dynamics, there was always some skepticism in the market about the shift in formats. And this intends to provide better services to the population with higher income and also provide some possibilities to adapt for B2B and B2C customers with better locations that were very far off, and I would be very difficult to be open in Cash & Carry operations.

當我們從費用角度和動態變化來看時，市場上總是對業態的轉變抱持著一些懷疑。這樣做的目的是為收入較高的人群提供更好的服務，也為B2B和B2C客戶提供一些適應的可能性，這些客戶的位置更好，但距離很遠，我很難開放現購自運業務。

So the changes in the assortment and the changes in certain units in other stores, when we look at the level of expenses, you can notice that the expense in the post-IFRS vision where you don't consider the lease is completely stable. So 9.7% we had seen as an SG&A percentage, it is prior to any conversion projects for Extra and prior to the inclusion of any services as well. So it's pretty stable, 9.7% to 9.5%.

因此，當我們查看費用水平時，品種的變化以及其他商店某些單位的變化，您可以注意到，在不考慮租賃的情況下，後國際財務報告準則願景中的費用是完全穩定的。因此，我們將 9.7% 視為 SG&A 百分比，它是在 Extra 的任何轉換項目之前以及包含任何服務之前的。所以它相當穩定，9.7%到9.5%。

But when we look at the lease and include the lease in perspective, of course, these stores, as we mentioned in the beginning, they have a characteristic with the level of a property that's very different. But the increase in the margins and sales, when we look at those 25%, more than offset this.

但是，當我們審視租賃並從角度考慮租賃時，當然，正如我們在開頭提到的，這些商店具有與物業水平非常不同的特徵。但當我們考慮這 25% 時，利潤和銷售額的成長足以抵消這一點。

And in April, especially in our vision, there's a whole another possibility for growth in the company, because when you consider the profile of regions where the Cash & Carries to operate, you kind of have the situation where you can maybe not have a higher level of saturation or the capacity to penetrate in central regions. So I'd say it was a big innovation, which allowed for major movements even among competition to follow along behind us in the paths we pioneered.

在四月份，特別是在我們的願景中，公司有另一種成長的可能性，因為當你考慮到現購自運營運地區的情況時，你可能會遇到這樣的情況：你可能無法獲得更高的收入。所以我想說這是一項重大創新，它使得即使在競爭中也能在我們開創的道路上追隨我們的重大運動。

And as we wrap up here, I'm going to pass the floor to Vitor as he talks about the EBITDA and presents here. We still have some time for Q&A as well. But he's going to discuss the operational aspects -- the leverage aspects, and after we'll get into the operational aspects.

當我們結束時，我將把發言權交給 Vitor，他將在這裡談論 EBITDA 並進行演示。我們還有一些時間可以進行問答。但他將討論營運方面——槓桿方面，之後我們將討論營運方面。

(interpreted) Great, Belmiro. Thank you. Good morning, everyone, for me to describe a bit of the gross profit dynamic and the SG&A.

（解釋）太好了，貝爾米羅。謝謝。大家早安，我來描述一下毛利動態和銷售管理費用 (SG&A)。

Now, we're going to show you here through these two metrics, look at the EBITDA and see an important evolution of the EBITDA. When it comes to the quarterly basis, we've seen evolution of BRL815 million to BRL965 million in the comparison quarter over quarter. And the growth of 18% that comes from an increase in sales, but also the margin expansions.

現在，我們將在這裡透過這兩個指標向您展示 EBITDA，看看 EBITDA 的重要演進。就季度而言，我們看到季度環比從 8.15 億雷亞爾演變為 9.65 億雷亞爾。18% 的成長不僅來自銷售額的成長，還來自利潤率的擴張。

And when you look at the evolution in the six months, you see that there's pretty much the same format, 27% growth and an increase in the margins of 0.6 percentage points. And so once again, as a basis for the success in the maturity of our stores so far, as they've been converted, but also the deployment of services, as Belmiro explained. And no doubt, the control of our expenses, which allows us to grow, having an increase in our profitability when we look at the EBITDA line. So moving ahead and looking at a bit of the financial results. We also see positive evolution.

當您查看這六個月的演變時，您會發現格式幾乎相同，成長率為 27%，利潤率增加了 0.6 個百分點。因此，正如貝爾米羅所解釋的那樣，這也是我們商店迄今為止成熟的成功基礎，因為它們已經進行了改造，而且還部署了服務。毫無疑問，我們對費用的控制使我們能夠成長，當我們考慮 EBITDA 時，我們的獲利能力會增加。因此，繼續看一下財務業績。我們也看到了積極的演變。

In the comparison with the same period last year, where we have stability when it comes to the representation or importance of this financial result compared to the revenue and the percentage of the ratio. But when you look at this and you compare the first quarter of this year with this quarter. You see a reduction -- a nominal reduction of the expense, BRL510 million to BRL468 million, but especially a dilution of these expenses.

與去年同期相比，我們的財務表現相對於收入的代表性或重要性以及所佔比例都保持穩定。但是當你看這個並將今年第一季與本季進行比較時。你會看到費用的減少——名義上的費用減少，從 5.1 億雷亞爾減少到 4.68 億雷亞爾，但尤其是這些費用的稀釋。

So as a percentage of sales, it goes from 3% of the sales to 2.6% of gross sales. So the evolution of gross profit and expense control generated an increase in EBITDA margin associated with the maintenance if you look at the annual basis and the reduction.

因此，佔銷售額的百分比從銷售額的 3% 上升到總銷售額的 2.6%。因此，如果您查看年度基礎和減少情況，毛利和費用控制的演變會導致與維護相關的 EBITDA 利潤率增加。

When you look at this in a sequential manner, we see a profit before income tax that had a very important growth rate. What they call the LAIR on this slide in Portuguese. And when we look at this, in the semester, this profit before income tax more than doubled from BRL135 million to BRL347 million. So this was an increase of 157%, which demonstrates we are on the right path when it comes to the strategies that the company has been adopting. What's also important to mention is when we look at the net income.

當您按順序查看時，我們會看到所得稅前利潤的成長率非常重要。他們在這張幻燈片上用葡萄牙語稱之為「巢穴」。當我們看到這一點時，在本學期，所得稅前利潤增加了一倍多，從 1.35 億雷亞爾增加到 3.47 億雷亞爾。因此，這一增幅為 157%，這表明我們在公司一直採用的策略方面走在正確的道路上。同樣值得一提的是當我們查看淨利潤時。

It was impacted in the comparison with last year due to the significant reduction and the positive effects of the subvention and investments. But then when we look at the semester view, we have a growth of the net profit. So we move on to BRL258 million in this period. Then moving on, here, we have a comparison. Belmiro quickly showed this in the presentation.

與去年相比，由於補貼和投資的大幅減少和正面影響，受到影響。但當我們從學期角度來看時，淨利潤有所增長。因此，我們在此期間將達到 2.58 億雷亞爾。然後繼續，在這裡，我們進行比較。貝爾米羅很快在演示中展示了這一點。

We have a comparison and a number that we think we should share with you, which is, the operational cash generation we brought in this two-year cycle, which really sets the beginning of the deliveries from the stores that were converted for the hypermarkets. And here, we presented this comparison and analysis to show you clearly have the operational cash generation was so strong. The company generated BRL7.6 billion in cash in this period coming from the EBITDA generation, BRL6.8 billion in EBITDA generated, but also a positive evolution in our working capital.

我們有一個比較和一個數字，我們認為我們應該與您分享，即我們在這兩年周期中帶來的營運現金生成，這確實為轉變為大賣場的商店的交付奠定了基礎。在這裡，我們提出了這種比較和分析，以向您清楚地表明營運現金產生能力如此強勁。在此期間，公司透過 EBITDA 世代產生了 76 億雷亞爾的現金，產生了 68 億雷亞爾的 EBITDA，而且我們的營運資本也出現了積極的變化。

So it was a major evolution in the number of stores and 64 of them were conversions and 20 were organics. And this cash generation, if you look at the investments that were required for this expansion and these investments were very significant when it comes to the acquisition of hypermarkets, the conversion of hypermarkets, or even the opening of these 20 organic stores.

因此，這是商店數量的重大演變，其中 64 家是轉型商店，20 家是有機商店。如果你看看這次擴張所需的投資，這些現金產生量在收購大賣場、改造大賣場，甚至開設這 20 家有機商店方面都非常重要。

But also, when it comes to the refurbishing and implementation of the services, the company was able to generate the necessary cash to handle basically all of the investments. To be more precise, 88% of this investment was funded with operational cash generation in this period. And I want to remind you all that these stores are still maturing.

而且，在服務的翻新和實施方面，該公司能夠產生必要的現金來處理基本上所有的投資。更準確地說，該投資的 88% 是由這段時期的營運現金產生提供的。我想提醒大家，這些商店仍處於成熟階段。

So basically, this is an analysis we consider to be very important to share with you, because it demonstrates the strength of the company and how solid it is and that we're really on the right path to continue to grow our results. But of course, we also have the payment of the interest rates in this period, about BRL3.4 billion.

因此，基本上，我們認為與您分享這項分析非常重要，因為它展示了公司的實力和實力，而且我們確實走在繼續成長業績的正確道路上。當然，我們也支付了這段時期的利息，大約34億雷亞爾。

And that's a direct consequence of our debt levels, as Belmiro mentioned. And the interest rates in this period that also reached levels that were a lot higher. So moving on, it's also worth mentioning that a bit of the evolution of our leverage. This is an indicator we've been accompanying closely. This is one of our focuses in the company as Belmiro has mentioned.

正如貝爾米羅所提到的，這是我們債務水平的直接後果。這段時期的利率也達到了高得多的水平。那麼接下來，也值得一提的是我們槓桿率的一些演進。這是我們一直密切關注的指標。正如貝爾米羅所提到的，這是我們公司的重點之一。

And we see ongoing improvements and reduction in leverage. If you look at the leverage by the end of the second quarter, which was at the level of 4.25, we can see a reduction of 0.6 times, and that's if you compare with the end of the second quarter this year. And this was an evolution of 0.10 for the last quarter to now. So this is an indicator we monitor closely and it's one of the company's focuses. Clearly, we've been looking at this.

我們看到槓桿率不斷改善和減少。如果你看一下第二季末的槓桿率，即4.25的水平，我們可以看到下降了0.6倍，這是與今年第二季末相比的。從上個季度到現在，這個數值變化了 0.10。所以這是我們密切關注的指標，也是公司關注的重點之一。顯然，我們一直在關注這個問題。

And we've been seeing the evolution of the EBITDA. The reduction of the leverage is happening, and it will happen throughout '24 mainly due to evolution of EBITDA. For '25, we expect to have even greater contributions coming from the reduction of the net debt.

我們一直在見證 EBITDA 的演進。槓桿率的降低正在發生，並將在整個 24 年發生，這主要是由於 EBITDA 的演變。對於 25 年，我們預期淨債務的減少將帶來更大的貢獻。

Moving on to the next slide, you can see that there's some additional information that we're presenting, which is a total availability. So we've been working on a new interpretation on this breakdown.

轉到下一張幻燈片，您可以看到我們正在展示一些附加信息，即完全可用性。因此，我們一直在努力對這一細分做出新的解釋。

And we brought in what's considered cash, equivalents and also the receivables that are not discounted. So the first point that I think is worth mentioning is that we had an issuance of debentures that was really well -- very successful, which led to a higher cash position in the end of the quarter. And that made us discount less receivable in this period. So that's why we see this significant growth in availability. That's a total BRL6.9 billion, a sequential growth of 33% through 34%.

我們引進了現金、等價物以及未貼現的應收帳款。因此，我認為值得一提的第一點是，我們發行的債券非常好——非常成功，這導致本季末現金部位增加。這使得我們在此期間應收的折扣減少了。這就是我們看到可用性顯著增長的原因。總計 69 億雷亞爾，季增 33% 至 34%。

But when we look at the breakdown with the non-discounted receivables, which is substantially greater, and that's a fruit of this expansion, which is mainly -- it's another step we're taking to improve the profile of our debt. So first, we discussed. We had the issuance considering CDI+1.25%, which is substantially lower, which was CDI+1.49%. And the extension of our average term of debt, which was 28 months, but now with this issuance, it becomes 32 months as an average term. And so Assai will continue to search for new opportunities.

但當我們看一下非貼現應收帳款的細目時，它要大得多，這是這種擴張的成果，主要是——這是我們為改善債務狀況而採取的另一步驟。首先，我們進行了討論。我們的發行考慮了 CDI+1.25%，這個數字要低得多，為 CDI+1.49%。我們的平均債務期限延長了28個月，但現在透過這次發行，平均期限變成了32個月。因此，Assai 將繼續尋找新的機會。

And so also, we want to consider the average cash in the period. So it went over just BRL600 million. And it was BRL640 million in the first quarter of '24 million. And then, in the last quarter, it was over BRL800 million. And then here our practice is that we'll gradually increase this cash position, providing more liquidity and increasing the financial solidness in this period.

因此，我們也想考慮該時期的平均現金。所以總共只花了 6 億雷亞爾。第一季為 2,400 萬雷亞爾，為 6.4 億雷亞爾。然後，在上個季度，這一數字超過了 8 億雷亞爾。我們的做法是，我們將逐步增加現金頭寸，提供更多流動性，並在此期間提高財務穩健性。

That's what we wanted to share with you guys about the financial indicators. Now, I will pass the floor over to Sandra as she talks about sustainability as a strategic pillar for the company. Sandra, the floor is yours.

這就是我們想與大家分享的有關財務指標的內容。現在，我將請桑德拉發言，她將永續發展作為公司的策略支柱。桑德拉，地板是你的。

(interpreted) Thank you, Vitor. Good morning, everyone. So within our sustainability strategy, which intends to really lever prosperity for everyone, all of our initiatives are based on three pillars, which are efficient operations, developing people and communities and the ethical and transparent operations. And so here, we're really focused on reestablishing reusing waste and that these would be intended to landfill. And this is all related to our Destino Certo program, benefiting many organizations.

（翻譯）謝謝你，維托。大家早安。因此，在我們旨在真正為每個人帶來繁榮的永續發展策略中，我們的所有舉措都基於三個支柱，即高效運作、發展人民和社區以及道德和透明的營運。因此，在這裡，我們真正專注於重新利用廢物，並將這些廢物填埋。這一切都與我們的 Destino Certo 計劃有關，該計劃使許多組織受益。

And we continue to develop these initiatives. So that we can create a more diverse work environment based on valuing differences and tech differences and also 40% of black leaders in the company. And in this context, we were recognized among the companies are Ibovespa, the Brazilian Stock Exchange, is one of the companies with the highest rates of black leadership.

我們將繼續發展這些舉措。這樣我們就可以基於重視差異和技術差異以及公司40%的黑人領導者來創造一個更多元化的工作環境。在這種背景下，我們被認可的公司之一是巴西證券交易所 Ibovespa，它是黑人領導比例最高的公司之一。

And we also received some indications as the best companies for LGBTQ communities to work in partnering with Instituto Mais Diversidade. And through Instituto Assai, we are promoting the donation of food and beds and different other materials to Rio Grande do Sul, so that we can also send this throughout all of Brazil.

我們也收到了一些跡象，認為是 LGBTQ 社群與 Instituto Mais Diversidade 合作的最佳公司。透過 Instituto Assai，我們正在推動向南裡奧格蘭德州捐贈食物、床位和其他各種物資，以便我們也可以將這些物資發送到整個巴西。

And I would also like to mention that we are highlighting some awards and recognition that we received in this quarter because it really values our performance and the relationship with our customers, which is really essential. So for the fourth time, Assai was recognized in the first place in the Retail category for Modern Consumers. And we were elected as the -- for the ninth time as the best Cash & Carry operations city in Sao Paulo, which is based on the perception from people that live in Sao Paulo. And we're third place among the best companies in the Investor Day. And we're the only ones in the food retail on the podium.

我還想提一下，我們強調本季獲得的一些獎項和認可，因為它確實重視我們的績效以及與客戶的關係，這非常重要。因此，Assai 第四次榮獲現代消費者零售類別第一名。我們第九次被選為聖保羅最佳現購自運營運城市，這是基於聖保羅居民的看法。我們在投資者日最佳公司中排名第三。我們是食品零售業中唯一登上頒獎台的公司。

And Assai was considered the Brazilian brand that's most valuable in the food retail sector. So these are acknowledgments that really make us happy and confident that we can continue to work to achieve a company which is more sustainable, more solid and with greater prosperity for all of our stakeholders.

Assai 被認為是食品零售領域最有價值的巴西品牌。因此，這些致謝確實讓我們感到高興並充滿信心，我們可以繼續努力，為所有利害關係人打造一家更永續、更穩固、更繁榮的公司。

So thank you all. That's it, and I'll pass the floor on to Belmiro.

謝謝大家。就是這樣，我將把發言權交給貝爾米羅。

(interpreted) Well, thanks, Sandra. Thanks, Vitor, for the presentation. We brought in a bit more of the campaign details for the 50th anniversary at Assai. And Assai with the amount of 77 million tickets in the quarter really represents a huge flow of people. It's about 38 million and people passing by our stores.

（翻譯）好的，謝謝，桑德拉。謝謝維托爾的演講。我們為 Assai 成立 50 週年帶來了更多活動細節。而 Assai 本季的門票量為 7,700 萬張，確實代表著巨大的人流。大約有 3800 萬人經過我們的商店。

And it's a company that's most present in Brazilian households with the biggest flow of customers in retail stores in Brazil. And the company operates in a continent really in the national territory. So traditionally, every year, we have very strong campaigns. And this is one of the decisive initiatives for this kind of expansion to make the brand really well-known and famous in the national territory and generate loyalty among customers. So the 2 million customers per month we conquered in the second quarter partially come from the promotion and mouth-to-mouth referrals, but also services based on the quality of our culture.

這是一家在巴西家庭中存在最多的公司，也是巴西零售店客流量最大的公司。該公司在真正屬於國家領土的大陸上運作。所以傳統上，每年我們都會舉辦非常強大的活動。這是這種擴張的決定性舉措之一，旨在使品牌在全國範圍內真正家喻戶曉，並在客戶中產生忠誠度。所以我們第二季每月贏得的200萬客戶部分來自促銷和口碑推薦，但也有基於我們文化品質的服務。

And so this year, we have a campaign that's probably the strongest campaign in Brazilian retail. The strongest one we've ever had. And in all years, we decided to hire a full ship from MSC Cruises. And it's going to be in the Brazilian coast. And our customers will be able to win 1,500 trips that -- it's going to be a raffle.

因此，今年我們的活動可能是巴西零售業最強勁的活動。我們曾經擁有過的最強的一個。多年來，我們決定從 MSC Cruises 租用整艘船。它將位於巴西海岸。我們的客戶將能夠贏得 1,500 次旅行，這將是一次抽獎。

So as customers buy, the more they buy, they can expand the chances of winning and being awarded. And also the more they buy from the participating brands, we had over 50 suppliers that are the sponsors of the campaign. And besides being highlighted because of the customers buy their products, they can expand their chances to achieve this. And they have a bunch of benefits with the expansion of the product. So it's a campaign that really will affect our customers a lot and also will allow us to continue to move towards conquering new customers.

因此，當客戶購買時，購買的越多，他們就可以擴大獲勝和獲獎的機會。他們從參與品牌購買的產品越多，我們就有超過 50 家供應商成為了活動的贊助商。除了因為客戶購買他們的產品而受到關注之外，他們還可以擴大實現這一目標的機會。隨著產品的擴展，他們有很多好處。因此，這是一項真正會對我們的客戶產生很大影響的活動，也將使我們能夠繼續努力爭取新客戶。

And first award is BRL5 million. And then you have over 50,000 awards that they can use instantly of about BRL100. So we'll have -- its going to last four months, and we're going to have strong promotion in different media sources and outlets.

一等獎為500萬雷亞爾。然後您將獲得 50,000 多個獎勵，他們可以立即使用大約 100 巴西雷亞爾。因此，我們將持續四個月，我們將在不同的媒體來源和管道進行大力宣傳。

We also shifted our registration process so that we can capture as much data as possible, enriching the basis of our CRM in our digital strategy. And Assai has been working with future projects as well that we have and especially want to keep our customer loyalty and conquer new customers.

我們也改變了註冊流程，以便能夠捕獲盡可能多的數據，豐富我們數位化策略中 CRM 的基礎。Assai 也一直在與我們現有的未來專案合作，特別希望保持我們的客戶忠誠度並贏得新客戶。

So an interesting data as the company is made up of people. Above all, the main differential is -- in a company's culture, right? So within this, we're going to be sharing this with all of the employees that have over 20 years of experience. They're all going to go regardless of the position they occupy the company. So in this way, we'll also demonstrate to who is in the operation working with the 30 million people that being at Assai will lead to special awards and they will be recognized.

這是一個有趣的數據，因為公司是由人組成的。最重要的是，主要的差異在於──公司文化，對嗎？因此，在此期間，我們將與所有擁有 20 年以上經驗的員工分享這一點。無論他們在公司擔任什麼職位，他們都會離開。因此，透過這種方式，我們還將向與 3000 萬人一起工作的人員展示，在 Assai 將獲得特別獎勵，他們將得到認可。

So well, I'm getting too excited here. So I don't want to go over too much. But I want to thank everyone working on the campaign. It was fantastic. It was a joint effort, not only in the marketing, but also the commercial and operations area.

好吧，我在這裡太興奮了。所以我不想說太多。但我要感謝所有參與活動的人。太棒了。這是雙方的共同努力，不僅是在行銷方面，而且是在商業和營運領域。

We have a challenging period up ahead. But we have a beautiful campaign. And we believe it's going to be really good acceptance.

我們未來將面臨一個充滿挑戰的時期。但我們有一個漂亮的競選活動。我們相信這將得到很好的接受。

So to anchor this, we brought five personalities. Each of these represents a different region in Brazil. They're very popular. We have Xande de Pilares, Michel Telo, Gaby Amarantos, and all of them represent a specific region in our country, just the diversity. They are very popular singers and artists. And we brought them on board for this campaign.

因此，為了錨定這一點，我們帶來了五個人物。每一個都代表巴西的不同地區。他們很受歡迎。我們有 Xande de Pilares、Michel Telo、Gaby Amarantos，他們都代表了我們國家的一個特定地區，就是多樣性。他們是非常受歡迎的歌手和藝術家。我們邀請他們參與這次活動。

Now, we're going to show you the campaign video. It's very quick, and then we'll get into Q&A.

現在，我們將向您展示活動影片。速度非常快，然後我們將進入問答環節。

(video playing)

（影片播放）

(interpreted) (Operator Instructions) So Joao, we'll open up your audio, so you may proceed.

（口譯）（操作員說明）Joao，我們將打開您的音頻，以便您可以繼續。

(interpreted) Okay, good morning, everyone. I wanted to explore two points here. First of all, I wanted to discuss the competitive environment, Belmiro. I think we're going through this new discussion with the SKUs. And so now we're discussing this. And it would be good to get a perspective on your opinion about payments and sales with installments.

（翻譯）好的，大家早安。我想在這裡探討兩點。首先，我想討論一下競爭環境，貝爾米羅。我認為我們正在與 SKU 進行新的討論。現在我們正在討論這個問題。最好了解您對分期付款和銷售的看法。

Some regions don't have demand for this kind of purchase, and payment in installments. But I want to get your perspective on this. And also, your vision about the growth dynamic. So we have a relatively constructive perspective when it comes to food inflation at the bank here. But I wanted to get your feel.

有些地區沒有這種購買、分期付款的需求。但我想聽聽你對此的看法。還有您對成長動態的願景。因此，當談到銀行的食品通膨時，我們有相對建設性的觀點。但我想了解你的感覺。

Do you see there's going to be a short-term acceleration? And what's your mindset? Have you seen something change compared to the messages in the last quarter? And finally, the capital structure bit, an expansion for next year and how comfortable you guys are for this expansion plan? Thank you so much.

您認為短期內會出現加速嗎？你的心態是什麼？與上個季度的信息相比，您是否看到了一些變化？最後，資本結構，明年的擴張，你們對這個擴張計畫有多滿意？太感謝了。

(interpreted) Okay. Thank you, Joao. Well, let's put this up. So yes, there's a shift in the market. And of course, there's always a possibility for changes in the competitive environment. We've been one of the protagonists when we placed services in stores. And in our perspective, services were just to evolve in this model.

（解釋）好的。謝謝你，若奧。好吧，讓我們把這個放上來吧。所以是的，市場發生了轉變。當然，競爭環境總是有可能改變。當我們在商店中提供服務時，我們一直是主角之一。在我們看來，服務只是在這種模式中發展。

And you can see there are so many differences in levels of income. And so the model that's adequate for one region is not always adequate for all of them. The solution in the model for the regions is, we requested that the inclusion of these services is necessary, and this inclusion demonstrates that it was a very assertive process. And in the second quarter now, we saw a change in the pricing -- in the payment term conditions. So we've been watching this very carefully.

你可以看到收入水準有很大差異。因此，適合某一地區的模型並不總是適合所有地區。區域模型中的解決方案是，我們要求包含這些服務是必要的，這種包含表明這是一個非常自信的過程。在第二季度，我們看到了定價的變化——付款條件的變化。所以我們一直在非常仔細地觀察這一點。

You can search for sales with two things, margin and terms. So margin, which is what you was going to work towards recovering, but what we saw in the dynamic and so it's a lot more related to the actual wholesale operations because when you expand the terms, the customers that have working capital that's really pressured and financial conditions when you stretch out and double the terms for the B2B customers or even offer three installments, you have an increase in sales. That should impact the market as a whole.

您可以透過兩件事搜尋銷售：利潤和條款。因此，利潤率是你要努力恢復的，但我們在動態中看到的，因此它與實際的批發業務更多相關，因為當你擴大條款時，擁有營運資金的客戶確實面臨壓力，並且當您為B2B 客戶延長期限並加倍甚至提供三期分期付款時，您的財務狀況就會增加，銷售額就會增加。這應該會影響整個市場。

But in our perspective, it's a strategy we don't expect because as buying with installments -- so even with private -- we would have a private label to incentivize the use of Assai card. But at this moment, we're not going to shift in the sense in our policy because this did not actually reflect that much in the stores, but maybe it's more impactful for the distribution and wholesale operation that our competitor has.

但在我們看來，這是一個我們不期望的策略，因為作為分期付款購買——所以即使是私人的——我們也會有一個私人標籤來激勵 Assai 卡的使用。但目前，我們不會在政策上做出改變，因為這實際上並沒有在商店中反映出來，但也許這對我們競爭對手的分銷和批發業務影響更大。

So if you look at the total in the market when it comes to growth in the second quarter, we're really in line with what the overall market has been seeing in the second semester. Besides the campaign, we have many adjustments we've been working on in the commercial dynamic, negotiation with suppliers, product mixes.

因此，如果你看看第二季市場的整體成長情況，我們確實與第二季整體市場的情況一致。除了活動之外，我們還在商業動態、與供應商的談判、產品組合等方面進行了許多調整。

Of course, the second quarter was slightly below expectations, but the expectation for the second semester is that it should be a more positive period. So the company and all of its efforts to -- that are necessary to change to have a more positive second semester we're working on. But of course, this environment we were expecting or projecting at the end of last year for this year is not at the same level of purchases we expected.

當然，第二季度略低於預期，但對第二學期的預期應該是一個更積極的時期。因此，公司及其所有努力 - 有必要做出改變，以便我們正在努力實現更積極的第二學期。但當然，我們去年底預期或預測的今年環境與我們預期的購買水準並不相同。

The expansion plan is pretty much kept. We haven't, at this moment, had any signs. It's always a process that we have to be reviewing because the expansion we have up ahead will be for organic stores. And with this differently than when we bought the Extras we had to open up as quick as possible since we are already having the lease expenses. But with organic expansions, it's really a matter of decision.

擴張計劃基本保留。目前我們還沒有任何跡象。這始終是我們必須審查的過程，因為我們未來的擴張將針對有機商店。與我們購買 Extras 時不同的是，我們必須盡快開業，因為我們已經有了租賃費用。但對於有機擴張，這其實是一個決定問題。

And we can decide the level of expansion versus debt and we always monitor things like that. But at this moment, we have the 15 stores expected for '24 and the 20 stores for 2025. So a lot of the projects have already been expanding quite a bit. And that this could be something we're really expecting, but what we see at this moment. But I do hope to have answered your question.

我們可以決定擴張與債務的水平，我們總是監控類似的事情。但目前，我們預計 24 年將開設 15 家商店，2025 年將開設 20 家商店。所以很多項目已經擴大很多了。這可能是我們真正期待的事情，但卻是我們此刻所看到的。但我確實希望能夠回答你的問題。

(interpreted) Thank you, Belmiro.

（翻譯）謝謝你，貝爾米羅。

(interpreted) Clara Lustosa, Itau BBA.

（口譯）Clara Lustosa，Itau BBA。

(interpreted) Thanks for taking my question. So more of a follow-up on the previous question. But I wanted to explore a bit of the same-store sales and how that took place in the quarter, the evolution throughout the month. And also, maybe taking advantage of the payment term and payment conditions topic, you mentioned that maybe this is more attractive for the wholesale distribution business. But what was the performance throughout the quarter and the beginning of the third quarter when you think about B2B?

（解釋）感謝您提出我的問題。所以更多的是對上一個問題的跟進。但我想探索一些同店銷售情況以及該季度的情況以及整個月的演變。而且，也許利用付款期限和付款條件主題，您提到這可能對批發分銷業務更具吸引力。但是，當您考慮 B2B 時，整個季度和第三季初的表現如何？

Do you think that they're being more attracted by other payment conditions provided by competitors? How have you guys been working on this? I think that's the first question. More of a follow-up. And the second question is really quick.

您認為他們是否更容易被競爭對手提供的其他付款條件所吸引？你們在這方面的工作進展如何？我認為這是第一個問題。更多的是後續。第二個問題真的很快。

It's like a working capital one. I think you made this very clear in the release at the level of suppliers in the second quarter last year had a one-off effect. But if you could just go over a bit of how we should be looking at this level? Maybe closer to 60 to 65 days. Eventually, so of course, offsetting some of these effects of the fourth quarter.

這就像營運資金一樣。我認為您在去年第二季度供應商層級的發布中已經非常明確地表達了這一點，這產生了一次性效應。但是您是否可以回顧一下我們應該如何看待這個級別？也許接近 60 到 65 天。當然，最終抵消了第四季度的一些影響。

(interpreted) So Vitor will talk about the dynamics of the working capital that we can see in the second quarter of last year. So about the timing dynamic, we can see the consumers always have a different dynamic as soon as you provide a bit higher payment term, your increases purchases. But right now, the cost of cash, if you increase the level of limits, you could have higher delinquency rates. So that's something we have to be careful about and monitor and see if there's any like major modification. I want to remind you that we don't have the distribution wholesale channel.

（解釋）維托爾將談論我們在去年第二季度可以看到的營運資金的動態。因此，關於時間動態，我們可以看到，一旦您提供更高的付款期限，消費者就會有不同的動態，您的購買量就會增加。但現在，考慮到現金成本，如果提高限額，拖欠率可能會更高。所以這是我們必須小心和監控的事情，看看是否有任何類似的重大修改。我想提醒您，我們沒有分銷批發管道。

We only have the sales for Cash & Carry in the stores. So of course, these two channels, they do have an overlap. 98% of the customers that buy for distribution also buy in the Cash & Carry stores. So they normally have like a product mix. So if you increase the terms, you also have an increase in sales initially.

我們只在商店裡進行現購自運銷售。當然，這兩個管道確實有重疊。 98% 購買經銷商品的顧客也會在現購自運商店購買。所以他們通常有類似的產品組合。因此，如果您增加條款，最初的銷售額也會增加。

But if you don't increase it slightly, what happens is you'll perform the sales initiative, but then you're going to go over, which could lead to delinquency up ahead besides the cost today of cash. So basically, I think we have to always analyze and see how this policy will be. But according to our current policy, monitoring, how we've been working in the second quarter, even if this could lead to an impact on the sales for B2B.

但如果你不稍微增加它，就會發生的情況是，你將執行銷售計劃，但隨後你就會超出，這可能會導致除了今天的現金成本之外的提前拖欠。所以基本上，我認為我們必須始終分析並看看這項政策將如何。但根據我們目前的政策、監控，我們在第二季的工作方式，即使這可能會對 B2B 的銷售產生影響。

So of course, you have part of the B2Bs, which are the transformation public, those customers that as work in food service, et cetera. But the resellers actually just want to know about payment terms and conditions and pricing, but it's hard to keep loyalty among this kind of customer, the resellers.

當然，也有一部分 B2B，即轉型大眾、從事餐飲服務等行業的客戶。但經銷商其實只是想了解付款條件和定價，但很難維持經銷商這種客戶的忠誠度。

(interpreted) Hi, Clara. So thanks for your question just about the working capital now. Yes, we did have a variation upon the working capital in the same period last year, which is a lot more marked or impacted by the difference. And the fact that the working capital in the second quarter last year having performed in a very typical manner with an account for suppliers, that was relatively high. And when you look at the history label, we described this, I think, in greater detail on page 7 on our release.

（翻譯）嗨，克拉拉。感謝您現在提出有關營運資金的問題。是的，去年同期我們的營運資金確實有所變化，這種變化更為明顯或受到影響。事實上，去年第二季的營運資金以非常典型的方式表現在供應商帳戶上，相對較高。當你查看歷史標籤時，我認為我們在版本的第 7 頁上更詳細地描述了這一點。

But if you look at this from here forward, you see the working capital behavior is going to be very similar to what we've seen in the first quarter this year. And what we're seeing in the second quarter, the cash cycle is about five days, basically. So that is what we've seen.

但如果你從現在開始看，你會發現營運資金行為將與我們今年第一季看到的非常相似。我們在第二季看到，現金週期基本上約為五天。這就是我們所看到的。

And of course, there could be some change like one to two days up or down in suppliers' stock, et cetera. But when you look at the cycle, the cash cycle, we see this cash cycle that's a lot more similar to what the first and second quarters were. There's, of course, a seasonality effect in the last quarter of the year, and you have a shift in this parameter, considering the high volumes of sales, but this is something that we know about in the industry, and we won't behave very differently.

當然，可能會有一些變化，例如供應商庫存一到兩天的上漲或下跌等等。但是，當你觀察週期、現金週期時，我們會發現這個現金週期與第一季和第二季的情況非常相似。當然，今年最後一個季度存在季節性影響，考慮到銷量很高，這個參數會發生變化，但這是我們在行業中知道的事情，我們不會表現得如此非常不同。

(interpreted) Very clear. Thank you, Vitor and Belmiro.

（解釋）非常清楚。謝謝你們，維托和貝爾米羅。

(interpreted) Thank you.

（翻譯）謝謝。

(interpreted) Danniela Eiger, XP.

（口譯）Danniela Eiger，XP。

(interpreted) Hi, guys. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. My question is very quick. I think most of the topics were covered already, but it's just a follow-up on the food inflation dynamic point. So, Belmiro, you mentioned there is like a major changes in the trends, but we've seen, and even today, we saw the data on the inflation surprising downwards. And that was really levered by categories that are really relevant like protein and dairy products. So how do you see this dynamic?

（翻譯）嗨，夥計們。早安.感謝您提出我的問題。我的問題問得很快。我認為大部分主題已經涵蓋，但這只是食品通膨動態點的後續內容。所以，貝爾米羅，你提到趨勢發生了重大變化，但我們已經看到，甚至在今天，我們也看到通膨數據令人驚訝地下降。這實際上是由蛋白質和乳製品等真正相關的類別所利用的。那麼您如何看待這種動態呢？

I know you said you won't see too much of a change. But do you think this could be updated or changed considering the data today? And also, what are the types of levers you have for possibly working on better profitability and cash generation in a scenario where you maybe have a food inflation that's still not helping that much when it comes to the same-store sales dynamic? Thank you.

我知道你說過你不會看到太大的改變。但考慮到今天的數據，您認為這可以更新或改變嗎？此外，在食品通膨可能對同店銷售動態沒有太大幫助的情況下，您可以使用哪些類型的槓桿來提高獲利能力和現金產生？謝謝。

(interpreted) Thank you, Danni, and thank you for the question. When I talked about the variation here in this year, from a comparative perspective, looking at the turbines we had after the pandemic. From an inflation and deflation perspective, there were more sudden movements, but this year it's a lot more stable.

（翻譯）謝謝你，丹尼，也謝謝你提出的問題。當我談到今年的變化時，從比較的角度來看，我們在大流行之後擁有的渦輪機。從通膨和通貨緊縮的角度來看，今年的波動比較突然，但穩定了許多。

So yes, there are variations in the month-to-month comparison, but we have one component we should keep an eye open for which is the dollar, currency issue because even the proteins and other commodities are impacted by the dollar. So if you have the American currency higher, which is not the level we had expected or seen with the change in the consumer environment in the US.

所以，是的，逐月比較有差異，但我們應該密切關註一個因素，那就是美元、貨幣問題，因為即使是蛋白質和其他商品也會受到美元的影響。因此，如果美元走高，這不是我們預期或看到的美國消費環境變化的水平。

And so I think we all were kind of wondering if there could be an effect on the food inflation just as construction materials that are also impacted right with the new stores, especially when we're talking about steel. So there's also a reduction of the inflation, but that's a re-deflation as they call in Brazil, where we have a reduction of the size of packaging, where you want to have industry keep the same pricing and at the same levels, but you have some occasional trends.

因此，我認為我們都想知道食品通膨是否會受到影響，就像建築材料也會受到新商店的影響一樣，尤其是當我們談論鋼鐵時。因此，通貨膨脹也有所減少，但這就是巴西所說的再通貨緊縮，我們縮小了包裝尺寸，你希望行業保持相同的定價和水平，但你有一些偶然的趨勢。

So it's difficult to say because sometimes in the production reductions, considering climate conditions, we see the droughts and everything. And so it could be that in the second half, we'll have a different reality because of this.

所以很難說，因為有時在減產中，考慮到氣候條件，我們會看到乾旱和一切。因此，在下半年，我們可能會因此而面臨不同的現實。

So we do expect some variations until we reach a higher stability point from a consumer perspective. And even some of the protein and commodities had some variations, but we don't see like major variations for the full year. I think that's the main point. I'm not sure if that's clear.

因此，我們確實預期會出現一些變化，直到從消費者的角度達到更高的穩定點。甚至一些蛋白質和商品也有一些變化，但我們沒有看到全年有重大變化。我認為這是重點。我不確定這是否清楚。

(interpreted) Okay, perfect. Thank you.

（解釋）好的，完美。謝謝。

(interpreted) Eric Huang, Santander.

（口譯）Eric Huang，桑坦德銀行。

(interpreted) Hey. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for taking our questions. On our side, we have a quick follow-up from Danni's previous question. And Dannie talked about the dynamic of the inflation. And just if you could talk about how you've been looking at the beginning of the third quarter.

（解釋）嘿。大家早安。感謝您回答我們的問題。在我們這邊，我們對丹尼之前的問題進行了快速跟進。丹尼談到了通貨膨脹的動態。如果您能談談您對第三季初的看法。

And as we think about the same-store sales, do you guys see this as an acceleration or not just so we can have a better feel on how this has been advancing. And then getting back to installments just to understand more where your partnerships are?

當我們考慮同店銷售時，你們是否認為這是一種加速，或者不僅僅是為了讓我們可以更好地了解這是如何發展的。然後回到分期付款只是為了更多地了解您的合作夥伴關係？

Today, you have this partnership with FIC, and also if you would like to maybe look into something where you guys can have more control. And even having some kind of possible support for market changes if or should there be a prevailing situation with these payment conditions with installments?

今天，你們與 FIC 建立了合作夥伴關係，如果你們願意的話，也許可以研究一下你們可以擁有更多控制權的東西。如果或應該存在這些分期付款條件的普遍情況，甚至對市場變化提供某種可能的支持？

(interpreted) I think we were missing part of the answer. And basically, we have, in retail as a whole been, below expectation. But there are different initiatives in the company to try to offset these effects. And besides what I highlighted, we included another 80 new services, which was ever since April that we were here, which will contribute in the same stores. And other pilot tests also in product categories, depending on each region and store that also help.

（解釋）我認為我們遺漏了部分答案。基本上，我們整個零售業的表現低於預期。但該公司採取了不同的措施來試圖抵消這些影響。除了我強調的內容之外，我們還提供了另外 80 項新服務，這些服務是自 4 月以來我們就在這裡的，這些服務將在同一家商店中提供。其他試點測試也在產品類別中進行，具體取決於每個地區和商店也有幫助。

So we're not just, of course, stopped watching the market. We constantly look into finding more resources and taking advantage of this as and we're look into the customer flows we have today. I think our greatest heritage is customer loyalty. And of course, we're always searching for ways to work on this as long as this, of course, it doesn't change the business model. In the third quarter, as you've seen, we're really in line with the second quarter.

當然，我們不僅僅是停止觀察市場。我們不斷尋找更多資源並利用這一點，同時我們也在研究當今的客戶流。我認為我們最大的傳統是客戶忠誠度。當然，我們一直在尋找解決這個問題的方法，當然，只要它不會改變商業模式。正如您所看到的，第三季度我們確實與第二季度保持一致。

We don't expect significant variations. And then the payments and installments, as I mentioned, I think we need to separate this discussion, right? And so, I don't know if you could maybe add on to this next point here, but what we noticed in this volume of sales in three installments is not coming so much from consumers, right?

我們預計不會出現重大變化。然後，正如我所提到的，付款和分期付款，我認為我們需要分開討論，對吧？所以，我不知道你是否可以在這裡補充下一點，但我們注意到，在分三期的銷售量中，消費者並沒有那麼多，對嗎？

So keeping up this would not make too much of a difference, and we have to look at this that the risk of delinquency could maybe be higher. So we're kind of following in the same direction. We're not going to be changing anything severely in the policies or restructuring a financial company or something. That will not really affect much of the dynamic now in my opinion.

因此，繼續這樣做不會產生太大的影響，而且我們必須看到，拖欠的風險可能會更高。所以我們正在朝著同一個方向前進。我們不會對政策做任何重大改變，也不會重組金融公司之類的。在我看來，這不會真正影響現在的動態。

(interpreted) That it's, Belmiro. So, Eric, our partnership with FIC, our financial services company provides all of the insurance we need to work with our customers. The Assai card allows us to perform -- to offer purchases in three installments, but it also in certain items allows the customer to buy a smaller amount of products with a wholesale price and not a retail price.

（解釋）就是這樣，貝爾米羅。因此，艾瑞克，我們與金融服務公司 FIC 的合作夥伴提供了我們與客戶合作所需的所有保險。Assai 卡允許我們分三期購買，但在某些商品中，它還允許客戶以批發價而非零售價購買少量產品。

So we also have in our stores, just to remind you, the same products have two prices, the retail and the wholesale prices, depending on the volumes the customer buys with this item. So the FIC partnership would allow us to advance as we would like with this issue. And so the issue with the installments, as Belmiro mentioned is more of a commercial decision to not keep up this way.

所以我們的商店裡也有，只是提醒您，相同的產品有兩種價格，零售價和批發價，這取決於客戶購買該商品的數量。因此，FIC 合作夥伴關係將使我們能夠以我們希望的方式解決這個問題。因此，正如貝爾米羅所提到的，分期付款的問題更多的是一個商業決定，即不繼續這種方式。

(interpreted) Well, and I think just to add on here with the payments and installments. When we look at the numbers in the market, as we've seen in the competitive environment, the consolidated between the distribution, wholesale and delivery, wholesale operations as we don't have disclosure or a breakdown of all this, it could give us an impression that you could have a trend change, which is probably more of the wholesale in the sales volume.

（解釋）嗯，我想在這裡加上付款和分期付款。當我們查看市場上的數字時，正如我們在競爭環境中看到的那樣，分銷、批發和交付、批發業務之間的合併，因為我們沒有披露或細分所有這些，它可以為我們帶來給人們一種趨勢可能會改變的印象，這可能更多是銷量上的批發。

But by what we've been observing in the market and even the share measurements when we look at the comparable, which would be Cash & Carry, there is not pretty much any kind of effect there. So I don't know if that was clear. But as I saw, this topic had three different questions. I think it's worth mentioning.

但根據我們在市場上的觀察，甚至是當我們查看可比較的現購自運時的份額衡量結果，幾乎沒有任何影響。所以我不知道這是否清楚。但正如我所見，這個主題有三個不同的問題。我認為值得一提的是。

(interpreted) Yeah, that was very clear. Thank you, Belmiro. Thank you, Vitor.

（解釋）是的，這很清楚。謝謝你，貝爾米羅。謝謝你，維托爾。

(interpreted) Luiz Guanais, BTG Pactual.

（解釋）Luizguanais，BTG Pactual。

(interpreted) Hi. Good morning, Belmiro, Vitor, and Gabrielle. Getting into a bit of the discussion on the productivity of the converted stores, I wanted to understand what the dispersion is like in the stores in different regions, you converted throughout the last 2.5, 3 years. And if you could also talk about the cannibalization effects in these stores upon the legacy stores at Assai? Thank you very much.

（解釋）嗨。早上好，貝爾米羅、維托和加布里埃爾。進入一些關於改造商店生產力的討論，我想了解過去 2.5 年、3 年改造的不同地區商店的分散。您能否也談談這些商店對阿賽傳統商店的蠶食效應？非常感謝。

(interpreted) Thank you, Luiz. Yeah, obviously, you have this dispersion, which is very much connected to the performance of what Extra had. So we already had this expectation that this would happen throughout the project. This was very close.

（翻譯）謝謝你，路易斯。是的，顯然，你有這種分散性，這與 Extra 的表現有很大關係。所以我們已經有了這樣的預期：這將在整個專案中發生。這已經非常接近了。

Of course, there are some variations, right? Because in certain regions during this period, the closings and reopening, you had some competitors that open up in some stores, the Extra stores that were very strong, continuous strong, Assai stores and the ones that are weaker, continue weaker. But it's more about the population potential, income levels and surrounding areas and then the actual store it's off. There's not much very relevant impact in this.

當然，也有一些變化，對吧？因為在某些地區，在此期間，關閉和重新開業，你有一些競爭對手在一些商店開業，Extra商店非常強大，持續強勁，Assai商店和較弱的商店繼續疲軟。但更多的是關於人口潛力、收入水平和周邊地區，然後是它所關閉的實際商店。這方面沒有太多非常相關的影響。

Of course, you have cannibalization, the lower the overlapping in Extra and Assai, many company really, we have presence in 25 states in Brazil. Any operation you have will have a cannibalization level on, and also because the offering in the environment of these stores is a lot more robust, but part of the stores that did have cannibalization in the stores, when you look at the sales per square meter that we see an average of in the Assai performance, which is the best in the sector, about BRL4,400 per square meter.

當然，你會蠶食，Extra 和 Assai 的重疊度越低，確實有很多公司，我們在巴西 25 個州都有業務。你所擁有的任何業務都會有一個蠶食水平，而且因為這些商店環境中的產品更加強大，但當你查看每平方米的銷售額時，部分商店確實在商店中存在蠶食我們在Assai 的表現中看到平均每平方公尺約為4,400 巴西雷亞爾，是該行業中最好的。

We had organic stores that had BRL7,000, BRL8,000. So it's already like a bad service for customers. And we mentioned this cannibalization will be about 2 percentage points. In our project, you'll probably remember, it's about 3% to 4%.

我們的有機商店有 7,000 雷亞爾、8,000 雷亞爾。所以這對客戶來說已經是一種糟糕的服務了。我們提到這種蠶食大約是 2 個百分點。在我們的專案中，您可能還記得，大約是 3% 到 4%。

But on the other hand, we preferred to migrate or maybe lose in Assai customer and an older stores with the new Assai store than losing them to competitors. So we're opening up in regions where we already had stores, so some level of cannibalization would exist.

但另一方面，我們寧願遷移或可能失去 Assai 客戶和新 Assai 商店的舊商店，也不願將它們輸給競爭對手。因此，我們在已有商店的地區開設商店，因此會存在一定程度的蠶食。

Of course, the B2B public is willing to drive further off consumers due to the practicality of the stores or parking or the level of offerings adjust because a lot of the stores, we look at the lowest indicator -- the best indicator is looking at the sales per square meter. You'll see our stores had a really high level of saturation. So it was slightly above what we expected in the beginning of the project, but it's not a variation that's going to change the fundamentals for the decision towards the project.

當然，由於商店的實用性或停車位或產品水平的調整，B2B公眾願意進一步遠離消費者，因為很多商店，我們關注最低的指標——最好的指標是關注每平方米的銷售額。您會發現我們的商店飽和度非常高。因此，它略高於我們在專案開始時的預期，但它不會改變專案決策的基本原則。

And when you look at the fundamentals, of course, we're looking at same-store sales, but it cannot be seen as an absolute indicator in the sector like ours, where you keep up with this major expansion. And naturally, you have this self-cannibalization effect.

當你審視基本面時，當然，我們關注的是同店銷售額，但它不能被視為像我們這樣的行業的絕對指標，在這個行業中，你可以跟上這種重大擴張。自然地，你會產生這種自我蠶食效應。

If you look at the same stores, it would be like an absolute perspective if we hadn't had any expansion. But if you look at from 56 million tickets in the second quarter of '22 to 77 million tickets. Now within the second quarter of '24, and you can see there's an increase of almost 20 million tickets, 7 million per month. So that means almost 13 million or 12 million people. That's a huge increase in such a big amount like this, just compare with the population in certain countries.

如果你看同樣的商店，如果我們沒有任何擴張的話，這就像一個絕對的視角。但如果你看看 22 年第二季的 5,600 萬張門票，到了 7,700 萬張門票。現在在 24 年第二季度，您可以看到門票增加了近 2000 萬張，每月增加 700 萬張。這意味著近 1300 萬人或 1200 萬人。與某些國家的人口相比，這樣的數字已經是巨大的成長了。

So of course, you migrate customers from competition, and you might get like to an older Assai to a newer store. And I think you need to look at the total growth basis as well, so to the same stores. Of course, we know the indicator and the importance it has, but in an expansion process, it can't be the only indicator.

因此，當然，你將客戶從競爭中轉移出來，你可能會像老阿賽一樣搬到新商店。我認為你還需要考慮總成長基礎，所以同樣的商店。當然，我們知道這個指標及其重要性，但在擴張過程中，它不能是唯一的指標。

(interpreted) Okay. Excellent, Belmiro. Thank you so much.

（解釋）好的。太棒了，貝爾米羅。太感謝了。

(interpreted) Felipe Rached, Goldman Sachs.

（口譯）費利佩·拉希德（Felipe Rached），高盛。

(interpreted) Hi, guys. Good morning, Belmiro, Faga, and Gabrielle. I wanted to talk about the gross margin topic. And then, of course, the competition, we talked about competition a lot, of course, regarding the sales, but maybe more towards the gross margins. The converted stores have a margin that's a little higher. So they probably have a positive effect in the mix. But I want to know what the dynamic was like if you exclude the mix effect.

（翻譯）嗨，夥計們。早安，貝爾米羅、法加和加布里埃爾。我想談談毛利率這個話題。當然，還有競爭，我們經常談論競爭，當然是關於銷售，但可能更多是關於毛利率。改造後的商店的利潤率要高一些。所以它們可能會對混合產生正面的影響。但我想知道如果排除混合效果，動態會是什麼樣子。

So how did the gross margin behave if you consider the same-store criteria? And then adding on to this, in similar markets, did you feel competition was more aggressive or if the difference is really just in the sales level that was mainly considering the three installments and the discretion of B2B as well? Thank you.

那麼，如果考慮同店標準，毛利率表現如何？然後補充一下，在類似的市場中，您是否覺得競爭更加激烈，或者差異是否真的只是在銷售水平上，主要考慮到三期付款和B2B的自由裁量權？謝謝。

(interpreted) Okay. So when you look at the gross margin and you exclude Extra, although the Extra stores, not all of them have the gross margin, gross profit that's higher than the companies, right? But we're really focused on the EBITDA margin, balancing this out in the stores and we have organic stores as well that have gross margins as well.

（解釋）好的。所以當你看毛利率時，你把Extra排除在外，雖然Extra商店，但並不是所有的毛利率、毛利都比公司高，對吧？但我們真正關注的是 EBITDA 利潤率，在商店中平衡這一點，我們也有有機商店，也有毛利率。

So obviously, we have the clusterization of the prices and the stores don't follow the same prices for each region and need to have differences. But when you look at the same stores, even the same assortment, the margin was very stable. And I think part of the scale gains we had with this increase, as I had in the last two years, we're also reinvesting in pricing.

顯然，我們的價格是集群化的，商店不會針對每個地區遵循相同的價格，需要有差異。但當你觀察相同的商店，即使是相同的品種時，利潤率也非常穩定。我認為，正如我在過去兩年中所做的那樣，這種成長帶來的規模成長的一部分，我們也在定價方面進行了再投資。

So the company is really keeping an eye open towards investments and competitive advantages. And we're looking at the numbers and you're seeing the total numbers. And customers themselves, we saw this even with the card because sometimes they are afraid of taking on debt and paying in 3 installments, especially when it comes to food. And so of course, the market is competitive, and we're following -- it's keeping up with a really strong level.

因此，該公司確實對投資和競爭優勢保持開放的態度。我們正在查看這些數字，您會看到總數。對於顧客本身，我們甚至在使用信用卡時也看到了這一點，因為有時他們害怕承擔債務並分三期付款，尤其是在食品方面。當然，市場競爭激烈，我們正在追蹤——它正在保持一個非常強勁的水平。

So we have to continue to innovate and bring new products, new assortments and searching for the best pricing. So we don't have this -- so we're not left behind. But when you look at the gross profit, I think you can see the stability the company has, right? When you see the three-year highlights, you can see what happened, right?

因此，我們必須持續創新，推出新產品、新品種，並尋求最佳定價。所以我們沒有這個——所以我們沒有被拋在後面。但當你看毛利時，我想你可以看到公司的穩定性，對吧？當你看到三年的亮點時，你就可以看到發生了什麼，對吧？

Ever since Extra came into the base and the beginning of the inflation, deflation and the margin was still quite stable at this time. So at the end of the day, what guides our price policy is our role as a complementary distributor between customers and especially B2Bs. So we search for ways to be the lowest cost channel for industry. So this makes the margin be an important result to pay the operational costs and be more competitive when it comes from the distribution wholesale and industry itself.

自從Extra進入基數，通貨膨脹開始，通貨緊縮，此時利潤率仍相當穩定。因此，歸根結底，指導我們價格政策的是我們作為客戶（尤其是 B2B）之間的互補分銷商的角色。因此，我們尋找成為行業成本最低的管道的方法。因此，這使得利潤成為支付營運成本的重要結果，並且當利潤來自分銷批發和行業本身時更具競爭力。

(interpreted) Yes, you did answer. Thank you so much, Belmiro.

（解釋）是的，你確實回答了。非常感謝你，貝爾米羅。

(interpreted) Vinicius Strano, UBS.

（譯）維尼修斯‧斯特拉諾（Vinicius Strano），瑞銀集團。

(interpreted) Hi. Good morning, Belmiro, Vitor, Gabrielle. Thanks for your question. Belmiro, what's your perception in regards to the price elasticity for consumers? If you look, this is a topic that people covered already a little bit before, but do you think it makes sense to be a little more aggressive with the price investments and try to win more on the volumes? And what have you noticed as well about the stock levels in B2B customers? And what's your growth perspectives between B2Bs and consumers up ahead?

（解釋）嗨。早安，貝爾米羅、維托、加百列。謝謝你的提問。Belmiro，您對消費者的價格彈性有何看法？如果你看一下，這是一個人們之前已經討論過的話題，但你認為在價格投資上更加積極一點並試圖在數量上贏得更多是有意義的嗎？對於 B2B 客戶的庫存水平，您還注意到了什麼？您對 B2B 和消費者之間的未來成長前景有何看法？

(interpreted) Hey, thanks for the question. But when it comes to pricing, of course, the consumers motivated by price, but that's not the only thing you consider it. If you look at any survey by Nielsen, or other services and even our internal service demonstrate that more and more the store location, level of service and service level in the stores or store environment and store is all part of the decision-making process, right, and especially good execution in the stores.

（解釋）嘿，謝謝你的提問。但說到定價，消費者當然會受到價格的激勵，但這並不是你唯一考慮的因素。如果你看看尼爾森的任何調查，或者其他服務甚至我們的內部服務都表明，商店的位置、服務水平以及商店或商店環境和商店的服務水平越來越成為決策過程的一部分，是的，尤其是在商店裡的執行力很好。

So when we do one-on-ones with the investors, you invite them to visit a store and a competitor store, especially downtown regions so that they can see the level of service. So the company is still competitive. And by what we've observed at this moment, consumers are looking for products that have maybe smaller size and if there's a trade down period, they're also working on consumption.

因此，當我們與投資者進行一對一交流時，你會邀請他們參觀一家商店和競爭對手的商店，尤其是市中心地區，以便他們了解服務水平。所以公司還是有競爭力的。根據我們目前觀察到的情況，消費者正在尋找尺寸可能較小的產品，如果有降價期，他們也會致力於消費。

So reducing margin would have to be a very destructive trend that could be bad for the overall market. But also, like a big margin movement would maybe not lead to the expected result because you also have from the consumers a reality where they look at this, the wholesale -- the Cash & Carry is already a lower price channel. So normally, the price difference is like 12%.

因此，降低利潤率必然是一種極具破壞性的趨勢，可能對整個市場不利。而且，大的利潤變動可能不會帶來預期的結果，因為你也從消費者那裡得到了一個現實，他們認為批發——現購自運已經是一個較低的價格管道。所以正常情況下，價格差異是12%左右。

We're already a search for low price. If it's 12%, we go to 13% or 14%, we don't know how much of a sales differential is sort of bring you. If we are too aggressive, we could lose margin, and we're going to sell pretty much the same amount that we would have been selling with the margins we currently have.

我們已經在尋找低價。如果是 12%，我們會提高到 13% 或 14%，我們不知道會為您帶來多少銷售差異。如果我們過於激進，我們可能會損失利潤，而我們的銷售量將與我們目前的利潤率下的銷售量幾乎相同。

So if you look at B2B, we're still very careful while you have this scenario with high interest rates and currency and this perception that we have where the economies generate a little more jobs and some other indicators, but the overall perception still is that people are very cautious still with the expenses, especially with the last currency increases, the uncertainty about the interest rates of these customers, if they're really quick to adjust, we don't see like a major stock up trends.

因此，如果你看看 B2B，我們仍然非常謹慎，雖然你有這種高利率和高貨幣的情況，並且我們認為經濟會創造更多的就業機會和一些其他指標，但總體看法仍然是人們對支出仍然非常謹慎，特別是在上次貨幣上漲的情況下，這些客戶的利率存在不確定性，如果他們真的很快調整，我們不會看到主要的庫存上漲趨勢。

So if we had such like a cataclysm in the market, that could maybe lead to higher increases they could invest. But the cost of investing in stock today versus an expectation regains, we look at how we see that hasn't really happened in practical terms.

因此，如果市場出現這樣的災難，這可能會導致他們的投資增加更多。但今天投資股票的成本與預期相比有所回升，我們看看我們如何看待這種情況實際上並沒有真正發生。

(interpreted) Okay, perfect. Thank you, Belmiro.

（解釋）好的，完美。謝謝你，貝爾米羅。

(interpreted) Bob Ford, Bank of America.

（解釋）鮑伯福特，美國銀行。

(interpreted) Okay, thank you very much. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for taking my question. Belmiro, how are you looking at the differentiation and competitive advantage. And besides greater segmentation and regionalization, are there opportunities from a seasonal perspective for more of a treasure hunt in the stores?

（翻譯）好的，非常感謝。大家早安，感謝您提出我的問題。Belmiro，您如何看待差異化和競爭優勢。除了更大的細分和區域化之外，從季節性角度來看，是否有機會在商店中進行更多的尋寶活動？

(interpreted) I don't know if I got this question. But about differentiation, more and more, the company has been when you see -- like when we showed you the campaign, it demonstrates how we're really trying to adapt to each region in Brazil. It's a continent. We have huge differences from one region to another, and that happens in the micro regions. So if you look at Sao Paulo or Campinas or the Santos region, you can see dynamics that are very different.

（解釋）我不知道我是否有這個問題。但關於差異化，當你看到公司越來越多時，就像我們向你展示活動時，它展示了我們如何真正努力適應巴西的每個地區。這是一個大陸。我們在一個地區與另一個地區之間存在著巨大的差異，而這種差異發生在微觀區域。因此，如果你看看聖保羅、坎皮納斯或桑托斯地區，你會看到非常不同的動態。

So Brazil is almost like one coffee brand per city. So our big bet on standing out is really at the level of services that mix of products, and there are many other dynamics as well when it comes to activation at the stores and special festivities and campaigns and even the types of ads we put in the store to be able to stand out compared to other competitors.

所以巴西幾乎每個城市都有一個咖啡品牌。因此，我們要脫穎而出的最大賭注實際上是在產品組合的服務水平上，而且在商店激活、特殊慶祝活動和活動，甚至我們在商店中投放的廣告類型方面，還有許多其他動態。對手相比，商店能夠脫穎而出。

So I think another differential Assai has that we've presented in many areas that among all Cash & Carries, we have the highest diversity in the store formats and network. So we have stores of 2,000 square meters, all the way to 10,000. So in order to do this, you shift all of the logistical patterns and supply.

因此，我認為 Assai 的另一個差異化之處在於，我們在許多領域都展示了在所有現購自運中，我們在商店形式和網路方面擁有最高的多樣性。所以我們有2000平方米的商店，一直到10000平方米。因此，為了做到這一點，您需要改變所有的物流模式和供應。

And so this makes the company very resistant and sorry, very consistent with the numbers when -- despite the financial issues and the interest rates, you look at the SG&A and the gross profit, then you see that consistency and continuity is pretty much the biggest milestone besides the cash EBITDA transformation. I hope I have answered.

因此，這使得公司非常抵制和遺憾，與數據非常一致——儘管存在財務問題和利率，但你看看SG&A和毛利，然後你會發現一致性和連續性幾乎是最大的現金EBITDA 轉型之外的里程碑。我希望我已經回答了。

(interpreted) And just to ask you, how you've been thinking about like a treasure hunt approach or more like a seasonal approach to your mix?

（解釋）只是想問你，你是如何考慮像尋寶方法還是更像季節性方法來混合？

(interpreted) Bob, once we know if we have more opportunities for like treasure items, which are the in and out items, right, where you don't have like frequent fee in stock, right, is like a one-off opportunity. So yes, there's many opportunities, we have different projects we're working on. And we have some news to share soon with some great opportunities.

（解釋）鮑勃，一旦我們知道我們是否有更多機會購買類似的寶藏物品，即進出物品，對吧，如果你沒有像頻繁的庫存費用，對吧，就像是一次性的機會。所以，是的，有很多機會，我們正在進行不同的專案。我們很快就會有一些消息與一些絕佳的機會分享。

We're trying to attract and bring in more resources and having a greater share on their pocket. And of course, we can't make a huge change from a strategic perspective so quickly because we have to preserve cash and also the maturity of the Extra stores and really doing things well done is the biggest focus.

我們正在努力吸引和引入更多資源，並在他們的口袋裡佔有更大的份額。當然，我們不能這麼快從戰略角度做出巨大的改變，因為我們必須保留現金，還有Extra商店的成熟度，真正把事情做好是最大的重點。

But of course, we have different projects. And as soon as this is a little more mature, we'll be sharing this with you guys. But it's just putting yourself in our place and seeing a company that's going to start off with 300 stores with 38 million people visiting in a month, and you see so many opportunities.

但當然，我們有不同的項目。一旦它變得更加成熟，我們就會與大家分享。但如果你把自己放在我們的位置上，看到一家剛開始擁有 300 家商店、一個月內有 3800 萬人光顧的公司，你就會看到很多機會。

So ever since advances in the galleries now in the second quarter all the way to other projects with -- of course, we have a limit of sales and space in the stores. So now with more solid data soon, we'll be able to bring more information. We don't want to create any false expectations. But of course, there are opportunities for the in and out.

因此，自從第二季度畫廊的進展一直到其他項目——當然，我們的商店的銷售和空間是有限的。因此，現在有了更可靠的數據，我們將能夠提供更多資訊。我們不想造成任何錯誤的期望。但當然，也有進出的機會。

(interpreted) Thank you.

（翻譯）謝謝。

(interpreted) Sorry, I didn't understand your question initially.

（解釋）抱歉，我一開始不明白你的問題。

(interpreted) No, it's very clear. Thank you.

（解釋）不，這很清楚。謝謝。

(interpreted) [Talis Granelli], Safra.

（譯）[Talis Granelli]，薩夫拉。

(interpreted) Well, good morning, Belmiro and Faga and Gabi. I have a quick question here about leverage. I think when we think about '25, what has the company been seeing as leverage for the end of next year? And what are the levels of leverage that would make the company pay interest on equity or private capital to be able to have the fiscal tax benefits?

（翻譯）嗯，早安，貝爾米羅、法加和加比。我有一個關於槓桿的簡單問題。我認為，當我們考慮 25 年時，公司認為明年年底的槓桿是什麼？公司的槓桿水準是多少，才能支付股權或私人資本利息才能獲得財政稅收優惠？

(interpreted) Hi there, Talis. How it's going? On leverage, the company has been focusing on reducing the level of leverage and we are looking for in the midterm level of leverage that would be about 2 times net debt-to-EBITDA. But what's most important, this, of course, relies on the interest rate. So we have to have a financial expense that can maybe compromise 15% or 20% of our EBITDA, but a lot more than that. So that's what we've been discussing.

（翻譯）你好，達麗絲。進展如何？在槓桿方面，該公司一直致力於降低槓桿水平，我們希望中期槓桿水平約為淨債務與 EBITDA 的 2 倍。但最重要的是，這當然取決於利率。因此，我們必須承擔一筆可能影響 EBITDA 15% 或 20% 的財務費用，但遠不止於此。這就是我們一直在討論的內容。

And the company is still really focused on deleveraging. So if we talk about a leverage level for the end of next year, it's still too early because of everything we're seeing in the market and the fact that we still have so much to evolve in from now the way there.

該公司仍然真正專注於去槓桿化。因此，如果我們談論明年年底的槓桿水平，現在還為時過早，因為我們在市場上看到的一切以及從現在開始我們仍然有很多需要發展的事實。

But what we can be more precise about is our leverage by the end of this year, which should be below 3.2 times and our commitment to continue to deleverage the company throughout '25. And especially about JCP, it's still a little too early to talk about that. Our focus is deleveraging, and it doesn't make sense to evolve into a discussion on JCP considering that we're really focused on deleveraging. But then for next year onwards, then this discussion can be made in a more effective manner, okay? Thank you.

但我們可以更準確地了解的是，到今年年底，我們的槓桿率應低於 3.2 倍，並且我們承諾在整個 25 年期間繼續去槓桿化公司。尤其是關於 JCP，現在談論這件事還為時過早。我們的重點是去槓桿，考慮到我們真正關注的是去槓桿，所以演變為JCP的討論是沒有意義的。但從明年開始，這個討論可以以更有效的方式進行，好嗎？謝謝。

(interpreted) Very clear. Thank you.

（解釋）非常清楚。謝謝。

(interpreted) Nicolas Larrain, JPMorgan.

（解釋）Nicolas Larrain，摩根大通。

(interpreted) Well, good morning, Vitor, Belmiro, and Gabrielle. Thanks for taking our questions. Actually, most of the topics were already addressed, but I just wanted to maybe ask you something quickly here, look at the quarter. What was the progression of the same-store sales throughout the quarter? Just to understand how you guys are looking at this now for the third quarter. Thank you.

（翻譯）好吧，早上好，維托、貝爾米羅和加布里埃爾。感謝您回答我們的問題。實際上，大多數主題已經解決，但我只是想在這裡快速問您一些問題，看看這個季度。該季度同店銷售額的進度如何？只是為了了解你們現在如何看待第三季的情況。謝謝。

(interpreted) Thank you, Nicolas. Actually, the quarter don't necessarily repeat because in the second quarter, you had this displacement due to the Easter period, and we had April and May stronger, but in the end of the quarter was a little weaker. But the line already demonstrates a different sign.

（翻譯）謝謝你，尼可拉斯。實際上，這個季度不一定會重複，因為在第二季度，由於復活節期間的影響，出現了這種位移，四月和五月的表現較強，但在季度末稍弱一些。但這條線已經顯示出不同的跡象。

Our estimates for the quarter are -- that are really in line with the second quarter. And even in our sector, the big changes in the quarter are not so relevant because, of course, that depends on the dynamics each company adopts. When you look at this, you see at these levels that are very similar when you consider progression throughout the quarter.

我們對本季的估計確實與第二季一致。即使在我們的行業中，本季的重大變化也不是那麼重要，因為這當然取決於每家公司採取的動態。當你看到這一點時，當你考慮整個季度的進展時，你會發現這些水平非常相似。

(interpreted) Okay, perfect. Very clear. Thank you, Belmiro.

（解釋）好的，完美。非常清楚。謝謝你，貝爾米羅。

(interpreted) Andrew Ruben, Morgan Stanley.

（口譯）安德魯魯本，摩根士丹利。

Hi. Thanks very much for taking the question. A bit more on mature stores, if I may. Where are we in terms of the planned cannibalization impacts you mentioned? Are they mostly in the past? Or should there be some go-forward effects as the converted stores keep maturing?

你好。非常感謝您提出問題。如果可以的話，我可以多介紹一些成熟的商店。就您提到的計劃中的蠶食影響而言，我們處於什麼位置？它們大多是過去的嗎？或者，隨著改造後的商店不斷成熟，是否應該產生一些前進效應？

And then when we think about the normalized mature store growth, should it be at inflation, above inflation when considering the services and other improvements or maybe below inflation as the sales further spread out with the new store base? Thanks very much.

那麼，當我們考慮正常化的成熟商店成長時，它應該是在通貨膨脹的情況下，在考慮服務和其他改進時高於通貨膨脹，還是在新商店基地的銷售進一步擴散時低於通貨膨脹？非常感謝。

(interpreted) Okay, thank you, Ruben. Of course, we want to be above inflation always. The dynamics we have and the inclusion of new services. And the cannibalization this is -- and so we're buying an older Assai and we are buying an new Assai, so when you look at this, these 2 million customers and as we have greater maturity in the stores. I hope I have answered.

（翻譯）好的，謝謝你，魯本。當然，我們希望始終高於通膨。我們擁有的動態以及新服務的納入。這是一種蠶食——所以我們購買了一輛舊的 Assai，我們正在購買一輛新的 Assai，所以當你看到這一點時，這 200 萬顧客以及我們在商店中的成熟度更高。我希望我已經回答了。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(interpreted) Now the Q&A session is officially ended, and we would like to pass on the word to the company for the final remarks for the company.

（解說）現在問答環節正式結束，我們轉達公司，供公司作最後的發言。

(interpreted) I want to thank you all for your participation. I hope to see you on our ship in February '25, where you can shop at our stores and really have this incentive. So we're going to be heading towards the third and fourth quarters, which are the most important periods in the year. Thank you so much for your participation.

（譯）我要感謝大家的參與。我希望在 25 年 2 月在我們的船上見到您，您可以在我們的商店購物並真正獲得這種激勵。因此，我們將進入第三季度和第四季度，這是一年中最重要的時期。非常感謝您的參與。

(interpreted) The earnings call for the second quarter of '24 at Assai is officially ended. The Investor Relations department is available to answer any possible statements and questions. Thank you all, participants, and have a great day.

（解釋）Assai '24 年第二季財報電話會議正式結束。投資者關係部門可以回答任何可能的陳述和問題。謝謝大家，參與者，祝你有美好的一天。