Aptargroup Inc (ATR) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to Aptar 2024 fourth quarter and annual results conference call. (Operator Instructions)

女士們、先生們，感謝你們的支持。歡迎參加 Aptar 2024 年第四季及年度業績電話會議。（操作員指令）

Introducing today's conference call is Mrs. Mary Skafidas, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Communications. Please go ahead.

今天的電話會議由投資者關係和傳播部高級副總裁瑪麗·斯卡菲達斯女士主持。請繼續。

Good morning. Hello everyone and thanks for being with us today. Joining us on today's call are Stephan Tanda, President and CFO; and Vanessa Kanu, Executive Vice President and CFO. Our press release and accompanying slide deck have been posted on our website under the investor relations page.

早安.大家好，感謝大家今天的來訪。參加今天電話會議的有總裁兼財務長 Stephan Tanda；以及執行副總裁兼財務長 Vanessa Kanu。我們的新聞稿和隨附的幻燈片已發佈在我們網站的投資者關係頁面上。

During this call we will be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures. These measures are reconciled to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure and the reconciliations are set forth in the press release. Please refer to the press release disseminated yesterday for reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures discussed during the earnings call. As always, we will post a replay of this call on our website.

在本次電話會議中，我們將討論某些非公認會計準則財務指標。這些指標與最直接可比較的 GAAP 財務指標相協調，且該協調情況已在新聞稿中說明。請參閱昨天發布的新聞稿，以了解非公認會計準則指標與財報電話會議上討論的最具可比性的公認會計準則指標的對帳情況。像往常一樣，我們將在我們的網站上發布本次通話的重播。

I would like to now turn the conference call over to Stephan. Stephan, over to you.

現在我想將電話會議轉給史蒂芬。史蒂芬，交給你了。

Thank you, Mary, and good morning everyone. We appreciate you joining us on the call today. I will begin my remarks by highlighting our fourth quarter results as well as our performance for the full year. Later in the call, Vanessa Kanu, our CFO, will provide additional details on key drivers for the quarter.

謝謝你，瑪麗，大家早安。感謝您今天的參加我們的電話會議。我的發言首先將介紹我們第四季的業績以及全年的表現。在電話會議的稍後部分，我們的財務長 Vanessa Kanu 將提供有關本季關鍵驅動因素的更多詳細資訊。

Starting on slide three for the fourth quarter, I'm pleased to report that Aptar achieved core sales growth of 2% and delivered adjusted earnings per share of $1.52. We exceeded the top end of our guidance range due to both better than expected operational performance and a lower than anticipated effective tax rate. The positive results in the quarter were driven by strong ongoing demand for our pharma proprietary drug delivery systems, especially for allergic rhinitis, emergency medicines, and central nervous system therapeutics, as well as royalty revenues and increased demand for our food closure technologies.

從第四季的第三張投影片開始，我很高興地報告，Aptar 實現了核心銷售額成長 2%，調整後每股收益為 1.52 美元。由於營運業績優於預期且有效稅率低於預期，我們的業績超出了預期範圍的最高限度。本季度的積極業績得益於對我們製藥專有藥物輸送系統的持續強勁需求，特別是對過敏性鼻炎、急救藥物和中樞神經系統治療的需求，以及特許權使用費收入和對我們的食品封口技術的需求增加。

In addition, we benefited from productivity gains across the entire company. This quarter, Aptar's adjusted EBITDA margin was at the top end of our long-term range at 23%. Vanessa will give you more details on the quarter, so now I will focus on the full year. Our pharma segment achieved 8% core sales growth within its raised long-term target range. Additionally, pharma achieved an adjusted EBITDA margin for the year of approximately 35%, driven by increased sales of higher value products and royalties.

此外，我們也受惠於整個公司的生產力提高。本季度，Aptar 的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率處於我們長期範圍的最高端，為 23%。瓦妮莎將向您提供有關本季度的更多詳細信息，因此現在我將重點關注全年情況。我們的製藥部門在其提高的長期目標範圍內實現了 8% 的核心銷售成長。此外，由於高價值產品和特許權使用費的銷售額增加，製藥業務全年調整後 EBITDA 利潤率達到約 35%。

Often when asked about pharma's future growth potential, my answer is clearly that pharma is a pipeline-driven business, and the continued expansion of our pipeline over the last five years is a major reason why we raised our core sales long-term target in 2023 to 7% to 11%, and we see the pipeline continuing to grow. Pharma performance this year was driven by continued growth in emergency medicines, allergic rhinitis, and central nervous system therapeutics.

當被問及製藥業未來的成長潛力時，我的回答很明確，即製藥業是一個由產品線驅動的業務，而過去五年來我們產品線的持續擴張是我們將 2023 年核心銷售長期目標提高到 7% 至 11% 的主要原因，而且我們看到產品線將繼續增長。今年醫藥產業的表現得益於急救藥物、過敏性鼻炎和中樞神經系統治療藥物的持續成長。

Our proprietary drug delivery business is the core profit engine of our pharma segment, creating and manufacturing innovative, safe, and highly reliable technologies that support our customers and improve the lives of patients around the world. We anticipate continued strength for this important franchise. For our injectables business, we saw growth in antithrombotics, GLP-1 drugs, small molecules, and vaccines.

我們專有的藥物輸送業務是我們製藥部門的核心利潤引擎，它創造和製造創新、安全且高度可靠的技術，為我們的客戶提供支援並改善全球患者的生活。我們預期這項重要特許經營權將持續保持強勁勢頭。對於我們的注射劑業務，我們看到抗血栓藥物、GLP-1 藥物、小分子和疫苗的成長。

Injectable component sales grew 10% in 2024, but the growth was offset by lower tooling and service revenues. The team has done a tremendous job of completing a large capacity expansion project and industrializing our higher value offerings, voting well for the future. Active material science sales were up 13% for the full year 2024 due to increased demand for diabetes diagnostics, probiotics, and oral solid dose solutions.

2024 年註射組件銷售額將成長 10%，但這一成長被工具和服務收入的下降所抵消。該團隊在完成大型產能擴張專案和實現更高價值產品工業化方面做出了巨大貢獻，為未來做出了良好的貢獻。由於對糖尿病診斷、益生菌和口服固體劑量溶液的需求增加，2024 年全年活性材料科學銷售額增加了 13%。

Since we acquired CSP in 2018, the sales of that business have grown at a compound annual growth rate of almost 10%. Looking at our beauty segment for the year, we had good growth across a number of end markets, including personal care, mustache beauty, and home care. However, growth in these end markets could not offset the decline in prestige beauty. The beauty segment saw unique growth in 2024 and sales of personal care technologies grew nicely. Overall core sales declined, however, due to the unfavorable mix.

自 2018 年收購 CSP 以來，該業務的銷售額以近 10% 的複合年增長率成長。回顧我們今年的美容業務，我們在個人護理、鬍鬚美容和家庭護理等多個終端市場都取得了良好的成長。然而，這些終端市場的成長無法抵消高端美容產品的下滑。2024 年，美容領域實現了獨特的成長，個人護理技術的銷售額也實現了良好的成長。然而，由於產品組合不利，整體核心銷售出現下滑。

Beauty remains a highly regional business. Europe, our largest region, maintains its adjusted EBITDA margin within the segment's long-term target range. North America continued to recover progressively with indie brands leading the growth. China remained challenged for most of the year. However, towards the end of the year, the country had a better than anticipated [11/11], which is China's equivalent to Black Friday, and we see some green shoots with local brands. We saw good growth in India, albeit from a low base.

美容依然是一個高度地域性的行業。歐洲是我們最大的地區，其調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率保持在該部門的長期目標範圍內。在獨立品牌引領成長的帶動下，北美持續逐步復甦。今年大部分時間，中國仍面臨挑戰。然而，接近年底，中國的「雙十一」購物節（相當於中國的「黑色星期五」）的銷售情況好於預期，我們也看到了本土品牌的復甦跡象。儘管基數較低，但印度仍實現了良好的成長。

Looking ahead, new project activities encouraging across most regions, and we anticipate progressive improvement for the segment in 2025. In the second half of the year, our closure segment returned to its core sales long-term target range driven by increased demand around the world for food and beverage dispensing and food protection technologies.

展望未來，大多數地區的新項目活動都令人鼓舞，我們預計 2025 年將逐步改善。下半年，在全球對食品和飲料分配以及食品保護技術的需求增加的推動下，我們的封蓋部門恢復了其核心銷售長期目標範圍。

A focus on converting end markets to higher value dispensing closures and a reinvigoration of innovation globally helped to improve top-line sales. The segment's increased margins were also positively affected by the higher value mix, as well as a consistent focus on reducing costs and a steady improvement in plant utilization, supported in part by the mid-year closing of a loss-making plan in France. The segment improved its plant utilization by over 12% in 2024. Closures adjusted EBITDA margins were also within the long-term target range in the second half of the year and improved by more than 110 basis points for the full year.

專注於將終端市場轉化為更高價值的分配封蓋和在全球範圍內重新激發創新有助於提高營收。該部門利潤率的提高也受到更高價值組合、持續注重降低成本和穩步提高工廠利用率的積極影響，部分原因是今年中期法國一項虧損計劃的結束。該部門在 2024 年將工廠利用率提高 12% 以上。經關閉調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率在下半年也處於長期目標範圍內，全年提高了 110 個基點以上。

Now, turning to slide four, we are very proud of our long record of returning capital to shareholders. Over the last five years, we have returned nearly $800 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. 2025 is expected to mark our 32nd consecutive year of paying an annually increasing dividend.

現在，翻到第四張投影片，我們對長期向股東返還資本的記錄感到非常自豪。過去五年來，我們透過股利和股票回購向股東返還了近8億美元。預計 2025 年將是我們連續第 32 年支付每年增加的股利。

Now, I would like to highlight our products and technologies on slide five, which feature examples from both the year and the quarter that exemplify our focus on innovation and the value that we bring to our customers and their end-users. In pharma, you've heard us talk about our nasal bi-dose system for Johnson & Johnson's Spravato medication to treat treatment-resistant depression.

現在，我想在第五張投影片上重點介紹我們的產品和技術，其中展示了年度和本季的範例，體現了我們對創新的關注以及我們為客戶及其最終用戶帶來的價值。在製藥領域，您已經聽過我們談論強生公司的 Spravato 藥物的鼻腔雙劑量系統，該系統用於治療難治性憂鬱症。

Recently, the FDA approved Spravato as a mono-treatment, meaning it can now be used alone and not requiring additional solid-dose drugs. Also, as shared during our last earnings call, the FDA and European Medicines Agency approved neffy and EURneffy nasally-delivered epinephrine, which is now on the market.

最近，FDA 批准 Spravato 作為單一療法，這意味著它現在可以單獨使用，而不需要額外的固體劑量藥物。此外，正如我們上次財報電話會議上所分享的那樣，FDA 和歐洲藥品管理局批准了 neffy 和 EURneffy 鼻腔給藥腎上腺素，目前該產品已上市。

In consumer healthcare, we continue to increase capacity for our previously highlighted patented lateral control system technology with a one-push-button dosage actuation, providing convenience, efficient relief, and ease of use for Haleon or Otrivin nasal mists. We also continue to grow our pharma innovation pipeline. As previously mentioned, during the year, we acquired all technology assets from SipNose, increasing our proprietary portfolio of intranasal delivery platforms.

在消費者保健領域，我們繼續提高先前重點介紹的專利橫向控制系統技術的產能，採用一鍵式劑量驅動，為 Haleon 或 Otrivin 鼻噴劑提供便利、有效的緩解和易用性。我們也正在繼續擴大我們的製藥創新管道。如前所述，今年我們從 SipNose 收購了所有技術資產，增加了我們專有的鼻內給藥平台組合。

We also entered into an exclusive agreement with Cambridge Healthcare Innovations for its Quattrii dry powder inhaler platform, where we see opportunities for this platform in delivering larger amounts of medication to the lungs.

我們也與 Cambridge Healthcare Innovations 達成了關於其 Quattrii 乾粉吸入器平台的獨家協議，我們看到該平台有機會向肺部輸送大量藥物。

In addition, our agreement regarding Pulmotree Kolibri non-propellant liquid inhaler platform will further strengthen our leadership in the respiratory space. And after digital health, the MigraineBuddy app continues to be the number one migraine app with a community of over 3 million users. The latest release of the app optimizes the way users can share migraine reports with doctors, including sleep records and more.

此外，我們關於 Pulmotree Kolibri 非推進劑液體吸入器平台的協議將進一步加強我們在呼吸領域的領導地位。繼數位健康之後，MigraineBuddy 應用程式繼續成為排名第一的偏頭痛應用程序，擁有超過 300 萬用戶。該應用程式的最新版本優化了用戶與醫生分享偏頭痛報告的方式，包括睡眠記錄等。

Finally, in active material sciences, our N-Sorb technology, which is part of the FDA's emergency technology program, delivers an active packaging-based solution to mitigate the risk of nitrosamine impurities. Our technology can enable pharma companies to meet the FDA's August 2025 deadline for full compliance with nitrosamine regulations, while avoiding costly and time consuming reformulation processes.

最後，在活性材料科學方面，我們的 N-Sorb 技術（作為 FDA 緊急技術計畫的一部分）提供了基於活性包裝的解決方案，以降低亞硝胺雜質的風險。我們的技術可以幫助製藥公司在 FDA 規定的 2025 年 8 月的最後期限前完全遵守亞硝胺法規，同時避免昂貴且耗時的重新配方過程。

Turning to beauty highlights from the year, our new Prestige fragrance dispensing technology, INUNE, features a more lightweight design and gentle actuation, and is the dispensing solution for Lancôme's of Idôle Eau de parfum. We also adapted our pump technology to meet the growing demand for alcohol-free fragrances. Alcohol-free fragrances are typically oil and water-based, making the formulation more difficult to dispense.

回顧今年的美容亮點，我們全新的 Prestige 香水分配技術 INUNE 具有更輕巧的設計和溫和的驅動功能，是蘭蔻 Idôle 淡香水的分配解決方案。我們也改進了泵浦技術以滿足對無酒精香料日益增長的需求。不含酒精的香料通常以油和水為基礎，這使得配方更難以分配。

Our pump is highly compatible with these formulations, providing consumers with the same optimal gentle mist fragrance experience, and is now featured on Guerlain's first alcohol-free fragrance. Also in 2024, our custom beauty plant in Normandy, France, supported the launch of a major beauty customer's reformulated facial serum product, which features our patented dual pump technology and locking feature using post-consumer recycled resins.

我們的幫浦與這些配方高度相容，為消費者提供同樣最佳的溫和霧化香味體驗，現已成為嬌蘭首款不含酒精的香水的特色。同樣在 2024 年，我們位於法國諾曼第的客製化美容工廠支援一家主要美容客戶推出重新配製的臉部精華產品，該產品採用我們專利的雙泵技術和使用消費後回收樹脂的鎖定功能。

FusionPKG, our beauty turkey packaging solution business, supported Indie brands Saie and Anastasia with full-pack solutions. In our fourth quarter, [Hermès] selected our Prestige fragrance pumps for its line of Barénia Parfum, and the Avent brand Suncare Mist is featuring our e-commerce-capable locking pump with components made from post-consumer recycled resin, where no over-cap is required.

我們的美容火雞包裝解決方案業務FusionPKG為獨立品牌Saie和Anastasia提供全套包裝解決方案。在我們的第四季度，[Hermès] 為其 Barénia Parfum 系列選擇了我們的 Prestige 香水泵，而 Avent 品牌 Suncare Mist 則採用了我們可支持電子商務的鎖定泵，其組件由消費後回收樹脂製成，無需外蓋。

Turning to closures, throughout the year we continue to partner with a major dish care brand on their Easy Squeeze inverted packaging with flow control, allowing for single-hand operation without any leakage. Positive consumer feedback has led to major category expansions due to this innovation.

談到封口，我們全年都與一家大型餐具護理品牌合作，推出具有流量控制功能的 Easy Squeeze 倒置包裝，可單手操作且不會出現任何洩漏。由於這項創新，消費者的正面回饋已導致產品類別大幅擴展。

If you're planning to watch the big game in the US this weekend, you will see commercials for condiments that feature Aptar solutions, including our Simply Squeeze valve enclosure, as we continue to bring convenience and cleanliness to consumer products that line the grocery store shelves.

如果您計劃本週末觀看美國的大型比賽，您將看到採用 Aptar 解決方案的調味品廣告，包括我們的 Simply Squeeze 閥門外殼，我們將繼續為雜貨店貨架上的消費品帶來便利和清潔。

During the quarter, our custom flip-top was featured as the dispensing solution for McCormick's Grill Mates spices and Holiday Sugars in the US. Finally, in Asia, Nestle introduced a new adult-powered milk product featuring our Lightweight Custom Closure.

在本季度，我們客製化的翻蓋式包裝成為美國 McCormick's Grill Mates 香料和假日糖的分配解決方案。最後，在亞洲，雀巢推出了一款採用我們輕量訂製封蓋的新型成人奶產品。

Now turning to recognitions on slide six, we recently received confirmation that we have secured a place on the prestigious Climate A-List with the global environmental non-profit CDP for our leadership in corporate sustainability, environmental transparency, and efforts to tackle climate change based on our 2024 disclosures.

現在來看看第六張投影片上的表彰，我們最近收到確認，根據我們 2024 年的揭露內容，我們憑藉在企業永續性、環境透明度和應對氣候變遷的努力方面的領導地位，被全球環境非營利組織 CDP 列入享有盛譽的氣候 A 名單。

Also during 2024, Aptar was named World's Top Companies for Women by Forbes for the fourth consecutive year and is ranked 41 out of the 400 companies who were evaluated in three categories, including employer brand, public opinion, and leadership. For the sixth consecutive year, we were named one of America's Most Responsible Companies by Newsweek, ranked number 71 out of 600 companies. We are proud to continuously raise the bar on sourcing renewable energy, certifying sites as landfill-free through our internal program, and developing products that are more recyclable, reusable, refillable, and incorporate more sustainable materials.

此外，在2024年，阿普塔連續第四年被《富比士》評為全球最適合女性的公司，並在雇主品牌、公眾輿論和領導力等三個類別進行評估的400家公司中排名第41位。我們連續第六年被《新聞周刊》評選為美國最具責任感的公司之一，在 600 家公司中排名第 71 位。我們很榮幸地不斷提高再生能源採購的標準，透過我們的內部計畫認證無垃圾掩埋場，並開發更可回收、可重複使用、可再填充的產品，並採用更多永續材料。

Now I would like to turn the call over to Vanessa.

現在我想把電話轉給 Vanessa。

Thank you, Stephan, and good morning, everyone. Let me begin by summarizing the highlights for the quarter. Starting on slide seven, our reported sales increased 1%, which included a foreign currency translation headwind of approximately 1%. Therefore, core sales grew 2%, primarily due to continued demand for pharma's proprietary drug delivery systems, as well as healthy growth in technologies for both the food and beverage markets.

謝謝你，史蒂芬，大家早安。首先，我來總結一下本季的亮點。從第七張投影片開始，我們報告的銷售額成長了 1%，其中包括約 1% 的外幣折算逆風。因此，核心銷售額成長了 2%，這主要歸因於對製藥公司專有藥物輸送系統的持續需求，以及食品和飲料市場技術的健康成長。

We achieved adjusted EBITDA of $195 million, an increase of 9% from the prior year, and adjusted EBITDA margin of 23% compared to 21.4% in the prior year, driven by expanding margins in the pharma and closure segments and the impact of cost mitigation measures executed across the business. These strong margins, combined with a lower effective tax rate, translated into adjusted deleted earnings per share of $1.52, as shown on slide eight, a 27% increase over the prior year at comparable exchange rates.

我們實現了 1.95 億美元的調整後 EBITDA，較上年增長 9%，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 23%，而上年為 21.4%，這得益於製藥和封蓋部門利潤率的擴大以及整個業務實施的成本緩解措施的影響。這些強勁的利潤率加上較低的有效稅率，轉化為調整後的每股收益 1.52 美元（如第八張幻燈片所示），以可比匯率計算比上年增長 27%。

The effective tax rate for the fourth quarter was 13% compared to 23% in the prior year, due primarily to the realization of deferred tax assets which were previously not recognized, as well as increased tax benefits from stock-based compensation.

第四季的有效稅率為 13%，而去年同期為 23%，這主要歸因於先前未確認的遞延所得稅資產的實現，以及股票薪資稅優惠的增加。

Now turning to some of the details by segment. Our pharma segment's core sales increased 4%, breaking that down by market, starting with our proprietary drug delivery system. Prescription core sales increased 15%, primarily due to continued strong demand for dosing and dispensing technologies for allergic rhinitis, emergency medicines, and central nervous system therapeutics.

現在來逐一討論一些細節。我們的製藥部門的核心銷售額成長了 4%，按市場細分，首先是我們的專有藥物輸送系統。處方核心銷售額成長了 15%，主要原因是對過敏性鼻炎、急救藥物和中樞神經系統治療的給藥和調藥技術的持續強勁需求。

Consumer healthcare core sales decreased 17%, driven by decreased demand for nasal decongestants, nasal saline rinse solutions, as well as cough and cold medicines, due to a weaker 2023, 2024 cold and flu season and inventory management at the customer level.

消費者保健核心銷售額下降 17%，原因是 2023 年、2024 年感冒和流感季節較弱以及客戶層面的庫存管理導致對鼻減充血劑、鼻腔鹽水沖洗液以及咳嗽和感冒藥物的需求下降。

The healthy growth in Q4 product sales for ophthalmic and dermal treatments could not offset this decline. Injectable core sales decreased 8%, due to lower service revenue and tooling. Injectable component sales were up slightly, led by healthy GLP-1 growth. And for our active material science solutions, core sales increased 35%, aided by a large tooling sale in the quarter. Demand for our products used on probiotics and diabetes diagnostics also contributed to the positive results.

第四季眼科和皮膚治療產品銷售額的健康成長無法抵消這一下降。由於服務收入和工具成本下降，可注射芯銷售額下降了 8%。在 GLP-1 健康成長的帶動下，注射劑銷售額略有上升。對於我們的活性材料科學解決方案，核心銷售額成長了 35%，這得益於本季大量工具的銷售。我們的益生菌和糖尿病診斷產品的需求也促成了積極成果。

Pharma's adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter was 35.7%, a 160 basis points improvement from the prior year. The margin improvement was driven by increased sales of higher value products and services, including royalties and cost efficiency initiatives executed.

本季製藥業的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 35.7%，較上年同期提高了 160 個基點。利潤率的提高得益於高價值產品和服務銷售額的增加，包括特許權使用費和實施的成本效率措施。

Moving to our beauty segment, core sales decreased 3% in the quarter, with lower tooling sales contributing about a third of the decrease. Looking at the beauty segment by market, fragrance, facial skincare, and color cosmetics core sales decreased 9%, due largely to lower sales of higher value prestige products, particularly in EMEA, which more than offset increased demand for Masstige products.

轉向我們的美容部門，本季核心銷售額下降了 3%，其中工具銷售額的下降約佔降幅的三分之一。從美容市場來看，香水、臉部保養品和彩妝的核心銷售量下降了 9%，這主要是由於高價值高端產品的銷售額下降，尤其是在歐洲、中東和非洲地區，這抵消了大眾消費品需求的成長。

Personal care core sales increased 3%, with continued demand for body care and hair care applications across several regions. Home care core sales increased 15%, primarily due to continued growth of air care applications in North America. This segment's adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter was 12.4%, a 230 basis points decline, primarily due to the top line shortfall, particularly in higher price prestige products.

個人護理核心銷售額成長 3%，多個地區對身體護理和頭髮護理產品的需求持續成長。家庭護理核心銷售額成長了 15%，這主要得益於北美空氣護理應用的持續成長。該部門本季調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 12.4%，下降 230 個基點，主要由於營收不足，尤其是高價位高階產品。

Additionally, you may recall that this segment received a one-time insurance claim settlement that benefited the prior year's margin. The impact of this non-recurring item from prior year Q4 overshadowed the impact of operational efficiencies executed successfully within this segment.

此外，您可能還記得，該部門收到了一次性保險索賠賠償，這使上一年的利潤受益。去年第四季這項非經常性項目的影響掩蓋了該部門成功執行的營運效率的影響。

Moving on to the closure segment, core sales increased by 7% compared with the prior year, driven by increased demand across a number of end markets and across all regions. When looking at the market field foreclosures, core food sales increased 9%. The increase in sales was driven by solid growth across all regions, led by strong continued demand for sauces and condiments in North America, our largest food market. Beverage core sales increased 10%, fueled by healthy demand for bottled water and sports drinks.

至於封蓋部分，核心銷售額較上年同期成長了 7％，這得益於多個終端市場和所有地區的需求成長。從市場領域法拍來看，核心食品銷售額成長了 9%。銷售額的成長得益於所有地區的穩健成長，其中最大的推動力是北美作為我們最大的食品市場對醬料和調味品的持續強勁需求。受瓶裝水和運動飲料的健康需求推動，飲料核心銷售增加了 10%。

Personal care core sales decreased 5% due to lower demand across several regions, while our other category, which includes beauty, home care, and health care, core sales increased 12% , driven by higher sales for dish care and laundry care solutions. This segment's adjusted EBITDA margin was 16.1% , representing a 260 basis points improvement over the same period last year, primarily due to volume expansion and cost and productivity management. Our total CapEx spent for Q4 was $66 million, with the majority going to our pharma segment.

由於多個地區的需求下降，個人護理核心銷售額下降了 5%，而我們的其他類別（包括美容、家庭護理和醫療保健）的核心銷售額增長了 12%，這得益於餐具護理和洗衣護理解決方案的銷售額增長。該部門調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為16.1%，較上年同期提高260個基點，主要由於產量擴張和成本與生產力管理。我們第四季的總資本支出為 6,600 萬美元，其中大部分流向了製藥部門。

Now, moving on to the full year results, slides 9 and 10 cover our year-to-date performance and show 3% core sales growth, which includes the impact of an $11 million decline in [Chile]. Our growth margins expanded by 160 basis points due to top line growth, favorable mix towards higher margin revenue streams, as well as productivity and cost efficiency measures executed across the business.

現在，讓我們來看看全年業績，第 9 和第 10 頁介紹了我們今年迄今的業績，並顯示核心銷售額增長了 3%，其中包括 1100 萬美元的銷售額下降的影響。[智利]。由於營業額的成長、更高利潤收入流的有利組合，以及整個業務範圍內實施的生產力和成本效率措施，我們的成長利潤率擴大了 160 個基點。

These cost efficiency measures benefited both cost of sales and SG&A. Offsetting the cost reductions in SG&A were increased investments in R&D, particularly for pharma, to support our innovation and higher non-cashier-based compensation expense. As a result, SG&A, as a percentage of net sales, remained relatively consistent year-on-year.

這些成本效益措施有利於降低銷售成本及銷售、一般及行政開支。抵銷銷售、一般及行政開支減少的是研發投資的增加，特別是針對製藥業，以支持我們的創新和更高的非出納員薪資費用。因此，銷售、一般及行政費用佔淨銷售額的百分比與去年同期相比保持相對穩定。

Adjusted EBITDA margins expanded by 130 basis points to 21.6%. Indeed, all of our segments expanded EBITDA margins on a full-year basis, including our beauty segment. While our adjusted earnings per share, which were $5.64, were up 18% compared to $4.79 a year ago, including comparable exchange rates.

調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率擴大 130 個基點，至 21.6%。事實上，我們所有部門（包括美容部門）的 EBITDA 利潤率均在全年基礎上有所擴大。我們的調整後每股收益為 5.64 美元，以可比匯率計算，較去年同期的 4.79 美元增長 18%。

Turning to slide 11, we end at 2024 with a 12.5% return on invested capital, which was our second consecutive year of increased ROIC, driven by our increased earnings and realization of returns on our capital investments. Cash flow from operations was $643 million, up from $575 million in the year-ago period. Capital expenditures for the year were $276 million, down from $312 million in the prior year. The reduction in capital expenditures signifies the completion of our large capital project.

轉到第 11 張投影片，到 2024 年，我們的投資資本回報率將達到 12.5%，這是我們連續第二年增加投資資本回報率，這得益於我們的收益增加和資本投資回報的實現。經營現金流為 6.43 億美元，高於去年同期的 5.75 億美元。全年資本支出為 2.76 億美元，低於上年的 3.12 億美元。資本支出的減少標誌著我們大型資本項目的完成。

Slide 12, shows our capital allocation over the last several years, with the majority going to pharma. Free cash flow was $367 million for the year, up from $263 million in 2023, due largely to our increased earnings. Our strong cash flow has allowed us to neutralize any impacts of our interest expense coming from rising interest rates by paying down a portion of our debt that had come due and increased the amounts we returned to shareholders. Speaking of which, in 2024, we returned $183 million to shareholders in the form of $114 million in dividends and $69 million in share repurchases, up in combined total by 20% from 2023.

幻燈片 12 展示了我們過去幾年的資本配置，其中大部分都流向了製藥業。今年的自由現金流為 3.67 億美元，高於 2023 年的 2.63 億美元，主要歸功於我們的收益增加。我們強勁的現金流使我們能夠償還部分到期債務並增加返還給股東的金額，從而抵消因利率上升而產生的利息支出的影響。說到這一點，2024 年，我們以 1.14 億美元的股息和 6,900 萬美元的股票回購形式向股東返還了 1.83 億美元，總額比 2023 年增長 20%。

Finally, we ended the year with a strong balance sheet, reflecting a cash balance of $224 million as of December 31, net debt of $800 million, which was down $116 million from the prior year, and a leverage ratio of 1.08.

最後，我們以強勁的資產負債表結束了這一財年，截至 12 月 31 日的現金餘額為 2.24 億美元，淨債務為 8 億美元，比上年減少 1.16 億美元，槓桿率為 1.08。

Now moving on to outlook. Slide 13, summarizes our outlook for the first quarter. We anticipate first quarter adjusted earnings per share, which, as a reminder, excludes any restructuring expenses, acquisition costs, and changes in the unrealized fair value of equity investments, to be in the range of $1.11 to $1.19 per share, which includes approximately a $0.07 headwind for currency effects compared to the prior year quarter.

現在轉向展望。投影片 13 總結了我們對第一季的展望。我們預計第一季調整後每股收益（不包括重組費用、收購成本和股權投資未實現公平價值變動）將在 1.11 美元至 1.19 美元之間，與去年同期相比，其中包括約 0.07 美元的貨幣效應阻力。

Our effective tax rate range for the first quarter is 25% to 27%, due in part to an anticipated increase in the French corporate tax rate, which is an $0.08 headwind compared to the prior year quarter. At this point in time, we expect to have an approximately $0.15 cent impact due to currency and tax, compared with the prior year quarter.

我們第一季的有效稅率範圍是 25% 到 27%，部分原因是法國企業稅率預計會增加，與去年同期相比增加 0.08 美元。此時，我們預計與去年同期相比，貨幣和稅收的影響約為 0.15 美分。

Currency impacts are driving a larger headwind in the first quarter than typical because of the US dollar's renewed strength against many currencies, which for us includes the EURO, the Brazilian real, the Mexican and Colombian Pesos, amongst others. While our rule of thumb on currency impact is that for every [0.01] movement in the euro, there is a $0.02 annualized impact on earnings per share, please keep in mind that we are subject to other currencies besides the euro, some of which I just highlighted.

由於美元對多種貨幣再次走強，貨幣影響在第一季帶來了比平常更大的阻力，其中包括歐元、巴西雷亞爾、墨西哥比索和哥倫比亞比索等。雖然我們對貨幣影響的經驗法則是，歐元每變動 0.01 美元，每股盈餘就會產生 0.02 美元的年化影響，但請記住，除了歐元之外，我們還受到其他貨幣的影響，其中一些我剛才重點介紹了一下。

In closing, we're pleased with our strong operational performance for 2024 and are looking forward to the ample opportunities that 2025 will bring. As I mentioned earlier, we ended the year with a very strong balance sheet and a leverage ratio that will provide us with significant optionalities.

最後，我們對 2024 年強勁的營運業績感到滿意，並期待 2025 年將帶來的充足機會。正如我之前提到的，我們以非常強勁的資產負債表和槓桿率結束了這一財年，這將為我們提供重要的選擇權。

At this time, Stephan will provide a few closing comments before we move to Q&A.

這次，在我們進入問答環節之前，Stephan 會做一些結束語。

Thank you, Vanessa. We fully anticipate 2025 to be another strong year for Aptar. Having said that, for the first quarter, we expect softer demand in certain end markets such as dispensing technologies for prestige fragrance and skin care, as well as for nasal saline and decongestants.

謝謝你，凡妮莎。我們完全預期 2025 年將是 Aptar 又一個強勁發展的一年。話雖如此，我們預計第一季某些終端市場的需求會減弱，例如高檔香水和護膚品的分配技術以及鼻腔鹽水和減充血劑的分配技術。

Results in the first quarter will also be negatively impacted by significant current currency effects and a higher effective tax rate compared to the prior year quarter. As Vanessa stated, the impact in Q1 will be about a $0.15 headwind on EPS. Additionally, we are seeing healthy demand for our higher value elastomeric components, but anticipate a more gradual beginning to the year, especially as the new capacity comes online and is being validated.

與去年同期相比，第一季的業績也將受到重大的當前貨幣效應和更高的有效稅率的負面影響。正如 Vanessa 所說，第一季的影響將對每股收益造成約 0.15 美元的不利影響。此外，我們看到對高價值彈性零件的需求旺盛，但預計今年年初的成長將較為緩慢，尤其是隨著新產能上線和驗證。

Looking ahead, pharma will continue to be the main driver of growth with our proprietary drug delivery systems and emergency medicines and central nervous systems therapeutics leading the way. We expect demand for our injectables divisions, higher value products to continue to grow throughout the year, and are seeing strong interest for our premium code and ready to fill solutions.

展望未來，製藥將繼續成為成長的主要動力，我們的專有藥物傳輸系統、急救藥物和中樞神經系統治療將佔據領先地位。我們預計，我們的注射劑部門和高價值產品的需求將在全年持續增長，並且我們看到了對我們的優質程式碼和即用型解決方案的濃厚興趣。

Injectables has a strong pipeline and order book, and we are ramping up new capacity for our higher value product cautiously to ensure the quality of our products continue to meet the stringent regulatory requirements. The active material science business has returned to growth and is poised for solid 2025. We anticipate that beauty's top line will improve as the year progresses.

注射劑公司擁有強大的產品線和訂單，我們正在謹慎地提高我們高價值產品的新產能，以確保我們產品的品質繼續滿足嚴格的監管要求。活性材料科學業務已恢復成長，預計 2025 年將穩健成長。我們預計，隨著時間的推移，美容產品的營收將會提高。

Beauty has a nicely building project pipeline that has made significant structural improvements. Over the last four years, beauty has reduced its plant count by 10, and over the last two years has reduced its workforce by 11%. Managing cost is an ongoing effort, and while there is always more work to be done, these changes should continue to positively impact the bottom line as the top line improves.

Beauty 擁有完善的專案管線，並且已取得重大的結構性改進。在過去四年中，該公司美容部門減少了 10 家工廠，過去兩年員工人數減少了 11%。管理成本是一項持續不斷的努力，儘管總有更多的工作要做，但隨著營收的提高，這些變化應該會繼續對利潤產生積極影響。

Closures has made great progress on several fronts, including reigniting its innovation engine, improving plant utilization rates, and ongoing cost management efforts. Our innovations help customers win market share, and there's tremendous interest in the dispensing technologies that we are developing. When adjusting for currency effects and tax impacts, we anticipate 2025 will continue to deliver solid earnings growth and increase shareholder value.

Closures 在多個方面取得了巨大進展，包括重新點燃創新引擎、提高工廠利用率和持續進行成本管理。我們的創新幫助客戶贏得市場份額，人們對我們正在開發的分配技術有著濃厚的興趣。經過貨幣效應和稅收影響調整後，我們預計 2025 年將繼續實現穩健的獲利成長並提高股東價值。

With that, I would like to open up the call for questions.

現在，我想開始提問。

Thank you, Mr. Tanda. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝你，坦達先生。我們現在開始問答環節。（操作員指令）

George Staphos with Bank of America.

美國銀行的喬治‧斯塔福斯 (George Staphos)。

Hi, everyone. Good morning. Hope you can hear me okay. Stephan, Mary, good morning. Vanessa, welcome. My two questions. First of all, can you talk a little bit about the green shoots that you are seeing in China? And what momentum, what impact that might be able to have to generate for 2025?

大家好。早安.希望您能聽到我的聲音。史蒂芬、瑪麗，早安。瓦妮莎，歡迎光臨。我有兩個問題。首先，您能否談談您在中國看到的復甦跡象？這將為 2025 年帶來什麼樣的動力和影響？

The second question, recognizing it's tough to call, if you held currency rates where they're at and taxes do what you expect them, do you expect that earnings per share will grow in 2025 off a very tough comparison '24. Would that be too difficult, maybe a different way to handle the question. If we exclude those effects, what -- how would you define solid earnings per share growth. Thanks guys, good luck in the quarter.

第二個問題，認識到這很難說，如果你保持貨幣匯率不變並且稅率按照你的預期執行，你是否預計 2025 年每股收益將在與 24 年進行非常艱難的比較後實現增長。這會不會太難了？如果我們排除這些影響，您如何定義穩健的每股盈餘成長。謝謝大家，祝本季好運。

Hi, George, we could hear you great. Let me take the first one, the higher math of the second one I'll let Vanessa handle. Look, as you know, the Beauty market in China, in general, is still the largest country market for Beauty with a particular emphasis on skin care. And all our customers have waited for that market to show additional or renewed vitality.

嗨，喬治，我們聽到了您的聲音。讓我來負責第一個，第二個的高等數學我讓 Vanessa 負責。如你所知，總體而言，中國的美容市場仍然是最大的美容市場，尤其註重皮膚護理。我們所有的客戶都在等待該市場顯示出額外的或新的活力。

And some of our larger customers have been struggling with that. What we see is that clearly, local brands gained share and continue to gain share versus the multinationals. You all know the story of one US-based large multinational. But generally, [11/11] was pretty solid. The beginning of the year was pretty solid. So -- but it's more with local brands. And of course, ultimately, who serves the consumer, we are neutral to that.

我們的一些大客戶一直在為此苦苦掙扎。我們看到，本土品牌的市佔率明顯上升，相對於跨國品牌的市佔率仍在持續上升。大家都知道一家美國大型跨國企業的故事。但整體來說，[11/11] 相當不錯。今年年初的業績相當穩健。所以 — — 但這更多的是針對本地品牌。當然，最終誰為消費者服務，我們對此持中立態度。

So I'm quite hopeful that we will see China building over the year and that will benefit particularly our skin care business. Fragrance is also growing, but it's still very small in China but growing. I think that's about it. As a reminder, we serve in region, for region. So all this speculation about tariffs for us is not that meaningful. And what we're really looking for is where is the Chinese consumer had. Anecdotally, we also see the Chinese consumer traveling more internationally again at the high end, and I think that should also bode well for the beauty business in general.

因此，我非常有信心看到中國市場在今年繼續成長，這將特別有利於我們的護膚品業務。香水也在成長，但在中國市場規模仍然很小，但正在成長。我想就是這樣了。提醒一下，我們是在地區內為地區提供服務。所以對我們來說，所有關於關稅的猜測都沒有太大意義。我們真正想知道的是中國消費者在哪裡。據傳，我們還發現中國高端消費者再次更多地進行國際旅行，我認為這對整個美容行業來說也是一個好兆頭。

And I'll hand over to Vanessa.

現在我將把麥克風交給 Vanessa。

Hey, George, it's right that you called out the tax and FX headwinds. We haven't seen these kind of headwinds in the recent past. The past ex headwinds being driven by what we talked to one about the French tax legislation that just came or is in the process of coming into effect as we speak.

嘿，喬治，你說的稅收和外匯逆風是對的。我們最近沒有見過這樣的逆風。過去的阻力來自於我們與某人談論的剛剛發布或正在生效的法國稅法。

Look, when you normalize for FX and you normalize for tax, we are cautiously optimistic that we will have another potential double-digit EPS growth for 2025. A lot of the drivers, Stephan talked about in his prepared remarks, you're aware there's a lot of work around cost reductions. Those cost reductions will reach up to EBITDA and EPS in 2025. So we are cautiously optimistic that will be normalized for consistency in FX and tax, we'll have an another strong EPS growth year.

你看，當你將外匯和稅收正常化時，我們謹慎樂觀地認為，2025 年我們的每股盈餘將再次實現兩位數的成長。史蒂芬在他的準備好的發言中談到了許多驅動因素，你知道在降低成本方面還有很多工作要做。這些成本削減將在 2025 年達到 EBITDA 和 EPS。因此，我們謹慎樂觀地認為，隨著外匯和稅收的一致性逐漸正常化，我們將迎來另一個強勁的每股盈餘成長年。

Vanessa is the tax -- is it only a 1Q effect? Or does it impact the whole of the year? Thank you, sorry for that. And again good luck in the quarter.

瓦妮莎是稅收——它僅僅是第一季的影響嗎？還是會影響全年？謝謝，很抱歉。再次祝您本季好運。

Yeah. No, that's okay. It impacts the whole year. It impacts the whole year. So really what happened in the last -- so you may recall, George, this is -- we thought this was going to happen in Q4 because it was heavily reported by the French media. It didn't happen in Q4, it just -- it's happening now. It passed both the lower and upper chambers of Parliament, and we think it's going to be an asset in the coming days. It will be a full year impact. And so we've built the Q1 effects into our Q1 guidance.

是的。不，沒關係。它會影響全年。它會影響全年。所以實際上，上次發生的事情——喬治，你可能還記得，這是——我們認為這將在第四季度發生，因為法國媒體對此進行了大量報導。這不是在第四季度發生的，只是——現在發生了。該法案已在議會下院和上院獲得通過，我們認為它將在未來成為一項寶貴資產。這將對全年產生影響。因此，我們將第一季的影響納入了我們的第一季指引中。

All right. Thanks so much.

好的。非常感謝。

Ghansham Panjabi with Baird.

Ghansham Panjabi 與 Baird 合作。

Yeah, thanks. Good morning everyone. Vanessa, just following up on George's question on the EPS bridge items. So if currency holds at current levels, what sort of year-over-year headwind would that be on EPS? The same with tax? And then in corporate, 4Q was quite a bit lower than the trend line from previous quarters. How should we think about that as a variance for '25 versus '24?

是的，謝謝。大家早安。瓦妮莎，我只是想跟進喬治關於 EPS 橋樑項目的問題。那麼，如果貨幣維持在當前水平，這對每股盈餘將產生什麼樣的同比阻力呢？和稅收一樣嗎？在企業方面，第四季的趨勢線比前幾季的趨勢線低了不少。我們應該如何將其視為 '25 與 '24 之間的差異？

So in 4Q, there -- there are a couple of things. We got year-over-year or we talk versus guidance. So year-over-year, we did get some tax benefits from our tax planning. I called out in my prepared remarks that we were able to recognize some deferred tax assets from some loss carryforwards that we had not previously been able to recognize as a result of some of our ongoing tax planning. So that did result in sort of the wins that you're seeing in Q4 year-over-year.

因此在第四季度，有幾件事。我們得到了同比數據，或與指導值進行了對比。因此，與去年同期相比，我們確實從稅務規劃中獲得了一些稅務優惠。我在準備好的發言中指出，由於我們正在進行的一些稅務規劃，我們能夠從一些虧損結轉中確認一些遞延所得稅資產，而這些資產以前是無法確認的。所以這確實導致了您在第四季度看到的同比勝利。

Separate from that, there's the delta of the guidance. And so that win was actually built into our guidance. The delta of the guidance was really the French tax impacts that we had built into our guide in Q4 that did not materialize. And now we're seeing that come into effect in Q1 of this year. You asked what is the impact in Q1. We called it out, it's [$0.15] for the two factors combined. So I'm not clear on what incremental impact you might be looking for.

除此之外，還有指導的增量。因此，這場勝利實際上已經納入了我們的指導中。該指引的增量實際上是我們在第四季度指南中考慮到的法國稅收影響，但並未實現。現在我們看到它在今年第一季開始生效。您問第一季的影響是什麼。我們算了一下，兩個因素加起來是 [0.15 美元]。所以我不清楚您可能在尋求什麼樣的增量影響。

Yes. So I meant for 2025 versus 2024. 2024 baseline EPS is $5.64, the variances for FX, tax and corporate.

是的。所以我的意思是 2025 年與 2024 年的對比。

Yes. So we're not guiding for the full year. We're not -- I'll find it hard to give guidance on ETR, for example, independence of guiding on income just because we know that the jurisdiction mix of earnings can be a pretty significant impact. What I will say is, at this point in time, given what we know, especially with what's happening on the French taxes, we expect ETR to be higher in 2025 versus 2024. We haven't gotten into exactly what the number will be. We'll guide as the quarters progress.

是的。因此，我們沒有對全年業績做出預測。我們不是——我會發現很難就 ETR 給出指導，例如，對收入的獨立指導，因為我們知道收入的管轄組合可能會產生相當大的影響。我想說的是，根據目前所知，尤其是法國稅收的情況，我們預計 2025 年的 ETR 將高於 2024 年。我們還沒有確定具體數字是多少。我們將根據季度進展提供指導。

And then the FX headwind, I mean, it's pretty significant in Q1 with the $0.07. I expect that to continue for the rest of the year. Now depending on which forecast you're watching, we're seeing or hearing some commentary around perhaps the FX environment improving as the year progresses. But based on what we see now, we expect this double-digit impact to continue.

然後是外匯逆風，我的意思是，第一季的逆風相當顯著，為 0.07 美元。我預計這種情況將在今年剩餘時間持續下去。現在，根據您所關注的預測，我們看到或聽到一些關於外匯環境可能隨著時間的推移而改善的評論。但根據我們目前看到的情況，我們預計這種兩位數的影響將持續下去。

Okay. And then the corporate below trend for 4Q, what was that due to?

好的。那麼，第四季公司業績低於趨勢，這是因為什麼原因呢？

So there weren't any sort of unusual items there in Q4. What I will call out is typically as you get to the end of the year, you typically have your year-end true-up which includes adjustments for bonuses and short-term incentive accruals. So you have pockets of the business where we didn't hit our targets, those accruals got reversed. So that's probably what you're seeing. That's mainly what you're seeing in the corporate line in Q4, nothing more unusual than that -- primary driver.

因此第四季沒有出現任何異常情況。我要說的是，通常到了年底時，你通常會進行年終調整，其中包括對獎金和短期激勵應計費用的調整。因此，如果我們的一些業務沒有達到目標，這些應計項目就會被撤銷。這可能就是您所看到的。這主要是您在第四季度的公司線上看到的，沒有什麼比這更不尋常的了——主要驅動因素。

Got it. And in terms of just second question, I guess, in terms of the destocking that you're seeing in cold and flu and the time line for that to sort of normalize? And then also in Prestige, you called out weakness, I think, in the EMEA region as well. Just based on some of the customers that are reported, it seems like volumes seem relatively stable across the board from a customer level standpoint. So what is going on there specific to Aptar?

知道了。關於第二個問題，我想，您認為感冒和流感導致的庫存減少以及恢復正常化的時間表如何？然後同樣在 Prestige 中，我認為您也指出了 EMEA 地區的弱點。僅根據一些客戶的報告，從客戶層面來看，交易量似乎整體相對穩定。那麼 Aptar 那裡具體發生了什麼事情呢？

Yes. So let's take consumer on Aptar first. We see some bottoming out. And in fact, the last two months, we saw sequential increases again, also will depend again on how the fixed flu season unwinds. To start this morning that we might have another peak in the US. And so sequentially, I think it will start to go up again, but we still face tough comparables in quarter one into quarter two.

是的。我們先來看看 Aptar 的消費者狀況。我們看到了一些觸底跡象。事實上，過去兩個月，我們再次看到了連續的成長，這也將再次取決於固定流感季節如何結束。從今天早上開始，美國可能會再出現一次高峰。因此，我認為按順序來看它會再次開始上升，但我們在第一季到第二季仍然面臨嚴峻的挑戰。

Now on the Beauty side, we I pointed out that unit volume actually was up in beauty slightly. So what you're really seeing is the mix effect is mustache fragrances picked up significantly and the high-end luxury Prestigio launches did not repeat. So that -- it's more of a mix effect as opposed to an underlying volume effect.

現在在美容方面，我指出美容產品的單位銷售量實際上略有上升。因此，您真正看到的是混合效應，鬍鬚香水的銷量顯著上升，而高端奢華 Prestigio 的推出並未重複。所以 — — 它更多的是一種混合效應，而不是潛在的體積效應。

Thanks so much.

非常感謝。

Matt Roberts with Raymond James.

馬特羅伯茨 (Matt Roberts) 和雷蒙德詹姆斯 (Raymond James)。

Hi, Stephan, Vanessa. Good morning. Stephan, you noted that expecting a more gradual ramp-up in injectables. I believe last quarter, you said that, that business could tend to be high single digits to low single digits based on GLP and biologics growth, albeit stopping short of any official guide there.

你好，史蒂芬，凡妮莎。早安.史蒂芬，您指出，預計注射劑的使用將更加漸進。我相信上個季度您說過，基於 GLP 和生物製劑的成長，業務可能趨向於高個位數到低個位數，儘管沒有任何官方指導。

But based on the new ramp-up expectations, do you have better ability or comfort in firming what that injectables core sales growth number could look like in 2025 or given strong underlying growth rates in those drugs, what factors could dictate either coming in above or below any expectation?

但是，基於新的成長預期，您是否有更好的能力或信心確定 2025 年註射劑核心銷售成長數字會是多少，或者鑑於這些藥物強勁的潛在成長率，哪些因素可能決定其高於或低於預期？

Yes. I wouldn't change my answer there. The pipeline looks good. The order buildup looks good. There will be quarter-to-quarter variant also in terms of our ramp up and when we get certain pieces of equipment validated. It's always -- after you the moment customers want it. They want it now and say well, now, and they'll need to get this press done or this thing down. So overall, the demand picture is good, and we are being a bit cautious in exactly match that in the first quarter, but I'm quite bullish about that business.

是的。我不會改變我的答案。管道看起來不錯。訂單成長看起來不錯。就我們的產能提升以及何時驗證某些設備而言，也會有季度間差異。它總是在你之後，客戶需要它的那一刻。他們現在就想要，並且說好吧，現在，他們需要完成這項新聞或這件事。因此總體而言，需求狀況良好，我們對於第一季的需求情況有些謹慎，但我對這項業務非常樂觀。

Okay. That's helpful. And then maybe on the proprietary delivery systems side, 2024 had continued strong performance, and you noted that category will lead the Pharma segment. So as you look '25, what type of growth do you think is achievable there?

好的。這很有幫助。然後也許在專有交付系統方面，2024 年將繼續表現強勁，並且您指出該類別將引領製藥領域。那麼展望25年，您認為那裡可以實現什麼類型的成長？

And as we've heard positive commentary on some of the newer drugs had, whether that's Spravato or neffy coming out of the gate in 4Q. Would you say that 2025 growth in proprietary is more so dependent on further new drugs into the market or more so underlying secular trends for nasal delivery and drugs that are already on the market?

正如我們所聽到的，對一些新藥的積極評價，無論是 Spravato 還是第四季度上市的 neffy。您是否認為 2025 年專利藥物的成長更多地取決於更多新藥進入市場，還是更多地取決於鼻腔給藥和已經上市藥物的潛在長期趨勢？

Sure, Matt. Look, fundamentally, the core engine of Pharma is fully humming. We feel very good about the continued growth there. We were at JP Morgan earlier in January and also the J&J CEO called out Spravato, ARS was there. So we see continued good growth in the emerging treatments, the central nervous system drugs as well as the underlying allergic rhinitis franchise continuing. As we just discussed, the cold and cough is a little wobbly, but I think we're at the other end of the trough.

當然，馬特。從根本上看，製藥業的核心引擎正在全力運轉。我們對那裡的持續成長感到非常高興。我們 1 月初在摩根大通，強生公司執行長也召集了 Spravato，ARS 也在那裡。因此，我們看到新興治療、中樞神經系統藥物以及基礎過敏性鼻炎治療藥物持續保持良好的成長動能。正如我們剛才討論的那樣，感冒和咳嗽有點不穩定，但我認為我們正處於低谷的另一端。

Great. Thank you again.

偉大的。再次感謝您。

Daniel Rizzo with Jefferies.

傑富瑞 (Jefferies) 的丹尼爾·里佐 (Daniel Rizzo)。

Good morning, everyone. Thank you. Thank you for taking my question. Well the first thing I want to ask you about is tariffs. Obviously, it's a very fluid situation, and I don't expect you have any answer to what's going to happen. But I was wondering what happened last time there were tariffs on Chinese products. If it had any affect to you guys at all? Or not necessarily directly, but also on your customer demand or customer order trends?

大家早安。謝謝。感謝您回答我的問題。嗯，我想問您的第一件事是關於關稅。顯然，這是一個非常不穩定的情況，我不指望你對即將發生的事情有任何答案。但我想知道上次對中國產品徵收關稅時發生了什麼。它是否對你們有任何影響？或不一定直接，也與您的客戶需求或客戶訂單趨勢有關？

Yes. Look, obviously, it's not in our guidance. The -- for the most part, we produce in region for the region. And as I said, about China. So there are, of course, some special situations. In those cases, we pass it on or will pass it on and have passed it on. Of course, it's a commercial negotiation. But out of all the things you could worry about, the tariff is not one that I worry terribly about.

是的。看，顯然，這不在我們的指導範圍內。大多數情況下，我們都在當地為當地生產。正如我剛才所說，關於中國。當然，也存在一些特殊情況。在這些情況下，我們會將其傳遞下去、將會傳承下去或已經傳承下去。當然，這是商業談判。但是，在所有你可能擔心的事情中，關稅並不是我非常擔心的事情。

Okay. And then you had a pretty solid improvement in ROIC over the last couple of years. I was wondering what -- and maybe you mentioned this in October, something that I forgot. But what the goal is if you had to up to, I don't know, 15% or if there is a goal for that metric?

好的。在過去幾年裡，你的投資資本報酬率 (ROIC) 取得了相當大的進展。我在想——也許你在十月提到這件事，但我忘了。但是，如果您必須達到 15%，那麼目標是什麼？

Yes. We're not in the habit of changing long-term targets on the quarterly calls. We have an Investor Day coming up, I think, in September. If we revise it, we would do it then. But clearly, the increased operational performance, the more distant acquisition of CSP and continued discipline in CapEx is helping ROIC, and we'll take a look at that as we get into September and we'll update you then.

是的。我們沒有在季度電話會議上改變長期目標的習慣。我認為，我們的投資者日將在九月舉行。如果我們要修改的話，我們會在那時進行。但顯然，營運績效的提高、對 CSP 的更遠收購以及資本支出的持續約束正在幫助提高投資回報率，我們將在 9 月關注這一點，屆時將向您更新最新情況。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

(Operator Instructions) Matt Larew with William Blair.

（操作員指示）Matt Larew 和 William Blair。

Hi. Good morning. You've talked a little bit about the cough and cold side, and the injectable side of Pharma. I wanted to ask about royalties. Obviously, that's something that you've been mentioning more on the call in the last year or so, and I presume as a driver of some of the margin improvement in '24, was there anything you sort of a lot of time in nature in either the quarter or the year? Or are they all structured as royalties rather than milestones? And then how should we think about the contribution moving forward in '25 and beyond?

你好。早安.您談了一些關於咳嗽和感冒方面以及製藥的注射方面的問題。我想問一下有關版稅的問題。顯然，這是您在過去一年左右的電話會議上多次提到的事情，我認為作為 24 年利潤率提高的部分驅動因素，您在本季度或全年是否投入了大量時間？或者它們都是以版稅而非里程碑的形式建構的？那麼，我們該如何考慮 25 年及以後的貢獻呢？

Sure. Yes. Look, first and foremost, those are recognition of the value we had during the development process of a drug product that can be a decade or longer, sometimes -- sometimes, if we're dealing with these small companies and the bulk at our service fees, then we get something on the back end and what we call out royalties is indeed that there might be some small household payments, but it's fundamentally royalties on finished product sales. They are lumpy. But make a bigger part of our overall revenue base, but still you're talking a few tens of millions for the company.

當然。是的。首先，這些都是對我們在藥品開發過程中的價值的認可，有時，如果我們與這些小公司打交道，並且大部分是服務費，那麼我們會在後端得到一些東西，我們所說的特許權使用費確實可能有一些小的家庭支付，但它基本上是成品銷售的特許權使用費。它們很粗糙。但是，這占我們整體收入基礎的很大一部分，但公司的收入仍然只有幾千萬。

Okay. And then I did want to just follow up on Injectables. Obviously, was up significantly in Q1 '24, so a tough comp and was down the last three quarters. When you see a slow ramp to the year, I guess, we should think about that being maybe down in the first quarter and then growing from there?

好的。然後我確實想跟進注射劑的情況。顯然，24 年第一季的銷售額大幅上漲，因此相較之下，銷售額較弱，但過去三個季度一直處於下滑狀態。當您看到今年的成長緩慢時，我想，我們應該考慮一下，也許在第一季會下降，然後從那裡開始成長？

Yes. We're not guiding by the individual business line, but too far away from the commentary we gave. But having said that, unit volume continued to grow throughout the year. There are some other things in the Injectables that we report like service revenue that is more lumpy.

是的。我們不是按照個別業務線來引導的，而是離我們給的評論相差太遠了。但話雖如此，全年銷售仍在持續成長。我們報告的注射劑中還有一些其他內容，例如服務收入，這些收入波動較大。

Okay. Thanks, Stefan.

好的。謝謝，史蒂芬。

Gabe Hajde with Wells Fargo.

富國銀行的 Gabe Hajde。

Stefan, good morning. Vanessa, welcome. I wanted to focus on the capital allocation side of the business. You talked about wrapping up a couple of big investments as we know, to add capacity in Injectables. And I think it's a good thing, but it still seems you guys are kind of guiding 280, 300 per capital.

史蒂芬，早安。瓦妮莎，歡迎光臨。我想專注於業務的資本配置方面。據我們所知，您談到完成了幾項重大投資，以增加註射劑的產能。我認為這是一件好事，但看起來你們仍然在指導每首都 280 到 300 美元。

You also gave a slide where you're showing a lot of your internal investments are directed at your Pharma segment. So I think all in, we interpret that as a positive signal. But just any color that you can provide in terms of what options that you're seeing for investment internally?

您還在幻燈片中展示了許多內部投資都是針對製藥部門的。所以我認為總的來說，我們將其解讀為一個積極的信號。但是，就您所看到的內部投資選擇而言，您能提供任何具體資訊嗎？

Sure. Gabe, why don't I take that? And Stephan, please add any incremental color. So Gabe, the capital allocation policy, as you know, has been a pretty healthy balance of organic capital which, as you call has been largely geared towards Pharma, not exclusively, but largely so M&A, dividends and share buybacks. And I think as we get into 2025 you'll see a level of continuation of that. And you did call out our CapEx expected investments in 2025. Pharma will once again get a big piece of that.

當然。加布，我為什麼不接受這個？還有史蒂芬，請添加任何增量顏色。所以 Gabe，如你所知，資本配置政策一直是一種相當健康的有機資本平衡，正如你所說，這種有機資本主要面向製藥業（並非專門面向製藥業），但主要是併購、股息和股票回購。我認為，到 2025 年，你會看到這種現象將在某種程度上延續。您確實提到了我們 2025 年的資本支出預期投資。製藥業將再次從中分得巨額利潤。

From an M&A perspective, I'm not foreshadowing anything imminent, but we regularly evaluate potential M&A candidates where we see strong strategic fit and accretion potential. And you've heard Stephan talk about that in the past. And that, again, more geared towards Pharma, but not exclusively so. So I think that will continue in terms of the evaluation process.

從併購的角度來看，我並沒有預示任何即將發生的事情，但我們會定期評估潛在的併購候選人，以尋找強大的策略契合度和增值潛力。您以前也聽過史蒂芬談論過這個話題。而且，這更適合製藥業，但並非完全如此。所以我認為評估過程將會持續下去。

And then from a dividend perspective, we just ended our 31st year as Stephan called in his prepared remarks of increasing dividends. So I would expect that also to continue in 2025. And then lastly, just on the share buyback, you know that the Board approved refreshed $0.5 billion buyback program October, and that is the more discretionary component of our capital allocation. We're already active in the market with the repurchases, and it's a lever that we have, and I would expect that to also continue in 2025. Anything you want to add Stephan?

從股息的角度來看，我們剛剛結束了第 31 個年頭，正如斯蒂芬 (Stephan) 在準備好的發言中所說的那樣，我們將增加股息。因此我預計這種情況在 2025 年還會繼續。最後，關於股票回購，您知道董事會已於 10 月批准了更新的 5 億美元回購計劃，這是我們資本配置中更可自由支配的部分。我們已經在市場上積極進行回購，這是我們擁有的槓桿，我預計這種情況在 2025 年也將繼續下去。史蒂芬，您還有什麼要補充的嗎？

No, perfect.

不，完美。

And any particular products or discrete things that are in that capital that you guys would want to call out?

你們想要指出的是該首都的任何特定產品或獨立事物嗎？

Not really. As we discussed, we built this three respectfully called boxes, the one in France and on the state-of-the-art facility in China and the injectables. Now we're really creeping investments and gradually growing capacity not on those three locations, but everywhere, and I think the single largest investment for us is $5 million in that $300 million -- $280 million to $300 million envelope. So it's a lot of just good organic growth investments, maintenance investments, capacity creep investments across the company.

並不真地。正如我們所討論的，我們建造了這三個尊稱的盒子，一個在法國，一個在中國最先進的設施上，還有註射劑。現在，我們正在逐步增加投資，並逐步提高產能，而且不是在這三個地點，而是在所有地方，我認為我們最大的單筆投資是 3 億美元（2.8 億到 3 億美元）中的 500 萬美元。所以整個公司都有很多好的有機成長投資、維護投資和產能成長投資。

Okay. And then I guess switching gears a little bit. You guys have been pretty active. I think you called out closing, and I apologize if I misheard 10 facilities in Beauty. But just we're current on the other end of what was a multiyear kind of efficiency initiative across the organization. And again, I know you're not always -- you're not done. You're always trying to get better. But as we look forward, do you see anything else that you need to do from a footprint standpoint or cost reduction?

好的。然後我想稍微轉換一下話題。你們一直都非常活躍。我覺得您喊的是關門，如果我聽錯了 Beauty 中有 10 個設施，我深感抱歉。但我們目前正在實施的是一項涵蓋整個組織的多年效率措施的另一端。再說一次，我知道你並不總是--你還沒完成。你總是努力讓自己變得更好。但展望未來，從足跡或降低成本的角度來看，您是否認為還有其他需要做的事情？

Yes. Just to clarify, what we said, Beauty reduced its plant count or its site count by 10. Not that we built, but we reduced by 10. And also, over the last two years, reduced its headcount 11%. And as you rightly said, you're never done. We have some ideas, nothing where is imminent here. And productivity is increasingly coated in our DNA, and I'm very encouraged with the productivity plans. All three businesses have brought to the table for this year, and we're tracking that closely. But beyond that, really nothing to report at the moment.

是的。需要澄清的是，我們說過，Beauty 將其工廠數量或站點數量減少了 10 個。不是我們建造了，而是我們減少了 10 個。而且，在過去兩年中，員工人數減少了 11%。正如您所說的，您永遠沒有完成。我們有一些想法，但還沒有任何具體行動。生產力越來越深植於我們的 DNA 之中，我對生產力計畫感到非常鼓舞。這三家公司今年都已提出了合作意向，我們正在密切關注此事。但除此之外，目前確實沒有什麼好報告的。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. I would now like to conclude the question-and-answer session and hand it back to Mr. Tanda for some closing comments.

謝謝。我現在想結束問答環節，並將會議交還給坦達先生，請他發表一些結束語。

Wonderful. Thank you. So let me end by zooming out, as usual, quarter four was a solid finish to a very strong year 2024 and on top of a very strong year 2023. We delivered back-to-back double-digit earnings per share growth for both years and followed through on our raised margin targets.

精彩的。謝謝。因此，讓我像往常一樣以縮圖結束，第四季度為非常強勁的 2024 年畫上了圓滿的句號，並且延續了非常強勁的 2023 年的基調。我們連續兩年實現了每股收益兩位數的成長，並實現了提高的利潤率目標。

Driving productivity, as I just said, is increasingly firmly coded into the DNA of the company in addition to innovation and sustainability that remains alive and well. Looking at '25, we are excited to continue the journey. Our customer s are taking very much note have of our increased focus on competitiveness and on meeting their needs more rapidly and flexibly with our much upgraded footprint.

正如我剛才所說，除了依然保持活力的創新和永續性之外，提高生產力也越來越牢固地融入了公司的 DNA 中。展望25年，我們很高興能夠繼續前進。我們的客戶非常注意到我們更加重視競爭力，並透過大幅升級的足跡更快、更靈活地滿足他們的需求。

We are back on the front foot. Our project pipelines across the company are in very good shape and the pipelines continue to grow. Having said all that, as we discussed, we're operating against a more challenging macro, especially with foreign exchange and the anticipated higher French corporate income tax rate. It does mean that our tax planning activities are done you always look for ways to abate impacts like that. We had a good start of the year, but faced some spots of tough comparables that we discussed in Fragrance Consumer Healthcare but both of these are fully expected to be transitory.

我們又重新處於領先地位。我們整個公司的專案儲備情況非常好，而且還在持續成長。話雖如此，正如我們所討論的，我們正面臨著更具挑戰性的宏觀環境，尤其是外匯和預期更高的法國企業所得稅稅率。這確實意味著我們的稅務規劃活動已經完成，您總是在尋找減輕此類影響的方法。我們今年有一個良好的開端，但也面臨著一些我們在香水消費者保健品中討論過的棘手的可比問題，但這些都完全預計是暫時的。

A gentle reminder, I know we all focus on the quarter, but several of you were able to look under the hood, so to speak, just a few four months ago, when you visited some of our facilities, we're still the same company that you saw for four months ago.

溫馨提醒，我知道我們都關注本季度，但你們中的一些人能夠深入了解情況，可以說，就在四個月前，當你們參觀我們的一些設施時，我們仍然是你們四個月前看到的那家公司。

And indeed in a slowing economy, we are confident in our future trajectory given the resilience of our product portfolio and the strength of our pipeline. To discuss the balance sheet, we are on track of our 32nd year of paying an annually increasing dividend and our balance sheet affords a lot of strategic flexibility.

確實，在經濟放緩的情況下，鑑於我們產品組合的彈性和我們通路的實力，我們對未來發展充滿信心。討論資產負債表，我們即將迎來第 32 個年頭，每年支付的股息都在增加，而且我們的資產負債表具有很大的戰略靈活性。

Thanks for joining the call, and we look forward to discuss more on the road.

感謝您加入電話會議，我們期待在路上進行更多討論。

Thank you all for joining the Aptar's 2024 fourth quarter and annual results conference call. With that, today's call has now concluded. Thank you for your participation. And you may enjoy the rest of your day.

感謝大家參加Aptar 2024年第四季和年度業績電話會議。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您可以盡情享受這一天的剩餘時光。