Mission Produce Inc (AVO) 2021 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Mission Produce Fiscal Third Quarter 2021 Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please also note, today's event is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference call over to Jeff Sonnek, Investor Relations at ICR. Sir, please go ahead.

下午好，歡迎參加 Mission Produce 2021 年第三季財政電話會議。 （操作員說明）也請注意，今天的活動正在錄製中。現在，我想將電話會議轉給 ICR 投資者關係部門的 Jeff Sonnek。先生，請繼續。

Thank you. Today's presentation will be hosted by Steve Barnard, Chief Executive Officer; and Bryan Giles, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝。今天的演講將由首席執行官 Steve Barnard 主持；和財務長 Bryan Giles。

The comments during today's call and the accompanying presentation contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts are considered forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Some of the risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in the company's filings with the SEC.

今天電話會議中的評論和隨附的演示文稿包含 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》安全港條款含義內的前瞻性陳述。除歷史事實陳述外的所有陳述均被視為前瞻性陳述。這些陳述是基於管理層目前的預期和信念以及有關未來事件的一些假設。此類前瞻性陳述受到已知和未知的風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中討論的結果有重大差異。該公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中確定並討論了一些風險和不確定性。

We'll also refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures today. Please refer to the tables included in the earnings release, which can be found on our Investor Relations website, investors.missionproduce.com, for reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures.

今天我們也將提及某些非公認會計準則財務指標。請參閱收益報告中包含的表格，這些表格可以在我們的投資者關係網站 Investors.mission Produce.com 上找到，以了解非 GAAP 財務指標與其最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標的對帳情況。

I would now like to turn the call over to Steve Barnard, CEO.

我現在想將電話轉給執行長史蒂夫·巴納德 (Steve Barnard)。

Thank you for joining us for our fiscal 2021 third quarter earnings call. We are pleased with our fiscal third quarter performance amid intense industry volatility that was brought about by Mexico's delayed timing on the transitional harvest of the new crop. Our team did an excellent job navigating this complex period and produced per unit margins within the range of our expectations, though, toward the lower end as a result of the Mexican pricing volatility. Mission's global sourcing and distribution network, along with our own production in Peru, proved to be a significant advantage to us during the quarter, with nearly 45% of our third quarter U.S. distributed volume being sourced outside of Mexico, which we believe is significantly greater than that of the industry.

感謝您參加我們的 2021 財年第三季財報電話會議。由於墨西哥新作物過渡收穫時間推遲，導致行業劇烈波動，我們對第三財季的業績感到滿意。我們的團隊在這個複雜的時期表現出色，單位利潤率在我們的預期範圍內，但由於墨西哥價格波動而趨於低端。事實證明，Mission 的全球採購和分銷網絡以及我們在秘魯的生產在本季度為我們帶來了顯著優勢，第三季度美國分銷量的近45% 是從墨西哥境外採購的，我們認為這一數字大得多比同行業。

Our vertical integration was the key in our ability to significantly mitigate the influences in Mexico's unpredictability, while also positioning us to drive an 18% increase in our distributed volume to our export markets versus the prior year. Our ability to stay nimble and manage disruptions such as the unpredictable Mexican harvest cadence in the third quarter, really demonstrates the value of our cohesive, vertically integrated sourcing and distribution network. Moreover, the disruption allowed us the opportunity to demonstrate the value we provide to our customers worldwide with the consistency and quality of our Peruvian program. The consistency that we bring is critical in furthering our customer relationships, and we are taking full advantage of the situation to remind potential customers of the value that we can bring to their operations to a vertically integrated avocado program.

我們的垂直整​​合是我們能夠大幅減輕墨西哥不可預測性影響的關鍵，同時也使我們能夠推動出口市場的分銷量比上一年增加 18%。我們保持靈活性和管理幹擾的能力，例如第三季度不可預測的墨西哥收穫節奏，真正展示了我們有凝聚力的垂直整合採購和分銷網絡的價值。此外，這次中斷使我們有機會展示我們透過秘魯專案的一致性和品質為全球客戶提供的價值。我們帶來的一致性對於促進我們的客戶關係至關重要，我們正在充分利用這種情況來提醒潛在客戶，我們可以透過垂直整合的酪梨計劃為其營運帶來價值。

We continue to look ahead toward the future, both domestically and abroad, to ensure that we are prepared to meet the growing global demand that's been driven by powerful consumption trends. And as we've shared, our latest facility in Laredo, Texas, is a key element in our design to expand our industry leadership position. We've been carefully preparing for the coming seasonal ramp-up in Mexican production that will shift into full swing later this fall and carry through next spring. In advance of this, we've made a significant commitment to the Laredo community, both in terms of the trade and that we will drive through the region as well as building our team.

我們繼續展望未來，無論是國內還是國外，以確保我們做好準備，滿足強勁消費趨勢推動下不斷增長的全球需求。正如我們所分享的，我們位於德克薩斯州拉雷多的最新工廠是我們擴大行業領導地位的設計中的關鍵要素。我們一直在為即將到來的墨西哥產量季節性增加做好準備，該產量將在今年秋天晚些時候全面展開，並持續到明年春天。在此之前，我們已經向拉雷多社區做出了重大承諾，無論是在貿易方面，還是我們將穿越該地區以及建立我們的團隊。

We've hired and trained approximately 70 employees so far to help us support our growing share of the nearly $1 billion avocado import business that crosses through the Port of Laredo annually. Although in the near term, we are carrying these incremental infrastructure costs as we improve our utilization rates, the long-term strategic advantages are very clear to us. This facility will enable us to better serve our customer needs throughout North America, while alleviating seasonal pressure in our other facilities, effectively rebalancing our network while adding new capabilities and capacity.

到目前為止，我們已經僱用並培訓了大約 70 名員工，以幫助我們支持每年通過拉雷多港的近 10 億美元的酪梨進口業務中不斷增長的份額。儘管在短期內，隨著利用率的提高，我們將承擔這些增量基礎設施成本，但長期策略優勢對我們來說非常明顯。該設施將使我們能夠更好地滿足整個北美地區的客戶需求，同時減輕我們其他設施的季節性壓力，有效地重新平衡我們的網絡，同時增加新的能力和容量。

In summary, Mission is in an ideal position. While the third quarter presented some challenges in terms of the pricing volatility, it showcased our diversified network. This network includes vertical integration, global logistics capabilities, and an expansive distribution network and our industry-leading team. We were able to navigate the dynamic environment, drive volumes, meet customer needs and still maintain a healthy margin profile. The growing season is very productive, and we continue to expect solid yields from our own production, which remains on track to produce the planned 95 million to 105 million pounds of fruit that we've guided. This puts us in a great position as we make preparations for fiscal 2022.

綜上所述，Mission 處於理想位置。雖然第三季在定價波動方面帶來了一些挑戰，但它展示了我們的多元化網絡。該網絡包括垂直整合、全球物流能力、廣泛的分銷網絡和我們行業領先的團隊。我們能夠應對動態環境、推動銷售、滿足客戶需求並且仍保持健康的利潤狀況。生長季節非常多產，我們繼續期望我們自己的生產能夠獲得穩定的產量，我們仍有望生產我們指導的計劃的 9500 萬至 1.05 億磅水果。這使我們在為 2022 財年做準備時處於有利地位。

With that, I'll pass the call over to our CFO, Bryan Giles, for his financial commentary.

接下來，我會將電話轉給我們的財務長 Bryan Giles，聽取他的財務評論。

Thank you, Steve, and good afternoon to everyone on the call. I'll start with a brief review of our fiscal third quarter 2021 performance ended July 31, 2021, and touch on some of the drivers within our 2 operating segments. Then I'll provide a snapshot of our strong financial position and conclude with some thoughts around our outlook for the balance of the fiscal year.

謝謝你，史蒂夫，祝所有參加電話會議的人下午好。首先，我將簡要回顧截至 2021 年 7 月 31 日的 2021 年第三財季業績，並談談我們兩個營運部門的一些驅動因素。然後，我將簡要介紹我們強勁的財務狀況，並以我們對本財年餘額展望的一些想法作為結束語。

Total third quarter revenue increased 4% to $246.8 million from $236.4 million in the prior year period. The increase in revenue was driven by a 2% increase in volume and a 2% increase in price. I'll touch on the price volume dynamics in a moment, but I would like to reiterate that our business is managed to volume targets, as we leverage our global presence to drive share fresh avocados to our retail and food service customers. While prices fluctuate given the influences of global supply and demand, pricing is not something Mission can control or forecast with any degree of certainty.

第三季總營收成長 4%，從去年同期的 2.364 億美元增至 2.468 億美元。收入成長是由銷量成長 2% 和價格成長 2% 推動的。我稍後會談到價格數量動態，但我想重申，我們的業務已達到數量目標，因為我們利用我們的全球業務向我們的零售和食品服務客戶分享新鮮酪梨。雖然價格會因全球供需的影響而波動，但 Mission 無法控製或預測定價。

In the third quarter, the industry experienced excessive volatility in spot pricing as a result of a sporadic harvest cadence in Mexico, with the regular starts and stops, which exacerbated the usual market dynamics that dictate pricing. As we've noted previously, our leadership position as a global value-added marketer and distributor of fresh avocados tends to insulate our gross profits, as these sought-after value-added services such as ripening, bagging and distribution are largely unaffected by price changes. However, excessive pricing volatility can be problematic as we balance the inventory we are buying in the spot market against global customer commitments. As a result, we realized some temporary compression in our per unit margins, but I'd note that we were still able to achieve levels that were near the bottom end of our targeted range, whereas we were above the targeted range in the prior year period.

第三季度，由於墨西哥收穫節奏不規律，定期開始和停止，該行業的現貨價格出現了過度波動，這加劇了決定定價的通常市場動態。正如我們之前指出的，我們作為新鮮牛油果的全球增值營銷商和分銷商的領導地位往往會影響我們的毛利，因為這些廣受歡迎的增值服務（例如催熟、裝袋和分銷）基本上不受價格的影響變化。然而，當我們平衡現貨市場購買的庫存與全球客戶的承諾時，過度的價格波動可能會產生問題。結果，我們意識到單位利潤率暫時受到壓縮，但我要指出的是，我們仍然能夠達到接近目標範圍下限的水平，而我們去年的目標範圍以上時期。

Third quarter gross profit decreased 7% compared to the same period last year, driving a gross profit margin decline of 210 basis points to 16.6% of revenue. Beyond the impact of lower per-box margins, gross profit was also pressured by incremental infrastructure costs within our Marketing and Distribution segment related to our new Laredo facility which, as Steve mentioned, is still in the process of ramping up utilization. We estimate this impact to be approximately 50 basis points of headwind to fiscal third quarter gross margin. The negative impacts were partially offset by higher volume of avocados sold from our company-owned farms within our International Farming segment compared to prior year. These sales generate higher gross margin than the sale from third-party growers due to our lower per unit cost basis.

第三季毛利較去年同期下降7%，帶動毛利率下降210個基點至營收的16.6%。除了每箱利潤較低的影響之外，毛利還受到與我們的新拉雷多工廠相關的營銷和分銷部門基礎設施成本增量的壓力，正如史蒂夫所提到的那樣，該工廠仍在提高利用率的過程中。我們估計，這一影響將使第三財季毛利率下降約 50 個基點。與去年相比，我們國際農業部門自有農場的酪梨銷售增加，部分抵消了負面影響。由於我們的單位成本基礎較低，這些銷售產生的毛利率高於第三方種植者的銷售。

SG&A for the third quarter increased $3.7 million to $17.2 million due primarily to higher professional fees and higher liability insurance premiums now required as a public company. We estimate that $1.8 million of the cost growth experienced in the fiscal third quarter is attributed to external costs associated with our public company status. The higher professional fees were amplified by the anticipated change in our SEC filer status from an emerging growth company to a large accelerated filer as of October 31, 2021, which has an impact on audit and other related costs.

第三季的SG&A 增加了370 萬美元，達到1,720 萬美元，主要是因為作為上市公司現在需要更高的專業費用和責任保險費。我們估計，第三財季的成本成長中有 180 萬美元歸因於與我們的上市公司地位相關的外部成本。預計自 2021 年 10 月 31 日起，我們的 SEC 申報人身分將從新興成長型公司轉變為大型加速申報人，從而放大了較高的專業費用，這對審計和其他相關成本產生了影響。

Net income for the third quarter of 2021 was $18.4 million or $0.26 per diluted share compared to $23.4 million or $0.37 per diluted share for the same period last year. Adjusted net income was $19.1 million or $0.27 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2021 compared to $24.4 million or $0.39 per diluted share for the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA decreased $6.5 million or 18% to $30.1 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2021 compared to $36.6 million for the same period last year.

2021 年第三季淨利為 1,840 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.26 美元，去年同期淨利為 2,340 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.37 美元。 2021 年第三季調整後淨利為 1,910 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.27 美元，去年同期為 2,440 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.39 美元。 2021 財年第三季調整後 EBITDA 下降 650 萬美元，或 18%，至 3,010 萬美元，去年同期為 3,660 萬美元。

In terms of our segment drivers, our Marketing and Distribution segment net sales increased 4% to $239.6 million for the quarter. The drivers for the Marketing and Distribution segment are similar to those that I described for the consolidated results, with slight increases in both volume and price year-over-year. This is due to the fact that virtually all of our third-party revenue is generated within this segment. Segment adjusted EBITDA decreased 38% to $13.1 million due to the lower per unit contribution margins, the added infrastructure surrounding Laredo and higher corporate expenses associated with being a public company, that I mentioned above.

就我們的部門驅動因素而言，我們的行銷和分銷部門本季淨銷售額成長了 4%，達到 2.396 億美元。行銷和分銷部門的驅動因素與我在綜合業績中描述的驅動因素類似，銷量和價格同比均略有增長。這是因為我們幾乎所有的第三方收入都是在這個細分市場中產生的。部門調整後 EBITDA 下降 38% 至 1,310 萬美元，原因是單位貢獻利潤率較低、拉雷多周邊基礎設施增加以及我上面提到的與上市公司相關的較高企業費用。

Our International Farming segment primarily represents our own farms that we manage in Peru. Naturally, the dynamics of this business are quite different from those in our Marketing and Distribution segment. While we are more exposed to price in this segment compared to Marketing and Distribution, this is a highly strategic initiative for Mission and its value to our enterprise was very apparent in the third quarter, as we worked to mitigate the impacts of the Mexican volatility and a smaller California crop. Our growing base of global customers requires year-round supply and today's key growing regions can't keep up with international demand. As a result, we made a commitment close to a decade ago to establish a presence where we control our own supply that we are able to sell to our customers through our Marketing and Distribution segment operations.

我們的國際農業部門主要代表我們在秘魯管理的自己的農場。當然，該業務的動態與我們的行銷和分銷部門的動態有很大不同。雖然與行銷和分銷相比，我們在這一領域更容易受到價格的影響，但這對Mission 來說是一項高度策略性的舉措，它對我們企業的價值在第三季度非常明顯，因為我們努力減輕墨西哥波動的影響和加州的產量較小。我們不斷成長的全球客戶群需要全年供應，而當今主要的種植地區無法滿足國際需求。因此，我們在大約十年前做出了承諾，要建立一個由我們控制自己的供應的存在，我們能夠透過我們的行銷和分銷部門營運向客戶銷售這些供應。

As we look forward, in the short run, growth within our International Farming segment will be dictated by yield improvement within our maturing orchards. We expect longer-term growth to be supported by additional producing acreage that will come online and subsequently mature. As a reminder, the avocado harvest season for Peruvian farms typically runs from April through August of each year. And as a result, you see the International Farming segment emerge in third and fourth quarters and contribute adjusted EBITDA in a significant fashion. For the third quarter, International Farming segment sales increased 22% to $66.1 million, driven by higher fruit volumes resulting from improved harvest yields at our maturing orchards.

展望未來，短期內，我們國際農業部門的成長將取決於成熟果園產量的增加。我們預計長期成長將得到更多生產面積的支持，這些面積將上線並隨後成熟。提醒一下，秘魯農場的酪梨收穫季節通常是每年四月到八月。因此，您會看到國際農業部門在第三和第四季度出現，並以顯著的方式貢獻調整後的 EBITDA。第三季度，國際農業部門的銷售額成長了 22%，達到 6,610 萬美元，這是由於成熟果園的收成產量提高而導致水果產量增加。

Segment adjusted EBITDA improved by $1.4 million to $17 million, primarily due to the revenue drivers noted above, partially offset by higher costs associated with strategic initiatives in farming maintenance and operations that are intended to drive yield enhancements.

部門調整後的 EBITDA 提高了 140 萬美元，達到 1700 萬美元，這主要是由於上述收入驅動因素，但部分被旨在提高產量的農業維護和運營戰略舉措相關的較高成本所抵消。

Shifting to our financial position. Cash and cash equivalents were $70.9 million as of July 31, 2021, compared to $124 million as of our prior fiscal year end on October 31, 2020. Our operating cash flows are seasonal in nature and can be temporarily influenced by working capital shifts resulting from varying payment terms to growers in different source regions. In addition, we are building our growing crop inventory in the International Farming segment during the first half of the year for ultimate harvest and sale that will occur during the second half of the fiscal year. While these increases in working capital can cause operating cash flows to be unfavorable in individual quarters, it is not indicative of operating cash performance that we expect to realize for the full year.

轉向我們的財務狀況。截至 2021 年 7 月 31 日，現金和現金等價物為 7,090 萬美元，而截至 2020 年 10 月 31 日的上一財年結束時，現金和現金等價物為 1.24 億美元。向不同來源地區的種植者提供不同的付款條件。此外，我們正在今年上半年在國際農業部門建立不斷增長的農作物庫存，以便在本財年下半年實現最終收穫和銷售。雖然營運資本的增加可能會導致個別季度的經營現金流量不利，但這並不代表我們預期全年將實現的營運現金績效。

Net cash provided by operating activities was $15.2 million for the 9 months ended July 31, 2021, compared to $32.9 million in the same period last year. The $17.7 million change was primarily driven by unfavorable net change in working capital and concentrated within inventory. Changes in inventory were driven by a combination of a buildup of growing crop inventory in Peru as well as higher per unit cost of Mexican fruit on hand compared to prior year. The growing crop increases were due primarily to higher per acre farming cost to drive higher production yields. Additionally, contributing to the buildup of crop inventory were timing differences, with a lower percentage of the estimated seasonal crop that was harvested and sold through fiscal third quarter relative to the prior year.

截至 2021 年 7 月 31 日的 9 個月，經營活動提供的淨現金為 1,520 萬美元，而去年同期為 3,290 萬美元。 1,770 萬美元的變化主要是由於營運資本的不利淨變化造成的，並且集中在庫存方面。庫存變動是由於秘魯農作物庫存增加以及墨西哥現有水果單位成本較上年上漲所致。作物產量增加主要是由於每英畝耕作成本較高，以提高產量。此外，造成作物庫存增加的原因是時間差異，與前一年相比，第三財季收穫和銷售的季節性作物的估計百分比較低。

As we move through the remainder of the Peruvian season in the fiscal fourth quarter, we expect to see a continued reduction in working capital, which will aid in our ability to drive higher cash from operations.

隨著第四財季秘魯產季的剩餘時間的推移，我們預計營運資金將持續減少，這將有助於我們從營運中獲得更多現金的能力。

Capital expenditures were $61.3 million for the 9 months ended July 31, 2021, compared to $40.4 million for the same period last year. Capital expenditures for fiscal 2021 have been concentrated in land improvements and orchard development in our Peru and Guatemala farming operations and on completing construction of our distribution facility in Laredo, Texas.

截至2021年7月31日的9個月，資本支出為6,130萬美元，去年同期為4,040萬美元。 2021 財政年度的資本支出主要用於秘魯和瓜地馬拉農場的土地改良和果園開發，以及完成德州拉雷多配送設施的建設。

With that, I'll shift to our outlook, which we are updating to reflect the lower-than-anticipated third quarter results and latest pricing and margin view for our fourth quarter. Full year fiscal 2021 net sales are now expected in the range of $890 million to $910 million, which is a revision of $10 million compared to prior guidance. This assumes total annual volume in the range of 655 million pounds to 665 million pounds, which is lower than our prior guidance by approximately 15 million pounds, partially due to a smaller size curve on Mexican fruit. Expectations for avocado production from our own farms remains unchanged in the range of 95 million pounds to 105 million pounds.

接下來，我將轉向我們的展望，我們正在更新該展望，以反映低於預期的第三季度業績以及第四季度的最新定價和利潤率觀點。目前預計 2021 財年全年淨銷售額在 8.9 億美元至 9.1 億美元之間，與先前的指導相比修正了 1,000 萬美元。假設年總產量在 6.55 億磅至 6.65 億磅之間，比我們之前的指導值低約 1500 萬磅，部分原因是墨西哥水果的尺寸曲線較小。我們自有農場的酪梨產量預期維持在 9,500 萬磅至 1.05 億磅之間。

Full year fiscal 2021 adjusted EBITDA is expected in the range of $88 million to $94 million, but may be influenced by future pricing and margin dynamics. The reduction in adjusted EBITDA from prior guidance is due primarily to the shortfalls we experienced in Q3, combined with continued pressure on per unit gross margins that are extending into the early part of the fiscal fourth quarter, due to challenging supply conditions in Mexico.

2021 財年全年調整後 EBITDA 預計在 8,800 萬美元至 9,400 萬美元之間，但可能會受到未來定價和利潤動態的影響。調整後 EBITDA 較之前指引有所減少，主要是由於我們在第三季度經歷了短缺，再加上墨西哥供應狀況嚴峻，單位毛利率面臨持續壓力，這種壓力一直延續到第四財季初期。

That concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, now over to you. Please open the call to Q&A.

我們準備好的演講到此結束。接線員，現在交給你了。請打開問答電話。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is from Bryan Spillane of Bank of America.

（操作員指示）我們的第一個問題來自美國銀行的 Bryan Spillane。

So just a couple of questions, I guess, related to first, on the Mexican crop and supply. I guess, by the comments, it sort of sounded like it's still a pressure early in the quarter, but I guess, by saying early in the quarter, do you expect that, that should begin to alleviate as you exit the fourth quarter? So just trying to get an understanding of timing wise, is the worst of this past year or would you expect the supply constraints to continue all the way through and as you're exiting 4Q?

我想，有幾個問題與第一個問題有關，即墨西哥的作物和供應。我想，從評論來看，這聽起來像是本季度初仍然是一個壓力，但我想，通過在本季度初說，您是否預計，隨著您退出第四季度，這種壓力應該開始緩解？因此，只是想了解時機，這是去年最糟糕的一年，還是您預計供應限制將持續到第四季結束？

Well, I think, Bryan, if we look at history, it goes in cycles, and they tend to alternate every other year. So looking back and estimating the future, I would say you're right. It's due to change just because we're coming into a new flower and they tend to alternate. And -- if it stays the way it is today, it's going to be a tough road, but it never does.

嗯，我認為，布萊恩，如果我們回顧歷史，就會發現它是循環的，而且它們往往每隔一年交替一次。因此，回顧過去並估計未來，我會說你是對的。這是由於變化，只是因為我們正在開出一朵新花，而且它們往往會交替。而且——如果它保持今天的樣子，這將是一條艱難的道路，但它永遠不會如此。

Yes, Bryan. I'll elaborate on that a little bit. Yes, we're still sowing through kind of the off-bloom crop at this point. We believe that we'll start harvesting the regular bloom within the next week or two. So we're kind of right at that transition point. Typically, there tends to be a lot of volume that comes into the market at that point in time, and we're expecting that, that will be the case again this year. And that at that point, the supply dynamics will ease up a bit.

是的，布萊恩。我將對此進行詳細說明。是的，目前我們仍在播種未開花的作物。我們相信我們將在接下來的一兩週內開始收穫正常的花朵。所以我們正處於這個轉變點。通常情況下，在那個時間點往往會有大量的交易量進入市場，我們預期今年也會出現這種情況。到那時，供應動態將會有所緩解。

So certainly, we got off -- I think some of the challenges we saw at the end of Q2 -- or I'm sorry, Q3 continued through August, but we do expect improvement as we move through the latter half of the quarter.

所以當然，我們擺脫了- 我認為我們在第二季度末看到了一些挑戰- 或者我很抱歉，第三季度持續到八月份，但我們確實預計隨著本季度後半段的進展，情況會有所改善。

Okay. That's helpful. And then the second is just in terms of cost pressures. So beyond supply, just thinking about things like freight costs, availability of shipping containers, port congestion, just the moving of stuff for lack of a better way to put it, which has really been a challenge for a lot of companies or most companies. Can you just give us a little bit more color on just the dynamic there? And again, same idea, is it kind of fully baked into the base? Is it getting worse? Just trying to getting an understanding of that as well.

好的。這很有幫助。第二個就是成本壓力。因此，除了供應之外，僅考慮諸如貨運成本、貨櫃可用性、港口擁堵等問題，以及由於缺乏更好的方式來運輸貨物等問題，這對許多公司或大多數公司來說確實是一個挑戰。您能給我們更多關於那裡的動態的資訊嗎？再說一遍，同樣的想法，它是否完全融入了底座？情況變得更糟了嗎？只是想了解這一點。

Well, let's just take 1 at a time. The freight deal is still an issue. Like you read all these journals and a lot of these containers are stuck in China or somewhere in Asia, trying to get out of there. Fortunately, starting Mexico, we have a lot less freight compared to, say, out of Peru, which is pretty much mostly freight or ocean freight. So that will ease up the pressure on us a little bit. I don't think it's going to change the shipping side of it, but that will help here, because most of it'll be by truck into the U.S. or Canada through our Laredo facility, which should help, too. So that side of it. But yes, you're going to see inflation on everything from materials to labor. I mean, this labor thing, not necessarily in Mexico, but here, and I just read today in Chile, they've got the same problem due to the fact they're getting paid to stay home and no one wants to work. So we've got to get over that and get back to work as a country, not just us.

好吧，我們一次只取 1 個。貨運交易仍然是一個問題。就像你讀過所有這些期刊一樣，很多貨櫃被困在中國或亞洲的某個地方，試圖離開那裡。幸運的是，從墨西哥開始，與秘魯以外的地區相比，我們的貨運量要少得多，而秘魯的貨運量幾乎主要是貨運或海運。這樣我們的壓力就會減輕一些。我不認為這會改變運輸方面，但這會有所幫助，因為大部分貨物將通過我們的拉雷多工廠通過卡車運往美國或加拿大，這也應該有所幫助。所以那一邊。但是，是的，你會看到從材料到勞動力的一切事物的通貨膨脹。我的意思是，這個勞工問題，不一定是在墨西哥，但在這裡，我今天剛在智利讀到，他們也遇到了同樣的問題，因為他們拿著工資留在家裡，沒有人願意工作。所以我們必須克服這個問題，作為一個國家，而不僅僅是我們，重新開始工作。

Yes. I'll elaborate even a little further on those overhead costs. I think certainly, the largest component of our cost of goods sold, Bryan, is the purchase of third-party fruit. I think we kind of understand the dynamics that are at play there, aren't really inflationary in nature. They're more of a supply-demand issue. The second largest item is our transportation cost. And I think to Steve's point, we came through the preseason with a heavy slant towards ocean cargo. I think we negotiated terms early on. And with our scale that we have, they were actually fairly favorable this year. So I don't -- we didn't really experience big increases in ocean cargo cost year-over-year.

是的。我將進一步詳細說明這些管理費用。布萊恩，我認為當然，我們銷售商品成本的最大組成部分是購買第三方水果。我認為我們有點了解那裡正在發揮作用的動態，本質上並不是真正的通貨膨脹。它們更多的是一個供需問題。第二大項目是我們的運輸成本。我認為就史蒂夫的觀點而言，我們在季前賽中嚴重偏向海運。我想我們很早就談了條款。就我們的規模而言，今年他們實際上相當有利。所以我不認為──我們並沒有真正經歷海運成本較去年同期大幅成長。

And just with our volume itself ramping up as well, it gave us more leverage with the carriers. I think on the land transport, which, to Steve's point, is significant when we transition to the Mexico season, we're operating at a level this year that is quite a bit higher than a year ago at this time, but it seems to be pretty stable right now. We have not seen big increases over the last 2 to 3 months. So I -- certainly, I can't predict what's going to happen next, but it feels as if that market has stabilized a bit. If you go behind that, labor would be the next one. And certainly, with the majority of our labor located in Mexico and in Peru, we don't have the same dynamics at play, maybe to the same extent that somebody who's operating in the U.S. does.

隨著我們的銷售本身也在增加，它給了我們與營運商更多的影響力。我認為在陸路運輸方面，在史蒂夫看來，當我們過渡到墨西哥季節時，這一點非常重要，我們今年的運作水平比一年前高了很多，但似乎現在相當穩定。過去 2 至 3 個月我們沒有看到大幅成長。所以我——當然，我無法預測接下來會發生什麼，但感覺市場已經穩定了一些。如果你落後於此，那麼下一個就是勞動力。當然，由於我們的大部分勞動力位於墨西哥和秘魯，我們沒有同樣的動態，也許與在美國工作的人的動態程度相同。

But that being said, there has been changes in the laws down in Peru that have increased wages that we've dealt with over the course of this year, and we've kind of managed that. That's kind of part of some of the higher costs that we've experienced in our farming operations. But I don't think we -- we haven't really had an issue yet where it's impacted our ability to deliver product to our customers.

但話雖這麼說，秘魯的法律發生了變化，提高了我們今年處理的工資，我們已經做到了這一點。這是我們在農業經營中經歷的一些較高成本的一部分。但我認為我們還沒有真正遇到過影響我們向客戶提供產品的能力的問題。

Our next question is from Tom Palmer of JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的湯姆·帕爾默。

I wanted to ask just first on the realized pricing side. It seems like you exited last quarter and the update you gave for May was that pricing had really strengthened. It seems like for the quarter, a little bit more stagnant relative to last quarter despite calling out some supply constraints that I thought would have showed better flow-through plus the cost environment that you're facing. So just kind of wondering what limited that pricing, and as we look at the fourth quarter, how you're thinking about that?

我想先問一下實際定價方面的問題。看起來您上個季度退出了，而您在五月提供的更新是定價確實有所加強。儘管提出了一些供應限制，但我認為這些限制會顯示出更好的流通量以及您面臨的成本環境，但本季似乎相對於上個季度更加停滯。因此，我想知道是什麼限制了定價，當我們回顧第四季度時，您對此有何看法？

Well, again, it goes up back to the supply. I think we have to keep in mind, too, at the same time, consumption continues to grow in this category globally, not just here in the U.S., but everywhere. High single digits to low double digits I know both here and in the European Union. So on top of that, these avocados are alternate bearing. And in Mexico, there's 3 or 4 different flowers you deal with. And they tend to sometimes overlap when you have an abundance and then sometimes they're delayed like the situation we're in right now. So I guess the -- what I like to tell people around here when you have this thing figured out then you're in real trouble, because you don't.

好吧，這又回到了供應量的問題。我認為我們也必須記住，同時，全球這個類別的消費持續成長，不僅在美國，而是在世界各地。我在這裡和歐盟都知道高個位數到低兩位數。所以最重要的是，這些酪梨是交替生育的。在墨西哥，您要處理 3 到 4 種不同的花。當你有豐富的資源時，它們有時會重疊，有時又會像我們現在所處的情況一樣被延遲。所以我想，我想告訴這裡的人們，當你弄清楚這件事時，你就遇到了真正的麻煩，因為你沒有。

So you just -- you plan the game with your head up, be vertically integrated like we are around the world where we have other options other than just 1 source such as Mexico or California and it tends to mitigate the situation. We're not quite where we want to be yet on the supply side of it, timing-wise, but we've got, as we know, operations in Guatemala, Colombia. South Africa is coming. So we're working hard to mitigate that issue and take the risk out of it.

所以你只要——你抬頭規劃遊戲，像我們在世界各地一樣進行垂直整合，除了墨西哥或加州等單一來源之外，我們還有其他選擇，這往往會緩解這種情況。從時間上看，我們在供應方面還沒有達到我們想要的目標，但據我們所知，我們在危地馬拉和哥倫比亞都有業務。南非來了。因此，我們正在努力緩解這個問題並消除風險。

Tom, I'll kind of give a few more details on the numbers as well. When we ran in Q2, our average per pound price for the quarter was $1.42. I think that was a period where we were building up to where we kind of peaked in pricing at the end of the quarter, which led to that $1.42 average, coming off -- having an average of $1.04 during the first quarter of the year. What we saw leading into Q3 is for the first month, we maintained pricing during the month of May at fairly close to those levels. And then we saw it come off a bit during June and July to where we ran at an average of $1.43 again for the quarter as a whole. I think that the size curve that came out of Mexico does come into play here. When we're getting a lot of smaller fruit out of the field, it does tend to sell for a lower per pound price than larger fruit does.

湯姆，我也會提供一些更多關於數字的細節。當我們在第二季度運行時，該季度的平均每磅價格為 1.42 美元。我認為，在這個時期，我們的定價在季度末達到了峰值，導致平均價格為 1.42 美元，而今年第一季的平均價格為 1.04 美元。我們看到進入第三季的第一個月，我們將五月的定價維持在相當接近的水平。然後我們看到它在 6 月和 7 月期間有所下降，整個季度的平均價格再次達到 1.43 美元。我認為來自墨西哥的尺寸曲線確實在這裡發揮了作用。當我們從田間採摘大量較小的水果時，它的每磅價格往往會低於較大的水果。

And we did see kind of -- that kind of shift in the mix towards smaller fruit during the quarter. So that does kind of put a cap on where pricing can go. As we look to Q4, I think the way we've modeled internally, I think we're seeing pricing for the quarter as a whole remaining relatively stable with where we ran in Q3, probably somewhere around $1.40 to $1.42 a pound. I would say that we came in to August with pricing a little bit higher than what we were running in, as we came out of July. It feels like we're going to peak in September. And then the expectation is that when the new crop comes on board and has a meaningful impact in October, that prices will start to come back off again.

我們確實看到了本季產品組合向較小水果的轉變。因此，這確實限制了定價的範圍。當我們展望第四季度時，我認為按照我們內部建模的方式，我們看到整個季度的定價與第三季的價格保持相對穩定，可能在每磅 1.40 美元至 1.42 美元左右。我想說的是，我們進入八月時的定價比我們七月出來時的價格要高一些。感覺我們將在九月達到頂峰。然後預計，當新作物上市並在 10 月產生重大影響時，價格將開始再次回落。

Great. And to follow up, I guess, on the Peru harvest. Just any split on how we should think about volumes in the third quarter relative to the fourth quarter?

偉大的。我猜是為了跟進秘魯的收成。我們該如何看待第三季相對於第四季的銷售是否存在分歧？

I think what we can say is we're still holding to the number that we're projecting for the year as a whole. We are expecting a heavier portion of the fruit in the fourth quarter this year. On a percentage basis, heavier than what we've seen in prior periods. So yes, I think that somewhere in the neighborhood of 60% plus of the fruit will be sold through during Q4 this year.

我認為我們可以說的是，我們仍然堅持全年預計的數字。我們預計今年第四季的水果產量將會增加。以百分比計算，比我們之前看到的要重。所以，是的，我認為 60% 以上的水果將在今年第四季售出。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question is from Ben Bienvenu of Stephens.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Stephens 的 Ben Bienvenu。

I want to follow up on the comments that you provided on the Laredo facility. I think you said it was about a 50 basis point headwind to margins in the quarter. Can you talk about the duration of that headwind, the ramp to maturity? And should we be thinking of that as a net positive to margins in the next fiscal year? Or is it going to take longer than that? Just give us some sense, if you can, of the ramp of that facility.

我想跟進您對拉雷多設施提供的評論。我想你說過本季的利潤率大約有 50 個基點的逆風。您能談談逆風的持續時間以及成熟的過程嗎？我們是否應該將其視為對下一財年利潤率的淨正面影響？還是需要比這更長的時間？如果可以的話，請讓我們了解該設施的坡道。

Well, I'll have Bryan give you the numbers, but again, it's all volume based. We aren't anywhere close to the volume that we will see in, say, January going through Laredo, and it will continue to start going up, probably in the next couple of weeks and peak in January and then pretty much maintain until it starts slowing down in late spring. So that whole thing is based off of volume. And with these prices, you can tell the volume isn't there today, but it's out there. It's just delayed in harvester. It's a different flower this year, so to speak.

好吧，我會讓布萊恩給你數字，但同樣，這都是基於數量的。我們距離拉雷多一月份看到的成交量還差得很遠，而且成交量可能會在接下來的幾週內繼續上升，並在一月份達到峰值，然後幾乎保持不變，直到開始。春末放緩。所以整件事情都是基於數量的。從這些價格來看，你可以看出今天的成交量並不存在，但它確實存在。只是收割機延遲了。可以說，今年是一種不同的花。

Yes, Ben, I think as we went through Q3, we know that Q3 tends to be our low point for importing fruit from Mexico. But even when Mexico is at its low point, it still makes up more than 50% of the crop -- of the product that we sell into the U.S. And for most other marketers that's more than that. So we knew that volumes running through Laredo would be lower in Q3, but we also knew that, that would give us a chance to kind of work out any operational kinks that were required when things weren't quite as stressful. I think as we build -- move into times of the year where volume is higher, those facilities, it absolutely will have less of an impact on margin.

是的，本，我認為當我們經歷第三季度時，我們知道第三季度往往是我們從墨西哥進口水果的低點。但即使墨西哥處於低點，它的產量仍然占我們銷往美國的產品的 50% 以上，而對大多數其他行銷人員來說，這個數字還不止於此。因此，我們知道第三季度通過拉雷多的運輸量會較低，但我們也知道，這將使我們有機會解決當事情沒有那麼緊張時所需的任何營運問題。我認為，當我們進入一年中產量較高的時期時，這些設施對利潤率的影響絕對會較小。

That being said, we're running at volumes that were relatively flat in the North American market, as we've introduced a substantial amount of new capacity in Laredo during the third quarter. I think what's going to need to happen over time is that we continue to see this year-over-year growth to absorb that capacity that we've introduced. It's tough for me to know exactly when it will be profitable on a stand-alone basis, only looking at kind of operational dynamics. But I think what we can say in the short term, is that we're not running significantly more volume through today than we were before Laredo opened. We've kind of redistributed where our fruits coming out today, and there's likely some ability to optimize margin as a result of that. But I think to truly get the throughput we need from that facility, we're going to need to continue to see growth over time.

話雖如此，我們在北美市場的銷量相對持平，因為我們在第三季在拉雷多引入了大量新產能。我認為隨著時間的推移，我們需要繼續看到同比增長，以吸收我們引入的產能。我很難準確地知道它何時能夠獨立獲利，只專注於營運動態。但我認為短期內我們可以說的是，我們今天的成交量並沒有比拉雷多開市前明顯增加。我們已經重新分配了今天的成果，因此可能有一些優化利潤的能力。但我認為，要真正從該設施獲得我們所需的吞吐量，我們將需要隨著時間的推移繼續看到成長。

And again, it's just an example of the investments that Mission is willing to make, because to position ourselves well for the future. This wasn't going to maximize short-term profits by bringing a facility of this size up and running, but we certainly feel very strongly that it's going to keep us in the driver seat for the long haul.

再說一遍，這只是 Mission 願意進行投資的一個例子，因為為了為未來做好準備。建立並運行如此規模的設施並不能實現短期利潤最大化，但我們確實強烈感覺到，這將使我們長期處於主導地位。

Yes. Okay. Makes perfect sense. And then if I could ask a question on SG&A expense. I know in the short term, the gross margins can be variable based on price swings in the market. The SG&A was up a lot year-over-year. I know there's some just strange comparisons because of the IPO. But could you help us think about what sort of a baseline SG&A is and what a reasonable rate of growth is going forward, just so that we can try to calibrate our margins relative to reality.

是的。好的。很有道理。然後我是否可以問一個有關銷售、管理及行政費用的問題。我知道在短期內，毛利率可能會根據市場價格波動而改變。 SG&A 較去年同期大幅成長。我知道由於首次公開募股，存在一些奇怪的比較。但您能否幫助我們考慮一下 SG&A 基準是什麼樣的以及未來合理的成長率是多少，以便我們可以嘗試根據實際情況調整我們的利潤率。

Yes. So if we look at Q3 standalone, we saw a $3.7 million increase in SG&A, of which more than 50% of that, we believe, is attributed to public company costs. While it's tough to estimate how much of that -- it's difficult for me to say that all of it is going to continue at that $1.8 million level over time. I think we do know that there are certain items like putting a SOX and internal audit program in place is going to be more expensive in year 1 than it's going to be in year 2 and year 3. We know the D&O insurance, while we're inside the 1933 Act, is going to be more in year 1, 2 and 3 than it's going to be in year 4. So we know that there are certain things out there that are going to come off over time. We just don't know the exact amount or the exact timing that they will.

是的。因此，如果我們單獨看第三季度，我們會發現 SG&A 增加了 370 萬美元，我們認為其中超過 50% 歸因於上市公司成本。雖然很難估計其中有多少，但我很難說隨著時間的推移，所有這些都將繼續保持在 180 萬美元的水平。我認為我們確實知道某些項目，例如實施 SOX 和內部審計計劃，第一年的成本將比第二年和第三年的成本更高。我們知道 D&O 保險，而我們「根據1933 年法案，第一年、第二年和第三年的內容將比第四年更多。所以我們知道，隨著時間的推移，有些事情將會消失。我們只是不知道他們會的確切數量或確切時間。

But if I had to estimate, of that $1.8 million, I would say at least probably $1 million of it is ongoing public company costs that are not going to go away in the future. That's probably a new baseline that we're measuring against. And of the other $800,000, I would say that it would probably come off over a multiyear period, difficult to estimate how much per year. I'd say if you look separate from the public company costs at our SG&A, there are components to SG&A like selling, that are investments into the business in the long haul. And those things are -- they're going to grow at a rate that's likely a little higher than inflation over time, because we are continuing to invest in our strategy, whether it be something like mangoes, as we moved into and staffing that up over the course of this year, or as we continue to move forward with our plans. We've said that we have plans to grow internationally, whether that be in Europe and Asia. We're going to add resources over time in those areas to support it.

但如果我必須估計，在這 180 萬美元中，我會說其中至少有 100 萬美元是持續的上市公司成本，這些成本在未來不會消失。這可能是我們衡量的新基準。至於另外 80 萬美元，我想說它可能會在多年的時間內消失，很難估計每年有多少。我想說的是，如果你將我們的SG&A 成本與上市公司成本分開來看，SG&A 的組成部分包括銷售，也就是對業務的長期投資。隨著時間的推移，這些東西的成長速度可能會略高於通貨膨脹，因為我們正在繼續投資我們的策略，無論是像芒果這樣的東西，因為我們進入並配備了人員今年，或者我們繼續推進我們的計劃。我們已經說過，我們計劃在國際上發展，無論是在歐洲還是亞洲。隨著時間的推移，我們將在這些領域增加資源來支持它。

So I don't think we're going to be your typical stagnant SG&A, where it's just a fixed cost, it's growing at an inflationary rate. I think that there is going to be growth that -- growth in that, that's geared around investment in the business for the long haul.

因此，我認為我們不會成為典型的停滯的SG&A，它只是固定成本，它以通貨膨脹率成長。我認為將會出現成長——成長是圍繞業務的長期投資。

Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, I'm showing no further questions. I'd like to end the question-and-answer session and turn the conference call back over to management for any closing remarks.

女士們先生們，此時此刻，我不再提出任何問題。我想結束問答環節，並將電話會議轉回管理階層進行總結演講。

Well, we see a great opportunity ahead as we always do. The consumption of avocados continues to grow globally. We continue to invest in our business and the industry's business, not only on the sourcing side of it to diversify there, so we don't get into supply issues, but the overall consumption around the world, there's a huge opportunity ahead, and we plan on being a major player pretty much everywhere. So stay tuned.

嗯，我們一如既往地看到了巨大的機會。全球牛油果的消費量持續成長。我們繼續投資於我們的業務和行業的業務，不僅在採購方面實現多元化，這樣我們就不會陷入供應問題，而且在全球的整體消費方面，前方存在著巨大的機會，我們計劃成為幾乎所有地方的主要參與者。所以請繼續關注。

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's conference call. We do thank you for attending. You may now disconnect your lines.

女士們先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。我們非常感謝您的出席。現在您可以斷開線路。