Brown-Forman Corp (BF.B) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Brown-Forman Corporation Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2023 Earnings Call.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Brown-Forman Corporation 第四季度和 2023 財年收益電話會議。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Sue Perram, Vice President, Director, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。現在我想將會議交給今天的發言人蘇·佩拉姆（Sue Perram），她是投資者關係副總裁兼總監。請繼續。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. I would like to thank each of you for joining us today for Brown-Forman's Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Earnings Call. Joining me today are Lawson Whiting, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Leanne Cunningham, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. This morning's conference call contains forward-looking statements based on our current expectations.

謝謝大家，大家早上好。我要感謝大家今天參加 Brown-Forman 的第四季度和 2023 財年收益電話會議。今天與我一起出席的有總裁兼首席執行官勞森·懷廷 (Lawson Whiting)；以及執行副總裁兼首席財務官 Leanne Cunningham。今天早上的電話會議包含基於我們當前預期的前瞻性陳述。

Numerous risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or projected in these statements. Many of the factors that will determine future results are beyond the company's ability to control or predict. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, and except as required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to update any of these statements, whether due to new information, future events or otherwise. This morning, we issued a press release containing our results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2023, in addition to posting presentation materials that Lawson and Leanne will walk through momentarily. Both the release and the presentation can be found on our website under the section titled Investors, Events and Presentations.

許多風險和不確定性可能導致實際結果與這些聲明中預期或預計的結果存在重大差異。許多決定未來結果的因素超出了公司的控製或預測能力。您不應過分依賴任何前瞻性陳述，除非法律要求，否則公司不承擔更新任何這些陳述的義務，無論是由於新信息、未來事件還是其他原因。今天早上，我們發布了一份新聞稿，其中包含第四季度和 2023 財年的業績，此外還發布了 Lawson 和 Leanne 將立即瀏覽的演示材料。新聞稿和演示文稿均可在我們網站的“投資者、活動和演示文稿”部分找到。

In the press release, we have listed a number of the risk factors you should consider in conjunction with our forward-looking statements. Other significant risk factors are described in our Form 10-K and Form 10-Q reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. During this call, we will be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures. These measures are reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures and the reasons management believes they provide useful information to investors regarding the company's financial condition and results of operations are contained in the press release and investor presentation.

在新聞稿中，我們列出了您應結合我們的前瞻性陳述考慮的一些風險因素。我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的 10-K 表格和 10-Q 表格報告中描述了其他重大風險因素。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的公認會計原則財務指標進行了協調，管理層認為它們為投資者提供了有關公司財務狀況和經營業績的有用信息的原因包含在新聞稿和投資者介紹中。

With that, I would like to turn the call over to Lawson.

說到這裡，我想把電話轉給勞森。

Thank you, Sue, and good morning, everyone. It's my pleasure to speak with you today regarding Brown-Forman's fiscal 2023 results. Fiscal 2023 was another very strong year for Brown-Forman, and importantly, we built on the 17% organic top line and 27% organic bottom line growth we delivered in the previous fiscal year.

謝謝你，蘇，大家早上好。我今天很高興與您談論 Brown-Forman 的 2023 財年業績。 2023 財年對於 Brown-Forman 來說又是非常強勁的一年，重要的是，我們在上一財年實現了 17% 的有機營收增長和 27% 的有機利潤增長的基礎上。

If we take a step back and consider the headwinds we faced throughout fiscal 2023, it helps to appreciate the quality of our performance even more. As you'll recall, we faced numerous headwinds throughout this fiscal year, including supply chain challenges, higher input costs due to inflation, the significant impact of negative foreign exchange and the impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

如果我們退一步考慮 2023 財年我們面臨的阻力，這將有助於我們更加欣賞我們的業績質量。您可能還記得，我們​​在本財年面臨諸多阻力，包括供應鏈挑戰、通貨膨脹導致的投入成本上升、外匯負值的重大影響以及俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭的影響。

As we progress throughout the fiscal year, the headwinds began to ease and the world, along with our business, seems to be getting back to normal. While uncertainty and volatility are likely to remain a part of our conversations, we've demonstrated this year and throughout our 153-year history that our brands are healthy, our people are resilient, and our company is able to navigate the challenges that come our way.

隨著我們在整個財年中取得進展，不利因素開始緩解，世界以及我們的業務似乎正在恢復正常。雖然不確定性和波動性可能仍然是我們討論的一部分，但今年以及我們 153 年的歷史中，我們已經證明，我們的品牌是健康的，我們的員工是有彈性的，我們的公司有能力應對我們面臨的挑戰。方式。

Consider, for example, since fiscal 2019 or the last year before the pandemic, we've grown organic net sales at an 8% compound annual growth rate through fiscal '23 demonstrating our strong track record of consistent and sustainable results over the long term. Alternatively, if you were to look back at fiscal '23 alone, you'd see we significantly exceeded our top line growth ambition, which anticipates reported net sales in the mid-single digits.

例如，自 2019 財年或大流行前的最後一年以來，到 23 財年，我們的有機淨銷售額以 8% 的複合年增長率增長，這證明了我們長期一致和可持續業績的良好記錄。或者，如果您單獨回顧 23 財年，您會發現我們大大超出了我們的營收增長目標，預計報告的淨銷售額將達到中個位數。

Now as we dig into the full results of the fiscal year, I'll start with our top line performance and share some highlights from our portfolio of brands. Leanne will then provide additional details for the fiscal year before providing our outlook for fiscal '24.

現在，當我們深入研究本財年的全部業績時，我將從我們的營收業績開始，並分享我們品牌組合的一些亮點。然後，Leanne 將提供本財年的更多詳細信息，然後再提供我們對 24 財年的展望。

In fiscal 2023, our reported net sales increased 8% or 10% on an organic basis, driven by broad-based reported net sales growth across all geographic clusters and the travel retail channel including double-digit organic growth in our international markets. Through our revenue growth management initiatives, we continue to execute our long-term pricing strategy for our portfolio of brands which aims to increase prices consistently year after year and to grow net sales through a balance of both volume and value.

2023 財年，我們報告的淨銷售額有機增長了 8% 或 10%，這得益於所有地理集群和旅遊零售渠道的廣泛報告淨銷售額增長，包括我們國際市場的兩位數有機增長。通過我們的收入增長管理計劃，我們繼續對我們的品牌組合執行長期定價策略，旨在年復一年地持續提高價格，並通過數量和價值的平衡來增加淨銷售額。

In fiscal 2023, our organic net sales growth benefited from 3 points of favorable price/mix. This was driven by higher prices across much of our portfolio, but led by Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, partially offset by a portfolio shift toward our Ready-to-Drink brands.

2023 財年，我們的有機淨銷售額增長得益於 3 個百分點的優惠價格/組合。這是由我們大部分產品組合的價格上漲推動的，但以傑克丹尼田納西威士忌為首，但部分被我們的即飲品牌產品組合的轉變所抵消。

Our top line growth was broad-based and reflected the continued strength of our portfolio of brands, strong consumer demand and the return of inventories to more normalized levels. As expected, the estimated net change in distributor inventory did not have an impact on our fiscal year results.

我們的收入增長是廣泛的，反映了我們品牌組合的持續實力、強勁的消費者需求以及庫存恢復到更正常的水平。正如預期的那樣，經銷商庫存的估計淨變化並未對我們的財年業績產生影響。

Turning to our portfolio of brands. Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey fueled the company's performance. The brand had another remarkable year and increased organic net sales by 8%. This growth is particularly impressive given that the brand is over 15 million 9-liter cases and delivered a 23% organic net sales increase in the last fiscal year. The growth of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey in fiscal 2023 was driven by strong consumer demand and higher pricing. It's often easy to lose sight of the size and scale of this brand when speaking in quarterly results, but it is indeed an impressive brand with massive appeal around the globe.

轉向我們的品牌組合。傑克丹尼的田納西威士忌推動了公司的業績。該品牌又迎來了非凡的一年，有機淨銷售額增長了 8%。鑑於該品牌的 9 升裝銷量超過 1500 萬箱，並且上一財年的有機淨銷售額增長了 23%，這一增長尤其令人印象深刻。強勁的消費者需求和更高的定價推動了傑克丹尼田納西威士忌在 2023 財年的增長。在談論季度業績時，人們通常很容易忽視這個品牌的規模和規模，但它確實是一個令人印象深刻的品牌，在全球範圍內具有巨大的吸引力。

We believe these latest results reinforce its health and position as the largest global premium spirits brand by volume in the world. The rest of the full strength Jack Daniel's family of brands also delivered strong results, growing organic net sales, high single digits during the fiscal year as the consumer premiumization trend drove demand for our super premium products such as Gentleman Jack, which also benefited from improved product availability as supply chain disruption eased.

我們相信，這些最新業績將鞏固其健康狀況，並鞏固其作為全球銷量最大的全球優質烈酒品牌的地位。傑克丹尼爾 (Jack Daniel) 旗下其他實力雄厚的品牌系列也取得了強勁的業績，有機淨銷售額不斷增長，在本財年達到高個位數，因為消費者高端化趨勢推動了對我們超高端產品（如 Gentleman Jack）的需求，該產品也受益於改進的隨著供應鏈中斷的緩解，產品的可用性。

And of course, we were very excited this year when our Jack Daniel's Bonded Tennessee Whiskey was named the 2022 Whiskey of the Year by Whiskey Advocate Magazine. It's a great complement when Jack Daniel's authenticity, craftsmanship and quality is recognized with such a coveted award.

當然，今年我們的傑克丹尼保稅田納西威士忌被威士忌倡導者雜誌評為 2022 年度威士忌，我們對此感到非常興奮。當傑克丹尼的真實性、工藝和品質獲得如此令人垂涎的獎項的認可時，這是一個很好的補充。

These brands, along with our specialty launches such as Jack Daniel's Single Barrel special release Heritage Barrel and Jack Daniel's 10- and now 12-year-old Tennessee Whiskey enable us to premiumize the Jack Daniel's family of brands, continue to highlight our whiskey credentials and give both long time and new friends of Jack Daniel's the opportunity to explore and discover within the Jack Daniel's family.

這些品牌，加上我們推出的特色產品，例如傑克丹尼單桶特別版 Heritage Barrel 和傑克丹尼 10 年和現在 12 年的田納西威士忌，使我們能夠提升傑克丹尼品牌系列的品質，繼續突出我們的威士忌資質和讓傑克丹尼的老朋友和新朋友都有機會在傑克丹尼家族中探索和發現。

While we're always happy to add whiskey accolades to our trophy case, Jack Daniel's is now part of the race for another type of trophy, the FIA Formula One World Drivers Championship Trophy. As you may recall, in September, Jack Daniel's became an official global sponsor of McLaren Racing, a British Formula 1 racing team, counting more than 1 billion fans worldwide, viewership for Formula 1 racing is growing at the fastest rate of any major global sport.

雖然我們總是很高興在我們的獎杯箱中添加威士忌榮譽，但傑克丹尼現在是另一種獎杯競賽的一部分，即國際汽聯一級方程式世界車手錦標賽獎杯。您可能還記得，9 月份，傑克丹尼成為英國一級方程式賽車隊邁凱倫車隊的全球官方贊助商，該車隊在全球擁有超過 10 億粉絲，一級方程式賽車的收視率增長速度是全球主要體育運動中最快的。

The majority of the sports growth comes from the next generation of fans providing a powerful opportunity to reach legal drinking age consumers and expand Jack Daniel's relevance and pop culture. With races on most continents, this relationship provides a powerful opportunity to engage a truly global fan base.

體育運動的增長主要來自下一代粉絲，他們提供了接觸法定飲酒年齡消費者的強大機會，並擴大了傑克丹尼的相關性和流行文化。由於比賽在大多數大陸舉行，這種關係提供了吸引真正的全球粉絲群的強大機會。

One of the strongest performers in our portfolio this year was Woodford Reserve. Since its founding more than a quarter century ago, Woodford Reserve has grown volume at a double-digit compound annual growth rate. This trend continued in fiscal 2023 as consumer demand remained very strong and organic net sales grew 27%, making Woodford Reserve our second largest contributor to the company's growth.

今年我們投資組合中表現最強勁的股票之一是伍德福德儲備銀行。自四分之一個多世紀前成立以來，Woodford Reserve 的交易量以兩位數的年復合增長率增長。這一趨勢在 2023 財年持續存在，消費者需求依然非常強勁，有機淨銷售額增長了 27%，使 Woodford Reserve 成為公司增長的第二大貢獻者。

The brand continues to grow in the U.S. and is being discovered internationally as we continue to position this brand for future growth. Last month, the Kentucky Derby was held in our hometown of Louisville and Woodford Reserve as the presenting sponsor stood tall on a global stage.

隨著我們繼續為該品牌的未來增長定位，該品牌在美國繼續發展，並在國際上受到關注。上個月，肯塔基德比在我們的家鄉路易斯維爾和伍德福德保護區舉行，贊助商在全球舞台上嶄露頭角。

Also in connection to the most exciting 2 minutes in sports, the brand released its 2023 Derby Bottle with artwork that honored the 50th anniversary of Secretariat winning the 1973 Derby. This collectible bottle featured a painting and titled Still The Greatest. And indeed, we believe Woodford Reserve is Still The Greatest as it remains the #1 super-premium American whiskey brand in the world by volume and value based on IWSR in 2022.

此外，為了配合體育運動中最激動人心的 2 分鐘，該品牌還發布了 2023 年德比瓶，其藝術作品旨在紀念秘書處贏得 1973 年德比大賽 50 週年。這個收藏瓶上有一幅畫，標題是“仍然最偉大”。事實上，我們相信伍德福德珍藏仍然是最偉大的，因為根據 2022 年 IWSR 的數量和價值計算，它仍然是世界排名第一的超優質美國威士忌品牌。

Jack Daniel's RTDs were also a significant contributor to overall company growth in fiscal 2023, driven by the consumer trends of convenience, flavor and premiumization. Jack Daniel's RTDs grew organic net sales double digits, fueled by the launch of the Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola RTD in the U.S., along with the continued growth of the RTD portfolio in Germany and Australia.

在便利、風味和高端化消費趨勢的推動下，Jack Daniel 的 RTD 也對 2023 財年公司整體增長做出了重大貢獻。傑克丹尼的 RTD 有機淨銷售額增長了兩位數，這得益於 Jack Daniel's 和可口可樂 RTD 在美國的推出，以及 RTD 產品組合在德國和澳大利亞的持續增長。

As you might recall, in fiscal 2023, we launched the Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola RTD in 9 markets: Mexico, the U.S., Japan, the Philippines, the U.K., Poland, Hungary, the Netherlands and Ireland. So for most of you on this call, you should be seeing cans in your local markets, and I hope that you had the opportunity to enjoy this great tasting new product.

您可能還記得，在 2023 財年，我們在 9 個市場推出了 Jack Daniel's 和可口可樂 RTD：墨西哥、美國、日本、菲律賓、英國、波蘭、匈牙利、荷蘭和愛爾蘭。因此，對於本次電話會議中的大多數人來說，您應該在當地市場上看到罐頭，我希望您有機會享受這種美味的新產品。

We're only a few months into the launch, but similar to the initial feedback we received from Mexico, the early results from the markets are very positive. In the U.S., Jack & Coke is taking share across the category. Our distributors are meeting distribution expectations, and we're seeing stronger-than-expected reorder rates.

我們推出僅幾個月，但與我們從墨西哥收到的初步反饋類似，市場的早期結果非常積極。在美國，傑克可口可樂正在佔據整個品類的市場份額。我們的分銷商正在滿足分銷預期，並且我們看到再訂購率強於預期。

Jack & Coke Zero has also outperformed our initial plans. In our European markets, we're exceeding our launch expectations. Specifically in the U.K., the rate of sale for Jack & Coke is already matching Jack & Cola. And just a couple of weeks ago, the Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola RTD began appearing on the biggest advertising site in Europe at Piccadilly Circus.

Jack & Coke Zero 的表現也超出了我們最初的計劃。在我們的歐洲市場，我們超出了我們的發布預期。特別是在英國，Jack & Coke 的銷量已經與 Jack & Cola 相當。就在幾週前，傑克丹尼和可口可樂 RTD 開始出現在歐洲最大的廣告網站皮卡迪利廣場上。

The buzz and enthusiasm for the product is certainly high and growing. Globally, we exceeded 1 billion consumer impressions before any paid media ever aired. The potential growth of this product is exciting, but RTDs also serve as a consumer recruitment vehicle. They bring new consumers of legal drinking age into the Jack Daniel's family, which we believe will have a positive impact on the full strength family of brands. We will continue the product launch in additional markets around the globe throughout the 2023 calendar year, and I look forward to continuing to provide updates on the growth of this iconic product.

人們對該產品的熱議和熱情無疑很高，而且還在不斷增長。在全球範圍內，在任何付費媒體播出之前，我們的消費者印象就已超過 10 億次。該產品的潛在增長令人興奮，但 RTD 也可作為消費者招募工具。他們將法定飲酒年齡的新消費者帶入傑克丹尼家族，我們相信這將對整個品牌家族產生積極影響。我們將在 2023 年繼續在全球其他市場推出產品，我期待繼續提供有關這一標誌性產品發展的最新信息。

While RTDs have been experiencing accelerated growth, including our New Mix brand, which reached nearly 10 million 9-liter cases in fiscal 2023 and delivered very strong double-digit organic net sales growth. I also want to acknowledge the continued strength of tequila, which remains one of the fastest-growing spirits categories, particularly at the premium-plus price points. Casa Herradura produces some of the most authentic tequila brands in the category, having been founded in 1870, the same year, our founder, George Garvin Brown, created Old Forester.

RTD 一直在加速增長，其中包括我們的 New Mix 品牌，該品牌在 2023 財年達到了近 1000 萬箱 9 升裝，並實現了非常強勁的兩位數有機淨銷售額增長。我還要承認龍舌蘭酒的持續強勢，它仍然是增長最快的烈酒類別之一，特別是在高端價格點上。 Casa Herradura 創立於 1870 年，生產該類別中一些最正宗的龍舌蘭酒品牌，同年，我們的創始人 George Garvin Brown 創建了 Old Forester。

In fiscal 2023, Herradura and el Jimador grew organic net sales by 10% and 14%, respectively, even as Herradura faced significant supply chain challenges during the first quarter and both brands lapped a very strong double-digit growth in the prior year. We believe the strong consumer interest in tequila will continue for the foreseeable future, and we are investing significantly behind these brands.

2023 財年，Herradura 和 el Jimador 的有機淨銷售額分別增長了 10% 和 14%，儘管 Herradura 在第一季度面臨重大供應鏈挑戰，並且兩個品牌在上一年都實現了非常強勁的兩位數增長。我們相信，在可預見的未來，消費者對龍舌蘭酒的強烈興趣將持續下去，我們正在對這些品牌進行大力投資。

As you would have seen last week, we announced an approximate USD 200 million investment at Casa Herradura. This multiphase project includes expanding our distillery operations, bottling, maturation and processing areas to support the strong consumer demand we see as we look out over the mid- to long term. This expansion is particularly exciting as it advances our existing waste-to-energy efforts with a new water recycling and treatment plant.

正如您上週所看到的，我們宣布對 Casa Herradura 投資約 2 億美元。這個多階段項目包括擴大我們的釀酒廠運營、裝瓶、熟成和加工領域，以支持我們從中長期來看強勁的消費者需求。此次擴建尤其令人興奮，因為它通過新的水回收和處理廠推進了我們現有的廢物能源化工作。

Over the past decade, Casa Herradura has been a pioneer in establishing a water recycling and treatment plant and is one of Brown-Forman's zero-waste to landfill sites. We believe this sustainable technology and this investment will ensure we have access to clean water, improve our production efficiencies and increase our competitiveness.

在過去的十年中，Casa Herradura 一直是建立水回收和處理廠的先驅，也是 Brown-Forman 的零廢物填埋場之一。我們相信這項可持續技術和這項投資將確保我們獲得清潔水、提高生產效率並增強我們的競爭力。

Before I wrap up my commentary on our brands, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the changes we made to our portfolio in recent years. We've been very purposeful in actively managing our portfolio for more than a decade by developing, acquiring and divesting various businesses and brands. We believe this portfolio evolution, alongside product innovation gives us the best opportunity for long-term growth and value creation.

在結束對我們品牌的評論之前，我想花點時間承認我們近年來對產品組合所做的改變。十多年來，我們一直通過開發、收購和剝離各種業務和品牌，積極管理我們的投資組合。我們相信，這種產品組合的演變以及產品創新為我們提供了長期增長和價值創造的最佳機會。

In fiscal 2023, we completed the latest efforts in our portfolio reshaping efforts with the acquisitions of Gin Mare, the #1 ultra-premium gin; and Diplomático, the #1 super and ultra-premium rum according to the latest IWSR data.

2023 財年，我們完成了投資組合重塑的最新努力，收購了排名第一的超優質杜松子酒 Gin Mare；根據最新的 IWSR 數據，Diplomático 是排名第一的超級和超優質朗姆酒。

Given the timings, the brands only impacted reported net sales in fiscal 2023 by approximately 0.5 point. However, as we continue to integrate these brands and teams into our organization, we expect them to be meaningful contributors to our growth over the long term. We're delighted Gin Mare and Diplomático are now part of our Brown-Forman family.

鑑於時間安排，這些品牌僅對 2023 財年報告的淨銷售額產生約 0.5 個百分點的影響。然而，隨著我們繼續將這些品牌和團隊整合到我們的組織中，我們希望他們能夠為我們的長期增長做出有意義的貢獻。我們很高興 Gin Mare 和 Diplomático 現在成為 Brown-Forman 大家庭的一部分。

Brown-Forman now owns one of the top 5 brands globally in 4 strong growth categories: super-premium American whiskey, super-premium tequila, ultra-premium gin and ultra-premium rum.

Brown-Forman 目前擁有 4 個強勁增長類別的全球 5 大品牌之一：超優質美國威士忌、超優質龍舌蘭酒、超優質杜松子酒和超優質朗姆酒。

As I close, I want to thank our Brown-Forman colleagues around the world that navigated the numerous challenges throughout fiscal 2023 and worked hard to deliver the strong broad-based results that we're sharing with you today. When we started fiscal 2023, we had confidence that the strength of our portfolio of brands and our strategic investments would support continued growth despite the dynamic operating environment.

在結束髮言時，我要感謝我們在世界各地的 Brown-Forman 同事，他們在 2023 財年克服了眾多挑戰，並努力工作，取得了我們今天與您分享的強大、廣泛的成果。當我們開始 2023 財年時，我們相信，儘管運營環境充滿活力，我們的品牌組合和戰略投資的實力仍將支持持續增長。

This confidence was well placed, the strong consumer demand for our brands served as an important tailwind in the face of stronger-than-expected inflation and supply chain challenges. We continue to invest significantly behind our brands and our people and we're able to deliver very strong results that were at or above our long-term ambitions. I'm very pleased with the performance of the business and the continued strength of our portfolio and of our people.

這種信心非常到位，面對強於預期的通脹和供應鏈挑戰，消費者對我們品牌的強勁需求成為重要的推動力。我們繼續大力投資於我們的品牌和員工，我們能夠取得非常強勁的業績，達到或超過我們的長期目標。我對公司的業務表現以及我們的投資組合和員工的持續實力感到非常滿意。

Leanne, now I'll turn things over to you to provide more detail on our fiscal 2023 performance and our expectations as we look forward to fiscal 2024.

Leanne，現在我將把事情交給您，以提供有關我們 2023 財年業績的更多詳細信息以及我們對 2024 財年的展望。

Thank you, Lawson, and good morning, everyone. As Lawson reviewed the top line growth and performance of our brands for the fiscal year, I will provide additional details on our geographic performance, other business results and our outlook for fiscal 2024.

謝謝勞森，大家早上好。在 Lawson 審查我們品牌本財年的營收增長和業績時，我將提供有關我們的地理業績、其他業務業績以及 2024 財年展望的更多詳細信息。

First, from a geographic perspective. Our top line growth in fiscal 2023 was broad-based was reported an organic net sales growth in each geographic cluster and the Travel Retail channel compared to the same prior year period. Collectively, emerging international markets delivered strong double-digit organic net sales growth, increasing 24% for the fiscal year.

首先，從地理角度來看。據報導，與上年同期相比，每個地理集群和旅遊零售渠道的有機淨銷售增長，我們 2023 財年的收入增長基礎廣泛。總體而言，新興國際市場實現了強勁的兩位數有機淨銷售額增長，本財年增長了 24%。

This strong performance was driven by Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey notably in the United Arab Emirates, Türkiye and Brazil as supply chain disruption eased, which improved product availability and pricing increased.

這種強勁的表現是由傑克丹尼田納西威士忌推動的，尤其是在阿拉伯聯合酋長國、土耳其和巴西，因為供應鏈中斷的情況有所緩解，從而提高了產品可用性並提高了價格。

RTDs also meaningfully contributed to the growth with New Mix and Jack Daniel's RTDs growing strong double digits in Mexico, where the RTD category is growing, and we are gaining share while increasing price.

RTD 也對增長做出了有意義的貢獻，New Mix 和 Jack Daniel 的 RTD 在墨西哥實現了兩位數的強勁增長，RTD 類別正在增長，我們在提高價格的同時獲得了市場份額。

In addition, Herradura and el Jimador delivered double-digit organic net sales growth in Mexico, largely driven by strong pricing. This growth is especially notable as it includes the absence of business in the Russian market as we suspended our commercial operations there in March 2022. Prior to this suspension, this market represented approximately 2% of our total reported net sales. Our developed international markets collectively grew organic net sales double digits in fiscal 2023.

此外，Herradura 和 el Jimador 在墨西哥實現了兩位數的有機淨銷售額增長，這主要得益於強勁的定價。這一增長尤其引人注目，因為我們在 2022 年 3 月暫停了俄羅斯市場的商業運營，因此該市場沒有業務。在此暫停之前，該市場約占我們報告的總淨銷售額的 2%。 2023 財年，我們發達的國際市場的有機淨銷售額總體增長了兩位數。

Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey was the largest contributor to this growth, led by Germany, where the brand is growing double digits and gaining share within the whiskey category and Japan, which is continuing to benefit from strong consumer demand in both the on- and off-trade.

傑克丹尼田納西威士忌是這一增長的最大貢獻者，其中以德國為首，該品牌以兩位數的速度增長，並在威士忌類別中獲得份額；而日本則繼續受益於國內外強勁的消費者需求。貿易。

Japan is one of the world's largest spirits markets with a significant footprint and a leading position in premium-plus whiskey. Earlier this week, we announced our plan to transition to own distribution in this market effective April 1, 2024, representing the 15th market where we will own and operate the distribution of our portfolio.

日本是世界上最大的烈酒市場之一，在優質威士忌領域佔有重要地位並處於領先地位。本週早些時候，我們宣布計劃自 2024 年 4 月 1 日起過渡到該市場的自有分銷，這代表我們將擁有並運營我們的投資組合分銷的第 15 個市場。

We would like to thank Asahi and their entire team for their partnership over the past 10 years and for successfully growing our portfolio in Japan. We believe this change will drive long-term growth through the continued development of our Jack Daniel's family of brands and the broader super-premium brand portfolio. This is an important milestone for Brown-Forman and follow successful launches of other own distribution organizations in Asia, such as Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.

我們要感謝朝日及其整個團隊在過去 10 年裡的合作以及成功發展我們在日本的產品組合。我們相信，這一變化將通過傑克丹尼品牌系列和更廣泛的超高端品牌組合的持續發展推動長期增長。這是 Brown-Forman 的一個重要里程碑，也是繼韓國、台灣和泰國等亞洲其他分銷組織成功推出之後的又一里程碑。

While on the topic of route-to-consumer, I would like to highlight our recent transition to own distribution in Belgium at the beginning of calendar 2022. This market more than doubled its organic net sales in fiscal 2023, led by a significant acceleration in growth from the Jack Daniel's family of brands as well as Woodford Reserve.

在談到面向消費者的路線時，我想強調一下我們最近在 2022 年初過渡到在比利時進行自營分銷。在 2023 財年的有機淨銷售額大幅增長的帶動下，該市場的有機淨銷售額增加了一倍多Jack Daniel's 品牌家族以及 Woodford Reserve 的增長。

This is just one of the many examples of why we continue to believe that own distribution transition creates opportunities to fuel share growth, strengthen our portfolio, capture more of the value chain and unlock future potential for our full portfolio of brands.

這只是為什麼我們仍然相信自己的分銷轉型創造了機會來推動份額增長、加強我們的產品組合、佔領更多價值鏈並釋放我們整個品牌組合的未來潛力的眾多例子之一。

Focusing back on our developed international results. Jack Daniel's RTDs represented the second largest contributor to growth also growing organic net sales double digits driven by Germany and Australia, where we are gaining share. We are excited about the growth of brands such as el Jimador, Woodford Reserve, Gentleman Jack and the GlenDronach, where each delivered double-digit organic net sales growth. These results continue to reflect our strategic priority of increasing focus on our premium and super-premium portfolio through our emerging brand teams in Europe. Diplomático and Gin Mare have recently joined this super-premium portfolio of brands, and we believe will soon be meaningful contributors to this emerging brands business.

重新關注我們開發的國際成果。傑克丹尼的 RTD 是增長的第二大貢獻者，在德國和澳大利亞的推動下，有機淨銷售額也實現了兩位數的增長，我們在這兩個國家的份額正在增加。我們對 el Jimador、Woodford Reserve、Gentleman Jack 和 GlenDronach 等品牌的增長感到興奮，這些品牌均實現了兩位數的有機淨銷售額增長。這些結果繼續反映了我們的戰略重點，即通過我們在歐洲的新興品牌團隊更加關注我們的高端和超高端產品組合。 Diplomático 和 Gin Mare 最近加入了這個超高端品牌組合，我們相信它們很快就會成為這一新興品牌業務的重要貢獻者。

In Europe, we continue to closely monitor the impact of inflation on consumer behavior. While the data is beginning to show some evidence of down trading, such as growth in private label, our brands have gained share in Germany and the U.K. Spirits remain an affordable luxury for consumers even as we have continued to increase price through our revenue growth management strategies. The U.S. business delivered 3% organic net sales growth, reflecting a normalization of our business in the market. As we have shared with you throughout this fiscal year, supply chain disruptions impacted the seasonality of our fiscal 2023 shipments due to the abnormal seasonality of the fiscal 2022 shipments.

在歐洲，我們繼續密切關注通脹對消費者行為的影響。雖然數據開始顯示一些下降交易的證據，例如自有品牌的增長，但我們的品牌在德國和英國的份額有所增加，儘管我們通過收入增長管理繼續提高價格，但烈酒仍然是消費者負擔得起的奢侈品策略。美國業務實現了 3% 的有機淨銷售額增長，反映出我們市場業務的正常化。正如我們在本財年與您分享的那樣，由於 2022 財年發貨的季節性異常，供應鏈中斷影響了我們 2023 財年發貨的季節性。

In the first half of fiscal 2022, distributor inventories did not increase ahead of the holiday season as is typical, and we experienced stronger shipments in the second half of fiscal 2022 as supply challenges began to ease. As expected, in the first half of fiscal 2023, we increased our shipments as supply chain disruption continue to ease and distributor inventories were returning to more normalized levels, which benefited the U.S. net sales growth.

2022 財年上半年，經銷商庫存並未像往常一樣在假日季節之前增加，而且隨著供應挑戰開始緩解，我們在 2022 財年下半年的出貨量有所增加。正如預期的那樣，2023 財年上半年，隨著供應鏈中斷繼續緩解，經銷商庫存恢復到更加正常化的水平，我們增加了出貨量，這有利於美國淨銷售額的增長。

In the second half, net sales were negatively impacted as we lapped the increase in shipments in the prior year period related to the rebuilding of our inventory position, particularly for Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey. For the full fiscal year, we estimate the net change in distributor inventories reduced the net sales growth rate by 2 points, which was in line with our expectations. Woodford Reserve remained the largest contributor to organic net sales growth, driven by strong consumer demand and an estimated net increase in distributor inventories as glass supply and capacity constraints continue to ease.

下半年，淨銷售額受到負面影響，因為我們承受了上一年期間與庫存狀況重建相關的發貨量增長，特別是傑克丹尼田納西威士忌。對於整個財年，我們估計經銷商庫存的淨變化使淨銷售額增長率降低了2個百分點，這符合我們的預期。伍德福德儲備仍然是有機淨銷售增長的最大貢獻者，這得益於強勁的消費者需求以及隨著玻璃供應和產能限制繼續緩解而預計經銷商庫存淨增加的推動。

Innovation contributed significantly to the U.S. growth with the launch of Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola RTD, which was the second largest growth driver.

隨著傑克丹尼和可口可樂 RTD 的推出，創新對美國的增長做出了重大貢獻，成為第二大增長動力。

Organic net sales also benefited from higher prices across the portfolio, led by the Jack Daniel's family of brands as well as premiumization with the successful launch of the Jack Daniel's Bonded series. This growth was partially offset by lower volumes of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey and Korbel California Champagne, largely due to our focus on rebuilding inventory levels across the supply chain in the second half of fiscal 2022, which created a strong prior year comparison, resulting in an estimated net decrease in distributor inventories.

有機淨銷售額還受益於以傑克丹尼品牌系列為首的整個產品組合價格的上漲，以及傑克丹尼保稅系列的成功推出帶來的高端化。這一增長被傑克丹尼田納西州威士忌和科貝爾加州香檳銷量下降所部分抵消，這主要是由於我們在 2022 財年下半年專注於重建整個供應鏈的庫存水平，這與上年相比產生了強勁的影響，導致估計經銷商庫存淨減少。

From a takeaway perspective, the disconnect between Nielsen takeaway and our actual results continue to narrow as we lap many of the factors that created the gap, such as the impact of our brand and market prioritization work in fiscal 2022 related to supply chain challenges.

從外賣的角度來看，尼爾森的外賣與我們的實際結果之間的脫節繼續縮小，因為我們忽略了許多造成差距的因素，例如我們的品牌和 2022 財年與供應鏈挑戰相關的市場優先工作的影響。

As the industry began to normalize, total distilled spirits delivered value growth in the low- to mid-single digits as we lap the impact of supply chain constraints that previously suppressed our performance, our takeaway performance is normalizing.

隨著行業開始正常化，全蒸餾酒實現了中低個位數的價值增長，隨著我們克服了之前壓制我們業績的供應鏈限制的影響，我們的外賣業績正在正常化。

Although with our recent innovation, Brown-Forman is outpacing total distilled spirits growth. We work diligently to rebuild finished goods inventory levels across the 3-tiered system and believe that distributor inventory levels are now back to normal. We are continuing to rebuild some brands and sizes, but shipments and depletions are largely in balance across our full strength portfolio.

儘管我們最近進行了創新，但 Brown-Forman 的增長速度已經超過了蒸餾酒總量的增長速度。我們努力重建三級系統的成品庫存水平，並相信經銷商庫存水平現已恢復正常。我們正在繼續重建一些品牌和尺寸，但我們全部實力產品組合的出貨量和消耗量基本上保持平衡。

And finally, the Travel Retail channel continued its very strong rebound in fiscal 2023, as international airline travel and the cruise industry recovered from the impacts of the pandemic-related travel restrictions. Organic net sales grew 43%, led by higher volumes across much of our portfolio and our business has returned to pre-COVID levels.

最後，隨著國際航空旅行和遊輪業從大流行相關旅行限制的影響中恢復過來，旅遊零售渠道在 2023 財年繼續強勁反彈。在我們大部分產品組合銷量增加的帶動下，有機淨銷售額增長了 43%，而且我們的業務已恢復到新冠疫情爆發前的水平。

Moving to gross profit and gross margin. For the full fiscal year, reported gross profit increased 4%, with organic growth of 9%, which was slightly below our organic top line growth. Reported gross margin contracted by 180 basis points, slightly better than our latest expectations. Favorable price/mix driven by our pricing strategy and the removal of the European Union and United Kingdom tariffs on American Whiskey were more than offset by higher inflation on input costs and supply chain disruption costs largely related to global logistics constraints, along with the negative effect of foreign exchange.

轉向毛利潤和毛利率。整個財年，報告毛利潤增長 4%，有機增長 9%，略低於我們的有機營收增長。報告毛利率收縮 180 個基點，略好於我們的最新預期。我們的定價策略以及歐盟和英國取消對美國威士忌的關稅推動的有利價格/組合被投入成本和供應鏈中斷成本的上升所抵消，這在很大程度上與全球物流限制有關，以及負面影響的外匯。

Turning to operating expenses. Total reported operating expenses increased 15%, with organic increasing 11%, in line with our expectations. As we have shared, we have been committed to reinvesting a portion of the tariff relief back behind our brands once removed. In fulfilling this commitment in support of sustainable long-term growth, this resulted in our brand investment for the fiscal year at a rate above our top line growth with our reported in organic advertising expense increasing 15% and 18%, respectively. The increase was focused primarily on Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, the launch of Jack Daniel's Bonded, Herradura and Woodford Reserve.

轉向運營費用。報告的運營支出總額增長了 15%，其中有機支出增長了 11%，符合我們的預期。正如我們所分享的，我們一直致力於在取消關稅減免後將部分關稅減免重新投入到我們的品牌背後。在履行支持可持續長期增長的承諾的過程中，我們本財年的品牌投資速度高於我們的營收增長，我們報告的有機廣告費用分別增長了 15% 和 18%。增幅主要集中在傑克丹尼田納西威士忌、傑克丹尼保稅威士忌、赫拉杜拉威士忌和伍德福德珍藏威士忌的推出。

We also continue to invest behind our people as SG&A expense increased 8% on a reported and 9% on an organic basis, driven primarily by higher compensation-related expenses and higher discretionary spend as the return to a normalized environment enabled in-person events and activities to resume.

我們還繼續投資於我們的員工，SG&A 費用報告增長了 8%，有機增長了 9%，這主要是由於與薪酬相關的支出增加以及由於恢復正常化環境使面對面活動成為可能，以及可自由支配支出增加。活動恢復。

Costs related to the acquisitions of the Gin Mare and Diplomático brands impacted the reported results. Reported operating income decreased 6% for the full year, reflecting lower gross margin, higher noncash impairment charges largely related to the Finlandia brand name and higher operating expenses, including certain post-closing costs and expenses in connection with the acquisition of the Gin Mare and Diplomático brands.

與收購 Gin Mare 和 Diplomático 品牌相關的成本影響了報告的業績。全年報告營業收入下降 6%，反映出毛利率下降、主要與芬蘭迪亞品牌相關的非現金減值費用增加以及營業費用增加，包括與收購 Gin Mare 相關的某些交割後成本和費用外交品牌。

Organic operating income, which excludes the impact of foreign exchange, impairment charges and acquisition and divestitures grew 8%. As noted in our earnings release, in the fiscal year, diluted earnings per share decreased 7% to $1.63 due to the decrease in reported operating income for the reasons I have just previously stated and a pension settlement charge, partially offset by the benefit of a lower effective tax rate.

剔除外匯、減值費用以及收購和剝離的影響後，有機營業收入增長了 8%。正如我們在財報中所指出的，在本財年，由於我之前提到的原因導致報告的營業收入下降，以及養老金結算費用，攤薄後每股收益下降了 7%，至 1.63 美元，部分被養老金結算費用所抵消。較低的有效稅率。

Before moving on to our fiscal 2024 outlook, I'll provide a few updates related to our capital deployment. As a reminder, our capital allocation philosophy is to first, fully invest behind our business; second, to pay increasing regular dividends; third, we opportunistically look for acquisitions that we believe create long-term value for the next generation of growth; and finally, we look to opportunities to return cash to stockholders.

在展望 2024 財年展望之前，我將提供一些與我們的資本部署相關的最新信息。提醒一下，我們的資本配置理念是首先充分投資我們的業務；第二，支付越來越多的定期股息；第三，我們會機會主義地尋找那些我們認為能為下一代增長創造長期價值的收購；最後，我們尋找向股東返還現金的機會。

In fiscal 2023, we generated strong cash flow from operations, which enabled us to meet our current operating needs, fund capital expenditures and returned $378 million to our stockholders through regular dividends. We believe our investment grade credit ratings, A1 by Moody's and A- by Standard & Poor's provide us with financial flexibility when accessing the global debt capital markets and allow us to reserve adequate debt capacity for investment opportunities and unforeseen events.

2023 財年，我們從運營中產生了強勁的現金流，這使我們能夠滿足當前的運營需求，為資本支出提供資金，並通過定期股息向股東返還 3.78 億美元。我們相信，我們的投資級信用評級（穆迪的 A1 級和標準普爾的 A- 級）為我們進入全球債務資本市場提供了財務靈活性，並使我們能夠為投資機會和不可預見的事件保​​留足夠的債務能力。

Related to the investment opportunities, on March 21, 2023, we issued $650 million 10-year senior unsecured notes due April 15, 2033. We utilized the net proceeds from the offering to refinance our existing $600 million of outstanding debt under a senior unsecured 364-day term loan credit agreement that helped fund our acquisition of Gin Mare and Diplomático.

與投資機會相關，2023 年 3 月 21 日，我們發行了 6.5 億美元的 10 年期高級無抵押票據，將於 2033 年 4 月 15 日到期。我們利用此次發行的淨收益，為高級無抵押 364 項下現有的 6 億美元未償債務進行再融資。日定期貸款信貸協議為我們收購 Gin Mare 和 Diplomático 提供了資金。

We believe our long-held capital allocation philosophy, coupled with our strategic priorities will continue to drive superior returns for the long term.

我們相信，我們長期堅持的資本配置理念，加上我們的戰略重點，將繼續帶來卓越的長期回報。

And now to our fiscal 2024 outlook. We are optimistic as we look ahead. We have now cycled through the largest impacts of the pandemic and after the global macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility experienced in fiscal 2023, we believe trends are beginning to normalize around the world. After 2 years of strong growth, which were well above our long-term trends, we continue to believe that the strength and increasing premiumization of our portfolio of brands, the resilience of our people and the strategic investments we have made will deliver continued growth on this elevated base.

現在談談我們的 2024 財年展望。展望未來，我們感到樂觀。我們現在已經經歷了這一流行病的最大影響，在 2023 財年經歷了全球宏觀經濟和地緣政治波動之後，我們相信世界各地的趨勢正在開始正常化。經過兩年的強勁增長（遠高於我們的長期趨勢），我們仍然相信，我們品牌組合的實力和日益高端化、員工的韌性以及我們所做的戰略投資將帶來持續增長這個高架基地。

While consumer demand for our brands begins to reflect a normalization back to our more historic trends, we expect to continue to benefit from our long-term pricing and revenue growth management strategies partially offset by a portfolio mix shift to RTDs, largely related to the launch of Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola RTD.

雖然消費者對我們品牌的需求開始反映出我們更歷史性趨勢的正常化，但我們預計將繼續受益於我們的長期定價和收入增長管理策略，部分抵消了投資組合組合向 RTD 的轉變，這在很大程度上與推出有關Jack Daniel's 和可口可樂 RTD。

In what has been a highly dynamic operating environment, we remain cautious due to the current macroeconomic volatility and the potential impact of inflation on consumer spending, but believe that the collective strength of our U.S. and international markets, along with the Travel Retail channel, should reflect our longer-term growth algorithm and therefore, we expect organic net sales growth for fiscal 2024 in the 5% to 7% range.

在高度動態的經營環境中，由於當前的宏觀經濟波動以及通貨膨脹對消費者支出的潛在影響，我們仍然保持謹慎態度，但相信我們的美國和國際市場以及旅遊零售渠道的集體實力應該會有所改善。反映了我們的長期增長算法，因此，我們預計 2024 財年的有機淨銷售額增長在 5% 至 7% 範圍內。

It is important to note that in fiscal 2024, on a year-over-year basis, we will still be comparing against the strong shipments related to our rebuilding of distributor inventories that began in the second half of fiscal 2022 and extended into the first half of fiscal 2023. I will also mention the stronger shipments associated with the launch of Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola RTD in the back half of fiscal 2023 will have to be lapped in the second half of fiscal 2024. Both are reflected in our guidance.

值得注意的是，在 2024 財年，我們仍將與 2022 財年下半年開始並延續到上半年的經銷商庫存重建相關的強勁出貨量進行比較2023 財年下半年。我還要提到的是，與 2023 財年下半年推出 Jack Daniel's 和可口可樂 RTD 相關的強勁出貨量將必須在 2024 財年下半年得到體現。兩者都反映在我們的指導中。

We believe inflation will continue to negatively impact our input cost which will be partially offset by lower year-over-year costs associated with the supply chain disruption we incurred in fiscal 2023.

我們認為，通脹將繼續對我們的投入成本產生負面影響，而 2023 財年供應鏈中斷導致的同比成本下降將部分抵消這一影響。

Our outlook reflects a normalization of incremental advertising spend after lapping a year of significant incremental investment in fiscal 2023.

我們的前景反映了在 2023 財年經歷了一年的大幅增量投資之後，廣告支出增量將趨於正常化。

As a reminder, our long-term philosophy for advertising spend is to be aligned with our top line growth. SG&A growth is likely to remain higher than historical averages as we continue to expect higher compensation-related expenses and transition Japan to own distribution in fiscal 2024. Based on these expectations, we anticipate organic operating income growth in the 6% to 8% range for the full fiscal year. We also expect our fiscal 2024 effective tax rate to be in the range of approximately 21% to 23%.

提醒一下，我們廣告支出的長期理念是與我們的營收增長保持一致。由於我們繼續預計薪酬相關費用將會增加，並且日本將在 2024 財年實現自主分配，SG&A 增長可能會繼續高於歷史平均水平。根據這些預期，我們預計 2024 財年的有機營業收入增長將在 6% 至 8% 之間。整個財政年度。我們還預計 2024 財年的有效稅率約為 21% 至 23%。

And lastly, for capital expenditures, as I mentioned, we remain committed to investing fully behind our business and based on the expectation for continuing strong consumer demand for our brands, additional expansions are required to support this growth, particularly for the Jack Daniel's family of brands and our Herradura tequila brands, as Lawson shared earlier in his comments.

最後，對於資本支出，正如我所提到的，我們仍然致力於全力投資支持我們的業務，並且基於消費者對我們品牌持續強勁需求的預期，需要進行額外的擴張來支持這種增長，特別是對於 Jack Daniel's 系列品牌和我們的 Herradura 龍舌蘭酒品牌，正如勞森早些時候在評論中分享的那樣。

Therefore, in fiscal 2024 we estimate our capital expenditures will be in the range of $250 million to $270 million for the full year.

因此，我們預計 2024 財年全年資本支出將在 2.5 億至 2.7 億美元之間。

In summary, we are proud of our second consecutive fiscal year of strong broad-based growth from both a brand and geographic perspective. In fiscal 2023, we delivered double-digit organic top line and high single-digit organic bottom line growth despite the significant disruptions and challenges we encountered throughout the year. As trends and inventories are normalizing, we are optimistic about the fiscal year ahead. We believe the strength of our premium and iconic brand portfolio, along with the talent and diversity of our team members, will enable another year of consistent growth in Brown-Forman's history of delivering sustainable and consistent long-term performance.

總之，從品牌和地域角度來看，我們對連續第二個財年實現強勁的廣泛增長感到自豪。儘管我們全年遇到了重大干擾和挑戰，但在 2023 財年，我們實現了兩位數的有機營收和高個位數的有機利潤增長。隨著趨勢和庫存正常化，我們對未來財年持樂觀態度。我們相信，我們優質和標誌性品牌組合的實力，以及我們團隊成員的才華和多樣性，將使 Brown-Forman 在提供可持續和一致的長期業績的歷史上又實現持續增長。

This concludes our prepared remarks. Please open the line for questions.

我們準備好的發言到此結束。請打開提問熱線。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question comes from the line of Vivien Azer from TD Cowen.

我們的第一個問題來自 TD Cowen 的 Vivien Azer。

So thank you so much for all the perspective on your inventory levels. I'm sure you've been hearing it, we certainly have a lot of concern from investors around overall alcohol inventories in the U.S., in particular, looking at the census data. So Lawson or Leanne, I was wondering if you had any comments that you could offer on broader -- the broader inventory situation for spirits or U.S. alcohol across the board? Any perspective on that would be helpful.

非常感謝您對庫存水平的所有看法。我相信您已經聽說過，投資者當然對美國的整體酒精庫存非常擔憂，特別是在人口普查數據方面。勞森或莉安，我想知道您是否可以對更廣泛的烈酒或美國酒精的庫存狀況發表任何評論？任何對此的看法都會有所幫助。

Thanks, Vivien. I'll take that one. And as we have shared with you over the last 7 quarters, we've been in a little bit of a different position than some of our peers in the industry. We have similarly had really strong consumer demand. We've added some great innovations to our portfolio. But we've been faced with the global supply chain challenges, first, related to glass, then followed by the logistic constraints that we've had. So we've been working for us diligently to rebuild that inventory. And as we shared with you last quarter, we believe that our distributor and retailer inventories would return to more normalized levels at the end of this fiscal year.

謝謝，薇薇安。我會接受那個。正如我們在過去 7 個季度與您分享的那樣，我們與業內一些同行的處境略有不同。同樣，我們也有非常強勁的消費者需求。我們在我們的產品組合中添加了一些偉大的創新。但我們一直面臨著全球供應鏈的挑戰，首先是與玻璃相關的挑戰，然後是我們所面臨的物流限制。因此，我們一直在努力重建庫存。正如我們上季度與您分享的那樣，我們相信我們的分銷商和零售商庫存將在本財年末恢復到更加正常的水平。

And so for us, in the U.S., we're happy to report that our distributor inventory levels are now back to normal. We do continue to have some rebuilding of some brands and some smaller sizes, but our shipments and depletions now are largely black and balanced across our full strength portfolio.

因此，對於我們來說，在美國，我們很高興地報告說，我們的經銷商庫存水平現已恢復正常。我們確實繼續對一些品牌和一些較小的尺寸進行一些重建，但我們的出貨量和消耗現在基本上是黑色的，並且在我們的全部實力組合中保持平衡。

And similarly, in Europe, our stock levels are also largely back to normal after we have the supply chain challenges in fiscal '22. So for us, we were just in a bit of a different position. We've been kind of updating you on that every quarter as we moved along. And for us, we are kind of just now getting back to what we consider normal inventories across the system.

同樣，在歐洲，在 22 財年面臨供應鏈挑戰之後，我們的庫存水平也基本恢復正常。所以對我們來說，我們的處境有點不同。隨著我們的進展，我們每個季度都會向您通報最新情況。對於我們來說，我們現在才剛剛回到我們所認為的整個系統的正常庫存。

Understood. But just to follow up on that. Do you have any comment on the broader inventory situation across distilled spirits? Is there excess inventory? Because that seems to be a concern I'm hearing pretty consistently.

明白了。但只是為了跟進。您對蒸餾酒的更廣泛庫存狀況有何評論？庫存是否過剩？因為這似乎是我一直聽到的一個問題。

I think what we would say is we're probably all reading and hearing the same things that you are, but we don't have a comment on the general position.

我想我們想說的是，我們可能都在閱讀和聽到與你們相同的事情，但我們對總體立場不發表評論。

Our next question comes from the line of Eric Serotta from Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Eric Serotta。

Great. Hoping you could give some color on your visibility in terms of gross -- visibility and outlook in terms of gross margins for fiscal '24. I know you've called out the continued input cost inflation offset by the absence of some of the extraordinary supply chain charges. But maybe you could give us a little bit of color in terms of your visibility and some of the components there, like agave and wood and other inputs?

偉大的。希望您能對 24 財年毛利率方面的可見度和前景給出一些說明。我知道您已經指出，持續的投入成本通脹被一些特殊的供應鏈費用的缺失所抵消。但也許您可以在您的可見性和其中的一些組件（如龍舌蘭、木材和其他投入）方面給我們一些顏色？

Sure. First, I'll start with kind of what we said right there at the end of our prepared remarks. Just as it relates to our operating income guidance includes brand expenses in line with top line growth. SG&A that's going to be still a bit above our historical norms just related to higher compensation and the addition of our Japan RTC.

當然。首先，我將從我們準備好的發言結束時所說的內容開始。正如它與我們的營業收入指導相關一樣，包括與營收增長一致的品牌費用。 SG&A 仍將略高於我們的歷史標準，這與更高的薪酬和日本 RTC 的增加有關。

So then with that, leaving our gross margin, our gross margin assumes that we're going to continue to benefit from our long-term pricing and revenue growth management strategies. I'll go into a little bit more detail on that in a moment. Then as it relates to our cost, and we said last quarter, from a supply chain disruption perspective, we will incur significantly less of an impact in F '24 as global logistic challenges have eased and we're going to be returning to our normal shipping lanes in F '24.

因此，撇開我們的毛利率，我們的毛利率假設我們將繼續受益於我們的長期定價和收入增長管理策略。稍後我將詳細介紹這一點。然後，由於這與我們的成本有關，我們上季度說過，從供應鏈中斷的角度來看，隨著全球物流挑戰的緩解，我們將在 F '24 中受到的影響顯著減少，並且我們將恢復正常F '24 的航線。

From an inflation perspective, it will continue to negatively impact our input costs, though on a year-over-year kind of rate increase, it will be lower, though still just a bit above our historical trends. To your specific question on some of our key input costs. For agave, we really is similar of what we've shared the last several quarters that the external prices continue to be beyond and below their peak, stable at the MXN 28 to MXN 30 per kilo.

從通貨膨脹的角度來看，它將繼續對我們的投入成本產生負面影響，儘管按年增長率計算，它會較低，但仍略高於我們的歷史趨勢。關於您關於我們的一些關鍵投入成本的具體問題。對於龍舌蘭，我們確實與過去幾個季度分享的情況類似，外部價格繼續超出和低於其峰值，穩定在每公斤 28 至 30 墨西哥比索。

For us, it's a little bit of a headwind in F '24 as we have a bit of a mix shift between our internal and external purchases just because our consumer demand is so strong for agave.

對我們來說，24 世紀的這有點逆風，因為我們的內部和外部採購之間存在一些混合轉變，因為我們的消費者對龍舌蘭的需求如此強勁。

As it relates to wood, the cost of the commodity continues to be high due to the strong demand. But the changes that we have made in our wood supply chain are beginning to yield benefits that we will see as we go forward into the longer term. From a grain perspective, as you know, global grain price increased significantly after the Russia invaded Ukraine and kind of got things out of balance. We have been seeing this ease in recent quarters, yet our plan for '24. It still remains above kind of what we would see as normal trends.

就木材而言，由於需求強勁，商品成本持續居高不下。但我們在木材供應鏈中所做的改變已開始產生效益，隨著我們的長期發展，我們將看到這些效益。從糧食角度來看，如您所知，在俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭並導致局勢失衡後，全球糧食價格大幅上漲。最近幾個季度我們已經看到了這種緩解，但我們的 24 年計劃仍然如此。它仍然高於我們所看到的正常趨勢。

Just a few more items from a glass perspective that's produced in the U.S. We, again, believe we will see less of an increase in '24 than we did in '23. That's related to the lower natural gas prices. And then as it relates to wages, the cost of labor is still fairly high, driven by the wage inflations that we've seen.

從玻璃的角度來看，美國生產的產品只是多了一些。我們再次相信，24 年的增幅將低於 23 年。這與天然氣價格較低有關。然後，就工資而言，由於我們所看到的工資通脹，勞動力成本仍然相當高。

A few other items. As we get into F '24, we have now lapped the benefit of the -- from the EU removal of tariffs on American whiskey, but we will have a slight impact -- positive impact for the U.K. tariffs that were removed June 1, 2022.

其他一些物品。隨著我們進入 F '24，我們現在已經享受到了歐盟取消對美國威士忌關稅的好處，但我們將對 2022 年 6 月 1 日取消的英國關稅產生輕微的積極影響。

Then 2 other things I would like to share with you as it relates to our gross margin related to the reshaping of our portfolio is, I know there's focus and there has been focus around the impact of RTDs on our business, and we've been in the RTD business and have had a sizable RTD business for 30-plus years.

然後，我想與您分享的另外兩件事，因為它與我們的毛利率有關，與我們的投資組合重塑有關，我知道人們一直在關注 RTD 對我們業務的影響，而且我們一直在關注這一點。從事 RTD 業務，並擁有規模龐大的 RTD 業務 30 多年。

So as we do add Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola to our portfolio, it's also important to remember at the same time, we are adding 2 super and ultra-premium brands to our portfolio with Gin Mare and Diplomático and they have very attractive financial metrics, including gross margins that are above our current company average.

因此，當我們將 Jack Daniel's 和可口可樂添加到我們的產品組合中時，同時記住這一點也很重要，我們將 Gin Mare 和 Diplomático 兩個超級和超高端品牌添加到我們的產品組合中，它們非常有吸引力財務指標，包括高於我們當前公司平均水平的毛利率。

So I know there was a lot in that answer, but we've got kind of a lot moving this year. But net-net, I hope all of that helps you to understand the components of our gross margin for '24.

所以我知道這個答案包含了很多內容，但今年我們取得了很多進展。但是，我希望所有這些都能幫助您了解我們 24 年毛利率的組成部分。

Yes. It's really helpful. Maybe just taking a step back, your gross margins going back to kind of pre-COVID fiscal '19 were in the mid-60s; going a few years before that, they were in the high 60s. I guess maybe could you talk about visibility in terms of a path to getting back to pre-COVID levels? Are you looking at this in terms of percentage margin? Are you looking at growing the GP dollars? Any sort of long-term perspective versus your history would be helpful.

是的。這真的很有幫助。也許只是退後一步，你的毛利率回到了新冠疫情之前的 19 財年 60 年代中期；幾年前，他們才 60 多歲。我想您能否談談恢復到新冠疫情前水平的途徑的可見性？您是從利潤率的角度來看待這個問題的嗎？您是否正在考慮增加 GP 資金？任何與你的歷史相比的長期觀點都會有所幫助。

Yes. I mean everything that I've just talked about as far as we -- the company is focused on growing our value share, and that is reflected in our long-term pricing strategy. We've significantly increased, I think, our capabilities as it relates to revenue growth management. So that is beginning to contribute positively to our gross margin as well as we're in an aged product business.

是的。我的意思是我剛才談到的一切，就我們而言——公司專注於增加我們的價值份額，這反映在我們的長期定價策略中。我認為，我們在收入增長管理方面的能力已經顯著增強。因此，這開始對我們的毛利率做出積極貢獻，而且我們處於老化產品業務中。

And when you look at our portfolio, the historically high levels of agave cost as it relates to our portfolio and wood as it relates to our portfolio kind of has had an outsized impact. We all continue to watch the change in the external agave price. And again, we've shared with this every quarter as we see the additional number of plantings that are coming in the out years. We believe that supply and demand will come back closer into line than what they have been.

當您查看我們的產品組合時，會發現與我們的產品組合相關的龍舌蘭成本和與我們的產品組合相關的木材成本處於歷史高位，產生了巨大的影響。我們都繼續關注外部龍舌蘭價格的變化。再次，我們每個季度都會分享這一點，因為我們看到未來幾年的種植面積將會增加。我們相信，供給和需求將比以前更接近。

And then I've just commented on wood that impacts our barrel cost, which is all about some of the changes that we've made in our supply chain, though it's an aged product, so we will see those benefits as the years ahead of us unfolds.

然後我剛剛評論了影響我們桶成本的木材，這都是我們在供應鏈中所做的一些改變，儘管它是一種老化的產品，所以我們將在未來幾年看到這些好處我們展開。

Our next question comes from the line of Bonnie Herzog from Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的邦妮·赫爾佐格。

I just had a quick question on your top line guidance. How much of your top line, I guess, organic growth do you expect will be driven from price/mix versus volume growth this year? And then maybe what the breakdown of rate versus mix might look like? And then I'd be curious to hear from you, are there any concerns or signs of promotional intensity building, really essentially any changes to your pricing strategy in light of the strains on the consumer globally?

我只是對您的首要指導有一個簡短的問題。我想，您預計今年的有機增長有多少將由價格/組合與銷量增長驅動？那麼，利率與組合的細分可能會是什麼樣子？然後，我很想听聽您的意見，是否有任何關於促銷力度增強的擔憂或跡象，鑑於全球消費者面臨的壓力，您的定價策略實際上是否有任何變化？

Yes, I'll try that one, Bonnie. So the pricing strategy, which we started a couple of years ago, which we've been pretty transparent about, was in the low single digits, sort of in that 2% to 3% range kind of globally everywhere, so U.S. and international have been trying to get it across all our brands. And we've been pretty successful at that over the last couple of years, and we're going to continue that.

是的，我會嘗試一下，邦妮。因此，我們幾年前開始的定價策略一直非常透明，處於較低的個位數，全球各地都在 2% 到 3% 的範圍內，所以美國和國際上一直在努力將其推廣到我們所有的品牌。過去幾年我們在這方面取得了相當成功，我們將繼續這樣做。

So our strategy has been a little bit different than either some other consumer products, sectors or even within our own industry that have been more aggressive. And there are pluses and minuses to doing that, but we feel comfortable that the best long-term plan is to keep that sort of in that same low single-digit range, but trying to do it every single year without shocking consumers or chasing them away in any way.

因此，我們的戰略與其他一些消費品、行業甚至我們自己行業內的一些更為激進的戰略略有不同。這樣做有優點也有缺點，但我們認為最好的長期計劃是將其保持在相同的低個位數範圍內，但嘗試每年都這樣做，而不會讓消費者感到震驚或追逐他們以任何方式離開。

And so that balance of volume and pricing is what we're looking to achieve. Now as far as like more recent times, have we seen like discounting go up or anything like that, we really have not. I mean I think the pricing environment in U.S. spirits but also in Europe is it about as good of a place as it's been in a while.

因此，我們希望實現銷量和價格的平衡。現在，就最近而言，我們是否看到折扣上漲或類似的情況，我們確實沒有看到。我的意思是，我認為美國烈酒以及歐洲的定價環境與一段時間以來一樣好。

We find the industry is starting to take regular price increases again after, as we've said, for almost a decade of not doing it, but that seems to be back again. And so hopefully, it stays that way, and we'll continue to keep our heads down and go for that 2% to 3% a year.

我們發現，正如我們所說，該行業在近十年沒有這樣做之後，又開始定期提價，但這種情況似乎又回來了。希望這種情況能夠保持下去，我們將繼續保持低調，爭取每年 2% 到 3% 的增長。

Our next question comes from the line of Nik Modi from RBC.

我們的下一個問題來自加拿大皇家銀行的尼克·莫迪。

Yes. There's some chatter still in the industry regarding glass supply and so I just wanted to kind of get your update there. And if there is an issue, what is actually still the problem or driving the issue?

是的。業內對於玻璃供應仍有一些爭論，所以我只是想了解一下您的最新情況。如果存在問題，實際上仍然存在問題或導致問題的原因是什麼？

And then the second question is just back on the tequila question. So we've been seeing some of the data. It looks like promotional activity is picking up. Anything notable there that you guys are monitoring?

然後第二個問題又回到了龍舌蘭酒問題。所以我們已經看到了一些數據。看來促銷活動正在升溫。你們正在監視什麼值得注意的事情嗎？

I'll start with glass supply. So as we have navigated glass supply challenges, which was the first constraint that we hit post pandemic and trying to get our glass supply back to where we needed it to be. I think we've spoke to on this several quarters and the fact that beginning this would have been in F '22, we were working closely with our partners to ensure we have the capacity and that they were also getting the quality and quantity of glass that we needed produced. We've also talked about how during that time, we diversified our across more suppliers that now has come online for us.

我將從玻璃供應開始。因此，當我們克服玻璃供應挑戰時，這是我們在大流行後遇到的第一個限制，並試圖使我們的玻璃供應恢復到我們需要的水平。我想我們已經就這幾個季度進行了交談，事實上，從 F '22 開始，我們正在與我們的合作夥伴密切合作，以確保我們有能力，並且他們也能獲得玻璃的質量和數量我們需要生產的。我們還討論了在那段時間裡我們如何在更多的供應商中實現多元化，這些供應商現在已經為我們上線了。

So for us, we have lived through those challenges and navigated through them successfully to the point that we really aren't seeing any glass supply challenges for us as we've gone through the back half of F '23 and that's our plan as well for F '24.

因此，對於我們來說，我們已經經歷了這些挑戰，並成功地克服了它們，以至於我們確實沒有看到任何玻璃供應挑戰，因為我們已經經歷了 F '23 的後半段，這也是我們的計劃對於 F '24。

And then on the tequila question, I mean you asked have we seen any more discounting or anything like that? No. I'm actually kind of surprised to hear that a little bit, although I do know some of the big brands have slowed down a little bit, but some of that, I'm just convinced is more about comping against a couple of years, there were some of these brands were growing 100% growth rate.

然後關於龍舌蘭酒問題，我的意思是你問我們是否看到更多折扣或類似的東西？不。事實上，我聽到這個消息有點驚訝，雖然我確實知道一些大品牌已經放慢了一點速度，但我確信其中一些更多是為了與幾個品牌進行比較多年來，其中有一些品牌以100%的增長率增長。

And so they just -- they kind of hit that wall a little bit. And as Leanne said, Herradura is a little bit different. I mean we are expecting better growth looking ahead as the glass constraints let up. That was the last brand, really the last brand in our portfolio that struggled. And we came out of the box in fiscal '23 last summer with very high expectations and then we couldn't deliver. And that was frustrating.

所以他們只是——他們有點碰壁了。正如 Leanne 所說，Herradura 有點不同。我的意思是，隨著玻璃限制的放鬆，我們預計未來會有更好的增長。那是最後一個品牌，實際上是我們產品組合中最後一個陷入困境的品牌。去年夏天，我們在 23 財年提出了很高的期望，但後來卻未能實現。這很令人沮喪。

But now we've sort of got that all fixed and want to see substantially better growth rates looking ahead. So -- and as far as discounting go in the category, I mean, given the costs still remain very elevated, although I want to say we're sort of peaking out. I've said that before and been wrong. So it's -- but it does look -- I think the outlook is a little bit better that we have to hit the top and should expect a better cost position going forward, but I have no intention of increasing discounting at this stage, at least not on our brands.

但現在我們已經解決了所有問題，並希望看到未來的增長率大幅提高。因此，就該類別的折扣而言，我的意思是，考慮到成本仍然非常高，儘管我想說我們已經達到了頂峰。我以前說過，但錯了。所以，但看起來確實是這樣，我認為前景要好一些，我們必須達到頂峰，並且應該期待未來更好的成本狀況，但至少在現階段我無意增加折扣不在我們的品牌上。

Our next question comes from the line of Kevin Grundy from Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Kevin Grundy。

My question was on the Jack & Coke rollout, which sounds like it's going quite well. Just a few questions, if I could. Maybe just provide an update, how many more markets remain for the rollout? What are some -- I can appreciate it's early innings here, but what are some of the early learnings about the consumer and where you're sourcing occasions for the product? And then just lastly, anything that you can share around trial and repeat purchase rates would be appreciated?

我的問題是關於 Jack & Coke 的推出，聽起來進展順利。如果可以的話，我只想問幾個問題。也許只是提供一個更新，還有多少市場需要推出？有哪些——我可以理解現在還處於早期階段，但是關於消費者的一些早期了解以及您在哪裡尋找產品的機會是什麼？最後，您可以分享有關試用和重複購買率的任何內容嗎？

Yes. We don't have a lot of that data yet. So we'll talk about a lot of where we are today because basically the rest of the world is still open. So we're in 9 markets: Mexico, the U.S., Japan, Philippines, the U.K., Poland, Hungary and the Netherlands and Ireland. So not sure what percentage of the world that would be, but it's not particularly high.

是的。我們還沒有很多這樣的數據。因此，我們將討論我們今天所處的很多情況，因為基本上世界其他地區仍然開放。我們的業務覆蓋 9 個市場：墨西哥、美國、日本、菲律賓、英國、波蘭、匈牙利、荷蘭和愛爾蘭。所以不確定這個比例在世界上有多少，但並不是特別高。

So we got a ways to go, and it will continue throughout this fiscal year and even into the following year after that, too. So -- I mean, the short answer on how is it doing and how are we doing? I mean it's -- we feel pretty good about it. The turn rates have been kind of on plan to maybe slightly better than planned so far, and that would be the U.S. and in the other markets that I just talked about. So excited about that.

因此，我們還有很長的路要走，這種情況將持續到本財年，甚至下一年。所以——我的意思是，簡短的回答一下它做得怎麼樣以及我們做得怎麼樣？我的意思是——我們對此感覺很好。到目前為止，周轉率已經按計劃進行，可能略好於計劃，這將是美國和我剛才談到的其他市場。對此感到非常興奮。

And look, the Coca-Cola Company and Brown-Forman are working very well together on this rollout. They've got some pretty cool programming out there in the world. We talked a little bit about Piccadilly Circus and some other sort of iconic landmark types of things. And so we're coming out big. And this is a good thing for the Jack Daniel's brand, even if it is modest -- incremental profits in the early years, there's a lot of visibility we're getting from that.

瞧，可口可樂公司和 Brown-Forman 在此次推出中合作得非常好。他們在世界上有一些非常酷的節目。我們討論了一些關於皮卡迪利廣場和其他一些標誌性地標類型的事物。所以我們要大干一場。這對傑克丹尼品牌來說是一件好事，即使它的規模不大——早期利潤的增量，我們從中獲得了很多知名度。

It's a lot of advertising dollars that are going behind this launch that are not reflected on Brown-Forman's P&L, but it's still happening in the world. And so that is something I don't want people to forget about that it's a tremendous amount of consumer interactions that we're getting with this brand. So it's all off to a good start. It will probably be another quarter or so before we really have a lot of that sort of turn data that I think we're all looking to see.

此次發布背後投入了大量的廣告費用，這些費用並未反映在 Brown-Forman 的損益表中，但這種情況仍然在世界範圍內發生。因此，我不希望人們忘記，我們與這個品牌進行了大量的消費者互動。所以這一切都有了一個好的開始。可能還需要一個季度左右的時間，我們才能真正獲得大量我認為我們都希望看到的轉彎數據。

Just a quick -- I'm sorry, Leanne, were you going to say something?

很快——對不起，Leanne，你要說點什麼嗎？

No. But you go ahead with your follow-up.

不，但你可以繼續你的後續行動。

Quick follow-up for you. Perhaps you went as far as you'd like to go on commenting on margin implications here. I appreciate your comment on Gin Mare and Diplomático, but what can you say about the phasing of this and how investors should think about this rollout, what the margin delta is relative to the base portfolio? How would you think about this as you try to scale this product in a number of markets. So anything that you can provide further there, I think would be useful and then I'll pass it on.

快速為您跟進。也許您已經想繼續在這裡評論利潤影響了。我很欣賞您對 Gin Mare 和 Diplomático 的評論，但是您對這一計劃的分階段有何看法，以及投資者應如何考慮此次推出，保證金增量相對於基礎投資組合是多少？當您嘗試在多個市場擴展該產品時，您會如何看待這個問題。因此，我認為您可以進一步提供的任何內容都會有用，然後我會將其傳遞給您。

Okay. Great. What we would say is, generally speaking, gross margins on our RTDs is below our company average. But as we think about Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola as it relates to our operating margin, it's a little bit different in the fact that as Lawson just mentioned, so we have consistent strategy, and we can maximize scale. The Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola RTD launches are supported by both Brown-Forman and the Coca-Cola Company. So based on our current expectation, this joint funding should result in higher operating margins for Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola related to the rest of our RTDs.

好的。偉大的。我們想說的是，一般來說，我們 RTD 的毛利率低於我們公司的平均水平。但當我們考慮傑克丹尼和可口可樂與我們的營業利潤率相關時，情況有點不同，正如勞森剛才提到的，所以我們有一致的戰略，我們可以最大化規模。 Jack Daniel's 和可口可樂 RTD 的推出得到了 Brown-Forman 和可口可樂公司的支持。因此，根據我們目前的預期，此次聯合融資應該會為傑克丹尼和可口可樂帶來比我們其他 RTD 更高的營業利潤。

And remember, in most of our big markets, this is a transition from existing Jack Daniel's and Cola business to Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola. And again, something we continue to believe as well. We always have in the 30 years we've been doing RTDs as they are a wonderful connectivity and marketing tool with the consumer and that it will have a positive impact on our full-strength brand. And just 1 example of that is Germany, which is one of our largest RTD markets and our RTDs there are strong contributors to our growth and our share gains.

請記住，在我們的大多數大市場中，這是從現有的傑克丹尼和可樂業務向杰克丹尼和可口可樂業務的過渡。再說一遍，我們仍然相信這一點。 30 年來，我們一直在做 RTD，因為它們是與消費者建立聯繫和營銷的絕佳工具，並將對我們的全實力品牌產生積極影響。德國就是其中一個例子，它是我們最大的 RTD 市場之一，我們的 RTD 為我們的增長和份額增長做出了巨大貢獻。

And also in that market, Jack Daniel's is the #1 American whiskey and is also growing and outperforming the total category. So we believe that as we continue to premiumize our business with the Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola RTD, it will continue to reflect positively on our entire family of brands.

同樣在這個市場上，傑克丹尼是排名第一的美國威士忌，而且還在不斷增長並超越了整個類別。因此，我們相信，隨著我們繼續將 Jack Daniel's 和可口可樂 RTD 業務推向高端，它將繼續對我們整個品牌系列產生積極的影響。

Our next question comes from the line of Filippo Falorni from Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Filippo Falorni。

Question on your guidance -- on fiscal '24 guidance, particularly on top line. At the macro level, you mentioned you remain a little bit cautious on the global macro. What kind of expectations are you embedded in guidance? Are you assuming a continuation of the current trends, worsening of consumer globally and specifically also in the U.S. market?

關於您的指導的問題 - 關於 24 財年指導，尤其是營收方面的指導。在宏觀層面，您提到您對全球宏觀仍持謹慎態度。您對指導抱有什麼樣的期望？您是否認為當前趨勢會持續下去，即全球（尤其是美國市場）消費者的情況惡化？

Yes. So what I'll add to that is, again, just to reiterate what we said in our prepared remarks, from a top line perspective, we just completed 2 consecutive years of double-digit top line growth with F '22 at 17% and F '23 at 10%.

是的。因此，我要補充的是，再次重申我們在準備好的發言中所說的話，從營收角度來看，我們剛剛完成了連續兩年兩位數的營收增長，其中 F '22 增長率為 17%， F '23 為 10%。

So now as we move into F '24, we've lapped most of the significant impacts of the pandemic. We're moving more towards a normalized environment. But in that normalized environment, we continue to expect increased consumer demand and for our premium portfolio, just more back in line with our historical trends setting on top of that elevated base. Again, Lawson talked about, I've talked about our continued reliance on the long-term pricing strategy and our revenue growth management. And we will, as we get into F '24, it will be -- there'll still be a little bumpy as we relate to comparing against the strong shipments of rebuilding our inventories that we had that carried over into fiscal '23.

因此，現在，當我們進入 F '24 時，我們已經克服了這一流行病的大部分重大影響。我們正在進一步走向常態化的環境。但在這種正常化的環境下，我們繼續預計消費者需求將會增加，而我們的優質產品組合將更加符合我們在這一高基數基礎上設定的歷史趨勢。勞森再次談到，我已經談到了我們對長期定價策略和收入增長管理的持續依賴。當我們進入 24 財年時，與我們結轉到 23 財年重建庫存的強勁出貨量相比，我們仍然會遇到一些坎坷。

And then with the recent lapping of the Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola launches. So again, it's -- and one thing we also have to factor into our guidance that we lived with, with all of fiscal '23 that will be absent in '24 is the impact of not having our Russia business. So that's in there as well. So -- but again, as you said, we keep a close eye on all of the consumer behavior, macroeconomic trends. But in our plan, we still have very strong consumer demand.

然後是最近傑克丹尼和可口可樂的推出。再說一次，我們還必須在我們所遵循的指導中考慮一件事，因為 23 財年的所有內容將在 24 財年消失，那就是沒有俄羅斯業務的影響。所以這也在那裡。因此，正如您所說，我們密切關注所有消費者行為和宏觀經濟趨勢。但在我們的計劃中，我們還是有非常旺盛的消費需求。

Yes. Let me add on the U.S. part of your question. I mean, as I look at Nielsen figures right now, just using that as an example, it's back in the 4% to 5% range for TDS, which is kind of where it was for about a decade before the pandemic actually happened and feels about where I think the market is going to settle out. We're a little bit ahead of that. That's a good marker for us to shoot for every year to be a little ahead of TDS and said the U.S. market is pretty good. It had an overall only a 3% growth in '23. Remember, the first half was 11%, which had some of that inventory rebuilt into it.

是的。讓我補充一下你問題中的美國部分。我的意思是，當我現在查看尼爾森的數據時，僅以此為例，TDS 又回到了 4% 到 5% 的範圍內，這是大流行實際發生之前大約十年的情況，感覺上是這樣的。關於我認為市場將會穩定下來的地方。我們稍微領先一點。這對我們來說是一個很好的標誌，我們每年都會領先於 TDS 一點，並表示美國市場相當不錯。 23 年總體增長率僅為 3%。請記住，上半年為 11%，其中部分庫存被重建。

The slowing down to 3 did recognize bringing some of those inventories back down, which has got us kind of where we are today, which is, what we described earlier, is in line. So -- but the other thing I would caution everyone, be careful extrapolating us to some statement about consumer health around the world. Our story is more about shipment comparisons to last year than it really is about a change in consumer demand.

放緩至 3 確實表明其中一些庫存有所回落，這使我們達到了今天的水平，即我們之前所描述的那樣。所以，但我要提醒大家的另一件事是，要小心地推斷我們對世界各地消費者健康的一些聲明。我們的故事更多的是與去年的出貨量比較，而不是消費者需求的變化。

So -- but I think overall, look, it's back to normal. We've said normalized about 10 times already today. But normal is pretty good. In the U.S. market, if you can get -- continually get mid-single-digit sales growth, and we expect higher growth outside of the United States, that algorithm works pretty well for Brown-Forman.

所以——但我認為總的來說，看起來，一切都恢復正常了。今天我們已經說過標準化大約十次了。不過正常就很好了。在美國市場，如果你能夠持續獲得中等個位數的銷售增長，並且我們預計美國以外的地區會有更高的增長，那麼該算法對 Brown-Forman 來說非常有效。

Got it. That's helpful. And just a quick follow-up. You mentioned in your prepared remarks some evidence of down-trading in Europe. Any other market where you're seeing this phenomenon? Or is it just isolated to Europe?

知道了。這很有幫助。只是快速跟進。您在準備好的發言中提到了歐洲貿易下降的一些證據。您在其他市場中看到過這種現象嗎？或者它只是孤立於歐洲？

Yes. I mean -- well, the U.S. is the one people seem to go at the most. And Obviously, when you -- if you went back to the Nielsen thing again, if you look at the less than $10, that's the spirit-based RTDs that are flying, but that bends the numbers if you try to look at the overall thing.

是的。我的意思是——嗯，美國似乎是人們最常去的地方。顯然，如果你再次回到尼爾森的事情，如果你看看低於 10 美元的產品，那就是基於酒精的 RTD 正在飛速發展，但如果你嘗試著眼於整體情況，這會扭曲數字。

So you've got to look at the different price points. And -- I mean the important thing is that the super-premium and the ultra-premium price points continue to grow at a faster rate than, say, standard or just premium. So that has been true for a long time. The gap has closed a little bit, but still premiumization is alive and well in the U.S. business. And yes, so we feel like the portfolio is in a pretty good place. It is a little bit tougher in Europe. TDS numbers are not quite as strong as they are in the U.S. France, I know, is a challenging market.

所以你必須考慮不同的價格點。而且——我的意思是，重要的是超高端和超高端價格點繼續以比標准或普通高端更快的速度增長。長期以來都是如此。差距已經縮小了一點，但高端化在美國業務中仍然活躍且發展良好。是的，所以我們覺得這個投資組合處於一個非常好的位置。歐洲的情況稍微困難一些。 TDS 數據不如美國那麼強勁。我知道，法國是一個充滿挑戰的市場。

But we're growing share in Germany, the U.K. and Poland, 3 of the most important international markets that we have around the world. So we feel pretty good that the takeaway of our brands, particularly in developed international is solid.

但我們在德國、英國和波蘭這三個我們在全球最重要的國際市場的份額正在不斷增長。因此，我們感到非常高興，我們的品牌的外賣，特別是在發達國家的國際市場是穩固的。

At this time, we have run out of time for questions. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Sue Perram for closing remarks.

此時，我們已經沒有時間提問了。現在我想將會議轉回給蘇·佩拉姆 (Sue Perram) 致閉幕詞。

Thank you, and thank you, Lawson and Leanne, and thank you to everyone for joining us today for Brown-Forman's Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Earnings Call. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact us. Before wrapping up today's call, though, I would like to hand the call back over to Lawson for a few additional comments.

謝謝你們，謝謝勞森和莉安，感謝大家今天加入我們參加 Brown-Forman 的第四季度和 2023 財年收益電話會議。如果您還有任何其他問題，請隨時與我們聯繫。不過，在結束今天的電話會議之前，我想將電話交還給勞森，徵求一些補充意見。

Yes, just briefly, and I know everyone knows by now, heard of the passing of Diageo's CEO, Ivan Menezes. His influence can be felt really around our industry and in every market where beverage alcohol is sold. He was an admired leader and well respected across the industry. So on behalf of all of us at Brown-Forman, we send our deepest condolences to his family and the entire Diageo community. That concludes our call.

是的，只是簡單地介紹一下，我知道現在每個人都知道，聽說了帝亞吉歐首席執行官伊万·梅內塞斯去世的消息。他的影響力在我們的行業和每個銷售酒精飲料的市場中都能感受到。他是一位令人敬佩的領導者，在整個行業中廣受尊敬。因此，我們代表布朗福曼全體員工，向他的家人和整個帝亞吉歐社區致以最深切的哀悼。我們的通話到此結束。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。