Brown-Forman Corp (BF.B) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome to Brown-Forman Corporation's Second Quarter and First Half of Fiscal Year 2024 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions).

您好，歡迎參加 Brown-Forman Corporation 2024 財年第二季及上半年財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）。

I would now like to hand the conference over to Sue Perram, Vice President, Director, Investor Relations. You may begin.

我現在將會議交給副總裁兼投資者關係總監 Sue Perram。你可以開始了。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. I would like to thank each of you for joining us today for Brown-Forman's Second Quarter and First Half of Fiscal Year 2024 earnings call. Joining me today are Lawson Whiting, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Leanne Cunningham, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝大家，大家早安。我要感謝大家今天參加 Brown-Forman 的 2024 財年第二季和上半年財報電話會議。今天與我一起出席的有總裁兼執行長勞森·懷廷 (Lawson Whiting)；以及執行副總裁兼財務長 Leanne Cunningham。

This morning's conference call contains forward-looking statements based on our current expectations. 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.

今天早上的電話會議包含基於我們目前預期的前瞻性陳述。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期的結果有重大差異。許多決定未來結果的因素超出了公司的控製或預測能力。您不應過度依賴任何前瞻性陳述。除法律要求外，本公司不承擔更新任何這些聲明的義務，無論是由於新資訊、未來事件或其他原因。

This morning, we issued a press release containing our results for the second quarter and first half of fiscal year 2024 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. 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 factors are described in our Form 10-K and Form 10-Q reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

今天早上，我們發布了一份新聞稿，其中包含 2024 年第二季和上半年的業績，此外還發布了 Lawson 和 Leanne 將立即瀏覽的簡報資料。新聞稿和簡報均可在我們網站的「投資者、活動和簡報」部分找到。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要因素。

During this call, we will be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures. These measures are a 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。這些衡量標準與最直接可比較的公認會計準則財務衡量標準進行了協調，管理層認為這些衡量標準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，均包含在新聞稿和投資者介紹中。

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

說到這裡，我想打電話給勞森。

Thank you, Sue, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today as we share our second quarter and first half results for fiscal 2024. As anticipated, the key drivers behind our first quarter results continued into the second quarter. First, consumer demand for our brands continues to reflect a normalization back to our more historical trends.

謝謝你，蘇，大家早安。感謝您今天加入我們，我們將分享 2024 財年第二季和上半年的業績。正如預期的那樣，第一季業績背後的關鍵驅動因素持續到了第二季。首先，消費者對我們品牌的需求持續反映出我們更歷史趨勢的正常化。

Second, as we've shared we continue to grow on top of a very strong first half in the prior year, driven by the rebuilding of distributor inventories in the prior year period. To help put this into better context, I encourage you to reference Schedule D in today's earnings release.

其次，正如我們所分享的，在去年上半年非常強勁的基礎上，在去年期間經銷商庫存重建的推動下，我們繼續成長。為了幫助更好地理解這一點，我鼓勵您參考今天的收益報告中的附表 D。

Third, we're starting to see beneficial contributions from both Diplomático and Gin Mare while also continuing our portfolio reshaping with the announced sale of Sonoma-Cutrer.

第三，我們開始看到 Diplomático 和 Gin Mare 的有益貢獻，同時宣佈出售 Sonoma-Cutrer，繼續重塑我們的投資組合。

Fourth, while higher input costs were persistent in the first half. These costs were more than offset by favorable price and mix and the lapping of the supply chain disruption costs in the year ago period.

第四，上半年投入成本持續上升。這些成本被去年同期有利的價格和產品組合以及供應鏈中斷成本的抵銷所抵銷。

And finally, while our operating expense growth rate moderated in the second quarter, the timing and phasing of these expenses had an unfavorable impact on our first half operating income.

最後，雖然我們的營運費用成長率在第二季有所放緩，但這些費用的時間和階段對我們上半年的營運收入產生了不利影響。

Now let's turn our attention to how these drivers influenced our first half fiscal 2024 results. Our reported net sales growth increased 2% in the first half with organic net sales growth increasing 1% after adjusting for the recent acquisitions. Notably, this growth was delivered against an 11% reported and 17% organic net sales increase in the same period last year. If you were to simply add the organic growth rate in the first half of fiscal '24 due to the organic growth rate in the first half of fiscal '23 and divide by 2, the average in the first half of these periods has been 9%.

現在讓我們將注意力轉向這些驅動因素如何影響我們 2024 財年上半年的業績。我們報告的上半年淨銷售額成長了 2%，在對最近的收購進行調整後，有機淨銷售額成長了 1%。值得注意的是，這一增長是在去年同期報告的 11% 和有機淨銷售額增長 17% 的基礎上實現的。如果您簡單地將 24 財年上半年的自然成長率與 23 財年上半年的自然成長率相加，然後除以 2，則這些時期上半年的平均值為 9% 。

Fundamentally, our brands remain in very strong shape. However, over the last couple of months, we have seen a slowdown in consumer spending similar to the trends we're seeing across total distilled spirits and other consumer packaged goods. After 2 years of strong growth, which was above our long-term historical trends, consumer demand for our brands is normalizing on this elevated base.

從根本上說，我們的品牌仍然保持著非常強勁的狀態。然而，在過去的幾個月裡，我們看到消費者支出放緩，類似於我們在全蒸餾酒和其他消費品中看到的趨勢。經過兩年的強勁成長（高於我們的長期歷史趨勢），消費者對我們品牌的需求正在這一高基礎上正常化。

In addition, as we have highlighted in past earnings calls, our glass supply significantly improved in the spring and summer of 2022, which allowed us to rebuild distributor inventories. Historically, the estimated net change in distributor inventories would have had a minimal impact on our organic results. Typically in the range of plus or minus 1 percentage point in any given year. However, the pandemic-related supply chain disruptions created changes in our historical distributor ordering patterns, which has created unusual comparisons and larger impacts over the past few years.

此外，正如我們在過去的財報電話會議中所強調的那樣，我們的玻璃供應在 2022 年春季和夏季顯著改善，這使我們能夠重建經銷商庫存。從歷史上看，經銷商庫存的估計淨變化對我們的有機績效影響很小。通常在任何給定年份的正負 1 個百分點範圍內。然而，與疫情相關的供應鏈中斷使我們歷史上的經銷商訂購模式發生了變化，這在過去幾年中產生了不尋常的比較和更大的影響。

If you were to factor in the 5 percentage points of impact to our organic net sales from the estimated net change in distributor inventories, as seen in Schedule D, our top line results more closely reflect our longer-term trends and help support our belief that the fundamental health of our brands and our business remains solid.

如果您將經銷商庫存估計淨變化對我們有機淨銷售額的5 個百分點的影響考慮在內（如附表D 所示），我們的頂級結果更能反映我們的長期趨勢，並有助於支持我們的信念：我們的品牌和業務的基本健康狀況仍然穩固。

Our first half results reflect our ability to consistently deliver growth even in dynamic and challenging times. This is largely attributable to our broad geographic reach and our portfolio reshaping strategy over the past decade as we built a diversified global portfolio focused on premium and super premium brands.

我們上半年的業績反映了我們即使在充滿活力和充滿挑戰的時期也能持續實現成長的能力。這主要歸功於我們廣泛的地理覆蓋範圍以及過去十年我們的投資組合重塑策略，因為我們建立了專注於高端和超高端品牌的多元化全球投資組合。

In the first half, organic net sales growth was driven by Jack Daniel's Tennessee Apple, New Mix and Glenglassaugh. These gains were partially offset by volume declines associated with our significant inventory rebuild in the first half of last fiscal year, particularly for brands such as Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey, Herradura and Woodford Reserve.

上半年，有機淨銷售額成長是由 Jack Daniel 的田納西蘋果公司、New Mix 和 Glenglassaugh 所推動的。這些收益被上一財年上半年我們重大庫存重建帶來的銷量下降所部分抵消，尤其是傑克丹尼田納西威士忌、傑克丹尼田納西蜂蜜、Herradura 和 Woodford Reserve 等品牌。

Jack Daniel's Tennessee Apple grew organic net sales more than 50%, led by a strong launch in South Korea. We're also better able to meet consumer demand, particularly in markets such as Brazil and Chile, a supply chain and logistic challenges eased. New Mix was the second largest contributor to the company's organic net sales growth increasing 22% and as the brand continues to gain value share in the RTD category in Mexico.

Jack Daniel 旗下的 Tennessee Apple 在韓國市場的強勁推出帶動下，有機淨銷售額增長了 50% 以上。我們也能夠更好地滿足消費者需求，特別是在巴西和智利等市場，供應鏈和物流挑戰得到緩解。 New Mix 是該公司有機淨銷售額成長 22% 的第二大貢獻者，而該品牌繼續在墨西哥 RTD 類別中獲得價值份額。

In Glenglassaugh, a fabulous brand, we haven't had yet much opportunity to discuss. We've primarily talked about this brand as part of the trio of Single Malt scotches that we acquired back in 2016, along with BenRiach and GlenDronach. Glenglassaugh was the smallest of the Single Malt Scotch brands we purchased. And while we've always believed in the strong future for the brand, there just hasn't been enough supply to be material to our results as it takes a decade or more for these products to mature.

對於格倫格拉索這個神話般的品牌，我們還沒有太多機會可以討論。我們主要討論的是這個品牌，它是我們於 2016 年收購的單一麥芽蘇格蘭威士忌三重奏的一部分，另外還有 BenRiach 和 GlenDronach。格蘭格拉索是我們購買的單一麥芽蘇格蘭威士忌品牌中最小的一個。雖然我們一直相信品牌擁有光明的未來，但由於這些產品需要十年或更長時間才能成熟，因此沒有足夠的供應來對我們的業績產生實質影響。

Through the brand's old and rare program, we have discovered that while Glenglassaugh may be smaller relative to our other single malt brands, the value of its casks are mighty. We recently sold a single Glenglassaugh cask from 1967 that was one of the largest cask sales in terms of rarity, volume and value in the history of the Scotch Whisky industry. Cask sales from Glenglassaugh in the first half of fiscal '24 helped place the brand as the third largest contributor to the company's organic net sales growth.

透過品牌古老而稀有的計劃，我們發現雖然格蘭格拉索相對於我們其他單一麥芽品牌可能較小，但其酒桶的價值很高。我們最近出售了一個 1967 年的格蘭格拉索木桶，從稀有性、數量和價值來看，這是蘇格蘭威士忌行業歷史上最大的木桶銷售之一。 24 財年上半年 Glenglassaugh 的木桶銷售幫助該品牌成為公司有機淨銷售額成長的第三大貢獻者。

In addition the brand has recently been relaunched with its first-ever 12-year-old expression, new packaging and new creative assets and having just returned from a trip to Scotland, I can personally attest to the fabulous liquid and the strong growth potential of this wonderful coastal single malt.

此外，該品牌最近重新推出了其第一個 12 年前的表達方式、新包裝和新創意資產，而且剛從蘇格蘭旅行回來，我可以親自證明其美妙的液體和強大的增長潛力這款美妙的沿海單一麥芽威士忌。

In addition to Glenglassaugh, we continue to increase our supply of all of our Single Malt Scotch brands and believe these brands will be critical contributors to Brown-Forman's next generation of growth. Our Single Malt Scotch portfolio is one example of our portfolio shaping efforts over the last decade to increase focus on premium and super premium brands. Last year, of course, we acquired our newest brands, Gin Mare and Diplomatico. I'm very pleased with the integration of these brands as they contributed 2 percentage points of growth to our reported net sales in the first half of fiscal '24.

除了 Glenglassaugh 之外，我們還將繼續增加所有單一麥芽蘇格蘭威士忌品牌的供應，並相信這些品牌將成為 Brown-Forman 下一代成長的關鍵貢獻者。我們的單一麥芽蘇格蘭威士忌產品組合是我們在過去十年中為加強對優質和超優質品牌的關注而努力塑造產品組合的一個例子。當然，去年我們收購了最新的品牌 Gin Mare 和 Diplomatico。我對這些品牌的整合感到非常高興，因為它們為我們報告的 2024 財年上半年淨銷售額增長了 2 個百分點。

Our portfolio evolution has also required us at times to say goodbye to brands. It's always a highly deliberate and thoughtful decision when we decide to sell a brand, and we do so only when we feel it aligns with our strategic ambitions and portfolio priorities. This was the case with both Finlandia Vodka and Sonoma-Cutrer, our 2 most recently announced divestitures. The sale of Finlandia Vodka to Coca-Cola HBC AG was completed on November 1, 2023. And the recently announced decision to sell Sonoma-Cutrer to the Duckhorn portfolio and take an equity ownership position in the company reflects our commitment to long-term value creation.

我們的產品組合演變有時也要求我們告別品牌。當我們決定出售品牌時，這始終是一個經過深思熟慮和深思熟慮的決定，只有當我們認為它符合我們的策略目標和投資組合優先事項時，我們才會這樣做。我們最近宣布的兩家資產剝離公司芬蘭迪亞伏特加和索諾瑪-卡特雷就是這種情況。芬蘭迪亞伏特加(Finlandia Vodka) 向可口可樂HBC AG 的出售已於2023 年11 月1 日完成。最近宣布的將Sonoma-Cutrer 出售給Duckhorn 投資組合並持有該公司股權的決定反映了我們對長期價值的承諾創建。

We believe our equity ownership stake in the Duckhorn portfolio will be a value-generating relationship for Brown-Forman and offers the benefit of allowing us the opportunity to continue to participate in the premium and ultra-premium wine category. We continue to believe in the strength of the Sonoma-Cutrer brand and its future growth opportunities in the hands of the Duckhorn portfolio with their expertise, combined with our strong and diverse route to market, we have great confidence that Sonoma-Cutrer will continue to grow and on an accelerated trajectory.

我們相信，我們在 Duckhorn 投資組合中的股權將為 Brown-Forman 帶來價值創造關係，並為我們提供繼續參與優質和超優質葡萄酒類別的機會。我們仍然相信 Sonoma-Cutrer 品牌的實力及其在 Duckhorn 產品組合手中的未來成長機會，憑藉他們的專業知識，結合我們強大而多樣化的市場路線，我們非常有信心 Sonoma-Cutrer 將繼續成長並在加速的軌道上。

In addition to acquisitions and divestitures, we've also focused significant effort on premium innovations. We recently released the third member of the Jack Daniel's Bonded series, Jack Daniel's Bonded Rye, building on the success of the Jack Daniel's Bonded Tennessee Whiskey and Jack Daniel's Triple Mash. And it was just a year ago that we launched the iconic Jack & Coke cocktail as a branded ready-to-drink adult beverage in Mexico. Since then, we've expanded Jack & Coke into 13 markets, including Germany, which just launched in September. Overall, we're pleased with the initial launches and are excited about the brand visibility and market share gains.

除了收購和剝離之外，我們還大力進行高端創新。在傑克丹尼保稅田納西威士忌和傑克丹尼三重麥芽漿取得成功的基礎上，我們最近發布了傑克丹尼保稅系列的第三款產品——傑克丹尼保稅黑麥威士忌。就在一年前，我們在墨西哥推出了標誌性的 Jack & Coke 雞尾酒，作為品牌即飲成人飲料。從那時起，我們將 Jack & Coke 擴展到 13 個市場，其中包括 9 月剛推出的德國。總的來說，我們對最初的發布感到滿意，並對品牌知名度和市場份額的成長感到興奮。

For example, in the U.S. the Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola RTD is now a top 10 spirit-based ready-to-drink brand and the #1 whiskey-based RTD in Nielsen. In the Spirit business, a global industry trade publication, just named Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola as the big product in 2023.

例如，在美國，傑克丹尼和可口可樂 RTD 現在是十大烈酒即飲品牌，也是尼爾森排名第一的威士忌即飲品牌。全球產業貿易出版物《烈酒商業》剛剛將傑克丹尼和可口可樂列為 2023 年的大產品。

The positive feedback from distributors, retail and most importantly, consumers continues to benefit not only the Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola RTD, but also the perception for Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey as noted in consumer research. We continue to expect that planned organic net sales declines in the Jack Daniel's and Cola RTD will partially offset the growth of the Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola RTD as we continue its transition. We believe this premiumization provides us with the greatest opportunity for long-term growth and value creation.

經銷商、零售店以及最重要的是消費者的正面回饋不僅使傑克丹尼和可口可樂 RTD 受益，而且消費者研究中指出，傑克丹尼田納西威士忌的認知度也隨之受益。我們繼續預計，隨著我們繼續轉型，傑克丹尼和可口可樂 RTD 計劃的有機淨銷售額下降將部分抵消傑克丹尼和可口可樂 RTD 的增長。我們相信，這種高端化為我們提供了長期成長和價值創造的最佳機會。

Before turning the call over to Leanne, I'd also like to add some additional perspective on our gross margin and operating expenses. In the first half of fiscal 2024, our reported and organic gross profit increased 7%, both ahead of the respective top line growth rates. We continue to focus on the execution of our long-term pricing strategy and believe we're in a strong position given the strength and relevance of our brands and our continued brand-building investments.

在將電話轉給 Leanne 之前，我還想補充一些關於我們的毛利率和營運費用的額外觀點。 2024 財年上半年，我們的報告毛利和有機毛利潤成長了 7%，均高於各自的營收成長率。我們繼續專注於長期定價策略的執行，並相信，鑑於我們品牌的實力和相關性以及我們持續的品牌建設投資，我們處於有利地位。

We're also benefiting from the absence of costs related to the supply chain mitigation. As you'll recall, this time last year, we incurred increased transportation and logistics costs in order to satisfy the demand from our distributors and retailers ahead of the important holiday season. Collectively, we have tailwinds of favorable price mix, the absence of supply chain disruption related costs and lower tariff-related costs due to the removal of the U.K. tariffs on American whiskey, which more than offset the headwinds of higher input costs and the negative effect of foreign exchange. This resulted in 280 basis points of gross margin expansion in the first half.

我們也受益於與供應鏈緩解相關的成本的缺失。您可能還記得，去年這個時候，我們增加了運輸和物流成本，以便在重要的假期季節之前滿足經銷商和零售商的需求。總的來說，我們擁有有利的價格組合、不存在供應鏈中斷相關成本以及由於英國取消對美國威士忌的關稅而降低的關稅相關成本，這足以抵消投入成本上升和負面影響的不利因素的外匯。這導致上半年毛利率增加了 280 個基點。

As expected, operating expenses moderated in the second quarter is the phasing of our brand building investments was significantly skewed to the first few months of our fiscal year to support the launch of the Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola RTD as well as increased investments for Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey. This resulted in organic advertising expense growth of 12% in the first half of fiscal '24. And while also moderating in the second quarter, organic SG&A investments increased 9% for the first half as we continue to invest behind our people driven primarily by higher compensation and benefit expenses.

正如預期的那樣，第二季度的營運支出有所放緩，因為我們的品牌建設投資分階段明顯偏向於本財年的前幾個月，以支持傑克丹尼和可口可樂RTD 的推出以及對傑克的投資增加丹尼爾田納西威士忌。這導致 2024 財年上半年的自然廣告費用增加了 12%。雖然第二季的成長也有所放緩，但上半年的有機 SG&A 投資成長了 9%，主要是由於薪資和福利費用的提高，我們繼續對員工進行投資。

Since I mentioned the removal of the tariffs on American whiskey, I will share the latest update on the EU tariffs. When the EU tariffs were removed a year ago, a final agreement still needed to be reached concerning steel and aluminum prior to November 1, 2023, or the retaliatory tariffs on American whiskey would return. In mid-October, the U.S. and EU announced they will continue negotiating for 2 more months. Importantly, the American whiskey tariffs are not expected to return while negotiations are ongoing.

既然我提到了取消對美國威士忌的關稅，我將分享歐盟關稅的最新動態。一年前取消歐盟關稅時，仍需在 2023 年 11 月 1 日之前就鋼鐵和鋁達成最終協議，否則美國威士忌的報復性關稅將捲土重來。 10月中旬，美國和歐盟宣布將繼續進行兩個月的談判。重要的是，在談判正在進行期間，美國威士忌關稅預計不會恢復。

Brown-Forman continues to work with governments on both sides of the Atlantic, advocating for a solution that brings long-term stability to the U.S. and EU trade relationship. We believe that all parties are seeking a solution that neither party wishes to see the return of these tariffs. We hope that as the deadline for an agreement approaches, the U.S. and EU governments will find a solution that enables the long-term health of the global spirits industry.

布朗-福爾曼繼續與大西洋兩岸政府合作，倡導找到為美國和歐盟貿易關係帶來長期穩定的解決方案。我們相信，各方都在尋求解決方案，雙方都不希望看到這些關稅捲土重來。我們希望，隨著達成協議的最後期限的臨近，美國和歐盟政府能夠找到一個有利於全球烈酒產業長期健康發展的解決方案。

In summary, we believe we're off to a good start in fiscal '24, continuing to grow on the exceptionally high same prior year period base even as consumer demand normalizes. I hope these results illustrate how our business has remained resilient through very dynamic operating conditions as we continue to focus on our long-term strategic ambitions. We believe we will continue to benefit from our long-term pricing and revenue growth management strategies as well as a more normalized cost environment.

總之，我們相信我們在 24 財年有了一個良好的開端，即使消費者需求正常化，我們仍將在上年同期的異常高基數上繼續成長。我希望這些結果能夠說明，在我們持續專注於長期策略目標的同時，我們的業務如何在充滿活力的營運條件下保持彈性。我們相信，我們將繼續受益於我們的長期定價和收入成長管理策略以及更正常化的成本環境。

Our brands and our business continue to grow because the people at Brown-Forman, I would like to thank them for their continuous efforts and commitment to ensuring that there's nothing better in the market than Brown-Forman.

我們的品牌和業務不斷成長，因為 Brown-Forman 的員工，我要感謝他們的持續努力和承諾，以確保市場上沒有比 Brown-Forman 更好的產品。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Leanne and she will provide more details on our first half results.

這樣，我會將電話轉給 Leanne，她將提供有關我們上半年結果的更多詳細資訊。

Thank you, Lawson, and good morning, everyone. I will provide additional details on our geographic performance, other financial highlights as well as our updated fiscal 2024 outlook. From a geographic perspective, our emerging international markets continue to lead the company's growth, collectively delivering very strong double-digit organic net sales growth, driven by Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey particularly in Turkey as momentum in the premium whiskey category continued. The United Arab Emirates due to increased distribution and strong consumer demand and Poland, which is benefiting from our pricing strategy.

謝謝勞森，大家早安。我將提供有關我們的地理業績、其他財務亮點以及更新的 2024 財年展望的更多詳細資訊。從地理角度來看，我們的新興國際市場繼續引領公司的成長，在傑克丹尼田納西威士忌的推動下，特別是在土耳其，隨著優質威士忌類別的勢頭持續，它們共同實現了非常強勁的兩位數有機淨銷售額成長。阿拉伯聯合大公國由於分銷增加和強勁的消費者需求，而波蘭則受益於我們的定價策略。

New mix, which grew strong double digits in Mexico is benefiting from our pricing strategy and gaining share of the RTD category and Jack Daniel's Tennessee Apple, led by Brazil as well as Chile, where the brand is returning to normal levels of supply.

新組合在墨西哥實現了兩位數的強勁增長，受益於我們的定價策略，並獲得了 RTD 類別和 Jack Daniel's Tennessee Apple 的份額，其中以巴西和智利為首，該品牌正在恢復正常的供應水平。

Also during the quarter, we launched our own distribution in Slovakia. Slovakia has a substantial premium whiskey market, where American whiskey is the value leader of the category. This makes it an important market as we drive the global growth of the Jack Daniel's family of brands and bring our broader portfolio to the market, in particular, our recently acquired Diplomatico Rum. As we have demonstrated with our previous route-to-consumer investments, we believe own distribution provides us with increased consumer insights, focus on our broader portfolio and a greater portion of the value chain.

同樣在本季度，我們在斯洛伐克推出了自己的發行版。斯洛伐克擁有龐大的優質威士忌市場，其中美國威士忌是該類別的價值領導者。這使得它成為一個重要的市場，因為我們推動了傑克丹尼品牌系列的全球成長，並將我們更廣泛的產品組合推向市場，特別是我們最近收購的外交蘭姆酒。正如我們之前的消費者投資路線所證明的那樣，我們相信自有分銷為我們提供了更多的消費者洞察，專注於我們更廣泛的產品組合和價值鏈的更大部分。

Organic net sales in the Travel Retail channel were flat in the first half as the channel lapped 67% growth in the year ago period. Strong double-digit growth of our super premium American whiskeys such as Woodford Reserve, our exclusive Global Travel Retail offering, Jack Daniel's American Single Malt and Jack Daniel's Single Barrel were offset by declines in Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey and Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey.

旅遊零售通路的有機淨銷售額上半年持平，較去年同期成長了 67%。我們的超優質美國威士忌（例如伍德福德珍藏威士忌、我們獨家的全球旅遊零售產品、傑克丹尼美國單一麥芽威士忌和傑克丹尼單桶威士忌）強勁的兩位數增長被傑克丹尼田納西威士忌和傑克丹尼田納西蜂蜜的下降所抵消。

Organic net sales in our developed international markets collectively were down 2% for the first half as growth in Singapore, Germany and South Korea were offset by declines in Japan and the United Kingdom. Jack Daniel's Tennessee Apple was again the largest contributor to growth, driven by the continuing successful launch of the brand in South Korea.

上半年，我們已開發國際市場的有機淨銷售額總體下降了 2%，原因是新加坡、德國和韓國的成長被日本和英國的下降所抵消。傑克丹尼旗下的田納西蘋果公司在韓國持續成功推出品牌，再次成為成長的最大貢獻者。

Glenglassaugh, as Lawson highlighted earlier, drove the growth in Singapore. El Jimador was the next largest contributor. This performance supports our belief that el Jimador has the ability to create and grow the premium tequila category outside of the U.S. and Mexico. This growth was more than offset by year-over-year declines for Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, which was negatively impacted by Japan due to an estimated net decrease in distributor inventory. As an update on our transition to own distribution in Japan, we are pleased to announce that we recently opened our new office and are on track for the launch on April 1 of this fiscal year.

正如勞森之前所強調的那樣，格倫格拉索推動了新加坡的成長。 El Jimador 是第二大貢獻者。這項績效支持了我們的信念，即 el Jimador 有能力在美國和墨西哥以外的地區創造和發展優質龍舌蘭酒類別。這一增長被傑克丹尼田納西威士忌的同比下降所抵消，該威士忌因經銷商庫存估計淨減少而受到日本的負面影響。作為我們向日本自營分銷過渡的最新消息，我們很高興地宣布，我們最近開設了新辦事處，並預計於本財年 4 月 1 日啟動。

Turning to the United States. Organic net sales decreased 5% as a result of lower volumes due to an estimated net decrease in distributor inventories of 6%, partially offset by higher prices across much of our portfolio. As Lawson highlighted, in the first half, we cycled against the significant inventory rebuild during the same period last year. This was particularly impactful to the U.S. market, where we saw a 7% contribution to organic net sales growth in the prior year period from an estimated net increase in distributor inventories. As we lap this inventory rebuild, we believe that distributor inventories are at normal levels.

轉向美國。由於經銷商庫存預計淨減少 6%，銷售減少，有機淨銷售額下降 5%，但部分產品組合的價格上漲所抵銷。正如勞森所強調的那樣，上半年，我們與去年同期的重大庫存重建進行了循環。這對美國市場影響尤其大，我們發現經銷商庫存的估計淨成長對去年同期的有機淨銷售額成長做出了 7% 的貢獻。當我們完成庫存重建時，我們認為經銷商庫存處於正常水準。

From a takeaway perspective, trends for total distilled spirits as well as Brown-Forman continued to normalize with the recent value growth below the historical mid-single-digit range as consumer demand has slowed. Growth continues to be driven by RTDs, U.S. whiskey and tequila, which aligns well with our portfolio.

從外賣的角度來看，隨著消費者需求放緩，全蒸餾酒和布朗福曼酒的趨勢持續正常化，近期價值成長低於歷史中個位數範圍。 RTD、美國威士忌和龍舌蘭酒繼續推動成長，這與我們的產品組合非常吻合。

We expect our portfolio to continue to benefit from consumer premiumization as the launch of the Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola RTD and demand for our super premium Jack Daniel's products partially offset the volume declines. The Jack & Coke RTD continues to grow, gain share and bring recognition to the entire Jack Daniel's Family of Brands and the newest member of the Jack Daniel's Bonded series, Jack Daniel's Bonded Rye along with Jack Daniel's Sinatra and our specialty launches such as Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Rye Barrel Proof are delivering strong growth. Not only do these innovations premiumize the Jack Daniel's Family of Brands. They elevate our whiskey credentials, provide a halo for the rest of the family and gives consumers the opportunity to explore and discover within the Jack Daniel's Family.

我們預計我們的產品組合將繼續受益於消費者高端化，因為傑克丹尼和可口可樂 RTD 的推出以及對我們超優質傑克丹尼產品的需求部分抵消了銷量下降。 Jack & Coke RTD 持續成長，獲得份額並為整個 Jack Daniel's 品牌家族和 Jack Daniel's Bonded 系列的最新成員 Jack Daniel's Bonded Rye、Jack Daniel's Sinatra 以及我們推出的特色產品（如 Jack Daniel's）帶來認可。麥桶精釀啤酒正在實現強勁成長。這些創新不僅使 Jack Daniel's 品牌家族更加優質。他們提升了我們的威士忌資歷，為家族其他成員提供了光環，並為消費者提供了在傑克丹尼家族中探索和發現的機會。

As Lawson has shared the details of our gross margin expansion and operating expenses for the first half, I will now turn to our operating income. In total, reported and organic operating income increased by 1% in the first half of fiscal 2024, largely driven by our gross profit growth, partially offset by the phasing of our operating expenses. These results, along with the benefit of a lower effective tax rate were more than offset by an increase in interest expense, resulting in a 1% diluted earnings per share decrease to $0.98 per share.

由於勞森已經分享了我們上半年毛利率擴張和營業費用的詳細信息，我現在將轉向我們的營業收入。總體而言，2024 財年上半年的報告營運收入和有機營運收入成長了 1%，這主要是由我們的毛利成長推動的，但部分被分階段營運支出所抵銷。這些結果加上較低的有效稅率帶來的好處被利息支出的增加所抵消，導致每股稀釋收益下降 1% 至每股 0.98 美元。

Before moving to our outlook, I'd like to take the opportunity to provide you with an update on our recently announced share repurchase program. As we announced on October 2, 2023, the Brown-Forman Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $400 million of our outstanding shares of Class A and Class B common stock from October 2, 2023 through October 1, 2024. As of November 30, 2023, we have completed over half of the program.

在展望我們的前景之前，我想藉此機會向您介紹我們最近宣布的股票回購計劃的最新情況。正如我們在 2023 年 10 月 2 日宣布的那樣，Brown-Forman 董事會授權從 2023 年 10 月 2 日至 2024 年 10 月 1 日回購最多 4 億美元的已發行 A 類和 B 類普通股。到2023年12月30日，我們已經完成了一半以上的計畫。

Our Board of Directors also recently approved a 6% increase, quarterly cash dividend, marking the 40th consecutive year of an increase to the regular dividend. Brown-Forman continues to be a member of the prestigious S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index and has paid regular quarterly cash dividends for 80 consecutive years.

我們的董事會最近也批准將季度現金股利增加 6%，這標誌著定期股利連續 40 年增加。 Brown-Forman 繼續成為著名的標準普爾 500 股息貴族指數的成員，並已連續 80 年定期支付季度現金股息。

We remain appropriately attentive to today's uncertain market conditions while also confident in the long-term potential of our portfolio of brands. Our capital allocation philosophy has allowed us to maintain a healthy balance sheet and has produced superior returns over the long term. We continue to believe that our capital allocation philosophy, coupled with our strategic ambitions will deliver strong results for our investors.

我們仍然適當地關注當今不確定的市場狀況，同時也對我們品牌組合的長期潛力充滿信心。我們的資本配置理念使我們能夠維持健康的資產負債表，並產生卓越的長期回報。我們仍然相信，我們的資本配置理念加上我們的策略雄心將為我們的投資者帶來強勁的業績。

Turning now to our revised fiscal 2024 outlook. And what has been a highly volatile and dynamic operating environment, we continue to be optimistic and believe global trends are normalizing after 2 years of very strong growth. We expect to continue to grow on this elevated base due to the contributions from our long-term pricing and revenue growth management strategies as well as the addition of 2 super premium brands, Gin Mare and Diplomatico to our portfolio.

現在轉向我們修訂後的 2024 財年展望。儘管營運環境高度波動且充滿活力，但我們仍然保持樂觀態度，並相信全球趨勢在經過兩年的強勁增長後正在趨於正常化。由於我們的長期定價和收入成長管理策略的貢獻以及在我們的產品組合中增加了 2 個超優質品牌 Gin Mare 和 Diplomatico，我們預計將在這個較高的基礎上繼續成長。

As a reminder, we completed the Gin Mare and Diplomatico acquisitions in the third quarter of fiscal 2023. Therefore, the contributions of these brands will be included in our organic results going forward.

提醒一下，我們在 2023 財年第三季完成了 Gin Mare 和 Diplomatico 的收購。因此，這些品牌的貢獻將納入我們未來的有機業績中。

As we mentioned last quarter, we remain cautious due to the current macroeconomic volatility and the potential impact of inflation on consumer spending. Despite a moderating inflationary environment, complex global economic conditions remain, which is creating mixed consumer and channel dynamics and creating a more challenging operating environment. We maintain our belief that the collective strength of our U.S. and international markets, along with the Travel Retail channel will deliver growth in fiscal 2024, though have tempered our expectations due to slower-than-anticipated growth through the first half of the fiscal year, particularly in the United States and Mexico due to recent changes in trends in the whiskey and tequila categories. With this, we now expect our organic net sales growth for fiscal 2024 to be in the 3% to 5% range.

正如我們上季度所提到的，由於當前宏觀經濟波動以及通膨對消費者支出的潛在影響，我們保持謹慎態度。儘管通膨環境有所緩和，但複雜的全球經濟狀況依​​然存在，這造成了消費者和通路動態的混合，並創造了更具挑戰性的營運環境。我們仍然相信，美國和國際市場以及旅遊零售通路的集體力量將在 2024 財年帶來成長，儘管由於本財年上半年的成長低於預期，我們的預期有所緩和。特別是在美國和墨西哥，由於威士忌和龍舌蘭酒類別的趨勢最近發生了變化。據此，我們現在預計 2024 財年的有機淨銷售額成長將在 3% 至 5% 範圍內。

Today, we have highlighted the impact on our results from the strong shipments in the year ago period, related to the rebuilding of distributor inventories as supply chain disruption eased. As we have shared in previous calls, I would like to remind you again of the stronger shipments associated with the launch of Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola RTD in the United States in the back half of fiscal 2023 that will be lapped in the second half of fiscal 2024. This is reflected in our guidance.

今天，我們強調了去年同期強勁出貨量對我們業績的影響，這與供應鏈中斷緩解後經銷商庫存的重建有關。正如我們在之前的電話會議中所分享的那樣，我想再次提醒您，傑克丹尼和可口可樂 RTD 將於 2023 財年下半年在美國推出，從而帶來強勁的出貨量，這將在下半年結束2024 財年。這反映在我們的指導上。

We believe inflation will continue to negatively affect input cost even with the favorable agave pricing trend. As we mentioned last quarter, while we are very encouraged that agave prices are finally on a downward trajectory, the benefits to our cost of goods sold will not be immediate. Additionally, we believe higher input costs will be partially offset by lower year-over-year cost due to the absence of the supply chain disruption we incurred in fiscal 2023.

我們認為，即使龍舌蘭定價趨勢有利，通貨膨脹仍將繼續對投入成本產生負面影響。正如我們上季度所提到的，雖然我們對龍舌蘭價格最終呈下降趨勢感到非常鼓舞，但我們的銷售成本的好處不會立即顯現。此外，我們認為，由於我們在 2023 財年沒有發生供應鏈中斷，因此較高的投入成本將被同比成本的降低部分抵銷。

Our outlook for the full year operating expenses continue to reflect a normalization of incremental advertising spend, aligned with our long-term philosophy for advertising spend to be in line with our top line growth. Also, our expectation is that SG&A growth will remain higher than historical averages as we continue to expect higher compensation-related expenses and expenses related to the transition to own distribution in Japan.

我們對全年營運支出的展望持續反映了廣告支出增量的正常化，這符合我們廣告支出與收入成長一致的長期理念。此外，我們預計銷售、管理費用成長將繼續高於歷史平均水平，因為我們繼續預期與薪酬相關的費用以及與在日本向自營分銷過渡相關的費用將增加。

Based on these expectations, we anticipate organic operating income growth in the 4% to 6% range for the fiscal year. We also continue to expect our fiscal 2024 effective tax rate to be in the range of approximately 21% to 23%. And our capital expenditures to be in the range of $250 million to $270 million for the full year.

基於這些預期，我們預計本財年有機營業收入將成長在 4% 至 6% 範圍內。我們也繼續預期 2024 財年的有效稅率將在約 21% 至 23% 的範圍內。我們全年的資本支出將在 2.5 億至 2.7 億美元之間。

Before wrapping up, I would like to add a few additional details regarding the sale of the Finlandia brand. As is customary, divestitures are subject to a closing process where the sale price is adjusted for inventory and other working capital items. Based on the adjusted sales price at closing, the value of the net assets held for sale as well as the absence of Finlandia's operating income in the second half of fiscal 2024, we expect the transaction will be accretive to our fiscal year 2024 diluted earnings per share by an estimated $0.12 per share.

在結束之前，我想補充一些關於芬蘭迪亞品牌銷售的額外細節。按照慣例，資產剝離須經過結算流程，其中銷售價格會根據庫存和其他營運資金項目進行調整。根據收盤時調整後的銷售價格、待售淨資產的價值以及芬蘭迪亞在 2024 財年下半年沒有營業收入的情況，我們預計此次交易將增加我們 2024 財年的攤薄每股收益預計每股0.12 美元。

In summary, we have now lapped a historically high first half reported and organic net sales growth rates, while adjusting to more normalized levels of consumer demand and we continue to deliver both organic net sales and operating income growth. As we look towards the second half of fiscal 2024, we will begin to compare against a more normalized environment. We believe we will benefit from the strength of our strong portfolio of brands, the benefit of our portfolio evolution efforts with the addition of Gin Mare and Diplomatico, our pricing strategy, our gross margin recovery and the phasing of our brand investments.

總而言之，我們現在已經實現了上半年報告和有機淨銷售額成長率的歷史最高水平，同時調整到更正常化的消費者需求水平，我們繼續實現有機淨銷售額和營業收入成長。當我們展望 2024 財年下半年時，我們將開始與更正常化的環境進行比較。我們相信，我們將受益於我們強大的品牌組合的實力、隨著 Gin Mare 和 Diplomatico 的加入而進行的產品組合演變努力、我們的定價策略、我們的毛利率恢復以及我們分階段的品牌投資。

Over the last few years, we have faced significant disruptions and challenges. We believe we have now moved beyond the most difficult comparisons of our fiscal year and remain focused on executing our strategy and delivering sustainable and consistent long-term performance.

在過去的幾年裡，我們面臨著重大的破壞和挑戰。我們相信，我們現在已經超越了本財年最困難的比較，並繼續專注於執行我們的策略並提供可持續和一致的長期業績。

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

我們準備好的演講到此結束。請打開提問專線。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Peter Grom with UBS.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 UBS 的 Peter Grom。

So obviously, a tougher first half given the inventory dynamic. And I recognize if you back that out, organic would have been relatively solid in the first half. But to kind of hit the low end of the range, it does imply a return to kind of mid-single-digit growth in the back half of the year. So can you maybe just walk us through the confidence in the outlook at this stage? Should we expect growth to be more at the low end rather than the high end? And just -- any thoughts on phasing as we look out to the back half of the year? Maybe specifically, obviously, I'm not -- it might be hard to guess, but is there any kind of shipment dynamic if that's kind of occurring as we kind of work through this EU tariff situation?

顯然，考慮到庫存動態，上半年情況更加嚴峻。我認識到，如果你反駁這一點，有機在上半場會相對穩定。但要達到該範圍的低端，確實意味著今年下半年將恢復到中個位數成長。那麼您能否向我們介紹現階段對前景的信心？我們是否應該期望成長更多地出現在低端而不是高端？展望今年下半年，您對分階段有何想法？也許具體地說，顯然，我不是——這可能很難猜測，但是如果在我們處理歐盟關稅情況時發生這種情況，是否會出現任何類型的運輸動態？

Thanks, Peter. I'll start with that. Our guidance does imply that we're going to have sequential improvement in the second half. And as we shared in our Q1 call, we continue to remain cautious with changes in trends such as the impact of inflation on consumer spending and the current macroeconomic volatility and as you heard in our prepared remarks, we do expect kind of all of our markets and channels to continue to grow, but it's about the tempering of our expectations.

謝謝，彼得。我將從那開始。我們的指導確實意味著我們將在下半年取得持續改善。正如我們在第一季電話會議中分享的那樣，我們繼續對趨勢的變化保持謹慎態度，例如通貨膨脹對消費者支出的影響和當前的宏觀經濟波動，正如您在我們準備好的演講中聽到的那樣，我們確實預計我們所有的市場都會發生變化。和通路繼續成長，但這是關於我們的期望的調整。

And when we were specific to the United States, when we were on our call, in our first quarter, we were looking at U.S. 3-month value growth trends for TDS with acceleration and trends kind of in that mid-single digits. And the environment that we're in today has -- we've had a change or a shift in trends where we're looking at TDS decelerating in low single digits. So that's been included as we look out. But the drivers that we see for our acceleration is that you can see on Slide 5, we've now lapped and are growing on top of just a really exceptionally high first half of last year, which was a plus 17%. So like we said in our prepared remarks, that average is 8%.

當我們具體針對美國時，當我們在第一季接到電話時，我們正在研究美國 TDS 的 3 個月價值成長趨勢，其加速和趨勢在中個位數。我們今天所處的環境已經發生了變化或趨勢轉變，我們看到 TDS 以較低的個位數減速。所以當我們觀察時，這已被包括在內。但我們看到的加速驅動因素是你可以在幻燈片 5 上看到的，我們現在已經超越並在去年上半年非常高的基礎上繼續增長，去年上半年增長了 17%。正如我們在準備好的發言中所說，該平均值為 8%。

And one thing we've also talked about is we did launch Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola in the second half of last year, and we will have to comp that as we go through the fourth quarter of this year. But again, generally speaking, the back half of the year, our -- we have significantly easier comps in the back half. And we continue to believe that we're going to be able to benefit from our long-term pricing strategy. We're really leaning on our revenue growth management strategies. We'll talk about that probably in a bit.

我們還討論過的一件事是，我們確實在去年下半年推出了傑克丹尼和可口可樂，在今年第四季我們將不得不對此進行比較。但同樣，一般來說，今年後半段，我們的後半段比賽要容易得多。我們仍然相信，我們將能夠從我們的長期定價策略中受益。我們確實依賴我們的收入成長管理策略。我們可能稍後會討論這個問題。

What else is going to drive our acceleration is that Gin Mare and Diplomatico, our recent super ultra-premium acquisitions are going to come into our organic results in the back half of the year which will help us. And we continue to see that our cost trends are heading in the right direction, and we're on a path to gross margin recovery, which is going to continue to help deliver some of that acceleration in the second half as well as you heard us say in the first quarter call as well as this quarter, in the support of the launch of Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola in the U.S., we just had a lot of operating expenses loaded into the first quarter of this year. We saw a moderation in the second quarter, and we're going to continue to see that moderation as we go through the rest of this year.

其他推動我們加速發展的因素是，我們最近收購的 Gin Mare 和 Diplomatico 將在今年下半年納入我們的自然業績，這將對我們有所幫助。我們繼續看到我們的成本趨勢正朝著正確的方向發展，我們正走在毛利率復甦的道路上，這將繼續有助於在下半年實現一些加速，正如你聽到的那樣在第一季電話會議以及本季中說，為了支持傑克丹尼和可口可樂在美國的推出，我們今年第一季剛剛承擔了大量營運費用。我們在第二季度看到了放緩，並且在今年剩餘時間我們將繼續看到這種放緩。

So those are kind of the components that are built into our outlook.

這些都是我們展望中內建的組件。

And you talked about tariffs real quick at the end of that, just a brief thing on that. First, and I assume what you meant was have we been shipping incremental cases into Europe ahead of the potential for these tariffs, and we have not. We have not largely, because we don't believe that they are going to come through in the real near future. For those that are not as close to this whole situation, we continue to work with both sides of the Atlantic. We said that on the prepared remarks a little bit. There have been some rumblings lately that these tariffs could come back around.

最後你很快談到了關稅，只是簡單介紹一下。首先，我假設你的意思是，我們是否在徵收這些關稅之前就將增量案件運送到歐洲，但我們沒有。我們很大程度上沒有做到這一點，因為我們不相信它們會在不久的將來實現。對於那些不太了解整個情況的人，我們將繼續與大西洋兩岸合作。我們就準備好的言論說了一點。最近有一些傳言稱這些關稅可能會恢復。

Look, we're smarter about this than we were 4 or 5 years ago when it first came out. We've got a lot of mitigation scenarios that we know what to do. But at this point, as long as the both sides are at the table, which they are right now, we do not expect this to come around, and I think our pretty strong belief is that this will be kicked down -- they'll kick the can down the road for at least a couple of years until some of these tariff conversations can get resolved.

看，我們在這方面比四、五年前它剛推出時更聰明。我們有很多我們知道該怎麼做的緩解方案。但在這一點上，只要雙方都坐在談判桌上，就像現在一樣，我們就不會期望這種情況會發生，而且我認為我們非常堅定地相信，這種情況將會被取消——他們會至少要擱置幾年，直到其中一些關稅談判解決。

Got it. So basically, even if we get to this deadline, you're kind of more on the view that this could still be kicked down the road, negotiations could continue. So it's not like a month from now, just automatically goes back in is kind of your view?

知道了。所以基本上，即使我們到了這個最後期限，你更認為這仍然可以被推遲，談判可以繼續。所以，從現在開始，不會是一個月後，就自動返回，您認為是這樣嗎？

Correct.

正確的。

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

我們的下一個問題來自 Vivien Azer 和 TD Cowen 的對話。

Hoping to follow up on your commentary around more cautious outlook on the U.S. also, maybe you can just unpack it a little bit. Are we more concerned around price elasticities? Is this more tempered outlook, a function of more down-trading than you were anticipating? Or is there something kind of more structural in terms of per capital consumption within spirits?

希望跟進您對美國更加謹慎的前景的評論，也許您可以稍微解釋一下。我們更關心價格彈性嗎？這種更溫和的前景是否是比您預期的更多的降級交易造成的？或者說，烈酒的人均消費量是否存在某種更具結構性的因素？

Oh, no. It's definitely not the last. Look, I think it is simply a -- the consumer has weakened a bit over the last 3, 4, 5 months, that's kind of what's changed since where we would have been last quarter. As Leanne went through it, I mean, if you just look at TDS, which as you know, has been running at 4% to 5% for 20 years or something like that, certainly stepped up over the COVID, which I know some of you called it a super cycle. Went up quite a bit over those years. And it's come back down. And I would have said most of 2023 -- calendar 2023, we were in that mid-single-digit range, and then it really fell off over the last, as I say, 3 or 4 months. And so I think there's just been a bit of weakness in consumer confidence that has hit the entire market and brought the number down a little bit, but it's still growing, I should say, too. It's still at a sort of plus 2% range. And so it just made us get a little bit more cautious on the outlook for the U.S.

不好了。這絕對不是最後一次。聽著，我認為這只是——消費者在過去 3、4、5 個月裡有所減弱，這是自上個季度以來發生的變化。正如Leanne 所經歷的那樣，我的意思是，如果你只看一下TDS，正如你所知，20 年來一直以4% 到5% 的速度運行，或者類似的情況，它肯定比新冠病毒有所提高，我知道新冠病毒的一些情況。你稱之為超級循環。這些年漲了不少。它又回來了。我想說的是，2023 年的大部分時間——2023 年日曆，我們都處於中個位數範圍內，然後在過去的 3 到 4 個月裡，它確實下降了。因此，我認為消費者信心有些疲軟，影響了整個市場，導致數字略有下降，但我也應該說，它仍在成長。它仍然處於+2%的範圍內。因此，這讓我們對美國的前景變得更加謹慎。

And just as a quick follow-up. You guys noted the inclusion of Gin Mare and Diplomatico, those are quite high-end offerings. So how are you kind of thinking about the contribution to organic growth from those 2 brands? Is your outlook a little bit more restrained on that, too, given concerns around the consumer?

就像快速跟進。你們注意到了 Gin Mare 和 Diplomatico，這些都是相當高階的產品。那麼您如何看待這兩個品牌對有機成長的貢獻呢？考慮到消費者的擔憂，您對此的看法是否也更加克制？

Well, where we see kind of really strong growth for Gin Mare and Diplomatico, globally, yes, but these brands are really large in our European markets where we align well with the investments we've made in our route to consumer. So we believe with those brands in our hands in those markets and the performance that we're seeing in those markets. we do see consumers in Europe, I mean, they're optimizing their spend, but they're still looking for experiences and everyday affordable luxuries. And so we see a path to growth for those brands. And again, in our reported results, they've contributed 2 points of growth for year-to-date from -- and we expect that momentum to continue as we go into the back half of this year.

嗯，我們看到Gin Mare 和Diplomatico 在全球範圍內實現了非常強勁的增長，是的，但這些品牌在我們的歐洲市場上確實很大，我們在歐洲市場上的投資與我們在消費者之路上所做的投資非常一致。因此，我們相信我們手中的這些品牌在這些市場上以及我們在這些市場上看到的表現。我們確實看到歐洲的消費者，我的意思是，他們正在優化他們的支出，但他們仍在尋找體驗和日常負擔得起的奢侈品。因此，我們看到了這些品牌的成長之路。同樣，在我們報告的業績中，他們今年迄今貢獻了 2 個百分點的成長，我們預計進入今年下半年，這種勢頭將繼續下去。

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

我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Filippo Falorni。

I had a question on the -- your comment on distributor inventories. I know you cycled the rebuild in the first half. And you also mentioned that they're now on a normal level. Given the weakness that we're seeing at the consumption level, which you alluded to, is there a risk that you're going to see more of a normalization further below this current level? Many of your spirits peers have talked about more of a normalization of distributor inventory. So I'll be curious on your perspective there.

我對您對經銷商庫存的評論有疑問。我知道你在上半場進行了重建。你也提到他們現在處於正常水平。鑑於我們在消費水平上看到的疲軟（正如您所提到的），是否存在進一步低於當前水平的正常化風險？許多烈酒同行都更多地談論了經銷商庫存的正常化。所以我很好奇你的觀點。

Okay. Great. Yes. We believe that kind of like we stated in our prepared remarks, in general, that distributor and retailer inventories have normalized. The impact of that estimated net change in distributor inventories for us is largely related to that year-over-year comparison. And if you take a look at Schedule D, which -- or B, I'm sorry, which is in our earnings release, and you kind of look at the shipments and depletions for our full strength portfolio, you'll see that they are -- the shipments and depletions are largely aligned. And we've talked about -- we've lapped supply chain challenges, our inventories returning to normal. So really, what we see going forward is going to be related to consumer demand.

好的。偉大的。是的。我們認為，就像我們在準備好的評論中所說的那樣，總的來說，分銷商和零售商的庫存已經正常化。經銷商庫存的估計淨變化對我們的影響很大程度上與同比比較有關。如果你看附表 D，或者抱歉，它在我們的收益發布中，並且你看看我們全力投資組合的出貨量和消耗量，你會發現它們是——出貨量和消耗量基本上一致。我們已經討論過——我們已經克服了供應鏈的挑戰，我們的庫存恢復正常。事實上，我們所看到的未來​​將與消費者需求有關。

One small note is that our recent acquisitions of Gin Mare and Diplomático aren't yet reflected in the schedule and we'll be adding those in the next quarter? And maybe just to kind of dig in a little bit deeper, the U.S., we believe they're back to normal. This time last year in Europe, we were -- and really in October was the big month where we were airfreighting cases into Europe. So we had products available. So we were still rebuilding inventory. Again, in Q2 of this year, we have really the largest impact of the absence of those supply chain disruption costs, but we believe they're back to normal as well.

需要注意的是，我們最近對 Gin Mare 和 Diplomático 的收購尚未反映在時間表中，我們將在下個季度添加這些收購？也許只是為了更深入地研究一下，美國，我們相信他們已經恢復正常了。去年的這個時候，我們在歐洲——實際上十月是我們將案件空運到歐洲的重要月份。所以我們有可用的產品。所以我們仍在重建庫存。同樣，在今年第二季度，我們確實受到了供應鏈中斷成本缺失的最大影響，但我們相信它們也恢復正常了。

And then in our largest markets in Latin America, Brazil, our business is strong and our inventories are at normal levels and Mexico as well. For both Brazil and Mexico, we own our route to consumer. So we have visibility through there. And then we purchased retail inventory data that continues to let us see further through the chain. So Brazil, we feel like our levels are normal. And in Mexico, yes, with the really recent change in trend, we're adjusting accordingly. And all that's still built into our guidance.

然後在我們最大的拉丁美洲市場巴西，我們的業務強勁，我們的庫存處於正常水平，墨西哥也是如此。對於巴西和墨西哥，我們擁有自己的消費者之路。所以我們可以看到那裡。然後我們購買了零售庫存數據，這些數據繼續讓我們進一步了解整個鏈條。所以巴西，我們覺得我們的水平是正常的。在墨西哥，是的，隨著最近趨勢的變化，我們正在做出相應的調整。所有這些仍然納入我們的指導中。

Great. That's very helpful. And then a quick follow-up. On your tequila business, obviously, we're coming off a cycle of a very high inflation in agave cost, which is now turning the other way. How do you assess the potential risk of more price competition in the category, particularly given we're seeing also a slowdown in consumption levels?

偉大的。這非常有幫助。然後快速跟進。顯然，在龍舌蘭酒業務上，我們正​​在擺脫龍舌蘭成本高通膨的周期，但現在正轉向另一個方向。您如何評估該類別中價格競爭加劇的潛在風險，特別是考慮到我們也看到消費水準放緩？

Yes. So look, tequila has been on a pretty unbelievable run actually over the last few years as particularly, I'll say, that 22-, 24-year-old up into their 30s, really have adopted tequila as sort of their drink of choice and it's done really, really well, particularly at that super-premium, ultra-premium price points which is where Herradura plays -- (inaudible) is going to be a little bit less than that, but still a solid, well-positioned brand across both Mexico, the U.S. and (inaudible) case, increasingly in some other markets around the world.

是的。所以看，龍舌蘭酒在過去幾年裡的發展勢頭實際上令人難以置信，特別是，我想說的是，22、24 歲到30 多歲的人確實已經將龍舌蘭酒作為他們的首選飲料它做得真的非常好，特別是在超高端、超高端的價格點上，這就是Herradura 所發揮的作用——（聽不清）會比這個低一點，但仍然是一個堅實的、定位良好的品牌墨西哥、美國和（聽不清楚）情況，以及世界各地其他一些市場的情況越來越多。

So now to your question about what's going to happen with pricing in the category. Look, I think and hope that the people that are playing in that ultra-premium price point for tequila are the big players, who all have suffered through a period of time when agave costs were so high and hurt everyone's margins that would have been playing in that, that it's time now to reach some of those benefits of the better margins.

現在來回答你的問題，即該類別的定價將會發生什麼。聽著，我認為並希望那些在龍舌蘭酒的超高端價格點上玩的人都是大玩家，他們都經歷過龍舌蘭成本如此之高並損害了每個人本來會玩的利潤的一段時間。因此，現在是時候實現更高利潤帶來的一些好處了。

So I don't expect that we're going to see significant changes in promotional pricing, and I haven't seen it yet in any kind of material way. But we'll have to see what happens over the next 6, 12 months. But I know at least from Brown-Forman's perspective, we are not planning to get more aggressive in that category. We want to be able to stay as an ultra-premium brand.

因此，我預計促銷價格不會發生重大變化，而且我還沒有看到任何實質的變化。但我們必須看看未來 6、12 個月會發生什麼。但我至少從布朗-福爾曼的角度知道，我們不打算在這一領域變得更加激進。我們希望能夠維持超高端品牌的地位。

Our next question comes from the line of Nadine Sarwat with Bernstein.

我們的下一個問題來自納丁·薩爾瓦特 (Nadine Sarwat) 和伯恩斯坦 (Bernstein) 的對話。

Earlier, you called out seeing low single-digit net sales growth for the U.S. spirits market overall. Are you anticipating getting back to that long-term mid-single-digit growth rate that we saw in the U.S? And if so, over what time horizon, are your expectations sort of that coming back in the next few quarters? Or is this well over a year into the future?

早些時候，您指出美國烈酒市場整體淨銷售額成長僅為個位數。您是否預計會回到我們在美國看到的長期中個位數成長率？如果是這樣，您的預期在未來幾季會在什麼時間範圍內恢復？還是這是一年多以後的事？

And then just a slightly shorter-term question. Any color that you could add on what you're seeing in the last month in U.S. Spirits and Global Spirits since the end of the quarter. Any changes to the trends that you've reported today? Or is it largely in line?

然後是一個稍微短期的問題。自本季末以來，您可以在上個月的美國烈酒和全球烈酒中看到的顏色上添加任何顏色。您今天報道的趨勢有什麼變化嗎？或者基本上是一致的？

Well, look, those are pretty short time frames there. I mean I think forecasting where the U.S. market is going to go, as I said, it's in that sort of low single-digit range right now. I just talked a minute ago about it being in the 4 to 5 for years and years and years with the exception of the COVID boom. Look, I don't know how to predict when it's going to come back. Certainly, if we look at past cycles, the only time that TDS has really materially weakened in the last 20 years was after the financial crisis, so sort of 2009 time frame. And it's snapped back really fast. I think all of us -- those that have been in this business that long remember that because it surprised everyone and it came back. And I think it's a category. This is an amazing resilient category in the United States spirits. And I do not believe it's lost that factor.

嗯，看，這些時間框架非常短。我的意思是，我認為預測美國市場的走向，正如我所說，目前處於較低的個位數範圍內。我剛剛在一分鐘前談到，除了新冠肺炎疫情爆發之外，這種情況已經持續了 4 到 5 年。聽著，我不知道該如何預測它什麼時候會回來。當然，如果我們回顧過去的周期，就會發現過去 20 年來 TDS 唯一一次真正大幅走弱是在金融危機之後，大概是在 2009 年的時間範圍內。而且它恢復得非常快。我想我們所有人——那些長期從事這個行業的人都記得這一點，因為它讓每個人都感到驚訝，而且它又回來了。我認為這是一個類別。這是美國烈酒中一個令人驚嘆的彈性類別。我不相信它已經失去了這個因素。

So I do think it's just sort of a weakening right now, and then we're just going to have to see where consumer spending goes over the next 6 months, but hoping and believing we'll be back in that sort of mid-single-digit range and I'm guessing here, but we're talking 6 to 12 months or so.

所以我確實認為現在只是一種疲軟，然後我們只需要看看未來 6 個月消費者支出的走向，但希望並相信我們會回到那種中單狀態- 數字範圍，我在這裡猜測，但我們談論的是6 到12 個月左右。

And what was the second half of the question? I have to be honest with you, I haven't really -- I haven't seen -- I'm looking at the same data you are in terms of Nielsen and NAFTA. I haven't seen anything real recent there was any different. The step down was more in the August, September range, not even sure the numbers have updated to October yet.

問題的後半部是什麼？我必須對你說實話，我並沒有真正——我沒有看到——我在看尼爾森和北美自由貿易協定方面的相同數據。我最近沒有看到任何真正的東西有什麼不同。 8 月和 9 月範圍內的降幅更大，甚至不確定數字是否已更新至 10 月。

Our next question comes from the line of Bryan Spillane with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的布萊恩‧斯皮蘭 (Bryan Spillane)。

So first question, just Leanne, I might have missed this, but Finlandia just, is it the divestiture now included in the guidance? I think I kind of missed that towards the end of your prepared remarks. Just trying to understand how Finlandia impacts the guidance now versus the previous guide.

所以第一個問題，Leanne，我可能錯過了這一點，但芬蘭迪亞，現在是否已將剝離納入指南中？我想我在你準備好的發言即將結束時有點錯過了這一點。只是想了解芬蘭迪亞如何影響現在的指南與之前的指南。

Right. Well, we guide on an organic basis, which would exclude that benefit, but that's why we also thought it was important to give to you all today, quantify that impact, because it does kind of fall outside of our organic outlook. So we wanted to make sure that you had that piece.

正確的。好吧，我們在有機的基礎上進行指導，這會排除這種好處，但這就是為什麼我們也認為今天向大家提供量化這種影響很重要，因為它確實超出了我們的有機前景。所以我們想確保您擁有那件作品。

Okay. And that's true for EBIT as well as revenue, right?

好的。息稅前利潤和收入也是如此，對吧？

Yes.

是的。

Okay. And then second is just Lawson as you talked about the U.S. a bit. I just travel retail in Mexico, I guess those are 2 other areas where we have fielded some questions just about potential slowing. So is there anything there we should have note -- I guess, in terms of how you kind of moderated the full year outlook, aside from the U.S., those 2 or any other geographies, I guess, that might have factored into the more moderate growth expectation?

好的。第二位是勞森，您談到了美國。我剛剛在墨西哥旅行零售業，我想我們在另外兩個領域也提出了一些潛在放緩的問題。那麼，有什麼我們應該注意的地方嗎？我想，就您如何調節全年前景而言，除了美國之外，這兩個或任何其他地區，我想，這可能會影響到更溫和的因素增長預期？

Yes. Let me hit Well Global Travel Retail first. That one really is a factor of comps, because you can remember, this time last year, we were refilling that channel in a big, big way. And I do expect that -- I mean, just look, anyone who's been traveling anytime recently, the planes are absolutely jammed. And so I feel pretty good that, that business will return to sort of its historical rate very, very quickly. It's just got to get through this comping thing.

是的。讓我先談談 Well Global Travel Retail。這確實是競爭的一個因素，因為你還記得，去年的這個時候，我們正在大力補充這個管道。我確實預計——我的意思是，只要看看，任何最近旅行過的人，飛機絕對會被堵塞。因此，我感覺非常好，該業務將非常非常快地恢復到歷史水平。它只需要完成這個比較的事情。

Mexico is a little bit different and a little confusing necessarily. I mean, if you look at our schedule. And I think the year-to-date sales was plus 9%, something like that. So Mexico is the second largest market in the world for Brown-Forman. And so it is an important market, and it has been growing pretty dynamically for us for a period of years. Now that's being led right now by New Mix, which is a great brand. It is absolutely enormous down in that country, and I think everyone knows that at this time.

墨西哥有點不同，也必然有點令人困惑。我的意思是，如果你看看我們的日程安排。我認為今年迄今的銷售額成長了 9%，類似的數字。因此，墨西哥是 Brown-Forman 的全球第二大市場。因此，這是一個重要的市場，多年來，它對我們來說一直在快速成長。現在由 New Mix 領導，這是一個很棒的品牌。那個國家的地下面積絕對是巨大的，我想現在每個人都知道這一點。

But the rest of the business, which had been doing okay throughout this year, I think we're getting a little more cautious that the Mexican consumer is showing some weakness, too. And so we are expecting a little bit of a slowdown in the second half of the year in that market. But not falling off a cliff or anything like that either. It's just both tequila and whiskey have slowed down a little bit. And so we're expecting that to continue through the rest of the fiscal year.

但其他業務今年一直表現良好，我認為我們對墨西哥消費者也表現出一些疲軟感到更加謹慎。因此，我們預計該市場今年下半年會略有放緩。但也不會從懸崖上掉下來或類似的事情。只是龍舌蘭酒和威士忌都放慢了一點。因此，我們預計這種情況將持續到本財年剩餘時間。

Sorry, I was just -- the only thing I was going to add on to that. As we said in our prepared remarks, GTR is comping at plus 67%. When you look at the 21st halves, the average of that were 29% and then one of the things that we would also add on Mexico is that while we're seeing kind of weakness in the whiskey and tequila categories, we're gaining share across that in our takeaway data. So -- but again, it's what is talking about for our outlook, kind of a revision in our expectation and that's just kind of for that deceleration in the back half of the year.

抱歉，我只是——我唯一要補充的東西。正如我們在準備好的發言中所說，GTR 的成長率為 67%。當你看看 21 世紀的一半時，平均為 29%，然後我們還要在墨西哥添加的一件事是，雖然我們看到威士忌和龍舌蘭酒類別有所疲軟，但我們正在獲得份額在我們的外賣數據中。所以，但同樣，這就是我們所討論的前景，對我們預期的某種修正，這只是針對今年下半年的減速。

Yes. No, that makes sense. And Lawson, maybe I could just sneak one last one in just the Sonoma-Cutrer deal, which was creative, actually, a pretty good creative solution, I thought, in terms of finding a good home for it. And making it a transaction that is kind of attractive to both sides. So it was actually a really good I thought, creative solution to it. Just your thinking about portfolio more going forward? Is there -- just how should we be thinking about acquisition divestiture? Is this just continuing on kind of the reshaping you've done? Or is there a chance we see it sort of move in either direction more meaningfully?

是的。不，這是有道理的。勞森，也許我可以在索諾瑪-卡特勒交易中偷偷地留下最後一個，這是有創意的，實際上，我想，在為其找到一個好的歸宿方面，這是一個非常好的創意解決方案。並使其成為對雙方都有吸引力的交易。所以我認為這實際上是一個非常好的、創造性的解決方案。您只是對未來的投資組合有更多的想法嗎？我們該如何考慮收購剝離？這只是你所做的重塑的繼續嗎？或者我們有可能看到它朝任一方向更有意義地移動？

Sure. So I mean, look, as we would have said literally 10 years ago that we were going to reshape our portfolio to focus on spirits, in particular, on super ultra premium spirits. And that is largely finished. We -- you know all the different brands that we've sold over the last 5, 6, 7 years, and we've brought a lot of new things in. And so we have definitely premiumized the portfolio to a pretty big extent. The Sonoma-Cutrer one was slightly different, because that within the world of one, that is certainly a super-premium brand. But we were not -- it was the only wine brand that we own fully on. I mean Korbel is still here. But the brand was sort of sitting by itself, which is not the most efficient way to operate it.

當然。所以我的意思是，就像我們在 10 年前所說的那樣，我們將重塑我們的產品組合，專注於烈酒，特別是超優質烈酒。這基本上已經完成了。我們——你知道我們在過去 5 年、6 年、7 年裡銷售的所有不同品牌，並且我們引入了很多新東西。因此，我們肯定在很大程度上提升了產品組合的品質。 Sonoma-Cutrer 的略有不同，因為在 one 的世界裡，這無疑是一個超高端品牌。但我們不是——它是我們完全擁有的唯一葡萄酒品牌。我的意思是科貝爾還在這裡。但該品牌有點孤立無援，這並不是最有效的運作方式。

And the Duckhorn group are one, they're fully focused on super ultra premium wines. They're one of the sort of premier wine companies in America. And I just -- it's one of those where we believe the value creation opportunity is better under their hands than ours. I hate to say that in some ways, but wine is really -- it's their focus. It's what they do. It is the accounts that they call on are all very similar and Sonoma-Cutrer is a huge benefit to them, too, because it is so big, particularly in on-premise in the United States. And so we just thought it made more sense that way. And as you say, we're going to own a piece of that company now, and we'll share in the upside that hopefully comes in the relative near future.

Duckhorn 集團就是其中之一，他們完全專注於超超優質葡萄酒。他們是美國首屈一指的葡萄酒公司之一。我只是－我們相信他們的價值創造機會比我們的更好。在某些方面我不想這麼說，但葡萄酒確實是他們的焦點。這就是他們所做的。他們所調用的帳戶都非常相似，Sonoma-Cutrer 也為他們帶來了巨大的好處，因為它太大了，尤其是在美國的本地部署。所以我們只是認為這樣比較有意義。正如你所說，我們現在將擁有該公司的一部分，我們將分享希望在不久的將來出現的收益。

Our next question comes from the line of Lauren Lieberman with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的勞倫‧利伯曼 (Lauren Lieberman)。

I was curious if you could talk a little bit about Latin America, about Brazil, in particular, you already touched on Mexico. But in Brazil, which I know it was a smaller market for you. You definitely heard some of your peers out there talking about a more challenged environment. So wondering if you could talk a bit about that? And then probably much more importantly, the U.K. The U.K., just backing into, it looks like it was down pretty significantly this quarter. I know there's the Jack & Cola dynamics in there, but just any help and perspective on U.K., I guess I was just throwing Germany, too, but Western European, sorry, I mean France. I mean France, sorry. Those are the 2 that for me were tick a little weird. But just perspective on the consumer environment there or how much of this is more about Jack & Cola transition that's impacting the numbers right now?

我很好奇你能否談談拉丁美洲，特別是巴西，特別是你已經談到了墨西哥。但在巴西，我知道這對你來說是一個較小的市場。您肯定聽到一些同行談論更具挑戰性的環境。想知道您是否可以談談這個問題？然後可能更重要的是，英國，英國，剛剛回升，看起來本季下降了相當大。我知道那裡有傑克可樂的動力，但只是對英國的任何幫助和觀點，我想我也只是丟了德國，但西歐，抱歉，我指的是法國。我指的是法國，抱歉。這兩個對我來說有點奇怪。但只要看看那裡的消費者環境，或是其中有多少是因為傑克可樂的轉型對目前的數字產生了影響？

Okay. Great. Thanks, Lauren. For Brazil, specifically, again, you can see in our year-to-date results, we've got high single-digit organic net sales growth. A lot of that is being driven by -- and again, when you think about how we prioritized brands and geographies in supplying our products at co-supply chain constraints. Jack Daniel's flavor portfolio has a much improved supply or really a back to normal supply, and we are able to support the consumers case profile for our products of Honey and Apple and really the launch of Jack Daniel's Apple along with our geographic expansion strategy that we've had in that market for a while is continuing to gain market share. So the consumer takeaway is slowing a bit and we do see the competitive environment intensifying, but we continue to believe we're going to do strong business in Brazil.

好的。偉大的。謝謝，勞倫。特別是對於巴西，您可以在我們今年迄今為止的業績中看到，我們的有機淨銷售額成長率很高。這在很大程度上是由——再一次，當你考慮我們如何在共同供應鏈的限制下供應我們的產品時優先考慮品牌和地理位置時推動的。傑克丹尼的風味產品組合的供應大大改善，或者確實恢復了正常供應，我們能夠支持消費者對我們的蜂蜜和蘋果產品的案例分析，以及傑克丹尼蘋果的推出以及我們的地理擴張戰略。已經進入這個市場一段時間了，並且正在繼續獲得市場份額。因此，消費者外送速度有所放緩，我們確實看到競爭環境加劇，但我們仍然相信我們將在巴西開展強勁的業務。

So I'll move to U.K. and I think you've already said it, our business is strong there. What we're seeing is this is really about the transition of our Jack & Cola business out of our results, because this will be a market where that is led by Coca-Cola with the Jack Daniel's and Coke.

所以我會搬到英國，我想你已經說過了，我們在那裡的業務很強大。我們看到的是，這實際上是關於我們的傑克可樂業務從我們的業績中過渡出來的，因為這將是一個由可口可樂、傑克丹尼和可口可樂領導的市場。

And then specifically to France, that continues to remain a challenging environment with declining consumer sentiment and inflation has been high. It is starting to impact the consumers there and their discretionary income spend. We are seeing a little bit of down trading in that market and maybe a little bit even of a switch to beer in that market while the consumer is going through this period of high inflation.

特別是對於法國來說，由於消費者信心下降和通貨膨脹率很高，環境仍然充滿挑戰。它開始影響那裡的消費者及其可自由支配的收入支出。當消費者正在經歷這段高通膨時期時，我們看到該市場的交易略有下降，甚至可能會轉向啤酒。

But again, as we look over the longer term and how we are thinking about how Diplomatico Rum will have a strong impact to that market over a period of time. We believe that -- and as we continue to revise strategies there, we continue to believe France is going to be a contributor to growth over the mid to a longer term.

但同樣，當我們放眼長遠，以及我們如何思考外交朗姆酒將如何在一段時間內對該市場產生重大影響時。我們相信，隨著我們繼續修改那裡的策略，我們仍然相信法國將成為中長期成長的貢獻者。

A follow-up on the app Tennessee Apple question or comment. You saw that how it is doing a brilliant job in Brazil. It is doing a really good job in Korea, some sort of unusual markets that we would be talking about. But Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Apple was launched in the middle of COVID and was -- as really all new products, during COVID was a really tough time to launch things and it didn't meet anywhere near our expectations.

關於田納西州蘋果應用程式問題或評論的後續行動。您看到了它在巴西的出色表現。它在韓國做得非常好，韓國是我們談論的一些不尋常的市場。但傑克丹尼的田納西州蘋果公司是在新冠疫情期間推出的，而且與所有新產品一樣，在新冠疫情期間推出產品非常困難，而且它沒有達到我們的預期。

But now that we're through a lot of that, the expectations on Apple are going up a lot. And I think it's a great product. I mean, it's just a taste alone. It's excellent and appeals to a very wide palate, I think, on a global basis. And so you'll hear more from us on Apple over the next quarters or years as we think that really has the potential to be a really nice, big addition to the Jack Daniel's Family.

但現在我們經歷了很多事情，對蘋果的期望也大大提高了。我認為這是一個很棒的產品。我的意思是，這只是一種味道。我認為，它非常出色，並且在全球範圍內吸引了廣泛的口味。因此，在接下來的幾個季度或幾年裡，您會聽到更多關於蘋果的消息，因為我們認為蘋果確實有潛力成為傑克丹尼家族的一個非常好的、重要的成員。

Okay. And sorry, just one more follow-up on the Jack & Cola piece on the U.K. Should we assume that there's a significant drag for the next like another 3 quarters till that's fully out of the base? As we...

好的。抱歉，這是 Jack & Cola 關於英國的文章的另一篇後續文章。我們是否應該假設接下來會出現重大拖累，例如另外 3 個季度，直到完全超出基礎？和我們一樣...

As we're transitioning because that Jack & Cola business will be coming out of our results, so that we would need a full 12 months before we lap that.

我們正在進行轉型，因為 Jack & Cola 業務將從我們的業績中體現出來，因此我們需要整整 12 個月的時間才能完成這一目標。

Our next question comes from the line of Steve Powers with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的史蒂夫鮑爾斯（Steve Powers）。

Great. Just one final question on the U.S., if I could. In terms of the lower growth expectations, are you able to talk a little bit about whether that's whiskey, that's tequila or other in your -- from your mind? Or any color by kind of price to your product? Just trying to get a little color as to where you see within the portfolio, the most -- the biggest step down relative to your prior views or if it's more widespread?

偉大的。如果可以的話，我想問最後一個關於美國的問題。就較低的成長預期而言，您能否談談您心中的威士忌、龍舌蘭酒或其他飲料？或者您的產品有任何顏色和價格嗎？只是想了解您在投資組合中看到的位置，與您之前的觀點相比最大的下降，或者是否更普遍？

I think it is about lapping and growing on top of that really high impact of rebuilding the inventories in the year ago period. And then as we look at where we are year-to-date and understanding what acceleration can be and what it could potentially look like between here and the year ago period. So I think we would just say that and then Gin Mare and Diplomatico would be a smaller positive impact for the U.S. But again, we do think it will be a positive impact for the U.S. I mean, I think that's -- it's just kind of generally where we are in the year to year ago period with what we've seen in the current trends of TDS.

我認為這是在去年同期重建庫存的巨大影響之上進行的研磨和增長。然後，當我們審視今年迄今為止的情況，並了解現在和去年同期之間的加速情況以及可能的情況。所以我認為我們會這麼說，然後Gin Mare 和Diplomatico 將對美國產生較小的積極影響。但是，我們確實認為這將對美國產生積極影響。我的意思是，我認為這只是——這只是一種一般來說，我們在去年同期的情況與我們在當前 TDS 趨勢中看到的情況一致。

And one of the things we've talked about is on this kind of path back to normalization and currently being kind of below that mid-single digit, we believe there's not going to be a linear path back to normalization. It will probably be a little bit up and down over a period of time, but we've factored in a little bit of that as well.

我們討論過的一件事是在這種回歸正常化的道路上，目前低於中個位數，我們相信不會有一條回歸正常化的線性路徑。在一段時間內它可能會有點上下，但我們也考慮了其中的一些因素。

I do think American whiskey and tequila are still the 2 strongest categories in the U.S. Spirits business, which is where the vast majority of our portfolio is. Now delta from where we were. I mean, I think we spread it out a little bit. I think both are -- tequila is coming down off of sky-high numbers, where American whiskey was steady, high but not as high as tequila. So I guess the delta would be more on the tequila side of things.

我確實認為美國威士忌和龍舌蘭酒仍然是美國烈酒業務中最強的兩個類別，這是我們產品組合的絕大多數。現在從我們原來的位置開始三角洲。我的意思是，我認為我們把它分散了一點。我認為兩者都是——龍舌蘭酒的銷量正在從天價下降，而美國威士忌則穩定、高，但不像龍舌蘭酒那麼高。所以我猜三角洲更多的是龍舌蘭酒。

I do want to point out to -- I just want to reiterate one more time. Now for Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, so core Black Label. Now this is not a U.S. statement as it's global, but the brand was up last year, first half, plus 18% for a brand the size of Jack Daniel's Tennessee to be at plus 18% is an enormous amount of volume movement.

我確實想指出——我只是想再重申一次。現在介紹傑克丹尼田納西威士忌，核心黑標。這不是美國的聲明，因為它是全球性的，但該品牌去年上半年的銷量增長了18%，對於像傑克丹尼田納西州這樣規模的品牌來說，銷量增長了18%，這是一個巨大的銷量變動。

Now to be down 2% over the first half of this year, while we don't love that, the 2-year average is still 8%. And so I don't -- I want to make sure people don't take away from this that the brand is somehow not healthy or anything down that path. The brand has had a not only the last 2 halves, but even over the last 5 years, Tennessee Whiskey has continued to be a really strong supporter and continues to be the single biggest source of growth for Brown-Forman and will be for the foreseeable future.

現在比今年上半年下降了 2%，雖然我們不喜歡這樣，但兩年平均值仍然是 8%。所以我不——我想確保人們不會認為這個品牌在某種程度上不健康或有任何類似的情況。該品牌不僅在過去的兩年裡，甚至在過去的 5 年裡，田納西威士忌仍然是一個真正強大的支持者，並且仍然是 Brown-Forman 最大的單一增長來源，並且在可預見的時間內未來。

And then one last thing I'll add on specifically about the U.S. As we talk about understanding what our opportunity, our long-term opportunity is with Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola, we know it's now a top 10 spirit-based ready-to-drink brand, it's the #1 whiskey-based RTD in Nielsen. It's got over 2% of the category share, and it's really getting great accolades like we talked about in our prepared remarks is named one of Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola as the best new product in 2023 from the spirits business. So again, we think this product is still fairly new in the market, but the accolades are supporting what we believe will be that future growth.

最後我要特別補充一點關於美國的事情，當我們談論理解我們的機會、我們的長期機會是傑克丹尼和可口可樂時，我們知道它現在是十大烈酒類現成飲料之一。- 飲料品牌，它是尼爾森排名第一的威士忌即飲飲料。它佔據了超過2% 的品類份額，並且確實獲得了巨大的讚譽，就像我們在準備好的發言中談到的那樣，它被評為傑克丹尼和可口可樂之一，被評為2023 年烈酒業最佳新產品。再說一次，我們認為該產品在市場上仍然相當新，但這些榮譽支持了我們相信未來的成長。

Yes. That's helpful. So just playing it back. It sounds like the revised expectations are fairly broad-based. But just given the large numbers that were embedded in tequila growth to begin with, but more of the step down is showing up in that category. Is that fair?

是的。這很有幫助。所以只是回放一下。聽起來修訂後的預期基礎相當廣泛。但考慮到龍舌蘭酒的成長一開始就包含了大量的數據，但更多的下降出現在這個類別中。這樣公平嗎？

Correct. Yes.

正確的。是的。

Our next question comes from the line of Robert Ottenstein with Evercore.

我們的下一個問題來自 Robert Ottenstein 和 Evercore 的對話。

Two questions. First, I think in prior calls, you had talked about going to kind of a 2% to 3% or 3% price increase in the U.S. and trying to do that on a steady basis. Is that under review or at risk now given the weakness in the market? So that would be the first question.

兩個問題。首先，我認為在先前的電話會議中，您曾談到美國將提價 2% 至 3% 或 3%，並試圖穩定地實現這一目標。鑑於市場疲軟，該計劃現在是否正在接受審查或面臨風險？這是第一個問題。

And then the second question is more on your distributors and route to market in the U.S. and whether you're getting the kind of execution that you expect doing a lot of channel checks, talking to a lot of people. A lot of the spirits, the wine spirits distributors have gotten very big, some of them are taking on beer, doing other things. And I am hearing more complaints about the execution in the U.S. market and people trying to figure out what they're going to do and deal with that. So I was just wondering if that's an issue that you're looking at?

第二個問題更多的是關於你的經銷商和進入美國市場的路線，以及你是否得到了你期望的那種執行力，進行了大量的通路檢查，與很多人交談。許多烈酒、葡萄酒烈酒經銷商已經變得非常大，其中一些正在接受啤酒，做其他事情。我聽到了更多關於美國市場執行情況的抱怨，人們試圖弄清楚他們將要做什麼並處理這個問題。所以我只是想知道這是否是您正在考慮的問題？

I'm laughing people complaining about U.S. distributors. Look, the pricing question first. Look, we still believe and see solid consumer demand. And so we are not planning on really changing that pricing strategy. We have -- we've been doing it now for 2, 2.5 years, where we like in the U.S., it's been that 2% to 3% range. It's actually been higher in other parts of the world. And it has a lot to do with why our gross margin has expanded so much over the last, say, 6 months.

我在笑人們抱怨美國經銷商。首先是定價問題。看，我們仍然相信並看到穩固的消費者需求。因此，我們不打算真正改變定價策略。我們已經這樣做了 2、2.5 年，我們喜歡在美國，一直在 2% 到 3% 的範圍內。事實上，世界其他地區的比例更高。這與我們的毛利率在過去（例如 6 個月）中成長如此之大有很大關係。

And so we love that and still see a lot of really good pricing opportunities. So it's that low -- very casual, low and slow where we believe in that over the long term is the way to go. We did not do -- like some of our competitors took huge increases back when supplies chains were very constrained and all that and go to double digits. And that is a risky strategy, I think, in our industry and not one that we're going to pursue, but we are going to continue with the sort of low single-digit range, and I see that continuing for the foreseeable future.

所以我們喜歡這一點，並且仍然看到很多非常好的定價機會。所以它就是那麼低——非常隨意、低而緩慢，我們相信從長遠來看這是正確的道路。我們沒有這樣做——就像我們的一些競爭對手在供應鏈非常有限時大幅增加產量一樣，所有這些都達到了兩位數。我認為，在我們的行業中，這是一種有風險的策略，而不是我們要追求的策略，但我們將繼續保持這種低個位數的範圍，而且我認為在可預見的未來，這種情況將持續下去。

Now back to the U.S. distributors. I mean, we are -- we -- certainly, there's been a lot of consolidation in that space over the last decade or really 2 decades. We're very comfortable with where we are. They're doing a good job for us. We're, in many cases, the largest supplier in many, particularly in the RNDC markets. And so we get our fair share of attention and feel good about that. And these are great partners that we have and we need and have good relationships with. So I don't really see any significant changes happening there in the near future.

現在回到美國經銷商。我的意思是，我們——我們——當然，在過去的十年或實際上的二十年裡，這個領域發生了很多整合。我們對自己所處的位置感到非常滿意。他們為我們做得很好。在許多情況下，我們是最大的供應商，特別是在 RNDC 市場。因此，我們得到了應有的關注，並對此感覺良好。這些都是我們擁有的、我們需要的、並與之保持良好關係的優秀合作夥伴。所以我真的不認為在不久的將來會發生任何重大變化。

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, due to the interest of time, I would now like to turn the call back over to Sue for closing remarks.

謝謝。女士們、先生們，由於時間關係，我現在想將電話轉回給蘇，讓她發表結束語。

Thank you, and thank you, Lawson and Leanne, and thank you to everyone for joining us today for Brown-Forman's Second Quarter and First Half of Fiscal Year 2024 Earnings Call. If you have any additional questions, please contact us.

謝謝你們，謝謝你們，Lawson 和 Leanne，也謝謝大家今天參加 Brown-Forman 的 2024 財年第二季和上半年財報電話會議。如果您還有任何其他問題，請與我們聯絡。

I would like to note that yesterday, December 5 was the 90th anniversary of Repeal Day, which is the end of prohibition in the United States. And if that isn't enough reason to cheer, 90 years ago today, Brown-Forman became a publicly traded company. So I hope you will join us in celebrating responsibly, of course, these 2 milestones as well as the holiday season ahead of us, cheers to everyone and happy holidays.

我想指出的是，昨天12月5日是美國禁酒令廢除90週年紀念日。如果這還不足以令人歡呼的話，90 年前的今天，Brown-Forman 成為了一家上市公司。所以我希望你能和我們一起負責任地慶祝，當然，這兩個里程碑以及我們面前的假期，祝大家節日快樂。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。