Edgewell Personal Care Co (EPC) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to Edgewell's fourth quarter and fiscal year 2024 earnings conference call.(Operator Instructions) Please note, this event is being recorded.

美好的一天，歡迎參加 Edgewell 第四季和 2024 財年財報電話會議。請注意，此事件正在被記錄。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Chris Gough, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

我現在想將會議交給投資者關係副總裁 Chris Gough。請繼續。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us this morning for Edgewell's fourth quarter and fiscal year 2024 earnings call. With me this morning are Rod Little, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Dan Sullivan, our Chief Operating and Financial Officer. Rod will kick off the call then hand it over to Dan to discuss our 2024 results and full year fiscal 2025 outlook before we transition to Q&A. This call is being recorded and will be available for replay via our website, www.edgewell.com. During the call, we may make statements about our expectations for future plans and performance.

大家早安，感謝您今天早上參加 Edgewell 第四季和 2024 財年財報電話會議。今天早上和我在一起的有我們的總裁兼執行長羅德·利特爾 (Rod Little)；以及我們的首席營運和財務長 Dan Sullivan。Rod 將開始電話會議，然後將其交給 Dan 討論我們的 2024 年業績和 2025 財年全年展望，然後我們將進行問答。本次通話正在錄音中，可透過我們的網站 www.edgewell.com 重播。在電話會議期間，我們可能會就我們對未來計劃和業績的期望發表聲明。

This might include future sales, earnings, advertising and promotional spending, product launches, savings and costs related to restructuring and repositioning actions, acquisitions and integrations, changes to our working capital metrics, currency fluctuations, commodity costs, category value, future plans for return of capital to shareholders and more. Any such statements are forward-looking statements for the purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which reflect our current views with respect to future events, plans or prospects. These statements are based on assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those described under the caption Risk Factors in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2023, as may be amended in our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, which is on file with the SEC. These risks may cause our actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. We do not assume any obligation to update or revise any of these forward-looking statements to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

這可能包括未來的銷售、收入、廣告和促銷支出、產品發布、與重組和重新定位行動、收購和整合相關的節省和成本、我們的營運資本指標的變化、貨幣波動、商品成本、類別價值、未來回報計劃向股東提供資本等。就 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》中的安全港條款而言，任何此類陳述均為前瞻性陳述，反映了我們當前對未來事件、計畫或前景的看法。這些陳述是基於假設，並受到各種風險和不確定性的影響，包括我們截至2023 年9 月30 日的年度報告10-K 表格中風險因素標題下描述的風險和不確定性，並可能在我們的季度報告中進行修訂10-Q 表，已在 SEC 備案。這些風險可能導致我們的實際結果與我們的前瞻性陳述明示或暗示的結果有重大差異。我們不承擔更新或修改任何這些前瞻性陳述以反映新事件或情況的義務，除非法律要求。

During this call, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP measures are not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is shown in our press release issued earlier today, which is available at the Investor Relations section of our website. This non-GAAP information is provided as a supplement to, not as a substitute for or as superior to measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. However, management believes these non-GAAP measures provide investors with valuable information on the underlying trends of our business.

在本次電話會議中，我們將提及某些非公認會計準則財務指標。這些非公認會計準則衡量指標並非依照公認會計原則制定。我們今天稍早發布的新聞稿顯示了非公認會計準則財務指標與最直接可比較的公認會計準則財務指標的對賬，該新聞稿可在我們網站的投資者關係部分找到。此非公認會計原則資訊是作為根據公認會計原則編制的財務績效衡量標準的補充，而不是替代或優於這些衡量標準。然而，管理階層認為這些非公認會計準則衡量標準為投資者提供了有關我們業務基本趨勢的寶貴資訊。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Rod.

說到這裡，我想把電話轉給羅德。

Thank you, Chris. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us on our fourth quarter and fiscal 2024 year-end earnings call. Our results in fiscal '24 further demonstrate the progress we are making in transforming our business and the effectiveness of the strategy and business model we launched four years ago. For fiscal '24, we achieved slight organic net sales growth, meaningfully expanded adjusted gross margins and delivered double-digit adjusted earnings per share growth at constant currency for the second consecutive year. In the face of a heightened competitive landscape and an increasingly cautious consumer, we accelerated organic growth across our international businesses, introduced category-leading innovation in the US, Sun Care category, and deepened our participation globally across the men's and women's grooming segments.

謝謝你，克里斯。大家早安，感謝您參加我們的第四季和 2024 財年年終收益電話會議。我們 24 財年的業績進一步證明了我們在業務轉型方面所取得的進展以及我們四年前推出的策略和業務模式的有效性。24 財年，我們實現了小幅有機淨銷售額成長，顯著擴大了調整後毛利率，並連續第二年實現了按固定匯率計算的兩位數調整後每股收益增長。面對日益激烈的競爭格局和日益謹慎的消費者，我們加速了國際業務的有機成長，在美國推出了領先的創新產品——防曬品，並深化了我們在全球男士和女士美容領域的參與。

And as inflation normalized, we saw meaningful flow-through from our productivity and pricing initiatives, both key pillars of our business model and which collectively drove gross margin accretion and strong bottom line results. We delivered healthy earnings growth and our substantial cash flow generation supported our efforts to both delever and buy back shares. In 2024, we delivered our fourth consecutive year of organic net sales growth, although the growth was less than recent years and slightly below our expectations. Importantly, our top line results were underpinned by compelling performance in three distinct areas of the business. First, our international markets, which grew over 7% and now make up about 40% of our total revenue.

隨著通膨正常化，我們看到生產力和定價舉措產生了有意義的影響，這兩者都是我們業務模式的關鍵支柱，共同推動了毛利率的成長和強勁的獲利結果。我們實現了健康的獲利成長，我們產生的大量現金流支持了我們去槓桿化和回購股票的努力。2024 年，我們實現了連續第四年的有機淨銷售額成長，儘管成長低於近年來，並略低於我們的預期。重要的是，我們的營收業績是由三個不同業務領域引人注目的業績所支撐的。首先是我們的國際市場，成長超過 7%，目前約占我們總收入的 40%。

Second, our right to win portfolio in North America grew over 3% with our leading Sun Care and Grooming portfolios both growing mid-single digits. And third, the Billie brand continued to win in women's shave, gaining 260 basis points of share while beginning its journey towards becoming what we believe will be the preeminent women's lifestyle brand as it entered select women's grooming categories with Walmart. Together, these businesses representing nearly 70% of total company sales grew mid-single digits for the year, which we believe represents a clear path for durable growth moving forward. So while work remains across select areas of our US Shave and Fem Care portfolios, the majority of our business is healthy, growing and performing well in market.

其次，我們在北美的贏利投資組合成長了 3% 以上，其中我們領先的防曬和美容產品組合都實現了中位數成長。第三，Billie 品牌繼續在女性剃須領域獲勝，獲得了 260 個基點的市場份額，同時開始了成為卓越女性生活方式品牌的旅程，因為它與沃爾瑪一起進入了精選的女性美容類別。這些業務合計占公司總銷售額的近 70%，今年實現了中個位數成長，我們認為這代表了未來持久成長的明確道路。因此，雖然我們的美國剃須和女性護理產品組合的選定領域仍在開展工作，但我們的大部分業務都在健康、成長和市場表現良好。

While the top line growth profile for the year was below our expectations, gross margin accretion outperformed and the strength of our operating model was clear as we delivered 18% adjusted earnings per share growth. As part of our transformation, we've been relentless on productivity efforts, disciplined on cost and cash management and increasingly agile in price and revenue management, all of which will continue to be at the core of how we will manage this business going forward. While the results we posted this year demonstrate that our strategy is gaining increasing traction, our journey and transformation of the business is ongoing. As a result, last quarter, we announced a series of leadership team and organizational changes designed to strengthen our operating model, streamline decision-making and improve enterprise execution, all of which we believe will better position us to deliver on our overarching strategy to drive sustainable top and bottom line growth. More specifically, these changes are critical to our five primary priorities as we enter the new fiscal year.

雖然今年的營收成長低於我們的預期，但毛利率成長表現出色，而且我們的營運模式的優勢顯而易見，調整後每股盈餘成長了 18%。作為轉型的一部分，我們一直在不懈地提高生產力，嚴格控製成本和現金管理，並在價格和收入管理方面日益敏捷，所有這些都將繼續成為我們未來管理這項業務的核心。雖然我們今年發布的結果表明我們的策略正在獲得越來越多的關注，但我們的旅程和業務轉型仍在繼續。因此，上季度我們宣布了一系列領導團隊和組織變革，旨在加強我們的營運模式、簡化決策並提高企業執行力，我們相信所有這些都將使我們更好地實現我們的整體策略，以推動可持續的收入和利潤增長。更具體地說，當我們進入新的財政年度時，這些變化對我們的五個主要優先事項至關重要。

First and foremost, our focus is on strengthening our right to play that shave and fem categories in the United States to better compete and win over the longer term. We have elevated the priority of winning in US shave and fem care, and our increased focus here will lead to an improved trends and competitiveness. A big part of this renewed focus around winning in these categories in the US begins with leadership.

首先也是最重要的，我們的重點是加強我們在美國參加剃須和女性女性類別的權利，以便更好地競爭並贏得長期勝利。我們提高了在美國剃須和女性護理領域獲勝的優先級，我們對這方面的更多關注將導致趨勢和競爭力的改善。在美國，重新關注在這些類別中獲勝的一個重要部分始於領導力。

We've recently announced a new leader for North America, Jessica Spence, and I'm thrilled to welcome Jess to our team. She's a seasoned and accomplished leader with an impressive brand building and operational background, balanced with a strong track record of driving revenue and profit growth. I'm confident that she will strengthen our North American business and position us as a key innovator, brand builder and retail partner within the industry. Second, we must continue to fortify and accelerate our consumer-centric innovation platform. As we increase our focus on the consumer and accelerate our speed to market, our near-term pipeline remains robust.

我們最近宣布了北美地區的新領導者傑西卡·斯彭斯 (Jessica Spence)，我很高興歡迎傑西加入我們的團隊。她是一位經驗豐富、成就斐然的領導者，擁有令人印象深刻的品牌建立和營運背景，並在推動收入和利潤成長方面擁有良好的記錄。我相信她將加強我們的北美業務，並將我們定位為行業內的關鍵創新者、品牌建立者和零售合作夥伴。其次，我們必須持續強化並加速以消費者為中心的創新平台。隨著我們更加關註消費者並加快上市速度，我們的近期產品線仍然強勁。

After launching category-leading innovation in US Sun Care in 2024 with our Banana Boat 360 spray products, we are seeing the intended impact when we reshaped our innovation engine just over a year ago and created a more locally driven agile platform. Our outlook for the coming year includes meaningful top line contribution from innovation with the expansion of Wilkinson Sword master brand in Europe, the launch of the Schick First brand in Japan, further shave and body expansion for the Billie and Cremo brands and broader product introductions for the Banana Boat and Hawaiian Tropic brands in the United States. Our third priority is to continue to strengthen and leverage growth across our international businesses. We've significantly improved our leadership capability across our international markets.

2024 年，我們透過Banana Boat 360 噴霧產品在美國防曬產品領域推出了領先的創新產品，一年多前，我們重塑了我們的創新引擎，創建了一個更加本地化驅動的敏捷平台，我們看到了預期的影響。我們對來年的展望包括透過Wilkinson Sword master 品牌在歐洲的擴張、在日本推出Schick First 品牌、Billie 和Cremo 品牌的進一步剃須和身體擴張以及更廣泛的產品推出來為創新帶來有意義的營收貢獻。我們的第三個優先事項是繼續加強和利用我們國際業務的成長。我們顯著提高了在國際市場上的領導能力。

We now have a very talented set of leaders and teams in place to deliver consistent growth and value creation as we move forward. Our local leadership teams have a broader voice in innovation, ample investment and are now executing on the strategies that they have developed. And we ended 2024 with a 3-year cumulative average growth rate of over 6%, which tells us that our new operating model is working. And we believe we have a long runway for growth internationally, including another year of mid-single-digit organic growth for the business in fiscal '25. Our fourth priority is related to operations and the work of our supply chain.

我們現在擁有一群非常有才華的領導者和團隊，可以在我們前進的過程中實現持續成長和價值創造。我們的當地領導團隊在創新方面擁有更廣泛的發言權、充足的投資，並且現在正在執行他們所製定的策略。截至 2024 年，我們的 3 年累積平均成長率超過 6%，這表明我們的新營運模式正在發揮作用。我們相信，我們在國際上的成長還有很長的路要走，包括 25 財年業務再次實現中個位數的有機成長。我們的第四個優先事項與我們供應鏈的運作和工作有關。

We're doubling down on clear strength and accelerating efforts to drive meaningful year-on-year gross margin accretion as a catalyst to increased marketing and commercial investment and profit recovery. We are confident that we can continue to drive 200 to 300 basis points per year in productivity savings, and we remain committed to returning the business to pre-COVID gross margin levels of 45-plus percent. We are equally committed to improving service levels as we continue on our path to becoming a world-class supply chain organization and ultimately a preferred partner of our customers. Dan is now overseeing all aspects of this effort, and I am confident that under his leadership and with the already demonstrated strength we have in this area that we will meet these objectives. And lastly, we are focused on our people.

我們正在加倍努力，加大力度，推動毛利率同比顯著增長，作為增加行銷和商業投資以及利潤復甦的催化劑。我們有信心每年能夠繼續將生產力節省提高 200 到 300 個基點，並且我們仍然致力於將業務恢復到新冠疫情前 45% 以上的毛利率水平。我們同樣致力於提高服務水平，並繼續致力於成為世界一流的供應鏈組織並最終成為客戶的首選合作夥伴。丹現在負責監督這項工作的各個方面，我相信，在他的領導下，憑藉我們在這一領域已經展現的實力，我們將實現這些目標。最後，我們關注我們的員工。

We have significantly improved our talent, capabilities and company profile. Our employer brand is much stronger than it was four years ago. We start the new fiscal year with record engagement scores with a nearly 80% positivity rate across the organization and having been recognized externally as the second best company to work for in America out of 400 ranked in the midsized company category. We're proud of this recognition, and we are seeing it play out not only in our engagement scores, but also in record low levels of employee turnover. Importantly, such external recognition serves as an important enabler in terms of recruiting top talent to the organization as we have seen in leadership roles across Europe, Japan and China and most recently with Jess's arrival last month in North America.

我們的人才、能力和公司形象得到了顯著提升。我們的雇主品牌比四年前強大得多。我們以創紀錄的敬業度分數開始了新的財年，整個組織的積極率接近 80%，並被外部公認為美國 400 家中型公司中最適宜工作的公司中排名第二的公司。我們為這項認可感到自豪，我們看到它不僅體現在我們的敬業度分數上，而且還體現在創紀錄的低員工流動率上。重要的是，這種外部認可對於為組織招募頂尖人才起到了重要的推動作用，正如我們在歐洲、日本和中國的領導角色以及最近 Jess 上個月抵達北美所看到的那樣。

So as we think about the future and our ability to deliver on our commitments, I have never been more confident than I am now that we can deliver consistent and reliable growth and value creation over the coming years. And so we're excited about the year ahead. As we look to fiscal 2025, with good momentum across our international businesses and right to win portfolio in the US, a strengthened leadership team and increased focus on excellent execution across the organization, we anticipate low single-digit organic top line growth, further gross margin and profit expansion and ultimately increased value creation for our shareholders. And now I'd like to ask Dan to take you through our fourth quarter and fiscal year results and discuss our outlook for fiscal '25. Dan?

因此，當我們思考未來以及我們履行承諾的能力時，我從未像現在這樣充滿信心，我們能夠在未來幾年實現持續可靠的成長和價值創造。因此，我們對未來的一年感到興奮。展望2025 財年，我們的國際業務勢頭良好，並有權在美國贏得投資組合，領導團隊得到加強，並且更加註重整個組織的卓越執行力，我們預計較低的個位數有機收入增長，毛利率將進一步提高。現在我想請 Dan 向您介紹我們第四季和財年的業績，並討論我們對 25 財年的展望。擔？

Thanks, Rod, and good morning, everyone. As Rod mentioned, and as we've seen play out this year, our broader strategies continue to yield good results with modest top line growth driven by continued momentum across international markets, strong operational fundamentals, good cost management and disciplined capital allocation, we drove meaningful earnings per share growth for the full year. Key highlights of our fiscal '24 performance include mid-single-digit top line growth across the combination of our international business right to win portfolio in the US and Billie Brand, 140 basis points of year-over-year gross margin gains, underpinned by outsized productivity savings of about 280 basis points. Adjusted operating margin expansion of 100 basis points while incrementally investing in our brands and $175 million in free cash flow generation, which enabled us to adequately fund the business, support capital allocation strategies and delever to just over 3x.

謝謝羅德，大家早安。正如羅德所提到的，正如我們今年所看到的那樣，我們的更廣泛的策略繼續產生良好的結果，在國際市場持續增長的勢頭、強勁的運營基本面、良好的成本管理和嚴格的資本配置的推動下，營收適度成長，我們推動全年每股收益顯著成長。我們 24 財年業績的主要亮點包括，我們在美國的國際業務組合和 Billie Brand 的收入實現了中個位數增長，毛利率同比增長 140 個基點，這得益於生產力大幅節省約 280 個基點。調整後的營業利潤率擴大了100 個基點，同時逐步投資於我們的品牌和1.75 億美元的自由現金流生成，這使我們能夠為業務提供充足的資金，支持資本配置策略並將槓桿率降低至3 倍多。

In a year where top line growth was below our expectations, the inherent strength of our business model was clear, highlighted by year-over-year gross margin accretion, incremental investment in our brands, a disciplined approach to cost and capital deployment and meaningful earnings per share growth. As we exited the year, the external environment in which we're operating is mixed. The consumer remains cautious. And in the US, consumption across our categories slowed through the year, made worse last quarter by unfavorable weather, which dampened the final months of the sun season. Inflation, though moderating remains and is largely driven by labor and more modest increases in commodities.

在營收成長低於我們預期的一年中，我們業務模式的內在優勢顯而易見，毛利率同比增長、品牌增量投資、嚴格的成本和資本部署方法以及有意義的收益凸顯了這一點每股增長。今年即將結束時，我們經營的外部環境好壞參半。消費者仍保持謹慎態度。在美國，我們各個類別的消費全年都在放緩，上季度因不利天氣而雪上加霜，這削弱了陽光季節的最後幾個月。儘管通膨依然溫和，但主要是由勞動力和大宗商品溫和成長所推動的。

The currency environment continues to be volatile and is expected to be a further headwind to earnings in 2025. Operationally, we've accelerated our recovery efforts from certain supply challenges across our grooming, skin and preps businesses, which negatively impacted fourth quarter organic sales, and we've already seen improved in-stock conditions on shelf. Entering the new fiscal year, we will continue to be relentless on commercial and operational execution across the organization. Now let me turn to the detailed results for the quarter. Organic net sales decreased 2.8% as strong performance across international markets and continued growth in Sun Care was more than offset by declines in North America Wet Shave, Fem Care and Wet Ones.

貨幣環境持續波動，預計將進一步阻礙 2025 年獲利。在營運方面，我們加快了從美容、皮膚和準備業務的某些供應挑戰中恢復的努力，這些挑戰對第四季度的有機銷售產生了負面影響，而且我們已經看到貨架上的庫存狀況有所改善。進入新的財政年度，我們將繼續在整個組織的商業和營運執行上不懈努力。現在讓我談談本季的詳細業績。有機淨銷售額下降 2.8%，因為國際市場的強勁表現和防曬護理產品的持續成長被北美濕剃、女性護理和濕剃產品的下降所抵消。

International growth of 2.4% was better than expected, widespread and primarily driven by volume gains. Greater China and distributor markets experienced double-digit growth and Oceania saw high single-digit growth, contributing to the overall international performance. Organic sales in North America declined about 6%, with growth in the quarter limited to our Sun Care business. Wet Shave organic net sales were down about 1% as growth across men's and women's systems was offset by declines in preps and disposables. International Wet Shave grew 3% with both price and volume gains, reflecting continued category health, solid distribution outcomes and strong in-market brand activation.

國際成長 2.4% 好於預期，普遍成長，主要是由銷售成長所推動的。大中華區和分銷商市場實現了兩位數成長，大洋洲實現了高個位數成長，為整體國際業績做出了貢獻。北美的有機銷售額下降了約 6%，本季的成長僅限於我們的防曬業務。濕刮鬍產品的有機淨銷售額下降了約 1%，因為男士和女士系統的成長被準備品和一次性用品的下降所抵消。International Wet Shave 的價格和銷售量均成長了 3%，反映出持續的品類健康、穩健的分銷成果和強大的市場品牌活化。

In North America, Wet Shave organic net sales declined 5.5% and continued to be negatively impacted by sluggish category and channel dynamics, particularly in the highly promotional drug channel. The women's shave category returned to growth, though it remains competitive and promotional. Our results across preps were negatively impacted in the quarter by transitory supply challenges, largely across our third-party manufacturing network and related to the Edge brand. As mentioned, we've taken the appropriate steps to address these issues with our supplier, have seen steady improvement in stock levels and do not anticipate further supply headwinds in 2025. In the US

在北美，Wet Shave 有機淨銷售額下降了 5.5%，並繼續受到類別和通路動態低迷的負面影響，特別是在高度促銷的藥品管道中。女士剃鬚品類恢復成長，但仍具有競爭性和促銷性。本季我們整個準備階段的業績受到暫時性供應挑戰的負面影響，主要是在我們的第三方製造網絡中以及與 Edge 品牌相關的挑戰。如前所述，我們已採取適當措施與供應商一起解決這些問題，庫存水準穩步改善，預計 2025 年不會出現進一步的供應阻力。在美國

razors and blades category, consumption was down 2% in the quarter with continued heightened declines in the drug channel. Our market share decreased 110 basis points overall. The Billie brand achieved 140 basis points of share growth and continues to perform well at retail. The brand has attained a 16% share at Walmart, an 11% share at Target and a 10 share in drug and food. Sun and Skin Care organic net sales decreased 3.5% as 3% growth in Sun was more than offset by declines in Skin and Grooming.

刮鬍刀和刀片類別的消費量在本季下降了 2%，其中藥品管道的跌幅持續加劇。我們的市佔率整體下降了 110 個基點。Billie 品牌的份額成長了 140 個基點，並繼續在零售領域表現出色。該品牌在沃爾瑪佔有 16% 的份額，在塔吉特佔有 11% 的份額，在藥品和食品領域佔有 10% 的份額。防曬和皮膚護理產品的有機淨銷售額下降了 3.5%，因為防曬產品 3% 的增長被皮膚和美容產品的下降所抵消。

In the US, Sun Care category consumption declined about 6% in the quarter as end-of-season weather disappointed. Final seasonal replenishment orders from retailers were muted, and as such, our organic growth in the quarter of about 6% was well below our previous expectations. Grooming organic net sales declined about 3% as declines in Cremo and Jack Black sales were partially offset by the continued rollout of Billie's Body Care launch at retail and Bulldog growth in international markets. Wet Ones organic net sales declined about 22%, and our share was approximately 73% as our ramp-up efforts after the fire in our production facility lagged previous expectations. In the current quarter, we've meaningfully improved throughput and added commensurate labor to allow for increased production.

在美國，由於季末天氣令人失望，本季防曬護理類別的消費量下降了約 6%。來自零售商的最終季節性補貨訂單較少，因此，我們本季約 6% 的有機成長遠低於我們先前的預期。美容有機淨銷售額下降約 3%，Cremo 和 Jack Black 銷售額的下降被 Billie's Body Care 在零售市場的持續推出和 Bulldog 在國際市場的成長所部分抵消。Wet Ones 的有機淨銷售額下降了約 22%，我們的份額約為 73%，因為我們在生產設施火災後的產能提升工作落後於先前的預期。在本季度，我們顯著提高了吞吐量並增加了相應的勞動力，以提高產量。

And we expect that over the course of this quarter, we will return to normalized levels of stock across the trade on all SKUs. Fem Care organic net sales were down about 9%, with performance well below expectations. Consumption in the category was up 3%, though mostly driven by 7% growth in pads, where our overall penetration is the lowest. In the categories where we compete more heavily, namely tampons and liners, consumption was down 3% and flat, respectively. Overall, the category remains promotional.

我們預計，在本季中，所有 SKU 的交易庫存將恢復到正常水準。Fem Care 有機淨銷售額下降約 9%，業績遠低於預期。該類別的消費量增長了 3%，但主要是由衛生棉 7% 的增長推動的，而衛生棉的整體滲透率是最低的。在我們競爭更激烈的類別中，即衛生棉條和襯墊，消費量分別下降了 3% 和持平。整體而言，該類別仍處於促銷狀態。

Now moving down the P&L. Adjusted gross margin rate increased 40 basis points or a 60 basis point increase in constant currency. We realized approximately 290 basis points of productivity savings, which were partially offset by 50 basis points of higher promotions, 100 basis points of core gross inflation and volume absorption and 80 basis points of mix and other headwinds. A&P expenses were 8.5% of net sales, up from 7.5% last year. Adjusted SG&A was flat in rate of sale versus last year as strong operational efficiency savings and lower incentive compensation expense offset higher people and consulting expenses and the impact of lower net sales.

現在將損益表向下移動。調整後毛利率增加 40 個基點，以固定匯率計算增加 60 個基點。我們實現了約 290 個基點的生產力節省，但部分被 50 個基點的更高促銷、100 個基點的核心總通膨和銷量吸收以及 80 個基點的混合和其他不利因素所部分抵消。廣告及促銷費用佔淨銷售額的 8.5%，高於去年的 7.5%。調整後的銷售費用、一般行政管理費用與去年持平，因為強勁的營運效率節省和較低的激勵薪酬費用抵消了較高的人員和諮詢費用以及較低的淨銷售額的影響。

Adjusted operating income was $56 million compared to $61.4 million last year. Adjusted operating margin decreased 70 basis points due to increased brand spend. GAAP diluted net earnings per share were $0.17 compared to $0.58 in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23, and adjusted earnings per share were $0.72 compared to $0.73 in the prior year quarter. Currency movements had an approximate $0.01 per share favorable impact in the quarter as translational currency headwinds to operating profit were more than offset by higher year-over-year hedge and balance sheet remeasurement gains within other income and expense below operating profit. Adjusted EBITDA was $78.9 million, inclusive of $0.4 million of favorable currency impact compared to $84.4 million in the prior year.

調整後營業收入為 5,600 萬美元，去年為 6,140 萬美元。由於品牌支出增加，調整後營業利益率下降 70 個基點。GAAP 稀釋後每股淨利為 0.17 美元，而 2023 財年第四季為 0.58 美元；調整後每股收益為 0.72 美元，去年同期為 0.73 美元。貨幣變動對本季每股產生約 0.01 美元的有利影響，因為營業利潤的換算貨幣阻力被低於營業利潤的其他收入和支出中較高的同比對沖和資產負債表重新計量收益所抵消。調整後 EBITDA 為 7,890 萬美元，其中包括 40 萬美元的有利貨幣影響，而前一年為 8,440 萬美元。

Net cash provided by operating activities was $231 million for the full year, an increase of 7% compared to the prior year. We ended the quarter with $209 million in cash on hand, access to the $386 million undrawn portion of our credit facility and a net debt leverage ratio of 3.1x. During the fiscal year, we paid down $88 million on our revolver as we prioritize deleveraging as part of our disciplined capital allocation strategy. In the quarter, share repurchases totaled $18.3 million, and we continued our quarterly dividend payout and declared another cash dividend of $0.15 per share for the fourth quarter. In total, we returned $25.7 million to shareholders during the quarter.

全年經營活動提供的現金淨額為2.31億美元，較上年成長7%。本季末，我們手頭現金為 2.09 億美元，可使用信貸額度中 3.86 億美元的未提取部分，淨債務槓桿率為 3.1 倍。在本財年，我們支付了 8,800 萬美元的左輪手槍債務，因為我們將去槓桿化作為我們嚴格的資本配置策略的一部分。本季度，股票回購總額為 1830 萬美元，我們繼續支付季度股息，並宣布第四季度再次現金股息每股 0.15 美元。本季我們總共向股東返還了 2,570 萬美元。

Now let me turn briefly to our full year results. Organic net sales for the year increased 0.2%. Our right to win portfolio grew about 5%, fueled by nearly 7% growth in Global Sun Care, while our Grooming brands grew almost 6% for the year. Our right-to-play portfolio declined about 2% as slight growth in Wet Shave was offset by a 10% decline in Fem Care. From a geographic perspective, international markets organic net sales increased just over 7%, equally driven by both volume and price gains.

現在讓我簡要介紹一下我們的全年業績。本年度有機淨銷售額成長 0.2%。在全球防曬品成長近 7% 的推動下，我們的 Right to win 產品組合成長了約 5%，而我們的美容品牌今年則成長了近 6%。我們的遊戲權投資組合下降了約 2%，因為 Wet Shave 的小幅成長被 Fem Care 10% 的下降所抵消。從地理角度來看，國際市場的有機淨銷售額成長略高於 7%，銷售量和價格成長也同樣受到推動。

North America organic net sales decreased by about 4% as gains in pricing were offset by volume declines. Adjusted gross margin rate increased 140 basis points year-on-year. We generated productivity savings of 280 basis points and favorable price and strategic revenue management of 115 basis points. This more than offset core inflation and transitory cost headwinds related to unfavorable absorption and heightened unit cost inflation trapped in inventory of approximately 185 basis points as well as unfavorable mix of approximately 70 basis points. A&P expense was 10.3% as a rate of sale, an increase of 10 basis points over the prior year as we continue to invest in our brands.

北美有機淨銷售額下降約 4%，原因是銷量下降抵消了價格上漲。調整後毛利率較去年同期上升140個基點。我們的生產力節省了 280 個基點，優惠的價格和策略收入管理提高了 115 個基點。這足以抵銷核心通膨和暫時性成本逆風，這些逆風與不利吸收和單位成本通膨加劇有關，庫存中約185個基點，以及約70個基點的不利組合。隨著我們繼續對品牌進行投資，廣告及費用支出佔銷售額的比例為 10.3%，比上年增加了 10 個基點。

Adjusted operating profit increased $21.3 million or approximately 9% and adjusted operating margin for the year was 11.9%, up about 100 basis points in rate of sale. The increase in adjusted operating income margin was attributable to gross margin accretion, partially offset by higher brand investment and people costs. Now turning to our outlook for fiscal 2025. As we look forward to fiscal '25, our expectations are that we will again deliver results at or above our stated financial algorithm at constant currency and underpinned by another year of both meaningful gross margin accretion and free cash flow generation. For the fiscal year, we anticipate organic net sales growth to be in the range of 1% to 3%, excluding 70 basis points of currency tailwinds.

調整後的營業利潤增加了 2,130 萬美元，約 9%，調整後的營業利潤率為 11.9%，銷售率上升了約 100 個基點。調整後營業利益率的成長歸因於毛利率的增加，但部分被品牌投資和人力成本的增加所抵銷。現在轉向我們對 2025 財年的展望。當我們展望25 財年時，我們的期望是，我們將再次以固定匯率實現達到或高於我們規定的財務演算法的業績，並以又一年顯著的毛利率增長和自由現金流生成為基礎。本財年，我們預期有機淨銷售額成長將在 1% 至 3% 之間，不包括 70 個基點的貨幣順風因素。

We expect Q1 growth to be down just under 1%, with low single-digit growth expected in each of the final three quarters. Growth is expected to largely drive from volume gains, although this will vary by geography and segment. We anticipate our right-to-win portfolio will continue to deliver mid-single-digit growth, while our right-to-play portfolio is expected to be essentially flat to slightly down. We expect international markets to deliver mid-single-digit organic sales growth with North America flat to slightly positive. As we look to adjusted gross margin, we anticipate about 75 basis points of year-over-year rate accretion or 90 basis points at constant currency.

我們預計第一季的成長率將略低於 1%，最後三個季度的成長率預計均為低個位數。預計成長主要來自銷售成長，儘管這會因地理位置和細分市場而異。我們預計我們的獲勝權投資組合將繼續實現中個位數成長，而我們的比賽權投資組合預計將基本持平或略有下降。我們預計國際市場將實現中個位數的有機銷售成長，其中北美市場持平或略有成長。當我們考慮調整後的毛利率時，我們預期利率將年增約 75 個基點，或以固定匯率計算 90 個基點。

However, we expect gross margin to decline approximately 110 basis points in the first quarter due to trailing absorption charges from 2024 and the negative impact of transactional currency compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, we anticipate gross margin to be flat in the first quarter when excluding an estimated 100 basis points of currency headwinds. For the full year, we expect approximately 290 basis points of productivity savings and 10 basis points of price gains, to offset approximately 115 basis points of COGS inflation, 40 basis points impact from the unfavorable absorption, 60 basis points of negative mix and other costs and 15 basis points of unfavorable currency. We remain committed to investing in our brands through A&P to support our growth outlook with A&P expected to increase in both dollars and rate of sale with the latter increasing by 50 basis points to approximately 10.8%. Adjusted operating profit margin is expected to increase approximately 40 basis points, inclusive of 10 basis points of unfavorable FX, though we expect operating margin rate contraction in the first quarter.

然而，由於 2024 年的尾隨吸收費用以及交易貨幣與前一年相比的負面影響，我們預計第一季毛利率將下降約 110 個基點。在固定匯率基礎上，如果排除估計 100 個基點的貨幣逆風，我們預計第一季毛利率將持平。就全年而言，我們預計生產力節省約 290 個基點，價格上漲約 10 個基點，以抵消 COGS 通膨約 115 個基點、不利吸收帶來的 40 個基點影響、負面組合和其他成本的 60 個基點以及15個基點的不利貨幣。我們仍然致力於透過 A&P 投資我們的品牌，以支持我們的成長前景，A&P 預計美元和銷售率都會增加，後者將增加 50 個基點，達到約 10.8%。調整後的營業利潤率預計將增加約 40 個基點，其中包括 10 個基點的不利匯率，但我們預計第一季營業利潤率將會收縮。

Other expense net is expected to be $7 million as we anticipate approximately $1 million in currency hedge loss compared with over $8 million of hedge and remeasurement gains in fiscal '24. This impact is the primary driver of the anticipated currency headwind to earnings for the year. Adjusted EPS is expected to be in the range of $3.15 to $3.35, inclusive of approximately $0.18 per share of currency headwinds, of which $0.10 is estimated for Q1. This represents a year-over-year EPS increase of about 7% at the midpoint of the range or 13% growth in constant currency. The EPS outlook reflects the impact of expected share repurchases of approximately $90 million and an assumed effective tax rate of 22%.

其他費用淨額預計為 700 萬美元，因為我們預計貨幣對沖損失約為 100 萬美元，而 24 財年的對沖和重新計量收益將超過 800 萬美元。這種影響是預期貨幣對今年收益不利的主要驅動因素。調整後每股收益預計在 3.15 美元至 3.35 美元之間，包括每股約 0.18 美元的貨幣不利因素，其中第一季預計為 0.10 美元。這意味著每股盈餘年增約 7%（以區間中點計算）或以固定匯率計算成長 13%。每股盈餘展望反映了預計約 9,000 萬美元的股票回購和假設有效稅率 22% 的影響。

Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $356 million to $368 million, inclusive of an estimated $11 million in currency headwinds. On a constant currency basis, adjusted EBITDA growth at the midpoint of the range is expected to be approximately 6%. In terms of phasing, we anticipate that we will generate about 2/3 of our full year adjusted EPS in half two of the fiscal year with Q1 adjusted EPS below the prior year. And finally, free cash flow for the year is expected to be approximately $185 million. For more information related to our fiscal '25 outlook, I would refer you to the press release that we issued earlier this morning.

調整後的 EBITDA 預計在 3.56 億美元至 3.68 億美元之間，其中包括估計 1,100 萬美元的貨幣不利因素。以固定匯率計算，調整後 EBITDA 成長率預計約為 6%。就分階段而言，我們預計我們將在本財年的後半段內產生全年調整後每股收益的約 2/3，其中第一季調整後每股收益低於上一年。最後，今年的自由現金流預計約為 1.85 億美元。有關我們 25 財年展望的更多信息，請參閱我們今天早上早些時候發布的新聞稿。

And now I'd like to turn the call back over to the operator for the Q&A session.

現在我想將電話轉回給接線生進行問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) Chris Carey, Wells Fargo Securities.

（操作員指示）Chris Carey，富國銀行證券。

Can you go through your confidence levels on organic sales growth for fiscal '25? I think this has been an area of more volatility, including relative to your own expectations. Can you just talk about some of maybe the key drivers that are giving you that confidence to return to mid-single-digit growth in international that the North America business can stabilize? Maybe comment on Shape Preps and Fem Care. And if it doesn't come in, in line with your expectations, which I know, of course, it will, just maybe add to that of your confidence levels around profitability.

您能否回顧一下您對 25 財年有機銷售成長的信心程度？我認為這是一個波動性更大的領域，包括相對於你自己的預期。您能否談談一些可能的關鍵驅動因素，這些因素使您有信心使國際業務恢復到中個位數成長，從而使北美業務能夠穩定下來？也許對塑形準備和女性護理發表評論。如果它沒有達到你的預期，我當然知道，它可能會增加你對獲利能力的信心水準。

If I just think about this year, sales came in a bit lower, but profit remained quite strong. So I'm just trying to balance the tension between top line and bottom line and get your added thoughts.

如果我只考慮今年，銷售額會下降一些，但利潤仍然相當強勁。所以我只是試著平衡頂線和底線之間的緊張關係，並聽取您的補充想法。

I'll start with the second part of your question, which is profit confidence here in the event that we don't see it, but that sales maybe fall short. And I would actually reiterate what you said. I think you saw it this year for us, meaning 2024, that we are pretty relentless on our productivity efforts. We are maniacal on our cost focus among G&A. And so I think there's certainly levers that we have pulled and will continue to pull to drive the profit expectation in the event that sales are challenged.

我將從你問題的第二部分開始，如果我們沒有看到利潤信心，但銷售額可能會達不到預期。我實際上會重申你所說的話。我想您今年（即 2024 年）已經看到我們在生產力方面的不懈努力。我們對 G&A 的成本關注非常瘋狂。因此，我認為，如果銷售受到挑戰，我們肯定會採取並將繼續採取措施來推動利潤預期。

Again, that's not how we built the plan, but I think we've demonstrated that capability. If I go back to your first part because I think it's a fair question. And thinking about our business and where the growth comes, I'm going to start with international. I think there's probably three components here that are worth calling out before I hand it to Rod. One is international, where we have a mid-single-digit growth profile on the business next year.

再說一遍，這不是我們制定計劃的方式，但我認為我們已經展示了這種能力。如果我回到你的第一部分，因為我認為這是一個公平的問題。考慮我們的業務以及成長的來源，我將從國際開始。我認為在將其交給羅德之前，這裡可能有三個組件值得指出。一是國際業務，明年我們的業務將實現中個位數成長。

It's 40% of our growth. I think our behavior and our abilities are very demonstrated and consistent here over years. And we have a healthy line of sight to this between the brand activation work that is ongoing, the innovation that's coming to market. There is some price built in that has already been executed. And candidly, just team performing extremely well from brand to shelf.

這是我們成長的 40%。我認為多年來我們的行為和能力在這裡得到了充分證明和一致。我們對正在進行的品牌活化工作和即將上市的創新之間有一個健康的視野。有一些內建價格已經被執行。坦白說，從品牌到貨架，團隊都表現得非常出色。

So high confidence, high line of sight there. Within the US business, I would point to a couple of things that we see as tailwinds. One is Sun. This was essentially a sluggish, flat season here in the US

如此高的信心，高的視線。在美國企業中，我想指出一些我們認為有利的因素。其一是孫。這基本上是美國一個低迷、平淡的季節

It had a difficult start and a difficult end. But overall, consumption was basically flat. And so we're going up against an odd season. We would expect tailwinds in consumption and then, of course, with innovation and brand work, we expect to gain share. On the grooming side of the equation, which would be my third point, we are going to see Billie expand its body business.

它有一個艱難的開始和一個艱難的結束。但整體而言，消費基本上持平。所以我們將面臨一個奇怪的賽季。我們預計消費會出現順風車，然後，當然，透過創新和品牌工作，我們預計會獲得份額。在美容方面，這是我的第三點，我們將看到比莉擴大其美體業務。

We are super excited about what we're doing with the Cremo brand around innovation and NPD. And then the last piece for me, just laddering back up to Billie, which is in addition to its expansion in the grooming categories on a more national level. We will launch a dispo product in shave. There are a few pockets left around distribution, which we will close next year. And Amazon growth, which we're super bullish about for the brand.

我們對 Cremo 品牌圍繞創新和 NPD 所做的事情感到非常興奮。然後是我的最後一篇文章，只是重新回到比莉，這是除了在全國範圍內擴展美容類別之外的一部分。我們將推出一款剃鬚產品。分銷方面還剩下一些空間，我們將在明年關閉。以及亞馬遜的成長，我們對該品牌非常看好。

So you've got a really good line of sight on international. We've got what we think will be a healthier sun season, exciting things for us around the Billie brand and the Cremo brand. And then the last thing I would say is there's probably about 0.5 point that we would estimate of supply disruption we experienced in '24 that obviously wouldn't come back in '25. So let me pause there and hand it to Rod for his comments.

所以你對國際視野有很好的視野。我們認為將迎來一個更健康的陽光季節，圍繞著 Billie 品牌和 Cremo 品牌，我們將迎來令人興奮的事情。我要說的最後一件事是，我們估計 24 年經歷的供應中斷可能有 0.5 個點左右，而 25 年顯然不會再出現。因此，讓我在此暫停一下，並將其交給羅德徵求意見。

I would just add to what Dan said with a couple of things. First, very confident in the growth profile we put forward with the fiscal '25 guide. As Dan called out and we referenced in the script, we've got 70% of our business, international, Sun grooming here in the US and Billie, that's about 70% of our business, all at that mid-single-digit plus growth rate. So rock solid with that.

我想補充一下丹所說的幾件事。首先，我們對 25 財年指南中提出的成長前景非常有信心。正如 Dan 所說，我們在劇本中提到，我們 70% 的國際業務、Sun 美容業務都在美國，而 Billie 大約占我們業務的 70%，全部都在中個位數以上增長。所以堅如磐石。

That leaves Shave and Fem primarily here in the US as, okay, what do we need to do with that business. Combined, that business was down 2% last year, our right-to-play portfolio. And we've got essentially flat next year. And so we're not projecting greatness with that business, but it's a 2-point step-up if we could deliver flat, which would effectively give you the growth.

這使得 Shave 和 Fem 主要在美國，我們需要如何處理這項業務。綜合起來，去年我們的有權參與的業務組合下降了 2%。明年我們的業績基本上持平。因此，我們並沒有對這項業務寄予厚望，但如果我們能夠實現持平，那麼這將是一個 2 點的提升，這將有效地為您帶來成長。

I feel very confident we can do that. We've got Jess coming in as a new leader to lead us through that. I've been very close to the business over the last couple of months. I've been out with retailers. Retailers are behind us, want us to win.

我非常有信心我們能夠做到這一點。傑西（Jess）作為新的領導者加入，帶領我們渡過難關。在過去的幾個月裡，我與公司的關係非常密切。我一直在和零售商打交道。零售商支持我們，希望我們獲勝。

So we have full retailer support. And we've got stronger teams in place below Jess now in those businesses activating and building those brands and portfolios. So I think nothing is ever certain in the future. We learn that every day in life. But I think we feel really good and that we've got it in the right place at 2% growth, kind of what we've guided to for next year at the midpoint.

所以我們有全面的零售商支援。現在，我們在 Jess 的領導下組建了更強大的團隊，負責激活和建立這些品牌和產品組合。所以我認為未來沒有什麼是確定的。我們在生活中每天都在學習這一點。但我認為我們感覺非常好，我們已經以 2% 的成長率實現了正確的目標，這正是我們為明年的中期目標所設定的目標。

And as Dan said, if we don't get there, we'll cover it off on the profit line.

正如丹所說，如果我們達不到目標，我們將用利潤線來彌補。

Bill Chappell, Truist Securities.

比爾‧查普爾 (Bill Chappell)，Truist 證券公司。

Just want to follow up on Sun Care and both from the quarter and the health of the category. For the quarter, historically, even though it includes July and August, it's been a small quarter in terms of shipments. I'm surprised to hear that it was well below plan just because usually the season is largely done. So maybe help me understand the expectations there. And then second, I think this time last year, you had the same commentary.

只是想跟進防曬霜的季度情況以及該類別的健康狀況。從歷史上看，儘管該季度包括七月和八月，但就出貨量而言，這個季度仍然很小。我很驚訝地聽到這遠低於計劃，因為通常賽季已經基本完成。所以也許可以幫助我理解那裡的期望。其次，我想去年的這個時候，你也有同樣的評論。

We had a weak season due part to weather. We got some good innovation. We should get market share, so it should be a tailwind in 2024, and it wasn't. And you had fairly favorable comps and probably even more favorable comps. And last, this is the category that consumers can trade down in probably more than anything else that you sell.

由於天氣原因，我們經歷了淡季。我們有一些很好的創新。我們應該獲得市場份額，所以這應該是 2024 年的順風車，但事實並非如此。而且你有相當有利的競爭，甚至可能更有利的競爭。最後，這一類別可能比您銷售的其他任何商品都更容易被消費者以舊換新。

So help me understand the health of this category and where you stand as we move into '25.

因此，請幫助我了解該類別的健康狀況以及在我們進入 25 年後您的立場。

Let me clear up a couple of things. The last quarter of Sun is actually not an unimportant quarter. It's 1/3 of the category in the US Remember, one of the benefits in this post-COVID environment is consumers extending their time outside in a way that they hadn't done pre-pandemic, and that has stuck. And so I think we should just be clear upfront, 1/3 of the category happens in that period for us that ends in the September quarter.

讓我澄清一些事情。Sun的最後一個季度其實並不是一個不重要的季度。這是美國同類產品的 1/3 請記住，在後新冠疫情環境下的好處之一是消費者以大流行前沒有做過的方式延長了戶外時間，而且這種情況一直存在。因此，我認為我們應該提前明確，該類別的 1/3 發生在 9 月季度結束的那個時期。

We profiled it to be up 6% consumption year-over-year. It was down 6%. And so it was a meaningful drag on us. We estimate about 2 points of our organic shortfall to expectation in Q4 came from that consumption miss and ultimately impact on our organics because what you didn't see happen was the in-season replenishment 2, replenishment three from retail. So that's that piece.

我們預計其消費量將年增 6%。下降了 6%。所以這對我們來說是一個有意義的拖累。我們估計，第四季度有機產品與預期的差距大約有2 個百分點，這是由於消費失誤以及最終對我們有機產品的影響，因為你沒有看到發生的是季節性補貨2、來自零售的補貨3。這就是那件作品。

In terms of how do you think about the categories over time, obviously, choppiness with COVID and coming out of the pandemic. But prior to '24, you actually saw 6% growth two straight years, '22, '23. It is a healthy category. Now you get tripped up on the quarters and good starts to the season versus not, and I'm not going to go back through last year's narrative, but we did not have a bullish view on last year's fourth quarter because we already saw the weather impact hitting us in that 4th of July period and retailers had already pulled back on orders. So the expectations of this fourth quarter were very different than a year ago.

就你如何看待隨著時間的推移而出現的類別而言，顯然，新冠疫情的動盪和大流行的結束。但在 24 年之前，實際上連續兩年（22 年、23 年）成長了 6%。這是一個健康的類別。現在你會被季度和賽季的良好開局所絆倒，我不會回顧去年的敘述，但我們對去年第四季度沒有樂觀的看法，因為我們已經看到了天氣7 月4 日期間，我們受到了影響，零售商已經撤回了訂單。因此，第四季度的預期與一年前有很大不同。

Having said that, how do we view the quarter? We are the leading portfolio of brands here in the US. We think the category naturally has a 2% to 4% growth profile to it. We brought meaningful innovation to the category this year in our 360 spray. And so we're very, very comfortable with how we've thought about it.

話雖如此，我們如何看待本季？我們是美國領先的品牌組合。我們認為該類別自然有 2% 至 4% 的成長前景。今年，我們在 360 度噴霧中為該類別帶來了有意義的創新。所以我們對我們的想法非常非常滿意。

for next year and not looking for greatness out of weather, but looking for a more solid year in the 2% to 3% consumption range rather than flat, which is what we saw this year. And we have not seen a flat or declining year of Sun season since 2020, which we all know what drove that. So that's our view on Sun. We're quite bullish on it. But obviously, weather plays a part, particularly in the fourth quarter that we saw.

對於明年，我們不是在天氣上尋找偉大的表現，而是尋找在 2% 至 3% 的消費範圍內更加穩定的一年，而不是我們今年看到的持平。自 2020 年以來，我們還沒有看到太陽季節持平或下降的一年，我們都知道這是什麼造成的。這就是我們對Sun 的看法。我們非常看好它。但顯然，天氣起了一定作用，特別是在我們看到的第四季。

Rod, anything that you would add to that?

羅德，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

I'd just reinforce, we have a strong innovation pipeline. We are the leader. We do everything ourselves in-house from QA regulatory formulation, manufacturing to the end direct store delivery force, which is, I think, best-in-class. And so we have strong capabilities here. We've got the mid-tier pricing in our brands, as Dan referenced.

我想強調的是，我們擁有強大的創新管道。我們是領導者。我們在內部完成所有工作，從 QA 監管制定、製造到最終的直營商店交付力量，我認為這是一流的。所以我們在這裡擁有強大的能力。正如丹所提到的那樣，我們的品牌具有中等定價。

And then back to the category more generally, Bill, the reason we're bullish on the category is we have learned people want to be active. They want to focus on longevity, health and wellness and SPF and Sun Care is one of the ways to help people do that, and we've seen that in the regimen change. And sun exposure causes aging. It's the number one cause of skin aging and skin cancer rates in the US are going up, not down.

然後回到更廣泛的類別，比爾，我們看好該類別的原因是我們了解到人們想要活躍起來。他們希望專注於長壽、健康和保健，而 SPF 和防曬護理是幫助人們實現這一目標的方法之一，我們已經在養生法的改變中看到了這一點。陽光照射會導致老化。這是皮膚老化的首要原因，而美國的皮膚癌發生率正在上升，而不是下降。

Globally, they're going up, not down. And so we think that sets up well long term for the category. And you had referenced trade down in your question. In this category, actually, the opposite is happening. We're seeing trade up.

從全球來看，它們正在上升，而不是下降。因此，我們認為這為該類別奠定了良好的長期基礎。您在問題中提到了向下交易。實際上，在這一類別中，情況恰恰相反。我們看到交易量上升。

There's not significant private label exposure. We don't see people trading down to private label. In fact, people are willing to spend more in the category as it evolves. And so I think this is a little different than a traditional daily use category in that respect.

沒有顯著的自有品牌曝光。我們沒有看到人們轉而購買自有品牌。事實上，隨著該類別的發展，人們願意在該類別上花費更多。所以我認為這與傳統的日常使用類別在這方面有點不同。

Olivia Tong, Raymond James.

佟麗婭，雷蒙德‧詹姆斯。

I wanted to ask about your visibility and the building blocks on your fiscal '25 sales outlook for 1% to 3% organic. And what gets such an acceleration going? Because you mentioned in your prepared remarks a lot about Q1 being sluggish sales and EBITDA and EPS down. Obviously, the supply chain challenges you had, high promotion in Wet Shave, the over-indexing to drug, and you've got a new Head of North America. So it seems like you've built in some flexibility in Q1, but obviously, a fair bit of expectation for the sales to grow as the year progresses.

我想詢問您的知名度以及 25 財年 1% 至 3% 有機銷售前景的基礎。是什麼讓這種加速發生？因為您在準備好的發言中多次提到第一季銷售疲軟以及 EBITDA 和 EPS 下降。顯然，你面臨的供應鏈挑戰、濕剃的高促銷、對藥物的過度索引，以及你有一個新的北美主管。因此，您似乎在第一季建立了一些靈活性，但顯然，對銷售額隨著時間的推移而增長的預期相當高。

So maybe even if you could talk about new product pipeline or the cadence, that would be helpful.

因此，即使您可以談論新產品管道或節奏，這也會有所幫助。

And you're right on. We are going to have a sequential improvement as we go with Q1 as we've guided. I think as we had talked with Chris' question earlier from Wells, we're confident in our ability to deliver the growth profile. I won't go back through the building blocks we laid out there, but I'll come at it from a different angle. From an innovation standpoint, we're much more confident in our ability to drive growth via our innovation platform.

你說得對。正如我們所指導的那樣，我們將在第一季進行連續改進。我認為，正如我們早些時候與威爾斯的克里斯所提出的問題討論過的那樣，我們對實現成長概況的能力充滿信心。我不會回顧我們在那裡佈置的構建塊，但我會從不同的角度來看待它。從創新的角度來看，我們對透過創新平台推動成長的能力更有信心。

One year ago, we eliminated our global team. We moved to a local market model with innovation, local insights, better innovation to deliver on those insights. The innovation is faster. It's better accepted and planned out with our retail partners, getting better customer buy-in and better end market results. And I'll just point you to the two examples we have from the back half of this year as we go into next year that give us some tailwinds.

一年前，我們取消了全球團隊。我們轉向了具有創新、本地洞察力的本地市場模式，並透過更好的創新來實現這些洞察力。創新速度更快。它能被我們的零售合作夥伴更能接受和規劃，從而獲得更好的客戶支援和更好的終端市場結果。我只想向您指出今年下半年我們在進入明年時給我們帶來一些推動力的兩個例子。

The first is the Wilkinson Sword Shave campaign in Europe. We launched that campaign in the summer. It's been very successful. We've invested behind it, and we're seeing momentum in our Wilkinson Shave brand in Europe behind that campaign, very locally oriented, very well done by the team. The second one I'll call out is the Shick First Tokyo brand.

第一個是歐洲的威爾金森剃刀運動。我們在夏天發起了這項活動。這是非常成功的。我們對此進行了投資，我們看到了我們的 Wilkinson Shave 品牌在歐洲的勢頭，該活動非常以本地為導向，團隊做得非常好。我要提的第二個品牌是 Shick First Tokyo 品牌。

We launched a new brand in Japan aimed at capturing and engaging first-time users in the category. As you know, we're the leader in Japan. We should be operating like the leader in driving category growth. We've done that in this case by getting younger consumers more interested in the category. It's an amazing razor, all around safety.

我們在日本推出了一個新品牌，旨在吸引和吸引該類別的首次用戶。如您所知，我們是日本的領導者。我們應該像推動品類成長的領導者一樣運作。在這種情況下，我們透過讓年輕消費者對該類別更感興趣來做到這一點。這是一款令人驚嘆的刮鬍刀，而且非常安全。

It's driven huge responsiveness around social media channels and engagement with younger consumers in Japan. And it to date is the best brand launch we've seen in Japan since separation. and we just launched that brand in September. And so we have a lot of goodness to come as we get into the year. And we have more things like that coming across the year out of the local innovation model.

它推動了社交媒體管道的巨大響應以及與日本年輕消費者的互動。這是迄今為止我們在日本分離以來看到的最好的品牌發布。我們九月剛推出了這個品牌。因此，當我們進入這一年時，我們將迎來很多美好的事情。今年，我們在本地創新模式中出現了更多類似的事情。

So that's innovation. The other piece that has nothing to do with innovation for fiscal '25, but everything to do with lapping an easy comp is in Fem Care. We're going to step up from a minus 10% organic net sales in fiscal '24 to essentially flat in Fem Care, if you take what we've got in our guide. And we already have line of sight to do that. The category will grow 1% to 2%.

這就是創新。另一件與 25 財年的創新無關，但與輕鬆完成相關的一切都在 Fem Care 中。如果您接受我們指南中的內容，我們將從 24 財年的負 10% 有機淨銷售額上升到女性護理業務基本持平。我們已經有能力做到這一點。該類別將成長 1% 至 2%。

We're going to be much more in line with category growth rates. Playtex Sport is in a good spot relative to category. Carefree liners is in a good spot relative to category. The step-up we'll see or the decline that we won't see will be in our pads business, where we'll continue to build out the Carefree pad volume. It takes time to move consumers.

我們將更加符合品類成長率。Playtex Sport 相對於該類別處於有利位置。Carefree 襯墊相對於該類別處於有利位置。我們將看到的提升或我們不會看到的下降將發生在我們的衛生棉業務中，我們將繼續擴大 Carefree 衛生棉的銷售。感動消費者需要時間。

We're confident we can do that. And the other thing that gives us confidence is we've had good retailer response to our participation in the category and our plans for the future. Again, beyond fiscal '25, getting out into '26, '27, one of our most robust pipelines that we have in our portfolio is in Fem Care. And so I think we remain confident in the category and our ability to step up in '25. Dan.

我們有信心能夠做到這一點。另一件讓我們充滿信心的事情是，零售商對我們參與該類別以及我們未來的計劃做出了良好的反應。同樣，在 25 財年之後，進入 26、27 財年，我們投資組合中最強大的產品線之一是女性護理。因此，我認為我們對該類別以及我們在 25 年取得進步的能力仍然充滿信心。擔。

Olivia, the only thing I would add, just you asked the question on Q1. It's a good one. Let me just try to give you the headlines there. In any quarter, of course, there are things you're cycling. And you'd recall in 2023 fourth quarter, we made a decision to take inventory out of Japan and reset the wholesaler business model, if you will.

奧利維亞，我唯一要補充的是，您在第一個問題上提出了問題。這是一件好事。讓我試著給你那裡的頭條新聞。當然，在任何一個季度，都有一些事情是你在騎自行車的。您可能還記得，在 2023 年第四季度，我們決定將庫存撤出日本，並重置批發商業務模式（如果您願意的話）。

That benefit actually played out in the first quarter of '24 because you got a level of orders that you wouldn't have gotten. We were up 80% in Japan last year Q1. We're cycling that now. That's worth about 1 point. There's a timing element, of course.

這種好處實際上在 24 年第一季就發揮了作用，因為您獲得了原本不會獲得的訂單水平。去年第一季度，我們在日本的業績成長了 80%。我們現在正在騎自行車。這大約值1分。當然，還有一個時間因素。

Some of the drivers of growth for us, namely the Billie brand expansion in body, much of the pricing in international that comes in Q2 and beyond. So you don't get that benefit in Q1. And then to Rod's point on Fem Care, we've got work to do here. We are absolutely expecting sequential improvement, but won't see year-over-year growth until half two of the fiscal. So hopefully, that helps you with how we're thinking about Q1.

我們成長的一些驅動因素，即 Billie 品牌的身體擴張，以及第二季及以後的國際定價的大部分。所以你在第一季無法獲得這種好處。然後是羅德關於女性護理的觀點，我們還有很多工作要做。我們絕對期待持續改善，但要到本財年下半年才能看到年比成長。希望這對您了解我們如何看待第一季有所幫助。

Susan Anderson, Canaccord Genuity.

蘇珊安德森，Canaccord Genuity。

Question on the gross margin. So you did a lot of good work this year, next year, another 75 bps. Is there anything structural though, that's changed between now and before the pandemic to get to that mid-40s range? And then I think you called out 115 bps of COGS inflation for next year. Can you break out the drivers of that?

關於毛利率的問題。所以今年你們做了很多好事，明年又成長了 75 個基點。不過，從現在到大流行之前，有什麼結構性的變化可以達到 40 多歲的範圍嗎？然後我認為您預計明年的銷貨成本通膨將達到 115 個基點。你能分解出其驅動因素嗎？

And does that include any potential tariff hikes?

這是否包括任何潛在的關稅上漲？

I would say, as we think about the margin profile, we're going to continue to control the two levers that we control, which is productivity and price. What you're seeing next year, 2025, is accelerated productivity gains, but less realization from price. That's just the nature of the categories and the markets in which we're in. The difficult part to predict in linking it back to your pre-COVID versus post-COVID is around inflationary pressures and FX. We are thinking about an inflationary picture for '25 that looks a lot like '24.

我想說，當我們考慮利潤狀況時，我們將繼續控制我們控制的兩個槓桿，即生產力和價格。明年，也就是 2025 年，您將看到生產力加速提高，但價格實現的效益卻減少。這就是我們所處的類別和市場的本質。將其與新冠疫情前和新冠疫情后的情況聯繫起來，預測的困難在於通膨壓力和外匯。我們正在考慮 25 年的通貨膨脹情況，看起來很像 24 年。

Some of the pieces maybe are different, but we're in the 100 basis point headwind range. We're in the 2% to 3% of COGS inflation range. How we get there is low single-digit inflation on raws, mid-single-digit inflation on labor and likely deflationary on warehouse and distribution. So again, we've demonstrated our capabilities here. I think we committed to getting the business back to pre-COVID levels of gross margin at least.

有些部分可能有所不同，但我們處於 100 個基點的逆風範圍內。我們的銷貨成本通膨率處於 2% 至 3% 範圍內。原物料通膨率處於低個位數，勞動力通膨率處於中個位數，倉庫和分銷可能出現通貨緊縮。我們在這裡再次展示了我們的能力。我認為我們致力於讓業務至少恢復到新冠疫情前的毛利率水準。

And certainly, based on what we've now done in '24, where the margin has clearly inflected and now how we're thinking about '25, we're confident on that path.

當然，根據我們現在在 24 年所做的事情，利潤率已經明顯變化，以及現在我們對 25 年的看法，我們對這條路充滿信心。

At this stage, there are no further questions. And I would like to turn the conference back over to Rod Little for any closing comments.

在此階段，沒有進一步的問題。我想將會議轉回給羅德·利特爾（Rod Little）徵求結束意見。

Thank you, everyone. We appreciate the continued interest and investment in the company. All the best to you for the holidays, and we'll give you an update in Feb. See you then.

謝謝大家。我們感謝對該公司的持續關注和投資。祝您節日快樂，我們將在二月為您提供最新消息。

That concludes today's conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.

今天的會議到此結束。感謝您加入我們。現在您可以斷開線路。