Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc (FDP) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to Fresh Del Monte Produce's Fourth Quarter and Full Fiscal Year 2022 Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

大家好，歡迎來到 Fresh Del Monte Produce 的第四季度和整個 2022 財年電話會議。 （操作員說明）

For opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn today's call over to the Vice President, Corporate Communications with Fresh Del Monte Produce, Claudia Pou. Please go ahead, Ms. Pou.

關於開場白和介紹，我想將今天的電話轉給 Fresh Del Monte Produce 的企業傳播副總裁 Claudia Pou。請繼續，Pou女士。

Thank you, Regina. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2022 Conference Call. As Regina mentioned, I'm Claudia Pou, Vice President of Corporate Communications with Fresh Del Monte Produce. Joining me in today's discussion are Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Monica Vicente, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. I hope that you had a chance to review the press release that was issued earlier this morning via Business Wire. You may also visit the company's IR website at investorrelations.freshdelmonte.com to access today's earnings material and register for future distributions.

謝謝你，里賈納。大家早上好，感謝您加入我們的第四季度和整個 2022 財年電話會議。正如 Regina 提到的，我是 Fresh Del Monte Produce 的企業傳播副總裁 Claudia Pou。與我一起參加今天討論的有董事長兼首席執行官 Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh；高級副總裁兼首席財務官 Monica Vicente。我希望您有機會閱讀今天上午早些時候通過美國商業資訊發布的新聞稿。您還可以訪問公司的 IR 網站 investorrelations.freshdelmonte.com 以訪問今天的收益資料並註冊未來的分配。

This conference call is being webcast live on our website and will be available for replay after this call. Please note that our press release and our call today include non-GAAP measures. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures and the other required disclosures are set forth in the press release and earnings presentation, which is available on our website. I would like to remind you that much of the information we will be speaking to today, including the answers we give in response to your questions, may include forward-looking statements within the provisions of the federal securities laws safe harbor.

此電話會議正在我們的網站上進行網絡直播，電話會議結束後可以重播。請注意，我們的新聞稿和今天的電話會議包括非 GAAP 措施。這些非 GAAP 財務措施和其他要求的披露的對賬在我們網站上的新聞稿和收益報告中有所規定。我想提醒您，我們今天要討論的大部分信息，包括我們對您問題的回答，可能包括聯邦證券法安全港規定內的前瞻性陳述。

In today's press release and in our SEC filings, we detail material risks that may cause our future results to differ from these forward-looking statements. Our statements are as of today, February 22, and we have no obligation to update any forward-looking statement we may make. During the call, we will provide a business update, along with an overview of our fourth quarter and full year 2022 financial results, followed by a question-and-answer session. With that, I am pleased to turn today's call over to Mohammad.

在今天的新聞稿和我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中，我們詳細說明了可能導致我們未來結果與這些前瞻性陳述不同的重大風險。我們的聲明截至今天，即 2 月 22 日，我們沒有義務更新我們可能做出的任何前瞻性聲明。在電話會議期間，我們將提供業務更新，以及我們第四季度和 2022 年全年財務業績的概述，然後是問答環節。有了這個，我很高興將今天的電話轉給穆罕默德。

Thank you, Claudia, and good morning, everyone. Fourth quarter of '22 as we have our best-performing fourth quarter and recent history, led by strong net sales and strong margins. Our net sales for the fourth quarter were the strongest since quarter 4 of 2018. In quarter 4 2022, we had our best margins in the past 10, fourth quarters, now at 8% versus 4% in 2021. And our gross profit for the quarter was the best since fourth quarter of 2016. Overall, for the year, we closed out 2022 at a much stronger position than '21. We believe this reflects our commitment to remaining flexible and agile, controlling our costs, leveraging our assets and optimizing new and existing partnerships.

謝謝你，克勞迪婭，大家早上好。 22 年第四季度，因為我們在強勁的淨銷售額和強勁的利潤率的帶動下，第四季度和近期歷史表現最佳。我們第四季度的淨銷售額是自 2018 年第四季度以來最強勁的。在 2022 年第四季度，我們的利潤率是過去 10 個第四季度中最好的，現在為 8%，而 2021 年為 4%。我們的毛利潤為該季度是自 2016 年第四季度以來最好的。總體而言，我們在 2022 年結束時的位置比 21 年強得多。我們相信，這反映了我們對保持靈活性和敏捷性、控製成本、利用我們的資產以及優化新的和現有的合作夥伴關係的承諾。

It was a challenging macroeconomic environment for our business as costs for packaging materials, fertilizers, transportation and labor remained elevated throughout the year. Yet, we focused our efforts on being flexible and mitigating the risks associated where we can. During the year, we sold to control costs and implemented inflation-justified price increased to offset some of the increased costs. And why Fresh Del Monte is most notably known for being a global produce marketer and distributor, it's important to note that we are also a logistic provider.

由於包裝材料、化肥、運輸和勞動力的成本全年都在上升，對我們的業務而言，這是一個充滿挑戰的宏觀經濟環境。然而，我們將精力集中在保持靈活性和盡可能降低相關風險上。年內，我們通過銷售來控製成本，並實施通脹合理價格上漲以抵消部分增加的成本。為什麼 Fresh Del Monte 以全球農產品營銷商和分銷商而聞名，重要的是要注意我們也是物流供應商。

In 2022, we made a conscious effort to leverage our assets wherever we can within our vertically-integrated network. Net sales in our Other Products & Services segment, which includes third-party ocean freight services, increased 24% for the quarter and 45% for the year compared with '21. We are extremely proud of the expanded partnership between network shipping and sister companies, trucking and [proactive] logistics and the work we are doing at various ports. We are helping to further extend the ocean service that network shipping has perfected into the inland marketplace. This allows us to offer customers a one-stop shop for the logistic needs within Latin America and the United States.

2022 年，我們有意識地努力在我們垂直整合的網絡中盡可能地利用我們的資產。與 21 年相比，我們其他產品和服務部門（包括第三方海運服務）的淨銷售額本季度增長 24%，全年增長 45%。我們為網絡航運和姊妹公司、卡車運輸和 [主動] 物流之間擴大的合作夥伴關係以及我們在各個港口所做的工作感到非常自豪。我們正在幫助進一步將網絡航運業已完善的海運服務擴展到內陸市場。這使我們能夠為客戶提供滿足拉丁美洲和美國境內物流需求的一站式服務。

Our customer relationships are also assets to us. In 2022, we focused on optimizing our relationships. We optimized by innovating based on customer needs, we found new ways to work with our top volume customers to make these relationships more efficient yet profitable.

我們的客戶關係也是我們的資產。 2022年，我們專注於優化我們的關係。我們通過根據客戶需求進行創新來優化，我們找到了與我們的頂級客戶合作的新方法，使這些關係更加高效且有利可圖。

We continue to innovate with our products, focusing on creating more value-added products that meet our customers and consumers' expectations. While we are confident in our capabilities and services, we are continuously improving and investing in technology, processes and people to keep our edge. The release of our transportation management systems, TMS, in 2023 for our inland logistics arm is just the next step in a multiyear plan for continued growth as a technology-driven company. We have dedicated numerous years, including a large part of '22, working to perfect avocado predictability using artificial intelligence and our rich data library.

我們不斷創新我們的產品，專注於創造更多滿足客戶和消費者期望的增值產品。雖然我們對我們的能力和服務充滿信心，但我們正在不斷改進和投資技術、流程和人員，以保持我們的優勢。我們在 2023 年為我們的內陸物流部門發布的運輸管理系統 TMS 只是作為技術驅動型公司持續增長的多年計劃的下一步。多年來，包括 22 年的大部分時間，我們一直致力於使用人工智能和我們豐富的數據庫來完善鱷梨的可預測性。

We have reached almost 95% predictability on pricing, and we are close to perfecting the technology with supply and demand for Avocados. We see this technology as a big step forward for the produce industry and are proud to be the pioneers on this front. We expect to eventually expand this use of AI to our other products. Our focus for '23 will be continued technology focus innovation and leadership in the produce industry. We want to stay flexible and agile as we continue to pursue partnerships that will allow us to optimize our assets, which include logistics, warehousing and distribution.

我們已經達到了近 95% 的定價可預測性，並且我們即將完善鱷梨供求關係的技術。我們將這項技術視為農產品行業向前邁出的一大步，並為成為這方面的先驅而自豪。我們希望最終將人工智能的這種應用擴展到我們的其他產品中。我們 23 年的重點將是持續的技術重點創新和農產品行業的領導地位。我們希望在繼續尋求合作夥伴關係時保持靈活性和敏捷性，這將使我們能夠優化我們的資產，包括物流、倉儲和分銷。

Now I will turn the call to Monica to talk about the financial results. Monica?

現在我會把電話轉給莫妮卡來談談財務結果。莫妮卡？

Thank you, Mohammad, and thank you for joining us on today's call. Let's first turn to our fourth quarter 2022 financial results. Net sales for the fourth quarter of 2022 increased by approximately $23 million or 2% compared with the prior year period. The increase in net sales was driven by inflation justified per unit price increases partially offset by lower sales volume and the negative impact of fluctuations in exchange rates primarily in Europe and Asia. The negative impact of exchange rates was partially mitigated by our foreign currency hedges.

謝謝你，穆罕默德，也感謝你參加今天的電話會議。讓我們先來看看我們 2022 年第四季度的財務業績。與去年同期相比，2022 年第四季度的淨銷售額增加了約 2300 萬美元或 2%。淨銷售額的增長是由於通貨膨脹導致的單價上漲，部分被銷量下降以及主要在歐洲和亞洲的匯率波動的負面影響所抵消。我們的外匯對沖部分緩解了匯率的負面影響。

Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $82 million compared with $40 million in the prior year period. The increase was a result of higher per unit selling prices across all segments. The increase in selling prices helped offset some of the continuing inflationary cost pressures, which resulted in higher per-unit production and distribution costs, including packaging materials, fertilizers, inland and ocean freight, labor and fuel.

2022 年第四季度的毛利潤為 8200 萬美元，而去年同期為 4000 萬美元。這一增長是由於所有細分市場的單位銷售價格上漲。銷售價格的上漲有助於抵消部分持續的通脹成本壓力，後者導致單位生產和分銷成本上升，包括包裝材料、化肥、內陸和海運、勞動力和燃料。

Adjusted operating income for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $34 million compared with a loss of $7 million in the prior year period. The increase in adjusted operating income was primarily due to higher gross profit, partially offset by higher SG&A.

2022 年第四季度調整後營業收入為 3400 萬美元，上年同期為虧損 700 萬美元。調整後營業收入的增加主要是由於毛利潤增加，部分被較高的 SG&A 所抵消。

Adjusted FDP net income for the fourth quarter of 2022 and was $22 million compared with a loss of $9 million in the prior year. Our diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $0.38 compared with a loss of $0.24 in the prior year. Adjusted diluted earnings per share was $0.45 compared with a loss of $0.18 in the prior year. The difference between GAAP and adjusted diluted earnings per share during the fourth quarter of 2022 was a $3.3 million or $0.07 per share asset impairment charge primarily related to flooding in our Philippine banana operations.

調整後的 FDP 2022 年第四季度淨收入為 2200 萬美元，而去年同期為虧損 900 萬美元。我們 2022 年第四季度的攤薄後每股收益為 0.38 美元，而去年同期為虧損 0.24 美元。調整後的攤薄每股收益為 0.45 美元，而上一年為虧損 0.18 美元。 2022 年第四季度 GAAP 與調整後稀釋每股收益之間的差異為 330 萬美元或每股 0.07 美元的資產減值費用，主要與我們菲律賓香蕉業務的洪水有關。

Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $59 million compared with $15 million in the prior year. And corresponding adjusted EBITDA margin increased to 5.6% from 1.5% in the prior year.

2022 年第四季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 5900 萬美元，上年同期為 1500 萬美元。相應的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率從上一年的 1.5% 增加到 5.6%。

Let me now turn to the segment results, beginning with our fresh and value-added product segment. Net sales for the fourth quarter of '22 decreased by $22 million or 4% when compared with the prior year, primarily driven by lower net sales of avocados due to lower selling prices and also lower net sales of nontropical fruit as a result of lower selling prices and lower volume. The decrease was partially offset by higher net sales of prepared food products, primarily sales of can nontropical food and industrial pineapple products driven by higher selling prices and volume.

現在讓我談談細分市場的結果，從我們的新鮮和增值產品細分市場開始。與去年同期相比，22 年第四季度的淨銷售額減少了 2200 萬美元或 4%，這主要是由於售價較低導致鱷梨淨銷售額下降，以及由於銷售額下降導致非熱帶水果淨銷售額下降價格和較低的數量。這一下降部分被預製食品淨銷售額的增加所抵消，主要是非熱帶罐頭食品和工業菠蘿產品的銷售額增加，這是由更高的售價和銷量推動的。

For the quarter, adjusted gross profit in the fresh and value-added product segment was $34 million compared with $28 million in the prior year. The increase was primarily driven by higher per unit selling prices and product mix of higher-margin categories. The increase in gross profit was partially offset by higher cost of packaging materials, fertilizers and ocean freight, which negatively impacted per unit production and distribution costs. Gross margin increased to 5.9% from 4.7%.

本季度，新鮮和增值產品部門調整後的毛利潤為 3,400 萬美元，而去年同期為 2,800 萬美元。增長的主要原因是更高的單位售價和更高利潤類別的產品組合。毛利的增長部分被包裝材料、化肥和海運成本的增加所抵消，這對單位生產和分銷成本產生了負面影響。毛利率從 4.7% 增至 5.9%。

Moving to our Banana segment. For the fourth quarter of 2022, net sales increased by $33 million or 9% compared with the prior year period, primarily driven by Europe and North America. The increase in net sales was predominantly from higher per unit selling prices, resulting from inflation-justified price increases and the absence of excess volume as a result of our strategic sourcing in response to market conditions. The increase was partially offset by fluctuations in exchange rates in Europe and Asia.

轉到我們的香蕉部分。 2022 年第四季度，淨銷售額比上年同期增長 3300 萬美元或 9%，主要受歐洲和北美的推動。淨銷售額的增長主要是由於單位售價的上漲，這是由於通貨膨脹合理的價格上漲以及我們為響應市場條件而進行的戰略採購導致的銷量過剩。這一增長部分被歐洲和亞洲的匯率波動所抵消。

Adjusted gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $38 million compared with $9 million in the prior year period, primarily driven by higher net sales partially offset by higher cost of packaging material, fertilizer and distribution costs, including ocean and inland freight. Gross margin increased to 9.4% from 2.5% in the prior year period.

2022 年第四季度的調整後毛利潤為 3800 萬美元，上年同期為 900 萬美元，這主要是由於淨銷售額的增加部分被包裝材料、化肥和分銷成本（包括海運和內陸運費）的增加所抵消。毛利率從去年同期的 2.5% 上升至 9.4%。

Lastly, for the fourth quarter of 2022, net sales for our Other Products and Services segment increased by $12 million or 24% compared with the prior year, mainly due to higher net sales of third-party ocean freight services. Our fleet of vessels has enabled us to expand these services, which benefited from elevated shipping rates and demand due to market conditions. Adjusted gross profit increased by $7 million as a result of higher volume and shipping rates.

最後，在 2022 年第四季度，我們其他產品和服務部門的淨銷售額比上年增長 1200 萬美元或 24%，這主要是由於第三方海運服務的淨銷售額增加。我們的船隊使我們能夠擴展這些服務，這得益於市場條件導致的高運費和需求。由於銷量和運費的增加，調整後的毛利潤增加了 700 萬美元。

Now moving to selected financial data. Selling, general and administrative expenses was $48 million compared with $45 million in the prior year period. The increase was driven by higher promotional and administrative expenses. Net interest expense was higher by approximately $2 million in the fourth quarter of '22 related to higher interest rates and have higher average debt balances.

現在轉到選定的財務數據。銷售、一般和管理費用為 4800 萬美元，上年同期為 4500 萬美元。這一增長是由更高的促銷和管理費用推動的。 22 年第四季度的淨利息支出增加了約 200 萬美元，這與更高的利率和更高的平均債務餘額有關。

Income tax expense was $6 million during the quarter compared with a benefit of $7 million in the prior year, primarily due to the effect of a valuation allowance reversal in 2021.

本季度的所得稅費用為 600 萬美元，而上一年的收益為 700 萬美元，這主要是由於 2021 年估值準備金逆轉的影響。

Now turning to our full fiscal year '22 results. For the full fiscal year '22, net sales increased $190 million or 4% compared with the prior year period. The increase was driven by inflation justified per unit price increases, which was partially offset by lower sales volume and the negative impact of fluctuations in exchange rates, primarily in Europe and Asia. The negative impact of fluctuations in exchange rates was partially mitigated by our foreign currency hedges.

現在轉向我們完整的 22 財年業績。對於整個 22 財年，淨銷售額與上年同期相比增加了 1.9 億美元或 4%。這一增長是由通貨膨脹推動的，單位價格上漲是合理的，這部分被銷量下降和匯率波動的負面影響所抵消，主要是在歐洲和亞洲。我們的外匯對沖部分緩解了匯率波動的負面影響。

Gross profit for the full fiscal year '22 was $340 million compared with $304 million in 2021. The increase in gross profit was primarily driven by higher gross profit in our Other Products and Services segment as a result of higher net sales of third-party ocean freight services, along with the favorable impact of higher per unit sale prices across all segments.

整個 22 財年的毛利潤為 3.4 億美元，而 2021 年為 3.04 億美元。毛利潤的增長主要是由於第三方海運淨銷售額的增加導致我們其他產品和服務部門的毛利潤增加所致貨運服務，以及所有細分市場單位銷售價格上漲的有利影響。

For the full fiscal year '22, adjusted operating income was $149 million compared with $112 million in the prior year period. The increase was primarily driven by higher gross profit and lower selling, general and administrative expenses.

對於整個 22 財年，調整後的營業收入為 1.49 億美元，而去年同期為 1.12 億美元。增長的主要原因是更高的毛利和更低的銷售、一般和管理費用。

Adjusted FDP net income for '22 was $94 million compared with $81 million in the prior year. In '22, diluted earnings per share was $2.06 compared with $1.68 in the prior year, while adjusted diluted earnings per share was $1.97 compared with $1.69 in the prior year period, a 17% year-over-year improvement. Adjusted EBITDA for '22 was $235 million compared with $207 million in the prior year. A corresponding adjusted EBITDA margin increased to 5.3% from 4.9% in the prior year.

22 年調整後的 FDP 淨收入為 9400 萬美元，而上一年為 8100 萬美元。 22 年，稀釋後每股收益為 2.06 美元，上年同期為 1.68 美元，而調整後的稀釋後每股收益為 1.97 美元，上年同期為 1.69 美元，同比增長 17%。 22 年調整後的 EBITDA 為 2.35 億美元，上年為 2.07 億美元。相應的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率從上一年的 4.9% 增加到 5.3%。

Moving on to selected financial data for the full fiscal year '22. For the year, we generated $62 million in cash flow from operating activities compared with $129 million in 2021. Net cash provided by operating activities was impacted by an increase in inventory during the current year, largely due to inflationary cost increases and a strategic increase in levels of key raw materials and packaging supplies in order to secure cost and availability.

繼續查看整個 22 財年的選定財務數據。今年，我們從經營活動中產生了 6200 萬美元的現金流，而 2021 年為 1.29 億美元。經營活動提供的淨現金受到本年度庫存增加的影響，這主要是由於通貨膨脹成本增加和戰略性增加關鍵原材料和包裝供應的水平，以確保成本和可用性。

Additionally, higher levels of accounts receivable as a result of higher net sales impacted net cash provided by operating activities. Long-term debt at the end of '22, increased by $22 million to $540 million from $519 million at the end of '21. On a trailing 12-month basis, our leverage ratio stands at 2.22x adjusted EBITDA.

此外，淨銷售額增加導致應收賬款增加，影響了經營活動提供的現金淨額。 22 年底的長期債務從 21 年底的 5.19 億美元增加了 2200 萬美元至 5.4 億美元。在過去 12 個月的基礎上，我們的槓桿率為調整後 EBITDA 的 2.22 倍。

Capital expenditures. We invested $48 million in capital expenditures in 2022 compared with $99 million in '21. The $99 million from last year included the final payments on the delivery of two of our refrigerated container ships. The spend this year has focused on improvements to our banana and pineapple operations in Central America and enhancements to improve our efficiency in production facilities across our operations.

資本支出。我們在 2022 年投入了 4800 萬美元的資本支出，而 2021 年為 9900 萬美元。去年的 9900 萬美元包括交付我們兩艘冷藏集裝箱船的最終付款。今年的支出重點是改善我們在中美洲的香蕉和菠蘿業務，以及提高我們整個業務生產設施效率的改進。

As announced this morning's financial results press release, we declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share payable on March 31, 2023, to shareholders of record on March 8, 2023. For the full fiscal year '22, we declared 4 quarterly cash dividends totaling $0.60 per share. This concludes our financial review.

正如今天上午公佈的財務業績新聞稿，我們宣布將於 2023 年 3 月 31 日向 2023 年 3 月 8 日登記在冊的股東派發每股 0.15 美元的季度股息。在整個 22 財年，我們宣布了 4 次季度現金股息，總計每股 0.60 美元。我們的財務審查到此結束。

We can now turn the call to Q&A. Regina?

我們現在可以將電話轉為問答環節。里賈納？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question will come from the line of Mitch Pinheiro with Sturdivant.

我們的第一個問題將來自 Mitch Pinheiro 與 Sturdivant 的合作。

So Mohammad, that was a surprisingly strong gross margin performance in your banana segment. And I was wondering if you could take us through the puts and takes, those that are sort of going to be sustainable and those that -- the benefits that are sustainable and some of the benefits that go away for 2023.

所以穆罕默德，你的香蕉部門的毛利率表現出奇地強勁。我想知道你是否可以帶我們了解一下投入和獲取，那些將是可持續的以及那些 - 可持續的好處以及一些在 2023 年消失的好處。

No. I think our business has turned around. And Mitch, I don't want you to keep focusing on banana as you know, because banana is a true part of our business. But bananas is not going to be determining point for our business, and I keep focusing on certain -- and you could see that in our results that when we are optimizing our assets in logistics, distribution, warehousing, and we have many new projects in the pipeline that will add a lot of value to our business aside from banana.

不，我認為我們的業務已經好轉了。米奇，正如你所知，我不希望你一直專注於香蕉，因為香蕉是我們業務的真正組成部分。但香蕉不會成為我們業務的決定點，我一直專注於某些——你可以在我們的結果中看到，當我們優化我們在物流、分銷、倉儲方面的資產時，我們有許多新項目除香蕉外，這條管道將為我們的業務增加很多價值。

And so I'm very confident in general, you know about bananas because we are managing our banana volumes in a much better and more rational way than it used to be in the past. We are using more technology and more predictability in our operations going forward. And this, in my opinion, will make a big change going forward in our business.

因此，總的來說，我非常有信心，你了解香蕉，因為我們正在以比過去更好、更合理的方式管理我們的香蕉產量。我們在未來的運營中使用更多的技術和更多的可預測性。在我看來，這將使我們的業務向前發展發生重大變化。

Yes. I mean I appreciate that, Mohammad. But the banana segments like the big swing in profitability from quarter-to-quarter. And I was wondering if -- I know it's not where your focus is and -- but it's still a meaningful part of the business that it'd be helpful to have a little visibility into the first quarter and maybe what you're seeing for the year, does the banana business hold on to these margins? Or just some of the price increases start to get whittled away?

是的。我的意思是我很感激，穆罕默德。但香蕉部門喜歡季度間盈利能力的大幅波動。我想知道是否——我知道這不是你關注的重點——但它仍然是業務中一個有意義的部分，對第一季度的一些了解以及你所看到的可能會有幫助今年，香蕉業務是否保住了這些利潤率？或者只是部分價格上漲開始被削減？

And do you see any headwinds with regard to sort of some of -- whether it's fruit costs or ocean freight costs, what could be some headwinds in the banana segment?

你是否看到任何關於某些方面的不利因素——無論是水果成本還是海運成本，香蕉領域的一些不利因素是什麼？

Well, the headwinds in the banana would be the oversupply. As we have seen during the last 7, 8 months, especially after the pandemic, I think Ecuador has gone down drastically in terms of supplies. And this has helped the market to be more balanced, let's say. And from our side, we are just matching supply and demand more rationally, let's put it that way. And as a company, we are not planning to sell under cost or to sell with low margins. That is a policy that we have taken.

好吧，香蕉的逆風將是供過於求。正如我們在過去 7、8 個月中看到的那樣，尤其是在大流行之後，我認為厄瓜多爾的供應量急劇下降。比方說，這有助於市場更加平衡。而從我們這邊來說，我們只是在更加理性地匹配供需，這麼說吧。作為一家公司，我們不打算以低於成本的價格出售或以低利潤出售。這是我們採取的政策。

And so I believe that margins will be more or less consistent with fluctuations from quarter-to-quarter depending on the time of the year. But I think margins will somehow be maintained more or less around the same line that we are taking right now. So -- and I'm going to repeat myself again, Mitch, that other businesses will really make up a lot for the banana business itself.

因此，我相信利潤率將或多或少與季度之間的波動保持一致，具體取決於一年中的時間。但我認為利潤率將以某種方式或多或少地保持在我們現在採用的同一條線上。所以——米奇，我要再次重申，其他企業真的會為香蕉業務本身帶來很大的幫助。

And then on Ocean Freight Services, it's been doing quite well. Is -- and you talked about you're taking from the ocean freight and you're going to take that same sort of model and move it inland. So for 2023, is this -- you had a nice growth in 2022. Do you see the growth in that segment sustainable and margins in that segment sustainable?

然後在海運服務方面，它一直做得很好。是 - 你談到你正在從海運中獲取並且你將採用相同類型的模型並將其移動到內陸。那麼對於 2023 年，這是——你在 2022 年有一個不錯的增長。你認為該細分市場的增長可持續嗎？該細分市場的利潤率可持續嗎？

I believe so, yes. I believe that would be -- I don't know if it will be the same percentage of growth, but definitely, there would be growth on this segment in '23.

我相信是的，是的。我相信那會是——我不知道它是否會是相同的增長百分比，但肯定會在 23 年這個細分市場出現增長。

Okay. Yes, it's a nice high-margin business there for you. And then on the fresh and value-added margins were down versus a year ago in the quarter, which you explained. What do you expect for 2023 in this business? Is it going to be dependent upon product mix or do you see some fixed cost leverage and some things that you're doing that you can sort of outrun some of those headwinds?

好的。是的，這對你來說是一項不錯的高利潤業務。然後，您解釋說，本季度的新鮮和增值利潤率與一年前相比有所下降。您對這項業務的 2023 年有何期望？它是否取決於產品組合，或者您是否看到一些固定成本槓桿以及您正在做的一些事情，您可以在某種程度上超越其中的一些逆風？

The headwinds were the packaging material and the transportation, and we are seeing this to be now easing kind of -- to mitigate some of this additional cost that we faced during '22. And also the product mix, Mitch, I mean, sometimes you will have a shortage on certain items, which increases your cost. But I believe all in all, we should be able to maintain our historical kind of margins on the value-added like products, which is fresh cut in particular.

逆風是包裝材料和運輸，我們看到現在這種情況有所緩和——以減輕我們在 22 年期間面臨的一些額外成本。還有產品組合，米奇，我的意思是，有時您會缺少某些商品，這會增加您的成本。但我相信總而言之，我們應該能夠在增值產品上保持我們的歷史利潤率，尤其是鮮切產品。

And you were talking -- another question you were talking about within that segment, the avocado business. With avocado prices down, do you expect margins to stabilize -- in the early part of 2023 -- to really get back to, again, more normalized margin level?

你在談論 - 你在那個領域談論的另一個問題，鱷梨業務。隨著鱷梨價格下跌，您是否預計利潤率會在 2023 年初穩定下來，從而真正回到更正常化的利潤率水平？

Yes. Well, what has happened during the last, I would say, 4, 5 months is that the avocado pricing was more -- very consistent and very stable unlike '21 and '22, first half was crazy, the kind of cost increases, price increases in Mexico. And what we have seen from -- in the last few months is that the prices were more stable, no volatility, which helped the industry in general to be able to predict better. And as I mentioned, we are using now artificial intelligence, which we have been working on for several years now. And we have come to almost 95% predictability, and we're going to roll that as well for supply and demand as well.

是的。好吧，我想說的是，過去 4 個月、5 個月發生的事情是鱷梨的定價更多——非常一致且非常穩定，不像 21 年和 22 年，上半年很瘋狂，成本增加，價格墨西哥增加。我們從過去幾個月中看到的是，價格更加穩定，沒有波動，這有助於整個行業能夠更好地進行預測。正如我提到的，我們現在正在使用人工智能，我們已經研究了好幾年了。我們已經達到了將近 95% 的可預測性，我們也將針對供求關係進行預測。

So we're going to be using technology as well in terms of predictability for avocado, which is the most difficult -- and that's actually why we chose avocado to be the first commodity to apply AI is because it's the most difficult. And then once we do that -- and once we did that, actually, we are going to roll it out to all other SKUs or commodities that we handle -- this will help us going forward in the future.

因此，我們將在鱷梨的可預測性方面使用技術，這是最困難的——這實際上就是為什麼我們選擇鱷梨作為第一個應用人工智能的商品，因為它是最困難的。然後一旦我們這樣做了——一旦我們這樣做了，實際上，我們將把它推廣到我們處理的所有其他 SKU 或商品——這將有助於我們在未來前進。

Well, that's terrific. So I'll get -- I'll get back in the queue.

好吧，那太棒了。所以我會-- 我會回到隊列中。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

And there are no further questions at this time. I'll turn the conference back over to management for any closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題。我會將會議轉回管理層，聽取任何閉幕詞。

I would like to thank everyone for joining us on this call today and hope to talk to you on our next call in May, I hope. Thank you, and have a good day.

我要感謝大家今天加入我們的電話會議，並希望在 5 月份的下一次電話會議上與您交談。謝謝你，有一個美好的一天。

Ladies and gentlemen, that will conclude today's meeting. We thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.

女士們，先生們，今天的會議到此結束。感謝大家的加入。您現在可以斷開連接。