富美實 (FMC) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the second quarter 2024 earnings call for FMC Corporation. This event is being recorded (Operator Instructions)

早上好，歡迎參加 FMC Corporation 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。此事件正在記錄中（操作員說明）

I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Curt Brooks, Director of Investor Relations for FMC Corporation. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給 FMC Corporation 投資者關係總監 Curt Brooks 先生。請繼續。

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to FMC Corporation's second quarter earnings call. Joining me today are Pierre Brondeau, Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer; Andrew Sandifer, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Ronaldo Pereira, our President. Following our prepared remarks, we will take questions.

大家早安，歡迎參加 FMC 公司第二季財報電話會議。今天與我一起出席的還有董事長兼執行長 Pierre Brondeau；安德魯‧桑迪弗 (Andrew Sandifer)，執行副總裁兼財務長；還有我們的主席羅納多·佩雷拉。在我們準備好的發言之後，我們將回答問題。

Our earnings release and today's slide presentation are available on our website and a prepared remarks from today's discussion will be made available after the call. Let me remind you that today's presentation and discussion will include forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning specific factors including, but not limited to those factors identified in our earnings release and in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

我們的收益發布和今天的幻燈片演示可在我們的網站上獲取，今天討論中準備好的評論將在電話會議後提供。讓我提醒您，今天的演示和討論將包括前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受到與特定因素相關的各種風險和不確定性的影響，這些特定因素包括但不限於我們的收益報告和向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中確定的因素。

Information presented represents our best judgment based on today's understanding. Actual results may vary based upon these risks and uncertainties. Today's discussion and the supporting materials will include references to adjusted EPS, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted cash from operations, free cash flow and organic revenue growth, all of which are non-GAAP financial measures.

所提供的資訊代表了我們根據今天的理解做出的最佳判斷。實際結果可能會因這些風險和不確定性而有所不同。今天的討論和支持材料將包括對調整後每股收益、調整後息稅折舊攤銷前利潤、調整後營運現金、自由現金流和有機收入增長的參考，所有這些都是非公認會計準則財務指標。

Please note that as used in today's discussion, earnings means adjusted earnings and EBITDA means adjusted EBITDA. A reconciliation and definition of these terms as well as other non-GAAP financial terms to which we may refer during today's conference call are provided on our website.

請注意，在今天的討論中，收益是指調整後的收益，EBITDA 是指調整後的 EBITDA。我們的網站上提供了這些術語以及我們在今天的電話會議中可能提及的其他非公認會計準則財務術語的調節和定義。

With that, I'll now turn the call over to Pierre.

現在，我將把電話轉給皮埃爾。

Thank you, Curt, and good morning, everyone. Since resuming the CEO role, I have taken in depth a look at the company and the crop protection market, which has led to revised full year outlook. To share my views, today's call will be more wide-ranging than a typical earnings call.

謝謝你，柯特，大家早安。自從重新擔任執行長以來，我深入研究了公司和植保市場，從而調整了全年展望。為了分享我的觀點，今天的電話會議將比典型的財報電話會議範圍更廣。

We delivered a solid Q2 helped by a successful execution of our restructuring program. We expect continued growth in Q3 and Q4 from demand recovery led by the Americas where we expect channel inventory to approach normal levels by year-end.

由於重組計劃的成功執行，我們第二季業績表現強勁。我們預計第三季和第四季將因美洲地區需求復甦而持續成長，我們預計通路庫存到年底將接近正常水準。

Q2 through Q4 also show higher revenue driven by volume with the rate of growth accelerating in Q4 as we shift into the next crop season. The markets have begun to recover as channel inventories are starting to normalize. Even if not as fast as we had previously expected. We plan for FMC's pace of revenue and earnings growth to accelerate through the rest of 2024 and throughout 2025.

第二季到第四季也顯示出銷售增加帶來的收入增加，隨著我們進入下一個作物季節，第四季的成長率加快。隨著通路庫存開始正常化，市場也開始復甦。即使沒有我們之前預期的那麼快。我們計劃 FMC 的營收和獲利成長步伐在 2024 年剩餘時間和整個 2025 年加快。

We continue to firmly believe in the strength of the diamides portfolio, new product recently introduced and the technology pipeline. Later in the call, our newly appointed President, Ronaldo Pereira, will provide our views on the strength of the portfolio and how this positions us to take a full advantage of the demand recovery.

我們仍然堅信二醯胺產品組合、最近推出的新產品和技術管道的實力。在稍後的電話會議中，我們新任命的總裁羅納多·佩雷拉將發表我們對投資組合實力的看法，以及這如何使我們能夠充分利用需求復甦的機會。

Full year revenue and EBITDA guidance have been reduced to a slower demand recovery than we originally anticipated. To help mitigate a slower recovery in the second half, we have increased our cost saving targets and speed of execution. The lower guidance is more of a timing impact and is not a fundamental issue with the market or with FMC.

全年收入和 EBITDA 指引已下調，因為需求復甦速度比我們最初預期的要慢。為了幫助緩解下半年緩慢的復甦，我們提高了成本節約目標和執行速度。較低的指導更多的是時間影響，而不是市場或 FMC 的根本問題。

We'll address the Q3 and Q4 profiles in more detail, but I want to quickly touch on two key points. First, the EBITDA margin guided for Q3 is not representative of the current company performance and operations. There is an expected COGS headwind in that quarter of about $40 million mainly due to mainly due to unabsorbed fixed costs in relation to a reduced manufacturing activity in the second half of 2023 that are now flowing through our P&L.

我們將更詳細地討論第三季和第四季的概況，但我想快速談一下兩個關鍵點。首先，第三季所指導的 EBITDA 利潤率並不代表公司目前的業績和營運。預計該季度的銷貨成本將面臨約 4,000 萬美元的逆風，這主要是由於與 2023 年下半年製造活動減少相關的未吸收固定成本，這些成本目前正流經我們的損益表。

Second, the strength of Q4 compared to Q3 is an exaggeration of the typically stronger sales report in the fourth quarter. Historically, Q4 has always been stronger than Q3, but is magnified this year by the shape of the demand recovery. Our intent for the call is to share information that will demonstrate a confidence in our Q4 forecast. Overall, I am feeling positive about the company.

其次，第四季與第三季相比的實力誇大了第四季通常強勁的銷售報告。從歷史上看，第四季度一直強於第三季度，但今年因需求復甦的形狀而被放大。我們這次電話會議的目的是分享訊息，以證明我們對第四季度預測的信心。整體而言，我對公司持正面態度。

Having said that, I see a number of areas where we can improve on our execution, and we are already implementing changes. I will share more detail in future conversations. I hope this help position my views of the company and market and provide context for the rest of the call.

話雖如此，我認為我們的執行力還有很多可以改進的地方，而且我們已經在實施變革。我將在以後的對話中分享更多細節。我希望這有助於闡明我對公司和市場的看法，並為電話會議的其餘部分提供背景。

Slide 3 through 5, provide an overview of our second quarter results. Revenue increased by a modest 2% with volume growth of 14%. In part, the stronger than initially planned volume growth was enabled by strategic pricing actions made during the quarter.

投影片 3 至 5 概述了我們第二季的業績。營收小幅成長 2%，銷量成長 14%。在一定程度上，強於最初計劃的銷售成長是由於本季採取的策略定價行動造成的。

The 10% price decline was mainly driven by three things. One, is competitive pressure, which is a normal market dynamic when demand starts to return. Two, is a strategic intent to take back market positions in less differentiated products that we intentionally left to competitors by holding to a high-price strategy when demand was low.

價格下跌 10% 主要由三件事推動。一是競爭壓力，這是需求開始恢復時的正常市場動態。第二，是一種策略意圖，旨在奪回我們在需求低迷時堅持高價策略而故意留給競爭對手的差異化程度較低產品的市場地位。

And third is onetime incentives to address high-cost inventory in the channel. We began making these one-off adjustments as a way to speed up destocking ahead of the next crop season, which will begin in September. With demand returning, we do not plan to make these one-off adjustments going forward.

第三是解決通路中高成本庫存的一次性激勵措施。我們開始進行這些一次性調整，作為在九月開始的下一個作物季節之前加速去庫存的一種方式。隨著需求回升，我們不打算繼續進行這些一次性調整。

It is important to recognize that from Q4 2021 to Q2 2023, we raised price every quarter. Even considering the recent price adjustment, we are still substantially ahead in pricing, and now that demand is returning, we can take strategic actions in pricing as a lever for sales growth in certain market.

重要的是要認識到，從 2021 年第四季到 2023 年第二季度，我們每個季度都會提高價格。即使考慮到最近的價格調整，我們在定價方面仍然大幅領先，現在需求正在恢復，我們可以在定價方面採取策略行動，作為某些市場銷售成長的槓桿。

With 1 full year of destocking completed, we saw a return to volume growth in many countries, particularly in the US, Brazil and Germany. As expected, we saw many more small orders to fill immediate needs as customers continue to actively manage inventory.

隨著一整年的去庫存完成，我們看到許多國家的銷售恢復成長，特別是在美國、巴西和德國。正如預期的那樣，隨著客戶繼續積極管理庫存，我們看到了更多的小訂單來滿足即時需求。

There are a few regional sales highlights I want to call out. North America sales were up 24%, mainly from volume in the U.S. with strong growth in herbicides.

我想指出一些區域銷售亮點。北美銷售額成長 24%，主要來自除草劑強勁成長的美國銷售量。

We are seeing customers waiting to order insecticides and fungicide until they observe test in the field. In Latin America, sales were up 14%, mainly from volume growth in Brazil. The region also showed strong gains in new products, including Coragen eVo and Premio Star diamide and insecticides, Boral Full and stone herbicides and Onsuva, a newly launched fluindapyr based fungicide.

我們看到客戶等待訂購殺蟲劑和殺菌劑，直到他們觀察現場測試。在拉丁美洲，銷售額成長了 14%，主要得益於巴西銷量的成長。該地區的新產品也取得了強勁增長，包括 Coragen eVo 和 Premio Star 二酰胺和殺蟲劑、Boral Full 和石頭除草劑以及新推出的氟達吡殺菌劑 Onsuva。

Lower price was driven by three factors I mentioned earlier, competition in the market, strategic pricing on less differentiated products and onetime price adjustment. Asia sales were down 28%, and that was largely driven by volume in India.Channel volume in India remained high, especially in insecticide which has built up over a successive [monsoon] seasons.

較低的價格是由我之前提到的三個因素推動的，即市場競爭、差異化程度較低的產品的策略定價以及一次性價格調整。亞洲銷售額下降了 28%，這主要是受到印度銷量的影響。

Sales of generic Rynaxypyr are acting as a smaller secondary headwind, where we pursue litigation for process patent infringement. Ronaldo will speak more to the diamides in a few minutes. We do not see the India channel inventory resolving until at least 2025. In other areas of Asia, Asian countries reported the strongest growth while China declined.

仿製藥 Rynaxypyr 的銷售是一個較小的次要阻力，我們就製程專利侵權提起訴訟。羅納多將在幾分鐘內對二酰胺進行更多講話。我們認為印度渠道庫存至少要到 2025 年才能解決。在亞洲其他地區，亞洲國家成長最為強勁，而中國則出現下滑。

Sales in EMEA were down 3%. Excluding sales to our diamide partner, the region reported overall sales growth in the low-teen percent driven by volume. The region delivered strong growth in branded diamides and fungicide. Looking at the EBITDA bridge on slide 5. We delivered EBITDA of $202 million, which is at the highest end of our guidance range.

歐洲、中東和非洲地區的銷售額下降了 3%。不包括對我們的二酰胺合作夥伴的銷售，該地區的整體銷售額在銷售的推動下增長了百分之十以下。該地區品牌二醯胺和殺菌劑強勁成長。檢視投影片 5 上的 EBITDA 橋接器。我們實現了 2.02 億美元的 EBITDA，這是我們指導範圍的最高值。

The increase of 8% versus the prior year was due to volume growth, cost benefits from our restructuring actions and FX tailwinds. These three factors more than offset lower pricing and COGS headwind related to the sell-through of higher cost inventory.

與前一年相比成長 8% 是由於銷售成長、我們的重組行動帶來的成本效益以及外匯利好。這三個因素足以抵銷與高成本庫存銷售相關的較低定價和銷貨成本逆風。

Slide 6 provides an update on our progress in our restructuring actions. We are making excellent progress and have already realized considerable cost benefits through June. We now expect between $75 million to $100 million of cost benefits in 2024 net of inflation and are on pace to achieve over $150 million of gross run rate savings by 2025.

投影片 6 介紹了我們重組行動的最新進展。我們正在取得巨大進展，並且到 6 月已經實現了可觀的成本效益。目前，我們預計 2024 年扣除通貨膨脹後的成本效益將達到 7,500 萬至 1 億美元，並有望在 2025 年實現超過 1.5 億美元的總運行率節省。

On July 11, we announced that we entered into an agreement to sell our Global Specialty Solutions business for $350 million Envu. We're expecting the transaction to be completed by the end of the year. We will continue to include the results of this business in our reported figures until the deal has closed as it does not meet the criteria to be moved into discontinued operations. Our guidance for the second half includes earnings and cash flow from this business.

7 月 11 日，我們宣布簽訂協議，以 3.5 億美元的價格出售我們的全球專業解決方案業務 Envu。我們預計交易將於今年底完成。我們將繼續將這項業務的業績納入我們的報告數據中，直到交易完成，因為它不符合進入停產業務的標準。我們對下半年的指導包括該業務的收益和現金流。

Looking ahead to the rest of the year, we have updated our full year revenue guidance to a range of $4.3 billion to $4.5 billion, which is 2% lower than prior year at the midpoint. This is $200 million reduction between the midpoint of our new and prior gains and about half of that attributed to lower first half sales that we do not expect to make up this year.

展望今年剩餘時間，我們將全年營收指引更新為 43 億至 45 億美元範圍，比上年中點低 2%。我們的新收益和先前收益的中點之間減少了 2 億美元，其中大約一半歸因於上半年銷售額的下降，而我們預計今年不會彌補這一損失。

The remaining reduction is mostly the result of a slower than expected demand recovery. Although demand recovery is slower than originally anticipated, we do not see improvement in most geographies -- sorry, we do see improvement in most geographies with the exception of India.

剩餘的減少主要是因為需求復甦慢於預期。儘管需求復甦比最初預期的要慢，但我們沒有看到大多數地區的情況有所改善——抱歉，我們確實看到除印度之外的大多數地區有所改善。

A revised EBITDA guidance of $880 million to $940 million reflect the lower revenue outlook and is a 7% reduction at the midpoint against prior guidance and prior year. We expect third quarter revenue to be between $1 billion and $1.09 billion, which is 6% higher at the midpoint versus prior year. Volume is the key driver with pricing expected to be down low single digits.

修訂後的 EBITDA 指引為 8.8 億美元至 9.4 億美元，反映了較低的收入前景，與先前的指引和前一年相比，中間值減少了 7%。我們預計第三季營收將在 10 億美元至 10.9 億美元之間，比去年同期中位數成長 6%。銷量是關鍵驅動因素，預計價格將下降到低個位數。

Year over year pricing headwinds are lower compared to the second quarter as we do not plan to continue onetime incentives now that much of the high-cost inventory in the channel has been reduced. Overall, pricing levels in the third quarter are expected to be similar to the second quarter.

與第二季度相比，年比定價阻力較小，因為既然通路中的大部分高成本庫存已經減少，我們不打算繼續實施一次性激勵措施。總體而言，第三季的定價水準預計與第二季相似。

Third quarter EBITDA is expected to be between $165 million and $195 million, representing 3% growth at the midpoint. EBITDA margin midpoint of 17% reflects the outsized impact of $40 million COGS headwind we expect during the quarter. The headwind is mostly attributed to unabsorbed fixed costs related to reduced manufacturing during the second half of 2023.

第三季 EBITDA 預計在 1.65 億美元至 1.95 億美元之間，中位數成長 3%。EBITDA 利潤率中點為 17%，反映了我們預計本季 4000 萬美元 COGS 逆風的巨大影響。不利因素主要歸因於與 2023 年下半年製造業減少相關的未吸收固定成本。

Absence of this headwind, we put our implied third quarter midpoint EBITDA margin in line with historical Q3 average. Fourth quarter revenue is expected to be between $1.34 billion and $1.45 billion, which is 22% higher at the midpoint. Volume is expected to be the key driver of sales supported by new products, improving demand and growing market share. Price and FX are both expected to be low single-digit headwinds.

如果沒有這種不利因素，我們將隱含的第三季 EBITDA 利潤率中點與第三季歷史平均值保持一致。第四季營收預計在 13.4 億美元至 14.5 億美元之間，中間值成長 22%。預計銷售將成為新產品、需求改善和市場份額不斷增長的支持下銷售的主要驅動力。價格和外匯預計都將出現個位數的低阻力。

Fourth quarter EBITDA is expected to be between $353 million and $383 million, up 45% at the mid, almost entirely attributed to higher sales. Costs are expected to be favorable from restructuring benefits. The quarterly pace of result this year is forecasted to be different from what we reported in the past. Typically, the third quarter is the lowest revenue quarter in the year. This year, it is expected to be higher than the first and second quarters due to the timing of the demand recovery.

第四季 EBITDA 預計在 3.53 億美元至 3.83 億美元之間，中期將成長 45%，幾乎完全歸功於銷售額的成長。預計重組效益將有利於成本。預計今年的季度業績增速將與我們過去報告的有所不同。通常，第三季是一年中收入最低的季度。今年，由於需求復甦的時機，預計將高於第一季和第二季。

Our second half revenue split between Q3 and Q4 has historically been about 46% third quarter and 54% fourth quarter. This year, we are gaining to a quarterly revenue split in the second half of 43% in third quarter and 57% in fourth quarter.

從歷史上看，我們下半年第三季和第四季的營收佔比約為第三季的 46% 和第四季的 54%。今年，我們下半年的季度營收佔比為第三季的 43% 和第四季的 57%。

The higher-than-usual sales in Q4 are due to the shape of the demand recoveries. To achieve the midpoint of our full year guidance we expect to grow in the second half by 15% revenue and 28% in EBITDA with a strong fourth quarter. There are four reasons, we are highly confident in those numbers.

第四季的銷售額高於平時是由於需求復甦的情況。為了實現全年指引的中點，我們預計下半年營收將成長 15%，EBITDA 將成長 28%，第四季將表現強勁。有四個原因，我們對這些數字充滿信心。

One, there are signs that demand is recovering. Our second quarter volume is evidence of that. What we're seeing in our second half order books also reflects that improvement. For example, in Brazil, we have about a third of the orders in our book that we'll need to reach that country's second half targets. At this time last year, it was almost zero.

第一，有跡象顯示需求正在復甦。我們第二季的銷售量就是證明。我們在下半年訂單中看到的情況也反映了這種改善。例如，在巴西，我們的訂單中約有三分之一需要這些訂單來實現全國下半年的目標。去年這個時候，這個數字幾乎是零。

Early indications after one month of second half operation, show that the regions are on track to reach their targets. Two, a large portion of the sales growth we expect in the second half is coming from products launched in the last 5 years. We see solid demand for these products due to their differentiation from other technologies.

下半年運行一個月後的初步跡象表明，這些地區正在實現其目標。第二，我們預計下半年銷售成長的很大一部分來自過去五年推出的產品。由於這些產品與其他技術的區別，我們看到了對這些產品的強勁需求。

Some examples include Onsuva fungicide and Coragen eVo insecticide in Latin America, Overwatch herbicide in Asia based on the new active ingredient, Isoflex, and new diamide formulation in North America like Elevest and Altacor eVo. Three, improve orders from our diamide partners.

一些例子包括拉丁美洲的 Onsuva 殺菌劑和 Coragen eVo 殺蟲劑，亞洲基於新活性成分 Isoflex 的《鬥陣特攻》除草劑，以及北美的新二酰胺配方，如 Elevest 和 Altacor eVo。三、改善我們二醯胺合作夥伴的訂單。

Similar to FMC, our partners have been attempting to work down high level of inventories. Levels are now reaching a point that are supporting other purchases. And four, cost management. We have shown the ability to effectively control costs and deliver on our restructuring savings commitment. They will continue in the second half.

與 FMC 類似，我們的合作夥伴一直在努力降低高庫存水準。目前水準已達到支援其他購買的水準。第四，成本管理。我們已經展示了有效控製成本和兌現重組節約承諾的能力。他們將在下半場繼續比賽。

I will now hand the call over to Andrew to cover some financial items, including our cash performance and outlook.

我現在將電話轉交給安德魯，討論一些財務問題，包括我們的現金表現和前景。

Thanks, Pierre. I'll start this morning with a review of some key income statement items. FX was a 2% headwind to revenue growth in the second quarter, with the most significant headwinds coming from the Indian rupee, Brazilian real and Turkish lira.

謝謝，皮埃爾。今天早上我將先回顧一些關鍵的損益表項目。外匯對第二季營收成長構成了 2% 的阻力，其中最顯著的阻力來自印度盧比、巴西雷亞爾和土耳其里拉。

For the remainder of 2024, we anticipate continued low single-digit FX headwinds, driven primarily by the Brazilian real. Interest expense for the second quarter was $63.6 million, down slightly versus the prior year period, with lower foreign interest expense offsetting higher domestic interest expense.

在 2024 年剩餘時間裡，我們預計主要由巴西雷亞爾推動的外匯逆風將持續較低的個位數。第二季利息支出為 6,360 萬美元，較去年同期略有下降，外國利息支出的減少抵消了國內利息支出的增加。

For full year 2024, we expect interest expense to be in the range of $235 million to $240 million, essentially flat year-on-year at the midpoint with the impact of higher rates on domestic debt offset by lower foreign borrowings.

對於 2024 年全年，我們預計利息支出將在 2.35 億美元至 2.4 億美元之間，與去年同期基本持平，國內債務利率上升的影響被外國借款減少所抵消。

Our effective tax rate on adjusted earnings for the second quarter was 15.5% in line with the midpoint of our continued expectation for a full year tax rate of 14% to 17%. Our GAAP provision for income taxes in the second quarter benefited from the transfer of intangible assets to our Swiss subsidiaries, where we recently were awarded OECD Pillar 2 compliant tax incentives.

我們第二季調整後收益的有效稅率為 15.5%，與我們持續預期的全年稅率 14% 至 17% 的中位數一致。我們第二季的 GAAP 所得稅撥備受益於將無形資產轉移到我們的瑞士子公司，我們最近在瑞士子公司獲得了符合經合組織第二支柱的稅收優惠。

This asset transfer will allow us to take further advantage of these new incentives and will help ensure FMC maintains a structurally advantaged tax rate for at least the next decade.

此次資產轉移將使我們能夠進一步利用這些新的激勵措施，並將有助於確保 FMC 至少在未來十年內保持結構性優勢稅率。

Moving next to the balance sheet and leverage. Gross debt at June 30 was approximately $4.2 billion, down $157 million from the prior quarter. Cash on hand increased $54 million to $472 million, resulting in net debt of approximately $3.7 billion. Gross debt to trailing 12 month EBITDA was 5.3 times at quarter end. While net debt-to-EBITDA was 4.7 times.

接下來是資產負債表和槓桿。截至 6 月 30 日的總債務約為 42 億美元，比上一季減少 1.57 億美元。手頭現金增加 5,400 萬美元，達到 4.72 億美元，淨債務約 37 億美元。截至季末，總債務與過去 12 個月 EBITDA 比率為 5.3 倍。而淨債務與 EBITDA 的比率為 4.7 倍。

Relative to our covenant, which measures leverage with a number of adjustments to both the numerator and denominator, leverage was 5.4 times as compared to a covenant of 6.5 times.

相對於我們的契約（透過對分子和分母進行多次調整來衡量槓桿率），槓桿率為 5.4 倍，而契約為 6.5 倍。

As a reminder, our covenant leverage limit was raised temporarily to 6.5 times through June 30 of this year. It will step down to 6 times at September 30 and then again to 5 times at December 31. We expect covenant leverage approaching 4 times by year-end, reflecting both year-on-year EBITDA growth in the second half as well as receipt of proceeds from the sale -- the recently announced sale of our Global Specialty Solutions business to Envu.

謹此提醒，截至今年 6 月 30 日，我們的契約槓桿上限暫時提高至 6.5 倍。9月30日將減少至6次，12月31日再次減少至5次。我們預計到年底契約槓桿將接近 4 倍，既反映了下半年 EBITDA 的同比增長，也反映了出售所得的收益——最近宣布將我們的全球專業解決方案業務出售給 Envu。

We remain committed to returning our leverage to levels consistent with our targeted BBB, BAA2 long-term credit ratings or better. While we will still be meaningfully above this level at the end of 2024, we are confident that with EBITDA growth and disciplined cash management, we can reach leverage metrics consistent with our target credit rating in 2025.

我們仍然致力於將槓桿率恢復到與我們的目標 BBB、BAA2 長期信用評級或更高水平一致的水平。雖然到 2024 年底我們仍將明顯高於這一水平，但我們相信，隨著 EBITDA 的成長和嚴格的現金管理，我們可以在 2025 年達到與我們的目標信用評級一致的槓桿指標。

Moving on to free cash flow on slide 11. Free cash flow in the second quarter was $280 million, an improvement of over $187 million versus the prior year period. Nearly all of this improvement came from adjusted cash from operations which improved by $184 million from a reduction in inventory as well as a build of payables.

接下來討論投影片 11 的自由現金流。第二季自由現金流為 2.8 億美元，比去年同期增加了 1.87 億美元。幾乎所有的改善都來自調整後的營運現金，由於庫存減少和應付帳款增加，現金增加了 1.84 億美元。

Collections continue to be strong and ahead of our internal forecast. Capital additions were lower as we continue to constrain investment to only the most critical high return projects. Legacy and transformation cash spending was up due to costs related to our restructuring program.

收藏數量持續強勁，並且超出了我們的內部預測。由於我們繼續將投資限制在最關鍵的高回報項目上，因此資本增加量較低。由於與我們的重組計劃相關的成本，遺留和轉型現金支出有所增加。

Through the first half of 2024, free cash flow is up $915 million versus the prior year. We now expect free cash flow of $400 million to $500 million for full year 2024, a positive swing of nearly $1 billion from the 2023 performance at the midpoint of the range. This year-on-year increase is expected to be driven by significant cash release from rebuilding accounts payable and reducing inventory, partially offset by higher accounts receivable due to revenue growth in the second half of the year.

到 2024 年上半年，自由現金流比前一年增加 9.15 億美元。我們目前預計 2024 年全年自由現金流為 4 億至 5 億美元，較 2023 年業績中位數正向波動近 10 億美元。預計這一同比增長將受到重建應付賬款和減少庫存帶來的大量現金釋放的推動，但下半年收入增長導致的應收賬款增加部分抵消了這一增長。

Relative to our prior guidance, this free cash outflow -- free cash flow outlook reflects the updated EBITDA guidance provided today as well as a modest reduction in anticipated capital investment.

相對於我們先前的指導，這種自由現金流出——自由現金流前景反映了今天提供的更新的 EBITDA 指導以及預期資本投資的適度減少。

With that, I'll hand the call over to Ronaldo.

這樣，我就把電話轉給羅納多。

Thank you, Andrew. Before I begin, I want to take a moment to describe the four components that drive our portfolio's growth. The first is innovative formulations of our non-diamide products, some of which are patented. The second is our diamide franchise. Growth of the diamides is supported by existing IP protection and our actions to transition to unique patented formulations.

謝謝你，安德魯。在開始之前，我想花點時間描述一下推動我們投資組合成長的四個組成部分。第一個是我們的非二醯胺產品的創新配方，其中一些已獲得專利。第二個是我們的二醯胺特許經營權。二醯胺的成長得到了現有智慧財產權保護和我們向獨特專利配方過渡的行動的支持。

This is enabled by our extensive knowledge of the diamides and their target insect populations. Third is bringing to market four new active ingredients with two having a new mode of action and a new family of products, the pheromones.

這是我們對二酰胺及其目標昆蟲種群的廣泛了解所實現的。第三是向市場推出四種新的活性成分，其中兩種具有新的作用方式和新的產品系列—費洛蒙。

Finally, our expanding platform of biological products. Today, I'll focus my discussion on diamides and the new active ingredients and what gives us confidence in our ability to keep growing. Diamides have been a core part of our business since we launched FMC as a pure-play agricultural sciences company in 2018.

最後是我們不斷拓展的生物製品平台。今天，我將重點討論二酰胺和新的活性成分，以及是什麼讓我們對持續增長的能力充滿信心。自 2018 年我們將 FMC 作為純粹的農業科學公司成立以來，二醯胺一直是我們業務的核心部分。

In these almost seven years, we have grown our partner base and expanded our geographic footprint. Through new product registrations, we have introduced brand-new patented formulations that allow us to enter new market and crop segments.

在這近七年的時間裡，我們擴大了我們的合作夥伴基礎並擴大了我們的地理足跡。透過新產品註冊，我們推出了全新的專利配方，使我們能夠進入新的市場和作物領域。

From the time we purchase the diamides, there have been concerns regarding a perceived cliff on revenue. This is absolutely not how we see it. Rather, we expect the diamides to be a growth platform for FMC well into the future.

從我們購買二醯胺的那一刻起，我們就一直擔心收入會出現懸崖。這絕對不是我們所看到的。相反，我們預期二醯胺將成為 FMC 未來的成長平台。

Discussions about the strength and resilience of our diamides usually start with the composition of matter patents for the active ingredients. These have largely expired for Rynaxypyr and Cyazypyr active ingredients. But there are many other factors that support the strength of our diamides.

關於我們二醯胺的強度和彈性的討論通常從活性成分的物質專利組成開始。Rynaxypyr 和 Cyazypyr 活性成分大部分已過期。但還有許多其他因素支持我們二醯胺的強度。

One such factor is other patents, which includes manufacturing processes and specific intermediates. These patents provide protection that continues through mid 2026, varying by product and geography. In countries like India and China, these patents have been harder to enforce which is not the case in most other geographies. This is evidenced by recent legal victories and the lack of generic players attempting to sell in these other geographies.

其中一個因素是其他專利，其中包括製造流程和特定中間體。這些專利提供的保護持續到 2026 年中期，具體保護因產品和地理位置而異。在印度和中國等國家，這些專利的執行難度更大，而在大多數其他地區，情況並非如此。最近的法律勝利以及缺乏試圖在這些其他地區銷售的仿製藥廠商就證明了這一點。

Another factor is data protection, providing studies for necessary registration can be time consuming and costly for competitors. If a generic player wants to reference our proprietary data to save cost and time in registering their own products, they will need to wait until the data is no longer protected, which can be as long as 10 years from the original registration. We sell our diamides in nearly 100 countries.

另一個因素是資料保護，為必要的註冊提供研究對於競爭對手來說可能既耗時又昂貴。如果一般玩家想要參考我們的專有資料來節省註冊自己產品的成本和時間，他們將需要等到資料不再受保護，這可能從最初註冊起長達 10 年。我們的二醯胺銷往近 100 個國家。

Each country has its own regulatory agencies and the time to register a generic can vary from one year in some countries to more than five years in others. As such, in many countries, competing companies are prevented from registering a generic version of our Cyazypyr active because FMC's data protection has not expired.

每個國家都有自己的監管機​​構，註冊仿製藥的時間可能有所不同，從某些國家的一年到其他國家的五年以上不等。因此，在許多國家/地區，競爭公司無法註冊我們的 Cyazypyr 活性物質的通用版本，因為 FMC 的資料保護尚未過期。

After all composition of matter, process and intermediate patents and data protection expire, we know that generics will come to the market, most with solo diamide products that mimic our original products. What they will find is that FMC has not been standing still. We have been actively working to advance our diamides technologies through new formulations.

在所有物質成分、製程和中間體專利以及資料保護到期後，我們知道仿製藥將進入市場，其中大多數是模仿我們原始產品的單獨二醯胺產品。他們會發現FMC並沒有停滯不前。我們一直積極致力於透過新配方來推進我們的二醯胺技術。

First, through the development of new and in many case, patented solo enhanced formulations. Solo formulations are Rynaxypyr or Cyazypyr molecules formulated to be convenient to farmers, more sustainable and more cost effective, allowing FMC diamide products to be more competitive while remaining highly profitable.

首先，透過開發新的（在許多情況下）專利的單獨增強配方。Solo 配方是 Rynaxypyr 或 Cyazypyr 分子，其配方方便農民、更永續且更具成本效益，使 FMC 二醯胺產品更具競爭力，同時保持高利潤。

These new enhanced solo formulations that we are now introducing in the market are often patented and include high concentration and solid formulations, such as the large effervescent granule product, we showcased at our November Investor Day.

我們現在在市場上推出的這些新的增強型單獨配方通常已獲得專利，包括高濃度和固體配方，例如我們在 11 月投資者日展示的大泡騰顆粒產品。

The second and most important advancement stems from our innovation in developing mixture formulations, which combine diamides with complementary active ingredients. This mixture of formulations not only mark a substantial leap forward in performance for growers, but also play a crucial role in preemptively addressing potential insect resistance.

第二個也是最重要的進步源自於我們在開發混合物配方方面的創新，該配方將二醯胺與補充活性成分結合在一起。這種配方混合物不僅標誌著種植者性能的實質飛躍，而且在先發製人地解決潛在的昆蟲抗性問題方面發揮著至關重要的作用。

At FMC, our proactive approach involves extensive monitoring of insect populations through molecular biology, allowing us to anticipate and mitigate resistance issues. Our expertise in this domain informs the development of superior products tailored to meet the specific needs of each key market.

在 FMC，我們的主動方法包括透過分子生物學對昆蟲族群進行廣泛監測，使我們能夠預測和減輕抗藥性問題。我們在該領域的專業知識有助於開發優質產品，以滿足每個主要市場的特定需求。

Because we own these products, we have more knowledge about the diamides than any other company, and we are using this knowledge to create superior products. This work is highly tailored to each key country, which again, significantly diminishes the likelihood of any sudden widespread impact on sales.

因為我們擁有這些產品，所以我們比任何其他公司都擁有更多關於二酰胺的知識，並且我們正在利用這些知識來創造優質的產品。這項工作是針對每個關鍵國家/地區量身定制的，這再次顯著降低了對銷售突然產生廣泛影響的可能性。

Simply put, we are confident that there is no impending revenue cliff for these key assets. There are layers of protection for both Rynaxypyr and Cyazypyr based products, making them an important growth platform for FMC for years to come. We have talked about the diamides many times over the last year.

簡而言之，我們相信這些關鍵資產不會出現即將出現的收入懸崖。基於 Rynaxypyr 和 Cyazypyr 的產品都有多層保護，使它們成為 FMC 未來幾年的重要成長平台。去年我們多次討論過二醯胺。

To recap the key points, our current patent state is strong and will remain in place for some time. We are successfully defending our patents, and we will continue to enforce our IP. We are extending and further protecting the life cycle of diamides through new formulations to ensure our portfolio remains convenient to growers, highly cost competitive and performance differentiated.

回顧一下要點，我們目前的專利狀況很強勁，並將持續一段時間。我們正在成功捍衛我們的專利，並將繼續執行我們的智慧財產權。我們透過新配方延長並進一步保護二醯胺的生命週期，以確保我們的產品組合對種植者來說仍然方便，具有高度的成本競爭力和性能差異化。

Today, we're developing and launching products that will be needed to help fight insect resistance now and in the future. FMC is best positioned to do that because we have consistently used advanced techniques to monitor insect populations for years.

今天，我們正在開發和推出幫助現在和未來對抗昆蟲抗藥性所需的產品。FMC 最有能力做到這一點，因為我們多年來一直使用先進技術來監測昆蟲族群。

These are the reasons why we believe that diamides will continue to be a meaningful contributor to FMC's growth throughout this decade and beyond. In addition to the diamides, the continued introduction of new molecules and new formulations will support our long-term growth.

這就是為什麼我們相信二醯胺將繼續為 FMC 在這十年及以後的成長做出有意義的貢獻。除了二醯胺之外，不斷推出新分子和新配方也將支持我們的長期成長。

This includes the launch of four new active ingredients, which we spoke about during our 2023 Investor Day. Fluindapyr, a patented fungicide that we have recently launched in the US, Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil with future registrations expected for Mexico and India. This product gives us access to the large corn and soybean fungicide segments where we played only marginally until recently.

這包括推出四種新的活性成分，我們在 2023 年投資者日談到了這些成分。Fluindapyr 是一種專利殺菌劑，我們最近在美國、巴拉圭、阿根廷和巴西推出，預計未來將在墨西哥和印度註冊。該產品使我們能夠進入大型玉米和大豆殺菌劑領域，直到最近我們才涉足這些領域。

Isoflex, the herbicide we launched in Australia and Argentina. Isoflex will also be launched in Brazil later this year and continue to expand into other crops throughout 2025. In India, we just received product registration this week and plan to launch soon. In Great Britain, we have received the active registration and anticipate product registration shortly.

Isoflex，我們在澳洲和阿根廷推出的除草劑。Isoflex 也將於今年稍晚在巴西推出，並在 2025 年繼續擴展到其他作物。在印度，我們本週剛收到產品註冊，並計劃很快推出。在英國，我們已經收到了有效的註冊，並預計很快就會進行產品註冊。

Dodhylex, a patented rice herbicide and the first herbicide with a new mode of action in over 30 years. We have submitted regulatory registration in 7 countries in which these make up close to 30% of the global rice market. Commercial launches are expected in 2026. Dodhylex is a big innovation in rice. And as we advance its development. We continue to find new opportunities on additional crops.

Dodhylex，一種專利稻米除草劑，也是30多年來第一種具有新作用方式的除草劑。我們已在 7 個國家提交了監管註冊申請，這些國家佔全球大米市場的近 30%。預計 2026 年投入商業使用。Dodhylex 是水稻領域的重大創新。隨著我們推進其發展。我們繼續尋找更多作物的新機會。

Rimisoxafen is still in its earlier stage. Rimisoxafen is an exciting herbicide, effective against resistant weeds like Palmer amaranth, in corn and soybean markets. It's another unique product with a new dual mode of action. Finally, pheromones, a platform of products that can potentially change the way growers manage and protect the crops from insects.

Rimisoxafen仍處於早期階段。雷米沙芬是一種令人興奮的除草劑，可有效對抗玉米和大豆市場上的長芒莧等抗性雜草。這是另一種具有新的雙重作用模式的獨特產品。最後，信息素是一個產品平台，有可能改變種植者管理和保護作物免受昆蟲侵害的方式。

We have already applied to register the first pheromone product for row crops in Brazil, Mexico, US and Philippines. We estimate this product platform will contribute about $1 billion in revenue by 2033.

我們已經在巴西、墨西哥、美國和菲律賓申請註冊第一個用於中耕作物的費洛蒙產品。我們預計到 2033 年該產品平台將貢獻約 10 億美元的營收。

Years from now, when solo diamide products are fully exposed to the market -- in the market, we expect that FMC will be well beyond those original products with patented new formulations and innovative diamide mixtures. Regarding the five new products I have just mentioned, two have launched, two are waiting registrations and one is pending regulatory submission.

幾年後，當單獨的二酰胺產品全面暴露在市場上時——在市場上，我們預計FMC將憑藉獲得專利的新配方和創新的二酰胺混合物遠遠超越那些原有的產品。至於我剛才提到的五個新產品，有兩個已經推出，兩個正在等待註冊，一個正在等待監管提交。

Combined, these products will give us access to segments we do not play in today, significantly expanding our addressable market in the future. Our growth story is one of innovation. It is strongly rooted in the strength of our current portfolio and the significant growth we anticipate from our new products. These are sales that will be in addition to our legacy portfolio, including the diamides.

結合起來，這些產品將使我們能夠進入目前尚未涉足的細分市場，從而顯著擴大我們未來的潛在市場。我們的成長故事就是創新故事。它深深植根於我們目前產品組合的實力以及我們預期新產品的顯著成長。這些銷售將是對我們傳統產品組合（包括二醯胺）的補充。

I will now turn it back over to Pierre.

現在我將把它轉回給皮埃爾。

Thank you, Ronaldo. Before we move to Q&A, I want to make a few high level comments on 2025. It is too early for any formalized guidance, but I will share some factors that we believe could influence our results. We're expecting demand in the market to continue to accelerate from where we end 2024. That would lead to volume growth for FMC especially in the first half of the year where prior year comps will be weaker.

謝謝你，羅納多。在我們進行問答之前，我想對 2025 年發表一些高水準的評論。對於任何正式的指導來說還為時過早，但我將分享一些我們認為可能影響我們結果的因素。我們預計，到 2024 年底，市場需求將持續加速成長。這將導致 FMC 的銷售成長，尤其是在今年上半年，而去年的比較將較弱。

We also expect continued strong growth of our new products. Pricing is uncertain as in the case during any period of the demand recovery. The pricing actions we've taken this year should position us well in 2025. Overall, we expect 2025 revenue growth at around 6%, excluding the GSS business. On the cost side, there is about $150 million to $200 million in expected favorability.

我們也預計我們的新產品將持續強勁成長。在需求復甦的任何時期，定價都是不確定的。我們今年採取的定價行動應該會讓我們在 2025 年處於有利地位。總體而言，我們預計 2025 年營收將成長在 6% 左右，不包括 GSS 業務。在成本方面，預計有利度約為 1.5 億至 2 億美元。

That's coming from lower raw materials, the absence of unabsorbed fixed cost headwinds that is forecasted in 2024 and a full year of restructuring benefits. There is some uncertainty depending upon how raw materials move, but overall, the 2025 cost story is shaping up to be positive.

這是因為原物料價格下跌、預計 2024 年不會出現未吸收的固定成本阻力以及全年的重組效益。根據原料的走勢，存在一些不確定性，但總體而言，2025 年的成本狀況將呈現正面趨勢。

The cost favorability will be partially offset by the loss of about $30 million to $35 million of EBITDA from the sale of the GSS business. That gives us growth at the top and bottom line in 2025 with further growth coming in four years as the new products in the pipeline that Ronaldo spoke about are launched or expand into new countries and market.

出售 GSS 業務帶來的約 3,000 萬至 3,500 萬美元的 EBITDA 損失將部分抵銷成本優勢。這將使我們在 2025 年實現收入和利潤的成長，並且隨著羅納多談到的新產品的推出或擴展到新的國家和市場，四年後將進一步成長。

With that, we are now ready to take your questions.

至此，我們現在準備好回答您的問題了。

(Operator Instructions) Chris Parkinson, Wolfe.

（操作員說明）克里斯·帕金森，沃爾夫。

So Pierre, as much as I'd really love to focus on some of the intermediate and longer-term factors which you've been highlighting on a preliminary basis. I'd love to just dig in a little on the second half and just the cadence between the third and the fourth quarter.

皮埃爾，儘管我真的很想關注您初步強調的一些中期和長期因素。我很樂意深入研究下半場以及第三節和第四節之間的節奏。

I mean the ag markets are still pretty difficult. There's still some uncertainty in Brazil. But just any color you could offer to give investors a little bit more comfort on the split there and the puts and takes that you outlined on slides 8 and 9 would be especially helpful. Thank you so much.

我的意思是農業市場仍然相當困難。巴西仍存在一些不確定性。但是，您可以提供的任何顏色都可以讓投資者對那裡的分割感到更加放心，並且您在幻燈片 8 和 9 中概述的看跌期權和看跌期權將特別有幫助。太感謝了。

Thank you, Chris. First, I'm going to try to be concise on answers, but I might be a bit longer on this one because I think it's the right question. The sequence is important. Q4 is an important quarter. First, I'm going to make an answer which is not a business answer. I'm just back.

謝謝你，克里斯。首先，我將嘗試簡潔地回答，但我可能會在這個問題上說得更長一些，因為我認為這是正確的問題。順序很重要。第四季是一個重要的季度。首先，我要做一個非商業答案。我剛回來。

I do not need to take a risk as a CEO just back to miss my first two quarters. I could have guided a different level. Nobody would have been surprised with the full year guidance at $890 million or $900 million. So if I guided where I did for the fourth quarter, it's because I did a very strong due diligence and it's a true bottom-up process we went through to define sales and earnings.

作為首席執行官，我不需要冒著錯過前兩個季度的風險。我本來可以引導不同的層次。沒有人會對全年指導金額達到 8.9 億美元或 9 億美元感到驚訝。因此，如果我指導第四季度的工作，那是因為我進行了非常嚴格的盡職調查，這是我們定義銷售和收入所經歷的真正的自下而上的流程。

For Q4, we have a much improved visibility today in Latin America and mostly Brazil, in North America and in EMEA. As an example, for Brazil, we believe that the orders we already have in hand and the Q2 actions to prepare for the season put us in an excellent position to meet our Q3, Q4 target.

第四季度，我們在拉丁美洲（主要是巴西）、北美和歐洲、中東和非洲地區的知名度大大提高。以巴西為例，我們相信我們現有的訂單和第二季為本季做準備的行動使我們處於有利地位，可以實現第三季、第四季的目標。

North America, I'd say the visibility is good for the short-term. It's an easier market to forecast short term in a sense that we have very -- fewer customers. They are mostly large distributors. So it's a much easier place to define your short-term potential sales.

北美，我認為短期內的能見度很好。從某種意義上說，這是一個更容易預測短期市場的市場，因為我們的客戶非常少。他們大多是大型經銷商。因此，這是一個更容易定義短期潛在銷售額的地方。

I would say that the least comfortable in terms of visibility for us would be Asia, driven by the channel situation in India. And I can tell you that, that has been reflected in the way we have been forecasting the quarter, the fourth quarter.

我想說，受印度通路狀況的影響，我們的能見度最差的是亞洲。我可以告訴你，這已經反映在我們對第四季的預測方式。

Third point I would make is the channel is getting closer to normal and demand is picking up. Additionally, we know and we've seen and we've talked to our customers and we know some of the customers have pushed Q3 demand into Q4. They're buying as late as they can. So that is inflating the Q4 sales number.

我要說的第三點是頻道越來越接近正常，需求正在回升。此外，我們知道，我們已經看到，我們已經與我們的客戶交談，我們知道一些客戶已將第三季的需求推至第四季。他們盡可能晚地購買。因此，第四季的銷售數字就被誇大了。

On the price, we do not see risk. We have taken very strategic decisions bringing our price down in the second quarter. We have repositioned our pricing that's been proven by the volume we're able to reach in Q2. So we believe Q3, Q4, we should see price quite flat versus Q2, and we do not see many risks especially in Latin America.

就價格而言，我們看不到風險。我們採取了非常策略性的決策，在第二季降低了價格。我們重新定位了定價，第二季度我們能夠達到的銷售證明了這一點。因此，我們認為第三季、第四季的價格應該與第二季相當持平，而且我們沒有看到太多風險，尤其是在拉丁美洲。

Finally, and most importantly, in the second half, 60%, [60%] of the growth in the second half is new product introduction. This is actually quite in line with what we saw in Q2. The demand for those products, some of them which were introduced in -- and market tested in 2023 is very strong. Importantly, it gives us access to a market we did not have access to. So that is a very large component of our H2 and Q4 growth.

最後，也是最重要的，下半年，下半年成長的60%，[60%]是新產品的推出。這實際上與我們在第二季度看到的情況非常一致。對這些產品的需求非常強勁，其中一些產品於 2023 年推出並經過市場測試。重要的是，它使我們能夠進入我們無法進入的市場。因此，這是我們下半年和第四季成長的一個非常重要的組成部分。

And maybe Ronaldo you want to say a couple of words about the new product we're introducing to give some confidence about our Q4 forecast.

也許羅納多，您想對我們即將推出的新產品說幾句話，以便讓我們對第四季的預測更有信心。

Sure, Pierre. I would highlight too, in the US, we are talking about these enhanced formulations of the diamides as well as some herbicide platforms that continue to grow for FMC. We just launched Adastrio, a fungicide in North America, and that is gaining a lot of steam and speed.

當然，皮埃爾。我還要強調的是，在美國，我們正在談論這些增強的二酰胺配方以及一些為 FMC 持續增長的除草劑平台。我們剛剛在北美推出了 Adastrio，這是一種殺菌劑，它正在獲得巨大的動力和速度。

And in South America, particularly, we're very excited with the introduction of the fluindapyr based Onsuva, a fungicide that puts us to play in the soybean segment. And also, we don't talk much about that, but there are two new formulations of our sulfentrazone franchise that are also growing fast in Latin America, particularly in Brazil, one for sugarcane, Boral Full and the other one more to control resistant weeds on soybean in Brazil that is strong, as Pierre mentioned.

特別是在南美洲，我們對基於氟達吡的 Onsuva 的推出感到非常興奮，這是一種讓我們在大豆領域發揮作用的殺菌劑。而且，我們並沒有過多談論這一點，但我們的甲磺草酮系列有兩種新配方在拉丁美洲，特別是在巴西也快速增長，一種用於甘蔗，Boral Full，另一種用於控制抗性雜草如皮埃爾所提到的，巴西的大豆市場表現強勁。

So in a few words, I'm going to say it again. Firstly (inaudible) neither Q3 or Q4. So there is a very solid due diligence behind those numbers and strong confidence.

所以簡單來說，我要再說一次。首先（聽不清楚）Q3 或 Q4 都不是。因此，這些數字背後有著非常紮實的盡職調查和堅定的信心。

Josh Spector, UBS.

喬許‧斯佩克特，瑞銀集團。

Hey, good morning. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit on the cost side of things a little bit more. So you talked about a headwind in 3Q from some higher product costs due to the downtime you took later last year.

嘿，早安。我想知道您是否可以多談談成本方面的問題。因此，您談到了第三季的逆風，因為去年稍後的停工導致產品成本上升。

When do you roll through that? So is that a tailwind in the fourth quarter? Or is that more of a tailwind into next year? And I guess any other weird cost movements we should be thinking about between 3Q or 4Q that maybe drive some higher confidence in that 4Q pickup?

你什麼時候完成這個？那麼這是第四季的順風車嗎？或者這對明年來說更像是個順風車？我想我們應該考慮第三季或第四季之間的任何其他奇怪的成本變動，這可能會提高人們對第四季皮卡的信心？

Hey, Josh, it's Andrew. I'll take this one. I think certainly, Q3 has been an aberration, just the lumpiness of how some of this cost is flowing through. Just a reminder everybody, we do have raw material cost benefit throughout the year for newly purchased materials. We've had headwinds that offset that in different ways throughout the different quarters.

嘿，喬什，我是安德魯。我要這個。我認為當然，第三季是一種反常現象，只是部分成本的流動方式參差不齊。只是提醒大家，我們全年新採購的材料確實有原料成本效益。我們在不同季度都遇到了以不同方式抵消這一影響的逆風。

As we look to the third quarter, the big issue is a big slug of unabsorbed fixed costs that are now flowing through our P&L from downtime we took in manufacturing facilities in the last year. That is really the big offset to raw material cost favorability. We do also have a little bit higher distribution and freight costs because we're doing higher volumes, but it's really that flow-through of the unfavorable variances.

當我們展望第三季時，最大的問題是大量未吸收的固定成本，這些成本現在正流經我們的損益表，這些成本是我們去年製造工廠的停機造成的。這確實是對原材料成本優惠的巨大抵銷。我們的分銷和貨運成本也確實更高一些，因為我們的產量更大，但這實際上是不利差異的流動。

And in Q4, we still have a little bit of those volume variances flowing through, that unabsorbed fixed cost flowing through. We do have higher distribution costs, but we still have raw material cost favorability from the prior year.

在第四季度，我們仍然有一些數量差異，即未吸收的固定成本。我們的分銷成本確實較高，但我們仍具有去年的原材料成本優勢。

So that gross margin costs become much more of a flattish issue in Q4. So some of the additional benefits of total costs you'll see a modest tailwind on overall cost in Q4 with restructuring benefits and a little bit lack of a headwind on COGS.

因此，第四季的毛利率成本變得更加平淡。因此，總成本的一些額外好處，您將在第四季度看到總成本的適度推動，以及重組效益，並且在銷貨成本方面沒有一點阻力。

So Q3, it really is -- it's the carryover of unabsorbed fixed costs from last year. It's lumpy. It's flowing through and this is the last big slug. But unfortunately, it's large enough to where it offsets any of the restructuring benefit year-on-year in Q3. Q4, we get out from under the biggest pieces of that, and the COGS headwind gets to be pretty flat.

所以第三季度，確實是──這是去年未吸收的固定成本的結轉。它是塊狀的。它正在流過，這是最後一個大鼻涕蟲。但不幸的是，它的規模足夠大，足以抵消第三季度同比的任何重組收益。第四季度，我們擺脫了其中最大的部分，銷售成本逆風變得相當平坦。

Vincent Andrews, Morgan Stanley.

文森安德魯斯，摩根士丹利。

Thank you. Andrew, maybe I'll just follow up on that. On the foreign exchange impact on the back half of the year. If I read this right, Q3 has a revenue hit from foreign exchange, but it's a tailwind to EBITDA and then Q4 also has a hit on the revenue line, but it seems to be neutral on EBITDA.

謝謝。安德魯，也許我會跟進一下。關於下半年外匯影響。如果我沒看錯的話，第三季的收入受到了外匯的影響，但它對 EBITDA 是有利的，然後第四季度的收入也受到了影響，但對 EBITDA 來說似乎是中性的。

And can you just update us on how that flow-through works? Or is there something sort of specific to the second half and some of the issues that you mentioned in terms of timing of raws and inventory flow through that's maybe impacting this as well?

您能否向我們介紹流程的最新情況？或者下半年是否存在某種特定的情況，以及您提到的原材料和庫存流動時間方面的一些問題也可能會影響這一點？

Yeah. Thanks, Vincent. It's really more of an issue in SG&A and R&D, quite honestly. The currencies that are just the most in play in those quarters. And it's a basket of currencies, but in Q4, in particular, it's the real. And while we have a revenue headwind, it's an SG&A benefit.

是的。謝謝，文森特。老實說，這實際上更多的是SG&A 和研發方面的問題。這些季度中發揮最大作用的貨幣。它是一籃子貨幣，但特別是在第四季度，它是真實的。雖然我們面臨收入逆風，但它卻帶來了銷售、管理和行政費用 (SG&A) 的好處。

So net-net, we end up with -- it's a minor tailwind to EBITDA in the fourth quarter. But we wanted to highlight that because it might not -- given that it's a modest low single-digit FX headwind at revenue, we didn't want to miss-signal people that it would actually go the other way in Q4.

因此，我們最終得出的結果是——這對第四季度的 EBITDA 來說是一個小小的推動力。但我們想強調這一點，因為它可能不會 - 考慮到收入的個位數較低的外匯逆風，我們不想錯過向人們發出的信號，即第四季度實際上會走向相反的方向。

Q3, you see more alignment where you have the revenue and EBITDA headwinds, both minor low single-digit revenue for FX, but that's really the difference in Q4. It's which currencies are hitting and the fact that there are benefits in SG&A from currency changes that offset what happens in revenue.

第三季度，您會看到收入和 EBITDA 逆風的情況更加一致，外匯收入均較低個位數，但這確實是第四季度的差異。問題在於哪些貨幣受到衝擊，以及貨幣變動對SG&A的好處，抵銷了收入的變化。

Arun Viswanathan, RBC Capital.

阿倫·維斯瓦納坦 (Arun Viswanathan)，加拿大皇家銀行資本 (RBC Capital)。

So I guess my question is really around some of the learnings that you've unearthed and maybe some of the topics you've touched on earlier as far as due diligence. Were there any personnel changes other than yourself? And do you think that's necessary? And then maybe you can also highlight go-to-market strategy in some of these areas.

所以我想我的問題實際上是圍繞著您所發現的一些知識以及您之前涉及的盡職調查主題。除了您本人之外，還有其他人事變動嗎？您認為有必要嗎？然後也許您也可以強調其中一些領域的進入市場策略。

I mean, obviously, the credit issues were a factor in South America last year that potentially exacerbated some of the destocking that you've seen. Yeah, maybe you can just address those issues.

我的意思是，顯然，信貸問題是去年南美洲的一個因素，可能會加劇你所看到的去庫存的情況。是的，也許你可以解決這些問題。

Sure. In terms of personnel issue, I think the team is in place where we're organized. We -- due diligence, I think what I've been looking deep into is forecasting process, selling process and execution. I think it's pretty clear that we've missed -- quite a few quarters where we've missed our own selling target. And I think that's a place where we need to be highly vigilant.

當然。在人員問題上，我認為團隊已經就位了。我們——盡職調查，我認為我一直在深入研究的是預測過程、銷售過程和執行。我認為很明顯我們已經錯過了——好幾個季度我們都沒有達到自己的銷售目標。我認為這是我們需要高度警覺的地方。

And Ronaldo and myself, we're looking deep into that. And I can tell you that I've spent a long time with each of the four regional presidents to validate the forecast for Q3 and Q4. Another topic where I see change, I would like is regarding diamides. I think our diamides franchise is good. I think we do have very interesting solo and mixture formulation.

羅納多和我自己，我們正在深入研究這個問題。我可以告訴你，我與四位地區總裁都花了很長時間來驗證第三季和第四季的預測。我希望看到變化的另一個主題是關於二酰胺。我認為我們的二醯胺特許經營權很好。我認為我們確實有非常有趣的單獨和混合配方。

We need a more aggressive diamide global and regional marketing strategy. We also need to accelerate new product invention for diamide. So that is also a place where I'm going to be looking into very carefully, and we have started to do some work. I'd say point number three, I am, of course, pleased with the results of the restructuring program. I still believe we are operating at a cost which is too high.

我們需要更積極的二醯胺全球和區域行銷策略。我們還需要加快二醯胺新產品的發明。所以這也是我要非常仔細研究的地方，我們已經開始做一些工作。我想說的第三點是，我當然對重組計畫的結果感到滿意。我仍然認為我們的營運成本太高了。

The corporation is back to a sales number of 2018, 2019, but we have a cost structure which is more of a 2022 cost structure, '23 cost structure. So no need to implement a new restructuring program, but I can tell you there is attrition, which if it's used strategically can truly lower your cost of operation and very quickly, at no cost.

公司的銷售數字回到了 2018 年、2019 年，但我們的成本結構更像是 2022 年的成本結構、23 年的成本結構。因此，無需實施新的重組計劃，但我可以告訴您，存在人員流失，如果策略性地使用它，可以真正降低您的營運成本，而且非常快，而且無需任何成本。

So that's going to be a part we are looking into right now to lower our cost. Maybe last, I'm quite pleased with the R&D organization that we put. But I still want to have maybe a stronger coordination between the work which is done in the regions and at the global level to have an even more efficient R&D organization.

因此，這將是我們現在正在研究的一部分，以降低我們的成本。也許最後，我對我們設立的研發組織非常滿意。但我仍然希望在地區和全球層面開展的工作之間有更強有力的協調，以建立一個更有效率的研發組織。

So some of the places where I'm focusing my attention right now. The strategy of the company is in place, is solid. I'm not planning major change, but execution and short-term marketing strategy is important. And Andrew, do you want to address the question on Brazil?

所以我現在關注的一些地方。公司策略到位、紮實。我不打算進行重大改變，但執行和短期行銷策略很重要。安德魯，你想談談關於巴西的問題嗎？

Yeah. Look, Arun, I'd say simply this, certainly, the availability of credit to our customers did impact perhaps some behind last year. But I would emphasize the quality of credit in our own receivables is very high. Our provision -- our past dues are down. Our collections have been ahead of our own internal forecast.

是的。聽著，阿倫，我只想簡單地說一下，當然，向我們的客戶提供信貸的情況確實影響了去年的一些情況。但我要強調的是，我們自己的應收帳款的信用品質非常高。我們的規定－我們的過去的會費減少了。我們的產品系列已經超越了我們自己的內部預測。

So while that availability of credit may be a rate-limiting step on purchases, particularly last year when there was such the heat of the correction. We don't believe that that's either a risk to our revenue or risk for our balance sheet at this point.

因此，雖然信貸的可用性可能是購買的一個限制步驟，特別是去年，當時調整的力度如此之大。我們認為目前這不會對我們的收入或資產負債表構成風險。

Frank Mitsch, Fermium Research.

弗蘭克米奇，費米研究中心。

And I really appreciate the answer to the first question, given that there was some sense perhaps that the 4Q guide was more on the aspirational side, and clearly, you don't believe that to be the case. You indicated that one of the things that gives you confidence is that in Brazil a third of the order book is already booked as opposed to last year where it was zero. I'm curious as to what that typically is because obviously, last year was an anomaly.

我真的很欣賞第一個問題的答案，因為從某種意義上說，4Q 指南可能更偏向理想的一面，但顯然，你不相信情況是這樣。您表示，讓您充滿信心的一件事是，在巴西，三分之一的訂單已被預訂，而去年的訂單量為零。我很好奇這通常是什麼，因為顯然去年是一個反常現象。

So what is more normal? So we have a kind of benchmark there. And then also, obviously, on the cost side, you're doing a lot of work. And I noticed SG&A was particularly light in the second quarter, if you could give us some color as to what your expectations are on the SG&A side as we progress through the year and into 2025? Thank you.

那什麼是比較正常的呢？所以我們有一種基準。顯然，在成本方面，你也做了很多工作。我注意到第二季的 SG&A 支出特別少，您能否告訴我們，隨著我們今年的進展以及進入 2025 年，您對 SG&A 方面的期望是什麼？謝謝。

(multiple speakers) Yeah. we have about 30%, call it, 35% of orders, last year it was zero. I would say that in period of high demand when your markets are growing, at strong pace, a 45%, up to 50% of orders in hand will be a normal ratio you could expect. I'm talking when you have a very healthy market with low inventory in the channel.

（多個發言者）是的。我們大約有 30%，可以說是 35% 的訂單，去年這個數字為零。我想說，在需求旺盛時期，當您的市場以強勁的速度成長時，45% 至 50% 的現有訂單將是您可以預期的正常比例。我說的是當你有一個非常健康的市場且通路庫存較低時。

I think the numbers you've seen, not much different from what we said in the script. I think we were increasing north of $75 million, the target with a large part coming from SG&A. I do believe that we're going to reach the $150 million by the end of 2025 in run rate in overall cost savings with a significant part coming from SG&A.

我認為你所看到的數字，與我們在劇本中所說的沒有太大區別。我認為我們的成長超過了 7500 萬美元，這一目標很大一部分來自 SG&A。我確實相信，到 2025 年底，我們的整體成本節約運行率將達到 1.5 億美元，其中很大一部分來自 SG&A。

But once again, I want to emphasize as much as $150 million, whether it's on the COGS side or the SG&A side, is a good number. We're going to need to do better. We're going to need to operate at lower cost. And we have in place a strategic program around the attrition because that's an opportunity for us. We have tools which allow us to work differently. And I think we have to use them.

但我想再次強調，1.5 億美元無論是 COGS 方面還是 SG&A 方面，都是一個不錯的數字。我們需要做得更好。我們需要以更低的成本運作。我們圍繞著人員流失制定了一項策略計劃，因為這對我們來說是一個機會。我們擁有可以讓我們以不同方式運作的工具。我認為我們必須使用它們。

Richard Garchitorena, Wells Fargo.

理查德·加奇托雷納，富國銀行。

My question basically is bigger picture in terms of, Pierre, you coming back to the industry and looking at where the industry has gone. We saw peak earnings in 2022. Obviously, you've done some restructuring and some divestitures. I was just wondering what your thoughts are in terms of where we are in the cycle, given where crop prices have been moving weaker through 2024?

我的問題基本上是更大的圖景，皮埃爾，你回到這個行業，看看這個行業已經走向何方。我們在 2022 年看到了獲利高峰。顯然，你們已經進行了一些重組和一些資產剝離。我只是想知道，考慮到 2024 年農作物價格一直走弱，您對我們所處的周期有何看法？

And then I know you gave some high-level comments around 2025. But just curious in terms of when -- can we see an inflection point in terms of pricing getting better? And do you really think we are at the trough here in the second half of '24?

然後我知道您在 2025 年左右發表了一些高層評論。但只是好奇我們什麼時候能看到定價變得更好的轉折點？您真的認為 24 年下半年我們正處於低谷嗎？

I think we've -- into the cycle, we've seen them. We've seen them before. There is always the seven, eight years of growth followed by one to two year down cycle. Every indication we have, and we try to be very scientific and maybe more than usual in analyzing the market, we believe we reached the bottom in Q2 2024.

我認為我們已經進入了這個循環，我們已經看到了它們。我們以前見過他們。總是會有七、八年的成長，然後是一到兩年的下降週期。我們掌握的每一個跡象，以及我們在分析市場時都努力做到非常科學，甚至可能比平常更深入，我們相信我們在 2024 年第二季觸底。

That being said, we do not see getting back to a more normal business activities and a more normal channel in the first quarter of 2025 for LatAm, Europe and North America. I think for Asia and mostly driven by India, we'll have to wait well into 2025 to have more normal activity. I believe, by the end of 2025, we are over the downturn. Mostly. the recovery is going to be mostly driven by non-Asia regions in the first quarter of 2025.

話雖如此，我們認為拉丁美洲、歐洲和北美不會在 2025 年第一季恢復更正常的商業活動和更正常的管道。我認為對於主要由印度推動的亞洲來說，我們必須等到 2025 年才能有更多正常的活動。我相信，到 2025 年底，我們將度過經濟低迷時期。大多。 2025 年第一季的復甦將主要由非亞洲地區推動。

Edlain Rodriguez, Mizuho.

艾德蘭·羅德里格斯，瑞穗。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. So one quick question. I mean, I think in terms of pricing, I think you mentioned in the opening remark about like the strategic intent to lower prices to regain the less differentiated products. That was a key driver of the lower prices.

謝謝大家，大家早安。那麼一個簡單的問題。我的意思是，我認為在定價方面，我認為您在開場白中提到了降低價格以重新獲得差異化程度較低的產品的戰略意圖。這是價格較低的關鍵驅動因素。

The question that I have is why the shift in strategy there? And also, how is that going to improve margins? I mean, are you chasing volume at the expense of profitability? If you could address that a little bit, please?

我的問題是為什麼要改變策略？而且，這將如何提高利潤率？我的意思是，您是否會以犧牲獲利能力為代價來追求銷量？如果你能稍微解決一下這個問題嗎？

Absolutely. I think we acknowledge that we were aggressive on pricing to recover raw material cost increase. This period of inflation in cost is now mostly behind us, but we intentionally kept prices at a very high level across the board because we saw a market where demand was poor. There was no real demand. So fighting with price in time when there is no demand, we felt was not the smartest thing.

絕對地。我認為我們承認我們在定價上採取了激進的態度，以彌補原材料成本的增加。現在，這段成本通膨時期已基本過去，但我們有意將價格全面保持在非常高的水平，因為我們看到市場需求疲軟。沒有真正的需求。所以在沒有需求的時候及時拼出價格，我們覺得不是最明智的事。

But we also have to face that now, we have more than recovered our cost through the period of raw material inflation. And we do have to take back position, we should have and get back to market share we had in places where we've been artificially keeping price high even if there was no differentiation.

但我們現在也必須面對的是，我們已經透過原物料通膨時期收回了成本。我們確實必須奪回地位，我們應該恢復我們在人為保持高價格的地方所擁有的市場份額，即使沒有差異化。

So it is not a change of strategy. It is not -- we're not going to become a company which is going to be chasing volume at any cost. I think we used Q2 to reposition our prices in order for us to be able to grow and benefit from the growth of the market, but this is it.

所以這並不是策略的改變。我們不會成為一家不惜一切代價追逐銷量的公司。我認為我們利用第二季度重新定位了我們的價格，以便我們能夠成長並從市場的成長中受益，但僅此而已。

You will not see us continuing this in Q3 or Q4. But I have the feeling that we needed that repositioning of pricing after quarters of aggressive price increase. But absolutely no change in the strategy, no chasing of volume at any cost and we're not going to pay less attention to the margins -- gross margin or EBITDA margin of the company.

您不會看到我們在第三季或第四季繼續這樣做。但我有一種感覺，在經歷了幾個季度的大幅漲價之後，我們需要重新定位定價。但絕對不會改變策略，不會不惜一切代價追逐銷量，我們也不會減少對利潤率的關注——公司的毛利率或 EBITDA 利潤率。

Benjamin Theurer, Barclays.

本傑明·特雷爾，巴克萊銀行。

Yeah. Good morning and thanks. Thanks for squeezing me in at the end. I just wanted to follow up real quick on some of the promotional activity that you've mentioned, what's happening in India and how that's impacting. Anything you can share on like how consumers or farmers are reacting to that? And if that -- if there's any risk of overstock in the future given those discounts that you're putting in? Thank you very much.

是的。早安，謝謝。謝謝你最後把我擠進去。我只是想快速跟進您提到的一些促銷活動，印度正在發生的事情及其影響。您可以分享一下消費者或農民對此有何反應嗎？如果是這樣的話——考慮到你所提供的折扣，未來是否存在庫存過剩的風險？非常感謝。

If I understand well, the question you're asking about the onetime incentive we gave to our customers is other customers and in Brazil to some extent, in North America. We're holding high-cost product. And those products were stuck in the channel. We needed to see those products move through the channel to go to the end customers. And we have discussion with them, they needed help. We helped them.

如果我理解得很好的話，您所問的關於我們向客戶提供的一次性激勵的問題是其他客戶，在某種程度上是在巴西，在北美。我們持有高成本產品。這些產品被困在渠道中。我們需要看到這些產品透過通路到達最終客戶。我們與他們進行了討論，他們需要幫助。我們幫助了他們。

And that allowed us to free space with a product going on the ground and moving through the channel. So it was very clear with them. It's a onetime incentive, which is done toward the end of a down cycle. Customers needed help, we were there for them.

這使我們能夠釋放產品在地面上並通過通道移動的空間。所以他們很清楚。這是一種一次性激勵措施，是在經濟下行週期結束時進行的。客戶需要幫助，我們隨時為他們服務。

It helps us too for the following of the year, and it's cleaning up the channel. I think everybody is clear on the market and why we do it. I don't think there is any risk of channel stocking because our prices right now are where they should be and not lower than what the market is commanding.

這對我們接下來的一年也有幫助，它正在清理渠道。我想每個人都清楚市場以及我們為什麼這樣做。我認為通路備貨不存在任何風險，因為我們現在的價格處於應有的水平，不低於市場的要求。

Thank you. This concludes the FMC Corporation conference call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。FMC 公司電話會議到此結束。感謝您的出席。您現在可以斷開連線。