Hain Celestial Group Inc (HAIN) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to The Hain Celestial Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Alex Tessier, Head of Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

您好，歡迎參加 The Hain Celestial 2023 年第三季度收益電話會議。 （操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。現在我很高興向您介紹主持人，投資者關係主管 Alex Tessier。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us on Hain Celestial's Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2023 Earnings Conference Call. On the call today are Wendy Davidson, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Chris Bellairs, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

早上好，感謝您參加 Hain Celestial 2023 財年第三季度收益電話會議。今天參加電話會議的是總裁兼首席執行官溫迪·戴維森 (Wendy Davidson)；克里斯·貝萊爾斯（Chris Bellairs），執行副總裁兼首席財務官。

During the course of the call, management may make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These include expectations and assumptions regarding the company's future operations and financial performance. These statements are based on management's current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements. Please refer to Hain Celestial's annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as its press release issued this morning for a detailed discussion of the risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made today. The company has also prepared a presentation inclusive additional supplemental financial information, which is posted on Hain Celestial's website under the Investor Relations heading.

在電話會議期間，管理層可能會做出聯邦證券法含義內的前瞻性陳述。其中包括有關公司未來運營和財務業績的預期和假設。這些陳述基於管理層當前的預期，涉及可能導致實際事件與這些前瞻性陳述中描述的事件存在重大差異的風險和不確定性。有關風險的詳細討論，請參閱 Hain Celestial 不時向美國證券交易委員會提交的 10-K 表格年度報告、10-Q 表格季度報告和其他報告以及今天上午發布的新聞稿這可能導致實際結果與今天發表的任何前瞻性聲明中明示或暗示的結果存在重大差異。該公司還準備了一份包含額外補充財務信息的演示文稿，該演示文稿發佈在 Hain Celestial 網站的“投資者關係”標題下。

Please note, management's remarks today will focus on non-GAAP or adjusted financial measures. Reconciliations of GAAP results to non-GAAP financial measures are available in the earnings release and the slide presentation accompanying this call. This call is being webcast, and an archive will be made available on the website. And now I'd like to turn it over to Wendy.

請注意，管理層今天的講話將重點關注非公認會計原則或調整後的財務指標。 GAAP 業績與非 GAAP 財務指標的對賬可在本次電話會議隨附的收益發布和幻燈片演示中找到。此次電話會議正在網絡直播，並將在網站上提供檔案。現在我想把它交給溫迪。

Thank you, Alexis, and welcome. We're excited to have you on board as our new Head of Investor Relations for Hain Celestial. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining the call today. This is my first full quarter with Hain Celestial.

謝謝你，亞歷克西斯，歡迎。我們很高興您能成為 Hain Celestial 的新任投資者關係主管。大家早上好，感謝您今天加入電話會議。這是我在 Hain Celestial 的第一個完整季度。

In the past 4 months, I've had the opportunity to visit many of our locations across North America and the U.K. to explore our operations and connect with our local teams. I've learned about the market potential of our brands and the growth potential in our categories. I conducted a robust review of our current performance and outlook with the teams. And while the third quarter and end of year results will fall below our initial expectations, we understand the key drivers and are taking the necessary actions to address them. Importantly, despite these results, I remain confident that we have a strong portfolio. And as I look ahead, I expect to see continued growth opportunities within our key categories and stabilization in some of our more challenged categories.

在過去的 4 個月中，我有機會訪問了我們在北美和英國的許多地點，探索我們的運營並與當地團隊聯繫。我了解了我們品牌的市場潛力以及我們類別的增長潛力。我與團隊一起對我們當前的表現和前景進行了嚴格的審查。雖然第三季度和年底的業績將低於我們最初的預期，但我們了解關鍵驅動因素，並正在採取必要的行動來解決這些問題。重要的是，儘管取得了這些成績，我仍然相信我們擁有強大的產品組合。展望未來，我預計我們的關鍵類別將出現持續增長的機會，而一些更具挑戰性的類別將保持穩定。

Looking back at our Q3 performance, top line came in weaker than expected, down nearly 6% year-on-year on an adjusted basis. However, we did see several category and brand bright spots across both North America and International. In North America, 2 of our largest brands, Greek Gods and Earth's Best, both grew with double digits. Unfortunately, these highlights were eclipsed by softness in the snacks, tea and personal care categories. Within snacks, the primary driver of our weaker-than-expected top line results in the quarter was Sensible Portions. The Sensible Portions brand has been trending up double digits fiscal year-to-date, but trends slowed within the quarter due to competitive spending in brand building and promotion.

回顧我們第三季度的業績，營收低於預期，調整後同比下降近 6%。然而，我們確實在北美和國際上看到了幾個品類和品牌亮點。在北美，我們最大的兩個品牌 Greek Gods 和 Earth's Best 均實現了兩位數增長。不幸的是，這些亮點被零食、茶和個人護理品類的疲軟所掩蓋。在零食領域，我們本季度營收業績低於預期的主要推動因素是合理分量。 Sensible Portions 品牌本財年迄今一直呈兩位數增長趨勢，但由於品牌建設和推廣方面的競爭性支出，本季度增長趨勢放緩。

As you will recall, in 2022, we pulled back on brand building, given supply chain impacts on service levels. With the supply chain challenges largely behind us, we are now just beginning to reinvest in brand building, in innovation and in-store promotions and are confident in the long-term growth outlook for this brand. The recovery in service levels supported a strong quarter for the Terra Chips brand, growing dollar consumption 17% and gaining share.

您可能還記得，考慮到供應鏈對服務水平的影響，我們在 2022 年取消了品牌建設。隨著供應鏈挑戰已基本過去，我們現在剛剛開始對品牌建設、創新和店內促銷進行再投資，並對這個品牌的長期增長前景充滿信心。服務水平的恢復支撐了 Terra Chips 品牌強勁的季度業績，美元消費量增長了 17%，市場份額也不斷增加。

The ParmCrisps brand performance was down year-over-year as expected as it was impacted by a significant loss of distribution, resulting in an impairment, which Chris will discuss in detail later. Recent dollar consumption data indicates we have seen an inflection point and return to growth in many of our categories. In particular, in tea, Celestial Seasonings is growing dollar consumption 8% and gaining share. Greek Gods Yogurt continues to perform very well. In the latest 12 weeks, the brand's dollar consumption grew 21%, gaining share, reflecting double-digit growth in velocities. Earth's Best dollar consumption grew 4% despite cycling the year ago formula surge and industry-wide supply issues. Excluding formula, the brand grew dollar consumption 13% with velocities up double digits. Earth's Best Snacks dollar consumption was up nearly 50%, driven by growth in total distribution and strong velocity.

ParmCrisps 品牌業績按預期同比下降，因為它受到分銷嚴重損失的影響，導致了減值，克里斯將在稍後詳細討論。最近的美元消費數據表明，我們已經看到了許多類別的拐點並恢復了增長。尤其是在茶領域，Celestial Seasonings 的美元消費量增長了 8%，並且份額不斷增加。希臘眾神酸奶繼續表現出色。最近 12 週，該品牌的美元消費增長了 21%，份額不斷增加，速度呈兩位數增長。儘管去年自行車配方奶粉激增且存在全行業供應問題，但 Earth's Best 的美元消費量仍增長了 4%。不包括配方奶粉，該品牌的美元消費增長了 13%，增速達到兩位數。在總分銷增長和強勁增長的推動下，Earth's Best Snacks 的美元消費量增長了近 50%。

Overall, Hain snack dollar consumption grew 2.5% in the quarter driven by Terra Chips and Sensible Portions. Total distribution for the overall snacks portfolio was up 8%, reflecting continued distribution gains and new margin-accretive channels, such as convenience and drug stores. This is an important part of our future growth strategy.

總體而言，在 Terra Chips 和 Sensible Portions 的推動下，本季度 Hain 零食消費量增長了 2.5%。整個零食組合的總分銷增長了 8%，反映出持續的分銷增長和新的利潤增長渠道，如便利店和藥店。這是我們未來增長戰略的重要組成部分。

Our Personal Care brand portfolio has been challenged, and we have taken significant steps to stabilize and return the business to profitable growth. In the most recent quarter, we brought in new leadership to turn around the strategy for the business and look forward to sharing more on this in the future. More recent data shows Alba Botanica dollar consumption is improving, and we have a strong sun season planned with robust merchandising, advertising and earned media to support the promotion of the Alba mineral line. While North America performance was challenged, International continues to stabilize and improve, primarily in the Better-For-You Snacking business in the U.K., led by Hartley's and in the nondairy business in Europe. In the U.K., our dollar consumption growth accelerated, and we gained share in several categories with fresh soup consumption dollar consumption up 18%, gaining 2 share points in the quarter and 4 points in the latest 4 weeks and our better-for-you ingredients such as jams and marmalade, delivering double-digit dollar consumption growth in the quarter.

我們的個人護理品牌組合受到了挑戰，我們已採取重大措施來穩定業務並使業務恢復盈利增長。在最近一個季度，我們引入了新的領導層來扭轉業務戰略，並期待將來就此分享更多信息。最近的數據顯示 Alba Botanica 的美元消費正在改善，我們計劃了一個強勁的陽光季節，並通過強勁的銷售、廣告和贏得媒體來支持 Alba 礦物系列的推廣。雖然北美業績受到挑戰，但國際業務繼續穩定和改善，主要是在 Hartley's 領導的英國 Better-For-You Snacking 業務以及歐洲的非乳製品業務中。在英國，我們的美元消費增長加速，我們在多個類別中的份額都獲得了增長，其中鮮湯消費的美元消費增長了 18%，本季度增加了 2 個百分點，最近 4 週增加了 4 個百分點，而且我們的成分更適合您果醬和果醬等，在本季度帶來兩位數的美元消費增長。

Now I'd like to spend a few minutes talking about our fiscal '23 year-over-year projections as it sets the stage for the more strategic conversation as to where our longer-term growth will come from. I'll start with North America. Our overall snacks portfolio for fiscal year '23 is projected to grow high single digits year-over-year with the exception of ParmCrisps and Thinsters. While we have seen a slowdown in the second half, it has been driven by the pullback in marketing and brand building spend in the prior year as well as customer programs that were not repeated this year. We are addressing this with reinvestment support within the quarter, as mentioned on the last call, and we anticipate seeing the benefits begin to materialize in the back half of this calendar year.

現在我想花幾分鐘談談我們 23 財年的同比預測，因為它為就我們的長期增長來自何處進行更具戰略性的對話奠定了基礎。我將從北美開始。除 ParmCrisps 和 Thinsters 外，我們 23 財年的整體零食產品組合預計將同比實現高個位數增長。雖然我們看到下半年經濟放緩，但這是由於去年營銷和品牌建設支出的縮減以及今年未重複的客戶計劃造成的。正如上次電話會議中提到的，我們正在本季度通過再投資支持來解決這個問題，我們預計收益將在今年下半年開始顯現。

I'm pleased to report that we have programs in place for a significant increase in distribution on some of our key brands with some of our major customers for the next year. The Earth's Best business, despite lapping the demand surge last year and ongoing supply challenges and formula, is projected to be up high single digits. We are very excited about our Earth's Best business, which continues to resonate with consumers and is demonstrating strong growth in total distribution and velocity.

我很高興地報告，我們已製定計劃，在明年大幅增加我們的一些主要品牌與一些主要客戶的分銷。儘管經歷了去年的需求激增以及持續的供應挑戰和公式，地球最佳業務預計仍將實現高個位數增長。我們對 Earth's Best 業務感到非常興奮，該業務繼續引起消費者的共鳴，並在總分銷和速度方面表現出強勁增長。

The recently launched good food made fun brand campaign is delivering above expectations in driving brand awareness and preference. Our Greek Gods brand is projected to finish with mid-teens year-over-year growth and we are excited going forward because of the service level recovery from a year ago and the strong unit growth in response to the reinvestment in media and promotions. Our tea business is projected to finish down high single digits due in part to the pullback in marketing and brand building support and the overall category weakness as it lapped a pandemic-related demand surge in the prior year. As a leading brand in the category, Celestial Seasonings was impacted as well.

最近推出的“美食讓樂趣”品牌活動在提高品牌知名度和偏好方面超出了預期。我們的希臘眾神品牌預計將實現十幾歲左右的同比增長，我們對未來感到興奮，因為服務水平較一年前有所恢復，並且由於媒體和促銷的再投資而帶來了強勁的單位增長。我們的茶葉業務預計將出現高個位數下降，部分原因是營銷和品牌建設支持的回落以及整體類別的疲軟，因為它經歷了去年與大流行相關的需求激增。作為該品類的領先品牌，天仙調味品也受到了影響。

To counter this impact and return the brand to growth, we activated media with our magic in your Mug campaign in quarter 3 and continue to engage with our retail partners on optimizing the assortment and shelf sets. We are beginning to see recovery in the brand returning to growth in the most recent weeks and the outlook includes new innovation launches and improved distribution at some of our largest customers as we head into fiscal '24.

為了應對這種影響並使品牌恢復增長，我們在第三季度的 Mug 活動中利用我們的魔力激活了媒體，並繼續與我們的零售合作夥伴合作優化品種和貨架組合。我們開始看到該品牌在最近幾週內恢復增長，展望包括在進入 24 財年時推出新的創新產品以及改善我們一些最大客戶的分銷。

Turning now to International. The International segment performed broadly in line with our expectations while also improving sequentially across all key metrics. Our business continues to strengthen due to the stabilizing macro environment, our participation in both branded and private label as consumers seek out value, execution of our planned pricing, distribution gains and improving service. We're encouraged by the stabilization and improvement in the Better-for-You Snacking business in the U.K., led by pricing and velocities and in the nondairy beverage business in Europe. The meat-free category is beginning to reset from the accelerated category growth in the past 2 years and the entrance of new players. We're beginning to see stabilization with private label in meat-free returning to growth.

現在轉向國際。國際部門的表現基本符合我們的預期，同時所有關鍵指標也都在連續改善。由於穩定的宏觀環境、隨著消費者尋求價值而參與品牌和自有品牌、執行我們的計劃定價、分銷收益和改善服務，我們的業務不斷增強。我們對英國 Better-for-You 零食業務（以定價和速度為主導）以及歐洲非乳製品飲料業務的穩定和改善感到鼓舞。從過去兩年的品類加速增長和新玩家的進入來看，無肉品類開始重新定位。我們開始看到無肉自有品牌的穩定恢復增長。

In addition, we continue to see improvements in the efficiency initiatives underway across our business. Despite significant inflationary headwinds and the combination of price actions, operational cost management and robust productivity programs prevented significant margin erosion while protecting core distribution.

此外，我們繼續看到整個業務中正在進行的效率舉措的改進。儘管存在嚴重的通貨膨脹阻力和價格行為的結合，但運營成本管理和穩健的生產力計劃在保護核心分銷的同時防止了利潤率的顯著侵蝕。

I will now turn the call over to Chris to share greater detail around the quarter and to discuss our full year guidance. After which, I will share some of the actions we are already taking to drive towards successful outcomes. And as promised, I'll share some of our thinking about our future direction and our focus.

我現在將把電話轉給克里斯，分享本季度的更多細節，並討論我們的全年指導。之後，我將分享我們為取得成功成果而已經採取的一些行動。正如所承諾的，我將分享我們對未來方向和重點的一些想法。

Thanks, Wendy, and good morning, everyone. Third quarter consolidated net sales decreased 9.5% versus the prior year period to $455.2 million, inclusive of a $17 million impact from foreign exchange. On an adjusted basis, consolidated net sales decreased 5.8% in the quarter. Adjusted gross margin was 21.4% in the third quarter, a decrease of approximately 160 basis points versus the prior year period, driven by greater pricing and productivity more than offset by inflation, increased plant deleverage resulting from a lower volume as well as negative mix. Adjusted EBITDA on a constant currency basis was $39.3 million versus $58.7 million in the prior year period. This came up short of our guidance. largely due to the top line softness in the quarter, accompanied by negative mix and increased trade spend, including the impact of foreign exchange, Q3 adjusted EBITDA was $37.3 million. Total SG&A came in at 16.5% of net sales for the quarter.

謝謝，溫迪，大家早上好。第三季度合併淨銷售額較上年同期下降 9.5%，至 4.552 億美元，其中包括 1700 萬美元的外匯影響。經調整後，本季度綜合淨銷售額下降 5.8%。第三季度調整後毛利率為 21.4%，較上年同期下降約 160 個基點，其推動因素是定價和生產率提高，但被通脹所抵消；產量下降導致工廠去槓桿化增加，以及負面組合。按固定匯率計算的調整後 EBITDA 為 3,930 萬美元，上年同期為 5,870 萬美元。這沒有達到我們的指導。主要由於本季度營收疲軟，加上負面組合和貿易支出增加（包括外彙的影響），第三季度調整後 EBITDA 為 3730 萬美元。 SG&A 總額佔本季度淨銷售額的 16.5%。

Net income for the quarter was a loss of $115.7 million or negative $1.29 per diluted share compared to $24.5 million or $0.27 per diluted share in the prior year period. The loss was primarily related to a noncash impairment of ParmCrisps and Thinsters intangible assets. Due to the underperformance of the brands, we conducted a quantitative analysis, which resulted in an impairment totaling $156 million, resulting in an impact of $117 million after tax. Adjusted EPS was $0.08 versus $0.33 in the prior year period. Increased interest expense accounted for approximately $0.10 of the year-over-year decline as rising rates as well as a higher outstanding debt balance translated into an incremental $10.2 million in interest expense compared to the prior year quarter.

本季度淨利潤為虧損 1.157 億美元，即稀釋後每股虧損 1.29 美元，而上年同期淨利潤為 2450 萬美元，即稀釋後每股虧損 0.27 美元。該損失主要與 ParmCrisps 和 Thinsters 無形資產的非現金減值有關。由於品牌表現不佳，我們進行了定量分析，共計減值1.56億美元，造成稅後影響1.17億美元。調整後每股收益為 0.08 美元，去年同期為 0.33 美元。利息支出增加約占同比下降的 0.10 美元，因為利率上升以及未償債務餘額增加導致利息支出較去年同期增加 1,020 萬美元。

Now turning to our individual reporting segments. In North America, reported net sales decreased 12% to $286.6 million in the third quarter. Adjusted net sales decreased by 10.8% versus the prior year period. The year-on-year decline was a function of previously discussed lost customer promotional programs, baby formula declines as we lapped the prior year demand surge for the category as well as softer-than-expected results mainly in snacks and tea. As Wendy mentioned, the slowdown in the growth for snacks was largely a function of a pullback in marketing and brand building support and continued challenges with ParmCrisps. While the tea category continued to show softness, and we underperformed versus the category. Q3 adjusted gross margin in North America was 21.9% and a 180 basis point decrease versus the prior year period. Our margin performance reflects inflation, unfavorable volume and mix and increased trade partially offset by pricing and productivity. While our supply chain performance has greatly improved versus prior year, the lower volume additionally drove plant deleverage.

現在轉向我們的個人報告部分。在北美，第三季度淨銷售額下降 12% 至 2.866 億美元。調整後淨銷售額較上年同期下降 10.8%。同比下降是由於之前討論的客戶促銷計劃流失、嬰兒配方奶粉因去年該類別需求激增而下降以及主要是零食和茶的業績低於預期的結果。正如 Wendy 提到的，零食增長放緩很大程度上是由於營銷和品牌建設支持的減少以及 ParmCrisps 的持續挑戰所致。雖然茶品類繼續表現疲軟，但我們的表現卻低於該品類。第三季度北美調整後毛利率為 21.9%，較去年同期下降 180 個基點。我們的利潤率表現反映了通貨膨脹、不利的數量和組合以及貿易的增加，但部分被定價和生產率所抵消。雖然我們的供應鏈績效與去年相比有了很大改善，但銷量的下降也推動了工廠去槓桿化。

Adjusted EBITDA at constant currency in North America was $27.4 million, a $9.9 million or 26.5% decrease versus the prior year period. North America's adjusted EBITDA margin was 9.5% on a constant currency basis. a 200 basis point decrease from the prior year period.

北美地區按固定匯率計算的調整後 EBITDA 為 2740 萬美元，比上年同期減少 990 萬美元，即 26.5%。按固定匯率計算，北美調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 9.5%。較去年同期下降200個基點。

In our International business, reported net sales declined 4.9% to $168.6 million in the third quarter. When adjusted for the impact of foreign exchange of $15 million, net sales increased 3.5% compared to the prior year period, representing a 670 basis point sequential improvement from the last quarter. Our year-over-year increase for International adjusted net sales reflects an 8.6% increase in the U.K., offset by an 8.4% decline in Continental Europe. The U.K. increase was driven by strong jams, marmalade and soup performance and a continued benefit from the ongoing shift to our private label due to our diverse offerings. The year-over-year rate of decline for Continental Europe moderated once again on the back of further improvement in the nondairy beverage category performance, new customer acquisition and private label mix shift within the category where we have a meaningful presence.

在我們的國際業務中，第三季度淨銷售額下降 4.9% 至 1.686 億美元。扣除 1500 萬美元外匯影響後，淨銷售額較上年同期增長 3.5%，較上季度環比提高 670 個基點。國際調整後淨銷售額同比增長反映出英國增長 8.6%，但被歐洲大陸 8.4% 的下降所抵消。英國的增長是由於果醬、橘子醬和湯的強勁表現，以及由於我們的產品多樣化而不斷轉向我們的自有品牌帶來的持續收益。由於非乳製品飲料類別業績的進一步改善、新客戶的獲取以及我們在該類別中的自有品牌組合的轉變，歐洲大陸的同比下降率再次放緩。

International adjusted gross margin was 20.6%, up approximately 160 basis points sequentially, on recent pricing actions, productivity and positive mix. On a year-over-year basis, adjusted gross margin compression continues to moderate meaningfully with the rate of decline less than half of what we experienced in Q2. Inflation remains elevated, however, we are seeing signs of stabilization and recent energy subsidies are providing relief as well. International adjusted EBITDA at constant currency was $23.1 million, a 12.6% decrease from the prior year period. As a percentage of net sales, on a constant currency basis, adjusted EBITDA was 12.6%, down 230 basis points versus the prior year period, yet up 140 basis points compared to the second quarter, demonstrating continued improvement.

由於最近的定價行動、生產力和積極的組合，國際調整後毛利率為 20.6%，比上一季度增長約 160 個基點。與去年同期相比，調整後毛利率壓縮繼續顯著放緩，下降率不到第二季度的一半。然而，通貨膨脹仍然居高不下，我們看到了穩定的跡象，而且最近的能源補貼也起到了緩解作用。按固定匯率計算的國際調整後 EBITDA 為 2,310 萬美元，較上年同期下降 12.6%。按固定匯率計算，調整後 EBITDA 占淨銷售額的百分比為 12.6%，較上年同期下降 230 個基點，但較第二季度上升 140 個基點，表明持續改善。

Shifting to cash flow and the balance sheet. Third quarter operating cash flow was $29 million versus $31.2 million a year ago. The lower operating cash resulted from a reduction in net income and use of cash for net working capital. As we anticipate generating incremental positive cash flow in the balance of our fiscal year, we would expect resulting cash to be used to pay down debt. CapEx was $7.4 million in the quarter, approximately $1.4 million higher than Q3 2022. Finally, we ended the quarter with cash on hand of $44 million and net debt of $813 million, translating into a leverage ratio of 4.6x as calculated under our amended credit agreement. Consistent with our stated priority for cash, we have reduced net debt by $40 million since the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2023.

轉向現金流和資產負債表。第三季度運營現金流為 2900 萬美元，而去年同期為 3120 萬美元。運營現金減少是由於淨收入和淨營運資本現金使用減少。由於我們預計在本財年的剩餘時間內會產生增量的正現金流，因此我們預計由此產生的現金將用於償還債務。本季度資本支出為 740 萬美元，比 2022 年第三季度高出約 140 萬美元。最後，本季度結束時，我們手頭現金為 4400 萬美元，淨債務為 8.13 億美元，根據修正後的信用計算，槓桿率為 4.6 倍協議。根據我們聲明的現金優先事項，自 2023 財年第一季度末以來，我們已將淨債務減少了 4000 萬美元。

In light of our Q3 results and updated expectations for the fourth quarter, we are revising our full year outlook for both adjusted net sales and adjusted EBITDA on a constant currency basis as follows: adjusted net sales decline to be minus 4% to minus 3%. Adjusted EBITDA decline to be minus 15% to minus 13%. For the fourth quarter, we now expect on a consolidated basis, adjusted net sales to be down low single digits versus the prior year period. Adjusted gross margins to be up year-over-year and sequentially, as we continue to benefit from our pricing actions and recognize a ramp in savings for our productivity agenda and supply chain improvements.

根據我們第三季度的業績和第四季度的最新預期，我們正在將按固定匯率計算的調整後淨銷售額和調整後 EBITDA 的全年預期修訂如下：調整後淨銷售額下降至 -4% 至 -3% 。調整後 EBITDA 下降至-15%至-13%。對於第四季度，我們現在預計，在綜合基礎上，調整後的淨銷售額將比去年同期下降低個位數。調整後的毛利率將同比和連續增長，因為我們繼續從我們的定價行動中受益，並認識到我們的生產力議程和供應鏈改進所節省的資金不斷增加。

Adjusted EBITDA at constant currency expected to be approximately $40 million to $44 million, driven by lower sales volume and increased brand building and organizational capability investments in the quarter, abating supply chain disruptions, plateauing inflationary pressure and greater benefits realized from planned pricing actions as well as increased productivity.

按固定匯率計算的調整後 EBITDA 預計約為 4000 萬至 4400 萬美元，原因是本季度銷量下降、品牌建設和組織能力投資增加、供應鏈中斷減少、通脹壓力趨於穩定以及計劃定價行動帶來的更大收益隨著生產力的提高。

Turning to our segment outlooks. For North America in the fourth quarter, we expect adjusted net sales to decline versus the prior year period, but adding lower rate than Q3. We as we realized continued top line softness in ParmCrisps and Personal Care, while the ramp-up in our brand building investments takes hold. We do expect to see Sensible Portions return to growth in the high single digits though ParmCrisps continues to decline versus prior year, creating a material drag on North American top line results. North America adjusted gross margins are expected to show improvement when compared to the prior year period. And lastly, constant currency adjusted EBITDA with declines versus the third quarter and when compared to the prior year period as we continue to accelerate brand-building investments, which will support our future growth while limiting EBITDA growth in the near term.

轉向我們的細分市場前景。對於北美地區，我們預計第四季度調整後淨銷售額將較去年同期下降，但增幅低於第三季度。我們意識到 ParmCrisps 和個人護理產品的營收持續疲軟，而我們的品牌建設投資卻在不斷增加。我們確實預計 Sensible Portions 會恢復高個位數的增長，儘管 ParmCrisps 與去年相比繼續下降，對北美的營收業績造成重大拖累。與去年同期相比，北美調整後的毛利率預計將有所改善。最後，隨著我們繼續加速品牌建設投資，固定貨幣調整後的 EBITDA 與第三季度和去年同期相比有所下降，這將支持我們未來的增長，同時限制近期 EBITDA 的增長。

For International, we expect the following for the fourth quarter. Adjusted net sales to deliver growth versus the prior year. but at a slower pace versus the third quarter due to new pricing actions, net of elasticities as consumers shift between brand and private label. Our diversified portfolio as a significant supplier in both the brand and private label space provides sustained opportunities for growth. Continuous improvements in adjusted gross margins, both versus the third quarter and the prior year period as we benefit from increased pricing and productivity, offset by challenges due to stranded overhead and mix impacts. Continued improvements in adjusted gross margin, both versus the third quarter and the prior year period as we benefit from increased pricing and productivity, offset by challenges due to stranded overhead and mix impacts. And lastly, adjusted EBITDA on a constant currency basis to grow both versus the third quarter and the prior year period, with margins improving over 500 basis points versus the fourth quarter of 2022.

對於國際市場，我們預計第四季度的情況如下。調整後的淨銷售額與上年相比有所增長。但由於新的定價行動，扣除消費者在品牌和自有品牌之間轉換時的彈性，增速較第三季度放緩。作為品牌和自有品牌領域的重要供應商，我們的多元化產品組合為我們提供了持續的增長機會。與第三季度和去年同期相比，調整後毛利率持續改善，因為我們受益於定價和生產力的提高，但被擱置管理費用和混合影響帶來的挑戰所抵消。與第三季度和去年同期相比，調整後毛利率持續改善，因為我們受益於定價和生產力的提高，但被擱置管理費用和混合影響帶來的挑戰所抵消。最後，按固定匯率計算的調整後 EBITDA 較第三季度和上年同期均有所增長，利潤率較 2022 年第四季度提高了 500 個基點以上。

With that, allow me to turn it back to Wendy.

那麼，請允許我把它轉回給溫迪。

Thank you, Chris. While the rest of the year is not where we would like, our detailed review of the business has me optimistic about the future, and I'm focused on setting the company up for future success. We have already started to invest behind our brands and are in the active stages of our strategy assessment and development. I continue to have confidence in the future potential of our brands and our portfolio and our ability to return to profitable growth. Although our starting point is lower than previously believed and we have work to do to transform the business, we have already made progress building capabilities to drive operating improvements and efficiencies.

謝謝你，克里斯。雖然今年剩下的時間不是我們想要的，但我們對業務的詳細審查讓我對未來持樂觀態度，我專注於讓公司為未來的成功做好準備。我們已經開始對我們的品牌進行投資，並處於戰略評估和發展的積極階段。我仍然對我們品牌和產品組合的未來潛力以及我們恢復盈利增長的能力充滿信心。儘管我們的起點比之前認為的要低，而且我們還有很多工作要做來實現業務轉型，但我們在推動運營改進和提高效率的能力建設方面已經取得了進展。

I'll share a few examples. We're working to simplify and globalize our organizational structure to drive both efficiency and effectiveness. In February, we implemented our new global leadership structure and will be driving alignment and synergies across the organization. We've enhanced our international commercial resources to improve distribution and in-market performance. We've simplified our end-to-end supply chain under a global center of excellence. We have a number of productivity projects underway with a focus on cash flow and balance sheet improvements through improved forecasting and inventory reduction. We're optimizing our office footprint and leveraging a more robust hub-and-spoke model to better enable our hybrid working model. As a result, we exited our headquarter lease in Lake Success, and are in the process of finalizing a smaller workspace more closely aligned to our needs and future vision. And we are focused on culture and talent, as you can see by the changes we've made to our leadership team.

我將分享幾個例子。我們正在努力簡化和全球化我們的組織結構，以提高效率和效益。二月份，我們實施了新的全球領導結構，並將推動整個組織的協調和協同作用。我們增強了國際商業資源，以改善分銷和市場表現。我們在全球卓越中心的領導下簡化了端到端供應鏈。我們正在進行許多生產力項目，重點是通過改進預測和減少庫存來改善現金流和資產負債表。我們正在優化我們的辦公室佔地面積，並利用更強大的中心輻射模型來更好地實現我們的混合工作模式。因此，我們退出了成功湖的總部租約，並正在最終確定一個更符合我們的需求和未來願景的更小的工作空間。我們專注於文化和人才，正如您對我們的領導團隊所做的改變所看到的那樣。

As I mentioned in the last earnings call, we have begun a strategic review of the Hain 3.0 strategy. The process to confirm our where-to-play choices and clearly define the how-to-win building blocks is well underway and progressing as expected. While the company simplified its portfolio of brands over the last few years to categories with tremendous potential, we have yet to leverage our scale and our reach to enable the investment in capabilities and brand building necessary to generate sustained performance. We are committed to building a clear path to predictable, achievable and sustainable top and bottom line growth. And we see an opportunity for Hain to blend aspects of traditional CPG growth models with those of smaller disruptive brands to enable the growth of our better-for-you portfolio, while harnessing the power of our operational scale.

正如我在上次財報電話會議中提到的，我們已經開始對 Hain 3.0 戰略進行戰略審查。確認我們在哪裡玩的選擇並明確定義如何獲勝的構建模塊的過程正在順利進行，並且進展如預期。儘管該公司在過去幾年中將其品牌組合簡化為具有巨大潛力的類別，但我們尚未利用我們的規模和影響力來進行必要的能力和品牌建設投資，以產生持續的業績。我們致力於建立一條清晰的道路，實現可預測、可實現和可持續的收入和利潤增長。我們看到 Hain 有機會將傳統 CPG 增長模式的各個方面與較小的顛覆性品牌的各個方面相結合，以實現我們“更適合您”的產品組合的增長，同時利用我們運營規模的力量。

You've heard me refer to this as out-smalling the big and out-bigging the small. We have several core assets to leverage to achieve our potential, including a strong portfolio of brands, 2/3 of which are #1 or #2 in their categories, we're in attractive categories and geographies with better-for-you tailwinds and a committed organization that is aligned to our purpose to inspire healthier living. The key to unlocking more value for our shareholders is based on a few core tenets, taking a consumer-centric approach to driving growth, executing with commercial and operational excellence, expanding our reach to be where the consumer is shopping, generating the fuel needed within the organization to invest for growth and building a high-performance growth mindset culture. Importantly, we will work to balance the pacing and sequencing of investments needed in capabilities, categories and brands with the growth in margin to deliver performance.

你聽過我將其稱為“縮小大範圍、擴大小範圍”。我們擁有多項核心資產可用來發揮我們的潛力，包括強大的品牌組合，其中 2/3 在其類別中排名第一或第二，我們處於有吸引力的類別和地區，擁有更適合您的順風車和一個致力於實現我們倡導更健康生活的目標的組織。為股東釋放更多價值的關鍵是基於一些核心原則，採取以消費者為中心的方法來推動增長，以商業和運營卓越的方式執行，將我們的業務範圍擴大到消費者購物的地方，在消費者購物的地方產生所需的燃料。該組織投資於增長並建立高績效的成長心態文化。重要的是，我們將努力平衡能力、品類和品牌所需投資的節奏和順序與利潤的增長，以實現業績。

As we work to pivot the company from shaping the portfolio to accelerated growth, our efforts will center on clarifying our focus with a balance between short-term urgency and long-term capability. And as we live our company purpose to inspire healthier living, we are committed to grow our people, grow our brands, grow our business and grow our impact. These tenets will underpin our strategy and our long-term growth framework, which we look forward to sharing early fall at our Investor Day.

當我們努力使公司從塑造投資組合轉向加速增長時，我們的努力將集中在明確我們的重點，並在短期緊迫性和長期能力之間取得平衡。當我們踐行公司倡導更健康生活的宗旨時，我們致力於培養我們的員工、發展我們的品牌、發展我們的業務並擴大我們的影響力。這些原則將支撐我們的戰略和長期增長框架，我們期待在秋季初的投資者日分享這些原則。

Now I'd like to turn it back to the operator to open the line for questions.

現在我想將其轉回給接線員以開通提問線路。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question comes from Andrew Lazar with Barclays.

我們的第一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的安德魯·拉扎爾。

Great. Wendy, you mentioned just before balancing the pacing and sequencing of sort of reinvestment spend. And I guess I'm just trying to get a sense of whether you think that the lower '23 base could allow Hain to grow profitability at a maybe a more normal cadence in fiscal '24? Or do you think profitability -- expectation be profitability is still likely somewhat more muted in '24, given some of the reinvestment you need to do and the time frame sometimes around the business responding to reinvestment takes a bit more time. I guess what I'm getting at is, is '24 potentially also a likely somewhat of a transition year?

偉大的。溫迪，您在平衡再投資支出的節奏和順序之前提到過。我想我只是想了解一下，您是否認為 23 年基數較低可以讓 Hain 在 24 財年以更正常的節奏提高盈利能力？或者你認為盈利能力——預期盈利能力在 24 年可能仍然會更加溫和，因為你需要進行一些再投資，而且有時企業對再投資做出反應的時間框架需要更多的時間。我想我的意思是，24 年是否也可能是一個過渡年？

Yes, I appreciate the question. And I know there were some questions in the last conference call about what I meant by reinvestment in the brand. So let me frame it for '23 and then provide a little outlook on what I think that means for longer term.

是的，我很欣賞這個問題。我知道在上次電話會議上有人對我所說的品牌再投資的含義提出了一些問題。因此，讓我以 23 年為框架，然後就我認為這對長期意味著什麼提供一些展望。

In '23 we mentioned that we pulled back spending in '22. In '23, we actually didn't spend much marketing or promotional dollars in quarter 1 or quarter 2. So we back loaded. Our actual year-on-year spending and marketing in '23 is about equivalent. It's actually slightly below what we totally -- what the entire spend was in fiscal '22 but it's backloaded into fiscal '23. So on a year-on-year basis, you'll see it relatively flat. But we expect to start seeing -- in fact, we have in recent weeks some response in market to some of the new campaign activity, and some of the distribution gains. Our intent in this pacing and sequencing is that we're able to invest as we go rather than investing with the hopes that it will start to bear fruit 6 months later. That's what we mean by this pacing and prioritization. My intent is that we aren't taking a giant step back in margins but that we're actually able to fund it going forward.

在 23 年，我們提到我們在 22 年縮減了支出。在 23 年，我們實際上在第一季度或第二季度沒有花費太多營銷或促銷資金。所以我們重新加載。我們 23 年的實際同比支出和營銷情況大致相當。它實際上略低於我們在 22 財年的全部支出，但它被回載到 23 財年。因此，與去年同期相比，您會發現它相對持平。但我們預計會開始看到——事實上，最近幾週我們在市場上對一些新的競選活動以及一些分銷收益做出了一些反應。我們制定這種節奏和順序的目的是，我們能夠邊走邊投資，而不是希望 6 個月後開始取得成果。這就是我們所說的節奏和優先順序的意思。我的目的是，我們不會在利潤率方面大幅倒退，但我們實際上能夠為未來提供資金。

And we feel good about what we have in the productivity pipeline. In this year, we actually delivered more in the productivity pipeline than we planned. Unfortunately, it went to offset deleverage in the plants from the volume that came out. And so we'll sort of balance that as we go into the next year. I hope that helps clarify.

我們對我們的生產力管道感到滿意。今年，我們在生產力方面的交付實際上超出了我們的計劃。不幸的是，它抵消了工廠的去槓桿化所產生的數量。因此，當我們進入明年時，我們將在某種程度上平衡這一點。我希望這有助於澄清。

Our next question comes from Ken Goldman with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的肯·戈德曼。

Wendy, I realize you went around for the acquisition of ParmCrisps and Thinsters, but today, Hain wrote down over half the purchase price. It wasn't that long ago. Just taking a step back, hindsight is always 2020, of course. But as you see it, what do you think the error was made if there was one from Hain? Or was it just the case of bad timing, private label taking share in this category as prices rose? I'm just trying to get a sense of what do you see in Hain's internal processes for future M&A, so that the next deal, whenever it does take place, and I imagine it's a little further down the road, it was a little more successful than the last one we just saw.

溫迪，我知道你曾四處收購 ParmCrisps 和 Thinsters，但今天，Hain 減記了一半以上的收購價格。那是不久前的事了。退一步來說，事後看來，當然是 2020 年。但正如你所看到的，如果海恩有一個錯誤，你認為錯誤是什麼？或者只是時機不對，隨著價格上漲，自有品牌在這一類別中佔據了份額？我只是想了解一下您在海恩未來併購的內部流程中看到了什麼，以便下一筆交易，無論何時發生，我想它會更進一步，它會更多一點比我們剛剛看到的最後一個成功。

Ken, let me -- it's always tough to Monday morning quarterback and look back on decisions that were made, but we have spent a fair amount of time scrutinizing the assumptions that went into the acquisition and what has happened and transpired since. Here's what I will tell you that we believe we got right. We believe in the Better-for-You Snacking category, absolutely. And this was a play in Better-for-You Snacking, certainly in high protein. So all of the consumer trends from that standpoint were correct. Where we potentially got it wrong, and we're probably in two ways; one is the reliance on keto as a diet relative to ParmCrisps and the subsequent decline in the keto category. That gave some consumer headwinds that probably weren't as acutely anticipated at the time of the acquisition.

肯，讓我——週一早上四分衛回顧所做的決定總是很困難，但我們花了相當多的時間仔細審查收購中的假設以及此後發生的事情。以下是我要告訴你的，我們相信我們是對的。我們絕對相信“更適合您”的零食類別。這是“Better-for You Snacking”中的一個遊戲，當然是高蛋白的。因此，從這個角度來看，所有的消費趨勢都是正確的。我們可能會出錯的地方，我們可能有兩種方式：一是相對於 ParmCrisps 而言，人們對酮作為飲食的依賴，以及隨後酮類別的下降。這給消費者帶來了一些阻力，而這些阻力在收購時可能並沒有那麼強烈地預期。

The other is customer and channel concentration, which I believe was actually -- I know internally, it was outlined, I think the thought was that the pacing of channel expansion would happen faster than the potential risk of channel concentration. And those two things were actually opposite. So what you're seeing right now is a factor of sort of recognizing where the brand sits today. But I would also say, take out where the -- we're resetting the base for ParmCrisps, our outlook and actually our growth outside of that customer concentration has been good. And so we feel good about the brand going forward. We're just resetting a new starting point rather than anticipating recovery of that large customer concentration from before. I hope that helps.

另一個是客戶和渠道集中度，我認為這實際上是——我內部知道，它已經概述了，我認為這個想法是渠道擴張的節奏會比渠道集中度的潛在風險發生得更快。這兩件事實際上是相反的。所以你現在所看到的是一個認識該品牌今天所處位置的因素。但我也想說，我們正在重新設定 ParmCrisps 的基礎，我們的前景以及實際上我們在客戶集中度之外的增長一直都很好。因此，我們對這個品牌的未來發展感到滿意。我們只是重置一個新的起點，而不是期望恢復以前的大客戶集中度。我希望這有幫助。

No, that's very helpful. And then I wanted to ask a quick follow-up. You mentioned that you're starting to see some brands react nicely to some reinvestments, which is great to hear. How do we think about what to look for in terms of the data that we get in terms of syndicated information? What I'm asking for is, should we really expect to see some kind of uptick or acceleration in consumption or at least visible consumption? Or is it a case where, hey, maybe that doesn't measure quite enough of Hain's U.S. business to be meaningful?

不，這非常有幫助。然後我想快速跟進。您提到您開始看到一些品牌對一些再投資反應良好，這很高興聽到。我們如何考慮從聯合信息中獲得的數據中尋找什麼？我要問的是，我們真的應該期望看到某種消費的上升或加速，或者至少是可見的消費嗎？或者是這樣的情況，嘿，也許這不足以衡量海恩的美國業務是否有意義？

Yes. So I would say a couple of things that you'd be able to see in this syndicated data. If you look at the drags in quarter 3 in North America, in particular, you'd see a year-on-year drag in some of the categories or some of the brands inside Personal Care, you'd see a drag year-on-year in -- that's how we roll. And you can see those data points. You'd also see the growth in Terra, you'd see the growth in Sensible across the measured channels. I would look at the total distribution points because where we're actually seeing some improvement in the brands responding to the reinvestment is picking up distribution and assortment in market. Then you can look at the velocities, and you'll start to see where the consumer -- the shopper is responding to the investments in that in-aisle activation. So actually, from a food, drug, mass, a little bit in convenience you'll be able to see where you'll see some of that recovery.

是的。所以我想說一些你可以在這個聯合數據中看到的事情。如果你看看北美第三季度的業績下滑，你會發現個人護理領域的某些類別或某些品牌同比下滑。 - 年 - 這就是我們的發展方式。您可以看到這些數據點。您還會看到 Terra 的增長，您會看到測量渠道中 Sensible 的增長。我會關注總分銷點，因為我們實際上看到品牌對再投資的反應有所改善，即市場的分銷和分類有所增加。然後，您可以查看速度，您將開始了解消費者（購物者）對通道內激活投資的反應。所以實際上，從食物、藥物、彌撒中，只要稍微方便一點，你就可以看到在哪裡會看到一些恢復。

Our next question comes from Michael Lavery with Piper Sandler.

我們的下一個問題來自 Michael Lavery 和 Piper Sandler。

I just wanted to come back to the spending color a little bit. I know you just touched on this, but you mentioned in the release that you've begun reinvesting. I guess just mindful of the timing within the year and normal budgeting cycles. Can you help us understand -- it sounds like maybe there's some ad hoc adjustments and you've added some spending perhaps. Is it right to think that with the fiscal '24 budget, or year starting July 1, that it could be a different picture. I guess I want to understand a little bit of the invest as we go versus laying out a road map that covers the spending you think probably is needed for next year.

我只是想稍微回到一下花錢的顏色。我知道您剛剛談到了這一點，但您在新聞稿中提到您已經開始再投資。我想只要注意一年內的時間安排和正常的預算週期即可。您能否幫助我們理解一下——聽起來可能有一些臨時調整，並且您可能增加了一些支出。考慮到 24 財年預算或從 7 月 1 日開始的年度，情況可能會有所不同，這樣的想法是否正確？我想我想了解一些我們正在進行的投資，而不是製定一個涵蓋您認為明年可能需要的支出的路線圖。

Yes. Thanks for the question. I would say we have sufficient fuel inside the P&L today to be able to invest behind the categories and the brands of focus. What you see as the driver in fiscal '23 is a move from almost no spending in the front half of the year to all of the spending in the back half of the year. But it isn't just in absolute dollars, it's also the quality of the investment. We've taken a hard look at in marketing, for instance, our working marketing spend versus our nonworking and those ratios were a bit upside down in the past. So we're leaning more into working marketing and working media.

是的。謝謝你的提問。我想說，我們今天的損益表中有足夠的燃料，能夠對重點類別和品牌進行投資。您認為 23 財年的驅動因素是從上半年幾乎沒有支出到下半年全部支出的轉變。但這不僅僅是絕對金額，還有投資的質量。例如，我們在營銷方面認真審視了我們的工作營銷支出與非工作營銷支出，這些比率在過去有點顛倒。因此，我們更傾向於工作營銷和工作媒體。

On the trade side, we're also doing the same thing on our shopper programs and on our trade activation working trade rather than nonworking trade. So using it to drive distribution, using it to drive velocity of the core brands and categories. As we -- and I think we talked about this actually in our investor conversation a few months ago, this channel expansion as we lean into channels of growth, those are margin accretive channels. So those points of distribution actually generate more fuel than other maybe more traditional Hain channels of focus. So the combination of how we use the dollars we have today, as well as where we drive growth to generate fuel going forward, the pacing of that should enable us to invest around our growth.

在貿易方面，我們也在購物者計劃和貿易激活工作貿易而不是非工作貿易上做同樣的事情。因此，用它來推動分銷，用它來推動核心品牌和類別的速度。正如我們——我想我們實際上在幾個月前的投資者對話中討論過這一點，隨著我們傾向於增長渠道，這種渠道擴張，這些都是利潤增值渠道。因此，這些分銷點實際上比其他可能更傳統的 Hain 焦點渠道產生更多的燃料。因此，我們如何使用今天擁有的美元，以及我們推動增長以產生未來燃料的結合，其節奏應該使我們能夠圍繞我們的增長進行投資。

Okay. That's helpful. And just a follow-up on ParmCrisps. The difference between what we see in the scanner data and the shipment number certainly seems to be partly related -- or very much related maybe to the distribution loss. Can you just give us a sense of timing? And basically, is there 3 more quarters of this that we should be modeling in when we think about the North America top line?

好的。這很有幫助。這只是 ParmCrisps 的後續。我們在掃描儀數據中看到的數據與發貨數量之間的差異顯然似乎部分相關，或者可能與分銷損失密切相關。您能給我們一個時間觀念嗎？基本上，當我們考慮北美的營收時，是否還應該對其中的 3 個季度進行建模？

Yes, that's exactly the way to think about it, Michael. As we got into this year, we had an okay first quarter on ParmCrisps and then things turned more challenging. So as you say, we're a couple of quarters into that as we sit here today and a couple of more quarters to go.

是的，這正是思考這個問題的方式，邁克爾。進入今年，我們在 ParmCrisps 上的第一季度表現還不錯，然後事情變得更具挑戰性。正如你所說，今天我們坐在這裡已經有幾個季度了，還有幾個季度。

Our next question comes from Matt Smith with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Matt Smith。

I wanted to ask a question about the increased level of investment in the second half of the year. I realize some of that is phasing relative to the prior year. When we look at the gross margin performance in the quarter, pricing and productivity was not enough to offset inflation, again, just here in the third quarter. So when we think about margin going forward with this increased level of investment, do you expect pricing and productivity to -- the contribution there to increase and you get to a place where you're offsetting inflation and therefore, margins are expanding? Or perhaps your inflation is starting to taper and there's less inflation as we move forward? Just a little color there would be helpful.

我想問一個關於下半年投資力度加大的問題。我意識到其中一些與前一年相比正在逐步變化。當我們查看本季度的毛利率表現時，定價和生產率不足以抵消通脹，同樣是在第三季度。因此，當我們考慮隨著投資水平的提高而提高利潤率時，您是否預計定價和生產率的貢獻會增加，並且您會達到抵消通貨膨脹的程度，因此利潤率會擴大？或者也許您的通貨膨脹開始逐漸減少，並且隨著我們的前進，通貨膨脹會減少？只要一點點顏色就會有幫助。

Yes, I'll start and then have Chris add a little bit of color. When we look at quarter 3 versus prior year, the pricing actions that we took across the business were fairly sufficient to cover what we saw in inflation. The challenge we had was while the elasticities were below one, there still were some volume impacts and that came out of our plants. And as Chris mentioned in his remarks, led to some deleverage. That deleverage drove some incremental costs that had to be absorbed. And that's really where our productivity ended up being used instead of being able to be used as fuel to support the growth of the business, which was sort of the original intent.

是的，我會開始，然後讓克里斯添加一點顏色。當我們將第三季度與去年同期相比時，我們在整個業務中採取的定價行動相當足以彌補我們在通貨膨脹中看到的情況。我們面臨的挑戰是，雖然彈性低於 1，但我們的工廠仍然會產生一些體積影響。正如克里斯在講話中提到的，導致了一定程度的去槓桿化。去槓桿化帶來了一些必須吸收的增量成本。這確實是我們的生產力最終被使用的地方，而不是能夠用作支持業務增長的燃料，這才是最初的意圖。

As we look forward, while raw material inflation may subside and a bit on the energy side, we still see labor rates, and I think you've probably heard that from others as well that's still elevated. And so we'll have those two things as offsets. But we think that the -- where we're seeing the volumes come back around, we'll see less of a price elasticity impact, and it will allow the productivity pipeline to be able to be used for growth.

展望未來，雖然原材料通脹可能會消退，而且能源方面會有所緩解，但我們仍然會看到勞動力價格，我想您可能也從其他人那裡聽說過，勞動力價格仍然很高。所以我們將把這兩件事作為抵消。但我們認為，當我們看到銷量回升時，價格彈性的影響就會較小，這將使生產力管道能夠用於增長。

So Matt, a couple of data points. First, recall we did see the good gross margin progression in the first half of the year. So second quarter better than first quarter. And then I'd characterize the third quarter gross margin as being a little bit of an anomaly. There were some nonworking trade things that hit in the third quarter. We had negative mix that we didn't anticipate as the tea business was a little softer than was our original guidance. So the gross margin that you saw in the third quarter, a bit lower than we would have expected, of course. And then we do see a pretty nice recovery in gross margin in the fourth quarter. So yes, I mean, I think at the end of the day, the gross margin progression will step back up again, and so you'll see that as a very healthy opportunity for us to offset the investment increases that we're going to make.

馬特，有幾個數據點。首先，回想一下，我們確實看到了上半年毛利率的良好增長。所以第二季度比第一季度好。然後我認為第三季度的毛利率有點​​反常。第三季度出現了一些非工作性的貿易問題。我們遇到了我們沒有預料到的負面組合，因為茶葉業務比我們最初的指導要軟一些。當然，您在第三季度看到的毛利率略低於我們的預期。然後我們確實看到第四季度毛利率出現了相當不錯的複蘇。所以，是的，我的意思是，我認為最終，毛利率將再次回升，所以你會發現這對我們來說是一個非常健康的機會，可以抵消我們將要增加的投資。製作。

Our next question comes from Jon Andersen with William Blair.

我們的下一個問題來自喬恩·安德森和威廉·布萊爾。

Wendy, you mentioned kind of pivoting or working through the strategy to pivot from simplification of the portfolio to kind of a re-acceleration and profitable growth. I'm wondering though if you're also looking at the -- taking a step back and looking at the portfolio in aggregate, and are there bigger picture decisions around core, perhaps noncore businesses and more work potentially in the future in terms of restructuring either larger or smaller parts of the business on a category-by-category basis or brand-by-brand basis that are also in play?

溫迪，您提到了某種轉變或通過戰略來從投資組合的簡化轉變為重新加速和盈利增長。不過，我想知道您是否也在考慮——退後一步，從總體上審視投資組合，是否有圍繞核心、也許是非核心業務的更大決策，以及未來在重組方面可能進行的更多工作在逐個類別或逐個品牌的基礎上，業務的較大或較小部分也在發揮作用？

You bet. So we're approaching the strategy work like everybody probably does where you begin with where we play and specifically where we have a right to win and what it will take to bring that to life. I like the categories that we're in, and I like the geographies that we're in, both offer opportunities for upside without the need for incremental acquisitions to be able to fuel the growth. That said, we're not set up to fully realize the potential of what we could do in those categories. And that's the work that we're undertaking is looking at how do we leverage our reach and scale to be able to get our fair share in the higher growth parts of the better-for-you categories, how have we invested behind the things that customers and channels would expect us to have around insights and consumer focus, how robust is our innovation pipeline, are we able to leverage innovation across our markets so that we're not doing those in isolation. So I think in the past, Hain was structured largely by brand, by category and didn't allow you to leverage synergies or scale and reach. That's where we're really looking is less about overall company portfolio shaping and much more around operating model and organizational shaping that I believe can unlock efficiencies we can then invest behind growth.

你打賭。因此，我們正在像每個人一樣對待戰略工作，從我們比賽的地方開始，特別是我們有權利獲勝的地方，以及如何實現這一目標。我喜歡我們所處的類別，也喜歡我們所處的地區，兩者都提供了上升的機會，而不需要增量收購來推動增長。也就是說，我們還沒有準備好充分發揮我們在這些類別中可以做的事情的潛力。我們正在開展的工作是研究如何利用我們的影響力和規模，以便能夠在“更適合您”類別的較高增長部分中獲得公平的份額，我們如何在這些方面進行投資客戶和渠道希望我們能夠圍繞洞察力和消費者關注點，我們的創新渠道有多強大，我們是否能夠在整個市場中利用創新，這樣我們就不會孤立地進行這些工作。所以我認為在過去，Hain 主要是按品牌、類別來構建的，不允許你利用協同效應或規模和影響力。這就是我們真正關注的不是公司整體投資組合的塑造，而是運營模式和組織塑造，我相信這可以釋放效率，然後我們可以投資於增長。

That's helpful. And you mentioned a number of changes that you've already made from, I guess, the new global leadership structure to see some commercial resource enhancements in the International business and I think a global CoE for supply chain. Just in aggregate, what are your expectations regarding productivity, say, on an annual basis? It seems like that's going to be a key part of, to your point, providing the fuel for the reinvestment that you're planning to do in demand generation activities. So I think historically, Hain has talked about maybe $50 million a year in productivity. Are you willing or able at this point to kind of give us some context around that?

這很有幫助。您提到了您已經從新的全球領導結構中做出的一些改變，以看到國際業務中的一些商業資源增強，我認為供應鏈的全球 CoE。總的來說，您對每年生產率的期望是什麼？就您而言，這似乎將成為您計劃在需求生成活動中進行再投資的關鍵部分。所以我認為，從歷史上看，Hain 曾談論過每年大約 5000 萬美元的生產力。此時您是否願意或能夠向我們提供一些相關背景信息？

Yes, absolutely. I would say that, that $50 million number is about right for what you would expect in ongoing run rate productivity that can offset inflation, offset cost impacts, those things. What we're actually looking at over the next couple of years that we'll roll out in Investor Day this fall is probably much more of a large-scale end-to-end restructure that will help us unlock some bigger buckets inside the P&L that will enable us to get to a margin structure that can sustain continuous investment behind the brands.

是的，一點沒錯。我想說的是，5000 萬美元的數字大約符合您對持續運行生產率的預期，可以抵消通貨膨脹、抵消成本影響等。我們在接下來的幾年中實際上關注的是，我們將在今年秋天的投資者日推出更多大規模的端到端重組，這將幫助我們在損益表中解鎖一些更大的部分這將使我們能夠建立一個能夠維持品牌背後持續投資的利潤結構。

What we've found, if you look back over the last couple of years is some of our brands had no investment and some had very little or it was episodic. We need in some of our categories to have more of an always-on sustained support. But to do that, we need to make sure that we are sweating the middle of the P&L, so to speak, so that we're able to free up those kinds of -- that kind of fuel, both to pay down debt but also to be able to reinvest back in the foundations of the company.

如果你回顧過去幾年，我們發現我們的一些品牌沒有投資，有些品牌投資很少，或者是間歇性的。我們需要在某些類別中獲得更多始終如一的持續支持。但要做到這一點，我們需要確保我們在損益表中間付出努力，這樣我們就能夠釋放這些燃料，既可以用來償還債務，也可以用來償還債務。能夠對公司的基礎進行再投資。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from Alexia Howard with Bernstein.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Alexia Howard 和 Bernstein。

So can I ask about the plan for bringing down the leverage. I mean given the downgrade of guidance this time, it looks as though it's going to be well above 4x, probably in the higher end of that sort of 4% to 5% range. How quickly do you think you can start to turn the corner on that as we get into fiscal '24? And I assume that repaying debt is the main priority for uses of cash at the moment.

那我能問一下降槓桿的計劃嗎？我的意思是，考慮到這次指引的下調，看起來它會遠高於 4 倍，可能在 4% 到 5% 範圍的高端。當我們進入 24 財年時，您認為您能多快開始扭轉局面？我認為償還債務是目前使用現金的首要任務。

As we've said on this call on the last call, Alexia remains our priority. And you saw in my prepared remarks the progress that we have made since earlier this year. So the plan is twofold. We're going to continue to focus on EBITDA growth, and that helps a part of the calculation, and then we're going to continue to focus on net debt reductions, both through free cash flow and through continuing to improve our working capital position. We've got -- we've identified opportunities within working capital. We've got work plans in place today to take significant amounts of inventory out of the system, and that, of course, will go directly to reducing net debt. And so as I've said before, my forecast has always been that leverage was going to peak in the third quarter of this year. And then as we get into more favorable overlap on the EBITDA side of the calculation and continue to reduce net debt, we will begin to see leverage come down over the next several quarters.

正如我們在上次電話會議中所說，Alexia 仍然是我們的首要任務。你們在我準備好的發言中看到了我們自今年早些時候以來取得的進展。所以這個計劃是雙重的。我們將繼續關注 EBITDA 增長，這有助於部分計算，然後我們將繼續關注淨債務削減，通過自由現金流和繼續改善我們的營運資本狀況。我們已經在營運資金中發現了機會。我們今天已經制定了工作計劃，從系統中清除大量庫存，當然，這將直接減少淨債務。正如我之前所說，我一直預測槓桿率將在今年第三季度達到峰值。然後，隨著我們在計算的 EBITDA 方面獲得更有利的重疊並繼續減少淨債務，我們將開始看到槓桿率在未來幾個季度下降。

And let me add a little bit of color around that. As we looked at some of the investments that we've made around our operating model, I think we mentioned in the last call that we've made some investments around end-to-end forecast and forecast management. But last year, we had significant supply chain issues and service level problems. We went into this year with a focus on fixed service level first, fixed inventory later and that's part of what you're seeing in that working capital number is we're sitting on more inventory than we're comfortable, but we wanted to make sure that we were assuring supply in the marketplace so we could recover from the service levels of a year ago. And actually, in the recent data that we've seen from IRI, we actually have top-tier service levels across our categories and our channels of focus. So we're delivering on our customers' expectations. That allows us to now focus on demand forecast models and reducing both raw and packed, also finished goods inventories so we can get that working capital down. And as Chris said, we've got active work teams focused against that now.

讓我在周圍添加一點顏色。當我們審視我們圍繞運營模式進行的一些投資時，我想我們在上次電話會議中提到，我們已經圍繞端到端預測和預測管理進行了一些投資。但去年，我們遇到了嚴重的供應鏈問題和服務水平問題。今年我們首先關注固定服務水平，然後是固定庫存，這就是您在營運資金數字中看到的一部分，我們的庫存量超出了我們的承受範圍，但我們希望確保我們保證了市場供應，以便我們能夠恢復一年前的服務水平。事實上，根據我們從 IRI 看到的最新數據，我們的品類和重點渠道實際上都擁有頂級的服務水平。因此，我們正在滿足客戶的期望。這使我們現在能夠專注於需求預測模型，並減少原材料和包裝以及成品庫存，以便我們可以降低營運資本。正如克里斯所說，我們現在有積極的工作團隊專注於此。

Great. And maybe as a follow-on question to that. One theory is that because you have smaller brands and you're more sort of focused in the higher end that the supply chain and service level disruptions hit you guys harder than companies with the more mainstream CPG with bigger brands, et cetera. Are you through a lot of that service level and supply chain disruption? What sort of inning are we in, in terms of getting back to normal? Is that all pretty much now behind us at this point?

偉大的。也許作為一個後續問題。一種理論認為，由於您擁有較小的品牌，而且您更專注於高端市場，因此供應鍊和服務水平中斷對您的打擊比擁有較大品牌的主流消費品公司等的公司要嚴重。您是否經歷過大量的服務水平和供應鏈中斷？就恢復正常而言，我們處於哪一局？現在這一切都已經過去了嗎？

Yes. It's pretty well stabilized. We still have a couple of hot pockets that we're working on. I guess is the way I would say we've talked about this before, I think, industry-wide around formula in the baby category continues to be a challenge for everyone in the space. And there's a few areas where we want to make sure that we've got redundant suppliers of packaging materials and redundant contingency production locations to assure supply without some dependency on a few. So some of that work is still in play, but it's not affecting our service levels other than really on the formula side.

是的。已經相當穩定了。我們還有一些正在研究的熱點。我想這就是我們之前討論過的方式，我認為整個行業的嬰兒配方奶粉對於該領域的每個人來說仍然是一個挑戰。在一些領域，我們希望確保擁有多餘的包裝材料供應商和多餘的應急生產地點，以確保供應而不依賴少數幾個供應商。因此，其中一些工作仍在進行中，但除了公式方面之外，它並沒有影響我們的服務水平。

Our next question comes from Anthony Vendetti with Maxim Group.

我們的下一個問題來自 Maxim Group 的 Anthony Vendetti。

Yes. I was just wondering, Wendy, if you could talk a little bit about pricing. With the lower sales, do you think some of the pricing in this environment finally started to catch up. And then on the gross margin side, was that just increased input costs, supply chain costs? Or was it just a result of lower sales, trying to cover the same fixed cost?

是的。我只是想知道，溫迪，你是否可以談談定價問題。隨著銷量的下降，您認為這種環境下的一些定價終於開始迎頭趕上了嗎？那麼在毛利率方面，這是否只是增加了投入成本、供應鏈成本？或者這只是銷售額下降的結果，試圖彌補相同的固定成本？

Yes. I'll -- so I'll start and talk through pricing and let Chris cover the margin question in a bit more detail because some of that has to do with mix. But relative to pricing, we feel like we've actually taken the right amount of pricing to cover for what I would say is more permanent inflation rather than transitory. What we wouldn't want is to take so much price that we didn't have to trade back or we have to pull ourselves back. And we actually feel very good with where we're at. I think you've probably heard us mention in the past prior to my joining. What's great for Hain is we tend to be in categories where the consumer is shopping but we also tend to be in the premium part of those categories, but at the entry point price point of that. So a little less price-sensitive consumer, and we tend to be the entry price point for somebody who wants a better-for-you option to traditional categories. So it's actually a really great place for us to be. And I think the team has been really smart and thoughtful about pricing to take as much as was needed, but not to take too much that it would cause future challenges to be able to sustain.

是的。我會——所以我會開始討論定價，並讓克里斯更詳細地討論利潤問題，因為其中一些與混合有關。但相對於定價，我們認為我們實際上採取了適當的定價來應對我所說的更持久的通貨膨脹，而不是暫時的通貨膨脹。我們不希望的是採取如此高的價格，以至於我們不必進行交易，或者我們必須撤回。事實上，我們對自己所處的位置感覺非常好。我想在我加入之前您可能已經聽過我們提到過。對於 Hain 來說，最大的好處是我們傾向於進入消費者購物的類別，但我們也傾向於進入這些類別的高端部分，但處於入門價格點。因此，對於價格不太敏感的消費者來說，我們往往是那些想要比傳統類別更適合您的選擇的人的入門價格點。所以這對我們來說實際上是一個非常好的地方。我認為該團隊在定價方面非常聰明且深思熟慮，可以根據需要採取盡可能多的價格，但不要採取太多，否則會導致未來的挑戰能夠維持。

So Anthony, on the gross margin question. The shape of the curve is actually consistent with our original plan. We did expect that the third quarter would step down a little bit from the second quarter in our original plan for the year. Now it stepped down a little bit more than what we had anticipated and largely due to 3 reasons. I think you named 2 of them. So there was lower volume, which led to some plant deleverage I'm across the system, there was negative mix, as I mentioned earlier. And then the third one, and I think I mentioned this earlier to an earlier question as well. There were some nonworking trade items that hit in the third quarter that we don't expect to repeat going forward. So all of those things conspire to drive gross margin in the third quarter, a little lower than what we expected. And then consequently, we do see it recovering pretty nicely in the fourth quarter.

安東尼，關於毛利率問題。曲線的形狀其實和我們原來的規劃是一致的。在我們原來的今年計劃中，我們確實預計第三季度會比第二季度有所下降。現在它的退出比我們預期的要多一些，主要是由於三個原因。我想你說出了其中兩個的名字。因此，成交量較低，導致整個系統中的一些工廠去槓桿化，正如我之前提到的，存在負面混合。然後是第三個，我想我在之前的一個問題中也提到過這一點。第三季度出現了一些非運轉性貿易項目，我們預計未來不會再出現這種情況。因此，所有這些因素共同推動了第三季度的毛利率，略低於我們的預期。因此，我們確實看到它在第四季度恢復得相當好。

It appears there are no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the floor back over to Wendy Davidson for concluding comments.

目前似乎沒有其他問題了。我現在想把發言權交還給溫迪·戴維森，讓其發表結論性意見。

I want to thank you all again for joining us today to review our third quarter performance and updated fiscal year outlook. In these first few months, I've seen firsthand the capabilities of our supply chain and the attention to quality, service and safety. The strength and potential of our brands, the passion of our people and the opportunity for scale in our business is impressive and exciting. I'd like to thank the entire Hain team for their energy and their engagement and I look forward to seeing and speaking with many of you in the coming weeks and the Investor Day in the fall. Take care.

我想再次感謝大家今天加入我們回顧我們第三季度的業績和更新的財政年度展望。在最初的幾個月裡，我親眼目睹了我們供應鏈的能力以及對質量、服務和安全的關注。我們品牌的實力和潛力、我們員工的熱情以及我們業務規模的機會令人印象深刻且令人興奮。我要感謝整個 Hain 團隊的精力和參與，我期待著在未來幾周和秋季的投資者日與你們中的許多人見面並交談。小心。

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。