Hain Celestial Group Inc (HAIN) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to The Hain Celestial fiscal first-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) This call is being recorded on Thursday, November 7, 2024.

早安，女士們、先生們，歡迎參加 The Hain Celestial 2025 財年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）此通話錄音時間為 2024 年 11 月 7 日星期四。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Alexis Tessier, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

我現在想將會議交給投資者關係副總裁 Alexis Tessier。請繼續。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us for a review of our first-quarter results. I'm joined this morning by Wendy Davidson, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Lee Boyce, our Chief Financial Officer.

早安，感謝您與我們一起回顧我們第一季的業績。今天早上我們的總裁兼執行長 Wendy Davidson 也加入了我的行列。以及我們的財務長 Lee Boyce。

Slide two shows our forward-looking statements disclaimer. As you are aware, during the course of this call, we may make forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These include expectations and assumptions regarding the company's future operations and financial performance. These statements are based on our current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations. Please refer to our annual report on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other reports filed from time to time with the SEC as well as the press release issued this morning for a detailed discussion of the risks.

第二張投影片顯示了我們的前瞻性聲明免責聲明。如您所知，在本次電話會議期間，我們可能會做出聯邦證券法意義內的前瞻性陳述。其中包括有關公司未來營運和財務表現的預期和假設。這些陳述是基於我們目前的預期，涉及可能導致實際結果與我們的預期有重大差異的風險和不確定性。請參閱我們的 10-K 表格年度報告、10-Q 表格季度報告以及不時向 SEC 提交的其他報告以及今天上午發布的新聞稿，以了解有關風險的詳細討論。

We have also prepared a presentation inclusive of additional supplemental financial information, which is posted on our website at hain.com under the Investors heading.

我們還準備了一份包含額外補充財務資訊的簡報，該簡報發佈在我們網站 hain.com 的「投資者」標題下。

As we discuss our results today, unless noted as reported, our remarks will focus on non-GAAP or adjusted financial measures. Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP results 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 the call over to Wendy.

當我們今天討論我們的績效時，除非如報告所述，否則我們的評論將重點放在非公認會計原則或調整後的財務指標上。非公認會計原則財務指標與公認會計原則結果的對帳可在本次電話會議隨附的收益發布和幻燈片簡報中找到。此次電話會議正在網路上直播，並將在網站上提供檔案。現在我想把電話轉給溫蒂。

Thank you, Alexis, and good morning, everyone. I'll start today's call with a high-level review of first quarter results before walking through today's key messages, the progress we've made on our Hain Reimagined strategy and reasons to believe in our pivot to growth in the second half of fiscal 2025. Lee will then provide more detail on our financial results along with our outlook. Our performance in the first quarter builds upon the momentum generated in the foundational year of Hain Reimagined. The capabilities we have put in place, along with initiatives to streamline and strengthen our global operating model have positioned us well for growth in the back half of fiscal 2025 as expected.

謝謝你，亞歷克西斯，大家早安。我將在今天的電話會議開始時對第一季度業績進行高層回顧，然後介紹今天的關鍵信息、我們在 Hain 重新構想戰略方面取得的進展以及相信我們在 2025 財年下半年實現增長的理由。然後，李將提供有關我們財務業績和前景的更多詳細資訊。我們第一季的業績建立在 Hain Reimagined 基礎年所產生的勢頭之上。我們已經具備的能力，以及簡化和加強我們的全球營運模式的舉措，使我們能夠在 2025 財年下半年實現預期的成長。

In our last earnings call, we spoke to a number of expected headwinds in the first quarter, including a promotion timing shift in snacks out of the first quarter and into the third, the late second quarter recovery of infant formula supply in all formulations and sizes and the short-term impact of portfolio simplification initiatives, including SKU reductions announced last year.

在我們上次的財報電話會議中，我們談到了第一季度的一些預期不利因素，包括零食的促銷時間從第一季度轉移到第三季度，所有配方和規格的嬰兒配方奶粉供應在第二季度末恢復以及投資組合簡化措施的短期影響，包括去年宣布的 SKU 削減。

These impacts led to an organic net sales decline of 5%, similar to the rate of decline we saw in the fourth quarter of 2024, as we said would be the case. Importantly, the actions we've taken on our stabilized businesses are generating better-than-planned net sales and improved profitability. Adjusted EBITDA was $22 million. We achieved adjusted gross margin expansion in the quarter, driven by strong fuel delivery, and we continue to make progress in reducing net debt. As a reminder, the first quarter is typically our seasonally smallest of the year.

這些影響導致有機淨銷售額下降 5%，與我們在 2024 年第四季看到的下降率類似，正如我們所說的。重要的是，我們對穩定業務採取的行動正在產生好於計劃的淨銷售額並提高盈利能力。調整後 EBITDA 為 2,200 萬美元。在強勁的燃料供應的推動下，我們在本季度實現了調整後的毛利率擴張，並且我們在減少淨債務方面繼續取得進展。提醒一下，第一季通常是一年中季節性最小的季度。

We are confident in the building blocks to deliver on our pivot to growth in the back half of the year, and I'm pleased to reaffirm our fiscal 2025 guidance.

我們對下半年實現成長的基石充滿信心，我很高興重申我們的 2025 財年指導方針。

Let me now discuss the progress we've made on the four pillars of our Hain Reimagined strategy. Our focus pillar was one in which we made tremendous progress in fiscal 2024, and we have continued to advance initiatives this year. In the first quarter, we further simplified our brand portfolio to drive greater focus within our five core categories with the sale of ParmCrisps, a noncore brand.

現在讓我討論一下我們在海恩重新構想戰略的四大支柱方面取得的進展。我們的重點支柱是我們在 2024 財年取得巨大進展的支柱之一，今年我們將繼續推動措施。第一季度，我們透過出售非核心品牌 ParmCrisps 進一步簡化了我們的品牌組合，以更加關注我們的五個核心類別。

Furthermore, our North America organization has undergone a holistic redesign of the commercial structure to better align our go-to-market model for improved customer focus and consumer engagement with the goal of making our brands first to mind, first to find. This new organizational design went live in the first quarter to enable, unlock and drive accelerated growth moving forward into fiscal 2025. We've said before that Hain is a very different company as we transform into an integrated enterprise. We are leveraging insights and expertise across global categories, driving synergies across functions and leveraging scale in our supply chain. Key retail partners are beginning to take notice of the changes, which are driving improved relationships, increased distribution, category advisory opportunities and strategic conversations around our brands.

此外，我們的北美組織對商業結構進行了全面的重新設計，以更好地調整我們的進入市場模式，以提高對客戶的關注和消費者的參與度，目標是讓我們的品牌成為人們首先想到的、最先發現的品牌。這個新的組織設計於第一季投入使用，以實現、釋放和推動 2025 財年的加速成長。我們之前說過，隨著我們轉型為綜合性企業，Hain 是一家非常不同的公司。我們正在利用跨全球類別的見解和專業知識，推動跨職能的協同效應並利用我們供應鏈的規模。主要零售合作夥伴開始注意到這些變化，這些變化正在推動改善關係、增加分銷、品類諮詢機會以及圍繞我們品牌的策略對話。

We expect this to be a key enabler of our pivot to growth. The fuel pillar delivered strong progress in our foundational year, and the momentum has continued into fiscal 2025. We have a robust productivity pipeline and are confident that we will realize our fuel target in fiscal 2025. We have enhanced our revenue growth management capabilities, building a full trade optimization suite in-house to optimize promotion design, maximize ROI and improve decision-making. In the quarter, we drove a 20 basis point improvement in trade rate.

我們預計這將成為我們轉向成長的關鍵推動因素。燃料支柱在我們的基礎年取得了強勁進展，這一勢頭一直持續到 2025 財年。我們擁有強大的生產力管道，並有信心在 2025 財政年度實現燃料目標。我們增強了收入成長管理能力，在內部建立了完整的貿易優化套件，以優化促銷設計、最大化投資回報率並改善決策。本季度，我們推動貿易率提高了 20 個基點。

RGM will be a key enabler of improved price, volume and mix as well as our gross margin expansion goals of Hain Reimagined.

RGM 將成為改善價格、銷售和產品組合以及 Hain Reimagined 毛利率擴張目標的關鍵推動者。

Within working capital management, you'll recall, we outlined $165 million in cumulative cash release from working capital improvement as a part of our multiyear strategy. We unlocked approximately 1/3 of that in just our first year. Through the first quarter, we have extended payables by 18 days since fiscal 2023 and investments in digital technology and processes have reduced inventory levels by two days from fiscal 2023. We expect fuel in fiscal 2025 to continue to deliver expansion in adjusted gross margin with further reduction in debt, improvement in leverage and investment in our brands and our capabilities. Under the build pillar, we are seeing progress in our channel expansion strategy, especially away-from-home and e-commerce, both margin accretive channels for Hain.

您可能還記得，在營運資本管理方面，我們概述了透過改善營運資本釋放 1.65 億美元的累積現金，作為我們多年策略的一部分。我們在第一年就解鎖了大約 1/3。在第一季度，我們將應付帳款自 2023 財年以來延長了 18 天，並且對數位技術和流程的投資使庫存水準自 2023 財年以來減少了兩天。我們預計燃料在 2025 財年將繼續擴大調整後的毛利率，進一步減少債務、提高槓桿率以及對我們的品牌和能力的投資。在建立支柱下，我們看到通路擴張策略取得了進展，特別是外出和電子商務，這兩個管道都是 Hain 的利潤增值管道。

In the fiscal first quarter, away-from-home net sales grew double digits in both North America and international. We again saw particularly strong growth in C-stores for Garden Veggie with dollar sales up 41% and TDPs up 44% in the latest 12 weeks. E-commerce also grew in the first quarter, driven predominantly by growth in the pure-play channel.

在第一財季，北美和國際的離家淨銷售額均達到兩位數成長。我們再次看到 Garden Veggie 便利商店的成長尤其強勁，過去 12 週內銷售額成長了 41%，TDP 成長了 44%。電子商務在第一季也出現成長，主要受到純通路成長的推動。

In North America, we saw double-digit growth in pure-play for Celestial Seasonings tea, Garden Veggie snacks and Earth’'s Best. And in international, online share for our refrigerated soup brands increased by 300 basis points. We continue to expect both e-commerce and away-from-home to be meaningful drivers of growth in fiscal 2025 and beyond.

在北美，我們看到 Celestial Seasonings 茶、Garden Veggie 零食和 Earth's Best 的純業務實現了兩位數的成長。在國際上，我們的冷藏湯品牌的線上份額增加了 300 個基點。我們仍預期電子商務和外出旅遊都將成為 2025 財年及以後成長的重要推手。

Our focus on brand building has driven improved household penetration on key brands such as Garden Veggie, Terra and Ella's Kitchen. We have new brand campaigns, including new master brand campaigns for Garden Veggie snacks and Celestial Seasonings tea as well as Linda McCartney Meat Free in the UK. These campaigns are targeted to drive improved awareness, reach household penetration and share. Our redesigned innovation pipeline process has positioned us to increase the percentage of our growth coming from new products. Historically, our innovation renewal rate has been in the mid-single-digit range.

我們對品牌建立的關注提高了 Garden Veggie、Terra 和 Ella's Kitchen 等主要品牌的家庭滲透率。我們開展了新的品牌活動，包括針對 Garden Veggie 零食、Celestial Seasonings 茶以及英國 Linda McCartney Meat Free 的新主品牌活動。這些活動旨在提高認識、達到家庭普及率和分享率。我們重新設計的創新管道流程使我們能夠提高新產品帶來的成長百分比。從歷史上看，我們的創新更新率一直處於中等個位數範圍。

Our goal in Hain Reimagined is to shift this to high single-digit contribution by fiscal 2027. In the first quarter, we launched two new teas, Sleepytime Biotin Beauty Rest and Celestial Seasonings Lemon Honey Drop Herbal as well as Yorkshire Provender Jacket & Toast Toppers in the UK.

我們 Hain Reimagined 的目標是到 2027 財年將這項貢獻轉變為高個位數貢獻。第一季度，我們在英國推出了兩款新茶：Sleepytime Biotin Beauty Rest 和 Celestial Seasonings Lemon Honey Drop Herbal 以及 Yorkshire Provender Jacket & Toast Toppers。

In addition, building upon the Garden Veggie Flavor Burst launch, we will continue to expand distribution, drive trial and leverage our portfolio of leading better-for-you snacks, delivering craveability and convenience. Consumer demand for better-for-you options, especially in snacking, continues to grow and shoppers are looking beyond natural grocery stores to find them. As a global leader in better-for-you, Hain has been uniquely focused in this space for more than 30 years and is well positioned to meet this need.

此外，在 Garden Veggie Flavor Burst 推出的基礎上，我們將繼續擴大分銷、推動試用並利用我們領先的「更適合您」的零食產品組合，為您帶來渴望和便利。消費者對更健康的選擇（尤其是零食）的需求持續增長，購物者開始在天然雜貨店之外尋找它們。作為「better-for-you」領域的全球領導者，Hain 30 多年來一直專注於這一領域，並有能力滿足這一需求。

As we outlined in our Hain Reimagined strategy, we have significant opportunity to drive availability and reach with key brands that have brand awareness of 70% or more yet household penetration in the low teens, some even in the single digits. As we've said before, we have beloved brands, but we have made them very hard to find, driving distribution expansion will be a key enabler to meet this consumer demand. We have a clear line of sight to growth in the back half of fiscal 2025 with a number of initiatives in place, including promotional activity and snacks that shifted into the third quarter, the return to full supply and rebuild of our Earth's Best infant formula business, the ramp-up of key brand campaigns and the lapping of our portfolio simplification initiatives, primarily in personal care. Let's now review each of our categories and the reasons to believe in the pivot to growth in fiscal 2025. As I mentioned earlier, our snacks category was impacted by a key Garden Veggie promotional event, which shifted from the first quarter to the third quarter.

正如我們在 Hain Reimagined 策略中所概述的那樣，我們有很大的機會來提高可用性並涵蓋那些品牌知名度達到 70% 或更高但家庭滲透率只有十幾歲、有些甚至只有個位數的關鍵品牌。正如我們之前所說，我們擁有深受喜愛的品牌，但我們讓它們變得難以找到，推動分銷擴張將是滿足這種消費者需求的關鍵推動因素。我們對 2025 財年下半年的成長有明確的目標，並採取了多項舉措，包括轉移到第三季度的促銷活動和零食、恢復全面供應以及重建我們的 Earth's Best 嬰兒配方奶粉業務、關鍵品牌活動的加強以及我們的產品組合簡化計劃的落實，主要是在個人護理領域。現在讓我們回顧一下每個類別以及相信 2025 財年實現成長的理由。正如我之前提到的，我們的零食類別受到了花園蔬菜促銷活動的影響，該促銷活動從第一季轉移到了第三季。

We faced additional softness in the first quarter on retailer execution impacting both Garden Veggie and Terra, which we expect to rebound in the quarter three reset. Despite these quarter one impact, Garden Veggie saw mid-single-digit PDP growth in the quarter.

我們在第一季面臨零售商執行力的進一步疲軟，影響了 Garden Veggie 和 Terra，我們預計它們將在第三季重置後反彈。儘管受到第一季的影響，Garden Veggie 在本季的 PDP 仍實現了中位數的成長。

Flavor Burst continues to be the number one new launch in the Better-for-You salty snack category in MULO+C year-to-date where we saw a strong trial, repeat is accelerating and sales are 80% incremental to the Garden Veggie brand, driving increased basket size for retail partners. We will continue to support brand awareness with the launch of disruptive digital and social media engagement in the second quarter along with sampling events to drive trial.

今年迄今為止，Flavour Burst 仍然是MULO+C 的Better-for-You 鹹味零食類別中排名第一的新產品，我們看到了強有力的試驗，重複速度正在加快，銷售額比Garden Veggie 品牌增長了80% ，推動零售夥伴購物籃規模的增加。我們將在第二季推出顛覆性的數位和社群媒體參與活動以及推動試用的抽樣活動，繼續支持品牌知名度。

In addition, our new Garden Veggie masterbrand campaign, YUMbelievably Delicious, launched in the first quarter and to date has generated nearly 41 million impressions across the US and Canada, contributing to increased brand awareness. Other bright spots in snacks include improving velocity for Terra, up double digits in the latest 12 weeks, a new price pack architecture relaunch for Hartley’s Snacks, which is leading to new listings with major retailers in the UK.

此外，我們新的 Garden Veggie 主品牌活動 YUMthoughtly Delicious 於第一季推出，迄今已在美國和加拿大產生了近 4,100 萬次展示，有助於提高品牌知名度。零食領域的其他亮點包括 Terra 的銷售速度提高，在最近 12 週內增長了兩位數，Hartley’s Snacks 重新推出了新的價格包架構，從而在英國主要零售商處推出了新產品。

We expect momentum in snacks to continue to accelerate throughout fiscal 2025 as we focus on driving first to mind, first to find through elevated marketing and expanded distribution. In Baby and Kids, we saw improvement in year-over-year organic net sales growth trends. The Earth's Best infant formula recovery going well with the return of supply across all formulations in limited sizes. We continue to expect the balance of the portfolio to be fully in stock by the end of quarter two.

我們預計零食的發展勢頭將在 2025 財年繼續加速，因為我們專注於透過加強行銷和擴大分銷來推動「首先想到」、「首先發現」。在嬰兒和兒童領域，我們看到年比有機淨銷售額成長趨勢有所改善。Earth's Best 嬰兒配方奶粉的恢復進展順利，所有配方的有限規格的供應恢復正常。我們仍然預計到第二季末投資組合的剩餘部分將全部備貨。

At our largest retailers, where we have regained distribution, we have returned to or are beating historical velocities on key SKUs, demonstrating the strength of the Earth's Best brand, which has been trusted by parents for over 35 years. Furthermore, online sales grew double digits in the quarter. The organic formula category has grown dramatically over the last few years, and we are aggressively working to regain our leadership position by emphasizing our superior support for parents and babies compared to other brands on the market with USDA certified organic infant formula that is non-GMO, promotes brain and eye health and contains prebiotics and we offer a broader range of USDA organic options with dairy, sensitive, gentle and toddler formulations.

在我們重新獲得分銷的最大零售商中，我們在關鍵 SKU 上已恢復或正在超越歷史速度，這展示了 Earth's Best 品牌的實力，該品牌 35 年來一直受到家長的信賴。此外，本季線上銷售額成長了兩位數。有機配方奶粉類別在過去幾年中急劇增長，我們正在積極努力重新獲得領導地位，強調與市場上其他品牌相比，我們透過美國農業部認證的非基因改造有機嬰兒配方奶粉為父母和嬰兒提供卓越的支持，促進大腦和眼睛健康並含有有益生元，我們提供更廣泛的美國農業部有機選擇，包括乳製品、敏感配方、溫和配方和幼兒配方。

Outside of formula, we will focus on an always-on approach with the Earth's Best masterbrand campaign, Good Food Made Fun, which is delivering ROIs close to double the US benchmark. Earth's Best Snacks and cereal each grew dollar sales by double digits in the quarter. And in the UK, our Ella's Kitchen brands volume outpaced the category and has gained 5,000 distribution points as we enter the second quarter. In the beverage category, Celestial Seasonings bagged tea grew dollar sales low single digits in the quarter.

除了配方之外，我們將專注於「地球最佳」主品牌活動「Good Food Made Fun」的始終如一的方法，該活動的投資回報率接近美國基準的兩倍。Earth's Best Snacks 和穀物食品在本季度的銷售額均實現了兩位數的成長。在英國，我們的 Ella's Kitchen 品牌銷量超過了同類產品，進入第二季度時已獲得 5,000 個分銷點。在飲料類別中，Celestial Seasonings 袋裝茶在本季度的美元銷售額增長了低個位數。

Consumption is expected to improve as we shifted our marketing investments from quarter one to quarter two behind our new “Taste Our World campaign, which just went live. This new masterbrand campaign focuses on taste, the biggest driver of consumer choice in the tea category and highlights the quality of our ingredients and our sourcing. We are building strong tea season programs and expanding our away-from-home presence to drive greater trial and brand awareness.

隨著我們剛剛上線的新「品味我們的世界」活動的開展，我們將行銷投資從第一季轉移到第二季度，預計消費量將會改善。這項新的主品牌活動重點在於口味，這是消費者選擇茶葉類別的最大驅動力，並強調我們原料和採購的品質。我們正在製定強有力的茶季計劃，並擴大我們的外出業務，以提高試用率和品牌知名度。

In nondairy beverage, Natumi grew share by more than 300 basis points in the natural channel. Growth for the overall category moderated in the first quarter, and there was a shift to discounters and private label where we are a key player. Our nondairy beverage growth flowed along with the market while holding share in the quarter. And we have seen trends rebound in October. We have gained new listing to key retailers for the second half of fiscal 2025, providing confidence in our full year outlook.

在非乳製品飲料領域，Natumi 在天然通路中的份額增長了 300 個基點以上。第一季整個類別的成長放緩，並轉向折扣店和自有品牌，我們是其中的關鍵參與者。我們的非乳製品飲料成長與市場同步，同時在本季保持份額。我們已經看到十月的趨勢反彈。我們已獲得 2025 財年下半年主要零售商的新上市，這讓我們對全年前景充滿信心。

In Meal Prep, we continue to see strong growth in branded soup in the UK with each of our brands, New Covent Garden, Yorkshire Provender and Cully and Sully demonstrating organic net sales growth in the double digits. Heading into soup season, we expect to extend our number one, number two and number three position as we have double-digit TDP wins across key retailers and new private label launches.

在 Meal Prep 領域，我們繼續看到英國品牌湯品的強勁成長，我們的每個品牌 New Covent Garden、Yorkshire Provender 和 Cully and Sully 都呈現出兩位數的有機淨銷售成長。進入湯季，我們預計將擴大第一、第二和第三的位置，因為我們在主要零售商和新自有品牌的推出中取得了兩位數的 TDP 勝利。

In addition, we recently launched Destination Lunch, a section adjacent to fresh soups for convenient and affordable hot lunch offerings showcasing recent innovation, including risottos, jacket potato and toast toppers, hot lunch bowls. The decline in the overall Meal Prep category was primarily driven by softness in private label spreads and drizzles as we lap -- lost private label contracts. These short-term impacts will moderate by the end of the second quarter as we anniversary the contract law. Greek Gods Yogurt declined in the quarter as we diversified our channel mix away from historical concentration. In customers with distribution, Greek Gods is showing strong velocities and growth.

此外，我們最近推出了“目的地午餐”，該區域毗鄰新鮮湯品，提供方便且實惠的熱午餐產品，展示了最新的創新，包括意大利調味飯、帶皮土豆和烤麵包配料、熱午餐碗。整個膳食準備品類的下降主要是由於自有品牌價差疲軟和我們失去自有品牌合約而導致的毛毛雨。這些短期影響將在第二季末合約法週年紀念日之前緩解。由於我們的通路組合多元化，擺脫了歷史上的集中化，希臘眾神優格在本季出現了下滑。在有分銷的客戶中，Greek Gods 表現出強勁的速度和成長。

Household penetration is up in the latest quarter and unit velocity is up versus the prior year. We will be supporting Greek Gods with incremental marketing investment in the back half of the year to support new distribution. We continue to believe in the strength of our leading meat-free brand despite industry challenges in the overall category. Yves, the number one meat-free brand in Canada continues to grow velocity and gain share in the frozen category. And Linda McCartney is the number two meat-free brand in the UK.

最近一個季度的家庭滲透率上升，單位流通速度較前一年上升。我們將在今年下半年透過增量行銷投資來支持《希臘眾神》，以支持新的發行。儘管整個類別面臨行業挑戰，但我們仍然相信我們領先的無肉品牌的實力。加拿大第一大無肉品牌 Yves 持續保持成長速度，並在冷凍類別中擴大市場份額。琳達·麥卡尼 (Linda McCartney) 是英國排名第二的無肉品牌。

is the best performing of the major brands in the market and the only major brand in the category showing TDP growth and gaining share.

是市場主要品牌中表現最好的，也是該類別中唯一顯示 TDP 成長和份額增加的主要品牌。

Linda McCartney's biggest marketing activation in 12 months, rolled out at the end of the first quarter. Van On The Run, sampling events have reached over 24,000 consumers to drive trial and address a key concern in the meat-free category taste.

琳達·麥卡尼 (Linda McCartney) 在第一季末推出了 12 個月來最大規模的行銷活動。Van On The Run 的採樣活動已覆蓋超過 24,000 名消費者，以推動試用並解決無肉類別口味的關鍵問題。

And lastly, Personal Care, as we outlined previously, we are executing our strength to grow, stabilization strategy in personal care. This strategy incorporates the elimination of over 60% of SKUs, representing over 30% of the net sales in this category. The consolidation of our manufacturing footprint and an expected gross margin improvement of 1,100 basis points. As a result, first quarter organic net sales of this focused portfolio declined double digits. However, performance was better than expected and a notable improvement from the prior quarter.

最後，在個人護理方面，正如我們之前概述的那樣，我們正在個人護理領域執行我們的成長、穩定策略。該策略包括消除超過 60% 的 SKU，佔該類別淨銷售額的 30% 以上。鞏固我們的製造足跡，預計毛利率將提高 1,100 個基點。結果，該重點投資組合第一季的有機淨銷售額下降了兩位數。然而，業績優於預期，較上一季有顯著改善。

Our manufacturing consolidation and winning portfolio execution are driving margin improvement, and we are seeing momentum in both the natural and e-commerce channels. Fiscal 2025 is a critical year as we build upon the momentum of our foundational work in Hain Reimagined to return the business to growth in the back half. We expect growth in the second half to be driven by a few critical building blocks in our snacks, Baby and Kids and beverage categories. In snacks, we have the timing shift of the Garden Veggie promotion, new distribution gains and the new Garden Veggie Snacks masterbrand campaign.

我們的製造整合和成功的投資組合執行正在推動利潤率的提高，我們在自然和電子商務管道中都看到了勢頭。2025 財年是關鍵的一年，我們將在 Hain Reimagined 基礎工作的基礎上再接再厲，使業務在下半年恢復成長。我們預計下半年的成長將由零食、嬰兒和兒童以及飲料類別的幾個關鍵組成部分推動。在零食方面，我們有花園蔬菜促銷的時間轉變、新的分銷收益和新的花園蔬菜零食主品牌活動。

In Baby and Kids, the full recovery in Earth's Best infant formula supply and Ella's distribution gains, and in beverages, we have key innovation in Celestial Seasonings tea, coupled with the new brand building campaign along with new nondairy beverage contracts in Europe. Our growth will be further supported by channel expansion, in particular, snacks and C-stores and both snacks and baby and e-commerce. In addition, we will continue to leverage revenue growth management, working capital optimization and productivity to generate fuel we will use to invest back in the business, pay down debt, drive gross margin expansion and improved profitability. And now I'll turn it over to Lee to discuss our first quarter financial results and fiscal 2025 outlook in more detail.

在嬰兒和兒童領域，Earth's Best 嬰兒配方奶粉供應全面恢復，Ella 的分銷收益增加；在飲料領域，我們在Celestial Seasonings 茶方面進行了關鍵創新，同時開展了新的品牌建設活動以及歐洲的新非乳製品飲料合約。我們的成長將得到通路擴張的進一步支持，特別是零食和便利商店以及零食和嬰兒和電子商務。此外，我們將繼續利用收入成長管理、營運資本優化和生產力來產生動力，用於投資業務、償還債務、推動毛利率擴張和提高獲利能力。現在我將把它交給 Lee，更詳細地討論我們第一季的財務表現和 2025 財年的前景。

Thank you, Wendy, and good morning, everyone. For the first quarter, we saw organic net sales declined 5% year-over-year. This decrease, which was driven by lower sales in both the North America and international segments were similar to the rate of decline in the fourth quarter. As we communicated on the last earnings call, the decline in organic net sales growth reflects a 4-point decrease in volume mix and a one point decrease in price. We delivered first quarter adjusted EBITDA of $22 million compared to $24 million a year ago.

謝謝你，溫迪，大家早安。第一季度，我們看到有機淨銷售額年減 5%。這一下降是由北美和國際市場銷售額下降所致，與第四季的降幅相似。正如我們在上次財報電話會議上所傳達的那樣，有機淨銷售額成長的下降反映了銷售組合下降 4 個百分點和價格下降了 1 個百分點。我們在第一季調整後 EBITDA 為 2,200 萬美元，而去年同期為 2,400 萬美元。

Adjusted EBITDA margin was 5.7% in line with the margin in the prior year period. Adjusted gross margin was 20.8% in the first quarter, increasing approximately 20 basis points year-over-year. The increase was driven by productivity, partially offset by cost inflation and deleverage on lower sales volume. SG&A decreased 8% year-over-year to $71 million, representing 18.1% of net sales for the quarter as compared to 18.2% in the year-ago period. The decrease was primarily driven by our integrated operating model and commercial reset in North America, which enabled efficiencies resulting in lower personnel costs and lower services and fees.

調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 5.7%，與去年同期的利潤率一致。第一季調整後毛利率為20.8%，較去年同期成長約20個基點。這一增長是由生產力推動的，但部分被成本通膨和銷售下降導致的去槓桿化所抵消。SG&A 年減 8% 至 7,100 萬美元，佔本季淨銷售額的 18.1%，去年同期為 18.2%。這一下降主要是由於我們在北美的綜合營運模式和商業重置，這提高了效率，從而降低了人員成本以及服務和成本。

During the quarter, we took charges totaling $5 million associated with actions under the restructuring program, including contract termination costs, asset write-downs, employee-related costs and other transformation-related expenses. To date, we have taken $68 million in charges associated with the transformation program, which is comprised of $65 million of restructuring charges and $3 million of expenses associated with inventory write-downs. Of these charges, $27 million were noncash. As previously discussed, the total transformation program charges are expected to be $115 million to $125 million inclusive of potential inventory write-downs of approximately $25 million related to brand and category exits.

本季度，我們收取了與重組計畫相關的費用總計 500 萬美元，包括合約終止成本、資產減記、員工相關成本和其他轉型相關費用。迄今為止，我們已收取與轉型計畫相關的 6,800 萬美元費用，其中包括 6,500 萬美元的重組費用和 300 萬美元的庫存減記相關費用。其中 2700 萬美元為非現金費用。如前所述，轉型計畫總費用預計為 1.15 億至 1.25 億美元，其中包括與品牌和類別退出相關的約 2,500 萬美元的潛在庫存減記。

Restructuring charges excluding inventory write-downs are expected to be $90 million to $100 million and are excluded from our adjusted operating results. Interest costs rose 4% year-over-year to $14 million in the quarter, driven by slightly higher borrowing rates, partially offset by lower outstanding borrowings. As a reminder, we have hedged our rate exposure on more than 50% of our loan facility with fixed rates at 5.6%. We continue to prioritize reducing net debt over time.

不包括庫存減記在內的重組費用預計為 9,000 萬至 1 億美元，且不包括在我們調整後的營運績效中。由於借款利率略有上升，本季利息成本年增 4%，達到 1,400 萬美元，但未償還借款減少部分抵銷了利息成本。提醒一下，我們已經對超過 50% 的貸款融資的利率風險進行了對沖，固定利率為 5.6%。隨著時間的推移，我們繼續優先考慮減少淨債務。

Adjusted net loss, which excludes the effect of restructuring charges amongst other items, was $4 million in the quarter or $0.04 per diluted share in line with the prior year period.

本季調整後淨虧損（不含重組費用及其他項目的影響）為 400 萬美元，或稀釋後每股虧損 0.04 美元，與去年同期持平。

Turning now to our individual reporting segments. In North America, organic net sales declined 6% year-over-year. The decrease was primarily driven by lower sales in snacks as we highlighted on the last earnings call. Due to the timing shift of a promotional event into the fiscal third quarter this year, from the fiscal first quarter last year as well as by Meal Prep. This was partially offset by growth in beverages.

現在轉向我們的個人報告部分。在北美，有機淨銷售額較去年同期下降 6%。正如我們在上次財報電話會議上所強調的那樣，這一下降主要是由於零食銷量下降所致。由於促銷活動從去年第一財季以及 Meal Prep 的促銷活動時間轉移到今年第三財季。這被飲料的成長部分抵消。

We expect North America to return to growth in the back half of the year, as snacks growth accelerates, driven by the promotion shift and brand building. Infant formula supply fully recovers and key accelerates on innovation and the new brand building campaign. First quarter adjusted gross margin in North America was 20.6%, a 20 basis point decrease versus the prior year period, driven by costs related to inflation and customer mix as well as pricing, partially offset by productivity. Adjusted EBITDA in North America was $12 million, as compared to $19 million in the year ago period. And adjusted EBITDA margin was 5.4%, a 180 basis point decrease year-over-year.

我們預計，在促銷轉變和品牌建立的推動下，零食成長加速，北美將在今年下半年恢復成長。嬰兒配方奶粉供應全面恢復，創新和新品牌建立活動重點加速。北美第一季調整後毛利率為 20.6%，較上年同期下降 20 個基點，主要受到通貨膨脹、客戶組合以及定價相關成本的推動，但部分被生產力所抵銷。北美地區調整後 EBITDA 為 1,200 萬美元，去年同期為 1,900 萬美元。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 5.4%，較去年同期下降 180 個基點。

The year-over-year decline resulted primarily from deleverage on lower volume and inflation, partially offset by productivity.

年比下降主要是由於交易量下降和通貨膨脹導致的去槓桿化，但部分被生產力所抵消。

In our international business, organic net sales declined 3% in the quarter, driven primarily by lower sales in Meal Prep as we cycled the loss of a private label spreads contract and lower sales in Baby and Kids. We expect the international region to return to growth in the back half as we lap the loss of the private label spreads contract, Ella's Kitchen accelerates on increased TDPs and brand building.

在我們的國際業務中，本季的有機淨銷售額下降了 3%，這主要是由於自有品牌價差合約的損失以及嬰兒和兒童銷售額的下降導致 Meal Prep 銷售額下降。我們預計國際地區將在下半年恢復成長，因為我們擺脫了自有品牌價差合約的損失，Ella's Kitchen 加速增加 TDP 和品牌建立。

And we realized the benefit of new contracts won in nondairy beverage. International adjusted gross margin was 21%, up approximately 100 basis points year-over-year, driven by productivity and improved promotional efficiency, partially offset by lower volume. International adjusted EBITDA was $20 million, an increase of 17% compared to the prior year period, as productivity and improved promotional efficiency more than offset the impact of lower volume. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 12.5%, up approximately 190 basis points year-over-year.

我們意識到在非乳製品飲料領域贏得新合約的好處。國際調整後毛利率為 21%，年成長約 100 個基點，這得益於生產力和促銷效率提高，但部分被銷量下降所抵銷。國際調整後 EBITDA 為 2,000 萬美元，比上年同期成長 17%，生產力和促銷效率的提高足以抵銷銷量下降的影響。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 12.5%，較去年同期成長約 190 個基點。

Shifting to cash flow and the balance sheet. Free cash flow in the first quarter typically our lowest cash generation quarter of the year was an outflow of $17 million compared to an inflow of $7 million in the year ago period. The decrease was driven by the working capital impacts related to the timing and magnitude of accounts payable and restructuring charges versus the prior year as well as the customer and geographic mix of our receivables.

轉向現金流和資產負債表。第一季的自由現金流通常為我們一年中現金產生最低的季度，流出 1,700 萬美元，而去年同期流入 700 萬美元。下降的原因是與前一年相比，與應付帳款和重組費用的時間和規模以及我們的應收帳款的客戶和地理組合相關的營運資本影響。

We continue to make progress on our days payable outstanding and days inventory outstanding. DPO Improved to 55 days from 37 days in fiscal year '23 and DIO improved to 80 days from 82 days in fiscal year '23. We are pleased with the progress we are making towards our Hain Reimagined targets of 70-plus days payable outstanding and 55 days inventory outstanding by fiscal year '27. CapEx was $6 million in the quarter. As we outlined in the last call, we expect expenditures to be approximately $50 million for fiscal 2025.

我們在應付帳款週轉天數和庫存週轉天數方面繼續取得進展。DPO 從 23 財年的 37 天縮短至 55 天，DIO 從 23 財年的 82 天縮短至 80 天。我們對我們在實現 Hain 重新設想的目標（即到 27 財年應付帳款未清帳日數超過 70 天、庫存未清帳日數為 55 天）所取得的進展感到高興。本季資本支出為 600 萬美元。正如我們在上次電話會議中概述的那樣，我們預計 2025 財年的支出約為 5000 萬美元。

Finally, we closed the quarter with cash on hand of $57 million and net debt of $684 million. Our net leverage ratio, as calculated under our credit agreement, ticked up by 20 basis points as expected based on seasonal cash flows to 3.9x. We expect our net leverage to remain constant in Q2 before trending down through the balance of fiscal 2025 and anticipate ending the year in the mid- to high 3s and remain comfortable that we have sufficient headroom under our existing covenants. Paying down debt and strategically investing in the business continues to be our priorities for cash, and we reduced net debt by $6 million in the quarter. Our long-term goal remains to reduce balance sheet leverage to 3x adjusted EBITDA or less as calculated under our credit agreement.

最後，本季結束時，我們手頭現金為 5,700 萬美元，淨債務為 6.84 億美元。根據我們的信貸協議計算，我們的淨槓桿率按季節性現金流量預期上升了 20 個基點，達到 3.9 倍。我們預計我們的淨槓桿率將在第二季度保持穩定，然後在2025 財年的餘額中呈下降趨勢，並預計到年底將達到3 左右的水平，並且我們對現有契約下擁有足夠的空間感到滿意。償還債務和對業務進行策略性投資仍然是我們的現金優先事項，本季我們將淨債務減少了 600 萬美元。我們的長期目標仍然是根據我們的信貸協議將資產負債表槓桿率降低至調整後 EBITDA 的 3 倍或更低。

Turning now to our outlook. We continue to expect to pivot to growth in the back half of the year and our reaffirming guidance as follows. We expect fiscal 2025 organic net sales to be flat or better. Adjusted EBITDA to grow by a mid-single-digit percentage, gross margin to expand by at least 125 basis points and free cash flow of at least $60 million. We continue to expect the cadence of the year to follow the shape we discussed last quarter.

現在轉向我們的展望。我們繼續預計下半年將轉向成長，並重申以下指引。我們預計 2025 財年有機淨銷售額將持平或更好。調整後的 EBITDA 將成長中等個位數百分比，毛利率將成長至少 125 個基點，自由現金流至少為 6,000 萬美元。我們繼續預計今年的節奏將遵循我們上個季度討論的形狀。

As such, we expect flattish year-over-year organic net sales growth in the second quarter and accelerating growth in the back half of the year.

因此，我們預期第二季有機淨銷售額年增率持平，下半年成長加速。

As Wendy mentioned, acceleration in the back half will be driven by the promotional timing shifts in snacks. The full recovery of an infant formula supply distribution gains and brand building. Lastly, we continue to expect adjusted EBITDA growth for the full year to be driven by growth in the back half as productivity ramps up and net sales increase. We expect the split of EBITDA to be approximately 40% to 60% with 40% of EBITDA being generated in the first half of the year and 60% of EBITDA being generated in the back half of the year.

正如溫迪所提到的，後半段的加速將由零食促銷時間的變化推動。全面恢復嬰兒配方奶粉供應分銷收益和品牌建立。最後，我們繼續預期全年調整後 EBITDA 成長將受到下半年成長的推動，因為生產力提高和淨銷售額增加。我們預期 EBITDA 的分配約為 40% 至 60%，其中 40% 的 EBITDA 產生於上半年，60% 的 EBITDA 產生於下半年。

Furthermore, we expect EBITDA to step up sequentially in each of the second, third and fourth quarters. And now I'll turn it back to Wendy for closing remarks.

此外，我們預計 EBITDA 將在第二、第三和第四季依序上升。現在我將把它轉回給溫迪做總結發言。

Thank you, Lee. Fiscal 2025 is a pivotal year for Hain Reimagined as we begin to see the benefits from the foundational building blocks we have put in place. We have completed much of the heavy lifting, laying the groundwork for our success by streamlining our portfolio, resetting our global operating model, activating our fuel program and investing in key capabilities. We are now hyper focused on commercial execution to drive both top and bottom line growth. While the macro environment remains challenging and the consumer remains stretched, Better-for-You continues to be an area of growing interest for consumers and they continue to look for premium products.

謝謝你，李。2025 財年對 Hain Reimagined 來說是關鍵的一年，我們開始看到我們所建立的基礎建置模組所帶來的好處。我們已經完成了大部分繁重的工作，透過精簡我們的產品組合、重置我們的全球營運模式、啟動我們的燃料計劃以及投資於關鍵能力，為我們的成功奠定了基礎。我們現在非常專注於商業執行，以推動營收和利潤的成長。儘管宏觀環境仍然充滿挑戰，消費者仍然捉襟見肘，但「Better-for-You」仍然是消費者日益感興趣的領域，他們繼續尋找優質產品。

We are well positioned to meet shopper needs, and we have ample white space to drive growth for our beloved brands. Our robust fuel pipeline and strong free cash flow generation will continue to enable us to reduce net debt and improve our leverage ratio while investing in the business and driving gross margin expansion. I remain confident in our ability to realize the potential of the Hain Reimagined strategy we introduced last year. As always, I want to thank all of our team members who remain dedicated to inspiring healthier living through Better-for-You brands, and who bring our values to life every single day. It is their commitment to our company and our customers that make Hain Reimagined possible.

我們有能力滿足購物者的需求，並且我們有充足的空白空間來推動我們喜愛的品牌的成長。我們強大的燃料管道和強大的自由現金流產生將繼續使我們能夠減少淨債務並提高槓桿率，同時投資業務並推動毛利率擴張。我對我們實現去年推出的 Hain Reimagined 策略的潛力仍然充滿信心。一如既往，我要感謝我們所有的團隊成員，他們始終致力於透過「Better-for You」品牌激發更健康的生活，並每天將我們的價值觀融入生活。正是他們對我們公司和客戶的承諾使 Hain Reimagined 成為可能。

Operator, please open the line for questions.

接線員，請開通提問線。

(Operator Instructions) James Salera, Stephens.

（操作員說明）James Salera，Stephens。

Wendy, I wanted to ask -- as we think about this ramp into the back half of the year, particularly in snacking, what are your thoughts around just overall category performance? And is there any variability if we see kind of continued softness at the category level on your distribution gains? Or do you still feel like you have really good line of sight regardless of kind of category performance on that?

溫迪，我想問——當我們考慮今年下半年的增長情況時，特別是在零食方面，您對整體品類表現有何看法？如果我們看到您的分配收益在品類層面持續疲軟，是否會出現任何變化？或者無論類別表現如何，您仍然覺得自己擁有非常好的視線嗎？

Yes. I appreciate that, Jim. When we think about our snacks category, as we mentioned on the last earnings call, there were some known moves from quarter one into quarter 3. And so that automatically gives us visibility to the drivers of quarter one in snacking, but confidence as we go into the back half of the year because those are known programs. They're fairly substantial.

是的。我很感激，吉姆。當我們考慮我們的零食類別時，正如我們在上次財報電話會議上提到的那樣，從第一季到第三季有一些已知的變化。因此，這會自動讓我們了解第一季零食的驅動因素，但當我們進入下半年時，我們會充滿信心，因為這些都是已知的計劃。它們相當可觀。

In fact, without those two drags in quarter one, Garden Veggie would have been up low single digits and the overall snack category would have been up low single digits. So they were a material drag in quarter one to the snacks category. At the same time, as we said in the remarks, we were gaining distribution and so we're looking at the back half with those two activities that fall in quarter 3, some incremental promotional activity as we go into quarter four and then the continued success of Flavor Burst as that continues to ramp up in incremental distribution beyond where it sits today.

事實上，如果沒有第一季的這兩次拖累，Garden Veggie 的銷量將會出現低個位數成長，整個零食類別也會出現低個位數成長。因此，它們在第一季對零食類別構成了重大拖累。同時，正如我們在評論中所說，我們正在獲得分銷，因此我們正在關注第三季度的兩項活動的後半部分，進入第四季度時進行一些增量促銷活動，然後繼續進行Flavor Burst取得了成功，因為它的增量分銷繼續增加，超出了今天的水平。

Great. And maybe to clarify, when I meant total snacking, I mean not your total snacking, but like total stacking across the entire -- sort of like the entire category. And so just thoughts on kind of the snacking category at retail and any variability that softness might have into the back half of the year on your expected distribution pickups across channels?

偉大的。也許需要澄清的是，當我指的是全部零食時，我的意思不是你的全部零食，而是整個整體的總堆積——有點像整個類別。那麼，想想零售業零食類別的類型，以及今年下半年的疲軟可能對您預期的跨通路分銷帶來的任何變化嗎？

That makes sense. Okay. So let me give a little perspective on what we're seeing in the broader snacking environment. There was clearly some very deep discounting by some large players during the summer season to drive velocities. As we've said before, our biggest opportunity is actually to drive distribution, that's where all that white space is.

這是有道理的。好的。因此，讓我對我們在更廣泛的零食環境中所看到的情況給出一些看法。顯然，一些大型企業在夏季期間為了提高速度而進行了很大的折扣。正如我們之前所說，我們最大的機會實際上是推動分銷，這就是所有空白所在。

In the case of Garden Veggie and Terra, they've got a north of 70% awareness, but they've got a household penetration in the single digits. So we know that consumers love the brands. They just can't find them.

以 Garden Veggie 和 Terra 為例，他們的認知度高達 70% 以上，但家庭滲透率只有個位數。所以我們知道消費者喜歡這些品牌。他們就是找不到他們。

So that's an opportunity for us that probably doesn't exist for others. But when we see the irrational pricing behavior that drove some of that deep discounting, I think it affected everybody in terms of velocities, we're seeing some of that stabilize a bit. But at the same time, where we have distribution, we're seeing nice velocities, especially on Terra. We're seeing TDP gains on Garden Veggie.

因此，這對我們來說是一個對其他人來說可能不存在的機會。但是，當我們看到非理性的定價行為導致了一些大幅折扣時，我認為它影響了每個人的速度，我們看到其中一些已經穩定下來。但同時，在我們有分佈的地方，我們看到了不錯的速度，尤其是在 Terra 上。我們看到 Garden Veggie 的 TDP 有所成長。

And I think what we're most excited about is the recent launch of our masterbrand campaign on Garden Veggie, which as we mentioned, has had really strong impressions. We will continue to lean into that as we go forward. But our number one objective is making sure that the brands that people love, they can find and at the same time, working with our retail partners to create some in-store excitement that will generate success for both of us. Where we've done that, it's been successful, but we know our brands don't respond well to deep discount.

我認為我們最興奮的是最近在 Garden Veggie 上推出的主品牌活動，正如我們所提到的，它給人留下了非常深刻的印象。在我們前進的過程中，我們將繼續致力於這一點。但我們的首要目標是確保人們能夠找到喜愛的品牌，同時與我們的零售合作夥伴合作，創造一些店內興奮點，從而為我們雙方帶來成功。我們這樣做是成功的，但我們知道我們的品牌對大幅折扣反應不佳。

Our trade dollars are best spent, driving feature display and that sort of traffic disruption for the consumer on their journey. And then obviously, the comments that we have made last quarter and this quarter relative to driving C-store distribution in snacking that's a really underpenetrated channel for us and is a great opportunity for awareness and reach to consumers that we will continue to lean into. And as we mentioned in this quarter, our snacks distribution was up double digits in the C-store channel.

我們的貿易資金得到了最好的利用，推動了功能展示以及消費者旅程中的交通中斷。顯然，我們在上個季度和本季發表的有關推動零食便利商店分銷的評論對我們來說確實是一個滲透不足的管道，也是我們將繼續關注的提高認識和接觸消費者的絕佳機會。正如我們在本季提到的，我們的零食分銷在便利商店通路中成長了兩位數。

(Operator Instructions) Anthony Vendetti, Maxim Group.

（操作員說明）Anthony Vendetti，Maxim Group。

I just wanted to hone in a little bit on baby formula. Maybe just if you could expand on the full year outlook there? And then have you built in supply chain redundancies to prevent any future shortages? And then I just have a follow-up on the leverage.

我只是想在嬰兒配方奶粉方面磨練一下。也許您可以擴展一下全年展望嗎？然後您是否建立了供應鏈冗餘以防止未來短缺？然後我只是對槓桿進行跟進。

Yes, absolutely. As we've said before, Earth's Best formula is a key growth vehicle for us, and it's also a margin-accretive category for the Earth's Best brand. And Earth's Best is still the leading natural and organic brand in North America. The formula disruption was meaningful and material for us. We are back in supply on all of the formulations, but not fully in all the sizes.

是的，絕對是。正如我們之前所說，Earth's Best 配方是我們的關鍵成長工具，也是 Earth's Best 品牌的利潤增值類別。Earth's Best 仍然是北美領先的天然有機品牌。配方的顛覆對我們來說意義重大，意義重大。我們恢復了所有配方的供應，但並非所有尺寸的供應都已恢復。

So all the varieties of our baby formula are available, just not in all the sizes, but they will be by the end of this quarter in quarter two. We've built in two elements of redundancy. One is that we are carrying more inventory than we had historically to give ourselves some timing redundancy and our partner has -- our formula is qualified to produce in more than one location. So that also gives us location -- manufacturing location redundancy that we feel very, very good about. So the combination of those things, we feel very solid on our supply.

因此，我們的嬰兒配方奶粉的所有品種都可用，只是不是所有尺寸，但它們將在本季度末第二季度上市。我們內建了兩個冗餘元素。一是我們的庫存比以往更多，以便給自己一些時間冗餘，而我們的合作夥伴擁有——我們的配方有資格在多個地點生產。因此，這也為我們提供了位置——製造位置冗餘，我們對此感到非常非常滿意。因此，綜合考慮這些因素，我們對我們的供應感到非常可靠。

What we're more focused on now is regaining our shelf space and where we have either gained new distribution with new retail partners or where we've regained distribution of our prior distribution, the velocities are at or better than they were prior to the supply disruption, which tells us that consumers love and trust the brand and have trusted it for over 35 years. They've been looking for the brand as a trusted brand. And where we've made it available, we're seeing the velocities pick back up. We are also turning back on social and digital marketing this quarter, and you will see us continually advertising to the consumer the unique qualities of Earth's Best brand in the marketplace, the ease of a consumer switching from another formula to Earth's Best, where we know that they will have difficulty in finding supply from some of our competitors.

我們現在更關注的是重新獲得我們的貨架空間，如果我們透過新的零售合作夥伴獲得了新的分銷，或者我們重新獲得了先前的分銷，速度等於或優於供應之前顛覆性，這告訴我們消費者喜愛並信任該品牌，並且信任品牌已超過35 年。他們一直在尋找值得信賴的品牌。在我們提供它的地方，我們看到速度有所回升。本季我們也將重新投入社交和數位行銷，您將看到我們不斷向消費者宣傳市場上 Earth's Best 品牌的獨特品質，以及消費者從另一種配方轉向 Earth's Best 的輕鬆程度，我們知道他們將很難從我們的一些競爭對手那裡找到供應。

And where we see opportunities to continue to point out the unique and distinctiveness of our brand, we are one of the few that actually provides baby food from birth to backpack. And being that parent partner on that journey from the time the baby is born, all the way until they're headed to school, we see that as a tremendous opportunity for us. So it will be a key growth vehicle. I'm happy to say that as we've picked up distribution, we're actually seeing some over delivery to our expectations on formula. And so we believe that it will be a continual driver for us.

我們看到有機會繼續強調我們品牌的獨特性和獨特性，我們是少數幾家真正提供從出生到背包的嬰兒食品的公司之一。作為從嬰兒出生到他們上學這段旅程中的家長夥伴，我們認為這對我們來說是一個巨大的機會。因此，它將成為一個關鍵的成長工具。我很高興地說，隨著我們開始分銷，我們實際上看到一些配方奶粉的交付超出了我們的預期。因此，我們相信它將成為我們的持續驅動力。

Okay. Excellent. And then on the leverage, I know that you're looking to reduce leverage, obviously, organic cash flow is being used to do that. Are there any other steps that you're taking to reduce leverage outside of -- just from traditional cash flow?

好的。出色的。然後在槓桿方面，我知道您正在尋求降低槓桿，顯然，有機現金流正在被用來做到這一點。除了傳統現金流之外，您是否還採取其他措施來降低槓桿率？

So right now, you're right, it is organic cash flow. So I mean we're pleased we've brought the leverage down since Q1 of last year. We've brought it down, I think, over $90 million. But that is the key focus obviously, driving the kind of EBITDA profile and then secondarily, the net working capital initiatives that we have in place.

所以現在，你是對的，這是有機現金流。所以我的意思是，我們很高興自去年第一季以來就降低了槓桿率。我認為我們已經減少了超過 9000 萬美元。但這顯然是關鍵焦點，推動了 EBITDA 概況，其次是我們實施的淨營運資本計畫。

So you saw that we continue to kind of make momentum there. And just a reminder, it was $165 million unlocking net working capital. We are locked 1/3 of that or over 1/3 of it in the first year. So that's our continued focus. And as we get into the back half of the year, we'll see the leverage.

所以你看到我們繼續在那裡創造動力。提醒一下，釋放淨營運資金的金額為 1.65 億美元。我們在第一年鎖定了其中的 1/3 或超過 1/3。這就是我們持續關注的焦點。當我們進入今年下半年時，我們將看到槓桿作用。

I mean, it'll be flattish in the second quarter, and then we'll see it come down in the back half of the year.

我的意思是，第二季會持平，然後我們會看到它在今年下半年下降。

Okay. Are there any other divestitures that could -- or that are planned for fiscal year '25 that could help reduce leverage or not at this point?

好的。目前是否有其他資產剝離可以或計劃在 25 財年進行，以幫助降低槓桿率？

There's none that we're prepared to speak to today. We've talked before in our simplification pillar that we also look at our geographic footprint, and we have some previously announced office consolidations, distribution expansion, manufacturing location consolidations, some of those are still taking place. They were announced in the last year, but they're still playing out in the front half of this year.

我們今天沒有準備好與任何人交談。我們之前在簡化支柱中談過，我們也會考慮我們的地理足跡，我們之前宣布了一些辦公室整合、分銷擴張、製造地點整合，其中一些仍在進行中。它們是去年宣布的，但今年上半年仍在發揮作用。

Andrew Wolf, CL King.

安德魯沃爾夫，CL金。

I had to join the call a little late. But Wendy, could you just talk about kind of what you're -- or expand upon, if you have talked about it, kind of the consumer behavior in North America and Europe and the UK, if it's different. When some people are -- some segments are feeling kind of tight or stretched. They're switching to private label. Or switching channels to more discount stores.

我不得不稍晚一點才加入通話。但是溫迪，您能談談您的情況嗎？當有些人的某些部分感覺有點緊張或緊張時。他們正在轉向自有品牌。或將通路轉向更多折扣店。

So how is that either impacting you or you expect to impact Hain's brands? And how is that consumer behavior looking versus your expectations -- or coming in versus your expectations?

那麼這對您有何影響或您預計會對 Hain 的品牌產生什麼影響？消費者的行為與您的期望相比如何，或與您的期望相比如何？

Sounds good. Let me speak to it sort of in broad terms in both markets because as we've talked before, they're a little bit different in the way the consumer is behaving, but also in the dynamics in the marketplace. So I'll start on the international side. We know that the inflationary environment and the consumer feelings about the economic environment, we're much more acute in the international markets for us in Western Europe and in the UK.

聽起來不錯。讓我從廣義上談談這兩個市場，因為正如我們之前所說，它們在消費者的行為方式以及市場動態方面都有些不同。所以我將從國際方面開始。我們知道，通膨環境和消費者對經濟環境的感受，對我們西歐和英國的國際市場來說更敏感。

And it resulted in a couple of things. It resulted in consumers trading down to private label. It included the consumer shifting between channels into a lot of discounter behavior. And so -- and also stretching meals where we saw that both benefit and impact our business over this last year, we saw a shift from brand to private label in a few of the categories. The benefit for us is that we are also in private label in nondairy beverage in meat-free, in spreads and drizzles because we produce all of those products ourselves.

這導致了一些事情。這導致消費者轉而購買自有品牌。它包括消費者在不同管道之間的轉變，從而產生大量的折扣行為。因此，去年我們看到拉伸膳食對我們的業務既有利又影響，我們看到一些類別從品牌轉向自有品牌的轉變。對我們來說的好處是，我們還在不含肉類的非乳製品飲料、塗抹醬和毛毛雨中擁有自有品牌，因為所有這些產品都是我們自己生產的。

So we actually benefited from that, although it did have some shift in the overall mix of the business. We also saw the consumer stretching their meals more or their shopping occasions. That also benefited us in a few areas where we are an ingredient supplier in spreads and drizzles and where we have a lot of ingredient meat-free options in our Linda McCartney brand, especially in things like ground meats and minces and in meat balls and items like that where we saw some of the consumer demand shift.

因此，我們實際上從中受益，儘管它確實使業務的整體組合發生了一些變化。我們也看到消費者更延長用餐時間或購物時間。這也使我們在一些領域受益，其中我們是塗抹醬和毛毛雨的原料供應商，我們的 Linda McCartney 品牌有很多無肉原料選擇，特別是碎肉、肉末、肉丸和食物等。到一些消費者需求改變一樣。

And then the third element around discounters. We actually -- the team had over the last year, leaned into a broader market reach in the UK, especially to ensure that our brands were available in all the points of distribution. So we saw -- as an impact, we saw the consumer behavior shift in product, a little bit in channel and certainly brand and private label. And it looked like a mix shift for us, but we benefited in a variety of ways, and you saw that show up in the growth of their international business.

然後是關於折扣店的第三個要素。事實上，我們的團隊在過去的一年裡，致力於擴大英國的市場範圍，特別是確保我們的品牌在所有分銷點都有售。因此，我們看到——作為一種影響，我們看到消費者行為在產品、通路、當然還有品牌和自有品牌方面發生了轉變。對我們來說，這看起來像是一種混合轉變，但我們在多種方面受益，你可以看到這體現在他們國際業務的成長中。

We've seen the market stabilize there and inflation rates come down to more of a normalized level. In the US market, we saw a couple of things, the consumer bifurcation. So those that had more discretionary income continuing to lean into premium and super premium, although they were buying from different locations than they did before. We saw consumers who are more value-focused and cash strapped, we're shopping more often smaller basket size and different locations.

我們已經看到那裡的市場趨於穩定，通貨膨脹率已降至正常水平。在美國市場，我們看到了一些事情，即消費者的分化。因此，那些擁有更多可自由支配收入的人繼續傾向於購買溢價和超溢價，儘管他們從與以前不同的地點購買。我們看到消費者更加重視價值且現金緊張，我們更常購物較小的購物籃並在不同的地點購物。

And two things have played out for us. One is ensuring that our team is driving the right price pack architecture to make sure that the right products are available in the right locations. We've also done a lot of work around our channel expansion. Historically, the Hain business has been concentrated in a few large retail partners, and there was always an opportunity for us to lean into continued channel expansion. So we are continuing to drive that.

有兩件事對我們來說已經發生了。一是確保我們的團隊推動正確的價格包架構，以確保在正確的地點提供正確的產品。我們也圍繞著渠道擴張做了很多工作。從歷史上看，Hain 業務一直集中在幾個大型零售合作夥伴身上，我們總是有機會進行持續的通路擴張。因此，我們將繼續推動這項進程。

But that's sort of what we're seeing in the consumer behavior.

但這就是我們在消費者行為中看到的情況。

Similar to the UK, we've seen inflation rates come down to a more normalized level. We're seeing shopping behavior, however, continue to play out. So traffic levels in discounters continues to play out. We have seen a shift. You've probably heard this from others as well in traffic and convenience stores and in drugstores, shifting to more mass and certainly into club as people look to buy maybe premium items, but they're buying them in bulk or they're buying them in larger quantities.

與英國類似，我們看到通膨率已降至更正常化的水平。然而，我們看到購物行為仍在繼續。因此折扣店的客流量水準繼續發揮作用。我們已經看到了轉變。您可能也從其他人那裡聽說過這種說法，在交通、便利商店和藥店，轉向更多大眾，當然也進入俱樂部，因為人們希望購買優質商品，但他們正在批量購買或正在購買它們數量較多。

So those are sort of the shift in behaviors that we've seen. And our goal continues to be brand building to make our products and brands first to mind, channel expansion to make our products easy to find, an innovation that drives clear consumer value in Better-for-You that is available, accessible and affordable to more people.

這些就是我們所看到的行為轉變。我們的目標仍然是品牌建設，讓我們的產品和品牌成為人們的第一印象；通路擴張，讓我們的產品更容易找到；創新推動「Better-for You」中明確的消費者價值，讓更多人可以使用、獲取和負擔得起 人。

Did I lose you, Andrew?

我失去你了嗎，安德魯？

I'm trying to -- can you hear me?

我正在努力——你聽得到我說話嗎？

Yes.

是的。

Is the US mix, therefore, more discretionary overall because there's no private label for the value -- the more value seeking --

因此，美國的組合總體上是否更具自由裁量權，因為沒有價值的自有標籤——更多的價值尋求--

Remember, we don't -- we don't do a lot in -- first of all, for Hain, we don't do a lot of private label in the North American market. Second, the market really isn't penetrated in private label in the categories that we play in. So we haven't seen private label be a big impact in the categories we're in, certainly in Better-for-You, but definitely in this geography, which is very different than what you see in the European market.

請記住，我們沒有——我們沒有做太多——首先，對於 Hain 來說，我們沒有在北美市場做很多自有品牌。其次，在我們所從事的品類中，自有品牌確實沒有滲透到市場。因此，我們還沒有看到自有品牌對我們所在的類別產生重大影響，當然在「更好的你」中，但絕對是在這個地區，這與你在歐洲市場看到的情況非常不同。

And I assume your guidance is probably mainly bottom-up from the brands. But to the extent it might be at all influenced by the outlook. Is the outlook sort of more of the same? Or is there's some discretionary sectors are actually starting to see better sales and like restaurants and kind of thinking that in a post-election post-COVID inflationary period, consumers might come back to more discretionary purchasing. Could you comment on your outlook with that in respect to that point of view?

我認為您的指導可能主要是來自品牌的自下而上的指導。但在某種程度上，它可能完全受到前景的影響。前景是否更相似？或者，一些可自由支配的行業實際上開始看到更好的銷售，例如餐館，並認為在選舉後新冠疫情後的通貨膨脹時期，消費者可能會恢復更多的自由支配購買。您能否就這一觀點評論一下您的看法？

I'll start, and I'll let Lee fill in a little bit additional, but our outlook is very much based on where we are driving brand building and the impact that we believe it will have where we're driving channel expansion and where we have current distribution at the expected velocities and then where we have innovation that continues to perform. So I guess, to your question, yes, it's very much bottoms-up and less so dependent on category performance for a part of our growth or channel performance for a part of our growth.

我將開始，我會讓李補充一點額外的信息，但我們的前景很大程度上取決於我們在哪些方面推動品牌建設，以及我們相信它將在我們推動渠道擴張的領域以及在哪些領域產生影響我們以預期的速度進行當前的分配，然後我們就可以繼續進行創新。所以我想，對於你的問題，是的，它很大程度上是自下而上的，不太依賴我們成長的一部分的品類表現或我們成長的一部分的通路表現。

And we've said that before that we want to plan our business based on what we can control, less so participation in categories that will have natural growth rates. But I don't know, Lee if you want to --

我們之前說過，我們希望根據我們可以控制的因素來規劃我們的業務，而不是參與具有自然成長率的類別。但我不知道，李，如果你願意的話--

I guess from a bottoms-up perspective, I mean, our outlook and if you're talking about our outlook with regard to kind of the guidance outlook that we gave is driven by a number of factors. I mean, obviously, we've talked about -- and factors that we control. So we've talked about the promo shifts in snacks. We've talked about Baby and Kids and the expansion in formula and then by programs that we put in place driving our tea category.

我想從自下而上的角度來看，我的意思是，我們的前景，如果你談論我們的前景，我們給出的指導前景是由許多因素驅動的。我的意思是，顯然我們已經討論過——以及我們控制的因素。我們已經討論了零食的促銷變化。我們討論了嬰兒和兒童以及配方奶粉的擴展，然後討論了我們為推動茶品類而實施的計劃。

So for us, the outlook and as we think through the guidance that we gave, it implies a step-up in the second half. Again, it's driven by controllables that we have and continued expansion of our distribution.

因此，對我們來說，前景以及我們對所提供的指導的思考意味著下半年的進步。同樣，它是由我們擁有的可控因素以及我們的分銷的持續擴張所驅動的。

Ken Goldman, JPMorgan.

肯‧戈德曼，摩根大通。

It's Elsa Evans, on for Ken. So just on your full year gross margin guide, how should we think about the cadence of gross margin expansion throughout the year? Is that largely expected to be back half weighted? Or how should we think about gross margin expansion in the second quarter relative to the back half?

我是艾爾莎·埃文斯，替補肯。那麼，就您的全年毛利率指南而言，我們應該如何看待全年毛利率擴張的節奏？很大程度上預計會恢復一半權重嗎？或者我們應該如何看待第二季毛利率相對下半年的擴張？

Yes. So just the way I would look at it, we do see gross margin sequentially improving as we go through the year. So sequentially quarter-to-quarter. But as you think about it versus a year ago, the expansion really will occur in the back half. So for a number of different things.

是的。因此，按照我的看法，我們確實看到毛利率在這一年中持續改善。所以按季度依序進行。但與一年前相比，擴張確實會發生在後半段。因此對於許多不同的事情。

I mean we feel really good about our productivity pipeline, that will continue to step up quarter-to-quarter.

我的意思是，我們對我們的生產力管道感覺非常好，它將繼續逐季度提高。

So again, second quarter -- yes, second quarter is probably going to be similar to what it was a year ago with the expansion taking place in the back half.

那麼，第二季度——是的，第二季度可能會與一年前相似，擴張發生在後半段。

(Operator Instructions) There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn it back to Wendy Davidson. Please continue.

（操作員說明） 目前沒有其他問題。現在我將把它轉回給溫蒂戴維森。請繼續。

Wonderful. Thank you. And I appreciate everybody joining us on the call this morning and I especially want to thank our team members around the world for their continued commitment to reimagining our business to delivering on our strong execution and delivering on the promise around our brands. And with that, I look forward to further conversations with everybody later today.

精彩的。謝謝。我感謝今天早上參加我們電話會議的每個人，我特別要感謝我們世界各地的團隊成員，他們持續致力於重新構想我們的業務，以實現我們強大的執行力並兌現我們品牌的承諾。因此，我期待今天晚些時候與大家進行進一步的對話。

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

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。