Haleon PLC (HLN) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to Haleon's full year 2024 Q&A call. I'm Jo Russell, Head of Investor Relations, and I'm joined this morning by Brian McNamara, Chief Executive Officer; and Dawn Allen, our Chief Financial Officer.

早上好，歡迎參加 Haleon 2024 年全年問答電話會議。我是投資者關係主管喬·拉塞爾 (Jo Russell)，今天上午與我一起參加會議的還有首席執行官布萊恩·麥克納馬拉 (Brian McNamara)；以及我們的首席財務官 Dawn Allen。

Just remind listeners on the call of the discussions today, the company may make certain forward-looking statements including those refer to our estimates, plans and expectations. We this morning's announcement the company's UK and SEC filings in details, including factors that could lead to actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such broadly disclosure.

只是提醒今天電話討論中的聽眾，公司可能會做出某些前瞻性陳述，包括涉及我們的估計、計劃和期望的陳述。我們今天上午公佈了該公司向英國和美國證券交易委員會提交的文件的詳細信息，其中包括可能導致實際結果與該等披露中表達或暗示的結果存在重大差異的因素。

We have posted today's presentation on the website this morning. We prepared remarks on video running to the results in detail. So hopefully, you all had the chance to see that ahead of this call.

我們今天早上已在網站上發布了今天的簡報。我們準備了關於影片運行結果的詳細評論。所以希望大家都有機會在這通電話之前看到這一點。

And with that, I'll go straight to opening to all the Q&A. Thank you, and over to Brian and Dawn.

接下來我將直接開始所有問答環節。謝謝，交給 Brian 和 Dawn。

Okay. Let's open it up for Q&A.

好的。讓我們開始問答。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Guillaume Delmas, UBS.

瑞銀的 Guillaume Delmas。

Thank you very much, and good morning, Brian and Dawn. A couple of questions for me, please. The first one is on your performance being skewed toward the second half of the year in 2025. So given the strong momentum you're currently seeing in emerging markets, I'm think, in India and China, in particular, but also the strong momentum in oral health I mean would it be fair to assume that the soft start to the year will be predominantly attributable to mature markets, I'm thinking the US here and also mostly your OTC divisions?

非常感謝，早安，布萊恩和道恩。請問我幾個問題。第一個問題是，你的表現將偏向 2025 年下半年。因此，鑑於您目前在新興市場（尤其是印度和中國）看到的強勁勢頭，以及口腔健康領域的強勁勢頭，是否可以公平地假設今年的疲軟開局主要歸因於成熟市場，我認為是美國，也主要是您的 OTC 部門？

And then look -- second half, what underpins your confidence in some reacceleration? I mean is it mostly down to the current sell-in, sell-out discrepancy that will correct or any other factors you would mention?

然後看看下半場，是什麼支撐了你對重新加速的信心？我的意思是，這主要是由於當前的賣入和賣出差異會得到糾正，還是您提到的其他因素？

And then my second question is on oral health. How sustainable do you think the current performance of the division is I mean, in particular, how far do you think you are in the clinical white journey as in many more opportunities of distribution expansion, geographical rollout? And maybe a tricky question for you, Brian, but do you think you have another clinical wide in your innovation pipeline that could be launched soon? Thank you very much.

我的第二個問題是關於口腔健康的。您認為該部門目前的表現有多大的可持續性？我的意思是，特別是，您認為您在臨床白色旅程中走了多遠，在分銷擴張和地理推廣方面有更多的機會？布萊恩，這對您來說可能是一個棘手的問題，但是您是否認為您的創新管​​道中還有另一個可以很快推出的臨床試驗？非常感謝。

Great. Thanks, Guillaume. Thanks for the two questions. Let me take the -- let me take those questions. I'll ask Dawn if he has any comments on top.

偉大的。謝謝，紀堯姆。謝謝你的兩個問題。讓我來回答這些問題。我會問 Dawn 對此是否有任何評論。

First of all, on the performance, I think a couple of things. What we saw the dynamic towards the end of the year is a low cold and flu season. Actually, to give perspective in the US, the cold and flu category, the market was down 15%, it was also down 15% in the rest of the world. You may remember also that we're less exposed to the US for cold and flu, which means we're obviously more exposed to the rest of the world. That's been a benefit, but both have been down 15%.

首先，關於表現，我想到幾點。我們看到年底的動態是感冒和流感季節的低潮。實際上，從美國的角度來看，感冒和流感類藥物市場下降了 15%，世界其他地區的市場也下降了 15%。您可能還記得，我們​​較少受到美國感冒和流感的影響，這意味著我們顯然更多地受到世界其他地區的影響。這是有好處的，但兩者都下降了 15%。

So the dynamic that's created is the sell-in happened, the consumption didn't happen to the level we were expecting it to. We assume an average season, which would not have been down. So as a result, we have higher inventory levels in the trade. That primarily impacts respiratory health, but it also has a lesser impact on pain release category and also emergency specifically, which is an immunity brand in the US and that is the -- that's where that impact is.

因此產生的動態是，銷售發生了，但消費並沒有達到我們預期的水平。我們假設這是一個平均的季節，不會出現下滑。因此，我們的貿易庫存水準較高。這主要影響呼吸系統健康，但對疼痛緩解類別以及緊急情況的影響較小，這是美國的免疫品牌，這就是影響所在。

What is the confidence on the full year? We are confident, let me start there with the 4% to 6% growth. I think part of it is, Guillaume, listen, the business underlying is performing well, 71% of the business gained and maintained share for the full year. We feel good about that. We feel good about the innovation we have, we're launching this year. And we know that Q1 is off to a slow start because of that dynamic and also in the US, there is a little bit of an inventory dynamic that's broader relating to some of the drug retailers, which are really struggling right now.

對全年的信心如何？我們有信心，首先我要說的是4%到6%的成長率。我認為部分原因是，Guillaume，聽著，基礎業務表現良好，全年 71% 的業務獲得併保持了份額。我們對此感到很高興。我們對自己今年將要推出的創新感到非常滿意。我們知道，由於這種動態，第一季開局緩慢，而且在美國，一些藥品零售商的庫存動態更為廣泛，這些零售商目前確實陷入困境。

On oral health, just to say, clinical has been fantastic. We're going to roll it out and it's in about 12 more markets this year. We've also launched clinical repair clinical is really a platform for us. We've launched that in Germany and three other markets. We'll launch into more markets this year. We just launched in the US clinical enamel repair, which launched in February in the US.

關於口腔健康，可以說，臨床表現非常棒。我們將在今年將其推廣到另外約 12 個市場。我們也推出了臨床修復臨床，這對我們來說確實是一個平台。我們已經在德國和其他三個市場推出了該產品。今年我們將進軍更多市場。我們剛在美國推出了臨床琺瑯質修復產品，該產品於二月在美國推出。

So actually, think about clinical as a platform for us on innovation. So I feel great about our oral health business because it's not only Sensodyne, we saw parodontax growing healthy double digits. We saw denture care growing healthy double digits. It's really underpinned by strong innovation.

因此實際上，將臨床視為我們創新的平台。因此，我對我們的口腔健康業務感到非常滿意，因為不僅僅是 Sensodyne，我們還看到 parodontax 實現了兩位數的健康成長。我們看到假牙護理實現了兩位數的健康成長。它確實以強大的創新為基礎。

Thank you very much, Brian.

非常感謝，布萊恩。

Yeah I think --

是的，我認為--

Sorry.

對不起。

I think just maybe three things -- three specifics just to build on that in terms of what gives us confidence in half two. Brian talked about innovation. And let's be clear, innovation is working really well across all categories, whether it's Otrivin naval mist, whether it's things like Centrum Silver or the daily sachets that we've launched or Centrum Essentials, Sensodyne kids as an example.

我認為可能只有三件事——三個具體細節，只是為了讓我們對第二部分充滿信心。布萊恩談到了創新。讓我們明確一點，創新在所有類別中都發揮了非常好的作用，無論是 Otrivin 海軍噴霧，還是 Centrum Silver 之類的產品，還是我們推出的每日小袋，或者 Centrum Essentials，Sensodyne 兒童產品就是一個例子。

I think innovation continues to drive category growth and results in share gains. So I think that gives us confidence. I think the second piece is route to market. So as you know, we are investing in India in terms of our own sales force. We've also obviously done the joint venture investment in China to enhance our route to market.

我認為創新將持續推動品類成長並帶來份額成長。所以我認為這給了我們信心。我認為第二點是市場途徑。如您所知，我們正在印度投資我們自己的銷售團隊。我們顯然也在中國進行了合資投資，以增強我們的市場管道。

So building distribution is also a critical lever. And I think the third lever and you saw that in '24, we increased A&P investment 10.2% last year, 100 basis points, and we continue to invest in expert, both expert coverage and the number of samples. So I think if you look at the fundamental drivers in terms of the strength of the business and what underpins that confidence moving forward, I would look to those three things.

因此，建立分銷管道也是關鍵的槓桿。我認為第三個槓桿是，正如您在 24 年看到的，我們去年將 A&P 投資增加了 10.2%，即 100 個基點，並且我們將繼續投資於專家，包括專家覆蓋範圍和样本數量。因此，我認為，如果從業務實力和未來信心的支撐角度來看根本驅動因素，我會專注在這三件事上。

Thank you both.

謝謝你們兩位。

David Hayes, Jefferies.

傑富瑞的戴維·海耶斯。

Thank you. Good morning all. A couple for me, one on FX and one on balance sheet, I guess. So just first on FX. So obviously, you indicated that there's still this FX headwind coming through in '25. I think when we were talking to you and you're talking to investors towards the end of last year, beginning of this year, it felt like it might be a tailwind, a small tailwind, both in terms of top line and margin.

謝謝。大家早安。對我來說有幾個，我想一個是關於外匯的，一個是關於資產負債表的。首先談談 FX。所以很明顯，您指出 25 年外匯市場仍將面臨逆風。我想，當我們與您交談時，以及您在去年年底和今年年初與投資者交談時，感覺這可能是一個順風，一個小小的順風，無論是在營業額還是利潤率方面。

So just to understand what may be changed over the last month or two and whether there's some dynamic here that means that the visibility on the FX effects is something that's difficult for you to forecast until you're kind of right on top of where going into the period?

因此，只是要了解過去一兩個月可能發生的變化，以及這裡是否存在一些動態，這意味著 FX 效果的可見性對於您來說很難預測，直到您完全了解進入該時期的情況？

And then in terms of balance sheet, you said GBP500 million share buyback reloaded. Does that leave you scope for M&A? I mean in a sense, I think with the investors is that you've been looking for acquisitions, the other side of these divestments to tidy up the portfolio. Is that something that you'd say you are actively prospecting if you look at deals still even within that context?

然後就資產負債表而言，您說重新回購了 5 億英鎊的股票。這是否為您留下了併購的空間？我的意思是，從某種意義上說，我認為投資者一直在尋求收購，而這些資產剝離的另一面就是整理投資組合。如果您仍然在這種背景下看待交易，您會說您正在積極探索這種交易嗎？

And I guess to tie it into a Eroxon, you saw Futura saying a few weeks ago that they were cutting their 2025 outlook. Can you give us your perspective on that commentary? Has it been a bit disappointing and or in terms of M&A, is that a business that you think you could look to actually fully participate in and maybe sort of change the strategy and maybe improve that momentum. Is that something that needs to be done? Thank you so much.

我想將其與 Eroxon 聯繫起來，你會看到 Futura 幾週前表示他們正在下調 2025 年的展望。您能告訴我們您對該評論的看法嗎？這是否有點令人失望？或者就併購而言，您是否認為您可以真正全面參與這項業務，並可能改變策略，改善這種勢頭。這是必須要做的事嗎？太感謝了。

Okay. Thank you, David. Well, I'll start with Eroxon and make a quick comment on balance sheet and then pass it to Dawn to answer the rest. So on Eroxon, we did launch in October. I've always said this is a new OTC category with a new brand, with a new consumer behavior.

好的。謝謝你，大衛。好吧，我將從 Eroxon 開始，對資產負債表做一個簡短的評論，然後將其傳遞給 Dawn 來回答其餘問題。因此，我們確實在 10 月推出了 Eroxon。我一直說這是一個新的 OTC 類別，有新的品牌，有新的消費者行為。

So we always expected it to be a bit of a slow startup. There's no question that the early trial and results have been slower than we expected. So we continue -- we believe this is a big unmet need for consumers. We're continuing to look at it and understand what happens. But there's no question. I want to be clear, it's a bit below our expectations.

所以我們一直預期它的啟動會有點慢。毫無疑問，早期試驗和結果比我們預期的要慢。因此我們繼續——我們相信這是消費者尚未滿足的一大需求。我們正在繼續觀察並了解發生了什麼。但毫無疑問。我想明確一點，這有點低於我們的預期。

Now that said, that's all incorporated in our 4% to 6% guidance going forward. So we're still very confident on the full year. Just one comment on M&A and balance sheet is our capital allocations are very clear, invest in growth, bolt-on M&A, return cash to shareholders.

話雖如此，這些都已納入我們未來 4% 至 6% 的預期中。因此，我們對全年業績仍充滿信心。關於併購和資產負債表的一點評論是，我們的資本配置非常明確，投資於成長，附加併購，向股東返還現金。

Obviously, we're quite confident in our outlook and our cash flow tends to be increase in dividend and the GBP500 million of stock buyback. But we still have headroom to be able to do bolt-on M&A. And if the right thing comes on and it strengthens our portfolio, we'll absolutely have the capability and ability to do that. Dawn?

顯然，我們對我們的前景非常有信心，我們的現金流趨於增加股利和 5 億英鎊的股票回購。但我們仍然有進行附加併購的空間。如果正確的事情發生並且它加強了我們的投資組合，我們絕對有能力和能力做到這一點。黎明？

Yes. Thanks, Brian. So if I just take your views, the currency question first. Just a few things to say on this. So I think the geographical diversification of the group represents a key strength for us and provides attractive growth opportunities. But the flip side of that is that obviously results in currency impact and fluctuations, and obviously, from a currency market perspective, that's something that we don't control.

是的。謝謝，布萊恩。所以，如果我只考慮你的觀點，首先是貨幣問題。關於這一點我只想說幾句。因此，我認為集團的地理多元化是我們的關鍵優勢，並提供了有吸引力的成長機會。但其不利的一面是，這顯然會導致貨幣影響和波動，顯然，從貨幣市場的角度來看，這是我們無法控制的。

And I think if you look in the year what we have, whilst we don't guide to currency, we've tried to give our best view on the forecast. And we've taken the Bloomberg forward rate, which gives a headwind on the top line and at the bottom line, minus-1%, minus-2.5% and the reason why we've included that as opposed to spot rates is because of the emerging market impact.

我認為，如果你看看我們今年的情況，雖然我們沒有指導貨幣，但我們已盡力對預測給出最好的看法。我們採用了彭博遠期利率，這對收入和利潤產生了不利影響，分別為-1%、-2.5%，我們之所以將其納入而不是現貨利率，是因為新興市場的影響。

So what you see in emerging markets is a higher level of inflation but also then that results in more a devaluation or the flip side in terms of currency. And if you just take the spot rate, the risk is you don't factor that into account. Now if we were still forecasting on a spot rate basis, that would be 0.5% impact -- negative 0.5% impact from revenue, but 1% impact on the bottom line.

因此，你在新興市場看到的是更高的通貨膨脹率，但這也導致了貨幣貶值或相反的情況。如果你只採用現貨匯率，風險就在於你沒有考慮到這一點。現在，如果我們仍然以現貨匯率為基礎進行預測，那麼影響將是 0.5%——對收入產生負 0.5% 的影響，但對底線產生 1% 的影響。

The other thing to say for this year, if you remember what happened in '24, we saw a large negative impact in Q3. So if I look at the weighting of the ForEx impact this year, we expect a bigger drag in the first half versus the second half.

關於今年要說的另一件事是，如果你還記得 24 年發生的事情，我們在第三季看到了巨大的負面影響。因此，如果我看今年外匯影響的權重，我們預計上半年的拖累將比下半年更大。

Having said all of that, look, we recognize the frustration around currency and as we said, whilst we don't control currency markets, we are looking at what are different options. So how can we reduce this? How can we mitigate this? And this is around strategic choices. So things such as supply chain footprint, supply chain optimization, investment choices in different markets, pricing strategy with inflation and process optimization so that we can match more closely revenues and costs.

話雖如此，我們認識到貨幣方面的挫折感，正如我們所說的，雖然我們不控制貨幣市場，但我們正在尋找不同的選擇。那我們要如何才能減少這種情況呢？我們如何才能緩解這種情況？這是關於戰略選擇的問題。因此，供應鏈足跡、供應鏈優化、不同市場的投資選擇、通貨膨脹的定價策略和流程優化等事項，使我們能夠更緊密地匹配收入和成本。

So that's kind of the currency piece probably just one other thing to say on the balance sheet, obviously, every year, every year, we do an exercise where we look at what's the available capital that we have and what's the most optimal use of that capital. And actually, if you look at the track record over the last few years to be really good in terms of capital allocation.

因此，這就像貨幣部分，可能只是資產負債表上要說的另一件事，顯然，每年，每年，我們都會進行一項練習，看看我們擁有多少可用資本，以及如何最優化地利用這些資本。實際上，如果你看一下過去幾年的業績記錄，你會發現資本配置方面確實非常好。

We obviously did that exercise this year. We thought the most optimal use of that cash was to return GBP500 million surplus cash to shareholders. And to Brian's point, given that we have strong free cash flow in the business, and this remains a key focus for us moving forward. That enables us also, that gives us optionality should there be an opportunity in terms of bolt-on M&A.

我們今年顯然進行了那項演習。我們認為，這筆現金的最佳用途是向股東返還 5 億英鎊的盈餘現金。正如布萊恩所說，鑑於我們的業務擁有強勁的自由現金流，這仍然是我們未來發展的重點。這也使我們在有附加併購機會時具有選擇權。

That's great, thank you.

太好了，謝謝。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Rashad Kawan, Morgan Stanley.

摩根士丹利的 Rashad Kawan。

Hey, good morning, Brian and Dawn. Thanks for taking my questions. Just a couple from me. So first one, if I can ask about VMS, obviously high single-digit growth in 2024. How do you see the category from here? Do you feel like outside of the emergency volatility, it's back to where you expected it to be a few years ago back at your CMD? And maybe talk a little bit about the innovation pipeline that you have there.

嘿，早上好，布萊恩和道恩。感謝您回答我的問題。距離我只有幾對。首先，如果我可以問 VMS，那麼到 2024 年顯然會達到高個位數成長。您從這裡如何看待這個類別？您是否覺得，除了緊急波動之外，情況已經回到了您幾年前在 CMD 所預期的水平？也許您可以稍微談談您那裡的創新管道。

And then second question, just again on the second half waiting point. I know you flagged inventory revaluation. I think is part of the reason why maybe profit growth will be second half weighted. I mean I don't recall that being discussed last year. So can you remind us of what that relates to and how much of a benefit it was last year and how that impacts the base this year? Thank you.

然後是第二個問題，再次討論下半場的等待點。我知道您標記了庫存重估。我認為這可能是利潤成長將在下半年加權的原因之一。我的意思是我不記得去年討論過這個問題。那麼，您能否提醒我們這與什麼有關，以及去年帶來了多少好處，以及對今年的基礎有何影響？謝謝。

Great. Thanks, Rashad. I'll take the VMS question, I'll pass it to Dawn on inventory reval and the saving across the year. So yeah, I do believe that the VMS category is back to kind of where we would have expected it to be when we initially had our Capital Markets Day, which was three days after Russia invaded Ukraine, and the entire world changed and inflation came in and obviously, there was other spikes in COVID and all that kind of stuff.

偉大的。謝謝，拉沙德。我將回答 VMS 問題，並將其傳遞給 Dawn，討論庫存評估和全年節省的情況。所以，是的，我確實相信 VMS 類別已經回到了我們最初舉辦資本市場日時預期的水平，當時正值俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭三天后，整個世界發生了變化，通貨膨脹開始出現，顯然，COVID 疫情也出現了其他高峰，諸如此類的事情。

So I think the category is back. You're right, though, that emergency is a brand that's performed well for us. It's a great subcategory, but it does have a bit of a seasonal element to it. we certainly saw that with the extreme spikes and emergency during COVID and during the different variants and stuff.

所以我認為這個類別又回來了。不過，您說得對，緊急情況對我們來說是一個表現良好的品牌。這是一個很棒的子類別，但它確實帶有一點季節性元素。我們確實看到了 COVID 期間以及不同變體和情況期間的極端峰值和緊急情況。

So outside of that, piece of seasonality. We feel good about that business. And as we've always said, we have a very unique asset in Centrum being really the only global VMS brand in the world in over 68 countries, fantastic footprint in China with Caltrate and Centrum. So we feel good about that category, and we feel like it's in a more stable place where we would expect it to be outside of that bit of seasonality. Dawn?

除此之外，還有季節性因素。我們對那項業務感覺良好。正如我們一直所說的那樣，善存 (Centrum) 是我們非常獨特的資產，它是全球唯一的 VMS 品牌，業務遍及 68 多個國家，在中國，Caltrate 和 Centrum 也擁有巨大的影響力。因此，我們對該類別感到滿意，我們覺得它處於更穩定的位置，我們預計它不會受到季節性的影響。黎明？

Yeah, so I think in terms of first half, second half weighting, two factors on that. One, we've obviously talked about the seasonality impact in terms of cough, cold and flu. That's the first impact in terms of first half, second half on the bottom line.

是的，所以我認為就上半年和下半年的權重而言，有兩個因素。首先，我們顯然已經討論了季節性對咳嗽、感冒和流感的影響。這是對上半年和下半年底線的第一個影響。

Second impact, as you've said, is inventory -- inventory valuation. And I think what's important on this, is that we are confident in delivering the full year guidance as we've laid out for this year. And any lapping impact in terms of inventory valuation is baked into that guidance. So that's the first thing to say.

正如您所說，第二個影響是庫存——庫存估價。我認為重要的是，我們有信心實現我們為今年設定的全年指導目標。庫存估值方面的任何重疊影響都已納入該指導之中。這是我要說的第一件事。

The reason why we're calling it out is because it impacts the phasing because it was a benefit in the first half of last year. And just to give you some context, we haven't done inventory revaluation since the demerger. So 2024 was the first year that we did it. If you think about where inflation has come from in years '22, '23 inflation was higher. So obviously, it does have an impact in the year.

我們之所以指出這一點，是因為它會影響分階段實施，因為它是去年上半年的福利。為了給您一些背景信息，自拆分以來我們還沒有進行過庫存重估。所以 2024 年是我們第一次這樣做。如果你思考一下 2022 年和 2023 年通貨膨脹的來源，你會發現通貨膨脹率更高。顯然，它確實會對今年產生影響。

Moving forward, this is something that we will do annually each year and we have done in '25 and there's a minimal impact. But as I said, I think what's the most important thing is that we are confident in the guidance of this year.

展望未來，這是我們每年都會做的事情，我們在 25 年就已經這樣做了，而且影響很小。但正如我所說，我認為最重要的是我們對今年的指導充滿信心。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Chris Pitcher, Redburn.

克里斯皮徹，雷德伯恩。

Thanks very much. A general question, please. I mean you're talking about retailer stock levels and things like cold and flu. But could you just give us a sense more broadly across the retail landscape in the US? Because we're hearing from lots of HPC companies that the shipments are perhaps lagging underlying demand. Is there something a bit more deep seated in terms of your customers looking to save on cash? Have they become a bit more conservative on the consumer?

非常感謝。請問一個一般性問題。我的意思是你談論的是零售商的庫存水平以及感冒和流感之類的事情。但您能否更廣泛地向我們介紹美國的零售業狀況？因為我們從許多 HPC 公司聽說，出貨量可能落後於潛在需求。對於您的客戶來說，他們想要節省現金，這其中是否存在更深層的原因？他們在消費者議題上是否變得更保守了？

And then a question for Dawn. There's a good performance on working capital. Now that you've been there a bit. How big an opportunity do you see in terms of working capital efficiencies to drive out? I know this is the last year of the operating efficiency program, but is there more to go for there? And if there is, could you help quantify it? Thanks.

然後問 Dawn 一個問題。營運資金表現良好。現在你已經去過那裡一段時間了。您認為在提高營運資本效率方面還有多大的機會？我知道這是營運效率計畫的最後一年，但還有更多的工作要做嗎？如果有的話，您能幫忙量化一下嗎？謝謝。

Great. Thanks for the questions, Chris. I'll take the first question on US retail environment, and then I'll pass it over to Dawn. Listen, I think there are a couple of retailers that are struggling in the US in the drug channel openly. And we do see some more pressure on inventory levels there. They have full year results, at the end of February, they're managing their full year results. So I don't think there's anything particularly deeper seated there or a massive shift happening. But I think we just have a couple of retailers that are struggling a bit more, and they're working to manage their cash.

偉大的。謝謝你的提問，克里斯。我將回答有關美國零售環境的第一個問題，然後將其交給 Dawn。聽著，我認為美國有幾家零售商在藥品管道上公開陷入困境。我們確實看到那裡的庫存水準面臨更多壓力。他們有全年業績，二月​​底，他們正在管理全年業績。所以我不認為這裡面存在著什麼特別深層的東西，或是正在發生巨大的轉變。但我認為，我們只有少數零售商面臨更大的困難，他們正在努力管理現金。

The bigger impact for us is a seasonality impact versus that, but that is something that we're not immune to either. But ultimately, it's a seasonality impact, which impacts those primarily respiratory, but there's a couple of other categories that I pointed out. Dawn?

對我們來說，更大的影響是季節性的影響，但我們也無法倖免。但最終，這是一種季節性影響，主要影響呼吸系統，但還有我指出的其他幾個類別。黎明？

Yeah. I think on working capital, look, I think we made really good progress in '24. We improved working capital by 13 days and a portion of that is driven by reduction in inventory. I think the opportunity on working capital, there's still a large opportunity, whether it's around payment terms with suppliers, whether it's around optimizing receivable days in terms of our processes around cash collection.

是的。我認為，就營運資金而言，我們在 24 年取得了非常好的進展。我們將營運資金提高了 13 天，其中一部分是由於庫存減少。我認為營運資本的機會仍然存在很大的機會，無論是圍繞與供應商的付款條件，還是圍繞現金收款流程優化應收帳款天數。

And I'd say the biggest area is inventory. Whether it's around optimizing our demand planning, our supply chain planning, processes, our supply footprint or whether it's around the number of SKUs and formulations that we have, I think there's actually a big opportunity across the piece, and that's something that like we did in '24, we will continue to focus on to unlock that opportunity.

我認為最大的領域是庫存。無論是優化我們的需求計劃、供應鏈計劃、流程、供應足跡，還是優化我們擁有的 SKU 和配方數量，我認為實際上整個領域都存在著巨大的機會，就像我們在 24 年所做的那樣，我們將繼續專注於釋放這一機會。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Tom Sykes, Deutsche Bank.

德意志銀行的湯姆‧賽克斯。

Yeah, morning. Thank you. A couple of questions. One, just firstly, as you've taken over full ownership or increased ownership of the China JV, is there anything in terms of accounting or oversight or so that you would pick out as something different to when you had a lower level of ownership at all? And really at the reval -- inventory reval, can you say anything geographically, is any of that in China, please?

是的，早安。謝謝。有幾個問題。首先，既然您已經接管了中國合資企業的全部所有權或增加了所有權，那麼在會計或監督方面，您是否會發現與您擁有較低所有權時相比有什麼不同？實際上，在庫存評估方面，您能否從地理位置上說一下，其中有任何一個是在中國嗎？

And then just on M&A and perhaps the innovation cycle that you have. You're obviously doing very well in oral and you're doing well in product, which is more a want rather than a need, and so therefore, when you think about your M&A, is it going to be focused and innovation? Is it focused on sort of health if you like or is it focused more on more regular consumer purchases such as oral maybe VMS, functional nutrition, et cetera?

然後只是關於併購以及你們所擁有的創新周期。你們在口語方面顯然做得很好，在產品方面也做得很好，這更多的是一種願望而不是需要，因此，當你考慮併購時，它會集中精力並進行創新嗎？如果您願意的話，它是否專注於某種健康，或者它是否更側重於更常規的消費者購買，例如口服 VMS、功能性營養等等？

Okay. Thanks for the question. Maybe a couple of things. Let me comment on the China JV. You had a question related to China JV, I think on inventory revaluation and there's an impact there. And then I'll just comment and I'll ask Dawn to comment on that, and then I'll come back on the question.

好的。謝謝你的提問。也許有幾件事。讓我對中國合資企業發表評論。您有一個與中國合資企業有關的問題，我認為這與庫存重估有關，並且會產生影響。然後我會發表評論，並請 Dawn 對此發表評論，然後我會回到這個問題。

First of all, on the China JV. So we've been -- just for perspective, the China JV was on 40% of our business in China, which was the OTC business. The other 60% of the business we ran. We own completely, I should say. But we ran 100% of that business.

首先，關於中國合資企業。因此，我們一直——僅從角度來看，中國合資企業佔據了我們在中國 40% 的業務，即場外交易業務。其餘 60% 的業務由我們自己經營。我應該說，我們完全擁有。但我們經營 100% 的業務。

The opportunity for us in owning that business, obviously, EPS accretive, as you've seen, financially, made a lot of sense for us, but also having 100% control of the business, allows us to drive a much more efficient and effective organization. Because of the JV structure, for instance, we had two sales forces that we're frankly calling on the same customers. We needed to keep that separate because it's separate accounting and things like that.

對我們來說，擁有該業務的機會顯然是每股收益增值，正如您所見，從財務角度來看，這對我們來說很有意義，並且擁有對該業務的 100% 控制權，使我們能夠推動一個更加高效和有效的組織。例如，由於合資企業的結構，我們有兩支銷售隊伍，坦白說，他們負責同一個客戶。我們需要將其分開，因為它是單獨的會計和諸如此類的事情。

So there's efficiencies that we can really -- we can drive in the business. And as you know, during these past few years, and I continue to be optimistic about China and the opportunity to have with China and our portfolio in China. Maybe just start with the Dawn, I think, Tom, you were asking about the inventory revaluation has that had a specific impact on China or not?

因此，我們確實可以提高業務效率。正如你們所知，在過去的幾年裡，我一直對中國以及與中國合作的機會和我們在中國的業務組合持樂觀態度。也許只是從《黎明報》開始，我想，湯姆，你問的是庫存重估是否對中國產生了具體的影響？

Yeah. I think maybe just a couple of things to say. I think you've obviously, what I talked about in terms of historic impact of inflation, remember the biggest impact of inflation was in Europe. So when I think about the inventory valuation piece, I think about that benefit more weighted to Europe because that's obviously where the biggest inflation was clearly from a China perspective, it's not that much.

是的。我想也許我只想說幾件事。我想你顯然已經了解了我所談論的通貨膨脹的歷史影響，記得通貨膨脹的最大影響發生在歐洲。因此，當我考慮庫存估值部分時，我認為收益更多地集中在歐洲，因為從中國的角度來看，歐洲顯然是通貨膨脹率最高的地方，但通貨膨脹率並沒有那麼高。

The other thing probably just to build on Brian's point, from a China perspective and accounting, to Brian's point, we've been running this business, so I think in terms of knowledge of the business, the control environment, we've got a really strong team there, we've got a strong internal audit team. So I think those would be the factors I'd highlight.

另一件事可能只是為了補充布萊恩的觀點，從中國的角度和會計角度來看，對於布萊恩的觀點，我們一直在經營這項業務，所以我認為在業務知識、控制環境方面，我們在那裡有一個非常強大的團隊，我們有一個強大的內部審計團隊。所以我認為這些就是我要強調的因素。

Yeah, great. Thanks, Dawn. Back on the M&A question, just Tom, a chance for me to just talk about -- I know you Oral Health because you use that example is not in need. I mean what we see is because these products are delivering real benefits. So we look about clinical white and we're getting dental recommendations. It really is incredible that we've seen in consumers really leaning into these innovations and new categories, and that's why they've been so successful.

是的，很棒。謝謝，Dawn。回到併購問題，湯姆，我只是想談談——我知道你的口腔健康是不需要的，因為你使用了那個例子。我的意思是，我們看到的是這些產品確實帶來了好處。因此，我們研究了臨床白斑症並獲得了牙科建議。令人難以置信的是，我們看到消費者真正傾向於這些創新和新產品類別，這就是他們如此成功的原因。

Listen, I probably won't comment specifically on anything we're looking at in M&A. But obviously, bolt-on is something we said we're interested in. We'll evaluate things as they come, if they strategically strengthen the business and they financially make sense, we would obviously move forward. But we'll share more if there's any -- if there's ever a moment where there's something imminent to talk about.

聽著，我可能不會對我們正在考慮的併購事宜發表具體評論。但顯然，我們對附加功能很感興趣。我們會評估事情的進展，如果它們在策略上能夠加強業務，並且在財務上合理，我們顯然會繼續前進。但如果有任何事需要談論，我們會分享更多——如果有緊急的事情需要談論。

Okay, thank you.

好的，謝謝。

Is there any --

有沒有--

Sorry. We currently have no further questions, so I'll hand back to the team.

對不起。我們目前沒有其他問題，因此我將把問題交還給團隊。

Okay. Great. Listen, thanks so much for joining us. I look forward to catching up on upcoming roadshows and meetings and please feel free to reach out to our IR team with any questions, and thanks for your continued interest and support on Haleon. Have a good day.

好的。偉大的。聽著，非常感謝您加入我們。我期待了解即將舉行的路演和會議，如有任何疑問，請隨時聯繫我們的 IR 團隊，感謝您對 Haleon 的持續關注和支持。祝你有美好的一天。