好時 (HSY) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the prerecorded discussion of The Hershey Company second-quarter 2024 earnings results. I'm Anoori Naughton, Senior Director of Investor Relations.

早安，歡迎收看好時公司 2024 年第二季獲利業績的預先錄製討論。我是投資者關係高級總監 Anoori Naughton。

Joining me today are Hershey's Chairman and CEO, Michele Buck; and Hershey's Senior Vice President and CFO, Steve Voskuil. In addition, today's remarks, we will host an analyst Q&A-only session at 8:30 AM Eastern on the morning of August 1. A replay of this webcast and our subsequent Q&A session will be available on the Investor Relations section of our website along with their corresponding transcript.

今天和我一起來的還有好時公司董事長兼執行長米歇爾‧巴克 (Michele Buck)；以及好時資深副總裁兼財務長 Steve Voskuil。此外，在今天的演講中，我們將於 8 月 1 日上午東部時間上午 8:30 舉辦分析師問答會。本網路廣播的重播和隨後的問答環節及其對應的文字記錄將在我們網站的投資者關係部分提供。

During the course of today’s discussion, management will make forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These statements include expectations and assumptions regarding the company’s future operations and financial performance. Actual results could differ materially from those projected.

在今天的討論過程中，管理階層將做出前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受到各種風險和不確定性的影響。這些陳述包括有關公司未來營運和財務表現的預期和假設。實際結果可能與預測有重大差異。

The company undertakes no obligation to update these statements based on subsequent events. A detailed listing of such risks and uncertainties can be found in today’s press release and the company’s SEC filings.

本公司不承擔根據後續事件更新這些聲明的義務。這些風險和不確定性的詳細清單可以在今天的新聞稿和該公司向 SEC 提交的文件中找到。

Finally, please note that during today’s discussion we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures that we believe will provide useful information for investors. The presentation of this information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliations to the GAAP results are included in this morning’s press release.

最後，請注意，在今天的討論中，我們將提及某些非公認會計準則財務指標，我們相信這些指標將為投資者提供有用的信息。此資訊的呈現不應被孤立地考慮或作為根據 GAAP 呈現的財務資訊的替代品。今天早上的新聞稿中包含了對 GAAP 結果的調整。

It is now my pleasure to introduce our Chairman and CEO, Michele Buck.

現在我很高興向大家介紹我們的董事長兼執行長 Michele Buck。

Thank you, Anoori, and good morning everyone.

謝謝你，Anoori，大家早安。

Today’s operating environment remains dynamic with consumers pulling back on discretionary spending. Our business has been impacted by these trends, but we are pleased to see continued growth in the confection category and momentum building in our salty snacks portfolio. Our second-half innovation is expected to bring energy to our categories, and we are confident our evolving strategies will meet consumers’ changing needs and drive long-term success.

現今的經營環境仍然充滿活力，消費者減少了可自由支配的支出。我們的業務受到了這些趨勢的影響，但我們很高興看到糖果類別的持續成長以及鹹味零食產品組合的動力增強。我們下半年的創新預計將為我們的品類帶來活力，我們相信我們不斷發展的策略將滿足消費者不斷變化的需求並推動長期成功。

In the second quarter, consumers continued to seek value options and reduce trips. Despite this challenging environment, we are pleased to see growth within the confection category with everyday candy, mint, and gum retail sales, up 2% year to date, supporting the long-term health of the category and our strategic growth plans.

第二季度，消費者繼續尋求超值選擇並減少旅行。儘管環境充滿挑戰，但我們很高興看到糖果類別的成長，日常糖果、薄荷和口香糖的零售額今年迄今成長了 2%，支持了該類別的長期健康發展和我們的策略性成長計畫。

While the confection category continues to outpace many other food categories, it was affected by these consumer trends, especially in the last two months. Hershey was particularly impacted, given our strength in the convenience channel, which saw a notable slowdown in the quarter. While we had expected trends to moderate in the second quarter, results came in slightly below expectations as key consumer and class of trade trends weakened.

雖然糖果類別繼續超過許多其他食品類別，但它受到這些消費趨勢的影響，尤其是在過去兩個月。鑑於我們在便利通路方面的實力，好時受到的影響尤其嚴重，該通路在本季出現了顯著放緩。雖然我們預期第二季趨勢將放緩，但由於主要消費者和貿易類別趨勢減弱，結果略低於預期。

Consumer shopping patterns continue to evolve in the current environment, allowing us to leverage our advanced retail capabilities to meet consumers where they shop. The confection category is underdeveloped in some classes of trade seeing high growth right now, like club and e-commerce, which presents an opportunity to leverage our category management capabilities to drive penetration in these spaces.

消費者購物模式在當前環境中不斷發展，使我們能夠利用先進的零售能力在消費者購物時滿足他們的需求。在目前快速成長的某些貿易類別中，糖果類別尚不發達，例如俱樂部和電子商務，這提供了利用我們的品類管理能力來推動這些領域滲透的機會。

For example, several years ago, there was little to no front end in dollar stores. Our teams have transformed this space by creating new store formats with queuing lines to drive increased shopper engagement and conversion rates. Given our categories are fast moving, high margin, and basket building, we continue to see high retailer receptivity to these programs. This has resulted in our sales growing at a mid-teen annualized rate in the dollar channel over the past three years.

例如，幾年前，一元商店幾乎沒有前端。我們的團隊透過創建帶有排隊的新商店格式來改變這個空間，以提高購物者的參與度和轉換率。鑑於我們的品類發展迅速、利潤率高且購物籃不斷增加，我們繼續看到零售商對這些計劃的接受度很高。這導致過去三年我們在美元通路的銷售額年化成長率達到中位數。

Consistent with what we shared earlier this year, we expect our overall business results to improve in the second half of the year. For the full year, we continue to expect low single-digit net sales growth in North American confectionery. We have strong plans in place, including higher levels of merchandising, more innovation, and good visibility into seasons, which have continued to be a strength for us. All of this should improve growth in the second half of 2024 and into 2025.

與我們今年稍早分享的內容一致，我們預計下半年的整體業務業績將有所改善。就全年而言，我們繼續預期北美糖果的淨銷售額將出現低個位數成長。我們制定了強有力的計劃，包括更高水準的銷售、更多的創新以及對季節的良好了解，這些仍然是我們的優勢。所有這些都將促進 2024 年下半年和 2025 年的成長。

Our summer programs are now in full force, including our first-ever summer seasonal shape, Reese’s Medals, along with Patriotic Kisses, and Ice Breakers Golden Pineapple Gum and Mints. We have a fresh marketing campaign and activation across advertising, social media, and in-store displays featuring Olympic newcomer, Sophia Smith; and Olympic legend, Alex Morgan.

我們的夏季計畫現已全面啟動，包括我們首個夏季季節性造型、里斯獎章、愛國之吻、破冰遊戲金鳳梨口香糖和薄荷糖。我們在廣告、社群媒體和店內展示方面開展了全新的行銷活動和活化活動，其中包括奧運新人索菲亞·史密斯 (Sophia Smith)；以及奧林匹克傳奇人物亞歷克斯摩根。

We are also excited about our second half innovation plans, across both chocolate and sweets, including a new Reese item that leverages the success of our layers technology. We are thrilled to launch Shaq-a-licious, our extra-large gummy line collaboration with Shaquille O’Neal. Retailer interest and sell-in has been very strong and a variety of fun flavors and unique shapes will soon be hitting the shelves.

我們也對下​​半年的巧克力和糖果創新計畫感到興奮，其中包括利用我們層技術成功的 Reese 新產品。我們很高興推出與沙奎爾·奧尼爾合作的超大號軟糖系列 Shaq-a-licious。零售商的興趣和銷售量非常強勁，各種有趣的口味和獨特的形狀很快就會上架。

The launch will be supported by a social-first approach focused on content and collaboration, leveraging Shaquille’s super-sized persona, ecosystem, and following. In September, fans can visit a unique pop-up experience in New York City to celebrate the world’s biggest kid and his gummy launch.

此次發布將得到專注於內容和協作的社交優先方法的支持，利用沙奎爾的超大人物、生態系統和追隨者。九月，粉絲們可以在紐約市參觀獨特的快閃體驗，慶祝世界上最大的孩子和他的軟糖的發布。

Later this year, we will also launch a new Jolly Rancher gummy form, supported by new capacity and capabilities, diversifying our sweets portfolio into a fast-growing segment that captures new palates and occasions. These additions are expected to be highly incremental to our existing portfolio and accelerate growth into 2025 and beyond.

今年晚些時候，我們還將在新產能和功能的支持下推出新的Jolly Rancher 軟糖形式，使我們的糖果產品組合多樣化，進入一個快速增長的細分市場，抓住新的口味和場合。這些新增產品預計將對我們現有的產品組合產生巨大的增量，並加速成長到 2025 年及以後。

Our Halloween and holiday expectations are unchanged from our prior outlook. Retailers continue to prioritize seasons, given strong consumer affinity for these celebrations, as we saw with Easter earlier this year, and our teams are prepared to deliver more memorable moments of goodness later this year.

我們對萬聖節和節日的預期與先前的展望沒有改變。零售商繼續優先考慮季節，因為消費者對這些慶祝活動有很強的親和力，正如我們在今年早些時候的復活節看到的那樣，我們的團隊準備在今年晚些時候提供更多難忘的美好時刻。

Now turning to our North America salty snacks segment performance, we are pleased to see Q2 net sales growth deliver above expectations, despite a tougher macro environment, reflecting robust consumer demand for Dot’s and strong execution by our teams.

現在轉向我們的北美鹹味零食細分市場的業績，我們很高興看到第二季度的淨銷售額增長超出預期，儘管宏觀環境更加嚴峻，這反映出消費者對Dot's 的強勁需求和我們團隊的強大執行力。

Hershey salty snacks retail sales growth of 8% in Q2 led to a 22 basis point share gain in salty snacking. We are encouraged to see SkinnyPop sales stabilizing as expected as we begin to lap the consumer behavior changes that impacted the Ready-to-Eat popcorn category last year.

第二季好時鹹味零食零售額成長 8%，導致鹹味零食市佔率成長 22 個基點。當我們開始接受去年影響即食爆米花類別的消費者行為變化時，我們很高興看到 SkinnyPop 的銷售如預期穩定。

Our investments in innovation, merchandising, and media have increased household penetration and accelerated performance across all three brands. For the full year, we expect North America salty snacks segment sales growth of mid-single digits.

我們在創新、行銷和媒體方面的投資提高了所有三個品牌的家庭滲透率並加速了業績成長。就全年而言，我們預計北美鹹味零食細分市場的銷售額將實現中個位數成長。

Our team has exciting innovation, distribution, and media plans for the rest of the year, including a new flavor of Dot’s, parmesan garlic, hitting shelves right now. We remain on track to return SkinnyPop to growth in the second half.

我們的團隊在今年餘下的時間裡制定了令人興奮的創新、分銷和媒體計劃，其中包括現已上架的新口味 Dot’s、帕爾馬乾酪。我們仍有望在下半年恢復 SkinnyPop 的成長。

Reported net sales in our international segment declined high-single digits, driven by the previously discussed exit of our Mexico beverage business and planned depletion of S/4-related inventory builds. Excluding these items, sales were up mid single digits, more in line with our full-year outlook, driven by double-digit growth in Europe, AMEA, and India, partially offset by declines in Brazil and LatAm.

由於先前討論的退出墨西哥飲料業務以及計劃消耗 S/4 相關庫存建設，我們國際部門報告的淨銷售額出現高個位數下降。不包括這些項目，銷售額增長了中個位數，這更符合我們的全年預期，這得益於歐洲、中東和非洲地區和印度兩位數增長的推動，但部分被巴西和拉丁美洲的下滑所抵消。

We have robust innovation pipelines in both markets for the second half of the year, which we believe will accelerate growth. We can confidently say our ERP implementation in the quarter was a success with little to no disruption across our network or in the marketplace.

下半年，我們在這兩個市場都擁有強大的創新管道，我們相信這將加速成長。我們可以自信地說，本季我們的 ERP 實施取得了成功，我們的網路或市場幾乎沒有受到任何干擾。

Retailer feedback on our transition has been highly positive and speaks to strong partnership, planning, and execution by our teams. We are starting to see synergies from better end-to-end connectivity enabled by S/4. For example, we now can now ship all of our salty snacks brands on a single truck for the first time, which has improved demand planning and service levels across customers.

零售商對我們的轉型回饋非常積極，這反映了我們團隊的強大合作、規劃和執行。我們開始看到 S/4 帶來的更好的端到端連接所帶來的協同效應。例如，我們現在首次可以用一輛卡車運輸我們所有的鹹味零食品牌，這提高了客戶的需求規劃和服務水準。

In this dynamic environment, our investments in technology, supply chain, brands, capabilities, and people have elevated our ability to evolve and meet the changing needs of our customers and consumers.

在這個充滿活力的環境中，我們對技術、供應鏈、品牌、能力和人員的投資提高了我們發展和滿足客戶和消費者不斷變化的需求的能力。

Now, before I turn it over to Steve, let me share an update on cocoa and the important steps we are taking to address these pressures. Our robust hedging program gives us visibility into our costs and helps to smooth the impact of market volatility over time. While cocoa prices have improved since our last earnings call, they are still significantly ahead of prior year.

現在，在我把它交給史蒂夫之前，讓我分享一下可可的最新情況以及我們為應對這些壓力而採取的重要步驟。我們強大的對沖計劃使我們能夠清楚地了解我們的成本，並有助於緩解市場波動隨時間的影響。儘管自我們上次財報電話會議以來可可價格有所改善，但仍大幅領先去年。

Given what we know about ‘25, we have taken a first step to cover some of the expected inflation with pricing. We will work closely with our retail partners to implement our announced pricing, including price pack architecture, in the coming months to partially offset these significant costs, enable continued investment in our brands, and drive future category innovation and growth.

根據我們對 25 的了解，我們已採取第一步，透過定價來應對部分預期通膨。我們將與零售合作夥伴密切合作，在未來幾個月內實施我們宣布的定價，包括價格包架構，以部分抵消這些重大成本，實現對我們品牌的持續投資，並推動未來的品類創新和成長。

Our pricing philosophy has not changed and we remain committed to our long-term strategy of pricing to cover raw material inflation over time while investing in our strong brands to drive consumption. We remain confident in the long-term outlook and the levers we have to both grow our business and manage profitability over time.

我們的定價理念沒有改變，我們仍然致力於長期定價策略，以應對原材料隨時間的通貨膨脹，同時投資於我們的強大品牌以推動消費。我們對長期前景以及隨著時間的推移發展業務和管理盈利能力的槓桿仍然充滿信心。

With that, let me turn it over to Steve to provide more details on our financial results and outlook.

接下來，讓我將其轉交給史蒂夫，以提供有關我們的財務表現和前景的更多詳細資訊。

Thank you, Michele, and good morning everyone.

謝謝你，米歇爾，大家早安。

Second-quarter results reflected the planned reduction of inventory built in Q1 ahead of the April ERP implementation. Additionally, as Michele noted, we saw some incremental retailer inventory contraction and seasonal shipment shifts impact the quarter.

第二季業績反映了在 4 月 ERP 實施之前計劃減少第一季庫存的計劃。此外，正如米歇爾指出的那樣，我們看到一些增量零售商庫存收縮和季節性發貨變化對本季產生了影響。

Reported net sales declined 16.7% in Q2. Our team’s successful ERP execution allowed us to resume service levels early in the quarter. This gave retailers confidence to deplete ERP-related inventory builds which comprised 9 points of our Q2 decline, in line with expectations. Outside of ERP-related changes, we planned for confection retail inventory levels to follow a similar pattern as recent years, building in Q2 and gradually drawing down through the second half the year.

報告第二季淨銷售額下降 16.7%。我們團隊成功執行 ERP，使我們能夠在本季度初恢復服務水準。這讓零售商有信心消除與 ERP 相關的庫存，第二季庫存下降了 9 個百分點，符合預期。除了與 ERP 相關的變化之外，我們計劃糖果零售庫存水準遵循與近年來類似的模式，在第二季度建立並在下半年逐漸下降。

In fact, retailers reduced inventory in the quarter to levels more consistent with year-end levels. This, combined with the timing of seasonal shipments, comprised an additional headwind to shipments in the quarter.

事實上，零售商在本季將庫存減少到與年底水準更加一致的水平。這與季節性發貨時間相結合，為本季度的發貨帶來了額外的阻力。

For the full year, we do not anticipate a material impact from inventory as Q2 levels approximate where we expect to be at the end of the year. The North America confectionery segment net sales declined 20.7%, driven by net price realization of approximately 1%, offset by an approximate 22% decline in volume. Volume was impacted by 11 points of planned inventory depletion from our April ERP implementation, about 6 points from lower retailer inventory than prior year and approximately 2 to 3 points of Halloween shipments that were expected in Q2 but shifted to Q3. Excluding these items, the base business declined low-single digits, driven by an expected reduction in merchandising versus the prior year and weaker-than-planned consumer trends, particularly in the convenience channel.

對於全年而言，我們預計庫存不會產生重大影響，因為第二季的水準接近我們預期的年底水準。北美糖果部門的淨銷售額下降了 20.7%，這是由於淨價實現約 1%，但被銷量約 22% 的下降所抵消。銷售量受到4 月份ERP 實施造成的計劃庫存消耗11 個點的影響，零售商庫存比去年減少約6 個點，以及預計在第二季度但轉移到第三季度的萬聖節發貨量約2 至3 個點。不包括這些商品，基本業務出現低個位數下降，原因是商品銷售預計比前一年減少，而且消費趨勢弱於計劃，尤其是便利通路。

North America salty snacks segment net sales growth of 6.4% was driven by continued strength in Dot’s Pretzels and a return to growth in Pirate’s Booty, partially offset by expected declines in SkinnyPop related to broader category softness. While the Ready-to-Eat popcorn category remains soft, SkinnyPop sales, volume, and share trends continued to improve in the second quarter compared to Q1 and compared to the second half of last year, behind media, distribution, and merchandising increases.

北美鹹味零食部門的淨銷售額增長了 6.4%，這主要得益於 Dot’s Pretzels 的持續強勢和 Pirate’s Booty 的恢復增長，但部分被 SkinnyPop 因更廣泛的品類疲軟而導致的預期下降所抵消。儘管即食爆米花類別依然疲軟，但與第一季和去年下半年相比，第二季 SkinnyPop 的銷售、銷售和份額趨勢繼續改善，這主要歸功於媒體、分銷和銷售的成長。

In the second half, we expect SkinnyPop declines to continue to moderate and return to growth by yearend. We expect Dot’s to continue to grow double digits behind new flavor innovation, but moderate as we lap last year’s incremental club distribution.

下半年，我們預計 SkinnyPop 的下降將繼續放緩，並在年底前恢復成長。我們預計，在新口味創新的推動下，Dot’s 將繼續實現兩位數增長，但隨著我們去年俱樂部分銷增量的增長，增長幅度將有所放緩。

Our international segment net sales decline of 8.9% was driven by the planned exit of the beverage business in Mexico completed in Q2 of last year, and depletion of ERP-related inventory built in Q1. Adjusting for these items, net sales increased mid-single digits on strength in Europe, AMEA, and India.

我們的國際部門淨銷售額下降 8.9%，這是由於去年第二季完成的墨西哥飲料業務計劃退出以及第一季建立的 ERP 相關庫存的耗盡所致。在對這些項目進行調整後，由於歐洲、AMEA 和印度的強勁成長，淨銷售額實現了中個位數成長。

Adjusted gross margin of 43.2% was ahead of expectations, driven largely by input cost timing-related favorability, which also affected reported gross margin. We expect this to largely reverse in the second half and there is no change to our full-year gross margin outlook. We continue to expect declines of approximately 200 basis points as cocoa and sugar inflation more than offset net price realization and supply chain productivity.

調整後的毛利率為 43.2%，超出預期，這主要是由於與投入成本時間相關的有利因素推動的，這也影響了報告的毛利率。我們預計這種情況將在下半年基本扭轉，並且我們的全年毛利率前景沒有變化。我們繼續預期下降約 200 個基點，因為可可和食糖的通膨足以抵消淨價實現和供應鏈生產力。

Advertising and related consumer marketing decreased 15% in the second quarter with declines driven by reduced sales in North America confectionery and international. However, consumers continued to see our strong presence in the marketplace with impressions up 15% versus the prior year.

第二季廣告和相關消費者行銷下降了 15%，原因是北美糖果和國際市場銷售額下降。然而，消費者繼續看到我們在市場上的強大影響力，印象數比去年增加了 15%。

Adjusted operating expenses, excluding advertising and related consumer marketing spend, declined 4% as elevated investments in capabilities and technology were offset by reduced incentive compensation costs. We remain on track to deliver an incremental $100 million in savings this year as part of our AAA initiative, largely to be realized in division and corporate expenses. As we shared previously, we expect the majority of these savings to be realized in the second half of the year.

調整後的營運支出（不包括廣告和相關消費者行銷支出）下降了 4%，因為對能力和技術的投資增加被激勵薪酬成本的減少所抵消。作為我們 AAA 計畫的一部分，我們今年仍有望實現 1 億美元的增量節省，主要透過部門和公司開支來實現。正如我們之前分享的，我們預計大部分節省將在今年下半年實現。

The adjusted tax rate for the quarter was 24.4%, an increase of 16.1 points versus the year-ago period, driven by higher levels of renewable tax credits in the prior year period. We continue to expect a full-year tax rate of approximately 13%, with other expense of approximately $220 million to $230 million.

由於去年同期可再生稅收抵免水準較高，本季調整後稅率為 24.4%，較上年同期成長 16.1 個百分點。我們仍預計全年稅率約為 13%，其他費用約為 2.2 億至 2.3 億美元。

Interest expense of $41 million was in line with expectations and we continue to expect full-year expense of $165 million to $175 million. Capital additions including software were $130 million in Q2, supporting our previously discussed capacity expansion projects and ERP implementation. We expect this pace to moderate and return to more historical levels in the second half. We now expect full-year capital investments of $600 million to $625 million.

利息支出為 4,100 萬美元，符合預期，我們繼續預期全年支出為 1.65 億至 1.75 億美元。第二季包括軟體在內的資本增加為 1.3 億美元，支持我們先前討論的產能擴張項目和 ERP 實施。我們預計這一速度將在下半年放緩並恢復到歷史水平。我們目前預計全年資本投資為 6 億至 6.25 億美元。

In the second quarter, dividends paid to shareholders totaled $271 million, an increase of 31.2% versus the prior year period. This reflects the strength of the company’s performance over the past several years and our commitment to a dividend payout ratio of at least 50% over time. Additionally, the company completed our planned share buybacks for the year, completed $400 million of repurchases in the first half. There is $470 million remaining under the December 2023 authorization.

第二季度，向股東支付的股利總額為2.71億美元，較去年同期成長31.2%。這反映了公司過去幾年的強勁業績以及我們對長期至少 50% 股息支付率的承諾。此外，公司也完成了今年計畫的股票回購，上半年完成了4億美元的回購。2023 年 12 月的授權還剩 4.7 億美元。

Before I discuss the updated full-year outlook, let me provide some context on the first half to help with visibility through the ERP transition impacts. Total company-reported net sales declined 2.8% in the first half. Excluding approximately 3 points of timing headwinds from retailer inventory and seasonal shipments, as well as the impact of a shorter Easter, the base business was up slightly, approximately half a point below our expectations.

在討論更新後的全年展望之前，讓我提供一些有關上半年的背景信息，以幫助了解 ERP 轉型影響。上半年公司報告的淨銷售總額下降了 2.8%。排除零售商庫存和季節性發貨帶來的約 3 個點的時間阻力，以及復活節縮短的影響，基本業務略有增長，比我們的預期低約半個點。

Confection consumption in Q2 slowed more than we had planned, offsetting the slight outperformance versus expectations we saw in Q1. For the full year, we are narrowing our net sales outlook to approximately 2% as we adjust our category outlook for the softer trends observed across snacking recently. However, consistent with our prior outlook, we expect an acceleration in our performance in the second half across all three segments.

第二季的糖果消費放緩幅度超過我們的計劃，抵消了第一季略高於我們預期的表現。就全年而言，我們根據最近觀察到的零食產業疲軟趨勢調整品類前景，因此將淨銷售額預期縮小至 2% 左右。然而，與我們先前的展望一致，我們預計下半年所有三個細分市場的業績都會加速。

As Michele discussed, this reflects our strong innovation and merchandising plans, as well as greater contribution from seasons. We are also lapping the onset of several headwinds from last summer, including merchandising reductions at a key retailer, softness in the Ready-to-Eat popcorn category, and the planned exit of the dairy business in Mexico.

正如米歇爾所討論的，這反映了我們強大的創新和銷售計劃，以及季節的更大貢獻。我們也應對去年夏天以來出現的一些不利因素，包括一家主要零售商的商品減少、即食爆米花類別的疲軟以及墨西哥乳製品業務的計劃退出。

Lastly, we have a strong visibility, approximately 4 points of second half net sales growth, that relates to shipment timing and two extra shipping days. Our recently announced pricing is expected to primarily benefit 2025 and have minimal impact on 2024.

最後，我們有很強的可見性，下半年淨銷售額增長約 4 個百分點，這與發貨時間和兩個額外的發貨天數有關。我們最近宣布的定價預計主要有利於 2025 年，對 2024 年影響最小。

Adjusted earnings per share declined 12.5% in the first half as lower sales, gross margin declines, higher capability and technology investments, and a higher tax rate year over year were partially offset by reduced SG&A related to lower sales and reduced incentive cost. Our full-year EPS is now expected to be down slightly, driven by the reduction in our top-line outlook to the low end of our previous range.

上半年調整後每股收益下降12.5%，原因是銷售額下降、毛利率下降、能力和技術投資增加以及稅率同比上升，但銷售下降和激勵成本下降導致的銷售管理及行政費用(SG&A) 減少部分抵消了這一影響。由於我們將營收預期下調至先前區間的低端，我們預計全年每股收益將小幅下降。

With that, I will turn it back to Michele for closing remarks.

接下來，我將把它轉回給米歇爾做總結發言。

Thanks, Steve. We have a strong track record of adapting when there are changes in the business environment and succeeding long term. With strong brands in growing categories, a highly efficient and agile supply chain, advanced capabilities in analytics, media, category management and sales, we are well positioned to meet the changing needs of our consumers for many years to come.

謝謝，史蒂夫。我們在適應商業環境變化並取得長期成功方面擁有良好的記錄。憑藉著不斷成長的品類中的強大品牌、高效靈活的供應鏈、先進的分析、媒體、品類管理和銷售能力，我們有能力滿足消費者在未來許多年不斷變化的需求。

We remain confident in our long-term outlook and the levers we have to both grow our business and manage profitability over time.

我們對我們的長期前景以及隨著時間的推移發展業務和管理盈利能力的槓桿仍然充滿信心。

Thank you for your time this morning. I invite you to listen to our live question-and-answer webcast, which will begin at 8:30 AM Eastern Time today and will be available at thehersheycompany.com. Thank you for your continued support and interest in Hershey.

感謝您今天早上抽出時間。我邀請您收聽我們的現場問答網路廣播，該廣播將於東部時間今天上午 8:30 開始，並可在 thehersheycompany.com 上觀看。感謝您對好時的持續支持與關注。