Ingredion Inc (INGR) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Ingredion's first-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions). As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded.

女士們、先生們，大家好，感謝你們的支持。歡迎參加 Ingredion 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指令）。提醒一下，本次電話會議正在錄音。

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Noah Weiss, Vice President of Investor Relations. Sir, please go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給投資者關係副總裁 Noah Weiss 先生。先生，請繼續。

Good morning, and welcome to Ingredion's first quarter 2025 earnings call. I'm Noah Weiss, Vice President of Investor Relations. Joining me on today's call are Jim Zallie, our President and CEO; and Jim Gray, our Executive Vice President and CFO.

早安，歡迎參加 Ingredion 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。我是投資者關係副總裁 Noah Weiss。參加今天電話會議的還有我們的總裁兼執行長 Jim Zallie 和我們的執行副總裁兼財務長 Jim Gray。

The press release we issued today as well as the presentation we will reference for our first quarter results can be found on our website, ingredion.com, in the investor section. As a reminder, our comments within this presentation may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties and include expectations and assumptions regarding the company's future operations and financial performance.

我們今天發布的新聞稿以及我們第一季業績參考的簡報可以在我們的網站 ingredion.com 的投資者部分找到。提醒一下，本簡報中的評論可能包含前瞻性陳述。這些聲明受各種風險和不確定性的影響，包括對公司未來營運和財務表現的預期和假設。

Actual results could differ materially from those estimated in the forward-looking statements and Ingredion assumes no obligation to update them in the future as or if circumstances change.

實際結果可能與前瞻性聲明中估計的結果有重大差異，如果情況發生變化，Ingredion 不承擔在未來更新這些結果的義務。

Additionally, information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed during today's conference call or in this morning's press release can be found in the company's most recently filed annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Form 10-Q and 8-K.

此外，有關可能導致實際結果與今天的電話會議或今天上午的新聞稿中討論的結果大不相同的因素的信息，可以在公司最近提交的 10-K 表年度報告以及後續的 10-Q 表和 8-K 表報告中找到。

During this call, we will also refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted earnings per share, adjusted operating income and adjusted effective tax rate, which are reconciled to US GAAP measures non-GAAP information in our press release and in today's presentation appendix.

在本次電話會議中，我們還將參考某些非公認會計準則財務指標，包括調整後的每股收益、調整後的營業收入和調整後的有效稅率，這些指標與我們新聞稿和今天的演示附錄中的美國公認會計準則衡量非公認會計準則資訊相協調。

With that, I will turn the call over to Jim Zallie.

說完這些，我會把電話轉給 Jim Zallie。

Thank you, Noah, and good morning, everyone. In the first quarter, Ingredion achieved significant double-digit adjusted EPS and operating income growth, driven by continued strong sales volume growth in Texture and Healthful Solutions, as well as excellent operational execution.

謝謝你，諾亞，大家早安。第一季度，由於質感和健康解決方案業務持續強勁的銷售成長以及出色的營運執行，宜瑞安調整後每股收益和營業收入均實現了顯著的兩位數成長。

Our Texture and Healthful Solutions segment delivered a robust 34% increase in operating income, driven by strong sales volume across all geographies and as well as solutions for clean label and affordable formulations. For our Food and Industrial Ingredient businesses, both the LATAM and US, Canada segments delivered impressive results. Food and Industrial Ingredients LATAM's double-digit operating income growth was driven by the stability of the Argentine peso, favorable market mix and lower costs, with Mexico delivering another record quarter.

我們的質地和健康解決方案部門的營業收入強勁增長 34%，這得益於所有地區的強勁銷售量以及清潔標籤和實惠配方的解決方案。對於我們的食品和工業配料業務，拉丁美洲和美國、加拿大分部都取得了令人印象深刻的業績。拉丁美洲食品和工業配料部門的兩位數營業收入增長得益於阿根廷比索的穩定、良好的市場組合和較低的成本，其中墨西哥又創下了季度紀錄。

In addition, the Food and Industrial Ingredients US, Canada segment, a business that has delivered very strong profit and margin growth over the last three years, demonstrated its resilience and exceeded expectations due to favorable product mix, efficient cost management and excellent market execution. These factors, among others, contributed to a 26% year-over-year increase in operating income and a 29% year-over-year increase excluding the impact of foreign exchange.

此外，美國和加拿大食品和工業配料部門在過去三年中實現了非常強勁的利潤和利潤率增長，由於良好的產品組合、高效的成本管理和出色的市場執行，展現了其韌性並超出了預期。這些因素共同作用，使得營業收入較去年同期成長26%，剔除外匯影響後較去年同期成長29%。

Turning to a summary of our net sales volume growth for the quarter. Ingredion continued to drive organic growth with a 3% increase compared to last year when adjusted for the sale of our South Korea business.

以下是我們本季淨銷售量成長的總結。調整韓國業務的銷售額後，Ingredion 繼續推動有機成長，與去年相比成長了 3%。

Starting with Texture and Healthful Solutions. Sales volume increased by 7% with growth observed across all geographies. Food and beverage categories that experienced growth in the quarter included savory, dairy and beverages, with soups and yogurts specifically contributing to the respective increases in volume. Batters and breadings continue to be a significant contributor to our sales into the US quick service restaurant market.

從質地和健康解決方案開始。銷售量成長了 7%，所有地區均實現成長。本季成長的食品和飲料類別包括鹹味食品、乳製品和飲料，其中湯和優格對銷量的成長做出了特別的貢獻。麵糊和麵包屑繼續成為我們在美國快餐店市場銷售的重要貢獻者。

Additionally, demand for our clean label and affordable formulating solutions also increased significantly during the quarter, showing double-digit growth. As we highlighted last quarter, across our Texture and Healthful Solutions product offerings, we are continuing to see greater adoption of our most differentiated products and solutions, which sell for a higher price per ton and generate higher margins.

此外，本季對我們清潔標籤和經濟實惠的配方解決方案的需求也大幅增加，呈現兩位數的成長。正如我們上個季度所強調的那樣，在我們的質地和健康解決方案產品系列中，我們繼續看到我們最具差異化的產品和解決方案得到更廣泛的採用，這些產品和解決方案每噸售價更高，利潤率也更高。

In the Food and Industrial Ingredients LATAM segment, net sales volumes were down 2% in the quarter, mainly due to soft volumes into brewing. Partially offsetting this weakness was a recovery in the confectionery and bakery markets with notable strength in the Andean region.

在拉丁美洲食品和工業原料部門，本季淨銷售額下降 2%，主要原因是釀造量疲軟。糖果和烘焙市場的復甦（安第斯地區表現特別強勁）在一定程度上抵消了這一疲軟勢頭。

Lastly, in Food and Industrial US, Canada, strong volumes, especially ingredients for brewing were offset by soft sales of specialty starches for papermaking and packaging.

最後，在美國和加拿大的食品和工業領域，強勁的銷售量（尤其是釀造原料）被造紙和包裝用特殊澱粉的疲軟銷售所抵消。

Turning to the next slide showing our gross margin performance. It is important to highlight that coming off of a record year in 2024, especially in our Food and Industrial Ingredients businesses, we navigated contracting successfully once again and are maintaining a new level of higher profitability, as evidenced by the steady expansion in our gross margins over the last three years.

下一張投影片展示了我們的毛利率表現。值得強調的是，在 2024 年創下紀錄之後，尤其是在食品和工業配料業務方面，我們再次成功完成了簽約，並保持了新的更高盈利水平，這從我們過去三年毛利率的穩步增長中可以看出。

Over this period, our US, Canada Food and Industrial Ingredients business demonstrated remarkable gross margin expansion delivering almost $200 million in gross profit growth as we recaptured inflation cost impacts. The work done to strengthen our business model reflects a commitment to reduce earnings volatility through expanded hedging practices and operational excellence to adapt to changing market conditions.

在此期間，我們的美國、加拿大食品和工業配料業務表現出顯著的毛利率擴張，隨著我們重新控制通貨膨脹成本的影響，實現了近 2 億美元的毛利成長。我們為加強業務模式所做的工作反映了我們致力於透過擴大對沖實踐和卓越營運來降低獲利波動，以適應不斷變化的市場條件。

It is also important to remember that the Texture and Healthful Solutions carry a higher price per ton and a higher gross profit margin profile, which also provides momentum for gross profit dollar and margin growth, as net sales for this segment grow mid-single digits into the future.

還需要記住的是，紋理和健康解決方案具有更高的每噸價格和更高的毛利率，這也為毛利和利潤率的增長提供了動力，因為該部門的淨銷售額未來將以中等個位數增長。

Now let me update you on progress against our three strategic pillars. Beginning with business growth. In the quarter, our Texture and Healthful Solutions segment demonstrated robust performance with strong sales volume growth and expanding operating income margins across all geographies. Within these results, our clean label solutions stood out, as they continue to appeal to customers seeking simpler and cleaner ingredients.

現在，讓我向大家通報我們三大策略支柱的進展。從業務成長開始。本季度，我們的質感和健康解決方案部門表現強勁，所有地區的銷售量成長強勁，營業利潤率不斷擴大。在這些結果中，我們的清潔標籤解決方案脫穎而出，因為它們繼續吸引尋求更簡單、更清潔成分的客戶。

In our Food and Industrial Ingredients US, Canada segment, we announced a $50 million investment in our Cedar Rapids, Iowa facility to expand our specialty industrial starch capacity and strengthen our preferred supplier position across the papermaking and packaging industry and to support our future innovation focus on developing new bio-based solutions for more sustainable food packaging.

在我們的美國、加拿大食品和工業配料部門，我們宣布向位於愛荷華州錫達拉皮茲的工廠投資 5000 萬美元，以擴大我們的特種工業澱粉產能，加強我們在造紙和包裝行業的首選供應商地位，並支持我們未來的創新重點，即開發新的生物基解決方案，以實現更可持續的食品包裝。

Finally, with respect to enabling growth, our Food and Industrial Ingredients LATAM segment has been debottlenecking and optimizing our assets to create capacity for new product lines. These efforts will continue to support our grind and product diversification towards higher-value, higher-margin products.

最後，在促進成長方面，我們的食品和工業配料拉丁美洲部門一直在消除瓶頸並優化我們的資產，以創造新產品線的產能。這些努力將繼續支持我們向更高價值、更高利潤的產品進行研磨和產品多樣化。

Turning to our second pillar, cost competitiveness through operational excellence. We are on track to meet or exceed our cost to compete program target of $50 million in run rate savings by the end of 2025, and we will provide a more detailed update on the program's progress later this year. Value-creating network optimization and simplification projects are actively continuing.

談到我們的第二個支柱，透過卓越的營運實現成本競爭力。我們預計在 2025 年底前達到或超過競爭成本計劃目標，即節省 5000 萬美元的運行率，我們將在今年稍後提供有關該計劃進展的更詳細更新。創造價值的網路優化和簡化項目正在積極繼續進行。

In the quarter, we ceased operations at two smaller plants and are continuing our engineering and construction upgrades at two of our largest and most important plants to pursue a more profitable mix of demand from our customers.

本季度，我們停止了兩家較小工廠的運營，並繼續對兩家最大、最重要的工廠進行工程和施工升級，以滿足客戶更有利可圖的需求。

Moving to our last pillar, our people-centric performance-based growth culture. I'm proud to share several significant recognitions our company received throughout quarter one. For the 15th time, we were named to Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies list. This prestigious recognition underscores our unwavering commitment to excellence and the respect we have earned from peers and stakeholders.

轉到我們的最後一根支柱，即以人為本、基於績效的成長文化。我很自豪地與大家分享我們公司在第一季獲得的幾項重要認可。我們第十五次被《財星》雜誌評為全球最受讚賞公司之一。這項殊榮彰顯了我們對卓越的堅定承諾以及我們贏得同行和利害關係人的尊重。

Additionally, Ethisphere named us as one of the world's most ethical companies for the 11 year, reflecting our global team's deep commitment to leading with integrity and prioritizing ethics across our organization. Furthermore, Barron's recognized us for the second time on its 100 most sustainable companies in the US list, highlighting our ongoing dedication to sustainability and our efforts to create a positive impact on the environment.

此外，道德村協會連續第 11 年將我們評為全球最具商業道德的公司之一，這體現了我們全球團隊對誠信領導和在整個組織內優先考慮道德的堅定承諾。此外，《巴倫周刊》第二次將我們列入美國 100 家最具永續發展能力的公司名單，突顯了我們對永續發展的持續奉獻以及為環境產生積極影響的努力。

These achievements are a direct result of the hard work and dedication of our global teams who continuously strive to live our values and advance our purpose.

這些成就直接歸功於我們全球團隊的辛勤工作和奉獻，他們不斷努力實現我們的價值觀並推進我們的目標。

The current tariffs announced and effective as of the end of April had little impact in the first quarter and are expected to have minimal impact on our business for the balance of the year. We are reassured by the fact that the vast majority of our products are made locally and sold locally. Our teams are actively monitoring all aspects of the evolving US and global trade environment, and we will continue to provide updates during future earnings calls.

截至 4 月底宣布並生效的現行關稅對第一季影響不大，預計對我們今年剩餘時間的業務影響也將微乎其微。我們感到放心的是，我們的絕大多數產品都是在當地生產和銷售的。我們的團隊正在積極關注不斷變化的美國和全球貿易環境的各個方面，我們將在未來的財報電話會議上繼續提供最新資訊。

Now, I'm pleased to hand off to Jim Gray for the financial review. Jim?

現在，我很高興將財務審查交給吉姆·格雷。吉姆？

Thank you, Jim, and good morning, everyone. Moving to our income statement. Net sales for the first quarter were $1.8 billion, down 4% versus prior year. Gross profit dollars grew 12% with corresponding margins up 350 basis points to 25.7%.

謝謝你，吉姆，大家早安。轉到我們的損益表。第一季淨銷售額為 18 億美元，較上年下降 4%。毛利成長 12%，利潤率相應上漲 350 個基點，達到 25.7%。

Reported and adjusted operating income were $276 million and $273 million, respectively, with adjusted operating income up 26% versus the prior year driven by lower raw material costs, greater sales volume with corresponding fixed cost absorption, only partially offset by price mix.

報告和調整後的營業收入分別為 2.76 億美元和 2.73 億美元，調整後的營業收入較上年增長 26%，這得益於原材料成本降低、銷售量增加以及相應的固定成本吸收，但價格組合僅部分抵消了這一增長。

Turning to our Q1 net sales bridge. The 4% decrease was driven by $48 million in lower price mix and $40 million of foreign exchange impact, partially offset by positive sales volume growth of $43 million. Furthermore, the exit from South Korea had a $24 million impact on sales volume.

轉向我們的第一季淨銷售額。4% 的降幅是由於 4,800 萬美元的價格組合下降和 4,000 萬美元的外匯影響，但被 4,300 萬美元的正銷售量成長部分抵消。此外，退出韓國對銷售額造成了 2,400 萬美元的影響。

Turning to the next slide, we highlight net sales drivers for the first quarter. For the total company, net sales were down 4%. Excluding South Korea's impact to reported sales, net sales would have been down 2%. Texture and Healthful Solutions net sales were up 1%, driven by sales volume growth of up 7%. Food and Industrial Ingredients LATAM net sales were down 7%; and Food and Industrial Ingredients US, Canada net sales were down 4%. Both results impacted primarily from the pass-through of lower corn costs.

翻到下一張投影片，我們將重點放在第一季的淨銷售驅動因素。整個公司的淨銷售額下降了 4%。如果不考慮韓國對報告銷售額的影響，淨銷售額將下降 2%。受銷售量 7% 成長的推動，Texture 和 Healthful Solutions 淨銷售額成長 1%。拉丁美洲食品和工業原料淨銷售額下降 7%；美國、加拿大食品和工業原料淨銷售額下降 4%。這兩個結果主要受到玉米成本下降的影響。

Now let's turn to a summary of first quarter results by segment. For Q1 2025, Texture and Healthful Solutions net sales were up 1% compared to the prior year with operating income up 34% with a margin of 16.4%, up 400 basis points from the prior year's quarter. This result was driven primarily by lower input costs, lower carry-in of inventory value and greater volumes, partially offset by unfavorable price mix.

現在讓我們來按部門來總結一下第一季的業績。2025 年第一季，Texture and Healthful Solutions 淨銷售額較前一年成長 1%，營業收入成長 34%，利潤率為 16.4%，較上年同期成長 400 個基點。這一結果主要歸因於投入成本降低、庫存價值結轉降低和產量增加，但被不利的價格組合部分抵消。

In Food and Industrial Ingredients LATAM, net sales were down 7% versus last year and down 2% on a constant currency basis. Operating income improved to $127 million, resulting in 26% year-over-year growth for the quarter. Op income margin increase benefited from the lapping of our Argentina JV's results, which were negatively impacted by the devaluation of the Argentine peso last year. Apart from the JV's results, segment operating income increased driven by lower raw material costs, partially offset by lower volumes.

拉丁美洲食品和工業原料部門的淨銷售額較去年同期下降 7%，以固定匯率計算下降 2%。營業收入增至 1.27 億美元，本季年增 26%。營業收入利潤率的成長得益於我們阿根廷合資公司的業績，而去年阿根廷比索貶值對該公司的業績產生了負面影響。除合資公司的業績外，分部營業收入因原物料成本下降而增加，但因銷售量下降而部分抵銷。

Moving to Food and Industrial Ingredients US, Can. First quarter net sales were down 4%. Operating income was $92 million, up 6% and operating income margin improved to 17.7%, driven mainly by lower raw material costs and improved mix. For All Other, net sales decrease was driven by the overlap of South Korea's net sales included in the prior year. Adjusting for the South Korea's portion, All Other net sales increased 13% in the first quarter due to growth across all three businesses in this group.

轉向食品和工業原料美國、加拿大。第一季淨銷售額下降4%。營業收入為 9,200 萬美元，成長 6%，營業收入利潤率提高至 17.7%，主要原因是原材料成本降低和產品組合改善。對於所有其他業務，淨銷售額的下降是由於韓國淨銷售額與去年同期重疊所致。調整韓國份額後，由於該集團所有三項業務均實現成長，第一季所有其他業務淨銷售額增長了 13%。

Turning to our earnings bridge. On the top half, you can see the reconciliation from reported to adjusted earnings per share. Operationally, we saw an increase of $0.89 per share for the quarter. The increase was driven primarily by an operating margin increase of $0.60 and other income of $0.17, partially offset by volume of minus $0.11 per share.

轉向我們的盈利橋樑。在上半部分，您可以看到從報告每股收益到調整後每股收益的對帳情況。從營運角度來看，本季每股收益增加了 0.89 美元。成長的主要原因是營業利潤率增加 0.60 美元，其他收入增加 0.17 美元，但每股收益減少 0.11 美元，部分抵消了這一增長。

Moving to the change in non-operational items. We had an increase of $0.28 per share, primarily driven by lower financing costs of $0.10 per share and a lower tax rate equivalent of $0.13 per share. Moving to cash flow. Cash generated from operations was $77 million, driven by investment in working capital due to an increase in accounts receivable.

轉向非營運項目的變化。每股收益增加了 0.28 美元，主要由於每股融資成本降低 0.10 美元以及每股稅率降低 0.13 美元。轉向現金流。經營活動產生的現金為 7,700 萬美元，主要因應收帳款增加而導致的營運資本投資。

First quarter capital expenditures, net of disposals, came in at $92 million. We will continue to invest in organic growth initiatives and have several significant cost saving and reliability projects underway, which will largely be completed in 2026. Finally, so far this year, we have repurchased $55 million of outstanding common shares and have paid out $52 million in dividends.

第一季資本支出（扣除處分）為 9,200 萬美元。我們將繼續投資於有機成長計劃，並正在進行幾個重要的成本節約和可靠性項目，這些項目將基本在 2026 年完成。最後，今年到目前為止，我們已經回購了 5,500 萬美元的流通普通股，並支付了 5,200 萬美元的股息。

Now let me turn to our updated outlook for 2025. For the full year 2025, we continue to anticipate sales volume growth and operating income improvement. The majority of guidance for this year remains in place. However, we take into consideration the minimal impacts of tariffs currently enacted by the end of April 2025.

現在讓我來談談我們對 2025 年的最新展望。對於 2025 年全年，我們繼續預期銷售量將會成長，營業收入將會提高。今年的大部分指導仍然有效。然而，我們考慮到截至2025年4月底實施的關稅的影響微乎其微。

For brevity, I will just touch quickly on the items we have adjusted. We anticipate financing costs to be $40 million to $60 million for the year, aligning with our first quarter run rate and more favorable than our initial estimate. Additionally, we have adjusted the diluted weighted average shares outstanding to be in the range of 65 million to 66 million shares. Our share repurchase objective is $100 million by year-end.

為了簡潔起見，我只會快速介紹我們調整過的項目。我們預計今年的融資成本為 4,000 萬至 6,000 萬美元，與我們第一季的運行率一致，並且比我們最初的估計更為有利。此外，我們已將稀釋加權平均流通股數調整至 6,500 萬股至 6,600 萬股之間。我們的股票回購目標是到年底達到 1 億美元。

Cash from operations for 2025 is now expected to be in the range of $825 million to $950 million, which reflects an update to expected investment in working capital balances.

目前預計 2025 年營運現金流將在 8.25 億美元至 9.5 億美元之間，這反映了對營運資金餘額預期投資的更新。

The incremental outperformance of our first quarter results, combined with lower financing costs and share count, improves our new adjusted EPS range to be $10.90 to $11.60. Please note that this guidance reflects only current tariff levels in effect at the end of April 2025. Unknown future changes in tariffs and their impacts are not considered. In addition, this guidance excludes any acquisition-related integration and restructuring costs as well as any potential impairment costs.

我們第一季業績的持續優異表現，加上融資成本和股份數量的下降，使我們新的調整後每股收益區間提升至10.90美元至11.60美元。請注意，此指引僅反映截至2025年4月底的現行電價水準。未來未知的關稅變化及其影響未被考慮。此外，本指南不包括任何與收購相關的整合和重組成本以及任何潛在的減損成本。

Turning to our full year outlook for each segment. We are holding to our guidance for each segment. For the second quarter of 2025, we expect net sales to be flat to up low single digits for the company. We anticipate operating income to be flat to down low single digits, as we are lapping a particularly strong quarter from last year where some of the delayed cold weather sales volume in Q1 of last year was made up for in the second quarter of 2024.

轉向我們對每個部門的全年展望。我們堅持對每個部門的指導。對於 2025 年第二季度，我們預計公司的淨銷售額將持平或略有上升。我們預計營業收入將持平或下降個位數，因為我們正迎來一個特別強勁的季度，去年第一季部分延遲的寒冷天氣銷售量已在 2024 年第二季度得到彌補。

Turning to tariffs. As a company with a strong global supply chain and flexible production sourcing footprint, based on the tariffs currently in place, we do not anticipate significant financial impact for the year. The vast majority of our sales are products made locally and sold locally. For the small portion of our volumes that may be exposed to cross-border shipments, much are US MCA compliant and therefore not exposed to tariffs at this time.

談到關稅。作為一家擁有強大全球供應鏈和靈活生產採購足跡的公司，根據現行關稅，我們預計今年不會產生重大財務影響。我們銷售的絕大多數產品都是本地生產、本地銷售的。對於我們可能涉及跨境運輸的一小部分貨物，大部分都符合美國 MCA 規定，因此目前不受關稅影響。

While we anticipate current tariffs in place to have minimal impact, we have set up a tariff response hub to actively monitor our fluid business environment so that we can work with customers to navigate this complexity in the most effective and least disruptive manner.

雖然我們預計現行關稅的影響微乎其微，但我們已經建立了一個關稅響應中心，以積極監控我們不斷變化的商業環境，以便我們能夠與客戶合作，以最有效、幹擾最少的方式應對這種複雜情況。

We are collaborating with customers on reformulation efforts to support them in their country if impacted by higher tariffs. By focusing on our customers and continuing to leverage our agile manufacturing network, we believe we are well positioned to remain a preferred resilient supplier in these uncertain times.

如果受到更高關稅的影響，我們正在與客戶合作制定新的配方，以便在他們的國家為他們提供支援。透過關注我們的客戶並繼續利用我們靈活的製造網絡，我們相信我們有能力在這些不確定的時期繼續成為首選的彈性供應商。

That concludes my comments, and I'll turn it back to Jim.

我的評論到此結束，我將把話題轉回給吉姆。

Thank you, Jim. Following our strong start to the year, we remain cautiously optimistic about the remainder of 2025. Customer collaborations are driving volume growth in Texture and Healthful Solutions, improving product mix, as we help customers reformulate recipes and optimize costs. We are actively monitoring the evolving trade landscape and have implemented a comprehensive plan, as Jim just described.

謝謝你，吉姆。由於今年開局強勁，我們對 2025 年剩餘時間仍持謹慎樂觀的態度。我們幫助客戶重新制定配方並優化成本，與客戶的合作正在推動質地和健康解決方案的銷售成長，改善產品組合。正如吉姆剛才所描述的，我們正在積極監測不斷變化的貿易形勢，並實施了一項全面的計劃。

I'm reassured by the fact that our team has extensive experience responding to external forces and successfully managing through macroeconomic uncertainty. We are heartened by the fact that we supply a diversified ingredient portfolio that addresses the needs of different customers, such as private label manufacturers, food service providers and quick service restaurants as well as large multinationals and leading local national customers.

令我感到欣慰的是，我們的團隊在應對外部力量和成功應對宏觀經濟不確定性方面擁有豐富的經驗。我們很高興能夠提供多樣化的配料組合，滿足不同客戶的需求，例如自有品牌製造商、食品服務提供商和快餐店以及大型跨國公司和領先的本地國家客戶。

We will closely monitor indications of broad economic weakening, but we feel that low unemployment and moderating food inflation will be key positive indicators for the value we bring to customers through our ingredients and solutions. As we navigate this complex business environment with agility, we remain committed to sustainable growth and disciplined cost management. This, combined with our strong balance sheet, provides opportunities and optionality to create future value for shareholders.

我們將密切關注整體經濟疲軟的跡象，但我們認為低失業率和適度的食品通膨將成為我們透過原料和解決方案為客戶帶來價值的關鍵積極指標。當我們靈活地應對這個複雜的商業環境時，我們仍然致力於永續成長和嚴格的成本管理。結合我們強勁的資產負債表，我們為股東創造未來價值提供了機會和選擇。

Now let's open the call for questions.

現在讓我們開始提問。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Pooran Sharma, Stephens Inc.

Pooran Sharma，Stephens Inc.

Thanks for the question. Just wanted to get on and ask about kind of the updated guidance. I think you gave us a little bit on your prepared comments with the share count, with the interest cost. But I wanted to kind of hone in on 2Q as well and see if you could provide any sort of color as to the segments, the puts and takes as to which ones are going to be driving strength and which ones you expect to see kind of year-over-year weakness in?

謝謝你的提問。只是想繼續詢問有關更新指南的情況。我想您已經就股票數量和利息成本向我們提供了一些準備好的評論。但我也想深入研究一下第二季度的情況，看看您是否可以提供一些關於各個細分市場的詳細信息，哪些細分市場將成為推動力，哪些細分市場預計會出現同比疲軟？

Yeah. Pooran, this is Jim Gray. I'll take this question. Yeah, I think one, as a reminder, so our Q2 guidance is against a record year last year for the company, which really included strong Q2 2024 performance in our F&I US-Can business. So maybe let me start there. So that F&I US-Can segment last year, it was strong because what we had was we had a cold weather impact in Q1 that probably impacted us about $10 million and as we were grabbing that volume and moving that into Q2, that kind of created a little bit of an extraordinary performance in Q2 for F&I US-Can segment.

是的。普蘭，這是吉姆·格雷。我來回答這個問題。是的，我想提醒一下，我們的第二季指引是針對公司去年創紀錄的一年，其中包括我們 F&I 美國罐裝業務在 2024 年第二季的強勁表現。那麼也許讓我從這裡開始吧。因此，去年 F&I 美國-加拿大分部表現強勁，因為第一季我們受到了寒冷天氣的影響，可能影響了我們約 1000 萬美元，而當我們抓住這一銷量並將其轉移到第二季度時，這為 F&I 美國-加拿大分部在第二季度創造了非凡的表現。

And so we're lapping that but still feel quite confident about that business. If I think if I move to LATAM, LATAM will be will be fine. It's just not a really strong quarter of Q2 because it's generally seasonally a little bit weaker with weather kind of being their fall winter. And then for Texture and Healthful, we really think that's still in line with our full year guidance run rate. So looking for solid volume performance, and that helps us with cost leverage. And so we think Texture and Healthful is going to be kind of in line with our Q2 -- or with our full year guidance.

因此，我們正在努力實現這一目標，但仍對該業務充滿信心。如果我認為如果我轉到 LATAM，LATAM 就會沒問題。這只是第二季度表現較不強勁的一個季度，因為從季節性來看，這一季度的表現略弱一些，天氣有點像秋冬季節。對於質地和健康，我們確實認為這仍然符合我們全年的指導運行率。因此，尋求穩定的數量表現，這有助於我們提高成本槓桿。因此，我們認為 Texture 和 Healthful 將與我們的第二季或全年的指導保持一致。

Great. I appreciate that color. Just as a follow-up, on your unhedged kind of foreign cost, I just want to get your thoughts on the recent prospective plannings. We got 95 million acres. I think that was ahead of some people's expectations. And with kind of the weather we've been hearing of lately seems to bode favorably for your unhedged net corn costs. So just wanted to get your thoughts on that dynamic. Thanks.

偉大的。我很欣賞那個顏色。作為後續問題，關於您未對沖的外匯成本，我只是想了解您對近期未來計劃的看法。我們擁有9500萬英畝土地。我認為這超出了某些人的預期。而且我們最近聽到的天氣狀況似乎對您的未對沖淨玉米成本有利。所以只是想了解您對這種動態的看法。謝謝。

Yeah. I mean, obviously, if there's some portion in US-Can that's unhedged and that will be a lower raw material cost for the corn, but it also probably means that some of the co-products will be a little bit less valuable. Generally, I wouldn't say that that's -- we try and really hedge out probably at this point maybe greater than 80% to 85% of all of our need.

是的。我的意思是，顯然，如果美國加拿大有一部分沒有對沖，那麼玉米的原材料成本就會降低，但這也可能意味著一些副產品的價值會稍微更低。一般來說，我不會說那是——我們試圖真正對沖，目前可能超過我們所有需求的 80% 到 85%。

So if there is going to be a little upside, it might be in Q4 for that. And we probably look at our phasing where Q2, we got a strong lap. Q3, we have relatively strong lap from last year. Q4 is probably where we'll make it up a little bit more as we see the second half.

因此，如果出現一點上漲趨勢，那麼可能出現在第四季度。我們可能會看看我們的階段，其中 Q2 我們取得了強勁的一圈。Q3，我們與去年相比有相對強勁的成績。隨著下半年的到來，我們很可能在第四季取得更多進步。

But generally, we're feeling relatively positive about the hedging. I think that by selling futures and buying the corn, we've really taken a lot of volatility out of any particular year relative to our firm prices, which actually lets us be kind of much more predictable in our pricing to customers.

但總體而言，我們對對沖持相對正面的態度。我認為，透過出售期貨和購買玉米，我們確實消除了特定年份相對於固定價格的巨大波動，這實際上讓我們對客戶的定價更加可預測。

Great. Appreciate the color and congrats on the quarter.

偉大的。欣賞色彩並祝賀本季。

Thank you, Pooran.

謝謝你，Pooran。

Andrew Strelzik, BMO Capital Markets.

蒙特利爾銀行資本市場 (BMO Capital Markets) 的 Andrew Strelzik。

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking the questions. My first one is just also on the guidance. I'm trying to reconcile the stronger-than-expected first quarter and then not passing that through fully to the balance of the year. So it doesn't sound like the tariff impacts are that material in terms of the outlook. So was there a pull forward into 1Q? Or how do I bridge kind of the rest of not passing that through?

嘿，早安。感謝您回答這些問題。我的第一個也只是指導。我試圖調和第一季強於預期的業績，但不會完全影響今年的剩餘時間。因此，從前景來看，關稅的影響似乎不那麼重大。那麼第一季是否有所提前？或者我該如何彌補其餘未通過的障礙？

No, no. There was -- I don't think we saw much pull forward into Q1. I think what we're trying to be is just cautiously thinking about the world in terms of how it's going to potentially change. Like if we think about what's in our guidance now, right, there's definitely going to be some supply chain disruptions. There's going to be incremental costs related to trade dislocations.

不，不。我認為，我們在第一季並沒有看到太大的進展。我認為，我們所做的只是謹慎地思考世界可能會發生怎樣的變化。例如，如果我們考慮現在的指導方針，那麼肯定會出現一些供應鏈中斷。貿易混亂將會導致成本增加。

We're kind of thinking like, well, we still have liberation day tariffs that have a 90-day suspension that comes off in kind of July 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th. And so while we anticipate there will be some negotiations, I think the uncertainty is adding costs necessarily to some supply chains. And so we're trying to take that into account, whether that be in Q2, Q3 or the balance of the year.

我們的想法是，好吧，我們仍然有解放日關稅，暫停 90 天，大約在 7 月 7 日、8 日、9 日、10 日開始。因此，雖然我們預計會有一些談判，但我認為不確定性必然會為一些供應鏈增加成本。因此，我們正在嘗試考慮到這一點，無論是在第二季、第三季還是今年的餘額中。

Got it. Okay. That makes sense. And then maybe relatedly, I'm just curious how you're thinking about volumes for the rest of the year, especially with some of the kind of consumer uncertainty that's out there in the market? Your volumes were up 3% in the quarter. The comparisons get tougher across the segments for the rest of the year. So just trying to think about what's embedded in your outlook from a volume perspective and kind of the cadence of that.

知道了。好的。這很有道理。然後也許相關的是，我只是好奇您如何看待今年剩餘時間的銷量，特別是考慮到市場上存在的某些消費者不確定性？本季你們的銷量成長了 3%。今年剩餘時間內，各個細分市場的比較將變得更加困難。因此，只需嘗試從數量角度思考您的觀點中包含什麼內容以及其節奏即可。

And maybe I'll just comment high level on Texture and Healthful outlook. I mean we still are still seeing that in the mid-single digits from a sales volume perspective, actually consistently throughout the year. We'll have some pluses or minuses. And when we look at either the LAT -- US-Can, F&I or LATAM segments. But necessarily, we're generally still looking and holding to our full year sales outlook guidance.

也許我只會對質地和健康觀點進行高層次的評論。我的意思是，從銷售量的角度來看，我們仍然看到銷售額處於中等個位數，實際上全年都是如此。我們會有一些優點或缺點。當我們查看 LAT（美國-加拿大、F&I 或 LATAM 部分）時。但必然的是，我們總體上仍在關注並堅持全年銷售前景指引。

Yeah. I would just complement what Jim said and say that quarter one of 2025 represented a fourth consecutive quarter of net sales volume growth for Texture and Healthful Solutions. And again, in quarter one, sales volume increased by 7%, with growth across all geographies and a number of food and beverage categories were growing.

是的。我只是想補充吉姆所說的話，2025 年第一季是 Texture and Healthful Solutions 淨銷售額連續第四個季度成長。第一季度，銷售額再次成長了 7%，所有地區均實現成長，許多食品和飲料類別也實現了成長。

And again, a lot of this is driven by the ingredients we supply assist with affordable formulating, which is a high priority for customers right now to get products on the shelf for consumers that are economizing. And when households start to economize, they typically eat at home more often and that benefits both branded consumer products as well as private label and our products obviously benefit from that.

再次強調，這在很大程度上是由於我們提供的成分有助於實現經濟實惠的配方，這對於目前的客戶來說是當務之急，以便為正在節儉的消費者提供貨架上的產品。當家庭開始節儉時，他們通常會更常在家吃飯，這對品牌消費品和自有品牌都有好處，我們的產品顯然也從中受益。

So we anticipate a benefit from a positive share trend in the current year. And then also, we felt that we fared well through contracting with customers that have products that consumers need. So from that vantage point, we're feeling good about the volume outlook. However, we're monitoring a couple of key economic indicators.

因此，我們預期今年的股價走勢將呈現正面趨勢，進而帶來收益。而且，我們還覺得，透過與擁有消費者所需產品的客戶簽訂合同，我們的業績很好。因此從這個角度來看，我們對銷售前景感到樂觀。不過，我們正在監測幾個關鍵的經濟指標。

One would be unemployment and the other would be moderating food inflation. And we think if those two indicators stay benign or favorable that will also help support things. On the flip side, the longer the uncertainty goes on, in our guidance, we feel we're being appropriately cautious with what we don't know in relationship to the macroeconomic backdrop.

一是失業，二是緩和食品通膨。我們認為，如果這兩個指標保持良性或有利，也將有助於支持事態發展。另一方面，不確定性持續的時間越長，在我們的指導中，我們認為我們對宏觀經濟背景中未知的事情要保持適當的謹慎。

So hopefully, that provides a little bit more context as it relates to the guidance.

因此希望這能提供更多與指導相關的背景資訊。

Yeah. Andrew, I'll just add one other color point because I don't know if we've talked about it, but we are actually seeing some very nice double-digit growth in both in our sugar reduction and our protein fortification businesses.

是的。安德魯，我只想補充一個亮點，因為我不知道我們是否討論過這個問題，但我們實際上看到我們的減糖業務和蛋白質強化業務都實現了非常好的兩位數成長。

Yeah, those two operating segments were very strong in --

是的，這兩個營運部門非常強勁--

While we group them into all other, we are seeing some really nice sales growth there and see that continuing through the year.

雖然我們將它們歸入其他類別，但我們看到那裡的銷售成長確實不錯，而且這種成長趨勢將持續到今年。

Great. Yeah, that's super helpful color. I appreciate it.

偉大的。是的，這是非常有用的顏色。我很感激。

Ryan Lavin, Barclays Bank.

巴克萊銀行的瑞安‧拉文 (Ryan Lavin)。

Hey, this is Ryan filling in for Ben today, guys. Congrats on the strong profits in the quarter. So two quick ones. We just talked about volumes in regards to consumer uncertainty. But the follow-up question there on my end is, what does sales mix look like from there in the event of more consumer uncertainty and potential trade downs? And how would that potentially affect margins?

嘿，夥計們，今天我是 Ryan，代替 Ben。恭喜本季的強勁利潤。所以有兩個簡單的問題。我們剛剛討論了有關消費者不確定性的數量。但我接下來的問題是，如果消費者的不確定性增加，並且潛在的交易量下降，那麼銷售組合會是什麼樣子？這會對利潤產生什麼影響？

And then also, you're a little more than halfway towards your $100 million objective in share buybacks. Do you see yourselves going over that now this year or are you still sticking to that $100 million? Thanks.

而且，您距離 1 億美元的股票回購目標只完成了一半多一點。您認為今年的預算會超過這個數字嗎？還是仍堅持 1 億美元？謝謝。

Well, let me tell Jim -- ask Jim, I should say, to take the second question, and then I'll come back to the first question.

好吧，讓我告訴吉姆——我應該說，請吉姆回答第二個問題，然後我會回到第一個問題。

Yeah, Ryan. So right now, I think we're -- we're comfortable in targeting $100 million of share repurchase. And obviously, I think what we really step back and look at is where is the price of the company trading and to what extent we look at that versus our future view? And are always taking into consideration shareholder return. And share repurchases are part of how we deliver total shareholder return. So maybe on the --

是的，瑞安。所以現在，我認為我們——我們願意將股票回購目標定為 1 億美元。顯然，我認為我們真正需要回顧的是公司交易的價格在哪裡，以及我們在多大程度上將其與我們對未來的看法進行比較？並始終考慮股東回報。股票回購是我們實現股東總回報的一部分。所以也許--

And Ryan, if you could just clarify again that first part of the question?

Ryan，您能否再次澄清一下問題的第一部分？

Yeah, so we just talked a little bit about volumes in the event of consumer uncertainty. But how does it look on a sales-mix perspective? Do you see trade downs? Because we've seen a little bit of discussion and trade down at the consumer level? Or do your customers really buy the same goods no matter what?

是的，我們剛才討論了消費者不確定的情況下的銷售問題。但從銷售組合角度來看，情況又如何呢？您看到貿易下滑了嗎？因為我們在消費者層面看到了一些討論和交易下降？或者無論如何你的顧客真的都會購買同樣的商品嗎？

Yeah. For us, it really doesn't matter from a standpoint of the ingredients that we supply going into private label, which we have seen growth in private label and because we supply to those customers, those co-packers that produce the private label products as well as the multinational customers, there isn't a trade down that would impact, say, our product mix and our margin structure for the products that we produce.

是的。對我們來說，從我們供應的自有品牌原料的角度來看，這確實無關緊要，我們已經看到自有品牌的增長，並且由於我們向那些客戶、生產自有品牌產品的聯合包裝商以及跨國客戶供貨，因此不存在會影響我們的產品組合和我們生產的產品的利潤結構的降價。

And one thing that's actually notable, which we did highlight is our clean label solutions, which sell for a higher average selling price as well as have higher margins were very strong. So I think you have customers that are trying to formulate simpler and healthier ingredient labels because people are equally concerned about a healthier diet.

實際上值得注意的一點是，我們確實強調了我們的清潔標籤解決方案，其平均售價更高，利潤率也更高，而且非常強勁。所以我認為你的客戶正在嘗試制定更簡單、更健康的成分標籤，因為人們同樣關心更健康的飲食。

And then our products are going into those products as well. And the quality of private label has also increased significantly, appealing to just the overall taste of the product, but also the healthier profile and our ingredients at both ends of an affordability spectrum are actually -- we're seeing benefiting from consumers trading between branded goods as well as private label and then across, of course, foodservice as well.

然後我們的產品也會進入這些產品。自有品牌的品質也顯著提高，不僅對產品的整體口味有吸引力，而且更健康，而且我們的成分在價格範圍的兩端實際上都是——我們看到消費者在品牌商品和自有品牌之間進行交易，當然，也包括餐飲服務，從而受益。

That's perfect. Thanks for the color and congrats again.

那很完美。謝謝你的顏色，再次恭喜。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Kristen Owen, Oppenheimer.

克里斯汀歐文，奧本海默。

Great, thank you for taking the question. So Jim, Jim, I wanted to ask you about your performance in LATAM. I think that was surprising to the positive for many of us on the call, particularly on the operating income side. I think in your prepared remarks, you noted some lower volumes in beverage. Can you remind us some of the intentional portfolio shifts that you're going through there and how we should think about that portfolio shift impacting your operating income in this segment going forward?

太好了，謝謝你回答這個問題。所以吉姆，吉姆，我想問你在 LATAM 的表現。我認為這對我們許多參加電話會議的人來說是令人驚訝的好消息，特別是在營業收入方面。我想您在準備好的發言中已經提到了飲料銷量有所下降。您能否提醒我們您正在經歷的一些有意的投資組合轉變，以及我們應該如何看待這種投資組合轉變對您未來在該領域的營業收入的影響？

Yeah. Okay. Jim, do you want to take --

是的。好的。吉姆，你想帶--

So Kristen, just to remind everybody on the call, right, that last Q1 2024 in LATAM, we had a pretty significant hit from the way that hyperinflation impacted the results of our Arcor JV. And so that now has -- we move forward a whole year, and actually, the Argentina peso is actually much stabler, if I can make that statement, and inflation has come down to more reasonable standards based upon Argentina's history.

所以克里斯汀，只是想提醒電話中的每個人，在 2024 年第一季度，拉丁美洲的惡性通貨膨脹對我們 Arcor JV 的業績造成了相當大的打擊。現在——我們快進一年，實際上，如果我可以這麼說的話，阿根廷比索實際上更加穩定，而且通貨膨脹率已經下降到基於阿根廷歷史的更合理的標準。

And so we're actually getting solid performance in Q1 2025 out of the JV. So the swing and that op income contribution to our LATAM segment was the strongest. Apart from that, though, the rest of the business actually still had positive op income growth.

因此，我們在 2025 年第一季的合資企業中實際上獲得了穩健的業績。因此，對我們拉美地區分部的波動和營業收入貢獻是最強勁的。除此之外，其餘業務實際上仍實現了正的營業收入成長。

And what we were trying to comment on there is that, when you look at some of the mix of the business in Brazil as an example, Andean and Mexico, we do sell quite a bit of volume into as an adjunct into brewing. And there's just ways where we can take our grind and our downstream production and move incrementally some of that volume into higher uses and so that's really what you see in the team effect.

我們試圖評論的是，當你以巴西、安第斯山脈和墨西哥為例看一些業務組合時，我們確實向釀造行業銷售了相當多的啤酒作為輔助產品。我們可以透過一些方法，逐步將我們的研磨和下游生產轉移到更高的用途，這就是你在團隊效應中看到的。

Right. That was the piece I was trying to get after is that margin uplift.

正確的。我想要達到的目標是提高利潤率。

So then I wanted to follow up as well. You did not mention in your prepared remarks the Pakistan affiliate. Can you just help put some guardrails around the size of that business? Is that -- should we be thinking about that as similar in size to like the SK business? And with any potential sale that could occur there, how you would think about the use of those proceeds? Thank you.

所以我也想跟進一下。您在準備好的發言中沒有提到巴基斯坦分支機構。您能幫忙限制該企業的規模嗎？那我們是否應該認為它的規模與 SK 業務類似？如果那裡發生任何潛在的銷售，您會如何考慮使用這些收益？謝謝。

Yeah. I think that's a fair comparator. It is similar in size to the South Korea business. And right now, we're just very early in the process on that. Part of our disclosure was just because our Rafhan Maize business in Pakistan had to make a disclosure to their SEC, and so we're just noting that. So I'll hold on any comments in terms of the use of proceeds because I just want to get to a next stage of the transaction that's a bit more firmer.

是的。我認為這是一個公平的比較。其規模與韓國企業相似。目前，我們正處於這一進程的早期階段。我們揭露的部分原因是因為我們在巴基斯坦的 Rafhan Maize 業務必須向其證券交易委員會進行披露，所以我們只是注意到這一點。因此，我將保留有關收益使用的任何評論，因為我只想進入交易的下一個更堅定的階段。

Okay. And just if I could just ask one clarifying question. Your outlook does not assume any impact of that sales being completed?

好的。我只是想問一個澄清的問題。您的展望不認為銷售完成會產生任何影響嗎？

No.

不。

That is -- Yeah, it does not. Yeah. Assumes that the Rafhan Maize business is with us through the year, yes.

也就是說——是的，事實並非如此。是的。是的，假設 Rafhan Maize 業務全年都會伴隨我們。

Perfect. Thank you.

完美的。謝謝。

Josh Spector, UBS.

瑞銀的喬希·斯佩克特。

Hey guys, this is James Cannon on for Josh. I just wanted to ask on the price-mix you guys are printing in THS. It seems like that's been negative basically since you started reporting that way. As I think about the 1% one quarter sales growth and getting the mid-single-digit guidance, like what are you guys assuming for price-mix there?

大家好，我是詹姆斯‧坎農 (James Cannon)，為喬許 (Josh) 主持。我只是想問一下你們在 THS 上打印的價格組合。自從你開始以這種方式報道以來，情況似乎基本上一直是負面的。當我想到一個季度的 1% 銷售額成長和獲得中等個位數的指導時，你們對那裡的價格組合有何假設？

Yeah. So we should see price-mix start to dampen. If you looked at price mix all through 2024 and you kind of look at it by quarter, it was probably in the high single digits. And that's literally just the year-over-year some of the lower corn values are passing through some of those firm contracts, and we have a few contracts that adjust on rate.

是的。因此我們應該會看到價格組合開始下降。如果您查看整個 2024 年的價格組合，並且按季度查看，則價格組合可能處於高個位數。而這其實只是同比來看，一些較低的玉米價值是透過一些固定合約來體現的，我們還有一些以利率進行調整的合約。

And so there now, if you look at Q1 print and probably the balance of the year, the price-mix impact will be very de minimis. And what you'll see shining through will be a great volume growth in that segment.

所以現在，如果你看第一季的印刷品以及今年的餘額，價格組合的影響將會非常小。而您將看到的亮點是該領域的銷售量將大幅成長。

Yeah. And I think it's obviously helpful to say that in 2022 and 2023, there was very strong price-mix growth in that business. And then as we entered, obviously, 2024, we strategically assessed the customer landscape, segmenting customers and looking towards a balance of price and share, and we feel we navigated that well. So you're right, from a standpoint of when we first reported the new segments, it was at a point in time coming off of two years of very robust price-mix growth.

是的。我認為，2022 年和 2023 年該業務的價格組合成長非常強勁，這顯然是有幫助的。然後，當我們進入 2024 年時，我們對客戶格局進行了策略性評估，細分了客戶，並尋求價格和份額的平衡，我們認為我們已經很好地把握了這一點。所以您說得對，從我們首次報告新細分市場的角度來看，當時正值兩年來價格組合非常強勁的增長之後。

But then the destocking was taking place, the need to balance, the need to balance share as well as pricing. But I think what Jim is saying is, we're now seeing robust volume growth and price stability. And at the same time, we are investing heavily in our solutions capability, which we believe for that business, the Texture and Healthful Solutions business, will provide opportunity for margin uplift because they sell at higher average selling prices and have higher inherent margins.

但隨後發生了去庫存現象，需要平衡，需要平衡份額和定價。但我認為吉姆的意思是，我們現在看到了強勁的銷售成長和價格穩定。同時，我們正在大力投資我們的解決方案能力，我們相信，對於該業務，即紋理和健康解決方案業務來說，將提供利潤率提升的機會，因為它們的平均售價更高，並且具有更高的固有利潤率。

Okay. And then just -- it sounds like you had pretty strong -- well, you had strong volumes there, but just what you're seeing so far in the second quarter from a reformulation perspective? Like are those conversations continuing to reflect strong demand pull?

好的。然後只是 - 聽起來你的表現相當強勁 - 嗯，你的銷量強勁，但從重新配方的角度來看，你在第二季度到目前為止看到了什麼？這些對話是否持續反映出強勁的需求拉動？

Yeah. So I mean I don't think we can comment on the second quarter while we're in it. I think in our remarks, what we highlighted was just that customers will reach out to us whatever country that they may be in. And whether or not it specifically they're looking at a recipe, design where they're trying to get more affordable, we can help on reformulations, but we can also look on where we source from, like, so which plant in what country.

是的。所以我的意思是，我認為我們不能對第二季發表評論。我認為，我們在發言中強調的是，無論客戶身處哪個國家，他們都會與我們聯繫。無論他們是否特別在尋找配方，設計是否想讓產品更實惠，我們都可以幫助改進配方，但我們也可以查看我們的原料來源，例如哪個國家的哪家工廠。

Sometimes customers may just be qualifying a different plant of ours to change the shipping source. And so we're just -- I think more broadly, we're working with customers right now. As they may encounter supply chain shocks and their costs, we want to be able to be very flexible with them in terms of how we think about reconfiguring whatever sourcing of ingredients or solutions they may need.

有時客戶可能只是想透過更換我們的其他工廠來改變運輸來源。所以我們只是——我認為從更廣泛的角度來看，我們現在正在與客戶合作。由於他們可能會遇到供應鏈衝擊和成本問題，我們希望能夠非常靈活地考慮如何重新配置​​他們可能需要的原料或解決方案的採購。

Yeah. The thing that I would say is that as part of our winning aspiration, it's to provide Texture Solutions that make healthy taste great. And there's an overarching need in the food industry right now for companies to innovate, winning products that are going to drive volume growth, profitable volume growth and that we're partnering with those customers getting briefs that are designed to help introduce products with novel textures, products with healthier profiles and also products that are going to help those products be more affordable.

是的。我想說的是，作為我們成功願望的一部分，我們提供的質地解決方案能夠讓健康的味道變得更好。目前，食品業迫切需要企業進行創新，開發出能夠推動銷量成長和獲利成長的產品，我們正在與這些客戶合作，幫助他們推出具有新穎質地的產品、具有更健康外形的產品以及能夠讓這些產品更實惠的產品。

So we've been commenting on the last number of earnings calls about the number of customer engagements, and those continue. I just think right now, it's just too early to comment or have any visibility on Q2 right now. But from the fact we've delivered now the fourth consecutive quarter of sales volume growth, driven by some of those trends towards clean label and affordability, we're hopeful and expecting those to continue.

因此，我們一直在評論最近幾次收益電話會議中有關客戶參與度的數量，而這些評論還在繼續。我只是認為現在評論或預測第二季的情況還為時過早。但從我們現在已經連續第四個季度實現銷售量成長的事實來看，這得益於清潔標籤和可負擔性等趨勢，我們充滿希望並期待這種成長能持續下去。

But at the same time, we're monitoring those two KPIs, again around unemployment and moderating food inflation because we think those are two key things that can provide support for continued sales volume growth.

但同時，我們正在監測這兩個關鍵績效指標，即失業率和緩和食品通膨，因為我們認為這兩個關鍵因素可以為持續的銷售量成長提供支持。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

Heather Jones, Heather Jones Research.

希瑟瓊斯，希瑟瓊斯研究。

Good morning. Thanks for the question. I wanted to start really quickly on the LATAM side, Argentina. Am I remembering correctly that you guys book price in Q1 of '24 to offset the FX hit? And so are we going to have fully -- have we now fully lapped that? Or is there going to be some additional benefit into Q2 of this year?

早安.謝謝你的提問。我想快速開始拉丁美洲，也就是阿根廷的事務。我是否記得正確，你們在 2024 年第一季預定了價格以抵消外匯衝擊？那麼我們是否已經完全——我們現在已經完全解決這個問題了嗎？或者今年第二季會有一些額外的好處嗎？

Well, Heather, so just to remind everybody that we are a minority interest in the joint venture. Our joint venture partner at the end of '23 was anticipating continued pretty high inflation and had been pricing appropriately, what you had when you had the new government come in was a different approach to stabilizing the Argentine peso that impacted us a little bit favorably right at the end of '23, but then we had to take more of the valuation -- devaluation impact in January of 2024.

好吧，希瑟，我只是想提醒大家，我們在合資企業中只擁有少數股權。我們的合資夥伴在 23 年底預計通貨膨脹將持續較高，並一直在進行適當的定價，新政府上台後，採取了不同的方法來穩定阿根廷比索，這在 23 年底對我們產生了一些有利的影響，但隨後我們不得不在 2024 年 1 月承擔更多的估值——貶值的影響。

So -- but generally, what you see is because the inflation rate in Argentina is still high double digits, our partner is always going to be pricing ahead of that inflation understanding that they're going to have to pay underlying wages and wage increases as well as they're always kind of balancing the value of corn within the country and the value of corn relative to sugar.

所以——但總的來說，你看到的是，由於阿根廷的通貨膨脹率仍然高達兩位數，我們的合作夥伴總是會提前定價，因為他們明白，他們將不得不支付基礎工資和工資增長，同時他們總是在平衡國內玉米的價值以及玉米相對於糖的價值。

But yeah, they were pricing. And so that was positive for, honestly, the first half of 2024, but you're still taking pricing in 2025 just given the really high rate of inflation within the country.

但是是的，他們正在定價。說實話，這對 2024 年上半年來說是利好的，但考慮到國內通膨率確實很高，你仍然需要考慮 2025 年的定價。

Okay. Okay. And then I'm assuming my math is right. But just I just quick back of envelope math of your full year guidance based on the really strong Q1 results implies a Q2 through Q4 cumulative EPS of up 1% to down 7%. Just -- and I know you say you guys are baking in some caution given the global macroeconomic backdrop and the uncertainty of tariffs and all. But just wondering if you could give us some specifics of what would drive to the upside of that and even potential upside beyond that? And what would put you at the lower end of that range?

好的。好的。然後我假設我的數學是正確的。但是，根據第一季非常強勁的業績，我對全年業績指引進行了快速的粗略計算，結果顯示第二季至第四季累計每股盈餘將上漲 1% 至下降 7%。只是——我知道你們說，鑑於全球宏觀經濟背景以及關稅等不確定性，你們正在採取一些謹慎態度。但我只是想知道您是否可以向我們提供一些具體信息，說明什麼因素會推動這一趨勢的上升，甚至可能帶來更大的上升空間？那麼什麼會使您處於該範圍的較低端？

Yeah. Let me take the upside, and I'll hand it over to Jim for the lower end of the guidance possibilities. I'd say for the upper end of the guidance, obviously, a quicker resolution to tariff uncertainty and corresponding improvements in consumer sentiment, stronger than assumed volumes that may result from that. A lack of necessity to reroute supply chains that would avoid incremental costs that are factored into our guidance.

是的。讓我來看上行方向，至於下行方向的指導可能性，我會交給吉姆。我想說，對於指導的上限，顯然，關稅不確定性將更快解決，消費者情緒也將相應改善，這可能比預期的要強。沒有必要重新安排供應鏈以避免我們指導中考慮到的增量成本。

A pickup in economic activity related to, again, more trade certainty that would improve packaging shipments, driving our industrial starch demand. A robust corn crop in both South America and the US as per one of the questions. And then lastly, a continuing weakening of the US dollar would help lift. Now at the same time, we are being appropriately cautious and I'm going to let Jim take the lower end items.

經濟活動的回暖再次顯示貿易確定性增強，這將改善包裝運輸，從而推動工業澱粉需求。根據其中一個問題，南美洲和美國的玉米作物豐收。最後，美元持續走弱將有助於提振經濟。現在，與此同時，我們正在採取適當的謹慎態度，我將讓吉姆拿走低端產品。

Yeah. And maybe what we -- we've stepped back and we've looked at three relatively significant and broad tariff announcements from the current administration. Part of those are enacted, part of those are suspended. Nonetheless, what we see is that business leaders need to react and anticipate and so this is creating movement.

是的。也許我們——我們退一步來看看現任政府發布的三項相對重要且廣泛的關稅公告。其中一部分已實施，一部分已暫停。儘管如此，我們看到的是，企業領導者需要做出反應和預測，因此這正在創造運動。

Obviously, one is creating really productive conversations with customers, but it is creating movement and sourcing. And so we do anticipate that we'll probably be holding some inventories more that will be reconfiguring or moving around some supply chain routes.

顯然，人們正在與客戶進行真正富有成效的對話，但它正在創造運動和採購。因此，我們確實預計我們可能會持有一些庫存，這些庫存將重新配置或移動一些供應鏈路線。

And whenever you rebid those, you're going to have incremental costs. And so we just are anticipating that, that activity is going to be impacting us Q2, Q3, Q4, maybe less so in Q4, but we just really need some clarity as hopefully, we get through some country-specific negotiations, and we get evidence of what that model might look like.

無論何時你重新投標，你都會有增量成本。因此，我們只是預計，這些活動將對我們在第二季、第三季、第四季產生影響，在第四季度的影響可能較小，但我們確實需要一些明確的訊息，希望我們能夠透過一些針對特定國家的談判，並獲得該模型可能會是什麼樣子的證據。

And hopefully, we're not going towards something where the Liberation Day tariffs that there's really kind of no renegotiation of all of those go into effect, that would be really at the low end of our guidance. I think we would be absorbing kind of various tariffs imposed on Southeast nations, Europe, et cetera, come in the middle of July.

希望我們不會走向解放日關稅的某種局面，即實際上沒有對所有這些關稅進行重新談判就生效，這實際上處於我們指導的低端。我認為我們將在七月中旬吸收對東南亞國家、歐洲等徵收的各種關稅。

Yeah. So -- and I think also, Jim, what we would cautiously or appropriately cautious about would be a shallow US recession. So we're thinking that. I did want to just kind of make a comment just in relationship to the lower end of the guidance as it relates to how we're viewing the tariff situation.

是的。所以——吉姆，我還認為，我們應該謹慎或適當謹慎的是美國經濟出現輕微衰退。所以我們就是這麼想的。我確實想就指導的下限發表一些評論，因為它與我們如何看待關稅情況有關。

The vast majority of what we make is produced and sold locally across each of our segments. With our international footprint, more than 80% of our manufactured goods remain local. And of the portion that is shipped out of country, nearly half is cross-border between US, Canada and Mexico, and that's shielded by USMCA compliance.

我們生產的絕大多數產品都是在各部門的本地生產和銷售。由於我們的業務遍布全球，因此我們 80% 以上的製成品仍保留在當地生產。在運出國外的部分中，近一半是美國、加拿大和墨西哥之間的跨境運輸，並且受到 USMCA 合規性的保護。

A very small percentage of our total sales are shipped out of or into the US for sales to customers. And the view we're taking is that we don't believe the tariffs as proposed on April 2 across all countries will be implemented at levels that were proposed. In fact, we're listening to the administration and they've indicated that, that was a starting point for negotiations. So assuming that is the case, we believe that the incremental impact will be manageable within the guidance that we have provided. So hopefully, that helps provide some additional context.

我們總銷售額中只有很小一部分是運出或運入美國並銷售給客戶的。我們的觀點是，我們認為 4 月 2 日針對所有國家提出的關稅不會按照提議的水平實施。事實上，我們正​​在聽取政府的意見，他們表示，這是談判的起點。因此，假設情況確實如此，我們相信增量影響將在我們提供的指導範圍內是可控的。希望這有助於提供一些額外的背景資訊。

It's very helpful. Thank you so much.

這非常有幫助。太感謝了。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。（操作員指示）

I'm showing no additional questions in the queue at this time. I'd like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Jim Zallie for any closing remarks.

目前隊列中沒有顯示其他問題。我想將會議交還給 Jim Zallie 先生，請他做最後發言。

Well, I just wanted to thank everyone for joining us this morning. We look forward to seeing many of you at our upcoming investor events with the next engagement being the BMO Global Farm to Market conference in mid-May.

好吧，我只是想感謝大家今天早上加入我們。我們期待在即將舉行的投資者活動中見到你們，下一次活動是 5 月中旬的 BMO 全球農場到市場會議。

At this time, I want to thank everyone for your continued interest Ingredion.

在此，我要感謝大家對Ingredion的持續關注。

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating in today's conference. This concludes the program. You may now disconnect. Everyone, have a wonderful day.

女士們、先生們，感謝大家參加今天的會議。本節目到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。祝大家有美好的一天。