藍威斯頓 (LW) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Lamb Weston Fourth Quarter Earnings Call. Today's conference is being recorded.

美好的一天，歡迎參加 Lamb Weston 第四季度收益電話會議。今天的會議正在錄製中。

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Dexter Congbalay. Please go ahead, sir.

這次，我想把會議交給 Dexter Congbalay。請繼續，先生。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us for Lamb Weston's Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2023 Earnings Call. This morning, we issued our earnings press release, which is available on our website, lambweston.com.

早上好，感謝您參加 Lamb Weston 第四季度和 2023 財年收益電話會議。今天早上，我們發布了收益新聞稿，該新聞稿可在我們的網站 Lambweston.com 上獲取。

Please note that during our remarks, we'll make some forward-looking statements about the company's expected performance that are based on how we see things today. Actual results may differ materially due to risks and uncertainties. Please refer to the cautionary statements and risk factors contained in our SEC filings for more details on our forward-looking statements. Some of today's remarks include non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered a replacement for and should be read together with our GAAP results. You can find the GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations in our earnings release.

請注意，在我們的發言中，我們將根據我們今天的看法，對公司的預期業績做出一些前瞻性陳述。由於風險和不確定性，實際結果可能存在重大差異。請參閱我們向 SEC 提交的文件中包含的警示性聲明和風險因素，了解有關我們前瞻性聲明的更多詳細信息。今天的一些評論包括非公認會計準則財務指標。這些非公認會計原則財務指標不應被視為替代我們的公認會計原則結果，而應與我們的公認會計原則結果一起閱讀。您可以在我們的收益報告中找到 GAAP 與非 GAAP 的調節表。

With me today are Tom Werner, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Bernadette Madarieta, our Chief Financial Officer. Tom will provide some highlights from the past year as well as an overview of the current operating environment. Bernadette will then provide details on our fourth quarter results as well as our outlook for fiscal 2024.

今天與我在一起的有我們的總裁兼首席執行官 Tom Werner；和我們的首席財務官 Bernadette Madarieta。 Tom 將提供過去一年的一些亮點以及當前運營環境的概述。然後 Bernadette 將提供有關我們第四季度業績的詳細信息以及我們對 2024 財年的展望。

With that, let me now turn the call over to Tom.

現在讓我把電話轉給湯姆。

Thank you, Dexter. Good morning, and thank you for joining our call today. We delivered strong financial results in the fourth quarter and fiscal 2023. I want to start by thanking the entire Lamb Weston team for driving these results and their incredible commitment to supporting our customers. I'm proud of the work we did and continue to do to grow our business and build momentum as we enter a new year.

謝謝你，德克斯特。早上好，感謝您今天加入我們的電話會議。我們在第四季度和 2023 財年取得了強勁的財務業績。首先，我要感謝整個 Lamb Weston 團隊推動這些業績的取得，以及他們為支持我們的客戶做出的令人難以置信的承諾。我對我們所做的工作感到自豪，並在進入新的一年時繼續為發展我們的業務並建立動力而做的工作。

Specifically, in fiscal 2023, we delivered record sales of nearly [$5.4 billion] and drove strong profit growth in each of our core business segments through a combination of pricing actions, mix improvement and supply chain productivity. We acquired the remaining interest in our European joint venture, which added 1,500 new colleagues, 6 processing facilities and nearly 2 billion pounds of capacity. The business integration is well underway, and we believe this strategic transaction strengthens our capabilities to serve customers as a unified global Lamb Weston.

具體而言，在 2023 財年，我們實現了近 [54 億美元] 的創紀錄銷售額，並通過定價行動、組合改進和供應鏈生產力的結合，推動了我們每個核心業務部門的強勁利潤增長。我們收購了歐洲合資企業的剩餘權益，該合資企業增加了 1,500 名新同事、6 個加工設施和近 20 億磅的產能。業務整合正在順利進行，我們相信這項戰略交易將增強我們作為統一的全球 Lamb Weston 為客戶提供服務的能力。

We acquired a controlling interest in our joint venture in Argentina, and we broke ground on a 250 million-pound capacity expansion, which will improve our ability to serve the growing South American market. We also made progress on major capital expansion projects in China, Idaho and the Netherlands, all of which are on track to be completed within the next 18 months. We opened an innovation center in Bergen op Zoom in The Netherlands, wherein close partnership with our innovation center in Richland, Washington, will develop and test new product and processing ideas for customers in Europe and around the world.

我們獲得了阿根廷合資企業的控股權，並破土動工了 2.5 億英鎊的產能擴張，這將提高我們服務不斷增長的南美市場的能力。我們在中國、愛達荷州和荷蘭的重大資本擴張項目也取得了進展，所有這些項目都有望在未來 18 個月內完成。我們在荷蘭卑爾根奧普佐姆開設了一個創新中心，與我們位於華盛頓州里奇蘭的創新中心密切合作，將為歐洲和世界各地的客戶開發和測試新產品和加工理念。

We launched new groundbreaking products with proprietary technologies that address customer and consumer needs in nontraditional frozen potato channels, such as pizza outlets, expanding our total addressable market. We further stabilized our supply chain by targeting staffing levels and managing through a second consecutive challenging crop cycle, all while executing productivity initiatives and upgrading capabilities at our processing facilities.

我們推出了採用專有技術的突破性新產品，滿足披薩店等非傳統冷凍馬鈴薯渠道的客戶和消費者需求，從而擴大了我們的總體目標市場。我們通過確定人員配備水平和管理連續第二個具有挑戰性的作物週期，進一步穩定了我們的供應鏈，同時執行生產力計劃併升級我們的加工設施的能力。

We continue to strengthen our operational infrastructure by completing the design work for the next phase of our new enterprise resource planning system. We'll begin implementing this new system across a portion of our supply chain in North America later this year. And finally, we returned more than $190 million to shareholders, including increasing our dividend for the sixth straight year, and continuing to execute against our share repurchase plan.

我們通過完成新企業資源規劃系統下一階段的設計工作，繼續加強我們的運營基礎設施。今年晚些時候，我們將開始在北美的部分供應鏈中實施這個新系統。最後，我們向股東返還了超過 1.9 億美元，包括連續第六年增加股息，並繼續執行我們的股票回購計劃。

I'm especially proud that we delivered this performance in a highly challenging operating environment, and I'm excited to see what our Lamb Weston team can deliver in fiscal 2024 and beyond.

我特別自豪的是，我們在極具挑戰性的運營環境中實現了這一業績，我很高興看到我們的 Lamb Weston 團隊在 2024 財年及以後能夠實現的目標。

Let me now turn to the current operating environment. The overall global frozen potato category remains healthy. The fry attachment rate in the U.S., which is the rate at which consumers order fries when visiting a restaurant or other food service outlets, was largely steady throughout fiscal 2023 and remain well above pre-pandemic levels. Servings in Europe and our other key international markets also held up well. However, the cumulative effect of inflation and other macro pressures on the consumer over the past few years have continued to temper traffic in certain restaurant channels.

現在讓我談談當前的運行環境。全球冷凍馬鈴薯類別整體保持健康發展。美國的薯條附著率（即消費者在訪問餐廳或其他食品服務網點時點薯條的比率）在 2023 財年基本保持穩定，遠高於大流行前的水平。歐洲和其他主要國際市場的服務也表現良好。然而，過去幾年通脹和其他宏觀壓力對消費者的累積影響持續抑制了某些餐廳渠道的客流量。

In the quarter, total restaurant traffic in the U.S. grew versus the prior year quarter as QSR traffic growth more than offset declines in casual dining and full-service restaurants. However, total traffic growth decelerated sequentially each month during the fourth quarter as QSR traffic growth slowed and as traffic declines at casual dining and full-service restaurants softened further. Overall, restaurant traffic picked up in June behind strength in QSRs. However, traffic at casual dining and full service remain soft.

本季度，美國餐廳總客流量較上年同期有所增長，因為快餐客流量的增長遠遠抵消了休閒餐飲和全方位服務餐廳客流量的下降。然而，由於快餐客流量增長放緩以及休閒餐飲和全方位服務餐廳的客流量下降進一步放緩，第四季度總客流量增長逐月逐月放緩。總體而言，六月份餐廳客流量隨著快餐的強勁增長而回升。然而，休閒餐飲和全套服務的客流量仍然疲軟。

We expect that near-term demand may be somewhat choppy because of the variabilities of restaurant traffic trends and continued macro pressures on the consumer, which makes forecasting global demand for frozen potato is very difficult. As a result, we incorporated a cautious view of demand and volume when developing our fiscal 2024 financial targets. Despite this added volatility, we remain confident in the long-term growth prospects of the global category and we'll continue to invest behind the capabilities to support that growth across our key markets.

我們預計，由於餐館客流量趨勢的多變性以及消費者持續面臨的宏觀壓力，近期需求可能會有些波動，這使得預測全球冷凍馬鈴薯需求變得非常困難。因此，我們在製定 2024 財年財務目標時對需求和數量持謹慎態度。儘管波動性增加，但我們對全球類別的長期增長前景仍然充滿信心，我們將繼續投資支持主要市場增長的能力。

With respect to costs and pricing, while we expect input cost inflation to moderate relative to the double-digit rates that we experienced in each of the last 2 fiscal years, we believe it will continue to have a meaningful impact on our cost structure. We expect most of our input cost inflation will be driven by higher contract prices for potatoes. In North America, we've agreed to a 20% increase for this crop -- this year's crop, while in Europe, we have agreed to an increase of 35% to 40%.

在成本和定價方面，雖然我們預計投入成本通脹相對於過去兩個財年每年的兩位數增長率將有所緩和，但我們相信它將繼續對我們的成本結構產生有意義的影響。我們預計大部分投入成本通脹將由土豆合同價格上漲推動。在北美，我們同意將今年的作物產量增加 20%，而在歐洲，我們同意將產量增加 35% 至 40%。

We believe the overall environment for inflation-driven pricing actions remains generally favorable. However, it's important to note that any price actions that we may take this year will likely be more modest than what we implemented in fiscal 2023. Given that, first, our pricing actions last year were intended to catch up to the effect of multiple years of high inflation. And second, we expect total input cost inflation to grow at a lower rate.

我們認為，通脹驅動的定價行為的整體環境仍然總體有利。然而，值得注意的是，我們今年可能採取的任何價格行動都可能比我們在 2023 財年實施的價格行動更加溫和。首先，我們去年的定價行動旨在趕上多年高通脹的影響。其次，我們預計總投入成本通脹將以較低的速度增長。

Although we expect pricing actions will continue to be the primary lever to offset inflation over the long term, we'll continue to drive improvements in product and customer mix resulting from our revenue growth management initiatives as well as supply chain productivity to benefit sales growth and profitability.

儘管我們預計定價行為將繼續成為長期抵消通脹的主要槓桿，但我們將繼續推動收入增長管理舉措以及供應鏈生產力帶來的產品和客戶組合的改善，以有利於銷售增長和盈利能力。

With respect to the upcoming potato crop, we're harvesting and processing the early potato varieties, and initial indications are that this portion of the crop, which represents about 10% of our potato needs in North America this year, is broadly consistent with historical averages. At this time, the crops in the Columbia Basin, Idaho, Alberta and the Midwest, that will be harvested in the fall appear to be largely in line with historical averages, as growing conditions in these regions have been generally favorable.

對於即將到來的馬鈴薯作物，我們正在收穫和加工早期馬鈴薯品種，初步跡象表明，這部分作物約占我們今年北美馬鈴薯需求的 10%，與歷史平均水平大致一致。目前，哥倫比亞盆地、愛達荷州、艾伯塔省和中西部地區秋季收穫的農作物似乎基本符合歷史平均水平，因為這些地區的生長條件普遍有利。

In Europe, a wet and cold spring impacted planning, which may delay the timing of the harvest in some of our growing regions. We'll provide more detail on the crop when we report our first quarter results in early October, in line with our past practice.

在歐洲，潮濕和寒冷的春季影響了計劃，這可能會延遲我們一些種植地區的收穫時間。根據我們過去的做法，我們將在 10 月初報告第一季度業績時提供有關作物的更多詳細信息。

Before Bernadette shares details on our fourth quarter financial performance and fiscal 2024 outlook, I'd like to update you on a change we're making to our reportable segments. Effective at the start of fiscal 2024, in connection with our recent acquisition and to align with our expanded global footprint, we began managing our business in 2 reportable segments: North America and International.

在 Bernadette 分享我們第四季度財務業績和 2024 財年展望的詳細信息之前，我想向您介紹我們對可報告部門所做的更改的最新情況。自 2024 財年年初起，隨著我們最近的收購，並為了與我們擴大的全球足跡保持一致，我們開始管理兩個可報告部門的業務：北美和國際。

The North America segment includes products sold in Restaurant, Foodservice and Retail channels in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, including our large multinational chain customers. The International segment includes products sold in Restaurant, Foodservice and Retail channels outside of North America. These 2 segments as well as our global supply chain will report to Mike Smith, our Chief Operating Officer. Mike's role is focused on execution and is designed to help us drive growth and unlock efficiencies by providing a truly end-to-end view of our global business.

北美部門包括在美國、加拿大和墨西哥的餐廳、餐飲服務和零售渠道銷售的產品，其中包括我們的大型跨國連鎖客戶。國際部門包括在北美以外的餐廳、餐飲服務和零售渠道銷售的產品。這兩個部門以及我們的全球供應鏈將向我們的首席運營官邁克·史密斯匯報。邁克的職責側重於執行，旨在通過提供全球業務的真正端到端視圖來幫助我們推動增長並提高效率。

I'll continue to maintain responsibility for driving our long-term strategies and priorities, including allocating capital and resources to support sustainable, profitable growth and create value for our stakeholders. We'll begin to provide our financial results under the new reportable segments with our first quarter results.

我將繼續負責推動我們的長期戰略和優先事項，包括分配資本和資源以支持可持續的盈利增長並為我們的利益相關者創造價值。我們將開始在新的可報告分部下提供我們第一季度業績的財務業績。

So in summary, we delivered a record year of sales and earnings growth, and continue to build operating momentum across each of our core segments. While near-term demand may be difficult to predict, the category remains healthy, and we remain confident about its long-term growth prospects. And finally, at this time, the potato crop in North America is largely in line with historical averages, while late planning may delay the harvest in Europe.

總而言之，我們實現了創紀錄的銷售和盈利增長，並繼續在每個核心領域建立運營動力。儘管短期需求可能難以預測，但該類別仍然健康，我們對其長期增長前景仍然充滿信心。最後，目前北美的馬鈴薯收成基本符合歷史平均水平，而計劃過晚可能會延遲歐洲的收成。

Let me now turn the call over to Bernadette.

現在讓我把電話轉給伯納黛特。

Thanks, Tom, and good morning, everyone. I want to also thank the Lamb Weston' team for finishing the year strong and setting us up well for fiscal 2024. Let's begin with our fourth quarter results.

謝謝，湯姆，大家早上好。我還要感謝 Lamb Weston 團隊在這一年中表現出色，並為我們 2024 財年的發展奠定了良好的基礎。讓我們從第四季度的業績開始。

Sales were up more than $540 million versus the prior year quarter or 47% to a quarterly record of just under $1.7 billion. That's at the high end of our targeted range for the quarter. About $380 million of the increase was attributable to the consolidation of our EMEA and Argentina operations. The EMEA amount is above the high end of the targeted $300 million to $325 million range for the quarter, reflecting a strong benefit from pricing actions.

銷售額比去年同期增長超過 5.4 億美元，即 47%，達到略低於 17 億美元的季度記錄。這是我們本季度目標範圍的高端。其中約 3.8 億美元的增長歸因於我們歐洲、中東和非洲和阿根廷業務的整合。歐洲、中東和非洲地區的金額高於本季度 3 億至 3.25 億美元目標範圍的上限，反映出定價行動帶來的巨大收益。

Excluding incremental sales from these acquisitions, net sales grew 14%. Price/mix was up 24% as we continued to benefit from pricing actions taken in fiscal 2023 across each of our business segments to counter input and manufacturing cost inflation. As expected, price/mix in the quarter decelerated sequentially from the 30% or more increase that we delivered in our second and third quarters as we largely lapped all the pricing actions taken in fiscal 2022.

剔除這些收購帶來的增量銷售額，淨銷售額增長了 14%。由於我們繼續受益於 2023 財年各業務部門為應對投入和製造成本通脹而採取的定價行動，價格/組合增長了 24%。正如預期的那樣，本季度的價格/組合比我們第二和第三季度實現的 30% 或更多增長連續放緩，因為我們基本上遵循了 2022 財年採取的所有定價行動。

In addition, we received no year-over-year benefits from freight rates charged to customers as we reduced these rates further to match the decline in our transportation costs. While we expect lower customer freight rates will soon become a year-over-year headwind for price/mix, our goal is to match these to our transportation costs so that their effect on our profits is neutral over time.

此外，我們沒有從向客戶收取的運費中獲得同比收益，因為我們進一步降低了這些費率以適應運輸成本的下降。雖然我們預計較低的客戶運費很快將成為價格/組合的逐年不利因素，但我們的目標是將其與我們的運輸成本相匹配，以便隨著時間的推移，它們對我們利潤的影響是中性的。

Our overall sales volumes in the quarter declined 10% due to 4 factors. The first and primary driver was our continued effort to strategically improve our product and customer mix by exiting certain lower-priced and lower-margin business across our Domestic and International portfolio.

由於 4 個因素，我們本季度的整體銷量下降了 10%。第一個也是主要的驅動力是我們不斷努力通過退出國內和國際投資組合中的某些低價和低利潤業務來戰略性地改善我們的產品和客戶組合。

Second, demand was tempered despite softer casual dining and full-service restaurant traffic in the U.S. This had a more pronounced effect on our Foodservice segment and drove much of the decline in that segment's volume in the quarter.

其次，儘管美國的休閒餐飲和全方位服務餐廳客流量疲軟，但需求卻有所減弱，這對我們的餐飲服務部門產生了更明顯的影響，並導致該部門本季度銷量下降。

Third, certain customers in international markets began to rightsize inventories after carrying unusually high levels of inventory to derisk their supply chains during the pandemic. And fourth, certain large retail customers temporarily lowered prices to rightsize inventories of private label products, delaying shipments of products that we produced on their behalf. In addition, we realized some acceptable levels of branded product volume elasticity in response to the inflation-driven pricing actions that we implemented over the past year.

第三，國際市場上的某些客戶在庫存水平異常高後開始調整庫存規模，以降低疫情期間供應鏈的風險。第四，某些大型零售客戶暫時降低價格以調整自有品牌產品的庫存，從而延遲了我們代表他們生產的產品的發貨。此外，為了應對過去一年實施的通脹驅動的定價行動，我們實現了一些可接受的品牌產品數量彈性水平。

Moving on from sales. Our gross profit in the quarter, excluding comparability items, increased more than $170 million to nearly $425 million. About 40% of the increase was attributable to the incremental earnings from consolidating EMEA. The remainder was driven by the cumulative benefit of pricing actions, mix improvement and supply chain productivity in our legacy Lamb Weston business, which more than offset higher input and manufacturing cost per pound and the impact of lower volumes.

從銷售開始。我們本季度的毛利潤（不包括可比項目）增加了 1.7 億美元以上，達到近 4.25 億美元。大約 40% 的增長歸因於歐洲、中東和非洲 (EMEA) 整合帶來的增量收益。其餘部分是由我們傳統 Lamb Weston 業務中的定價行動、組合改進和供應鏈生產力的累積效益推動的，這足以抵消每磅較高的投入和製造成本以及產量下降的影響。

Gross margin was up more than 300 basis points to 25.1% despite absorbing the dilutive impact on margin of the EMEA acquisition. Input costs increased high single digits on a per pound basis, easing somewhat from the double-digit inflation rate earlier in the year. The increase in cost per pound were again largely driven by a 20% increase in the contracted price for potatoes in North America, significantly higher prices for open market potatoes due to poor yields from the 2022 crop and continued increases in the cost of labor, energy, edible oils and ingredients for batter coatings.

儘管吸收了 EMEA 收購對利潤率的攤薄影響，但毛利率仍增長了 300 個基點，達到 25.1%。每磅投入成本增加了高個位數，較今年早些時候的兩位數通脹率有所放緩。每磅成本的上漲再次主要受到北美馬鈴薯合同價格上漲 20% 的推動，由於 2022 年作物單產不佳導致公開市場馬鈴薯價格大幅上漲，以及勞動力、能源、食用油和麵糊塗層成分成本的持續增加。

Our higher per pound cost also reflected reduced fixed cost coverage due to lower throughput, as we did take some extended downtime for planned maintenance in some of our production facilities; and increased write-downs of inventories, primarily consisting of bulk and obsolete finished goods. Our SG&A expenses, excluding comparability items, increased $65 million to $183 million.

我們較高的每磅成本也反映出由於吞吐量較低而導致固定成本覆蓋範圍的減少，因為我們確實在一些生產設施中進行了計劃維護，從而延長了停機時間；庫存減記增加，主要包括散裝和過時的製成品。我們的 SG&A 費用（不包括可比項目）增加了 6500 萬美元，達到 1.83 億美元。

About half of the increase was from incremental SG&A with the consolidation of EMEA, while the other half was primarily driven by 3 factors: first, higher compensation and benefit expenses due to improved operating performance; second, an $8 million increase in advertising and promotion expenses as we restored support behind our branded products in our Retail segment to historical levels; and third, higher expenses related to improving our IT and ERP infrastructure.

大約一半的增長來自於歐洲、中東和非洲地區合併帶來的SG&A增量，而另一半則主要由三個因素驅動：首先，由於經營業績改善而導致薪酬和福利費用增加；其次，隨著我們將零售部門的品牌產品支持恢復到歷史水平，廣告和促銷費用增加了 800 萬美元；第三，與改善 IT 和 ERP 基礎設施相關的費用增加。

Adjusted EBITDA, including joint ventures, increased $117 million or 59% to $318 million, with higher sales and gross profit driving the growth.

調整後的 EBITDA（包括合資企業）增加了 1.17 億美元，即 59%，達到 3.18 億美元，銷售額和毛利潤的增長推動了增長。

Moving to our segments. Sales in our Global segment were up 85% in the quarter and included the $380 million of incremental sales from the EMEA and Argentina acquisitions. Net sales, excluding the acquisitions, grew 17%. Price/mix was up 28%, which is largely comparable to the increases in the previous 2 quarters. The increase in price/mix reflects the carryover benefit of the domestic and international pricing actions that took effect in our fiscal second and third quarters.

轉向我們的細分市場。本季度我們全球部門的銷售額增長了 85%，其中包括 EMEA 和阿根廷收購帶來的 3.8 億美元增量銷售額。扣除收購後的淨銷售額增長了 17%。價格/組合上漲 28%，與前兩個季度的漲幅基本相當。價格/組合的增長反映了我們第二財季和第三財季生效的國內和國際定價行動的結轉效益。

Volume declined 11%, and primarily reflecting the impact of exiting certain lower-priced and lower-margin business in international and domestic markets, and the inventory destocking by certain customers and international markets that I mentioned earlier. Global's product contribution margin, excluding comparability items, increased about $145 million. More than half of the increase was from the cumulative benefit of pricing actions, mix improvement and supply chain productivity, more than offsetting higher cost per pound and lower volumes. Incremental earnings from EMEA, which was above our target for the quarter, drove the remainder of the increase.

成交量下降11%，主要反映了國際和國內市場退出某些低價、低利潤業務的影響，以及我之前提到的某些客戶和國際市場去庫存的影響。排除可比項目後，Global 的產品邊際貢獻增加了約 1.45 億美元。一半以上的增長來自定價行動、產品組合改進和供應鏈生產力的累積效益，足以抵消每磅成本的上升和銷量的下降。歐洲、中東和非洲地區的盈利增量超出了我們本季度的目標，推動了剩餘的增長。

Sales in our Foodservice segment grew 4%, a notable deceleration versus the 17% that we delivered through the first 3 quarters of the year. Price/mix was up a healthy 13%, but lower than the 26% that we posted through the first 3 quarters, as we fully lapped our pricing actions taken in fiscal 2022 and realized no tailwind from transportation rates. As expected, the price increase that we began to implement in May only had a modest impact in the quarter, so we'll see more benefit come through in early fiscal 2024.

我們的餐飲服務部門的銷售額增長了 4%，與今年前 3 季度 17% 的增幅相比明顯放緩。價格/組合健康增長了 13%，但低於我們前三個季度發布的 26%，因為我們完全執行了 2022 財年採取的定價行動，並且意識到運輸費率沒有帶來任何推動作用。正如預期的那樣，我們從 5 月份開始實施的提價僅對該季度產生了輕微影響，因此我們將在 2024 財年初看到更多收益。

Sales volumes were down 9%, which is consistent with the prior 3 quarters. We attribute most of the decline to the impact of softer casual dining and full-service restaurant traffic, although we also continue to realize the impact of exiting some lower-priced and lower-margin business. Foodservice's product contribution margin fell about $3 million. Lower volumes drove the decline as higher price mix more than offset the impact of higher cost per pound.

銷量下降 9%，與前三個季度一致。我們將下降的主要原因歸因於休閒餐飲和全方位服務餐廳客流量下降的影響，儘管我們也繼續意識到退出一些價格較低和利潤率較低的業務的影響。餐飲服務的產品貢獻利潤下降了約 300 萬美元。銷量下降導致價格下降，因為價格組合上升足以抵消每磅成本上升的影響。

Sales in our Retail segment increased 25%. Price/mix increased 35%, driven by pricing actions across our branded and private label portfolios that we began to implement in February to counter input cost inflation. Trade support during the quarter remained below historical levels given category demand. Volume fell 10%, largely reflecting the challenges that I described earlier for private label products. Retail's product contribution margin increased more than $40 million, and its margin percentage expanded 140 basis points to nearly 38%, as the cumulative benefit from pricing and mix improvement actions over the past couple of fiscal years more than offset higher cost per pound.

我們零售部門的銷售額增長了 25%。在我們的品牌和自有品牌產品組合的定價行動的推動下，價格/組合增長了 35%，我們從 2 月份開始實施這些定價行動，以應對投入成本通脹。鑑於類別需求，本季度的貿易支持仍低於歷史水平。銷量下降了 10%，很大程度上反映了我之前描述的自有品牌產品面臨的挑戰。零售業的產品貢獻利潤率增加了超過 4000 萬美元，其利潤率擴大了 140 個基點，達到近 38%，因為過去幾個財年定價和組合改進行動的累積收益足以抵消每磅成本的上升。

Moving to our liquidity position and cash flow. We continue to maintain a solid balance sheet with ample liquidity and a low leverage ratio. We ended the quarter with about $305 million of cash and no borrowings under our $1 billion U.S. revolver. Our net debt was nearly $3.2 billion at the end of the fourth quarter. Using EBITDA on a trailing 12-month basis, which only includes a single quarter of EMEA's earnings, our leverage ratio is 2.6x.

轉向我們的流動性狀況和現金流。我們繼續保持穩健的資產負債表、充足的流動性和較低的槓桿率。截至本季度末，我們擁有約 3.05 億美元的現金，並且 10 億美元的美國左輪手槍沒有任何借款。截至第四季度末，我們的淨債務接近 32 億美元。使用過去 12 個月的 EBITDA（僅包括 EMEA 單個季度的收益），我們的槓桿率為 2.6 倍。

We remain focused on creating value for our shareholders. Our capital allocation priorities remain the same, and we continue to prioritize investing in our business to drive long-term growth as well as returning capital to our shareholders through dividends and share repurchases to offset management dilution. In fiscal '23, we generated more than $760 million of cash from operations or $340 million above last year, largely due to higher earnings.

我們仍然專注於為股東創造價值。我們的資本配置優先事項保持不變，我們繼續優先投資於我們的業務，以推動長期增長，並通過股息和股票回購向股東返還資本，以抵消管理層稀釋。在 23 財年，我們從運營中產生了超過 7.6 億美元的現金，比去年增加了 3.4 億美元，這主要是由於收益增加。

Capital expenditures were about $735 million, which is up $430 million from the prior year. This increase is largely related to construction costs as we continue to expand processing capacity. For the year, we returned more than $190 million of cash to shareholders, including $146 million in dividends and $45 million in share repurchases.

資本支出約為 7.35 億美元，比上年增加 4.3 億美元。這一增長很大程度上與我們不斷擴大加工能力的建設成本有關。今年，我們向股東返還了超過 1.9 億美元的現金，其中包括 1.46 億美元的股息和 4500 萬美元的股票回購。

Now let's turn to our fiscal 2024 outlook. We're taking a prudent approach to our financial targets for the year. Overall, we anticipate that the operating environment will continue to be challenging, with inflation and other macro factors affecting our cost structure, restaurant traffic and consumer demand. In addition, we expect our capacity to produce coated fries, specialty cuts and chopped in form varieties, such as pops and hash browns, will remain constrained until our new production facilities in China and Idaho become available late in fiscal 2024.

現在讓我們轉向 2024 財年展望。我們對今年的財務目標採取謹慎的態度。總體而言，我們預計經營環境將繼續充滿挑戰，通貨膨脹和其他宏觀因素會影響我們的成本結構、餐廳客流量和消費者需求。此外，我們預計，在我們位於中國和愛達荷州的新生產設施於 2024 財年末投入使用之前，我們生產塗層薯條、特色切塊和切碎品種（如爆米花和薯餅）的能力將繼續受到限制。

For the year, we are targeting sales of $6.7 billion to $6.9 billion. This includes $1 billion to $1.1 billion of incremental sales attributable to the EMEA transaction during the first 3 quarters of the year. And net sales growth, excluding acquisitions, of 6.5% to 8.5%, which is above our long-term sales growth algorithm of low to mid-single digits. Note that since we began to consolidate EMEA's sales beginning in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023, those results are included in our last year's sales baseline when calculating our sales growth.

今年我們的銷售額目標為 67 億至 69 億美元。其中包括今年前 3 季度 EMEA 交易帶來的 10 億至 11 億美元的增量銷售額。淨銷售額增長（不包括收購）為 6.5% 至 8.5%，高於我們低至中個位數的長期銷售增長算法。請注意，由於我們從 2023 財年第四季度開始合併 EMEA 的銷售，因此在計算銷售增長時，這些結果已包含在我們去年的銷售基準中。

We expect sales growth, excluding acquisitions, to be largely driven by pricing actions, including both the carryover impact of actions taken in fiscal 2023 as well as any actions that we may take this year to counter input cost inflation. We also expect to deliver favorable customer and product mix as we continue to benefit from our revenue growth management initiatives.

我們預計，不包括收購在內的銷售增長將主要由定價行動推動，包括 2023 財年採取的行動的結轉影響以及我們今年可能採取的應對投入成本通脹的任何行動。隨著我們繼續受益於我們的收入增長管理計劃，我們還期望提供有利的客戶和產品組合。

As Tom noted, while we expect a solid contribution from price, we do not expect pricing actions to be at the same level as fiscal 2023. Outside of those customer contracts in our Global segment that have yet to be fully priced, we expect any future pricing actions will be largely in line with the more modest rate of input cost inflation than what we've experienced in the past 2 fiscal years. In addition, transportation rates that we charge to customers will likely serve as a price headwind as we continue to adjust rates to reflect lower freight costs.

正如 Tom 指出的那樣，雖然我們預計價格將做出堅實的貢獻，但我們預計定價行動不會達到與 2023 財年相同的水平。除了我們全球部門中尚未完全定價的客戶合同外，我們預計未來的任何定價行動將在很大程度上與我們在過去 2 個財年經歷的更溫和的投入成本通脹率保持一致。此外，我們向客戶收取的運輸費率可能會成為價格阻力，因為我們會繼續調整費率以反映較低的貨運成本。

In fiscal 2024, we expect volume, excluding acquisitions, will continue to be pressured by our ongoing efforts to strategically manage product mix by exiting certain lower-priced and lower-margin business. This strategy has proven to be beneficial to earnings, and we continue to see opportunities across our domestic and international channels. In addition, we're taking a cautious approach to consumer demand for 2 primary reasons.

到 2024 財年，我們預計銷量（不包括收購）將繼續受到我們持續努力通過退出某些低價和低利潤業務來戰略性管理產品組合的壓力。事實證明，這一策略有利於盈利，我們繼續在國內和國際渠道中看到機會。此外，我們對消費者需求採取謹慎態度有兩個主要原因。

First, while QSR traffic has held up relatively well, casual dining and full-service restaurant traffic trends have softened in the U.S. over the past few months. Second, forecasting demand has become increasingly difficult due to conflicting data about the health of the consumer in the U.S., Europe and our key markets as a consequence of inflation, especially for food away from home, the expiration of temporary government assistance and other consumer support programs put in place during the pandemic, employment trends and other macroeconomic headwinds.

首先，雖然快餐客流量保持相對良好，但過去幾個月美國休閒餐飲和全方位服務餐廳的客流量趨勢有所放緩。其次，由於通貨膨脹（尤其是外出食品）、疫情期間實施的臨時政府援助和其他消費者支持計劃到期、就業趨勢和其他宏觀經濟不利因素，美國、歐洲和我們主要市場的消費者健康狀況數據相互矛盾，因此預測需求變得越來越困難。

Despite these near-term factors, we remain confident in the health and long-term growth prospects of the Global category, and we remain committed to investing in our people, production capacity and operations to support that growth.

儘管存在這些近期因素，我們仍然對全球類別的健康和長期增長前景充滿信心，並且我們仍然致力於投資於我們的人員、產能和運營以支持這種增長。

For earnings in fiscal 2024, we expect adjusted EBITDA, including unconsolidated joint ventures, of $1.45 billion to $1.525 billion, assuming potato crops in our primary growing regions are in line with historical averages. Using the midpoint of this EBITDA range implies growth of more than 20% or about $260 million versus the prior year. Looking at it another way, it's up $200 million more than our annualized second half of fiscal 2023 run rate of $1.325 billion.

對於 2024 財年的收益，假設我們主要種植區的馬鈴薯作物符合歷史平均水平，我們預計調整後的 EBITDA（包括未合併的合資企業）為 14.5 億至 15.25 億美元。使用該 EBITDA 範圍的中點意味著與上一年相比增長超過 20%，即約 2.6 億美元。從另一個角度來看，它比我們 2023 財年下半年的年化運行率 13.25 億美元增加了 2 億美元。

In addition to incremental earnings from the Lamb Weston EMEA acquisition, we expect our earnings growth will be largely driven by higher sales and gross profit as we benefit from pricing actions, mix improvement and supply chain productivity.

除了收購 Lamb Weston EMEA 帶來的增量收益外，我們預計我們的收益增長將主要由更高的銷售額和毛利潤推動，因為我們受益於定價行動、組合改進和供應鏈生產力。

We're projecting that the increase in sales and gross profit will be partially offset by higher SG&A expenses. We're targeting total SG&A of $765 million to $775 million, which is up about $200 million. In addition to inflation, the increase largely reflects incremental expenses attributable to the consolidation of our EMEA operations, increased investments to upgrade our information systems and ERP infrastructure, noncash amortization of intangible assets associated with the EMEA acquisition, as well as ERP investments we expect to place in service during the year, and higher compensation and benefit costs due to increased headcount to support our growing business.

我們預計銷售額和毛利潤的增長將被較高的銷售及管理費用所部分抵消。我們的目標是 SG&A 總額為 7.65 億美元至 7.75 億美元，增加了約 2 億美元。除通貨膨脹外，這一增長主要反映了由於我們的歐洲、中東和非洲業務整合、升級我們的信息系統和 ERP 基礎設施的投資增加、與歐洲、中東和非洲收購相關的無形資產的非現金攤銷以及我們預計在年內投入使用的 ERP 投資而產生的增量費用，以及由於支持我們不斷增長的業務而增加的員工人數而導致的更高的薪酬和福利成本。

In addition to our operating targets, we expect equity earnings, which includes our Lamb Weston RDO joint venture in Minnesota, to be $30 million to $35 million. We expect capital expenditures of $800 million to $900 million as we continue construction of our previously announced capacity expansion efforts, as well as capital associated with our new ERP system and other IT upgrades.

除了我們的運營目標外，我們預計股本收益（包括我們在明尼蘇達州的 Lamb Weston RDO 合資企業）將達到 3000 萬至 3500 萬美元。我們預計，隨著我們繼續建設之前宣布的產能擴張工作，以及與新 ERP 系統和其他 IT 升級相關的資本，資本支出將達到 8 億至 9 億美元。

So to summarize our fiscal 2024 outlook, we're targeting sales of $6.7 billion to $6.9 billion, including $1 billion to $1.1 billion of incremental sales attributable to the consolidation of our EMEA operations. We expect our sales growth, excluding acquisitions, will be largely driven by price/mix, with volume pressure due to our ongoing efforts to strategically manage customer and product mix and a cautious view of demand. And finally, we're targeting adjusted EBITDA, including unconsolidated joint ventures of nearly $1.5 billion using the midpoint of our guidance, which is an increase of 20%, and largely driven by sales and gross profit growth.

因此，總結我們的 2024 財年展望，我們的目標銷售額為 67 億至 69 億美元，其中包括因歐洲、中東和非洲業務整合而帶來的 10 億至 11 億美元的增量銷售額。我們預計，不包括收購在內的銷售增長將主要由價格/產品組合驅動，而由於我們持續努力戰略性地管理客戶和產品組合以及對需求的謹慎看法，銷量將面臨壓力。最後，我們的目標是調整後的 EBITDA，包括使用我們指導中值計算的近 15 億美元的未合併合資企業，即增長 20%，這主要是由銷售額和毛利潤增長推動的。

Lastly, as Tom mentioned, effective the beginning of fiscal 2024, we began managing our operations as 2 business segments, North America and International. In the coming weeks, we'll provide recast financial information for fiscal years 2021, '22 and 2023 that is consistent with our new reporting segment structure, including quarterly results for the last 2 years.

最後，正如 Tom 提到的，從 2024 財年開始，我們開始將我們的運營分為北美和國際兩個業務部門來管理。在接下來的幾週內，我們將提供 2021、22 和 2023 財年的重新調整的財務信息，這些信息與我們新的報告部門結構一致，包括過去 2 年的季度業績。

And with that, let me now turn it back over to Tom for some closing comments.

現在，讓我把它轉回給湯姆，讓他發表一些結束語。

Thanks, Bernadette. Let me sum it up by saying we are super proud of the team's strong performance in fiscal 2023 and believe that we're well positioned to execute our strategies to deliver our financial targets for fiscal 2024. We also remain committed to investing in our business to support customers around the world and drive people, new production capacity and operations to support sustainable profitable growth over the long term.

謝謝，伯納黛特。總結一下，我們對該團隊在 2023 財年的強勁表現感到非常自豪，並相信我們有能力執行我們的戰略，實現 2024 財年的財務目標。我們還繼續致力於投資我們的業務，為世界各地的客戶提供支持，並推動人員、新的產能和運營，以支持長期的可持續盈利增長。

Thank you for joining us today, and now we're ready to take your questions.

感謝您今天加入我們，現在我們準備回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question is going to come from Andrew Lazar from Barclays.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題將來自巴克萊銀行的安德魯·拉扎爾。

I guess just a starting point, as you talked about volume declines accelerated pretty significantly in fiscal 4Q versus 3Q, and are expected to be pressured again in '24, I know a lot of that or even the majority is some of the actions that you're taking is sort of purposely around product mix. But how much of the sequential change in volumes was due to the inventory destocking you mentioned? And what I'm trying to get a sense of is, like, how does that square with the fact that -- my sense was most customers are still clamoring for really more supply rather than less. And I guess, do you see this destocking behind you at this point? And then I've just got a follow-up.

我想這只是一個起點，正如您談到的，第四財季銷量下降速度較第三財季顯著加快，並且預計將在 24 年再次面臨壓力，我知道其中很多甚至大部分是您正在採取的一些行動是有意識地圍繞產品組合而採取的。但銷量的環比變化有多少是由於你提到的去庫存造成的？我想要了解的是，這與以下事實是否相符——我的感覺是大多數客戶仍然要求真正增加供應而不是減少供應。我想，您現在看到了去庫存的情況嗎？然後我剛剛得到了一個後續行動。

Yes. Andrew, this is Tom. As we look at the Q4 trends, we did have softness as we remarked in our comments in the Foodservice channel, and QSR held up well. We did have some destocking in the Retail channel that we experienced. And so the -- we're watching it closely. And we also walked away from some volume over the last contract season that we're now starting to see in our results. So it's -- but I will say in -- early on in June, we saw restaurant traffic pick up a little bit. So that's a positive. But we're watching it closely. And it's kind of a mixed bag, as we commented on our prepared remarks, on what's happening with restaurant traffic and it just depends on the channel right now. So we're watching it closely.

是的。安德魯，這是湯姆。當我們審視第四季度的趨勢時，正如我們在餐飲服務頻道的評論中所說，我們確實出現了疲軟，並且 QSR 表現良好。我們確實經歷了零售渠道的一些去庫存。因此，我們正在密切關注。我們還放棄了上個合同賽季的一些交易量，現在我們開始在我們的業績中看到這一點。所以，但我要說的是，在六月初，我們看到餐館的客流量有所增加。所以這是積極的。但我們正在密切關注。這是一個混合體，正如我們對準備好的評論、餐廳客流量發生的情況進行評論一樣，這僅取決於現在的渠道。所以我們正在密切關注。

And we do -- that said, we have line of sight to some opportunities in the market and we'll evaluate those going forward. But that does take some time to transfer into our business that we choose to pursue some of those accounts.

我們確實如此——也就是說，我們看到了市場上的一些機會，我們將評估這些機會的未來。但這確實需要一些時間才能轉移到我們的業務中，我們選擇追求其中一些客戶。

Yes, Tom. And Andrew, if I could just add. The destocking was more in our global segment in the international markets as they got more comfortable with ocean freight carriers and service rates and more timely on-time distribution there. So that was more in the Global segment there.

是的，湯姆。安德魯，請讓我補充一下。去庫存更多地發生在我們國際市場的全球部分，因為他們對海運承運商和服務費率更加滿意，並且在那裡的配送更加及時。所以這更多是在全球部分。

Got you. And then, Tom, I think you mentioned potentially some additional opportunities. For those, would those be sort of new accounts for you or potentially more business with current accounts?

明白你了。然後，湯姆，我想你提到了一些潛在的額外機會。對於這些人來說，這些對您來說是新賬戶還是可能有更多的活期賬戶業務？

It's a mixed bag, Andrew. I'm not going to get into specifics. I don't talk about particular accounts and customers, but it's a mixed bag.

這是一個混合體，安德魯。我不打算討論具體細節。我不談論特定的賬戶和客戶，但這是一個混合體。

Yes. And Andrew, I think it's important, as we talk about, as restaurant trends have softened some, the overall demand continues to really be aided by that French fry attachment rate, which continues to be above prepandemic levels.

是的。安德魯，我認為這很重要，正如我們所討論的，隨著餐廳趨勢有所減弱，總體需求繼續受到炸薯條附著率的真正幫助，該附著率仍然高於大流行前的水平。

Got it. And then separately, for doing our math correctly, your 24% guidance at the midpoint suggests gross margins maybe around the 25% level. I guess, first, do we have that sort of right? It was back on the envelope. And if it is, it certainly obviously would be a level well above historical levels, right, even though that would include the likely dilutive impact from the JV. I'm just trying to get a sense of how much maybe gross margin dilution do you see from the JV, and then is this level of gross margin, one that -- obviously I think it is, but you view as sustainable moving forward?

知道了。然後，為了正確計算，您的中點 24% 指導值表明毛利率可能在 25% 左右。我想，首先，我們有這樣的權利嗎？它又回到了信封上。如果是這樣，它顯然將遠遠高於歷史水平，對吧，儘管這將包括合資企業可能帶來的稀釋影響。我只是想了解一下，您從合資企業中看到的毛利率可能會被稀釋多少，然後這個毛利率水平是——顯然我認為是這樣，但您認為可持續發展嗎？

So Andrew, we -- I'm not going to get into specifics on your mathematics, but we are focused on margin improvement as we have been historically over time. We also evaluate overall profit pool when we evaluate additional accounts and opportunities to drive volume and service our customers. I'm extremely pleased with where and what the team has done over the last year in terms of returning our margin structure to normalized level, and we're going to continue to improve it. But we're going to evaluate opportunities going forward to improve the overall profit pool.

安德魯，我們——我不會詳細介紹你的數學，但我們專注於利潤率的提高，就像我們歷史上一直以來的情況一樣。當我們評估額外的客戶和機會來提高銷量和服務客戶時，我們還會評估整體利潤池。我對團隊去年在將利潤結構恢復到正常水平方面所做的工作和工作感到非常滿意，我們將繼續改進它。但我們將評估未來改善整體利潤池的機會。

Andrew, did you say 25%?

安德魯，你是說 25% 嗎？

I meant 28%.

我的意思是28%。

Okay. We're not -- yes, we can't give specifics on the gross margin. We can cut on the model, but I just want to make sure I didn't hear 25%.

好的。是的，我們無法提供毛利率的具體信息。我們可以削減模型，但我只是想確保我沒有聽到 25%。

Yes. Sorry. You may have. 28%. If I did say 25%, sorry.

是的。對不起。你可能有。 28%。如果我確實說了 25%，抱歉。

Our next question is going to come from Tom Palmer from JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題將由摩根大通的湯姆·帕爾默提出。

Just wanted to ask on the cadence of 2024. I think normal seasonality might have sent increases in the first 3 quarters and a dip in 4Q. Just given the expected timing of pricing actions relative to cost inflation, is there anything to consider this year on that cadence that might cause it to deviate?

只是想問一下 2024 年的節奏。我認為正常的季節性可能會導致前 3 季度增長，第 4 季度下降。考慮到相對於成本通脹的定價行動的預期時間，今年是否有什麼需要考慮的可能導致其偏離的節奏？

Yes. The only thing, Tom, that I've mentioned there is generally, overall, margins and profitability declined sequentially in the first quarter and that's largely driven by seasonality. Q1 is generally our lowest margin quarter.

是的。湯姆，我提到的唯一一件事是，總體而言，第一季度的利潤率和盈利能力連續下降，這在很大程度上是由季節性因素驅動的。第一季度通常是我們利潤率最低的季度。

Okay. Understood. And I just wanted to ask on Europe. I mean we can see frozen potato prices up quite a bit. How does this affect you guys from a timing standpoint? Is this -- are you already addressing it with pricing? Is this still more work to be done? It does seem to be maybe a bit more info there than what we're seeing in the U.S.

好的。明白了。我只是想問一下歐洲的情況。我的意思是我們可以看到冷凍馬鈴薯的價格上漲了很多。從時間的角度來看，這對你們有何影響？這是——你已經通過定價來解決這個問題了嗎？這還需要做更多的工作嗎？那裡的信息似乎確實比我們在美國看到的要多一些。

Yes. So Tom, we have the team in Europe, Marc Schroeder, who runs our international business, they're addressing it. They're doing a terrific job. They're getting ahead of it as much as they can. And we have contracted traditionally higher than what we have in terms of locking in potato prices. But we still have a little bit of open potatoes, but we're going to price through it, manage it as we had -- as we did last year and the year before. So the team is doing a great job. They've got a plan in place. And I'm confident on how they're managing the challenges we're having with that crop right now.

是的。湯姆，我們在歐洲有團隊，馬克·施羅德（Marc Schroeder）負責管理我們的國際業務，他們正在解決這個問題。他們做得非常出色。他們正在盡可能地領先。在鎖定馬鈴薯價格方面，我們的合同傳統上高於我們的合同。但我們仍然有一點未成熟的土豆，但我們將通過它定價，像我們去年和前年那樣管理它。所以團隊做得很好。他們已經制定了計劃。我對他們如何應對我們目前在該作物方面面臨的挑戰充滿信心。

Our next question is going to come from Peter Galbo from Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題將來自美國銀行的彼得·加爾博。

If I could just come back to Andrew's question around the gross margin. I guess the first just clarification point. Bernadette, on the quarter itself, I think if you put some of the adjustments back, it's like a 25.1%. But you -- I think there was an additional hedging loss or mark-to-market loss that wasn't adjusted out, that would have actually resulted in an exit rate of the year that was much higher and maybe would have squared against that 28 number that Andrew had mentioned that we were kind of also coming up with. So I just wanted to clarify that, the statement to start off.

我能否回到安德魯關於毛利率的問題。我想第一點只是澄清一下。 Bernadette，就本季度本身而言，我認為如果你重新進行一些調整，那就是 25.1%。但是你——我認為還有額外的對沖損失或按市值計價的損失沒有被調整掉，這實際上會導致今年的退出率要高得多，也許會與安德魯提到的我們也想出的那個 28 數字相一致。所以我只是想澄清這一點，這是開頭的聲明。

Yes. No, thanks for the question, Peter. First, I'd just say that we really are pleased with our gross margin performance this quarter. It's plus 300 basis points to about 25.1%, and that's despite absorbing the lower-margin EMEA business. And we talked about a couple of things. In addition to inflation, the other impact was that reduced fixed cost coverage that we had due to some of that extended maintenance downtime that was planned, and then the other piece was the inventory write-off. So it's those components that are affecting our fourth quarter margins in addition to the regular inflation that we've been seeing.

是的。不，謝謝你的提問，彼得。首先，我只想說，我們對本季度的毛利率表現非常滿意。儘管吸收了利潤率較低的歐洲、中東和非洲業務，但該比率還是增加了 300 個基點，達到約 25.1%。我們討論了一些事情。除了通貨膨脹之外，另一個影響是由於計劃中的一些延長的維護停機時間而導致我們的固定成本覆蓋範圍減少，另一個影響是庫存沖銷。因此，除了我們看到的常規通脹之外，這些因素也影響了我們第四季度的利潤率。

Okay. That's helpful. And then maybe, Tom, just a broader question. I started to field some inbound, hey, if the crop comes in normal this year, doesn't that mean depth of potatoes? And I mean that's never historically been an issue in the past for pricing dynamics in the industry. So one, I just was hoping you could address that kind of upfront. And two, you spoke about, I think, some of the capacity constraints you're still expecting through the course of the year for things like coated fries. I would think that would keep industry supply-demand dynamics pretty tight, but just wanted to give you a chance to talk on those topics.

好的。這很有幫助。湯姆，也許只是一個更廣泛的問題。我開始種一些入境的，哎，如果今年收成正常的話，那不是意味著土豆的深度嗎？我的意思是，這在過去從來都不是行業定價動態的問題。所以，我只是希望你能提前解決這一問題。第二，我認為您談到了您在這一年中仍然預期的一些產能限制，例如塗層薯條。我認為這將使行業供需動態保持相當緊張，但只是想讓您有機會談論這些話題。

Yes. So the thing that we manage every year is -- and we do it really well, is what happens with the yields on the potato crop. And right now, knock on wood, things look pretty good in terms of, like I've said in my prepared remarks, how the crop is progressing. And we keep a close eye on our contracted amount versus forecast, versus what the markets do, and we do this globally. So we're tuned into it. And we can make adjustments over the course of the next 90 to 120 days to 6 months, and adjust even our new crop to balance the overall supply of potatoes out. We do it every year. The team, the ag team does a great job doing that.

是的。因此，我們每年管理的事情是——而且我們做得非常好，就是馬鈴薯作物產量的變化。現在，就像我在準備好的發言中所說的那樣，就作物進展情況而言，情況看起來相當不錯。我們密切關注合同金額與預測、市場走勢，並且我們在全球範圍內這樣做。所以我們已經適應了它。我們可以在接下來的 90 至 120 天到 6 個月內進行調整，甚至調整我們的新作物以平衡馬鈴薯的整體供應。我們每年都會這樣做。團隊，農業團隊在這方面做得很好。

So I'm comfortable with where we're at in terms of contracted potatoes. And as we do every year, over the next several months, we'll make some adjustments to acres. And I'll report out more in October on the balance of the crop and the quality of the main crop. So that's really the key in terms of ag management that we're really good at and the team does a great job. And then in terms of capacity, we got some -- we're bringing on some capacity over the next 18 months. And it's a testament to our belief in the category going forward.

因此，我對我們在合同土豆方面的現狀感到滿意。正如我們每年所做的那樣，在接下來的幾個月裡，我們將對英畝數進行一些調整。我將在十月報告更多有關作物平衡和主要作物質量的報告。因此，這確實是我們真正擅長的農業管理方面的關鍵，而且我們的團隊做得很好。然後就產能而言，我們將在未來 18 個月內增加一些產能。這證明了我們對該類別未來發展的信念。

While in the near term, we're seeing some softness in some areas. Over the long term, I think the category is going to continue to be resilient as it has over historical time frame. And I feel great about how we're positioned. Our capacity coming online, competition has some capacity coming online. But I think overall, the category is going to absorb what's coming at it. So I feel good about where the near-term and long-term supply and demand is going to be -- continue to be balanced.

在短期內，我們看到某些領域出現了一些疲軟。從長遠來看，我認為該類別將像歷史時間範圍內一樣繼續保持彈性。我對我們的定位感覺很好。我們的產能上線了，競爭對手也有一些產能上線了。但我認為總體而言，該類別將吸收即將發生的事情。因此，我對近期和長期的供需狀況感到滿意——繼續保持平衡。

And our next question will come from Rob Dickerson from Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Jefferies 的 Rob Dickerson。

Great. Just a quick question from the business exits, right, the lower margin businesses. Is there any kind of visibility as to when you think that actually might start to decelerate or actually stop? Like are you in the seventh inning or third inning? Just curious.

偉大的。這是來自業務出口的一個簡單問題，對吧，利潤率較低的業務。是否有任何類型的可見性表明您認為何時實際上可能開始減速或實際上停止？比如你是在第七局還是第三局？只是好奇。

Yes. No, as it relates to our lower-margin exits of the businesses, we've been doing that now and we're very close to being through the brunt of that work. We do continue to take a look at that, though, as our contracts come due, and we make decisions to improve our customer and product mix as we look at the availability in our manufacturing footprint and the flexibility that we need to continue to serve our customers optimally.

是的。不，因為這與我們利潤率較低的業務退出有關，我們現在一直在這樣做，而且我們即將完成這項工作的首當其衝。不過，隨著合同到期，我們確實會繼續關注這一點，並在考慮製造足蹟的可用性以及繼續以最佳方式為客戶提供服務所需的靈活性的同時，做出改善客戶和產品組合的決定。

Okay. Great. And then, I guess, secondly, in terms of expectations for the facility China, it sounds like one that is still on track for hopefully maybe sometime Q4 this fiscal year. And then secondly, just in terms of the amount of capital pool on the CapEx side for all the facilities, $850 million this year, the midpoint still clearly elevated relative to history. But again, just to clarify, if we're thinking about next fiscal year, right, in '25, most of that incremental should float or should kind of come off the cash flow statement. Is that right?

好的。偉大的。其次，我想，就對中國設施的預期而言，聽起來該設施仍有望在本財年第四季度的某個時候實現。其次，就所有設施的資本支出方面的資本池金額而言，今年為 8.5 億美元，中點相對於歷史記錄仍然明顯偏高。但再次澄清一下，如果我們考慮下一個財年，對吧，25 年，大部分增量應該浮動，或者應該從現金流量表中扣除。是對的嗎？

Yes, Rob. So all of our capital projects are on track. Obviously, we have an elevated number this year and that's all been preannounced. So as we think about the go forward, as we have line of sight to some other strategic capitals, what I will say is we'll give additional guidance in the coming quarters on what the out-years look like going forward. So I'm not going to get into all that on this call. But we are taking a look at a couple of different strategic capital projects that I won't go into detail. But we'll reevaluate guidance going forward here in the next quarter.

是的，羅布。因此，我們所有的資本項目都步入正軌。顯然，今年我們的人數有所增加，而且這一切都是預先宣布的。因此，當我們考慮未來時，當我們關注其他一些戰略資本時，我要說的是，我們將在未來幾個季度就未來幾年的情況提供更多指導。所以我不會在這次電話會議上詳細討論所有內容。但我們正在研究幾個不同的戰略資本項目，我不會詳細介紹這些項目。但我們將在下個季度重新評估未來的指導。

Got it. Okay. Cool. And then I guess just lastly, to kind of round up the commentary on volume and pricing for the year. There are usually numerous datasets that we can all look at in terms of industry restaurant traffic like all things considered, right? Even though there's risk, even though we're feeling the pressure, it doesn't look as if overall the pressure right now is that bad, right? I mean there's some pressure, but pricing is not that bad.

知道了。好的。涼爽的。我想最後是對今年銷量和定價的評論進行總結。通常，我們都可以在行業餐廳流量方面查看大量數據集，就像所有考慮的事情一樣，對嗎？儘管有風險，儘管我們感受到了壓力，但目前看來整體壓力還沒有那麼嚴重，對吧？我的意思是有一些壓力，但定價並沒有那麼糟糕。

So as you kind of think through the year, given you had baked this into the guide, assuming these trends kind of stay where they are, right, they don't get worse, I mean, it seems like it's still a safe assumption, especially given what you've done historically, that we're not thinking about increased LTOs or pricing give back, right? If the prices are where they are, trends are where they are in the industry as long, as things kind of don't get materially worse, the pricing is sticky? That's it.

因此，當你回顧這一年的時候，考慮到你已經將這一點納入了指南，假設這些趨勢保持在原來的位置，對吧，它們不會變得更糟，我的意思是，這似乎仍然是一個安全的假設，特別是考慮到你過去所做的事情，我們沒有考慮增加 LTO 或定價回饋，對嗎？如果價格是現在的水平，趨勢就是行業中的水平，只要事情沒有變得更糟，定價就會有粘性嗎？就是這樣。

Yes. Rob, look, we've done a terrific job rebasing our business this past year. And now we're at a point where we have selectively walked away from business. And based on our capacity constraints, and now we're going to evaluate. As I said earlier, we're going to evaluate accounts and businesses globally going forward. And the impact of that, as I look at it and how I've always managed this business, is we're going to look where we can expand the overall profit pool of this company and drive adjusted EBITDA going forward.

是的。羅布，看，去年我們在業務基礎調整方面做得非常出色。現在我們正處於選擇性放棄業務的階段。基於我們的能力限制，現在我們要進行評估。正如我之前所說，我們將在全球範圍內評估客戶和業務。從我的角度以及我一直以來管理這項業務的方式來看，其影響是我們將尋找可以擴大該公司整體利潤池並推動調整後 EBITDA 向前發展的地方。

And we may make some decisions where it may be additive to our earnings and it may be accretive to our margin percentage. But we're going to make selective strategic choices going forward to do that, just like we have in the past. As we had -- now we're at historic margin levels and we worked hard over the last 15 months to get us to this level, and now we're in a good spot in terms of growing our company going forward and driving volume. And that's what we're going to do. And so it's going to be a bit of an adjustment over the coming year to drive account volume.

我們可能會做出一些決定，這可能會增加我們的收入，也可能會增加我們的利潤率。但我們將做出選擇性的戰略選擇來實現這一目標，就像我們過去所做的那樣。正如我們所做的那樣，現在我們處於歷史性的利潤水平，我們在過去 15 個月裡努力工作才達到這個水平，現在我們在公司發展和銷量增長方面處於有利位置。這就是我們要做的。因此，明年將進行一些調整以增加賬戶數量。

And Adam Samuelson from Goldman Sachs is next.

下一個是來自高盛的亞當·薩繆爾森。

Yes. Maybe first, a clarification question, and I think it kind of dovetails into the perspective kind of build out. In the '24 guidance, the $1 billion to $1.1 billion of incremental sales from the acquired businesses, what's the assumed EBITDA contribution from acquisitions on a year-on-year basis in '24 for the 9 months you've been consolidating EBITDA?

是的。也許首先是一個澄清問題，我認為這與構建的觀點相吻合。在 24 年指導中，收購業務帶來的 10 億至 11 億美元的增量銷售額，假設在 24 年合併 EBITDA 的 9 個月中，收購對 EBITDA 的同比貢獻是多少？

Yes, Adam, we haven't given any specific earnings contribution related to those businesses, we've just given top line.

是的，亞當，我們沒有給出與這些業務相關的任何具體收益貢獻，我們只是給出了營收。

Okay. That was worth a shot. So I guess, though, maybe holistically, if we think about where EMEA is relative to the legacy North America business on margins, kind of our understanding was that it was coming in. It was a lot lower, kind of at a lot -- more profitability levels meaningfully below the U.S. Can you help us think about kind of the line of sight you have to narrowing that gap? How much of that can you do through your own mix management, productivity actions? And how much is probably going to be dependent on changes in industry contracting for potatoes, changes in market structure from consolidation that will take probably longer?

好的。那值得一試。所以我想，不過，也許從整體上看，如果我們考慮歐洲、中東和非洲地區相對於北美傳統業務的利潤率，我們的理解是它正在進入。它的盈利水平要低得多，遠遠低於美國。你能幫助我們考慮一下你必須採取什麼樣的視線來縮小這一差距嗎？您可以通過自己的組合管理和生產力行動來完成多少工作？有多少可能取決於馬鈴薯行業承包的變化，以及整合帶來的市場結構的變化，這可能需要更長的時間？

Yes, Adam, the way I'd explain that is we're not giving specific earnings contribution, but the adjusted EBITDA from the acquired businesses were well above the $20 million to $30 million target that we provided. As it relates to going forward, as Tom said, Marc Schroeder is running that business, and we're doing a lot of things there as we do look at mix management and pricing, and we're confident in the actions that we've taken thus far and that we'll continue to deliver it going forward.

是的，Adam，我的解釋是，我們沒有提供具體的盈利貢獻，但所收購業務的調整後 EBITDA 遠高於我們提供的 2000 萬至 3000 萬美元的目標。正如湯姆所說，這與未來的發展有關，馬克·施羅德正在經營這項業務，我們正在那裡做很多事情，因為我們確實在考慮混合管理和定價，我們對迄今為止所採取的行動充滿信心，並且我們將繼續向前邁進。

Okay. And if I could just ask a follow-up on the parent business. And again, as you look at your own capacity utilization, especially with the new potato coming in the fall, and you look at the industry, I mean, the industry has been constrained from a raw material supply perspective. And Tom, earlier you alluded to the need to drive volume growth in the business. First, how would you look at your own capacity utilization and the industry's capacity utilization as you kind of go into the calendar '23 kind of crop years?

好的。如果我可以詢問母公司的後續情況。再說一次，當你審視自己的產能利用率時，尤其是秋季新土豆上市的情況下，當你審視整個行業時，我的意思是，從原材料供應的角度來看，該行業受到了限制。湯姆，您之前提到需要推動業務量增長。首先，當您進入“23 種作物年份”時，您將如何看待您自己的產能利用率和行業的產能利用率？

Yes. I mean, as I've said previously, our target is to run the assets around 95% capacity, and we continue to trend towards that. We've much improved over the prior year, and that's really the sweet spot, I think, for us. And I can't comment on the industry and what the other guys are doing, but that's kind of where we're targeted, and we're trending towards that.

是的。我的意思是，正如我之前所說，我們的目標是使資產運行在 95% 左右的產能，並且我們將繼續朝著這個方向發展。我們比前一年有了很大進步，我認為這對我們來說確實是最好的地方。我無法評論這個行業以及其他人正在做什麼，但這就是我們的目標，而且我們正在朝著這個方向發展。

And our next question is going to come from Matt Smith with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題將由馬特·史密斯和斯蒂菲爾提出。

I had a follow-up on the outlook, specifically around SG&A, which is increasing, obviously including the EMEA consolidation. But I was wondering if you could provide some color on perhaps some unique factors impacting fiscal '24. Is -- for instance, is the ERP spending peaking here in fiscal '24? And any insight into the level of the amortization expense related to that EMEA would be helpful.

我對前景進行了後續跟踪，特別是圍繞 SG&A，其不斷增加，顯然包括 EMEA 整合。但我想知道您是否可以對影響 24 財年的一些獨特因素提供一些說明。例如，ERP 支出是否在 24 財年達到頂峰？任何對與 EMEA 相關的攤銷費用水平的了解都會有所幫助。

Yes. No, as I said in my prepared remarks, SG&A is expected to increase about $200 million this year. We are replacing, again, decades of underspending in IT with the ERP, but also in other areas of the business as it relates to IT, that's going to be about 1/3 of it. But then we've also got another impact of the incremental EMEA SG&A for the 3 quarters that they weren't included in our previous year results. And then I did mention that we are going to have a step-up in that noncash amortization related to the intangibles we took on, as well as once we placed some of the ERP project in service, we're going to see incremental amortization there. So it's those factors as well as incremental costs related to some headcount that we'll be adding to support the growing business that's making up that increase.

是的。不，正如我在準備好的發言中所說，SG&A 今年預計將增加約 2 億美元。我們再次用 ERP 取代了 IT 領域數十年的支出不足，而且在與 IT 相關的其他業務領域，這將占到其中的 1/3 左右。但我們還受到了 3 個季度歐洲、中東和非洲 SG&A 增量的另一個影響，它們沒有包含在我們上一年的業績中。然後我確實提到，我們將加強與我們承擔的無形資產相關的非現金攤銷，並且一旦我們將一些 ERP 項目投入使用，我們將在那裡看到增量攤銷。因此，我們將增加這些因素以及與某些員工相關的增量成本，以支持不斷增長的業務，從而彌補這一增長。

Okay. And in terms of the IT spending and the ERP investments, it's obviously a multiyear project. Is this a normal level of expense we should think about for the coming years? Or is this a peak level of expense depending on where you are in the process of replacing your system?

好的。就 IT 支出和 ERP 投資而言，這顯然是一個多年項目。這是我們未來幾年應該考慮的正常支出水平嗎？或者，這是否是一個最高費用水平，具體取決於您在更換系統過程中的階段？

Yes. So the level of expense is going to increase as it relates to the noncash component, because as that continues to build and we go live with the different areas of the system, we're going to see more amortization expense. The system is going to be amortized over 5 to 7 years, and so that's more what you're going to see is that noncash component.

是的。因此，與非現金部分相關的費用水平將會增加，因為隨著非現金部分的不斷發展以及我們與系統的不同領域的合作，我們將看到更多的攤銷費用。該系統將在 5 到 7 年內攤銷，因此您將看到更多的是非現金部分。

(Operator Instructions) William Reuter from Bank of America is next.

（操作員指示）下一個是來自美國銀行的 William Reuter。

My first question is you talked about the French fry attachment rate being above pre-pandemic levels. I couldn't tell from the tone whether you're seeing a sequential decline in the French fry attachment rate, maybe based upon some weakness in casual and other full-service dining. Has there been a sequential change?

我的第一個問題是，您談到炸薯條的附著率高於大流行前的水平。我無法從語氣中判斷出您是否看到炸薯條附著率連續下降，這可能是由於休閒和其他全方位服務餐飲的一些弱點。有順序變化嗎？

No. No sequential change. Continue to remain well above pre-pandemic levels.

不，沒有順序變化。繼續保持遠高於大流行前的水平。

Okay. And then in the question around CapEx and it being elevated this year and the majority of the current projects being completed, it sounds like there are some additional projects for future years. Could some of those include acquisitions? Or are most of these going to be just organic investments?

好的。然後，在圍繞資本支出的問題上，今年資本支出有所提高，而且當前的大多數項目都已完成，聽起來未來幾年還會有一些額外的項目。其中一些可能包括收購嗎？或者其中大部分只是有機投資？

Yes. Most of those are going to be organic investments. Again, as we take a look at our manufacturing footprint and the possibility for needs to add incremental flexibility for other products.

是的。其中大部分將是有機投資。再次，當我們審視我們的製造足跡以及為其他產品增加增量靈活性的需求的可能性時。

(Operator Instructions) Carla Casella from JPMorgan is next.

（操作員指令）摩根大通的 Carla Casella 是下一個。

Just 2 quick clarifications. I think you said you ended the year with no revolver borrowings and -- but still that's up by about $243 million. What was the draw? Was that a draw from China or elsewhere?

只是 2 個快速澄清。我想你說過你年底沒有左輪借款，但仍然增加了約 2.43 億美元。抽籤結果是什麼？這是從中國還是其他地方抽籤的？

Yes. So the net debt in terms of the cash position and then the other piece that we had was related to the incremental debt we brought on for the EMEA acquisition.

是的。因此，就現金頭寸而言的淨債務以及我們擁有的其他部分與我們為歐洲、中東和非洲收購帶來的增量債務有關。

Okay. Great. And then just on the overall cost, you mentioned the 20% to 30% increase in the potato cost across the different regions. What's the time frame in that stance? Like when do we start to lap that full cost increase? And when did it go in place?

好的。偉大的。然後就總體成本而言，您提到不同地區的馬鈴薯成本增加了 20% 至 30%。這種立場的時間範圍是多少？比如我們什麼時候開始考慮全部成本增加？它是什麼時候到位的？

Yes. So the incremental cost relates to the crop that we are harvesting now. And we'll continue to harvest the main crop through September, October and use those potatoes until we get into next year's crop, which the early crop will start at a similar time frame around July of next calendar year.

是的。因此，增量成本與我們現在收穫的作物有關。我們將在九月和十月繼續收穫主要作物，並使用這些馬鈴薯，直到進入明年的作物，早期作物將在明年七月左右的類似時間範圍內開始。

Okay. So we'll see in the costs next quarter?

好的。那麼我們會在下個季度看到成本嗎？

Yes. Starts to our P&L in -- from a P&L standpoint, starts is a little bit in the second quarter. And then towards the end of the second quarter, its going to be about -- with FIFO inventory and we carry about 45, 60 days of inventory.

是的。我們的損益表開始於——從損益表的角度來看，是在第二季度開始的。然後到第二季度末，我們將採用先進先出庫存，我們擁有大約 45 至 60 天的庫存。

And I have no further questions in the queue. I'd like to turn the call back over to Dexter Congbalay. Please go ahead.

我沒有其他問題了。我想把電話轉回德克斯特·康巴萊。請繼續。

Thanks for joining the call today. A couple of things. One, we're going to plan to have our scheduled Investor Day for Wednesday, October 11, at the New York Stock Exchange in the morning. So please hold that on your calendars. Our official invites and RSVP logistics will go out sometime over probably in the next month or so. Second, if you want to schedule any follow-up calls with me, please send me an e-mail and we can set a time for a call during the next few days. Thank you for joining today.

感謝您今天加入通話。有幾件事。第一，我們計劃於 10 月 11 日星期三上午在紐約證券交易所舉行投資者日活動。所以請把它保留在你的日曆上。我們的官方邀請和回复物流可能會在下個月左右的某個時間發出。其次，如果您想安排與我進行任何後續通話，請給我發送電子郵件，我們可以在接下來的幾天內安排通話時間。感謝您今天加入。

And this concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。