Post Holdings, Inc. (POST) 2026 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the Post Holdings second-quarter 2026 earnings conference call and webcast. (Operator Instructions)

歡迎收聽 Post Holdings 2026 會計年度第二季財報電話會議與網路直播。(接線員指示)

I would now like to turn the call over to Daniel O'Rourke, Investor Relations for Post.

現在我想把電話交給 Post 的投資人關係 Daniel O'Rourke。

Good morning. Thank you for joining us today for Post's second-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings question-and-answer session.

各位早安。感謝各位今天參加 Post 2026 會計年度第二季財報問答時段。

I'm joined this morning by Rob Vitale, our Chairman and CEO; Nico Catoggio, our COO; and Matt Mainer, our CFO and Treasurer. This call is being recorded, and an audio replay will be available on our website at postholdings.com.

今天早上與我一同出席的有董事長兼執行長 Rob Vitale、營運長 Nico Catoggio，以及財務長兼財務主管（Treasurer）Matt Mainer。本通話將被錄音，並將於 postholdings.com 網站提供音訊重播。

During today's call, we may make forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties that should be carefully considered by investors as actual results could differ materially from these statements. These forward-looking statements are current as of the date of this call, and management undertakes no obligation to update these statements.

在今天的通話中，我們可能會做出前瞻性陳述；此類陳述受風險與不確定性影響，投資人應審慎考量，因為實際結果可能與這些陳述有重大差異。這些前瞻性陳述以本通話日期為準，管理團隊不承擔更新這些陳述的義務。

The press release and written management remarks that support today's call are posted on our website in the Investors section. This call will discuss certain non-GAAP measures. For a reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the nearest GAAP measure, see our press release issued yesterday and posted on our website.

支援今天通話的新聞稿與管理層書面說明已發布於我們網站的投資人專區。本通話將討論若干非 GAAP 指標。如需將這些非 GAAP 指標調節至最接近的 GAAP 指標，請參閱我們昨日發布並張貼於網站的新聞稿。

We hope you had a chance to review our management remarks. The key highlights are that our diversified portfolio had strong performance in Q2 and delivered adjusted EBITDA above expectations. However, given new headwinds from the conflict in the Middle East, we maintained our previous adjusted EBITDA guidance.

希望各位已經有機會閱讀我們的管理層說明。重點摘要是：我們多元化的投資組合在第二季表現強勁，調整後 EBITDA 高於預期。然而，鑑於中東衝突帶來新的逆風，我們維持先前的調整後 EBITDA 指引不變。

Meanwhile, we continued aggressive share repurchases. And fiscal year-to-date, we have reduced our share count by 15%. Finally, our strong cash flow, liquidity and credit metrics continue to afford us significant flexibility for opportunistic capital allocation.

同時，我們持續積極回購股票。截至本會計年度目前為止，我們已將流通股數降低 15%。最後，我們強勁的現金流、流動性與信用指標，持續賦予我們在機會性資本配置上的高度彈性。

With that, I'll briefly turn the call over to Matt.

接下來，我先簡短把電話交給 Matt。

Thanks, Daniel. Setting aside the business performance, I'm sure you all saw our announcement yesterday on our CEO succession plans. First of all, on behalf of our whole team, congratulations to Nico. Really well deserved. You've done a fantastic job leading PCB, and we are confident that will translate to more of the same as you transition into leading Post.

謝謝你，Daniel。先撇開營運表現不談，我相信各位都看到我們昨天關於執行長接班規劃的公告。首先，我代表整個團隊恭喜 Nico。這真的是實至名歸。你在領導 PCB 方面做得非常出色，我們也有信心，當你轉任領導 Post 時，將延續同樣的優異表現。

So Rob, we have all learned from the best and truly appreciate your leadership over the past 12 years. As much as Rob is respected by so many on this phone call, it is even more so within the walls of our company.

Rob，我們都向最好的學習，並且真心感謝你過去 12 年的領導。Rob 在這通電話上的許多人心中備受尊敬，而在公司內部更是如此。

With that, I will turn the call over to the operator for Q&A.

接下來，我把電話交回接線員進行問答。

(Operator Instructions) Andrew Lazar, Barclays.

(接線員指示) Andrew Lazar，巴克萊。

Rob, congratulations to you on a terrific run as CEO, and glad you're staying on as Chairman. And all I can say is I think many other packaged food names would benefit mightily from taking a page from your operating and capital allocation playbook.

Rob，恭喜你擔任執行長期間有非常出色的成績，也很高興你將繼續擔任董事長。我只能說，我認為許多其他包裝食品公司若能借鏡你的營運與資本配置作法，將會大有助益。

And Nico, congratulations to you on being named CEO. Maybe to start. Yes, sure. Just a question maybe on pricing for the industry and Post. I mean, I realize there is still quite a bit of uncertainty, but should the industry face another round of more significant inflation, do you think pricing could be one of the levers used this time around given consumers have been kind of already pushing back on price points where they are today and some are actually lowering prices with less than stellar results thus far. I'm just curious on your view on that and how does Post sort of think about that?

Nico，也恭喜你被任命為執行長。或許先從一個問題開始。好的，當然。想請教一下產業以及 Post 的定價。我的意思是，我知道目前仍有相當多不確定性，但如果產業再面臨一波更顯著的通膨，你認為這次定價會不會成為可運用的槓桿之一？畢竟消費者對目前的價格水準似乎已經有些反彈，而且有些公司實際上正在降價，但到目前為止成效並不理想。我想了解你對此的看法，以及 Post 大致上如何思考這件事？

Thanks, Andrew. What I would say is it depends on where inflation falls. If it is in the low single digit, I think we'll see more of CPGs trying to absorb that within their P&L, and that could be in the form of maybe lower promotional intensity. If it is more than that, we will probably see more targeted pricing.

謝謝你，Andrew。我會說這取決於通膨落在什麼水準。如果是低個位數，我認為會看到更多 CPG 公司嘗試在損益表內吸收，可能以降低促銷強度等形式呈現。如果高於那個水準，我們可能會看到更多更具針對性的調價。

And then maybe just on pet food. I'm trying to get a sense of what our expectations should be going forward in pet because I think this quarter is -- the current quarter, I believe, is when the restage really happens in earnest in the marketplace. And how do you think about turning a brand around in a subcategory of dry dog food that's sort of struggling a bit right now relative to some other parts of pet?

另外再問一下寵物食品。我想掌握一下我們對寵物業務未來的預期應該如何設定，因為我認為本季——也就是目前這一季——應該是重新上架（restage）在市場上真正開始發生的時點。而在乾狗糧這個子品類相較於寵物其他部分目前有些疲弱的情況下，你們如何看待把一個品牌扭轉回來？

Yes. So let me -- so on pet, I think about it in kind of three big buckets. One is a bit out of our control that is the category has been slower than what we anticipated and especially dry dog food. 60% of our portfolio is dry dog food. As we shared in our remarks, that was 4% down in pounds. So that's about 20% of our, call it, gap to the category. The rest, you can think about it half-on-half in two buckets.

是的。那我——談到寵物業務，我會把它大致分成三個主要面向。第一個有點不在我們控制範圍內，也就是品類成長比我們預期更慢，尤其是乾狗糧。我們投資組合中有 60% 是乾狗糧。如同我們在說明中分享的，按磅數計下滑了 4%。所以這大約占我們所謂與品類差距的 20%。其餘部分，你可以把它一半一半分成兩個面向。

One is what we shared on 9Lives. 9Lives is we raised prices on one-third of the brand that is more functional. As we raise prices, we saw higher elasticities than what we anticipated. And we lost inclusion in a couple of retailers. That, in our mind, is fairly straightforward. It's if you remember, less than a year ago, we were having the same conversation about Gravy Train. We raised prices.

其中一個是我們提到的 9Lives。9Lives 是我們對品牌中約三分之一、功能性較強的產品調高了價格。在我們調價後，看到的價格彈性高於我們原先預期。而且我們在幾家零售商那裡失去了上架（inclusion）。在我們看來，這相當直接明瞭。如果你還記得，不到一年前我們也針對 Gravy Train 進行過同樣的討論。我們調高了價格。

Remember that these brands have lower margins, and that's why we do what we do, and we focus on profit. We remember Gravy Train. We raised prices. We saw the same elasticities. We fixed that with rollbacks in the short-term. And now we fixed it with price pack architecture and that brand in one of our largest retailers is growing at 40% in pounds now.

請記得，這些品牌的毛利較低，這也是我們之所以這麼做、並把重點放在獲利上的原因。回到 Gravy Train。我們調高了價格。我們看到了同樣的價格彈性。短期內我們透過降價回調（rollbacks）解決了問題。而現在我們又透過價格與包裝架構（price pack architecture）解決了問題；該品牌在我們其中一家最大零售商的通路中，按磅數計目前成長 40%。

So we see it as the same playbook, right? We tried price points elasticity was a bit higher. We can solve it in the short-term with rollbacks. And then longer-term, call it, a couple of quarters from now, we should fix it with price pack architecture. So it's fairly straightforward.

所以我們把它視為同一套作法，對吧？我們嘗試了定價，但價格彈性略高。短期內我們可以用降價回調來解決。而長期來看，大概再過幾個季度，我們應該能透過價格與包裝架構把它修正到位。所以這相當直接。

And then the third bucket is Nutrish. We are in early stages of the relaunch, and that will take probably the entire Q3 to actually fully hit the market. So it's happening. It's flowing in. But it's still especially in the food channel, taking a bit longer to be fully reflected on shelf.

第三個面向是 Nutrish。我們正處於重新上市（relaunch）的早期階段，可能需要整個第三季才會真正全面進入市場。所以它正在發生。貨正在陸續到位。但仍然，尤其在食品通路，要完全反映到貨架上還需要多一點時間。

That one, if you remember, we commented on that one, it's a full relaunch. So new positioning, new packaging and new price points. What we feel encouraged about is where it's been fully relaunched, one of our largest retailers, we are already seeing sequential improvement week after week. And the last week of April, we already saw the brand flat to last year in a category that is again declining. So that's a positive.

如果你還記得，我們也評論過這一點：這是一次全面重新上市。也就是新的定位、新的包裝，以及新的價格帶。讓我們感到鼓舞的是，在已經完成全面重新上市的地方——我們其中一家最大的零售商——我們已經看到每週逐週的改善。而在四月的最後一週，我們已經看到該品牌與去年持平，而該品類仍在下滑。所以這是正面的。

But it's still early on, and we probably need a couple more months. So by Q4, we should actually start seeing the category kind of showing at least flat to slight growth versus a year ago. That's how we think about that.

但現在仍屬於早期階段，我們可能還需要再等幾個月。因此到第四季時，我們應該會開始看到該品類相較去年同期至少持平到小幅成長。這就是我們對此的看法。

Matt Smith, Stifel.

Matt Smith，Stifel。

You had another strong EBITDA and cash flow performance in the quarter and the guidance reiteration referenced caution around new cost pressure and uncertainty. Are there specific areas of the business where you're seeing these higher costs? And are you seeing an impact from a more cautious consumer? Or is the uncertainty more focused on the cost side?

本季你們的 EBITDA 與現金流表現再次強勁，而重申指引時也提到對新的成本壓力與不確定性保持謹慎。你們在哪些具體業務領域看到這些較高成本？你們是否看到更為謹慎的消費者帶來的影響？還是說不確定性主要集中在成本端？

I think directly, we're seeing the cost impact, Matt, really around fuel charges and surcharges. We've got some coverage or hedges in place, but this is exposure beyond those coverages. And just given the dramatic increase in diesel, that flows through to -- across the company, especially in North America. So that's really the key driver.

我認為直接來看，我們看到的成本影響，Matt，主要是在燃油費用與附加費上。我們有一些保障或避險安排，但這部分曝險超出了那些保障範圍。而且柴油大幅上漲，這會傳導到——整個公司各處，尤其是在北美。所以這確實是關鍵驅動因素。

Just a follow-up. The cash flow performance has been strong and supported the share repurchases today while holding leverage flat. You called out the strong liquidity position Post maintain. How would you characterize the M&A environment? Are you seeing an increase in asset availability? Do you think seller expectations are reasonable? And has there been an impact to deal flow from Middle East disruption and uncertainty?

再追問一下。現金流表現一直很強，支撐了今天的股票回購，同時槓桿維持不變。你提到 Post 維持強勁的流動性部位。你會如何描述目前的併購（M&A）環境？你是否看到可供收購的資產增加？你認為賣方的期待是否合理？中東地區的擾動與不確定性是否影響了交易流量？

Yes. I think it continues to be a bit of more of the same. You certainly have some assets, some private investments that are -- haven't come to market yet. And I think that's a nod to just where public multiples are and where our clearing price might be. So there's still some potential transactions sitting on the sidelines.

是的。我認為整體仍然有點像之前的情況。你確實會看到一些資產、一些私募投資——尚未進入市場。我想這也反映了目前公開市場估值倍數的位置，以及我們的成交價格可能落在哪裡。所以仍有一些潛在交易在觀望、暫時擱置。

That aside, we continue to see some of our larger competitors talk about maybe separating portions of their portfolio. We've seen it happen already in a couple of cases in the last year. I think those are larger, more transformational transactions. Again, we look at everything, but something we would evaluate.

除此之外，我們仍持續聽到一些較大型的競爭對手談到，可能會分拆其投資組合中的部分業務。過去一年我們已經在幾個案例中看到這種情況發生。我認為那些是更大型、較具轉型性的交易。同樣地，我們會看所有機會，但那會是我們會評估的事項。

And then I think it's a bit of a barbell then you have the smaller tuck-ins that are available that are for us more synergistic, obviously, easier to digest. But I think the backdrop for us is really where our share price is trading and implied multiple. And again, we laid that out in the prepared remarks, and that's really our benchmark or our comparison. It continues to be a high bar, but we continue to look at all that's out there.

然後我認為這有點像「槓鈴」結構：一端是大型交易，另一端則是可取得的小型補強型收購（tuck-ins），對我們而言協同效益更高，顯然也更容易消化。但對我們來說的大背景，主要還是我們股價目前的交易水準與隱含倍數。同樣地，我們在事先準備的發言中已經說明，那就是我們的基準或比較依據。門檻仍然很高，但我們會持續關注市場上所有機會。

David Palmer with Evercore ISI.

David Palmer，Evercore ISI。

Congratulations on your career so far, Rob, and all the value creation back to you, Nico. -- I want to ask a first question on Foodservice profitability. Clearly, there's been -- there was a moment of a lot of trade into higher-margin value eggs. Those eggs prices were higher and egg prices have come down, and it's been a darn good profitability run here. I'm wondering how you're thinking about profitability evolution going forward, maybe rising sort of a mid-cycle profitability rising from here as you see some of your accounts doing better lately? In other words, I'm trying to figure out if $125 million a quarter is really going to be the right run rate into fiscal '27 or if you see upside to that? And I have a follow-up.

Rob，恭喜你至今的職涯，也恭喜你為公司創造的價值，Nico 也回到你這邊——我想先問餐飲服務（Foodservice）獲利能力。顯然，曾經有一段時間大量轉向毛利較高的平價蛋品。當時蛋價較高，之後蛋價回落，而這段期間的獲利表現非常亮眼。我想了解你們如何看待未來獲利能力的演變，是否可能在中期循環中從這裡再往上走，因為你們最近看到部分客戶表現更好？換句話說，我想釐清每季 1.25 億美元是否會是到 2027 財年都合理的運行水準（run rate），或你們是否看到上行空間？我還有一個追問。

So we still see that as the run rate. Again, in the quarter, there were so many puts and takes between lapping HPAI supply constraints and pricing and cost in excess of pricing last year. But our supply and demand remain in balance. So we -- while we don't provide guidance segment by segment, we see us going back to our run rate.

我們仍然認為那就是運行水準。同樣地，本季有很多相互抵銷的因素，包括去年同期 HPAI（高病原性禽流感）供給限制的比較基期，以及去年價格與成本、成本高於價格等因素。但我們的供需仍維持平衡。因此——雖然我們不逐部門提供指引，但我們認為會回到我們的運行水準。

Got it. And then similar to the previous question on pet, I just want to get a sense on cereal of your confidence in getting what I think would be your goal of a low single-digit decline rate just to really have that pull its own weight. So cereal has been rough. What is the confidence in getting to that? And what's the outlook there?

了解。接著類似前面關於寵物的問題，我想了解你們對穀物早餐（cereal）的信心：我認為你們的目標應該是低個位數的下滑幅度，讓它至少能夠自給自足、貢獻應有的比重。穀物早餐一直很艱難。你們對達成該目標的信心如何？那邊的展望是什麼？

Yes. So let me start with the category. The category, as we shared in the remarks, has been better compared to where we were a year ago. So for the quarter, the category was down 3% in pounds. And if you have a look at April, it's 2.5% down. So it is improving. It's still not kind of where it was pre-pandemic, but it's getting there. So that's the category.

是的。我先從品類談起。如同我們在發言中分享的，該品類相較一年前的狀況已有改善。以本季來看，品類以磅數計下滑 3%。如果看 4 月，則下滑 2.5%。所以確實在改善。雖然仍未回到疫情前的水準，但正在接近。以上是品類面。

Our portfolio, you have seen some of the -- we are extremely pleased with where we are. So Q2 was another quarter where we were still working through the transition of assortment, especially in the food channel to actually better prepared or have a higher return on promotional spend. Because of that, our promotional spend was down a bit versus prior year and still we were the largest -- the only large player that actually held flat dollar market share year-over-year. So we feel really good about our portfolio, and we feel good about the improvement in the category.

至於我們的產品組合，你們已經看到一些——我們對目前的狀況非常滿意。第二季又是一個季度，我們仍在推進品項組合的轉換，特別是在食品通路，讓我們在促銷支出上能有更好的準備或更高的報酬。因此，我們的促銷支出相較去年同期略有下降，但我們仍是最大的——也是唯一一家大型業者能在美元市占率上年對年持平。所以我們對自身產品組合感覺非常好，也對品類改善感到樂觀。

Thomas Palmer, JPMorgan.

Thomas Palmer，JPMorgan。

I'd like to echo my congratulations to both of you, and I appreciate all the help, Rob, as I've ramped on Post. I wanted to maybe follow up on David's question on the Foodservice business, just some of the egg dynamics.

我也想再次向你們兩位致上恭喜，也感謝你，Rob，在我熟悉 Post 的過程中提供的所有協助。我想延續 David 對餐飲服務業務的提問，特別是一些雞蛋的動態。

Obviously, in the quarter, falling egg prices seem to be a tailwind for earnings, especially based on some of the disclosures about input costs. But I did want to ask one on kind of the prospect of either lowering prices in your view here or whether you are seeing any maybe shift by customers given how cheap whole eggs are to kind of shifting in the direction of the more labor-intensive side of starting with whole eggs instead of buying prepared eggs products. Just want to make sure that neither of those is something we should be looking out for.

顯然，本季蛋價下跌似乎對獲利是順風，尤其從一些關於投入成本的揭露來看。但我也想問一下：就你們的看法，是否有可能需要降價，或者你們是否看到客戶因為全蛋價格很便宜，而轉向更耗人力的做法——也就是從全蛋開始處理，而不是購買已加工的蛋品？我只是想確認，這兩點都不是我們需要特別留意的風險。

Sure. So in terms of the switching, I think that's obviously a risk we evaluate. But honestly, given the value proposition and what we found, especially in the larger operators is once they switch to our value-added products, are able to take that labor out of their system and they see the benefits of the consistency, food safety, other things of the product, it's quite sticky. I'd say that maybe the risk is around some of the smaller independent operators, which is a much smaller component of our business, where they have a little more flexibility in the back of the house to make that switch. But again, I think, by and large, the majority of the portfolio sees that change is quite sticky.

當然。就替代（switching）而言，我認為那顯然是我們會評估的風險。但坦白說，考量到價值主張以及我們的觀察，尤其是在較大型的營運商，一旦他們改用我們的加值產品，就能把人力從其系統中移除，並看到一致性、食品安全以及產品其他面向的好處，因此黏著度很高。我會說風險可能在一些較小的獨立業者身上——那在我們業務中占比小得多——他們在後場作業上更有彈性，可能會做這種切換。但總體而言，我認為投資組合中的大多數業務，這種改變的黏著度相當高。

Okay. And I wanted to ask on Weetabix -- just the commentary about the license and how maybe that reported sales were a bit worse than underlying consumption trends for the broader business. How big is kind of the license impact that we should be thinking about? And to what extent is 2Q reflective of the kind of the full magnitude we should be thinking about in the quarters that follow?

好的。我想問 Weetabix——關於授權的評論，以及為何在更廣泛業務的實際消費趨勢之下，報告的銷售額看起來更差一些。我們應該如何看待授權影響的規模有多大？以及第二季在多大程度上反映了後續季度我們應該預期的完整影響幅度？

Sure. So in terms of what that was, that was related to Oreo O's licensing agreement that we have. And I believe we have another quarter before we fully lap that going away. But in terms of just when we think about from a volume standpoint, looking out the balance of the year, we would expect better year-over-year performance as we lap that in the second half.

好的。就那件事本身而言，那與我們所擁有的 Oreo O's 授權協議有關。而且我相信，在我們完全把它的影響消化掉、讓它不再造成比較基期影響之前，還有一個季度。但就純粹從銷量角度來看，展望今年剩餘期間，隨著我們在下半年把這項因素消化掉，我們預期年對年表現會更好。

I mean, I think as a reminder, we've seen the category come back to more flat, which is historically the right spot or what we've seen out of cereal in the UK. And Weetabix continues to have -- when I say Weetabix, the yellow box product, in particular, has some very strong momentum behind it and continues to outperform. So I think as we lap the Oreo O's and that comes away as we get into Q3, we would expect you start to see better performance overall out of our portfolio with that.

我的意思是，我想提醒一下，我們看到該品類已回到較為持平的狀態，這在歷史上是合理的位置，也是我們在英國穀物早餐市場一貫看到的情況。而 Weetabix 仍然——我說的 Weetabix 是指黃色盒裝產品——尤其是它背後有非常強勁的動能，並且持續跑贏。所以我認為，當我們把 Oreo O's 的影響消化掉、並在進入第三季時該因素退出後，我們預期整體而言，我們的產品組合表現會因此開始變得更好。

Scott Marks, Jefferies.

Scott Marks，Jefferies。

And again, congrats to Nico and Rob. I wanted to touch on Weetabix off the back of Tom's question there, just more so on the profitability side. Obviously, margins on that business are still significantly below what they had been. So just wondering if you can help us understand the path back towards that 30% level and how we should be thinking about opportunities within that business?

再次恭喜 Nico 和 Rob。我想接續 Tom 剛才的問題談談 Weetabix，但更偏向獲利能力面。顯然，該業務的利潤率仍顯著低於過去的水準。所以想請你們協助我們理解，回到 30% 水準的路徑是什麼，以及我們應該如何看待該業務內的機會？

Sure. So Scott, I think, first of all, just a reminder, UFIT continues to grow nicely within the portfolio. It's a co-man business. But as it grows in sales, it's much larger -- I'm sorry, lower margin business given the co-man nature of it. So I think that's realistically taking the top off of reaching 30%, which is a good thing because we're still growing profit dollars.

好的。Scott，我想首先提醒一下，UFIT 在我們的產品組合中仍持續良好成長。它是一項代工（co-man）業務。但隨著它的銷售成長，它的規模變得更大——抱歉，是利潤率更低的業務，因為它具有代工的性質。所以我認為，這在現實上會壓低達到 30% 的空間；但這是好事，因為我們的利潤金額仍在成長。

But in terms of just sequential improvement from where we're at now, we were able to execute some network optimization at the end of March and close a facility on the private label side, given our Deeside acquisition a couple of years ago. That was part of that plan. We were able to execute it, and that will lead to better profitability in the second half. So we would expect, as you look at EBITDA margins, sequential improvement that's noticeable in Q3 and Q4 relative to the first half.

但就從目前水準往上逐季改善而言，我們在 3 月底執行了一些網路優化，並在自有品牌（private label）端關閉了一座工廠，這與我們幾年前的 Deeside 收購有關。那是該計畫的一部分。我們已經完成執行，而這將在下半年帶來更好的獲利能力。因此，當你看 EBITDA 利潤率時，我們預期第三季與第四季相較上半年，會出現可觀、明顯的逐季改善。

Okay. Appreciate the thoughts there. And then just maybe shifting over to refrigerated retail. Obviously, very strong volume performance in the quarter. I know you called out a little bit of Easter timing benefit. Just wondering if you can help us understand kind of the magnitude of benefit there? And how we should be thinking about run rate for that business kind of in the back half?

好的。感謝你的看法。接著也許轉到冷藏零售（refrigerated retail）。本季的銷量表現顯然非常強勁。我知道你提到復活節時點帶來一些助益。想請你協助我們理解這個助益的幅度大概有多大？以及我們應該如何看待該業務在下半年大致的運行水準（run rate）？

Sure. So we saw the pretty significant lift in dinner sides or sides for the business, 12% growth. The biggest driver certainly was Easter, and we see that as you look historically when Easter falls, it's a big lift. So I'd say that's a majority of that year-over-year movement given Easter was in Q3 last year, it was in Q2 this year.

好的。我們看到晚餐配菜（dinner sides）或配菜業務有相當顯著的拉升，成長 12%。最大的驅動因素當然是復活節；從歷史來看，復活節落在哪個季度，通常都會帶來很大的拉升。所以我會說，這個年對年變動的大部分來自復活節，因為去年復活節在第三季，今年則在第二季。

But the other contributor was certainly the new private label products that we've rolled out at the beginning of the fiscal year. Those continue to do well. Arguably, they probably had a little Easter momentum behind them as well, but those are really the two drivers. So obviously, Easter will fall away, but we'll be left with continued lapping of private label introduction until we get through the end of the year.

但另一個貢獻因素當然是我們在本財年初推出的新自有品牌產品。那些產品持續表現良好。可以說，它們可能也受惠於一些復活節動能，但主要就是這兩個驅動因素。所以很明顯，復活節的因素會消退，但我們仍會持續面臨自有品牌導入的比較基期，直到今年結束。

Scott, I would add that there was some underlying volume growth for our branded portfolio. It's just, of course, it's the 12%. I mean if you have two, it's call it a-third, a-third, a-third between underlying volume growth, private label and Easter, give or take.

Scott，我補充一下，我們的品牌產品組合其實也有一些底層的銷量成長。只是當然，總體是 12%。我的意思是，如果要拆分的話，大概可以把底層銷量成長、自有品牌以及復活節三者各占約三分之一，上下會有些差異。

Marc Torrente, Wells Fargo Securities.

Marc Torrente，Wells Fargo Securities。

Rob and Nico, congratulations as well. I guess just first on the incremental cost impact from energy that you are expecting. Has that started to flow through the P&L yet? Is it more of a ramping dynamic through the back half? And when would you decide to take pricing action if needed? And how quickly could that provide some offset?

Rob 和 Nico，也恭喜你們。我想先問你們預期能源帶來的增量成本影響。這是否已經開始反映在損益表（P&L）中了？還是說它會在下半年逐步加速體現？以及如果需要，你們會在什麼時點決定採取定價行動？而這能多快提供一些抵消效果？

Sure. So we certainly are seeing the impacts as we got to the end of Q2 and into the beginning of Q3 here. So pretty consistent, I would say, depending on the level of hedges we had in place through the balance of the year, but I think you can think of it about as a pretty average run rate, assuming the war extends to the end of the fiscal year, which is what's in our base assumption. And then in terms of -- ?

好的。我們確實在第二季末、以及現在進入第三季初時開始看到影響。所以我會說相當一致，這取決於我們在今年剩餘期間所配置的避險（hedges）水準；但你可以把它視為一個相當平均的運行水準，前提是戰爭延續到本財年結束——這也是我們基本情境的假設。然後就……--？

Pricing. So I -- so that one is business by business. But for the most part, right now, we are assuming that we'll absorb that through the P&L. If this extends beyond this fiscal year, we will probably then consider about pricing.

定價。所以我——所以那部分要視各個業務而定。但就大多數情況而言，目前我們的假設是會在損益表（P&L）中吸收這些影響。如果這種情況延續到本財年之後，我們可能就會考慮定價。

But again, it really depends on where inflation falls. I mean, right now, we're seeing it in fuel and a little bit in packaging. If these things actually get worse, we will have to think about pricing, and it's probably going to be in the new fiscal year. But again, way too early to say.

但同樣地，這真的取決於通膨落點。我的意思是，目前我們在燃料以及部分包材上看到通膨。如果這些情況實際上變得更糟，我們就必須考慮定價，而這很可能會在新的財年。但同樣地，現在說還太早。

Understood. And then maybe just an update on the performance of eight Avenue since holding in the business. What was the contribution in the quarter since I guess this was the first quarter of just having the ongoing business? And then how is the integration and synergy capture progressing?

了解。接著也許請更新一下 eight Avenue 在納入公司後的表現。由於我想這是首次把持續經營的業務納入的季度，本季的貢獻是什麼？另外，整合與協同效益的實現進度如何？

Yes. So the underlying business performance is in line with the deal model. So we are pleased with puts and takes and kind of some categories slightly better, some categories slightly worse, but for the most part, it's in line with the deal model. So we feel really good. And then the integration is going extremely well. Synergies are a bit ahead of the plan. So -- and we should be hitting run rate towards the end of this fiscal as we anticipated. But we feel really good about the combination of both, right? So the team stay focused, no distractions. And so it's -- the business is performing, and we are probably overdelivering on the synergies.

是的。該業務的底層表現與交易模型（deal model）一致。所以我們對於各項正負因素感到滿意；有些品類略好、有些品類略差，但整體而言與交易模型一致。因此我們感覺非常好。而整合進展非常順利。協同效益略微超前於計畫。所以——我們應該會如同預期，在本財年末達到運行水準（run rate）。但我們對兩者的結合都感覺非常好，對吧？團隊保持專注，沒有分心。所以——業務在表現，而我們在協同效益上可能也交出超預期的成果。

John Baumgartner, Mizuho Securities.

John Baumgartner，Mizuho Securities。

Maybe first off, just to Rob, really fun ride for the past decade. And just many thanks for all your insights and interactions over the years. It was really a great learning experience. So thank you and all the best in your future endeavors. Yes, Nico, congrats on the opportunity as well. Thank you both so much.

也許先對 Rob 說，過去十年真的是一段很精彩的旅程。也非常感謝你多年來提供的所有洞見與互動。這真的是很棒的學習經驗。所以謝謝你，也祝你未來一切順利。是的，Nico，也恭喜你獲得這個機會。非常感謝你們兩位。

First off, relating to the ready-to-drink protein shakes, you understand this category very well. You made the capital commitment to the manufacturing facility. So I'm curious, first, your perspective on the sustainability of category growth and your participation as a manufacturer, just given the influx of new brands coming in, how do you think about the competitive environment through a manufacturer's lens?

首先，關於即飲（RTD）蛋白奶昔，你對這個品類非常了解。你們也對製造工廠做出了資本承諾。所以我想先請教你，從品類成長的可持續性，以及你們作為製造商的參與角度來看——考量到有大量新品牌湧入——你如何從製造商的視角看待競爭環境？

And second, given the derating of public equities in RTD and maybe that also goes for private assets as well, how do you think about reengaging in RTD as a brand owner again? I mean presumably, it's growth accretive, free cash accretive, you get synergies from repatriating volume as a vertical operator. How do you think about your position in that category right now going forward?

第二，鑑於RTD相關的公開股權估值下修（derating），或許私募資產也有類似情況，你如何看待再次以品牌持有者的身分重新投入RTD？我的意思是，推測這會帶來成長增益、自由現金流增益，而且作為垂直整合的營運者，將產量回流也能帶來協同效益。你如何看待你們目前在該品類中的位置，以及未來的走向？

Yes. I mean, I think that we have to be careful about questions that we answer from a perspective of BellRing. I think it's entirely appropriate to answer questions from a -- as a manage maker, but not as a brand opener. So I'll let you talk about the -- ?

是的。我的意思是，我認為我們必須謹慎，從BellRing的角度來回答我們能回答的問題。我認為以製造商的角度回答問題完全合適，但不適合以品牌擁有者的角度。所以我讓你來談談--？

Yes. Again, I think in terms of the shake business, I think we continue to see opportunities there to grow with BellRing. We're a key supplier of theirs. We've gotten our house in better order in terms of just volume on the shake side. So I think we're feeling better about that business. We've talked about just some higher costs that we're trying to work through in terms of higher than anticipated around just the manufacturing process and some of the costs we're absorbing. But on the volume side, we're seeing better performance, and there's certainly demand for the volume that we are pulling through on the BellRing side.

是的。再說一次，就奶昔業務而言，我認為我們仍持續看到與BellRing一起成長的機會。我們是他們的關鍵供應商。就奶昔端的產量而言，我們已把內部狀況整理得更到位。因此我們對這項業務的感受更好。我們也談到一些較高的成本，我們正在設法消化，包括製造流程中高於預期的部分，以及我們正在吸收的一些成本。但在產量方面，我們看到表現改善，而且BellRing端我們所帶動的產量確實有需求。

And then my follow-up, we're seeing some pockets of the industry where foodservice brands are making some really nice inroads in terms of market share growth in retail grocery and making that channel crossover, soup, French fries, mashed potatoes, you have the presence to Bob Evans already.

接著我的追問，我們看到產業中有些區塊，餐飲服務（foodservice）品牌在零售雜貨通路的市占成長方面取得了相當不錯的進展，實現通路跨界，例如湯品、法式薯條、馬鈴薯泥；你們在Bob Evans上已經有布局。

And I'm curious, given how tough volume growth is for a lot of these traditional retail brands, how do you think about leveraging your manufacturing assets to maybe expand Bob Evans into new categories or license other foodservice brands to enter additional categories within your meals orientation. Just have you considered that as a means of growth potentially in leveraging your assets at all?

我想請教，鑑於許多傳統零售品牌的銷量成長非常艱難，你如何看待運用你們的製造資產，將Bob Evans擴展到新類別，或授權其他餐飲服務品牌進入更多類別，以符合你們以餐食為導向的布局。你們是否曾考慮把這作為一種潛在的成長方式，來運用你們的資產？

I think you said it right. It's -- that's a lot of what the Bob Evans business is, right? So -- and it does leverage a lot of the assets for Michael Foods. Kind of expanding to other categories, I think that's the Bob Evans team, like any of our teams assess that all the time and it depends on kind of what they see as their ability to win in the category and returns. But I would actually highlight that the Bob Evans team is essentially -- the Bob Evans business is essentially that business that leverages the Michael Foods assets.

我想你說得沒錯。這——這正是Bob Evans業務很大一部分的本質，對吧？所以——而且它確實運用了Michael Foods的許多資產。至於擴展到其他類別，我認為Bob Evans團隊就像我們任何團隊一樣，會一直評估，這取決於他們認為在該類別中取勝的能力以及回報。但我其實要強調的是，Bob Evans團隊基本上——Bob Evans業務本質上就是那種運用Michael Foods資產的業務。

Carla Casella, JPMorgan.

Carla Casella，摩根大通（JPMorgan）。

You talked a bit about private brand today. And I'm just -- it's raising the question. How much of your business today is private brand? And sort of which category -- where are you the highest as a percentage of the segment? And is there more opportunity there? And I guess as a follow-on, is that a margin opportunity as well?

你今天談到了一些自有品牌（private brand）。我只是——這引發了一個問題。你們目前業務中有多少是自有品牌？以及大概在哪個品類——也就是在各事業部中，你們自有品牌占比最高的是哪裡？那裡是否還有更多機會？另外我想追問，自有品牌是否也是一個毛利機會？

So Post consumer brands is where we have the -- probably the -- actually the largest private label brand and the highest in terms of percentage of the total business and it's around 20% of the business is private label. If I understood your question is like where is -- kind of what is our position? We have a very strong position in cereal, granola and Peanut butter.

Post消費者品牌（Post consumer brands）是我們擁有——可能——其實是最大的自有品牌業務、且在整體業務中占比最高的部分；自有品牌約占該業務的20%。如果我理解你的問題是「我們的位置在哪裡」——我們在穀物（cereal）、格蘭諾拉（granola）和花生醬方面有非常強的地位。

We are a smaller player in private label in pet, we are more of a premium private label player in pet. And in terms of opportunities, we see opportunities in all those categories. And in general, in all categories that we play in, we will always consider how to leverage the branded and private label portfolio, right? So -- ?

在寵物品類的自有品牌方面，我們是較小的參與者；在寵物領域我們更偏向高端自有品牌玩家。就機會而言，我們在所有這些品類都看到機會。而且一般來說，在我們參與的所有品類中，我們都會一直思考如何運用品牌與自有品牌的組合，對吧？所以--？

Okay. But it sounds like you're growing more on the refrigerated side. And is there -- and I'm wondering if there's any private label in with Weetabix in Europe?

好的。但聽起來你們在冷藏（refrigerated）端成長更快。我想問的是，在歐洲的Weetabix是否也有自有品牌業務？

There is private label and Weetabix, yes, and that has been the case for years now. We are growing faster in refrigerated because essentially, we make the decision of actually reengaging with the private label business in that category. So it's going from essentially nothing. And so we see it as an opportunity -- ongoing opportunity. For now, it's targeted on fewer retailers, but it's an opportunity there as well.

Weetabix有自有品牌，是的，而且多年來一直如此。我們在冷藏端成長更快，因為本質上我們做了決策：在該品類重新投入自有品牌業務。所以它是從幾乎沒有開始。因此我們把它視為一個機會——持續的機會。目前它鎖定較少的零售商，但那裡同樣存在機會。

Okay. Is the opportunity similar to where you are in consumer brands? Like do you see those categories get to 20% private brand?

好的。這個機會是否類似於你們在消費者品牌那邊的情況？例如你是否看到那些品類的自有品牌占比能達到20%？

It's difficult to say. I mean, we don't -- I think it is -- higher than 20%.

這很難說。我的意思是，我們不——我認為它會——高於20%。

Yes. Weetabix is -- from a category standpoint, private label is much larger in the UK than the US, obviously, a much smaller market, but our share is in line with the category in terms of branded versus private label. So private label is north of 40% for us over there. But -- so I think in line -- I don't know if there's a lot of opportunities there.

是的。Weetabix——從品類角度來看，英國的自有品牌占比顯然比美國大得多；市場也小得多，但我們的市占在品牌與自有品牌的結構上與品類整體相符。所以我們在那邊的自有品牌占比超過40%。但是——所以我認為大致一致——我不確定那裡是否還有很多機會。

We feel really good about having the alternative price points just like we do in Post consumer brands. And we think that gives us a competitive advantage and inroads with retailers, both on the branded side and with that private label presence.

我們對於提供不同的價格帶感到非常有信心，就像我們在Post消費者品牌所做的一樣。我們認為這讓我們在與零售商合作時具備競爭優勢並能取得切入點，無論是在品牌端，或是透過自有品牌的布局。

Okay. And can I just ask one quick finance question. You've done a lot of share buybacks. You've done a bunch of refinancing lately. How much cash should we model in that you need to keep on the books just to run the business?

好的。我可以再問一個很快的財務問題嗎？你們做了很多庫藏股回購。最近也做了不少再融資。就維持營運而言，我們在模型中應該假設你們需要在帳上保留多少現金？

Sure. We generally think about it, call it, $150 million of just cash on the balance sheet for working capital purposes. And just given our Weetabix office as well as international, that's about the right level of cash just needed for daily operations.

當然。我們一般的想法是，資產負債表上保留大約1.5億美元現金，主要是為了營運資金用途。再加上我們的Weetabix辦公室以及國際業務，這大概就是日常營運所需的適當現金水位。

Thank you. This does conclude today's question-and-answer session as well as Post Holdings second quarter 2026 earnings conference call and webcast.

謝謝。以上結束今天的問答環節，也結束Post Holdings 2026會計年度第二季財報電話會議與網路直播。

Please disconnect your line at this time, and have a wonderful day.

請於此時掛斷您的線路，祝您有美好的一天。