Pilgrims Pride Corp (PPC) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the First Quarter 2023 Pilgrim's Pride Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. (Operator Instructions) At the company's request, this call is being recorded. Please note that the slides referenced during today's call are available for download from the Investors section of the company's website at www.pilgrims.com. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. I would now like to turn the conference call over to Andy Rojeski, Head of Strategy, Investor Relations and Net Zero Programs for Pilgrim's.

早上好，歡迎來到 2023 年第一季度 Pilgrim's Pride 收益電話會議和網絡直播。 （操作員說明）應公司的要求，正在記錄此通話。請注意，今天電話會議中引用的幻燈片可從公司網站 www.pilgrims.com 的投資者部分下載。今天的演講結束後，將有機會提問。我現在想將電話會議轉交給 Pilgrim's 的戰略、投資者關係和淨零計劃主管 Andy Rojeski。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today as we review our operating and financial results for the first quarter ended on March 26, 2023. Yesterday afternoon, we issued a press release providing an overview of our financial performance for the quarter, including a reconciliation of any non-GAAP measures we may discuss. A copy of the release is available on our website at ir.pilgrims.com, along with the slides for reference. These items also have been filed as Form 8-K and are available online at sec.gov. Fabio Sandri, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Matt Galvanoni, Chief Finance Officer, will present on today's call.

早上好，感謝您今天加入我們，回顧我們截至 2023 年 3 月 26 日的第一季度的運營和財務業績。昨天下午，我們發布了一份新聞稿，概述了我們本季度的財務業績，包括我們可能討論的任何非 GAAP 措施的對賬。我們的網站 ir.pilgrims.com 上提供了該新聞稿的副本以及供參考的幻燈片。這些項目也已作為 8-K 表格提交，可在 sec.gov 在線獲取。法比奧·桑德里，總裁兼首席執行官；首席財務官 Matt Galvanoni 將出席今天的電話會議。

Before we begin our prepared remarks, I would like to remind everyone of our safe harbor disclaimer. Today's call may contain certain forward-looking statements that represent our outlook and current expectations as of the day of this release. Other additional factors not anticipated by management may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements. Further information concerning these factors have been provided in yesterday's press release, our Form 10-K and our regular filings with the SEC. I would now like to turn the call over to Fabio Sandri.

在我們開始準備好的發言之前，我想提醒大家注意我們的安全港免責聲明。今天的電話會議可能包含某些前瞻性陳述，代表我們截至本新聞稿發布之日的展望和當前預期。管理層未預料到的其他額外因素可能導致實際結果與這些前瞻性陳述中預測的結果存在重大差異。有關這些因素的更多信息已在昨天的新聞稿、我們的 10-K 表格和我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的定期文件中提供。我現在想把電話轉給 Fabio Sandri。

Thank you, Andy. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. For the first quarter of 2023, we reported net revenues of $4.17 billion, which was slightly below the same quarter last year. Our adjusted EBITDA was $151.9 million with margins of 3.6% compared to 11.8% last year. Our overall portfolio of geographies and business demonstrated its resilience over the last years. During this time, we experienced all-time highs as well as near-record lows in commodity values. We've also faced dramatic inflation throughout our supply chain, including grain inputs, labor and utilities, along with other distinct challenging economic conditions in each of our regions.

謝謝你，安迪。大家早上好，感謝您今天加入我們。 2023 年第一季度，我們報告的淨收入為 41.7 億美元，略低於去年同期。我們調整後的 EBITDA 為 1.519 億美元，利潤率為 3.6%，而去年為 11.8%。我們的整體地域和業務組合在過去幾年展示了其彈性。在此期間，我們的商品價值經歷了歷史高點和接近歷史低點。我們還面臨著整個供應鏈的急劇通貨膨脹，包括糧食投入、勞動力和公用事業，以及我們每個地區的其他明顯具有挑戰性的經濟狀況。

To mitigate these challenges, we've also consistently driven our strategy of key customer focus and operational excellence. Our businesses were able to capture the benefits of exceptionally favorable markets while minimizing the impact of extremely adverse market conditions. As a result, we can generate a more resilient earnings profile over the long term. Throughout Q1, our strategies demonstrated their criticality as our overall business -- in each region improved its profitability relative to prior quarter in a very challenging environment. In our U.S. business, diversification with small bird and case-ready, along with our branded offerings in Prepared moderated the impact of depressed commodity cutout values. In addition, our key customer strategy was instrumental in driving improvements in our production volumes and in our supply chain.

為了緩解這些挑戰，我們還始終如一地推動以關鍵客戶為中心和卓越運營的戰略。我們的企業能夠從異常有利的市場中獲益，同時最大限度地減少極端不利市場條件的影響。因此，我們可以在長期內產生更具彈性的盈利狀況。在整個第一季度，我們的戰略證明了它們作為我們整體業務的重要性——在一個非常具有挑戰性的環境中，每個地區的盈利能力都比上一季度有所提高。在我們的美國業務中，小鳥和案例準備的多樣化，以及我們在 Prepared 中的品牌產品，緩和了商品分切價低迷的影響。此外，我們的關鍵客戶戰略有助於推動我們的產量和供應鏈的改進。

In the U.K. and Europe, our focus on operational excellence and the restructuring of our manufacturing network helped us increase production efficiencies. These efforts were extended beyond our production locations as we drove synergies in our back-office support activities as well. Our innovation also continued to gain traction with key customers, further diversifying and adding value to our portfolio.

在英國和歐洲，我們專注於卓越運營和重組製造網絡，幫助我們提高了生產效率。隨著我們也在後台支持活動中推動協同效應，這些努力擴展到了我們的生產基地之外。我們的創新也繼續吸引主要客戶，進一步豐富我們的產品組合併增加其價值。

As for Mexico, performance improved in supply-demand fundamentals become more balanced and inflation slowed. In addition, we continue to improve our efficiencies as we map our issues in our live operations. We also benefited from favorable exchange rates in our diversified portfolio as both our fresh and branded offerings grew throughout the quarter.

至於墨西哥，供需基本面的表現有所改善，變得更加平衡，通脹放緩。此外，我們在繪製實時運營中的問題時會繼續提高效率。我們還受益於我們多元化產品組合的有利匯率，因為我們的新鮮產品和品牌產品在整個季度都有增長。

Turning to feed ingredients. Recent USDA reports show ending stocks estimate steady at a historical tight 1.34 billion bushels. Demand has been impacted by the high prices in the first 6 months of the crop year, with U.S. exports down approximately 37% year-over-year. Domestically, core demand for ethanol was also 5% down, and feed/residual was down 7% versus the same period in the prior year. The ending stocks are expected to increase to more normal levels, depending on Brazil's second crop planting success and weather here in the U.S. and continued export flows from the Black Sea.

轉向飼料原料。美國農業部最近的報告顯示期末庫存估計穩定在 13.4 億蒲式耳的歷史低位。作物年度前 6 個月的高價格影響了需求，美國出口同比下降約 37%。在國內，乙醇的核心需求也下降了 5%，飼料/殘渣比去年同期下降了 7%。期末庫存預計將增加至更正常的水平，這取決於巴西第二季作物的播種成功和美國這裡的天氣以及黑海的持續出口流量。

Although critical development stages are still ahead, current weather is favorable for the large planted area in Brazil. In U.S., USDA's prospective planting report show a favorable response to the elevated prices and the corn to soybean price ratio with planting intentions of 92 million acres, and planting is well underway. With titled crops in U.S. and much time at hand, the market currently carries a relative large weather risk premium. With the confirmation of more normal conditions and with the current market scenario, we expect those premiums to reduce.

儘管仍處於關鍵的發展階段，但目前的天氣有利於巴西的大面積種植面積。在美國，美國農業部的種植預期報告顯示對價格上漲和玉米與大豆價格比的積極反應，種植意向為 9200 萬英畝，種植正在順利進行。由於美國有產權作物並且手頭有很多時間，市場目前具有相對較大的天氣風險溢價。隨著更多正常情況的確認和當前的市場情況，我們預計這些溢價會減少。

Regarding soy, Q1 saw price volatility as soybean production estimates diverge across South America. Brazil is harvesting a record crop, while Argentina crop is down 19 million tons versus last year. While South America soybean production was net larger and global soybean stocks are at acceptable levels, the soybean meal supply is constrained as Argentina is dependent on soybean imports to run their crushing industry. However, tepid soybean demand from China and weak soybean meal demand outside the U.S. has kept soybean meal prices from returning to the Q1 highs.

在大豆方面，由於南美各地的大豆產量估計存在差異，第一季度價格出現波動。巴西收穫了創紀錄的收成，而阿根廷的收成比去年減少了 1900 萬噸。儘管南美大豆產量淨增且全球大豆庫存處於可接受水平，但由於阿根廷依賴大豆進口來經營其壓榨業，豆粕供應受到限制。然而，來自中國的大豆需求不溫不火以及美國以外的豆粕需求疲軟使得豆粕價格無法回到第一季度的高位。

USDA prospective planting show intentions for the '23 to '24 soybean acreage of 87.5 million acres, essentially flat year-over-year. Crop conditions will be critical as we were to enter the new crop year with historical tight ending stocks of 210 million bushels or 4.8% stocks-to-use.

美國農業部 23 至 24 年大豆播種意向顯示為 8750 萬英畝，同比基本持平。作物狀況將是至關重要的，因為我們將進入新的作物年度，歷史上緊縮的期末庫存為 2.1 億蒲式耳或 4.8% 的庫存使用率。

On the wheat, globally, balance sheets have been relatively well supplied and offer alternatives for global feed grain importers. The U.S. hard red winter wheat is the main concern for Northern Hemisphere due to the lingering dry conditions, while EU wheat conditions are promising, much like corn and operational Black Sea export corridor should be mentioned before, beyond mid-May.

在小麥方面，全球資產負債表供應相對充足，為全球飼料穀物進口商提供了替代品。由於持續的干旱天氣，美國硬紅冬小麥是北半球的主要擔憂，而歐盟小麥的情況很有希望，就像玉米和黑海出口走廊一樣，應該在 5 月中旬以後提及。

In the first 3 months of 2023, ready-to-cook production on the U.S. chicken experienced an increase of 3.4% relative to Q1 2022. The more substantial year-over-year growth occurring in January before slowing in March in recent weeks. Growing first quarter headcounts were bolstered by year-over-year improvements in hatchability in late 2022, supporting mild chick placements increased during the same period. Considering more recent trends, the rate of industry excess has slowed, and it has been flat year-over-year. The industry's hatching rate has declined year-over-year despite our own improvements.

2023 年前 3 個月，美國雞肉的即食產量較 2022 年第一季度增長了 3.4%。較大幅度的同比增長發生在 1 月份，然後在最近幾週的 3 月份放緩。 2022 年末孵化率同比提高推動了第一季度員工人數的增長，這支持了同期輕度雛雞安置的增加。考慮到最近的趨勢，行業過剩的速度已經放緩，並且與去年同期持平。儘管我們自己有所改進，但該行業的孵化率卻逐年下降。

Taken together, aggregate chick placements over the trailing month has remained relatively flat year-over-year to negative numbers on recent weeks. And the (inaudible) 2023 outlook indicated lower growth for Q2 and a decline in production during the second semester of 2023.

總的來說，過去一個月的總雛雞安置與去年同期相比持平，最近幾週為負數。而（聽不清）2023 年展望表明第二季度增長放緩，2023 年下半年產量下降。

On the cold storage, reported USDA inventories indicated an 8.3% reduction from the end of 2022 throughout the end of March, bringing inventories back near the 5-year average after seeing some rapid buildup towards the end of 2022.

在冷庫方面，美國農業部報告的庫存顯示整個 3 月底比 2022 年底減少了 8.3%，使庫存在 2022 年底快速增加後回到 5 年平均水平附近。

When analyzing the overall supply of protein, the USDA maintained the expectation of reducing domestic protein availability . This outlook includes the growth of chicken during Q1 and the growth of turkey production after the AI events of last year. When factoring all of the red meat supply, USDA expects a decline in the availability, primarily due to the contracting U.S. beef production of 4.5%. As for pork, availability is expected to remain flat in the U.S. year-over-year.

在分析蛋白質的整體供應時，美國農業部維持了國內蛋白質供應減少的預期。這一前景包括第一季度雞肉的增長和去年 AI 事件後火雞產量的增長。在考慮所有紅肉供應時，美國農業部預計供應量將下降，這主要是由於美國牛肉產量收縮 4.5%。至於豬肉，預計美國的供應量將同比持平。

U.S. domestic demand showed mild growth in the first quarter of 2023. The retail channel experienced stable volumes sold, albeit at higher sales prices. In the fresh department, steadily increasing promotional activity provided volume support, enabling sales volume to remain on par with a year ago, while still maintaining elevated dollar sales. As a result, chicken was able to grow both volume and dollar share in the meat category over the past year, demonstrating its remarkable resilience despite a trend of reduction in unit purchases among consumers.

美國國內需求在 2023 年第一季度呈現溫和增長。零售渠道銷售量穩定，儘管銷售價格較高。在生鮮部門，穩步增加的促銷活動提供了銷量支持，使銷量與一年前持平，同時仍保持較高的美元銷售額。因此，雞肉在過去一年中在肉類類別中的銷量和美元份額均有所增長，儘管消費者的單位購買量呈下降趨勢，但仍顯示出其非凡的彈性。

Overall, frozen dollar sales grew on mild volume declines. However, we see divergent trends for the frozen value-added and the frozen commodity categories. Dollar sales for the frozen value-added category continued to trend positive as both increased volumes and higher price. Meanwhile, the opposite remains true for the frozen commodity category as declining dollar sales were the result of significant volume declines that were not offset by year-over-year price increases.

總體而言，冷凍美元銷售額因銷量溫和下降而增長。然而，我們看到冷凍附加值和冷凍商品類別的趨勢不同。由於銷量增加和價格上漲，冷凍增值品類的美元銷售額繼續呈上升趨勢。與此同時，冷凍商品類別的情況恰恰相反，因為美元銷售額下降是銷量大幅下降的結果，但並沒有被同比價格上漲所抵消。

From a location standpoint, the deli emerged as the fastest-growing location for chicken as it simultaneously grew in price and units. Equally important, it increasingly became a destination for shoppers as the number of deli chicken trips increased 2.5%, a considerable increase relative to the same period last year, reflecting a broader consumer trend to seeking affordability and convenience.

從位置的角度來看，熟食店成為雞肉增長最快的地方，因為它的價格和單位同時增長。同樣重要的是，它越來越成為購物者的目的地，因為去熟食雞肉的次數增加了 2.5%，與去年同期相比增幅相當大，反映出更廣泛的消費者趨勢是尋求負擔得起和方便。

We are encouraged by the potential of the retail channel, given the continued tightening of competing proteins and above average wholesale markup for chicken. As such, retailers can further drive promotional activity to gain momentum with consumers who are looking for more affordable protein options, especially in this inflationary environment.

鑑於競爭性蛋白質的持續收緊和雞肉批發價格高於平均水平，我們對零售渠道的潛力感到鼓舞。因此，零售商可以進一步推動促銷活動，以吸引正在尋找更實惠的蛋白質選擇的消費者，尤其是在這種通脹環境下。

The foodservice category also showed increased demand. Throughout the first quarter, foodservice demand grew volumes of 7% as both QSR and foodservice restaurants experienced year-over-year growth. Consumer traffic has been stable, but we have seen more promotions of chicken items.

餐飲服務類別的需求也有所增加。在整個第一季度，餐飲服務需求量增長了 7%，因為 QSR 和餐飲服務餐廳都實現了同比增長。消費者流量一直穩定，但我們看到更多的雞肉產品促銷活動。

In the commercial segment, those promotions have generated volume growth of nearly 5%. Raw wings, tenders, legs and dark meat have experienced an exceptional rebound as all have grown volume double digits. Value added tender strips and legs have also enjoyed a strong growth rate.

在商業領域，這些促銷活動帶來了近 5% 的銷量增長。生翅、嫩肉、腿和黑肉都出現了異常反彈，因為它們的體積都增長了兩位數。附加值的嫩條和腿也有強勁的增長。

The noncommercial segments continue to grow towards the pre-pandemic levels, with volumes year-over-year increasing nearly 12%, led by the business and industry and the lodging segment. As workers increasingly return to the office, we expect these segments to continue to increase. On the export, we see demand is increasing strongly for U.S. chicken after posting year-over-year growth in early 2023.

非商業部門繼續向大流行前的水平增長，銷量同比增長近 12%，其中以工商業和住宿部門為首。隨著越來越多的員工返回辦公室，我們預計這些細分市場將繼續增加。在出口方面，我們看到美國雞肉的需求在 2023 年初實現同比增長後強勁增長。

Through the first 2 months of Q1, export volumes were at an all-time high with 3.3% growth year-over-year. Year-to-date, export performance has also enabled cold storage inventories of dark meat to reduce significantly since the end of 2022, with February volumes 21% below December. We expect this inventory trend to continue for 2023 as export supply chains continue to improve.

在第一季度的前兩個月，出口量創歷史新高，同比增長 3.3%。自 2022 年底以來，今年迄今的出口表現也使冷庫深色肉庫存大幅減少，2 月份的銷量比 12 月份減少了 21%。隨著出口供應鏈的不斷改善，我們預計這種庫存趨勢將持續到 2023 年。

Regarding the prevalence of high path AI in the U.S., this continues to be of great concern to all industry participants. However, the number of total birds depopulated since the beginning of 2023 is less than 1 million, and the last reported case found in the commercial broiler flock was mid-February. Most of our trading partners are also responding by lifting the high path AI trade restrictions in accordance with our agreement with mainly greatly reducing their restrictions from state to county level and some to zones as well as following the World Organization of Animal Health guidelines of limiting bans to 28 days both clean and disinfected.

關於高路徑人工智能在美國的盛行，這仍然是所有行業參與者都非常關注的問題。然而，自 2023 年初以來，減少數量的鳥類總數不到 100 萬隻，最後一次在商業肉雞群中發現的報告病例發生在 2 月中旬。我們的大多數貿易夥伴也根據我們的協議解除了高路徑人工智能貿易限制，主要是大大減少了從州到縣級和一些區域的限制，並遵循世界動物衛生組織的限制禁令指南到 28 天既清潔又消毒。

With the exception of China, -- this easing and lifting of restrictions are also aiding the industry record export performance. We have yet to make headway with China on releasing states from high path AI restrictions, even as all the parameters for lifting this ban have been met.

除中國外，這種放寬和取消限制也有助於行業創紀錄的出口業績。我們尚未與中國在解除高路徑 AI 限制方面取得進展，即使解除該禁令的所有參數都已滿足。

Our geographical and channel diversification in U.S. continues to benefit our exports, allowing us to access over 80 markets globally including China. Our U.S. business continued to adjust to these prolonged challenges in commodity supply and demand fundamentals. While market dynamics improved throughout the quarter, January was exceptionally difficult, given elevated grain costs and significantly low market prices, especially for breast, meat and wings. Our big bird business was the most impacted by these conditions as revenues and profitability continue to suffer. Nonetheless, the business improved each month throughout the quarter given enhanced fundamentals and intense focus on operational excellence. Although significant progress has been made, substantial work remains to achieve sustainable margin levels.

我們在美國的地理和渠道多元化繼續有利於我們的出口，使我們能夠進入包括中國在內的全球 80 多個市場。我們的美國業務繼續調整以應對商品供需基本面的這些長期挑戰。儘管整個季度市場動態有所改善，但由於穀物成本上漲和市場價格大幅走低，特別是胸肉、肉類和翅膀的價格，1 月份異常艱難。我們的大型鳥類業務受這些情況的影響最大，因為收入和盈利能力繼續受到影響。儘管如此，由於基本面的增強和對卓越運營的高度關注，整個季度的業務每個月都有所改善。儘管取得了重大進展，但要實現可持續的利潤率水平，仍有大量工作要做。

Our diversified portfolio across bird sizes and branded offerings moderated the impact of these challenging conditions. In our small bird segment, we continue to improve our results compared to last quarter and last year, giving our growth with key customers, continued recovery of inflation costs and operational performance. In case-ready, our growth with key customers continued to outpace industry averages. We expect additional opportunities to accelerate this growth through increased promotional activity, improvements in mix and partnership with key customers.

我們涵蓋鳥類大小和品牌產品的多元化產品組合減輕了這些具有挑戰性的條件的影響。在我們的小鳥部分，與上一季度和去年相比，我們繼續改善我們的業績，使我們與主要客戶的增長、通貨膨脹成本的持續恢復和運營績效。在案例準備方面，我們與主要客戶的增長繼續超過行業平均水平。我們希望通過增加促銷活動、改善組合以及與主要客戶的合作夥伴關係來加速這一增長。

Our Prepared Foods business realized similar success as sales and profitability improved throughout the increased business with key customers, operational enhancements and lower raw material costs. Our fully cooked branded business continues to have strong momentum as our Just Bare and Pilgrim's offerings increased 68% year-over-year.

我們的預製食品業務取得了類似的成功，因為在與主要客戶的業務增加、運營改進和原材料成本降低的過程中，銷售額和盈利能力得到改善。我們的全熟品牌業務繼續保持強勁勢頭，因為我們的 Just Bare 和 Pilgrim's 產品同比增長 68%。

Despite extended challenges in market fundamentals, elevated input costs and stubborn inflation, we remain committed to profitable growth in our U.S. business. Our expansion in Athens, Georgia to support key customer growth remains on track. Also, our investments to support operational excellence through automation and our new protein conversion plants in South Georgia are progressing as planned.

儘管市場基本面面臨長期挑戰、投入成本上升和頑固的通貨膨脹，但我們仍致力於美國業務的盈利增長。我們在佐治亞州雅典的擴張以支持主要客戶的增長仍在進行中。此外，我們通過自動化支持卓越運營的投資以及我們在南喬治亞州的新蛋白質轉化工廠正在按計劃進行。

Throughout our U.K. and Europe business, inflation continues to be at the highest level seen over the past 40 years. Despite these challenges, the chicken and pork categories remain resilient as consumers continue to shift into those categories from other proteins. These categories' benefit are further amplified by our growth with key customers as we have outpaced channel averages in both retail and foodservice. From a supply chain standpoint, the team continues to mitigate costs through operational efficiencies and cost recovery. Overall demand across our total portfolio has remained relatively stable across both branded and private label offerings, even as cost increases have been passed through the shelf to our menu.

在我們的英國和歐洲業務中，通貨膨脹繼續處於過去 40 年來的最高水平。儘管存在這些挑戰，但隨著消費者繼續從其他蛋白質轉向這些類別，雞肉和豬肉類別仍保持彈性。由於我們在零售和餐飲服務方面的增長速度超過了渠道平均水平，因此我們與主要客戶的增長進一步擴大了這些類別的收益。從供應鏈的角度來看，該團隊繼續通過運營效率和成本回收來降低成本。我們整個產品組合的總體需求在品牌和自有品牌產品中保持相對穩定，即使成本增加已經通過貨架傳遞到我們的菜單上。

The team continues to drive growth through innovation with both customer and branded offerings. Moy Park recently became the supplier of choice for a key customer, involving a dedicated brand with distinct animal welfare standards throughout our entire supply chain. Our Pilgrim's Food Masters team have continued to drive and expand usage through flavor and packed formats, innovations in the Fridge Raiders line. In addition, the Richmond brand continues to increase share for its recent introduction of meat-free liner. The team has made significant progress in operational excellence throughout our network optimization, given the substantial headway in the consolidation of our production facilities.

該團隊繼續通過客戶和品牌產品的創新來推動增長。 Moy Park 最近成為一個重要客戶的首選供應商，涉及一個在我們整個供應鏈中具有獨特動物福利標準的專門品牌。我們的 Pilgrim's Food Masters 團隊繼續通過風味和包裝形式以及 Fridge Raiders 系列的創新來推動和擴大使用範圍。此外，Richmond 品牌最近推出的無肉內膽繼續增加市場份額。鑑於我們在整合生產設施方面取得的重大進展，該團隊在整個網絡優化過程中在卓越運營方面取得了重大進展。

To date, we have realized margin improvements for enhanced line efficiencies, increased overhead utilization and better raw material sourcing. In addition, the integration of our back-office support activities has taken a step forward as our new shared services support center is now functional. We will continue to explore alternatives to further enhance our efficiencies and realize the full potential of the business.

迄今為止，我們已經通過提高生產線效率、提高間接費用利用率和更好的原材料採購實現了利潤率的提高。此外，由於我們新的共享服務支持中心現已投入使用，我們的後台支持活動的整合也向前邁進了一步。我們將繼續探索替代方案，以進一步提高我們的效率並充分發揮業務的潛力。

Progress may also be amplified by continued stabilization of input costs, increasingly steady stacking levels and enhanced market fundamentals. Pork and chicken supply demand is becoming increasingly balanced where utilities and wheat prices have recently moderated from all-time highs.

投入成本的持續穩定、堆積水平的日益穩定和市場基本面的增強也可能會擴大進展。豬肉和雞肉的供應需求正變得越來越平衡，公用事業和小麥價格最近從歷史高位回落。

Our Mexico business also rebounded solidly throughout the quarter as protein availability stabilized and our difficulties in live operation diminished. These factors were further augmented by increasingly favorable foreign exchange rates and inflation moderation. The team's branded fresh portfolio continues to perform as it grew in double digits again compared to the same period last year. Given our progress and desire to further diversify our portfolio into branded offerings, we entered 2 new brands, Unique Taste and Favorites, and we will introduce the Just Bare into the Mexican market.

我們的墨西哥業務在整個季度也穩步反彈，因為蛋白質供應穩定並且我們在現場運營中的困難減少了。日益有利的外匯匯率和通脹放緩進一步加劇了這些因素。該團隊的品牌新鮮產品組合繼續表現出色，與去年同期相比再次以兩位數增長。鑑於我們的進步和進一步將我們的產品組合多樣化為品牌產品的願望，我們進入了 2 個新品牌，Unique Taste 和 Favorites，我們將把 Just Bare 引入墨西哥市場。

The performance of our branded prepared portfolio also has respectable performance given its sustained growth. We are driving promotional activity to broaden our presence in value-added and across retail and foodservice. We're continuing to invest capacity and operational excellence to drive profitable growth.

鑑於其持續增長，我們品牌準備的產品組合的表現也有可觀的表現。我們正在推動促銷活動，以擴大我們在增值業務以及零售和餐飲服務領域的影響力。我們將繼續投資能力和卓越運營以推動盈利增長。

Our footprint expansion in the Yucatan Peninsula remain on track, and we anticipate production to become available in the second half of this year. As part of our journey to become an industry leader in sustainability, we've expanded our efforts beyond our processing facilities, and we work with the entire supply chain to achieve our ambitious sustainability targets. As an example, in Europe, our team recently unveiled a state-of-the-art poultry farm in the U.K. This site employs a variety of innovative designs, technologies and equipment that can effectively enable the firm to be completely self-sufficient in energy and operating at full capacity. We will continue to evaluate opportunities and bring innovation throughout our supply chain across all regions. With that, I would like to ask our CFO, Matt Galvanoni, to discuss our financial results.

我們在尤卡坦半島的足跡擴張仍在進行中，我們預計將在今年下半年投產。作為我們成為可持續發展行業領導者的旅程的一部分，我們已經將我們的努力擴展到我們的加工設施之外，我們與整個供應鏈合作以實現我們雄心勃勃的可持續發展目標。例如，在歐洲，我們的團隊最近在英國推出了一個最先進的家禽養殖場。該場址採用了各種創新設計、技術和設備，可以有效地使公司在能源方面完全自給自足並滿負荷運轉。我們將繼續評估機會，並在我們所有地區的供應鏈中帶來創新。因此，我想請我們的首席財務官 Matt Galvanoni 討論我們的財務業績。

Thank you, Fabio. Good morning, everybody. For the first quarter of 2023, net revenues were $4.17 billion versus $4.24 billion a year ago, with adjusted EBITDA of $151.9 million and a margin of 3.6% compared to $501.8 million and an 11% -- 11.8% margin in Q1 last year. Adjusted EBITDA margins in Q1 were 1.8% in the U.S. compared to 15.9% a year ago.

謝謝你，法比奧。大家早上好。 2023 年第一季度，淨收入為 41.7 億美元，而去年同期為 42.4 億美元，調整後的 EBITDA 為 1.519 億美元，利潤率為 3.6%，而去年第一季度為 5.018 億美元，利潤率為 11% - 11.8%。美國第一季度調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 1.8%，而一年前為 15.9%。

For our U.K. and Europe businesses, adjusted EBITDA margins came in at 5.3% for Q1 compared to 1.2% last year. In Mexico, adjusted EBITDA in Q1 was 8.5% versus 16.1% a year ago. Moving to the U.S. results, our adjusted EBITDA for Q1 came in at $43.6 million compared to $411.7 million a year ago. Our U.S. big bird business was impacted by continued volatility in the commodity chicken markets.

對於我們的英國和歐洲業務，第一季度調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 5.3%，而去年為 1.2%。在墨西哥，第一季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 8.5%，而一年前為 16.1%。轉向美國結果，我們調整後的第一季度 EBITDA 為 4360 萬美元，而一年前為 4.117 億美元。我們的美國大型鳥類業務受到商品雞市場持續波動的影響。

We entered the first quarter on a downward slope of the commodity market pricing. As we hit the end of January, we began to experience steady improvement in cutout pricing until we saw flattening of the curve towards the end of the quarter. Our diversified U.S. product portfolio across bird sizes and brands, along with our key customer partnerships, helped us capture the upside of the strong commodity market prices in Q1 2022, while helping us mitigate the impact of volatility in market prices in our big bird business during this quarter. In the U.K. and Europe, adjusted EBITDA in Q1 was $66.2 million versus $14.8 million in 2022. The U.K. and Europe business continues to face inflationary cost pressures. However, through its previously discussed mitigation efforts in 2022, the business has shown resiliency in its profitability growth journey. The business has benefited from the back office integration and its network optimization programs.

我們進入第一季度時商品市場定價呈下降趨勢。到了 1 月底，我們開始體驗到切塊定價的穩步改善，直到我們看到曲線在本季度末趨於平緩。我們在美國的鳥類規格和品牌多元化產品組合，以及我們的主要客戶合作夥伴關係，幫助我們抓住了 2022 年第一季度商品市場價格強勁的優勢，同時幫助我們減輕了大型鳥類業務市場價格波動的影響這個季度。在英國和歐洲，第一季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 6620 萬美元，而 2022 年為 1480 萬美元。英國和歐洲業務繼續面臨通脹成本壓力。然而，通過之前討論的 2022 年緩解措施，該公司在盈利增長過程中表現出了彈性。該業務受益於後台整合及其網絡優化計劃。

We incurred approximately $8 million of restructuring charges during this quarter in support of the U.K. network optimization program. Mexico generated $42.1 million in adjusted EBITDA in Q1 compared to $75.3 million last year and negative $15.8 million in Q4 2022. Sequentially, the Mexican business profitability improved primarily due to more balanced supply-demand fundamentals and the diminishing of recent bird disease challenges in its live operations.

本季度我們為支持英國網絡優化計劃產生了大約 800 萬美元的重組費用。墨西哥第一季度的調整後 EBITDA 為 4210 萬美元，而去年為 7530 萬美元，2022 年第四季度為負 1580 萬美元。因此，墨西哥企業的盈利能力有所提高，這主要是由於供需基本面更加平衡，以及近期鳥類疾病挑戰的減少。操作。

Our SG&A in the quarter was lower year-over-year. Key drivers included a decrease in legal defense funding, certain lower people-related costs, lower cost in the U.K. from impacts of the back office integration and a minor amount of net year-over-year foreign exchange favorability. Also during the quarter, we benefited from the conclusion of negotiations related to both property insurance and business interruption insurance claims in the U.S. and the U.K.

我們本季度的 SG&A 同比下降。主要驅動因素包括法律辯護資金的減少、某些與人員相關的成本降低、英國因後台整合的影響而降低的成本以及少量的同比淨外匯優惠。同樣在本季度，我們受益於與美國和英國的財產保險和業務中斷保險索賠相關的談判的結束。

We spent $132 million in CapEx in the first quarter. The first quarter spending is higher on a run rate basis, primarily due to our investments in the Athens, Georgia expansion and our new protein conversion plant being constructed in South Georgia.

第一季度我們在資本支出上花費了 1.32 億美元。第一季度的支出按運行率計算較高，這主要是由於我們在喬治亞州雅典的擴張投資以及我們在南喬治亞州建造的新蛋白質轉化廠。

We reiterate our commitment to invest in strong ROCE projects that will improve our operational efficiencies through automation and tailor operations to address key customer needs to further solidify competitive advantages for Pilgrim's.

我們重申我們致力於投資強大的 ROCE 項目，這些項目將通過自動化和定制運營來提高我們的運營效率，以滿足關鍵客戶的需求，從而進一步鞏固 Pilgrim's 的競爭優勢。

Although Q1 was challenging due to volatility in the U.S. chicken commodity market, our overall balance sheet and liquidity position remains strong with approximately $1.15 billion in total cash and revolver availability at the end of the quarter. And with the most recent completion of our $1 billion 10-year notes offering, we further bolstered our liquidity position. We are very happy with the results of this offering, especially given the conditions in the capital markets.

儘管第一季度由於美國雞肉商品市場的波動而充滿挑戰，但我們的整體資產負債表和流動性狀況依然強勁，本季度末現金和周轉資金總額約為 11.5 億美元。隨著我們最近完成 10 億美元的 10 年期票據發行，我們進一步加強了我們的流動性頭寸。我們對此次發行的結果感到非常滿意，尤其是考慮到資本市場的狀況。

Given the high demand by our investors, we were able to increase the size of our offering while maintaining an attractive interest rate. In addition to adding cash to our balance sheet, we repaid our term loan with proceeds from the offering. The offering provides us flexibility during this more volatile time in the U.S. commodity markets and allows us to explore further simplification in our capital structure, such as the elimination of subordinations with a potential unsecured structure as well as the opportunistic with potential liability management exercises with our existing debt, including possibly paying down our 2027 notes.

鑑於我們投資者的高需求，我們能夠在保持有吸引力的利率的同時增加我們的產品規模。除了向我們的資產負債表增加現金外，我們還用發行所得償還了我們的定期貸款。在這個美國商品市場動盪時期，此次發行為我們提供了靈活性，並使我們能夠探索進一步簡化我們的資本結構，例如消除具有潛在無擔保結構的從屬關係以及我們的潛在負債管理活動的機會主義現有債務，包括可能償還我們 2027 年的票據。

As of the end of Q1, our net debt totaled $3 billion with a leverage ratio of 2.3x our last 12 months adjusted EBITDA, which is within our target ratio of 2 to 3x. Net interest expense for the quarter totaled $39 million. We anticipate our full year net interest expense to be between $160 million and $170 million.

截至第一季度末，我們的淨債務總額為 30 億美元，槓桿率為過去 12 個月調整後 EBITDA 的 2.3 倍，在我們 2 至 3 倍的目標比率範圍內。本季度的淨利息支出總計 3900 萬美元。我們預計全年淨利息支出在 1.6 億美元至 1.7 億美元之間。

Our effective tax rate for the quarter was impacted by a nominal pretax GAAP loss for the quarter and the multi-tax jurisdictional nature of our business. As I noted in our February call, we still anticipate our full year effective tax rate to be between 23% and 25%. Our capital allocation approach will remain disciplined as we look to grow the company, we will continue to outline our investment priorities with our overall strategic strategies of portfolio diversification, focus on key customers, operational excellence and commitment to team member health and safety.

我們本季度的有效稅率受到本季度名義稅前 GAAP 虧損和我們業務的多稅管轄區性質的影響。正如我在 2 月份的電話會議中指出的那樣，我們仍然預計全年有效稅率將在 23% 至 25% 之間。在我們尋求公司發展的過程中，我們的資本分配方法將保持紀律，我們將繼續通過投資組合多元化的總體戰略戰略概述我們的投資重點，專注於關鍵客戶，卓越運營以及對團隊成員健康和安全的承諾。

Operator, this concludes our prepared remarks. Please open the call for questions.

接線員，我們準備好的發言到此結束。請打開問題電話。

(Operator Instructions) The first question comes from Ben Theurer of Barclays.

（操作員說明）第一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Ben Theurer。

Congrats on the results. So my 2 questions, let's start off with the U.S. And obviously, there was a nice sequential improvement. And you kind of called out that January was still soft, but things got better. The question is if we look into a second and then may be a little bit of a sneak preview into the third quarter, how confident are you of the ability to drive higher profits, maybe getting that profit margin into mid-single-digit range?

祝賀結果。所以我的兩個問題，讓我們從美國開始。顯然，有一個很好的連續改進。你有點說一月份仍然很軟，但情況有所好轉。問題是，如果我們再看一下，然後可能會稍微預覽一下第三季度，您對推動更高利潤的能力有多大信心，也許可以將利潤率提高到中個位數範圍？

Do you think there's some potential just given maybe some of the grain costs on a year-over-year basis coming down? Prices seem to have started to go into the right direction. So how should we think about the onset of summer in the grilling season and PPC's positioning as to the profitability? That would be my first question.

您是否認為有一些潛力可能只是因為一些糧食成本同比下降？價格似乎已經開始朝著正確的方向發展。那麼我們應該如何看待燒烤季節的夏季來臨以及PPC對盈利能力的定位呢？那將是我的第一個問題。

Of course, thank you, Ben, for the question. Yes, looking into the future, right? We need to also think about the segments that we operate. I think we've always talked about the portfolio that we have. And when analyzing Q4 and Q1, we see that the supply and demand has been in balance for the small birds and for the case-ready category. I think the segment that is suffering from an imbalance in supply and demand is the commodity segment or the big birds. Looking into the data on the Q1 increase in production, we can see that almost all of the growth occurred in that same segment in the big bird category.

當然，謝謝 Ben 提出的問題。是的，展望未來，對吧？我們還需要考慮我們運營的細分市場。我想我們一直在談論我們擁有的投資組合。在分析第 4 季度和第 1 季度時，我們看到小型鳥類和案例就緒類別的供需平衡。我認為遭受供需失衡的部分是商品部分或大鳥。查看第一季度產量增長的數據，我們可以看到幾乎所有的增長都發生在大型鳥類類別的同一部分。

So what we are seeing is that a stable demand in food service and in retail, which once again has been very positive for the small bird and case-ready categories of our portfolio, but the commodity category is completely out of balance. We're seeing an increase in production, and we don't see a strong demand for the commodity segment, especially on the boneless breast and on the wings.

所以我們看到的是食品服務和零售業的穩定需求，這再次對我們投資組合中的小鳥和案例準備類別非常積極，但商品類別完全失衡。我們看到產量在增加，但我們沒有看到對商品部分的強勁需求，尤其是在無骨胸肉和翅膀上。

As we are seeing the exits coming down in our industry, and we believe it is in that category because of the severe losses that the category is suffering, we will see the overall portfolio to go up. I think the main drivers for that is going to also be the grilling season, right, as we know, demand during the grilling season increases, increases both in the foodservice and on the retail front. And when the demand on the retail front increases, we can augment our offerings on the case-ready size buying meat from the big bird category.

當我們看到我們行業的退出減少時，我們認為由於該類別遭受的嚴重損失，它屬於該類別，我們將看到整體投資組合上升。我認為這也是燒烤季節的主要驅動因素，正如我們所知，燒烤季節的需求增加，餐飲服務和零售方面的需求都在增加。當零售方面的需求增加時，我們可以從大型鳥類類別中購買現成尺寸的肉來增加我們的產品。

So we expect that more promotional activity on the retail, the increased demand in foodservice and on the retail during the grilling season, coupled with a moderation in the increase of production or even a reduction as USDA is expecting to put more supply and demand balance for the commodity category, which will take our portfolio higher.

因此，我們預計零售業會有更多的促銷活動，燒烤季節期間餐飲服務和零售業的需求會增加，再加上產量增長放緩甚至減產，因為美國農業部預計會增加供需平衡商品類別，這將使我們的投資組合更高。

Okay. Perfect. Very good, very clear. And my second question is on the European/U.K. business. It was interesting to see because I think that $8 million restructuring was still part of that U.K. business, which you've talked about in the last conference call. So just wanted to understand, where do you are right now on the restructuring? Is there still more to come and maybe the magnitude of it? And what do you think as the business normalizes as you get your production to the levels where you want to be.

好的。完美的。很好，很清楚。我的第二個問題是關於歐洲/英國。商業。看到這很有趣，因為我認為 800 萬美元的重組仍然是英國業務的一部分，你在上次電話會議上談到了這一點。所以只是想了解一下，您現在在重組方面的進展如何？還有更多的事情要做嗎？也許它的規模？當您將生產提高到您想要的水平時，您如何看待業務正常化？

What's like kind of a level of operating income on a quarterly basis or annual basis, you think is reasonable for that business, just given that you acquired the Kerry business, but we never saw the business like in full swing performing properly with the legacy Moy Park plus the Kerry. So what's like that go-forward run rate? Because I remember prior to the issues, Moy Park was a very steady, stable, easy to forecast. So how does that combined with Kerry look like?

考慮到您收購了 Kerry 業務，您認為每季度或每年的營業收入水平對於該業務來說是合理的，但我們從未見過該業務如火如荼地與遺留的 Moy 一起正常運行園加嘉里。那麼前進運行率是什麼樣的呢？因為我記得在發行之前，Moy Park 是一個非常穩定、穩定、易於預測的人。那麼，與 Kerry 的結合會是什麼樣子呢？

Yes. Great point. I think there's a lot of moving parts in Europe, right? I think we do -- we were over the last year, restructuring our activities. We have some plants that have spare capacity. So we moved some of the capacity to more efficient plants. And that's what we saw on the restructuring. And that's the improvement in the results that we are seeing because we're still facing some very high inflation on that, which we need to translate into prices, and we are always behind when capturing those inflationary impacts into the prices, right?

是的。好點。我認為歐洲有很多活動部件，對嗎？我認為我們確實如此——我們在過去的一年裡重組了我們的活動。我們有一些工廠有閒置產能。因此，我們將部分產能轉移到更高效的工廠。這就是我們在重組中看到的。這就是我們看到的結果的改善，因為我們仍然面臨一些非常高的通貨膨脹，我們需要將其轉化為價格，而在將這些通貨膨脹影響納入價格時，我們總是落後，對吧？

I think we also saw an increase in wheat over the last year. But now I think the benefits are also -- we are expecting are going to happen with the moderation of inflation, with reduction of the utilities reduction of wheat. In terms of the network, we're always looking into opportunities of what we can do, especially because we are combining 3 businesses.

我認為去年我們也看到了小麥的增加。但現在我認為好處也是——我們預計隨著通貨膨脹的緩和，公用事業的減少，小麥的減少，也會發生。在網絡方面，我們一直在尋找我們可以做的事情的機會，特別是因為我們正在合併 3 個業務。

As we mentioned, there are some benefits from the back office integration as well. But we believe that the majority of the restructuring that we need to do was already done. So in terms of what we expect from this business, I think we have the clear vision of being the best operator in Europe as we have the same vision here in U.S. and Mexico. And margins in the range of 6% to 8% are with what we believe to be achieved in that segment.

正如我們提到的，後台集成也有一些好處。但我們相信，我們需要做的大部分重組工作已經完成。因此，就我們對這項業務的期望而言，我認為我們有成為歐洲最佳運營商的清晰願景，因為我們在美國和墨西哥也有同樣的願景。 6% 到 8% 的利潤率是我們認為在該領域可以實現的。

That's operating, correct?

那是在運作，對嗎？

Operating, yes.

經營，是的。

The next question is from Ben Bienvenu of Stephens.

下一個問題來自 Stephens 的 Ben Bienvenu。

I want to ask Fabio, thanks for giving that kind of framework as we think about demand and supply moving through the summer. I want to ask about cold storage. Inventory levels are still elevated. In light of that supply-demand framework that you gave us, how do you think about cold storage levels whittling down? And how many months do you think we have before we start to see those inventories become more reasonable on a path to what sounds like a stronger back half of this year.

我想問 Fabio，感謝您在我們考慮整個夏季的供需變化時提供這種框架。我想問一下冷庫。庫存水平仍處於高位。根據您提供給我們的供需框架，您如何看待冷庫水平的下降？你認為我們還有多少個月才能開始看到這些庫存在通往今年下半年聽起來更強勁的道路上變得更加合理。

Yes. Thanks. Looking into the cold storage, I think the overall levels, we saw an increase in the 2022. But I think over the beginning of 2023, we're seeing some significant decreases, right? The most impactful part on the cold storage has always been on the legs, right, or leg quarters because that's a big impact for the export.

是的。謝謝。看看冷庫，我認為總體水平在 2022 年有所增加。但我認為在 2023 年初，我們會看到一些顯著下降，對吧？對冷庫影響最大的部分一直是腿部、右側或腿部，因為這對出口影響很大。

We've been seeing significant demand on the export front, and we're seeing the leg quarter inventory at record lows. The areas that we saw some increases are in the breast meat and on the wings and a category called other. I think what we believe is in this other category. It's a lot of fodder processing. So fodder processing wings or fodder process bones -- boneless breast. So when analyzing the size of that, it's almost a week of production. So it's not a significant amount. But we believe it is in this inventory. It's some fodder processors that took the advantage of very low commodity pricing to build some inventories.

我們一直看到出口方面的巨大需求，我們看到腿部庫存處於歷史低位。我們看到有所增加的區域是胸肉和翅膀以及其他類別。我認為我們相信的是另一個類別。大量的飼料加工。所以飼料加工雞翅或飼料加工骨頭——無骨胸肉。因此，在分析其規模時，它幾乎是一周的生產時間。所以這不是一個很大的數目。但我們相信它在這個庫存中。一些飼料加工商利用非常低的商品價格來建立一些庫存。

So the magnitude of that inventory compared to the overall consumption in the domestic market is not something that we believe will be burdensome for the market to absorb. It's more an opportunistic in our view, strategy of some fodder processing to put some wings and some boneless breasts at very nice prices into inventory.

因此，我們認為，與國內市場整體消費相比，庫存的規模不會成為市場消化的負擔。在我們看來，這更像是一種機會主義，一些飼料加工策略，以非常優惠的價格將一些翅膀和一些無骨乳房放入庫存。

Okay. That's great. My second question is on Mexico. A nice sequential improvement. You discussed kind of the snapback and fundamentals there to a more balanced level. What's your outlook at the moment on the visibility you have for that business as we move into the second quarter?

好的。那太棒了。我的第二個問題是關於墨西哥的。一個很好的順序改進。你討論了那種回彈和基本面，達到了一個更平衡的水平。當我們進入第二季度時，您目前對該業務的知名度有何看法？

Yes. Thank you. Mexico has been very volatile lately. And I think it's something that we always mentioned that they can be very volatile quarter-over-quarter, but year-over-year, they tend to be more stable. I think we are seeing a more balanced supply and demand in Mexico. I think we're still seeing a lot of imports from pork from U.S., from breast meat from Brazil, reaching the Mexican market. But yet, I think the industry in Mexico adapted their supply and demand to what they expect on the economy.

是的。謝謝。墨西哥最近非常動盪。而且我認為這是我們經常提到的，它們可能每個季度都非常不穩定，但與去年同期相比，它們往往更穩定。我認為我們看到墨西哥的供需更加平衡。我認為我們仍然看到大量從美國進口的豬肉、從巴西進口的胸肉進入墨西哥市場。但是，我認為墨西哥的行業根據他們對經濟的預期調整了供需。

The economy is doing better in Mexico lately. And as we always mentioned, chicken is the most resilient to the inflationary events. I think in Mexico, there was a little bit of trade down out of proteins actually during the Q4 because of the economic environment. But we are seeing that economic environment improving. And most of that operation is trading back into the protein and chicken is the entry protein in Mexico.

墨西哥的經濟最近表現較好。正如我們經常提到的，雞肉是最能抵禦通貨膨脹事件的。我認為在墨西哥，由於經濟環境，第四季度實際上蛋白質貿易有所下降。但我們看到經濟環境正在改善。大部分業務都在交易回蛋白質，而雞肉是墨西哥的進口蛋白質。

The next question is from Peter Galbo of Bank of America.

下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Peter Galbo。

Fabio, I was wondering maybe if we could just get an update with regards to Athens, maybe a couple of details there. One, I think if I have it correctly, you kind of announced the expansion program around this time last year, just when you would expect that kind of to be completed and that we would start to see that showing up in the numbers? And then the second part of that is just upon completion, if you can give us a rough estimate, we've always thought about your business as 1/3, 1/3, 1/3, but between kind of the 3 segments. Just upon completion of that, where small bird will kind of land as a percentage of your overall U.S. mix?

法比奧，我想知道我們是否可以了解有關雅典的最新情況，也許可以了解一些細節。第一，我想如果我沒記錯的話，你大概是在去年的這個時候宣布了擴張計劃，就在你期望這種擴張計劃完成並且我們會開始看到它出現在數字中的時候？然後第二部分剛剛完成，如果你能給我們一個粗略的估計，我們一直認為你的業務是 1/3、1/3、1/3，但介於 3 個部分之間。完成後，小型鳥類占美國整體組合的百分比是多少？

Yes. Thank you, Peter. Yes, so the Athens project is really important for us because it is to support the key customer growth, right? We always mention about our strategy of growing together with our key customers. The -- we are expecting to increase around 20% on our small bird category with that plant. 20% in Athens with that expansion. So it's one extra line that we add there.

是的。謝謝你，彼得。是的，所以雅典項目對我們來說真的很重要，因為它是為了支持關鍵客戶的增長，對吧？我們總是提到我們與主要客戶共同成長的戰略。 - 我們預計我們的小鳥類別將增加約 20%。 20% 在雅典隨著擴張。所以這是我們在那裡添加的額外一行。

It's not going to change considerably our portfolio. So it would be a little -- some points into the small bird category for us. I think the most important part is to continue to evolve our portfolio to something that is more profitable, more stable and allow us to grow in connection with our key customers. We expect -- sorry, we expect -- I think we announced during July last year, and we expect that plant to start running in Q4 this year.

它不會顯著改變我們的投資組合。所以它會有點 - 對我們來說有些指向小鳥類別。我認為最重要的部分是繼續將我們的產品組合發展為更有利可圖、更穩定的產品，並使我們能夠與主要客戶建立聯繫。我們預計——抱歉，我們預計——我想我們是在去年 7 月宣布的，我們預計該工廠將在今年第四季度開始運行。

Yes. Most -- Peter, most of the benefits will start seeing more beginning of next year because as we ramp up in Q4, it will just take a little bit of time. But by Q1, we'll be seeing the -- sorry, should be seeing the full benefits of that expansion.

是的。大多數 - 彼得，大多數好處將在明年年初開始看到更多，因為隨著我們在第四季度的增加，這只需要一點時間。但到第一季度，我們將看到——抱歉，應該看到這種擴張的全部好處。

Got it. No, that's helpful, guys. And maybe just to go back to Ben Theurer's question. U.S. in 2Q. I just want to make sure that we're kind of all on the same page here. You're expecting U.S. operating profit to be positive, I would imagine, in the second quarter. And then if I can just get you to comment, consensus for the second quarter right now is around $250 million of EBITDA. Just any comment you could make there on how you think -- see things shaping up relative to consensus in the quarter.

知道了。不，這很有幫助，伙計們。也許只是回到 Ben Theurer 的問題。美國第二季度。我只是想確保我們在這裡的同一頁上。你預計第二季度美國營業利潤為正，我想。然後，如果我能讓你發表評論，目前第二季度的共識是 EBITDA 約為 2.5 億美元。您可以就您的想法發表任何評論 - 看看本季度相對於共識的情況。

Sure. I think we're seeing all the positive drivers in the market, right? We're seeing the industry reducing production. We are seeing some more demand in terms of retail with more feature activity and on the foodservice as we go to the grilling season. So the drivers are there, and we expect that to be in line with those expectations.

當然。我認為我們看到了市場上所有積極的驅動因素，對嗎？我們看到該行業正在減產。隨著我們進入燒烤季節，我們看到在零售方面有更多的需求，有更多的特色活動和餐飲服務。所以司機在那裡，我們希望這符合這些期望。

The next question is from Adam Samuelson of Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自高盛的亞當薩繆爾森。

So maybe coming back on the -- just the seasonal kind of improvement that we're seeing in boneless breast. And I guess I would just maybe push back or kind of test a little bit. I mean, we're sitting here at the end of April, prices have kind of stalled out for a couple of weeks and pressing pricing around $1.40 a pound. Obviously, that's considerably better than the lows you saw in December and January as it should be at this time of year.

所以也許回來——只是我們在無骨乳房中看到的季節性改善。而且我想我可能會推遲或進行一些測試。我的意思是，我們在 4 月底坐在這裡，價格已經停滯了幾週，並將價格壓在每磅 1.40 美元左右。顯然，這比你在 12 月和 1 月看到的低點要好得多，因為它應該在一年中的這個時候。

And so just relative to where things were last year at this time relative to industry production, which I know I mean more of the production increase is in big bird, but industry production on a year-on-year basis is still -- has now slowed down relative to where it was several months ago. So just help me think about kind of -- it still seems like a pretty sluggish kind of demand environment for boneless breast and that reflecting just weaker food service, kind of further processing demand, just lack of pull-through of incremental boneless breast into retail for tray-pack at this point?

因此，相對於去年此時相對於工業生產的情況，我知道我的意思是更多的產量增長來自大鳥，但與去年同期相比，工業生產仍然 - 現在相對於幾個月前的水平有所放緩。所以幫我想一想——對於無骨胸肉的需求環境似乎仍然很低迷，這反映出食品服務較弱，進一步加工的需求，只是缺乏將增量的無骨胸肉引入零售業托盤包裝在這一點上？

I'm just trying to make a sense of seasonally the magnitude of the increase that we're seeing has not been that significant. And I'm trying to just reconcile that with your point that demand generally seems pretty good.

我只是想從季節性上了解我們所看到的增長幅度並沒有那麼顯著。我正試圖將這一點與你認為需求總體上看起來相當不錯的觀點相協調。

So yes, I think you hit the correct drivers, right? So looking into the supply, we're expecting the increases to moderate and on the second semester to actually last year increases are bit down year-over-year. So in terms of supply, we're expecting a reduction compared to last year on the second semester. And we can't forget that at this same time last year, with the same production and sufficient demand for sure, we see some record pricing in boneless breast and also on wings.

所以是的，我認為你找到了正確的驅動程序，對吧？因此，從供應來看，我們預計增長將放緩，並且在第二個學期到去年實際增長將同比下降。因此，就供應而言，我們預計第二學期與去年相比會有所減少。我們不能忘記去年的同一時間，在同樣的產量和充足的需求下，我們看到無骨胸肉和雞翅的價格創下歷史新高。

So we are expecting similar conditions to last year in terms of supply and demand. Of course, we're coming from a very low -- much lower price point as last year. But again, the fundamentals of supply and demand continue. I think you hit the right point. It's more feature activity from the retailers as we are seeing retail pricing is record high and much higher than the same time last year, which is refraining the consumer to increase its spending. They're spending more in dollars, but not a lot more in pounds.

因此，我們預計供需方面的情況與去年類似。當然，我們的價格非常低——比去年低得多。但同樣，供需基本面仍在繼續。我認為你說對了。這是來自零售商的更多特色活動，因為我們看到零售價格創歷史新高，遠高於去年同期，這抑制了消費者增加支出。他們花費更多的是美元，但不是更多的英鎊。

So we expect that to change with more promotional activity, especially as we are seeing the pricing of the other proteins to go higher as we are seeing lower production for both beef and pork on the second semester. So we expect more promotional activity on the retail.

因此，我們預計這種情況會隨著更多的促銷活動而改變，尤其是當我們看到其他蛋白質的價格上漲時，因為我們看到第二學期牛肉和豬肉的產量下降。因此，我們預計會有更多的零售促銷活動。

You mentioned the foodservice as well. We're seeing a lot of promotional activity being expected for the QSRs, especially on the second semester of this year, again driven by the lower availability of other proteins, especially beef and higher price. So we expect more demand there as well. And on the -- we call it industrial segments, it's the fodder processors. We saw some slowdown, especially because of the same factors on the retail, higher pricing, not creating a lot of demand. We saw some industrial category to also be flat year-over-year, and we expect that to resume during the second semester.

你也提到了餐飲服務。我們看到 QSR 預計會有很多促銷活動，尤其是在今年下半年，這再次受到其他蛋白質（尤其是牛肉）供應量下降和價格上漲的推動。因此，我們預計那裡也會有更多需求。在 - 我們稱之為工業領域，它是飼料加工商。我們看到了一些放緩，特別是因為零售業的相同因素，更高的價格，沒有創造大量需求。我們看到一些工業類別也同比持平，我們預計第二個學期會恢復。

So when looking into the excess and chicks place, we are seeing some moderation actually some negative numbers compared to the same period last year, and we're seeing some strong signals of improving demand. That's why we believe that there is some good perspectives for the boneless breast.

因此，在調查過剩和小雞的地方時，我們看到一些緩和實際上與去年同期相比有些負數，我們看到一些強烈的需求改善信號。這就是為什麼我們認為無骨乳房有一些好的前景。

On the wings side, I think it's the lingering and the lower price has been a lot longer than we expected. Usually wings rebound much faster than what's happening this year. But I believe that we're seeing more and more wings going back to the menu. I think what impacted the wing pricing was during last year shortages and higher prices, we saw a lot of foodservice to take wings out of the menu, and we're seeing those wings coming back into the menu, and we're seeing more promotional activity from the wing concept -- foodservice as well.

在翅膀方面，我認為這是揮之不去的，較低的價格比我們預期的要長得多。通常機翼的反彈速度比今年要快得多。但我相信我們會看到越來越多的翅膀回到菜單上。我認為影響機翼定價的是去年的短缺和價格上漲，我們看到很多餐飲服務將機翼從菜單中移除，我們看到這些機翼又回到菜單中，我們看到更多的促銷活動來自機翼概念的活動 -- 餐飲服務也是如此。

Okay. And then just maybe come back, I think in response to an earlier question, you talked -- I thought I heard you say a 6% to 8% kind of operating margin in Europe was kind of where you thought the business could get to? And if I missed it, I apologize. Did you say a time by which you thought you could get there? And maybe as a related point, how would you frame -- I mean, given a lot of the changes in portfolio and mix that you kind of accomplished over time and understanding it's volatile, how would you frame that kind of margin potential of the U.S. business over time?

好的。然後也許回來，我想在回答之前的一個問題時，你說過 - 我想我聽到你說歐洲 6% 到 8% 的營業利潤率是你認為業務可以達到的地方？如果我錯過了，我深表歉意。你有沒有說你認為你可以到達那裡的時間？也許作為一個相關點，你會如何構建——我的意思是，鑑於你隨著時間的推移在投資組合和組合方面發生了很多變化，並且理解它的波動性，你將如何構建美國的這種利潤潛力。業務隨著時間的推移？

Yes. I think Europe is a more stable business when we look into the history. So that's why it's easier to talk about some expected margins, right? So we look at the reinvestment level, we look at our portfolio, right, we have beef, pork and prepared foods, we are well balanced there. So there is a lot of portfolio that we can talk about to differentiate ourselves to the competitors in Europe and do a better job of being a partner to the key customers.

是的。當我們回顧歷史時，我認為歐洲是一個更穩定的行業。所以這就是為什麼更容易談論一些預期的利潤率，對吧？所以我們看再投資水平，我們看我們的投資組合，對，我們有牛肉、豬肉和預製食品，我們在那裡很平衡。因此，我們可以討論很多產品組合，以使我們在歐洲的競爭對手中脫穎而出，並更好地成為關鍵客戶的合作夥伴。

So that's why it's easier to talk about the results in Europe. Of course, we expect that to be more towards Q4 and next year as we see those inflationary impacts moderating to a more normal level. I think as we mentioned, we have a lot of -- and if we look at our portfolio of contracts, is also important. We have a lot more contracts in Europe that are cost plus. I think we've mentioned before that a lot of those that we believe were cost plus was more feed and grain plus because there was not a lot of inflation in the other areas as packaging, utilities and labor. And we already moved all those contracts to a more holistic view of whole costs to be cost-plus.

所以這就是為什麼更容易談論歐洲的結果。當然，我們預計這種情況會更多地出現在第四季度和明年，因為我們看到這些通脹影響正在緩和到更正常的水平。我認為正如我們提到的，我們有很多——如果我們看看我們的合同組合，這也很重要。我們在歐洲有更多的成本加成合同。我想我們之前已經提到過，我們認為成本加成的很多是飼料和穀物加成，因為包裝、公用事業和勞動力等其他領域的通貨膨脹率並不高。我們已經將所有這些合同轉移到一個更全面的整體成本視圖，以實現成本加成。

That's why it's easier to talk about expected margins in Europe than in U.S. In U.S., we have our portfolio. And as we saw the volatility in the commodity segment has been extreme, right? All the other segments in the U.S. on the prepared foods, small bird, case-ready, fresh food services has been very stable. But the volatility in the commodity segment has been extreme over the last 2 years, right? And we saw record high prices last summer, and we are seeing some very significant low prices during Q4 and Q1. That's why it's more difficult to talk about the expected profitability in the U.S.

這就是為什麼在歐洲談論預期利潤率比在美國更容易。在美國，我們有我們的投資組合。正如我們所看到的，大宗商品領域的波動非常大，對吧？美國所有其他細分市場的預製食品、小鳥、即食食品、新鮮食品服務一直非常穩定。但在過去兩年中，大宗商品領域的波動非常劇烈，對吧？去年夏天我們看到了創紀錄的高價，我們在第四季度和第一季度看到了一些非常顯著的低價。這就是為什麼更難談論美國的預期盈利能力的原因。

All right. Worth a shot. I appreciate the color.

好的。值得一試。我很欣賞這種顏色。

Thank you, Adam.

謝謝你，亞當。

The next question is from Andrew Strelzik of BMO.

下一個問題來自 BMO 的 Andrew Strelzik。

I wanted to go back to the U.S. chicken margins and try to put together all of what you just said. So it sounds like demand is good, supply is going to be lower and feed costs, at least on the forward curve, are coming down. So -- and I understand what you're saying about the grilling season. But when we get post the grilling season, if I take those 3 things together, are you anticipating that kind of your all-in portfolio in U.S. chicken margin would be back to normal levels? And if not, I guess, what would it take to get that back there from -- based on your expectations?

我想回到美國雞肉邊際，並嘗試將您剛才所說的所有內容放在一起。所以聽起來需求很好，供應會減少，飼料成本，至少在遠期曲線上，正在下降。所以 - 我理解你所說的燒烤季節。但是當我們結束燒烤季節時，如果我把這三件事放在一起，你是否預計你在美國雞肉利潤率的那種全押投資組合會回到正常水平？如果不是，我想，根據您的期望，需要什麼才能讓它回到那裡？

So yes, we expect that to be back to what we used to see in the past or normal levels. As I mentioned, looking into our portfolio, and we are well balanced, but the commodity segment has been extremely volatile. And that's the segment that we expect to stabilize over the next quarters. The small bird and the case-ready business has been stable year-over-year. And actually, we're seeing some nice improvements in our Prepared Foods offering.

所以是的，我們希望它能回到過去或正常水平。正如我所提到的，查看我們的投資組合，我們很平衡，但大宗商品領域波動極大。這就是我們預計在未來幾個季度穩定下來的細分市場。小鳥和案例準備業務同比穩定。事實上，我們看到我們的預製食品產品有了一些不錯的改進。

For that to happen, once again, we expect more -- or normalization on the demand side, especially in that segment of larger birds and more future activity on the retail side and a lot of more promotions of chicken and chicken sandwiches in the foodservice.

為實現這一目標，我們再次期待更多 - 或需求方面的正常化，特別是在更大的鳥類和零售方面的更多未來活動以及餐飲服務中更多的雞肉和雞肉三明治促銷活動中。

Okay. Great. That's helpful. And then my other question is just on how you're thinking about the fee cost side with backwardation, particularly on the corn side. Are you thinking of maybe getting more aggressive locking those in? Do you feel like you're in a good position to continue to let that ride? Any kind of change in your approach as we get to potentially more favorable feed cost environment?

好的。偉大的。這很有幫助。然後我的另一個問題就是你如何考慮現貨溢價的費用成本方面，特別是在玉米方面。您是否正在考慮更積極地鎖定它們？您覺得自己處於繼續順風順水的有利位置嗎？隨著我們進入可能更有利的飼料成本環境，您的方法有任何變化嗎？

Yes. We're always looking into the market and the drivers to establish a position more or less aggressive, right? What we are seeing, the indication today is a good acreage. I think the high prices that we saw, especially on corn worked and we saw some record acreage or planting intentions here in U.S. I think it's all going to be depending on the weather, as usual.

是的。我們一直在研究市場和驅動因素，以確立或多或少激進的立場，對吧？我們所看到的，今天的跡像是一個很好的種植面積。我認為我們看到的高價格，尤其是玉米的價格起到了作用，我們在美國看到了一些創紀錄的種植面積或種植意向。我認為這一切都將像往常一樣取決於天氣。

The crop is actually evolving really well right now. The planting is going ahead of the 5-year average. So we're seeing some good conditions on the crop. I think there's also a change in the weather patterns from the La Nina to El Nino, which typically brings good weather for the planting here in the U.S. We're starting from a very tight carryout. But we expect with normal yields and with the acres that we are seeing in USDA planting intentions, a much better stocks-to-use ratio and a much better carryout for the next crop.

這種作物現在實際上進化得非常好。播種進度高於 5 年平均水平。所以我們看到作物的一些良好條件。我認為從拉尼娜到厄爾尼諾的天氣模式也發生了變化，這通常會為美國這裡的種植帶來好天氣。我們從非常緊張的結轉開始。但我們預計，在正常單產和我們在美國農業部播種意向中看到的英畝面積情況下，庫存使用比會好得多，下一季作物的結轉率也會好得多。

Of course, that will impact more the end of Q4, beginning of Q1 as there is a lag between refeeding the birds and the birds being processed. So we expect that benefit to be late Q4 and beginning of Q1. But there is some very positive perspectives in terms of the grain cost for our operations.

當然，這將對第 4 季度末和第 1 季度初產生更大影響，因為重新餵養家禽和處理家禽之間存在時間間隔。因此，我們預計該收益將在第四季度末和第一季度初出現。但就我們運營的糧食成本而言，有一些非常積極的觀點。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Fabio Sandri for closing comments.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回給 Fabio Sandri 以發表閉幕評論。

Thank you again. Although we faced exceptionally difficult market conditions, our strategies of diversification, key customer focus and operational excellence are designed to mitigate these challenging transitory issues and cultivate long-term profitable growth opportunities.

再次感謝你。儘管我們面臨異常困難的市場條件，但我們的多元化戰略、以關鍵客戶為中心和卓越運營旨在緩解這些具有挑戰性的暫時性問題並培養長期盈利增長機會。

Throughout Q1, these strategies were once again affected as we drove improvements across all regions despite depressed market pricing, elevated input costs and continued inflation. Moving forward, we will continue to drive these strategies, along with unwavering commitment to our values and our team member wellbeing.

在整個第一季度，儘管市場定價低迷、投入成本上升且通貨膨脹持續，但我們在所有地區推動改進，這些策略再次受到影響。展望未來，我們將繼續推動這些戰略，同時堅定不移地致力於我們的價值觀和團隊成員的福祉。

Given continued focus on relentless execution, we can further cultivate competitive advantages for our business, enabling a better future for all of our team members. Thank you for joining us today.

如果繼續專注於不懈的執行，我們可以進一步培養我們業務的競爭優勢，為我們所有的團隊成員創造更美好的未來。感謝您今天加入我們。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連接。