Pilgrims Pride Corp (PPC) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Second Quarter 2023 Pilgrim's Pride Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. (Operator Instructions)

早上好，歡迎來到 2023 年第二季度 Pilgrim's Pride 收益電話會議和網絡廣播。 （操作員說明）

At the company's request is being recorded. Please note that slides referenced during today's call are available for download from the Investors section of the company's website at www.pilgrims.com.

應公司要求正在記錄中。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。

After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions.

今天的演講結束後，將有機會提問。

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.

我現在想將電話會議轉交給 Pilgrim's 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 Second Quarter ended on June 25, 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.

早上好，感謝您今天與我們一起回顧我們截至 2023 年 6 月 25 日的第二季度的運營和財務業績。昨天下午，我們發布了一份新聞稿，概述了本季度的財務業績，包括我們可能討論的任何非公認會計準則措施的調節。

A copy of the release is available on our website at ir.pilgrims.com, along with the slides for reference. These items have also been filed as Form 8-K and are available online at sec.gov.

我們的網站 ir.pilgrims.com 提供了該新聞稿的副本以及可供參考的幻燈片。這些項目也已作為表格 8-K 提交，並可在 sec.gov 上在線獲取。

Fabio Sandri President and Chief Executive Officer; and Matt Galvanoni, Chief Financial Officer, will present on today's call.

法比奧·桑德里 (Fabio Sandri) 總裁兼首席執行官；首席財務官馬特·加爾瓦諾尼 (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.

在我們開始準備好的發言之前，我想提醒大家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前景和當前預期。管理層未預見到的其他額外因素可能會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 表格以及我們向 SEC 提交的定期文件中提供。

I would now like to turn the call over to Fabio Sandri.

我現在想把電話轉給法比奧·桑德里。

Thank you, Andy. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. For the second quarter of 2023, we reported net revenues of $4.3 billion with an adjusted EBITDA of $249 million, translating to a 5.8% margin. Our strategies of portfolio diversification, key customer focus and operational excellence demonstrated their effectiveness as we grew margins relative to prior quarters across all regions, despite continuing challenging market fundamentals in some of our business and overall elevated production costs.

謝謝你，安迪。大家早上好，感謝您今天加入我們。 2023 年第二季度，我們報告的淨收入為 43 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 2.49 億美元，相當於 5.8% 的利潤率。我們的投資組合多元化、以關鍵客戶為中心和卓越運營的戰略證明了其有效性，儘管我們的一些業務的市場基本面繼續面臨挑戰，且整體生產成本上升，但我們在所有地區的利潤率均較前幾個季度有所增長。

In the U.S. our diversification across bird sizes in case-ready and small bird, branded products and prepared offerings continue to mitigate depressed commodity cutout values in the big bird segment. Our key customer focus created a significant pipeline of promotional activities across leading retailers and food service providers.

在美國，我們的禽類尺寸多樣化，包括即裝禽類和小型禽類、品牌產品和預製產品，繼續緩解大型禽類領域低迷的商品分切價值。我們以主要客戶為中心，在領先的零售商和食品服務提供商之間建立了重要的促銷活動渠道。

As for the U.K. and Europe, our continued focus on operational excellence and optimization of our manufacturing network and back-office support activities continue to support our growth trajectory. Our diversification efforts continue to gain momentum and several of our branded offerings grew faster than the category average. In Mexico, our live operations improved, given our investments in diversification of our footprint over the past several months.

至於英國和歐洲，我們持續關注卓越運營以及製造網絡和後台支持活動的優化，繼續支持我們的增長軌跡。我們的多元化努力繼續獲得動力，我們的幾個品牌產品的增長速度超過了類別平均水平。在墨西哥，鑑於過去幾個月我們對足跡多元化的投資，我們的現場運營有所改善。

Our branded offerings continue to gain marketplace traction given the success of our recent launches. These efforts were [furthered] by increasing balanced supply and demand fundamentals and favorable exchange rates.

鑑於我們最近推出的成功，我們的品牌產品繼續獲得市場關注。這些努力是通過改善供需基本面和有利的匯率而得到推動的。

Starting with the U.S. In the second quarter of 2023, ready-to-cook production of U.S. chicken experienced an increase of 2.2% relative to the second quarter of 2022. Production growth was supported by increased headcounts, and the industry continues to shift production away from the smaller bird segments into the heavier weight ranges, supporting a consistent year-over-year growth in average live weight. Considering more recent trends as we progress into the Q3 2023, the industry has consistently placed fewer chickens over the prior 2 months, mostly due to a year-over-year reduction in hatchability, suggesting a more restrained supply scenario in the incoming quarters.

從美國開始，2023年第二季度，美國即食雞肉產量較2022年第二季度增長了2.2%。產量增長受到員工數量增加的支持，且行業繼續將生產轉移從較小的禽類到較重的體重範圍，支持平均活重的逐年持續增長。考慮到進入 2023 年第三季度的最新趨勢，該行業在過去 2 個月的雞存欄量持續減少，這主要是由於孵化率同比下降，這表明未來幾個季度的供應情況將更加有限。

The USDA 2023 outlook indicates smaller increases in supply for the balance of 2023, with growth in Q3 and flat production in Q4. As for overall supply of protein, USDA maintains the expectation of a smaller domestic production availability for the calendar 2023, with significant smaller production of beef for the remainder of the year.

美國農業部 2023 年展望顯示，2023 年剩餘時間供應量增幅較小，第三季度增長，第四季度產量持平。至於蛋白質的總體供應，美國農業部維持 2023 年國內產量減少的預期，今年剩餘時間的牛肉產量將大幅減少。

With the U.S. consumer facing relatively lower beef and pork availability, lingering food inflation above recent historical levels, combined with significantly higher interest rates impacting available income, chicken may be advantaged given its availability, affordability and flexibility.

由於美國消費者面臨的牛肉和豬肉供應量相對較低、食品通脹持續高於近期歷史水平，再加上利率大幅上升影響了可用收入，因此，考慮到雞肉的供應量、承受能力和靈活性，雞肉可能會受益。

During the second quarter of 2023, domestic volume showed muted growth. The retail channel experienced mere increase in volumes across all departments. In particular, the fresh department was only marginally better across both front half and back half cuts, supported by increased promotional activities, especially for the dark meat. We remain positive on the potential of this category as tightening competing protein supplies and increased promotional activity is now beginning to drive sales volume more consistently.

2023 年第二季度，國內銷量增長緩慢。零售渠道各部門的銷量僅有所增加。特別是，在促銷活動增加（尤其是黑肉）的支持下，生鮮部門在前半部分和後半部分的切塊方面僅略有好轉。我們對該類別的潛力仍然持樂觀態度，因為競爭性蛋白質供應的收緊和促銷活動的增加現在開始更加持續地推動銷量。

Elsewhere in the retail category, the frozen and deli departments added incremental dollar sales through growth of prepared deli and value-added frozen products, pointing to sustained consumer demand for value-added chicken products. We see some contraction of the frozen commodity segment as consumers shift from a pattern of more store trips and less pantry stocking.

在零售類別的其他地方，冷凍和熟食部門通過預製熟食和增值冷凍產品的增長增加了美元銷售額，這表明消費者對增值雞肉產品的持續需求。隨著消費者從更多去商店和減少食品儲藏室庫存的模式轉變，我們看到冷凍商品領域出現了一些萎縮。

In the food service channel, revenue of sales declined due to reduced year-over-year pricing, while volume sales increased. The commercial distribution from the channel witnessed the most dollar sales decline, driven by fresh chicken pricing that remains well below the first quarter of 2022 pricing.

在餐飲服務渠道，由於同比定價下降，銷售收入下降，但銷量增加。由於新鮮雞肉價格仍遠低於 2022 年第一季度的定價，該渠道的商業分銷的美元銷售額下降幅度最大。

However, the decline in dollar sales has translated to demand stimulation as indicated by an increased number of operations buying, translation to a 5% year-over-year volume sales increase. While the first quarter was characterized by volume growth, primarily from wings and tenders in the food service channel, we are now recently seeing year-over-year volume growth in breast meat, a positive sign for the supply and demand balance. The noncommercial distribution food channels continue to work towards full recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, adding dollar sales through increased volumes and higher prices in the value-added category.

然而，美元銷售額的下降已轉化為需求刺激，表現為業務購買數量的增加，即銷售額同比增長 5%。雖然第一季度的特點是銷量增長，主要來自食品服務渠道的雞翅和嫩肉，但我們最近看到胸肉銷量同比增長，這是供需平衡的積極跡象。非商業分銷食品渠道繼續努力從 COVID-19 大流行中全面恢復，通過增加銷量和提高增值類別的價格來增加美元銷售額。

While relatively smaller than the commercial food channel, the noncommercial remains an important outlet for chicken. In particularly, value-added products, and we are encouraged by the continued recovery of the subchannel. Pricing have shown signs of recent improving supply and demand balance with wings steadily improving of low since late June and even more recently, positive price movements on boneless breast, a counter seasonal movement for this time of the year.

雖然比商業食品渠道相對較小，但非商業渠道仍然是雞肉的重要出口。尤其是增值產品，我們對子渠道的持續復甦感到鼓舞。定價顯示出近期供需平衡改善的跡象，自 6 月下旬以來，雞翅的價格穩步從低位回升，甚至最近，無骨胸肉的價格出現積極走勢，這是每年這個時候的反季節性走勢。

Throughout Q2, U.S. broiler exports continue to grow at a healthy rate and attractive value. U.S. broiler meat exports in April and May grew a combined 1.2%, driving the growth in the second quarter were Taiwan, Mexico and China, all of which have grown volume year-to-date. As we see -- continue to see positive sales growth in this channel. U.S. cold storage inventories of combined dark meat are down 10% year-over-year in May and declined more than seasonally expected from the end of March.

整個第二季度，美國肉雞出口繼續以健康的速度和有吸引力的價值增長。美國 4 月和 5 月肉雞出口量合計增長 1.2%，推動第二季度增長的是台灣、墨西哥和中國大陸，這些國家今年迄今的出口量均有所增長。正如我們所看到的——該渠道的銷售繼續出現積極增長。 5 月份美國黑肉冷藏庫存同比下降 10%，降幅超過 3 月底以來的季節性預期。

As a result, inventories remain nearly 40% below the 5-year average. Current sales and industry inventory positions have enabled relatively steady network pricing, which trended seasonally, but paced nearly 15% above the 5-year average. High path avian influenza also slowed through the quarter as only 2 commercial outbreaks related to turkeys occurred in April, that was -- allowed many of the trade restrictions for certain states to expire.

因此，庫存仍比 5 年平均水平低近 40%。目前的銷售和行業庫存狀況使得網絡定價相對穩定，雖然呈季節性趨勢，但比 5 年平均水平高出近 15%。高路徑禽流感在本季度也有所放緩，因為 4 月份僅發生了 2 起與火雞相關的商業疫情，這使得某些州的許多貿易限製到期。

Other than China, we expect to see further easing of export restrictions during Q3. Given our geographic and channel diversification in U.S., we increased our trading destinations to 89 countries, overall. And our customer base continues to grow. We are very optimistic that exports will continue to balance U.S. domestic sales and further stabilize forward pricing, but remain vigilant to any occurrence of high path AI in the United States.

除中國外，我們預計第三季度出口限制將進一步放鬆。鑑於我們在美國的地理和渠道多元化，我們的貿易目的地總體增加到 89 個國家。我們的客戶群持續增長。我們非常樂觀地認為出口將繼續平衡美國內銷並進一步穩定遠期定價，但仍對美國任何高路徑人工智能的發生保持警惕。

Moving to feed ingredients. Large Brazil production of both corn and soybean have replaced U.S. exports and increased local ending stocks estimates. USDA recent estimate of current crop year ending stocks for corn increased 4.5% from last quarter estimates. Soybean and new stocks estimates for the current year increased as well, up 25 million bushels in the most recent WASDE report. Taken together, these factors suggest some relief for the historical tight crop balance sheets. Looking ahead to next year, USDA recently raised corn planted acreage to 94.1 million acres, 5.5 million acres more than the previous year.

轉向飼料原料。巴西玉米和大豆的大量生產已經取代了美國的出口，並增加了當地期末庫存估計。美國農業部最近對當前作物年度期末玉米庫存的估計比上季度估計增加了 4.5%。根據最新的 WASDE 報告，今年的大豆和新庫存預估也有所增加，增加了 2500 萬蒲式耳。綜合來看，這些因素表明歷史上緊張的作物資產負債表有所緩解。展望明年，美國農業部最近將玉米種植面積上調至 9410 萬英畝，比上年增加 550 萬英畝。

Although corn prices experienced some volatility throughout the second quarter, given unfavorable weather in May and June, a change to a more active rainfall pattern across major production areas prior to key yield determining crop stages reduced corn future pricing throughout the quarter. Nonetheless, corn conditions were unchanged in the last crop progress report with 57% in good to excellent state, and 30% in fair conditions. While weather risk remains, the increased acreage and competitive price corn from Brazil should mitigate potential issues for the upcoming year.

儘管由於 5 月和 6 月天氣不利，第二季度玉米價格經歷了一些波動，但在決定產量的關鍵作物生長階段之前，主要產區降雨模式變得更加活躍，導致整個季度玉米期貨價格下降。儘管如此，在上次作物進展報告中，玉米狀況沒有變化，57% 的狀況處於良好至優秀狀態，30% 的狀況狀況一般。儘管天氣風險仍然存在，但巴西玉米種植面積的增加和具有競爭力的價格應該會緩解來年的潛在問題。

Even though the current soybean crop has also benefited from the shift to weather patterns, the overall impact was subdued given a transition to more corn and acreage. From this point on, August weather will be critical for soybean yields. Nonetheless, domestic soybean yield should be well supported as U.S. biofuel policy is supportive to soybean oil demand and the crush industry continued to expand. Despite some price volatility during the second quarter, wheat balance sheets are generally well supplied. Although USDA July WASDE was the report indicated a drop of 2.8 million metric tons in the upcoming year it was literally offset by an increase in stocks from the current cycle. Recent events related to the Ukraine-Russia conflict has increased global prices and volatility for feed ingredients globally. But availability continues to be better than prior years, given increasing production and consequent increasing ending stocks.

儘管當前的大豆作物也受益於天氣模式的轉變，但由於轉向更多的玉米和種植面積，總體影響有所減弱。從現在開始，八月天氣對於大豆產量至關重要。儘管如此，由於美國生物燃料政策支持豆油需求且壓榨行業持續擴張，國內大豆產量應會得到良好支撐。儘管第二季度價格出現一些波動，但小麥資產負債表總體供應充足。儘管美國農業部 7 月 WASDE 報告顯示來年產量下降 280 萬噸，但實際上被本週期庫存增加所抵消。最近與烏克蘭-俄羅斯衝突相關的事件增加了全球飼料原料的價格和波動性。但鑑於產量增加以及隨之而來的期末庫存增加，供應量仍然好於往年。

Throughout the past 12 months, our U.S. business experienced a period of significant volatility, during this time, our supply chain incurred dramatic increases in grain and elevated cost of production inputs, including utilities, labor, ingredients and packaging. We also experienced extreme volatility in the commodity segment meat prices. Nonetheless, our diversification across bird sizes, branded offerings and prepared items, combined with our key customer partnerships and focus on operational excellence help mitigate those challenges, helping us to capture the upsides in the market, while protecting the downside.

在過去的 12 個月中，我們的美國業務經歷了一段劇烈波動的時期，在此期間，我們的供應鏈出現了穀物大幅增加以及生產投入成本上升的情況，包括公用事業、勞動力、原料和包裝。我們還經歷了大宗商品肉類價格的劇烈波動。儘管如此，我們在禽類尺寸、品牌產品和預製食品方面的多元化，加上我們的主要客戶合作夥伴關係以及對卓越運營的關注，有助於緩解這些挑戰，幫助我們抓住市場的優勢，同時保護市場的不利因素。

Throughout this period, our big bird team maintained an extraordinary focus on operational excellence and drove improvements in production efficiency. During Q2, overall demand was somewhat muted as several industrial customers experienced a decline or limited volume growth, given increased retail pricing levels. We are encouraged by the recent improvements in the commodity pricing, but further improvement is needed to achieve sustainable margin levels. Case-ready continue to focus on partnership with key customers as the team cultivated a variety of promotional efforts over the next several months, creating opportunities for mix enhancement and growth.

在此期間，我們的大鳥團隊一直非常注重卓越運營，並推動生產效率的提高。第二季度，由於零售價格水平上升，一些工業客戶的銷量出現下降或增長有限，因此整體需求有所減弱。我們對最近商品定價的改善感到鼓舞，但需要進一步改善才能實現可持續的利潤水平。案例準備繼續專注於與主要客戶的合作夥伴關係，團隊在接下來的幾個月中開展了各種促銷活動，為組合增強和增長創造了機會。

Small Bird remained relatively steady throughout the quarter, given exceptional strong performance in deli with key customers. The team also realized similar success in the food service channel from key customer partnerships among leading QSRs.

鑑於主要客戶熟食店的出色表現，小鳥整個季度保持相對穩定。該團隊還通過領先 QSR 之間的主要客戶合作夥伴關係，在食品服務渠道中取得了類似的成功。

Our prepared foods business continued to drive profitable growth relative to prior year to increase distribution to key customers, operational improvements and enhanced mix. Our momentum in fully cooked branded business is becoming increasingly durable as Just BARE and Pilgrim's collectively grew 56% year-over-year, with over 1/3 of this growth, driven by product innovation.

我們的預製食品業務相對於上一年繼續推動利潤增長，以增加對主要客戶的分銷、運營改進和增強組合。我們在全熟品牌業務方面的勢頭正變得越來越持久，Just BARE 和 Pilgrim's 合計同比增長 56%，其中超過 1/3 的增長是由產品創新推動的。

Equally important, our marketing programs for Just BARE has been remarkably effective as our brand awareness more than doubled. E-commerce has realized similar success in prepared as it drove significant volume growth compared to prior year. We will continue to drive our strategy of portfolio optimization, and we'll continue to work in partnership with key customers to provide differentiated offerings through distinct operational capabilities, including organic and no-antibiotics-ever products for both fresh and prepared categories.

同樣重要的是，我們的 Just BARE 營銷計劃非常有效，我們的品牌知名度提高了一倍多。電子商務在準備方面也取得了類似的成功，因為與去年相比，它推動了銷量的顯著增長。我們將繼續推動我們的產品組合優化戰略，並將繼續與主要客戶合作，通過獨特的運營能力提供差異化的產品，包括新鮮和預製類別的有機和不含抗生素的產品。

We will also continue to invest in operational excellence and profitable growth. Our automation projects are on course and our Athens expansion and construction of a protein conversion plant in South Georgia are progressing as planned, and startup is still expected by the end of the year.

我們還將繼續投資於卓越運營和盈利增長。我們的自動化項目正在按計劃進行，我們在雅典的擴建和南喬治亞島蛋白質轉化工廠的建設正在按計劃進行，預計將於今年年底啟動。

Turning to U.K. and Europe. Our margin improvement efforts remain on track. Although inflation has moderated, costs continue to be challenging. Nonetheless, demand for our branded and customer-specific offerings remain resilient even as cost increases were passed through on shelf or menu. In pork, supply and demand fundamentals in large operations have improved with the rationalization efforts of the herd, both in U.K. and Europe over the past 12 months.

轉向英國和歐洲。我們改善利潤率的努力仍在按計劃進行。儘管通貨膨脹有所緩和，但成本仍然具有挑戰性。儘管如此，即使成本增加通過貨架或菜單轉嫁給我們，對我們的品牌和客戶特定產品的需求仍然保持彈性。在豬肉方面，過去 12 個月，隨著英國和歐洲豬群的合理化努力，大型企業的供需基本面有所改善。

As market conditions continue to evolve, our vertical integration with pig farmers, will be beneficial in our ability to ensure sufficient supply and midterm growth aspirations. Our key customer strategy has once again proven instrumental, as we have been awarded significant additional distribution for both existing and new products. Innovation will continue to play a critical role as we are slated to launch well over 250 new items over the next 6 months.

隨著市場狀況的不斷發展，我們與養豬戶的垂直整合將有利於我們確保充足供應和中期增長願望的能力。我們的關鍵客戶戰略再次被證明是有用的，因為我們已經獲得了現有產品和新產品的大量額外分銷。創新將繼續發揮關鍵作用，我們計劃在未來 6 個月內推出 250 多種新產品。

We have also cultivated a strong promotional pipeline throughout the summer and beyond, which is expected to enhance mix and bring new users to our categories. Our diversification efforts throughout prepared offerings continue to gain traction, our frozen meals, snacking and hot dogs offering all grew faster than the category average. In addition, our brand Fridge Raiders officially became one of the top 100 most chosen brands among food manufacturers. We're seeing similar success in the alternative protein space, as Richmond meat-free increased shares over the past year in both frozen and fresh categories.

我們還在整個夏季及以後建立了強大的促銷渠道，預計這將增強組合併為我們的類別帶來新用戶。我們在預製食品領域的多元化努力繼續受到關注，我們的冷凍食品、零食和熱狗產品的增長速度均高於同類產品的平均水平。此外，我們的品牌“冰箱攻略”正式成為食品製造商最常選擇的100個品牌之一。我們在替代蛋白質領域也看到了類似的成功，過去一年里里士滿無肉食品在冷凍和新鮮類別中的份額都有所增加。

We'll continue to drive operational excellence in manufacturing. Although we have made significant progress in our overall staffing levels, we will remain vigilant regarding the impact on inflation. And we continue to invest accordingly in our teams to ensure sufficient labor availability. We have made strong progress in our network optimization efforts in the U.K. to realize production and cost efficiencies.

我們將繼續推動製造業的卓越運營。儘管我們的整體人員配置水平取得了重大進展，但我們仍將對其對通脹的影響保持警惕。我們繼續對我們的團隊進行相應的投資，以確保有足夠的勞動力。我們在英國的網絡優化工作取得了巨大進展，以實現生產和成本效率。

As for Mexico, the overall business improved as growth in fresh reemerged through our multiple channels, especially retail. Similarly, our prepared business grew to close to double digits, driven by branded offerings and success with the QSR channel. Our momentum was further amplified by increasing favorability market fundamentals and exchange rates. Additionally, our ongoing redesign of our live operations footprint, investment in housing and enhancements in management procedures significantly diminished previous issues related to bird mortality and provided additional protection for the potential biosecurity challenges.

至於墨西哥，隨著生鮮業務通過我們的多種渠道（尤其是零售渠道）重新出現增長，整體業務有所改善。同樣，在品牌產品和 QSR 渠道成功的推動下，我們準備好的業務增長到接近兩位數。由於市場基本面和匯率的有利性不斷提高，我們的勢頭進一步放大。此外，我們不斷重新設計我們的現場運營足跡、對住房的投資以及對管理程序的改進，顯著減少了之前與鳥類死亡率相關的問題，並為潛在的生物安全挑戰提供了額外的保護。

Our diversification efforts through our branded innovation continues to be exceptionally well received by retailers and consumers alike. At the early results from our recent launch of Favoritos and Unique Taste are very promising as both are far exceeding historical category growth in fresh. We will also look to accelerate our branded growth as our team will launch a fresh offering of Just BARE in Mexico and no-antibiotic-ever lineup that has realized significant success in the United States.

我們通過品牌創新進行的多元化努力繼續受到零售商和消費者的好評。我們最近推出的 Favoritos 和 Unique Taste 的早期結果非常有希望，因為兩者都遠遠超過了新鮮類別的歷史增長。我們還將尋求加速我們的品牌增長，因為我們的團隊將在墨西哥推出 Just BARE 的新產品，以及在美國取得巨大成功的無抗生素產品系列。

Given these efforts, our Mexico business can further differentiate its portfolio, providing additional installations from market (inaudible) situations in the live market or lower-priced chickens or pork imports. Our focus on operational excellence and geographic diversification remains steady as our investments in the Yucatan Peninsula and our live operations to ensure domestic growth remain on course.

通過這些努力，我們的墨西哥業務可以進一步使其產品組合脫穎而出，根據生鮮市場（聽不清）的情況或低價進口的雞肉或豬肉提供額外的設施。我們對卓越運營和地域多元化的關注仍然穩定，因為我們在尤卡坦半島的投資和我們的現場運營以確保國內增長保持正常。

As part of our leadership journey in sustainability, we recently completed an inventory of our global greenhouse emissions throughout the entire supply chain in conjunction with an independent third party. We have also implemented a series of programs and monitoring systems to evaluate our energy usage intensity, resulting in notable improvements across our production network.

作為我們可持續發展領導力之旅的一部分，我們最近與獨立第三方合作完成了整個供應鏈的全球溫室氣體排放清單。我們還實施了一系列計劃和監控系統來評估我們的能源使用強度，從而使我們的生產網絡得到顯著改善。

Our sustainability efforts beyond our production facilities also continue. In the U.K., our pilot of an energy self-sufficient poultry farm recently released its first commercial flock, we'll continue to monitor our developments in all these areas and adjust accordingly to accelerate our progress.

我們在生產設施之外的可持續發展努力也在繼續。在英國，我們的能源自給自足家禽養殖場試點最近釋放了第一批商業雞群，我們將繼續監測我們在所有這些領域的發展並做出相應調整以加快我們的進展。

With [that] in mind, I would like to ask our CFO, Matt Galvanoni, to discuss our financial results.

考慮到這一點，我想請我們的首席財務官馬特·加爾瓦諾尼 (Matt Galvanoni) 討論一下我們的財務業績。

Thank you, Fabio. Good morning, everyone. For the second quarter of 2023, net revenues were $4.31 billion versus $4.63 billion a year ago, with adjusted EBITDA of $248.7 million and a margin of 5.8% compared to $623.3 million and a 13.5% margin in Q2 last year.

謝謝你，法比奧。大家，早安。 2023 年第二季度，淨收入為 43.1 億美元，去年同期為 46.3 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 2.487 億美元，利潤率為 5.8%，而去年第二季度為 6.233 億美元，利潤率為 13.5%。

Adjusted EBITDA margins in Q2 were 4.6% in the U.S. compared to 18% a year ago. For our U.K. and Europe business, adjusted EBITDA margins came in at 5.2% for Q2 compared to 3.4% last year. In Mexico, adjusted EBITDA in Q2 was 12.2%, virtually flat to 12.3% a year ago.

美國第二季度調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 4.6%，而去年同期為 18%。對於我們的英國和歐洲業務，第二季度調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 5.2%，而去年為 3.4%。在墨西哥，第二季度調整後 EBITDA 為 12.2%，與一年前的 12.3% 基本持平。

Moving to the overall U.S. results. Our adjusted EBITDA for Q2 came in at $113.5 million compared to a quarterly profit of $520.9 million a year ago when the jumbo cutout was near all-time highs. This dramatic change demonstrates our ability to capture the upside of favorable industry conditions, while mitigating the impact of industry downturns. Over the last 2 quarters, we have grown U.S. profitability sequentially, despite challenging market conditions.

轉向美國的總體結果。我們第二季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 1.135 億美元，而去年同期的季度利潤為 5.209 億美元，當時的大幅削減接近歷史最高水平。這一巨大的變化表明我們有能力抓住有利的行業條件的優勢，同時減輕行業低迷的影響。在過去兩個季度中，儘管市場條件充滿挑戰，但我們在美國的盈利能力仍持續增長。

During April and May, we saw slight improvements in commodity chicken pricing, whereas June reflected seasonal declines. Nonetheless, overall commodity cutout values remain below the 5-year average throughout the second quarter. Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen an uptick in commodity cutout values, though.

4 月和 5 月，商品雞肉價格略有改善，而 6 月則出現季節性下降。儘管如此，整個第二季度大宗商品整體分切價格仍低於 5 年平均水平。不過，在過去幾周里，我們看到商品斷貨價格有所上升。

Our diversified U.S. product portfolio across bird sizes and brands, along with our key customer partnerships, helped us mitigate the impact of the challenges in market pricing in our big bird business during the current quarter. The U.S. small bird and prepared food businesses continued their strong 2023 performance.

我們在美國的鳥類尺寸和品牌多樣化產品組合，以及我們的主要客戶合作夥伴關係，幫助我們減輕了本季度大型鳥類業務市場定價挑戰的影響。美國小禽類和預製食品業務在 2023 年繼續保持強勁表現。

In the U.K. and Europe, adjusted EBITDA in Q2 was $68.1 million versus $42.6 million in 2022. Although inflation has been moderating, certain costs do continue to escalate to the U.K. and Europe business. Through its previously disclosed -- I'm sorry, 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 in its network optimization programs.

在英國和歐洲，第二季度調整後 EBITDA 為 6810 萬美元，而 2022 年為 4260 萬美元。儘管通脹一直在緩和，但英國和歐洲業務的某些成本確實在繼續上升。通過之前披露的——抱歉，通過之前討論的 2022 年緩解措施，該公司在盈利增長之旅中表現出了彈性。該業務已受益於其網絡優化計劃中的後台集成。

During the second quarter, we expanded the network optimization program with the announcement of the closure of our Ashton abattoir, which has been finalized here in July. As we optimize our fixed cost structure, it is important to note that our U.K. network footprint can continue to support growth with our key customers. We incurred approximately $30 million of restructuring charges during the quarter in support of these changes.

在第二季度，我們擴大了網絡優化計劃，宣布關閉阿什頓屠宰場，該計劃已於 7 月在此敲定。在我們優化固定成本結構時，值得注意的是，我們在英國的網絡覆蓋範圍可以繼續支持我們主要客戶的增長。為了支持這些變革，我們在本季度產生了約 3000 萬美元的重組費用。

Mexico generated $67.2 million in adjusted EBITDA in Q2 compared to $59.8 million last year. The Mexican business has experienced both more balanced supply-demand fundamentals and a reduction in bird disease challenges in its live operations due to the team's extraordinary efforts.

墨西哥第二季度調整後 EBITDA 為 6720 萬美元，而去年為 5980 萬美元。由於團隊的非凡努力，墨西哥業務的供需基本面更加平衡，現場運營中禽病挑戰也有所減少。

Overall, our SG&A in the quarter was lower year-over-year, primarily due to a decrease in employee-related costs in the U.S. and other targeted cost efficiencies achieved in our U.S. and U.K., Europe business.

總體而言，我們本季度的銷售及管理費用同比較低，主要是由於美國員工相關成本的下降以及我們在美國、英國、歐洲業務實現的其他目標成本效率。

We spent $156 million in CapEx in the second quarter. The second 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. We reiterate our commitment to investing strong ROCE projects that will improve our operational efficiencies through automation and tailor our operations to address key customer needs to further solidify competitive advantages for Pilgrim's.

第二季度我們的資本支出為 1.56 億美元。按運行率計算，第二季度支出較高，這主要是由於我們對喬治亞州雅典擴建項目的投資以及在南喬治亞州建設的新蛋白質轉化工廠。我們重申我們對投資強大的 ROCE 項目的承諾，這些項目將通過自動化提高我們的運營效率，並定制我們的運營以滿足關鍵客戶需求，從而進一步鞏固 Pilgrim's 的競爭優勢。

Although, Q2 was challenging due to volatility in the U.S. chicken and commodity market, our overall balance sheet and liquidity position remains strong. With the completion of our $1 billion of 10-year notes offerings in April and the cash we generated during the second quarter, we have approximately $1.8 billion in total cash and revolver availability as of June 25. Our liquidity position provides us flexibility during this more volatile time in the U.S. commodity markets and allows us to explore further simplification of our capital structure such as the elimination of subordinations with a potential unsecured structure as well be opportunistic with possible liability management exercise with our existing debt, including paying down our 2027 notes.

儘管由於美國雞肉和大宗商品市場的波動，第二季度充滿挑戰，但我們的整體資產負債表和流動性狀況仍然強勁。隨著 4 月份完成 10 億美元的 10 年期票據發行以及第二季度產生的現金，截至 6 月 25 日，我們擁有約 18 億美元的現金和循環可用資金。我們的流動性狀況為我們提供了在此期間的靈活性。美國大宗商品市場的動盪時期，使我們能夠探索進一步簡化我們的資本結構，例如消除潛在無擔保結構的從屬關係，併機會主義地對我們現有的債務進行可能的負債管理活動，包括償還我們的 2027 年票據。

As of the end of Q2, our net debt totaled $2.9 billion with a leverage ratio of 3.16x our last 12 months adjusted EBITDA, which is just outside of our target range of 2x to 3x. With the challenges we experienced in the fourth quarter of '22 and our first quarter 2023 profitability, our net leverage ratio is anticipated to remain outside our target for the next couple of quarters.

截至第二季度末，我們的淨債務總額為 29 億美元，槓桿率為過去 12 個月調整後 EBITDA 的 3.16 倍，略超出我們 2 至 3 倍的目標範圍。鑑於我們在 22 年第四季度和 2023 年第一季度盈利能力方面經歷的挑戰，預計我們的淨槓桿率在未來幾個季度仍將超出我們的目標。

Net interest expense for the quarter totaled $39.5 million. We anticipate our full year net interest expense to be between $160 million and $165 million.

該季度的淨利息支出總計 3950 萬美元。我們預計全年淨利息支出將在 1.6 億至 1.65 億美元之間。

As you saw in our earnings release, our effective tax rate in the quarter was significantly impacted by discrete tax items, primarily in Mexico and the U.K. Due to the mix of our multi-jurisdictional pretax earnings for the first 6 months of this year, routine income tax adjustments on discrete items are being amplified, including the impact of changes in FX rates in certain jurisdictions. As such, our effective tax rate is not following a more normalized level of between 23% and 25%. Our best view for the full-year effective tax rate is approximately 10%. However, this amount will fluctuate depending on the mix of earnings across tax jurisdictions.

正如您在我們的收益發布中看到的，我們本季度的有效稅率受到離散稅項的顯著影響，主要是在墨西哥和英國。由於今年前 6 個月我們的多個司法管轄區稅前收益的混合，常規對離散項目的所得稅調整正在擴大，包括某些司法管轄區外匯匯率變化的影響。因此，我們的有效稅率並未遵循 23% 至 25% 之間更正常的水平。我們對全年有效稅率的最佳預期約為 10%。然而，這一金額將根據不同稅收管轄區的收入組合而波動。

Our capital allocation approach will remain disciplined as we look to grow the company and we'll continue to align our investment priorities with our overall strategies, portfolio diversification, growth with key customers, operational excellence and commitment to team member health and safety.

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嚴格，我們將繼續將我們的投資優先事項與我們的整體戰略、投資組合多元化、與主要客戶的增長、卓越運營以及對團隊成員健康和安全的承諾保持一致。

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。請打開電話提問。

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

（操作員說明）第一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Ben Theurer。

Fabio and Matt congrats on the results. On the 2 questions, just the very first one. If we take a look at some of the expenses you booked through a restructuring in the U.K. and we remember you had a few of those in the past as well. So just help us understand where are we right now in the process? What else to expect? And what's like kind of a reasonable SG&A run rate going forward so that we know like kind of where to model that out. That would be my first question.

法比奧和馬特對結果表示祝賀。關於2個問題，只是第一個問題。如果我們看一下您在英國通過重組預訂的一些費用，我們記得您過去也有過一些費用。那麼請幫助我們了解我們現在處於這個過程的哪個階段？還有什麼可期待的？未來合理的 SG&A 運行率是怎樣的，以便我們知道在哪裡進行建模。這是我的第一個問題。

Yes, Ben it's Matt. Let's start with the restructuring. I think for us, right now, based on where we're at with the announced programs, we may have, call it, $3 million to $5 million left on those programs or any type of kind of cash costs that will kind of drag through into Q3 that we couldn't mostly expense ahead of time that had to be done during kind of the period itself.

是的，本，是馬特。我們先從重組開始。我認為，對我們來說，現在，根據我們已宣布的計劃的進展情況，我們可能會在這些計劃上留下 300 萬至 500 萬美元的資金，或者任何類型的現金成本，這些現金成本會拖延下去。進入第三季度，我們不能提前支付大部分費用，而這些費用必須在該期間本身完成。

We are still continuing to look for ways to optimize our network, we're always there for operational excellence. But relative to the programs we have right now, that's the remaining cost that we would have here that -- on the cash side. Kind of remains relative to your SG&A question. We think about the SG&A that's there today. I think that's a decent run rate. We're looking at things -- I mean you have to take the restructuring costs out and we try to exclude that for you.

我們仍在繼續尋找優化網絡的方法，我們始終致力於實現卓越運營。但相對於我們現在的計劃，這就是我們在現金方面的剩餘成本。有點與你的 SG&A 問題相關。我們會考慮今天的銷售及管理費用 (SG&A)。我認為這是一個不錯的運行率。我們正在考慮一些事情——我的意思是你必須去掉重組成本，我們試圖為你排除這一點。

But we are starting to see more normalization on the SG&A. We've seen some of the efforts that we've done relative to the back-office integration. We'll continue to see some of that play through for some efficiencies as we go forward into '24 and '25. But generally, I think the SG&A run rate we have now is pretty decent when you model for. I don't know, Fabio, you want to add anything on the restructuring?

但我們開始看到 SG&A 更加正常化。我們已經看到了我們在後台集成方面所做的一些努力。當我們進入 24 和 25 年時，我們將繼續看到其中一些措施的發揮，以提高效率。但總的來說，我認為當你建模時，我們現在的 SG&A 運行率相當不錯。我不知道，法比奧，您想對重組補充什麼嗎？

Well, just on the restructuring, I think you saw the benefits flowing into our results as we reduced the operational footprint without reducing our production. I think what we just did was move product from more efficient facilities and closing some smaller facilities that were not something that we need to invest in the long run.

好吧，就重組而言，我想您已經看到了我們的成果所帶來的好處，因為我們在不減少產量的情況下減少了運營足跡。我認為我們剛剛所做的是將產品從更高效的設施中轉移出來，並關閉了一些較小的設施，從長遠來看，這些設施不是我們需要投資的。

And then my second question is just around like general pricing dynamics in the U.S. and how you feel about the pricing across the different bird sizes. Clearly, there was an impact, again, this quarter on a year-over-year basis. But how should we think about pricing within the 3 categories, big, medium and small bird from here onwards, also as it relates to some of the comments you made as to some of the industry behavior on lower placements?

然後我的第二個問題是關於美國的一般定價動態以及您對不同尺寸鳥類的定價有何感受。顯然，本季度與去年同期相比再次產生了影響。但是，從現在開始，我們應該如何考慮大、中、小鳥這 3 個類別的定價，因為它與您對較低排名的一些行業行為所做的一些評論有關？

Yes. I think we need to, as you mentioned, drill down to the specific categories. I think on the small bird, the supply and demand is very well balanced. We are seeing pricing for the smaller birds being on the 8 piece or in the Deli Wogs higher than the 5-year average. It's going through a normal seasonality, but it's significantly higher than the 5-year average. So the supply and demand it's really stable, and we're seeing very good margins in those businesses.

是的。我認為，正如您提到的，我們需要深入到特定類別。我認為對於小鳥來說，供求是非常平衡的。我們發現 8 件裝或 Deli Wogs 中較小的鳥類的價格高於 5 年平均水平。它正在經歷正常的季節性，但明顯高於 5 年平均水平。因此，供應和需求非常穩定，我們看到這些業務的利潤率非常高。

On case-ready, I think the supply demand is also well in balance. What we expected was more future activity during the Q2 that we've seen actually, we're seeing some improvements right now. And as we mentioned on the prepared remarks, I think the advantage for chicken is that it's more available and more affordable. So we're seeing a lot of promotional activity coming on.

就備箱情況而言，我認為供需也很平衡。我們預計第二季度未來的活動將會更多，我們實際上已經看到了，我們現在看到了一些改進。正如我們在準備好的評論中提到的，我認為雞肉的優勢在於它更容易獲得且更實惠。所以我們看到很多促銷活動正在進行。

So we expect to see some demand increase on the retail that will make up a more favorable supply and demand structure. I think the weakness over the last year already has been on the big bird commodity segment, right? As we look through the increase in production, almost all the increase in production has been on that category. And as we see less growth in the retail, it's also further enhanced more meat available in that category. So that's what depressed the prices, especially on the breast meat and we've seen the pricing below 5-year average.

因此，我們預計零售業的需求將會有所增加，這將形成更有利的供需結構。我認為去年的疲軟已經出現在大鳥商品領域，對吧？當我們查看產量的增長時，幾乎所有的產量增長都屬於該類別。隨著我們看到零售業增長放緩，該類別的肉類供應量也進一步增加。這就是價格下跌的原因，尤其是胸肉，我們看到價格低於五年平均水平。

The other category that's also weakest is wings. Looking forward, I think wings were weak because we saw some operators taking them off the menu because of the shortages and the high price of last year. As of now, we're already seeing a lot of food service operators bringing wings back to the menu and increasing their promotion of bone-in wings instead of boneless wings.

另一個最弱的類別是翅膀。展望未來，我認為雞翅很弱，因為我們看到一些經營者因為去年的短缺和高價格而將雞翅從菜單上取消。截至目前，我們已經看到許多餐飲服務經營者將雞翅重新帶回菜單，並加大對帶骨雞翅的推廣力度，而不是無骨雞翅。

For the breast meat, we are seeing increasing as well, demand on the food service categories. And we expect one of the category that was really weak during the last 6 months, which is the industrial, which is further processors that were also suffering from lower volume, albeit at high prices for them. So as we see more promotional activities in the retail, both for prepared foods, overall, and for the fresh categories, we're seeing more demand for the -- in this commercial or commodity category. We're seeing some signals of increasing prices over the last 2 weeks, which is very encouraging.

對於胸肉，我們看到食品服務類別的需求也在不斷增加。我們預計過去 6 個月中真正疲軟的類別之一是工業，即進一步加工商，儘管價格較高，但銷量也較低。因此，當我們看到零售業有更多的促銷活動時，無論是預製食品還是新鮮食品類別，我們都看到了對這一商業或商品類別的更多需求。過去兩週我們看到了一些價格上漲的信號，這是非常令人鼓舞的。

Our next question comes from Ben Bienvenu with Stephens Inc.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stephens Inc. 的 Ben Bienvenu。

I wanted to follow up on Ben's question just around kind of what you're seeing across the various bird sizes. And Fabio, relative to your comments around the supply-demand balance for each of the sizes. Have you all thought at all about any capacity conversions between sizes across your network, perhaps from big bird to smaller size? And if not, would you need to see either from a magnitude of commodity big bird weakness or duration to make that consideration?

我想跟進本的問題，圍繞你在不同大小的鳥類中看到的情況。法比奧（Fabio），相對於您對每種尺寸的供需平衡的評論。你們是否考慮過網絡中大小之間的容量轉換，也許是從大鳥到較小大小的轉換？如果沒有，您是否需要根據大宗商品的疲軟程度或持續時間來進行考慮？

It's a great question. Thank you, Ben. I think we're always looking on ways to improve our portfolio, right? And we mentioned in the past that we want to increase the value of our offerings to branded prepared foods, and we've been doing that, growing our branded and our prepared foods operation. On the fresh side, we have an exposure to the commodity markets. And I think we look at the portfolio. So if you look over the last 12 months, we saw some very strong pricing on that commodity. And we saw our results last year that we were able to capture that upside.

這是一個很好的問題。謝謝你，本。我認為我們一直在尋找改進我們的產品組合的方法，對吧？我們過去提到過，我們希望增加品牌預製食品產品的價值，我們一直在這樣做，發展我們的品牌和預製食品業務。另一方面，我們涉足大宗商品市場。我認為我們應該關注投資組合。因此，如果你回顧過去 12 個月，我們會發現該商品的定價非常強勁。去年我們看到了我們的成果，我們能夠抓住這一優勢。

So it's a portfolio option for us that when the market is really depressed as it is right now, we have all the other segments with more stable margins that can level our earnings. So we are happy with the portfolio that we have. Of course, we are always looking for opportunities to improve being diversified options or differentiated options like no-antibiotics-ever, organic. So we're always looking for those options to add value to our production.

因此，這對我們來說是一個投資組合選擇，當市場像現在這樣嚴重低迷時，我們擁有所有其他利潤率更穩定的細分市場，可以平衡我們的收益。因此，我們對現有的產品組合感到滿意。當然，我們一直在尋找機會來改進多元化選擇或差異化選擇，例如無抗生素、有機產品。因此，我們一直在尋找這些選項來為我們的生產增加價值。

But overall, our portfolio is well balanced in the fresh categories. We are always investing to grow with our key customers. So I think it's more an issue of growth rather than just converting operations. So we recently announced the increase in production in our Athens facility, which is in the smaller category. So if there's any balancing in our portfolio, I believe it's going to be through growth and it's going to be through the growth in partnership with our key customers.

但總體而言，我們的生鮮產品組合非常平衡。我們始終致力於與主要客戶共同成長。因此，我認為這更多的是增長問題，而不僅僅是業務轉型。因此，我們最近宣布增加雅典工廠的產量，該工廠屬於較小的類別。因此，如果我們的投資組合有任何平衡，我相信這將通過增長以及與我們主要客戶的合作夥伴關係的增長來實現。

My second question is on the Mexico segment. Very strong results in the quarter. And I'm wondering any commentary you can provide around what you're seeing so far in 3Q? And I know it's a difficult segment to forecast, but kind of what your expectations are for the year from that segment as well.

我的第二個問題是關於墨西哥部分的。本季度的業績非常強勁。我想知道您能就第三季度迄今為止所看到的情況提供任何評論嗎？我知道這是一個很難預測的細分市場，但是您對該細分市場今年的期望也是如此。

No, of course. We've always mentioned that Mexico is very volatile quarter-over-quarter, but we expect a very steady growth levels during the year. Then we have a particularly weak quarter last year. Q3 and Q4 last year were very challenging for Mexico with a lot of increasing production on domestic and also some strong exports from Brazil and U.S., both in pork and chicken impacting, especially the North market in Mexico. What we are seeing today is a more balanced supply and demand.

不，當然。我們一直提到墨西哥的季度環比波動非常大，但我們預計今年的增長水平非常穩定。去年我們的季度特別疲軟。去年第三季度和第四季度對墨西哥來說非常具有挑戰性，國內產量大幅增加，巴西和美國的出口也強勁，豬肉和雞肉都受到影響，尤其是墨西哥北部市場。我們今天看到的是供需更加平衡。

We are seeing some increase in the demand because of the economy of Mexico is doing well. Of course, the exchange rate is also helping their consumers over there. So we're seeing, starting of the Q3, very promising. Usually, Q3 is not the strongest because of the schools being recessed, but we're seeing very steady supply and demand so far in Mexico. As I mentioned, there is a lot of volatility there, especially because there is the live market operation that tends to be very susceptible to diseases. So the supply and demand actually can change rapidly there. But so far, has been very well balanced and with the demand being very strong.

由於墨西哥經濟表現良好，我們看到需求有所增加。當然，匯率也對那裡的消費者有幫助。所以我們看到，從第三季度開始，非常有希望。通常，由於學校停課，第三季度並不是最強勁的，但到目前為止，我們看到墨西哥的供需非常穩定。正如我所提到的，那裡存在很大的波動性，特別是因為現場市場運作往往非常容易受到疾病的影響。因此，那裡的供給和需求實際上可能會迅速變化。但到目前為止，已經非常平衡，需求也非常強勁。

The next question comes from Peter Galbo with Bank of America.

下一個問題來自美國銀行的彼得·加爾博。

Maybe just to start, guys, on U.S., I actually wanted to dive into the costs on gross profit. It was actually down in the quarter. And I think that was more driven by lower kind of prepared food, chicken prices more so than maybe input costs or feed costs which I would think would start to be a tailwind going forward, just given where corn and soybean have moved. So maybe you can just comment on that into the back half of the year, how you're seeing the costs play out more so in the U.S., particularly as chicken prices are still under pressure.

也許只是開始，伙計們，在美國，我實際上想深入研究毛利潤的成本。實際上該季度有所下降。我認為這更多是由較低種類的預製食品、雞肉價格驅動，而不是投入成本或飼料成本，我認為考慮到玉米和大豆的走勢，我認為這將開始成為未來的順風車。因此，也許您可以在今年下半年對此發表評論，您認為美國的成本如何發揮更大的作用，特別是在雞肉價格仍面臨壓力的情況下。

Yes. I think it's analyzing the costs. As we mentioned, we have a very unique approach to our opening the gaps in the operation and closing our gaps. So we have every supervisor, every plant fully dedicated to identifying the opportunities that they have on a perfect operation. So we call that opening the gaps. And then we have a methodology for all those operations to close the gap with action plans and specific timing and specific responsible.

是的。我認為這是在分析成本。正如我們所提到的，我們有一種非常獨特的方法來打開和縮小運營中的差距。因此，我們的每一位主管、每家工廠都全力致力於尋找完美運營的機會。所以我們稱之為打開差距。然後我們為所有這些行動制定了一種方法，以縮小與行動計劃、具體時間安排和具體負責人之間的差距。

So I think every year, we identify those opportunities during the budgeting process, and then we create the action plans to close those opportunities during the year. This year has been very difficult. I think because of staffing levels that we only achieve fully staffing levels right now, we're still training our operators and team members to achieve the best yields possible. So I think it's been a ramp-up in terms of capturing those operational excellence activities throughout the year. Right now, we are already positive and we're getting to our budgets. But for the first semester, I think it was, as I mentioned, difficult to close those gaps because of that lack of labor into our plants.

因此，我認為每年我們都會在預算過程中確定這些機會，然後製定行動計劃以在一年中消除這些機會。今年非常困難。我認為，由於人員配備水平，我們目前只能達到人員配備水平，因此我們仍在培訓操作員和團隊成員，以實現盡可能最佳的產量。因此，我認為全年在捕捉卓越運營活動方面取得了進步。現在，我們已經很樂觀，並且正在達到預算。但在第一學期，正如我所提到的，我認為由於我們工廠缺乏勞動力，很難縮小這些差距。

But is it fair to think about feed, I mean, feed flipping to a tailwind kind of from a cost perspective in the second half?

但考慮飼料是否公平，我的意思是，從下半年的成本角度來看，飼料轉向順風？

Yes, of course. As we talk about, I think there's availability of grain in the United States, weather permitting, of course, I think for corn, we already passed that period. So weather was favorable for the production and yields. We have strong acreage, higher than last year. I think for soybeans, the period of weather is still ahead of us. So we expect better or normal weather through August, so we can capture the yields that we are expecting. But we are seeing the signaling on the future market pricing, which is lower than it is today, that it could be a tailwind. I'll just caution that there is a lot of portfolio in terms of pricing that we have, right?

是的當然。正如我們所談論的，我認為如果天氣允許的話，美國有穀物供應，當然，我認為對於玉米來說，我們已經過了那個時期。因此，天氣有利於生產和單產。我們的種植面積強勁，高於去年。我認為對於大豆來說，天氣時期仍然在前方。因此，我們預計八月天氣會更好或正常，這樣我們就可以獲得預期的產量。但我們看到未來市場定價的信號，該定價低於今天，這可能是一個順風車。我只是提醒一下，我們有很多定價方面的投資組合，對嗎？

So we have -- some of our products are based on cost plus, are based on the grains. Of course, what can define the profitability of the chicken industry is the supply and demand of chicken, not necessarily the prices of corn and soy that we proved through the years that we can have a very strong profitability even with high prices of grain and corn and we can also have margins not what we expected, even with lower corn and soy. But Overall, of course, it's better for us to have a more stable and more in line with expectations price of corn and soy rather than volatility.

所以我們——我們的一些產品是基於成本加成，基於穀物的。當然，決定養雞行業盈利能力的是雞肉的供求關係，不一定是玉米和大豆的價格，我們多年來證明，即使糧食和玉米價格很高，我們也能有很強的盈利能力。即使玉米和大豆價格較低，我們的利潤率也可能低於我們的預期。但總的來說，當然，玉米和大豆的價格更穩定、更符合預期，而不是波動，對我們來說更好。

Got it. Okay. No, that's helpful. And then maybe just back to your comments, I think you said on the second half in U.S. on production. I think you had industry growth you were quoting on kind of volumes growing in 3Q and maybe flattish in 4Q. Is there any reason to think that you guys would be materially different from that, either in a positive or negative direction.

知道了。好的。不，這很有幫助。然後也許回到你的評論，我想你在美國下半年的生產中說過。我認為您提到的行業增長是第三季度銷量增長，第四季度銷量可能持平。有沒有理由認為你們會與此有本質上的不同，無論是積極的還是消極的。

Yes. We have the leading indicators through USDA, right, which is the chick placements and egg sets. I think if you look at the numbers over the last 10 weeks, it has been lower year-over-year. So what we expect for the incoming 8 weeks is actually a lower production year-over-year.

是的。我們通過美國農業部（右）獲得了領先指標，即雛雞安置和產蛋數。我認為，如果你看一下過去 10 週的數字，就會發現同比下降。因此，我們預計未來 8 週的產量實際上會同比下降。

I think what's happening in the industry is that despite having more eggs because we have a laying block that is actually larger than last year's. The age is higher and the hatchability is lower. So despite having a little bit more eggs, as you can see on the egg sets number from the USDA, the chick placements are actually significantly lower than from prior years. So I think that leading indicators made us believe that the production in Q3 and Q4 will be lower year-over-year.

我認為該行業正在發生的事情是，儘管有更多的雞蛋，因為我們的產蛋區實際上比去年更大。年齡越高，孵化率越低。因此，儘管雞蛋多了一點，正如您在美國農業部的產蛋數量上看到的那樣，但雛雞的安置數量實際上明顯低於前幾年。因此，我認為領先指標讓我們相信第三季度和第四季度的產量將同比下降。

The next question comes from Adam Samuelson with Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自高盛的亞當·薩繆爾森。

Actually, as -- my first question is in the U.S., and this was in the Q this morning. Your prepared chicken sales or your prepared food sales were down 27% year-over-year. In the press release yesterday evening, you talked about your branded, Just BARE and Pilgrim's prepared sales in the U.S. that were up 56% year-over-year. Hoping you can just help square that? Is that just a mix of how much wings are going through your prepared plants? Or help us bridge kind of a pretty significant decline in prepared foods in the U.S.

實際上，我的第一個問題是在美國，這是今天早上的問題。您的預製雞肉銷售額或預製食品銷售額同比下降了 27%。在昨天晚上的新聞稿中，您談到了您的品牌 Just BARE 和 Pilgrim 在美國的預售銷售額同比增長 56%。希望你能幫忙解決這個問題嗎？這只是你準備好的植物翅膀數量的混合嗎？或者幫助我們彌補美國預製食品大幅下降的影響。

Well, I think part of it, Adam, is going to be price, right? Because you think about in the past, last year, when we were having this -- their input costs are -- was much higher commodity chicken price that was the input cost, the base cost for the prepared business. And so from a price standpoint, that ended up really kind of impacting higher prices last year than compared to this year. But relative to growth, we feel very good about our volume growth, but it's really sort of a price difference than year-over-year. I don't know, Fabio, you want to add anything to that?

嗯，亞當，我認為其中一部分是價格，對吧？因為你想想過去，去年，當我們遇到這種情況時——他們的投入成本是——商品雞肉價格要高得多，這是投入成本，是準備好的業務的基本成本。因此，從價格的角度來看，這確實對去年的價格產生了比今年更高的影響。但相對於增長而言，我們對銷量增長感到非常滿意，但這實際上與去年同期相比存在價格差異。我不知道，法比奧，你想補充什麼嗎？

No. And I think you're right, Adam, especially on the main category, as we saw, the wing pricing last year was close to $3 and this year it's close to $1, right? So the re-price are prepared foods accordingly. Of course, we maintain our margins. And that's why we believe it's -- the prepared foods is a more stable business than all the others because we can maintain the margins despite highs and lows of the commodity pricing. We are also doing a lot of promotional activity this year, especially on the wings as well to further enhance and gain market share on that category on the food service, mainly.

不。我認為你是對的，Adam，尤其是在主要類別上，正如我們所看到的，去年機翼的定價接近 3 美元，今年接近 1 美元，對吧？因此，重新定價是相應的預製食品。當然，我們維持我們的利潤。這就是為什麼我們相信預製食品是一項比其他所有業務更穩定的業務，因為儘管商品價格有高有低，我們仍可以保持利潤。今年我們還做了很多促銷活動，特別是在機翼方面，以進一步增強和獲得主要在食品服務類別上的市場份額。

That's helpful color. And then as I think about the actions you're taking on automation, on improved efficiencies, some of the plant conversions in the U.S. and the restructuring in the EU. I was hoping if we could kind of tie that all together a little bit in terms of how to think about the savings and at least the fixed cost reductions that you would see at least from the U.K. stuff and -- but kind of help us think about the earnings contribution from some of those investments and the timing that you'd be looking to realize those over the next 12 to 24 months?

這是有用的顏色。然後，當我想到你們在自動化、提高效率、美國的一些工廠改造和歐盟的重組方面採取的行動時。我希望我們能夠將這些結合起來，考慮如何節省成本，至少是固定成本的降低，至少可以從英國的產品中看到——但這可以幫助我們思考關於其中一些投資的收益貢獻以及您希望在未來 12 至 24 個月內實現這些收益的時間？

Yes, sure. It's a great point because we're always, as I mentioned, we're always looking for ways to opening gaps, identifying opportunities and capturing operational improvements. Some of these operational improvements translate into cost improvements some, and I'll say it's 50-50, on yield improvements, which helps on the margins and on the revenues. So instead of leaving meat on the bone, we debone better so we can sell that as a whole meat instead of -- on the rendering of our protein conversion part. So 50-50, I'll tell you, it is how we see that.

是的，當然。這是一個很重要的觀點，因為正如我所提到的，我們一直在尋找彌補差距、發現機會和捕捉運營改進的方法。其中一些運營改進會轉化為成本改進，而我會說它是 50-50 的產量改進，這有助於提高利潤和收入。因此，我們不是把肉留在骨頭上，而是更好地去骨，這樣我們就可以將其作為整塊肉出售，而不是在蛋白質轉化部分的渲染上出售。所以我告訴你，50-50，這就是我們的看法。

The automation efforts also help on improving yields because the machine is better than operator that is not there, right? Still today, labor or a manual deboning yields better than the machine. But once again, the machine do its job every day while we have a lot of turnover in our operators and we had on team members, and we need to train them to capture the optimal yields in our plants.

自動化工作還有助於提高產量，因為機器比不在場的操作員更好，對嗎？時至今日，人工剔骨或手動剔骨的產量仍高於機器。但是，機器每天都在完成其工作，而我們的操作員和團隊成員的流動性很大，我們需要培訓他們以在我們的工廠中獲得最佳產量。

So the automation has been benefiting. And over the years, we've been disclosing what we expect in terms of operational efficiencies and it's been around $100 million to $200 million in terms of operation improvements. A lot of that, it is to catch up with our industry that is never ending, improving their efficiencies as well, and some of that will flow to the bottom line through the operational efficiencies.

所以自動化已經受益。多年來，我們一直在披露我們對運營效率的預期，並且在運營改進方面大約花費了 1 億至 2 億美元。其中很多是為了趕上我們這個永無止境的行業，同時提高他們的效率，其中一些將通過運營效率流向利潤。

As in Europe is a little bit different because with not only that, we also have been optimizing our network structure. As I mentioned, we are producing the same volume in just a low number of -- or a smaller number of plants because we are consolidating some of the operations in the most efficient plants, which translate into better cost, some better yields as well as the new facilities are highly automated and have better equipment and more trained, skilled labor. We expect, like I said, from $100 million to $200 million in operational improvements every year.

歐洲的情況有點不同，不僅如此，我們還一直在優化我們的網絡結構。正如我所提到的，我們僅在少數或更少的工廠中生產相同的產量，因為我們正在將一些業務整合到最高效的工廠中，這轉化為更好的成本、更好的產量以及新設施高度自動化，擁有更好的設備和訓練有素的熟練勞動力。正如我所說，我們預計每年可實現 1 億至 2 億美元的運營改進。

Okay. And if I could squeeze one more, a follow-up just to Peter's last question. I think you kind of -- when you're talking about the production and output in the second half, again referring to the industry numbers, the industry was up a bunch in production and output in 4Q '22. Pilgrim's in the United States is down. So are you assuming your own production to be flat to down in the United States in the second half of 2023? Or is it going to be up because your comparisons are very different than the industry's.

好的。如果我可以再問一個問題，那就是彼得最後一個問題的後續問題。我認為，當您談論下半年的生產和產出時，再次提及行業數據，該行業在 22 年第四季度的生產和產出大幅增長。美國的 Pilgrim 已經衰落了。那麼您是否認為 2023 年下半年您在美國的產量將持平甚至下降？或者它會上升，因為你的比較與行業的比較有很大不同。

Sure. As we always mentioned, we always match our supply to our demand, especially with our key customers, right? So we expect to be in line with the industry, but in line with the expectations of our key customers. We have best fuel rates in the industry, close to 99% to our key customers throughout the pandemic and right now, and we expect to continue that. So we will adjust our production to that demand. We're seeing more promotional activity from our key customers. So we see some increasing demand over there.

當然。正如我們一直提到的，我們始終將供應與需求相匹配，尤其是與我們的主要客戶，對吧？因此，我們希望與行業保持一致，但也符合我們主要客戶的期望。我們擁有業內最好的燃油費率，在整個疫情期間和目前，我們的主要客戶的燃油費率接近 99%，我們預計將繼續保持這一水平。因此，我們將根據需求調整生產。我們看到主要客戶開展了更多促銷活動。所以我們看到那裡的需求不斷增加。

But typically, Q3 and Q4 are periods where we have lower demand of chicken because of the Thanksgiving and year-end. So normally, we reduce our outputs during those quarters. Comparing year-over-year, again, we expect to be in line with the industry and in line with the demand from our key customers.

但通常情況下，由於感恩節和年底，第三季度和第四季度我們對雞肉的需求較低。因此，通常情況下，我們會減少這些季度的產出。再次與去年同期相比，我們希望與行業保持一致，並與主要客戶的需求保持一致。

Next question comes from Andrew Strelzik with BMO.

下一個問題來自 BMO 的 Andrew Strelzik。

For my first one, I guess, I wanted to focus on the big bird segment. And you talked about some of the recent improvements in cutout values as well as needing more improvement. And so I guess my question is, based on what you're seeing from a demand pickup perspective and the supply outlook, do you think that, that's enough to get us in that segment back to supply-demand balance or do we need more outsized actions on one side or the other. I don't know which one you think would be more likely, but some business buy side or the demand side. But is that enough to get us where you think we need to be from a supply-demand?

我想，對於我的第一個，我想專注於大鳥部分。您談到了剪切值最近的一些改進以及需要更多改進。所以我想我的問題是，根據您從需求回升的角度和供應前景看到的情況，您認為這足以讓我們在該領域恢復供需平衡，還是我們需要更多的超大型工廠一側或另一側的動作。我不知道你認為哪一種可能性更大，但是有的企業是購買方還是需求方。但這足以讓我們從供需關係中達到您認為需要的水平嗎？

Yes. I think looking at the supply and demand in specifically in the big bird category. So we have 3 main segments of demand in the big bird. So it's the industrial, it is the food service and international accounts, the QSRs and further processors.

是的。我認為要特別關注大型鳥類類別的供需情況。所以我們對大鳥的需求有3個主要部分。所以這是工業、食品服務和國際客戶、QSR 和深加工商。

I think the one that was lacking, food service has been strong. I think further process has been in pace with expectations. I think the one that has been weaker for us, it is the industrial category. And this industrial category is prepared foods companies. And as we saw some of the latest announcements and press releases, they are increasing their prices close to 10% year-over-year and reducing their volumes, close to 8%, it's the latest number that we saw in that industry. So that 8% translating to lower volume of prepared foods and lower demand for protein. Overall, I think once again, beef and pork have been very muted to down production, which is favoring chicken, but it still is a lower demand than we expected in that category.

我認為缺少的一點是餐飲服務很強大。我認為進一步的進程符合預期。我認為我們的弱點是工業類別。而這個工業類別就是預製食品公司。正如我們看到的一些最新公告和新聞稿，他們的價格同比上漲了近 10%，銷量卻減少了近 8%，這是我們在該行業看到的最新數字。因此，8% 意味著預製食品的數量減少，對蛋白質的需求減少。總的來說，我再次認為，牛肉和豬肉的產量已經非常低迷，這有利於雞肉，但該類別的需求仍然低於我們的預期。

As we see more promotional activity. And I think we're going to see some deflation in the retail. We expect to have a stronger demand, especially in that category. Food service, once again, continued to be strong, and the national accounts continue to be strong. So that is one of the drivers that we need to a more balanced supply and demand.

我們看到更多的促銷活動。我認為零售業將會出現一些通貨緊縮。我們預計會有更強勁的需求，尤其是在該類別中。餐飲服務再次繼續強勁，國民賬戶繼續強勁。因此，這是我們實現供需更加平衡所需的驅動因素之一。

I think also the fresh retail with more promotional activity with the deflation as well in the retail can further enhance that demand in the big bird, as we always use big bird to augment our operation in the case-ready for these periods of time when we have big promotional activities.

我認為生鮮零售​​業在通貨緊縮以及零售業中開展更多促銷活動也可以進一步增強對大鳥的需求，因為我們總是使用大鳥來增強我們的運營，以備不時之需。有大型促銷活動。

So those 2 factors can help on the demand for that category. For the supply, I think what we are seeing, once again, is that the chick placements has been down over the last 8 weeks, which will translate into lower production year-over-year for the incoming quarters.

因此，這兩個因素可以幫助滿足該類別的需求。就供應而言，我認為我們再次看到的是，過去 8 週的雛雞投放量有所下降，這將導致接下來幾個季度的產量同比下降。

And then there was a comment in the press release as it related to the U.S. business, that the team is in the process of executing a variety of action items to further drive operational excellence. That was the quote. And I guess I was curious, are there kind of new or incremental things that you can elaborate on within that? Or maybe as we roll through the back half of the year and into next year, if there's nothing newer, what are the key items there that we should be focused on that you think will be most impactful?

然後，新聞稿中有一條與美國業務相關的評論，稱該團隊正在執行各種行動項目，以進一步推動卓越運營。這就是那句話。我想我很好奇，你可以在其中詳細闡述一些新的或增量的事情嗎？或者，也許當我們從今年下半年進入明年時，如果沒有什麼更新，我們應該關注哪些您認為最有影響力的關鍵項目？

Yes. Just like I mentioned, we -- every year, we identify all the opportunities that we have, both in live and in the plant, we call that opening our gaps. And then the team put a comprehensive plan with actions, responsible and timelines to close those gaps and achieve our operational improvements. A lot of that has been on yields. I think as I mentioned, over the last year, we've been not fully staffed and that has impacted the training. It has impacted the skill of our team members to do a better yield improvements and a better yield on our operations.

是的。就像我提到的，我們每年都會確定我們擁有的所有機會，無論是在現場還是在工廠，我們稱之為打開差距。然後，團隊制定了一個包含行動、責任和時間表的全面計劃，以縮小這些差距並實現我們的運營改進。其中很大一部分都與收益率有關。我認為正如我所提到的，去年我們的人員配備不足，這影響了培訓。它影響了我們團隊成員的技能，以更好地提高產量和提高我們的運營產量。

So there's a lot of training involved. There is a lot of staffing our plants involved. I think that will help on the yields for us to capture that $100 million to $200 million, like I mentioned. We also are investing a lot in our live operations with improved housing, which could help our feed conversions and help our efficiency overall. And it will help our feed conversions on top of what the primary breeders already deliver through their new breeds.

所以涉及很多培訓。我們的工廠涉及大量人員。正如我提到的，我認為這將有助於我們獲得 1 億至 2 億美元的收益。我們還對現場運營進行了大量投資，改善了住房，這有助於我們的飼料轉化並提高我們的整體效率。在初級育種者已經通過新品種提供的基礎上，這將有助於我們的飼料轉化。

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

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉交給法比奧·桑德里 (Fabio Sandri) 發表閉幕詞。

Thank you, again. Over the last month, we faced many external challenges. But together with our team, the consistent execution of our strategies of diversification, key customer focus and operational excellence are essential to navigate these transition issues and reinforcing our foundation for long-term profitable growth. Those strategies have demonstrated their effectiveness as margin improved despite challenging business conditions.

再次感謝你。過去一個月，我們面臨許多外部挑戰。但與我們的團隊一起，持續執行我們的多元化戰略、以關鍵客戶為中心和卓越運營對於解決這些轉型問題並鞏固我們長期盈利增長的基礎至關重要。儘管業務環境充滿挑戰，但這些策略已證明其有效性，因為利潤率有所提高。

We will continue to drive these strategies along with an unwavering focus on value and team members' well being. Given these efforts, we can further strengthen our competitive advantage and cultivate a better future for our team members. Thank you for joining us today.

我們將繼續推動這些戰略，同時堅定不移地關注價值和團隊成員的福祉。通過這些努力，我們可以進一步增強我們的競爭優勢，為我們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 concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議結束了。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連接。