Spectrum Brands Holdings Inc (SPB) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the first-quarter 2025 Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc., earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions)

您好，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指令）

Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Joanne Chomiak, SVP Corporate Tax and Treasury.

請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。現在，我想將會議交給今天的發言人、企業稅務和財務高級副總裁 Joanne Chomiak。

Thank you, Daniel. Welcome to Spectrum Brands Holdings Q1 2025 earnings conference call and webcast. I'm Joanne Chomiak, Senior Vice President of Tax and Treasury, and I will moderate today's call. To help you follow our comments, we have placed live presentation on the event calendar page in the Investor Relations section of our website at www.spectrumbrands.com. This document will remain there following our call.

謝謝你，丹尼爾。歡迎參加 Spectrum Brands Holdings 2025 年第一季財報電話會議及網路廣播。我是稅務和財務高級副總裁 Joanne Chomiak，我將主持今天的電話會議。為了幫助您關注我們的評論，我們在網站 www.spectrumbrands.com 的投資者關係部分的活動日曆頁面上放置了現場演示。我們通話後，此文件仍保留在那裡。

Starting with slide 2 of the presentation. Our call will be led by David Maura, our Chairman and Executive -- Chief Executive Officer; and Jeremy Smeltser, our Chief Financial Officer. After opening remarks, we will conduct the Q&A.

從簡報的第 2 張投影片開始。我們的電話會議將由我們的董事長兼執行執行長 David Maura 主持；以及我們的財務長 Jeremy Smeltser。開幕致詞後，我們將進行問答環節。

Turning to slides 3 and 4. Our comments today include forward-looking statements, which are based upon management's current expectations, projections and assumptions and are, by nature, uncertain. Actual results may differ materially. Due to that risk, Spectrum Brands encourages you to review the risk factors and cautionary statements outlined in our press release dated February 6, 2025, our most recent SEC filings and Spectrum Brands Holdings' most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

轉到投影片 3 和 4。我們今天的評論包括前瞻性陳述，這些陳述基於管理層當前的預期、預測和假設，本質上具有不確定性。實際結果可能存在重大差異。由於有這種風險，Spectrum Brands 建議您查看我們 2025 年 2 月 6 日發布的新聞稿、我們最近的 SEC 文件以及 Spectrum Brands Holdings 最新的 10-K 表年度報告和 10-Q 表季度報告中概述的風險因素和警示聲明。我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。

Also, please note that we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures in this call. Reconciliations on a GAAP basis for these measures are included in today's press release and 8-K filing, which are both available on our website in the Investor Relations section.

另請注意，我們將在本次電話會議中討論某些非 GAAP 財務指標。今天的新聞稿和 8-K 文件中包含了根據 GAAP 基礎對這些指標的調節，您可在我們網站的「投資者關係」部分查閱。

Now, I'll turn the call over to David Maura. David?

現在，我將電話轉給 David Maura。戴維？

Thank you, Joanne. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to our first quarter earnings update, and I thank you all for joining us today. Today, I'm going to start the call with an update on our operating performance and our strategic initiatives. Jeremy will then provide you all with a more detailed financial and operational update, including a discussion on our specific business unit results.

謝謝你，喬安妮。大家早安。歡迎閱讀我們的第一季財報更新，感謝大家今天的參與。今天，我將在電話會議上介紹我們的營運績效和策略舉措的最新情況。然後，傑里米將為大家提供更詳細的財務和營運更新信息，包括對我們具體業務部門業績的討論。

During our last call, just to remind everybody, I talked about how fiscal '24 was a year where we delivered on our promises. We restored operating momentum to our business. We set standards of excellence, and we laid the foundation for a much more successful future. Fiscal '24 was a transformative year for us. We accelerated our investments into brand-focused top line driving initiatives. We upgraded our capabilities in commercial operations, innovation, marketing and advertising.

在我們上次電話會議中，只是為了提醒大家，我談到了 24 財年是我們兌現承諾的一年。我們恢復了業務的營運動能。我們制定了卓越的標準，為更成功的未來奠定了基礎。24財年對我們來說是轉型的一年。我們加快了以品牌為中心的營收驅動計畫的投資。我們提升了商業營運、創新、行銷和廣告方面的能力。

We've materially strengthened our working capital management, and we've maintained what we believe is the strongest balance sheet in our peer group while returning significant capital to our shareholders through share repurchases and increased dividends. We've worked to gain back and maintain our investors' trust. Today, I'm happy to report that our momentum is continuing into fiscal '25 and the work we've done to build operational excellence within our organization is paying off.

我們大大加強了營運資本管理，維持了我們認為同業中最強勁的資產負債表，同時透過股票回購和增加股息向股東返還了大量資本。我們一直努力贏取並維護投資者的信任。今天，我很高興地報告，我們的勢頭將持續到25財年，我們為在組織內打造卓越營運所做的工作正在獲得回報。

I can now have you guys turn to slide 6 and our financial performance. We're pleased with the start to the year, and we're pleased with our first quarter results. Net sales increased 1.2%. Excluding unfavorable FX, our organic net sales were up 1.9%. The investments we made in fiscal '24 to upgrade our commercial operations and accelerate our top line growth are paying off. You will recall from last quarter's call that our sales this quarter were going to be negatively impacted by approximately $10 million of global pet care sales that were accelerated or pulled forward into last quarter in advance of the go-live we did on our new S/4HANA update, which was completed on October 3, 2024.

現在我請大家翻到第 6 張投影片，看看我們的財務表現。我們對今年的開始感到滿意，我們對第一季的業績感到滿意。淨銷售額成長1.2%。除不利的外匯因素外，我們的有機淨銷售額成長了 1.9%。我們在 24 財年為升級商業營運和加速營收成長而進行的投資正在獲得回報。您會記得，在上個季度的電話會議上，我們本季度的銷售將受到約 1000 萬美元的全球寵物護理銷售額的負面影響，這些銷售額在我們新 S/4HANA 更新上線之前加速或提前到上個季度，更新於 2024 年 10 月 3 日完成。

Our Home and Garden business has had a terrific start to this year. And while this is the slowest quarter of the year for that division, the Home and Garden team saw an opportunity to capitalize on warm fall season in many regions of the US, and we partnered with our retail customers to create another demand micro season called the Fall Crawl. The holiday season generally came in as we expected for our Home and Personal Care business. Competitive pressures in the small kitchen appliance category remained high, but overall demand was generally stable and the consumer trend of increasing online purchases continued.

我們的家居和花園業務今年開局良好。雖然這是該部門一年中銷售最慢的季度，但家居和花園團隊看到了利用美國許多地區溫暖秋季的機會，我們與零售客戶合作創造了另一個需求微季，稱為「秋季爬行」。對於我們的家庭和個人護理業務來說，假期季節的進展總體上符合我們的預期。廚房小家電品類競爭壓力仍大，但整體需求整體穩定，線上購買消費趨勢延續。

Our investments in e-commerce helped drive another quarter of outsized e-commerce growth for our HPC business. Our adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter of $77.8 million delivered an increase of $16.5 million over last year or a 26.9% growth over last year's first quarter results if you exclude our investment income. Gross margins grew 140 basis points over the first quarter of fiscal '24. Our businesses were diligent in delivering cost improvements and operational efficiencies to offset headwinds from ocean freight and tariff-driven inflation from last year's expiration of tariff exemptions.

我們對電子商務的投資協助推動 HPC 業務又一個季度的電子商務超額成長。我們第一季的調整後 EBITDA 為 7,780 萬美元，較去年同期增加 1,650 萬美元，若不包括投資收益，則較去年第一季業績成長 26.9%。毛利率比24財年第一季成長了140個基點。我們的企業努力改善成本、提高營運效率，以抵銷海運帶來的阻力以及去年關稅豁免到期後關稅引發的通膨。

Staying lean is imperative to sustain the operating improvements we've achieved. Our teams approach each day with a lean mindset, continuously looking for opportunity to reduce and take out costs. We are focusing our spend toward top line-driven investments. In this quarter, we increased brand-focused investments by over $8 million compared to the same period last year. Our strong balance sheet continues to be one of the competitive advantages we enjoy, and we're leaning into that to drive our top line. We closed the quarter with net leverage under 1.1 turns. We're leveraging the balance sheet to support all facets of our operation and to spur growth.

保持精簡對於維持我們已經實現的營運改善至關重要。我們的團隊每天都以精實的思維方式，不斷尋找降低和削減成本的機會。我們的支出重點是營收驅動的投資。本季度，我們與去年同期相比增加了800多萬美元的品牌重點投資。強勁的資產負債表繼續是我們享有的競爭優勢之一，我們正依靠這一點來推動我們的營收成長。本季結束時，我們的淨槓桿率低於 1.1 倍。我們正在利用資產負債表來支持我們營運的各個方面並刺激成長。

If we can now turn to slide 7, and let's discuss the strategic priorities for the current fiscal year. We continue to invest in the brands to drive long-term growth, and that's really priority one. Last year, we began reinvigorating the focus on making smart ROI positive investments in advertising, marketing and R&D. This quarter, each of our businesses increased their investments compared to the first quarter of fiscal '24. We're seeing significant returns on investments made toward e-commerce leadership and capabilities, and we expect our spend this year will be more consistently spread throughout the year in terms of phasing. That will put pressure on comparables in the first half of this year.

現在我們可以翻到第 7 張投影片，讓我們討論一下本財政年度的策略重點。我們將繼續投資品牌以推動長期成長，這才是我們的首要任務。去年，我們開始重新關注在廣告、行銷和研發方面進行明智的投資報酬率正向投資。本季度，與 24 財年第一季相比，我們各業務都增加了投資。我們看到對電子商務領導和能力的投資獲得了豐厚的回報，我們預計今年的支出將分階段更一致地分佈在全年。這將給今年上半年的可比較業務帶來壓力。

We're strategically investing in inventory to support sales growth and particularly our e-commerce expansion. While we make these investments, we're looking across all facets of our working capital for opportunities to maintain our best-in-class working capital management capabilities, which we've recently put in place. We believe there are opportunities actually to deliver even more working capital improvements as we move forward during this fiscal year.

我們正在策略性地投資庫存，以支持銷售成長，特別是我們的電子商務擴張。在進行這些投資的同時，我們正在從各個方面尋找營運資本的機會，以維持我們最近實施的一流營運資本管理能力。我們相信，隨著本財政年度的推進，我們實際上有機會實現更多的營運資本改善。

Our investments in innovation are actually expanding our core categories, and we're driving sales into new adjacencies as we speak. In Global Pet Care, we are expanding our -- Good 'n' Fun brand into Good N tasty for Cat Treats and toppers, adding a brand alongside our Meowee brand in the growing cat treat category. We will launch health and wellness products under our -- Good Boy brand. And later this year, we will be entering the dog food category in North America with a complete nutrition product line. We are investing in our operations to improve our cost, quality and safety.

我們對創新的投資實際上正在擴大我們的核心產品類別，我們正在推動銷售向新的領域發展。在全球寵物護理領域，我們正在將我們的 Good 'n' Fun 品牌擴展為 Good N 美味貓零食和配料，在不斷增長的貓零食類別中，除了我們的 Meowee 品牌外，還增加了一個品牌。我們將以我們的“Good Boy”品牌推出健康和保健產品。今年晚些時候，我們將帶著完整的營養產品線進入北美的狗糧市場。我們正在投資我們的營運以改善成本、品質和安全性。

I'm very pleased with our operational teams. They are delivering productivity savings in our factories, our distribution centers and throughout our sourcing operations. Our operations and commercial teams are activating plans right now to minimize and mitigate the impact of the recently announced US tariffs. While we purchased very few goods from Canada or Mexico, our HPC business and GPC businesses both source material levels of product from China. Many of those products are already subject to tariffs ranging from the high single digits up to 25%. The incremental 10% tariff on Chinese sourced products will impact our cash flows almost immediately. But given our inventory turns, the effect on our P&L won't be seen until the third quarter.

我對我們的營運團隊非常滿意。它們幫助我們的工廠、配送中心以及整個採購流程節省了生產成本。我們的營運和商業團隊正在啟動計劃，以盡量減少和減輕最近宣布的美國關稅的影響。雖然我們從加拿大和墨西哥購買的商品很少，但我們的 HPC 業務和 GPC 業務都從中國採購材料級產品。許多產品已被徵收從個位數到 25% 不等的關稅。對中國產品加徵 10% 的關稅將幾乎立即影響我們的現金流。但考慮到我們的庫存週轉率，對我們的損益表的影響要到第三季才會顯現。

With all of that said, we do expect to mitigate the vast majority of any currently announced tariff impacts in the year. The business that will be most impacted by the recently announced tariffs is our HPC business. Nearly 40% of HPC's global purchases come into the United States, and nearly all of those are currently Chinese sourced.

綜上所述，我們確實預計今年將減輕目前宣布的絕大多數關稅影響。受最近宣布的關稅影響最大的業務是我們的 HPC 業務。HPC 全球採購中有近 40% 銷往美國，而目前幾乎所有採購均來自中國。

Last year, we began implementing a plan to move production for US-bound products out of China. Moving production for our appliances is not a quick process because we want to ensure we have very high-quality product. That's the top priority. However, we've recently accelerated these plans. And by the end of this fiscal year, we anticipate that approximately 35% to 40% of all our US-bound appliance product will be sourced outside of China. And we will continue to look at opportunities to accelerate and migrate our purchases out of China and in the meantime, intend to minimize the impact of incremental tariffs through both supplier concessions and pricing and cost improvements.

去年，我們開始實施將輸美產品生產轉移出中國的計畫。轉移我們電器的生產不是一個快速的過程，因為我們要確保我們擁有非常高品質的產品。這是最優先的事。然而，我們最近加快了這些計劃。到本財年末，我們預計所有銷往美國的家電產品中約有 35% 至 40% 將來自中國以外。我們將繼續尋找機會加速並將採購轉移出中國，同時打算透過供應商讓步以及定價和成本改進來盡量減少增量關稅的影響。

If we can turn to the strategic transaction for HPC, while we're still engaged with several potential buyers on the M&A side, clearly, the changing landscape for US tariffs has created some uncertainty, and that slowed down the dual track process we undertook last summer. We are pleased that the business continues to perform well, although the time frame for a separation has taken longer during -- due to these geopolitical factors that are simply outside of our control. We will continue to seek opportunities to maximize value with our HPC business, and we will provide updates on our earnings calls or sooner if there's news to share.

如果我們可以轉向 HPC 的戰略交易，同時我們仍在與併購方面的幾個潛在買家進行接觸，顯然，美國關稅形勢的變化帶來了一些不確定性，這減緩了我們去年夏天進行的雙軌進程。我們很高興看到業務繼續表現良好，儘管由於這些我們無法控制的地緣政治因素，分離的時間更長。我們將繼續尋求機會透過我們的 HPC 業務實現價值最大化，如果有新聞需要分享，我們將在收益電話會議上或更早的時候提供更新。

I can now direct everyone's attention to slide 8, and I'll give you a little bit of an update on capital structure and recent share repurchase activity, et cetera. During the first quarter, we repurchased approximately 800,000 shares. And in December, we put another $150 million 10b5-1 plan in place that allows us to continue buying shares during otherwise restricted periods.

現在我可以請大家注意第 8 張投影片，我將向大家介紹一些有關資本結構和最近的股票回購活動等方面的最新情況。第一季度，我們回購了約80萬股。12 月，我們又實施了另一個 1.5 億美元的 10b5-1 計劃，這使得我們能夠在其他限制期內繼續購買股票。

Year-to-date, through today's call, we have repurchased approximately 2.1 million shares for about $183 million in total. And quite frankly, since the close of the HHI transaction, we've returned over $1.2 billion to shareholders through our various share repurchase programs. We've really materially reduced our share count. In fact, we've driven our share count down by 36.6% to be exact. We're going to continue to reward our shareholders, and we've recently increased our dividend payout.

年初至今，透過今天的電話會議，我們已經回購了約 210 萬股，總計約 1.83 億美元。坦白說，自 HHI 交易結束以來，我們已透過各種股票回購計畫向股東返還了超過 12 億美元。我們確實大幅減少了股票數量。事實上，我們的股份數量準確地減少了 36.6%。我們將繼續回報我們的股東，而且我們最近增加了股息支付。

We have approximately $220 million right now remaining on the share repurchase authorization that we recently updated with our Board of Directors. In terms of balance sheet strength, our net leverage is still well below our long-term target, which is a range of 2.0 turns to 2.5 turns. And so we clearly have ample capacity to both fund the investments in our company and continue to return a material amount of capital to our shareholders. As we keep our internal momentum going and we keep delivering our commitments and we keep shrinking our share count, we do believe that eventually our share price will react positively.

我們最近與董事會更新了股票回購授權，目前剩餘約 2.2 億美元。從資產負債表實力來看，我們的淨槓桿率仍遠低於我們的長期目標（2.0倍至2.5倍的範圍）。因此，我們顯然有足夠的能力為公司投資提供資金並繼續向股東返還大量資本。隨著我們保持內部發展勢頭、不斷履行承諾並不斷減少股份數量，我們相信最終我們的股價將做出積極反應。

If we can now turn over to page 9. After a good first quarter start, we are currently reiterating our expectations for our full year sales, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. The investments in innovation and brand building that we've made since the start of fiscal '24 are helping us to grow our top line organically. We generally see healthy retail inventory levels in our categories. We had a very good holiday season for HPC, and we're off to a terrific start in our Home and Garden business, and we're introducing a lot of new innovation in our Global Pet Care Group.

現在我們可以翻到第 9 頁。在第一季取得良好開局之後，我們目前重申對全年銷售額、調整後 EBITDA 和自由現金流的預期。自 24 財年伊始，我們在創新和品牌建立方面所做的投資正在幫助我們實現營收的有機成長。我們通常看到我們所處類別的零售庫存水準健康。對於 HPC 來說，我們度過了一個非常好的假期，我們的家居和花園業務也有了很好的開端，我們在全球寵物護理集團推出了許多新的創新。

Now, before I turn the call over to Jeremy, I do want to take a minute to thank each and every one of our global employees who are continuing to help us drive momentum, and they are going to help us thrive in fiscal '25.

現在，在我將電話轉給傑里米之前，我想花一點時間感謝我們全球的每一位員工，他們繼續幫助我們推動發展勢頭，他們將幫助我們在 25 財年蓬勃發展。

Now, I'll turn the call to Jeremy, and he'll give you a lot more information on the financials and a lot of additional business unit color and insights. So over to you, Jeremy.

現在，我將電話轉給傑里米，他將為您提供更多有關財務的資訊以及大量額外的業務部門特徵和見解。那麼交給你了，傑瑞米。

Thanks, David. Good morning, everyone. Let's turn to slide 11 and a review of Q1 results from continuing operations. I'll start with net sales, which increased 1.2%. Excluding the impact of $5.1 million of unfavorable foreign exchange, organic net sales increased 1.9%, primarily due to an acceleration of inventory builds at certain retailers and an extended fall season in our Home and Garden business as well as continued growth in e-commerce within our Home and Personal Care business. This was partially offset by our previously communicated strategic pull forward of orders into Q4 of last year in GPC in preparation for the S/4HANA ERP implementation.

謝謝，大衛。大家早安。讓我們轉到第 11 張投影片，回顧一下持續經營的第一季業績。我先從淨銷售額開始，成長了 1.2%。排除 510 萬美元不利外匯的影響，有機淨銷售額增長 1.9%，主要原因是某些零售商的庫存積累加速、家居和花園業務秋季延長以及家居和個人護理業務電子商務的持續增長。這在一定程度上抵消了我們先前傳達的將 GPC 訂單策略提前到去年第四季以準備實施 S/4HANA ERP 的計劃。

Gross profit increased $12.9 million and gross margins of 36.8% increased 140 basis points, largely driven by impacts from cost improvement actions, operational efficiencies and favorable transaction FX, partially offset by ocean freight inflation and higher tariffs from the expiration of exemptions on certain product lines from last year. Operating expenses of $213.1 million decreased 3% due to the absence of a trade name impairment compared to last year and cost reduction actions, partially offset by increased investment spend in advertising and marketing as we continue to invest behind our brands.

毛利增加 1,290 萬美元，毛利率為 36.8%，增加了 140 個基點，這主要得益於成本改進措施、營運效率和有利的交易外匯的影響，部分抵消了海運運費上漲和去年某些產品線豁免到期導致的關稅上調。營業費用為 2.131 億美元，下降 3%，原因是與去年相比沒有商標減值和採取了成本削減措施，但由於我們繼續對品牌進行投資，在廣告和營銷方面的投資支出增加，部分抵消了這一下降。

Operating income of $44.7 million, improved by $19.7 million, driven by the gross margin improvement and lower operating expenses I mentioned. GAAP net income and diluted earnings per share both increased, primarily driven by the higher operating income, lower interest expense and lower share count, partially offset by lower investment income. Adjusted EBITDA was $77.8 million, a decrease of 7.7% or $6.5 million, driven by investment income of $23 million in the prior year and increased brand-focused investments, partially offset by higher volume and improved gross margins. Excluding prior year investment income, adjusted EBITDA was up $16.5 million.

營業收入為 4,470 萬美元，增加了 1,970 萬美元，這得益於我提到的毛利率提高和營業費用下降。GAAP 淨收入和每股稀釋收益均有所增加，主要由於營業收入增加、利息支出減少和股數減少，但投資收益減少部分抵消了這一影響。調整後 EBITDA 為 7,780 萬美元，下降 7.7% 或 650 萬美元，主要由於去年同期的投資收入為 2,300 萬美元以及品牌重點投資增加，但銷量增加和毛利率提高部分抵消了這一影響。除去上年投資收益，調整後的 EBITDA 上漲了 1,650 萬美元。

Adjusted diluted EPS increased by $0.39 to $1.02 per share, driven by lower interest expense and the reduction in shares outstanding, partially offset by lower adjusted EBITDA.

調整後攤薄每股收益增加 0.39 美元至每股 1.02 美元，主要由於利息支出下降和流通股減少，但被調整後 EBITDA 下降部分抵銷。

Turning to slide 12. Q1 interest expense from continuing operations of $6.2 million, decreased $13 million due to our lower outstanding debt balance. Cash taxes during the quarter of $8 million increased $4.6 million from the prior year. Depreciation and amortization of $24.5 million decreased $1 million from last year. And separately, share-based compensation increased $800,000 to $4.7 million from $3.9 million in the prior year. Capital expenditures were $5.9 million in Q1, $2.5 million lower than last year. Cash payments towards strategic transactions, restructuring-related projects and other unusual nonrecurring adjustments were $8.8 million versus $16.3 million last year.

翻到第 12 張投影片。第一季持續經營業務的利息支出為 620 萬美元，由於未償還債務餘額減少而減少了 1,300 萬美元。本季的現金稅為 800 萬美元，比前一年增加了 460 萬美元。折舊和攤提為 2,450 萬美元，比去年同期減少了 100 萬美元。另外，股權激勵費用從前一年的 390 萬美元增加了 80 萬美元，達到 470 萬美元。第一季的資本支出為 590 萬美元，比去年減少 250 萬美元。用於策略交易、重組相關項目和其他不尋常的非經常性調整的現金支付為 880 萬美元，而去年同期為 1,630 萬美元。

Moving to the balance sheet. We had a quarter end cash balance of approximately $180 million and about $491 million available on our $500 million cash flow revolver. Total debt outstanding was approximately $575 million, consisting of $496 million of senior unsecured notes and $79 million of finance leases. We ended the quarter with just over $395 million of net debt.

轉到資產負債表。我們本季末的現金餘額約為 1.8 億美元，而 5 億美元的現金流循環信貸中可用資金約為 4.91 億美元。未償還債務總額約為 5.75 億美元，其中包括 4.96 億美元的無擔保優先票據和 7,900 萬美元的融資租賃。截至本季末，我們的淨債務剛超過 3.95 億美元。

Now, let's get into the review of each business unit to provide details on the underlying performance drivers of our operational results. We will start with Global Pet Care, which is on slide 13. Reported net sales decreased 6.1% and excluding favorable foreign currency impacts, organic sales decreased 6.4%. Sales declined in both the companion animal and aquatics categories, primarily driven by last quarter's pull forward of approximately $10 million of sales prior to GPC North America's October 3 go-live on our new ERP system. The implementation went well, and we are pleased to say our operations are running smoothly.

現在，讓我們回顧一下每個業務部門，以提供有關我們營運結果的根本績效驅動因素的詳細資訊。我們將從幻燈片 13 上的“全球寵物護理”開始。報告淨銷售額下降 6.1%，除去有利的外匯影響，有機銷售額下降 6.4%。伴侶動物和水產類別的銷售額均有所下降，主要原因是上個季度在 GPC North America 10 月 3 日啟用新 ERP 系統之前，銷售額提前了約 1000 萬美元。實施進展順利，我們很高興地說我們的營運運作順利。

As anticipated, this put pressure on our first quarter sales. To add some perspective on the impact this had on our quarterly results, if we look at the four-month period from September through December of 2024, which would eliminate most timing differences resulting from the pull forward, GPC's reported net sales grew 1.8%. GPC EMEA, which was not impacted by the S/4HANA go-live, grew sales in the mid-single digits. We are seeing solid sales growth for our Good Boy brand as we expand distribution throughout Continental Europe and introduce new products that are being well received by consumers. The chews and treats business also had several successful holiday campaigns in EMEA.

正如預期的那樣，這給我們第一季的銷售帶來了壓力。為了進一步了解這對我們季度業績的影響，如果我們看一下從 2024 年 9 月到 12 月的四個月時間，這將消除由於提前而導致的大部分時間差異，GPC 報告的淨銷售額增長了 1.8%。GPC EMEA 並未受到 S/4HANA 上線的影響，其銷售額實現了中等個位數的成長。隨著我們擴大整個歐洲大陸的分銷範圍並推出深受消費者歡迎的新產品，我們的 Good Boy 品牌的銷售正在穩步增長。咀嚼和零食業務也在歐洲、中東和非洲地區開展了幾次成功的假期活動。

Dog and cat food e-commerce sales had a strong growth quarter as well. Sales in North America declined low double digits, impacted primarily by the sales pull forward into the fourth quarter. North America's companion animal sales were also adversely impacted by consumer trade downs. Many of our North American brands like Good & Fun, Nature's Miracle and Furminator are premium brands, and we see consumers looking for lower cost options, including choosing smaller pack sizes and/or private label.

狗糧和貓糧電子商務銷售額本季也呈現強勁成長。北美銷售額出現兩位數低點下滑，主要受到第四季銷售額提前的影響。北美的伴侶動物銷售也受到消費者消費下降的不利影響。我們的許多北美品牌，例如 Good & Fun、Nature's Miracle 和 Furminator 都是高端品牌，我們發現消費者正在尋找更低成本的選擇，包括選擇較小的包裝尺寸和/或自有品牌。

To combat this pressure and continue to build our brands, we are investing in value-focused innovation, brand building and promotional programming to strategically differentiate our products and win with consumers. Soft consumer demand in aquatics continued to impact our sales this quarter. The aquatics category has been especially impacted by low foot traffic in pet specialty. E-commerce sales were in the mid-20% of GPC's global sales and were relatively flat to last year.

為了應對這種壓力並繼續打造​​我們的品牌，我們正在投資以價值為中心的創新、品牌建設和促銷計劃，以策略性地實現我們產品的差異化並贏得消費者的青睞。水上運動產品的消費需求疲軟持續影響我們本季的銷售。寵物專賣店客流量低對水上運動類商品的影響尤其嚴重。電子商務銷售額佔 GPC 全球銷售額的 20% 左右，與去年基本持平。

One of our large e-commerce customers experienced capacity issues at its fulfillment centers attributable in part to high levels of inventory on hand during the holiday season, which impacted their repurchase levels in the quarter. We did see strong POS for our products at this retailer and expect those capacity challenges to stabilize in the second half of the year.

我們的一個大型電子商務客戶的配送中心遇到了容量問題，部分原因是節日期間庫存量高，這影響了他們本季的回購水準。我們確實看到我們的產品在這家零售商的 POS 表現強勁，並預計這些產能挑戰將在今年下半年穩定下來。

Our strategic investments in GPC brand-focused innovation, marketing and advertising continue to fuel a robust pipeline and position us well for future top line growth. In North America, our recently launched Good & Fun national ad campaign is running during both live sports and on network TV, driving significant brand awareness and expanding our distribution channels. We plan to further expand the campaign in the near term, such as through our partnership with Good Morning America on a live custom segment with an in-studio dog competition where these good and fun pups will compete in a low [6 obstacle] course with the winner taking home a year's worth of good and fun dog treats.

我們對 GPC 品牌創新、行銷和廣告的策略投資將繼續為我們強勁的銷售管道提供動力，並為我們未來的營收成長奠定良好基礎。在北美，我們最近推出的Good＆Fun全國廣告活動在體育直播和網路電視上播出，大大提高了品牌知名度並拓展了我們的分銷管道。我們計劃在短期內進一步擴大活動，例如透過與《早安美國》合作，在直播環節中安排一場室內狗狗比賽，這些乖巧有趣的小狗將在低 [6 個障礙] 賽道上競爭，獲勝者將帶回家價值一年的好吃又有趣的狗糧。

We are also launching DreamBone collagen and high-protein dog treats this spring. These products cater to the growing demand for nutritious health-focused products, and we already have listings at one of our largest retail customers. We are also excited to launch nutritional dog food in North America later this year. In Aquatics, we secured a new Aquarium kit program with a major retailer that will begin shipping later this fiscal year. These all-in-one Aquarium options target consumers new to the hobby, helping drive household penetration and long-term category engagement. We will manufacture the tanks and assemble the kits at our Noblesville, Indiana facility.

今年春天，我們也將推出 DreamBone 膠原蛋白和高蛋白狗糧。這些產品滿足了人們對營養健康產品日益增長的需求，而且我們已經在最大的零售客戶之一上架了這些產品。我們也很高興今年稍後在北美推出營養狗糧。在水上運動方面，我們與一家大型零售商達成了一項新的水族箱套件計劃，該計劃將於本財年晚些時候開始發貨。這些一體化水族館選項主要針對剛接觸此愛好的消費者，有助於推動家庭滲透和長期品類參與。我們將在印第安納州諾布爾斯維爾的工廠生產坦克並組裝套件。

Adjusted EBITDA for GPC decreased by $1.2 million to $51.5 million, primarily driven by lower sales volume and inflationary pressures in ocean freight, offset by operational productivity improvements and other favorable variances. GPC also increased its brand-building investments this quarter, continuing to invest behind strategies to drive sales growth for the business. For fiscal '25, we expect GPC sales will be relatively flat to last year. With approximately one-third of GPC's business in Europe, we expect FX headwinds to negatively impact our reported net sales growth levels.

GPC 的調整後 EBITDA 減少了 120 萬美元，至 5,150 萬美元，這主要由於銷售量下降和海運通膨壓力所致，但營運生產力的提高和其他有利因素抵消了這一影響。GPC 本季也增加了品牌建設投資，繼續投資於推動業務銷售成長的策略。對於 25 財年，我們預計 GPC 銷售額將與去年持平。由於 GPC 約三分之一的業務在歐洲，我們預期外匯不利因素將對我們報告的淨銷售成長水準產生負面影響。

We expect cautious consumer behavior. And given the premium placement of many of our brands, we anticipate continued pressure in North America from consumer trade downs. We remain cautious about aquatics, where demand continues to be soft and has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.

我們期望消費者行為保持謹慎。鑑於我們許多品牌的高端定位，我們預期北美消費者的消費升級將持續帶來壓力。我們對水上產品仍持謹慎態度，因為水上產品的需求持續疲軟，尚未恢復到疫情前的水準。

Moving now to Home and Garden, which is on slide 14. Net sales increased 27.9% in the first quarter, driven primarily by the timing of seasonal inventory build by certain retailers. The first quarter is typically H&G's slowest sales quarter and represents a small portion of the annual consumer activity for this business. The quarter is predominantly focused on preparation and staging for the seasonal business, which typically begins later in our second quarter.

現在轉到第 14 張投影片上的「家居和花園」。第一季淨銷售額成長了 27.9%，主要原因是某些零售商及時建立季節性庫存。第一季通常是 H&G 銷售最慢的季度，僅佔該業務年度消費者活動的一小部分。本季主要集中於季節性業務的準備和準備階段，該業務通常在第二季後期開始。

Order trends support our view that retailers are starting the season with normalized inventory levels. Sales increased in all categories other than cleaning. Sales in controls and repellant increased most substantially with strong demand also aiding growth in household pet sales. A relatively warm fall season also extended demand further into the fall. At the end of January, the H&G business successfully went live on our S/4HANA ERP. While the impact of that go-live on quarterly sales was less pronounced than it was with the GPC North American go-live, about $4 million to $5 million of the quarterly sales favorability was attributable to retailers cautiously building inventory to ensure supply during the go-live.

訂單趨勢支持我們的觀點，即零售商正以正常化的庫存水準開始新季節。除清潔產品外，所有類別的銷售額均有所增加。控制和驅蟲劑的銷售成長最為顯著，強勁的需求也推動了家養寵物銷售的成長。相對溫暖的秋季也使需求延續到秋季。一月底，H＆G業務在我們的S/4HANA ERP上成功上線。儘管此次上線對季度銷售的影響不如 GPC 北美上線那麼明顯，但約有 400 萬至 500 萬美元的季度銷售增長可歸因於零售商謹慎建立庫存以確保上線期間的供應。

In cleaning, quarterly sales comparisons are being affected by the loss of some distribution last year, but sales trends for Rejuvenate's floor care products are gradually improving, led by the Click & Clean mop kit. Our H&G commercial teams partnered with retailers this fall behind a new Fall crawl campaign to drive demand during the extended fall season. We supported the campaign with brand-focused media investments and drove share growth for both the Spectracide and Hot Shot brands this quarter.

在清潔產品方面，由於去年部分分銷管道的損失，季度銷售額對比受到了影響，但 Rejuvenate 地板護理產品的銷售趨勢正在逐步改善，其中 Click & Clean 拖把套裝佔據主導地位。今年秋天，我們的 H&G 商業團隊與零售商合作，開展新的秋季爬行活動，以在延長的秋季期間推動需求。我們透過以品牌為中心的媒體投資支持該活動，並推動本季 Spectracide 和 Hot Shot 品牌的份額成長。

Based on the success of the campaign, we anticipate increasing our Fall crawl investments this coming fall. We are excited about our new products that are being introduced this season, including the Spectracide Wasp and Hornet trap and the Hot Shot flying insect trap, which are already gaining traction with retailers. This will be the second season for our Spectracide One Shot product line, our longest-lasting Spectracide product. Spectracide One Shot had a strong first year and resonated with results-focused consumers looking for increased efficacy at a superior value.

基於此次活動的成功，我們預計今年秋季將增加秋季爬行投資。我們對本季推出的新產品感到非常興奮，包括 Spectracide 黃蜂和大黃蜂陷阱以及 Hot Shot 飛蟲陷阱，這些產品已經受到零售商的青睞。這將是我們的 Spectracide One Shot 產品系列的第二季，也是我們持續最久的 Spectracide 產品。Spectracide One Shot 第一年表現強勁，並獲得了注重效果、尋求更高功效和更高價值的消費者的共鳴。

We will have incremental Spectracide One Shot displays in retailers this season and will support growth for the product line and the Spectracide brand with brand-focused investments. Adjusted EBITDA was $9.3 million compared to a loss of $700,000 last year. The increase in adjusted EBITDA was primarily volume driven, aided by cost improvements and favorable trade variances, offset by an increase in brand-building investments and some inflation. For fiscal '25, we expect low single-digit sales growth for H&G. We are planning for weather in 2025 that is generally similar to the 2024 season. We anticipate that our retail partners will be supportive of the lawn and garden category in their stores with the allocation of off-shelf space.

本季度，我們將在零售店逐步增加 Spectracide One Shot 的展示，並將透過以品牌為中心的投資支持該產品線和 Spectracide 品牌的成長。調整後 EBITDA 為 930 萬美元，而去年的虧損為 70 萬美元。調整後 EBITDA 的成長主要由銷售量推動，並得益於成本改善和有利的貿易差異，但被品牌建設投資的增加和一些通貨膨脹所抵消。對於25財年，我們預期H＆G的銷售額將實現低個位數成長。我們預測 2025 年的天氣與 2024 年的天氣大致相似。我們預計，我們的零售合作夥伴將透過分配非貨架空間來支持其商店中的草坪和花園類別。

Certain retailers continue to expect a cooler start to the season, which could impact the timing of orders and reorder patterns. We do expect the category to be competitive, and we will continue supporting our innovation and brands through brand-focused investments throughout the year.

某些零售商繼續預計本季開始時氣溫會較低，這可能會影響訂單時間和重新訂購模式。我們確實希望該類別具有競爭力，並且我們將全年繼續透過以品牌為中心的投資來支持我們的創新和品牌。

And finally, Home and Personal Care, which is on slide 15. Reported net sales increased 1.4% and excluding unfavorable foreign exchange, organic net sales increased 3.1%. High single-digit organic sales growth in Global Personal Care was offset by low single-digit declines in global home appliances. Continuing recent quarterly trends, HPC's e-commerce sales growth significantly outpaced brick-and-mortar sales. This quarter, e-commerce sales accounted for over 30% of HPC's quarterly global sales.

最後是家庭和個人護理，位於幻燈片 15。報告淨銷售額成長 1.4%，排除不利的外匯影響，有機淨銷售額成長 3.1%。全球個人護理業務的高個位數有機銷售額成長被全球家用電器的低個位數下滑所抵消。延續最近季度的趨勢，HPC 的電子商務銷售成長明顯超過實體店銷售。本季度，電子商務銷售額佔 HPC 季度全球銷售額的 30% 以上。

We were overall pleased with the holiday season. We generally saw stable consumer demand with highly competitive retail markets. North American sales decreased low single digits with growth in Personal Care offset by sales declines in home appliances. Within Personal Care, hair care and grooming sales grew while home appliances saw competitive pressures in toaster ovens and air fryers this holiday season.

整體來說，我們對這個假期感到很滿意。整體來看，消費需求穩定，零售市場競爭激烈。北美銷售額出現低個位數下降，其中個人護理業務的成長被家用電器銷售額的下滑所抵消。在個人護理領域，護髮和美容產品的銷售量有所增長，而家用電器在假期季節面臨烤箱和氣炸鍋的競爭壓力。

Sales in EMEA grew high single digits in both personal care and home appliances. EMEA also saw strong e-commerce growth, particularly in hair care, beverage and garment care as well as new listings at a number of traditional retailers across the region. Latin America posted organic single-digit sales growth, led by growth in personal care, where we gained new distribution from successful new product launches, offset by low single-digit declines in home appliances. We had a great season online. Consumers are increasingly going online for HPC's categories, and we are investing behind that global trend to drive top line sales.

歐洲、中東和非洲地區個人護理和家用電器的銷售額均實現了高個位數成長。歐洲、中東和非洲地區的電子商務也呈現強勁成長，尤其是護髮、飲料和服裝護理領域，該地區許多傳統零售商都推出了新品。拉丁美洲實現了有機個位數銷售額成長，其中，個人護理業務的成長最為顯著，我們透過成功推出新產品獲得了新的分銷管道，但家用電器業務的個位數低幅下滑抵消了這一增長。我們在網路上度過了一個美好的賽季。越來越多的消費者開始在網路上購買 HPC 產品，我們也投資順應這一全球趨勢，以推動營收成長。

One standout product for us was the Emerald French Door air fryer toaster oven, where we saw especially strong online sales. The Russell Hobbs garment steamer is gaining momentum throughout the UK and Continental Europe. And our Remington Balder continues to get new listings and gain share, both online and in traditional retail, gaining traction and driving awareness of the Remington brand with consumers.

對我們來說，一款出色的產品是 Emerald French Door 氣炸鍋烤箱，其網路銷售量尤其強勁。Russell Hobbs 蒸氣掛燙機在英國和歐洲大陸越來越受歡迎。我們的雷明頓 Balder 在線上和傳統零售領域繼續獲得新上市並獲得份額，從而獲得了關注並提高了消費者對雷明頓品牌的認知度。

We plan to introduce new Remington lines in multiple North American retailers and internationally during fiscal '25, building off the successful Remington ONE launch a year ago. We will continue to activate brand-focused investments to drive top line sales of our current product portfolio and our new product launches throughout fiscal '25. Adjusted EBITDA was $26.7 million in the quarter, flat to last year. The adjusted EBITDA margin of 7.7% was also relatively flat to last year.

我們計劃在 25 財年在北美多家零售商和國際市場上推出新的雷明頓產品線，以延續一年前雷明頓 ONE 的成功上市。我們將繼續啟動以品牌為中心的投資，以推動我們現有產品組合的營收以及整個25財年的新產品發布。本季調整後 EBITDA 為 2,670 萬美元，與去年持平。調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 7.7%，與去年相比持平。

Adjusted EBITDA benefited from higher sales volumes, continued cost improvement initiatives, favorable cost variances to last year and favorable FX, offset by inflation in ocean freight, higher tariffs and increased brand-focused investments.

調整後的 EBITDA 受益於銷售量的增加、持續的成本改進措施、與去年相比有利的成本差異以及有利的外匯，但被海運費上漲、關稅上漲和品牌投資增加所抵消。

Looking forward, we expect HPC sales to grow low single digits in fiscal '25. As our most global business, we anticipate significant FX headwinds will negatively impact our reported sales growth levels. We see stabilizing consumer demand trends with pockets of softness in certain small kitchen product categories, and we expect a continued challenging competitive environment in North America. We believe most retailers ended the holiday season with relatively healthy inventory levels and expect HPC's growth in e-commerce to outpace growth in brick-and-mortar channels throughout the year.

展望未來，我們預計 25 財年 HPC 銷售額將達到個位數低成長。作為我們最全球化的業務，我們預期巨大的外匯不利因素將對我們報告的銷售成長水準產生負面影響。我們看到消費者需求趨勢趨於穩定，某些小型廚房產品類別出現疲軟跡象，我們預期北美的競爭環境將持續充滿挑戰。我們相信，大多數零售商在假期季節結束時都擁有相對健康的庫存水平，並預計 HPC 在電子商務中的成長將在全年超過實體通路的成長。

Turning now to slide 16 and our expectations for 2025. Consistent with our prior earnings framework, we expect fiscal '25 net sales to grow low single digits, driven by our brand-building investment strategy fueling top line growth, offsetting pressures from current geopolitical and economic conditions, including FX headwinds. We continue to expect adjusted EBITDA to grow mid- to high single digits, driven primarily by higher sales volumes and cost improvement actions, offset by ocean freight inflation and the expiration of certain tariff exclusions on certain product lines within our Home and Personal Care business.

現在翻到第 16 張投影片，了解我們對 2025 年的期望。與我們先前的獲利架構一致，我們預期25財年的淨銷售額將成長低個位數，這得益於我們的品牌建設投資策略推動營收成長，抵銷了當前地緣政治和經濟狀況（包括外匯逆風）帶來的壓力。我們繼續預期調整後的 EBITDA 將實現中高個位數成長，這主要得益於銷售量增加和成本改善措施，同時抵消了海運運費上漲和家庭與個人護理業務中某些產品線的某些關稅豁免到期的影響。

As David mentioned, we currently expect to mitigate the vast majority of recently announced tariffs in the fiscal year. Our earnings framework does not contemplate any additional tariffs beyond those recently announced.

正如戴維所提到的，我們目前預計本財年將減輕最近宣布的絕大多數關稅。我們的收益框架不考慮除最近宣布的關稅之外的任何額外關稅。

Turning to slide 17. Depreciation and amortization is expected to be between $115 million and $125 million, including stock-based compensation of approximately $20 million to $25 million. Cash payments towards restructuring, optimization and strategic transaction costs are expected to be between $30 million and $40 million. Capital expenditures are expected to be between $50 million and $60 million, and cash taxes are expected to be $40 million to $45 million.

翻到第 17 張投影片。折舊和攤銷預計在 1.15 億美元至 1.25 億美元之間，其中包括約 2,000 萬美元至 2,500 萬美元的股票薪酬。重組、優化和策略交易成本的現金支付預計在 3,000 萬至 4,000 萬美元之間。資本支出預計在 5,000 萬至 6,000 萬美元之間，現金稅預計在 4,000 萬至 4,500 萬美元之間。

To end my section, I want to echo David and thank all of our global employees for their hard work so far this year. Now, back to David.

最後，我想重複戴維的觀點，並感謝我們全球所有員工今年以來的辛勤工作。現在，回到大衛。

Thank you very much, Jeremy, and thanks, everyone, for joining us on the call today. Let's just take a few minutes and recap the key takeaways. You'll find those on your slide 19. But there's no question about it. We're clearly operating in a dynamic environment today. The developing tariff landscape will certainly have an impact on us and our competitive set. But while in the meantime, we're implementing contingency plans, we're moving production out of China. We're redesigning supply chains. We're also working with our suppliers and retailers to cover the recently enacted tariffs.

非常感謝傑瑞米，也感謝大家今天參加我們的電話會議。讓我們花幾分鐘來回顧一下要點。您會在第 19 張投影片上找到它們。但這是毫無疑問的。顯然，我們今天正處於一個動態的環境。不斷發展的關稅格局肯定會對我們和我們的競爭力產生影響。但同時，我們正在實施應急計劃，將生產轉移出中國。我們正在重新設計供應鏈。我們也正在與供應商和零售商合作以應對最近實施的關稅。

We expect consumers to be cautious as they digest the new international trade environment and the eventual implication on prices and inflation. We also expect FX headwinds to impact reported sales numbers. However, we remain focused on what we can control. We're investing in innovation and top line driving initiatives. We are expanding the reach of our brands to adjacencies, and we're letting cautious consumers know about the value of our products. We're staying lean and focusing our spend toward growth.

我們預期消費者在消化新的國際貿易環境及其對物價和通膨的最終影響時會保持謹慎。我們也預期外匯不利因素將影響報告的銷售數據。然而，我們仍然專注於我們能夠控制的事情。我們正在投資創新和頂線驅動計劃。我們正在擴大我們品牌的影響力，並讓謹慎的消費者了解我們產品的價值。我們保持精簡並將支出重點放在成長上。

We're very pleased with the start of the year. The brand-focused investments we started to make in 2024 and are continuing to make in '25 are driving innovation in our products and consumer demand at shelf and online. Our investments in e-commerce from leadership to strategy to content to fulfillment are helping us win in what is the fastest-growing channel for most of our product portfolio. HPC delivered another solid holiday season, and our investment in e-commerce was one of the reasons we keep winning there.

我們對今年的開始感到非常高興。我們從 2024 年開始進行並在 2025 年繼續進行的以品牌為中心的投資正在推動我們產品的創新以及貨架和線上消費者的需求。我們在電子商務方面的投資，從領導力到策略、從內容到實現，幫助我們在大多數產品組合成長最快的管道中取得成功。HPC 又度過了一個業績豐厚的假期季，我們在電子商務方面的投資也是我們在這個領域保持成功的原因之一。

Home and Garden had a fantastic quarter. While a portion of their sales increase is due to timing because of accelerated purchases prior to the business' go-live on S/4HANA, we're looking forward to a good season in Home and Garden. Based on our discussions with our retail partners, we expect retailers to be supportive of the lawn and garden category this season to help drive foot traffic into their stores. While we can't control the weather, we're ready for another season of growth.

家居和花園業務本季表現十分出色。雖然他們的銷售額成長有一部分是由於在 S/4HANA 上線之前加速採購所致，但我們仍然期待家居和花園行業迎來一個好季節。根據我們與零售合作夥伴的討論，我們希望零售商本季支持草坪和花園類別，以幫助吸引客流量進入他們的商店。雖然我們無法控制天氣，但我們已經為新一季的生長做好了準備。

For Global Pet Care, when we are even out the quarterly impact of sales acceleration to last quarter, sales also grew. Our S/4HANA go-lives have been successful, and we now have Global Pet Care North America and our Home and Garden businesses on the new platform. And we're focusing now on expanding that ERP system further internationally as the year progresses.

對於全球寵物照護而言，當我們將銷售加速的季度影響降至上個季度時，銷售額也有所增長。我們的 S/4HANA 上線已取得成功，目前我們在新平台上擁有全球寵物護理北美業務以及家居和花園業務。隨著時間的推移，我們現在致力於進一步在國際上擴展此 ERP 系統。

Overall, we have a ton to be proud of, and I'm excited about our continued momentum. While the world is currently in a volatile state, I'm very pleased with our operating performance. Our inventory levels are healthy, and we are maintaining best-in-class service levels to our customers. We are thrilled to have the lowest levered balance sheet in our space, allowing us to invest in our operating units and return significant capital back to our shareholders.

總的來說，我們有很多值得驕傲的事情，我對我們的持續發展勢頭感到興奮。雖然目前世界處於動盪之中，但我對我們的經營業績感到非常滿意。我們的庫存水準健康，並且我們為客戶提供一流的服務水準。我們很高興擁有業內最低的槓桿資產負債表，這使我們能夠投資於我們的營運部門並向我們的股東返還大量資本。

We continue to believe that our share price is significantly undervalued as evidenced by recent M&A multiples in the pet space, and we are highly optimistic that by continuing to improve our operating performance, we will ultimately succeed in a better multiple.

我們仍然認為，我們的股價被嚴重低估，寵物領域最近的併購倍數就是明證，我們非常樂觀地認為，透過繼續改善我們的經營業績，我們最終將取得更好的倍數成功。

Right now, I'll turn the call back over to Joanne, and we're happy to take your questions.

現在，我將把電話轉回給喬安妮，我們很樂意回答您的問題。

Thank you, David. Operator, we can go to the question queue now.

謝謝你，大衛。接線員，我們現在可以進入提問隊列。

(Operator Instructions) Brian McNamara, Canaccord Genuity.

(操作員指示) Brian McNamara，Canaccord Genuity。

Understanding you sell very different product lines, a large garden competitor sounded pretty optimistic heading into the spring last week. Another competitor last night was what we'll call it, cautiously optimistic. Obviously, not asking you to predict the weather. It sounds like you're planning on the same weather as last year, which is probably a good way to be given the last few years. But are earlier load-ins and overall retailer behavior suggesting they're a bit more committed to the category than they've been in some time?

據我了解，你們銷售的產品線非常不同，一家大型花園競爭對手上週對春季的到來表示相當樂觀。昨晚的另一位競爭對手是我們所說的謹慎樂觀的。顯然，我並不是要求你預測天氣。聽起來你計劃的天氣和去年一樣，考慮到過去幾年的情況，這可能是個好方法。但更早的入庫和整體零售商行為是否表明他們對該類別的投入比以前更加強烈了？

I would say it feels to me that retailers in general are the same level of commitment as they were last year to the category. I do see some incremental off-shelf seasonal space coming to our categories. is really a couple of years ago, I think where retailers tended to step away and move to some adjacent categories for the spring season. So I do think back to the consumables and controls, there's a big focus there.

我想說，我感覺零售商總體上對該類別的投入程度與去年相同。我確實看到一些增量的非貨架季節性空間進入了我們的類別。我認為幾年前零售商就傾向於在春季銷售季退出並轉向一些相鄰的類別。所以我確實回想起了消耗品和控制裝置，那裡是一個重點。

I think retailers load at different times each year. So we were pleased to see that. It helps the factory level load and helped us get ahead of some of the go-live activity that we had at the end of January for that business. But overall, we're in a good place.

我認為零售商每年的裝載時間不同。所以我們很高興看到這一點。它有助於降低工廠的負荷，並幫助我們提前完成 1 月底該業務的一些上線活動。但總體而言，我們的情況良好。

I do think that, that activity is really a pull forward of loading from Q2 to Q1. So I would expect, frankly, it would come out relatively the dollar in Q2, but at the same time, we'll see how the spring season progresses. Inventory looks really good across the brick-and-mortar retail space for our categories, and we're excited about the season. I think we're taking a prudent approach to what we're saying we're expecting for the year. And if we have a better weather season than that, there's a potential for it to move up.

我確實認為，這項活動實際上是將負荷從 Q2 提前到 Q1。因此，坦白說，我預計第二季的美元匯率會相對較高，但同時，我們將關注春季的進展。在整個實體零售店中，我們各個類別的庫存看起來都非常好，我們對這個季節感到非常興奮。我認為我們對今年的預期採取了審慎的態度。如果我們迎來更好的天氣，那麼價格就有可能上漲。

Go ahead, David.

繼續吧，大衛。

No. I just want to really call out the team there. I mean Home and Garden for us has been a remarkable turnaround. I think the whole industry, you kind of had the COVID situation and then you had kind of the overhang of tons of inventory. But I think we're doing a little bit better than competition. I mean I really want to thank the team there led by Javier. We're just much sharper on innovation. We're much sharper on the efficacy of the product. We're sharper on marketing. I mean, look, we just had nearly a record quarter, right? We -- $9 million in EBITDA for Q1 is phenomenal.

不。我只是想真正地呼喚那裡的團隊。我的意思是，家居和花園對我們來說已經發生了顯著的轉變。我認為整個產業都面臨著新冠疫情的影響，並且出現了大量的庫存積壓。但我認為我們的表現比競爭對手好一點。我的意思是我真的要感謝哈維爾領導的團隊。我們只是在創新方面更加敏銳。我們對產品的功效更加清楚。我們在行銷方面更加敏銳。我的意思是，你看，我們剛剛度過了一個創紀錄的季度，對吧？我們——第一季的 EBITDA 達到 900 萬美元，這是驚人的。

And so look, I do think retailers are committed to the category. And as I said in my opening remarks, -- they really love the efficacy and the value that we play at. It drives a lot of foot traffic. So look, I think we are being prudent, but let's hope for some good weather. It should be a good year for Home and Garden. We're excited about it.

所以，我確實認為零售商致力於這一類別。正如我在開場白中所說的那樣，他們真的很喜歡我們所發揮的功效和價值。它吸引了大量的客流量。所以，我認為我們是謹慎的，但讓我們期待好天氣。對於家居和花園產業來說，這應該是豐收的一年。我們對此感到很興奮。

Yes. And while I have the opportunity, I also just say thanks to that Home and Garden team, our supply chain teams, our finance teams. It's -- we're super excited to go live on us for the end of January, four months after we did GBP North America. It's a $600 million business that went live with no hiccups we're operating. So just a big shout out to our internal teams.

是的。趁著這個機會，我還要感謝家居和花園團隊、供應鏈團隊和財務團隊。我們非常高興能夠在 1 月底上線，距離我們推出 GBP 北美版已經過了四個月。這是一項價值 6 億美元的業務，我們的營運一切順利。因此，我們要向我們的內部團隊大聲呼喊。

On HPC, while I understand it's not a core asset. Could this kind of delay be almost like a blessing in disguise? Does it make sense to maybe hold on to the asset a little while longer while you nurse it back to health. With a large player winning with innovation in the space, there's a reasonable school of thought that with innovation returning to the category overall, the higher-quality business businesses might set higher multiples, particularly after we get some certainty on the policy front.

關於 HPC，據我所知它不是核心資產。這樣的延遲會不會是因禍得福呢？在您將資產恢復至健康狀態期間，再持有一段時間是否有意義？隨著大型企業憑藉創新在該領域獲勝，有一個合理的想法認為，隨著創新回歸整體類別，更高品質的業務可能會設定更高的倍數，特別是在我們在政策方面獲得一些確定性之後。

Yes. Listen, there's no question. I mean, last summer, we went and felt things out, and we were overwhelmed with the response we had, to be honest. And so we got super confident we would find a complementary partner, merger synergy, global scale type play that would create a lot of value for stakeholders. There's no question that change in administration, tariffs that makes things harder to value, it creates volatility. And so that's -- it just slowed things down.

是的。聽著，毫無疑問。我的意思是，去年夏天，我們去感受了一下情況，老實說，我們對所得到的回應感到不知所措。因此，我們非常有信心找到一個互補的合作夥伴、合併綜效和全球規模的合作，為利害關係人創造巨大的價值。毫無疑問，政府的變動和關稅使得商品估值變得更加困難，並造成了波動。所以這就是——它只是讓事情慢了下來。

But I think if you zoom out, again, to just thank the team there and Tim Wright, they've done a yeoman's job turning this business around. I mean it's less than two years ago, it was a $40 million EBITDA business. We returned it to $70 million plus. Our goal is to get that back to $80 million and then $100 million.

但我認為，如果你再次放大目光，只是感謝那裡的團隊和蒂姆賴特，他們為扭轉這項業務做出了巨大的貢獻。我的意思是，不到兩年前，它的 EBITDA 還是 4000 萬美元的業務。我們將其返還至7000多萬美元。我們的目標是將其恢復至 8,000 萬美元，然後是 1 億美元。

And so yes, we've got some short-term headwinds right now with FX and tariffs that are unwelcome. But we face into these things, we manage them, and we'll mitigate them. And I agree with what you're saying. There's no question that we can draft off some of this innovation. We can be a value price point player.

是的，我們目前面臨一些短期阻力，如外匯和不受歡迎的關稅。但我們會面對這些事情，我們會管理它們，我們會減輕它們的影響。我同意你的說法。毫無疑問，我們可以實現一些這樣的創新。我們可以成為一家具有價值價格點的參與者。

And I think, look, that's how you ultimately create more value, right, as you continue to just focus and improve your fundamentals. But this industry is absolutely ripe for consolidation. It has to happen. It will happen. And we just have to -- listen, we got to keep doing what we're doing as great stewards of the asset. And eventually, the right situation will come along, and it will unlock some value. But that's where we're going to steer the boat.

我認為，看，這就是你最終創造更多價值的方式，對吧，只要你繼續集中精力並改善你的基本面。但這個產業絕對已經到了整合的時機。這必鬚髮生。它會發生。我們只需要──聽著，我們必須繼續做好我們正在做的事情，作為資產的優秀管理者。最終，正確的情況會出現，並會釋放一些價值。但這正是我們要掌舵的地方。

Ian Zaffino, Oppenheimer.

伊恩·扎菲諾 (Ian Zaffino)，奧本海默。

On the pet side, just drilling down a little bit on this, two items. And the e-commerce business, what is that now growing? I know you kind of called it out as flat, but there's one retailer. So if you kind of back out that one retailer, maybe give us an idea of kind of the core growth of the online business in GPC. And then also, are you seeing any signs of like bottoming in aquatics? Or is this kind of a long haul sort of wait and see?

關於寵物方面，我們稍微深入探討一下，有兩項。那麼電子商務業務現在正在成長什麼呢？我知道您說的是平價，但有一家零售商。因此，如果您退出那家零售商，也許可以向我們介紹 GPC 線上業務的核心成長。另外，您是否看到水上觸底的跡象？或者這是一種長期的觀望？

I'll hit the first piece and then Jeremy, as always, will fill it in and give you more detail. Look, online, we continue to win. POS has been double-digit growth for that business since we put a new e-com team in there, and I couldn't be more pleased with [Mir and Will] just again, bringing lots of new content, lots of new excitement, lots of new digital advertising. So very vibrant there, and that continues very recent -- today or this week, I mean we continue to grow double digit there in terms of POS.

我會講到第一部分，然後 Jeremy 會像往常一樣補充內容，並給你更多細節。看，在線上，我們繼續獲勝。自從我們組建了一支新的電子商務團隊以來，POS 業務一直保持著兩位數的成長，我對 [Mir 和 Will] 再次帶來大量新內容、新亮點和新數位廣告感到非常滿意。那裡非常活躍，而且這種趨勢一直持續到今天或本週，我的意思是，就 POS 而言，我們在那裡繼續保持兩位數的成長。

So we did have a big player that had some capacity issues. And so our factory shipments did not match that POS rate. And then we had a major pull forward of revenue into that September quarter from December because we had to tell our customers we were doing a major SAP upgrade to S/4HANA, and we didn't want them out of stock. And so there's definitely some distortion in the pet business here in Q1, but fundamentally very vibrant.

因此，我們確實有一個大參與者存在一些容量問題。因此我們的工廠出貨量與 POS 率不符。然後，我們將收入從 12 月大幅提前到 9 月季度，因為我們必須告訴客戶，我們正在對 SAP 進行重大升級至 S/4HANA，我們不希望他們缺貨。因此，第一季的寵物業務肯定存在一些扭曲，但從根本上來說非常活躍。

We are tweaking things. We do have some premium product. There is pressure on the consumer. We want to work with our vendors and our customers, and we want to get a higher growth rate there for sure. We're also -- we would also tell our investors, look, we are making top funnel investments, those take longer to pay back. They just do. But we've built -- from my seat, we've taken a good and fun business from $30 million, $50 million. It's now a $0.25 billion wholesale business. The American consumer doesn't really know that brand like I want them to.

我們正在做一些調整。我們確實有一些優質產品。消費者面臨壓力。我們希望與我們的供應商和客戶合作，並且我們希望獲得更高的成長率。我們也會告訴我們的投資者，看，我們正在進行頂級管道投資，這些投資需要更長的時間才能獲得回報。他們就是這麼做的。但從我的角度來看，我們已經將 3,000 萬美元、5,000 萬美元的資金投入了一個良好而有趣的業務中。現在它的批發業務價值為 2.5 億美元。美國消費者並不像我希望的那樣了解該品牌。

We've got to spend money. We've got to get awareness up. We've got to build brand equity. That is a longer payback, and we are clearly burdening the earnings of the company with it right now. But those are the assets that ultimately get great value. You saw just 90 days ago, a company trade for 22 times EBITDA. Now, granted, that's food focused, had a little faster growth rate than us. But we're pretty convinced if you build giant, scalable, attractive pet assets, they're worth a hell of a lot more than where we trade currently at 7 times, and we're going to keep banging on that.

我們必須花錢。我們必須提高認識。我們必須建立品牌資產。這是一個較長的回報期，而且我們目前顯然正在為此增加公司的獲利負擔。但這些資產最終都會獲得巨大的價值。您會看到，就在 90 天前，一家公司的交易價格是 EBITDA 的 22 倍。現在，可以肯定的是，以食品為中心的企業的成長速度比我們稍快。但我們非常確信，如果你建立巨大的、可擴展的、有吸引力的寵物資產，它們的價值將比我們目前的 7 倍交易價格高得多，我們將繼續努力。

Aquatics has definitely been a little bit of a slower slog, but we're the dominant player there. It's a great margin business. We're going to continue to do things like Glofish and try to bring news and excitement to the category. We figured out how to make a bigger anngelfish light up in a tank and get that as part of the Glofish family. We saw a big lift there.

水上運動方面我們確實進展得比較慢，但我們在該方面佔據主導地位。這是一項很賺錢的生意。我們將繼續做像 Glofish 這樣的事，並嘗試為該類別帶來新聞和興奮。我們想出瞭如何讓魚缸中更大的神仙魚發光，並使其成為螢光魚家族的一部分。我們看到那裡有一座大電梯。

We are increasing our tanks business to support some of our major brick and retailers, but it's definitely been a more challenged category. Jeremy, do you want to.

我們正在擴大我們的坦克業務，以支持我們的一些主要實體店和零售商，但這無疑是一個更具挑戰性的類別。傑里米，你想這麼做嗎？

Yes. I mean I think it's a bit of a tale of two cities between what we see in Europe and what we see in North America. New entrants to the category, particularly in North America, are difficult right now. It's a relatively expensive entry point for this economic cycle that we're in. That's why, as I've mentioned in my prepared remarks, some of our new products and new agreements with brick-and-mortar or some smaller tank, entry level to start building that.

是的。我的意思是，我認為這有點像我們在歐洲看到的和在北美看到的兩個城市的故事。目前，該類別的新進入者，尤其是北美的新進入者，都很難進入。對於我們目前所處的經濟週期來說，這是一個相對昂貴的切入點。這就是為什麼，正如我在準備好的演講中提到的那樣，我們的一些新產品和新協議是與實體店或一些較小的企業達成的，從入門級開始建造。

We do see relatively steady demand for all the consumables. That's a good thing. That's where we make our margin. And you can see that where the EBITDA performance is holding up nicely. And the other reason that beyond the installed base in Europe, I think that we see a little bit more steady performance in Europe, but there's also a larger pond market. I think [CoI] outdoor, even indoor COI that's a bigger market in Europe than it is in the US, a bigger consumer base, so that's very steady, particularly on food, but also on water treatment.

我們確實看到所有消耗品的需求相對穩定。這是一件好事。這就是我們賺取利潤的地方。您可以看到 EBITDA 表現保持良好。另一個原因是，除了歐洲的安裝基數之外，我認為歐洲的表現更穩定，但池塘市場也更大。我認為[CoI]戶外，甚至室內COI在歐洲的市場比在美國更大，消費者群體也更大，所以非常穩定，特別是在食品方面，而且在水處理方面也是如此。

Okay. If I could just sneak in one more on the M&A front. Any need to buy anything here? How are you thinking about kind of if we do hit an innovation cycle, if you're well positioned or if you need mass anywhere else, just sort of your current thoughts on M&A.

好的。如果我可以在併購方面再偷偷說一件事的話。需要在這裡買什麼東西嗎？如果我們確實進入創新週期，如果您處於有利地位，或者如果您需要在其他任何地方進行大規模擴張，那麼您會怎麼想，您目前對併購有什麼想法？

Give me that again? I didn't hear it exactly, Ian.

再給我一次嗎？我沒聽清楚，伊恩。

I'm just saying what do you need -- do you need to do M&A if you do, where do you need it? You need it from maybe help on more innovation or maybe more scale or anything like that or adjacencies? Just any kind of discussion or color to give us on what you're thinking on M&A, maybe just nothing, but yes.

我只是說你需要什麼——如果需要，你需要進行併購嗎，你需要在哪裡進行併購？您是否需要它來提供更多創新的幫助，或更多規模或諸如此類的幫助或鄰接關係？只是任何形式的討論或色彩，讓我們知道您對併購的看法，也許什麼都沒有，但是是的。

Look, listen, we have looked at tons of transactions in the last nine months. Most of these things are at price points that I don't think -- we don't want to deploy capital at the wrong price point. So we've passed on tons of deals. We continue to buy shares. Even today, the share price is down a little bit as we're doing on this call. I don't understand it. But that's okay. If people don't want to own the shares, we're happy to buy them. We frankly think that $1.2 billion pet franchise is worth a lot more than 7 turns, and we're eventually going to get proved right on that.

瞧，聽著，我們在過去九個月裡審查了大量交易。我認為，其中大多數東西的價格都不合理——我們不想在錯誤的價格點上部署資本。因此我們放棄了大量交易。我們繼續買股票。即使在今天，股價仍然略有下跌，就像我們在這次電話會議上所做的那樣。我不明白。但沒關係。如果人們不想持有這些股票，我們很樂意購買它們。坦白說，我們認為 12 億美元的寵物特許經營權價值遠超過 7 個回合，而且我們最終將證明這一點。

As you can see in our opening remarks, we are launching a number of adjacencies. We are getting into cat treats. We're taking that Good 'n' Fun halo brand, which we're pretty dominant in dog chews. We're going into Good N Tasty. We've started the business there, and we've grown it from $0 to $10 million. We got to get bigger faster. We've got Meowee launching over here. We're taking our -- God Boy brand, which has been a home run for us in the UK. And we've taken that into Continental Europe, but we're going to launch food, actual dog food under that brand here into the summer and fall of this year. And frankly, we want to get into the health and wellness business, and you can see us launching collagen and other things into some of our treats and chews. And so those are adjacencies we're currently building organically.

正如您在我們的開場白中所看到的，我們正在推出許多鄰接項目。我們正在吃貓食。我們採用的是 Good 'n' Fun 光環品牌，我們在狗咬膠領域佔據主導地位。我們要去 Good N Tasty。我們在那裡開始了業務，並將其從 0 美元發展到 1000 萬美元。我們必須更快地成長壯大。我們已在這裡推出 Meowee。我們正在打造我們的 God Boy 品牌，這個品牌在我們英國取得了巨大的成功。我們已經將其帶入歐洲大陸，但我們計劃在今年夏季和秋季推出該品牌的食品，真正的狗糧。坦白說，我們想進入健康和保健行業，您可以看到我們將膠原蛋白和其他物質添加到我們的一些零食和咀嚼物中。這些都是我們目前正在有機建構的鄰接關係。

But there's no question, we're an underlevered balance sheet. Everybody calls us to sell the stuff. And we want to acquire higher growing globally scaled assets in that -- in those categories, cat, wellness, health and wellness and food. But we have got to maintain discipline and patience, and we believe that is how you win in the M&A game over the long run.

但毫無疑問，我們的資產負債表槓桿率過低。每個人都打電話給我們推銷東西。我們希望在貓、健康、保健和食品等類別中收購成長更快的全球規模資產。但我們必須保持紀律和耐心，我們相信，從長遠來看，這就是在併購遊戲中獲勝的方法。

Olivia Tong, Raymond James.

奧莉維亞通 (Olivia Tong)、雷蒙詹姆斯 (Raymond James)。

It's impressive that you cut your exposure that dramatically by -- or planning to cut your exposure that dramatically on tariffs by year-end. So if you could talk about the actions in place to do that, whether pricing is a component of that and also the competitive dynamics in your HPC categories as well, particularly at the sort of opening price point level.

令人印象深刻的是，您大幅削減了關稅風險敞口——或者計劃在年底前大幅削減關稅風險敞口。因此，如果您可以談談為此採取的行動，定價是否是其中的一個組成部分，以及 HPC 類別中的競爭動態，特別是在起始價格水準上。

And given the efforts that you've made to lower your China manufacturing exposure and obviously evolving political backdrop, how does that impact your commitment to exiting this segment? I realize, of course, as you said earlier, you remain committed to doing that, but just your sense of urgency in doing that.

鑑於您為降低中國製造業風險所做的努力以及明顯不斷變化的政治背景，這對您退出該領域的決心有何影響？我當然知道，正如您之前所說，您仍然致力於這樣做，但您只是有一種緊迫感。

Look, I think big picture, let's just restage this. Our Home and Garden business is largely a North American company. We manufacture, we source -- we have raw materials, WIP finished goods. We do basically all of that in the USA. So there's very little tariff impact to the Home and Garden business. We have been very deliberate over the last five, 10 years on getting dual source, triple sourced, quadruple sourced in pet.

瞧，我認為從大局來看，讓我們重新闡述一下。我們的家居和花園業務主要是一家北美公司。我們製造，我們採購－我們有原料和在製品成品。基本上，所有這些工作我們都在美國完成。因此關稅對家居和花園業務的影響很小。在過去的五到十年裡，我們一直非常謹慎地尋求寵物的雙重來源、三重來源、四重來源。

We still have product coming out of China, but it's relatively small. And we are going to -- we have access to tons of factories, tons of vendors, both here in the US and in other parts of the world where we currently source and we can flex capacity and move that around. And we could completely exit China if the environment so demands. That's not going to happen overnight.

我們仍有來自中國的產品，但數量相對較少。而且我們將——我們可以接觸到大量的工廠、大量的供應商，無論是在美國還是在我們目前採購的世界其他地方，我們都可以靈活調整產能並進行調配。如果環境需要的話，我們可以完全退出中國。這不會在一夜之間發生。

But if it comes to that, we have that flexibility and we can work on that depending on how the numbers fall. It's HPC that's exposed, and we've been over there. We've recently been in a number of different countries with new factories, and we have capacity coming online. We have products launching there now.

但如果真的到了那一步，我們就有靈活性，並且可以根據數字的下降情況來採取行動。暴露的是 HPC，我們已經去過那裡了。我們最近在許多不同的國家設立了新工廠，我們的產能正在上線。現在我們有產品在那裡推出。

And what we're telling you is we can have 30% to 40% of that business moved out of China by the end of the year. And so that's kind of our -- that's kind of how that plays. But in the interim, if tariffs are a problem, we -- obviously, we have to take price, and we have to work with our suppliers to get lower costs and work both sides and make sure we stay viable so we can invest in innovation and continue to market and be a valuable player to our competitors -- to our consumers.

我們要告訴你們的是，到今年年底，我們可以將 30% 到 40% 的業務遷出中國。這就是我們的 — — 這就是它的運作方式。但在此期間，如果關稅是一個問題，我們——顯然，我們必須降低價格，我們必須與我們的供應商合作以降低成本，並與雙方合作，確保我們保持生存能力，這樣我們就可以投資創新，繼續營銷，成為我們競爭對手——我們的消費者——的寶貴參與者。

Got it. And then in terms of the mid- to high single-digit EBITDA target, obviously, the tariff factor is one factor. Perhaps you'd already assumed some level of increase in providing your initial outlook. But can you just talk about what's embedded in the target at this point and getting to the mid- to high single-digit presumably, there's some costs associated with moving into other countries, what you've embedded as far as potential price increases in the back half of the year. If you could just give us a little bit more color there, that would be helpful.

知道了。然後就中高個位數的 EBITDA 目標而言，顯然關稅因素是一個因素。也許您在提供初步展望時已經預期到一定程度的成長。但是，您能否談談目前的目標是什麼，以及達到中高個位數大概需要多少成本，以及您所說的下半年可能的價格上漲是多少。如果您能給我們更多詳細信息，那將會很有幫助。

Yes. We won't get into specific into line by line how we plan to offset. But as we said, overall, we do intend to mitigate it in the year. Just to put it in a little bit of context for everybody listening, it's plus or minus $12 million impact to this year as currently announced with current dates in place. And so as we look at our playbook, obviously, this is not the first time around mitigating tariffs. So we look at our playbook, which is working with our suppliers on cost, working with our retail customers on price and also looking at other cost improvement opportunities across the platform.

是的。我們不會逐行詳細說明我們計劃如何抵消。但正如我們所說，總的來說，我們確實打算在今年減輕這一影響。只是為了讓所有聽眾了解一點背景信息，根據目前宣布的當前日期，這對今年的影響是正負 1200 萬美元。因此，當我們審視我們的劇本時，顯然這不是我們第一次降低關稅。因此，我們研究了我們的策略，即與供應商合作降低成本，與零售客戶合作降低價格，並尋找整個平台上的其他成本改進機會。

We intend to mitigate that, and we'll see how the environment develops as we head into '26. But David's already talked about the flexibility that we have and the additional flexibility we're going to create. So we feel very confident with the current announcements that are out there that we're going to mitigate in a confident way and just get more flexible, frankly, in our supply chain for whatever comes at us in the future. Obviously, it's a dynamic environment out there.

我們打算減輕這種影響，並觀察2026年環境將如何發展。但大衛已經談到了我們擁有的靈活性以及我們將要創造的額外靈活性。因此，我們對目前發布的公告非常有信心，我們將以自信的方式緩解影響，並且坦率地說，在我們的供應鏈中變得更加靈活，以應對未來遇到的任何問題。顯然，這是一個動態的環境。

Peter Grom, UBS.

瑞銀的 Peter Grom。

So I appreciate all the color provided on HPC, capital allocation. You bought back a lot of stock since the HHI transaction, but you kind of alluded to this a lot on the call today. Like the stock has kind of been in the same spot. -- valuation is certainly below where you would like, right? So I guess, how do you think about that? I mean -- and I guess, can you maybe talk about your willingness to maybe lean into buybacks in a more meaningful way, just given where valuation is and especially just where your leverage is as well.

因此，我很欣賞 HPC、資本配置所提供的所有詮釋。自 HHI 交易以來，您回購了大量股票，但您在今天的電話會議中多次提到了這一點。就像股票一直處於同一位置一樣。 ——估值肯定低於你所希望的水平，對嗎？那麼我猜，您對此有什麼看法？我的意思是——我想，考慮到估值現狀，尤其是您的槓桿率現狀，您能否以更有意義的方式談談您是否願意傾向於回購。

Yes. Look, I mean, I think we're in a great spot. I mean, after this call, I'm going to write a really big thank you to all our employees. I mean we we have really navigated quite a bit in the last three years, prevailing over to DOJ, paying down all the debt. And this is kind of my hope that we would end up with a low levered balance sheet, and we'd be able to take advantage of opportunities. And I didn't think our stock price would be our biggest opportunity. But as long as it stays there, we'll continue to capitalize on it.

是的。看，我的意思是，我認為我們處於一個很好的位置。我的意思是，打完這通電話後，我要向我們所有的員工寫一封非常誠摯的謝意。我的意思是，我們在過去三年確實取得了不少進展，戰勝了司法部，償還了所有債務。我希望我們最終能夠擁有低槓桿的資產負債表，這樣我們就能夠利用機會。但我並不認為我們的股價會是我們最大的機會。但只要它存在，我們就會繼續利用它。

But look, I think fundamentals always win. Sometimes you have to keep working a problem longer than you like. And I mean, listen, let's just back up here. I think just the last couple of weeks is -- that adds a little bit of all, a little bit of uncertainty to the world. And so you got to go manage and mitigate that.

但是，我認為基本面總是勝利的。有時你必須花費比你願意更長的時間來解決問題。我的意思是，聽著，讓我們回到這裡。我認為過去幾週發生的事情為世界增添了一點不確定性。所以你必須去管理和緩解這種情況。

But no, I think we're in a really fantastic spot. And we're going to continue to invest in the business and drive operating performance. I mean, first quarter EBITDA growth, apples-to-apples, 26.9%. It's not a bad start to the year. And we look forward to continuing the progress we're making. And listen, eventually, it won't just be all AI and big cap. Eventually, someone will pay attention to a small cap that's underlevered and quite frankly, undervalued, and we're going to keep building great businesses.

但不，我認為我們處於一個非常好的位置。我們將繼續對該業務進行投資並提高營運績效。我的意思是，第一季的 EBITDA 成長率，年比來看，是 26.9%。今年的開始還不錯。我們期待繼續取得進展。聽著，最終，它不會只涉及人工智慧和大盤股。最終，有人會關注槓桿率低、坦白說被低估的小型股，而我們將繼續打造優秀的企業。

That makes sense. And then just on the HPC transaction, totally understand tariff uncertainty. But I'd just be curious, like faces, and I guess said you can share it, what do you think needs more clarity? Is it just simply knowing what the tariff situation looks like? Do you think these partners want to see how the litigation efforts play out? I'm just kind of curious what you think they want more clarity on, especially since it seems like we're kind of getting least hopefully, we'll be getting some more clarity on what actually happens or plays out in the next couple of months.

這很有道理。然後就 HPC 交易而言，完全理解關稅的不確定性。但我只是很好奇，就像臉孔一樣，我想你可以分享它，你認為什麼需要更清晰？只是簡單了解一下關稅狀況嗎？您認為這些合夥人想看看訴訟結果如何嗎？我只是有點好奇，你認為他們想要更清楚地了解什麼，特別是因為我們似乎最不抱希望，我們將更清楚地了解未來幾個月究竟會發生什麼或將如何發展。

Listen, I think if you're trying to price cash flows and NPVs and all this stuff is super recent, right? And do we really know? Is that just an opening solvo? Do things change? I mean, listen, we're in a very fluid dynamic situation. And I know for myself, when I want to allocate money, you want to get as much certainty as you can on the stability of those cash flows and what the -- if you're going to play a game, you want to know the rules of the game before you sit down at the table. And so I just think it's going to take a couple of months to let the dust clear and see what the rules of the road are. And then you can have much more fruitful conversations.

聽著，我認為如果你試圖對現金流和 NPV 進行定價，所有這些東西都是非常新的，對嗎？我們真的知道嗎？這只是一個開場白嗎？事情有變化嗎？我的意思是，聽著，我們正處於一個非常不穩定的動態局勢中。我自己也知道，當我想要分配資金時，你會希望盡可能確保這些現金流的穩定性，如果你要玩遊戲，你想要在坐到桌邊之前了解遊戲規則。因此，我認為需要花幾個月的時間才能塵埃落定，並了解交通規則是什麼。然後你們就可以進行更有成效的對話。

But I can't control that stuff. And we're just going to keep putting out great product and making sure that we work with our vendors and retailers to have a great value efficacy message. And frankly, again, I'd point you back to just in my earlier comments, I mean, we've been able to take an appliance business from $40 million EBITDA back to $70 million, and we hope we're shooting for $80 million and $100 million. And those plans are unchanged in the face of all this. So very pleased with the team. We've got -- clearly got some short-term headwinds to work through, but we're going to face into them and overcome them.

但我無法控制這些事。我們將繼續推出優質產品，並確保與我們的供應商和零售商合作，傳達具有巨大價值和功效的訊息。坦白說，我再次提醒大家回顧我之前的評論，我的意思是，我們已經能夠將家電業務的 EBITDA 從 4000 萬美元提升至 7000 萬美元，我們希望能夠達到 8000 萬美元和 1 億美元。儘管面臨這一切，這些計劃仍未改變。我對這個團隊非常滿意。顯然，我們面臨一些短期阻力，但我們會直面它們並克服它們。

Bob Lapick, CJS Securities.

鮑勃·拉皮克（Bob Lapick），CJS 證券。

It's Peter Lukas for Bob. I'll keep it quick. Just one for you. Last year, you executed on an increase in sales and marketing as planned, which seems to have gone very well. Where do you stand now? You talk about spreading it more throughout the year and focusing on e-commerce. But overall, do you see increase in spending? Or are you at the desired levels? Just kind of how are you thinking about it going forward?

我是彼得‧盧卡斯 (Peter Lukas)，鮑伯。我會盡快完成。只為你一個。去年，你們按計畫增加了銷售和行銷，看起來進展非常順利。你現在站在哪裡？您談到要在全年進一步推廣，並專注於電子商務。但整體而言，你認為支出增加了嗎？或者說您已經達到了所期望的水平？您對未來的發展有什麼想法？

Well, I'll do general and Jeremy can give you the specifics. But I mean, last year was pretty lumpy. And so what we're trying to telegraph is the spend is going to be more even quarter-to-quarter-to-quarter. So that's the big takeaway. The spend was up a lot last year. Quite frankly, I still want to make sure we get better returns on it. And so we're adopting new measurement tools and all the rest of it.

好吧，我會講整體情況，傑瑞米可以跟你講具體情況。但我的意思是，去年的情況相當不順。因此，我們想要傳達的訊息是，各季度的支出將會更加均衡。這就是最大的收穫。去年支出增加了很多。坦白說，我仍然希望確保我們獲得更好的回報。因此，我們正在採用新的測量工具和其他所有工具。

As I said in the earlier comments, lot of the investment is new for us. We've never been a company that's done a lot of top funnel brand awareness advertising, and that takes longer to get a payback on. But no, I mean, we just told you, we spent $8 million more in Q1 on marketing than we did a period a year ago. So we're continuing to spend more money. But we want to drive brand awareness. We want brand equity to be built, and we want to continue to drive customers to consumers, to our customers' stores and websites.

正如我在之前的評論中所說，許多投資對我們來說都是新的。我們從來都不是那種做過大量頂級通路品牌知名度廣告的公司，而這種廣告需要更長的時間才能獲得回報。但不，我的意思是，我們剛剛告訴你，我們在第一季的行銷支出比去年同期多了 800 萬美元。因此我們將繼續花更多的錢。但我們想提高品牌知名度。我們希望建立品牌資產，我們希望繼續吸引客戶到消費者、到客戶的商店和網站。

Yes. And one thing I'd add quickly is it is relatively dynamic. I mean there's only a couple of things in Q1 where we dialed back spending a bit where we weren't seeing the level of return that we wanted. And so as we sit here today, though it's early in the year, I would tell you the full year will probably be up a little bit, probably not as much as the $10 million to $15 million we expected when we started the year. And in fact, given the $8 million increase in Q1, we'll probably see in Q3, Q4, it wouldn't surprise me to see a quarter where we actually have a little bit less spending year-over-year as we even it out, as David said.

是的。我想快速補充的一點是，它相對動態。我的意思是，在第一季度，只有幾件事我們減少了開支，但沒有看到我們想要的回報水平。因此，今天我們坐在這裡，雖然現在才年初，但我要告訴大家的是，全年收入可能會略有增長，但可能不會達到我們年初預期的 1000 萬至 1500 萬美元的水平。事實上，考慮到第一季 800 萬美元的成長，我們可能也會在第三季和第四季看到這一成長，因此，如果我看到本季我們的支出實際上比去年同期略有減少，我不會感到驚訝，因為我們會實現均衡，正如戴維所說的那樣。

But it has to be dynamic. You have to monitor it every week. You have to make sure you're getting the returns. And if you're not, you either dial it back or you reallocate it elsewhere to make sure you get those returns.

但它必須是動態的。你必須每週監控它。你必須確保你能獲得回報。如果不是，那麼您可以調回該金額或將其重新分配到其他地方以確保獲得這些回報。

Thank you. And with that, we have reached the top of the hour, so we will conclude our conference call. Thank you to David and Jeremy. And on behalf of Spectrum Brands, thank you for your participation this morning.

謝謝。現在，我們已經到了一小時的時間，因此我們將結束電話會議。感謝 David 和 Jeremy。我代表 Spectrum Brands 感謝您今天早上的參與。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。